Earth&Climate change

THE ASIAN AGE WEATHER

Max: 30OC Min: 16OC RH: 40% Rainfall: Nil

NEW DELHI FRIDAY 28 OCTOBER 2011

NATION |

Kejriwal seeks more time to pay over `9 lakhs in dues http://www.asianage.com

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SANJAY BASAK and PAWAN BALI

FOOD INFLATION RISES TO 11.43%

New Delhi: Food inflation saw a sharp jump to 11.43 per cent for the week ended October 15 led by a steep increase in the prices of vegetables. This is the highest food inflation figure in the last six months. The prices of vegetables are up by 25 per cent as compared to last year.

■ Full report on Page 16

TV STAR’S MERC HITS CAR, HELD, GETS BAIL Mumbai: Film and television star Ronit Roy was arrested on charges of rash and negligent driving after his Mercedes hit a WagonR carrying four members of a family, injuring a woman seriously, in suburban Amboli, the police said. Ronit was granted bail on a surety of `12,000.

— PTI ■ Full report on Page 4

E.U. OKAYS DEAL TO CHECK GREEK DEBT Brussels: Eurozone leaders struck a deal with private banks and insurers on Thursday for them to accept a 50 per cent loss on their Greek government bonds under a plan to lower Greece’s debt burden and try to contain the two-year-old euro zone crisis.

— Reuters ■ Full report on Page 17

ASTROGUIDE: Khara : Uttarayana Tithi: Kartika Sukla Vidiya till 6.14 pm Star: Visakha till 3.59 pm Varjyam: 7.37 pm to 9.03 pm Durmuhurtam: 8.30 am to 9.17 am & 12.24 pm to 1.11 pm Rahukalam: 10.30 am to 12 pm

SUNSET Today 5.41 pm SUNRISE Tomorrow 6.30 am MOONRISE Today 9.09 am MOONSET Tomorrow 6.52 pm FORECAST:

Mainly clear sky

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Cricket

Will Harbhajan Singh make the cut for Test berth?

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated Thursday that the ambitious Goods and Services Tax (GST) has become “hostage of contemporary Opposition politics” in the country.

While some states, including Tamil Nadu, had raised the issue of autonomy at the recent National Development Council meeting, the fact is that even the Centre will lose its exclusive right to tax services in the proposed GST. In an exclusive interview to this newspaper, the finance minister pointed

out that major political parties have made a commitment to support GST. “The BJP has made a commitment to introduce GST. The Left parties have tendered support. Now they must redeem their word, we require their support,” he said. On issues ranging from corruption to legislation, the finance minister, tackling all contentious issues troubling the UPA-2, said: “Well-established and time-tested institutions should not be dismantled, institutions should rather be strengthened... You can’t create anarchy by destroying systems and institutions.”

On the economy, he pointed out that if one

EXCLUSIVE

Pranab Mukherjee talked of “autonomy in the context of the existing constitutional framework, then these aspects should be clearly understood and should not become a

hostage of contemporary Opposition politics.

Because here it is decided that the Centre that has now exclusive jurisdiction to impose taxes on services, will relinquish its authority. Similarly, states will also have to give authority to the Centre to impose taxes on sales.” On the perception of some states that they might lose revenue, the finance minister noted that such fears were also expressed during the introduction of VAT. “But VAT has increased the revenue of states and didn’t cause any loss,” Mr Mukherjee said.

The GST has already missed two deadlines: 201011 and 2011-12. The govern-

YOSHITA SINGH NEW YORK, OCT. 27

Rajat Gupta, an iconic figure in the American corporate sector who was arrested on charges of passing insider information to his friend Raj Rajaratnam, was released Thursday on bail on a $10 million bond after he pleaded not guilty to offences that could keep him in jail for life.

The 62-year-old Indian-American, who has sat on the board of top US companies like Goldman Sachs and Procter and Gamble, was indicted in the massive insider trading scandal that has rocked Wall Street. The not-guilty plea was filed at his arraignment at a US federal district court here.

He is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and five counts of securities fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspira-

cy charge and 20 years in prison on each of the securities fraud charges.

If found guilty, he faces a cumulative jail term of 105 years.

Gupta surrendered before the FBI Wednesday. He was accused of sharing confidential information about investments at Goldman Sachs with billionaire hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, the Sri Lankan-born founder of the Galleon Group, already in jail for 11 years in America’s biggest insider trading scam.

US prosecutor Preet Bharara said Gupta broke the trust of some of America’s top companies and “became the illegal eyes and ears in the boardroom for his friend and business associate Raj Rajaratnam, who reaped enormous profits from Mr Gupta’s breach of duty.” — PTI ■ A stunning fall for a star executive: Page 16

Inflation & graft cost India’s richest New Delhi, Oct. 27: India’s richest are losing wealth due to inflation and corruption scandals, according to Forbes magazine, which says that the combined wealth of the country’s 100 wealthiest is down 20 per cent from a year ago.

According to Forbes’ annual India Rich List, the total wealth of the country’s 100 richest has fallen to $241 billion, down by 20 per cent or an estimated $60 billion. The num-

ber of billionaires has also fallen by a dozen to 57 currently, Forbes said, adding that falling stock and currency prices also led to diminishing of their wealth.

Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries Group head, has retained his position as the richest Indian with a net worth of $22.6 billion, though his wealth declined by $4.4 billion in the past one year.

— PTI ■ More on Page 16

F1 METER IS TICKING

AASHIMA DOGRA

ment is now trying to be enforce it from the beginning of the next financial year: April 1, 2012. The GST is meant to replace existing levies such the state VAT, besides the Centre-imposed excise duty as well as service tax.

Mr Mukherjee pointed out that all major political parties had committed themselves to supporting GST in their election manifestos. “The BJP had made a commitment to introduce GST. The Left parties had tendered support. But now they must redeem their word, we require their support,” said the finance minister.

