Kochi, 23 JUNE: In a major embarrassment for the Left Democratic Front (LDF), the Opposition in Kerala, the police today registered a case of
sexual harassment against former state transport minister and sitting MLA Mr Jose Thettayil and his son.
The case was registered at the Aluva police station here on the complaint of a woman native to  Angamally, the constituency which Mr Thettayil represents in the state assembly. While he is the first accused in the case, his son, Adarsh, has been named as the second accused.
The police said the woman’s statement has been noted down and that she had been taken to hospital for a medical examination. The woman has also told them that she has a video CD for proof, the police said.
Kerala home minister Mr Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said at Kottayam that since it was a complaint of sexual harassment, a lady officer, Sajita Begum Sultan, superintendent of police with the Ernakulam Crime Branch, would investigate the matter.
Reacting to the charges made against him, Mr Thettayil said he would face the case legally and said it was part of a “political conspiracy” aimed at tarnishing his image.
Mr Thettayil told television channels that he knows the woman and her family, but her complaint was “baseless”. He said that she had approached him to get married to his son. The woman has alleged that the father-son duo sexually harassed her last year at a flat at Aluva.
The case is likely to take the wind out of the sails of the LDF’s agitation on the solar scam both inside and outside the assembly.
Pro-UDF activists took out marches in various parts of the state, shouting slogans against Mr Thettayil. pti

press trust of india
Birmingham, 23 June: India clinched the ICC Champions Trophy with a nerve-wracking five-run victory over hosts England in a rain-hit final here today, giving their captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the unique record of being the first captain to win three world titles.
After frustrating showers reduced the contest to a T20 affair, India first scored 129 for seven and then restricted England to 124 for eight in a topsy-turvy game that went down to the wire. Ravindra Jadeja (33 no and 2/24) made another all-round contribution which proved to be telling in the context of the match.
The sizeable Indian crowd erupted in joy when Ravichandran Ashwin (2/15) finished the final over with James Tredwell unable to hit the required six off the last delivery.
Skipper Dhoni jumped in joy as the delirious Indian players hugged each others while the others were busy collecting souvenir stumps to mark another remarkable chapter in Indian cricket history.
This was India’s second Champions Trophy title having won the first one jointly with Sri Lanka back in 2002. That India won the championship two days before the 30th anniversary of maiden World Cup triumph back on 25 June, 1983, was icing on the cake.
India got a big breakthrough when skipper Alastair Cook guided one to Ravichandran Ashwin at first slip off Umesh Yadav’s bowling. England’s form-man Jonathan Trott (20) hit a couple of sweetly timed boundaries but Ashwin got better of him.
Coming from round the wicket, he drew Trott forward with an off-break that pitched on leg-stump and turned as rival skipper Dhoni completed a smart stumping.
From 28 for two, it soon became 40 for three as Ashwin accounted for Joe Root with his ‘leg-theory’. It was another delivery tossed in line of the leg-stump as Root mistimed a pull-shot and was holed in the deep by Ishant Sharma.
Ian Bell (13) could consider himself unlucky as he got a raw deal from third umpire Bruce Oxenford. He was adjudged stumped off Jadeja’s bowling when TV replays showed that Bell had got his foot back before Dhoni was able to whip off the bails.
At 46 for four, England were in dire straits with their best T20 player Eoin Morgan (33) at the crease. Along with Ravi Bopara (30), the duo added 64 runs for the fifth wicket before Ishant dealt a double blow.
First he removed Morgan who fetched a slower to be caught by Ashwin at mid-wicket. Then he bowled a short one which was again gobbled by Ashwin standing at square leg this time.
From 110 for four, England slumped to 113 for eight losing four wickets in the addition of only three runs. The last few overs turned out to be interesting as man-of-the-match Jadeja gave only four runs of the penultimate over and also got Jos Butler out.
With 15 required of the final over, Ashwin kept his cool to mix it up well and gave only 10 runs in the end.
Earlier, Indian top-order failed to deliver when it mattered the most as they were restricted to a modest 129 for seven by a disciplined England attack.b Couple of stoppages after the match finally started also didn’t help India’s cause. Barring in-form Shikhar Dhawan (31) and Virat Kohli (43, 34 balls, 4×4, 1×6), none of the other top-order batsmen made significant contribution after India were put into bat. Kohli and Jadeja (33 no)added 47 runs for the sixth wicket after India were reduced to 66 for five.
Ravi Bopara’s (3/20 in 4 overs) brilliant incisive spell in the middle overs proved to be invaluable for England’s cause as the largely untested Indian middle-order couldn’t stand up and be counted on the D-Day.
Rohit Sharma (9) yet again baffled one and all as he played an irresponsible shot off a Broad delivery which came in after pitching. Rohit didn’t have any footwork as he played across the line to get castled.

