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J&K Governor N.N. Vohra expresses concern over protests by students
China urges U.S. to isolate Dalai Lama after he meets delegation
U.S. President Donald Trump sacks FBI director James Comey
Shashank Manohar to continue as ICC chairman until 2018
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Mayawati sacks key party leader
He had gone to attend the wedding of his cousin when terrorists struck
LUCKNOW
Peerzada Ashiq
The Bahujan Samaj Party on Wednesday expelled its national general secretary Nasimuddin Siddiqui for “anti-party activities” and “indiscipline.”
Srinagar
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Triple talaq hearing to begin today NEW DELHI:
A ive-judge Constitution Bench is scheduled to begin hearing from Thursday a batch of six petitions and a suo motu PIL of the Supreme Court on the question whether triple talaq and polygamy violates the fundamental rights of Muslim women. 쑺 PAGE 10
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22 killed as wall collapses in Bharatpur BHARATPUR
Twenty-two persons were killed and 28 injured after a wall of a marriage palace collapsed in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district late on Wednesday night, according to SP Anil Tank.
Militants kidnapped an unarmed local Army officer from south Kashmir’s volatile Shopian district and murdered him on Tuesday evening, signalling fresh escalation in the spiralling unrest and violence in the Valley. “In a dastardly act, some terrorists abducted and killed a young unarmed officer who had come on leave to his native place in Kulgam district,” said a Srinagarbased Army spokesman. The deceased officer was identified as Lt. Ummer Fayaz, who was posted at Akhnoor in Jammu region. The officer had gone to attend the wedding of the daughter of his maternal uncle in Batapura area on Tuesday. “Three armed men barged into the house and took him along,” an eyewitness told The Hindu.
Final farewell: An Army oicer pays homage to Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz, whose body was recovered in Shopian district on Wednesday. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *
Preliminary reports suggest the officer was abducted around 10 p.m. on Tuesday near Behibagh, Shopian.
Bullet wounds “The body was spotted in Harmein area in the morning,” said Army sources. Two bullet wounds, one in the head and another in
the abdomen, were found on the body, according to hospital sources. Born in 1994, the deceased joined the Army on December 10, 2016 and belonged to 2 Rajputana Rifles. An ex-National Defence Academy member, Lt. Ummer Fayaz was known for skills in hockey and basket-
ball. Son of a farmer, who owns an orchard in south Kashmir, the deceased was scheduled to attend the Young Officers Training course in September this year. “The Army commits itself to bringing the perpetrators of this heinous act to justice,” said the Army spokesman. Hundreds of locals participated in the last rites of the officer performed with full military honours including a gun salute. Condemning the killing, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said, “It was more painful to note that the young officer had come home on vacation where he was attending the marriage of his cousin.” Stating that the young officer was a “role model,” Defence Minister Arun Jaitley called his abduction and killing a “dastardly act.” CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10
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When Mumbai turned Belieber
Saharanpur clashes: 30 arrested
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The ultimate aim is to save Jadhav’s life, says Centre Kallol Bhattacherjee Suhasini Haidar NEW DELHI
A day after India got a stay on Pakistan’s death sentence to arrested former Navy official Kulbhushan Jadhav at an international tribunal, the government defended going to the tribunal, as a “carefully considered decision.” The Ministry of External Affairs said the decision to resort to arbitration at the International Court of Justice, after a gap of 46 years, was appropriate as the ultimate aim is to save Mr. Jadhav’s life.
‘Received no documents’ “Despite requesting the government of Pakistan, we did not get the documents in the case. We do not know the status of the petition and the appeal filed by the mother of Mr. Jadhav. The visas sought for by his family have not been granted. In this situation, to save the life of an Indian who was kidnapped
Reason for cheer: A dabbawala distributes sweets at Lower Parel in Mumbai on Wednesday to celebrate the stay on the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav. KABYA LAMA *
and who was not given a fair trial, we have approached the International Court of Justice,” said spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Gopal Baglay. He added, “The case is a consular matter.” India had repeatedly sought consular access to Mr. Jadhav and had been repeatedly denied it. The ICJ on Tuesday stated
Bengal police unable to trace Karnan Team sent to Srikalahasti, Tada in A.P.
SAHARANPUR
As many as 30 people were on Wednesday arrested in connection with the incidents of stone pelting and torching of vehicles and a police post in Saharanpur, which has been witnessing caste-based violence since May 5. NEWS
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Recourse to ICJ Army oicer on leave abducted, killed in Shopian ‘carefully considered’
NEARBY
NEWS
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in a press release that India seeks suspension of the death sentence that has been given to Mr. Jadhav by a Pakistani military tribunal. India is expected to take up the case on May 15 when senior advocate Harish Salve will represent it. CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10 HOPE AND JOY OVER REPRIEVE 쑺 PAGE 10
Nifty scales peak, eyeing better rain Special Correspondent
R. Sivaraman
MUMBAI
CHENNAI
rest him but his whereabouts are not known. So far, he is not traceable.”
The prospect of better monsoon rain spurring higher agricultural growth and rural demand lifted the Sensex and the Nifty to new highs on Wednesday. While the BSE’s benchmark 30-company Sensex gained 1.05% to 30,248.17 points, the National Stock Exchange’s broader 50stock Nifty advanced 0.97% to 9,407.30. Firms selling consumer goods and automobiles were in the spotlight.
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DETAILS ON 쑺 PAGE 13
Swinging into action after the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Calcutta High Court Judge C.S. Karnan, top police officers of West Bengal reached Chennai on Wednesday morning and mounted a search for him. Some members of the team went to Srikalahasti and Tada in Andhra Pradesh, while the rest camped in the city. Intelligence sources told The Hindu: “We have launched a manhunt to ar-
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Police at the State Guesthouse in Chennai, where Justice C.S. Karnan stayed on Tuesday. S. R. RAGHUNATHAN *
The feeling: Canadian popstar Justin Bieber performing at the D.Y. Patil Stadium at Nerul, in Navi Mumbai, on Wednesday. METROPLUS 쑺 6 PAGES
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VIVEK BENDRE (HONOURED TO BE HERE,SAYS BIEBER: PAGE 7)
Funds to parties: Govt. Mishra attacked by ‘AAP volunteer’ may amend FCRA again Soumya Pillai
New Delhi
To seek opinion of Attorney-General Vijaita Singh New Delhi
After being pulled up by the Delhi High Court for not initiating any action against the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which received foreign funds from two subsidiaries of Vedanta, a U.K.-based company, the Home Ministry will seek the Attorney-General’s opinion to amend the repealed Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) 1976, which barred foreign donations to political parties. The Representation of the People Act and the FCRA bar political parties from receiving foreign funds. Last year, the NDA government had amended the FCRA through the Finance Bill route, which allowed foreign-origin companies to fund NGOs here and also cleared the way for donations to political parties by changing the definition of “foreign companies.” The glitch was that although the amendment was done retrospectively it only made valid the foreign donations received after 2010, the year when the 1976 Act was amended.
Contempt petition The retrospective amendment did not apply to donations prior to 2010 and the Association for Democratic Reforms, a political watchdog, moved a contempt petition against the Home Ministry in March pointing out CM YK
that the directives of the High Court against the two political parties which received foreign funds were not followed. Both the Congress and the BJP have been charged with illegally receiving foreign funds for political activities from Vedanta from 2004 to 2012. The ADR filed a PIL plea against the two parties for violating the FCRA. The Delhi High Court had held that the donations were illegal in 2014, but the two parties challenged the order in the Supreme Court but later withdrew the petition. In March this year, the ADR moved the contempt petition. The offence attracts an imprisonment of five years and fine or both to persons who assisted the political parties to receive the funds. A senior Home Ministry official said that after the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms were progressively relaxed, there have been anomalies regarding the definition of “foreign companies” under the FCRA which were never corrected. The original FCRA provision, which declared that any company with over 50 per cent FDI was a foreign entity, was inconsistent with the view of the Finance and Commerce ministries, which treated companies based in India and having Indian directors and employees as Indian subsidiaries.
Ousted Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Minister Kapil Mishra — who sat on a hunger strike from Wednesday asking the party to reveal details of the
foreign trips made by senior leaders — was allegedly attacked at his residence by a man who claimed to be an AAP volunteer. The attacker, who has been identified as Ankit
Bhardwaj, allegedly ran over to Mr. Mishra and hit him on his neck before he was pulled aside by Mishra’s supporters. Mr Mishra did not sustain any injuries. SEE DELHI METRO 쑺 PAGE 1
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DELHI
Timings
Thursday, May 11
RISE 05:33 SET 19:03 RISE 19:27 SET 05:57 Friday, May 12
RISE 05:33 SET 19:03 RISE 20:18 SET 06:36 Saturday, May 13
RISE 05:32 SET 19:04 RISE 21:09 SET 07:18
J&K Governor ‘disturbed’ over student protests Asks CM to ensure they are immunised against involvement in law and order situations
Sunil Jakhar takes over as Punjab Congress chief Says party would never indulge in vendetta politics Special Correspondent
turbing situation, which needs to be addressed through co-ordinated and vigilant efforts of teachers, parents and the society,” he said.
Peerzada Ashiq Srinagar
Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra has said that he is “deeply disturbed” at seeing students, including girls, taking to the streets in protest. It’s been over three weeks since the student protests began in the Valley. Mr. Vohra, who met the Chief Secretary and senior police officials on Wednesday, has now asked Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti “to take all required steps to ensure that the student community is immunised against any involvement in law and order situations.”
IN BRIEF
Lalu refuses comment on Supreme Court order PATNA
RJD president Lalu Prasad on Wednesday refused to make any comment on the Supreme Court order asking him to face separate trials in each of the cases related to the multi-crore fodder scam in which he is an accused. “My lawyers will speak on the issue,” he said in reply to a question by reporters. PTI
One arrested in NEET question paper leak case SHEIKHPURA
The Patna Police arrested a coaching institute’s proprietor in connection with National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) question paper leak case from Bihar’s Sheikhpura district, SDPO Amit Sharan said on Wednesday. PTI
Parental counselling The Governor, who has been briefed by State Education Minister Altaf Bukhari, also met president of the D.P. Dhar Memorial Trust Vijay Dhar and Vice-Chancellor of Kashmir University Professor Khurshid Andrabi. Mr. Bukhari, meanwhile,
N.N. Vohra has called for “requisite parental and societal counselling so that the youth do not go astray and miss out on education”. “The students should have been busy with academics and co-curricular activities rather than being chased by law enforcing agencies on the roads. This is really a dismaying and dis-
Action initiated The Minister, who has appealed to the students to return to their classes, said the government had initiated action against the incident of trespassing at Pulwama Degree College on April 15, when over 50 students were injured. “We ordered a timebound inquiry and completed it in eight days, which was followed up with tangible action. I fail to understand why the students are out on the roads?” he asked. Sri Pratap Higher Secondary School and Government Women’s College on M.A. Road, meanwhile, will remain closed on Thursday. Students of these institutions had clashed with security
forces on Tuesday, bringing to a standstill the heart of the city — Lal Chowk.
Meets Omar PTI adds: Mr. Vohra on Wednesday urged all leaders to “closely join hands” to bring life back to normal in troubled Kashmir. The Governor called for unity when National Conference leader Omar Abdullah called on him here to discuss the situation in Kashmir which has been witnessing student protests since last month. An official spokesperson said the Governor discussed with Mr. Abdullah measures that needed to be taken to restore normalcy and to ensure that students were not adversely affected. “He particularly urged all political, religious and social leaders to closely join hands to secure the restoration of peace and normalcy,” the spokesperson said.
Feel like shooting stone-pelters, says Vij Haryana Minister was referring to those who hurl stones at security forces Press Trust of India Chandigarh
Referring to stone-pelters in Kashmir, senior Haryana Minister Anil Vij said on Wednesday that he feels like shooting those who indulge in such acts against the security forces. “Whenever anyone in Kashmir hurls stones at security forces, I feel as if the stone has been thrown at me and there is a desire in my heart to shoot the stone pelter,” the Health Minister said in a tweet.
Anil Vij
Mr. Vij, the Ambala Cantt MLA, known for his outspoken nature, had earlier this year said that those who were supporting Delhi University student Gurmehar
Kaur for her campaign against the ABVP, were proPakistan and should be thrown out of the country. He had also courted controversy this year with his remarks that Mahatma Gandhi’s image did not help khadi and caused devaluation of the currency, sparking widespread outrage with even his party condemning his statements, which he withdrew later. Mr. Vij, a popular face of the party, was pipped by Manohar Lal Khattar in the
race for chief ministership after BJP garnered majority in 2014 Assembly elections.
Chandigarh
Senior Congress leader Sunil Jakhar, who took over as the Punjab Congress president on Wednesday, called reports of clashes between workers of his party and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) as “apolitical.” Mr. Jakhar said the Congress would never indulge in vendetta politics, which even Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has asserted. Talking to journalists, Mr. Jakhar accused the SAD of politicising the administration and the police. He added that Congress workers would act as watchdogs to ensure that the “jungle raj” prevailing under the SADBJP regime doesn’t continue in the State any more. “My biggest challenge is to ensure that all party promises are fulfilled, for which the Chief Minister had assured full cooperation. I will ensure that the Punjab Congress acts as a direct
Change of guard: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh with the new State party chief, Sunil Jakhar, in Chandigarh on Wednesday. AKHILESH KUMAR *
connect and builds two-way communication between the government and the people in the State,” said Mr. Jakhar.
SYL canal issue The Punjab Congress chief also said it was the responsibility of the Central government to resolve the SutlejYamuna Link canal issue. Thanking Prime Minister
SP leader’s kin slaps cop in Etah police station He was held for allegedly assaulting hospital staf, doctor Press Trust of India
Beef remark His earlier remarks that those who cannot live without beef should not come to Haryana where a stringent cow protection law has been implemented too had raised eyebrows. Over a year back, he had accused his own government of spying on him after coming across a constable standing outside his office.
Narendra Modi for his intervention in this regard, he said, “I believe the issue will be resolved through consensus, for which the Prime Minister has already initiated measures.” Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who was present at the ceremony, urged party workers to get ready for the upcoming municipal corporation elections in the State.
Etah/Lucknow
A nephew of UP Legislative Council chairman and SP leader Ramesh Yadav on Wednesday slapped a sub-inspector inside a police station in Etah after he was held for allegedly assaulting hospital staffers who refused give in to his demand for “VIP treatment”. Bragging of his political links, Mohit Yadav, who was said to be in an inebriated state, was also caught on camera hurling abuses at the cops, prompting the rival BJP to accuse the Samajwadi Party of suffering from “hangover” of power.
“Mohit Yadav is my name...,” said the 24-yearold, before slapping sub-inspector Jitendra Kumar. He was immediately arrested and charged with assault and obstructing an official from carrying out his duty.
Hospital staff charge Mohit, who is unemployed, had visited a hospital with a relative and “demanded VIP treatment” for an X-ray, refusing to wait for their turn, hospital staff alleged. When he was refused, he allegedly assaulted a lab technician and a doctor. The hospital called in the cops. When he was brought to the
police station, he abused Kumar and hit him before being overpowered. Mohit shouted abuses and threats at other police officers.As police officers rushed to control him, he grabbed the collar of one of them. “It seems he was under the influence of alcohol,” a police officer said. Distancing himself from his nephew’s actions, Ramesh Yadav said, “He will be beaten if he slaps policemen... I have nothing to do with it.” Etah SSP Satyarth Anirudh said they will ensure that the accused gets stringent punishment.
Rajasthan to launch action plans for reducing infant mortality It will be based on socio-economic conditions Special Correspondent JAIPUR
The Rajasthan government has decided to launch district-level action plans for utilising locally available resources to reduce infant mortality rate (IMR). The action plans will be based on the socio-economic conditions prevailing in each district. State Principal Medical and Health Secretary Veenu Gupta said here on Wednes-
day that an important aspect of the district-level action plans would be a better coordination among the doctors working in the primary health centres for optimum utilisation of resources.
Referral services “The medicos and paramedical staff will work effectively as a team to provide quality health services and reduce infant mortality rate,” said the
Secretary. The IMR in Rajasthan was 32 for every 1,000 live births, according to the Sample Registration System Baseline Survey-2014. Ms. Gupta said the action plans would aim at reducing IMR to 12 per 1,000 live births by 2030 by improving the intensive care units, referral services and availability of the medical staff and strengthening the infrastructure.
BJP protests civic poll postponement Elections were slated for this month Staff Correspondent Shimla
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday staged a protest against the State Election Commissioner’s decision to postpone the Shimla Municipal Corporation elections. The elections were slated to be held this month as the term of the present body is ending on June 4. The polls have been postponed on the grounds that electoral rolls had not been updated and there were discrepancies in the voter list in some wards. The chief whip of the party and Shimla MLA, Suresh Bhardwaj, alleged that Election Commissioner P. Mitra was taking directions from the Chief Minister’s office and was not acting independently. Mr. Mitra had retired as the Chief Secretary last year and was appointed the Election Commissioner a day after his retirement. “Postponing the elections of a constitutional body that
has already completed its tenure at the behest of the government is highly undemocratic and dictatorial,” Mr Bhardwaj said.
‘Sack poll officer’ Demanding the sacking of the Election Commissioner, he said the Congress was fearful of a defeat before the coming Assembly elections. He said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, facing multiple corruption and money laundering charges, does not want the elections to be held this month. The BJP leaders claimed that the state government was almost non-functional as the CM was busy defending himself against the corruption charges. The CPI-M also demanded that the municipal elections be held immediately and the voters list be finalised at the earliest. The party will hold a protest on Thursday outside the District Magistrate’s office, said party leader Vijendra Mehra.
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IN BRIEF
Need for convergence, says Khandu ITANAGAR
Arunachal CM Pema Khandu has stressed on the need for convergence and dovetailing of schemes, both Central and State. There are many welfare and developmental schemes being implemented in the State, mostly funded by the Centre, by respective departments independently as per their business allocations. PTI
Army pays tribute to two TA personnel IMPHAL
The Army paid tribute to the two Territorial Army personnel, Naik Varesho Hungyo and sepoy Arjun Baral, who succumbed to injuries in an IED explosion by militants in Manipur on Monday. A wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Koirengei airfield here, a statement said. PTI
Held with gold biscuits along the border KOLKATA
A 60-year-old man, Ahad Sardar, has been apprehended by the BSF for allegedly trying to smuggle 45 gold biscuits from across the India-Bangladesh International Border in West Bengal. PTI
Manipur signs MoU Ganjam authorities yet to bury dead bodies to seal 25 liquor units Families had not claimed bodies of those killed in iring
NGT order came as the factories did not have clearances Staff Reporter
Iboyaima Laithangbam
BERHAMPUR
IMPHAL
More than two weeks after the Kolkata Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered the closure of 25 country liquor-making units in Ganjam, the authorities are yet to seal the factories. Ganjam is the home district of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
An MoU was signed between the State government and tribal representatives in Churachandpur district of Manipur on Wednesday, ending the impasse over the eight bodies that have been awaiting burial since September 2015. The bodies of the eight men, killed in police firing during a protest in 2015 against three anti-migrant Bills introduced by the State government, have been lying in the morgue for over 500 days. Their families had refused to claim them till their demands regarding the Bills were met. As per the new MoU, the government shall pay ₹10 lakh each to the nine bereaved families -- one body had been claimed earlier. Government jobs will be provided to a member of each family while the injured persons would be given financial assistance. The eight bodies shall be claimed within May 25. The Manipur government was represented by Chief Secretary O. Nabakishore. Also present were representatives of the Joint Action Committee, formed by sev-
Government will give jobs to a member of each family while the injured persons will get inancial assistance. *
eral tribal organisations. The organisations have been spearheading agitations demanding the scrapping of the three “anti-migrant” bills that had been introduced by the State government. The Congress government had passed the three Bills after a long agitation in Manipur during which one student was gunned down and many others sustained injuries. Tribals in Churachandpur district had launched agitations shortly after the three Bills were passed in the Assembly on August 31, 2015 terming them as “anti-tribal”. Nine persons had died during the protracted agitations. Houses and properties of the elected members were also burned down over ac-
cusations of being "silent spectators and doing nothing to protect the tribal rights". Former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, the main architect of the anti-migrant Bills, had maintained that there is no word or clause which is against the tribals. Chief Minister N. Biren Singh tried to resolve the impasse, however, after two rounds of talks the government backed out. He said: “There were demands like extension of the sixth schedule and roll-back of the creation of the seven districts. The tribal representatives also demanded a new district out of Churachandpur district. These are issues a Chief Minister alone cannot commit to.”
Affidavit sought On April 24, the Bench had directed the Odisha chief secretary, the Ganjam district collector and the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) to seal 25 units in the district as they did not have the proper environmental and pollution clearances. "The authorities were dir-
ected to close the units and furnish an affidavit before the Bench by May 15. However, the units have not been sealed yet," said Biranchi Narayan Mohapatra, legal counsel for the petitioners who had filed pleas against the polluting units. The NGT Bench, comprising Justice S. P. Wangdi and Expert Member Ranjan Chatterjee, had observed that it is mandatory for liquor-making units to have proper clearances from the SPCB.
