Aiff general secretary hopes that dispute would be resolved soon
agence france-presse
New Delhi, 15 July
India’s top football clubs are up in arms against the national federation, over moves to stage a cash-rich franchise-based tournament inspired by cricket’s popular Indian Premier League (IPL) early next year.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner, IMG-Reliance, plan to hold the eight-city tournament in January-March featuring as-yet-unnamed international and local stars.
  But the clubs have declined to release their players for the tournament, which they say will threaten their existence and ruin the national I-League domestic competition.
  “We don’t think the new league will be beneficial to Indian football,” said Raj Gomes, who heads the I-League Professional Football Clubs Association.
“How can we allow players to play for another club in the middle of the season?”
  Valanka Alemao, the chief executive officer of popular Goa-based club Churchill Brothers, also vigorously opposed the proposed tournament.
  “I do not understand why the AIFF wants to hold a new league,” Alemao said. “This new entity will eventually supersede the I-League and cause the slow death of existing clubs.
  “The common goal should be to improve Indian football. How does it help if you get some retired or semi-retired players to grab a few eyeballs for a minute?
  “It will benefit everyone if the AIFF tries to improve the I-League, instead of starting another tournament,” she said.
  AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said the clubs’ fears were unfounded and he remained confident he would be able to persuade them to come on board.
  “I am talking to the clubs and we should be able to resolve this matter quickly,” said Das.
  “We are all for the betterment of football and IMG-Reliance is definitely here for the betterment of football. If there was no hope for Indian football they would not be here.”
  “The I-League has been on for more than 10 years and it has still not caught the attention of viewers and sponsors. The new league has the potential to raise the commercial value of Indian football.”
  India are currently ranked a lowly 146th in the world, but the sport’s popularity in the cricket-mad nation has grown due to live television coverage of matches played around the globe.
  Last year, football officials in West Bengal state had announced plans for a similar franchised-based league that would feature semi-retired stars like Argentina’s Hernan Crespo and Fabio Cannavaro of Italy playing alongside district-level players.
  But the tournament was not held, reportedly due to lack of proper infrastructure in the state and lack of interest shown by the AIFF.

CHANCHAL SINGH
chanchal.singh@thestatesman.net
New Delhi, 15 July
Facing financial hardship after the trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has decided to commercialise its property to meet its revenue shortfall.
 The civic body has decided to focus on the five story building in C Block at civic centre initially for this purpose. Thereafter, it will conduct a survey of all the vacant space under its jurisdiction.  The Directorate of Press in North Corporation, Mr Y S Maan, said the North Corporation has decided to use the five story building made at C Block for commercial purposes.  Elaborating on the plan, the Commissioner, Mr PK Gupta, said, "Since the corporation is reeling under financial crisis, it has decided to outsource things or commercialise property. However, it has not been decided whether the work should be on PPP model or something else."
 He added that the five story building has an office set-up, an auditorium, a food court, a conference room, a health club, a business centre and a big vacant space which could be used for other purposes. "The Corporation has first decided to commercialise this and augment its revenue. The licence for the building is ready and is likely to be received in a couple of days," said Mr Gupta. He said the corporation will conduct a survey of all vacant sites and outsource them for garnering revenue.

statesman news service
New Delhi, 15 July
In an initiative to curb the menace of anaemia that affects 52 per cent of adolescent girls in the capital, the Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, today launched “Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation Programme (WIFS)”.
 Mrs Dikshit along with Dr. A.K. Walia, Health & Family Welfare Minister initiated the programme by administering iron and folic acid tablets to girl students of various government schools in the capital.
 According to Mrs Dikshit, the programme will be implemented under Chacha Nehru Sehat Yojana in all schools of Delhi Government, its aided schools, New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment Board schools for students from class 6 to 12.  
 "It will also cover adolescent girls in the age group of 10-19 years through Anganwadi Centres where they will receive weekly iron and folic acid supplementation tablets on every Wednesday. Besides this, all children between 12-19 years will receive de-worming tablets and syrups once a year," stated Mrs Dikshit.
