Jan 2,2011

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Headley was a spy for ISI LeT operative David Headley, who scouted targets in Mumbai for 26/11 attacks, was a Pakistani spy working for ISI, whose chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha was possibly aware of the plot to strike India’s financial hub, claims an investigative news report.

“In essence, US and Indian officials say, Headley was more than a terrorist: He served as a Pakistani spy,” investigative American journalist Sebastian Rotella wrote in ‘ProPublica.Com’.

— (PTI)

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The Voice of Goa — Since 1900 panjim, sunDaY, januaRY 2, 2011 postal Reg. no. Goa 101 pRiCE Rs. 3.00

Goa’s Heartbeat: Emraan Hashmi bowled over by Shruti Pg 4 IN BRIEF

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Goa: 9 held for kidnapping Khareband resident Pg 3

(air surcharge Rs 2.00) pages 16 + 4

Sports: Sreesanth cautioned

by Dhoni Pg 16

New telecom Alliance with Cong plan on the will be intact: NCP anvil: Sibal HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JAN 1

PTI NEW DELHI, JAN 1

Within two months of taking charge, Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal today set about putting his house in order by announcing work on a new telecom policy for greater transparency, tackling cyber crime and leveraging the vast postal network for rural services.

Sibal, who was given charge of the ministry after A Raja resigned over allegations of a scam in 2G spectrum allocation, said that a new and comprehensive National Telecom Policy 2011 will be formulated and would spell out “clear and transparent” guidelines.

“Eleven years have passed since NTP’99 and many changes have taken place thereafter. Action will be initiated to formulate a comprehensive NTP 2011,” the minister told reporters after releasing the 100day agenda for his ministry.

He, however, did not elaborate if changes would be made to the existing NTP’99 policy in respect of allocation of spectrum on the basis of first-come firstserved. Sources, however, said that revenue share would continue to be the regime for payment of licence fee by operators.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) will hold consultations with key stakeholders to evolve

a “clear and transparent” regime covering licencing, spectrum allocation, tariffs/pricing, linkage with roll-out performance, spectrum sharing, trading and mergers and acquisition.

The announcement comes on the heels of the controversy surrounding the allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008 at 2001 prices.

On the increasing complaints over pesky calls from telemarketers, he said regulator TRAI’s recommendations on ending the nuisance would come into effect from February 1.

For the Department of Post, Sibal has plans to collaborate with leading banks to provide cards (on the line of credit cards) to rural people in order to facilitate non-cash based transactions for purchase of products and services.

The card — ‘White label Prepaid Cards’ — will come with pre-determined cash value and could be operated at merchant locations, ATMs and designated post offices subject to approval by the RBI.

Even as the political crisis within the State Nationalist Congress Party enters into the New Year, chief spokesperson of the party Trajano D’Mello on Saturday said he feels that Cong-NCP alliance will continue and there will be no problem whatsoever.

Answering questions by the media on the alliance on the sidelines of a private function, D’Mello said non-inclusion of the Benaulim legislator Mickky Pacheco into the State cabinet as per the demand of NCP’s high command was no reason for the alliance to break.

When questioned further why he felt so, the spokesperson answered, “The Goa Tourism Development Corporation is with the NCP by virtue of the Tourism

‘Deadly’ New Year’s Day for seven HERALD NEWS BUREAU PANJIM, JAN 1

Seven persons lost their lives in three different mishaps on New Year’s Day. MARCEL CORRESPONDENT ADDS: Three youth died on the spot on New Year’s Day, when the two-wheeler on which they were travelling rammed into a stationary truck along the highway near the Banastarim bridge at Bhoma.

Ponda police has identified two of the deceased as Suradhish Natekar of Divar, Manohar Patil, a native of Khanapur-Belgaum and a resident of Old Goa. The third deceased is yet to be identified.

The mishap took place at about 3 am, when the the three youth were travelling on a motorcycle (GA-07-D-1309) from Ponda towards Old Goa. When they reached Bhoma, the motorcycle rammed into the rear of a truck (KA-16-A-7436) along the route.

PORVORIM CORRESPONDENT ADDS: A trip to beautify a bride ended in tragedy on New Year’s day when a 21-year-old beautician from Revora was killed in a road mishap at Guirim.

Five other persons were also injured in the mishap.

According to Mapusa police, Kirti Bhalchandra Chodanker was proceeding in a car (GA-06A-1017) towards Guirim to beautify a bride.

A t Pe s t a c h o Wa d o n e a r Guirim, Chodankar stopped her (Continued on page 2)

“The Goa Tourism Development Corporation is with the NCP by virtue of the Tourism Ministry being with us. But the Congress never gave it to us. Did the alliance break over this? No.”

Ministry being with us. But the Congress never gave it to us.

Did the alliance break over this?

No.” Again, he elaborated, when Dr Carmo Pegado was the acting president of the NCP, the deputy chairmanship of the Planning Commission was supposed to be given to him. The Congress

never gave this too, but the alliance remained, he observed.

He explained the same happened with the North Goa Planning and Development Authority which was with Nilkant Halarnkar. After he became the tourism minister, it was given to someone else and not to anyone from the NCP, he mentioned.

He said by virtue of the alliance many of the NCP leaders were supposed to be placed as directors of boards of many corporations. Till date nothing has happened, but has the alliance broken, he questioned.

D’Mello said he was of the view that the high commands of both parties will make a reconciliatory effort to sort out pending issues, including the inclusion of Mickky Pacheco into the State cabinet.

The more we change, the more we stay the same H RAUL FERNANDES

erald is Goa’s oldest, largest circulated and most respected newspaper. It has always held the interests of this State and its people closest to its heart. Its readers know this, and rely on Herald for accurate news and balanced views.

As Editor-in-Chief of Herald, I would like to assure the people of Goa, that the Editor of Herald, Ashwin Tombat, is not going anywhere. He remains in charge of the newspaper and responsible for its contents under the Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act. It is true that Sujay Gupta will be joining Herald, as editor of its forthcoming weekend editions, to be published on Saturdays and Sundays, starting Saturday 5 February and Sunday 6 February. On other days of the week – Mondays to Fridays, Ashwin Tombat remains in charge.

Herald is always trying to give greater value to its readers, who are this newspaper’ greatest asset. The weekend editions are one such effort. We are sure that they will be a hit with one and all. The daily newspaper will continue to reflect the concerns and issues, worries and joys, of the ordinary Goan. Herald is the people’s newspaper, and it will always stay that way. That is my eternal assurance to my readers.

Herald is poised to have a great new year, and we trust that all of you will too. Happy New Year!

Elect right, or face jungle raj T

RAUL FERNANDES

he new year has dawned.

And while I extend the traditional greeting of “Happy New Year” with a fond wish of 2011 being great for all those who love Goa, we should realise that the future really is in our hands.

The wish of a great year ahead and a great future thereafter is actually a choice that we need to make and undertake and not a wish which will drop from up above. And the biggest choice we need to make is picking the right men and women to send to the Goa assembly in the next elections. 2011 will clearly be a

watershed year when the countdown to the assembly elections

begins.

E l e c t i o n s a re a l l a b o u t

choices. But this time we do not have a choice. We cannot sit on the fence and reserve that choice till the end. We need honest, hardworking, simple, non-manipulative candidates irrespective on which party symbol he or she contests from. And this is where we have no choice.

We either select the right people or embrace jungle raj.

Let us look beyond the current crop and throw up a shorlist of candidates who will really serve from each constituency. As one of our esteemed letter writers had suggested in response to (Continued on page 2)

OHERALDO

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GOA, SUNDAY, 2 JANUARY, 2011

More oBituaries on Page 10

GOA

Will BJP strike deal with Matanhy in Cortalim?

HERALD CORRESPONDENT CORTALIM, JAN 1

Displaying of banners, card boards with messages and pictures of politicians, is a common sight during the festival season.

Cortalim assembly constituency too had its share of politicians including its MLA Mauvin Godinho greeting people on Christmas. But what has struck the people’s eye is the banners displaying BJP leaders with a local Panch Anthony Vaz in Cortalim constituency.

While rumours are rife that BJP would field its candidate in the coming hustings after having lent support to Matanhy Saldanha in the last election, what has perplexed the voters is whether BJP would field Vaz only to give a back door entry for Saldanha.

Admittedly one of the reasons for Godinho’s defeat in 2002 elections was the anti-incumbency wave. Other reason which also contributed to his defeat, was the large chunk of Godinho’s vote especially the ST community which was polled by Vaz who belongs to the ST community. Vaz polled around 4700 votes in the 2002

Banner displaying photos of BJP leaders Manohar Parrikar, Shripad Naik and Anthony Vaz at Church Street, Cortalim.

Photo by Alvaro Colaco

elections.

In fact, the BJP as a gratitude to Saldanha for his unflinching support to the saffron party had not fielded a candidate in Cortalim constituency and went all out to support Saldanha. But despite the BJP’s support and being a sitting MLA having a stint as minister as well in the BJP-led government, Saldanha lost the elections.

Saldanha who is habituated in contesting elections is likely to try his luck for this coming election also, given the fact that the constituency has been de-

limitated with Bogmalo and Chicalim panchayats forming part of newly carved Dabolim constituency. However, his base in other parts of the constituency is also not all that good given the fact Jose M Furtado, the ZP candidate to whom he pledged support lost even in his stronghold of Ramponkar-dominated Dando in Pale-Velsao.

Vaz who is also a sitting panch when contacted said that he has been told by the State top party brass to start activities in the constituency.

“I have been told to begin

movement in the constituency, although there has been no talk on the question of contesting election,” Vaz told Herald.

Vaz was however not committal on his stand if the party denied him a ticket.

State BJP President Laxmikant Parsekar however was not answering his cell phone when contacted for comments.

What could make a major difference this time around is Mickky Pacheco’s threat to go in a big way and even field candidates in all 40 constituencies.

While his plans to field candidates in all constituencies would be illusionary, the fact remains that he has made an impact in Cortalim constituency having total control over Cansaulim-Arossim-Cuelim Panchayat.

But despite Mickky’s hold over the panchayat, Mauvin’s victorious candidate Cynthia D’Silva who although hails from Cortalim polled significant numb e r s o f v o t e s i n a re a s o f Cansaulim panchayat, thereby indicating that mere hold over panchayats would not necessarily translate into votes.

froM Page 1 Elect right, or face jungle raj my earlier editorial, monitoring committees should be in place in each ward to look at the work of MLAs. On this note, I call upon voters of every constituency to have a committee to select a long-list and finally prune it down to a shortlist of candidates. Forget the party symbols. Let this be a vote for honesty and whichever party can get 21 honest men elected, should rule Goa. Reject shrewd and cunning candidates who use the platform of churches, temples and mosques, make their enemies their best friends, keep the concerned priest happy, give the people in need money, visit the sick, stop the cars to wish those for whom they have no love lost, volunteer to build your roof, mend your heart and stock your kitchen. Beware of this falsehood. Because while they transfer their money to Swiss bank accounts, Goans wait for them to transfer their hollow words into deeds, which never happen.

When we reject these candidates and elect clean ones, each one of us will get our own rights of getting basic amenities like shelter, power and other necessities by approaching the concerned departments and not by begging ministers whom we have elected.

We should be in a position to demand our work from the concerned department and if not done bring down the concerned minister by agitating against him. Do they want ten thousand people in front of their door to implement work they should be doing in any case? If that is needed, so be it. But for people to do this, they first need to elect honest people and demand accountability.

2010 was a year of national scams. The spectrum scam baffled all of us for its sheer extent, but it was the onion scam (the

huge price rise is nothing but a scam) which hit every kitchen and brought tears to my eyes. But while Goa did not have a single one that matched the spectrum scam for its degree, the rot of corruption has set in every core of Goa’s business and in every pore of most politicians. Every rule is broken and every law purchased.

Governance is a wholesale business which needs to be taken from the market and put back into the hands of the people.

Meanwhile, even as we do all this, we should also look at the core of our existence. Our Goan identity, our roots and our culture.

Much of our heritage is synonymous with the Portuguese rule. Its buildings, its monuments, its churches are Goa’s treasures. Those who seek to destroy this should be crushed. Our alliance remains with the State of India and we proudly call ourselves Indian, but the heritage of the past, reflected in the Latin quarter of Fontainhas, preserved as a heritage zone has to be protected. If this is destroyed and replaced by multi-storeyed buildings, will you call it nationalism?

Our culture also includes our festivals and our customs.

Goa’s traditional dances have stopped, music is no longer played at night and those who still try and maintain a bit of this beautiful tradition do it behind closed doors. Yes root out evils, but do not root out our culture in the garb of rooting out evils.

The traditional sport of bull fighting, enjoyed over the ages has been sought to be banned. To my view, it should be brought back and politicians who have promised this should make good their promise or be held accountable.

Importantly, all the above aspects-culture, identity, heritage and customs are linked to tourism, because these are very facets that attract people to Goa. But tourism needs to go beyond haphazard development and “crowding the beaches”. While chaos reigns in the northern belt, the beautiful hinterland of Goa is not seen.

Goa’s hinterland needs to be showcased for a more complete view of the land.

At the same time, infrastructure needs to be augmented to realize the potential of tourism and industry. One of this is redeveloping a crucial mode of transportation- through the river network. This network should be used for the transportation of goods leading to better services. At the same time various scenic spots along the river banks can be used to set up cafes and small guest houses to further boost tourism. I saw this on a trip to Venice. It’s the finest example of how inland waterways are used for both tourism and trade.

Finally, before I conclude, I have a message for the Chief Minister. Please get a hold of your government and functioning.

Punish the guilty, but do not use your police and law and order machinery to settle personal scores. And a Chief Minister who says that he does not look after the Home Department when questioned on any issue related to it should become a departmental minister. Our CM should instill a culture of accountability which he has failed to do. A CM who does not hold his ministers accountable should go. If governance is a collective responsibility, he is the first among equals.

But fear not. It is in our hands now. We have the capacity to govern and take charge of our own destinies and this time we will get it right. WE HAVE TO GET IT RIGHT.

‘Deadly’ New Year’s Day car by the side of the highway to pick up her assistant.

Around that time, the driver of a car (GA-01-E-3957), proceeding from Panjim towards Mapusa, lost control of his vehicle and hit the stationary car (GA-06-A-1017) and another stationary bus (MH07-C-7077).

The impact of the crash was so severe that the rear portion of the car (GA-06-A-1017) was smashed completely and Chodanker, who was seated on the rear seat, was grievously injured. Two other occupants, Annapurna Kholker and Kalpit Nadkarni, miraculously escaped with minor injuries.

Chodanker was rushed to the Asilo Hospital at Mapusa, but was declared dead on admission.

The driver of the car (GA-01-E-3957) Shounak Pai and two occupants, Sanjeet Gupta and L Braganza, who sustained injuries, are undergoing treatment at Asilo Hospital. Police has registered an offence against Shounak Pai on charges of rash and negligent driving.

BELGAUM CORRESPONDENT ADDS: A New Year’s party in Goa came to a tragic end for three youth from Belgaum, when they lost their lives in the wee hours of Saturday.

According to police reports, Shanki Shantilal Porwal (23), Mehul Prakash Porwal (25) and Dheeresh Anand Khoda(24) were returning to Belgaum from Goa, reportedly after attending a late night New Year party there.

The Chevrolet Optra car (KA-22-MD-18) rammed into a culvert wall along the Belgaum-Vengurla Road near Sulga, about 8 kms from Belgaum at around 5.30 am killing all the three youngsters.

Police Inspector Viswanath Kulkarni of Belgaum Rural police station told Herald that the youth lost control of the car due to over speeding and drowsiness.

