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No oor test, no bypoll for 18 constituencies in T.N.: HC

NEARBY

Tripura television journalist murdered

Speaker’s counsel seeks time till October 4 for ling counter adavit

AGARTALA

Mohamed Imranullah S.

Persons allegedly owing allegiance to the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura murdered a young television journalist at Mandwai, 25 km east of Agartala, on Wednesday. Santanu Bhowmik, 27, was attacked with sharp cutting weapons while covering a road blockade agitation of the IPFT.

CHENNAI

NATION

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Gallows for hooch deaths in UP mooted LUCKNOW

The UP government has recommended capital punishment for those found guilty of causing deaths due to consumption of illicit liquor. NATION

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The Madras High Court on Wednesday extended its stay on conducting a floor test in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly until further orders and also restrained authorities from conducting by-elections to 18 constituencies, which were declared vacant, pursuant to the disqualification of dissident AIADMK MLAs. Counsel for the Governor, the Chief Minister and the petitioners consented to it.

Common interim order Justice M. Duraiswamy passed the common interim order on a batch of writ petitions filed by the 18 affected persons challenging Speaker P. Dhanapal’s decision and another writ petition filed by DMK working president M.K. Stalin seeking a direction for

Prayer time: Edappadi K. Palaniswami takes a holy dip in the Cauvery in Mayiladuthurai on Wednesday on the occasion of Maha Pushkaram. A. MURALITHARAN *

a floor test at the earliest. The judge passed the order after senior counsel Aryama Sundaram, representing Mr. Dhanapal, sought time till October 4 for filing a counter affidavit.

Referring to an interim order passed on Friday, in Mr. Stalin’s case, staying a floor test till Wednesday, the judge said the authorities concerned “shall not conduct floor test for the trust vote

until further orders of this court.” Further Justice Duraiswamy said: “There shall not be any election notification for conducting the election for the 18 Legislative Assembly constituencies pursuant to the impugned order [the Speaker’s decision published in the gazette] dated September 18, 2017, which is the subject matter in the writ petitions, until further orders of this court.” Earlier, when the judge wanted to know whether such an order could be passed without the Election Commission being a party before the court and especially when the Assembly Secretary had declared all 18 seats vacant, Mr. Sundaram replied in the affirmative. CONTINUED ON A PAGE 10

‘Chunk of GST claims ineligible for refunds’ Investigation is under way, says Ministry ocial TCA Sharad Raghavan New Delhi

A “large part” of the ₹65,000 crore of transitional credit claims received by the government under the Goods and Services Tax regime are ineligible for refunds, a senior Finance Ministry official told The Hindu. The official said the investigation of all such claims is under way. Firms can claim transitional credits for inputs bought and taxes paid before GST rollout. The official pointed out that even where claims were accepted, refunds would be done in a staggered manner over months, and not as a single lump sum. He explained that this was because the accumulated credit was more than what could be claimed on manu-

Jaitley dares States on fuel VAT Taking on the Opposition’s criticism over rising fuel prices, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday dared the State governments led by the

Congress and the CPI(M) to reduce VAT on petroleum products and forgo their share of the Centre’s revenue from fuel taxes. A PAGE

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facturing output in a single month. “The investigation and audit of these [₹65,000 crore worth of ] transitional credit claims are under way, but we have already found

that a large amount of them are not eligible for refunds,” the senior official said on condition of anonymity as the audit was still on. CONTINUED ON A PAGE 10

A portion of canal collapses a day before its inauguration The canal in Bihar was built at a cost of ₹828.80 crore Amarnath Tewary Patna

Rahul Gandhi interacts with students at Princeton University. PTI *

Rahul: Anger growing against Modi Varghese K George Princeton

Combining a social agenda for harmony and an economic agenda that is focussed on job creation is his vision for India, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday. Interacting with students and faculty at the Princeton University, Mr. Gandhi, who is on a twoweek tour of the U.S., said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s politics is achieving neither and people’s anger was growing against him. “The anger is building up in India right now,” Mr. Gandhi said.

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India joins quantum computing race DST to fund development of machines that run faster than traditional computers Jacob Koshy NEW DELHI

Keen to tap into the next big advance in computing technology, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is planning to fund a project to develop quantum computers. A quantum computer, still largely a theoretical entity, employs the principles of quantum mechanics to store information in ‘qubits’ instead of the typical ‘bits’ of 1 and 0. Qubits work faster because of the way such circuits are designed, and their promise is that they can do intensive numbercrunching tasks much more efficiently than the fastest comparable computers. For instance, to sort a billion numbers, a quantum computer would require 3.5 CM YK

A leap ahead: A D-Wave 2X quantum computer in the Quantum Articial Intelligence Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. REUTERS *

million fewer steps than a traditional machine, and would find the solution in only 31,623 steps, says a Morgan Stanley analysis last August. Solving other problems, many having to do with computing physics,

becomes possible on quantum machines, the authors say, whereas they might never be possible on traditional computers. While the Physics departments at the Indian Institute of Science,

Bangalore, and the Harish Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad, have only forayed into the theoretical aspects of quantum computing, a DST official said that “the time has come to build one.” Experts from across the country are expected to gather this month in Allahabad for a workshop to develop such a computer. Internationally, Canada’s D-Wave Systems, is a pioneer in developing quantum computers and has sold machines to Lockheed Martin and Google. Experts, however, say that ‘true quantum computers’ are still years away, and existing systems use principles of quantum computing to solve very limited problems.

A portion of a water canal, built at a cost of ₹828.80 crore, collapsed in Bhagalpur district of Bihar on Wednesday, hours before it was to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The incident triggered a spate of allegations and counter allegations between the State’s ruling and Opposition parties. Water Resources department officials said the wall of the Bateshwarsthan Ganga Pump Nahar Yojna (Bateshwarstahan Ganga Pump Canal Project) breached on Tuesday evening “when river water was pumped into the canal on a trial basis before the inaug-

An embarrassment: The Bateshwarsthan Ganga Canal that breached at Kahalgaon on Tuesday. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

uration.” Mr. Nitish Kumar, along with Water Resources Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, was to inaugurate the canal on Wednesday morning at Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur, but he had to cancel the programme due to “technical reasons.” Started in 1977 with an

initial investment of ₹13.88 crore, the project took 40 years to complete. By then the second revised estimate had risen to ₹828.80 crore. It was expected to irrigate 27, 603 hectares in Bhagalpur and the adjoining district of Godda in Jharkhand. The BGPNY is a “lift irrigation project.”

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 10 RAHUL MAY HELM PARTY FROM NOVEMBER A PAGE 10

Give Padma Bhushan to Dhoni: BCCI G. Viswanath MUMBAI

M.S. Dhoni has been recommended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third highest civilian honour. Apart from the Padma Shri, Dhoni has received the Arjuna Award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. While India’s highest decorated cricketer is Sachin Tendulkar (Bharat Ratna, 2014), Dhoni is likely to join a group of illustrious cricketers who have been awarded the Padma Bhushan— Col. C.K. Nayudu, Vinoo Mankad, Prof. D.B. Deodhar, Lala Amarnath, Chandu Borde, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Rahul Dravid, among others. REWARDS & AWARDS A PAGE 15 A ND-NDE

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DELHI

Punjab okays crop loan waiver scheme

Timings

Thursday, September 21

Likely to benet nearly 10.25 lakh farmers across the State; the amount to be defrayed to the banks in phases’

RISE 06:09 SET 18:19 RISE 06:58 SET 19:15 Friday, September 22

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

RISE 06:09 SET 18:18 RISE 07:55 SET 19:52

CHANDIGARH

Saturday, September 23

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The Punjab government on Wednesday gave its nod to notify the crop loan waiver scheme announced by Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh in the State Assembly earlier in June this year. The Cabinet in its meeting held here decided that besides taking over the entire eligible loan amount of the farmers covered by the debt waiver scheme, the government would also take over the outstanding interest from

April 1, 2017, till the date of notification. “The entire amount would be defrayed to the banks in a phased manner, except for the cooperative credit institutions,” said an official spokesperson, adding that the proposed notification will pave the way for the State government to take up the issue with respective banks as a one-time settlement. The spokesperson said that the scheme, based on the recommendations of an

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and others paying homage to Marshal of IAF Arjan Singh on Wednesday. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

expert group headed by eminent economist Dr. T. Haque, will directly benefit nearly 10.25 lakh farmers

across the State. “The notification envisages that in case of marginal farmer (less than 2.5 acres)

the entire eligible amount of those farmers who have total outstanding crop loan liability up to ₹2 lakh shall be provided as debt relief and in case of eligible amount of more than ₹2 lakh, only₹2 lakh shall be provided as debt relief. In case of small farmers (from 2.5 acres to less than 5 acres), the entire eligible amount of those farmers who have total outstanding crop loan liability up to ₹2 lakh, shall be provided as debt relief,” said the spokesperson.

In line with the Supreme Court judgement of July 11, 2017, the Punjab Cabinet approved an amendment to the Punjab Excise Act to allow licensed liquor vends in the limits of municipal areas to sell liquor even if they are located within a distance of 500 metres from the national and state highways. The Cabinet also cleared a proposal for amendment to sections 72, 78 and 81 of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914, to check smuggling of liquor in the State.

One more arrested in Chandigarh rape case He is younger brother of rst accused Special Correspondent Chandigarh

Days after the forensic report stated that the DNA of the newborn baby girl of the 10-year-old rape victim did not match that of the accused (the victim’s uncle), the Chandigarh police has made another arrest in the case. Manjit Singh, who is the lawyer of the first accused, on Wednesday told The Hindu that the police have requested a second blood sample from the accused after his DNA did not match that of the baby. “The matter is up for hearing on September 21 where we would contest giv-

ing of blood sample for the second time. The court has allowed the police to investigate further in the case, not re-investigate the case. Hence, there is no reason blood sample should be collected again,” Mr. Singh said. The police on Tuesday evening arrested the second uncle of the victim, reportedly the first accused’s younger brother, who is already facing charges of rape. A police official said that the latest arrest was made after the victim mentioned the name of the second accused during her counselling session.

7 index points identied for urban health mission Special Correspondent JAIPUR

Seven index points have been identified for review of progress of the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) in Rajasthan. The State Medical and Health Department has organised a series of outreach camps and nutrition days, especially for the underprivileged sections in the urban areas. NUHM State Director Naveen Jain said here that 768 outreach camps and 17,532 nutrition days had been organised till last

month, while preparations had been made to start the payment to accredited social health activists online through a new software from October 2. Mr. Jain said the new index points for review were establishment of Mahila Arogya Samitis, role of district officers in their performance, holding of outreach camps and nutrition days, land allotment for PHCs, monitoring of Bhamashah health insurance scheme and its physical and financial performance.

Published by N. Ram at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Mukund Padmanabhan (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act). Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 7 No. 226 ●

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IN BRIEF

BJP using CBI for political gains, say BJD leaders

Thanga joins Mizoram government Press trust of India AIZAWL

Mukul Roy returns ‘Z’ category security

BJD legislator Pravat Ranjan Biswal remanded in judicial custody

KOLKATA

Special Correspondent

Senior Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy on Wednesday returned the ‘Z’ category security provided to him by the West Bengal government. “I have verbally communicated (to the government) that there is no need to provide me with a security cover. I have told my guards not to come,” Mr. Roy said. PTI

BHUBANESWAR

Assam CM’s brother passes away GUWAHATI

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s elder brother Girish passed away in Delhi on Wednesday due to a protracted illness.Girish Sonowal (69) has been unwell for some time and was admitted to AIIMS for over three months. He is survived by wife, two daughters and a son, the release said. PTI

Body of Bengal Minister’s kin found ASANSOL

Divers after carrying out search operation throughout Tuesday night fished out 70-year-old Ashim Ghatak’s body from the Damodar river on Wednesday morning, police said. Ashim Ghatak was the elder brother of West Bengal Labour and Law Minister Moloy Ghatak. He went missing while offering ‘Tarpan’ on the occasion of Mahalaya. PTI

Hours after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Biju Janata Dal legislator Pravat Ranjan Biswal for his alleged links with a chit fund firm, the ruling party on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of using the agency to pursue political vendetta. The BJP’s vendetta has been proved with Mr. Biswal’s arrest happening days after BJP chief Amit Shah threatened to send BJD leaders to jail at a rally in the city, senior Ministers Maheswar Mohanty and Sashi Bhushan Behera and Rajya Sabha Members Prasanna Acharya and Pratap Keshari Deb said at a press conference. The arrest of Mr. Biswal has raised suspicion as the CBI had not arrested him despite questioning him several times since 2014, they said. Alleging that the CBI was conducting investigation into the chit fund scam as per the orders of the BJP bosses, the BJD leaders said that they would fight the saffron party politically. Hundreds of supporters of

DIPHU

A joint team of the Army and police busted a hideout of Hynnietrep National Liberation Council, a militant outfit and apprehended five cadres with arms and ammunition in West Karbi Anglong district, a Defence release said on Wednesday. PTI

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Demonstration: BJD supporters block a road during a protest in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday against Pravat Ranjan Biswal's arrest. PTI *

Mr. Biswal also gathered outside the CBI office in Bhubaneswar. They alleged that the BJP for misusing the investigating agency for political gains.

Another chit fund scam BJD MP from Mayurbhanj Ramachandra Hansda, who was arrested by the CBI in 2014 for his alleged links with another chit fund firm, is still in judicial custody.

Another BJD legislator Pravat Kumar Tripathy, who was also arrested in 2014 for his alleged links with a separate ponzi firm, has since been granted bail. Correspondent adds from Cuttack: Mr. Biswal was on Tuesday remanded in five days of CBI custody by the special CBI court in Bhubaneswar after rejection of his bail application. The Cuttack-Choudwar MLA was

taken into custody by the CBI sleuths on Monday night.

Three-time MLA The three-time MLA and his wife Laxmibilasini, a former Zilla Parishad President, were quizzed several times in past three years by the CBI over a controversial land deal between Laxmibilasini and the chit fund company M/s Seashore Group.

Provide concrete reasons on immersion curbs: HC ‘Let them (Hindus and Muslims) live in harmony, do not create a line between them’ PRESS TRUST OF INDIA KOLKATA

HNLC cadres apprehended

Senior Congress leader K. S. Thanga was on Wednesday sworn in as a new minister in the Lal Thanhawla government. Mizoram Governor Lt. Gen. Nirbhay Sharma (Retd) administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Thanga in the swearing-in ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan. With Mr. Thanga, the Lal Thanhawla government has now 11 ministers.

Questioning the West Bengal government’s curbs on Durga idol immersion, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday said the State cannot hinder a citizen’s right to practise religion on the basis of a mere assumption of law and order disruption and must provide sound reasons for doing so. “Let them (Hindus and Muslims) live in harmony, do

not create a line between them,” Acting Chief Justice Rakesh Tiwary said, asking the government to provide a “concrete ground” for its decision to stop the immersion of Durga idols after 10 pm on September 30 (Vijaya Dashami day) and on October 1 on account of Muharram. Hearing three PILs challenging the restrictions on immersion of idols at the end of the five-day Durga Puja

festival, a Bench, also comprising Justice Harish Tandon, said a mere assumption that a law-and-order situation might arise, owing to Vijaya Dashami and Muharram falling one after the other, could not be the basis of imposing curbs on immersion timings.

CM’s remark Observing that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had herself told a public meeting that

Hindus and Muslims lived together in harmony in the State, the Bench said, “Listen to what the head of the State says and not a police officer.” “People have the right to practise their religious activities, whichever community they may be of, and the State cannot put restrictions, unless it has a concrete ground to believe that two communities cannot live together,” the acting Chief Justice said.

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IN BRIEF

SC reserves Cauvery verdict Appeals were led by three States on nal award of Tribunal

Not afraid of death: K.S. Bhagavan The Kannada writer says ideas cannot be killed Special Correspondent

ory Committee following the Supreme Court’s direction. Mr. Kumar submitted that it had been waiting for the court to clarify its position on the tribunal award. The Centre had argued that Section 6 (2) of the 1956 Act empowered the government to frame a scheme for implementation of the tribunal award.

Legal Correspondent NEW DELHI

7 die in Telangana as irrigation tunnel caves in RAJANNA-SIRCILLA

Seven labourers, including six migrants, were killed and two others sustained injuries when the irrigation tunnel in which they were working caved in on the outskirts of Thippapur village of Illanthakunta mandal on Wednesday. It was being constructed as part of the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project, the police said.

Four Kerala police officers to get DGP rank THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

The Kerala Cabinet has cleared the way for elevation of four senior police officers to the DGP rank. Additional DGPs Arunkumar Sinha, Tomin J. Thachankary, R. Sreelekha and Sudesh Kumar would get the DGP rank against arising opportunities.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its judgment on the appeals filed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala against the final award of the Cauvery Tribunal in 2007 on the allocation of the river water to the three States. In the final day of the hearing before a Special Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Amitava Roy and A.M. Khanwilkar, Tamil Nadu reiterated its demand that the Supreme Court should itself appoint the authority and frame the scheme for sharing and management of the water among the three States. Tamil Nadu submitted that the court should not leave the dispute open for Karnataka to take advantage of. Though the Centre argued that it is Parliament which has to finalise the scheme under the Inter-State Water Disputes Act of 1956,

Water woes: A le picture of Cauvery river in spate in Mandya district of Karnataka. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

the court responded that it does also have a right. Before wrapping up the day-long hearing, the court indicated that it would pass orders in this regard.

Centre chided On Tuesday, the court had chided the Centre for not implementing the final award. The court had questioned

20 held for child marriages involving Arab Sheikhs Hyderabad police crack the whip on ‘sale’ of minors Special Correspondent HYDERABAD

Cracking the whip on the ‘sale’ of minor girls from old city of Hyderabad to Arab Sheikhs in the guise of marriages, the police arrested 20 persons – including five Omanis and three Qataris – here on Wednesday. While the eight foreigners arrested were presented before the court and remanded in judicial custody, the antecedents of eight more Omanis, who allegedly had come to Hyderabad to marry minors, were being verified. “They are suspected to have

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landed here to marry the girls on a contract basis by paying off Qazis and brokers,” Hyderabad Police Commissioner M. Mahender Reddy said. Three qazis, including chief qazi from Mumbai Farid Ahmed Khan, four lodge owners who used to provide accommodation to foreigners, and five brokers were arrested. The Hyderabad police kept tabs on the brokers, qazis and foreigners coming to old city after the instances of marriage of minor girls to Arab Sheikhs were reported a month ago.

“We found that many brokers from the Gulf countries, especially Oman and Qatar, are maintaining links with Arab Sheikhs to arrange minors from poor families for marriages,” Mr. Reddy said. Some such agents even married women from Hyderabad and used their connections in the city to identify girls who could be sold to Arab Sheikhs in the name of marriage. “These Arab Sheikhs take the married girls to the Gulf countries where they are sexually exploited by others,” the Commissioner said.

the reluctance shown by the Centre to set up the Cauvery Management Board and frame a scheme for implementation of the tribunal award despite it having been notified in 2013. Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar, for the Centre, reasoned that the Centre did set up the Cauvery River Water Authority and Supervis-

Legislative act: Centre The scheme, once prepared, would have to be placed before both Houses of Parliament for approval. Thus, Mr. Kumar argued that finalising the scheme was a legislative act. However, the court has been of the consistent opinion that the Centre should not have let a vacuum remain for so long – the tribunal award was notified in 2013 – in the Cauvery dispute as regards the setting up of the Cauvery Management Board and a scheme for sharing of water.

KOCHI

Kannada writer K.S. Bhagavan, under threat from Hindutva forces, said he was not afraid of death, despite efforts by hardcore elements to silence liberal thinkers and humanists. The killing of Gauri Lankesh early this month has created a scare and, generally people are afraid of death, said the academic and author. The killers have succeeded at least briefly in trying to create an atmosphere of fear but ideas cannot be killed or freedom of expression suppressed, he said. He was speaking to reporters at the Sree Shankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, before releasing the controversial university magazine ‘Mere Pyare Desh Vasiyon.’

Big divide He said there was a big divide among the writers and intellectuals under the

K.S. Bhagavan

present political and social atmosphere. The cause of intolerance was minds that were narrow or closed. They had not read anything unlike Swami Vivekananda, who knew the essence of all religions. He condemned the narrow views in all religions. Mr. Bhagavan said he was neither a leftist nor a rightist but a humanist, who wanted everyone to live in peace and harmony. It was Buddha who was the essence of open-mindedness and tolerance. He asked his followers to question everything and not to believe what their reli-

gion said. On the issue of nationalism, he said it was narrower when compared to internationalism. But nationalism meant living in peace with everyone else. To live and to let live was the essence of nationalism, he said. On the question of attempts by the ruling party to impose a ban on eating beef, he said no one had the right to impose their views on others. People ate the food that was available to them. The Vedic people ate meat but the number of animals dwindled and a ban was imposed on killing them because they were not available for agriculture and other priorities. Mr. Bhagavan, a strong critic of the philosophy of Shankaracharya, said his stand did not change despite being in the university. He said that Shankaracharya preached oneness but was a strong supporter of the upkeep of the caste system.

30 months on, missing T.N. woman reunites with kin Left home near Cuddalore after a quarrel; reached Chikkamagaluru in Karnataka by foot sured Selvi had a bath and new clothes.

Sathish G.T. Chikkamagaluru

A 50-year old woman, who had left her home near Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu after a quarrel over two-and-half-ayears ago, was reunited with her relatives, thanks to social workers in the village of Narasimharajapura (N.R. Pura) in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru district. Selvi Venkateshan had travelled on foot to different places over the last 30 months and reached N.R. Pura two weeks ago. She ate when passersby offered her food and slept in public places. “She was seen in front of

Happy ending: Selvi Venkateshan, centre, with her family members. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

a shop in the market place in N.R. Pura two weeks ago, alone, and she remained there for a day. Some youths spoke to her in Kannada, but she replied in Tamil. I

spoke to her as I know Tamil and understood that she was from Melakuppam near Virudhachalam in Cuddalore,” said Jubeda, a human rights activist, who en-

FB account “I put up a post on my Facebook account with her picture on September 12, appealing to my friends to spread the word so that, somehow, her relatives could be found. My classmate Vinod, who works for a bank in Chennai, saw the post and asked a colleague in Cuddalore to help,” Ms. Jubeda said. Her delighted family — had given her up for dead and performed the last rites after waiting for months — was traced with the efforts of many in both

Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Selvi’s brother Vijaya Raghavan and sister Vasantha Kumari contacted Jubeda over phone and reached N.R. Pura on Monday. Her husband had passed away; the couple have no children. N.R. Pura police personnel arranged shelter for Selvi in a vacant shop. Ravi Nidaghatta, Police Sub Inspector of N.R. Pura, told The Hindu on Wednesday: “The woman was taken care of by the local social workers. When her relatives arrived here, we recorded their statement and allowed her go with them.”

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6 NATION

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Gallows for hooch deaths mooted

Weather Watch Rainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday

‘Prevalence of illicit liquor not only causes harm to life but also dented UP’s excise revenue’ leggers may be sent to the gallows if consumption of spurious liquor leads to loss of life. “Since the state legislature is not in session, an ordinance will be brought and when the House meets, a bill can be passed,” Mr Singh said.

Omar Rashid Lucknow

BJP leader for law to protect stray cows DHARAMSHALA

Senior BJP leader Shanta Kumar on Wednesday urged Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Devvrat for the enactment of a law to protect and take care of stray cows in the State. He claimed that cows stop giving milk when they are left on the roads and many die in road accidents, including those on highways. PTI

One more accused arrested in kidney case DEHRADUN

An accused in a kidney transplant racket, unearthed recently in Uttarakhand, was arrested on Tuesday, taking the total number of arrests to 10, the police said on Wednesday. Shrinivas Chauhan, who assisted ‘doctors’ in conducting the transplant surgery on donors, besides doing X-rays, was arrested from Rishikesh, they said. PTI

Panchayat secretary, tout caught taking bribe BUNDI (RAJASTHAN)

A gram panchayat secretary and a tout were nabbed while accepting a bribe from a local contractor by the anticorruption bureau late on Tuesday, the police said. Sitapura gram panchayat secretary Nand Lal Rawal, had sought ₹20,900 from contractor Ashok Sharma through a tout to issue him a cheque for ₹1,90,000 for construction work. PTI

Bear run over by speeding train in Kota KOTA

A sloth bear was killed after being hit by a speeding train on the Delhi-Mumbai track passing through Mukendra Tiger Reserve here, an official said on Wednesday.The body of the sloth bear was disposed of after postmortem. PTI

CM YK

The Uttar Pradesh government has recommended capital punishment for those found guilty of causing deaths due to consumption of illicit liquor. The BJP-ruled State Cabinet approved changes to the existing laws to incorporate the extreme punishment in cases of hooch deaths.

Cabinet approval In a meeting headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the UP Cabinet approved changes to the UP Excise Act, 1910 and incorporated the harsher punishment, a government spokesperson said on Wednesday. With the addition of Section 60A into the Act, those guilty of causing death or permanent disability due to illicit liquor could face a life sentence, a fine of Rs 10 lakh or both, or death sentence. The BJP government said since the provisions of the

Potion of death: Women mourning a victim of hooch tragedy in Datli village near Lucknow. FILE PHOTO *

UP Excise Act, 1910, were old, it felt that if it brought in harsher punitive clauses, there can be “effective control” on trafficking and manufacturing of illicit liquor. The government argued the prevalence of illicit liquor not only caused harm to life but also dented the State’s excise revenue. The government has been failing to meet its target revenue over recent years and a

major reason for it was the trafficking of illegal liquor from neighbouring states, in particular Haryana, a spokesperson said. In 2016-17 UP earned a revenue of Rs 14, 272 crore from excise. The measure would act as a deterrent, UP Excise Minister Jai Pratap Singh said. After Delhi and Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh will become the third state where boot-

Through ordinance He explained that to curb the manufacture of spurious liquor, provisions of life imprisonment and death penalty will be incorporated in the existing law through the ordinance. The death penalty provision will be applied depending upon the intensity of the case, he said. The minister also said a new state excise policy was on the drawing board and would be ready in the next six months. Incidentally, on Wednesday, the state police apprehended a truck in Etah district and seized 350 cartons

of liquor supplied from outside UP. The liquor was worth Rs 12 lakh. A 315 bore country pistol and two live cartridges were recovered from the truck driver, identified as Kalyan Singh, a police spokesperson said. Hooch tragedies take a heavy toll every year in Uttar Pradesh. In July, 17 people died in Azamgarh after they consumed spurious liquor. Earlier 28 people died in a similar tragedy in the Malihabad area of Lucknow in 2015. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had taken cognisance of hooch deaths in Etah and Farrukhabad districts last year and issued notices to the State chief secretary and the director general of police. The NHRC intervened after over 30 people lost their lives in hooch tragedies in the districts.

Behaviour change needed to Rain triggers landslides stop open defecation: Experts in Sikkim; six killed ‘Harmful impacts of the practice should be highlighted’ Special Correspondent JAIPUR

Sanitation experts here on Wednesday laid emphasis on bringing about a sustained behaviour change in the local communities to achieve the target of making the villages, towns and districts Open Defecation Free (ODF) in Rajasthan. The harmful impacts of open defecation on people’s health and children's nutrition should be brought to their notice, they said. The occasion was the State-level inauguration of “Swachhta Hi Sewa: Swachh Yuva Diwas” on the Rajasthan University campus

here. State Rural Development Minister Rajendra Rathore said six districts had so far been declared open defecation free, while 10 more would be given the ODF status by December this year.

‘Onus on youth’ “Of the 9,851 village panchayats in the State, 6,375 have been declared open defecation free,” Mr. Rathore said. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan would succeed if the youth adopted it as a movement, he added. UNICEF-Rajasthan chief Isabelle Bardem said that against the access of 27.3%

households to sanitary toilets in 2012 in the State, 87% households had sanitary toilets built in their premises till this month. “Stopping open defecation will restore women's dignity and protect them against harassment and sexual offences,” she said. A massive rally of the university and college students was organised on the campus and the theatre artistes staged a presentation on the community-led total sanitation process. The event was organised jointly by UNICEF and the university's Centre for Mass Communication.

More forces sought for rescue operation PRESS TRUST OF INDIA GANGTOK

At least six people were killed and two others injured on Wednesday following landslides triggered by incessant rains in south district of Sikkim, officials said.

Houses collapse A house collapsed after a landslide hit it following rainfall at around 2 am. While three occupants of the house were killed, two others were seriously injured, they said. In another landslide, two persons were killed after their house collapsed at about 3 am at Upper Bok-

rong ward under Kateng Namphok Rateypani. In a landside at Ramaram Khorlong a house was damaged and one person was killed, the officials said. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Pratap Pradhan said that a control room had been set up at Namchi Police Station. Deputy Commissioner of South district Raj Yadav said the district administration has sought additional forces for search and rescue operation. The district administration has evacuated families from vulnerable areas, the officials said.

Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: Skymet (Taken at 18.00 Hrs)

Forecast for Thursday: Heavy to very heavy rain is likely at a few places west Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Uttar Pradesh, east Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, north central Maharashtra and Konkan & Goa city rain max min Agartala.............42.9.... 31.7.... 25.3 Ahmedabad............ —.... 36.6.... 25.9 Aizawl ....................2.... 30.6.... 15.2 Allahabad ..........12.4.... 33.0.... 26.0 Bengaluru .............. —.... 28.5.... 19.4 Bhopal................... —.... 32.8.... 24.5 Bhubaneswar .......3.6.... 31.4.... 24.7 Chandigarh ............ —.... 35.5.... 23.7 Chennai ................. —.... 35.1.... 27.0 Coimbatore............ —.... 31.8.... 23.0 Dehradun............... —.... 33.2.... 22.7 Gangtok................11.... 19.3.... 18.5 Goa ...................27.4.... 28.3.... 22.5 Guwahati ...........16.8.... 30.4.... 25.4 Hubballi................. —.... 26.0.... 21.0 Hyderabad ............. —.... 29.0.... 22.5 Imphal...............32.2.... 28.1.... 22.0 Jaipur .................... —.... 37.2.... 24.2 Kochi..................... —.... 31.6.... 26.6 Kohima..............13.8.... 25.2.... 18.2 Kolkata..............29.2.... 31.8.... 25.6

city rain max min Kozhikode ............... —.... 33.1.... 26.2 Kurnool ................... —.... 31.1.... 23.7 Lucknow.................. —.... 34.7.... 27.5 Madurai................... —.... 35.4.... 23.6 Mangaluru ................4.... 30.8.... 24.2 Mumbai.............303.7.... 25.0.... 23.8 Mysuru.....................1.... 29.8.... 19.0 New Delhi ............... —.... 36.9.... 25.0 Patna ..................18.5.... 31.2.... 25.6 Port Blair ..............0.5.... 29.5.... 25.5 Puducherry.............. —.... 35.5.... 24.6 Pune ...................30.1.... 24.0.... 21.7 Raipur .................13.7.... 25.6.... 23.7 Ranchi...................8.4.... 30.2.... 21.6 Shillong...............31.5.... 22.4.... 15.0 Shimla..................... —.... 24.2.... 15.6 Srinagar .................. —.... 30.6.... 12.1 Trivandrum .........14.6.... 31.2.... 24.2 Tiruchi .................... —.... 35.3.... 24.8 Vijayawada .............. —.... 32.5.... 26.0 Visakhapatnam ......... —.... 33.0.... 28.0

Particulate matter in the air you are breathing CITIES

Yesterday

SO2 NO2 CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE

Ahmedabad ......... ....—.....— ...— ....... — .......—.......— Bengaluru ..............10 ...48 ..91 ....... —......82 ......* Chennai....................7 .....7 ..53 ...... 70 .......— ......* Delhi......................33 ...85 ..56 .... 235....157 ......* Hyderabad .............54 ...20 ..15 ...... 30......44 ......* Kolkata ..................26 ...39 ..26 ....... —......43 ......* Lucknow ..................8 ...30 ....9 ...... 70 .......— ......* Mumbai .................11 .....7 ..36 ...... 29......46 ......* Pune ......................37 ...11 ..86 ........ 9......20 ......* Vishakhapatnam .......8 .....8 ..47 ...... 57......89 ......*

In observation made at 4.00 p.m., Jaipur, recorded an overall air quality index (AQI) score of 255 indicating an unhealthy level of pollution. In contrast, Haldia, West Bengal recorded a healthy AQI score of 30

Air Quality Code: * Poor * Moderate * Good SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system, making breathing difficult. It can affect visibility by reacting with other air particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues and monuments. NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters. CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death. PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature death in people with heart or lung disease (Individual pollutant data for various cities are averages for the previous day)

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THE HINDU

NATION 7

NOIDA/DELHI

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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IN BRIEF

2 high-speed interceptor boats commissioned

Rain fury leaves Mumbai shell-shocked again Suburban trains delayed, airport operations closed

Sect followers scattered ashes of relatives in Dera’s elds Dera vice-chairperson Prithivi Raj Nain grilled for over two hours

Bhakti Tambe

NEW DELHI

The Indian Coast Guard said on Wednesday it had commissioned two highspeed interceptor boats fitted with a 12.7 mm machine gun at the Dighi Port in Mumbai, in a move that will boost security along the Maharashtra coastline. It will also help in patrolling and prevent illicit activities. PTI

Ryan school trustees’ bail plea rejected CHANDIGARH

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of the three trustees of Ryan International School in connection with the murder case of the seven-year-old student in the school’s Gurugram branch. The trustees, including Augustine. F. Pinto, Grace Pinto and Ryan Pinto, filed an application for anticipatory bail in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on September 16, after their bail plea was rejected by the Bombay High Court on September 14.

