CHENNAITemperature: 290CPrecipitation: 20%Humidity: 77%Wind: 8 Km/hr

NEW DELHI, JAN 02 After taking action against

the international environmentgroup Greenpeace, the gov-ernment has clamped downon four American NGOsworking in the same field —Avaaz, Bank InformationCentre (BIC), Sierra Club and350.org.

Over the past month, theMinistry of Home Affairs(MHA) has directed theReserve Bank of India (RBI)to stop all foreign fundinginto the accounts of theseNGOs or their representativeswithout MHA clearance. Aletter issued by the Directorof the Monitoring unit forNGOs said it had been decid-ed “to keep a watch on all theactivities funded by U.S.-

based donor agencies” andlists the four groups.

The order could create a CONTD. ON PAGE 3

BENGALURU, JAN 02Alleged pro-Islamic

State Twitter accounthandler Mehdi MasroorBiswas was in touchwith the group’s com-batants stationed inIraq, a top police offi-cial said.

“During our interro-gation of Biswas, wehave found that the ISaccount holder was intouch with the ISIScombatants and he wasan aide,” BengaluruPolice CommissionerM.N. Reddi told

reporters in Bengaluru.Biswas was produced

before a city court onFriday and sent to judi-cial custody till January16.

Biswas was arrestedon December 13, 2014,under IPC section 125(waging war against theGovernment of anyAsiatic power inalliance with theGovernment of India)section 18 and 39 ofUnlawful Activities(Prevention) Act andSection 66 of the

Information TechnologyAct.

Reddi said policehave gathered sufficientevidence to prove thatBiswas supported ISand also his direct mes-sages on his Twitterhandle revealed that heencouraged people tojoin IS.

“We have sufficientevidence to prove he(Biswas) supported IS.Direct messages on hisTwitter handle alsoshow he encouraged

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

HAQSAADDAFIGHT FOR RIGHTSaturday, January 03, 2015

Amenities will be improved in newlyregularised colonies: Arun Jaitley

Micromax Yu Yureka Review: It'sMi Against Yu

Katrina is my favourite co-star:Anushka Sharma

PORBANDAR, JAN 02 Four crew members of an

explosive-laden boat werefeared dead in an explosiontriggered by the fire set off bythem after the Indian CoastGuard intercepted the vesselnear the India-Pakistan mar-itime boundary late December31, 2014.

The Coast Guard ships andaircraft spotted a suspiciousfishing boat 365 km offPorbandar in the Arabian Sea,following intelligence inputsthat one such boat from KetiBandar near Karachi was plan-ning some illicit transaction.

The Coast Guard shiptracked down the boat andafter an hour-long hot pursuit,intercepted it. “Four personswere seen on the boat who dis-regarded all warnings by theCoast Guard ship... the crewhid themselves in below deck

compartment and set the boaton fire, which resulted in anexplosion and major fire on the

boat,” said a Coast Guardrelease.

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

4 feared killed as explosives-ladenPakistan vessel sinks off Gujarat

P8

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN 02Kerala took its first firm

step towards hosting the 35thNational Games, fromJanuary 31 to February 14,with a bang as the 30-daycountdown to the event at theCentral Stadium here on

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

35th National Gamescountdown begins

NEW DELHI, JAN 01The Delhi Development

Authority (DDA) will issuethe next housing scheme inDecember 2016.

Under the new scheme,40,000 flats will be on offer,of which 24,660 flats will besingle bedroom and rest twoor three bedrooms. Earlier, the

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

DDA's next housingscheme in December 2016

BENGALURU, JAN 02These are busy days for

Virat Kohli. While the cam-eras chase him for the right(499 runs in the current seriesin Australia and counting) aswell as wrong (the incessantsledging bouts) reasons,India’s latest Test captain isback in the news again, albeitfor a different cause.

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Kohli reigns on Twitter

Vol. 1 Issue: 107 Price: Rs.3:00 Reg. No: DELENG/2014/58212 Delhi Edition Pages: 8 Website: www.saaddahaq.in Email: news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

MUMBAI, JAN 02The BJP is holding talks with the

National Conference and thePeople’s Democratic Party on gov-ernment formation in Jammu andKashmir but there were “no fruit-ful” results yet, party presidentAmit Shah said on Friday.

Mr. Shah said his party hadsecured the people’s mandate andwished to form the government.

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

No fruitful outcome yet on J&Kgovt formation: Amit Shah

NEW DELHI, JAN 02The new U.S. Ambassador,

Richard Rahul Verma, arrived inDelhi on Friday. He is the first everIndian-American to be appointedthe U.S. envoy to India.

Mr. Verma will continue theembassy’s work in advancing theU.S.-India strategic partnership,said a communiqué from the mis-sion. “I am honoured to serve as U.S. Ambassador to

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

New U.S. Ambassador RichardVerma arrives in Delhi

JAMSHEDPUR, JAN 02Jharkhand Chief Minister

Raghubar Das on Friday attributed“administrative failure” as a majorcause behind Naxalism and assuredto provide development-orientedschemes and good governance inthe state.

Addressing his maiden press CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Administrative failure behindNaxalism: Jharkhand CM

BADAUN (UP), JAN 02Two constables have been

suspended for allegedlyabducting and gang-raping a14-year-old girl in MusajhagPolice Station premises inBadaun, police said on Friday.

The girl was abducted fromher house on December 31 by

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Teenager allegedly rapedby cops in Badaun

NEW DELHI, JAN 02Bank employees’ unions

have decided go on a strike onJanuary 7 across the countryto press for a wage hike. Bankunions have also threatened togo on strike on multiple dayslater this month if theirdemand is not accepted. “Wewant early conclusion of the

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Bank strike onJanuary 7

NEW DELHI, JAN 02Three senior Union

Ministers met PresidentPranab Mukherjee to explainthe urgency in promulgatingthe ordinance amending theland acquisition Act before hegave his nod to it.

Finance Minister ArunJaitley, Law Minister D.V.

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Ministers meet Pranabon land ordinance

P6P2

Pak tries to push terrorists into J&K: RajnathNEW DELHI, JAN 02

India on Friday accused Pakistan of try-ing to push terrorists into Jammu andKashmir and giving cover to suchattempts by continuous firing along theborder.

“No doubt about that,” Home MinisterRajnath Singh told reporters in New Delhiwhen asked whether the repeated ceasefireviolations by Pakistani troops were tocover infiltration attempts by militants.

The Home Minister said Pakistan hasbeen firing towards Indian side along theInternational Border in Jammu region andthe BSF was giving a befitting reply.

“BSF jawans are giving a befittingreply,” he said.

When asked about Islamabad’s protestagainst heavy firing by India, Mr. Singhsaid it was Pakistan which started the fir-ing and “we are just responding to it”.

Pakistan Rangers on Thursday targeted13 border outposts in Samba sector inJammu and Kashmir, a day after fourPakistani rangers were killed in a sharpcounter-attack following the death of an

Indian jawan in cross-border firing.The Home Minister had said Pakistan

should desist from such violations.“Pakistan should not do this,” Mr. Singh

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI, JAN 02Prices of passenger cars and utility vehi-

cles are set to go up in the New Year follow-ing the Union government’s decision to stopconcessional excise duty rates with effectfrom December 31. Car manufacturers suchas Hyundai and Honda have alreadyincreased prices, and Toyota and Marutimay follow suit.

The UPA government, in the InterimBudget presented last February, announcedlower excise duties for automobiles untilJune 30, 2014, as support to the industrywhich was in the grip of a slowdown. Thenew government extended it to untilDecember 31.Prices of popular car models already up

Car sales saw an increase of four per centduring the April-November 2014 period at1.21 million units when compared with a

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI, JAN 02With Brent crude prices

touching the $57 per barrellevel, Indian oil marketingcompanies on Thursdayreduced jet fuel (ATF) pricesby 12.5 per cent but this isnot going to translate intolower airfares. AviationTurbine Fuel prices havereduced by 26 per cent fromthe June 2014 level, whilecrude prices have crashedover 50 per cent.

Airlines in India, sufferingfrom high losses by runningbelow cost of operations, areunwilling to pass on the ben-efits to air passengers. “Hadwe run a super-profitable

business, we could havereduced fares. Currently, allfares are below cost.Revenue per km in a sectorlike Delhi and Mumbai ismaximum Rs. 7, which is farcheaper than auto and taxifares. Fares in India are mar-ket-driven not cost-driven,so we are incurring heavylosses. With jet fuel pricesmoderating, we will recoversome losses. There is noscope for slashing airfares,”said the finance head of anairline.“No scope for air fare cut”

Airline officials said air-fares in India were already

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI, JAN 02Pakistan-based terrorist

groups are continuously try-ing to infiltrate into Jammuand Kashmir by takingadvantage of cross-borderfiring as they aim to carry out“spectacular attacks” aheadof U.S. President BarackObama’s Republic Day visitto India, according to securi-ty agencies.

Quoting intelligencereports, a Home Ministryofficial said the terroristswere waiting for opportunityin eight locations along theInternational Border and theLine of Control to sneak intoIndia to indulge in terroristacts.

“As per our information, CONTD. ON PAGE 3

BAGHDAD, JAN 02Violence in Iraq in

2014 killed at least12,282 civilians, makingit the deadliest yearsince the sectarianbloodshed of 2006-07,the United Nations saidin a statement.

The majority of thedeaths - nearly 8,500 -occurred during the sec-ond-half of the year fol-lowing the expansion ofthe Islamic State insur-gency in June out ofAnbar province leadingto widespread clasheswith security forces.

"Yet again, the Iraqiordinary citizen contin-ues to suffer from vio-lence and terrorism ...This is a very sad state

of affairs," saidNickolay Mladenov,head of the U.N. politi-cal mission in Iraq, in astatement released onThursday.

Islamic State fightersstill control roughly athird of Iraq. The armyand Shi'ite and Kurdish

militia continue to battlethe insurgents.

The figures show thatviolence has not abatedsince 2013 when 7,818civilians were killed, theU.N. said. The blood-shed remains below thelevels seen in 2006 and

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

UN says at least 12,282Iraqi civilians killed in 2014

‘Pakistan-based groupsplanning attacks aheadof Obama visit’

Car prices in thefast lane

Cheaper aviation fuel will not help fliers

Govt. targets climate groups

Pro-Islamic State tweeter Mehdi was in touchwith group’s combatants in Iraq: Police

Weather ReportDELHITemperature: 180CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity:81%Wind: 8 Km/hr

KOLKATATemperature: 260CPrecipitation: 60%Humidity: 77% Wind:6 Km/hr

MUMBAITemperature: 280CPrecipitation: 0%Humidity:57%Wind: 16 Km/hr

IN THIS INDIAN COAST GUARD HANDOUT PHOTO, A PAKISTANI VESSELBURNS OFF PORBANDAR. THE CREW SET THE BOAT ON FIRE AFTER ITWAS INTERCEPTED NEAR THE INDIA-PAKISTAN MARITIME BORDER.

NEW DELHI, JAN 02Taking on government

through social media, Congresshas criticised it for “budgetcuts” in different sectors, “dilu-tion” of land bill and accusedthe NDA dispensation of doing“another U turn” on depositingcooking gas subsidy amount inconsumers’ bank account.

The opposition party throughits official twitter accountattacked the decisions of vari-ous ministries by posting linksof various new reports on itsshadow committee hashtagscreated two months back.

“@HMOIndiaShadow: AfterHealth and Agri Budget cuts,this Government is now cuttingfunds for Police Modernisationtoo!

“ _ S h a d o w@HRDMinShadow: Nailing thelies of @HRDMinistry & of‘Minimum Govt, MaximumGovernance’: Why IIT can’tfly”, the party posted, criticising

the government over reportsthat it plans to cut funds forpolice modernisation and itsalleged role into IIT Delhi con-troversy.

In other tweets, the partyattacked the appointment ofShailesh Nayak as ad-hocChairman of ISRO and therecent Ordinance on land acqui-sition citing reports.

“ @ S h a d o w M i n O f E A :Government appoints geologistas ISRO chairman. Scientistsquestion the ad-hoc appoint-ment at this crucial juncture.

“More dilutions hidden in theLand ordinance than you weretold about by the Modi govt...,”it said. On the hashtag of lawministry, it questioned the“hasty changes in land law”.

Congress, which believes thatModi’s media campaignblitzkrieg, particularly on socialmedia, was one of the contribu-tory factors to the unprecedent

CONTD. ON PAGE 3

Congress escalates attack on Modigovernment through Twitter

Suspicious boat: BJPflays PakistanNEW DELHI, JAN 02

Accusing Pakistan ofrepeatedly aiding terror activ-ities in India, BJP on Fridaysaid it reflects “frustration” ofthe neighbouring country andcomplimented the armedforces for foiling a bid similarto the 26/11 terror attacks offthe Gujarat Coast.

The party also lauded thealacrity displayed by theforces in foiling the bid andsaid it was a result of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi giv-ing more powers to them indealing with terror activitiesof its own instead of lookingup to Delhi.

In a midnight operation in CONTD. ON PAGE 3

NEW DELHI | SATURDAY | JAN 03, 2015Delhi News2 SAADDA HAQ

NEW DELHI, JAN 02The government’s decision to

regularise unauthorised colonies inthe national capital has been takento provide basic amenities in theseareas on par with other developedcolonies of the city, UnionMinister Arun Jaitley said onFriday.

“These colonies were formedbecause there are economic oppor-tunities in metro cities. Lakhs ofpeople migrate from villages tothese areas and since Delhi is thecapital of the country it attracts alot of people..,” he noted.

The Finance Minister was speak-ing to reporters at his residencewhere Delhi BJP leaders had gath-ered to felicitate him for the Uniongovernment’s “pro-people deci-sions”.

“Previous governments have notworked in this direction and peo-ple were living in colonies wherebasic amenities are not available.Our government has decided toregularise these colonies and allthe amenities provided in thedeveloped colonies will be extend-ed to these areas so that the quality

of life can be improved in theseareas as well,” he said.

The Finance Minister said theNDA government under PrimeMinister Narendra Modi has takentwo important decisions for thebetterment of Delhi.

“There was a threat of sealingand demolition on lakhs of houses,industries and shops in Delhi. Wehave extended the deadline until asolution is found to the problem as

per law.“We have also decided to regu-

larise all the unauthorised coloniesbuilt till 2014, the date has beenextended from 2002 to 2014. Thiswill benefit 60 lakh people andthere are hundreds of suchcolonies which have been regu-larised,” he said.

The Union Cabinet had onDecember 29 approved anOrdinance in this regard. 895

unauthorised colonies of Delhi,which had come up till June 1 thisyear, will be regularised as per theordinance.

Delhi BJP chief Satish Updhyaysaid the Union government is tak-ing several pro-people decisions tomake Delhi a better place to livein. BJP leaders Vijay Goel,Vijendra Gupta, Ramesh Bidhuriand Vijay Jolly were also presenton the occasion.

Amenities will be improved in newlyregularised colonies: Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI, JAN 02The Delhi Police have

launched a mobile applica-tion ‘Himmat’, meant forwomen’s safety.

The application willallow women to send a dis-tress call to the PoliceControl Room and theirrelatives in case of anyemergency.

The application waslaunched by Union HomeMinister Rajnath Singh onThursday. Mr. Singh alsodistributed pepper spray towomen and awarded girlswho had successfully com-pleted the Delhi Policeself-defence programme.

