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saturday, may 6, 2017

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DMK plans a ‘unifying’ birthday for Karunanidhi

Governor N.N. Vohra apprises PM of situation in Kashmir Valley

North Korea accuses CIA of plotting to kill Kim Jong-un

India loses to Malaysia in inal league match

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SC upholds death in Nirbhaya case If at all there is a case warranting award of death sentence, it is the present case, says judge read out the “entire medical history of the victim -- the shattering of the intestine caused by the repeated insertion of iron rods, the tearing of her clothes, looting of her personal belongings, aggravated the sexual assault.” The court said this was followed by the fact that the victim and her companion were thrown out naked in the cold winter night. As they lay on the road, the convicts tried to silence them by running the bus over them. They had then tried to destroy evidence.

Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI

Shivpal announces ‘secular morcha’ LUCKNOW

The feud in the Samajwadi Party’s Yadav family surfaced again on Friday with senior leader Shivpal Yadav announcing that a “secular morcha” will be formed under the leadership of his elder brother and founder of the party Mulayam Singh. NEWS 쑺 PAGE 8 DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Shopian siege sparks protests in Valley SRINAGAR

Sporadic protests broke out in parts of the Kashmir Valley on Friday over the eight-hour area dominance exercise in Shopian by security forces and the treatment of students by the police during a raid last month on a college in Pulwama. Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq held a demonstration after the prayers. NEWS

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Patnaik all set for Cabinet reshule BHUBANESWAR

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is all set to carry out the much-awaited irst Cabinet reshule during his fourth consecutive term in oice in a day or two, according to reliable sources. EAST

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DELHI METRO 쑺 6 PAGES

Kerala reinstates Senkumar

“The accused found an object for enjoyment in her... for their gross, sadistic and beastly pleasures... for the devilish manner in which they played with her dignity and identity is humanly inconceivable.” These were the final words with which Justice Dipak Misra concluded the pronouncement of the Supreme Court judgment, confirming the death penalty to four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case which shook the entire nation with its brutality and spurred the genesis of a stringent anti-rape law.

Claps in courtroom Claps resounded through the courtroom from the visitors’ gallery when Justice Misra, flanked by Justices R. Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan, read out the part upholding the Delhi High Court’s verdict to the send the 23-yearold paramedical student’s attackers to the gallows. Justice Banumathi, the woman judge on the Bench, said “there is not even a hint of hesitation in my mind” in sending the men to their deaths. “If at all there is a case warranting award of death sentence, it is the present case,” Justice Banumathi wrote in her separate concurring judgment. The pronouncement on Friday culminated the mara-

A sense of closure: Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi at the Supreme Court in New Delhi after the pronouncement of the judgment on Friday. SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR *

thon hearings held in the apex court for about a year after the four accused -Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Akshay Kumar Singh and Vinay Sharma -- appealed against their death penalty. The three-judge bench subjected the evidence of the case to the minutest scrutiny. At one point, its own amicus curiae and senior advocate, Sanjay Hegde, had, after a dispassionate consideration of the case, suggested that death penalty would be “extremely harsh.” The defence lawyers had

Centre notiies draft ‘no ly’ rules Airlines can impose three levels of ban

Special Correspondent Thiruvananthapuram

Special Correspondent

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan late on Friday cleared the proposal by the Home and Law departments to reinstate T.P. Senkumar as the State Police Chief (SPC). The proposal will be promulgated as a Government order on Saturday. However, sources close to Mr. Senkumar said the officer was yet to receive any formal communication from the State. The Government came under intense pressure after the Supreme Court earlier in the day slapped a contempt notice and imposed a “cost” of ₹25,000 for “non-compliance” with its order issued a fortnight ago. The perceived “hold back” in implementing the order had led to harsh criticism of the government.

NEW DELHI

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The Centre on Friday proposed guidelines allowing domestic airlines to ban unruly passengers for a period ranging from three months to a lifetime. According to the draft Civil Aviation Requirements on “Handling of unruly or disruptive passengers,” airlines can impose three levels of ban on unruly passengers — three months for disruptive behaviour such as physical gestures; six months for physically abusive behaviour such as pushing, kicking and sexual harassment; and two years or more for life threatening behaviour, including damage to aircraft systems. For every subsequent offence, the unruly passenger may be banned for twice the period of the previous ban. Additionally, the Ministry of Home Affairs can put in-

dividuals identified as “national security threat” on the proposed National NoFly List. The draft rules will be open to public comments for a month after which a final regulation will be released by June 30. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said that India would become the first country to frame a National No-Fly List related to aviation security as other countries have a No-Fly List for “safety-related issues” at present. “The airlines will maintain a database of such passengers which will form a National No-Fly List of unruly or disruptive passengers. Individuals defined by the Ministry of Home Affairs as national security threats will also form part of the National No-Fly List,” said a press statement issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry. CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 8

pressed for life imprisonment. They said the accused were first-time offenders, young, had small children and aged parents whose lives would be rendered “calamitous” if they were put to death. The accused had reformed, repented and never misbehaved in jail. But the court threw out this plea for mercy and instead listed out the “brutal, barbaric nature of the crime” which made it rarest of the rare. For one, Justice Banumathi pointed out how the accused had used a pub-

lic transport bus to lure the passengers. The court agreed with the Delhi Police counsel and senior advocate, Siddharth Luthra, that anything short of death penalty would be a “devastation of social trust.” The court acknowledged Mr. Luthra’s submission that the depravity of the crime “invites indignation of the society and created a fear psychosis. This case was indeed rarest of rare considering the brutal and diabolic nature of the crime.” To the accused, the court

‘Extreme brutality’ “Where a crime is committed with extreme brutality and the collective conscience of the society is shocked, courts must award death penalty. By not imposing a death sentence, the courts may do injustice to the society at large,” Justice Banumathi observed. This sounds like a story from a different world where humanity has been treated with irreverence,” Justice Misra wrote. Spelling out each of the arguments raised in the appeal hearings, the Supreme Court gave primary emphasis to the victim’s multiple dying declarations, the last and third one in gestures. The judgment said the dying declaration proved beyond doubt the guilt of the accused. SEE ALSO 쑺 PAGE 9 DELHI METRO PAGES 쑺 1, 2 & 3

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Fight not over yet, say her parents ‘Will end when they are hanged’ Hemani Bhandari New Delhi

As Nirbhaya’s parents stepped out of court number two of the Supreme Court after the verdict, they smiled and said: “Justice was delayed but not denied.” Her parents, Badri Singh Pandey and Asha Devi, were surrounded by over 100 people in the Supreme Court lawns who waited for them to share what they felt of the judgment for which they have been fighting for nearly five years. “Jis din ka hum sabko besabri se intezaar tha aaj vo din aa gaya (The day for which we were waiting has come), Ms Devi said. “I am satisfied with the decision but our fight hasn’t ended. It will only come to a conclusion after the four go to the gallows,” she said. The father, firm in his expression, said “I’ll sleep peacefully tonight.” The parents saw the apex court verdict confirming death penalty for the four convicts -- Mukesh, Pawan, Akshay Kumar Singh and Vinay Sharma – as a message to the society that justice eventually prevails. “The verdict is a message to the people of this country and a lesson for the people who commit crime of such heinous nature,” Mr Pandey said. The family, however, said

they would always regret the release of the juvenile, who was only six months short of turning 18 when he committed the crime. The two stressed that age should never be a consideration in rape cases. “We’ll always be hurt that the juvenile was let off but such are the laws in the county and we can’t do anything about them. The boy who has done such a thing is clearly not a child,” Ms Devi said. With a heavy heart but sporting a smile she said, “People clapped as soon as they heard the verdict. This shows that it is not just our win but of the Indian society.”

‘A long way to go’ Asked if women were safer after the incident, the parents said there was still a long way to go. “The change is restricted to newspapers and debates on television. It’s a cycle of discussion that needs of stop. Action is missing,” the mother said. Sharing his wife’s sentiments, Mr Pandey blamed some politicians for making irresponsible statements against women. “What really needs to change is not the people’s minds but that of the people in power like politicians. Many have spoken ill of women and public tends to learn from them,” he said.

AAP’s foreign funding under lens

Space bonding hits new highs

Staff Reporter

Special Correspondent

New Delhi

Bengaluru

The government on Friday asked the Aam Aadmi Party to furnish details of its overseas funding, following suspicion that it might have violated provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. In a communication, the Union Home Ministry asked the AAP to produce documents showing the source, nature, amount of donations and shareholding patterns, and foreign equity in the shareholding pattern. It has asked the party to respond by May 16. An MHA official said the letter was part of ‘routine’ queries and had been sent to a few other political parties. “We have nothing to hide. We are ready to face any probe and the party will fully cooperate,” the AAP said in a statement.

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India successfully launches South Asia Satellite; 7 leaders hail new cooperation South Asia Satellite or GSAT-9, termed India's technology largesse from the sky to the peoples of the region, was flown into space on a GSLV rocket at 4.57 p.m. on Friday. In a televised teleconference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after the launch, leaders of the six benefiting nations hailed the gesture as a new face of cooperation in space for common good of the neighbourhood. War-ravaged Afghanistan alone does not share a border with India. Its Prime Minister Ashraf Ghani said, “If cooperation through land is not possible, we can be connected through space.” The 2,230-kg communication spacecraft will support communication, broadcast-

Perfect launch: The GSLV rocket, carrying the GSAT-9, blasted of from Sriharikota on Friday. S.R. RAGHUNATHAN *

ing and Internet services, disaster management, telemedicine, tele-education, weather forecasting in a region that is geographically challenging, economically lagging with limited technological resources, they

echoed in their addresses.

Free services The spacecraft and the launch are estimated to have cost India around ₹450 crore. Its applications touch everyday life and the neigh-

bours use its applications free of charge. About 17 minutes after the launch, GSAT-9/ South Asia Satellite carrying 12 Ku band transponders was put into a temporary oval orbit on the GSLV-F09 rocket from Sriharikota in coastal Andhra Pradesh. Indian Space Research Organisation later said the major phases of the flight took place as planned. South Asia Satellite now orbits Earth in an oval orbit 169 km at the nearest and 36,105 km at the farthest, “with an orbital inclination of 20.65 degrees with respect to the Equator.” The orbit will be made circular through manoeuvres from the Master Control Facility in Hassan in Karnataka. CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 8 SOUTH ASIAN LEADERS THANK MODI 쑺 PAGE 8

Govt. arms RBI to crack down on bank NPAs

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Royalty-on-rails, now in South India IRCTC will bring the luxury train travel experience to two new routes Vedika Chaubey Mumbai

India’s erstwhile maharajahs liked their creature comforts, even while travelling. Many of the royals, thus, had their own trains in which they could travel with their retinues in the style they felt befitted them. Indian Railways has been running a number of trains that seek to bring back the experience of that era. Aside from specials that cover parts of the north, the Maharaja Express, which started in 2010, has been winning international acclaim and awards, consistently being listed among the leading luxury trains of the world in the company of the Royal Scotsman and the Eastern and Oriental Express. The Maharaja Express

Fit for a king: Maharaja Express now runs between Mumbai and Delhi, with 23 coaches and 88 guests. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

runs between Mumbai and Delhi, with 23 coaches carrying just 88 guests, on seven-night-eight-day trips with a hefty price tag: $6,840 for deluxe cabins going up to $23,700 for the Presidential Suite. This does not deter wellheeled foreign tourists who are happy to pay for the

royal treatment and content with seeing a slice of India at train-pace.

Southern comfort Now, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is introducing two new routes in September, bringing the regal train rides to the south.

The Southern Sojourn will cover Goa, Hampi, Mysore, Ernakulum, Kumarakom and Thiruvananthapuram. And the Southern Jewel will cover Chettinad, Mahabalipuram, Mysore Hampi and Goa. As with the Maharaja Express, both will be sevennight-eight-day trips, and guests get on-board dining, and excursions and events at each destination. And of course, tariffs will ransom minor princelings: ₹5,00,680 (plus taxes) gets you the entry-level deluxe cabin, ₹7,23,420 is the price of a junior suite and ₹10,09,330 is the bill for a suite. The Presidential suite will set you back ₹17,33,410. You, or your Dewan, can make your bookings at the official Maharaja Express site, themaharajas.com.

Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

The Centre on Friday authorised the Reserve Bank of India to take tough and decisive actions to crack down on the rising bad loans on the books of public sector banks, after President Pranab Mukherjee signed off on an ordinance late on Thursday night to amend the Banking Regulation Act of 1949, empowering the central bank to deal with the

menace more effectively. “While over the last three years, we have been able to bring several structural reforms in the economy, one of the key problems remained of stressed assets. Banks necessarily need to be in a robust position to support growth and if banks have an unacceptably high level of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), it hinders their capacity,” Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Af-

fairs Arun Jaitley said. The RBI is expected to issue issue guidelines within a week to banks on resolving their bad loan accounts in a specified time frame through various strategies including asset sales, and where no breakthrough is imminent, invocation of insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings against the borrowers. The total stressed assets in the banking system are estimated to be ₹14 lakh crore.

Explaining the ordinance route to enhance the central bank’s powers, the Minister said the existing provisions were not clear enough for the RBI to act on specific stressed assets. He took a dig at previous governments, saying, “Whenever North Block without power has interfered in the banking system, it hasn’t done good.” NEW TERMS FOR PSBS SEEKING CAPITAL, SAYS JAITLEY 쑺 PAGE 11

One killed, Dalit houses burnt in U.P. clash Protest over procession by Thakurs in a Saharanpur village proves to be trigger Staff Reporter Meerut

One person was killed and 16 were injured in clashes between Dalits and Rajputs in a Saharanpur village on Friday. Shabbirpur and Simlana villages, where the clashes took place, have been turned into a fortress. Additional police force and Pro-

vincial Armed Constabulary personnel have been called from Muzaffarnagar to prevent the violence from spreading. According to an official statement, the violence was triggered in the afternoon when Dalit youths of Shabbirpur village protested against a procession in the name of Maharana Pratap

being taken by the Thakur community through a Dalit temple of Saint Ravidas without prior permission of the local administration.

Retaliation The houses of Dalits in Shabbirpur village were allegedly burnt by members of the Thakur community in retaliation to their protest.

“Without prior permission of the administration 20-25 Rajput youths were taking out a procession with music and a DJ system through Shabbirpur village when the village head and some members of Scheduled Caste protested against DJ being played and informed the police,” said the statement.

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Timings

Saturday, May 06

RISE 05:37 SET 18:59 RISE 15:02 SET 03:00 Sunday, May 07

RISE 05:36 SET 19:00 RISE 15:56 SET 03:36 Monday, May 08

RISE 05:35 SET 19:01 RISE 16:49 SET 04:10

Hooda hits out at Khattar on SYL Former CM accuses him of hiding facts regarding meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Raje shifts 77 IAS, 46 IPS oicers

VIKAS VASUDEVA

These include 16 Collectors, 17 SPs

CHANDIGARH

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday hit out at the ruling BJP government over the controversial water sharing issue of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal, and accused Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of hiding facts regarding his recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue. “The SYL is the lifeline of Haryana and the public has the right to know what the PM has conveyed to Mr. Khattar on the issue during their recent meeting... What’s there to hide?...Why

Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

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is Mr. Khattar not telling us whether the PM has given a positive assurance on SYL," said Mr. Hooda. Mr. Khattar had on Thursday said that he had sought time from PM Modi to discuss various issues of the State, which also included

Manohar Lal Khattar.

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the issue of construction of SYL Canal, while he was in Delhi to attend the Niti Aayog meeting. “In the meeting with the PM, held that evening, I discussed the issues of separate High Court for Haryana, and Hisar Airport... and had also

handed over a letter regarding SYL issue to PM Modi,” the CM had said. Since this meeting – held last week — the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) have been targeting Mr. Khattar for not taking an all-party delegation with him to meet the PM. "Since he [Mr. Khattar] did not take us along, he should disclose the Centre's stand on the SYL issue,” said Mr. Hooda. The former CM also attacked the State government of failing to keep any of its electoral promises: "The leaders of this government do nothing beyond eating,

discussing and sleeping". “The State is reeling under a power crisis, but the government is turning a blind eye towards it... Let me tell you, this power crisis will be the chief cause of their [BJP] downfall in days to come,” Mr. Khattar said. Meanwhile, Mr. Hooda said that it was the right time for Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to take over the party reins and has the potential to become the next Prime Minister. "Mr. Gandhi has the capability to lead the party in the right direction and it's the correct time for him to take charge of the party," he said.

Mohammed Iqbal JAIPUR

In a major administrative reshuffle, the Rajasthan government on Friday transferred 77 Indian Administrative Service (IAS), 46 Indian Police Service (IPS) and 150 Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) officers. Those transferred included 16 District Collectors and 17 Superintendents of Police. The transfers came ahead of a State-level conference of Collectors and SPs to be addressed by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje later this month. The transfers were also linked with the State Assembly elections due next year. Rajasthan Housing Board chairman A. Mukhodyaya, who will now head the State Civil Service Appellate Tribunal, has been replaced by Additional Chief Secretary (Industries) Umesh Kumar. While Vipin Chandra Sharma will be the new Commissioner of Rajasthan Foundation, Additional Chief Secretary (Higher Education) Rajhans Upadhyay

has been given charge of Sanskrit education as well. The Collectors of Bikaner, Jalore, Sikar, Kota, Dungarpur, Jaisalmer, Bhilwara, Jhunjhunu, Udaipur, Barmer, Bundi, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Alwar, Rajsamand and Pali have been transferred. Among the IPS officers, Additional Director-General of Police (Administration) Sunil Kumar Mehrotra has been shifted to the telecommunication wing, while ADG Dalpat Singh Dinkar has been transferred from the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) to the community policing. ADG Ravi Prakash Meherda has been shifted to SHRC. IPS officers posted in Jaipur and Jodhpur Police Commissionerates, two Inspectors-General of Police and three Deputy Inspectors-General of Police have also been reshuffled. The 150 RAS officers include Additional Collectors, Deputy Commissioners of civic bodies, Sub-Divisional Officers and District Supply Officers.

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IN BRIEF

Odisha set for Cabinet rejig Assembly Speaker Niranjan Pujari resigned from his post on Friday Prafulla Das BHUBANESWAR

Heat wave intensiies in Odisha BHUBANESWAR

Blistering heat intensified in most parts of Odisha on Friday with Balangir becoming the hottest place in the State at 44.5 degrees Celsius. Entire western Odisha virtually turned into a boiling cauldron as the mercury breached the 40 degrees mark in at least 13 places. PTI

Two die after consuming illicit liquor

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is all set to carry out the muchawaited first Cabinet reshuffle during his fourth consecutive term office in a day or two, according to reliable sources. State Assembly Speaker Niranjan Pujari resigned from his post on Friday evening as he is likely to be inducted into the Cabinet, making it clear that the reshuffle will take place either on Saturday or Sunday. Governor S.C. Jamir,

who will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the new Ministers, was away from the State on a personal visit. He is scheduled to return to Bhubaneswar on Saturday morning.

New faces According to sources, more than six Ministers will be dropped from the Council of Ministers, and both old and new faces will be inducted in their place. The leaders who will lose their berths in the Council of Ministers will be assigned party

work. Those likely to be dropped from the Ministry include Panchayati Raj Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo, Energy Minister Pranab Prakash Das, Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Das Burma, and Housing & Urban Development Minister Pushpendra Singh Deo. Mr. Patnaik, who was sworn in as Chief Minister for the fourth consecutive term in May, 2014, along with 21 other Member in his Council of Ministers, had not carried out any Cabinet reshuffle since

TINSUKIA

Two persons died and five others were taken seriously ill after allegedly consuming illicit country-made liquor in Tinsukia district of Assam, police said on Friday. The two persons identified as Gabeswar Miran (48) and Palash Hazarika (49) besides five others consumed the liquor on Thursday night at Bordumsa. PTI

Eight inmates missing from correctional home JALPAIGURI

Eight inmates of a government correctional home near here went missing and six of them were traced on Friday. The inmates in the age group of 15-17 years were found missing from the correctional home, about 12 km from here, on Friday.- PTI

Bengal govt. forcibly acquired land: Left Press Trust of India New Delhi

The Left parties and civil rights groups on Friday accused the West Bengal government of forcibly acquiring land for a power grid project in Bhangar block in South 24 Parganas district of the State and the police of “killing” two protesters. They demanded that a judicial probe be conducted into the two deaths, allegedly due to police firing in January this year and release of other protesters, comprising largely local farmers, who were “jailed on false charges”.

The clash took place over acquiring land for construction of a PGCIL sub-station in the area.

‘Trinamool syndicate’ “Land for the project was acquired violating laws and there was no transparency. People stand hoodwinked. A Trinamool Congress syndicate is at work there,” CPI-ML (Liberation) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya alleged. He accused the TMC of being in “hand in glove” with the BJP-led government at the Centre, whose project the State government is implementing.

Murdered man’s body found after a month Staff Reporter BERHAMPUR

The decomposed body of a 38-year-old man, who was allegedly murdered by his wife and her paramour almost a month ago, was found at his rented house in Ankushpur on the outskirts of Berhampur on Thursday. According to the police, Laxmi Narayan Patra was

murdered on April 7 and the house had remained locked since. A knife, suspected to be the murder weapon, was seized from the house. Jamuna Patra, the wife of the deceased, has been taken into custody. However, the co-accused in the case, Narayan Sahu, is absconding. According to inspector-in-

charge of Berhampur Sadar police station S. S. Mohapatra, the woman has confessed to the crime. “She had developed relations with Sahu, who was running a welding unit near her inlaws’ home. Later, both of them decided to murder her husband,” said Mr. Mohapatra. A search is on for Sahu.

then. The reshuffle is being carried out at a time when Mr. Patnaik is trying hard to give new momentum to his government as well as his party, the BJD which suffered a jolt in the panchayat elections held in February this year. The BJP, which emerged as the main opposition party overtaking Congress in the panchayat polls, is trying hard to strengthen its position with a view to capture power in the State in 2019.