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Pg3 GOA, SUNDAY, 2 JANUARY, 2011

9 held for kidnapping Khareband resident HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JAN 1

Margao police have arrested nine persons in connection with the complaint of kidnapping lodged by one Mohammed Asif Inamdar on Saturday.

Margao PI Santosh Desai said the police registered the offence of kidnapping after Asif alleged that he was forcibly taken from Khareband by the accused and tied to a chair on a building, before being mercilessly beaten up by the accused persons.

The complaint stated that the accused called up his uncle and demanded a ransom of Rs one lakh for his release.

“This appears to be the case of technical kidnapping. The accused persons have contended that the complainant allegedly owes them money amounting to Rs one lakh when he was working in their shop. But, that has not given them any right to mercilessly assault the victim”, PI Desai said.

He informed that the accused

The victim convalescing at the Hospicio Hospital, Margao.

Photo by Santosh Mirajkar

was working in a cell phone shop owned by the accused and had had left the establishment to take up a job in another shop.

The victim’s uncle told newsmen at Hospicio that the shop owner has called Mohammed back for work in the establishment, which was turned down, antag-

onising the owner.

The accused has contended that the victim has left the establishment as he owed the money”, PI Desai said, adding that this has not given the accused the right to forcibly take the victim and assault him to hand over the money.

Pune tourist attacked at Candolim HERALD CORRESPONDENT CALANGUTE, JAN 1

A tourist from Pune was brutally attacked by two youth at Candolim on New Year’s day.

According to Calangute police, the incident took place as the tourist was proceeding in a car, while the youth were riding a Honda Activa scooter.

The Activa scooter damaged the side mirrors of the car, which irritated the occupants in the car, who chased the duo for some distance.

An altercation then took place between the two groups and the duo allegedly stabbed Prakash Pandey (32) in the back and fled from the scene.

Pandey sustained grievous injuries and was rushed to GMC hospital at Bambolim in a critical condition.

No arrests have been made so far and PSI Narayan Chimulkar is investigating the case.

Meet to review NH-17 alignment next week HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JAN 1

The PWD will have a meeting with NHAI later next week to review the road alignment of the NH-17 passing through South Goa. PWD Minister, Churchill Alemao said that the NH-4 alignment has been finalised and the process to effect changes to the NH-17 alignment will be set in motion later next week.

“I have convened a meeting with the PWD, NHAI and other officials to discuss the NH-17 alignment. The meeting will deliberate on the apprehensions raised by the people on the highway passing through residential areas”, he said.

Saying he is committed to save the houses and other structures of the people, Alemao said that the report of the meeting will be placed before the MLAs for their final approval.

“The government has no intention to bulldoze the NH-17 project. We have received complaints and fears from the public. Wherever possible, the alignment will be changed to save the structures”, he assured. Referring to the huge traffic snarls witnessed on the highways and road leading

4 accused in Moti Dongor case still at large

HSS lab asst booked for cheating bank HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JAN 1

HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JAN 1

The remaining four accused in the Moti Dongor attack case are still in hiding, stated Margao police on Saturday.

Margao PI Santosh Desai informed that the accused might have fled the State and headed towards Mumbai as raids on possible hideouts in the State proved futile.

He said the mobile phones of the main accused Bashir Sheikh is found switched off, adding that information suggests that he might have fled to Mumbai.

The Margao police have already arrested four persons in the case for attempt to murder Maqbool and others at Moti Dongor earlier this week. The four persons are still behind the bars, even as sources said they are expected to move for regular bail in the South Goa Sessions court on Monday.

2 held for molesting minor girls HERALD CORRESPONDENT MARCEL, JAN 1

Two men ended the old year getting assaulted by an irate mob and ushered in the New Year in police lockup, when they were arrested on charges of molesting minor girls from Khapsha-Panchawadi in Shiroda on Friday night.

According to Ponda police, the two accused, Adolf Rodrigues and Mohammad Christy, were arrested after locals complained that both were filming video clips of minor girls and allegedly molested them.

According to reports, the two accused began recording video clips of minor girls on their camera at about 9 pm. Sensing trouble, the girls ran home and reported the matter to their family. A group of villagers rushed to the site and confronted the two youth. When the accused could not give them a satisfactory explanation, an irate mob assaulted them and also damaged the car allegedly used by the accused.

They were later handed over to Ponda police.

A float parades through the streets of Santa Cruz as part of the New Year’s serenade on Saturday.

Duo wounded, 2 cricketers escape unhurt in mishaps HERALD NEWS BUREAU PANJIM, JAN 1

Two persons were injured while two cricketers had a lucky escape in two separate mishaps at Porvorim and Dabolim on New Year’s Day. PORVORIM CORRESPONDENT ADDS: Two motorcycle riders were injured in a mishap near the Mandovi Bridge on Saturday morning.

According to Porvorim police, Sushant Pal was proceeding towards Panjim on his motorcycle (GA-03-J-8419). When he reached near the Mandovi Bridge, a motorcycle rider, Dhansing Rajput, who was also proceeding towards Panjim on his motorcycle (GA-07-D-0763) collided with the vehicle of Sushant Pal. Both riders sustained injuries and were admitted to Goa Medical College Hospital at Bambolim for treatment. Constable Vithu Subhedar is investigating the case.

VASCO REPORTER ADDS: Two

A recent circular issued by the South Goa Collector is expected to greatly benefit those who have applied for mutation of survey records and whose applications were kept pending inordinately by mamlatdars and talathis due to one reason or the other.

In most cases, the circular is likely to put an end to all the frequent visits otherwise made by applicants to get to know the status of their mutation applications.

The circular has simplified the lengthy procedure that needs to be followed in certain cases.

If the officers concerned follow the circular in the right earnest, it would take barely 30 days for a person to get his/her name included in Form I & XIV. The collector was compelled to issue the circular given the numerous complaints received

by his office regarding a delay in processing mutation cases.

The various instructions issued in the circular have clear cut specifications for the officers concerned to take note of the same.

Additional powers have been conferred on the deputy collector to complete the mutation process and certify the mutation cases himself in cases of delay in mutation process by the mamlatdar.

The circular has directed all the mamlatdars of South Goa district to ensure that they direct the talathis to return all the mutation files back to the mamlatdar’s office within two days with proper account. The circular has also directed the mamlatdars to dispose the applications expeditiously.

The instructions issued in the circular states: “If the person selling the property is the same whose name is appearing in Form I & XIV, there shall be no necessity of issuance of any notice if the

Photo by Rozario Estibeiro

The Margao police have registered a case of cheating against a laboratory assistant employed with the higher secondar y school for allegedly cheating an urban cooperative bank.

Margao PI Santosh Desai informed that the employee obtained loans from the Aquem and Margao branches of the bank by submitting salary certificate which did not reflect any deductions on account of loan repayments.

He said the police have received two complaints against the lab assistant from the bank managers after the accused failed to repay the loans.

“One is free to take many loans, but the deductions of loan repayments should reflect in the salary certificate. This was not complied in this instant case”, PI Desai said.

Meanwhile, the Margao police have registered a case of misappropriation against a manager of a city petrol pump for allegedly misappropriating Rs 1.6 lakh.

K’taka couple held for theft of ornaments HERALD CORRESPONDENT CALANGUTE, JAN 1

The Anjuna police have arrested a couple from Karnataka on charges of stealing gold ornaments worth Rs 3 lakh from the residence of Maria Mendonca, when she had gone for the midnight mass.

According to Anjuna police, the couple was employed with the Mendonca family for last three years and are suspected to have committed the offence.

The husband-wife duo was arrested by Anjuna police based on a complaint by Maria Mendonca, who suspected their involvement in the theft of gold and other ornaments.

Anjuna police are investigating.

The ill-fated Santro car by the roadside near the MES College junction at Dabolim.

Photo by M Prabhav

cricketers miraculously escaped unhurt in a road mishap near the MES college junction at Dabolim early Saturday morning.

Speaking to Herald, Sher Bahadur Yadav said he along with Hemant Shetgaokar, a cricketer with Sarvodaya Royals Sanguem in the present Goa Premier League (GPL), were driving in a Hyundai Santro car (GA-06-D0723) towards Vasco.

Yadav is a prominent cricketer with the Al-Fatha team, after he was snapped by PVG Warrior Margao for a staggering Rs 4.25 lakh. He is also a player in the ongoing GPL. “One tyre burst and the car went out of control and rammed into a roadside fender. We were lucky to have escaped unhurt.

However, I am fit to play in the semi-final tomorrow against Macvek,” said Yadav.

Collector’s circular likely to benefit mutation applicants HERALD CORRESPONDENT SANGUEM, JAN 1

to the coastal belt of the State on New Year’s eve, Alemao said the time has come to do a serious introspection on the highway. “The time has come to widen the highways to meet the growing traffic requirements. At the same time, the government is committed to save and protect the houses of the citizens”, he added.

Residents of Nuvem and Verna last year came on the streets opposing the NH-17 alignment, saying the present alignment would destroy the water bodies, including the River Sal. Similarly, residents of Dandeavaddo in Chinchinim had been demanding a bypass road for the highway as the present alignment would destroy residential houses along the highway. It had been the consistent argument of the residents of Dandeavaddo that they had just a few years ago shifted their houses to make way for the existing highway and wondered whether the people are expected to raze down their houses and shift their structures every time the highway is being widened by the government.

seller is identifiable with a photo identity on the instrument. In such cases, the mamlatdar shall immediately certify the mutation. If the deed is executed through Power of Attorney than notices be issued as is the practice.”

“Further, if the person selling the property is the heir/successor of the person whose name is appearing in Form I & XIV and reference to that effect is made in the Deed of Sale referring to Deed of Succession/Relinquishment/Inventory proceedings, etc. and if the seller is identifiable with photo identity on the registered instrument, the mamlatdar shall immediately certify the mutation without issuance of any notices. If required, the mamlatdar may ask for indemnity from the applicant.”

“In cases where proper link is not available to establish the relation between the sellers and the person whose name is appearing in Form I & XIV, the

mamlatdar shall issue notices to persons whose names appear in Form I & XIV and follow the mutation procedure. However, if the applicant produces No Objection in the form of an affidavit of the persons whose names appear in Form I & XIV than notices need not be issued. If required, the mamlatdar may call for indemnity letter.”

Austrian nabbed for drug peddling HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JAN 1

Anti Narcotic Cell (ANC) last night arrested a 25-year-old Austrian national for possessing banned LSD tablets worth Rs 3 lakh.

The raid conducted by police sub inspector Tushar Lotlikar found that the accused Oliver Pinz was selling drugs near Anjuna gram panchayat at around 8 am.

Police said that the accused had arrived in Goa a month back and was staying in the coastal belt.

The accused was produced before Judicial Magistrate First Class, Panjim today and remanded to seven days police custody.

OHERALDO

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Give opportunity to differently-abled persons to showcase talent: Bishop

Rajesh takes over as KR Director

HERALD CORRESPONDENT OLD GOA, JAN 1

HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JAN 1

Archbishop-Patriarch Felipe Neri Ferrao has appealed to the people to give an opportunity to the differently-abled persons, so that their worthy contribution could enrich the society.

He was speaking at the Annual Day of St Xavier’s Academy School Complex at Old Goa, where an exhibition cum sale was conducted of the handmade articles by the differently-abled students.

“The beautiful items at the exhibition by the differentlyabled children is a powerful testimony of the tremendous wealth of talents that God has blessed them with,” said Archbishop Ferrao.

The exhibition had several stalls consisting of a variety of flowers and paper bags, thermocol decoration and pen stands, coconut articles, arborics and hard brooms, candles, thread and wool work, jewellery, clothing, crochet, embroider y, painting and scenery, cards and envelopes, bakery products, sweets and pickles.

There were even plants for sale along with the PTA stalls which had several food items prepared by parents of the

Rajesh Tripathi, ME (Civil Engineering), an Officer of Indian Railway Service of Engineers, has taken over as Director (Way & Works) on Konkan Railway recently.

Prior to joining KRCL, Tripathi has held various important and prestigious assignments such as Project Director of IRCON at Malaysia, Executive Director (Public Grievances) to Hon’ble Minister of State for Railways and Director (Works) as well as Director (Track Modernization) in the Ministry of Railways.

Besides, Tripathi has also worked as Chief Engineer (Track Management System) on Northern Railway, Chief Engineer (Construction) on North Eastern Railway and as Senior Divisional Engineer and Deputy Chief Engineer on Western Railway and in various capacities at Rail Coach Factory, Kapurtala and Dahod Workshop of Western Railway.

Manager of St Xavier Academy Fr Valerian Vaz guides Archbishop Felipe Neri Ferrao during the exhibition.

students.

Speaking on behalf of the birthday celebrations of Fr Valerian Vaz, Manager of St Xavier’s Academy, Archbishop Ferrao said: “Every child who comes in this world comes with a message from god. As we celebrate Fr Valerian’s birthday I think God is giving this message to us that Fr Valerian is a witness of His compassionate love along with a compassionate heart like Jesus and has his hands eager

to reach out to every one.”

In his speech, Fr Valerian thanked the teaching and non- teaching staff who contribute generously to the institution. He also expressed his gratitude to the parents for reposing their faith in the institution for the overall growth of their wards.

Earlier, the school Headmistress Sr Monica presented a report on the achievements of the institution. She in-

GKA to organise drama festival HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, JAN 1

The 19th Konkani drama festival will be inaugurated by senior drama artist Rajaram Naik on January 4 at Bandora, Nageshim at 6.30 pm in presence of Transport Minister Sudin Dhavalikar as the chief guest and Madkai Sarpanch Sukhanand Kurpaskar as guest of honour.

The drama festival will be held from January 4 to 9 by Goa Konkani Akademi in collaboration with Antruz Lallitak, Bandora, Nageshim.

Four Konkani dramas and one tiatr will be staged in

this festival according to following schedule daily at 7 pm: On January 4, Gramin Kala ani Sanskritik Saunstha, Valpoi will stage the drama ‘Homkand’; on January 5, Sree Santeri Krida ani Saunskritik Mandal, Ustem-Sattari will stage the drama ‘Ranngem’; on January 6, Goenkranchi Konkani Bhas, Sangeet Kala ani Sanunskritik Kendra, Merces, will stage the tiatr ‘Korta ti Vatt’; on Januar y 7, Abhiyan Arts, Povorim, will stage the drama ‘Aass’; and on Januar y 8, Antruz Lallitak, Bandora, Nageshim, will stage

‘Ashench ani Etkench’. On January 9, from 1 am to 1 pm, GKA will organise a discussion on dramas and tiatr staged in the festival.

Madhukar Joshi, Jawarhar Barve and Narayan Dessai have been specially appointed by GKA to observe this festival.

Writers, directors, artists, observers and selected spectators of the drama are expected to participate in the discussion and will present their views.

The festival is open for all and no tickets will be charged for watching the dramas.

formed that six students had appeared for the SSC exams, of which five secured a first class and one got a second class.

Later, prizes were also given to the differently-abled kids for the various efforts in education and other extra-curricular activities by the chief guest of the function.

One booked for poisoning stray dogs

Literature and Language

Origin

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

The IPA was first published in 1888 by the Association Phonétique Internationale (International Phonetic Association), a group of French language teachers founded by Paul Passy. The aim of the organisation was to devise a system for transcribing the sounds of speech which was independent of any particular language and applicable to all languages. A phonetic script for English created in 1847 by Isaac Pitman and Henry Ellis was used as a model for the IPA.

Uses

The IPA is used in dictionaries to indicate the pronunciation of words.

It has often been used as a basis for creating new writing systems for previously unwritten languages.

The IPA is used in some foreign language text books and phrase books to transcribe the sounds of languages which are written with non-Latin alphabets. It is also used by non-native speakers of English when learning to speak English.

