e-Paper Andaman Sheekha 06032014

VOL: 03 I ISSUE NO: 52 I REG NO: ANDENG/2011/38184 I 06 MARCH 2014 I THURSDAY I Rs. 2.00 I DAILY I PORT BLAIR I ww.andamansheekha.com

Elections for A & N ParliamentaryConstituency scheduled

on April 10, counting on May 16

Port Blair, Mar 05: TheElections for Andaman &Nicobar ParliamentaryConstituency is scheduled on10th April, 2014 andCounting shall be on 16thMay, 2014, Chief ElectoralOfficer (CEO) of A & NIslands, Mrs. Rina Ray saidtoday.

Addressing a pressconference at Port Blair thisafternoon, the CEO said thatwith this announcement ofthe Election Schedules, theModel Code of Conduct hascome into force withimmediate effect. She saidthat on 15th March 2014

Mohammed SajidSheekha News Service

MPLAD Fund Row: MariyamBibi rebuffs Bishnu’s claim

Port Blair, Mar 05: TheAdhyaksha of the ZillaParishad (South Andaman),Miss. V.K. Mariyam Bibi todaysoundly rebuffed the claim ofMr. Bishnu Pada Ray, Memberof Parliament that the ZillaParishad (SA) has to refund asum of Rs.1.14 crores to the MPLAD fund.

According toinformation provided by theoffice of the MP, the amountclaimed as refundable pertainsto 19 works, of which 14 workswere cancelled in 2010 becauseno progress had been made onthese works. The amountreleased against these works,which was only the firstinstallment of the agreedestimates, has already beenrefunded to the MPLAD fund.

Giving details of theamount received by the ZillaParishad for carrying out

works under the MPLADScheme, she clarified thatthe money claimed asrefundable had been givenfor 19 works, some of whichwere approved as far backas 2003 when there wasonly one Zilla Parishad inAndaman and NicobarIslands. Many of the worksfor which the money wasgiven are today completed

(See page 7)

Notification will be issuedand the Last Date for FilingNominations in Andamanand Nicobar Islands will be22nd March 2014.

“Scrutiny ofNominations will be carriedout on 24th March 2014 and

Last Date for Withdrawal ofCandidature will be 26thMarch 2014. Date of Poll is10th April 2014 and Countingof Votes will be carried out on16th May 2014,” Ray added.She added that as per the

(See page 2)

RSC Open Sea SwimmingChampionship gets good response

Port Blair, Mar 05: The RSCOpen Sea SwimmingChampionship from RossIsland to Aberdeen Jettywas held today. The Lt.Governor, Lt Gen (Retd)A.K. Singh graced theoccasion as chief guest.The event was organizedby the Regional SportsCouncil in collaborationwith the Dept. of Sports &Youth Affairs, A&NAdministration.

The Lt. Governorwas the chief guest of theprize distribution

ceremony organized at theculminating point. The Chief

Secretary, A&N

Lt. Governor visits Prothrapur JailJail inmates present Cheque of Rs.44,600

to Lt. Governor for LG’s Relief Fund

Port Blair, Mar 05: Lt.Governor, Lt Gen (Retd) A KSingh, today visitedProthrapur Jail and inspectedthe basic facilities available for

the Jail inmates there.Interacting with the Jailinmates at a brief functionheld in the Jail premises, the

(See page 2) (See page 7)

2 06.03.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair

works although the office ofthe MP is treating them ascancelled works.

“These works hadbeen approved by former MPShri Manoranjan Bhakta, butwere sought to be cancelledby Shri Bishnu Pada Ray.This cancellation itself is aviolation of the schemeunder which the works werebeing carried out. Underprovision 3.15 of the MPLADScheme guidelines, noMember of Parliament cancancel works approved bythe former Member ofParliament during his tenure.The works that werecancelled sometime in 2010were already in progresswhen they were cancelledand on the other hand thefull amount that had beenestimated for these workswas never released by theoffice of the MP,” MariyamBibi claims.

According toMPLAD Scheme guidelines,it is envisaged that approvalof any work presupposesavailability of land for thepurpose, and site should behanded over to the executingagency right away. However,the works were cancelledmostly for non-availability of

land. This has been disclosedin the cancellation orderitself.

The money releasedagainst those works, hasalready been refunded to theDeputy Commissioner (SouthAndaman) for crediting to theMPLAD fund. Five of thenineteen works standcompleted today, theirconstruction having beeninitiated before thecancellation order wasissued. The South Andaman,Zilla Parishad has beeninforming the office of theDeputy Commissioner aboutprogress on these works fromtime to time. It is due toclerical oversig

ht that these worksare still categorized ascancelled works.For thebenefit of the public, theseworks have been completedby the Parishad inspite of thefact that the full amount ofRs.77,98,791/- sanctioned forthe works by the DistrictAdministration uponrecommendation of the MPwas never released. Todaythese works stand handedover to the user agencies andare serving the publicpurpose for which they wereconceived.

LG releases books on the history& geographical facts of the IslandsPort Blair, Mar 05: Threebooks titled-”Recreating theHistory of A&N Islands” byMr. R.N. Rath and Dr. (Mrs)Nirupma Rath, “Memories ofAndaman and Nicobar Is-lands” by M. AhmedMujtaba and “Volcano atBarren Island”, by Arif MMustafa were today releasedby the Lt Governor, Lt Gen(Retd) A. K. Singh, at asimple function held today atRaj Niwas.

