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PM Modi never linked ISI to Kanpur train accident: Rajnath Singh
Jaitley defends linking PAN to Aadhaar, allays concerns on I-T raids
Ex-Trump adviser Manafort ‘worked to beneit Putin regime’
Cheteshwar Pujara gets Grade A contract, along with Vijay & Jadeja
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Four dead after terror attack outside U.K. Parliament
NEARBY
SC to hear Babri Masjid demolition case today
Man rams car into crowd, stabs police oicer before being shot dead
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Mumbai
EC freezes ‘two leaves’ for R.K. Nagar bypoll Recognises split in party, bars use of ‘AIADMK’ till inal order Special Correspondent NEW DELHI
NEW DELHI
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ixed for Thursday the hearing in the Babri Masjid demolition case in which senior BJP leaders L. K. Advani, M. M. Joshi and Uma Bharti are accused. A Bench headed by Justice P. C. Ghose said the appropriate bench comprising him and Justice R F Nariman will be hearing the matter. NEWS 쑺 PAGE 11 DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Gau rakshak leader not in Jaipur hotel FIR JAIPUR
Three days after cow vigilante groups swooped down on a hotel here alleging that it was serving beef, the Jaipur Police on Wednesday registered a criminal case against unknown persons for unlawful assembly, causing hurt and trespass. The FIR did not name Sadhvi Kamal Didi, who led the cow vigilante crowd, as an accused. NATION
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Vidya Ram London
A full counter-terrorism operation was under way in London on Wednesday afternoon after an attacker rammed a car into a crowd on Westminster Bridge and then attacked a police officer within the security cordon of the U.K. Parliament at Westminster. Four persons were killed in the incident, including the attacker who was shot dead after he stabbed a police officer, who succumbed to his injuries. Two persons, including a woman, died in the attack on the bridge with several others seriously injured, in what Scotland Yard described as a “terrorist incident.” The Houses of Parliament and nearby buildings went into lockdown while Prime Minister Theresa May was ushered back to Downing Street following the incident that occurred around 2.40 p.m. Metropolitan Police Commander B.J. Harrington said a full counter-terrorism operation was under way and that the Acting Metropolitan Commissioner Craig Mackey had been at the scene of the incident. Details of the incident were still emerging at the time of going to print but the leader of the House of Commons David Liddington said
First response: A member of the public is treated by emergency services near Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament in London on Wednesday. GETTY IMAGES *
a police officer was stabbed and a person shot by armed police within the security cordon of the Houses of Parliament.
French students injured Reports suggested that on Westminster Bridge, pedestrians were hit by a car that ploughed into them. Mr. Harrington said they had received a number of reports, including of a person in the river, a car colliding with
pedestrians and an armed man with a knife. The London Ambulance Service said they had treated at least 10 people with a number of others in hospital, while the port authority said a woman had been rescued from the river, with injuries. Three French pupils on a school trip were among those hurt on the bridge, two of them seriously. With many politicians still
2 RSS workers get life term in Ajmer dargah blast case
3 meat shops vandalised in western U.P.
Explosion in shrine on October 11, 2007, had killed three
Meerut
mar had addressed a secret meeting of activists in Jaipur’s Gujarati Samaj guest house and asked them to work by associating themselves with some religious groups so as to avoid suspicion. CONTINUED 쑺 ON PAGE 10
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JAIPUR
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court here on Wednesday sentenced two Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers to life imprisonment in the 2007 Ajmer dargah blast case in which three persons were killed. The convicts are Bhavesh Patel (39) and Devendra Gupta (41). This is the firstever conviction and sentencing of RSS cadre in a terror case. Handing down the life sentence, Special Judge Dinesh Gupta directed the NIA to file a closure report in connection with senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar, selfstyled godwoman Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and an accused Ramesh Gohil about their role in the blast at the 13th century dargah of Kh-
End of the road: Convicts Devendra Gupta and Bhavesh Patel, left, being taken away after the sentencing in Jaipur. PTI *
waja Moinuddin Chishti. In one of the charge sheets, the names of Mr. Kumar and Pragya Thakur had appeared as suspects, though they were not formally named as accused, since the probe against them was “kept pending.” The charge sheet claimed that Mr. Ku-
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AIADMK MPs belonging to the Sasikala faction leaving the Election Commission on Wednesday. SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY *
their parent party ... and both the groups shall also be allotted different symbols as they may choose from the list of free symbols notified by the Election Commission for the purpose of the byelection,” said the order.
‘New names today’ Accordingly, the EC directed both factions to furnish names of their groups by 10 a.m. on Thursday. They have also been instructed to suggest three options each for possible election symbols. The factions have been allowed a final opportunity of adducing all other documents and affidavits by April 17 for the final settlement of the dispute. During the hearing on Wednesday, the Sasikala faction contended that there was no split in the party, and it was only a matter of in-
Path to safety
A fall, and rebirth: An Indian Gaur, which fell into a disused 10-foot-deep well in a private property near Gorishola in Udhagamandalam, was rescued by forest department personnel on Wednesday. An earthmover was used to break open a wall, and a gradient made for the bovine to climb out. M. SATHYAMOORTHY *
NIMHANS raises volunteer corps to reach out
Municipal election put of by a day
Those signing up will help people with mental health issues get sound medical advice Bengaluru
opportunities for patients with mental illnesses.
There is a gap in the availability, accessibility and affordability of mental health services, and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) Centre for Well Being here is working to bridge it by grooming people from various walks of life — teachers, engineers, home makers and others — to take its programmes to those in need. The first batch of 23 participants completed a four-month ‘Well-being volunteer programme’ last week. Explaining the concept, E. Aravind Raj, Assistant Professor of Psychiatric Social Work at NIMHANS, said that the effort was to build a pool of volunteers from different
Starting a centre Programme volunteers have referred more than 50 patients to NIMHANS and the NIMHANS Centre for Well Being (NCWB). They also plan to create a volunteer cell at NCWB. Engineer-turnedcommunication consultant Arun Tharakan (38), who enrolled in the programme, wants to learn more about mental health. He is keen to understand the mental health of cab drivers, and wants to work with cab aggregators to study drivers who clock over 12 hours a day. “Their mental state plays a role in how they drive. Many of them have financial problems and are treated like machines,” he
CM YK
Health patrol: NIMHANS volunteers, in picture, will aid distressed people get professional help SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *
backgrounds who would help remove the stigma surrounding mental health. The modules covered in the course included a school mental health programme, stress management, basic counselling skills, and
identification and treatment of mental illness. The course educated participants about sleep hygiene and handling ‘displacement of stress’ in the workplace. Mr. Aravind Raj said some volunteers are also shortlisting job
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Tanu Kulkarni
ternal dissent. “However, the Commission is satisfied, based on documents filed and oral submissions made by the learned counsels of both the parties, that there are two rival groups in the party, led by E. Madhusudhanan and V.K. Sasikala,” said the EC order. Although the Panneerselvam camp also challenged the appointment of Sasikala as the party’s interim general secretary, the EC restricted the proceedings to the allotment of the symbol. Describing the ruling as “unexpected,” T.T.V. Dhinakaran, deputy general secretary of the faction led by Sasikala, said late on Wednesday that they would either move the Madras High Court or the Supreme Court to challenge it.
Mohammad Ali
Three mutton shops were vandalised and burnt by an unidentified mob on Tuesday night in Hathras town in western Uttar Pradesh, police officials said. The shops, which were located at Jalesar Road under the Hathras Kotwali police station, belonged to small-time traders. The attacks came just hours after the police raided the local meat market and slaughter houses to check if meat was being sold in the open market without a licence from the local civic body, and if the slaughter houses were functioning illegally. Since the BJP government took office last week, the police have sealed several slaughter houses and meat shops across the State.
Mohammed Iqbal
within Westminster, following the lockdown, a picture of the tense atmosphere emerged with many taking to Twitter to communicate their experiences of how the afternoon had unfolded. Prime Minister Theresa May was chairing a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee at Downing Street when reports last came in.
The Election Commission on Wednesday froze the AIADMK’s “Two Leaves” symbol, prohibiting its use in the coming R.K. Nagar byelection in Chennai. The decision came after the EC heard the rival factions of O. Panneerselvam and V.K. Sasikala, who had staked their claim to the symbol. Pending a final resolution of the dispute, the factions have also been barred from using the party’s name in the bypoll. Observing that a deeper examination of the issue was required and that the more than 20,000 pages of evidence would have to be examined, the EC, in its interim order, said any hasty decision during the nomination process for the byelection might lead to an erroneous conclusion, prejudicially impacting the rights of either or both the sides. The EC, which recognised that there was a split in the party, said pending the final settlement of the dispute, neither group was permitted to use the name ‘All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.’ Also, they cannot use the party symbol for the bypoll on April 12. “Both the groups shall be known by such names as they may choose for their respective groups, showing, if they so desire, linkage with
said. He plans to conduct a survey before designing a mental health module with help from NIMHANS. Champa Shetty (42), who is pursuing her Ph.D in Psychology in theatre, has completed the NIMHANS programme. She says that portrayal of mental health in the media needs to change. “Many of the plays that I have directed involve social issues. I am planning to direct a play on depression, for World Health Day. Mental illness needs to be looked at just like any other disease. People who need help should not hesitate to reach out to professionals,” she says. She wants to spread awareness on the issue using street plays and to speak about it in theatre circles and schools.
Date was clashing with Board exam
Adityanath keeps key portfolios Omar Rashid LUCKNOW
Staff Reporter NEW DELHI
Voting in the elections to the municipal corporations of Delhi would be held on April 23, not April 22 as announced earlier, the Delhi State Election Commission decided on Wednesday. The State Election Commission also changed the date for counting, from April 25 to April 26, as school examinations on April 22 were clashing with voting day. The CBSE examination for Hindi (Elective) among other courses would be held on April 22, and many of the examination centres would also be used as polling stations, said State Election Commissioner S.K. Srivastava. Despite trying, the State Election Commission was
unable to overcome the shortage of polling stations on April 22. As per the notification issued by the Commission, while the date of polling and counting has changed, the rest of the poll schedule remains the same.
Last date of nomination The election notification will be out on March 27, the last date for nomination would be April 3, scrutiny of documents on April 5 and last date for withdrawal of nominations would be April 8. The Election Commission had released the original schedule on March 14. The much-awaited polls will decide the fate of 272 councillors. While NDMC and SMDC have 104 seats each, EDMC has 64 seats.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has kept over two dozen departments to himself, including the high-profile portfolios — home, revenue, mining and urban housing Ministries. Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya has been allotted the prestigious Public Works Department, food processing, entertainment tax and public enterprises, while Dinesh Sharma, who is also deputy CM, has the higher and secondary education, electronics and information technology, and science and technology. The Adityanath council of ministers has 22 Cabinet ministers and nine Ministers of State. DETAILS ON 쑺 PAGE 10 A ND-ND
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DELHI
Timings
Thursday, March 23
RISE 06:22 SET 18:34 RISE 02:55 SET 13:58 Friday, March 24
RISE 06:20 SET 18:35 RISE 03:40 SET 14:54
Bharatpur girls were bright students Minor girls had just returned home from school when policemen raided the village
Prime Minister tells CM Rawat
Hemani Bhandari
Saturday, March 25
‘Adopt policy of zero tolerance on graft’
Bharatpur
RISE 06:19 SET 18:35 RISE 04:23 SET 15:52
IN BRIEF
PDP party of ‘broken promises’: Omar SRINAGAR
Ahead of by-elections, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah ton Wednesday termed the ruling PDP as a party of “broken promises” and challenged it to spell out even one promise that it has kept.PTI
Four booked for duping man of ₹60,000 PHAGWARA
Police on Wednesday booked four persons for duping a man of ₹60,000 on the pretext of sending him on a trip to Singapore.The police have identified the accused as Surinder, Rohit, Angad and Preet of Phagwara. A case against them was registered on a complaint of Ankur Thakur of village Chak Sachuri falling under Sujanpur police station, they said.PTI
Press Trust of India
“She was very intelligent. Only yesterday, I asked her to recite tables till 12 and the spelling of September and she knew it by heart,” said 50-year-old school teacher Amrit Singh of Shakko (11), one of the two minor girls who drowned in Bharatpur’s Panchi ka Nagla village on Tuesday evening. She had come back from school -- built for children from the community -around 4 pm when the police raided the village inhabited by members of the Bedia community, who are sex workers for over 200 years. Still in her school uniform, she ran fearing arrest, said her father Lakhan Singh (40), who carried her body from the ambulance in the same uniform on Wednesday afternoon. Shakko’s 13-year-old cousin, Rachna, also jumped into the pond with another cousin, Payal. While Payal was rescued, the other two drowned as they didn’t know swimming and nobody was allegedly allowed by the police to rescue them. “Over 15 of them were standing when the girls drowned but they did not make an effort to save them. Eventually, two of them jumped to save Payal, who was on the periphery,” Mr Singh said, adding that two boys from the nearby village tried to jump but the police didn’t let them and also beat up villagers who tried to save the girls.
Police denial The police, however, denied the charge, stating that they did their best to save the girls but could rescue only one. “We did not have enough manpower to rescue the girls because the pond area was not a part of the raid. Two policemen managed to rescue only one girl. It was an accident,” Assistant Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Singh said. The villagers alleged that
New Delhi
Inconsolable: Grieving family members of the two minor girls who drowned in a pond (below) in Bharatpur’s Panchi ka Nagla village. The girls jumped into the pond following a police raid on their village on Tuesday SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA. *
several girls ran towards the pond in the forest area, which is nearly 400 meters away from the residential settlement when the police raided with sticks and guns. Rachna’s mother, a widow and a sex worker, said the girl was resting in her house when one of the policemen entered. “She ran and the police officer told her to stop or else they would shoot her but out of fear, she continued to run. The police fired two rounds and threw a stick at her. That’s when she jumped,” she said. The police, however, denied the statement and said the girls were already present at the pond to relieve themselves when the police found them. “Three girls were probably relieving themselves near the pond when they heard police’s movement and without a thought jumped into the pond,” said ASP Singh, adding that it
wasn’t possible for the girls to evade the chase to that distance “because we are taller and fitter.” Rachna’s mother said she requested the police officers in the station to let her see her daughter but they didn’t allow. “They took me to Sewar thana and detained me there. A woman in the police station told me that my child has died and they didn’t let me see her even then. They let me off on Wednesday afternoon,” she said, breaking into tears.
‘Red-light area’ It’s not the first time the police raided the village, infamously known as the ‘red-light area.’ But the villagers alleged that they’re raided at regular intervals on false charges. Talking about the community, many said sex work was a family tradition for them and they never forced a
woman into it. “We’ve never pushed any girl into prostitution. As they turn 18, they’re asked whether they want to get married or get into the profession. Many of our girls are married,” said Akash. But at the same time, they are forced to remain in the trade because potential employers turn them away when they learn they belong to the Bedia community, he added. As the bodies were kept
outside the house on the ground, ready to be cremated, the families of the girls pointed to the bruises on their faces and other parts of the body. “They were beaten,” alleged the girls’ uncle Sanjay. Three girls were rescued from the raid on Tuesday and handed over to Child Welfare Committee of the state. Two FIRs were registered under sections of human trafficking of the IPC, ASP Singh said.
Newly-elected Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi who directed him to adopt a policy of zero tolerance on corruption and ensure transparency in governance. “The Prime Minister has asked to adopt policy of zero tolerance on corruption. He also asked to ensure transparency and assured us full support for the development of Uttarakhand,” Mr. Rawat told reporters here after the meeting. An official said Mr. Rawat apprised the Prime Minister about the priorities of his government in the State. The two leaders also discussed in detail about the roads in the border areas of the State, the official added. The Uttarakhand Chief Minister also met party president Amit Shah who asked him to ensure allocation of portfolios in a balanced manner. Mr. Shah also asked him to take along all sections of people on the path of development, Mr. Rawat said. Mr. Rawat said party leaders will meet on Thursday in Dehradun to discuss the allocation of portfolios.
Uttarakhand CM T. S. Rawat with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday. PTI *
The Chief Minister also met senior BJP leader L. K. Advani, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu.
Financial subjects Mr. Rawat said Mr. Jaitley has assured his ministry’s support to all the financial subjects related to the State. In his meeting with Mr. Naidu, the two leaders discussed about the progress of various schemes of Urban Development Ministry like Smart City, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) and AMRUT. “Naiduji has assured us that there will be no shortage of funds for the development of Uttarakhand,” Mr. Rawat said.
All-party team to meet Rajnath on SYL canal Press Trust of India Chandigarh
A delegation of all political parties of Haryana led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on March 24 to discuss the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue. An official spokesperson said the delegation will comprise State Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Finance Minister Capt
3 held for posting ‘objectionable’ pictures of CM Adityanath They were arrested from Bareilly, Amethi and Ghazipur
Abhimanyu, Health Minister Anil Vij and State BJP president Subhash Barala. Haryana unit Congress president Ashok Tanwar, Leader of Congress Legislative Party Kiran Choudhary, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, State president of Indian National Lok Dal Ashok Arora and Leader of Opposition Abhay Singh Chautala will also be part of the delegation.
SJVN pays interim dividend Staff Correspondent SHIMLA
Staff reporter Meerut
The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested three persons in Bareilly, Amethi and Ghazipur on the charge of posting objectionable pictures of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on social media. The police raided Professors Colony in Ghazipur and arrested Abdul Razzaque, a student leader, for allegedly posting an “objectionable” picture of the Chief Minister on Facebook. Ghazipur Kotwali SHO Surendra Kumar Pandey said Razzaque was arrested on a complaint from Upendra Kumar, local convener
of the Bagrang Dal. District Magistrate Sanjay Khatri and senior police officers rushed to the area as the members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, which was established by Yogi Adityanath, started a protest. As the situation turned serious, the police arrested Razzaque in the early hours of Monday. “Upendra Kumar had filed a complaint against Razzaque, alleging that he had posted an objectionable picture of the Chief Minister on Facebook. He has been booked under Section 499 of the IPC and Section 66 of the IT Act,” Mr. Pandey said. The police said Razzaque
was produced in a local court, which remanded him in police custody. The Amethi police arrested Anas Siddiqui on the same charge. Superintendent of Police Anees Ansari said Siddique was booked under Sections 153A, 295A, 298 and 505 (2) of the IPC and Section 67 of the IT Act. The Bareilly police arrested Salman Ansari for allegedly posting an “obscene” picture of the Chief Minister on social media. The police said Ansari was arrested on the complaint of Akash Shukla and booked under Sections 295A and 505(2) of the IPC and Section 67A of the IT Act.
Public sector hydro-electric company Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam limited, a joint venture of the Centre and the Himachal government, on Wednesday paid an interim dividend of ₹ 599.99 crore to the Centre and ₹237.38 crore to the Himachal government. It has also declared an interim dividend of ₹ 930.74 crore to its shareholders, said a company spokesman. R.N. Misra, Chairman, said that during the financial year 2016-17, SJVN has targeted to generate 8700 million units of electricity. Hydro power is the core strength of SJVN, he said.
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. 70 ●
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IN BRIEF
Water projects lying Elephant census from March 27 defunct in Odisha It will cover north Bengal and adjoining north-eastern States Special Correspondent Kolkata
Auto drivers go on strike in Odisha
Thanks to frequent power outages during the summer
BHUBANESWAR
Satyasundar Barik
Autorickshaw drivers on Wednesday went on a Statewide strike following the State government’s decision to increase the registration fee, insurance and fitness certificate of the vehicle. With 30,000 autorickshaws off the road, commuters had to face hardships. - PTI
BHUBANESWAR
3 drug peddlers arrested in Malda MALDA
Three persons, including a minor, were on Wednesday arrested after police seized brown sugar from their possession , officials said. Acting on a tip-off, the CID and city police conducted a raid at a hotel near Malda station. 500 gm of brown sugar was seized from their possession, they said. - PTI
Strike by Assam oil tanker workers ends Guwahati The indefinite strike by oil tanker workers has been called off with the transporters agreeing to pay minimum wages. The strike affected loading and unloading of all forms of fuel from the refineries and depots in Assam. “We have withdrawn the strike late on Tuesdayt night after two days of talks,” APMU General Secretary Ramen Das said.
Over 21 kg of ganja seized in Aizawl AIZAWL
Mizoram Excise and Narcotics department officials has seized over 21.98 kg of Ganja (cannabis) in Aizawl, department officials said. Officials said the seizure was made on Tuesday night. A resident of Selam village in Champhai district on the Mizoram-Myanmar border was arrested for allegedly smuggling the contraband from Myanmar. - PTI
With the summer approaching and the scarcity of drinking water hitting the interiors of Odisha, the State government has admitted that piped water supply projects in around 2,000 villages and small habitations have been lying defunct. The State has also identified as many as 1,345 non-repairable projects. Water supply projects have been set up in 37,689 out of 1,56,468 villages and habitations. Apart from this, 4,15,558 tubewells and sanitary wells cater to the villagers’ needs. But, thanks to frequent power outages during the summer, water projects become ineffective. Consequently, villagers turn to unhygienic sources of drinking water. Pending monthly power bills are among the major reasons behind these projects being non-operational, besides damaged transformers and metres, and low voltage. Although the State government had directed power distribution companies not to discontinue power supply to water projects in case of unpaid dues, the order is not followed in most places. With the drinking water crisis worsening, residents
Unfulilled dream: Because of the dearth of drinking water, villagers are forced to turn to unhygienic sources. FILE PHOTO *
of over 20 villages in Khariar block of Nuapada district have resorted to digging percolation pits on the Sundar riverbed. The small river in Nuapada district originates from Sunabeda plateau and flows through the Komna and Khariar blocks.
Sand mining Some villagers, in fact, walk up to 3km to get drinking water from the riverbed. The unbridled sand extraction has further hit the riverbed’s water retention capacity. The scene is similar in districts of Bolangir, Sambalpur, Kalahandi, Subarnapur and Sundargarh. But it is not just the villagers who face a crisis. The urban population, especially those in the slums, is also not immune to the problem. “Although water scarcity has forced people to dig percola-
tion pits on the riverbeds, riparian communities still collect water by scooping sand out. In recent times, industries and the government’s water supply agencies have created water storage on the riverbeds in anticipation of the scarcity,” said Ranjan Panda, convenor of Water Initiative of Odisha. Water storage on a riverbed is done by digging a pit into which the water contained in sand percolates. It is then lifted using pumps. “The competition over storing water has already taken away the poor man’s access to water,” said Mr. Panda. The Sambalpur district administration, meanwhile, has started digging sanitary wells on a large scale under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme.
A three-day elephant census in north Bengal and adjoining north-eastern States will start from March 27. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden of West Bengal Pradeep Vyas said that along with north Bengal, the census will be held in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura. “The most important feature of this year’s census is the involvement of neighbouring States. Elephants are migratory animals, in earlier census we found the pachyderms cross over to the adjoining States, this leads to the possibility of overestimation or underestimation. The count will be conducted simultaneously with north-eastern States,” Mr. Vyas told reporters on Wednesday.
Direct count Senior forest officials said the census will involve direct and indirect count. Direct
as soon as the House assembled for the question hour.
Press trust of India
The Odisha Assembly on Wednesday witnessed pandemonium and frequent adjournments over farmers issue for the seventh consecutive day with opposition Congress and BJP demanding unanimous resolution to increase minimum support price (MSP) on paddy. The issue was raised
Cong ‘well trenched’ The Congress members rushed to the well of the House demanding passing of a resolution for increasing the MSP on paddy to Rs 2,800. The BJP members kept on standing near their seats in support of the Congress’s demand. Unable to run the
House, Speaker Niranjan Pujari adjourned the proceeding several times. The opposition members also raised questions on the ruling BJD’s lack of interest in passing unanimous resolution in regard to MSP. Agriculture Minister Pradeep Kumar Maharathy, however, rejected the opposition allegation.
count involves block counting by sighting of elephants in forest and point counting from watchtowers in the forest. Indirect counting involves counting using dung decay method along the transit route of elephants. The elephant census in north Bengal will cover an area of around 1,828 sq km from Mechi river near IndoNepal border to Sankosh river, bordering Assam. As per last census carried out in
2014, there are 590 elephants in north Bengal. The counting of elephants in south Bengal will be held along with other bordering States of Odisha and Jharkhand in May.
Migration pattern Forest officials said that elephants in south Bengal migrate to Odisha and Jharkhand while those in north Bengal migrate to Assam. There are around 180
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elephants in south Bengal. Experts say that humanelephant conflict in the State has assumed alarming proportions. Professor Raman Sukumar of the Centre for Ecological Science at the IISc in Bengaluru said that an elephant in West Bengal kills ten times more human being in the State than anywhere else in the country. Elephants killed 108 people in West Bengal in 2015-16.
Seven of a family die in Bengal road accident Staff Reporter Kolkata
Seven members of a family, including two children, died in a road accident in West Bengal’s Bardhaman district when a tanker overturned on a car on Wednesday. The incident took place
Pandemonium in Odisha House Bhubaneswar
Jumbo outing: A herd of elephants at the Deepor Beel Sanctuary near Guwahati.
on National Highway-2 near Tejganj. "The driver of the tanker tried to overtake the car at high speed but lost control of his vehicle and overturned on to the car,” Additional Superintendent of Police (HQ) Dhrutiman
Bhattacharya said.
Tanker driver flees The driver of the tanker fled from the spot and no one has been arrested so far. The tanker was carrying tar used for constructing roads.
EDUCATIONAL
Moments after the crash, the two vehicles caught fire and a fire engine had to be called in to douse the flames before the bodies could be recovered. The deceased were residents of Howrah district and were going to Patna.
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‘Peaceful rallies a fundamental right’ HC says permission for such rallies should be promptly dealt with Pradip Kumar Das CUTTACK
In a significant ruling, the Orissa High Court has ordered that holding peaceful rallies and dharna are the fundamental right of citizens guaranteed under Indian Constitution and any application seeking permission for such rallies and dharna in Odisha should be promptly dealt with by the concerned authorities. The court ruling came earlier this week when Justice C R Dash, while disposing of a writ petition filed by the president of Rajya Gruharakshi Mahasangha (State Home Guards’ Association), dir-
ected the State police to make arrangements for the mahasangha’s rally in Bhubaneswar and allot a suitable place for their dharna. For over five days, the Bhubaneswar police had taken no action on an application seeking permission to hold rally and dharna by the Mahasangha.
Police flayed Castigating the State police, the court said: “Such authorities are not supposed to act ad-libitum (without limit), so as to negate the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.” Reiterating that to as-
semble peacefully without arms is a fundamental right, the high court observed that if any application is filed by any person to exercise his fundamental right anywhere in the State under any relevant rules, regulations, guidelines or Act, such application should be dealt with promptly. “If permission is refused, reasonable grounds should be given in the rejection order,” the court said. “If no action is taken by the authority concerned within three days or 72 hours, whichever is later from the date/time of the receipt of the ap-
plication, it will be deemed that the permission has been granted”, the court said asking the government counsel to urgently communicate the same to State DGP and commissioner of police to do the needful, in order to awake the “sleeping police organisation” from its slumber. Following the ruling, the home guards of the State held a peaceful rally and dharna at Bhubaneswar on Tuesday and submitted their seven-point charter of demand to the State government highlighting their sufferings and injustice meted out to them for long.
Main accused held in AASU oice ransacking case Arrested from Bengal district Press Trust of India Guwahati
The Assam police in a joint operation with its West Bengal counterpart arrested the main accused in the Silapathar incident along with his aide from Bengal’s North 24-Parganas district on Wednesday morning.
Aide also nabbed A seven-member team of the Assam police, along
with the West Bengal police arrested prime accused Subodh Biswas along with his aide Subhas Biswas at Bajitpur in North 24-Parganas district, according to a statement issued by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. The Silapathar incident related to ransacking of an AASU office by activists of the Nikhil Bharat Bengali Udbastu Samanvay Raksha Samiti during a procession.
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Pramod Sawant elected Speaker of Goa Assembly
Maoists have confessed their link to Prof. Saibaba: Anti-Naxal unit Says opposition to the professor’s life imprisonment sentence shows their support
After assuming oice, says he will be impartial in his conduct as Speaker
Pavan Dahat NAGPUR
Prakash Kamat Panaji
The Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Sankhalim in north Goa, Pramod Sawant, was elected Speaker of the seventh Goa Assembly on Wednesday. Mr. Sawant (44), a twotime MLA was nominated by Glenn Ticlo (BJP). He defeated the Congress nominee for the Speaker’s post Aleixo Reginaldo, by a margin of 20-15 in the election conducted on the first day of the Budget session of the Assembly. Pro-tem Speaker Sidharth Kunkolienkar, was in the chair. After assuming his new role, Mr. Sawant, a former youth leader, said he would be impartial in his conduct as Speaker. “I will be impartial. All will be given equal opportunity. Training classes for old and new MLAs will be conducted where they will
Won’t tolerate crimes against women: CM
Warm welcome: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and CLP leader Chandrakant Kavlekar escorting Pramod Sawant (centre) to his chair on Wednesday. ATISH POMBURFEKAR *
learn to present issues and ask questions,” Mr. Sawant said. Nationalist Congress Party MLA Churchill Alemao, who is facing a NCP show-cause notice for supporting the BJP-led government during the confidence vote last
Special Correspondent
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar directed the State Police on Wednesday to crack down on drugs and late night parties where drugs are sold. He said crimes against women would not be tolerated. To a question about the case of rape and murder of an Irish woman last week in Goa, Mr. Parrikar said he has instructed the investigating officers to ensure nobody is spared. On Tuesday, the remand to police custody given to Vikat Bhagat, the prime accused, was extended by seven days.
Caught in a jam One Congress and one BJP MLA could not reach in time for the voting, it was clarified by the respective parties. Congress candidate for
The Maharashtra police’s Anti-Naxal Operation unit has claimed that by calling for “Bharat Bandh” on March 29, in protest of life imprisonment to former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba, the Maoists have confessed that he was linked to them. The unit cited some banners that were put up by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in Etapalli and Bhamargad area of Gadchiroli district in the State. The banners read, “Oppose the punishment of life imprisonment given to Prof. Saibaba, [ JNU student] Hem Mishra and five others. Make sure the ‘Bharat Bandh’ of March 29 is successful.” The banned outfit also appealed to the people to unite and protest against “long punishments given to peoples’ leaders, who are fighting against corporate expansion, and against the
The Maoist banners in Gadchiroli district oppose life imprisonment to Prof. Saibaba and call for Bharat Bandh. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *
policy of the State to give the country’s natural resources to the corporate houses.” Some pamphlets found in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, apparently issued by the CPI (Maoist), read, “Fight for your water, forest, and land and form a united ‘secular morcha’ to fight the Hindutva fascism. We will fight and defeat the operation Green Hunt.” A press statement issued by the Maharashtra ANO on
Renovation of Temghar dam to take two years The Maharashtra government has sanctioned ₹98 crore for the repair
Wednesday read, “The Maoists and their frontal organisations had tried to portray prof. Saibaba as an innocent wheelchair-bound professor, who has been implicated in a false case.” The Maoists have called for celebration of “Virodh Saptah” (Protest Week) between March 23 to March 29 and “Bharat Band” on March 29. The ANO said, “The investigating officer, Mr. Suhas
Body of activist unclaimed for over 16 months: advocate Prakash Kamat
Shoumojit Banerjee PANAJI
week, did not participate in the voting.
Speaker’s post Reginaldo Lawrenco could not reach due to traffic jam, explained Opposition Leader Babu Kavlekar. On the ruling benches, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the House that BJP MLA Nilesh Cabral could not make it to the election as he too was caught in a traffic jam. While the BJP has 13 MLAs, the coalition government it leads has the support of three MLAs each of MGP and Goa Forward Party and three Independents. The Congress which emerged as the single largest party in February 4 polls was reduced to 16 after the resignation from the Congress and the Assembly by Valpoi MLA Vishwajit Rane after he abstained from voting during the confidence vote last week. He later declared that he would re-contest and support the BJP government.
Pune
The repair work on the Temghar dam, one of the potable water lifelines of Pune, is finally underway, however, renovation of the biggest cracks may not be complete until June. The Maharashtra government has sanctioned ₹98 crore for the repair and renovation of the dam wall. Although authorities have asserted that the basic wall structure is intact, despite the cracks. The 87-meter high dam has a capacity of holding water up to four tmcft. It was built between 1997 and 2001, making it the newest
among the city’s four major drinking lifelines — the others being Khadakwasla, Varasgaon and Panshet dams. The repair work was initially due to commence in December last year, but was delayed owing to the municipal, the zilla parishad (ZP) and the panchayat samiti elections.
To face delay in monsoon According to sources in the State Irrigation Department, the work order was issued last month, with the installation of machinery and the labour in place. The process of final repairs is expected to stretch
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Priority has been given to repair the points where the cracks in the wallface are the deepest,
Irrigation official
over a period of nearly two years. The work, however, may face further delay this monsoon. An Irrigation Department official said, “Priority has been given to repair the points where the cracks in the wall-face are the deepest before June, in a bid to ensure that the water, which will get stored during this monsoon, does not seep out.”
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The water storage has been reduced to facilitate repair work, with a plan being mooted to release the water into the Khadakwasla dam.
FIR against 34 people Last year, in August, Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan had acknowledged that the construction of the Temghar dam was indeed faulty and had directed action against the persons responsible. Following this, the Pune Rural Police had lodged a first information report (FIR) against 34 persons for allegedly using inferior quality material during the construction of the dam.
PUBLIC NOTICES
The complaint included names of government officials, and directors and board members of two south India-based construction firms, Srinivas Construction and Progressive Construction, who were responsible for the construction of the dam. Both the firms were blacklisted later. City-based Right to Information (RTI) activist Vijay Kumbhar had pegged the water leakage from Temghar to be in excess of 5 crore litres, despite irrigation authorities claiming that not all seepage went waste as water flowed into the Khadakwasla reservoir.
Bawache, had received over 20,000 letters from more than 90 countries condemning the arrest of prof. Saibaba. Some organisations recently protested in Mumbai demanding the scrapping of the UAPA act under which he was convicted. They could not have asked for Saibaba’s release directly.” The special unit of Maharashtra police also informed that “secret meetings of Maoist supporters ” were organised in Nagpur, and Armori area of Gadchiroli last week, to create pressure on the police against prof. Saibaba’s jail term. The ANO also claimed that the Maoist ambush in Sukma district of south Chhattisgarh on March 11, which resulted in death of 12 CRPF men, was related to the professor’s conviction as it happened right after he was sentenced by a Gadchiroli court. It also appealed to people to not give any response to the “Bharat Bandh.”
Panaji
The Goa State Human Rights Commission (GSHRC) has summoned the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police, and the Dean of the State-owned Goa Medical College hospital (GMC) on April 3, to explain why the body of Father Bismarque Dias is in the GMC morgue for over 16 months. The commission issued the directive after an activist and advocate, Aires Rodrigues, filed a complaint on Wednesday stating that the body of Fr. Bismarque — a social activist, who was found dead at St. Estevam in North Goa — has been in
the “unhygienic and regularly malfunctional” morgue at Bambolim since November 7, 2015. Mr. Rodrigues said the body is not required for any further examination as all the forensic tests have been done and the viscera report has been received. He also said Fr. Bismarque must be given a fitting farewell and laid to rest with due respect as he had selflessly toiled for Goa. Fr. Bismarque’s family had declined to accept the body, disagreeing with the police’s findings, which had showed that he had drowned. They suspect that Fr. Bismarque was murdered.
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PERSONAL CHANGE OF NAME I, KM Bhardwaj R/o VSV AF GGN (HR) have changed my son’s name from Sanyam Bhardwaj to Sanyam Sharma and Daughter’s name from Shreya Bhardwaj to Shreya Sharma
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IN BRIEF
SC cancels admissions to Kerala medical colleges
Stray horses bite student, 14 others
Woman seeks help to bring husband home from Uganda
Special Correspondent
Karnataka resident Shai’s passport seized by company
KURNOOL
180 students lose seats in Kannur and Karuna institutions Legal Correspondent
Naidu launches distribution of cars VIJAYAWADA
A.P. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has formally launched the distribution of 125 Toyota Innova and an equal number of TATA Ace vehicles to the beneficiaries of the Scheduled Castes’ Action Plan 2016-17 in Guntur. The vehicles are being given to unemployed youth of the community at 35% subsidy.