NATO Phonetic Alphabet

The NATO phonetic alphabet is a list of words used to identify letters in a message transmitted by radio or telephone. Spoken words from an approved list are substituted for letters.

For example, the word "Navy" would be "November Alfa Victor Yankee" when spelled in the phonetic alphabet. This practice helps to prevent confusion between similar sounding letters, such as "m" and "n", and to clarify communications that may be garbled during transmission. The words chosen to represent some letters have changed since the phonetic alphabet was introduced. When these

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changes occur, they are made by international agreement. The current phonetic alphabet was adopted in 1957.

Letter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Khurshid assures to take up Kabrastan issue with CM

GPCC President Subhash Shirodkar welcomes Union Minister for Minorities Affairs Salman Khurshid, during his recent visit to Junta House, Panjim. Also present are vice President M K Sheikh, AICC member Shambhubhau Bandedkar, general secretary Arthur Sequeira and others.

HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, JAN 1

Union Minister for Minorities Affairs, Salman Khurshid, visited Congress House on Saturday and interacted with the Congress workers. He was welcomed by GPCC President

Code Alfa Bravo Charlie Delta Echo Foxtrot Golf Hotel India Juliett Kilo Lima Mike November Oscar Papa Quebec Romeo Sierra Tango Uniform Victor Whiskey X-ray Yankee Zulu

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Email Junior Herald at junior@herald-goa.com or join our Facebook fan page. Our readers are invited to rave, rant, chat or even contribute. No message will go unanswered!

Subhash Shirodkar and appreciated his address at the AICC plenary in New Delhi.

Addressing the Congress workers Salman Khurshid spoke about the political situation in Uttar Pradesh and also promised Muslim workers that he will take

Sanguem students made aware on RTI Act

HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JAN 1

Panjim police have filed a case against a person from Miramar for poisoning stray dogs.

Officials stated that Angela Qazi, animal lover and office bearer of Peoples Animal Welfare Society, has lodged a complaint against one Bharat (full name not known) staying at Lake View colony Miramar.

Qazi has said that Bharat in past had poisoned four stray dogs and in a recent instance, he poisoned a dog who was later treated at veterinary Dr Mahadeo Naik.

Police have registered case under section 429 of IPC and further investigations are on.

Advocate Anjali Phaldessai addresses the Legal Literacy Camp at Union High School, Sanguem.

Photo by Alfred Fernandes HERALD CORRESPONDENT SANGUEM, JAN 1

A legal literacy camp organised

by Sanguem Taluka Legal Services Committee in association with District Legal Services Au-

RTI Citizen award for Rajan Ghate

thority, South Goa, was conducted for SSC students at Union High School, Sanguem.

Advocates Anand Gaonkar, Abilasha Naik and Anjali Phaldessai were the resource persons at the camp.

Anand Gaonkar spoke on the ‘Right to Information Act’ and outlined the various authorities and departments that come under the purview of the Act. Anjali Phaldessai provided the students with the provisions relating to the newly envisaged ‘Anti Ragging Act’, while Abilasha Naik spoke of free legal aid and those entitled to get benefits under the scheme constituted by the Legal Cell.

Earlier, A Fernandes welcomed the students while Abilasha Naik proposed the vote of thanks.

HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, JAN 1

Rajan Savio Ghate has been declared the fifth winner in Best RTI Citizen of the ‘National RTI Awards 2010’ declared recently

by National RTI Awards Secretariat, New Delhi.

Rajan was awarded for his relentless fight against illegal buying of Goan land by foreign nationals in violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). He raked up the issue using RTI Act. As a result, four years down the line, the government has started to take action and issue strict directions to the Registrar not to register land in the name of foreigners.

Rajan with four other winners was shortlisted after several rounds of scrutiny out of 726 applications that were received

Directorate of Art and Culture is conducting a ‘Logo’ designing contest with the theme ‘Golden Jubilee Year of Goa Liberation’ to give symbolic form to the 50th Year of Goa’s Liberation.

The best logo will be used as official logo. The contest is open for any citizen of Goa or a firm.

The winner will be awarded Rs 50000.

Each participant can submit maximum of three logos, in black and white as well in colour, on the prescribed theme of Goa’s Liberation. The logos must

Rajan Savio Ghate

by the Secretariat. The other winners are Vinita Kamte of Maharashtra, Manoj Kumar Karwasra and Ramesh Kumar Verma of Haryana and Athar Shamsi of Uttar Pradesh.

Polls to p’yat wards, PMC ward on Jan 30 The State Election Commission will conduct bye-elections on January 30, to fill up vacancies that have arisen in following wards and municipal council: Ward 5 of Cana Benaulim Panchayat and Ward 5 of Verna Panchayat in Salcete, Ward 1 (reserved for women) of Mollem Panchayat in Sanguem, Ward 6 (reserved for ST women) of Ambaulim Panchayat in Quepem and Ward 9 (reserved for ST) of Pernem Municipal Council.

Nomination papers will be accepted by the Returning Officers between 10 am to 1 pm from January 3 to January 11

except on January 8 and January 9. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on January 12 from 10 am onwards. Withdrawal of nomination papers can be done on January 13 from 10 am to 2 pm. Polls will be conducted on January 30 from 8 am to 5 pm.

Counting of the votes will be taken on January 31 from 8 am onwards at the offices of the respective Mamlatdars who have been appointed as the Returning Officers to conduct the bye-elections.

Nomination forms will be available in the office of the Returning Officer during office hours.

‘Sangeet Meera’ wins in M’rashtra HERALD CORRESPONDENT COLLEM JAN 1

The ‘Sangeet Meera’ drama by Paikdev Bholanath Saunstha of Mollem bagged first prize in the 50th drama contest at SangliMaharastra.

Individual prizes were also awarded to Appa Bablo Gaonkar, Madhura Lala Shirodkar, Manoj Ganpule, Arjun Arondekar, Nagesh Ganesh Fadte and Sind-

hiya Babuli Chari.

The other artistes in the drama were Pradeep Harmalkar.

Ramkrishna Gaonkar, Dinanath, Pratksha Pilankar, Shivaji Dessai, Santosh Sawant, Aparna Gaonkar and Anant Redkar.

Appa Gaonkar, president of the Saunstha, informed that the Saunstha has been participating in this drama contest since the past 26 years.

up the Kabrastan issue with the Chief Minister. A delegation of Muslims from Margao also called upon the Union Minister and discussed the Kabrastan issue with him. The programme was compered by M K Shaikh, who also proposed the vote of thanks.

Citizens urged to join civil defence HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, JAN 1

President of State ex-Cadets NCC Association (SENA) Adv Avinash Bhosle has said that one must be prepared with plans for protection of life and property of the people in any eventuality.

“Our best insurance for peace is to prepare for war and to be ready for all contingencies. We must also build up our strength as to prevent an enemy to risk war with us. Our civil defence must be in a fortified position as our military potential,” he added.

Adv Bhosle said that in many states, NCC cadets work hand in hand with the civil defence authorities and therefore urged all the NCC cadets, NSS volunteers ex-NCC cadets and other citizens to join the civil defence organisation. Adv Bhosle said that those interested my contact John Aguiar on 9822159705.

Logo contest on Goa’s Liberation

HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, JAN 1

HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, JAN 1

GOA

be original and should not resemble any existing logo or design. They could either by done by hand or by the aid of computer.

A jury constituted of distinguished personalities will assess and select the prize winning logo.

Application forms and details of the contest will be available from January 3 at the Office of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Shram Shakti Bhavan, 5th floor, Patto-Panjim, 2438103. Entries must be submitted to the Directorate by January 14.

UPCOMING EVENTS Portuguese basic course

PANJIM (HND): The Xavier Centre of Historical Research, (www.xchr.in) at Alto Porvorim will organize a Portuguese Basic Course from January 3 to March 20 from 6 pm to 8 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays,and Fridays. For further details contact the office at Ph: 2417772.

Pharmashree awards

PANJIM (HND): Pharmashree Awards will be presented by President of All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists J S Shinde, to senior members of Chemists and Druggists Association of Goa on their completion of 100 years in pharma trade at a function to be held on January 2 at International Centre, Dona Paula, at 10.30 am.

Museum Week from Jan 3

PANJIM (HND): Directorate of Museums will celebrate the ‘Museum Week 2011’ from January 3 to 7. The week will be inaugurated by Chairperson of Goa State Law Commission Adv Ramakant Khalap on January 3 at 11 am.

Freedom fighter and chairperson of Marg Trust of Goa Gurunath Kelekar will be the guest of honour while Museum Secretary V P Rao will preside over the function. An exhibition titled ‘A retrospect of living tradition of Goan folks’ will be organized on the occasion.

On January 4, there will be a lecture by Poornima Kerkar on the topic ‘Loksanskrutil Stri-man’ at 3.30 pm. On January 5, Cosma Fernandes will deliver his lecture on ‘Mando’ at 3.30 pm. On January 6, Sonia Naik will give talk on ‘Role of Museum in Tourism’.

The film shows will also be arranged on January 4 to 6, from 10 am to 12 noon.

On January 7, there will be a painting competition for the high school students of South Goa at 10.30 am. A valedictory and prize distribution function will be organised at 3.30 pm.

Public and students are requested to visit the museum on the occasion and participate in the programmes during the week.

POWER SHUTDOWN JANuARy 2 SANVORDEM: From 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are Sanvordem, Tisk, Mapa and Panchawadi and surrounding areas.

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Pg5 GOA, SUNDAY, 2 JANUARY, 2011

Ministry accedes to demand on changes to CRZ notification HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, JAN 1

Acceding to the demands of the fishing community, the Ministry of Environment and Forests has agreed to drop or modify many provisions of the Draft Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) 2010 notification.

The draft notification, brought out in September 2010, had drawn the ire of the fishing communities for its failure to reverse the liberal permissions that are provided for industries by the much amended CRZ notification of 1991 that is currently in force. The provisions for fishermen housing were also felt to be grossly inadequate.

Though the draft notification came in the wake of a series of public consultations in all coastal states, most of them personally attended by Minister of Environment Jairam Ramesh, fishing communities strongly felt that their views were not properly reflected in the draft.

The coast wide mobilisation against the draft notification under the leadership of the Na-

Matanhy Saldanha in discussion with Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.

tional Fishworkers Forum (NFF) found significant support from leaders cutting across the political spectrum and State Governments, notably Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Recognising the importance of fishing community cooperation for coastal protection, Jairam Ramesh personally intervened to break the deadlock.

He invited leaders of the fishing community for a dialogue. This

resulted in two rounds of discussions between the NFF and a Ministry representative at Mundra (Kutch) and Delhi that helped to narrow down the differences.

A NFF team led by its chairperson Matanhy Saldanha and general secretary Rambhau Patil met the Minister for a final round of discussions on December 29 at Delhi. Others who participated in the discussion were

T Peter, Pradip Chatterjee, Gilbert Rodrigo, Kiron Koli, V Vivekanandan and Chandrika Sharma.

While recognising that some important differences remain, the Minister agreed to many of the fishing community demands.

He announced that the new notification will come out in the first week of January after making the modifications agreed upon. In a significant policy pronouncement, he also agreed that the Ministry will start working on replacing the notification with an Act of Parliament.

Matanhy Saldanha appreciated the openness of the Minister for dialogue and thanked him for accepting most of the demands put forward by the fishing community. However, he said that the NFF has strong objections to some of the provisions that will remain in the notification like the installation of nuclear power plants on the coast. He said that the NFF will make a more detailed comment once the notification is finalised and brought out by the Ministry.

Tiswadi survey plans launched HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, JAN 1

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat inaugurated commissioning of survey plans for Tiswadi taluka including Panjim city. Revenue Minister Jose Philip D’Souza also graced the occasion.

With the launching of new survey plans for Tiswadi, citizens can now set survey plans from Directorate of Settlement and Land Records within 3-4 days of applying for them.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister expressed satisfaction for launching the survey plans. He said Goa was the only State in the country to provide such computer generated land records.

Chief Minister complimented the Department for the work.

He said this facility will benefit common man.

The work of commissioning of the resurvey plans for Bardez will be taken up next and will be completed within a year. The work of resurvey of Tiswadi taluka has cost Rs 80 lakhs.

Collector Mihir Vardhan and Director, Directorate of Settlement and Land Records also spoke on the occasion.

‘Stars of Navelim’ sing Goa-IDC employees hold meet carols for senior citizens HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, DEC 31

HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, JAN 1

‘Stars of Navelim’, a young and e n e rg e t i c g ro u p re c e n t l y arranged a special programme by a group that sang carols and other traditional songs to celebrate the Christmas for the senior citizens of Recreation Center, Pedda-Margao. This is

a yearly event held at the Center.

Tulsidas Malkarnekar welcomed and appreciated the talents of the singers and praised them for keeping entertaining senior citizens who attended the evening function. The group was presented with memento as a token appreciation.

The 9th special general meeting of Goa-IDC Employees Cooperative Credit Society Ltd, Panjim was held recently at TB Cunha Memorial Hall, Panjim.

While addressing the gathering, chairman of the Society Jayant H Shirwaikar lauded the role of the society in moulding the lives of its members and in turn, the employees of GoaIDC all these years. He informed that the Society has been in operation for over a period of 20 years with the co-operation of its members and Board of Directors.

General secretary P N Parab presented the statutory audit report before the members.

He highlighted the various achievements of the society over the year and informed the members that Society has been successful in retaining

Goa-IDC Employees’ Co-op Credit Society’s Chairman J H Shirwaikar felicitating retired employee Janbe Hule at a function organised at T B Cunha Memorial Hall, Panjim.

‘A’ Audit classification this year too. He further informed the members that Society has made a net profit/surplus of Rs 1,81,472 as of March 31, 2010. It was therefore unani-

HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JAN 1

Chinchinim art expo features local, international artists HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, JAN 1

Art exposure may have been rather limited to Panjim and Calangute area, with Margao lagging far behind. Now in a first of its kind, an art exhibition is being held in Chinchinim, at the Chinchinim Community Centre, showcasing artworks of local, national and international artists.

In all eight veteran Goan artists, UK and Japan based artists are putting up their works for public viewing on fourth and fifth instant. Dr J W Malenkos, a US-based physician, will inaugurate the exhibition. The artists Ralph de Loyola Furtado, John Pereira, Savia D’Costa, Dr Mrs Savia Viegas, Betty Braganza (UK), Dr Susheela Fernandes, Akero Barros Pereira (Japan) and Dr M de Loyola Furtado, will participate in the exhibition.

Works on display will consist of oil, acrylic, water colours, felt, charcoal, pastels, crayons, and mixed media, says the press release.

The organisers said that art and art paintings in the past had been exclusive activity of the rich and privileged sections

of society both abroad and in India. In the last few years however, art galleries mushroomed in the metros and the cities. Goa has had a late start with galleries like Gitanjali, Sunaparanta, Ruchika coming

up in Panjim, besides Kala Academy and some in Calangute areas showcasing local talent through exhibitions and art competitions, stated a press note issued by Dr Max de Loyola Furtado.

due to faulty specifications.

“The council has written to the company supplying the vehicle and it has agreed to reduce the size of the tank,” said Shirodkar.

Shirodkar, however, came down heavily on a former chairperson as well as chief officer Gopal Parsekar for procuring the vehicle without an inspection.

“This only suggests that the MMC’s technical department has failed in its duties,” she said.

The faulty MMC tanker lying idle at the Mormugao Municipal Council.

HERALD REPORTER VASCO, JAN 1

It should have been supplying water to various parts of the port town, but a brand new water tanker of the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) has been idle since the past four months.

Reason? Faulty specifications of the water tanker have prompted the road transport authorities to withhold the registration of the vehicle.

