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Lalu’s son launches DSS to counter RSS

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Prime Minister throws open 9.2-km-long Chenani-Nashri all-weather tunnel

Tej Pratap Yadav, Bihar Health Minister and elder son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, on Sunday announced the formation of the Dharmanirpeksha (Secular) Sevak Sangh (DSS), a youth organisation, to counter the RSS. “Today RSS is spreading religious fanaticism… fanning out its divisive ideology in the country but the DSS will counter them,” he told journalists in Patna . 쑺 PAGE 7

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Four students held for stalking Smriti Irani NEW DELHI

The Delhi Police on Sunday arrested the four youths who allegedly overtook Union Minister Smriti Irani’s car and indulged in “unwanted action.” They have been booked for stalking and outraging the modesty of a woman. 쑺 PAGE 7

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Counterfeiting of new notes worries agencies Oicials want security features changed every 3-4 years Special Correspondent New Delhi

Peerzada Ashiq

PATNA

NATION

Be n g a lu ru

Swap terrorism for tourism, Modi tells Kashmiri youth

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Srinagar

Inaugurating the country’s longest tunnel of 9.28 km in Jammu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked Kashmiri youth to make a choice between tourism and terrorism. “Kashmiri youths have two options, tourism and terrorism. For 40 years, terrorism gave you nothing but bloodshed, deaths and destruction. Had you chosen tourism, the world would have been at Kashmir’s feet,” said Mr. Modi, while throwing open the Chenani-Nashri tunnel, connecting the mountainous districts of Udhampur with Ramban. Built at a cost of ₹3,720 crore, the all-weather tunnel is an engineering feat, and will reduce the travel time between Srinagar and Jammu by two hours and bypass several treacherous and landslide-prone areas. The Prime Minister said every Indian dreams of visiting Kashmir. “More the tourists, the better it will be for the economy. The entire country is with Jammu and Kashmir if tourism is the focus,” he stressed.

‘Power of stones’ Referring to stone-throwers in the Valley, Mr. Modi said, “I want to tell the Kashmiri

Easy passage: Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes a tour of the Chenani-Nashri Tunnel in Jammu after inaugurating it on Sunday. PTI *

youth what actually is the power of stones. On one side, youth in Kashmir throw stones. On the other, people are giving their blood and sweat, cutting rocks for Kashmir’s development.”

‘A leap for development’ Describing the tunnel as “a big leap for J&K’s development,” Mr. Modi said it would be a boon for Kashmir’s farmers and fruit growers, whose produce will reach Delhi quickly without spoiling. He said the tunnel will be discussed not only in India

but also by climate activists in the world. “We have worked to safeguard the Himayalas and the environment,” said Mr. Modi. Referring to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mr. Modi said he is loved by every Kashmiri even today for bringing in change. Greeting Mr. Modi on the BJP’s victory in the Uttar Pradesh elections, J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti described him as a “courageous leader”, even as she pushed for the initiation of a dialogue. “Last year, during

the unrest, the Union Home Minister was here to help me bring the situation under control. The situation has improved now but a lot needs to be done.” “Mufti Mohammad Sayeed joined hands with you [Mr. Modi] to take the State out of this fire. We have won all wars but our real strength is democracy. We have to help bring people out of trouble through the agenda of alliance,” she added. SHUT-DOWN HITS LIFE IN VALLEY; TAKE BRAVE STEPS, GEELANI TELLS MODI 쑺 PAGE 10

That the new ₹2,000 and ₹500 notes have the same security features as the old ₹500 and ₹1,000 ones has the security agencies worried. At a high-level meeting last week to discuss the presence of fake currency notes, officials at North Block were informed that the “covert security features” had not been changed since 2005. The Hindu had reported on November 11, 2016, that the security features were changed last in 2005 when notes of all denominations with new security features were introduced. Water marks, security thread, fibre and latent image comprise the security features and these require several representations, evaluation and a Cabinet nod. An official had said then that since the decision to introduce the new notes was taken only around May 2016, there was no time to alter the security features as the entire exercise takes between five and six years. Officials have suggested now that to check counterfeiting, the security features of higher denomination notes, such as ₹2,000 and ₹500, should be changed every 3-4 years in accordance with global standards.

In the four months since the government announced its decision to scrap the old ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes on November 8, 2016, fake ₹2,000 notes with a face value of over ₹66 lakh have been detected by the Reserve Bank of India and the State police forces across the country.

Investigations under way The government informed the Lok Sabha that investigations were on to determine whether the security features of the new notes had been compromised. On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the old notes were being scrapped and new ₹2,000 ones were being introduced as part of the government’s

efforts to weed out black money and fake currency, which would eventually eradicate corruption and terror funding. As per the Home Ministry’s reply in the Lok Sabha, from November 9, 2016, to March 7 this year, 3,346 pieces of fake ₹2,000 notes had been recovered. The issue was discussed threadbare at a high-level meeting on Thursday, which was attended by senior officials of the Ministries of Finance and Home, including Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi. Home Ministry officials said most developed countries change the security features of their currency notes every 3-4 years. CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10

‘Parties’ views sought on electoral bonds’

‘EVMs not to blame for Punjab result’

Move will bring in clean money, says Arun Jaitley Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

The government will soon launch the electoral bonds scheme to fund political parties as proposed in this year’s Budget, Union Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday. The Minister said the government had sought suggestions from all parties on the contours of the scheme, including whether such bonds

Devesh Pandey New Delhi

Asking the Aam Aadmi Party to introspect on why it did not perform as expected in the Punjab Assembly polls, the Election Commission on Sunday said the only alternative for verification of the results was to file a petition before the High Court. It reiterated that the EVMs were tamper-proof. “It is unfair on the part of your party to attribute unsatisfactory poll performance to the alleged tamperability of EVMs,” said the EC in reply to the AAP’s petition, seeking verification of the results. It said no credible material had been brought forth, ahead of the Punjab polls, to show that the EVMs were tampered with.

Arun Jaitley at ‘Breakfast with Business Line’ on Sunday. RAMESH SHARMA *

should be issued only during elections.

Speaking at the ‘Breakfast with Business Line’ event held at the ITC Maurya Hotel here, Mr. Jaitley defended the decision to lift the cap on corporate funds to political parties. He said it was an improvement from the current situation, where companies siphon funds from their business activities to fund parties with ‘unclean money.’ CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10

CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10 EC TO BUY ADVANCED EVMS FOR 2019 POLLS 쑺 PAGE 10

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Gabbar Singh to ride again in Ramanagaram Karnataka will recreate the heat and dust of ‘Sholay’ for tourists with 3D, virtual reality sets M.T. Shiva Kumar Mandya

Forty-two years after Sholay and Gabbar Singh etched themselves into cinematic history on the rocky terrain of Ramanagaram, where the blockbuster movie was shot, the ravines are getting ready to recreate the experience of Ramesh Sippy’s film opus. Karnataka’s Tourism Department is working to establish ‘Sholay-the 3-D Virtual Reality Village’ on a 42,184 sq. ft. locale at Ramadevara Betta in Ramanagaram district, where the film was shot over a two-and-a-half year period. A ₹7.5-crore plan was recently submitted to the government to take it forward either as a publicCM YK

private partnership (PPP) venture or as a State project. The ‘3-D village’ will recreate the dacoit-gangland setting to bring the film’s characters to life through three-dimensional (3D) printing and Virtual Reality (VR) technology. The actors will also “come alive” for visitors and give them a chance to do roleplay and deliver dialogues, a senior officer at the Department of Tourism said. “When Thakur says Yeh haath nahi…, phaansi ka phanda hai,” the visitors can immediately mimic the dialogue that follows, and chorus “Yeh haath humko de de Thakur,” the officer says, recalling the violent scene in the film where Sanjeev

Still rocking: ‘Sholay’ was shot on these craggy hills and a tourist village here is on the cards. B. MAHADEVA *

Kumar is trapped and his hands cut off by ‘Gabbar’ the dacoit, memorably played by Amjad Khan. B. R. Mamatha, Deputy Commissioner, Ramanagaram, said the experience was planned to

thrill visitors using VR and 3D, audio and visual equipment, multiple screens, virtual reality headsets, goggles and laser disc-based systems. The visualisation using technology would give the visitors the feel of lead actors Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra and Amjad Khan being ‘present,’ the experience augmented by sound effects, she explained. The Ramanagaram district administration is planning to partner Sippy Productions or other private agencies under the PPP model. If not, the government will implement the project on its own by September. Amitabh, Dharmendra,

Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri and others who either acted in or were involved in the movie would be invited to inaugurate the virtual reality presentation. Tourism Minister Priyank Kharge and Energy and Ramanagaram district in-charge Minister D.K. Shivakumar are pursuing the project.

Memorable settings Some memorable Sholay locations, such as the elevated water tank featuring Dharmendra’s ‘suicide threat’ scene, Hema Malini’s (‘Basanti’) dance rock, her horse carriage, Sanjeev Kumar’s (‘Thakur’) handcuff scene and the house of timber will become permanent exhibits. A ND-ND

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2 EAST

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

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DELHI

Timings

Monday, April 03

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Naveen Patnaik meets BJD’s new panchayat leaders Asks them to work honestly and hard for the people; promises review soon

Bangladesh’s Hindus voice anger ahead of Hasina’s visit Hold her responsible for failing to protect the minority Special Correspondent Kolkata

A week before Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Delhi, speakers at a seminar, organised by the BJP’s Refugee Cell in West Bengal, targeted her for her policy to appease the majority community in Bangladesh. Using still photographs and films, the participants, mostly Hindu minority of Bangladesh, many of whom were attacked in recent months, gave a graphic description of the violence committed against the minorities during the Awami League’s tenure. They held Ms Hasina “responsible” for failing to protect the minority. The chief of the Refugee Cell, Dr Mohit Ray, however, said that the seminar “has

Prafulla Das BHUBANESWAR

As part of the course correction that he spoke about after declaration of the panchayat election results, Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik interacted with his party’s newly elected panchayat representatives on Sunday and asked them to work hard for the cause of the people. The course correction exercise assumes significance as rumours of a split in the BJD were doing the rounds and the BJP was continuing to induct leaders from other parties ahead of its two-day national executive meet staring in Bhubaneswar on April 15.

IN BRIEF

‘Will amend excise rules in line with SC order’ SHILLONG

Meghalaya Excise Minister Zenith Sangma on Sunday said the State government will amend the existing excise rules in line with the Supreme Court order. “The latest Supreme Court order exempts Meghalaya and Sikkim from the 500-metre cap on liquor vends due to the unique topography,” Mr Zenith said. “We will do it as soon as possible in consultation with the Law department,” he said. PTI

Suggestions presented Mr. Patnaik, who heard the BJD’s elected members at the party’s State headquarters here, said the representatives presented various suggestions that they want to be implemented. “I have also asked them to work honestly and hard for the people. We will meet again after six months to review the situation,” Mr. Patnaik told presspersons after the interaction session.

AIZAWL

At least 30 houses were damaged in the MizoramAssam border village of Vairengte when a squall accompanied by hailstorm lashed the northern part of the State on Sunday morning, officials said. No casualty was reported. Communication and power supply were disrupted in the area as a large number of poles were uprooted, officials said. PTI

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While the BJD’s elected representatives from Koraput and Jajpur districts attended the first meeting, Mr. Patnaik will interact with representatives from other districts in a phased manner. BJD legislators and senior leaders from the two districts were present during the interaction.

Senior leader Surya Narayan Patro said that Mr. Patnaik is likely to pay surprise visits to panchayats in the coming days to assess the ground situation. Even though the BJD won the majority of Zilla Parishad seats in the panchayat polls in February, the party had started worrying as the BJP

had performed unexpectedly well, overtaking the Congress as the main challenger to the ruling party. Further, the BJP had started focusing on Odisha in a big way after it achieved its first target of moving ahead of the Congress and had its eyes set on the 2019 elections.

Teen dies, girl survives in suicide attempt They had eloped and returned home, but could not bear the humiliation Staff Reporter BERHAMPUR

30 houses damaged in Mizoram storm

Waiting for Naveen: Newly elected BJD panchayat-level representatives of Koraput district taking a selie at the party oice in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. PTI

A teenager has died while his girl friend survived when the couple attempted suicide at G. Rautaput village under Dashmantpur block in Koraput district of Odisha.

March 25 case Although they had attempted suicide on March 25, the incident came to light only when a mobile video showing the inhuman beating and humiliation of the couple at their village surfaced a day ago. This teenaged couple

had eloped from their homes but returned later. They were humiliated allegedly by the villagers and family members who were opposed to their relationship. The boy was a student of Class IX and the girl is reported to be around 18 years old. According to police sources, both tried to hang themselves from the ceiling of a room. The girl survived as the knot of the rope came loose. As per Sub-Divisonal Police Officer (SDPO) of Koraput, Balabhadra Deep,

the girl was admitted to Koraput District Headquarter Hopsital and she is out of danger. The girl has now returned to her home and the Koraput Sadar police station has registered an unnatural death case, the SDPO added.

Families opposed affair The deceased was around four years younger than the girl. Apart from that, the families of both were also opposed to their relationship as the boy was from Paraja caste while the girl was from Gauda community.

The girl’s marriage was fixed for March 18 with another person. But on that day both eloped. The young couple returned after three days. The villagers and family members allegedly beat them up and later decided that both should live as a couple. However, their ordeal did not end. According to sources, some family members of the girl also created unruly scenes at the home of the boy. It is suspected that unable to face the social humiliation, the couple had decided to take the drastic step.

Muslim dancer enthrals audience as Lord Krishna

OBITUARY & REMEMBRANCE DEATH

“I am an artiste, an artiste has no religion or caste.” Press Trust of India Jalpaiguri (WB)

A young Muslim dancer has mesmerised the audience by his performance as Lord Krishna at a programme celebrating 150th birth anniversary of Sister Nivedita, organised by the Ramakrishna Mission here. Imram Sheikh, who came from Assam as a member of the Rangapara Dance Academy to take part in the four-day programme, danced on the

themes of ‘Dashavatar’ and ‘Krishna Leela’. Asked about taking part in a Hindu religious programme, Sheikh said, “I am an artiste and an artiste does not have any religion or caste.”

Unity of all faiths Ramakrishna and Vivekananda had taught about unity of all faiths, the 18-year-old dancer said. He also took part in Sattriya, a classical dance

form originated in Assam and was attributed to the 15th Century Vaishnab saint Srimanta Sankardev. “Humanism is the best religion. Ramakrishna and Vivekananda never taught religion of gods or goddesses. They strove for the development of the country and its people,” Jalpaiguri Ramakrishna Mission secretary Swami Shibapremananda said. The fourday sesquicentennial programme of Sister Nivedita concludes today.

Kolkata gets irst bio-gas bus To have a lat fare of ₹1 irrespective of the distance Press Trust of India Kolkata

A city based company has claimed to have launched the first bio-gas fuelled bus in Kolkata keeping a flat fare of just ₹1. “We are the first one to launch bio-gas bus in the entire southeast Asia. Now old buses which have run for 15 or 20 years, can also be given a fresh lease of life with this clean and cheap fuel, and we are in the process of seeking government approval for the same,” Phoenix India Research chairman and managing director Jyoti Prakash Das said.

More buses later Four more buses will be rolled out in the current month and another 10 by the end of this year, Mr Das

said. All buses will have a flat fare of ₹1 irrespective of the distance, even in excess of 40 km, he said. Presently, the lowest fare in a Kolkata bus is ₹6. The first bus will run a distance of 17 km between Ultadanga and Garia in the southern fringes of the city and Phoenix India will run the bio-gas service from its Corporate Social Responsibility fund.

Welcome development On the pricing and permit issues, West Bengal Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikari said, “It is a welcome development. We will issue permit if the company fulfils all laws and norms of the Centre.” Mr Das said they had conducted a three months’ trial

in Delhi, running a bio-gas bus to overcome teething troubles and expressed confidence in making bio-gas buses commercially viable for both short and long distance.

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nothing to do” with the visit of Prime Minister Hasina.

Key speakers Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy and BJP State unit chief Dilip Ghosh were among the key speakers. President of Bangladesh Minority Watch, Rabindra Ghosh, who authored many fact finding reports on per-

Special drive started for coal industry pensioners, families Aadhaar replaces PF, PPO numbers under Digital India Staff Reporter BERHAMPUR

Hundreds of pensioners of the coal industry and their family members reached Berhampur on Sunday to become part of a special drive -- Mission Biswas-2 of the Coal Mines Provident Fund (CMPF) under the Digital India initiative of the Union government. This special drive will continue in the district till April 10. From April 3 to 10, the CMPF will hold its camps at seven different places of the district. As per the CMPF commissioner B. K. Panda, in Odisha highest number of retired persons of various subsidiaries of Coal India like CCL, BCCL, ECL, NCL and MCL live in Ganjam district. In Odisha, there are around 40,000 retired employees of coal industry. Out of them, around 25,000 live in Ganjam, while majority of the rest are in Talcher region.

Information linkage Prime objective of this recent exercise is to capture all information related to the pensioners and others linked to coal industry in a digital platform for easy settlement of claims, grievance redressal and preparation of analytics. “CMPF is the first

Enrolling miners: People illing forms at the mega camp in Berhampur on Sunday. LINGARAJ PANDA *

organisation in the country to replace Provident Fund (PF) number and Pension Pay Order (PPO) number by Aadhaar number,” said Mr Panda. Measures have been initiated to reach out to retired employees to attach their Aaadhaar number in their PPO. At the Berhampur camp at UCP engineering school campus, there was also a stall for Aadhaar card registration for those who do not have this card. CMPF authorities stated that they have identified places of concentration of pensioners of coal industry for Aadhaar seeding and to provide benefits of biometric life certificate submission

at places convenient to them.

Camp at Talcher Earlier on March 16, similar camp was held at Talcher. The pensioners of coal industry will no longer have to remember their CMPF account number or PPO number as their Aadhaar number and biometric identity will do the work. It will enable automatic settlement of spouse pension after death of the pensioner. Pensioners will be able to submit life certificate digitally from anywhere by logging to his account at ‘Jeevan Praman’. It will be a great help for aged, diseased and immobile pensioners, CMPF officials said.

Voters’ I-cards found dumped Kendrapara Collector orders probe to check genuineness Press Trust of India Kendrapara (Odisha)

A probe has been ordered into the dumping of hundreds of voters’ identity cards near a fuel filling station at Gop traffic junction on Paradip-Daitary Expressway on the outskirts of Kendrapara town. Chance-discovery of nationality identity proof cards was made when labourers were digging earth for the laying of sewerage line, said

officials on Sunday. Locals handed over the cards to the District Collector. The administration has taken serious view of it. The Sub Collector, who is also officiating as the district electoral roll officer, has been asked to ascertain the genuineness of the cards. The cards, however, contain all the details with the picture of the cardholders, said Kendrapara Collector Muralidhar Mallick. Officials said the voters’ I-

Headless, limbless body of man found Corpse irst spotted by villagers

cards were stated to have been issued between 1994 and 2001 as mentioned in the cards. The names of the cardholders are being crosschecked from the voters lists of the said period. If required, the persons whose names figured in the cards would be questioned for ascertaining the genuineness of the I-cards. Later the I-cards would be sent for verification by experts, officials added.

Three killed as tractor overturns Press Trust of India

Press Trust of India

Delhi trial “In Delhi, CNG buses cannot go on long-haul due to fuel tank constraints. We have able to overcome that hurdle. The bio-gas bus can run up to 6 km on one kg,” he said. The company said they are an approved bio-gas company by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation, having plants at Gujarat and West Bengal. “There are several bio-gas producers in the country, but only a handful are PESO approved,” Mr Das claimed.

Sheikh Hasina

secution of Hindu minority in Bangladesh, provided an extensive account of the violence. He had visited Brahmanbaria district, in east Bangladesh, in November and reported that about 150 families were “attacked” and about a hundred temples demolished. “But when we approached the local ministers and MPs, they claimed that the Hindus are not targeted…the police help but refuse to register FIR,” he said.According to Mr Ghos,h there are at least “1,653 attacks on the minorities” which include Hindus, indigenous groups, Buddhists and Christians “from the time of BNP till now.” The two-day seminar had many speakers from India, Bangladesh, United States, Britain and Canada.

Berhampur

The headless and limbless body of a man was found in a field at Mardharajpur in Ganjam district on Sunday, the police said. The corpse was first spotted by the villagers who informed the police.

Bid to destroy evidence Unidentified assailants might have killed the man and dumped the body after chopping off head and limbs in an apparent bid to destroy evidence, said Inspector In-Charge of Polasara police station,

Tapaswini Kanhar. There was no blood stain at the site and the body, police said adding the man could have been murdered about two to three days back before the body was dumped. The corpse was sent to the forensic laboratory in MKCG Medical College here for test, while police scientific team conducted investigation, she said. Police searched the area to find the limbs and head of the body. They have informed nearby police stations about the episode.

Koraput

At least three labourers were killed and seven others injured when the tractor in which they were travelling overturned near Chandili in Odisha’s Koraput district on Sunday.

Sharp turn The mishap took place as the vehicle carrying around ten labourers lost control near a sharp turn in Kotpad police station jurisdiction, the police said. The injured persons were taken to a hospital in Kotpad for treatment, they said.

Published by N. Ram at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Mukund Padmanabhan (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act). Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 7 No. 79 ●

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THE HINDU

NORTH 3

NOIDA/DELHI

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

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IN BRIEF

RJD to contest MCD elections: Lalu

40 Muslims lee U.P. village after clash Small ight escalates into clash forcing women, children to leave

PATNA

Staff Reporter

The RJD will contest the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections scheduled to be held on April 23, party president Lalu Prasad said here on Sunday. He, however, did not specify the number of seats in which his party would like to field candidates. To a question, Mr. Prasad admitted that RJD’s alliance partners in Bihar, the JD(U) and the Congress, were also contesting in the MCD elections. PTI

Meerut

IED planted by Naxals recovered RAIPUR

An improvised explosive device allegedly planted by Naxals was recovered in Chhattisgarh’s Kondagaon district. The explosive, weighing around 20 kg and packed in a steel container, was planted under a culvert in Badedongar area, the police said. The explosive was immediately destroyed on the spot, the police added. PTI

Two children drown in lake HAPUR

Two children drowned in a lake near Simbhaoli in Buxar village here on Sunday, the police said. Four-year-old Sonu and three-and-half years old Vansh were playing when they fell into the lake, the police said. “Upon hearing their cries for help, a youth entered the lake and fished them out. They were rushed to a nearby hospital in an unconscious state where the doctor declared them brought dead,” a police official said.PTI

Teenage couple found hanging from tree JAUNPUR (UP)

A teenage couple allegedly committed suicide by hanging themselves from a tree in Dugauli village in Sikrara here, the police said on Sunday. The bodies of the 16-year-old boy and 15-yearold girl, were found hanging from a tree on Sunday morning, they said. PTI

Miscreants open ire at RWA meeting in Ghaziabad

Forty members of seven Muslim families left Upaida village in Hapur district after a communal clash last week. A small fight between the youth of two communities escalated, leaving four members of the minority community injured. Despite heavy police deployment and officials’ assurance of safety, the 40 Muslims are yet to come back to the village. According to Zakir, a resident of Upaida, a small fight took place two weeks ago between two youngsters. Last Wednesday Shaqib, Sohail, Sabu and Sameer were attacked by a group of youngsters involved in the earlier fight. According to the police complaint, on March 29, when some Muslim youngsters were coming home, four young men started teasing and abusing them. When they protested, they were assaulted. “The four accused followed them home and continued the assault. Four persons, including two women,

Not forming or joining any other party: Shivpal Press Trust of India Etawah

Senior Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav on Sunday ruled out forming any political outfit or joining any party. A day after SP pat-

ron Mulayam Singh said that the final decision on forming another party was yet to be taken, the former UP minister said he was not going to join any other political party, nor going to float any polit-

ical party. “I am with Netaji (Mulayam) and would stay with him,” he told reporters. On Saturday, in a public outburst (in Mainpuri) Mulayam had said that his son

had insulted him and his brother Shivpal. He said voters understood that “one who is not loyal to his father, cannot be loyal to anyone” which led to the party’s poll debacle

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Tense situation: Security forces deployed outside the house of a Muslim family, which left Upaida village in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

were injured,” said Sabir, another resident of the village. SDM Ajay Shrivastava reached the village on Friday night, and appealed to the affected families to ask those members who left to return. “Some people in the village are trying to disturb the peace. Had the police been proactive, this would not have snowballed into a clash, forcing women and children of the affected families to leave,” Mr. Zakir told the media. Saleem, another resident, said that since the Adityanath government came to power some people were trying to create fear

among Muslims.