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IN BRIEF

Six killed as vehicles collide in Guntur

Home Guard killed in A.P. landmine blast

‘SFI, ABVP unleashing terror in govt. colleges’

Colour and gaiety mark Thrissur Pooram

Uproarious scenes in Kerala Assembly

Lakhs throng city for the festival

Maoists allegedly triggered it using remote control device

Special Correspondent

GUNTUR

Six persons were killed when the four-wheeler in which they were travelling collided with a truck near the Medikonduru mandal in Guntur. Police extricated the bodies of five persons while another person died on the way to hospital. The police said the accident could have taken place when the vehicle tried to overtake another.

14 women taken ill after inhaling gas in aqua unit KAKINADA

14 women took ill after reportedly inhaling ammonia gas in the aqua food processing unit of Veerabhadra Exports at the Gurajanapalli village of Karapa mandal on Friday. The incident took place during a trial run of a new compressor. The victims were rushed to a hospital and their condition was said to be stable.

Sumit Bhattacharjee VISAKHAPATNAM

Maoists allegedly triggered a landmine in the AndhraOdisha Border area near Ramaraopalem, a tribal hamlet located in the Chintapalli mandal of Visakhapatnam agency, on Friday morning. Home Guard Sheikh Valli was killed on the spot. The landmine was triggered using a remote control device around 9.15 a.m. when the Home Guard was driving a civil transport vehicle, DIG Visakhapatnam (Range) Ch. Srikanth said.

Cause for concern Though it was a single blast resulting in one casualty, the presence of Maoists in the region has become a cause for concern for the police. In the first week of April, there was an exchange of fire near

Fatal hit: The remains of the jeep that was blasted by a landmine in Visakhapatnam on Friday. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

Kistavaram under the Annavaram police station limits between the Greyhounds and Maoists. There were about 30 Maoists and a few armed militia men. The elusive Gajarla Ravi or Uday, currently in-charge of the AOB Special Zonal Committee, was reportedly

present in that group. The police believe that the reported presence of Uday, Boda Anjaiah alias Naveen, chief of Korukonda Area Committee, and Dubashi Shankar, in-charge of the East Division, shows that the Maoist presence is building up and the ultras are planning something big.

Thiruvananthapuram

The Kerala Opposition staged a walkout from the Assembly on Friday, accusing the government of abetting the politics of violence and intolerance on campuses, and creating a situation conducive for fundamentalist forces to influence students. Replying to the notice for an adjournment motion moved by P.T. Thomas and others on the seizure of weapons from the Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Opposition was trying to divert attention from the government’s attempt to convert colleges into centres of excellence. Citing the FIR, he said the police had seized implements such as rods, pipes, and planks used for construction purposes. “There were no weapons. The room from where the

Haimendorf’s hilltop haven Pirengan Patar, a plateau in Telangana, keeps alive the memory of a legendary ethnographer present-day Telangana and do fieldwork.

S. Harpal Singh Kanchanpalli

Every now and then, Atram Bheem Rao, inheritor of the Gond Raja of Kanchanpalli title, remembers Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf and his contributions to improving the lives of the Raj Gond and other Adivasi tribes of the Adilabad region. When he does, he visits a 250metre high hill near his village, atop which is a small platform made of stones, to pay his respects to the memory of the legendary Austrian ethnographer. Prof. Haimendorf started his work in India in what is now Nagaland. During World War II, as a citizen of the

Kanchanpalli Gond Raja Athram Bheem Rao in his village. S. HARPAL SINGH *

Third Reich, he was detained by the British in India. He was confined to what was then Hyderabad state, but was later allowed to live among the tribal peoples of

A deep connection In 1942, Prof. Haimendorf and his wife Betty Barnado, also a noted ethnographer, first came to Kanchanpalli, in Sirpur mandal, seeking help from Mr. Rao’s grandfather — who was also named Bheem Rao — for their work. The local people could not pronounce the Austrian’s name, Mr. Rao says, so they called him ‘Pirengan,’ which is derived from the Hindustani firangi, foreigner. At the end of the war, the Nizam’s government appointed Prof. Haimendorf Advisor for Tribes and Back-

ward Classes. During his tenure, he set up educational and other schemes for tribal peoples and taught at Osmania University. The professor and his wife did path-breaking work in the Northeast, and in Nepal, where he was the first foreigner to document indigenous cultures. He also taught at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Through all this, over forty years, the couple often came back to the Adilabad area to do more research. “The Haimendorfs avoided this place during summer, but used to come here frequently during win-

ters all through the late 1970s until their death,” Mr. Rao says. “They had an elevated platform made, for them to relax in the winter sun and take in nature’s spread from the hilltop.” From this vantage point, one can see the Godavari flowing in the distance, and the villages in the valley below. The plateau is known locally as Pirengan Patar, in their honour. Mr. Rao told The Hindu that the platform would have been destroyed had the government gone ahead with its plan to build a wireless repeater station on it in the 1990s. But the fear of Naxalites damaging it had led to a change of plan.

implements were seized had been vacated by students. A ladder was found leaning on the window of the room. Only an investigation will reveal the truth.”

Weapon seizure Rubbishing the explanation, Mr. Thomas produced newspaper reports about the seizure of weapons, including swords, from the college campus. He said the Maharaja’s College had turned into a “den of criminals” and “anti-social” elements who were emboldened by the government’s reluctance to act on the college council’s recommendation for action against 12 teachers in a case relating to the burning of the Principal’s chair. Mr. Thomas alleged that the SFI and the ABVP were unleashing a reign of terror in government colleges to help self-financing institutions.

Naidu begins U.S. tour to hard sell A.P. Staff Reporter VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu began his first day of U.S. tour on Thursday by meeting the who’s who to hard sell Andhra Pradesh and attract investors. Mr. Naidu met California Governor Edmund Gerald Jerry Brown Jr, Google vicepresident Tom Moore, Flextronics CEO Mike McNamara, and ARM Holdings CEO Simon Anthony Segars. Earlier, Mr. Naidu was accorded a warm welcome at the San Francisco airport by Telugu NRIs from the Bay Area.

Picture perfect: Kudamattam ceremony in progress during the Thrissur Pooram on Friday evening. K.K. NAJEEB *

Mini Muringatheri Thrissur

Thrissur Pooram, one of the major festivals of Kerala, was celebrated in all its grandeur on Friday. Lakhs of people thronged the Thekkinkadu Maidan and the Swaraj Round to soak in the thrill and glory of the occasion. Families, especially young women, attended in large numbers. Though there was confusion over the fireworks display and elephant parades, Thrissur Pooram kept its promise of being picture perfect. The festivities started with the arrival of Kanimangalam Sastha, accompanied by percussion ensembles, in the morning. It was followed by other cheru poorams from participating temples.

Elephant parade Revellers packed the streets right from the morning. Pooram offered something for everyone. Around hundred most sought-after elephants were paraded on the occasion. The animals held sway, moving their ears, drinking gallons of water and chewing palm leaves and cucumber. Percussion aficionados got to savour the ‘chendamelam,’ ‘pandi melam’ and ‘panchavadyam’ at the

Pandal sets world record Staff Reporter Thrissur

The 110-feet fibre pandal, put up at Thrissur Pooram by the Thiruvambadi Devaswom, has created a world record. The golden pandal at Naduvilal on Swaraj Round entered the Guinness Book of World Records for being the tallest temporary structure made of fibre. Sunil Joseph, Asian jury of Guinness Book of World Records, presented the certificate to Thiruvambadi Devaswom president P. Chandrasekharan. Pooram. Maestros Peruvanam Kuttan Marar, Kongad Madhu, and Kizhakkott Aniyan Marar were the heroes of the day. The excitement reached a crescendo with the magnificent Kudamattom, in which myriad parasols were displayed atop the elephants. A sea of humanity converged at the Thekke Gopura Nada on the Thekkinkadu Maidan to witness the Kudamattom.

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THE HINDU

NATION 5

NOIDA/DELHI

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Malegaon blast: SC seeks reply on Purohit’s plea

Grenade found in well at the Red Fort in Delhi It was discovered during cleaning operation by ASI workers

Set up database of children in orphanages, SC tells govt. Complete registration of child care institutions by year-end: Bench

NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the NIA and Maharashtra on a plea of accused Shrikant Purohit, seeking bail in a case pertaining to the 2008 Malegaon blast. Purohit, a former lieutenant colonel, had pleaded against the Bombay High Court order rejecting his bail plea in the case. The apex court had on April 28 rejected Purohit’s plea for urgent hearing. PTI

New Delhi

Bank robbers sentenced to seven years in jail BHAGALPUR (BIHAR)

A city court on Friday sentenced six persons to seven-year imprisonment after finding them guilty of looting a rural bank two years ago. Additional District and Sessions Judge Jai Prakash jailed the six, convicting them of various penal offences for looting a sum of ₹49.10 lakh from the bank on May 26, 2015. Kanhaiya Yadav, Mukesh Yadav, Amit Rajak, Sanoj Yadav, Jungli Sah and Vikki Rajpal had looted the money from Bihar Grameen Bank in Bhagalpur. PTI

Help for the HIV-afected

Press Trust of India

Tight vigil: Security personnel on guard at the Red Fort after a grenade was found in a well in Delhi on Friday. PTI around 6 p.m. during a lice officer said and added Staff Reporter cleaning operation by work- that the fort was being NEW DELHI ers of the Archaeological scanned for more explosives. “Underwater cameras Three months after a large Survey of India. Subsequently, the police are being used to detect any cache of arms was found on the premises of the Red and the National Security other explosive that may be lying inside the well,” said Fort, a grenade was dis- Guard (NSG) were informed. The grenade was removed the officer. covered inside a well at the In February, several amhistorical monument on by a robot deployed by the NSG. munition boxes were found Thursday. “The robot was covered inside a well of the fort durAccording to the police, the explosive was spotted with a bomb blanket,” a po- ing a cleaning operation. *

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In search of water

The Supreme Court on Friday passed a slew of directions, including setting up of a database of children living in orphanages and child care institutions to ensure their safety and welfare. A Bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta directed the Centre, States and union territories (UTs) to complete the registration of all child care institutions by year-end. The court said the registration process should also include a database of all children in need of care and protection and update it every month.

‘Ensure privacy’ It asked the authorities concerned to ensure confidentiality and privacy in maintaining the database. The Bench said it was not necessary that every child in need of care and protection must be placed either in a child care institution and alternative option like adop-

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the State governments to issue a notification to include children affected with HIV in the disadvantaged group for imparting free, compulsory education under a 2009 law. PTI tion and foster care could seriously be considered. The verdict came on a PIL petition filed on the basis of a 2007 newspaper report alleging that orphanages in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, run by NGOs as well as government institutions, were reportedly involved in systematic sexual abuse of children. “It is imperative that the Union government and the governments of States and UTs must concentrate on rehabilitation and social re-integration of children in need of care and protection,” the

Bench said.

Skill development It said Centre’s schemes such as skill development and vocational training must be taken advantage of keeping in mind the need to rehabilitate such children. The Bench also directed the States and UTs to set up ‘Inspection Committees’ before July 31 to conduct regular inspections of child care institutions and prepare reports of such inspections so that the living conditions of kids there undergo positive changes.

The first report after conducting the inspection should be filed before the government concerned by December 31. It directed that the process for preparing individual child care plans must be initiated immediately and an individual plan must be prepared for each child in each such centre on or before December 31. The court also directed that all vacancies in State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) be filled by the end of this year. “It is time that the governments of the States and Union Territories consider de-institutionalisation as a viable alternative,” it said. The Bench said it was imperative that the process of conducting a social audit must be taken up in right earnest by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights as well as by each State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights. The Centre was asked to file a report by January 15.

Workers start cooperative to revive tea garden Initiative comes in the wake of starvation deaths in West Bengal’s tea estates Staff Reporter Kolkata

Hard to ind: People of Wanadongari village, near Nagpur, carry cans of water on bicycles on Friday. Wanadongari and Bhim Nagar face water shortage every summer. S. SUDARSHAN *

In a unique initiative, the workers of Bandapani Tea Garden, which has remained closed since July 2013, have formed a cooperative society and obtained government registration in a bid to run the garden themselves. The cooperative received government registration on April 26, 2017. Located in Alipurduar district, the State government had taken over the Bandapani Tea Garden in October 2014. It still has about 1,200 workers on its rolls. “Even after the State government took over, the condition of the workers did not improve. So we formed the cooperative to run the garden ourselves,” Ashok Toppo, the vice-chairman of the Bundapani Tea and Allied Plantation Workers’ Cooperative Society told The Hindu. Set up in 1895, the Bandapani Tea Garden

HC questions claims of RSS outit’s pre-natal workshop It promised ‘Garbha Sanskar’ or guidance on having ‘good’ children Staff Reporter Kolkata

The Calcutta High Court on Friday questioned the scientific basis of the workshop on “Garbha Sanskar” or ‘traditional parental guidance for having good children’, organised by Arogya Bharathi, the health wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Hearing a PIL challenging the workshop organised by

Arogya Bharati Calcutta High Court has asked if the organisers could provide any evidence to back their claim that the ‘Garbha Sanskar’ was based on substantive “scientific knowledge.” Arogya Bharati had announced that it was organising a two-day workshop on “Garbha Sanskar” and “Dampati Samikshan” (traditional parental guidance for good children and coun-

selling of couples) in the south Kolkata office of the RSS beginning on Saturday.

‘No evidence’ “However, the Arogya Bharati counsel could not provide any evidence in support of their claim,” said Nasib Khan, the law officer of West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR), the organisation that filed the PIL

Mr. Khan claimed that the Arogya Bharati representatives “backtracked” from their earlier statement that counselling will be provided to couples on the ways of bearing an “ideal child.” “They said only a lecture will be delivered at the workshop by a professor from a university in Gujarat, who is an expert on ayurveda,” Mr. Khan said.

Bihar prepares road map to woo tourists 900 spots, including Gandhi and Ramayan circuits, to be developed Amarnath Tewary Patna

Identifying around 900 tourism sites, the Bihar government is preparing a new road map to woo tourists from across the world. The new road map is likely to be approved by the end of this month or the first week of June. The State government had earlier asked all district magistrates of the State to identify spots in their respective jurisdiction to be developed as potential tourist attractions and send a detailed report to the headquarters. According to State tourism department officials, DMs of all 38 districts have sent their reports under which around 900 such spots have been identified which could be developed as tourist places. These places broadly fall

Tapping potential: Devotees ofer prayers at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya PTI *

into Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Gandhi and Ramayan Circuit of the State. “We’ve received details from the district magistrates identifying the potential tourist spots…we’ll first inspect those sites in view of their tourist potential before giving final shape to the roadmap for approval…besides, Buddha and Jain circuit spots, the State has huge potential for other

tourism sectors too,” State Tourism Minister Anita Devi said. The MPs, MLAs, and local representatives too have suggested potential spots in their constituencies which could be developed as tourist attractions. “The idea is that visiting tourists should stay in the State for a longer time...it will boost the State’s economy as well”, said a depart-

ment official. A group of four companies, he said, have been given the task of preparing the road map. Meanwhile, the State tourism department has also geared up to showcase major tourist destinations of Bihar at an event organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce in Calcutta on Friday. Besides highlighting the Buddhist and other heritage tourist spots to the visiting dignitaries at the event, the department officials would also showcase the successful celebration of the recently held 350th Prakash Parv in which Sikh devotees from around the world had visited Patna and enjoyed the festival. Earlier, the annual event of Kalchakra Puja too was successfully organised at Bodh Gaya in which lakhs of Buddhist pilgrims from around the world participated.

Unique bid: The tea leaves processing factory at the closed Bundapani tea garden. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

changed hands several times before shutting down in July 2013.

‘Wages usurped’ The garden workers alleged that the last private owners of the garden “usurped” their wages, provident fund, gratuity, and bonus before closing the garden. “The garden owners have fled with ₹6 crore of our wages and other payments,” said

Mr. Toppo. The workers claimed that they had no choice but to live in “sub-human” conditions in the closed tea garden, without access to basic amenities. “We did not even have access to clean drinking water, let alone proper food. At least 20 workers have died till now due to starvation,” said Bishnu Ghatani, convener of the Chai Bagan Bachao Committee, which

took the initiative to form the cooperative. There are around 25 closed tea gardens in West Bengal. It has been reported that workers in these tea gardens are not getting their wages, proper food, shelter, or medical care. There have also been media reports of starvation deaths in the closed gardens. The Mamata Banerjee government, however, has denied that there have been starvation deaths in the gardens. Mr. Ghatani said that the idea of reviving the tea garden by setting up a cooperative came up last August when they visited the Durgabari Tea Estate in Tripura, which is run by a similar workers’ cooperative.

Transfer of lease However, according to sources in the office of the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies (Cooch Behar and Alipurduar Range), the workers will not

be “legally entitled” to run the garden on their own merely on the basis of a government registration. “Since the land is currently owned by the State government, the cooperative members have to obtain a lease on the land to run the garden themselves,” said a senior official in the Assistant Registrar’s office. The Cooperative members said that they will meet the District Magistrate of Alipurduar, Devi Prasad Karanam, on Monday regarding the transfer of the lease for the garden. According to local social activist Rupam Deb, a similar initiative was made by the workers of Sonali tea estate in Jalpaiguri district in 1974. “The workers ran the garden for about four years. But they were forced to give up after the owners moved the court, arguing that the workers were not legally entitled to run the garden since they do not have a lease over the land,” said Mr. Deb.

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6 EDITORIAL

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2017

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Breathe in the spirit of 1967 Fifty years ago, Dravidian politics triumphed in Tamil Nadu; today it must think nationally

All for one?

Put cricket irst It relects poorly on the BCCI that it has to be forced to name a team for Champions Trophy

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he ICC Champions Trophy may not have the allure of the World Cup or the ICC World Twenty20, but it has its own charm, especially for Indians. For starters, India is the defending champion, having won the last edition in England in 2013. And for nostalgia-seekers, there are those riveting images of Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan’s stunning individual acts against Australia in the quarter-inal at the Gymkhana Club Ground at Nairobi in 2000. Yuvraj slammed 84 runs, Zaheer yorked Steve Waugh, and Indian cricket had two new stars in the new millennium. Seen in that context, it is a travesty that the Board of Control for Cricket in India is now using the Champions Trophy as a bargaining tool with the ICC (International Cricket Council) in a bid to retrieve its earlier proposed governance and revenue model with the parent body. That move had already been scuttled at the ICC meeting in Dubai on April 26 with India being out-voted. Immediately thereafter, BCCI oicials loated the story that India would not participate in the eighth edition of the Champions Trophy in England from June 1 to 18. It was nothing more digniied than a public tantrum that sought to leverage the Indian team’s commercial clout given the viewership size as well as broadcast and advertisement revenues it brings. The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) has consistently maintained that the Indian team would indeed go to England. But the BCCI remained obstinate and refused to heed the ICC-mandated deadline of April 25 for naming the squad for the Champions Trophy. It is poor sportsmanship that of the eight teams, ranging from Australia to Bangladesh, competing in the tournament, it is only India that hasn’t announced the squad yet. Hence it is a matter of relief that in a statement on Thursday the CoA asked acting BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary to select the team. The CoA’s observation was emphatic: “The players’ interests are paramount and they must be given the best chance to prepare for, defend and retain the ICC Champions Trophy.” That it needs the CoA to tell the BCCI to put cricketers and their playing schedule on top of its agenda is a sad commentary on the Board and its priorities. By obfuscating issues and putting out evasive responses that the team had not been selected owing to ‘operational reasons’, BCCI oicials have demonstrated a shocking degree of insensitivity. They have let down the cricketers, who are busy with the Indian Premier League but also have an eye on the Champions Trophy as it kick-starts their international season besides giving them an opportunity to defend their title. Virat Kohli’s men should compete in the tournament, and the faster the BCCI clariies its position and selects the squad, the better it would be for the players and the game.

his year marks the iftieth anniversary of the deining general election of 1967. And it marks, too, the iftieth anniversary of the ascent of the Dravida movement to power in Madras State. Two men, above all others, are the twin heroes of the second anniversary. For his spectacular triumph, C.N. Annadurai of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). For his stunning defeat, K. Kamaraj of the Indian National Congress. If 58-year-old CNA left his impress on 1967 by the grace with which he took his victory, 64-yearold Kamaraj did the same by the dignity with which he accepted his vanquishing. CNA and Kamaraj were very diferent individuals but they shared this in common: both had a presence, they did not seek predominance. Both had strength, neither derived it from oice. In 1967, one came into power without beating any drums, the other left it without beating his chest.

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On a common plinth This year is therefore the golden anniversary of a momentous victory and of a memorable defeat. And, its ‘beauty’ lies in this that, 50 years on, neither CNA nor Kamaraj look like adversaries. In fact, they stand on a common plinth: integrity of purpose, steadfastness of belief, a commitment to their causes as distinct from personal glory. There was a third ‘major’ to the 1967 scene. C. Rajagopalachari was 89 that year, his Swatantra Party was eight. And despite that chrono-

in Madras in 1967. As CNA took the oath of oice administered by the State’s then Governor, Sardar Ujjal Singh (see picture), democratic alternation, democratic variation, came into its own in the Madras of 1967. We commemorate that.

logical oddity, the new party did remarkably well in those elections together with its regional ally, the DMK. Ending Congress Raj, oneparty, one-leader Raj and LicencePermit-Quota Raj at the centre was CR’s goal, ending Congress Raj and installing a Kazhaga government in Madras was that of CNA. Swatantra could not end Congress Raj at the Centre, though it certainly shook it. The DMK ended Congress Raj in the State and took the Dravida ideology, in 1967, from aspiration mode to action mode. In what was seen as a ‘second independence’ for Tamil India, Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, the movement’s founding spirit, saw the beginning of a long-cherished fulilment. As Gandhi and Nehru populated the nationalist imagination, Periyar and Anna actuated the Dravidian. As Phule and Ambedkar ignited the propulsion for a casteless order nationally, Periyar and Anna quickened a vital Tamil tide towards it. What, in this anniversary year, do we commemorate? We commemorate the fact of that change as a major event in itself. With the DMK’s win, one party-ism ended in the State, one political culturism ended. Political hubris lay defeated

All that we celebrate And what do we, this anniversary year, celebrate? We celebrate the fact that with its assumption of ofice in 1967 the Dravida movement turned away, irreversibly, from its original demand of an independent Dravidastan. After 1967, CNA and his DMK were separatists no more; they were ‘former separatists’, participants in a republican citizenship. We celebrate that. But beyond commemorating, celebrating, we need to ask where the Dravidian movement stands today. We need to ask, risking a Wordsworthian cliché: Whither has led Periyar’s visionary gleam, where is it now CNA’s glorious dream? The Dravidian ideology that CNA had inherited from Periyar and which he adapted in 1967 saw the Government of India — the Centre — as central, not supreme. More speciically, it envisaged the following among other goals: the formation

that is Tamil Nadu. In 1967, M. Karunanidhi, M.G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa were 43, 50 and 19, respectively. They did not know then that they would be called upon one day to lead the State. There are, unknown to us, such future leaders in our midst today. If they do not betray the Dravidian movement or Kamaraj’s legacy, they will be true legatees.