In a desperate bid to replace its three-decade old water tanker, the MMC had to struggle past two ministers before it was given a new water tanker.

The MMC’s happiness was, however, short-lived. The tanker supplied to the MMC was flawed in its specifications and the RTO refused to register the vehicle.

As a result, the water tanker has been lying idle in the MMC premises since the past four months.

“During an RTO inspection, the tank was found overweight on the chassis of a Tata Turbo EX vehicle. When the tank is filled with water, it should weigh around 7.5 tonnes. However, this tank was found to be weighing around 10.3 tonnes. The overweight tank could lead to accidents and hence,

Honda school excels mously decided to declare dividend and patronage refund to members.

Tw o re t i re d e m p l o y e e s Janba R Hule and Romaldina Bogot were felicitated.

National Road Safety Week from Jan 3

A mechanical crib at St Lawrence Church, Agassaim, which will remain open for public viewing till January 26, from 6 pm to 11 pm. The crib was prepared by Hilario Pereira, Xavier Gracias, George Gonsalves, Steven Vaz, Victor Gracias, Andrew Lopes, E Dias and other parishioners.

Brand new MMC water tanker tanked due to faulty specs

GOACAN will observe the 22nd National Road Safety Week from January 3 to create awareness among the consumers on the need for their participation to implement solutions in traffic management and reduce road accidents in Goa. During the week, GOACAN along with the consumer forums will promote the importance of setting up road safety & traffic management committees by the village panchayats and municipal councils to ensure citizens participation at the grass root level.

GOACAN will also promote the usefulness of the Traffic Warden Scheme which ensures the participation of citizens in managing traffic and reducing accidents at the city and village levels.

In the wake of the large number of deaths of pedestrians in road accidents in 2010, consumer forum volunteers will promote the benefits of notified bus stops, bus bays, footpaths, zebra crossings, subways, proper parking, maintenance of speed breakers and proper signages.

The safe transportation of hazardous substances by road will also be highlighted by GOACAN during the week so as to

reduce the number of accidents and avoid the subsequent disastrous consequences.

GOACAN coordinator Roland Martins said the NGO would pursue with the Directorate of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services, Directorate of Panchayats, Directorate of Municipal Administration and the District Magistrates to initiate a campaign to free the roads of stray cattle. This would involve the village panchayats and municipal councils taking steps to make their cattle pounds effective on one hand while identifying the stray cattle danger zones with proper signages on the other, he added.

He said GOACAN will continue to highlight the need for comfortable, affordable, safe and effective public transport which would include bus services provided by Kadamba Transport Corporation Ltd and private operators so as to limit the use of personal vehicles for commuting daily, reduce traffic congestion and road accidents.

During the week, the NGO will also highlight the special needs of the disabled in the context of road safety, which includes special signages, parking spaces, training and awareness programs.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT MARCEL, JAN 1

Shri Mahalaxmi Shikshan Samiti’s High School at HondaSattari has excelled at various competitions during the year.

A press note issued here states that the school secured the third prize in the 5-km walk at the Under-17 taluka level competition organised by the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs.

The school also won the fiveover tennis ball cricket tournament organized by Vividha Higher secondary school at Naveli-Amona.

The school bagged three prizes in the essay writing competition (Sattari taluka) organized by the Gomantak Maratha Samaj to commemorate birth centenary celebration of Bahusaheb Bandodkar and the second prize in another Marathi essay writing competition organised by the Department of Art and Culture.

we have not registered the vehicle,” explained Assistant Transport Director Digamber Savoikar.

When contacted, MMC Chairperson Suchita Shirodkar admitted that the water tanker has been refused registration by the RTO

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INDIA

Avalanche threat in parts of HP; fog in Punjab, Haryana PTI NEW DELHI, JAN 1

Avalanche threat loomed large over some areas in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday as heavy snowfall affected life in the State, while thick fog was back at many places in Punjab and Haryana on New Year’s Day. Himachal Pradesh remained under the grip of cold wave as mercury dipped after snowfall in mid and higher hills led to a dip in night temperatures by three to five degrees. Day temperatures also stayed four to six degree below normal.

Several areas in capital Shimla and other mid and higher hills went without water in the morning as water pipes were frozen and vehicular traffic affected due to the thick ground frost.

The threat of avalanche looms over tribal areas of Lahaul and Kinnaur where people have been warned against venturing out during the day time.

The Manali-Leh road was blocked due to heavy snow

while Hindustan Tibet National Highway was opened upto Matiana. Vehicular traffic to Rampur was being routed via Basantpur and Kingal.

Lahaul, Darcha, Dhundhi, Koksar and other high altitude tribal areas were covered under thick blanket of 150 cm to 200 cm of snow while Rohtang Pass wore a 200 cm thick blanket of snow.

Keylong, the headquarter of tribal Lahaul and Spiti district, recorded minimum temperature at minus 9.7 deg C while Kalpa in Kinnaur recorded a low of minus 8.5 deg C. The high altitude tribal areas groaned under biting cold wave conditions with night temperature ranging between minus 12 and minus 18 deg C. The minimum temperature hovered around freezing point in lower hills with Solan, Sundernagar, Bhuntar, Mandi and Palampur recording a low of 0.2 deg, 1.1 deg, 1.3 deg and 2.7 deg C, respectively.

While Kalpa received 16.8 cm

of fresh snow, Palampur was wettest in the region with 50.6 mm of rains and Naina Devi and Baijnath received 30 mm and 20 mm rains.

It was a chilly end to 2010 in the national capital as a cool breeze blew across the city where the minimum temperature was recorded at 11 deg C in early morning from Friday’s 11.8 deg C while the maximum was at 17.8 deg C. While the minimum was four degrees above normal, the maximum was four degrees below normal.

An unidentified man died today due to cold in Jammu city, police said. The maximum cases of coldrelated deaths have been reported from Uttar Pradesh where the toll on Friday stood at 17.

Thick fog was reported from Punjab and Haryana, even as minimum temperatures in the two states settled a few notches above normal.

Fog prevailed early Saturday at many places, including Am-

bala, Hisar,Rohtak, Kurukshetra, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala while misty conditions persisted at Chandigarh, the Met said.

Chandigarh recorded a minimum temperature of 8.2 deg C, three above normal.

In Haryana, Ambala registered a low of 7.8 deg C, up by two notches while the minimum at Hisar was 7.1 deg C, also two above normal.

Ludhiana and Patiala in neighbouring Punjab recorded respective lows of 8.2 deg C and 7.9 deg C, both up by two degrees each.

Extreme cold conditions prevailed in several parts of Rajasthan with mercury dipping much below the freezing point in Mount Abu, the state’s only hill station.

Mercury dipped to minus 3.4 deg C in Mount Abu while Sikar in the planes recorded the low of 4.5 deg C. Other places recorded night temperatures in the range of 7.5 deg C to 10 deg C.

PTI BHOPAL, JAN 1

Rajnath flays Cong for remarks on Sanjay Gandhi

Two suspected terrorists, wanted in connection with some cases in Jammu and Kashmir, have been arrested from Talaiyaa area of the city, police said on Saturday.

The duo, who was apprehended late Friday night, hailed from Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh Director General of Police S K Raut told reporters here.

They have been identified as Shaukat Ahmed and Mehrajuddin Shergujri, the DGP said.

Raut said a police team from that state is expected to reach Bhopal soon as cases were registered against them in Jammu and Kashmir.

He said further information about the duo would be known only after interrogation.

fron party.

“Indira Gandhi and her government were responsible for emergency as her membership in the Parliament was under threat at that time,” Rajnath told reporters while rejecting Congress claim that Sanjay Gandhi was responsible for emergency.

The former national president also said that Congress is now holding Sanjay responsible as Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi are in the BJP. Sanjay Gandhi’s widow Maneka and son Varun are now BJP MPs and the latter is also a national secretary and election in-charge of the party for

2 suspected terrorists held

PTI BADAUN (UP), JAN 1

Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh has said that the Congress was holding Sanjay Gandhi responsible for the emergency as his wife and son are now in the saf-

Assam.

“The then PM Indira Gandhi imposed emergency to save her membership in the Lok Sabha,” Rajnath alleged.

He said that the BJP will soon expose scams of Rs 3 lakh crore during Congress regime.

He was referring to a Congress publication titled “Congress and the Making of the Indian Nation” on completion of 125 years of the party. The book, edited by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, states that Sanjay Gandhi acted in an “authoritarian and arbitrary manner” on issues of family planning and slum clearance during the Emergency.

Passengers wait for their trains at a railway station in Amritsar on New Year’s day. Thick winter fog disrupted travel across northern India causing delays on train and flight schedules.

Nitish Kumar’s mother passes away PTI PATNA, JAN 1

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s mother Parmeshwari Devi died on Saturday after protracted illness at his official residence here, officials at the chief minister’s house said.

As Kumar was exchanging New Year greetings with people, officials posted at the CM’s house informed him that his mother was serious and suffering from breathlessness.

An ambulance with a team of doctors was called to attend to her, but she fell unconscious and breathed her last with Kumar and other family members being at her bed side.

She was 92.

Traffic on Jammu-Srinagar NH partially restored PTI SRINAGAR, JAN 1

Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, the only road link between Kashmir and the rest of the country, was on Saturday restored partially after remaining closed for two days due to snowfall.

“One way traffic from Jammu to Srinagar has been restored today as the snow clearance operations were completed last evening,” an official of the Police Control Room said.

He said vehicles from Jammu were allowed to ply towards Srinagar on priority as most of the trucks carrying essential items to the Valley were stranded on

the 294-km road connecting the twin capital cities of the state.

A police official in Jammu said that over 2000 vehicles were stranded at various places on the highway and over 1300 vehicles have been cleared. 700 vehicles are in the process of being cleared, he said.

The Highway was closed on Thursday morning following moderate snowfall on either side of Jawahar Tunnel near Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir.

Most parts of the Valley witnessed temperatures close to zero degrees Celsius while the mercury plunged to as low as minus nine degrees Celsius in

VHP demands land for Ram temple construction PTI AYODHYA, JAN 1

Activists and college students pose with a banner proclaiming 'No Honking Day' on a street of New Delhi on Saturday. With unnecessary honking becoming a menace for Delhi and many other metropolitans across India, an NGO in collaboration with the Delhi Traffic Police observed January 1, 2011 as a ‘no honking day’ signalling stricter implementation of rules, including slapping of penalty on violators.

Judicial custody of Raja Bhaiya, SP MP extended PTI PRATAPGARH (UP), JAN 1

The judicial custody of Independent ML A Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, Samajwadi Party MP Shailendra Kumar, MLC Akshay Pratap Singh alias Gopalji, MLA Vinod Saroj and seven others was on Saturday extended by 14 days by a local court here.

According to prosecution sources, Chief Judicial Magistrate Manjula Sarkar extended the judicial custody on their plea that they needed more time for investigations against Shailendra Kumar, Vinod Saroj, Gopalji and Raja Bhaiya.

They were among the 11 people arrested on December 19 after an FIR was registered against them by Manoj Kumar Shukla, BSP candidate for Babuganj block head post, for allegedly threatening him.

They were later produced before a court which sent them to 14-days judicial custody.

Raja Bhaiya as well as his cousin and MLC Gopalji were brought amidst tight security from Bareilly jail, where they were shifted on December 26, to appear before the court, they said.

Accusing the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party government of being autocratic, Raja Bhaiya alleged that action was being taken against him under pressure from senior officers.

SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had earlier denounced the arrest of the four lawmakers, saying the ruling BSP was trying to terrorise its workers to win local body polls.

Condemning the arrest, SP state president Akhilesh Yadav had said, “Mayawati government is harassing Raja Bhaiya in a bid to demoralise him, but he will not bow down and we will struggle against his harassment.”

Vinod Saroj had also lodged a counter FIR against Shukla and 20 others.

Lalu, Naveen visit Jagannath temple PTI PURI, JAN 1

Lakhs of devotees including Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad on Saturday visited the Lord Jagannath temple here on New Year’s Day while reports of three non-Hindus having ‘intruded’ into the 12th century shrine caused a flutter among the temple authority.

While people made long queues before the temple to have ‘darshan’ of the deities, three youth, believed to be nonHindus, managed to enter into the shrine in the meele, 15 minutes before Patnaik’s arrival, police said.

The trio were, however, spotted inside the outer sphere of the temple and whisked away by some locals to an unknown place before the news spread, police said.

The priests wondered how the trio could enter the temple with tight security about 15 minutes before Chief Minister Patnaik’s arrival at the Lions Gate.

“There was tight security in and around the temple when Patnaik entered the premises,” said Laxminarayan Singhari, an elderly priest.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Saturday said it would launch a fresh agitation if the entire 67 acres of land at the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site here is not allotted for the construction of the Ram temple.

“We require the entire land for the grand temple that we want at the birthplace of Lord Ram,” VHP president Ashok Singhal told newspersons here, adding the work for carving of stones for the proposed temple would begin in a month’s time.

“There would be no new agitation for the construction of Ram temple as of now and the VHP would await for the apex court verdict on the issue,” he said.

The VHP president however warned that “in case the 67 acres of acquired land by the Union government was not

Chautala blames Hooda govt for farmer’s death

PTI CHANDIGARH, JAN 1

INLD president Om Prakash Chautala on Saturday blamed Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government in Haryana for the death of a farmer, who took part in a hunger strike to oppose the construction of a nuclear power plant in Fatehabad district.

“The farmer died because no one in the government cared to reach out to him. The poor farmer like several other peasants of that area had been protesting acquisition of land for the nuclear power plant,” Chautala, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, told a reporters

here.

70-year-old Bhagu Ram had been taking part in a hunger strike to oppose the construction of the nuclear power plant, and died due to cold on Thursday as his condition deteriorated.

“The farmers of that area have been sitting on dharna for 139 days, opposing the government’s move to acquire their land. Condition of many farmers has worsened while sitting on the protest for so long, but the government is apathetic towards their plight.

It (government) is wearing a pro-farmer mask and hiding a strong anti-farmer face behind,” he alleged.

The state government is acquiring land for setting up special economic zones but “till date not even a single SEZ has come up,” the former Chief Minister said.

Chautala also came down heavily on the Haryana’s new industrial policy which opens the door to the private sector under the PPP model. The new model was implemented today.

given for temple the outfit would stage a massive agitation.”

In case the 67 acres of acquired land by the Union government was not given for temple the outfit would stage a massive agitation.

- VHP Singhal said that according to estimates of architects, once construction begins, they would be in a position to install idols in the temple in one and a half year time. “The completion of the temple would however take longer,” he said, adding “We have appealed to Ram bhakts to donate for it and the work would be restarted soon.”

To a question, Singhal said there were shortcomings in the

case filed by Nirmohi Akhara, one of the main litigants in the Ayodhya dispute, in High Court as it had only laid claim over the right to pray and serve Ram Lala.

Singhal also criticised Jagatguru Shankaracharya Swami Swarupanandji over his recent statement in media proposing construction of the temple on lines of a Ram temple in Cambodia.

“When the model of the proposed temple was finalised it was in consultation with saints and religious leaders and now Swarupanand’s proposal of constructing it in any other style is unacceptable to us,” Singhal said.

Swarupanandji has always criticised the VHP for its temple movement and now we also sent a letter expressing our reservations over his proposal, Singhal added.

AP to file plea over issues affecting state PTI HYDERABAD, JAN 1

Andhra Pradesh will file an appeal before the Krishna River Water Disputes Tribunal in case of certain issues in the award that would affect the State’s interests.

In an informal chat with newsmen, the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said a team of experts was studying the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal’s award to identify the issues that would be detrimental to Andhra Pradesh.

