Anbaale Azhagana Veedu Serial Hindi Name

<p> TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2011 46 Pages Rs. 2.50 City Edition Chennai</p><p>ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 134 No. 51 Regd. TN/ARD/17/09-11 RNI No. 1001/57</p><p>www.thehindu.com www.thehindu.in</p><p>DMK ALLOTS VCK 10 SEATSPAGE 4</p><p>HIGH COURT ORDER STAYEDPAGE 14</p><p>KINGS SPEECH SWEEPS OSCARSPAGE 15</p><p>HAT-TRICK BY ROACHPAGE 21</p><p>Printed at Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Madurai, Delhi, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Vijayawada, Mangalore, Tiruchirapalli, Kolkata and Hubli</p><p>India seeks landing rights inside LibyaNEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday said it had sought aircraft landing rights in Sehba in interior Libya, where over 1,000 Indians have been stranded after anti-government protesters took control of several cities, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said here. PTI</p><p>BRIEFLY</p><p>Infosys Pai to head panel on new IIITsNEW DELHI: The Centre has decided to set up a sixmember committee headed by T.V. Mohandas Pai of Infosys to study and recommend the criteria for selecting private partners for the setting up of 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology. PTI</p><p>Sentencing today?AHMEDABAD: A special court here is likely to pronounce the quantum of punishment for the 31 convicts in the 2002 Godhra train burning case on Tuesday. PTI</p><p>Bhopal gas leak case: notice to MNCsNEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Union Carbide Corporation, Dow Chemicals and others on the Centres plea for increasing compensation to the victims of the Bhopal gas leak. PTI Page 14</p><p>METROPLUS 6 Pages</p><p>YOUNG WORLD 16 Pages (Tabloid)</p><p>SUDOKU Main Sports Page</p><p>An exercise in the interregnumAshok DasguptaNEW DELHI: In a cautious budget crafted amid continuing high ination and uncertain global signals, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday steered clear of any big-bang reform announcements. Instead, through a slew of seemingly piecemeal measures, he sought to sustain the economic growth momentum, strengthen infrastructure to enable a shift to higher growth in the years ahead and reduce social imbalances through some effort at inclusive development. Alongside, while taking specic steps for the longer term to moderate the rise in prices, particularly of farm produce, Mr. Mukherjee proposed to leave a trie more in the pockets of all taxpayers as token compensation for the high ination during the last 18 months and chose not to go ahead with the rollback of stimulus measures that was extended to industry during the global meltdown. In effect, the rate of excise duty as well as service tax is maintained at 10 per cent. Understandably, the bud-</p><p>UNION BUDGET 2011-12get evoked divergent reactions. While large sections of industry lauded the proposals as growth-oriented and pro-reform, others, mainly the Opposition parties, derided the Finance Ministers efforts as a lost opportunity and exercise without direction. However, in reality, Mr. Mukherjees package of measures is an exercise in the interregnum, as the budget is aimed at consolidation rather than conquest It is evident that Mr. Mukherjee has sought to utilise the 2011-12 scal as a year to prepare the economy for bigticket reforms in the following year. The countrys taxation regime, both direct and indirect levies, is set for a sea change through implementation of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) and the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Ination has to be moderated to tolerable levels while maintaining the current growth momentum. During his speech in the Lok Sabha, he indicated that the budget was a transition towards a more transparent and result-oriented economic management system and while developments on the countrys external sector were encouraging, continued high food prices remained the</p><p>governments principal concern. In fact, the trend revealed shortcomings in distribution and marketing which showed up in huge differences between wholesale and retail prices at the expense of remunerative prices for farmers and competitive prices for consumers. This explains the stress on development of infrastructure for the farm sector, including infrastructure status for cold chains. In an effort to placate the salaried class, Mr. Mukherjee raised the income tax exemption limit from Rs. 1.60 lakh to Rs. 1.80 lakh to leave at least an extra Rs. 2,000 in the hands of taxpayers and brought down the age limit of senior citizens to 60 from 65</p><p>Pranab takes on board Sonias concernsDevelopment Services (ICDS): he announced that NEW DELHI: Union Finance the government had Minister Pranab Mukherjee indexed the wage rates made sure to defer to the notied under the Sonia Gandhi-led National MGNREGS to the Advisory Councils Consumer Price Index for priorities as he presented agricultural labour, thus the Union budget for 2011- enhancing signicantly the 2012 on Monday. wages of the beneciaries The Minister took care to across the country. mention that the Food Mr. Mukherjee