Three more surrender in Kottiyoor rape case KANNUR
Three doctors of a hospital at Koothuparamba, including two nuns, arraigned in the case of rape of a minor girl at Kottiyoor by a local parish priest, surrendered before the police on Wednesday. The additional sessions court at Thalassery later granted them bail.
New Delhi
The Supreme Court on Wednesday cancelled the admission of 180 medical undergraduate students in the Kannur Medical College and the Karuna Medical College in Kerala owing to irregularities in the admission procedure. A Bench led by Justice Arun Mishra ordered the termination of 150 admissions in the Kannur Medical College and 30 in the Karuna Medical College, sending a strong message to private professional colleges that there would be zero tolerance to irregularities in admissions — even if it meant de-railing the academic future of students. The Supreme Court affirmed the High Court order of October 2016 invalidating the admissions on the grounds that the institutions did not publish the corrected prospectus on their web-
site, and were not transparent in furnishing all the details regarding admissions online. Perusing some of the documents submitted for admission, the Bench indicated that they seemed to have been fabricated, thus extinguishing the last vestige of hope for the students involved in the litigation. The Supreme Court even considered directing criminal action against the errant management. The court further ordered that the Karuna college should draw up a supplementary admission list of 30 meritorious students named in a report submitted by the State Examination Controller and the Admission Supervisory Committee in the Supreme Court. These students will occupy the vacant 30 seats. The court dismissed arguments raised by senior advocate Shyam Divan and ad-
vocate Haris Beeran that termination of the admission of the students would take a heavy toll on their future. The Bench said its order would set an example for private professional institutions. The court further barred the two medical institutions from re-admitting students to these seats for the academic year of 2016-17.
‘Verdict welcome’ Kerala Health Minister K.K. Shylaja has welcomed the Supreme Court verdict. An official press note quoted the Minister as pointing out that the Karuna and Kannur medical colleges had refused to come to an agreement with the government on admissions and fees. Other self-financing medical colleges had reached an understanding with the government, facilitating admissions for a higher number of students on merit seats.
Three stray horses, which were fighting with one another on the Machani Somappa Zilla Parishad Girls High School grounds in the Yemmiganur town of Kurnool district on Wednesday, went berserk and bit 15 persons, including a student, leading to their hospitalisation. A horse bit a student, Praneeth, on the hand while he was on his way to write the SSC examination in the school. On hearing his cries, some persons went to the school premises. They too were attacked by the horses. The horses continued on their biting spree. Their victims included All-India Students Federation leader Ranganna and two workers, Jakir Hussain and Nabi Saheb. A group of persons present there ran helter skelter. Some others drove away the horses with sticks and rushed the injured to the government hospital at Yemmiganur.
Staff Reporter MANGALURU
Mihim Ibrahim Dahir appears exhausted after a 21hour journey from Uganda to Mangaluru en route to her in-laws’ house in Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada. But what is worrying the 25-year-old Somalia-born is the fate of her husband, Rasheed Shafi, a native of Belthangady who was in an Ugandan jail for three months for alleged misappropriation of money. He has been released. But his passport has been seized by his company.
Traumatic experience Recalling the trauma, she said: “I survived thanks to help from some Indians, who gave us ration. I am asking the government to help me in getting my husband safely back.” Mihim claimed that Shafi, eight months ago, was attacked by some masked men
Desperate situation: Mihim Ibrahim Dahir with her children.
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while he was riding a motorcycle to his house. They robbed him of money equivalent to ₹10 lakh that belonged to the firm, she said. Mr. Shafi’s father, G. Mohammed Shafi, said: “Though he filed a com-
plaint of robbery, the company accused my son of misappropriation and he was arrested.” With his pension of Rs. 2,500, he could not pay Rs. 12 lakh for the release of his son’s passport, he added.
Vice-president of Kerala Youth Congress quits KOLLAM
Congress leader C.R. Mahesh, who made a splash on Tuesday through his Facebook post that was critical of AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi, has quit the party. Mr. Mahesh, who is the vice-president of the Kerala Youth Congress, resigned from the post. To top it all, he said he was saying goodbye to politics too.
No bail for Nehru Group chairman THRISSUR
The Wadakkanchery Magistrate Court on Wednesday denied bail to three persons, including Nehru Group chairman P. Krishnadas, in a case relating to harassment of Shaheer Shoukathali, a student of the Nehru Academy of Law, Lakkidi.
Boy becomes father at 12
Karnataka House panel to frame rules for media
Tests conirm Kerala boy sired baby girl born recently
Journalists assail brazen attempt to muzzle press as politicians close ranks
K.S. Sudhi KOCHI
A 12-year-old boy from Kerala, who fathered a child with a 16-year-old. is perhaps the youngest Indian father. The young mother gave birth to a baby girl a few months ago at a hospital in Ernakulam. The personal details, including the identity of the young parents and the baby, are being withheld in accordance with the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Investigators confirmed the paternity of the child
this week after carrying out the genetic profiling of both the baby and the father.
‘Precocious puberty’ Dr. P.K. Jabbar, Professor and Head of the Endocrinology Department of the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, said the boy could have a medical condition called “precocious puberty,” in which a child attains puberty at a much earlier age. It was not an unusual medical condition but no incident of a boy becoming a father at the age of 12 had come to his notice, Dr. Jabbar said.
The DNA profiles generated from the blood samples of the father and the baby, who was just 18 days old at the time of the scientific analysis, were compared to affirm the paternity. In the “absence of identical twins, it was found that the alleged father was the biological father of the child” whose blood samples were examined, sources said. Police earlier registered a case against the boy under the POCSO Act. The case had opened up a legal conundrum as both the victim and the perpetrator were minors.
Special Correspondent BENGALURU
In a move that has evoked sharp criticism from journalists, a House Committee of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly was set up on Wednesday to frame rules for the news media. This was after members of both Houses, cutting across party lines, came down heavily on what they called “irresponsible” reporting by the media, particularly 24x7 news channels.
‘Lakshman Rekha’ Assembly Speaker K.B. Koliwad announced the formation of the House Com-
mittee to draw a ‘Lakshman Rekha’ for the electronic media and thereby prevent them from sensationalising trivial family disputes, crime, and ghost stories for increasing TRP (television rating point). Mr. Koliwad said the terms and conditions of the House Committee would be framed — keeping in mind media freedom guaranteed under the Constitution — to restrict the media from telecasting news “arbitrarily”. In the Assembly, B.R. Patil of the Karnataka Janata Paksha initiated the debate on “irresponsible and character assassination” reporting by
24x7 channels. The channels, he said, had been performing the three roles of “petitioner, advocate and judge”, and delivering judgment on politicians.
‘Twisting facts’ One of the basic tasks of the media was to provide truthful and objective information, which was a sine qua non in a democracy. Was the media performing this role sincerely and properly, he asked. “We know our rights. Without evidence, the electronic media is projecting politicians in a poor light,” Mr. Patil said.
In pursuit of the elusive Oscar
Anganwadi workers irm on wage hike
Twice nominated Raj is making a ilm on Mother Teresa
More women join on third day of strike, several organisations back stir
Nivedita Ganguly VISAKHAPATNAM
After two of his films were nominated for the best foreign language film category at the Oscars — as official entries from Togo and Cameroon — Indian filmmaker and producer Kumar Raj has now turned his focus to Hollywood with a film on Mother Teresa. This time, the Mumbai-based filmmaker wants to leave no stone unturned to get the Oscar that eluded him twice. In an exclusive chat with The Hindu during his visit to the city, Mr. Raj said: “We have registered our company ‘Kumar Raj Productions’ in Hollywood; the title and the script have also been registered. This will be a mega budget film and will take three to four years’ time for completion. We have hired one of the topmost writers of Hollywood and have also started getting funds.” So far, $200,000 has been raised for the film, which is expected to cross a produc-
Kumar Raj
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tion budget of over ₹100 crore. Kumar Raj is the only Indian producer-director whose two films were sent to the Oscars in the best foreign language film category.
New angle This year, his film Yahaan Ameena Bikti Hai was sent by Cameroon in the 89th Academy Awards. Interestingly, another African nation, Togo, had sent his film Tara, the journey of love and passion as its official entry to the Oscars in 2014. The film was on the predicament of underprivileged women in Indian villages.
Speaking on his next big film venture, the director said: “I am still working on what part of Mother Teresa’s life to focus on. It may be the part where she meets God, or her childhood. I want to explore a new angle for the global audience. The film will stand with others in the topmost competition category.” His latest film Yahaan Ameena Bikti Hai was the real story of Ameena, a 12year-old from Hyderabad, who was sold to an Arab by her parents in the early 1990s. Ameena was rescued and brought home after a flight attendant, who saw her weeping on the plane, raised an alert. After receiving global accolades in the Malta International Film Festival, Cinema New York City, Miami Film Festival and Geneva, the film will have a nationwide release by the end of the year. “For the Indian version, I am shooting additional scenes and adding a love story element,” Mr. Kumar said.
galore Water Supply and Sewerage Board — deployed more than 10 mobile toilets and tankers with drinking water at the site of the protest. The doors of Maharani College nearby were opened for the workers.
Staff Reporter Bengaluru
Thousands of anganwadi workers remained resolute in their strike that entered the third day on Wednesday, turning the streets around Freedom Park here virtually into their homes. The impasse between the government and the anganwadi workers continued, as the protesters sought the announcement of a minimum wage of ₹10,000. The State government held talks with some unions in the evening in the hope of resolving it. However, the two major unions leading the strike — All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) — who did not attend the talks said they would continue the agitation until their demands were met. Hajir Habibi, an anganwadi worker from Channapatna, said they were not deterred despite having to queue up for hours outside toilets, and empty their
Digging in: Anganwadi workers on the road near the Freedom Park in Bengaluru on Wednesday SAMPATH KUMAR G.P. *
purses to buy food. Numerous organisations extended support to the strike. At least 13 protesting women were treated after they collapsed because of dehydration and exhaustion. The crowd of women swelled on the third day, in a relief to organisers who thought that many would return, ahead of Ugadi festival next week. Among those who arrived on Wednesday was Yellava Kallapa Pujuri from Hirur vil-
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As waste goes out, a dying river returns to life Kerala’s Kuttamperoor is once again ready to defend communities against loods, aid ishermen was obstructed, the polluted water infiltrated into drinking water resources, including wells along the river. Wells dried up in many adjoining areas,” Mr. Panicker said.
R. Ramabhadran Pillai ALAPPUZHA
It’s a rebirth for the Kuttamperoor river, a tributary of Pampa and Achenkovil rivers. The river is getting a new lease of life thanks to a drive to remove accumulated waste. A 5 km stretch flowing along the Budhanoor panchayat in Alappuzha district has been cleaned up. Thick layers of water weeds and waste dumped into the waterway for over a decade were removed. A river cleaning scheme covering 12-km long, had been drawn up many years ago, but could not get proper funding. “The project was implemented under the Mahatma Gandhi CM YK
Water world: The Kuttamperoor river, a tributary of the Pampa and Achenkovil. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. About 200 workers were engaged for the work during a twomonth period, generating 30,000 man days. A sum of Rs.72 lakh was spent on the project,” P. Viswambhara
Panicker, Budhanoor panchayat president said. “Waste materials such as plastic bottles, containers and food refuse dumped by unscrupulous catering units had ruined the flora and fauna. Once the natural flow
Shrunk in width Redeeming the entire river could be achieved through joint efforts with neighbouring panchayats such as Mannar and Pandanad, said N.K. Sukumaran Nair, environmentalist and general secretary of Pampa Parirakshana Samiti. “The river, which was 100-130 ft wide in its heyday, has shrunk to 10-15 ft at many locations due to encroachment. Stern
measures are required to evict the encroachers,” he says. The river used to play a key role in natural flood control. Whenever the Pampa and Achencoil were in spate, the water flowed into the Kuttamperoor river, saving a large area from flooding. Idols of several temples were bathed in the river during ‘Aarattu’ festivals. There is now a panoramic view of the river, and the operation has opened a new phase of freshwater fish growth. “Fishermen have thanked us because there is new hope to return to their livelihood,” Mr. Nair said.
lage in Belagavi taluk. Lugging mattresses and food, it was clear that the anganwadi worker with more than 25 years of experience was preparing for the long haul. “I didn’t know about the protest at all. On Tuesday, I saw the news reports and decided to immediately take a bus and come here and join,” she said. The civic bodies — the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and the Ban-
Many donate food Passers-by and others were seen distributing biscuits, fruit and water bottles. Among those who was impressed by the dedication of the women was Sunil Kumar Surana, who runs a jewellery shop in Gandhinagar. He and workers from the store arranged for over 150 kg of pulao for the anganwadi workers. “I read in the papers and saw on TV how the workers do not get proper food. We can feed 2,500 people, and we hope to do this as long as the strike is on,” he said. In the Legislative Assembly, Janata Dal (S) members staged a dharna on Wednesday, urging the State government to hold talks with the anganwadi workers.
Six held for circulating SSC question paper It was doing the rounds on WhatsApp Special Correspondent KHAMMAM
A day after the question paper of SSC English paper-I was doing the rounds on WhatsApp, the Khammam Three Town police on Wednesday achieved a breakthrough. They arrested six persons, including three government teachers and two employees of a private school in Warangal district, besides a private teacher of Khammam in Telangana.
Close scrutiny A close scrutiny of the messages containing parts of the question paper that were circulated on social media led to the arrest, police sources said.
Giving the details here on Wednesday, police said the management of Shivani Techno School hatched a plan to improve its results in connivance with three government teachers. A. Venkat Reddy, an invigilator of the SSC examination centre at the ZP High School in Dantalapalli, brought the question paper out of the centre on Tuesday and sent it to the private school headmaster Nagaravi Prasad through WhatsApp. The headmaster sent it to Ramalinga Swamy, a private teacher, in a bid to obtain answers. Swamy, in turn, circulated it to some more persons through WhatsApp to get the answers.
Raju Kage, Suresh Gowda (both BJP); P.M. Narendraswamy, Shivaraj Tangadagi (Congress); Sa Ra Mahesh ( JD-S); and others joined in and condemned the “twisting of facts and reporting of false news.” Senior journalists described the move as a “serious threat to the freedom of the press”. Krishna Prasad, Member, Press Council of India, said: “This is a brazen all-party attempt to muzzle the media in an election year.” He added: “Hopefully the media will join hands to oppose the bid to scuttle media freedom.”
Pandemonium at BC panel hearing Staff Reporter KAKINADA
The public hearing organised by the Andhra Pradesh Commission for Backward Classes ended abruptly here on Wednesday with the Commission’s chairman K.L. Manjunatha staging a walkout, following verbal duel between different groups of the Kapu community. Representatives of the BC organisations alleged that the Commission was giving undue importance to the Kapus, as compared to the castes that were on the BCs list, while the Kapu leaders obstructed Kapu Corporation chairman Ch. Ramanujaya’s prolonged speech on various welfare schemes launched by the State government for the overall development of the community. Pandemonium broke out at the hearing with the BCs and the rival groups among the Kapus that supported and opposed the State government raising slogans against one another. After making several efforts to calm down the warring groups, Justice Manjunatha expressed his dissatisfaction over the indiscipline and left the venue after announcing that the hearing had been adjourned. This move prompted the representatives of the Kapu community to cut a sorry figure, as they could not bring any of the issues that support their claim of seeking the BC status, before the Commission. Trouble began in the post-lunch session, as the Commission heard peacefully the claims of those who sought to change groups within the BC reservation framework. The district administration had made elaborate arrangements for the hearing and over 2,000 police personnel were deployed in and around the venue. The police monitored security through closed circuit cameras. A ND-ND
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Gau rakshak leader not in Jaipur hotel FIR
IN BRIEF
‘Police have registered weak case against cow vigilantes’ 165 kg ganja seized, two arrested
Mohammed Iqbal
BERHAMPORE
Jaipur
The police on Wednesday seized 165 kg of ganja in Murshidabad and arrested two persons. Acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted a vehicle which was headed to Jalangi. The duo were arrested after ganja was found from their possession, police said. “Both of them are residents of Jalangi and they were coming from Kooch Vihar. We have seized the vehicle,” they said, adding an FIR has been registered. PTI
Three days after cow vigilante groups swooped down on a hotel here alleging that it was serving beef, the Jaipur Police on Wednesday registered a criminal case against unknown persons for unlawful assembly, causing hurt and trespass. Civil rights groups said the case was “too weak” in comparison to the violence perpetrated on the hotel staff. Hotel Hayat Rabbani near the Central Bus Stand, which was sealed after the Rashtriya Mahila Gau Rakshak Sewa Mandal activists laid siege to it on Sunday night, continues to remain closed. Though the hotel’s owner, Naeem Rabbani, mentioned Gau Raksha group leader Sadhvi Kamal Didi as the one who led the cow vigilante crowd, the FIR registered at Sindhi Camp police station did not name her as an accused.
11 held for selling cars using forged documents INDORE
An inter-State gang of 11 people, allegedly involved in selling four-wheelers using fake documents, was busted on Wednesday, the police said. The police have seized 28 vehicles worth around ₹3 crore. Indore Range DIG H.C. Mishra said that Mohammed Irfan was the kingpin who would avail loans from different finance companies for buying vehicles. He would default on repayment and dupe the lenders,” he said. PTI
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Nitish launches free wi-i in govt colleges Bihar Chief Minister kicks of three-day Bihar Diwas; Patna dons festive look Amarnath Tewary Patna
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday kicked-off the three-day Bihar Diwas (foundation day) celebration while launching free wi-fi facilities at all government colleges and universities in the State. Mr. Kumar praised the talent of people from Bihar and listed his government’s achievements.
Two killed in road mishap in Madhya Pradesh BHOPAL
Two persons, including a teenage girl, were killed and nine others injured in a road mishap in Raisen district, the police said on Wednesday. The accident took place when a private bus ferrying passengers veered off a highway under Sultanpur police station area and and fell into a gorge. Two passengers — Shobha, (18), and Rewa Das, (30) — were killed. The bus was on its way to Bhopal from Mandla. PTI
CM YK
He also listed the government’s achievements like women empowerment, incentives for the youth and several programmes for students. PTI *
Event at Gandhi Maidan An elaborate arrangement had been made at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan with several cultural and musical programmes. Every year since 2009, the State education department has been organising the Bihar Diwas celebration on March 22, the day Bihar was
carved out from the Bengal presidency in 1912. “It is the era of Internet… all information and knowledge can be downloaded from the Internet and for this we’ve started providing free Wi-Fi facilities at colleges and universities in the State,” said Mr. Kumar.
‘Year-long celebration’ He also listed his government’s achievements like prohibition, seven resolves, women empowerment, incentives to youths and several programmes for students of the state. He also spoke about his government’s priorities in the coming years. “We’ll celebrate the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s Champaran
Satyagraha from April 10 and it will be a year-long celebration with many activities related to Gandhian thought… it is going to be a big event and you’ll have to participate in it to take Bihar ahead,” said Mr. Kumar. The city would wear a festive look for three days during the Bihar Diwas celebrations with several stalls and pavilions of different departments of the State government erected at Gandhi Maidan. Singer Sunidhi Chauhan will perform on Wednesday while Malini Awasthi and Akriti Kakkar will perform over the next two days. Along with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, several ministers, including State Education Minister Ashok Choudhary, were present.
Rights’ groups cry foul Rights’ groups have alleged that the police and municipal authorities were colluding with the cow vigilante groups.
Up in arms: Activists protest against the sealing of Hotel Hayat Rabbani in Jaipur. ROHIT JAIN PARAS *
Jaipur Mayor Ashok Lahoti said the hotel would not be de-sealed until the Forensic Science Laboratory’s report on the meat samples seized from its kitchen was received. He denied that there was any illegality involved in the sealing saying the owner had not obtained licence for running the hotel or restaurant.
‘Illegal’ construction Mr. Lahoti also said the construction of Hotel Hayat Rabbani was “illegal.” Activist groups and city residents staged a huge demonstration at Shahid Smarak on Tuesday
to protest against the violence and targeting the minority community’s business. The speakers condemned the “collusion” of the State agencies in the attack on the hotel, lambasted the increasing communal nature of governance and pledged to maintain communal harmony in the city. People’s Union for Civil Liberties-Rajasthan president Kavita Srivastava said the issue was blown up with the police slapping cases of offending people of another religion on Mr. Rabbani and sending the meat to the FSL.
Six Manipur Ministers are crorepatis Deputy CM is richest with assets worth ₹2.29 crore Special Correspondent Kolkata
Six out of nine ministers in the N Biren Singh government in Manipur are crorepatis, an analysis of the affidavits by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed. The average assets of nine ministers are worth ₹1.26 crores.
The minister with the highest declared total assets is Yumnam Joykumar Singh from Uripok constituency with assets worth ₹2.29 crore.
NPP man has lowest assets Mr Singh is a legislator of the National People’s Party (NPP) and is also the Deputy Chief Minister.
The Minister with lowest assets is L. Jayantakumar Singh from Keisamthong Assembly seat with assets worth Rs.23.09 lakh. He is also from the NPP. Karam Shyam of the Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) and Letpao Haokip of the NPP are the two other Ministers who have declared lowest assets.
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IN BRIEF
Sushil Modi’s plea to Lalu, Nitish on Ayodhya
IMA extends support to striking Maharashtra doctors Safety concerns have been addressed, says govt.; issues show cause notices Jyoti Shelar
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday urged Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD president Lalu Prasad to use their goodwill to prepare Muslims for talks on the Ayodhya dispute. PTI
Mumbai
SHIMLA
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Himachal has alleged that cows were being smuggled in some parts of the hill State. The police in Kullu on Tuesday arrested a group of men trying to cross Sarvari River along with some cows. The VHP s claimed that these outsiders were often seen taking away the cows.
25 IAS officers shifted in Punjab CHANDIGARH
The Punjab government on Wednesday night shifted 25 IAS officers and one PCS officer with immediate effect. Among the IAS officers transferred is Roshan Sunkaria who has been posted as Financial Commissioner Rural Development and Panchayats.PTI
Alert villagers avert mishap by stopping train BALASORE(ODISHA)
Passengers of the Bangiriposhi-Bhubaneswar Superfast Express had a narrow escape on Wednesday when locals stopped the train after spotting a crack on the tracks near Khannagar in Balasore district. The villagers noticing the crack on the tracks, promptly waved a red cloth and halted the train ahead of the spot, averting a possible mishap, officials said.PTI
New avenue for prisoners to get legal aid
More time for minimum qualiication
Legal Correspondent
Special Correspondent New Delhi
PATNA
VHP alleges cow smuggling in Himachal
Breather for untrained teachers
In a massive blow to the Maharashtra government negotiating with the resident doctors who are on mass leave for the third day, more than 40,000 senior doctors from the Indian Medical Association joined them on Wednesday. The IMA members called for an Out Patient Department (OPD) bandh on Thursday that will affect the private health services as well.
Taking no chances: AIIMS doctors in Delhi expressed solidarity with striking doctors. Picture shows them at work wearing helmets on Wednesday. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Negotiations fail On Wednesday, negotiations between resident doctors and Medical Education Minister Girish Mahajan went on till 9 p.m. However the talks failed and the decision to stop work continued. Till late night, talks were on about resident doctors from Delhi going on a token strike for a day as well. According to Dr. Shivkumar Utture, member of the
IMA, the demand of doctors is not unreasonable at all. “They are asking for better security and this can be implemented on immediate basis. There is no reason the government should delay it,” said Dr. Utture adding that all of IMA’s 40,000 members in the State would join the mass leave with support from other associations like the Association of Medical Consultants, the General
*
Practitioners Association and the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI). The negotiations of the State government mostly involved threatening the doctors, not fast tracking the implementation of security, he said. According to the another IMA member, Dr. Jayesh Lele, threatening to suspend doctors and cut their salaries
are the “easy way out.” “The main issue of securing hospitals is being ignored here,” said Dr. Lele adding that the IMA had requested doctors to participate in the mass leave. In Mumbai, over 1,500 show cause notices were issued to doctors in the civic run hospitals. “We have issued 524 show cause notices in KEM, 600 in Sion and 368 in Nair hospitals,” said Dr. Avinash Supe, dean of civic run KEM hospital, adding that resident doctors had been assured that at least 500 security guards from the Maharashtra State Security Corporation would be hired within a week. “There is no reason they should continue the strike as we have given them an assurance already,” said Dr. Supe. The State government is also reported to have said resident doctors who don't join duty would stand to lose six months’ salary.
The Union Cabinet has cleared an amendment to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, to ensure that all teachers in position as on March 31, 2015, acquire the minimum qualifications till March 31, 2019. “This will enable the inservice, untrained elementary teachers to complete their training and ensure that all teachers at the elementary level have a certain minimum standard of qualifications,” said a release. “This would also ensure that all teachers would attain minimum qualifications as considered necessary to maintain the standard of teaching quality.”
Improvement in learning Better trained teachers would mean an improvement in the learning outcomes of children, it is believed. “The RTE Act... envisages
free and compulsory elementary education to every child in the age group of 614. The Proviso to Section 23 (2) of the Act specifies that all teachers at elementary level who, at the commencement of this Act, did not possess the minimum qualifications as laid down under the RTE Act, need to acquire these within a period of five years i.e., March 31, 2015,” the release said. “However, several State governments have reported that out of a total number of 66.41 lakh teachers at the elementary level, 11 lakh are still untrained [of these, 5.12 lakh are in government and aided Schools and 5.98 lakh are in private schools]. In order to ensure that all teachers acquire the minimum qualifications prescribed by the academic authority, it is necessary to carry out appropriate amendment to the RTE Act, 2009 to extend the period for such training for four years up to March 31, 2019.”
Court reserves orders on Stayzilla Vasupal’s bail plea Co-founder of online home stay aggregator says criminal charges were foisted on him as a pressure tactic to settle a civil dispute Sureshkumar CHENNAI
“The criminal charges foisted against me are part of pressure tactics to settle a civil dispute, which is against Supreme Court’s directive,” pleaded Yogendra Vasupal, co-founder of online home stay aggregator Stayzilla, who was arrested by the CCB police on March 14 on charges of cheating and criminal intimidation. Senior counsel B. Kumar made the submissions on behalf of Mr. Vasupal while moving a bail application in
the special metropolitan magistrate court for CCB-CBCID cases, Chennai. The application, which was moved eight days after Mr. Vasupal’s arrest, has been posted to Thursday for orders by special metropolitan magistrate M.M. Kabir.
Criminal proceedings Criminal proceedings were initiated against the petitioner based on a complaint from C.S. Aditya of Jigsaw Advertising and Solutions Private Limited, alleging that Stayzilla had failed to make
Law coming to enforce dam safety regulations
Yogendra Vasupal
payments for services rendered since February 2016 and has defrauded him of ₹1.69 crore. A case was re-
Academic audit of varsities soon
gistered by the CCB against Mr. Vasupal and his partner Sarjit Singhi for offences under Sections 406 (Punishment for criminal breach of trust), 420 (Cheating), 506 (i) (Criminal Intimidation) of the IPC. Moving the bail application, Mr. Kumar said: “There is no written contract for the services rendered. It was all an understanding between the parties. He claims that huge number of hoardings were placed in various places across the country and for that, they charged as
much as nearly ₹60 lakh. We said we have no evidence that you have put up so many hoardings and also, that many such hoardings were placed in insignificant places for which such huge amount cannot be paid for that.” “Another contention of the complainant was that he had advertised for the petitioner’s company in the tags used by Jet Airways and IndiGo. But he had not enclosed any evidence for that. So there was a serious dispute as to what we ought to pay,” Mr. Kumar added.
Pointing out that the whole dispute was of a civil nature, the senior counsel contended that the least police should have done was to have enquired the petitioner about what the dispute was actually about. “The police cannot unilaterally believe what the complainant has said and arrest the petitioner,” the counsel said. Claiming that he was a “perfect” law abiding citizen, with no bad antecedents, the petitioner sought the court to enlarge him on bail. However,
Project proponents, who fall short, may face a ine Jacob Koshy NEW DELHI
Taking precautions: A ile photo of the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam in Idukki district. H. VIBHU *
Nadu over threats posed by the Mullaperiyar dam on the river Periyar. More recently, the Chennai floods of 2015, due to unusually-heavy winter rains, were thought to have been compounded by an unprecedented release of water from the Chembarambakkam dam into the Adyar River. In 2014, an unscheduled release of water from the Larji hydroelectric project into the Beas river drowned 25 students from Hyderabad. According to a Water Ministry official familiar with the dam safety bill, recent analysis of the state of India’s
dams found that half of them did not meet contemporary safety standards. “This does not mean the dams are unsafe, but that we have much stricter safety criteria now than we did when these dams were built 50 or 100 years ago,” the official told The Hindu. The safety criteria include increasing the spillway (a design structure to ease water build-up) and preventing ‘over-topping’ in which the dam overflows and causes it to fail. The 1979 Machchu dam failure in Morbi, Gujarat, is estimated to have killed at least 25,000.
Vikas Pathak New Delhi
The Centre is set to put in place a mechanism for research and academic audit of higher educational institutions to assess standards. As a test case, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has appointed committees of academics, who will audit the quality of a few chosen institutions. The institutions that will go through the audit in the first round are Aligarh Muslim University, Pondicherry University, HN Bahuguna Garhwal University, Allahabad University, Jammu University, Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Jharkhand University, Rajasthan University, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, Tripura University and Dr. Hari Singh Gaur University, Sagar. For the audit, 15 academics from different universities have been deployed in five teams. Each team will evaluate two or three institutions. Among the academics shortlisted are Delhi University political science professor Prakash Singh and Amita Singh of the JNU.
opposing the application, Additional Public Prosecutor S. Manual Arasu said, “Prima facie this is a clear case of cheating. The other accused is absconding and is yet to be arrested. The CCB is also receiving several other complaints against the accused.” Noting that it was too early to allow the application, Mr. Manual added that the accused had closed down his company without following any set procedures. Considering the gravity of the offence the petition should be dismissed.
Sidhu’s portfolio could be changed: Amarinder ‘No objection to him working on TV shows if it is constitutionally permissible’ would continue to appear on a TV show as a celebrity judge and this would not affect his official work.
VIKAS VASUDEVA CHANDIGARH
The Centre is contemplating an institutional mechanism to improve safety in India’s 5300-odd dams. Currently, guidelines in this regard are not effectively enforced by the States. The new law, which has been vetted by the Union Law Ministry and will now go to the Union Cabinet for approval, proposes a Central authority and State-level bodies that will enforce regulation. Dam and project proponents falling short could face a fine, though they are unlikely to face imprisonment. “We have had discussions with all the States and most of them have been fairly supportive,” said Amarjit Singh, Secretary, Water Resources Ministry. There are around 4900 large dams in India and several thousand smaller ones. About 300 are in various stages of construction. However, large reservoirs and water storage structures, in the past few decades, are not seen as a model of safety. Kerala, for instance, continues to fight with Tamil
NEW DELHI
The Supreme Court on Wednesday opened a direct window to prisoners and undertrials languishing behind bars to help them in their endeavour for justice in the highest court of the land. The Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC) under the chairmanship of Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjan Gogoi, inaugurated its videoconferencing system to overcome geographical and procedural odds and open a direct a channel of communication with undertrial prisoners and prison inmates. The facility was inaugurated by Justice Dipak Misra. “The inmates can address their grievances through this system and this will curb delay in filing their matters before the Supreme Court. It is the first time that panel advocates of the SCLSC will directly interact with thousands of inmates lodged in hundreds of jails across the country,” the Supreme Court said in an official statement.
As the controversy over Navjot Singh Sidhu appearing on a television show snowballed, Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh said on Wednesday that if his portfolio of Culture was found in conflict with his television work, it could be changed. Capt. Amarinder Singh said he had no objection to Mr. Sidhu continuing television shows if it was constitutionally permissible. “Mr. Sidhu is a sensible and intelligent person, and he would
Amarinder Singh
Navjot Singh Sidhu
have checked out his legal and constitutional position...,” he told reporters in New Delhi after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Since I’m not aware
of the constitutional position, I will wait for the Advocate-General’s opinion,” he said. The row erupted after Mr. Sidhu said recently that he
Special package Capt. Amarinder said he urged the Centre to grant Punjab a special package so as to waive farm loans. At a separate meeting, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely assured the Chief Minister that he would direct the RBI to ensure that all arrangements were in place in the State by March 25 for wheat procurement, which will start on April 1.
Cong., NCP MLAs suspended Alok Deshpande Mumbai
Nineteen MLAs of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were on Wednesday suspended till December 31 for creating ruckus in the Maharashtra
Assembly while Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar was presenting the Budget last week. The MLAs attempted to disrupt the Budget speech demanding waiver for farmers’ loan.
Larger Bench to hear plea Legal Correspondent NEW DELHI
The Supreme Court on Wednesday referred to a larger Bench a batch of petitions seeking framing of uniform guidelines for designating lawyers as seniors by the Supreme Court and the High Courts across the country. A Bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the issue is of “utmost importance” and “we direct the Secretary General of the Supreme Court to place the matter before the Chief Justice of India today itself for being considered by an appropriate larger Bench.” CM YK
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Way to get back on board An Indian rethink on the Belt & Road Initiative may require a Chinese compromise out of free trade negotiations like Trans-Paciic Partnership, or doesn’t bolster its naval strength in the Indo-Paciic, those spaces will be occupied by China. In the same vein, if the U.S. continues to cut troops in Afghanistan, lowers its interest in the reconciliation process, or pulls away from the larger discussions on Afghanistan’s future, then Russia has proved willing to move into those roles. If this is to be the reality of Asia, then India will have to rethink its own rebalance of the past few years towards the U.S.
Superpower dreams n February 2014, when the Chinese government irst brought up with India its plans for the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative, four months after President Xi Jinping had unveiled the idea in Kazakhstan, it seemed an unworkable, ambitious pipe dream. China would need all the friends and partners it could get to make its plans for a 60-nation network encompassing 4.4 billion people. In the Chinese scheme, India could be a major partner, and maps of the time show the B&R travel east to west right through India.
I
Swerving of the road A few months later Russia was enlisted through the $400-billion “Power of Siberia” pipeline, and Mr. Xi’s friendship at a time when the West had decided to isolate and cripple Moscow over Crimea’s annexation brought President Vladimir Putin irmly into the fold. With India, China’s plan was a grander one: the newly elected Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, would visit Xi’an, the original starting point of the old Silk Route, in May 2015, and both leaders would announce their cooperation in the B&R project (then called OBOR or One Belt, One Road), along with plans for the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) that was set up in October 2014. Somewhere along the way, the script soured, and whether it was Mr. Modi’s announcement of a joint vision with U.S. President Obama for Asia-Paciic (read South China Sea), or Mr. Xi’s announcement of the $46-billion ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that runs through Pakistanoccupied Kashmir (PoK), the May 2015 plan never materialised, although Mr. Modi did visit Xi’an.