79 units Mr. Mohapatra had revealed to the Bench that out of the 79 country liquor-making units in Ganjam, only one had the proper clearance.
On December 15, 2016, the Kolkata Bench of the NGT had remarked that those units without proper clearances were causing air, surface water as well as groundwater pollution.
‘Comply with norms’ The NGT had directed all country liquor-making units in Ganjam to comply with environmental norms and rules. Mr. Mohapatra said the National Green Tribunal had given five months, from January this year, to the owners of these polluting units to procure SPCB clearance. "As this was not done, the NGT ordered for closure of 25 units," said the lawyer.
Snake venom seized Staff Reporter Kolkata
The Border Security Force personnel have seized snake venom worth ₹14 crore from Malda district. The incident took place on Tuesday when following a tip off, the BSF personnel intercepted a bus near the Daulatpur village in the district’s Harshchandrapur II block and seized 1.75 kg of snake venom. “On opening the bag, a jar was found but no passenger claimed the bag and jar. The BSF team seized 1.75 kg snake venom in crystal form worth ₹13-14 crore in the international market, ” stated a statement issued by the South Bengal Frontier of BSF. No arrests have been made so far, DIG BSF Malda sector Amar Kumar Ekka said.
Naga cadres among 13 held in Dimapur They were arrested for various crimes Press Trust of India Kohima
Thirteen people, including three women and also some Naga underground cadres, were arrested by police from Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland, for various crimes. ACP and PRO Dimapur Police Shouka Kakheto said the arrests were made from various police station areas since May 2 till yesterday. He said that acting on information of some persons trying to break open an ATM booth in Dimapur yesterday, a police team rushed to the spot and found the teller machine damaged while the
CM YK
miscreants had escaped. A search led to the arrest of four miscreants from the Darogapathar village area. The ACP said that on May 8, the Anti Extortion Team (AET) under Police Commissionerate of Dimapur arrested two persons on charges of extortion while they were distributing tax slips of the Naga Nationalist Council to garage owners. On May 5, Dimapur Police arrested two persons from New Market area after they were found collecting money from the vendors. The AET also arrested three persons, including two women, on charges of extortion.
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ED seizes alcohol, luxury cars after raids on liquor maia
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Not without my mother
Land Rover Evoque, two Audi cars, 1.91 lakh bottles of liquor seized Press Trust of India Daman
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized liquor worth over ₹2.4 crore and three luxury cars following searches conducted on a suspected liquor mafia here. Officials said the searches were launched yesterday against Ramesh J. Patel alias Michael, his wife and others for alleged smuggling of liquor from Daman to Gujarat, where liquor consumption is prohibited under law. In a statement issued in Delhi, ED said Patel has over 30 cases against him under the Gujarat Prohibition Act, 1949. He has now been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on these charges and also that of an alleged violation of the excise law.
Is poker gambling or a game of skill, asks HC Press Trust of India Ahmedabad
The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday sought the state government stand on a plea that claimed the popular game of card poker was one of skill and not a form of gambling. Justice A.S. Supehia asked the government to file an affidavit by May 22 spelling out its stand on the petition filed by the Indian Poker Association (IPA) last October. The single-judge bench sought the government’s stand while also allowing the IPA to amend its plea to seek an interim relief.
CM YK
The sprawling house of Ramesh Patel (right) at Daman. The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday seized liquor worth over ₹2.4 crore and three luxury cars following searches at his house and warehouses. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *
ED’s zonal office in Surat conducted the raids and seized a Land Rover Evoque and two Audi cars worth over ₹2 crore, more than 1.91 lakh bottles of various brands of liquor worth ₹ 2.54 crore and ₹ 9 lakh cash. “The investigation showed the involvement of
Patel and his wife Bhanuben, residents of Daman who own and operate wine shops, and they have surfaced as the main supplier of IMFL from where the said liquor is smuggled in bulk quantity to Gujarat through local bootleggers despite the fact that the IMFL supplied
by distilleries to wine shops owners in Daman is for sale in Daman only,” it said. The agency said Mr. Patel was operating an illegal warehouse of about 3000 sq metres in Daman for “his illegal liquor business without any license or permission from Excise authorities. “It was found that the said premise was purposely concealed by a ‘chawl’ like locality wherein 80 families are living in small rooms protecting this illegal warehouse,” the ED statement said.
With you, always:This baby langoor places a comforting hand on his mother while she is being treated at the Asha Animal Hospital, Hathijan, near Ahmedabad earlier this week. Both were injured in a road accident at Hathijan on Monday. Sadly, the mother langoor died at the hospital on Wednesday. VIJAY SONEJI *
Parrikar to contest from Panaji Sitting MLA Sidharth Kuncalienkar vacates seat for CM Prakash Kamat Panaji
Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar will contest from the Panaji Assembly seat for the upcoming bypoll, the Goa Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) president Vinay Tendulkar announced here on Wednesday. Mr. Parrikar, former Defence Minister and currently a member of the Rajya Sabha from Lucknow, came back to State politics in March this year to head a (BJP)-led coalition government in Goa. He has to get elected to the 40member State Assembly within six months of his taking over as Chief Minister. “The party has decided that Mr. Parrikar should con-
Panaji MLA Sidharth Kuncalienkar giving his resignation letter to Goa Speaker Pramod Sawant at the Assembly Complex, Porvorim, on Wednesday. ATISH POMBURFEKER *
test from Panaji. Accordingly sitting Panaji MLA Sidharth Kuncalienkar has voluntarily decided to step down,” Mr. Tendulkar told presspersons at the city BJP headquarters.
This puts an end to the speculation that the fourtime Chief Minister could contest from the Curchorem Assembly seat in South Goa, which has elected BJP legis-
lator Nilesh Cabral in the February 4 elections. Mr. Parrikar has been elected from Panaji Assembly seat without a break from 1994 till 2014 when he was inducted in the Central Cabinet and subsequently resigned as an MLA. Goa will also witness another bypoll in Valpoi constituency in north Goa after the newly-elected Congress MLA Vishwajit Rane quit from the party, resigned as an MLA and then joined the BJP before being inducted in the State cabinet as Health Minister. Currently, the Congress has 16 legislators, and the BJP 12 (after Mr. Siddarth Kuncalienkar’s resignation).
Congress takes ‘poster’ pot shots at BJP over Pune garbage crisis Puts up banners across the city urging Bapat to return Shoumojit Banerjee Pune
While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s total victory over the Congress in the recently-concluded civic polls has left it toothless, it has not stopped the beleaguered opposition from taking potshots at the saffron party. On Wednesday, the Pune unit of the Congress targeted the BJP in a distinctly ‘offbeat’ manner over the city’s garbage crisis. Congress workers poked senior BJP leader and Pune Guardian Minister Girish Bapat, who is away in Australia and conspicuous by
The poster by Congress urging Girish Bapat to come back SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *
his absence at the height of the garbage issue, by putting up big banners across the city asking him to ‘come back home’ now that the garbage issue was temporar-
ily resolved. The Congress’ poster wryly reads: “Dear Mr. Bapat, nobody will tell you anything nor will citizens be cross with you [for your absence during the crisis]…now that the garbage crisis is ended, we eagerly await your return to the city. The Mayor has returned, so you too, should come back.” Both Mr. Bapat and the city’s newly-elected Mayor, BJP leader Mukta Tilak were away on foreign tours as the city and the residents of Uruli Devachi and Phursungi grappled with the garbage problem.
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IN BRIEF
Minister’s son dies in car crash Rain wreaks havoc in
Hyderabad, trees uprooted
SUV rams Metro Rail pillar in Hyderabad at high speed, victims trapped in seats Tangutur in Prakasam district. He was a close friend of the Minister’s son. The First Information Report (FIR) issued by the Jubilee Hills police said Nishith started from the Narayana group office in Narayanaguda. “That is yet to be ascertained but police video confirmed he headed towards Peddamma temple from Jubilee Hills check-post,” the police said.
Special Correspondent HYDERABAD
Jagan backs BJP’s presidential candidate NEW DELHI
Leader of the Opposition in the A.P. Assembly and YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday said his party would support the candidate proposed by the BJP as the next President. Mr. Reddy, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said he raised the issue of defections.
Explosive materials seized in Kerala IDUKKI
The police on Wednesday seized explosive materials, including 188 detonators, from a house at Manakkad, near Thodupuzha, on Wednesday. An inquiry was launched into the persons who took the house on rent. It is suspected the explosives were meant for quarrying.
Andhra Pradesh Cabinet Minister P. Narayana’s son Nishith and his friend Raja Ravichandra were killed when their SUV rammed into a Metro Rail pillar at Jubilee Hills here early on Wednesday. The two men in their mid 20s were in a Mercedes G63 Sports Utility Vehicle which crashed into pier pillar No.9 on road No.36 at ‘high speed’, police said. The SUV was so badly damaged that its gear box was ripped off and found at the vehicle’s rear side. Passers-by and a Jubilee Hills police patrol car rushed to the spot. The accident is said to have occurred around 2.40 a.m. The victims were caught in their seats with the dashboard and engine pinning them in the wreck. Though the air bags opened, they apparently got
Of course: The car in which Nishith Narayana and his friend Raja Ravichandra were travelling. NAGARA GOPAL *
deflated during the crash, investigators said. “Using a crane, we forced open the side doors and managed to bring out the two men. They were shifted to Apollo hospital where doctors declared them brought dead,” Jubilee Hills Inspector S. Venkat Reddy
said. Nishith was director of Narayana Group of Educational Institutions, founded and developed by his father P. Narayana who entered politics in the 2014 Assembly elections. Raja Ravichandra who lived in Begumpet was a businessman’s son from
Body taken to Nellore Congress MP Chiranjeevi, his brother and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chinna Rajappa, Union Minister of State Y.S. Chowdary, Telangana Deputy CM Kadiam Srihari and Minister T. Nageshwara Rao were present at the hospital. The body was taken to Nellore after an autopsy. Mr. Narayana, who was in London, was expected to arrive in Chennai on Thursday.
Two hours of downpour leaves several areas waterlogged Special Correspondent Hyderabad
A two-hour heavy rain accompanied by strong gales played havoc in the city on Tuesday night. About 300 trees were uprooted, 32 electric poles and transformers fell to the ground snapping power cables, more than 50 major stagnation points were formed because of a 6 cm to 9 cm rainfall which was experienced across Hyderabad and its outskirts. As the heavy downpour began just before midnight on Tuesday, the wind speeds touched 120 to 150 kmph amidst a hailstorm.
Traffic obstructed The city’s green cover bore the brunt of nature’s fury. The western part was the most affected, with trees and branches falling on
What a fall: Trees which were uprooted at Madhuranagar in Hyderabad on Wednesday. G. RAMAKRISHNA *
either sides of the main road on the Banjara Hills-Jubilee Hills stretch. Traffic was obstructed for a few hours on the SR Nagar-Punjagutta road because of uprooted trees. A 200-year-old tree in Kalyan Nagar near Hasmathpet came down. A major
portion of the 40-foot tree landed on a house but there was no serious damage to the property or the occupants. Waterlogging on major roads and residential colonies also posed a challenge to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
365 bridges need emergency replacement in Kerala
Drought forces animals to come out of forests
Only 606 of the 2,300 bridges are safe, says PWD Minister
Radhakrishnan Kuttoor
Special Correspondent Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala PWD Minister G. Sudhakaran on Tuesday expressed deep anxiety about the state of disrepair of most bridges in Kerala. Replying to the debate on demand on grants for public works in the Assembly, the Minister revealed that only 606 of the 2,300 bridges could be deemed safe. An estimated 365 bridges needed “emergency replacement”. He blamed shoddy construction, use of poor quality construction material, corruption, administrative
apathy, lack of upkeep and periodic inspections, and unchecked river sand-mining for the dangerous state of bridges.
Old ones in good condition Surprisingly 10 bridges, all of them over 100 years old, have showed remarkable resilience and were in excellent condition despite the years of heavy traffic, wear and tear, and extreme weather. Six of the grand old structures were in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of erstwhile Travancore.
“These grand monuments to human ingenuity and effort have to be honoured by organising locallevel fetes,” he said. In comparison to them, the Enathu bridge in Kollam district collapsed 19 years after it was opened. Shoddy construction, use of low grade material, both facilitated by lack of supervision and corruption, were the reasons. Mr. Sudhakaran said Kerala was on the fast track to a pot-hole free highly motorable State. Roads would be re-contoured and beautified.
Tiger caught on CCTV camera on pilgrims’ path at Pampa in the foothills of Sabarimala PATHANAMTHITTA
The changes taking place in the forest eco system owing to the climate change has been leading to frequent straying of wild animals into human habitation in the forest areas of Sabarimala, Ranni, and Konni. A tiger was caught on CCTV camera installed at Pampa in the foothills of Sabarimala on Monday night. Deputy Superintendent of Police P.K. Jagadeesh told The Hindu that the camera recordings showed the tiger on the pilgrims’ path at Chelikkuzhi near the Pandalam Raja Mandapam around
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Soggy harvest
An image of the tiger caught on a CCTV camera installed at Pampa on Monday night. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *
10.28 p.m. on Monday. The tiger was found guzzling water collected in a small earthen pit on the
pathway and waited there for about 10 minutes before retreating into the nearby bushes.
Sources said the pug marks showed that it might be a female tiger in the age group of eight to nine years. In recent times, Pampa, Nilackal and Attathode reportedly showed growing incidence of wild animals straying into human habitations and workers’ camps from the drought-hit forest interiors in search of water. Wild animals straying into the bordering villages has become common in the forest fringes of Konni and Ranni during the summer months. The spontaneous reaction of the panicky people to ensure their protection from the wild beasts often resul-
ted in the death of the wild animal.
Human intervention According to villagers, instances of leopards, king cobras, and wild elephants straying into the villages along the forest fringes have become more frequent in recent times. Experts attribute this to the acute water scarcity and shortage of food. Excessive human intervention in the forests have also led to depletion of green cover in many areas. The mushrooming of granite quarries along forest borders has led to drastic changes in the forest eco system, say experts.
New chief for Karnataka Cong. this month There are ‘minor diferences’ in the party, says AICC team leader Venugopal BENGALURU
to the central leadership in a few days.
The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) is all set to get a new president later this month. The All-India Congress Committee (AICC) team led by K.C. Venugopal, general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, has held consultations with over 400 Congress leaders, legislators and Ministers, and found “some differences” among leaders in the State unit. The team has acknowledged a need to revamp and strengthen the party at all levels ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections. Briefing the media on the team’s deliberations in the last three days, Mr. Venugopal said, “The KPCC will get a president in this month only.” Some leaders have expressed their differences with the State leadership, but Mr. Venugopal expressed confidence in resolving them soon. With the Assembly polls scheduled early next
CM’s style of functioning With a few leaders complaining about Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s style of functioning, Mr. Venugopal, who chaired the first meeting of the coordination panel, has reportedly suggested that Mr. Siddaramaiah take all leaders along with him. Mr. Parameshwara, who is also holding the Home portfolio, has been told to “ensure justice” to party workers, a source said. Terming the track record of the State government as “excellent” overall, the AICC team commended the regime’s welfare schemes. The team is expected to visit the State again towards the end of May for further assessment. Mr. Venugopal claimed that the Opposition BJP has been dividing people on caste and communal lines, but the electorate would teach a “fitting lesson” to the party next year.
Nagesh Prabhu
Damage control: A farmer trying to salvage chilli damaged due to rain at Gollapadu, Khammam district, on Wednesday.
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G.N. RAO
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Home Minister G. Parameshwara and AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal at a KPCC meet in Bengaluru on Wednesday. SUDHAKARA JAIN *
year, leaders are mounting pressure on the AICC team to appoint a new full-time president who can unite all leaders and workers. Though nearly half a dozen leaders are lobbying for the post of KPCC president, sources said several leaders have demanded the appointment of a Dalit leader if the incumbent, G. Parameshwara, is to step down. Energy Minister D.K. Shiv-
akumar, Water Resources Minister M.B. Patil, and former Minister S.R. Patil are all lobbying for the post. To ensure cordial relations between the government and the party, the central leadership generally appoints a candidate suggested by the Chief Minister, sources said. The AICC team is expected to submit its report with candidate recommendations
Kerala plans DBT for paddy procurement from farmers
Andhra varsity to start courses for defence sector
This would reduce delay in payment: Agriculture Minister
Visakhapatnam
Special Correspondent THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
The government will adopt the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme to pay the support price for paddy farmers from next season, Kerala Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar has said. The money will be immediately credited to farmers’ bank accounts electronically to reduce delay in payment. The Agriculture and Finance Departments are jointly executing the scheme, the Minister said, adding ₹1,039 crore was given for paddy procurement. Replying to the leave for notice of Sunny Joseph and others’ notice on an adjournment motion on the crisis in the agriculture sector due to fall in prices and the delay in CM YK
setting up a price stabilisation fund, Mr. Kumar said ₹748 crore had been given as production incentive to rubber farmers and the government was taking steps to arrest the fall in prices. The flooding of international market with natural rubber from Thailand and other nations and variation in crude oil price were responsible for the fall in price. He said the State was lagging behind value addition despite producing 70% of rubber in the country. The Centre was adopting a step-motherly attitude towards Kerala and had gone back on the rubber policy. The move to shift the office of the Rubber Board from Kottayam to outside the State would be opposed at any cost,
he said. Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac said the government had given ₹748 crore to the rubber farmers compared to ₹350 crore given by the previous UDF government in five years. The Agriculture Minister said the demand for increasing the support price of rubber to ₹200 as demanded by Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala and K.M. Mani would be considered on the basis of the financial situation of the State. Mr. Sunny Joseph said the agriculture sector was in crisis and it had affected the economy of the State and put the farmers in a debt trap. Following the reply, the Speaker denied permission for the motion and the UDF legislators walked out in protest.
Varsity is in a position to earn about ₹100 crore in the next two to three years, says V-C Special Correspondent
With the government support to the State-run universities dwindling with every passing year, the universities are looking out for sources of revenue apart from the traditional courses and the government grants. Taking a lead in this direction, Andhra University has entered into agreements with the defence sector for offering various courses and which would not only bring in additional revenue to the cash-strapped 90-year-old university, but also provide a good platform for the university students to interact with professionals from the defence sector.
Win-win situation According to AU Vice-Chancellor Prof. G. Nageswara Rao, it is a win-win situation both for the university and
Dockyard, Eastern Naval Command, for offering courses in B.Sc (Naval Architecture) and B.Sc (Hull Maintenance). For Eastern Naval Command we are starting BE, B. Tech and MBA courses in the evening and we have entered into an MoU with the Air Force for offering courses in foreign languages like French, German, Japanese and Arabic.”
Oicials of Andhra University and the Navy exchanging an MoU in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *
the defence establishments “On one hand we will be embarking upon new innovative courses that will benefit the servicemen and on the other the university will be earning good revenue and the peer influence will rise to a new-level,” he said. According to him with the various tie-ups, AU will be in a position to earn close to
about ₹100 crore in the next two to three years. The university will offer close to 117 courses for the defence sector, covering disciplines ranging from engineering to sciences and humanities to law. Giving details, the ViceChancellor said, “Recently we entered into an MoU with INS Viswakarma, Naval
Diploma course in yoga According to Prof. Rao, the foreign language courses have already begun at the campus and the Indian Air Force has also signed up for a diploma course in yoga. Putting all the courses together, the university would be earning around ₹50 crore in the next two years, and it intended to scale it up to ₹100 crore subsequently, said Prof. Nageswara Rao.