 This programme will reach out to 18 lakh children under WIFS Programme and 35 lakhs under De-worming Programme. Launching the programme, Mrs Dikshit expressed confidence that weekly iron and folic acid supplementation will go a long way in making Delhi healthy.  
 She said that since the programme is to be implemented in coordination between Health and Education Departments, it is essential that both the departments must work at tandem with each other.
 The Chief Minister also stated that as Delhi became the first state to eliminate polio, it should also become the first state to eradicate anaemia.
 Dr. Walia said that anaemia in adolescents is an entirely preventable disorder. Low hemoglobin levels lead to various dire consequences.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Bhubaneswar, 15 July
Huge cutouts and hoardings of Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP campaign committee chairman Narendra Modi in the backdrop of the three chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabadhra and Goddess Subadhra have sprung up at various points of the city to greet him when he arrives here tomorrow for a ‘personal and religious’ visit.
Though the state unit of the BJP has said it is a personal visit to seek the blessings of Lord Jagannath, yet, it has made elaborate arrangements to mark the occasions and galvanise party cadre. A couple of days after his barb on the Congress adorning the ‘burqa of secularism’, Modi will be on a trip to Puri to seek the blessings of Lord Jagannath and call on Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibya Singh Deo as well as Sankaracharya Swami Nischilananda Saraswati.
Modi will fist visit Sakhigopal and pay his respects to the pancha sakha before proceeding to Gundicha Temple , Puri to offer prayers to the trinity. He will then visit the Jagannath Temple. After meeting Mr Singh Deo and the Sankaracharya, he will informally meet state BJP leaders at Puri, said the party here today. Security in and around the temple town has been beefed up. The route has been sanitised, said police sources. The enthusiasm among party workers was visible as everyone seemed to be busy setting up posters and banners. Modi masks too have been distributed to party workers.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Bhubaneswar, 15 July
Did Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik turn down feelers from the BJP for a meeting with Narendra Modi?
Speculations to this effect are doing the rounds of political circles here ever since yoga guru Ramdev called on Mr Patnaik a couple of days ago.
The gossip mills have it that Ramdev had dropped by to explore the possibility of  a meeting between Mr Patnaik and Mr Modi. The Odisha chief minister was reportedly not inclined to meet his Gujarat counterpart, not at least in the state, maybe at Delhi, is the word that is doing the rounds of the state capital.
It may be recalled that Mr Patnaik had, a month ago, told media persons in New Delhi that Mr Modi is not acceptable as a national leader. The state government will however extend due protocol and officers will receive Narendra Modi when he arrives at the airport tomorrow.

Retired telegraph service employee remembers the telegram fondly
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Kendrapara, 15 July 
Although the telegraph service took away sixty eight-year-old Mr Bijay Ketan Barik’s hearing ability, the retired telegraph service employee is saddened to hear about the winding up of the message service from 15 July.
“I am sad that telegram would now be pushed to realms of history. Though I suffered from hearing loss doing the job, closure of the services is a bad news for me,” said Mr Barik, who retired from telegraph service in 2006. 
Doctors said his prolonged exposure to the cacophonous morse-code and teleprinter machines has led to the steady loss of his hearing.
"It was the telegram that connected us to people from various walks of life. I am proud to have served in the telegraph services for four decades," he reminisced. Mr Barik said the demand on telegrams had come down with the advent of mobile phones and internet.  "The end of telegram was imminent. But I am upset to know the end of telegram," he said.
The ex-telegraph employee has a series of nostalgic memory during his four-decade-long service. “In 1967, I started as messenger whose job was to deliver the telegram massages at people&’s doorsteps. Men often singled out me as a harbinger of bad news. Still, I conveyed more happy news than bad. It was a rigourous job. We had to stay alert at odd hours,” he recalled. "After nearly 20 years of service, I was promoted to telegraph technical operator. My job was to receive and dispatch the telegram messages. It was in 1971 during Bangladesh liberation war when I had a hectic schedule. Messages were pouring in. There were many families of Jawans from Kendrapara district. Besides plumbers from this area were based at Calcutta to earn their livelihood. The influx of refugees had triggered trouble there. There was steady inflow of telegrams both in and out. We had to dispatch hundreds of messages and also deliver telegrams at the same time," he said.