“We will certainly go in for an appeal within the stipulated time against the issues that are not beneficial to us,” Kiran asserted.

The Brijesh Kumar Tribunal, in its award on Krishna water sharing, made a firm allocation of 1001 tmc ft of water to AP, an increase of 190 tmc ft as compared to the past.

However, the state's major concern is over the Tribunal’s permission to Karnataka to raise the height of Alamatti dam from 519 to 524.25 meters which would affect Kharif crop in over 13.5 lakh acres in the rice-rich Krishna Delta.

The state also had to forego its sole right over utilisation of surplus water as the Tribunal

made proportionate allocation to upper riparian states Maharashtra and Karnataka as well in surplus water. This would deprive AP of use of 190 tmc ft of surplus water.

Also, the reduction in the share of surplus water will adversely affect several irrigation projects in the state like GaleruNagari, Handri-Neeva, Veligonda, Srisailam Left Bank Canal, Nettempadu and Kalwakurthy (Lift).

Pahalgam.

The temperature fell 8.6 degrees below freezing point in Gulmarg skiing resort also, which is three to four degrees below normal for this time of the year.

Srinagar city recorded a minimum temperature of 0.8 degrees Celsius, which has resulted in melting of the snow accumulated on Thursday. Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a minimum of 1.0 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, dense fog in Jammu has disrupted the movement of trains due to fog since last night.

However, air operations were normal today.

Rajkhowa released on bail

PTI GUWAHATI, JAN 1

ULFA chief Arabinda Rajkhowa was on Saturday released from the Guwahati Central Jail, two days after his bail plea was granted by a designated TADA court.

Rajkhowa was received at the jail premises by his elder brother Dimbo Rajkhowa and other family members.

He will be attending several public receptions on way to his home town Lakhuwa in upper Assam, which he will be visiting after a gap pf 30 years. Rajkhowa, 54, went underground after the formation of the ULFA on April 7, 1979.

He was granted bail by a designated TADA court on December 30 with the Assam government filing no objection to it.

The court granted bail to Rajkhowa in six TADA cases for his release.

The hearing for the bail plea was earlier deferred thrice this month with the court on Monday asking the home and political department to submit an affidavit on his latest status.

Air Marshal Browne new Vice Chief of IAF PTI NEW DELHI, JAN 1

Ace fighter pilot Air Marshal N A K Browne on Saturday assumed charge as the new Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force at the Air Headquarters here.

He was formerly the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOCin- C) of IAF ’s Western Air Command (WAC), the largest and the most vital operational command of the IAF. He has succeeded Air Marshal P K Barbora, who retired Friday.

Leading with a vision statement – “People First Mission

Always”, he had ensured that the Command continued to maintain greater interaction with its three affiliated Army Commands – the Northern Command, Western Command and the South Western Command, which resulted in the successful conduct of many joint exercises, such as the Yodha Shakti in May 2010, said and IAF release.

The command continues to provide round the year air support to the Army units deployed in the glacier/northern region as well.

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Gujjar agitation: deadlock persists PTI JAIPUR, JAN 1

The deadlock between the Gujjars and the government over the quota issue persisted for the 13th day on Saturday with the agitators sticking to their demand for intervention of Congress leaders from their community before holding fresh parleys.

Gujjars leaders said they are waiting for a response from the Congress leaders of their community and would send their delegation to Jaipur if they satisfied with the feedback.

“No development yet. We are waiting for the response from Congress leaders of our community. They must meet the government and give us assurance that their party and the government is positive towards our demands,”

Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla told PTI on Saturday.

“We have already said that we are ready for talks and end the deadlock. We are not adamant but we want assurance before the delegation proceeds,” he said.

Official sources said a fresh invitation for the talks could be given to the Gujjars by the evening.

State Energy Minister Jitendra Singh is meeting some local Gujjar leaders.

In a flip-flop after agreeing to hold talks with the Government on Friday, the protestors had demanded the intervention of Congress leaders from the community before the third round of parleys aimed at ending their stir.

Gujjars have been blocking

Mumbai-Delhi rail tracks at Pilukapura in Bharatpur and at Malarna in Sawaimadhopur, Jaipur-Agra National Highway at Dausa and several other roads in Bharatpur, Sawaimadhopur, Karauli and Alwar in support of their demand.

Besides five per cent reservation in state jobs, the community members are demanding release of Gujjar agitators from jails, withdrawal of cases against them and compensation to the families of those killed in previous agitations.

The chief minister once again requested the agitators to break the impasse and come forward to hold talks so that the issue could be resolved.

“We are open for talks and committee of ministers waited for the Gujjar delegation Friday but they

did not turn up. They must understand the situation and come forward to hold talks because dialogues are very important to resolve any issue,” Gehlot told reporters on the sidelines of a function here on Saturday.

“It is painful for us also that the agitators have to spend their time on tracks but the government can do anything within a limited framework,” he said.

Later in the day, Union Minister of State Sachin Pilot, State Energy Minister Jitendra Singh and other local Congress leaders who are from the Gujjar community held a meeting at circuit house in Jaipur to discuss the issue.

Singh told reporters that the state government was quite positive to meet their demands and everything under the limits of the Constitution will be done

to satisfy the agitators.

He also said a delegation of Gujjars, which was supposed to come Friday, may come tonight or tomorrow for the next round of meeting with the state government.

On the other hand, Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla said the delegation will leave for Jaipur only after getting the feedback of the meeting (of Congress leaders).

“A delegation of Gujjar leaders of Congress is holding a meeting in Jaipur. They will inform us what they discussed in their meeting and what is the response of the government for the demands, then only we will send our delegation,” Bainsla told his men at Pilukapura, the epicentre of the agitation, in Bhartpur district.

No scope for ‘controversy’ in HM-CM letter war: Pranab

PTI KOLKATA, JAN 1

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said there is no scope for any controversy in the continuing letter war between Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee over the State’s law and order situ-

Report sought in rape of backward caste minor girl PTI LUCKNOW, JAN 1

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NSCS) has sought a report from the Uttar Pradesh government on the rape of a girl belonging to a backward caste and her arrest on theft charges in Banda district.

“The NSCS has immediately sought a detailed report from the state government and the district official on the rape of a backward class girl and later her arrest on theft charges,” Chairman of NCSC P L Punia told PTI. Congress has alleged the involvement of a BSP MLA and his associates in the rape of the 17year-old girl and demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits

Bollywood actress and singer, Raageshwari Loomba poses as she pays her respects at the Sikh Shrine, The Golden Temple in Amritsar on Saturday. Raageshwari along with her family, visited the city and prayed on the occasion of the New Year 2011.

Indian student murdered in US, to be cremated today PTI VIJAYAWADA (AP), JAN 1

The mortal remains of a 22-yearold student hailing from Andhra Pradesh, who was shot dead early on Christmas morning during a robbery at Houston will be laid to rest here on Saturday.

Eelaprolu Jaychandra’s body arrived from the US Friday night and he will be cremated on Saturday, family sources said.

Jaychandra, a native of Vijaywada went to Houston, for higher studies in July this year.

He also was working as a part time employee in a gas station there, where he was killed during a loot incident last week.

The Telugu Association of North America (TANA) took the responsibility bring his body here after completing all the legal formalities but the process got delayed due to Christmas holidays in that country.

The victim’s relatives, well wishers and his friends have gathered at his residence in Kanuru, on the city skirts for the final rites.

4 held for syphoning off Rs 95 lakh from Uninor PTI NEW DELHI, JAN 1

Four persons, including a chartered accountant, were arrested for allegedly siphoning off Rs 95 lakh from Uninor, which got 2G spectrum license, by cheques stolen by one of their employees, police said on Saturday.

Chartered Accountant Manoj Pahwa (34), Unitech employee Rahul Sharma, aeronautical engineer Vasant Mittal and his friend Nitin Sharma were arrested from Meerut and various locations in South Delhi. A woman Amrita Kumari is absconding.

“They had allegedly stolen 13 cheques of Unitech Wireless and encashed it through different accounts,” H G S Dhaliwal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), said.

The arrests came following investigations into a complaint filed by mobile telephone service provider Uninor, a joint venture of Telenor and Unitech, a construction company. Uninor had got national and international long distance licences.

“The company approached police on September 18 claiming that Rs. 95 lakh have been debited

unauthorised by different account holders from its three accounts in HDFC Bank,” Dhaliwal said.

During investigations, it came to light that the money has been debited in 13 different accounts.

It was also revealed that the cheques had been stolen from the company office in Saket and later forged the signature of authorised person.

The holders of beneficiary accounts were traced and a few of them told police that their accounts have been utilised for transaction purpose and a nominal commission or cut was also given in exchange of the use of their account, Dhaliwal said.

A few account holders were found missing and money fraudulently debited in their account was found to be withdrawn.

These accounts were found to be related to a few individuals and a few private companies namely Globe Marketing, SM Enterprises, Primvira Management Solution and Delhi Sales Corporation.

“Besides, these companies were found to be involved in using their account against the bogus bills raised by the cheats involved in the racket and some-

Nitish expects Bihar to get special status in 2010 PTI PATNA, JAN 1

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said he expects that the long-awaited special status would be granted to the state this year, paving the way for further acceleration of the pace of development.

“I am confident of the Centre extending fuller support to Bihar,” Kumar told reporters on the occasion of New Year.

The special status would lead to more Central assistance and remove obstacles in the way of providing coal linkage for the proposed thermal power plants in the state.

Wishing the people a happy and prosperous 2011, he urged them and leaders of all opposition parties to cooperate with his government in obtaining the special status for Bihar.

Kumar said efforts for exerting pressure on the Centre to meet the demand would be further intensified this year.

“It is a matter related to the progress of Bihar and the state

Assembly and state Legislative Council had unanimously adopted a resolution and sent it to the Centre for consideration,” he added.

Kumar charged the Centre with placing impediments in the way of proposals for ‘huge’ investments in Bihar and hoped that New Year would usher in good relations between the two governments.

He said the Centre should scrap the Sugar Control Act to do away with impediments in the establishment of ethnolbased industries in Bihar.

Reiterating his commitment

to make Bihar corruption free, the chief minister described the declaration of the assets of his ministerial colleagues as a major step which would help further intensify the government’s war against corruption.

Bihar ministers would continue to provide details of their income and expenditure every year, he said, adding, he had directed the chief secretary to make public properties of ministers on websites for comparative analysis.

“Corruption at any level will not be tolerated... Corruption has spread like cancer and people have to take a pledge to wipe it out from society,” he said, adding that the vigilance b u re a u w o u l d b e f u r t h e r strengthened in the state.

Illegal properties of public servants would be confiscated under the Bihar Special Court Act 2009 and it would be advisable for ‘corrupt’ officials to deposit their illegally accumulated properties to the state government to open much needed schools, the Chief Minister said.

time converting black money into white,” Dhaliwal said.

Investigators found that Pahwa was the common link with all these accounts who is running a firm Manoj Pahwa and Associates.

“Pahwa was traced and interrogated. He broke down and disclosed that he had received three allegedly forged cheques from Varun Mital, a Meerut based aeronautical engineer,” Dhaliwal said. Following this all others were arrested.

Mittal disclosed that he had received all the cheques from Sharma, a Gurgaon based hotel management executive who was working with Uninor.

“Sharma took advantage and stole 13 loose cheques from the office and handed all these cheques to Mital. Mital took all these cheques to his colleague Amrita Kumari Sharma, an office executive and colleague in Shah Shiv Group of companies,” Dhaliwal said.

“She allegedly made the forged signatures of two authorised signatories on all the stolen cheques. She also got debited around Rs 20 lakh in her own account,” Dhaliwal said.

House burning toll reaches 5 PTI ROURKELA (Orissa), JAN 1

With the death of two more Engineering students, the death toll in the house burning incident at Jagda here has gone up to five, the police said on Saturday.

Biswaranjan Satpthy and Budhadeb Minz, who received about 90 per cent burns on Tuesday, died last night at Ispat General Hospital (IGH), sources said.

Akhaya Swain, a retired employee of Rourkela Steel Plant set ablaze a room on the first floor of his house where seven persons including his son Ajit (45) were having a party on Tuesday night.

Akshaya’s son, Ajit died of his injuries Friday afternoon, they said.

Earlier two students of a local engineering college – Gopal Pradhan and Phillip Ekka – died on the same day. Phillip was a student of Purusottam College of Engineering while rest students belonged to Padmanava College of Engineering here.

and that Chief Minister Mayawati order a high-level judicial inquiry into the matter.

APPOINTMENTS

ation.

Defending his ministerial colleague, Mukherjee said it was the constitutional duty of the Union home minister to seek information from the chief minister if there was any deterioration in law and order.

“Where is the controversy?

The Union home minister has written a letter to the chief minister and he has given a reply to it,” Mukherjee told reporters here.

Chidambaram had discharged his constitutional responsibility by seeking such information from the chief minister, he said, adding that it is the responsibility of the chief minister too to respond to his queries.

“Where is the scope of controversy in it?” he wondered.

Asked to comment on the al-

leged ‘bias’ of the Centre on the issue as suggested by the ruling Left Front, Mukherjee said there was no question of partiality.

“The Union home minister has discharged his constitutional duty.”

Asked how he felt about the use of word ‘harmad’ (hired killers) in the Union home minister’s letter, Mukherjee avoided a direct reply, saying, “Put the question to those who had used the word.”

Bhattacharjee had strongly resented the use of the word ‘harmad’ in Chidambaram’s first letter to him, describing it as ‘nasty’.

Chidambaram in his next correspondence asked the chief minister to give him an alternative word to which Bhattacharjee did not respond.

APPOINTMENTS

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DEATH

OBITUARIES More Obits on page 2

The family regrets to announce the sad demise of Gil de Sa Coelho.

The funeral service will be held today, 2nd January 2011, at 11.00 am at St. Anne's Church, Ponda.

No condolence visits, please.

Goanrites 9822122003 / 9822136397

Millions still in need of post-flood help in Pak UNI UNITED NATIONS, JAN 1

LORD I AM COMING HOME

MARINA LYNETTE MONTEIRO De SOUSA e NORONHA (Teacher of St. Anthony’s High School, Duler, Mapusa)

Beloved wife of Joseph Noronha ( J. E. - P.W.D. ), daughter-in-law of late Luis Noronha & Luisa Noronha (Verna), daughter of late Mario Leandro De Sousa & Theresa Monteiro De Sousa (Mapusa). Sister-in-law of Dr. Francis, Fulgencio/Fatima, late Anthony, Allen/ Jennifer and Rosinha/Mario Viegas. Sister/ Sisterin-law of Merlyn/Climaco Soares, Marilia/Dionisio Esteves, Mario/Sendra and Melvin.

Aunty of Kevin, Terrance, Cher, Glen, Valery, Vanessa, Cheryl, Charles, Darlene, Mavrick & Mackenzie, passed away on 1st Jan 2011. Funeral cortege will leave her residence from Verna to Holy Cross Church, Verna on 2nd January 2011 (TODAY) at 10.15 a.m. for mass & burial.

Relatives, Neighbours & friends kindly accept this as the only intimation.

NO CONDOLENCE VISITS PLEASE (Galaxy Advt 9822140020 / 9421377777)

Many Pakistanis are still in need of help as they slowly recover from the floods that devastated a considerable part of their country recently, two top UN officials said.

“With an estimated 20 million people affected by devastating floods, the country faced its biggest ever humanitarian crisis,” Rauf-Engin Soysal, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Assistance to Pakistan, and UN Resident Coordinator Timo Pakkala said in a joint message yesterday.

“Millions of Pakistanis still require relief assistance and full recovery of livelihoods and infrastructure will take years.

Through resilience and determination and with the support of national partners and the international community, the country will overcome this challenging period,'' they noted.

