Kolkata, 30 July: Three years have passed since Subhas (name changed), the child of a sex worker at Sonagachi, was abducted on 17 June 2010 and allegedly trafficked to Bangladesh, but Bidhannagar police have not only failed to find him; they have been unable to produce evidence before Barasat Court that would have incriminated alleged culprit Arindam Das alias Babai.
The CD containing the confession of the accused is apparently "missing", as alleged by Piyali (name changed), mother of the child.
Mr Abdul Kamal Mondal, sub-inspector at Baguati police station and the one who allegedly asked Piyali to "forget" about the missing CD, tried shrugging off the allegation by saying that he was not with Baguiati PS during that time.
Sources confirmed that the CD was handed over to Mr PC Roy, an officer at Baguati PS, who is now posted in Purulia.
Mr Tarak Bhattacharya, the officer-in-charge of Baguati PS, voiced the same excuse when asked about the CD. He, further, insisted that Arindam was Subhas’s father and Piyali was his wife. But when he was asked about if any DNA test was conducted to ascertain and ascribe the fatherhood to Arindam, he admitted it had not being done.
He further claimed that Piyali is raising a ruckus because Babai is now living with Jhuma Sarkar, another sex worker who lived next door to Piyali at Sonagachi. Mr Santosh Nimbalkar, ADCP (Airport) said he was unaware of the missing CD, but pledged to conduct an enquiry on the same.
No satisfactory explanation was given by any of the officials in connection with the missing CD. The disappearance of an important item of evidence still remains a mystery with Bidhannagar Police trying to brush aside their responsibility in spite of being aware that it is an act of utter negligence and irresponsibility. Piyali has even alleged that Arindam has bribed a few of the officials to make his way out and hide the CD.Subhas was only ten when he was allegedly kidnapped and smuggled over to Bangladesh by Arindam and Jhuma Sarkar. Piyali lodged a missing diary at Baguati Police Station in 2010, soon after her son went missing. Arindam, a resident of Narayantala, and his mother Meena Das have allegedly exploited Piyali financially for several years.     sns

Despite having majority tmc didn’t win a single seAt in various blocks
statesman news service 
Suri, 30 July
Despite having a majority in the zilla parishad in Birbhum the Trinamul Congress had to be contended with a not-so-satisfying result as the party didn’t manage to get a single seat in several blocks.
The TMC got 25 seats out of 42. The Left Front got 14 seats among which the CPI-M got 12 and Forward Block 2. The Congress managed to get only one seat. This year for the first time the Suci won a seat in zilla parishad defeating the Trinamul.
In Nanur zilla parishad one seat was won by Trinamul uncontested. For another seat Trinamul candidate Subrata Bhattacharya contested with CPI-M&’s Safikul Alam. Mr Bhattacharya is the TMC Nanur block president and Alam too is a familiar face in the Nanur area. The district authorities claimed of a sabotage in
that seat.
“Our own party men betrayed us, otherwise, it was a sure win,” said Mr Anubrata Mondal, Trinamul district president.
The Suci defeated Trinamul in a zilla parishad seat at Bolpur. In the ZP seat no.12, Suci candidate Kalpana Majhi contested with Kumkum Sow of Trinamul. Mrs Majhi defeated Mrs Sow not by 21,375 votes.
“The area from where our candidate won witnessed in-fighting. As it was a straight fight people had no other option other than to vote for us,” said Suci district committee member Bijoy Dolui.
However, Trinamul sources said this is a result of their infighting. Mrs Sow was from Anubrata Monda’ls camp. The other lobby helped the Suci candidate in campaigning.
At a time when the Trinamul managed to register wins in most of the seats, their defeat in zilla parishad and panchayat samity in a whole block, comes as a surprise. In Muraroi-II, Nalhati-I, Nalhati-II and Rampurhat-II blocks Trinamul did not get any seat in zilla parishad. Also in Nalhati block II the party did not get any seat and managed to win only one seat in Nalhati block I.
Overall, in panchayat samiti, the Trinamul got 13 seats and the Left Front got four.