These apart, the university has also tied up with the Directorate General for Resettlement in New Delhi and the university will be offering short-term diploma courses or skill enhancement courses such as diploma in yoga, fire fighting, disaster management and marine engineering. “These courses are basically aimed at retired defence personnel and the intake in each course will be about 50 and the duration will be for three months,” said the V-C. The annual budget is around ₹500 crore, and the block grant sanctioned by the State government is about ₹292 crore. This grant takes care of the annual salary and pension component of the university. The remaining is met from internal sources, such as fees collection from students and affiliated colleges. A ND-ND
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IN BRIEF
Jolt for AAP as Ghuggi quits party Can’t work under a leader like Mann who has a drinking habit, says former party convener VIKAS VASUDEVA CHANDIGARH
Blistering heat continues in UP, 44.8 in Banda LUCKNOW
Scorching heat continued at many places in Uttar Pradesh where the mercury beached the 40-degree mark in seven places. Banda was the hottest place in the State, where the mercury soared to 44.8 degrees Celsius. - PTI
Woman, two daughters found dead in Churu JAIPUR
A woman and her two daughters were found dead in mysterious circumstances in their home in Rajasthan’s Churu district, police said on Wednesday. Family members say the trio may have died after mistakenly consuming water from a container. - PTI
Lovers commit suicide in M.P. village SINGRAULI
A 19-year-old man and his 17-year-old girlfriend allegedly committed suicide in the early hours of Wednesday by hanging themselves from a tree on the outskirts of Naudihawa village in the district, a police officer said.- PTI
Cases of cholera detected in Odisha BERHAMPUR
Troubles of the beleaguered Aam Aadmi Party, which has been rocked by allegations of corruption against its national convener Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi, compounded further in neighbouring Punjab on Wednesday. Former Punjab convener and senior leader Gurpreet Singh Waraich ‘Ghuggi’ resigned from the AAP on Wednesday expressing displeasure over the manner in which he was removed as State convener. The AAP had on Monday had restructured its Punjab unit by appointing Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann as State convener and Sunam MLA Aman Arora as co-convener. “I’m resigning from the party’s primary membership. The way I was dropped from the position of State convener is unacceptable. I’m personally not against Mr. Mann, but against his appointment due to his alleged
4 injured in panther attack in Rajasthan JAIPUR
Four persons were injured after a panther attacked them in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur district. The panther entered Paalpadar village in Bichiwada area, which is close to a forest area, and injured 4 persons. PTI
YK
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drinking habit. I can’t work under such leadership,” Mr. Ghuggi told journalists here. Notably, the rejig was followed by resignation of senior leader and MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira as party spokesperson and chief whip in the Punjab Assembly. He too was allegedly upset over Mr. Mann’s appointment to the top post in the State. Mr. Ghuggi added: “Also, I
don’t understand why most powers are being concentrated in Mr. Mann’s hands. We have other leaders who are suitable for the post. This is not the same party I had joined. The AAP I see today has deviated from its principles. Volunteers, who were once the backbone of the party, are being sidelined.” “The party claims Mr. Mann was elected in a demo-
BJP MLA posts selie in front of burning houses of the poor
Accuses TMC and BJP of ‘match-ixing’
and introspection of its performance in the 2017 Punjab polls. This, Mr. Sandhu had said, should’ve been done by MPs, MLAs and volunteers in and outside Punjab. “Reorganising the party by merely changing horses without any introspection is repeating the same mistakes that resulted in the party’s debacle in the 2017 Vidhan Sabha polls. I remain committed to the party but it’s important to speak one’s mind. I hope I am proven wrong in the coming months,” the post read further. Upkar Sandhu expelled In another development, the AAP on Wednesday expelled senior party leader Upkar Singh Sandhu over alleged “anti-party activities”. Mr. Sandhu, who had unsuccessfully contested the recent Amritsar Parliamentary constituency bypolls, had opposed Mr. Mann’s appointment as State unit chief. (With PTI inputs)
‘Posted it only to inform oicials that I was at the site’ Press Trust of India
A BJP MLA in Rajasthan on Wednesday drew intense flak after he posted a selfie on Facebook taken during a fire incident in which several houses were gutted in his contituency in Bharatpur district. Bachchu Singh, who represent Bayana assembly seat, later removed the controversial picture taken in front of houses that were engulfed in flames but claimed that he had posted it only to inform officials that he was on the site. “It was not a selfie,” he insisted, when asked if it was
proper for him to have acted in such a way while he was surrounded by victims of the fire incident on Tuesday. After he was informed about the fire incident in Nagla Moroli Daang area of Bayana town, the MLA had rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. He assured the victims of all necessary help. Standing in middle of the crowd, the MLA, however, took out his mobile phone for a “selfie”, eyewitnesses said. Though many present on spot were surprised by the MLA’s action, no one spoke at that time, they said. But after he posted the
photograph on Facebook, objections came flooding.
Flayed on Facebook “This is not the time to take selfie,” one user said while another added, “It would have been better if you had poured two buckets of water to douse the fire.” The MLA initially tried to explain away but later removed the photograph. When contacted, he said, “Why would I take a selfie of such an unfortunate incident?” “It is a matter of perception. I had posted the photo to let administrative officials know that I am on the spot.”
Staff Reporter Kolkata
Ahead of its march to the State secretariat Nabanna on May 22, the State secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Surjyakanta Mishra accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “ruining the industrial prospect” of Bengal. Addressing a party rally in Central Kolkata on Wednesday Mr. Mishra said that “if industrialisation has to be ushered in Bengal, then the Chief Minister has to be ousted from Nabanna." As for the ongoing investigation by Central agencies in the chit fund scam and the Narada cash on camera case Mr. Mishra accused the Trinamool Congres and Bharatiya Janata Party of indulging in “match fixing” over the issue. “For the last three years we have only seen State Ministers and MPS getting in
State secretary of CPI(M) Surjyakanta Mishra *
and out of jail. But nothing substantial has happened so far,” he said. The march to the State Secretariat Nabanna in Howrah district is being organised by CPI-M’s farmer’s wing Krishak Sabha along with the other Left parties including those outside the Left Front.
Odisha Cong trying to regain lost ground Senior party leaders from the State met Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday ership in the State to prevent further damage to the organisation.
Prafulla Das
Jaipur
Two cases of cholera has been detected in Kabisurya Nagar town of Odisha’s Ganjam district. The disease is believed to have surfaced due to consumption of contaminated water. - PTI
AAP turmoil: Senior AAP leader Gurpreet Singh ‘Ghuggi’ announcing his resignation from the party in Chandigarh on Wednesday. AKHILESH KUMAR
cratic manner after consulting MLAs, zone in-charges, etc., and conducting a poll. But I want to ask [AAP national convener] Mr. Kejriwal why the party didn’t invite all candidates who had contested the Assembly polls and volunteers to participate in the voting exercise. The party invited members to vote based on a pick and choose policy,” he alleged, adding that the election process for choosing the new State chief was an eyewash. Raising apprehensions on the re-structuring of the party in Punjab, senior leader Kanwar Sandhu, who is in Canada, had said in a Facebook post on Tuesday: “In my view, instead of rejuvenating and strengthening the Punjab unit of the AAP, the manner of its reorganisation on May 8 [Monday] could end up weakening it.” He had said that the party’s exercise should’ve been preceded by stocktaking, fixing of responsibility
Remove Mamata to bring industry: CPI(M)
Bhubaneswar
With the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Biju Janata Dal busy trying to strengthen their position in Odisha, the Congress is fighting to regain its past glory, with the party waiting for the appointment of a new Pradesh Congress president in the State. The party, which remained a divided house before the panchayat polls were held in February this year, has not taken up any issue during the past two months, primarily due to infighting and lack of coordination among its leaders. A large group of senior Congress leaders from the State met Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi in
Rahul Gandhi
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New Delhi on Monday. A few other leaders are also likely to meet Mr Gandhi soon. Although most of them have remained tightlipped about the discussions they had with Mr. Gandhi, it is learnt that they have sought a change in the party’s lead-
Strong support base They are of the view that their party still has a strong support base in rural parts of the State, unlike the BJP, and making the party strong under a new leader should be the main agenda. According to political analysts, if the Congress remains a divided house, the BJP will continue its efforts to strengthen its base. BJP national president Amit Shah is set to visit Odisha again next month to interact with party workers about expanding their party’s base in the State. The saffron party has
been striving hard to induct more leaders and workers of both the Congress and the BJD. The BJD, which suffered a jolt in the rural polls and won 56% of the Zilla Parishad seats in the State, is trying its best to regain lost ground. Even though the BJD has been inducting leaders and workers of other parties, several of its leaders and workers have also joined the saffron party in recent weeks. The party has been witnessing dissidence in the aftermath of the panchayat elections. The Cabinet reshuffle a few days ago has only added to its problems, thereby opening more political space for the BJP.
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IN BRIEF
Honoured to be here, says Bieber Supreme Court plans to go paperless On his maiden tour, Canadian pop sensation whips up fan frenzy Kennith Rosario Mumbai
Liquor should not reach Bihar: Nitish Kumar
New system allows litigants to ile cases digitally Legal Correspondent
PATNA
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday held a high level meeting here to review various aspects for strict implementation of complete prohibition in the State. The State government had enforced a complete prohibition on April 5, 2016. PTI
Senior NCP leader A.T. Pawar no more MUMBAI
Senior NCP leader and former Maharashtra Minister Arjun Tulshiram Pawar passed away here on Wednesday after a prolonged illness. Pawar, 80, was under treatment at the Bombay Hospital where he breathed his last, NCP sources said. He was the minister of state for tribal welfare in the Congress—NCP government led by Vilasrao Deshmukh in 1999. PTI
Civic officer attacked by hawkers in Thane
NEW DELHI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated a significant step being taken by the Supreme Court: one that will take it from a being a paper court to becoming a digital court. The Integrated Case Management Information System (ICMIS) will allow a litigant to digitally file a case and watch its progress on a realtime basis. The system will help litigants access data and retrieve information online. It will be a step towards a paperless Supreme Court. Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar said he proposed to integrate the system with all the 24 High Courts and the subordinate courts. It would help usher in transparency, reduce manipulation and help the litigant track the progress of a case on a realtime basis.
MUMBAI
A senior civic officer in Thane suffered serious injuries after he was attacked by hawkers on Wednesday evening, the police said. Deputy Municipal Commissioner Sandeep Malvi was beaten up when he was supervising a drive launched by the civic body. PTI
No break The Chief Justice said he had urged High Court judges to work for a few days during the summer break. The Supreme Court has lined up two Constitution Benches for hearing the triple talaq issue and the is-
Landmark move: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chief Justice of India Justice J.S. Khehar in New Delhi on Wednesday. V. SUDERSHAN
You know you’re in a Justin Bieber concert when a 14year-old girl in the crowd yelps, “I’ve been waiting to see Justin for seven years.” The Canadian pop sensation made his Indian debut performance at DY Patil Stadium, Nerul, on Wednesday evening, wearing a white Tshirt, black shorts, and a pair of blue sneakers. As the show progressed, he changed into a red jersey. As choppers flew over the venue, the audience were left guessing which one was carrying the singer before he emerged from below the stage.
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sue whether right to privacy of users would be violated by the contract entered into between WhatsApp and Facebook in 2016. Besides, a vacation bench would be hearing urgent matters through the entire duration of the summer vacation till the first week of July. Over 61,000 cases are pending in the apex court, while the 24 High Courts have 38.70 lakh pending cases, government data shows. Addressing the gathering, Mr. Modi said the decision of the Supreme Court and the High Courts to sit during the summer break would help
the poor get justice. “I thank them for this,” he said.
Green cause too The Prime Minister said a paperless approach would be a boon to both litigants and the environment. Millions of litres of water and thousands of trees can be saved. Ten litres of water was used to make one A4 size paper, he said. Referring to the demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes, he said it was time people moved on to digital transactions so that the money saved could be used to build homes for the poor and new schools.
Excitement at its peak The excitement reached its peak as Bieber addressed the crowd saying, “What a beautiful night tonight. Honoured to be here. You guys are the coolest. Hope you’re ready to have the best night.” The 23-year-old sang singles from his latest album Purpose, including hits like ‘Love Yourself ’, ‘Cold Water’, and ‘Where Are Ü Now’. The show was part of his Purpose Tour, which includes performances in other Asian cities like Dubai and Tel Aviv. Mumbai’s humidity caught the singer off guard, who stopped midway during the performance of ‘Cold
Wait is over: A fan kisses a poster of Canadian popstar Justin Bieber outside D.Y. Patil stadium at Nerul in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday. VIVEK BENDRE *
Water’ to tune his guitar. He was also seen periodically exiting the stage and entering with a towel, a bandana, and bottles of water.
Patient crowd The concert was attended by a stadium full of people comprising mostly of teens and pre-teens along with their parents. The crowd, which
was let in by 4 p.m. waited patiently till 8 p.m. for the artist to perform. Keeping them entertained were DJ Zaeden and Alan Walker, Norwegian DJ best known for his single ‘Faded’. Model and actor Elarica Johnson, best known for her role in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, flagged off the show.
Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale said 500 security personnel along with 25 officers had been deployed to ensure security at the stadium, with drone cameras keeping a constant watch. Mr. Bieber wrapped up his performance with his hit single ‘Sorry’, and a promise to return to India.
Elephant dies after being Puducherry landmark in danger hit by train in Bengal
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Long-overdue restoration has not started, as government departments wrangle
Complaint iled against driver of Siliguri-Katihar Express Staff Reporter KOLKATA
An elephant was killed after being hit by a train in the Naxalbari block of Darjeeling district on Wednesday. The incident took place near the Bagdogra town around 4 a.m., when the tusker was hit from behind by the Katihar-bound Intercity Express from Siliguri. The carcass was discovered by locals who informed the forest officials. They reached the spot at around 6 a.m. Range officer of the Bagdogra elephant squad Pemba Sherpa said, “A police complaint was lodged
Villagers and forest staf near the carcass of the elephant near Siliguri on Wednesday. AFP *
against the train driver.. We will also ask the Railways about the speed limit for train in the area.” Mr. Sherpa added that an
elephant herd has been moving around the area recently but, “it seems that the tusker was not a member of the herd.”
S. Prasad Puducherry
The iconic 181-year-old Old Lighthouse on the city’s Beach Promenade is in urgent need of restoration. The Union Finance Ministry has approved the work, but it has been held up while government departments decide how to go about it. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) report on the building says, “The lime plaster had peeled away on the exterior with bricks exposed on the façade. Vegetation had grown on the building and the railings surrounding the rotating beam have been damaged. The wooden rafters on the first floor were also
Built by the French in 1836, the lighthouse was the irst on the Coromandel Coast. T. SINGARAVELOU *
damaged.”
Gathering dust Since 2009, a proposal to convert the structure into a museum tracing the rich
maritime history of the Coromandel Coast has been gathering dust. Sources say that the National Centre for Safety of Heritage Structures (NCSHS)
had already submitted a report in March, recommending immediate restoration. The Puducherry government has suggested that the Department of Customs and Central Excise — which controls the building and has offices in it — hand over the building so that work could begin, and promised to provide it with alternative offices. Meanwhile, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) wants the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to handle the restoration. Despite a series of meetings, no progress has been made. A joint meeting will be convened, with
NCSHS, ASI, CPWD and the Customs and Excise Department.
Heritage site The 27-metre high structure was the first lighthouse on the Coromandel Coast, and is a Grade-I listed heritage building, one among 21 notified by the Union Territory as protected and to be restored. The tower originally had a square base, with a room for the lighthouse keeper and an inner staircase leading to the top. Ashok Panda of INTACH says that the beacon was initially from 12 oil lamps magnified by lenses and mirrors, and was visible for 17 miles.
‘We aim to increase number of Indian students in France’ Shreya Ramachandran Mumbai
Following the election of Emmanuel Macron as France’s new President, the Consul General of France in Mumbai, Yves Perrin, said his country was open to hosting more Indian students. “We remain confident that student mobility between France and India
CM YK
will continue to prosper and we expect the number of Indian students coming to our country to grow in the coming years,” Mr. Perrin said in a statement. In the run-up to the presidential election, many feared that far-right candidate Marine Le Pen would result in anti-immigration laws being tightened.
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8 EDITORIAL
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017
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Triple talaq and the Constitution The Supreme Court cannot decide this case without engaging in a series of complex and diicult choices
The power of two Karnataka’s political future will hinge on how the BJP and Congress deal with factionalism
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hen elections draw near, rivalries within parties intensify. As Karnataka prepares for next year’s Assembly poll, front-line leaders of the two principal contenders for power, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, have begun pressuring their national leaderships for a bigger say in ticket distribution and in the election campaign. In the BJP, the factional ight is between the State unit president and former Chief Minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa, and senior leader K.S. Eshwarappa. Mr. Yeddyurappa, who managed to extricate himself from the legal tangles that arose out of corruption cases, is the frontrunner for the chief minister’s post in case the BJP wins. But when Mr. Eshwarappa criticises the “unilateral style” of Mr. Yeddyurappa, he strikes a chord with many in the second line of the party. The BJP, which had lost heavily when Mr. Yeddyurappa broke away from the party before the last Assembly election, did well on his return in the Lok Sabha election three years ago. The party is therefore in no mood to jettison the former Chief Minister; Mr. Eshwarappa cannot hope for much more than a prominent role as second iddle. Mr. Yeddyurappa retained the upper hand during the State executive of the party in Mysuru, even if his rival made a deiant appearance. In the absence of any encouragement from the national leadership, Mr. Eshwarappa has turned more conciliatory. But the issures run deep and cannot be easily plastered over. Mr. Eshwarappa and his Sangolli Rayanna Brigade, a supposedly apolitical platform of Dalits and Backward Classes, will continue to exercise pressure on the chief ministerial aspirant. In the Congress too, the leadership issue is more or less settled. Denying Chief Minister Siddaramaiah another shot at power would only weaken the party further. In any case, in the latest round of by-elections he held his own against a marauding BJP. But factional pressures and caste dynamics are in full play as the process of identifying a person for the post of president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee rolls on. After replacing former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh with K.C. Venugopal as the national leader in charge of afairs in Karnataka, the Congress is trying to plug the weakness in the organisational structure and bring together all factions. But there is simply no way to please everybody. Even if Mr. Siddaramaiah’s rivals are willing to reluctantly accept his candidature for chief ministership, they are likely to want someone who could stand up to him as the next KPCC president. The Congress leadership may see a beneit in having two power centres. Karnataka 2018 might turn out to be a ight between Mr. Yeddyurappa and Mr. Siddaramaiah, but the election will be won and lost on how those lower down the hierarchy pull their weight.
gautam bhatia he Supreme Court today will begin hearing arguments in Shayara Bano v. Union of India, which has popularly come to be known as the “triple talaq case”. This case, in which the constitutional validity of certain practices of Muslim personal law such as triple talaq, polygamy, and nikah halala has been challenged, has created political controversy across the spectrum. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has warned secular authorities against interfering with religious law. On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lent his support to the Muslim women ighting against the practice of triple talaq. One would expect the judges of the Supreme Court to adjudicate the constitutional validity of triple talaq (and, if they choose, of the other practices under question as well) detached from the political debate, and strictly in accordance with law. A closer look reveals, however, that the court cannot decide this case without engaging in a series of complex and diicult choices. In particular, the court will have to decide irst whether to adjudicate the case in a narrow manner, which stops at assessing the relationship between triple talaq and Muslim personal law, of whether to undertake a broader approach, and ask whether personal law can be subject to the Constitution at all.
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The narrow view Proponents of the irst view — which include some of the interveners before the court — invite the judges to hold that triple talaq is invalid because it has no sanction in Muslim personal law. In response to the AIMPLB’s claim that the state has no right to interfere in the per-
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he election of the moderate Moon Jae-in as South Korea’s President marks a decisive break from the bitter divisions and scandals that unsettled the country’s administrative and political equilibrium in recent months. Mr. Moon won 41% of the vote, almost double that of his nearest rival. In the wake of the polarising tenure of his predecessor, Park Geun-hye, who was ousted through the impeachment route, he appeared conciliatory during the election campaign, emphasising the need to move on. Indications of Mr. Moon’s willingness to engage with the troubling issues in the region came after he was sworn in on Wednesday, when he declared his intention to visit Pyongyang and hold discussions with Washington, Beijing and Tokyo. With this, the veteran human rights lawyer struck a positive note for the kind of multilateralism required to lower tensions in the Korean peninsula. The bold announcement should allay the apprehensions of sceptics who would have assumed that Mr. Moon may be rather soft towards the North, as well as those who feared that engaging Pyongyang could alienate the U.S. The fact remains that any realistic prospect of containing North Korea’s nuclear posturing depends on two inter-related factors: marginalising the hawks in Washington and impressing upon Kim Jong-un’s regime the economic and political consequences of defying multilateral norms. Mr. Moon’s other big regional challenge is the U.S.backed installation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system on South Korean soil. Interception of North Korea’s increasingly sophisticated missile launches is behind this, but the development has raised concerns in Beijing, which thinks the THAAD radar could undermine its own defence infrastructure. Assuaging such Chinese fears will not be easy and Beijing would like nothing less than the complete withdrawal of the defence shield. Although Mr. Moon has promised to renegotiate the THAAD installation, it is premature to speculate on Washington’s response. But a more rapid restoration of cultural, tourism and trade relations between Seoul and Beijing appears possible given Mr. Moon’s accommodative stance. Peaceful coexistence is imperative among neighbours, a consideration that will hopefully prevail over other factors. At home, Seoul has in recent months been rocked by the inluence-peddling scandal involving Ms. Park and executives from top business houses, leading to her eventual ouster. After rallying a large number of citizens behind the unprecedented protests, the President has raised expectations of a more transparent and accountable corporate governance culture in South Korea’s conventional chaebol system of family-owned businesses. In realising that unenviable task, Mr. Moon can count on a demonstrably vibrant and independent judiciary and an efective parliament. It will not be smooth sailing, but there is reason for hope. CM YK
stantaneous triple talaq, or gone so far as to say that it is not a part of Muslim personal law. Such an outcome would be an easy one for the court to achieve, and of a piece with decades of consistent jurisprudence. Historically, the Supreme Court has often “interpreted” or “modiied” elements of religion to conform to a modernist, progressive world view, while holding that such its interpretation is the true understanding of what the religion actually commands. Such judicial intervention has primarily — but by no means exclusively — been in the domain of Hindu law. In the words of one scholar, instead of subjecting religion to external norms (such as those prescribed by the Constitution), the court has attempted to reform religion from within. Of course, there is a very basic question here about the court’s competence and legitimacy to undertake such a task. However, while the narrow view would be the easy and natural path for the court to take, it would also entail missing a signiicant opportunity.
