œND‰‰†‰KœND‰‰†‰œND‰‰†‰MœND‰‰†‰C OF INDIA Today is Gurupurnima or Vyasa NEWNEW KIDSKIDS Purnima. The great scholar Vyasa, who THETHE wrote the divine epic Mahabharata ONON THETHE and codified the Vedas, was born on this day. It celebrates the might X-FILESX-FILES of the guru or teacher through BLOCKBLOCK respect and reverence. SPECIALSPECIAL REPORTREPORT ALL THAT MATTERS New Delhi July 13, 2003, Capital • 40 pages including Men & Women & Classifieds + 8 pages of Delhi Times Price Rs. 2.75 SNAPSHOTS I hit him AP Dollar India dreams bigger and bolder with bottle, Graphic: Neelabh By Priya Ranjan Dash going to the US for medical rise against the dollar is TIMES NEWS NETWORK treatment. not temporary.The debate is in- confesses The rupee has been on the stead over the point at New Delhi: The Sharmas to- rise against the greenback for which the rupee’s appreciation day have no regrets over the the past several months. On would rest. Exec’s wife fact that they had to postpone Friday, it ended at 46.12, a 33- Last month, market opera- TIMES NEWS NETWORK their summer travel to the US month high tors were predicting that by a couple of against the dollar. the rupee would breach the Chandigarh: Swapna, months. On Fri- And the benefits Rs 46 mark towards the end wife of Delhi-based sen- day, while buying are being felt all of the year. ior executive Mandiv dollars for the SUNDAY around. The rupee is already nearing Sapra who was found family’s upcom- Undergraduate that mark and poised to go murdered in a five-star ing trip, Mr Shar- SPECIAL study in a good US past it this week. Over the hotel suite here on Fri- ma found that his university, for in- next one year, many operators day morning, has told ‘basic travel quota’ of $5000 stance, costs up to $20,000 a now speculate that one dollar the police she killed her cost him at least Rs 15,000 less year, even with 50 per cent fi- would perhaps fetch less husband. In her confes- than it would have in April. nancial aid. With each dollar than Rs 40. sion, Swapna says he For Indian travellers, the US now costing Rs 3 less to Indian “The days of Rs 50 to a dollar died after she attacked is turning out to be a much parents, there is clearly an an- are definitely over,” says a top him with a broken bottle cheaper destination than it was nual saving of Rs 60,000. come cheaper — not just con- dia with US inputs. policy-advisor in the govern- while the couple was last year.There are similar ben- Besides, the weakening of sumer goods being directly im- Moreover, financial analysts ment. “The rupee can only gain having a fight. efits accruing to others, includ- the dollar also means that US ported from the US but also and policy-makers are unani- against the dollar from here on- She said her husband Two divers practise a synchronised ing Indian students and those goods in the Indian market be- those which are produced in In- mous that the rupee’s current wards,” he feels. was badly drunk and jump from the 10 m platform against when she tried to stop the backdrop of Barcelona’s skyline on AP him, he hit her with a Saturday. The diving competitions of broken bottle. In the the 10th FINA swimming world champi- scuffle, she struck him onships start in Barcelona on Sunday. US may abolish H1-B visa with the same bottle on his neck. Shia leader for Hurriyat: Chairman of By Chidanand Rajghatta United States has roused sen- brought down the number. The police have to de- the Ittehadul Muslimeen, Molvi Abas TIMES NEWS NETWORK timents against white collar The latest report from India’s cide now if the bottle immigration. National Association of Soft- was the fatal instrument Ansari, was unanimously elected the Washington: The H1-B visa leader of the Hurriyat making him the first The move, if it comes to ware and Service Companies or the blood-stained scis- is on the chopping block Shia leader of the 23-party conglomerate. fruition, will particularly (Nasscom) says India ac- sors found next to his again. A prominent anti-im- Five out of the six members of the execu- hurt Indian business inter- counted for 77,000 H1-B visas body. She is said to have migration lawmaker has tive council voted for him. P6 ests, which used to snag in 2001 but only 33,000 in 2002, used surgical gloves to introduced in the US Con- about 50 per cent of all H1-B and the total is expected to wipe the blood from Omar pulls out of NDA: National Con- gress, a Bill that seeks to Mandiv’s neck. The ference