statesman News Service 
Behrampore, 30 July
After the Congress victory in Murshidabad Zilla Parishad, the district Congress President and Behrampore MP, Mr Adhir Chowdhury today said that his assertive stand against alliance with Trinamul Congress yielded result and played an instrumental role in the Congress winning the Zilla Parishad. The Congress could register a convincing win only in Murshidabad Zilla Parishad.
Apparently relishing the victory in the district, Mr Chowdhury said, if West Bengal is the desert of Congress, Murshidabad has turned out to be an oasis of the party in the state. “Our tie-up with Trinamul Congress always proved detrimental for the Congress. Had we adopted a stand-alone policy in the state much earlier, it would have been better for the party. The way the Trinamul Congress terrorised the voters in this rural poll badly affected Congress workers,” said Mr Chowdhury.
Making it clear that he would oppose any future move to recombine with Trinamul, he said, if the Congress has to survive in the state, it needs to walk alone.
The Trinamul Congress in the district, however, declined to buy the logic put forward by Mr Chowdhury. The President of Murshidabad District Trinamul Congress, Md Ali said that had there been Trinamul alliance with Congress, the Left Front would have disappeared from the district. But statistically speaking, Trinamul gained a lot in Murshidabad by breaking away from Congress, Mr Ali said.
“In the panchayat election of 2008 the Trinamul had only 13 GP members but this time we had 458 GP members and majority of candidates won from the Assembly segments like Hariharpara, Sagardighi, Rejinagar where we contested alone. Comparatively, Congress tally of 152 GP members last time went down to 107 this year. Moreover, the Congress lost a number of panchayat samities where it won in 2008. Earlier, the Congress had 14 panchayat samities which came down to 12 this time. So, it was the Congress that was badly affected by the split between Congress and Trinamul,” the Trinamul leader clarified.
The public perception that Congress gained in Murshidabad was mainly due to its win in Zilla Parishad but the Congress victory in Zilla Parishad came by way of tacit support of CPI-M, he said.    

statesman news service
BANKURA, 30 July
The CPI-M had screamed "terror tactics" on the part of the Trinamul Congress, in post of the panchayat areas in Bankura during the three-tier rural poll, but strangely enough, the party did not bring charges of muscle-flexing against the ruling party in the Junglemahal stretches.
In the Junglemahal corridor in Bankura, that comprises Assembly segments like Ranibandh, Raipur, Sarenga and Taldangra, CPI-M leaders and cadres remained soft targets of the Maoists for as long as the LF was in power.
The segments witnessed the killing of more than a dozen of CPI-M leaders, Panchayat members and cadres in Ranibandh, Barikul, Raipur, Simlapal by the Maoists since 2001.
After the changes in guard in the state, Miss Mamata Banerjee&’s government waged war against the Maoists, which resulted in the killing of Maoist leader Kishenji.
The Assembly segments however had not shown inclination towards the Trinamul Congress in 2011.
But in the 2013 rural polls, these segments in a dramatic switchover saw the absolute washout of the Left Front.
In Ranibandh all the eight GP&’s went in favour of the Trinamul Congress, in Raipur eight out of a total 10 GPs were grabbed by the party and in Sarenga, out of a total six GP&’s, five went in the Trinamul’s favour.
The results in Taldangra, the home turf of Mr Amo Patra, the district CPI-M secretary, also showed the dramatic fall of the red fortunes.
Out of a total 9 GP&’s, the Trinamul Congress won 8 gram panchayats.
Mr Manoranjan Patra, MLA, Taldangra, however claimed: “We couldn’t field candidates in all the seats here.”
He went on to add: “We have got a falling organisational strength in Junglemahal, we must admit now.”
Mr Upen Kisku, former minister, said: “In Raipur, the Trinamul Congress distributed cash and liquor among the voters. They didn’t to require unleash terror against us.”
The Trinamul Congress however claimed that the CPI-M&’s charges of bribery and terror in certain areas were counterfeit.
Mr Arup Chakraborty, district secretary of the Trinamul Congress, said: “Miss Mamata Banerjee&’s formula to drive out the Maoists from the Junglemahal has clicked the most and given relief to the common people. This helped bring about the absolute washout of the CPI-M in those stretches.”

District officials to disburse higher sums for CM&’s relief fund
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Bhubaneswar, 30 July
In a bid to help the poor people get financial assistance from the chief minister&’s relief fund (CMRF) with more ease and convenience, the state government simplified related guidelines today, empowering the collectors and sub-collectors for disbursement of higher sums and introducing a new provision “Harischandra Sahayata”.
The state government will provide amounts at Rs 1 lakh per block to the concerned district administrations.  As per the amended guidelines, the collectors have been authorised to sanction up to Rs 20,000 to the needy people, and only for sums above it, they will have to recommend the cases to the chief minister&’s office (CMO).
The maximum amount which can be sanctioned by the sub-collectors is Rs 3,000.
“The collectors have been authorised to sanction upto Rs 10,000 as assistance for persons injured in accidents or clashes, towards transportation expenses of poor patients for nearest referral hospitals, medical expenses of persons suffering from chronic diseases and medicine expenses. The sub-collectors can grant Rs 3,000 in these cases,”  said a senior official.
The collectors can provide up to Rs 20,000 for rehabilitation of orphans, disabled and widow persons.
These apart, the government has introduced the “Harischandra Sahayata” scheme to help the needy and financially-weaker persons to perform the last rites of their near and dear ones.  While the government will provide Rs 1 lakh to each sub-division, those covering the three municipal corporations will get Rs 2 lakh each for the purpose. Similarly, as per the new provision, the sarpanchs and the urban local body chairpersons can sanction sums between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 for last rites of poor and distressed persons.
Poor persons who wish to perform their relative&’s last rites at Puri Swargadwar will be given assistance of Rs 2,000 which will be provided through the municipality of Puri.