Another event that kept Mr Barik and the telegram team on the tenterhooks was the super cyclone of 1999 super-cyclone. 
"The telegram service had gone out of order for 48 hours. Once it was restored, we had round-the-clock work to do. We had a Herculean task to deliver the messages from worried relatives from outside the state," he said.             
 
 

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Gangtok, 15 July
Addressing the emotive issue of the Income Tax exemption for the old settlers, mostly of the Indian origin, in Sikkim, the Chief Minister Mr Pawan Chamling said the issue is no longer a political one. 
“It is now a legal matter and it would have to be fought in the court. The issue having come to the fore with such a vicious force has exposed our inherent weakness and it amounts to a straight attack on our rights,” he said while addressing a Press conference on the occasion of Bhanu Jayanti in Gangtok last Saturday.
Notably, the writ petition filed by some members of the Association of the Old Settlers of Sikkim (AOSS) at the Supreme Court, demanding IT exemption for the old settlers on par with the holders of the Sikkim Subject Certificate holders has triggered a firestorm of protest, particularly from the majority Nepalese community across the state.
Mr Chamling iterated his government&’s stance that the business community people have been recognised as the left-out Sikkimese for IT exemption and other facilities.
Warning the people of Sikkim of bad days ahead, he said the Centre, particularly the Parliament of India, can do away with the special privileges being enjoyed by Sikkim and its people vide Article 371-F of the Constitution at any point of time. ‘The security provided by clause ‘k’ of Article 371-F will remain as long as the Centre wants. It can go anytime,” said the Chief Minister.  “Since the matter related to the IT exemption is in the court we have to abide by its outcome. The issue could have been addressed politically instead of it being dragged into the court,” he said.
Dwelling on the significance on the Bhanu Bhakta Jayanti, he said the people here must broaden the vistas of their mental world to remain vibrant in the fast-changing global society. “In today&’s time and age, remaining loyal to one&’s ethnic identity is not enough. We have to develop our thoughts and mindset according to the changing times. Events like Bhanu Jayanti should be celebrated as Jaatiya Ekta Diwas,” he said.

Unanswered Q
Death can never be cause for rejoicing: it can, however, bring relief, even closure. Strong undercurrents of relief ~ the likely epicentre being 10 Janpath ~ would be running through Congress circles in the hope that the passing of controversial Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi would bring closure to the devastating kickbacks in the Bofors gun deal. Little has so haunted this nation as the scandal that brought down the government with the most massive majority in Parliament; and as long as there was a possibility of ‘Q’ someday being coerced into destroying the sinisterly-laid smokescreen there were fears that the needle of suspicion would be driven home. Mr Manmohan Singh was mere clutter on the governmental radar screen when the controversy raged, yet in 2009 he chose to revive memories of the old HMV records label (no allusion to Narendra Modi&’s puppy remark) by declaring that the Q case “is an embarrassment for India, it is not a good reflection on the Indian legal system that we harass people while the world says we have no case”. Sure it is an embarrassment and poor reflection ~ of how the criminal justice system can be treacherously perverted to protect people in high places. As for “the world” he mentioned, was he referring to Malaysia and Argentina, where the incompetence or subversion of Indian investigative agencies ensured Q&’s release by undermining an Interpol alert? As for the unfreezing of accounts in a British bank, the action was initiated by an Indian request. More recently, another Mr Clean, AK Antony, bent over backwards in Parliament to contend that there no case to pursue.