Mr Mukherjee noted that the government had intro-

duced a Constitution Amendment Bill in Parliament. It will now first have to come to the Lok Sabha, after being scrutinised by the standing committee.

“Thereafter we will require the support of political parties other than the ruling party because it requires a two-thirds majority. This is an amendment that will require ratification by 50 per cent of states.

Therefore the players are many, not merely the ruling party,” he said.

■ ‘Anarchy if institutions, systems destroyed’: Page 2 ■ Text of interview on Sunday

McLaren Mercedes driver Jenson Button of Britain drives an autorickshaw on Thursday, ahead of Sunday’s Formula One Grand Prix of India at the Buddh International Circuit in Noida.

— AP ■ Reports on Page 18 & 20

13 infants die in Kolkata hospital AGE CORRESPONDENT KOLKATA, OCT. 27

With one more child dying Thursday, the number of crib deaths at Kolkata’s Dr B.C. Roy Memorial Hospital for Children in the past 48 hours rose to 13. The hospital authorities, however, claimed the deaths of so many babies in such a short span of time was not abnormal.

“After critically analysing the cases, we found they were underweight and most were suffering from infection and congenital heart diseases.

To you the number (of deaths) might seem abnormal, but for the hospital (these) were not unexpected,” Dr Dilip Kumar Pal, the hospital superintendent, said.

Rattled by the furore over the deaths, the West Bengal health department set up a four-member inquiry panel which was directed to submit its report by Thursday

evening.

This report gave the hospital a clean chit, saying there was no negligence by doctors and other hospital staff. The committee found that most babies who had died were brought there in an extremely critical condition.

Echoing the superintendent’s views, the report also said the babies were underweight and were suffering from septicaemia and heart diseases. The long journey from different districts to this Kolkata hospital had also taken its toll on the babies’ delicate health, the report suggested. The hospital superintendent said he would look into complaints of misbehaviour by some hospital staffers.

In late July, nearly 20 babies had died in the same hospital within 48 hours, triggering angry protests.

Then too an inquiry had eventually absolved the hospital of blame.

X 7 billion people in the world by Monday On Monday, October 31, there will be seven billion humans on the planet. The world celebrated the birth of the sixth billionth baby in 1999; it took us just 12 years to add a billion more.

Our numbers make us the most successful species ever, colonising all parts of

Vol. 18 No. 253 | 36

Rajat pleads not guilty, out on $10m bail

BOTTOMLINE

LONDON, OCT. 27

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20 killed as Saleh says he is ready to resign

Pranab: Opp. holding GST hostage NEW DELHI, OCT. 27

A Nihang performs a stunt on the occasion of “Fateh Divas” in Amritsar on Thursday.

— AFP

SPORT |

I-T notice

WEST ASIA Yemen

the globe, controlling its resources, making our presence felt in outer space and even managing to delay death.

Resisting temptation to construct this dizzying mental imagery, social scientists and demographers have been surveying the challenges we now face, while attempting to shine light on an uncertain

future, in a new UN report “State of World Population 2011”.

The entire landscape of this steep growth curve is confounded by paradoxes.

Rich countries are getting older, thanks to dropping fertility rates and worry about staying rich, while poorer developing nations have high fertility that hinders economic growth.

The one thing that is certain is there will be more mouths to feed, especially in countries with little resources. Key energy sources are unevenly distributed, with little access for the poor. China reigns as the most populous country, but India will surpass it in 2025 with 1.46 billion people. “India will continue to grow to about 1.7 billion by

2060 before beginning to decline,” the report predicts. A large chunk of the world’s population is based in these two nations.

India’s registrar general and census commissioner C. Chandramouli has said: “Now the question is: how the ‘youth bulge’ is handled. What kind of skills do you give them? How do you make them into assets?”

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DIGGY CAUTIONS SRI SRI ON SANGH’S PLAN C AGE CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, OCT. 27

AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh on Thursday claimed the activities of the anti-graft crusaders were part of a larger RSS-BJP design to divert attention from Sangh’s “terror links”. He also warned spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar that he too could be manipulated by them, as was the case with Anna Hazare and yoga guru Ramdev.

Mr Singh said that while Ramdev and Mr Hazare were Plans A and B of the Sangh/BJP, Sri Sri Ravishankar is Plan C and asked the spiritual guru to be “wary” of the two organisations. The comment appeared on Twitter where he said, “Plan A, B and C are of Sangh/BJP to divert the minds of the people from their involvement in terror activities to corruption.” Later, Mr Singh explained his “twitted remarks”, saying, “Plan A of this overall scheme has been Baba Ramdev, B is Anna and C is Sri Sri Ravishankar.”

However, in another post on Twitter, he said: “I hold Sri Ravi Shankarji in high esteem and have done a course in the Art of Living as CM MP in 2001. He should be wary of Sangh/ BJP.” Reacting, Sri Sri Ravishankar said, “People write so many things. I do not react to every comment. Everybody is entitled to his views.”

The BJP claimed Mr Singh was attempting to “demonise” all those fighting corruption. “I compliment Digvijay Singh for his important plan of almost shameless way (sic) of demonising all those who are fighting against corruption. Good luck to him,” the BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

PAGE

Royal Society honour for father of Indian chemistry P.C. Ray

NEW DELHI FRIDAY 30 | SEPTEMBER 2011

NATION

Calcutta HC rejects bail plea of CPM MLA Susanta Ghosh

VOICES

They (CFL industry) are putting the Indian consumers at risk –– Ravi Agarwal Toxics Link director

Briefs

‘NO PROOF AGAINST KRIPASHANKAR’ Mumba: One of the three agencies probing the allegations of disproportionate assets of the Mumbai Region Congress Committee (MRCC) president Kripashankar Singh and his family has absolved the minister. The AntiCorruption Bureau (ACB), which has been conducting the probe along with the I-T department and the ED is said to have stated in a sealed cover report that though the Singhs posses assets, which are marginally more than the known source of income, the amount is not substantial enough to record a cognisable case.

