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www.thehindu.in Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 6 No. 187 CITY EDITION 24 Pages Rs. 8.00 ●

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Printed at Chennai, Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Madurai, Noida, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Vijayawada, Mangaluru, Tiruchirapalli, Kolkata, Hubballi, Mohali, Allahabad, Malappuram and Mumbai

Initial reports on workers exaggerated, says Saudi envoy

Rajnath takes dig at Pakistan over SAARC meeting arrangements

Hillary gets 15-point national lead over Trump, says poll

Rangana Herath’s hat-trick puts Sri Lanka on top in second Test

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BRIEFLY Delhi HC orders security for Sasikala NEW DELHI/TIRUNELVELI: The

Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Delhi Police to provide security to Rajya Sabha MP and expelled AIADMK leader Sasikala Pushpa for her movement to and from the Upper House after she alleged a threat to her life and that of her family.

쐍 NEWS | PAGE 12 Death of Dalit man: 15 policemen suspended LUCKNOW: Fifteen policemen

were suspended and some of them booked for murder in Kanpur district after a Dalit man was found dead in custody under suspicious circumstances on Thursday. Kamal Valmiki was picked up at Chakeri on Tuesday night in a case of loot.

쐍 NEWS | PAGE 13 Shelter home inmates forced to forgo phones NEW DELHI: Inmates of After Care Home, a facility meant for the rehabilitation of girls above the age of 18 who were either abandoned by their parents or lost their families early in life, at the Nirmal Chhaya Complex in West Delhi, have been forced to surrender their cell phones on the orders of Delhi Social Welfare Minister Sandeep Kumar.

쐍 CITY | PAGE 4 METROPLUS MELANGE — 4 Pages

14 dead as Bodo men Amit Shah protégé Rupani named CM target Assam market Nitin Patel to be Gujarat Deputy CM, Anandiben unhappy MAHESH LANGA

NDFB(S) faction suspected to be involved in attack in Kokrajhar

AHMEDABAD: After high drama at a meeting of top leaders to name a successor to outgoing Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, the BJP on Friday named party president Amit Shah’s protégé and first time MLA Vijay Rupani as Chief Minister while Nitin Patel, backed by Ms. Patel, was named his deputy. The meeting, held before the legislature party meeting, reportedly witnessed heated arguments between

PRABIR KUMAR TALUKDAR GUWAHATI: At least 14 people,

including one militant were killed, and over 20 injured when suspected Bodo militants attacked Balajan Tiniali market of Kokrajhar district in Assam on Friday afternoon. This was the first major insurgency-related strike in the State after the Bharatiya Janata Party took over the reins of Dispur following a massive win in the Assembly election in May this year. The Kokrajhar district is a Bodo-dominated area and has been a centre of ethnic conflicts for a long time. Speaking to the media, L.R. Bishnoi, ADGP said: “Three militants came in a shared tempo bearing AS 16C-6540 number at around 12.30 p.m. They fired indiscriminately at the general public. A quick response attack by the police led to the killing of one militant who has been identified as Bodo. One AK-56 rifle, a mobile phone, two SIM cards, a Chinese grenade and three bags

COMBING BEGINS: Security men in action after gunmen attacked a market near Kokrajhar in Assam on Friday. — PHOTO: PTI have been recovered from him.” Mr. Bishnoi said the mastermind behind the attack is suspected to be the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) led by I.K. Songbijit. The other two militants were suspected to be holed up somewhere in the area and a hunt for them was on, he added. Six of the 13 civilians killed have been identified as: Mazhar Ali, Salam Ali, Danda Basumatary, Moniram Basumatary, Parmeswar Basumatary and Tapan Chakraborty. The injured have been rushed to the Barpeta Medical College. A sixyear-old girl named Hothai Narzary is said to have been

gravely injured and will be taken to the Gauhati Medical College by Saturday. Condemning the killings as an act of cowardice, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal directed the Finance, Education and Health Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, to rush to the spot and review the situation. Speaking to journalists at Kokrajhar, Mr. Himanta said: “The involvement of the NDFB(S) is suspected. We have found a photo from the militant shot down by the police and it’s clear that he belongs to this faction.”

쐍 MOBILE POINTS TO

FACTION’S INVOLVEMENT; A VICIOUS GROUP | PAGE 13

BJP leader Purshotam Rupala greets Vijay Rupani (left) after he was elected CM in Gandhinagar on Friday. — PHOTO: VIJAY SONEJI Mr. Shah and Ms. Patel on the issue of the Patidar agitation and the selection of the new

CM. “Ms. Patel even reportedly threatened to leave the meeting half way but Mr.

Shah did not budge from his backing to Mr. Rupani,” a senior party leader told The Hindu. As the arguments continued, organising secretary V. Satish stepped out and reportedly called the Prime Minister to brief him on the situation. After a delay of several hours, central observer Nitin Gadkari briefed the media in the presence of Ms. Patel, Mr. Rupani and Mr. Patel while Mr. Shah skipped the briefing and Ms. Patel refused to talk during the interaction.

쐍 ANANDIBEN BREAKS DOWN AT MEETING; THE RISE AND RISE OF RUPANI | PAGE 12

Privilege motion against The Hindu in Maharashtra

All washed up

SHARAD VYAS MUMBAI: Maharashtra Women

THE GREAT CHURNING: Municipal workers collect garbage ejected by the sea at Marine Drive in Mumbai on Friday. Heavy rain lashed Mumbai, leaving several parts of the city water-logged. Train services were disrupted. — PHOTO: VIVEK BENDRE

and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde on Friday moved a breach of privilege motion against The Hindu in the Assembly for its report on her ‘close partnership’ with a road contractor. She criticised the August 3 report — ‘Pankaja Munde had close ties to road scamtainted company’ — claiming it was part of a larger conspiracy to tarnish her image.

REPORT BASELESS, SAYS PANKAJA | PAGE 12

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3 killed, 150 injured in Kashmir clashes PEERZADA ASHIQ SRINAGAR: Three civilians were

killed and around 150 were injured as fast-spreading protests and clashes convulsed large parts of the Kashmir Valley and the Muslim belts of the Jammu region where Internet was blocked again on Friday. Anti-government rallies were taken out in around 45 places in the Valley’s 10 districts after Friday prayers. Two civilians were killed in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, indicating a further escalation as the deaths took place in a relatively less volatile district. One student was killed in Baramulla’s Sopore area in clashes.

RAGING FURY: Protesters clash with the police over civilian killings in Srinagar on Friday. — PHOTO: NISSAR AHMAD The death toll has risen to 55 since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an operation on July 8 that triggered a massive public backlash. Police sources said fierce clashes broke out in south Kashmir’s volatile districts of

Shopian, Anantnag, Kulgam and Pulwama, leaving scores of protesters injured. In north Kashmir’s Kupwara and Baramulla districts, medical emergencies were declared in hospitals to manage the rush of injured protesters. Scores were wounded in

Bandipora and Ganderbal districts after rallies turned violent when the security forces disallowed the marches. Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital confirmed receiving protesters who sustained pellet and bullet injuries. The hospital also witnessed clashes as the dead were being ferried to their respective areas. According to oicial figures, more than 4,600 people, including security personnel, have been injured in the ongoing unrest in Kashmir. In Srinagar, separatist leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Geelani were arrested in an attempt to foil their march towards the Hazratbal Shrine.

First challenge HC verdict, SC tells AAP govt. KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL NEW DELHI: Barely 24 hours after

the Delhi High Court put paid to its eforts to free Delhi from the Centre’s stranglehold, the Supreme Court refused to hear a suit filed by the Arvind Kejriwal government seeking clarity on the ratio of power between his Cabinet and the NDA government in the administration of the Capital. Instead, the apex court asked the AAP government to do first things first — like challenging Thursday’s Delhi High Court judgment. The verdict has efectively shrunk Kejriwal Cabinet’s administrative girth and confirmed Lt-Governor Najeeb Jung’s pre-eminence in administering the Capital. The tenor of the hearing before a Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and N.V. Ramana on Friday conveyed the court’s scepticism about the multiple litigation resorted to by the Delhi government in the High Court and its repeated forays to the Supreme Court over the past months. “Please record that our special leave petition against the Delhi High Court will be filed this week itself. You can record it,” senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the Delhi government, assured the Bench. CONTINUED ON| PAGE 12

쐍 CM YK

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THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

People should go to L-G for civic issues now: AAP

‘U.P. making millions from Taj Mahal, unable to protect it’

A day after the HC ruling, AAP leaders said people should now approach the L-G with civic amenities-related issues Page 4

Uttar Pradesh is unable to protect the Taj Mahal, from which it is “making ‘millions”, said the National Green Tribunal on Friday Page 6

A big fat joke – not

FILM REVIEWS

Run Budhia run The film explores the multiple moral dilemmas that surround the true story of the long-distance child prodigy NAMRATA JOSHI

The timing couldn’t have been better. It is entirely fitting that on the eve of the Rio Olympics a sports film — Budhia Singh: Born To Run — on an Indian child marathoner, should hit the screens. What’s more significant, however, is that Budhia Singh manages to break away from several principle arcs and formulae even while remaining squarely within the conventions of a typical Indian sports film. The film is not weighed down by the burden of nationalism; in fact it inverts and questions it. It is not quite about winning for India. Then there is the ‘triumph of the underdog’ cliché. Yes, there is an underprivileged child at the heart of the film but we don’t wallow in the squalor of his slum life in Bhubaneshwar. Nor do we celebrate his rise up from the bottom of the heap. It is about how India can actually crush its own hope for medals, trample a champion on the margins of the society than help him blossom. In fact it also makes us debate whether it is entirely ethical in dreaming of a champion in a mere five-year-old? For a change, it’s also good not to have Mumbai and Delhi as the centre of action in a Hindi film. Soumendra Padhi, a new filmmaker from Orissa, comes up with an assured debut: nicely paced, well-crafted and entirely engaging. A film that is rooted in the State, brings alive the sights, sounds, lingo, colours and flavours of Orissa, right down to the defining dessert — chhena poda — and yet manages to speak to all. Yes, the film is on the wonder boy from Orissa, Budhia Singh (Mayur Patole), but it’s not quite right to describe it as a biopic. It is not about that talented little boy but the circus that was built around him. The boy, who wets his bed, can’t even tie his shoelaces and can hardly comprehend the significance of long-distance running. There is a candidness and honesty with which he talks about it when asked by the school teacher on what

CM YK

PERFECT PAIR: Mayur Patole is perfectly cast as Budhia and Manoj Bajpayee as his coach Biranchi Das. There’s an indescribable togetherness in shots of them on the run. he did in the morning, “Hage aur bhage (went to the washroom and ran)”. For him running is as fundamental as the daily ablutions. He is not in it for the country, the money, the prestige. He is in it because somebody has spotted the winner in him and is egging him on: his coach Biranchi Das (Manoj Bajpayee). Like another good sports film, Paan Singh Tomar, the world of Budhia is riddled with complexities, at the heart of which is Das himself. He’s an ambitious man who drives a five-year-old round the bend relentlessly, pushes him to the limits, yet cares enough to get him a new pair of shoes, feeds him almonds and apples and cries silently on getting separated from him. Is he stealing away Budhia’s childhood by turning him into a “performing monkey”? Or is Das preparing him for a cham-

★★★★★ Budhia Singh: Born To Run Director: Soumendra Padhi Starring: Manoj Bajpayee, Mayur Patole, Shruti Marathe, Tillotama Shome, Gajraj Rao, Chhaya Kadam Run time: 111 minutes pion’s life ahead? Is he exploiting him for the media or using Budhia to fight for his own just cause? Much rests on Bajpayee’s seemingly efortless performance as the judo coach who trains 22 orphans in his hostel and also runs a dhaba and a salon to make ends meet. Not once does Bajpayee appear to act and finely balances out Das: neither a

hero, nor a villain, just a human being with flaws and warts. There is a fine line that separates ambition from obsession, a visionary from an opportunist and Bajpayee’s Biranchi stands very well on it. The best bit about the film is how it looks at these grey zones (right down to the rapaciousness of the real mother played by Tillotama Shome) without being judgmental. Patole is perfectly cast as Budhia. Those inches that separate him and Bajpayee physically in height, make the pair a perfect visual foil for each other. There’s an indescribable togetherness in the shots of them on the run: a slip of a guy on a 70-oddkm-long Puri-Bhubaneshwar road that is melting in the scorching heat with the man he implicitly trusts by his side. It’s an odd couple; and such an afecting one at

that. The relationship of Biranchi with his wife, Gita (Shruti Marathe), the world they have built around them, is just as fascinating. Here’s a woman who has left her own career behind (hinted at). Who looks after the orphans even as she craves for a child of her own. Who feels the twinge of jealousy for the Indian-American filmmaker documenting their lives. Who can sense the perils in her husband’s blindness to everything other than Budhia’s marathon. There’s much that gets communicated by Marathe through her silent gaze and a mere twitch of the fluid face. The motley group of orphans, their camaraderie, competitiveness, the rivalries and jealousies also reach out just as much. It’s the oicialdom and politicians that get painted with broad brushstrokes,

turned almost caricaturelike. The Child Welfare Committee gets seen as entirely villainous, especially in view of the intrigue underlining Das’s eventual fate. Towards the end, the film sheds all its complexity and the tenor becomes simplistic and emotional. The message coming out eventually is that a young athlete’s career should not have been thwarted, that he shouldn’t have been deprived of a father figure. Indeed, it is utterly ridiculous that someone who was once seen as the medal hope for 2016 Olympics should still be under a ban from running. But the human toll of running 48 marathons back then at the tender age of five? I am still debating with myself on that, still not convinced enough to take either side of the argument.

NAMRATA JOSHI

★★★★★

F

The Legend of Michael Mishra

or some strange reason, all through The Legend of Michael Mishra, I was closely following the antics of the extras: in the crowd scenes, in the song-and-dance routines, and as listeners in the central narrative tool of Boman Irani telling us the rather protracted backstory of Michael Mishra. The overenthusiastic, unintentionally funny acts in the sideshow betray a total lack of control by the director with what he had in hand. Forget the actors on the margins: he doesn’t even seem to have supervised the core of the film, its script. Clearly there’s a lot that slips between ambition and intent and the absolutely amateurish execution of it onscreen. The director probably would have had lofty dreams, that of spinning a quirky and whimsical film. Where the simpleton tailor hero (Arshad Warsi) accidentally kills a don and becomes a kidnapper. He falls in love with a girl (Aditi Rao Hydari), especially with the way she says hello, goes to the gallows to reform himself and becomes a tailor back again. It’s a diferent matter that he gets back to the sewing machine only to stitch some ghastly babasuit-like uniforms for himself and the other prison inmates. I am sure that they’d have preferred death sentence to being stuck in those clothes the rest of their lives. Things steadily go from the dull and unfunny to

Director: Manish Jha Starring: Arshad Warsi, Aditi Rao Hydari, Boman Irani, Kayoze Irani Runtime: 124 mins downright idiotic and ridiculous. The hero eats some 200 green chillies in a competition with his eyes turning red and blood oozing out of his nose, all to prove his love for the heroine. Despite the heavy duty title, the film plays out so flat and lifeless that the viewer couldn’t care less. What you get in the name of whimsy is sheer inanity, boredom and irritation. Some Groucho Marx masks may have been worn by the characters in a couple of the scenes in the film, but that doesn’t lend the film any of Marx’s crackling humour. The film’s backdrop is Bihar, a tacky one at that, where people spew lines like “Kutwa pipewa mein phans gawa hai (the dog is stuck in the pipe)”. No, don’t ask me to elaborate on the context please. Warsi looks totally disinterested as Michael, sleep walking through the film. Then there is the ladylove, Rao Hydari who smiles in ditzy fashion and dances weirdly to a song which is about the spelling of cow. C.O.W. No, I am not joking. It’s the film that is a big joke.

ODD COUPLE: Arshad Warsi looks disinterested as Michael and his ladylove, Aditi Rao Hydari, smiles in ditzy fashion.

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NO MINOR CRIME

Senior police officers said the woman drove the boy to hospital before surrendering

Teacher beats up 13-year-old in East Delhi SHUBHOMOY SIKDAR

I am not at fault: DU lecturer who ‘ran over’ 11-year-old boy

NEW DELHI: A 13-year-old student

SHIV SUNNY

Had not done homework His class had been asked to learn a list of Sanskrit words, which was supposed to be recited the next day. The 13-year-old, who was absent the day the assignment was given, was allegedly assaulted by the teacher at a government school in East Delhi’s Surajmal Vihar. The boy's father told The Hindu that when his son could not provide the meaning of the Sanskrit words, the accused teacher Ram Vilas held him by the

NEW DELHI: A DU assistant lec-

turer, who was allegedly on her mobile phone while driving her Alto car, ran over and killed an 11-year-old boy cycling to school in South-West Delhi’s Najafgarh. An eyewitness claimed that the errant driver, identified as Ms. Anupama Aggarwal, tried to flee from the spot but was caught and handed over to the police. Senior police oicers, however, said that Ms. Aggarwal herself drove the boy to hospital before surrendering. Police said that Ms. Aggarwal is an assistant lecturer in the Home Science department in Delhi University’s Bhagini Nivedita College, which is located in Kair near Najafgarh. She lives in South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj. Responding to the allegations, Ms. Aggarwal told The Hindu that she was not using a mobile phone at the time of the accident. “I was not talk-

My son succumbed to injuries after three hours of treatment. The car had crushed his abdomen

FREAK ACCIDENT: Eyewitnesses said that the woman was using her mobile phone when she hit the bo'; his father (right) has a denting and painting business. PHOTOS: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT ing on the phone. I never use my mobile phone while driving,” she said while adding that she herself rushed the boy to the hospital. “I was not at fault,” she added. Boy was cycling to school The deceased, Nitesh, lived with his parents and three siblings in Roshanpura area of Najafgarh. His father Mukesh Maan, who is paralysed in one leg, has a denting and painting business in the area. Nitesh was cycling to a local government school around 1 p.m. on Wednesday when the accident took place on the Najafgarh-Gurgaon road. Vikas, who claimed to be an eyewitness, said Ms. Aggarwal was trying to avoid a bad patch on the road when her

Court orders recovery of education loan NIRNIMESH KUMAR NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has

allowed the Janakpuri branch of State Bank of India to recover Rs.5.54 lakh from a graduate and his father for defaulting on an education loan of Rs.3.71 lakh for doing BTech from Haryana Institute of Technology in 2007. The student and the father were co-borrowers and mother the guarantor. The court passed the decree for recovery ex parte as the three respondents did not respond to the court’s notices on the suit filed by the bank even after publication in a newspaper. The chief branch manager of the bank’s centralised recovery branch at Janakpuri had moved the court for recovery of the outstanding amount. The bank had sanctioned the loan at an interest of 12.75 per cent per year. It had sought recovery of the outstanding amount at an interest rate of 14.50 per cent per annum along with cost of the suit. Borrowers did not comply with agreement The bank submitted before the court that the borrowers had failed to comply

NEW DELHI: A 25-year-old youth

was beaten to death while his friend suffered serious injuries following an argument with a group of youths at a liquor vend in north-west Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar on Thursday evening. According to the police, the deceased — Irfan — had gone with his friend to a liquor shop near his house where he allegedly got into a heated argument, which escalated into a scuffle, with the accused. The reason behind the argument is yet to be ascertained. CCTV camera captured incident

Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) Vijay Singh said the incident has been caught on a CCTV camera

He, however, said the woman had confessed to hitting the boy. The victim, meanwhile, was rushed to a nearby hospital in Ms. Aggarwal’s Alto car. “My son succumbed to injuries after three hours of treatment. The car had crushed his abdomen,” said Nitesh’s father, Mukesh. The woman, who was arrested for causing death by negligence and rash and negligent driving, was later let out on bail. The DCP said that the accused even attended the boy’s last rites, but was greeted by a hostile crowd. “The woman maintained a dignified stance and told the crowd that she was ready to face the legal consequences of her actions,” the DCP said.

with the loan agreement and committed regular defaults in repayment despite repeated demands, notices and personal visits by the bank staf. The repayment instalment was Rs.8,405 per month. “The testimony of Surender Kumar [the chief manager of the centralised recovery branch] remained unrebutted and the borrowers chose to remain ex parte. It is evident that the bank has succeeded in proving its case against them,” Additional District Judge Kaveri Baweja said. “Accordingly, the bank is allowed and a decree of recovery of Rs.5,54,394 along with interest at the rate of nine per cent per annum from the date of institution of the suit till realisation of the decreed amount is passed in favour of the bank and against the borrowers. The plaintif bank shall also be entitled to the costs of the suit,” Ms. Baweja said.

installed near the shop. Irfan lived with his family at Rajiv Nagar near Bhalswa Dairy in north-west Delhi. Irfan and his father, Wasimuddin, repair shock absorbers for automobiles. He is survived by his wife, two children, and parents. Wasimuddin purportedly told the police that his son was at the shop around 4 p.m. on Thursday when his friend Rahul arrived and took Irfan away. Two hours later, some policemen arrived at the shop and informed Wasimuddin that his son had met with an accident. They told him that Irfan had been admitted to Babu Jag Jivan Ram hospital. Eyewitnesses are believed to have called the PCR after which Irfan and his friend were taken to a nearby hospital where Irfan was declared brought dead. His friend is undergoing treatment, said a police officer.

hand. “He asked another boy to hold the other hand, making it diicult for my child to free himself. The other boy twisted his arm while the teacher landed one blow after the other even as my son kept crying in pain,” he said. Was asked not to tell anyone The father added that Mr. Vilas had cautioned the child to not disclose the episode to anyone. “He was silent after coming back from school. But when he went to sleep, he started crying in pain. When his mother asked him what happened, he told her what had happened in school,” he said.

The family then took the child to Hedgewar hospital and contacted advocate Deepak Bansal on Friday, who helped them getting a case registered. About the child’s condition now, the father said the boy was recuperating. Doctors, however, have said that things can take a turn for the worse if lumps form on the injured body parts. About the school’s response, the father said that the principal questioned the need to approach the police before raising the issue before the management. “My experience has been that it usually leads to an apology from the teacher,” said the father who is disabled and runs a grocery shop. A police oicer said the teacher has been booked for assault, wrongful restraint and violating the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act. He is likely to be questioned soon.

One held for smuggling arms into Capital Burglar caught STAFF REPORTER NEW DELHI: The Special Cell of the Delhi Police has arrested a 27-year-old man for allegedly smuggling guns into Delhi-NCR and western UP from Bihar. As many as 19 guns — 10 country-made pistols of .315 bore and nine long barrel country-made guns of 12 bore — besides 20 cartridges of .315 bore were seized from him, the police said on Friday.

Weapons came from Bihar The accused, Asad Ali, had been sourcing the illicit weapons from Bihar. In February, the Special Cell had arrested Savinder Kumar and recovered 50 so-

Accused told the police that he had been involved in the illegal trade of arms for two years phisticated pistols. Asad Ali’s name had come up during sustained interrogation and after receiving specific inputs about a group of criminals involved in the illegal arms supply racket. Asad was arrested from Dwarka on Thursday. During interrogation, he reportedly disclosed that he had been involved in the illegal trade of arms since two years. “He further revealed that he used to purchase coun-

try-made firearms of .315 bore with five cartridges for Rs. 8,000 to 7,000; and long barrel guns of .315 bore for Rs. 10,000 to 12,000. On every sale, he earned a profit of Rs. 5,000 to 6,000,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Saneev Yadav. Mr. Yadav added that last year, Asad was arrested twice in UP and found to be possessing weapons. “In February last year, when he was arrested, he was found in possession of four illegal weapons. He also attacked the police team that was trying to nab him. He was in jail for two months. In July 2015, he was arrested again with three associates ,” said Mr. Yadav.

red-handed STAFF REPORTER NEW DELHI: A burglar was

caught red-handed in South-West Delhi’s Vikas Nagar while he allegedly trying to escape after breaking into some flats in the area. His interrogation revealed that he was involved in 34 other cases of burglaries in Dwarka recently. The accused, identified as Rakesh Kumar, has been arrested and jailed. Police said they have recovered a large quantity of gold jewellery, wrist watches and cameras, besides cash.

1,000 traic cops to ensure smooth traic in Gurgaon ASHOK KUMAR GURGAON: Following the massive

Directions came after the three respondents did not reply to notices on the suit filed by the bank

One killed in scule at liquor vend STAFF REPORTER

car hit Nitesh. He alleged that Ms. Aggarwal appeared to be unaware about hurting the boy. “She reversed her car and ran over the boy a second time,” Vikas alleged. “The driver was on the phone at the time of the accident. Even when she got out of the car, she was on the phone,” he said while adding that there were two other women in the car. Another eyewitness, Rahul, told the police that the accident was a result of negligence on the driver’s part. He, too, alleged that the driver was on the phone at the time of the accident. However, DCP (SouthWest) Surender Kumar said that investigation so far had not confirmed these charges.

who had not completed his Sanskrit homework was allegedly subjected to corporal punishment so brutal on Thursday that he now struggles to sit or lie down. The boy’s parents have claimed that he was hit on his behind with a wooden stick around 16 to 18 times.

The boy’s parents have claimed that he was hit on his behind with a wooden stick around 16 to 18 times

traic jam on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway last week, the Haryana government has decided to deploy over 1,000 traic police personnel here for smooth traic management. An announcement in this regard was made by the Director General of Police (Haryana) K.P. Singh during a meeting with oicers of the Haryana Police Service in Chandigarh on Friday.

TOUGH MEASURES: At present, the Gurgaon Police have 183 posts sanctioned for the traffic police while 350 personnel have been deployed to manage traffic. FILE PHOTO: AP

Aftermath of monster jam Mr. Singh said that 1,100 traic police personnel would be deployed to facilitate smooth movement of traic in Gurgaon. He added that more steps were being taken to facilitate smooth traic in the rest of the State. The meeting was chaired by

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. At present, the Gurgaon Police have 183 posts sanctioned for the traic police while 350 traic police personnel have been deployed to manage traic. Senior oicers, however, have pegged the number of traic police personnel required here at around 2,000. The traic police had attracted severe criticism after the traic jam, which extended up to 24 hours. After this, the Gurgaon Police had identified 14 points across the city and deployed about a 1,000 personnel for round-the-clock traic management. During the meeting, Mr. Khattar directed the police to set up a separate FIR registration cell and deploy adequate number of investigation oicers.

Missing girl traced after six years STAFF REPORTER NEW DELHI: A girl who went

missing six years ago from South-West Delhi’s Chhawla has been traced. She reportedly eloped with her boyfriend after her parents objected to their marriage. Girl married, has kids The girl, who was just 16 years old when she went missing, is now married and has children. Police said the girl has been reunited with her parents. Considering this, the police will not register a case against her husband even though she had eloped when

she was a minor. It was on February 18, 2010, that the girl left home to purchase ice cream but did not return, said Surender Kumar, DCP (South-West). Her parents searched for her for three days before approaching the police. Recently, the DCP had ordered an exercise to trace those who had been missing for several years. The eforts paid of as the police recently learnt that the girl was in a village in Haryana. A team was dispatched and the girl, now 22, was recovered. Her statement has been recorded before a magistrate.

DELHI TODAY Exhibition: “Drawings from my diary”, watercolours, drawings in Conté and ink by Golak Khandual at Main Art Gallery, Kamaladevi Complex, Main Building, India International Centre (IIC), 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Exhibition: “Shahar-e-dilli”, solo show of sketches on Delhi’s architectural ruins by Yajanika at Delhi O Delhi Foyer, India Habitat Centre (IHC), 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Art: “Uday”, a group show of emerging artists at Akar Prakar Art Advisory, First Floor, 29 Hauz Khas Village, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Art: “Krishna Utsav”, a group art show at Art Laureate, F-213 A, First Floor, Lado Sarai Village, 11 a.m. -7 p.m. Film Festival: Singapore Film Festival at Habitat World, India Habitat Centre (IHC), Lodhi Road, 7 p.m.

Screening: “Earth witness: Reflections on the times and the timeless”, film screening on wildlife and environment at C.D. Deshmukh Auditorium, India International Centre (IIC), 6:30 p.m. Screening: “The Face of Jizo”, Japanese film screening with English subtitles at The Japan Foundation, 5-A Ring Road, Lajpat Nagar IV, 2 p.m. Screening: “Yoga: The Divinity of Grace”, documentary film screening at Habitat World, India Habitat Centre (IHC), 7 p.m. Screening: The 21st European Union Film Festival at Siri Fort Auditorium, August Kranti Marg, 10 a.m. (Mail your listings for this column at [email protected])

Disclaimer: Readers are requested to verify & make appropriate enquiries to satisfy themselves about the veracity of an advertisement before responding to any published in this newspaper. Kasturi & Sons Limited, the Publisher & Owner of this newspaper, does not vouch for the authenticity of any advertisement or advertiser or for any of the advertiser’s products and/or services. In no event can the Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Director/s, Employees of this newspaper/company be held responsible/liable in any manner whatsoever for any claims and/or damages for advertisements in this newspaper.