A progressive manifesto For the immediate future, irrespective of whether they belong to the DMK, the AIADMK or the Congress, and irrespective of their parties’ antagonisms in the State legislature, Tamil Nadu’s MPs must work in concert in Parliament on matters afecting the interest of religious, linguistic and other minorities, which will be a classically Dravidian ‘thing’ to do. They must oppose, vigorously and uncompromisingly, communal divisiveness and religious intolerance as one bloc which, again, would be very Valluvaresque, Periyar-like and very characteristically a CNA position to adopt. And — a new thought — they must work on and propose a plan for the protection of endangered ecosystems including, particularly, sites in which vulnerable populations live, across the country, as a Dravidian perspective for helping the marginalised. The Dravidian movement cannot be allowed to become a chapter in history books. Not because that movement is hankering for a life beyond its natural span but because we, as a nation and a peoplehood, cannot aford to squander such a bequest.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi is a former administrator, diplomat and Governor

When mainstream politicians tinker, populists win Sunday’s presidential election in France explains everything that’s wrong with established political parties

tabish khair

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he opponents of Brexit, Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen are often more disappointing than their supporters. It is simply tiring to keep reading articles and “surveys” blaming the rise of such politicians and movements on racism, sexism, and xenophobia. Yes, it is true that racism, sexism and xenophobia have played a role, but they do not explain why such politicians are actually winning now. That is so because the base — maximum 20% in any country — that votes on a consistently racist, sexist or xenophobic platform is not suicient to carry an election. In order to win, such politicians have to buttress their captive constituencies with at least another 10% votes. These 10% extra voters are not driven by racism, sexism or xenophobia; they are driven by the failure of mainstream politicians to address their problems. Actually, the failure is greater: most mainstream Western politicians are not even willing to face the source of such problems headon. At best, they poke a inger in

The French elections If Brexit and Mr. Trump’s victory did not make this clear enough — by winning without any real idea or solution, but simply by suggesting a drastic change — then the irst round of the French presidential elections should have. Regardless of who wins the second round on Sunday, the two candidates who survived were the ones who managed to sell themselves as “outsiders” — one by banging on a populist rightist drum, the other by cleverly disassociating himself from all established parties while running on an establishment platform. Marine Le Pen is almost as limited in terms of policy as the Brexit champions in the United Kingdom or Donald Trump: she can focus on the huge surcharge of grievances running through the electorate but ofer very little in constructive, practical, cohesive change. This does not matter, however, as she makes exactly the noises that the Brexit champions and Mr. Trump made: noises against the status quo, promises of signiicant change. So desperate are many

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Clean, cleaner, cleanest Do we really need governmental rankings, often based on unreliable data, to ind how dirty our towns are? Is it not obvious to us? For instance, one can have a chuckle about a result that shows Indore of all the places ranked higher than Chandigarh as far as cleanliness is concerned (“Indore is the most Swachh city, Gonda the dirtiest”, May 5). However, I must say that we, as Indians, are responsible for the failure of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a well-intended venture. It is not that we are unable to deliver good results. We allow our surroundings to become places of ilth as our educational system does not focus on hygienic living. At a general level, we can promote cleanliness if we tackle the problem sensibly, without involving a corrupt administration. For instance, while on a visit to Amritsar from Chandigarh by train, I found two meticulously clean spots: the Golden Temple and a small rail station on the way named Beas. Incidentally,

nomenon, which is the political distrust of voters who are not primarily motivated by such prejudices. Oh yes, they also chant “fascism” — which is of-key too, for fascism is a danger but only because the established tinkerers of contemporary politics have left people so desperate for change that they can vote in any populist who promises it to them!

one of the holes of a dam that is leaking all over the place! They tinker, and voters are tired of tinkerers. This also explains their suspicion of “experts” who tend to advise the turning of a screw a bit to this side or a bit to that.

AFP

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hat opposition parties have begun talks on putting up a common candidate in the presidential election suggests they think they may be able to pressure the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to settle for a consensus candidate as India’s next President. Over the last three years, the Narendra Modi government has shown no inclination to be accommodative of the opposition’s views, either in formulating legislation or in framing policies. A relection of this is the strategy of bypassing the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP-led coalition is in a minority, by disguising important pieces of legislation as money bills. Thus, rather than wait in the possibly false hope that the BJP may opt for a consensus candidate for President, the Congress has decided to initiate talks with other parties on ielding a common candidate. After the election of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2002, when major parties barring the Left were agreed on the choice, India has not had an apolitical presidential candidate acceptable to both the Congress and the BJP. Mr. Kalam, while accepting the BJP’s nomination, had wanted to be an all-party candidate, and the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had spoken to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the ruling combine’s choice. Both Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee were Congress politicians and the BJP ielded candidates against them. In all likelihood, the BJP will have its own candidate without following Mr. Vajpayee’s consensus-building approach. Of course, unlike in 2002, when it had less than 200 MPs in the Lok Sabha and was out of power in a large number of States, the BJP is now in an enviable position. The election is for it to lose. Although the odds are heavily stacked against an opposition victory, the BJP is slightly short of a majority, leaving a small window of opportunity for the former. Ms. Gandhi has already begun talks with leaders of parties such as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the CPI, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, and the Nationalist Congress Party, all of which have fought with the Congress as an ally in past Assembly elections. Parties such as the Biju Janata Dal may not feel compelled to join the opposition bandwagon, but the Congress might have better luck with the Trinamool Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party, though they too are not allies. In Tamil Nadu, the ruling AIADMK faction is ill-disposed toward the BJP, and the Congress might stand a chance in enlisting its support; the opposition DMK is in any case a staunch ally at this point, and is likely to back its choice. Clearly, the onus is on the Congress to ind a candidate who is acceptable to such a wide spectrum of parties. The name of Vice-President Hamid Ansari would have suggested itself, but the Congress will be forced to do what the BJP is unlikely to do: build a consensus with an open mind.

gopalkrishna gandhi THE HINDU PHOTO ARCHIVES

Congress will need to reach out to friends and foes to make a contest of the presidential poll

and empowerment of an InterState Council as a token of its respecting of variations in the political choices of States. The movement was not meant to be conined to the political see-saw in Tamil Nadu. And had CNA lived into the 1980s, the Dravidian movement’s tenets would, I believe, have found national application. His death in 1969 followed by the split in his party in 1972 was a tragedy for the Dravidian movement, a deprivation for the State and a long-term enervation for the country. The coiling up of the movement into a series of internal power struggles, turning into schismatic power tussles and then breaking up into self-atomising power squabbles is a matter for lamentation, no less. Likewise, had Kamaraj lived into the 1980s and been at his party’s helm, he would have helped it to see that federalism is not just a Tamil need but a national one with, for instance, deep and deepening resonances in our Northeast and in Jammu and Kashmir. If the Dravidian movement has sufered a weakening, so has the Congress ethos of yore. The Congress has been bereft for as many years as Kamaraj has been gone. India in 2017 needs the 1967 opposition to one-party, one-leader raj, the 1967 dismissal of northcentrism, the 1967 espousal of federalism. It needs the 1967 example of a politics in which ideas, not egos, are at work. It needs the 1967 model of strategic alliances for secularism, for pluralism, for federalism. On the iftieth anniversary of the 1967 election, we miss the verve of the one whom 1967 made victorious, we miss the veracity of the one whom 1967 vanquished. And yet we cannot, must not despair for the precocious State

people for drastic change that they buy these noises. Interestingly, so desperate are many people for major change that they even bought noises made by Emmanuel Macron, the other successful candidate from the irst round, noises basically no diferent from those of mainstream around-the-centre politicians for three decades now — simply because he managed to relaunch himself at the head of a fresh movement, with no traditional party ties. Faced with such sweeping distrust and dissatisfaction, centrists, liberals and leftists seem to have no answer but to chant the mantra of “racism, sexism, xenophobia”. It is a mantra that is based on a ground reality — there is a base of voters with such prejudices — but it does not explain the main phe-

Creating inance capital At the core of this distrust of tinkering politicians and their experts lies a very basic fact: inance capital is out of control and most politicians are unwilling to face up to it. What the well-meaning ones do is tinker with a huge and leaking dam, which prevents a deluge but nevertheless slowly swamps the lives of many ordinary people. Finally, politicians are unwilling to do their jobs — which is to represent and enable their voters, not to facilitate neo-liberalism. Moral politicians talk of how immigrants are good for the national economy; immoral ones want refugees booted out. But both, in diferent ways, inally tax their voters to keep corporations and banks running; they inevitably convert a bit more of social capital into inance capital. The infrastructural cuts and frustration that this causes ordinary citizens are converted into xenophobic sentiments, for lack of any other target. Sad to say, but

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is as much part of this problem as Mr. Trump. The fact that voters actually vote for someone like Mr. Trump — who is not even willing to try and assuage some of the sufering, as Ms. Merkel is — shows the suspicion and despair out there. Where are the politicians who can take on neo-liberalism and inance capital, and its pillage of citizens and immigrants alike? Where are the politicians who are even trying to make voters see the real conditions of their increasing poverty? By simply tinkering with a rotten system, they make it possible for even a leader like Mr. Trump, who is the very epitome of that system, to assume power. The failure is not that of voters. The failure is of politicians who have become simply managers — and junior-level ones at that — of capital! They are not doing their jobs, and when the ordinary voter casts her ballot for someone like Mr. Trump, who is part of the problem rather than the solution, she does so out of desperation more often than out of prejudice. Unable to comprehend the system that is grinding her down, she can nevertheless feel — deep in her bones — that establishment politicians have failed her. And will fail her again. Tabish Khair is an Indian novelist and academic who teaches in Denmark

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

both places are well maintained by devotees. Balvinder Singh, Chandigarh

■ More than undertaking coherent measures, changing people’s mentality is the key to any programme’s success. Our lack of civic sense is why we keep blaming government/ municipal authorities for problems. It stems from expecting these authorities to always bear the responsibility of keeping our surroundings clean. Civic sense should be imbibed in children at a formative age. They should also be taught about the importance of cleanliness and hygiene. Spitting on roads and littering in public places should be discouraged by constantly educating the public. One of the main causes for the spread of various diseases in urban areas is due to the large accumulation of ilth.

High Court judgment will act as morale booster to thousands of human rights activists and people who ight against the deadly virus called communalism (“HC upholds life for 11 in Bilkis Bano case”, May 5). Two things need to be stated. One is state patronage of the accused, which has emboldened criminals to go to any extreme. The assumption of ‘national power’ by these very same forces has created a similar situation across the country. The judgment might help in arresting such a trend. The intolerant nature of these extreme forces is slowly becoming a formal way of thinking of society as a whole. This will lead to a breakdown of the rule of law. The court’s stance should now help in social activism against such brutal acts and ensuring that the rule of law applies to all.

Slow-moving justice Though late, the Bombay

N. Visveswaran, Chennai

K. Baskar,

In India, a judgment takes a long time to be delivered. Where does the mistake lie? Cases are often stretched, making their way from lower courts to the Supreme Court. In the Bilkis Bano case, for example, a separate panel of investigating teams should have been made available to do the work of the judges and help them collect evidence. In cases involving heinous crimes, there is a more urgent need to ensure that the victim gets justice in quick time.

Chennai

T.S.N. Rao,

■

Bheemavaram, Andhra Pradesh

Veena Shenoy, Thane, Maharashtra

down to the fact that courts are overloaded with pending cases. There is a danger that lawed judgments may lead to a miscarriage of justice in many cases. Vacancies need to be illed up and all manpower needs addressed.

It is a pity and the stark truth that in Indian courts, the wheels of justice take a long time to move. It all boils ■

Kerala, then and now Today, there is little to choose between the policies

and programmes of the LDF and the UDF in Kerala (“A non-state view of Kerala”, May 5). Liberalisation imposed serious limitations on the Communist parties in charting out a qualitatively diferent trajectory as they did in the 1950s. The fall of the Soviet Union shook their ideological conidence. Instead of rethinking their approach to make themselves relevant, they too joined the bandwagon of ‘there is no alternative’ and started following neoliberal policies notwithstanding the occasional noises made against imperialism and inance capital. Manohar Alembath, Kannur, Kerala

■ The two milestones in Kerala’s 60-year history that had a profound impact on the social and economic milieu were the revolutionary land reforms through the Kerala Agrarian Relations Bill and the Gulf boom. Land reforms were at best a half-baked legislation where ownership of land was not

passed to agricultural labourers but from landlords to middle-level landholders creating a set of small-time landlords. The Gulf boom alienated the common man from agriculture for want of adequate manual labourers. Ayyasseri Raveendran, Aranmula, Kerala

Ties with Ankara It is foolhardy on India’s part to expect any bonhomie from Turkey (“The long arc to Ankara”, May 5). India’s close ties with Russia along with its warmth towards the Cyprus President, and Vice President Hamid Ansari’s visit to Armenia are sure to discomfort Turkey. Religious ties are strong parameters in West Asia and matter more than strategic and economic concerns. The conditions attached by Turkey to support India’s membership of the NSG should point to how fragile Indo-Turkey ties are. Shivam Dwivedi, Lucknow

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

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THE HINDU

GROUND ZERO 7

NOIDA/DELHI

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2017

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The sun has barely risen but the Chenchu men and women along with their children are out on a long trek, one which will take them deep into the Nallamala forest along the Eastern Ghats, in search of leaves, tubers, roots, soapberries, honey and gum. Waving a branch of the Devadari kura (Cedrus deodara or native cedar) plant, the lean and wiry Udumula Anjaiah suddenly shouts out as he chances upon the wonder plant — its leaves, when consumed after being crushed into a paste, are believed to ward off liver, urinary and respiratory infections and gastric ulcers.

Forests as a lifeline Before heading off to the forest, the Telugu-speaking food gatherers and hunters of the Nallamala hill range will have a brunch which is a cocktail of curries made of leaves and fruits, mainly custard apple and gardenia which are found in plenty here. Armed with an axe and a bow and arrows for “self defence”, as Bhumani Ankanna puts it, they will set out along with their pet dogs for company on an arduous journey undeterred by the tough terrain in search of a variety of minor forest produce, their lifeline. Somewhere along the way, prayers will be offered to Malalamma Vana Devatha (the goddess of honey) before Anjaiah and his children collect the honey from a variety of sources like ‘Pedda pera’ (which means big tree) and ‘Junna’ (trees and shrubs). “We trace honeycombs just by observing the movements of the bees,” says Damsani Guruvaiah. They brew their own liquor “Thummachakka” with acacia bark, mahua flower and jaggery, which is consumed after a hunt. For Anjaiah, Ankanna and Guruvaiah, living deep inside the dense Nallamala forest which also happens to host India’s largest tiger reserve, the 3,728-sq.-km Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR), this has been their daily grind for as long as they can remember. But that is now shrouded in uncertainty following a recent order from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). The order of March 28 read: “in the absence of guidelines for notification of critical wildlife habitats, no rights shall be conferred in Critical Tiger Habitats (CTH) which is notified under section 38 V (4) (i), of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.” What this means is the Chenchus will no longer be able to claim Nallamala as their home. It also means living in a red zone of man-animal conflict with an inviolate space for the tiger and virtually no place for Chenchus who ironically are counted among the oldest aboriginals of south India and have lived in the Nallamala hill range for hundreds of years. In the skewed tiger versus tribals debate now rekindled, will the Chenchus lose out again? Will they be edged out of the CTH and thrown into the plains in the name of rehabilitation? And what will happen to those who were already given land rights in the Nallamala forest? The order has come at a time when the Chenchus thought the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 — commonly called the Forest Rights Act or FRA — had come as a huge relief providing them the forest land rights they deserved and waited for so long. Around 1,502 Chenchu families got rights over forest land spanning 5,700 acres in Prakasam district, with corresponding figures for Kurnool and Guntur being 443 families and 1,250 acres and 149 families and 452 acres respectively. Displaced from their habitat Not long ago, between 1990 and 2006 the Chenchus were caught in the crossfire between Maoists and Greyhounds, the elite anti-Naxal force of the Andhra Pradesh police. With the Maoists shifting base to Chhattisgarh and the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border, and just when the Chenchus heaved a sigh of relief, the recent NTCA order puts them into yet another uncertain phase. “We have lived in the forests for generations. Show us one example of a Chenchu killing a tiger. In fact, we protect them from poachers. Nor were there many cases of tigers attacking us. Our paths cross but we respect each other. We share the resources. But the Forest Department treats us as enemies of the tiger and wildlife and not as protectors. They want to relocate us in faraway plains where we will be like fish out of water. Neither do we have the skills to cope in the plains nor can we return to the forest. We will simply wilt away,” laments Dasari Bayanna, a Chenchu tribesman. Bayanna’s family has been pulled out

In the crosshairs: “Not long ago, the Chenchus were caught in the crossire between Maoists and the anti-Naxal force of the Andhra Pradesh police. The recent National Tiger Conservation Authority order puts them into yet another uncertain phase.” V. RAJU *

Forced out of the forest For the Chenchus, the Nallamala forest is their home. Not any longer after a National Tiger Conservation Authority order stripped them of their rights in a bid to fortify India’s largest tiger reserve. K. Venkateshwarlu and S. Murali report chus as tiger protection watchers all round the year and 200 more as forest fire watchers for six months.”

of Maripalem in Prakasam district and relocated 35 km away in Sundaraiah Chenchu Colony in Pedda Dornala where he ended up as a daily wage labourer. Whenever he does not find work, he journeys back to his forest home. A similar narrative is shared by other tribesmen who were forced out of forests to the plains. S. Sravanan, Field Director, NSTR, denies coercion and spells out the process of rehabilitation. “It may just be their fears. We are not forcing any Chenchu even out of the core area. There is a process and a monetary package for relocation and we give options to them. And it is purely voluntary and only after all Chenchus in a particular gudem (village) have given their consent.” Asked about the impact of the NTCA order, Sravanan says, “We have to wait and see what will happen to the pending claims now. There is no conflict between tiger protection and Chenchus in NSTR. Chenchus live in coexistence here and in fact we deploy 200 Chen-

“The rehabilitation policy envisages concrete one-room tenements replacing the traditional conical bamboo and thatch huts.”

Cohabitation or relocation? How much space within the forest should be left for tigers and the indigenous tribes like Chenchus? There is no reconciliation yet with Forest Department and wildlife conservationists sticking to the argument that tigers require an exclusive protection zone while the supporters of tribal rights favour them staying within the tiger habitat. The NTSR has a core area of 2,444 sq. km and a buffer zone of 1,283 sq. km. The ‘Status of tigers in India, 2014’ report released by the NTCA put the tiger population in the reserve at 65, the tiger density being 1.9 tigers per 100 sq. km. On the other hand, Census 2011 puts the Chenchu population at 64,227 in habitations spread over five districts, three in Andhra Pradesh (Prakasam, Guntur and Kurnool) and two in Telangana (Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda). The gender break-up is 32,196 males and 32,031 females, the child sex ratio is 988/1000 and literacy is 40.6%, (47.3% among males, 34% among females). However crude this may sound, it is pitting 65 tigers against 64,000 Chenchus living in CTHs or core areas and the abutting buffer zone. In any case, Survival International, a global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, reported in December 2015 that tiger numbers have increased rapidly in the first tiger reserve in India where local tribes (the Soligas in this case) have won the right to stay inside, the Biligiriranganatha Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary or BRT Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka. The tiger population doubled between 2010 and 2014 from 35 to 68. This increase is far higher than the national rate at which the tiger population is growing. Many like the environmental NGO Kalpavriksh see the NTCA order as a direct violation of the Forest Rights Act and a conspiracy to stop implementation of the FRA in tiger reserves thereby denying forest rights to a large population of Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) living in these reserves. The FRA clearly defines ‘forest land’ under Section 2 (d) to mean forests of all categories including the protected areas such as Wildlife Sanctuaries, National Parks and Tiger Reserves. Section 4 (1) provides for recognition and vesting of all kinds of forest rights of STs and OTFDs as mentioned in section 3 notwithstanding anything contained in any other laws for the time being in force. Further, Section 4 (2) re-

quires recognition and vesting of rights in critical wildlife habitats and similarly Section 38 V of the Wild Life Protection (Amendment) Act of 2006 mandates recognition and vesting of rights of STs and OTFDs in the critical tiger habitats. Therefore, the NTCA order has no legal basis and is seemingly aimed at obstructing implementation of the FRA in the tiger reserves.