*Bodies beneath debris yet to be pulled out *Bad weather hits rescue ops
sns & pti
DEHRADUN, 23 JUNE: At least 5,000 people may have been killed in the Uttarakhand deluge, a state minister said today, as rescuers evacuated by road and air 12,000 more stranded people while 10,000 survivors still remained to be taken to safety.
Kedarnath Valley, the temple town which was the epicentre of the floods and landslides, was also cleared of all stranded pilgrims in stepped up rescue operations amid intermittent rains which led to evacuation of 12,000 pilgrims and tourists.
With the MeT department warning of adverse weather in the region from tomorrow, the multi-agency operations involving Army, IAF, ITBP and NDRF among others raced against time to try to rescue the remaining 10,000 people stuck in three areas, including Badrinath. Air operations had to be also briefly suspended due to bad weather. “At least 5,000 people must have been killed in the deluge that inflicted heavy damage on vast tracts of land especially in Kedarnath valley,” Disaster Management Minister Yashpal Arya told reporters at Jolly Grant airport on his return from an aerial survey of affected areas. The official death toll as of yesterday was put at 680 while chief minister Vijay Bahuguna said the death toll is likely to be around 1,000. However, Mr Arya did not give a specific figure, saying extrication of bodies from under tons of debris in affected areas which is yet to be taken up may take some time. So far, over 80,000 people have been evacuated, including 12,000 today, to safer areas in the rain-ravaged state with some 10,000 people still stranded in various places, DG, Press Information Bureau Neelam Kapur said in Delhi.
A Defence Ministry release said 45 choppers airlifted more than 3,200 people in 250 sorties in the IAF operations.
The NDRF also deployed its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle  ‘Netra’ to help locate survivors in various areas. NDRF DIG S S Guleria said the UAV will operate tomorrow as well to ensure all survivors are located and eventually evacuated.
Rope bridges and foot tracks were also being built and new routes opened to speed up the mammoth evacuation work, offering a “silver lining” for the stranded people.
Kedarnath valley has been totally evacuated while over 3,000 stuck in Badrinath, Junglechatti and Harshil areas were evacuated to safe locations by the security forces today, officials said. Scores of dead bodies also lay strewn in Kedarnath temple area presenting a gory picture. “Rains on Tuesday are our main worry…if we get three to four hours of window tomorrow, we can do well,” Air Marshal S B Deo, DG, Air Operations told reporters in Delhi. Meanwhile, 12 foreigners were among the 150 airlifted today by IAF helicopters from various places in rain ravaged Kinnaur district in Himachal.

BSNL helpline
NEW DELHI, 23 JUNE:
State-run BSNL has opened helpline numbers — 1503 and 09412024365 — to enable people to find out the last mobile phone location of their relatives and friends stranded in flood-hit Uttarakhand. Private sector telecom major Airtel too has started free Emergency Alert Service for customers registered in the Visitor Location Register in affected districts. pti

press trust of india
NEW DELHI, 23 JUNE: Accusing Mr Narendra Modi of politicising the Uttarakhand tragedy,  Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today said that after making a “tourist detour” via the deluge-hit state, some people were tom-tomming “myths” that they had rescued thousands of people.
“It is indeed unfortunate that when a part of India is trying to grapple with a natural disaster, there are some people who are absolutely unabashed in politicising it. They had to go to Pathankot so they make a tourist detour via Uttarakhand and then started claiming, that solo, they were able to rescue 15,000 people,” Mr Tewari said in an apparent reference to Mr Modi.
“If someone can put out such myths, I leave it to the people of the country, how reliable are their utterances and how profound are their achievements,” he said. The minister was referring to reports which said Mr Modi, on his trip to Uttarakhand, had with the help of a team of his officials managed to evacuate 15,000 people from the deluge-affected areas of the hill state.
He also took pot-shots at the Gujarat CM, saying his criticism of the UPA government’s Bharat Nirman campaign reflected that the Opposition was scared.
“The Bharat Nirman campaign has indeed hit where it hurts. And the hurt manifest themselves whenever the chief minister of Gujarat speaks. He has only seen phase-I of Bharat Nirman, there are other phases coming,” Mr Tewari said.
In his speech at Pathankot this afternoon, Mr Modi took a dig at the Bharat Nirman advertising campaign run by the UPA government on various TV channels.
“The advertisement said ‘bharat ke nirman pe haq hai mera’ (I have a right to India’s development). I say ‘bharat nirman pe shaq hai mera’ (I have doubts over India’s development),” Mr Modi had said.
Mr Tewari told reporters here, “…If somebody wants to become a Rambo and claims that he alone in a span of two days during a trip of disaster tourism brought out 15,000 people, I am afraid for the lack of a better word, it just reflects rank opportunism and sheer desperation to try and politicise and even milk a tragedy for political reasons.”