HIGH COURT BLASTS: NIA FOCUS ON HIZB Jammu/New Delhi: After Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami, National Investigation Agency probing the Delhi high court blast has turned its focus on banned Hizbul Mujahideen terror group and onThursday questioned an alleged recruiter of the outfit at present lodged in a jail.

NIA got permission from a Jammu court to question a Kishtawar resident Azhar Ali, at present arrested under Public Safety Act, for three days beginning today for two hours.

Other stories

6 LABOURERS DIE AS SCAFFOLDING COLLAPSES ATEEQ SHAIKH MUMBAI, SEPT. 29

Six labourers were killed when the scaffolding on an under-construction 14storey building collapsed in Bhayander (east) on Thursday afternoon.

“The scaffolding was on the building for almost a year and the builder, as well as the contractor did not check if it was strong enough or needed to be replaced. Due to their lax attitude, the scaffolding collapsed,” said Jyotsna Hasnale, a local corporator.

“The under-construction building was being whitewashed. The labourers were working on one of the weaker bamboos, when the scaffolding gave away, taking down the entire structure.

This incident occurred at 4.30 pm and three labourers were killed on the spot. Three others succumbed to their injuries in the hospital,” said Sambhaji Panpatte, deputy municipal commissioner, fire and health department.

GUNBATTLE IN KUPWARA ENDS, TOLL AT 9 AGE CORRESPONDENT SRINAGAR SEPT. 29

The fierce gunbattle between Islamic militants and security forces raging in Kralpora forest area of frontier Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir since Monday ended on Thursday evening, officials here announced.

Five militants, two Army soldiers, including Lieutenant Sushil Khajuria and two J&K policemen Shiraz Ahmed and Gulzar Ahmed, were killed in the encounter.

A police handout issued here said that the corpse of the slain militants along with their weapons, including five AK assault rifles, were retrieved from the encounter site.

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Neem genome is sequenced Bengaluru, Sept. 29: The Bengaluru-based Ganit Labs on Thursday said it has sequenced and analysed the genome and coding parts of the neem plant, claimed by an expert to be the first such in the world.

“We believe that our current sequencing study on neem will provide the right scientific impetus for students and young scientists to study one of the most important plant species of our country,” Head of Ganit Labs Dr Binay Panada said.

Neem tree and its parts have been used since time immemorial in the country and its insecticidal, pesticidal, fungicidal and medicinal properties are well known, he said.

“Understanding the molecular architecture of the neem genome and its various coding parts will enhance the knowledge about this wonder species further,” he told reporters here. He said Ganit labs is currently building an open access portal to host information gathered from the current study on genome, genome architecture, coding parts and molecular evolution of the neem plant.

Ganit Labs is well

BMC set to fine Sachin `4.75 lakh

BREAKTHROUGH Bengaluru-based lab claims find Ganit labs is currently building an open access portal to host information gathered from the current study on genome, genome architecture, coding parts and molecular evolution of the neem plant. placed to reap the benefits of IT revolution in the country and apply that for innovation in healthcare, agriculture and biodiversity, Dr Panda said and added in addition to Neem, Ganit Labs has sequenced ‘tongue cancer genomes’ from Indian patients.

Karnataka government’s IT and BT department is funding Ganit Labs, a non profit organisation.

— PTI

BHAGWAN PARAB MUMBAI, SEPT. 29

MEAN MACHINE

Maintenance staff with a Sukhoi-30 aircraft before a sortie at Air Force Station Kalaikunda, in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district, on Thursday. Preparations are on for Air Force Day on October 8.

—

‘Delhi new hub for Hizb activities’ JIGNA VORA MUMBAI, SEPT.29

A trend started by the Mumbai mafia has now been successfully adopted by national terror outfits.

Terror outfits like HizbulMujahideen have now started using “code words” in their communication to evade investigating agencies.

The National Investigating Agency recently filed a final report

in the Delhi magistrate court against four alleged members of the Hizb-ulMujahideen, a banned terror outfit, stating how the arrested accused, Mohammed Sidiq Ganai, had briefed a man named Rajeev about the codes to be used for money transactions.

“Dukan khol kar rakho or khol lo,” indicated that the cellphone should remain switched on.”

Further “dawai le li hai,”

was to be used to convey that the money has been collected. Paanch kilo cheeni/dal implies `5 lakhs.

Over and above this, it has also emerged from this report that Delhi has now gradually become the center for the funding of terror. The report further states that funds come in to Delhi through hawala channels and is then further distributed to other destinations. All these

funds are originally from Pakistan and have been used for training, procuring arms and ammunition and recruitment.

The four arrested members from the HizbulMujahideen, during interrogation confirmed that they were involved in bringing funds through illegal channels from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia to New Delhi and finally to Jammu and Kashmir.

On the basis of various

calls, which were intercepted by the investigating agency, it came into light that a man named Maqbool Pandit, a member of a terror outfit based in Pakistan was sending huge amounts of money to a terrorist based in Jammu and Kashmir via Delhi. In order to make Delhi their base, Ganai and other arrested members developed a close relationship with a man named Raju, who is a resident of Delhi.

High mercury levels in CFL bulbs: NGO RASHME SEHGAL NEW DELHI, SEPT. 29

The much-touted energy saving CFL bulbs have turned out to be major health hazard. CFL bulbs being sold in India contain much higher levels of mercury than prescribed by international standards.

After analysing 22 samples of CFLs of well-known Indian brands for mercury

content, NGO Toxics Link has found that the average mercury content per unit CFL was 21.21mg higher than CFLs being sold in developed world.