In his brief addresson the occasion, the Lt Gov-ernor congratulated the au-thors of the books for theirliterary contributions and ef-forts in bringing out books onthe history and geographicalfacts of the Islands.

He stated that theywill go a long way in not justeducating the people of theIslands but also from main-land about the Islands. Hefurther observed that writ-ers and authors should basetheir writing on facts and re-search and added that as-

pects like inculcating thespir it of free enterpriseamong the youth should alsofigure in their writings. Sug-gesting that the authorsshould also write on the Post-Independence period of theseIslands, the Lt Governor saidthat modernization andprogress achieved after theIndependence era has also tobe documented and recorded.

He fur ther statedthat the Administration isbringing out a Coffee TableBook reflecting the beauty

and glory of these Islands andcalled upon the authors andwriters of the Islands toshare their valuable contribu-tions in the form of write-upsand articles for this CoffeeTable Book.

Earlier, all the threeauthors shared their views ontheir books. The Chief Sec-retary, Mr. Anand Prakash,senior officers of the Admin-istration, family members ofthe authors and prominentcitizens of the Islands werepresent on the occasion.

MPLAD Fund... (From page 1)

Administration, Mr. AnandPrakash was the guest ofhonour.

Congratulating thewinners, participants andorganizers, the Lt. Governorsaid such events should beorganized at regularintervals in the islands. Hesaid “we are blessed that weare staying in the Islandswhich has a peaceful andserene environment” andthis needs to be preserved atall cost.

Turning hisattention towards theunfortunate boat tragedywhich took place in theIslands, he said the incidentcould have been prevented.He vehemently stated thatthe safety of the tourist is ofparamount importance andthe Administration is tryingto make all tourists visitingthese Islands feel welcomed,safe and secure.

The Lt. Governorcalled upon the inhabitantsof these Islands and thestakeholders to maintain thesafety of these Islands. Hefurther added that theAdministration is committedand determined to take theIslands forward.

Earlier, the eventwas flagged off from thehistoric Ross Island byDirector General of Police,Mr. Sudhir Yadav in thepresence of Secretary, Sports

& Youth Affairs, Mr. RakeshBali. The Open Sea SwimmingChampionship witnessed atotal of 82 participants ofwhich 72 were men and 10women.

In the men’s opencategory, Mr. P.B. Barua ofTerritorial Army (154 TA) wasthe winner while Mr. S.K.Raut (154 TA) and Mr. SawCheku (154 TA) bagged thesecond and third positionrespectively.

Similarly, in thewomen’s open category, Kum.Naw Polisju (Mayabunder)bagged the first position whileKum. Neelam Madhuri Minj(Garacharma) and Kum.Holika of A&N Police won thesecond and third positionrespectively. In the above 50 yearsmen’s category, renownedsportsperson Mr. S.K. Roy(Bachu) (PAO AccountOfficer) secured the firstposition while Mr. PrshishKumar (Pahad Gaon) and Mr.Mohammed Ali (PWDAssistant Engineer) securedthe second and third positionrespectively.

The winners wereawarded with a medal,certificate and cash prize ofRs. 25,000, Rs.15,000 and Rs.10,000 respectively. Theparticipants of thecompetition were alsoawarded with a medal,certificate and a cash prize of

Rs. 1000 each. Age was not abarrier for Mr. Nandi, age 74who completed the eventfrom Ross Island to AberdeenJetty and as anencouragement he wasawarded a cash prize ofRs.5000 along with acertificate and medal.

Elaborating on thesuccess of this mega event, theSecretary Sports & YouthAffairs, Mr. Rakesh Bali saidthe safety of the swimmerswas of paramount concern.He said lot of effort was putin to ensure this includingmedical examination,

(See page 8)

(From page 1)RSC Open...

Special Camps for Voters in allPolling Stations on 9th March

Port Blair, Mar 05: The Elec-tion Commission of India hasannounced a detailed sched-ule for the ParliamentaryElections 2014. Accordingly, the  elections  to  the A & Nislands parliamentary con-stituency is to be held on 10thApril, 2014.

As per the directionsof the Election Commission,special camps will be held inall the polling stations acrossthe islands between 8 am to5 pm on Sunday, 9th March

to provide one more chanceto the left out electorates toenrol their names in the elec-toral roll by filling form No, 6.The respective Booth LevelOfficers shall be availablewith the copies of the relevantpart of the electoral rolls andnecessary forms at the spe-cial camps.

The Returning officerfor A & N Parliamentary con-stituency, P Jawahar ap-pealed to all the eligible vot-

(See page 8)

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LOK SABHA POLLS FROM 7APRIL, COUNTING ON 16 MAYNew Delhi: Lok Sabha elec-tions will be held from 7 Aprilto 12 May spread over ninedays in the highest number ofpolling days so far involvingan electorate of 81.4 crore,the Election Commission an-nounced today.Counting ofvotes in all the 543 Lok Sabhaconstituencies will be held ona single day on 16 May, ChiefElection Commissioner V SSampath announced at apress conference flanked byECs H S Brahma and S N AZaidi. Assembly elections willalso be held simultaneously inthe states of Andhra Pradesh,including Telangana region,Odisha and Sikkim. Sampathwas at pains to clarify that itis not a nine-phased pollingand the whole exercise will beover in 72 days, three daysless than the last elections.The Model Code of Conductfor parties and governments

comes into force with imme-diate effect, he said. The firstpolling day on April 7 willcover six Lok Sabha constitu-encies in two states, while thesecond on April 9 will coverseven constituencies in fivestates. 92 constituencies willgo to polls in 14 states on thethird day on April 10, while a

small number of five constitu-encies in three states will becovered on the fourth day onApril 12. The largest chunkof 122 Lok Sabha seats willgo to polls in 13 states onApril 17, the fifth day of poll,while the sixth day will wit-ness polling in 117 seats in 12

