NEW DELHI, 3 JUNE: The Financial Intelligence Unit, which is tasked with looking into suspicious financial transactions, will sign MoUs with various agencies to ensure better exchange of information to check black money and tax evasion.
The MoU will enable FIU and the concerned agency to exchange suspicious transaction reports (STRs) relating to cases of crime, money laundering, tax and duty evasions, official sources said.
These MoUs will be inked with Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI) and Enforcement Directorate among others, they said.
The FIU, tasked with analysing and disseminating information relating to dubious financial transactions, had last month signed an MoU with the CBI. pti

statesman news service
PATNA, 3 JUNE: A new study by the country&’s apex trade body, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has found Mr Nitish Kumar-ruled Bihar growing faster than Gujarat which is governed by his rival, Mr Narendra Modi. The report comes at a time when the name of Mr Modi is being debated as NDA&’s Prime Ministerial candidate.
The report, a copy of which was mailed to The Statesman, however, adds that although Bihar is growing at a better speed than Gujarat, yet the base numbers ~ whether relating to investment or per capital income ~ remains much lower than the western state. It also says Bihar is fast catching up among the developed states in terms of fresh investment in the crucial sectors like power, even though it has a huge disadvantage of the past baggage of laggard development.
“Bihar logged in a compounded average growth rate (CAGR) of 20 per cent in public investment between March 2003 and March 2013 while this was 14.1 per cent in the case of Gujarat. Likewise the CAGR of private investment in the same period was 104.5 per cent in Bihar as compared to 31.9 per cent in Gujarat,” a comprehensive study done by Assocham team of researchers said. The report was released yesterday.  As per the report, the outstanding investment in Gujarat at Rs 13,74,244 crore was four times more than Rs 3,11,527 crore in Bihar, thanks to the legacy of the western state being among the forward ones and Bihar being clubbed in the past among the so-called ‘Bimaru ***’ (sick) states. It says Bihar is moving fast in the catch-up even though its per capita income remains much lower than Gujarat.
“The established progressive states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Tamil Nadu have been joined by Uttarakhand, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh in the last several years. The notion was that in the post 1991 era, the rich states got richer while the poor states turned poorer. However, the rise of some erstwhile poor performing states to figure among growth leaders dilutes this notion,” says the report.
If the report is to be believed, it is public investment which is bringing the growth trajectory in the NDA-ruled Bihar where the BJP is a junior partner while in case of the BJP-ruled Gujarat, it&’s the private sector that takes the lead in making it among the most industrialised states in the country where a diversified set of industries such as textiles, petrochemicals and  pharmaceuticals have come up.
As per the report, the share of public investment in Bihar as on March 2013 was 50.3 per cent while it was 27 per cent in Gujarat. On the other hand, the share of private sector in Gujarat was way ahead at 72.3 per cent while it was 49.7 per cent in Bihar, though it is catching up fast in terms of growth but only on a low absolute base.
“Certainly in absolute numbers, Bihar is almost at a stage where Gujarat was about a decade ago,” says the report. For instance Gujarat&’s per capita investment in March 2003 was Rs 31,890 which has now gone up to Rs 227,586. On the other hand, the per capita investment in Bihar in March 2013 is Rs 30,011 from a measly Rs 3 074 ten years ago. As per the report, Bihar has caught up really fast in recent years as its CAGR per capita grew by 25.6 per cent in a decade as against 23.9 per cent in Gujarat. The report says while Gujarat is almost self-sufficient in electricity, Bihar is now hugely investing in that sector. Over 70 per cent of Bihar&’s total investment now goes to electricity. In terms of progress on implementation, the track record of Bihar is just a shade better than Gujarat, it concludes.
The economic experts, however, find the report far from the truth and not credible. “This is a misleading report which conceals more than it reveals,” remarked a leading economist and economics professor at the Patna University, Mr NK Chaudhary. According to him, the report does not talk about the status of rural farmers or agriculture, poverty or unemployment although around 89 percent people live in the rural areas. Stating that reality is far from what had been mentioned in the report, Mr Chaudhary said the growth rate in Bihar had actually declined to 9 per cent from earlier 13 per cent.