press trust of india
NEW DELHI, 23 JUNE: US Ambassador to India Nancy J Powell today announced that Washington is providing $1,50,000 through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to NGOs working in the most-affected areas of Uttarakhand.
“The support will provide emergency relief to the families residing in remote areas of the state in coordination with the state authorities,” a US embassy press release said.
On behalf of the American people, Ms Powell also offered her condolences to the families of those killed and to those rendered homeless in the recent flood and landslides in the hill state.
“We are deeply saddened by the tremendous personal loss and the damage to houses, public buildings, temples, roads, and bridges, as well as safe drinking water sources, livestock, and agricultural land,” she said.
Ms Powell iterated the commitment of the USA to help those affected by the floods.

The victim, a mother of two minor children, was found dead in a condemned building of a local health centre. A farm labourer was arrested. He had been accused of molestation and rape several
times earlier, police said
statesman news service 
BEHRAMPORE, 23 JUNE: A 32-year-old housewife was allegedly raped and murdered early this morning at Kharjuna village in the Barwan police station area of Murshidabad. The victim, a mother of two minor children, was found  dead in a condemned building of a local health centre. Police recovered her body amidst an agitation by local residents who demanded immediate action against the guilty.
Prakash Das, a farm labourer, was arrested. Das had been accused of molestation and rape several times earlier, police said.
Responding to nature&’s call, the housewife went to a field near her residence early this morning. As she did not return home, her family members came out looking for her. Her body was found with multiple injury marks in the deserted quarters of the health centre, said locals. The victim is suspected to have been raped before being murdered. The victim’s husband has lodged a written complaint of rape and murder with police. He joined the protest by local residents urging police to arrest the offenders without delay. The SP, Murshidabad, Mr Humayun Kabir, rushed to the spot and assured the agitators of prompt action. 
In the past couple of weeks, three incidents of rape and murder were reported in Murshidabad. On 15 June a class IX student was allegedly raped and killed at Sonadanga village in the Ranitala police station area. Protesting the incident, the Congress called a bandh in Murshidabad on 19 June, the same day that a middle-aged widow was raped and murdered at Makhaltore village in the Salar police station area.      
 

statesman news service
DIAMOND HARBOUR, 22 JUNE: A Youth Congress leader of South 24-Parganas has allegedly been collecting money from hotel owners and others in the name of party election fund.
Some Congress leaders and its youth and student wing leaders, too, were allegedly involved.
Members of the Hotel Owners’ Association of Diamond Harbour lodged a complaint alleging that Mr Shamim Hosain Mollah, Youth Congress president of Diamond Harbour Assembly, had forcibly been collecting lump-sum amounts from them using the party’s letterhead and giving receipts in the name of the Diamond Harbour-II block Congress.
The association had submitted a written complaint to the party’s district committee office and informed the party leaders.
Mr Bijan Patra, the district committee leader of Congress, said the alleged Youth Congress leader was suspended from his post and was expelled from the party after party leaders investigated the allegations. Congress will never support such illegal work, the leader added.
District congress committee sources said they have evidence that some Congress leaders accompanied its youth and students’ wing leaders and had assisted the accused Youth Congress leader in extorting money. The party will take action against them soon, sources said. Police said they have started an inquiry on the basis of the complaint.