(See page 5)..................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Port Blair, Feb 05: Fol-lowed by the meeting heldwith Secretary (Health),A&N Administration in hischamber on 04.03.2014 at6.00 p.m. along with Di-rector of Health Servicesand A & N Hea lth De-partment Ward Attendant,Aya a nd S a fa iKarmachari Associationdelegation headed by Mr.P.Ka nna n, P r es ident ,

‘Pen Down Show’ called offGovernment EmployeesFederation and an assur-ance wa s given by t heSecretary (Health), A&NAdministration and Direc-tor of Health Services fora ccor ding a p p r ova l ofimplementation HospitalPatient Care Allowance/Pat ient Care Allowance(PCA/PCA) on pr ior i tybasis and requested thedel ega t ion t o c a l l of f

“Pen Down Show” by al-lowing them 15 days timefor it.

T he r efo r e t heAssociation has decidedt o C a l l Of f t he “ P enDown Show” which wass u p p os e t o commencew.e.f. 05.03.2014 at a llHospitals, CHCs, UHCs,PHCs, Dispensa r ies ofHea lth Depa r tment a llover the Islands.

Port Blair, Mar 05: The A&NAdministration has initiated adialogue for conducting exams(Nautical and Engine) underIV Act 1917, Chapter III, Sec-tion 20, at Port Blair by theBoard of Examinations forSeafarers Trust (BEST),Mumbai through PO, MMD,Kolkata. The training for con-duct of these exams by BEST,will be imparted at Dr B RAmbedkar Institute of Tech-nology, Port Blair.

   Board of Examina-tions for Seafarers Trust is acollaborative body of Instituteof Marine Engineers India andCompany of Master Marinersand an ISO 9001-2008 Certi-fied Organisation, set up in2005 to participate in activitiesthat would assist Administra-tion and the Industry as andwhen required. Further,Maharashtra Maritime Boardhas signed MOU with BESTfor conducting Inland Vesselcompetency examination for

BEST to conductIV training & exam

different grades of Deck &Engine.  Govt.  of West Ben-gal has also entrusted the con-duct of examination as per I.V.Act, to Board of Examinationsfor Seafarers Trust throughMercantile Marine Depart-ment, Kolkata.

All aspiring candi-dates desirous of obtaining IVTraining and appearing in theIV Exams (Nautical and En-gine) are requested to collectthe application format in per-son from Assistant Engineer,Port Management Board dur-ing office hours on any work-ing day or can be downloadedfrom the websitewww.and.nic.in. The applica-tions in the prescribed formatshould reach the office ofChief Port ManagementBoard, Port ManagementBoard, Post Box 52, Port Blair-744 101, A & N Islands by 25thMarch 2014, a communicationfrom the Chief Port Adminis-trator said.

Port Blair, Mar 05: The Re-gional Sports Council, SouthAndaman will be organizingvolleyball knockout tourna-ment at two different venuethat is Mini Stadium,Garacharma and Volleyball

Volleyball tournamentGround, Nayapuram fromMar 15, 2014 onwards. Allconcerned Gram Panchayatunder South Andaman juris-diction may submit the list of12 players to Shri D. DasGupta, Prothrapur, Panchayat

Samiti jurisdiction over ph.no.9933218422 and ShriHabib Ahmed, FerrargunjPanchayat Samiti jurisdictionover ph. no.9933253701 on orbefore Mar 13, 2014, a com-munication said.

Port Blair, Mar 05: The DelhiChess Association is con-ducting All India FIDE RatedTournaments for the playersrated below 1600 and 1700consecutively from Mar 21to 24 and Mar 26 to 29,2014. A chess team consist-ing of Shri Shailender Singh,

Isles players to participatein All India Chess tourney

APWD, Kumar AnmolAgarwal, Kumar AnugrahNair, as players and Man-ager-cum-Coach, Shri H.Dinesh, ALHW will be tak-ing part in the event from theAndaman Nicobar ChessAssociation, a communica-tion said.

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06.03.2014 Daily Issue::52

EDITORIAL.....Special, strategic relationship:

India is an essential partner in America’sbroader engagement with Asia

US vice-president Joseph Biden de-clared last July that India and theUS will shape "peace and prosper-ity in the 21st century''. Throughhard work and firm commitment, wehave established a lasting partner-ship that is equipped to meet not justtoday's news but tomorrow's globalchallenges.

Our successes are signifi-cant: a nearly fivefold expansion ofUS-India trade between 2000-12 toreach almost $100 billion, a thrivingdefence relationship that is foundedon a common strategic vision and acommitment to expand our partner-ship across most fields of human en-deavour — from education to inno-vation, intelligence sharing tocounterterrorism, space collabora-tion to energy cooperation — includ-ing in areas that once seemed im-possible given where our relationswere just a few short years ago.