The Chenchu way of life Driving through the vast expanse of undisturbed Nallamala forest, a landscape characterised by tropical dry deciduous scrub punctuated by trees of axlewood, teak, hardwickia, one wonders how this tribe, with a majority of them still cut off from modern life, sustains itself. Some answers can be found in The Chenchus: Jungle Folk of the Deccan by the legendary Austrian anthropologist Christoph von Furer-Haimendorf, who stayed in Chenchu gudems in the early 1940s. Chenchus take pride in describing themselves as children of the Nallamala forest. Besides hunting with bows and arrows, they live off forest produce and also sell it to the Girijan Co-operative Corporation, set up in 1956 to support economic empowerment of tribals. At the Chintala Girijan cooperative outlet located on the edge of Nallamala forest, Chenchus travel 5 km from Maripalem and wait for their turn to sell roots, tubers and oilseed. Artha Venkatesan brings 10 kg of kukadu (tuber) and gets ₹120 for it at ₹12 a kilo. Bhumani Anjaneyulu gets ₹54 for three kg of kanuga (oilseed). Sustaining a family on this meagre amount is tough. Carrying an axe and a bow and arrows, Pulicherla Guruvaiah and his wife trek 20 km into the jungle from Chinnarutla and stay put in the forest for four days collecting roots, tubers and gum which they sell at the Girijan cooperative. For their efforts, they get ₹800! The fact that Chenchus enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the Nallamala was recognised early by the British, who controlled the southern part (now Andhra Pradesh) and gave them rights not just to stay inside the forest but also

want to relocate us in < > They faraway plains where we will be like ish out of water. Neither do we have the skills to cope in the plains nor can we return to the forest. We will simply wilt away. Dasari Bayanna, Chenchu tribesman

“The fact that Chenchus enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the Nallamala was recognised early by the British, who gave them rights not just to stay inside the forest but also do subsistence farming and grazing.” Some members of the tribe with forest produce, at Chinnarutla village in Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh.

do subsistence farming and grazing. The northern part (now Telangana) was under the Nizams of Hyderabad, who maintained the forest as a hunting reserve for the nobility and royal guests. “Everyone talks about tigers but not many about us,” laments Bayanna. Itinerant and nomadic as they are, adjusting is a nightmare for the Chenchus. “These rehabilitation colonies have turned out to be ghettos where one can see poverty, disease and squalor,” says M. Sambasiva Rao of Banjara Development Society that has been working for the welfare of Chenchus for over decades now. “A perusal of the enquiry reports prepared during colonial rule shows that the British had a better understanding of the Chenchus, their living conditions and their dependence on forests. The reports speak of how Chenchus will be exterminated if they are moved out of the forests, and also tigers and other wild animals as there would be no natural guard to protect the forest,” Rao says.

Marginalisation at the margins “We feel threatened in our own habitat, not by the big cats but by the government policies,” says Bhumani Edanna, whose family is among the few hundred tribal families still clinging on to their natural habitat. They have refused to move out to the plains as suggested by the State government, to Shanti Nagar and Gandhi Nagar near Yerragondapalem in Prakasam district where over 200 tribal families have been resettled

by the authorities on the pretext of ensuring them a better life and leaving undisturbed the reserve forests. The rehabilitation policy envisages concrete one-room tenements replacing the traditional conical bamboo and thatch huts. Internal roads, drinking water supply, education and health-care facilities have been provided in at least some of these colonies but no new or alternative sources of livelihood have been concretely proposed. On top of this is a health emergency that stares these tribals in the face, with a plethora of diseases ranging from anaemia to tuberculosis and high infant and maternal mortality rates and malnutrition. The results of a recent ( July 2016) study on Chenchus by Sujith Kumar S. Dondapati and Keerthimayee Karimaddela in Velugodu revenue mandal of Kurnool district showed that 72% of them were illiterate, 40% earned their livelihood by collecting non-timber forest produce, and 59% per cent of under-five and 30% of school-going children and adolescents and 60% of adults were undernourished. Since 2006, with the notification of the FRA, only 5,000 out of the 64,000odd Chenchus have secured forest rights including land for cultivation. In the past, whenever they were relocated from the core area or from deep inside the forest to the plains with the promise of a better life, the story rarely had a happy ending. As tiger conservation assumes an extreme avatar with the March NTCA order, there’s little chance of a twist in the tale.

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8 NEWS

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2017

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FROM PAGE ONE

Space bonding hits new highs Soon after it was released from the last stage of the rocket, GSAT-9's two solar arrays opened out automatically and its engineers at the MCF took charge of the satellite. It will start working after all its instruments are switched on and tested in the coming days.

Common goals Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted the launch immediately. He congratulated ISRO on achieving a flawless lift-off and said the launch fulfills India’s promise of July 2014 of a regional satellite. “With this launch we have started a journey to build the most advanced frontier of our partnership. With its position high in the sky, this symbol of South Asian cooperation would meet the aspirations of economic progress of more than 1.5 billion people in our region and extend our close links into outer space.”

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, The Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, along with India, “will together achieve effective communication; better governance, better banking and better education in remote areas;more predictable weather forecasting, land monitoring and efficient resource mapping; linking people with top end medical services through tele-medicine; and a quick response to natural disasters.” Apart from Dr. Ghani, Sheikh Hasina Wazed of Bangladesh; Tshering Tobgay of Bhutan; and Pushpa Kamal Dahal of Nepal; and Presidents Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom of The Maldives and Maithripala Sirisena of Sri Lanka took part in the teleconference. Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari congratulated the space agency on the launch and enabling cooperation through space.

Government notiies draft ‘no ly’ rules “Such names will be forwarded to the individuals by the airlines indicating the reasons for inclusion of their names in the National NoFly List,” the official statement said.

Reviewed by panel The airline can impose an immediate ban on passengers for unruly behaviour. All airlines need to form an internal committee consisting of a retired District and Sessions Judge, a representative of different airline and a representative of passengers' association or a consumer forum member. This committee will be mandated to take a decision on the level of ban to be imposed by the airline within ten days of receiving a complaint. Passengers can appeal this ban to the government which will set up an appellate committee comprising of a retired judge of a High Court, a representative of passenger association or consumer forum and a highlevel airline executive. The passenger will not face a blanket ban by all airlines; however, the Centre

has proposed empowering other airlines to also impose a similar ban on the passenger imposed by one airline. “The airlines can ban a passenger immediately for unruly behaviour. However, the process of appeal has to be completed within 10 days of the ban,” Civil Aviation secretary R.N. Choubey said, adding that other airlines can also use the No-Fly List to ban the passenger. “Passengers who become a part of the National No-Fly List after being identified as a threat by security agencies will not be able to appeal the decision under this civil aviation regulation,” Mr. Choubey said.

Recent events The need for a National NoFly List emerged after government identified certain loopholes in current regulations through which Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad was recently banned by all domestic airlines for his alleged manhandling of an Air India staffer in March. The airlines had withdrawn the two weeks ban, following a directive from the government.

Kerala scrambles to reinstate Senkumar

‘Neutral parties’ in demand Ahead of Presidential elections, Opposition looks at boosting numbers New Delhi

Opposition parties that have come together to try and field a common candidate for the presidential polls are now looking at “neutral parties” to boost their numbers. They are working to see if they can close the shortfall of approximately 20,000 votes that the BJP-led NDA needs to win the elections. These Opposition parties, top sources said, is particularly looking at the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) that has till recently said it was equidistant from the BJP and the Congress, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), and the YSR Congress that are not part of either alliance.

In broad agreement To this end, on Thursday, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury met Odisha Chief Minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar. While Mr. Patnaik did not give a direct answer, he was “in broad agreement with the idea of (fielding) a secular candid-

by the Apex court. It has sought legal counsel on both the issues. Meanwhile, the government has implemented the mass transfer of over 100 DySPs on the eve of Mr. Senkumar’s impending reinstatement, a move seen by many in the force as unprecedented in scale. It had on Thursday had restructured police administration by bringing it under ADGP Tomin Thachankery and IG Balaramkumar Upadhyaya. The actions have raised eyebrows and many senior officials viewed it as “somehow” linked to Mr. Senkumar’s reinstatement, a charge denied by the government as mere speculation.

Press Trust of India Lucknow

Course of action: CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury with Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Samajwadi Party (SP) is ready to support any secular alliance for the presidential poll, party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Friday. “If there is any secular alliance [for the presidential poll], my party will support it.”

*

ate”, CPI-M sources said. Later, BJD MP Tathagatha Sathapathy told The Hindu, “Personally, I would not like to support a BJP-backed nominee for President but I don’t know yet the thinking in the party.” The BJD’s concern has grown ever since the BJP displaced the Congress as the No. 2 party in Odisha after the recent panchayat polls in the State. Last month in New Delhi, to a question on the presidential elections, Mr. Patnaik had pointed out that last time, he had proposed the

name of former Lok Sabha Speaker P. Sangma: “He was the BJD candidate then.” For this election however, he said, “Let us see who the candidates are this time.” Mr. Yechury will soon be talking to the YSR Congress and the DMK. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and CPI chief S. Sudhakar Reddy have been in touch with TRS leader K. Keshava Rao. However, TRS MP Jithender Reddy told The Hindu, “We will take an issue-based decision that will take into account the welfare of Telan-

gana. As of now, we are neutral.” The Trinamool Congress has not been spoken to but a senior party MP said, “The mood in the party is to join hands with the Opposition parties to field a common candidate.” The Opposition strategy appears to be to call a meeting closer to the notification for the presidential poll that will be announced in mid-June. This will be after achieving a broad consensus among all secular anti-BJP parties, followed by an effort to rope in the “neutral” parties.

Taking both space diplomacy and India’s outreach to the neighbours into a “new orbit”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a unique joint videoconference of the leaders of all SAARC countries, apart from Pakistan who had declined to join the South Asia satellite programme, shortly after the successful launch of the GSLV GSAT 9. “The South Asia satellite demonstrates that our collective choices for our citizens will bring us together for cooperation, not conflict; development, not destruc-

tion; and prosperity, not poverty,” Mr. Modi told the leaders during the videoconference, including Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutan PM Tshering Tobgay, Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena. Ambassadors of all six nations were also invited to witness the lift-off at ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The videoconference, which had not been declared prior to the event, was an-

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is planning to celebrate the 93rd birthday of its leader M. Karunanidhi on June 3 in a big way in Chennai, using the occasion to bring together frontline opposition leaders onto one platform. The host, Mr. Karunanidhi’s son and working president of the DMK M.K. Stalin hopes, political sources said, the event will not just give a fillip to his party in Tamil Nadu during a turbulent political period in the State, but further ongoing efforts to take opposition unity forward. On Friday evening, DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, accompanied by Janata DalUnited ( JD-U) MP K.C. Tyagi, returned from Patna where they had travelled to personally hand over Mr. Stalin’s invitation to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. “It was a very cordial meeting with Nitishji in Patna, and he has agreed to

M. Karunanidhi go to Chennai on June 3,” Mr. Tyagi said, adding, “Nitishji has had a long relationship with Karunanidhiji from the late 1980s.” There was also some discussion with Ms. Kanimozhi on fielding a common candidate for the presidential polls. On Saturday, Ms Kanimozhi is scheduled to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi to extend a similar invitation to her. Communist Party of India-Marxist’s (CPI-M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Communist Party of India’s (CPI) D. Raja have already accepted invitations, these sources said.

Students hold demonstrations and resort to stone throwing against the eight-hour crackdown

Special Correspondent

Peerzada Ashiq

New Delhi

Srinagar

In the backdrop of deteriorating security situation in Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Friday. According to sources, the prevailing situation and the continuing unrest were discussed in the meeting at the PM’s office. Mr. Vohra had met Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday. The violence reached a new high this week, both in south Kashmir and along the LoC, with bank robberies reportedly resulting in deaths of policemen. Following this, the Army launched an eight-hour long combing operation in Shopian involving over 3,000 security personnel on Thursday. Later in the day, militants attacked the Army, injuring three personnel.

Sporadic protests broke out in parts of the Kashmir Valley on Friday over the eighthour are dominance exercise in Shopian by security forces and the treatment of students by the police during a raid last month on a college in Pulwama. Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was allowed to lead Friday prayers at historic Jamia Masjid, held a demonstration after the prayers.

‘Police state’ “Kashmir virtually has been turned into a police state. All spaces have been choked. Even students are not allowed to put forth their point peacefully,” said the Mirwaiz. Later, protesters clashed with security forces. In north Kashmir’s Sopore, students and local youth resorted to stone throwing and took out a pro-

‘Stop airing Saudi, Pak. channels’ Press Trust of India New Delhi

Taking aim: A CRPF jawan uses sling shot during clashes in Srinagar on Friday.

cession. The demonstration took place despite the authorities suspending classes at three volatile educational institutions in the district.

Complete shutdown In south Kashmir’s Shopian district a complete shutdown was observed against the

killing of Nazir Sheikh by militants while he was ferrying soldiers in his private vehicle on Thursday evening. National Conference (NC) described the Shopian operation as a “clear indication of an unofficial military rule being invoked in the Valley”. “Return of such opera-

SC slaps ine on Kerala govt. Notice against Chief Secretary for not issuing orders re-appointing Senkumar NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Friday slapped ₹25,000 costs on the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government for seeking modification of the court’s judgment reinstating T.P. Senkumar as Kerala police chief. In its clarification, the State took the plea that Mr. Senkumar was never appointed the ‘State Police Chief ’ and was only designated as the ‘Head of Police Force’. “This is in extremely bad taste. You never made these arguments before in this court and now you have come with this?” a Bench led by Justice Madan B. Lokur asked Kerala counsel. When the government attempted to withdraw the ap-

plication to save itself from costs, the Bench said it would still have to pay the costs even after withdrawing.

‘Mala fide intentions’ Making matters worse for the State, the court observed that it was now left with no doubt whatsoever that the removal of Mr. Senkumar was done with “mala fide intentions”. The State had submitted that the ‘State Police Chief ’ was a distinct and separate post under Section 18 of the Kerala Police Act of 2011. Mr. Senkumar was appointed on May 22, 2015 as ‘Director General of Police and Head of Police Force’. The Bench, however, issued notice on a separate

T.P. Senkumar

contempt of court petition filed by Mr. Senkumar, through his counsel Haris Beeran, against the State’s Chief Secretary, Nalini Netto, for not issuing the official orders re-appointing him to the helm of the police force. Mr. Senkumar termed Ms. Netto’s alleged reluctance to

issue orders to reinstate him “wilful and deliberate disobedience” of the SC. He said Ms. Netto was the “primary component,” which led to his ouster on June 1, 2016. Ms. Netto had “created” the reasons for his removal, and now wanted to circumvent or at least delay his reinstatement, he alleged. The SC, in a detailed judgment on April 24, had found the Kerala government’s decision to remove him on the ground of poor performance as DGP, especially in the aftermath of the Puttingal temple fire tragedy and the Jisha murder case, to be arbitrary, unsubstantiated and unfair. The judgment served a blow to the Vijayan government.

Prime Minister hosts a surprise ‘mini-SAARC summit’ via videoconferencing after GSLV launch Suhasini Haidar

Smita Gupta NEW DELHI

Shopian siege sparks protests in Valley

South Asian leaders thank Modi for gifting satellite NEW DELHI

Personal invitations to key leaders

Governor meets Modi amid unrest

Krishnadas Rajagopal

The Opposition in Kerala charged that the government’s “machinations” were tantamount to stalling for time and reflected an “arrogant disdain for the rule of law”. The government had repeatedly maintained that the“processes” to reinstate Mr. Senkumar as SPC had begun in earnest and that it required time to weigh certain pertinent legal and administrative concerns, including the future status of other ranking officers . The government’s “last minute” action apparently reflected its haste to save itself from being held in contempt by the Supreme Court and escape the ignominy of paying the “cost” imposed

SP to support secular alliance

Smita Gupta

DMK plans a ‘unifying’ birthday for patriarch

India for its technological success as well as Mr. Modi for turning his “vision to reality” by seeing the ₹450crore launch through.

Space boon: GSAT-9 onboard GSLV-F09 lifts of from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Friday. PTI *

nounced by Mr. Modi as a “surprise”, barely moments after he congratulated ISRO scientists for the successful launch on twitter. “The sup-

port and presence of these leaders will add even more joy in the hearts & minds of our region,” Mr. Modi said. The leaders congratulated

‘Historic moment’ “I am grateful to PM Modi and the people of India for the very special gift to the South Asian region and compliment the PM and India’s visionary ‘Neighbourhood first’ policy,” said Maldivian President Yameen. “The launch is historic as this is the first time a country has launched a satellite for the free use of its neighbours,” added Bhutan PM Tobgay. The Nepal Prime Minister

particularly noted the satellite’s role in developing communications in his country’s mountainous and remote areas. Both Ms. Hasina and Mr. Sirisena also praised the potential uses of the GSLV GSAT 9 in meeting developmental needs. Mr. Modi had proposed the plan for the shared satellite during the SAARC summit in Kathmandu in 2014. Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nafees Zakaria said the country was initially “keen to participate in the project” but claimed “India was not willing to develop the project on a collaborative basis”.

*

NISSAR AHMAD

tions after nearly 15 years is another low for the PDP-led government,” said NC spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu. CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said the Shopian crackdown “was not a proper response to the emerging situation”.

The Centre on Friday asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to take immediate steps to stop the unauthorised broadcast of Pakistani and Saudi Arabian channels in the State. Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu spoke with the State chief secretary and sought a compliance report at the earliest, official sources said here. Earlier in the day, Mr. Naidu’s deputy in the Ministry, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, said the local administration in the State had the right to confiscate the equipment of cable operators allegedly airing unauthorised channels.

Shivpal announces ‘secular morcha’ Family feud to the fore again in SP Omar Rashid LUCKNOW

The feud in the Samajwadi Party’s Yadav family surfaced again on Friday with senior leader Shivpal Yadav announcing that a “secular morcha” will be formed under the leadership of his elder brother and founder of the party Mulayam Singh. “A secular morcha will be formed for social justice. And Netaji [Mulayam] will be its national president,” Shivpal told reporters after a meeting with Mr. Singh in Etawah. Shivpal’s statement comes days after he handed an ultimatum to his nephew and SP president Akhilesh Yadav to hand over the top post of the party to his father Mulayam within three months of the election. While making the announcement, Shivpal, however, was vague. He did not mention if it amounted to his forming a separate party or merely a front within the party.

To unite socialists Later, speaking to a Hindi news channel over telephone, Shivpal reportedly said the morcha would bring all socialists and secular people under one roof. “Will bring together all the scattered socialists under Mulayam. We are in touch with some leaders.” The morcha would work to strengthen the SP and no strategy had yet been formed on fighting elections, he said. ‘Shivpal confused’ SP Rajya Sabha member

bring together < > Will all the scattered socialists under Mulayam Shivpal Yadav SP leader

Naresh Agarwal hit out at Shivpal, saying if he wanted to form a morcha, he should resign from the SP first. “Shivpal is confused. He does not know what he wants,” a television channel quoted Mr. Agarwal as saying.

Jibe at uncle Akhilesh welcomed the idea of a secular front but said he knew nothing about the new one. “Samajwadi people are always ready to take a test and they also pass the test. A secular front should indeed come up,” Akhilesh told a channel here on the sidelines of a function of the SP’s cultural cell. In yet another sign of his bitterness towards Shivpal, Akhilesh, without taking any names, took a jibe at his uncle. “We are political people. We know how to identify an asteen ka saanp [snake hiding under the sleeves],” he said.

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THE HINDU

NEWS 9

NOIDA/DELHI

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Is gender justice only on paper, asks woman judge Member of Nirbhaya case Bench Justice R. Banumathi rues how crimes against women go on despite legislation meant to deter them

Nirbhaya’s declarations chronicled

Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI

U.S. team to meet Dalai Lama in Dharamshala DHARAMSHALA

A U.S. Congressional delegation, led by U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, will meet Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama here next week. The team will visit the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile from May 9-10, said Jamphel Shonu Press Officer of the Central Tibetan Administration. PTI

Odisha speaker resigns ahead of reshuffle BHUBANESWAR

Odisha Speaker Niranjan Pujari on Friday resigned from the post ahead of a possible reshuffle of Naveen Patnaik’s council of ministers. “I hereby tender my resignation from the office of the Speaker, Odisha Legislative Assembly with effect from today,” Pujari said in a letter submitted to Deputy Speaker Sananda Marndi. PTI

Harassed for dowry, woman utters triple talaq MEERUT

Amid the raging debate over triple talaq, a woman uttered the three words to “divorce” her husband and free herself from dowry harassment. Amreen Bano said ‘talaq’ thrice at the Inspector General of Police’s office in the presence of media. However, chief Qazi of Meerut, Jenur Rashideen, said there was no such provision for women to divorce husbands in Islam. PTI

CBI books Varanasi-based NGO for FCRA violation NEW DELHI

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday registered a case against a Varanasi-based NGO for alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. The organisation had allegedly received ₹8.38 crore funds from overseas between 2006 and 2012. The action has been taken on the basis of a reference from the Union Home Ministry.

The Supreme Court's sole woman judge and a member of the Bench which confirmed the death penalty in the Nirbhaya case, Justice R. Banumathi, asked whether the much-touted gender justice will continue to remain only on paper. Justice Banumathi expressed dissatisfaction over how crimes against women continue to increase despite numerous laws to protect women. The judgement asked if laws punishing crimes against women are paper tigers, unable to serve their purpose. Justice Banumathi, in her separate judgment in the Nirbhaya case on Friday, observed “offences against women are not women's issue alone but a human rights issue”.

‘Emergent need’ “Increased rate of crime against women is an area of concern for the lawmakers and it points out an emergent need to study in depth the root of the problem and remedy the same through a strict law and order regime,” Justice Banumathi wrote. She said the brutal incident triggers a sense of dread

Legal Correspondent NEW DELHI

in the society. “Whenever such grave violations of human dignity come to fore, an unknown sense of insecurity and helplessness grabs the entire society, women in particular, and the only succour people look for, is the State to take command of the situ-

ation and remedy it effectively,” Justice Banumathi wrote. Referring to the Nirbhaya case, Justice Banumathi observed that “human lust was allowed to take such a demonic form”. She said the case definitely belonged to the category of the rarest

diabolic manner, the accused should be shown no remorse and death penalty should be awarded,” Justice Banumathi observed, highlighting our justice administration system is primarily “victim-centric”. Justice Banumathi delved on how the case shocked the

SC warns against delay in enacting anti-torture law Such issues hold international ramiications, says Chief Justice of India J. S. Khehar

collective conscience of the society, and it was necessary to send the message across that the courts stand by the rights of the victims and their families for justice. The judge called the families of victims as “incidental victims” themselves.

Bulandshahr lynching case acquires new twist Correspondent Bulandshahr

Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI

The “tough” peer review India faced at the United Nations Human Rights Council became the point of discussion in the Supreme Court on Friday with the Chief Justice of India cautioning the government against delay in enacting human rights laws, especially the long-pending anti-torture statute, in national interest. A day after other countries questioned India on the AFSPA, marital rape laws and custodial torture, a Bench led by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar said delay in enacting laws to protect cit-

ies were decisions best left to the government’s policy and not to be interfered by courts, it was still a jarring fact that India remained one of only nine countries to ratify the U.N. Convention Against Torture.

izens against torture and other human rights violations might have “international ramifications.”