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Minister orders seizure of mobiles to keep girls ‘safe’ at After Care Home Kumar’s aide justifies move as shelter is near Tihar Jail; inmates complain of restriction on freedom MARIA AKRAM NEW DELHI: Inmates of After

Care Home, a facility meant for rehabilitation of girls above the age of 18 who were either abandoned by their parents or lost their families early in life, at Nirmal Chhaya Complex, west Delhi, have been forced to give away their cell phones on the orders of Delhi’s Social Welfare Minister Sandeep Kumar. Mr. Kumar, who visited the home on May 25, ordered the staf to seize the mobile phones of all the inmates. The reason: “since the complex is located near the Tihar Jail, mobile phones can be misused and moreover the girls do not need them as they don’t have a family”. When The Hindu visited After Care Home, which provides free boarding and lodging facility along with vocational training to its residents, the home Superintendent refused to allow entry or comment on the issue. ‘Please help us get our phones back’ Waiting at the reception, the reporter managed to speak to some of the girls who said they are without a mobile phone since May 26. They said they had written several times to the Superintendent to return their phones as many of them are working or studying. “Please help us in getting our phones back. We are facing a lot of problem,” said Aarti (name changed), a 22year-old, who is residing at the facility for three years and works as a beautician. Speaking on behalf of Mr. Kumar, his assistant Shagun Tyagi said, “The law doesn’t permit them (the girls) to keep a phone and the shelter’s proximity to Tihar Jail and Nari Niketan has made us take this step. Moreover, many girls are studying so

MORAL POLICING? The After Care Home at Nirmal Chhaya Complex in west Delhi provides free boarding along with vocational training to its residents; the Minister shared a photo (below, in white shirt) of him visiting the home, on Twitter. PHOTOS: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT what is the need for a phone.” He added that a proposal is being worked out to allow the working women to use cell phones. A 19-year-old resident at the facility claimed that Mr. Kumar ordered the staf to seize their phones as he suspected that the girls “were talking to their boyfriends”. “He was angry that girls have phones and told us that we will get involved with boys,” she said. At present, 37 girls are residing at After Care Home. The girls claimed that after their phones were taken away, about 10 working women left the facility. “We all need a phone to communicate when we are applying for a job, or in case we are late, or in any emergency situation,” said an 18year-old who recently applied for a computer course and was asked for her number by the institute. The girls are allowed to go

out of the facility from 9:30 am to 7:30 pm. After his visit, Mr. Kumar had also suspended a welfare oicer, as “allowing the girls to use a phone was against the rules”. Interestingly, a file has been moved in the Social Welfare Department and senior oicials have tired to convey to the Minister that the After Care Home “is not a

jail and a phone is a basic right”. The Hindu has a copy of the documents. Explaining the law, a senior government oicial said that the manual of the department was published in 1989 and hence, did not mention mobile phones. Thereafter, the After Care Homes for boys/girls have been following Juvenile Justice Act 2009/2015.

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

People should go to L-G for civic issues now, says AAP been taken in the CNG fitness scam. What is the status of the FIR? We want to know what action has been taken against Mr Jaitley. How many times has been summoned?” Mr. Ashutosh said.

STAFF REPORTER NEW DELHI: A day after the High Court ruled that the Lieutenant-Governor is the administrative head of Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders said that now the people should approach L-G Najeeb Jung if they have any problems with civic amenities as powers have now been vested in his hands. The party also attacked Mr. Jung over alleged inaction in the CNG fitness scam, irregularities in the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) and an FIR filed against Reliance. “From today (Friday) onwards, I urge people that if they have any civic amenities issue related to power and water then they should go to the L-G because after the HC judgement all powers lie with him now,” AAP leader Ashutosh said. Reiterating deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s statement, Mr Ashutosh questioned what the role would be of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his Cabinet

Party leader Ashutosh attacked the L-G over alleged inaction in CNG scam and DDCA irregularities. FILE PHOTO and the elected representatives in such a scenario. “We hope to get justice in the Supreme Court the way it gave in the case of Arunachal Pradesh,” Mr. Ashutosh said. Calling Mr. Jung a “guardian of scam and scamsters”, the AAP leader asked how many times Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was summoned in connection with the alleged irregularities in the DDCA. “Since Mr. Jung is the head of Delhi and also the AntiCorruption Branch (ACB), we want to know what action has

‘SDM order valid’ A day after the Delhi Police asked the Civil Lines Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) to withdraw his order banning public meetings and protest outside or near the CM’s residence, the AAP government on Friday sought a legal opinion from its Law Department. The party argued that an SDM has the power to issue such order under the CrPC. A government oicial said that a Ministry of Home Afairs 1978 notification gave Delhi Police the power to issue prohibitory order but the SDM also enjoys concurrent power under Section 144 of the CrPC. “In 1978, the Centre had given power to the Delhi Police to issue prohibitory order but no order was subsequently issued to prevent SDM from doing so,” a government spokesperson said.

BJP asks L-G to probe how much AAP has spent on army of lawyers

“There is a provision for providing facilities and taking decisions in the best interest of the children and use of mobile phone is in the interest of their safety, education and well-being. The Act does not forbid the use of mobile phones,” he said.

NEW DELHI: Leader of the Op-

‘Shocking incident’ Some women rights activists expressed shock over the incident and said it was a breach of right to freedom. “In the name of protection and welfare, the government cannot take away their freedom,” said Kavita Krishnan, secretary, All India Progressive Women's Association. Without mobile phones for over two months now, some girls are contemplating looking for a diferent facility or a women hostel. “If we don’t get back our phones, the girls will start vacating the home,” said a 22year-old, who works as a saleswoman in a nearby shop.

position in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, on Friday urged LieutenantGovernor Najeeb Jung to constitute a High-Level Inquiry Committee to probe the engagement of a “large number” of advocates, translating into “payment of crores of rupees as fees”, to undertake litigation on behalf of the Arvind Kejriwalled government. Mr. Gupta said that the “precious public exchequer” was being squandered by the Chief Minister “for his oneupmanship”. “The issue is so sensitive for the government that it is being prevented from coming in public domain. As

STAFF REPORTER

Leader of Opposition, I am being denied the information regarding engagement of advocates and case-wise payment made to them. This is being done with ulterior motive and calls for an indepth probe,” Mr. Gupta said. ‘Rs. 50 lakh fees’ The LoP added that that the government was “in the practice of appointing many advocates in a single case, which is against the normal practice”. It has, Mr. Gupta said, never happened in the history of the Delhi government that so many advocates were engaged for a single case. “Even in the case where the High Court delivered its judgment on Thursday, as many as nine advocates with

hefty fees were engaged. On the pattern of other cases, in this case too, the advocates were paid upto Rs. 50 lakh as fees. The CM is wasting crores of rupees to put forth his arbitrary view point. This is misuse of the government revenue,” Mr. Gupta said. The BJP leader said he had written a letter on May 2 to the Chief Secretary (CS) to know how many private lawyers had been engaged in addition to the case-wise payment made and due to them till date. Mr. Gupta said the CS duly acknowledged the receipt of the letter on May 3 and replied that the matter had been referred to Principal Secretary (Law) for taking appropriate action. But nothing has happened so far, said Mr. Gupta.

Minimum wage will be hiked up to 40%, says Rai

‘Maa’dhuri

STAFF REPORTER

Advisory panel will submit its report in a few days, after which a decision will be taken

NEW DELHI: The minimum

wage for Delhi’s working class will be increased by 30 to 40 per cent across all sectors in the Capital, Labour Minister Gopal Rai announced on Friday. The last revision of minimum wages in the Capital had been undertaken in 1994. Addressing a press conference, Mr. Rai said a 13-member advisory committee, which was constituted by the Labour Department to revise minimum wages in Delhi this April, will submit its report in the next few days. Following this, the decision on fixing

Last revision of minimum wages in the Capital was done in 1994. FILE PHOTO minimum wages for those across the working class, including unskilled, semiskilled and skilled workers, will be taken.

“The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has taken this decision after reviewing the average cost incurred by a family on food, accommodation, electricity, clothing and education. We will increase the minimum wages by 30 to 40 per cent in Delhi across all sectors,” he said. However, Mr. Rai said, the department had been notifying increases in Dearness Allowance (DA)

twice in a year – April and October, which is based on All India Consumer Price Index No (CPIN). Mr. Rai said the government’s move was intended to fulfil its electoral promise and improve the quality of life of labourers in the Capital. Calculations The Minister added that the revision of minimum wages was calculated on the basis of cost of various food items, and the requirement of 2,731 calories per worker per day as prescribed by the National Nutrition Institute, Hyderabad. In addition to food, other components like housing

(10 per cent), education (25 per cent), fuel and power (20 per cent) and clothing (72 per cent) which have been decided by Indian Labour Conference-1957, have also been taken into consideration by the committee, Mr. Rai said. As per existing rules, minimum wage for an unskilled person is Rs. 9,568, Rs. 10,582 for semiskilled labour and Rs. 11,622 for skilled class in Delhi. L-G sent back proposal “The Labour Department had recently sent the proposal to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung for his nod, but it was sent back to us; he has sought more clarifications,” Mr. Rai said.

Ad space on Metro in high demand SWETA GOSWAMI

MOTHER'S LOVE: Actor and brand ambassador of breastfeeding promotion programme Madhuri Dixit during the launch of “MAA- Mother’s Absolute Affection”, a nationwide initiative to promote breastfeeding, on Friday. PHOTO: SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

SDMC to launch online health trade licence portal on Monday STAFF REPORTER NEW DELHI: Businesses ranging

from restaurants to beauty parlours in South Delhi will find getting a health trade licence easier, with the local civic body set to launch an online application platform. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) announced on Friday that it would be launching the online portal for health trade licences on Monday. CM YK

This comes years after the SDMC first proposed the initiative. In September 2015, the SDMC Standing Committee had decided to approve the plan. As per the Health Department, the licence that is needed for all businesses that serve or sell food, as well as beauty parlours and hotels, currently requires the applicant to submit 20 diferent documents. The process takes about 50 to 60 days, but

with the online application the time period would be cut short. To apply online, a proof of legal occupancy, a copy of a photo identity card, a copy of the site plan of the premises, a copy of the PAN/VAT/TIN card and a proof of a water connection are supposed to be uploaded on the SDMC’s portal. The licence fee can be paid online, either through credit or debit card or netbanking.

NEW DELHI: The concept of ‘Metro wrap’ ads, where the entire Metro train is covered with ads, is becoming so popular that demand for them has surpassed the total number of trains available for the purpose. Since its launch in October 2014, the Delhi Metro has had at least 30 companies that have opted for this form of advertising and a dozen others are in queue. The demand and supply gap arises because the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) allows only 10 per cent of its coaches per corridor to be wrapped with ads. Hence, only 21 trains of the total 208 trains can be wrapped with ads. But, the DMRC and the ad agency, Eg.Communications Private Limited, which has been given the responsibility for the ad wraps, aren’t complaining. The ad agency earns about Rs. 25 lakh from advertisers to wrap coaches of the Metro for a month, it pays the

Delhi Metro allows only 21 of its trains to be used for ad wraps; it earns Rs. 32 crore a year

DMRC Rs. 32 crore per annum for the space. “This concept has been a success due to the sheer magnanimity of the space available for advertising and of course, the huge ridership of the Delhi Metro. Each sixcoach Metro train body provides 7,000 square feet of

space for ads. Moreover, these ad-wrapped trains grab five million eyeballs on a daily basis. So for an advertiser, his job is done in a matter of seconds when a commuter or a person travelling in car sees the Metro passing by,” said Manish Sethi, director of Eg.Communications Private

Limited. At present, 12 trains are ad wrapped and order for four others are pending, Mr. Sethi said. These trains run on all lines of the Metro network except the Red Line (RithalaDilshad Garden). The Delhi Metro has a dai-

ly ridership of 26 lakh and about 70 per cent of commuters spend at least 30 minutes in the Metro network daily. The first ad wrapped train was from Morpheus Group. It was rolled out in October 2014. The second was by Indiamart. Amazon.in, Renault, Snapdeal, Mother Dairy, ONGC, Bank of Baroda, PNB Housing, Micromax, Oppo, Fortune, Myntra, Dhara, Gulf and Hike have advertised on train bodies. “Wraps are put only on sixcoach trains as the fabrication cost is very high. Around Rs. 8 lakh per train goes in making, pasting and removing these ads,” said Mr Sethi. The agency maintains that increasing the number of trains under this ad category is not necessary as fewer trains help in building high brand recall among people. ND-ND

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STAFF REPORTER

Future of Capital’s popular street shopping hubs up in the air

NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal

NDMC planning to remove illegal vendors from Sarojini Nagar, Janpath, Connaught Place, Lutyens’ Delhi

JNUTA observes day-long strike against professor’s suspension Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) went on a day-long strike on Friday against the suspension of Associate Professor Ashish Agnihotri over financial irregularities. Highlighting the “regressive moves and amendments” being carried out by the university administration, the teacher said these will hamper the autonomy of the institution. Unjustified The Association alleged that the decision to suspend Prof. Agnihotri was unjustified and the punishment a disproportionate response to the matter. Rallying behind the suspended Professor, who is the JNUTA vice-president, the teachers felt the move was aimed at intimidating them. The association submitted a memorandum to the administration urging it “not keep him suspended for eternity”. Speaking about the attack on the autonomy of the institution, JNUTA president Ajay Patnaik said the university has its “own mechanism to punish and will punish” if a faculty member is found to have committed any ofence. He opposed the application of the central civil service rules to JNU. “We are an autonomous institution, that has its own rules. We are not government employees that CCS rules will apply to us.” Prof. Agnihotri was suspended last week for claiming LTC and medical reimbursement for his parents by submitting false certificates. He later apologised for the incident. The decision to go on a strike was taken during an executive council meeting of the JNUTA on Monday. The JNU Students’ Union and the Contractual Workers’ Union also supported the call for the strike.

CM YK

DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI: Clothes hanging of

wires, accessories stacked on the kerb and hundreds of visitors packed into narrow lanes — these scenes have been playing out at popular street shopping hubs in New Delhi for decades. The future of street shopping at Sarojini Nagar, Janpath, Connaught Place and all commercial centres of Lutyens’ Delhi is now uncertain, with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) planning on removing illegal vendors. Through encroachment removal drives and voluntary action by vendors, the usually-busy “export market” at Sarojini Nagar has already been removed. Delhi High Court order Following a May 18 order of the Delhi High Court, the NDMC is conducting a survey to identify street vendors who have been authorised either through a licence or previous decisions of courts. Vendors who are found to be “genuine”, which are those who have a licence or proof of a court-ordered stay, would be considered for relocation to legal vending spaces. The Town Vending Committee of the NDMC would then identify vending zones and issue certificates to those found eligible. But since the number of street vendors may exceed the designated areas, a list of seniority would be drawn up, with those who have been vending for longer getting preference. The survey was started on July 25, with work in Connaught Place, Palika Bazaar and Janpath having been completed. The survey of vendors at Sarojini Nagar is expected to be over this week and in all of New Delhi by

SHOPPER STOP: A shopper bargains with a street vendor at the Sarojini Nagar market in New Delhi on Friday. At right, New Delhi Municipal Council officials conducting a survey in the market. — PHOTO : R. V. MOORTHY & SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT next week. NDMC Director of Enforcement Y.V.V.J. Rajasekhar said about 85 per cent of the surveys were completed as on Friday. “A well-regulated market as per the Master Plan with authorised hawkers will be a befitting place for a Capital city, where all stakeholders, including pedestrians and customers, can freely and safely do their shopping,” he said. After the surveys are done, the NDMC would upload the data of all vendors onto a common platform and then scrutinise the documents of all applicants. While the NDMC’s plans may end up changing the face of these popular markets, not everyone is con-

vinced about the process. Street vendors as well as traders have questioned the way the surveys are being conducted. “4,000 vendors displaced” Arbind Singh, the national coordinator of the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), alleged that the NDMC had “displaced 4,000 vendors” and the situation of hawkers had “gone from bad to worse” despite the protection under the Street Vendors Act, 2014. “As per the Act, the survey is supposed to enumerate the vendors. But the NDMC is surveying selected vendors. They have a plan to allow only 500 vendors,” said Mr. Singh.

Ashok Randhawa, the president of the Sarojini Nagar Mini Market Traders’ Association, said illegal street vendors had become a safety and fire hazard. “Emergency vehicles can’t enter due to encroachment and there are security concerns. But, we are not against hawkers. The NDMC should regulate street vending and allow those who have licences to function,” he said. Others have questioned the constitution of the Town Vending Committee itself. Sanjiv Mehra, who is a member of the Committee and the president of the Khan Market Traders’ Association, said he was the only representative of traders in the Committee.

“The markets have sufered the most. Our customers suffer as the pedestrian ways are blocked. But, we have been left out of the process,” said Mr. Mehra. He said there were 228 vendors who have tehbazari licences, 725 who had been approved by the Thareja Committee, 628 who were confirmed by the Supreme Court and 133 who had health licences. He said these vendors would be accommodated first. “But, the markets that represent thousands of shops have just one representative in the Committee. We would be well-placed to assist the NDMC in identifying the legal vendors,” he said.

Relief for law graduates pursuing LLM from DU May no longer have to leave job, give up practice AKANKSHA JAIN NEW DELHI: Law graduates will-

ing to pursue LLM from Delhi University may no longer have to resign from their jobs or give up their practice. The move comes after the Delhi High Court questioned the nearly five-decade-old system requiring anyone taking admission to the two-year LLM course at DU to furnish an aidavit stating that they will not practice or undertake employment while enrolled in the course. “Restrictions” A Bench of Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said: “The Bar Council of India, which regulates the legal profession, allows advocates to join LLM as regular students while carrying on their profession, then how can DU impose restrictions on carrying on of the practice of law?” It directed DU not insist on any such aidavits till the next date of hearing, that is October 4. The court was hearing a petition filed by Rahul Dutta and Padma Landol, two law graduates who qualified for admission to the LLM course this year. DU seeks 50 per cent marks in LLB degree course for general category and 45 per cent for SC/ST candidates and merit in the entrance test for admission to the two-year LLM course. When the petitioners went

to the Faculty of Law to enquire about the documents they needed to submit at the time of counselling, which was to be held on Thursday, they were told that along with other documents they needed to furnish an aidavit stating they will not practise law or take up employment while studying. Their counsel S. N. Singh told the court this condition was tantamount to restricting petitioners from practising in courts, which is necessary for their career. He contended that the Bar Council permits practicing lawyers to pursue LLM full-time course without suspending their licence. On DU’s argument that the aidavit is mandatory since LLM is a full-time course with requirement of minimum attendance and research work to be done by students, the Bench said: “Prima facie, the contention of DU does not appear to be sustainable. The requirement of attendance...has to be fulfilled by the students. Once a student fulfils the attendance requirements, then what the student does in her/ his free time and also when the classes are not being held, cannot be regulated by the university. Furthermore, the Bar Council of India, in its meetings held in 2009, had resolved that a practicing advocate can join LLM as regular student without suspending the practice.”

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UP making millions from Taj Mahal, yet unable to protect it: green panel BINDU SHAJAN PERAPPADAN NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh is un-

able to protect the Taj Mahal from which it is “making ‘millions”, said the National Green Tribunal on Friday as it reprimanded the Akhilesh Yadav government over dumping of solid waste in the Yamuna river near the monument. A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said: “You are government of Uttar Pradesh. You cannot protect the Taj Mahal from which you are making millions. You are dumping municipal solid waste in Yamuna just behind the Taj Mahal. Can there be a greater insult to a monument which is a wonder of the world. It is shocking, what can the courts and tribunals do?” The observation came during the hearing of a plea by Agra resident D.K. Joshi, who had alleged that rampant dumping of municipal solid waste in the Yamuna has resulted in stagnation of water and consequent formation of greenish-black pigments on the iconic white marble monument due to breeding of an insect.

Referring to a report of the Archaeological Survey of India, the plea had stated that the insects were staining the walls of the Taj Mahal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The green panel also hauled up the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Agra Development Authority and Agra Nagar Nigam for not ensuring cleanliness and proper disposal of untreated sewage in the river.

Forest fires: NGT asks States to submit report STAFF REPORTER

Solid waste is being dumped in the Yamuna near the monument, the NGT said

Tribunal seeks details on toxic waste management STAFF REPORTER NEW DELHI: The National Green

Tribunal has directed various State governments, including Delhi, to state how many industries are authorised to deal with hazardous waste. A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar ordered Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to file an affidavit and inform it about the mechanism of disposal of such hazardous waste. “States of Uttarakhand,

DEATH

Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan will file complete independent statements as to how many industries are granted authorisation for dealing with hazardous waste and how they are disposing of their hazardous waste within two weeks.” "In the event of default, we will be compelled to impose heavy costs for noncompliance of the directions of the Tribunal," the Bench said. The matter is now listed for next hearing on September 16.

Give girls self-belief and they will blossom: Speaker BINDU SHAJAN PERAPPADAN NEW DELHI: “We have to give ev-

ery girl/woman the self-belief and assurance that she is a strong individual who can contribute positively to the society and is valuable. This belief will stand her in good stead even when she grows old,” said Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Friday, while releasing a report on ‘Innovative Practices for Care of Elderly Women in India’. Stree Shakti The report was prepared by NGO ‘Stree Shakti –The Parallel Force’ in association with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Diferent models of elderly care, including Sulabh International’s work with Vrindavan widows, Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan's strategy of edu-

EDUCATIONAL

EDUCATIONAL

DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to submit crisis management plan for prevention and control of forest fires to the Ministry of Environment and Forests within two weeks. “We direct the Ministry to file the details of the States,” a Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said. It also directed the governments to state the causes of such fires, which they have found as a result of their studies, and the action plan prepared by them. The Bench maintained that in the event of default, the Ministry and both the States would be liable to pay heavy costs, which will not be less than Rs. 50,000. The matter is now listed for hearing on September 27. NEW

EDUCATIONAL

PUBLIC NOTICES

cating women on collective power and the International Longevity Centre’s programmes for medical expenses sponsorship, are included in the report. Calling women a “parallel force”, Ms. Mahajan said the society should allow girls to blossom and not stunt their growth under the weight of gender bias. “This report’s release is also an opportunity to discuss and bring to light the need for efecting changes at the legislative and policy level that are required to ensure that India fulfils its commitment to the Madrid Plan and domestic obligations to protect the dignity and safety of its elderly population,” said Rekha Mody, founder and president of Stree Shakti and founding member of South Asian Forum for Aged Women.

SITUATIONS VACANT GENERAL

EDUCATIONAL

SITUATIONS VACANT

PUBLIC NOTICES

GENERAL

TENDERS PUBLIC NOTICES

TENDERS

PERSONAL

CM YK

CHANGE OF NAME

BUSINESS OFFERS

I, Sachin, R/o. RZ−55, Sainik Enclave Part−2, Near CRPF Camp, Jharoda Kalan, New Delhi−110072 has changed my Name as Sachin Yadav, for all purpose.

MULTINATIONAL Co. Req. Vacant Space, Plot, Industrial & Agriculture land for Warehouse uses, Monthly Rent Rs.60/− Sq.ft + 9yrs Lease + Court Agreement # 08826710259 (Last Date 25.08.2016) ND-ND

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THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

Assam flood situation improves Water level of the Brahmaputra falling; 1.27 lakh people in 10 districts remain affected

Stop grabbing land, Mulayam tells partymen LUCKNOW: In a stern message

GUWAHATI: In signs of easing of

the flood situation in Assam, floodwaters on Friday receded and the water levels of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries were falling gradually even as 1.27 lakh people in ten districts remained afected by the calamity. The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said with the decline in the population hit by the deluge, the number of relief camps has also come down to 44 with 14,398 people taking shelter there. The afected districts are Jorhat, Golaghat, Bongaigaon, Dhemaji, Barpeta, Dhubri, Morigaon, Kokrajhar, Goalpara and Chirang where 175 villages and 4.75 lakh hectares were afected, the ASDMA said. Nearly three lakh people were sufering till yesterday in the 10 districts. The death toll in the current wave of floods stood at 34 across the State. The Brahmaputra is flow-

LIFE GOES ON: A man keeps his shop open in a flooded village in Morigaon district of Assam. - PHOTO: RITU RAJ KONWAR ing above the danger mark only in Dhubri district, the ASDMA added. In West Bengal, cloudy sky accompanied by a few

spells of rain helped keep day temperatures low with Burdwan recording the highest rainfall of 27.8 mm since Thursday morning.

Heavy rain in Shimla and other Himachal towns STAFF CORRESPONDENT SHIMLA: The Southwest monsoon, which was confined to a few places in the hill state, hit the majority of its districts on Friday and resulted in a big spell of rain in Mandi, Kullu, Solan, Bilaspur, Sirmaur and Shimla districts. The earlier monsoon deficiency of around 20 percent is being covered now, said weather department officials. Transportation and marketing of apples in the hill state is at its peak but the heavy rain is causing considerable damage to roads in some places. A very heavy downpour on Friday afternoon disrupted normal life in the

state capital and all other nearby hill resorts like Kufri, Mashobara, Naldehra and Fagu. Rainwater choked the municipal drains and it became diicult to even walk on the fashionable Mall Road, and in Lower Bazaar and other streets of the town. Vehicular traic also came to a standstill on the circular road as water overflowed on roads for a long time. The massive rainfall lowered the temperature by a few notches and the capital town had a minimum temperature of 17 degrees Celsius today. A number of landslips and uprooted trees were also reported from various nearby resorts.

The flood situation improved as districts of Darjeeling, Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri, which have been receiving heavy rains for

several days in many places in the Terai and plains of North Bengal, went dry for the second consecutive day. - PTI

to party workers, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh on Friday asked them to pull up their socks for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and stop “grabbing land” or indulging in other such deeds. “Will you (party workers) be able to form government again? Remove your flaws. There are many shortcomings. Will you be able to work on them? Will you stop grabbing lands? There are many places where land grabbing is on. If you have to earn money, do any other business. In politics you have to sacrifice things,” he said without mincing words. Mr. Singh delivered the tough talk at a gathering of party workers on the occasion of 84th birth anniversary of SP leader late Jnaneshwar Mishra. Referring to youth workers in the party, he said the new breed of party workers did not know the foundation of ‘samajwad’ (socialism). “I have asked (chief minis-

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at a function in Lucknow on Friday. – PHOTO: PTI ter) Akhilesh Yadav a num- trying to orchestrate riots in ber of times about training of the state.” He stressed the youth workers but no heed need for giving special emwas paid to it,” he said and phasis on youths and farmers added: “Politics is the most and said women should also diicult work and training of be included in the party youths is a must for that.” working. Mr. Yadav, who has been “There are women chief publicly chided by his father ministers in four States and in the past too, was present they are doing good work. on the occasion. You (Akhilesh) should also Mr. Singh said: “The elec- involve women in party and tions are near. In Delhi, only give them a chance,” he said. this election is being dis“The government should cussed. The Opposition is implement its manifesto and not leaving any stone un- if there is any problem, it turned to form the next gov- should tell him,” he said. ernment. Two parties are PTI

Greatest sports spectacle

There was more than 50 mm of rain recorded in the town on Friday. Interestingly, in spite of heavy rains, Shimla is facing an acute shortage of drinking water these days. With a minimum requirement of 42 MLD (millions of litres per day), the capital town is just getting 20 MLD of fresh water daily. The municipal corporation is having great diiculty in supplying water on alternate days to diferent localities and suburbs of the town. The huge quantity of silt that comes with the rain and hits water sources is the main reason for this disruption of fresh water supply to residents, said oicials of the local body.

Gehlot seeks clarification on his oicial bungalow MOHAMMED IQBAL JAIPUR: Former Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot has sought clarification from the State government on the status of the oicial bungalow allotted to him in Civil Lines here, following the Supreme Court's judgment on government accommodation to former chief ministers in Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Gehlot, who is at present an MLA from the Sardarpura constituency of Jodhpur, has asked the State government to take a “policy decision” on the subject in the light of the apex court's verdict striking down a rule for allotting oicial bungalows to former chief ministers for their lifetime. By virtue of notifications

issued by the state Cabinet Secretariat, former chief ministers in Rajasthan enjoy the protocol status equivalent to that of a cabinet minister and have the facilities of free oicial bungalow, government car, free electricity consumption, a private secretary, and secretarial and personal staf. In a letter addressed to the Principal Secretary, General Administration Department, Mr. Gehlot's private secretary Devaram Saini has pointed out that the Supreme Court's ruling was in reference to an Act of UP and the rules for former CMs framed thereunder. A Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice Anil R. Dave had earlier this week directed the former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh to vacate their bungalows in

Lucknow within two months, after quashing the rules of 1997, holding them illegal and having been framed as a “colourable exercise of power”. Unlike in Uttar Pradesh, which has an Act, former CMs in Rajasthan are allotted bungalows on the basis of a Cabinet decision taken in 1999 during the Congress rule. Mr. Gehlot's oicial residence is situated just opposite the bungalow of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Rajasthan High Court lawyer A.K. Jain, who has taken up public interest litigations on similar issues in the past, has stated that the Supreme Court's ruling automatically applies to Rajasthan as well and former chief ministers should forthwith vacate their bungalows in compliance with the judgment.

RIO SPIRIT IN DELHI: A view of the Olympics Carnival organised at the Central Park, Connaught Place, on Friday. - PHOTO : R. V. MOORTHY

Maoists call for ‘Bastar bandh’ on Saturday PAVAN DAHAT RAIPUR: The outlawed Com-

munist Party of India (Maoist) has called for a ‘Bastar bandh’ on Saturday to protest alleged atrocities committed by security forces on tribal women and girls in the restive Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. The bandh call has been given by the south sub-zonal bureau of the CPI (Maoist).

Manjhi supports Maoists as ‘protectors of poor’ AMARNATH TEWARY PATNA: Following posters pasted recently in his constituency by Maoists, which threatened him for undermining them, former Bihar chief minister and leader of Hindustani Awam Morcha, Jitan Ram Manjhi, on Friday called Maoists “protectors of poor”. He also supported Naxals in taking levies from contractors. “I supported Maoists as they have been protecting poor people from being exploited by the rich and affluent… in 1984, when I was a minister, there were allegations levelled against me that I was a supporter of

Naxals…I’ve often been saying that to save the honour of women and daughters belonging to poor [sections of] society, and to protect them from various kinds of atrocities, if someone supports them and is called a Naxalite, then yes, I am the first Naxalite,” said Manjhi. He also added that Naxals, whether in Bihar or any other part of the country, were fighting for the cause of the poor and, “if they use force to protect the poor, there is nothing wrong in this”. Apparently to assuage the hurt feeling of Maoists, Mr Manjhi further defended their act of extorting levies from contractors en-

gaged in the construction of roads and buildings in Naxal-afected areas. “The contractors make lot of money by over-estimating the project cost and there is no harm if the Maoists take levy from them, Mr Manjhi said while speaking to journalists in Patna. “We all know that an estimate scam is going on in the state and a work that can be done for Rs. 1 crore is being done at Rs. 5 crore. Contractors are not doing their work honestly and say that they have to pay money to public representatives and oicers. If Naxals extort levy from such contractors, what wrong do they do?” asked

the former Bihar CM. Earlier, on July 19, when 10 COBRA commandos of the CRPF were martyred in an encounter with Maoists in the Aurangabad district of Bihar, Mr Manjhi had said that it was not the handiwork of Naxals but of some criminals, which statement by him had infuriated the Maoists. They later pasted posters in his assembly constituency, Imamganj in the Gaya district, threatening him to not “undermine them and be within his own limit”. Imamganj assembly constituency in Gaya district is a Maoist-afected area bordering Jharkhand and Bihar.