Ashok Kumar

Mumbai

Torrential rain battered Mumbai and its suburbs for the second day on Wednesday, causing massive disruption in flight operations, delaying suburban trains and forcing a large number of people to stay indoors. No deaths or major damage to property were reported, but schools and colleges remained closed. Flight operations at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport remained crippled, with 185 flights cancelled and many diverted.

Plane overshoots runway This was largely due to the main runway being closed for over 24 hours after a SpiceJet flight from Varanasi skidded and overshot the runway before resting in soft wet soil, which made its retrieval difficult. Efforts are on to tow it away and clear the runway for operations. The airport is the country’s second busiest after

A ‘Boat Lab’ to study Brahmaputra Focus on hydrology and water quality

Deluge again: The rain caused ooding near the King’s Circle at Matunga in Mumbai on Wednesday. EMMANUAL YOGINI *

New Delhi’s IGI Airport, and handles 930 flights per day. An average of 48 aircraft land or take off every hour. Dabbawalas, known for their clockwork efficiency, took the day off. Subhash Talekar, spokesperson, Mumbai Dabbawala Association, said, “We had a bad experience on August 29. It’s difficult for a person carrying 40 tiffin boxes, so we decided to not work today.” The BMC received complaints of waterlogging from Hindmata, Sion Road in the

NEW DELHI

Soon, it will be possible to cruise along the Brahmaputra along while doing some serious science. The Department of Biotechnology will commission a two-tiered barge that will roughly be the size of two large conference rooms and host scientists and a fullfledged lab that will allow those on board to collect samples from various stretches of the river, perform tests on water quality and biodiversity of the wider ecosystem. The proposed vessel, now only known as the Brahmaputra Biodiversity Biology Boat (B4), would also be linked to smaller boats and research labs, said Union Science Minister Harsh Vardhan at a press conference. The first experiments will likely begin this December and will have the boat — a re-purposed one — trawl Pasighat, Dibrigarh, Neemati, Tejpur and Guwahati in Assam and managed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. The “B4” will also have a teaching laboratory for school and college children. Specifying that this wouldn’t be just a show boat, officials said there would also be ‘mobile labs’ that would run along the

Harsh Vardhan

tributaries of the Brahmaputra to feed in data to the B4. “For a river of the size and diversity of the Brahmaputra, there is very little research done to understand its hydrology, water quality and biodiversity,” said K. Vijay Raghavan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology. “The idea for it came from a scientist who’s of Chinese and Indian-origin and based in Shillong.”

city, Veera Desai Road, Air India Colony, Milan and Andheri subways, National College in Bandra, and Kohinoor City Mall, Dahisar in the western suburbs, Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar, Shell Colony Chembur and Mankhurd in the eastern suburbs. There were also reports of partial building collapses in the eastern and western suburbs. Sudhir Naik, BMC Deputy Commissioner, urged citizens not to believe in rumours. (With PTI inputs)

Around 500 followers of Dera Sacha Sauda, a sect headed by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, scattered the ashes of their relatives in the fields inside the Dera headquarters in Sirsa after cremation as part of their “faith,” a senior Dera Sacha Sauda functionary has told the Special Investigation Team. Dera Sacha Sauda senior vice-chairperson Prithivi Raj Nain was grilled for over two hours on various issues related to Dera on Tuesday evening. Kuldeep Beniwal, who heads the SIT, said the sect’s followers were told to scatter the ashes in the fields following claims by a Germanybased scientist that the phosphorous in the bones was good for the growth of the plants. “We need to verify this and all other claims made by Mr. Nain during interrogation,” said

CHANDIGARH

Act of ‘faith’: Followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh arriving at Dera Sacha Sauda Dham, in Sirsa. SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Haryana Police on Wednesday released a set of 10 photographs showing those who engaged in violence following the conviction of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief last month. Anyone who provides information about those engaging in violence will be suitably rewarded and their identities will be kept a secret. PTI

*

Mr. Beniwal. He, however, dismissed media reports suggesting that skeletons were buried inside the Dera as “factually incorrect.”

Vipassana questioned Mr. Nain heads the agriculture department of the Dera Sacha Sauda. Mr. Nain was questioned about his whereabouts on the day the court announced the verdict in the rape case and on reports

that money was paid to instigate the violence that followed the verdict. He was also cross-examined on the disclosures made by Dera Sacha Sauda chairperson Vipassana Insan. Ms. Vipassana was questioned by the SIT on Monday. It wanted to know whether she was still in contact with Ram Rahim Singh’s adopted daughter Honeypreet among other things.

Final arguments heard in Dera murder case PANCHKULA

A special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation here on Wednesday began hearing the final arguments of the defence counsel in the murder case of former Dera Sacha Sauda manager Ranjit Singh, allegedly involving Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The defence counsel read out the statement of two of the 23 witnesses. PTI

Kejriwal to meet Kamal Haasan

GTA reconstituted, rebel GJM Tripura television leader Tamang is chairperson journalist murdered

Staff Reporter

Govt. move may impact ongoing Darjeeling agitation

NEW DELHI

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Police release photos of Panchkula violence

GURUGRAM

Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to meet actor Kamal Haasan, who has recently said he was thinking of entering political life, in Chennai on Thursday, AAP sources said here on Wednesday. While speculation about Mr. Haasan's entry into politics has been rife for months, the Tamil actor last week said he was considering floating his own political party. Sources in the AAP declined to comment on the agenda of Mr. Kejriwal’s meeting with Mr. Haasan. However, the latter’s entry into politics may come up for discussion, they said.

Special Correspondent Kolkata

In a significant move that may impact the ongoing agitation in the Darjeeling hills, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday reconstituted the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and appointed rebel Gorkha Janmukti Morcha ( GJM) leader Binoy Tamang as its chairperson. The GTA is a regional autonomous body set up after a tripartite agreement among the Centre, the State and the GJM in 2011. GJM president Bimal Gurung was elected its chief executive in 2012, but he and other office-bearers resigned on June 23, 2017 when the agitation for a separate

Gorkhaland State gained momentum in the hills. “Today we have taken a very important decision… Under Section 65 of the GTA Act, we have appointed a board of administrators comprising eight members to look after the functioning of GTA,” Ms. Banerjee said in Kolkata. Ms. Banerjee said she had tried to accommodate people from all regions in the hills. Anit Thapa, a close aide of Mr. Tamang, has been elected vice-chairman. Both Mr. Tamang and Mr. Thapa were expelled from the GJM after they announced withdrawal of the Darjeeling shutdown. They are both considered close to Ms. Banerjee.

The eight-member body included GJM MLA from Darjeeling Amar Singh Rai and president of the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) Mann Ghising.

Move criticised The development triggered strong reactions not only from the GJM, but also other political parties and groups in the hills. General secretary of the GNLF, Mahendra Chettri, said the Chief Minister had picked Mr. Ghising without his consent. The newly set up National Gorkhaland Committee, which comprises civil society members, said the “arrangement does not address the aspirations of the people.”

He was covering an IPFT blockade Syed Sajjad Ali Agartala

Persons allegedly owing allegiance to the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) have murdered a young television journalist at Mandwai, 25 km east of Agartala, on Wednesday afternoon. Santanu Bhowmik, 27, was attacked with sharp cutting weapons while covering a road blockade agitation of the IPFT, which is demanding a separate tribal State called Tipraland. The murder of the journalist, who was working for a local television channel, occurred amid continuing clashes between supporters of the IPFT and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in the Khowai, Teliamura and Jirania subdi-

Santanu Bhowmik visions. Scores have been injured, houses burnt, police vehicles torched and policemen attacked in the second day of tension in Tripura. Police recovered Santanu in a critical state after he was attacked by a group of persons at Mandwai. Doctors declared him brought dead after he was shifted to the GBP Hospital here. He had received injuries on his head.

‘A few precedents’ He added that a boat of this nature would be one of its kind in the world though there were a few precedents in China and mobile laboratories that studied the Amazon river. He didn’t specify a budget for the boat but said the government aimed to spend ₹200 crore across a range of programmes.

Maoists abduct 10 villagers Special Correspondent Nagpur

Maoists have abducted 10 villagers, including the sarpanch of Chintagufa village in the Sukma district of south Chhattisgarh. District police said the abduction was carried out on the intervening night of September 15 and 16.

CM YK

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8 EDITORIAL

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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States of the Opposition Political parties must frame their campaign as a referendum not on leadership but on democratic values

A big broom

Nuclear deal in danger Trump’s continued tirade against Iran undermines the non-proliferation regime

U

.S. President Donald Trump’s opposition to the Iran nuclear deal is not new. But by choosing his rst address at the UN General Assembly, in which he listed his administration’s foreign policy priorities, to slam Tehran and the nuclear accord, he has put to rest any hope for improvement in ties with Iran. In his tirade on Tuesday, he called the Iran deal, which the U.S. and ve other countries had signed with Tehran two years ago, an “embarrassment”, and “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into”. Unsurprisingly, it triggered a reaction from Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif called out Mr. Trump’s “ignorant hate speech”, which he said belonged to “medieval times”. The message from the Trump administration is clear and consistent: the Obama-era pragmatism was an aberration and the decades-old hostility between the U.S. and the theocratic regime in Tehran stands resumed. The real test before Mr. Trump and the Iranians comes in less than a month. According to U.S. law, the administration must certify the Iran deal every 90 days. The Trump administration has twice done so, and the next deadline is October 15. Mr. Trump has already signalled that he would withdraw the certication next time. If he does so, it would be the beginning of the unravelling of an agreement that was forged after intense negotiation. Failure of the U.S. to respect an international agreement it’s a signatory to would set a dangerous precedent. For all its shortcomings, the Iran nuclear deal is a multilateral agreement. And it has shown results. What had appeared to be an irresolvable issue only three years ago is now settled. International agencies have repeatedly certied that Iran is fully compliant with the terms of the agreement, which means the country is not pursuing any nuclear weapons programme. In plain terms, the deal is a success as it prevented a country with potential nuclear capabilities from developing weapons, and all this without a shot being red. If the U.S. is serious about non-proliferation, it should use the Iran deal to resolve other complex international conicts. What’s happening is just the contrary. Iran has been slapped with more sanctions by the U.S. over its missile programme. If Iran is not spared even after it agreed to give up a substantial part of its nuclear programme under a multilateral agreement, what message does it send to other countries about international diplomacy? No doubt, Mr. Trump’s continued attack on the Iran deal pleases hard-line supporters at home as well as Arab allies and Israel in West Asia. But it is undermining the global non-proliferation regime and international institutions. CM YK

f late, it’s become almost a matter of conventional wisdom that the 2019 Lok Sabha elections are the Bharatiya Janata Party’s for the taking. The only unknown, apparently, is the margin of victory. If the party’s ambitious ‘Mission 350-plus’ plan proves successful, we could soon have a Parliament that is practically ‘Opposition-mukt’. In such a scenario, does it still make sense to hope for a meaningful Opposition in the run-up to 2019 and after? If yes, what might be the contours of a political strategy that would enable it to pose a credible challenge to the BJP juggernaut? Reams have been written about the failures of the Opposition parties. Far from holding the government to account, they have either been dormant or busy ghting for survival. The BJP, on the other hand, has been steadily expanding its footprint. It was in power in ve States before the 2014 polls. Today the National Democratic Alliance is in power in 18 out of the 29 States. Thirteen of those have a BJP Chief Minister. Some have argued that the Indian polity has reverted to a state it has witnessed before — that of single-party dominance, with the BJP taking the place of the Congress. While this is true in a formal sense, there is a big dierence in substantive terms, one that could seal the fate of Indian democracy as we have known it.

O

The Congress system For more than two decades after Independence, political competition in Indian democracy took place within the connes of what political scientist Rajni Kothari termed ‘the Congress system’. It

denoted a polity marked by singleparty dominance. Until the onset of the ’70s, the Congress incorporated oppositional drives into itself by way of multiple factions at the regional and national level that mirrored the extraordinary pluralism and diversity of a complex nationhood. In a traditional society where a political culture centred on democracy was yet to strike roots, it was the accommodative pluralism of the ‘Congress system’ that allowed the normative modernity of the Constitution to slowly achieve a fragile social hegemony. More than the ‘steel frame’ of the bureaucracy, it was the elastic frame of the ‘Congress system’ that held the country together by respecting its pluralistic genotype. Subsequently, as the Congress went into decline, regional congurations came to power in State after State, and India entered the coalition era. As it lost ground in State politics, the Congress was forced to play ball with smaller parties at the national level. Seen another way, the intra-party coalitions within the ‘Congress system’ became externalised into an interparty dynamic in the coalition era that began with the ninth Lok Sabha in 1989, and continued till the 2014 elections. Political competition being what it is, the vacuum at the national level caused by the shrinkage of the Congress has now been lled by the BJP. It did so by scripting an alternative national narrative

around three elements: a Hindutva-infused nationalism; turning elections into a referendum on national leadership, specically Narendra Modi’s leadership; and framing the electoral competition in all-India terms rather than engage with State-level issues. If the Opposition has oundered so far, it is because it has tried, without much conviction, to challenge the BJP on its narrative home ground. Not surprisingly, its attempts have failed to strike a chord. Debating nationalism ends up giving more oxygen to chauvinism. The Opposition does lack a politician who can match Mr. Modi’s appeal. And regional leaders are better o sticking to State-level issues where they are on stronger political ground than trying to reinvent themselves overnight for a national role. In other words, the Opposition needs to stop being reactive and formulate its own counter-narrative.

Lessons from the past Much has been made of the Congress being reduced to 44 seats in the Lok Sabha. It is taken as a sign of structural weakness in the Opposition camp. Yet, after Independence, in the rst ve Lok Sabhas, the highest number of seats held by an Opposition party was 44 seats. Did that mean India was ‘Opposition-mukt’ for a quarter of a century? History shows us that the Con-

Onus on regional parties Its political strategy, therefore, must aim for a hung Parliament and a coalition government. An ideal outcome would be one where no party gets more than 170-180 seats. A ‘Mission 180 minus’, as it were. With such numbers, even a BJP-led coalition government would be a victory for the Opposition, as the objective of safeguarding India’s pluralism would have been achieved. Regional parties are best placed to take the lead here, for they are the ones which would be hardest

hit by a creeping centralisation of power. If they could come together, with or without the Congress, over a single point agenda of protecting India’s pluralism, it would obviate the need for a formal pre-poll or seat-sharing arrangement. There is no other way that, say, a Trinamool Congress and a Communist Party of India (Marxist) would come together to battle a common rival that could prove more lethal to both than they have been to each other. Given that the BJP has always struggled more against non-Congress, regional opponents, it is also a more canny electoral strategy. And in case they still lose badly, they can take heart from the fact that India’s political traditions give the Opposition an institutional role disproportionate to their actual numbers in Parliament, through mandatory membership of key committees, appointments panels, and so on. So, regardless of how they fare in 2019, Opposition parties would continue to have a major role to play. All said and done, Indian democracy has never fared well under powerful parliamentary majorities led by a charismatic Prime Minister unchecked by coalition dynamics. We have two examples, in Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. While one briey downed the shutters on democracy, the other gave a llip to Hindu fundamentalism and tried to muzzle the press. The Opposition’s success would ultimately hinge on how eective it is in convincing the people that if they value their nation’s democratic traditions as much as they do development, they must either elect a coalition government in 2019, or force the ‘BJP system’ to become more like the ‘Congress system’, not by importing Congressmen, but by imbibing the values of pluralism and respect for dissent that the Congress stands for in its Nehruvian vision of itself, if not always in reality. [email protected]

A time of strategic partnerships Alliances are passé and only a few continue gingerly from the Cold War era

rajesh basrur & sumitha narayanan kutty

I

ndia pulled out all the stops last week to welcome Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe on the occasion of his fourth annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The India-Japan “Special Strategic and Global Partnership” — a designation and status New Delhi accords to no other partner — has reached new heights under the stewardship of the two leaders. The rise of China and questions about America’s commitment in Asia have drawn them into a deepening security-cum-economic relationship. How deep is it? As Mr. Abe wrapped up his visit last Thursday, speculation arose on the possibility of an evolving “alliance” between the two countries given just how much their interests converge. Such analyses, though pointing in the right direction, may not capture the true nature of the India-Japan “strategic partnership.” The India-Japan synergy has two key elements. Japan is investing heavily in strengthening its critical

infrastructure to enhance its economic and potential defence capabilities. Simultaneously, the two countries have begun working on a joint infrastructure development and connectivity drive traversing the Indian Ocean, from Myanmar to Sri Lanka to Iran and encompassing the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor. On defence matters, Japan and India have agreed to establish regular consultations in the “2+2” format of their defence and foreign ministries. Their navies exercise regularly together with the U.S. Navy. And negotiations on arms sales — notably, the ShinMaywa US-2i amphibious aircraft — are on. Japanese investment in the strategically placed Andaman and Nicobar Islands is likely to help New Delhi establish a major security sentinel in the eastern Indian Ocean.

Strategic partnerships But this is not an alliance in the making. Alliances are passé and only a few continue gingerly from the Cold War era. We live in a world today driven by “strategic partnerships”. States nd themselves in an interdependent system where the traditional power politics of yesteryear doesn’t quite t. After all, every major relationship characterised by strategic tension such as U.S.-China, Japan-China, IndiaChina is simultaneously one of economic gain. The U.S. and China are

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Rohingya issue The Centre has taken the right stand in expressing its apprehension over the inux of refugees. Empathy and a humanitarian outlook apart, we should not override sensitive security concerns. Following the recent inux of refugees and the surge in terrorist attacks in France, Spain, the U.K., Belgium and other unsavoury incidents in Germany, the European Union is shutting down borders and erecting border controls. The Rohingya refugee crisis is an issue involving Myanmar and Bangladesh and needs to be settled on an amicable basis, if need be through backchannel initiatives by India (Editorial – “Targeting refugees”, September 20). India can additionally extend nancial and moral support. Oering the Rohingya refuge in India

each other’s chief trading partners, while China ranks at the top for Japan and India. Besides, India might confront China at Doklam but it also wants Chinese investment. Strategic partnerships carry certain characteristic features falling short of alliances. First, unlike alliances, they do not demand commitments to a partner’s disputes with other countries. New Delhi does not take a strong position on Japan’s territorial disputes with China and Russia. Likewise, Tokyo does not openly side with India in its quarrels with China and Pakistan. For instance, Japan’s reaction to the Doklam stand-o, though critical of China implicitly, did not go beyond saying that “all parties involved should not resort to unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force.” India’s reaction to the verdict of the arbitral tribunal on the South China Sea last year, urging “all parties to

show utmost respect for the UNCLOS”, reected a similar dispensation despite Japan’s push for a stronger statement. There was also no explicit mention of the South China Sea in the latest joint statement. Strategic partnership means, rst, that both retain the exibility to continue political engagement and economic cooperation with their common adversary. Second, they avoid “entrapment”, or being dragged into a partner’s disputes and potentially into conict, which happened in the First World War. Third, regular high-level political and military interactions facilitate a collaborative approach to strategic policies over a range of economic and military activities. India and Japan, for instance, are not only moving forward on economic and defence cooperation but are also cooperating on other important issues such as civil nuclear energy and Security Council reform. Given that resort to war is undesirable owing to economic interdependence as well as the presence of nuclear weapons, the aim of major strategic partnerships is to strengthen defences against marginal conict, convey a determination to stand up to a strategic adversary and, overall, generate a persuasive environment that discourages potential intimidation. Occasionally, as between India and China, a “strategic partner-

ship” is a way of opening a channel of communication and minimal cooperation intended to stabilise and develop the potential for a détente and conceivably something warmer. In this particular case, not much has been accomplished thus far, but it remains a low-cost option for expanding cooperation in the event the political fundamentals of the relationship show an upward swing.

Looking ahead India’s two main strategic partnerships, with the U.S. and Japan, are dovetailing nicely. For New Delhi, the U.S. will remain its chief backer both to enhance India’s conventional defence capabilities and to draw political support in global political institutions, for example in components of the nuclear nonproliferation regime. Japan, in the meantime, is becoming its primary collaborator in developing its economic sinews and for building a geostrategic network that oers Indian Ocean states an alternative to dependence on China. Together, the emerging structure of triangular cooperation should give Beijing pause to think. Rajesh Basrur is Professor of International Relations and Sumitha Narayanan Kutty is Associate Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School for International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

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

is a sensitive issue given the larger dimension of security and the demographic prole of the Northeast. India has serious concerns about migration and related issues. Refugees have been moving out of their countries due to economic, political and social reasons. The fear, as a leading academician has said, is that “democratic and nationalist movements can be taken over by transnational terrorist groups”. India is relatively a safe nation but that does not mean it has to spend its scarce resources on large security and social services which bona de citizens need more urgently. H.N. Ramakrishna, Bengaluru

The stand taken by a government on any issue related to national security cannot be and should not be challenged. It is the



GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

T

he decision by the Ministry of Corporate Aairs to crack down on so-called ‘shell companies’, disqualify select directors in these entities and debar them from taking board positions for a specied period of time cannot be faulted. This would begin the cleanup of the Augean stables of rms set up in many cases with less than bona de intent and having virtually no business operations. However, the Union government’s move to publicise the identities of some of these individuals with a view to ‘naming and shaming’ them is fraught with risk; the devil, as always, is in the detail. While the underlying motive for this action, as cited by the ministry, of “breaking the network of shell companies” in the government’s ght against black money is laudable, there is a real danger of inadvertently tainting genuine rms and individuals. This was in evidence when the Securities Appellate Tribunal recently gave relief to some entities over trading curbs hastily imposed on them by SEBI. Also, given the sheer scale of the task at hand, with the ministry identifying more than 1.06 lakh directors for disqualication, it is imperative that there be great care and diligence to ensure that the authorities do not penalise anyone who for non-mala de reasons failed to comply with the relevant provisions of the Companies Act. After all, when the intention is to create “an atmosphere of condence and faith in the system” as part of improving the climate for ease of doing business, the onus must be on taking to task only those who intend to subvert the law. At a broader level, the Centre and the regulatory arms need to address the underlying systemic shortcomings that have allowed so many companies, both listed and unlisted, to become vehicles of malfeasance. For one, as so many entrepreneurs establishing medium, small or micro enterprises have found to their chagrin, it is far easier to register a rm than it is to dissolve or wind it up. Similarly, in the case of public limited companies, a major portion of the extralegal activities including price rigging of shares, insider trading and other questionable practices have been found to occur in the large mass of smaller companies. The problems of acute illiquidity, weak governance and regulatory oversight have combined with the diculty in delisting to make these rms prime targets for nancial fraudsters and money launderers. The solutions, therefore, need to be targeted at addressing the deep-rooted maladies rather than just the symptoms, making it easier for entrepreneurs to deregister and/or delist a company. The government has already shown it is prepared to act in terms of enacting the necessary legislation to address banking sector stress by adopting the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. A simplied process, possibly online, to dissolve or delist would usher in signicant benets, including improved governance, and ensure that all stakeholders from small retail investors to corporate promoters have an enabling atmosphere to operate freely by remaining compliant with the law or risk facing stringent penal action.

g. sampath

DEEPAK HARICHANDAN

Each shell company must be duly investigated, instead of a ‘name and shame’ data dump

gress’s own fall from dominance was sparked by challenges at the State-level, not by a national rival. But that was possible because of the space for political pluralism oered by the ‘Congress system’. The fundamental dierence between the ‘Congress system’ and the ‘BJP system’ of one-party dominance is the latter’s determination to eliminate this pluralistic space. Politically, this is the toughest challenge facing the Opposition, as well as the biggest weakness of the BJP, one that could be tapped to construct an alternative narrative. Put simply, the Opposition’s counter-narrative would need to dwell on two aspects. One, it must convey that the 2019 polls are about choosing between two options: a coalition regime structurally constrained to protect the values of pluralism and federalism, and a stable majority under an authoritarian leadership unlikely to entertain democratic niceties. Second, the Opposition needs to frame the election as a referendum not on leadership but on democratic values. A massive win for the BJP in 2019 would certainly pose a threat to the historical consensus, established at the time of Independence, which institutionalised pluralism, a degree of federal autonomy, and a democratic framework for nation-building. The Opposition has the simple but onerous task of using its political imagination to bring this threat to the centre of the electoral agenda.

Suresh Rangarajan,

arbitrarily brand these stateless refugees as having links with terror outts dees logic and rationale. The photograph of children at a Rohingya refugee camp in New Delhi evokes pity. Also, the Rohingya are reluctant to return to their homeland, traumatised as they are, despite assurances by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi (“Suu Kyi promises to resettle ‘veried’ Rohingya refugees”, September 20). India needs to adopt a holistic and humane approach.

Thiruvananthapuram

P.K. Varadarajan,

executive which knows the state of aairs better than ordinary people who are moved by emotions. Obligations under international convention and humanitarian considerations are subservient to national security interests. However, the government can extend its good oces in settling an internal issue of its immediate neighbour without endangering its own national security (“In Vivekananda’s country?”, September 20).

Chennai

The Centre’s hard-line stance, that it perceives the Rohingya to be a potential threat to national security, is unfortunate. India has over the decades built a reputation for giving asylum to persecuted refugees on humanitarian grounds. To



Aung San Suu Kyi has let down the international community by neither addressing their concerns nor coming up with a concrete solution to the ongoing Rohingya crisis. As a de facto leader, this was



the chance she had to prove her credentials as a worthy laureate for peace. Unfortunately, in her stint as State Counsellor of Myanmar, she has performed dismally below the mark and dashed the hopes of her well-wishers. Baquir Sadar, Kochi

Sorabjee interview The hallmarks of former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee’s interview were dispassion, empathy and limpidity of a high order (The Wednesday interview – “If dissent is not allowed, it’ll take dierent forms”, September 20). He minced no words in deriding growing intolerance and a gagging of dissent while he dened the contours of sedition and privacy with consummate ease and skill. His wise words against deporting the Rohingya, it is

hoped, will not fall on deaf ears. Ayyasseri Raveendranath, Aranmula, Kerala

Safer driving The use of technology to enable a safe driving experience is always welcome, and in this regard the move to install laserenabled speed detectors by the Tiruvallur police in Tamil Nadu is appreciable (Some editions, “Laserenabled detectors to check speeding on highways”, September 18). But data show that drunk driving is a more serious issue than overspeeding, with gures rising every month. Drunk driving is a major reason behind accidents. The police should look at ways to monitor drunk driving. W. Cathryn Shirly, Chennai

more letters online: www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/

A ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

OPED 9

NOIDA/DELHI

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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Taxpayer rights and obligations

Beyond social media

Shifting tax administration from an enforcement to a service-based model will lead to higher yields

More regulation is required to ensure the credibility of the GI protection process

“It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong.” These words of British economist John Maynard Keynes best sum up the wave of reforms in the domain of tax administration in India in the last few years. While tax administration has seen some paradigm shifts both in the domain of direct and indirect taxes, the taxpayer still seems to be wanting for greater certainty and fairness in the levy, assessment and collection of taxes. This is where an internationally recognised concept such as taxpayer rights holds well even in the Indian context. The Central government has development strategies in the form of campaigns like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India’. The recent introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is the most significant overhaul of the taxation system in India ever, also aims to achieve a unified market across the nation for the first time. The intent of the government is clear. It wants to transform India into a manufacturing, investment and research and development hub and consequentially, there would also be an increase in revenue generation. In the light of such economic aspirations, a fair balance between taxpayer rights and obligations will only ensure a higher degree of trust between the tax collector and taxpayer, thus leading to a higher tax yield. But one may ask, isn’t the level of trust already there? Well, not entirely.