Fifty per cent of the samples analysed were found to have high average mercury content ranging between 12.24mg. and 39.64mg, across different wattages. The average mercury content in

5,8,11,15 and 20 watts samples across studied brands was 22.2mg, 7.8mg, 31.5mg, 18.8mg and 17.7mg. In some cases, the mercury content per watt was found to be as high as 4.49mg.

Mr Ravi Agarwal, director of Toxics Link, which conducted the study titled “Toxics in That Glow Mercury in CFLs in India” have found that the mercury-content was higher in

lower watt lamps possibly to capture a greater market share as mercury increases the light output.

“It was worrying to note that most multi-national brands follow different regulatory norms across different countries including India,” said Mr Agarwal, who regretted that the CFL industry was creating a toxic crisis.

“Instead of following the

HIV cases going down, says study TEENA THACKER NEW DELHI, SEPT. 29

AGAINST PRICE RISE

BJP activists hold a protest against price rise by selling vegetables to customers at prices that they claim prevailed during the NDA government’s rule in Kolkata on Thursday.

— PTI

After reporting a major downfall, the prevalence of HIV is found to be going further down in most of the districts in India — a new study has suggested. In a first of its kind, Integrated Behavioral and Biological Assessment (IBBA) national summary report, conducted among populations of most at risk of contracting HIV by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and FHI 360/India, has revealed an “improvement” in most parts of the country in tackling the spread of fatal virus. The study was conducted among female sex workers and their clients,

men having sex with men (MSM), Injecting Drug Users (IDU) and long-distance truck drivers to measure the major outcomes of HIV interventions funder

by Gates Foundation under the India AIDS initiative (Avahan). The experts conducted two rounds of study — between 2005 and 2007, and second round between 2009 and 2010 — in the six high-prevalence states of India covering 19 districts from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharastra, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland.

The analysis of both the rounds showed that usage of condoms during commercial sex acts has increased considerable across the states.

CLIMATE CHANGE

X behind monsoon drop’ ‘Aerosols AASHIMA DOGRA LONDON, SEPT. 29

Human induced build-up of atmospherical aerosols can be blamed for the steady decline of the Indian monsoon, a new study has found. Princeton researchers observed 50 years worth of summer rainfall data and statistically tested this 4-5 per cent weakening with dif-

ferent climate models to find an influential driving factor.

This decline since 1950 was not justified when put together with the effect of natural drivers of climate change like solar radiation and volcanoes; the climate altering power of green house gases also failed to explain it.

Aerosols — very fine pollutant particles released

when fossil fuel or biomass is burnt, were found to be the culprit. “If we use the effect of aerosols to drive the climate model, we can see the drying of monsoons in India” said Dr Yi Ming from Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, one of the authors.

Continued decline of the monsoon season can be

devastating to India’s socio-economics, and still not much is in the hands of its people. Although this drying effect is regional, specific to northern-central India, the cause of the problem is not. “This regional climate change is not entirely in the hands of Indians. Local aerosol emissions might be behind only 50 per cent of the drying, ” said Dr Ming.

best practices in the world, they are putting the Indian consumers at risk. The Indian government has failed to mandate a CFL recycling system with business interests bypassing serious health concerns,” he added.

Mercury is known to be a neurotoxin with highly toxic heavy metal known to impact vital organs such as liver.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to finemaster blaster Sachin Tendulkar a penalty of `4.75 lakh for taking possession of his new Bandra bungalow without acquiring an occupation certificate (OC).

Rajiv Kuknur, chief engineer of the BMC’s building proposal department confirmed that Tendulkar has been living in his bungalow without an OC. “It is true that he has occupied his residence without the OC, but it is just due to procedural delay. It will take another 15 days to complete the formalities and provide him an OC. However, we will fine him `4.75 lakh for illegally occupying the bungalow,” he said. Following

Sachin Tendulkar reports of Sachin holding a grihpravesh in his bungalow, the civic officials from the building proposal department visited the cricketer’s bungalow on Thursday to check for any illegalities. A senior civic official said, “Tendulkar has to complete formalities like submission of various departments’ no objection certificates (NOC). He has to submit an NOC from the garden department and storm water drain (SWD) department.”

AICTE TO SEEK DETAILS OF VACANT SEATS AGE CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, SEPT. 29

Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal has told the consultative committee of Parliament on HRD that the AICTE will soon write to various state governments seeking details of vacant seats in engineering colleges.

These governments will also be asked whether recognition should be given to more engineering colleges from these states, the minister is understood to have told the consultative committee. Sources stated that this will help address the issue of excess engineering capacity observed in some regions. Mr Sibal apprised the members that a common entrance test for engineering institutions is being envisaged which seeks to give greater and more equitable access to all.

cmyk

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cmyk

AGE THE

New Delhi ● Thursday ● 4 August 2011 Eva injured during pole dance lessons for Desperate Housewives

Knightley taking music lessons from boyfriend James Righton

Pamela gets $195,000 champagne bottle as birthday gift

Newsmakers X Slow-motion crash led to moon’s mountains?

François-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek

AASHIMA DOGRA LONDON

Evangelista sues Hayek hubby for kid New York: Supermodel Linda Evangelista has taken Salma Hayek’s billionaire husband FrançoisHenri Pinault to court demanding $46,000 support a month for their lovechild.

Pinault was revealed as the father of the four-yearold son recently and the supermodel now wants the astronomical sum as child support.

The 46-year-old claims she needs the money to pay for around-the-clock nannies and armed chauffeurs to take care of little Augustin as a working single mother, the New York Post reported.

Pinault, 49, is the CEO of luxury brands firm PPR, which owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, and others. He has a three-year-old daughter, Valentina, with Hayek, born 11 months after Augustin. The executive, whose family is worth an estimated $11.5billion, is fighting the expenditures. Pinault’s lawyer, David Aaronson, questioned at a deposition last Tuesday Ms Evangelista’s need for a team of drivers who are former police detectives at a cost of $175,000 a year.