T
he irst open hearing into the alleged links between the campaign of Donald Trump and unnamed parties associated with the Russian government kicked of this week, even as the President put out a series of social media posts that seemed to mischaracterise statements coming out of that hearing. Ground-shaking revelations have come from the grilling of FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Michael Rogers by the House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee. The irst was from Mr. Comey, who conirmed that the FBI was investigating Russia’s eforts to interfere in the presidential election, including links between speciic individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Last month Mr. Trump’s nominee for National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned from his post after it emerged that he had withheld information about being in contact with Russia’s Ambassador in Washington prior to Mr. Trump’s inauguration. This month, Attorney General Jef Sessions recused himself from the probe into alleged Russian meddling when it came to light that he had met the Ambassador prior to the election. Yet he continues to head the institution charged with the inquiry. Mr. Comey revealed that the FBI investigation began in July 2016, when evidence emerged that the Democratic National Committee had been hacked by Russia-related entities and emails handed over to WikiLeaks. Even as the U.S. intelligence community scrambles to put together the pieces of the Trump-Moscow puzzle, it has, ironically, found itself in the crosshairs of exposure. Earlier this month WikiLeaks released a trove of conidential CIA documents , a series labelled “Vault 7”, which showed the Agency’s penetration of the security systems of household electronic devices that could then be used for covert surveillance. While such timed “leaks” are meant to target his political opponents, Mr. Trump’s own tweets are at odds with revelations in the House hearing. In early March, he accused former President Barack Obama of ordering wiretaps on Trump Tower — yet Mr. Comey said neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice had any information to support that allegation. Mr. Rogers dismissed the White House suggestion that Mr. Obama had asked British intelligence to spy on Mr. Trump, a claim the U.K. has denied. The last straw came when the U.S. President’s account tweeted, as the hearing proceeded, “The NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not inluence electoral process,” only to have this statement debunked by Mr. Comey at the hearing, live on TV. Mr. Trump’s tendency to resort to unsubstantiated, even misleading, claims to stall a probe into alleged collaboration with a foreign power is not helping his credibility, which is already low in the eyes of so many Americans. CM YK
Azhar a terrorist, New Delhi is looking for a reset. During Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s recent visit to Beijing for the restructured Strategic Dialogue, he said as much, calling for a more “stable, forwardlooking” relationship to deal with an “international situation in lux”, a clear pointer that global uncertainties triggered by the Donald Trump administration in the U.S. must force a geopolitical review. Much has been written about the impact of the new U.S. President’s actions on India. The most obvious ones are cutbacks on immigrant visas, restrictions on outsourcing, and ‘SelectUSA’ which will make a dent in the ‘Make in India’ programme, both for manufactured goods and defence purchases. Those actions are held responsible for creating an atmosphere of xenophobia in the U.S. where Indians could be targeted as much as people from countries on the travel ban, and the government has already had to exert considerable diplomatic leverage to exact words of assurances from the U.S. government on behalf of NRIs and PIOs. However, it is what Mr. Trump doesn’t do that will have more impact on India in the long term. If the U.S. decides not to build on its pivot to Asia, in addition to pulling
A reset in ties required There is every indication that after ‘annus horribilis’ of 2016 for IndiaChina ties, overshadowed by China’s opposition to India’s entry into in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and its vetoing of a proposal at the United Nations to declare Masood
Neighbourhood on board A rethink may also be required on India’s own neighbourhood policy. In September last year, the government exerted considerable heft with each of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries to cancel a summit in Pakistan after the Uri attacks. The move was a part of India’s plan to “isolate” Pakistan until it takes action on terror. The truth is that the plan worked for the SAARC summit, but not beyond that, in part because of Pakistan’s involvement with China and the B&R initiative, which has already been signed on to by Afghanistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh (Nepal is expected to join soon). Even Afghanistan and Bangladesh, which sufer the most from terrorism emanating from Pakistan, will inevitably be drawn into the B&R group of countries more and more for connectivity and trade, more so in the absence of SAARC. Signiicantly, it is the Afghanistan leadership that has come out most strongly on the need for India to ind its way into the B&R. Both President Ashraf Ghani and former President Hamid Karzai, on visits to India in the past few months, have stressed the importance of connecting India to Central Asia via Afghanistan, joining a “strategic arc” of countries from Iran to Russia and China. These countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan, are connecting to each other via B&R
Contours of a compromise If China so wishes, it could still make amends by using the Afghan desire to remain connected by putting the CPEC on an alternate route: to Afghanistan and not PoK, connecting it to the Silk Route envisaged. This would not only build a bigger arc for the B&R route, it would sidestep India’s concerns over sovereignty, and leave the door open for it to join the project on its eastern frontiers via BCIM or to even just be an observer. The issue of speciic projects in PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan would remain, but they could be dealt with in the manner the Chinese funding of the Karakoram highway or USAID and Asian Development Bank contributions to the Diamer-Bhasha dam were. The founder of the old Silk Route, Zhang Qian, was not a Chinese emperor or ruler, but a diplomat-warrior. He set out to look for strategic allies for Emperor Wu on a journey that began in 138 BC from the Han capital of Chang’an (now Xi’an). When he returned he told the emperor he had also learned during his stay in Bactria (Afghanistan and Central Asia) that a more important route for China lay within Shendu (India), through which China could trade over the mountains of Sichuan province. Two thousand years later, it may need both diplomacy and a push from Afghanistan and Central Asia to once again align the lines between India and China, if New Delhi and Beijing wish to ensure that the success they shared via the old Silk Route is given another chance.
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Breathing life into health care The new National Health Policy is promising, but it needs stronger Centre-State coordination
Russian connection The Trump-Russia investigation could further erode the U.S President’s credibility
China says it still hasn’t given up on Indian participation, and the National People’s Congress spokesperson this week repeated the hope that India will attend Mr. Xi’s mega B&R conference on May 14-15 this year. Mr. Putin, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif are among the invitees expected. However, the government has made it clear it is prepared to sit out the event over the principle of sovereignty. When asked, a senior oicial said, “It is impossible for us to go and sit even as observers in the conference at this point — with the Belt and Road map on display showing parts of India in Pakistan.” While the outcome is unfortunate, India’s stand over the line going through PoK is understandable. The more important questions are: how did India get boxed into this corner, and does it want a way out of it? If so, is there one?
k. srinath reddy
T
he new National Health Policy (2017) released last week presents a clear vision of how India’s sluggish health system can be galvanised to deliver health and well-being to all by 2030, to meet the Sustainable Development Goal on health. The real challenge lies in its operational ampliication and effective implementation which call for cementing consensus, catalysing commitment and channelling close coordination for steering Centre and the States together to deliver on this vision. After a gestation period of over two years, that saw extensive public comment and sharp debate within the government, the policy has inally emerged as a well-crafted document that lays the path for Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Though the right to health proposed in the earlier draft has been disappointingly deleted, efective implementation of the various measures proposed in the NHP should place us on the path towards the realisation of that right. While espousing a strong
public health approach and commitment to strengthening the public sector, the policy aims to draw upon the diverse systems of medicine and the diferent sectors of health-care providers that characterise our mixed health system, for providing much-needed health services across India.
A rise in spending The policy acknowledges the need for increasing the level of public inancing for health, stating that the government must spend 2.5% of GDP by 2025. While this is sub-optimal and projects a farther date than public health advocates had hoped for, the promise to double public inancing over next eight years is still welcome, given that government funding was virtually stagnant for several decades. However, Central budgets from now on must relect a steady rise annually, to give credence to this promise. It also remains to be seen how States will conform to the recommendation that spending on health must rise above 8% of their budgets by 2020. Primary health care is rightly prioritised for two-thirds or more of all public funding. Free drugs, diagnostic and emergency services would be provided to all in public hospitals. There is an assurance of primary
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Ayodhya resolution India needs to acknowledge the grand gesture by the Supreme Court of even ofering to mediate in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute (“SC calls for out-of-court settlement in Ayodhya case”, March 22). The parties concerned should grab this opportunity, especially as the right wing has welcomed the initiative. By bringing in the beneit of his vast experience and eminence, one hopes that the CJI can bring an end to the needless dispute which has left its mark in the form of violence. Sane counsel should prevail and all those concerned should realise the futility of continuing with the dispute. Needless to say, the criminal case in connection with the demolition of the Babri
strengthened public services, with gap illing through strategic purchasing of services from private providers. While a ‘capitation’ fee model — of ixed annual payment for full health care of a person — has been proposed for primary health care, a ‘fee for service’ system has been proposed for secondary and tertiary care. It remains to be seen how these will gel in an integrated model. GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK
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ndia’s rank of 131 among 188 countries on the UNDP’s Human Development Index for 2015 and its ‘medium’ performance pose the uncomfortable question: would not the score have been signiicantly better if the higher economic growth trajectory of two and a half decades of liberalisation had been accompanied by a parallel investment in people? Few will argue that the rise in incomes that came with a more open economy has not translated into a higher quality of life for many Indians and raised overall life expectancy at birth by more than 10 years from the 1990 level, to reach 68.3 years. Progress has also been made in raising awareness about issues afecting women’s empowerment, such as public safety, acid attacks, discrimination in inheritance rights and lack of equal employment opportunity. Policy reforms have been instituted in some of these areas as a result. But as the HDI data show, signiicant inequalities persist, particularly between States and regions, which act as major barriers to improvement. The percentage of women in the workforce is the lowest in India among the BRICS countries, and the national record on the population that lives in severe multidimensional poverty is also the worst in the bloc. These are clear pointers to the lost decades for India, when universalisation of education and health care could have pulled deprived sections out of the poverty trap. A central focus on social indicators is necessary for India to break free from its position as an underachiever. The iscal space now available has been strengthened by steady economic growth, and more should be done to eliminate subsidies for the richest quintile — estimated by the UNDP to be $16 billion in 2014 in six consumption areas including gold and aviation fuel. The rise in revenues from all sources should go towards making public education of high standards accessible to all and delivering on the promised higher budgetary outlay for health care. Bolstered by a conscious efort to help traditionally backward regions, such policies will help eliminate the losses produced by inequalities that lower national human development indices. One crucial metric that gets insuicient attention in the measurement of development is the state of democracy, relected among other things in access to justice. It is relevant to point out that India has not ratiied UN conventions on torture, rights of migrant workers and their families, and protection against enforced disappearance. This is a serious lacuna for a country that otherwise has a commitment to democracy and the rule of law. With the growing realisation that development is a multidimensional achievement, the gains of economic reforms must help build capabilities and improve the health of all sections. Sustaining and improving the quality of life will depend on policies crafted to handle major emerging challenges such as urbanisation, the housing deicit, access to power, water, education and health care.
suhasini haidar
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India’s response to a low HDI rank must be good education and a higher health outlay
through Iran’s North-South corridor, CPEC and other routes already in place, while India’s plans for Chabahar port are still to get of the ground. “Economically, Afghanistan has become a part of Central Asia,” Mr. Ghani has said. Clearly, Afghanistan’s desire to reduce its dependence on Pakistan trade will eventually cut it of from all of South Asia.
Strengthening health care
health services which are needed for comprehensive care and promotion of well-being. These are to be available anywhere in the country on the basis of a family card, which also connects them to a ‘health and wellness centre’ that provides basic services, referral linkages and performs a gatekeeper function for advanced care. AYUSH systems would be mainstreamed. The muchdelayed National Urban Health Mission is to be imparted speed and scale to address the unmet needs of urban primary health care while reaching out to the urban poor. Secondary and tertiary health care will be provided through
District hospitals are to be strengthened, to provide several elements of tertiary care alongside secondary care. Sub-district hospitals too would be upgraded. A National Healthcare Standards Organisation is proposed to be established to develop evidencebased standard management guidelines. A National Health Information Network also would be established by 2025. A National Digital Health Authority would be set up to develop, deploy and regulate digital health across the continuum of care. Expanded institutional capacity as well as new courses and cadres are proposed to overcome the shortages of skilled human resources in the health system. Public Health Management cadres are to be created in all States. BSc in Com-
munity Health and MD in Family Medicine are marked for scale-up and a variety of specialised nursing and paramedical courses are proposed, even as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) can careertrack to become auxiliary nurse midwives. A variety of disease control measures and targets have been proposed to tackle challenges ranging from HIV-TB co-infection to trauma and screening for chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and common cancers. Control of indoor and outdoor air pollution has been accorded high priority with water, sanitation and nutrition, while multi-sectoral action will be aided by analytic capacity for health impact assessment. All of these augur well for moving the health agenda forward. However, the real challenges lie in how quickly the government can strengthen the public sector, how well it can regulate the partnering private sector, how efectively it can ramp up the health workforce to reach all sections of the population and how eiciently the Central and State governments can team up. Fingers crossed! K. Srinath Reddy is President, Public Health Foundation of India. The views expressed are personal
Letters emailed to
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Masjid should continue independently. S.V. Venkatakrishnan, Bengaluru
■ The Supreme Court’s suggestion is welcome but is it possible to settle the issue amicably? It still lingers as India’s most potent communal lashpoint. Negotiation will work only if there is wholehearted agreement on both sides. I feel the Supreme Court should, on its own accord, come out with a concrete verdict which everyone would be bound to accept.
Muhammad Tahir Ghaziabad
■ The Supreme Court’s suggestion will only further delay resolution of the matter. In a country governed by the rule of law, there is no valid reason why courts should hesitate to
adjudicate even sensitive or emotional issues. Resolution of a dispute is the constitutional mandate for the judiciary. It is not for it to waver over the likely fallout of its decision, as it’s for the executive to handle such a situation. While the Sangh Parivar has welcomed the suggestion, Muslims organisations are not too enthusiastic. What is pending before the apex court is the challenge to the Allahabad High Court’s judgment by the aggrieved parties. The issues involved are claims and counterclaims on disputed facts, interpretation of law including whether the court can assume some events in mythological realms as evidence to justify a judicial inding. It would, therefore, be in the itness of things for the apex court to adjudicate the dispute expeditiously.
All citizens must submit to the majesty of law. S.K. Choudhury, Bengaluru
Wastewater as resource With a rapidly burgeoning population and increasing pressure on already depleting freshwater resources, it is imperative to take proactive measures for pollution abatement and management of wastewater (“What goes around must come around”, March 22). In northern India, most rivers are severely polluted and contaminated, rendering millions of people who depend on these rivers for various activities vulnerable to epidemics. A recent NSSO report shows that more than 10% of India’s population does not have access to clean drinking water, and that this number
is growing. In the Ganga Doab region, heavy metal present in river water is percolating into the groundwater. It is time to aggressively pursue a cohesive policy to increase sewage plant treatment and ensure strict enforcement of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. It is also necessary to involve grassroots institutions. Initiatives such as “Toilet to Tap”, which is being developed in Delhi to treat sewage water to make it it for drinking, should be pursued across India. Gagan Pratap Singh, Noida, Uttar Pradesh
IPL, season 10 The Indian Premier League is entering its tenth edition in a fortnight from now. Year after year, more pageantry and grandiosity are being added to this
shortest form of cricket to the extent that its inancial might and launting overshadow the actual game itself. Preposterously enough, players from across the global cricketing nations carry price tags on their heads and are auctioned like commodities in the open market . (“The return of BCCI’s prodigal child”, March 21). Much to the dismay of fans, the betting and spot-ixing scandals that broke out during the game’s 2013 edition are yet to be resolved. India doesn’t require a cash-rich tournament of the likes of the IPL, wherein crores of money only beneit cricketers, the franchise owners and, of course, the BCCI. R. Sivakumar, Chennai
more letters online: www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/
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The many shades of happiness
Remembering Anil Divan
Real happiness isn’t a product that can be sold. It arises from being one with the world
Happy days are here again! Very often we use the word happy to denote something which is not happiness at all. There are a number of terms that are often used in place of happiness: pleasure, joy, contentment, satisfaction. Not all of these correspond to happiness. These are particular types of experience which overlap with the experience of happiness but are in themselves not the state of happiness. The famous anthem of happiness, Bobby McFerrin’s song ‘Don’t worry, be happy’, was a song which had global appeal. The song has a very simple prescription for being happy: don’t worry since worrying only doubles your trouble. “The landlord say your rent is late/ He may have to litigate/ Don’t worry, be happy,” sings McFerrin. Is the state of not worrying all that there is to happiness? Perhaps not surprisingly, McFerrin took his anthem from an Indian spiritual guru, Meher Baba. The contemporary way to forget worries is through shopping. Happiness is only another commercial product. Happiness as a product makes it possible for it to be designed, packaged and delivered when and where needed. Our society is full of products, most of which are designed primarily to make us ‘happy’. Not a surprise that shopping is the easiest route to happiness today. Happiness as accumulation and consumption of goods, as a kind of product that can be sold, is endemic to modern definitions of happiness. I remember the catchy and popular slogan “Happy days are here again,
less and never worried about the consequences of his actions. He was an extraordinary scholar. A staunch believer in the independence of the judiciary, he made signal contributions to the legal profession, which will go a long way in strengthening freedom, dignity and democracy in the country. His great pillar of strength was his wife Smita. In her independent capacity, Smita has worked for the empowerment of women and was President of the Maharashtra State Women’s Council.
murlidhar c. bhandare I was in my first year at Government Law College, Mumbai, the country was newly independent and a 67-year-old friendship was about to begin. Somebody had taken my usual spot on the front row of the classroom. I was miffed but on the last row was a vacant spot. I quickly took it and found myself seated next to Anil Divan. His friends knew that he was destined for great things. He came first in the examinations and bagged the gold medal in jurisprudence. On January 26, 1950, when India became a republic, the two of us walked for hours around the Victoria Terminus railway station, gazing at the brightly lit building. We wondered if the light of freedom and democracy could dispel the darkness of poverty and ignorance that engulfed our country. It was only appropriate that Anil would go on to defend and fight for our most cherished constitutional principles.
der to be happy? If so, then freedom has been an abysmal failure, since when we are free to do what we want, we end up being dissatisfied. Living in highly restricted contexts is also a sure recipe for unhappiness; so what are we to do? Like everything else about human life, there is a middle path and the real task is only to find this path.
The reality of happiness There is truth in the observation that some poor people are happier than some richer folks, and that children are happier than adults. It is true that we discover sudden moments of happiness when listening to music or watching a beautiful sight. This experience of happiness when you listen to music or see the mountains is not akin to a psychological state of joy or the pleasure of the senses. When a parent sees her child, the happiness she gets is not in the sensual pleasure of seeing that child but in something more. Happiness is more than pleasure or joy since the poor do not find any pleasure in being poor but in spite of it they find moments of happiness. The happiness associated with love is a good example. Love may not always be joyful and pleasurable, it may not even be pleasant all the time
but the moment of happiness that defines that love is indeed real and rare. Living in constant comfort does not lead to happiness, it can only lead to boredom. What then is the nature of happiness? It is one which arises from the removal of ego and from being aware that there is no real difference between an individual and the world. Happiness is just in ‘being-with’ somebody. It is the state where knowledge, artificial distinctions and utilitarian values do not figure. Happiness is the state where it is not possible to distinguish between the person who is experiencing and the object of experience. This is also the state of surrender — to another individual, to nature or to the divine. Surely this is not the happiness which the UN report refers to nor is it even part of the world view of the culture of the countries high up in the list. To find something close to this notion of happiness, they would have to walk the streets of societies in which people still happily smile through the rubble of their everyday world. Sundar Sarukkai is Professor of Philosophy at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru
An illustrious family The principles of justice and the law were embedded in his DNA. Once, while flipping through the pages of a book in our college library, I stumbled upon a photograph of a young Anil with his maternal grandfather, Sir Chimanlal Setalvad, an eminent lawyer who had later served as vice-chancellor of Bombay University. Anil’s paternal grandfather was no less accomplished. Jivanlal Divan founded the famous Proprietary High School in Ahmedabad and marched with Gandhiji to Dandi in 1930. Sharda, Anil’s mother, was the first woman registrar who would go on to become vice-chancellor of the SNDT Women’s University in Mumbai. There were so many other family members who rose to eminence: M.C. Setalvad, his maternal uncle, was the first and longest serving Attorney General of India, for 13 years; Bipinchandra J. Divan, his paternal uncle, was Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court. Yet, I never heard Anil boast about his lineage or drop names to get ahead. All of us who knew him could vouch for his absolute integrity. He was appointed amicus curiae (friend of the court) on several occasions, including in the Jain hawala diary case where he appeared against his brotherin-law, his wife Smita’s elder brother Ashok Desai, who was then India’s Attorney General. Both men of unimpeachable honesty, what counted was the pride they took in being defenders of the law. Anil was tall in body and mind. Never once to mince words, he was bold and fear-
The last reunion On December 10 last year, my 88th birthday, Anil perhaps inadvertently gave me the most special birthday gift ever: the launch of the second edition of his book, On the Front Foot. Seated on the front row were so many
S. SUBRAMANIUM
In a recent UN report, Norway was declared as the “world’s happiest country”. The top of the list included Denmark, Finland and Iceland. The U.S. came 14th and the U.K. was in 19th position. Given the everyday stress and the alienation from social life that defines life in the U.S. and U.K., all I can say is that this World Happiness Report cannot really be about happiness. (Disclaimer: This claim has nothing to do with the fact that India was ranked 122nd in this list.)
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sundar sarukkai
Thums Up”, a theme which has sold other soft drinks too. From Happy Days we have moved to Happy Hours, a more desperate sales pitch to make people consume more alcohol. This inculcation towards consumption as somehow related to happiness begins early in our life, in that dreadful celebration called the Birthday. Perhaps the most famous and most abused phrase is ‘Happy Birthday’. When others wish us ‘Happy Birthday’, are they telling us to be happy on our birthday or are they pointing out to the fact that because it is my birthday I have to be happy? For children today, increasingly across all sections of the society, happiness on this day is nothing more than cutting a cake, singing the birthday song and wearing new clothes. Birthdays have succeeded in reducing our idea of happiness into a set of rituals of consumerism. It is interesting to contrast this with more traditional modes of celebrating birthdays which were primarily about thanksgiving and prayers for the future rather than an excuse for a ‘birthday party’. Now, we have converted religious and cultural festivals into Happy Days. Every event has to be a happy event: Happy Diwali, Happy Christmas, Happy Independence Day and so on. There is tremendous pressure to show that we are happy, whether we are really happy or not. And since we manage to be quite unhappy most of the time, it is easier to follow a ritual of happiness rather than strive for happiness. In this proliferation of Happy Days, it is only the business people who seem to have attained happiness! The relation between shopping and happiness is a cynical continuation of the age-old relationship between happiness and freedom. We are often told that freedom is happiness and our unhappiness arises from various constraints placed on our personal and social life. But, most often, when we have ‘pure’ freedom, we suffer. Sometimes we do not know what to do, how to act. Many times an existential angst begins to pervade the free individual. One of the freedoms much talked about is the one to have multiple sexual partners. Are people who are not monogamous in their relationship more happy? Those who escape commitment in a relationship — are they more free and happy? In other words, do we desire freedom in or-
His life mission was to defend and ight for our most cherished constitutional principles
of our law college friends who had gone on to accomplish great things: Fali Nariman, Soli Sorabjee and Ashok Desai. We had ended up with a college reunion without really intending it or planning it to be one. Well over half a century ago when the Republic was still nascent, we had left Mumbai and shifted to New Delhi with a dream in our hearts to practise in the Supreme Court as defenders and champions of the Constitution. Now, Anil had brought us together again on that winter evening. I never realised then that my best friend was preparing to embark on his next journey. I only know that wherever he is, he will continue to fight for the voiceless, coming to the aid of justice and inspiring future generations of lawyers. Murlidhar C. Bhandare is a senior advocate, a former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and former Governor, Odisha
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Our love of voyeurism
Johnson to persevere with peace eforts
FIFTY YEARS AGO
Every tragedy becomes a photograph in this hyper-documented world
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Culture of schadenfreude What explains this culture of schadenfreude in which we are now immersed? Is the ‘fear of missing out’ or the need to participate so crucial that even experiences of grief are no longer personal and require validation? In the thirst for approval or ‘likes’, have we forgotten to be humane, to respect the dead? We all love seeing beautiful images, which often crowd our social media feed. However, the commercialisation of photography has also unfortunately unleashed a culture of perversity. As Susan Sontag said in On Photography, “Photography has now become a defense against anxiety and a tool of power.” In this hyper-documented world, perhaps we will do well to take a step back and wonder how it would afect the couple’s family if they saw smiling people where they lost their loved ones, or wonder if that poor grandfather deserved such a farewell. “To collect photographs is to collect the world,” Sontag had said. The ‘I’ doesn’t constitute the world. CM YK
MARCH 23, 1967
Despite President Ho Chi Minh’s rebuff to his peace talks offer, President Johnson said on arrival from Guam, where he had talks with South Viet Namese leaders, “we shall persevere in our efforts to find an honourable peace”. “Until that is achieved, of course, we shall continue to do our duty in Viet Nam,” he said. President Johnson who flew in here [Washington] in a swirling snowstorm, was baffled by Hanoi’s decision to release the texts of the secret messages. He said last night [March 21] that President Ho had delivered a “regrettable rebuff ” in turning down the offer of talks. The North Viet Namese disclosed that Moscow was the secret contact point between the United States and North Viet Nam and officials here [Washington] said this will add to the tension already existing between Moscow, which wants a peace settlement, and Peking, which supports the war. Mr. Johnson said President Ho’s reply to his letter and to the peace appeal made by Pope Paul during the Tet truce were regrettable rebuffs to the offers to move towards peace.
Radhika Santhanam
Last week, in a horriic accident in Chennai, two people were charred when their car hit a tree and went up in lames. The next day, at the spot where they died, some people posed near the tree and clicked a couple of selies. This is not a one-of case. Reportedly, people often mill around accident victims and click their photos or videos instead of helping them, or return to the spot later to tell the world that they were there. Issues of morality often arise in the case of photographs of war and disaster. Last year, a powerful image of a woman in her yellow airline uniform — shocked, covered in dust and blood, and with her clothes ripped of — emerged after the Brussels airport attack. Some people wondered whether the photograph had stripped the woman of her dignity, while others argued that the Islamic State had done that through the bombing. Oft-asked questions about such images are: is it all right to photograph someone who is sufering or dying? What purpose does it serve? How would the photograph afect the family of the deceased? Photojournalists often grapple with these questions. Whether it was the case of the Brussels woman, or the controversial photograph by Kevin Carter of the Sudanese child, or Nick Ut’s photo of a child leeing from Napalm bombing during the Vietnam War, the subject was the victim. The photographer was the observer recording history, furnishing evidence of events, and holding up a mirror to harsh realities. However, in the case of the Chennai accident, the people posing near the burnt tree were only interested in recording their presence there. The intention was similar to another grisly image that a colleague showed me once, in which a young man with a sorrowful expression posed near his dead grandfather. The Facebook post was apparently his way of telling the world that he was grief-stricken. In these cases, photography is not an act of observation but an act of intervention. The photographer and the subject are now often one and the same; anything else in the frame is purely incidental.
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CONCEPTUAL
FAQ
Conditioned Reflex/ Psychology
Remembering 1971
A conditioned reflex, also called an acquired reflex, is an automatic response to a stimulus that differs from that initially causing the response, but that has become associated with it by repetition, in a process known as classical conditioning. Such a reflex is developed gradually by training in association with specific repeated external stimuli. An example is that in Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov’s experiment in which a dog salivates at the ringing of a bell if, over a period of time, every feeding is preceded by the bell-ringing stimulus. Such a reflex is built into the nervous system and does not need the intervention of conscious thought to take effect. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
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The Blue Helmets — India in UN peace missions http://bit.ly/IndiansUNpeacekeeping
Why Bangladesh has announced a Genocide Day stanly johny Why Genocide Day? It has
been a long-pending demand in Bangladesh, by political parties and civil society, to mark the atrocities committed by the Pakistani army on civilians in the then East Pakistan during the Liberation War in 1971. On March 11, the Bangladesh Parliament passed a resolution calling on the government to observe March 25 as Genocide Day. The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved the demand and said it would send two senior officials to the UN headquarters in New York and the UN Human Rights Council office in Geneva for international recognition of the day. What happened on March 25, 1971? On the night of
March 25, 1971, the Pakistani army, launched Operation Searchlight in Dhaka aimed at curbing elements of the separatist Bengali nationalist movement. East Pakistan was already on the boil after
the Pakistan establishment refused to hand over power to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who had won the 1970 election. The Pakistani army, along with local activists from the Jamaat-e-Islami, unleashed violence that night, targeting students and teachers of Dhaka University and neighbourhoods of Old Dhaka. According to some researchers, around 7,000 people were killed and 3,000 were arrested. During the early hours of March 26, Mujibur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh, which officially set off the Liberation War. How did Pakistan respond to those events? Pakistan
Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto set up a judicial commission to find out the atrocities committed by the army in East Pakistan. Justice Hamoodur Rahman submitted his report in 1974, which was not released to the public for three decades. It documented large-scale atrocit-
ies committed by the Pakistani troops and also recommended that the government establish a special court to further investigate the army’s actions. This never happened. Even the commission’s estimate of the casualties has been widely challenged. It put the death toll during the Liberation War at 26,000. Bangladeshi authorities say up to three million people were killed and millions more displaced. The Pakistani authorities haven’t offered a formal apology so far.
The Imperial Council meeting The last meeting of the current session of the Imperial Legislative Council was held this morning, His Excellency the Viceroy presiding. There was a very large attendance of visitors, among whom was Sir K.G. Gupta. Interpellation discussion on the budget was opened by Maung Bah Too, who in the course of his speech claimed that Burma too was doing her bit in the war. He explained how in various ways, besides presenting Rs. 26 lakhs to the Viceroy for war purposes, Burma was helping to win the war. He did not wish to be importunate at present in pressing the claims of Burma on the Government, but said that one of his greatest ambitions was to see a permanent Burman Judge on the Chief Court Bench. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
DATA POINT
Will this affect Bangladesh’s relations with Pakistan? Bilateral
ties have been strained after Bangladesh started prosecuting alleged war criminals who collaborated with the Pakistani army in 1971. With Pakistan still refusing to apologise, Bangladesh’s move to get international recognition for the genocide will have repercussions for bilateral relations. A ND-ND
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10 NEWS
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THE HINDU
THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017
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FROM PAGE ONE
EC freezes ‘two leaves’ for R.K. Nagar bypoll
Jaitley strongly defends PAN-Aadhaar link The biometric security of the identity document will prevent tax evasion, Finance Minister tells Lok Sabha Special Correspondent
The faction, represented by lawyers C.S. Vaidyanathan and Guru Krishna Kumar, contended that Sasikala had been convicted in a disproportionate assets case and, therefore, she could not contest elections. Since her appointment had been disputed, they argued, she should not be allowed to nominate her nephew T.T.V. Dinakaran as the party candidate. Notably, the Commission has not recognised Mr. Dinakaran as the party office bearer, as his name is not there in list submitted to the electoral body.
‘Sasikala not eligible’ “A person calls herself the general secretary. She is not eligible to contest, she is not eligible to be an election agent and she is not even eligible to be a voter. How can she give Form ‘B’ [authorisation for nomination of a candidate] to contest on behalf of the party? This was our argument before the Commission. When she is not eligible to allot the symbol, we are the original owners…,” AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP V. Maitreyan of the Pan-
neerselvam faction had said after the hearing concluded. On behalf the Sasikala camp, lawyers Salman Khurshid, Veerappa Moily, Mohan Parasaran and Aryama Sundaram, relied upon the test of majority as upheld by the Supreme Court in case of a split in the party as per Para 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order. The Election Commission had taken recourse to the same test to decide the Samajwadi Party symbol dispute in favour of Akhilesh Yadav. “We opposed the very maintainability of the petition. We pointed out that it was not even a case where they had a majority of legislators [supporting them]. The majority of legislators, the Chief Minister, the Cabinet, parliamentarians and the general counsel were with us. As there was no case for claim of majority, they would not have the right at all to claim for the allotment of the symbol to them. So, there is no question of stopping us from using the symbol,” said Mr. Sundaram.
2 RSS workers get life term in Ajmer case The NIA later submitted to the court that it had not found any prosecutable evidence against the two suspects. The court has fixed March 28 for deciding whether it would accept or reject the closure report. The NIA will also submit a report on three absconding accused in the case.
Fine imposed Both Bhavesh and Devendra were held guilty under Sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Sections 3/4 of the Explosive Substances Act and Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. The court also imposed a fine of ₹10,000 on Bhavesh and ₹5,000 on Devendra. Defence counsel Jagdish Rana said the convicts
would file an appeal against the judgment in the High Court. However, Sarwar Chishti, a khadim (worker) at the dargah on whose complaint the first FIR was registered, said it should have been treated as the rarest of rare case for death penalty. The explosion in the historic shrine on October 11, 2007, during Ramzan, had left three persons dead and 17 injured. The dargah was packed to capacity with about 5,000 devotees when the blast occurred at the time of Iftaar (breaking of fast). The matter was initially investigated by the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad and was later transferred to the NIA, which reregistered the case on April 6, 2011.
3 meat shops burnt in western U.P. Establishments were raided in Hathras, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Allahabad, Aligarh, Kushinagar near Gorakhpur and Varanasi among others. The police have also increased vigil across the State to prevent illegal slaughter of cows and buffaloes. The BJP, which maintained that cattle stock in U.P. had depleted due to the meat trade, had promised in its election manifesto to close all slaughter houses (legal and illegal) immediately, should the party be elected to power. Accordingly, soon after taking oath, Mr. Adityanath warned the police that local officers would be held accountable if illegal meat shops and slaughter houses are found to be functioning. There was tension among the meat trading Quraishi community after the vandalism and burning of meat shops in Hathras. Of the over 350 slaughter houses in the State, only 40 are legal and have a licence issued by the Centre’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). The anti-meat policy of the BJP government has sent a wave of panic through the
meat traders, meat exporters, and lakhs of workers employed in the meat trade. The closure of slaughter houses will also affect farmers, who generally sell older animals which do not yield milk or cannot be used in the farms to cattle traders, who, in turn, sell them to slaughter houses and meat exporters. Several meat exporters told The Hindu that the anti-meat policy of the BJP government would adversely affect the livelihood of several people. Mohammad Imran Yakoob of Al-Faheem Meatex said that the his meat export company employs about 2,000 people who are just a small fraction of the workforce that will rendered jobless if the all abbattoirs are shut down. “It would go against the plank of development if the BJP government shuts down duly certified and registered abattoirs. We deal in buffallo meat and not beef. Every thing done here is legal and lawful,” he said while adding that contrary to the BJP’s argument, there was a 28% growth in the population of buffaloes and 10% growth in cows in U.P. from 2007, according to the livestock Census 2012.
NEW DELHI
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has defended the amendment to the Finance Bill, cleared by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, making an Aadhaar number mandatory for issuing a PAN card. The biometric security of Aadhaar, he said, would prevent individuals holding multiple PAN cards and evading tax. “In a situation where it has come to light that one citizen has up to five PAN cards, to avoid that, we have linked the PAN to Aadhaar,” Mr. Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha. “So we have said, either give Aadhaar or an application for Aadhaar. About 98% of the adult population is covered by Aadhaar and 108
was clear, the Finance Minister said alluding to the performance of the BJP in the recent Assembly elections in the five States.
crore cards have been issued.” “If tax fraud is lessened, who would have a problem with this?” he asked in response to Opposition criticism that the linkage was wrong since the matter of Aadhaar’s legality was still in the Supreme Court. “It is an anti-evasion measure and for the benefit of the country.”
I-T searches He also sought to allay concerns in Parliament about aggressive and unwarranted searches and seizures by Income-Tax officials. The assessing officer, he said, could only make searches after recording the source of their information regarding undisclosed income. Mr. Jaitley said the Central Board of Direct Taxes had so far identified 18 lakh names
whose large bank deposits did not match their income profile. Communications had been sent to all the 18 lakh assessees and 8.78 lakh people had already respon-
ded. “The fear is that there will be many searches and seizures under Section 132A,” he said. “But before searching, the assessing officer has to get the informa-
tion about undisclosed income. The source of the information and all other details have to be explained.” The political verdict of the people on demonetisation
GST regime “One of the benefits of demonetisation is that the anonymity associated with cash has been hurt and this will have an effect on the economy. Crime does not end. But does cash incentivise crime? Experience from around the world has shown that more cash leads to more tax evasion and more crime.” Mr. Jaitley said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council was trying to implement the new tax regime by July 1. “The GST Council has met 12 times so far and all the significant decisions were taken by consensus.”