There was no case, but only because from the very outset every  instrument of the state was shamelessly abused by a concert of the Congress party to ensure that the truth never emerged. In money terms, the kickbacks would appear trivial when compared with what has been “creamed” in the 2G Spectrum and coal lock scams. So why does Bofors still trigger shock and awe? Essentially because it took bastardisation of power to a low from which there has been no recovery: Indira Gandhi&’s Emergency was propelled by a lust for political power, Bofors represented lust for even worse. Just consider all that was compromised: Parliament courtesy a fraudulent JPC; the CBI functioned like the caged parrot their Lordships recently dubbed it; the lower judiciary disgraced  itself; a respected minister like Arun Singh retreated from the  political arena; a “political elder” reduced himself to a courier etc.
All this while Q hogged contracts, treated officials like serfs,  walked unchecked through Customs at Delhi airport, and finally moved to other climes… He was close to people in power, and power corrupts. Bofors has had more than its immediate political impact. It   set the stage for so many of debilitating evils that now plague the nation. That is why, regardless of the unanswered Q question, it would be criminal for India to forget…
Fanciful Presidency
Whatever transpires at Monday&’s meeting of Amartya Sen with the Mentor Group, fanciful ideas are inherently exciting. So indeed it is with Presidency University&’s move to induct foreign faculty; re-fashion the teaching of history by doing away with the chronological approach; and introduce the emotive subject of “Love” as a full-fledged paper on General Education (GenEd), a compulsory subsidiary subject. Far from consolidating the gains it may have achieved over the past three years, the fledgling university appears to be contending with a turmoil of ideas. The move to appoint foreign faculty doesn’t appear to be quite feasible when contextualised with no fewer than eight faculty resignations and one dismissal. Small wonder that three academics from Wales, Bangladesh and Cameron have declined the offers as has a young NRI historian in Cambridge, who was approached to fill Benjamin Zachariah&’s vacancy. Though Amartya Sen may yet be able to convince his long-time friend, Manmohan Singh, to relax the rules, the Mentor Group is seemingly impervious to government regulations. Specifically, there is no such scheme in the UGC rules of engagement. No less crucially, there is no system of work visas for foreigners.
The move to do away with the chronological study of history may seem fashionable on the face of it, but it cannot inspire optimism. Not the least because it would be thoroughly unscientific to adopt the thematic model at the under-graduate level. Chronology is the bedrock of history. Trends in social, economic, cultural history and the finer points of political history may be appealing, but this thematic approach is best pursued at the post-graduate level. It ought not to be inflicted on 17/18-year-olds, straight out of schools where the standard of history teaching is not uniform, if not inadequate.
The third issue. “Love” blossoms or it doesn’t. It can be a topic in General Education at best; a full-fledged paper at worst. The Sociology department is reported to have recommended the second option, indeed to teach the evolution of “Love” from the era of the Bhakti cult to contemporary Bollywood. And the authorities, as reported in this newspaper, are perfectly agreeable. Not to put too fine a point on it, it will be a fashionable semi-literate pursuit in the manner of film studies. All three issues are contentious, and the authorities must reflect. It has been a rocky transition from college to university. And on closer reflection, conversion of Presidency to an autonomous college, rather than a university, would have been a less complicated option.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Darjeeling, 15 July
The senior leaders of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) today said they would send letters to all the 42 members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) ~ the party&’s highest decision-making body ~ to take a final call on the demand for Telangana as well as the same for
Gorkhaland.
“In the letters addressed individually to all the 42 CWC members, we have demanded the board to put both the demands for separate statehoods on an equal footing. It is our view that both these demands should be of equal importance to the Centre and the treatment should be the same,” said the GJMM general secretary, Mr Roshan Giri, today.
“We welcome the decision of the Congress high command to entrust the CWC with the task of taking the final decision about the demand to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh to carve out Telangana,” said Mr Giri.
“But at the same time, the Centre should not underestimate the demand for Gorkhaland, as it is the oldest statehood demand in the country, dating back to well over 100 years. Besides, we made it clear in the letter that the Gorkhaland state must comprise the three sub-divisions of the Darjeeling Hills, Terai and Dooars,” he said.