statesman news service  
KOLKATA, 4 JUNE: The State Election Commission (SEC) has sought video recordings from news channels of the Trinamul Congress meet held at Rampurhat on 2 June wherein the party’s district president Anubrata Mondal had allegedly asked TMC workers not to allow the CPI-M and Congress candidates to file nominations for the rural polls.
“We are seeking the video recordings of Mr Mondal’s speech from news channels. Once we get that we shall examine the footage and take action accordingly,” SEC secretary Tapas Ray said this evening. Another official said that since the Trinamul district president is not contesting the panchayat polls at any level, the poll panel may not be able to issue strictures on him even if the allegation is found to be true. “In that case we have to fall back on the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and ask the district administration to file a case for criminal intermediation etc.” In another development, the SEC has asked the Press Information Bureau to stop the publication/ airing of the Bharat Nirman ad campaign of the UPA-II government in West Bengal till the panchayat polls are over.
“The Trinamul general secretary Mukul Roy had complained that the advertisements were violating the Model Code of Conduct that has come to force in the state from 27 May. On finding merit in the complaint, the commission has written to the PIB on 2 June asking it to stop the publication/ airing of the Bharat Nirman advertisement campaign,” the SEC secretary said.
The state Congress today said “the terror unleashed” by the Trinamul Congress-backed goons during the run-up to the panchayat poll was far more widespread than the “red” terror during the Marxist regime in 2008.
PCC Chief Pradip Bhattacharya said Mrs Manuja Bibi, the widow of Trinamul Congress leader Kazi Nasiruddin, who had joined Congress, has been gheraoed at the SDO’s office in Chinsurah where she had gone to file her nomination as a gram panchayat candidate for Dhanekhali block Samaspur 1. Nasiuruddin had died in police custody in Dhanikhali police station. Calcutta High Court has ordered a CBI enquiry into the incident last month. Last night, Trinamul activists allegedly ransacked the house of CPI-M candidate Mr Sattar Sheikh in Diamond Harbour. His family members were beaten up and threatened with dire consequences unless he withdrew his nomination. However, Trinamul block president of Diamond Harbour-II Arumoy Gayen said no such incident took place. In another incident, at Basanti, while CPI-M workers were returning to their village after filing their candidate&’s nomination, they were allegedly attacked and beaten up by Trinamul activists who stopped their van near Nirdeshkhali. Trinamul MLA of Gosaba, Mr Jayanta Naskar, however, denied TMC workers were involved in the incident.
Meanwhile, till today, which is the last but one day before the nomination for the first phase rural polls closes tomorrow, in case of gram panchayat constituencies the TMC has filed 26,212 nominations, the Left 24,131 and the Congress 5,740. In case of panchayat samiti constituencies, the figure stands at TMC 4,427, Left 4,359 and Congress 1,127 and in terms of zilla parishad constituencies it is TMC 274, Left 575 and Congress 184.

statesman news service
KOLKATA, 4 JUNE: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today criticised the way the Congress-led UPA government was trying to “politicise” the Food Security Bill. 
Posting her comments on a social networking site, Miss Banerjee wrote: “We strongly support providing food security to the people. But the manner in which the UPA-II Government is trying to politicise the issue is unjust. The proposed cash transfer in lieu of food grains will be of no use as banking infrastructure facilities are not available in remote areas, where the poorest and the tribals live. These promises are nothing but political gimmick.” Miss Banerjee also stated there must be explicit provisions for providing adequate food grains to meet requirements at times of overall shortage. Food security allowances will not remove hunger in times of food grains shortage. 
The Trinamul Congress has been emphasising that the entire financial burden for development of infrastructure and storage facility must be borne entirely by the Centre and any shortfall of allocation of food grains to the state should be made up and protected by the Centre through additional allocation, Miss Banerjee said. 
She demanded that the state must be made the implementing agency and the identification of beneficiaries should be left to the state to decide. 
“Without a full-fledged implementation mechanism in place, will this be the right time for the UPA-II Government to rush through and legislate on a major issue like the proposed Food Security Bill, particularly when the general election is knocking at the door? That too, by a government whose majority is in doubt after the exit of AITC and DMK from the UPA-II?" the chief minister asked.

‘We strongly support providing food security to the people. But the manner in which the UPA-II Government is trying to politicise the issue is unjust. The proposed cash transfer in lieu of food grains will be of no use as banking infrastructure facilities are not available in remote areas, where the poorest and the tribals live. These promises are nothing but political gimmick’