After months of suspense, PM did not directly link Krishna inally joins BJP ISI to derailment: Rajnath ‘Former Karnataka CM’s entry will give party huge boost’
NIA probe not yet complete, Home Minister tells Parliament
Nistula Hebbar
Vijaita Singh
NEW DELHI
New Delhi
Former Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna joined the BJP on Wednesday, in the presence of party chief Amit Shah, ending months of speculation about his political plans. He had been expected to join the BJP more than a week ago, but could not because of a bereavement in his family. “Even now, he was busy with some personal issues,” said a source close to the developments. “But the State BJP chief B.S.Yeddyurappa requested him to give an early date and also spoke to party president Amit Shah to expedite matters. Yeddyurappaji wants Mr. Krishna to campaign for the BJP in the Nanjangud (reserved) and Gundulpet Assembly seats in Karnataka where elections are due at the end of March.” At the crowded hall where the event was held, Mr. Krishna was flanked by Union Ministers Ananth Kumar, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Ramesh Jigajinagi, former
Home Minister Rajnath Singh told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not directly mention ISI’s name in the Kanpur train derailment case” and that investigations in three railway accidents, where sabotage is suspected, were yet to be completed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Over 140 people were killed when the IndorePatna Express derailed near Kanpur on November 20 last year. Three persons, arrested in Bihar for allegedly planting a pressure cooker bomb on a railway track at Ghorasan in Motihari, Bihar, had said that they were asked to do so by Pakistan’s ISI, which was also involved in the Kanpur train accident. The arrests in Bihar were made on the basis of information provided by Nepal police, which was probing a double murder case. Nepal Police said while the accused arrested in Nepal had admitted to involvement in the
Switching sides: BJP president Amit Shah greets S.M. Krishna in New Delhi on Wednesday. SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR *
Karnataka Home Minister R. Ashok and BJP general secretary in charge of Karnataka Muralidhar Rao. Mr. Yeddyurappa, who had midwifed the entire exercise, was absent as he was campaigning in Karnataka.
Another stop Mr. Krishna described his joining the BJP as the next stop in his long career. Indeed, this is the third political party he is joining. The first was the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) on whose ticket
he was elected MLA in 1962, before he went on to join the Congress. “When I was the Chief Minister between 1999 and 2004, Atal Behari Vajpayeeji was Prime Minister. Ananth Kumarji is witness to the fact that Atalji always had a soft corner for me,” he said. Mr. Yeddyurappa, in Mysuru, said Mr. Krishna’s entry would give the BJP a “huge boost.” Earlier, he spoke to Mr. Krishna on the phone and welcomed him into the party fold.
Adityanath keeps key portfolios U.P. CM directs govt. staf to desist from chewing paan as part of clean drive Omar Rashid
was found with a group of girls. Such incidents triggered many on social media to wonder if the campaign to check eve-teasing had turned into moral policing. “Safety of girls/ladies is the sole intent of the antiRomeo squads. No moral policing,” State DGP Javeed Ahmed said in a clarification.
LUCKNOW
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has kept over two dozen departments to himself, including the high-profile portfolios — home, revenue, mining and urban housing Ministries. Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya has been allotted the prestigious public works department, food processing, entertainment tax and public enterprises, while Dinesh Sharma, who is also deputy CM, has the higher and secondary education, electronics and information technology, and science and technology. The Adityanath council of ministers has 22 Cabinet ministers, nine Ministers of State (Independent charge) and 13 Ministers of State. Rajesh Agarwal, MLA from Bareilly Cantonment, has been allotted the finance department while veteran BJP leader Suresh Khanna is the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, apart from holding the Urban Development and Integrated Urban Development Ministries. Former SP MP S.P.S Baghel is in-charge of animal husbandry and minor irrigation, while former Congress
Women safety: The anti-Romeo squad of the police arresting a youth in Lucknow on Wednesday. PTI *
State president Rita Bahuguna Joshi has got child development ministry, maternal and child welfare and tourism. BSP rebel Swami Prasad Maurya is in-charge of labour and employment, while Om Prakash Rajbhar, the president of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, BJP’s ally, has got the backward welfare ministry. BJP State vice-president and an accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots, Suresh Rana, has got the sugarcane development, and the lone Muslim face in team Yogi, Mohsin Raza is allotted the Muslim Waqf and Haj depart-
ments along with science and technology, electronics and IT.
Checking molestation Meanwhile, after directions by the CM, the State police has also stepped up action against eve-teasing and as promised by the BJP in its manifesto, formed antiRomeo squads to check molestation and harassment of women. While three men were arrested in Lucknow, scores of young men were publicly shamed in other parts of the State. In Jhansi, a police officer was seen ordering a man to do sit-ups after he
Stress on hygiene Two days after directing officials to declare their assets within 15 days, Mr. Adityanath also directed government staff to stop chewing paan, paan masala and other such items while in office. The CM gave the directions after he saw betel juicestained walls at Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhawan, which houses the CM’s office and offices of other senior bureaucrats. Mr. Adityanath’s stress on hygiene and cleanliness was also apparent in his directions to the police department to keep their compounds clean. The CM has banned all plastic products in government buildings as part of his hygiene drive.
Rajnath Singh
Ghorasan incident, they did not say anything about the Kanpur incident. The U.P. police had also denied any sabotage in the train accident. During Question Hour, Congress MP Digvijaya Singh sought to know from Mr. Singh whether Mr. Modi was directly getting reports from the NIA regarding the ISI’s involvement, which the Home Minister was not aware of.
Direct inputs for PM? “During his electoral rally in Gonda on February 23, the PM said that the police have found a huge conspiracy which was hatched by the
people sitting on the other side of the border. Whether it is a fact that ISI and Pakistan-sponsored agencies are involved in such attacks?” the MP asked. “The (written) answer is: the matter is under investigation, which means that the PM is getting his reports directly from the NIA of which the Home Minister is not aware of. I would like to ask the Home Minister whether it is a fact that the PM was aware, when he made this speech in Gonda, that there is a specific hand of the ISI agencies and Pakistan in this sabotage of the Kanpur incident?” the Congress MP sought to know. Mr. Singh in his reply, said: “Most terrorist attacks in the country are sponsored by the neighbouring country and everyone is aware of this. But the Prime Minister’s statement you are talking about has also been reported in newspapers. The PM did not directly mention ISI’s name..The NIA is investigating and wait for the investigations to get over.”
Allow liquor outlets closer to highways: TN Asks SC to modify 2016 judgment Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI
The Tamil Nadu government has moved an application in the Supreme Court for modification of its December 15, 2016 judgment banning States and Union Territories from allowing sale of liquor within 500 metres of National and State highways. The State, which originally moved the Supreme Court in appeal against a Madras High Court decision, sought that the distance of 500 metres from the outer edge of the highways be reduced to 100 metres.
‘Extend licences’ The State has also asked the Supreme Court to extend the time for re-location of retail liquor vending shops located on the highways till the expiry of their licence period, that is up to November 28, 2017. The court had directed that all liquor licences will stop operating by March 31, 2017. Tamil Nadu has further asked the court to exempt those shops located on highway stretches which pass within the limits of corpora-
The State has urged the SC to exempt shops located along highways. tions and municipalities. The verdict pronounced by a three-judge Bench of the SC of Justices (retired) T.S. Thakur, D.Y. Chandrachud and A.M. Khanwilkar had justified that the ban was necessary to curb drunkdriving. It had noted that drunk-driving was the main culprit behind a large number of road accidents.
Action taken report In its application, Tamil Nadu submitted that 4,057 driving licences were suspended and 622 were terminated in drunk driving cases in the year 2015-16. Another 2,617 driving licences were suspended and 985 were cancelled in drunk driving cases up to December 2016.
It’s ‘Deovrind’ and not Deoband for this new BJP MLA Mohammad Ali Meerut
Though the Yogi Adityanath government is yet to change the name of the western Uttar Pradesh town of Deoband, BJP MLA from Deoband Brijesh Singh has already changed the name and is using ‘Deovrind’ in CM YK
place of Deoband in congratulatory posters. The BJP MLA defeated his nearest rival Majid Ali of the BSP in the recent Assembly elections. In over a dozen hoardings put across the roads in Saharanpur and Deoband, where the BJP MLA thanked people for vot-
ing for him, Mr. Singh has showed Deoband as Deovrind. Deoband town in Saharanpur district is famous for Darul Uloom Deoband, the influential Islamic seminary of the Indian sub-continent, and also for Shri Bala Sundari Temple.
Last week Mr. Singh grabbed headlines when he said that he would ensure that the new BJP government changed the name of the town and that would be his first proposal in the Assembly. Mr. Singh said, “I do not intend to hurt anyone but I
want to clarify that the name Deoband has nothing to do with Islam or Muslims. So it should not be seen as hurting any one. I started using Deovrind because more people should be made aware of the historical importance of the name. And the name should also be
changed for the sake of development of the area.” “The historical association of Deoband with the Mahabharata needs to be highlighted. It would be unfair if Deoband is known as a place where Darul Uloom Deoband is located,” said the BJP MLA. A ND-ND
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THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017
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IN BRIEF
Babri case to resume today The case was ‘part-heard’ on Wednesday; Justice Nariman may return to Bench Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI
‘Mamata should build jail for Trinamool leaders’ NEW DELHI
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerejee should start constructing jails for her Ministers and party leaders as the SC has refused to stay the CBI probe into the Narada sting case, BJP MP Roopa Ganguly said. “Construct jails for 30-40 people. Let us start with the 12,” she said. PTI
No violation by KVIC in using PM’s picture: govt. NEW DELHI
The government on Monday said the KVIC did not violate any norms by using PM Narendra Modi’s photograph on its diary and calendar and the use of Mahatma Gandhi’s picture was never an established policy. Union Minister Giriraj Singh said that on six occasions in the past, the cover page of the KVIC diary did not carry Mahatma Gandhi’s photograph. PTI
Justice Karnan to go on hunger strike in 4 cities KOLKATA
Calcutta High Court judge Justice C.S. Karnan will observe hunger strikes in Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Lucknow, seeking restoration of his judicial and administrative powers. He will also seek “withdrawal of the suo motu contempt proceedings” and recall of warrant issued against him. PTI
Nod for extension of pre-NELP contracts NEW DELHI
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the extension of production sharing contracts for hydrocarbon blocks signed by the government prior to the New Exploration Licensing Policy. “This policy will enable contractors to plan to extract additional reserves,” the government said.
Justice Rohinton Nariman, who had made a remark about reviving the conspiracy charge against BJP veteran L.K. Advani and other top leaders, was not part of the Supreme Court Bench hearing the Babri Masjid demolition case on Wednesday. He was at the time heading another Bench with Justice P.C. Pant. Justice Nariman, who was sitting as puisne judge in a combination led by Justice P.C. Ghose in the previous hearing on March 6, had observed that “there was something peculiar going on in this case.” The court was then inclined to initiate a de-
L.K. Advani
bate on re-opening the criminal conspiracy charge against the leaders. On Wednesday, the Bench was sitting in a combination of Justices Ghose and Dipak Gupta. When the matter came up for hearing, Justice
Ghose said the case may be adjourned. “My brother [ J. Nariman] is not there. The case is part-heard,” he remarked. Senior advocate K.K. Venugopal, for Mr. Advani, asked that the case be listed after four weeks. “That would be in May...” Justice Ghose said. The judge is retiring on May 27 this year. Justice Ghose then agreed to hear the matter on March 23, indicating that Justice Nariman may return to the Bench.
Court’s disapproval The sudden turn of events on March 6 came on an appeal in the Supreme Court filed by the CBI in 2011, during the UPA era, against
The President is scheduled to visit India in May Kallol Bhattacherjee Suhasini Haidar NEW DELHI
India-based Turkish political activists have expressed concern that during his upcoming visit, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might ask India to act against them. Speaking to The Hindu, a Turkish activist in the capital confirmed that many Indiabased Turkish citizens were afraid of returning home as the government of President Erdogan might detain them. Some of the Turkish citizens living in India have alleged discriminatory treatment at the Turkish missions in India.
Consular treatment “Those Turkish citizens who oppose the government of President Erdogan have felt that the Turkish consular officials do not wish to extend
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
full support to their needs and often advise them to go back home to complete paperwork. Such actions create suspicion that Ankara wants us to return where it can then detain us,” said a Delhi-based civil liberty activist from Turkey. The Hindu had reported earlier that President Erdogan is scheduled to visit India in the first week of
May. Turkey’s previous Ambassador to India, Burak Agcapar, had asked for action against Gulenist institutions following the July 16, 2016, coup. “They have a presence in various Indian cities. We expect Indian government to curb their activities. We had consultations with Indian government and will follow up. We have passed all information to the Ministry of External Affairs,” Mr. Agcapar had said in July. . Turkey has been asking countries around the world to act against the network of Sufi leader Fethullah Gulen, who it accuses to be behind the coup. During his visit from August 18 to 2 last year, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged India to ban the organisations that promote Hizmet, the philosophy of global peace championed by Gulen.
Their States have failed to implement the National Food Security Act: Bench NEW DELHI
The Supreme Court on Wednesday summoned Chief Secretaries of nine droughtaffected States, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, for having failed to implement the National Food Security Act. A Bench led by Justice Madan B. Lokur said these States had failed to implement the food law despite the fact that considerable
Accused blames her for losing job CHENNAI
A woman working with Ashok Leyland was stabbed by a former colleague while she was leaving for work on Wednesday from her hostel at T. Nagar here. She sustained serious cut wounds but is said to be out of danger. The victim, Suchi Smitha (32), from West Bengal, works in the R&D Department of Ashok Leyland. The incident occurred when she was walking down the street from the hostel to board a bus on the G.N. Road. The assailant has been
identified as R. Ragunath (23), a B. Tech graduate hailing from Sivakasi, who was working with her a year ago. The youth allegedly drove by in a two-wheeler just as she was stepping out of her hostel, whipped out a knife and stabbed her. An auto driver on Bhagavandam Street said her screams on being attacked alerted passers-by. “After he stabbed her, she ran back to her hostel and then was taken to the hospital. Meanwhile, people in the locality chased the youth, caught him and handed him over to the police.”
time had passed since the statute came into force. “It is a matter of concern that a parliamentary statute is not being given importance. Article 21 [protection of life and personal liberty] of the Constitution is also involved. State Food Commissions, as mandated under Section 16 of the National Food Security Act, have not been appointed,” the Bench, also comprising Justice N.V. Ramana, said. “In view of the above, we
summon the Chief Secretaries of the States. We require the Chief Secretaries to appoint the State Food Commissions and the details should be furnished. Details should also be given with regard to Section 15 of the National Food Security Act by which State governments have to frame rules for the appointment or designation of the District Grievance Redressal Officer,” the Bench said. The court directed the Chief Secretaries to inform
whether a social audit can be conducted, as provided under the Food Security Act. Besides Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, other States whose Chief Secretaries have been summoned include Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana and Chhattisgarh. The order came on a petition filed by NGO Swaraj Abhiyan seeking various relief measures for farmers in the drought-affected States.
Ceaseire violations by Pakistan have come down: Minister Special Correspondent NEW DELHI
The Centre told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that ceasefire violations and casualties on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border had come down after the surgical strikes last year. The Centre was replying to a question whether terrorist activities had increased after the surgical strikes. “The ceasefire violations by Pakistan have come down post-surgical strikes. There were 228 ceasefire violations at the LoC in 2016 and 221 at the IB [international border]. However, till February 2017, there have only been 22 ceasefire violations and six on the IB,” Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said. “The civilian casualties
and injuries in 2017 have been zero at the IB and the LoC, whereas in 2016, there were 13 civilian casualties and 83 injured on the LoC and eight casualties on the IB and 74 were injured. Five BSF jawans lost their lives and 25 were injured along the IB,” the Minister said. While Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad accused the government of not giving a full reply, Home Minister Rajnath Singh disagreed with him.
Figure comparison He said there were 110 terror incidents in three months before the surgical strikes and 87 in the three months after them. Also, 34 security personnel were killed before and 19 after, whereas the civilian casualties were seven earlier and six afterwards. Mr. Singh put the onus on
Pakistan for the resumption of dialogue, saying it should end cross-border terrorism. “Pakistan should at least make a beginning and say it is willing to talk and end the terrorist activities,” he said. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury asked why there was no movement on a dialogue with all stakeholders in Kashmir despite an all-party delegation led by the government calling for it. Mr. Singh said that he had visited Kashmir thrice and had let it be known that he was willing to meet anyone there. “You know the reality. Please say it. Sharad Yadavji and Sitaram Yechuryji had at the time of the delegation tried but had to return,” he said. He said job opportunities for Kashmiri youth had increased.
Notice to Centre on MPs’ pension Legal Correspondent NEW DELHI
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre and the Election Commission to respond to a petition questioning the need for the public to bear the pension expenses and perks offered to lawmakers. A Bench led by Justice J.
Pay revision ‘letter’ goes viral Dinakar Peri NEW DELHI
Special Correspondent
Drop in incidents on LoC Turkish activists fear Erdogan will seek action after surgical strikes: govt.
SC summons nine Chief Secretaries Legal Correspondent
dropping the conspiracy charge against Mr. Advani and other leaders like Uma Bharti, Murli Manohar Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Sadvi Ritambara, Giriraj Kishore and Vishnu Hari Dalmia. “We prima facie do not approve of the way these people have been discharged ... And no additional charge sheet filed so far? See, people cannot be discharged like this on technical grounds,” Justice Nariman had observed orally then. “We will allow you [CBI] to file supplementary chargesheet by including the conspiracy charge,” he said. “We will ask the trial court to conduct a joint trial in a Lucknow court.”
Woman stabbed by ex-colleague in Chennai
Chelameswar also issued notice to the secretaries of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on a petition filed by Lok Prahari, a non-governmental organisation, seeking to scrap the post-retirement benefits given to legislators. The NGO argued that pension and other perks given to MPs even after demitting of-
fice were contrary to Article 14 (Right to Equality) of the Constitution. It contended that Parliament had no power to provide for pension benefits to lawmakers without making any law. Justice Chelameswar indicated that the petition required serious consideration.
The Defence Ministry said here on Wednesday that a letter in circulation since Tuesday on the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations for the armed forces was fake. The letter follows a pattern of false communication on social media in recent times on the pay commission and one rank, one pension. With the subject line “Revised scale of pay in 7th CPC”, the letter said: “It is submitted that the JCM proposal has been approved by the Cabinet on March 16, 2017 with the conditions placed by the commission. But the same is not included for defence employees (combatant).” It further stated that during the Cabinet meeting on March 16, the proposal was approved and it would be implemented with effect from April 1. The origin of the letter remains unknown, but it went viral among military and veteran groups on social media.
‘Makes no sense’ Defence Ministry spokesperson Nitin Wakankar said the letter was fake. A defence source said the contents did not make any sense in the first place. “This is a fake, planted one to create unrest among the ranks so that an odd revolt type situation will force the Army to accept the recommendations as they are,” another official said. A few weeks ago, a message on WhatsApp went viral among military personnel, promising better salaries. When the OROP protest flared last year, similar communication created confusion. While the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations have been implemented for civilian staff, it is yet to be implemented for the services because of some core anomalies pointed out by them.
INTERVIEW | WALTER ANDERSEN
‘Choice of Adityanath is risky’ He is suspect in the eyes of the Sangh for his go-it-alone attitude, says Professor Nistula Hebbar New Delhi
After the BJP’s victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, The Hindu interviewed Walter Andersen, Director of the South Asia Studies Programme at Johns Hopkins University and co-author of The Brotherhood in Saffron, through e-mail. There have been comparisons between the BJP’s spread nationally and that of the Congress. Your view?
While there are still areas where the BJP is weak, it seems to be becoming what the Congress once was, the only real national party and arbitrator of local political deals. It is developing strong State party leaders that the Congress once had, while simultaneously having a strong national leader (comparable to Nehru), who seeks both to strengthen the State parties while asserting himself as the CEO of these leaders. Assisting this effort are thousands of volunteers from the Sangh Parivar, an asset seldom analysed but very real. I am told U.P. was swarming with Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and Sangh Parivar workers getting people out to vote. CM YK
RSS worked < > The very hard to ensure victory, but there is an inbuilt tension in this success On this, it differs very much from the Congress. How will Prime Minister Modi’s success in U.P. affect his relationship with the RSS?
The RSS worked very hard to ensure the victory that emerged. But there is an inbuilt tension in this success. The RSS does not want to lose its best and brightest to the BJP. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has issued public warnings to swayamsevaks to remember that they are first swayamsevaks and that politics is a very different vocation — and presumably the RSS’s “characterbuilding” is morally superior. There is no doubt that Mr. Modi is the most
influential figure in the Sangh Parivar and that surely must be of some concern to the RSS leadership as their character-building and Hindutva enterprise is, in many respects, very different from his political objectives (e.g. the reservation issue) and [those of ] the BJP. Fortunately for them, Mr. Modi is a respectful former pracharak, who still admires what they are trying to do in terms of the nationalist project. How do you read the BJP’s choice of Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh?
The selection of Yogi Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister is interesting and risky. It represents an effort to unite Hindus for the 2019 general elections, but it could impair the ability of the party to expand to the middle. Perhaps, most importantly, can he share power and work productively with others? He has periodically irritated the BJP and the RSS for his go-it-alone style, a failing that makes him somewhat suspect in the view of the collegially oriented Sangh Parivar.
He is a superb orator and seems committed to a mission like Prime Minister Modi. He is also committed to a fight against corruption and goondaism — a welcome relief for a State like U.P. While he has issued inflammatory statements, he seems to be free of charges of personal corruption. He can also defer the demand (primarily from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad) to immediately construct a Ram temple and can probably do so. After all, who can challenge his Hindutva credentials? Sometimes, it is necessary to keep in mind that Mahatma Gandhi was a better analyst of views of the great mass of Hindus than, for example, was Veer Savarkar or even the first Sarsanghchalak of the RSS, K.B. Hedgewar. Mahatma Gandhi firmly believed that through his own perfection in personal behaviour, he could influence the behaviour of others. Yogi Adityanath may not be committed to Gandhi’s ahimsa, but the emphasis on incorruptibility is similar. Let us also not forget that PM Narendra Modi’s original calling was to be a monk, all leading to a certain sympathy each has for the other. A ND-ND
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THE HINDU
THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017
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New platform seeks to unify Hindus in U.S. American Hindu Coalition leaders say the organisation will be unique because of its bipartisan character from all nationalities. Americans who have been here for five or 10 generations also convert to Hinduism. We want to represent them as well,” said Sue Ghosh, legal counsel for the AHC, an American-born Hindu.
Varghese K George
Ukraine bars Russia’s entry for Eurovision KIEV
Ukraine said on Wednesday that it had barred Russia’s entry for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. Ukraine’s state security service (SBU) said Yulia Samoylova (in picture), a wheelchair-bound 27-yearold singer, had violated Ukrainian law by visiting Crimea and would not be allowed to enter the country for three years. Reuters
North Korea’s missile test fails SEOUL
A new North Korean missile test failed on Wednesday, the South and U.S. said. The North had ired one missile from an air base in the eastern port of Wonsan on Wednesday morning, but the launch “is believed to have failed”, Seoul’s Defence Ministry said. AFP
Washington
A new organisation, launched by a group of influential American Hindus, most of them of Indian descent, aspires to emerge as the political platform for all Hindus in the country regardless of their ethnic origin. The American Hindu Coalition (AHC) will be formally inaugurated in May but the group has launched a website and started raising funds online and from selected donors. Though led by Republicans, AHC is a bipartisan platform that will bring together Democrats, independents and anyone who believes in “Hindu enlightenment principles”, according to Shekhar Tiwari, chairman of the new organisation. “The primary aim of the AHC is to represent Hindus in America who are U.S. citizens. Hindu Americans are
ience that the notion of ‘Indian’ American does not go well with the American mainstream. “For the Hindus to be part of the mainstream of American politics, they have to give up this notion of being ‘Indian’ Americans. That signals mixed loyalties. Religion is constitutionally protected in America and that can be the legitimate basis of organisation,” he said.
RSS member Ms. Ghosh was an early supporter of President Donald Trump. The Trump campaign had entrusted her with the selection of delegates, and all Maryland delegates for the Republican Committee were hand-picked by her last year. Mr. Tewari has been an active member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and an early supporter of the Republican Party while most Indian Americans stayed with the Democratic Party. He stays in touch with the leadership of the RSS. Mr. Tewari says he has learnt from his exper-
Acting as uniier: AHC will bring together Americans who believe in ‘Hindu enlightenment principles’, says chairperson Shekhar Tewari (right). SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *
Making America great There’s already an organisation called the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) that claims to speak for Hindus, but leaders of AHC said the new platform would be unique because of the bipartisan character that they plan to bring. “The RHC is limited to the Republican Party. We will reach out to Democrats and independents, whoever is willing to support our platform,” said
John Jaggers, strategic adviser of the AHC. The organisation plans to open an office in the Washington area and appoint fulltime staff to organise events with U.S. lawmakers, executive officials and regulators. “Limited governance and strong national defence are our priority. We believe in economic nationalism and we wish to invest in America and make America strong.
On the other side, we support strong national defence based on the principle of peace through strength,” Ms. Ghosh said. “And Hindu values are family values, that we support.” She said the organisation was planning multipronged measures against the CNN for airing a documentary that portrayed Hinduism in poor light recently.
“We are not going be leaning towards any party. Anybody who supports our platform, we support them,” she said. The AHC website has pictures of Mr. Trump and all Democratic members of Congress, including nonHindus such as Ami Bera. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley also appears on the site though she is a Christian. “They all subscribe to the Hindu enlightenment principles,” said Ms. Ghosh. The AHC will advocate strong strategic relations between the U.S. and India, said Ms. Ghosh. “There is a convergence between the two countries, both in terms of threats and interests.” Mr. Tewari said the idea is to convince American policymakers that good relations with India are in the interests of America. “We have to speak from the perspective of American interests. And we have to bring together all patriotic Americans together to achieve that.”
Europeans’ safety at risk, says Erdogan ANKARA
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Wednesday that Europeans risk being unsafe on the world’s streets. “If you continue to behave like this, tomorrow in no part of the world, no European... will be able to take steps on the street safely and peacefully,” he said in Ankara. AFP
Court asks ‘Sikhism’ to be included in census ISLAMABAD
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday directed the provincial statistics department to include ‘Sikhism’ in the religion column in the national census form, Geo TV reported. The court directed that the implementation of the ruling should be carried out in the second phase. IANS
Trump tells Republicans to fall in line on healthcare At least 27 GOP representatives have indicated they will vote against the bill that will replace Obamacare publicans lose more than 21 of their own votes, in the House of 430 members. “He said, ‘You all ran on repealing Obamacare. Looks like you’d be ripe for a primary if you don’t keep your promise,’” Texas Republican Blake Farenthold told reporters after the President met with party lawmakers. The implication is that the President could support a rival of the sitting Congressman for party nomination in 2018. Mr. Trump specifically addressed Mark Meadows, chairman of House Freedom
Varghese K. George Washington
Republican lawmakers holding out against the party’s move to replace Obamacare with a new healthcare programme might face the consequence in the 2018 Congressional elections, President Donald Trump told them on Tuesday. At least 27 Republican representatives have indicated that they would vote against the bill prepared under the leadership of House Speaker Paul Ryan and endorsed by Mr. Trump. The bill will be defeated if the Re-
Caucus, a group of staunch conservatives who believe the new bill does not go far enough to roll back the federal government support to healthcare under Obamacare. The group is opposed to refundable tax credits to help people buy insurance, among other things. Some members outside the Freedom Caucus are also opposed to the bill.
Winner vote “We had a great meeting and I think we are going to get a winner vote,” Mr. Trump told reporters after the
UN rights chief blasts Colombo
meeting. “They want a tremendous health care plan, that’s what we have. There’s gonna be adjustments to it, but I think we’ll get the vote on Thursday.” “I’m gonna come after you,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Meadows during the meeting. Mr. Meadows has not caved in and said he intended to vote ‘no’ if the bill is put to ballot on Thursday. “I’m still a no, because the bill that we’re currently considering does not lower premiums for the vast majority of Americans, and that’s what we need to do,”
he said, adding that he did not care if he would lose the next elections. The Republican leadership made changes to the draft on Monday night to appease the conservatives, but they were not impressed. Mr. Trump’s attempt on Tuesday was to press them to fall in line. Mr. Ryan said the bill has enough votes to pass on Thursday. “We’ve been working with all of our members on many of their concerns, and I would simply say that a lot of our members concerns have been incorporated in this
process,” he said after the President’s meeting with the lawmakers. “At the end of the day, it really is a choice — do you want to stick with the Obamacare status quo, do you want to stick with the idea that we made a promise and we’re not going to keep it?” the Speaker said. Even if the bill passes in the House on Thursday, it will face challenges in the Senate where the Republican Party has a 52 to 48 majority. At least three Senators have already indicated that they would vote against the proposed law.
Manafort had plan to beneit Putin Associated Press Washington
President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to advance the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin a decade ago and proposed an ambitious political strategy to undermine antiRussian opposition across former Soviet republics, The Associated Press has learnt. The work appears to contradict assertions by the Trump administration and Mr. Manafort himself that he never worked for Russian interests. Mr. Manafort proposed in a confidential strategy plan as early as June 2005 that he would influence politics, business dealings and news coverage inside the U.S., Europe and the former Soviet republics to benefit the Putin government, even as U.S.-Russia relations under Republican President George W. Bush grew worse. Mr. Manafort pitched the plans to Russian aluminium magnate Oleg Deripaska, a close Putin ally with whom Mr. Manafort eventually signed a $10 million annual contract beginning in 2006, according to interviews with several people familiar with payments to Mr. Manafort and business records obtained by the AP. Mr. Manafort and Mr. Deripaska maintained a business relationship until at least 2009, according to one person familiar with the work. Mr. Manafort’s plans were laid out in documents obtained by the AP that included strategy memoranda and records showing international wire transfers for millions of dollars. How much work Mr. Manafort performed under the contract was unclear.
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Terror scare at Westminster
Failure to investigate crimes relects reluctance to take action, says Hussein Agence France-Presse
appeal, saying he would not “allow non-governmental organisations to dictate how to run my government”, nor heed calls to “to prosecute my troops”.
Geneva
The UN rights chief on Wednesday condemned Sri Lanka’s persistent failure to probe war-era atrocities, suggesting that the government was afraid of punishing soldiers who committed abuses during the conflict. The criticism from Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein is the latest volley in an escalating war of words between the United Nations and Sri Lanka over impunity for crimes committed during the 37-year civil war, which ended in 2009.
Consistent failure “The consistent failure to effectively investigate, prosecute and punish serious crimes appears to reflect a broader reluctance or fear to take action against members of the security forces,”
Seeking accountability: U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in February. AP *
Mr. Hussein said in a speech to the UN rights council. Mr. Hussein and the council have called for international judges to help in-
vestigate possible war crimes to guarantee impartiality. But earlier this month, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena rejected the
Palestinians in Jerusalem seek Israeli citizenship Most of the 3,30,000 people are not citizens of any country Associated Press Jerusalem
More Palestinians in east Jerusalem are applying for Israeli citizenship in hopes of swapping their vulnerable status as mere city residents for the rights and ease of travel that come with an Israeli passport. The citizenship debate reflects the unsettled status of Jerusalem’s 3,30,000 Palestinians who make up 37% of the city’s population 50 years after Israel captured and annexed the eastern sector. The vast majority have city residency documents, allowing them to work and move about, but aren’t citizens of any country. For travel abroad, they use temporary documents issued by Israel or Jordan. Asking for an Israeli passport still carries the stigma of implied acceptance of Israeli control, and only about CM YK
A cancelled Israeli passport of a Jerusalem-born Palestinian. AP *
15,000 Palestinians have requested one since 2003; of those, fewer than 6,000 were reportedly approved. Palestinians who have sought a passport said they had to be pragmatic. “I didn’t want to lose my right” to live in Jerusalem, Ruba Mueller, a descendant of the city’s prominent
Nashashibi clan, said of her decision to become an Israeli. Another Arab resident said getting citizenship ended his numerous bureaucratic hassles. The 34-yearold land surveyor said he simply wants to “live normally”. Israel’s 1967 annexation of east Jerusalem opposed by most of the world did not come with an offer of automatic citizenship for the tens of thousands of Palestinians living there. Palestinian officials said east Jerusalem’s globally recognized status as occupied territory won’t change if more Arab residents get Israeli passports. Still, there has been a rise in applications. In 2016, a peak year, 1,081 families submitted applications, compared to 69 in 2003, 547 in 2008 and 704 in 2013, the Interior Ministry said.
Call for foreign judges Colombo has also asked the UN for two more years to set up a war-era probe, after Mr. Sirisena’s government agreed to the terms of an October 2015 UN resolution calling for an inquiry to be formed within 18 months. Mr. Hussein said any justice mechanism set up by Colombo would need foreign judges in order to be “credible”. At least 1,00,000 people were killed during the separatist war between government forces and rebels from the Tamil Tigers group, with atrocities recorded by both sides.
Parliament stalled: An air ambulance at the scene of Wednesday’s attack near the U.K. Parliament in London. At least four people were killed and another 20 injured in what police said they were treating as a "terrorist" attack. GETTY IMAGES *
China reaches out to West Asia Engaging rivals such as Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Iran, all at the same time Atul Aneja BEIJING
China is in the middle of a complex diplomatic dance with West Asia, by engaging rivals such as Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Iran, all at the same time. On Tuesday, visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an “innovative comprehensive partnership” between both countries.
China-Israel ties China’s focus in the “partnership” is on maximising absorption of Israel’s technology in hi-tech and other advanced domains. That dovetails well with the ‘Made in China-2025’ strategy of transitioning China’s manufacturing to the advanced level by leveraging the Internet, Big Data and robotics among the key tools. In that endeavour, China is pursuing the industry 4.0
model pioneered by Germany. In his remarks as paraphrased by Xinhua, President Xi singled out “innovation cooperation” as the motor driving overall ties with Israel. In turn, Mr. Netanyahu narrowed down on clean energy, agriculture, investment, finance and medical services among the top priority areas. Israel hopes to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative — fast becoming a litmus test defining the health of any nation’s ties with China. Unperturbed by the complex web of rivalries and friendships, the Chinese are also aiming high in building ties with the region’s controversial heavyweight, Saudi Arabia. Last week Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was in Beijing. With energy, and infrastructure investments by China as the centre, the two countries ended up signing agreements and letters of in-
tent worth around $65 billion involving investment, energy, space and other areas.
Strong relationship Xinhua quoted Mr. Xi as saying that China will support the Kingdom’s “Saudi Vision 2030” plan — a blueprint for reducing Riyadh’s dependence on oil, and reliance on other drivers of the economy such as infrastructure development — where China is a world leader — apart from health, education and tourism. Closer ties with Riyadh have not diluted China’s strong relationship with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s archrival, highlighting Beijing’s non-zero sum approach to the region. China and Russia have been active partners preventing “regime change” in Syria, which is also strongly backed by Iran. As China’s interests permeate deeper, what role should Beijing play in frac-
tious web of international diplomacy in the region? Global Times, a tabloid affiliated with the flagship People’s Daily group has advised in an op-ed on Wednesday that China should distance itself from a deeper involvement in West Asia’s foggy smoke-and-mirrors politics. “The complexity of Middle East affairs should be fully recognised. China’s ability to influence the region still lags behind the U.S., the EU and even Russia. China is faced with a complicated geopolitical situation, and the Middle East is not in the core area of China’s diplomatic interests,” opines the daily. It adds: “Under such circumstances, China should continue its present stance and work firmly on economic cooperation. To strengthen its economic power and partnership in a low-profile manner is the right strategy for China's Middle East policy.”