Epicentre of tax disputes India has seen key tax disputes ever since a similar growth-oriented road map was adopted by the government in the early 1990s. For instance, in order to attract investments, the government signed Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) with states like Singapore and Cyprus on similar treaty terms as the IndiaMauritius DTAA signed in 1983. As ambitious as these agreements were, they proved to be detrimental in the long run for India. Multiple disputes relating to capital gains surfaced due to exploitation of legal loopholes in these DTAAs. Another example is of ‘transfer pricing’ mechanism (the

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

kinshuk jha

rules and methods for pricing transactions between enterprises under common ownership or control), where there was little clarity with respect to international transactions between associated enterprises before April 2001. Even after the introduction of a dedicated transfer pricing segment in the Income Tax Act, the chaos could not be curtailed as the determination of arm’s length price (the price of such international transactions in open market conditions) would almost always be a contentious exercise. India ended up being party to more than half of the global transfer pricing disputes by 2014. After the debacle the government had to face when it lost to Vodafone on a capital gains dispute in the Supreme Court, it came up with an aggressive set of corrective measures not only to augment its revenue generation capabilities but also to counter any such abusive avoidance strategies by taxpayers henceforth. Retrospective amendments were made to the Income Tax Act to supersede the adverse judgment of the Supreme Court in 2012, which were not limited in effect to only Vodafone but several such disputes relating to taxation of capital gains and deemed income of numerous MNCs having their interest or investments in India, directly or indirectly. A step further was

the implementation of General AntiAvoidance Rules (GAAR) in India. The GAAR provisions have been made effective in India from April 1, 2017, and they can be considered as the latest chapter on the mismatch between taxpayer rights and obligations. Some major concerns with respect to taxpayer rights are left grossly unaddressed. A major example is the revocation of ‘presumption of innocence’ of the taxpayers. It is now a burden ab initio on these business entities to prove that their tax mitigation techniques do not qualify as ‘impermissible avoidance arrangements’. This goes against the fundamental principle of ‘innocent unless proven guilty’. As for the GST, while the government has apparently achieved a balanced model of fiscal federalism through a dual GST system, the path ahead is simple neither for the taxpayer nor the tax collector. For example, the GST Network will process billions of invoices every month, with its concomitant economic and fiscal impacts of technical glitches and other such situations. These snags will impact traders with genuine transactions, as the processing of their tax collections, input tax credit claims and tax refunds might get affected. A precedent is the GST in Malaysia which was implemented in 2015: cash crunch woes due to the

Service-based strategies Clearly, the whole economic perception of India is at stake due to some fault lines in its fiscal administration. What is positive to note though is the constructive approach of the government, aiming to improve tax administration and as a result ensuring better tax compliance. The recommendations of the Tax Administration Reform Committee, submitted to the Finance Ministry in 2014, tried to reintroduce a fair balance between the rights and obligations of taxpayers. Several of these recommendations, such as improvement in taxpayers’ service, enhanced use of information and communication technology, exchange of information with other agencies, expansion of tax base, compliance management, etc. have either been accepted or implemented to ensure a better relation between the taxpayer and the tax collector. Tax administrators in India have for long implemented enforcementbased strategies and it is only in recent years that there has been a shift in stance to service-based strategies. They have further propagated the same intent by the introduction of a citizen’s charter in both direct and indirect tax statutes of India. Though the charter does not by itself create new legal rights, it surely helps in enforcing existing rights. India has also renegotiated the much-abused provisions in some of its DTAAs, namely with Switzerland, Mauritius, Cyprus and Singapore. Capital gains-related issues and exchange of information on taxation matters have been better addressed in these amended agreements. Taking everything into account, at least the awareness on taxpayers’ obligations and rights seems to be clearer than before. While attempts are there to increase the rights and to provide better service for genuine taxpayers, the taxpayers who deliberately abuse tax provisions should not expect much leniency. A quest for balance between the rights and obligations of a taxpayer is evidently on, though it still needs to be seen when the right equilibrium between the two is achieved. Kinshuk Jha is Assistant Professor and Assistant Director, Centre for Comparative and International Taxation, Centre for International Trade and Economic Laws, Jindal Global Law School

latha r. nair On September 4, the Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) under the aegis of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, launched a social media campaign to promote Geographical Indications (GIs) with the hashtag #LetsTalkIP. The press release says that GIs are of utmost importance to the country as they are an integral part of India’s rich culture and collective intellectual heritage and that their promotion is in line with the Government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign. It adds that it is an area of strength and optimism for India as the “GI tag” has accorded protection to several handmade and manufactured products, especially in the informal sector. CIPAM proposes to talk about interesting facts and stories on GIs using social media.

Can boost rural development With legislation enacted in 2003 — the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999 (the GI Act) — for their protection and 295 names registered with the Geographical Indications Registry, GIs today need no introduction. The proposed campaign is certainly heartening because goods branded as GIs can be made indigenously by local communities independently and in a self-sustaining manner. And India, with its rich cultural heritage and diversity, has GIs. It is an added advantage that if protected the correct way, GIs can promote rural development in a significant manner and could be fitted in as the most ideal intellectual property right to bolster a programme such as ‘Make in India’. But there is a catch. A GI is supposed to convey to a consumer the assurance of a certain quality, reputation or other characteristics of the goods on which it is applied, which are essentially attributable to its geographical origin. For example, when you see the name Scotch for whisky, a registered GI under the GI Act, on a bottle of whisky, you expect it to originate from Scotland and possess certain qualities that you would not associate with other whiskies. Does the GI Act ensure that all the GIs registered thereunder meet such expectations? The keywords here are “quality control”. This is the sine qua non of any GI protection. In fact, the European Community Regulation 1151/2012 for the protection of GIs is titled as a regulation “on quality schemes for agriculGETTY IMAGES

delayed refunds were among the prominent grievances of the trading community.

tural products and foodstuffs”. The emphasis laid on quality must be underscored here. Recital 46 of this regulation states that the added value of GIs is based on consumer trust and that it is only credible if accompanied by effective verification and controls. Further, the quality schemes should be subject to a monitoring system of official controls to ensure verification of compliance with the law and rules relating thereto, and should include a system of checks at all stages of production, processing and distribution.

The Indian context In the Indian scenario, the question arises whether the GI Act provides for quality control measures and verification of compliance. The word ‘quality’ itself appears in the GI Act only in two instances, first in Section 2(1)(e) which defines a GI, and second, in connection with Section 11(2) that stipulates that the application should state as to how the GI serves to designate the goods in respect of, inter alia, quality. Unlike the European Regulation, the GI Act does not provide for monitoring mechanisms at multiple levels. In fact, there is no single reference to an inspection or monitoring structure in the Act. Though there is a mention of it in Rule 32(1)(6)(g) which lists what should be the content of the statement of case, it is quite perfunctory in that it states, “particulars of the inspection structure, if any, to regulate the use of the geographical indication”. In contrast, the European Regulation stipulates multiple monitoring measures, both within the GI-controlling body and outside it. Currently, there is a proliferation of GI registrations in India without any legal provisions stipulating postregistration quality control measures that are to be employed in the production of goods branded as GIs. This is detrimental not only to the protection process of GIs in India but also to the very existence of these GIs, because prolonged failure to meet consumer expectations would dilute the premium and credibility of GI-branded goods. Why would a customer pay a premium to a GI branded product if there is no difference in quality as compared to similarly placed goods? While the campaign is a wonderful idea to promote awareness, there is more work that is required at the legislative level to ensure credibility of the GI protection process in India. To make such efforts more meaningful and worth the passion put in by bodies such as CIPAM, we need to first fill the legislative gap in ensuring quality control through monitoring mechanisms. Latha R. Nair is a partner with the IP law rm K&S Partners. E-mail: [email protected]

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FROM

A double-edged sword

FIFTY YEARS AGO SEPTEMBER 21, 1967

Mysore rejects World Bank aid

The subnationalist argument shies away from addressing how to deal with majoritarian impulses

Mysore has rejected the World Bank aid for the Cauveri water supply project for augmenting Bangalore City’s water supply system. The Mysore Government feels that the terms of the World Bank aid are stiff and not capable of acceptance without putting Bangalore’s civil population to hardship in the shape of a higher cost of water supply. A communication conveying the Mysore Government’s unwillingness to avail of the World Bank aid is being conveyed to the Government of India. The Cauveri water supply project is estimated to cost about Rs. 38 crores. For more than two years now, negotiations had been going on in connection with the projected World Bank aid. One of the conditions of the World Bank aid is stated to be that the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board should charge Rs. four for every 1,000 gallons of the water supplied under the projected Cauveri water supply project so that a return of 10 per cent on the investment was ensured. The State Government has not found it easy enough to accept the suggestion.

shashwat dhar GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

There has lately been a revival of the classic debate on how subnationalism is good for social welfare, triggered by the controversy surrounding the long-standing demand for an ocial State ag for Karnataka. None of India’s 29 States except Jammu and Kashmir have a ag of their own. The matter is complicated by the fact that the Constitution maintains a conspicuous silence on the issue. The clamour for a separate ag among a section of the Kannadigas thus assumes wider political salience, insofar as the assertion of underlying subnational identities is concerned. A multi-ethnic polity sharply polarised along linguistic, religious and caste lines, India is no stranger to subnationalist impulses. Initially wary of accommodating regional demands, primarily owing to the bitter experience of Partition, India’s central leadership embarked on an audacious project to recongure the country’s political map based on linguistic criteria: Telugu-speaking areas coalesced into Andhra Pradesh, Malayali-speaking areas into Kerala, Kannada-speaking areas into Karnataka, etc. in the 1950s. More and more states were added to this kitty — Maharashtra and Gujarat joined in 1960, followed by Punjab and Haryana in the mid-1960s. This project has continued up till today, with Telangana being the most recent addition. Most of these states are creations of hard-fought political struggles waged around the idea of a shared ethnic identity. The tenacity of civic bonds among the members of a political community, some scholars maintain, explains why some states have fared well on social development indicators while others still struggle to break out of their vicious trap of backwardness. However, new research in political science shows that not all civic associations are benign; some help foster the democratic ethos while others endanger democracy by reinforcing its majoritarian impulses. This is true as much at the level of the region as it is at the level of the nation.

Fuelling majoritarian impulses High levels of subnationalism may have driven higher levels of social welfare in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, but they have also spawned violent ethnic conict in many others: Gujarat and Maharashtra have witnessed some of the worst ethnic riots unleashed against their religious minorities and immigrants, respectively, in post-Independence India; Assam has periodic bouts of xenophobic violence targeting alleged Bangladeshi settlers. One only needs to ip the pages of history to realise how nationalism, by its very nature, has the idea of exclusion built into it. How nations or subnations deal with these exclusionary aspects is a question that the subnationalist argument shies away from addressing. It is important to ask whether Gujarat’s Muslims are part of the Gujarati asmita (pride), or whether migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar feel a close anity to the Marathi manoos. The ‘othering’ of those who do not form an integral part of the subnation warns us of the dangers of subnationalism, and how it can engender serious democratic decits in an otherwise vibrant and plural democracy. Shashwat Dhar is associated with the Lokniti Programme for Comparative Democracy at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi

CM YK

ARCHIVES

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO SEPTEMBER 21, 1917

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CONCEPTUAL

FAQ

Short squeeze

The new technology, of trust

Finance This refers to the rapid rise in the price of a stock, or any other financial security for that matter, when short sellers buy it in heavy volumes to cover their short positions. The sudden increase in demand for the stock causes its price to shoot up temporarily in the absence of additional supply. Some traders keep a close eye on the level of short interest in a security to take profitable long positions expecting a short squeeze to drive up its price. A short squeeze might happen for many reasons. An increase in the price of a stock, for instance, might cause short sellers to rush to buy the stock in order to prevent further losses on their short position.

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study.

What is blockchain? Block-

chain is the backbone technology on which bitcoins run. Simply put, it is a digital public ledger that records every transaction. Once a transaction is entered in the blockchain, it cannot be erased or modified. Blockchain removes the need for using a trusted third party such as a bank to make a transaction by directly connecting the customers and suppliers. Each transaction is recorded to the ledger after verification by the network participants, mainly a chain of computers, called nodes. Blockchain today may be compared to what the Internet was in the early 1990s. While we have witnessed how the ‘Internet of Information’ has changed our society over the past two decades, we are now entering a phase where blockchain may do the same by ushering in a new paradigm comprising ‘Internet of Trust’ and ‘Internet of Value’, as per a Deloitte and Assocham

Where did it originate?

While the origin of the technology is not clear, it is widely believed that a person or group of people by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, who invented bitcoins, released the technology to support cryptocurrency. What are the use cases? Bitcoin is just one of the applications for the technology, whose use is being tested across industries. It is witnessing a lot of traction within India, in sectors such as banking and insurance. In most of these industries, players are coming together to form a consortium to realise the benefits of blockchain at an industry level. The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), an arm of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is developing a model platform for this technology. What are the benefits? The

benefits of using blockchain will vary from case to case. However, according to a Deloitte and Assocham report on the issue, blockchain becomes a good fit when there is a lot of data that is shared across multiple parties with no trust mechanism among the participants. Financial players are the first movers to capitalise on this technology. Nonfinancial players too have been looking for ways to leverage the opportunities that blockchain offers, the report adds, pointing out that the front runners among them are retail, travel, health care, telecommunications and public sector industries.

The arrival of Mrs. Annie Besant, Mr. Wadia and Mr. Arundale in Madras this morning [September 21] was announced in the daily papers last evening. The happy event was looked anxiously forward to by the people of Madras who had three months ago bid them farewell with anger on their brow and tears in their eyes. Madras had not apparently slept last night. The usually quiet City streets, were alive with singing crowds wending their way towards the Central Station throughout the night. When the day broke out about fifty Bhajana parties were singing outside the Central Station compound. “Mrs. Besant arrives in Madras to-morrow” was the chief talk among men in the City. Thousands of College students had assembled on the road side to witness the procession this morning. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

DATA POINT

What is happening in India? A high-level com-

mittee is currently deliberating on the issue whether or not cryptocurrencies should be banned in India. However, the discussions till now are said to be in support of encouraging the use of blockchain technology. A ND-NDE

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10 NEWS

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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FROM PAGE ONE

No oor test, no bypoll for 18 seats: HC

Rahul may helm party from Nov. Sonia will continue to be CWC member and is likely to stay on as parliamentary board chairperson Smita Gupta New Delhi

Mr. Sundaram sought an adjournment till October 4 when senior counsel Dushyant Dave, representing four disqualified MLAs, was on his feet arguing the case on merits. He said there was no possibility of by-elections being held before October 4. Concurring, senior counsel C.S. Vaidyanathan, appearing for the CM, said there was no need for interim orders on the issue of floor test too since his client had not placed any such request with the Speaker. Immediately, senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, representing Mr. Stalin, rose from his seat to stress the need for an interim order in the case. Objecting to it, Mr. Sundaram accused Mr. Stalin of espousing the cause of the disqualified AIADMK MLAs. “This is clear collusion,” Mr. Vaidyanathan added, prompting Mr. Dave to retort: “There is a clear collusion only between you (CM) and the Speaker.” The packed court hall, filled with a huge number of lawyers, broke into laughter on hearing this. Mr. Dave suggested that the court could stay the operation of at least the last two lines of the government gazette notification which stated “that the seats held by them (18 disqualified MLAs) in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly shall thereupon fall vacant ac-

cording to the provisions of Article 190(3)(a) of the Constitution of India.” However, Mr. Sundaram urged the court to instead order that the election notification for those constituencies should not be issued until further orders and record it as an order passed with the consent of all the parties before the court. He also agreed to the extension of the interim order restraining the Speaker from conducting the floor test. Mr. Dave earlier argued that the withdrawal of support to the Chief Minister and not the government as such by the 18 MLAs “would by no stretch of imagination” call for disqualification on the ground of defection since they had not withdrawn from the party. They had made a specific statement in their letters to the Governor that they had not given up their AIADMK membership. They were only expressing lack of confidence in Mr. Palaniswami. Mr. Dave contended that their letters were a verbatim reproduction of a letter given by 13 MLAs in Karnataka on October 6, 2010 to the then Governor of that State expressing no confidence in their Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa. The Supreme Court had in 2011 struck down their disqualification by the Karnataka Speaker.

‘Chunk of GST claims ineligible for refunds’ Tax experts say that the reason behind so many ineligible claims being submitted was the constantly changing rules and deadlines relating to the form for the availing of transitional credit — the TRAN-1 form — and that the audits being conducted so far were causing undue panic among businesses since the deadline to revise the filings is still more than a month away. “The multiple changes made in respect of the TRAN-1 form both on time lines and ability to offset the transition credits against the initial GST liability would have created some confu-

sion in the minds of some taxpayers,” M.S. Mani, Partner at Deloitte India, said. “During the September 6 GST Council meeting, it was decided that the last date for the submission of the TRAN-1 form would be extended to October 31,” Sachin Menon, National Head of Indirect Tax at KPMG India, said. “But in implementation, the original deadline of 90 days from the rollout of GST [September 28] was retained, and it was decided that those who meet that deadline will be allowed to revise their forms up to October 31.”

Close to five years after Rahul Gandhi was appointed Congress vice-president in Jaipur in January 2013, he will take on the top job in the party later this year, probably in November, in Delhi, senior party sources told The Hindu. It will also be a year after he had told the party’s apex decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC), that he was ready and willing to be its president.

Longest term This will bring to an end Sonia Gandhi’s 19-year presidency of the party, the

“We can sense it. So to me, the challenge is how to solve the problem in a democratic environment,” Mr. Gandhi said. He did not specifically respond to a question on his future role in the party amid speculation that he would be taking over as president, succeeding his mother Sonia Gandhi within weeks. Mr. Gandhi’s close associate Sam Pitroda, the U.S.based development thinker who is credited with pioneering India’s telecom growth, said he should take charge immediately. “He is ready, and there is nothing to wait for. My view is that he must take charge immediately. We have 18 months to the next general election, and he can make a difference,” Mr. Pitroda said. Mr. Gandhi’s U.S.

events are being organised by Mr. Pitroda. In a candid self-reflection, Mr. Gandhi said the UPA governments from 2004 to 2014 also could not achieve the required number of jobs that the growing population of India needs. He said anxiety around jobs and economic insecurity led to the rise of politicians such as Mr. Modi and Donald Trump in America. The Congress leader said his party’s biggest achievement has been in creating a vision of India that everyone in the country could share. “These days, many groups, such as tribals, some States that are opposed to a particular vision of India, and minorities are feeling left out of the vision that Prime Minister Modi is representing, he said.

Corporators under Thane police radar Gautam Mengle Mumbai

The Thane Police’s probe into extortion accused Iqbal Kaskar’s alleged links with political figures has identified at least three corporators from Thane, who are now under the police scanner. An officer said that the number is likely to increase over the next few day.

Dawood’s name used Extortion Iqbal, the younger brother of wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, was arrested late on Monday night for allegedly extorting a Thane-based builder by CM YK

using Dawood’s name. Two others, Mumtaz Sheikh and Israr Ali Sayed, were also arrested for aiding Iqbal in the racket. “Interrogation of extortion accused Iqbal Kaskar and the co-accused has revealed that they were in regular touch with at least three corporators from Thane. They are from different political parties, indicating that Iqbal’s nexus is not limited to just one party,” a senior officer with the Thane Police Crime Branch said. Many corporators in Thane, the officer said, are in the real estate business.

fresh faces, some of the older leaders will survive. But the pattern of senior appointments has already been established: no general secretary will be in charge of more than one State, and he — or she — will be assisted by a few secretaries.

Sonia Gandhi president. Once the transition takes place, party sources said, Mr. Gandhi will complete appointing his team for 2019. Though it will see many

Complaints raised In the past few years, though Ms. Gandhi had gradually begun to hand over most of the organisational tasks to her son, there were often complaints from those around Mr. Gandhi that he was being prevented from making appointments or decisions by Ms. Gandhi’s team. After the change of guard

Bound by Paris deal, says India We are willing to work above and beyond the pact to reduce emissions: Sushma Press Trust of India United Nations

India on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to the landmark Paris climate change agreement, saying it was willing to “work above and beyond” the pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, during a UN ‘Leadership Summit on Environment Pact’, said India had been at the forefront of the debate on environment and development. Her remarks came amid uncertainty over the U.S. role in the deal after President Donald Trump in June announced that America was withdrawing from the Paris deal, arguing that it gave undue advantage to countries like India and China. India, which is the world’s third largest carbon polluter, reached a pact, along with more than 190 nations, in December 2015 with an aim to prevent an increase in the global average temperature and keep it well below 2 degrees Celsius. The deal, which replaced the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, was

CBI books retired HC judge,5 others Special Correspondent

Rahul: Anger growing against Modi govt.

longest in the Congress’s 132year-old history, 10 years of which the party led the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre. She is only the fourth woman — after Annie Besant, Sarojini Naidu and Indira Gandhi — to be Congress president. But these sources said that Ms. Gandhi would not retire from politics after she stepped down as president. She will continue to be a member of the CWC and will, in all likelihood, be chairperson of the party’s Parliamentary Board. Elections will be held for 10 of the 21 CWC seats, 10 will be nominated, and the 21st seat will be that of the

Committed to a cause: External Aairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addresses a UN General Assembly meeting on Tuesday. AP *

ratified last October. Participating in the UN meet hosted by SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres, Ms. Swaraj said India was willing to work “above and beyond” the Paris agreement. “Understanding our responsibility towards Planet

Earth,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Solar alliance The summit was presided by French President Emmanuel Macron. India takes the climate change issue very seri-

ously, Mr. Kumar said. “We also mentioned that India and France are working together on the international Solar Alliance,” he said. During the day, Ms. Swaraj had a series of bilateral meetings with leaders from Mexico, Norway and Belgium. She also called on Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth. “There were some discussions on the possibility of a high-level visit from Belgium to India later this year,” Mr. Kumar said. Later in the evening, Ms. Swaraj attended a reception hosted by British Prime Minister Theresa May for the Commonwealth Heads of Government delegations. Ms. Swaraj is scheduled to hold meetings with her counterparts from San Marino, Brazil, Morocco and Moldova and call on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. She is also scheduled to participate in several multilateral meetings including that of the G-4 (Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Foreign Ministers.

SC order Accused B.P. Yadav and Palash were pursuing the matter in Delhi and had challenged the debarment in the Supreme Court, which directed the government to consider the facts afresh. The government, after hearing the petitioners, issued an order on August 10 debarring the college from admitting fresh students for two years.

NEW DELHI

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya will resign from their Lok Sabha seats, Gorakhpur and Phulpur, in the next couple of days, and the search for candidates to be put up in these constituencies will begin in earnest. Before that, the BJP will keenly watch the State and national executive meetings of the Samajwadi Party in the next couple of weeks. The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav, is expected to be elevated as party chief at the meetings, and a resolution setting forth the political line

Yogi Adityanath with his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya. for the party for the 2019 elections is also likely to be passed. Future alliances may be discussed. BJP sources said they will track whether the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will put up a joint candidate

*

PTI

in Phulpur or fight the byelection separately. “As far as we can assess, it seems unlikely that a joint candidate will be put up as we don’t see the BSP gaining anything from it. It’s a seat where the Scheduled Castes may not

Dinakar Peri New Delhi

A recent letter by a U.S. business body to the Defence Ministry expressing its reluctance to transfer proprietary technologies could complicate India’s efforts to build a fighter jet locally with technology transfer from abroad. Both the competing aircraft have significant U.S. components. This is a test for the ambitious new Strategic Partnership (SP) model for promoting domestic defence manufacturing under which multi-billion dollar deals are about to be initiated. The letter was written early last month by the USIndia Business Council (USIBC) to then Defence Minister, Arun Jaitley, in which the companies raised the issue of having control over proprietary technologies. “Without real technology transfer, the whole idea of SP will fall apart. We will once again be doing assembling as has been happening for the past four decades,” one industry official said.

vote with the Yadavs [the SP’s core vote bank],” a senior office-bearer of the party said. For Gorakhpur too, the party will have to cast its net wide as it will be for the first time in many years that the leadership of the Gorakhnath Math (headed now by Mr. Adityanath) will not be available as a candidate. Before Mr. Adityanath, his guru Mahant Avaidyanath used to represent this Lok Sabha constituency. “November and December will be crucial for the State government as that is when the byelections may be called, and the local bodies elections in the State are to be held,” the source said.

Samajwadi Party trying to rope in BSP rebel Indrajeet Saroj to contest bypoll Sobhana K. Nair Omar Rashid

Belying all expectations, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress are unlikely to join forces for the Phulpur Lok Sabha byelection, as sources indicate that the SP is trying to convince BSP rebel Indrajeet Saroj, who will join it soon, to contest the seat. Phulpur was vacated after Keshav Prasad Maurya, the incumbent, joined the Yogi Adityanath government as Deputy Chief Minister. Mr. Saroj, a former Minister and four-time MLA, was expelled on August 4 after he accused party chief Mayawati of extorting money from leaders and directing every MLA and defeated candidates to collect ₹9 lakh to ₹22 lakh from every Assembly constituency. He lost the 2017 election by a small margin.

He confirmed that he would join the SP soon, but denied contesting the Phulpur byelection. He said if SP president Akhilesh Yadav desired, he would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Mohanlalganj, adjoining Lucknow. “Why will I fight for just one year? If it is Akhilesh Yadavji’s wish, I will contest from Mohanlalganj in 2019 or the Assembly election in 2022 from my traditional seat, Manjhanpur,” Mr. Saroj told The Hindu. Ms. Mayawati is expected to contest the byelection after her sudden resignation from the Rajya Sabha in July. She has not yet made it official. The Phulpur byelection was widely expected to be the first experiment of a joint Opposition unity ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and was expected to set the tone for a wider collaboration.

As of now, the communication channels between the two parties aren’t open,” a senior SP leader said.

Mayawati

In the 2017 Assembly, three parties, the SP, the BSP and the Congress got 1.5 lakh more votes than the BJP, giving them a fair chance to score a morale booster victory against BJP before the general elections. “There were definitely talks between us and the BSP soon after the U.P. Assembly election results (in March). Senior bureaucrats were brokering the talks. However, it soon fizzled out.

Former Union Minister N.D. Tiwari was admitted to a private hospital here on Wednesday after he suffered a brain stroke, his son Rohit Shekhar Tiwari said. Sources at Max Hospital in Saket said the condition of 91-year-old Tiwari, a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, was serious and he was being kept under observation in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). A team of doctors was attending to him, they said. Rohit said his father fell unconscious in the morning while having tea.

U.S. group reluctant to transfer tech

Opposition unity unlikely in Phulpur New Delhi/Lucknow

Press Trust of India New Delhi

Plan to build ghter jets hits air pocket

BJP to begin hunt for candidates for Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bypolls Nistula Hebbar

Conducts searches “On Wednesday, the CBI conducted searches at eight locations in Delhi, including the premises of the retired judge in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow and Odisha. In all, ₹1.91 crore in cash has been seized. However, rumours that CBI carried out searches on the premises of a sitting Orissa High Court judge are baseless,” said a senior CBI official. The case pertains to Prasad Institute of Medical Science of Prasad Education Trust that was one of the 46 colleges barred by the government from admitting students for one to two years, owing to substandard facilities and nonfulfilment of set criteria, the official said.

Organisational polls By the time the AICC session takes place, the organisational elections under way will be completed, except in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where the party is focussing on preparing for the coming elections. Once Mr. Gandhi returns from his trip to the U.S. later this week, he will get busy in the poll-bound States. He has been interacting with students and others in various universities in the U.S in the past few days.

Two star U.P. seats up for grabs

New Delhi

The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a corruption case against a retired Orissa High Court judge, I.M. Quddusi, and five others for an alleged conspiracy to get “settled” in the Supreme Court the case of a Lucknow-based medical institute that was barred from admitting students. Apart from Mr. Quddusi, the agency has named Bhawana Pandey, B.P. Yadav, Palash Yadav, Sudhir Giri and Biswanath Agrawala in the First Information Report.

takes place, the tension between the older leaders and Mr. Gandhi should end, as he will have the final word.

N.D. Tiwari in hospital after stroke

BSP chief selfish: rebel Mr. Saroj is not too hopeful that Ms. Mayawati will align with Mr. Yadav. Calling her “selfish”, he said she was untrustworthy in any alliance. “She will ask for such high number of seats, say 60 out of 80, that an alliance will not be possible,” he said. Mr. Saroj, who comes from the Passi community, was the BSP’s non-Jatav face. The Passi community is the second largest Dalit caste in U.P. after Jatavs, the group which Mayawati belongs to. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru represented Phulpur thrice. It is also the seat which saw the first joint Opposition experiment in 1988, when former Prime Minister V.P. Singh fought from here.

In the next couple of months, the Air Force is expected to initiate the process to select a single-engine fighter jet under the SP model which will be built in India with significant technology transfer. The deal for over a 100 jets is estimated to cost over ₹60,000 crore by present projection, but the final order could end up at around 200 jets.

Twin contenders The contenders in the race are Lockheed Martin with its F-16 and Sweden’s SAAB with its Gripen. While the F-16 is a U.S. military platform, the Gripen is powered by engines built by General Electric of the U.S. In addition, the same engines have been selected to power the indigenously developed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, 123 of which have been already ordered by the IAF. While SAAB has promised full transfer of technology, it would still require U.S. government clearance for transferring specific components.

Mayawati questions encounters Omar Rashid Lucknow

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Wednesday raised questions on encounter killings in Uttar Pradesh under the Yogi Adityanath government. “Blowing the trumpet on police encounters in the last six months in the name of crime control raises questions of whether only members of a particular class or community engage in crime or are historysheeters,” Ms. Mayawati asked. Since March 20, a day after the Yogi Adityanath government took oath in UP, 18 accused criminals have been gunned down in alleged police encounters. Among them were eight Muslims, two Yadavs and at least two Dalits. This was perhaps the basis for Ms. Mayawati’s inquiry, although she did not name any particular group.

Plea against deportation proposal Special Correspondent Kolkata

The West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court against the Centre’s notification to the States to deport all Rohingyas from the country. In a release issued by WBCPCR on Wednesday, it alleged that the Rohingyas were being “systematically tortured and killed in Burma [Myanmar].” “In this situation, deporting the Rohingya children and their mothers staying in shelters and correctional homes of West Bengal means to throw them into the jaws of death,” it said. A ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

NEWS 11

NOIDA/DELHI

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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New rule on out-of-turn hearings

Let States cut fuel tax: Jaitley

Krishnadas Rajagopal

Challenges those ruled by Congress and CPI(M) to do so and forgo Central share of revenue

Call to wipe out modern slavery

NEW DELHI

Every morning, the Supreme Court Bench led by the Chief Justice of India gives leeway to lawyers who appear in cases that require an urgent hearing. Lawyers must convince the top judge, very briefly, that without an urgent hearing, the rights, even the fundamental rights, of their clients may suffer a grievous harm. So, in keeping with the Supreme Court’s long tradition as a people’s court, the Chief Justices have allowed lawyers to “mention” cases for an early or out-of-turn hearing. The court uses its discretion to allow or dismiss the plea. On Wednesday, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra barred senior advocates from make any such urgent mention before his Bench. The constitutional courts designate a lawyer as senior advocate in recognition of his or her superior professional abilities. However, a PIL petition filed by advocate Indira Jaising in the Supreme Court has demanded transparency in the designation.

Advocates-on-record Chief Justice Misra declared in a crowded courtroom that only advocates-on-record would henceforth make urgent mentions. This was aimed at providing a level playingfield, and assuring the legal community that the case in question, and not the advocate, would guide the court’s discretion to grant an early hearing. Under the Supreme Court Rules, an advocateon-record can plead for a party. The Rules mandate that only advocates-on-record file an appearance or act for a party.

17 printing presses to be merged

Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

Taking on the Opposition for its criticism over rising fuel prices, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday dared the State governments led by the Congress and the CPI(M) to reduce VAT on petroleum products and forgo their share of the Centre’s revenue from fuel levies. “All those who are raising their voices about inflation today — when they were in power, inflation was at 1011%,” Mr Jaitley said. “Today, they are raising their voices over 3.36% [inflation]. The statutorily fixed monetary policy target for inflation is 4%. And in the monsoon months, due to vegetable prices, there is a spike period. And in this spike period, it is 3.36%; so it is in keeping with traditional Indian standards.” Briefing the media on the Cabinet decisions on Wednesday, he said many States were talking about high petrol prices. But how much were those States ruled by the Opposition taking in taxes on petrol? “Two years ago, when oil companies used to review the [petrol] prices every fortnight, and often reduced them, on the same night as the reduction, the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh used to increase their VAT by that same amount,” he said.

Lion’s share “And of the Central tax receipts from petrol, 42% of that goes to the States,” Mr. Jaitley said. “So, where the Congress and the CPI(M) are in power, they should say they don’t want taxes from petrol, either from the Central share or from the State VAT.” He said the recent hurricanes in the U.S. had

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announcing the Cabinet decisions on Wednesday.