Nirbhaya-like incident repeated in Odisha CORRESPONDENT CUTTACK: The Banki police of Cuttack district have arrested a driver and conductor of a passenger bus for allegedly raping and killing a 17-yearold girl inside the bus and carrying the body in the vehicle

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to dispose it of under a river bridge. The incident is a grim reminder of the 2012 horrific Nirbhaya case of New Delhi. “We have arrested the driver Santosh Sahu and conductor Bibhuti Rout of Athagarh and recovered the weapon of ofence - a lug wrench,” said

Banki SDPO, adding that the police scientific team has also recovered some bloodstained cloths from the bus, which have been sent for examination.The police had recovered the body of the woman from under Jatamundia Bridge over river

Mahanadi on the outskirts of Banki on Wednesday morning with a deep wound on her forehead. After ascertaining that the victim was a native of Athagarh, police zeroed in on the bus driver, who allegedly had an afair with the girl. ND-ND

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3 of Hindutva group held for Bhatkal attack RAGHAVA M. MANGALURU: Two days after the

attack on a man for alleged cattle theft, the Uttara Kannada police have arrested three persons of a Hindutva group in Bhatkal. All three were, however, released on bail. According to eyewitness accounts, Shekar Manjayya Naik (24) from the Puravarga area of Bhatkal hired an autorickshaw last Wednesday, telling the driver that he wanted to take his calf to the veterinary hospital. But midway, he asked the driver to go to a slaughterhouse. Suspecting his intention, the driver stopped the vehicle at Chowtani in the town. A crowd gathered and Keshava (23), associated with a Hindutva group, and others assaulted Naik, tore his clothes and pa-

raded him through the streets after tying the rope attached to the calf around his waist. Bhatkal Town Sub-Inspector Revati, who was on patrolling duty, saw the procession and took Naik and Keshav to the police station. During questioning, Naik admitted that he had stolen the calf from the house of a Muslim family and was on his way to sell it. The police said Naik was booked for cattle theft and produced before a Magistrate court in Bhatkal, which remanded him in judicial custody. Naik, however, lodged a complaint against Keshava and others for the assault. On Thursday, police arrested Keshava, while Manjayya (25) and Nagaraj (23) were arrested on Friday.

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THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

Landless, they fought land acquisition KCR government faces farm workers’ fury SWATHI VADLAMUDI HYDERABAD: It is the weakest

who emerged victorious against the Telangana government in the High Court, at a time when villages against the Mallanna Sagar reservoir were reportedly giving in. Ironically, the petitioners from Bardipur village of Jharasangam mandal in Medak district, who challenged G.O. 123, do not own an inch of land. They are farm labourers from marginalised communities, predominantly women. “We are totally dependent on farm labour. How could we live if the lands are taken

ASSERTING THEIR RIGHT: The challengers of G.O. 123 gathered in Hyderabad on Friday. — PHOTO: G. RAMAKRISHNA away,” says Algi Tukkamma. She has, however, become part of legal history with ‘Algi Tukkamma and others vs. State of Telangana’ becoming part of case law. All the 23 members who challenged the G.O. were here to attend a meeting, in the wake of the judgment

quashing the acquisition order. Tukkamma, in her fifties, lost her husband two years ago, and lives with two sons, who are also agricultural labourers. Her husband Pentaiah died of heat stroke. She got no help from the ‘Apathbandhu’ scheme, which

promises compensation to families. The second time, she was deprived of compensation when the government moved to acquire farm lands for a National Investment and Manufacturing Zone. Now, she decided to retaliate. While most farmers from Bardipur, Cheelapalli, and Yelgoi villages yielding to the government, 16 women and 7 men from the Dalit colony of Bardipur came together to fight under the guidance of the Telangana Agricultural Workers Union. “We cannot lose more than we have already lost,” says A.Jayamma. She is relatively the more educated in the group. “I was not used to farm labour. But I had to learn it. Even that was being snatched away,” she says.

PM’s visit: Police keep watch on ‘active’ villages R. AVADHANI SANGAREDDY: Villages

protesting the Komuravelli Mallanna Sagar reservoir in Telangana are under increased vigil, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Komatibanda in Gajwel mandal of Medak district on August 7. On Friday, police were monitoring Etigaddakishtapur road and Pallepahad road that are linked to Vemulaghat. At

Weightlifter’s family waits for gold 25 years on, justice eludes SERENA JOSEPHINE M.

Family and friends of Sathish Kumar are waiting to see him perform at the Rio Olympics

VELLORE: The young man sur-

prised his family members by bagging the gold medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games (CWG). They are hoping he will repeat the magic at the Rio Olympics. The family of S. Sathish Kumar, weightlifter from Sathuvachari in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, is eagerly looking forward to his performance in the coveted event. The entire neighbourhood of New Street and Atlas Gym where Sathish had his early training are excited about his participation in the Olympics. The weightlifter’s home speaks volumes of his journey in the last eight years. Medals, trophies and photographs adorn the shelves. “It is a matter of pride and happiness to see my son participating in the Olympics. For us, it is no ordinary achievement … it is the fruit of his hard work,” said his father N. Sivalingam, who is a security staf at VIT University. His mother Devanai fond-

HOPES AND PRAYERS: The parents of Sathish Kumar hope their son will create history by becoming the first Indian male weightlifter to win an Olympic medal. — PHOTO: C. VENKATACHALAPATHY ly recalls the day Sathish won gold in the CWG held at Glasgow. “I was confident that he would win a medal but did not expect him to bag gold. It was a moment to be cherished,” she said. Early next week, he will compete in the men’s 77 kg at the Rio Olympics. Sathish’s family and friends are confident that he will put up his best show. “It is going to be a tough competition as Olym-

Karnataka women’s panel issues notice to college STAFF REPORTER BENGALURU: The Karnataka State Commission for Women has taken suo motu cognisance of a video that is being circulated on social network of a lecturer in a private college sexually harassing a female student in class. The incident reportedly took place during an English lecture at a pre-university college in V.V. Puram. According to sources, students had observed the odd behaviour of the lecturer over the past few days, and many girls in the class were uncomfortable with his behaviour, but chose not to speak out as they were afraid of the consequences. Following this, a group of students decided to catch their professor red-handed and subsequently recorded him “misbehaving” with one of the students. “We tried to devise ways to ensure that girls in our class felt comfortable and we told the girl students to sit in the middle of the rows so he could not reach them. But

pics sees the participation of more than 200 countries. He told us he would give his best. He has put in a lot of hard work, and we are confident that he will win a medal,” Mr. Sivalingam, also a weightlifter, said. “History will be made if he wins a medal as no Indian male weightlifter has won a medal in the Olympics so far,” he added. At Atlas Gym, K. Mahen-

GUNTUR: Two-and-a-half dec-

ades after a brutal carnage was unleashed in the Tsunduru village of Andhra Pradesh, in which eight Dalits were lynched and another young man died in police firing, the kin of the victims still await justice. There has been no progress after a bunch of appeals by the government and Dalit associations were filed in the Supreme Court in June 2014. The delay in the appointment of a public prosecutor, after senior public prosecutor M.N. Rao resigned and senior advocate Bojja Tarakam was taken ill, left the appeals pending. Senior advocate Altaf Ahamed representing the Dalit associations has since died and there has been no replacement. The State government filed an appeal in the Supreme

Eight Dalits fleeing a mob of ‘upper’ caste men were lynched in this A.P. village in 1991 Court in June 2014 against the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s verdict acquitting all the 56 accused in the case, citing lack of evidence. On April 6, 1991, eight young men fleeing for safety from a raging mob of ‘upper’ caste men, were lynched with axes. Their mutilated bodies were stufed in gunny bags and thrown into the Tungabhadra drain. After protests erupted, one more youth, K. Anil Kumar, was killed in police firing. Defining moment The incident marked a defining moment in the struggle against caste oppression and galvinised Dalit organi-

To issue summons Manjula Manasa, Chairperson of the Commission said the panel had sought a report from the police following which they would issue summons to the members of the college management. “But since the girl is a minor, we may transfer the case to the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights to conduct a detailed inquiry after we receive the police report,” she said. S. Jayakumar, Director (additional charge) of Department of Pre-University Education said he has also sought a report on the incident. Repeated attempts made to reach the college authorities for a response went unanswered.

BENGALURU: V.S. Ugrappa, Con-

Congress MLC V.S. Ugrappa passed a resolution for amicable settlement of the dispute. “If we [the State] are waiting for the tribunal’s final order, what value has the resolution got?” the MLC asked. “Going by the tenor of Mr. Katarki’s statement, one doubts if he is defending the State’s interests or not,” he said. The tribunal, set up in

sations across the country. Under pressure from Dalit and human rights organisations, the A.P. government set up a special court at Tsunduru under the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. In 2007, the court convicted 21 persons to life imprisonment and 35 others to one year of rigorous imprisonment, besides imposing a fine of Rs.2,000 each. Verdict quashed The Andhra Pradesh High Court, however, quashed the verdict and acquitted all the accused citing lack of evidence. A Division Bench comprising Justices L. Narasimha Reddy and M.S. Jaiswal turned down the verdict of the trial court saying the prosecution had failed to prove the exact time of death, place of occurrence and the identity of attackers.

Conclave of Kerala Cong. (M) to begin today GEORGE JACOB KOTTAYAM: The much-awaited two-day conclave of the Kerala Congress (M) at Charakunnu in Pathanamthitta district will begin on Saturday. That the leadership itself has contributed to the build-up over the outcome of the deliberations at the meeting may point to the possibility of the party taking a final position on its relationship with the UDF, more importantly, with the Congress. All eyes are on the party chairman K.M. Mani as to whether he will make any major declarations at the conclusion of the conclave on Sunday afternoon or postpone it further. According to insiders, the venue will in all possibility be used for Congress bashing. The party may come out with the names of the Congress leaders responsible for the alleged conspiracy against Mr. Mani.

They braved the Krishna in spate to return home

later we decided to shoot the video,” a student said, adding that it was not a one-of incident. The students also alleged that they had spoken to the college management about the incidents, but no action had been taken.

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

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P. SAMUEL JONATHAN

Silent protest

RAVIKUMAR NARABOLI YADGIR: The Krishna river in spate is an intimidating sight, but that did not deter four residents of Neelakantarayanagaddi village from fighting the currents to return home. Laxman, Adappa, Duragappa, and Ambrappa, residents of the village, which has been marooned following the release of water from Narayanpur dam, had come to the mainland before the waters began to rise.

DRAWING ATTENTION: Muslims, under the aegis of the Muslim United Front, staging a protest in Vijayawada on Friday against the demolition of masjids and dargahs in the city. They urged the State government to honour the High Court order, which stayed the demolition of a masjid and a burial ground. — PHOTO: V. RAJU

Mahadayi water dispute: Ugrappa slams legal team gress leader and MLC, has blasted the Karnataka government’s legal team that’s arguing before the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT). He lashed out at the team, particularly advocate Mohan Katarki, for issuing a media statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention is “not a viable option,”, which is contrary to the government’s stance. “Being an advocate, Mohan Katarki has no professional ethics,” Mr. Ugrappa said, rebuking the team for making public statements totally opposed to the government’s stance. Both houses of the state legislature

dran, a 1984 Olympian who has known Sathish since his childhood, is confident of the 24-year-old’s performance. “I am confident that he will win a medal. He has already made Vellore and Tamil Nadu proud,” he said. For the young members of the gym, Sathish is a role model. “I’ve known him for five years and he is a real hard worker. Olympics is a big opportunity and all of us are looking forward to his performance,” said C. Nirmalraj, Sathish’s junior. With the neighbourhood buzzing with Sathish’s name, his mother said: “It has been one-and-a-half years since he came home. We get to talk to him only for a few minutes. But I know he will give his best as it is the love for the sport that drives him.”

kin of Tsunduru victims

Kuknoorpally, a tent was put up. Section 30 of the Police Act and Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code are in force. Police sources said they were not interfering with activities of people. Hayatodhin of Vemulaghat said, “We have asked police not to come to our villages. We are continuing our agitation, to which no one has objected. But they do not allow us to go in groups. Also, those coming in are frisked.”

2010, had rejected the State’s application seeking 7 tmcft of water for the Kalasa-Banduri Nala drinking water project. “The team wants to prolong the case for another six years,” said Mr. Ugrappa. Soon after the MWDT’s order last week, Mr. Katarki had opposed filing a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court and seeking settlement through the Centre’s intervention. The all-party meeting, to be convened by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday, must come out with a clear stand and direct the legal team to argue the case to safeguard the State’s interests, Mr. Ugrappa said. He said the lawyer must consult the client before issuing statements.

High Court pulls up Karnataka police SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT BENGALURU: Expressing

“shock” over the act of the State Police Complaints Authority (SPCA) in “closing” a complaint, within a day, on police “excesses” at the Yamanur village of the Dharwad district during the recent agitation over the Mahadayi water dispute, the Karnataka High Court on Friday directed the SPCA to visit the village, hold enquiry, and submit its recommendations to the government. Why was SPCA in a “mortal hurry” to close the complaint? How can the authority

decide to close the complaint merely based on a newspaper report, which stated that the State Human Rights Commission had initiated action on police excesses, asked Justice A.N. Venugopala Gowda. The court made these observations after noticing from the records that one Sudha Katwa, on August 1, had filed a complaint against police oicers, and the SPCA, in its proceedings on August 2, had “closed” the complaint while referring to a newspaper report, which stated that the SHRC had already sought an action from the government.

Adept at swimming “We had no option but to swim back,” said Amarappa matter-of-factly. “We are used to swimming even when the river is in spate.” Since the village turns into an island every monsoon, the villagers are adept at swimming and know the river well. They use a hollow gourd (locally called eeju kayi) to help them remain afloat. The village was in the news last year, when a pregnant woman swam across the river and delivered a

Villagers of Narasimhagaddi village using hollow gourd to help them remain afloat. — PHOTO: RAVIKUMAR NARBOLI

healthy child. Adappa said they waited for a day for the waters to recede, but decided to swim back since there was no sign of it happening. Meanwhile, the boat service pressed into service to help marooned people could not take of due to technical snags. Surpur tahsildar Arun Kumar Kulkarni told The Hindu that he would try to bring mechanics to repair the defunct boat. Amarappa, a resident, urged the district administration to provide boat services as few elderly persons were in need of immediate medical help.

‘Medicinal plant cultivation should be driven by market dynamics’ SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As a hub

of Ayurveda, Kerala needs a road map for conservation, cultivation and augmentation of medicinal plants with focus on rare, endangered and threatened (RET) species and those with high demand from industry, according to Shobita Biswas, Chief Executive Oicer, National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB). In a chat with The Hindu during a visit to the city earlier this week for the inauguration of the NMPB-funded project to set up a herbal garden on the Raj Bhavan premises, Ms. Biswas called for steps to identify the hotspots of endemic species of medicinal plants and promote the cultivation of species with

Shomita Biswas market potential. Farmers have to be encouraged to study the market dynamics while taking up the cultivation of medicinal plants, she said. “In many instances, the cultivation of plants without market demand has led to a glut in the market and left farmers in a crisis.”

Ms. Biswas mooted the idea of a buyer-seller meet in Kerala to ensure market linkage for farmers. The State Medicinal Plants Board (SMPB) can facilitate the event and take the initiative to establish regulated wholesale markets for medicinal plants. Such initiatives, she said, would help to streamline the fragmented supply chain. Ms. Biswas said the SMPB could play a key role in the access and benefit sharing mechanism proposed by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board. She, however, sees the need to balance the interests of industry with the livelihood concerns of local communities. “Industry has to address the issue of market demand and raise the bar on quality, ” she said. ND-ND

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Collective fine for Bihar villagers? They’ve been served show-cause notices by govt. for violating prohibition AMARNATH TEWARY PATNA: After the amended and

more stringent Excise and Prohibition Bill 2016 was passed in the Bihar Assembly last Monday, a few Bihar villages now face collective fine — the first of its kind in the State — for violating the new law. The villages have been issued show-cause notices to respond, failing which the collective fine will be imposed on them. The residents of Dadhi Tola, a hamlet in Sheikhpura district of Bihar, have been accused of brewing countrymade liquor even after continuing raids by the excise and police oicials to dismantle illicit liquor manufacturing units there. District excise oicials said they carried out raids in Dadhi Tola thrice in the past 10 days and seized liquor from there. The residents are said to be poor people belonging to the Scheduled Tribe who earn their livelihood by selling country li-

TOUGH MEASURE: Bihar imposed a ban on country liquor and destroyed huge piles of stocks in March. — FILE PHOTO quor, locally known as mahua. “Soon after our raids they started manufacturing liquor again…we kept asking them to disband their units but they didn’t stop. So, under Section 68(1) of the new law, we’ve proposed to the district magistrate for a collective fine,” said Sheikhpura excise superintendent Vikesh Kumar. Long-drawn process Confirming that he has received the proposal, Sheikhpura District Magistrate Dinesh Kumar told The Hindu,

“The show-cause notice to the residents of Dadhi Tola has been issued to warn them about the collective fine to be imposed on them. If they do not mend their ways, we’ll mull over the penalty under the new law.” He, however, added that it would be a long-drawn process to impose and realise the collective fine. Similarly, excise department oicials of Bhagalpur district too have proposed to the district magistrate to impose collective fine on the residents of two localities situated on the outskirts of

the town, Karori Bazar and Diwan Pokhar, for violating prohibition. Recently, in a raid conducted by district excise and police oicials, a huge quantity of country-liquor was seized from these two localities. “Yes, I’ve got the proposal for imposing community fine on these two localities and I’ve already served show-cause notice to the residents of Karori Bazar on August 2 to respond within 15 days,” Bhagalpur District Magistrate Adesh Titarmare told The Hindu. He, however, added that the notice was yet to be served on Diwan Pokhar locality, “but soon they too will receive it.” 10 oicials suspended Ten station house oicers were suspended on Friday for failing to impose the stringent new excise and prohibition law efectively. The suspended police oicials will also not be given field postings in police stations for the next 10 years.

Govt. clears pay panel’s revised pension benefits B. MURALIDHAR REDDY NEW DELH: After keeping pen-

sioners and family pensioners on tenterhooks for nearly a fortnight, the Centre has cleared the revised pension benefits as recommended by the 7th Pay Commission. An order of the Department of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions on Thursday said that the benefits stand revised from January 1, 2016. The pension shall be calculated by multiplying the pension/family pension, as had been fixed at the time of implementation of 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommendations, by 2.57. By way of illustration the order gave two specific examples. In case one pensioner ‘A’ retired at last pay drawn of Rs. 79,000 on May 31, 2015 under the 6th CPC regime in the scale of Rs. 67,00079,000. The basic pension

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Gratuity ceiling increased SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI: Under the

revised rates fixed by the Centre, as per the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, the maximum limit of retirement gratuity and death gratuity will be Rs. 20 lakh. According to a release from the Department of Pensions, the ceiling on fixed in the 6th CPC was Rs. 39,500. Now it stands revised under the 7th CPC (using a multiple of 2.57) at Rs. 1,01,515. In case II pensioner ‘B’ retired at last pay drawn of Rs. 4,000 on January 1989 under the 4th CPC regime in the pay scale of Rs. 3000-1003500-125-4500, the basic pen-

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gratuity will increase by 25 per cent whenever the dearness allowance rises by 50 per cent of the basic pay. The rates for payment of death gratuity have been fixed on the basis of length of qualifying service. The rate of death gratuity in cases of less than one year of service will be two times of monthly emoluments. sion fixed in the 4th CPC was Rs. 1940, it was revised in the 6th CPC to Rs. 12,600 and now stands at using a multiple of (2.57) Rs. 32,382. The order said the existing pension/family pension will be the basic pension/family pension only without the element of additional pension available to the old pen-

sioners/family pensioners of the age of 80 years and above. The additional pension/ family pension payable to the old pensioners/family pensioners will be worked out in accordance with norms under the consolidated pension and will be inclusive of commuted portion of pension, if any. The commuted portion will be deducted from the said amount while making monthly disbursements. Minimum pension The minimum pension is fixed at Rs. 9,000 per month (excluding the element of additional pension to old pensioners). The upper ceiling on pension/family pension will be 50 per cent and 30 per cent respectively of the highest pay in the government (The highest pay in the government is Rs.2,50,000 with efect from January 2016).

HC refuses to lift ban on Nirbhaya documentary STAFF REPORTER NEW DELHI: The Delhi High

Court on Friday refused to interfere with the ban on telecast of BBC documentary India’s Daughter on the December 16 gang rape, saying the issue was pending before the trial court which was competent to deal with it. A bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath also refused to decide on the validity of an advisory issued by the Centre against telecast of the film as it said it was only an advice to private TV channels and the documentary was not shown because of the restraint order of the trial court. The decision came on the PIL petition by three law students seeking a lifting of the ban on the documentary, shot inside Tihar Jail, on the ground that it was “a look at the mindset of one of the convicted rapists“. The bench disposed of the petitions while leaving it open to the trial court to proceed with the matter.

Bodies of more bridge collapse victims found SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT PUNE: Inclement weather con-

tinued to hamper the search operations on Friday in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, where rescue teams managed to retrieve seven more bodies, taking the tally in the Mahad Bridge collapse tragedy to 21. There were unconfirmed reports late in the evening that yet another body was recovered from Vadavali village, six kilometres away. On the third day, 160 jawans from four teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), aided by local fishermen, braved relentless rain and rising river waters in a desperate search for missing persons. Fourteen bodies were fished out from the waters on Thursday, four of them late in the evening. Seven more were recovered on Friday before the swirling currents of the River Savitri brought operations to a halt. “Most of bodies recovered today were from nearby villages of Kemburli and Va-

rathi, 10 km from site of the bridge collapse. Others were discovered floating in the waters near Ambet village,” Anupam Srivastava, Commandant, NDRF, 5th Battalion, told The Hindu. ‘River has risen’ Mr. Srivastava said the level of the Savitri River had risen by six feet. “We have spread our search dragnet up to 30 km from the spot where the bridge stood considering the strong currents,” he said. Meanwhile, a case has been lodged against Raigad Guardian Minister Prakash Mehta by the editor of a regional television channel at the Mahad MIDC police station. The leader had got into a scule with journalists on Thursday after they asked him some uncomfortable questions about the Mahad tragedy. The Minister had allegedly responded with threats and warnings. He was also caught on camera apparently inciting party workers to beat up journalists.

‘Chhota Rajan killed J. Dey for lionising Dawood’ SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT MUMBAI: Journalist J. Dey was

murdered because he was working on a book that portrayed Dawood Ibrahim as the underworld don and not Chhota Rajan, reveals the supplementary chargesheet filed by the CBI. Rajan made his appearance in court through video conferencing as he is currently lodged in Tihar Jail when the agency submitted the chargesheet that revealed the motive behind killing Dey was he wanted to expose Rajan’s face of not being a ‘patriot don’ as pronounced by him. The agency stated Rajan got Dey killed because he was writing two books ‘Zero Dial’ and ‘khallas’ that were showing Rajan in a bad light. These two books have already been published and Dey was working on two other books. In one, Rajan was being portrayed as ‘chindi’ and second one showed Dawood as the don of the underworld and not Rajan.

Lives linked by donated heartbeats Donor families, recipients of organs gather in Mumbai to celebrate altruism ROLI SRIVASTAVA MUMBAI: On Friday, as

Mumbaikars stayed glued to alerts on traic jams and train delays caused by the heavy downpour, 8-yearold Madhavi Vishwakarma battled a far bigger concern — the dress she would wear to her first outing in six months after she underwent a heart transplant. The youngest patient to undergo the procedure in the city, Madhavi was among the 17 heart recipients who had gathered at Fortis Hospital for an event where even families of donors were present, but in a separate building as the recipientdonor meeting is not legally allowed. Connecting them, however, were heartbeats.

Deyaan Udani

Madhavi Vishwakarma

Madhavi, dressed in a sequined dress , spoke of how well she had recovered after the transplant. In the other building, Rekha Bavishi was grim-faced, but smiled at the mention of her grandson Deyaan Udani, whose heart now beats in Madhavi’s body. Seven-

year-old Deyaan was on a vacation in Mumbai from Sydney with his family in January this year when he was suddenly diagnosed with severe cerebral sinus venous thrombosis (blood clot in the brain vessel). He was declared brain dead and in accordance with a wish he had shared with

his parents after learning about organ donation in his Sydney school, the parents donated his heart, liver and kidneys. “It’s diicult for the parents to cope with such a loss. But there is consolation that his heart is beating somewhere,” said Deyaan’s aunt Amira. Mumbai has seen 24 heart transplants since August 3, 2015 of which 23 have been carried out at Fortis. Sitting among the donor families was Sangita Gund (29) a mother of two who lost her 32-year-old husband Santosh in a road accident in June. She came from Aurangabad for this event where she was felicitated for donating her husband’s organs. “I feel he is still alive. His organs gave life to four people,” she said. .

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EDITORIAL

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

Retrofitting the Reserve Bank By suggesting that inflation targeting be the sole objective of monetary policy in India, the government has also shut out of the reckoning an assault on India’s weak agricultural supply-side S AT U R D AY , A U G U S T 6 , 2 0 1 6

PULAPRE BALAKRISHNAN

I

Not a full-fledged State

n maintaining that Delhi is just a Union Territory, the Delhi High Court has answered some major and unresolved questions about the constitutional status of the National Capital Region. The Court has held that the special provisions incorporated for Delhi, under Article 239AA of the Constitution, do not negate the efect of Article 239, which empowers the Lt Governor to act independently of his Council of Ministers; in other words, the concurrence of the Lt Governor is mandatory for administrative decisions. Unless the Supreme Court adopts a diametrically opposite view, the Aam Aadmi Party, which has engaged in a turf war with the Centre over who rules Delhi, will have to abide by the categorical ruling that the Lt Governor is not bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. Given that the Supreme Court had taken a similar position in the NDMC vs State of Punjab case, the Delhi High Court judgment is no surprise. But the popular debate will continue about whether the right balance has been struck between the Union government’s responsibility in exercising control over an area in which Parliament, other key central institutions, and foreign missions are located and the democratic principle that people are ruled by a representative government. At the political level, one may read into the developments a political setback to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose AAP enjoys a massive majority in the Delhi State Assembly. Mr. Kejriwal had been locked in a power struggle with Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and had championed the cause of making Delhi a full-fledged State. As for the Bharatiya Janata Party, it may read the judgment as a vindication of its position that Mr. Kejriwal must accept the constitutional limitations of his oice. The AAP has questioned the relevance of holding elections if the winning party is not going to run the territory. It is also a fact that such a tussle for supremacy arises from personality clashes and particularly when rival parties are in power at the Centre and in the NCT. However, in the public perception, some questions will remain. Is it wise to put in place structures that are open to multiple interpretations about who really runs what aspect of the administration? Is it necessary to have an ‘aid and advice’ clause when the LG has a virtual veto, and the Union government the final say, over matters concerning Delhi? Would it also not be prudent to have a much less ambiguous legal and constitutional framework?

A

John Maynard Keynes was surely right to remark that the world is ruled by ideas and little else. But he may have been optimistic in believing that “soon or late, it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil.” Actually, vested interests can ensure that ideas prevail even when they are meant to serve some sectional interests at the cost of others. To those convinced of the infallibility of the principles governing the creation of wealth, it must come as a surprise that some of what is often considered knowledge in the context may be contested on perfectly reasonable grounds or, worse still to their likely horror, merely reflects the interests of certain parties to the transaction, so to speak. This is certainly true of the reigning view of the role of the central bank. Central banks are pivotal to the economic system and all countries have them. Our own Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is widely admired as arguably the last institution standing up to the machinations of the political class. It has certainly helped that every Indian to have headed it has represented the highest traditions of public service and personal integrity. Persons apart, however, a certain degree of morphing of the RBI has occurred of late, some of it deliberately intended and some of it perhaps in the form of collateral damage. The scope of inflation targeting The Finance Bill, 2016 has finally succeeded in making inflation targeting the sole objective of monetary policy. As monetary policy is the central bank’s prerogative, the move may be welcomed as signalling a newly minted and wholehearted commitment to inflation control which is now privileged over all other objectives. It, however, overlooks two possibilities that are surely of relevance in the context. First, whether the focus on inflation may imply a loss in certain other areas of the economy. And, second, whether inflation is fully within the its control anyway. Each of these considerations poses substantial questions. The issue germane to the first is whether

ILLUSTRATION: DEEPAK HARICHANDAN

It also ignores a serious lesson from the recent global financial crisis, which is that an inflationtargeting central bank can lose control of the financial system focussing on inflation can lead to preventing a rise in employment. In economies with unemployed resources, an increase in aggregate demand may be expected to lead to a rise in output and a rise in prices if there is a shortage of some inputs into production. In India the rise in prices is usually that of food, some items which have been perennially in short supply, the case of pulses and vegetables coming to mind immediately. Note that the increase in output may be expected to lead to an increase in employment as goods require labour for their production. Thus we have an increase in output, employment and prices. In a situation of ongoing inflation, we may even witness a rise in its rate. The question now is how to deal with the rise in prices. This can be done via one of two approaches. Under so-called inflation targeting the central bank raises the rate of interest. When

this is passed on by the commercial banks, it reduces the demand for credit, lowers investment and output growth. There is a concomitant reduction in the demand for labour and the ofending material inputs whose price rise constituted the inflation. Inflation is now likely to reduce. But notice the accompanying reduction in output. Supporters of inflation targeting argue that the initial spurt in output would not have been sustainable anyway as in the ‘long run’ workers will withdraw labour when they find that inflation has eroded the real value of their wages. This claim is sustained by ruling out involuntary employment, defined as a situation where workers are ready to work at the given money wage but do not find jobs. In its essence, the policy of inflation targeting assumes that the economy is always at full employment, or the ‘natural rate’ in the modern economist’s vocabulary. In this account fully-employed workers ofer more labour as inflation rises only because they mistake an increase in their money wage for a rise in its purchasing power — that is, they are unaware of the inflation. This suggests a certain credulousness among workers who, one would imagine, visit the bazaar on their way home from work in the evenings. It is only by insisting that inflation always and everywhere reflects employment having overshot its natural rate that the claim of no loss in welfare due to tight monetary policy can be sustained. Importance of supply position It should be clear by now that inflation targeting by the central bank can stem inflation due to supply shortages only by restricting demand. This entails welfare loss as employment is thereby reduced. So, how are we to deal with the inflation of the type described above, which I suggest is typical of India today? It can only be tackled via an expansion of the supply shortfall through either imports or increased production. We would then have tackled inflation at source — that is, directly, not indirectly, by restricting aggregate demand, as under a policy of inflation targeting. As a defence of the latter is offered the idea that the central bank can influence inflation expectations by signalling its intent to lower inflation in the future. But why should agents buy this when they

CARTOONSCAPE

Factor in the vested interests But what about the vested interests that I started out talking about? They are present as follows. Inflation lowers the real value of fixed-income securities referred to as ‘bonds’. Bond holders thus face ‘inflation risk’. As the total value of these securities rises in an economy, a vested interest in keeping inflation low emerges. Wall Street in the U.S. is the archetype here. Its interests are not that of the American worker — that is, it only cares about the real value of the financial wealth it manages. It is also powerful, reflected by the revolving door between Wall Street and the U.S. Treasury, the equivalent of our Ministry of Finance. However, not even this has succeeded in turning the Federal Reserve into an inflation-targeting central bank. Its mandate includes “promoting maximum employment”. The Indian establishment, on the other hand, has shown itself to be amenable to cognitive capture.