Under control Yathendra Singh, who is in charge of the Babugarh police station, under which Upaida falls, told the media that the situation in the village was “under control”. “Women and children belonging to the affected families, left the village to stay with relatives in the neighbourhood. But we are trying to get them to return,” he added. Kamal Singh Malik, MLA, said the charge that Muslim families were forced to leave the village was “wrong”.

Yogi’s irst Cabinet meeting to take place tomorrow Farm loan waiver proposal to be presented: Minister Press Trust of India Lucknow

Over a fortnight after taking oath, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will hold his first Cabinet meeting on April 4 where key issues in the BJP’s poll manifesto, especially farm loan waiver, are likely to be taken up. “The Cabinet meeting will be held in the evening on April 4,” State’s Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh told reporters here. Speaking in Varanasi, State’s Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi said a proposal has been prepared for loan waiver of farmers and it will be presented be-

Yogi Adityanath

fore the Cabinet at its first meeting. The BJP, in its Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra (manifesto), had promised to waive the loans of small and marginal farmers and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in

his election speeches that writing off farmers’ loans would be among the foremost tasks of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Modi had promised during his election campaign that a decision on loan waiver would be taken at the first Cabinet meeting of the BJP government in the State. According to officials, there are around 2.30 crore farmers in Uttar Pradesh of whom, around 2.15 crore fall in the ‘small and marginal’ category. They had suffered losses due to natural calamities in the recent past and were unable to repay loans amounting to about ₹62,000 crore.

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Inside Patna

Purusharth Aradhak Ghaziabad

The residents’ welfare association members at Indirapuram here had a narrow escape when a miscreant opened fire at an office-bearer on Sunday morning. Though the shooter, who hails from Jawali in Loni, managed to escape, one of his accomplices was caught by the locals. The RWA members have lodged a complaint with the Indirapuram police. “We were having an RWA meeting at Central Park in Nyay Khand-II around 9.30 a.m. Some men in two cars reached the spot. One of them took out a pistol and opened fire at me with the intention to kill. Somehow I managed to escape,” reads the complaint lodged by one Rajender Pathak . The miscreants opened fire in the air to trigger panic among the locals and rushed towards Makanpur village. “The person, who had opened fire managed to flee, but the locals nabbed one of his accomplices,” the report adds. The locals handed over the man to the police. The police have also seized the vehicles in which the miscreants reached the spot.

Holy day: Devotees ofering ‘Chaiti Chhath’ prayers in the Ganga in Patna on Sunday. *

RANJEET KUMAR

Women set aire liquor shop They had been demanding closure of shops in residential areas Press Trust of India Hapur

Fed up by the district administration’s apathy towards their demand of closing down liquor shops near residential areas, a group of women on Sunday ransacked a liquor shop in the Phoolghadi area here and set it on fire, the police said. The incident took place shortly after the shop opened around 7 a.m. The

women assaulted the employees of the shop and destroyed bottles of liquor before setting the shop on fire, they said. “They could only be pacified after police personnel reached the spot and spoke to them,” said ASP Ramnayan Yadav. Fire brigade swung into action soon after and were able to bring the blaze under control after some time.

However, the shop still incurred losses worth lakhs of rupees, the police said.

Demonstration staged The agitating women later staged a demonstration on a nearby road. They said they had voiced their displeasure regarding the liquor shop earlier too but the district administration refused to do anything about it.

Man wanted in murder, kidnapping cases held Press Trust of India Jaipur

A man wanted in cases of murder, extortion and kidnapping was nabbed by a Rajasthan ATS team from Rishikesh in Uttarakhand after three months of CM YK

surveillance. The ATS team, led by ASI Sandeep Ahlawat, stayed at Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, where the absconding accused, Kuldeep Yadav, was active, to gather information about him, SP ATS Vikas Ku-

mar said on Sunday. On getting information that Yadav has left for Badrinath in Uttarakhand, the ATS team followed him. When the accused was returning to Rishikesh, the team set up a fake excise

post on the road and intercepted his car, the SP said. The accused was brought to Jaipur and handed over to the Alwar police who arrested him. Yadav had escaped from Alwar jail in October last year, Mr. Kumar said. A ND-ND

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Nara Lokesh, 10 others Plachimada set for fresh agitation inducted into Cabinet

IN BRIEF

Dalits, tribals seek steps to reintroduce compensation Bill in Kerala Assembly

the government has done nothing so far.

K.A. Shaji

Plachimada (Palakkad)

End political violence in Kerala, says Rajnath

Naidu drops ive Ministers; Cabinet strength touches 26 Staff Reporter

KOCHI

VIJAYAWADA

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called for ending what he termed as the ‘political violence’ prevailing in Kerala. He said at a function here on Sunday he had discussed the issue with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The Chief Minister also agreed to the suggestions, he said.

In the first expansion-cumreshuffle after coming to power in 2014, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday inducted into the Cabinet his son Nara Lokesh and 10 others, including four who defected to the Telugu Desam Party from the YSR Congress while dropping five Ministers. With this, the strength of the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet rose to 26. Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new Ministers at a ceremony near the legislature building complex at Velagapudi near Vijayawada on Sunday. The ceremony began with the administration of oath to the TDP’s Andhra Pradesh

195 CRPF jawans fall ill after eating fish curry THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

An internal inquiry has been ordered after 195 jawans of the CRPF camp at Pallippuram were admitted to various hospitals with food poisoning on Saturday. Lowquality fish prepared in temporary facilities, having no food safety licensing, could have led to food poisoning, as per preliminary assessment of the Food Safety officials.

Funeral of slain NRI techie, son performed ONGOLE

The funeral of the 38-yearold woman, N. Sasikala, hailing from Andhra Pradesh, and her six-year-old son, Anish Sai, who were found murdered in New Jersey on March 24, was performed at Thimarajupalem village in Prakasam district on Sunday. The last rites were performed by the father-in-law of Sasikala, as her husband N.Hanumantha Rao did not turn up at the last moment.

BJP candidate promises quality beef if elected ERNAKULAM

BJP Malappuram Lok Sabha by-poll candidate N. Sreeprakash has said he will ensure that the slaughter houses in the district make available quality meat to all households and restaurants. “Within limits of law, I will ensure clean slaughter houses and ensure quality beef,” he said. ANI

Fresh blood: Chandrababu Naidu’s son, Lokesh, seeking the blessings of Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan. CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR *

president Kimidi Kala Venkat Rao (MLA from Etcherla, Srikakulam) at 9.20 a.m. Mr. Lokesh (MLC, Chittoor) took oath as Minister and sought blessings from his father and the Governor. TDP politburo member Somireddi Chandramohan Reddy (MLC, Nellore), Pitani Satyanarayana (Achanta,

West Godavari), who had quit the Congress and joined the TDP on the eve of 2014 elections, were among those inducted into the Cabinet. Ms. Akhila Priya, whose father and TDP legislator Bhuma Nagi Reddy died after a cardiac arrest last month, was the lone woman to be sworn in.

In the absence of any promised government action to mitigate their sufferings, hundreds of victims of groundwater exploitation and pollution caused by Coca-Cola in this predominantly agrarian village are preparing for yet another round of agitation on the 15th anniversary of their continuing resistance to corporate plunder. The Plachimada Struggle Committee, comprising Dalits and tribals, has also decided to begin the agitation on April 22 after shifting the venue to the premises of the Palakkad Collectorate. The Plachimada Struggle Solidarity Committee and various civil society movements across the State will also form part of the agitation which would highlight the Kerala government’s lackadaisical attitude in reintro-

Successive droughts a reason for farmer suicides 842 deaths reported in 2016-17 in Karnataka; 51 cases in the last three months Muralidhara Khajane Bengaluru

Thirty-year-old Prakash, a farmer from T. Malligere in Mandya district, committed suicide by hanging on March 17, a day after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented the ₹1.86 lakh crore State Budget. Prakash’s mother filed a police complaint stating that “upset over the Budget not specifying anything on farm loan waiver, he had ended his life”. Prakash had borrowed ₹5 lakh for growing paddy, but the crop wilted owing to insufficient water supply. He had sunk a borewell last year, which too had dried up, according to the complaint. Even as the State and the Centre are engaged in a blame game over waiver of

In dire straits: A ile photo of a dried-up tank in Raichur district. *

SOMASHEKAR G.R.N

farm loans, 51 cases of farmer suicides have been reported in the State in the last three months. Over 842 cases were reported between April 2016 and March 2017. While January witnessed 40 cases of suicides, February and March saw six and five cases. Belagavi and Haveri witnessed the highest

EDUCATIONAL

number of suicides (11 cases) in the last three months, followed by Shivamogga (five) and Mandya (four).

176 taluks drought-hit It appears that four consecutive years of drought, scarcity of water for standing crops, depletion of ground water, failure of crops, growing debts, and lack of institu-

tional support have been the main reasons for farmer suicides. In fact, farmers are in dire straits as 160 of the total 176 taluks in the State had been declared drought-hit following the failure of the south-west monsoon for three consecutive years. Minister for Agriculture Krishna Byre Gowda listed out 20 steps taken by the government to persuade farmers against taking the extreme step, including setting up of committees at district and sub-divisional levels to enforce the provisions under Karnataka Money Lenders’ Act. Describing the suicides as a pan-Indian phenomenon, T.N. Prakash Kammaradi, chairman of Karnataka State Agriculture Prices Commission, said: “Trust deficit has become absolute for farmers.”

EDUCATIONAL

Renewed resistance: A signboard in front of the closed CocaCola plant at Plachimada. K.K. MUSTAFAH *

ducing the Plachimada Coca-Cola Victims’ Relief and Compensation Tribunal Bill, 2011, in the Assembly. The Bill, passed unanimously by the Assembly, was later despatched for the President’s assent but gathered dust at the Union Home Ministry for several years.

The President returned it last year saying the Bill was not in conformity with the federal principles. During the Assembly election, the LDF promised to reintroduce the Bill in the Assembly in a way not in conflict with federal principles and not requiring President’s assent. However,

Interim compensation “Besides steps to reintroduce the Bill and form the tribunal, we demand interim compensation for all the Plachimada victims apart from packages to meet farming and drinking water needs of the region. Water has turned scarce and agriculture has totally collapsed in Plachimada though the company stopped functioning in 2005 unable to withstand our intense agitation,” said struggle committee leader Vilayodi Venugopal. The victims are also demanding further action on the case registered against top officials of Coca-Cola by district police under the Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST People Act. Revenue recovery of all the assets of the company in Plachimada is another demand.

My release is a victory for the judicial system: Satyam Victim Ayesha’s family had faith in my innocence, he says quarters the lives of several people accused in different cases. Most of them congratulated me when they came to know that I was given a clean chit,” he said.

K.N. Murali Sankar RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM (A.P.)

Pidatala Satyam Babu, 30, who was jailed for eight years in connection with the sensational murder of pharmacy student Ayesha Meera and was acquitted by the High Court, thanked the family members of the victim for believing in his innocence and supporting him. Released from jail on Sunday, Mr. Babu said he had not thought of a plan for his livelihood and to take care of his family. He appeared visibly happy as he was released from the Central prison here in the morning, in the presence of his mother, Mariyamma.

Satyam with his mother after his release. S. RAMBABU *

There were advocates and representatives of the Human Rights Forum and Dalit organisations too. “My release is nothing but the victory of our judicial system. During my time in prison, I was able to see from close

EDUCATIONAL

Financial distress Ayesha Meera was raped and killed in a private hostel at Ibrahimpatnam, near Vijayawada, on December 27, 2007 and Mr. Babu was arrested by the police. A Vijayawada court awarded him life imprisonment and he was shifted to the Central Prison here some eight years ago. Urging the A.P. government to help Ayesha Meera’s family, Mr. Babu said his own family faced financial problems.

SITUATIONS VACANT GENERAL

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IN BRIEF

Lalu’s son launches ‘DSS’ to counter RSS

Minor girl raped inside Puri temple Press Trust of India Baripada

Banda in U.P. hottest at 44.8 degrees

Tej Pratap says his sangh will strive for communal amity Amarnath Tewary

NEW DELHI

Banda in Uttar Pradesh was the hottest place in the country on Sunday, recording a maximum of 44.8 degrees Celsius. Chandrapur in Maharashtra recorded a maximum of 43.8 degrees Celsius and was the second hottest place, while Bankura in West Bengal was the third with 43.4 degrees Celsius, India Meteorological Department data said. PTI

Suicide attempts disrupt Kolkata metro service KOLKATA

Kolkata metro rail services were disrupted for at least an hour on Sunday after two persons tried to commit suicide on its tracks. Badrujaman Bagani of Rajabagan was rescued after he jumped in front of a train at the Esplanade station. Niladri Karmakar of Gangulibagan, who jumped on the tracks at the Gitanjali station, was also rescued.

CM within ambit of Lokayukta, says Rawat DEHRADUN

Stating that his priority is to end corruption, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said on Sunday that if the menace was controlled, the hill State would develop automatically. Mr. Rawat, who was attending a programme of ex-servicemen here, said his government was resolved to appoint a Lokayukta and the post of Chief Minister would also come within its ambit. PTI

Elephants trample teacher in Meghalaya TURA

A school teacher was trampled to death by wild elephants in West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, the police said. Taher Ali Sheikh, a Hindi teacher in the Kukurmara Higher Secondary School, was travelling in a car with other passengers when they came across a herd of wild elephants at Gaptuli village on Saturday evening. The herd attacked the vehicle and Mr. Sheikh was killed. PTI

PATNA

“Abhi to yeh trailer hai… puri picture baki hai [this is just a trailer, the complete picture is yet to come],” said Tej Pratap Yadav, Bihar Health Minister and elder son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad. On Sunday, Tej Pratap announced the formation of the Dharmanirpeksha (Secular) Sevak Sangh (DSS), a youth organisation, to counter the RSS and its communal agenda. “Today RSS is spreading religious fanaticism… fanning out its divisive ideology in the country but the DSS will counter them,” he told journalists in Patna, while leading a rath yatra along with supporters. The young RJD MLA from Mahua in Vaishali district said “outfits like the Hindu Yuva Vahini [cultural organisation formed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi

Open to all: Bihar Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav takes out an all-religion rally in Patna on Sunday. PTI *

Adityanath] are trying to make inroads in Bihar too but the DSS will emerge as a strong counter to them as it has been formed with a vow to establish peace and amity.” Referring to the formation of the DSS, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi advised Tej Pratap to join the RSS

11 bodies, four skulls found in Bhakra canal

first and see how it worked from within for a year. “I wish his organisation all success, but first he should have some experience of it by joining RSS for a year by wearing shorts and chanting Bharat Mata ki Jai,” said Mr. Modi. But, Tej Pratap retorted, “those who wear halfpants have half-minds too.”

Centre may remove cap on parent maintenance

A physically challenged minor girl was allegedly raped by a man inside the premises of Lord Jagannath temple here, police said on Sunday. The incident took place when the 11-year-old girl went to the temple late on Friday night when the shrine was virtually deserted, they said. Taking advantage of the situation, a 28-year-old man escorted her to the bathing mandap of the Lord and raped her before fleeing. The victim was rescued in a critical condition. Angry locals spotted the accused and thrashed him before handing him over to the police. The girl was admitted to the SCB medical college at Cuttack as her condition worsened, the police said. Baripada sub-collector S.K. Purohit visited the spot and has sanctioned ₹10,000 for the treatment of the girl, officials said.

At present, children need not pay more than ₹10,000 Press Trust of India New Delhi

The government is mulling bringing legislative changes to remove the monthly ceiling of ₹10,000 on the maintenance paid by children to parents and introduce a rating mechanism for organisations providing home care services to the elderly. If the proposed amendments to the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (MWPSC) Act come through, the maintenance amount to be decided by senior citizen tribunals for the neglected parents will depend on their need and the economic condition of their children.

Not enough, say groups At present, the maintenance for a parent or senior citizen that can be ordered by the tribunal as payable by the children or relative cannot be more than ₹10,000 a month.

“There have been complaints from many senior citizens’ associations that the maintenance amount was inadequate and not in keeping with the time in view of the rising costs of living,” a senior official in the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment said.

Review meeting A meeting involving all stakeholders such as senior citizens’ associations, State governments, Central ministries and the National Law Commission was held under the chairmanship of the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry Secretary recently to review the provisions of the MWPSC Act. “After detailed deliberations, it was decided that the maintenance amount be kept open-ended and the quantum of maintenance be left to the discretion of

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All aglow

One body identiied; DNA test planned

the tribunal. It should depend on the facts and circumstances of each case,” the official said. The MWPSC Act makes it a legal obligation for children and heirs to provide maintenance to senior citizens and parents.

Rating for agencies The Ministry also intends to put in place a uniform regulation and a rating mechanism for organisations providing home care services to senior citizens. “With the increase in the number of elderly people staying alone at home, the government has realised the urgent need to ensure quality home care services to such people. Therefore, it is proposed that a rating mechanism is developed for such organisations and uniform regulations are developed for monitoring such services,” the official said.

AI helps out 3 Bangladeshi patients, kin Press Trust of India Kolkata

Press Trust of India Jind

Eleven “highly decomposed” bodies, including of a woman, and four human skulls were recovered on Sunday from the Bhakra canal here in Haryana during its annual maintenance, police said. The bodies were recovered near the Narwana and Garhi areas of the canal, which enters Haryana from Punjab. While eight bodies were recovered from Narwana, three bodies and four skulls were found from Garhi, police said. “Eight bodies were recovered from the canal near Dhakal village in Narwana,” a police official of the Sadar Police Station, Narwana, said. A DNA test could be carried out for their identification, said the official.

“The canal was shut down for annual maintenance and the water level was down substantially,” Jind’s Superintendent of Police, Shashank Anand, said. He said that one body had been identified and the deceased was from Patiala. The Punjab police had been informed, he said.

Case registered A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the law, a Narwana police official said, adding that the possibility of finding more bodies from the canal cannot be ruled out. “We have kept the bodies for identification at the government hospital in Narwana and are in touch with our counterparts in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh,” the police official said.

Message of health: The Qutub Minar in New Delhi was lit up in blue as part of World Autism Day on Sunday

*

SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

Air India on Sunday gave free round-trip tickets to three Bangladeshi patients and their attendants from here to Mumbai for treatment. The move follows an appeal to Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani by a Mumbaibased neurosurgeon Alok Sharma, who has offered to treat Abdus (24), Rahinul (14) and Shorab (8), suffering from a rare disease, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Tofazzal Hossain, a fruit vendor from Bangladesh, had sought euthanasia for his sons — Abdus and Rahinul — and grandson Shorab as he could not afford their treatment. Mumbai-based Meditourz in collaboration with NeuroGen, a brain and spine institute, has offered to treat them.

Students held for stalking Smriti Irani released They said they were not aware it was her car when they overtook it; apologise for their action Staff Reporter New Delhi

The Delhi police on Sunday arrested the four youths who allegedly overtook Union Minister Smriti Irani’s car and indulged in “unwanted action.” They have been booked for stalking and outraging the modesty of a woman. On what specifically resul-

ted in slapping of the Indian Penal Code Sections 354-D (stalking) and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), a senior police officer said that they had chased the car, and the Minister in her complaint had alleged that their action was “lewd.” Anand, Avinash, Shitanshu and Kunal were

later released on bail from the Chanakyapuri police station, and they apologised for their action.

‘We did no wrong’ However they said there was nothing objectionable in their action. They were not aware that the Minister was travelling in the other car. They were playing loud mu-

sic because they were making a video to post on instagram. “We admit that we have flouted the rules. We were making a video for Instagram and the music in the car was loud. We were just making funny videos. When we overtook the car, we were not aware that Smriti Irani was in it. We would not have done

this if we knew that it was Ms. Irani’s car,” Kunal later old journalists. Aged between 18 and 21, all four accused are students of DU’s Motilal Nehru College. Sources said none of them is from Delhi and they hail from different States. The youths stay in a PG accommodation in Vasant village.

Dalai Lama thanks border guard after 58 years Naren Das escorted him during his escape from China Press Trust of India Guwahati

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Sunday had an emotional reunion with one of the five Assam Rifles guards who escorted him to India during his escape from Tibet in March 1959. The Dalai Lama embraced retired jawan Naren Chandra Das at an interactive session at the ‘Namami Brahmaputra’ River festival organised by the Assam government here. “Thank you very much.... I am very very happy to meet such an old member of the Assam Rifles who guarded and escorted me to India 58 years ago,” a visibly emotional Dalai Lama said. Dressed in his Assam Rifles uniform, 76-year-old Das, later told PTI that he had escorted the Dalai Lama as his armed guard in 1959, two years after joining the force in 1957. He was then posted at Lungla near the China border after having completed his training at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, he said. CM YK

Emotional reunion: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama with former jawan Naren Chandra Das in Guwahati on Sunday. PTI *

“Guards of the Assam Rifles Platoon no. 9 had brought the Dalai Lama from Zuthangbo and handed him over to five of us at Shakti. We brought him to Lungla from where he was escorted on his onward journey to Tawang by another group of guards,” the retired jawan said.

Asked if he had any interaction with the Dalai Lama during that journey, Mr. Das said the troops were not allowed to talk or interact with him. “Our duty was only to guard and escort him during his journey.” He said he was overwhelmed by the warmth of the Dalai Lama’s embrace. A ND-ND

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Sharpen the focus on growth If there has to be investment resurgence, it is necessary to create the climate which promotes this faith cious cycle of decline in investment and lower growth. The acceleration principle begins to operate. We need to break this chain in order to move on to a higher growth path.

Coping with summer

Wine and whimper The Supreme Court order banning sale of liquor along highways is not fully thought out

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hen courts clarify earlier orders, the understanding is that they would have considered more facts, applied better reasoning, and foreseen later eventualities. But when the Supreme Court last week conirmed its December order on banning sale of liquor near National and State highways, it not only reiterated many of the impractical aspects of the original judgment, but went on to assert that the proscription would cover not just retail outlets but hotels and bars too. What distinguishes, or logically sets apart, the sale of liquor along highways from that along interior roads? Apparently, the order is intended to prevent drunk driving, which is without doubt a contributor to road accidents and fatalities. But if tougher laws can make up for weak enforcement, then judicial oficers can just as well replace law-enforcers. The court’s clariication goes against the opinion Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi gave the Kerala government that the December order applied only to retail outlets and not to establishments such as bar-attached hotels, and beer and wine parlours. What was a harsh order is now draconian in its sweep. Retail outlets can perhaps move another 500 m with minimal expense and no great loss of clientele. But established hotels and clubs enjoy no such luxury. All of a sudden, what was a great advantage of location is a major disadvantage. The order does not exempt outlets in cities and towns, where most of the consumers are local residents, nor does it distinguish between hotel guests and passing drivers. If drunk driving along the highways is the provocation for the order, there can be no reason to cover clubs that serve only their members. It is one thing to order the closure of shops dotting the highways, and quite another to target establishments in cities and towns, which cannot move, and which will lose their clientele to others. State governments face a huge loss in revenue. Smaller administrative units such as Union Territories will be the worst-hit. Such quirky orders have inevitably led to quirky responses. The UT of Chandigarh, for instance, has declared all city roads as urban roads. Puducherry, which includes enclaves such as Mahe, will ind relocation of many shops impossible. They are caught between the highway and the sea. Goa, a small State that depends heavily on tourism, is in a similarly diicult situation. The relaxation of the liquor-free zone from 500 m to 220 m from the highways in the case of areas with a population of 20,000 or less might only partly address their concerns. More than a third of the liquor sale and consumption points will be hit. Prohibition as a policy has had a history of failure. While bingedrinking is undoubtedly a health hazard with serious social costs, bans of the sort adopted by courts and State governments such as Bihar are counterproductive. Good intentions do not guarantee good outcomes. CM YK

ow that the dust and din around the State Assembly elections have settled down, it is time for policymakers to turn their attention to the major task of accelerating economic growth. As of now the prospects are not encouraging. The Central Statistics Oice’s second advanced estimates indicate that the growth rate of GDP for 2016-17 will be 7.1% as against 7.9% in 2015-16. The growth rate of gross value added at basic prices in 2016-17 will be 6.7% as against 7.8% in 2015-16. The growth rates projected for 2016-17 do not capture the impact of demonetisation, which when taken into account may bring down the projected growth rate by around 0.5%. The decline in the growth rate is not a recent phenomenon. It started in 2011-12. The persistence of relatively low growth over a iveyear period calls for a critical examination. Even though the new numbers on national income give us some comfort, they do not tell the whole story.