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R. V. MOORTHY

Bonus for railway employees Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the payment of productivitylinked bonus equivalent to 78 days of wages to eligible non-gazetted railway employees (excluding RPF/ RPSF personnel) for the financial year 2016-17. “About 12.3 lakh nongazetted railway employees are likely to benefit from the greatly affected refining capacity, which had led to a temporary spike in global oil prices due to the demandsupply mismatch. “That temporary spike will be limited, as the Petroleum Minister had pointed out,” he said. “To run any country, the government needs revenue. How will highways be built,” he asked. Commenting that the bulk of investment in the country currently is being driven by public investments and foreign direct investment, he said the public investment

decision. This payment will be made before Dasara/Puja holidays, bringing a smile to lakhs of families ahead of the festive season,” the government said in a release. “The payment of PLB would serve as an incentive, and result in motivating a large number of railway employees, particularly those involved in execution and operations of railways, to improve their

productivity and ensure safety, speed and service for Railway customers.” The government said that the financial implication of this PLB has been estimated to be Rs. 2,245.45 crore. “The wage calculation ceiling prescribed for payment of PLB is Rs. 7,000 a month,” the release added. “The maximum amount payable per railway employee is Rs. 17,951.”

was coming from these revenue sources, including central excise duties on petroleum products, and that whatever growth was being experienced was due to that revenue. “To cut such investment means cutting spending on social sector and infrastructure projects,” Mr. Jaitley said.

the state of the economy. “We have taken note of all the economic indicators that are available,” Mr. Jaitley said. “This has been a pro-active government. In terms of our own reform agenda and reacting to situations as and when they demand, we have been active. So we have taken note of all the indications that are coming. And over the last two days, I have had a series of discussions with my ministerial colleagues and officials and other experts within the government.”

Stimulus ahead? He also said that he had over the past two days held meetings with other Ministers, Secretaries, and experts within the government on

Activists seek plan to meet SDG 8.7

NEW DELHI

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the merger of 17 government printing presses into five entities, which would result in 524.75 acres of land being transferred to the Central and State governments. “The Union Cabinet has given it for rationalisation/ merger and modernisation of 17 Government of India Presses (GIPs)/Units into five Government of India Presses (GIPs) at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Minto Road and Mayapuri, New Delhi, Nashik, Maharashtra and Temple Street, Kolkata, West Bengal,” the Union government said in a press release.

NEW DELHI

Centre exiting from three ITDC hotels NEW DELHI

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the government’s exit from three premier Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) hotels in Jaipur, Mysore and Itanagar for expected revenues of over ₹25 crore. The Cabinet gave its nod to the transfer of a 51% stake in Hotel Jaipur Ashok to the Rajasthan government, in Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel in Mysore to the Karnataka government, and in Donyi Polo Ashok in Itanagar to the Arunachal Pradesh government, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday. The disinvestment of ITDC’s 51% equity in Donyi Polo Ashok, Itanagar, in favour of the Arunachal Pradesh government, was approved. Mr. Jaitely said the valuations were at ₹14 crore for the Jaipur property, ₹7.45 crore for Mysore, and ₹3.89 crore for Itanagar.

On a day when the International Labour Organisation (ILO) released new global estimates of modern slavery, a group of over 40 activists and academics from different parts of the world have released a 25point signed statement urging India to implement labour law protections more effectively to eliminate modern slavery and forced labour in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Noting that “dominant international discourses on modern slavery do not adequately reflect the extreme exploitation and precarious nature of employment in India today”, the statement said “an undue emphasis on sensationalist accounts of modern slavery deny the widespread prevalence of economic exploitation, even now based on social customs, cultural traditions and hereditary obligations, and obfuscate the continuum between extreme and ‘everyday’ forms of such exploitation”. “A multi-pronged strategy that responds to the needs of all affected constituencies, including bonded labourers, contract workers, domestic workers, intra- and inter-State as well as international migrant workers, and sex workers is necessary in order to achieve SDG 8.7,” the statement said. Observing that “the current targets and indicators proposed by the Statistics and Programme Implementation Ministry as of March 8, 2017 for the realisation of SDG 8.7 are wholly inadequate”, the statement said “a more robust labour governance sys-

current targets < > The and indicators proposed by the Ministry are wholly inadequate tem in the form of increased inspections and better resources for the labour inspectorate is essential for the realisation of SDG 8.7”. The SDG 8.7 calls for “immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025-end child labour in all its forms.”

Collective bargaining The most effective and durable way to prevent all forms of extreme exploitation lies in the self-organisation of workers and in their efforts at collective bargaining, especially through trade unions and workers’ collectives, the statement said Expressing concern over the proposed anti-trafficking law, the academics pointed out that “the problem of trafficking can only be addressed through a multi-faceted legal and economic strategy that strengthens the implementation of labour protections such as those guaranteed by the Constitution”. Among the signatories to the statement are activists from organisations such as Aid et Action, the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women, Open Democracy, Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), and National Network of Sex Workers.

GM mustard in for a long wait Minister says decision unlikely soon as groups make arguments for and against it Jacob Koshy NEW DELHI

Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan has indicated that a decision on releasing genetically modified (GM) mustard commercially is unlikely anytime soon. “There are compelling arguments from those who support it and those against it,” he said responding to a query from The Hindu. “The government, however, will only take a decision based on common good.” Dr. Harsh Vardhan, who holds the Science portfolio, took over the Environment Ministry after the death of Anil Dave. That makes him the final government arbiter on allowing GM mustard to be made available commercially. GM mustard was developed by scientists at Delhi

Many activist groups are against GM Mustard. University and the project was part-funded by the Department of Biotechnology, a division of the Science Ministry.

‘No conflict’ Dr. Harsh Vardhan said there was “no conflict” in his position as a Science and Environment Minister. In June, he said he would

have a fresh consultation with environmental groups, scientists and farmers’ bodies before taking a call on the release of GM mustard. Multiple officials have since confirmed to The Hindu that this has not happened. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee, India’s regulator for genetically modified seeds, had on May 12 this year cleared GM mustard for environmental release and use in fields. Though it was cleared by scientists, the Minister’s approval is required. The Centre told the Supreme Court last week that it was considering various aspects and was still to take a final call on the commercial release of GM mustard. “We are looking into all reports by experts and those of the Rajya Sabha sub-com-

mittee before a final decision is taken,” said Additional Solicitor-General P.S. Narasimha, representing the Centre. A Parliamentary Standing Committee, headed by Renuka Chowdhary of the Congress, last month said that there was a paucity of studies on the impact of GM crops on human health. Should the Minister’s consent be obtained, GM mustard would be the first transgenic food crop to be allowed for commercial cultivation in India. It could pave the way for several other GM food crops in the country. Dhara Mustard Hybrid (DMH -11), the transgenic mustard in question, has been developed by a team of scientists at Delhi University under a government-funded project.

Will complete Chahbahar port fast, says Gadkari Plays down any threat to project over Trump stand on Iran Sunil Jakhar

Nitin Gadkari

played down any threat to the Indian project in Chahbahar and said, “There is no difficulty. We have finalised the order and I feel that there is no problem before the project.” He said India had historical ties with Iran and Afghanistan and after Chahbahar, the region would emerge as a growth engine for Afghanistan, India and Iran.

plete the work at Chahbahar at the earliest,” Mr. Gadkari said. His comments on IndiaIran ties came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said that the Iran nuclear deal, which opened up the Iranian economy for investment, was “embarrassing”, casting a shadow on Iran’s emerging global stature and its international partnerships. Mr. Gadkari, however,

Wide access “Not just Central Asia, even Russia can be accessed by truck through Chahbahar, and Europe too can be accessed through Russia,” he said. The Minister indicated that the port for which India and Iran signed an MoU in Tehran on May 6, 2015 would help India find a secure all-weather connection between India and the Eurasian continent.

Kallol Bhattacherjee

Cong. elds Jakhar from Gurdaspur SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT CHANDIGARH

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunil Jakhar is the party’s candidate for the October 11 by-election in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency, which fell vacant after the death of actorturned-politician Vinod Khanna in April. “Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the candidature of Sunil Jakhar,” AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said in a statement. The EC issued the notification on Sept 15. The last date for filing of nominations is Sept 22. Vote-counting will be held on October 15. CM YK

NEW DELHI

Indicating a firm commitment, India on Wednesday declared that it would intensify work on the Iranian port of Chahbahar where it was developing facilities as part of regional connectivity plans. At a press conference here, Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said that his priority was to complete the work on time, allowing India to overcome the lack of land access to Central Asia and Russia. “Chahbahar is a good opportunity for the Indian market. Top five companies of India have good presence in Iran and they are having a dialogue with their Iranian counterparts. Iranian investors are also going to benefit immensely. Our governments and investors have already started discussion to take advantage of the project. My priority is to com-

A ND-NDE

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12 WORLD

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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Sirisena seeks support for a ‘moderate’ reconciliation Says a slow, gradual process process will be fruitful Meera Srinivasan Colombo

Even as sections within Sri Lanka criticise the government for its apparently delayed efforts on post-war reconciliation, President Maithripala Sirisena has sought the international community’s support for a “slow and successful” journey. Addressing the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Mr. Sirisena said haste would not yield good results and stated that a slow and steady path is the most suitable one to restore religious and communal harmony. “We all have heard that speedy journey is a dangerous journey. Therefore, I believe that you will understand the complex nature of issues that hinder the instant and radical solutions that some impatient groups are asking for,” he said. While critics are frustrated with the government’s pace on reconciliation and accountability, Mr.

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena at the UNGA. REUTERS *

Sirisena is also facing pressure from his political rivals opposed to such efforts.

Allegations of abuse Mr. Sirisena said a huge foreign debt and allegations of rights abuses during war were two main challenges that his government faced. In addition to evolving an economic plan to service the massive outstanding debt, the government is “paying serious attention” to the allegations and is working on solutions as a matter of priority, he told the UNGA. He also urged the international community to sup-

port his government’s “moderate but steady path” to find solutions. Mr. Sirisena’s appeal to international actors for more time comes weeks after the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein urged the government to act on its commitment to establish a clear timeline and benchmarks for implementation. In March, the UN Human Rights Council had given Sri Lanka a two-year extension of deadline to fulfil its assurances on post-war reconciliation. While countries, including the U.S., have commended the Sri Lankan government for its efforts so far, human rights organisations remain critical of its pace. “Setting up various reconciliation offices and talking of progress is not the same as implementing the 2015 [Geneva] resolution,” Human Rights Watch observed recently, pointing to “scant progress” on the UN resolution.

We won’t be the rst to violate the nuclear pact, says Rouhani ‘However, Iran would respond decisively to any violation’ Reuters United Nations

Iran vowed on Wednesday not to be the first nation to violate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. U.S. President Donald Trump said he had made up his mind whether to abandon the accord but declined to disclose his decision. Speaking at the UN General Assembly of world leaders, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani responded

ELSEWHERE

forcefully to Mr. Trump’s pugnacious speech on Tuesday by saying Iran would not be pushed around by a relative newcomer to the world stage. But he also said Iran desired to preserve its accord with six world powers. “I declare before you that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not be the first country to violate the agreement,” Mr. Rouhani said, adding that Iran would respond “de-

cisively and resolutely” to a violation by any party. “It will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by ‘rogue’ newcomers to the world of politics,” he said in a dig at Mr. Trump, who had called Iran a “rogue” state. On Wednesday, U.S. envoy to the UN Nikki Haley said Mr. Trump’s speech signalled his unhappiness but not a decision to abandon the accord.

Powerful Mexican quake kills 225 The disaster came as the country was reeling from another high-intensity quake two weeks ago Reuters Mexico City

Rescue workers scrabbled through rubble as dawn broke on Wednesday, searching for dozens of children feared buried beneath a Mexico City school, among hundreds of buildings destroyed by the country’s most lethal earthquake in a generation. The magnitude 7.1 quake on Tuesday killed at least 225 people, nearly half of them in the capital, 32 years to the day after a devastating 1985 quake. The disaster came as Mexico was still reeling from a powerful tremor that killed nearly 100 people in the south of the country less than two weeks ago. Among the twisted concrete and steel ruin of the Enrique Rebsamen school, soldiers and firefighters found the bodies of at least 21 children and two adults, while another 30 children and 12 adults were missing, President Enrique Pena Nieto said. The school is for children aged 3 to 14.

Season of nature’s discontent: Rescuers, reghters, policemen, soldiers and volunteers remove debris from a attened building in Mexico City as they search for survivors. AFP

School destroyed Hundreds of emergency workers spent the night pulling rubble from the ruins of the grade school with their bare hands under the glare of floodlights. Three survivors were found at around midnight as volunteer rescue teams known as “moles” crawled deep under the rubble. The earthquake toppled dozens of buildings, tore gas mains and sparked fires across the city and other towns in central Mexico. Falling rubble and billboards crushed cars. In a live broadcast, one newsreader had time to say “this is not a drill”, before weaving his way out of the buckling studio. Parts of colonial-era churches crumbled in the state of Puebla, where the

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) put the quake’s epicentre some 158 km southwest of the capital, at a depth of 51 km. As the earth shook, Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano, visible from the capital on a clear day, had a small eruption. On its slopes, a church in Atzitzihuacan collapsed during mass, killing 15 people, Puebla Governor Jose Antonio Gali said. In Rome, Pope Francis told pilgrims he was praying for the victims, the wounded, their families and the rescue workers in the majority Catholic country. “In this moment of pain, I want to express my closeness and prayers to all the beloved Mexican people,” he said. U.S. President Donald Trump said in a tweet: “God

*

bless the people of Mexico City. We are with you and will be there for you.” Residents of Mexico City, a metropolis of some 20 million people, slept in the streets while authorities and volunteers distributed food and water at tented collection centres. Other volunteers, soldiers and firefighters formed human chains and dug with hammers and picks to find dust-covered survivors and dead bodies in the remains of apartment buildings, schools and a factory. Some volunteers in Mexico City expressed frustration at the disorganisation among military and civilian emergency services, which competed over who would lead the rescue efforts. With power out in much of the city, the work was car-

ried out with flashlights and generators. Rescue workers requested silence as they listened for signs of life. Volunteers arrived throughout the night, following calls from the civil protection agency, the Red Cross and firefighters.

11 aftershocks While the USGS said on Tuesday that 11 aftershocks were registered following the initial quake at around lunchtime on Tuesday, the most powerful measuring 4.9. The temblers were less frequent and smaller than those after the earthquake in southern Mexico this month. The quake killed 86 people in the capital by early Wednesday morning, according to Civil Protection chief Luis Felipe Puente, fewer than he had estimated

earlier. In Morelos State, just to the south, 71 people died, with hundreds of homes destroyed. In Puebla at least 43 died. Another 17 people were reported killed in the States of Mexico, Guerrero and Oaxaca. The Governor of Morelos State declared 5 days of mourning. As many as 4.6 million homes, businesses and other facilities lost electricity, according to national power company Comisiūn Federal de Electricidad, including 40% of homes in Mexico City. “We’ve re-established (power) to 90% of the areas affected by the earthquake,” Jaime Hernandez, chief executive officer of national electricity company CFE, told broadcaster Televisa early Wednesday morning.

Visits by Modi, Trump were truly historic: Netanyahu ‘UN remained the epicentre of anti-Semitism for years’

Ghani urges dialogue with Pakistan

Varghese K. George

UNITED NATIONS

New York

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani appealed on Tuesday to Pakistan to work together to curb extremists, seeing an opportunity as the U.S. sends in more troops. “I call upon Pakistan to engage with us on a comprehensive state to state dialogue on peace, security and regional cooperation leading to prosperity,” he said. AFP

Visits to Israel earlier this year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump were “two… truly historic” ones for his country, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, mentioning both in the same breath in his address to the UN General Assembly. “In July, Prime Minister Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel. You may have seen the pictures. We were on a beach in Hadera. We rode together in a jeep outfitted with a portable desalination device that some thriving Israeli entrepreneur invented. “We took off our shoes, waded into the Mediterranean and drank seawater that had been purified only a few minutes earlier. We imagined the endless possib-

$700-billion defence bill passed by Senate WASHINGTON

The U.S. Senate has overwhelmingly approved the nearly $700-billion defence spending bill for 2018, which seeks to develop a strategy for Indo-U.S. defence cooperation and asks Pakistan to take action against terror outts like the Haqqani network and the Lashkar-e-Taiba. PTI

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

ilities for Israel, India, for all humanity,” Mr. Netanyahu said. He said Mr. Trump’s decision to include Israel in his first visit abroad in May was equally historic. “President Trump stood at the Western Wall, at the foot of the Temple Mount, where the Jewish people’s temples stood for nearly a thousand years. When the President

touched those ancient stones, he touched our hearts forever,” he said. Taking potshots at the UN and its affiliated bodies for allegedly biased views on Israel, he asked: “So is there no limit to the UN’s absurdities when it comes to Israel?,” adding that the world body has been for years the “epicentre of anti-Semitism”. However, with Israel’s improving ties with many member nations, the UN is beginning to change, he said. Mr. Trump’s speech earlier in the day was a clear message in support of Israel, he added. “President Trump rightly called the nuclear deal with Iran, he called it an embarrassment. Well, I couldn’t agree with him more,” Mr. Netanyahu said, alleging that Iran was following North Korea’s path to nuclear weaponisation.

Hasina proposes ‘safe zones’ for Rohingya Criticises Myanmar for calling them ‘illegal immigrants’ and ‘Bengalis’ Haroon Habib Dhaka

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called upon members states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to take a united stand to resolve the Rohingya issue “before it is too late” and placed a set of proposals. The proposals, placed at the OIC Contact Group at the United Nations headquarters on Tuesday, included a call for an immediate end to atrocities against Rohingya Muslims, the creation of ‘safe zones’ in Myanmar for the protection of civilians and an immediate and unconditional implementation of the recommendations put forward by the Kofi Annan Commission. Stating that that the crisis has its roots in Myanmar and hence its solution also has to be found in Myanmar, she said, “We want to see an end CM YK

No man’s land: Some Rohingya refugees living in concrete pipes in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. REUTERS *

to the ‘ethnic cleansing’.” “It’s an unbearable human catastrophe. I myself have visited them and listened to the stories of their grave sufferings, particularly of women and children... We have continued our diplomatic efforts to return all the Rohingya to their homeland, but Myanmar is not responding,” she said.

She also criticised Myanmar for labelling Rohingya as “illegal migrants” and “Bengalis from Bangladesh”. She said historical records clearly suggest that the Rohingya have been living in Rakhine for centuries. “Myanmar is forcibly driving out the Rohingya Muslims through a planned and organised process. First,

they were excluded from the list of recognised ethnic groups of Myanmar. Then in 1982, they were denied their right to citizenship. Later, they were sent to IDP camps in their own country,” she said. Referring to her recent visit to the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps, she said it was reminiscent of 1971. “When the Pakistani forces burned down our houses and killed our people, around 10 million people crossed the border into India. Now they (Rohingya) are in danger and we definitely need to give them shelter.” Also, Bangladesh’s ruling 14-party alliance rejected the speech of Myanmarese leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi. The alliance’s spokesperson Mohammad Nasim said on Wednesday that it was unfortunate that Ms. Suu Kyi did not even mention the word ‘Rohingya’ in her speech. A ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

BUSINESS 13

NOIDA/DELHI

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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market watch 20-09-2017

% CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 32,401 ddddddddddddd -0.01 US Dollar dddddddddddddddddddd 64.27 ddddddddddddddd0.09 Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 30,750 ddddddddddddddd0.49 Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 56.21 ddddddddddddddd1.86

SBI Life allots shares to 69 anchor investors

NIFTY 50 PRICE CHANGE

ACC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1786.05. . . . . . -31.15 Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409.70. . . . . . . . . 2.80 Ambuja Cements. . . .. . . . . . 279.90. . . . . . . . -5.20 Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1237.30. . . . . . -16.00 Aurobindo Pharma . . . . . . 745.55. . . . . . . . -3.40 Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519.45. . . . . . . . -1.30 Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3090.55. . . . . . -24.90 Bank of Baroda . . . . . .. . . . . . 148.35. . . . . . . . . 3.80 Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 396.85. . . . . . . . . 2.05 Bosch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21823.40. . . . . . -27.65 BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494.30. . . . . . -12.60 Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569.70. . . . . . . . -3.70 Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256.55. . . . . . . . -2.00 Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 2314.70. . . . . . . 73.15 Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. 32443.50. . . . . . . 39.55 GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 417.30. . . . . . . . -3.55 HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 889.45. . . . . . . . -4.20 HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1767.15. . . . . . . 14.55 HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1848.85. . . . . . . . -0.85 Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 3856.05. . . . . . -88.20 Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244.10. . . . . . . . -2.40 Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1259.35. . . . . . -19.95 Indiabulls HFL . . . . . . . .. . . . 1310.75. . . . . . . . . 2.80 ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290.55. . . . . . . . -4.10 IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1726.40. . . . . . -20.05 Bharti Infratel . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 393.95. . . . . . . . -4.35 Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 912.70. . . . . . . . . 0.45 Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 413.95. . . . . . . . -4.35 ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271.55. . . . . . . . . 3.70 Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1023.20. . . . . . -11.15 L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1235.95. . . . . . . 10.05 Lupin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1002.25. . . . . . . . -2.95 M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1292.45. . . . . . . . -2.30 Maurti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 8120.15. . . . . . -11.55 NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167.80. . . . . . . . -1.20 ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167.70. . . . . . . . . 1.80 PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 212.90. . . . . . . . -2.95 Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 847.15. . . . . . . . . 8.55 State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270.05. . . . . . . . . 2.25 Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 505.50. . . . . . -10.30 Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 414.80. . . . . . . . -8.85 Tata Motors DVR. . . .. . . . . . 238.60. . . . . . . . -2.80 Tata Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84.00. . . . . . . . -0.60 Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687.65. . . . . . . 11.25 TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2493.55. . . . . . . . -4.70 Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 448.90. . . . . . . . . 1.15 UltraTech Cement . .. . . . 4209.65. . . . . . . 25.45 Vedanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323.25. . . . . . . . . 0.00 Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291.90. . . . . . . . . 2.65 YES Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1880.10. . . . . . . 13.60 Zee Entertainment . . . . . . 549.10. . . . . . . . . 4.00

EXCHANGE RATES Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit except yen at 4 p.m. on September 20 CURRENCY

TT BUY

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US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 64.06. . . . . . . 64.38 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 76.89. . . . . . . 77.28 British Pound . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 86.75. . . . . . . 87.19 Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 57.54. . . . . . . 57.84 Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 9.74. . . . . . . . . 9.79 Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 66.67. . . . . . . 67.01 Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 47.68. . . . . . . 47.92 Canadian Dollar . . . . . . . . .. . 52.29. . . . . . . 52.57 Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 15.29. . . . . . . 15.39 Source:Indian Bank

BULLION RATES

CHENNAI

September 20 rates in rupees with previous rates in parentheses Retail Silver (1g) . . . . . . . . . . . 42.90. . . . . (42.50) 22 ct gold (1 g) . .. . . . . . . . . . . 2,847. . . . . (2,833)

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT MUMBAI

SBI Life Insurance Company has allotted 3.18 crore equity shares aggregating to ₹2,226 crore as part of the anchor allocation. The shares were allotted at the upper end of the price band at ₹700. The anchor allocation saw participation of a total of 69 investors that included HDFC Mutual Fund, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, Government of Singapore, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Wells Fargo Emerging Markets Equity Fund, Aranda Investments Pte, Reliance Mutual Fund, Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund and Kuwait Investment Authority Fund among others. A total of 14 mutual funds applied through 49 schemes for the anchor portion.

Retail portion Meanwhile, the public issue of SBI Life, which opened on Wednesday, was subscribed 0.9 times on the first day with bids received for 83.66 lakh shares against 8.82 crore shares on offer in the price band of ₹685 to ₹700 per share. The IPO will close for subscription on Friday. At the upper end of the price band, the issue will mop up ₹8,400 crore. Post the public issue, the promoter stake will come down to 84.1% from the current 96.1%. Since 2010, SBI Life has been the country's largest private life insurer, in new business premium generated each fiscal. According to HDFC Securities, in fiscal 2016-17, the company had a market share of individual rated premium of 20.69% among private life insurers and 11.16% of the entire life insurance industry in India.

‘Cutting termination charge retrograde step’ It benets just one operator, say telcos

Ringing in unison: Top operators had pitched for doubling the mobile termination charge to recover costs. REUTERS *

SPECial Correspondent New Delhi

Terming telecom regulator TRAI’s decision to cut mobile termination charges by 57% “retrograde”, leading telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone on Wednesday said the move would benefit just one operator and would worsen the financial health of the already stressed industry. “We are extremely disappointed with the latest regulation on the IUC, especially at a time when the industry is facing severe financial stress,” the country’s largest telecom services provider Bharti Airtel said in a statement. Bharti added that the interconnect usage charges (IUC) rate of 6 paise fixed by TRAI had “been arrived at in a completely non-transparent fashion and benefits only one operator which enjoys a huge traffic asymmetry in its favour.” The sharp drop in the rate would only help transfer part of “its [the beneficiary operator’s] cost to other operators, thereby further worsening the financial health of the industry.” Commenting on the TRAI move, Vodafone said it was considering its options. “This is yet another retrograde regulatory measure that will significantly benefit the new entrant alone while adversely affecting the rest CM YK

of the industry as a whole,” it said in a statement. Unless mitigated, the decision would have serious consequences for investment in rural coverage, undermining the government’s vision of Digital India, Vodafone added. Separately, Reliance Jio said, “There is no question of any advantage from the new IUC regulation to Jio as it has already passed on all the benefits to customers.”

‘Level playing field’ Reliance Communications also welcomed the move. “With voice calling becoming free, TRAI’s move will provide a level playing field,” it said in a statement. While the top operators had pitched for doubling mobile termination charges (payable by the operator whose subscriber makes a call to the operator whose subscriber receives the call) “to recover their cost,” the newer rival had suggested zero charges and shifting to the bill-and-keep regime. Asked about the impact the move may have on the stressed telecom sector, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, “I have not had the benefit of reading the full reasoning, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment... It is for the concerned players to explore whatever remedies are there for them.” A ND-NDE

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14 BUSINESS

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Tata Steel set for Europe venture with Thyssenkrupp Non-cash transaction would create Europe’s No. 2 steelmaker generating pro forma sales of about €15 billion a year with some 48,000 employees Vidya Ram London

Car sales in India to grow 9% in 2017: Moody’s NEW DELHI

Car sales in India are expected to grow by 9% this year riding on the back of the goods and services tax (GST) regime as well as new product roll-out, Moody’s Investors Service said on Wednesday. “Indian car sales will remain robust, growing 9% this year and 7% in 2018, supported by the impact of GST as well as new model launches,” Moody’s said in a global report. PTI

Final hearing of India tax row in Aug. 2018: Cairn NEW DELHI

British oil explorer Cairn Energy on Wednesday said the nal hearing in the international arbitration it has initiated against a ₹10,247 crore retrospective tax demand raised by India had been pushed back by about six months to August 2018. Cairn initiated arbitration against the Centre — which used a new law to slap the demand — on a decade-old internal reorganisation of the company’s India unit. PTI

No GST on rms ceding foodgrain brand claims NEW DELHI

The government on Wednesday claried that those rms that voluntarily gave up their rights and actionable claims over a brand of foodgrain would be exempt from the 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST) payable on branded foodgrain. The GST Council had earlier decided on a 5% tax on cereals, pulses, and ours put up in unit containers and bearing a registered brand name.

Tata Steel is set to forge ahead with a long-awaited merger of its European assets with Germany’s Thyssenkrupp AG after the firms signed a memorandum of understanding to create an equal joint venture. The move — the path for which had been eased after Tata Steel reached agreement with U.K. authorities to reduce its U.K. pension scheme liabilities — ends months of uncertainty over the fate of a potential transaction and underlines the significance of the development to the two companies as they chart the difficult waters of Europe’s steel market, including overcapacity and cheap competition from abroad. The merger, if it goes through, would create Europe’s largest steel company after top-ranked ArcelorMittal.

Non-cash transaction The company — created by the non-cash transaction — would generate pro forma sales of about €15 billion a year, with about 48,000 employees across 34 locations. The companies estimate the merger would generate up to €600 million in synergies a year through the integration of research and development, and commercial functions, and optimisation of

Divi’s unit gets remarks after recent FDA visit Prior observations resolved, says rm Special Correspondent HYDERABAD

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has made six observations after an inspection of Divi’s Laboratories’ Unit-2 in Visakhapatnam. On completion of the inspection, which the U.S. regulator had conducted between September 11 and 19, the pharma company received a Form 483 citing six observations. The observations are “procedural and the company will be responding to these within the stipulated time,” Divi’s Laboratories said in a filing to the stock exchanges on Wednesday.

competition authorities. Production at the joint venture would be subject to review in 2020, generating further synergies, which would be determined by a number of currently indeterminable factors such as Brexit and the regulatory environment at the time.

“Today’s announcement marks the latest step in building a future for Tata Steel’s activities in Europe which is sustainable in every sense,” Tata Steel Europe Chairman Andrew Robb said on Wednesday, following the signing of the MoU for the 50:50 venture. To be named Thyssenkrupp Tata Steel, the merged entity would annually supply about 21 million tonnes of flat steel products worldwide.

This inspection was for “full cGMP and verification of all corrective actions proposed against the previous inspection observations. Divi’s Laboratories announces that all previous observations have been confirmed as completed and resolved,” the company said. The USFDA had issued an import alert, under clauses 99-32 and 66-40, in March this year and a warning letter in May for the Visakhapatnam facility. In July, the company had said the regulator had informed it that the import alert, under clauses 99-32, would be lifted. Divi’s shares rose 9.13% to ₹942.75 on Wednesday.

Forging ahead: The merged entity would supply about 21 million tonnes of at steel products worldwide annually.

procurement and logistics. Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp anticipate concluding the deal in 2018, and closing it by the end of that year, following a period where fur-

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AP

ther detailed negotiations take place on the shape of the final agreement. The transaction would also be subject to shareholders’ approval and the scrutiny of

Mahindra eyes farm mechanisation market in the European nation, where tractor sales total $1.7 bn paid by them, top M&M officials said. M&M would fund the acquisition through internal accruals, they added. The deal, which follows the Hisarlar acquisition earlier this year in Turkey, would help M&M expand its farm equipment business in that country, a strategic market for farm equipment globally, the firm said.

Lalatendu Mishra MUMBAI

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) has signed a definitive agreement with Turkey’s Armagan family for acquiring 100% of Erkunt Traktor Sanayii A.S., the fourthlargest tractor manufacturer in Turkey. M&M, the global tractor industry’s number one maker by volume and fifthlargest in terms of revenue, also agreed to acquire 80%100% equity in Erkunt Sanayii A.S, a foundry unit belonging to the same Turkish group. While the tractor firm has an enterprise value of $76 million (₹479 crore), the foundry unit’s value has been estimated at $51 million

Spreading tentacles: Erkunt will export tractors to neighbouring markets of West Asia, CIS and Europe. (₹321 crore). The final transaction value would be estimated at the close of the deal, expected in about two and

₹450 crore facility in Sanand to open by end of year; juice industry seeing explosive growth, says CEO “Aerated and carbonates are actually growing,” Ms. Ruggiero said. “It is an interesting thing because aerated and carbonated from an industry standpoint is growing. It has grown about 5% in India. It accounts for 60-65% of our business. Our aspiration is to have double-digit growth. Prior to my coming in July, we were having a single-digit growth. After July, we are seeing double digit growth.”

Special Correspondent

Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, the largest bottling partner of the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company, plans to open its ₹450-crore facility in Sanand in Gujarat by January as it tests more than 20 new products made locally in a bid to make India among its top three global markets, Christina Ruggiero, CEO, said on Wednesday. “We will be kicking off shortly our next new greenfield facility in Sanand in Gujarat in the last week of December or first week of January,” Ms. Ruggiero told correspondents in Bengaluru, where its corporate headquarters is situated. “The phase I of the project is estimated to cost about ₹450 crore. It will have lots of green initiatives, automation and robotics involved.” It will have multiple bottling lines for carbonated beverages such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Limca, Thumbs Up, juices and juice-

Ideas abound: Christina Ruggiero has a ‘fantasy list’ of 220 products across all regions and avours. K. MURALI KUMAR *

based drinks like Minute Maid, Mazza, and, bottled water and Kinley soda. According to Euromonitor International, increasing health awareness among consumers and their preference for health and wellness products are the likely reasons for strong growth expected in juices. Carbonates, both cola and non-cola carbonates, were likely to see

ONGC discovers oil in Arabian sea

sustained slowdowns in volume growth rates, according to an April report. India’s food industry is estimated at ₹14,500 crore. The non-alcoholic beverages market is worth about $5 billion, according to Indian Beverages Association. The health beverages market is $300 million and is the fastest growing. The fruit drinks market is ₹6,000 crore.

