Bangalore, Friday June 7, 2013, Pages 26

www.deccanherald.com Vol 66 No 157 4.00 B

Sharapova
beats Azarenka to reach final
SPORT P 17

Syrian rebels capture Golan crossing P13

Cutting Edge Read gestures to control appliances
P14

Punjab, Indias grain bowl, now reels under agrarian crisis P11

Trouble for Shilpa, Kundra also in dock

Police deny slapping of MCOCA on 26 accused
NEW DELHI: Officials investigating the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing case claimed on Thursday that Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra and his actor-wife Shilpa Shetty were involved in betting. While Kundra used to place bets through his friend Umesh Goenka, Shilpa put her money once in one match.
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Swashbuckling knock

In brief
Polygraph test for Raja Bhaiya likely
The CBI wants sacked Uttar Pradesh minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, an accused in the DSP Zia-ul-Haq murder case, to undergo a lie detector test, reports DHNS from Lucknow.
Details on Page 8

BCCI to hold emergency meeting

Kolkata, PTI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India con-

Sibal for debate on legalising betting

Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday called for a wider debate on legalising betting before taking a decision on the matter.
Details on Page 12

Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty

Police have ruled out the immediate arrest of Kundra, a British national, and Goenka, but stated that the duo could be held if further investigation points at their involvement in spot-fixing. During questioning on Wednesday, Kundra confessed to betting. So did his friend Goenka. They have also stated in their written statement that Shilpa Shetty placed bet once during a match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils in Delhi, said a senior police officer. Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said: Kundra has admitted to betting. He

used to bet on his own team. We have also come to know that he lost a lot of money in betting. He used to bet through Goenka, who is also a bookie. The police have not invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the 26 accused, including cricketers S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan. We have applied law based on the crime committed and evidence collected so far, Kumar said. Goenka, 36, was called for questioning on Thursday morning. Late in the afternoon, he was asked to submit his passport and thereafter let

vened an Emergent Working Committee meeting in New Delhi on Monday to discuss the betting charges against Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra. Addressing a press conference here, the BCCI working groups chief Jagmohan Dalmiya said the entire issue of Raj Kundras alleged involvement in betting will come up for discussion at the meeting. The veteran administrator also said Baroda Cricket Associations Sanjay Patel will be the new BCCI Secretary while an announcement on the treasurers post will be made later. He also said no BCCI member will be part of the inquiry commission and retired high court judges T Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramaniam will form the two-member panel to probe into the allegations against BCCI chief N Srinivasans son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and the Chennai Super Kings.
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Shikhar Dhawan in action during the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between India and South Africa at the Cardiff Wales Stadium in Cardiff, on Thursday. Dhawans 114 drove India to 331 against South Africa. India won by 26 runs. AFP Match report, Page 16

Xaxa replaces Aruna Roy in NAC

The government has reconstituted the National Advisory Council (NAC), appointing eminent sociologist Virginius Xaxa to replace activist Aruna Roy, reports DHNS.
Details on Page 12

off. He has been asked to join the probe as and when required. Goenka was questioned on Wednesday as well, along with Kundra, for around 12 hours. Kundras passport was also confiscated. He has been instructed not to leave the country and appear before the

investigators whenever called. Investigators claimed that Goenka has confessed to placing bets for Kundra with the help of bookies based in Jaipur and Delhi. He said Shetty had also placed bets once.
Kundra, Page 8 Related reports, Page 12

Maoist-hit States to chase and eliminate top leaders

NEW DELHI: The Centre and

Maruti to close 2 plants today

The countrys largest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India on Thursday announced it will be going for a one-day production shut-down at its two plants in Manesar and Gurgaon on Friday ahead of a six-day scheduled maintenance closure later this month.
Details on Page 15

Officials, land sharks join hands to encroach lake

Sarakki water body sees mushrooming of properties
G Manjusainath BANGALORE: Thanks to the active connivance of revenue officials with the land sharks, genuine properties have come up on the encroached portion of Sarakki Lake.

Re slides, 57 a dollar
MUMBAI/BANGALORE: The

To kill the lake further, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) wanted to asphalt the road, which has been constructed illegally and bisects the water body into two parts. The BBMP stopped the project only after the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), the custodian of the lake, raised a hue and cry. Sarakki Lake, which is shown as 82 acres and 24 guntas on paper, has now been reduced to 63 acres on the ground. Despite a year of struggle and a volley of correspondence with the revenue department officials, BDA officials could not succeed in getting a certified sketch of Sarakki Lake. It was only after the Peoples Campaign for Water, an

MONEY MANIA:The BBMP wanted to asphalt this road which divides the lake into two.

NGO, filed a public interest litigation that the revenue officials came out with a sketch, which again is faulty.