—PTI

Actresses Eesha Koppikhar (from left) and Malaika Arora Khan and socialite Feroze Gujral display creations at the Indian International Jewellery Week 2011 in Mumbai on Wednesday.

PHOTOS: AFP, Satej Shinde

Alexander Pylyshenko rests with Katya, an African lioness, in his private zoo in his yard at Vasylivka, Ukraine, on Wednesday. Pylyshenko is going to live with the African lion couple Katya and Samson in their open-air cage for the next 35 days and nights.

PHOTO: AFP

Sean Kingston

Kingston had heart surgery

New York: Marvel Comics revealed on Tuesday that the heir to the Spider-Man costume following the death of Peter Parker will be Miles Morales, a teenager of halfHispanic and half-black origin who will protect New York from the bad guys starting Wednesday, when Ultimate Comics Fallout #4 hits the magazine racks.

“When the opportunity arose to create a new Spider-Man, we knew it had to be a character that represents the diversity — in background and experience — of the 21st century,” said Marvel’s editor-in-chief, himself the son of a Mexican father and British mother. “Miles is a character who not only follows in the tradition of relatable characters like Peter Parker, but also shows why he’s a new, unique kind of Spiderman — and worthy of that name,” Alonso said in a statement.

So for the first time in history Spider-Man will not be the disguised freelance photographer Peter Parker, since Parker died last June at the hands of the evil

For the first time Spider-Man will not be the disguised freelance photographer Peter Parker, since Parker died last June at the hands of the evil Green Goblin Green Goblin in the Ultimate comic book series, though he remains alive in the original series, The Amazing Spiderman. The Ultimate series began in 2000 with the goal of winning young readers with alternative, updated stories of Marvel’s most popular superheroes like SpiderMan, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. —IANS/EFE

Australia: Pets held for ransom Melbourne: Business rivals hit a trader in Australia in a bizarre fashion by taking hostage his four pedigree fluffy canines for a $322,000 ransom over a multi-billion dollar deal gone sour.

The colourful businessman Ian Lazar found ten days ago that his four lapdogs had been snatched from his home in Sydney.

The dogs — Goldberg, a miniature poodle, Max, a Maltese terrier, and Bella and Lilly, Maltese shih-tzus — were taken from Lazar’s north shore home on July 21, Sydney Morning Herald reported. Since then Lazar has been approached through third parties to buy them back or their throats would be slit one by one.

The business executive, who so far is refusing to cave in, believes that his pooches are being held by his two business rivals who claim that he owed them money over business deals.

He has so far refused to pay more than one million Australian dollars for business deals to the two men during the past year.

—PTI

Naomi, Doronin to get married?

Potential suitors woo a waxwork figure of a newlysingle Jennifer Lopez at Madame Tussauds in New York on Wednesday.

PHOTO: AFP

Tattooed women line the parade route at a motorcycle event in Taipei on Wednesday. PHOTO: AP

Media personality Kelly Bensimon (right) at an event in New York on Tuesday.

PHOTO: AFP

‘Lost’ Hitchcock film found in New Zealand Wellington: One of the earliest films made by British master director Alfred Hitchcock has been found in New Zealand, researchers said on Wednesday.

The New Zealand Film Archive said the first three reels of the six-reel feature The White Shadow were found in a cache of ageing nitrate prints given to the archive in the 1990s.

It said the silent-era film, made in 1923, was believed to be the oldest surviving feature by Hitchcock, who

This new theory builds on the verified “giant-impact” model that suggests the moon and other smaller satellites formed out of the debris of a collision between the early Earth and a mars sized body.

“Our model works well with models of the moonforming giant impact, which predict there should be massive debris left in orbit about the earth, besides the moon itself. It agrees with what is known about the dynamical stability of such a system, the timing of the cooling of

Half-Latino teen is new Spider-Man

Miss Korea 2011 Lee Sunghye (left), a 23-year-old Parsons School student in New York, poses in her swimsuit during the pageant in Seoul on Wednesday.

PHOTO: AP

London: Singing sensation Sean Kingston had to go for two bouts of emergency open heart surgery to repair a torn aorta following his traumatic jet-ski crash in May. The 21-year-old singer, who was hospitalised for three weeks following an accident in Miami Beach, was about to be discharged when he felt a “shocking pain” in his chest, Contactmusic reported.

After undergoing a series of tests, he was rushed into the operating room where he was forced to endure two separate sessions of open heart surgery.

“Then again. They had to go back in for other things,” Kingston said.

However, the star’s mother admitted she is now banning Sean from his beloved jet-skis.

—PTI

WE NEVER see the farside of the moon. What we see from earth on any day of the month is always the same hemisphere, as it is tidally locked to us, which means it takes the exact same time to revolve around the earth as it does to rotate on its own axis.

Pictures snapped on our many missions around the moon show a striking asymmetry between the two hemispheres. The surface of the hemisphere that faces the earth permanently or the nearside is much more levelled than the farside. The mountainous highlands of the farside have punctured through many theories about the moon’s origin.

According to new research published in Nature, this thick-crusted hemisphere might be the remains of a second moon that coated itself on larger moon in proximity.

the Moon, and the ages of lunar rocks,” said Erik Asphaug, one of the authors from University of California, Santa Cruz.

The researchers used precise computer simulation models to back-track the reasons behind the thicker crust of the other half of the moon.

They hypothesised a second impact between the moon and a destabilised companion moon, only this time the process was very slow.

“In such a low-velocity collision most of the colliding material is piled onto the impacted hemisphere as a thick new layer of solid crust, forming a mountainous region comparable in extent to the lunar farside highlands, ” the authors explain.

Curiously such a dynamics do not fit into the general bounds of space collisions, as “it does not form a crater, but splats material onto one side.”

went on to conquer Hollywood with classic thrillers such as Psycho, Vertigo and North by Northwest.