The app can be down-loaded free of cost fromthe Delhi Police websitewww.delhipolice.nic.in orfrom Google Play stores onAndroid phones.

Currently the app isavailable only for Androidphones but the DelhiPolice is working onextending the facility toother operating systems aswell.

Explaining the app,Delhi PoliceCommissioner B S Bassisaid: “In case of an emer-

gency, the user can send analert by shaking her phoneor by pressing the powerbutton/soft button. As soonas the distress button ispressed, it will trigger a30-second audio and videorecording on the phonewhich will be relayed tothe Police Control Room

and the victim will get acall back from the PCR”.

An SMS alert will alsobe sent to minimum of fivefriends and relatives of theuser and a status will beposted on her Facebookand Twitter timeline whichwill be connected to theapp.

Himmat App launched

NEW DELHI, JAN 02Despite all the efforts taken by

enforcement agencies by way ofawareness campaigns and warn-ings during the run up to NewYear celebrations, the number ofpeople booked for drunk drivingthis New Year eve was substan-tially high when compared toprevious year.

Increased deployment and on-the-spot action against errantdrivers, the traffic police said,propelled the number of fines byover 36 percent and the numberof vehicles impounded for viola-tions up by close to a staggering300 per cent in absolute terms.

The traffic police also creditedthe said drive for bringing downthe number of fatal deaths tohave occurred on Delhi streets onDecember 31 from three last yearto 'just' one this year and what asenior official described as 'virtu-

ally no stunt biking beingnoticed' as the Delhi Police had

apprehended.More four-wheeler and two-

wheeler drivers were prosecutedduring the said drive this NewYear's Eve as compared to lastyear with the former accountingfor 30 per cent and the latter forover 40 per cent of the total pros-ecutions.

“The maximum number ofprosecutions took place in thesouthern part of the Capital witharound 300 fines issued to viola-tors followed by east Delhiwhere 200 violators were fined.In central Delhi, where mostdeployment was in place, around97 fines were issued,” a sourcefrom the traffic unit said.

The traffic police said it haddeployed 86 teams, armed withbreath-analyzers, to check drunk-en driving. Special pickets werealso set-up to check stunts onmotorcycles, over speed, reck-less, zig-zag and dangerous driv-ing in coordination with the local

police and the PCR at Mehrauli,Saket, Vasant Vihar, South-Extension, Rajouri Garden,Pitampura, Laxmi Nagar andMayur Vihar.

During the enforcement drive,the traffic unit claimed, a totalnumber of 986 motorists wereprosecuted for committing vari-ous violations which included 54for dangerous driving and 608motorists for drunken driving. Atotal of 305 car drivers, 402 twowheeler riders and 21 auto rick-shaws were prosecuted out ofwhich 356 vehicles wereimpounded on the spot.

The traffic police said, on thisNew Year’s eve, a total numberof 608 motorists were prosecutedfor drunken driving. While 532motorists were prosecuted for thesame offence in 2013, 489 in2012, 418 in 2011 , 346 werebooked in 2010.

Despite awareness campaign, drunken driving cases go up

NEW DELHI, JAN 02Massive vehicular congestion gripped the

Capital on Thursday with commuters com-plaining of jams in Central, South and WestDelhi.

While heavy traffic was reported at theAshram Chowk on Mathura Road and fromNaraina to Rajouri Garden due to construc-tion work being undertaken there by theDelhi Metro Rail Corporation, severe con-gestion was also reported from the C-Hexagon near India Gate which had a spill-over effect across Central Delhi.

“The entire C-Hexagon was choc-a-blocwith vehicles during the evening rush hourand there were no traffic police personnel tobe seen,” said Rakesh Das, a private execu-tive.

“Because of congestion there, traffic wasevidently being affected on Ashoka Roadand other stretches that lead to the location,”Das added.

Commuters complained of severe conges-tion on adjacent routes such as ParliamentStreet, Ferozeshah Road, Mandi House,Lodhi Road, Raisina Road, Mother Teresa

Crescent and Shanti Path.Meanwhile, construction work related to

the second phase of the elevated Barapullahflyover by the Public Works Departmentcaused the carriageway from Sewa Nagar

crossing to INA to be closed, hence affect-ing traffic movement on the AurobindoMarg. The jam occurred despite the trafficpolice issuing advisories to commuters ask-ing them to avoid Central Delhi.

New Year jam: Metro work gridlocks traffic across Delhi

NEW DELHI, JAN 02The Delhi Police on

Thursday raided a SouthDelhi farmhouse wherealcohol was allegedlybeing served to a largegathering without permis-sion.

According to the police,the property is owned by afamous fashion designer.They, however, added thatthe owner was not presentduring the party.

The manager of theproperty in Fatehpur Beri,who has been named asthe organiser, has beenbooked for violation ofDelhi Excise Act.

It is alleged that alcoholwas served withoutobtaining licence. DelhiPolice spokespersonRajan Bhagat added thatexcise for premium brand

liquor being served to theguests had not been paid.

“We received informa-tion that around 70 peoplewere present in the partyand consuming alcoholwithout the hosts obtain-ing liquor licence,” saidMr. Bhagat.

When a police teamreached the spot, it foundseveral cars parked out-side the farmhouse. Uponentering, the policemenfound the party takingplace in the open groundin the farmhouse.

The FIR registered inconnection with the inci-dent states that there was abar counter in the party.When the police teamasked the attendant thereto produce the licence forthe same, he failed to doso.

Raid at farmhouse

Go freehold if your houseis on government landNEW DELHI, JAN 02

Bringing a big relief to a large number of peo-ple living in 23 Nazul estates (government land)across Delhi, the urban development ministry onThursday approved the mechanism for conver-sion of such properties from leasehold to free-hold, by paying certain charges.

This scheme will be applicable to residentialproperties for conversion to freehold where theleases have already expired. Lessees, power ofattorney holders, mutatees and purchasers ofproperties on Nazul lands can apply for conver-sion to freehold.

The Nazul estates which fall under thisscheme include Karol Bagh, Jhandewalan,Paharganj, Darya Ganj, Sadar Bazar, Aliganj,Chirag, Naiwala, Jhilmil Tahirpur, ArakpurBagh Mochi, Southern Ridge, a governmentrelease said. Following directions from urbandevelopment minister M Venkaiah Naidu, DDAwill facilitate the conversion against payment ofabout Rs 2 lakh per 100 square meter plot,depending on the number of years since the termleases have expired.

Three women in theirearly 20s died in a carcrash on the YamunaExpressway in the earlyhours of the New Yearwhen the car they weretravelling in hit a dividerand turned turtle.

According to the localpolice, six people weretravelling in the Vernacar when the accidentoccurred between NoidaInternational Universityand Galgotia’sUniversity in GreaterNoida on Thursday at 2a.m.

The three youngwomen, Shivani, Arushiand Akanksha, died

instantly, said DankaurStation Officer (SO)Praveen Kumar Yadav.“Two of the girls wereMBA students in GreaterNoida.

The other three passen-gers in the car wereinjured and are stable.”

The injured personsincluded a DelhiUniversity student,Lavanya, one Sumit Dasand the driver of the car,Shekhar.

“It is a case of over-speeding.

Though they were outto celebrate the NewYear with a long drive, itdoes not appear to be a

case of drunken driv-ing,” said Mr. Yadav.

The accident was thesecond fatal crash on the165-km expresswayfrom Greater Noida toAgra in a span of oneweek. On December 24,fog had led to a massive27-vehicle pile-up thatkilled two persons on theexpressway

The next day, theYamuna ExpresswayIndustrial DevelopmentAuthority had asked theCentral Road ResearchInstitute to conduct astudy to find out why theroad was so accident-prone.

Three killed in Yamuna E-way mishapgridlocks traffic across Delhi

NEW DELHI, JAN 02In a bid to ensure that the

Capital gets the prescribednumber of auto-rickshawsrequired for last-mile connec-tivity, the TransportDepartment here has invitedapplications to issue 10,000such permits.

The vacancy is part of theone-lakh cap fixed by theSupreme Court on the numberof auto-rickshaws here.Though a senior official saidthe Department was seeking toclear the backlog of permits upfor grabs, for which there hadnot been many takers so far, ithad been decided to give pref-erence to women applicants.

“We will give preference towomen drivers every day interms of both collection offorms as well as issuance ofpermits, all other conditionsbeing equal,” said an official,adding that the move hoped to

ensure that more women driv-ers are allowed to enter thepublic transport sector here tomake women feel more confi-dent while making use of thesame. According to the notifi-cation, applications shall bereceived for a month betweenJanuary and February 12 at theDepartment’s office in Burari.

The applicants have been

asked to ensure that their vehi-cles are not only new, but alsopre-fitted with GPS devices.

“These new auto-rickshawswill also be allowed to ply toand from adjacent locations inthe National Capital Region,making travel between loca-tions in Noida, Ghaziabad,Gurgaon and Delhi more orless seamless,” the officer said.

Applications for 10,000 auto-rickshaws invited

After downloading the app, the user willhave to register with the Delhi Police web-site and submit numbers of atleast two oftheir kin or friends.

User has to enter this key in the registra-tion window in the application

Once the user registers, an SMS will besent on the mobile. A download link andregistration key will be given.

During an emergency, the user can eithershake the phone or press the power but-ton to send an alert.

NEW DELHI, JAN 01A chilly rainy morning

greeted Delhiites today evenas the minimum tempearturerose by 2.2 degrees since yes-terday, settling three notchesabove the season's average at10.2 degrees Celsius.According to MeT officials,5.4 mm rainfall was recordedboth at the Safdarjung (con-sidered official figure forDelhi) and Palam observato-ries. Lodhi Road centrerecorded 6.7 mm rainfallwhile the areas underAyanagar and Ridge recorded6.8 mm and 3.4 mm rainfallrespectively. The Met officehas forecast a cloudy day withthe possibility of more rain-fall.

"The day would be partlycloudy. Very light rain orthundershower could occur insome areas. The maximum

temperature will hover at 19degrees Celsius," said an IMDofficial.

The visibility at 8.30 AMwas 600 metres whichimproved to 1000 meters at11.30 AM.

According to the NorthernRailway, 42 trains coming tothe capital were running late

due to fog, 18 were resched-uled and four were cancelled.However, the flight opera-tions were smooth.

Humidity was 98 per cent at8.30 AM. Yesterday, the max-imum temperature was 21.6degrees Celsius while theminimum had settled at 8.8degrees Celsius.

A rainy day for Delhi

Continuation 3

4 feared ...An intelligence-based midnight opera-

tion was conducted on the interveningnight of December 31, 2014 and Fridayby the Indian Coast Guard ships and air-craft to intercept a suspect fishing boat inArabian Sea near Indo-Pak maritimeboundary, approximately 365 km fromPorbander, the release said.

“As per the intelligence inputs receivedon 31st December, a fishing boat fromKetiBunder near Karachi was planningsome illicit transaction in Arabian Sea.Based on the input, Coast Guard Dornieraircraft undertook sea — air coordinatedsearch and located the suspect fishingboat. Thereafter, the Coast Guard ship onpatrol in area was diverted and intercept-ed the unlit boat at about midnight of31st December in position 365 km West-South West of Porbandar,” the releaseadded.

“The Coast Guard ship warned thefishing boat to stop for further investiga-tion of the crew and cargo; however, theboat increased speed and tried to escapeaway from the Indian side of maritimeboundary. The hot pursuit continued fornearly one hour and the Coast Guard shipmanaged to stop the fishing boat afterfiring warning shots. Four persons wereseen on the boat who disregarded allwarnings by the Coast Guard ship to stopand cooperate with investigation. Soonthereafter, the crew hid themselves inbelow deck compartment and set the boaton fire, which resulted in explosion andmajor fire on the boat.

“Due to darkness, bad weather andstrong winds, the boat and persons onboard could not be saved or recovered.The boat burnt and sank in the sameposition, in early hours of 1st January.Coast Guard ships and aircraft are con-tinuing operations in area to search forany possible survivor. Coast Guard andother security agencies are maintaininghigh vigil in maritime and coastal areassince last couple of months due to sever-al inputs on threat from the sea.”

Suspicious boat...the high seas, a Pakistani fishing boat

said to be carrying explosives was inter-cepted by the Indian Coast Guard off thecoast of Gujarat, but the vessel explodedand caught fire before sinking along withfour occupants.

“This is yet another attempt by a frus-trated Pakistan in aiding terror activitiesin India, as it has been continuously aid-ing and exporting terrorism to the world.

“BJP compliments the armed forces forfoiling such an attempt as they displayedperfect coordination in tackling terroractivities. This also demonstrates PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s leadership ofempowering the forces to deal with anysuch situation on their own,” BJP nation-al secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

The incident which occurred on thenight between December 31 and January1, some 365 km off the coast ofPorbander, generated strong speculationthat it was reminiscent of 2008 Mumbaiterror strikes, but there was no officialconfirmation of that with the DefenceMinistry merely stating that the boatfrom Keti Bunder near Karachi “wasplanning some illicit transaction” in theArabian Sea.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister MVenkaiah Naidu said, “Pakistan hasalways been aiding and funding terror-ists. It has now become their regularhabit.”

BJP Spokesperson G V L NarasimhaRao said, “It clearly shows itself to be apossible terror operation and the CoastGuard certainly need to be complimentedfor averting possible terror attack.”

Congress escalates ...ed drubbing of Congress in Lok Sabha

polls, had taken steps to tone up its pres-ence on the non-convention media eversince.

Shadow Cabinet committees wereformed in November to keep a watch ondecisions and policies of key ministriesof the Modi government and corner it onissues during and after the WinterSession.

The party attacked the governmentthrough these shadow cabinet throughoutthe winter session in November-December last year. Party sources saythat the attack on these hashtags will becarried out comprehensively during theupcoming Budget session in February.

Former ministers, including A KAntony, M Veerappa Moily, AnandSharma, Oscar Fernandes as alsoCongress leader in Lok SabhaMallikarjun Kharge and Leader of theOpposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam NabiAzad, Digvijay Singh, K V Thomas andJairam Ramesh are prominent membersof these shadow committees.

The committees are loosely based onBritish Parliament’s concept, where theopposition party appoints an MP to‘shadow’ each of the members of theCouncil of Ministers.

In one of the shadow committee hash-tags, the party said “Modi Govt finalis-ing dilution of tribal rights against acqui-

sition of forest land. After the farmers,tribals now!”

Party general secretary Digvijay Singhalso targeted the government overincrease in excise duty and gas subsidypayments in bank account of consumersthrough Aadhar card.

“NDA implements UPA Government’sPolicy of paying full price of GasCylinder and Subsidy deposited inConsumer’s account through AdharCard.

“Another U Turn? Modi criticised UPAand BJP made a big issue. Why are theyquiet now? BJP’s Double Speak? WouldModi supporters pl comment ?,” Singhtweeted.

In another tweet he said, “Third hike ofExcise Duty on Diesel and Petrol in 2months. Modi takes away whatInternational Crude Oil Price reductiongives to Consumers.”

Congress plans to further step up attackon the NDA government on land ordi-nance issue seeking to portray is as a“land snatching ordinance”.

The twitter handle of the INC todaysaid, “BJP has taken a U turn on#LandAct which it had supported duringUPA tenure... BJP’s land snatching ordi-nance: Clause that made farmer’s con-sent mandatory removed by Modi.”