The broad view There is a broader, almost radical, path that the court might chart. It might hold that controversies such as whether triple talaq is sanctioned by the Islamic faith raise questions that a court cannot, or should not, attempt to address. Far from entering the thicket of personal laws, the court should simply ask whether a challenged practice of personal law violates anyone’s
the Bombay High Court treated the Khoja community as Muslim, despite their own protestations that they identiied neither with Muslims, nor with Hindus. It was perhaps for this reason that the British administrator Elphinstone famously observed that “we ought not to be guided by Hindu law, which is a new introduction of our own.”
The choice Ultimately, the choice between the court is a stark one. Ever since the Narasu Appa Mali case, there has been a domain of law — i.e., uncodiied personal law — that has simply been deemed to be beyond the realm of the Constitution, and beyond the scrutiny of constitutional norms such as equality, freedom of conscience, and the right to personal liberty. Not only has this created a paradoxical situation where, as long as personal laws are uncodiied, they escape constitutional scrutiny, but the moment they are legislated by the state (as large parts of Hindu laws were in the 1950s), they become subject to the Constitution; but it also seems to be entirely at odds with the basic principles of a republican democracy governed by a secular Constitution. There is no doubt that triple talaq violates women’s rights to equality and freedom, including freedom within the marriage, and should be invalidated by the Supreme Court. The larger question, however, is whether the court will stick to its old, narrow, colonial-inluenced jurisprudence, and strike down triple talaq while nonetheless upholding a body of law that answers not the Constitution, but to dominant and powerful voices within separate communities; or will it, in 2017, change course, and hold that no body of law (or rather, no body of prescriptions that carries all the badges and incidents of law) can claim a higher source of authority than the Constitution of India? Gautam Bhatia is a Delhi-based lawyer
Navigating the new silk road China’s Belt and Road Initiative relects global trends and a new paradigm which India can support and shape der dispute would be a historic mistake.
A new day in Seoul South Korea’s new president faces many challenges, but ofers a reason for hope
sonal, religious domain, they respond that the religious domain, properly understood, does not, and has never, allowed for triple talaq. They draw a distinction between instantaneous talaq, or talaq-i-bidat (where divorce is complete when “talaq” is uttered three times in succession) with talaq ahasan, which requires a 90-day period of abstinence after the pronouncement, and talaq hasan, which requires a one-month-long abstinence gap between utterances. The latter two are part of Islamic personal law, but the irst one is not. Relying upon the Supreme Court’s own judgments, they point out that only those features of a religion are constitutionally protected which are “integral” or “essential” parts of it. There is no evidence to show that talaq-i-bidat constitutes an integral part of the Islamic faith and, consequently, it does not deserve constitutional protection. On this view, the Supreme Court need not go into tangled and messy questions involving personal law and the Constitution; it can decide the question on its own terms. Although this would involve secular judges laying down the law on what Islam does or does not consider an essential religious practice, the Supreme Court has been engaging in such religious inquiry at least since 1966, and it is too late in the day to now say that it cannot, or should not. In fact, the Supreme Court itself, in a number of cases, has either doubted the validity of in-
fundamental rights. This approach, however, runs into one signiicant problem. In order to subject triple talaq — as a claimed aspect of Muslim personal law — to constitutional norms, the court must irst overrule a 1951 judgment of the Bombay High Court (subsequently airmed by the Supreme Court in another case) called State of Bombay v. Narasu Appa Mali. In that case, Justices Chagla and Gajendragadkar held that uncodiied personal laws may not be scrutinised for fundamental rights violations. They did so on the technical reasoning that Article 13 of the Constitution subjected only “laws” and “laws in force” to the scrutiny of fundamental rights, and that “personal laws” are neither “laws” for this purpose, nor “laws in force”. Beneath this technical reasoning, however, was a deeper assumption: a distinction between law, as created by the state or its agencies through acts of legislation on the one hand, and “personal law”, which had its source in the scriptures, and in non-state bodies for interpretation and enforcement, on the other. This view, however, sufers from being historically inaccurate. There does not exist — and there probably never existed — a “pure” domain of personal law, which has its source in scriptures (the Koran for Muslims, or the shastras for Hindus) independent and untouched by state inluence. The colonial courts of the British empire, in fact, played an active role in both constructing and shaping what came to be deined as personal law. They did this through selection of “authentic sources” (to refer to and cite in their judgments), through creating a hotchpotch amalgamation of common law principles and what they perceived to be ancient Hindu (or Muslim) personal law, and by imposing binary categories upon luid and changing identities. In many cases, this led to a rigidiication and ossiication of the dynamic aspects of religion. It is now well-known, for instance, that in the famous Aga Khan case in 1866,
mukul sanwal
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ill Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprise everyone and participate in China’s ‘Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation’ which begins on May 14? That would be the kind of bold initiative he took in inviting leaders of our neighbouring countries to his swearing-in in 2014, but with far greater signiicance. It would also be an appropriate response to China’s recent fourpoint initiative and test its intent. China has suggested starting negotiations on a ‘China India Treaty of Good Neighbours and Friendly Cooperation’, restarting negotiations on the China-India Free Trade Agreement, striving for an early harvest on the border issue and actively exploring the feasibility of aligning China’s ‘One Belt One Road Initiative’ (OBOR) and India’s ‘Act East Policy’. To repeat Nehru’s outright rejection in 1960 of Zhou Enlai’s proposal to settle the bor-
With the long term in mind India’s response should be based on its long-term interest and not short-term concerns. First, treat the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — which already has contracts of over $1 trillion covering over 60 countries — as enlarging areas of cooperation; and push for India as the southern node and a ‘Digital Asia’. India cannot be a $10 trillion economy by 2032 without integrating itself with the growing Asian market and its supply, manufacturing and market networks. Second, complementary to China’s Initiative, develop common standards with the fastest growing economies in Asia that are on the periphery of the B&R Initiative, such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia, to facilitate trade, investment and business engagement. Third, ofer a new cooperation framework in South Asia around global challenges. For example, sharing meteorological reports, region speciic climate research and the ‘Aadhaar’ digital experience, despite on-going security concerns. Fourth, thought leadership
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Reining in Karnan The way the Justice Karnan case has turned out reminds one regrettably of the oftquoted Shakespearean dictum, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”. Even if one sets aside Justice Karnan’s ‘aberrant behaviour’ and his ‘linging irresponsible charges of corruption against several High Court judges’, one cannot gloss over the perception created that the judiciary’s Augean stables need cleaning. Some of the cases of corruption involving those who are high proile make one believe what the judge has been trying to put across. Many in the judiciary do not speak out for fear of contempt of court (Editorial – “The recalcitrant judge”, May 10). C. Lovidason, Thiruvananthapuram
Justice Karnan was given a long rope by the Supreme Court to course correct ■
provides an avenue to increasing global inluence. Hinduism and Buddhism spread to East and South-East Asia with commerce and an urbanising Asia and world, and needs a new organising principle around shared prosperity — principles that dominated India till 1800 making it the world’s richest country for over two millennia.
Economy as strength India has the potential to be the second largest world economy and Mr. Modi’s participation in the Forum will not be as just one of the 28 leaders and 110 participating countries but as a partner shaping the changing world order.
The bonhomie around the Donald Trump-Xi Jinping meet in Mara-Lago, U.S., in April is a pointer to how the global order changes. A 100-day plan to balance trade was a key outcome here and the Forum has the potential to do the same for the Asian giants. Change also raises the question whether existing approaches, institutions and rules are the best way of organising international relations. Coordination between the major powers is emerging as the best way of global governance in a multi-polar world. Despite their territorial dispute, strategic diferences and military deployment in the South China Sea, China and Japan have just agreed to strengthen inancial cooperation, and the Forum could provide an impetus to settling the border dispute between India and China. The BRI seeks “complementarities between a countries’ own development strategy and that of others”, though its goals have yet to be formalised, and India would lend a powerful voice to a strategy and structure that ensures common goals will not be neglected.
Mukul Sanwal is former Director, United Nations
Letters emailed to
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himself. But his belligerence against and disdain for the top court was persistent. To sentence him before his retirement is not a blemish on judiciary. Had the Supreme Court bench not passed such an order, it would have sowed the seeds of doubt in our minds on whether the allegations of corruption raised by Justice Karnan were true. In a democracy, the judiciary, the executive and the legislature are coexistent. When one wing is in diiculty, the other two should step in. Justice Karnan should have also come forward to show what welfare measures were taken by him for the uplift of Dalits.
order to address delinquency in the higher judiciary. I recall a 2004 article by Rajeev Dhavan in The Hindu that laid stress on the need for a mechanism to deal with errant judges. The behaviour and attitude of Justice Karnan, even taking shelter under his caste, say a lot about his way of functioning. Gone are the days when one led by example. I cite the example of a British judge, Lord Denning, who resigned after his book, What Next in the Law, created an uproar after he argued that all British citizens were no longer qualiied to serve on juries because “the English are no longer a homogeneous race”.
R. Krishnamachary,
Suddapalli Bhaskara Rao,
Chennai
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
The case once again reinforces the basic fact that there is a lack of a mechanism to discipline such judges outside the impeachment process in
A spark for science
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Countries are now gaining inluence more through the strength of their economy than the might of the military. However, analysts in India have yet to recognise these global trends and continue to see the re-emergence of China through a security prism. Calls for new alliances with Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan “to create a two-front dilemma for our western neighbo[u]rs, but also encirclement of our northern neighbo[u]r from the west” ignore the strategic impact of the BRI which all countries in Asia, except Japan, embrace and require new approaches to secure our own re-emergence. As a continental power, China is knitting together the Asian market not only with roads, rail, ports and ibre optics but also through currency exchange, standards, shifting of industry and common approaches to intellectual property rights. As the world economy is expected to triple by 2050, Asia will again have half of global wealth. China is seeking to ill the vacuum following the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Trans-Paciic Partnership, and India should add elements to it that serve its national interest as part of its vision of the ‘Asian Century’.
SPARK, or Sustainable Progress through Application of Research and Knowledge, is a good idea if it is directed at encouraging
research, design and development in the industrial/private sector (May 10). Very roughly, the ratio of R&D eforts as shared between the government and private sector is 4:1. This should be reversed to 1:4, which means that the private sector spend on R&D must go up by a factor of 16. Otherwise, science in India will progress as it has always — over-managed and underperforming (“Duplication isn’t synergy”, May 10). Gangan Prathap, Thiruvananthapuram
Triple talaq Triple talaq is not just anachronistic, but violative of the spirit of the Koranic principle of justice and equality between genders (The Wednesday interview Salman Khurshid, May 10). Most Muslim countries have discarded it and sections within Indian Muslims do not follow it. Insistence on it owes itself to fear that one
compromise would lead to another, leading to the complete dilution of the identity of the community. Similarly, when the BJP lends support to the issue, it does not do it out of any genuine concern for justice for Muslim women. It has never spoken against customs such as maitri karar or khap panchayats. In fact I found the party’s
manifesto for the Assembly elections in Meghalaya to be promising continuation of customary laws for the majority tribals in that State, and not the Uniform Civil Code which it never tires of demanding elsewhere. M. A. Siraj, Bengaluru
more letters online: www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/
corrections & clarifications: A front-page story, “ICJ stays sentence in Jadhav case” (May 10, 2017), erroneously referred to the “Geneva convention that deals with Consular relations”. Actually, it is the Vienna convention. The opening paragraph of “IndiGo to spread its wings into regional aviation market soon” (Business page, May 10, 2017) erroneously said “IndiGo’s fourth-quarter proit rose 25% to 440 crore”. It should have said declined. Late correction: It was erroneously stated in the obituary report, “The Jewish bahu of Anand Bhavan — Fori Nehru (1908 2017)” — (April 26, 2017), that Fori was the founder of the Cottage Industries Emporium. As pointed out by a reader, a few other people including Subhadra Joshi, Indira Gandhi, and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay were part of it in its early days. The report referred to a conversation at Dharamshala. It should have been Kasauli. 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 A ND-ND
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THE HINDU
OPED 9
NOIDA/DELHI
THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017
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By choosing an open vision amid the rise of exclusivism, France has saved the Fifth Republic from itself
The solution to the AAP’s problems lies in politics, not wild accusations about EVMs
Sriram Lakshman May 8, the morning after the second round of France’s presidential elections, marked a new beginning for the country, in much the same way it did 72 years ago on Victory in Europe Day when the Second World War ended. With the election of Emmanuel Macron, who beat Marine Le Pen of the Front National (FN) by a margin of more than 30 percentage points, France has been saved — this time from itself. Mr. Macron now stands at the threshold of an opportunity to bring change and greater unity to a country that is perceived by its people as having a stagnant economy, an ineffective political class and growing social divisions. Outgoing president Francois Hollande did not capitalise on a similar opportunity five years ago. Having promised to heal a divided country and change Europe, Mr. Hollande’s presidency was marked by scandals, terrorist attacks and a betrayal of his Socialist base. He leaves office with record low approval ratings. Only time will tell whether France is now at another Hollande moment or something quite different.
Far from won While Mr. Macron may have secured 66% of the vote, France remains far from won. First, Mr. Macron’s share was only about 44% when abstentions and blank votes are accounted for. Second, Ms. Le Pen represented an extreme right ideology, yet won the approval of nearly 11 million people — an alarming development for any liberal democracy, more so for France. The last time the FN made it to the final round was in 2002, when JeanMarie Le Pen, Ms. Le Pen’s father, faced and lost to right wing Jacques Chirac in the run-off. So outlandish was the notion that a far-right candidate could make it that far, it was politically acceptable and viable for Mr. Chirac to refuse to debate Mr. Le Pen and still win by a margin of more than 65 points. However, things have changed dramatically since then — Ms. Le Pen has garnered almost twice as much of the vote share as her father did in 2002.
Ms. Le Pen has been more successful, partly because she has ostensibly distanced herself from the xenophobic, anti-Semitic and homophobic views of Mr. Le Pen. Not only did she expel her father from the party, she brought her openly gay adviser Florian Philippot to its centre and also progressively softened her tone on the European Union (EU). On Sunday night, Steeve Briois, the party’s interim president, said it was considering a name change as it prepares to fight the National Assembly elections in June — a final touch in its image makeover The FN may change its name but in much of its DNA is a thuggery based on a notion of racial superiority. Some French voters endorse the viewpoint and hence support it. However, others have voted for the FN because of the bundling of its ideology with promises to protect voters from globalisation, Europeanisation and a loss of a distinct French identity. Bundling, a concept borrowed from economics, involves the selling of several products as a package when the consumer is really interested in just one. In small but quick steps, the FN has brought under its umbrella an increasing number of voters who felt displaced by the EU and globalisation. Much of Mr. Macron’s work will therefore involve an unbundling of these issues, with a consequent separation of the underlying electoral choices, so that he can achieve his stated aim of drawing a divided France back from the extremes. For this, he will have to do three things: kickstart the French economy; effect a reorganisation of the European Union and the Eurozone (the group of 19 countries that uses the euro);
and promote a strong and inclusive vision of what it means to be French. The French economy is growing at about 1.2% annually, significantly slower than either Germany or the single-currency eurozone as a whole. Unemployment is high, just under 10%, and concentrated among the young — a quarter of those in the age group of 15-24 years are unemployed. Mr. Macron, in a nod to both the left and the right, plans to invest €50 billion over five years in various sectors to create employment; and save €60 billion by not filling 1,20,000 public sector vacancies as civil servants retire. He also plans to make the labour market more fluid by making it easier to hire and fire people, reform the tax and pension systems and invest in training. Addressing issues with the domestic economy goes hand in hand with Eurozone issues, as the EU is itself in an existential crisis and its arrangements do not work for all, especially those who have been hardest hit by austerity measures, such as the Greeks. The idea of a union was a bold experiment in tying together the destinies of European countries that had been ravaged by two wars. That pulling out of the EU is costly and disruptive, and pulling out of the euro even more so, is obvious and expected, because that was part of the European project’s design. However, the Eurozone will have to start moving towards greater monetary and (ultimately) fiscal union or it will have to be disbanded. Mr. Macron seems to understand this and has proposed a type of European federalism. His plans include a Eurozone budget and parliament. Nobel laureate and economist Joseph Stiglitz has argued that a
closer monetary union will involve adjustments — such as countries with trade surplus like Germany inflating their economies. Mr. Macron has started his relationship with Germany on a promising note, but if he is not able to convince Germany and other Eurozone partners to move towards closer union, which will involve coordinated adjustments on their part, it may be time for all partners to question the raison d’etre and future of the euro. Failure to either relaunch the domestic economy or take the Eurozone out of its current stasis could mean Mr. Macron not winning a second term. However, prior to any of this, Mr. Macron will need to get a majority in the National Assembly which goes to the polls in June. This can happen either by his party winning a majority alone or with others, through a post-poll coalition. Else, he will have to enter into a situation called ‘cohabitation’ with a Prime Minister from a different party, one that could potentially derail his programme. The mainstream parties, the Republicans and the Socialist Party, have already finalised their lists. Mr. Macron’s movement, now called La République En Marche!, and that of JeanLuc Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise are finalising theirs. However, the battle has already begun — unions have started taking out protests against Mr. Macron’s proposed labour law changes While critics have called Mr. Macron “a little bit left and a little bit right” (in terms of his economic policies, his social policies are liberal and therefore aligned with the left) and criticised him for not choosing one over the other, this is perhaps exactly what the country needs — something for everyone to heal deep divisions. The old ways have not worked and have pushed the country further right where a sinister ideology has lurked. Although France has flirted with a dangerous extreme, it has finally chosen an inclusive, hopeful, generous and open vision for itself. At a time when there is a leadership vacuum in the democratic world, where nativist and exclusivist ideologies are rebranding themselves as patriotic and populist — including in two significant democracies, India and the United States — France can provide a strong counter-narrative and leadership to a world in great need of it.
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Srinivasan Ramani In a dramatic session in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAM) legislator Saurabh Bhardwaj used an electronic voting machine (EVM) prototype to highlight a possible hacking of the actual EVM used by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The model used by Mr. Bhardwaj had a similar look and feel to the actual EVM and had its own ballot and control units. It registered votes for candidates (parties in the prototype as opposed to candidates with symbols in the ECI-EVMs) and allowed for the ballot unit to display total votes polled by each candidates tallied at the end of polling. Mr. Bhardwaj also showed that the use of malicious code (“secret codes”) by a voter affiliated to a certain party could fix the results to be different from the actual tally and in favour of that party and, ergo, demonstrated that the machine could be hacked. He went on to allude that this is how EVMs are being hacked in the country and that it is easily possible to do the same with the ECI’s EVMs.
Different codes In reality, the ECI’s EVM does not allow for any trojan horse (malicious code) enabled key presses. Only one key press on the ballot unit is allowed during the act of voting and recognised by the control unit, so the use of a secret code to lock the tally in favour of a party as alleged by the demonstration does not hold true in the case of the ECI’s EVM. Mr. Bhardwaj later claimed in his presentation that a simple change of the “motherboard” in the ECI’s EVM was enough to render the manipulations of the kind he demonstrated as possible. In other words, if the ECI’s EVM was manipulated by the change of its microcontroller, it could function in the manner he demonstrated. But for that to happen, a large-scale operation of changing the microcontroller embedded in every EVM to be used in an election is required, and this is only possible if there is direct collusion between the ECI authorities who are in charge of storage, commissioning and allocation (which is done via several stages of randomisation) and the political party that is orchestrating this mass fraud. That is, every administrative safeguard instituted by the ECI would have to deliberately violated by its own officials to allow for the manipulation that Mr. Bhardwaj implied is possible through his demonstration. In media interviews, he went on to claim that the ECI as an authority is in charge of
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only certain aspects of safekeeping and monitoring of EVMs and that many others — such as procurement of microcontrollers from abroad, calibration of machines — are done externally, and it is in these stages that the manipulation can be done beforehand. But this again negates the fact that quality control checks are done during and after manufacture, and besides these, the ECI's new models (M2 and M3) prevent tamper-proofing by time-stamping key presses and provide for encryptions and tracking software that handle EVM logistics. In other words, the AAP’s EVM-hacking demonstration did nothing to raise any relevant questions about the technical and procedural safeguards that are already in place and set by the ECI. It seemed more like an amateur-hour display of the use of a random microcontroller. Theatrics in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies are not new. But this display by the AAP was qualitatively different. The party has been under tremendous strain recently to explain its underwhelming performances in Assembly elections in Punjab and Goa and the municipal polls in Delhi. It has taken the easy way out (as have other parties such as the Bahujan Samaj Party) to ascribe this performance to technological fault through EVM manipulation. The EVM, just as any other machine, needs to constantly evolve in order to remain secure and workable under any condition while at the same time keeping its operations simple. The introduction of the VVPAT should enable another layer of accountability to the EVM. To seek to improve the use of EVMs and to secure them better is one thing; to call them faulty machines which are being deliberately manipulated by a pliant system that is in cahoots with dominant political actors is another, considering the experience of its use for the past two decades and repeated clarifications and improvements made to them by the ECI. This amounts to delegitimising the entire system of an accountable and independent ECI that conducts elections with the participation of other administrative actors as watchdogs and checks over it. The AAP is playing a dangerous game by doing this. The answers to the present stasis in the AAP’s electoral growth lie in the application of its politics and not in technology.