That does not mean our re-lationship does not have real chal-lenges to overcome. Given recentevents, many wonder whether US-India ties have plateaued. Participa-tory democracy prides itself in therough-and-tumble of open discourseacross our vibrant media and our re-spective political cultures. When dif-ferences of opinion arise, we sortthrough them in a healthy, open, vig-orous public debate that befits ourvalues.I assure you the challengesto the bilateral relationship pale incomparison to the strength of ourenduring commitment. As India'sambassador to the US eloquentlynoted just two weeks ago, "Thegrand strategy underwriting our tiesis fundamentally sound."

It is becoming widely ac-cepted that our converging interestswill shape Indo-Pacific strategic andeconomic geography, and with it thefuture of the 21st century and halfthe world's population that call thisregion home.

Our counterterrorism, intel-ligence and law enforcement coop-eration will keep our peoples moresafe; our diplomatic and service-to-service partnership in the IndianOcean will keep vital sea lanes freefor navigation and commerce; andthe co-development and co-produc-tion of defence platforms will en-hance the security of both our na-tions for generations to come.

So what should we striveto accomplish, given what we havealready forged? During his trip,Biden articulated a vision of a halftrillion dollars of bilateral trade, quin-tupling our current levels. We muststrive to create more open and trans-parent trade and investment regimesthat make all our citizens more pros-perous. Stronger enforcement of in-tellectual property and patent pro-tection is not just good for Ameri-can companies but will also protectIndia's entrepreneurs, content cre-ators and investors. We shouldstrive to conclude a bilateral invest-

ment treaty that will greatly boost ourability to achieve the ambitious goal setforth by Biden.

In a globalized world, a rela-tionship like ours can't be focussed ondevelopments in Delhi and Washing-ton only, nor can it be limited to ourbilateral interests. India is an essentialpartner in America's broader engage-ment with Asia, where our interestsnaturally converge.

Over the course of this cen-tury, our governments need to workwith partners across the Indo-Pacific re-gion to ensure that all countries canenjoy the benefits of peace, stabilityand freedom that come with open soci-eties and open markets. To that pur-pose, we should seize the historic op-portunity afforded by Myanmar's open-ing to connect South and SoutheastAsia into an integrated economic land-scape. Through our trilateral dialoguewith India and Japan, we are doing justthat.We are similarly working togetherto ensure a prosperous, stable, securefuture for Afghanistan by working toconnect the economies of South andCentral Asia. India has committed morethan $2 billion in aid to increase pros-perity and stability in Afghanistan. Ithas improved its transit trade with Paki-stan and Afghanistan.The US is help-ing Afghanistan access regional energysupplies through efforts to advance theCASA-1000 hydropower initiative andthe TAPI natural gas pipeline. We arealso helping increase regional tradethrough rail and road connectivity.

In short, we are helping linkup the markets of the least economicallyintegrated neighbourhood in the worldto India, one of the most dynamiceconomies in Asia.At its core, our rela-tionship is between our two peoplesand our societies. Our educational in-stitutions, research facilities, corporateboardrooms, families, media and state-and local-level governments are forg-ing strong, diverse linkages that but-tress the work governments are doing.

Our landmark civil nuclearagreement will enable American compa-nies to assist India in building state-of-the-art reactors, capable of lighting cit-ies and powering factories eventhrough the hottest of India's summersor coldest of winters. We are also pio-neering cooperation in areas such assustainable and renewable energy,weather and monsoon forecasting, wa-ter resources, forestry and agricultureand space research.Working together,we have advanced the US-India rela-tionship in ways that will deliver unde-niable benefits for both our peoples. Wehave forged a partnership that advancesour values and interests even as we wit-ness the emergence of a truly global-ized world — brought closer by tech-nology and innovation, but still con-tending with the ills of inequality, con-flict and environmental degradation.

And at this strategic moment,the opportunity for the US and India towork together to improve lives in bothour countries and the world has neverbeen more important.

Sena slams 'businessman'Gadkari over meeting with MNS chief

MUMBAI: Continuing to targetNitin Gadkari over his plea toRaj Thackeray not to field can-didates in Lok Sabha polls, ShivSena on Wednesday said the se-nior BJP is a "businessman, whohas inked a deal with the MNSchief." Gadkari, who enjoys agood rapport with RajThackeray, had met him at a sub-urban five-star hotel two daysback, triggering speculation thatBJP was trying to win over theMNS chief into NDA for up-coming elections even as he saidthere was no reason for ShivSena to be annoyed by his meet-ing with Raj. "There is no doubtin the mind of the people ofMaharashtra that BJP leaderNitin Gadkari is a thorough busi-nessman. In the field of politicsalso he has developed a skill toget whatever he wants withoutinvesting any capital," Sena chiefUddhav Thackeray said in theeditorial of his party mouth-piece 'Saamna'.

"Gadkari is so skilled thatwithout offering any 'dakshina'(money given for one's ser-vices) to the MNS chief, he hassought his support.

"And there are reportsthat without paying or accepting

any toll, the MNS chief hasagreed to accept Gadkari's plea,"the Sena chief said taking a digat Raj over his recent agitationagainst toll. "Gadkari asked theMNS chief not to field MNSnominees to avoid division invote against Congress, whichmay harm Narendra Modi'schances of becoming the PrimeMinister," he said.

If Gadkari has such res-ervations, then it may also arisequestions in the mind of com-mon people whether the Modiwave is really strong enough,Thackeray said.