pritesh basu
KOLKATA, 22 JUNE: For many film producers and directors, the easy route to box office success is sex and titillation. But what has psychologists concerned, especially against the backdrop of the recent spate of crimes against women, is the increasingly frequent depiction of rape, or the use of rape themes in Tollywood.
Some psychologists feel that watching rape sequences on screen may be what pushes people possessing anti-social traits, often in combination with alcohol or drugs, to actually go out and commit the crime.
Psychologists also feel that the protest rallies and marches organised to protest against the repeated incidents of attacks on women in the state help to create awareness, but such moves don’t help the society in any way unless the intellectuals and administration come up with workable measures to check such incidents.
There has been a series of movies recently produced in Tollywood, that include rape sequences, with some directors and producers justifying it saying it is intended to create awareness. 8.08-er Bongaon Local, a movie which was apparently based on the murder of a school goer at Barasat, who was killed when he tried to save his sister from being molested, was released in April 2012. Another film, Teen Kanya, was apparently based on repeated incidents of attacks on women in the state, including the Park Street rape. Incidentally, Teen Kanya was in the limelight a few months ago as screening of the Bengali movie, was initially stopped at Star Theatre as the theatre authorities thought that the movie features “anti-state statement”.
Prof. Nilanjana Sanyal, psychologist and former head of department Psychology, Calcutta University, says violent subjects attract the common viewer to a particular film.
"Such movies do not leave any effect on people who do not have possess any criminal tendency. But the primitive impulses of those with anti-social tendencies may be affected by seeing rape sequences on screen," she said.
Psychiatrist Dr Muktananda Kundu, said he had recently found violent attitudes among children. "I had asked a child to deliver a dialogue, as his favourite passtime was watching television. He said ‘Marbo Ekhane Lash Porbe Sashane (I will beat you here and your body will  be found at  the  burning ghat)’," he said, adding that this shows that violent attitudes among children develop when they watch violent sequences on television.
He maintained that crime stories from police files that are often shown on television leave far-reaching impact on children. "Steps should be taken to stop showing such programmes," he said.
Mr Haranath Chakraborty, director and a board member of the Central Board of Film Certification, said: "It is true that such sequences leaves deep impact on common people. But no one in the country has the right to stop a director or a producer from making a film. But we always ask directors to shorten the length of such violent sequences."

mamata says bill is a political gimmick
sns & pti
BANKURA, 22 JUNE: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today asked why the UPA government was in a hurry to legislate the Food Security Bill when its continuance was in doubt, while denying that Trinamul Congress was opposed to it.
“The Congress is saying that they are going to pass the National Food Security Bill and the Trinamul Congress is obstructing it,” Miss Banerjee told a panchayat election meeting here in Bankura district.
“You (UPA government) have not done it for over four years and now when it is time for immersion what is the hurry?” she asked.
“We support the Food Security Bill. But the Centre should ensure it reaches the people,” she said, doubting the efficacy of the proposed cash transfer in lieu of foodgrains when banking facilities were unavailable in remote areas.
Questioning if it was feasible for a villager to spend Rs 40 on transport to go to collect Rs 12, she said her government was already providing rice at Rs 2 per kg in Junglemahal despite its limited financial resources.
Claiming that it was a "political gimmick" and that the Centre did not have the required funds to implement the scheme across the country, she said: “The responsibility of food security should be left by the Centre to the states.”
Dwelling on her party quitting the UPA on allowing FDI in retail and other “anti-people” policies, she said her party had allied with the Congress after assurance from it at the time that it would not compromise with the CPI-M. “But I found that they did not change,” she added.
She reiterated that the Centre was getting huge interest from the state on loans taken by the former Left Front government.
Addressing a rally in the Khatra area the chief minister promised another university for South Bengal.
Miss Banerjee said: “Bankura has always fared well in all examinations. We need to have a university here. If the Christian College authorities allow us to use its premises, it can be started anytime.”
The Burdwan University covers 77 colleges across five South Bengal districts. The state has declared one university at Asansol after poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. Now the chief minister has proposed another university in Bankura today. Miss Banerjee said: “Besides universities in Cooch Behar, a university in Diamond Harbour will also start operating soon.” She also hinted that a private university would soon come up in Bankura.
Miss Banerjee was addressing a rally at the tribal-dominated Khatra area which was once a Maoist den and witnessed several bloodbaths in the past decade. She, however, reiterated that Maoists are now hand in glove with the CPI-M and Congress. She said: “I trust Left politics. But those who come out of the jungle and butcher innocent people are goons.”
Miss Banerjee stressed on the need for setting up a tourism circuit across Jhilimili-Mukutmoni-pur besides setting up rock climbing centres in Jhilimili, Bihar-inath and Susunia hill areas. These areas are popular amoung amateur trekkers in the state.
 