2 children drown: Two children met a watery grave in a reservoir in Mayurbhanj district on Monday. Nine year old Laxmi Mukhi and six year old Monika Soren drowned in the water body at Gunja Sahi village under Baripada Sadar police station when they had been there to wash utensils.It is suspected that they slipped into the reservoir. Laxmi&’s brother Hari Mukhi tried to rescue the drowning duo, but failed. The bodies were later fished out and sent to the district hospital at Baripada for post mortem.
Rail employee dies: East Coast Railway Engineers Association (ECoREA) mourned the demise of PK Sahoo, one of its members, who breathed his last at Railway hospital, Mancheswar on Monday night. Sahoo (45) was suffering from cancer and is survived by his wife and two minor daughters.Known as a sincere and dedicated engineer, Sahoo has joined the railways in 1995 as a junior engineer of P-way.

Project termed political gimmick by many
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Kendrapara, 30 July
The ruling BJD&’s move to send the message that Kendrapara district will have a mega steel project has failed to cut much ice with the people of this politically sensitive coastal district.
Very few in these parts buy the theory that JSW Steels would have a base here.
Many are of the belief that it is a political gimmick with an eye on vote bank with polls fast approaching.
It&’s a tactical ploy by high-profile Kendrapara MP M Baijayant Panda, remarked a cross section of people here today.
Mr Panda showed JSW steels Chairman-cum-managing director Sajjan Jindal the way to Chief Minister Patnaik&’s office. Mr Panda is reported to have convinced the CM of Jindal&’s keenness on locating the plant in Kendrapara district.
The BJD workers here prefer to keep mum on the prospect of the project. Many privately confided that it is likely to be dismissed as a political game plan of Mr Panda.
 For a decade , Mr Panda had failed to attract investors to his constituency and that too when over 40 steel projects had lined up to open shop in neighbouring Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur and other districts like Dhenkanal, remarked a section of the people here.
Mr Panda, with his industrialist background and contacts with corporates could have easily lured a couple of steel makers to locate their plant in Kendrapara  but he did not do so and with elections around, he has started talking of a JSW project is the comment made in political circles here.
Congress leader and former minister Mr Ganeswar Behera said he is  happy to know of JSW steel&’s evincing interest for a plant here. “But circumstances force us to conclude that it is a political statement lacking in sincereity,” he said.
As no land has been identified for the project, public announcement of the steel project is nothing but a move to bolster the sagging image of beleaguered BJD here, he said.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Bhawanipatna, 30 July
The eighth gram sabha held in Ijurupa village on the slope of Niyamgiri hills here rejected the bauxite mining proposal mooted by Vedanta and the state government today.
Interestingly, only four people of Ijurupa were listed as voters and each one of them had turned up at the gram sabha to oppose the project.
It is pertinent to note that social activists had raised objections to selection of Ijurupa village by the state government. The activists had pointed out that only one family lives in the village and there was no justification in holding a gram sabha there. 
The state government, on its part, was adamant in adhering to the list of 12 villages, including Ijurupa. which it had selected for conduct of gram sabha to decide on the fate of the bauxite mining project. 
Till date gram sabhas have been held in eight of the 12 selected villages and each one of them have adopted resolutions rejecting the mining proposal and asserting the socio-cultural and religious rights of the tribals and other forest dwellers over Niyamgiri hills. 
The villages where Gram Sabhas have been held so far are: Serkapalli, Kesarpadi, Todijhola (all in Rayagada district), Kanakudu, Batudi, Palbiri, Phuldumer and Ijurupa (all located in Kalahandi district).  The remaining four gram sabhas are to be held in Khambesi, Jarapa, Lakhapada and Lamba villages of bordering Rayagada district.