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Determinants of growth Ultimately, the growth rate is determined by two factors — the investment rate and the eiciency in the use of capital. As the HarrodDomar equation puts it, the growth rate is equal to the investment rate divided by the incremental capitaloutput ratio. The incremental capital-output ratio (ICOR) is the amount of capital required to produce one unit of output. The higher the ICOR, the less eicient we are in the use of capital. There are many caveats to this bald proposition. As we look at the Indian performance in the last ive years, two facts stand out. One is a decline in the investment rate and the second is a rise in ICOR; both of

which can only lead to a lower growth rate. As growth was coming down sharply initially, the investment rate was falling only slowly, implying a rising ICOR. ICOR is a catch-all expression which is determined by a variety of factors including technology, skill of manpower, managerial competence and also macroeconomic policies. Thus delays in the completion of projects, lack of complementary investments in related sectors and the non-availability of critical inputs can all lead to a rise in ICOR. The Economic Survey of 2014-15 reported that there were in all 746 stalled projects, with 161 in the public sector and 585 in the private sector of a total value of ₹8.8 lakh crore. As of 2015-16, there were still 404 stalled projects, 162 in the public sector and 242 in the private sector with a total value of ₹5.5 lakh crore. In the short run, the biggest gain in terms of growth will be by getting “stalled projects” moving. Of course some of them may be unviable because of changed conditions. A periodic reporting by the government on the progress of stalled projects will be of great help.

ment rate since then. The decline in the rate was small initially but has been more pronounced in the last two years. According to the latest estimates, the gross fixed capital formation rate fell to as low as 26.9% in 2016-17. With this investment rate, it is simply impossible to achieve a growth rate in the range of 8 to 9%. The major issue confronting us is: why did the investment rate fall? Why are not new investments forthcoming? In 2011 and 2012, in discussions on the Indian economy, the one phrase that used to be bandied about was “policy paralysis”, pointing to the inability of the government to take policy decisions because of “coalition compulsions”. It is true that around this period, the government was preoccupied with answering many issues connected with graft. But that does not explain the steady fall in the investment rate except for a sense of uncertainty created in the minds of investors. The external environment was also not encouraging. The growth rate of the advanced economies remained low and the recovery from the crisis of 2008 was tepid which had an adverse impact on exports. However, India beneited by large capital inlows except in 2013. For almost three years beginning 2010, India had to cope with a high level of inlation which also had an adverse impact on investment sentiment. Once the growth rate starts to decline, it sets in motion a vi-

Declining investment rate India’s investment rate reached a peak in 2007-08 at 38.0% of GDP. With an ICOR of 4, it was not surprising that a high growth rate of close to 9.4% was achieved. One sees a steady decline in the invest-

Solutions What are the solutions, given the current situation? The standard prescription, whenever private investment is weak, is to raise public investment which can take a longer term view. This standard suggestion is very much appropriate in the present context as well. In the best of times, public investment has been 8% of GDP. The Central government’s capital expenditures even after some increase in the last two years, is only 1.8% of GDP. About 3 to 4% of GDP comes from public sector undertakings and the balance from State governments. What is needed now is for public sector undertakings to come out with an explicit statement indicating the extent of investment they intend to make during the current iscal. And this intention must be monitored every quarter. This will inspire conidence among prospective private investors. However, it is also necessary to enhance private investment, and that too private corporate investment. During the high growth phase, corporate investment reached the level of 14% of GDP. Since then it has fallen. In fact, a recent study shows that the total cost of projects initiated by the corporate sector has come down from ₹5,560 billion in 2009-10 to ₹954 billion in 2015-16. This continuing trend must be reversed. Three things need attention. First, reforms to simplify procedures, speed up the delivery system and enlarge competition must be pursued vigorously. Some signiicant steps have been taken in this regard in recent years such as moving forward on the GST Bill, passing of the Bankruptcy Act, and enlarging the scope of foreign direct investment. Second, all viable “stalled” projects must be brought to comple-

Long-term lending This is also the appropriate time to revive an idea which had withered away during the reform process and that is to have institutions focussed on long-term lending such as IDBI and ICICI as they were before 1998. The details can be worked out. But the idea needs a rethink. Investment, as they say, is an act of faith in the future. If there has to be investment resurgence, it is necessary to create the climate which promotes this faith. We have already outlined the actions that can be taken in the purely economic arena. But “animal spirits” are also inluenced by what happens in the polity and society. Avoidance of divisive issues is paramount in this context. Undiluted attention to development is the need of the hour.

C. Rangarajan is former Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and former Governor, Reserve Bank of India

Digital push must be disability-inclusive As India catapults towards a digital economy, making ICT accessible to the disabled is a must ible technology has huge economic implications. UN agencies put this cost at around 7% of national GDP. On the other hand, accessible services and business premises can broaden the customer base, increasing turnover and positively impacting the inancial health and social brand of the company. Recent research pegged the market size of diferent product categories needed by persons with disabilities in India at a whopping ₹4,500 crore.

India. Accessibility for disabled people is a cross-cutting theme across all of these and care must be taken to ensure disability-inclusive development.

Accessibility as a link javed abidi

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round 8-10% of India’s population lives with disabilities, with an equal number constituting the aged. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have the potential to signiicantly impact the lives of these groups, facilitating access of services available to them and allowing them to handle a wide range of activities independently, enhancing their social, cultural, political and economic participation. Making ICT accessible no longer remains an option but has become a necessity. Poor accessibility due to lack of focussed information and political will has led to social exclusion of people with disabilities, exacerbating the negative impact of the existing digital divide. The new call for action of disability rights activists now is “Cause No Harm”, thus ensuring future generations are not excluded from mainstream activities due to a hostile infrastructure. This assumes a greater thrust given the unprecedented developmental activity in the country under the various missions launched by the present government, such as the Smart Cities Mission and Digital

Incorporation of accessibility principles across all new developments will also complement the Accessible India Campaign, the lagship campaign launched by the Prime Minister on World Disability Day which aims at achieving universal accessibility for all citizens and creating an enabling and barrier-free environment. India was one of the irst countries to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The recently passed Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 mandates adherence to standards of accessibility for physical environment, transportation, information and communications, including appropriate technologies and systems, and other facilities and services provided to the public in urban and rural areas. These include government and private developments. The Act also mandates incorporation of Universal Design principles while designing new infrastructure, electronic and digital media, consumer goods and services. Most importantly, the Act sets timelines to ensure implementation of the above and punitive action in the event of non-compliance. Accessibility therefore forms the

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Weakening the system

The competitive streak seen in BJP-ruled States to somehow hog the limelight on the issue of banning the consumption of meat makes one wonder whether there are no other issues of livelihood importance there to tackle in these States. It is disgusting to see State machinery being utilised for trivial matters such as a crackdown on slaughter houses, harassment of youth in the garb of ‘antiRomeo squads’ and to curb the chewing of paan. If the BJP thinks that it was voted to power only for such matters then it is sadly mistaken. The party should concentrate on inding solutions to graver issues — unprecedented drought and a deepening agrarian crisis.

The newfound ways of the NDA government in governance are increasingly getting mapped away from the precincts of the Rajya Sabha. It has navigated a new course away from the Upper House, by moves such as legislating Aadhaar to demonetisation to GST enabling bills in this manner. It is packaging contentious proposals in ‘Money Bill’ packages and even shifting the scene of indoor action scene from the loor of the House, to the doorstep of the Governor, forgetting how the makers of our Constitution had carefully thought of checks and balances by placing the centricity of the Upper House in the political ecosystem. This government’s

Tiruchi

common thread weaving together the Accessible India Campaign, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, the Smart Cities Mission and the Digital India campaign to achieve the combined goal of creating an inclusive society that will allow for a better quality of life for all citizens, including persons with disabilities. Beyond the social implications, accessibility makes for business and economic sense too. If principles of Universal Design are incorporated at the design stage, cost implications are negligible. Retroitting, on the other hand, has huge cost implications. Exclusion of persons with disabilities from education, employment and participation on account of a hostile infrastructure and inaccess-

Disability is not an isolated issue. It is cross-cutting and can impact everyone irrespective of caste, gender, age and nationality. Thus ensuring a disability-sensitive development agenda across all ministries, sectors and causes becomes critical if growth has to be truly inclusive. ‘Nothing about us without us’ assumes even greater signiicance in the current context.

The importance of synergy As India catapults towards a cashless and digital economy and as human interface between service providers and end users gives way to digital, it becomes imperative to ensure accessibility for inclusion. The need is for representation of persons with disabilities in all ministries and key missions, commissions and committees to advise and ensure inclusion in all policies, programmes and developments. The government’s procurement policy too must mandate accessibility as a key criterion. Adherence to the

latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines should be made mandatory while developing websites and mobile applications. Also important is the synergy between various arms of the government. The Smart Cities Mission focusses on comprehensive development leading to the convergence of other ongoing government programmes such as Make In India, Digital India, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), etc. but the Accessible India Campaign does not even ind a mention! This is so when as many as 39 cities out of the 50 cities of the Accessible India Campaign are also among the shortlisted Smart Cities. Much after Independence, there has been minimal change in the fortunes of India’s disabled population. It becomes our collective responsibility to ensure inclusive development, one that engages all stakeholders through a pragmatic and judicious combination of interventions while efectively leveraging technology to ensure truly inclusive and sustainable development. Javed Abidi was instrumental in the setting up of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP). He is also the Global Chair of Disabled People’s International

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

There are graver issues

J. Anantha Padmanabhan,

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orrid summers, when the mercury soars 4°C to 6°C above the average and produces heatwaves in several States between April and June, may become more frequent in coming years. Not only will there be more hot days, the spells of heat stress sweeping across much of India are likely to grow longer. The scientiic consensus is that heatwaves will grow stronger and expand their geographical spread in the south, inluenced by the sea surface temperature in the Indian and Paciic Oceans. With rising greenhouse gases, their impact can only intensify. Though the number of people dying due to heat stress last year was half of the previous year’s toll of 2,040, the need to evolve detailed action plans at the level of States, districts and cities is now critical. It is encouraging that the National Disaster Management Authority is guiding States, in partnership with the India Meteorological Department, to evolve heat action plan protocols. The response to distress caused by excessive heat has to be both speedy and professional. Europe upgraded its preparedness to handle a crisis after a crippling heatwave in 2003 killed thousands of people, over 14,800 of them in France alone. In the Indian context, crop failures and disruption of electricity supply due to sudden peak demand are common. People experience dehydration, heat cramps and deadly heatstroke. The elderly are particularly at risk, since higher temperatures afect blood viscosity and raise the risk of thrombosis. Better meteorological forecasting can provide an early warning about a coming hot spell during the summer window. This gives the NDMA and the States suicient opportunity to launch an action protocol: to inform the public as soon as the temperature crosses the threshold ixed by the IMD, advise on precautionary measures, and aid those who are most vulnerable, such as older adults, farm workers and those pursuing outdoor vocations. Ahmedabad, for instance, drew up a city-level action plan in the wake of its 46.8°C heatwave of 2010 with support from public health institutions. Preparing the health system to identify symptoms of heat stress and providing treatment through urban health centres is one intervention it decided upon. Reviewing school timetables, rescheduling work timings to cooler hours, making water widely available and reserving religious sites and libraries as cooling centres were others. European and American policy responses, such as creating green and blue urban spaces to provide tree shade and higher moisture, as well as housing design that cuts heat through the albedo efect of relected solar energy, hold universal appeal. Some of these passive defences are actually integral to vernacular practices and will serve everyone well. It is essential to study the eicacy of heat action plans and share the results across States to achieve best practices.

c. rangarajan DEEPAK HARICHANDAN

Heatwaves may become more frequent; good action plans can help prepare for the worst

tion. Third, inancial bottlenecks need to be cleared. The banking system is under stress. The nonperforming loans of the system have risen and are rising. This has squeezed the proitability of banks with some showing loss. More distressing is the minimal low of new credit. The problem is often referred to as the twin balance sheet problem. If corporate balance sheets are weak, automatically the banks’ balance sheets also become weak. Really speaking, it is two sides of the same coin. The solution to clean up the balance sheet of banks lies in taking some “haircuts”. At least some part of the accumulation of bad debts has been due to the slowdown of the economy. The old saying is “bad loans are sown in good times”. Even though a haircut cannot be avoided, wilful defaulters must not go unpunished. Asset restructuring companies are part of the solution and we have some experience of them.

misplaced emphasis on short-term political/ economic/social objectives are perhaps being insidiously allowed to come into efect at the expense of eroding the foundations of nation’s well laid down political tenets and philosophy. R .Narayanan, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

Above the law? It is with deep shock that one reads of how former Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Rama Mohana Rao, who faced various serious charges after the Income Tax department raided his residence and his oicial chambers in the Secretariat, has been reinstated and appointed as the Director of the EDI, Chennai! Why he has been safeguarded is a mystery. It is expected that

the IT department which went the extra mile to carry out action against him comes up with an explanation. Shalini Gerald, Chennai

Liquor ban It is hoped that restricted or non-availability of alcohol will reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with driving under the inluence of alcohol (“Restaurants, bars go dry as highway liquor ban kicks in”, April 2). However, the restriction on availability of alcohol on highways in itself will not lead to safer conditions on roads. Alcohol, though an important factor, is not the only reason why Indian roads are considered among the worst in the world. Road accidents constitute more

than 40% of all un-natural accidental deaths in India, which in absolute terms comes to be nearly two lakh per year. Most victims are young people, causing a great burden not only to their families but also to the society and the nation. Among those who survive, a large number of them lead a miserable life due to multiple physical and neurological handicaps. If our courts and the governments are serious about the menace of road

traic accidents, roads need to be safer, the driving habits of people have to be improved, and the availability and accessibility of medical care need to increase in number. India is also a country which still does not have a national alcohol policy. Just banning the sale of alcohol in certain regions, States or on some roads and highways will not yield results. Prof. Sudhir K. Khandelwal, New Delhi

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

corrections & clarifications: The Business page headline — “Small savings interest rates cut by 0.1%” — is wrong: the rate cut is 10 basis points or 0.1 percentage point and not 0.1% It is the policy of The Hindu to correct signiicant errors as soon as possible. Please specify the edition (place of publication), date and page. The Readers’ Editor’s office can be contacted by Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday); Fax: +91-44-28552963; E-mail:[email protected]; Mail: Readers’ Editor, The Hindu, Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860 Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002, India. All communication must carry the full postal address and telephone number. No personal visits. The Terms of Reference for the Readers’ Editor are on www.thehindu.com

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THE HINDU

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NOIDA/DELHI

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

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This will make a diference to global climate outcomes in the context of U.S. recalcitrance under Trump

navroz k. dubash In March, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order, ostensibly promoting U.S. energy independence and economic growth, but with potential collateral damage to global efforts to limit climate change. What exactly did he authorise, what are its implications, and what does it mean for India’s strategic interests in energy and climate change? The executive order defines America’s interest narrowly in terms of developing the country’s energy resources. It establishes a time-bound process to review several Obama-era regulatory actions that might “burden” their development, and revokes certain actions. A centrepiece is a review of the U.S. Clean Power Plan, which aims at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the American electricity sector. This was a key element in President Barack Obama’s plans to meet America’s climate pledge under the Paris Agreement. Other actions lift a moratorium on leasing federal land for coal mining, and revisit rules to limit methane emissions. Yet another withdraws estimates of the “social cost of carbon”, an economic approach that sets a dollar value to the gains from reducing carbon, providing a basis for further regulatory action. In brief, the aim is to invigorate domestic energy production but by setting the clock back to an era before any climate-focussed regulation, thereby giving a boost to coal, oil and gas production.

From a virtuous to vicious cycle Despite green advocates in the U.S. putting on a brave face, the cumulative effects of these actions undoubtedly have implications for the trajectory of America’s greenhouse gas emissions. They are correct in arguing that efforts to boost the coal industry are likely fruitless. Even without the Clean Power Plan, the falling price of wind and solar energy and the availability of cheap gas could signal the end of coal in the U.S. But the same cannot be said for efforts to limit methane. And the removal of the single agreed social cost of carbon as a basis for regulatory efforts hamstrings the effectiveness of

In deep water: “History will likely judge the Trump order an own goal.” The art work ‘Where the Tides ebb and low’ by Pedro Marzorati at COP21. REUTERS *

other regulations. These orders set back climate mitigation efforts in the U.S. The only question is how much, and whether America’s Paris Agreement pledge is still within reach. But the deeper significance of the order rests in the political signal it sends to the world, and the reactions it may elicit. The Paris Agreement is, at the core, a confidence game. Each country is required to submit a national ‘pledge’ to limit emissions growth, which is to be reviewed internationally, and updated and enhanced every five years. The intent is to generate a virtuous cycle of enhanced actions over time, as countries gain confidence in each other’s commitment to climate action. Mr. Trump’s order risks turning a fragile global virtuous cycle into a vicious one; with global confidence punctured, other countries may follow the U.S. lead and dilute their national actions too. While the order is silent on America’s formal commitment to the Paris Agreement for now, an explicit announcement on this is expected in May, when the G7 leaders are scheduled to meet. A formal withdrawal, though complex and time-consuming, could further dent appetite for collective action. For veteran climate watchers, what makes this order particularly galling is that the Paris Agreement was, in substantial measure, written to accommodate the U.S. and enable its participation. And this is not the first time the U.S. has pulled the rug out from under the global community. In the mid-1990s, it notably walked away from the Kyoto Protocol, which requires developed countries to take the lead. With this

order, as a senior U.S. government official put it: “The U.S. is going to pursue its interests as it sees fit” based on “an America First energy policy.”

Implications for India In this context, what are India’s interests, and how best can it pursue them? It is certainly the case that the developed world has consistently taken on less leadership than it should have, and the global climate regime could be better moored in principles of equity in addressing climate change. It would be tempting to conclude that India could use the U.S. retreat to stage one of its own, go slow on its own obligations, and adopt an approach of benign neglect towards the Paris Agreement. However, this would be flawed and incomplete thinking. India’s interests are best served by buttressing the Paris Agreement, using its mechanisms to hold to account the developed world, and maintaining its own pledges. India has a lot to gain from a virtuous cycle because it is extremely vulnerable to climate impacts. While the ability of the Paris Agreement to slow warming may be more modest than is ideal, it will certainly have more effect than no agreement at all. Moreover, India has little to gain from going slow on implementing its own pledge. India’s greenhouse gas limitation pledge is appropriately cautious and, in key areas such as renewable energy promotion, existing domestic policy targets are more ambitious than India’s Paris pledge. Its approach is based on accelerating a transition to renewable energy, which would bring gains in terms of

energy security and air pollution. But in doing so, India importantly retains the right to meet its energy access needs and energy for development through fossil fuel use, particularly coal, if needed. The Paris Agreement does not constrain this approach, which is based on Indian interests. Should the Paris Agreement unravel, there will almost certainly be a push to re-negotiate a new agreement when political conditions in the U.S. change. At that time, developed country emissions will be lower, India’s emissions will likely be rising faster than any other country, and it will have considerably more pressure to take on more ambitious pledges that could, in fact, risk constraining its energy choices. Could India’s stance actually make a difference to global climate outcomes in the context of U.S. recalcitrance? Unambiguously yes. India is emerging as a swing player in global climate politics. With the U.S. adopting the role of the leading naysayer, the Chinese have skilfully stepped into the role of climate champions, reaffirming their own commitment to the Paris Agreement. As a large emerging country, whose yearly emissions follow only these two nations, India has enormous leverage as a deciding factor in the future of the Paris Agreement. It should insist that Western countries maintain their obligations, including financial. Indeed, the Trump order provides an opening to enhance India’s global standing. Skilfully executed, such a climate position could even be useful in a larger foreign policy sense, serving as a soothing element in an otherwise fraught relationship with China, and signalling independent pursuit of interests to the Americans. History will likely judge the Trump order an own goal, born of the poisoned politics that prevails in the U.S. today. It will likely hurt the interests of the U.S. in the long run because it postpones an inevitable but complex readjustment of energy systems around renewable energy, undermines confidence in the U.S. as a reliable global partner, and even revokes preparation for climate impacts meant to safeguard American citizens. Fortunately, India is in a position to think and act more clearly. It should do so by re-affirming its Paris pledge and placing its weight behind implementing the Paris Agreement. Navroz K. Dubash is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi

Second principles do not negate the irst principle Responding to the missives about the editorial pages second principle. They do not take away the other components of democratic practices, which is the first principle.

A.S. Panneerselvan I have not stopped marvelling at this newspaper’s uniqueness ever since I became its Readers’ Editor nearly five years ago. While my fellow news ombudsmen in the Organisation of News Ombudsmen talk about the complaints they receive about their news coverage, I have the distinction of getting the maximum missives about the editorial pages. At a deeper level, this repudiates the assumption of some that our attention spans have reduced in the age of digital platforms.

Using Rawls to explain EVMs On March 27, 2017, this newspaper carried a lead article titled “Poor vote-getters blame the tools” by the former Chief Election Commissioner, N. Gopalaswami. He explained that criticisms of the reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs) were unwarranted, and explained the technical details that make these machines tamper-proof. It was a straightforward argument against some political leaders who have questioned the reliability of these machines. M.G. Devasahayam, a retired bureaucrat, felt that the article was limited in its scope, making it only a technical and party issue. He wanted other aspects of a democracy explored in an article that would go beyond the arguments put forth by two former Chief Election Commissioners: N. Gopalaswami in this newspaper and M.S. Gill in another newspaper. When The Hindu wrote a subsequent editorial, “Trust the EVMs: allegations by politicians have no real basis” (March 28, 2017), he felt that the newspaper was toeing the official line without really exploring the issue fully. Mr. Devasahayam would have found an answer in a new section on the Oped page called Conceptual, in the one that appeared on March 27, 2017. Titled “The difference principle”, it explained the second part of the second principle of John Rawls’s theory of justice. Rawls’s first principle guarantees the right of each person to have the most extensive basic liberty compatible with the liberty of others. However, in the difference principle, Rawls argues that inequalities are legitimate so long as they are designed to yield the maximum benefit to the least advantaged members of a society. However, the difference principle shall remain subordinate to the first principle. The arguments in favour of the EVMs are akin to Rawls’s

Editorial on Aadhaar Another reader, Dr. V. Visvanathan, felt that the editorial “Unique distinction” (March 29, 2017) was misleading in its suggestion that the Supreme Court observed that “the government is free to ‘press’ for Aadhaar for ‘non-welfare’ transactions or activities.” He recollected the October 15, 2015 order of a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, which is categorical that the UID can be used, only voluntarily, in six schemes, and nowhere else. Dr. Visvanathan’s contention was that the oral observation by the Chief Justice’s Bench comprising three judges cannot override the order passed by a five-member Bench. He wrote: “The Hindu is certainly entitled to its opinion regarding Aadhaar, but it should not mislead the reader on the legality of the recent barrage of government orders making Aadhaar mandatory.”

SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

India must reairm its Paris pledge

There are two issues here. First, the editorial did observe that the oral observations by the judges are not judicial orders: “While the Supreme Court’s observations do not amount to a judicial order, they dispel some of the ambiguity relating to the scope, even future, of Aadhaar. In its interim order in October 2015 the court made it clear that the Aadhaar scheme cannot be made mandatory till the matter is finally decided ‘one way or the other’.” The second is the inference: “But it has set the stage for the 12-digit Unique Identification (UID) numbers being used as the basic identity proof for all residents.” I think Dr. Visvanathan has a valid point. The editorial should have waited for the final orders to arrive at a conclusion rather than inferring that the stage has been set for the UID to be used as the basic identity proof for all residents. As a reporter, I was witness to many a stunning open court observation by learned judges. But in most cases, the conclusions one drew from them proved wrong when the final judgment was delivered. [email protected]

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The age of digital cinema

FIFTY YEARS AGO APRIL 3, 1967

Union Cabinet: Reforms panel’s suggestions

Cinema is waiting to tear out of the conines of a ixed space and rigid duration

Restricting the size of the Union Cabinet to 12 Ministers (against 19 at present), reallocation of subjects among various Ministries and creation of a new Ministry of Science and Technology are among the wide-ranging recommendations made by the study team of the Administrative Reforms Commission on “Machinery of the Government of India and its procedures of work.” In its interim report just submitted to the Commission the team has also recommended sharing of executive powers of the Planning Commission, unification of Transport, Aviation and Communications, under one Ministry and transfer of Nagaland problems from the Ministry of External Affairs to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

K. HARIHARAN

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Despite being derided as a lowbrow art form by most intellectuals, the cinematic form has surfed incredibly well on the international waves of popular culture. Cinema has collapsed political borders, challenged traditional vestiges of morality, and drawn new boundaries on many issues. But the business of cinema is being seriously eroded by digital technology and the Internet. More than 75% of ilms produced in the U.S. and India are struggling to recover their investments. Despite Netlix and Amazon Prime setting of the ire alarms in giant Hollywood studios by ofering almost unlimited access to movies at throwaway prices, corporate moguls still waltz on the red carpets hoping that Swarovski and L’Oreal will be there to pick up the tabs for all the champagne and hors d’ouevres.

Popular cinema and democracy The time has come to take a cold look at issues behind the impending doom. First, if democracy was the mother of cinema, then consumerism was surely the midwife of this singing/dancing/gun-swinging baby. It has now been proven that the best popular ilms emerge only from democracies. While ilm jurychairing intellectuals doubt the ‘progressive’ nature of popular ilms, they have also slowly come to realise the ‘faked’ aesthetic nature of many a ilm emerging from fatwa-issuing dictatorial nations. Democratic forces have proved that the practice of cinematic art means very little without the dynamic participation of ‘consuming’ spectators (eg: Baahubali). Second, the ilm form was inscribed within the sacrosanct tenets of a ixed format and a inite duration. However, when it started, ilms lasted from a few minutes to a couple of hours in various compositional formats. Today the monopolistic digital exhibition sector has got all ilmmakers to conform to the HD aspect ratio of 16:9 and 140 minutes performance-cum-intermission time. And with the mindless introduction of 5.1 sound and surround systems, the location of a single-source projecting visuals onscreen in front now stands fully compromised. While digital media technology is striding forward in the world of virtual, augmented, and immersive realities, the blinkered ilm industry would like to hold that its well-oiled mechanism will serve forever. Cinema is waiting to tear out of these conines of a ixed space and rigid duration. Spectators are waiting to interact with all the entertainment provided. Young ilmmakers across the world crowd-fund their ilms and put it on cyberspace for viewing, virtually forever. Cinema is poised to function more like an installation where ilm narrators can help navigate their spectators through a multiplicity of ilm feeds and recreate their entertainment in highly individualised ways. Yet, the same cinema can also be accessed by viewers from multiple perspectives to create a new ‘collective’ participation. Quite like the way that Wikipedia helps Web surfers access ‘unlimited’ knowledge through hyperlinks, tomorrow’s ‘Wikicinema’ will allow discrete visuals to work like hyperlinks and help transport spectators across narratives and in the process strengthen the roots of democracy. After all, was that not the purpose of cinema in the irst place? K. Hariharan is Professor of Film Studies, Ashoka University

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ARCHIVES

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO APRIL 3, 1917

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CONCEPTUAL

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Sanskritisation

The many tales of a city

Sociology Described by sociologist M.N. Srinivas in his study of the Coorgs of south India, Sanskritisation refers to a process of upward social mobility in the caste system wherein ‘lower’ castes or tribes or other groups adopt the customs, beliefs, rituals, and practices of upper castes or the ‘twice-born’ caste (by converting to vegetarianism, becoming teetotallers, etc.) and expose themselves to new ideas and values (of karma and dharma through Sanskritic myths and stories). Sanskritisation reduces the “structural distance” between castes. Sankritisation of ‘lower’ castes/ groups/ tribes coexisted with the process of Westernisation and explains the resilience of caste even today. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

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‘What a night that was’ http://bit.ly/twbk2011

A guide on Delhi’s relationship with Bombay cinema Hari Narayan

Delhi’s Regal Cinema, a favourite of the film cognoscenti, the political elite, industry insiders as well as the hoi polloi, signified the national capital’s relationship with Bombay cinema. The 85-year-old theatre’s closure could act as a trigger for cinephiles connected to Delhi to understand the city’s import for Hindi cinema. Mihir Pandya’s Shahar aur Cinema: Via Dilli is a significant study. Looking at 16 films that have Delhi as a live character, and by giving a list of nearly 90 more, Pandya sees Delhi through different protagonists who form part of its cinema. The categorisation he uses — seeing Delhi either as a power centre, or as a city of struggles and the aspirations of the common man — is not watertight. Journalist Vikas Pandey of New Delhi Times, for instance, is as much a chronicler of the

subaltern as he is a powerless witness to the powermongering among politicians. It is not far-fetched to consider the idealistic Pandey as a grown-up version of Rattan from Ab Dilli Dur Nahin, a Raj Kapoor-produced idealistic paean to Nehruvian India; it is a country where the poor believe they have access to justice. The disillusioned hippies of Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi are as much a part of Delhi as the indifferent yuppies of Rang De Basanti. The Delhi of the first part of Pandya’s book represents a microcosm of post-Independence India, with all its imperfections; the ideas of Nehru loom large in a lot of these films. Aadhi Haqeeqat, Aadha Fasana, a tribute to Raj Kapoor’s cinema, which Pandya references, provides another useful tool to connect the idealism in Kapoor’s cinema to Delhi’s, and Nehru’s role in the nation-building project.

Pandya then moves to places inhabited by the masses. Filmmakers like Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Dibakar Banerjee, with strong Delhi connections, show the happiness derived by the middle class and the subaltern amid their daily struggles. The wannabe social climbers in the Karol Bagh of Banerjee’s Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and the content inhabitants of Chandni Chowk in Mehra’s Delhi-6 inhabit the two ends of the spectrum here. The happy-golucky Delhi University students of Chashme Buddoor make up the middle. Pandya is authoritative in his referencing, taking help from books like Sunil Khilnani’s The Idea of India, Ranjani Mazumdar’s Bombay Cinema and Ranjana Sengupta’s Delhi Metropolitan. In doing so, he creates a connect between an average cinephile and her city and also inspires her to look at it through a more empathetic lens.

The Hon’ble Mr. K.R.V. Krishna Rao moved the following resolution:- This Council recommends to His Excellency the Governor-in-Council that adequate measures be taken for the introduction of boy-scout movement among Indian students in some important secondary schools as a beginning in this Presidency, and that a committee of officials and non-officials be appointed to inquire into and suggest the lines on which such a movement can be introduced. In doing so he said that the Boy Scout movement was considered necessary since it was calculated to create a feeling of loyalty and patriotism in the minds of the younger generation in India. Mr. A.C. Miller of Belgaum had organised a system by which the movement could be made popular.

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MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

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FROM PAGE ONE

Counterfeiting of new notes worries agencies

Policeman killed, 11 injured in Valley Grenade attack in Srinagar on the day of Prime Minister’s visit to the State to inaugurate tunnel Special Correspondent Srinagar

Therefore, it is absolutely necessary for India to follow this policy, they said. “The newly introduced notes have no additional security features and were similar to those in the old ₹1,000 and ₹500 notes. Though the fake notes recovered so far have all been photocopies and of poor quality, it is not impossible for the enemy country to replicate them,” a senior official, who was present in

the meeting, said. The NIA had sent three fake notes for forensic analysis and the report said they were of low quality and were mostly scanned and colour copies of the original notes. The report also said the notes were being printed in Bangladesh. According to the NIA, they were printed on the “security document of Bangladesh’s currency paper, which said Praja Tantri Bangladesh.”

Loud and clear: MLA Abdul Rashid Sheikh at a protest against Narendra Modi’s visit to the State, in Srinagar on Sunday. PTI *

Jaitley bats for crowdfunding parties Dismissing the notion that the recent electoral victories of the BJP were a referendum on its bold move to scrap high-value currency notes last year, the Finance Minister, however, said, “Decision-making in 2017 is far easier than it has been in the past as there is a lot more public support for decisions.” “The fear that reforms have a political cost… we have crossed that stage,” Mr. Jaitley said in a conversation with Business Line Editor Raghavan Srinivasan. He stressed that the reforms to electoral funding, initiated by the government through the electoral bond scheme, and the amendments to the Companies Act introduced in the Finance Bill were aimed at giving ‘some protection to identities (of donors), expanding the constituency of donors and encouraging clean money’ coming into politics.

‘Ideal method’ “Till the 1970s and the early 80s, the bulk of political funding in India used to come from political workers going from home-to-home, shop-to-shop, cutting out vouchers for small donations of ₹10, ₹50 and ₹100. That amount now, because of inflation, can increase. If you were to ask me which is the ideal method, I think it is to go back to that,” the Minister said. “Now people don’t want to put in that kind of labour because everybody is preoccupied with their own jobs. But now you have the instrument of technology available, where large parties can always tell their support base, ‘fund us online’. From ₹10 to ₹10,000 or even a lakh of rupees, you can pay online,” Mr. Jaitley said. Stressing that a system where large parties would get thousands and millions of supporters giving donations online would be the cleanest way, the Finance Minister said, “I have suggested it to my party to start an online campaign and get at least a million people to donate – that will be a large corpus with small donations. That’s the system that President Obama followed in his first election. There are no quid pro quos and no

obligations of anyone.” The top cabinet minister asserted that the BJP’s ability to get votes from the weaker sections of society has significantly improved as is evident from the recent election outcomes in tribal districts of Odisha, the slums of Mumbai as well as Uttar Pradesh. “In several of these areas, the impact of the Congress party was quite high in the past even when they lost elections,” he said, highlighting the quality of gains for the saffron party. “Essentially, money will come from where money is available. As it is, corporates are giving (money to political parties) and they are giving unclean money. They are siphoning it out of their businesses in order to donate. This will at least prevent that abuse,” Mr. Jaitley said about the amendments introduced in the Finance Bill that abolish the funding cap of 7.5% of previous three years’ net profits under the Companies law.

FCRA amendments These changes, Mr. Jaitley said, need to be seen in conjunction with the amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation Act) made last year to change rules that labelled an Indian company as a foreign source of funds if it had some NRI or foreign shareholders. “Now when sectoral caps have been lifted in almost every sector to 74% and 100%, you won’t find ten donors in India who won’t get covered by that definition. So, for instance, a telecom or tobacco company doing business in India — Indian company doing 100% business in India, but within the meaning of FCRA would be debarred,” he pointed out to explain the need to widen the definition and increase the constituency of donors. “Similarly, in the Companies Act, a new company can’t give, a company with so much profit can’t give, so each of these changes were narrowing the constituency of donors and pragmatically, if you narrow the constituency of donors, you won’t have five donors left. This doesn’t mean that donations won’t come, it only means that donations will come in cash,” the Minister said.

Don’t blame EVMs “This activity was scrupulously followed in Punjab during the recently concluded Assembly elections and nowhere was any discrepancy observed in the result of mock poll,” it said. It cited Rule 93 of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, to say: “You are informed that after declaration of result, only alternative available to verify the data of votes cast is to file an Election Petition before the competent court, i.e., the High Court concerned.” The rule pertains to the production and inspection of election papers. It states that while in the custody of the district election officer or the returning officer, all the vital documents related to the elections cannot be opened by any person or authority, except under the order of a competent court. “The control units sealed under the provisions of Rule 57C and kept in the custody of the district election officer shall not be opened and shall not be inspected by, or produced before, any person or authority except under the CM

orders of a competent court,” says the Rule. The Commission said the Supreme Court had never expressed any doubt on use of EVMs in the poll process, strongly objecting to “wrong and imaginary exploration” of the Court order. Dismissing the allegations of EVM tampering, the EC said various High Courts had also unequivocally reiterated that, given the effective technical and administrative safeguards, the voting machines could not be tampered with and the integrity of the electoral process was fully preserved. On the AAP’s contention that some foreign countries had stopped using EVMs, the EC said such comparisons were both misplaced and misguided as those used by the EC were stand-alone machines. “Therefore, ECIEVMs cannot be compared with machines of other countries…most of the systems there are computer-based and controlled with Internet connectivity. Hence, these could be vulnerable to ‘hacking’,” said the EC.

A policeman was killed and 11 others were injured in a grenade attack in the Nowhatta area of Srinagar. The deceased has been identified as Shamim Ahmad. Militants hurled a grenade around 7 p.m. on a patrol of security personnel. A police spokesman said 11 security personnel, four of them policeman, were injured. The attack took place on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was visiting Jammu and Kashmir.

Life was affected in the Kashmir Valley as separatist groups called a strike in protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the State for inaugurating the Chenani-Nashri tunnel on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

Life affected Most shops, business establishments and fuel stations were shut in Srinagar, officials said.\ The officials said most modes of public transport waere off the road, while cars, cabs and autorickshaws

plied in many areas of the city. Similar reports were received from other district headquarters of the Valley, they said. The officials said security forces have been deployed in strength in sensitive places across the Valley to maintain law and order. Asking people to observe a general strike, the Hurriyat factions, in a joint statement on Thursday, said “all rhetoric about development or construction of tunnels and roads are futile and will not succeed in luring us”. (With PTI inputs)

Take brave steps, Geelani tells Modi Special Correspondent Srinagar

Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “take brave steps and act like a statesman”. “The Kashmir issue is serious and sensitive... Extraordinary and exemplary courage is needed to resolve it,” Mr. Geelani’s spokesman said. Mr. Modi, he added, should take brave steps and act like a statesman to bring about peace in the subcontinent. “Improving connectivity is a good idea. However, they do not help to resolve political and human issues.”

Prime accused in Nabha jailbreak case arrested Revolver, cartridges recovered JALANDHAR

The Punjab police have arrested one of the prime accused in the sensational Nabha jailbreak case and recovered a revolver and cartridges from his possession. “Amandeep Dhothian was arrested on a tip-off near the Punjab Armed Police complex late last night,” outgoing Jalandhar Commissioner of Police Arpit Shukla said on Sunday. He said the police also recovered a 0.32 bore revolver, seven live cartridges, four SIM cards and ₹5,000 from his possession. He was one of the “most wanted” gangsters in the State, Mr. Shukla said. Dhothian is facing 26 heinous cases across the State and is one of the prime accused in the Nabha jailbreak case, he said. With his arrest, the police have so far nabbed four of

the total six escapees from Nabha jail. Besides Dhothian, others who were arrested in the recent past are Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, KLF militant Harminder Singh Mintoo and Neeta Deol. Those who are yet to be arrested are gangster Vicky Gounder and militant Kashmir Singh. In a sensational jailbreak, a group of armed men stormed the Nabha jail in police uniforms and managed to free six prisoners — Harminder Singh Mintoo and Kashmir Singh, both terrorists, and gangsters Dhothian, Vicky Gounder, Gurpreet Sekhon and Neeta Deol — from the maximum security jail at Nabha in Patiala district on November 27 last year. Mintoo was nabbed from the Nizamuddin railway station in Delhi while Deol was arrested from Indore earlier.

Vijaita Singh

Subahani Haja Moideen, 31, from Kerala, who allegedly fought for the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq, could never have imagined that “jackets and sweaters” he wore in the war zone would turn out to be key evidence against him. Moideen escaped from the war zone in Iraq in 2015 and came back home to work in his father’s cloth shop in Thodupuzha for a year before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested him last October. Moideen’s is only the second known case of an Indian coming back from the IS war front after that of a Maharashtra resident, Areeb Majeed.

Turkish-origin material The NIA filed a charge sheet against Moideen in a special NIA court in Ernakulam last week. The agency submitted the forensic report of the

Turkish-origin jackets and sweaters recovered from his ancestral house to prove that he was present in the war zone. “Incriminating material objects like jackets and sweaters of Turkish origin used by Moideen during his stint with the IS were recovered, at the instance of the accused, from his room at his ancestral house in Thodupuzha. Forensic examination at FSL [Forensic Science Laboratory], Thiruvananthapuram has detected explosive residues, potassium nitrate and potassium chlorate in the leather jacket, besides potassium nitrate from one cotton jacket and two sweaters, thus indicating that the accused was in the war zone at Iraq and Syria. Experts have also opined that fibre disturbances detected from sweaters may be due to carrying of hard-surfaced objects like firearms,” the charge sheet said.

U.S. criticises India for rights abuses

Any bid to tamper new models will make them ‘inoperable’

New Delhi

Press Trust of India

The Election Commission is set to buy next-generation EVMs that will become “inoperable” the moment attempts are made to tamper with it. This move comes amid claims by some parties that the machines were tampered with during the recent Assembly polls. The M3-type EVMs are also equipped with a selfdiagnostic system for authentication of their genuineness. These will come with a public key interface-based mutual authentication system.

Machine interaction Only a “genuine” EVM — manufactured either by Electronics Corporation Of India Ltd. or Bharat Electronics Ltd. — “communicates” with other EVMs in the field. Any EVM manufactured by other companies would not be able to do so. Around ₹1,940 crore (excluding freight and taxes) will be required to procure the new machines, which are likely to be introduced

Have full faith in EC: BJP Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

At a time when there is a debate on whether electronic voting machines (EVMs) can be tampered with, the BJP said on Sunday that it had full faith in the Election Commission. In the wake of complaints from the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party on the functioning of EVMs, BJP leader Bhupendra Yadav said these machines were kept in the custody of district magistrates in States. “We lost in a State like Punjab which was ruled by 2018, a year before when the next Lok Sabha elections, the Law Ministry has said. The EC has decided to replace 9,30,430 EVMs purchased before 2006 as the older machines are nearing their 15-year life cycle, he said. On December 7, 2016, the Union Cabinet had ap-

Srinagar

The Jammu and Kashmir police on Sunday seized 14 mobile phones from a subjail in Baramulla, where several separatist leaders, including Muslim League chairman Masarat Alam, are lodged. A police officer said the phones were found during a search by the police and the jail officials in the morning. “The operation followed information that some incriminating materials, including unauthorised mobile phones, were being used on the jail premises,” the officer said. The police said they seized “14 mobile phones and incriminating materials” from the inmates. Police sources said the barrack of Alam was also searched. Alam has been in the jail since 2015, after a rally in which Pakistani flags were unfurled. Sources said two phones were recovered from there. But there was no official confirmation. A first information report has been filed. “An investigation is under way to find out how these articles, not authorised by the jail manual, have made their way into the jail,” the police officer said. Sources said the police were also going through Alam’s call details. In December 2016 and on January 18 this year, courts granted Alam bail. But he was detained soon.

NIA charge sheet says explosives’ traces found on clothes of ex-IS man

Poll panel to buy new EVMs for 2019 elections New Delhi

Peerzada Ashiq

Sweaters, jackets knit together a case New Delhi

Press Trust of India

14 phones seized in J&K prison

by the BJP-Akali Dal alliance, while the Samajwadi Party lost in Uttar Pradesh. In both cases, EVMs were with the district magistrate. Where is the question of EVMs in these results? We have full faith in the Election Commission,” Mr. Yadav said addressing journalists. His statement comes after complaints that a Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail deployed for an Assembly bypoll in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh, was dispensing slips only of the BJP symbol during a demonstration exercise. proved a fresh tranche of ₹1,009 crore for the EC to buy new EVMs so that it can phase out the ageing ones before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Cabinet had also authorised the EC to vary the quantity to be ordered on BEL and ECIL based on their production capacity and performance.

Press Trust of India

A U.S. State Department report has panned the Indian government over alleged human rights violations, citing the police case against activist Teesta Setalvad and encounter killing of eight suspected SIMI activists in Madhya Pradesh. The report on ‘Human Rights Practices in India for 2016’ also referred to restrictions on foreign funding of NGOs, including some whose views the government believed were not in the “national or public interest”, female genital mutilation and dowry-related deaths as human rights problems in the country. The State Department report also mentions the rejection of renewal of government permission to 25 NGOs to receive foreign funds, including senior lawyer Indira Jaisingh’s ‘Lawyers Collective’ and U.S.-based Compassion International’s two primary partners, noting that several voluntary organisations said these actions threatened their ability to continue to operate in India.

The agency said that forensic medical experts had opined that the accused has “radio opaque material” embedded in his leg, which could have been acquired from the war zone. “Experts have also opined that the accused has sustained injuries on his leg, as disclosed by him during the NIA probe, while training and fighting for the IS in Iraq between April and September 2015,” the charge sheet said.

Electronic evidence The other evidence submitted by the NIA was forensic reports of his Blackberry phone, memory cards, his computer, bank account details and his travel documents. The NIA said that Moideen was trained in combat and warfare by the IS at Mosul in Iraq to wage a war against Asian powers allied with India and he worked for the terrorist out-

fit from April to September 2015. “During interrogation, the accused had knowingly and intentionally communicated with co-conspirators in the IS, in and outside India on social media platforms like Facebook, Telegram etc. to wage war against the Government of Iraq and India. His e-mails and online communications were extracted. His bank account details revealed that he had withdrawn money from an ATM in Turkey in April 2015, while on his way to IS-controlled territory and even while coming back,” the charge sheet said. Moideen had told interrogators that during his stay in Iraq, the IS gave him a salary of $100 and a phone. He said they were fighting the Iraqi Army, the Iranian Shia groups, the Kurdish groups and Jabat Al Nusra. Moideen said he escaped the war zone after he saw the charred bodies of two men from his group.

RS majority key to ight black money: Swamy ‘In 2018, BJP will have the numbers’ Staff Reporter Bengaluru

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy on Sunday said that only when his party had a majority in the Rajya Sabha could there be a total crackdown on those who stashed black money abroad. “In April 2018, we will have a majority. We can then pass legislation and resolution addressed to over 70 countries where Indians have stashed money in banks.” He said: “I have already given the PM a note on this... It is not possible currently in the Rajya Sabha as many members fear being exposed.”

The former Union Minister was speaking after releasing a book in the city.

Demonetisation effect While demonetisation was touted as the largest crackdown on black money within the country, Dr. Swamy said the intended positive effects were unravelled due to lack of planning by the Finance Ministry. “If we had better planning, demonetisation would have worked. But there was no planning by the Finance Ministry. Fortunately, the [adverse] effects were minimised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

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THE HINDU

NEWS 11

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MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Govt. will help reduce pendency: PM Urjit, deputies Delivery of justice handicapped because of a shortage of judges, says Chief Justice Khehar Omar Rashid

sands of small matters like matrimonial disputes, land disputes and other such cases could be settled through Lok Adalats and mediation. Referring to the Allahabad High Court, the CJI said that if every judge decided to work for five extra days they would be able to dispose of an additional 25 cases per day. He asked whether the judiciary was ready for such a “challenge”.

LUCKNOW

Striping case: India takes up issue with Frankfurt NEW DELHI

India has taken up with Frankfurt airport authorities the matter of an Indian woman being asked to strip by the security officials during her travel on March 29. “@CGIFranfurt has taken up this matter with Frankfurt Airport authorities. The matter has been referred to the Police for investigation,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted tonight. “We are awaiting report of the police investigation,” she said. PTI

Manipur government sets up probe panels IMPHAL

The BJP-led coalition government in Manipur has set up two inquiry panels in quick succession to probe “two scams of the previous Congress government”, fulfilling a pre-poll promise. The committees set up by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Suresh Babu, led by Additional DGP Pramod Ashatana, will probe the ₹8 crore CCTV camera scam and the ₹1 crore traffic lights scam.