press trust of india
Birmingham, 22 June: India have not devised any “special plans” for the ICC Champions Trophy final against hosts England, according to captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who said his team will just go in with the same approach like they did in the previous matches.
“We don’t have any special plans. We will go with the same approach like we did in the match against Pakistan and the semi-final (versus Sri Lanka),” Dhoni said at the pre-match Press conference today. He said his bowlers have done a good job in the tournament so far but death bowling was a bit of a concern.
“We have exploited the condition well and we have bowled in the right areas, which I feel is very important.
“But still, death bowling is a concern. It’s an area we need to improve as a team,” Dhoni said. India have so far played very good cricket in the Champions Trophy and Dhoni said the first 10 overs,  whether bowling or batting, could determine how the final shaped up.
“So far in this tournament that’s what we have seen.
 If you get off to a very good start, batting or bowling, you are able to put pressure on the middle order and then you can restrict the opposition from scoring freely,” the Indian skipper said.
“Or, when you have wickets in hand while batting first, you can get those extra 20 or 25 runs in the end which could prove crucial.”
 Dhoni admitted that England’s pace attack has the quality to test the best of batsmen, but said India’s top-order was fully prepared to tackle the English bowlers.
“The English are a very good team, especially the bowlers. What we are positive about is the fact that our top-order has done well against some of the best bowlers in world cricket in this tournament,” Dhoni said.
“Our batsmen are well prepared to face the England bowlers. But, like in every game, they have to apply themselves. So we will wait and watch how it goes,” he added.
Dhoni was full of praise for his spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who according to him are “hunting in pairs” in the ongoing Champions Trophy.
“What’s important is to realise that they are a bowling unit. If one of them is bowling brilliantly, it can actually lift the pressure from the other guy who’s bowling from the other end.
“So I think it’s very important that they hunt in pairs, and I think that’s what they have been doing really well so far.
When Jadeja puts the pressure, Ashwin gets the wicket; when Ashwin puts the pressure, Jadeja gets the wicket.
Both of them are very crucial for each other’s success and for the success of the team,” he said.

agencies
BIRMINGHAM, 22 JUNE: Aleem Dar has apparently lost the opportunity of officiating Sunday’s Champions Trophy final after his role in the changing the ball during England’s defeat to Sri Lanka at the group stage.
The three-time ICC’s best umpire of the year has been demoted to the fourth umpire’s position for the title clash between India and England here at Edgbaston.
The Pakistani angered England after he changed the ball, leading to speculation of ball tampering.
Kumar Dharmasena and Rod Tucker will be the on-field umpires Sunday and will be closely monitoring the condition of the balls while with Bruce Oxenford will be the third umpire. Ranjan Madugalle will be the match referee.
HIV awareness
The final of the ICC Champions Trophy will be dedicated to the highly successful HIV awareness campaign THINK WISE, a partnership between ICC, UNAIDS and UNICEF.
UNAIDS deputy executive director Jan Beagle will attend the final between England and India at Edgbaston Sunday. She will join International Cricket Council (ICC) president Alan Isaac, chairman of England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Giles Clarke, and two representatives of people living with HIV, will walk out with the teams for the national anthems in solidarity of people around the globe living with HIV.
Over the past decade, the ICC has been promoting awareness for the AIDS epidemic, which led to the creation of the THINK WISE partnership in 2009. During the final, both the finalists, as well as match officials, ICC and ECB staff will wear red ribbons to raise awareness about the stigma surrounding people living with HIV.
Beagle congratulated the ICC on its commitment to AIDS awareness. “I am moved to see the incredible dedication of the ICC and cricketers to promoting HIV prevention and reaching zero discrimination for people living with HIV. For a decade, UNAIDS and the ICC have been using cricket as an effective avenue to convey lifesaving messages and reach large numbers of people on key issues around AIDS.”
Isaac said: “I would like to extend a warm welcome to Ms. Beagle and it brings me great pleasure that the ICC&’s partnership with UNAIDS and UNICEF is flourishing."
Pietersen speaks
Kevin Pietersen admitted yesterday he had made mistakes over the incident that saw him dropped by England on disciplinary grounds last season before he returned to the side.
Former England captain Pietersen returned to competitive cricket after three months out with a right knee problem by playing for Surrey in a four-day match away to Yorkshire. He marked the occasion by giving a radio interview to former England team-mate Darren Gough broadcast while he fielded at Headingley. It was at the Leeds ground, where having made a superb Test hundred against his native South Africa, Pietersen gave a Press conference where he said "it’s tough being me in this dressing room."