"Modi is a strong leaderand he has created a storm.There is a strong wave in favourof Modi not only there inMaharashtra, but in the entirecountry and Shiv Sena isstrongly behind him. TheMahayuti (the five-party oppo-sition alliance including Sena,BJP) has entered into the frayto win as many seats to supportModi become the Prime Min-ister," he said. "If Modi is great,the people of Maharashtra willwholeheartedly vote for him.Therefore, nobody should beconcerned about the division ofvotes," Thackeray added.

06.03.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair 5

states on April 24. The sev-enth day of polling on April 30will choose representatives in89 constituencies spreadover nine states and theeighth day on May 7 willcover 64 seats in sevenstates. Polling will concludeon the ninth day on May 12with elections in 41 constitu-encies in three states. AndhraPradesh, which has 42 LokSabha seats, will go to pollson April 30 and May 7. Elec-tions in the respective assem-bly segments will be held si-multaneously. The first day ofpolling on April 30 will cover17 Lok Sabha seats and 119Assembly seats in theTelangana region and thesecond on May 7 will cover25 Lok Sabha seats and 175Assembly seats in theSeemandhra region.Sampath explained that irre-spective of the appointed dayfor the creation of the newstate of Telangana, electionswill be held in the Lok Sabhaand Assembly constituenciesas they exist today. The cor-responding Lok Sabha andAssembly constituencieswould go to the respectivestates once the bifurcationprocess of the state is com-plete. Arunachal Pradesh willhave single day polling onApril 9 to cover two con-stituencies, while Assam with14 Lok Sabha seats will havea three-day poll on April 7,12 and 24. Battlestate ofBihar with 40 constituencieswill have polling on six daysbeginning April 10, 17, 24,30 and May 7 and 12.Naxal-hit state ofChhattisgarh will witness athree-day poll on April 10,17 and 24 to elect 11 MPs,while the small state of Goa

LOK SABHA POLLS FROM 7 APRIL, COUNTING...... (From page 1)

with two constituencies willhave a single day polling onApril 17. Gujarat (26 seats),Haryana (10) and HimachalPradesh (4) will have a singleday polling on April 30, April10 and May 7 respectively.Kerala (20) and Karnataka(28) will also have a singleday polling on April 10 and17 respectively. Jammu andKashmir with six Lok Sabhaseats will witness polling onfive days on April 10, 17, 24,30 and May 7, whileJharkhand with 14 seats willgo to polls on three days -April 10, 17 and 24. 29 seatsin Madhya Pradesh and 48seats in Maharashtra will goto polls on three days - April10, 17 and 24. Two seats inManipur will go to polls onApril 9 and 17 while itsneighbours Meghalaya (2),Mizoram (1) and Nagaland(1) will go to polls on a singleday on April 9. Odisha (21LS seats) will have a two daypolling on April 10 and 17 toelect 10 and 11 constituen-cies respectively. On thesame days, assembly elec-tions will be held on 70 and77 assembly segments re-spectively. Punjab will havea single-day polling on April30 to elect 13 MPs, whileTamil Nadu (39 seats) andPuducherry (1) and will goto polls on April 24.Uttarakhand (5) will go topolls on May 7. Voters inRajasthan with 25 seats willexercise their franchise onApril 17 and 24 to elect 20on the first day and 5 MPson the other day. Sikkim'slone Lok Sabha seat will goto polls on April 12 while si-multaneously electing its 32-member Assembly. Tripurawith two seats will witness a

two-day poll on April 7 and12 while heartland UttarPradesh will choose 80 MPson six days on April 10, 17,24, 30 and May 7 and 12.West Bengal will go to pollson five days to elect 42 MPson April 17, 24, 30, May 7and 12. NCT of Delhi withseven seats will have a singleday poll on April 10. Like-wise the Union Territories ofAndaman and Nicobar Is-lands, Chandigarh andLakshadweep will choosetheir lone representatives onApril 10, while Dadra andNagar Haveli and Damanand Diu will elect their solerepresentatives on April 30.The total electorate in thecountry as per final publishedE-rolls with January 1, 2014as the cut-off date is about81.45 crore compared to71.3 crore in 2009, an in-crease of more than 10 croreelectors. Over 2.3 crore newelectors in this age group of18 to 19 years, constituting2.88 per cent of total elec-tors have been added. Thelast election had seen an in-crease of 0.75 per cent in thisage group. The number ofelectors enrolled as "Others"gender that comprisingtransgenders is 28,314.There are also 11,844 over-seas electors in the currentelectoral rolls and another13,28,621 service electors.The Chief Election Commis-sioner appealed to the politi-cal parties and candidates touphold the peerless demo-cratic traditions of the nationby maintaining high standardsof political discourse andfairplay in their election cam-paign. Reassuring the nationof its commitment to holdfree, fair and credible elec-

tions, Sampath exhorted the1.1 crore election officials torededicate themselves to thetasks associated with theconduct of elections as a sa-cred duty. He also calledupon all voters to reinforcethe democratic ethos of thenation by turning up at poll-ing stations and exercisingtheir right to vote in an in-formed and ethical manner.Bye-elections to 23 vacan-cies in Bihar (2), Gujarat (7),Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Tamil Naduand Mizoram (one each),Uttar Pradesh (4) and WestBengal (6) will be held simul-taneously on the dates ofLok Sabha elections in thesestates. The Commission alsoallowed a last chance to allsuch eligible voters whosenames have been deletedfrom the electoral rolls forsome reason to be registeredagain. "The EC has directedthat a special camp beorganised at all 9.30 lakhpolling stations on March 9for this purpose," Sampathsaid. The electoral rolls areready after being updatedwith January one this year asthe cut-off date and will beput up at polling booths for afinal check by voters. TheEC will use EVMs for theLok Sabha elections and atotal of over 17 lakh EVMswill be deployed during thepolls. For the first time in par-liamentary polls, a system ofpaper trail for electronic vot-ing will be introduced in someconstituencies on a trial basisand the Commission is in theprocess of procuring 20,000EVMs which will be deployedfor this purpose. The EC isalso introducing a system ofoptional e-filing of affidavits