Six nursing students killed in accident AHMEDABAD

Six girl students of a nursing college in neighbouring Dahod district were killed and six other passengers were seriously injured when the vehicle they were travelling in rammed a tree near Ruparel village in Panchmahal district on Sunday, the police said. The accident occurred when the students were returning to Zalod after attending a cultural programme in Bardoli town near Surat, said Damavav police station Sub-Inspector P. L. Vaghela. PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday assured Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar that the government would make its share of “contribution” to help fulfil his “resolve” to reduce the burden on the judiciary and deal with the high number of pending cases. The Prime Minister made the pledge after observing the “pain” in Justice Khehar’s speech in which he lamented the pendency of cases in the higher and lower courts.

Pilgrimage site The two dignitaries were speaking at the closing ceremony of the 150th anniversary celebration of the Allahabad High Court. The Prime Minister described the Allahabad High Court as the ‘Tirtha Kshetra’ or pilgrimage site for the Indian judiciary. In his address, which he themed as his “dil ki baat”, Mr. Khehar spoke about the

On fast track: PM Narendra Modi along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Governor Ram Naik and Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar at the 150th anniversary celebration of the Allahabad High Court. RAJEEV BHATT *

high backlog of pending cases and the urgency to step up and tackle them. Referring to the Allahabad High Court, he said that till January 1, it had nine lakh pending cases, including two lakh in the Lucknow Bench of the court. But to tackle these, the court had only 85

judges as against the sanctioned strength of 160. “The delivery of justice” was “handicapped” due to “shortage of judges,” the CJI said. Justice Khehar also mentioned certain steps he was taking to reduce the burden on the judiciary. He said three Constitution Benches

of the Supreme Court would sit during the summer vacation to help reduce the number of pending cases. The CJI also requested the judges to consider sitting in courts for five days during vacation. That way a minimum of 10 cases would be heard each day. Also, thou-

Use of technology Mr. Modi lauded Justice Khehar’s resolve to tackle the pendency of cases and his stress on simplification of legal work through use of technology. The Prime Minister advocated the use of technology and digitalisation in the judicial system to overcome the burden of cases and obsolete laws. Mr. Modi also urged people involved with the start-up sector to innovate on aspects where technology could help the judiciary.

ED questions suspects on shell irms Operators admit to having set up over 1,100 companies, many of which were shut to evade detection Devesh K. Pandey New Delhi

Following a major crackdown on shell companies across 16 States on Saturday, the Enforcement Directorate is questioning several persons on suspicion that they played a key role in laundering unaccounted-for money and illegally transferring foreign currency abroad. The operators identified so far have purportedly admitted to the ED that they had set up over 1,100 shell firms. A large number of them were later shut down to evade detection. The ED has sought trans-

action details of all the entities from banks to determine the total amount involved. The directorate has also detected many properties that will be attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Legal action “Prima facie, they were acquired using proceeds of various offences and therefore, they are liable to be attached. Legal action will also be initiated against those involved,” a senior ED official said. In cases where the shell companies had transferred

Will Mamata meet Hasina? It’s a suspense

foreign exchange abroad on various pretexts, such as advance payments for imports that never materialised, the ED will attach domestic properties of an equivalent amount under a provision added to the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 2015. As the shell companies are mostly incorporated in the name of dummy directors, the government can also attach their moveable and immoveable assets under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act. On Saturday, the directorate conducted searches at

110 locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ranchi, Patna and so on.

Linked to leaders Some of the firms were allegedly linked to money laundering cases involving former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Andhra Pradesh Opposition leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Uttar Pradesh-based official Yadav Singh and the National Rural Health Mission scam in Uttar Pradesh. According to the Enforcement Directorate, one Mum-

bai-based operator, Jagdish Prasad Purohit, has confessed to having set up around 700 shell companies. Of these, 130 are still in existence. He had provided accommodation entry of ₹46.7 crore to Mr. Bhujbal, it is alleged. Another search on the premises of a Delhi-based chartered accountant revealed that he had formed more than 200 shell companies for providing accommodation entries to a large number of people, including members of sand mafias, from Uttar Pradesh.

get a pay hike

RBI chief’s basic salary now ₹2.5 lakh Press Trust of India New Delhi

RBI Governor Urjit Patel and his deputies have received a salary increase with the government more than doubling their basic salary to ₹2.5 lakh and ₹2.25 lakh a month, respectively. The “basic pay of the Governor and Deputy Governors” have been revised retrospectively with effect from January 1, 2016 and marks a huge jump from the ₹90,000 basic pay so far drawn by the Governor and ₹80,000 by his deputies. Still, their salaries are much lower than what top executives of various banks regulated by the RBI draw. The monthly emoluments of these top RBI officials include basic pay, dearness allowance and other payments, which totalled ₹2,09,500 in case of Mr. Patel as on November 30, 2016, as per the latest information disclosed on the RBI website. In response to a query under the Right to Information Act, the central bank disclosed that as per a Finance Ministry communication, dated February 21, the basic pay of the Governor and Deputy Governors had been revised.

Retrospective effect Following the revision, the basic pay of the Governor stands increased to ₹2,50,000 a month, while the same for a Deputy Governor would be ₹2,25,000, the RBI said. The pay hike is “with effect from January 1, 2016”. The dearness allowance is notified by the Central government from time to time, while “all other allowances (are) to be paid at existing rates as if the pay has not been received with effect from January 1, 2016,” the RTI reply said.

Urjit Patel The RBI, however, did not disclose the new gross pay for Mr. Patel and his deputies following the revision in basic pay. With the earlier basic pay of ₹90,000, Mr. Patel got a DA of ₹1,12,500 and ‘other payments’ of ₹7,000 — totalling to a gross pay of ₹2,09,500. The increase in the basic itself would take his gross pay to nearly ₹3.7 lakh. Mr. Patel, who took over the reins of the RBI in September 2016, had received a salary of ₹2.09 lakh in October — the first full month in office. This amount was same as drawn by his predecessor Raghuram Rajan in August that year. Mr. Rajan assumed RBI governorship from September 5, 2013 at a monthly salary of ₹1.69 lakh. His salary was revised to ₹1.78 lakh and ₹1.87 lakh, respectively, during 2014 and March 2015. His salary was raised to ₹2.09 lakh from ₹2.04 lakh in January 2016. It was not clear whether Mr. Rajan, who left the RBI on September 4, 2016, would be eligible for arrears as the basic pay for Governor has been revised retrospectively while covering little more than nine months of his tenure. Last November, the Deputy Governors, R. Gandhi, S.S. Mundra and N.S. Vishwanathan, were taking home a basic pay of ₹80,000 a month.

Warrant against actor Rakhi Sawant Press Trust of India Ludhiana

President has invited her to dinner he is hosting Suvojit Bagchi

without her consent. She has not elaborated on how she came to know about the date. “Teesta hardly has any water in the lean season [November-March] and thus it is very difficult to share water with Bangladesh,” the aide said on condition of anonymity.

Kolkata

Till Sunday evening, Trinamool Congress leaders were in the dark about the travel plans of party chairperson and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to Delhi later this week. President Pranab Mukherjee has invited her for a dinner hosted by him for Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. An aide of Ms. Banerjee said that on April 7, the Chief Minister would inaugurate the new district of Asansol, carved out of Bardhaman district. “Her schedule is relatively less tight from April 8, but I am not aware of her plans,” the aide said. Official talks between the Prime Ministers will be held on April 8. Many feel that the Bengal Chief Minister’s meeting

Mamata Banerjee with Ms. Hasina could be a step ahead in addressing one of the most contentious issues between Bangladesh and India, the sharing of Teesta river water. So far, Ms. Banerjee has not indicated that she is in favour of sharing the water, even while reiterating in a television interview that the Teesta agreement “will be signed on May 25” with or

Panchayat polls The other factor is panchayat elections in Bengal in 2018. Ms. Banerjee may not want to annoy thousands of farmers dependent on Teesta water for irrigation in Jalpaiguri, South Dinajpur and Darjeeling. The Left Front’s successive Irrigation Ministers had also said they did not want to displease farmers on the banks of Teesta, in many meetings with the Water Resources Ministry of Bangladesh.

A local court here has issued an arrest warrant against Bollywood actress Rakhi Sawant for allegedly making objectionable remarks against sage Valmiki, who wrote the mythological Hindu epic ‘Ramayana’. The warrant was issued on March 9 on the basis of a complaint filed against her for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Valmiki community with her comments on a programme on a private television channel last year, the police said on Sunday. “By doing so she has hurt the religious sentiments of a large number of his followers,” the complaint said. “A two-member team of the Ludhiana police has left for Mumbai with the arrest warrant,” a police official said.

Bhind Collector, SP moved ahead of by-polls Action a fallout of controversy surrounding trial of VVPAT machine Press Trust of India Bhopal

Bhind Collector Ilayaraja T and Superintendent of Police Anil Singh Kushwaha were on Sunday shunted out, a week ahead of by-election to the Ater Assembly seat in the district. The development comes against the backdrop of a controversy surrounding the trial of VVPAT machine in Bhind. According to media reports, the faulty VVPAT was only dispensing slips of the BJP symbol during the familiarisation exercise. Kiran Gopal and S. Saxena had replaced Mr. Ilayaraja and Mr.Kushwaha, respectively, Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Saleena Singh said. Some other officials too were transferred out of Bhind, sources said, but officials didn’t confirm the CM YK

AAP members protesting outside SEC oice in Bhopal on Saturday. FILE PHOTO PTI *

report. By-polls in the Ater Assembly constituency in Bhind district and at the Bandhavgarh Assembly segment in Umaria district will take place on April 9.

Complaint filed The action came a day after Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejri-

wal, and other leaders of opposition parties met the Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi in Delhi. They filed a complaint saying that a video of a trial of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machine attached to Electronic Voting Machine at Bhind on March 31 showed that it was dispensing slips with only the BJP symbol, no matter which button on the EVM was

pressed. The opposition parties demanded scrapping of EVM for the coming elections. VVPAT is a machine which dispenses a slip with the symbol of the party for which a person has voted for. The slip drops in a box and the voter cannot take it home. According to media reports, the receipt showed the vote going to the BJP, irrespective of button pressed during the demonstration. The reports also claimed that the Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer was seen telling journalists that the news should not appear in newspapers, else they would be detained at the police station. Saleena Singh, who was present during the trial and seen in the video, on Saturday denied that VVPAT dispensed only BJP slips. A ND-ND

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12 WORLD

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

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ELSEWHERE

200 dead in Colombia landslide

20 tortured to death in Pakistan’s sui shrine

Heavy rainfall on Friday night precipitates a sudden rise in rivers, devastating Mocoa town

‘Mentally ill’ custodian confesses

Agence France-Presse Mocoa

Murakami calls for ight against revisionism TOKYO

Japanese author Haruki Murakami has called for a ight against historical revisionism in an interview published on Sunday. His comments came after a Japanese hotel chain operator, Toshio Motoya , triggered an angry backlash from China earlier this year for his book which called the 1937 Nanjing massacre committed by Japanese troops a “fabrication”. AFP

U.K.’s nuclear stations on terror alert LONDON

U.K.’s nuclear power stations and airports have been instructed to “remain resilient” against potential terrorist attacks, amid fears that their systems may be targeted by hackers, according to a report. PTI

Dhaka court upholds death penalty for 2 DHAKA

A two-member bench of Bangladesh’s High Court on Sunday upheld the death penalty of two Islamist militants, Redwanul Azad Rana and Faisal Bin Nayem, for the brutal murder of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in 2013. PTI

Chicago police arrest teen in ‘rape case’ CHICAGO

Police in Chicago arrested a 14-year-old boy in connection with the alleged gang rape of a teenage girl that was broadcast on Facebook Live, police and local news reported. The victim was a 15-year-old girl who went missing on March 19. She was found two days later and taken to a children's hospital. AFP

Colombia on Sunday mourned the deaths of an estimated 200 people in the mudslide-devastated town of Mocoa as rescuers searched for survivors in a sea of muck and debris. A “profoundly saddened” Pope Francis weighed in with a message of grief and solidarity with the suffering people of Mocoa, a town of 40,000 in Colombia’s Amazon basin. “I pray for the victims and want to assure those who weep for the missing of my closeness to them,” the Pope said in a statement.

Mud, boulders, debris The torrent of mud, boulders and debris struck the town with little warning late on Friday after days of heavy rains that caused three area rivers to flood. It swept away homes, bridges, vehicles and trees, leaving piles of wrecked timber buried in thick mud. The Colombian Red Cross put the number of confirmed deaths at 200, adding that it was unclear how many people were still missing. Earlier reports said more than 100 were unaccounted for. At least 203 people were injured, some 300 families were affected and 25 homes destroyed, the Red Cross said. As the rain lifted, residents picked their way through a landscape of destruction looking for loved ones or trying to salvage meagre belongings. Most of the hardest hit neighbourhoods are poor and populated with people uprooted during the country’s five-decades-long civil war. Marta Ceballos, a 44-yearold street vendor, said she lost everything to the mudslide, but says she is thankful her family is alive. “Dear

Agence France-Presse Islamabad

The custodian of a Pakistani religious shrine and two accomplices have been arrested for torturing and murdering 20 worshippers with knives and clubs early on Sunday, police said. Four women were among those killed in the attacks at the Sufi Shrine to Mohammad Ali in Punjab Province. Victims were apparently given intoxicants before being slaughtered and some of the bodies were nude.

Tragedy in Amazon basin: (Clockwise from left) A family waits outside its home damaged by mudslides; a soldier rescuing a child and President Juan Manuel Santos inspecting a looded area. AFP, AP, REUTERS *

God, I don’t want to even remember that,” she said. “To see how some people screamed, and others cried, ran, tried to flee in cars, on motorcycles, and how they were trapped in the mud. It’s all too, too difficult,” she said. “The only things I fortunately did not lose were my husband, my daughters and my nephews,” she said.

Emergency declared Light rain and showers were in the forecast for Sunday but precipitation was expected to diminish on Monday and Tuesday, Colombia’s national weather institute said. President Juan Manuel Santos was scheduled to return on Sunday to Mocoa, the capital of the department of Putumayo, along with Cabinet Ministers to supervise rescue efforts in the

Fire erupts in Dubai complex near Burj Khalifa The under-construction site has 3 towers, each 60 loors high Agence France-Presse Dubai

A blaze erupted on Sunday in a residential complex under construction near Dubai’s biggest shopping mall and a hotel ravaged by fire on New Year’s Eve in 2015, authorities said. The fire broke out at around 6.30 a.m. local time on a site near the Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, witnesses said. The property has three towers each 60 floors high and was due to be completed in April 2018. Fires have hit Dubai highrises in recent years and spread quickly, mostly due to flammable material used in cladding, a covering or coating used on the side of the buildings. On December 31, 2015 a huge blaze ripped through the luxury Address Downtown Hotel.

Suu Kyi’s NLD wins half of bypoll seats Reuters

Fire scare: The scene of a ire which broke out in a construction site near the Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa on Sunday. AFP *

heavily forested region. The President met with rescuers and survivors in Mocoa on Saturday, and declared a public health and safety emergency to speed up rescue and aid operations.

Hundreds missing Putumayo Governor Sorrel Aroca called the event “an unprecedented tragedy” for the area. There are “hundreds of families we have not yet found and whole neighbourhoods have disappeared”, he told W Radio on Saturday. Carlos Ivan Marquez, director of the National Disaster Risk Management Unit, told AFP the mudslides were caused by the rise of the Mocoa River and its tributaries. Some 130 mm of rain fell on Friday night. “That means 30% of monthly rainfall fell [in one night], which

November killed nine people in the rural southwestern town of El Tambo, officials said at the time. In the previous month, 10 people lost their lives in a mudslide in the north of the country.

precipitated a sudden rise of several rivers,” he said. “Our prayers are with the victims and those affected,” he added. One thousand emergency personnel, including soldiers and local police, were deployed to help the rescue effort. Mocoa was left without power or running water, and there were reports of people looting stores searching for bottled water. “There are lots of people in the streets, lots of people displaced and many houses have collapsed,” retired Mocoa resident Hernando Rodriguez (69) said by telephone. “People do not know what to do... there were no preparations” for such a disaster, he said. Several deadly landslides have struck Colombia in recent months. A landslide in

Effect of climate change? The Pacific rim of South America has been hard hit in recent months by floods and mudslides, with scores killed in Peru and Ecuador as well. Climate change can play a big role in the scale of natural disasters, such as this one, a senior United Nations official said. “Climate change is generating dynamics and we see the tremendous results in terms of intensity, frequency and magnitude of these natural effects, as we have just seen in Mocoa,” said Martin Santiago, UN chief for Colombia.

CM YK

Paraguay President sacks 2 top oicials Agence France-Presse Asuncion

Paraguay’s President sacked his Interior Minister and police chief on Saturday, following a clash that led to the death of a young activist as rioters angry about electoral reform stormed Congress. Closed circuit cameras captured the death of 25year-old Rodrigo Quintana, leader of the Opposition Liberal Party’s youth branch, who was apparently shot by police early on Saturday as they searched the party’s offices in Asuncion for protest-

Associated Press Peshawar

When Durdana married for a second time and to a man of her own choosing, her parents threatened to kill her if she tried to see her new husband. They imprisoned her in their home, but she still had her mobile phone and had learned that a helpline for women had been set up. She noted the number and then one day when she was alone in the house, she called. Nayab Hassan, who was on the other end, answered the call from the helpline centre located in the provincial Parliament buildings in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, where tribal councils still hand over young girls to settle disputes. It became the first Province in Pakistan to set up a hotline for women that feeds directly into the provincial legislature. It’s still a small operation. It began March 1 and so far

there are only two operators, Ms. Hassan and Mehran Akbar. They take the information from the women and Shandana Naeem, a lawyer, follows up with advice and a network of free legal services. Their calls have averaged one a day so far, and while most have emanated from the provincial capital of Peshawar, several have come from more remote regions, like Durdana’s, which was from Swat.

We, the women: Nayab Hassan and Shandana Naeem, who work at the helpline in Peshawar. AP *

Attacks, property issues One woman, Aneesa, called to say that two years earlier her husband had thrown acid at her, stole her money and jewellery and fled to Saudi Arabia. She had moved in with her parents and now her eyesight was deteriorating from the acid attack; she needed medical assistance but had no money to pay for it. Ms. Naeem said they helped her work through the red tape of getting a health card — the first

step to health care. She also said that most of the calls have been over property disputes, where women were being denied their inheritance. The helpline was developed by Meraj Humayun Khan (70), a parliamentarian who has taken on her male colleagues to organise a women’s caucus in the provincial Parliament. With the weight of the 22-member caucus behind her, Ms. Khan

Govt. panel to give recommendations on the $3.6 billion Myitsone Dam Aung Myin Tha

A government-appointed commission is to soon make a recommendation on the fate of the $3.6 billion, China-financed Myitsone Dam in Myanmar. The decision is a daunting test for Aung San Suu Kyi, who risks angering China, the region’s economic powerhouse, if she cancels the project, or the public if she lets it go forward.

Key test for Suu Kyi Analysts say the commission’s report would provide her the political cover to kill an unpopular white elephant that she inherited from Myanmar’s former military government. But getting out of the deal would be difficult. If her govern-

ment cancels the project outright, it could have to repay some $800 million that the state-owned Chinese developer says it has already spent on the project. If Myanmar offers China other dam projects in return, a compromise her government has floated, they are likely to impinge on disputed ethnic areas where they could threaten the peace talks she has championed since her political party came to power last year. The Myitsone Dam is among the largest of many Chinese-financed energy and mining projects approved by the military junta that ruled Myanmar until 2011. It is especially contentious because it would be the first dam to cross the Ir-

ers. About 30 people were injured, including three lawmakers, according to firefighters and an Opposition Senator. Police said 211 people were arrested, some of them minors. President Horacio Cartes on Saturday responded by firing Interior Minister Tado Rojas and Police Commissioner Crispulo Sotelo. But Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga slammed the unrest as “the work of a violent group that does not understand what democracy is, does not understand tolerance”.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa becomes the irst Province to start a hotline directly linked to the legislature

lobbied for the direct helpline to the legislature. The 22 women in the provincial Parliament are there on quota seats reserved for women. No woman candidate has been able to win a general election seat from there. Ms. Khan says she plans to run on a general seat in the 2018 elections, but she admits even those men who have championed and endorsed her candidacy have

Judgment day soon for China-backed Myanmar project Mike Ives

Used violence to ‘heal’ Local rescue service official Mazhar Shah said Waheed used to meet devotees once or twice a month and used violence to “heal” them. Punjab Minister for Religious Affairs Zaeem Qadri said intelligence agencies along with police and the local government were investigating all aspects of the case. Mr. Qadri said his department managed some 552 shrines in the Province, but this one was not registered with it.

Pak. sets up unique helpline for women

timates, but would still not cure the country’s chronic energy shortages. One reason for that, experts say, is that there is no grid connecting the dam to Myanmar’s major towns and cities.

Yangon

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won nearly half of the seats contested in byelections on Sunday, the first vote since it swept to power a year ago. Ms. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won nine out of 19 seats in the national and regional Parliaments, according to the Union Election Commission, following a period in which she has struggled to match skyhigh expectations. While the outcome of the byelections will not affect the balance of power within the Parliament, where the NLD enjoys a large majority, it offers a chance to gauge the popularity of the administration in a country where nationwide public polls are not available.

‘Due to fear’ The motive was unclear but some officials said the chief suspect had mental health problems and had used violence on followers before. “The 50-year-old shrine custodian, Abdul Waheed, has confessed that he killed these people because he feared that they had come to kill him,” said regional police chief Zulfiqar Hameed. Another local govern-

ment official said Waheed had told police that the saint buried at the shrine had been poisoned and he feared that his victims might kill him also. Local police station chief Shamshir Joya said the victims, whose clothes were torn and bloodstained, appeared to have been given intoxicants. Mr. Joya said the shrine was built some two and a half years ago. Waheed took it over upon completion.

‘Don’t dam it’: People involved in road work along Irrawaddy River; (above) a protest sign. NYT *

rawaddy River, the mythic cradle of civilisation for Myanmar’s ethnic Burman majority. While officials said the dam would provide Myanmar much-needed cash and electricity, critics said it would cause irreparable harm to the river, destroy fish stocks downstream and displace thousands of villa-

gers. But perhaps the most incendiary objection was that under the deal struck by the ruling generals, 90% of the dam’s electricity could go to China. As protests spread to Myanmar’s cities, Ms. Suu Kyi had spoken out against the dam. In 2011, the militarybacked transitional govern-

ment yielded to public pressure and suspended the project, the decision coming as a shock to Chinese officials and businessmen. The Myitsone was meant to be the first and largest of seven dams planned by the Chinese developer. It would generate more power than the entire country produces now, according to some es-

To repay or to shift? The dam’s developer, State Power Investment Corp., has already spent $800 million on feasibility and technical studies, bridges, electrical grid updates and other supporting infrastructure, a person familiar with the dam contract said. The money was borrowed from commercial banks, he said, so the cost keeps growing as the loans accrue interest. Officials close to Ms. Suu Kyi have said that negotiations were under way for Myanmar to pay China, or apply the money to other projects, if the dam is not built. NYT

been met with scepticism and resistance. Durdana, the caller from Swat. was told to go to the police station and charge her parents with unlawful confinement or tell her husband to go to police to demand he be allowed to see her, said Ms. Naeem, the helpline lawyer. That was March 6. Ms. Naeem has tried repeatedly to telephone Durdana on the number she gave but it is either turned off or rings unanswered. The dilemma, she says, when giving advice is that there is no way to know whether the police, for example, will help the women or hand them back to the family they are fleeing. “We have to get the police, the justice system, the many government departments, on our side, working with us,” said Ms. Khan, the founder of the helpline. “While all government departments agreed... we now need them to make good on their promises.”