Mr. Singh in Islamabad

s the dust starts to settle after the controversies surrounding Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Pakistan, a sense of proportion is urgently needed — and given how easily minor observations about protocol can snowball into diplomatic spats, the sooner this happens the better it would be for India’s national interest as well as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. To begin with, Mr. Singh’s decision to finally show up for the SAARC interior ministers’ meet in Islamabad was wise. India, as the largest country in South Asia, has a stake in its viability. And for all the hostility in India-Pakistan rhetoric, which is basically aimed at domestic politics in the two countries in the backdrop of the protests in Kashmir, his visit underlined the attempt to separate the SAARC ministerial from bilateral relations with the hosts. This was, in fact, emphasised in advance with the clarification that Mr. Singh would not have a bilateral meeting with his Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines. As things stand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Islamabad for the SAARC summit in November, and the temptation to headline-hunt by sending a junior minister in Mr. Singh’s place was thankfully resisted. In his speech, he also desisted from playing to the gallery by maintaining the SAARC protocol of not referring to specific countries while talking of states that equate “terrorists to martyrs”. It is therefore unfortunate that on his return to Delhi, Mr. Singh played to a domestic constituency, keen on highlighting Pakistani snubs, by acknowledging in the Rajya Sabha on Friday reports of a “media blackout” during his visit. His explanation about returning to India without attending the lunch hosted by the Pakistani government because their minister gave it a miss was, “I did not go to Pakistan to have lunch.” This may, of course, be read variously, as a rebuf or as an indication that the lunch was immaterial to the larger purpose of the visit. But by not embedding his remarks, which included an aside on India’s tradition of hospitality, in a more nuanced road map for SAARC cooperation, the Minister has unnecessarily given play to pointless nitpicking. This tendency of matching Pakistani provocation with Indian retort is not always necessary. It can undermine India’s diplomatic efort to build a greater constituency for regional cooperation, not just in Pakistan but also in the other member countries. Having said this, the Pakistani establishment showed scant regard for bilateral relations by allowing terrorists wanted in this country to organise unchecked anti-India protests during Mr. Singh’s visit. It is one thing to condemn this act of provocation but New Delhi should not allow such pettiness to defeat its larger objectives in the region. CM YK

know that the bank cannot influence the food supply, which is the source of inflation? Their expectation of inflation is likely to remain high if they do not perceive in the oing a radical change in the supply position. By suggesting via the Finance Bill now that inflation targeting becomes the sole objective of monetary policy in India, the Government of India has not just oversimplified the problem of inflation control, it has also shut out of the reckoning an assault on India’s weak agricultural supply-side. The importance of a strong supply position in combatting inflation can be seen from the history of the U.S. and the U.K. in the last four decades. Following the oil price hikes of the 1970s, these economies went into overdrive in reducing their dependence on imported oil, the price of which could be manipulated by a cartel such as OPEC. This was achieved through a combination of supply and demand-side measures. The U.K. was lucky in striking oil in the North Sea while the U.S. developed an alternative to crude oil from shale. What is less well known is that there has also been a concerted conservation drive, something that we have not seriously attempted as India’s politicians are reluctant to propose any form of belt-tightening. Far from being an open-and-shut case then, the adoption of inflation targeting as the sole objective of the RBI is contestable in ways that have been indicated here. It also ignores a serious lesson from the recent global financial crisis, which is that an inflation-targeting central bank can lose control of the financial system. This, after all, was what had happened in the U.S. that had enjoyed a “great moderation” of inflation even as banks were generating toxic assets with the capacity of dragging the system down. It is not suiciently recognised that at least some part of the present problem of non-performing assets in India is related to poor lending by the nationalised banking sector at a time when inflation was considered to be under control. If a central bank is to have responsibility for financial stability, and this was the original task assigned to it, its focus cannot be exclusively on inflation. In India the Financial Stability and Development Council has taken the task of financial regulation outside the RBI. This is unwise, as the interest rate mechanism can prove to be a doubleedged sword. While it may curb inflation when raised, it may at the same time threaten financial stability by tipping indebted entities into insolvency. There is no case for monetary policy and financial regulation to be under the same authority.

Pulapre Balakrishnan teaches economics at Ashoka University, Sonipat, Haryana. The views expressed are personal.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.

Towards the GST rollout The passage of the Constitution Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha, paving the way for an integrated goods and services tax, is undoubtedly a watershed moment in the economic history of India. However, if the protests of the Finance Ministers of West Bengal and Kerala are any indication, there is still a long way to go for the implementation of the GST in its entirety, with some issues still lacking clarity (“Bengal, Kerala protest against GST amendment”, Aug.6). What is the fate of special excise duties levied by the Union Government on some items under the Second Schedule to the Central Excise Tarif Act? The jurisdiction, powers and responsibilities of the oicials of the Central Excise department and the Sales Tax departments of various States have to be clearly defined. Though the NDA government is eager to meet the April 2017 deadline, obviously keeping in mind the general election in 2019, it must be well-prepared to tackle hurdles that are likely to be created by States where various Opposition parties are in power. B. Harish,

Sabha. A well-informed debate is necessary to understand the real impact of the GST on essential commodities. Kangayam R. Narasimhan, Chennai

The GST indirectly afects the middle class rather than the rich. Most of the super-rich escape the tax net in the form of the tax breaks and incentives. The government must take care to ensure that the interests of the common man are protected as his income cannot be drained in the form of indirect taxation such as the GST. Rajan Jayabalan, Chennai

The passage of the GST Bill has been made possible after constructive political consensus. There should be a cap of 18 per cent on the GST. The government should also think in terms of lessening the burden of indirect taxes borne by the common man. Unless tax reforms are integrated with the welfare of the common man, there won’t be much for him to rejoice. Dr. D.V.G. Sankararao,

people of Delhi did not elect the L-G to rule them. When Governors are not the administrative heads in any State, why should it be any diferent in Delhi, especially as it has elected representatives? Bhooma Ramanarayanan, Chennai

The rise of Trumpism It is fair to say that the emergence of “Trumpism” in America is the Republican Party’s own making (“Understanding the Trump phenomenon”, Aug.5). Its leaders have never reconciled to the election of Barack Obama as the country’s first ever African-American President, and have often displayed a pronounced tendency to finding fault with him in whatever he did or does. In the process, the party has failed to throw up/groom credible leaders for 2016. Mr. Trump is both a beneficiary and a by-product of Republican animosity towards Mr. Obama and its stonewalling of his well-meant policies and programmes. C.G. Kuriakose, Kothamangalam, Kerala

Nellimarla, Andhra Pradesh

Mangaluru

Lieutenant Governor as head

While sectors like automobiles or cement will stand to benefit from the path-breaking legislation, it is unclear whether prices of items like vegetables, fruits, pulses or milk products will also come down. The prices of these items have doubled or more than doubled in the last five years. It may be recalled that the BJP adroitly introduced the Aadhaar bill as a money bill to bypass the Rajya

The Delhi High Court may be technically correct and might have rightly interpreted the law as far as saying that the Lieutenant Governor is the administrative head in Delhi (“Blow to AAP as HC says L-G is Delhi’s administrative head”, Aug.5). However, it cannot be denied that the decision is grossly unfair to the elected government of Delhi, and thereby to the people of Delhi. The

Abortion debate The human rights model of disability perceives disability as an inherent human condition. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006 has endorsed the inherent dignity to persons with disabilities. Article 10 of the UNCRPD recognises the right to life of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others. This airmation challenges the medical model of disability which views life

with disability as “abnormal”. States that become parties to the UNCRPD agree to promote, protect, and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms to all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity. India has both signed and ratified the Convention. Therefore, India is under obligation to review her abortion laws — the MTP Act and the PNDT Act — to take stock of whether the legal order on disabilityselective abortion contradicts her international promise to treat persons with disabilities on a par with all others. The ongoing debate and its reason are clear. It is not about the right to life of the foetus or the right to abortion. At its heart is the question about the life of persons with disabilities and the airmation of their equal value. The prejudiced perception of a life with disability must be changed (“A tricky debate on abortion”, Aug.3). Dr. Smitha Nizar, Bengaluru

The article is laden with judgment. The writer speaks of the woman with “modern notions of individual liberty” who believes that she alone has the right to deal with the foetus (read her body). If this is so, then who gets to decide whether or not she wants her body to act as an incubator for a period of time, with all the strains of childbearing and childbirth? The language of the arguments used in the article is symptomatic of what’s wrong when men tell women what to do with their bodies. There are deeply patriarchal institutions in India before which women have to grovel

especially on matters about their bodies. And it is men who will get away despite the scars they cause to a woman by an unwanted pregnancy. Sargam Sharma, Lucknow

Rice of the future? Ankit Aga’s opinions about golden rice are problematic (“Golden rice isn’t ready yet”, Aug.5). ‘Golden Rice 2’ (GR2) is now the preferred variety as it contains 20 times beta-carotene than ‘Golden Rice 1’. There are multiple strains of GR2 even though it was developed by 2005. Mr. Aga’s assertion that there is essentially no opposition to GR research whatsoever seems to contradict reports of vandalism against golden rice field trials in the Philippines, as highlighted on the International Rice Research Institute’s blog site. This factor has contributed to the delay. The Chinese study cited by the writer, although of a small sample size and retracted because of ethical reasons, nevertheless demonstrated that bioavailability of beta-carotene from golden rice is good in children, and is quite safe. His claim that poor people, particularly in India, won’t be able to avail of enough fats in their diet to absorb beta-carotene in GR is a red herring. Most poor people in India are able to aford cooking oil, which is the primary source of dietary fat. Better designed studies to further test golden rice do need to be conducted, but continued opposition to genetically modified organisms, abetted by organisations that are driven by misplaced ideology, has made it diicult to do so. S. Dutt, Kolkata ND-ND

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GROUND ZERO

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

FEEDING DRIVE: A woman of Tala Nagada village gives her child ‘Energy Dense Nutrient Rich Food’ distributed by the government health department to the villagers of Nagada hills in Jajpur district. — PHOTOS: BISWARANJAN ROUT

The lost tribe of Odisha

Nineteen Juang tribal children have died in the last three months due to acute malnutrition-related diseases in inaccessible hamlets atop the Nagada hills, in Odisha’s Jajpur district. A public outcry has forced the State government to finally sit up and take notice, finds Prafulla Das

K

usumuli Pradhan cannot quite remember the date she lost her son. She recalls it was sometime in the third week of June and four-year-old Charan was running a high temperature. There were rashes on his small frame. Kusumuli gathered him in her arms and walked 27 km to the Tata Steel hospital. After watching 10 children die in her hamlet in the past few months, Kusumuli was in a hurry to knock on the hospital door. The thirty-something Juang tribal woman, however, brought the child home after a day of observation in the hospital. Three days later, Charan died. There was no one to advise Kusumuli to get her child admitted to the hospital just as no health administrator had bothered to inform her about the importance of getting her children inoculated against life-threatening diseases. Kusumuli buried her son close to her hut as her neighbours had done before her. “We make do with whatever we grow near our home and sell our forest produce to buy rice,” says the grieving Kusumuli. The particular variety of root she plucks is used in brewing a traditional rice beer, Handia, which Kusumuli sells at the Chingudipal gram panchayat headquarters 20 km away from her hamlet. The Juangs of Nagada go to the Tata Steel hospital in Kaliapani, set up to cater to the needs of its employees at the Sukinda chromite mine. The doctor on duty is attending to two girls — Manasi and Rebati, both acutely malnourished. Each day they are weighed. For Kusumuli this was the nearest she could rush her son to. The government-run public health centre is 36 km away in Kuhika. The community health centre at Sukinda is 46 km away and the district hospital is 110 km away. Charan’s death had taken the toll of infants who had died in Nagada to 19 in three months. The Naveen Patnaik government woke up to the news after two local newspapers, Samaja and Sambad, broke the story and local television amplified it. The administration wakes up Tents were soon pitched and cots were taken up the hills for the oicials to stay. Medicines, food material for new mini-makeshift Anganwadis and government staf, solar lights, water filters and saplings of nutritious fruits and vegetables were making their slow climb. Close to 50 oicials are posted here and work on a rotation basis. There is one permanent Anganwadi in the foothills of Nagada, under the charge of Satyabhama Dehuri. Her job is confined to supplying packets of nutritional chhatua, a mix of Bengal gram, wheat, peanut and sugar, to the villagers whenever they come down. The Anganwadi worker is not only required to weigh children but also administer nutritional food to them and ideally should have been located at the top of the Nagada hills. Twenty-two undernourished chilCM YK

dren, all aged under six, from Nagada and Guhiasala villages were admitted to the Tata Steel hospital following the visit of the oicials. Most of these children returned to their hamlets after medical treatment when medical teams started reaching the hamlets. The infants were kept in the hospital for a week — their condition closely monitored as most of them had malaria and chest congestion and were sufering from acute malnutrition. They survived. Deaths on account of malnutrition are not an admission health oicials like to make on record. The exact reasons for the young children’s deaths will never be known as the parents quickly buried their little ones. The two deaths regis-

The State administration is working overtime to build roads to Nagada using Integrated Action Plan funds tered in the Tata Steel hospital have been put down to “malaria and protein-energy malnutrition”, says Chief District Medical Oicer of Jajpur Phanindra Kumar Panigrahi. As photographs in newspapers and visuals on television channels kept the focus on Nagada, the opposition Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and others started visiting Nagada; the government responded by setting a field-level task force and a State-level monitoring committee to keep a close watch. To any visitor, including this reporter, the children and adults in the hamlets appear in feeble health. Their one-room huts empty barring a few pieces of clothing, few kilos of ration rice and some maize they grew near their home. Although oicials remain tight-lipped about the prevalence of acute malnutri-

tion among children under five years of age, an oicial survey by the State Women and Child Development Department found that 44 children in the age group of six months to five years were sufering from malnutrition in the seven hamlets atop the hills, and nine more such children had been identified in Ashokjhar, another Juang hamlet situated in the foothills. As many as 24 of these 53 children are sufering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and the remaining are sufering from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). The SAM and MAM status of children are known by measurement of upper arm muscles along with body weight. These undernourished children are now being provided nutritious food and treatment at their homes by the doctors camping there and being monitored. A history of neglect Odisha has 62 tribes, the highest number among all States and Union Territories in the country, accounting for 22.85 per cent of the total population as per 2011 census. As many as 13 of these tribes have been identified as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), living in over 500 habitations of the State but mostly in hamlets inside the forested hills across Odisha. The Juang tribe is one of the PVTGs that belong to the Munda ethnic group and live in Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Angul and Jajpur districts of Odisha and speak the Juang language, which is accepted as a branch of the greater Austroasiatic language family. Those who come down the hills at regular intervals have picked up Odia. It was to bring the Juangs into the mainstream that the Juang Development Agency (JDA) was established in 1975, with its headquarters in Gonasika Hills in Keonjhar district. Even after four decades have elapsed, the agency has not been able to go beyond the

Juangs of Keonjhar, operating in 35 villages in six gram panchayats of Banspal block of Keonjhar. In fact, around 20 more villages in that block are yet to be covered. Many other Juang-dominated villages in Harichandanpur block of Keonjhar, Kankadahad block of Dhenkanal have remained outside the purview of the JDA all these decades. As do the hamlets on the Nagada hills. They are inaccessible by road — there is only one way to get there, and that is by foot. The tragedy at Nagada involving the Juang tribe exposes the government’s apathy towards the PVTGs, but this is not for the first time that malnutrition-related deaths have stalked the tribal children. In 2013, several malnourished Paudi Bhuyan tribal children had allegedly died of diseases caused by acute malnutrition in Lahunipara block of Sundargarh district, over 200 km away from Nagada. Though the exact number of deaths is not available in the oicial records, a food rights activist claims that about 15 deaths were reported from different villages in Lahunipara. Many deaths of undernourished children in hilltop tribal hamlets in the interiors go unreported as they remain inaccessible. Following media reports about acute malnutrition among Paudi Bhuyan children, the State Women and Child Development Department, in consultation with Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, health and family welfare, rural development and panchayati raj departments, had prepared a guideline for a convergent health and nutrition plan to address the health and nutritional needs of PVTGs in the State. An oicial survey that time detected that as many as 195 children belonging to Paudi Bhuyan tribe were sufering from severe malnutrition in Lahunipara. Last-mile connectivity issues The Nagada deaths raise questions on the eiciency of plans and schemes launched for the welfare of tribals living in inaccessible areas, including the Nutrition Operational Plan that was drawn up in 2009 to accelerate the pace of underweight reduction in Odisha. About 38 per cent of children in the State are stunted, its prevalence highest at about 46 per cent among tribal children. As nutrition needs of the PVTGs remain unaddressed with the failure to ensure road connectivity to their habitations, the government has also failed to bring them under the ambit of the National Food Security Act. Though ration cards had been issued to a majority of these tribals, Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cards elude many of them despite a standing order of the Supreme Court that “ that all households belonging to six priority groups, one of them PVTGs, would be entitled to AAY cards”. “It is not geographical isolation alone, but exclusion of the tribals from many government programmes that has made

The last time a block development officer (BDO) of Sukinda visited Nagada to convince the tribals to leave the hills to be rehabilitated on the plains was in 2013, says Dharmendra Kumar Sahoo, the local gram panchayat extension oicer camping at Nagada. Mr. Sahoo, who claims that he accompanied the then BDO that time, says that the residents were in no mood to leave their habitat.

hundreds of children sufer from acute undernourishment in Odisha. A coordinated approach by diferent government departments is the need of the hour to bring all PVTGs living atop forested hills in the State under the welfare programmes,” says Rajkishor Mishra, State Adviser to the Commissioners of the Supreme Court. It has taken 19 deaths for oicials to now admit that the Juang people in the hamlets atop Nagada hills — Tala Nagada, Majhi Nagada, Upara Nagada, Tumuni, Naliadaba, Guhiasala and Taladiha — were deprived of basic facilities such as drinking water, primary health care, electricity, and primary education available under various Central and State schemes due to lack of road connectivity. There is not a single well in these hamlets and they depend on forest streams for water throughout the year. Tala Nagada hamlet, the biggest of the seven hamlets with a population of 162, alone reported as many as 15 child deaths. Many residents in these hamlets do not have even voter IDs and job cards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. None of the families have been given land rights under the Forest Rights Act. The able men and women of these hamlets climb down the hills and walk down 20 km at least once a month to buy ration rice from the gram panchayat office at Chingudipal or anything from the weekly haat (market) near Kaliapani. Rice and salt is their staple. Since the quantum of ration rice is never suicient for their families, they eat boiled wild tuber that they collect from the forest as dinner. The only initiative to provide informal education to children had begun in Nagada in November last year when Aspire, a non-governmental organisation, started a non-residential bridge course for 100 children, with financial support from Tata Steel Rural Development Society. CSR funds from the mining companies operating in nearby areas in the district since long, however, had not been utilised for the benefit of people of Nagada who live just few miles away. Some of these companies are supporting the Aahar outlets being run by the State government in district headquarters, towns and cities.

On the road to hope After Odisha Women and Child Development Minister Usha Devi’s comment that the Juangs lack awareness attracted criticism from the public and the Opposition, the State administration is working overtime to build roads to Nagada using Integrated Action Plan funds by involving the Forest and Rural Development departments. Senior bureaucrats are drawing up plans to build roads from the Jajpur as well as Dhenkanal sides. In the meanwhile, oicers and employees of almost all departments of the government have reached Nagada by climbing with great diiculty. Eforts are on to provide health care and sanitation facilities, and supply free food to children at four newly-set-up mini Anganwadis. Oicials have even created two WhatsApp groups among themselves to monitor the delivery of services at Nagada on a regular basis. Further, an initiative has been taken to identify all inaccessible tribal hamlets across the State by assimilating information being collected from the district administrations and using remote sensing data from Odisha Space Applications Centre. Virtually admitting to the lapses on the part of his government after opposition parties sharpened their attack and sought Governor S.C. Jamir’s intervention in the matter, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has assured that such tragic incidents would not recur in future. That responsibility has been entrusted with Development Commissioner R. Balakrishnan, who first visited the Nagada hills as Sub-Collector of the then Jajpur subdivision way back in November 1986. As a young oicer then, Balakrishnan had walked up the hills and distributed clothes to the Juang tribals. The situation has not changed even today. “The crux of the matter is connectivity. The topography poses a big challenge. But eforts are being made on a war footing to overcome the diiculties and ensure service delivery,” he says. “No politician or anyone from the government has visited our village in recent years,” says Binod Pradhan, 50, one of the Nagada elders. Pradhan requests for Bidhaba Bhatta (widow pension); his wife had died five years ago after she developed high fever. Little does he know that the scheme is meant for women. For that matter, most on the hills know very little of the bouquet of welfare programmes they are entitled to. Perhaps they will, the day the ascent to and descent from Nagada hills isn’t a precarious matter of watching your step. ND-ND

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NEWS

FROM PAGE ONE

First challenge High Court verdict, SC tells AAP govt. “We don’t have to record anything. It is your choice to file,” Justice Sikri responded. Primary question The Bench perused the suit records and asked Ms. Jaising how many of the issues in it had already been dealt with by the High Court. “You cannot shy away from challenging the High Court by coming to us with this suit. It will not lead you anywhere. The right course will be for you to challenge the HC judgment, and once we have decided that, this suit will have no relevance,” Justice Sikri observed. Ms. Jaising said the primary question they wanted the apex court to answer

was whether the dispute between the AAP and the Centre was a federal dispute coming under Article 131 of the Constitution and which only the Supreme Court had jurisdiction to hear and decide. “If the dispute comes under the aegis of Article 131, what is the validity of this High Court judgment?” Ms. Jaising said. “This question will be decided in the special leave petition...,” Justice Sikri countered. “We will if necessary set aside the High Court judgment if it is found to be wrong... But you approached the Supreme Court and also knocked on the doors of the High Court.”

AHMEDABAD: It has been a meteoric rise for 60-year-old Vijay Rupani. The first time MLA was inducted into the cabinet and entrusted with crucial portfolios of transport, water resources and labour and employment, became State party president and has now been named the Chief Minister — all this in less than two years. On Friday evening, amid high drama, the BJP named Mr Rupani as the next Chief Minister because party president Amit Shah backed him against senior Cabinet Minister Nitin Patel, who was supported by outgoing Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.

Beginning in ABVP Mr. Rupani was born in Burma and grew up in Saurashtra. His political journey began when he joined the Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) during his students days in Rajkot university and was jailed during

Sonia better, out of ICU SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Vijay Rupani the Emergency. “Rupani has a knack for being the right man at the right place at right time. He was Keshubhai Patel’s right hand man in Rajkot when Patel was CM. Then he became Narendra Modi’s trusted aide when Modi was CM here and now he is a confidant of party president Amit Shah,” said a senior RSS leader from Saurashtra. Mr. Rupani graduated from students politics to Rajkot city politics when he became municipal councillor and then Mayor in 1996-97. For switching his alle-

Initial reports had highly exaggerated an isolated case, says Ambassador SUHASINI HAIDAR NEW DELHI: The problems of

Indian workers in Saudi Arabia have been “resolved”, the Kingdom’s Ambassador to India said, maintaining that the plight of Indians, who had gone without food for three days, was “an isolated case”. Speaking to The Hindu, Ambassador Saud Bin Mohammed Al Sati said all workers afected would be fed, have papers arranged and flown back to India, if required, at the expense of the Saudi government. “The problem was the result of an individual act by one company (Saudi Oger Construction Company). ...Steps have been taken

giance from Mr. Keshubhai Patel to Mr. Modi, Mr. Rupani was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha term from 2006 to 2012. His big moment came when Vajubhai Vala, a top BJP leader from Rajkot was made Karnataka Governor by the BJP government in 2014. After Mr. Vala’s elevation, Mr. Rupani was fielded from his Assembly seat, Rajkot West. He won and went on to become a Cabinet Minister. In 2015, Mr. Rupani was appointed State party president because national president Amit Shah was not in favour of Mansukh Mandavia, a candidate supported by Ms. Patel. Parallel power centre Interestingly, Mr Rupani did not resign from the ministry after he became party president. Instead he became a parallel power centre controlling the party as well as holding important portfolios in the government.

Rajnath takes a dig at Pak. over SAARC meet

about it. But let me repeat, this was an isolated case, not a trend or some phenomenon existing across other companies.” Not widespread Mr. Al-Sati rejected reports that have described a growing crisis for Indian workers, as other construction companies in the country including Saudi Oger, Bin Ladin Group and Saad have laid of thousands in the wake of declining oil prices and an economic downturn. “Three million Indians live and work in Saudi Arabia, enjoy their life in Saudi Arabia. And there has been no change in the average number of Indians travelling to work in Saudi Arabia. So

MAHESH LANGA AHMEDABAD: Top sources in the BJP said outgoing Chief Minister Anandiben Patel almost broke down during the high level meeting to choose her successor, saying that the Patidar agitation was internally engineered to dislodge her. This provoked party president Amit Shah to retort that he had no role to play but now he would decide on the next chief minister and he mentioned Mr. Rupani’s name. The source added that “Ms Patel insisted that as agreed earlier, the party should go by seniority and select Nitin Patel because Mr Rupani is a first time MLA and lacks administrative experience.” “Amitbhai was not in a mood to concede,” said a senior minister present at the meeting. Meanwhile, an apparently upset Nitin Patel, who had even distributed sweets in

Report baseless, says Pankaja

the arrangements made by Pakistan for the SAARC conference in Islamabad, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament on Friday that he did not go there to have an “elaborate meal.” Mr. Singh’s response came when he was asked by several Rajya Sabha members why he had boycotted the lunch hosted by his Pakistani counterpart, Chaudhry Nisar Ali. Mr. Singh said after the meeting was over, Pakistan’s Home Minister, who was the host, invited the participants for lunch. However, Mr. Ali left the venue soon after. ‘No complaints’ “Keeping in mind the country’s prestige, I did what I should have done. I have no complaints. I had not gone there for an elaborate meal,” Mr. Singh said amid applause from members. Making suo motu statements in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha on his visit to Islamabad to attend the seventh SAARC Home Ministers’ Meeting, which concluded on Thursday, Mr. Singh said he had urged the members

Rajnath Singh not to glorify terrorism or patronise it. Recalling former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statement that one can change friends but not neighbours, Mr. Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his predecessor Manmohan Singh have expressed sympathy with Pakistan as it too has been a ‘victim of terror’. He said all Prime Ministers have tried to better ties with neighbours. “But the dilemma is...padosi hai ki maanta hi nahi (the neighbour is not ready to change)...May God give sense to all,” he said, evoking laughter in the House.

moved in the Maharashtra Assembly against Congress MLA Vijay Vadvettiwar and The Hindu, Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde on Friday said, “The MLA read out a news report and alleged I was involved in a road scam. This is baseless. I have nothing to do with it. I am therefore, moving a breach of privilege motion against him.” In an identical allegation against ‘The Editor (The Hindu) and the author of the article’, Ms. Munde said: “The unverified reports in the said newspaper tarnished my image, and therefore, I am moving a breach of privilege .” The issue had rocked the Assembly on Thursday, leading to over five adjournments. Raising the issue during zero hour, Congress MLA Vadvettiwar had named the Minister, based on the report in The Hindu. The Hindu had reported that a road contractor, RPS Infra Projects, had received seven times more work orders while it was in ‘partnership’ with Ms. Munde and Dr. Palwe, her husband.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have kept away from the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha during the debate and passage of the Goods and Services (GST) Bill, but he will be making an intervention in the Lok Sabha on Monday, when the amended Bill is debated in that House. Senior sources in the government confirmed to The Hindu that Prime Minister Modi will be speaking on the Bill, the passage of which (in the Rajya Sabha) he had termed as a “historic occasion” and “the best example of cooperative federalism.” Sources in the Prime Minister’s Oice (PMO) dismissed speculation over his non-

CM YK

appearance in the Rajya Sabha, where the Constitutional Amendment enabling the GST was being debated on Wednesday. “The Prime Minister was in his chamber in Parliament when the Bill was being debated, and if you notice, no Minister who is a member of the Lok Sabha, except the two Ministers of State for Finance, were present in the Rajya Sabha. The PM felt that the Finance Minister had matters well in hand, there was no need to intervene,” said the source. Pressure on States Finance Minister Arun Jaitley meanwhile dialled Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to discuss the possibility of calling a special session of the Assembly to clear

BJP pulls out all stops to clear Bill; Chief Ministers pushed for early ratification the GST. “A Constitutional Amendment is operationalised, after clearing both Houses of Parliament with two-thirds majority, and after 50 per cent of the State legislatures clear the amendment. The BJP has governments in 10 States out 29 in India, and with West Bengal and Bihar ready to do the needful in their State legislatures, we can get this tied up soon,” said a senior oice bearer of the BJP. BJP chief Amit Shah has already summoned the Chief

Ministers of BJP-ruled States for a meeting on August 27, to push for an early clearance of the GST Bill. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu also spoke to them for expediting the Bill. Sources say Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has agreed not to prorogue the current session and clear GST. Mustering numbers The party and government is not resting on its laurels when it comes the vote in the Lok Sabha either. The Prime Minister’s Oice is closely watching the vote, and says that “apart from the 37 MPs of the AIADMK, who do not support the Bill, our efort would be to make sure that all MPs vote ‘aye’.”

bles was a “wrong projection” and should not be “blown out of proportion.” Ambassador Al-Sati said that figures crossing 10,000 workers afected were “initial reports, but after investigation we realised that the numbers of those afected are approximately 2,500.” ‘No change in ties’ Asked if bilateral relations had been strained over the incident, the Ambassador said the numbers involved represented a fraction of the Indian population in Saudi Arabia. “Obviously, if some complain, then the government is bound to listen and wish to help. But that doesn’t change the relationship. There is no other relationship like this, and it is not just government-to-government but people-to-people ties that bind us,” he added.