‘Local products work’ “In India, local works. Different customers need different products. Hopefully, the next will be mosambi (sweet lime). Juice industry in India is seeing explosive growth as more Indians are switching from fresh to packaged juice. More Indians are entering the non-alcoholic, ready-todrink segment,”she said. “We will be pushing the existing factories to see how to make new juices, carbonated drinks and new products.”

“We currently have a pilot project running in Bengaluru called Perfect Fruit. It is just 25 machines and we are doing a test to see how it goes. Local fruits we buy to make our juices go in to a machine and is turned into frozen fruit. No sugars but just the fruit.” If it works, the company will introduce a combination of local fruits in other markets, she said. “I have a pipeline or ‘fantasy list’ of 220 products across all regions and flavours. Only a small percentage of it may work. Typically, 5% of these ideas may work,” Ms. Ruggiero said. “Out of these 220 products already 20 are in various stages...they are in different parts of India.” Part of the reason why Coca-Cola did not succeed much in India was that it did not have the right product at the right price point, she said. “First half of the financial year we struggled,” Ms. Ruggiero said without elaborating.

Press Trust of India New Delhi

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) has made a significant oil discovery to the west of its prime Mumbai High fields in the Arabian sea, a senior official said on Wednesday. The discovery in the well WO-24-3 is estimated to hold an in-place reserve of about 20 million tonnes, he said. Mumbai High, India’s biggest oil field, currently produces 205,000 barrels of oil per day ( just over 10 million tonnes per annum) and the new find would add to that production in less than two years time. “In all, nine objects or zones were tested and all CM YK

of them were found to be hydrocarbon bearing. The last object tested flowed 3,300 barrels of oil,” he said.

Further appraisal ONGC is carrying out a further appraisal of the discovery and has intimated upstream regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons. “This is a mid-sized discovery but a significant one,” the official said. The new find, which comes almost 50 years after ONGC began production in Mumbai High, will help the company maintain production levels from the basin for a longer time than currently estimated.

half months. The Turkish companies have some debt which would continue and would be re-

Expects to double rental revenue to ₹200 crore by 2022 N. Anand CHENNAI

Following a slump in real estate business, realty major Olympia Group has started monetising some of its excess assets in Chennai to develop ecosystems to promote occupancy of residential homes, a top executive said. “We are building three schools, co-living apartments, luxury and high-end villas,” said Ajit Kumar Chordia, managing director, Olympia Group. “Building schools in residential areas will attract new admissions, which, in turn, will increase our occupancy rate. We are trying to get some rental from these properties, which we were unable to sell.” Admitting that there was no land bank or new project, he said: “We had acquired these lands some 10 years ago. Two new IT parks in Guindy (Tecknos and Na-

Imports by competitors Sri Lanka and China increase; Darjeeling impact muted scenario — China, Sri Lanka and Egypt. An erstwhile green-tea consumer and producer, China has, of late, taken to black tea production, of which there is increased demand from the youth segment. Sri Lanka has increased imports of Indian tea for blending, it was learnt.

KOLKATA

Notwithstanding the loss of exports on account of the prolonged closure of the Darjeeling tea estates, India’s tea exports have increased 4.6% by volume in the first seven months of 2017, statistics showed. Interestingly, two countries where Indian teas made major inroads were China and Sri Lanka — among India’s top rivals in the global tea arena. Exports increased 150% to the island nation and by 71% to China according to Tea Board statistics. “We hope to maintain the trend,” S. Soundararajan, secretary at the Board told The Hindu. Total exports stood at 121.1 million kg in January-July 2017, against 115.8 million kg a year earlier. India exported 227 million kg last year. The more than 90-day closure of the Darjeeling tea

Tasting success: Egypt, a traditional market for Indian teas has almost doubled its imports in the period. industry by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which is demanding a separate state, has harmed the interests of the premium and speciality teas but has not hampered India’s overall tea exports, either by volume or by value. Darjeeling produces about 8 million kg annually, of which about 6 million kg

is exported. Production between January and June, in the 87 tea estates in Darjeeling halved from 4.1 million kg a year earlier to 2.1 million kg. No export figures are available, but exporters are facing order cancellations, enquiries revealed. Three countries have played a prominent role in the current year’s export

‘Eyes exports’ Erkunt would export tractors to the neighbouring markets of West Asia, CIS and Europe. The Ankara-based company, which currently has a 6% share of Turkey’s $1.7 billion tractor market, is expected to gain business after the acquisition, M&M officials said.

“Our strategy is to globalise aggressively and also expand our portfolio to include various new categories of tractors and farm machinery,” Pawan Goenka, MD, M&M, said while announcing the deal. This is the company’s fifth acquisition in the farm equipment space. “Turkey is a very important market in our globalisation journey and we wish to participate in its entire agri mechanisation landscape,” he said. M&M will retain Erkunt’s brand. The Turkish firm, which sold 4,700 tractors worth $88 million last year, has 353 employees. The foundry, a service provider from castings to machining, had revenue of $47 million.

Olympia Group starts monetising excess assets

Jan.-July tea export volumes rise 4.6% Indrani Dutta

Find estimated at 20 million tonnes

Cautious welcome Britain’s Unite, GMB and Community Unions cautiously welcomed the MoU. In a joint statement, they said the deal delivered “industrial logic… as always, the devil will be in the detail and we are seeking further assurances on jobs, investment and future production across the UK operations.” The unions said they were seeking an urgent meeting with Tata

Steel to ensure Thyssenkrupp’s pension liabilities would be ring fenced. European steel makers have been opting for consolidation to combat the persistent challenges facing the industry including overcapacity and pricing, particularly amid competition from China and beyond. Earlier this year, an Arcelor Mittal-led consortium bid for Ilva, a large Italian nationalised steel plant. The development marks a turnaround from last March when Tata Steel announced it was looking for a buyer for its U.K. steel business. Months later the company confirmed it was in talks with Thyssenkrupp over the merger of assets. In August, Tata Steel U.K. got the go ahead to separate its £15 billion pension scheme from the business, in a deal that cost the company £550 million and a 33% equity stake.

M&M to buy Turkey’s Erkunt Traktor, foundry

Hindustan Coca-Cola testing 20 local products BIDADI, Bengaluru

Job reductions For now, up to 2,000 jobs in administration and 2,000 jobs in production are expected to be cut as a result of the deal — split equally between the two companies — though Thyssenkrupp insisted that the cuts would have been necessary even without the deal, and could have been worse. “By combining our steel activities the burden for each partner are lower than they would have been on a standalone basis,” said Heinrich Hiesinger, CEO of ThyssenKrupp, pointing to the pres-

sures on the industry from “structural overcapacity in supply and constantly high import pressure.” He added that the companies had a complementary fit: with Thyssenkrupp’s strength in working with original equipment manufacturers and Tata Steel’s in its work with industrial customers, while restructuring carried out by both had created some of the most efficient facilities in Europe.

Egypt’s imports rise Egypt, a traditional market for Indian teas has almost doubled its imports in the period. India has also seen a rise in exports to Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Taken with Russia, the CIS region is India’s single-largest block for tea exports. The Tea Board has facilitated several international expositions and delegations this year. While there was a delegation to Moscow this month, there were two delegations to the U.S. and to Chile in June.

Ajit Kumar Chordia

tional Tower) will be ready by October 2017 and March 2018 respectively. The total constructed area is about 2 lakh sq.ft and the investment is about ₹82 crore.”

Luxury projects Mr. Chordia, also the president of CREDAI Tamil Nadu, said the real estate market had been flat for 12 months. But there had been some moments in the luxury projects in the last six months, post demonetisation. “Gen-

eral buyers are coming back. Expensive houses are selling, while sale of premium apartments is static. There is a marginal increase in prices of raw materials due to implementation of GST. It might be a 6% increase for customers,” he said. As per the proposed plan, Olympia Group will be investing close to ₹90 crore on co-living apartments, ₹50 crore for villas, ₹36 crore on industrial warehouse and ₹100 crore for three schools, including land. This calls for an investment of ₹350 crore, which will be met mainly through bank finance. “Last year, we earned a rental revenue of ₹97 crore from Olympia Tech Park and this year, it should touch ₹100 crore. Our goal is to double it by March 2022. We expect the rentals from new segments such as schools, and co-living to be about ₹22 crore,” he said.

‘Peer-to-peer lending platforms are NBFCs’ RBI to regulate P2Ps henceforth Press Trust of India New Delhi

Peer-to-peer lending (P2P) platforms will be treated as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and thus regulated by the RBI, the central bank said. P2P lending is a form of crowd-funding used to raise loans which are paid back with interest. It can be defined as the use of an online platform that matches lenders with borrowers in order to provide unsecured loans. “The Reserve Bank of India...specifies a non-banking institution that carries on ‘the business of a peer to peer lending platform’ to be an NBFC,” the RBI said in a notification. As per the RBI, the business of a P2P lending platform is defined as the ser-

RBI had oated a consultation paper in 2016 on such lending platforms. vice of loan facilitation, via online medium or otherwise, to “the participants who have entered into an arrangement with that platform to lend on it or to avail of loan facilitation services provided by it.” The RBI had floated a consultation paper in April 2016 on such lending platforms. A ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

SPORT 15

NOIDA/DELHI

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TV PICKS India vs Australia: 2nd ODI, STAR Sports 1 (SD & HD), 1.30 p.m. England vs West Indies: 2nd ODI, SS Select 2 (SD & HD), 5 p.m. Premier Futsal: Sony TEN 1, 3 (SD & HD), 7.30 p.m. & 9 p.m.

IN BRIEF

India to play three Test in SA JOHANNESBURG

India will play three Tests in South Africa this season, the boards of both countries announced on Wednesday. The first will start in Cape Town on January 5 while details of the remaining two as well as six ODIs and three T20Is will be announced later. “The time constraints faced by India have forced us to reduce the Test matches to three while increasing whiteball cricket to six ODIs and three T20I matches,” said Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat. AFP

Time Aussies repaired faultlines and regrouped India will look to keep its A-game going and extend the advantage; weather a big part of the equation again Amitabha Das Sharma KOLKATA

The five-time World champion Australia seemed to be caught in a curious bind as it prepared to meet host India in the second ODI of the bilateral series, at Eden Gardens on Thursday. Capricious weather conditions, more than a supercilious opposition, appeared to be keeping the visitor preoccupied ahead of the match as rain caused persistent interruptions to its schedule ever since it arrived here on Monday. There is more forecast on match day. The Australians, definitely one of the most professional sides in the sport, betrayed a hint of resentment having had to miss the opportunity to warm up on the Eden turf which has remained under cover for three successive days.

Little consolation They needed some practice to reorganise themselves for a winning return against a

strong Indian side, but two days of restricted training at the indoor facility hardly offered the visitors enough consolation. The Australian captain Steve Smith had a view of the pitch once the groundsmen briefly lifted the covers at the centre and was evidently mystified at the discovery of a decent grass cover on it. “The wicket had a little bit of grass on it; probably more than I have seen in India for a while,” Smith said. The Australian captain may have been enthused at the prospect of being provided a grassy strip and the the advantage it will offer to his pacers like Pat Cummins and Nathan CoulterNile. “They might cut it (grass) in the morning (of the match). I will have another look tomorrow and see how the weather is doing; and also, if there is any change in the wicket,” said Smith who had every reason to be circumspect.

The depth in India’s batting order and the good form of its two wrist spinners — left-armer Kuldeep Yadav and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal — combined well to hand Australia a defeat in the rain-curtailed match in Chennai.

Topic of strategy The wrist spin has already become a topic of strategic importance to the visitors as a few of their batsmen are finding it difficult to negotiate. On of them is David Warner who has repeatedly become a victim to the guile of Kuldeep. “I guess he takes pressure while batting against me and I enjoy bowling to him. I always feel that I would get him out and set my plans accordingly,” said Kuldeep who has got the gutsy opener out repeatedly. Backed by good form and a streak of successful outings (the last seven ODIs), India definitely has the confidence on its side.

The resilience in the team was to the fore as it went on to construct a big total even after losing five wickets for 87 in the first ODI through the experienced M.S. Dhoni and mercurial Hardik Pandya. It now remains to be seen how India continues its good run at this venue which had seen the host lose to England in January this year. The teams (from): India: Virat Kohli (capt.), Rohit Sharma, K.L. Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, M.S. Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja. Australia: Steve Smith (capt.), Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, James Faulkner, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner, Adam Zampa and Peter Handscomb.

Smooth shooters: The Indians will have reasons to smile as long as they manage to keep the Aussies from demystifying the wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal, middle, and Kuldeep Yadav, right. K.R. DEEPAK

Match starts at 1.30 p.m.

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Smith hopes for a turnaround at Eden The second ODI of the series will be the 100th match of his career Special Correspondent

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KOLKATA

Smith’s ODI numbers

On the eve of the second ODI against India here, Steve Smith shrugged off questions about the quality of his captaincy, saying he was focussed on getting his team back on the winning track. “I don’t think I am in a bad place with my captaincy. Obviously, the results have not been the way we’d have liked for a little while, and that’s something we are trying to rectify,” Smith said on Wednesday. “We had a disappointing start to the series the other day but we will try and turn the game around tomorrow.”

Kraigg Brathwaite’s action cleared by ICC DUBAI

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday cleared the bowling action of West Indies off- spinner Kraigg Brathwaite, who had been reported last month. An independent assessment of Brathwaite’s bowling action was performed at the Loughborough testing centre in England on August 31. PTI

Draws push semifinals to tie-breakers TBILISI

Contrasting draws in the second game on Wednesday pushed both semifinals of the chess World Cup to Thursday’s tie-break battles. If Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian drew in just 19 moves, Ding Liren and Wesley So battled until only the kings were left on the board in their 58-move battle. The results (semifinals, game two): Ding Liren (Chn, 1) drew with Wesley So (USA, 1); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 1) drew with Levon Aronian (Arm, 1).

Under scrutiny: Steve Smith attributes the defeat at Chennai not to his side’s weakness against wrist spin but to his batsmen not getting enough of a look at the bowlers. PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK *

G. Viswanath

MIAMI

Jake LaMotta, the brutish former middleweight champion whose life in and out of the ring was depicted in the film Raging Bull,for which Robert DeNiro won an Oscar, has died, his fiancee said on Wednesday. He was 95. The ‘Bronx Bull’ compiled an 83-19-4 record with 30 KOs in a career stretching from 1941 to 1954. AGENCIES

It appears that not all in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are convinced about the actingpresident C.K. Khanna establishing an office in New Delhi. On Monday, the BCCI CFO’s office, based at the Cricket Centre here, sent a mail to acting-secretary Amitabh Choudhary seeking his approval for Khanna’s office expenses for the months of June, July and August. The amount is ₹11,25,745. Khanna’s office has claimed an expense of ₹1,11,806 for June, ₹5,54,840 for July and

₹4,59,099 for August and the particular mail is also addressed to the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri.

Expenses not approved The Ranchi-based Choudhary has not approved the expenses, so far. Instead, in his reply addressed to the BCCI CFO Rangnekar, Johri, his officebearer colleagues including Khanna and Anirudh Chaudhry (treasurer), the acting-secretary has remarked: “What purpose is the office serving? Let us do an audit.” The BCCI office in Delhi was used by former president Anurag Thakur. The office was closed once

Ground sta toil in vain to get the match started Vijay Lokapally KANPUR

CM YK

B

Runs: 3,188

B

Average: 43.67

B

50s/100s: 17/8

B

Highest: 164 (v New Zealand, 2016)

B

Wickets: 27

B

Bowling average: 34.48

B

Best bowling: 3 for 16

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“It is certainly something to think about. We will turn up tomorrow and expect to be playing 50 overs. If things change from there, then we have to adapt and do what needs to be done. “We were not good enough in the 21 overs in the last game and that is something we got to do lot better,” Smith said. The Australian captain sought to dispel the notion that his batsmen are unable

The ground sta at the Green Park, from left, Ravi Shukla, Haji Asad, Bhupendra Singh Chauhan and Shiv Kumar, came in for praise from India Green captain Parthiv Patel. VIJAY LOKAPALLY *

for the final because only a victory can take India Green past India Blue, which has three points to its credit from the draw against finalist India Red.

Led by Shiv Kumar and his trusted colleagues Ravi Shukla, Haji Asad and Bhupendra Singh Chauhan, the ground staff galvanised itself into drying the field but

bowed to nature. “We tried our best,” said Shiv Kumar. “Our aim first was to restrict water logging and ensure that the field can be fit to play tomorrow if it doesn’t rain further.” The ground-staff had done a wonderful job a day ahead of the match on Monday when it had rained for a much longer period. Thanks to their work there was a full day’s play possible on Tuesday. With better drainage facility, the Green Park could have seen some play on Wednesday. India Blue skipper Suresh Raina had slammed the local association for its tardy response to a similar situation in the last match. But even he would have appreciated the hard working ground staff this afternoon.

Special Correspondent KOLKATA

The Australians are speaking about the lethal effect of wrist spin. One of the men who are making the visitors say about this art of spin bowling is the 22-year-old left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav. “Conventional spinners have only one or two variations but wrist spinners have the quality to deceive the batsmen. There are more options to take wickets,” Kuldeep said.

Defensive side “Wrist spinners offer the attacking option to the captain. But I am also learning to work the ball the other way and add a defensive side to my bowling,” he said when asked how he would like to be more versatile. Kuldeep said he is enjoying the combination with leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal who is the other wrist spinner in the side. “It

is a good experience to have two wrist spinners in the team, both are of attacking type and the chances of taking wickets are more.” The young spinner felt that success brings greater expectations and responsibility, especially in the absence of the experienced spinners of the team like R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. “There are already of lot of expectations. There are lot of things to learn and I hope our partnership will keep maturing with every series,” he added. While saying that he relishes bowling against the Australian opener David Warner as the latter comes ‘under pressure’ playing him, Kuldeep appreciated the Australian captain Steve Smith’s technical ability. “He (Smith) is the toughest to bowl to in the Australian line-up. He is a good reader of spin and knows how to work the singles,” he said.

Bairstow powers England home

the Supreme Court removed him by its order of January 2, 2017. “Most of the BCCI agreements and contracts were signed in Delhi then. But since the BCCI’s head office is in Mumbai, we have to pay taxes and levies to the Maharashtra Government. “Now all agreements are signed in Mumbai. So what’s the need for an office in Delhi,” asked a BCCI official, keenly watching all action related to BCCI’s responses to the Lodha Committee recommendations. Johri, though, has put a remark: “Approved as recommended.”

Duleep Trophy — second day washed out Overcast skies and persistent rain put paid to the second day’s play in the Duleep Trophy match at the Green Park here. India Green was to resume at 100 for three in reply to India Blue’s first innings total of 177. As the 40-strong ground staff, who rarely get credit, toiled vainly to get the game going, the players watched the action from the dressing room. A tweet from India Green captain Parthiv Patel put things in perspective. “U have to give it to the groundsmen here in Kanpur..they are trying their best but unfortunately one can’t fight with nature,” said Parthiv in a sporting tweet. Loss of play hurts his team’s chances of qualifying

Matches: 99

BCCI secretary seeks audit in president’s Delhi oce Mumbai

‘Raging Bull’ Jake LaMotta passes away

Need to adapt Coming off the defeat at Chennai, Australian captain said the unpredictable weather was making team selection difficult, and expressed hope that the team would adapt better to a rainhit game this time around, should the need arise.

B

to tackle the Indian wristspinners, attributing the defeat in Chennai to the rain interruption. “The other day, it was more like a T20 for us. I think, in 50 overs we get a lot longer to see the bowlers and knock them to the men in the outfield, and get an opportunity to balance things,” he said. For Smith, the match here will be a personal milestone; it will be his 100th ODI. “I think I have evolved a lot as a white ball player. When I started playing ODI cricket, I played more as a bowler in the first 30 odd games,” he said. “I have been batting at No. 3 for a while now. I had to find the right tempo — whether it is hitting it deep or knowing the right time to hit a boundary.” He picked the 105 he made against India in the 2015 World Cup semifinal at Sydney as his most memorable innings.

‘Wrist spinners oer attacking option’

Agence France-Presse Manchester

England opener Jonny Bairstow’s maiden One-Day International century ensured West Indies suffered a seven-wicket defeat at Old Trafford on Tuesday that meant it could no longer gain direct entry into the

SCOREBOARD

2019 World Cup. Sri Lanka thus has become the eighth and last team to earn a direct qualification for the World Cup. West Indies cannot move ahead of Sri Lanka (86 points) by September 30, the cut off mark for direct entry.

ENGLAND VS WEST INDIES, 1ST ODI

West Indies: 204 for nine wkts. in 42 overs. England: J. Bairstow (not out) 100, A. Hales c Lewis b Taylor 19, J. Root b Williams 54, E. Morgan c Hope b Williams 10, B. Stokes (not out) 23; Extras (w-4) 4; Total (for three wkts. in 30.5 overs): 210. Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-156, 3-175.

West Indies bowling: Taylor 70-46-1, Holder 3-0-18-0, Williams 6-0-50-2, Nurse 8.5-048-0, Bishoo 6-0-48-0. Toss: West Indies Man-of-the-Match: Bairstow

Jonny

(England won by seven wickets; leads five-match series 1-0).

Warriors tame Singhams SPORTS BUREAU BENGALURU

A brace each from Carlos Corvo Gonzalves and Rico Zulkarnain led Mumbai Warriors to a 5-3 win over Chennai Singhams on day two of Premier Futsal here. Ronaldinho and Jonathan Silva scored hat-tricks as Delhi Dragons drew 5-5 with Bengaluru Royals. The results: Chennai Singhams 3 (Hernan Crespo 1, Mico Nunes Monteiro 16, Douglas Ferreira 32) lost to Mumbai Warriors 5 (Carlos Corvo Gonzalves 5 & 8, Rico Zulkarnain 17 & 39, Ryan Giggs 21). Delhi Dragons 5 (Ronaldinho 25, 36 & 38, Henrique Catarino 32, Nicolas Rolon 39) drew with Bengaluru Royals 5 (Petterson Medeiros 11 & 16, Jonathan Silva 17, 24 & 31). A ND-NDE

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16 SPORT

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Sindhu, Saina advance The former meets Okuhara while the latter takes on Marin

SAN FRANCISCO

Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant apologised on Tuesday for exchanges with fans on Twitter about his departure from Oklahoma City Thunder, branding his comments “childish” and “idiotic.” “He didn’t like the organisation or playing for Billy Donovan,” Durant wrote in the third person. “His roster wasn’t that good, it was just him and Russ (Russell Westbrook).” AFP

Injured Neuer out till January BERLIN

Bayern Munich predicts its Germany goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer will be out until January after he underwent another operation on Tuesday after again fracturing his left foot. “Survived the first shock and the operation, thanks for the many recovery wishes,” he wrote on Twitter with a picture of him in a hospital bed and his left foot in a protective cast. AFP

Benzema extends Real contract to 2021 MADRID

Karim Benzema became the latest Real Madrid star to sign a new bumper four-year contract with the European champion to 2021, the club announced on Wednesday. Coach Zinedine Zidane’s renewal is also imminent after the Frenchman repeated on Tuesday that his deal is “done”. AFP

AFC U-16 Qualifier: India blanks Palestine NEW DELHI

India rode on a stirring second half show to blank Palestine 3-0 in the AFC U-16 Championship 2018 Qualifiers at the Halchowk Stadium in Kathmandu on Wednesday. The result: India 3 (Givson 51, Bekey 72, Vikram 79) bt Palestine 0. PTI

CCFC’s Nandha joins Dynamos on loan CHENNAI

I-League club Chennai City FC on Tuesday announced that its winger S. Nandha Kumar has joined Delhi Dynamos on loan for the upcoming ISL season.

Gold for Ajay ASHGABAT (TURKMENISTAN)

Ajay Kumar Saroj won the men’s 1,500m gold in the fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games here on Wednesday evening. He clocked 3:48.67s. Arpinder Singh won the men’s triple jump with an effort of 16.21m. In track cycling, Deborah Herold won a silver in women’s 200m individual sprint race. Dutee Chand finished fourth in the women’s 60m in 7.44s while Amoj Jacob was fifth in men’s 400m in 47.33s on Tuesday. Other results: Tennis: Second round: Men: Sumit Nagal bt Palaphoom Kovapitukted (Tha) 6-0, 6-1. Women: Riya Bhatia bt Steffi Carruthers (Sam) 6-4, 6-2.

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI

Coimbatore

It is back to square one at the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA). By rejecting most of the Lodha Committee recommendations in the elections at the Extraordinary General Meeting held on Sept. 15, the recalcitrant members of the association have risked possible disaffiliation of the DDCA from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The DDCA has seen two court-appointed administrators — Justice (Retd.) Mukul Mudgal and Justice (Retd.) Justice Sen, the latter now saddled with the unenviable task of cleansing the system. Having accepted the responsibility, Justice Sen has been gallantly involved in blunting the hold of some

Clement Larriere beat third seed Yurii Dzhavakian 7-6(8), 6-3 in the second round of the $15,000 LMW-ITF Futures tennis tournament here on Wednesday. Fifth seed Cameron Silverman rallied to oust Kaza Vinayak Sharma 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Press Trust of India TOKYO

P.V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and K. Srikanth advanced to the second round of the Japan Open Super Series badminton on Wednesday. Sindhu edged past Minatsu Mitani 12-21, 21-15, 21-17 to set up a second-round face off with World champion Nozomi Okuhara. Saina beat Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-17, 21-9 and will next take on Olympic champ Carolina Marin. Srikanth overcame Tian Houwei 21-15, 12-21, 21-11. Other results: Men: H.S. Prannoy bt Anders Antonsen (Den) 21-12, 21-14; Sameer Verma bt Khosit Phetpradab (Tha) 21-12, 21-19; Lin Dan (Chn) bt Sourabh Verma 11-21, 21-15, 21-13; Lee Dong Keun (Kor) bt B. Sai Praneeth 21-23, 21-17, 21-14. Doubles: Marcus Fernaldi Gideon & Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Ina) bt Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty 2725, 21-15; Lee Jhe-Huei & Lee Yang (Tpe) bt Manu Attri & B. Sumeeth Reddy 21-18, 21-15. Women: Chang Ye Na & Lee So Hee (Kor) bt Ashwini Ponnappa & N. Sikki Reddy 21-17, 21-12. Mixed doubles: R. Satwiksairaj & Ashwini bt Tinn Isriyanet & Pacharapun Chochuwong (Tha) 21-17, 21-13.

DDCA faces disaliation

The results: Second round: Cameron Silverman (USA) bt Kaza Vinayak Sharma 5-7, 6-4, 6-2; Aryan Goveas bt Faisal Qamar 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-4; Arjun Kadhe bt Mohit Mayur 6-2, 6-2; Clement Larriere (Fra) bt Yurii Dzhavakian (Ukr) 7-6(8), 6-3; Sasi Kumar Mukund bt Nitin Kumar Sinha 6-3, 7-5; Colin van Beem (Ned) bt Tejas Chaukulkar 7-5, 3-6, 6-4; JuiChen Hung (Tpe) bt Manish Suresh Kumar 4-6, 6-2, 6-2; Cing-Yang Meng (Tpe) bt Yu Hsiang Chiu (Tpe) 7-5, 6-2. Doubles: Quarterfinals: Mohit Mayur & Vinayak Sharma bt Fahad Mohammed & Rishabdev Raman 6-3, 6-2; Arjun Kadhe & Sasi Kumar Mukund bt Yurii Dzhavakian (Ukr) & Colin van Beem (Ned) 2-6, 7-6 (5) [10-7]; Anirudh Chandrasekhar & Vignesh Peranamallur bt Dhakshineswar Suresh & Kunal Vazirani 4-6, 7-6(5), [10-7]; Chandril Sood & Lakshit Sood bt Nitin Kumar Sinha & Haadin Bava 7-6(1), 4-6, [11-9].

Good start: K. Srikanth dished out a superlative performance to overcome China’s Tian Houwei. AFP *

₹1,756 crore for revised ‘Khelo India’ 20 universities to be nominated as hubs of sporting excellence Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a total budget of ₹1,756 crore for the next three years for the revised project of ‘Khelo India’, which would aim to combine ‘sports for all’ and ‘sports for excellence’. As part of the drive, every

year 1,000 talented youngsters, in specific sports disciplines, would be identified and given a financial support of ₹5 lakh each per year, for eight consecutive years. In a release issued here on Wednesday, the Union Government stressed that 20 universities across the country would be nominated as hubs of sporting excellence,

and help the students pursue both education and competitive sports simultaneously. The programme aims to cover about 20 crore individuals between 10 to 18 in a national physical fitness drive and support them suitably to achieve the target. The attempt would also be to tune the standard of

competition at the school and colleges level, and help the interested students gain access to competitive sports. Technology would be put to maximum use for sports promotion through mobile apps and interactive websites towards achieving maximum utilisation of sports infrastructure, among other things.

1

S. HAJEE MEMORIAL PLATE (Div. II), (1,400m), rated 00 to 25, 2-00 pm: 1. A Crown (10) S. John 60, 2. Mystical Shadow (2) Kiran Rai 59.5, 3. Calico Star (3) Arshad Alam 57, 4. High Voltage (5) Nazerul Alam 57, 5. Now U Know (9) D. Patel 57, 6. Senator (8) R. Manish 56.5, 7. Perfect Prince (14) Irvan Singh 56, 8. Young Gallant (7) Md. Akram 56, 9. Fioroloco (12) M. Prabhakaran 55.5, 10. Skybound (1) A. Imran Khan 55.5, 11. On Her Own (4) Rajesh Kumar 55, 12. Gift Of Paradise (6) A. Vishwanath 53.5, 13. Noble Princess (11) Rayan Ahmed 52 and 14. My Valentine (13) Jagadeesh 51.5. 1. A CROWN, 2. SKYBOUND, 3. NOBLE PRINCESS

2

T. DOUGALL MEMORIAL PLATE (1,600m), rated 20 to 45, 5-y-o only, 2-35: 1. Golden Diamond (5) Kiran Rai 60.5, 2. Gran Turismo (13) Rajesh Kumar 58.5, 3. Yellowzone (6) Jagadeesh 57.5, 4. Czar Rule (2) Suraj Narredu 57, 5. James Bond (10) T.S. Jodha 57, 6. Opening Act (4) M. Prabhakaran

57, 7. First Step (12) P.P. Dhebe 56.5, 8. Masters Glory (3) Irvan Singh 56, 9. One Of A Kind (11) A. Baandal 56, 10. Indian Legend (1) Arshad Alam 55, 11. Arziki (7) Nazerul Alam 54.5, 12. Freestyle (8) A. Imran Khan 54.5 and 13. Amazing (9) S. Waseemuddin 53.5. 1. CZAR RULE, 2. JAMES BOND, 3. GOLDEN DIAMOND

3

S. HAJEE MEMORIAL PLATE (Div. I), (1,400m), rated 00 to 25, 3-10: 1. Passing Star (2) P. Surya 62.5, 2. Irish Prince (12) S.K. Paswan 62, 3. Loveisintheair (8) Kiran Rai 62, 4. Boysterous (6) Syed Imran 61, 5. Indian Fury (5) T.S. Jodha 61, 6. Smile Of Peace (7) Rayan Ahmed 61, 7. Declarationoflove (14) Nazerul Alam 60.5, 8. Extremelydangerous (13) A. Qureshi 60.5, 9. Croziet (9) R. Pradeep 60, 10. She’s Stylish (11) Adarsh 60, 11. Golden Opinion (3) Sunil Samson 59, 12. Karod Pati (4) Irvan Singh 59, 13. One Man Show (10) Raja Rao 58 and 14. Magnificent Mary (1) P.P. Dhebe 57. 1. INDIAN FURY, 2. LOVEISINTHEAIR, 3. EXTREMELYDANGEROUS

4

F.K. IRANI MEMORIAL TROPHY (1,400m), rated 75 & above, 3-45: 1. Smile Stone (1) M. Naveen 63, 2. Kingoftheworld (10) Suraj Narredu 61.5, 3. New Prince (9) Syed Imran 61, 4. Mickey Mouse (6) Irvan Singh 58.5, 5.