‘India way ahead’
“KOLKATA, 22 JUNE: "India are definitely the favourites going into the final. Going by the form of Dhawan, Jadeja and Kumar, England will find it very difficult to turn it their way, even if they are the home side," Laxmi Ratan Shukla said at the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club today. Asked about the recent spot-fixing scam, he commented, "while the recent happenings have undoubtedly tarnished the image of the game, there are still players whose integrity and honesty will ensure that the spirit of the game lives on."  sns

agencies
LONDON, 22 JUNE: Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels that the Indian One-Day Internationals team that will be playing in the Champions Trophy final tomorrow are “better” than that which won the World Cup two years ago.
“India have been the team of the tournament so far. They are a fearless, aggressive bunch and I have not seen that from India before. They are better than the World Cup-winning side of 2011,” Vaughan wrote in his column for The Daily Telegraph.
Like everyone else, Vaughan is also very impressed with the fielding standards set by new boys like Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli and feels that the current lot are out to create a legacy of their own.
“The young players play with freedom. They know this is their chance to create a legacy now that the great names have retired. They field brilliantly, creating chances for the bowlers through their agility,” he wrote. Vaughan said that India’s current crop of batsmen were more interested in hitting short-pitch bowling instead of swaying away from the line of the deliveries.
“With the bat, they look to score off the short ball instead of swaying out of the way of it. They hit the ball as hard as any Indian players I have ever seen. They play good, hard strokes that you see in Test cricket and it looks as if Duncan Fletcher is loving working with them.” Vaughan, however, believes that this is the best chance for the England team to win a limited-over tournament on the global platform. “This is a great chance for England to create history and win a global 50-over tournament," he wrote, adding: "We reached the final of the Champions Trophy in 2004 but could not quite get over the line. But this team can go one better. They (England) are a stronger one-day side than we were but that is cancelled out by the fact they are playing an India side better than the West Indies team who beat us nine years ago (2004).”

If you contrasted Aamir Sohail&’s ruing of Pakistan&’s decline since they took to getting up to monkey business with the ball with England&’s Champions Trophy prosperity – allegedly – because of it, you knew why, in hopefully suitably updated language, one man&’s pizza, or pasta, was another one&’s poison. And, given that you can’t really bypass England&’s denials and condemn them to bottomless perdition after the trial by the media, their well-chronicled, sharply worded righteous indignation was a world apart from the stony Pakistani silence that succeeded Sohail&’s spiel.
He’d blamed it on Imran Khan, who, truth to tell, didn’t really emerge from this trans-continental verbal back-and-forth, even if it wasn’t charged with any serious combative impulses, with his face unsullied. Pakistan&’s World Cup-winning skipper never really denied that he’d done it – it&’s in Ivo Tennant&’s book and a London tabloid duly blew it up when it came out – but never failed to say, simultaneously, that ball-tampering was as old as the game itself.
He was also reported to have said that everyone on the circuit knew everything about it and that the English media exploded in utterly dishonest fury only when England were at the receiving end of it.
But it was Bob Willis who had this time around voiced the earliest allegation against England and if no one was asking if Imran Khan, the Tehriq-i-Insaf boss, would some time in the future allow himself the perfidies he periodically accused his political peers of and then blame his own ways on the precedents set by them, well might it have been attributable to a general awareness of the country&’s cricketing image, such as it is, being more important than any of its cricketers’ thought process, whatever it is. That, though, is no reason why at least such Pakistanis as profess a serious interest in the game&’s past shouldn’t try to find out if the bit about ball-tampering being hoary antiquity&’s bequest is a correct, truthful interpretation of history. Old, if not ancient, accounts of the game of the English summer suggest a more or less level playing field until restrictive pieces of legislation, inclusive of those pertaining to the institutionalised use of pitch covers, and improvements in the batsman&’s playing paraphernalia swung things the other way.
 RC Robertson-Glasgow likened bowlers to kings and batsmen, to cows in an example of humorous exaggeration which, in a purely contemporary context dominated by the profusion of limited-over games, 50-50 as well as Twenty20, would seem absurd, plain and simple. But Shoaib Akhtar, among others, let it be known that cricket wouldn’t have found itself saddled with as many bowling-specific controversies as it did in his day if its legal guardians were only a little more sensitive to the competitive requirements of the bowler for the game to be even and, thus, entertaining.
Which is where you might find yourself asking what the International Cricket Council&’s – and the cricket-playing countries’ – putatively technical committees do when they get together. It isn’t the ball alone that they tamper with, right?