Delhi HC orders security for Sasikala Pushpa STAFF REPORTER DELHI/TIRUNELVELI: The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Delhi Police to provide security to Rajya Sabha MP and expelled AIADMK leader Sasikala Pushpa for her movement to and from the Upper House after she alleged a threat to her life and that of her family. A Bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi said, “As an interim arrangement, let protection be provided to her for her movement to and from Parliament.” During the brief hearing, Ms. Pushpa told the court that she had been receiving threats on WhatsApp from unknown mobile numbers. Senior advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, appearing on her behalf, said the MP was receiving death threats after being slapped by a party leader and due to her re-

NEW

fusal to resign from the House. Meanwhile, a youth on Friday lodged a police complaint in Tirunelveli, charging that Ms. Pushpa had duped him of Rs. 20 lakh. She had allegedly taken the bribe for getting him a government contract. Security arrangements When the Delhi HC judge inquired if any security arrangements for her to visit Parliament could be made, the police said, “She is a sitting member of Parliament. Till the time our assessment report comes back, we can escort her to and from Parliament but not every other place. She should also then confine herself.” “The petitioner faces a grave threat to her life and liberty due to her expulsion from the AIADMK and her refusal to resign

from the party. The petitioner has expressed her apprehensions on the floor of the Rajya Sabha and despite that no action has been taken to provide the petitioner with adequate security in view of the threat to her life,” said the petition filed through advocate D. Abhinav Rao. Meanwhile in a petition submitted to R. Thirugnanam, Commissioner of Police, Tirunelveli City, S. Rajesh of Shanthi Nagar in Palayamkottai claimed that last year he had paid Ms. Pushpa Rs. 20 lakh in two instalments for getting a contract for watering plants along the median of the four-lane national highway between Palayamkottai and Thoothukudi and Thoothukudi and Kovilpatti. She promised to get the contract within a week. “But the contract never came,” he alleged.

Honour my promise to A.P.: Manmohan This enraged the Congress members who trooped into the well, alleging that the government failed to keep its promise. Mr. Jaitley said the government stood by its commitment to fulfil all legal conditions set by the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

B. MURALIDHAR REDDY

Modi to speak in Lok Sabha on GST NISTULA HEBBAR

the morning and gave media interviews sparking celebration by his supporters in his constituency Mehsana, told The Hindu, “God knows what happened,” when asked why he lost out from the race at the last moment. The meeting lasted almost 45 minutes and finally in the legislative party meeting, Mr. Rupani’s name was endorsed while Mr. Patel was confirmed as deputy Chief Minister, marking a first for the BJP in Gujarat. “We have unanimously elected Vijay Rupani and Nitin Patel as Chief Minister and deputy Chief Minister respectively,” Mr. Gadkari said, refusing to elaborate on why Mr. Patel, who was almost confirmed and had even given media interviews, was overlooked at the last moment. “Here, the party MLAs, leaders and others have taken a decision on Mr. Rupani and Mr. Patel in democratic manner,” he added.

repatriation to India of those wishing to return. “Due to our excellent relationship with Saudi Arabia and eforts made at the highest level, things are in control and this humanitarian issue is being handled with utmost care and consideration,” Mr. Swarup said. On July 30, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had launched an operation to rescue Indian workers in Saudi Arabia,

some of whom had reached out to her on Twitter. Deputing Ministers of State Gen. (Retd.) V.K. Singh and M.J. Akbar to liaise with Saudi authorities, Ms. Swaraj said she had organised the distribution of more than 15,000 kgs of food to workers at camps in Jeddah and Riyadh. “The number of Indian workers facing food crisis in Saudi Arabia is over Ten Thousand. It is not 800 as is being reported,” Ms Swaraj tweeted even as Gen. Singh left for Riyadh on a mission they dubbed “No Indian left behind”. However, after meeting with the Saudi Labour Minister, Gen. Singh said the Saudi government, on instructions from King Salman had agreed to help the workers. Mr. Singh also told reporters in Riyadh that the original estimations of workers trou-

SHARAD VYAS MUMBAI: In privilege motions

NEW DELHI: Taking pot-shots at

where is the problem?” he said to The Hindu. At a press conference in Delhi, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup also confirmed that the governments were now working together to resolve all the four issues relating to the Indian workers, who mainly belonged to the Saudi Oger construction company: food and shelter issues, unpaid wages, transfers to other companies for employment, and possible

Anandiben breaks down at meeting

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI: Congress president

Sonia Gandhi, who earlier this week underwent a surgery at Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital to repair a dislocated shoulder, was shifted out of the ICU on Friday. According to Dr. D.S. Rana, chairman ( Board of Management) Sir Ganga Ram Hospital: “Mrs. Sonia Gandhi was admitted under Dr. Arup Basu and his team from the Department of Pulmonology and has been operated for a shoulder injury by a team of Dr. Sanjay Desai from Mumbai and Dr. Prateek Gupta, orthopaedic consultant from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. She is recovering well.” The surgery reportedly took about three hours on Wednesday night. “She will be discharged in a couple of days. She has to be put on a physiotherapy regime to ensure quick and full healing,” said a hospital source. Ms. Gandhi, who was in Varanasi on Tuesday to lead the party’s road show, had to be flown back to Delhi after she fell ill. She was reportedly running a fever and her condition worsened because of the hectic road show.

THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

Indian workers’ issue solved: Saudi envoy

The rise and rise of Rupani SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NOIDA/DELHI

NEW DELHI: In his first ever address in this session of Parliament, the former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, said on Friday that the commitment made by him two years ago to give special status to Andhra Pradesh should be fulfilled, as the Rajya Sabha discussed a private member Bill on the issue. Dr. Singh appealed to the House to honour the commitment made by him in the Rajya Sabha on February 20, 2014 to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh. He argued that his Cabinet had also approved an ordinance for the same, but it got delayed because the model code of conduct for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls came into efect. The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, moved by K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao of the Congress, was, however, referred to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, amid the uproar by the Congress, which led to adjournment of the House for the day. Fi-

JUSTICE ASSURED: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at Parliament House in New Delhi on Friday. — PHOTO: PTI nance Minister and Leader of the House Arun Jaitley raised objections to the Bill, saying it was a money Bill which could be taken up only by the Lok Sabha. “The Constitution does not give any power to the

Chair [of the Rajya Sabha] to decide whether it is a money Bill or not... The point is that if the Chair has any doubt, he cannot decide... ...since the matter is in doubt, I refer it to the Speaker,” Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien said.

Modi-Naidu meeting Meanwhile, seeking a solution to the issue of grant of “special status” to Andhra Pradesh, the State Chief Minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. He insisted that a resolution should be found before the end of the current Parliament session on August 12. The Prime Minister reportedly told him that his government would ensure “justice” for the residual State of Andhra Pradesh. During his separate meetings with Mr. Jaitley and Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, the CM argued that his State must be granted special status.

What is special category status SRINIVASAN RAMANI

A

growing clamour for Special Category Status in Andhra Pradesh has led to State-wide protests, and heated debates in Parliament. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, under immense pressure, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday seeking a resolution of this issue by the end of the Parliament session on August 12th.

What is SCS? The Constitution does not include any provision for categorisation of any State in India as a Special Category Status (SCS) State. But, recognising that some regions in the country were historically disadvantaged in contrast to others, Central plan assistance to SCS States has been granted in the past by the erstwhile Planning Commission body, National Development Council (NDC). The NDC granted this status

based on a number of features of the States which included: hilly and diicult terrain, low population density or the presence of sizeable tribal population, strategic location along international borders, economic and infrastructural backwardness and non-viable nature of State finances. What kind of assistance do SCS States receive? The SCS States used to receive block grants based on the Gadgil-Mukherjee formula, which efectively allowed for nearly 30 per cent of the Total Central Assistance to be transferred to SCS States as late as 2009-10. Following the constitution of the NITI Aayog (after the dissolution of the Planning Commission) and the recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC), Central plan assistance to SCS States has been subsumed in an increased devolution of the divisible

pool to all States (from 32% in the 13th FC recommendations to 42%) and do not any longer appear in plan expenditure. The FFC also recommended variables such as “forest cover” to be included in devolution, with a weightage of 7.5 in the criteria and which could benefit northeastern States that were previously given SCS assistance. Besides, assistance to Centrally Sponsored Schemes for SCS States was given with 90% Central share and 10% State share. What other States are seeking SCS status? Apart from Andhra Pradesh which is in the news lately, Bihar and Odisha had recently demanded SCS status but they have not been granted the same as they did not meet the criteria. What is the basis of A.P.’s claim for SCS status? Following the bifurcation of A.P., Andhra lost a large

volume of its revenue due to Hyderabad remaining the capital of Telangana. In a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the A.P. Reorganisation Act on February 20, 2014, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that SCS would be “extended to the successor State of Andhra Pradesh ... for a period of five years.” This oral submission by the then PM has been the basis for A.P.’s claim to the status. What has been the Centre’s response? In a reply to a TDP MP’s question in Parliament on this claim, then Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha had said in April 2016 that the Centre had no proposal to modify the criteria for SCS status. And that the increased devolution as recommended by the FFC (which included revenue deficit grants following the bifurcation) is already flowing to the State. ND-ND

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THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

Mobile recovered from slain militant points to NDFB(S) hand PRABIR KUMAR TALUKDAR

OMAR RASHID LUCKNOW: Fifteen policemen

were suspended and some of them booked for murder in Kanpur district after a Dalit youth was found dead in custody under suspicious circumstances on Thursday. A case was registered against the personnel under the stringent Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and IPC Section 302 (murder) after relatives of the youth lodged a complaint. Kamal Valmiki, in his midtwenties, was reportedly picked up by the police in the Chakeri area late on Tuesday night along with his brother for questioning in a case of

Security Adviser Ajit Doval in Delhi. He will be holding a special meeting at the Brahmaputra Guest House to discuss the issue. Mr. Sonowal has announced a special ex gratia of Rs. 5 lakh to the dead and Rs. 1 lakh each to the injured. Security forces and the police said the NDFB(S) was not in talks with the government. This group is against the peace talks. Intelligence

agencies reckon that the attack may be in retaliation to the killing of a leader of the faction last month. Joint operation On Thursday, a joint operation was launched by the Army and the police along the Assam-Bhutam border to nab the key leaders of the faction. The attack may have been an attempt to divert the

attention of security forces from the operation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack and said the Home Ministry was in touch with the Assam government. “Saddened by the attack in Kokrajhar. We strongly condemn it. Thoughts & prayers with the bereaved families & those injured,” he tweeted. (With PTI inputs)

A vicious NDFB splinter group SHIV SAHAY SINGH KOLKATA: Ingi Kathar Songbijit, who broke away from the NDFB-Ranjan Daimari faction in 2012 and declared himself president of yet another splinter group, is a feared militant, who carries a Rs. 10 lakh reward. He was the army commander of the NDRB (R) before he decided to part ways.

Interestingly, the man who heads an organisation fighting for the Bodo people is not a Bodo but a Karbi, born in Sonitpur district of Assam. The NDFB (Songbijit), which the security forces claim was behind Friday’s attack in Kokrajhar, was involved in an attack on tribals in December 2014 that had killed 31 people. Songbijit’s outfit considered the most

Amend law to check milk adulteration: SC LEGAL CORRESPONDENT

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre and States to amend the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, to penalise those indulging in adulteration of milk and dairy products. “Milk is the only source of nourishment for infants and a major part of the diet for NEW

DELHI:

15 cops suspended for custodial death in Kanpur A Dalit youth was found dead in custody under suspicious circumstances

GUWAHATI/NEW DELHI: According

to oicials, 36 companies of paramilitary forces were brought in for deployment in Kokrajhar district before the election. Post-poll, 27 left the district, leaving behind just nine, comprising 360 paramilitary personnel to look after three subdivisions. “One has to praise the police for taking a response time of just seven minutes and killing one militant and putting an end to a possible massacre,” an oicial said. U.G. Brahma, former Rajya Sabha M.P. and United People’s Party leader said: “The attack happened due to negligence of the Government of India. I won’t comment on the possibility of NDFB(S) involvement but it’s unlikely that Bodo militants will kill their own people.” DGP Mukesh Sahay said: “We have captured the driver of the tempo. The involvement of NDFB(S) is more likely as we found a mobile from the slain militant linked to a higher ranking leader of the group. One magazine was used in the firing and 49 rounds have been recovered. We will be intensifying our operations as soon as possible.” Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal arrived in Guwahati after meeting National

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NEWS

NOIDA/DELHI

growing children in tender age and if no efective measure is taken to ensure the purity of milk, health of the children will be adversely affected,” a Bench of Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur and Justices R. Banumathi and U.U. Lalit observed in a judgment on Friday. The judgment referred to the amendments made by some States.

dreaded faction operating in the area. Security agencies claim the group has killed hundreds of people and abducted dozens. While Songbijit himself is believed to be in Mynamar, other important members of the outfit, including a top leader B. Bidai, are believed to be camping along the India-Bhutan border. The combing operations by the

Assam police, which started on Thursday are centred round this area. Senior police oicers believe Friday’s attack was an unplanned one, launched to spark terror and make extortion easier as also ease the pressure of the combing operations. The armed movement demanding a separate Bodoland started in the mid 1980s.

loot. Another person, Raju Mistry, had also been apprehended along with them. On Thursday, Kamal was found dead in custody by his sister. His relatives and angry locals staged a protest outside the Ahirwan police station and the check post he was kept in, and pelted stones at it. They alleged that Kamal died due to police torture. However, the police claimed that he committed suicide. Kanpur Senior Superintendent of Police Shalabh Mathur said 15 police personnel had been suspended. “This includes the inspector of the Chakeri police station under which the incident has taken place and the check post in-charge of Ahirwar,”

Situation has improved, Home Ministry tells SC KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL NEW DELHI: The Centre asserted in the Supreme Court on Friday that the situation in the strife-torn Valley has shown a “remarkable improvement.” The Centre’s report card in the Supreme Court about the violent fall-out of the killing of three Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, including Burhan Wani, is returning to normal despite hartal calls from separatist groups. “Due to the persistent efforts of the security forces and the J&K Police, the situation has shown remarkable improvement, with number of incidents declining progressively since the outbreak of violent protests and clashes. Compared to 201 incidents on July 9, only 11 incidents were witnessed on August 3,” a 15-page status re-

port filed by Ministry of Home Afairs (MHA) before a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur said. The Centre accused the social media of inflaming passions about the slain terrorists. Stressing that the Centre and the State has not failed the people of the Valley, the MHA said the curfew was initially imposed in 10 districts out of 22 in the State, but was now reduced to restricted areas Srinagar downtown, Anantnag town, Pulwama. In further proof that the situation was under control, the MHA said the Amarnath Yatra was going on smoothly and over two lakh pilgrims had paid obeisance till July 29. However, statistics in the report reveal how violence took a heavy toll on life and liberty.

Mr. Mathur said. The entire staf of the check post- sub-inspector and outpost in-charge Yogendra Singh Solanki and 11 constables - were suspended. Another constable, who allegedly took the Dalit youth into custody, was also suspended. Mr. Mathur told The Hindu on Friday the body had been cremated and a postmortem revealed that the death was caused by hanging. “Legal action will be taken against those involved,” he said. The death triggered angry protests outside the check post and the police station. Protestors blocked traic on National Highway 2, and en-

gaged in an altercation with the police, who had to resort to lathi-charge and use tear gas to disperse them. The Provincial Armed Constabulary has been deployed to maintain peace. BSP chief Mayawati speaking to reporters outside Parliament targeted the SP government for the growing crimes against Dalits under its rule. “The weaker sections and Dalits are being exploited,” she said, demanding that the police oicials in the incident should also be booked and sent to jail as suspension was not a suicient punishment. Meanwhile, Raju has gone missing and senior oicials are probing the matter.

Another IAS oicer protests pellet gun death SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT SRINAGAR: Ruveda Salam, who

became the first Kashmiri woman to crack the Union Public Services Commission examination and joined the IPS cadre last year, on Friday criticised the Mehbooba Mufti government over civilian killings and use of pellet guns, triggering online barbs even as a Jammu & Kashmir police oicer has sought action against her. Without naming the Chief Minister, Ms. Salam, now an IAS oicer and resident of restive Kupwara district, wrote on Facebook: “From wooing voters while wearing colour green to painting red the same Valley streets, and then they question the credentials of the same religion whose symbols they used to mask their evil deeds.” Ms. Salam said she was

“moved and pained by the murder of a Chattabal youth”, who was found dead in Srinagar with 360 pellets lodged in his body. Online spat Ms. Salam’s remarks have fuelled an online debate, with Senior Superintendent of Police Harmeet Singh Mehta asking her to “quit and join separatists.” Ms. Salam retorted, saying: “I didn’t mind the ‘ignorant lady’ comment by one of our worthy police oicers of J&K. Although it was in bad taste . Writing what you truly feel inside is often snubbed by dictating to you to resign and join separatists. Probably, reflecting the general false belief that all Kashmiris are terrorists and they should be either silenced or driven away to the neighbouring country.”

Fly on rails: Global tenders floated to induct Maglev trains SOMESH JHA NEW DELHI: The Indian Rail-

NEED FOR SPEED: A Maglev train near the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai. — FILE PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

ways plans to introduce Maglev trains that can run at a top speed of 500 km an hour, in a bid to lure passengers from airlines. After receiving a proposal from a foreign investor, the Railways last week floated an expression of interest (EoI) for calling of a global tender to develop trains and tracks that operate on the principle of magnetic

levitation (Maglev), according to a top Railway oicial. According to the document, the developer will be responsible for designing, testing, building, running trials and operations of the levitation-based system between two key cities at a distance of 200-500 km. Maglev trains are in operation in China, Japan, Germany and South Korea. As the trains are propelled by magnetic forces, friction is eliminated,

making transportation free of noise and vibration. ‘Fail-safe’ system The government has called for a ‘fail-safe’ system in which passengers and cargo are safe even in case of “failure of any system of the train tracks or controls.” The government said the developer shall be responsible for a third-party inspection of the entire train system. The developer will be giv-

en a free-hand in running the train services, fixing schedule, fares and add-on services on board, the EoI document added. The developer will be required to submit the funding plan for the investment along with their audited financial statements for the last five years. Railway Board Member Rolling Stock Hemant Kumar said: “This will be a game changer if it comes through.”

Gurdip files mercy plea in Indonesian SC STAFF REPORTER MEERUT: The Indonesian Supreme Court will take up the mercy petition of Gurdip Singh, the resident of Saharanpur who was arrested for possession of drugs in Indonesia on August 17, his father Dev Singh told the media on Friday. Mr. Dev Singh, who stays in Gangoh block of Saharanpur, said that if the mercy petition was not accepted then the family would approach the Indonesian President. Mr. Singh,

who has not seen his son for the last 12 years, also plans to meet Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and seek her intervention. Gurdip, a resident of Sheetalpur village in Saharanpur, was arrested at Soekarno Hatta airport in 2004 for smuggling 300 gm heroin. Subsequently he received a death sentence at the lower courts which was upheld by the Supreme Court of Indonesia. Several of the death row convicts had applied for pardon but Singh chose not to. Human rights organisations

had said that he should have been pardoned in view of the long prison term that he had already served. Diplomatic intervention His execution was cancelled by Indonesia last Friday after senior Indian diplomats intervened hours before the execution was to take place. According to MEA oicials, Gurdip (48), was to face the firing squad on the island of Cilacap, as part of the scheduled execution of 14 drug convicts. “We contacted Afdhal Khan,

Gurdip’s legal representative, through the help of MEA oicials. We got him to file the mercy petition in the SC,” said Mr. Singh. “According to Indonesia laws a person can be given maximum imprisonment of 10 years. But he has already spent 12 years in a jail on an island. How can he be given death penalty now. So we have decided to explore all options,” said Mr. Singh, who claimed that MEA oicials asked him to come to Delhi and meet Ms. Swaraj.

Indian prisoner attacked thrice in Pakistan jail PESHAWAR: A 31-year-old Indian prisoner, sentenced by a military court for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card, was attacked at least thrice by inmates in recent months in a Peshawar jail, his lawyer told a court. Hamid Nehal Ansari, a Mumbai resident arrested in 2012 for illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online, suffered injuries after he was attacked by inmates in the Peshawar Central Prison. His lawyer Qazi Mohammad Anwar told a Peshawar High Court Bench on Thursday that his client had been kept in a death cell with a hardened criminal awaiting execution for a murder. Mr. Ansari was attacked and injured three times over the last couple of months

CM YK

and shifted to hospital for treatment, the counsel added. The counsel said that even the head warden would subject him to brutality and slap him on a daily basis without any reason. Complaint lodged Mr. Anwar said Ansari lodged a complaint about this with the superintendent. Superintendent of the prison Masoodur Rehman confirmed the incidents but insisted that they were of minor nature and that such incidents do happen in prisons, Dawn reported. Counsel requested the Bench to order the superintendent to shift Mr. Ansari to a safer part of the jail where there were no threats to his life. — PTI ND-ND

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WORLD

‘We don’t pay ransom for hostages’ Money given to Iran was part of a dispute before an international tribunal, says Obama

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

Pak. must act against all terror groups, says U.S. WASHINGTON: In a strong mess-

Hillary leads by 15 points: poll

HELENE COOPER MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT WASHINGTON: President Barack

Obama on Thursday flatly denied that a $400 million pallet of cash delivered to the Iranian government in January, on the same day that four U.S. citizens who had been detained by Iran were released, was a ransom payment, calling the latest uproar over the landmark nuclear pact with Tehran “the manufacturing of outrage”. Mr. Obama said the payment was part of a decadesold dispute with Iran that had been litigated before an international tribunal, adding that his administration publicly disclosed the agreement in January. “We do not pay ransom for hostages,” Mr. Obama said during a news conference at the Pentagon. On Jan. 17, the U.S. and European nations lifted oil and financial sanctions on Iran and released roughly $100 billion of its assets as part of the terms of the nuclear accord reached between Iran and six world powers. Tehran and the U.S. swapped long-held prisoners; five Americans were released by Iran hours before the nuclear accord was put in place. Seven Iranians, either convicted of or charged with breaking U.S. embargoes, were released in the prisoner swap, and 14 others were removed from international wanted lists. Mr. Obama’s comments came after a meeting with his national security staf on the battle to counter the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The President defended the continuing talks with Russia over military cooperation in Syria, saying that while he is clear-eyed about how much to trust Moscow, the U.S. has to try to bring an end to the war there. — New York Times News Service

ADDRESSING STUDENTS: President Barack Obama taking questions during a town hall-style event with the Young African Leaders Initiative in Washington earlier in the week. — PHOTO: AP

It’s important for men to be feminists, writes President DANIEL VICTOR

I

n his most extensive remarks about feminism, U.S. President Barack Obama wrote an essay for Glamour magazine in which he reflected on American women’s long fight for equality and called on men to fight sexism and create equal relationships. In the 1,500-word essay, the President argued that “when everybody is equal, we are all more free.” He praised the progress of American women over the past century while pledging to work on securing equal pay and reproductive rights. He also warned against “dated assumptions about

gender roles.” Mr. Obama said that it was important to his daughters that he be a feminist, “because now that’s what they expect of all men.” “We need to keep changing the attitude that raises our girls to be demure and our boys to be assertive, that criticises our daughters for speaking out and our sons for shedding a tear,” he wrote. “We need to keep changing the attitude that punishes women for their sexuality and rewards men for theirs. “We need to keep changing the attitude that permits the routine harassment of women, whether they’re walking down the street or daring to go online. We need to

keep changing the attitude that teaches men to feel threatened by the presence and success of women.” Brenda Weber, chairwoman of the gender studies department at Indiana University, said she was “delighted” by the essay, which she said showed a nuanced sense of women’s issues. It is unusual for a man to write such an essay, let alone a President, she said. It is not the first time that Mr. Obama has declared himself a feminist. In June, while speaking at a White House summit meeting on women, he declared: “This is what a feminist looks like.” — New York Times News Service

Muslim couple forced to leave U.S.-bound flight

Task force to provide counselling to missing persons’ families

CHICAGO: A Pakistani-Ameri-

T. RAMAKRISHNAN

can couple has claimed that they were removed from a U.S.-bound flight from Paris as an on board crew member felt “uncomfortable” after noticing that they were “sweating”, saying “Allah” and texting. Nazia and Faisal Ali have accused Delta Air Lines of Islamophobia for throwing them of their flight on July 26 from Paris to Cincinnati, Ohio. A flight crew member had complained to the pilot that she was uncomfortable with the Muslim couple, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The woman was wearing a head scarf and using a phone, and the man was sweating, the crew member had allegedly told the pilot. — PTI

COLOMBO: A psychosocial sup-

port task force, which will introduce a range of services to families of missing persons and others in Sri Lanka who sufer from post-conflict trauma, has been set up. Formed by the Oice for National Unity & Reconciliation (ONUR), the task force will take care of psychosocial needs of the families which will be part of the healing process. As per one estimate, there are at least 24,000 cases of missing persons. Headed by former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, the ONUR had come up with an action plan “to systematically look into” the cases of the missing persons,

Chandrika Kumaratunga heads the Office for National Unity & Reconciliation. an oicial release said, adding that the implementation of the action plan had commenced. To facilitate access to services and benefits ofered by the state to the families in the absence of a Death Certificate, the Cabinet had approved a mechanism to issue

WASHINGTON: Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has gained a whopping 15 per cent points national lead over her Republican rival Donald Trump, according to a latest poll. Ms. Clinton now has the support of 48 per cent of the potential voters as against Trump’s 33 per cent, a new McClatchy-Marist poll said. She earlier had a three-point lead. In another poll released by The Wall Street Journal/NBC News, Ms. Clinton was shown at a lead of nine points over Trump, as against a five-point advantage in the previous poll. According to RealClearPolitics Ms. Clinton’s average lead over Mr. Trump now stands at 6.8 percentage points. — PTI

Trump’s ties to Putin come under scanner WASHINGTON: Questioning the

foreign policy credentials of Donald Trump, the Hillary Clinton campaign on Friday launched a new video asking the relationship he has with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Trump’s fascination with Putin and his cadre of Kremlin-linked advisors are backed up by a policy agenda that tracks with Putin’s top policy priorities,” said the Clinton campaign. Mr. Trump further suffered more blows when a CIA exdirector, Michael Morell, accused him of being an “unwitting agent” of Mr. Putin, and Mr. Trump acknowledged erring about seeing cash transferred to Iran. Mr. Morell said he would vote for Ms. Clinton in November. Later, Mr. Trump admitted he wrongly claimed to have seen secret Iranian footage of payment being delivered to Iran for the release of American prisoners. — PTI, AFP

age, the U.S. has asked Pakistan to act against terror groups targeting its neighbours and not just the ones that pose a threat to it, virtually endorsing the stand taken by India at the SAARC ministerial meet. “We have been very clear with the highest levels of the Government of Pakistan that they must target all militant groups and that includes those that target Pakistan’s neighbours. They must also close all safe havens,” the State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told on Thursday at his daily briefing. He said Pakistan was going after terror groups

‘Islamabad must not selectively act only against the outfits that threaten its own stability’ “selectively”. “We need to see them go after all groups and as I just said, even those groups that might not threaten Pakistan itself but threaten its neighbours,” he said. Withholding of aid Asked about the SAARC meet, Mr. Toner said it was important to have a forum where countries can “talk about in a candid way” on the areas of disagreement and

6 held over plot to fire rocket to Singapore JAKARTA: Indonesian police on Friday arrested six suspected militants over a plot to fire a rocket at an upmarket Singapore waterfront district from a nearby island, prompting the city-state to tighten security. The men, aged between 19 and 46, were detained by elite anti-terror police on the Indonesian island of Batam, which lies just south of the aluent city-state. The alleged leader of an Indonesian group is accused of planning the attack with a leading Indonesian militant who is now believed to be fighting with the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria. It was the latest terror plot in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, where there has been a surge in attacks and attempted attacks this year due to the growing influence of IS. The pair “planned a terror attack in Singapore. They wanted to attack Singapore with a rocket from Batam”, national police spokesman Agus Rianto told reporters.

concerns and advocated closer cooperation between India and Pakistan to deal with terror threat in both the countries. Asked about Pentagon’s decision to withhold $300 million military aid to Pakistan after Defence Secretary Ashton Carter declined to give a certification to the Congress that Islamabad is taking suicient action against Haqqani network, Mr. Toner said, “We’ve urged Pakistan to address this and to pursue closer counterterrorism cooperation with Afghanistan against all groups that pose a long-term security threat to the region, not just to Pakistan,” — PTI

Bangladesh Eid attack suspect shot dead DHAKA: Bangladesh police said

An Indonesian policeman taking a seized bag after a raid in Batam, Indonesia. He added police had “preliminary data” and were still investigating the plot, and named the alleged ringleader as 31-year-old Gigih Rahmat Dewa. They suspect Dewa received and distributed funds sent by another militant Naim, who has been linked to several recent terror plots in Indonesia. — AFP

on Friday a suspected Islamist extremist accused of carrying out a deadly attack on a prayer rally last month has been shot dead in a gunfight while in their custody. Shafiul Islam Don was being driven to a police station late on Thursday when the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) vehicle carrying him came under attack by suspected fellow extremists. The 22-year-old was killed in the gunfight that ensued, said local RAB commander Shariful Islam. Police had arrested Don at the scene of last month’s attack at a prayer ceremony marking the end of Muslim holy month of Ramzan. Three people were killed in the attack in Sholakia town, which came just a week after suspected extremists killed 22 people at an upscale cafe in Dhaka. Islam said he was a member of Jamaaetul Mujahideen Bangladesh, a group accused of attacks on foreigners. — AFP

a “Certificate of Absence.” “The relevant legislation is due to be approved by the Parliament later this month,” the release said, adding that the Oice on Missing Persons (OMP), an investigative body, would be in place by August end. Reacting to the government’s move to establish the OMP, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a Colombo-based NGO, has demanded the formation of a forensics unit within the OMP. The CPA pointed out Kosovo’s Oice of Missing Persons and Forensics (OMPF) and civil-society initiatives in Argentina, Peru, and Guatemala as providing a useful road map for a low-cost, victim-centred approach.