Faulty sketch The fear of High Court rap seems to have instilled some fear among the revenue officials, who came out with the new map on April 16, this year. But again, the map does not show the actual extent of the encroachment except for those sites which do not have valid permission. It only says that a mere 2 acres and 30 guntas had been encroached while in reality 20 acres had been grabbed. A top BDA official told Dec Lake, Page 8

can Herald that genuine sites had come up on the encroached portion as the layout carved out of lake land had been diverted for residential purposes. As the layout has got all permissions, the revenue officials are now in a fix how to set right the illegality. The official said, This was the reason that the revenue officials never heeded to our repeated pleas for the survey sketch of the lake and demarcation of its boundary. The lake was handed over to the BDA about one and a half years ago. And the ordeal of the BDA officials began.

rupee breached the 57-mark against the dollar on Thursday, hitting a one-year low but managed to recover due to dollar selling by exporters and some banks towards the end and closed at 56.84, a fresh 11month level. Finance Minister P Chidambaram, however, said there was no cause for alarm. The rupee had touched a record low of 57.32 in June last year. Founder and CEO of India Forex Advisors, Abhishek Goenka said: Heavy dollar demand and weakness in domestic equity markets added pressure on the rupee. We continue to hold a bearish outlook on the rupee and see it breaching the all time low of 57.33 levels very soon. Another analyst at Kotak Securities, Shrikant Chouhan said: We are of the view that before heading towards 57.50, which is our medium term target, the rupee should strengthen tao 56.20. If it tests 56.20 without any intervention from the RBI then we may expect a quick bounce back towards 57 or 57.50 levels. In case if the RBI intervenes then in worst case scenario dollar versus rupee may strengthen to 55.80 and that should be the lower boundary for it for the current month.
DHNS & Agencies

the nine Maoist-affected states have decided to target top Maoist leaders based on specific intelligence inputs, following deliberations during the chief ministers meeting . Chief ministers and senior officials of these states unanimously decided to unitedly fight the Maoists in the wake of the May 25 attack on a Congress convoy in Bastar district that left 26 people dead. The new strategy to chase and eliminate is inspired by the Andhra Pradesh model to counter the rebels. Andhra Pradeshs elite Greyhounds forces on April 16 killed 10 Maoist leaders and cadres who were hiding deep inside the forests in the liberated zone of Sukma district in Chhattis-

garh. Government sources said the special forces of the states as well as the CRPFs Cobra units are likely to hunt down the rebels jointly. The top five leaders of the CPI (Maoist) are Mupalla Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathy, Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavraj, Thippiri Tirupati alias Deoji, Balmuri Narayan Rao alias Prabhakar and Somji alias Sahdev. While Ganapathy is carrying a reward of Rs 15 lakh on his head, Basavraj, Deoji and Prabhakar carry a reward of Rs 10 lakh each. Sahdev carries a reward of Rs 5 lakh. According to the CPI (Maoists) organisational structure, the central committee is assisted by the politburo and central military commission. The central committee has sev-

eral regional bureaus. They are divided into the south-west, north, central and east zones. The central regional bureau has under its wings the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border state committee, north Telangana special zonal committee, Dandakaranya special zonal committee (considered to be the headquarter) and the AndhraOdisha border special zonal committee. The Chhattisgarh has requested the Union Home Ministry to help them identify former Greyhounds and Cobra personnel who can be re-employed for training the special forces in countering the ultras. It was emphasised that the Maoists fire power must be checked.
DH News Service

Splitsville for Putin, wife

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, have announced they are divorcing, AP reports from Moscow. Married just a few weeks short of 30 years, the Putins announced the decision on state television after attending a ballet performance on Thursday evening.

CAG shows BBMP finances in poor light

BANGALORE: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report on Urban Local Bodies in Karnataka, released on Thursday, shows the financial position of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in poor light. The current liabilities and provisions increased from Rs 495.33 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 689.30 crore in 2008-09. It increased to Rs 2,797.33 crore in 2009-10 and Rs 4,906.97 crore in 2010-11, the report said. There has been an increase of 891 per cent in current liabilities and provisions during 2007-2011. The Palike, according to the CAG, has replied that the increase in liabilities happen-

Palike has its own problems. FILE PHOTO

ed because 100 villages and five municipalities were brought under the BBMP fold. The report, which has found many anomalies in the imple-

mentation of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), highlighted that funds released to pay contractors of storm water drains (SWDs) were diverted CAG BBMP, Page 8

by the BBMP for refurbishment of the office of the chief engineer, SWD, at Jayanagar. A scrutiny of the BBMPs bank statements and records has revealed that it diverted Rs 36.66 lakh for this purpose. The funds were released in March 2008 and rules prescribe that funds released for projects should not be diverted or utilised for purposes other than those for which these were released, the report noted. Replying to the CAGs objection, the BBMP special commissioner had, in March 2013, said the amount was recouped from the Palike funds. The CAG, however, has found it to be untrue.