statesman news service
Kolkata, 30 July
The Citi Limits Cup is the feature in a card of seven races framed for tomorrow. Seven runners are in the fray for this 1,400m contest for horses in Class I.
Snowscape stands tall in this pack and should take a lot a beating. The Vijay Singh trained runner will be ridden by C Alford.
 The China Visit-Snow Tiger colt is recommended as the best bet of the afternoon.Selections:
2.15 p.m.: HURRICANE ANDREW 1, Silken Senorita 2, Bernardino 3. 2.45 p.m.: VALEROSA 1, Audrick 2, Abrooke 3.
3.15 p.m.: ASTYLAR 1, Hurricane Bird 1, Empress Of Persia 3. 3.45 p.m.: FIRE ANGEL 1, Rithambhra 2, Angels Quest 3. 4.15 p.m.: KWAN YIN 1, What A Feeling 2, What A Feeling 3. 4.45 p.m.: SNOWSCAPE 1, Dear Henry 2, Arktouros 3. 5.15 p.m.: ADELINO 1, Rappadan Glory 2, Secret Whispers 3.
Day&’s best: Snowscape.

Kashyap says China have been secretive about their training

press trust of india
Bangalore, 30 July
The cricketers may have done it in the IPL, but India’s top male shuttler Parupalli Kashyap feels big names associated with the shuttle sport would not be forthcoming in sharing tricks with their team-mates from different countries in the upcoming Indian Badminton League.
“Cricket is a team game and it is obvious for the team to win as a unit, and you find many top players sharing their tricks with young ones. Badminton is an individual sport and players wouldn’t like to share tricks with other players lest they end up losing to them in other tournaments,” Kashyap told PTI here on the sidelines of an IBL event here today.  Kashyap, one of the six icon players in the IBL, said the Chinese have been secretive about their training, which has helped them dominate the sport for a long time. “Obviously, ten years down the line if we are as strong as China, we wouldn’t want any Malaysian and any other player to come and train with us and learn our ways lest we end up losing to him in other tournaments,” he added.
The IBL, however, Kashyap said, will certainly help young Indian shuttlers to observe and learn the nuances of the sport playing alongside or against top international players.  IBL is a good thing to happen for the established and young players, as it would give them financial security, Kashyap said. “In my teens when I started playing the sport, my parents considered it a risk to make it a career. But now, with this kind of an event, which involves money, aspirants can make badminton their career. This is good for the sport,” he said.
Kahsyap said the IBL would help him improve his rankings as the event is being conducted at a time when he is ranked 15th in the world.

Neymar & Messi: Neymar’s ex-coach Ramalho believes he could not yet be compared with his Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi. He said Neymar needed to shine consistently before an assessment was made.

Socrates’ son: Sao Paulo have appointed Brazil football legend Socrates’ son their manager. Gustavo Vieira de Oliveira, 35, would replace Adalberto Baptista, who resigned from the role last week, Sao Paulo said.

Braga sacked: Abel Braga has been sacked as football coach of Fluminense, eight months after leading the   side to the Campeonato Brasileiro title. Fluminense officials confirmed the decision on Monday.

Hockey list: The list of the core probables of the junior men’s hockey team has been shortened to 33 from 48 after three-day selection trials at the Sports Authority of India Centre in Bangalore, Hockey India said.

PCB dues: The PCB is facing a financial crisis of sorts because of the restrictions placed on the acting chairman, Najam Sethi to exercise his powers. The board has to pay nearly 30 million rupees to the players.”

India win: In Monchengladbach, Germany, Vandana Kataria slammed a hat-trick as India’s women’s team thrashed Russia 10-1 to enter the quarter-finals of the Women’s Junior Hockey World Cup.

DRS  trial: The ICC will trial a television feed during the third Ashes Test with the aim of improving its controversial Decision Review System. DRS  has been at the centre of controversial decisions in the first two Tests.

Dalmiya on course: Jagmohan Dalmiya is all set to be re-elected unopposed for another term as Cricket Association of Bengal president. The  82nd AGM of the CAB   is expected to be a tame affair. 

Series probe: The London Press reported on Tuesday that the recent One-Day Internationals series between the West Indies and Pakistan was all set to be investigated as unusual betting patterns and slow run rates in certain overs.

Ministry assistance: Sports minister Jitendra Singh Tuesday announced financial assistance of Rs.150,000 for ailing former women’s hockey player Barbara Francis. In New Delhi on Tuesday.

Rampaul out: Jamaican pace bowler Andrew Richardson has been called up to replace injured seamer Ravi Rampaul in the Jamaica Tallawahs franchise for the Caribbean Premier Twenty20 League scheduled to start on Tuesday.