‘National interest’ “Issues like these have international ramifications. See the news about yesterday’s debate. You have to be careful about how you proceed about it. This is in national interest,” the Chief Justice addressed Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar. The Bench, also comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, was hearing a writ petition filed by former Union Law Minister Ashwini

14 die as truck falls into canal Narendra Modi, Yogi Adityanath ofer condolences to kin

Kumar to make good India’s commitment to enact a stand-alone anti-torture law. “It is a question of legislation. If something has to happen, it will happen only through Parliament,” the SG responded to the court. Justice Chandrachud said though acceding to policy, ratifying international treat-

Entire Assam declared ‘disturbed’

Press Trust of India Etah

Press Trust of India

Fourteen persons were killed and 28 injured when a truck carrying a marriage party fell into a canal here early on Friday. The incident occurred near Sarai Neem in the Jalesar area around 3 a.m. when the truck was returning from Agra, the police said. Etah is a four-hour drive from the national capital. Condoling the loss of lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh to the kin of each of those killed and ₹50,000 each for those seriously injured in the accident. Chief Minister Yogi

The Centre has declared the entire State of Assam a “disturbed” area under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act for three more months, citing various violent activities by insurgent groups ULFA, NDFB and others. In a gazette notification, the Home Ministry said the entire State, besides bordering areas of Meghalaya, have been declared “disturbed” under the AFSPA for three months with effect from May 3. The Ministry said there were 75 incidents of violence in Assam in 2016 in which 33 people, were killed.

New Delhi

When tragedy struck: Rescue personnel move the vehicle that fell into a canal at Etah in Uttar Pradesh. AFP *

Adityanath also announced ₹2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased, ₹50,000 to the seriously injured and ₹25,000 to those with minor injuries. The deceased have been identified as Girand Singh (65),

Prashant (12), Lavkush (21), Mukesh (23), Nerapal (25), Padam Singh (50), Omveer (19), Shaitan Singh (50), Padam Singh (40), Bani Singh (45), Rajendra (60), Vijay (22), Pravendra Fauji (35) and Sanju (25).

India’s stance on forum irks China Beijing likens Dalai Lama visit to Arunachal to a ‘sting’ for bilateral relations Suhasini Haidar NEW DELHI

India risks being “isolated” if it decides not to attend the Chinese Belt and Road Forum on May 14-15, a senior Chinese official said, adding that time was running out for “adequate arrangements” to be made for India’s participation. Pointing to the fact that both Japan and the United States, that are not participating in the 60-nation Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, are sending delegations to the forum, the official said the Indian government had yet to confirm whether any officials including those from the Indian embassy in Beijing might participate in the event. “Our relations with India are much better than our relations with Japan, and even so Japan is sending an official and India has not said whether it will,” the offi-

of rare and any punishment other than death penalty is “unquestionably foreclosed”. “Where the victims are helpless women, children or old persons and the accused displayed depraved mentality, committing crime in a

Bumpy ride: Chinese oicial denied that Beijing was trying to put pressure on India to attend the Belt and Road Forum. AP *

cial told a select group of journalists.

‘Absence will be felt’ The official denied that China was trying to put pressure on India to attend by making public statements on the issue. “But we know that bilaterally, India’s absence at the forum will be felt deeply, when 28 leaders are attending and more than 100 countries are sending official del-

egations… All India’s neighbours will attend… There is a risk India will seem isolated by not attending the event.” The official said “mainstream” and trade ties between India and China remained strong, but admitted that issues like India’s NSG membership and push for the U.N. to designate Masood Azhar as a terrorist, both of which are blocked by

China, as well as the Dalai Lama’s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh had put a strain on their political relationship. “India expects China to understand its concerns on these issues. We expect India to tell Dalai Lama to behave like a guest, like a religious leader, and stop him and the government in exile from doing politics against the Chinese government,” the official said, referring to the visit as painful. “The Dalai Lama episode is like a sting for bilateral relations. Even after the bite, the pain remains.” The official also pointed out that despite the strain in ties, India and China will see several high-level meetings this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping will meet at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kazakhstan in June.

Ready to wait The court, however, said that it would wait till the end of the monsoon session of Parliament to see whether any new law would be enacted in the place of the lapsed Prevention of Torture Bill of 2010. The court ordered the government to report back to it on the status after Parlia-

ment session is over. The court said it was a matter of both Article 21 (fundamental right to life and dignity) and of international reputation that the government consider promulgating a stand-alone, comprehensive law defining and punish torture as an instrument of “human degradation” by State authorities. Mr. Kumar, who filed the PIL in his personal capacity, said India, which signed on the U.N. Convention against Torture way back in 1997, had still not ratified the Convention which defined torture as a criminal offence.

250 free channels from DD Press Trust of India New Delhi

The government will increase the number of free channels in Doordarshan’s direct-to-home platform — FreeDish — from nearly 90

to 250 by next year, Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said on Friday. Subscribers do not have to pay any fee for watching the channels but should buy the set-top box.

The Supreme Court chronicled the heroic attempt made by Nirbhaya to identify her attackers even as she lay dying. Her positive identification and graphic recounting of what happened on the night of December 16, 2012, became the starting point for a cast-iron prosecution case. The SC dismissed the defence lawyers’ claims that her multiple dying declarations — three in all, and the last and third one was recorded when she was too weak to speak and had replied to questions with gestures and nods — proved beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of her attackers in court. Nirbhaya’s attempts from her deathbed to bring justice stood firm even though the defence pummelled it for loopholes from the trial court to the Supreme Court.

In a twist to the Ghulam Ahmed lynching case, the girl who allegedly eloped with a young man named Yusuf has said that she was kidnapped and raped. Ahmed, 60, was allegedly beaten to death by members of a right-wing group in Sohi village earlier this week on suspicion of helping his relative elope with the Hindu girl. The police had recovered the girl from Palwal in Haryana and later produced her before a court. “The girl in her statement said that Yusuf had kidnapped and raped her,” a senior police officer said.

“The police have arrested Yusuf and added section 376 [rape] of IPC to the case. A charge sheet against Yusuf will be filed soon,” said Rakesh Sharma, the Kotwali police station in charge. Nineteen-year-old Yusuf had allegedly eloped with the girl on April 27. The girl’s family had lodged a kidnapping case against Yusuf at the Pahasu police station. The victim’s son, Vakeel Ahmad, had lodged a complaint against Gavender and about six other unidentified persons. He alleged that Gavender along with members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini had dragged his father from a mango orchard and beaten him to death.

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10 WORLD

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2017

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CIA plot to kill Kim foiled: Pyongyang

ELSEWHERE

‘It planned to use biochemical weapon’ Agence France-Presse Seoul

North Korea on Friday accused the CIA and Seoul’s intelligence services of conspiring to assassinate the isolated country’s leader Kim Jong-un with a biochemical weapon, amid heightened tensions in the Korean peninsula. In a statement, the powerful ministry of state security, said it had foiled a “vicious plot” by a “hideous terrorists’ group” to attack the North’s “supreme leadership”. The accusations come with the U.S. and North trading threats over the latter’s nuclear and missile programmes, and as Washington considers whether to re-designate Pyongyang as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Donald Trump to meet EU's Juncker, Tusk BRUSSELS

U.S. President Donald Trump will meet the EU’s top oicials on May 25, raising hopes that he will mend fences with the bloc. Mr. Trump will meet European Commission head JeanClaude Juncker and EU Council President Donald Tusk on the same day he attends a NATO summit in the Belgian capital. AFP

UN slams Nepal’s move to impeach top judge GENEVA

UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Friday harshly criticised Nepal’s efforts to impeach Justice Sushila Karki, the country’s first woman chief justice, warning the move appeared to be aimed at undermining judicial independence. Justice Karki is accused of interfering in the process of choosing the country’s police chief. AFP

Macron widens lead over Le Pen As the campaign draws to an end, front-runner has a comfortable 20-point lead over his far-right rival

Turkish court rejects Wikipedia appeal on ban

Sriram Lakshman

ANKARA

Paris

A Turkish court has rejected Wikipedia’s appeal against a ban in Turkey on its website. Turkish authorities blocked access to the website on April 29 for “acting with groups conducting a smear campaign against Turkey”. The ban was ordered after Wikipedia refused to remove two pages that claimed Turkey provided support to jihadis in Syria. AP

As campaigning for the French presidential polls draws to a close on Friday, Emmanuel Macron’s camp is leaving nothing to chance despite a growing lead in opinion polls, owing to concerns over blank votes and abstentions. On the last day of the campaign, an Elabe poll projected Mr. Macron getting 62% of the vote on Sunday compared to the National Front’s candidate Marine Le Pen’s 38%. Mr. Macron’s gain of a few percentage points is being attributed to his strong performance in a bitter and animated debate against his rival on Wednesday. However, the team at En Marche!, as Mr. Macron’s movement is known, is not resting on its laurels just yet. With just a few hours of campaigning left, at the

Tories make big gains in local elections LONDON

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party secured big wins on Friday in local elections, a month ahead of a Brexit-dominated snap general election. Final results showed the centreright party gaining ground across the country, with the main Opposition Labour Party taking a hammering. AFP

Potent symbolism: Activists unfurl a banner at Eifel tower on Friday during a protest against Marine Le Pen. AP *

group’s headquarters in Paris, many youth are making calls and sending emails to get 5,000 volunteers across France to spread Mr. Macron’s message. Earlier this week, some 65% of a sample of 240,000 far-left voters, who supported Jean-Luc Melenchon in

the first round, said they would either cast a blank votes or abstain from the poll. This is of concern among Mr. Macron’s team. “In fact, we are preciously [extremely] concerned, till the last minute, nothing is done. We can have a surprise at the last minute, so we will

mobilise people until then,” Christian Dargnat, a key official in En Marche!, told The Hindu on Friday. The team has been answering 6,00010,000 emails a day since the first round of voting on April 23, according to Mr. Dargnat. Mr. Macron, who campaigned in Rodez, in southern France, on Friday, told RTL radio that he had chosen a Prime Ministerial candidate but would reveal the name only if elected. His refusal to release the name is significant as last week former presidential candidate and Gaullist (an adherent of a brand of widely accepted French nationalism inspired by Charles De Gaulle, founder of the Fifth Republic) Nicolas Dupont-Aignan was named Ms. Le Pen’s prime ministerial candidate. Ms. Le Pen’s move was was widely criti-

cised, including by Mr. Macron, who called it a marriage of convenience made to give Ms. Le Pen credibility and help Mr. Dupont-Aignan with his campaign debt. Ms. Le Pen spent part of Friday campaigning in the northeastern city of Reims, where she was booed by protesters outside the city’s cathedral. Both sides are required by law to stop campaigning by midnight on Friday.

Complaint against Le Pen Meanwhile, Mr. Macron filed a legal complaint on Thursday after Ms. Le Pen repeated rumours during the TV debate that he had an offshore account. Mr. Macron described his rival’s insinuation as “defamation” and after his complaint, prosecutors launched a probe on Thursday into who started the rumour. (With AFP inputs)

‘Smear attack’ That follows the killing of Kim’s estranged half-brother Kim Jong-nam by two women using the banned nerve agent VX at Kuala Lumpur international airport. Both Malaysia and South Korea have blamed the

Kim Jong-un North for the assassination, which retorts that the accusations are an attempt to smear it. The security ministry statement, carried on the North’s official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), said the CIA and the South's intelligence had suborned, bribed and blackmailed a North Korean citizen named only as Kim to carry out the attack. Possible locations included the mausoleum where Kim Jong-un’s father and grandfather lie in state, or a military parade. Such an operation would be extremely difficult to prepare and carry out successfully as Pyongyang maintains a gigantic surveillance system over its own population.

‘Sri Lankan embassies sheltered criminals’ Agence France-Presse Colombo

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister on Friday accused the previous administration of using its embassies abroad as “safe houses” for murderers accused of perpetrating human rights abuses during the civil war. Mangala Samaraweera told Parliament a deputy ambassador posted to Brazil and two staffers sent to Germany were among those suspected of murders and war crimes that were sheltered in embassies by the former government. “Many of our embassies had become safe houses for

criminals involved in killings as well as grave human rights violations at home,” Mr. Samaraweera told Parliament. “They were rewarded by giving places in our embassies abroad.” The Minister said the envoy sent to Brazil by the Mahinda Rajapaksa government was accused of murdering another embassy employee and committing human rights abuses. Meanwhile, the two given postings in Berlin were key suspects in the 2009 assassination of newspaper editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, a Rajapaksa critic, Mr. Samaraweera added.

America stares at a health scare

Made-in-China jet takes of

New health care bill could exclude 24 million people from insurance coverage

Passenger aircraft C-919 is likely to hit the market in 2019

Varghese K. George

Atul Aneja

Mubashir Zaidi

Beijing

Karachi

China’s home-grown narrow bodied passenger plane took to the skies on Friday, announcing Beijing’s bid to acquire some elbow room in an aviation market, which has so far been dominated by giants Boeing and Airbus. The C-919, built in Shanghai, took off from the city’s Pudong airport on Friday afternoon, following a brief ceremony. President Xi Jinping has viewed the making of the C-919 as a pet project. “Although it could be a long road, we will work hard to chase that goal (of manufacturing a large aircraft),” he had said during a 2014 visit to Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), the Shanghai-based manufacturer of the plane. The 158-seat jet is part of a family of six planes that are to undergo stringent flight tests till 2019, before the

At least seven Pakistanis were killed in firing and shelling by Afghan Army on a census team in the border area of Chaman in Balochistan province on Friday morning. Pakistan has closed the Chaman border crossing for an indefinite period. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria has warned Afghanistan that Pakistan reserves the right to respond to the Afghan forces’ attack. The spokesman of District Headquarters Hospital Chaman, Dr. Akhter, confirmed that six bodies have been brought to the hospital along with more than 30 injured. A military statement earlier said Afghan forces resorted to unprovoked firing. “Afghan border forces opened fire on the personnel deployed for the security of population census team. The Afghan border forces have been creating hurdles in conduct of census in divided villages of Killi Luqman and Killi Jehangir area in Chaman,” the statement alleged. The Pakistani military said the attack happened despite the fact the Afghanistan authorities had been informed well in advance, and coordination was carried out through regular diplomatic and military channels for conduct of the census.

Washington

Protections available to older, poorer and sicker Americans under the country’s existing health care system could be curtailed if a Bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday is approved by the Senate. The Republicans, who control the White House and both chambers of legislature, celebrated the Bill’s passage as they moved a step closer to dismantling the existing Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, which was introduced by former President Barack Obama. As the Republican leadership conceded more and more demands by extreme conservative lawmakers, the Bill in its current version makes health insurance costlier for older and sicker people, while restricting the scope and reach of the staterun Medicaid programme

for the poor. Those with preexisting conditions will find it increasingly difficult to buy insurance. Republicans have a 52-48 majority in the Senate, and several Senators have said they would not support the Bill in its current form. The Bill had a narrow victory in the House, 217-213, even as 20 moderate Republicans voted against it.

In Senate’s court ‘Repeal and replace Obamacare’ has been a slogan of the Republicans ever since its passage in 2010. President Donald Trump also campaigned on that promise, though he also promised a wider, cheaper and more effective health care system if he were elected. The Bill as passed by the House moves in the opposite direction, but Mr. Trump presented it differently. Flanked by Republican members of the House, the

NEWS ANALYSIS President said he was “confident” the Senate would also vote to repeal Obamacare. “Yes, premiums will be coming down. Yes, deductibles will be coming down. But very importantly, it is a great plan and ultimately that’s what it’s all about,” Mr. Trump said. “This has brought the Republican Party together.” Mr. Trump has earlier been a supporter of a universal health care system modelled after Australia and Canada, but has never put out any detailed plans. As President, he has moved along with the Republican legislative leadership that is ideologically against subsidies. If the new proposals become law, the younger and richer cohorts will gain as they would not be cross-subsidising others. The propos-

als could, however, exclude 24 million people from insurance coverage over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated. Taxes on richer segments that supported part of the subsidies in Obamacare have been removed.

Sweeping changes A Bill that proposes such sweeping changes was passed without any hearing, and giving hardly any time for the lawmakers to study or discuss it. The Bill has provoked widespread condemnation as hospital associations, consumers and insurers have said the new proposals would make health care less affordable. “The Bill that Republicans passed... really has nothing to do with health care. It would cut Medicaid by $840 billion, and substantially increase premiums on older Americans,” said Senator Bernie Sanders.

Maiden voyage: Spectators outside Shanghai airport on Friday take photos of the C-919 passenger jet as it takes of. AP *

C-919 can enter the market. Once commercial sales begin, the plane is expected to compete for market share with the Boeing 737 and Airbus 320.

Second plane The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported that the second C-919, which is now being assembled at

Comac’s plant in Pudong, is likely to undergo testing in the second half of this year. The development of a wide-bodied passenger jet is now on Comac’s radar. The Chinese state company has already set up a joint venture with Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation to develop a longer-haul passenger jet.

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How an American Sikh campaign brought changes in basketball rules After the initiative spearheaded by Simran Jeet Singh out of New York, the sport’s governing body allows players to wear religious headgear on court Varghese K. George Washington

Simran Jeet Singh loves his Sikh turban as much has he loves basketball and felt upset when he learnt of two Indian Sikh players who were asked to remove their headgears at the Asia Cup tournament in China in 2014. He spearheaded a campaign out of New York that has turned out to be gamechanging, literally. Basketball players can now wear religious headgear on court, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) decided on Thursday at a meeting in Hong Kong. The earlier rule had barred “headgear, hair accessories and jewellery”.

The relaxation — which now allows headgears as long as they don’t protrude and do not cause injury to the user or other players — will open a new world of opportunities for those who love their game and their faith. The new rule will help Sikh, Jewish and Muslim women players. “We reached out to the Indian players and the coach soon after the 2014 incident. I felt very hurt,” recalled Mr. Singh, who is a Senior Religion Fellow at the Sikh Coalition that led the campaign, mobilising basketball lovers across countries. Several Muslim organisations also joined the campaign. “There is zero

conflict between my faith and my ability to play basketball,” said Darsh Preet Singh, the first turbaned Sikh basketball player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. “I am thrilled about FIBA’s decision, which will allow athletes across the world to pursue their dreams without compromising their faith.” Mr. Darsh Preet Singh could not pursue his basketball career due to the restrictions on headgear.

Campaign’s faces Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, a Muslim girl who played basketball wearing hijab, has been one of the best players at the college level in

Darsh Preet Singh

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TWITTER

America, but she could not pursue her ambitions to professional levels. Ms. Abdul-Qaadir, and Mr. Darsh Preet Singh had become the

faces of the campaign. “I pursued this fight for the future generations. And I hope and pray that this will encourage young Muslim girls to pick up the ball, and basketball for sure,” she told Channel 4 on Thursday. Hijab is allowed in international football for the last three years and American boxing governing body recently decided to allow it. As more Muslim women are entering professional sports, Nike announced in March that it would introduce a line of hijab this spring. Other sportswear companies may follow suit. Indian-American lawmaker Ami Bera has been

a supporter of the campaign. Mr. Bera, along with New York Representative Joe Crowley, took the up the issue with the FIBA more than once. The duo wrote to the sports body last week again ahead of the Hong Kong meeting.

Faith and dreams “The decision from the International Basketball Federation to allow Sikhs and other players to wear articles of religious faith while competing is welcome news. It has been a long campaign to make this a reality, and praise should go to FIBA and the Sikh community — they both helped ensure that Sikhs can

compete just like anyone else,” Mr. Bera and Mr. Crowley said in a joint statement. “Sports can uplift communities and individuals by being a source of pride, collaboration, and friendly competition. This decision will help expand those benefits to those who deserve a fair chance at competition.” Added Mr. Singh: “If implemented appropriately, ending this discriminatory policy opens the door for millions of young people to practice their faith and pursue their dreams. Nobody should ever be forced to choose between their sport and their faith.”

7 killed in Pak.-Afghan border clash

Afghan warning But the Afghan government said Pakistan was warned not to conduct census in villages on the border which housed divided families. “We had warned Pakistan that if they undertook any census activity [in the divided villages] we will retaliate,” said General Abdul Raziq, Afghan regional police chief.