patricia mukhim
AT every meeting on internal security called by the Union home minister in the national capital, the National Counter-Terrorism Cell is discussed animatedly but aborted due to vociferous opposition by chief ministers, including those of the Congress-ruled states. That the same theme should reverberate year after year without any progress shows the intransigence of both parties and also the lack of creativity of the Union home ministry to come up with a better model.
Delhi could have achieved much more through a participatory approach where states could have been asked to suggest ways and means of strengthening and working around the present template that forms the NCTC&’s core.
In the meanwhile, the country continues to bleed at a hundred different places. The recent incidents in Chhattisgarh where Congress leaders were mowed down by Maoists whose objective was probably to make the Centre sit up and take notice are a cause for concern. It is evident that New Delhi does not have a very coherent action plan to deal with Naxalism other than by reacting and launching a massive search operation to find the culprits. In the bargain many tribals have left their hearths and homes, fearing state fury which they are quite used to by now. There will be atrocities on unsuspecting villagers and they will be accused of sheltering the Maoists, which, in other words, means being guilty by association.
One read reports about the recent meeting of the chief ministers with the Union home minister and one wondered why P Chidambaram, who is no longer looking after home affairs, is prominently featured in this meeting. Is he still the de facto home minister doing backseat driving?
Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma was reported to have launched a tirade against the several militant groups of the North-east. His senior colleague, the chief minister of Assam, has been harping on the growing Maoist activities in his state and has even asked for drone missiles to track them down. But the Tripura government has done something quite remarkable. Two days ago, it was reported that since insurgency was on the wane, the Disturbed Areas Act had been withdrawn from nine police stations. According to the cabinet decision, if the situation improves then the Act will be further reduced. Tripura has been the most sensible state by far and good governance has shown to be of the essence in curtailing militancy.
In the case of Meghalaya and Assam, however, both chief ministers have made a pitch for more forces, more ammunition and, I suppose, more money as well to strength the police force as if money is the vitamin for boosting the flagging morale of guardians of law and order in Meghalaya or Assam. For the uninformed, the Garo Hills is today in a state of absolute anarchy. Gun-toting militants have sprouted like mushrooms and, with imaginative acronyms, are openly roaming around in the market places and there is no one to stop them. What is Mukul Sangma talking about? He should be looking at the governance deficit in his state and his ministry, instead of lashing out at militants. Rogues will claim their space if they are allowed to. And the reason we have a police force is to control such law breakers. But in the Garo Hills things have just spiralled out of control. A rapist cop was allowed to escape and is now absconding. Another rapist cop has been reinstated even before the final order is passed by the court of law in a case where he was accused of raping a schoolgirl in a city hotel.
Two days ago, the Garo National Liberation Army, which was started by a former police officer, was so emboldened as to torch a public bus bound for Shillong from the Garo Hills. The militants gave the passengers just four minutes to collect their belongings and get out of the bus. Many students panicked and left without their bags. Their certificates and marksheets went up in flames along with the bus. The militants did this in the morning and not a cop was in sight. It would be fair to say that law and order has virtually collapsed in the Garo Hills and the chief minister and his team seem to be floundering. What&’s the point of spending quality time in Delhi when the state is virtually in anarchy? 
The cops in the Garo Hills, however, never fail in their duty of extorting money from drivers of coal-laden trucks. The militants do the same. This is the reason why militants don’t give a damn about the police. They know the police are as greedy as they are, except that the police wear khaki and they their fatigues. It sounds weird but superintendent of police-level officers send their drivers to collect money from the hundreds of coal-carrying trucks and because there is no system of giving receipts since the collection is illegal, the drivers make a kill, too. Some have become as rich as their masters.
And we are talking law and order here? I am sure the cops benefit more from chaos than from orderliness. Chaos enables them to incur expenditures they need not account for. They can claim that money has been spent in intelligence gathering or some such bunkum. Now how much intelligence do cops need in their area of command? And if militants are coming out in the open and harassing ordinary citizens in broad daylight, unhindered, what do the cops have to say? The system of accountability has just broken down and this is part of governance deficit.
The Meghalaya chief minister has been able to impress the Planning Commission and to get a bulky financial package for a number of schemes that look very attractive on paper. This time he succeeded in getting over Rs 4,000 crore. He is working on getting an additional package for schemes he has personally been the architect of. But the question is, will these schemes actually reach the people with the kind of obtuse bureaucracy we have in Meghalaya? Many of the “babus” do not even know the field. They assume a lot of things and the schemes that are constructed in the secretariat are often not implementable on the ground. But in the absence of any monitoring mechanism, money has just gone into the private coffers of politicians and bureaucrats, with militants getting a big chunk of it.
In the Garo Hills, militants have not spared even the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which is the UPA government&’s flagship programme for the poor. Village Employment Council heads have been kidnapped by militants and ransoms of Rs 10,000 apiece have been demanded for their release. Nothing can be worse than this. Yet the chief minister continues to spend more time in Delhi than in his own anarchic backyard. His noisy outbursts in Delhi are no longer humorous because ordinary citizens are today held under siege. They don’t know where to turn to. Even young women are now enlisted into the different outfits, some forcibly, others for a livelihood. I am not sure that Delhi knows all these shenanigans which are carrying on under the very nose of the law. The one thing that will bother Delhi is when full blown terrorism takes over in  Meghalaya and people begin to die like flies. By then it will be too late! 

The writer is editor, The Shillong Times, and can be reached at
patricia17@rediffmail.com