Rising stars: India&’s premier U-16 boys football tournament, Rising  Stars, will kick off in Kolkata on 1 August. Other cities where the tournament will be held are Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Guwahati.

Athletics squad: The Indian athletics squad for the second Asian Youth Games has been announced. Orissa’s teenage sprinter  Dutee Chand was  named in the 27-member team for the multi-sporting event.

Rambis returns:  The Los Angeles Lakers have added Kurt Rambis and Johnny Davis to their coaching staff. Rambis had previously worked for the Lakers between 1999-2009  including as a player and coach.

United AP backers step up protests
press trust of india
Hyderabad/Vijayawada/New Delhi, 30 July
As the Congress moves to bite the Telangana bullet, supporters of united Andhra Pradesh today stepped up protests against any division of the state.
Students, employees and other supporters of united Andhra Pradesh staged protests in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions amid indications that the ruling Congress would take a decision in favour of separate Telangana.
The students’ Joint Action Committee (JAC), which organised a march in the port town of Visakhapatnam, demanded that legislators from the non-Telangana regions resign from their posts to mount pressure on the Centre. The protesters held a rally in Eluru, the Lok Sabha constituency of Union Minister K S Rao, in support of the united Andhra cause.
In Kurnool, lawyers boycotted courts and held a demonstration. Kurnool is represented in Lok Sabha by Union Minister of State for Railways K Jayasuryaprakash Reddy.
Students from various educational institutes took out a rally in Vijayawada to protest possible bifurcation of AP. Over 3,000 students, including girls, from various colleges, under the JAC banner, staged a “rasta roko” near the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in Vijayawada.
The students’ JAC leaders said the Union government should not concede the demand of bifurcating the state made by some political leaders for their “selfish motive” at the cost of crores of Telugu people. They demanded that people’s representatives from all political parties resign from their posts.
A number of public and private sector employees from various organisations, trade union leaders and advocates joined the rally.
Meanwhile, Congress MLAs from Rayalaseema would meet tomorrow to discuss their future course of action, state Minor Irrigation Minister T G Venkatesh told PTI in Hyderabad.
To a query, he said all issues including whether the leaders from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra would quit their posts on the Telangana issue, would be discussed at the meet. On the other hand, main Opposition TDP sought to know why the Centre did not table the Srikrishna Committee’s report on Telangana in Parliament for discussion.

‘Separate state after agitation dangerous’
press trust of india
Srinagar/New Delhi, 30 July
As the Congress moved closer to a decision on Telangana, UPA ally and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today cautioned it was “dangerous” to carve out new states after agitation amid fresh statehood demands in other parts of the country.
In a ripple effect of Telangana, Senior Congress leader Mr Vilas Muttemwar pressed for creation of Vidarbha state out of Maharashtra and wrote to party President Sonia Gandhi, saying this demand was “older and stronger” than that for carving out Telangana from Andhra Pradesh.
Omar, Working President of the J and K National Conference, while voicing his reservations on Telangana statehood said it could act as an incentive to those agitating for similar demands elsewhere in the country.
He said giving in to the demand of creating a separate state in the backdrop of an agitation was a “dangerous thing”.
“An impression is being created that an agitation can lead to the creation of a new state, be it in Bundelkhand, Maharashtra, Gorkhaland or in our state. What will you tell the people of Jammu ~ agitate for seven or eight years and you will get a separate state? This is a dangerous thing,” he said.
The chief minister said the job of creating new states should be entrusted to the States Reorganisation Commission.
“If there is a need to create new states, the job should be entrusted to the States Reorganisation Commission.”
Mr Muttemwar, a seven-term Lok Sabha member who represents Nagpur, expressed apprehensions that if the demand of the people of Vidarbha is not accepted at this juncture, “they will grievously and genuinely will grievously and genuinely feel badly neglected and may resort to violent agitation”.
Besides Vidarbha, Telangana has opened the floodgates to similar demands for creating a separate Gorkhaland in West Bengal, Bodoland in Assam and carving out Harit Pradesh from Uttar Pradesh.
The Ajit Singh led-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has already stepped up the demand for creating Harit Pradesh out of the western part of Uttar Pradesh, his home turf. He is also in favour of a separate Bundelkhand state ~ a region now divided between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung has already gone public, saying: “Our demand for Gorkhaland is older than the demand for Telangana. If the Centre announces a Telangana state then it should also declare a Gorkhaland state.”
Mr Gurung yesterday threatened that the ongoing three-day strike, which entered the second day today, would be converted into an indefinite one to press for Gorkhaland if statehood was conferred on Telangana.
Amid the clamour for creating small states, CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat said statehood for Telangana will spur such demands in other parts of the country.