by candidates to ensure thatno omission is made out. Acandidate will have to file ahard copy of the affidavitalong with the nomination pa-per. In case a column is leftblank, the Returning Officerwill send a notice to the can-didate for filing a fresh one,failing which the nomination isliable to be rejected follow-ing a Supreme Court direc-tive in this regard. The Com-mission has also issued guide-lines to political parties ask-ing them to explain the ratio-nale of financing the promisesthey make in their electionmanifestos. The guidelinesthat followed Supreme Courtdirections in this regard havenow been made part of theModel Code. From the com-ing elections, candidates in aparliamentary constituency inbigger states can spend up toRs 70 lakh on their campaign,up from Rs 40 lakh in 2011.In the 2009 elections, it wasRs 25 lakh.

Another first in theLok Sabha elections will bethe introduction of "None ofthe Above" (NOTA) optionin voting, which came intovogue in the assembly elec-tions a few months ago. A to-tal of 1.1 crore poll person-nel, half of them being secu-rity forces, will be deployedfor the smooth conduct ofpolls and to ensure that theyare free and fair. A databaseof the civilian staff to be de-ployed for conducting pollshas been prepared and at least5.5 million civilian staff wouldbe deployed. The list of cen-tral government employees tobe deployed for poll duty asmicro-observers in sensitivepolling stations has also beenprepared. PTI

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Deep sea speciesmake 95% of world's fish

SYDNEY: Fish that live inthe mesopelagic zones consti-tute 95 per cent of the world'sfish biomass, marine biologistshave found.Mesopelagic fishlive between 100 and 1000metres below the surface.

The discovery high-lights that mesopelagic fish inthe earth's oceans constitute10 to 30 times more biomassthan previously thought."Thisvery large stock of fish thatwe have just discovered thatholds 95 per cent of all the fishbiomass in the world is un-touched by fishers," said theresearchers.Scientists haveattributed the secret behindtheir vast population to theircapacity to avoid fish nets

and prowling eyes of thebirds.They have large eyes tosee in the dim light, and alsoenhanced pressure-sensitivity.

"They are able to de-tect nets from at least fivemetres and avoid them," notedprofessor Carlos Duarte ofUniversity of WesternAustralia.Duarte led a seven-month circumnavigation ofthe globe in the Spanish re-search vessel Hesperideswith a team of scientists col-lecting echo-soundings ofmesopelagic fish.He saidmost mesopelagic speciestend to feed near the surfaceat night, and move to deeperlayers in the daytime to avoidbirds.

Stonehenge may just be agiant musical instrument!onehenge may have been thehome of early rock music,according to a new studywhich suggests that the pre-historic monument was builtas a giant musical instrument.

Researchers in theUK bashed more than 1,000types of rock and found thatthe bluestones, which formedthe earliest stone circle, pro-duce a unique sound.

While most rocksmake a dull thud, the blue-stones 'sing', researcherssaid.

This unique sonicproperty could be whyneolithic men dragged thehuge stones 321 km from thePreseli Hills inPembrokeshire, West Wales,to Salisbury Plain, inWiltshire, 'The Times'reported.The theory couldalso explain why the stoneswere arranged in a circle —so that the sound they maderesonated.The researchers,from the Royal College of Art,were granted access toStonehenge by English Heri-

tage and allowed to 'play' thestructure.

"We found it was anoteworthy soundscape, witha significant percentage of theactual rocks making metallicsounds like bells, gongs, tindrums, etc, when tapped withsmall, handheld'hammerstones'," said PaulDevereux, one of the leadersof the study.

"There had to besomething special about theserocks otherwise why wouldyou take them from Wales allthe way to Salisbury Plain?

"The stones may

have been thought to havemagical qualities because oftheir exceptional sonic nature.We have percussionists whohave been able to get propertunes out of the rocks. This isreal rock music," Devereuxsaid.

According to RupertTill, from the University ofHuddersfield, who has madea separate study of the soundsof Stonehenge, themonument's acoustics werewell known to the Victorians.

The research is pub-lished in the archaeologicaljournal Time and Mind.

06.03.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair 7

Elections for... (From page 1)

direction of ECI, SpecialCamps shall be held in allPolling Stations on 9thMarch 2014 throughout theAndaman and NicobarIslands.

“The BLO’s shall beavailable with copies of theElectoral Roll and Form-6.This will give an opportunityto persons to avail of one morechance to check whethertheir name etc. is on the Rolland to take action to includetheir names,” the CEO added.

Sharing Elector’sdata Mrs. Ray said that totalnumber of voters in all threedistricts of Andaman andNicobar Islands is 2,57,859,out of which 136357 are maleand 121502 are female. Shesaid that there will be total386 polling stations inAndaman and NicobarIslands to ensure convenience

of voter and smooth polling.“The Pilopatia

Polling Station no. 369,Campbell Bay located inNicobar District has theminimum number of votersi.e. 9 and Atlanta Point,Polling Station no.185,located in South AndamanDistrict has the maximumnumber of voters i.e. 1313,”She added.