ninglun hanghal
THE death of 21-year-old Reingamphi Awungshi in Delhi on 29 May has once again brought into focus the plight of North-eastern communities, the youth and women to be specific, who struggle to make both ends meet while building a career in metropolitan cities.
Awungshi hailed from Choithar village in Manipur&’s Ukhrul district. A beautician, she came to Delhi recently after a short stint in Chennai with the dream of making it big in the capital. Sadly, it turned out to be just the opposite. She was found dead in a rented room in Chirag, South Delhi. 
Prima facie, the police registered a case of suicide under Section 306 of the IPC. They  claimed to have found empty medicine foil wrappers in a dustbin and near her body. Her  face and feet bore marks of rodent bites. The police reportedly broke open the door of her room after the houseowner informed them.
In contrast to the police version, the photographs that relatives of the deceased had taken showed bloodstains on the bedsheet. Suspecting murder, they requested the Delhi police to register an FIR but they turned it down. The relatives refused to accept the body unless an FIR was lodged. 
The scene outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences was a classic case of the police&’s insensitivity and indifference. While trying to convince relatives and friends, the Malviya Nagar police station officer showed them a page of the post mortem report which had a few records showing that the  organs were intact. While the relatives insisted on an FIR, the police officer explained that “the case is under section 174 CrPc” which is normal police procedure and that they did not require another section or an FIR. When they argued, the police officer said, “Har case me FIR nahi hota.”
A female relative replied, “Itna bewakoof mat banao, hum ko bhi pata hain kanoon.”
Others asserted, “We are citizens of India, we have the right to file an FIR.”
The police officer insisted on relatives taking the post mortem report and sending the body for embalming, suggesting he was in a great hurry to wrap up the case so that he could attend to “other” business. Both sides stood their ground. 
Soon the frustrations of North-eastern communities turned into anger. Hundreds of them hit the streets and protested before the Malviya Nagar police station, demanding that an FIR should be registered. They shouted slogans like “Are we not citizens of India?”
The demonstration continued throughout the night and into the next day (31 May). Only after the Delhi minister for health, women and family welfare, Kiran Walia, came into the picture, was the case transferred to the Delhi Police Crime Branch. A second post mortem was conducted after five days — on 4 June — and section 302 (IPC) was added to the case and an FIR lodged.
 In any such incident, the first thing the common citizen will do is to seek police help. For the North-eastern communities who continuously face physical or verbal threats, there is no alternative but to seek police help. In fact, all North-east communities living in Delhi have an updated list of police stations and their officials. Perhaps a necessity, after experiences of numerous encounters or attacks by the locals.
Unfortunately, this is where the trouble, or rather, the politics begins. People repose faith in the protectors of the law but sometimes they are “cold” towards the people whom they are supposed to serve. It is more so if those involved in cases happen to be women and young girls from the North-east. Even before starting investigations, their first “impression” or  “opinion” is that they wear “provocative clothes”, and are involved in “drug abuse” and “relationship-related suicide”.
This sort of preconceived opinion was obvious in Awungshi&’s case. Immediately after her body was taken to the AIIM, the Malviya Nagar police station allegedly made an anonymous statement to the national media that they suspected drug abuse while maintaining that it was a case of suicide. As law enforcers, the police have a responsibility and a role to bridge the gap between North-east communities and mainland Indians. But they seem to be doing just the opposite by creating mistrust. Had the Malviya Nagar police station personnel showed some humane approach in dealing with the case, there would not have been any demonstration by irate North-east communities. Such a gesture would have helped  solve many a grievance of North-east youth in the capital.  
Whether collusion, reluctance or an unwilling to act, the police&’s “working style” is an advantage for local houseowners, who, in any case, are ever ready to “throw out” North-eastern tenants at the drop of a hat. Friends and relatives of Awungshi were allegedly threatened with dire consequences by locals of Chirag when they were holding a candlelight condolence two days after the incident. They were denied entry to the house where the incident took place. Besides, some of the participants in the condolence meeting told this writer that “pamphlets” in Hindi were distributed in and around the locality.  
It is also a fact that police and security agencies in most cases act on “pressure” and that, as admitted and revealed by the police themselves as well, there are higher authorities who give directions and commands. Was it bribe or was it cover-up, or was it that the police and security agencies perform their duty under instructions from faceless, anonymous authorities? These are provoking questions that demand answers.

The writer is a New Delhi-based freelance contributor

PARIS, 5 JUNE: Rafael Nadal cruised into the French Open semi-finals on Wednesday with a routine 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 win over Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.
The win brought the Spaniard’s match record at Roland Garros to a remarkable 57-1 as he seeks to become the first player in history to win the same Grand Slam title eight times. But to get to Sunday’s final, he will have to defeat top seed and great rival Novak Djokovic, who won their last encounter on clay in Monte Carlo in April.
Djokovic had a slightly harder time of it against German veteran Tommy Haas, advancing on a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 scoreline.
The odds were firmly stacked against Wawrinka going into what was his first French Open quarter-final match in nine campaigns at Roland Garros. He had lost all nine previous matchups against Nadal, failing to win a single set, and had needed treatement for a leg strain during his five-set marathon win over Gasquet in the fourth round when he came back from two sets down. The odds looked spot on in the first set as Nadal broke the Swiss player’s serve in the opening game and then again in the fifth to take the first set 6-2.
Nadal then jumped out into a 3-1 lead with another break early in the second set before Wawrinka had a glimmer of hope with a break back to get to 3-3.
But that was as far as it got for the ninth seed as Nadal simply added extra muscle to his pounding groundstrokes, leaving Wawrinka reeling under their weight and precision.
Nadal ran off three quick games in a row to take a two sets to love lead and it was clear that Wawrinka’s chances of another major comeback were next to impossible.
 He did have a break point to savour as the third set got underway, but a thumping Nadal first serve erased that and then Wawrinka was broken again in the next game. Top seed Djokovic needs a Roland Garros title to become just the eighth man to complete a career Grand Slam.
It was a match too far for the 35-year-old Haas who was bidding to become the oldest semi-finalist at a major since Andre Agassi at the 2005 US Open and second oldest in Paris.
Djokovic has vowed to win the tournament in honour of his childhood coach, Jelena Gencic, who passed away at the weekend.
Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka set up a mouth-watering French Open semi-final on Wednesday with hard-fought wins in their quarter-finals.
The defending champion Russian survived a nightmare start to hold on to her crown for at least another day with a 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over tough Jelena Jankovic in a compelling quarter-final tie.
World number three Azarenka reached her first semi-final at Roland Garros when she defeated friend and former doubles partner, Maria Kirilenko of Russia, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2. afp