Ecuadorans vote in run-of Agence France-Presse Quito

Ecuadorans headed to the polls on Sunday in a presidential run-off that will turn the page on a decade under leftist Rafael Correa and decide whether the nation follows Latin America’s rightward shift. The election could decide the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been holed up at the country’s London embassy since 2012. Mr. Correa’s designated heir, Lenin Moreno, is in a tight contest with conservative ex-banker Guillermo Lasso. Mr. Lasso finished second in the first-round vote last month, with 28% to Mr. Moreno’s 39%. But polls give him a slight edge heading into the run-off, with between 52.1% and 57.6% of the vote. A ND-ND

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THE HINDU

BUSINESS 13

NOIDA/DELHI

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

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IN BRIEF

‘Foreign investor norms a barrier’ The annual USTR report lists irritants for investors in e-commerce in India Sanjay Vijayakumar Chennai

‘Only 5 large banks can survive in long term’ MUMBAI

Kotak Mahindra Bank vice-chairman Uday Kotak said there would be strong consolidation in the inancial services sector and eventually only ive players would dominate the space just like in the global space. “Globally, in most countries, there are only three to ive large banks which dominate. This is how the future will be in our country as well,” Mr. Kotak said. PTI

India seeks bank details from Switzerland NEW DELHI/BERNE

India has approached Switzerland for banking details of about 10 persons and entities suspected to have kept untaxed money in Swiss banks. These include two listed textile companies and others entities of an art curator. Switzerland’s tax department issued notices to them last week to reply within 30 days to appeal the decision about providing ‘administrative assistance’ to requests from India. PTI

Govt. withdraws subsidy on mild hybrid vehicles NEW DELHI

The government has withdrawn incentives given to mild hybrid vehicles under FAME India scheme, impacting the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India the most. The irm’s popular models, multi utility vehicle Ertiga and sedan Ciaz with mild hybrid technology had beneited from the scheme that was launched in April 2015 to popularise the use of electric vehicles in the country. PTI

More money will not solve NPAs: Jaitley Special Correspondent New Delhi

Recapitalisation of public sector banks by diverting the exchequer’s resources from other development projects just because some rich borrowers failed to pay up their dues isn’t an acceptable solution for banks’ bad loan woes, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday. Stressing that the Indian political system isn't ready for privatisation of PSU banks yet, he said that the government is doing some recapitalization of banks but it’s easy to suggest it as the solution for non-performing assets on their books. “This effectively means that money which we are spending on irrigation, MGNREGA and poverty alleviation schemes, we have to withdraw that money and give it to the banks as the rich guys haven’t paid to the banks,” Mr. Jaitley said in a conversation with Business Line Editor Raghavan Srinivasan. The core NPA problem, he said, concerns just 20 to 30 accounts and banks must have the decisionmaking ability to settle those accounts. “To find resolution to those 30 accounts is not an impossible exercise for the Indian economic system.” The minister said that the government is working on bringing down its equity in IDBI Bank below 50%. “You can think in terms of individual examples, but I don’t think the Indian political system is still ready for a situation for bank privatisation,” he said. “I had consciously announced the government decision to bring down government equity (in public sector banks and keep it down at 52% or so. Even for that reduction, we have to go at a stage where the valuations are at a reasonable level. You can’t go at a stage where the values are probably not the best,” Mr. Jaitley said. CM YK

Indian regulations on foreign ownership in e-commerce and other online-related services were major barriers for overseas investors, according to a report by the U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. The findings were part of the report on foreign trade barriers from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). The annual report points to a list of trade irritants in 63 nations. “India allows for 100% foreign direct investment in business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce, but largely prohibits foreign investment in business-to-consumer (B2C) electronic commerce transactions,” according to the report.

Inventory-based model Foreign direct investment is allowed in a market-based electronic retailing model, but not in the inventorybased model, it added. According to the report, the only exception that was granted was to single-brand retailers. Single-brand retail-

Trade hurdles: FDI is allowed in a market-based e-retailing model, but not in the inventory-based mode. ers who meet certain conditions including the operation of physical stores in India may undertake to trade through electronic commerce. “This narrow exception limits the ability of the majority of potential B2C electronic commerce foreign investors to access the Indian market.” The trade barriers report also pointed out India’s tax (6% equalisation levy) on foreign online advertising plat-

forms was not par with the international norms and warned the levy in its current form may impede foreign trade and increase the risk of retaliation from other countries where Indian companies are doing business. “India recently began assessing an ‘equalisation levy’, which is an additional 6% withholding tax on foreign online advertising platforms, with the ostensible goal of “equalising the play-

ing field” between resident service providers and nonresident service providers. However, its provisions do not provide credit for tax paid in other countries for the service provided in India,” according to the report. The report also pointed out that the levy would result in taxes on business income even when a foreign resident does not have a permanent establishment in India or when underlying activities are not carried out in India. “The current structure of the equalisation levy represents a shift from internationally accepted principles, which provide that digital taxation mechanisms should be developed on a multilateral basis in order to prevent double taxation,” the report said. On India’s requirements to store data within the country, the USTR report said such a mandate would reduce productivity, dampen domestic investment and undermine the ability of information and communications technology companies to offer cuttingedge services.

‘Infosys’ COO pay increase not proper’

GAAR raises issue of taxman’s powers

Special Correspondent

Arbitrary use of authority a concern

Bengaluru

Infosys founder N. R. Naryana Murthy said the compensation raise offered to its chief operating officer U.B. Pravin Rao was not “proper” and the company currently had “poor governance standards.” In an email, Mr. Murthy stated that a hefty hike to top management will likely erode the trust and faith of employees in the management and the board. “Giving nearly 60% to 70% increase in compensation for a top-level person even including performance-based variable pay when the compensation for most of the employees in the company was increased by just 6% to 8% is, in my opinion, not proper,” he said. In February, the board had approved a raise for Mr. Rao. His annual fixed salary was raised to ₹4.62 crore while the variable came to ₹3.87 crore. On Sunday, the firm published the e-voting results on decisions such as the raise for Mr. Rao and adoption of the new Articles of Association.

TCA Sharad Raghavan NEW DELHI

With the government implementing its anti tax avoidance rules from April 1, industry is concerned about the greater subjective authority being given to the tax department and how this could render transactions unprofitable. The General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) are designed to prevent the avoidance of tax by taking advantage of international tax laws. The rules say that if the major outcome of a transaction is a tax benefit and there is no sound business basis for the transaction, then the government can invoke GAAR and reclassify the transaction or the profits arising from it. “The concern is about the arbitrary usage of the powers that the officers might have under GAAR,” Vipul Jhaveri, Managing Partner, Tax and Regulatory at Deloitte Haskins & Sells told The Hindu. “Conceptually, if the power is used ju-

diciously it can’t be anybody’s argument that any anti-avoidance rule is a bad thing.”

‘Creating subjectivity’ “Canada has had such a law since 1988 and they are still facing problems,” Neha Malhotra, Executive Director at Nangia and Co added. “Such rules create subjectivity. Suppose a transaction makes sound business sense but also results in substantial tax savings, then does it make them a tax evader?” Similarly, Mr Jhaveri explained, there could be cases where the tax benefit accrues upfront whereas the business advantages of a transaction could accrue only with a delay. In such a case, would the transaction be treated as one conducted purely to evade tax? In any case, tax experts agree that the government has included several safeguards against bullying by tax authorities, such as several layers of permissions required before GAAR is invoked.

India’s exports may cross $300 billion in FY17, says FIEO Lights still green on global air traic rights ‘Growth is encouraging as global trade is down and many economies are still in the red’ N. Anand

Domestic airlines oppose proposal Somesh Jha NEW DELHI

The Centre has not yet given up on its plan to auction international air traffic rights to foreign airlines, sources said. Top officials of the Cabinet Secretariat met chief executives of domestic airlines last Tuesday to seek their views on Civil Aviation Ministry’s first of its kind proposal to auction international traffic rights which is being negotiated between two countries at present. The domestic airlines were asked whether or not they were in favour of putting out their unutilised traffic quota on short haul routes for bidding to international players, according to sources. However, the domestic airlines reiterated their opposition to the proposal in a presentation given to the Cabinet Secretariat officials, a senior Civil Aviation ministry official said. Even some foreign airlines such as Qatar Airways had expressed disappointment over the unique proposal. A panel, headed by Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha will hold a meeting soon to take a final call on the auction proposal. In 2015, the ministry had proposed a move to become the first country in the world to bid out traffic rights for three years to foreign carriers belonging to countries within 5,000 km

Some foreign airlines too expressed disappointment over the proposal. radius from India. As per the proposal, traffic rights would be auctioned in cases where the foreign country – with which India has signed an air services agreement – has fully utilised its air traffic right quota but India has not utilised its entitlements. “Whenever domestic carriers come close to the utilisation of domestic quota, traffic rights will not be auctioned and will be renegotiated in the usual manner”, according to the proposal in the draft civil aviation policy released in October 2015. As per the global practice, also followed by India, countries sign air service agreement bilaterally which decides the equal number of flights or seats per week that can fly into each other’s country depending upon their own requirements. Then, the government distributes the allocated seats to the respective airlines. Some foreign carriers, particularly from Gulf countries, have exhausted their right entitlements.

CHENNAI

India’s merchandise export is expected to cross $300 billion during the current fiscal, said a top official of Federation of India Export Organisations (FIEO). FIEO expects India’s shipments for fiscal 2016-17 to close at $272 billion against $262 billion in the previous year – a growth of 3-4%. This fiscal, the exporters’ body

expects manufacturing shipments to be in the region of $300-310 billion and services to be between $175 billion and $180 billion “This (export) growth for 2016-17 is encouraging as global trade is down and many economies are still in red,” said Ajay Sahai, Director General & CEO, FIEO. “China’s February figure shows that exports have declined. The Indian exports

figures are not only of low base, but they are nowhere near our potential. “We had already touched $300 billion in exports in the past and from here on we should look at more promising exports. We expect the current year exports shipment to be between $300 billion and $310 billion.” Though last year’s export growth was minimal, Mr. Sahai said one must look at

the outcome in the context of global scenario. “If you look at it in isolation, I may not be happy. But, if you look how my competitors have performed and how the world economy has moved, I am happy. “But, we have to give a greater push to exports, because I am not looking at foreign exchange realisation alone, I am looking at exports and economic activity

which creates employment generation. Sectors such as handicrafts can be pushed only through exports,” he said. Asked whether it was possible to reach an exports target of $900 billion by 201920, Mr. Sahai said: “During the current year, we might touch $480 billion. To reach the target, we should have a compounded growth of 29%.”

Exim Bank to raise $3 billion Indian billionaires from global capital markets richer by $19.8 billion Includes $1 bn. from ‘144A market’, similar to one in July ’16

Mukesh adds $6 bn. to personal wealth Piyush Pandey

ARUN S New Delhi

The Indian governmentowned export credit agency, Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), is looking to raise about $3 billion from international capital markets in 2017-18. Of this $3 billion, Exim Bank plans to mop up $1 billion like it did in July 2016 – by introducing a 10-year bond issue in the ‘144A / Regulation S format’ (under the US Securities Act) to raise funds from Qualified Institutional Buyers, which are large institutional investors including wealth and asset management funds, insurance and pension funds as well as sovereign wealth funds. The bond issue of $1 billion in July 2016 was the

largest issuance ever for Exim Bank and the largest single tranche issuance out of India in 2016, it had said. In an interview, David Rasquinha, Interim Managing Director (Additional Charge) of Exim Bank, said: “…around $3 billion is what we will raise on the international capital markets (in 2017-18).” He said Exim Bank will “definitely” tap the ‘144A market’ again in 2017-18 to raise at least $1 billion, adding that “It is a Global Medium Term Note (GMTN) programme. We have made a GMTN programme of about $10.5 billion.” MTN is a debt note typically maturing in five to ten years. Further, Mr. Rasquinha said out of the $10.5 billion GMTN pro-

gramme, Exim Bank has so far drawn down around $66.5 billion. “We have a supportive Board and when needed, we can go to our Board and get approval for more,” Mr. Rasquinha said. He said huge funds such as pension funds as well as wealth and asset management funds, that have promised a certain minimum rate of return to their investors in countries including the U.S., are looking at emerging markets to give them a better weighted average rate of return. Mr. Rasquinha said of all the emerging markets, India – being the fastest growing economy, and with best performing stock market and currency – offers such funds the greatest opportunities.

MUMBAI

Indian billionaires, led by Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, are richer by $19.8 billion or ₹1.28 lakh crore in fiscal 2017, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Mukesh Ambani added the maximum, $6 billion to his personal wealth to retain the tag of India’s richest with a networth of $28.7 billion. Mr. Ambani unveiled Reliance Jio on September 5, 2016 with investments exceeding ₹2 lakh crore. The venture is likely to start generating revenues in this fiscal. Steel baron Laxmi Nivas Mittal with a personal wealth of $15.9 billion is second in the list. Mr. Mittal added $1.5 billion to his net-

Mukesh Ambani worth growing 10.4% over last year, as steel prices recovered in FY17. Pharmaceuticals leader Dilip Shanghvi is the third richest with personal wealth of $14.7 billion. He added $1.9 billion to his kitty in FY17 growing 14.8%. This is despite Sun Pharma shares trading lower at ₹687 as on March 31, 2017 compared with ₹854 about a year ago.

Reliance Industries investors’ wait on Jio returns to prolong They expected it to start making money from April 1 Piyush Pandey MUMBAI

Investors banking on Reliance's ₹2 lakh crore investment in its telecom venture to start yielding returns will now have to wait longer, after Jio announced it was extending its free services offer to its existing Prime and new subscribers until June 30, 2017, analysts said. The move is also likely to have an impact on the margins of its rivals. In March, Morgan Stanley increased RIL’s share price target to ₹1,506 on anticipation that RIL would start generating revenues from its telecommunications venture from April 1, 2017. “April will be the first month for RIL's monetising of its $55 billion capex on both energy and telecoms,” Morgan Stanley had said in its research note to its clients. “While telco monetisation starts on April 1, the first key energy project will start

The move is likely to have an impact on the margins of its competitors.

ramping up by end-April. These two should improve ROCE by 400 bps by FY20 after five years of decline.” The Telecom Commission, the highest decisionmaking body in the Department of Telecommunications, had in February written to TRAI asking it to review existing tariff rules to ensure financial growth of the sector. The commission had reasoned that promotional offers by a new player were

leading to a fall in revenues of other telcos, and hence resulting in a fall in government’s earnings. Prashant Singhal, global telecom leader at Ernst & Young, said that Jio’s decision to extend the free services until June will affect the sector as a whole. “The revenues of the telcos will continue to be under pressure as Jio [is] extending its free offer,” Mr. Singhal told The Hindu. The move may lead Reliance Industries to forgo up to ₹6,000 crore, analysts said. Jaideep Ghosh, partner - telecom at KPMG said: “Extension of Jio free services will create more stress for the industry. I think they are going by their internal calculations of 100-million-mark. Forgoing ₹6,000 crore may be big for others but not for RIL as they have a larger game plan. They may recoup the amount after they start charging.” A ND-ND

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14 BUSINESS REVIEW

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

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Is the green edging out the black?

Bringing light into lives

As clean energy becomes cheap and its supply smooth, coal-based power plants may face dim future

Thrive energy’s solar lamps help avoid injury, health issues

taken a vow” not to invest in coal power, one could not assume that new coal plants would be allowed to operate as long as Tata Power’s Trombay plant, which has been generating electricity for 56 years.

M. Ramesh CHENNAI

A few noteworthy events have happened in the energy sector since the beginning of this year. First, some time in January, renewable energy capacity in India crossed the 50-GW mark, doubling in just five years. And, solar power capacity, which was hardly anything five years back, reached 10 GW. Going by capacities awarded and live tenders, this number could well double in two years. And then, in February, in two separate capacity auctions, solar and wind tariffs fell to historic lows — ₹3.30 and ₹3.46 a kWhr, respectively. Although no one can say for sure that the tariffs that the future bids would throw up would be as low, it is not in doubt that prices of wind and solar energy have begun gravitating towards the levels discovered in February auctions. The message is clear: the era of high prices of renewable energy is over. Two factors have hindered the growth of renewable energy. The first has been the high cost of power generated by wind and solar. This issue now appears to be tamed. The February auctions have shown that if you assure those who put up wind and solar power plants what they produce will be duly purchased and they will get their due payments without much delay, the prices will drop. Allow them the freedom to put up their plants anywhere in the country and sell their energy to any customer, called “interstate open access”, prices will drop further. Since the country is moving in that direction, it is pretty much clear that wind and solar can compete with conventional power — mainly coal — on prices. The second factor that has gone against renewable energy is that of ‘intermittency’. Wind turbines and solar panels can generate power only when wind blows or the sun shines — unlike a coal or gas fired power station, which will produce a steady stream of electricity for weeks on end. But with the rapid strides that storage technology is making,

Green shoots: Intermittency of renewable energy and power storage issues have posed problems, but are now being addressed. GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK *

coupled with the grid operator’s growing ability to manage the intermittency with the use of software, the problem of fickleness of renewable energy is also coming under control. Like a tank that can catch water whenever possible and release it steadily down a pipe, a storage system can help bring in smoothness of power supply. The problem again has been the high cost of storage. ‘Storage’ comes in many forms, ranging from water pumped into reservoirs at a height for later release, to a plethora of battery technologies such as lithium-ion and flow batteries, but globally the costs of storage have been coming down. It wouldn’t be long before large storage systems help Indian grid operators handle the on-off nature of wind and solar power. Further, software-aided smart grid management is coming into play. Very soon, the first contract for the establishment of a ‘renewable energy management centre’, will be awarded. The REMC is essentially

< > Environmental activists have initiated a war against coal a SCADA system designed specifically for wind and solar power, and will match the predicted supply of power with the demand elsewhere. The first REMC will come in Chennai, but soon a dozen of them will be set up across the country. Storage and smart grids together mean that the problem of intermittency of renewable energy is also won over.

Quo vadis, coal? The big question emerging on the horizon, therefore, is this: if clean energy is both cheap and its supply smooth, what will happen to coal? In the first 11 months of the current financial year, Indian power projects consumed 439.41 million tonnes of coal (including 60.66 million tonnes of imported coal.) The country has 124,785 MW of power plants designed to run on Indian

Where Indian skill steers global wheel for cab major Bengaluru staf contribute to eforts in self-driving, mapping

coals and another 18,580 MW on imported. As such, coal is today India’s energy mainstay. However, the fuel is on its way out. In (say) fifteen years, coal power plants will at best be the ‘Twelfth Man’, chipping in to bridge a shortfall whenever called for. The mainstay is very likely to comprise wind, solar and hydro power plants. “With the emergence of renewables as an alternative source of electricity, further investments in coal-based power plants are uncertain,” said Salil Garg, a power sector expert at India Ratings and Research. Tightening of emission norms is making coal plants costlier, he said, noting that recent investments have not been remunerative for the investors. It is not a coincidence that Tata Power Ltd., the country’s largest private sector power company, has not added one MW of coal-based capacity in the last six years. Tata Power’s CEO and Managing Director, Anil Sardana, said, very guardedly, that while the company has “not

Campaigns against coal Globally, environmentalists have launched a war against coal. Several funds and financial institutions (notably the investment fund of the Norwegian government) have decided not to put their money in coal-related projects, and to gradually pull out the investments already made. The Guardian newspaper is running a ‘keep-itin-the-ground’ campaign, calling for a stop to production of coal. In Germany, green groups are onto a similar campaign, ‘Ende Gelande’ (“thus far and no further”). These movements have been strengthened by renewable energy becoming cheap and handleable. The effect of these is becoming evident. According to a recent report of the International Energy Agency, renewable energy catered to more than half of the incremental demand for electricity in 2016. “Demand for coal fell worldwide, but the drop was particularly sharp in the U.S., where the demand was down by 11%,” the report said. Further, demand for coal fell in China in 2016, even as its economy expanded 6.7%, it said. Appetite for coal declined in Europe too, by 10% cent, though it was more natural gas than renewable energy that took coal’s space. What does all this mean for India? The shift from coal to renewables is tectonic, disruptive. It has major implications on the long-term prospects of companies such as Coal India, BHEL and NTPC. Companies, like the Adanis’, which are planning to make long-term investments in coal mines and coal-fired power plants will be forced to re-think their plans. True, coal will be still needed in the short run for energy security, but its need will diminish. The astonishing fall in the prices of renewable energy in February may have just rung-in the beginning of the end for coal.

Bjerringbro, Denmark

A decade ago, when Travis Kalanick, co-founder of worldwide ride-hailing colossus Uber, was working at another venture he and his team flew to Thiruvananthapuram, took a bus to a beach and did coding from there. The idea behind the trip was that entrepreneurs need to seek adventure because they can work from anywhere. A lot has changed since then. Last year, when Mr. Kalanick visited the country for the Startup India event, he declared that research & development and innovation now abound in three areas in the world — the Bay Area, Beijing and Bengaluru. Uber has quietly built a team of engineers at its research and development centre in Bengaluru. They are playing a key role to help the world’s most valuable start-up, worth around $70 billion, for its self-driving technologies, mapping and vehicle safety efforts. “A lot of these self-driving cars depend on mapping data and what we feed into the car. A lot of that mapping work happens in India,” said Apurva Dalal, head of India engineering at Uber, in an interview. Uber ventured into the self-driving programme two years ago when it established the Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) Center in Pittsburgh in the U.S. During that period, it also hired many researchers from the robotics department of Carnegie Mellon University for its project to replace human drivers with computers. CM YK

Danish major Grundfos manufactures about 60 million pumps every year and has more than 80 different companies in almost 60 countries. Apart from spreading wings by adding facilities to understand the needs of the customers better, the group is keen on embracing digitalisation. “We want to add layers of benefit to the world of customers around the pumps,” according to Grundfos Holding A/S CEO and group president Mads Nipper. In an interaction recently with journalists from India at the Grundfos headquarters in Bjerringbro, Denmark, he shared perspectives on a range of issues. Excerpts:

Create in India The challenges in India have also made Uber’s engineering team here come up with solutions unique to the country and then replicate them in other parts of the world. Uber engineer Madhumita Chakraborty, 27, said that she was on a mission to make rider payments as frictionless as possible. She said that given the demand for cash as a payment option in the country, her team launched the cash payment options for riders in India, a first such initiative in the world of Uber. “What we do here applies to emerging markets including SouthEast Asia, as well,” said Ms. Chakraborty, an alumnus of Jadavpur University. As a tech lead for the driver growth team, another Uber engineer Naomi Chopra, 27, said that his focus had been to use technology to make the driver onboarding process seamless

and rewarding. Mr. Chopra has been instrumental in driving UberDOST, a driver referral programme that was conceptualised and rolled out in India first. It is now being used extensively in more than 20 countries across Asia, Europe and Latin America to on-board thousands of partners every day. As part of a global initiative, this year, Uber unveiled a series of new safety features in the driver’s app to predict, prevent and reduce the number of crashes on the road in India. The app is powered by telematics, a technology that collects and analyses driver behaviour. It monitors patterns, for example when drivers brake harshly or are driving too fast, by tracking the sensors in their smartphones. Mr. Dalal of Uber said that his engineering team was not only aiming at improving the experience of riders and drivers but was also looking at the vehicles as “entities.” “Even if the driver’s phone is turned off, I should still be able to detect the heartbeats of the vehicle,” he said.

level solar kiosks, exemplifying energy entrepreneurship and enabling employment too. In their decade and a half existence, Thrive products dispelled darkness in 15 countries, especially those hit by disaster or where their need was acute, such as Nepal, Afghanistan, Kenya, Tanzania and Haiti. Or last year on Republic Day, they brought light to children of Rohingya refugees at a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)-backed school in Balanagar, Hyderabad. Two factors gave an impetus to the drive. The first was a Lumina field study of 500 homes in the Philippines. It observed near-complete elimination of health and injury issues following replacement of kerosene lanterns with grid-independent LED lamps. Another found a strong reduction in vision problems and visual fatigue among 472 workers in Thailand performing visually-demanding tasks. The second was the 2011 census in India which said more than 1 lakh of the country’s 6.35 lakh villages were not electrified. Even those connected suffered from frequent power outages and load shedding.

Banishing darkness Hence, millions of school children living in semi urban and rural areas have no access to clean and safe lighting for study after dark. More than 130 million (13 crore) such children depend on kerosene or oil-based lamps for studying at night.