Germany to acquit convicted gays Agence France-Presse Berlin
The German government on Wednesday approved plans to quash the convictions of 50,000 men sentenced for homosexuality under a Nazi-era law which remained in force after the war, and offer compensation. The measure marks a triumph for activists after a decades-long struggle to clear the names of gay men who lived with a criminal record under Article 175 of the penal code. An estimated 5,000 of those found guilty are still alive. The measure follows Britain’s “Turing Law” approved in October, which offered pardons to thousands of men convicted of homosexuality before its decriminalisation in 1967. The compensation scheme under the new legislation includes a one-off payment of €3,000 for every man convicted and an additional €1,500 for each year spent in prison. A ND-ND
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THE HINDU
BUSINESS 13
NOIDA/DELHI
THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017
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22-03-2017
% CHANGE
Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 29,168 ddddddddddddd -1.08 US Dollar ddddddddddddddddddd 68.44 ddddddddddddd -0.27 Goldddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 29,350 ddddddddddddddd 1.03 Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 50.26 ddddddddddddd -2.03
Bankruptcy board spells out ‘eligibility’ Entities will have to form a separate subsidiary with dedicated resources related to insolvency ASHISH RUKHAIYAR MUMBAI
NIFTY 50 PRICE CHANGE
ACC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1386.40. . . . . . -26.65 Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323.65. . . . . . . . -2.10 Ambuja Cements. . . .. . . . . . 233.00. . . . . . . . -4.15 Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1057.85. . . . . . -10.85 Aurobindo Pharma . . . . . . 680.55. . . . . . -11.20 Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485.45. . . . . . . . -2.85 Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2853.80. . . . . . -53.05 Bank of Baroda . . . . . .. . . . . . 161.60. . . . . . . . -1.25 Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 338.20. . . . . . -11.70 BHEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165.85. . . . . . . . -3.10 Bosch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22987.20. . . . . . . 84.30 BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645.00. . . . . . . . . 3.10 Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595.20. . . . . . . . . 3.35 Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292.15. . . . . . . . -0.10 Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 2629.65. . . . . . . . . 6.40 Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. 24541.00. . . -420.95 GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 369.00. . . . . . . . -1.30 Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1080.10. . . . . . -11.90 HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 872.75. . . . . . . 13.45 HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1442.30. . . . . . -16.10 HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1430.90. . . . . . -10.05 Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 3314.60. . . . . . -20.10 Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193.40. . . . . . . . -4.90 Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 904.95. . . . . . . . . 1.50 ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265.00. . . . . . . . -7.05 Idea Cellular . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 91.30. . . . . . . . -1.65 IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1376.60. . . . . . -13.65 Bharti Infratel . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 312.95. . . . . . . . -0.50 Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1027.70. . . . . . . . -5.15 ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279.85. . . . . . . . -8.05 Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 862.20. . . . . . . . . 2.65 L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1529.85. . . . . . -19.20 Lupin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1468.15. . . . . . . 13.75 M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1270.85. . . . . . -23.55 Maurti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 6005.80. . . . . . -70.50 NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160.75. . . . . . . . -1.40 ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192.50. . . . . . . . -1.55 PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 192.10. . . . . . . . -1.15 Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1259.70. . . . . . . . -4.10 State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267.50. . . . . . . . -4.85 Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 701.45. . . . . . . . . 3.40 Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 459.90. . . . . . -13.85 Tata Motors DVR. . . .. . . . . . 277.45. . . . . . . . -6.70 Tata Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86.95. . . . . . . . -0.70 Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488.10. . . . . . . . -8.30 TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2478.95. . . . . . . . -7.75 Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 475.40. . . . . . . . -1.55 UltraTech Cement . .. . . . 3970.25. . . . . . -37.55 Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500.55. . . . . . . . . 1.90 YES Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1470.85. . . . . . -13.90 Zee Entertainment . . . . . . 520.80. . . . . . . . -2.60
EXCHANGE RATES Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit except yen at 4 p.m. on March 22 CURRENCY
TT BUY
TT SELL
US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 65.24. . . . . . . 65.56 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 70.39. . . . . . . 70.74 British Pound . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 81.25. . . . . . . 81.65 Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 58.61. . . . . . . 58.90 Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 9.47. . . . . . . . . 9.52 Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 65.67. . . . . . . 66.00 Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 46.60. . . . . . . 46.85 Canadian Dollar . . . . . . . . .. . 48.72. . . . . . . 48.96 Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 14.73. . . . . . . 14.82 Source:Indian Bank
BULLION RATES
CHENNAI
March 22 rates in rupees with previous rates in parentheses Retail Silver (1g) . . . . . . . . . . . 44.20. . . . . (43.80) 22 ct gold (1 g) . .. . . . . . . . . . . 2,784. . . . . (2,741)
The first order issued by the recently-established Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) is expected to set in motion a chain of events at many firms, including well-known consultancies that are eyeing the huge market for stressed assets and debt resolution. In its March 2 order, IBBI rejected an application for registration as an Insolvency Professional (IP) by an individual who works with one of the so-called Big Four consultancy firms. “... an IP must not ‘engage in any employment’, repeat ‘any employment’. It envisages that a person must not play two roles — profession and employment — simultaneously,” according to the order. Practitioners in the segment say that the order has made it clear that IBBI is not going to grant registration to individuals in such a scenario and so entities that want to be registered will have to
New vertical: Advisory irms are betting big on the increasing demand for insolvency professionals. GETTYIMAGES/ISTOCK *
form a separate subsidiary with dedicated resources related to insolvency and bankruptcy work.
Dedicated resources “Most firms, including ours, are considering forming a separate entity or an LLP where we have such dedicated registered resources,” said Ashish Chhawchharia, Partner, Grant Thornton Advisory. “The law does allow
insolvency professional entities or IPEs wherein the majority of partners are registered IPs.” In a similar context, Sumit Khanna, Partner and National Head Corporate Finance & Restructuring Services, Deloitte said that while it was too early to comment on the possible restructuring that firms would have to undertake to participate in this segment, they had already
Quiet grocery chain debuts with bang D-Mart’s secret sauce has been its focus on value retailing to the middle class Lalatendu Mishra MUMBAI
The spectacular debut of Avenue Supermarkets Ltd., which owns and operates the food and grocery retail chain D-Mart, has brought into the limelight its low profile promoters and the unique business model the company operates. While D-Mart has been around since 2002, it took 15 years to catch the fancy of investors who overwhelmingly subscribed to its IPO. The share sale was sold out 104 times and on the day of its listing the stock debuted at more than double its issue price. Soaring to ₹604 as against the allotment price of ₹299 a share, the debut reflected the robustness of the
firm’s business model. It quietly built a formidable presence in the Western, Central and parts of South India due its focused product offerings at great value to middle-class customers. D-Mart was incorporated in 2002 by Mumbai based stock broker Radhakrishan Damani, who is not known beyond the stock market circuit and developers’ community as he maintains a low profile. The first D-Mart store opened in Mumbai in 200203 and now it has grown to 118 stores operating in 45 cities spread across 9 states and one union territory. While others forayed into all lines of retail, Mr. Damani confined himself to food and
D-Mart took 15 years to catch the fancy of investors. grocery. Besides, D-Mart owns most of its stores to keep costs under control. “They created an Indian model adapted to Indian consumers and once they got the model right, they expanded it,” said B.S. Nagesh, an industry veteran and
Samsung Pay rolls out in India
Panel shortlists 14 names for top jobs in PSU banks
Special Correspondent
In a irst, bankers face psychometric tests
NEW DELHI
Samsung rolled out its mobile payments service in India, using which consumers will be able to make payments using their cards, mobile wallets or UPI. Samsung Pay allows users to save several cards on the application, along with linking their mobile wallet (currently only Paytm) and UPI accounts. Users will have to authenticate using their biometric on the phone and bring the mobile closer to the Point of Sale device for the transaction to go through, instead of swiping a card. “We have been working on the payment system for a year. While we have Samsung Pay in 12 other countries, this version is particularly made for India,” Asim Warsi, Senior Vice President, Mobile Business, Samsung India said.
started strengthening their in-house resources. “Deloitte is one of the most active players in this segment though it is too early to conclude if we need to set up a separate entity to house the practice as the final engagement will be in the name of a registered IP only,” Mr. Khanna said. “We will take a call once business reaches a critical threshold. We are augmenting our strong domestic team with in-house expertise in this practice area from overseas markets such as U.K. and U.S., where we are large players in this segment.” It is clear that the firms are betting big on a segment that is showing enough signs of having a huge business potential. In the one-year period ended September 2016, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of gross advances jumped to 9.1% from 5.1%, as per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. “This segment is going to
MANOJIT SAHA MUMBAI
With more than half a dozen posts of chief executives of public sector banks getting vacant next financial year ending March 2018, a selection panel has shortlisted 14 candidates who will be appear for an interview slated during the last week of March. Top posts in lenders such as the Union Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, Allahabad Bank, will fall vacant in 201718. “Fourteen bankers from various public sector banks have been shortlisted for the selection,” said a top banker. Sources said the selection committee will identify candidates for four banks in this round for vacancies that are arising until December. Candidates who have served as an executive director in public sector banks
The top post in SBI will fall vacant next year.
for one year and have two years of service remaining will be eligible for selection. A selection panel comprising of members of Bank Board Bureau (BBB) and government officials will conduct the interviews, bankers familiar with the matter said. In addition, bankers will
founder of TRRAIN. The company’s business philosophy is different as it focuses on value retailing to a well-defined target consumer base from the middle class. It offers products that are generally purchased by customers and does not operate a high inventory. It makes early payments to suppliers and thus gets products at cheaper rates and stays away from brands which do not fit the requirement of its target customers. Besides efficient store management, the company has a cluster-based approach in expansion to ensure better logistics and cost reduction. Most of its stores are in the suburbs which ensures larger foot-falls than peers.
be extremely large in the future. There is around ₹6.6 lakh crore worth of recognised NPAs in the banking sector as of today,” said Mr Khanna. “While the smaller loans could go to the regular firms, large stressed assets would require the expertise of large firms. The initial number of cases could well over be 2,000.”
‘Same direction as SEBI’ Legal experts say that the first order from IBBI has set a tone on how it is going to interpret the provisions of its regulations and is in line with the views of other regulators. “It has held that the insolvency professional work requires full time attention and would not countenance an IP riding two horses or more at a time,” said Sumit Agrawal, Partner, Suvan Law Advisors. “The order brings clarity on eligibility norms to be an IP and is in the same direction as SEBI or other regulators expect a person who is a registered intermediary.”
Oil prices a major hurdle: FM Special Correspondent NEW DELHI
Uncertain oil prices, slow global growth, ramping up private sector investment and tackling banks’ non performing assets or NPAs are the major challenges facing the government, Union Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley said. The Centre will focus on building infrastructure on a war footing and spend on rural development, he said. India will continue to grow at 7%-8% a year and remain the world’s fastest growing economy. A further increase in the growth rate would be possible if the global economic recovery improves.
8 tribunals face axe amid downsizing TDSAT to also hear cyber, PF disputes Special Correspondent NEW DELHI
The Centre has decided to wind up eight tribunals that currently deal exclusively with disputes pertaining to employees’ provident fund or EPF, Competition law, Airports’ economic regulation, Information Technology law, National highways, railways, copyrights and foreign exchange. The Lok Sabha on Wednesday approved amendments to this effect in the Finance Bill of 2017 proposed by the Centre, along with changes in the norms for tribunals, appellate tribunals and other boards associated with the administration of 17 central laws. The major tribunals to be relegated to history include the Competition Appellate Tribunal, whose work will now be transferred to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal; the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority Appellate Tribunal (AERAAT) and the Cyber Appellate Tribunal — whose functions will now be discharged by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). The EPF Appellate Tribunal’s remit would be transferred to the Industrial Tribunal that examines matters under the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947. Cases under the Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999 would be transferred from the dedicated tribunal for foreign exchange matters to the Appellate Tribunal constituted under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act of 1976.
Rationale unclear “The rationale behind replacing certain tribunals is unclear,” PRS Legislative Research said in a note on the amendments to the Finance Bill. “For example, the TDSAT may not have the ex-
GETTYIMAGES/ISTOCK
market watch
pertise to adjudicate matters relating to pricing of airport services,” it pointed out. Separately, the National Highways Tribunal that deals with disputes under the Control of National Highways (Land and Traffic) Act of 2002 will be wound up. Highway disputes will now be adjudicated by the Airport Appellate Tribunal set up under the Airport Authority of India Act of 1994, which is distinct from AERAAT. The Railways Rates Tribunal for hearing matters under the Railways Act of 1989 will also cease to exist, with its workload transferred to the Railway Claims Tribunal set up under a 1987 law. The Copyright Act of 1957, decisions under which are currently reviewed by the Copyright Board, will now be transferred to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board set up under the Trademarks Act of 1999.
Premature termination The chairpersons and members of tribunals that are being wound up, will receive three months pay and allowances for the premature termination of their tenure, even as the Finance Bill makes significant changes in the terms of service and rules for appointments of such members and chairpersons in the tribunals that will continue to operate. Typically, the terms of service of such tribunal heads and members are enshrined in the laws.
have to take psychometric tests – a first for government banks – before the interviews. The psychometric tests are to be followed by a group discussion. A global talent hunt firm has assisted in conducting the psychometric tests, bankers said. Unlike previous occasions, officials from public sector banks are eligible for the interview. Earlier, top posts in government banks were open to private sector candidates but the response was not encouraging. After BJP-led government assumed power in May 2014, chairman and managing director posts in public sector banks have been separated. Now, instead of CMD, a chief executive officer and managing director is appointed and also a non-executive chairman.
Apple cuts prices on lower-end iPads iPad updates come as the tablet market continues to decline Associated Press NEW YORK
Apple is cutting prices on two iPad models and introducing red iPhones, but the company held back on updating its higher-end iPad Pro tablets. A much-speculated 10.5– inch iPad Pro didn’t materialise, nor did new versions of existing sizes in the Pro lineup, which is aimed at businesses and creative professionals. The new devices are mostly refreshes of existing models. Apple unveiled them through press releases Tuesday rather than a staged event, as it typically does for bigger product releases. The iPad updates come as the tablet market continues to decline, after a few years of rapid growth. According to IDC, tablet shipments fell CM YK
New lineup: Apple is introducing new models, including red iPhones as it cuts prices of iPads.
20% to 53 million worldwide in the final three months of 2016 compared with the same period in 2015.
New lineup The iPad Air 2 is replaced by a new model simply called the iPad. It retains a 9.7–inch screen, but gains a little
weight and thickness. The display is brighter and the processor faster. Its price starts at $329 for 32 gigabytes of storage, down from $399. The standard-size iPad is now cheaper than the smaller Mini model. The 7.9–inch iPad Mini 4 now comes with 128 giga-
bytes of storage starting at $399, rather than $499 before. Apple is eliminating the 32–gigabyte model, which used to sell for $399. Nothing else is changing. Apple is also releasing a red edition of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus; for each phone sold, Apple is donating an unspecified amount to HIV and AIDS programmes. And Apple is doubling the storage on the smaller iPhone SE while keeping the $399 starting price. The new iPad Mini 4 is available right away, while the standard–size iPad comes out next week, with orders to begin Friday. The new iPhone SE comes out Friday, while the red iPhones are expected by the end of the month, with advance orders beginning on March 24. A ND-ND
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IN BRIEF
TVS Motor starts BMW bike exports
Lava marks mid-segment phone entry
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For crorepatis only
Special Correspondent New Delhi
Indian irm to roll out BMW platform-based Akula in 2017-18 N. Anand
AI sees demand surge after U.S. gadgets ban NEW DELHI
Air India expects a surge in demand on its lights to the U.S. and U.K. following a ban on laptops and tablets in cabin baggage on lights from some Islamic countries. “This ban is only for the countries in the Middle East and Gulf, and will not afect us at all,” Director Finance, Air India, Vinod S Hejmadi said. The airline is open to adding more lights to these countries, if there is an increase in demand following the ban. PTI
Airtel-Jio: Ookla says its speed test is reliable NEW DELHI
Broadband speed testing irm Ookla, whose indings about Airtel as India’s fastest network have been contested by Jio, on Wednesday shared the broad methodology it uses, saying it stands by accuracy and reliability of its test. “Ookla fully stands behind the accuracy and reliability of the methodology used to designate Airtel as India’s fastest mobile network,” it said in a statement. PTI
CCI invites comments on Dow-DuPont merger NEW DELHI
Noting that the proposed merger between Dow Chemical Company (Dow) and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) is prima facie likely to have an appreciable adverse efect on competition, competition regulator CCI has sought comments/objections/ suggestions in writing, from any person(s) adversely afected or likely to be afected by the proposed move.
CM YK
HOSUR
TVS Motor Co. Ltd., has started exports of 310cc bikes made for German auto major BMW at its Hosur plant, near Bengaluru, a top company official. In April 2013, TVS had inked a strategic partnership with BMW Motorrad to jointly design and develop high-end bikes to be sold through their respective distribution networks. “The BMW tie-up will lead to a 310cc platform,” said K.N. Radhakrishnan, President and CEO, TVS Motor Co. “The 310cc motorcycle and its engine were developed jointly with BMW on a common platform/architecture.” BMW would make an official announcement in the “coming few weeks” on production details, pricing, distribution model and the number of units shipped so far, Mr. Radhakrishnan said.
Akula model He said the TVS version based on the BMW platform and named Akula, would be rolled out during 2017-18. The Indian two-wheeler manufacturer also plans to roll out a new scooter and a motorcycle during the coming financial year, and invest ₹350 crore from internal accruals, to expand in the domestic market, where it aims to attain a share of 18% in two years. TVS Motor’s objective is to gradually increase its market share from a projected 14.2%-14.3% in the year ending March 2017, to 15.5%-16% next year. The target is to ultimately hit 18% during the following year. The company’s market share in scooters and motor cycles during the third quarter of 2016-17 was close
New markets: The company’s market share in scooters during the third quarter of 2016-17 was close to 17%.
to 17% and about 8% respectively. “The industry is poised to grow at 8%-10% and we hope to grow faster than the industry,” Mr. Radhakrishnan said. “We had good sales in the first half of 2016-17,” he said. “During the third quarter, the company’s market share was 15%. But from November to February, due to demonetisation, poor monsoon and other factors, the industry slowed down and so did the company’s growth. We hope the market will pick up from April 2017 onwards.” Exports have been a key focus area for TVS Motor, which ships its products to more than 60 countries. However, exports to some African countries was impacted amid non-availability of foreign exchange, he said. The company is investing in marketing activities across
the African region to ride on a strong consumer affinity towards the brand, he said.
Homegrown mobile phone maker Lava on Wednesday forayed into the mid-segment smartphone category with the unveiling of its Z series of devices. “We have made significant investment towards inhouse design, quality, manufacturing and supply chain in the past seven years. We believe we are now capable of competing with premium products offered by MNCs or even Chinese or domestic handset makers,” Gaurav Nigam, Product Head, Lava International said. Under the Z series, the company has introduced two phones Z10 and Z25, priced at ₹11,500 and ₹18,000, respectively. Till now, none of the company’s phones is priced above ₹10,000.
Indian teams among top 16 in green race 123 teams across Asia competed in designing a fuel eicient prototype vehicle TCA Sharad Raghavan
Three-wheeler exports TVS Motor, which exports 60-65% of its three wheelers, saw sales of the product dip due to a decline in global oil prices and currency devaluations overseas. “The domestic market is completely dominated by regulatory permits. As and when there are opportunities in this market, we will continue to explore them,” Mr. Radhakrishnan said. “Nigeria and Ethiopia are most important markets. There is a decline in the industry and the market has gone down by 25%. We hope the industry will recover within the year provided oil prices stabilise,” he added. (The correspondent was in Hosur at the invitation of TVS Motor Company)
Fast luxe: German sports car manufacturer Porsche has unveiled the new Panamera, a combo of sports car and luxury saloon, in the Indian market. The all-wheel drive car is priced at ₹1.93 crore and the executive version ₹2.05 crore (ex-showroom Maharashtra).
NEW DELHI
Three teams from engineering colleges in India ranked among the top 16 across Asia in terms of the energy efficiency of their prototype vehicles in a competition held in Singapore over the last weekend. The Shell Eco-marathon, held in Singapore for the first time this year, was a competition in which 123 college teams across Asia competed in designing a fuel efficient prototype vehicle. The winners were those whose vehicles covered the most distance on a single unit of fuel — petrol, diesel, battery power, or hydrogen fuel cell. The best performance from an Indian team came from Team AVERERA from the Indian Institute of
Technology, Banaras Hindu University. The team’s prototype vehicle covered 132 kilometres on one kilowatt-hour of energy.
Third attempt “This year was our third attempt in this prestigious event,” Team AVERERA said following the event. “Our car got a staggering efficiency of 131.1 km/kwhr, and we stand as the most fuel efficient car of India and the 11th-most in Asia.” Team Kaizen from the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, also participating in the same category, clinched the 16th place with their vehicle covering 81 km on one kwhr. The competition gave the teams a choice of three categories of fuel — gasoline (either petrol or diesel), bat-
tery electric, and hydrogen fuel cell. The competition was further divided into two types of vehicles — prototypes, which are singleseater, three-wheeled vehicles, and urban concept vehicles, which are bigger, four-wheeled, and more road-worthy. While 12 Indian teams qualified to take part in the event in Singapore, only three managed to actually set a score on the track. The third Indian team to do so, DTU Supermileage from Delhi Technological University, took part in the urban concept category, running an internal combustion engine. Their vehicle ran 81 km on one litre of fuel, placing them on the 15th spot in their category. Team Panthera from the Indira Gandhi Delhi Tech-
nical University for Women, the only all-girls team in the competition, could not take part in the competition, having failed to complete the mandatory technical inspection prior to being allowed to go on the track. However, they won the off-track award for ‘Perseverance and Spirit of the Event’. “Participating in Shell Eco-marathon Asia has helped prove to ourselves and others that machines and tools can equally belong in the hands of women,” Kashika Tripathi from Team Panthera said. “We hope to inspire more girls back home and from around the region to be bold in pursuing careers in science and engineering.” (The correspondent was in Singapore at the invitation of Shell)
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IN BRIEF
Pujara makes it to the elite group Double promotion for Jadeja; Vijay, too, in the top rung Nandakumar Marar MUMBAI
‘Not sure if Kohli knows how to spell sorry’ NEW DELHI
Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland took a dig at Virat Kohli during a chat with a radio station on Wednesday. When the RJ asked him if the India captain owed Steve Smith an apology for questioning his integrity after the second Test, Sutherland quipped: “Look, I am not sure he knows how to spell the word!” PTI
Kumble presents report to CoA MUMBAI
The India head coach Anil Kumble has presented his report on Central Contracts and other payment structure to be followed for the senior team and support staff to the BCCI appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA). The CoA had met Kumble, Sanjay Bangar (batting coach) and R. Sridhar (fielding coach) on March 8 at Bengaluru. Kumble’s report maybe followed from 2017-18. He, sources confirmed, presented his report to the CoA chairman Vinod Rai three days ago.
‘Confidence from Ranchi will help at Dharamshala’ DHARAMSHALA
Peter Handscomb, whose unbeaten 72 on the final day saved the third Test for Australia, revealed that he had hoped for Virat Kohli to call the draw earlier, but the sustained pressure he had to face would stand him in good stead in the final match in Dharamshala. “It was nice to get that feeling of batting time, facing a lot of balls out in the middle. That helps coming into the next Test having that self-belief, knowing that I can do it next Test as well,” he said. PTI
Cheteshwar Pujara moved up to Grade A in the BCCI annual players’ contracts list (period ending Sept. 30, 2017), as per the decision taken by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) on Wednesday. He will now be paid ₹2 crore.
Retainer doubled The player contracts’ retainer is doubled from ₹1 crore announced by the BCCI in November 2015. M. Vijay has also been elevated from Grade B to the elite category. Biggest mover Ravindra Jadeja emerged the biggest mover, from Grade C in 2015 to Grade A. He was earlier paid an annual retainer of ₹25 lakh. The annual contract retainer for Grade B and Grade C have also been revised to ₹1 crore and ₹50 lakh re-
Just recognition: Ravindra Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara reaped the reward for some outstanding performances in the ongoing international home season. AFP *
spectively. The match fees, effective from October 2016, has been enhanced for ODIs (to ₹6
lakh from ₹4 lakh per game), T20I (to ₹3 lakh from ₹2 lakh). The match fee per Test
will now be ₹15 lakh. Sandhya, wife of India under-19 team trainer Rajesh Sawant who passed away on
an official assignment, was handed a cheque for ₹15 lakh in recognition of his services to Indian cricket.
Will listen to State units’ issues, says the CoA Everything will be in place by October, or latest by December: Committee chairman Rai Kamesh Srinivasan NEW DELHI
The BCCI’s Committe of Administrators (CoA), which interacted with the media after it met here on Wednesday, issued an assurance that India’s interests in world cricket would be well preserved, but it would also do its bit to help other countries like Afghanistan or Ireland to improve their lot. “We will get what we deserve, but we will also help develop other countries,” said CoA chairman, Vinod Rai, stressing that the Indian cricket board would not lose financially. Regarding the administration of Indian cricket, it was announced that even though
the endeavour would be to execute the directives of the Supreme Court, the Committee would listen to genuine issues of the State units and try to address them in the best possible way.
Fewer difficulties “The difficulties are fewer than expected,” said Rai, indicating that the approach would be collaboration rather than confrontation. “If there are genuine problems, we will try and address them.” Rai, and the other Committee members Diana Eduljee and Ramachandra Guha, were however clear that there was no need for any “vision” at this stage of operations, as
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the State units were being persuaded to “implement the verdict”. Even though the State units require two-thirds majority as per the constitution to implement reforms, the Committee said the issue was “very solvable”, and that things would be done in a fair and transparent way. Assuring that everything would remain the same as far as the State units were concerned, including their rev-
enue in terms of subsidy from the Board, it was pointed out that it was just a question of vote. It was also specified that there was no room for any interpretation any more and that things were “settled and written in stone”. Once the State associations were streamlined, the work on players associations and the other areas would follow, Rai said.
Writing on the wall He assured that everything would be addressed step-bystep, and added that “people have to see the writing on the wall.” It was mentioned that the focus was on players first, fans second and the officials
last; it was thus that the player contracts were reviewed at this juncture. Conceding that the team was playing merely a “night watchman’s role”, Rai said that everything would be in place by October, or latest by December, and pointed out that the committee had been in existence only for about 50 days and had already been able to execute a lot of work. He stressed the point that cricketing matters, including the IPL player auction, had been running smoothly. He said the model constitution had already been framed and put up. Hyderabad would definitely hold the inaugural match of the IPL on time, the
Committe said, and that the uncertainties would vanish once the court pronounced its judgement.
Clear mandate “Cricket has to be delivered to the people the way they want it. The (Committee’s) mandate is clear and well defined,” said Rai. Guha spoke of how life is not about perfection, but compromise when necessary and finding a way forward. Overall, the CoA expressed confidence that cricket and cricketers would not suffer during this phase of transition and the execution of Supreme Court order, as people may change but institutions carry on.
Yet to get update from Amitabh Chaudhary Special Correspondent Mumbai
The BCCI Committee of Administrators (CoA) has told the Supreme Court that Vikram Limaye, who was inducted into the ICC Board at its meeting in Dubai in the first week of February, has submitted his report. However, Amitabh Chaudhary ( joint secretary), who attended the ICC Chief Executives’ meeting which happened soon after, is yet to do so.
Seeking directions from apex court To ensure smooth conduct of the fourth Test and the IPL Amol Karhadkar MUMBAI
The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) has sought directions from the apex court for ensuring smooth conduct of the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League, with regard to financial demands raised by all the staging associations. The request was made in the second status report that was submitted by the CoA to the Supreme Court on March 17. The court is set to hear the matter on Friday, on the eve of the Test. In the status report, the CoA has requested the court to “issue appropriate directions to ensure the smooth conduct of the fourth Test between India and Australia by the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) as well as the smooth conduct of IPL matches by the State / Member Associations specified.” The CoA has also taken due care to avert attempts of any possible sabotage of any of the matches by requesting the court to make “the mem-
bers of the Managing Committee / Governing Body” of all the staging associations “shall be personally responsible for the smooth conduct” of the matches. The HPCA, the home turf of axed BCCI president Anurag Thakur, has demanded money from the BCCI for hosting the Test, as per the convention in the BCCI. However, the CoA has pointed out to the Supreme Court the amount that the HPCA has in its coffers.
Cash cows At least seven of the 10 staging associations for the IPL, starting on April 5, are yet to sign the hosting agreement over lack of clarity about being paid the staging expenses by the BCCI. According to the hosting agreement, the home franchise and BCCI each pay the respective host association ₹30 lakh per game. While the franchises pay before the start of the season, the BCCI pays State associations after the season. The State associations had demanded confirmation about receiving the amount from the BCCI.
CoA asks SC to dismiss all petitions ‘Applications are part of the modus operandi of State/Member associations’ G. Viswanath Mumbai
The Committee of Administrators, in its second status report, has requested the Supreme Court to dismiss the several petitions filed by some BCCI associations. “It appears to the CoA that the applications are part of the modus operandi of State/Member associations to stall the implementation of the (administrative) reforms in some pretext or the other,” the report said. “[T]he above applications are nothing but an attempt to re-agitate issues that have already been adjudicated upon.” CM YK
On some associations seeking permission from the Supreme Court to convene a Special General Meeting to discuss the proposed changes in the ICC governance and financial structure, the CoA has conveyed to the apex court that the associations have not complied with several orders of the court and said: “Seeking to convene/attend a SGM of BCCI is an attempt to deflect attention from their noncompliance. It is also an attempt to seek legitimacy where none exists.” The CoA has specifically drawn attention to the BCCI SGM of February 19, 2016,
wherein the representatives of State associations (including those who have filed applications) discussed the ICC governance and financial structure in detail, extracting the part of the minutes that states: “A revision of the financial structure by which the BCCI gets a major share and the other boards also enough to help them develop and promote their cricket should be welcomed.”
‘Matter discussed’ The CoA has also told the Supreme Court that it had discussed the ICC matter with the professional manage-
ment of the BCCI and people acquainted with legal aspects to ensure that the BCCI’s interests are protected and that it would welcome suggestions from State associations and people who have knowledge on the particular matter. Finally the CoA has urged the Supreme Court to issue appropriate directions for formal adoption of the MoA and rules and regulations of the BCCI that are required to implement the reforms, and to pass such other or further orders as the Court deems appropriate in the facts and circumstances. A ND-ND
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IN BRIEF
Kerala faces a tough Goan test Bengal takes on Mizoram for a place in the summit round
‘Kohli should not be bothered by reports’ He’s an innings away from a ton: Clarke
M.R. Praveen Chandran BAMBOLIM
Press Trust of India
Wayne Rooney returning to Everton?
Kerala faces a severe test when it takes on host Goa in one semifinal of the 71st National football championship, for the Santosh Trophy, at GMC stadium, Bambolim here on Thursday. The Group B winner will be up against a rejuvenated Goan side which, despite scraping through to the alst four, will be a formidable opponent on home turf. Goa had staged a fine comeback against defending champion Services to qualify as Group A runner-up. Though Goa hasn’t been dominant, despite possessing players with experience, it showed traces of its ability while coming back from a goal down to beat a tough opponent like Services. If the outcome of the last match is the yardstick, then the momentum is with Goa. Kerala rested several first choice players and tested its bench strength against Maharashtra. The second string side struggled and was badly exposed by a rampaging Maharashtra side. Kerala coach Shaji, wary of the Goan resurgence, was not ready to dwell too much on to the Maharashtra defeat. Admitting that Goa will be a tough opponent, Shaji
LONDON
Manchester United skipper Wayne Rooney is likely to make a return to his boyhood club Everton this summer. According to a report in The Independent, sources close to both Everton and United feel at this point the deal is “likely to happen”, completing what would be a romantic return to his boyhood team in what could be a free transfer. ANI
LA bidding only for 2024 Olympics LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles Olympic bid organisers on Tuesday reiterated that officials remained focused on staging the Games in 2024. “Los Angeles is the right city at this critical time for the Olympic Movement and is only bidding for 2024,” a statement from LA 2024 said. AFP
Arsene Wenger denies PSG rumour PARIS
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has denied he has been offered a two-year deal to become PSG coach. “It is a false rumour. That is what you call fake news. I formally deny it,” Wenger said. AP
New Delhi
Getting ready: The Kerala squad trains ahead of the semiinal against host Goa.
SANTOSH TROPHY expected the Goans to crack under pressure. “They will be under pressure to perform well in front of their home crowd. Goa is a good side but not an unbeatable one. We have issues in defence but I expect the boys to play sensibly,” he said. Among the four teams, Kerala scored the maximum number of goals and also conceded the most. Striker Jobby Justin has been the linchpin of the attack.
FIFA team satisied but ‘Delhi cannot be caomplacent’ Special Correspondent
U-17 WORLD CUP
NEW DELHI
The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here is racing against time to be in shape for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup matches later this year. The latest round of inspections for the six host cities, led by FIFA Head of Tournaments Jaime Yarza, began here on Wednesday and while the 21-member delegation was satisfied with the general progress, Yarza made it clear that the pace of work needed to pick up. “It is important to note that we don’t have much time and there are a lot of improvements still needed,” Yarza, who had visited last year before the final six cities were shortlisted, said when asked about the venues.
ent. The more aesthetic matters like painting would be addressed closer to the actual tournament,” he added. Admitting that FIFA had originally expected all infrastructure work to be completed by now, Yarza said the revised deadline was the end of April for all core infrastructure. “That includes the competition area, renovation of the referee rooms, the doping control room, medical areas, the media tribunes and media areas, certain renovations have to be done to the VIP area as well,” he hoped. What both made clear was that, as the first-ever FIFA event in the country, Delhi had to lift its standards. “Delhi is a very important city in the world and I think the stadium has to look really top-notch. This is the capital of the country and it cannot settle for just meeting the requirements. All the centres should strive to be the best in the country and we are trying to make sure that happens as soon as possible,” Yarza said. “Delhi cannot be complacent. The stadium was beautifully built for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and we need to bring back the splendour, which includes hygiene, painting, cleanliness, landscaping etc. They are not part of the minimum
Key areas of concern His key areas of concern were the competition and training areas. “The competition areas are only partially done. Also, for the players, the training sites and pitches are very important. The officials here have a very good plan but they need to finish it. These two are the key areas for me, that all competition areas are finished in time,” he said. Tournament director Javier Ceppi explained that seeding at training sites was on. “The grass needs to settle down which takes 60-90 days. As long as seeding happens in time, we are confid-
core requirements but Delhi cannot settle only for that,” Ceppi added, making it clear that the venue and the city had a long way to go before it could boast of being among the best in the world.
No back-up venue However, they categorically dismissed any talk of back-up venue, saying in case of a catastrophe the tournament may be held across five instead of six venues, while stressing that “willingness and readiness” would be taken into account while allocating the bigger matches across the venues. The draw would be held in July with a final inspection by the FIFA team just before that. Yarza also admitted that FIFA was monitoring the air quality of the city closely, specially since the matches would be held around Diwali, and said that any official statement would be made only after receiving medical opinion on the pollution levels and its effects on young athletes. While two of the training areas would be within the JLN Complex, Delhi University would be the third training site and Sudeva FC was confirmed as the fourth training ground in Delhi. The delegation will next move to Goa, followed by Kochi, Navi Mumbai and Guwahati before finishing its tour in Kolkata.
Youngsters Asharudeen and Muhammed Parakkottil have also pulled their weight in the attack. However, a leaky defence has been a worry and Kerala will have to shore it up if it is to advance further. Goan coach Mateus Costa, who was in the stands to witness Kerala’s loss to Maharashtra, will be hoping that his boys will take advantage of Kerala’s weakness in defence. He shrugged off the talk of pressure and said his team was capable of playing under pressure and ending the
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\ ROUND-UP \
VJA in semiinals NEW DELHI: Delhi Ranji
player Shivam Sharma scored a match-winning 74 while Avinash Gange made 47 as Vidya Jain Academy beat Surender Khanna Academy by seven wickets to enter the semifinals of the Sai DevelopZone Cup. The scores: SKA 210 for eight in in 40 overs (Vivek Bhati 77, Sumit Mathur 49, Ayush Kharab three for 14, Harpreet three for 54) lost to VJA 211 for three in 36.1 overs (Shivam Sharma 74, Avinash Gange 47, Karan Chaudhary 37).