The archive described the film as “a wild atmospheric melodrama” about two sisters, one angelic and the other without a soul. No other copies are believed to exist.

“This is one of the most significant developments in memory for scholars, critics, and admirers of Hitchcock’s extraordinary body of work,” David Sterritt, chair-

A still from what is thought to be a lost film made in 1923 by Alfred Hitchcock.

PHOTO: AFP

man of the US National Society of Film Critics, said.

Sterritt said Hitchcock, who died in 1980, wrote the film’s scenario, designed its sets, edited the footage, and was assistant to the British film director Graham Cutts, who bristled with professional jealousy toward the gifted upstart.

“These first three reels of The White Shadow — more than half the film — offer a priceless opportunity to study his visual and narrative ideas when they were

first taking shape,” Sterritt said. The reels were among a treasure trove of silent films given to the film archive in 1993 after the death of former projectionist Jack Murtagh, who worked at a cinema in the town of Hastings in the first half of the 20th Century.

At the time, cinemas were supposed to destroy film prints at the end of their distribution run but Murtagh instead hoarded them in his garden shed, preserving many works.

—AFP

London: Supermodel Naomi Campbell and long term boyfriend Vladislav Doronin are reportedly set to wed.

The 41-year-old celebrated her secret engagement with Doronin with a £50,000 fireworks display, while they were on a holiday in Greece, reported Contactmusic.

“Naomi and her boyfriend set of 50,000 pound worth of fireworks over a 20 minute period. She was brimming with excitement and hinted they were engaged. She was telling guests it was time to celebrate ‘their little secret’.

Naomi had the most incredible ring on. Everyone was commenting on how genuinely excited she seemed,” a source said.

Fellow holidaymakers also got to enjoy the display in the Mediterranean Sea, with the guest saying it was the most amazing they had ever seen.

“She said they were celebrating something that would send their message to the stars with a spectacular display of fireworks. People

Naomi Campbell

Vladislav Doronin

came out of the hotels all around the bay and up the mountain to watch. It was the most incredible display I’ve ever seen,” a guest said.

—PTI

Published by T. Venkateswarlu for and on behalf of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited at S – 7 & 8, Green Park, Main Market, New Delhi – 110016 and Printed by him at BFL Infotech Limited, C – 9, Sector – III, Noida – 201301. Editor – T. Venkattram Reddy, RNI Registration number 57290/94, Postal registration number : DL(S)-05/3238/2009-11

PAGE

Cops seek 45 days more for chargesheet in Jyotirmoy Dey murder case

NEW DELHI FRIDAY 4 | NOVEMBER 2011

NATION

Jail reforms legislation ready, to be introduced in Punjab House soon: Badal

POLITICS

Raj Thackeray was born into our family.

We made him big.

–– Uddhav Thackeray Shiv Sena leader

Briefs

JAIRAM PLANS TO FIGHT JE OUTBREAK New Delhi: Union ministry of rural development is mulling to chalk out an action plan to deal with the annual outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in Gorakhpur region in eastern UP. Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has instructed officials of department of sanitation and drinking water to prepare an action plan to find a solution to the annual outbreaks of Japanese encephalitis in the Gorakhpur areas.

I-T SEARCH AT SINGHANIA PREMISES Mumbai: The Income-Tax department on Friday conducted searches at the premises of prominent industrialist Gautam Singhania in Mumbai and in Delhi over alleged tax evasion. The I-T operation began Thursday morning and was initiated by the intelligence wing of the department. A team of about 150 I-T sleuths began searching the official premises of the business tycoon, who is the chairman and managing director of the Raymond Group.

ENEMY PROPERTY BILL

GOVT IS ASKED FOR FRESH LEGISLATION AGE CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, OCT. 3

The controversial Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Second Bill, 2010 to enable legal heirs of those who migrated to Pakistan to hold on to their property was rejected by a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Thursday. The standing committee on home affairs, headed by BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu, in its report submitted to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Thursday, asked the government to come up with a fresh legislation while taking note of the fact that Pakistan had long back seized properties of Indians and disposed them off in breach of the mutual agreement.

“The members also unanimously felt that there is a need on the part of the government to bring forward a fresh bill in Parliament in place of the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Second Bill, 2010,” the report said.

The Committee also desired that a timebound plan may be drawn and the entire process of identification of enemy properties and disposal may be completed within a stipulated time.

The standing committee, which comprises MPs belonging to different political parties, also took note of the opinion of Uttar Pradesh government that the bill is ultra virus and unconstitutional.

Farooq disowns brother’s remarks AGE CORRESPONDENT SRINAGAR, NOV. 3

FIRE AT DOCKYARD

Fire engulfed an administrative building in Mumbai’s Naval Dockyard on Thursday. Eight fire tenders, five water tankers and ambulance with paramedics were rushed to the spot. The cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained.

— PTI

Dhaka ops to flush out weapons MANOJ ANAND GUWAHATI, NOV. 3

Both factions of the Ulfa rebels, pro- and anti-talks, are seriously worried about the fresh search operations launched by Dhaka at hideouts and houses of Ulfa leaders in Bangladesh.

Disclosing that security forces in Bangladesh have recovered a huge quantity of sophisticated weapons from hideouts used by Ulfa leaders before their arrest, security sources said that leaders of the pro-talks faction of Ulfa were very concerned about the search

operations in Bangladesh.

Informing that the search operations were aimed at recovering missing weapons, security sources said that Dhaka had specific inputs on Ulfa rebels having sophisticated weapons, which were hidden at different locations. Even after their arrest these weapons could not be recovered, security sources said, adding that the recent operation was to trace all the missing weapons. About tension and concern noticed among the protalks faction of Ulfa leaders, security sources said that

Other stories

PRANMOY BRAHMACHARI The three-member probe committee headed by Lalbag sub-divisional hospital superintendent Saswati Bag on Thursday submitted its report into the ghastly incident of “acid swab” used on a woman after delivery in the hospital.