‘Pakistan-based...the militants have the blessings of the

highest authorities of Pakistan Army,” anofficial said.

The largest group comprises about 40terrorists who are waiting at the launch-ing pads just across the Samba sector inJammu and Kashmir. There has beenheavy exchange of firing between theBSF and Pakistan Rangers in this sector.

“The Pakistan-based groups are plan-ning to carry out spectacular attacksahead of Obama’s visit to India to attendthe Republic Day parade,” the officialsaid.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh onFriday accused Pakistan of trying to pushterrorists into Jammu and Kashmir andgiving cover to such attempts by contin-uous firing along the border.

“No doubt about that,” Mr. Singh toldreporters in New Delhi when askedwhether the repeated ceasefire violationsby Pakistani troops were to cover infil-tration attempts by militants.

Pakistan Rangers on Thursday targeted13 border outposts in Samba sector inJammu and Kashmir, a day after four oftheir men were killed in a sharp counter-attack following the death of a BSFjawan in cross-border firing.

UN says ...2007 when sectarian Shi'ite-Sunni

killings reached their peak.In December, the body said that a total

of 1,101 Iraqis were killed in acts of vio-lence, including 651 civilians, 29 police-men and a further 421 members of thesecurity forces.

The bloodshed was worst in Baghdadin December, where 320 civilians werekilled, followed by Anbar province to thewest with 164 dead.

Pak tries to...had said.Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar

had said Islamabad does not seem tolearn any lesson.

Govt. targets...controversy ahead of U.S. President

Barack Obama’s visit to India thismonth, given that the U.S. has in the pastissued statements regarding India’srestrictions on international NGOs.

In 2013, after India took similar actionagainst anti-nuclear groups inKudankulam, the U.S. State Departmenthad denied it was linked to the NGOs,but said such groups “are among theessential building blocks of any healthydemocracy.” Later, the funding forGreenpeace was also frozen.

As a result of the latest MHA order,every fund transfer from abroad for theiractivists in India will be held back pend-ing clearance.

According to RBI records, the interna-tional NGOs were not registered with thegovernment. Neither had their employ-ees in India applied for FCRA clearance.The MHA is also going to inquire into allremittances into India from these groupssince January 2013.

Last year also saw the leak of an IBreport titled “Concerted efforts by selectforeign-funded NGOs to take downIndian development projects.” It con-tended that several foreign-funded envi-ronmental NGOs were targeting develop-ment projects across the country. Apartfrom Greenpeace, Sierra Club and350.org were mentioned in Annexure Bof the IB report in a graph.

Home Ministry and Foreign Ministryofficials did not comment on the orderand declined to speak about why U.S.-based NGOs had been singled out forscrutiny.Reason to worry, says NGO represen-tative

A representative of an American greenNGO, one of four whose foreign fundingwill be stopped unless they are clearedby the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA),told TheHindu that the move appeared to

question democratic effort that individu-als and organisations could exercise inthe country. “False allegations againstactivists of political subversion arebecoming commonplace and that isenough reason to worry,” he said.

A letter the representative receiveddated December 10 said the MHAForeigners Division (FCRA wing) regu-lates receipt of foreign contribution byNGOs to ensure that it is utilised forbonafide welfare activities, without com-promising on concerns about nationalinterest and security.

The government has clamped down onfour American NGOs — Avaaz, BankInformation Centre (BIC), Sierra Cluband 350.org. Earlier it had acted againstGreenpeace.

With a claimed membership of about40 million worldwide, New York-basedAvaaz works on several public issues andin September 2014, it had organised a‘People’s climate march’ in Delhi.

The Bank Information Centre (BIC) isan NGO-based in Washington that tracksWorld Bank and Asian DevelopmentBank (ADB) funded projects worldwide,but has a special focus on India.According to a description on its web-site, its work involves public debate oncoal and energy projects in India, as“there is a complete lack of transparencyand the agencies who receive these bor-rowings are not accountable to the peo-ple.”

BIC was particularly critical of the TataMundhra 4,000 MW Ultra Mega PowerProject in Gujarat, a key project for theGujarat government.

New York-based NGO 350.org whichworks on climate-change and theCalifornia-based Sierra Club have beenopposing coal imports from Australia forIndian thermal plants, including dealsthat were finalised during Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s visit to Australia inNovember 2014.

Car prices...year-ago period. Likewise, sales of

utility vehicles saw a rise of 5 per cent at3.63 lakh units during first eight monthsof this fiscal.

The United Progressive Alliance gov-ernment, in the Interim Budget presentedlast February, announced lower exciseduties for automobiles until June 30,2014, as support to the industry whichwas in the grip of a slowdown. The newgovernment extended the period to untilDecember 31.

“It [withdrawal of excise duty cut] isonly a temporary setback and the benefitdid not help significantly anyway. It ismore to do with sentiment and this with-drawal was expected,” Daljeet SinghKohli, Research Head of IndiaNiveshSecurities, says.

“When the excise duty cut wasannounced in February, we passed on thefull benefits to the customers. As it is amatter of taxes, we’ll be billing cus-tomers as per the higher price withimmediate effect,” said RakeshSrivastava, senior vice-president, salesand marketing, Hyundai Motor India.

The price of small car Hyundai Eoncould go up by about Rs. 11,000, whilethe i10 Grand will see an increase ofabout Rs. 15,000 and the Verna’s pricewill go up by about Rs. 26,000.

Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice-president,marketing & sales, Honda Cars India,said the company had announced a pricerevision (4 per cent increase) for its mod-els.

Maruti Suzuki said it was awaitingclarity and any decision on price hikewould be taken post-January 5, when thecompany employees would return fromyear-end holidays. Toyota KirloskarMotor said it would study the marketreaction and announce the price revision.

Cheaper aviation...low compared to U.S. and other coun-

tries and there was no leeway to cutfares.

“There is a huge mismatch in revenueand cost. The existing fares do not com-pensate the cost. In 1994 the farebetween Delhi and Mumbai was Rs.5,500 and after 20 years the average fareis Rs. 7,000. It should have been Rs.15,000 considering the inflation andother input costs,” said an airline seniorexecutive.

Travel agents are of the same view.“There is no scope to cut fares unlesssupplies [more seats offered in sectors]improve. Fares will be under control ifgovernment caps them,” said SubhashGoyal, Chairman, STIC Travel Group.

Some experts have hope. “AfterJanuary 5, once average airline seatoccupancy levels fall to the low 70s, wemay see discount offers kicking in,” saidAmber Dubey, Partner and India Head ofAerospace and Defence KPMG.

Pro-Islamic State ...people to join the terrorist outfit. He

had been pro-ctively tweeting,” he said.Police had launched a manhunt for

Biswas after Britain’s Channel 4 Newshad aired the report on the presence of ISTwitter Ideologue @ShamiWitness inBengaluru and arrested him from a rent-ed apartment in the city.

No fruitful...“We want to form the government. We

are in talks with both the parties but therehas been no fruitful outcome so far,” Mr.Shah told reporters in Mumbai.

Even as the BJP has sought more timefrom J&K Governor N.N. Vohra on gov-ernment formation, sources say discus-sions were taking time due to a lack ofconsensus on the CM’s post.

The BJP, with 25 seats, is the secondlargest party after the PDP, which has 28seats but is also way short of a majority.

Mr. Shah said that his party’s perform-ance in the State should not be distortedto show that it had failed to perform inKashmir valley and only secured votes inJammu. “Kashmir is a unit. The overallanalysis of the State would be fair,” hesaid.

The BJP chief who was in town toreview his party’s membership drive helda meeting with the Maharashtra BJP corecommittee team, led by Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis. Party general secre-taries and key Maharashtra cabinet min-isters were present in the meeting. Mr.Shah laid stress on translating the party’smandate into organization strength.

Mr. Shah instructed his party ministersto visit two districts other than the oneheld by them to mobilize support,sources said. “The target being talkedabout is to make the BJP the singlelargest party in the world, to reach themasses like never before,” a senior BJPfunctionary said.

Mr. Shah, who was earlier this weekdischarged by a CBI court in theShohrabuddin Shiekh and TulsiramPrajapati fake encounter cases, refused tocomment on the judgment. He said hislawyers would do the talking on theissue.

Responding to questions on the contro-versial issue of Ghar Vapasi fuelled byHindutva groups, Mr. Shah said his partywas not in favour of forced conversionsand appealed to all parties to reach a con-sensus on the anti-conversion law. “Oncethe law is in place, conversions will stopautomatically,” he said.

Though he did not endorse the outcryagainst Aamir Khan starrer PK, the BJPchief said those outfits demanding a banon the film had the freedom to protest.

Administrative failure...conference as Chief Minister here on

Friday, Mr. Das said it was really unfor-tunate that even after over six decades ofIndependence, the poor villagers weredeprived of basic amenities includingwater, road, electricity etc.

There is no doctor, no teacher, villagersare deprived of basic amenities like road,electricity and water, he said, adding thatthese are the reasons for increase inNaxal activities.

“I believe it is totally administrativefailure that led to Naxalism in the state,”he said.

“Who are the Naxals? They are part ofour society, they too need employmentand basic amenities like others. Theywere misguided youths who were luredto pick up arms for survival,” he said.

Holding the bureaucrats responsiblefor the menace, Mr. Das said the rootcause of Naxalism was unemploymentand lack of basic amenities, which thegovernment was committed to addresson priority basis.

The Chief Minister assured that hisgovernment would be accountable andensure rapid development by utilisingthe abundance of natural resources.

Within a month’s time, he announced,the teachers’ recruitment process willbegin and 17,000 policemen will beappointed in a couple of months. Theprocess has already begun in this regard,he said, adding that he has directed allthe departments to provide details aboutthe vacant posts as well as the existinginfrastructure.

“We will have to improve our infra-structure and change work culture toextract the desired result,” the ChiefMinister said, admitting that we can notexpect development without improvingour basic infrastructure.

New U.S....India at such an exciting time in our

bilateral relationship,” he was quoted assaying.

“I look forward to meeting the Indianpeople and working together with theIndian government on our shared goalsof security, development and prosperity,”Mr. Verma said.

35th National...Thursday evening left the crowd

enthralled in more ways than one.There was this unusual gathering of

Kerala’s sporting icons, all on the sameplatform. K.C. Elamma, glamour girl ofIndian volleyball of the 1970s, athletesM.D. Valsamma, Shiny Wilson, K.C.Rosakutty, K.M. Beenamol, and AnjuBobby George, spiker Cyril C. Valloor,hockey star S. Omanakumari, swimmersWilson C. Cherian, and Sebastian Xaviershared jokes but all the same greetedDronacharya award winners SunnyThomas, K.P. Thomas, and Jose Jacobwith due respect.

Then there was the burly VargheseJohnson caught chatting with D.

Chandralal, while George Thomas and V.Diju exchanged notes on badminton.

A little away, Preeja Sreedharan wasseen in conversation with SinimolPaulose, Chitra K. Soman, and Joseph G.Abraham, while footballer U. Sharaf Alilooked on.

All this before getting to the stage andjoining hands with political leaders,including Chief Minister OommenChandy, Sports Minister ThiruvanchoorRadhakrishnan, Health Minister V.S.Sivakumar, former Sports Minister M.Vijayakumar, MLAs K. Muraleedharan,V. Sivan Kutty and M.A. Vahid besidesMayor K. Chandrika before spreadingflame to the seven giant traditional lampsin what was the highlight of the pro-gramme.

The evening saw the launch of the vir-tual torch and the unveiling of the volun-teers’ uniform and medals to be present-ed to the winners.

There was also a fusion dance by theSamudra Dance Group and a jugalbandibetween violinist Bala Bhakar and per-cussionist Mattannur Sriraj.

DDA's next ...DDA had announced the winners of

mega 'Housing Scheme 2014' inNovemebr 2014. The authority's 2014flagship scheme under which 25,040flats in various categories spread acrossthe national capital saw receiving awhopping 10,08,985 applications, whichis the highest in the history of theagency.

Kohli reigns ...On Friday, he posted a selfie on his

Twitter handle (@imVkohli) and pennedthese lines: ‘Wow that was a quick rideto 5 million! Great start for the new year.Thank you all for making it possible :).’

Yes, Kohli had clocked a landmark,however trivial it might sound, with fivemillion plus followers, hanging onto hiswords on cyberspace. To be precise, hecurrently has 5,005,072 tweeple peeringinto his account and that figure wouldhave increased manifold by the time thisarticle is read. Kohli indeed is thenumero-uno when it comes to being themost-followed Indian sportsperson onTwitter. It is a validation of his rapidgrowth amidst the Twitterati, a worldthat compresses thoughts and views into140 characters. A world, he joined inSeptember 2009.

If brevity is the soul of Twitter, there isobviously no cap on numbers when itcomes to those who follow and in thatKohli is the undisputed king. Just a fort-night ago, he went past Sachin Tendulkarand is now well ahead of the maestro(4.91 million followers) and M.S. Dhoni(3.37). With multiple interests and aquick word on all matters sporting, thebrands he promotes and the world atlarge, Kohli is active on Twitter andremains a youth-magnet.

That politicians and actors still holdsway over public discourse is very muchevident as Kohli’s Twitter-figure pales incomparison to those of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi (9.15), AmitabhBachchan (12.39) and Aamir Khan(10.43), just to name a few. But ‘BrandKohli’ with a relatively young age of 26,a long road ahead and the added allure ofbeing the India Test captain, is here tostay and grow. As for being judged inposterity, Kohli, despite his meteoric risein cricket and Twitter, still has a longway to go before he is whispered in thesame breath as the man he replaced atnumber four in Tests – Tendulkar. Thatlong appraisal can still wait, for now, theDelhi lad reigns online and he is grinningaway to glory on Twitter.

Teenager allegedly...two constables Veer Pal Singh Yadav

and Avnish Yadav, who took her to thepolice station premises and allegedlyraped her, Superintendent of Police(City) Lallan Singh said. An FIR wasregistered after the victim’s motherlodged a complaint against the twopolicemen, who are absconding. The twocops have been suspended and police aretrying to trace their whereabouts.

Bank strike...10th bipartite wage negotiation (with

IBA) for satisfactory and reasonablewage hike and so we are going on an all-India bank strike on January 7,” UnitedForum of Bank Unions (UFBU) conven-er Vishwas Utagi told presspersons hereon Thursday. The unions have beendemanding a wage revision linked to thegross profit of the banks.

Ministers meet...Sadananda Gowda and Transport

Minister Nitin Gadkari met the Presidentas he sought some clarification on theordinance, sources said.

The Ministers informed the Presidentabout the need to promulgate the ordi-nance urgently because before January 1,Act should bring under its purview 13central laws, including those relating todefence and national security, to providehigher compensation and rehabilitationand resettlement benefits to farmerswhose land was being acquired. Theycited Section 105 of the Act in thisregard.