China to revamp party’s youth league One of President Xi’s reforms initiatives, it is aimed at having a greater grassroots representation ATUL ANEJA BEIJING: The Communist Party

of China (CPC) is downsizing and reorienting the leadership of its auxiliary reserve force — the Communist Youth League (CYL) — as part of a return-to-the-grassroots programme marshalled by President Xi Jinping. On Tuesday, a document released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said that the new reform will slash the leadership size of the CYL. Besides, a more cohesive Central Committee of the organisation would have larger representation of members drawn from the “frontlines” or the grassroots. 88 million members The 88 million strong CYL, having many members in the 14-28 age bracket but not restricted by an age bar, plays a critical role in the recruitment of new members into the Party. Former President Hu Jintao, current Prime Minister Li Keqiang and the Vice-President Li Yuanchao have all risen from CM YK

FUTURE LEADERS: Members of the Communist Youth League taking part in a party celebration. — FILE PHOTO: AFP the CYL’s ranks, to acquire top positions in the CPC and government. Of late, the CYL has been persistently on the radar, more so after Mr. Xi became the CPC’s General Secretary, and President, following the 18th Party Congress of November 2012. In the following year, the President nudged the CYL to “help young people to set high ambitions, strengthen their belief in the socialist path with Chinese characteristics, equip them with scientific theories and inspire them with a historical perspective.” But the gloves were truly of in February when Beijing Daily, the oicial newspaper

of the CPC’s Beijing municipal committee, slammed the League as a group of “ambitious aristocrats” who lacked the acumen needed to lead the country. Xi consolidates power While noting that there were exceptions among its ranks, it nevertheless exhorted cadres with a CYL background to prove themselves through longer stints outside their ivory towers. An article in the state-run Xinhua news agency earlier this week also underscored that the CYL has been ailing from “undesirable work styles”, which included “elitism and a focus on enter-

tainment”. Analysts say that the CPC’s directive is a follow up on Mr. Xi’s consolidation of power, and his attempts to deepen CPC’s legitimacy. “President Xi has already won the power struggle through his anti-corruption campaign in all organs of the state including the military. Now, he wants to expand the CPC’s legitimacy especially among the youth,” a former CYL member, who did not wish to be named, told The Hindu. He added: “The initiative should be seen as part of President Xi’s overall reforms. It is part of the blueprint to revive the CPC and CYL.” The Xinhua article also stressed the urgency for undertaking reforms, so that the CYL could plug into the psyche of China’s cyber-active youth. The write-up pointed out that a pilot project on CYL reforms was launched with considerable success late last year, in the municipalities of Shanghai, the cradle of the CYL, and Chongqing — the southwestern city at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers. ND-ND

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THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

Constant feedback is needed from the industry to accelerate ease of doing business Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, DIPP

BRIEFLY SEBI releases discussion paper for regulations on algo trading MUMBAI: Capital market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Friday released a longpending discussion paper to tighten regulations on algorithmic trading. Among aspects SEBI will examine were random speed bumps and randomisation of orders, the statement said. “SEBI is examining various options to allay the fear and concern of unfair and inequitable access to the trading systems of the exchanges,” the regulator said. It asked market participants to submit comments by August 31. — Reuters

Bharti Airtel offers unlimited voice calls for post-paid plans NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel on Friday

announced two new post-paid plans, offering unlimited voice calls bundled with 3G/4G data. Under the plans, for Rs.1,199, customers will get unlimited voice calling along with 100 SMSs a day, 1GB of 3G/4G data and free subscription to Wynk Music and Wynk Movies. The Rs.1,599 plan offers unlimited voice calling with 100 SMS a day, 5GB 3G/4G data and free subscription to Wynk Music and Wynk Movies. — Special Correspondent

Vodafone to offer 10 minutes of talktime for every dropped call NEW DELHI: Vodafone said it will

offer free talktime of ten minutes to customers whose conversations get “interrupted” for any reason. However, the credit can be availed once during the month-long offer period and is applicable only within the same circle on Vodafone to Vodafone calls, the company said on Friday.For prepaid customers, the free minutes will be valid till midnight the next day. For post-paid customers, the offer is valid till the end of the billing cycle. The announcement comes amid rising complaints of frequent call drops from mobile phone users. — Special Correspondent

Air Costa resumes operations after a day’s break NEW DELHI: Regional airline Air

Costa resumed operations on Friday after resolving financial issues with its aircraft leasing companies. While nine flights were operated on Friday, all 24 scheduled flights would be operated on Saturday. “We had to cancel our flights for one day due to an issue with our lessor and that has been resolved now,” Air Costa CEO Vivek Choudhary said in a statement, adding that the airline would continue full operations from Saturday and ensure that “such sudden suspension” did not take place in future. The Vijayawadabased airline operates 24 daily flights to nine destinations in India. — Special Correspondent

Exchange Rates Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit except yen at 4 p.m on August 05

Currencies U.S. Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Jap Yen (100 Units) Chinese Yuan Swiss Franc Singapore Dollar Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swedish Kroner Danish Kroner New Zealand Dollar Hongkong Dollar Malaysian Ringgit Kuwaiti Dinar UAE Dirham Bahraini Dinar Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal Omani Riyal

TT TT Buying Selling 66.58 66.90 74.29 74.64 87.65 88.09 65.87 66.19 10.02 10.08 68.42 68.75 49.66 49.92 51.00 51.24 51.11 51.36 7.82 7.85 9.99 10.04 48.00 48.23 8.59 8.63 16.50 16.61 219.23 221.73 18.13 18.21 176.51 177.44 18.34 18.35 17.81 17.81 172.89 173.75

Source: Indian Bank

Bullion Rates August 05 rates in rupees with previous rates in brackets

Chennai Bar Silver (1 kg) Retail (1 g) 24 ct gold (10 g) 22 ct gold (1 g) Delhi Silver Standard gold Sovereign

48,865 52.30 32,100 3,001

(48,775) (52.20) (31,970) (2,989)

47,200 31,100 23,200

(46,950) (31,050) (23,200)

CM YK

SENSEX

GOLD

RUPEE

05-08-2016 28,079 04-08-2016 27,715

05-08-2016 31,100 04-08-2016 31,050

05-08-2016 66.77 04-08-2016 66.91

364 points

June CPI inflation was 5.8%, very near the upper limit set by the government “The RBI has to coordinate with the fiscal authorities,” D.K. Srivastava, Chief Policy Advisor, EY India said. “Inflation is an outcome of global factors, fiscal factors, and monetary factors. These are not something the RBI can fully determine on its own.”

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI: The Centre on Fri-

IN TANDEM: Given the factors that affect inflation, the RBI must coordinate closely with fiscal authorities. — FILE PHOTO scheduled to present the next bimonthly statement on August 9, before his threeyear term ends on September 4. ‘Remedial actions’ The government has specified that if retail inflation remains outside the 2-6 per cent range for three consecutive quarters, then this would constitute a failure to achieve the inflation target. “Where RBI fails to meet the inflation target, in terms of the provisions of RBI Act, it shall set out a report to the

Central Government stating the reasons for failure to achieve the inflation target; remedial actions proposed to be taken by RBI; and an estimate of the time-period within which the inflation target shall be achieved pursuant to timely implementation of proposed remedial actions,” the oicial statement said. Given the several factors — both internal and external — that afect inflation, experts opine that the RBI must work in tandem with the government.

Limited leeway Consumer price inflation in June was 5.8 per cent, very near the upper limit of the band set by the government. This, coupled with the fact that the efect of the monsoon is not yet fully known, implies that it is highly unlikely the RBI will cut interest rates at its next policy meeting, according to economists. “The chances of a rate cut are almost absent,” Mr. Srivastava said. “The RBI will wait for the outcome of the monsoon. It will not do anything in the next meeting, because the monsoon data will come in only by October or November. They will wait for food prices to go down, which is expected to happen due to the good monsoon so far.”

Pulses acreage rises amid rain cheer SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI: Farmers across the country have planted summer (kharif) crops on 885.29 lakh hectares as against 841.65 lakh hectares a year earlier, according to government data released on Friday. As per the data, area under pulses has gone up to 121.10 lakh hectares till now as against 89.72 lakh hectares of the corresponding period of

last year. Higher acreage for pulses have been reported from Rajasthan, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujrat among other states. Planting of rice (paddy) has also picked up in various states including West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana and Maharashtra and it

has been sown in 281.95 lakh hectares across the country in the current season against 276.10 lakh hectare of the 2015-16 season. Sowing has picked up well after monsoon rains covered the entire country on July 13. India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts rainfall in the June-September monsoon season this year will be above average.

GST beneficial in long-term, says Basu SPECIAL CORRESPONENT KOLKATA: The Goods and Ser-

vices Tax (GST) is a “hugely beneficial reform” which will cut both transaction costs and double taxation and its long-term benefits far outweigh the likely shortterm impact such as a price rise, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President Kaushik Basu said. “I would cheer it..it is a tribute to Indian democracy,” Mr. Basu said here before delivering the Arijit Mukherjee lecture at IIM Calcutta. The Rajya Sabha on August 3 passed the Constitutional Amendment Bill, to enable both the Centre and the States to simultaneously levy the GST, by a two-thirds majority. The Bill will now be returned to the Lok Sabha for its approval. The GST will subsume all

Kaushik Basu indirect taxes currently levied, including excise duties and service tax. It will be levied on consumption rather than production. Eiciency fetish Mr. Basu said the government must make a rule that (post-GST) trucks should be allowed to ply unhindered

from the point of its loading to unloading against the present practice of stopping it at every check post for various tax collections. “Aside from checking freight, there should no stoppage.” “We have to make a fetish of eiciency and cutting bureaucratic costs. And this (GST) is a step towards that,” he said. When asked about reports on his joining the race for the top job at the Reserve Bank of India, he declined to comment. Asked whether he had met any government oicials, he said: “Not on this trip.” He said that he had complete faith in India’s growth numbers. “They were dependable and above board in terms of cleanliness.” He said that room for some conceptual doubts were created as there was some “reloading

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₨/10 gms

Centre airms 4% inflation goal day formally reairmed the 4 per cent inflation goal that the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had earlier agreed to target. As part of the formal notification of the statutory and institutionalised framework for a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the government has set an upper limit of 6 per cent and lower limit of 2 per cent as the bounds that monetary authorities need to aim at while taking policy actions. The present target will be in efect till March 31, 2021. “The key advantage of a range around a target is that it allows the MPC to recognise the short run trade-ofs between inflation and growth but enables it to pursue the inflation target in long run over the course of business cycle,” the government said in a statement, following the tabling of the notification in the Rajya Sabha by junior finance minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. The government also notified what would constitute a failure of monetary policy, and the actions to be taken following such a failure. “It is a good idea to have a band in a country where food is such a large part of the inflation basket and is so volatile,” D.K. Joshi, Chief Economist at Crisil, told The Hindu. “It gives enough flexibility to the central bank.” The RBI had in June kept benchmark interest rates unchanged citing among other factors influencing its policy stance, “a sharper-than-anticipated upsurge in inflationary pressures emanating from a number of food items (beyond seasonal efects).” Outgoing central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan is

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on account of incorporating the value added in the corporate sector.” However, despite this lack of clarity, “it is above board and is done in a very transparent manner.” India vs China Propelled by three growthdrivers – well-conducted fiscal and monetary policies and the good fortune of declining oil prices – India’s growth surpassed China’s in 2015. “As Chief Economic Adviser, I had forecast it at 2016… I was wrong .. it happened in 2015,” Mr. Basu said adding that India was now a front runner in World Bank’s chart of major emerging economies. Later at the lecture, he said India needed to improve its ease of business and also ensure private sector participation in higher education.

BRENT OIL 0.14 ₨/$

New energy policy also aims at air quality issues SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI: The new national

energy policy, likely to be finalised over the next ten weeks, also factors in concerns about the air quality in the country that has triggered judicial interventions such as the ban on diesel vehicles of certain engine capacities in the capital. The NDA government had promised a new national energy policy to replace the integrated energy policy introduced by the UPA government, in the President’s address to Parliament in June 2014. “The draft policy is now ready and we are in touch with energy-related ministries to finalise the same,” a senior government oicial said. It is expected to be ratified by the cabinet in ten to twelve weeks’ time, the oicial said. Hard look “We have taken a hard look at air quality concerns in the policy, not just because of one fuel or another – as it is not one sector’s responsibility alone,” the oicial said, adding that transport, power generation and the use of solid fuels for cooking, among other things, contribute to the air pollution. While a specific ministry is expected to frame policies for their own sector, the energy policy will outline an overarching strategy to address air quality concerns over the long-run. “We have addressed issues such as energy eiciency, the new alternatives created by technology and will include a Vision 2040 with a possible roadmap to cleaner air,” the oicial said. “The policy also examines whether India should pay more attention to global emission norms or focus on

Hyundai to raise car prices by up to Rs.20,000 SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI: Hyundai Motor India said it will increase prices of its vehicles by up to Rs.20,000 from August 16 to ofset rising input costs and impact of rupee depreciation. “The rupee depreciation and increase in raw materials cost have impacted our overall costs. We have been absorbing most of the costs but now we are compelled to consider the price increase,” Rakesh Srivastava, Sr. Vice President (Sales and Marketing) at Hyundai Motor India said. He added that the increase, efective from August 16, will be in the range of Rs.3,000 to Rs.20,000 across models.

05-08-2016 43.84 04-08-2016 43.33

0.51 $/bbl

Anand Sinha to replace Vinod Rai on IDFC Bank board SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

our own problem which has to do with the high particulate matter,” he said. The existing integrated energy policy needed a fresh look, a Niti Aayog oicial explained, as the cost dynamics have changed dramatically for energy sources like gas and renewable energy. “Solar energy has become more afordable and gas prices have also come down significantly since 2006, so both these sources for power will now get their due pride of place in the new policy,” the oicial said. Geospatial map The government’s think tank is also setting up a dedicated energy data agency with the help of its U.S. counterpart, the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The external afairs ministry has approved the signing of a pact between the U.S. agency and the Niti Aayog on Thursday. Presently, diferent ministries such as petroleum, coal and power have their own databases, but there’s no holistic energy data source in the country, the oicial explained. Separately, a new geospatial map is being created to help investors identify sites in the country with high solar radiation levels, as well as power transmission lines and sub-stations and demand centres with their estimated energy requirements, the oicial said.

MUMBAI: Private sector lender IDFC Bank has appointed former Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Anand Sinha on its board as an independent director. Mr. Sinha, who will replace former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai, was appointed with efect from August 1. “Mr Rai was appointed as the Chairman of the Banks Board Bureau. Hence to avoid any potential conflict of interest, he has resigned as a Director of IDFC Bank,” according to a bank statement. Mr. Rai was the nominee director representing IDFC on the board of IDFC Bank. IDFC had received approval from RBI to start operations as a universal bank in April 2014, following which the erstwhile infrastructure financier’s loans were transferred to IDFC Bank. IDFC Bank started operations from October 2015. Mr. Rai was appointed as BBB chairman in February. He joined RBI in July 1976 and was appointed as Deputy Governor in January 2011. Mr. Sinha played a key role in the universal bank licencing process, which was completed in April 2014

Banking regulations As Deputy Governor, Mr. Sinha looked after several departments including banking regulations and superannuated on January 18, 2014, though he was acting as an adviser to RBI, on the issue of new bank licence, till April 2014 — including the formation of the draft and final guidelines. Apart from IDFC, Bandhan Financial received RBI’s approval to start a universal bank in 2014.

TRAI for strict quality norms SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regu-

latory Authority of India on Friday issued a consultation paper seeking to tighten the benchmarks for measuring the quality of service ofered by telecos. While the regulator has sought stakeholders’ view on

an appropriate way to calculate call drop rates, it has suggested that instead of measuring it for an entire service, the call drop rate be measured for smaller locations to identify problem areas. TRAI also elicited a debate for imposing financial disincentives in case of below par performance.

Centre seeks industry inputs on ease of doing business SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI: The Department of Industrial Policy

and Promotion (DIPP) has told stakeholders, including industry bodies, to submit their inputs on further improving ease of doing business in India. “We need constant engagement and feedback from the industry. I urge you to participate with the government in this massive exercise,” DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said at a FICCI event here. Ten parameters The Central and state governments have been working for the last two years on as many as 10 parameters including starting a business, construction permits, getting electricity and conducting trade across borders. The World Bank ranks nations on ease of doing business on these parameters. Mr. Abhishek had said last month that the government is hopeful that India will improve its position in this year’s World Bank ease of doing business rankings from the current 130 out of 189 nations. According to a study by Ficci and law firm Trilegal, the government’s active pursuit of the new Bankruptcy Code has been emblematic of a pro-active emphasis on the ease of doing business. The Bankruptcy Code is still on the works as the infrastructure to implement it is in the process of being established, it noted. In a bid to improve India's ranking, government oicials had recently made a detailed presentation before a World Bank team. ND-ND

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BUSINESS

16 | SNIPPETS Brigade Enterprises Q1 net profit down 22% BENGALURU: City-based Brigade Enterprises Ltd. reported a 22 per cent

dip in its net profit for the period ended June 30, 2016. The company’s profit for the first quarter of FY17 stood at Rs.20.19 crore as against Rs.25.89 crore in the same period last year. The total revenue of the company for the April-June period grew by 5.5 per cent and stood at Rs.459.23 crore as against Rs.435.28 crore in the same period last year. Commenting on the performance, M.R. Jaishankar, Chairman and Managing Director, Brigade Enterprises Limited, said: “We have done reasonably well in these challenging times.” — Special Correspondent

EID Parry reports Rs.25 cr. profit in Q1 CHENNAI: EID Parry (India) Ltd, a Murugappa group company, has reported profit after tax of Rs.25 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2016 against a loss of Rs.138 crore for the corresponding year-ago period Announcing the results on Friday, the company officials said the standalone turnover for the quarter was Rs.581 crore against Rs.495 crore. Profit before depreciation, interest and taxes stood at Rs.87 crore against a loss Rs.69 crore reported in the corresponding year-ago period. The sugar division reported a profit before interest and tax of Rs.56 crore against a loss of Rs.90 crore. — Special Correspondent

Deepak Fertilisers to invest Rs.500 crore MUMBAI: Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd.,

(DFPCL) has announced plans to set up a manufacturing facility at Dahej in Gujarat to enhance its nitric acid capacities, with an investment of Rs.500 crore. The objective is to increase the current capacity of 840,000 MTPA to 148,000 MTPA. Land for this project, scheduled to go operational by 2018, has already been acquired.“This new facility will be the first step of development of a mega multi products site at Dahej, which would cater to the demand of many intermediates and specialty chemicals manufacturers in India,” Sailesh Mehta, CMD DFPCL, said in a statement. — Special Correspondent

Truckjee rolls out online portal for truck hiring CHENNAI: Truckjee, a truck hiring portal, will work towards creating transparent truck aggregation and hiring, according to its founder.“About 80 per cent of the trucks in the country are owned by small fleet owners and they depend on middlemen for orders,” said Younus Farveaz who has come out with a logistics solution to reorganise and optimise the truck hiring market now dominated by the unorganised sector. “Through the new method, we will help both the transporters and transport owners in terms of timely delivery of goods, creating more jobs and leading to growth in exports. We will take care of balance payment issue,” he said. — Special Correspondent

HealthCare at Home, M3 form JV for health portal NEW DELHI: HealthCare at Home, backed by Dabur promoters Burman

family, has entered into a joint venture (JV) with Japanese firm M3 Inc., to launch an online networking platform for doctors in India. The companies, however, did not disclose the financial details. “Through this partnership, HealthCare at Home and M3 will provide Indian doctors an online, and mobile platform to stay connected to news, best practices, innovations, and the latest research from global peers and experts,” the two companies said in a statement. M3 operates and has affiliations with portals for medical professionals across 24 countries.— PTI

Karnataka Bank to offer shares for rights issue NEW DELHI: Karnataka Bank has decided to come out with a rights issue

in the ratio of one share for every two equity shares held. The lender said the date of the issue will be fixed later, with a price of Rs.70 per share. No reason was cited by the bank for the rights issue of shares. For the first quarter ended June 30, 2016, the bank registered a rise of 11.2 per cent in its net profit at Rs.121.54 crore. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans, stood at Rs.1,389 crore at the end of June 2016, constituting 3.92 per cent of gross advances. The stock closed 4.14 per cent lower at Rs.143.50 on BSE. — PTI

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THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

‘India in for a heady growth cocktail’ Look at foreign companies and grasp every opportunity, says Suresh Krishna K. T. JAGANNATHAN N. ANAND CHENNAI: India is in for a heavy

growth cocktail, asserts Suresh Krishna, Chairman and Managing Director of Sundram Fasteners Ltd. In a free-wheeling interview with The Hindu, Mr. Krishna said, “I have a great faith in India’s growth story now.” Stating that he was very sanguine about the Indian economy, Mr. Krishna listed three factors that combined to present a “heavy growth cocktail.” The Indian economy was doing well (at 7.4 to 7.6 per cent) even as some cribbed about the number, he said. The auto sector, too, was doing well, he added. Added to this was the positive attitude towards a good monsoon and the announcement of a pay hike for the government staf. All these combined factors “`will give a heady growth cocktail,” he said. He felt that fiscal 2016-17 could turn out to be a good year for the country. Obtaining sanctions Mr. Krishna, who will be turning 80 years soon, has been in the business for the last 54 years. The first-half of his tenure,

he said, was spent flying between Chennai and New Delhi to obtain even a small sanction from the Government. His visit to New Delhi had stopped now, he added. “I was not so positive 30 or 40 years ago. India today is on its way and nobody can stop it,’’ he asserted. When the country opened up in 1991, many thought that India would buckle down and its entrepreneurs disappear. “India has been very resilient. And, the Indian business has coped well the competition from foreign industries. "Our muscles are much stronger now. For the next 25 years, I am very hopeful of India,’’ he said. Stating that the automobile industry “is a sunrise sector,” he pointed to times when there were just three companies producing 20,000 cars annually. “Today, we are doing annually 2.5 to 3 million cars when India could easily absorb 10-12 million. We are doing 16 million motorcycles, and we can go up to 60 million. Trucks are hardly touched. Look at the choices and brands available. "Today, we are really on the cusp of growth in the automobile industry,’’ Mr. Krishna said. Asserting that

had found south Indian businessmen conservative, honest and dependable. Though they found south Indians risk-averse, they still preferred to do business with the South Indians because of their honesty and dependability, Mr. Krishna said.

the automobile industry was the most promising sector at the moment, he said, “We are on an excellent wicket.’’ ‘Get isolated’ Mr. Krishna said no legislation, however, well written was without a flaw. “GST (goods and services tax) is a good thing. "You can point out deficiencies. We have to view it in its totality. I think the Government will keep on ironing out lot of issues. "No legislation as passed will stand for long. Even our Constitution has been rewritten several times,” he added. Mr. Krishna was convinced that a lot of countries were very well disposed towards India now. In this context, he lauded the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reaching out to strengthen relationships

with the world community at large. The Prime Minister had also an “equally important external role” role to play, he said. “Otherwise, you will get isolated,” he pointed out. To a question on the referendum-facilitated exit of Britain from the European Community, he said that there was nothing like a perfect world. “The business has to contend with all these,” he added. He felt that the Indian business was mature enough to ride this over. Asked if heightened competition had generally resulted in compromising business ethics, Mr. Krishna said, “morality in business is highly respected.” Stating that “they (ofenders) are not angels,” he said “honest businessman is highly respected always.’’ Investors and bankers, he said,

“Masala bond supports Adani Transmission’s financial flexibility”

CARE Ratings names Mokashi MD

NEW DELHI: Adani Transmis-

MUMBAI: The Board of Direc-

sion Ltd’s Rs 500 crore Masala bonds support its financial flexibility, and the issuance is expected to deepen the market for such bonds with more entities following suit, says Moody’s Investors Service. A Masala bond is an Indian rupee denominated bond issued in overseas markets. ATL’s Masala bond, which is the first to be issued by an infrastructure company, is for five years with 9.1 per cent coupon rate. The company plans to utilise the net proceeds to refinance exist-

tors of Credit Analysis and Research Ltd (CARE Ratings) has appointed Rajesh Mokashi as the Managing Director & CEO of the company, subject to approval at the ensuing Annual General Meeting, with efect from 22nd August 2016. Mr Mokashi, who has been with the company since inception in 1993 has over 30 years experience and worked with Otis Elevator Company India Ltd, DSP Financial Consultants and Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd before joining CARE.

Seize opportunity Mr. Krishna said the younger generation in the business community today had to straightaway hit the ground running. “They have to start right from day one. World players will be here. India is connected to the world market financially and economically,” he said. Exhorting them to seize every opportunity to grow, he wanted them to produce innovative products. “Look at foreign companies and grasp every opportunity. We are only taking baby steps in the automobile industry,” he added. To a question, Mr. Krishna said he was all for exit clause. “There is a time for investment. "And, there is also a time for disinvestment. They are like both sides of a coin. If major decisions are positive, you are a successful man. Nobody, however, can be infallible,’’ he said.

markets”, said Abhishek Tyagi, Moody’s Vice President and Senior Analyst, in a statement. — PTI

NEW DELHI: Asian Paints would

expand the manufacturing capacity of its two units based at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu and Ankaleshwar in Gujarat. “The company is proposing to increase its waterbased paint manufacturing capacity at its plant situated at Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu from 1,40,000 kilolitre (KL) per annum to 2,00,000 KL per annum,” Asian Paints informed BSE on Friday. Product mix Besides, the company is also proposing to alter product mix to augment the manufacturing capacity of synthetic resins and emulsions at its manufacturing facilities at Ankaleshwar, Gujarat by 35,000 MT. However, both the proposals would be subject to necessary approvals, the company added. Capital expenditure The company, however, did not share any details of capital expenditure on both the units. “The details of the capital expenditure for the aforementioned expansion would be intimated on receipt of necessary approvals from the regulatory authorities,” said Asian Paints. — PTI

Renault aims to produce over 1 lakh cars this year

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

ing bank debt. “ATL’s Masala bond issuance broadens its funding diversity and financing channels in ofshore

Asian Paints to increase production capacity

CHENNAI: French auto major

Renault India is aiming to produce more than one lakh cars this year, according to a top oicial. During 2015, the company sold about 50,000 cars. The automaker, which had sold almost 74,000 cars till July 2016, targets to achieve the one lakh mark in the coming months, said Sumit Sawhney, MD & Country CEO, Renault India. “Our first milestone was to double the sales volume. We will be doing it this year. The second one was to achieve

The French carmaker is focusing on smaller towns to increase its reach and market share five per cent market share by 2017. But, we are trying to reach this milestone by this year end,” he said. Renault will be rolling out a new variant of its small car Kwid in the next few days with a one-litre petrol engine. This is to expand its portfolio and provide a more powerful vehicle in the entry-level segment.

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THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

Telecast schedule

Amazing experience

Feeling young

STAR Sports 4 & HD 4, 4.30 p.m STAR Sports 1, 2 & 3 and HD 1, 2 & 3, 5 p.m. onwards

It’s like staying at a hotel. We’ve all got our own rooms. I like the balcony. You can get out and see the water and see the scenery of Rio. — US basketball star Klay Thompson on the team's stay on cruise ship Silver Cloud

Now it’s not as stressful. It’s the experience that counts for me. I feel like a junior again. I was 15 then, now I am 35 and a lot of things have changed. — Martina Hingis recounts the experience of competing at the ’96 Olympic Games

Some Indians to skip opening ceremony

쑺

쑺

Take the gamble 쑺

The road race is like a lottery. Anything can happen, and you must be willing to take some chances. When I first saw the course I thought, if there was a one-day course I could win, it would look something like this. — British cyclist Chris Froome on the gruelling 237km course

Apurvi and Ayonika to start the medal quest World class in the recent past, the Indians will need to handle the moment to compete with the best

RIO DE JANEIRO: Even as the

Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, carries the National flag, the hockey players, tennis stars, archers and weightlifters are set to skip the opening show. Most of them have events on Saturday, like the men’s hockey team and both the men’s and women’s doubles matches in tennis. “The athletes are scheduled to board the buses to the venue at 5.15 p.m. The pre-show is at 7.15 p.m, and the inaugurations starts at 8. The athletes are scheduled to march in from 8.43 p.m.. It could be past midnight when the athletes return to their rooms, said Chef de Mission Rakesh Gupta.