The committee concluded that a chemical substance was used to clean Sikha Bibi’s body and ordered a chemical analysis to find out the nature of it, Murshidabad district’s acting chief medical officer Virendra Prasad Shaw informed. Meanwhile, the body of the baby was exhumed for post-mortem because contradicting the hospital authorities, Sikha Bibi said the baby was alive at the time of birth.

in hurriedly carried out operations, security forces had not been able to investigate the links and activities of Ulfa rebels in

AGE CORRESPONDENT

AGE CORRESPONDENT

BERHAMPORE, NOV. 3

Security sources said that Dhaka had specific inputs on Ulfa rebels having sophisticated weapons, which were kept hidden at different locations

NEW DELHI, NOV. 3

NEW DELHI, NOV. 3

CHEMICAL USED ON BABY, SAYS PROBE PANEL

Fresh attempt to find hidden arms

SC STAYS EC PROCEEDINGS ON ASHOK CHAVAN

CBI SUBMITS NEW EVIDENCE IN CWG CASE CBI on Thursday submitted to a Delhi court statements of various witnesses and several additional documentary evidence in a corruption case involving award of a CWG-related contract to a Swiss firm at an inflated cost.

While taking on record various documents in the case involving sacked CWG OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi as “prime” accused, special judge Talwant Singh asked the investigative agency to supply copies of those documents to all ten accused.

The documents pertained to the case in which a contract to install Swiss Timing Scoring and Result system for the 2010 mega sports event was given to a Swiss firm, Swiss Timing Omega at exorbitant rates, within two days.

5

RELIGIOUS TRADITION

Devotees worship a cow on the eve of Gopastami in Hyderabad on Thursday.

— PTI

Pollution X causing intense cyclones in Arabian sea AASHIMA DOGRA NEW DELHI, NOV. 3

Frequent cyclones in the Arabian sea might be the result of a fattening cloud of pollutants hovering over the Indian subcontinent. A new study to be published in “Nature” this week explains how the recorded anthropogenic aerosol build-up is helping violent cyclones take shape in the area.

Before the aerosol cloud appeared, it was unusual for cyclones to form,

thanks to a monsoon related vertical wind shear that would virtually cut the head off developing cyclones and disintegrate them.

Over the past 30 years, these tiny pollutant particles produced on burning of fossil fuels, have amassed into what is called the ABC-Aerosol Black Clouds.

Because of its thickness, the ABC cools the surface of the sea under it, which changes the direction in which the local atmos-

phere moves. This change has been found to reduce the power of the wind shear that was traditionally preventing cyclones. As a result, cyclones can form on a regular basis, intensifying with the thickness of the ABC above.

Area the Arabian Sea occupies is so small that any of the cyclones forming here can reach land easily. In fact, the study claims: “more than half of all cyclones that form here make landfall.”

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the proceedings of Election Commission against former Maharasthra CM Ashok Chavan in the paid news case and issued notices to the poll panel and the state unit of BJP, which had filed the complaint against him.

The stay was granted by a bench comprising Justices Altamas Kabir, S.S. Nijjar and Jasti Chelameswar after Mr Chavan’s counsel Gopal Subramaniam argued that the EC does not have the adjudication jurisdiction to decide such an issue as its role only came into the picture to take an action against an elected representative only after the court of law has decided the issue. The proceedings initiated by EC under section 10A of the Representation of People Act against Chavan, therefore, amounted to “overstepping” its jurisdiction, Subramaniam submitted.

In this context, he referred to the SC’s ruling of 1966 in Sucheta Kriplani’s case, holding that adjudication of a case related to any electoral malpractice was only the prerogative of the court not the EC as the poll panel’s role to take any action against the elected representative would start only after the court has given its verdict.

Meet for elderly seeking live-ins exploit women.

Over 300 men and around 50 women are expected to attend this unique meet which could be first-of-itskind in the country.

“We have organised the alliance meet on November 20 for people above 50 years, who are in search of a partner...This meet is aimed at checking the compatibility between an elderly man and a woman before they decide

to get married,” Natu Patel who runs VMAS told PTI. “We have been organising marriages for elderly people since many years.

But this is the first time we have organised a meet for men and women seeking to enter into a live-in relationship,” he said.

Explaining the rationale behind the initiative Mr Patel said, “I have seen that when elderly people get married there are

some compatibility issues between the couples and among family members like children and relatives.”

“So we decided that if an elderly couple first live together for a few months, they would be get acquainted with each other and know if they can live longer with each other or not, after which they could get married.”

— PTI

Forces (Special Powers) Act could be behind these which include Army and defence ministry. He also chose to publicly chastise Congress Party and its local leadership on varied issues including curtailing the emergency laws in force in the state since the outbreak of insurgency in 1990.

Dr Abdullah said that Mr Kamaal has been advised to exercise restraint and follow the party policy line on all issues including those he has spoken on recently.

He said the NC is committed to running the coalition smoothly. “I’ve the highest regards for the Congress leadership particularly the UPA chairperson Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The NC values their support to the coalition government in the state,” he said. The NC president and Union New and renewable energy minister further said the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir “is doing a commendable job for the welfare of the people by working for normalcy and accelerating the developmental activities in the state and in this task the Congress has given great support for which the NC is grateful to them.”

MILITARY ENGINEER SERVICES Garrison Engineer E/M Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt-10, on behalf of President of India invites Applications from eligible enlisted contractors of MES and Contractors working with other Govt Departments meeting eligibility criteria for selection of Contractors for issue of tender of under mentioned works:Ser No

N.I.T NO & Name of work

Estimated Period of Cost of Work completion

1.