From Page 1NEW DELHI | SATURDAY | JAN 03, 2015SAADDA HAQ

BY BARADWAJ RANGAN

Centuries ago, a Hindunamed Vatsyayana wrotea treatise which, if

filmed, would never get past theCensor Board today. The eroticimagination of another Hindunamed Jayadeva, whose GitaGovinda depicts an intenselyphysical aspect of Lord Krishna,is something you want to intro-duce to Alok Sanjar, theBharatiya Janata Party MP fromBhopal who recently remarkedthat frequent sex can drasticallyreduce a person’s lifespan. Andyet, here we are again, having todefend Hinduism from thosewho seem to think that theslightest hint of humour orheresy can bring crashing downa religion that has stood strongfor millennia. I refer, of course,to the controversy around theHindu director RajkumarHirani’s movie “PK.” TheVishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)wants it banned, and its mem-bers, along with those charmingchaps from the Bajrang Dal,have taken to tearing up thefilm’s posters and haltingscreenings. The reason?According to VHP spokesmanVinod Bansal, “PK” “keepsmaking fun of Hinduism.”Members of the All IndiaMuslim Personal Law Boardhave also demanded that theCensor Board remove somescenes in the interest of main-taining “communal harmony.”

For a moment, let’s forget“PK” and turn to a stretch in “3Idiots,” Mr. Hirani’s earlierblockbuster with Aamir Khan.Anxious about an examination,students of an engineering col-lege resort to prayers. The narra-tor tells us sarcastically, “Todaywas Results day… time to makea deal with God.” And indeed,“deals” are made. One studentperforms an aarti, to the accom-paniment of a tinkling bell, infront of a wall filled with pic-tures of Hindu deities, and mut-ters, “God, take care of my

Electronics paper. I’ll break acoconut.” Another student bowsbefore a cobra, promising a litreof milk a day if ‘Nag Devta’ willhelp him clear his Physics paper.A third is seen stuffing a handfulof grass into a cow’s mouth —he wants ‘Gau Mata’ to help himpass his exams. Another studenthalts in front of an idol andpledges Rs.100 per month. Thenarrator stifles a laugh andremarks, “Rs.100 won’t evenbribe a traffic cop, let alone theAlmighty.”

This is exactly the kind of“mocking of religion” that “PK”is being criticised for, but there’smore: the narrator in “3 Idiots,”the one whose mocking com-mentary underscored those visu-als, is named Farhan Qureshi.And where is that film’s “hero”through all this? Blithely asleep.Even the sounds of the mantrasmuttered during that aarti, eventhat tinkling bell can’t wake himup — which is just another wayof saying that he is beyond allthis. So one has to wonder whyno one made a noise, then, abouta Muslim narrator’s amusementat what are legitimate Hindu rit-uals, practised in many parts ofthe country, and why no onebrought up the fact that theMuslim actor at the film’s cen-tre, the film’s messiah, wasshown not needing the crutch ofrituals. Not a word was heard,either, about the seeming lack ofChristian, Sikh and Muslim stu-dents praying hard to their gods.Why, one might have asked, areonly Hindus shown to be follow-ing practices that therational/secular mind would findridiculous?

Reason for targeting

But no one brought it up —probably because “3 Idiots” wasnot overtly about religion. But“PK” is much more obviousabout its intent. It is a brazenattack — though “attack” is toostrong a word for such a sweet-

natured film — on religion, andtherefore, it announces itself asan instant target. In all likeli-hood, the film also became thefocus of all this attentionbecause it’s a big movie, with abig star, which means big atten-tion when you speak up againstit. It’s like what happened withKamal Haasan’s“Vishwaroopam.” The Muslimoutfits that protested against itseemed oblivious to the fact thatthe film’s hero was a namaaz-performing Muslim who savesthe world by foiling a terroristplan hatched by other Muslims.You’d think those Muslim out-fits would have celebrated thefilm’s choice to make the hero aMuslim — most other films witha similar theme would haveopted for a Hindu character toportray the same. But no. Theradicals almost always miss thepoint.

The other charge against “PK”is that it promotes ‘love jihad,’with a romantic track thatrevolves around a Pakistani mannamed Sarfaraz and a Hinduwoman with the goddess-likename of Jagat Janani, the “cre-ator of the world.” But theromance plays out neither inIndia nor Pakistan, but in the rel-atively neutral Belgium, just like“My Name is Khan” set theromance between a Muslim manand a Hindu woman in the U.S.The women in both these filmsare educated, liberal — there’sno evidence that they will con-vert to Islam after marriage, andneither did the strong-willedHindu heroine of “JodhaaAkbar” renounce her religion.Even in earlier decades, you canfind films like “Muqaddar kaSikandar,” where the hero israised by a Muslim woman andis in love with a Hindu. And ifyou consider interreligious lovestories with the gender polaritiesreversed, you have “Gadar”(Muslim woman-Sikh man),“Veer-Zaara” (Muslim woman-Hindu man), “Raanjhanaa”

(Muslim woman-Hindu man),“Ek Tha Tiger” (Muslimwoman-Hindu man). Did youhear many protests against thesefilms?

All the movies mentionedabove are hits — “3 Idiots,” infact, was the first film to grossover Rs.200 crore at the boxoffice. You don’t make that kindof money without love from allsections of the audience, espe-cially from Hindus, who makeup most of our nation. And ifthey don’t mind this lightheartedmocking, then who are theseothers, from opportunistic politi-cal parties, to take up cudgels ontheir behalf? Don’t they realisethat movies are like elections?People wait patiently in line, goto the counter, and cast their voteby buying a ticket. So when afilm like “PK” becomes thiskind of a blockbuster — it’spractically guaranteed to crossthe Rs.300 crore mark, the firstIndian film to do so — then itmeans that it has been approvedby an overwhelming majority.The people have spoken. On theone hand, you hear that theMaharashtra government hasasked the police to “look into”the content of the film. On theother, the boxofficeindia sitepredicts that “PK” may be thefirst film to collect Rs.100 crorein the Mumbai circuit alone. Youhave to ask the question: Who’sreally being offended here?

Once a film has come throughthe Censor Board, no one has theright to demand that it be pulledfrom theatres because it hasoffended them. Everyone is sen-sitive to something, and if youbegin to factor it all in, you’llnever make a movie. You knowthis, I know this, and the outfitsdoing the protesting know this.Why, then, do they continue toget all hot and bothered? Is itbecause of the increasing “saf-fronisation” of India, as someclaim? The cultural climate nowis different, compared to the

1970s, when a film like “HareRama Hare Krishna” could getaway with yoking the names ofthe gods in its title to scenes (anda smash-hit song, “Dum maarodum”) that featured uninhibitedpot smoking and premaritalcommingling. But a bigger rea-son is that our 24x7 TV channelsand Internet portals need news,and when this news is related toa blockbuster film, it becomesbigger news. And sensational,viewership/readership-attractingnews as well —when protestingorganisations, in their quest forcheap and easy and guaranteedpublicity, proffer up such incen-diary images of rioting andposter-burning. The sad news isthat you know this, I know this,and the outfits doing the protest-ing too know this.

Editorial4 NEW DELHI | SATURDAY | JAN 03, 2015SAADDA HAQ

When a law is enacted after considerable debateand consultation, it will be wise to study theexperience of its implementation for some time

before it is amended, in order to address perceived diffi-culties. Any such amendment within the first year of itsentry into force, especially one pushed through as an ordi-nance, will be inevitably perceived as hasty, even if on thepositive side it is meant to eliminate delays in land acqui-sition. In this backdrop, the Right to Fair Compensationand Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation andResettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, is bound toface criticism that the changes constitute a significantdilution of a progressive law. The Congress and the Leftparties are likely to oppose the changes when the lawcomes to Parliament in the form of a bill to replace theordinance. In substance, the ordinance makes a significantchange by omitting in respect of a wide range of projectsthe requirements of a social impact assessment study, theinformed consent of a large section of the families affect-ed by the acquisition of land. These projects include thosethat are vital to national security and defence, rural infra-structure, affordable housing and housing for the poor,besides industrial corridors and infrastructure and socialinfrastructure projects. The vital element of makingacquisition a consultative and participative process maythus be subject to bureaucratic discretion. The principle of‘eminent domain’, which justifies the compulsory acqui-sition of land by the state for a public purpose, normallyought to be accompanied by a duty to give fair compensa-tion. However, the colonial Land Acquisition Act of 1894had in effect reduced compensation to a mere token inrelation to the market value, and for decades it was usedto deprive many, mostly farmers, of their land for a pit-tance. Last year’s law radically altered this relationshipbetween citizen and state and created a fair compensationright, as well as a new structure for rehabilitation andresettlement. It also cast a duty on the government to cre-ate specified amenities in every resettlement area.Thankfully, the ordinance does not dilute these provi-sions, but additionally extends them to a list of Acts thatwere previously exempted. However, this is not its owncontribution, as the original Act itself said such a provi-sion shall be enacted within a year. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has projected the amendments as thosethat strengthen protection for the affected families andalso removes difficulties in implementation. Perhaps theregime’s intentions could have been better understood hadthe changes been introduced as a bill in Parliament andreferred to a committee for appraisal.

Hasty changes in land lawSaturday | January 03, 2015

SAADDA HAQ

BY SUHASINI HAIDAR

In its multi-point National ActionPlan against terror, Pakistan’sgovernment and military has

envisaged a plan more comprehen-sive than any other in the past 20years. It was in 1994 that the Talibanfirst emerged to take power inKandahar, funded and trained byPakistani officials, and will be fullcircle for the country if its leaders goahead with the ambitious course laidout in the plan. The steps include theestablishment of fast-track anti-terrorcourts, a crackdown on bannedorganisations and terrorists and chok-ing their finances, disarming all mili-tia, and the regulation of madrassasthat indoctrinate them.

Pakistan has made such declara-tions before. The first was when itbecame a “partner” in the war on ter-ror in 2001 and agreed to look forOsama bin Laden, and again in 2002,when President Pervez Musharrafannounced a crackdown on anti-Indiagroups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM). Neither of those pronounce-ments came to much, but there is stillreason to hope that the newannouncement recognises that thepeople of Pakistan want a decisiveturn after the massacre of over 130schoolchildren in Peshawar. It is nowa battle for Pakistan’s soul, one madeeven more complicated by the factthat the perpetrators of this diabolicaloperation once trained alongside theAfghan Taliban in a war in whichPakistan was once a prime mover.

The many Talibans

Much has changed since thosedays, in the 1990s, when the Talibanclaimed Kabul, and welcomed everykind of jihadi group into the country,and some of those fighters were givenaccess to Pakistan’s borders withIndia, so as to fight in Kashmir. A dis-tinction between “good Taliban” and“bad Taliban” has come up betweenthe Afghan Taliban groups and thePakistani Taliban who target thePakistani military and civilians.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s state-ment that there will now be no goodor bad Taliban is welcome for mostPakistanis, but the euphemisms ofgood and bad are only a more visible

part of the threat they face from theTaliban. It is important that Pakistan’sleaders recognise the other Talibanthreats today, in a self-destructive warthey have already squandered toomuch time on, and after Mr. Sharifhas committed to fighting “All theTalibans”.

To begin with, the Afghan Talibanand the Pakistani Taliban, as theTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)

that carried out the Peshawar mas-sacre now represents, weren’t alwaysseparate entities. In 2008, when theTTP first came up under BaitullahMehsud, its chief patron was MullahOmar, the chief of the Taliban.Mehsud himself had been very closeto the Taliban regime in Afghanistan,and declared a governor by MullahOmar in 2004 before five majorTaliban commanders, including menresponsible for the death of BenazirBhutto and assassination attempts onMr. Hamid Karzai and Gen.Musharraf. Therefore, it is bafflinghow the narrative today has becomeone of Pakistan protecting the AfghanTaliban, while Pakistan accusesAfghanistan of sheltering TTP lead-ers and other members of thePakistan Taliban.

The differences between Mehsudand other commanders — like hiscousins Qari Hussain Mehsud,Hakimullah Mehsud, or rival MullahNazir — ultimately led to factionscoming up on the Pakistani side ofthe border. But having trained in theAfghan jihad, they never reallystrayed from that evil purpose, ofkilling Pakistani civilians and Army

personnel and training scores ofPakistani children as suicidebombers. For Pakistan’s purposes,none of them should have beencounted as the “good Taliban” as theywere.

Reign of terror

The next distinction that shouldnever have been made is with thePunjabi Taliban. The groups in

Punjab like the JeM, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), the Sipah-e-Sahaba,and the LeT now control vast parts ofPakistan’s most powerful province,with compounds across acres, con-gregations in the lakhs, and thousandsof young recruits at their seminaries.Despite all the outrage expressed byIndia over 26/11 mastermind HafizSaeed, the hijacking of an Indianflight (IC-814) and Parliament attackmastermind Masood Azhar, Pakistanstill sees these men as allies and isquite comfortable in letting theirgroups run riot in Punjab. But theyhave missed two important outcomes:first, whether it is Masood Azhar’scontrol of Bahawalpur, or HafizSaeed’s citadel in Muridke, thesegroups now run terror enclaves with-in Pakistan, unchallenged. Second,like Abdul Ghazi, the ‘Maulana’ ofIslamabad’s Lal Masjid, sooner orlater these two men will end up chal-lenging their military patrons in muchthe same way that Ghazi took on Gen.Musharraf a stone’s throw from Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquar-ters.

Notwithstanding a stand-off thatleft more than 100 people dead, and

an operation that claimed Gen.Musharraf’s job, in 2007, Ghaziremains a threat to the Pakistaniestablishment. In the wake of thePeshawar massacre, hundreds ofPakistani protesters surrounded theLal Masjid and finally shamed thegovernment into seeking an FIRagainst him. Despite obtaining a war-rant, it is yet to arrest him.Meanwhile, the head of the LeJ,Malik Ishaq, in jail for the attack in

Lahore on the Sri Lankan cricketteam in 2009, has been released,while the LeT operations chief, ZakiUr Rahman Lakhvi, has been nearlyreleased twice.

With their access to trained jihadisin Federally Administered TribalAreas (FATA), Khyber-Pakhtunkhwaand Kashmir, Azhar, Saeed and Ishaqwill be much more difficult to con-trol. And the stand-off with them isgoing to be even more bloody thanthe Lal Masjid operation was. It isinevitable because it is evident thatthe Punjabi Taliban is deeply linkedto every major terror attack inPakistan, including the brutal killingsof Shias, Ahmadis and Christians. Noone typifies this link more than thecase of Dr. Usman, the first man Mr.Sharif ordered to be hanged after lift-ing the moratorium on executions inDecember. Usman, or MohammadAqeel, was trained in the Army’smedical corps, from where he wasrecruited by the LeJ. Along with TTPleaders and other Taliban command-ers, he then went on to plan an assas-sination attempt on Gen. Musharraf,the General Head Quarters (GHQ)attack, the attack on the Sri Lankan

cricketers and the Marriott hotelbombing. The Punjab link to thePeshawar massacre has alreadyemerged, with four suspects detainedin Hasilpur in Bahawalpur. It wasfrom here that some calls were madeto the attackers as they attacked thestudents.

Embedded in the establishment

Finally, there is the Taliban threatthat no one, not even in Rawalpindi,Washington, or in New Delhi likes tospeak of — the institutional Taliban,or the radicalised elements who existwithin Pakistan’s military, civil andjudicial establishments. For this, onehas to read the works of Pakistan’sbest investigative journalists. In hisriveting work, Talibanisation ofPakistan: 9/11 to 26/11, journalistAmir Mir has written of the work ofthe Tableeghi Jamaat, whose head-quarters in Raiwind adjoin Mr.Sharif’s family estate. It was formermilitary leader Zia-ul-Haq whoencouraged the Tableeghis to shapePakistan’s military into “an army ofAllah”. Since then, several top-levelofficers, and chiefs of the ISI in par-ticular, have been members (mostnotably, Lt.Gen. Hameed Gul and Lt.Gen. Javed Nasir, both retired offi-cers known to liaison with terrorgroups).