Referring to the resolution passed unanimously in the Sikkim Assembly in March 2011 in favour of Gorkhaland, Mr Giri said the resolution had held the cause of Gorkhaland as genuine, legally justified and within the parameters of the Constitution.
Meanwhile, the GJMM chief, Mr Bimal Gurung, seems to be activating the party&’s frontal organisations on a war footing through indoor meetings. He is said to have held a meeting with the youth leaders of the party today.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Balurghat, 15 July
The flood situation has slightly improved in South Dinajpur district on the whole, though several booths located in three blocks- ~ Bangshihari, Gangarampur and Kuswhmandi ~ are still under water. This has left the district election officials worried, as the rural polls slated for 25 July in the district are approaching. If the situation deteriorates with Bangladesh experiencing heavy rainfall, it would be difficult for the district administration to hold the polls, particularly, in these three blocks.  
According to sources, the water-levels of the rivers ~ Tangan and Punarbhaba ~ have started receding. But with the forecast of rains during the final phase of the rural polls, the administration remains worried.
There are 1,157 booths across the district. Such booths would be set up
mostly at school buildings and these include Primary schools, Madhyamik Siksha Kendras, and Sishu Siksha Kendras. The booths for Kushmandi and Gangarampur blocks are a cause of maximum anxiety as several villages in these two blocks have remained water-logged till date. The water-level of river Tangan is slow to recede and fresh spells of heavy showers might aggravate the situation in several villages like Balarampur, Haldarpara and Dashpara in the Kushmandi block.
On the other hand, over 2,500 villages, including Sukdevpur, Nowdapara, Pathanpara, Mallickpur and Hamjapur, in the Gangarampur block were
affected because of the river Punarbhaba remaining
in spate.
The district administration is in touch with the district irrigation department for taking flood-preventative measures in view of several polling stations
remaining under water.

press trust of india
Mumbai, 15 July
Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has joined hands with social networking giant Facebook to launch internet safety education programme in the country for students aged between 13-17 years.
The programme will train children, teachers and parents on how to reap maximum benefits from internet while not compromising on their safety and security, IAMAI and Facebook said in a joint statement today.
The campaign, which is focused on building community awareness on the issue, will also train educators and child safety NGOs about internet safety practices, it added.
As a part of the first phase, the programme will be rolled out across Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad to cover 18,000 students across about 30 schools and institutions, it added.
“IAMAI has been running the Safe Surfing campaign in India for the past four years, covering 6.25 lakh students across the country. We are delighted that Facebook has come forward to support this critical initiative and enrich the campaign with their global learnings,” IAMAI President Subho Ray said.
The programme will conclude with a national conference in New Delhi, addressing online child safety issues later this year. The program will be extended to other Indian cities through 2014.
“Safety is an ongoing conversation between parents and kids, teachers and students, companies and the people who use the internet. We encourage parents to have conversations about safety and technology early and often, in the same way that they talk to their kids about being safe at school, in the car, on public transportation or playing sport,” Facebook India Director of Public Policy Ankhi Das said.
Facebook will develop the content and training materials and translate the same in regional languages. As part of the partnership, Facebook safety specialists will work with IAMAI trainers on safety content and participate in these training programmes.
Key presentations and events will be live streamed via https://www.facebook.com/FacebookIndia.
Facebook has already created a Safety Advisory Board that advises the company on safety issues. The members of that board are leading Internet safety organisations like Childnet international, Connect Safely, The Family Online Safety Institute, The National Network to End Domestic Violence and Wired Safety.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Gangtok, 15 July
A total of 486 Indian Reserve Battalion’s (IRBn) new recruited constables have taken oaths today at Palzor Stadium in Gangtok.
Chief Minister, Pawan Chamling claimed while addressing the passing-out parade of the second and third battalions here that Sikkim Police get the best of facilities and highest salaries among all states in India. While greeting the passed-out recruits, he asked them to stay away from the lure of drugs and alcohol.