GE/BH-46/2012 : PROVISION OF TOILET BLOCK, APPROACH PATH, CHAIN LINK FENCING AND ALLIED SERVICES NEAR PHYSIOTHRAPY DEPARTMENT, PROVISION OF TILING AND CERTAIN MINOR WORKS PERTAINING TO B/R AND E/M SERVICES AT BASE HOSPITAL DELHI CANTT-10 GE/BH-47/2011-2012 : SPECIAL REPAIR TO BUILDING NO 04 AT BASE HOSPITAL DELHI CANTT-10 GE/BH-48/2011-2012 : PERIODICAL SERVICES TO CERTAIN BUILDINGS IN ZONE-I AREA AT BASE HOSPITAL DELHI CANTT-10 GE/BH-49/2011-2012 : PERIODICAL SERVICES TO CERTAIN BUILDINGS IN ZONE-II AREA AT BASE HOSPITAL DELHI CANTT-10 GE/BH-50/2011-2012 : REPAIR/ MAINTENANCE TO WINDOW/SPLIT TYPE AC UNDER AGE ACR-I AT BASE HOSPITAL DELHI CANTT-10 GE/BH-51/2011-2012 : REPAIR/ MAINTENANCE OF SUMMER APPLIANCES UNDER AGE ACR-I AT BASE HOSPITAL DELHI CANTT-10 GE/BH-52/2011-2012 : REPAIR/ MAINTENANCE OF SUMMER APPLIANCES UNDER AGE E/M AT BASE HOSPITAL DELHI CANTT-10

14.40

06 Months

14.20

06 Months

Rs. 28,400/-

-do-

08 Nov 2011

14.50

06 Months

Rs. 29,000/-

-do-

08 Nov 2011

14.50

06 Months

Rs. 29,000/-

-do-

08 Nov 2011

14.50 Lakhs

06 Months

Rs. 29,000/-

-do-

09 Nov 2011

14.50 Lakhs

06 Months

Rs. 29,000/-

-do-

09 Nov 2011

14.60 Lakhs

06 Months

Rs. 29,200/-

-do-

11 Nov 2011

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Amount of Cost of Tender Earnest Money for Contractors not enlisted with MES Rs. Rs. 500/- in the 28,800/shape of DD/ Banker’s Cheque in favour of GE E/M Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt-10

Last date of Receipt of Applications

11 Nov 2011

Eligibility Criteria’s :(a) For MES Enlisted Contractors (b) For other contractors

Dateof issue of tender Date of Receipt of Tender

AHMEDABAD

Ahmedabad, Nov. 3: A local NGO here has organised an alliance meet on November 20 for people above 50 years seeking to enter into a live-in relationship in a bid to check compatibility with each other before getting hitched.

The NGO Vina Mulya Amulya Seva (VMAS) has also laid down strict rules to ensure that this platform is not used by men to

Bangladesh.

Security sources pointed out that fresh operations were launched in Bangladesh also to trace the links of Ulfa rebels and their involvement in other activities. Pointing out that top Ulfa leader Antu Chawdang, who was driven out after his arrest in Bangladesh, was holding a lot of weapons of Ulfa but that the arms were missing even after his arrest, sources said that security forces in Bangladesh were worried about these arms falling into the hands of radical forces.

Jammu and Kashmir ruling National Conference (NC) president and Union minister Farooq Abdullah on Thursday disowned his younger brother Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal’s recent utterances directed against the Army and coalition partner Congress, saying neither he nor his party endorsed these.

The statements made by Dr Mustafa Kamaal on the issues like policies of the coalition government, relationship with the Congress party, AFSPA and the role of the Army in the past few days “are regrettable and are not endorsed by me and do not reflect our party’s policy,” Dr Abdullah said in a statement here.

Earlier on Wednesday, chief minister Omar Abdullah had regretted Mr Kamaal’s diatribe and admitted that his uncle’s statement against the Army had put me in a terrible awkward position. Mr Kamaal who is the chief spokesperson and additional secretary general of the NC had while questioning the timing of recent serial blasts and shooting incidents in the Valley said that forces opposed to the revocation of the Armed

Class ‘E’ Category For srl No 1 : ‘a & c’, New “a(i) & c(i), For srl No 2, srl No 3 & srl No 4 : ‘a’, new a(i), for srl No 5 & Srl No 6: ‘i’, New c (i) and For srl No 7 : ‘c’, new ‘b(i)’ Meeting enlistment criteria of MES with regard to having satisfactorily completed Requisite value works, Annual turnover, Working Capital, Fixed Assets. No recovery outstanding in any Govt Deptt, Security clearance etc.

On or after 12 Nov 2011 for srl No 1 & 7, 09 Nov 2011 for Srl No 2,3, & 4, and 11 Nov 2011 for srl No 5 & 6 above.

12 Dec 2011 (for srl No 1 & 7), 08 Dec 2011 (for srl No 2, 3 & 4) and 09 Dec 2011 for Srl No 5 & 6 upto and including 1500 hrs

NOTES: 1. The contractor enlisted in one class below the “Eligibility Criteria” given above may also apply.

Accepting officer may consider such applications in the event of inadequate response from eligible class contractor.

2. Application not accompanied by requisite value of DD/Bankers cheque towards cost of tender shall not be considered for issue of tender.

3. Contractors not enlisted with MES will be required to enclose necessary documents to prove their eligibility as given above including affidavit for no recovery outstanding.

4. In case of rejection of application for issue of tender, the applicant shall be refunded the cost of tender. However contractor may appeal to next higher Engineer authority, i.e CWE New Delhi for rejection of his application for issue of tender whose decision shall be final and binding.

However Contractor shall not be entitled to any compensation what so ever for non-issue of tender.

5. The above details are also available to MES website : www.mes.gov.in. Full Notice of tender IAFW-2162 and Enlistment criteria is available in all offices of MES and also on MES website. davp 10102/11/2041/1112

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