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THE HINDU

BUSINESS 11

NOIDA/DELHI

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2017

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market watch 05-05-2017

% CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 29,859 ddddddddddddd -0.89 US Dollar dddddddddddddddddddd 64.38 ddddddddddddd -0.31 Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 28,850 ddddddddddddd -0.10 Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 49.25 ddddddddddddd -0.28

New terms for PSBs seeking capital: FM

NIFTY 50

Following ordinance, RBI to issue norms; ‘bad’ bank proposal takes back seat MANOJIT SAHA Mumbai

PRICE CHANGE

ACC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1660.15. . . . . . . 36.10 Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344.95. . . . . . . . . 5.50 Ambuja Cements. . . .. . . . . . 246.55. . . . . . . . . 2.65 Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1146.80. . . . . . . 14.20 Aurobindo Pharma . . . . . . 589.00. . . . . . . . -2.75 Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504.50. . . . . . -14.35 Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2887.65. . . . . . -54.90 Bank of Baroda . . . . . .. . . . . . 187.40. . . . . . . . -8.35 Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 344.75. . . . . . . . -1.25 Bosch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23453.40. . . . . 253.70 BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724.75. . . . . . . . -6.75 Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549.95. . . . . . . . . 0.00 Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278.50. . . . . . . . -1.75 Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 2603.00. . . . . . . . -3.00 Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. 25833.40. . . . . . . 69.10 GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 418.80. . . . . . . . -9.90 Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1192.10. . . . . . -11.35 HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 829.60. . . . . . . 11.60 HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1546.85. . . . . . -17.50 HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1532.20. . . . . . . . -2.60 Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 3376.55. . . . . . -19.10 Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185.80. . . . . . . . -6.65 Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 953.90. . . . . . . . -2.80 Indiabulls HFL . . . . . . . .. . . . 1106.00. . . . . . . 29.15 ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298.55. . . . . . . . . 0.75 IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1408.05. . . . . . -12.20 Bharti Infratel . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 366.60. . . . . . . . . 3.25 Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 931.50. . . . . . . . -6.15 Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 433.10. . . . . . . . -2.55 ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277.15. . . . . . . . -4.05 Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908.30. . . . . . . . . 2.85 L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1724.40. . . . . . . . -7.25 Lupin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1252.35. . . . . . . . -9.40 M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1321.25. . . . . . -13.65 Maurti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 6654.15. . . . . . . 14.35 NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159.70. . . . . . . . -2.95 ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183.80. . . . . . . . -5.10 PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 209.00. . . . . . . . -1.65 Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1328.25. . . . . . -29.70 State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296.00. . . . . . . . -3.05 Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 630.20. . . . . . . . -1.30 Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 419.60. . . . . . -16.90 Tata Motors DVR. . . .. . . . . . 258.95. . . . . . . . -8.00 Tata Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83.40. . . . . . . . . 0.40 Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433.60. . . . . . . . -8.85 TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2320.50. . . . . . . . -9.60 Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 413.00. . . . . . . . -6.10 UltraTech Cement . .. . . . 4329.95. . . . . . . . . 5.75 Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499.30. . . . . . . . -0.65 YES Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1608.75. . . . . . -18.10 Zee Entertainment . . . . . . 505.60. . . . . . -15.15

EXCHANGE RATES Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit except yen at 4 p.m. on May 05 CURRENCY

Banks to act within set time frame

TT BUY

TT SELL

US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 64.17. . . . . . . 64.49 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 70.31. . . . . . . 70.68 British Pound . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 83.00. . . . . . . 83.42 Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 57.06. . . . . . . 57.35 Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 9.30. . . . . . . . . 9.35 Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 64.89. . . . . . . 65.22 Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 45.66. . . . . . . 45.89 Canadian Dollar . . . . . . . . .. . 46.59. . . . . . . 46.83 Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 14.79. . . . . . . 14.87 Source:Indian Bank

BULLION RATES

CHENNAI

May 05 rates in rupees with previous rates in parentheses Retail Silver (1g) . . . . . . . . . . . 40.80. . . . . (40.90) 22 ct gold (1 g) . .. . . . . . . . . . . 2,719. . . . . (2,722)

Banks should commit to improving balance sheet position Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

Public sector banks (PSBs) seeking fresh capital from the Centre would have to commit to reform their own operations and take immediate steps to improve their balance sheet position, the government said on Friday. The lenders will also have to close unprofitable branches and put in place stronger systems for credit appraisals and management of non-performing assets (NPAs).

More measures Apart from empowering the Reserve Bank of India to tackle the problem of nonperforming assets in public sector banks more effectively through new provisions under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the government is working on some more measures to resolve bad loans that will be announced shortly, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. “There are some other steps also being taken, which once decided… we will convey it to you. We are planning in the process of signing memorandums of understanding with public sector banks which seek capitalisation, specific provisions that will be incorporated,” he said. These conditions, he said, would relate to immediate cash relief initiatives such as sale of assets, closure of unprofitable branches, reduction of overheads, business turnaround initiatives such as the strengthening of the credit appraisal process, active NPA management, among others. While the resolution of NPAs is an ongoing process, the government wants to speed it up and see resolutions of specific bad loans. “Where resolutions at the

Tough talk: The Centre is working on some more measures to resolve bad loan issue, says Mr. Jaitley. joint lenders forum ( JLF) used to take time, and many times the process was delayed as all bankers were not on the same page, directives have been issued to empower the RBI on this too,” Mr. Jaitley said.

Oversight committees As per the new provisions incorporated in the banking regulation law allow the government to authorise the RBI to initiate insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings in relation to any stressed assets under Section 35 AA. A separate clause 35B allows the RBI to issue specific directions, including the formation of oversight committees (OCs) to resolve bad loans. Currently, the OC mechanism functions only in relation to the scheme for sustainable structuring of stressed assets (S4A) for banks. The new provision will allow the RBI to form OCs in relation to resolution of specific accounts either under the insolvency and bankruptcy framework or

Centre posts PNB, BoI CEOs to smaller banks

any other JLF framework as well, the minister said. A corollary benefit and objective of such oversight committees, Mr. Jaitley pointed out, is that bankers will have more comfort while taking tough decisions to write off or take haircuts on existing bad loans. “When bankers take commercial decision on commercial and banking considerations, they must have an adequate comfort level. Therefore, a committee that oversees such JLF arrangements is one step that will give them this comfort level,” he said, adding that the government is also working on amendments to the Prevention of Corruption law to allow honest officials to discharge their duties without fear of a witch-hunt from investigating agencies. “The proposed amendments have been considered by a standing committee of parliament and its report will now be taken up by both houses of Parliament,” Mr. Jaitley said.

ACC, Ambuja Cements may merge Special Correspondent

Cabinet committee clears appointments of new chiefs SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT MUMBAI

In a reshuffle of top posts in public sector banks, the Centre has decided to post chief executives of large lenders like Punjab National Bank and Bank of India to smaller banks. The appointment committee of the cabinet cleared the posting of Sunil Mehta, executive director of Corporation Bank as MD and CEO of Punjab National Bank. PNB CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian will now head to Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank. Allahabad Bank’s top post fell vacant

last month after Rakesh Sethi retired. Mr. Mehta will serve PNB for a little more than two years, till September 30, 2019. While Dinabandhu Mohapatra, executive director of Canara Bank will take over as MD and CEO of Bank of India and serve till June 30, 2019, BoI’s existing CEO M.O. Rego will take charge of Syndicate Bank. The top post in Syndicate Bank will fall vacant by Juneend. Mr. Rego will be on ‘compulsory wait period’ till June 30. Recently, the Centre had decided to swap the CEOs of IDBI Bank and

Indian Overseas Bank. R. Subramaniakumar, currently executive director of Indian Overseas Bank, will take over as MD and CEO of the bank until June 30, 2019, the year of his superannuation. The top post of IOB was vacant for close to a year. Rajkiran Rai G, now executive director of Oriental Bank of Commerce, will take over as the MD and CEO of Union Bank of India for a period of three years. R.A. Sankara Narayanan, executive director of Bank of India, will assume the post of MD and CEO of Vijaya Bank.

MUMBAI

LafargeHolcim is considering the merger of its two Indian subsidiaries ACC Ltd. and Ambuja Cements Ltd. for better synergy in operation and to create a large cement firm. ACC Ltd. said it had constituted a committee to evaluate a possible merger with Ambuja Cements. “The Board of Directors of the company, at its meeting today, decided to commence an evaluation of a potential merger between the Company and Ambuja Cements Ltd. with a view to combine the strengths of both businesses so as to benefit all stakeholders,” ACC said.

Possible to meet general government debt-to-GDP target by 2023, says Das ‘Centre to take very quick decision on FRBM panel's report’ Suresh Seshadri Yokohama

The Centre is confident that the 2023 goal of a debt-toGDP ratio of 60% for the Union and State governments combined can be achieved thus meeting a key recommendation of the N.K. Singh-headed fiscal discipline panel, according to Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das. “Even with the 3.2% [fiscal deficit target] spelt out in budget of current year and 3% in next two years, it should be possible for the government to achieve a debt-to-GDP of 60% for general government by 2023,” Mr. Das told reporters on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank's annual meeting here. “The principal anchor of the committee’s recommendations on fiscal roadmap is debt-to-GDP of 60%. So, our calculation shows it should be possible to reach 60% in 2023. Now, within that, what should be the annual fiscal target, that

Shaktikanta Das

has to be worked out.” The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Review Committee chaired by Mr. Singh has recommended that the Centre should target a fiscal deficit of 2.5% of GDP by 2023, with the Union government simultaneously narrowing its debt-to-GDP ratio to 40% from 49.4% in 201617. The panel, which had allowed for a pause along the path of fiscal consolidation, recommended that the debtto-GDP target for the government as a whole (Centre plus States) be pegged at 60% by fiscal 2023. Mr. Das said the process of

examining public comments on the FRBM review panel's recommendations would start soon, adding that the Centre would “take a very quick decision.” The panel had submitted recommendations in January and the Centre, which had made them public in April, had set a May 5 deadline for stakeholders’ views. “There is an excellent spirit of cooperative federalism. GST is a reflection of the kind of cooperation that exists between the Centre and States” Mr. Das said when asked how the Centre would ensure fiscal discipline on the part of the States to meet the overall general government debt-to-GDP goal. “Even under the existing FRBM Act, most States have maintained their fiscal targets and they have improved their fiscal performances significantly. In fact, the performance of States under the current FRBM regime is exemplary. So, there is no reason why they should not

do it even in the revised regime.” Á final decision on the proposed abolition of the FIPB could be expected soon, Mr. Das said. “The inter-ministerial consultations are over and the proposal should go shortly to the competent authority for a decision. I would expect a decision in a matter of few weeks.” Mr. Das also slammed global credit rating agencies for failing to acknowledge India’s sustained economic progress and reform trajectory in the past couple of years. “With India remaining still a 7% plus GDP growth country, with the ease of doing business improving considerably, if the rating agencies do not give an upgrade to India, if they do not give any weightage to it, I think they are probably far detached from the ground realities. So, it is for them to really introspect.” (The writer is in Yokohama at the invitation of the ADB)

Following the executive order by the government to empower the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the resolution of stressed assets, the central bank is expected to announce detailed guidelines for banks. This may include timebound resolution to such assets. RBI will give banks specific time-frames within which they have to either decide the borrower is bankrupt or restructure the debt while taking a haircut, bankers said. In a statement, following the government announcement, RBI reiterated that lenders must scrupulously adhere to the timelines prescribed in the Joint Lenders’ Forum framework for finalising and implementing the corrective action plan. “To facilitate timely decision making, it has been decided that, henceforth, the decisions agreed upon by a minimum of 60% of creditors by value and 50%

Arundhati Bhattacharya

of creditors by number in the JLF would be considered as the basis for deciding the CAP, and will be binding on all lenders, subject to the exit (by substitution) option available in the Framework,” RBI said. The banking regulator said non-adherence to the instructions and timelines specified under the framework will attract monetary penalties. “Amendments to the Banking Regulations Act, coming on the heels of the enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and amendments to the SAR-

FAESI and Debt Recovery Tribunal Acts, indicate the Government’s firm commitment to find a satisfactory solution to the NPA resolution problem,” Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, SBI said on the government’s ordinance to resolve NPAs. “Empowering the RBI with an explicit mandate should reorient various stakeholders for effective NPA resolution. The country and its banking system need to move quickly and decisively to take benefits of these enabling provisions,” she added. According to bankers, the final decision will be taken by a bank within the RBI’s guideline framework. However, the process will make it explicit that such a decision has the central bank’s and the government’s backing. Bankers are hesitant to take a decision on haircuts while restructuring loans or going for one-time settlement for fear that such a decision could prompt investigation by agencies.

The government has amended the Banking Regulation Act, Section 35 A, to tackle the bad loan problem that is choking bank credit. While the laws have been amended to give RBI more power, the idea of forming a ‘bad’ bank has taken a back seat, it appears. The main reason is the huge amount of capital required, to the tune of ₹30,000, which the government needs to infuse as initial capital to a ‘bad’ bank. “Bringing Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on board by taking their buy-in for the overall resolution decision-making process does pave the way for a more collaborated and concentrated effort,” Udit Kariwala, Senior Analyst, India Ratings. “However, a larger question to be asked pertains to the independence of banks in making commercial lending decisions; making the regulator a part of this process does pose questions on the effectiveness of bank managements as a custodian of depositors hard earned money,” he said.

Many questions still remain Viral Acharya’s suggestion of re-privatising PSBs must be seriously considered Prashanth Perumal CHENNAI

The ordinance to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 has been touted by the Union government as bringing serious changes to the status quo when it comes to the resolution of banks’ huge non-performing assets. The real significance of the amendment, however, will depend on many unknowns that only time will answer. The ordinance gives the government the power to authorize the Reserve Bank of India to directly deal with banks in resolving NPAs by targeting specific borrowers.

The build up of NPAs threatens the solvency of banks, holding them back from lending to businesses. It is hoped that the RBI’s direct role in the resolution process will encourage banks to be bolder in taking hair-cuts .

NEWS ANALYSIS Earlier, it is said, bankers feared questions from the RBI if they invoked the insolvency and bankruptcy code. But the prominent concern right now should be what percentage of NPAs will

be successfully recovered by banks. After all, it was only in April that the RBI mandated banks to increase provisioning for loans exposed to certain sectors, suggesting banks still don’t recognize the full extent of their losses. A related issue is whether willing buyers will emerge to purchase NPAs and the price these loans would command. There is also the issue of the risk that deep hair cuts pose to the capital position of banks, and if banks are in a position to absorb the impact. Lastly, the ordinance does not address the prob-

lem of cronyism at the root of India's NPA crisis. Since public sector banks have been the primary perpetrators and victims of cronyism, RBI deputy governor Viral Acharya’s suggestion of reprivatizing must be seriously considered. Gross NPAs of India’s listed banks almost doubled from September 2015 to reach ₹7 lakh crore by the end of December 2016. The size of NPAs in the overall banking system is about ₹10 lakh crore. The ordinance, it is speculated, will first target the top 50 defaulters as the RBI turns into more than just a passive regulator.

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THE HINDU

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Forex reserves hit all time high of $373 bn

MRF top layer rejig ‘signiicant’

Sustained inlows main cause; covers 11-12 months’ imports

CHENNAI

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Mumbai

Royal Enield to invest ₹800 crore NEW DELHI

Niche bike maker Royal Enield plans to invest ₹800 crore this iscal on various activities. “We will be investing ₹800 crore in FY 2017-18 towards our upcoming manufacturing facility at Vallam Vadagal near Chennai, product development, two technical centres in U.K. and India and towards market expansion,” Eicher Motors MD and CEO Siddhartha Lal said in a statement. PTI

Rolls-Royce, GRSE to assemble engines NEW DELHI

Rolls-Royce has inked a pact with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) under which the former’s MTU Series 4000 engines will be assembled at GRSE’s Ranchi facility and later installed in naval vessels. Rolls-Royce’s 12V and 16V 4000 M90 type engines will be assembled in GRSE’s diesel engine plant. An option for the local production of parts was agreed, Rolls Royce said. PTI

Apollo Tyres net falls on raw material costs

The country’s foreign exchange reserves touched an al-time high of $372.7 billion, according to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on the back of sustained inflows. According to RBI, total reserves increased by $1.59 billion during the week ended April 28 mainly due to rise in foreign currency assets which rose by $1.57 billion. According to economists, this level of reserves can cover 11-12 months of imports. While gold reserves stayed steady, the special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund increased by $8.5 million to $1.46 billion, and the reserve position with the Fund rose by $15.8 million to $2.35 billion, according to the central bank. Foreign investors have pumped in $7.7 billion in debt and $6.3 billion in equities since the beginning of the year. Following the inflows of both debt and equity, the rupee has appreciated about

On a roll: Foreign investors have pumped in $7.7 billion in debt and $6.3 billion in equities since the year began. 6% against the dollar in 2017, and has become one of the best-performing currencies in Asia. The central bank has been intervening in the foreign exchange market but the quantum of intervention is limited, dealers said, as such a move could stroke inflation since there is already a liquidity surplus in the system to the tune of ₹4 lakh crore. Earlier this year, RBI has changed its monetary policy stance from accommodative to neutral due to inflation concerns.

Cognizant net up 26%

CHENNAI

Apollo Tyres Ltd., has reported a fall of 16% in its consolidated net proit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2017 at ₹228 crore against ₹272 crore due to an increase in raw material prices. The company posted sales income of ₹3,533 crore against ₹3,222 crore. Raw materials cost during the fourth quarter increased by 29% from ₹1,347 crore to ₹1,739 crore, according to company statement.

Sangeetha Kandavel CHENNAI

Cognizant Technology Solutions reported a 26.3% rise in net profit to $557 million in the first quarter ended March. Its revenues for the quarter rose 10.7% from a year earlier to $3.55 billion. Raj Mehta, President, Cognizant said that the company will significantly ramp up its U.S.-based workforce by hiring experienced pro-

fessionals in the open market and by making more use of university, veteran, and related programs. “We are shifting our workforce largely in response to clients’ increasing need for co-innovation and co-location. “While we will still seek visas for highly specialised and skilled talent, we’re reducing our dependence on these visas,” Mr. Mehta said during a conference call.

The equity markets have also hovered at all-time high levels following positive investor sentiment as the Sensex hit 30,000 last week and the Nifty hit a fresh all-time high on Thursday when it touched 9359.9 points. The last an all-time high was achieved was when foreign exchange reserves reached 371.99 billion, on the week to September 30, 2016. Reserves plunged during the currency crisis three and a half years back when they were around $ 274 billion in August 2013.

BHEL out of Norway fund portfolio Reuters OSLO

Norway’s wealth fund has excluded Bharat Heavy Electricals from its investment portfolio because of concerns over the environmental impact of a plant the Indian company is building, the Norwegian central bank said on Friday.

Rahul Mammen’s elevation signals determination to counter challenges K.T. Jagannathan

The elevation of 39-year-old Rahul Mammen Mappillai to the position of Managing Director of MRF is significant, coming as it does at a time when the operating environment is tough. Uncertainty has become the new normal in the market. Competition has become intense. Cost pressures have added to worries. MRF, however, has decided to take the bull by its horns. It is setting up a unit in Gujarat to stay closer to consuming centres. It is precisely against this backdrop that an affable Mr. Rahul Mammen is assigned a challenging job. Joining the company as a corporate manager in 2003, he become whole-time director in 2010. It has been a steady induction process for

Mr. Rahul Mammen, son of K.M. Mammen, chairman and managing director. “MRF’s journey from a toy balloon manufacturer to India’s largest tyre company is an inspirational journey. This was made possible by a dedicated team who strived to achieve truly extraordinary things motivated by our visionary founder, my grandfather K. M. Mammen Mappillai. I believe all of us working at MRF are custodians of this incredible legacy, and we are fully committed to put in all the effort required to continue this extraordinary journey,” he said. The board had also appointed Arun Mammen, managing director, as vice chairman and re-designated him as vice chairman and managing director. Major industrial families

Rahul Mammen

here are seeing GenNext induction into the business. Harish Lakshman and Vinay Lakshman, sons of L. Lakshman, are active in the Rane Group. At Sanmar, Vijay Sankar, son of N. Sankar, is piloting the group. Sudarshan Venu and Lakshmi Venu, siblings of industrialists Venu Srinivasan and Mallika Srinivasan, are active in family enterprises. While Mr. Sudarshan is the joint

managing director ( JMD) of TVS Motor, Ms. Lakshmi is the JMD of Sundaram Clayton. Arathi Krishna and Arundathi Krishna, daughters of CMD Suresh Krishna, are holding lead positions at Sundram Fasteners. In Sundaram Finance, the chairman's elder son, Harsha Viji, is steering the financial services business and the younger one, Sriram, is steering Brakes India. Rupa Gurunath, whole-time director and daughter of N. Srinivasan, vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements, has taken it as a challenge to work in brick and mortar company. According to sources, GenNext in these enterprises is ‘committed, serious and focussed.’ In most cases, they are at the forefront in driving scale.

Parle Products sets up Bezbaruah named new premium division Tea Board chairman Better price realisation is the main aim

First industry oicial to occupy post

Lalatendu Mishra

Special Correspondent

MUMBAI

KOLKATA

Parle Products, known for its affordable range of confectioneries, has carved out a new division to focus on premium products for better price realisation and to cater to a new segment of customers. Named as Parle Platina, the division will comprise Parle’s range of premium products. Four of Parle’s 40 plus brands have been transferred into the new division. These include Hide & Seek, Milano, Mexitos and Simply Good Health range of products in different variants. It will adopt a new identity to indicate the premium positioning. “From a year-long exer-

P. K. Bezbaruah will take over as the chairman of the Tea Board of India, filling up a post lying vacant since M.G.V.K. Bhanu left three years ago. His appointment would mark the first such instance of an industry representative being appointed to the top-post of the regulatory body. He is presently the chairman of the Tea Research Association “I will act as a bridge between all the stakeholders” Mr. Bezbaruah told The Hindu from Assam. An alumni of IIM Calcutta and the Wharton School of Business, he joined his family’s tea business after a stint

Mayank Shah cise we realised that these brands were not getting associated with Parle. So we decided to re-categorize them,” Mayank Shah, Category Head, Parle Products said. “The brands under are targeted at global Indians who have exposure to products from the world over,” he said.

P.K. Bezbaruah said small farmers would be in focus. with the Bank of America. “There has to be a positive correlation between price and quality. The role between the estates and the STG should be that of a partnership rather than adversarial,” he said. He also flagged the development of the small tea grower sectors as an important focus area.

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THE HINDU

SPORT 13

NOIDA/DELHI

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2017

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Royal Challengers fall short again Sandeep Sharma efectively ends the contest getting Gayle, Kohli and de Villiers in PowerPlay IPL-10

Was only thinking of chasing total quickly: Pant ‘If a ball is there to be hit, I will hit it’

N. Sudarshan BENGALURU

Royal Challengers Bangalore bit the dust yet again as it crashed to a 19-run loss to Kings XI Punjab at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday. Mandeep Singh — persisted with regardless of a wretched run — played the lone hand scoring 46 runs, with just two more batsmen reaching doubles figures. After Sandeep Sharma (40-22-3), who had plucked three wickets in the PowerPlay against Delhi Daredevils in the last match, accounted for the batting trinity of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and A.B. de Villiers, there was little fizz left. Sandeep bowled an accurate line and troubled the batsmen with swing. That Kohli and de Villiers both fell while charging down, perhaps to negate the swing, should say how good he was. Then, Axar Patel, Mohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell strangled RCB to leave them gasping. The home side brought in Chris Gayle and Samuel Badree for Travis Head and Adam Milne while Kings XI was unchanged. The pitch, and some disciplined bowling, ensured that Kings, after being invited to bat, did not do much to alter the template which has played out in the PowerPlay overs here this season. Hashim Amla was caught behind in the very first over off Aniket Choudhary. His partner Martin Guptill, after lifting a ball through the covers once for four, was out caught at sweeper-cover trying another. Only 35 runs were scored for the loss of two wickets in the first six overs. Shaun Marsh and Manan Vohra got starts but failed to build. Marsh greeted Shane

Uthra Ganesan NEW DELHI

Cock-a-hoop: Sandeep Sharma, right, is ecstatic after castling Virat Kohli. Watson with a gorgeous drive through cover and followed it up with a deft cut past short-third man. Just when it seemed like he had read the pitch right, he tried to bludgeon Pawan Negi on the up and was caught at long-off. It was a shot not made for the pitch. Vohra repeated the mistake. After having lofted Negi for six over long-on, an attempted slog sweep off Yuzvendra Chahal ended up in de Villiers’ hands in the same area. Wriddhiman Saha nudged his way to 21 runs even as Maxwell played unorthodox, trying to reverse sweep. The two were aided in no small measure by some abysmal wicket-keeping by Kedhar Jadav. He first failed to stump Saha on one and then conceded four byes twice in a

single Chahal over. Maxwell though perished trying one sweep too many. At 84 for five from 15 overs, RCB had things well under control. That it still

SCOREBOARD

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K. BHAGYA PRAKASH

managed to concede 54 from the last five overs should rankle the side. This was in spite of Aniket bowling a wicket-maiden in the penultimate over.