statesman news service
KOLKATA, 21 JUNE: Former state housing minister, Mr Gautam Deb, who  appeared today before CID officials in connection with an alleged land scam said it was not his responsibility to satisfy the CID and it was the chief minister who had orchestrated a plan to detain him for two hours.
Emerging from the two-hour interrogation, Mr Deb said that the officials treated him well and he was served tea and biscuit. He was accompanied by former party MP, Mr Sujan Chakraborty. Expressing his anger over the entire exercise, he told reporters that he came to CID not to satisfy them.
 Mr Deb was summoned by the CID on 14 June and he agreed to appear before it following a decision taken by the state committee of the CPI-M. He was summoned for his alleged giving away of premium land of HIDCO in Mahestala to a favoured builder without tender. A case has been registered against him for the alleged land scam in which Chandan Basu, son of former chief minister Jyoti Basu, is allegedly involved and got land at a throwaway price without tender. On 2 April housing board secretary Mr Ajay Dutta filed an FIR at Kolkata&’s Taltala police station alleging serious “financial anomalies” in the transactions of Bengal Greenfield Housing Development Corporation Ltd.
The company is one of eight real estate firms with which the state government had initiated joint venture housing projects. On the basis of the complaint a case has been started under Sections 406, 409, 418, 420 and 120b of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act. The case was later handed over to CID.
CPI-M supporters and leaders of Kolkata district committee of the party gathered outside CID headquarters at Bhawani Bhavan while Mr Deb was  facing the interrogation. This caused massive traffic disruption as police diverted traffic along Belvedere Road. However, joint CP (headquarters), Mr Jawed Shamim, said the road was not closed and it was clogged due to the crowd that gathered outside Bhawani Bhavan.
Supporters who gathered outside the CID headquarters said that the Trinamul Congress was making allegations against their leader to malign the party before the panchyat election. A supporter said that the practice was rampant as it had earlier booked their leaders like Mr Susanta Ghosh and Laxman Seth without much success.
A special audit team set up by chief minister Mamata Banerjee to investigate the deals signed by the state housing board with Greenfield Housing Development Corporation Ltd has allegedly unearthed financial irregularities of more than Rs 20 crore. Interestingly, Mr Basu is one of the directors of the Greenfield Housing Development Corporation Ltd and the entire deal was completed during the Left regime.

aparajit chakraborty
KOLKATA, 21 JUNE: The state government has begun an inquiry into allegations of arbitrary tax collection from the owners of  long-distance commercial vehicles by the Public Vehicles Department (PVD) and Regional Transport Authorities (RTA).
Since 1989 the PVDs and RTAs have allegedly misappropriated crores of rupees from the owners of long-distance commercial vehicles which don’t have inter-state permits, by collecting various taxes, including registration fees, permit fees, special permit fees, road tax and additional road tax. The matter came to light when on 23 May the joint secretary of the transport department in a letter directed the directors of all PVDs and officials of RTAs "to take necessary steps against the allegations" at the earliest.
The officials of the PVDs and RTAs have been allegedly collecting the tax in cash every quarter from long-distance commercial vehicles that did not have inter-state permits, road permits, permanent contract carriage permits or long-distance commercial licences. The officials issued registration certificates to the vehicle owners without mentioning where the vehicles would ply. The joint secretary has begun the inquiry after the state transport minister Madan Mitra instructed senior officials of the transport department to investigate the matter. Under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1989 this additional quarterly tax can be collected by the PVD and RTA officials on behalf of other state transport authorities only through bank draft and not in cash. This can happen if the vehicles are covered by inter-state route permits under a reciprocal agreement laid down in the Additional Tax Act, a senior law official of the transport department said.The state transport department has never conducted an internal audit, a senior official of the transport department said. The alleged corruption by the PVD officials could have been revealed had the state government gone over the accounts, the official said. Mr Mitra has taken the initiative after an owner of  long-distance commercial vehicle, Mr Iswar Prasad Bhattacharya, a retired Air Force official, lodged a complaint with the minister. He had earlier sought details under the Right to Information Act from the transport department and all DMs in the state as to how long-distance commercial vehicles could be registered without road permits, inter-state permits and contract carriage permits. But the transport department and the DMs failed to reply. Mr Bhattacharya lodged several complaints with the transport department alleging that senior officials have been extorting crores of rupees from long-distance vehicle owners by issuing registration certificates without covering any substantive contract carriage permit and collecting the taxes. Such additional tax in cash is being collected illegally by the PVD and RTA officials and the money has not been deposited in the state government’s coffers or with other State Transport authorities, Mr Bhattacharya alleged.

