Bangalore, Friday March 29, 2013, Pages 28

www.deccanherald.com Vol 66 No 88 4.00 B

inks $3mn deal for memoir

P14

Malala

Djoker beater Haas faces Ferrer now

SPORT P17

Cutting Edge Tea, coffee can activate cancer gene

P12

Cyprus deal reflects EUs anger with casino economics P11

House Reps invite Modi to visit US

Maximum governance receives applause
NEW DELHI: Gates to the US may finally be thrown open for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, with an American delegation on Thursday inviting him to visit the country.

EC says no ban on Aadhaar registration

Rohith B R BANGALORE, DHNS: The Chief Electoral Officer on Thursday clarified that there was no bar on Aadhaar registration after his earlier directives led to confusion and stalled the process through the day. The officer, however, asked elected representatives, corporators and politicians to keep off the process. The Chief Electoral Officer had on Wednesday imposed certain restrictions on Aadhaar enrolment in the State, triggering confusion among the officials and people alike. Several applicants who went to the registration centres on Thursday were turned away since the enrolment officers lacked clarity on the issue. A senior official at the Chief Electoral Officers office said corporators and politicians in some areas tried to gain mileage ahead of the Assembly elections by deploying their men to distribute application forms and help applicants obtain necessary documents for the enrolment. With the election code of conduct in place, politicians cannot gain mileage out of a government programme, he said. Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha told Deccan Herald that there cannot be a blanket ban since the registration process was part of an ongoing scheme of the Central government. We want to ensure that the programme continues without political interference, he said. The guidelines issued on Wednesday stated that for the ongoing schemes where beneficiaries needed to be selected, no new selections would be made during the period when the model code of con||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Flip-flop

In brief
Cong leaders spar over tickets

However, the delegation did not commit whether the Obama administration would grant visa to Modi, especially since he was turned down earlier in the wake of the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002. An 18-member delegation, comprising three Republicans from the House of Representatives and an NRI businessman sympathetic to the BJP, met Modi in Ahmedabad. They wanted enhanced people-topeople contact, impressed by the states progress. After the meeting, Republican Aaron Schock, who led the delegation, told reporters in Ahmedabad: We have extended an invitation to Chief Minister Narendra Modi and requested him to show us there what he has achieved here in his state. Though Schock refused to give any assurance on granting visa to Modi, he promised to work with others in persuading the US administration to wel- Modi, Page 8

come the chief minister. Modi, whose image had taken a beating following the riots, has forced foreign countries including the European Union to go soft on him over the years, after he turned Gujarat into a lucrative investment destination. Obviously it is a matter of the US administration but we, along with other Republican lawmakers, will work in that direction with the US administration, Schock said in response to a specific query on whether the invitation indicates a shift in the administrations stand. We have invited him to the US to show us what he has done here in the state. We were impressed with what we have seen here, specially with his statement of minimum government, maximum governance. And as a Congressman of the Republican Party, I also believe in limited government, Schock said. Besides Schock, Republicans Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming) and Cathy M Rodgers (Washington), along with NRI businessman Salabh Kumar were part of the delegation. Kumar, a member of the Overseas Friends of BJP, brought the delegation to India.

n People were turned

away at registration centres

n Officials had no clarity

on the directives
n Elected representa-

HUMBLE GESTURE: Actor Sanjay Dutt, convicted for possessing illegal arms, during a press conference at his residence in Mumbai on Thursday. PTI

tives told not to meddle with the registration for electoral gains
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Heated exchanges are said to have taken place between state Congress president G Parameshwara and legislature party leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday over the selection of several party candidates for the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state.
Details on Page 7

Dutt not to seek pardon

Emotional actor says he will serve jail term
MUMBAI: An emotional Sanjay Dutt, convicted for illegal possession of fire arms, said on Thursday that he would not seek any pardon and complete his jail term.

Talking to media at his residence, flanked by his sister and Congress MP Priya Dutt, Dutt made a fervent plea: There are many other people who deserve pardon. I want to tell with folded hands to the media (and) the honourable citizens of the country that I am not go-

ing for pardon...I just want to say please allow me to live in peace till I go in. Throughout the brief interaction with media, Dutt appeared visibly disturbed. He broke down twice and sought comfort on his sisters shoulder. The actor has been sentenced to five-year imprisonment by the Supreme Court for illegal possession of fire arms. The police had seized the same while investigating into the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts. Dutt was earlier arrested as an accused in the case. However, the designated TADA court, which conducted the trial, did not find any evidence connecting the actor to

the blasts, but convicted him to six-year imprisonment for possessing fire arms illegally and disposing of the evidence to hide the crime. On March 21, the Supreme Court, while upholding the death sentence of Yakub Memon (younger brother of Mushtaq Memon alias Tiger Memon) in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, reduced Dutts sentence from six to five years along with an order that he should complete his remaining sentence. The apex court had given him four weeks to consider and pursue any legal recourse.
Dutt, Page 8 Related report on Page 8

PM seeks Jesse Ryder in coma after bar brawl China help on dam projects
ON BOARD PMS AIRCRAFT:

duct was in place. Collecting applications or sanctioning fresh cases under various development corporations of the State government is completely prohibited during this period. This created confusion at the Aadhar enrolment centres. The Unique Identification Authority of Indias (UIDAI) regional office on Race Course Road was flooded with calls seeking clarity on the issue. However, it took a lot of time for the UIDAI and the State egovernance officials to decode the guidelines. Padma S, a resident of Mallathahalli in the Rajarajeshwarinagar Assembly constituency, said: I went in the afternoon to enrol along with my son at the centre located near my house. I was asked to come back after four days. Veerendra, who went for enrolment in Koramangala along with his family, said: Officials were not sure about how to go about and they asked us to come the next day.

