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V O I C E O F T H E P E O P L E

Chandigarh New Delhi Jalandhar Bathinda Srinagar Friday, June 21, 2013 28 pages `3.00Vol. 133 No. 170 Late City Edition

Todays issue is of 28 pages, including

six-page Chandigarh Tribune andfour-page Life+Style.

A free six-page pull-out of HaryanaPlus only in Haryana.

SANJEEV SHARMA/TNS

NEW DELHI, JUNE 20

The rupee sank today to an all-time low of just under 60 tothe dollar amid fears that theliquidity tap of the US Feder-al Reserve will be graduallyturned off. The Sensex fol-lowed suit plunging 526points, its biggest fall in near-ly two years.

The rupee which has beengradually weakening over thepast month fell by almost 130paisa in a single day to toucha new low of 59.95, just shortof the 60 mark.

Both the rupee and stockmarkets were weak as the

world went into a tizzyanalysing US Federal Reservechairman Ben Bernankescomments indicating slowingdown the monetary stimulusthat has kept financial mar-kets afloat since the Lehmancrash of 2008.

Gold prices also crashed toa two-and-a-half-year low.

The Finance Ministry said itwas ready to take steps to curbvolatility in the rupee and waswatching the situation closely.

Analysts said emergingeconomies such as India andrisky asset classes were bear-ing the brunt of the fall.

Reena Rohit, chief manager,Angel Commodities Broking,said the panic seen afterBernankes announcementyesterday clearly showed thatthe world financial markets

witnessed withdrawal symp-toms much ahead of the stim-ulus pullback process.

The fear of removal ofexcess liquidity from marketsand its impact on the worldeconomy led to sharp sellingacross risky asset classesimmediately after theannouncement by the FederalReserve, she said.

The weakness in the rupee

will make things tougher forhouseholds as petrol pricesContinued on page 11

NEW DELHI, JUNE 20

India has launched a wide-ranging surveillance pro-gramme that will give itssecurity agencies and evenincome tax officials the abil-ity to tap directly into e-mailsand phone calls without over-sight by courts or parliament,several sources said.

The expanded surveillancein the world's most populousdemocracy, which the gov-

ernment says will help safe-guard national security, hasalarmed privacy advocates

at a time when allegations ofmassive US digital snooping

beyond American shoreshave set off a global furore.The Central Monitoring

System (CMS) wasannounced in 2011 but there

has been no public debate andthe government has said littleabout how it will work or

how it will ensure that the sys-tem is not abused. The gov-ernment started to quietly rollthe system out state by state inApril this year, according togovernment officials.

Eventually, it will be able totarget over 900 million land-line and mobile phone sub-scribers and 120 million Inter-net users. Home Ministryspokesman KS Dhatwalia saidhe did not have details of CMS

and therefore could not com-ment on the privacy concerns.A spokeswoman for the

Telecommunications Ministry,which will oversee CMS, didnot respond to queries. Indianofficials said making details ofthe project public would limitits effectiveness as a clandes-tine intelligence-gatheringtool. "Security of the countryis very important. All countrieshave these surveillance pro-grammes," said a seniorTelecommunications Ministryofficial, defending the need

for a large-scale eavesdrop-ping system like CMS.Continued on page 11

SUSHIL MANAV/TNS

SIRSA, JUNE 20

Anxiety is writ large on theface of 33-year-old Savitri asshe comes to meet the head-mistress of her daughter Parulsschool with a notice in hand.

The school authorities haveasked her to immediatelyrefund the monthly scholar-ship that Parul (13) has beengetting as a below povertyline (BPL) student a statusshe has lost after a re-surveyconducted by the authorities.

As Savitri tells the head-mistress that being from avery poor background, shewill not be able to refund themoney, which is in thou-sands, Parul starts sobbing ather mothers helplessness.

The headmistress, who had

sent a notice to Paruls parentsaccusing them of committingforgery by siphoning of schol-

arship to which they were notentitled and had even threat-ened to lodge an FIR, startscalming down Parul.

Why do you weep beta?Your parents may be poor,but you are not. You have a

caring mother and father tolook after your needs, theheadmistress tries to com-fort Parul.

Over 50 families fromRania held a demonstrationoutside the mini-secretariat in

Sirsa and submitted a memo-randum to Additional DeputyCommissioner Shiv PrashadSharma that their financialposition did not allow them toreturn the money that theauthorities were demandingas refund of benefits they hadenjoyed due to their BPLsta-tus over the past five years.

Scenes like this are beingwitnessed in every villageand town in Haryana, as theauthorities have startedrecovery of benefits receivedby nearly 1.69 lakh familiesin the state. These familieswere on the BPL list earlier,but have lost that status now.