Hari Singh Academy wins Sachin Chaudhary took three wickets for just 20 runs and Rohit Chaudhary made an unbeaten 37 to help Hari Singh Academy beat Delhi Blues Club by four wickets in the Stranger Original cricket tourney. The scores: Delhi Blues 135 in 35.5 overs (Vikas Bagri 25, Arjun Singh 25, Sachin Chaudhary three for 20, Sachin Kumar three for 24) lost to HSA 136 for six in 31.3 overs (Rohit Chaudhary 37 n.o., Sagar Singh four for 27).
Easy for Aryan Club Suyash Kumar and Vipin Singh picked up three wickets each as Aryan Club beat York Club by seven wickets in the Swastik Cup. The scores: York Club 109 in 26.3 overs (Lavit Ahuja 33, Suyash Kumar three for 31, Vipin Singh three for 25) lost to Aryan Club 110 for three in 18.4 overs (Salman Khan 34 n.o., Navneet Kumar 33 n.o.).
State title’s drought. The 31-time champion West Bengal has quietly been efficient and progressed to the semifinals as winner of Group A. Manavir Singh, Moirangthem Basanta Singh and Shikhom Ronald Singh have made their presence felt. Though Bengal created lot of chances, the prodigality of its strikers, especially Manavir, is a worry. Coach Mridual Kanti Banerjee said Mizoram would be a tough opponent and his boys will have to play at their best to beat the
North Eastern Side. Mizoram crushed Railways 5-1 in its last match making its 1-4 loss to Kerala look like an aberration. The nimble-footed and sharp Mizoram strikers would be more than a handful for the Bengal defence. Lalsangbera, Lalpurnia, Lalchhuanawma have been among the goals. But the Mizoram defence has struggled against the high ball and this weakness was exposed by Kerala. The taller Bengal players will try to exploit this frailty on Thursday.
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has said that India skipper Virat Kohli should not be “bothered” by a couple of Australian journalists who are trying to “tarnish his image”. Australia’s Daily Telegraph in its report had compared Kohli to the US president Donald Trump. “Just like President Trump, Kohli decided to blame the media as a means of trying to hide the egg smeared right across his face,” the report stated to Kohli’s allegations about Australian team disrespecting physio Patrick Farhart. However, Clarke on Wednesday firmly supported the India captain. “... What Virat did, even Smith would have. Bear in mind, I love Kohli and the Australian public love him. I always somehow find an Australian in him the way he plays and I absolutely love how he accepts challenges. It’s just two or three reporters who are trying to tarnish him but Virat shouldn’t be bothered,” Clarke said. Clarke said even Steve Smith won’t be bothered by what Australian media was writing.
“I don’t think even Steve Smith would bother about what the Australian media is saying. In fact both the captains would be telling their teams to concentrate on how to win in Dharamshala. “It is more like the Ashes 2005 we played where every Test was life and death and the players gave it all on the field. But off the field, both teams remained friends. It is only befitting of the way this series has been played that it will be decided in the last Test.” Clarke said that Kohli was one innings away from getting a big score. “Virat is tough and if you’re number one, then you have got to be tough. That’s how champions play. He may come up with a big century and win India the series in Dharamsala,” Clarke said. “Expectations from him are so high that everytime he steps out to bat, people want him to score centuries.” He said that once again toss would be a deciding factor and India would be in trouble if there is any moisture left on the strip. “India will be silly to leave any moisture on the Dharamshala pitch. I have a feeling, the captain winning the toss should win the Test.”
Mukesh Kumar takes a one-stroke lead
Indians win eight medals
Shamim at the second spot, followed by Chikkarangappa
Indian para athletes bagged eight medals, including three gold, at the ninth Fazza International IPC Athletics GP in Dubai. With three gold, one silver and four bronze medals on the second day of competitions, India is currently seventh out of 48 participating countries.
Y.B. Sarangi KOLKATA
Seasoned golfer Mukesh Kumar scored a fine four-under 68 and took a one-stroke lead with a two round total of 137 in the Kolkata Classic championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club course here on Wednesday. Shamim Khan, who also had a 68, was at the second place, followed by overnight joint leader S. Chikkarangappa, who carded a 71 to be on 139. Four shots away from the leader, Indian Open champion S.S.P. Chowrasia was tied for the fourth place with two others, N. Thangaraja and Sujjan Singh, after securing a two-under score. Altogether 54 professionals made the cut, which was declared at five-over 149. Mukesh, who claimed his maiden Asian Tour title last year at 51 years of age, showed the magic of his steady hands at the greens. Be it a 25-footer birdie putt on the fourth hole or a twofooter on 16th, he sank the ball with confidence. He also gained a shot apiece on eighth, 14th and 15th. Nevertheless, the lone bogey on 10th, where Mukesh missed a three-foot after recovering from rough, remained the only blot on his near-perfect card. Shamim returned an er-
Smooth sailing: Mukesh Kumar scored a ine four-under 68 in the Kolkata Classic on Wednesday.
ror-free four-under card. His inherent composure helped the Delhi based golfer to see off difficult situations, including a 30-foot putt to gain a shot on the eighth. Starting from the 10th hole, Shamim also had birdies on 12th, 16th and fifth. Chowrasia had an eventful round, consisting of six birdies and four bogeys. Chiragh Kumar, who shared the lead overnight, was joint 14th on 144.
The scores: 137: Mukesh Kumar (69, 68); 138: Shamim Khan (70, 68); 139: S. Chikkarangappa (68, 71). 141: S.S.P. Chowrasia (71, 70), N. Thangaraja (70, 71) and Sujjan Singh (70, 71); 142: Gaurav Pratap Singh (70, 72), Feroz Singh Garewal (69, 73) and Mithun Perera (70, 72). 143: Om Prakash Chouhan (69, 74), Deepinder Singh Kullar (70, 73), Sanjeev Kumar (70, 73) and Rahul Bajaj (73, 70).
Press Trust of India New Delhi
Gurjar the star Sundar Singh Gurjar was the star among the Indians as he won a gold each in men’s javelin (F-46) and discus (F-46). Gurjar, 21, who lost his left hand in an accident two years ago, recorded a best effort of 60.33m, a whopping 11m more than the second best. He measured 44.56m in discus, over 5m clear of the rest of the field. The third gold for India was bagged by Narender Ranbir in men’s javelin (F-44) with an effort of 47.75m, a release from Paralympic Committee of India said. The other Indian medallists were Anandan Gunasekaran (silver, 400m men, T-42/44/46), Ramkaran Singh (bronze, 800m men, T-13/20), Surjit Singh (bronze, shot put men, F-40/41/42), Rohit (bronze, 400m men, T-11/ 12/13), and Pramod K. Yadav (bronze, 400m men, T-42/44/46).
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THE HINDU CROSSWORD 11962 1
2
3
4
5
6
(set by Gridman)
11 Stiff boor broken with limited cudgel (7)
7
FAITH
SUDOKU
Analysing human mind
2 Rex — one in story — is easily broken (7)
8 9
12 Nervous complaint following disparate sale of band (7)
10
11
13 Greeting from rebel to the queen (5)
12
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14 Frequency of chic detectives taking a measure at the church (9)
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16 Burning desire of extreme party to take on a country (9) 16
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19 A large number inside to move laterally (5) 21
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21 Held the will I cited as unauthorised (7)
23
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24 Former patient admits editor after dismissing a model — it's appropriate (9)
27
■ ACROSS 1 Collector's opening bid for small boxes (7) 5 Look back in the limits of Changanacherry — it's shiverinducing (6) 9 One in a section of church is ingenuous (5) 10 Reckless person's road speed recalibrated (9)
CM YK
23 Backache arising out of you inally taking part in a difficult gambol (7)
25 To South Arcot these young people get glossy fabrics (5) 26 Old lover embracing girl is one who does a lot of walking (6) 27 I seem to be tossed about among Poles in retributive justice (7) ■ DOWN 1 Devices that don’t help igures in birth register to go up (14)
3 One who discards throws out head bouncer (7) 4 Son cautioned about not having a pulling power (9) 5 Social class we're told to discard (5) 6 Eve's irst dream revolves around snatching lover's top stone (7) 7 Pa on the reitted carriage (7) 8 Buildings set in a city for people to live in (8,6) 15 Fraud is almost slack in plan to nab a man (9) 17 Backsliding by careless leapers (7) 18 Two men together produce paving material (7) 19 Review my post with irst medico for a sign of illness (7) 20 Cabinets for old-fashioned underwear? (7) 22 Bond's market ploy (3-2)
Solution to puzzle 11961 S O F T S E L L
U R O I S T E R U AM
P A M D A N V S E S E R I S F E E
C E Q T U I E N E P P R A L I L M V A L B L
A S T L A T G E O E F T C H E A R N T E
E
T F U M
S
P A I N I N T H E N E C K
L U N A D E R L C I E E A N D J G O I I N
MB U D I L A T I E N P O N M E T T I M D E
Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku E R E N G I I O N T F L O O N T S S T E E P
The real purpose of scriptural teachings is to establish that Truth cannot be beyond reason or experience. Vidyaranya adopts this rational stance in Panchadasi, his famous text on Advaita Vedanta, pointed out Sri Goda Venkateswara Sastrigal in a discourse. There is a clear analysis of the human mind and its workings and the acharya shows the role of the mind in spiritual realisation. The mind is something very strange and at the same time very powerful. It depends on the organs of sense, the jnanendriyas and those of action, the karmendriyas, for its functions in relation to external objects. If the senses are the external organs, the mind is the internal organ and is known as antakarana. It controls and directs these ten senses of knowledge and the organs of action. But where is it located within the body? It is held that it is present in the whole body, but its seat is in the heart and brain perhaps. The analogy of the lamp, the source that spreads light all over the room from the place where it is situated, is often quoted to illustrate this. The mind modifies itself continuously and hence is considered fickle as it is constituted of the three gunas: satva, rajas and tamas. These modes of nature are difficult to define, but can be recognised according to their effects. The mind is invested with a fourfold ability to think, understand with the help of buddhi or intellect, decide the pros and cons on the basis of ahankara or ego, and also remember with the aid of memory. If the senses give the knowledge of the objects, the mind enquires into the merits and demerits of whatever the senses perceive. A keen spiritual aspirant can utilise the extraordinary powers of the mind and strive to know the Truth and discard the unnecessary in his quest. A ND-ND
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THE HINDU
SPORT 17
NOIDA/DELHI
THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017
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IN BRIEF
ONGC begins with a win
Ramya advances
First-time entrant Central Railways puts up a spirited challenge
NEW DELHI
Rayan Rozario
FEDERATION CUP
Coimbatore
Raptors gore Bulls
Joshna Chinappa, seeded 12th, defeated four-time champion Rachael Grinham of Australia 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10 to advance to the second round of the British Open squash championship on Tuesday. However, Dipika Pallikal lost to fifth-seeded Laura Massaro of England 11-4, 11-5, 11-13, 11-1 in the first round, while Sauarv Ghosal Saurav lost in the final round of qualifiers to Alan Clyne of Scotland 11-7, 11-4, 11-4.
Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (26 points) and Amritpal Singh (19 points) did the bulk of the scoring as defending champion ONGC (Uttarakhand) defeated first-time entrant Central Railways (CR) 75-64 in the men’s Group B league of the 31st Federation Cup basketball championship here on Wednesday. ONGC fielded its top five at the start, but they failed to fire early. Central Railways cashed in on the chance and raced to a 6-2 lead in the opening minute with Raj Kalbhok shooting twice from outside the ring. ONGC did its best to keep the young shooter in check. Later, after tightening the screws, it went into attack mode through Bhriguvanshi and Amritpal. It was the former, in fact, who made a big difference. Standing at over six-foot, the playmaker showed great ball control. He cut down pace time and again and pressed on the power button when it mattered most to make it difficult for Railways. Amritpal offered him great support and the points started to flow. However, the
India loses to Korea
SHOOTING
TORONTO
DeMar DeRozan crowned a 42-point display with a crucial overtime basket as Toronto Raptors came from behind to down Chicago Bulls 122-120 in a bruising NBA battle on Tuesday. Other results: Clippers 133 bt Lakers 109; Bucks 93 bt Trail Blazers 90; Spurs 100 bt Timberwolves 93; Warriors 112 bt Mavericks 87; Pelicans 95 bt Grizzlies 82; Nets 98 bt Pistons 96; Heat 112 bt Suns 97. AGENCIES
Joshna advances, Dipika exits from British Open HULL
Central Railways coach Hanif Patel was pleased with his team’s performance. “We lost, but not without a fight. ONGC is a strong side and our boys made a match out of it. We played four of our tall players, but still struggled to beat the ONGC defence. That was because they stood taller than our boys. “Also, Rakesh our key player failed to perform to his potential though Melvin did a great job,” added the former international.
Impressive performance: Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (9), who scored 26 points, tries to get past the Central Railways defence. S. SIVA SARAVANAN *
Central Railways team managed to stay close with ONGC leading 43-32 at the break. It was ONGC’s brilliance in the second half that decided the outcome of the game. It rested its stars, barring Bhriguvanshi, and tested its bench which did the finishing well. ONGC was all over Railways for most part of the last quarter. Railways could have matched the points
BANGKOK
The Indian boys lost to Korea 1-2, but they had already ensured their entry into the quarterfinals of the Asia Oceania World Junior under-14 tennis tournament here on Wednesday. The results (league): Korea bt India 2-1 (Woodan Song lost to Divesh Gahlot 5-7, 7-5, 4-6; Jewon Jeon bt V.M. Sandeep 6-1, 6-1; Jewon Jeon & Hyeondeok Yoon bt Nishant Dabas & Sandeep 6-2, 6-4).
TV PICKS WC 2018 Qualifiers: Sony Six, Sony ESPN & Sony Six HD, Sony ESPN HD, 2 a.m. & 4.30 a.m. (Friday)
Elizabeth on target Special Correspondent New Delhi
Elizabeth Susan Koshy clinched the women’s rifle 3-position gold 6.1 points ahead of qualification topper and former World Champion Tejaswini Sawant in the 11th Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Masters shooting championship in Tughlakabad. In men’s centre fire pistol, Pemba Tamang pipped junior gold medallist Anhad Jawanda by one point for the gold. Samaresh Jung
Sports Bureau
took the bronze ahead of Omkar Singh despite being tied on 576. The results: Men: 25m centre fire pistol: 1. Pemba Tamang 579; 2. Anhad Jawanda 578; 3. Samaresh Jung 576. Juniors: 1. Anhad Jawanda 578; 2. Anish 576; 3. Karan Sheoran 568. Women: 50m rifle 3-position: 1. Elizabeth Susan Koshy 453.0 (575); 2. Tejaswini Sawant 446.9 (580); 3. Anjum Moudgil 436.5 (573). Juniors: 1. Disha Yadav 441.5 (559); 2. Zenab Hussain 438.4 (559); 3. Shreya 427.1 (565).
charts had it not concentrated too hard on its defence. “It was our first match so it took some time for us to settle down,” said ONGC coach Amit Kumar. He had words of praise for the Central Railways side. “They were really good. They were all new players and it was quite natural that they came out with new ideas.”
The results: Men: Army Service Corps & Centre (Karnataka) 57 (Isaac Thomas 16, Shashi Kumar 13, Jeethendar Singh 13) bt Indian Air Force 51 (Narendra Kumar 20, Joginder Singh 10); ONGC (Uttarakhand) 75 (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 26, Amritpal Singh 19) bt Central Railways 64 (C. Amit 22, Akshadeep 11). Women: Telangana 70 (Divya Palanivel 15, Aswathy 14, M. Gayathri 10) bt Punjab 39 (Gagandeep 10); Kerala 74 (P.R. Surya 16, P.G. Anjana 13) bt Delhi 36 (Sahiba Maan 12); Tamil Nadu 72 bt West Bengal 67; Southern Railway 69 bt Chhattisgarh 51.
India edges Cambodia Press Trust of India Phnom Penh (Cambodia)
The Indian football team broke an 11-year-old jinx of not winning a match away from home as it beat Cambodia 3-2 in an international friendly here on Wednesday. India — currently at 132nd in the FIFA rankings — was given a tough fight by Cambodia, which is 41 places below it. The last time India emerged victorious was way back in 2006 when the team, captained by Shan-
FRIENDLY mugam Venkatesh, eked out a solitary-goal win over Pakistan. The win will boost the Indian side ahead of its AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers first leg match against Myanmar scheduled for March 28 in Yangon. Sunil Chhetri (35th), Jeje Lalpekhlua (49) and Sandesh Jhingan (52) found the target for India, while Cambodia scored through Khoun Laboravy (36) and Chan Vathanaka (62).
Qualifier Ramya Natarajan made the pre-quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Barbara Bonic of Serbia in the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Egypt. Natasha Palha went down in three sets to seventh seed Caroline Romeo of France in the same tournament. The resutls: $15,000 ITF men, Manama, Bahrain: Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Michal Konecny (Cze) bt Shahbaaz Khan 6-2, 6-1. Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Anderson Reed & Matt Seeberger (US) bt Isa Mammetgulyyev (Tkm) & Shahbaaz Khan 6-2, 4-6, 10-5. $15,000 ITF women, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt: Singles (first round): Caroline Romeo (Fra) bt Natasha Palha 6-3, 5-7, 6-2; Ramya Natarajan bt Barbara Bonic (Srb) 6-1, 6-4; Emily-Webley Smith (GBR) bt Sai Samhitha 6-4, 6-4.
Indian girls post win Special Correspondent NEW DELHI
The Indian girls scored a morale-boosting 2-1 win over Pacific Oceania in its last league match of the Asia Oceania Junior Fed Cup under-16 tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Wednesday. After having lost to Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan, India had been out of contention for a spot in the knock-out stages, and its will now fight for the ninth place beginning with a match against Kazakhstan on Thursday.
Vijay Sundar stages a brave ightback Sriram Balaji also stretched Special Correspondent THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
Second-seeded N. Sriram Balaji and sixth-seed N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth were forced to dig deep before advancing to the quarterfinals of the Indian Oil-ITF Futures tennis tournament at the TTC courts here on Wednesday. Pitted against Mohit Mayur, Balaji was stretched to the limit before he came through 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 while Vijay displayed tremendous character as he rallied to beat Tejas Chaukulkar 3-6, 76(2), 6-3 in another longdrawn battle. Balaji seemed to be well in control as he took the first set with two breaks of serve. But, an inspired Mohit had the second-seed in all sorts of trouble after that. Engaging his opponent in rallies and then using his forehand to telling effect, Mohit had Balaji on the run in the second. However, Balaji was quick to regain focus, and hit his stride to wrap up the third set — again with two breaks — and the match. Vijay, in contrast, found himself in deep trouble as Chaukulkar got up a set led 4-0 lead in the second. But the sixth-seed clawed his way back, and once the match was levelled, it was Vijay all the way. The results (second round):
Sriram Balaji.
*
S. MAHINSHA
Prajnesh Gunneswaran bt JuiChen Hung (Tpe) 6-3, 6-4; N. Vijay Sundar Prasanth bt Tejas Chaukulkar 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3; Vishnu Vardhan bt Anurag Nenwani 6-1, 6-4; Haadin Bava bt Rishab Agarwal 7-5, 6-2; Jayesh Pungliya bt Hong Kit Wong (Hkg) 5-7, 6-4, 7-5; N. Sriram Balaji bt Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. V.M. Ranjeet bt Jeson Patrombon (Phi) 7-6(5), 6-4; Dalwinder Singh bt P. Vignesh 7-6(5), 6-1. Doubles: Kunal Anand & Anvit Bendre bt Chandril Sood & Lakshit Sood 6-3, 6-3; N. Sriram Balaji & Vishnu Vardhan bt Haadin Bava & Fahad Mohammed 6-3, 7-5; Jui-Chen Hung (Tpe) & Hong Kit Wong (Hkg) bt Tejas Chaukulkar & J. Pungaliya 3-2 retired; Aryan Goveas & Dhruv Suresh bt Mohit Mayur & N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth 3-6, 7-6(4), [10-4].
The results (league): India bt Pacific Oceania 2-1 [Salsa Aher bt Naia Guitton 6-1, 6-1. Humera Shaik lost to Carol Young Suh Lee 6-1, 6-2; Salsa Aher & Humera Shaik bt Naia Guitton & Carol Young Suh Lee 6-4, 6-0].
‘Cannot fall out of sync with the Olympic Charter’ SAI DG says management of various federations has to be professional Special Correspondent BENGALURU
Injeti Srinivas, Secretary (Sports), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and Director General, Sports Authority of India, visited the SAI South Centre here on Wednesday. He met National campers and SAI staff and will on Thursday inaugurate an aqua-therapy facility on the premises. Srinivas spoke to the press on a number of topics. The excerpts: On the possibility of extending Lodha committee’s cricket reforms to other sports: The National Sports Development Code is aligned to the Olympic charter and it will continue to be aligned. If we want to be a part of the Olympic movement, we cannot fall out of sync with the Olympic Charter. If you look at it broadly, there is not much difference between what the Lodha Committee has said and what the code has said. 7080% of it is common. Certain differences are mainly be-
cause this is cricket specific. This may not be relevant for Olympic sports. So long as we are keeping the Olympic charter as our touchstone, I don’t see any possibility of us going wrong. On the restructured sports code: There are the age and tenure guidelines. Then, having fair and transparent elections. With issues like players’ welfare, there is a big gap. Then comes the area of disputes. The government is certainly of the view that the IOA should hold the pre-eminent position of settling disputes in a fair and transparent manner. Empirical evidence shows that it has miserably failed. More than half a dozen Olympic sports are under huge dispute and it is damaging the prospects. Maybe something else has to be thought of. Will it be a tribunal, a panel, or an ombudsman? We need to look into that. Whatever we do, we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Then, there is the management of federations; this has to be professional. Working part-time, voluntarily,
Injeti Srinivas.
out of the goodness of heart...this will not do. It is a very competitive world today. Then there are selection issues, grievance redressal, governance issues, conflict of interest etc. Another major issue is whether this will be in the form of a code or a legislation. These are decisions to be taken by the government at the highest level and then by the parliament. The committee is more or less coming to a conclusion. A few sittings and they should wind up their work. Reviewing aspects of the Target Olympic Podium scheme: It’s a fair comment
[that the federation rather than the athlete should choose the latter’s training venue and schedule]. This sort of total independence to an athlete need not be generally correct. Very few athletes have that understanding of where they should go to train. So appropriately, the federation should have a say on that. The TOP scheme will continue. Now we will focus more on a structured camp approach and camp discipline. I feel many times there are injured athletes...athletes with chronic injuries also participate in competitions. This will not help us. This will have to be arrested. 99% of the time, we may have to address issues for the athlete, but 1% of the issues, the athlete also will have to address. Discipline is very important. There will be zero tolerance for unauthorised absence from now. This can mean expulsion from the camp. The system cannot work without discipline.
‘India has potential to win medals in Tokyo’ Boxing coach Nieva feels the need for a long-term goal to achieve success Y.B. SARANGI KOLKATA
Despite his extensive exposure to different styles of boxing, Santiago Nieva, who has been chosen to coach the country’s men boxers to greater glory in the Olympics, admits that he needs to know more about India and its boxing culture before formulating his action plan. Speaking to The Hindu after having a feel of a camp in Delhi, Nieva said, “Right now I am learning things about Indian boxing, I am doing some research and talking to people. We must compare ourselves with the best nations in the world and need to put in place a boxing-specific plan to improve CM YK
our standards.” An International Boxing Association (AIBA) three-star coach with the experience of competing and coaching in Argentina (with Cuban, Latin American and North American influences) and at his present base in Sweden (with Russian and other European influences), Nieva noted that “the boxers and coaches here have got high ambitions. India has the potential to win medals in 2020 Tokyo Olympics.” However, the 42-year-old, a former World No. 1 who has done a high performance coaching course, said the country must pursue a long-term goal. “If we have a six-month calendar, then we cannot
achieve anything. It has to be a long-term one. For the Tokyo Olympics, we have got just three years, which is a short time. We can hope for medals in 2020, but if we work from now and put in place a good system, then we have a better chance to be among the best in 2024.” Nieva, who has been roped in for the 2020 Games, said the fact that Indian boxing had a culture of continuing with good coaches, for example Cuban coach B.I. Fernanadez in the past, should help the country in developing a sound system.
Area of operation Nieva, who is the secretary of the AIBA Coaches’ Com-
mission, where he has been involved in several important recommendations and rule changes, said his areas of operation included coaching the coaches and grooming boxers at the grass-roots level. “Working with the coaches is one of the main areas. I have worked on this area my whole life. Besides, we have to focus on the grass-roots development as that’s where the boxers come from.” For Nieva, the immediate assignments will be the Asian championship to be held in Tashkent in the last week of April and the World championship in Hamburg from August 25 to September 3. A ND-ND
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THE HINDU
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IN BRIEF
A Shakespearean reformation
Shrimp fossil named after British naturalist
Massachusetts theatre company works with courts to get juveniles perform the Bard’s works Associated Press PITTSFIELD
Chuck Berry’s inal studio album to be out in June ST. LOUIS
Chuck Berry’s final studio album will be released on June 16. The album, titled CHUCK, was announced in October, five months before the rock pioneer’s death on Saturday at the age of 90. CHUCK is Berry’s first album since 1979’s Rock It. Dualtone Records says eight of the 10 new recordings were written by Berry himself. AP
Zootopia lawsuit claims Disney stole idea LOS ANGELES
Disney is facing a lawsuit alleging that Oscar-winning animation film Zootopia was copied from the work of author Gary L. Goldman. The writer’s credits include Total Recall and Next, as well producing Minority Report. The complaint was filed by from Esplanade Productions, Inc on Tuesday. PTI
For some juvenile offenders, their choice is straight out of Hamlet — to act or not to act. Shakespeare & Company, a theatre company in Lenox, Massachusetts, works with the courts to get youngsters who run afoul of the law sentenced to perform works of Shakespeare onstage as an alternative to community service or juvenile detention. Juveniles sentenced to Shakespeare read the bard’s works, take on the role of one or more of his characters, come up with ideas for costumes and sets, memorise their lines, rehearse and then act out their roles for an audience of family, friends and court personnel. The kids almost always hate the idea of performing Shakespeare at first, but by the end of the six-week program, many say they have found new friends and a new sense of accomplishment.
NASA will send its nextgeneration atomic clock into space later this year, a key advance for safely navigating future human exploration of the solar system. The clock will be smaller, lighter with magnitudes more precise than any such clock flown in space before, NASA said. PTI
To act or not to: A scene during a rehearsal for Macbeth, at the Shakespeare & Company in Pittsield. AP *
who work in the program hope it will help the teens respect the feelings of others, fulfil a commitment and foster a sense of pride. “I never really tried acting or theatre, so coming in, it was challenging,” said the 17year-old playing Macbeth, shortly after practising the famous sword-fighting scene
during a recent rehearsal at a Pittsfield church. The program was started by Paul Perachi, a former high school principal who recruited the theatre company to work with his students. Years later, after he became a judge, Mr. Perachi asked the theatre group to develop a Shakespeare pro-
Fanzara is a small Spanish country village whose handful of mostly elderly residents were once so bitterly divided that their allegiance to one camp or the other determined which bar they frequented. So heated became the local tussle over plans to build a toxic waste dump that it aroused old Civil Warera rivalry and prompted neighbours to cross the street to avoid one another. But today, the bad blood is almost forgotten and the village has been revived — thanks to street artists from
Doctor reconstructs jaw with 3D printer
around the world. Tourists now flock to admire giant murals created by invited urban artists on the sides of buildings in the village, which has become an openair art gallery.
Living canvas To the chimes of the village bell and dogs barking in the distance, Fanzara, some 80 km north of the eastern port city of Valencia, has become a living canvas for colourful artwork. A three-wall picture depicts a robot with long, thin arms chasing cats, while another nearby mural features a creature with large white
Art for community’s sake: A visitor paints on a wall at the local sports centre in Fanzara. AFP *
eyes holding a tiny planet in its hand. “We looked for an artsand-culture project that
everyone could take part in and that would re-establish good relations among villagers,” said former municipal
councillor Javier Lopez, one of the project’s architects. For years, residents of Fanzara — 70% of them pensioners — had been at loggerheads over the waste incinerator proposal. It was defeated in the end and the right-wing municipal council promoting the project was swept from power in 2011 elections. But locals say tensions remained long after the plan was dropped, with supporters drinking in the village’s “upper bar”, while opponents, who were concerned about the incinerator’s environmental impact, preferred the “lower bar.”
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Puppy love
Indian-origin surgeon used leg bone Press Trust of India London
An Indian-origin surgeon in the U.K., with the help of a 3D printer, has successfully reconstructed a 53-year-old cancer patient’s jaw using bone from one of his legs. Dr. Daya Gahir of the Royal Stoke University Hospital in the West Midlands region of England specialises in facial, head and neck surgery and conducts as many as 40 reconstructions a year. Last year, his hospital acquired the software required to make full use of the £1,50,000 3D printer to make his task even more efficient, including designing and manufacturing the surgical tools and performing the surgery. “We do at least 40 major head and neck reconstructions per year. Around 10 to 15 cases will be done in this way using the
He has a research vessel as namesake Associated Press NEW HAVEN
He recently had a polar research vessel named in his honour. Now, Sir David Attenborough, the famed British naturalist, also has an ancient shrimp as a namesake. To mark his 90th birthday, researchers from the Yale University and universities in England named in Mr. Attenborough’s honour a distant relative of today’s shrimp and lobster. The crustacean was identified from a 430-million-year-old imprint in volcanic ash. “It is wonderful to be able to name a remarkable fossil from the United Kingdom in honour of Sir David, who has done so much to promote the conservation of the Earth’s biodiversity,” said Derek Briggs, a Yale professor of geology and geophysics and a co-author of a paper on the crustacean
Sir David Attenborough in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The fossil is named Cascolus ravitis. The first half of the name, Cascolus, is derived from Latin words that are equivalent to the Old English words comprising the name Attenborough. The second, ravitis, is derived from the Roman name for Leicester, in a nod to the University of Leicester campus where Mr. Attenborough grew up while his father served as a university administrator.
Fanzara residents were once so polarised over waste dump that their allegiance to one camp or the other determined which bar they frequented Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON
Similar programs Similar Shakespeare programs are offered to inmates in prisons around the country as a way of boosting selfconfidence and literacy. For the past 17 years, Shakespeare in the Courts has been used to sentencing youths accused of a variety of lower-level crimes, including larceny, assault and battery and vandalism. In 2007, the program won a national ‘Coming Up Taller’ award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. The probation officers, teachers and others
gram for juvenile offenders. Since then, Kevin Coleman, a founding member of Shakespeare & Company, has worked with more than 300 teenagers, many who have struggled with poverty and family issues. “We take baby steps into it, because they’d rather go to jail than be involved in this project,” Mr. Coleman said. “We get them to work together as a group, getting them to talk about themselves, getting them to name feelings. And then, bit by bit, we start with small bits of text, then larger amounts of text, then individual soliloquies and then group scenes.” Only a handful of teens have refused to participate or dropped out before finishing the program, Mr. Coleman said. Those teens have been sent back to the judge to be re-sentenced to community service or another alternative program.
How street art festival united this divided Spanish village Fanzara
NASA to send ‘futuristic’ atomic clock to space
“Honestly, you would never catch me doing this stuff if I didn’t have to, but it’s taught me teamwork and to just chill out and listen,” said a 17-year-old boy, who will play Macbeth in a March 22 production that will include scenes and monologues from various Shakespearean plays.
Gaining trust So in 2014, the village’s new municipal council came up with the idea to invite local residents and street artists to create one giant mural. It turned into a street art festival, with 21 artists descending on Fanzara a few
months later who ended up decorating dozens of grey walls encouraged by enthusiastic locals. Some could be seen hoisted on cranes as they painted the walls. Three years later, Fanzara’s annual festival, known as the Unfinished Museum of Urban Art (MIAU), has joined the circuit of street art events, including prestigious festivals in Copenhagen and New York. Initially, many villagers had been reluctant to hand over the wall space. But the artists gradually gained their trust by working closely with them and designing works that reflect village life.
A campaign to restore Pluto to planet club Scientists from U.S. spearhead crusade
printer,” Dr. Gahir told the Stoke Sentinel newspaper. “Some of the leg bone was reshaped, as you have to replace bone with bone. We took away some of the skin from the leg as well and replanted it back into the neck,” he said, as he explained about the 12-hour delicate surgery conducted on his patient Stephen Waterhouse recently.
Radiotherapy fallout Mr. Waterhouse’s jawbone had disintegrated after he underwent radiotherapy treatment for his throat cancer. He was left with a crumbling jawbone, which Dr. Gahir was able to reconstruct using bone from his leg. “If you leave 7 cm of the leg bone on either side, you can take the rest as it carries only about 20% of the body weight maximum,” Dr. Gahir said.
“We would know what side you were on depending on which bar you went to,” said Marc Zapata, a 22-yearold firefighter seated at a table in the “upper bar.” The feud even stoked old divisions between left- and right-wing families dating back to Spain's bloody 193639 Civil War.
Reuters
Hello there: Photographers position themselves to capture a Kodak moment as Daily, an English Bulldog, (right), and Seguin, a Yorkshire Terrier, greet each other at a press conference called by the American Kennel Club in New York on Tuesday. REUTERS *
A team of scientists seeking to restore Pluto to planethood launched a campaign on Tuesday to broaden the astronomical classifications, which led to its demotion to a “dwarf planet” more than a decade ago. Six scientists from institutions across the U.S. argued that Pluto deserved to be a full planet, along with some 110 other bodies in the solar system, including Earth’s moon. In a paper presented at an international planetary science conference at The Woodlands, Texas, the scientists explained that geological properties, such as shape and surface features, should determine what constitutes a planet. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union, struggling with how to classify a newly discovered icy
Pluto was reclassiied as a dwarf planet in 2006. body beyond Pluto, adopted a definition for a planet based on characteristics that include clearing other objects from its orbital path. Pluto and its newfound kin in the solar system’s distant Kuiper Belt region were reclassified as dwarf planets, along with Ceres, the biggest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The decision left the solar system with eight planets.
An ancient way to keep Buddhist texts alive Mars may have had rings Derge Parkhang, or printing lamasery, is one site where the Tibetan language is being preserved in the far west of Sichuan province, across the Cho La, a vertiginous pass at 16,600 feet. The press, in the town of Derge, dates to 1729 and draws pilgrims from across the Tibetan plateau to the three-story monastery, its walls painted scarlet and its roof adorned with golden Buddhist icons.
EDWARD WONG DERGE
The dozen or so Tibetan men wearing aprons sat in pairs in low chairs, facing each other. Each pair bent over a thin rectangular wooden block and worked by sunlight streaming into the second-story room open to a courtyard. Their hands moved quickly. Over and over they went through the same motions, several times each minute: One man slathered red or black ink on the block, which was carved with Tibetan words and religious images. Then his partner placed a thin piece of white paper atop the block and, bending even lower, ran a roller over it. Seconds later, he whipped off the paper and put it aside to dry. That bending was an act of prostration to the Buddha, said Pema Chujen, a Tibetan woman who was CM YK
Old is gold: Tibetan texts are printed using woodblocks, a method used for centuries, in the Parkhang printing lamasery, a revered institution in the Tibetan world. NYT *
leading a group of ethnic Han visitors around the monastery. “They are like this every day,” she said. “This is just the faith in their hearts. Of course, it’s good to make offerings to the Buddha using a lot of money, but it’s more faithful to make
offerings using your body, mouth and mind.” So went a typical afternoon in one of the most revered institutions in the Tibetan world, the Derge Parkhang, or printing lamasery, in the mountainous heart of the Kham region. On Chinese maps, it is
Hallowed tradition The printing press is the embodiment of a hallowed tradition and is one site where the Tibetan language is being preserved, despite the lack of government support for immersive Tibetan-language education on the plateau. It has more than 3,20,000 wooden printing blocks that are on average more than 260 years old, said Ms. Pema, a volunteer who cleans the monastery’s objects and guides visitors. The monastery also houses collections of sutras,
including 830 classic scriptures and copies of more than 70% of ancient Tibetan manuscripts, she said. The founder of the monastery, Chokyi Tenpa Tsering, embraced works from the range of Tibetan Buddhist schools. “He was very openminded, like the ocean containing water from all rivers,” she said. The printing blocks are constructed from red birchwood in 13 steps. At an early stage, the raw pieces of wood have to be soaked in feces for a half-year. Those that do not crack or break during this period are then made into printing blocks, Pema said. Craftsmen apply an herbal solution that repels rats and insects. The operations employ about 60 people. The men have been here for two decades on average, despite low pay, Ms. Pema said. NYT
that it can possibly regain New model attributes this to debris from asteroid impact the planet until it reached the Roche limit, the distance within which a planet’s tidal forces will break apart a celestial body that is held together only by gravity.