“Many Pakistani government ser-vants, military officers and scientistsdevote at least a part of their annualleave to do voluntary work for theTableeghi Jamaat,” writes Mr. Mir,adding that the ‘Ijtema’ congregationrepresented “the picture of a well-designed, well-managed strategy toorganize Islamic combatants, ready towage jihad.”

In fact, every attack on Pakistan’smilitary installations, from the GHQ,to Mehran naval base, to the Minhasair force base, or several attacks inFATA have been traced to radicalisedofficers.

It was this trail of radicalisationwithin the Pakistani forces that jour-nalist Saleem Shahzad (who hadinterviewed both Kashmiri andBaitullah Mehsud) was uncoveringwhen he was kidnapped in May 2011.His body was found in the Jhelumbearing signs of torture. In his book,Inside Al Qaeda and the Taliban:

Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11, releasedjust 10 days before his death,Shahzad says that there is an “ISIwithin the ISI” and a “jihadi armywithin the army” that operates as asleeper cell while their interests alignwith the Pakistani establishment’s,i.e., in fighting India. It was his casethat the Mumbai attacks were thework of a radicalised group of Armyand ISI officers of the “313 brigade”run by ISI/LeT militant IlyasKashmiri, who subsequently becameal-Qaeda’s commander and waskilled in a drone attack in 2011. Histheory, that found few takers in Indiaas it did in Pakistan, was that thisgroup, with help from the al-Qaeda,the LeT and others had one aim: tospark a major war between India andPakistan. Though they haven’t suc-ceeded as yet, Talibanised officialswithin the Pakistani establishmentwill keep trying to do so.

While there was deep outrage andempathy across India following thePeshawar incident, there was also acertain amount of Schadenfreudeamong strategists, that the terrorPakistani groups have unleashedagainst its neighbour had come hometo their military masters. But Indiacan hardly afford to be complacent,given that this network of the various“Talibans” is more united and syn-chronised than ever, and benefitsfrom the differences between theSouth Asian neighbours in the areasof Afghanistan, Pakistan and India itfocusses on. For Pakistan, the onlyhope is that Mr. Sharif challenges “allthe Talibans”, if he wants to steer hiscountry away from its course over acliff.

It is hard to see how long thePakistani leadership can refuse to seewhat history has taught everyone —from the ancient Turks, to the UnitedStates with the Mujahideen, to theSaudis with al-Qaeda, and even whatIndia learnt from the LTTE experi-ence — that sooner or later, merce-naries you engage with will turn onyou, your leaders, and even your chil-dren.

Taking on good, bad, all Talibans

Our team will publish yourthoughts send us your articles at

news.saaddahaq@gmail.com

Who is really offended with ‘PK’?Once a film

has comethrough the

Censor Board,no one has the

right todemand that itbe pulled from

theatresbecause it has

offended them.Everyone issensitive to

something, andif you begin tofactor it all in,

you’ll nevermake a movie.

India following the Peshawar incident, there was also acertain amount of Schadenfreude among strategists, that

the terror Pakistani groups have unleashed against itsneighbour had come home to their military masters. ButIndia can hardly afford to be complacent, given that this

network of the various “Talibans” is more united andsynchronised than ever, and benefits from the differences

between the South Asian neighbours in the areas ofAfghanistan, Pakistan and India it focusses on.

State Watch 5NEW DELHI | SATURDAY | JAN 03, 2015SAADDA HAQ

KOCHI, JAN 02Inordinate delay in land acqui-

sition might prompt Delhi MetroRail Corporation (DMRC) toconfine Kochi Metro’s initial lineto the Aluva-Palarivattom stretchby June 2016, the scheduled dateof commissioning the 25-km-long stretch up to Pettah, theagency’s Principal Adviser E.Sreedharan said.

Early in 2014, the metroagency had stated that the metrowould not go beyond Maharaja’sCollege Ground on M.G. Road byJune 2016, due to huge delay bythe Revenue Department inacquiring land. Replying to a setof questions from The Hindu, Mr.Sreedharan said that currently,the project’s commissioning fromAluva to Palarivattom was sched-uled for June 2016. “Taking themetro beyond Palarivattom up toMaharaja’s College Ground willdepend on the availability of land

on this stretch. A target date can-not be set beyond the ground (upto Pettah) unless and until land is

made available,” he said. Landacquisition is yet to begin on JosJunction-Ernakulam Junctionrailway station-South overbridge

and Vyttila-Pettah stretches,despite expiry of numerous dead-lines. Making a scathing attack

on the tardy pace of land acquisi-tion, Mr. Sreedharan said, “TheDMRC is certainly not satisfiedwith the progress of Kochi Metro

works (due to the delay in hand-ing over land despite compensa-tion being given as per marketrate). Now, our effort is to com-mission the metro up to at leastPalarivattom by June 2016,” hesaid. Currently, the DMRC hasbeen forced to restrict construc-tion activities to Aluva-Maharaja’s College Ground andManorama Junction-VyttilaJanatha stretches since sufficientland is not available.

Even in the former section,there are still a number of placeswhere land has not been handedover. Some people handed overthe land only in December.“There are still six overheadhigh-tension lines between Aluvaand Kalamassery that we areunable to shift out (of metroalignment) for want of land.Subsequently, the work has beenheld up in many patches. Workson SA Road had been held up till

recently as the KWA did not shiftwater pipelines on time,” theMetro man said.

On conducting trial runs, hesaid the first lot of metro coacheswas expected to arrive byJanuary 2016. In the first stage,trial run will be done betweenMuttom and Edappally Junctionthat month itself. Next isEdappally-Palarivattom and thenMuttom-Aluva by February2016. Mr. Sreedharan termed theprogress achieved by DMRC as‘commendable’ when comparedto Kerala’s standards of delivery,despite various hurdles encoun-tered by the agency.

“I have no hesitation to recordthat no other organisation wouldhave reached this progress.Generally, we are receiving fullcooperation and appreciationfrom members of the publicdespite inconveniences duringconstruction stage.”

Metro may not reach Maharaja’s on time VIJAYAWADAM JAN 02

The 26 edition ofVijayawada Book Festivalbegan on a grand note hereon Thursday. The ongoing11-day event beingorgnised by VijayawadaBook Festival Society(VBFS) has a record 385stalls this time. The bookfestival has been maintain-ing the tradition of offeringa rich collection of books tocater to the needs of everysection of society. The risein the number of stalls –from 84 half a decade agoto 385 now – reflected thepublishers’ confidence inthe event, said the organis-ers. Inaugurating the exhi-bition, Sahitya Akademyaward winner Katyayani

Vidmahe said that the soci-ety was going through thedominance of Internet andelectronic media which hadmade volumes of informa-tion readily available on theTV and computer screens.“People are getting swayedby the digital content. But,books give a view of thewhole world and throughbooks, one gets an insightinto the hearts and minds ofthe people,” she said.

Irrigation MinisterDevineni UmamaheswaraRao, who participated asthe chief guest of the inau-gural, promised the organ-isers that the State govern-ment would extend all pos-sible support, includingallocation of land.

HC comes to rescue ofengineering student

MADURI, JAN 02The Madras High Court Bench here

has come to the rescue of an engineer-ing student, who was caught video-graphing female students of his college,by ordering the Director of TechnicalEducation (DTE) to grant approval forshifting him to another private college.

Disposing of a writ appeal filed by thestudent, a Division Bench of Justices V.Dhanapalan and V.M. Velumani direct-ed the DTE to pass appropriate orderson the petitioner’s plea for transferwithin a week. Though the appellanthad not included the DTE as one of therespondents, the judges issued thedirection at the request of appellant’scounsel R. Prabhakaran, and instructedthe High Court Registry to mark a copyof their order to the DTE’s office inChennai. The Bench said the college atAlagarkoil had dismissed two students,including the appellant, on April 5 afterthey were found guilty. Disposing of hiswrit petition on August 27, a singlejudge set aside the dismissal order anddirected the college management tohold a fresh enquiry.

CHENNAI, JAN 02The makers of Yennai

Arindhal, featuring actorAjith Kumar, haveannounced that the filmwon’t compete with directorShankar’s much-awaited Ion Pongal and will insteadhave a solo release onJanuary 29.

The development has ledto the allaying of concernsover the outcome of bothmovies releasing at the sametime. The film’s trailer andaudio, which was releasedon Youtube on the NewYear’s eve, has been gener-ating a buzz on socialmedia.

While the makers of YAmaintain that the film hasbeen pushed to January 29only because the post-pro-duction is still not complete,those in the industry reckonthat the decision could havebeen taken after considering

the financial costs.Two big movies clashing

at the box office often endup dividing the audience andsplit the revenues.

This concern has beenconsistently flagged by bothdistributors and exhibitorswho have suggested thatboth these movies couldbenefit by going solo at thebox office. Pongal, 2015 hasbeen identified as one of thebest days to release a film.Since the festive day arrivesin the middle of the week, afilm releasing on the previ-ous Friday could cash in onthe long weekend.

With Yennai Arindhalreleasing on January 29,only one more weekendremains before the CricketWorld Cup 2015 begins inmiddle of February. It couldend up pushing the releaseof other big budget moviesto April.

CHENNAI, JAN 02The principal beachfronts

of the city — Marina andBesant Nagar — burst intofestive mood at the stroke ofmidnight on Thursday towelcome 2015.

Young men and women,children and elders descend-ed in motorcycles and cars.

Fancy fireworks were setoff on Kamaraj Salai oppo-site the Mahatma Gandhistatue. The police had atough time keeping the over-enthusiastic youth in check.A few young men brazenlycarried liquor bottles, con-suming them opposite theoffice of the DirectorGeneral of Police. At theMarina, the police wentaround in vehicles, wishingthe crowd, while also urgingthem to usher in the new yearwithout causing nuisance.Restaurants and some permitrooms too remained openwell past midnight.Four die in accidents

The night, however, turnedtragic for four persons whodied in accidents, and oneyouth who was murdered infestivity-related violence.

A motorcycle ride backhome post celebrationsproved fatal for 34-year-oldA. Rajesh (34) of Kilpauk. Atrainee welder with theMetropolitan TransportCorporation (MTC), he wasriding pillion while his friendSridhar (35), also fromKilpauk, rode the bike.Around 12.45 a.m., themotorcycle collided with anautorickshaw on New AvadiRoad. Rajesh suffered severehead injuries and died on the

spot while his friend wastaken to hospital.

In another incident onKilpauk Garden Road aroundthe same time, a speedingautorickshaw rammed intothree women, identified asLakshmi, Selvi and Vasuki,as they were crossing theroad on their way back froma nearby temple.

Lakshmi, a senior citizen,suffered severe injuries anddied soon after, while theother two were injured.

Two people fell to theirdeath, reportedly in an ine-briated state.

Ganesan (51), an MTC busconductor, fell from his sec-ond-floor home inNesapakkam, and died, whileGyanaselvam (48), an MTCbus driver, slipped and felldown three storeys inside theMKB Nagar bus depot.

A clash between someyoungsters, amidst the revel-ry, ended in the death of an18-year-old.

Amid New Year revelry, five lose their lives in city

HYDERABAD, JAN 02Chief Minister K.

Chandrasekhar Rao plans toorganise a panel discussion withpeople from all sections of societyto chalk out plans on howHyderabad could be developedinto a truly global city with world-class infrastructure.

He regretted that the city whichsaw an estimated 10 lakh peopleadded to its population every year,was neglected by previous govern-ments.

“Hyderabad has been grid-locked 15 years ago and the entireroad network is in disarray. Thiscity is a mix of the old and newand we need to work out solutionskeeping this fact in mind,” he said.Traffic issues

“Our endeavour is to thrash outtraffic problems by having elevat-ed expressways and multi-level

separators to ensure smooth flowof traffic. Initially, we might face

land acquisition problems butwhere it is required, people can be

paid double the normal compensa-tion,” he said.

He was speaking after inaugurat-ing the ‘Numaish’, a signature,calendar event that Hyderabadisreally look forward to every year.

Others present included DeputyChief Minister Mahmood Ali andMinisters Naini Narsimha Reddy(Home) and Eatala Rajender(Finance). On the ExhibitionGrounds, the Chief Minister saidhe had plans to develop the area onthe lines of Pragati Maidan in NewDelhi. Recalling that theExhibition Society functioned andorganised the annual ‘Numaish’ onleased land, he promised that in aweek he would see that ‘pattas’were issued. “Don’t build anymore structures here and ifrequired, land can be identified onthe outskirts of the State Capital,”he told the Society.

KCR to take interactive route on Hyderabad

Tinsel Town: No Thala Pongal in2015; I will get most screens

Vijayawada Book festivalkicks off at Swaraj Maidan

TIRUCHI, JAN 02Consumer Protection

Council, Tamil Nadu, willfile a contempt of courtpetition at High Court,Chennai, against transportand district authorities ifthey failed to take steps tostrictly enforce the faremeter system for autorick-shaws in the city.

At the NationalConsumer Rights Dayorganised here onWednesday, its secretaryS. Pushpavanam said thecouncil would impleaditself in the petition filedbefore the Madurai Benchof the Madras High Courtby autorickshaw driversseeking a hike in the fare.

Ramamurthy, advocate,Chennai, was felicitated

for championing the causeof enforcing fare meter

system for autorickshaws.J. T. Venkateswaralu,

Post Master General,Central Region, was alsofelicitated, said the

Department of Posts wastaking all steps to improve

its services. He said that the depart-

ment was facing stiff com-petition from private com-panies.

TIRUCHI, JAN 02 It has been two years since the

State government made it manda-tory to install closed circuit tele-vision (CCTV) units in publicbuildings, but several publicbuildings in central zone are yetto comply with the directive.

According to police statistics,the compliance rate is a little over50 per cent as on date.

As part of its effort to curbcrime, the State governmentmade it mandatory to installCCTV units in public buildingsand effected suitable changes inthe Urban Local Bodies’ Rules.

Accordingly, the Tamil NaduUrban Local Bodies (Installationof Closed Circuit TelevisionUnits in Public Buildings) Rulescame into force on December 14,2012. The rule defines publicbuilding as one accessed by mem-bers of the public for any pur-pose. This includes higher sec-ondary schools, colleges or uni-versities, marriage halls, hospi-tals, nursing homes, clinics,petrol stations, boarding andlodging houses, star hotels, cine-ma theatres, amusement parks,recreation centres, jewelleryshops, places of religious wor-ship, bus terminals, banks, and

ATM centres.The rules clearly specify that

the owner or the occupier of pub-lic building falling within the ter-ritorial area of an urban localbody should install CCTV unitson their premises.

Consequent to the order whichwas also circulated to the Statepolice headquarters and DistrictCollectors, the law-enforcers con-ducted meetings with owners /occupiers of public buildings tosensitise them to the need forinstalling CCTV units on theirrespective premises across thecentral zone.

The central zone accounts for alittle over 12,400 public buildingsin Tiruchi, Pudukottai, Thanjavur,Perambalur, Ariyalur, Karur,Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam dis-tricts, according to police statis-tics.