[email protected]
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Trump’s Nixon moment?
FIFTY YEARS AGO MAY 11, 2017
‘Party, Govt. not independent of each other’
His iring of the FBI head is reminiscent of the 1973 ‘Saturday Night Massacre’
The Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi said that the ruling party and the Government were one and it did not make sense to her why newspapers were trying to make out that the two were independent of each other. Mrs. Gandhi, who was speaking at a function organised by the Foreign Correspondents Association, said, “the party cannot last without the Government, nor could the Government last without the party.” She said the party could not have the opportunities to do things if the Government did not exist. Both were one and the same.
Stanly Johny
U.S. President Donald Trump’s dramatic decision to sack Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) chief James Comey hardly escapes comparisons with the 1973 “Saturday Night Massacre”. On October 20 that year, Richard Nixon ired Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor investigating Watergate, after he subpoenaed the President for copies of White House tapes. The decision triggered a immediate storm inside his own Cabinet as two top law enforcement oicials — Attorney-General Elliot Richardson and his deputy William Ruckelshaus — quit the government instead of obeying their boss. Nixon may have thought then that he could save his presidency by removing a deiant prosecutor, but his action actually deepened the Watergate crisis which led to his eventual impeachment a year later. Since then, no American President has dismissed a top law enforcement oicial conducting an investigation which has a direct bearing on him, until Mr. Trump’s decision. Mr. Comey had been heading an investigation to ind if there was collusion between Mr. Trump’s campaign team and the Russian government. Unlike Nixon, Mr. Trump appears to have the support of his Cabinet members. The Justice Department stands irmly behind him. Further, unlike Cox, Mr. Comey is not a special prosecutor designated to probe any scandal involving the President. The White House says his dismissal was over Mr. Comey’s handling of the Clinton e-mail leaks, and has nothing to do with the Russia probe. Still, Mr. Trump’s decision could have far-reaching consequences both on the ongoing investigation and his presidency.
Linked to ‘Russiagate’ The order comes at a time when ‘Russiagate’ is widening — just hours before Mr. Comey was ired, former Acting Attorney-General Sally Yates testiied before a Senate Committee that she had warned Mr. Trump that the credentials of Michael Flynn, his initial pick for National Security Advisor, may have been compromised by his links with Russia. This only reinforces the theory that Mr. Trump is wary of the FBI probe, and it is not a secret that Mr. Comey is beyond his direct control. Further, in a short dismissal letter, Mr. Trump said: “...I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation...” The “investigation” Mr. Trump here refers to is the same ‘Russia connection’ his administration oicials are trying to de-link from the dismissal decision, showing how entangled they are in ‘Russiagate’. Also, Mr. Trump may have thought that his decision could get support from sections of the Democrats particularly upset with Mr. Comey’s handling of the Clinton e-mails, which they think cost her the presidency. However, the Democrats were the irst to blast the “Nixonian” decision, and asked for setting up of a special prosecutor to probe the Russia link. If Mr. Trump doesn’t agree to that, suspicions about the real reason behind Mr. Comey’s ouster will only increase. If he does, ‘Russiagate’ will continue to haunt him. Either way, Mr. Trump has just made the crisis worse, like Nixon did by iring Cox. CM YK
ARCHIVES
A HUNDRED YEARS AGO MAY 11, 2017
A Novel Punishment
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CONCEPTUAL
FAQ
Spontaneous order
Peace in Palestine?
Economics
Reading the shift in the Hamas’s stance on Israel
The spontaneous emergence of order (from apparent chaos) in a market economy without conscious direction from any kind of central authority. The order is the result of deliberate actions by many individuals, but not the result of conscious design by anyone. In a market economy, the price system helps coordinate the actions of countless individuals to create an order where production of goods is seamlessly aligned with the actual demands of consumers. The concept has applications in other fields as well, including biology, linguistics, and physics.
Kallol Bhattacherjee How has Hamas changed its policy towards Israel? In
its new policy document, Hamas has indicated that it is willing to make some concessions towards Israel. The document states clearly that it is not waging a battle against the Jewish people but it is against the state of Israel and wants a “fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of 4th of June 1967”. This aim of establishing a new Palestinian state along the lines of the pre-1967 border indicates a willingness to adjust to the new regional reality. Is Hamas distancing itself from the Muslim Brotherhood? The new
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What is the ICJ’s role in Kulbushan Jadhav trial? http://bit.ly/JadhavICJ
charter abandons past references of the movement’s association with the Muslim Brotherhood. Closely linked to the panIslamist movement when it was formed in the late 1980s, Hamas has moved
away from the Brotherhood ever since the Mohamed Morsi regime was ousted in Egypt. Hamas, which rules the Gaza strip that has been blockaded by Israel, is totally dependent on Egypt for access to the outside world. And Egypt is now ruled by a regime that has declared an open war on the Brotherhood. Besides, Saudi Arabia, a benefactor of Hamas, is ideologically opposed to the Brotherhood. So keeping a distance from the Brotherhood could help Hamas cultivate better ties with both Cairo and Riyadh. So what is the core agenda of Hamas? At the core of
Hamas’s agenda is liberation of the Palestinians, and a return of all displaced people to a sovereign Palestinian state. However, it is obvious that Hamas does not want to give up on any of its core agenda items like religion, nationality and ethno-linguistic identity.
Does that mean a fundamental shift? This is
not yet clear as it demands fulfilment of all other conditions such as the return of all people who were displaced by the establishment of Israel in 1948. What is particularly problematic is that Hamas has rejected all agreements, including the Oslo accords, that tried to normalise ties with Israel, without quite spelling out what sort of negotiations it would prefer. Its rejection of past peace efforts is also a sign that Hamas cannot attain change just by publishing a new agenda document.
An American boy was recently sentenced to throw 1000 stones in expiation of his offence of stoning two playmates. The youthful offender is now a sadder and wiser boy, lame of arm and sore, but pretty effectually cured of his propensity. His promise that he will never throw another stone is likely to be as well kept as any human promise can be. The novelty of the punishment inflicted has given the case a wide publicity. The local magistrate, having found the lad guilty, might have sent him to an institution; or he might have suspended sentence and put the youthful offender in the care of a probationary officer. The law could have kept its eye on him for a greater or less period until the consciousness of guilt was impressed upon him. Instead, he was subjected to a punishment as exemplary as it was brief and is let go after a lesson in law and order which will last him a lifetime. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
DATA POINT
So, is the issue of Jerusalem now secondary? On the
contrary, Hamas has maintained a tough position on Jerusalem and has in fact extended its claim not just to the Old Jerusalem but also to its “surroundings”. A Palestinian state will have to be built around Old Jerusalem according to this new vision document. A ND-ND
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10 NEWS
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017
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Recourse to ICJ ‘carefully considered’ Pakistan did not comment on the stay order, with Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz saying that Islamabad was currently studying the issue of jurisdiction of the ICJ. In a tweet, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja M. Asif alleged that the Indian move was part of a diversionary tactic. “Indian letter to ICJ attempts to divert attention from statesponsored terrorism in Pakistan. Kulbhushan con-
victed of offences against (Pakistani) national security,” Mr. Asif said. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday discussed the ICJ’s order, media reports from Islamabad said. During the meeting, which lasted around 90 minutes, Mr. Sharif was briefed on the “latest situation” regarding Mr. Jadhav’s case. (With PTI inputs)
Army oicer on leave abducted, killed “Lt. Ummer Fayaz of 2 RAJRIF was an exceptional sportsman, his sacrifice reiterates the nation’s commitment to eliminate terrorism from the Valley,” he said in a tweet. Lt. Gen. Abhay Krishna, Army Commander South Western Command and Colonel Commandant of Rajputana Rifles, in a condolence letter condemned the “cowardice and barbaric act of terrorism.”
‘Will not be spared’ Stating that the complete Army fraternity stands shoulder to shoulder with the bereaved family at this tragic hour, Lt. Gen. Krishna said, “I also assure the family that the perpetrators of this heinous crime and dastardly act will not be spared. “This marks a watershed moment in the Kashmir Valley and the people of Kash-
Hope and joy over reprieve for Jadhav Stay on former Indian naval oicer’s execution comes as a source of solace for family and friends in Mumbai Gautam S. Mengle Rupanwita Bhattacharjee MUMBAI
The stay on the execution of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav by the International Court of Justice was welcomed with both hope and jubilation by his family and friends in Mumbai. Jadhav, who used to stay with his family in Powai, was arrested by the Pakistan military in March last year on charges of espionage. The Indian government has since then been trying to free him. However, in April this year, he was sentenced to death. Speaking to The Hindu on Wednesday morning, Kulbhushan’s uncle, retired As-
Special Correspondent New Delhi
Lt. Ummer Fayaz
mir will decisively turn the tide against terrorism,” he said in the letter. There has been a noticeable escalation in attacks by Kashmiri militants on security forces, including local police, in the fresh spell of violence that has picked up over the last three years. The State police last month advised its members not to visit their homes in South Kashmir for a few months, fearing attacks.
astha, came down to Chennai. The officers held a meeting with Commissioner of Police Karan Singha and others. Sources said the police were trying to trace his whereabouts by tracking calls made to or from his mobile phone. Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi president Thol. Thirumavalavan said the Supreme Court must reconsider its order. In a statement, he said the order created ripples in the country as the Supreme Court itself had passed a gag order against the press. “With the government and fundamentalist forces already muzzling the voice of the press, the honourable judges of the Supreme Court must think about whether the order was right,” he said. It was puzzling why the SC, which suspected that Justice Karnan had psychological issues, passed such an order, he said. “If Justice Karnan committed a mistake, he could be removed by Parliament after voting...” Meanwhile, a section of advocates staged a protest in front of the State Guesthouse alleging that Justice Karnan had been victimised.
Triple talaq hearing to begin today Supreme Court to hear case back-to-back Legal correspondent
A five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar is scheduled to begin hearing a batch of six petitions and a suo motu PIL of the Supreme Court on whether triple talaq and polygamy violate the fundamental rights of Muslim women. The Bench, besides Chief Justice Khehar, comprises Justices Kurian Joseph, Rohinton F. Nariman, Uday Umesh Lalit and S. Abdul Nazeer. The Bench will hear the case back-to-back from May 11 and is likely to sit through the weekend. It will examine if these personal law practices were the “fundaCM YK
Following up Kulbhushan’s father, Sudhir Jadhav, who also retired as an ACP with the Mumbai police, is reportedly in Delhi with his wife, following up with the Central government for the next steps in the process of securing his release. Meanwhile, Kulbhushan’s friends, who stay in Lower Parel, as well as residents of Powai, welcomed the news
‘A beginning made’ “I had recently heard from Kulbhushan’s family. They had sent us a message through some mutual friends saying that they found our effort to be a source of support, and urged us to keep up the good work. I had promised them that I would not give up. I am sure that now that a beginning has been made, the truth will
Kulbhushan Jadhav’s residence in Powai. with elation and expressed their happiness over the fact that there had been at least one positive step. “We learned about the news late on Tuesday night
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VIJAY BATE
and could hardly believe it. The first thing we did this morning was to get together and distribute sweets in the area. Finally, there is some indication that we will see
Says it will create an unhealthy precedent as Pakistan might take issues relating to Kashmir The Congress has criticised the Modi government for internationalising the issue of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian citizen sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of spying. Party spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said on Wednesday that this would create an unhealthy precedent as Pakistan might take issues relating to Kashmir, for instance, to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Responding to the ICJ stay-
Akhilesh’s remark on martyrs draws lak
mental traits” of the minority religion. The Centre has asked the court to reopen the debate whether personal laws can be brought under the ambit of Article 13 (laws inconsistent with or in derogation of the fundamental rights) of the Indian Constitution. If the SC agrees that personal laws are included in the definition of laws under Article 13, the door will be opened wide for an aggrieved person to challenge a particular personal law of a religion as violative of the fundamental rights. In case the challenge succeeds in court, the personal law, to the extent of its inconsistency, shall become void.
ing the death sentence imposed on Jadhav after the Indian government approached it, he said, “Of course, the first step was for the Government of India to bring back Kulbhushan Yadav... But today, the Indian government has taken this matter to the ICJ. What prevents Pakistan from taking some issue relating to Kashmir to the ICJ?” India had earlier accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention and kidnapping Mr. Jadhav from Iran where he was involved
Kulbhushan Jadhav
Targeting the government, Mr. Kumar said, “Have we now given Pakistan the opportunity to internationalise the issue? This government’s Kashmir policy is only about managing news cycles that are detrimental to the security of our country. You need to have a strategy and you need to settle all issues bilaterally.”
in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy. But Pakistan claimed it had arrested him from Balochistan on March 3, 2016.
Deteriorating situation Mr. Kumar also offered the Congress’ condolences to the family of Lt. Ummer Fayaz, the young Kashmiri Army of-
ficer who was killed by militants. This incident draws attention to the deteriorating situation in Kashmir. From the time this 56-inch strong government was sworn into power, there have been 1,300 ceasefire violations, 170 terror incidents and innumerable killings.” “The PM speaks on many issues, but seems unconcerned about security issues. We don’t even have a full time Defence Minister ever since Manohar Parrikar was made Chief Minister of Goa,” he said.
Press Trust of India
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday appeared to question the patriotism of the people of Gujarat when he said no soldier from the State got martyred, remarks the BJP claimed stemmed from “frustration”. The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister was roundly criticised by the Gujarat units of the Congress and the BJP. State BJP spokesman reminded Mr. Yadav of the contributions of Gujaratis like Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to the freedom struggle. “U.P., Madhya Pradesh, Dakshin Bharat har jagah se shaheed huye hain, Gujarat ka koi jawan shaheed hua ho toh batao [ Jawans from U.P., Madhya Pradesh, South India and other parts of the country have sacrificed their lives but tell me whether anyone has been martyred from Gujarat],” Mr. Yadav said. Without naming the BJP, he said, “They play politics in the name of martyrs, vande mataram and nationalism. What is their definition [of nationalism]? They do not even consider us Hindus.” Reacting sharply to Mr. Yadav’s statement, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said, “His talk and politics have been discarded by the people of the State. That is the reason why he is making such statements in frustration.”
Next hearing likely on May 15: Salve Press Trust of India NEW DELHI
The next hearing in the case of former Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav at the International Court of Justice that has stayed his execution in Pakistan may take place on May 15, senior lawyer Harish Salve, who is representing India at The Hague, has said. He said Pakistan’s reaction to the stay, pronounced on Tuesday, was essentially “political” and that India would respond if it raised any legal issue.
Any dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir without Hurriyat will be meaningless, says Sartaj Madni Peerzada Ashiq
As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has opposed talks with separatists, despite having agreeing on it in the Agenda of Alliance, coalition partner Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Sartaj Madni on Wednesday said “any dialogue without the Hurriyat will be meaningless”. BJP’s State vice-president Sat Sharma had said on Tuesday that New Delhi would only talk to those who accepted the Indian Constitution. He claimed that the decision was taken at the highest level in the Centre.
Undermines process “The very idea of closing the doors of reconciliation and understanding on vital political issues undermines the process of peace, which
No clue yet: Relatives of those who allegedly disappeared during the armed insurgency attend a sit-in protest in Srinagar on Wednesday. NISSAR AHMAD *
doesn’t serve people’s interest. Several unwarranted postures have contributed to trust-deficit and alienation,
leading to confrontation and acrimony at various levels,” said Mr. Madni, PDP’s vice-president.
Referring to the Agenda of Alliance (AoA) between the PDP and the BJP, Mr. Madni said, “The common min-
‘Cong may not name CM candidate in Gujarat’ We should all work to ensure the party’s victory in the elections: Gehlot Special Correspondent AHMEDABAD
The Congress party is unlikely to name any leader as its Chief Ministerial candidate in the run-up to the assembly elections in Gujarat slated for later this year. “As of now, there is no plan to project any leader as the Chief Minister,” Ashok Gehlot, recently put in charge of the State Congress, told the media after attending the party’s executive meeting on Wednesday.
Confident of victory The party has started its preparations to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party,
Ashok Gehlot
which has been in power in the State since 1998. “We are confident of victory because every section of the society is fed up with BJP’s misrule,”
Mr. Gehlot said. “We have been out of power for over two decades... so instead of discussing who should be the Chief Minister candidate, we should all work to ensure the party’s victory in the elections,” Mr. Gehlot told party workers. According to the party’s MP, Ahmed Patel, the BJP had failed to help distressed farmers and fishermen and coastal, tribal and rural communities.
No job opportunities “Despite so much hype, there are no employment opportunities for the youth
Mayawati sacks key party leader Considered a shadow of BSP chief, Siddiqui was accused of ‘anti-party activities’
in the State,” Mr. Patel said. Mr. Patel blamed the State’s former Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s development model for the sorry state of affairs. “All the leaders of the State are united... they will work together for victory,” Mr. Patel said.
Not in race: Vaghela The leader of the Opposition in the State assembly Shankersinh Vaghela once again ruled himself out of the race for the Chief Minister’s post. The party high command, he said, would take a call after the polls.
LUCKNOW
The Bahujan Samaj Party on Wednesday expelled its national general secretary Nasimuddin Siddiqui for “antiparty activities” and “indiscipline”, making serious allegations of financial wrongdoings against him. The party also sacked Mr. Siddiqui’s son, Afzal Siddiqui, who was entrusted with the responsibility of bringing Muslims on board in west Uttar Pradesh during
Muslim face of party Mr. Nasimuddin, an MLC and former Cabinet Minister, was not only the most wellknown Muslim face of the BSP but often considered a shadow of the party chief Mayawati. He in particular handled affairs related to ticket distribution and financial negotiations. Mr. Nasimuddin’s sacking was announced here by BSP
Nasimuddin Siddiqui
Rajya Sabha MP Satish Mishra, who is now the virtual No. 2 public figure in the BSP after the former’s exit.
Mr. Mishra accused Mr. Nasimuddin of hurting the party by demanding large sums of money from cadre and candidates during the election and promising them “profits and favours” with the assurance that the BSP was returning to power and he would be rewarded with plum departments. Mr. Nasimuddin released a three-page note, terming allegations against him “baseless”, “lies” and “fabricated”.
imum programme envisaged an agenda of hope and promise to reach out to everyone, including separatists and Pakistan. No one can afford a volte-face on this.” Mr. Madni called upon the BJP leaders “to draw a leaf from former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and “strengthen the process of mutual reconciliation and dialogue”. “I hope Prime Minister Narendra Modi will use his massive mandate and influence to set in a discourse of peace so that Jammu and Kashmir is brought out from the present morass and people of the region are given a participatory role to prosper,” he said. Mr. Madni said PDP holds ‘agenda of peace’ as a ‘sacred trust’ and reiterates its resolve to work with fidelity to have it accomplished.
Pak. rakes up J&K issue at OIC meet Press Trust of India United Nations
Pakistan has raised the issue of Kashmir with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, calling for a peaceful settlement with India in a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, sources said. Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi underscored the need to address the deteriorating situation in Kashmir during the meeting at the world body’s headquarters on Monday between OIC ambassadors with the UN Secretary-General.
Sanjay Mitra to be next Defence Secretary Special Correspondent
the recently concluded Assembly elections.
Omar Rashid
prevail,” Mr. Pawar added. Residents of the Hiranandani area, too, came together outside the Silver Oak building where the Jadhavs stay and distributed sweets. The residents had earlier come together to form a human chain outside the buidling in a peaceful protest demanding Kulbhushan's release. “Since the time Jadhav was arrested, he has been out of reach. The Indian government wanted consular access but he was deprived of it. Finally, the MEA took the matter to the international court and now a fair trial will begin,” said former Indian Air Force officer Sudhir Shetty, who lives in the area.
BJP stand on talks upsets ally PDP Srinagar
Lucknow/Ahmedabad
NEW DELHI
our friend again,” said Kulbhushan’s childhood friend Tulsidas Pawar, who had started a signature campaign demanding that Kulbhushan be brought home as soon as possible. The two men grew up in the same area till the Jadhavs shifted to Powai.