Caught between culture and duty
anindita chowdhury
aninditasmail@gmail.com
Hyderabad, 30 July 
Bhagyanagar-Hyderabad-Cyberabad ~ the 400-year-old city is once again standing on the threshold of change and uncertainty following the announcement that it would be the common capital of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.  
Conceived to be “Eden on Earth” by its founder Mohammad Quli who named it after his love ~ Bhagmati, Hyderabad has always seen its fortune or misfortune as one may say, intertwined with politics. 
The chronicle of the city&’s growth began when it came into being in 1591 by the river Musi as the Golconda Fort became too congested.
During Quli&’s lifetime the pagan name was changed to Hyderabad after Bhagmati&’s post-marriage title ~ Hyder Mahal. According to Mr Narendra Luther, a former chief secretary and an authority on Hyderabad, the phase lasted till Aurangzeb sacked the city in 1687. After the Asaf Jahi dynasty came to power, the second Nizam shifted his capital back to Hyderabad from Aurangabad in 1763. The nobles came back and the city was rebuilt.
The third phase of growth began when the Nizam signed the Subsidiary Alliance in 1798 and the British Residency was built. With the coming of Railways, Hyderabad was connected with Bombay and thus began the fourth phase of its development in 1876.
With the destruction of Hyderabad by the floods of Musi in 1908, systematic planning was taken up for the first time in the city. 
Finally, came its integration with India, a full one year after the rest of the country secured its independence. In 1956, its elevation to the status of the capital of Andhra Pradesh saw a spurt of immigration from all over Andhra who gave up Madras in favour of the “bride the among cities.” Subsequently, there was immigration from whole of India bestowing it with its present cosmopolitan character.
The original denizens were left ruing as concrete invaded the greenery and real estate took off in a big way. Today, people from Seemandhra are reluctant to give up on Hyderabad which is at the middle of Telangana because they have properties in the cosmopolitan city and every family has one or more members who are either working or studying there.
“The culture of Hyderabad is not the same as Telangana. The solution is not that easy,” says GS Srikanth, a private sector employee, expressing reservation about sharing Hyderabad while Telangana supporters want Hyderabad to be solely the capital of the new state.
Denizens of the old city, comprising minorities are unhappy as well. Their representative body, the Majlis-e-Ittehad, does not want Telangana.

Pranab misses the gup shup ~ Arathi R Jerath
The glow on President Pranab Mukherjee&’s face matched the sparkle of the chandeliers in Rashtrapati Bhavan&’s Ashoka Hall as he welcomed media persons last week for an informal interaction to mark his first year in office. When he was elected president, speculation was that the presidency was part of a retirement plan for a leader who has dominated parliamentary politics for over four decades.
Instead, Pranab da has been as busy as ever in his first year as president. Topping his agenda for his five-year term has been the restoration of Rashtrapati Bhavan to its old glory and its gleaming state rooms are a testimony to the hard work that he, secretary to the President Omita Paul, and a dedicated team have put in since last July.
The Durbar Hall is once again the hub of ceremonial functions like cabinet swearing-ins. The Ashoka Hall has been cleaned up and has never looked as grand. A host of other rooms have been scrubbed, repainted and redecorated with antique paintings dug up from musty basements where they lay forgotten.
And the library not only flaunts antique books and vintage chronicles of the making of modern India, its exquisite floor, hidden under a moth-eaten carpet for years, is the centre of attraction. A star attraction is the collection of the famous British satire weekly  Punch from its very first edition published in July 1841 up till 1930.
But Dada&’s biggest contribution has been to throw open the doors of this heritage building to the public. There are regular tours for visitors who can wrap up the experience by purchasing Rashtrapati Bhavan mementos from a newly opened curio shop. A satisfying first year, but Mukherjee confessed that he misses the gup shup (his words) of his days in active politics when he would exchange notes with journalists on current affairs.

Compromise dark horse
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lost out to Sonia Gandhi on the choice of foreign secretary. Bets are now on whether he will succeed in choosing the next RBI governor. The race is on and there are two clear contestants. But there&’s a twist in the tale in the form of a dark horse that&’s suddenly appeared on the horizon.
Manmohan Singh&’s candidate for the job is chief economic advisor Raghuram Rajan, whom he persuaded to return from the US last year. The grapevine says Rajan came back on the understanding that he would move to RBI as governor when the post fell vacant in September this year. But the buzz is that finance minister P Chidambaram has a candidate too: economic affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram. The two share an excellent rapport.
With the PM and FM locked in a tussle, a dark horse has emerged in the form of former finance secretary and current chairman of the Competition Commission Ashok Chawla. His name has started doing the rounds as a possible compromise. Will the PM bite the dust on this appointment too?