president Omar Abdullah an- visas before the current eco- drop to 30,000 this year. abolish the visa category gloves were found in her nounced the withdrawal of his party from nomic downturn in the US More recently, the US has that facilitates a large num- and job migration to India vanity case. The police the NDA here on Saturday. As one of the ber of skilled Indian profes- been unable to issue even the reasons for him quitting the ruling coali- reduced quota of H1-B visas say Swapna is still not in sionals take up jobs in the Closed-door policy a state to talk at length. tion, he cited NDA’s‘‘insensitivity’’ to the United States. despite attempts at farming NC’s views on the situation in Kashmir Swapna has said she The move is certain to be it out to other non-technical and in Gujarat. P6 decided to commit sui- opposed by US high-tech professionals like teachers and nurses. But immigration cide after killing Mandiv. BJP may toe RSS-VHP line: Under companies and many other She first tried to injure the combined pressure of the VHP and lawmakers considering that of any sort is anathema to Tancredo, who last month in- herself with the broken the RSS, the BJP’s central leadership the H1-B visa cap is slated to bottle, then tied a dupat- agreed late on Saturday to consider the be brought down from its curred the wrath of the possibility of introducing a Central law on White House by suggesting ta tightly around her peak of nearly 200,000 per neck and tried to drown the construction of a Ram temple at the that if there was another ter- year in the year 2000 to its herself in the bathtub. disputed site at Ayodhya. P9 rorist attack on the United original level of 65,000. But The couple had left States, and it was done by Ananth quits cabinet: Union urban even that is too much for Delhi in a company car • The H1-B visa cap someone who had entered development and poverty alleviation min- Congressman Tom Tancredo. on Thursday morning may be brought the country illegally, ‘‘then ister Ananth Kumar has resigned from the Often described as a one- down from 200,000 to and checked in at the ho- cabinet to take up his assignment as BJP the blood of the people that trick pony and a single-issue 65,000 tel around 4.45 pm. chief for Karnataka ahead of next year’s Congressman, Tancredo has are killed will be on our Swapna is a senior resi- assembly polls. P9 campaigned relentlessly • The move will particu- hands and the president’s.’’ dent consultant at Apol- TN strike called off: Faced with the against both illegal and legal larly hurt the interests Tancredo’s bill has been lo Hospital. This was her tough stand taken by Tamil Nadu chief immigration. But as chair- of Indian business spurred by a campaign by second marriage and his man of the Congressional US tech workers, who are minister Jayalalithaa, government em- India accounted for third. They have a son, Immigration Reform Caucus • losing jobs in increasing ployees in the state called off their 77,000 H1-B visas in 12, from Swapna’s previ- now, his 15-line Bill aimed at numbers through a combina- 11-day strike on Saturday, a day after 2001 against only ous marriage. Swapna the Madras High Court declined to eliminating all visas under tion of immigration, out- 33,000 in 2002 has told the police their intervene in the dismissal of the strikers the H1-B category introduced sourcing and advancement marriage was not a cor- under ESMA. this week goes further • This year it may drop of technical skills outside dial one and they used to Roop Kanwar case: After nearly a than he has done before at a to 30,000 US, wage differentials and have fights. decade, a special court resumed the Pilgrims wait to offer prayers at Amarnath, 150 km from Srinagar. time when job loss in the other factors. hearing in the cases under the Prevention of Sati Act registered against 21 people in the aftermath of the infa- mous Roop Kanwar case in 1987, follow- Explain equity status, Govt tells Star ing rejection of their appeals by the Supreme Court. TIMES NEWS NETWORK In a tersely worded letter the marked. While one company Scribes’ meet in Islamabad: A I&B ministry has asked Star with a 25 per cent share has one South Asian media association has invit- New Delhi: In the light of ‘‘dis- News to clarify its share struc- director, another with an equal ed 45 Indian parliamentarians and jour- crepancies’’ detected in Star ture and its level of adherence to stake does not have one.