Among the eight districts,Thanjavur district has the highestnumber of public buildings atmore than 5,000 followed byTiruchi, Pudukottai, andTiruvarur districts.

Police statistics reveal thatCCTV units have been installedin a little over 6,200 buildings tilldate.

No CCTV units in many public buildings

Consumer Rights Day celebrated in Tiruchi

MANGALURU, JAN 02The stretch of the

Bengaluru–MangaluruNational Highway (48)between Gundya andSakleshpur will beclosed for vehiculartraffic from Friday tofacilitate concreting ofthe road.

In view of this, buses,cars, jeeps and otherlight commercial vehi-cles from Mangaluru toBengaluru will have togo via B.C. Road,Mani, Puttur, Madikeri,Hunsur, Mysore,Mandya andRamanagaram. Thosegoing to Hassan willhave to take a diversionat Hunsur and reachHassan fromHolenarasipur.

Heavy vehicles willhave to go via Udupi,Kundapur, Bhatkal,M u r u d e s h w a r ,

Honnavar, Shimoga,Tiptur andNelamangala.

Buses, cars, jeeps andvans from Udupi toBengaluru will have togo via Karkala,Malaghat, Kudremukh,Kalasa, Kottigehara,Mudigere, Belur and

Hassan. KarnatakaState Road TransportC o r p o r a t i o n ’ sRajahamsa andAiravata buses andheavy commercialvehicles will have totake theKundapur–Siddapura–Hosangadi –Balebare

Ghat–Mastikatte–Hosanagar–Ayanur–Shimoga route.

At a press conferencehere, DakshinaKannada district in-charge Minister B.Ramanath Rai saidthere would be strictvigil at regular intervals

by the police to ensurevehicles were plying onthese routes.

“There will be confu-sion for the first fewdays. If vehicles arefound violating theroutes, fine will beimposed,” he said.

The alternative roadswould be used till theroadwork was complet-ed. The first of thethree-part roadwork,which has been takenup now, was likely tobe completed by May,he said.

Superintendent ofPolice Sharanappa S.D.said hoardings hadbeen placed at diver-sion points to ensurecompliance. He said themovement of traffic onthese routes would bestudied and changesdone if there were anyproblems.

NH 48 stretch to be closed from today

TELANGANA STORES AT THE 75TH ALL INDIA INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION - THIS

YEAR'S NUMAISH WHICH BEGAN ON JANUARY 1 IN HYDERABAD ON THURSDAY

Micromax is India's topdomestic smartphonevendor and has plenty of

popular products on offer. Evenso, it has a bit of a reputation forselling low-quality products and itknows that there are people whowould simply never consider aMicromax phone over, say, aSamsung or a Sony. There are alsodozens of other companies withvery similar products, and any ofthem could easily become as suc-cessful.

The company now wants productsthat will stand out and have strongindividual identities - and that meansmaking some bold moves. The resultis Yu Televentures, an all-new sub-sidiary company which will developand sell smartphones aimed at theyouth market. Yu will target tech-savvy but budget-conscious buyers,and is banking on catchy names andslogans with "attitude". Interestingly,these phones will only be availableonline. The company also talks up an"ecosystem of connected devices"and a "differentiated user experi-ence".

Yu's primary means of achievingthis is an exclusive tieup withCyanogen Inc. to preload Cyanogen11, a popular Android fork, onto itsdevices. Few Indian companies havebothered really tweaking the softwareexperience on the phones they sell(Xolo being a notable exception withits Hive UI) and Micromax itself hasbeen known to load devices with use-less bloat. Cyanogen is polished andpowerful, and will help these devicesstand out.

Yu's first product, the Yureka, is apretty important phone. Cheesy nameaside, Yu seems to be gunning for theslot formerly occupied by the 3GXiaomi Redmi Note (Review |Photos). The Yureka's size, appear-ance and specifications are prettyevenly matched with those ofXiaomi's big-screen offering, whichmeans they're impressive consideringboth devices' low price tags.

Look and feelThere's no sign of Micromax any-

where on the product or its packagingdespite that brand's popularity, whichmeans Yu really doesn't want to beassociated with its parent company.The box is very plain; just browncardboard with Yu and Cyanogenlogos printed on all sides. It's almostas minimalist as Xiaomi's boxes, butnowhere near as slick.

The Yu Yureka itself is not espe-cially slim or light but it does appearbetter constructed than mostMicromax phones we've seen before.The front is smooth and free of mark-ings other than an outline of theHome button printed beneath thescreen. The Back and Menu buttonsdon't have printed icons but all threelight up when the screen is active.There isn't much room around thescreen, and the edges are slightlyraised to help prevent scratching.

The "moonstone grey" rear has aninteresting texture - at first glance, itlooks exactly like the rough sandpa-pery finish of the OnePlus One's rear,though in this case it's smooth andpleasant to hold. For some reason, Yudecided to go with a light blue print-ed logo which looks very odd andcheapens the entire device. The cam-era and flash are tucked away in onecorner and the only other thing to beseen is a small speaker grille runningacross the bottom.

The power and volume buttons areeasily reachable on the sides, and theMicro-USB and headset sockets areon the bottom and top respectively.Beneath the rear shell you'll find theremovable battery, two Micro-SIMcard slots and a microSD slot. One ofthe SIMs is hot swappable, but theother two slots can only be used ifyou pop the battery out.

Specifications and softwareThere's a lot to like about the Yu

Yureka. For starters, there's the brandnew Qualcomm Snapdragon 615, anocta-core SoC with 64-bit support.Lower cost octa-core processors fromMediaTek have been around for quitea while, but this is a first forQualcomm. Cyanogen 11 just hap-pens to be 64-bit capable, whichmakes that feature worthwhile too.There's 2GB of RAM, which is good

for a phone in this price bracket.There's 16GB of internal storagespace and up to 32GB can be addedusing a microSD card.

We're also happy with the screen's720x1280-pixel resolution. At 5.5inches, it's just a little grainy - butagain we're reminded thatwe could bedoing a lotw o r s ewhen itcomes tos u b - R s .1 0 , 0 0 0s m a r t -p h o n e s .The stan-dard wire-less proto-cols arecovered:Bluetooth4.0 andW i - F ib / g / n .LTE issupportedon the2300MHzT D Dband cur-r e n t l yused byI n d i a ns e r v i c eprovidersas well asthe lessc o m m o n1800MHzFDD band.

The Yureka isn't the first device inIndia to come running Cyanogen OS- that distinction goes to the OnePlusOne. For now, it looks as thoughOnePlus won't be able to sell devicesrunning Cyanogen anymore, thanksto a rather contentious legal disputebetween all three companies.

Cyanogen OS looks good, and oneof its strengths is that you can cus-tomise many aspects of its appear-ance. We weren't too happy with Yu'srather vanilla lockscreen, but it canbe disabled in the settings and thedefault lockscreen with shortcuts andwidgets replaced it. There is a row of

settings shortcuts in the notificationsshade, but there's also a button thattakes you to another panel with moreshortcuts (including some dupli-cates).

There are loads of settings for lotsof tiny little things, such as the

appearance of

t h epower level indicator in the statusbar, how long the capacitive buttonbacklight should stay on, and whateach of the device's buttons shoulddo. You can disable the capacitivebuttons altogether and display softbuttons on screen, if you would liketo for any reason. There are also lotsof shortcuts, such as double-tappingthe status bar to lock the phone, orsliding a finger along it to adjustbrightness. One of our favourite fea-tures is sound profiles - just like onold Nokia phones, you can set pro-files such as Home, Work, Night andSilent.

The look and feel of the UI is high-

ly customisable. Just like we saw onthe OnePlus One, you can mix andmatch elements from differentthemes. We eventually settled on acustom mix of elements from theAndroid Holo theme and Yu's owndefaults. Creating a Cyanogenaccount gives you access to moredownloadable themes - we could see

only five in the app, but pre-sumably there will be morein due course.

PerformanceWe were eager to see how

Qualcomm's new CPU per-forms, and the results werequite positive. The Yurekaseems to be able to matchthe Xiaomi Redmi Note inmost situations - 3DMarkgave the Redmi Note aslight advantage in the720p Ice Storm test, but theYureka stole the lead in thehigh-resolution Ice StormExtreme test. Quadrantfavoured the Yureka, with ascore of 17,586 overallcompared to the RedmiNote's 16,083. The Yurekascored 31,014 in AnTuTu5.5, while the Redmi Notescored 31,969 in AnTuTu5.0. Keep in mind thatthese scores apply to theoriginal 3G-only version ofthe Redmi Note, whichuses an octa-coreMediaTek MT6592 proces-sor and is not available any-

more.

Day-to-day usage was perfectlyfine. The Yureka is highly polished,and honestly, it felt a lot better tohold and use than most Micromaxphones that have come our way inthe past year or even more. Thescreen was fairly legible in sunlightand though it isn't perfectly crisp, it'sone of the better ones we've seen onsuch a low-priced phone.

Our 1080p 40Mbps MKV sampleclip just did not play, but other fileformats seemed fine. The phone'sbuilt-in speaker was reasonably loudbut we found it to be above par interms of sound quality. On the otherhand, the bundled headset isn't very

comfortable and is no good formusic though it should do for mak-ing and receiving calls.

Call quality is decent, and we hadno complaints. The battery lasted 7hours, 26 minutes in our video looptest, which is a little underwhelmingby today's standards.

What really stood out for us wasthe camera. We were reallyimpressed with the quality of imagestaken by the Yureka. Close-ups werequite brilliant, and in daylight,images were perfectly sharp at thefocus point even at 100 percentzoom on a desktop monitor. Thephone did take an unusually longtime to autofocus and it was oftensimpler to tap the screen and force it.This also meant that subjects inmotion were challenging to capture.On the other hand, we were able tocreate some surprisingly gooddepth-of-field effects with zeroeffort.

Low-light situations definitelychallenged the Yureka, and a lotdepended on the amount of ambientlight the sensor was able to pick upin each shot. For that reason, widerframes worked better than tightclose-ups. The flash worked quitewell too. Videos came out prettyshaky but otherwise just as good asphotos.

VerdictMicromax appears to have made a

smart move. Indian buyers seem tobe comfortable enough with online-only sales now, and if this device isavailable in sufficient quantitieswithout the rigmarole of weekly reg-istrations and flash sales, it will be avery solid alternative to the XiaomiRedmi Note. The fact that the 4Gversion of the Redmi Note costs Rs.1,000 more than the Yureka will alsohelp Micromax win points over itsChinese cousin.

The Yu Yureka has a lot going forit, and even its minor flaws can beoverlooked considering the amaz-ingly low price. Yu has identified itstarget audience well and has deliv-ered a very, very attractiveproduct.

NEW DELHI | SATURDAY | JAN 03, 2015SAADDA HAQScience & Tech6

1. The chemical (ethyl mercaptan) added to the other-wise odourless LPG cooking gas for imparting adetectable smell to the gas is a compound ofA. bromine B. fluorineC. chlorine D. sulphur

2. The element common to all acids isA. hydrogen B. carbonC. sulphur D. oxygen

3. Non stick cooking utensils are coated withA. Teflon B. PVCC. black paint D. polystyrene

4. Monazite is an ore ofA. titanium B. zirconiumC. iron D. thorium

5. Carbon, diamond and graphite are together calledA. allotropes B. isomersC. isomorphs D. isotopes

QUIZ TIME

Answer: 1(D), 2 (A), 3(A), 4(D), 5(A)

12.00 am Everest 12.30 am Diya aur BaatiHum 01.00 am Ye HaiMohabbatein

01.30 am Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 02.00 am Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 02.30 am Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 03.00 am Tu Mera Hero 03.30 am Iss Pyaar Ko Kya NaamDoon...Ek Baar Phir 04.00 am Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 04.30 am Everest 05.00 am Diya aur Baati Hum 05.30 am Nisha Aur Uske Cousins 06.00 am Iss Pyaar Ko Kya NaamDoon...Ek Baar Phir 06.30 am Ye Hai Mohabbatein 07.00 am Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 07.30 am Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 08.00 am Mahabharat 08.30 am Suhani Si Ek Ladki 09.00 am Diya aur Baati Hum 09.30 am Ye Hai Mohabbatein 10.00 am Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 10.30 am Tu Mera Hero 11.00 am Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 11.30 am Iss Pyaar Ko Kya NaamDoon...Ek Baar Phir 12.00 pm Diya aur Baati Hum 12.30 pm Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 01.00 pm Ye Hai Mohabbatein 01.30 pm Tu Mera Hero 02.00 pm Everest 02.30 pm Diya aur Baati Hum 03.00 pm Nisha Aur Uske Cousins 03.30 pm Suhani Si Ek Ladki 04.00 pm Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 04.30 pm Tu Mera Hero 05.00 pm Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 06.00 pm Iss Pyaar Ko Kya NaamDoon...Ek Baar Phir 06.30 pm Suhani Si Ek Ladki 07.00 pm Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 07.30 pm Ye Hai Mohabbatein 08.00 pm Tu Mera Hero 08.30 pm Nisha Aur Uske Cousins 09.00 pm Diya aur Baati Hum 09.30 pm Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 10.00 pm Everest 10.30 pm Veera: Ek Veer Ki Ardaas 11.00 pm Ye Hai Mohabbatein 11.30 pm Tu Mera Hero ____________________________

01.03 am Fillers 02.56 am Khanna & Iyer 04.50 am 99

07.44 am Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha 11.03 am Phool Aur Kaante 02.16 pm Salaakhen 05.21 pm Spider-Man 2 08.00 pm Main Tera Hero 10.43 pm Heroine _____________________________

12.00 am Teleshopping 02.00 am Maharakshak Aryan 03.00 am Neeli Chatri Waale 04.00 am Baba Ramdev Ka Yog

05.00 am Narayan Seva 06.00 am Creflo Dollar and TaffiDollar 06.30 am Glory To God

07.00 am Teleshopping 09.00 am Kahani Ab Tak 09.30 am Exposure Jhalak

10.00 am Club Repeat 12.00 pm Neeli Chatri Waale 01.00 pm Maharakshak Aryan 02.00 pm Club Repeat 03.30 pm Movie 07.00 pm Maharakshak Aryan 08.00 pm Neeli Chatri Waale 09.00 pm SaReGaMaPa L'il Champs _____________________________

12.00 am Bigg Boss 01.00 am Telebrands

02.00 am Home Shop 18 05.00 am Iskcon Aarti 05.30 am Jesus Calls Ministry 06.00 am Telebrands 07.00 am Narayan Sewa SansthanTrust 07.30 am Home Shop 18 12.00 pm Bigg Boss 07.00 pm Shastri Sisters 07.30 pm Sasural Simar Ka 08.00 pm Balika Vadhu - Kacchi

Umar Ke Pakke Rishte 08.30 pm Udann 09.00 pm Bigg Boss : Weekend Ka

Vaar 10.00 pm Comedy Nights with Kapil 11.00 pm Comedy Nights with Kapil

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12.00 am Comedy Classes 01.00 am Mere Rang Mein Rangne

Wali 01.30 am Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye 02.00 am Savdhaan India: India

Fights Back 03.00 am Mahakumbh - Ek

Rahasaya Ek Kahani ! 03.30 am Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye 04.00 am Comedy Classes 05.00 am Savdhaan India: India