The authorities are mere-ly complying with the ordersof the Punjab and HaryanaHigh Court, said FatehabadAdditional Deputy Commis-

sioner Rajiv Rattan. Over13,000 families fromContinued on page 11

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE & PTI

DEHRADUN/NEW DELHI, JUNE 20

Rescue and relief operationswere intensified on a massivescale today in flood-ravagedUttarakhand as multiple agen-cies evacuated the worst-affected Kedarnath town andother areas even as the deathtoll is feared to be in thousands.

Union Home Ministry offi-cials said over 50,000 peoplewere stranded in variousparts of the state that was hitby flash floods and landslips.

Cabinet Secretary Ajit

Kumar Seth held a reviewmeeting with top Central andUttarakhand government offi-cials and issued directions tospeed up rescue operations.

The official death toll stillstood at 150 but CM Vijay

Bahuguna said the casualtiescould run into several hun-dreds which will be knownonly when areas becomeaccessible and water recedes.

The state governments dis-aster mitigation and manage-

ment centre said the casualtiescould run into thousands withabout 90 dharamshalas (rest-houses for pilgrims) sweptaway in the flash floods. In the

wake of poor connectivity andcommunication, relatives of

several pilgrims, who camefrom outside the state, werestruggling to find the where-abouts of their dear ones.Uttarakhand Principal Secre-

tary (Home) Om Prakash toldreporters that 1,000 people

have been evacuated from dif-ferent places.The Defence and Home

ministries today collectivelystepped up relief operations

by inducting more choppersand more troops. Lt Gen NSBawa General Officer Com-manding, Uttar-Bharat Area,Bareilly, said: It may be tooearly to give a count of sur-vivors or those missing orpossibly dead. At present, thetroops on the ground are busyin rescue work.

ITBP DG Ajay Chaddhasaid: Currently, we donthave any estimate. The realpicture will emerge only afterall people are rescued.

The Army has rushed inmore men, including med-ical and engineersteams, toUttarakhand.

The Army and the IndianAir Force are collectivelyoperating 37 helicopters.Continued on page 11

More reports on P2

INSIDENATION

CBI grills ex-Coal SecyThe CBI on Thursdayquizzed former Secretaryof the Coal Ministry, HCGupta, in connection withfive cases registered oncharges of allegedirregularities in coal blocksallocations. P2

WORLD

No US-Taliban talksThe US on Thursday said

it has not scheduled talkswith the Taliban afterreports that discussionswith the Afghan rebelgroup could begin thisweek in Qatar. P13

BACK PAGE

Food Security Bill

Slamming Oppositionparties for creatinghurdles in passing of theFood Security bill,Congress president SoniaGandhi on Thursdayaccused them of creatinginstability in the country.

Re touches a new low,just shy of 60 to dollar

THAT SINKINGFEELING

Rupee falls by almost 130paisa in a day against dollar

Weakening rupee set to makecrude oil, fertilizers, iron ore,electronic consumer goodssuch as computers,televisions, mobiles, etc. withimported components costlier

Sensex plunges over 526points, its biggest single-dayfall in nearly two years

The steep fall is attributed toUS Federal Reserves plan toexit monetary stimulustriggering massive offloading ofshares by investors

TAPPING PHONE CALLS, EMAILS Central Monitoring System was announced in 2011. The

government started to roll the system out state by state in April

The new system will allow the government to listen to and tapephone conversations, read e-mails and text messages, monitorposts on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn

In 2012, India sent in 4,750 requests to Google Inc for user data,the highest in the world after the United States

The government has stepped up efforts to monitor the activities ofmilitant groups after deadly Mumbai attacks in 20 08

90 DHARAMSHALAS SWEPTAWAY 90 dharamshalas (resthouses for pilgrims) have been swept away in flash floods

The Uttarkashi-Yamunotri highway was opened for traffic on Thursday afterwhich 18,000 stranded pilgrims were able to reach Rishikesh

Food, medicines and other essentials were being carried to the needy by thedefence forces

NO YATRA FOR 3 YEARSPilgrimage to the shrines of Kedarnathand Badrinath in the rain-ravagedUttarakhand cannot resume for threeyears due to extensive damage causedby heavy rains and floods, an officialsaid on Thursday.

BURDENING THE POOR A survey was conducted in Haryana after which 1,68,676 families

were found to be ineligible for BPL status

The HC ordered the govt to cancel BPL cards of such families andrecover the benefits received by them over the past five years

Authorities have started recovery of benefits from all such families,but poor families say they are not in a position to return the money

BPL STATUS NORMS Every family gets points on the bases of a set criteria. They get three

points for a four marla house; two for a TV set; two for a matriculatemember; three if any family member has a lowly paid job etc.

The family that crosses five points, loses its BPL status

WHAT IT ENTAILS Subsidised ration. Scholarship for sch oolchildren

Free treatment under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY)

Grants under various welfare schemes

1.69 lakh Haryana families lose BPL tag

Onlookers react to fallingSensex outside the BSE

on Thursday. AFP

Govt snooping programme on since April

Toll may be in several hundreds: Ukhand CM