Axar took on Watson and 19 runs were scored in 20th. That lent the total more than a shade of respectability, and, in the end, it proved match-winning.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE VS KINGS XI PUNJAB

Kings XI Punjab: Hashim Amla c Jadhav b Aniket 1 (3b), Martin Guptill c Negi b Arvind 9 (10b, 1x4), Shaun Marsh c Mandeep b Negi 20 (17b, 3x4), Manan Vohra c de Villiers b Chahal 25 (28b, 1x4, 1x6), Wriddhiman Saha b Watson 21 (25b, 1x4), Glenn Maxwell c Badree b Chahal 6 (11b, 1x4), Axar Patel (not out) 38 (17b, 3x4, 2x6), Mohit Sharma c Jadhav b Aniket 6 (4b, 1x4), Varun Aaron (not out) 0 (5b); Extras (b-8, lb-1, w-3): 12; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 138. Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Amla, 0.5 overs), 2-18 (Guptill, 3.3), 3-39 (Marsh, 6.6), 4-61 (Vohra, 11.2), 5-78 (Maxwell, 13.5), 6-112 (Saha, 17.2), 7-119 (Mohit, 18.1).

Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling: Aniket Choudhary 4-117-2, S. Arvind 2-0-13-1, Shane Watson 4-0-43-1, Samuel Badree 3-0-14-0, Pawan Negi 3-021-1, Yuzvendra Chahal 4-0-21-2. Royal Challengers Bangalore: Mandeep Singh b Maxwell 46 (40b, 5x4, 2x6), Chris Gayle c Guptill b Sandeep 0 (2b), Virat Kohli b Sandeep 6 (6b, 1x4), A.B. de Villiers c Saha b Sandeep 10 (6b, 1x4, 1x6), Kedar Jadhav c Axar b Mohit 6 (6b, 1x4), Shane Watson c Saha b Axar 3 (6b), Pawan Negi c Saha b Axar 21 (23b, 2x4), S. Arvind lbw b Maxwell 4 (6b), S. Badree b Axar 8 (9b), Aniket Choudhary c Guptill b Mohit 4

(6b), Yuzvendra Chahal (not out) 4 (4b); Extras (lb-4, w-3): 7; Total (in 19 overs): 119. Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Gayle, 0.4), 2-23 (Kohli, 2.5), 3-37 (de Villiers, 4.5), 4-52 (Jadhav, 7.5), 571 (Watson, 10.5), 6-73 (Mandeep, 11.2), 7-87 (Arvind, 13.5), 8-111 (Negi, 17.1), 9-111 (Badree, 17.2). Kings XI Punjab bowling: Sandeep Sharma 4-0-22-3, T. Natarajan 1-0-15-0, Varun Aaron 4-0-28-0, Mohit Sharma 4-0-24-2, Axar Patel 3-0-11-3, Glenn Maxwell 3-0-15-2. Toss: Royal Challengers Bangalore. Man-of-the-match: Sandeep Kings XI won by 19 runs.

Classical batsmen can excel in shortest format: Amla

His bat made quite a few statements through the innings, but, having led Delhi Daredevils to the second highest successful chase in IPL history against Gujarat Lions, 19-year-old Rishabh Pant preferred to simplify his batting. Dismissed on 97, Pant was nonchalant about missing the century. “I was not thinking of the three runs I had to make, I was only thinking of chasing down the total as quickly as I could,” he said. What was the game plan? “If a ball is there to be hit, I will hit it. If a ball is bad, you have to punish it” What would he have preferred, getting the century or hitting the winning shots? “If I got three runs I would have finished the match in that way. If I had finished the match, I would have obviously got those three runs,” he shrugged. It was all that simple, really, for him. Dinesh Karthik, GL’s big scorer, admitted as much. “The first half belonged to us, but the second half totally belonged to Delhi, and all credit to them,” he said.

Swinging away: Daredevils’ Rishabh Pant scored at will during the encounter against Lions on Thursday. SANDEEP SAXENA *

The blitz that went viral Press Trust of India New Delhi

Sachin Tendulkar has called Rishabh Pant’s match-winning 97 against Gujarat Lions one of the best innings he has seen in the Indian Premier League history. “One of the best Innings I have seen in the IPL & that includes all 10 seasons,” tweeted Tendulkar a day after Pant and Sanju Samson (61 off 31) helped Delhi Daredevils chase down 208 at the Ferozeshah Kotla.

Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody said: “Doesn’t get much better #Pant #DDvGL #IPL”.“Glad that you haven’t been watching videos of me batting,” Delhi Daredevils coach Rahul Dravid joked to Pant and Samson. “I am glad that you have not been watching too many videos of me batting when you need 208 in 20 overs. “Well done boys, terrific innings,” Dravid told the duo in an interview posted

on IPL’s offi cial website. Virender Sehwag said it was a special innings from Pant. “Love batsmen with tremendous belief in themselves which is backed by a special ability for ball hitting. Extra Special today from Rishabh Pant,” said Sehwag. “Rishabh pant, Sanju Samson ...tonite wow..keep an eye on them teams ...they are special...” wrote Sourav Ganguly.

South Africa’s T20 Global Destination League will be massive, says Miller Ashwin Achal Bengaluru

In the middle of Kings XI Punjab’s IPL campaign last year, David Miller was replaced as captain. This came on the back of poor form during his team’s run of five losses in six outings. Miller, a surprise candidate for the skipper’s post to begin with, vacated his seat for M. Vijay. The South African has words of encouragement for Karun Nair, who was recently appointed captain of the struggling Delhi Daredevils franchise. “I can definitely relate to Karun’s situation. It is a lot easier to have all the right answers for everything when you watch from the outside. Having said that, being the captain adds great weight to

Hashim Amla and David Miller.

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your career. I think he will do just fine,” Miller said , in an interaction with The Hindu here on Friday. “I want to test myself as captain again; this is something that is very dear to me.”

V. SREENIVASA MURTHY

The 27-year-old expressed concerns about the health of Wayne Parnell. A few days ago, while playing for Kent, Parnell left the field after bowling four overs. He reportedly complained of an elevated heart rate, but was

subsequently cleared by doctors. “I’m not aware of what exactly happened with Parnell, but it is not a nice situation. It was bad when (England batsman) James Taylor retired due to a heart condition a year ago. As players, we have to do regular medical tests to handle even minor issues,” Miller said. On the soon-to-belaunched Cricket South Africa T20 Global Destination League, Miller said: “In a financial sense, it will keep things alive. This means that the South African cricketers will not have to go overseas to make a living. This tournament will never be as big as IPL, but it will be massive for cricket in South Africa.” Joining Miller on the tournament’s list of marquee

players is fellow Kings XI Punjab batsman Hashim Amla. He has been on a roll this IPL season, topping the list of run-scorers for his side. Amla believes that it should no longer surprise fans when classical batsman like himself excel in the shortest format. “In every edition of the IPL, there have been guys who have succeeded by playing a more traditional, classical game. And every year, these cases are received with surprise. “It is not actually a surprise any more. Last year, Virat (Kohli) did so well, and you wouldn’t call him unorthodox. The same goes for Kane (Williamson),” Amla said.

Delhi faces its toughest trial against Mumbai

SRH pace attack will be tested

Uthra Ganesan

V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM

NEW DELHI

Two big wins in as many games, on the back of its often underestimated young batting line-up, has given Delhi Daredevils hopes of propelling itself into the tophalf of the Indian Premier League (IPL) table this season. There is still a long way to go for that to happen, but DD, for once, seems to have its fortunes in its own hands. A win in all its four remaining games here on should be enough to push it through. But for that, DD has to continue with the kind of form it has struck in recent games. The toughest trial would be on Saturday when it takes on table-topper Mumbai Indians hoping to make it a hat-trick of wins on home ground. For that, the host will need an encore from Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson, and support from the rest of the cast including the so-far misfiring stand-in skipper Karun Nair. Shreyas Iyer, Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma's teammate on the domestic circuit, will need to up his game as well. The good thing about

PLAYING TODAY

HYDERABAD

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

SRH V RPS, 4 p.m. DD V MI, 8 p.m. Sony Six, Sony ESPN, Sony Max (SD & HD) DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Delhi's batting is that while Pant and Samson on Thursday exhibited how dangerous they can be when they get going, the rest, too, are all capable of making handy contributions that, together, can overhaul any target — like they did chasing 186 against SRH. Delhi will also take heart from the fact that its bowlers, despite being smashed in the middle, bounced back to restrict the rampaging Gujarat Lions towards the end of the innings.

Sanju Samson

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IPL/SPORTZPICS

POINTS TABLE TEAM Mumbai Indians Kolkata Knight Riders Rising Pune Supergiant Sunrisers Hyderabad Kings XI Punjab Delhi Daredevils Gujarat Lions Royal Challengers Bangalore *After the RCB-KXIP match

M 10 11 11 11 10 10 11 12

W 8 7 7 6 5 4 3 2

L 2 4 4 4 5 6 8 9

NR 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

PTS 16 14 14 13 10 8 6 5

NRR +0.427 +0.725 -0.123 +0.659 +0.292 +0.030 -0.433 -1.387

In the decisive phase of the Vivo IPL, the in-form Rising Pune Supergiant can put Sunrisers Hyderabad in a spot of bother when the two meet at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Saturday. Equations change quickly in this format as is evident with the way RPS notched up six wins from its last seven games to move to third place and Sunrisers slipped to fourth place. And, there is no doubting that the home team desperately needs a win against the Steve Smith-led RPS to stay in the hunt. For Sunrisers, who take pride in its varied bowling attack, the fifth bowler option could be dicey. The non-availability of Bangladesh left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman could pose problems for SRH captain David Warner. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has always been exceptional with Siddarth Kaul providing valuable support. The fast-improving Md. Siraj has been a plus for the home team. Afghan leggie Rashid Khan has been the pick of the bowlers in the middle

Delivering the goods: SRH’s Mohd. Siraj . AFP *

overs. The think-tank has to be careful in picking the fifth bowler. On the other hand, the young opener Rahul Tripathi has been putting the big names in the shade. The remarkable work he does at the top allows explosive batsmen like Ben Stokes and M.S. Dhoni to play their strokes freely. It is the team’s bowling that lacked teeth. South Africa’s Imran Tahir and pacer Jaydev Unadkat have been performing well but the others are not up to the mark.

I keep things simple, says Tripathi

Notice to ICC: CoA reiterates stand

Special Correspondent

G. Viswanath

Hyderabad

MUMBAI

Rahul Tripathi of Rising Pune Supergiant, the talk of this season, says his dream is to play for India. Speaking ahead of the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Friday, Tripathi said he was enjoying every moment of being part of the Pune outfit and was grateful to his teammates and support staff for all the encouragement. “Yes, I am excited but not thinking too much. Just focusing on what best I can do for the team,” Tripathi said. “I would love to take it match by match. Will feel great when someone like Ajinkya bhai, Dhoni bhai say a few words like well played. They mean so much to me,” he said. “There is no specific reason for being successful against the pacers. Just trying to take the attack to the opposition keeping things simple,” the dashing opener said. Meanwhile, Sunrisers coach Tom Moody said leftarm pacer Ashish Nehra was fit and available for selection. “All games are crunch games. We know that Pune is on a roll and it will be a tough match,” Moody said.

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) reiterated its stand to the BCCI late on Thursday, saying that there was no need to send a notice to the ICC seeking remedial measures for the breach of the Members’ Participation Agreement (MPA) caused at the ICC Board meeting last month. In a strongly worded note addressed to the BCCI joint secretary, Amitabh Choudhary, the CoA said: “We stand by our earlier decision and see no reason to reconsider the same. “We fail to understand how you can insist on sending the notice without a resolution passed in the SGM authorising you to do so. “In any event, we gather from your captioned email that the purport of issuing the notice to ICC today [Thursday] itself is to keep open the option of pulling out from the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 prior to India’s first match on 4th June 2017

England wins irst ODI Agence France-Presse Bristol

England defeated Ireland by seven wickets to win the first One-Day International at Bristol on Friday and go 1-0 up in the two-match series. The scores: Ireland 126 in 33 overs (A. Balbirnie 30, Adil Rashid five for 27) lost to England 127 for three in 20 overs (A. Hales 55, J. Root 49 n.o., Chase three for 44).

because the 30-day notice period would then expire on 2nd/3rd June 2017. “However, by that time, Team India would already have played two warm-up matches (on 28th and 30th May) and the tournament would have already begun on 1st June 2017. “If so, issuing the notice today [Thursday], instead of after the SGM, convened on May 7, serves no useful purpose. “Is there any other reason why the notice has to be issued today? “In any case, we would have expected that if it was so important to send out the notice before 4th May, the SGM could have been called for on an earlier date,” said the CoA note.

Saturday’s meeting The CoA is set to meet the BCCI’s 31 members in New Delhi on Saturday to discuss matters pertaining to Sunday’s SGM and the implementation of the Lodha Committee reforms.

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14 SPORT

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2017

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Green fuels Warriors’ win

Sports Bureau CHANDIGARH

Wizards down Celtics in an intense Eastern Conference game

Shashikant Rajput fought past Drona Walia to set up a title clash with Nishant Dabas in the boys’ section of the Zenlabs Ethica AITA National Series under-16 tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Friday.

NBA Agence France-Presse Washington

Draymond Green dazzled as Golden State Warriors defeated Utah Jazz 115-104 on Thursday to take a 2-0 lead in their NBA Western Conference second-round playoff series. Green scored five threepointers as Warriors remained unbeaten in six games this post-season. Kevin Durant added 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Stephen Curry had 23 points and seven assists for Warriors, who raced to an early lead and stifled Jazz’s attempts to come back.

Hayward shines Gordon Hayward scored 33 points for Jazz, who were without injured point guard George Hill. In an Eastern Conference series growing more intense with every game, Washington Wizards defeated the Bo-

On the prowl: Draymond Green, left, scored ive three-pointers against Utah Jazz. ston Celtics 116-89. John Wall scored 24 points for Wizards, who seized control of the contest with a 22-0 scoring run in the first quarter on the way

to trimming the series deficit to 2-1. Wizards will try to level the series when they host game four on Sunday. The results: Eastern Confer-

Cheptai, Komon for TCS 10K

Rajeshwari misses inal Sports Bureau Larnaka

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AP

ence: Washington Wizards 116 bt Boston Celtics 89 (Celtics lead series 2-1). Western Conference: Golden State Warriors 115 bt Utah Jazz 104 (Warriors lead series 2-0).

Special Correspondent Bengaluru

The reigning women’s world cross country champion, Irene Cheptai, men’s world record holder Leonard Komon and two-time defending champion Mosinet Geremew will headline the elite field at the TCS World 10K Bengaluru, to be run here on May 21. Komon, who set the 10km (road) world record of 26:44 back in 2010, has not hit those heights since, but the Kenyan finished 12th at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in March. Geremew, meanwhile, will seek to complete a hat-trick of titles in the city. The 25-year-old Ethiopian arrives in good form, having won the Yang-

Dazzlers in inal

zhou International Half Marathon in China last month in a time of 60:56. Also in the fray are New Zealand’s Zane Robertson, who ran the fastest 10km time in the world last year, clocking 27:28 in Berlin, and Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese, who has a personal best of 27:38. On the women’s side, Kenya’s Cheptai, who won the world cross country title in Uganda in March, will be among the favourites, as also will compatriot Gladys Chesir, the fastest woman in the field with a personal best of 30:41. Also in contention will be Ethiopia’s Wude Yimer, who won the TCS World 10K in 2010 and finished second and third in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

The results: Boys: Semifinals: Shashikant Rajput bt Drona Walia 6-3, 1-6, 6-3; Nishant Dabas bt Divesh Gahlot 5-7, 6-3, 6-0. Quarterfinals: Shashikant bt Sushant Dabas 6-2, 6-1; Drona Wallia bt Uddayvir Singh 6-4, 6-1; Nishant bt Kushan Shah 6-4, 6-4; Divesh Gahlot bt Ajay Malik 6-4, 6-4. Doubles final: Bhupender Dahiya & Krishan Hooda bt Deepender Grewal & Dhruv Tangri 7-5, 6-2. Girls: Semifinals: Prinkle Singh bt Bela Tamhankar 6-2, 6-3; Kaavya Sawhney bt Prerna Vichare 6-4, 6-4. Quarterfinals: Prinkle bt Ishita Singh 6-0, 6-2; Bela Tamhankar bt Sanya Singh 6-3, 6-3; Kaavya bt Srishti Dhir 6-2, 6-3; Prerna bt Vanshika Choudhary 6-3, 6-2. Doubles: Final: Kaavya & Prinkle bt Sarah Dev & Prerna 6-2, 6-1.

Dominant display: Telefunken CC won the inal against AC Sports by a 49-run margin. SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI

Yogesh Nagar top-scored with a 69-ball 92 and picked up two wickets as Telefunken defeated AC Sports by 49 runs to win the 27th all-India Sperry Om Nath Sood memorial tournament. TCC lost three early wick-

Gurpreet inishes sixth Sports Bureau

Gurpreet Singh placed sixth in the rapid fire pistol event at the 48th Grand Prix of Liberation shooting competition here on Friday, with a final tally three points short of the winning score. Gurpreet, who had a tally of 587, misfired in the second, third and fourth series of the final after starting with a 4 out of 5. Gagan Narang, who had topped the qualification scored in 50m rifle prone event with a 628.4, missed out on a medal by 0.2 points. Sushil Ghalay was fifth. Anmol Jain won the air pistol bronze, while Prakash Nanjappa placed seventh. In standard pistol, Neeraj

ets before Nagar and Parth Madan (69) steadied the innings. The side finished with 262. Shiva Yadav (five 43) was ACS’s best bowler. In reply, ACS was shot out for 213. despite Gaurav Chitkara’s 89. The scores: TCC 262 for nine in 40 overs (Yogesh Nagar 92, Parth Madan 69, Abhishek

Namdhari XI triumphs

SHOOTING

PILSEN (CZECH REPUBLIC)

Rajeshwari Kumari shot 67 and missed the final by three points in women’s trap in the shotgun World Cup in Larnaka, Cyprus, on Friday. After a strong start, Rajeshwari lost her way in the third round in a series of 24, 23 and 20. While Rajeshwari placed 25th, Seema Tomar shot 63 for the 35th place and Manisha Keer recovered from a bad start of 17 to end up 40th with a total of 61. In men’s trap, Kynan Chenai had rounds of 23 and 24, as he placed 29th after two rounds.

Telefunken triumphs

Rajput in inal

Kumar, Harpreet Singh and Deepak Sharma swept the medals.

*

Khandelwal 34, Shiva Yadav five for 43) bt AC Sports 213 in 36.4 overs (Gaurav Chitkara 89, Amit Pal 36, Shivam Sharma three for 38, Ankit Dabas three for 42). Special awards: Man-of-the-final: Yogesh Nagar; Best batsman: Gaurav Chitkara; Best bowler: Himank Singh;Man of the tournament: Ankit Dabas.

Ramkumar bows out Sports Bureau Savannah (USA)

The results: Men: 25m rapid fire pistol: 1. Christian Reitz (Ger) 33(590), 2. Aaron Sauter (Ger) 29(580), 3. Oleksandr Petriv (Ukr) 23 (586); 6. Gurpreet Singh 6(587). 10m air pistol: 1. Damir Mikec (Srb) 244.1(588), 2. Samuil Donkov (Bul) 241.9(580), 3. Anmol Jain 220.8 (578); 7. Prakash Nanjappa 139.1(579). 25m standard pistol: 1. Neeraj Kumar 571, 2. Harpreet Singh 569, 3. Deepak Sharma 568, 5. Jujhar Singh 567, 6. Samaresh Jung 566, 9. Mahaveer Singh 561. 50m rifle prone: 1. Esben Jakobsen (Den) 251.6(626.4), 2. Jan Lochbihler (Sui) 249.0 (627.2), 3. Neil Stirton (Sco) 228.2(627.8), 4. Gagan Narang 207.0 (628.4), 5. Sushil Ghalay 184.8 (625.6).

Time to celebrate: Namdhari XI beat Mumbai School Sports Association 2-1 for the title. Ashwin Achal Bengaluru

Namdhari XI defeated Mumbai School Sports Association 2-1 to emerge champion of the 7th Hockey India sub-junior boys’ National hockey championship (‘B’ division) here on Friday. Namdhari XI captain Hanspal Singh’s brace, a goal on either side of the half, carried his team through. For Mumbai

School SA, Sartaj Alam found the goal in the 49th minute. Both teams earned promotions to next year’s elite A division. The results: Final: Namdhari XI 2 (Hanspal SIngh 25, 30) bt Mumbai School SA 1 (Sartaj Alam 49); Third-place playoff: Hockey Rajasthan 2 (Vijendra Rathore 4, 70) drew with Bengal HA 2 (Kallu Ali 3, Sagar Kumar 22) (Rajasthan won 4-2 in shootout).