Divisive Modi
The controversy over the letter that was supposed to have been written by Indian MPs to US President Obama requesting him not to give Narendra Modi a visa has become a CPI versus CPI versus CPI-M drama. While CPI-M MP Sitaram Yechury strenuously denied that he signed the letter, CPI MP Aziz Pasha insisted that he did. Yechury issued a terse statement before leaving for North Korea that the letter seemed to be a “cut and paste” job. Much to the CPI-M&’s embarrassment, Pasha countered almost immediately to say that he was present when Yechury appended his signature to the petition.
Interestingly, Pasha&’s fellow party man, M P Achuthan from Kerala, too disclaimed the petition. Like Yechury, he insisted that he hadn’t signed any letter addressed to the US President. Modi has already split the NDA and caused a rift in his own party. Is he dividing the Left too?

Rehabilitation, at last
Now that he&’s going to have to battle Lalu Yadav on his own, without help from the BJP&’s upper caste base, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is busy setting his house in order. As a start, he has mended fences with party president Sharad Yadav. The two were at loggerheads earlier. The biggest sign of their rapprochement is the rise of Yadav loyalist and friend K C Tyagi in the party.
Out in the political wilderness for a long time, Tyagi was not only accommodated by Nitish with a Rajya Sabha seat recently, he was appointed party secretary general and more recently, authorised sole spokesperson. In fact, the appointment of Tyagi as spokesman is significant. He has replaced Shivanand Tiwari, who was considered a Nitish man. Tiwari had earned Nitish&’s ire for speaking out of turn against the BJP during the weeks leading up to the split.
These days, Nitish, Yadav and Tyagi are quite a cosy threesome. They talk over telephone every day, discuss the emerging political scenario and lay down the party line on various burning issues. It&’s big time rehabilitation for Tyagi, an old Socialist and former Naxalite. With his star zooming, Tyagi looks set for a larger national role in 2014 if a federal front is born from the widely expected post-poll political confusion.

A MINISTER WAYLAID
High Handedness By Badmashes
In connection with the arrest of Babu Madrassi and his accomplice in the Beniapukur section of the town on charges of robbery with violence and extortion, Rev. Mr. Baaseit a missionary of the Seventh Day Adventist Mission residing at No. 58, Elliott Road, reported to the Taltollay thana that while he was cycling along Lower Circular Road on the 26th instant, he heard a voice calling out "sahib," and on jumping off his machine opposite Rai Sahib Golab Sing’s house, saw a ticca gharry and the two arrested men and another who was with them jumped out of the gharry. The absconding accused took charge of complainant’s bicycle, and the other two demanded money. Babu Madrassi is alleged to have seized hold of Mr. Baaseit, while the third man searched all his pockets. They got nothing and his assistants were in the act of using violence towards him when two European gentlemen happened to be passing that way and went to his rescue. Thereupon the three accused hurriedly got into the gharry and made good their escape. The two accused have been sent up for trial on this charge also, and a proclamation has been issued against the third man.

CAWNPORE MOSQUE QUESTION
Official Allegations
(From Our Correspondent)
Cawnpore, July 30

Matters in connection with the Machhli Bazar mosque in Cawnpore are becoming more complicated every day. All the trustees of the mosque, including the two old trustees, have issued a signed statement of acts by way of reply to the recent communiqué issued by the United Provinces Government, in which the truth of important assertions and allegations contained in the communiqué is challenged. Another mass meeting of Mahomedans is likely to be held on Sunday next. Several prominent Mahomedans on their way back from the Moslem University meeting at Aligarh broke their journey at Cawnpore and visited Machhli Bazar mosque and had an interview with the local Mahomedans.

THE INTEREST ON "TAGAVI" LOANS
(From Our Correspondent)
Poona, July 30

At the third sitting of the Council the Hon. Mr. K.R. Godbole introduced a resolution which asked Government to reconsider the question of the interest charged on Tagavi loans to agriculturists and to reduce the same from 6 and one fourth to 4 and half per cent per annum in the case of loans granted under the Government of India Land Improvement Loan, Act 19 of 1883. The general trend of opinion was in favour of the appointment of a small committee to consider the figures of the last ten years, so that the rate of interest might be so regulated that Government made no profit. The Hon. Richard Lamb said he did not consider there was any need for a committee. He was quite willing to lay a statement on the table giving the figures, but these he reminded the members, were budgeted with those of similar heads of accounts dealing with Deccan agriculturists. The matter was allowed to stand over.
The election of a Finance Committee completed the business of the session, and the Council adjourned.