12 gold medals will be decided on day two of the Rio Games. SATURDAY Shooting: Women’s 10m air rifle: 7 p.m. Cycling: Men’s road race, 6 p.m. SUNDAY Shooting: Men’s 10m air pistol: 12 a.m. Archery: Men’s team: 1.37 a.m. Fencing: Women’s individual epee: 2.15 a.m. Judo: Women’s 48 kg: 1.10 a.m.; Men’s 60 kg: 1.31 a.m. Weightlifting: Women’s 48 kg: 3.30 a.m. Swimming: Men’s 400m IM: 6.33 a.m.; Men’s 400m freestyle: 7 a.m.; Women’s 400m IM: 7.19 a.m.; Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay: 7.54 a.m. (all IST)

record holder in women’s air pistol, will be in action on Sunday, even as former World Champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Kynan Chenai go through the first part of the qualification stage in trap. And with Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang set to train their sight on the air rifle medals on Monday, there is a lot of action straightaway as India hopes to launch its campaign with steely determination that has been strengthened by strenuous preparation.

KAMESH SRINIVASAN RIO DE JANEIRO: Women first.

The courteous remark will be put into action on Saturday when Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul open India’s campaign in shooting at the Deodoro Range, a military base. The 10m women’s air rifle

SHOOTING traditionally ofers the first medals in the Olympics and the final is scheduled at 7 p.m. IST. Both Apurvi and Ayonika, who have done very well in their young shooting career, are poised to strike their best. Apurvi, a World Cup Final silver medallist and one of the four Indian shooters to win gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, has been trained by the seasoned Stanislas Lapidus. Ayonika has benefited from the expertise of the Olympic finalist and former World record holder Suma Shirur. On Saturday afternoon, it will be Jitu Rai and Gurpreet Singh in air pistol. Jitu, a man with the golden arm, has insisted that he was aiming for the gold in the Olympics. He is simple and shoots straight. Impressive achievements His accomplishments in the

CRACK SHOTS: Shooters fine tune their skills on the eve of the shooting competition at the Olympic range in Deodoro. — PHOTO: AP last three years have been convincing — World Championship silver medal, Gold at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games to go along with a clutch of medals, including gold, in the World Cups. However, Jitu is stronger in the 50m

free pistol, an event in which he will start shooting on August 10. Gurpreet is an expert in the rapid fire pistol event, where Vijay Kumar took silver at London. But, the fact remains that Gurpreet won his Olym-

Indian team eyes a bright future Germany and the Netherlands have stayed on top of their game KAMESH SRINIVASAN Much has changed in Indian hockey, invariably for the better, from the depths of London in 2012. However, world hockey is stagnant at the top since Beijing, when India failed to make the cut for the first time in history. In the world of Olympics, Germany and the Netherlands have stayed at the top among the men and women respec-

RIO

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JANEIRO:

HOCKEY tively over the last two editions. Even as the two champion sides attempt to stay in line for a hat-trick, India eyes a bright future. While others are trying to emulate its unmatched record — an eight gold six of them successive from 1928 to 1956 — India is on a rebuilding process, trying to rediscover its game at the highest level. The Champions Trophy silver and the overall positive results in the last two years and the determined attitude of the in the team has sparked a lot of hopes. Clubbed with the Netherlands, Germany, Argentina,

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ON WINGS OF HOPE: For the nation’s fans, the glorious days of Indian hockey will never be forgotten and a medal is expected from the current lot. — PHOTO: AFP Ireland and Canada in group-B, Indian men’s team would be keen to start well against Ireland and step it up against Germany, Argentina, the Netherlands and Canada in that order over the next seven days. Semifinal aspirations The aspirations of a semifinal berth could get a boost, it is believed, if India can reach the third place in the group. The top four teams qualify for the quarterfinals in the new format, but a fourth spot may

mean a clash with Australia, which has won a medal in all last six Olympics, from the other group in the first stage of the knock-out. Britain, Belgium, New Zealand, Spain and Brazil are the other teams in group-A. The Dutch women, meanwhile, have gone undefeated in the Olympics in 14 matches, and are attempting to better Australia’s record of 18 win sfrom 1992 to 2000. They are clubbed with New Zealand, China, Germany, Korea and Spain. The Indian women are

expected to play in a group that has Australia, Argentina, Britain, US and Japan. Getting into the Olympics has been a huge encouragement for the Indian women, who last competed in the Olympics in Moscow in 1980. Incidentally, the Pakistan men would be missing the Olympics for the first time since 1980. Pakistan had boycotted the Olympics in 1980, and returned to clinch the gold in 1984 in Los Angeles, for their fourth title. The competition format has opened fresh avenues and hopes, but there is a warning that there will be no classification matches for teams that finish fifth and sixth in the group. It will be curtains. The Indian team, guided efficiently by Roelant Oltmans, has been positive and has the backing of the entire nation. For, no matter what all medals you win in the other disciplines like shooting, boxing, wrestling, tennis, weightlifting or badminton, the majority of the Indian sports fans are enchanted by hockey. Public memory may be short, but not when it comes to recalling the glorious days of Indian hockey, even as the team gears up for its record 20th edition in the modern Games.

pic quota in air pistol. It is time for him to assert his versatility in the two contrasting events. The competition will be intense but the Indians are familiar with such an environment. They have been world class and have to shoot like what

they have done in the past to emulate the achievements of the big guns. They have been world class and have to show that when the world is watching. Not an easy task! After the opening day’s action, Heena Sidhu, the world

More chances Shooting will continue till August 14, ending with the rigorous men’s rifle 3-position event. Gagan Narang, who willingly took up the responsibility to shoot three events, has more chances than anyone else from the country to strike a medal! In fact, 12 Indians have given themselves 18 chances to win medals and there is a lot more faith on them to deliver on the big stage. Traditional powerhouse China, the US and a whole lot of other countries will gun for the medals, as 390 shooters attempt to share 45 medals among themselves. Among the stars, Vincent Hancock (skeet) of the US, Korea’s Jin Jongoh (free pistol) and Guo Wenjun (women’s air pistol) of China will attempt to join Ralf Schumann (rapid fire pistol) of Germany in winning three gold medals in the same event.

Paes & Bopanna to open against Polish pair SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT RIO DE JANEIRO: The Indian dou-

bles stars will begin their campaigns on Saturday at the Olympic Park’s tennis centre. Leander Paes, the only player to represent his country in seven Olympic Games, and Rohan Bopanna, playing his second, open against Lukasz

TENNIS Kubot and Marcin Matkowski of Poland in the first round. Interestingly, Paes had played both Roland Garros and Wimbledon this season with the 35-year-old Matkowski, making the quarterfinals in Paris and the second round at the AELTC. Also, Matkowski, playing with Max Mirnyi of Belarus, had gone up against Lukasz Kubot at the recent Canadian Open in Toronto. Professional tennis may throw up interesting combinations, but when it comes to representing nations in the Olympics, no quarter will be given or asked for. The winner of the match will play the pre-quarterfinals against either Czechs Lukas

MAKING IT WORK: Rohan Bopanna and Leader Paes will have put aside whatever differences they might have had in the past and pull together for a standout performance. — PHOTO: AFP Rosol and Radek Stepanek or the eighth seeded Spaniards Roberto Bautista Agut and David Ferrer. Paes and Bopanna figure in the top quarter with No.1 seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France. When two world-class players get together, a lot can happen. That will be the hope when Paes and Bopanna get on court. Lower expectations In the women’s doubles, the expectations may be a lot lower, owing to the big gap between the World No.1 Sania

Mirza and the 192nd ranked Prarthana Thombare, even though the duo had won the Asian Games bronze in Incheon against the odds. Sania and Prarthana will meet the tough Chinese duo of Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai in the first round. A victory might fetch them a pre-quarterfinal against the sixth-seeded Czech pair of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. The doubles matches, to a cynical observer, will serve as warm-up for both Sania and Bopanna for the 16-team mixed event, the draw for which will be made soon.

Rowing: Men’s single sculls (heats 5): Dattu Bhokanal (5 p.m.). Shooting: Women’s 10m air rifle (qualification): Ayonika Paul, Apurvi Chandela (5 p.m.); Final: 7

p.m. Men’s 10m air pistol (qualification): Jitu Rai, Gurpreet Singh (9.30 p.m.); Final: (12 a.m., Sunday). Tennis: First round: Men’s doubles: Leander Paes & Rohan Bopan-

na vs. Marcin Matkowski & Lukasz Kubot (Poland), (7.30 p.m.); Women’s doubles: Prarthana Thombare & Sania Mirza vs. Zhang Shuai & Peng Shuai (China), (1.30 a.m., Sunday). Table Tennis: First round: Women’s singles: Mouma Das vs.

Daniela Monteiro Dodean (Romania), (7.45 p.m.); Manika Batra vs. Katarzyna Grzybowska-Franc (Poland), (8.30 p.m.). Men’s singles: Soumyajit Ghosh vs. Padasak Tanviriyavechakul (Thailand), (12.30 a.m., Sunday); Sharath Kamal vs. Adrian Crisan (Romania), (3.30 a.m., Sunday). Hockey: Men: Group-B: India vs. Ireland (7.30 p.m.).

Uphill task for the Indian hopefuls BOXING RIO DE JANEIRO: The Indian box-

ers will have it tough if they are to follow up on the Olympic medals won by Vijender Singh and Mary Kom in the last two editions. For a start, there are only three Indian boxers who have qualified and there is no Indian representation in the women’s section. The Youth Olympics silver medallist and World Championship bronze medallist, the 23-year-old Shiva Thapa has drawn sixth seed Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba in the first round in the bantam weight section, scheduled for August 11. If he pulls through, Thapa, competing in his second Olympics, may run into the third seed Zhang Jiawai of China in the quarterfinals. Commonwealth Games champion Manoj Kumar will open against Evaldas Petrauskas of Lithunia in the 64 kg section, and victory in the opening bout could see him go up against fifth seed Fazliddin Gaibnazarov in the pre-quarterfinals. If he manages to surprise the Uzbek, Manoj might find fourth seed Wuttichai Masuk of Thailand awaiting him in the quarterfinals. The much acclaimed Vikas Krishan, who has announced that he sees himself winning a middle-weight bronze medal, has been seeded seventh and drawn in the same quarter as second seed Bektemir Melkuziev of Uzbekistan. Vikas opens against Charles Albert Shone Conwell of the US in the first round. It will be interesting to see who among these stands up and strikes a blow for Indian boxing. — Special Correspondent

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THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

Relay fireworks to light up opening weekend

Indisposed Pele not to light Olympic flame

RIO DE JANEIRO: Michael Phelps is

RIO DE JANEIRO: Pele has said poor

that (men’s) relay.” “The Australians have made a significant charge over the last couple of years ... there are a lot of young guys who have really stepped up that I think brings more excitement to the sport.” Russia took the bronze in 2012 but two of that quartet — Vladimir Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev — will be absent due to the doping scandal that has overshadowed the run-up to Rio. The shadow of the past also hangs over Saturday’s men’s 400 freestyle, won in 2012 by China’s Sun Yang ahead of South Korea’s Park Tae-hwan.

fired up and ready to go for what promises to be an explosive first weekend of the Rio Olympic swimming programme. The American could feature in Sunday’s 4x100 freestyle relay final and should collect the 23rd Olympic medal of his record-breaking career if he does. The U.S. men have not failed to finish in the top three

health will prevent him from lighting the Olympic cauldron at the Games’ opening ceremony on Friday as he had hoped to do. “Dear friends, only God is more important than my health!” Pele, 75, said in a statement published by Brazilian media. “Right now I am not in physical condition to take part in the opening of the Olympics.” The football legend said on Wednesday that the IOC had asked him to carry the torch to the cauldron at the Maracana stadium for the opening ceremony. — AFP

President wishes Indians the very best

SWIMMING

since the event was introduced in 1964 but champion France and resurgent Australia will be tough opponents. The women’s 4x100 is Saturday’s late night highlight, with U.S. golden girl Katie Ledecky tipped to swim in the preliminary heats to qualify for a medal in an event world champions Australia is a favourite to win. “The first two nights of the relays, with the women’s on

NEW DELHI: President Pranab

Mukherjee on Friday extended his best wishes to the Indian athletes at the Rio Olympics, and said they should also promote unity and friendship with sportspersons of other nations. “I urge our sportspersons to do their best for the glory of the nation,” the President said, in his message to the contingent’s chefde-mission Rakesh Gupta. — PTI

Cash awards for winners

LET'S DO IT! The U.S. aquatics team goes through a pre-event huddle ritual at the Olympic swimming venue. — PHOTO: REUTERS the first night and the men’s on the second, there will probably be a lot of fireworks in the swimming pool,” said Phelps. “I’m looking forward to either watching or being in that race. Those races are ... super

fast and there are always some crazy splits that take place.” Water and pyrotechnics usually result in a damp squib but Phelps is right to be excited. The sprint relays ofer

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT RIO DE JANEIRO: The president of

the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach said that it was important not to deprive the chance for the Russian athletes to prove their innocence despite the damaging McLaren report on State-sponsored doping in the country. Addressing the media after the IOC session on Thursday, Bach said that the diicult question of the consequences for the athletes had to be addressed, and that a fair deci-

KAMESH SRINIVASAN RIO DE JANEIRO: World No.22,

Atanu Das gave a brilliant start to the Indian challenge as he finished fifth in the men’s ranking round in archery at the picturesque Sambodroma Stadium on Friday. Recovering from a halfway score of 337, the 24-year-old Atanu shot 346 in the second phase for a total of 683. Korean Kim Woojin topped

Sports Minister promises all help

“I think this sport has changed to where there’s not really one or two powerhouses,” said Phelps. “You could probably pick three or four teams that are going to have a chance to win

Bach explains IOC’s stand on Russia

Atanu Das gives India a bright start

RIO DE JANEIRO: The Indian Olympic Association on Friday announced a Rs. 50-lakh cash award for gold medal winning athletes in the Rio Olympics. It was also announced that silver medalists would be awarded Rs.30 lakh and bronze Rs.20 lakh. In addition, the coaches will be awarded an equivalent of 50 per cent of the amount that the athletes receive. — PTI

memorable nights of high drama. Now 31 and in his fifth Games, the most medalled Olympian of all time (18 golds) has played his part in many such moments but may have to dig deeper this time.

Thomas Bach. — PHOTO: AP

GENERAL

ARCHERY NEW DELHI: Sports Minister Vijay

Goel on Friday said all teething problems the Indian athletes are facing at Rio will be sorted out. “The Indian Embassy in Brazil is providing all necessary support. All small issues are being attended to by our officials in consultation with IOA, Federations and Rio Olympic Committee,” he said. — PTI

the table with an intimidating world record score of 700, as he improved from 348 to 352 in the second phase. Brady Ellison (690), of the US, David Pasqualucci (685) of Italy and Sjef van den Berg (684) of the Netherlands were the others ahead of the Bengal lad. The ranking may not mean

Like mother, like son

CRICKET

Atanu Das checks his score during the men's Individual ranking round . — PHOTO: QUINN ROONEY/GETTY IMAGES much except a relatively poor performer for the first round of the knock-out competition. Nonetheless, it was important for Indian sport to start on a strong note, and Atanu Das,

the lone Indian archer in the men’s event — who made the cut through the domestic trials after Mangal Champia had won the Olympic quota — accomplished that in a strong field of 64.

NEW DELHI: This is a huddle of a

diferent kind. Clearly unsettled by Supreme Court’s ratification of the Lodha Committee recommendations aimed at reforms, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is desperate to find a strategy to breathe easy. At its Special General Body Meeting held here on Friday, the ailiates of the Board authorised President Anurag Thakur and Secretary Ajay Shirke to interact with the

RIO DE JANEIRO: A pair of Georgian

shooters are set to make history at the Rio Games by becoming the first mother and son to compete at the same Olympics. Three-time Olympic medallist Nino Salukvadze, 47, and 18-year-old Tsotne Machavariani will be gunning for glory in the pistol events. Salukvadze will also become only the second athlete ever to compete at eight Olympics after German-Italian canoeist Josefa Idem Guerrini. — AFP

Lodha Committee. Though several members left the venue within an hour of the start of the meeting, a few spoke to the waiting media on the condition of anonymity and the indications were clear that no headway was made this day. The two Board functionaries are expected to meet the Lodha Committee on August 9 to discuss the way forward. The Court has given the Board six months to implement the reforms and the ailiates up to 18 months to fall in line. The Board members are

sion had to be made so that he could look into the eyes of the athletes. “We wanted to follow the rules of justice, independent from politics. We cannot destroy justice. Individual justice and the presumption of innocence is a right applied to everyone. But the evidence

was in so much detail that this principle could not be held up entirely. We reversed the presumption of innocence. But we cannot deprive them of the right to prove that innocence,” Bach said. Guided by the independent observers of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the IOC has imposed strict eligibility criteria on Russian athletes for competing in the Rio Olympics.

“We can send a message for clean athletes in Russia. If you are clean, you can be respected and rewarded. You must follow your dream as a clean athlete. Don’t fall into a trap, don’t listen to those who say that only by doping you can achieve. There is no place to hide for cheats and dopers,” Bach said. Touching upon the comprehensive re-analysis programme for samples taken in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, Bach said that the system had already identified about 100 athletes who tested positive and cannot compete in Rio. He added that in collaboration with WADA, the IOC had tested 2200 athletes, as part of the extensive pre-Olympic testing procedure. Stating that the CAS would sanction on the issue, Bach wanted to ensure that the situation did not repeat. He was categorical about the “serious allegations against the Russian minister of sport,” and said that it was decided, “no Russian sports minister will receive accreditation for Rio.”

Cook and Hales defy Pakistan

Thakur, Shirke authorised to interact with Lodha Committee RAKESH RAO

Park, the first Korean to win an Olympic swimming medal when he claimed gold in Beijing in 2008, completed an 18month ban imposed by world governing body FINA in March after testing positive for testosterone. Sun served a three-month ban in 2014 after testing positive for a banned stimulant, spent a week in jail for crashing a car driven without a licence, and was involved in an altercation at last year’s World Championships. — Reuters

BIRMINGHAM: England captain

finding it diicult to deal with the many recommendations, particularly the ones that prevent an oice-bearer from occupying oice longer than a cumulative period of nineyears and holding any post after the age of 70, notwithstanding the three-year cooling-of period. The State associations are not sure whether to follow their respective constitutions, or go by the recommendations of the Lodha Committee. A clearer picture is expected to emerge next week.

Alastair Cook and Alex Hales’s first century stand as an opening pair left the third Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston intriguingly poised come the close of Friday’s third day. At stumps, England was 120 without loss in its second innings, a lead of 17 runs. Cook was 64 not out and Hales 50 not out, with two days left in the match. It was the first time in 18 innings as a Test opening pair the duo had posted a century partnership. England was 103 runs behind on first innings after more than 10 hours in the field. Earlier, Pakistan was bow-

led out for 400 on the stroke of tea. After Azhar Ali and Sami Aslam put on 181 for the second wicket on Thursday,

Chris Woakes led England's attack with three for 79, while Stuart Broad took three for 83. — AFP

SCOREBOARD England — 1st innings: 297. Pakistan — 1st innings: M. Hafeez c Ballance b Anderson 0, Sami Aslam run out 82, Azhar c Cook b Woakes 139, Younis c Bairstow b Woakes 31, Misbah b Anderson 56, Asad Shafiq b Broad 0, Sarfraz (not out) 46, Yasir run out 7, M. Amir lbw b Woakes 1, Sohail lbw b Broad 7, Rahat c Root b Broad 4; Extras (b-5, lb-21, nb-1) 27; Total (in 136 overs) 400. Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-181, 3-257,

4-274, 5-296, 6-358, 7-367, 8-368, 9-386. England bowling: Anderson 29.1-7-54-2, Broad 30-4-83-3, Finn 27.5-7-76-0, Woakes 30-7-79-3, Ali 17-2-79-0, Vince 1-0-2-0, Root 1-0-1-0. England — 2nd innings: A. Cook (batting) 64, A. Hales (batting) 50; Extras (lb-4, nb-2) 6; Total (for 0 wkts in 35 overs) 120. Pakistan bowling: Amir 11-228-0, Sohail 8-0-40-0, Rahat 5-020-0, Shah 11-1-28-0.

Portugal stuns Argentina RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil failed to

make a winning start despite home advantage, a multi-million dollar strike force and a man advantage as it was held 0-0 by South Africa in its opening football match on Thursday. Brazil started

FOOTBALL with a highly rated front three of Neymar, Gabriel Jesus, and Gabriel Barbosa. But the little-known South Africans matched them until they had Mothobi Mvala sent of just before the hour. Brazil pinned its opponent down after that but just could not score. That result was not the only surprise as Argentina lost 2-0 to Portugal. Holder Mexico drew 2-2 with Germany in Salvador, and South Korea put eight goals past debutant Fiji. Earlier on Thursday, Iraq and Denmark kicked the tournament of with a 0-0 draw. The results : Group ‘A’ : Iraq 0 drew with Denmark 0; Brazil 0 drew with South Africa 0. Group ‘B’: Sweden 2 (Ishak 43, Ajdarevic 62) drew with Colombia 2 (Gutierrez 17, Pabon 75-pen); Nigeria 5 (Umar 6, Etebo 11, 42, 51, 66-pen) bt Japan 4 (Koroki 9pen, Minamino 13, Asano 70, Suzuki 90+5). Group ‘C’: Mexico 2 (Peralta 52, Pizarro 62) drew with Germany 2 (Gnabry 58, Ginter 78); Fiji 0 lost to South Korea 8 (Ryu 32, 63, 90+3, Changhoon 62, 63, Son 72-pen, Suk 77, 90). Group ‘D’: Honduras 3 (Quioto 13, Pereira 33, Lozano 79) bt Algeria 2 (Bendebka 68, Bounedjah 85); Argentina 0 lost to Portugal 2 (Paciencia 66, Pite 84). — Agencies

Railways to reward its winners NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways

on Friday announced a Rs.1 crore cash award for its athletes winning golds in Rio. The silver medallist will get Rs.75 lakh and bronze winners Rs.50 lakh. Athletes finishing in the top-8 will be awarded Rs.30 lakh, and participants stand to get Rs.5 lakh. — PTI

Dipika advances MELBOURNE: Top-seeded Dipika

Pallikal advanced to the semifinals of the Victoria Open squash tournament here on Friday, beating eighth seeded Megan Craig of New Zealand 7-11, 11-6,11-4, 11-8. Other results: Quarterfinals: Men: Harinder Pal Sandhu bt Evan Williams (NZl) 9-11, 11-2, 11-2, 11-7; Kush Kumar bt Reiko Peter (Sui) 1012, 5-11, 11-3,11-4, 11-6.

Batra to contest for FIH top post NEW DELHI: Hockey India presi-

dent Narinder Batra would be contesting for the post of FIH president when elections for the same are held in November this year. The elections became due after incumbent president Leandro Negre decided to step down to stick to the age limit of 70 years according to FIH constitution. Nominations for the post would be filed in September. While Batra confirmed the move, he did not comment on it further, preferring to do so only after the Olympics. — Special Correspondent

VARIETY THE HINDU CROSSWORD 11771 1

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1 Warning: Stumped trees (6) 4 Spotted hash around student editor (8) 10 A trust for developing artificial grass (9) 11 Like small house's tie (5) 12 Accurate demand (5) CM YK

13 Animation of a hot-head (9) 14 Fine writer has alternative yarn initially (7) 16 State-side destination (4) 19 Garden measure (4) 21 Route to room (7) 24 Ms. Lots (9)

25 Thus actuarian's capital (5) 26 Tropical plant to preserve sodium (5) 27 One can whistle for relaxing (9) 28 Spectacular hitting (8) 29 Disturbs state bands (6) Down

1 Eruptions following indecent perusal (5-3) 2 Teaches new skill concerning locomotives (8) 3 Quick throws without moving (5) 5 Pinching a fish holding one newspaper (7) 6 Job's honest sales event (5,4) 7 Unlimited wine before main game (6) 8 Have an aversion to tested bananas (6) 9 Offensive in Quebec with a couple of unknowns (6) 15 Say, only a predator can

become a moneylender (4,5) 17 Break me? (4-4) 18 He perhaps, joins setter, to distribute perfectly behaving substance (5,3) 20 Scholar's month with a wolf (3,4) 21 Easily melted fuel is extracted (6) 22 Fixes twigs (6) 23 Trap heartless medical examiner (6) 25 Shovel using small cage (5) Solution to puzzle 11770 S O S P R F A N B O T A D L I E I N C E

W I T C H T S H S A S E X T R U E R K E E R A D L N N V O Y A G E I U S T E C L A R S A T I G A N T O T I G L O R I O U I A N S C A P E F

A B L E S B A C AMU R A L T D N E L A I D E S T A R I F L E O R E N C E S I T P A T T E N O I R S R I N D T E A E U D A L

FAITH

SU | DO | KU

Adoration for Siva Sundarar, one of the 63 Saivite saints known as Nayanmars, sang many verses in praise of Lord Siva and these verses have the navarasas — capturing Sundarar’s approach to the Lord. The verses show the equation he had with the Lord, for some of them even tease the Lord! There is a verse he sang about the deity of a temple near Kancheepuram. Here Sundarar says Kamakshi, the consort of Siva, is in Kancheepuram and is generous in providing food to the hungry. And yet, Her husband Siva begs in a nearby village. The verse shows that one who adores the Lord can even take humorous digs at the Lord, without the Lord taking ofense at such liberties, said Malayaman in a discourse. There are also verses where Sundarar laments his mistakes and cries out to the Lord. Here, he is like a child which seeks its mother when it has made a mistake. Once, Sundarar wanted to visit the town of Tirumudukundram. He asked an old man the way to the town. The old man took Sundarar to another town instead and disappeared suddenly. Sundarar realised that the old man was Siva and expressed his astonishment through a verse. Can such a staunch devotee of the Lord have any fears? Sundarar says he fears the company of the arrogant and those who will not give to the needy, and expresses this fear in a verse addressed to Lord Siva. But he says he isn’t afraid of the snake that Siva drapes around His body! When Sundarar loses his eyesight and prays for its restoration, he speaks angrily to the Lord. “Is it right that you do not heed the cries of the devout?” he asks.

A mind game and a puzzle that you solve with reasoning and logic. Fill in the grid with digits in such a manner that every row, every column and every 3x3 box accommodates the digits 1 to 9, without repeating any. The solution to yesterday’s puzzle is at left. ND-ND

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THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

Telecast schedule Sri Lanka vs Australia : Second Test, TEN 3 & TEN 1 HD, 10 a.m. Zimbabwe vs New Zealand : Second Test, TEN 2, 1 p.m.

Infantino cleared in ethics probe GENEVA: FIFA’s ethics commit-

tee on Friday cleared president Gianni Infantino of ethics violations after investigating him over his use of private jets, personal expenses, hiring methods and a contract dispute. “After conducting both preliminary and formal investigation proceedings, the Ethics Committee has decided to conclude its investigations concerning Gianni Infantino. It was found that no violation of the FIFA Code of Ethics had been committed,” a statement said. Infantino was “pleased” with the findings, a FIFA statement said, which also thanked “all those who cooperated with the Committee to ensure that the facts were heard and the truth prevailed.” — AFP

Manvir nets winner KOLKATA: Manvir Singh scored the match-winner in the first half as Mohammedan Sporting began its CFL premier division campaign by downing Army XI 1-0 here on Friday. The result: Mohammedan Sporting 1 (Manvir Singh 14) bt Army XI 0. — Special Correspondent

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Sri Lanka tightens the screws on Australia CRICKET / Herath performs hat-trick on an action-packed day GALLE: Sri Lanka took three late

wickets as it tightened the screws on Australia in the second Test here on Friday after setting the visitors a daunting target of 413 to save the series. At the end of an actionpacked second day, which saw 21 wickets tumble and a hattrick from Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath, Australia was 25 for three in its second innings — still 388 runs short of its target. David Warner was unbeaten on 22 while skipper Steve Smith will resume on Saturday on one as Australia faces an uphill struggle to avoid an embarrassing loss within three days at the Galle International Stadium. Although Mitchell Starc took six wickets as Australia restricted Sri Lanka to 237 in its second innings, the visitors were efectively undone in the first session of the day when they were skittled out for 106. It was their lowest total in 28 Tests against Sri Lanka which is on a high after winning last week’s first Test in Pallekele. Victory in Galle would ensure the Sri Lankans win the threematch series with a game to play. The 38-year-old Herath was the star performer after picking up only the second Test hat-trick by a Sri Lankan. Australia, which resumed at its overnight score of 54 for two, struggled throughout the morning session against both Herath and his fellow spin bowler Perera, the duo sharing

SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka — 1st innings: 281. Australia — 1st innings: J. Burns

HAIL THE HERO! Rangana Herath (third from left), who wrecked Australia in its first innings with a hat-trick, is being congratulated by his teammates on day two of the second Test. — PHOTO: AP eight wickets between them. Of-spinner Perera bowled overnight batsman Usman Khawaja in his second over of the day before Herath took his first wicket by clean bowling the Australian skipper Steven Smith. But it was Herath’s seventh over of the innings which proved decisive as he dismissed Adam Voges, Peter Nevill and Starc of consecutive deliveries. Only Mitchell Marsh, who

was the last man out for 27, offered much resistance for the Australians. Starc sparkles The visitors also struck early in the Sri Lanka second innings as the paceman Starc bowled his heart out on a flat pitch. The left-arm paceman took six for 50 but the Sri Lankans were still able to set what should be a match-winning target.