Cong. slams govt. for taking Jadhav issue to ICJ
Justice Karnan is not traceable, say police A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, on Tuesday held Justice Karnan guilty of “contempt of court, judiciary and judicial process of the gravest nature” and sentenced him to sixmonth imprisonment. The Bench ordered his immediate arrest. The contempt proceedings were initiated in February for his derogatory letters against sitting and retired High Court and Supreme Court judges. His letters to the Prime Minister accused several retired and sitting Supreme Court and High Court judges of corruption. Following the Supreme Court’s order, a police team went to arrest him in Kolkata, but he was not at home. He came down to Chennai on Tuesday and had convened a press conference at the Government State Guesthouse to explain the order he passed recently against some members of the higher judiciary. That was his last public appearance. The police said he reportedly told persons close to him that he would visit Srikalahsti, the temple town. On Wednesday, a team of police officers, led by West Bengal Director-General of Police Surajit Kar Purkay-
sistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Subhash Jadhav said, “We just want our child back. There is really nothing to say beyond that. The decision comes as a ray of hope and we are all, as a family, standing united with Kulbhushan.”
NEW DELHI
The Centre on Wednesday named Sanjay Mitra, Secretary Ministry of Transport and Highways as the next Defence Secretary. He will take over once the incumbent G. Mohan Kumar retires on May 24. In a series of appointments approved on Wednesday, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed Mr. Mitra as Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Defence.
Mr. Mitra belongs to the 1982 batch of West Bengal cadre.
Other appointments The other appointments approved by the ACC include Rakesh Srivastava, Member Secretary of National Commission for Backward Classes as Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development while its present secretary Leena Nair has been appointed as Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs. A ND-ND
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THE HINDU
NEWS 11
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IN BRIEF
India protests Canadian PM’s presence at ‘Khalsa Day’ Event saw felicitation of separatist elements & gloriication of Sikh militant leaders Suhasini Haidar New Delhi
Dalit icon Ambedkar ‘a form of God’, says Rijiju MUMBAI
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday said he sees Dalit icon Babasaheb Ambedkar as “a form of God”. Speaking at an event organised by Maharashtra’s Social Justice Department here on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, Mr. Rijiju said, “When I think of Buddha, I also think of Dr. Ambedkar and his great contribution. “Dr. Ambedkar became the voice of the oppressed classes in this country,” he said.
UDAN: Airfares to be revised every 3 months NEW DELHI
Airfares as well as the government subsidy for airlines under the regional air connectivity scheme will be revised every three months depending on inflationary trends. The UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme provides for a cap on air ticket prices and viability gap funding for the participating carriers. The Civil Aviation Ministry has said caps on ticket prices and VGF under the scheme would be revised on a quarterly basis. PTI
Four MLCs administered oath in Bihar PATNA
Bihar Legislative Council Acting Chairman Haroon Rashid on Wednesday administered oath to four newly elected MLCs at the Council’s annexe building here. The four newly elected MLCs were Awadhesh Narayan Singh (BJP), Sanjiv Shyam Singh (RLSP), Virendra Narayan Yadav (JDU) and Sanjiv Kumar Singh (JDU). Chief Minister Nitish Kumar greeted the new members. PTI
Raising eyebrows: Justin Trudeau, centre, with the representatives of the Sikh community during the ‘Khalsa Day’ function in Toronto. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *
India indicated that it has taken up the issue of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s attendance at a Sikh community event in Toronto that saw a felicitation of separatist elements again, after earlier protests on similar issues appear to have gone unheeded by the government. “We have taken up such issues in the past with the gov-
Multidrug-resistant TB will rise in India, says new study By 2040, 12.4% of patients in the country will have that variant, reports Lancet
ernment of Canada, and in this particular instance, without getting into details, I can tell you the practice has not been discontinued,” said Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay. On April 30, Mr. Trudeau addressed a parade for ‘Khalsa Day’, which included floats glorifying Sikh militant leaders Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Amreek Singh and former General Shahbeg Singh who were killed in the
of an incurable airborne disease,” said Paul Jensen, Director of Policy and Strategy, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.
New Delhi
A month after the Health Ministry set itself the target of eliminating tuberculosis (TB) by 2025, a new study in the medical journal Lancet says that India’s TB crisis is likely to get worse. According to the latest issue of the journal, Multidrug Resistant-Tuberculosis (MDR-TB), a version of the disease where patients do not respond to first-line drugs, will become more common than it is now. The report projects that, by 2040, the percentage of MDR-TB will make up 32.5% of all TB cases in Russia, 12.4% of the TB cases in India, 8.9% of the TB cases in the Philippines, and 5.7% of all TB cases in South Africa.
Hotspot of MDR-TB The findings are alarming as India is home to the most serious ‘hotspots’ of MDR-TB transmission, especially overcrowded cities such as
Tipping point: India shoulders the highest TB burden in the world, with over 2 million cases. NISSAR AHMAD *
Mumbai. Not only does India shoulder the highest TB burden in the world, with over 2 million of the 10 million reported cases, it also accounts for the most drug-resistant patients — nearly 1.3 lakh people who do not respond to first-line drugs. It is estimated that each year there are 10.4 million new cases of TB, leading to 1.8 million deaths globally.
Nearly 40% of all drug-resistant cases occur in Russia, India, the Philippines, and South Africa – accounting for more than 230,000 cases of drug-resistant disease in 2015. “Resistant TB endangers the health and security of every country. Unless something changes, the day will soon come when we’re facing the international spread
Swift action needed “When the heads of the G20 countries meet in July, I hope they agree to take swift action against drug-resistant diseases. Later this month, a new Director General (DG) of the WHO will be elected. It is imperative that the new DG mobilises a global response to TB,” Mr Jensen said. Two new TB drugs, Bedaquiline and Delamanid are being used in Europe and the U.S. for several years. But they are yet to be made available in India’s national healthcare system. The drug is available only in six sites across the country, and according to the Health Ministry’s TB report released on Friday, only 207 of the 79,000 patients who need the drug have access to it.
India had raised a strong protest after the vote (34-5), calling it a “misguided motion based on a limited understanding of India, its constitution, society, ethos, rule of law and its judicial process,”, with the government expressing its unhappiness both with the High Commission in Delhi, and with the Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan when he met with Defence Minister Arun Jaitley in Delhi on April 18.
EC to hold all-party meet on EVMs
U.P. clashes: 30 held, 2 SPs transferred
To discuss poll bribery, VVPAT revamp
Press Trust of India
Special Correspondent New Delhi
Special Correspondent
siege of the Golden Temple and Operation Bluestar in June 1984. The procession, organised by the Ontario Sikhs and Gurdwara Council, also felicitated the legislator from Mr. Trudeau’s Liberal Party, Harinder Kaur Malhi who had moved a resolution on “genocide” against India for the anti-Sikh riots of November 1984, that was passed by the Ontario Assembly on April 6 this year.
The Election Commission on Wednesday released the agenda for an all-party meeting on May 12, which includes deliberations on the security of electronic voting machines (EVMs). The electoral body will also invite suggestions from the parties on conducting a “machine tampering” challenge. Suggestions on revisiting the rules on counting of paper slips from the VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) system will also be discussed. The EC has invited seven national parties and 48 State parties to the meeting.
Stringent provision The proposal to make bribery and undue influence during elections a cognisable offence tops the agenda list. The Commission is of the view that law has to be amended to make penal provisions more stringent.
In the Representation of the People Act, there is a specific section (58A) that empowers the EC to order a re-poll or to countermand election in a constituency in the event of booth capturing. However, there is no specific provision to deal with bribery of electors. The EC has proposed that anyone charged with bribery be disqualified from contesting elections. “The EC has been calling for disqualification even prior to the conviction by court in the case of for serious offences,” it said. The EC has suggested that for crimes punishable with imprisonment of five years or more for a case registered at least six months earlier, disqualification should commence from the stage the charges are framed by the court. The EC has invited them to discuss proposals such as one on capping donations in cash at ₹20 crore or 20% of the donations in a year, whichever is less.
Saharanpur
As many as 30 people were on Wednesday arrested in connection with the incidents of stone pelting and torching of vehicles and a police post in Saharanpur, which has been witnessing caste-based violence since May 5. District Magistrate N P Singh said the situation is now under control. He and Senior Superintendent of Police Subhash Chandra Dubey held a peace meeting with local representatives of political parties. The two senior officials asked them to help in maintaining peace. The SSP said the police will scrutinise CCTV footage to identify and arrest the people involved in stone pelting and torching of the police chowki and vehicles on Tuesday. Also, Superintendent of Police (City) Sanjay Singh and SP (Rural) Rafeeq Ahmed have been transfered from Saharanpur, official sources said. Prabal Pratap Singh is the new SP (City), Vidya Sagar takes over from Mr. Ahmed.
Don’t insist on Aadhaar for 17 govt. schemes, says petition in SC ‘Move constricts rights and freedoms which citizens have long been enjoying’ Legal Correspondent NEW DELHI
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a joint petition filed by Magsaysay award winner Shanta Sinha and feminist researcher Kalyani Sen Menon for a stay of more than 17 government schemes insisting Aadhaar for availing benefits of midday meals, disability pension, Bhopal gas tragedy victims, among other programmes. A Bench of Justices A.K.
Sikri and Ashok Bhushan asked senior advocate Shyam Divan and advocates Vipin Nair and P.B. Suresh to approach the Chief Justice of India to tag the petition along with the batch scheduled to be heard by a Constitution Bench. The petition said the UIDAI platform that is the Aadhaar database was being utilised to affect each and every aspect of the individual life — from holding a valid PAN card, filing income
tax returns, maintaining a bank account, getting scholarship, giving examination, admissions to colleges, domestic air travel, to having a mobile phone connection. The petition argued that mandatory requirement of Aadhaar for these schemes “constricts rights and freedoms which citizens have long been enjoying unless and until they part with their personal biometric information to the government.”
Accordingly, from July 1, 2017, an individual who is not willing to part with personal biometric information will be denied social benefits which he or she is entitled to on the sole basis of non-production of an Aadhaar number, the plea said. The petition termed the Aadhaar Act of 2016 unconstitutional. It was passed on March 11 last year by the Lok Sabha when the attendance was merely 73 out of the total 543 members.
Price cap on medical devices likely
RSS key to Modi’s rise: China scholar
China urges U.S. to isolate Dalai Lama
Special Correspondent
‘Development bands them together’
Atul Aneja
New Delhi
Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda on Wednesday said the government was considering capping prices of other medical devices, after the success with coronary stents. In February, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had capped the price of baremetal stents at ₹7,260 and drug-eluting stents at ₹29,600, after declaring coronary stents as “essential medicines.” “Stents have been added to the National List of Essential Medicines and we are trying to put more medical devices in this list to ensure medicines and medical devices remain affordable,” said Mr. Nadda speaking to the press at Indian Women’s Press Corps. This was Mr. Nadda’s first press conference since the Ministry unveiled India’s new National Health Policy in March this year. Drug price control has been at the forefront of the Narendra Modi government’s electoral promises, with the Prime Minister telling voters in U.P. ahead of the Assembly polls about capping of coronary stent prices earlier this year. CM YK
Atul Aneja BEIJING
Steeled by the firepower provided by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a roll, notwithstanding latent internal tensions, says a leading Chinese scholar. In a detailed analysis posted on the Chinese website, guanchao.cn, on the prospects of the BJP, Mao Keji has focussed on the Pracharak-based organisational core of the RSS, as the foundation for the national rise of the BJP under Mr. Modi. He highlights that Mr. Modi’s slogan of developmentalism, echoing the “Gujarat model,” strongly reinforced the bond between the BJP and the RSS, yielding tangible political benefits.
Rapid development The Chinese scholar explains that Mr. Modi’s focus on enlarging the economic cake through rapid development, and less emphasis on the policy of reservation —opposed by the RSS — was pivotal in enlisting the organisation’s full backing for
Narendra Modi
elections since 2013. “[Mr.] Modi’s developmentalism emphasising the enlargement of the cake, rather than sharing the smaller cake, has allowed him to detour around complex competing social group interests,” observes Mr. Mao. The author traces the recent rise of the BJP and its affiliates to two major events: the protests against the Mandal Commission report on the reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in 1989, and the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992. “The Mandal report resulted in a feeling of discrimination among the middle class and the middle and upper classes seeking employment opportunities.”
BEIJING
China on Wednesday urged the United States to isolate the Dalai Lama following a meeting in Dharamsala between a U.S. congressional delegation and the Tibetan leader. “We urge the U.S. Congressmen to properly deal with the Tibet issue and stop contact with the Dalai Lama and take measures to remove the negative impact,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said during his regular press briefing. On Tuesday, a U.S. Congressional delegation, led by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, visited the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. The meeting took place amid signs that warming ties between Washington and Beijing, after Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump met last month, could cool down Washington’s enthusiasm to engage with the Dalai Lama. Mr. Geng said that the meeting “has sent a very wrong signal to the outside world on Tibetan independence and violated the U.S. government’s commitment to not support Tibet’s independence”. A ND-ND
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Comey asked for more resources
ELSEWHERE
MATTHEW ROSENBERG MATT APUZZO WASHINGTON
Brazil’s ex-President Lula faces graft court CURITIBA
Brazil’s former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, backed by supporters, was due in court on Wednesday for a corruption trial that could end his storied career. Lula, 71, is accused of receiving a seaside apartment as a bribe in a wider graft scheme. AFP
Police ire shots to break up Myanmar scule YANGON
Police in Myanmar ired warning shots to break up scules between Buddhist nationalists and Muslims in Myanmar's biggest city in the early hours of Wednesday after a crowd went hunting for "illegal" Rohingyas. Police in Yangon said they were forced to ire in the air. AFP
Iran to vote for progress despite Trump, says V-P TEHRAN
Iranians will vote to keep opening up to the world despite the “climate of tension”created by U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri has said. But he added that Washington’s anti-Iranian posture threatened to undermine Iran's reconnect with the world. AFP
Millions get blasphemy warning texts in Pak. ISLAMABAD
Millions of Pakistanis have been receiving text messages from the government warning them against sharing “blasphemous” content online, a move rights activists said would encourage more vigilante attacks. It comes amid a surge in mob violence linked to accusations of insulting Islam. AFP
Trump ires FBI chief amid Russia probe Decision triggers political storm with both parties calling for independent investigation into Moscow’s election meddling Varghese K. George Washington
President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed James Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), sparking criticism by Republicans and Democrats that the move could undermine the integrity of an ongoing agency investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The President cited Mr. Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation as the reason behind his decision. Senior lawmakers of both parties called for an independent prosecutor or a special Congressional committee to investigate Russian meddling and its possible links with Trump associates. Mr. Comey, a Republican, was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2013, with a 10-year-tenure. Mr. Trump had earlier fired
acting Attorney-General Sally Yates for refusing to defend his executive order that barred travel from several Muslim-majority countries and federal attorney for New York Southern District Preet Bharara after he refused to resign, unlike all other federal prosecutors, following a White House demand. Former President Bill Clinton fired FBI director William S. Sessions in 1993, and this is the second time an FBI chief has been fired.
‘They will thank me’ As the debate appeared to be turning against him, the President tried to push back with a series of tweets explaining his decision and personally targeting some of the critics on Wednesday morning. “Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things
said in her first interview after losing the election that Mr. Comey’s decision to reopen the server investigation after it was declared closed was one of the two main reasons for her defeat, while Mr. Trump, as a candidate, had praised his guts for doing so. On the other hand, Democrats cheered him for publicly refuting the sitting President’s claim that he was wiretapped by former President Obama. Pink slip: A copy of the termination letter issued to FBI director James Comey from Donald Trump. AFP *
calm down, they will be thanking me!,” Mr. Trump said in one tweet. “The Democrats have said some of the worst things about James Comey, including the fact that he should be fired, but now they play so sad!” Mr. Comey’s conduct in recent months as he oversaw two politically sensitive in-
vestigations — against Hillary Clinton for unauthorised use of a private server as Secretary of State and on Russian attempts to influence the election allegedly to favour Mr. Trump in 2016 — has won him approval and disapproval from parties, as and when it suited them. For instance, Ms. Clinton
Controversial ride His eventful and controversial ride ended with a curious twist, as the Trump administration accused him of being unfair to Ms. Clinton. “….I cannot defend the Director’s handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton’s emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken. Almost every-
one agrees that the Director made serious mistakes; it is one of the few issues that unites people of diverse perspectives,” Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein wrote in a memorandum, making the case for Mr. Comey’s dismissal. Mr. Rosenstein went on to elaborate how Mr. Comey’s public statements regarding the Clinton investigation were unfair to her. “While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau,” Mr. Trump wrote in the dismissal letter, hand-delivered by his body guard at the FBI headquarters. Mr. Comey learnt of his sacking from television, at an office of the agency in Los Angeles.
Days before he was fired, former FBI director James Comey asked the Justice Department for a significant increase in resources for the bureau’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the presidential election, according to three congressional officials who were briefed on his request. Mr. Comey asked for the resources last week from Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, who also wrote the Justice Department’s memo that was used to justify the firing of Mr. Comey, the officials said. Mr. Comey then briefed members of Congress on the meeting in recent days, telling them about the former’s meeting with Mr. Rosenstein. NYT
Rein in Assad, Trump tells Moscow Press Trust of India Washington
President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked Russia to “work together” with the U.S. to end the Syrian conflict and underscored the need for Moscow to rein in the Bashar al-Assad regime there, and Iran and their “proxies.” Mr. Trump said this as he hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the White House, a day after he sacked FBI chief James Comey, who was leading the probe into Russia’s meddling in the polls that brought him to power. Mr. Lavrov is the highestranking Russian official to meet Mr. Trump since he took office on January 20.
Sharif, Army chief bury the Upcountry Tamils set to welcome Modi hatchet over leaked report Prime Minister will address thousands of Sri Lankans of Indian origin in Central Province Army withdraws tweet rejecting Prime Minister’s order MUBASHIR ZAIDI Karachi
Pakistan’s powerful military and the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday settled their differences over a newspaper report that claimed that the government was urging the former to act against militants or face isolation. The report, published in the daily Dawn last October, saw tensions between the military and the government establishments rise to an unprecedented level. Military commanders had urged the government to punish those who leaked the report to the paper. Subsequently, a Joint Investigation Team was formed to determine who was involved in the incident. Following the publication of the report, the Information Minister was removed from his post, and, later last
Nawaz Sharif
month, Mr. Sharif sacked his special assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatmi and Principal Information Officer, and issued a notification in this regard.
Reiterates commitment However, a military spokesman tweeted that the notification was rejected. After a meeting between Mr. Sharif and Army Chief General Qamar Bajwa, the military spokesman announced on Wednesday the withdrawal
Reverse decision on arming Kurds, U.S. told Erdogan to raise matter with Trump
of his tweet. “The tweet on April 29 was not aimed at any government office or person. Recommendations duly approved by the Prime Minister have been implemented, which has settled the issue. Accordingly, [the] Twitter post stands withdrawn and has become infructuous,” a statement by the military said. It added that the Army reiterated its firm commitment and continued resolve to uphold the Constitution of Pakistan and support the democratic process. Civil-military tensions have engulfed Pakistan for most of its existence, which had seen three military takeovers. During most of last year, former military chief General Raheel Sharif had also developed differences with the Prime Minister after the Dawn report.
As “full-fledged Sri Lankans”, who battled statelessness in the past, members of the community have made a mark in different fields, even as a fourth of them continue toiling in tea plantations, braving low wages, poor housing and education, Mr. Ganesan said. “We remain loyal to our motherland, but see India as our fatherland.”
Meera Srinivasan Colombo
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Colombo on Thursday to participate in the international UN Vesak Day hosted by Sri Lanka. During the two-day visit, he will address thousands of upcountry Tamils of the country, shining the spotlight on the 1.6 million-strong community inhabiting the island’s Central and Southern provinces. On Friday, Mr. Modi will speak at a public meeting in Norwood, in the island’s hill country, which is likely to draw tens of thousands of upcountry Tamils, most of them descendants of Indianorigin labourers brought in by the British. On his last trip to Sri Lanka in March 2015, the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister in nearly 30 years, Mr. Modi visited the war-battered Northern Province. This is the first time that
Firm ties: PM Narendra Modi with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe in New Delhi last month. V. SUDERSHAN *
an Indian Premier will travel to the Central Province, where the country’s famed tea estates are located, to address Sri Lankans of recent Indian origin.
‘Historic visit’ Senior upcountry leaders deemed the Prime Minister’s visit ‘historic”, after Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru’s visits in the
Aussie senator breastfeeds in House Larissa Waters becomes irst woman to nurse newborn in nation’s Parliament Agence France-Presse Sydney
Agence France-Presse Ankara
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday urged the United States to reverse a decision on arming Syrian Kurdish fighters whom Turkey considers terrorists, saying he would raise the issue in talks with Donald Trump next week. The Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) militia applauded a “historic” move that would speed up the defeat of Islamic State (IS) extremists but the issue risks stoking tensions between the two NATO allies ahead of Mr. Erdogan’s critical visit to Washington. “I hope very much that this mistake will be reversed immediately,” Mr. Erdogan said in Ankara alongside his Sierra Leone counterpart CM YK
Recep Tayyip Erdogan Ernest Bai Koroma. “I will personally express our worries in a detailed way when we talk with President Trump on May 16,” he added, saying the issue would also be discussed at the NATO summit in Brussels on May 25. “We want to believe that our allies would prefer be side by side with ourselves rather than with the terror groups,” he added.
pre-Independence era. “India has always expressed concern for our Tamil brothers and sisters from the north and east. This visit is only an extension of that to include Tamils from other parts of the island,” said Mano Ganesan, Minister for National Co-existence, Dialogue and Official Languages, and leader of the Tamil Progressive Alliance.