robin scott-elliot
For Usain Bolt (in photo) all roads lead from Rome. Tomorrow night the world’s fastest man will begin his competitive preparations proper to reclaim the one crown he cannot currently perch on his head and they will take him from the Olympic Stadium in the Italian capital on a journey to another former home of the Games in Moscow two months down the line.
He will head for the world championships via a route to stretch the sat-nav, stopping off in Oslo, Ostrava, Kingston, Paris and London to run a mix of 100m, 200m and relays — tomorrow it’s the 100m — but the destination is very definitely Moscow. Bolt wants his world title back, the one he squandered so unexpectedly and shockingly when he leapt a moment too soon from his blocks two years ago in Daegu.
London is not the only city pondering a coronation at the moment. Rome is dotted with posters of Bolt dressed as a king, complete with large crown, a string of medals and, oddly, green trainers. He has brought his smile with him — this is a man who spreads smiles, yesterday joking and performing happily for the photographers in between questions. They love him here, they love him everywhere, but this Diamond League event has also become his serious starting point of choice for the new season and one in which for the last two years he has laid down a brisk marker. In 2012 here he ran 9.76sec, following a troubled opening to Olympic year. This year has begun similarly with injury niggles and an underwhelming run at a low key meet in the Cayman Islands where he failed to break 10 seconds. Post-Olympic malaise is a familiar diagnosis but Bolt is having none of it.
`I will treat it just like the Olympics because it is the world championships so I will be focussed, I will be ready,’ he insisted yesterday. `I am looking forward to the challenge. I strive on the challenges. Everybody has got to bring their A game to the [world] championships because running against the best for me is always a joy, to show the world I’m the best. And I always want to be the best.’ Winning back the world title is a major goal and offers an important focal point for that post-Olympic year when those who found success in London can struggle to shift focus forward, a problem that could affect a man who has six Olympic gold medals, the most coveted world record and the rest of his speedily acquired sporting bling hanging around his neck.
Bolt insists he has plenty to look forward to and there is no secret to be made of his ambition, what he wants, indeed expects, this year and the next and on to the Rio Games in 2016, which will be his last. I definitely have goals,’ he said. `I have accomplished all my dreams but I do have goals that I make myself. I have four more years in this sport so now it is about dominating for those four years. I am looking forward to the next Olympics to doing something that has never been done before. That is one of my biggest goals but for the next four years I want to dominate the sport, show people that it is possible to go year in, year out just being the best.’
Three more gold medals in Rio would take his total level with Carl Lewis and the flying Finn Paavo Nurmi. But more strikingly it would move the already unique double double he achieved in London, defending both his sprint titles, to an extraordinary level. the independent

indo-asian news service
NEW DELHI, 5 JUNE:  Some of the world’s top football stars David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Michael Owen and Raul Gonzalez could soon be seen in action during a franchise-based tournament to be launched by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner IMG-Reliance early next year.
Beckham, Henry and Raul are closely working with IMG in different projects to promote the game and the sports management group is pursuing them to be a part of the eight-team tournament that will be played in India Jan 14-March 13.
"IMG has professional contracts with some stars like Beckham, Raul and Henry and there is a high possibility that they can be seen either playing or promoting the new league that will be held next year," a top AIFF official told IANS.
Former England captain Beckham is contracted with IMG to promote football in China as its brand ambassador while ex-Real Madrid legend Raul and Henry work with the IMG Academy on a regular basis. IMG are also consultants to the Qatar Football Association for the 2022 World Cup.
IMG’s senior vice-president (football) Jefferson Slack is in talks with the international players to convince them to play in the league.
Each of the eight teams in the new league is expected to have a squad of 25 players, including half-a-dozen foreign recruits.
The official also said that teams will be up for grabs through a bidding process by August.
But the AIFF is yet to decide on the players’ transfer and club registration rules and may have to ring in some changes in its constitution for the tournament.
The AIFF wants all the eight clubs to be centrally registered but according to current rules clubs can only be registered with state associations. IMG-Reliance will also have to take players on loan from the I-League clubs for two months and players transfer rules also have to be amended.
In another developement, 14 I-League clubs today “unanimously” decided not to release players for an IPL-style tournament planned early next year by the AIFF and its marketing and commercial partner IMG-Reliance.
“It was unanimously decided that no club will release on loan or otherwise any player for the IMG-Reliance tournament and will not take any IMG-Reliance contracted players on loan or otherwise,” said a statement of the I-League clubs’ umbrella body — Indian Professional Football Clubs Association (IPFCA) — after a meeting here.

press trust of india
CARDIFF, 9 JUNE: New Zealand pulled off a nail-biting one-wicket victory in a low-scoring Group ‘A’ thriller against Sri Lanka ~ who very nearly defended a score of 138 ~ in the ICC Champions Trophy here today.
Chasing a paltry total, New Zealand made heavy weather of their chase as Sri Lanka put up a tremenduous fight on the back of a fiery spell by paceman Lasith Malinga. New Zealand were made to sweat for every run as they huffed and puffed on their way to victory with 13.3 overs to spare at the Sophia Gardens ground. The track was conducive to seam bowling as both sides reaped the benefits with Kyle Mills, Shaminda Eranga and Lasith Malinga extracting a lot of movement off the pitch.
Malinga bowled his heart out to finish with impressive figures of four for 34 from his 10 overs.  Earlier, the New Zealand bowlers stuck to a disciplined line to skittle out Sri Lanka for a paltry 138 inside 38 overs, their fifth-lowest total after choosing to bat first. Barring former skipper Kumar Sangakkara who stood tall amidst the ruins, scoring 68 off 87 balls with eight boundaries, others simply didn’t have any clue against the controlled seam bowling of  seasoned Kyle Mills (2/14) and young left-arm seamer Mitchell McClenaghan (4/43), who kept cutting short fledgling partnerships. The start for New Zealand was equally disastrous as they lost Luke Ronchi for seven when he was caught by Sangakkara behind the wickets off Eranga. Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson led the recovery  for the Black Caps with a 34-run stand for the second wicket and the Kiwis scraped through in the end for a crucial win.