doubled Security Bill, the NACs top the remuneration for priority, was almost ready anganwadi workers and and would be brought helpers, whom he described before Parliament later this as the backbone of the year. He also took on board ICDS. the NACs concerns on the These interventions come Mahatma Gandhi National in the wake of NAC Rural Employment members raising the issue Guarantee Scheme of inadequate wage rates for (MGNREGS) and the MGNREGS workers, and Integrated Child the setting up of a separate Smita Gupta Working Group within the NAC on ICDS reforms. Similarly, Ms. Gandhi recently wrote to Tribal Affairs Minister Kantilal Bhuria expressing her concern at the condition of Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) on the Andaman and Nicobar islands, compelling him to make a visit there. In his budget speech, Mr. Mukherjee announced that the allocation for PTGs would be enhanced from Rs. 185 crore in 2010-11 to Rs. 244 crore in 2011-12. Incidentally, the NAC has a Working Group looking specically at Denotied and Nomadic Tribes and another on Tribal Development.</p><p>to provide an increased basic exemption limit of Rs. 2.50 lakh. However, he chose to leave the tax exemption limit of women taxpayers unchanged at Rs 1.90 lakh. While keeping the excise and service tax rates unchanged at 10%, he imposed a levy of 1% on 130 other items, excluding food and fuel, which were hitherto exempted from the duty. Vowing to bring in various legislation and charting a roadmap for nancial sector reforms, Mr. Mukherjee raised spending on the social sector by 17 per cent to Rs. 1,60,887 crore, on infrastructure by 23 per cent to Rs. 2,14,000 crore, and increased the credit target for farmers from Rs. 3.75 lakh crore to Rs. 4.75 lakh crore. Some relief was there for corporates too. He sought to reduce the existing income tax surcharge of 7.5 per cent on domestic companies to ve per cent but hiked the Minimum Alternate Tax from 18 to 18.5 per cent. As for service tax, Mr. Mukherjee sought to widen its ambit whereby hotel accommodation above Rs. 1,000 a day and AC restaurants that serve liquor will come under the net. Alongside, the scope of life insurance service is being widened to cover all services provided to any person by an insurer and legal services provided by a business entity to individuals and by individuals to entities, but not by individuals to individuals. See Editorial; More reports on Pages 12, 13 &amp; Business Pages...CH-CH</p><p>2</p><p>CHENNAI</p><p>CHENNAI</p><p>THE HINDU</p><p>TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2011</p><p>CITY</p><p>Union budget industry-friendly: CIIDescribing the Union budget as industry-friendly, the CIISR gave 8.5 out of 10 points to Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee: Page 9</p><p>Court orders notice on Ranjithas petitionThe Karnataka High Court ordered emergent notice to the government and media in connection with a petition led by actor Ranjitha: Page 5</p><p>Exhibition on wildlifeThe refurbished Coral and other Invertebrates Gallery and an exhibition on wildlife crimes at the Government Museum, Egmore, will be inaugurated at 11 a.m.</p><p>Aesthetic ambience</p><p>Debt burden more on women: P. SainathNot considered farmers since the land is not in their nameSpecial CorrespondentCHENNAI: While indebtedness is one common factor that unites the poor in rural India, the burden is doubled if one is a woman or belongs to certain caste groups, P.Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor, The Hindu, said. While statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau put the number of farmer suicides as 2.6 lakh between 1995 and 2010, this still did not count the vast majority of suicides that take place in rural areas in the farming sector.</p><p>GLOWING: A nocturnal view of the Marina Beach from the Light House - PHOTO: R.RAGU</p><p>One group that is not counted is women farmers who do the bulk of the work in the elds, and are driven to suicide by poverty and loans they could never repay. They are not considered farmers because the land is not in their name, and in most States they do not have land rights. Mr. Sainath was delivering the 16th Mary Clubvala Jhadhav Endowment Lecture, organised by the Madras School of Social work in the city on Monday. Suicide by the elder son of a family who took over the land of his father, and his debts</p><p>too, is not counted either, for the same reason that the land is not in his name. Dalits and Adivasis who commit suicides are not part of the ofcial statistics as most of them do not have clear titles to the land they farm on. From 1991, one of the fastest growing heads of expenditure in the country has been health. It is the second fastest growing component of rural spending in India, Mr. Sainath said. According to the National Sample Survey, the average farm household spends on health double the amount it spends on</p><p>education. One indicator would be to watch what the members of the household, particularly women, are eating. Their diet had shrunk so much, what with the prices of agricultural commodities rising as a consequence of futures trading. The price rise is never matched by commensurate compensation for farmers, he added. The entry of corporates into agricultural retail will also lead to the closure of several small shops that provide employment to a large number of people.