A breastfeeding senator has made Australian political history by becoming the first woman to nurse her newborn baby in the nation’s Parliament. Greens’ senator Larissa Waters returned to the upper house Senate on Tuesday since giving birth to her second child, and brought her in for a feed during a vote. “So proud that my daughter Alia is the first baby to be breastfed in the federal Parliament! We need more #women & parents in Parli,” she wrote on Twitter. Being able to breastfeed in the chamber follows new rules introduced last year to create a more a “family friendly” Parliament in the wake of what has been described as a “baby boom” among politicians. Under
Mom’s the word: Australian Greens party Senator Larissa Waters breastfeeds her baby in the Senate Chamber. AP *
previous rules, children were technically banned. “In 2003, Kirstie Marshall, a Victorian MP, was ejected from State parliament for breastfeeding her 11-day old baby girl,” Ms. Waters added. “Sometimes it’s difficult not to get disheartened by the sexism wo-
men still face in the workplace. But sometimes it pays to look back and see how far we have come,” she said.
Hot topic Breastfeeding in public has become a hot topic in many countries, and female lawmakers have been criticised
for taking their babies to parliamentary sessions. Last year, a politician in Iceland spoke in Parliament while breastfeeding her baby daughter, and infants are allowed in the European and Spanish parliaments. Labour frontbencher Katy Gallagher said the moment deserved to be acknowledged. “Women have been doing it in parliaments around the world. It is great to see it is able to occur now in the Senate,” she said. “Women are going to continue to have babies and if they want to do their job and look after their baby... the reality is we are going to have to accommodate that.” Ms. Waters has changed her Facebook profile to an image of herself breastfeeding in parliament, attracting dozens of mostly positive comments.
Meeting with parties Mr. Modi is scheduled to meet leaders of the TPA and those of Ceylon Workers’ Congress, a party that traditionally represented upcountry Tamils, but has more recently lost ground to the TPA. “We are mobilising 20,000 workers for Mr. Modi’s meeting,” CWC President Muthu Sivalingam told The Hindu. While TPA hopes to revive a 2014 MoU and seek Indian support in housing, education and vocational training, the CWC too wrote to Mr.
Modi in April, requesting for assistance in the same areas. India is currently building 4,000 houses for estate workers. Mr. Modi will inaugurate a hospital in the area built with Indian assistance. Mr. Modi will inaugurate the UN Vesak Day celebrations in the city on Friday. Soon after, he will proceed to the island’s Central Province by a helicopter, specially brought from India. Following his engagement in Norwood, he will visit the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, ahead of his departure to New Delhi. While Mr. Modi will meet top Sri Lankan leaders, no bilateral agreements will be signed during his visit. Sri Lanka police have deployed 6,000 personnel for enhanced security. For the first time, Sri Lanka is hosting an international conference and celebrations around UN Vesak Day. Nearly 750 people from 85 countries will participate in the event.
Ready to visit N. Korea, says new South leader Left-leaning President Moon sworn in Agence-France Presse Seoul
South Korea’s new President was sworn in on Wednesday, just a day after a landslide election victory, and immediately declared his willingness to visit Pyongyang amid high tensions with the nuclear-armed North. Left-leaning Moon Jae-In, a former human rights lawyer, backs engagement with North Korea in the quest for peace — in contrast to the threatening rhetoric from the Trump administration in recent weeks.
Difficult path “If needed, I will fly to Washington immediately,” Mr. Moon said in an inauguration speech after taking the oath of office in front of lawmakers at Seoul’s National
Moon Jae-In Assembly building. “I will also go to Beijing and Tokyo and even Pyongyang in the right circumstances.” Mr. Moon will have a difficult diplomatic path to tread in his approach to the North, which dreams of a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the continental United States, and has vast artillery forces trained on Seoul. A ND-ND
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THE HINDU
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market watch 10-05-2017
% CHANGE
Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 30,248 ddddddddddddddd1.05 Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 28,665 ddddddddddddddd0.33 Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 50.32 ddddddddddddddd3.24
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SoftBank sufers $1.4 bn. loss in India Japanese telecom giant is the largest investor in cab-hailing app Ola and e-commerce irm Snapdeal formance by the e-commerce major Snapdeal, SoftBank said the company's performance was weaker than expected. “The highly competitive e-commerce market in India has made a trend of the company’s business performance lower than initially anticipated,” according to the report.
Staff Reporter PRICE CHANGE
ACC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1690.35. . . . . . -10.85 Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351.90. . . . . . . . . 4.40 Ambuja Cements. . . .. . . . . . 259.70. . . . . . . . . 2.15 Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1158.30. . . . . . . . -7.00 Aurobindo Pharma . . . . . . 618.95. . . . . . . 24.60 Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526.35. . . . . . . . . 8.15 Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2904.80. . . . . . . 31.65 Bank of Baroda . . . . . .. . . . . . 185.55. . . . . . . . -1.20 Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 372.75. . . . . . . 27.50 Bosch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23214.00. . . -122.50 BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728.25. . . . . . . . . 6.85 Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561.05. . . . . . . . . 8.10 Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278.55. . . . . . . . . 0.40 Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 2602.85. . . . . . . 21.70 Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. 27869.30. . . . . 740.80 GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 417.50. . . . . . . . -4.30 Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1166.45. . . . . . . . -1.15 HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843.60. . . . . . . . -6.15 HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1572.00. . . . . . . 48.50 HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1551.80. . . . . . . 16.05 Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 3323.85. . . . . . . 41.50 Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187.10. . . . . . . . . 0.70 Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 996.35. . . . . . . 44.30 Indiabulls HFL . . . . . . . .. . . . 1082.90. . . . . . . . -3.05 ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298.65. . . . . . . . -1.95 IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1431.90. . . . . . . 11.00 Bharti Infratel . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 366.65. . . . . . . . . 0.75 Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 943.65. . . . . . . . -3.00 Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 441.45. . . . . . . . . 0.70 ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273.95. . . . . . . . . 2.45 Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 927.65. . . . . . . 20.80 L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1739.25. . . . . . . . -5.40 Lupin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1258.90. . . . . . . . . 8.75 M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1376.40. . . . . . . 32.75 Maurti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 6737.75. . . . . 108.45 NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162.20. . . . . . . . . 0.95 ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187.95. . . . . . . . . 1.85 PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 210.50. . . . . . . . . 2.15 Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1359.10. . . . . . . 28.75 State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294.45. . . . . . . . -2.05 Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 642.80. . . . . . . . . 2.50 Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 432.30. . . . . . . . . 5.50 Tata Motors DVR. . . .. . . . . . 263.35. . . . . . . . . 1.10 Tata Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.55. . . . . . . . -1.55 Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437.45. . . . . . . . . 3.95 TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2332.45. . . . . . -20.10 Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 430.40. . . . . . . . . 4.20 UltraTech Cement . .. . . . 4367.55. . . . . . -65.35 Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499.65. . . . . . . . -9.25 YES Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1598.40. . . . . . . . -4.10 Zee Entertainment . . . . . . 516.20. . . . . . . 20.55
BULLION RATES
CHENNAI
May 10 rates in rupees with previous rates in parentheses Retail Silver (1g) . . . . . . . . . . . 40.50. . . . . (40.40) 22 ct gold (1 g) . .. . . . . . . . . . . 2,709. . . . . (2,715)
IN BRIEF Tata Chemicals to buy Unnati Inorganics’ unit NEW DELHI
Tata Chemicals announced it will acquire a facility of Gujarat-based Unnati Inorganics for ₹34.20 crore on a slump sale basis. The acquisition is a part of the ₹295-crore investment approved by the Board in February 2017. PTI
BENGALURU
Japanese telecom and Internet giant SoftBank Group (SBG) has reported a valuation loss of $1.4 billion (¥160,419 million) on its two major investments in India. SoftBank is the largest investor in cab-hailing app Ola and e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal. The valuation loss disclosure was made by SoftBank in its annual report for the year ended March 31, 2017.
Fall in fair value SBG reported a loss on financial instruments at fair value through profit or loss (FVTPL ) at ¥160,419 million ($1.4 billion) compared with a gain of ¥114,377 million ($1.1 billion) in the previous year, according to a statement. The loss resulted mainly from a fall in the fair value of financial instruments at FVTPL from March 2016 to March 2017.
Hard hit: The highly competitive e-commerce market in India hurt Snapdeal’s performance, SoftBank said. AFP *
“Financial instruments at FVTPL included preferred shares of Jasper Infotech Private Limited, which operates the e-commerce website snapdeal.com in India, and ANI Technologies Private Limited, which operates the taxi booking platform Ola,” SoftBank said in its annual
Centre mulls inancial assistance to isherfolk ARUN S New Delhi
With about four million people — mainly small-scale and artisanal fishers — in India depending on marine fisheries resources for livelihood, the Centre plans to provide them financial assistance and introduce norms to improve labour conditions in the sector. However, it will ensure that the Indian fishing fleet does not engage in ‘Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated’ (IUU) fishing, according to the National Policy on Marine Fisheries, 2017. The Indian marine fisheries account for an economic wealth of about ₹65,000 crore, according to the policy — meant to guide the
coordination and management of India’s marine fisheries during the next 10 years. It noted that fishermen are having difficulties in availing institutional credit to buy fishing implements and crafts, and that the risky nature of returns has led to many fishermen falling into the debt trap of private financiers and middlemen. Therefore, the Centre, with the help of National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, will provide financial assistance to fishermen with liberal terms and conditions. In addition, the Government will introduce new schemes to skill traditional fishermen.
report. The Japanese major has written off more than $1 billion (¥114,059 million) on valuation of its investment in Starfish I Pte, an intermediate holding company, which owns preferred shares in Jasper Infotech Private, which runs Snapdeal.com Referring to the poor per-
Snapdeal, Flipkart Significantly, the valuation loss is reported at a time when SoftBank is actively looking at merging Snapdeal with Flipkart after Snapdeal failed to gain market share. Snapdeal is the third largest e-commerce marketplace after Flipkart and Amazon. Reports have indicated that the merger between Snapdeal and Flipkart will close soon. Betting heavily on the growing e-commerce sector in India, SoftBank invested about $900 million in Snapdeal. The Japanese giant is
the largest investor in Snapdeal. The Japanese major made its first investment in Ola in 2014 when the cab hailing company raised $210 million. In December last, Ola raised $350 million in funding, including a $250 million investment from SoftBank at a valuation of $3.5 billion. Snapdeal is currently valued at $7 billion while Ola at $3.5 billion. So far, SoftBank has invested over $1 billion in Indian consumer Internet segment. Apart from Ola and Snapdeal, SoftBank has investments in OYO Rooms, Hike Messenger, and grocery delivery platform Grofers. SoftBank had invested in real estate start-up Housing.com, too. However, Housing.com was merged with News Corp.-backed real estate portal PropTiger in an allstock deal. SoftBank Group Corp reported a 12.9% rise in its fullyear operating income.
Hero MotoCorp to spend ₹2,500 cr. to add capacity Plans to boost investment on product development Special Correspondent NEW DELHI
Hero MotoCorp, which reported an almost 14% dip in net profit in the fourth quarter of 2016-17, on Wednesday announced plans to invest ₹2,500 crore over the next two years on new product development and capacity expansion. The country’s largest twowheeler maker posted a stand-alone net profit of ₹717.75 crore in the JanuaryMarch 2017 period, down from ₹833.29 crore in the same quarter last year, largely due to higher discounts offered on the BS-III
Rail regulator to deine performance standards
Mistry aide Rajan joins IDFC Bank
To provide guidance on quantity and quality of service
MUMBAI
Pawan Munjal
vehicles. The company pegged revenue impact of this at ₹193.28 crore.
Revenue decline The company’s total income declined to ₹7,606.31 crore
during the reported quarter from ₹8,227.93 crore, a fall of 7.55%. Hero MotoCorp’s net profit rose almost 7% to ₹3,377.12 crore for the full year, while revenue increased marginally to ₹31,368.55 crore. “We have planned a capex of around ₹2,500 crore up to FY’19 towards product development, digitisation, phase-wise capacity installation and expansion at our existing facility at Gujarat and our upcoming plants at Andhra Pradesh and Bangladesh,” Pawan Munjal, Chairman, MD & CEO, Hero MotoCorp said.
Monsoon hopes lift Sensex to new high ‘Rainfall may exceed earlier forecast’ SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT MUMBAI
The benchmark equity indices touched new highs on Wednesday as an improved monsoon forecast lifted investor sentiment and led to gains across sectors. Shares of consumer goods companies along with those dependent on rural demand were in the limelight. The 30-share Sensex climbed 314.92 points, or 1.05%, to 30,248.17. Bharti Airtel was the top gainer, soaring 7.9% as investors shrugged off an almost 70% drop in fourth-quarter profit and cheered a better-thanexpected performance on margins and volume growth. The NSE’s Nifty advanced 90.45 points, or 0.97%, to 9,407.30. On Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department said that India could receive higher rainfall than forecast earlier as concerns about the possibility of an El Nino had eased. A large part of the country’s agriculture still relies on monsoon rains due to the lack of proper irrigation facilities. A good monsoon plays a big role in the fortunes of FMCG and auto companies that are dependent on rural demand. Mayuresh Joshi, senior vice president and portfolio manager, Angel Broking, said the forecast for a better monsoon lent further impetus to the buying at a time when strong liquidity was driving the markets. “The markets have gone through a wall of worries in the recent past and even as earnings look subdued currently, domestic liquidity is strong and dependence on foreign money is coming down,” Mr. Joshi said. Consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever Ltd. and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
were among the top gainers in the Sensex pack, advancing 4.6% and 2.59% respectively. The farm equipment division of M&M contributes as much as 35% to the company’s revenue while its share in the profitability has been as high as 50% in some quarters. Shares of automakers Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp also gained between 1% and 2% each.
Fund flows Domestic financial institutions like insurance companies and mutual funds are flush with cash and they are deploying them in equities even as foreign buying has slowed down in the recent past. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers at ₹9,902 crore and ₹30,906 crore in February and March respectively. FIIs’ purchases slid to ₹2,394 crore in April, and foreign funds have turned net sellers of stocks worth ₹2,510 crore in May. “If you compare the current cycle with the earlier ones you will see a lack of euphoria,” Abhimanyu Sofat, vice president – Research at IIFL, said. “But while valuations might look expensive, markets won’t correct much due to strong liquidity. There are segments of opportunities and those will see good inflows.”
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
private sector participation. The resolution states that the regulator will be mandated to “suggest measures for absorbing new technologies for achieving desired efficiency and performance standards.”
Somesh Jha NEW DELHI
India’s first rail regulator, Rail Development Authority (RDA), would not just look at tariff structures for passenger and freight operations but also set standards of performance and efficiency that would be enforceable under the Railways Act. “RDA can define standards of performance and efficiency; such standards would be notified as rules under the Railway Act to give a binding force upon acceptance,” said a resolution dated May 5 approved by the Railways Board, inching a step closer toward setting up a rail regulator. The regulator will set “standards for efficiency and performance for consumer satisfaction in both passenger and freight” and will also be “authorised to check for deviations and suggest remedial measures.” “The regulator will provide guidance on quantity and quality of service
Quality check: The regulator will provide guidance on service to passengers. AFP *
provided to passengers. These may include setting standards including hours of service, frequency of trains, capacity per coach, cleanliness level, and quality of water, food, furnishing and linen,” said a senior Railway Ministry official. The Union Cabinet had last month approved setting up the rail regulator responsible for recommending passenger fares, setting performance standards for rail operations and creating a level playing policy for
Regulator’s structure The Railway Board also defined the structure of the RDA with a Chairman along with three members each for tariff, public private partnership and efficiency, standards and benchmarking. The regulator will, however, not involve itself in policy making of the Indian Railways, operations and maintenance of the rail system, financial management, setting technical standards and compliance of safety standards, the resolution said. It clarified that the regulator would only make recommendations on tariff and not impose a tariff on the Indian Railways.
N.S. Rajan, a close aide of former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry, joined IDFC Bank as its group chief human resources officer and group chief marketing officer, the bank said on Wednesday. He will also be the chief executive officer of IDFC Foundation. Dr. Rajan, who joined the IDFC Bank on Wednesday, will report to Rajiv Lall, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank. He will also join the group executive committees, the bank said. “Dr. Rajan’s diverse experience in industry, consultancy and people management will enable IDFC to navigate the nuances and complexities of a challenging business world,” said Mr. Lall. “Also, we are a peoplefirst organisation. Dr. Rajan’s deep understanding of organisational behaviour, development and culture is going to be invaluable to us,” he added.
Apple tops $800 billion market cap First company to cross the mark; larger than economies of 45 of the 50 U.S. states Reuters NEW YORK
Apple Inc. became the first U.S. company to top the $800 billion mark in market capitalization on May 9, slightly more than two years after it crossed the $700 billion threshold. The iPhone maker’s shares have gained 33% this year and almost 50% since the U.S. election in November, and the company now represents about 4% of the $21.7 trillion that makes up the entire S&P 500 index. “It’s just reflective of how powerful a franchise it is. It may be the most powerful franchise in the country today,” said Rick Meckler, president of LibertyView Capital Management in JerCM YK
Big byte: The iPhone maker’s shares have gained 33% this year and almost 50% since the U.S. election in November. AP *
sey City, New Jersey, whose firm does not own the stock. “Considering that it has a limited number of products, it has really dominated that market in a way that few companies have, and it’s been able to retain margins
despite lots of competitors.” Stock buybacks have also bolstered Apple shares, with the company reducing its actual share count by 20.9% and the average diluted shares outstanding by 20.5% over the past four years, ac-
cording to Standard & Poor’s data. Apple accounted for as much as 4.9% of the S&P 500 in September 2012 but is a smaller percentage now as the index as a whole has rallied more than 7% this year. The closing market cap of $802.8 billion on May 9 was larger than the economies of 45 of the 50 U.S. states, topped only by Illinois, Florida, New York, Texas and California. Billionaire Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway has disclosed a stake of roughly $20 billion in Apple, said he had grown more fond of the company because he could “very easily determine” the iPhone maker’s competitive position “and who is trying to chase them.” A ND-ND
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IN BRIEF
Oracle plans India data centre Birla’s Novelis sells 50% in Plans to take on Amazon, Microsoft, Google in cloud computing services space Peerzada Abrar NEW DELHI
Natco unveils generic version of cancer drug HYDERABAD
Natco Pharma Ltd. introduced a generic version of pomalidomide capsules, a drug used for treating multiple myeloma. Pomalidomide is sold by Celgene Inc. in the U.S. under the brand name Pomalyst. Natco will market the version under the brand Pomalid. The MRP of Pomalid 1 mg, 2 mg and 4 mg capsules will be ₹5,000, ₹10,000 and ₹20,000 respectively for a monthly pack of 21 capsules, a release said on Wednesday.
Chola, HUDCO in pact on afordable housing plan CHENNAI
Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Limited (Chola) announced a strategic partnership with Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO). The tie up with HUDCO, a governmentowned company, will enable Chola to extend beneits under the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme, which is part of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana — Housing for All (Urban), to its eligible customers.
Oracle, one of the world’s biggest technology companies which competes with Amazon, Microsoft and Google in the cloud computing services space, said it would expand such services in India over the next six to nine months and plans to open a data centre in the country. Over the coming months, Oracle said that it would be reviewing proposals from the Government and business partners to provide customers with the capability to build and move workloads to an India-based cloud. “There has been so much demand for our cloud-based services that we are now seriously targeting to bringing them here to serve companies and the government,” said Thomas Kurian, president of product development, Oracle, during a keynote address at its flagship event Oracle OpenWorld. Oracle said that its services would offer uncom-
NEW DELHI
Delhi-based Lucideus Tech on Wednesday unveiled a new cybersecurity platform for enterprises called SAFE (Security Assessment Framework for Enterprise). “SAFE can safeguard against multiple kinds of advanced cyber attacks,” said Saket Modi, CEO and Co-Founder, Lucideus. SAFE used with any of the reputed anti-malware solutions, reduces the probability of a Ransomware hack by over 50%,” he said.
CM YK
promised security and performance at a significant price advantage over both existing on-premises infrastructure and competitive cloud offerings. “We are much faster and cheaper than the competition,” said Mr. Kurian who reports to Oracle co-founder and chief technology officer Larry Ellison. Referring to data provided by one of the customers, Mr. Kurian said that they found
Labour meet to focus on social security Conference on May 11 to set agenda Somesh Jha
Lucideus unveils new cybersecurity platform
Betting on cloud: Thomas Kurian says Oracle’s cloud computing services are 20% cheaper.
NEW DELHI
Providing social security cover for the entire workforce may be the central theme of the 47th Indian Labour Conference (ILC) to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this year. The Standing Labour Committee, chaired by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, will meet on May 11 to decide the agenda of the ILC, also known as the ‘labour parliament’ of the country. The ILC is the apex level tripartite forum in the
Labour Ministry which includes representatives from trade unions, employers and state governments.