PATNA, 3 JUNE: A new study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has found the Nitish Kumar-ruled Bihar growing faster than Gujarat, though Bihar lags behind the Narendra Modi-ruled state in investment and per capita income.
According to the report, Bihar is catching up with developed states in terms of fresh investment in crucial sectors like power, although it has a huge disadvantage of laggard development in the past.
“Bihar logged in a compounded average growth rate (CAGR) of 20 per cent in public investment between March 2003 and March 2013 while this was 14.1 per cent in the case of Gujarat.  Likewise, the CAGR of private investment in the same period was 104.5 per cent in Bihar and 31.9 per cent in Gujarat,” the study noted.
As per the report, the share of public investment in Bihar as on March 2013 was 50.3 per cent, while it was 27 per cent in Gujarat. On the other hand, the share of private sector in Gujarat was way ahead at 72.3 per cent while it was 49.7 per cent in the case of Bihar. sns
details on page 3

agencies
Birmingham, 9 June: Handed defeats in their respective tournament-openers, Pakistan and South Africa would be fighting to stay alive in the ICC Champions Trophy when they take on each other in their second group B match here tomorrow.
While Pakistan lost their opening match to the West Indies in a low-scoring cliffhanger, South Africa were beaten by India by 26 runs.
Tomorrow’s match will be a shootout of sorts for both the teams and it is the South Africans, who are looking more vulnerable, despite the well-known unpredictability of the Pakistanis.
The Proteas are faced with the challenge of playing Pakistan without two of their main strike bowlers as Morne Morkel has gone back home due to injury, while Dale Steyn remains a “work in progress” on the fitness front. The update on Steyn is still not quite clear after the the world’s No.1 fast bowler was injured during a warm-up match against Pakistan at the Oval last Monday after bowling just five overs. Pakistan went on to win the game by five wickets.
“Dale is a work in progress as far as recovery is concerned. We can only get him to start bowling once he is symptom-free,” Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa team manager and doctor, has explained.
Newcomer Chris Morris is almost certain to make his ODI debut against Pakistan. Morris replaced Morkel, who was forced to return home due to a groin injury against India.
“I’ve been with this team for two years. Morne has been injured once and Dale has never been injured. Now it’s come together. That’s a curveball,” admitted South Africa coach Gary Kirsten.
Pakistan may not have injury concerns to deal with, but Misbah-ul-Haq (in afp photo) still has plenty of worries on his plate.
Misbah was the lone batsman to put up a semblance of fight against the West Indies with a 96 not out after coming in at No. 5. He has since pleaded with his batsmen to play with more responsibility and stay on for at least the entire 50 overs.
“…even after losing three wickets (for 15 runs) at one stage, the game was under control, but then we made mistakes. So it’s just about taking responsibility and taking the games to the end. The batsmen need to be more responsible and just carry on,” said Misbah.
What Pakistan took confidence from was their bowling show which stifled the Windies, who made a hash of the chase before winning by two wickets.
“I think the biggest positive from this game was our bowling. All the seamers bowled really well and bowled their heart out and took wickets. And at one time we were really in the hunt, so it’s really a big positive, and it just creates pressure on the opposition,” Misbah said. If Pakistan manage to give their best in batting, they have a good chance of knocking out the 1998 champions.
Teams (from): South Africa: AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Jean-Paul Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Rory Kleinveldt, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafiq, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, M. Irfan, Asad Ali, Wahab Riaz, Umer Amin, Abdul Rehman, Ehsan Adil.
Bailey fined
Australian captain George Bailey was fined 20 per cent of his match fee, while his teammates were docked 10 per cent of their earnings for maintaining a slow over-rate during their ICC Champions Trophy opener against England here.
“The Australia team has been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during its Group A match in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 against England at Edgbaston on Saturday,” the ICC said in a statement.
Akhtar&’s view
Shoaib Akhtar today advised Pakistan bowlers to be aggressive and go for wickets in their group matches against South Africa and India to remain in contention for a knock-out berth in the ongoing Champions Trophy.
“Both teams (South Africa and India) have strong batting line-ups, so our bowlers should not be thinking of containing them but about getting wickets,” Akhtar said.

agence france-presse
LONDON, 10  JUNE: Yorkshire’s 15-year-old pace bowler Matthew Fisher  (in photo) became English county cricket’s youngest post-War player after he was handed his senior debut on Sunday.
Fisher was named in the side to face Leicestershire at Scarborough in a 40-over match, having taken six for 25 against the Foxes in a second XI match earlier this week.
Yorkshire confirmed on Twitter: "Matthew Fisher will become the youngest player to feature in a competitive county match aged 15 years and 212 days."
Fisher was originally included in the match-day squad two days ago, at which point Yorkshire’s first-team coach Jason Gillespie said: "Matthew deserves his call-up into the squad.
"We monitor the progress of all our players and the feedback I have received from (second-team coach) Paul Farbrace on the way Matthew has been playing has been excellent."
Yorkshire already hold the record for fielding the youngest first-class cricketer after wicketkeeper Barney Gibson, aged 15 years and 27 days, played in the non-county match against Durham MCCU in 2011.