Rafa (5) Rayan Ahmed 58.5, 6. Downton Abbey (11) S. John 57.5, 7. Arrogant Approach (8) T.S. Jodha 57, 8. Let The Lion Roar (2) Nazerul Alam 55.5, 9. Integrated (4) Srinath 55, 10. Goldberg (3) Arshad Alam 53 and 11. Murcilago (7) Sunil Samson 53. 1. INTEGRATED, 2. ARROGANT APPROACH, 3. SMILE STONE

5

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

\ DELHI ROUND-UP \

Three share lead Tvesa Malik, Siddhi Kapoor and Afshan Fatima, all of who shot two-over 74, shared the lead on Wednesday after the first round of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf tour’s New Delhi leg here. The top scores: 74: Tvesa Malik, Siddhi Kapoor, Afshan Fatima. 77: Gaurika Bishnoi, Gursimar Badwal. 79: Mehar Atwal. 81: Ayesha Kapur.

SAI-Kurukshetra makes the grade SAI-Kurukshetra and Central Secretariat booked their slots in the league stage of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh hockey tournament after winning their respective final knockout matches on Wednesday. The results: SAI Centre 5 (Hansraj 2, Deepak, Mohit, Munish Rana) bt PNB Jr 4 (Sumit Pal 2, Lovepreet 2); C. Sec 6 (Hassan Basha 2,

Gunasekar, Shailendra Bundela, Ranjit Kullu, Thimmanna Puliyanda) bt BSES 0.

Rajat Mishra shines Rajat Mishra’s triple strike helped Shaheed Bhagat Singh Evening College defeat Sri Aurobindo College (Evening) 5-2 in a College boys’ match of the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports football tournament here on Wednesday. The results: Shaheed Bhagat Singh College 5 (Rajat Mishra 3, Shyamal Mandal, Pranav Sablok) bt Sri Aurobindo 2 (Nishant Anand 2); Zakir Hussain 3 (Uma Shankar, Aditya Rawat, Karmanya Bansal) bt IGIPESS 1 (Akash Bhatnagar); Hindu 3 (Lalit Kumar, Denil Hidangmayum, Aditya Srivastava) drew with ARSD 3 (Shubham Negi 2, Punit Kumar Singh); PGDAV bt Sharda University 1-0; Zakir Hussain bt Shivaji 1-0; Amity University bt Jamia Milia Islamia 3-0.

Extraneous pressures have been mounting on the selectors in all age groups even as the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) has been engaged in a furious exercise to retain Gautam Gambhir as captain of Delhi for the season. The CAC is learnt to have organised a meeting between Gambhir and coach K.P. Bhaskar to bring about a rapprochement between the two. Madan Lal, as the CAC chairman, is the one man Delhi cricket is looking up to. “I’ll not allow any compromise to be made in selection matters. Delhi cricket can’t be run by the whims and fancies of a select few anymore,” he had told this reporter. Action is now awaited from Madan Lal.

Dahiya to lead India-A Press Trust of India New Delhi

Goalkeeper Vikas Dahiya will lead an 18-member India-A men’s team at the Australian Hockey League (AHL), starting on September 28 in Perth. This will be the second consecutive season that teams from India and New Zealand will feature in the Australian Hockey League. The team: Goalkeepers: Vikas Dahiya (Capt.), Krishan B. Pathak. Defenders: Amit Rohidas (Vice-Capt.), Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Gurinder Singh, Anand Lakra, Baljit Singh, Vikramjit Singh Midfielders: Harjeet Singh, Ashish Kumar Topno, Hardik Singh, Santa Singh, Nilakanta Sharma. Forwards: Armaan Qureshi, Mohd Umar, Simranjit Singh, Affan Yousuf, Talwinder Singh.

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Bonfire (4) T.S. Jodha 58.5, 8. Kaguya Himei (6) Madhu Babu 57.5, 9. Color Proof (10) R. Manish 57, 10. Campeon (13) Santosh Kumar 56.5, 11. Majestic Style (7) Jagadeesh 55, 12. I’ve Got Clout (8) Arshad Alam 54, 13. Colour Of Gold (1) P.P. Dhebe 53.5 and 14. Virat (3) Rajesh Kumar 51.5. 1. RAVELNATION, 2. FAIR GAME, 3. EL FENIX

CIVIL SERVICES TROPHY (1,200m), rated 40 to 65, 4-20: 1. Abderus (11) A. Velu 62.5, 2. Oceanic Storm (5) Ajay Kumar 59, 3. Nikka (1) Arshad Alam 58.5, 4. Tobin (10) Rayan Ahmed 58.5, 5. Dreamliner (14) Antony Raj 58, 6. Chase The Ace (8) P. Mani 56, 7. Saigar (12) Nazerul Alam 56, 8. Skyjet (13) R. Manish 55, 9. Beyond Thankful (2) A. Baandal 54.5, 10. Castlebar (9) P.P. Dhebe 54.5, 11. Amaris (4) Suraj Narredu 54, 12. Amazing Connection (6) Rajesh Kumar 53.5, 13. Country’s Princess (7) J. Paswan 53.5 and 14. Spinning Chakram (3) S. Mubarak 53.5. 1. NIKKA, 2. AMARIS, 3. DREAMLINER

SIDAPUR PLATE (1,200m), rated 20 to 45, 5-30: 1. Six Ace Red (10) Nazerul Alam 60, 2. Bestow (6) M. Prabhakaran 59.5, 3. Intrepid Warrior (9) Santosh Kumar 58.5, 4. Quick Angel (12) Irvan Singh 58.5, 5. Reach The Stars (2) S. John 58.5, 6. Ice Brown (7) Madhu Babu 56.5, 7. Angel Guard (14) Ajeet Kumar 56, 8. Catchy Charger (1) S. Mubarak 56, 9. Stella Mari (8) Antony Raj 56, 10. Space Invader (5) P. Surya 55, 11. Bonito (3) A. Baandal 54.5, 12. Stolen Kis Issweet (4) Arshad Alam 54.5, 13. Engelberg (11) S. Manohar 53.5 and 14. Wylde (13) P.P. Dhebe 53.

6

1. WYLDE, 2. REACH THE STARS, 3. BESTOW

K. THAMMANNA GOWDA MEMORIAL TROPHY (1,400m), rated 40 to 65, 5-y-o & over, 4-55: 1. Fair Game (9) Nazerul Alam 62, 2. Storming Home (2) A. Velu 62, 3. El Fenix (11) Srinath 61.5, 4. Silsila (14) A. Baandal 60.5, 5. Ravelnation (5) Rayan Ahmed 60, 6. Silver Legend (12) S. John 60, 7.

well-entrenched officials at the Ferozeshah Kotla. “Cricket is never the priority at the Kotla,” has been the firm opinion of Mohinder Amarnath, who brought glory to the State with his astounding deeds on the cricket field. Bishan Singh Bedi has been relentless in his campaign to expose the current set of DDCA office-bearers. “Cricket changes, the players come and go, but the officials are never displaced from their exalted positions,” avers Bedi. Cricketers have been at the receiving end for years and things improved first under Justice Mudgal’s tenure and now Justice Sen has assured the players of unstinted support in their preparation for the forthcoming season.

Army Boys seal last-eight berth

Integrated for feature event MYSURU: Integrated, who has been well tuned, is expected to score in the F.K. Irani Memorial Trophy (1,400m), the feature event of the races to be held here on Thursday (Sept. 21). False rails (width about 6m from 1,600m to the winning post) will be in position.

The result of rejecting most of the Lodha recommendations Vijay Lokapally

JAPAN OPEN Kevin Durant sorry for ‘idiotic’ tweets

Larriere books lasteight berth

7

Day’s best: RAVELNATION Double: CZAR RULE — NIKKA Jkt: 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7; Tr (i): 2, 3 and 4, (ii): 5, 6 and 7.

NEW DELHI

Army Boys Sports Company became the first team to assure itself of a quarterfinal spot in the under-17 boys’ competition of the 58th Subroto Cup football tournament after a 5-0 win against Air Force Bal Bharti School (New Delhi) in its last league game at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Wednesday. In another match, SKO Ragunan of Indonesia thrashed Hiramani HSS (Gujarat) 7-1 even as the rest of the matches were dull, defensive affairs with few goals.

Battling it out: Uttam Shahi, right, of Nepal’s Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya and Rupamjyoti Patar of Kujidah HSS (Assam) vie for possession. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Indonesian side played attacking football, outplaying the Gujarat side in all departments of the game. Deuarico and Raihan scored twice each while Firoz Hansari managed the lone goal for Gujarat in the 50th minute.

The results:

Manipur’s Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya scored the lone goal of its match

*

against Shaheen School, Bangladesh, through Worchuirin in the final few seconds of injury time at the New Wellingdon Camp ground. LK HSS (Tamil Nadu) 1 (Mohd. Afsal) bt Coast Guard Public School (Daman & Diu); SKO Ragunan (Indonesia) 7 (Deuarico 2, Raihan 2, Heru, Sandi, Hasan) bt Hiramani HSS (Gujarat) 1 (Firoz Hansari);

Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya 1 (Bhunon Pandey) bt Kujidah HSS (Assam) 0; Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (Manipur) 1 (Worchuirin) bt Shaheen School (Bangladesh) 0; Army Boys Sports Company 5 (M. Haokip 2, Tony Hoidrom, P. Linthoingamba Singh, Sh. Yaiphaba Meitei) bt Air Force Bal Bharti School (Delhi) 0; Afghanistan 1 (Asadullah) drew with Minerva Public School (Punjab) 1 (Md. Ajaruddin Shah).

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

THE HINDU CROSSWORD 12118

(set by Gridman)

13 Not being attractive, Chennai leader leaves and is quite safe (8) 15 List of tasks of tribal, not ace, getting old (2-2) 16 Full gathering, at 10, has a ball (10) 18 No US goalie would buckle and be smarmy (10) 20 Indian garment — it's trim without borders (4) 23 Fitting — a lawyer's put in large hotel room (8) 24 What may be thrown off one's head as out-of-date (3-3)

■ ACROSS 1 Spook not left in marsh (8) 5 Dissertation of the relative is cut by half (6) 10 One takes this to show offence (7) 11 At rst tipping lumber off cart (7) 12 Damned — two cards come together (6)

CM YK

3 Vehement, the man pushed date away (6) 4 Flat proceeding stopped short (4) 6 It's plain he's adopted mantra to get dame disguised (8) 7 Gush over one who operates (7) 8 With this, all the commercial pitch fails (5,10) 9 Indignant son joined forces (7,2) 14 Studying race hotly gone wayward (9)

27 Caution about a kind of sale (7)

17 Rural city needs rain to fall (8)

29 Tie great made-up feathery ornament (8) ■ DOWN 1 Basically it's laid to start building up (10,5)

Krishna explains sadana

2 Such trains arrive at the railway station (7)

26 Gap in job available (7)

28 Area covered once by the big top (6)

FAITH

SUDOKU

19 Clear — vie maniacally to make a bit of progress (7) 21 A primarily terrible crime by non-believer (7) 22 Deposit of soft, soft material at bottom of river (6) 25 Author leads to some atrociously killer instincts (4)

Solution to puzzle 12117

Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

While dwelling on the influence and effect of the gunas on individuals, Krishna says that depending on the predominant guna prevailing in a person at the time of his death, he attains a corresponding place or state. Those in satva reach higher worlds such as heaven or even regions above it; those in rajas are reborn in this world into conditions of intense work and attachment while those in tamas reach regions lower than the earth called the nether regions. There are many instances in the Gita where the state of mind of the jivatma at the moment of death is shown to be a crucial factor that decides its future, pointed out Swami Omkarananda in a discourse. Earlier, Krishna had stated that one who departs from this world thinking of the Lord alone undoubtedly reaches His status of being. So, if one is engaged in this sadana, it is very likely that at the time of death, his mind would be dwelling on the supremacy of God. Arjuna is diffident about the success of such a sadana since the human mind is fickle and always restless. What happens to the jivatma who attempts and fails in this spiritual exercise if, for instance death intercepts his efforts. Again, many may not be totally involved in the Supreme Truth though they may be partially aware of it. Krishna reassures him that there is no permanent defeat in any sincere attempt. No one who leads a sincere and honest life comes to grief. No good man can come to an evil end. God is aware of every effort and weakness in every jivatma and no effort goes waste. If one dies in the midst of yoga practice, he attains the world of the righteous and dwells there for some time. He is then born in a house of such as are pure and prosperous and continues his sadana. A ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

SPORT 17

NOIDA/DELHI

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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I-League: direct entry for Gokulam Special Correspondent Thiruvananthapuram

Defence, what defence? Lionel Messi does what he does best — make the opposition players look like cones. Here, he weaves his way past four Eibar defenders. DAVID RAMOS/GETTY IMAGES *

Barca hits Eibar for six Messi scores four in Eibar rout; Zaza’s treble blanks Malaga EURO LEAGUES Agencies Madrid

Lionel Messi added four more goals to his soaring early season tally as a muchchanged Barcelona maintained its 100 % start to La Liga by routing Eibar 6-1 on Tuesday. Paulinho and Denis Suarez also netted for the second consecutive game as Barca stretched its lead at the top of La Liga to seven points over Real Madrid. Earlier, Valencia moved up to third as Simone Zaza scored a seven-minute hattrick in a 5-0 thrashing of Malaga. Messi opened the scoring in nonchalant fashion from the penalty spot on 21 minutes after Nelson Semedo had been felled by an ungainly challenge from Alejandro Galvez. The five-time world player of the year completed his 43rd career hat-trick just after the hour mark by prodding through Dmitrovic’s legs from Paulinho’s pass. And he added his 12th

CM YK

goal in just eight games this season three minutes from time after a neat one-two with Aleix Vidal. Barca lead second-placed Sevilla, by five points with Valencia now just a point further adrift as its unbeaten start to the season under new coach Marcelino Garcia Toral continued at Mestalla. The results: La Liga: Barcelona 6 (Messi 21-pen, 59, 62 & 87, Paulinho 38, Denis Suarez 53) bt Eibar 1 (Enrich 57); Valencia

5 (Mina 17, Zaza 55, 60 & 62, Rodrigo 87) bt Malaga 0. Serie A: Bologna 1 (Verdi 32) drew with Inter Milan 1 (Icardi 76-pen). Bundesliga: Borussia Monchengladbach 2 (Raffael 57, 74-pen) bt Stuttgart 0; Schalke 0 lost to Bayern Munich 3 (Lewandowski 25-pen, Rodriguez 29, Vidal 75); Augsburg 1 (Gregoritsch 4) bt RB Leipzig 0; Wolfsburg 1 (Origi 28) drew with Werder Bremen 1 (Bartels 56).

Gokulam FC has won a direct entry for the Hero ILeague. The bid evaluation committee of All-India Football Federation (AIFF), which met in New Delhi, decided to award the Kerala-based Sree Gokulam Group the right to field a team in the Hero I-League from 2017-18 onwards. Gokulam FC, which was launched with much fanfare earlier this year by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, will be based in Kozhikode and will probably play its home matches at the Corporation Stadium. It becomes the first team from Kerala after State Bank of Travancore (SBT) to figure in the league. SBT played three seasons. AIFF general-secretary Kushal Das welcomed Gokulam FC’s entry into the ILeague and expressed hope that the club will ignite an interest among the fans in Kozhikode.

Davis Cup: rst round bye for India Press Trust of India

Okazaki sends Liverpool packing Agence France-Presse London

Leicester’s Shinji Okazaki sent Liverpool crashing out of the League Cup, while Tottenham edged past Barnsley to reach the fourth round on Tuesday. Okazaki came off the bench to fire Leicester ahead in the second half of its 2-0 win at the King Power Stadium.

Important results (third round): Bristol City 2 (Diedhiou 50, Taylor 60) bt Stoke 0; Crystal Palace 1 (Sako 13) bt Huddersfield 0. Leicester 2 (Okazaki 65, Slimani 78) bt Liverpool 0; Reading 0 lost to Swansea 2 (Mawson 52, Ayew 83). West Ham 3 (Ogbonna 4, Sakho 31, Masuaku 90) bt Bolton 0; Tottenham 1 (Alli 65) bt Barnsley 0.

London

Top-seed in Asia-Oceania Zone, India has been given a first-round bye in next year’s Davis Cup competition. According to the draw made here on Wednesday, India will take on the winner of the first-round match between China and New Zealand.

Away match Either way, India will play the match — scheduled for April 6-8 — away, having hosted China (March, 2005) and New Zealand (February, 2017) the last time it played them.

Serena’s heartfelt letter of admiration to her mom ANI Washington DC

It seems like Serena Williams has finally understood what it is like to be in her mother’s shoes. After giving birth to her first child, daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr., the tennis ace has written an endearing letter to her own mother, Oracene Price, about what it has been like to see life through her point of view, reports The Washington Post. She began the letter saying, “Dear Mom, You are one of the strongest women I know. I was looking at my daughter (OMG, yes, I have a daughter ) and she has my arms and legs! “My exact same strong, muscular, powerful,

Serena Williams and her mother Oracene Price. AP *

sensational arms and body. I don’t know how I would react if she has to go through what I’ve gone through since I was a 15 year old and even to this day.”

In the letter, Williams recalled the times she was likened to a man because of her strong stature or false accusations that her performance on the court was the result of drugs. The letter continued, “I’ve been called man because I appeared outwardly strong. It has been said that that I use drugs (No, I have always had far too much integrity to behave dishonestly in order to gain an advantage). “It has been said I don’t belong in women’s sports, that I belong in men’s, because I look stronger than many other women do.” The former world number one concluded by writing, “Your youngest of five, Serena.”

Fortunegiants ease past U Mumba PKL Sports Bureau RANCHI

Gujarat Fortunegiants consolidated its position on top of the Zone ‘A’ standings as it overpowered U Mumba 4523 in a ProKabaddi League (PKL) match on Wednesday. Chandran Ranjit and Sachin emerged the matchwinners for the Gujarat side, which rode on the fine raiding ability of the two attackers. U Mumba enjoyed the initial exchanges and led 9-7 till the ninth minute after which Fortunegiants started making incisive raids. Ranjit and Sachin took turns to make a series of raids and foxed the U Mumba defence with their agility and craft. Fortunegiants doubled the lead to 24-12 at half-time and continued with the same intensity till the end. Fortunegiants made 16 successful raids and picked

Not clicking: U Mumba’s Anup Kumar returned empty-handed from most of the raids he made. MANOB CHOWDHURY *

up 23 points in the process. Ranjit scored 11 points and Sachin collected 10 to remain the architects of the victory. The Gujarat team did equally well in defence with its Iranian defender Fazel Atrachali collecting six tackle points. U Mumba failed to bring much in attack as key players Kashiling Adake and Anup Kumar returned empty-handed from most of the raids. Anup picked up seven points for his side but most of them came from the

three tackles he made. Gujarat Fortunegiants tallied 56 points from 15 matches to continue on top of Zone ‘A’ while U Mumbai remained fourth with 39 points from 15 matches. The results: Gujarat Fortunegiants 45 (Chandran Ranjit 11, Sachin 10) bt U Mumba 23 (Anup Kumar 7); Patna Pirates 41 bt Tamil Thalaivas 39. Today’s matches: Jaipur Pink Panthers vs Haryana Steelers, 8 p.m.; Patna Pirates vs U.P. Yoddha, 9 p.m., STAR Sports 2 (SD & HD).

Prajnesh loses Sports Bureau NEW DELHI

Prajnesh Gunneswaran was beaten in two tiebreaks by wild card Martin Joyce of the USA in the first round of the $75,000 Challenger in the USA. In the $25,000 ITF women’s event in the USA, Karman Kaur Thandi made the pre-quarterfinals of singles and the doubles quarterfinals. Rutuja Bhosale made the quarterfinals in Thailand, but Y. Pranjala lost in two tie-breaks to secondseeded Jia-Qi Kang of China. Pranjala had beaten the Chinese in their previous meeting last year. The results: $75,000 Challenger, Columbus, USA: Singles (first round): Martin Joyce (US) bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran 7-6(4), 7-6(1). $25,000 ITF men, Madrid: First round: Pedro Martinez Portero (Esp) bt Adil Kalyanpur 6-0, 6-0. $25,000 ITF women, Lubbock, USA: Singles (first round): Karman Kaur Thandi bt Thaisa Grana Pedretti (Bra) 6-2, 6-1. Doubles (prequarterfinals): Ana Veselinovic (Mne) & Karman Kaur bt Kana Daniel (Jpn) & Sallome Devidze (Geo) 6-1, 6-2. $15,000 ITF women, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt: Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Emilie Francati (Den) & Kanika Vaidya bt Naomi Totka (Hun) & Alexandra Walters (Aus) 6-4, 7-5; Ina Kaufinger (Ger) & Shweta Chandra Rana bt Adele Diiana Biba & Agnes Omella Biba (Cmr) 6-0, 6-0; Britt Geukens & Magali Kempen (Bel) bt Rosaline Zafir Chavez Tello (Pan) & Dhwani Kumar 6-1, 6-0. $15,000 ITF women, Hua Hin, Thailand: Singles (prequarterfinals): Julia Glushko (Isr) bt Natasha Palha 6-2, 6-2; Rutuja Bhosale bt Jiaxue Zang (Chn) 6-3, 6-4; Jia-Qi Kang (Chn) bt Y. Pranjala 7-6 (7), 7-6(4). Doubles (quarterfinals): Ni Ma Zhuoma & You Mi Zhuoma (Chn) bt Sowjanya Bavisetti & Rishika Sunkara 7-6(1), 6-2.

A ND-NDE

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18 LIFE

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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IN BRIEF

DiCaprio declares $20 mn deal for green grants LOS ANGELES

Romania’s Merry Cemetery oers visitors dark humour Orthodox crosses here are etched with colourful epitaphs and childlike drawings

Sindoor may contain unsafe lead levels: study WASHINGTON

Sindoor, a powder widely used in Hindu religious ceremonies, may contain unsafe levels of lead, which is associated with lower IQ in children, a study of samples has found. Researchers reported that 83% of the samples collected from the U.S. and 78% from India had at least 1 mg of lead per gram of the cosmetic powder. PTI

Trove of documents detail private lives of the members Agence France-Presse

Associated Press

Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has awarded $20 million in grants through his environmental foundation. The actor, who founded The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, announced that the sum is to be spread across over 100 organisations committed to environmental sustainability. PTI

A century on, royal family’s letters return to Russia

SAPANTA

Death isn’t always tragic, at least not in this Romanian cemetery, where the dead beguile visitors with tales of their lives. The Merry Cemetery in the northwestern village of Sapanta is a collection of more than 1,000 elaborate wooden Orthodox crosses etched with colourful epitaphs and childlike drawings. There are few secrets in this small community and whatever flaws someone had when they were alive are turned into “grave art” when they die. This darkly humorous and matter-of-fact approach, rooted in the traditional peasant culture of the region, intrigues visitors. Despite its remote location some 600 km northwest of the Romanian capital, Bucharest, the cemetery is one of the country’s top

On the bright side: A child walks by the painted crosses at the Merry Cemetery, Sapanta, northwestern Romania. AP *

tourist attractions. “I’ve seen what touches [tourists]. This cemetery... is not just a cemetery. People realised that this indeed is a place where you can laugh at death itself,” said sculptor Dumitru Pop Tincu, 62, who crafted many of the crosses. He was speaking in his workshop, dressed in a traditional costume of an embroidered

smock, loose trousers and a straw hat.

Outdoor museum One recent morning, German tourists were taking in the rows of intricately carved blue, yellow, green and red crosses, looking at the cartoon-like drawings and limericks written in a quirky language used by loc-

als. Some consider the place less a graveyard and more an outdoor museum. Romanian-born Gerhard Schuster, 63, who lives in Kempten, southern Germany, said: “Ever since I was a child, I heard stories about this. My parents were talking about the Merry Cemetery and I’ve always wanted to come and see it but wasn’t able to until now. ” One of the drawings features a young man and a subway carriage the man was run over by a train. His epitaph reads: “I enjoyed life so much, I went to western Europe; may it be cursed along with the Paris metro. I used to be a gambler, and I died in 2001 when I was 16 years old.” Some of the crosses resemble modern-day morality tales. One epitaph for a truck driver warns the living about the perils of working too hard.

Saint Petersburg

From telegrams about hunting parties to anguished letters over the Bolshevik takeover, a trove of documents detailing the private lives of Russia’s Romanov family has returned home 100 years after the 1917 revolution. The archive, containing letters, photographs and drawings, was taken to Europe by members of the royal family who fled the chaos and persecutions of the revolution. In July, the state-owned Russian bank Sberbank bought the archive for $84,000 after its owner, who did not want to be identified, put them up for sale. Now, as the country marks the centenary of the end of royal rule, the collection has gone on display at a museum in Tsarskoye Selo, the former summer residence of the tsars on the out-

Family matters: A part of the collection of documents of the imperial Romanov family on display at a museum. AFP *

skirts of Saint Petersburg. “These letters and telegrams reveal the everyday life of the imperial family, whose members truly loved each other,” Irina Raspopova, a conservationist at the museum, said.

‘Huge interest’ “These archives are of huge interest to researchers. We were lucky to find them,” she said. The collection, which

counts over 200 pieces dating from 1860 to 1928, features letters written by Tsar Nicholas II, Russia’s last, as well as his wife Alexandra Fyodorovna, his father Alexander III and several other Romanov family members. The documents, written in Russian, French and English on paper yellowed by time, show the pampered daily lives and leisure of the Russian royalty.

In Cuba, the humble bicycle is riding back in vogue Once associated with country’s economic crisis after fall of Soviet Union, the simple mode of transport is now buoyed by demand from tourists Agence France-Presse CArdenas

This muscle can lift 1,000 times its own weight NEW YORK

Scientists have developed 3D-printable synthetic soft muscle that can push, pull, bend, twist and lift 1,000 times its own weight, paving the way for lifelike robots. The artificial tissue with intrinsic expansion ability does not require an external compressor as previous muscles did. PTI

The humble bicycle is gradually shedding its grim association with Cuba’s economic crisis that followed the fall of the Soviet Union, and making a comeback buoyed by demand from tourists and Cubans frustrated by poor public transportation. Bicycles rattle by everywhere on the flat cobblestone streets of Cardenas, an industrial city on the north coast where a giant iron bicycle monument greets visitors.

Parrot ‘shops’ online by mimicking owner

Bikes have long been the favoured mode of transport here, but in Havana and other cities, the bike is coming back into vogue.

Reliable way Modern bike shops with their smell of rubber and gear-oil are springing up to meet demand from tourists as well as Cubans simply looking for a reliable way to get around. Osvaldo, a computer technician, sweats over an old Soviet-made MB3 with backpedal brakes, handlebars

shorn of handgrips — the bike itself a collection of spare parts. “Everybody gets around by bicycle in Cardenas, and I use it also to carry all sorts of things, anything I can manage,” he says. The odd slick mountain bike with swishing dérailleurs is a rarity among the traditional rusty boneshakers used by ordinary Cubans heading to work, or to the bakery. Hairdresser Kenia Lis Pulido said she uses her bike from morning to night, from the moment she takes her

Fidel Castro encouraged Cubans to ride bikes when the Soviet cash cow ran dry.

children to school. “At night, if we are going anywhere, we’ll pick up our bike and we’ll have spent the whole day on the bike.” In some ways, Cardenas is a constantly moving, living

museum of mostly-communist bike transport over the last 50 years, with examples galore of the Chinese-built ‘Forever’ model and the ‘Flying Pigeon’ that flooded the island during the shortages in the 1990s. One can still find a few folding MB3s from the 1980s, and rarer still, the American ‘Schwinn’ of the 1950s.

Made-in-Cuba ‘Minerva’ In the early 1990s, bikes were the preferred way to get around in Cuba. The Soviet Union had just collapsed, re-

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Sensory experience

Pet orders a £10 set of gift boxes Agence France-Presse London

A pet parrot managed to place an online shopping order by mimicking its owner on a voice-controlled smart speaker, a British newspaper reported on Wednesday. Buddy the parrot ordered a £10 set of gift boxes via Amazon’s Alexa voice-controlled system, The Sun reported. The mystery order triggered an inquest in Corienne Pretorius’ house in southeast London, but after ruling out her husband and son, she figured out Buddy was to blame after hearing him interact with the speaker. “I couldn’t believe it when I realised that Buddy had made an Amazon order,” the South African said. Users can shout commands to the Amazon Echo speaker to access a host of

services. It responds to the name Alexa. Footage on the Sun’s website shows the parrot squawking “Alexa!” and the device next to his cage lighting up blue, indicating that it is listening for commands. “Buddy said ‘Alexa’ and some gibberish, and the machine replied, ‘What is it you want to order?’” Ms. Pretorius said. She thought nothing more of it until she got a notification that an order had been placed for some golden gift boxes. “I laughed out loud because I knew then that it was Buddy.” Amazon said customers were asked to confirm a purchase by saying ‘yes’, and the settings can be adjusted to turn off voice purchasing. "Buddy is hilarious. We have a cat and he mimics that, too. ,” his owner said.

moving the island’s source of cheap oil imports, and cutbacks in public transportation led nearly everyone to seek a reliable alternative during the so-called ‘Special Period.’ To cope with demand, Cuba began producing its own model, the Minerva. They were “poor quality”, remembers Lazaro Pereira, a bike-repair specialist in Cardenas. “The forks split and when this happened, passers-by would mock people falling off their bikes.” Customisation is common

Cranberries ght urinary infections Fruit helps against bacteria: study Press Trust of India London

Feel-good: A visitor experiences Snoosphere, an interactive and multi-sensory installation, during the media launch of the Big Anxiety Festival in Sydney on Wednesday. It creates a responsive, sensory environment to roam, touch and explore. AFP *

Consuming cranberry products may be a low risk, cheap and effective way to prevent recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs), a study claims. The study, published in The Journal of Urology, suggests that doctors may recommend cranberry products as first line of defence against the disease. Researchers conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis and assessment of human clinical trials and 28 studies on nearly 5,000 patients. They found that overall, the use of cranberry products led to a statistically significant risk reduction in repeat UTIs. The medicinal properties of cranberries may be attributed to their unique polyphenol, proanthocyanidins,

Marlon Brando’s Tahitian paradise, the godfather of eco-resort Exotic island in French Polynesia bought by the movie star in the sixties is using its Hollywood image to tackle environmental issues Agence France-Presse Tetiaroa

An exotic island paradise in French Polynesia bought by Marlon Brando in the sixties is using its Hollywood image to tackle environmental issues — with a little help from its jet-set visitors. The tiny, palm-fringed atoll of Tetiaroa was once a favourite holiday spot for Tahitian royalty before the late American movie star fell in love with it while filming Mutiny on the Bounty in 1961 on islands close by. Brando married co-star Tarita Teriipaia and the couple raised a family on Tetiaroa, now home to a luxury eco-resort that bears the reclusive actor’s name and regularly pampers A-list clientèle such as Hollywood actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp and former U.S. President Barack Obama. CM YK

Guests at ‘The Brando’ help fund research projects by paying up to $10,000 a night to stay in the elegant thatched villas overlooking a turquoise lagoon. As Pippa Middleton soaks up the rays on honeymoon or Mr. Obama seeks inspiration to write his memoirs, scientists quietly go about their work testing ocean acidification to study the effects on coral bleaching. Behind the butler service and Michelin-star cuisine, the resort has built on Brando’s own vision for a sustainable environment, to become one of the most ecofriendly hotels in the world, running on solar power and coconut oil. Luxury ecotourism is a growing sector of the travel industry with big name hotel brands such as Alila and Aman investing heavily in ensuring their green credentials.

in Cuba’s make-do culture, and bikes are often equipped with baskets, as well as wooden seats for extra passengers. Some even have lawnmower engines fitted. Ordinary mattress foam or plastic is used to renovate tired saddles. Often a piece of sponge wrapped in vinyl does the trick. Fidel Castro encouraged Cubans to get on their bikes when the Soviet cash-cow ran dry, but greater prosperity as the 21st century loomed brought a new reliance on motorised transport.

the chief communications officer for the non-profit Tetiaroa Society, a scientific organisation devoted to marine wildlife founded by the Brando estate, which owns the atoll.