Fights Back 06.00 am Mahakumbh - Ek

Rahasaya Ek Kahani ! 06.30 am Mere Rang Mein Rangne

Wali 07.00 am Comedy Classes 07.30 am Mere Rang Mein Rangne

Wali 08.00 am Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye 10.30 am Savdhaan India: India

Fights Back 12.30 pm Comedy Classes

03.30 pm Mahakumbh - EkRahasaya Ek Kahani ! 05.30 pm Movie 08.00 pm Savdhaan India: India

Fights Back 09.00 pm Supercops vs

Supervillains... Shapath : MissionMumbai

10.00 pm Savdhaan India: IndiaFights Back

11.00 pm Savdhaan India: IndiaFights Back

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01.30 am Imtihaan 04.00 am Contract 05.55 am Ramaa: The Saviour 08.30 am Mehndi 11.20 am Coolie No. 1 01.40 pm Main Hoon Na 05.25 pm The Hero: Love Story of a

Spy 08.00 pm Jo Jeeta Wohi Baazigar 11.15 pm The Return of Sikandar

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01.00 am Teleshopping 02.00 am Crime Patrol - Satark 06.00 am Teleshopping

07.00 am Teleshopping 08.30 am C.I.D 06.30 pm Crime Patrol: Dastak 08.00 pm Adaalat 09.00 pm Crime Patrol - Satark 10.00 pm C.I.D 11.00 pm Crime Patrol - Satark

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12.00 am Infomercial 09.00 am Bhakti Mein Shakti 12.00 pm Awaargi 03.00 pm Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa 06.00 pm Tejasvini 09.00 pm Chori Chori Chupke

Chupke 11.30 pm Crime Patrol: Dastak

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02.15 am Kai Po Che! 05.30 am Sainik 08.00 am Teleshopping

08.20 am Aag 10.45 am Ghajini 02.20 pm Robbery 05.00 pm Akhiyon Se Goli Maare 08.05 pm Thalaiva The Leader 10.50 pm D-Day

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12.00 am Asambhav 02.00 am Aasma: The Sky Is the

Limit 04.15 am Filler

04.45 am Eena Meena Deeka 07.43 am Chaalbaaz 10.54 am Lal Baadshah 01.40 pm The Real Tiger 04.45 pm Ek Aur Ek Gyarah 08.00 pm Entertainment

TV Channels Schedule TODAY’S STARARIES This is a terrific day for you, Aries. You should find that the puzzle pieces natural-

ly come together almost effortlessly. Important connections can be made today aslong as you keep all the lines of communication open. Information exchange is akey part of bringing people and ideas together in a constructive manner. A burstof inspiration can lead to a rewarding journey through time and space.

TAURUS There's a stronger connectedness to dreams and fantasies today, Taurus, but youmay need to adjust your thinking in order to link to it. Pick a path that includes afew steps on the sunny side of the street where you can see things in a positivelight instead of focusing on the gloom in every situation. Communicate yourthoughts and think about how you can promote peace in your inner circle.

GEMINI There's a warm and friendly feeling to the day that you will find agreeable toyour boisterous personality, Gemini. Find strength and peace with the peo-ple around you and work to make solid connections among your friends. Thepeople around you are your greatest resource, so treat them with honor andrespect. Stay in balance by recognizing the strength in others.

CANCER Don't go where you aren't invited and don't take things that aren'toffered, Cancer. Rules and manners are the cornerstones tohealthy friendships and strong bonds among new acquaintanceson a day like today. You will find that a cheery attitude and pleas-ant smile go a long way. Before you know it, you will be invitedeverywhere and offered all the things you desire.

LEO Let your true personality shine, Leo, for this is your day to radi-ate. There's an element of fantasy and deception working in theequation, but you will find that this may be just the thing you'relooking for. The missing piece may come from a place you leastexpect, but be confident that it will come. Be open to new ideasand information, regardless of how odd they seem.

VIRGO Realize that to conquer new ground you may have to make some sacrifices, Virgo.Things may not always go according to your perfect vision, but that's the naturalway of things. Life should be simple and free flowing. The tangle of voices in yourmind is usually the thing that makes issues and situations more complicated thanthey need to be. Maintain the peace and keep things easy.

LIBRA There's a great deal of air to fuel your fire today, Libra. Conversations willlight up upon your arrival. Dreams, fantasies, and inspired wishes may cometo the surface, asking you to digest them with your open, adventurous mind.Use this fuel to keep things burning red hot within you. Bring your dreams tothe surface and turn them into realities by joining forces with others.

SCORPIO Although you may want to bring things down a bit so you can better plan, organ-ize, and rearrange, Scorpio, this may not be the best course of action today.You're better off keeping things light and uplifting. Things will fall into place asyou need them. Trust in others. Realize that some of the best experiences youwill have in life are spontaneous. Put your to-do list away.

SAGITTARIUSJoin others for stimulating conversation and purposeful dreaming,Sagittarius. You aren't alone in your thoughts and strong opinions.Now is the time to be heard. Work toward maintaining peace byexposing truth. Take the time to create fantasy in your world by dilut-ing the fears of reality. Make decisions based on love, cooperation,and prosperity instead of neediness, trepidation, and anger.

CAPRICORN It's time to come up for air, Capricorn. Come out and take a deep breath.Experience the lightness and rejuvenation of the energy present in the airaround you. Do some yoga or go for a jog to open up your channels and getyour circulation moving. Use this exercise to clear your mind and open yourconsciousness to let new ideas and dreams be born from within.

AQUARIUS Take a step back today, Aquarius, and sink into a light and dreamy fantasyworld that is pleasing to you. You will find that beautiful objects and sweet fra-grances catch your attention. Go shopping or indulge in a gourmet meal. Thetime is right to keep things open and social. Have fun and focus on your part-nerships with others instead of your tendency to lead or dominate.

PISCES Things might be too elusive to actually grab hold of today, Pisces. Don'tbe so concerned with capturing something and making it your own. Seethe beauty around you and hold it in your heart. Leave the flowerunpicked so others who come after you can enjoy its splendor as well.There's an airy, uplifting feeling to the day that you should enjoy.

Micromax Yu Yureka Review: It's Mi Against Yu

Xolo has kicked offthe new year withlaunch of Q700

Club smartphone, listing iton its site with a price ofRs. 6,999.

There is no official wordon the availability of theXolo Q700 Club, thoughthe company can beexpected to make anannouncement on the samein the coming days.

The new Xolo Q700Club smartphone sportsfront dual speakers, whichis a highlight of the device,and it also comes with freeunlimited music and videodownloads for 3 months onpre-installed HungamaMusic app. Anothernotable feature of thesmartphone is that it comeswith IP55 certification thatprotects the handset fromsome amount of dust andwater. The Xolo Q700Club is a dual-SIM(GSM+GSM) device thatruns Android 4.4.2 KitKatout-of-the-box. It featuresa 4.5-inch (480x854 pix-

els) FWVGA IPS displaywith a pixel density of218ppi. The smartphone ispowered by a 1.3GHzquad-core MediaTek(MT6582M) processorcoupled with 1GB of RAMand Mali-400 MP2 GPU.Xolo Q700 Club comeswith 8GB of inbuilt stor-age, which is furtherexpandable via microSDcard (up to 32GB). Itsports a 5-megapixel rearcamera with LED flash,while there is a secondary0.3-megapixel front-facingcamera also on board. TheXolo Q700 Club rear cam-era features scene detec-tion, face recognition,Panorama, geo tagging,best shot, Smile shot, andHDR options. It also fea-tures sensors such asaccelerometer, ambientlight sensor, and proximitysensor. On the connectivityfront, the Xolo Q700 Cluboffers 3G, GPRS/ EDGE,A-GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Micro-USB, andBluetooth options.

Xolo Q700 Club With Dual Front Speakers,IP55 Certification Launched at Rs. 6,999

Sports 7NEW DELHI | SATURDAY | JAN 03, 2015SAADDA HAQ

SYDNEY, JAN 02Three days after India

captain M.S. Dhoni sur-prised the cricket worldwith his sudden retire-ment from Test cricket,the focus is slowly shiftingtowards the new skipperand how India would makea fresh start with ViratKohli at the helm whenfinal Test commences hereon January 6.

With Dhoni opting tostay away from not onlythe cricket field but also offit, as he didn’t attend thehigh-tea organised onSunday by the AustralianPrime Minister TonyAbbott for both theteams, Kohli has beenhogging all the limelight.

Dhoni’s retirement tech-nically means he is nolonger a part of the Testsquad, but he was invitednevertheless.

In his absence, the spot-light was on Kohli, whoposed for camerapersonswith his Australian coun-terpart Steven Smith andthe Prime Minister, andlater in the captain’s photo-op.

But even before Dhoni’sretirement, Kohli was thecentre of attention inAustralia, but not becausein the manner in he led inthe first Test at Adelaide,but for his aggressive run-ins with the Aussie playersin the last two Tests.

“Virat Kohli is a fasci-nating personality. He is

very aggressive and looksto get under the opposi-

tion’s skin. Atthe sametime, he alsodoesn’t mindwhen theytalk back tohim. In facthe thriveson it andr e l i s h e swhen theys l e d g ehim,” saidf o r m e r

Australianfast bowler

Damien Fleming.“I wouldn’t sledge Kohli

if I were bowling to him.He will only use it to firehimself up and use itagainst you,” he added.

Kohli scored two cen-turies in the first Test at theAdelaide Oval, leadingIndia to an almost improb-able win. The formerAustralian internationalbelieves that the new cap-tain will be an improve-ment on the one who exit-ed the scene.

“Dhoni isn’t too volatileon the field and he doesn’tsledge. When there is hos-tility in the field, he is avery calming influence,which is good. But he alsolet the game drift away anddidn’t adapt quickly in Testcricket.

“Kohli will be a reactivecaptain if not better and hisbatting traits will help him.He stands out of the crease,taking LBW out of theequation. It is a smallexample how Kohli is athinking player and heevolves as the game pro-gresses, which is how acaptain should be,”Fleming said.

Fleming said the factthat Kohli is reac-

tive, may be

good for the game.“Kohli is different from

someone like SachinTendulkar or AdamGilchrist, who never react-ed to anything anyone saidto them. More often, noone said anything. Buteven if they did get a fewwords, they wouldn’t showwhat they were feeling.

“Tendulkar might beburning up in anger inside,yet his face wouldn’t bat aneyelid. He was unflinch-ing. Kohli is a different

personality and it is onlygood for the game that wehave such personalities,”Fleming insisted.

Meanwhile, the specula-tions about Dhoni’s where-abouts has been put to restas he is here, and had trav-elled from Melbournealong with the team onNew Year’s Eve. It isexpected that he willcontinue to stay put inAustralia despite anear 16-day breakbefore his next inter-national assignment,the tri-series,involving

England.In addition, the BCCI has

no plans of sending along

reinforcements as KLRahul will serve as theback-up wicket-keepershould Wriddhiman Sahanot be able to take the fieldfor any reason in the fourthTest.

In fact, itremains to

be seeni fR a h u lindeedm i g h tstay inthe XI

since heplayed in

Melbourne,and the new

c a p t a i nm i g h t

decide on whether toinclude Saha in his plans atall.

Spotlight shifts to new Test skipper Kohli

SYDNEY, JAN 02Former Australia captain

Michael Hussey said hewas surprised by reportsthat just-retired Test cap-tain Mahendra SinghDhoni had suggested hisname for the coach’s job ofIndian cricket team onceDuncan Fletcher’s contractexpired at the end of WorldCup 2015.

“I’m not sure if I’m real-ly ready for that sort ofchallenge,” said Husseyafter he led SydneyThunder to a win over thedefending Big BashLeague champions, Perthat the WACA lastnight.

“Thanks, M S, if it’s true... but, I’m still playing!”he was quoted as saying inSydney MorningHerald.

A report in the Indianmedia had quoted sourcesallegedly close to Dhoni,saying he was understoodto be concerned about thedirection the dressing

room’s culture was headed.And since Fletcher’s

contract is till World Cup,Dhoni has already recom-mended Hussey’s name tothe BCCI.

Hussey was Dhoni’steammate at ChennaiSuper Kings in the Indian

Premier League and thereport claimed that theIndia ODI skipper haddescribed the Aussie as “abrilliant thinker and manmanager who could bringGray Kirsten-like calmnessand camaraderie onboard”.

Hussey not sure if he is ready for India coach’s job

KARACHI, JAN 02 Pakistan’s flamboyant

allrounder Shahid Afridisays that Virat Kohli was“too emotional” as aleader and it will take himsome time to fill in thecaptaincy void left byMahendra Singh Dhoni’sretirement from Testcricket.

Afridi said he was a bigfan of Kohli’s cricketingskills but he the Indianneed to improve as aleader of the pack.

Kohli is set to lead theteam in the final Test ofthe series againstAustralia, startingJanuary 6 in Sydney.

“I felt disappointed tolearn about Dhoni’s

retirement decisionbecause he is a fightingcharacter and has been agreat leader for Indiancricket. He has led manytimes from the front forthem,” he said.

“Dhoni has changed theface of Indian cricket andtook them to the pinnacleof success and his cap-taincy will be missed bythe Indian team. He hasled them well in all for-mats,” Afridi told a TVchannel.

Ironically it was underDhoni’s captaincy thatIndia defeated Pakistanled by Afridi in the semi-final of the 2011 WorldCup with the Indiansgoing on to win the title.

Afridi, who is presentlycaptain of the PakistanT20 team, announced ear-lier this month that hewould retire from One-day internationals afterthe World Cup.

He said that he had nointentions of changing hisdecision no matter how heperformed in the WorldCup.

“Even I if I have a greatWorld Cup I will not takeback my retirement deci-sion because it is final andI took it after muchthought. I have seen a lotof top players beingforced to retire in not verypleasant circumstancesand I don’t want that hap-pening to me,” he added.

Kohli has a long way to go: Afridi

SYDNEY, JAN 02With the Sydney Cricket

Ground having a history ofassisting spin from thirdday onwards, Australianleft-arm orthodox AshtonAgar is hoping to getpicked in the XI and playhis part in the fourth andfinal cricket Test againstIndia starting January 6.

Agar, who joined the 13-man squad that regainedthe Border-GavaskarTrophy following a drawin the Boxing Day Test inMelbourne, is keeping hisfingers crossed for his Testreturn after nearly one-and-a-half years.

“Nothing’s guaranteed.That’s what I’m saying inmy head,” Agar, whoplayed his second and lastTest in July 2013 inEngland, was quoted assaying on Cricket Australiawebsite. “I’m just going totry my very best to bowlwell in the nets and fromthere it’s pretty much up tothe wicket,” he added.

The 21-year-old is mak-ing his presence felt fordomestic side PerthScorchers in the Big BashT20 tournament and didpick up the key wicket ofJacques Kallis inThursday’s match againstSydney Thunder.

On the other hand India,who will be playing forpride after trailing 0-2 inthe four-match series, mayalso be looking to includerookie left-arm spinnerAxar Patel to field a two-man spin attack along withRavichandran Ashwin atSCG.

Patel was flown in as areplacement for an injuredRavindra Jadeja currentlyundergoing rehabilitationfor his left-shoulder injury.

The Test will also seenew Indian Test captainVirat Kohli lead the teamafter Mahendra SinghDhoni’s surprising retire-ment from the longest for-mat post the Melbournegame.