The CEO informedthat the southernmostPolling Station of the countryis Shastri Nagar(P.S. No 384)in the Campbell Bay Sub-division of District Nicobar.She said that total number ofPolling Stations hasincreased from 345 in 2009to 386 and total votes from2,41,353 to 2,57,859.

“From this election,the option of NOTA (None OfThe Above) on the ballot

paper will be introduced.Photo Voters Slips will begiven at the doorstep of allelectors towards the date ofpoll. This will serve as areminder to the voter and aninvitation to vote. It willcontain details such as EPICNo, location of the PollingStation, etc.,” the CEO said.

According to theCEO 100 percent EPICcoverage has been achievedin two distr icts namelyN&M Andaman andNicobar of A&N which isduly confirmed by theElectoral Registration Officerthrough the two DistrictElection Officers and inSouth Andaman district99.4% EPIC coverage hasbeen achieved and efforts arebeing made to attain 100%EPIC coverage in SouthAndaman also.

Kejriwal in Gujarat, says no evidence of development in stateRADHANPUR:Taking onNarendra Modi on his hometurf, AAP leader ArvindKejriwal on Wednesday ac-cused the BJP PM of tryingto stall his visit to Gujarat af-ter he was briefly “detained”by police and said he did notfind any evidence of devel-opment claimed by the chiefminister.

As he embarked onhis four-day tour to verifyModi’s claims of providingwater, power, education andhealthcare to people of hisstate, the former Delhi chiefminister was taken toRadhanpur police station innorth Gujarat and allowed togo after half an hour.

AAP’s stateconvenor Sukhdev Patelclaimed that Kejriwal was

detained but police denied itsaying they had only“briefed” Kejriwal on themodel code of conductwhich came into force todaywith the declaration of pollschedule.

Kejr iwal a llegedthat the police had acted onthe “orders from the top”.“We came to know in themorning itself that all theDSPs have been instructedto stop Kejriwal under anycircumstances. Modi hasalso been sending somepeople with black flags. Weknow they will resort to suchtactics,” Kejriwal said.

“They stopped usand claimed that we wereviolating the model code ofconduct. I told them thatnone of our vehicles is car-

rying stickers or any sym-bol of our party. So we wereallowed to go,” Kejriwalsaid.

But police had a dif-ferent version. “He was notdetained. Since the electiondates are announced, we justwanted to make sure that hefollows the model code ofconduct and take due per-mission. Thus, we took himto police station to brief himabout the same,” ParikshitaRathod, Patan district su-perintendent of police toldPTI.

Kejriwal was heck-led at some places by pro-testers who showed blackflags and shouted slogansthat AAP is “anti-Narmada”and called him an “agent ofCongress”.

AAP has fieldedNBA leader Medha Patkarfrom North East Mumbai.Kejriwal, on his route fromAhmedabad city to NorthGujarat on the first day ofhis four-day tour, interactedwith villagers, visited gov-ernment hospitals in back-ward areas and addressedsmall gatherings where heurged people to reject BJPand Congress.

After visiting a fewvillages in North Gujarat, he

said that “no evidence ofdevelopment is to beseen”. “Gujarat govern-ment and the media saysthere is ‘Ramrajya’ in thisstate. (They say) Educa-tion has developed, healthissues have been resolved,corruption has beenfinished. . .So we havecome here to see that de-velopment in Gujarat,” hehad said on his arrival atthe city airport thismorning.

1985 cut-off for domicilein Uttarakhand: SC

DEHRADUN: The SupremeCourt on Monday upheld a2013 Nainital high court or-der granting domicile andcaste certificates to peopleresiding in Uttarakhand since1985. More than 40 lakhpeople who live in the state'sfour plain districts will ben-efit from the order, said se-nior government officials.

A Supreme Courtbench of Justice SudhansuJyoti Mukhopadhyay andJustice Kurian Joseph dis-missed former chairperson ofthe Uttarakhand RajyaNirman AndolankariSamman Parishad RavindraJugran's petition challengingthe HC order. Dehradun-resident Jugran said he is tak-ing legal advice and is con-

templating filing another re-view petition in the apexcourt. On August 17, 2012,the high court had stated thatany person living inUttarakhand since Novem-ber 9, 2000 — the day whenthe state was formed — wasentitled to get domicile andcaste certificates. The orderwas challenged and on May25, 2013 a HC benchchanged the cut-off date to1985.

Jugran moved SC inSeptember 2013, saying theorder was in violation of theConstitution and a presiden-tial order, which entitles any-one staying anywhere in thecountry since 1950 to getdomicile certificate of thatplace.

Lt. Governor appreciated thecompassionate gesture shownby the inmates, who presenteda cheque of Rs 44,600 to the Lt.Governor as a contributiontowards the LG’s relief fund.The donation itself reflects thefeeling of humanity and caringattitude of the Jail inmates,who despite living a stressfuland hard life thought to helpthe needy people of theseIslands by their contributiontowards the noble cause, the Lt.Governor said. The inmateshave contributed towards theLG’s Relief fund by donatingthe money from their wages.