SHOOTING FATALITY
Villager’s Accidental Death
(From Our Correspondent)
Agra, July 30

Mr. P. Perron, said to be a descendant of the historical Perron family, was out shooting with some Indian friends. A shot was fired at a buck, but it appears to have missed, and the bullet apparently struck some hard object and flew off at a tangent, striking a villager in a neighbouring field, and killing him instantly. The matter is now under investigation by the local Police. Mr. Perron and his party appear to have been roughly handled by the villagers of the locality where the accident took place.

dawn/ann
Islamabad, 30 July
Ruling party candidate Mamnoon Hussain was elected as the 12th President of Pakistan today, replacing Asif Ali Zardari whose five-year term expires in September.
Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin G Ebrahim said Hussain received a total of 432 votes from the two houses of Parliament and the four Provincial Assemblies.
Mr Hussain, a 73-year-old textile businessman from Karachi, will be sworn in on 9 September at the presidency due to be vacated by incumbent Asif Ali Zardari.
Mr Hussain, who will be president for five years, resigned his membership of the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) soon after the election results were announced, in what is seen as a symbolic move to establish himself as a non-partisan president.
Mr Hussain has been an active member of the PML-N since the 1960s. He was governor of Sindh from June to October 1999 when Sharif’s government was overthrown by the then army chief General Pervez Musharraf.
The new president was elected by an electoral college made up of members of the Senate, National Assembly and the assemblies of the four provinces. Voting was held with secret ballots at two polling booths from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
According to the official results announced by Ebrahim, 432 votes were cast in favour of Mr Hussain. Mamnoon required 263 votes to win, a target comfortably achieved with the 277 votes cast in the National Assembly and Senate.
Seventy seven votes were polled in favour of Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed, the competing candidate backed by the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI), while nine votes were rejected, said the chief election commissioner.
In the KP Assembly, 110 lawmakers voted in the presidential poll ~ 69 MPAs voted for Wajihuddin and 41 for Mr Mamnoon.
Sindh Assembly saw 69 out of 71 lawmakers cast their votes with 64 in favour of Mr Mamnoon and five for the PTI candidate.
Chief Justice Sindh High Court Musheer Alam, who was the presiding officer during the process, announced that Mamnoon got 24.76 votes in accordance with constitutional mechanism, whereas Wajih secured 1.93 votes.
In the Balochistan Assembly, 56 legislators voted with 55 in favour of the PML-N-backed candidate and one for the PTI-backed candidate.
Three hundred and thirty nine out of 371 total votes were polled in the Punjab Assembly, where the PML-N enjoys an absolute majority.
According to the constitutional formula, Hussain bagged 55 votes from the Provincial Assembly while PTI candidate Wajihuddin Ahmed managed only 2 votes.
Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim visited the National Assembly while polling was underway.
The voters had been requested to leave their cellphones, cameras etc outside the polling booths for the duration of the election.
Strict security arrangements were in place at the National Assembly, the four Provincial Assemblies and the Senate for the occasion.
Mr Hussain also arrived at the National Assembly premises while lawmakers were casting their votes.
The main Opposition party in the National Assembly, the Pakistan Peoples Party, had withdrawn its candidate and announced a boycott of the election over reservations on the decision of the SC to reschedule the poll.

Press Trust of India
Islamabad, 30 July
 Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf will be charged with criminal conspiracy and murder of ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on 6 August, even as his bail plea in the Akbar Bugti killing case was rejected today. 
Mr Musharraf was produced in an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi amidst tight security for today’s hearing in the Bhutto assassination case headed by judge Habibur Rahman.
Rehman fixed 6 August to be the date to formally charge 69-year-old Musharraf. The former President’s indictment would be an unprecedented move in a country ruled by military for more than half of its life. The Rawalpindi court is hearing the case of the killing of two-time prime minister Bhutto. Bhutto was assassinated in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh on 27 December 2007, while Mr Musharraf was president. She was killed after addressing an election campaign rally in the city. State prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar Ali said: “Musharraf will be produced at the next hearing on 6 August”. The charges relating to criminal conspiracy and murder will be read out before Mr Musharraf and he will have to sign the charge-sheet, he said.

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