The position is similar to several developing countries of Asia, Africa and South America where dependency on kerosene-lit lamps is very high. These lamps are accident prone, give very low light, emit smoke, soot and toxic fumes affecting eyesight and health of students adversely. Dr. Ranga’s endeavours for environment, vocational and livelihood improvement found an ardent advocate in Almitra H. Patel, Member, Supreme Court Committee for Solid Waste Management. In letters to Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and and the then HRD Minister Smriti Irani, Ms. Patel — who was the first Indian lady to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — urged replacement of kerosene lamps with off-grid solar lights. “Of India’s 16.8 crore rural households, 7.25 crore, a staggering 43%, use kerosene,” she said. According to her, “At a maximum cost of ₹4,400 crore, two to four solar lamps can be given to each home. This can save the nation the kerosene subsidy burden of ₹37,000 crore each year. “Considering the 10-year life span of the solar lamp and panel, that could convert to a massive ₹ 370,000 crore savings over a decade. Besides eliminating the kerosene mafia and pollution arising from adulteration of autorickshaw fuel, it would ensure clean lighting, less medical expenses and fewer hutment fires,” Ms. Patel reasoned.

Among other things, Grundfos’ president dwells on how IoT can help prevent pump breakdowns N. Ravi Kumar

Last March, the San Francisco, California-based company established its first engineering centre in Asia in Bengaluru.

Low-cost alternative After quitting a World Bank job in 2001, Dr. Ranga started Thrive, an acronym for Volunteer for Rural Health, Education and Information Technology, at Chintapally in Telangana’s Nalgonda district. In off-grid charging of small batteries for lighting and ICETs (information, communication, entertainment technologies), he saw a low-cost, simple solution to opening the 21st century to the poor and marginalised. Backed by warranties and service guarantees, his products — fitted with light emitting diodes (LEDs) from Nichia, Japan and control circuits from the United States — are found not in hypermarkets or malls. His supply chain is kept as short as possible, avoiding middlemen. The model’s people-centric approach is manifested in the village-

Midnight oil: Millions of schoolchildren in semi urban and rural areas have no access to safe lighting for study after dark.

‘We’ll never be done with globalisation’

Peerzada Abrar

*

HYDERABAD

“What is the typical condition of the poor in most of the so-called developing countries ? Their work opportunities are so restricted that they cannot work their way out of misery. ...It is necessary, therefore, that at least an important part of the development effort should bypass big cities and be directly concerned with the creation of an agro-industrial structure in the rural and small-town areas”: E.F. Shumacher The British economist and author of the seminal ‘Small is beautiful,’ advocated use of intermediate technology, not too advanced as in the west nor obsolete, which would ‘fit much more smoothly into the relatively unsophisticated environment where it is utilised. The equipment would be fairly simple and therefore understandable, suitable for maintenance and repair on the spot.’ On all three counts, Mr. Shumacher found a worthy disciple in Ranganayakulu Bodavala. A Takemi fellow from the Harvard School of Public Health, his solarpowered products are priced as low as ₹150 for ‘bottom of the pyramid customers,’ as his website ‘thriveenergy.co.in’ states.

INTERVIEW | MADS NIPPER

BENGALURU

More the merrier: UberDOST, a driver referral programme, was conceptualised and rolled out in India irst. AFP

A. JOSEPH ANTONY

In India, Grundfos is setting up a new facility at Ahmedabad. Can you give us a perspective on the expansion roadmap ? ■ For many, many years we have been in Chennai and now opening [a plant] in Ahmedabad. We will open that, take our experience and [formulate] specific plans. Right now we don’t have a master plan saying what’s the next. In two years, we will have more openings and in more places.

How do you see the Indian market?

India is one of our fastestgrowing markets. It is a market with a phenomenal potential for our solutions. It is also a country that has a long and proud tradition for pump making. We have wonderful opportunities. ■

Will you also consider inorganic growth?

No doubt, compared with the past two years, we are now opening up to acquiring companies. But, they have to fit. We are looking at it but want to ensure that not only the products, but also the way that business is done

■

ethically, [fits in]. When we look at acquisition targets, in most cases there is simply too much we have to do to change. Therefore growing organically is in most cases the smartest thing. At a global level, what strategy is Grundfos pursuing? ■ Besides opening new facilities in Ahmedabad, we are expanding in China. Our globalisation will never be done, we think that the more local presence we have, the better it is. It is important for us to be present where our market is as, only then will we understand what the market is about. Only then we will be able to serve our customers as fast and well as we possibly can.

What are your other priorities? ■ Globalisation is not the only thing. A really big topic on our agenda, like it should be for every company, is digitalisation. Even though we will continue to make the world’s highest-quality, highest-efficiency pumps, we are convinced that the future is not going to be only about pumps. By leveraging

effectiveness of the government set up. I am also sure over time [bureaucratic obstacles] have a good chance to go down. But until that happens the best thing is to have our people on the ground creating relations with government officials. There is also need to create and show senior management interest in India. What do you think will be the impact of Brexit?

more local < > The presence you have, the better it is digitalisation, by connecting our pumps, we can analyse and make sense of the data flow and thus can create even greater value. If every single pump was connected through the Internet or to a cloud solution that will ensure they are always optimised exactly for what they should do... If pumps in a water utility are connected, our engineers, by studying the way pumps vibrate, can tell within a month that something will break down and we can fix it before that happens. This could ensure that a city will not go without water or an industry’s production will not suddenly stop. How important is digitalisation for a product like the pump?

Digitalisation will radically impact our business in future. But I am sure that you [can] never replace pumps. I have asked scientists and start-ups on whether there is an alternative way to trans-

■

port water compared to pumps. None of them has an idea what that should be. Many companies are being disrupted by their core technology not being relevant any more. We don’t think there is a way of digitalising transportation of water. The impact we can have, however, can become even greater by embracing digitalisation and thus add layers of benefit to customers. It will be a big threat if we don’t react to the trend. On smart city projects?

I am convinced that the idea of leveraging technology and digitisation to make cities sustainable, liveable is a huge plus. Water supply and waste water transportation remain at the core of any city’s development. It is a fantastic opportunity to partner with cities that have ambitions to become smart.

■

Is the business environment in India conducive to scaling up operations? ■ I have no doubt that there is impatience to increase the

In isolation, we do not see Brexit as the single biggest risk for us. But if Brexit leads to other countries following suit and leaving the EU then it could mean that Europe would eventually dissolve and that could mean disaster. Not just for Grundfos, but for anybody trying to do business in Europe, because that will increase protectionism, trade barriers, bureaucracy, different standards of legislation. Short to mid-term... Brexit specifically will lead to a lower British Pound, which in turn will reduce our profitability because we cannot take one to one price increases. Since we don’t have any important British competitors, we are sure that our business in U.K. will stay intact. The British government is already making quite a lot of infrastructure investments these days. As a paradox, there might be an upside to our business. What is of concern is that the togetherness of European countries is beginning to fall apart. (The writer was in Denmark at the invitation of Grundfos)

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A ND-ND

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THE HINDU

SPORT 15

NOIDA/DELHI

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

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IN BRIEF

KKR eyes another solid show Will Stokes deliver the goods for Pune?

With Umesh to miss only a couple of games, the team is least afected by injuries Y.B. Sarangi

Captain Smith will seek to give the side a new direction

KOLKATA

One-match suspension for Mortaza DUBAI

Bangladesh one-day captain Mashrafe Mortaza was suspended for one match and fined 40% of his match fee for maintaining slow overrate during the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Saturday. Mortaza’s teammates were fined 20% of their match fees, ICC said in a release. Bangladesh was ruled to be two overs short of its target after time allowances were taken into consideration. PTI

No reserve day for IPL play-offs NEW DELHI

The three play-offs of the upcoming IPL will not have any reserve days, the BCCI announced on Sunday. The first Qualifier is scheduled for May 16 in Mumbai while the second will be played on May 19 in Bengaluru. Bengaluru will also host the Eliminator on May 17. The final, to be played on May 21 in Hyderabad, has May 22 as reserve day. PTI

‘Afghans will be ready for Tests in 2-3 years’

Kolkata Knight Riders must consider itself fortunate to be mostly free from injury concerns. The 10th edition of the Indian Premier League has witnessed several Indian players, who have had a lengthy home Test season, being ruled out for the whole event. KKR, however, does not have any serious scare. The uncertainty over Umesh Yadav is over. The fact that the in-form pacer, who is recovering from right hip and lower back soreness, will miss only the first two matches should provide some relief to the team. The possibility of Kiwi left-arm speedster Trent Boult, who is nursing a groin injury, joining the squad must boost KKR’s morale. Nonetheless, KKR will miss the services of Jamaican all-rounder Andre Russell — who has been banned for a year owing to a doping violation.

Right step KKR seems to have taken the right step by going for speedsters who can contribute with the bat. The inclusion of Englishman Chris Woakes, Boult and Rishi Dhawan has provided more options to captain Gautam Gambhir. Lesser-known Jamaican big-hitting mediumpacer Rovman Powell may fill the void created by Russell’s absence. Australian fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile and Indian seamers Ankit Rajpoot and Sayan Ghosh give flexib-

Nandakumar Marar MUMBAI

Elevating Steve Smith to captaincy is one step Rising Pune Supergiant, which finished seventh last season, has taken to give a new direction to its campaign in this IPL season. Since replacing Michael Clarke as Australia’s captain in 2014, Smith’s form with the bat has only grown with the responsibility. With M.S. Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane and Faf du Plessis retained, there will be plenty of leadership experience on the pitch, and Smith’s handling of the side, giving each of these stalwarts the space to express themselves while at the same time ensuring that the pack goes with the flow, will be interesting to see. The addition of Aussies Usman Khwaja and Daniel Christian, and England’s Ben Stokes will bolster the batting, their explosiveness complementing Rahane and Smith, either of whom can both anchor. However, there appear to be gaps in the bowling, especially with off-spinner R. Ashwin ruled out. However, no player ought to be indispensable in the T20 format, and Smith will now turn to his other slowbowlers Imran Tahir and Adam Zampa to get the job done. The onus will be on Supergiant’s fast bowlers and medium-pacers to create pressure on the opposition batsmen by sending down

Dynamic duo: The right-left combination of Yusuf Pathan and Darren Bravo will be keen to produce exciting cricket during IPL-10. PTI *

ility to the KKR attack. The team has several choices in the spin department too. Bangladeshi leftarmer Shakib Al Hasan, Caribbean off-break bowler Sunil Narine, leggie Piyush Chawla, chinaman bowler

Kuldeep Yadav who had a successful Test debut in Dharamshala, and surprise package R. Sanjay Yadav (a left-arm spinner and allrounder) offer variety. While Shakib is a proper middle-order batsman, Piy-

X-FACTOR: ROVMAN’S ALL-ROUND SKILLS Rovman Powell is called the ‘Junior Russell’. In his twoyear-old career, the 23-yearold has made an impact with his big-hitting skills and useful medium-pace bowling. His success in domestic cir-

cuit enabled Rovman to play for Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League. Donning the KKR colours, Powell will try to emulate his more-famous compatriot Russell.

ush and Kuldeep can contribute with the bat down the order. Explosive batsman Yusuf Pathan, who has a track record of providing breakthroughs with his part-time off-spin, has been an asset for KKR.

Batting beefed up The Jacques Kallis-coached side has strengthened its batting by hiring stylish Trinidad left-hander Darren Bravo and attacking Jharkhand batsman Ishank Jaggi. The latter has scored centuries in every form of the game.

Ecstatic about two Afghan cricketers bagging IPL contracts, the country’s chief coach Lalchand Rajput believes the graduallyimproving team from the war-torn nation will be ready to play Tests in another two-three years. Spinner Rashid Khan and all-rounder Mohammad Nabi were picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for this season’s IPL. “Playing Test cricket has to be the goal. I feel there is still another two or three years before the team is fully ready for the five-day format,” Rajput said. PTI

a series of match-winning performances here to try and exorcise the memories of T20 World Cup final at the Eden Gardens. Supergiant paid crore for Stokes.

₹14.5

The side’s opening game — away against Mumbai Indians — will give early indications to Fleming and Co. about whether the gamble on the England all-rounder was a wise move.

KEY MEN: Pune Supergiant will count on Ben Stokes’ explosiveness with bat and ball, and Ajinkya Rahane’s ability to anchor the innings. SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR *

‘Not unduly worried about Warner’s form’ SRH coach Moody says the nature of the IPL is such that each season is a disparate event Singh bring in a wealth of experience to the team. “Last season, we did not expect Nehra to play all the games. We don’t expect him to play every game in this edition either,” Moody said.

V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM HYDERABAD

The MI captain, recovering from injury, sounds conident G. Viswanath

‘I get along well with the Aussies’ Special Correspondent Mumbai

Rohit Sharma has no issues with Australian cricketers. “We are pretty good friends, we all get along well,” said the Mumbai Indians captain at a press meet here on Sunday. Talking about the actionpacked recent four Test series against Australia, he said: “Good rivalry has al-

season on a high. As captain of the team I was happy to see all players in good shape in the practice match.”

Major injury It was on October 29 that the 29-year old Mumbai righthander suffered a major muscle-related injury that ruled him out of the series against England, Bangladesh and Australia. “To be honest, I was scared. It’s something that had never happened to me. I heard a loud noise while tak-

Heaping praise: Mahela Jayawardene, the new head coach of MI, says skipper Rohit Sharma is a naturally-gifted player. PTI *

CM YK

dot balls, setting things up for Tahir and Zampa. In the seam department, coach Stephen Fleming will have a mix of domestic and international bowlers to choose from. Jaydev Unadkat and Ishwar Pandey are effective swing bowlers, while Christian will be the pace weapon. Stokes can come in as a death-overs specialist, and the all-rounder will hope for

gers and Royal Challengers Bangalore. RPS will expect him to fire lower down the order, replicating his form for Middlesex Panthers in the English T20 championships three seasons ago which saw him hit a 129 with 10 sixes against Kent Spitfires.

Armed with a well-balanced side, KKR should come up with a good show of its strength in its quest for a third title.

Played 40 overs without issues, says Rohit Rohit Sharma, who got down to action in Mumbai Indians’ first T20 practice match at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, was an active participant for full 40 overs. He says it has given him the confidence that he would probably be able to play matches in an uninterrupted manner in the VIVO IPL-10 set to start in Hyderabad on Wednesday. The two-time winner, MI, would begin its campaign against Rising Pune Supergiant in Pune on April 6. Explaining his fitness status at the Rooftop venue of the team hotel, Rohit said: “It was a practice game and I played the full 40 overs without any issues. I am looking forward to get back onto the field. It’s been more than five months (since he damaged his thigh in the last ODI against New Zealand at Visakhapatnam). I have missed a lot of games, but then it’s part of any sportsman’s career. “Injuries happen. I am not looking at the past. I am very excited to start the IPL

The Australian could be a match-winning allrounder. Christian lends a dash of dynamism in this format, with his brutal batting and fast bowling. He is aware of the adjustments required in local conditions, thanks to stints at Deccan Char-

The quartet of Gambhir, Manish Pandey, Robin Uthappa and Suryakumar Yadav has served KKR with its reliable batting in the previous seasons and will be keen continue its good work. With his high strike-rate, Australian T20 specialist Chris Lynn is another impact-batsman with immense potential. Multi-dimensional wicketkeeper-batsman Sheldon Jackson can provide adequate cover when needed.

NEW DELHI

Mumbai

X-FACTOR: DAN CHRISTIAN

ways been a feature of an India-Australia series. We have seen that for many years and I was not surprised… it was played with intensity. “Some of the things were blown out of proportion. It was the best series in the home international season because, after going down at Pune, India bounced back to win 2-1.”

ing a run. “I was really scared until I got an MRI done. We spoke to a lot of doctors in the world, and Patrick Farhart (Indian team physio). “They gave me confidence telling me that it’s not a major problem. “Yes, being a sportsman, you have to be strong. I went through it quite comfortably,” said Rohit who underwent surgery and spent many days in rehabilitation process at the NCA, Bangalore, and played two Vijay Hazare limited-over matches for Mumbai against Andhra and Goa. Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene who has replaced Australian Ricky Ponting as the head coach of the MI team said: “Rohit is an instinctive player, naturally gifted, likes to go with the flow and creates opportunities. “He is a couple of overs ahead and hence he perfectly meets the demands of T20 cricket.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody says that he does not see the tag of defending champion as a cause for additional pressure on his team. Interacting with the media here on Sunday with his players Ben Laughlin and Chris Jordan, Moody said every edition is completely different from the previous ones. “I look at the coming edition as another book, not just a chapter,” he said. David Warner’s indifferent form during the recent Test series is not a matter of concern, Moody said. “It is all about getting rhythm. He is one of those players who is

Relaxed: Tom Moody, who met the media with Ben Laughlin and Chris Jordan, said the defending champions were not especially feeling the pressure. V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM

“Yuvraj got back into the Indian set-up, which is great for us. We all know how destructive he can be and is a delight to watch, coming up with those impact innings like he did last season.”

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one boundary away from scoring against any attack,” he said. Moody expressed hope that openers Warner and Shikhar Dhawan would come good again. “We are aware of Dhawan’s lean

patch, which happens even to the best of players. But, he struck form with a century and a half-century recently (Deodhar Trophy in Vizag),” he pointed out. Moody spoke of how Ashish Nehra and Yuvraj

Turning his attention to fast-bowler Md. Siraj and lefthanded opener Tanmay Agarwal, Moody said: “Both are very good talents. But, they are unlikely to figure in the first game. But as the event goes on, they will get chances to play.”

Moody said the Afghan players, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, lend variety to the squad. “Rashid has troubled the best in the business with his bowling, and is a very good spinning all-rounder option for us,” he said. Moody said there was no official word from Mustafizur Rahman, but added that the Bangladeshi quick is expected to join the side by April 7. On this season’s opening game against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 5 at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here, Moody said: “With the first match being against the team we beat in last year’s final, we hope for strong crowd support.”

Federer comes up trumps at Miami Konta wins women’s title Agence France-Presse MIAMI

Roger Federer defeated longtime rival Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4 to win the Miami Open on Sunday. This year, the 35-year-old has won the Australian Open and the Indian Wells Masters, beating Nadal in all of those events. He has now won his last four meetings between the pair. The first set was a tight affair with both players having their opportunities to break but it was not until the eighth game and 10th break point of the set that one of them was able to get ahead. Nadal could only find the net from a Federer backhand and the Swiss grabbed a 5-3 lead and he comfortably held the next game to secure

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC 앫 Federer’s third title at Miami — his irst in 11 years. 앫 Sunday’s triumph is his 91st career title and 26th Masters 1000 crown. 앫 While Nadal leads the head-to-head count 23-14, Federer is now 10-9 up on hard-courts CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC the first set. The second set took an almost identical path, albeit with fewer openings to break for both players until Federer again pounced, to grab a 5-4 lead when Nadal went long returning a fine backhand. Johanna Konta defeated Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3 to win the women’s title.

Master, again! Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal for the fourth successive time while winning the Miami Open. AP *

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THE HINDU

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Bhambri out of Davis Cup tie

IN BRIEF

MUMBAI: Mathaiyus (ridden by P. Trevor) claimed the Hyderabad Race Club Trophy, the main event of Sunday’s (April 2) evening races here. The winner is owned by Mr. & Mrs. Mehernosh H. Deboo. P. Shroff trains the winner. R R KOMANDUR PLATE (2,000m), Cl. III, rated 40 to 66: STAR OF HARMONY (Trevor) 1, Flying Dragon (C.S. Jodha) 2, Glorious Opinion (S. Amit) 3. Not run: Jager Bomb. 4-1/4, 3-1/2. 2m, 3.49s. ₹12 (w), SHP: 17, FP: 12. Favourite: Star Of Harmony. Owners: Mrs. B.E. Saldanha & Ms Ameeta Mehra rep. Mehra Stud and Agriculture Farms Pvt. Ltd. Trainer: M. Narredu. HYDERABAD RACE CLUB TROPHY (2,000m), Cl. I, rated 80 and upward: MATHAIYUS (Trevor) 1, Mekong Delta (Sandesh) 2, Al Shamsheer (Kuldeep) 3 and Mountbatten ( Joseph) 4. 2-1/2, 181/4, 3/4. 2m, 2.99s. ₹11 (w), 10 and 10 (p), SHP: 14, FP: 13, Q: 10, Tanala: 20 and 10. Favourite: Mathaiyus. Owners: Mr. & Mrs. Mehernosh H. Deboo. Trainer: P. Shroff. BAHRAIN TROPHY (1,000m), 3-y-o only: ORACLE (C.S. Jodha) 1, Wise Child (Sandesh) 2,

Skipper Mahesh Bhupathi rules out pairing Paes and Bopanna N. Sudarshan BENGALURU

Mahesh Bhupathi’s tenure as India’s Davis Cup captain was off to the worst possible start, as singles mainstay Yuki Bhambri pulled out of the Asia Oceania Group-I match against Uzbekistan because of an inflamed knee. Soon after taking over as captain, Bhupathi had identified fitness as his main area of concern, and had asked all his players to undergo mandatory tests. Hardly would Bhupathi have expected his most important player to succumb first. After an injury-ravaged 2016 during which he had missed both of India’s matches, against South Korea and Spain, and plummeted to over 500 in the ATP rankings, Bhambri had been in form of late, raking up some impressive results in the Challengers in China. “Yuki was the backbone of our team, and has been playing really well this year,” said Bhupathi. “We were counting on him being here. Unfortunately, now we have to re-strategise the composition a bit.” Bhupathi might not have too many options with this. Vishnu Vardhan, who was drafted in at the last minute for the New Zealand match in February and was invited to train with the team here, is out injured too. So is youngster Sumit Nagal. That leaves Bhupathi with just five fit players: Ramkumar Ramanathan, N. Sriram Balaji, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna.

Butler propels Bulls over Hawks CHICAGO

Jimmy Butler scored 33 points to maintain Chicago Bull’s push for the playoffs on Saturday as Los Angeles Clippers overcame a late wobble to subdue the Lakers in the NBA. Butler scored the final nine points for the Bulls in its 106-104 win over the Hawks. The results: Trailblazers 130 bt Suns 117; Kings 123 bt Timberwolves 117; Nets 121 bt Magic 111; Bulls 106 bt Hawks 104; Clippers 115 bt Lakers 104. AGENCIES

Pearson wins eighth hurdles crown SYDNEY

Australia’s Sally Pearson on Sunday made a triumphant return from injury to claim her eighth National 100m hurdles crown and qualify for this year’s London world championships. The 2012 Olympic gold medallist posted her fastest time in nearly four years (12.53s). AFP

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Limited options: Mahesh Bhupathi will have to draw up his playing four from among Rohan Bopanna, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Sriram Balaji, Ramkumar Ramanathan, and Leander Paes who is expected to arrive later. K. BHAGYA PRAKASH *

With Balaji and Prajnesh having never played a live Davis Cup rubber before, Bhupathi said that he would not risk having only two singles players in the final four. This effectively means that there will be place only for either Paes or Bopanna. Both doubles specialists have been struggling for form, but Paes, on Saturday, won his first title of the year, at a Challenger in Mexico. “No, I can’t risk that,” Bhupathi said, when asked if Paes and Bopanna would team up. “Prajnesh and Bala (Balaji) have never played a five-set live Davis Cup match before. If one of them gets sore or injured on day one, none of my doubles guys can

Aditi makes the cut Lexi Thomson leads by two-strokes

win me a singles match on day three. I am pretty sure I don’t want to risk that.” On Sunday evening, the Indian side, comprising Ramkumar, Balaji, Prajnesh and Bopanna, had its first practice session under Bhupathi. “This is a different feeling

from being up there and preparing to play,” the 42-yearold Bhupathi remarked. “I feel like a granddad here, telling each one what to do, what to work on, what the practice sessions are about, recovery sessions... But I’m sure I’ll get used to it.”

Paes & Shamasdin win title Sports Bureau

tournament on Saturday.

Leon

Other results: $25,000 ITF women, Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy: Lina Gjorcheska (Mkd) & Bernarda Pera (USA) bt Eva Wacanno (Ned) & Prarthana Thombare 6-2, 6-3.

Leander Paes and Adil Shamasdin defeated Luca Margaroli and Calo Zamperi 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the $75,000 Challenger tennis

AIFF to start four-nation event in Aug.