agencies
BIRMINGHAM, 10 JUNE: Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan (in photo left) and Mahela Jayawardena (in photo right)have been officially reprimanded for their excessive appealing during the team’s Champions Trophy match against New Zealand in Cardiff.
According to the International Cricket Council, Dilshan and Jayawardena were found to have breached Article 2.1.5 of the ICC code of conduct, which related to “excessive appealing during an international match”. The charges were laid by on-the-field umpires Bruce Oxenford and Rod Tucker, as well as third umpire Ian Gould and fourth umpire Steve Davis.
Dilshan and Jayawardena were charged with excessive and prolonged appealing in the keenly-contested, low-scoring match that New Zealand won by one-wicket last night.
Both the players pleaded guilty to a Level 1 breach of the code and the matter was decided on by match referee Andy Pycroft.  “Irrespective of the outcome of an umpire’s decision, players are not entitled to making prolonged appeals as these can be construed as pressuring the umpires. Both the players accepted their mistake and apologised for their actions,” Pycroft later said.
All Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee. In Colombo, Ravana Balaya (Ravana Force), a Buddhist monks’ nationalist group, today staged a demonstration in front of the Sri Lanka Cricket headquarters in protest against an ICC faux pas during the opening ceremony of the Champions Trophy tournament in Cardiff. The group criticised SLC for its inability to lodge a complaint with the ICC for playing a Hindi song, discarding Sri Lanka’s national anthem, last week.
“This is a betrayal of the nation. SLC must explain why a Hindi song was played in place of our national anthem,” the group said. SLC told the monks that the ICC had already offered an apology to Sri Lanka.
Francis dead
Sri Lankan umpire K T Francis, who had stood in the islanders’ inaugural Test match in 1982, died of diabetes, family sources said today.
He was 73. He was a member of the ICC’s international panel of umpires and officiated in 25 Tests and 56 One-Day Internationals between 1982 and 1999.

SINGAPORE, 10 JUNE: Three Lebanese football referees pleaded guilty on Monday to accepting free sex from a gambling-linked global syndicate in return for rigging a match in Singapore, with two jailed and sentencing deferred for the third. 
A district court judge jailed assistant referees Ali Eid, 33, and Abdallah Taleb, 37, for three months, but deferred sentencing till Tuesday for referee Ali Sabbagh, whom state prosecutors said was the most culpable. 
The assistant referees broke down into sobs and repeatedly looked up as if to thank God after Judge Low Wee Ping said they could be freed by later Monday or Tuesday, after remission for good behaviour and due to time already served awaiting sentence. 
Turning to Ali Sabbagh, 34, the judge said: "I need time to consider your sentence. I don’t, for the moment, accept that you should be sentenced to six months." 
Deputy public prosecutor Asoka Markandu described Ali Sabbagh as "the most culpable" among the three as he was the one approached by the syndicate and the one who persuaded the two linesmen to accept the sexual bribe.  The three men were arrested for accepting sexual favours in exchange for agreeing to fix an Asian Football Confederation Cup match on April 3 between Singapore-based club Tampines Rovers and India’s East Bengal.  They were abruptly pulled out before the match began.  The three were denied bail and have been detained at Singapore’s Changi prison since 4 April.  Eric Ding Si Yang, 31, a Singaporean businessman who allegedly supplied the prostitutes, has also been charged with corruption and granted bail.  The judge lashed out at the FIFA-accredited referees for bringing disrepute to the sport, saying they were probably the first international football match officials to be charged with corruption in Singapore.  "That alone, the fact that you are international officials, in my view, is already an aggravating factor," he said.  "The Singapore public has an interest in preserving football as a professional sport in Singapore. This is because it has social, recreational and economic value," he added. 
State prosecutors have said Ali Sabbagh was approached by Ding in "mid-2012" in Beirut, indicating a "clear international dimension" to the offences.  Ding, described in Singaporean media as a nightclub owner who drives an Aston Martin sports car, is facing three counts of corruption charges but was freed after posting bail of Sg$150,000 ($121,000). 
Singapore has a long history of match-fixing, and syndicates from the wealthy Southeast Asian island have been blamed by European police for orchestrating a network responsible for rigging hundreds of games worldwide.  afp