Agar hoping for SCGpitch to assist spinABU DHABI, JAN 02

Andy Murray had a newlook and there were a fewearly signs of a new gamestyle as he kicked off hisseason with a surprisinglyhard-fought victory overSpain’s Feliciano Lopez inthe Mubadala WorldTennis Tournament.

With the all black kit ofhis suppliers UnderArmour making its debut,Murray took two and ahalf hours to defeat theworld No. 14 7-6, 5-7, 6-4on Thursday, reports daily-mail.co.uk.

Despite the length of thematch, there was moreintent from the formerWimbledon champion toshorten the points by beingprepared to attack the net,something he is sure tohave worked on over thepast month with coachAmelie Mauresmo.

It may be an unofficialevent with no rankingpoints at stake but bothplayers were clearly keento get a proper game inwith so little time ahead of

this month’s AustralianOpen.

“It was a tough matchand the last few gameswere very hard,” saidMurray, who is traininghard alongside competingthis week.

“It was a hard way tostart the new year and I

hope the matches get a biteasier from now on!“

Murray takes on RafaelNadal in the tournamentsemifinal on Friday, withthe French Open champi-on very much in need ofmatch tightness withMelbourne already loom-ing.

PUNE, JAN 02 The Kalyani-group pro-

moted new I-League foot-ball team Bharat FC hopesto spur interest for thegame in Pune city throughgrass root initiatives forthe under-privileged chil-dren and in governmentand public schools, triggera movement through fan-activation programmesand offer career opportu-nities for those who comethrough the club’s eco-systems.

The new club is lookingforward to its I-Leaguedebut game againstDempo SC at theBalewadi Stadium onJanuary 24.

Giving his insight intowhat Bharat FC aims for,Mr. Amit Kalyani, MD ofthe Club and ExecutiveDirector of the KalyaniGroup said: “BengaluruFC has set a good bench-mark by winning theleague on debut; so weconsider ourselves as acontender.

The ultimate aim of theclub is always winning,

but we would like to playthe game to the best of ourability, demonstrate sport-ing spirit, fair-play andrepresent Pune city as itsambassadors.”

Bharat FC unveiled itsthree kits created by itsapparel partner Nivia—home and away and train-ing — and announced itsfull team, which has sev-eral star players whoexcelled in the recentlyconcluded highly success-ful Hero Indian SuperLeague.

Some of them areArindam Bhattacharya,Gouramangi Singh,Mehrajuddin Wadoo,D h a r m a r a jR a v a n a n , L e s t e rFernandez, MohanrajanNallappan, Adil Khan andSubash Singh. The over-seas players areEnglishman BobbyHassell and NewZealand’s Kris Bright.

The club has the advan-tage of having Mr. KunalAgarwal as its director. Hewas closely associatedwith Bengaluru FC. “We

have a world class trainingfacility at Manjri here andwe hope to build a mega-stadium with all purposefacilities to make it a fanand family destination. Itwill cost the club aroundRs. 950 crore, but the run-ning of the club for a yearthough in the I-Leaguewould be around Rs. 12crore,’’ said Mr. Agarwalwho is an Arsenal fan.

Gouramangi Singh saidthat the HISL is behindand it’s time to focus on I-League. “The I-Leaguewill be different from theISL. I have to motivatemyself to get up early inthe morning, go for train-ing and practice and playgames. I will give my bestshot. I am very happy withthe club’s vision andambition to go forward,’’said Gouramangi, whorefused to say anythingwhen asked if the AIFF asthe promoter of the I-League should do a lotmore to advertise I-League and create aware-ness.

Mr. Agarwal felt that the

AIFF can organize amedia-event before thefirst I-League game, withthe representatives of the11 teams and its captainsin attendance. “The con-test between the two localclubs can be called a“Pune Derby” , but wewant the local footballfans to turn up at the stadi-um in big numbers for allhome games,’’ saidAgarwal.

The team: Goalkeepers:Arindam Bhattacharya,Harshad Meher, ShahinlalMeloly.

Defenders: GouramangiS i n g h , M e h r a j u d d i nW a d o o , D h a r m a r a jR a v a n a n , N a l l a p a nMohanraj, James NaoremSingh,Bikramjeet Singh,Bobby Hassell, ShahbazSaleel.

Midfielders: LesterFernandez, SimranjeetSingh, G. Vignesh, JPrasad, DipenduDowary,Adil Khan.

Forwards: ManjeetSingh, RajinderKumar,Kris Bright,SubashSingh,Surojit Bose.

High hopes for Bharat FC

NEW DELHI, JAN 02Ace defender and drag-

flicker V.R. Raghunath hassaid he is ready to dish outa sturdy performance andput up a good show in theupcoming Hero HockeyIndia League, commencingon January 22.

One of the top drag-flickers in the world, theKarnataka player led UttarPradesh Wizards twice andtook the team to the semifi-nals of the previous twoeditions of HIL.

The Indian defender willcontinue his stint with theLucknow-based franchiseand plans to materialisemaximum scoring opportu-nities through penalty cor-ners.

“The League this time isgoing to be tough as thebest players of the worldwill be featured in theLeague. The strength ofour team will be the drag-flicking skills,” Raghunathsaid.

The 26-year-old drag-flick specialist was thethird in the list of the topgoal scorers of both the

previous two editions.Proving his worth andbecoming a motivation tothe defence line of UttarPradesh Wizards in thefirst season of the HIL,Raghunath scored a totalnumber of nine goalswhere all the goals camefrom penalty corner con-versions.

In the subsequent edi-tion, he scored eight goals

again from penalty corners.As UP Wizards won their

maximum matches throughpenalty corners, their teamstrategy will remain thesame, earning the maxi-mum penalty corners dur-ing the matches and con-vert them into goals.

Stating that he was excit-ed to share the field withHarbir Singh, theNetherlands’ Marcel

Balkestein and JolieWouter, Raghunath said, “Ilook forward to the thirdseason and aiming toimprove our position byfinishing on a winning notethis time.”

Uttar Pradesh Wizardswill play their first matchon January 23 againstdefending championsDelhi Waveriders inLucknow.

Converting penalty corners will beteam’s strength: Raghunath

Murray stretched in first match of new season

'Balika Vadhu' actorSiddharth Shukla wasfined Rs 2000 for driving

under the influence ofalcohol on New Year's Eveby Mumbai police nearJuhu. The actor's drivinglicense was also confiscat-ed.

A police officialinformed that he paid thefine and was asked to bepresent in court Thursdaymorning.

"Last night, SidharthShukla was found drivinghis car under the influenceof alcohol. His license wasimmediately confiscatedand he paid a fine ofRs.2,000," an official fromJuhu police station said.

The actor was reportedlyreturning home after party-ing with his friends in Juhu

on New Year's Eve around3am. Siddharth Shukla

debuted in Bollywood withVarun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt

starrer 'Humpty Sharma KiDulhania'.

Superstar ShahrukhKhan's bundle ofjoy AbRam is a cute

little toddler. The doting father

Shahrukh shared the firstpicture of his third childAbRam on Eid in 2014and again he tweetedAbRam's photo which heclicked with former chair-man of Indian PremierLeague, RajeevShukla.

Rajeev Sharma cap-

tioned the picture saying,"With Srk and littleAbram on new year".AbRam looks absolutelyadorable in a striped shirtand jeans, matching hairstyle like his father.

AbRam was also spot-ted at Mannat gate whenhis father was shootingfor Maneesh Sharma's'Fan'.

Little AbRam alsodebuted with ShahrukhKhan's 'Happy NewYear'.

Shahrukh Khan with hisfamily heading to Dubaito spend New Year andthe star tweeted about thequality time he spendwith his three children,Aryan, Suhana andAbRam.

He tweeted, "48 hrs ofuninterrupted unadulterat-ed unconditional lovewith my Trimurti.

No place I'd rather bethan holding u three.Aryan Suhana AbRam".

Actress Anushka Sharma,who has worked with var-ious actresses in the past,

says Katrina Kaif is her favouriteco-star and she doesn't believe inthe concept of cat-fights inBollywood.

"As an actress, we need to killthose cat-fight things. I calledKangana (Ranaut) when Iwatched 'Queen', I calledDeepika (Padukone) after'Cocktail'. I was like more thanexcited about it.

"Katrina is my favorite co-starbecause I had such a good rela-tionship with her. She is a realperson and not pretentious. I hada great time working with her (in'Jab Tak Hai Jaan'). I know shefeels happy for me," she said.

Anushka, who is currentlyenjoying the success of "PK, saysshe is very satisfied with hercareer graph as an actress andsays she doesn't like falling intobrackets and categories.

Asked if she is happy withwhatever she has achieved so far,Anushka said: "I won't lead mylife little bit if I was not happy. Iknow what I want to do and Idon't like falling into bracketsand categories."

"I didn't want to do too manyfilms. Whatever I have done, Ihave done best. People give

advices but I do what I feel isright. I am very satisfied rightnow. I wanted to work in good

films and good directors and ithink my career graph is goingwell," she added.

Bollywood/Fashion8 NEW DELHI | SATURDAY | JAN 03, 2015SAADDA HAQ

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The start of Navaratrameans differentthings for different

people - fasting, pooja,pandals, Falguni Pathaksongs - but for many youngJaipurites, it only meansdandiya nights with no cur-few. After learning a fewsteps so as to not mutilatetheir partners with dandiyasticks and carefully choos-ing the trendiest ghaghra-choli, Jaipur girls have onemore very important thingto check off their to-do list:back polishing. Over thelast couple of years, thetrend of backless cholis haspicked up in the city, andwith top Bollywoodactresses flaunting theirbacks on screen, Jaipurgirls are flocking to par-lours for a quick sitting ofback polishing. We spoketo a few city parlours, whoconfirm that this is the timethe demand for body andback polishing skyrockets.

Demand for back polish-ing goes up in Navratri:City parlours say that backpolishing, which is other-wise quite popular withonly brides, becomes theservice that is requestedthe most during Navratri.Indira Joshi, owner, JawedHabib beauty parlour, says,"A lot of people have start-ed enquiring about bodypolishing now, because thewedding season is also

coming up, butthe very spe-cific requeststhat we get forback polishingby girls duringNavaratra isbecause ofthe trend ofbackless cholisfor dandiyanights. A lot ofgirls have tannedareas on theirbacks, so

depending on how muchtanning there is, we sug-gest them the number ofsittings it'll take."

Ritu Deswal, owner,

Style nScissors, says, "Neck andback are the two areas girlssuddenly start to pay atten-tion to during Navaratra,so we get a lot of requests

for body polishing inthese days. People

want to get backpolishing doneaccording to theirgarba dresses, so

we do just back pol-ishing for `1,000 and

full body polishing in`3,500. We also have

special offers like redwine body polishing,which are quite in demand

during this time."

S h a b a n aKhanam, man-

ager, Kaya Kalp,says that they start

getting theseenquiries towards

the end of shradhs."The demand always

goes up duringNavaratra, because girlswant to look their beston dandiya nights, oth-erwise body and back

polishing is popular withwould-be brides. We havea whole kit where weexfoliate, massage andpolish the back, and theseservices begin from`2,500."

Time to flaunt backlesscholis: Says 20-year-oldBCom student NandiniSeth, "Navratra is the onlytime my parents let mewear anything backless,because they accompanyme to all dandiya nights. Igo off with my friendswhile they have their owncompany. I always feel alittle conscious beforewearing a backless choli.Last year, I went for backpolishing with a couple offriends, and it really made

a difference."

Temp tattoos also indemand: But a smooth,polished back isn't theonly thing girls like toflaunt with their backlesscholis. Ritu says that

they also get a lot ofrequests for temporaryback tattoos during thistime. Says 22-year-oldMBA student SonalikaMohanty, "I have anappointment for back pol-ishing in a couple of days,because I bought threebackless cholis to wear todandiya nights, but myfriends and I were alsodiscussing getting a tem-porary back tattoo. Mymother's never going to letme get a permanent tattoo,so this might be a goodtime to sport a temporaryone."

Girls’ ‘back’ up plan– polish and flaunt

'Balika Vadhu' actor Siddharth Shukla fined for drunk driving

Katrina is my favourite co-star: ANUSHKA SHARMA

Shahrukh tweets photo ofcute AbRam on New Year

Actress-director Angelina Joliesays she embraced her spiri-tuality after growing close to

Louis Zamperini, the subject of herfilm "Unbroken" and has come to theconclusion "we're not alone in theworld."

The 39-year-old began to embraceher spiritual side after getting toknow Zamperini, the American pris-oner of war survivor and Olympianwho is the subject of her film"Unbroken" , and becoming inspiredby his journey through life, reportspeople.com.

When asked on what she hadlearned from Zamperini, she said:"When there is an obstacle, you haveto rise to the challenge, not be over-whelmed by it. And we're not alonein the world."

Jolie, who raises six children withher husband Brad Pitt, feels thatwhile she's certain there's something"greater" than human life, she'sunsure what to actually call it.

"I don't know if there's a name for

that - religion or faith - just thatthere's something greater than all ofus, and it's uniting and beautiful."

She became close friends withZamperini, who is portrayed by actorJack O'Connell in the movie, whiledirecting the film and was heartbro-

ken when he passed away aged 97earlier this year. "It is a loss impossi-ble to describe. We are all so gratefulfor how enriched our lives are forhaving known him. We will miss himterribly," she said in a statement atthe time of his death.

We're not alone in the world: Angelina Jolie

It is not yet confirmedwhether Bipasha Basuand Karan Singh

Grover are really seeingeach other but the currentphoto of New Year sug-gests that something spe-cial is cooking betweenthe two. Bipasha Basuwelcomed 2015 partyinghard with her rumouredboyfriend Karan SinghGrover in Goa. The couplewere accompanied by fewclose pals.

The 'Alone' stars postedimages on the social net-working site Instagram inwhich they are spottedspending gala time withgroup of friends. The bongbomshell Bipasha also

captioned a picture withKaran Singh Grover, say-ing: Together we are aR a i n b o w :#Happynewyear #love#peace #happiness #posi-tivepower yeahhhhh!!!!!

Speaking about theduo's personal life,Bipasha Basu after datingnine years with JohnAbraham called off herrelationship with the hunkfew years back and postbreak-up, she started see-ing Harman Baweja buther relationship withHarman also hit the roughpatch. Speaking aboutKaran, the actor recentlyannounced separationwith wife Jennifer Winget.

Bipasha rings in New Yearwith alleged boyfriendKaran Singh Grover

Approach tofilmmakinghas changed:Subhash Ghai

Veteran filmmakerSubhash Ghai,who spent New

Year’s Day in Agra visit-ing the Taj Mahal andmeeting his family friends,says greed and a penchantto make quick money arethe guiding principles off i l m m a k i n gnowadays.

He said that his “filmslike “Vidhaata”, “RamLakhan” or “Karz” werenot only entertaining andartistically crafted withcatchy music but also con-veyed messages.

“They were Indian.Today the commercialconcerns and the overallapproach to filmmakinghad changed”, he said in amedia interaction.

On the recent controver-sy related to Aamir Khan-starrer “PK”, he said “taxexemption should havecome right in the begin-ning. Now there was apolitical angle to thismove”.

The film has beenexempted from entertain-ment tax in Bihar andUttar Pradesh and thisadded fuel to the fire.