The gas price hike, while triggering investment in gas hunt in the country and the resultant production hike, is being opposed in some quarters as it would lead to a rise in cost of generating electricity and urea production
press trust of india
NEW DELHI, 21 JUNE: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today deferred a decision on a proposal to hike natural gas prices by a steep 60 per cent as Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily was away on an official tour.
The CCEA was to consider Mr Moily’s proposal to raise gas prices to US$ 6.775 million British thermal unit from current US$ 4.2, which would result in a steep rise in electricity tariff, urea manufacturing cost as well as CNG rates. “The paper was there… the Minister (Moily) was unavoidably called to Agartala. Therefore, he requested deferment. It is deferred by a few days,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters here.
The Oil Ministry had moved a note for an across-the-board hike in gas prices for consideration of CCEA on Wednesday and it was listed as number 7 among the eight items the Cabinet sub-committee was to consider.
However, Mr Moily had to go to Tripura for the inauguration of ONGC’s power plant by President Pranab Mukherjee.
“It (price hike proposal) will come up before the CCEA next week and we will address the issue,” Chidambaram said.
The gas price hike, while triggering investment in gas hunt in the country and the resultant production hike, is being opposed in some quarters as it would lead to a rise in cost of generating electricity and urea production.
“People will invest only when they get the right price. And production will increase only if there is investment. All these things will be taken into account when the CCEA takes a decision and I hope we will be able to take a decision next week when the Minister is here and the meeting is called,” he added.
The Oil Ministry proposed to price domestically-produced natural gas as per a complex international hub and imported LNG based formula suggested by the Rangarajan Committee. The price as per the formula in the current quarter comes to US$ 6.775 and may rise to US$ 8 by next year and US$ 10 in the following. While the revised rates would apply to state-owned gas producers like ONGC immediately, the same for Reliance Industries would be applicable from the next due date or into effect from 1 April 2014.
The price of gas as per the formula then would be in excess of US$ 8. A rise in gas price will result in more than doubling of electricity tariff and a whopping Rs 46,360 crore per annum impact on power plants. Sources said the variable cost of generating electricity at the 2014 gas prices would be around Rs 5.40 per kilowatt hour (per unit), taking the total cost of generation to around Rs 6.40 per unit.
The cost of electricity generation at current delivered price of US$ 6.93 per mmBtu (base price of USD 4.2 plus taxes and transportation), comes to Rs 2.93 per unit, they said, adding the Power Ministry feels generating electricity at Rs 6.40 per unit is not viable. With the cost of every dollar increase in gas price assuming that the delivered price increases to US$ 1.3 per mmBtu, the impact on power sector will be about Rs 6,450 crore, the note states. At 2014 gas price, the impact would be Rs 46,360 crore per annum.
The hike in natural gas price by US$ 1 would result in Rs 3,155 crore per annum hit on fertiliser plants for producing 23 million tonnes of urea this fiscal and Rs 4,144 crore a year for 32 million tonnes of urea production from 2017-18, sources added.
 

UNITED NATIONS, 21 JUNE: India has called for concerted actions to root out syndicates of terrorism, including Al Qaida, Taliban and LeT from Afghanistan, noting that security situation remains fragile in the war-torn country.
During a special briefing on Afghanistan, Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Mr Manjeev Puri said the security situation in Afghanistan remains fragile as demonstrated by a number of high-profile terrorist attacks over the past two months. “We condemn the attacks in the strongest possible terms and convey our condolences to the Government and people of Afghanistan,” he said. “Concerted action is needed to isolate and root out the syndicate of terrorism, which includes elements of the Taliban, AI Qaida, LeT and other terrorist and extremist groups,” he said. It is, therefore, important that the transition plan in Afghanistan is based on the ground situation rather than a “pre-determined timeframe”, Mr Puri told members of the UN Security Council during the briefing. “It is also important that the ongoing transition must remain Afghan-led and Afghan-owned, must be multi-faceted and should ensure the protection and promotion of the human rights of all Afghans, and lead to the strengthening of the Afghan state and its institutions,” he said. pti