The floods that began in late July last year affected some 20 million people across the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, as well as damaging schools, health centres, important infrastructure such as sanitation systems, bridges and roads, and destroyed croplands.

Earlier last month, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos urged the international community to provide the resources needed to help those in need of vital assistance.

“There is a continuing need for a strong financial response and I want to see attention focused on this immense human tragedy,” she told reporters following her second visit to the country since the disaster.

“This is an emergency which will continue for months to come, and considerable relief efforts will continue to be necessary alongside recovery activities and development work,” she pointed out.

The 2 billion dollar appeal for aid for Pakistani flood victims made in September, the largestever launched by the UN and its partners for a natural disaster is currently 51 per cent funded.

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floods threaten Australian homes AFP BUNDABERG, (Australia) JAN 1

Flood waters swept through vast areas of northeastern Australia Saturday, threatening to inundate thousands more homes in a disaster one official said was of "biblical proportions".

As Queen Elizabeth II sent her "sincere sympathies" to Queenslanders who rang in a damp new year, helicopters were being used to deliver food and other supplies to isolated towns.

Up to 200,000 people have been affected by the floods, which have hurt the nation's lucrative mining industry and cut off major highways as the water rushes through sodden inland regions to the sea.

"In many ways, it is a disaster of biblical proportions," Queensland State Treasurer Andrew Fraser told reporters in floodhit Bundaberg.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who on Friday toured inundated regions, said the floods had been devastating and would clearly have an economic impact.

"We're still directly battling floodwaters -- we haven't seen the peak of the flood yet at centres like Rockhampton -- so the people of Queensland in many places are doing it tough today," she said.

Gillard said the mining sector had been particularly badly hit, with some companies using the force majeure clauses in their contracts.

"They've had to say to the people who buy their minerals that at this time, circumstances are such that they can't keep supply moving," she told reporters.

"Even those mines that could continue to mine obviously have got difficulties with supply routes because so many roads have been affected," she said, adding that farmers, small businesses and tourism would also suffer.

Emergency workers were focusing their efforts on Rockhampton where the Fitzroy River had broken its banks and was rising dangerously, threatening some 2,000 to 4,000 homes ahead of reaching its expected peak on Wednesday.

"The community is likely to be cut off for a period of 10 days from the south and through this airport," said Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter.

"It's possible that our airport could be closed for anything up to three weeks because it takes a fair bit to re-engage ... and reactivate an airport once floodwaters cover its tarmac.

"The community is still ex-

pecting to have significant amounts of floodwaters at the height of about 8.5 metres into the middle of January."

But as some wait for the flood peak, in other towns residents are preparing to return to homes they evacuated last week in the wake of torrential downpours.

In the central Queensland town of Emerald, where about 80 percent of the town was submerged by the worst flooding on record,waterfromtheNogoaRiver has inundated some 1,000 homes.

"We've only worked that out by taking aerial shots," Central Highlands Mayor Peter Maguire told Australian news agency AAP. "There may be more homes affected, we don't know."

"We're talking months of cleaning up and repairs," he said, adding that in total about 4,000 homes in the region were flood affected to some degree.

In Bundaberg in the state's southeast, the clean-up was set to begin in about 300 homes and 120 businesses as the flood waters rapidly recede, but other towns such as Theodore and Condamine remain evacuated after days of surging waters.

Flooding hit record levels in Condamine and the town could remain abandoned for a week, according to Western Downs Regional Mayor Ray Brown.

Pakistanis rally over blasphemy law AGENCY ISLAMABAD, JAN 1

Strikes and rallies have been staged across Pakistan against proposed changes to the country's blasphemy laws.

Protests were staged in Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi against a move to amend a law which permits death sentences for those found to have committed blasphemy.

The law received attention in November when Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman, was sentenced to death after being found guilty of defaming the Prophet Muhammad.

Pope Benedict XVI has called for the release of Bibi, a motherof-five, who is now in jail pending an appeal.

Human rights campaigners say the existing law encourages Islamic extremism.

Demonstrations turned violent in Karachi as angry protesters clashed with police in the southern port city.

Police said they used tear gas against demonstrators who had pelted officers with stones and shouted slogans, including "we will sacrifice our lives, we will save the sanctity of the Prophet".

C o n s e r v a t i v e re l i g i o u s groups had called for a national strike, which went ahead despite an announcement on Thursday from Samsam Bokhari, the deputy

information minister, that the government had no intention of amending the law.

"We will start a civil disobedience movement if the government makes any amendment to the law," Sahebzada Fazal Karim, the chairman of the influential Muslim grouping the Sunni Ittehad Council, told the AFP news agency.

Naseer Tanoli, a police official, said a group of 100 protesters in Karachi were to join a main rally elsewhere in the city, but wished to march past the home of Asif Ali Zardari, the president, en route.

"We asked them to use a different route we had assigned for it. But they refused and pelted stones on the police, which forced us to use tear gas," Tanoli said.

Around 5,000 people rallied in the city, carrying placards and banners inscribed with anti-government and anti-US slogans.

Some chanted "Death to America!"

Irshad Bokhari, the president of Karachi's local transport association, told the AFP news agency that public transport would remain off the road as part of the strike.

Atiq Mir, chairman of the All Karachi Traders Unity, said: "All markets and business centres are closed because the protection of Prophet Muhammad's honour is supreme to us."

Egypt okays Gaza aid convoy from India PTI JERUSALEM, JAN 1

Pope Benedict XVI talks with children dressed as Magi during the celebration of the New Year solemn mass in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday.

Pope Benedict XVI, during New Year's mass, urged world leaders to defend Christians against abuse and intolerance. "I once again launch a pressing appeal not to give in to discouragement and resignation," said the pontiff.

Pak Taliban commander killed in drone attack PTI PESHAWAR, JAN 1

Pakistani Taliban's top commander Qari Hussain Mehsud, best known as the trainer of suicide bombers, has been killed in a US drone strike in the country's restive tribal belt, a provincial minister said today.

"Qari Hussain was killed in a drone strike," KhyberPakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told PTI. The Taliban commander died in North Waziristan tribalregion in the first week of October.

There was no word from the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan on the development.

Analysts said that if the report is confirmed, it would be a serious blow to the Taliban.

Noting that another Taliban leader named Azmatullah had also been killed, Hussain said the government would succeed in eliminating militants in 2011.

Several militant commanders, including Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, and al-Qaeda operatives have been killed in hundreds of missile strikes carried out by US drones in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.

Qari Hussain had been running a training camp for suicide bombers in South Waziristan and was blamed for several attacks across Pakistan.

He had claimed responsibility for two suicide attacks on Shia processions in Lahore and Quetta in September last year.

Taliban’s shadow governor killed in Afghanistan PTI NEW YORK, JAN 1

In a major blow to Taliban, US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan have killed group's Pakistan-trained shadow governor in restive Kunduz province, who was an expert in making improvised explosive devices, suicide vests and anti-aircraft weapons.

Mullah Bahador, Taliban's shadow governor in Kunduz, was killed during a raid in the Chardara district in the province on Thursday night, The New York Times reported.

Abdul Rahman Saidkhaili, the provincial police chief, said the target of the raid was a house in the district. Mullah Bahador was responsible for coordinating attacks against coalition forces in the Kunduz area, said Abdul Wahid Omar Khail, the governor of the Chardara district.

"He has been doing terrorist activities for the past three years; he was trained in one of the madrasas in Pakistan," he was quoted as saying by the NYT. Mullah Bahador was the fourth Taliban governor

in Kunduz, officials said; three previous ones were killed or fled to Pakistan.

The coalition forces confirmed they had killed Mullah Bahador, who "makes improvised explosive devices and suicide vests, leads a group of Taliban fighters and employs antiaircraft weapons against Afghan and coalition forces," the paper said. Several suspected insurgents were arrested in the operation.

Kunduz Province, which borders the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan, has become increasingly violent in the past two years, as militants have relocated there after coalition operations against them in southern Afghanistan.

Kunduz City is now nearly cut off by violence, with all roads leading out controlled by Taliban and other armed groups.

The governor of Kunduz was killed in October by a bomb as he prayed in a mosque, and four Taliban suicide bombers killed five policemen two weeks ago.

Egypt has given clearance to a Gaza aid convoy, which started from India last month and has a strong Indian contingent, to dock at the Egyptian port town of El-Arish and enter the coastal strip from Rafah, a media report said today.

Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported that Palestinian lawmaker, Khaled Abdel Mejid, was informed by the Egyptian embassy in Damascus about the decision to allow 120 activists to go through, with another 46 from Iran and Jordan denied entry.

Some of the aid material in the cargo was also barred, including 10 generators donated

by Iran, decreasing the size of the humanitarian aid convoy to below 300 tonnes, the report said.

The `Asia to Gaza Caravan’ consists of activists from more than 15 Asian countries, including India, Iran, Japan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Kuwait.

It was scheduled to reach Gaza by December 27, in time for the second anniversary of Israel's 22-day offensive against Islamist Hamas regime that started on December 28, 2008.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip since June 2007 when it vanquished forces loyal to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in pitched battles, claimed that Israel's offensive left more than 1,300 casualties, many of them women and children, besides leaving a trail of irreparable destruction.

The ‘Asia to Gaza’ convoy, which took off from New Delhi on December 2, is currently stuck in Latakia, Syria.

The convoy’s Twitter account had earlier posted information that Egypt granted entry visas to “Indian and Indonesian activists”, but without permission to cross into Gaza.

Benazir murder: Plot hatched at terrorists’ hideout, says Malik AGENCIES KARACHI, JAN 1

Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that the investigation report of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination has not been presented to anyone, not even President Asif Zardari. He also asked the media to avoid speculation on the issue until the report is presented to the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Pakistan Peoples Party.

Speaking to journalists at the Karachi airport on Friday, Malik said Benazir’s murder plot was not hatched at house of any brigadier rather it was made at terrorists’ hideouts.

He asked the media to avoid

speculation that creates a wrong impression. At present, there is complete harmony between civil and military leaderships, he added.

Malik said that according to investigation reports submitted to him so far, the plot wasn’t hatched at the residence of any army brigadier. A news channel also quoted Malik as saying that the news report (published in

The Express Tribune on December 31 under the headline: “BB assassination probe: ‘Murder plot hatched at brigadier’s home”) was incorrect and baseless.

H o w e v e r, p r e s i d e n t i a l spokesperson Farhatullah Babar refused to confirm or deny the report. He said he would comment on the report after meeting with President Asif Zardari.

On the PPP’s strained relations with the MQM, the interior minister, who is also the government’s chief negotiator, said that the party’s reservations would be addressed. He added that ANP supremo Asfandyar Wali and MQM chief Altaf Hussain played their roles for main-

taining peace in Karachi. The government is taking every step to ensure peace in the metropolis, he added.

We will have to work collectively to save the country from terrorism and instability. And we have to foil conspiracies to protect our next generation from terrorists, he added.

According to the Associated Press of Pakistan, a joint investigation team has been formed to look into the veracity of the news item carried in a section of the press regarding Benazir’s murder conspiracy. Malik has indicated that if needed, a judicial commission will also be appointed. Rauf Klasra says he stands by his story.

OHERALDO

12

GOA, SUNDAY, 2 JANUARY 2011

Russian passenger jet explodes, one killed AGENCIES MOSCOW, JAN 1

A performer takes a break during an attempt to create a record for the largest dragon and lion dance in Hong Kong on saturday. The Guinness world record was set after 1,111 lions gathered for the traditional martial-arts dance performance.

Bomb blast kills 30 in Nigeria PTI ABUJA, JAN 1

Thirty people were killed and many others wounded when a powerful bomb went off at a market near a Nigerian army barracks here where revelers had gathered to celebrate New Year's Eve, reports said today.

Civil defence corps chief for the capital Rabi Saidu told reporters that "the bomb exploded where people were eating and drinking inside the Mammy market last evening."

The state-run Nigerian Television Authority today gave a death toll of 30 while a local reporter told PTI he has seen unconscious bodies being taken away from the scene by army trucks but could not confirm if they were dead or injured.

The channel did not give an estimate on the number of injured. However, local police spokesman Jimoh Moshood disputed the figure, saying only

four people had died and 13 were wounded.

Two other bomb explosions were also reported in the city.

The second one was said to have exploded at a road leading to the Namdi Azikiwe International Airport while the third one was said to have went off at a Church in an area called Nyanya but casualty figures for the two are yet to be known.

A top Air Force official also confirmed the bombing at a beer drinking spot near the Sani Abacha Barracks.

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the attack, blaming it on Islamists.

President Jonathan called the attacks "evil" and "wicked".

"Basking in their nefarious success in Jos on Christmas Eve, they have once again knifed at the heartstrings of a nation decked out in gaiety, celebrating New Year's Eve," he said.

Analysts believe the bombing

has revealed the weakness of security agencies, especially the police which commits itself much to torture and bribe taking more than its primary duty of safeguarding lives.

Recently, a Muslim group had claimed responsibility for bomb blasts in Nigeria's central city of Jos which claimed 80 lives and the killing of six people in Maiduguri.

The group which called itself, Jama'atu ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'awati but popularly known as Boko Haram said on a website that the attacks were carried out "to start avenging atrocities committed against Muslims in those areas and the country in general".

However, another group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta People had claimed responsibility for October 1 blast that killed several people in the capital city and also vowed to bomb the city again.

A Russian passenger jet carrying 128 people caught fire and later exploded at a Siberian airport on Saturday, killing one person and injuring 10, officials said.

The rest of the passengers and crew were safely evacuated before the explosion in the Western Siberian oil town of Surgut.

Emergency services spokesman Vadim Grebennikov said the fire, which began in one of the engines as the plane taxied for takeoff, caused a powerful blast that destroyed the Tu-154 aircraft and spread flames across an area of 100 square meters (1,100 square feet).

The plane, which belonged to the regional Kogalymavia air-

5 Indians charged in Singapore AGENCIES SINGAPORE, JAN 1

A court in Singapore has framed charges against five Indians for allegedly using fake casino chips at a resort in the city state, local media reported on Saturday.

The Indians are accused of using an unknown number of counterfeit chips valued at SGD 1,000 each by exchanging them into smaller denominations of the genuine chips at Marina Bay Sands casino on last Thursday.

Maqsud Ibrahim, Gurav Vishal Sopan, Shettiyar Kunabalan, Soheel Ahmad Jalih Ahmad and Asfaq Usman were arrested from the Changi Airport here yesterday and remanded to police custody. The court has fixed January 7 as the next date for hearing.

If convicted, each of them face a jail term of up to seven years and/or a fine of up to SGD150,000.

The five Indians were given the fake chips in Mumbai to try

out at the Singapore casino, according to a report by The Straits Times.

This is the first case of its kind since the casino-based Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands opened for business in February and April 2010, respectively.

Meanwhile, MBS said in a statement that its chips have anti-counterfeiting features such as holograms and ultraviolet fluorescence, and radio-frequency identification inserts to track the chips.

Casino chips are of high quality and difficult to replicate, said Tony Compton, who lectures on casino management at Boston Business School. "Each casino chooses its own unique style and design. For example, the chips used at MBS have a specific logo that is very hard for forgers to make. Casino staff are also trained to spot counterfeit chips," Compton was quoted as saying.

nLast month, two people were killed and 83 injured in an accident involving engine failure on a Tu-154. Two of the engines failed shortly after takeoff from a Moscow airport and the third cut out as the plane made an emergency landing. It skidded off the snowy runway and broke apart. line, was flying from Surgut to Moscow.

Among the passengers were members of the Russian pop group Na-Na, who described the panic on board the plane.