Press Trust of India Washington
Mars could once have had rings, and the Red Planet may regain them again, according to a new study. A new model developed by scientists at Purdue University in the U.S. suggests that debris that was pushed into space from an asteroid slamming into Mars around 4.3 billion years ago alternates between becoming a planetary ring and clumping together to form a moon. According to one theory, Mars’ large North Polar Basin or Borealis Basin — which covers about 40% of the planet in its northern hemisphere — was created by that impact, sending debris into space. “That large impact would have blasted enough material off the surface of Mars to
A NASA iile photo shows its Curiosity rover on the Red planet. AFP *
form a ring,” researcher Andrew Hesselbrock said.
Moon formed As the ring formed, and the debris slowly moved away from the planet and spread out, it began to clump and eventually formed a moon. Over time, Mars’ gravitational pull would have pulled that moon towards
In 70 million years Phobos, one of Mars’ moons, is getting closer to the planet. According to the model, Phobos will break apart upon reaching the Roche limit, and become a set of rings in roughly 70 million years. Depending on where the Roche limit is, Mr. Hesselbrock and David Minton believe this cycle may have repeated between three and seven times over billions of years. Each time a moon broke apart and reformed from the ring, its successor moon would be five times smaller than the last. A ND-ND
thursday 앫 march 23, 2017
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AAP: BJP men backing us
Good news for home buyers
Vidya for variety
In the city of light
Party says BJP’s sitting councillors, who have been denied tickets, have extended support to them Page 2
The Centre announced on Wednesday a credit-linked interest subsidy scheme for home loans Page 4
Actor Vidya Balan says successful women constantly face the pressure to overcompensate Page 5
Teeming crowds and kaleidoscopic sights... fall in love with Varanasi’s many charms Page 6
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IN BRIEF
‘Anti-Romeo’ police squads on the prowl in Ghaziabad Police campaign aimed at ensuring safety of women comes under criticism as youth claim action being taken based on arbitrary guidelines
Authorities seal meat shops
Purusharth Aradhak Ghaziabad/Bulandshahr
Ex-boyfriend forces woman to drink acid NEW DELHI
Furious over his former girlfriend’s insistence that she wasn’t willing to return to a relationship with him, a tailor allegedly made the 19-yearold woman drink acid near her house in Sangam Vihar on Wednesday. The victim, Priyanka, is currently hospitalised with burns. The accused, identiied as Ravi Kumar, later surrendered before the police. The police said they suspect that the liquid used was Muriatic Acid but said test results were awaited. CITY
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42-year-old man shot dead in south Delhi NEW DELHI
A 42-year-old auto driver was allegedly shot dead in a crowded shop in south Delhi's Khanpur area on Wednesday evening. Mahender was inside a shop when he was attacked by a motorcycle-borne man who was wearing a helmet, police said. The shop was crowded with men playing cards there, they said. Mahender was rushed to Max Hospital where he was declared brought dead. The motive behind the murder is not known yet. PTI
Close on the heels of Yogi Adityanath taking charge as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the police on Wednesday started an ‘anti-Romeo’ drive to curb incidents of sexual harassment across the State. One of the pre-poll promises of the BJP was to check eve-teasing. In Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr, police were seen nabbing young men for allegedly harassing women. Facing accusations of unnecessary harassment and ‘moral policing’, Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Javeed Ahmad defended the drive by tweeting: “Safety of girls/ ladies is the sole intent of the anti Romeo squads. No moral policing”. In Ghaziabad, action was taken against 33 persons. Police teams have been patrolling near schools, colleges, malls, metro stations, parks and other public places since Tuesday. They have been pulling up youth for eve-teasing and harassment.
‘Sense of insecurity’ Some of those who were nabbed alleged that they were falsely accused and unnecessarily harassed. “Now even standing on the road, or in the park and other public place is a risky affair. I was standing and waiting for my friend. Mean-
Shopkeepers at a loss as order hits means of livelihood Purusharth Aradhak Ghaziabad/Bulandshahr/Noida
State-wide crackdown: An alleged eve-teaser is whisked away by the police in Lucknow on Wednesday. PTI
< >
Now even standing on the road, or in the park and other public place is a risky afair
Anubhav Kumar Employee at a media house
while a cop came up to me and started questioning me. Thankfully the cop was satisfied with my answer and left the place but he kept watching me for five to 10 minutes,” said Anubhav Kumar, who works with a media house. “My son had gone for tuition. After tuition he was talking with his friends.
Poll panel tells govt to act on complaint against AAP
Some cops came up to him and picked him up. My son called me and I spoke to the cop. Later the cops released my son. Such actions are developing a sense of insecurity among youngsters and their parents,” said Taranjeet Singh, a businessman. Parents of many youngsters expressed concerns about the way the police was picking up young men. Ghaziabad district magistrate Nidhi Kesarwani said that five persons were arrested in Ghaziabad for eve teasing. “We have formed teams led by the deputy superintendent of police and sub-divisional magistrate officers.
These teams are conducting patrols at schools, malls, parks, metro stations and will take action against eve teasers,” she said.
Who is an eve-teaser? When asked about the standard of identifying an ‘eve teaser’, Ms. Kesarwani said: “The police and the administration team keep an eye on each persons activity in a particular area. If his acts are found suspicious, only then is he questioned”. The squads will also check consumption of liquor at public places as it often leads to instances of eve-teasing, said the police.
As Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath sought an action plan for closure of slaughter houses across the State, authorities in Noida, Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr ordered the shutdown of dozens of meat shops. District officials said meat shops that did not have a licence were told to shut down operations. The Hindu spoke to the affected owners, some of whom have been running their business without a licence for over two decades. “I am an illiterate person. I had no idea I need a licence to run my shop. I have bribed cops and government officials of the Nagar Nigam, health department and pollution control department. They should have educated and informed us to obtain a licence. Without any notice, our dreams have been shattered,” said 45-year-old Saleem, who own a meat shop in Shaheed Nagar, Ghaziabad. “Seven persons work in my Noida shop. Yesterday cops came and asked us to close the shop. We have been running the meat shop for 22 years. We are at a loss, we do
Business takes a hit: Meat shops closed in Ghaziabad on Wednesday. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *
not have an option to start another business,” said 34-yearold Imran, who runs a meat shop in Ghaziabad and Noida.
‘Following rules’ Talking to The Hindu, Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate N. P. Singh said that there are set guidelines to run meat shops and slaughter houses. “The meat shops and slaughter house owners will have to adhere to the rules, if they want to regularise their shops. Apart from that if the government takes further decision on such shops, then they have to follow that as well,” he said. But the sudden step by au-
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Sending a message
BJP had said words ‘aam aadmi’ in govt schemes violate code
thorities has left shop owners at a complete loss. Mohd. Irfan Quraishi, 40, who runs a meat business in Ghaziabad, said: “The government should have come up with a policy and given an option to regularise these shops. The sudden action has left thousand of people in the lurch and will cause problems,” he said. Ashraf Quraishi, 42, who owns a meat shop in Bulandshahr, said he has been running the shop for 25 years and has four workers. “It is my duty to ensure bread and butter for my employees, who have invested their hard work to stand by my business,” Mr. Quraishi said.
Leopard creates panic in Gurugram village Ashok Kumar
Damini Nath New Delhi
The Delhi State Election Commission (DSEC) has asked the government to take action on a complaint by the BJP that the word ‘aam aadmi’ in the name of government facilities like the Aam Aadmi mohalla clinics was in violation of the model code of conduct. A delegation of the BJP, led by Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, had raised concerns about the use of the words “aam aadmi” in the names of Delhi government services and schemes. This, they said, was in violation of the model code of conduct in place for the municipal elections on April 23, particularly provisions to prevent the party in power from
misusing its office. Acting on the compaint, the DSEC has written to the Chief Secretary and the commissioners of the municipal corporations to take “appropriate action” in the matter and submit a compliance report within 48 hours. As per the letter, the word “aam” was singled out incorrectly.
‘Aam’ or ‘aam aadmi’? “It was an inadvertent error. We meant to say aam aadmi. A correction will be issued. The Election Commission of India’s model code of conduct is clear. We have asked the Chief Secretary and commissioners to respond by Thursday,” said State Election Commissioner S. K. Srivastava. While the letter did not
specify what action was required, the BJP’s complaint had suggested removing or blocking out the words “aam aadmi” from the posters, banners and buildings with the names. Mr. Gupta had also written to Mr. Srivastava on March 18 with the complaint that the Aam Aadmi mohalla clinics and the Aam Aadmi bypass express bus service were names that were in violation of the poll code. Elections to the 272 wards in Delhi were announced on March 14, leading to the model code of conduct coming into force. The code will remain in force till the elections are completed. AAP SHOCKED 쑺 PAGE 2
Gurugram
Several hundred residents in Mandawar and its neighbouring villages in Sohna, around 20 km from Gurugram, are living in fear for the past several weeks because of regular sighting of leopard in the region. The forest official said that the feline mostly strayed into the villages in search of food and water. Besides Mandawar, the feline has also been spotted in neighbouring villages of Kheri Lala, Nimot, Tethar and Dhouj over the past few weeks. A leopard was beaten to death by locals in Mandawar in November last year after the feline had strayed into the village. Using their head: Around 1,200 doctors at AIIMS came to work on Wednesday wearing helmets as part of the ‘SavetheSaviours’ campaign, which is demanding a safe working environment for government doctors. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT STORY 쑺 PAGE 3 *
Students protest massive cut in seats at JNU University’s Academic Council had approved 1,406 seats, but prospectus says there will be 194 seats Staff Reporter New Delhi
Jawaharlal Nehru University ( JNU) students called for a “total university strike” on Wednesday, a day after the institute released its e-prospectus for its 2017-18 admissions process in which it announced a massive cut in M.Phil and Ph.D intake. Ever since the JNU Academic Council (AC) adopted the UGC 2016 Gazette Notification that changed the rules for intake in research programmes, Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar had repeatedly and publicly assured students that there would be no cut in the number of seats.
Violation of UGC rules JNU Teachers’ Association president Ayesha Kidwai said that the total intake approved by the AC was 1,406 (including direct PhD seats) while the total intake as per the e-prospectus was 194. “This is in violation of UGC Regulations 2016, which says that the number of seats for CM YK
admission has to be determined by the ‘academic bodies’ of the university,” she said. The JNU Students’ Union said the students will not accept the cut at “any cost” and called the prospectus an at-
tempt by the administration to “shut down JNU”. There will be no admission in major Centres and the School of Social Sciences, School of International Studies and School of Language will have only 14, 11 and 32
seats respectively, the students’ union said. The decision to give no deprivation points for M.Phil/Ph.D admissions was slammed by the union as an assault on social justice and character of JNU as an institu-
tion by denying research opportunity to the marginalised. JNU announced the changes in the M.Phil/Ph.D admission by stating: “The exam will be held on all India basis and the question paper will be as per UGC Regulations-2016 i.e. 50% research methodology and 50% subject specific. The entrance exam will be of qualifying nature with 50% qualifying marks followed by viva voce.” This suggests that viva voce will have 100% weightage in admission, instead of the traditional 80-20 breakup of weightage given to the written and oral components. This year, the prospectus was released a month late due to prolonged protests by students against the adoption of the UGC 2016 Gazette Notification, which put a cap on the number of scholars a teacher is allowed to guide thereby causing a cut in intake. JNU said they have already started recruiting faculty and that the problem was only transient in nature.
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Eateries, hotels to open their toilets to women, kids only South Delhi to take up move on a trial basis from tomorrow Staff Reporter New Delhi
Restaurants and hotels in south Delhi have agreed to open their toilets to the public — or at least half of it — from Friday. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) said on Wednesday that women and children will be allowed to use the toilets in restaurants and hotels free of charge. The move is being conducted on a trial basis for four weeks, the experiment will be revisited on May 1, the SDMC said in a statement. While the civic body said that both women and kids will be allowed, restaurateurs said that only women will be allowed to use the toilets. Acting on instructions by Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal, the SDMC had on
policy will be < > The implemented on a trial basis for a period of four weeks for women only, with discretion of individual restaurateurs Riyaaz Amlani President of National Restaurant Association of India
March 14 made it mandatory for all restaurants and hotels, which hold health trade licence, to open their toilets to the public.
An experiment The owners of restaurants and hotels, however, agreed to the move only if men were left out of the plan. Representatives of the hospitality industry met SDMC officials on Wednesday to chalk out the details of the initiative.
President of National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) Riyaaz Amlani said: “After several discussions with our members, the NRAI tabled the concerns of restaurateurs to the SDMC Commissioner. As discussed in the meeting, the policy will be implemented on a trial basis for a period of four weeks for women only, with discretion of individual restaurateurs covering the security and safety aspects. The NRAI is confident that in the next meeting, proposed on May 1, all the concerns of the industry will be addressed and provided for by the authorities before any long term implementation of the policy.” The SDMC has said that the move will help the civic body “improve its ranking’ in the Swachh Bharat Mission. B ND-ND
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THE HINDU
THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017
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‘Shocked’ AAP takes potshots at State poll panel Party responds to order seeking removal of word ‘Aam’ from hoardings, says EC succumbed to pressure
BJP upbeat
Staff Reporter New Delhi
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday alleged that the Delhi State Election Commission (SEC) had “succumbed to political pressure”. The party was responding to the SEC’s order asking it to remove the word ‘Aam’ from all bill boards, hoardings, name plates and banners in mohalla clinics and by-pass express bus services.
Staff Reporter New Delhi
Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said on Wednesday that the order restricting the use of word ‘Aam’ in promotion of Delhi government schemes had vindicated the party’s stand about it being “unlawful”. Mr. Tiwari said that the BJP’s Delhi unit had repeatedly raised this issue through letters and demonstrations, which the Arvind Kejriwal government took no note of. Instead, he alleged, they splashed hundreds of crores on publicity.
‘Acting as subordinate’ AAP’s Delhi unit convener Dilip Pandey, in a letter to the commission, expressed the party’s “shock” and alleged that the constitutional body was “acting as “subordinate” of its “political masters”. The order was prompted by a complaint raised by Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Vijender Gupta. “…In haste to please a political party, the commission did not even care to follow the due procedure and issued notices to the State government and the Aam Aadmi Party and allow them a hearing,” Mr. Pandey wrote. ‘Irreparable damage’ He also asked the SEC if similar action would be initiated against the names of schemes carrying the words ‘Bharatiya’ and ‘Janata’ or ‘Indian’ and ‘National’. The letter added that it was the commission’s constitutional duty to ensure a level playing field for all stakeholders and not succumb to political pressure. “The officers who have resorted to such sycophancy have done irreparable damage to the institution of Elec-
Tiwari alleges misuse The party also said that the Delhi government did not hesitate from misuse of advertisements despite strong observations of the Delhi High Court in a similar matter earlier. Now, with the model code in place, the BJP said, the State Election Commission had brought out a stern directive. According to Mr. Tiwari, the BJP feels that instead of challenging the commission, Mr. Kejriwal should accept the decision in its true democratic spirit.
Blame game: The State Election Commission has ordered removal or covering of the word ‘Aam’ from all forms of display in government oices and services. FILE PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
tion Commission,” the letter went on to say. Mr. Pandey met the State Election Commissioner in this regard on Wednesday evening. Earlier, the poll panel had written to Chief Secretary M.M. Kutty and the commissioners of the three municipal corpora-
tions on Tuesday, ordering either the removal or the covering of the word ‘Aam’ from all forms of display in government offices and services.
Report sought in 48 hours The letter, written by the Deputy Secretary of the
commission, also directed the Chief Secretary and the three commissioners to submit a compliance report of the action taken within 48 hours. The model code of conduct before the municipal polls came into force on March 14. It will remain in force till results are declared.
Live chats on social media and discussions with Delhiites at local eateries, parks and markets are expected to replace large public meetings as part of the campaign for the municipal corporation elections next month, the Congress said on Wednesday. Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said the party would launch its campaign for the April 23 civic elections with a live Facebook session on Saturday. The discussion would focus on the Congress’ roadmap, which was unveiled earlier this month, to make the financiallyweak civic bodies in the Capital self-reliant within two years.
Reaching out “This time, instead of big public meetings, we are reaching out to people via social media and by our ‘Dilli ki baat, dil ke saath’ initiative. We will hold small gatherings at popular eating joints; talk to people on their morning walks; and hold events at vegetable mandis,” said Mr. Maken. Raiding popular points Starting with a meeting at the “naale wali chaat” stall in Ashok Vihar on March 27, senior Congress leaders will hold similar gatherings throughout the campaign. Other areas on the
party’s list include the busy Paranthewali Gali in Old Delhi. In addition, the party will also release documents outlining its plan to improve solid waste management, primary healthcare and primary education services better.
‘Top brains engaged’ Former Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh would give his inputs for the solid waste management plan on Sunday, while senior leaders and former Ministers Shashi Tharoor and Salman Khurshid would help with plans for education and health at a later date. These plans, along with the one on fiscal management that includes inputs from P. Chidambaram and Jyotiraditya Scindia, would form the base for the Congress manifesto. ‘Don’t want to blame’ Referring to the BJP, which has ruled the corporations since 2007, and the Aam Aadmi Party, which has been in power in the Delhi government for two years, Mr. Maken said that the Congress did not want to focus on “blaming others”. “The people of Delhi know how the BJP and the AAP have been. We want to offer realistic solutions to the problems faced by Delhiites every day. We have the experience needed and our top brains are engaged in the task,” he said.
In a frame: A Congress worker clicks a selie with DPCC president Ajay Maken on Wednesday. SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR *
CM YK
Damini Nath New Delhi
Banking on the historical connect with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the party’s vision for improving the most backward areas in the city, the Congress laid out its agenda in front of voters from resettlement colonies on Wednesday. At a convention for residents of resettlement colonies here, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken asked the audience to pick the party in the municipal corporation elections next month.
Finding a connect These colonies, a total of 44, were set up between 1960 and 1984 by Indira Gandhi. Back then, just over 2 lakh plots had been allotted. Today, as many as 15 lakh families are estimated to be
developed areas,” he said even as the audience welcomed the idea. “Ever since the Congress has gone out of power, no work has been done in our area. Roads are unpaved, drains are choked. In fact, a drain near an anganwadi centre is clogged and the health of children is at risk,” said Malti Devi Rawat, a resident of Baba Colony in Burari.
living in these colonies, said Mr. Maken. Addressing the crowd at Talkatora Stadium, Mr. Maken said: “The only time development works were carried out in resettlement colonies was when the Congress was in power. It was the Congress that established these colonies.”
Audience welcomes idea He went on to reiterate a promise that the party has been making — that of ₹2,000 crore being spent on development of slums, JJ clusters, unauthorised colonies and resettlement colonies. The Delhi Congress president added that a separate budget would be set aside for providing basic amenities in resettlement colonies. “We will not start our work from posh colonies. We will start with the least
‘What has AAP done’ Pooja Kaur, a resident of Sardar Colony in Rohini’s Sector 16, said that when the Congress was in power in the State Government and the municipal corporation, the situation in her neighbourhood was better. “Senior citizens are not getting pensions. The state of schools is terrible. We don’t know what the AAP has done,” said Ms. Kaur.
haste to please a < > In political party, the commission did not even care to follow the due procedure and issued notices Dilip Pandey AAP’s Delhi unit convener
AAP goes the hi-tech way Mobile app to track activities and progress in each ward Soumya Pillai
this application — apart from tracking the campaign — was the collation of a centralised, digital data. Also, the activities of the teams can also be checked ward-wise and booth-wise. “We used to register campaign details manually during the 2013 elections. This ran the risk of being lost,” the AAP said.
New Delhi
New Delhi
Proposes budget for basic amenities in resettlement colonies
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Cong looks to up campaign game Damini Nath
Congress chalks out ‘pro-poor’ agenda
A mobile application called ‘Door-to-door’ is helping the Aam Aadmi Party track its campaign activities in each ward and efficiently collate voter data for the upcoming municipal polls. First developed for the party’s campaigns in Goa and Punjab, the app is being used in Delhi for the first time. “We had thought about this app for the Assembly elections in Delhi, but we did not have the technology to develop it then,” said a party spokesperson.
Real time updates The mobile application allows volunteers to log in with their Assembly constituency, name, phone number and email ID. The campaign work for the day will be entered with the
Arvind Kejriwal
Centralised data As part of the door-to-door campaign, the teams hand over a hard copy of the message by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and a profile of the local candidate. The details of the voters are then entered into the application. This data is then registered with the party’s server with the voters receiving an acknowledgement. The party then continues the campaigns via emails and WhatsApp.
party. After logging in, the volunteers need to enter the time they start campaigns. As each team goes about its ward, the details get recorded in AAP’s central data record in real time. “Whenever the volunteers have access to the Internet, their data gets synced with our main server,” said party sources. According to party workers, a major advantage of
Centre stage: Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken speaks at a convention for residents of resettlement colonies at the Talkatora Stadium on Wednesday. SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR *
‘No discrimination against Swaraj India’ Similar prayers by 27 other parties rejected: poll panel to HC Press Trust of India New Delhi
Yogendra Yadav
BJP councillors supporting us: AAP, Cong Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari had said the party won’t ield any sitting councillors
The Delhi poll panel told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that it had not “discriminated” against the Yogendra Yadav-led Swaraj India by not allotting it a common symbol to contest the upcoming civic elections. “Around 27 registered, but unrecognised, political parties have also approached us for a common symbol to contest this municipal election, but the same were not
‘It is discrimination’ The commission submitted before Justice Hima Kohli that Swaraj India had no better case for preference to be shown. It was responding to Swaraj India’s claim that nonallotment of a common symbol to a registered party was discrimination as the AAP was granted such relief when it contested for the first time.
JD (U) looks to make an impact in Capital Bihar CM to address two rallies in April
Staff Reporter New Delhi
Staff Reporter
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday claimed that the BJP’s sitting councillors who have been denied tickets for the upcoming municipal elections have extended support to them. The party also claimed that many of them had requested tickets.
New Delhi
‘Ready to campaign for us’ “We do not want to take names, but we have been approached by several BJP councillors. They have unofficially extended support to us. Many have also told us that they will be ready to campaign for us,” said a source from the AAP. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari had announced on March 14 that the party had decided not to field any sitting councillors or their relatives in order to give fresh faces a chance. The BJP, which has been in power since 2007, had won 138 of the 272 wards in the three corporations in 2012. The councillors, 70% of whom were deemed unfit to be fielded by an internal party survey, had also asked the national leadership to re-
granted to them,” the Delhi State Election Commission (SEC) said.
Disgruntled: Unhappy BJP councillors meet senior party leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari at his residence on Wednesday. PTI *
do not want to < > We take names, but we have been approached by BJP councillors. They have unoicially extended support to us. Aam Aadmi Party
assess the decision on a caseto-case basis. According to sources in the AAP, the party might not field these ousted councillors. “We have already announced most of our candid-
ates and may not include their candidature,” sources said. They, however, added that many of these BJP councillors had worked hard in their constituencies and losing them would be a huge blow for the BJP. Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken, meanwhile, said BJP councillors who had been denied tickets to contest the municipal elections by their own party, were in touch with the party.
‘Names to be out in time’ Asked whether any sitting
BJP councillor would be considered by the Congress as it finalises its list of candidates for the April 23 polls, Mr. Maken said that some of the ruling party’s councillors had been in touch with the party. Their names would be revealed in time, he added. While he clarified that none of these BJP councillors had been given tickets, he did not rule out the possibility of them joining the Congress later. The party is expected to announce its first list by Friday.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will address two rallies in the Capital on April 9 as part of the Janata Dal’s (United) campaign for the municipal polls, the party announced on the sidelines of its second list of candidates. Addressing a press conference, JD (U) national general secretary and Delhi unit in-charge Sanjay Jha said that the Bihar model of prohibition and good governance were expected to add weight to the campaign.
‘Purvanchalis feel cheated’ Independent ward councillor Jeevan Lal from the Harkesh Nagar seat in south Delhi also joined the party in the presence of Mr. Jha and other senior party leaders. “People from the Purvanchal region are feeling short-changed by the other three parties — be it the ruling BJP, the Congress, or the AAP,” Mr. Jha alleged. The people’s loyalties, he added, had shifted to Mr. Kumar because of his “good governance model”, which should be a benchmark not
for the entire country. “Nitishji will address two big rallies on April 9,” he said. While one of these rallies would be in north Delhi, the other would be organised in south Delhi. The party also released the second list of 12 candidates, six of whom are women. Most JD (U) candidates, in fact, are from the Purvanchal region. A third list is expected soon. The six women candidates have been fielded from Sainik Enclave, Maujpur, Chandni Chowk, Lajpat Nagar, Ghonda and Tughlaqabad Extension. The party targeted fielding candidates on about 150 of the 276 seats. Mr. Lal claimed he joined the party “influenced by the prohibition model of the Bihar government”. His name is in the second list and he will fight the polls from his old seat. “The 153 sitting BJP councillors will not be fielded, but what about their report cards of the last five years. The party has decided to go with fresh faces because its councillors have failed and it does not want to risk its fortunes,” Mr. Jha said. B ND-ND
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IN BRIEF
Woman stalked, force-fed acid Tailor attacks former girlfriend for refusing to marry him, turns himself in Shubhomoy Sikdar
To express solidarity with protesting Maharashtra doctors
NEW DELHI
Najeeb’s mother lashes out at section of media NEW DELHI
Fatima Nafees, the mother of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed who has been missing for over six months, lashed out at certain sections of the media for running a story defaming her son. The Delhi Police had also later denied the story which quoted police sources. She said she expected the media to help find her son but instead, certain sections were trying to ruin Najeeb’s name. She also lashed out at the police for making no progress in the probe. STAFF REPORTER
Man killed in road accident at Anand Vihar NEW DELHI
A 32-year-old man died while his wife and another person suffered severe injuries in a collision between two Maruti vans in east Delhi's Anand Vihar. The incident happened on Tuesday night when Mohammad Chand was on his way to Ghazipur with his wife, the police said. His vehicle collided with another being driven by one Gopal on Anand Vihar flyover, they added. Chand was stuck inside the car and died on the spot. PTI
TV journalist booked over molestation charges NOIDA
A senior journalist of a local news channel has been booked for allegedly molesting a woman from Gwalior, the police said on Wednesday. The complaint states she was called by the journalist over a job offer to a guest house at Sector-50. He allegedly promised her distributorship of the firm if she would have physical relations with him. When she refused, he misbehaved with her, the police said. PTI
Furious over his former girlfriend’s unwillingness to continue the relationship with him, a tailor allegedly made the 19-year-old woman drink acid near her house in Sangam Vihar on Wednesday morning. The victim, Priyanka, is currently hospitalised with burns while the accused, identified as Ravi Kumar later surrendered before the police.
‘No one helped’ The incident took place around 10 a.m. when Priyanka was allegedly confronted by the accused on her way to a shop. “He first had an argument with my daughter and soon forced her to consume the liquid in a glass bottle he was carrying. As the liquid moved down her throat and entered her body, she started crying in pain. There were a few people around but none helped,” said the girl’s mother. The girl rushed to her own house as Ravi left the spot. The family informed the police and the girl was rushed to All India Institute of Medical Sciences where she is currently hospitalised. She has burns on her face, mouth and internal organs. Marriage was on cards The accused, meanwhile, walked to the nearby police station where he first broke the bottle he was carrying and then turned himself in. “Ravi Kumar visited the police station and told us that he had thrown diluted acid (used to clean toilets) on Priyanka. He suspected that she was talking to some other boy,” said DCP (South East) Romil Baaniya. The police said they suspect that the liquid used was Muriatic Acid but said test results were awaited. “Samples have been taken and sent to forensic lab,” said
AIIMS doctors come to work wearing helmets Bindu Shajan Perappadan NEW DELHI
Around 1,200 junior doctors at the country’s premier medical institute, the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, turned up for work on Wednesday wearing driving helmets, to express solidarity with doctors protesting in Maharashtra. This protest is part of the nation-wide ‘SavetheSaviours’ campaign demanding a safe working environment for all government doctors.
DCW calls for ban on retail sale of acid Staff Reporter New Delhi
The accused, Ravi Kumar
the police. Members of both families said the two were in a relationship and the families had discussed marriage before the caste factor forced them to decide against it.
Constant harassment The accused was persistent and had been harassing the girl to make her to give in to his demand, even threatening and assaulting her in the process, the police said. He also allegedly suspected that the girl’s family would marry her off elsewhere which her family said wasn’t the case. Priyanka’s sister said that it the accused’s family had called off the marriage and the victim had accepted the decision. She did not want to talk but he was adamant. “A few days ago he had slapped her,” said Priyanka’s sister.
Reacting to the incident wherein a man allegedly threw acid on his female friend on suspicion that she was talking to some other boy in south-east Delhi’s Sangam Vihar, Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Swati Maliwal said that despite Supreme Court orders, acid is easily available over the counter.
‘Easily available’ “It's terrible. Acid attacks are continuing in Delhi. Retail sale of acid should be immediately banned in Delhi. Acid sale needs to be curbed. Will take up matter of non implementation of DCW recommendations of banning retail sale of acid with Govt.[sic]” she tweeted. Last year, the Commission carried out an exercise wherein its counsellors went around the city
to check if acid is easily available. “Our team tried procuring the acid from 30 shops and they got it from 23 of them. There is no regulation on the sale of acid,” said Ms Maliwal. The Commission handed over the list of the 23 shops to the police. “But no action has been taken,” she said.
‘Cops doing nothing’ Even in the last Special Task Force meeting held with the L-G, the matter was taken up and the latter had promised that the recommendations given will be taken up. DCW has recommended that sale of acid should be banned. “There is no point to acid being freely available. But the police is doing nothing in this regard. Not only the perpetrators but even the traders selling acid to them should be put behind bars,” said the DCW chairperson.
Rise in violence Junior doctors in Maharashtra have abstained from work for four days now, protesting the rise in violence against them by patients’ relatives. The State government has asked them to return to work by Wednesday evening or risk losing six months’ salary. “Nobody has sympathy for the resident doctors who were brutally beaten up. There has been no discussion about compensation. Instead, harsh steps are being
Rough day: Resident doctors will go on mass leave on March 23 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *
taken,’’ said Vijay Gurjar, president of the resident doctors’ association at AIIMS.
Salary deduction “Government officials, instead of providing security to resident doctors at their workplace, are now threatening to deduct salary and throwing them out of their hostels,” he said. Resident doctors in Delhi will go on mass leave on March 23 (Thursday)
Dentists concerned about graft Seek Centre’s intervention over alleged corruption in DCI Staff Reporter New Delhi
Dentists nationwide have expressed their strong concern against growing corruption within the Dental Council of India (DCI) and have sought urgent intervention of the Union Health Ministry to save “dental education” in India. “When it comes to inspection or opening of a dental college, inspectors manipulate reports, pass them in executive committees and send
recommendations without the approval of the general body, which is mandatory. Ultimately it is the students and in turn the patients who pay the price. Despite a ban, some institutions have already taken capitation fee for the upcoming academic year,” said Dr. G Rathinakumar, a dentist.
Nominating members During a protest rally at Jantar Mantar last week, the dentists had demanded that
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Four arrested with ₹6.18 cr in demonetised notes
between 9 a.m. and 4 pm. “Only emergency duty schedule of resident doctors will be followed during this time,” This step is being taken in view of the increasing instances of assaults on doctors and to show solidarity towards our colleagues from Maharashtra. And we condemn the action taken by the Govt of Maharashtra against doctors,’’ said a release issued by the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) in Delhi.
Still in queue
Accused held near Safdarjung Market, police probe NRI link
the government undertake due diligence before nominating members to the DCI. The group is also demanding that the Union Health expedite all corruption cases and expel illegal members from the council. In an FIR registered last month, the CBI had alleged rampant corruption in the DCI while naming the council’s president Dr. Dibyendu Mazumdar and former secretary Dr. S.K. Ojha among others.
Lower court lawyers to abstain from work Nirnimesh Kumar New Delhi
Staff Reporter
have been charged with Section 41 (1)(D) of the CrPC. The police did not reveal whether the money belonged to the accused or they were carrying it for someone else.
NEW DELHI
The Delhi police on Wednesday arrested four people and seized demonetised notes of ₹500 and ₹1,000 of a total face value of ₹6.18 crore. The authorities are now probing if they wanted to get these notes changed using the route meant for NRIs to get their defunct notes exchanged.
Tip-off A senior police officer said the currency was seized following a tip-off received by a police team about movement of old currency in two cars from west Delhi to south Delhi. “The two cars — a Ritz and Honda city — were spotted near Safdurjung market and stopped by our teams. Both cars were searched and two bags were recovered from each vehicle. The bags were found to contain old ₹500
DELHII TODAY Talk: “Karma Yoga and the Ideology of Consumerism” by Swami Bodhananda, Chairman Sambodh Foundation. The talk will focus on the Karma Yoga philosophy of Bhagavad Gita, at Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre (IHC), 7 p.m. Dance: IRCEN: Musical Ballet – “Krishna Kirtanam” - group dances in Odissi style, choreographed by Rina Jana from Kolkata at Amphitheatre, IRCEN Bhawan, 7, Nelson Mandela Road, Institutional Area, C-1, Vasant Kunj, 6:30 p.m. Exhibition: “Finding Budha” - solo painting exhibition by Atul Todi at Convention Centre Foyer, India Habitat Centre (IHC), 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Exhibition: ‘Ecstasy for Life’ - solo art show by Devendra Shukla at Shridharani Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam, 205, Tansen Marg, Mandi House, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Exhibition: "Unexplored Spaces" group exhibition of paintings at Academy of Fine Arts and Literature 4/6, Siri Fort Institutional Area, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Exhibition: "World of Watercolors" solo art show by Paresh Maity at Art Alive Gallery, S-221, Panchsheel Park, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Exhibition: "Divine Shades" a solo show of paintings by Riya Jain at RCIFA Gallery, F-104, Phase 1, Ashok Vihar, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. (Mail your listings for this column at
[email protected])
CM YK
It is not clear if the accused were carrying the money for someone else. FILE PHOTO *
and ₹1,000 notes and all of the persons in possession of the money were held,” said a police officer.
West Delhi residents The arrested persons have been identified as Surrender Goel, Sachin Kumar, Shiv Kumar and Rajiv. All of them deal in property business and are residents of various localities in west Delhi. The accused
Exchange rate The four purportedly told the police that they were on the way to a shop in Safdurjung market to exchange the money. “We are working on finding out the specifics of the racket, like how the exchange was supposed to be conducted and the rate of the commission fixed for the exchange. We have also informed the Income-Tax department,” a police officer said. Sources added that a team from the Reserve Bank of India also visited the Safdarjung police station and questioned the men later in the evening.
Lawyers at the Capital’s six district courts will on Thursday abstain from work in protest against the reported suggestions by the Bar Council of India (BCI) to the Law Commission to recommend amendments to the Advocates Act to impose fines, penalties on lawyers and make them liable to bear litigants’ losses in case they go on strike. The call for abstention from the courts has been given by the Co-ordination Committee of All District Court Bar Associations of Delhi.
Lining up: With the March-end deadline approaching, people queue outside the Reserve Bank of India to deposit old currency notes on Wednesday. RAMESH SHARMA *
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Osteoporosis bringing Capital to its knees, say doctors India among the worst hit; doctors highlight importance of a healthy diet and adequate exercise in keeping the disease at bay Bindu Shajan Perappadan New Delhi
Two silent epidemics — osteoporosis and vitamin D deficiency — are taking over the Capital. It is estimated that 1 out of 3 women and 1 out of 8 men and in India suffer from osteoporosis, making the country among the worst-hit in the world.