Ideal location: Marlon Brando married co-star Tarita Teriipaia and the couple raised a family on the Tetiaroa island. AFP *

Boutique resorts that pride themselves on sustainability and giving back to the local community, such as Song Saa private island in Cambodia, Nihiwatu in Indonesia, and the Soneva hotels in Thailand and the Maldives, are also increasingly in demand. But Tetiaroa, where legend has it that British sailors who seized control of the

Bounty in 1789 found vestiges of a pagan sex cult, has the added bonus of old Hollywood glamour. Brando’s granddaughter Tumi grew up on the island, fishing for snapper and grouper in the lagoon, home to juvenile lemon and black tip sharks, which glide lazily among the corals as guests snorkel. The 29-year-old works as

Coconut power “Our aim is to raise awareness,” she said, as marine biologists studied shark populations inside the 4.8-kmwide lagoon, which contains at least 167 species of fish, including parrotfish and spotted eagle rays. “First among local people, because we want to protect our environment. Maybe America or China — they come to my mind first because they’re the biggest polluters — can emulate us.” Opened in 2014, the hotel’s electricity comes from more than 2,000 solar panels that line the island’s tiny runway and generators

fuelled by coconut oil. Its airconditioning is powered by deep seawater — a brainwave of Brando’s. Mosquitoes are dying out at the resort where researchers have found a way to sterilise an invasive species capable of carrying dengue and Zika virus. Brando previously ran a modest eco-lodge after buying Tetiaroa where celebrity buddy Robert De Niro, a guest in the late 1980s, once amused himself by waiting on tables. Brando died in 2004, but Tetiaroa, located some 4,345 km south of Hawaii, has been preserved in line with his ecological vision — resort staff even keep a pet cat called Marlon in homage. “He was passionate,” said Tumi. “He was dragged here by Hollywood, then grandma made him come back.” Following Brando’s blue-

print, naturalists at the island’s research centre monitor its countless tropical birds and turtle sanctuary, ready to rescue clumsy hatchlings before they can become a meal for predators. Luxury eco-resorts offer high-rollers a chance to offset any guilt they might feel over their carbon-heavy lifestyles.

Ecological research Tetiaroa is ideal for ecological research, according to Frank Murphy, executive director of the Tetiaroa Society, to which Mr. DiCaprio and Mr. Depp donate. “We’re perched here on one the most vulnerable spots on earth. It’s kind of the canary in the coal mine for climate change so we better be doing our damnedest to figure out what’s going on,” he said.

Cranberry contains unique polyphenols and proantho-cyanidins. researchers said. Their ability to keep infection-causing bacteria from sticking to the urinary tract walls may be the major reason for their effectiveness in limiting infection growth and recurrence, they added. “Our investigation supports that cranberry products can be a powerful tool to fight off frequent UTIs,” said Angelo Luis, from the Universidade da Beira Interior in Portugal.

Underwater ‘city’ built by octopuses Press Trust of India Melbourne

Scientists have discovered Octlantis — an underwater site built entirely by octopuses, where they communicate with each other by posturing, chasing or colour changes. Researchers from the University of Illinois in the U.S. found the site in the waters off the east coast of Australia, that is the home of up to 15 gloomy octopuses. It is the second gloomy octopus settlement found in the area, and the discovery lends credence to the idea that octopuses are not necessarily loners. The first gloomy octopus site was found in Jervis Bay off the east coast of Australia in 2009. The new site is located just a few hundred meters away from the first site, and has been dubbed Octlantis. A ND-NDE

thursday O september 21, 2017

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‘A progressive student body’

AAP protests fuel price hike

A smooth grind

Time to Czech out Prague

National in-charge of the NSUI Ruchi Gupta speaks about recent success in DUSU polls Page 2

Party leaders stopped outside Petroleum Minister’s office, taken to police station Page 4

Kamal Swaroop’s documentary on celebrated artist Atul Dodiya occupies both the mind and the eye Page 5

Walking along the green river and appreciate the old world dressed in baroque & Gothic architecture Page 6

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IN BRIEF

Woman plots robbery to frame ancé, held NEW DELHI

Robbery at a house in northeast Delhi was planned by victim’s daughter who had secretly married and wanted to frame her ancé, chosen by her family, for the crime. CITY

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Compensate 39 home buyers, SC tells Unitech NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Wednesday told embattled real estate rm Unitech Residential Resorts Ltd. to pay ₹80,000 each as compensation to 39 home buyers towards litigation cost and for causing harassment. CITY

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MBA student kills herself over marriage rejection Staff Reporter Noida

A young woman pursuing MBA from Amity University here allegedly committed suicide at her home in Noida on Wednesday. A handwritten suicide note recovered from the woman’s apartment stated that she had decided to end her life as a man had refused to marry her. Tannu Malik, a native of Dehradun, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her home in Amrapali Sapphire, a residential high-rise in Sector 45, Noida. The victim had been living in the society with her mother and had enrolled in the MBA course this year.

‘She was depressed’ Police said that Ms. Malik’s mother was the one who found the body. “She immediately called the PCR around 7 a.m. The body has been sent for postmortem,” said Abhinandan, Circle Officer -1, Noida police. The victim, who lost her father a while ago, was undergoing severe mental stress and had shifted to Noida from Dehradun for her education, said the police. “In the note, she mentioned that she wanted to marry a man named Sunny but he had refused to marry her. She was depressed,” said the officer. According to a senior police official, Sunny has been asked to join the investigation and his statement has been recorded.

Objection to smoking costs youth his life, friend injured Drunk driver rams car into bike after heated argument; arrested for murder right after the incident, was taken to AIIMS where his medical examination was conducted and he was found to have consumed alcohol beyond permissible limits after which Section 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act was also added to the FIR.

Staff Reporter New Delhi

A 21-year-old man was killed and his friend was severely injured when a car allegedly hit their bike in the small hours of Monday following an argument with the vehicle’s driver in Safdarjung Enclave. The accused, who was arrested on Monday itself but was released on bail, was again held on Wednesday after charges of intention of murder were framed against him, said the police. According to the police, around 4 a.m., deceased Gurpreet Singh and his 22-yearold friend Maninder Singh, residents of Shahbad Dairy, were doing a recce for their college project near AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital when accused Rohit Krishna Mahanto started quarrelling with them.

‘He threatened to kill us’ “We were working on our ‘Life of people on footpath in Delhi’ after which we stopped to eat something. This man was drunk and started blowing cigarette smoke in our face. We objected as we are Sikhs and smoking is against our religious beliefs,” said Maninder.

Relatives of Gurpreet Singh (right) in mourning on Wednesday. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

“He got into an argument and said that if we were in Assam, he would kill us and no one would get to know,” he added. Police later confirmed that the accused was drunk. Gurpreet’s family said that the duo decided to leave when the accused threatened to kill them. As the duo got on their bike and left, the accused allegedly followed them and hit them from behind. The speed of the car was such that it also hit an auto-rickshaw and a cab that were in front of the bike.

Accused inebriated All the injured were immediately rushed to AIIMS

Trauma Centre where Gurpreet battled for life for two days but succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday. Maninder, though out of danger, is undergoing treatment. Based on the cab driver’s statement on Monday, the police registered a case under Section 279 (rash driving) and 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) against the driver. Mahanto, who was caught

Murder charges added On Wednesday — after the deceased’s family demanded a probe — the police recorded Maninder’s statement. “In his statement, Maninder alleged that Rohit had a heated exchange with them just before the incident and had threatened them of dire consequences,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Chinmoy Biswal. This led the police to add Section 302 (punishment for murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) against the accused. According to the police, Mahanto, a resident of Defence Colony, is a lawyer under the Standing Counsel of Assam government and his father Anil Kumar is a doctor. Gurpreet and Maninder had come from Bhatinda to Delhi in 2016 for a year-long course at Delhi School of Photography, which was due to end in October.

Nightmare commute: Rajiv Chowk metro station saw massive crowds due to the snag on the Blue Line (Dwarka Sector 21-Noida City Centre/ Vaishali) on Wednesday. SANDEEP SAXENA *

Thousands stranded as snag hits Blue Line again Services disrupted for an hour during evening peak time Staff Reporter New Delhi

Thousands of office-goers trying to get home on Wednesday faced delays of over an hour after the Delhi Metro’s Blue Line suffered a technical snag, which have become a recurring affair over the past few months. The glitch, which was reported around 5.40 p.m., slowed down train operations till about 7 p.m. “The contact wire of the Overhead Equipment (OHE) was found broken between Dwarka Mor and Dwarka section,” the DMRC said in a statement. The glitch occurred on the ‘up line’ — that

is the line going from Rajiv Chowk towards Dwarka. Massive crowds were seen at the Rajiv Chowk station.

‘Bird to blame’ “This resulted in bunching/ hold up of trains on Line-3 around 5.40 p.m. as services were running on single line between Janakpuri West and Dwarka section,” the statement added. A DMRC spokesperson said that train services on Line-3 were affected from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. The OHE wire was “broken as a bird had dropped a metallic wire on it, resulting in flashing/snap-

ping,” he added. “Immediate restoration work was undertaken by the OHE team. Single line service continued through the ‘down line’ on this section to work as shuttle service to keep the entire line running and prevent impact on the rest of the line,” the statement added. The DMRC said that services on the rest of Line-3, between Janakpuri West to Noida section & Dwarka to Dwarka Sec-21 section, were normal during this period. “Normal movement on both lines was restored by 6.50 p.m,” the statement read.

Allegations on Tuseed hiding NGT raps govt over litter on Yamuna banks Issues show-cause notice; asks why discarded festive materials haven’t been removed criminal record serious: HC Shinjini Ghosh NEW DELHI

ABVP says newly elected DUSU president ‘suppressed facts’ convicted of any criminal offence and shall not have been subject to any disciplinary action by the university authorities.

Press Trust of India New Delhi

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday termed as “very serious” the alleged concealment of criminal record by recently-elected Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) president Rocky Tuseed. The court issued a notice to Mr. Tuseed, who ran on the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) ticket, based on allegations levelled by his opponent Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidate Rajat Chaudhary. Filing an impleadment application, Mr. Chaudhary claimed that Mr. Tuseed did not disclose to DU authorities that an FIR was lodged against him in 2014 at Rajouri Garden police station in west Delhi for alleged offences of causing hurt, attempt to murder, trespass and common intention and that he had remained in judicial custody from August 28

Rocky Tuseed

to September 15, 2014. A charge sheet was also filed in the case. The RSS-backed ABVP candidate said in his plea that there was “deliberate suppression and misrepresentation of facts and narration of false facts by the petitioner [Mr. Tuseed] in the proceedings”. Mr. Chaudhary said that as per guidelines of the Lyngdoh committee, the candidate shall not have a previous criminal record, nor tried or

Next hearing on Nov. 15 “It is very serious. It is concealment,” Justice Indermeet Kaur said. The court sought Mr. Tuseed’s and the university’s responses on the plea and listed the matter for November 15. The application was filed in a pending petition by Mr. Tuseed in which he has challenged the DU Election Commission’s order rejecting his nomination for the students’ polls on the grounds that disciplinary action had been taken against him. Mr. Chaudhary’s plea also asked for recall of the court’s September 8 and September 12 interim orders by which Mr. Tuseed was allowed to contest the polls and DU was allowed to announce the result.

Angry over the remains of hundreds of Lord Ganesh idols lying on the banks of the Yamuna, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday asked the Delhi government and the civic bodies to explain why discarded material from Ganesh Visarjan had not been removed in a timely manner. On Monday, The Hindu had reported how hundreds of semi-dissolved idols from the festival had not been cleared by the municipal authorities in violation of strict orders from the NGT. Taking cognizance of the report, a petition was filed in the NGT through advocate Upama Bhattacharjee. “It has also been pointed out that the biological oxygen demand (BOD) of the river – a measure of organic pollution – reached dangerously high levels during Ganesh Chaturthi. It is humbly submitted that the Yamuna is already dying a slow death and the continuous and unabated immersion of idols is

Sorry state: Remains of idols of Lord Ganesh along the banks of the Yamuna. The picture was taken on September 16. SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA *

causing complete choking of the river, and is a violation of rules” read the petition.

‘Damage to ecology’ A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar issued notices to the Aam Aadmi Party government, the Delhi Jal Board, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the municipal corporations. The Bench asked the authorities to show cause as to why the river banks had not

been cleared despite considerable passage of time since the festivities ended. “This situation cannot be justified. Is it fair that idols will be lying in the mud? Why was it not cleaned even after a month of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival?” asked Justice Kumar. Advocate Sanjay Upadhyaya, appearing for the petitioner in the case, said that the authorities were not enforcing Central Pollution Control Board Guidelines,

2010, on idol immersion and various orders of the Tribunal banning immersion of non-biodegradable idols. “It is humbly submitted that such indiscriminate immersion of idols into the natural water body not only pollutes the river but also severely damages the ecology in the area,” read the plea, which also sought directions for an action plan with respect to immersions that will take place during the upcoming Durga Puja.

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‘Why don’t they probe my son’s murder like Ryan case?’ Asks father of a 9-year-old whose body was found with torture marks in a park in Pul Prahaladpur two months ago Hemani Bhandari New Delhi

On July 11, the body of a nine-year-old boy, with several puncture wounds, was found in a DDA park in Pul Prahaladpur. Two months on, the investigators haven’t made a headway in the case and the father has now decided to approach the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Ravi James, the father of the victim, Izik James, said his son’s killers haven’t been found yet because he isn’t “rich and powerful”. Mr. James, who has been closely following the case of the seven-year-old boy killed on the premises of Ryan International school in Gurugram, said his son’s body was found with torture marks but still no prompt action was taken to trace his CM YK

murderer. “The killer in the Ryan International murder case was arrested in two days, but it’s been two months and the Delhi Police haven’t found anything in my son’s case. I will approach the CBI now,” he said adding “mere bacche ko us se bhi buri tarah se mara gaya tha (my child was murdered more brutally than in the other case)”. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) Romil Baaniya maintained that the police haven’t found any clue in the case so far.

Broken family Izik’s murder, meanwhile, has taken its toll on family ties. Sitting inside the house of her bed-ridden father in Najafgarh, Izik’s mother Santosh James said she and her husband separated a

Looking for justice: Santosh (left) and Ravi James, parents of nine-year-old Izik. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

June 30. Eleven days later, my son was murdered.” Ms. Santosh admitted that she left for Jammu with a man she met in December 2016 at Safdarjung Hospital where her father, Jagdish Sharma, was admitted. “I was unhappy with my marriage. Ravi used to beat me up and abuse me. I left for Jammu with the man and returned in April 2017,” she said.

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week ago because Mr. James suspected her involvement in their son’s murder. “He was in a lot of pain because of the murder. We both were. But he would get drunk regularly and tell me ‘tune marwaya hai mere bacche ko (you got my son killed)’,” she said. “How can a mother do that to her

child,” she asked. Mr. James said he has his reasons for suspecting his wife’s involvement. Now living in a makeshift arrangement in Jaitpur, near his workplace, he said, “I was angry when I said it but my suspicion is not misguided. She returned home after six months on

Daughters stay away The allegations levelled by the husband were reported to the police by Ms. Santosh herself in a complaint against Mr. James. The police said her background was thoroughly checked in Delhi and Jammu , but nothing related to the murder was found against her so far. Ms. Santosh said her two

daughters -- Shikha (22) and Ishika -- have stopped talking to her. Shikha is married in Agra and Ishika in Pul Prahladpur. “My elder daughter’s in-laws don’t want her to talk to us because of the murder in the family. The younger daughter too sides with the father and blames me for breaking us apart,” Ms. Santosh said. Living in Pul Prahaladpur became difficult for the family after the murder because the landlord allegedly asked the Mr. James to vacate the house. “Nobody wants to give a room to people who are associated with a murder. There are vacant flats but no one is willing to offer them because they don’t want to get into police investigation,” he said. B ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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IN BRIEF

INTERVIEW | RUCHI GUPTA

‘We want to run an active, liberal, progressive students’ union’ NSUI wants to strengthen its voice in the policy space and take a stand on various issues with regard to education, says its national in-charge ‘DUSU candidates owe apology for defacement’ NEW DELHI

The High Court on Wednesday castigated the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) poll candidates for defacing the city, saying, “You owe an apology to the city. It is only because of a patient city that you are not yet sent to jail. It is not a joke. This is violence against the city and its people. We shall have a clean Diwali. Come back in a week and show us a cleaned DU.” PTI

HC to hear plea on JNU’s decision on GSCASH NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a plea by some JNU teachers and students challenging the varsity’s decision to disband the Gender Sensitisation Committee against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) and form an Internal Complaints Committee instead. A Bench agreed to list the matter on Thursday, which was mentioned by senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the teachers and students. PTI

We made eorts to < > increase voter

Jaideep Deo Bhanj New Delhi

turnout and told students that the university will become a place where violence plays a role in settling arguments if they do not vote

AICC joint secretary and national in-charge of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) Ruchi Gupta speaks to The Hindu about NSUI’s success in Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections, and its future plans towards being an organisation that runs active, liberal and progressive students’ unions. Excerpts from an interview. The NSUI won the post of president and vice-president in DUSU elections after a gap of four years. What do you feel went right this time? ■ This year, we launched our manifesto a month in advance as we wanted to run an issue-based campaign and set a clear agenda about what we wanted to do if we came to power in DUSU. We went from college to college distributing our manifesto — a very important cultural shift in the way we were doing our politics. Earlier, the manifesto launch would happen along with the launch of ballot numbers as we wanted the students to remember the ballot numbers before going in to vote. The issues that we

raised were issues that are not common currency. We found that issues like metro concession, university special buses and hostels were in the manifestos of every party every year. The issues we raised this year were things like equal opportunities for all college in DU as we have seen that “elite” colleges corner all benefits. I feel the issues that resonated with the students were transparency in DUSU and making a participatory budget. Several students were unaware that contribution to the DUSU budget was part of their college fee and were shocked to find that ₹22 lakh of ₹26 lakh allotted to DUSU was spent on miscellaneous expenditure like photocopying and tea.

Ruchi Gupta AICC joint secretary and national in-charge of the National Students’ Union of India

Batting for change: Ruchi Gupta, the AICC joint secretary and national in-charge of the National Students’ Union of India, during an interview in New Delhi on Wednesday. R.V. MOORTHY *

What will the NSUI do to stop students from feeling a sense of alienation from DUSU politics and increase participation? ■ There is a sense of alienation. We realised that if we talked about the role of students in governance of a university, we could reclaim the credibility of DUSU and say that students’ unions do matter. We also made efforts to increase voter turnout and told students that the university will become a place where violence plays a role

in settling arguments if they do not vote. We also spoke about what happens when a student does not come to vote. We educated students that the ABVP is RSS and that when the RSS comes into student space it takes over the space and there is imposition on people’s personal freedoms. The NSUI has been criticised for its cadre not being seen on campus and emerging only during election time. What are you

Compensate 39 home buyers, SC tells Unitech

doing to change this in DU and across the country? ■ Now that we have DUSU and Punjab University, and representatives in leadership roles in several universities, the challenge is to convert these wins into a credible model that we can showcase going forward. A model of an active, liberal and progressive students’ union. Also, this election was not about an individual candidate who came out victorious based on caste but it was team NSUI. Similarly, we want to strengthen our voice in the policy space and take a stand on various issues with regard to education. We have a

stand on issues but we need to articulate it better so that we develop a strong independent voice. This needs to happen not only where there is electoral politics but campuses where there is no union as well. You had spoken about trying to change the culture of DUSU elections in the run-up to the polls. Do you think the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations need to be reviewed in the case of DUSU elections? ■ I feel the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations are impractical and a little apolitical. The recommendations say that a candidate cannot participate in an election if there has been any “disciplinary action” against him/ her, without caring to define it. If a student leader shows dissent against authority, disciplinary action will be taken to silence him/her. But does that mean that the leader cannot stand for elections? By that definition, [former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president]

Kanhaiya Kumar, who is seen as the biggest student leader today, will not be allowed to stand for elections. Any student leader will come into conflict with the administration and the easiest way to kill someone’s career is to take some form of disciplinary action so that they cannot contest. If we see students as future politicians, then the same standards that are applied to politicians need to apply to student leaders as well. What about the use of money and muscle in DUSU elections? How does the NSUI plan to change that? ■ DU needs to step in to create an atmosphere in which this is possible. The university gives us three days to fight the election. How is a candidate supposed to reach out to over 1.20 lakh voters in three days without putting up posters? Also, another rule is that a candidate cannot contest an election for the second time. So the candidate does not have the time to mature as a leader.

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Bon appétit

Real estate major had appealed against order of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Press Trust of India New Delhi

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed embattled real estate firm Unitech Residential Resorts Limited to pay ₹80,000 each as compensation to 39 home buyers towards litigation cost and for causing harassment.

NCDRC order A Bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Amitava Roy and A. M. Khanwilkar disposed of the appeal filed by the real estate company against the order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) and asked it to pay the cost within eight weeks to the home buyers. Thirty-nine home buyers had booked flats in Unitech’s Vistas project in Gurugram and sought a refund of the principal amount or ₹16.55 crore with interest, after the developer, who had promised to give

possession by 2012, delayed it. The court modified the NCDRC’s order on the issue of compensation and awarded a compensation of ₹80,000, besides refund of the money invested by the home buyers, who said they did not want the flats. Earlier, the firm had told the court that it had complied with directions on refund of principal and interest to home buyers of its Gurugram project. Prior to this, the court had directed the firm to deposit 14% interest on ₹16.55 crore invested by the 39 buyers and warned it that failure to pay could invite attachment of the realtor’s property. Over two dozen home buyers of Unitech’s projects in Noida and Gurugram had approached the NCDRC after the builder failed to give possession of flats as per schedule. The forum had asked Unitech to refund the money to the home buyers with interest.

Refund original amount paid by at buyers, forum tells developer Unitech told to pay two buyers over ₹75 lakh each Staff Reporter NEW DELHI

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) on Tuesday directed Unitech Limited to pay two buyers approximately ₹76 lakh and ₹77 lakh with 10% interest after the real estate developer failed to give possession of the flats within the stipulated period.

Litigation costs Directing Unitech to refund the entire amount invested by the buyers, the commission ordered payment of ₹10,000 as litigation costs to each complainant. Rohit Mehrotra and Rakesh Kumar had alleged they had not been given possession of

grounds on < > The which this complaint has been opposed have repeatedly been rejected by this commission... National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission

their respective flats, booked in a project called ‘The Residences’ in Noida, despite having paid a considerable amount to the developer. They claimed that possession was supposed to take place within 36 months from the date of allotment, time for which had already lapsed. Unitech argued that the project had to be stalled due to unforeseen circumstances.

“The complaint has been resisted by the opposite party, which has alleged that the delay was caused on account of circumstances beyond its control such as agitation by farmers in Noida and Greater Noida,” read the reply. The NCDRC said, “The grounds on which the complaint has been opposed have repeatedly been rejected by this panel in a large number of consumer complaints and therefore need not be dealt again. More importantly, even today, when more than three years have already expired from the date stipulated for commencement of possession, completion of construction is nowhere in sight.”

107 home buyers of Amrapali move apex court They have neither received possession nor refund of ats booked in Greater Noida Press Trust of India New Delhi

Over 100 home buyers who had booked flats with the Amrapali Group moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking that their interests be safeguarded by treating them as secured creditors like banks and financial institutions. The home buyers, who have neither received possession of the flats nor a refund, had booked homes in Amrapali Centurian Park (low rise), Amrapali Centurian Park-Terrace Homes and Amrapali Tropical Garden in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida. More than 5,000 flats were to be built in nearly 40 towers in a phased manner by the embattled group. The fresh plea, filed by Bikram Chatterjee and 106 others, has sought quashing

of a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order passed on a plea by the Bank of Baroda seeking initiation of insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, against Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited.

Consumer fora Consumer and recovery cases, and decrees passed by civil courts and consumer fora in favour of home buyers against real estate firms cannot be executed once insolvency proceedings begin at the NCLT. The plea has sought that either home buyers be treated on a par with banks and financial institutions, or provisions of the bankruptcy code, which give priority to lending institutions, be held ultra vires to the Constitution as being violative of funda-

were made to sign “onesided” allotment agreements.

mental rights like the right to equality and right to life. The petition, filed through lawyer M. L. Lahoty, alleged that insolvency proceedings against Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited affected home buyers of Amrapali Centurian Park Private Limited. The plea also claimed that thousands of buyers had booked apartments during 2010-14 by paying booking amounts running into several crores, after which they

‘Unreasonable’ Objecting to the terms and conditions contained in the agreement, the buyers claimed they were “oppressive and unreasonable” as there was a clause on timely payment by the buyer but nothing on timely completion of the project. It claimed that the contract was onesided as it allowed the builder to raise loans from any bank by mortgaging the flats being sold but the buyers could not object. “Giving a serious jolt to home buyers who have paid their hard-earned money and life savings into funding the purchase of their dream homes, respondents 3 and 4 [Amrapali] were found in serious breach of their oblig-

ation to deliver the flats within 36 months, that is by 2013 and in some cases it was 2016,” the petition said. No compensation for this failure to deliver flats has been paid to the buyers, it alleged. The NCLT had on September 4 ordered liquidation of the builder on a plea by the Bank of Baroda seeking initiation of the same under the Bankruptcy Act. Besides the two Amrapali firms, the plea has made the Union Ministries of Finance and Corporate Affairs, the Uttar Pradesh Government, the Bank of Baroda and the Reserve Bank of India parties to the case as well. Earlier, the Supreme Court had taken note of a similar plea by home buyers of real estate major Jaypee Infratech Ltd and revived insolvency proceedings against the firm.

Getting his share: A man oers a banana to a monkey in the Delhi University area of the Capital. *

SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Public meeting on ‘ideal DUSU’ Students discuss problems faced by them over the past year Nabiha Siddique New Delhi

After the new Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) was elected recently, several student groups during a public meeting at the Arts Faculty in North Campus on Wednesday focused on the work done by the union.

‘False promises’ Besides discussing problems faced by students in the past year, the groups felt that DUSU should represent them instead of the administration. They said after the allconsuming election campaign that tempted students with money, alcohol, pizza, lip glosses, stationery and NAMO power pepper spray,

what lies ahead is a ‘flurry of false promises’. Addressing the public meeting, Abhinash D.C. of Ramjas College said, “What we learnt from the Ramjas incident in February is how institutionally we are deprived of a place to speak.”

Discrimination alleged Alleging discrimination, differently-abled student Anuj Goyal from the Delhi School of Economics (DSE) pointed out how DU only has 26 lifts with three people working for their maintenance. Mr. Goyal said, “There’s a special path made of yellow tiles constructed for us, which is never cleaned. The path is not a disabledfriendly path as it has turns.”

He spoke about how a seminar the students of DSE wanted to conduct on the right to privacy was rejected by various authorities as the topic was not “economics-related or perhaps they feared another Ramjas incident” around election time. Ironically, he said, a seminar on culture was held at the same venue as the proposed privacy seminar.

‘Fest organising body’ Devika Shekhawat of Pinjara Tod said, “We have gathered here to talk about the political imagination in DU and unitisation against students’ problems because we don’t want our students’ union to be just a fest organising body.”

‘Form panel for street vendors through polls’

Inspect mosques to check noise levels: NGT

HC asks Delhi govt to set up Town Vending Committee in each municipality

Delhi govt, pollution panel told to take appropriate action in case of violation

Press Trust of India New Delhi

Observing that rights of street vendors are being “grossly affected”, the Delhi High Court asked the Aam Aadmi Party government to expeditiously set up vending committees through elections to address their grievances. A Bench headed by Justice G. S. Sistani asked the Delhi government to set up a Town Vending Committee (TVC) in each municipality and conCM YK

sider representations of street vendors in the Capital. The court gave the direction after Congress leader Ajay Maken, along with some NGOs and traders’ associations, alleged that the law on setting up of TVCs had been violated by the government as these bodies do not comprise elected representatives of vendors. The court said, “The matter may be looked into expeditiously as the number of cases are increasing, and on

the other hand we find that there are obstructions on roads and pavements as well. In the absence of formation of TVCs, rights of street vendors are being grossly affected.”

‘Fair and just’ “Prima facie, we find the stand taken by the petitioners to be fair and just for the reason that as a general principle of law, a rule cannot override the basic provisions of the Street Vendors [Pro-

tection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending] Act, 2014. We request the respondents [the Delhi government and civic bodies] to consider the representations of street vendors and the submissions made and recorded in the order passed,” the Bench said. A batch of petitions have challenged the Street Vendors Act, which was enacted to regulate street vendors in public areas and protect their rights.

Press Trust of India New Delhi

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Delhi government to inspect mosques in east Delhi and check whether the noise levels generated by loudspeakers during azaan (call to worship) exceeded permissible limits. A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar asked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the Delhi Pollu-

tion Control Committee (DPCC) to take appropriate action against them in case of violation.

Prescribed parameters The Tribunal passed the order as it disposed of a plea by non-government organisation Akhand Bharat Morcha alleging that illegal use of loudspeakers at such places adversely affected the health of the residents living in the vicinity. The counsel for various

mosques submitted that they used loudspeakers without exceeding the prescribed parameters. The plea had alleged that the activities of some mosques were in violation of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000. It had claimed that these places of worship were located in silent zones housing schools and hospitals and their loudspeakers sur-

passed the laid down decibel levels.

No action taken The plea by NGO had alleged that the residents of the area had informed the authorities, but no action was taken. “Direct the police to ensure no noise pollution is caused by the respondent mosques and that the use of loudspeaker if any is within the prescribed limits of the law,” the petition stated further. B ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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Woman plots robbery Junaid murder: bail plea of one accused rejected to frame ancé, held Ashok Kumar

Faridabad

She secretly married another man, conspired to loot house Shubhomoy Sikdar New Delhi

A probe into a robbery at a house in north-east Delhi’s Welcome has unearthed a ‘plot’ that has left the victims horrified. According to the police, the robbery was planned by the victims’ daughter, Shabana, who had secretly married a man and wanted to frame her fiancé, chosen by her family, for the crime. Cash and jewellery amounting to ₹30 lakh were robbed from the house on Tuesday when all members of Shabana’s family were away, except for her younger sister.