Dilruwan Perera top-scored for Sri Lanka with 64. Australia’s response got of to a dreadful start when Joe Burns became Herath's fifth victim of the day in the opening over of the Australian second innings. And the decision to send in Nathan Lyon as a night-watchman backfired when he was bowled for a duck before Usman Khawaja followed him back to the pavilion one ball later. — AFP

c Perera b Fernando 0, D. Warner c Mathews b Perera 42, U. Khawaja b Perera 11, S. Smith b Herath 5, A. Voges c Karunaratne b Herath 8, M. Marsh c Karunaratne b Sandakan 27, P. Nevill lbw b Herath 0, M. Starc lbw b Herath 0, N. Lyon c Mendis b Perera 4, J. Hazlewood c Mathews b Perera 3, J. Holland (not out) 0; Extras (b-5, lb-1): 6; Total (in 33.2 overs): 106. Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-54, 3-59, 4-59, 5-80, 6-80, 7-80, 8-85, 9-89. Sri Lanka bowling: Fernando 20-16-1, Herath 11-2-35-4, Perera 15-429-4, Mathews 3-1-13-0, de Silva 2-17-0, Sandakan 0.2-0-0-1. Sri Lanka — 2nd innings: K. Silva c Smith b Hazlewood 2, D. Karunaratne c Marsh b Starc 7, K. Perera b Lyon 35, K. Mendis c Nevill b Starc 7, A. Mathews b Lyon 47, L. Chandimal c Nevill b Starc 13, D. de Silva c Nevill b Starc 34, D. Perera b Starc 64, R. Herath b Holland 26, L. Sandakan (not out) 0, V. Fernando c Voges b Starc 0; Extras (lb-1, w-1): 2; Total (in 59.3 overs): 237. Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-9, 3-31, 479, 5-98, 6-121, 7-172, 8-233, 9-237. Australia bowling: Starc 12.3-150-6, Hazlewood 9-3-13-1, Lyon 19-280-2, Holland 10-1-69-1, Voges 1-04-0, Marsh 4-1-7-0, Smith 4-0-13-0. Australia — 2nd innings: D. Warner (batting) 22, J. Burns c de Silva b Herath 2, N. Lyon c Silva b Perera 0, U. Khawaja b Perera 0, S. Smith (batting) 1; Total (for three wkts. in 6 overs): 25. Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-10, 3-10. Sri Lanka bowling: Herath 3-116-1, Perera 3-0-9-2.

Bharath Shankar, Mukunth hit tons CHENNAI: Centuries from skip-

per K. Bharath Shankar and K. Mukunth put TNCA XI in a commanding position against Hyderabad on day one in the Kalpathi AGS-Buchi Babu allIndia Invitation tournament on Friday. The scores: TNCA XI 419 for three in 90 overs (K. Bharath Shankar 119, K. Mukunth 136, V. Ganga Sridhar Raju 90, B. Rahul 56 n.o.) vs Hyderabad. Toss: TNCA XI.

MOTORSPORTS

Glory for Suresh Rana S.V. SRIRAM SHIVAMOGGA: Suresh Rana has

nine Raid de Himalaya and three Desert Storm titles to his name. What was missing was the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare title, in spite of five previous visits to the southern part of country. All that changed at Berur near here on Friday morning. Rana in his Grand Vitara and with Parminder Thakur riding shotgun, Rana dethroned the reigning champ Sandeep Sharma (Gypsy, co-driver Karan Arya) by a comfortable margin of 6min and 6sec in the Ultimate cars category.

Damani confident after World team success

FOOTBALL

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Anand to face Caruana in Sinquefield opener

ISL is instant football: Coppell

KOLKATA: Having secured a rare

ST. LOUIS (USA): Five-time world

MUMBAI: Steve Coppell de-

champion Viswanathan Anand will be back in action and faces Fabiano Caruana of United States in the first round of Sinquefield Cup here. It is again a star-studded field sans World Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway who decided to skip the last two events of the tour in lieu of the impending World championship match against Sergey Karjakin of Russia later this year. Anand starts as the sixth seed in the 10-player round robin contest that will have nine rounds in all. The time control is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves and one hour for the rest of the game with an additional 30 seconds added to the clock from move 41. As part of the Grand chess tour (GCT), the Sinquefield Cup ofers a prize pool of $300000 out of which $75000 is reserved for the winner. There is an additional $150000 prize fund for the overall top two winners of GCT. In-form Maxime VachierLagrave of France who recently climbed to a career best No. 2 world ranking starts as the rating favourite in the event ahead of Caruana, who is world No. 4. Seven out of 10 top ranked players in the world are taking part including defending champion Levon Aronian of Armenia. The other participants are Americans Hikaru Nakamura

and Wesley So, Anish Giri of Holland, Peter Svidler of Russia, Ding Liren of China and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria. After finishing fourth in the previous edition of the GCT at Leuven in Belgium, Anand currently stands at seventh spot on the tour and will have to do well both here and at the final leg in London later this year to be in contention for a podium finish. The Indian had to miss out on the first tournament of GCT this year in Paris due to prior commitments. Anand picked out a good draw and the Indian ace will get to play five white games out of a possible nine here. However, to make it an even playing field for the tour, the organisers put up a new rule that states that in the forthcoming London Classic, the players playing five white games here will play five blacks. This is the third instalment of the GCT this year after the first two events were held in Rapid and blitz format in Paris and Leuven. The first edition was won by Nakamura, while world champion Carlsen had sealed the second event with some authority. Round 1 pairings: V. Anand (Ind) vs Fabiano Caruana (USA); Wesley So (USA) vs Hikaru Nakamura (USA); Anish Giri (Ned) vs Maxime VachierLagrave (Fra); Ding Liren (Chn) vs Levon Aronian (Arm); Veselin Topalov (Bul) vs Peter Svidler (Rus). — PTI

scribed the Indian Super League as “instant football” in view of the short preparation time for managers and twomonth competition. Kerala Blasters FC’s head coach felt gradual reduction in the number of foreign players and a longer-duration league is the way forward for Indian football to gain from a highprofile league. He watched ISL from close as a commentator based in New Delhi and put down his name as one of those available for coaching. The Kerala franchise signed up the former Manchester City manager for ISL season three. Excerpts from a chat with the famous England winger and one of dynamic forwards to don Manchester United jersey: You developed a reputation for consistency on the wing for Manchester United and England. Do you expect teams managed by you to display the same quality? Managers get players for eight months in England, so over that period teams reflect

the thinking of their manager. Indian Super League is “instant football” by comparison, with little preparation time. That is a challenge which I accepted. You have to study earlier videos and formulate a plan to get the best out of players available and try to translate your ideas to those among them chosen to be on the pitch. How can Indian football benefit from ISL? I observed the ISL very closely as a commentator. The league needs to be longer than the current two-month event, preceded by one month to prepare. Going forward, the number of foreingers need to be brought down gradually. Teams having foreign coaches is beneficial, it makes little sense to have as many as five international players on the pitch at one time. It is okay for now, in future I feel more Indians need to be playing in a longer League. Having managed Manchester City for one season, your views on the club signing a high-profile manager in Pep Guardiola and his influence on the team performances. Pep Guardiola is one of the

In future I feel more Indians need to be playing in a longer League. — Steve Coppell most admired managers in club football. He has changed from FC Barcelona days when he used to coach in La Liga. He made a diference to Bayern Munich and from what we have seen of him, Guardiola will make a diference to Manchester City. The English Premier League this season will be magnificent, with top managers and many best players lined up.

There is Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp, Arsene Wenger, Antonio Conte. Leicester did well last time. A big club will succeed this year. I don’t know which one. EPL clubs are able to sign world’s best managers and exciting players. For some reason, England stars learning under these same managers, playing alongside famous names are unable to perform as a team in Euro Championships or World Cups? England was a disappointment in European Championships. If you noticed, the preparation stage was too good, almost unbeaten in the qualifying rounds to emerge as one of the best sides. For those in charge of English football, the focus should be to make sure the preparation performances is carried over into the competition. Portugal, for example struggled initially and was pulled along by their best player (Cristiano Ronaldo) till the others found form during the knockouts.

Jasmohan Saini (co-driver Vikram), as had been the norm the previous couple of days, came in third a further 10 minutes behind the winner. Order prevailed in the final round of the Ultimate bikes category too, as Nataraj, Febin Jose and Akash Aithal stuck to one, two and three from the previous day. Nataraj’s handsome margin over Febin from Thursday was further enhanced to 45:45, while Akash came in four minutes and nine seconds later. (S.V. Sriram is covering the event at the invitation of Maruti Suzuki)

CUESPORTS

CHESS

NANDAKUMAR MARAR

TNCA President’s XI 195 in 73.5 overs (M. Kaushik Gandhi 58, B. Aparajith 47, Shivendra Singh five for 63) vs Chhattisgarh 49 for no loss in 14 overs. Toss: TNCA President’s XI. Railways 280 in 88.1 overs (Shivakant Shukla 51, Mrunal Deodhar 74, R. Sai Kishore seven for 64) vs TNCA Districts XI. Toss: Railways. Jharkhand 187 in 57.5 overs (Ishan Kishan 62, Sunny Gupta 43 n.o.) vs UPCA 80 for two in 30 overs. Toss: Jharkhand. — Sports Reporter

podium finish in the World team snooker championship with Kamal Chawla in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt) last week, Brijesh Damani is confident of carrying his good form to upcoming events later this year. Damani and Chawla got a first round bye and beat two UAE teams, including the runner-up in the 2013 edition, and the Indian pair of Sandeep Gulati and Ishpreet Chaddha – before losing to China in the semifinals. Iran beat China for top honours, while India and Wales claimed third places. Altogether 55 teams from 29 countries took part in the team event. Damani said his rapport

with Chawla worked well here. “Since we have bonded well in the past to win an Asian silver medal, we knew each other’s game and complemented well. I hope to take this forward,” said city-based Damani, who is scheduled to play in the inaugural Bengal Premier League, a continental cue sports event and the World billiards championship. “Last two times we had lost to Pakistan, so it was a great feeling clinching a position this time.” Chawla was efusive in his praise for his partner. “It was a proud moment for us as well as for the country. The passion and energy Brijesh showed was commendable. Once again he has proved his mettle,” said Chawla.

Alaindair triumphs BENGALURU: Alaindair (Srinath up) won the Karnataka Mile Championship Cup, the feature event of the races held here on Friday (August 5). The winner is owned by Mr. Gaurav Sethi & Ms. Ameeta Mehra and trained by Deshmukh. The results: 1. SHA TIN PLATE (1,200m), rated 00 to 20, 4-y-o & over: Hot Star (P.P. Dhebe) 1, Breaking Away (A. Ramu) 2, Thundersquall (A. Imran Khan) 3 and Shining Armor (Prashanth) 4. Not run: Winter Bloom, New Victor and Dracarys. 4-3/4, 1-1/2 and 4-1/2. 1m 15.51s. Rs. 369 (w), 56, 15 and 12 (p), SHP: Rs. 36, FP: Rs. 2,173, Q: Rs. 540, Trinella: Rs. 1,631 and Rs. 553, Exacta: Rs. 12,038 and Rs. 5,896. Favourite: Thundersquall. Owner: Mr. Ashok Rupani. Trainer: B. Prithviraj. 2. SET ALIGHT PLATE (1,400m), rated 15 to 35: Cadillac Sky (Suraj Narredu) 1, Interesting (Kiran Naidu) 2, Flirting Eyes (David Breux) 3 and De Ville Butterfly (Janardhan P) 4. 2-1/2, Shd and 2-1/2. 1m 27.54s. Rs. 22 (w), 12, 21 and 27 (p), SHP: Rs. 58, FP: Rs. 95, Q: Rs. 57, Trinella: Rs. 433 and Rs. 186, Exacta: Rs. 925 and Rs. 271. Favourite: Cadillac Sky. Owners: M/s. P.S. Ranganathan & Tallam Venkatesh. Trainer: Neil Darashah. 3. LT. COL. GAUNT MEMORIAL CUP (1,200m), rated 30 to 50: Side Winder (P.P. Dhebe) 1, Proserpine (S. John) 2, Maduro (P.S. Chouhan) 3 and Havelock Princess (A. Sandesh) 4. 1-3/4, 1/2 and 2. 1m 13.18s. Rs. 157 (w), 26, 11 and 13 (p), SHP: Rs. 44, FP: Rs. 269, Q: Rs. 70, Trinella: Rs. 379 and Rs. 150, Exacta: Rs. 1,312 and Rs. 574. Favourite: Proserpine. Owner: Mr. Lakshminarayana G. Trainer: Prasanna Kumar. 4. K.N. CHENNABASAPPA MEMORIAL CUP (Div. I), (1,200m), rated 45 to 65: Seven Of Hearts (P.P. Dhebe) 1, Wise Guy (Chetan Gowda) 2, Wind Wonder (S. Lalit) 3 and Areca Wonder (Srinath) 4. 3, 3/4 and 1/2. 1m 13.10s. Rs. 158 (w), 38, 27 and 109 (p), SHP: Rs. 77, FP: Rs. 1,257, Q: Rs. 685, Trinella: Rs. 33,368 (carried over) and Rs. 14,300, Exacta: Rs. 1,45,194. Favourite: Amorate. Owner: Mr. D. Suresh

CM YK

Babu. Trainer: S. Britto. 5. KARNATAKA MILE CHAMPIONSHIP CUP (1,600m), 4-y-o & over, (Terms): Alaindair (Srinath) 1, Booker Jones (A. Sandesh) 2, Mickey Mouse (Rajesh Kumar) 3 and Aayan (P.S. Chouhan) 4. 3/4, 2-1/2 and 2-1/2. 1m 37.75s. Rs. 21 (w), 13, 15 and 167 (p), SHP: Rs. 31, FP: Rs. 40, Q: Rs. 29, Trinella: Rs. 1,178 and Rs. 1,683, Exacta: Rs. 9,948 and Rs. 2,519. Favourite: Alaindair. Owners: Mr. Gaurav Sethi & Ms. Ameeta Mehra. Trainer: Deshmukh. 6. K.N. CHENNABASAPPA MEMORIAL CUP (Div. II), (1,200m), rated 45 to 65: Good Fortune (Suraj Narredu) 1, Millrose (S. John) 2, Soviet Union (Kiran Rai) 3 and Wings Of Fortune (Rajesh Kumar) 4. 8, 2-1/4 and Nose. 1m 13.71s. Rs. 19 (w), 13, 25 and 25 (p), SHP: Rs. 66, FP: Rs. 148, Q: Rs. 148, Trinella: Rs. 2,289 and Rs. 654, Exacta: Rs. 1,18,499 and Rs. 16,928. Favourite: Good Fortune. Owner: Mr. Tatineni Raghu Ram. Trainer: B. Prithviraj. 7. TREASURE GIRL PLATE (1,400m), rated 15 to 35, 5-y-o & over: Tuscano (Neeraj) 1, Tree Lounge (S. John) 2, Emancipation (P.S. Chouhan) 3 and Nagarjuna (Nazerul Alam) 4. Not run: Perfect King. 13/4, 1/2 and 4. 1m 28.10s. Rs. 86 (w), 26, 25 and 18 (p), SHP: Rs. 67, FP: Rs. 348, Q: Rs. 148, Trinella: Rs. 630 and Rs. 430, Exacta: Rs. 15,246 and Rs. 4,356. Favourite: Beauty Is Truth. Owner: Mr. M. Ayub Khan. Trainer: Faraz Arshad. 8. LIVELY EMPREY PLATE (1,200m), maiden 3-y-o only, (Terms): Campari Girl (Neeraj) 1, Perfecto (Srinath) 2, Tamara (A. Sandesh) 3 and Super Smart (Kiran Naidu) 4. 6-1/4, 3/4 and 3/4. 1m 14.69s. Rs. 133 (w), 28, 17 and 14 (p), SHP: Rs. 45, FP: Rs. 696, Q: Rs. 159, Trinella: Rs. 749 and Rs. 259, Exacta: Rs. 14,862 and Rs. 7,279. Favourite: Tamara. Owners: M/s. K. Harish Nayak, Pratap Madhukar Kamath, Pradeep Lala & H.J. Arjun. Trainer: Prasanna Kumar. Jackpot: Rs. 52,845 (13 tkts.); Runner up: Rs. 1,389 (212 tkts.); Treble (i): Rs. 2,807 (10 tkts.); (ii): Rs. 1,803 (27 tkts.). ND-ND

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LIFE

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THE HINDU SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016

Croc catchers to snap up prizes

Assamese writer Mahim Bora dead

Dolphin fossil gives clues to echolocation

An Indonesian city has hit on an original idea to rid its beaches of crocodiles — it will offer cash prizes to people who catch the man-eating reptiles.

Eminent Assamese writer and poet Mahim Bora died in Guwahati at the age of 92. He is a recipient of the Padma Shri and a Sahitya Akademi award.

The fossil of a newly identified dolphin, Echovenator sandersi, has such well-preserved ears that it has given clues into the evolution of echolocation.

Singapore PM’s wife sparks clamour for dinosaur pouch Autistic teen drew pattern for the $11 blue-and-white purse SINGAPORE: The autistic young man who designed a dinosaur-print pouch which the wife of Singapore’s Prime Minister took to the White House has little idea how much of a celebrity he has become since pictures of it went viral. Sales of the $11 blue-andwhite pouch have soared since Ho Ching was photographed carrying it during husband Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s oicial visit to the United States. Ms. Ho bought the purse last weekend at a fundraising event for the Autism Resource Centre (ARC) in Singapore, for which she is an advisory. The dinosaur motif was designed by See Toh Sheng Jie, 19, who attends the Pathlight school for students with autism run by the ARC. Photos of Ms. Ho holding the pouch on the White House lawn sparked huge demand, with Pathlight saying its stock of 200 sold out within a day and it now had pre-orders for two months. The school said that it usually took months to sell this many purses. The purse was part of a series curated by the school, which puts their students’ artwork on diferent products, earning the artists royalties from the designs sold. Ms. Ho, also one of Asia’s most powerful businesswomen, garnered praise on social media for her unusual choice of accessory. “So good of Mrs Lee to use it at such a high profile occasion! Great job ADP artist Sheng Jie!” wrote Facebook user Su Yeo. Another user, Leong Geok Hoon, called it a “world class fashion of the heart” while others noted that while Ms. Ho could have chosen any

Concert cancelled after Bangladeshi rock band faces boycott call

Skeletons tell tale of legendary China flood Research backs theories on the first dynasty of Xia BEIJING: A great flood at the

A TRENDSETTER: See Toh Sheng Jie with his dinosaur drawings, which were printed on a purse carried by Singapore Prime Minister’s wife Ho Ching (seen below with U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama) at a recent White House event. — PHOTOS: AFP/AP

other designer, she went with one from a cause she supports. “It gave such a great mileage for the artists on our Artist Development Programme and The Art Faculty merchandise,” Pathlight principal Linda Kho said. Unaware of fame Mr. See Toh’s family has also been overwhelmed with media attention but for the autistic teenager, the son of a taxi driver with a love for dinosaurs and beetles, it makes little diference. When AFP visited the family’s suburban govern-

ment-built housing flat, he nonchalantly sat at a table in the living room drawing his favourite dinosaurs and watching television. “When the school first told us that Ms. Ho Ching brought Sheng Jie’s pouch to the White House, we thought it was a joke,” said See Toh’s father, Jason. When shown a picture of Ms. Ho with the bag bearing his design, Mr. See Toh was delighted, his parents added. “He is not very communicative but when we once gave him a dinosaur toy during a tantrum, he calmed down. That’s when we knew he liked dinosaurs,” the father said. The young man has an encyclopaedic knowledge of dinosaurs and watches every dinosaur movie he comes across. He also makes intricate dinosaur toys from polymer clay, filling an entire display cabinet in the family’s flat. “We’ll just let him do what he likes because you can’t force him to draw when he doesn’t want,” Wendy See Toh said. — AFP

dawn of Chinese civilization was said to have swept away settlements, the water rising so high that it overran hills, mountains and even heaven itself. It was the sage King Yu who tamed the waters by building ditches, the legend went, thus earning a mandate to rule and laying the foundation for China’s first dynasty, the Xia. But until now, scientists could not pin down evidence that the flood, or Yu, or even the Xia Dynasty ever existed outside of the origin myths passed down through millennia. A team of researchers led by Wu Qianlong, a former Peking University seismologist, said in a study published this week in the journal Science that they’ve indeed found evidence that a flood submerged a vast swathe of the country almost 4,000 years ago, possibly lending weight to a longstanding though controversial theory that the Xia Dynasty did exist as China’s first unified state. Using radiocarbon dating of juvenile bones and soil samples along the Yellow River, Mr. Wu’s team established that an earthquake triggered a huge landslide, damming the waterway in 1920 BCE. Three skeletons of children were among the remains of 14 victims crushed downstream, apparently when their home collapsed in the earthquake. Deep cracks in the ground opened by the quake were filled by mud typical of a flood and indicated that it struck less than a year after the quake. The researchers deduced that for six to nine months

‘Not concerned about Mohenjo Daro criticism’

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he trailer of Mohenjo Daro may have become a butt of jokes online and made historians cringe, but lead star Hrithik Roshan has brushed away the negativity, saying the film will silence critics after its release. “I am not concerned about it. This current situation reminds me of a time when Twitter was not there but when I played Akbar, I was in the spotlight right from the release of the first trailer. People said what I did was wrong as Akbar was only four-feet-ten-inches tall, while I am over six feet. Also that I had light eyes, which Akbar did not,” Hrithik said. “People raised several objections about the film. And now who remembers that? Now when you talk about Jodhaa Akbar, you say how great the film was and how well it did” he added. Jodhaa Akbar was also directed by Mohenjo Darohelmer Ashutosh Gowariker. — PTI

T

ANCIENT BONES: Skeletons unearthed in a cave in a village called Lajia, which is said to have been destroyed in an earthquake in China thousands of years ago. — PHOTO: NYT about 15 trillion litres of water built up behind a wall of rock and dirt near Jishi Gorge in today’s Qinghai Province. When the dam broke, it tore through the gorge at 500 times the Yellow River’s average discharge and submerged the North China Plain that is considered the cradle of Chinese civilisation. The flood on Asia’s third-longest river would have been among the worst anywhere in the world in the last 10,000 years The flood would have predated by several centuries the first written records kept on oracle bones. Mighty ruler Yu Historical texts from about 1,000 BCE first mentioned a legendary Xia ruler, Yu, who had devised a system of dredges to control a great flood that spanned generations. He was said to have been based around Jishi Gorge, according to various

texts, and his ability to combat natural disasters and earn a heavenly mandate to rule established him as a model for generations of subsequent Chinese rulers. Over the past century, China scholars have doubted whether the Xia truly existed, or whether it was truly an expansive, unified state rather than simply many smaller states that were mishmashed together by ancient Chinese political thinkers to justify a tradition of centralised power. The evidence of the massive flood in line with the legend hints that the Xia dynasty might really have existed. In the 1980s, archaeologists discovered buildings and bronze remains at Erlitou village in Henan Province that were carbon dated to about 1900 B.C. Many scholars believe the settlement, which may have had a population of 30,000, was likely the ancient Xia capital. — AP/Reuters

he second part of SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus Baahubali will hit theatres on April 28, 2017. Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar, who distributed the Hindi version of the first part, announced that his Dharma Productions would also distribute Baahubali — The Conclusion. “Dharma Productions and AA films are honoured and proud to associate once again with the genius @ssrajamouli’s vision,” Johar posted on Twitter. “@BaahubaliMovie The Conclusion releases on the 28th of April 2017,” he added. Baahubali — The Conclusion stars Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah and Anushka Shetty. The film will finally answer the question — Why Katappa (played by Sathyaraj) killed Baahubali (Prabhas). — PTI

When Adele’s credit card was declined

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inger Adele might be one of the richest women in pop music but her credit card was declined at an H&M’s store. She was attempting to pay for some affordable fashion items at the Swedish fashion retail giant’s store but had to cancel the transaction when the payment could not be authorised by her bank, reports mirror.co.uk. Describing the incident as “pretty embarrassing”, Adele insisted she was able to make some purchases in a nearby store, Sephora, ahead of her gig at San Jose’s SAP arena. She said: “I went to H&M and my card got declined. Oh my days, pretty embarrassing. Nobody knew it was me, but I was mortified.” To add to her woes, her dog Louie then got into a scrap during the shopping trip.— IANS

Tagore’s voice is loud and clear even today, says scholar

Acrobats of the sky

T. RAMAKRISHNAN COLOMBO: Should Rabindra-

KOLKATA: Alleged “anti-India”

comments in social media by Bangladeshi rock band Miles have sparked an online protest here, leading to a cancellation of a concert planned on August 13. Kolkata-based rock band Fossils refused to share the dais with Miles at a proposed concert. The issue snowballed when an online forum of music enthusiasts posted screenshots of social media posts where the members of Miles purportedly made anti-India comments. The forum also started an online campaign titled ‘Boycott Miles’ and urged people not to attend the Azadi Festival, scheduled on August 13. The members of Miles, however, denied the allegation and in turn accused Fossils of launching a “hate campaign.” In a video posted on their social media page, Shafin Ahmed, one of the band’s vocalists, said the posts were not “anti-India but were made in the spirit of patriotism.” “With regard to the Azadi concert we have noticed that a band along with some of their fans have started a smear campaign against us. We have also come to know that they are indulging in a hate campaign,” Mr. Ahmed said. As for the alleged “antiIndia comments,” he said that as citizens of Bangladesh they had the right to express their views on issues afecting their country and it should not be dubbed as “anti-India.” Fossils’ lead singer Rupam Islam said his band decided not to share the dais with Miles after a section of music lovers in the city informed them about the “abusive remarks against India made by Miles” on social media. “They [the music lovers] asked us whether we want to share the dais with such a band which has been making ofensive remarks against our country,” Mr. Islam said.

STAR TREK

Baahubali — The Conclusion to release in April

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CM YK

NOIDA/DELHI

MILITARY CHALLENGE: Mikoyan MiG-29 jet fighters of the Strizhi (Swifts) aerobatic team fly in formation during the International Army Games in Dubrovichi outside Ryazan, Russia, on Friday. — PHOTO: REUTERS

nath Tagore’s legacy be nourished and kept alive for reasons other than that of eternal relevance of “genuine poetry”? Addressing this question, Martin Kämpchen, German writer and Tagore scholar from Santiniketan, West Bengal in India, told an international seminar here that since Tagore passed away 75 years ago, the world had seen “major transformations.” The end of the “traumatic” Second World War, Partition of India and the collapse of the Communist Block had happened, apart from the evolution of a multitude of new nationalisms in Asia and Europe. “Is this world still akin to the world that Rabindranath Tagore spoke to? Can his voice have any meaning in 2016?” Dr. Kämpchen said “his [Tagore’s] voice, his work has meaning especially today. A major writer like him

The Nobel Laureate dares people to look at their views with stricter honesty: Martin Kämpchen is always what is called a démoralisateur. He challenged conventional values, he questioned clichéd values during his life-time and continues to do so even in the time after him. He dares us to rise from our dearly held views and look at them with stricter honesty, with a more penetrating mind, with creativity.” Dwelling upon Tagore’s cosmic consciousness, he said the feature of inclusiveness found in his works had made the poet look at human life, its diiculties and its aspirations, “in surprising freshness and originality.” Addressing the gathering that included India’s High Commissioner Y.K. Sinha, the scholar said Tagore’s wholesale of rejection of na-

tionalism made many people against him, both in India and abroad. Though intellectuals in many countries had argued that nationalism alone could hold their countries together, Tagore was never tired of proposing an internationalism based on ideas and values. “To read his book Nationalism is useful nowadays while nationalisms again spring up in Asia, Europe and also in the USA.” Despite the success of modern post colonial authors overshadowing Tagore’s legacy, the fact that his works were being reprinted and translated indicated that “he continues to speak to modern readers even seventy five years after his death,” the scholar added. Dr. Kämpchen suggested that the Centre for Contemporary Indian Studies at the University of Colombo, which organised the seminar along with the Indian Cultural Centre, encourage translations of Bengali poetry into Sinhala.

Scientists unmask portrait beneath portrait by painter Edgar Degas PARIS: Researchers used su-

per-X-ray vision to peer beneath the surface of a portrait by impressionist Edgar Degas and gaze upon the model whose likeness he painted over nearly 140 years ago. The woman, whose image Degas turned upside down before using it as a base for a new painting, was probably Emma Dobigny — a favourite model of 19th century French artists, the team announced. “This has been a very exciting discovery,” said David Thurrowgood, conservator at the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, where the painting hangs. “It is not every day that a new Degas painting is found, in this case, hidden in front of us.” The existence of the “underpainting” has been known since about 1920.

longs to Dobigny. The name of the black-clad woman who supplanted her on the canvas, however, remains unknown. Her portrait — which dates to a few years after the original, about 18761880 — is entitled simply “Portrait de Femme” (Portrait of a Woman).

The hidden image “has long been considered to be indecipherable” without damaging the surface painting, the research team wrote in the journal Scientific Reports. Enter the Australian Synchrotron in Victoria, a particle accelerator which generates radiation for high-resolution imaging in research, therapy, or forensic analysis. How did they do it? Using a technique called X-ray fluorescence, the team became the first people since Degas to gaze upon his model’s face. Comparing the image to other paintings, they concluded it was likely “a previously unknown portrait of the model Emma Dobigny”. Dobigny, whose real name was Marie Emma Thuilleux, modelled for Degas in 1869

THE SCIENCE OF ART: Edgar Degas painting “Portrait of a Woman” and (right) the picture revealed under it through high-resolution imaging. — PHOTO: AFP/ NATURE/ DAVID THURROWGOOD and 1870 when she was about 16. “We observe (a) strong resemblance between the revealed underpainting and

several of Degas’ portraits of Emma Dobigny,” wrote the study authors. According to former

Louvre Museum director Henri Loyrette, a recognised Degas expert, “it is entirely possible” that the face be-

Hiding power lost Degas had not applied a new basecoat, and used thin layers of oil-based paint which are now losing their “hiding power”, said the authors, allowing Dobigny to start showing through. The researchers used the synchrotron to create eleven “maps” of the original canvas — each of a diferent metallic element in the pigments Degas used, including arsenic, copper, zinc, cobalt, and mercury. The process took about 33 hours. Put together, the elemen-

tal maps provide a detailed reconstitution, revealing even the artist’s brush strokes. “Concealed paintings, early compositions that have been hidden by subsequent work, are important insights into artworks and artists,” wrote the team. In this case, comparing two portraits painted several years apart, showed Degas’ “transformation of palette and technique”. The researchers said they knew of no other method that would have worked as well as synchrotron scanning, which was also used in 2008 to reveal the portrait of a peasant woman underneath Vincent van Gogh’s “Patch of Grass”. The technology “will significantly impact the ways cultural heritage is studied for authentication, preservation and scholarly purposes,” the team concluded. — AFP ND-ND