Ramkumar Ramanathan crashed out of the $75,000 Challenger tennis tournament here, losing 6-1, 6-2 to Stefan Kozlov in the second round of the $75,000 Challenger here on Thursday. Ramkumar bowed out of the doubles as well, as he and Andre Ghem fell 6-2, 6-3 to Luke Bambridge and Mitchell Krueger in the quarterfinals. Other results: $15,000 ITF women, Cairo: Quarterfinals: Camila Giangraco Campiz (Par) bt Sowjanya Bavisetti 6-4, 6-1; Riya Bhatia bt Lisa-Maria Maetschke (Ger) 0-6, 6-1, 6-4. Doubles semifinals: Sowjanya Bavisetti & Rishika Sunkara bt Tea Faber (Cro) & Jelena Stojanovic (Aus) 6-3, 6-2.

Special Correspondent

New BAI president outlines his vision for Indian badminton

KOLKATA

Mohit Sarkar’s all-round show helped Darjeeling Dazzlers beat Pargana Panthers by 72 runs and book a place in the final of the Future cricket championship at the F.C. Ground, Salt Lake, here on Friday. In the other semifinal, Medinipore Marshals defeated Murshidabad Nawabs by 20 runs to reach the title clash.

Sarma also releases long-pending cash awards for players Kamesh Srinivasan NEW DELHI

President of the Badminton Association of India, Himanta Biswa Sarma, acknowledged the contributions of his departed predecessor Akhilesh Das Gupta, and declared that he would spare no effort in taking Indian badminton to the next level. Sarma, appointed after Das Gupta’s sudden demise last month, was addressing the BAI Conclave here on Friday. Sarma, who had consulted current and former players, offered his views on improving governance. “Our administration has to be in tune with the progress of the game,” Sarma said.

The scores: Darjeeling Dazzlers 127 for eight in 20 overs (Mohit Sarkar 29, Agnibesh Gupta three for 21) bt Pargana Panthers 55 in 15.4 overs (Mohit Sarkar two for two). Medinipore Marshals 142 for eight in 20 overs (Venkat Raj 68, Rupankar Dastidar three for 18) Murshidabad Nawabs 122 for seven in 20 overs (Sambit Nag 51, Jayanth Singh two for 30).

“We need to be forward thinking, and we are determined to change our system.” He said it was important to monitor all tournaments to tap talent at the grassroots level. The need for comprehensive health insurance for players, and standardised academies all over the country was also touched upon. It is important to have a clear calendar and announcing the teams early for tournaments so that players competing on their own can plan better, Sarma said. He spoke about how it was important for the top players to compete in domestic events to inspire the younger players. When asked about

it, Saina replied that the international players usually had packed schedules and recovery time to factor in. “It is not that we don’t want to play events at home. We will try to find a slot for one tournament when all of us can play,” she said. Sarma also released the long-pending cash awards due over the last few years, of which P. Kashyap’s share was ₹30 lakh. The other recipients were Saina Nehwal (₹25 lakh), G. Jwala and Ashwini Ponnappa (₹10 lakh each), K. Srikanth (₹6 lakh), Guru Sai Dutt (₹5 lakh) and P.V. Sindhu (₹20 lakh). This is apart from the ₹50 lakh that Sindhu was awarded for her silver at Rio.

We’ve progressed, but the next step will be tougher: Gopi Chand government mechanism,” he said. “We have to sit together and [trade] suggestions.” After Saina Nehwal’s bronze at London and P.V. Sindhu’s silver at Rio, Gopi Chand said the next target for Indian shuttlers would be a gold. “It is not going to be easy,” Gopi Chand said. The National badminton coach also acknowledged the efforts of P. Kashyap and K. Srikanth in reaching the quarterfinals at the last two Olympics, and added that a better result at Tokyo would

Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

P. Gopi Chand expressed his views on the way forward for Indian badminton, saying that the next couple of steps would be difficult as the game had progressed so much already. Addressing the Badminton Conclave here on Friday, Gopi Chand said a system-driven, coach- and athlete-centric scenario would be the ideal way to progress. “Our systems need to be integrated. We (the players and the coaches) are not in control of the

mean two more badminton medals for India. Gopi Chand faulted the national ranking system for not taking into account performances in the international arena. He also pointed to age fraud as a big issue, and said coaches and support staff were not being paid well enough. Gopi Chand, Vimal Kumar and Gujarat Badminton Association’s S.A. Raval, were presented awards for their services, on behalf of the Badminton World Federation.

P. Gopi Chand.

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THE HINDU CROSSWORD 12000 1 7

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15 Awareness curtailed by dope (4)

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16 Delicacy of tennis played in dais (10)

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18 Unwind, lose source of stress, protest at port (10)

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■ ACROSS 1 Dreams of snakes receiving one portion… (11) 9 …of legumes that cost almost nothing (7) 10 Earnest single heartless man (6) 11 Protect losing Republican’s issue (5) 12 Sincere Wilde stated the importance of being thus (7)

6 Greeting returning chap with wobbly seat (7)

23 Prepare again in difficult terrain (7)

8 Minister’s correspondence with lad (6)

24 Greek mathematician extracts iodine from drug (5)

13 Stile authors who write comedy (10)

26 Love assortment of fruit (6)

14 Spying on exotic sea pigeon (9)

27 Evicting son admitted into excursion (7)

Realising the Supreme

5 Sick of single endless drone in US city (8)

7 Rupee dips in a frenzy from the top (5,4)

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FAITH

SUDOKU

4 Staying away from sailors missing irst round of drill (10)

20 Starts badgering a lonely individual in Indonesian island (4) 21

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(set by Anon)

17 Beguile at the gate (8)

28 Dear sir, save material for enemies (11)

19 He dares comic to be cut off (7)

■ DOWN

21 Scared of air force strike (6)

2 Kitchen appliance, unidentiied, may be lying (6)

22 Modest Conservative in a hurry (6)

3 Leave Quebec out of enquiry this month (4)

25 Physicist’s book on how radiation originates (4)

Solution to puzzle 11999 E C S U N D E R T H T N A D I C T A T O R R E D E T E RM I F E A C C O U N T O L T B R I D E D P H D O U B L E R E D R A C E A G A L R E

B L S EWE A T A A A R S I G I H N E T R G B E E R R A D E L E C AM E P K S O F F S T S A A I N S T T T T E

H N O N

Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku D E T A EI L E D

R L L S

T R E E A G E I I M E E

The Mandukya Upanishad discusses the problem of the Ultimate Reality. From the Advaita point of view, the goal is the attainment of the knowledge of the non-dual Brahman and the Atman. The Upanishad does not ignore the belief of those in the external objects or in the manifested manifold. It shows that their belief is because of their perception through the senses, or through their attachment to their worldly concerns. The idea is that the Supreme Brahman is realised only by those in a state of renunciation, whose intuitive perception is backed by scriptural knowledge, pointed out Sri Goda Venkateswara Sastrigal in a discourse. But how is one has to transcend the limits of human cognition to realise the Supreme Brahman that remains ineffable and beyond human grasp? This Reality is attainable to the mind which dismisses desire, anger and fear and is freed of delusions. Desire, fear and anger compound the state of ignorance in an individual. The individual who identifies with the world, imagining it to be some or many or all of the diverse things in it, is in the grip of the same illusion that arises when a rope is mistaken for a snake, or a stick or a streak of water. But in truth, one has to understand that the manifested world of creation is the very Brahma swaroopa and is to seen as a springboard for realising Brahman. Even as one knows the true status of the ever changing scenes displayed on a TV screen, a realised soul understands the ephemeral nature of the manifested world. When Narayana Bhattathiri addresses the deity in the Guruvayur temple as the very Brahma Tatva, he shows that this is a manifestation of that elusive Truth that the Upanishads painstakingly strive to explain. Devotion and selfless living are a means to God realisation.

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IN BRIEF

Djokovic splits with coaching team

India sufers 1-0 reverse To play New Zealand for bronze

BELGRADE

Novak Djokovic said on Friday that he had parted ways with his entire training team, including long-time coach Marian Vajda, as he attempts to arrest an alarming slide in form in the past year. The former World No. 1 believes that this “shock therapy” will help him return to the top of the game, said a statement on his official website. “I am a hunter and my biggest goal is to find the winning spark on the court again,” Djokovic said. “I want to find a way to come back to the top stronger and more resilient,” he said. AFP

Bunte ordered to pay damages to Schumacher BERLIN

The German magazine Bunte was ordered on Friday to pay €50,000 in damages plus legal fees to Michael Schumacher for claiming the former five-time Formula One World champion could walk again. In December 2015, two years after Schumacher sustained serious head injuries on a skiing holiday, Bunte ran the headline “It’s more than a Christmas miracle — Michael Schumacher can walk again”. AFP

TV PICKS Bundesliga: SS Select HD2, 6.45 p.m. & 9.45 p.m. La Liga: TEN 1 & HD, 7.45 p.m. & 10 p.m. Premier League: SS Select HD1, 4.50 p.m., 7.20 p.m. & 9.50 p.m. NBA: Sony Six & Sony Six HD, 5.30 a.m. (Sunday)

A thorn in the lesh: Despite having had a poor tournament, Malaysia scuttled India’s hopes of making the inal. AFP *

Press Trust of India Ipoh

A listless India slumped to a heart-breaking 1-0 defeat to host Malaysia in its last league match as it failed to reach the final of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament for the second consecutive year. Needing to win by a twogoal margin to make the final after Great Britain had edged past New Zealand 3-2 earlier in the day, India failed to produce a cohesive game and suffered its second loss of the tournament. Finishing with seven points from five matches, India will play New Zealand on Saturday in the play-off for the bronze medal, while the title encounter will be between defending champion Australia and Great Britain. An Indian victory by two goals would have pushed Great Britain to the bronze medal game, but Malaysia turned the tables on India which gave a disjointed exhibition of hockey.

Stunning upset In the day of the underdogs, World No. 16 Japan pulled off a most stunning upset with a 3-2 victory over reigning world champion Australia, which still remained

on course to defend its title by topping the standings roster due to its superior goal difference. Despite knowing what was expected from them, India failed to make an impression on the Malaysian defence. After a listless first quarter, India managed to earn three penalty corners in the next 15 minutes, but Malaysian goalkeeper Subramaniam Kumar effected two diving deflections. India showed more purpose in the second half, but its attack was not cohesive and the strikers turned out to be error-prone. India’s desperation was evident at the start of the last quarter when it took off the goalkeeper and made Harmanpreet Singh the kicker-back. The goalkeeper was back within a minute when Manpreet Singh was sent off with a green card. But as Manpreet came back in the 47th minute, so did the kicker-back come in. Having an extra player added just a little bit of thrust to the Indian effort, but it was Malaysia that opened the scoring in the 50th minute with a penalty corner conversion through Shahril Saabah’s measured drag-flick.

Aizawl threat premature, says Praful AIFF president insists that next year’s structure has not been formally decided Nandakumar Marar Mumbai

All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel clarified that I-League champion club Aizawl FC’s threat of protest over exclusion if the I-League is merged with the Indian Super League was premature. He pointed out that till the new road map for Indian football was announced, the existing structure will continue. Talking on the sidelines of WIFA’s Just Play programme at the Cooperage, aimed at increasing awareness on gender equality, sanitation and hygine via football, he complimented the senior squad and national coach (Stephen Constantine) for attaining the 100th ranking and felt the next big push will happen when the u-17 footballers graduate to the National squad. Excerpts: On AIFF support to Aizawl FC: Aizawl was relegated in 2016 and the federation saw

the passion and let them play in the I-League as a special case. They won the ILeague this year. I congratulate the team and the coach (Khalid Jamil) and everybody who has contributed towards the success. In future, every club has to generate its own funding. We do not come into the picture. The AIFF has no role in the club structure, it is their domain. Now they will qualify for the AFC Cup. On protest threat from Aizawl FC: They have said about a letter sent to me. I have not yet received a letter (from Aizawl), the I-League got over three days ago. The AIFF does not get intimidated by any threat and works for the good of Indian football. The road map has yet not been decided. No formal structure for next year is decided. I-League is the official league of India. Till a new road map is decided, the old

into the top rank. On preparation towards getting into FIFA top 50: India needs to play more international games. The federation has been encouraging the national coach and players about being open to playing more international games.

Praful Patel

*

PTI

road map will continue. Nothing is decided as yet. India’s ranking: We are happy to reach 100. But we will be more happy to reach 50 at least in the next five years. That is what the mission of Indian football should be. Hopes from the India U-17 World Cup players: The U-17 World Cup is the first step in that direction. These players will in future play for the national team, which is when I expect India to break

On timeline, if any, for India breaking into top 50: I hope so in the next two years. From March 2015 to March 2017, India moved 73 places up. I think it is a proud moment and hope this progress continues. On Indian Super League’s benefit for national squad: This is the contribution of Indian football as a whole. There is no specific thing about one tournament. Today we have national players even in I-League teams. The development (100 ranking) is a combination of the progress we are trying to make at every level.

Minister to take up Aizawl FC’s case with AIFF The announcement comes even before the I-League champion’s proposed appeal Amitabha Das Sharma KOLKATA

Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel sought to ease the tension growing around the speculation that the I-League champion Aizawl FC will be consigned to a lower division following the merger of the said tournament with the ISL, saying that he would speak to the All India Football Federation on the subject. “No one has approached me directly on this issue. But I have been hearing about this problem from various sources for some time. I would like to take up this issue of the I-League with the All India Football Federation, and see if we can find a solution,” Goel said while on a visit to the Sports Authority of India’s Eastern Centre

Undermined: Aizawl FC, despite its heart-warming I-League triumph, faces the prospect of relegation to the lower echelons of the AIFF’s new club competition. RAJEEV BHATT *

and Salt Lake Stadium on Friday. The sports minister’s assurance about taking up the Aizawl FC issue with the AIFF comes a couple of days after the Mizoram-based ILeague champion’s players threatened fast unto death if

they are kept out of the top tier after the proposed merger of the two tournaments. Aizawl FC, in a statement, said it had submitted a formal claim to the National federation seeking to remain in the top league after the merger. But if the AIFF does

not respond positively to its claim the club would approach “the Union Sports Minister, the Prime Minister and the president of the Asian Football Federation”. Goel’s response comes before Aizawl FC approached the Union Sports Ministry with its claim. The Union Sports Minister, who said the central government had invested around ₹200 crore in the development of infrastructure for the coming FIFA Under-17 World Cup, was upbeat about the tournament generating a lot of interest in the country. “We would create such hype around the tournament to ensure that all the six venues record capacity attendance during the matches,” Goel said.

Shiva, Sumit enter inal Press Trust of India Tashkent

Fourth-seeded Shiva Thapa (60kg) and unseeded Sumit Sangwan (91kg) advanced to the final with contrasting victories at the Asian boxing championships here on Friday. While Shiva stunned Olympic bronze-medallist and top-seeded Dorjnyambuug Otgondalai of Mongolia in a split verdict, Sumit stormed past secondseeded Tajik Jakhon Qurbonov in the semifinals. Middleweight top-seed Vikas Krishan claimed bronze after giving a walkover in the semifinal to fourth-seeded Korean Lee Dongyun. “Vikas Krishan was not there in the weigh-in this morning, therefore his South Korean opponent walked over to the final,” an Asian Boxing Confederation official said. It is not yet known as to why Vikas gave a walkover in the bout.

IFA threat Special Correspondent KOLKATA

The Indian Football Association (IFA) has spoken about the possibility of floating a parallel league if the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is unable to work out a proper merger of the I-League and the Indian Super League, Utpal Ganguly, the general secretary of IFA, which governs football in West Bengal, said at a news conference here. The threat comes a day ahead of a proposed meeting of the two city giants — Bagan and East Bengal — with AIFF in Mumbai over the issue of merger and the draft contract.

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IN BRIEF

Novel molecule to treat cancer Researchers develop It binds to a protein and curbs the growth of tumours while sparing normal cells R. Prasad CHENNAI

Salman’s bodyguard to be Bieber’s security MUMBAI

Bollywood star Salman Khan’s bodyguard Shera has been roped in to handle the security for Justin Bieber’s visit to India for the Purpose tour. Shera, whose real name is Gurmeet Singh Jolly, has handled the security of international actors like Will Smith, Jackie Chan and Keanu Reeves in the past. IANS

Sachin: A Billion Dreams in ive languages NEW DELHI

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar’s biographical film Sachin: A Billion Dreams is set to release on May 26 in five languages —Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. The film’s producer Ravi Bhagchandka said in a statement: “His story is one that we want everyone to witness, without the barrier of language.” IANS

A novel small molecule, designed and synthesised by Indian researchers, has shown promise in targeted killing of cancer cells. The molecule (Disarib) works by binding itself to a protein called BCL2, which suppresses the death of cancerous cells. While BCL2 protein is produced in excess in cancer cells, its expression is almost undetectable in normal cells. Hence, Disarib targets and kills only cancer cells while sparing normal cells. Inside a cell there is always a balance between proteins that promote cell death (apoptosis) and those that suppress cell death. When the proteins BAX and BAK that promote cell death get bound to BCL2, cell death is suppressed and cancer cells are able to live longer. A team led by Sathees C. Raghavan at the Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science (IISc),

Aamir Khan’s film Dangal, an inspiring story about a father’s quest to turn his daughters into champion wrestlers, earned ₹15 crore on Friday in China. It released in over 7,000 screens. Aamir’s earlier film PK was also a hit in China, raking in ₹100 crore. The actor toured Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu to promote Dangal. PTI

Bengaluru, showed that Disarib was able to disrupt the binding of BCL2 and BAK protein. This action induced the death of cancer cells.

8-year research Disarib is the culmination of eight years of research involving 24 researchers from eight groups across various labs. Unlike the FDA-approved BCL2 inhibitor ABT199, the small molecule synthesised by Prof. Raghavan’s team binds pre-

dominantly to a different domain (BH1) of BCL2 and showed better efficiency in killing cancer cells. Also, compared with ABT199 inhibitor, the small molecule did not cause any side effects. The results were published in the journal Biochemical Pharmacology. However, expression of BCL2 is low in certain cancer cell lines such as breast cancer, chronic myelogenous leukemia and cervical cancer. So the Disarib molecule

The replica is made of hydrogels and cell membrane proteins Indo-Asian News Service London

Scientists from the University of Oxford have developed a synthetic, soft tissue retina that closely mimics the natural retinal process. The researchers believe that their efforts could lead to the development of less invasive products that closely resemble human body tissues, helping to treat degenerative eye conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa. The condition changes how the retina responds to light, causing people to slowly lose vision. Until now, artificial retinal research has used mostly rigid, hard materials. “The human eye is incredibly sensitive, which is why foreign bodies like metal retinal implants can be so damaging, leading to inflammation and/or scarring. But a

Paris show features ‘smart’ denims that can give street directions and send e-mail alerts Paris

BEIJING

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synthetic soft retina

Do your jeans have a Bluetooth connection? Agence France-Presse

Dangal grosses ₹15 crore on opening day in China

Cutting edge: Supriya Vartak, left, and Sathees Raghavan at IISc in Bengaluru. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

would be ineffective in these cancers. “We have experimentally tested Disarib in all possible systems and the efficiency of Disarib in selectively killing cancer cells was high,” says Supriya V. Vartak from the Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and one of the first authors of the study. Studies were carried out on three animal models for three different cancers — lymphoma, breast adenocarcinoma and ovarian cancer. “In every case, both in animal studies and cancer cell lines, the efficiency of Disarib to cause cell death and tumour regression was far superior compared with ABT199 when same dosage of Disarib and ABT199 were used,” says Prof. Raghavan. The next step will be to test the toxicity and efficacy of the molecule in cancer cells taken from patients, and also test it in combination with known cancer drugs.

A young man in a white Tshirt pulls on a dark blue denim trucker jacket, tucks his smartphone in an inside pocket and puts in-ear headphones in his right ear. He mounts a fixed-gear bike with flat, slightly curved wide handlebars. Riding through the streets of San Francisco, he occasionally taps or swipes his right hand over the left cuff of his jacket, as the directions he’s listening to continually pop up on the screen of this advertisement. It’s an ad from iconic U.S. jeans maker Levi Strauss for Project Jacquard, an initiative with Google that the com-

panies started two years ago for so-called “smart” denim. The future of the popular fabric was the focus at a recent international fashion fair in Paris.

Wearable innovations The fair featured many wearable innovations such as a waterproof jacket with sunscreen bands and a cable in the pocket to recharge a cellphone, or jeans that keep your body temperature stable. Once mainly the purview of athletic gear — with moisture-wicking shirts and trousers and then clothing that can track motion, heart rate, and body temperature — the new trend for fashion designers is to take everyday

Uber cool: An exhibit at the denim supply show in Paris. *

PREMIERE VISION SA

wear and transform it using new technologies. French-based fashion company Spinal Design, for

example, has created jeans that can give wearers directions without having to whip out the mobile at every single intersection. Through Bluetooth sensors stitched into the jeans’ waistband, the smartphone stays out of sight. “Sensors will vibrate right if you need to turn right, left if you need to turn left,” said Spinal’s innovation director Romain Spinal. In 2015, the company designed a bikini that tells women when it’s time to apply more sunscreen. The twopiece retails for €149 euros (₹10,500) and comes with a detachable ultraviolet sensor that, through a smartphone or tablet, sends a “sunscreen

alert” when the sunbather’s skin needs more cream. The Spinal jeans, made in France, cost €150 euros and also have e-mail notification capabilities. “They will vibrate differently depending on whether the message received is from your family, your friends or work, in a way that you won’t have to constantly check your e-mail on weekends or on vacation,” Mr. Spinal said. On their end, Google and Levi expect to release their denim jacket sometime this year, but it will come with a hefty $350 (₹22,500) price tag due in part to its special interactive fabric that allows the jacket’s wearer to order various products online.

Synthetic retina material. *

OXFORD UNIVERSITY

biological synthetic implant is soft and water-based, so much more friendly to the eye environment,” said lead researcher Vanessa Restrepo-Schild from Oxford University. Just as photography depends on camera pixels reacting to light, vision relies

on the retina performing the same function. The retina sits at the back of the human eye, and contains protein cells that convert light into electrical signals that travel through the nervous system, triggering a response from the brain, ultimately building a picture of the scene being viewed. The synthetic, doublelayered retina replica consists of soft water droplets (hydrogels) and biological cell membrane proteins. Designed like a camera, the cells act as pixels, detecting and reacting to light to create a grey scale image. “The synthetic material can generate electrical signals, which stimulate the neurons at the back of our eye just like the original retina,” Ms. Restrepo-Schild said. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.