Pokerface (Neeraj) 3 and Miss Moneypenny ( J. Chinoy) 4. Lnk, 2-1/2, Hd. 59.25s. ₹18 (w), 10, 14 and 18 (p). SHP: 41, FP: 42, Q: 29, Tanala: 192 and 67. Favourite: Oracle. Owners: Ms. Nazak Chenoy & Mr. & Mrs. Shapoor P. Mistry rep. Manjri Horse Breeders’ Farm Pvt Ltd. Trainer: Ms. Nazak Chenoy.

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SATINELLO TROPHY (1,200m), Maiden 3-y-o only: LADY SERGEANT (C.S. Jodha) 1, Ice Dancer (Trevor) 2, Fair Warning (Neeraj) 3 and Manzanita (Dashrath) 4. 1/2, 2-1/4, 2-1/2. 1m, 12.12s. ₹26 (w), 14, 14 and 20 (p). SHP: 38, FP: 72, Q: 24, Tanala: 278 and 160. Favourite: Lady Sergeant. Owners: Mr. Champaklal Zaveri, Mrs. Bindu C. Zaveri & Miss Niti N. Desai rep. Zaveri Stud Farm Pvt Ltd. Trainer: S.S. Shah.

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K.M. MUNSHI TROPHY (1,000m), Cl. II, rated 60 to 86: UNDISPUTED (Trevor) 1, Nascar (Raghuveer) 2, Incentio (Dashrath) 3 and Minstrel Heights (Sandesh) 4. 1-1/4, 1/2, 2-1/4. 58.64s. ₹29 (w), 14, 15 and 36 (p). SHP: 43, FP: 74, Q: 31, Tanala: 402 and 294. Favourite: Nascar. Owner: Mr. Rajesh Monga. Trainer: S.K. Sunderji.

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SWITCH MEDIA TROPHY (1,400m), Cl. IV, rated 20 to MASTER OF TRINITY (Neeraj) 46: 1, Dancing Prince (Trevor) 2, Rain Dance (S. Amit) 3 and Grande Vitesse ( J. Chinoy) 4. Not run: Sudarshan Chakra. 2-1/2, 3, Lnk. 1m, 24.81s. ₹19 (w), 13, 30 and 27 (p). SHP: 110, FP: 85, Q: 56, Tanala: 868 and 372. Favourite: Master Of Trinity. Owners: M/s. S.M. Ruia, Amay S. Ruia, Hoshang J. Nazir, Berjis Minoo Desai & Rakesh R. Jhunjhunwala. Trainer: Altamash A. Ahmed.

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ROYAL DEEDS PLATE (1,000m), Cl. V, rated 1 to 26: AINRA (Sandesh) 1, Winds Of Change (V. Jodha) 2, Silver River (Nazil) 3 and Amazon Cat (S. Kamble) 4. 1/2, 2, 1/2. 1m, 00.52s. ₹21 (w), 12, 17 and 67 (p). SHP: 46, FP: 56, Q: 29, Tanala: 1,001 and 726. Favourite: Ainra. Owners: Mr. Kumar A. Raste, Mrs. Kadambari K. Raste & Mr. Madhavraje Kumar Raste. Trainer: M.K. Jadhav. Jackpot: 70%: ₹1, 040 (598 tkts) and 30%: ₹144 (1,846 tkts). Treble: ₹176 (126 tkts). Super Jackpot: 70%: ₹440 (186 tkts) and 30%: ₹57 (614 tkts).

India wins HWL opener Prevails over Uruguay in the shoot-out Press Trust of India West Vancouver

India defeated Uruguay 4-2 in the penalty shoot-out to begin its campaign in the Women’s Hockey World League Round 2 on a winning note. Skipper Rani, Monika, Deepika and Navjot Kaur held their nerve to score in the tense penalty shoot-out that saw India through after the two sides were locked 2-2 at the end of the regulation time. The result: India 2 (Rani 6, Vandana 49) drew with Uruguay 2 (Maria Teresa Viana Ache 45, Manuela Vilar 54stroke). India won 4-2 on penalties.

Contributor: Deepika was one of the three Indians to convert in the penalty shoot-out against Uruguay on Saturday. PTI *

Lewis assault keeps series alive West Indies wins third T20I with plenty to spare

Vikram meets Mahesh

Agence France-Presse

Marathon: Lexi Thompson ired six birdies in a ive-under-par 67 to become sole leader going into Sunday’s inal round. AFP *

Agencies Los Angeles

Aditi Ashok made her first cut in a Major with a second round three-under 69 and then proceeded to compile a no-frills 72 in the third at the ANA Inspiration golf tournament here. With an aggregate of three-under 213, Aditi is now at a creditable tied-23 position, 10 shots behind the 2014 champion Lexi Thompson who sits atop a packed leaderboard at 13-un-

der par after 54 holes. Aditi, who turned 19 a day before the event, has now carded 72-69-72. Lexi leads Suzann Pettersen by two-strokes and has a large group of pursuers within five shots of the lead. The scores: 203: Lexi Thompson (69, 67, 67); 205: Suzann Pettersen (68, 69, 68); 206: Hur Mi-Jung (70, 71, 65), Minjee Lee (70, 68, 68), Park In-Bee (69, 69, 68), Ryu So-Yeon (68, 69, 69); 208: Ariya Jutanugarn (70, 70, 68),

Karine Icher (67, 73, 68), Cristie Kerr (67, 71, 70), Michelle Wie (68, 69, 71). 211: Amy Yang (73, 71, 67), Marina Alex (72, 71, 68), Sarah Jane Smith (70, 72, 69), Jessica Korda (74, 67, 70), Pernilla Lindberg (70, 71, 70), Lydia Ko (70, 70, 71), Charley Hull (68, 72, 71), Park Sung-Hyun (68, 69, 74). 212: Alison Lee (71, 73, 68), Anna Nordqvist (70, 72, 70), Lee Jeong-Eun (72, 69, 71), Nelly Korda (69, 69, 74). 213: Aditi Ashok (72, 69, 72).

Special Correspondent

PORT OF SPAIN

Chennai

Evin Lewis thrashed his way to 91 off 51 balls as the West Indies swept aside Pakistan by seven wickets in the third T20 International at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad on Saturday. Responding to the visitors’ total of 137 for eight, Lewis hoisted nine sixes and belted five fours in a hurricane innings that kept the series alive with Pakistan holding a 2-1 advantage. His assault was in stark contrast to the struggles of most of the Pakistani batsmen, with the notable exception of Kamran Akmal and Babar Azam, as a strong position was frittered away by the combination of careless strokeplay and disciplined West Indies bowling through the final eight overs of their innings. It was Tanvir who suffered the most to the flailing blade of Lewis. Summoned by captain Sarfraz Ahmed in a desperate attempt to stem the flood of runs, Tanvir was plastered for 24 runs in the 14th over, an assault that ended the match as a contest.

All India Football Federation (AIFF) is planning to introduce a new invitational multi-continental Champions Cup competition in August 2017. The proposed event will be an annual affair played between four countries. The Champions Cup may possibly see participation from an Asian, African and a North American country in addition to host India. Speaking about it Mr. Kushal Das, AIFF general secretary, said: “We are quite excited on the prospect of introducing the new Champions Cup from 2017. AIFF and its [marketing] partner FSDL have worked together over the last couple of months in studying the past and current year’s national team engagements and how other countries are performing in Asia. The Indian team has won 11 of its last 13 games under coach Stephen Constantine and is ready to break into the top-100.

Belligerent: Evin Lewis smashed a blistering 91, that included nine sixes, to power West Indies home. AFP *

SCOREBOARD

India’s Vikram Malhotra and Mahesh Mangaonkar, seeded two and three respectively, will face each other in the final of the North of Scotland Open, a PSA world Tour event, being held here. This is the first time that Indians will be playing in a final in a PSA event outside India. In the last-four clashes, Vikram beat Malaysian seventh seed Eain Yow Ng 11-4, 11-7, 6-11, 11-2, while Mahesh upset top-seeded Richie Fallows of England 10-12, 11-8, 13-11, 11-3.

WI VS PAKISTAN, 3RD T20I

Pakistan: A. Shehzad b Badree 4, K. Akmal c Simmons b Samuels 48, I. Wasim st. Walton b Badree 0, B. Azam b Narine 43, S. Malik c Lewis b Brathwaite 2, F. Zaman run out 21, S. Ahmed run out 3, W. Riaz c Pollard b Williams 1, S. Tanvir (not out) 2, S. Khan (not out) 3; Extras (b-1, lb-7, w-2): 10; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 137. Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-4, 3-92, 4-94, 5-115, 6-124, 7-130, 8-132. West Indies bowling: Badree 40-22-2, Holder 4-0-26-0, Williams 4-0-21-1, Brathwaite 3-015-1, Narine 3-0-34-1, Samuels

2-0-11-1. West Indies: E. Lewis c Riaz b Khan 91, C. Walton c Zaman b Tanvir 1, M. Samuels c Wasim b Riaz 18, J. Mohammed (not out) 17, L. Simmons (not out) 4; Extras (lb-3, w-3, nb-1): 7; Total (for three wkts. in 14.5 overs): 138. Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-58, 3-134. Pakistan bowling: Wasim 3-020-0, Tanvir 3-0-40-1, Ali 2-020-0, Shadab 3.5-0-38-1, Riaz 2-0-6-1, Malik 1-0-11-0. Toss: Pakistan. West Indies won by 7 wickets with 31 balls to spare.

Wiese makes a cameo appearance Agence France-Presse Berlin

Ex-Germany goalkeeper Tim Wiese, who has been carving out a wrestling career, says he could still play in the Bundesliga after making a cameo appearance in the German eighth division for SSV Dillingen.

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■ ACROSS 7 Native American tribe returned Perak's capital (4) 8 Mostly orange-headed, for all to see, and brown ape (9) 10 Fruit Daniel found around J&K town (6) 11 After mashed taro, yearn for drug (8) 12 Cowardly peacekeepers' choir arrangement included a

CM YK

■ DOWN 1 Capsized and rose up? (8) 2 Asian hat designed by setter (4) 3 Broken bone is illed with gold in island (6) 4 This tree (Phyllanthus emblica) may produce amla and a small quantity is rejected (7)

FAITH

SUDOKU

Special kind of union

5 Agra was rebuilt twice ... you may see development of culture here (4-4) 6 Saint's record pace (4) 9 No one possesses a bit of civility ... for the time being (5) 13 Disease displaying edema, bleeding or lung allergy for starters (5) 15 Drug operation one accepted with an expression of hesitation (5) 17 New York's huge program with the French (3,5) 19 A small animal circled a larger animal with some dexterity and irritated (8) 20 Suitability of small apartment on headland (7) 22 Mistakenly, procurer dropped malfunctioning CPU ... that's a blooper (5) 24 Vehicle reverses on road in Paris Metro, for example (6) 26 Present soldier with small fort (4) 28 Cad's command to subdue dog (4)

Solution to puzzle 11970 C L A S S I O N L L I N G O D O T S C Y T H E A A N N U L S C A S T E AMB O E C E R E B R I U R A S T R A K T H I E A S I N G

C S A L Y F O S T E E L T M L L I T I C N P E D I T O N S P O A T S T S A L F R P A A H A N D S N I B A R O

UMN I O L WO O L L H G A T E A R I A L O T Y N C H E E N UM G A A I L Y N A N E T S

Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

In Chandogya Upanishad, Uddalaka explains to his son Svetaketu, that Brahman is the cause for tejas, water and food. He then explains that all sentient beings too have Brahman as their cause. When a jivatma is in the state of deep sleep (sushupti), he is free of all the defects of nama, roopa, raga, dwesha and all other limiting factors. He loses dharmabhuta jnana (attributive consciousness) and is free from identities such as manushya, deva and so on, explained M.K. Srinivasan, in a discourse. In short, the jivatma is shorn of identity and also of all limitations he is subject to in the waking state. The jivatma unites with the Paramatma in the state of sushupti. In the state of sushupti, the mind flies in all directions, but finds no resting place, and finally settles in mukhyaprana or vital airs. An analogy is used in the Chandogya Upanishad to explain this. If a bird is tied with a string, that is held by a hunter and the bird attempts to fly in different directions, it cannot find a resting place other than the hunter’s hand. Likewise is the mind tied to prana. During deep sleep, the mind and indriyas cease to function and attain union with prana. The prana unites with jiva united with subtle elements, and they unite with Paramatma. So this is a special kind of union, and does not signify merger of jivatma into Paramatma. They do not attain oneness. They remain differentiated. What the Upanishad means is that all jivatmas constitute the body of Brahman, which is the root cause of the Universe. To substantiate this, the Upanishad then states everything in reverse order too. The cause of the body is food, the cause of which is water, the cause of which is tejas, the cause of which is Brahman. Thus Brahman is the originating point for everything. A ND-ND

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THE HINDU

SPORT 17

NOIDA/DELHI

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

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Sindhu canters to India Open title Gets it right against Carolina in the summit clash; men’s title for Viktor Axelsen RAKESH RAO NEW DELHI

Finally, the prayers of a nearcapacity crowd at the Siri Fort Stadium stood answered. Facing matchpoint, the World and Olympic champion Carolina Marin netted a return. The chants of “Sindhu… Sindhu” that periodically rent the air for 47 minutes, turned into a roar when the crowd-favourite raised her hands in triumph and let go a scream for one last time. The reward for P.V. Sindhu was more than just a first Yonex India Open title. Everyone interested in this Carolina-Sindhu clash had the result of the Rio Olympic final in mind. Though Sindhu had avenged that defeat in Dubai last December, many had come to see her settle a score. Sindhu’s 21-19, 21-16 victory was a reinforcement of a growing belief that she is firmly on a upward curve.

Confident persona The confidence gained since that silver-winning week in Rio Olympics is slowly becoming a part of Sindhu’s persona. The way she is carrying herself on the court, the rise in self-esteem after successfully dealing with most pressure-points and the ability to gauge the deception in Carolina’s play increasingly well, all added up to give the Indian a memorable victory. This was only the second Super Series title for Sindhu to go with the China Open last November. Given the fact that these players faced-off for the ninth time, with Carolina winning five times, Sindhu needed no reminding the importance of staying ahead, even by a point, to keep the pressure on her rival.

I did it! P.V. Sindhu set of a wave of celebrations at the Siri Fort Stadium with her memorable victory over Carolina Marin. SANDEEP SAXENA *

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No serious threat As it turned out, Sindhu was never in any serious threat of losing the match. In fact, after dropping the opening

is diicult to say < > Itwhat could have happened had she taken the irst game

City draw earns respite for Wenger Dzeko becomes leading goal-scorer in a single season for Roma

— Sindhu, on playing the crucial points better in the irst game

point, Sindhu conceded lead only twice — at 17-18 and 18-19 — but more importantly, won the last three points to seal the game. Psychologically, this proved a massive blow and dictated the course of the match. Both players agreed that the closing points of the first game was the decisive phase of the match. “At 19-19 it was anybody’s game but I won the points after that. It is difficult to say what could have happened had she taken the first game. That’s the way it goes,” said Sindhu. On her part, Carolina said, “I played those last few points very badly. It was great for the spectators but not for me. In the second, I could not play as well as she did.” “I am really happy the crowd cheered both of us and they enjoyed themselves” said Sindhu after collecting $24,375 for her week’s work. Earlier, men’s third seed Viktor Axelsen won as expected against Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen in straight games. The pairs from Indonesia, Japan and China claimed the doubles titles. The results (finals): Men: 3-Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt 7-Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) 21-13, 21-10. Doubles: 4-Marcus Fernaldi Gideon & Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Ina) bt 6-Ricky Karandasuwardi & Angga Pratama 2111, 21-15. Women: 3-P. V. Sindhu bt 1-Carolina Marin (Esp) 21-19, 21-16. Doubles: 7-Shijo Tanaka & Koharu Yonemoto (Jpn) bt 3-Naoko Fukuman & Kurumi Yonao (Jpn) 16-21, 21-19, 21-10. Mixed doubles: 2-Lu Kai & Huang Yaqiong (Chn) bt 1Zheng Siwei & Chen Quigchen (Chn) 22-24, 21-14, 21-17.

Opening salvo: Leroy Sane gave City the early lead but Arsenal managed to hold on for a draw. MIKE HEWITT/GETTY IMAGES *

Agence France-Presse London

Arsenal earned beleaguered manager Arsene Wenger a measure of respite by twice hitting back to hold Manchester City to a 2-2 draw in the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Pep Guardiola twice saw his City side go ahead, through Leroy Sane and then Sergio Aguero, but Arsenal twice responded via goals from Theo Walcott and Shkodran Mustafi. Wenger’s side remains seven points below City, which occupies the fourth and final Champions League berth, in sixth place. Meanwhile in Serie A, Edin Dzeko fired Roma to a 2-0 win over Empoli and took his tally for the season to 33 goals in all competitions — eclipsing the previous record jointly held by club captain Francesco Totti and two other Roma legends. Dzeko passed Totti’s best return, in the 200-07 season, as well as the totals registered by Rodolfo Volk in 1930-31 and Argentine striker Pedro Manfredini in 1960-61. The results: Premier League: Arsenal 2 (Walcott 40, Mustafi 53) drew with Manchester City

2 (Sane 5, Aguero 42); Swansea 0 drew with Middlesbrough 0. Saturday: Southampton 0 drew with Bournemouth 0. La Liga: Real Madrid 3 (Benzema 31, Isco 85, Nacho 88) bt Alaves 0; Sevilla 0 drew with Sporting Gijon 0; Valencia 3 (Garay 10, Albentosa 29-og, Cancelo 90) bt Deportivo 0. Saturday: Real Sociedad 1 (Juanmi 53) drew with Leganes 1 (Szymanowski 30); Malaga 0 lost to Atletico Madrid 2 (Koke 26, Filipe Luis 74). Serie A: Torino 2 (Moretti 70, Belotti 83) drew with Udinese 2 (Jankto 50, Perica 68); Fiorentina 1 (Babacar 51) bt Bologna 0; Chievo 1 (Pellissier 57) lost to Crotone 2 (Ferrari 51, Falcinelli 82); Genoa 0 lost to Atalanta 5 (Conti 25, Gomez 32pen, 63, 83, Caldara 76); Pescara 1 (Paletta 12-og) drew with AC Milan 1 (Pasalic 41); Palermo 1 (Gonzalez 26) lost to Cagliari 3 (Ionita 48, 88, Borriello 58). Saturday: Sassuolo 1 (Berardi 26-pen) lost to Lazio 2 (Immobile 42, Acerbi 83-og); Roma 2 (Dzeko 12, 56) bt Empoli 0. Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen 3 (Bellarabi 40, Volland 65, Havertz 89) drew with Wolfsburg 3 (Gomez 80, 83, 87-pen); Ingolstadt 2 (Bregerie 10, Hadergjonaj 73) bt Mainz 1 (Ozuntali 70). Saturday: Eintracht Frankfurt 0 drew with Borussia Monchengladbach 0.

CoA to meet BCCI oicebearers on April 5 G. Viswanath MUMBAI

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) has invited BCCI office-bearers, not disqualified by the Supreme Court order of January 2, for a meeting at Hyderabad on April 5. “We want to discuss all. The BCCI staff here is confused. Obviously they cannot be reporting to the BCCI office-bearers and the CoA,” said an official tracking the developments in the Board. Ramachandra Guha, one of the four in the CoA, is in the US and will not attend the meeting.

Sharath’s gambit for 2018 CWG K. Keerthivasan Chennai

With an eye on the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Sharath Kamal has decided to switch from European club Borussia Dusseldorf — with whom he has been from 2012-13 — to Schwalbe Bergneustadt. “I wanted to spend more time with my family [which I couldn’t while playing with Dusseldorf ], and at the same time be in India so that I can work with the Indian [team] coach Massimo Constantini for the 2018 C’Wealth Games,” he said. Since Schwalbe is a midtable team, he would have to play fewer number of matches, and will hence get the time to play in a few more Pro Tour events.

TV PICKS Serie A: Sony ESPN & ESPN HD, 12 a.m. (Tuesday)

La Liga: Sony Six & Six HD, 12 a.m. (Tuesday)

NBA: Sony Six & Six HD, 4.30 a.m. (Tuesday)

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18 LIFE

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Pop Art pioneer Rosenquist passes away

Bob Dylan accepts Nobel prize at last American songwriter honoured at a ‘private ceremony’

NEW YORK

Agence France-Presse

James Rosenquist, a leading pioneer of Pop Art who appropriated industrial painting methods to cultivate his bold, graphic style, has died in New York. He was 83. The artist passed away on Friday at his home following a long illness, according to The New York Times, citing his wife. He transitioned from a commercial sign-painter to a fine artist. AFP

Stockholm

This ‘Hugh Jackman’ recovers like Wolverine LOS ANGELES

A burned kitten has been renamed ‘Hugh Jackman’ due to his ability to recover fast like Wolverine. The severely burned male feline less than six months old, was found about three weeks ago with burns over half his body, the New York Daily News reported. Since that time, the kitten has healed faster than expected. PTI

Hacked daily’s app sends out ‘Heil President’ alert NEW YORK

The New York Post app has been hacked on April Fools’ Day, sending out push alert notifications that included “Heil President Donald Trump.” The Post apologised on Saturday night, shortly after its app sent out a series of alerts. The messages appeared directed at the U.S. President. AP

CM YK

After months of uncertainty and controversy, Bob Dylan finally accepted the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature at a jovial, champagne-laced ceremony on Saturday, the Swedish Academy announced. The academy, which awards the coveted prize, ended prolonged speculation as to whether the 75year-old troubadour would use a concert stopover in Stockholm to accept the gold medal and diploma awarded to him back in October. They were handed to Mr. Dylan at a “private ceremony in Stockholm” attended by 12 academy members, Sara Danius, the academy’s permanent secretary, said in a blog post. “Spirits were high. Champagne was had,” Danius confided. “Quite a bit of time was spent looking closely at the gold medal, in particular the beautifully crafted back, an image of a young man sitting under a laurel tree who listens to the Muse,” she added. “Taken from Virgil’s Aeneid, the inscription reads: Inventas vitam iuvat excoluisse per artes, loosely translated as ‘And they who bettered life on earth by their newly found mastery’.” The first songwriter to receive the prestigious award, Mr. Dylan joins a celebrated group of laureates, including Thomas Mann, Samuel Beckett, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Doris Lessing. The meeting took place at a secret location ahead of Mr. Dylan’s first concert in Stockholm, the first stop on a long-planned European tour for his latest album of cover songs, Triplicate. His second concert is on due on Sunday. Mr. Dylan had not been

Like a rolling stone: The enigmatic troubadour has until June 10 to provide his Nobel lecture. REUTERS *

expected to deliver his traditional Nobel lecture at the meeting — the only requirement to receive the eight million kronor ($8,91,000) that comes with the prize. He has until June 10 to provide his lecture, which could be anything from a short speech to a performance, a video broadcast or even a song. Failing that, he risks losing the prize money. “The Academy has reason to believe that a taped version will be sent at a later point,” Ms. Danius said on Wednesday.

‘No thank you’ Several academy members, including Ms. Danius, were present at the concert as Mr. Dylan, wearing a white hat, western-style black blazer and cowboy boots, performed Love Sick and Full Moon And Empty Arms, part of a playlist of standards and self-penned hits. The American rock enigma’s performance was met with a cheering crowd, which gave repeated standing ovations, especially when he played a harmonica. Mr. Dylan was tight-lipped between songs and made no

mention whatsoever about the Nobel prize. Lars Sjoblom, a 65-yearold sound and light technician, said he had grown up with Mr. Dylan’s music but was “greatly surprised” that he had not said anything. “I came here to listen to what he had to say about the Nobel Foundation and to the Swedish people,” Mr. Sjoblom said. “I think he could have shown Sweden the respect to say ‘thank you’.” But Dag Hanners, a 65year-old logistician, said Mr. Dylan never speaks with the crowd during performances. “You just have to live with that,” he said with a chuckle.

‘Song tradition’ Mr. Dylan was honoured “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition,” the Nobel committee said when the award was announced last October. His long list of hits, ranging over decades, began in the early sixties. He penned hundreds of songs in just a few years — an astonishing flurry that included Blowin’ In The Wind, Hurricane and Mr. Tambourine Man.

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