</p><p>Hilton Chennai opens Plaints about cooking gas supply remainSpecial CorrespondentCHENNAI: The city is now home</p><p>Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited launches mega LPG safety campaignSpecial CorrespondentCHENNAI: The State Consum-</p><p>to yet another star hotel, with the inauguration of Hilton Chennai on Monday. Spacious and swanky, the 10-storeyed hotel is located on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai, Ekkaduthangal. With over 200 guest rooms and suites, a contemporary caf, a restaurant showcasing coastal cuisine, a wine and cheese bar, an all-day restaurant serving global cuisine, a bar, conference halls, and interesting leisure and entertainment options, the hotel promises to add excitement to the citys hospitality canvas. The interiors have been designed with the aim of evoking a feel of old Madras, both in the restaurants and in the room dcor. Speaking at the launch, M.P. Purushothaman, chairman of the Empee group, said the group made a humble beginning in the early seventies with a small restaurant in Chennai and had, over the years, spread its wings to several businesses, including distillery, brewery, hotels, power and construction. He was happy to see Hilton Chennai, a ve star deluxe hotel, he said, adding that it was all set to become another landmark in the city. Chairman and Managing</p><p>NEW ENTRANT: Hilton Chennai in Ekkaduthangal which opened on Monday. PHOTO: S.S.KUMARDirector of Indian Overseas Bank M. Narendra, who inaugurated the hotel, congratulated the Empee group on coming up with such a facility. Managing director and CEO of United Stick Exchange T.S. Narayanaswamy and managing director of Empee Hotels Ltd Nisha Purushothaman were among those present. The hotel, Hilton Worldwides fourth property in India, will have the advantage of being in close proximity to the airport and IT parks, speakers said.</p><p>In the last few years, there was a slight increase in the number of accidents in households, particularly because of the proliferation of LPG to rural areas. Noting that the idea for the safety campaign came from Mr. Swaran Singh and Mr. Balachandran, he said it is duty of the company to ensure safety of the customers. Bharat Gas distributors would be involved in the programme. After Chennai, the company would conduct the campaign in Coimbatore. A. Ramanakumar, Territory Manager (LPG), Chennai, of BPCL said the well designed van equipped with an LCD would cover 2,000 km in and around the city in the next 40 days. Consumer Protection department, inaugurates the LPG safety campaign of Creating awareness It would cover 20,000 BPCL, in Chennai on Monday. PHOTO: S. THANTHONI Underscoring the need for customers. creating awareness about utors should address this as timely, prompt action, dents, as compared to other The company would also LPG safety among the con- issue. he said safety instructions parts of the country, was distribute 1,500 CDs to mulsumers, especially in the Swaran Singh, Principal should be given in a simple minimum, there was need to ti-storeyed residential comcontext of some households Secretary, Cooperation, way. take LPG safety campaign to plexes and residents having more than two cylin- Food and Consumer ProtecThe State, he added, has rural areas. welfare associations, conders, Mr. Balachandran said tion department, agged off got the maximum LPG conKurian P. Chandy, Re- sumers groups, schools and there were also complaints the safety campaign vehicle nections. It was only the gional LPG Manager (South) colleges to spread the messabout delivery boys de- and released a CD on LPG State where people were giv- of BPCL, said the campaign age on LPG safety. manding tips. safety. en free LPG connections. in Chennai was a pilot proSkits would be staged as The cooking gas distribDescribing the campaign Though the number of acci- ject and it would be conduct- part of the campaign.</p><p>er Helpline (28592828) continues to receive complaints from cooking gas customers that their booking for rell cylinder is not accepted before 21 days from the date of previous supply. This despite the Petroleum Secretarys assurance, in October last year, that the oil companies would not insist on maintaining a threeweek gap between two rells, said Ka. Balachandran, Commissioner, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection. He was participating in the launch function of the mega LPG safety campaign of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) here on Monday. The households found it difcult as the cylinders were supplied only some days after the 21 days gap. SAFETY FIRST: Swaran Singh, Principal Secretary, Cooperation, Food and</p><p>ed in other parts of the State too.</p><p>Increase in accidents</p><p>Doubt clearing classes mixed responsesLiffy ThomasCHENNAI: P.S. Kesavan has</p><p>Despite demand, doubt clearing classes are offered only for slow learners For students eager to a...</p>