associated press
PARIS, 10 JUNE: If Rafael Nadal truly was going to be challenged, if his bid for an unprecedented eighth French Open championship would be slowed even a bit, this might have been the moment. Leading by a set and a break 70 minutes into Sunday’s final against David Ferrer, another generally indefatigable Spaniard, Nadal faced four break points in one game. The last was a 31-stroke exchange, the match’s longest, capped when Nadal absorbed Ferrer’s strong backhand approach and transformed it into a cross-court backhand passing shot.
Ferrer glared at the ball as it flew past and landed in a corner, then smiled ruefully. What else was there to do? Dealing with Nadal’s defence-to-offence on red clay is a thankless task. His rain-soaked 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Ferrer on was Nadal’s record 59th win in 60 matches at the French Open and made him the only man with eight titles at any Grand Slam tournament.
"I never like to compare years, but it’s true that this year means something very special for me," Nadal said, alluding to the way he managed to come back from a left knee injury that sidelined him for about seven months.
"When you have a period of time like I had," he added, "you realize that you don’t know if you will have the chance to be back here with this trophy another time."On Saturday, Serena Williams won her 16th Grand Slam title and her first French Open championship since 2002, beating familiar foil Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-4. The victory completed the No. 1-ranked Williams’ rebound from a shocking loss to 111thranked Virginie Razzano in the first round at Roland Garros a year ago. Since that defeat she’s 74-3, including titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the London Olympics and the season-ending WTA Championships.
Williams has won a career-best 31 consecutive matches. She improved to 14-2 against Sharapova, including victories in their past 13 meetings, with four of the wins this year. At 31, Williams became the oldest woman to win a major title since Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1990 at age 33.As for Nadal, the question is how he does it, year after year.
He won four French Opens in a row from 2005-08, and another four in a row from 2010-13. "Rafael was better than me," said Ferrer, who had won all 18 sets he’d played the past two weeks to reach his first Grand Slam final at age 31. "He didn’t make mistakes."
A week past his 27th birthday, Nadal now owns 12 major trophies in all – including two from Wimbledon, one each from the U.S. Open and Australian Open – to eclipse Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver and equal Roy Emerson for the third-most in history.
Nadal trails only Roger Federer’s 17 and Pete Sampras’ 14.This was Nadal’s first major tournament after a surprising second-round loss at Wimbledon last June. Since rejoining the tour in February, he is 43-2 with seven titles and two runner-up finishes. He’s won his past 22 matches.
"For me, it’s incredible," said Toni Nadal, Rafael’s uncle and coach. "When I think of all that Rafael has done, I don’t understand it."
Let’s be plain: No one, perhaps not even Ferrer himself, expected Nadal to lose Sunday. That’s because of Nadal’s skill on clay, in general, and at Roland Garros, in particular .Nadal won a record 31 consecutive matches at the French Open until 2009, when Robin Soderling beat him.In 2010, Nadal started a new streak, which currently stands at 28.
Protesters briefly interrupted the French Open final Sunday between Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer, with one man jumping onto the court with a fiery flare spurting white smoke.
The spectator surged from the crowd near Nadal as he was about to serve for the second set, leading 5-1. Security personnel wrestled him to the ground and quickly dragged him away.
Another guard stood near Nadal, protecting him while the protester was subdued. Nadal later shook the bodyguard’s hand before resuming play. The match was delayed briefly.
Moments earlier, two people interrupted play by chanting while holding a banner in the upper deck of Court Philippe Chatrier until security led them away. Other protesters also brandishing red flares climbed to the top of the adjacent Court Suzanne Lenglen and unfurled a banner calling for the resignation of French President Francois Hollande.Christophe Fagniez, the tournament’s director of operations, later said: "The situation is under control, it’s in the hands of the police."

Rank slide after Grand Slam triumph

Rafael Nadal dropped from fourth to fifth in the latest ATP tennis rankings issued on Monday although he won a record eighth French Open title the previous day. With ATP rankings mathematics based on results over the last 52 weeks, Nadal merely defended the points from his 2012 success, allowing fellow-Spaniard David Ferrer to move ahead of him into a career-high fourth because he reached the final for the first time. But the in-form Nadal is expected to roar up the rankings over the next months when he has no 2012 points to defend owing to a long-term injury from June until February. French Open semifinalist Novak Djokovic remained top with 11,830 points, ahead of Andy Murray (8,310), who sat out the Paris grand slam injured. Roger Federer has 7,640, Ferrer 7,220 and Nadal 6,895. ATP top 10 as of 10 June (previous ranking in parenthesis): 1. (1) Novak Djokovic, Serbia, 11,830 points 2. (2) Andy Murray, Britain, 8,310 3. (3) Roger Federer, Switzerland, 7,640 4. (5) David Ferrer, Spain, 7,220 5. (4) Rafael Nadal, Spain, 6,895 6. (6) Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic, 4,515 7. (8) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France, 4,155 8. (7) Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina, 3,960 9. (9) Richard Gasquet, France, 3,090 10. (10) Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland, 2,810. agencies

press trust of india
NAY PYI TAW (Myanmar), 10 JUNE: India needs another round of reforms for better GDP growth and rid itself of unnecessary regulations to reduce corruption, Paris-based think-tank OECD has said.
“Our basic view is that India needs another round of reforms,” OECD deputy secretary general Mr Richard Boucher said in an interview.
He was here to participate in the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia.
India’s growth rate slipped to a decade’s low of five per cent in 2012-13. In the current fiscal, it is expected to improve to 6.1-6.7 per cent. The Reserve Bank, however, expects the growth to be 5.7 per cent in the current fiscal.
Asked as to what India could do to have improved economic growth, Mr Boucher said: “India needs to do things to increase government efficiency, smoothing the way for projects, reduce regulatory burden on companies and open up some more to competition. So, we think that another round of reforms is necessary.”