Marriage in 2 months The police said Shabana conspired with her “husband”, Md. Anish, to commit the crime as her family was preparing to marry her to a doctor two months later. “She and her husband, Md. Anish, planned that they would carry out a robbery at her house and then plant the booty in the house of the doctor to prove to her family that the groom and his family were behind the crime. She even had plans to go ahead and marry the doctor, despite being married to Anish, so that she could frame the former in the case,” said Deputy Commissioner of Po-

The accused in police custody. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

lice (North East) A.K. Singla. Shabana (22) secretly married Anish (34), a married man, in 2015. Anish’s family, including his first wife, also did not know about this marriage.

Wrong number “Anish fell in love with Shabana when they got connected through a wrong number. They didn’t reveal their relationship to their family members. Their nikah was solemnised at Shahdara in 2015,” said a police officer. As per their plan, Shabana called Anish and locked her sister in her room. She also provided keys of the locker to Anish to execute the plan. To convince her sister that a robbery had taken place, she asked Anish to come at a

time when only she and her sister were at home. “On Tuesday, Shabana made a PCR call around 5.30 p.m. and claimed that two unknown persons had committed a robbery at her place. According to her statement, the duo knocked the door of her house and asked for her father. When she told them he was not at home, the two men said that they had come from Kabir Nagar and wanted to deliver the marriage invitation cards. She opened the door thinking they were genuine people,” said Mr. Singla.

A local court here dismissed the bail application of an accused in the Junaid murder case. Rameshwar, a municipal corporation employee from Delhi, is accused of starting an argument over a seat in a local train leading to the murder of the teenager earlier this year.

Four of the six accused in the case are out on bail after the police dropped charges of rioting, unlawful assembly and common intention against them. Rameshwar, 50, has moved the bail application thrice over the past three months. “His counsel withdrew the application on the first occasion. The court dis-

missed the application the second time saying that it could be decided after the evidence was produced before it,” Nibrash Ahmed, the complainant's lawyer, told The Hindu.

Third attempt Rameshwar moved the bail application for the third time a fortnight ago, but it was

again rejected by the court. Opposing the plea, Mr. Ahmed contended that the argument over the seat was initiated by the accused, who had boarded the train at Okhla along with his accomplices. He further contended that Rameshwar was present in the train all through the scuffle and deboarded the train at Asaoti railway sta-

tion, where the murder took place. Junaid was stabbed to death on June 22. Rameshwar and his three accomplices, arrested in the case, belong to Khambi village in Palwal. Another accused, Ramesh, belongs to Jodhpur in Palwal. Prime accused Naresh, 27, is a resident of Bhamrola in Palwal.

‘Husband’ arrested Shabana told the police that the men asked her for a pen and when she turned back, both of them barged into the house and one man covered her mouth. The other one bolted the room of the second floor where her younger sister was studying, she claimed. This sequence of events raised the police’s suspicion and they quizzed Shabana strictly following which she allegedly broke down confessed to having committed the crime. The police also arrested Anish for his alleged involvement in the robbery and are trying to ascertain if someone else was also a party to the crime.

DELHI TODAY Dance: `Chetna - An insight into consciousness’. Presentation of two dance choreographies in Bharatanatyam and contemporary styles: Mrigtrishna choreographed by Aparajita Sarma and Pritpal Singh and Jai Ganesh concept and choreography by Guru Smt Kanaka Sudhakar. Artists: Aparajita Sarma, Rashmi Mohan, Sandhya Hari, Arti Raman, Upasana Gagneja, Tanya Gambhir and Anusha Ramachandran at C.D Deshmukh Auditorium, India International Centre (IIC), 6:30 p.m. Dance: Lalit Arpan Festival 2017 - An Ode to Bahuda (The Spirit of Plurality)

CM YK

The 16th edition is inspired by the Up anishad verse ‘Ekam Sat Viprah Bahuda Vadanti’. “Shadowed Colours” by Sanchita Abrol (Kathak); “View on the Mahabharata” by Radha Anjali & Natya Co, Austria (Bharatanatyam); “Chhand Pravah” by Gangani Parivar at The Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre (IHC), 7 p.m. Exhibition: Finland 100 Years - Land of Northern Lights - a Finland photography exhibition by various nesse photographers by Finland Embassy at Open Palm Court Gallery, India Habitat Centre (IHC), 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Exhibition: Terra Firma - a group

painting exhibition by Milind Nayak, Gurudas Shenoy, Shirley Mathew and Praveen Kumar at Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre (IHC), 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Exhibition: "Age No Bar" a group show by paintings curated by Joyattam Dutta at All India Fine Arts & Craft Society (AIFACS), 1 Ra Marg, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Screening: "Fool Circle (Tristesse Club)" French lm screening with English subtitles at M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi Estate, 6:30 p.m. (Mail your listings for this column at [email protected])

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4 CITY

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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IN BRIEF

MLAs protest fuel price hike, detained AAP leaders picked up outside Minister’s oce, allowed to leave police station after half-an-hour

Robber killed, cop hurt in shootout Incident after chase following theft

Additional DTC buses during Navratri

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

Greater Noida

Special DTC buses will ply during Navratri to facilitate devotees visiting famous temples in the city. The special buses will operate in the evening shift. Supervisory DTC staff will be deployed at strategic places to help commuters, the official said. Navratri begins on Thursday and ends on September 30. PTI

A robber was gunned down and a policeman was injured in a late-night encounter on Tuesday at Bisrakh in Greater Noida. According to the police, a Delhi-based businessman, Vinod, was returning to Delhi from Dasna in his car, when three bike-borne miscreants held him at gunpoint near Sector 62, and made off with his car and the cash he was carrying. “The bike-borne miscreants intercepted Vinod near Sector 62 and stole his car and ₹1.5 lakh cash at gunpoint late and fled. Soon after the incident, he informed the PCR about the robbery and the police swung into action.” said Love Kumar, Senior Superintendent of Police, Gautam Budh Nagar.

Fine for encroachment at ISBTs hiked 10 times NEW DELHI

The Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited has increased the fine for people encroaching the inter-State bus terminus premises 10 times to ₹5,000, an official said on Wednesday. The hike came after complaints that vendors were illegally occupying ISBT spaces. PTI

Taking a stand: Security personnel stop AAP members from entering Shastri Bhawan during their protest against rising prices of petrol and diesel, on Wednesday. V. SUDERSHAN *

Soumya Pillai New Delhi

A group of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs and supporters, who had gone to submit a memorandum against the rising prices of petrol and diesel to the Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at Shastri Bhawan, were detained by the Delhi Police on Wednesday.

Where will the effigy makers go: HC to SDMC NEW DELHI

How will Dussehra be celebrated if there are no effigies, the Delhi High Court asked the SDMC while pulling it up for calling effigy-makers encroachers of public land. An HC bench observed the authorities allow construction of buildings for "rich" people but remove the "poor", calling them encroachers. PTI

Leaders detained Around 12:30 p.m., the protesters reached Shastri Bhawan, but were stopped at the gate. The MLAs wearing the AAP caps raised slogans against fuel hike, “Ye dekho Modi ka khel, ₹80 ho gaya tel (look at Narendra Modi’s

4 held over road rage death in Geeta Colony

game, fuel is now ₹80)” and ‘Bohut hui mehangai ki maar, nikammi hai Modi sarkar’ (Have had enough of rising prices, the Modi government is useless). "Our MLAs who had gone to the Petroleum Ministry at Shastri Bhawan to submit a memorandum against the high prices of petrol and diesel were detained,” AAP’s Delhi convenor Gopal Rai tweeted. "This was a peaceful attempt to meet the Minister, as it is the democratic right of every citizen. Our MLAs were stopped at the entry," he wrote. The legislators were picked up and detained at

the Parliament Street police station and let go in half-an-hour.

Deregulated prices The AAP’s memorandum addressing Mr. Pradhan said, “We are drawing your urgent attention towards the steep hike in prices of petrol and diesel, which have now reached an unprecedented highest level in three years since your party’s government was formed at the Centre in May 2014.” It also blamed the Centre for distancing itself from the skyrocketing prices, stating that these have been deregulated and now it is the responsibility of the oil com-

panies to control fuel prices. “…Now with criticism mounting, the Centre has changed tack and is stating that other options can be explored, but instead of addressing the problem, it is trying to put the onus on the States,” the memorandum read. “We request the Petroleum Minister to give strict instructions to the oil companies to bring down prices and fix them as per international rates,” Mr. Rai said.

‘Why no rate cut?’ Standing outside the gate of Shastri Bhawan, AAP legislator Alka Lamba said that all of the party MLAs, along with supporters, have parti-

NEW DELHI

The Delhi police on Wednesday claimed to have arrested four men in connection with a road rage incident in Geeta Colony this past week where a young man was stabbed to death and his friend was injured. The incident happened on September 16. Nishant Arora (29) was declared brought dead at the GTB Hospital after being stabbed by a group of men outside an eatery. His friend Gaurav Sharma (27) was injured in the incident. The two had intervened in a fight between the accused and another man over a parking issue. During the investigation, the police examined the route taken by the accused and questioned locals. Subsequently, the four accused

Sisodia visits rundown space in Old Delhi; proposal to turn it into cultural hub to be submitted soon

CM returns, reviews major govt projects

were identified as Deepanshu Chabra (24), Devender Sharma (24), Rohan alias Gagan Vermani (22) and Gufran (22), the police said. They were nabbed from Haridwar.

Meets Ministers after 10-day break Staff Reporter NEW DELHI

Parking issue Ashish Tyagi, a friend of the two victim who escaped unhurt, told the police that he, along with Mr. Arora and Mr. Sharma, were going towards Jheel Chowk, Geeta Colony on a scooter. When they reached near a dhaba, they found three motorcyclists quarrelling with a car driver asking him to give space for them to pass, the police said. The duo tried to pacify both parties. Meanwhile, one of the motorcyclists took out a knife and stabbed Arora and Sharma several times and fled the spot.

Nabbed: The accused were held from Haridwar days after the incident on September 16. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

2 shot dead by robbers in Gr. Noida

In disrepair: The space is now being used as a dumping ground, often attracting drugs and alcohol addicts; Deputy CM Manish Sisodia during the inspection. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

Damini Nath NEW DELHI

Come winter 2017, Delhi 6 could have its own cultural hub, with the government now starting work on transforming a neglected amphitheatre that had become a den for drug addicts into a performance space. An amphitheatre on the premises of a night shelter run by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board on Shanker Gali in Old Delhi would be renovated and reclaimed, as per instructions by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Along with DUSIB officials, Mr. Sisodia inspected the site on Wednesday.

Cultural activities Bipin Rai, DUSIB Member (expert), said that Mr. Sisodia, who is also Delhi’s Art

and Culture Minister, had asked DUSIB officials to come up with a proposal to convert the space into a cultural centre. “The aim of the project will be to transform the space so that residents in the area can enjoy cultural activities there. We hope to have it ready by the winter. The Deputy CM has asked for the proposal as soon as possible,” said Mr. Rai. In addition to the amphitheatre, one floor of the building, which has the night shelter on the top floor, could be used by the Urdu Academy and Punjabi Academy to house libraries, said Mr. Rai. He added that apart from music, dance and drama performances, the amphitheatre could be used to screen films for locals. Apart

Law & order problems Currently, the space is being used as a dumping ground by locals and as a spot for drug and alcohol addicts to congregate. As reported in The Hindu on Wednesday, locals had been complaining about the law and order challenges around the complex. Mr. Rai said that this was also addressed during a meeting of DUSIB officials and Mr. Sisodia following the inspection. He said with the involvement of locals and regular events at the amphitheatre, the security aspect would also be addressed.

Mohalla clinics He also reviewed the functioning of the existing mohalla clinics and asked the Health Department to address any problems arising out of those by the end of the month. All the diagnostic tests that are supposed to be offered by the clinics should be started at the earliest and any shortage of doctors should be resolved, he said. Reviewing the work of

Arvind Kejriwal the Education Department, Mr. Kejriwal asked the officials to study the New Delhi Municipal Council’s project of installing CCTV cameras in schools. The Education Department said the blueprint for the plan to install CCTV cameras in all schools was being drafted and the work would start soon. As per the statement, the CM asked the Education Department to come up with a special campaign to aid students who are completing their studies through correspondence, having failed in the regular system. In addition, the CM also asked for details of all social welfare schemes of the Social Welfare Department in order to review their implementation.

Love Kumar SSP,Gautam Budh Nagar

opened fire at the police party, who returned fire. “During the crossfire, one of the robbers suffered injuries to his chest, stomach and leg, while a police constable was shot in his left arm. The other two miscreants fled the spot leaving behind the car and cash robbed from the businessman,” Mr. Kumar said.

Car, cash recovered At least 20 rounds were fired from both sides in the encounter. According to the police, the injured persons were rushed to district hospital in Noida, where the injured robber was declared dead. A police constable, Subodh Kumar, who injured his arm is undergoing treatment at the hospital. The deceased miscreant has been identified as Balwinder, a native of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. The police seized an illegal weapon and recovered the car and cash from the spot after the encounter. The police have also launched a search operation to nab the absconding criminals.

9-year-old raped in Karol Bagh Press Trust of India New Delhi

A nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a man in central Delhi’s Karol Bagh when she had gone to get food from a hotel in the area, the police said on Wednesday. The accused is yet to be identified. The girl’s family said the accused tried to strangulate her and left her as he assumed her to be dead. The police, however, said that this angle has not emerged in their probe so far. The incident was reported on Tuesday night. The girl’s family said she had gone to the hotel and was told by the hotel owner that her order would take some time. When she went to take a seat on a nearby bench, a man, who had come to the hotel, lured her on some pretext and took her to the stairs outside the hotel, the police said. He then allegedly forced himself on her. The victim’s family alleged that the accused tried to strangulate her and after she lost consciousness, he left her assuming her to be dead.After she regained consciousness, the girl returned home and narrated her ordeal, following which the police were informed. The victim was taken to a hospital and was later discharged.

AAP disrupts SDMC meeting

Accuses several companies of charging high tari, cheating banks, shareholders

Mayor says party’s behaviour ‘against democratic values’

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

Greater Noida

A public interest litigation (PIL) petition, which has accused several power generation companies of charging unjustifiably high tariff from consumers, and of cheating banks and their shareholders, was heard by the Delhi High Court on Wednesday. A two-judge Bench has adjourned the case to October 25. The plea, filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation and Common Cause, has sought the appointment of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the entire gamut of alleged corruption around import of power equipment and coal. Among the companies named in the PIL petition are Adani group and Essar. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for

CM YK

from strengthening the exterior wall and installing new lights, the plan would include short and long-term measures to make better use of the space.

Returning to work after 10 days away, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday took stock of all major projects of the AAP government during a review meeting with Ministers. Mr. Kejriwal, who was in Maharashtra for a meditation course till Tuesday, reviewed the AAP government’s flagship projects, including the mohalla clinics project. He asked officials to “fast-track the next phase” of the project, which includes setting up the clinics at government schools, according to a government statement.

lakh and a car from a businessman near Sector 62

PIL seeks SIT probe into power rms Josy Joseph

Two men were gunned down and one injured while trying to resist a robbery at Ecotech area in Greater Noida on Wednesday evening. According to the police, the incident took place around 8:30 p.m. when 4 men in a car overtook a van that was carrying the sales money from liquor shops. The accused got the van to stop and shot at the collection agents when they resisted. The deceased have been identified as Omprakash (guard) and Chandrabahadur(driver) while another guard, Ambuj, was injured. The miscreants, around four of them, looted around ₹8 lakh from the van and fled from the spot.

Accused open fire After receiving the information, Sector 58 police station in-charge Anil Pratap Singh and his team started chasing the robbers who were speeding towards Greater Noida. The police also alerted Greater Noida police about the robbery. Bisrakh Police intercepted the robbers at Cherry County in Tech Zone-4 in Greater Noida and signaled them to stop. After being surrounded, the robbers

Amphitheatre may be redone by winter

Victim stabbed in ght over parking Staff Reporter

cipated in the protest to get answers from the Centre as to why the prices of fuel have not come down despite low buying price. “Who is pocketing the profit? Is it the government or is it the private players in the market,” she asked. The AAP on Tuesday had announced at a press conference that it will launch a campaign against the rising prices of commodities, especially petrol and diesel. Party leaders said that there was no reason to charge the customers such high rates when the price of crude oil in international markets has been slashed by half.

bike-borne < > The men had stolen ₹1.5

Power play: The DRI has issued an alert nding 40 companies indulging in rampant overpricing. FILE PHOTO *

the petitioners, said there were four alleged victims of the fraud: electricity consumers, banks, shareholders of those companies and the government that is cheated of its legitimate share of tax.

Written note “The companies are inflating cost of both equipment and coal and have thus burdened

millions of electricity consumers with higher tariff. Secondly, they are taking loans from banks on the basis of this inflated cost, and many of it is ending up as NPAs. Finally, they are cheating their shareholders because they are siphoning out money from shareholders to promoters,” Mr. Bhushan told The Hindu.

The court asked the petitioners to file a written note detailing the various showcause notices issued by the DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence) and their status. “The DRI did a good investigation initially and in May 2014 issued notice to Adani, and in March 2015 to Essar, and later issued alert for 40 coal importing companies, including many from the Adani and Ambani groups,” he pointed out. All probes had either been scuttled or stalled, he said. “The rampant corruption and crime in high places in the country, and the manifest unwillingness of the executive to take requisite action in order to ensure that the culprits are punished, gravely impairs the right of the people to live in a corruption and crime-free society,” the PIL has claimed.

Staff Reporter New Delhi

There was ruckus during a meeting of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Wednesday, after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the opposition allegedly disrupted the proceedings demanding that a discussion be held on illegal constructions in the civic body’s jurisdiction. Terming the behaviour irresponsible, uncalled for and against all democratic values, South Delhi Mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat said the AAP continued to interrupt the House’s discussions despite being provided a reply to a query raised by them. “We have always made sure that every representative in the House gets a chance to speak and question, irrespective of which

seemed ike a < > This deliberate attempt to waste the House’s time Kamaljeet Sehrawat South Delhi Mayor

party they belong. When the opportunity has been given for all discussions in the Zero Hour, this seemed like a deliberate attempt to waste the House’s time,” Ms. Sehrawat said. Stating that such behaviour will not be tolerated in the House, she claimed this was an attempt by the AAP councillors to gain “cheap publicity”.

‘Disrespectful’ A statement was issued by the SDMC, where the behaviour of the AAP councillors was called “disrespectful and unruly, tarnishing the

image and dignity of the House”. However, AAP’s Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Matiala said the BJP-ruled SDMC was trying to divert the public’s attention from the nexus of illegal constructions that have mushroomed under their nose. “For the past 10 years, the BJP is in power in the municipalities and they have done nothing to control illegal constructions that happen without the fear of law. When we raised this question for discussion in the House, we were silenced and the Mayor had no answer,” added Mr. Matiala. He alleged that the SDMC’s Building Department had no records of the number of buildings under its jurisdiction. B ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

SHOWCASE 5

NOIDA/DELHI

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

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A smooth grind

SHORT TAKES

Kamal Swaroop’s documentary on eminent artist Atul Dodiya occupies both the mind and the eye ‘R K Studios will be rebuilt’ Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor says the iconic R K Films and Studios, Mumbai, which burnt down in an accident, will be rebuilt with “a state of the art studio.” Rishi expressed his sadness and added that the “scars” of the incident, that took place on September 16 in Chembur, shall remain. The 65-year-old also shared an old photograph of the studio being readied for an inauguration with the film Awaara starring Raj Kapoor and Nargis. “1950. R K Studios stage No: 1 being readied for Dusserah inauguration with the film Awaara. Dream sequence was to be shot,” Rishi captioned the image. The blaze gutted one of the main shooting venues — the set of dance reality TV show Super Dancer Season 2, but the shooting was not underway. The studio was the venue for movies like Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hain (1960) and Bobby (1973)

shankar Thakar when he was 15 or 16. He speaks about three people whose work he loved and was influenced by. “I was stunned and amazed by the link between three creative minds – Jasper Johns at New York in the 1960s, Jean Luc Godard, the French New Wave Director in France and Labshankar in Ahmedabad. ”

Uma Nair

Award winning filmmaker Kamal Swaroop’s 55-minute Atul on the grandmaster of contemporary Indian art Atul Dodiya looks at the evolution of Dodiya's multifaceted career in which Dodiya turns narrator and storyteller. The film was screened at the PSBT’s Open Frame Festival at India International Centre in New Delhi. It is the result of a seasoned and sensitively handled collaboration and emerges as an original and coherent work of artistic insight. Dodiya as Dodiya is natural, cinematically astute as he reveals a deep intensity that stuns visually.

Childhood memories Dodiya begins his narrative with the memory of an accident with an uncle and an incident of retinal detachment – the loss of vision in one eye and gets into small images and symbols and places and then takes us into the complexity of vibrant western influences and eastern traditions that he drew from.

IANS

Exploring Aussie cuisine Foodie duo Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma take viewers on a trip to Australia with their latest show which will premier on Living Foodz on September 22. Speaking about “Rocky & Mayur’s Offbeat Australia”, Rocky said: “We had an exciting Aussie experience right from takingon new adventures to enjoying amazing cuisine.”

Deft touch: Atul Dodiya in a still from the lm

Swaroop captures with a fish lens an enormous range, from early photorealist paintings depicting middleclass life to ingenious assemblages that brilliantly fuse European and Indian artistic styles, history, and cultural references. In addition to some close ups of Dodiya's colourful art, the film works more as a flash-

was deeply < > Ifascinated by the beauty of his thoughts and his intellectual worth. I felt like a fool in front of him. After I nished, I was inspired to nd out more and work on another lm... Kamal Swaroop

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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

back and was conceptualised by Swaroop in 2012. The sweeping camera movements gives us a fluid aspect of the cultural integrity of the narrative. The soundtrack follows the quietude of the camera’s eloquence, combining ambient sounds, and dialogue loaded with quotations from Dodiya’s favourite gleanings to create a limpid sequential soundscape.

The recurring grindstone We are shown several images of the grindstone (chakki) – a primordial Indian reference to Dodiya's neighbour, an old widow, who would prepare pickles and paapad at the old wadi in Ghatkopar where Dodiya lived. “Every morning and afternoon she would work on her grindstone. That sound would put us to sleep. That

chakki takes different forms in my work. It not only symbolises memories of my childhood, but also symbolises hard work,” says Dodiya. Letters and books Dodiya links his works to his travels with precision and passion. The sound of his spoken Gujarati and Hindi along with English adds to the subtext of the beauty of the vernacular. “Letter from a Father” (1994), oil and acrylic on canvas, is a memoir of the artist’s first overseas trip – in this case – Paris. Dodiya unconsciously lets us into his world of books and language and letters. Dodiya explains his evolution of thought in “Lamentation”, with devotion and clarity towards the end. “In ‘Lamentation’ half the painting is divided with an image of Gandhi walking away on an empty railway

platform and half the painting draws inspiration from Picasso’s well-known painting of the girl and the mother during the civil war. I put an image of Shiva below her, which was inspired by the Kalighat painting. When I created this work, it was 1997, and India completed 50 years of independence. It was a moment of great celebration, but my painting was titled ‘Lamentation’,” explains Dodiya, “After creating this work, my obsession with Gandhi began.” For those of us who have followed Dodiya over the past 25 odd years, there are some precious moments to cherish. When Dodiya speaks of his visit and stay at Ramakrishna Mission his work “Bed of Dakshineshwar House” becomes a signpost of the past. Dodiya’s paintings be-

come vignettes of visual punctuation. One wished there were more specially his Sabari works done at Singapore Tyler Print Institute.

Music and musings “Mohd Rafi and Geeta Dutt are my most favourite singers. I’d like to be remembered as Mohd Rafi of Indian painting,” when he says this, we are looking at Atul Dodiya as a complete human with finer aesthetics, maybe a hint of romanticism. Dodiya, the voracious reader, thinker and philosopher, also creeps into little places when he talks of abstract expressionist Philip Guston, and uses his quote for a painting – “What is freedom for an artist – it’s a long long preparation for a few moments of innocence.” Dodiya says he started reading the poetry of Lab-

Aapa’s story

Background Score After the screening, Swaroop spoke about how he treated Dodiya with reverence. “When I shot the film it ran into four hours, I couldn’t prolong it and had to finish it in stipulated time. Yes, I was deeply fascinated by the beauty of his thoughts and his intellectual worth. I felt like a fool in front of him. After I finished, I was inspired to find out more and work on another film that would look at Atul with two artists and his wife Anju. ” Swaroop sustains the narrative in the first person, with a study of few works. “In the background score, I included the sound of the sloshing of water, the chatter of women, handmills, and audio tracks from films such as Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali and Ingmar Bergman’s Silence. There is chorale music and classical piano pieces because I wanted a subtle counterpoint in effect – both Atul and Anju love Bergman, that is why I used that,” says Swaroop. He used sound and silence to give us references of reflections in reality. For example, Dodiya’s Night Studio was partially inspired by his memories of hearing the sound of handmills at his old home. “I wanted the film to float on the principle of multiple references.” Swaroop’s film reflects a fervent knowledge and comprehensive understanding of human philosophy, a profound insight into the fragility and strength present in an artist’s world.

IN BRIEF

Apoorva Lakhia on his rst meeting with Haseena Parkar and how the biopic is dierent from his other crime thrillers Atif Khan

Director Apoorva Lakhia, who has made crime films like Shootout at Lokhandwala and Zanjeer, is ready with Haseena Parkar, based on Dawood Ibrahim’s sister with the same name. He asserts that he has not glorified the character in the film and has tried to portray the story of a woman who emerged out of difficult circumstances to become Aapa, as everybody knew Hassena in later part of her life. Here he talks about treatment of the subject, issue of self censorship and working with Shraddha Kapoor. Excerpts: How relevant is a biopic like Hassena Parkar in today’s politically charged environment? I think even the politicians understand that we are filmmakers who are working to entertain people but it becomes over hyped on social media because of the subject. It is very easy for a person who is sitting 2,500 km away and abusing my film. I see them as cowards. Everybody keeps asking me did I receive any sort of threat from the underworld and I keep

Fascination for real characters: Apoorva Lakhia; Shraddha Kapoor as the protagonist telling them that I did not. It resentation does arise. is a film about the life of a Also, there is a very thin woman who was not proven line between glorification guilty in any court of law. I and showing reality… made a film which I thought I have not glorified anyone was interesting with people in the film nor was any intensurrounding me. In the Con- tion of doing that. I think stitution, it is clearly men- there is no thin line. If a pertioned that the person is in- son has done certain things nocent until proven guilty. I in her life and we are showthink the judgements on the ing that, it is not glorificafilm should also come after tion. It shows how her own the film is screened. dreams shattered due to the But the question of rep- tragedies that happened to

her. That led her to become what some people call a gangster, some a godmother and others a grey character. Can I not make any film that is politically charged or deal with a subject about which some people have certain reservations? Of course, you can, you have right to self-expression. But do you think at some point of time as a filmmaker you have to ex-

ercise self-censorship? Obviously, you have to self-censor because you have to be a model citizen first. I have a mother, cousins, brothers who have daughters, friends who have daughters and you have to take care of all these factors. My upbringing does not allow me to disrespect or abuse any women and I do not use abusive language in my films. I agree that my films

are basically on violent side but they provide clean entertainment. I do not intend to hurt any sentiments. But at the end of the day, we are making a commercial film with songs, the larger than life portrayal, not a documentary. How different is your treatment of Haseena Parkar from your other films? It is different. Shootout at Lokhandwala was a pure adrenaline rush film while Zanjeer was a total action film. Haseena Parkar has got more drama than violence. It is a journey of a woman from the age of seventeen to forty-five and in that journey in Mumbai went through lot of changes. After the blasts, she was questioned for 45 days. They did not find any proof against her and she was the only one in the family who stayed back. The film is different as it is a film about a girl who was born in a poor family, her father was a police constable, they were living in a twelve by twelve foot chawl with fourteen of them. Any recollection of her mannerisms… I still remember when I first went to her I was two hours late and she made me

wait two hours. Sometimes people see (film) industry people as someone not trustworthy as they sometimes dramatise the real events and change some of the facts. People want to be sure in which light you are going to show them. She started trusting me after six-seven months and her family made it easier for me. We met a lot of police persons, looked at a lot of old police files and talking to the family helped in research. What about films with women as central characters? Tell us about your experience of working with Shraddha Kapoor. Films made on women as central characters are opening entirely new avenues for filmmakers now. They can tell a story without thinking about other issues. You can now get the heroine and then look for the hero. Shraddha is a good actor and I knew that she can manage the performance. The main advantage was that she can play a seventeen-year-old girl as well as forty-five year old. I watched her performance in Haider which was different from her earlier films and I became a fan while shooting with her.

Sneak peek To mark his 10th anniversary presentation at the Paris Fashion Week, noted fashion couturier Manish Arora presented two signature looks from his upcoming spring-summer collection in Delhi recently. This collection will be launched at the Paris Fashion Week on September 28. Speaking on the occasion, Manish Arora said: “Our Spring Summer 18 reflects fun and luxury with elements like hearts, stars, feathers and flowers. I am looking forward to the show where we’ll get to see this dreamy amalgamation.” This was a collaboration between Zoya, a diamond boutique, and the designer. A rich palette of psychedelic colours and kitsch motifs in garments that combine traditional Indian crafts like embroidery, appliqué and beading with Western silhouettescarry a definitive imprint of Manish’s distinct design sensibilities.

5 EVENTS WORTH-YOUR-WHILE

FOOD Navratra Thali at Kathputli Enjoy the festival of Navratra with food. The menu features special Navrara thali, Shikanji, fresh fruits, raita, shakarkandi chat, paneer tamatar wala. Also kuttu parantha and dudhiya halwa to satisfy sweet tooth. Venu: 35, Defence Colony Market Time : 12: 30 p.m. to 4 p.m.; 7: 30 p.m. and 11: 30 p.m.

CM YK

INITIATIVE Nurturing the Nurturer Launch of a nationwide health initiative to sensitise women about importance of screening for various types of women specific cancers. Actress Lisa Ray will be special guest at the event organised by FICCI Ladies Organisation. Venue: Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Federation House, 1, Tansen Marg Time: 4 p.m.

FUSION Nine Nights This festive season indulge in Navratra menu which features an array of fusion dishes from raw banana and kuttu nachos to sabudana hash browns. The special spread includes samak chawal saffron and green peas risotto, sweet potato gnocchi with cherry tomato. Venue: Café Tesu, Essex Farms, 4 Aurobindo Marg Time: 12 noon to 11:30 p.m.

EXHIBITION Terra Firma Reflecting on the urge of humanity to co-exist in the natural, the body of works by four artists of Karnataka, relates to the existing urban scenario. The group show features work of Gurudas Shenoy, Milind Nayak, Praveen Kumar and Shirley Mathew. Venue: Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road Time: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

FESTIVAL Special platter An appetising Vrat food awaits foodies, who can enjoy eating Phalahari Kheer, made with milk, samak rice, Saboodana Khichdi and Kuttu ki roti, Wonder Aloo Chaat, Courtesy by Cottage Cheese and Pina Raita (Pineapple Raita) are other items served during the festival. Venue: Cafe Delhi Heights, Shop No. SF 12 - 13, Pacific Mall Tagore Garden Time: 11 a.m. to Midnight B ND-NDE

21-09-2017 - THE HINDU - SHASHI THAKUR - Link 2.pdf ...

Institute of Science,. Bangalore, and the Harish. Chandra Research Institute,. Allahabad, have only. forayed into the theoretical. aspects of quantum. computing ...

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