"When the engines were started up, something went wrong and the outer covering of the plane caught fire," group member Vladimir Politov said by telephone, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

"We had trouble opening the emergency exits and people

began to really panic, with some of them running right through the flames."

Politov said he and the other members of the group, which was popular in Russia in the 1990s, got out through an emergency exit over a wing and none of them was hurt.

All three engines on the Tu154 are located in the back of the aircraft.

The Tu-154 has been the workhorse of the Soviet and post-Soviet civilian aviation in-

dustry, first entering service in the 1970s.

But after a series of crashes involving the aging fleet raised safety concerns, flagship carrier Aeroflot withdrew all of its Tu154s from service, with the last flight a year ago.

The midrange jet remains, however, the mainstay of smaller airlines across Russia and the former Soviet Union. It is banned from parts of Europe d u e t o e xc e s s i v e e n g i n e noise.

Just last last month, two people were killed and 83 injured in an accident involving engine failure on a Tu-154. Two of the engines failed shortly after takeoff from a Moscow airport and the third cut out as the plane made an emergency landing. It skidded off the snowy runway and broke apart.

21 killed in Egypt church attack AFP CAIRO, JAN 1

At least 21 people were killed early today in a New Year's day car bomb attack on a church in Alexandria, hitting Egypt's Christian community, the biggest in the Middle East, a health ministry official told AFP. "The number of dead has risen to 21," Ussama Abdel Moneim said, adding that eight people were wounded in the attack.

An earlier toll from the interior ministry said seven people had been killed and 24 wounded.

There was no immediate responsibility for the attack which came as the faithful left the AlQiddissine (The Saints) church in the Sidi Bechr district of the northern city at around half past midnight.

The unclaimed attack came as the faithful left the al-Qiddissine (the Saints) church in the Sidi Bechr district of the northern city at around half past midnight.

The interior ministry said ear-

lier in a statement that eight of those wounded were Muslims, and that the church and a nearby mosque were severely damaged.

According to the ministry the car that exploded was parked in front of the church.

The prosecutor has opened an investigation.

A witness told private television channel On-TV that he had seen a green Skoda car pull up outside the church shortly after midnight. Men got out and the explosion took place almost immediately after.

A security services source said dozens of angry Christians demonstrated outside a nearby mosque, arguing with police.

The door and windows of the mosque had been damaged by the demonstrators.

Police and troops deployed en masse around the scene of the explosion as ambulances rushed to the area.

Refaa al-Tahtawi, spokesman for Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's main institution based in Cairo, ap-

peared on television to denounce the attack which he said targeted "Egyptian national unity."

He also appealed to Christians and Muslims for calm.

While it was not immediately known who was responsible for the blast, a group calling itself Al-Qaeda in Iraq had threatened the Egyptian Coptic Christians.

The bombing came almost two months to the day after an October 31 attack by militants on Our Lady of Salvation church in central Baghdad, which left the 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security forces members dead.

Al- Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate claimed responsibility for the attack and made new threats against Christians. The group threatened to attack Egyptian Copts if their church did not free two Christians it said had been "imprisoned in their monasteries" for having converted to Islam.

Zardari signs key bill for appointments to top judiciary PTI ISLAMABAD, JAN 1

President Asif Ali Zardari today gave his formal assent to the 19th Constitutional Amendment Bill which changes the process for appointments in Pakistan’s superior judiciary and is aimed at resolving differences between the judiciary and the executive.

Zardari described the amend-

ment as "a New Year’s gift of democracy" for the country.

In future too, legislation will be enacted through mutual consensus by taking along all political forces with the aim of make the country stronger.

The signing ceremony in Karachi, where Zardari is camping, was attended by Senate Chairman Farooq H Naek, Na-

t i o n a l A s s e m b l y S p e a ke r Fehmida Mirza and Raza Rabbani, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms.

The amendment envisages a new system for appointments in superior courts and aimed at removing a potential source of discord between the judiciary and parliament.

Before the bill was sent to the President for his formal assent, it was unanimously passed

by the Senate or upper house of parliament and with a twothirds majority by the National Assembly or lower house.

Under the amendment, the number of senior judges who will serve as members of the Judicial Commission has been raised to four while the number of members of the parliamentary committee for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner has been increased to 12.

Special panel to monitor Nepal peace process: Govt PTI KATHMANDU, JAN 1

A special panel with representatives from major political parties, including the Maoists, will monitor Nepal's stalled peace process after the exit of the UN agency UNMIN this month.

The caretaker government has said it would monitor the 19,000 combatants and arms of the Maoists, who are presently housed in UNMIN supervised camps, after the agency of the world body departs on January 15.

The mandate of United Nations Mission in Nepal, which was established by the world body as a special political mission in 2007 to manage the arms and armed personnel of the Maoists and the Nepal Army, is set to expire on January 15, 2011. It has started the process to begin the pull out from the country.

The Special Committee comprising representatives from the major political parties, including the main Opposition UCPNMaoist, will shoulder the responsibility of monitoring the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) of the Maoists and their weapons, the government said.

"The Special Committee Secretariat will take charge of super vising and monitoring functions currently being carried out by the UNMIN," the government said in a letter sent to UNMIN chief Karin Landgren.

Bimal Prasad Wagley, the Sec-

retary at the Prime Minister’s Office and the Council of Ministers, wrote the letter to the UNMIN on behalf of the government yesterday.

The government has asked the UNMIN to hand over arms containers, details of arms and armies, documents retained by the Joint Monitoring Committee and other logistics.

The withdrawal of the UN agency has sparked a row between the ruling alliance and the main Opposition, who want the term of the UNMIN to be extended.

The ruling alliance, which has accused the UNMIN of favouring the Maoists, has ruled out a rethink on the issue of the withdrawal UNMIN. UNMIN chief Karin Landgren has asked the government to firm up plans for the integration of the former Maoist guerrillas in the post-UNMIN period.

UN Secretary General Banki Moon has also sought government’s view in the matter in his latest report to be presented to the UN Security Council.

In his report, Ban has urged Nepalese political parties to end the prolonged political deadlock that has hampered progress in the peace process.

The country has been in political limbo since the June 30 resignation of Prime Minister Madhav Nepal. Despite a series of polls, the parliament has been unable to elect a new leader, stalling the 2006 peace process in the country.

The Supreme Court Chief Justice will make recommendations for the appointment of ad hoc judges in superior courts in consultation with the Judicial Commission.

In case the National Assembly is dissolved, members of the parliamentary committee will be chosen from the Senate.

The amendment also provides permission for administrative and financial expenses of the newly set up Islamabad High

Court.

It also makes it mandatory for members of bar council to have at least 15 years of experience to be appointed to the Judicial Commission.

Addressing the gathering after signing the bill, Zardari dismissed speculation regarding a clash among the institutions of the state and said certain "political actors" were trying to sell a negative impression to the people.

Indians seeking jobs in Malaysia fall prey to agents PTI KUALA LUMPUR, JAN 1

Indians seeking "dream jobs" in Malaysia continue to be cheated, duped and abandoned, amid warnings by officials to check out their recruitment agents before accepting offers of high pay ing employments.

At least 24 Indian nationals, some of them graduates, are currently waiting to return to India after finding to their dismay that promises of high paying jobs by agents turned out to be bogus claims.

"One of the persons who was a hotel management graduate found that he had to work at a McDonalds' outlet for 12 hours.. not what he had been promised," sources said.

The Indian High Commission here has been continuously urging potential job seekers to check out their job agents at both ends before entrusting huge sums of money to get a job here.

In another instance, highlighted by a local daily here, an Indian national who came here in 2009 was not only cheated of her salary, but her misery allegedly drove her daughter in India to commit suicide.

Latha Shanmugam, 37, a widow from Thanjavur, was employed by a local family when she first came to Kuala Lumpur with a promised salary of RM 750 a month (Rs 10,000).

However, the employers purportedly held back her salary for four months, claiming that they had to pay RM 5,000 to her employment agency.

The family then chased her out of the house and told her to contact the agency.

She later found another job at a restaurant for the same salary but was paid only for one month.

Her new employer paid her wages for the first month but allegedly refused to give her any salary for the ensuing six months.

One of her daughters studying in India wanted her mother to send some money for tuition but when Latha was unable to do that she apparently committed suicide, local Tamil daily Makkal Osai said.

Latha said she was being helped by a social worker who was making arrangements to send her back to India. Ethnic Indians, a bulk of them Tamils, form eight per cent of Malaysia's population of 27 million people.

Pg 13

SPORTS

City keep pace with United, joy for Liverpool EPL West Brom ..........1 Man City ..............1 Stoke ....................2 Liverpool ..............1 West Ham ............2 Tottenham ............1 Sunderland ..........3

Bolton Wanderers' English striker Kevin Davies (2nd left) scores the opening goal past Liverpool's Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina at Anfield in Liverpool on Saturday.

AGENCIES LONDON, JAN 1

Manchester United and Manchester City both won Saturday to stay tied on points at the top of the Premier League.

Wayne Rooney scored his first goal from open play since March to help United to a 2-1 win at West Bromwich Albion, and Adam Johnson gave City a 1-0 win over Blackpool.

The Manchester teams each have 41 points, although United has played two games fewer than its rival’s 21. Arsenal can stay just two points back if it beats Birmingham in the day’s late match.

Tottenham moved back into fourth place after Gareth Bale’s 11th goal of the season earned a 1-0 win over Fulham, but Chelsea is likely to move back into the final Champions League spot when it hosts ailing Aston Villa on Sunday.

Joe Cole scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool in the last minute for a 2-1 win

over Bolton that should lift some of the pressure on manager Roy Hodgson, while West Ham finally made it out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Rooney opened the scoring for United in the third minute when he headed in Patrice Evra’s cross, but James Morrison equalized 11 minutes later with a long-range shot.

West Brom then thought it should have had a first-half penalty when referee Chris Foy turned down appeals for a foul

by Gary Neville on Graham Dorr a n s . B u t s t r i k e r Pe t e r Odemwingie wasted the penalty Foy did award, putting a weak kick wide in the 63rd after United defender Rio Ferdinand had fouled Jerome Thomas.

Hernandez came on as a 61stminute substitute for leading scorer Dimitar Berbatov and headed in unmarked from a corner to clinch an 11th win from 19 games.

The only unbeaten side in the

Nadal beats Federer in Abu Dhabi final

20-team league, United is chasing a 19th English title to beat the record it shares with Liverpool.

Liverpool is back in ninth place but things could have been much worse for the five-time European champions, who lost 1-0 to Wolves on Tuesday.

Kevin Davies put Bolton ahead two minutes before halftime before Fernando Torres, who has been far below the form that brought him 72 goals in the past three seasons, equalized with just his sixth goal of the campaign in the 49th.

Former England midfielder Cole, who joined after he was released by Chelsea at the end of last season, then tapped in from close range with seconds left.

City could have further improved its goal difference as it tries to keep pace with United, but Carlos Tevez hit a 37thminute penalty wide. Still, Johnson had scored just three minutes earlier with a deflected

Tough opening match for Paes-Bhupathi chennai open PTI CHENNAI, JAN 1

Rafael Nadal of Spain and Switzerland's Roger Federer pose with their trophies in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

AGENCIES ABU DHABI, JAN 1

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal started 2011 with a win over his main rival, beating Roger Federer 76 (4), 7-6 (3) Saturday to defend his title at the invitational World Tennis Championships.

Both players held ser ve throughout the match, and Federer had the early momentum in the first tiebreaker, hitting a couple of blistering forehand

winners to go up 3-0. But Nadal won the next five points and clinched the set when the Swiss hit a forehand long.

In the second tiebreaker, Nadal went up 3-1 with a drop volley and Federer sent his return long on the next point.

The Spaniard then set up match point with a crosscourt forehand winner and converted it when Federer hit a forehand long.

Reunited as a pair after nine years, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will face the Swiss-Canadian duo of Stanislas Wawrinka and Frank Dancevic in the first round of the doubles event in the Aircel ATP Chennai Open beginning here on Monday.

Paes and Bhupathi, the top seeds here, will use the Chennai Open to prepare for the season's first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, which starts on January 17.

The doubles draw, which was announced today, also set up a possible second round meeting between the Indo-Pak duo of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq-Qureshi and the Indian pair of Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh.

Bopanna and Qureshi, the second seeds and world number 18, will face the Brazilian/Argentinean pair of Marcos Daniel and Eduardo Schwank.

The Somdev-Sanam duo will face the Dutch/American pair of Robin Haase and David Martin.

Pushkar, Sonia, Priyanka bring fame for Goa

Goa’s boxing team alongwith the concerned authorities. Standing (l to r): Sheldon Dias, Mitlesh Sharma, Sagar B K, Purab Radia, Deva Naik, Pushkar Bhosle, Ibrahim Mulla and Chandan Chauhan. Sitting (l to r): Chitambaram Naik (coach), Lenny da Gama (co-ordinator GABA), Clyde Lobo (secretary GABA), Sirish Lawande (NYK youth co-ordinator South Goa), Victoria Fernandes (MLA, president GABA), V M Prabhudesai (executive director, SAG), Filipe Dias (vice-president GABA) and Navin Acharya (assistant secretary programme SAG). Squatting: (l to r): Lavania Kunchi, Priyanka Khandeparker, Sonia Parab, Yashoda Mada and Emmy Fernandes.

HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM, JAN 1

Pushkar Bhosle, Sonia Parab and Priyanka Khandeparkar claimed Goa’s three gold medals at the 10th Senior Men and Women West Zone Boxing Championship held in Jaipur, recently.

Overall, Goa claimed 13 medals consisting of three gold, five silver and five bronze.

In the men section, Goa bagged gold, two silver and five bronze. Pushkar Bhosle took the gold in the 52kg category. In the semi-finals, he beat Maha-

rashtra 6-0 and in the finals he defeated Rajasthan 8-0.

The two silver were claimed

by Deva Naik in the 60kg category and Sheldon Dias in the super heavy weight section.

Sujit Chandra (49kg), Chandan Chauhan (56kg), Ibrahim Mulla (75kg), Purab Radia (81kg) and Sagar B K (91kg) pulled in the silver.

In the women section, Goa won the runners-up trophy with two gold and three silver medals. Sonia Parab won gold in the 48kg category getting the

better of Maharashtra 16-0 in the finals. Priyanka Khandeparkar took the second gold defeating Maharashtra 8-0.

In the 54kg category, Lavania Kunchi won silver. She lost to Maharashtra in the finals 9-11 and was later adjourned the best loser in the women category.

Yahoda Mada (60kg) and Emmy Fernandes (81+kg) claimed the other two silver respectively.

Chitambaram Naik (DSYA) and Nilesh Khanolkar coached the men and women teams respectively.

shot from the edge of the area.

Tottenham owed its third straight win to Bale’s quick reflexes.

The winger headed Rafael van der Vaart’s 42nd-minute free kick, which the Netherlands international had apparently intended as a shot, from a crowd of players past stranded goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

Spurs, who finished in the top four last season for the first

Man Utd ..................2 Blackpool ..............0 Everton ..................0 Bolton ....................1 Wolves ....................0 Fulham ..................0 Blackburn ..............0 time in 20 years, have 36 points.

Chelsea can move up to 37 if it wins Sunday, when Wigan plays Newcastle.

Elsewhere Saturday, Darren Bent’s eighth Premier League goal of the season helped Sunderland to a 3-0 win over Blackburn and Stoke beat Everton 2-0.

West Ham’s 2-0 win over Wolves pushed its opponents into last place. Wolves defender

Ronald Zubar scored a 51stminute own goal and Freddie Sears completed the scoring in the 79th to take the Hammers from 20th to 15th place.

It’s the first time West Ham manager Avram Grant has been out of the relegation zone since November 2009.