Milk and sunlight The good news is that you can keep yourself safe by drinking enough milk and getting adequate exposure to sunlight, say doctors. “Drinking less milk and avoiding the sun are among the reasons behind the rise of these new epidemics. These days, most young professionals remain confined to their workplace with practic-
ally no exposure to sunlight. This is especially true for medical residents,” said a note released by Indian Medical Association (IMA) national president Dr. K.K. Aggarwal.
Silent disease According to the IMA, osteoporosis — also called ‘the silent disease’ — often goes unnoticed. Doctors say it is important to identify risk factors and bring these to a physician’s notice, especially if you’ve had a fracture, have specific diseases, or take medicines that may affect bone health. “Take medicines for osteoporosis, if needed. Treatment will help improve bone density and reduce risk of fractures,” city doctors advise.
“A healthy diet that includes proteins and calories, as well as calcium and vitamin D, is important when it comes to maintaining proper bone formation and density. Also, controlling intake of caffeine, alcohol and salt helps prevent bone damage. It is important to exercise for at least 30 minutes thrice a week to strengthen the skeletal system and improve bone density,” said Dr. K. K. Aggarwal. Vitamin D, also called the sunshine vitamin, is essential for women as it helps them maintain the immune system by regulating absorption of calcium and phosphorous. Besides helping building bones, it also blocks the release of parathyroid hormone, which reabsorbs bone tissue, making them brittle.
‘Reports baseless’ Secretary-general of the Co-ordination Committee, Neeraj, said in a release that though the BCI Chairman had clarified in a meeting with representatives of the Committee that the media reporting regarding the recommendations to the Law Commission was baseless and distorted it was not disclosed what the recommendations were. Members of the High Level Committee set up by the BCI to suggest amendments to the Advocates’ Act for making provisions for disciplinary proceedings against lawyers were not conversant with the ground realities of lower courts. Further, 90 per cent of them were from Delhi, Mr. Neeraj charged, suggesting that the advocates from across the country should have representation in it. Streamlining system Mr. Neeraj further said that a proposal would be sent to the Union Law Minister and the Chairman and Members of the Law Commission that amendments to the Advocates’ Act be carried out along with the Judicial Accountability Bill and the Advocates (Protection) Bill to effectively streamline the judicial delivery system. B ND-ND
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IN BRIEF
Leopard triggers panic in Gurugram village Feline sighting in Mandawar again; Forest Department oicials sensitise villagers on how to deal with the situation
Delhi govt enhances cash for school uniforms NEW DELHI
The Delhi government has told the High Court it has enhanced the cash subsidy provided to students in schools run by it for purchase of uniforms for the academic session 2017-18. The DoE told the court that for classes 1 to V the cash for uniforms has been increased from ₹500 to ₹1,100. For classes VI to VIII it has been hiked to ₹1,400 from the previous ₹700 and for classes IX to XII from ₹900 to ₹1,500. PTI
Mangal Pandey Road to be made signal free NEW DELHI
In order to ensure a smooth ride between north-east Delhi and Ghaziabad, the PWD of the city government has proposed to make the 6.6-km stretch on Mangal Pandey Marg signal-free. The project envisages building an underpass and two flyovers on the road which presently has 12 traffic signals. The project, likely to be completed by May 2019, is estimated to cost around Rs.150 crore. PTI
HC raps traffic police for illegal parking in GK-I NEW DELHI
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the traffic police for allowing cars to be parked illegally on the pavement and roads in the posh south Delhi colony Greater Kailash-I here despite orders prohibiting such activity. “What is visible is that you have not done your job,” a bench of Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar told the traffic police after seeing photographs of the area. PTI
Ashok kumar
Press Trust of India
GURUGRAM
New Delhi
Several hundred residents in Mandawar and its neighbouring villages in Sohna, around 20 km from Gurugram, are living in fear for the past several weeks because of the regular sighting of a leopard here. A leopard was beaten to death by residents of Mandawar in November last year after it strayed into the village.
Tuberculosis (TB) infects more urban individuals per year while a similar case in rural area remains infectious for longer period, a new research has found. India bears the highest burden of TB globally, about 25% of all cases. In a new study from the Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP), researchers have developed an approach to estimate the extent of TB in India using previous estimates from nearby countries and a current understanding of TB transmission. The results of their study are published in The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. “Results show differences in urban and rural TB. While urban TB infects more individuals per year, a rural TB case remains infectious for appreciably longer, suggesting the need for interventions tailored to these different settings. “Simple models of TB transmission, in conjunction with necessary data, can offer approaches to burden estimation that complement those currently being used,” the study said. An urban TB case will infect an average of 12 people per year and remains infectious for about one year, while a rural case will infect an average of 4 people per year, but remains infectious for over two years.
Spotted on Tuesday A family staying on the outskirts of Mandawar sighted the leopard on Tuesday evening and a team of Forest Department officials visited the village after the matter was reported to them. Mandawar Sarpanch Dhan Singh said that the leopard was being sighted frequently in the village and had even attacked animals. “On Monday, the leopard took away a goat. The feline returned on Tuesday around 7.30 p.m. Over a dozen people saw it. The leopard has preyed on several Nilgais over the past few weeks and a sense of panic has gripped the area. The villagers are scared to go out to the fields early in the morning and late in the evening,” said Mr. Dhan Singh. Awareness among villagers Besides Mandawar, the feline has also been spoted in neighbouring villages of Kheri Lala, Nimot, Tethar and Dhouj over the past few weeks. Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife) Shyam Sunder
Spotted cat: Villagers keep vigil at night following reports of a leopard being sighted in the region; (top) pugmarks of the leopard. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *
said that the department has received several reports about the leopard, but the animal was free to roam around as it was mostly forest area.
Water search “I visited Mandawar village today [on Wednesday] with my team following reports of a leopard being present in the region. We created awareness among the villagers on how to deal with the situation if they encounter a leopard or any other wild animal. We also told them that the leopard was an endangered animal and could not be harmed or killed. We also pasted posters to sensitise the villagers,” said Mr. Sunder.
The forest official said that the feline mostly strayed into villages in search of food and water. With the natural sources of water drying up, the forest department had already placed water tanks in the forest to prevent the leopard from entering inhabited areas, Mr. Sunder said. Mr. Dhan Singh, however, said that the villagers were planning to lodge a complaint with the police and meet the Deputy Commissioner of Gurugram in this regard. “We want the administration to catch the animal and release it away from the inhabited areas. We are living under constant fear. The government must act to instil a sense of confidence among villagers,” said Mr. Singh.
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Picture perfect
Couple held over house thefts in posh colonies Gang which posed as placement agents for maids busted With the arrest of a couple, South District Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted a network of trained house thieves who posed as placement agents to carry out house thefts at posh colonies such as Vasant Kunj and R.K Puram.
had left the house to attend a family function. When they returned after a few hours, they noticed that her diamond jewellery worth ₹50 lakh was stolen. They said that when they checked the house, other electronic items worth ₹30 lakh were missing,” said the officer.
Stolen diamonds The arrested persons, identified as Vijay Singh (43) and Manisha (35), allegedly told the police that a member of their gang would be sent as a housemaid and would later decamp with cash and valuables. Manisha herself posed as a maid and was involved in a recent incident were she stole diamonds and other items worth ₹80 lakh from a jeweller’s house in Vasant Kunj and that is how the modus operandi came to light, said the police. A senior police officer said that Singh and his wife are both residents of Odisha. “On March 19, one Nishu Tripathi reported that she and her husband
Maid missing The found that a housemaid (Manisha) they had recently hired was also missing. “We analysed the cell phone number provided by the maid but it was found to be switched off. We had also received inputs that the maid had come to Delhi only a couple of months ago. When the placement agencies working in the area were searched, it was learnt that over the past few months, many such agencies had opened and later shut down in a short period of time,” said the officer. He added that evidence pointed to one couple running the various agencies. Soon, with the help of other housemaids and local
Staff Reporter
NCOA writes to PMO over stakes in CPSUs
New Delhi
Special Correspondent New Delhi
The National Confederation of Officers’ Association has written to the Prime Minister’s Office seeking reversal of the government’s decision to disinvest in central public sector units, while urging it to revert to earlier policy of retaining majority stakes in all CPSUs. “The role of CPSUs is in nation building and also in enabling the government to maintain market competitiveness and enforcement of its policy framework,” the letter said, pointing out that these firms enable the government to enforce its policies in different sectors and check cartelisation by the private sector. The executives from public sector enterprises from across the country on Wednesday organised a march from East Court Janpath to Parliament against the move.
No tangible results The association pointed out that privatisation and strategic sale of CPSUs have not shown any tangible results in the past in terms of market access or financial inputs from strategic partners or in any manner. “The government instead should proactively work towards revitalising these CPSUs to enable and empower them to effectively and successfully compete with the private sector,” it said. It added that “such unwarranted ad hoc policy pronouncements” destabilise the units and negatively impact the morale of its employees and officers. It also said that the government should come out with white paper comprehensively spelling out the future role of CPSUs. The government is eyeing to raise Rs.20,500 crore from strategic sales of public sector units. CM YK
25% of global TB cases in India: study
Felicitated: K.K Mustafah, a photographer with The Hindu, receives the Professional Photographer of the Year award from Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting M. Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of State Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore at the 6th National Photography Awards function in New Delhi on Wednesday. PTI *
Neighbour held for Jehangirpuri murder Victim had resisted rape attempt: cops Staff Reporter NEW DELHI
Resistance to a rape attempt by a neighbour led to the murder of a 22-year-old woman whose body was found at her residence in Northwest Delhi's Jehangirpuri on Sunday, said the police. The accused, Dabloo (25), who was staying with his cousin in the same building where the victim’s family lives, has been arrested. According to the police, Dabloo tried to sexually assault the victim, Rinku. When she resisted his attempt and raised an alarm, he strangled her with a cloth and fled with valuables kept in the house.
Accused inebriated The accused was inebriated and he was scared that Rinku’s screams could alarm the neighbours, said a senior police officer. “Dabloo had come to live with his brother Raju on the floor above the
victim’s house five days ago. On Sunday afternoon, he saw that only the woman and her 10-month-old daughter were present at home. He entered the flat and tried to sexually assault Rinku,” said the police officer.
Missing since murder The incident came to light around 4.30 p.m. when a girl from the locality went to the house to play with the baby and found Rinku’s body there. The victim’s husband, Raj Kumar, returned home from his shop in a nearby market and rushed Rinku to the hospital where she was declared brought dead. Since the day of Rinku’s murder, Dabloo had been missing. This led the family of the victim to suspect that he might be involved in the murder. “On Tuesday, after sustained efforts, Dabloo was held from Jalalabad in UP,” said the officer.
intelligence, the police found a set of phone numbers which the couple was using. “Monitoring of these numbers revealed a technical identity, whose movements and locations approximately matched the movements and locations of the missing maid. Within 48 hours, the team managed to apprehend the husbandwife duo from Nizamuddin right before they were to leave Delhi with the booty,” said the officer.
Several agencies The questioning of the couple revealed that since 2005, they had started and closed various placement agencies beginning with ‘Kalka Maid Services’ at Kilokari, Ashram. In each such venture, they used to send chosen members of their gang as maid servants to prospective clients. After winning their confidence, they would find the opportune moment and steal their valuables, the police said.
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Centre announces interest subsidy for home loans Aimed at those with annual income between ₹6 lakh and ₹18 lakh, could lead to savings of over ₹2 lakh Staff Reporter
a year. The loan tenure is up to 20 years. The total interest subsidy will be paid up front in one go, reducing the EMI burden.
New Delhi
Here is some good news for middle-income home-buyers. The Centre announced on Wednesday a creditlinked interest subsidy (CLSS) scheme for home loans, leading to savings of more than ₹2 lakh, or up to ₹2,000 on EMIs.
Operational rules Union Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu released the operational guidelines of the CLSS (Middle Income Group) here on Wednesday. Those with annual incomes between ₹6 lakh and ₹18 lakh are eligible for the subsidy. Those who have been sanctioned housing loans and whose applications are under consideration since January 1 are also eligible for interest subsidy, Mr. Naidu said. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Naidu said the middle in-
Welcome move: Those who have been sanctioned housing loans and whose applications are under consideration since January 1 are also eligible for interest subsidy. FILE PHOTO *
come groups made substantial contribution to the economic growth of the country, besides paying taxes and deserved support to fulfil the dream of owning
a house which is a basic and genuine aspiration.
PM announcement Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced an in-
terest subsidy of 4% on housing loans of up to ₹9 lakh for those with an income of ₹12 lakh a year and of 3% on loans of up to ₹12 lakh on those earning up to ₹18 lakh
Carpet area regulations The interest subsidy on a ₹9 lakh loan comes to ₹2.35 lakh and on ₹12 lakh, ₹2.3 lakh. The subsidy will be provided on loans for a house with a carpet area of 90 sq.m by those earning ₹12 lakh a year and of 110 sq.m by those earning ₹18 lakh. Seventy lending institutions including 45 Housing Finance Companies, 15 scheduled banks, 2 Regional Rural Banks, 1 Cooperative Bank, 4 Small Finance Banks and 3 Non-Banking Finance Companies-Micro Finance Institutions on Wednesday signed Memoranda of Understanding with National Housing Bank for implementation of CLSS(MIG) component of PMAY(Urban). B ND-ND
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IN BRIEF
Budding designers Students of the Pearl Academy showcased their creativity on a range of garments at the recently concluded “Amazon India Fashion Week”. The idea was to change stereotypes associated with design and fashion. Parul Sachdeva’s “6 Dots”, a collection of Braille tags made for the visually impaired, was shown on the ramp. The aim was to provide a user-friendly solution to their clothing needs.“Raunaq”, a collection created by Divyani Kharbanda, was entirely created by waste fabric collected from neighbourhood tailors.
Noble cause Twenty-five underprivileged children had their wishes fulfilled when they interacted with Yuvraj Singh during the opening ceremony of the Gurugram Twenty 20 Corporate Cricket League. Yuvraj had words of encouragement for these children, who had expressed their desire at Make-a-Wish Foundation. He personally handed over gifts to these kids and obliged them by getting pictures clicked with them.
Power dressing To educate women on dressing, Image Management Professionals’ Association started a month-long movement called “Dress up India” which started in Delhi. As part of this exercise, women were guided to follow 4 A’s of dressing up, such as appropriate, authentic, attractive and affordable. Women were taught how to create lasting impression through their dresses for their professional success.
TABLE FOR TWO “I am a boring eater. I want variety in my films, not in food.” It makes for an interesting headline but you wonder how the conversation will proceed over food. But when you are with Vidya Balan, nothing can be tedious. “I have no interest in cooking. My mother used to say, ‘seekh lo’ and I would confidently respond that I will earn enough money to hire a cook. Before marriage also, she persisted, ‘if the cook didn’t turn up some day’, I said, order karoongi!,” she laughs filling the air at the quiet Shang Palace in Shangri-La Eros Hotel with oodles of energy. With twice cooked tofu and pineapple in Yunnan sauce and wok tossed lotus root, water chestnuts in XO sauce for company, she gets talking. After marriage, she continues, “When some nosy neighbours came and said, Oh! you don’t cook, I said, yes, Siddharth (Roy Kapur), also doesn’t cook. Very bad!” A complete vegetarian, over the years, Vidya’s understanding of what goes into what has improved and now she can instinctively give suggestions on what works. “My father-in-law is a great cook and he explains to me the hows and whys of cooking. Earlier I had understanding of South Indian food, with him I am trying to unravel Punjabi cuisine.” It is difficult because before marriage just the sight of oil on top of a dish was enough to “kill” her. “After marriage, I realised that my in-laws believe that rich food is the only food. On the first Sunday lunch after marriage, I was shocked how rich that food was in terms of ghee and nuts. I wondered how much of it was going to be wasted. Nothing was wasted! All was polished off. Now, he gives me stuff with less oil but it is
Maggi memories “When I am hungry, I can’t work. The climax of Begum Jaan was very physically and emotionally demanding. Before the shoot in Jharkhand, Srijit took us to the fabulous Banalakshmi near Santiniketan, where we were put up. The food tasted like home-cooked. I didn’t realise that he was preparing us for the ordeal ahead. During the shoot, our hands would get soiled and we would get so tired that our staff had to feed us Maggi. A month’s stock of noodles must have been consumed during the climax. Everybody says, it is unhealthy but during night shoots if you don’t have Maggi with coffee, you won’t be able to finish!”
Vidya for variety Vidya Balan says successful women constantly face the pressure to overcompensate Anuj Kumar
Keeping it simple: Vidya Balan at Shang Palace restaurant in New Delhi’s Shangri-La’s Eros Hotel
still more than what I can handle,” she gushes. While Siddharth loves to experiment, for Vidya there is nothing like home food and South Indian remains her comfort food. “Pooja, one of my childhood friends, feels that if somebody doesn’t see what I am eating it would appear that I am eating something exotic because I enjoy even my dal chawal so much. I am not a fussy eater. In fact, before meeting Siddharth I
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On nepotism in Bollywood “As someone who is not from the industry, I never felt that. I think I have reached here purely on merit. Though some of the choices that Kangana (Ranaut) has made are similar to what I have done but as far as nepotism is concerned that’s her experience. My experience is that you can be yourself and still no one can stop you from going ahead. You are the only one who stands in the way of your success.” DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
didn’t use to eat outside. At that time, I would eat at home and then go for a party and there I would pick something and spend the entire evening pretending how much I am enjoying it.” As Siddharth is a foodie, Vidya says her understanding of cuisines has increased. “I understand Japanese cuisine better, appreciate Chinese without too many spices and love Italian. You can’t go horribly wrong with a pasta. I know in India, sometimes, people do put so many vegetables that it tastes like pao bhaji, but still it is quite safe.” However, when Vidya is in kitchen, even tea is not a safe bet. “My water and milk remain separate,” she grins. “Once I tried omelette to im-
press Siddharth and it ended in burji. My dosas don’t take shape either.” So she was not asked to prepare a traditional meal after marriage? “No way. They couldn’t risk it. They told me we will cook for you.”
Sense of power All this appetising talk leads us to the main course. Talking of variety, Vidya is now playing the madam of a brothel in Srijit Mukherji’s Begum Jaan. “ She is so obviously powerful and yet she is so comfortable in her skin. I found it incredible. I have met lot of successful women, women in position of power. We don’t want to admit it but we do feel the need to overcompensate. Even this ques-
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SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
tion of how do you balance work and family life emanates from that. There is this constant pressure to overcompensate. Power also has a negative connotation, sometimes. That you rub the people the wrong way by being demanding. Women are supposed to be giving, isn’t it?” But our conversation suggests that Vidya is different. “Even though we have been brought up as individuals and there were no dos and don’ts but this conditioning is centuries old. Becoming powerful is one thing and exuding it is quite another. Begum can’t be slut shamed. Today, you don’t have to be a sex worker to be called a slut. You just have to be ambitious and speak your mind. People are
Stitching past to present As Lecoanet Hemant completes 36 years, designer Hemant Sagar says if we do not give own textile strength a local expression, we will all look like the rest of the planet madhur tankha
“This exhibition is about evolution of fashion techniques over the years. How in 1980s and 1990s we still did purely artisanal things and now we are encouraging artisans to work in the new modern serial scenario because we feel artisans are getting blocked in past tense,” said Hemant Sagar, the famed Indo-German designer, while explaining intent of their exhibition “Paris-New Delhi, From Haute Couture to the Technologies of Elegance” at Bikaner House. The five-day exhibition presented three-decade-old outfits, pieces like shawl in hand printed velvet or assembled fibre inspired by underwater plantsin modern context. It assumed significance as the designer duo, is creating awareness about
the need to invest in research and design that can be instrumental in placing India on the global fashion map. “Exhibitions these days are showcasing traditional things again and again. I feel young people would re-appreciate if it (traditional garments) is done in a modern way. ,” added Hemant. On display at the noncommercial exhibition were over 70-80 creations; some made in Paris (1984-2000) and the other half at their Gurugram atelier (20002017). “Initially, the work was done in France by hard core artisans; people who have gone through training of high fashion artisanal work for 25 to 30 years. We took the outfits to Gurugram and asked Indian artisans to do serial production pieces. All developments made here by local artisans were inspired
by techniques like macrame, a knotting technique, and other weaving techniques. From one outfit done in Europe they have made five, 10 or 15 pieces. So what we are trying to prove is that if you have serial production facility then you can make bigger array of clothes and they can still be exclusive.” Excerpts: What was the exhibition’s objective? ■ The objective of this exhibition was to make people understand that development is important and that tradition if fixed in past tense is just
Making a statement: Didier Lacoanet and Hemant Sagar; (below) the duo’s outits at the exhibition at Bikaner House
reproduction of history. Tradition which is alive is something which could help enhance organised retail in India. Designers are getting traditional clothes into consignments into shops when they need them but fashion is about evolution of something new. If a Chanderi sari has lycra on it then young girls would love it. Elaborate on the techniques used? ■ There were hand techniques which showcase work of artisans who know how to make a lace, weave a picture of landscape into textiles, which are really extraordinary artisanal principles. Many of these techniques have never been used by designers here in
India. It is to enlarge the gamut and with the idea of inspiring artisans that we are exposing these pieces. The outfits were made following French techniques used in construction of outfits in the past. Modernity comes from reinterpretation of the past, rather than reproduction of the past. That is why I speak about modern versions and use of past (sari and other) weaving techniques for example, because it will draw young people to it in unexpected ways. How the process has changed from the time you entered fashion? ■ In Paris, we used to work according to strict rules and regulations of haute
couture. We still function by these but have industrialised the procedures. Draping an outfit in haute couture necessities creating a mannequin replica of the clients body, which today we do in standard sizing. Another difference is that we will search for procedures based on haute couture techniques, but execute them with serial execution in mind. This means a much longer industrial preparation that includes artisans working on the fine procedures by hand and meeting expectation of the serial production. Rather than presenting them as modern outfits, could these attires be used for nostalgia value like
threatening to rape you on social media if you voice your opinion.” There is no obvious message in the period film set around Partition but Vidya
you don’t < > Today, have to be a sex worker to be called a slut. You just have to be ambitious and speak your mind
black and white films? ■ Sure, they could but that would be reproduction of historic clothes that are not relevant to the times today. The core role of fashion is that apart from being an aesthetic choice of millions of people it is the latest proposition of research and practicality. Jumping on to a bus in a sari can be dangerous. Fashions are only successful because people chose to wear them and it is the designers and manufacturers who follow the trend they is initiated that is confirmed by the consumers who want it and buy it. There is no need to reproduce yesteryears clothes now, maybe fit for movies and theatre, only to document times passed by. Do you plan to showcase these outfits in fashion institutes? ■ The exhibition is planned to be shown in multiple locations and where it will be shown as of today depends on many elements. Our clothing culture in India is disappearing and giving way to foreign brands who will never develop our local culture and young people are very happy to look global. Point is that if we do not give own textile strength a local expression, we will all look like the rest of the planet in the coming years. And all traces of our tradition would be wiped out.
says there is lot to read on freedom of choice between the lines. Vidya insists the emergence of rebellious female characters who don’t play the victim card is a reflection of the society. “It is not that writers are cooking up these stories out of thin air. They are finding such characters around them. A Begum Jaan could have existed in any era.” True, but we are also seeing a counter conservative wave being reflected in the political spectrum. “I think the political spectrum is divorced from reality. The film looks at the Partition from citizens’ point of view. Partition was a political decision. It was never about ‘us’ and ‘them’. Similarly, today the divide is political.” But in a democracy, people vote a point of view to power? “I am not talking about one political party. Somebody did something, now somebody else is doing something else in reaction. The point is religion has become the preserve of politicians. I was brought up as a Hindu but will I not bow my head when I pass a mosque or church? Of course, I will.” Finally, we have the meat!
Celebrating the mighty river Papon, the music sensation from Assam, has now composed the anthem for Namami Brahmaputra, that will be held simultaneously from March 31 to April 4 in the State’s 21 districts through which the river flows. Billed as the biggest river festival of India, Namami Brahmaputra will celebrate Assam’s art, culture and heritage. For the Hindi version, Papon has roped in Amitabh Bachchan, Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal among others , while the Assamese version has singers across generations, including Papon’s mother Archana Mahanta. “I felt that if the song was sung by singers from across the country, it would have a wider reach,” says Papon.
Composing for river: Papon
WHAT’S COOKING
EARTH HOUR DAY
INTERNATIONAL VINE AND FOOD
SUNDAY BRUNCH
KHANTOKE LUNCH
ENDLESS FOOD AND DRINKS
Radisson Blu Paschim Vihar
Taj Mahal
The Claridges
Radisson Blu Plaza
TGI Friday’s
On March 25, to celebrate the annual Earth Hour Day, Radisson Blu Paschim Vihar is organizing a special candle light dinners.Across the entire hotel, the lights will be dimmed to conserve energy and at Level 2 and Indyaki Oro Bar and lounge unique Earth Hour cocktails and mocktails will be served with first being free. Venue: Outer Ring Road, Paschim Vihar Time: 8 .30 p.. to 9.30 p.m.
As a culmination of the International Vine and Food Experience 2017, Taj Mahal will serve an array of global delicacies which includes Canadian scallops, cauliflower puree and pomelo segments, butter nut squash tortellini garlic and tomato foam, purple potato gratin, etc. The dinner will be paired with exceptional wines. Venue: No. 1, Mansingh Road, New Delhi Time: 7 p.m. onwards
For unwinding on Sundays the Claridges has introduced the Sunday Brunch at Pickwicks. One can choose from European, Indian and Oriental dishes. The menu includes Lebanese burger and Amritsari tikka among others and includes unlimited salads, soups, hors d'oeuvres, mains and the finest desserts. Venue: 12, APJ Abdul Kalam Road, New Delhi Time: 12.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m.
Neung Roi, the Thai restaurant at Radisson Blu Plaza, Mahipalpur brings another traditional Thai gastronomic experience, the Khantoke Lunch. Ideal for those who love Thai food it offers a sampling of fried appetizers, soups, curries, salads and dips served with sticky rice and including desserts. Venue: National Highway-8, New Delhi Time: 12 noon to 3 p.m.
TGI Friday’s outlets are holding the Endless Food and Drinks festival. The menu includes sesame spicy jack chicken, Mediterranean grilled chicken, calamari fritters and the crispy chicken sliders, fish fingers and spicy chicken nachos. Chicken wing lovers can taste parmesan garlic and heavenly kung pao. Venue: All outlets Time: 12 noon to midnight
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6 TRAVEL
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017
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The Bolshoi’s perfect pirouette From Russia with love: (Clockwise from left) A performance at the Bolshoi Ballet, a statue of a tsar, St Basil’s Cathedral at Red Square and the facade of the Bolshoi Theatre
The history of Russia’s lagship dance company is as colourful and grand as its gilded interiors. A tour of the famed institution that’s on every traveller’s wishlist
manish kumar jha
An azure sky and cottony snow are spread across the horizon, but I’m transfixed instead by the grand scheme of the city by the river Moskva. I am in Moscow — capital city of Russia and the place for new ideas that defined a way of life, politically, economically and culturally, across the globe. While you walk through the Red Square — the kernel of Moscow, you cannot help being immersed in its history. This is where tsars and revolutionist, communist and modern-day presidents defined the idea of Russia. There is so much excitement in the air, and you try hard to capture the essence of the grand, historical events that took place here.
Unforgettable evening By the imposing Kremlin and towards Saint Basil’s Cathedral built by Ivan the Terrible to mark the capture of Kazan in 1552 from Mongol forces, stands the Bolshoi Theatre, with its remarkable façade of white pillars embracing an imposing portico, surmounted by an alabaster Apollo. Performances here elicit international acclaim, and an evening at the Bolshoi remains one of Moscow’s sublime pleasures. The lovely, acoustically-excellent theatre is a very captivating venue. Originally named the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow, the theatre is the parent company of the worldfamous Bolshoi Ballet Academy.
Moscow is a six-hour light from Delhi. Aerolot, the Russian airline, operates daily lights, and if you plan in advance, you can get reasonably-priced tickets.
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MANISH KUMAR JHA, GETTY IMAGES
The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world. It is by far also the biggest, having more than 200 dancers. On March 28, 1776, Empress Catherine II signed and granted the Prince the ‘privilege’ of organising theatre performances, masquerades, balls and other forms of entertainment for a period of 10 years. It is from this date that Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre traces its history. The Bolshoi suffered fires, the Second World War, Luftwaffe, and the wrath of history and needed restoration; a massive rework and repair project started in 2005. On October 28, 2011, the Bolshoi Theatre re-opened, with a concert featuring international ar-
tistes and the ballet and opera companies. Now, the auditorium sparkles, thanks to a medieval gilding recipe that includes vodka and gold — while glorious new acoustics, a hydraulic stage, refurbished red velvet banquettes and a silver stage curtain present the hedonism of a bygone era with performances that are among the best in the world.
Revisiting Tchaikovsky Tonight’s performance is based on Tchaikovsky’s famous Iolanta and I manage to get tickets at the venue. In 1891, Tchaikovsky composed his famous piece with the assurance that the audience would be moved to tears. And, true to his words, “The opera in particular was to everyone’s lik-
In the city of light
Trips full of experience Brian Chesky launches Airbnb Trips in India with 15 activities to choose from in Delhi
Teeming crowds and kaleidoscopic sights, masala chai and brocaded saris... fall in love with Varanasi’s many charms
priyadarshini paitandy
Did you know Airbnb’s first-ever guest was Amol Surve, an Indian? That was way back in 2006, when Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia first turned their pad in San Francisco into a bed and breakfast place. It worked out perfectly well for Surve, who crashed there for a few nights. And his hosts made sure he got a taste of the city that offers much more than just Lombard Street and the usual touristy haunts.
ranjini rao
It’s dusk as we make our way down the bustling street leading up to the Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi. Swarms of eager evening shoppers, cycle rickshaws in eternal collision and wayside vendors luring passersby with their wares — ranging from japmalas to cotton shirts with Om prints, silk scarves to wooden toys, junk jewellery to kitchen utensils — it’s hard not to be smitten by the sights and sounds exploding around. The smells, on the other hand, range from the stench of dung to the floral notes of perfume, rising up in almost juxtaposing columns. Elbowing our way through the teeming crowds, we come to halt at the junction right after the Kashi Vishwanath temple. It looks like the ideal spot to buy a diya to set afloat on the Ganga during the Agni Puja — a spectacular and symphonic ritual of chanting and movement, burning fires and reverberating bells, performed by saffronclad priests who seem just as passionate as the hordes watching from a distance on the Ghat or huddled in moored boats. The sadhus, who have graced the covers of popular magazines with their painted faces and flowing beards, idiosyncrasies and peculiar ways, seem less intimidating from close quarters. Beggars and boatmen, guides and gurus, are all within arm’s reach, and somehow, the walk back seems easier. There is a chaiwala serving piping hot masala chai in khullads, and the earthy aroma of warm spices coalescing with chai brewing in a dented aluminium CM YK
ing. The night before we had a rehearsal with the Emperor. He was enraptured, called me to the box… Both were staged magnificently, and the ballet was even too magnificent: the eyes tire of such sumptuousness.” Iolanta opened its first performance at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1893. As the performance begins under the starry chandeliers fitted with nearly 300 lamps, I try to weave my mind through the complexity of operatic grandeur and the baritones that thunder across the hall. A human story is being spun on stage, filled with poetic movements and subtexts of light and dark. The perfection in art is awe-inspiring — I have travelled across the world but have never seen anything like this before.
A bend in the Ganga: Scenes from a ghat, a boat in the river and clay bowls of malaio RANJINI RAO *
teapot, sitting precariously on a coalfired stove, seems enticing as a postAarti pit stop. The divinity of the puja and the dedication of the chaiwala commingle in the air, as it were, and the paan and spittle-stained cobblestone underfoot appears less unsightly than before, as we sip on the sickly-sweet chai.
Eat street A stop at Deena’s chaat shop for samosas is well worth the extra steps, and then, around the corner that takes us to our homestay, there is a little shop selling rabdi and a curious
dessert. The tall tower of foam served in clay bowls is malaio — made by a laborious process, involving night dew acting on creamy milk, later whisked with rabdi, almonds and saffron until it turns light and airy. We have several servings of this delectable treat. The next morning the boatman is at the door at 6. Making our way along the now-familiar street, we stop for khullad chai before embarking on the boat ride along the green swell that is the Ganga, to witness sunrise. In a few minutes, the golden orb rises steadfastly along the horizon, and the background noise — of awestruck tourists fiddling with cameras, chat-
Classic drape The Benares sari is among India’s finest, known for its gold and silver zari work on pure silk. It has intricate Mughal-inspired designs such as intertwining floral and foliate motifs.
tering away in multilingual cacophony — at once dissolves, and all that there is to take in is the dazzle of morning light. It is a seductive sight, one that can’t be captured on lens. Back on the street, by then occupied by cattle and morning troopers, priests and devotees, petha-walas and rows of flower malas, we find a quaint mishtaan bhandar selling freshly-made kachoris and aloo saag, begging to be had. Jalebis and dahi are the obvious choice to finish off the spicy breakfast, and we take on the day shortly afterwards, exploring the chowks and bazaars for brocaded Benarasi silks and unique souvenirs, beads, baubles and other paraphernalia. Before we know it, it is time to revel in the mystical evening aarti again. Night will then fall over Varanasi like a silvery quilt, lifting the hustle of the thoroughfare away into its moonlit depths. Somewhere on a not-so-distant terrace, a veil of mist would slip into the pores of the creamy milk left open in large cauldrons, in anticipation of sweet possibilities, the morning after.
A new feature Two years later, Chesky and Gebbia along with Nathan Blecharczyk started Airbnb, a portal for listing and booking accommodations the world over. Today, the company offers three million homes in 191 countries and these homes together have hosted 160 million guests by arrivals. Last November, the founders added a new feature called Airbnb Trips. This brings together homes, experiences and places in one trip, allowing travellers to try out a new experience with locals. From learning astronomy and Korean embroidery to desert biking, Samurai swordplay and dance moves, there are over 800 activities available. “We call this transformative. You can walk through other people’s lives and see their experiences,” says Chesky, who was in the Capital to announce the launch of Trips in India. To begin with, they’ve introduced 15 activities in Delhi. Some of these include learning about the journey of couture with a behind-thescenes tour of designers Shantanu & Nikhil’s factory in Noida, where 350 people come together to create one outfit. Or, a few hours of song writing and producing music with jazz classical duo, Anindo Bose and Pavitra Chari; end-to-end understanding of brewing and crafting coffee at Krittivas Coffee Culture; a three-day session on hand spinning and weaving saris with Rta Kapur Chishti at The Sari School; and learning re-purposing and sustainable design at Rajiv’s garden studio. “I don’t think automation can replace everything we do. If you have a passion for something in your world, you can experience it with others and share it,” says Chesky.
Bringing home a passion: Brian Chesky, CEO, Airbnb with designers Shantanu and Nikhil at a fashion show in Delhi SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
As of now, Trips is available in 50 cities. “We are adding cities every week. Experience is a way to discover a community through its passion. There are local artisans all over the world,” says Chesky. Shanghai, Queenstown (New Zealand) and Sydney are the other cities where Trips is making its debut. This is part of Chesky’s vision to “make travel magical and easy. Make it a world where you feel you belong”. “Travel has never been about where you go, but about who you can become,” he adds. Soon after its Delhi launch, there have already been queries for Vintage Viewfinders, where photographer Aditya Arya offers a tour of Museo Camera, a museum showcasing over 1,500 cameras; Shantanu & Nikhil’s Journey of Couture; and design workshop at Rajiv’s treehouse. According to statistics from the Airbnb team, India currently lists 22,000 active listings. Its growing at 187% since last year, with domestic business growing at 300%. B ND-ND