“The new recruits should consider themselves as lucky as Sikkim is the only state where police receives maximum benefits” said Mr Chamling.  He mentioned that IRB was first formed during the rule of his party, the SDF. He informed that the IRB&’s cadres in Sikkim will be transferred under rotation system and after 15 years of their service, each of the IRB constables will get an opportunity to work under all the branches of the Sikkim police force. He said  promotion has been made compulsory now. “After 25 years of service, head constables will be promoted as ASI officers. At the time of retirement, they are likely to reach higher posts," he said. He requested the DIG to recruit youths, in particular, for the vacancies available in SAP and IRB.
"The police force should not belong to any party, caste, creed or religion. They should work for the welfare of the state and its people as a whole,” he said.

After its success in the feb exam, govt has taken up the project
ranjeet singh jamwal
ranjeetsjamwal@gmail.com
Chandigarh, 15 July 
The brainchild of a Punjab government school teacher and Punjab government project ~ “Udaan” ~ conceived to improve the general knowledge of students in rural areas has boosted their dreams of clearing national level competitive examinations, where usually urban students are believed to have an edge.
Introduced primarily at a government school in Benera village, Sangrur district in 2012, the project’s success has led to it being implemented from today at 870 government senior secondary, high and middle schools of the state. 
Under the project, students between Classes IV and XII are taught 10 G.K. questions daily.
“Udaan” started in September 2012 when a mathematics teacher at a government school at Benera village, Mr Devi Dayal, thought of updating the general awareness of his students to enable them to compete with students of CBSE affiliated schools, and to ensure that they never faced problems while appearing for competitive examinations in the future.
In his efforts, Mr Dayal was joined by two other teachers ~ Ms Neeru Gupta and Mr Faqir Singh. The trio started by framing 10 questions across a variety of subjects and then pasted them on notice boards around school.
As soon as it became popular within the students of his school, schools in the neighbourhood soon participated in the effort and by and by, "Udaan" became a part of the academics.
Schools were sent questions via e-mail and they did their own follow-ups. Following the initial success, two exams were conducted ~ one in December 2012 and another in February 2013. Over 7,000 students took the February exam. While everyone passed i, the girls performed exceptionally well.
With its increasing success, "Udaan" has now been adopted by the state government. Punjab Education Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka said the project is being replicated across the state. The three teachers continue to play a prominent role in the project as coordinators. They are required to send 10 questions daily to the schools by noon, helping the students practice 900 questions in one session.

press trust of india
Islamabad, 15 July
A Pakistan court today rejected security concerns and directed police to produce former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for the hearing of the murder case of Baloch leader Akbar Bugti on 30 July. Police presented initial chargesheets against Mr Musharraf to the anti-terrorism court in southern-western city of Quetta, saying the former ruler could not be presented due to security threats.
Judge Muhammad Ismail Baloch accepted the charge-sheet but rejected concerns about security and ordered police crime branch department to produce the accused on next hearing, said a lawyer.
Musharraf has been accused of orchestrating murder of Bugti, the chief of his tribe, who was killed in military operation in 2006 when he was army chief and President of the country.
Mr Musharraf has refused to accept the charge of murder saying that Bugti was not killed by the army but died after a mysterious explosion in the cave where he was hiding.
The blast reportedly occurred when a team of army officers invited to negotiate Bugti’s surrender entered the mountainous hideouts.
All of them were buried alive when the cave collapsed.

Agence France-Presse
Madrid, 15 July
Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy faced calls to resign over a slush fund scandal roiling his ruling Popular Party.
The issue blew up again after the publication of friendly mobile text messages he purportedly sent to the disgraced treasurer at the heart of the affair.
The leader of Spain’s main Opposition Socialist Party, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, said he was severing all contact with the prime minister and his party yesterday.