Grant spent much of last season in the bottom three with Portsmouth, which reached the FA Cup final but was relegated.

GOA, Sunday, 2 January, 2011

Pg 14 GOA, Sunday, 2 January, 2011

125 PERFORMANCES

SPORTS

Pg 15 GOA, Sunday, 2 January, 2011

Shyamlal rides to victory at Navelim Supercross HERALD CORRESPONDENT MARGAO, JAN 1

Shyamlal Parsekar displayed excellent skills to emerge champion at the All-Goa YMCT Supercross 2011 organised by YMCT Entertainment and United Boys of Navelim, at Telaulim ground, Navelim, on Saturday.

Cheered by motor enthusiasts, the supercross attracted huge crowd but were disappointed as they missed the action of National Supercross and Motoross double champion Allan Sequeira, who underwent hernia operation at Kamat Nursing Home, Margao, on Wednesday. He witnessed the event from the stands.

Shenehal Chavan of Pune secured the second placed while Goa’s Sarvesh Naik narrowly missed to settle for third place.

The Pune based lad Shyamlal, was heading the race right from the start to finish to win the Motto II Indian Expert Class.

Shenehal came second while Goa’s Sarvesh Naik finished third. The Motto II laps were reduced to 6 from 10 due to poor visibility.

In the Motto I Indian Expert Class, Shenehal Chavan was a picture of confidence today. He rode majestically and stamped his class to bag the top honour.

Shyamlal Parsekar missed the

podium as he finished close second. While Sarvesh Naik secured third.

The Goan riders also showed dazzling performance and gave the outstations riders a tough fight. It was the opening race and the final round that kept the enthusiastic crowd on their toes.

The other races were also fiercely fought on table to jumps tracks inviting the maximum applauses. In Motto I and II classes, the first, second and third places received cash purses of Rs 5,000, 3000 and Rs 2,000 respectively while other races’ winners got Rs 3,000, 2,000 and Rs 1,500.

E a r l i e r, P W D M i n i s t e r Churchill Alemao flagged off the Motto II Indian Expert Class in

the presence of chief guest Chief Minister Digamber Kamat.

Chief minister and PWD minister gave away the prizes.

Edwin Cardozo, Zilla Panchayat member of Navelim constituency was the special guest while Meena Baretto, sarpanch of VP Telaulim; Bishut Themudo, GFA executive member; Santrito Borges, panch of VP Navelim and Fredric Borges PA to PWD Minister were the special invitees.

Results: Novice Class (4 laps) -- Rabbani Mulla, Joaquim D’Silva, Charles Fernandes.

Stock Class (5 laps) -- Pinkesh Takur (Pune), Shenehal Chavan, Rabbani Mulla.

Scooter Class (2 laps) -- Prajot, Mandar Prabhu, Debhav Man-

gaokar.

National Novice Class (6 laps) -- Mohammed Shahabuddin, Raju Patil (Kolhapur), Prateek Prabhudessai.

Indian Expert Class Motto I - Shenehal Chavan (Pune) Shymal Parsekar (Pune), Sarvesh Naik.

4 Stoke Class (5 laps) -- Pinkesh Takur (Pune) Raju Patil (Kolhapur) Pratteek Prabhudessai.

Motto II Indian Expert Class -- Shyamlal Parsekar (Pune), Shenehal Chavan (Pune), Sarvesh Naik.

Nitish wins Nat U-9 chess championship HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM, JAN 1

Nitish Belurkar of Goa, who recently won gold medal in the World School Chess Championship at Turkey, continued his good form winning the first place in the Under-9 category in National FIDE rated chess tournament held in Calicut, Kerala in the last week of December.

Nitish was in sparking form defeating higher rated players of rating 1800 and above. Specially, his victory over Shirdhankar Bhargav, rating 1845 of Maharashtra was well appreciated by the crowd.

Altogether 160 players of all age groups from all over India participated.

Nitish is an IV standard student of Sharada Mandir School, Mira Mar and is coached by Prassana Swamy, Bambolim and Dronacharya awardee Raghunandan Gokhale, Mumbai.

Riders in action at Telaulim ground, Navelim, on Saturday.

Curtorim Gold win Veteran Cup HERALD CORRESPONDENT MARGAO, JAN 1

Curtorim Gold defeated Curtorim Old 5-4 via tiebreaker to win the Curtorim Veteran Cup tournament organised by Curtorim Veterans, at Curtorim ground, on Saturday.

The teams were tied 1-1 at half time.

Curtorim Gold who had better exchanges in the opening

session went into the lead when Anthony Baretto bulge the net off Alex Dias pass. However, their joy was shortlived when Jacinto Fernandes equalised midway.

The second half saw Curtorim Gold in better shade and attacked the rival citadel and their efforts bore the fruits when Cajetan Rebello made it 2-1. But Gabriel Silva cancelled the lead in the

Sao Jose de Areal Sports Club celebrate after claiming their victory in the GFA Third Division League alongwith club president Gabriel Endro, Sports Secretary Anthony D’Costa, Alex Valadares and coach and team manager Jerry Fernandes.

Photo: Charles D’Sousa

George to lead GU hockey team HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM, JAN 1

George Kulu will lead the Goa University hockey team at the West Zone Inter-University Hockey (men) Championship organised by University of Mumbai in Andheri from January 3 to 10.

Other members are Prakash Gaonkar, Cliford Fernandes, Kiran

Sawant Dessai, Rakesh Vaigankar, Peter S, Anto Surie Marshal N, Shaikh Mouzzan Saliya, Savio Coutinho, Anthony Fernandes, Chris Fernandes, Wency Sequeira, Sandeep Vaijal, Ivon D’Mello, Sunny Gaonkar and Taufiq Shaikh. Alexander Remedios (coach) and Sam Braganza (manager). The team will leave for Mumbai on January 2.

Rupesh is chief of N Goa WA HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM, JAN 1

Rupesh Halankar was elected president of the North Goa Weightlifting Association managing committee elections held at Shri Mahadev temple, Deulwada, Ozari, Pernem recently.

The committee: Rupesh Halankar (president), Durganand

Kundaikar (vice-president), Mayur Naik (general secretary), Peter Fernandes (joint secretary), Vinayak Bhandari (treasurer), Ravishankar Nipanikar (joint treasurer) and Rupesh Naik (technical advisor).

Rajesh M u l g a o n k a r, Laxmikant Kankonkar, Milind Mate, Akash Kadam and Dipak Vishwakarma are all members.

GOA DIARY 5-a-side football at Shiroda

PANJIM ((HSD) – Desparado Boys of Shiroda will organise their 1st All-Goa Luis (Packlo) memorial one day 5-a-side football tournament on January 2, Chan Shiroda ground, near Shri Kamakshi High School, Shiroda, from 10 a.m.

The winners will get Rs 20,000 and the runners-up Rs 10,000. Individual prizes will also be awarded. Spot entries will be accepted. Details may be obtained from Ivo on 9637891822, 9545060981/9764161382.

Weightlifting championship

PANJIM (HSD) – The North Goa Weightlifting Association will organise their weightlifting championship on January 16, near Panchayat office, Carambolim, at 3 p.m.

The championship will consist of eight categories. Entries should be submitted before January 10. Details may be obtained from Rupesh Halankar on 9822756949 or Mayur Naik on 9637939650.

dying minutes of the game.

At the end of regulation time the score was 2-2.

In the resulting tie-breaker Curtorim Gold had the last laugh. Minguel Rebello a senior citizen was introduced to the teams. This year ’s match, Nicoleau Fernandes former Curtorim footballer was the beneficiary as he was given Rs 5,000.

GPL T20 semis: Dempo v.

Salgaocar, 9.30 a.m.; Mac Vac Fabricators v. Al Fatah, 2 p.m., GCA stadium, Alto Porvorim.

GFA 2nd Division: St Cruz Society of Poitamado v. Wilred Leisure SC, Cuncolim ground; Curtorim Gymkhana v. Maina SC, Curtorim ground. Kick off 4 p.m.

GFA U-14: AA de MajordaUtorda-Calata v. United Boys of Palolem, Musson ground; Salcete FC v. Cuncolim Union, outside PJN ground, Fatorda; Snow's Football Academy v. Betalbatim Sporting Club, Raia ground; Ambelim SC v. Mandopa Sporting Club. Kick off 4 p.m.

GFA U-16: Goa United Sports Academy v. ABC Sports Club, Arambol, Poriat ground, Calangute; Anjuna Gymkhana v.

Dunes Sport Club, Anjuna Gymkhana ground. Kick off 4 p.m.

5-a-side Luis memorial football, Chan Shiroda, 10 a.m.

12th all-Goa 5-a-side football, near IOB, Borim.

Arlem Cup soccer (inaugural): Navelim Villagers Union v. Saligao United Club, Raia panchayat ground, 4.30 p.m.

Chandor Seamen Trophy: Cuncolim Union v. Varca Sports Club, Chandor ground, 4.30 p.m.

Bodybuilding selections

PANJIM (HSD) – Goa State Bodybuilding Association will conduct selection trials to select the State bodybuilders to participate in 49th Junior National Bodybuilding Championship in Chandigarh (Punjab) from February 12 to 14, organised

by Punjab State Bodybuilding Association and 51st Senior National Bodybuilding Championship in Delhi from March 24 to 28, organised by the Delhi State Bodybuilding Association. Bodybuilders may report on January 9 in Body Sculpture Gym, Porvorim at 10.30 a.m. Details may be obtained from Girish on 9423828888, Ramu on 8007276820 or Mukund on 9822385276.

Learn to swim classes

PANJIM (HSD) – SAG will conduct learn to swim classes from January 4 to 23, at CampalPanjim. Schedule is as follows: Gents (7 a.m. to 8 a.m.), ladies (8 a.m. to 9 a.m.), children (4.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.) and for ladies and gents (mixed batch) from (5.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.). Details may be obtained from SAG reception counter, Campal between 6 a.m. and 12 noon and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on all days, except Mondays and holidays.

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City keep pace with United, joy for Liverpool Pg 13

GOA, SUNDAY, 2 JANUARY, 2011

Shyamlal rides to victory at Navelim Supercross Pg 15

Dressing room atmosphere is best in last five years: Dhoni see, the last time also in 2006 we had won one and lost one, we came to Capetown with the series levelled. It's a fair chance, both teams will like to win, but team playing consistent cricket will lift the trophy," he said.

Dhoni is fully aware that this is the best opportunity for the Indian team to create history.

"Well, it's a chance to create history, as was the last time when we won out first Test in Johannesburg, that was the first ever Test we won in South Africa which is part of history. Ditto

Sachin Tendulkar talks with his son Arjun during training session at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday.

PTI CAPE TOWN, JAN 1

Mahendra Singh Dhoni reckons that the dressing room atmosphere of this current Indian team has been ‘the best’ during his five years in international cricket.

"It's the best dressing room atmosphere, I have felt in the last five years that I have played international cricket. Most of the guys have achieved a lot in their Test careers. So they are enjoying their cricket and it feels a very complete dressing room now,"

Dhoni said on the eve of the crucial third Test against South Africa.

"We have youngsters who are a part of the side where they are being groomed under experienced senior cricketers. So it is a very happy dressing room. Lot of credit goes to the members of the squad, support staff," Dhoni added.

Dhoni thinks that playing at Newlands gave India the best chance of accomplishing a historic series win.

"The fact is we have the best chance to win the series. If you

SQUADS INDIA: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Jaidev Unadkat, Pragyan Ojha.

SOUTH AFRICA: Graeme Smith (capt), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Paul Harris, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Ryan McLaren, JP Duminy, Wayne Parnell.

Match starts at 2 pm

We need to perform well as a batting unit: Smith PTI CAPE TOWN, JAN 1

South African captain Graeme Smith urged his batsmen to pull up their socks ahead of the final Test match against India which will start at the Newlands, here from tomorrow.

"Look, we were poor in Durban as a batting unit. We have had some good honest chats about that. As a batting unit we have been pretty successful, but in Durban we lost our minds a little bit. Hopefully we can gather our strength – the top six especially – for this Test," Smith told reporters on the eve of the third Test.

"Everyone has generally got good records here, and we have played well here in the past. It's a really strong ground for us. We are hoping to use all that and come out and put in a big per-

in Durban, that means we have the talent and the temperament to be successful in South Africa, but as I always say, it's not about the past, not about the last game, all about those five days."

"In South Africa game changes quickly. Like in India, we say game changes in the fourth or fifth day, but here game can change any time. You can lose four-five wickets in any session, similarly two set batsmen can score really fast, we have seen scores of over 400 in a day," he said.

formance," Smith said.

The skipper feels that toss won't be a big factor on the outcome of the match.

"Even in Durban, I don't think the toss was that crucial. It kept nipping around the whole game. Most Test wickets have something in the first session, and get better as the game goes on. It will be a good Test wicket."

The Proteas are obviously sulking after their 87-run defeat on bouncy Kingsmead strip where everyone thought that India won't have a chance.

"When you play on a wicket (Kingsmead) like that, the margin of error is small. We probably lacked a bit of tough discipline at times and making the little things count. In the end, we slightly let ourselves down. During key moments, we were not good enough, and India were better than us."

Sree cautioned

by Dhoni PTI CAPE TOWN, JAN 1

Temperamental paceman S Sreesanth was today rebuked by his own captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his verbal spat with rival captain Graeme Smith, who accused the Indian speedster of crossing the line by "bringing in family and personal things".

While Dhoni said that Sreesanth should learn to control himself and not cross the line, Smith disclosed that the Kerala pacer had become personal during his verbal exchange during the second Test in Durban and had stepped over the mark.

Giving details about the unsavoury episode, Smith said "I think pretty much every series you play, guys would like to have a go at you. Its just that through out my 90 Tests, I have played many Tests and it hasn't been that aggressive... You stop by bringing families and few personal things into the game. May be you are crossing the line".

Asked whether the altercation will mar the relationship between the two team, he said "No, not between the teams. It's one individual that has caused a few hassles and maybe crossed the line in certain ways. Both the teams are mature and we have dealt with – even myself and MS – there is a lot of respect for both teams,"

Yuvraj, KP in British papers’ top 10 ego list AGENCIES LONDON, JAN 1

Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh finds himself in a rather unflattering list with a British newspaper naming him as one of the 'top 10 sporting egos' of recent times.

Yuvraj, who has failed to find a place in India's Test squad for some time, was described as a talented cricketer whose ego has been inflated by the moolah from the Indian Premier League.

"The Twitter biography says it all, really: 'Cricketer, Celebrity, Entrepreneur, budding Philanthropist aka Yuvi'," Daily Telegraph said.

SPORTS Contact us on: sports@herald-goa.com

www.oheraldo.in

" Wo n d e r f u l l y t a l e n t e d teenager got lost in the 'tamasha', which accompanied the Indian Premier League. Ego, bank balance and Yuvraj Singhwaistline have all swollen in recent years, but his performances have deserted him. Lost his rag completely last summer when, as India's 12th man in Colombo, Sri Lankan fans mocked him as 'waterboy'," the newspaper said.

Yuvraj has a fellow cricketer for company in former England captain Kevin Pietersen who yesterday claimed that his selfless resignation from skipper's job was the reason for England's Ashes victory.

Ronaldinho close to Milan exit AGENCIES MILAN, JAN 1

AC Milan forward Ronaldinho is on the verge of leaving the Serie A leaders after media reports on Saturday said he had left the club's training base in Dubai to return to Brazil.

The former world player of the

year, who joined the Rossoneri in 2008 but has failed to recapture his former glory, is wanted by old Brazilian club Gremio and Milan finally broke their silence about the impending move late on Friday.

"We await his departure becoming official," Milan coach

Massimiliano Allegri told Sky Italia.