I-T notice to Nokia for tax evasion

The Income Tax department has served a more than Rs 2,000 crore demand notice on Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia for alleged evasion of taxes.
Details on Page 13

US bombers fly over S Korea

The US on Thursday announced that two of its nuclear-capable B-2 bombers dropped munitions on a South Korean island.
Details on Page 14

Italian PM on marines return

The serious and objective risks that Italy could become isolated in the international community amid a crisis of grave proportions with India over the two marines led the Italian government to decide to send them back to India.
Details on Page 8

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his first meeting with new Chinese President Xi Jinping has sought a joint mechanism to assess the construction work on dams on Brahmaputra river in Tibet. I took the opportunity to raise the issue of trans-border river systems. I requested the Chinese government to provide a joint mechanism to enable us to assess the type of construction activity that is going on in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), he told reporters accompanying him on his return on Thursday from a four-day visit to Durban in South Africa. He was asked about the discussion on the water issue he had with Xi in Durban on Wednesday night on the margins of the BRICS summit in the first-high level face-to-face contact between the two countries after the change of power in China. President Xi assured him that China was quite conscious of their responsibilities and the interest of the lower riparian countries, the prime minister said. On coalition compulsions The prime minister ruled out any threat to his government or early elections while acknowledging the possibility of UPA ally, the Samajwadi Party, withdrawing its support. Vowing not to allow coalition compulsions to derail the reforms, he said the government was confident of pushing ahead with the reforms that mattered and yielded results in the next few months.
PM China, Page 8

WELLINGTON: New Zealand cricketer Jesse Ryder lies in coma after being badly beaten up by a group of men near a bar in Christchurch early Thursday, police said. Four men attacked Ryder as he left Aikmans Bar in Merivale shortly after midnight (around 12:30 am local time) after having a few drinks with Wellington Firebirds teammates, The New Zealand Herald reported. The brutal assault has left Ryder in an induced coma with a fractured skull and multiple injuries. The left-hand batsman, who has been involved in alcohol related incidents in the past, was due to leave for India to represent Delhi Daredevils in the In-

Jesse Ryder

dian Premier League beginning April 3. An eyewitness described the attack on the cricketer as sickening. Just around 12:30 am, I look up and three or four guys were attacking Jesse, Emma-Louise

Ferguson was quoted as saying by the newspaper. There didnt seem to be any argument or anything. They were just punching him, they had him on the ground and they were kicking him hard. It was unbelievably brutal. It was literally right outside the door of the bar, she said. When he was on the ground, I couldnt actually see him but I could hear the they were kicking him as hard as they could. I know about impact, Ive seen fights and been in (charity boxing) fights and this was sickening. I cant understand what could have caused them to attack him in such a way, she added. Aikmans Bar has handed

over the CCTV footage of the incident to the police, who are trying to find who the assailants were, the report said. The attackers ran away when emergency services were called. Heath Mills of New Zealand Cricket Players Association wished Ryder a speedy recovery and said the assault was not alcohol fuelled even though the southpaw has had related problems in the past. We all know Jesses struggle with some demons, said Mills. Prime Minister John Key also wished Ryder a speedy recovery after an attack which he thought was extremely vicious.

Agencies

Wise counsel

Save institution of marriage: SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has stressed on the need for saving the institution of marriage by settling disputes between fighting couple amicably, saying that matrimonial alliance plays an important role in the life of individuals. A three-judge bench presided over by Justice P Sathasivam also said that the courts should be more than willing to quash the criminal complaint or FIR if both parties showed readiness to bury their hatchet. There has been an outburst of matrimonial disputes in recent times. The institution of marriage occupies an important place and it has an important role to play in society. Therefore, every effort should be made in the interest of the individuals in order to enable them to settle down in life and live peacefully.

If parties ponder over their defaults and terminate their disputes amicably by mutual agreement instead of fighting it out in a court of law, in order to do complete justice in the matrimonial matters, the courts should be less hesitant in exercising its extraordinary jurisdiction, the bench added. The apex court set aside an order passed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court (HC) in July disallowing a plea made by a harried husband for qua-

shing an FIR registered against him for dowry harassment and criminal breach of trust, despite his wifes willingness to withdraw the complaint.

Duty of Court The HC had rejected their application stating that the court has no power to quash criminal proceedings in respect of offences under Sections 498A (cruelty) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code since both are nonDH News Service compoundable.

The apex court bench, also comprising Justices J S Khehar and Kurian Joseph, ruled that the view taken by the HC was wrong, saying that application filed by the couple was not for compounding of noncompoundable offences but for quashing of the criminal proceedings. The inherent powers of the High Court under Section 482 (quashing) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) are wide and unfettered, the court said. However, this power had to be exercised in appropriate cases, it added. It is the duty of the courts to encourage genuine settlements of matrimonial disputes, and Section 482 of the CrPC enables the High Court and Article 142 of the Constitution enables this court to pass such orders, the bench said.