“Given the unsustainable political situation in Spain, the Socialist Party calls for the immediate
resignation of Mariano Rajoy as head of the government,” he told reporters in Madrid. “Mr Rajoy’s conduct in this situation can be summarised quite simply: silence, lies, and after
what we have learned today, collusion, extremely serious collusion,” Mr Rubalcaba said. Dozens of protesters, outraged by the corruption allegations at a time
of recession and record unemployment, rallied
 outside the Popular Party’s Madrid headquarters, chanting “Thieves!” and “Here is Ali Baba’s cave!”.
The centre-right daily El Mundo newspaper published images of the alleged text messages between
Mr Rajoy and Mr Luis Barcenas, the former ruling party treasurer who is in pre-trial detention as part of a separate corruption inquiry.
Mr Barcenas is suspected of running a party slush fund financed by corporate donors who were then rewarded with state contracts. The cash was allegedly used to supplement senior party members’ salaries.
According to El Mundo, the prime minister sent messages to Mr Barcenas between May 2011 and March 2013, ending some two months after the scandal erupted.
Mr Rajoy kept in direct and permanent contact with Mr Barcenas, El Mundo said. “Luis, I understand, be strong. I will call you tomorrow. Best wishes,” said one of the messages purportedly from Mr Rajoy to Mr Barcenas, dated 18 January this year when El Mundo first published allegations over the slush fund.

Unity threat : Malaysian authorities have asked Vatican’s Ambassador to the country to retract his support for the use of the word “Allah” among  the  Christians, saying it can threaten unity among Malaysians.     pti
Magna Carta: Four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta, seen as the cornerstone of Britain’s constitution, will be brought together in 2015 for the first time to mark the document’s 800th anniversary.    pti
iPhone shock: A 23-year-old Chinese woman died after being electrocuted while using iPhone, her family said. This prompted Apple Inc, makers of iPhone to launch a “thorough probe” into the case.     pti
Egypt bus attack : Militants killed at least three people and wounded 17 when they fired on a bus carrying workers in the North Sinai town of Al-Arish, security and medical sources said on Monday in Cairo.     afp
Indonesia stampede: At least 18 people, mostly women were killed in a stadium stampede after spectators rioted to protest a local boxer’s loss in a championship match in eastern Indonesia, police said on Monday.     Ap
French nuke plant: Several dozen Greenpeace activists broke into  the Tricastin plant, in the southern Drome region around 5 a.m  on Monday, unfurling banners against atomic power, the organisation and police said.     afp
Beirut blast kills 13: A car bomb exploded outside the police headquarters in a town north of the Syrian capital, killing at least 13 people including 10 policemen and a child, activists said on Monday.     AP
Protests in USA: Outrage over the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager poured from street demonstrations as they called for justicein Washington on Monday.     AP
ANC party warned: South Africa’s deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe in Johannesburg on Monday  warned that his ruling ANC party risks losing power if it fails to remain relevant to the people.                        AFP
Rouhani criticises:In his first criticism of the outgoing administration since June’s election, Hasan Rouhani, Iran’s president-elect said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has mismanaged the country’s resources.         AP
 

statesman news service
New Delhi, 15 July
The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, today approved the constitution of an Inter-Ministerial Group to clear the backlog of railway projects estimated at Rs 2 lakh crore.
 The IMG, consisting of the chairman, Railway Board, finance secretary and secretary, Planning Commission, has been asked to expedite work on the projects that have been pending for long. “The group will come up with a creative financing-cum-implementation mechanism for enhancing investment and for clearing backlog of projects of an estimated Rs 2 lakh crore in a prioritised manner,” said an official of the Prime Minister’s Office.
The steering committee constituted to accelerate infrastructure investment would also hold its first meeting on 19 July to discuss infrastructure projects related to Mumbai Elevated Railway Corridor Project, two locomotive projects, and accelerating the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor.
The committee, headed by the Principal Secretary in the PMO, has been monitoring the preparation and main infrastructure projects. In its first meeting, the committee has invited secretaries in various departments and ministries to monitor the preparation and award of projects with an estimated cost of Rs 1 lakh crore.