The Lt. Governorinteracted with the inmatesincluding the foreignnationals.  Describing Jail as areformation center, the Lt.Governor directed the Jailauthorities to ensure that basic

facilities are provided to theseinmates, which should be upto the mark. He also issueddirection to the Secretary (Law)to make available sports andrecreational facilities for theinmates. Directions wereissued for upgrading thelibrary facilities and providinginformative books andmagazines besidesnewspapers so that theseinmates are aware of thedevelopments taking placeoutside. The Lt. Governor alsomet the women inmates in thejail and enquired about theirwell being. He also saw thehandicraft works of thewomen inmates. The Lt.Governor also visited thekitchen block and had a tasteof the food prepared for theinmates. Thereafter, he visitedthe medical block and

interacted with the inmatepatients there. Directions wereissued to evolve somemechanism so that doctorsand nurses are available on callduty to take care of the healthneeds of the inmates. The Lt.Governor also visited theworkshop block whereinmates are being impartedtraining in different tradessuch as carpentry, furnituremaking and handicrafts fromcane and bamboo, tailoringand weaving. A memento waspresented to the Lt. Governorby the jail inmates on theoccasion.   DGP, Shri SudhirYadav, Secretary (Law), ShriG.Theva Neethi Dhas, the IG(Prison) Shri Pankaj KumarSingh, Superintendent Jail,Shri K. C Meena and JailorMohd Haneef were present onthe occasion.

Lt. Governor... (From page 1)

Address: Roy Villa, INS Utkrosh Road, New Pahargaon, Garacharma Post Office- 744105, South Andaman. Ph: 09932082892. [email protected], [email protected]

City Office: Andaman Sheekha, D & K City Building, Ground Floor, RGT Road, Port Blair. A & N Islands.

Edited, Published, Printed and Owned by Shri Sanjib Kumar Roy and Published from Roy Villa, INS Utkrosh Road, New Pahargaon,Garacharma Post Office- 744105,South Andaman, A & N Islands. Printed at Royal Printers, Bargat Line, South Andaman. Editor: Shri Sanjib Kumar Roy.

8 06.03.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair

PM's group clears 147projects worth Rs 5 lakh crore

NEW DELHI: Set up to trackstalled mega investmentschemes, the Prime Minister'sProject Monitoring Group(PMG) has cleared 147projects, entailing an invest-ment of around Rs 5 lakhcrore.

"PMG has facilitatedclearance to 147 projectsworth about Rs 5 lakh crorein which more than 200 issues,including environment and for-est clearances, were in-volved," said PMG chairmanAnil Swarup while addressingthe media here today at a CIIconference on reviving invest-ments.

In 100 out of 147projects facilitated by thePMG, Rs 3.1 lakh crore in-vestments have been made asper the industry figures,Swarup said, adding thatthese entailed a total invest-ment of Rs 3.8 lakh crore.

A large number ofprojects related to coal, andthe monitoring of the schemeshas ensured that fuel supplyagreements have been signedbetween power firms and coalcompanies for about 70,000MW, out of the targetted78,000 MW.

He asserted thatmonitoring of the schemeswas creating a pressure on theministries which were expe-diting the process and washopeful to roll out digitisationat least in the ministry of en-vironment and forest (MoEF)by July.

"First we have taken

digitisation process withMoEF and are discussingwith other ministries includ-ing mines. Hopefully, we willbe rolling out by July 1. Weare not changing any processso we are not going to attractElection Commission's atten-tion. We are tracking thefiles," he said.

PMG's vision is tomake every informationavailable on the web, therebycreating transparencythrough IT-related applica-tions, he said, adding that"specific details, however,would be available to projectproponents only as I don'twant companies to poach intoother's areas."

Asked whether theprocess would be impacteddue to the upcoming LokSabha elections, Swarup said,"Election Commission basi-cally prevents taking policydecisions. If a routine clear-ance is to be given which is

stuck somewhere, I don'tthink anyone is going to ob-ject to it. We only ensuretimely decisions are taken andit will continue."

He added that 13states have decided to set upsimilar PMGs. "We have toldstates that we are ready toshare the portal with them andthey can start monitoring theprojects below Rs 1,000crore. This is irrespective ofpolitical colour. It is apolitical,"he stressed.

On projects thatwere rejected, he said, a num-ber of them were rejected,including two which were ask-ing for domestic gas as therewas no gas availability.

PMG has identifiedover 435 stalled projectsworth around Rs 20 lakhcrore, pending for years.

The PMG was set upin June last year to facilitateand fast-track projects by re-solving specific issues.

MOVING EYES...

Fully loaded or Over Loaded…? (Pic: Andaman Sheekha)

swimming proficiency andbriefing.

He also expressedhis happiness t hat theevent was a success andcongratulated the sportspersons.

Ear lier , theDirector, Sports & YouthAffairs, Mr. Lucas Robertwelcomed the gathering.

The event was witnessedby higher Officers from theAdministration, IG CoastGuard, senior officers ofA&N Police and peoplefrom all walks of life.

The eventconcluded with the vote ofthanks proposed by theChairman, RSC, Mr. K.Ganeshan.

(From page 2)RSC Open...

ers to avail this opportunitybefore the electoral rollsare finalized.

The voters can alsocheck their names in theelectoral rolls by visiting thew e b s i t e  www.and.nic.in and  thenclicking under Parliamen-tary Elections 2014 andavail search option eitherby name or EPIC number .

 The  voters  can  also  availSMS facility by typing AN(space ) EPICNO (type alldigits of EPIC) and sendSMS to 51969.

A toll free number1950 has also been setup inthe election control room toinform the general publicabout their Booth levelofficer.(PIB)

Special Camps... (From page 2)