Main theme “We have received comments from all stakeholders for finalising the agenda of ILC,” said a senior labour ministry official. “The SLC will take a final call on May 11. “The main theme of the conference will likely be universal social security coverage as demanded by all central trade unions,” said the official.
will enable < > We every person to get access to our technology Thomas Kurian, President, Oracle
cloud computing services of Oracle to be 20% cheaper and ten to twelve times faster than Amazon.
India stack The company also said that Oracle Cloud Platform has
been validated to develop applications using India Stack services. IndiaStack is a set of application program interface (APIs) that allows Governments, businesses, start-ups and developers to utilise a unique digital infrastructure and deliver secure presence-less, paperless, and cashless service delivery.+ With this validation, developers and partners can leverage Oracle Cloud for the customer to create and test next generation cloud applications that invoke core India Stack APIs, including Aadhaar Authentication and eKYC, eSign and DigiLocker. The Redwood City, California-based firm which provides its services to customers in over 195 countries said that it is processing 55 billion transactions a day. “We believe we will enable every person in the world to get access to our technology. All they need is a browser and a phone and that is our vision,” said Mr. Kurian.
S.Korea unit to Kobe Steel
ABNL to get $315 mn.; irms to jointly operate Ulsan plant Special Correspondent MUMBAI
Aditya Birla Group’s Novelis Inc., a leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, has entered into a joint venture agreement with Japan’s Kobe Steel by deciding to sell 50% of its ownership interest in its Ulsan, South Korea facility, to Kobe for $315 million. Kobe is a leading producer of aluminum-based products in Japan. The joint venture will be named Ulsan Aluminum, Ltd. The joint venture transaction is expected to close in September 2017, subject to customary closing conditions, according to a Novelis statement.
Own and operate Novelis and Kobe Steel will jointly own and operate the Ulsan facility, with both companies remaining responsible for its metal sup-
Renault Duster ‘fails’ crash test ‘Due to lack of airbags, injuries may be unacceptably high’ the Indian Duster was smaller than that of the Latin American Duster, which had scored 4 stars in an earlier crash test.
Special Correspondent NEW DELHI
Global NCAP, a U.K.-based safety and testing organisation, said the basic version of Renault Duster, an SUV, sold in India ‘failed’ the crash test conducted by it. The basic version, which does not come with any airbags, recorded a “disappointing zero star” for adult occupant protection and 2 stars for rear seat child occupant protection. “The crash test showed that due to the lack of airbags, the driver injuries would have been unacceptably high,” Global NCAP said on Wednesday. On Renault’s request, Global NCAP also tested the
A model with an airbag too fell short.
version with an optional driver airbag which got 3 stars for adult occupant protection while child protection got the same rating. Additionally, Global NCAP found that the airbag used in
‘Short on safety’ “Renault produces the Duster in a number of markets and yet it seems content to provide a version for India which falls so far short on safety…,” said David Ward, secretary general, Global NCAP. “The version of the Duster with an airbag scores 3 stars, but this too fell short as it was fitted with a smaller airbag. A model with a correctly sized airbag should be provided as standard,” he said.
The stake sale will help Novelis to reduce its net debt burden. AFP *
ply and commercial relationships. “By entering into this joint venture, Novelis will better utilise its rolling capacity at Ulsan, which will continue to focus on automotive and speciality sheets in order to meet the increasing demand for lightweight rolled aluminum products across Asia,” Novelis said in the statement
“Partnering with another world-class manufacturing company will allow Novelis to drive operational efficiencies and process enhancements. As a result, Novelis’ Ulsan facility, along with its Yeongju facility in South Korea and its Changzhou facility in China, will be better positioned to deliver innovative, value-added products and services to customers,” it added. The transaction is expected to generate cash proceeds which will enable Novelis to reduce its net debt. “As a company, we constantly identify business opportunities that allow us to deliver maximum value across our global operations and we continue to see Asia as a strategic market,” said Steve Fisher, pesident and chief executive officer of Novelis. The Ulsan facility currently employs 600 people.
Central coal unions may go on 3-day strike About 5 lakh workers to take part Special Correspondent KOLKATA
Five central trade unions in the coal sector are planning to go on a three-day strike beginning June 19, demanding among other things, withdrawal of the proposed merger of the Coal Mines Provident Fund with the Employees Provident Fund. On May 9, a notice for the planned strike was signed by office-bearers of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the Indian National Trade Union Congress, the Hind Mazdoor sabha, the All India Trade Union Congress
and the Centre for Indian Trade Unions. The action may impact operations at Coal India’s mining subsidiaries and that of Hyderabadbased Singareni Coal Company. An INTUC statement said about five lakh coal workers was expected to participate in the strike The last strike of such a scale took place in January 2015. The five-day strike against divestment was withdrawn after two days following the setting up of a committee to look into the matter.
A ND-ND
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THE HINDU
SPORT 15
NOIDA/DELHI
THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017
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Daredevils prevail in tight inish
Manohar agrees to stay on
Shreyas comes to the Delhi team’s party with a blistering attack on Gujarat Lions’ attack
He will complete his ICC term in June 2018 G. Viswanath
Uthra Ganesan KANPUR
The last time Gujarat Lions and Delhi Daredevils came face-to-face, DD had made a mockery of the opposition’s 209-run target riding on two young talents. On Wednesday, Delhi again came out victorious as Shreyas Iyer finally came to the party with his highest T20 score ever to ensure a narrow two-wicket win with two balls to spare that saw the two bottom-half teams exchange their positions on the leaderboard. The result also extended Gujarat’s poor record defending totals — it has won only one of 13 so far. Delhi also avenged its one-run defeat last year and that narrow loss must have been playing on Rahul Dravid’s mind as the Delhi coach refused to celebrate till Amit Mishra finally nicked Basil Thampi’s slow full toss to the fine- leg boundary for the winning runs.
Inexperience to the fore Chasing 196, Delhi needed to bat well for a pride-salvaging win. But its inexperience came to the fore as its batsmen kept taking risks and losing wickets. That is, till Shreyas’ classy, yet aggressive, 96-run knock that came in just 57 balls and included two huge sixes — straight and over mid-wicket — and 15 fours. The runs flowed all across the ground, with an affinity towards the offside, and he spared no bowler. Much before that, Sanju Samson dragged a short ball
Exceptional knock: Shreyas Iyer (96) masterminded Delhi Daredevils’ chase with a brilliant onslaught. RAJEEV BHATT *
Mohit praises Tewatia S. Dipak Ragav Mohali
Man-of-the-Match Mohit Sharma and Kolkata Knight Riders’ top-scorer Chris Lynn were unanimous in their analysis that the middle overs turned the tide of the match on Tuesday. KKR was cruising at 61 for one at the end of the PowerPlay when Kings XI Punjab spinners came to the rescue and stemmed the flow of runs. Leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia came in for special praise from Mohit. “I think the spinners, especially Rahul Tewatia, were the turning point. It was his first match of this season. His four overs were the turning point and gave away just 18 runs,” said Mohit. “Sandy (Sandeep Sharma) also bowled well but in the end I think it was Tewatia’s four overs that made the difference.” Lynn who raced to 41 in the PowerPlay from 19 balls, needed another 33 balls for his next 43 runs and agreed the dots balls in the middleovers cost the team. “The dot balls between
Rain hampers play
from Pradeep Sangwan on to the stumps in the second over. Rishabh Pant sauntered out of the crease nonchalantly after tapping the ball to Suresh Raina in the slips, only to see the bails dislodged from a direct hit. Marlon Samuels and Corey Anderson both fell to Jadeja’s agility and accuracy. But by the time Shreyas was cleaned up by Pradeep Sangwan in the final over, it had all been eclipsed by the youngster’s brilliance. Earlier, Aaron Finch and Dinesh Karthik took Gujarat to the above-par total as sloppy fielding and poor
SCOREBOARD
‘Playing at home is the motivation’
SCOREBOARD Pakistan — 1st innings: Azhar Ali (batting) 38, Shan Masood c Holder b Chase 9, Babar Azam (batting) 26; Extras (w-1, nb-1): 2; Total (for one wkt. in 28 overs): 75. Fall of wicket: 1-19. West Indies bowling: Gabriel 8-3-10-0, Joseph 7-0-27-0, Chase 6-3-17-1, Holder 5-111-0, Bishoo 2-0-10-0. Toss: West Indies.
CM YK
Marlon Samuels run out 1 (4b), Corey Anderson run out 6 (6b, 1x4), Carlos Brathwaite c & b Kulkarni 11 (10b, 2x4), Pat Cummins c Smith b Faulkner 24 (13b, 2x4, 1x6), Mohammed Shami (not out) 4 (2b, 1x4), Amit Mishra (not out) 8 (2b, 2x4); Extras (lb-2, w-1): 3; Total (for eight wkts. in 19.4 overs): 197. Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Samson, 1.3), 2-15 (Pant, 1.5), 3-72 (Karun, 7.3), 4-92 (Samuels, 9.6), 5-104 (Anderson, 11.4), 6121 (Brathwaite, 13.5), 7-182 (Cummins, 18.2 overs), 8-189 (Shreyas, 19.2). Gujarat Lions bowling: Dhawal Kulkarni 4-0-30-1, Pradeep Sangwan 3-0-35-1, Basil Thampi 3.4-0-43-1, Dwayne Smith 1-0-17-0, Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-31-0, James Faulkner 4-0-39-2. Toss: Delhi Daredevils. Man-of-the-match: Shreyas Iyer. Daredevils won by two wickets with two balls to spare.
Mumbai
Impact player: Rahul Tewatia’s niggardly spell contributed to KXIP’s crucial win on Tuesday. AKHILESH KUMAR *
the sixth and the 11th over dented our run-rate. “If we had rotated the strike a bit more, we would have found ourselves in a lot more comfortable position rather than trying to whack down towards the end. “To their credit, the Kings XI boys bowled really well in the death overs. That’s what you can ask for and credit has to go to them.” When asked what the talk was, after the initial fireworks from Lynn and Narine, Mohit said: “It wasn’t
that we bowled bad, it was just they played well. “They started hitting from the first ball. Sandy bowled well so did Matt Henry but some of the balls went for fours. Our focus was stick to our plans.” Mohit added: “He (Lynn) is a big player and he bats in T20 as if it is baseball. He always punishes a loose ball. “The moment he got out the match turned in our favour as a new batsman cannot come in and hit shots right from the start.”
Mitchell McClenaghan feels that an opportunity to feature in the playoff match in front of home fans is motivation enough for Mumbai Indians as it prepares for the VIVO IPL match against Kings XI Punjab at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. The Kiwi left-arm seamer, who has picked up 17 wickets, said: “If we finish 1 or 2, we play the playoff at the Wankhede. It would be an advantage for us.” Explaining the reason behind West Indian Lendl Simmons opening with Parthiv Patel in the recent matches, McClenagan said: “It’s a shame Jos Buttler will not be available for the playoffs. But we have Simmons who can straightaway take Jos’ spot. “He will have a few matches under his belt; he could be a crucial player in the playoffs.”
Shashank Manohar, the architect of the new ICC constitution and financial structure, has acceded to the wishes of the greater part of the 13-member International Cricket Council (ICC) Board to complete his term as chairman of the world cricket body. The ICC, in a short note on Wednesday, said: “Shashank Manohar will continue to function as the Independent Chairman of ICC until the end of his elected term which is June 2018.” Elected as ICC’s first independent chairman in May 2016, Manohar won many friends, in the ICC Board and across the cricketing fraternity, after he took the initiative to overturn a clutch of resolutions passed in 2014 that created the Big-3 powerhouse in the cricket Boards of India, Australia and England to control the administration, financial matters and competitions.
Shashank Manohar.
*
AP
On two occasions — February and April 2017 — Manohar received overwhelming support to dismantle the Big-3 governance model and bring in a revenue-sharing model based on the principle of equity, conscience and common sense. In between, he resigned but was persuaded to defer his resignation till the ICC’s annual conference in London from June 19 to 23. After the ICC Board meeting at Dubai on April 26, more than two-thirds of the Board Directors wrote to
BCCI should also sign Sports Code, says Vijay Goel Press Trust of India New Delhi
Sports Minister Vijay Goel wants the BCCI to be a signatory of the revamped Sports Code that will be tabled very soon. “The question here is not about BCCI.
“The question is about including all the sports in the Sports Code as per my belief,” said Goel. “As of now, the Sports Code is already in existence and is being followed by the federations. For the final code, I believe as soon as the
MUMBAI
Kings XI Punjab, even without Hashim Amla, packs enough surprises to pull the carpet from under any side, including Mumbai Indians, in IPL-2017. When local players stand up to deliver, the intent to battle it out is clear in a competition where reputations don’t matter as much as form on match day. Mumbai Indians’ effort to seal the top spot in the league standings with another home win in front of adoring fans appears more difficult than before. KXIP is a different squad from the one which crashed to an eight-wicket loss at Indore a few matches ago. The bowling unit, especially, is confident of defending modest totals, supported by brilliant catching.
Rousing victory The KXIP attack showed spunk against the mighty Kolkata Knight Riders lineup to script a rousing victory
at Mohali on Tuesday, at home. Riding on a fine bowling effort, the team had tamed Royal Challengers Bangalore away, though it came a cropper against Gujarat Lions in between. Twice defending successfully in three games is a creditable display in a format loaded in favour of big-hitters. Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma, swing and seam exponents, have gained the team management’s confidence, bowling when in the firing line. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel is adept at frustrating batsmen and with captain Glenn Maxwell taking wickets, the visitors’ bowling can match the best MI can offer. The shorter boundaries at the Wankhede dilutes the fielding factor in the deep as even mishits clear the ropes in some areas. Mumbai Indians, led by a rejuvenated Rohit Sharma following his selection for the Champions Trophy, will be forced to treat the visitors with more
respect in Thursday’s match. MI recorded wins in six out of seven games at this venue. Rising Pune Supergiant was the only team to win here, on the back of an outstanding 19th over from Ben Stokes and a successful 20th by Jaydev Unadkat. The two Sharmas — Sandeep (16 wickets in 11 matches) and Mohit —have displayed the knack of taking the pace off the ball and forcing batsmen to take the initiative. KXIP skipper Maxwell has been taking the charge into the rival camp and is the
‘My routines don’t depend on results; what matters is if I’m doing them right’ “We have tried to help each other out rather than pushing things on individuals and that has been a hallmark for us this season, bonding as a unit. “It’s very easy to get frustrated and point fingers when you are not doing well but I think we have embraced and accepted what has happened.”
Hurts the players RCB has won only two games out of 13 this season, a display that Kohli admitted hurts the players. “The kind of season we have had needs no explanation. It certainly hurts us the most as players. It’s tough (to lift morale). We
certainly tried everything to turn things around but it just didn’t happen. Last year was great for us, this year has been the total opposite. “We probably had our worst season in the IPL in the ten years and it's an opportunity to start afresh. “We’ve got to accept both sides of this wonderful game. We’re surely going to try and come back stronger next year.” There had been no finger-
pointing inside the RCB dressing room, Kohli stated. “There’s nothing extra you can do when things are not going right because it’s not going right for anyone,” he said. “It’s not just one or two players that you have to manage. So as a team if things are not going well, all you can do is maintain a bit of patience and calmness around the change room and not let issues fly around.
Funny side At times, his side had seen the funny side of it too, Kohli admitted. “We have tried to laugh it off at times. “There have been situations that have been so helpless that we have come back to the change room laughing. It can happen to one or two people, but all 11 thinking and feeling the same way, it’s very rare and a big learning curve for us,” he said. Kohli would not be drawn, however, on India's plans for next month's ICC Champions Trophy. “I’m sorry, I’m not disclosing any of the combinations right now,” he laughed. “We still have to play the tournament.”
PLAYING TODAY DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
MI v KXIP Sony Six, Sony ESPN, Sony Max (SD & HD), 8 p.m.
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second highest run-maker (263 in 11 innings, averaging 32.87) after classy Amla (420 in 10 innings at 60). The home batsmen have been more effective, with Nitish Rana, Parthiv Patel and Kieron Pollard scoring more than the rival captain. However, Mumbai Indians need an all-round effort to get past a gritty opposition.
POINTS TABLE
TEAM Mumbai Indians Kolkata Knight Riders Rising Pune Supergiant Sunrisers Hyderabad Kings XI Punjab Delhi Daredevils Gujarat Lions Royal Challengers Bangalore
M 12 13 12 13 12 12 13 13
W 9 8 8 7 6 5 4 2
L 3 5 4 5 6 7 9 10
NR 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
PTS 18 16 16 15 12 10 8 5
NRR +0.903 +0.729 -0.060 +0.565 +0.280 -0.590 -0.361 -1.454
*After the DD-GL match
Slower ball — variations on a theme S. Dinakar
Captain courageous: Virat Kohli is determined not to let the IPL results weigh him down.
report will be ready, we will propose it in front of the nation.” BCCI’s acting president C.K. Khanna refused to comment and said that it will only be discussed at an appropriate time when the sports bill is tabled.
The visitors high on conidence after successfully defending twice in three games
Won’t change preparation for CT: Kohli Royal Challengers Bangalore may have endured a miserable IPL season but captain Virat Kohli is determined not to let those results weigh him down. “If you play the sport for so long, you have to accept that these kinds of days will come,” he said here on Wednesday, speaking at an event to announce Tissot as RCB’s watch partner. “When you are doing well, you do the same things; even when you are not, you follow the same routines. “Whatever I have done in this IPL in terms of preparations and doing my routines right, the same things are going to apply for the Champions Trophy and whatever time I play my cricket. It doesn’t depend on the results.”
him saying that they were looking up to him to provide leadership during the implementation of changes that is expected to be approved at the 105-member AGM on June 23. Now that Manohar has agreed to stay on, the BCCI — miffed that it has been cut to size as regards the governance and revenue-related aspects — would be in a better position to appeal to the Nagpur-based lawyer to give it a better deal with regard to its standing in the ICC’s administrative structure and a higher claim of revenue for the 2016-23 period. Manohar is open to the idea of giving the BCCI an additional $100 million to the $293 million already apportioned. The BCCI has delegated its joint secretary Amitabh Choudhary to take up BCCI’s concerns with the ICC chairman, who has also shared thoughts with the Committee of Administrators, especially with chairman Vinod Rai and Vikram Limaye.
MUMBAI
MI up against resurgent Kings Nandakumar Marar
G. Viswanath
Bengaluru
Pakistan, asked to take first strike, was 75 for one when rain interrupted play after lunch in the third Test against the West Indies here on Wednesday. Azhar Ali (38) and Babar Azam (26) were at the crease. Having levelled the series with a 106-run win in the second match in Barbados a week ago, the Jason Holder-led West Indian side named an unchanged XI in pursuit of a first Test series win for five years against a team ranked higher than them. Pakistan has never won a Test series in the Caribbean on seven previous tours.
bowling allowed the Gujarat batsmen to relieve pressure and garner extra runs. The two added 92 runs in just under 10 overs to steady the innings provide an impetus as Lions managed 195 for five wickets. Finch’s four sixes were all class. The partnership was crucial as the two came together when Lions had lost Suresh Raina and Ishan Kishan quickly. Finch was bowled in the penultimate over and even though the total looked enough, Shreyas made sure it wasn’t.
DELHI DAREDEVILS VS GUJARAT LIONS
Gujarat Lions: Dwayne Smith run out 8 (8b, 1x4), Ishan Kishan c Zaheer Khan b Mishra 34 (25b, 5x4, 1x6), Suresh Raina b Cummins 6 (5b, 1x4), Dinesh Karthik c Anderson b Brathwaite 40 (28b, 4x4, 1x6), Aaron Finch b Shami 69 (39b, 6x4, 4x6), Ravindra Jadeja (not out) 13 (7b, 2x4), James Faulkner (not out) 14 (8b, 1x4); Extras (lb-7, w-4): 11; Total (for five wkts. in 20 overs): 195. Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Smith, 3.1 overs), 2-46 (Raina, 5.5), 3-56 (Kishan, 6.3), 4-148 (Karthik, 16.1), 5-180 (Finch, 18.3). Delhi Daredevils bowling: Zaheer Khan 4-0-30-0, Mohd. Shami 4-0-36-1, Pat Cummins 4-0-38-1, Amit Mishra 2-027-1, Carlos Brathwaite 4-038-1, Corey Anderson 2-0-19-0. Delhi Daredevils: Sanju Samson b Sangwan 10 (7b, 2x4), Karun Nair c Smith b Faulkner 30 (15b, 5x4, 1x6), Rishabh Pant run out 4 (2b, 1x4), Shreyas Iyer b Thampi 96 (57b, 15x4, 2x6),
Special Correspondent
Agencies Roseau (Dominica)
IPL-10
CHENNAI
Deception is the key while sending down the slower ball. “It must be delivered with the same action, without much change in the wrist position. The batsman should not be able to read it,” said former India paceman Venkatesh Prasad to The Hindu. Prasad was among the finest exponents of the slower ball in his time, an early trend-setter. Now the delivery has become an essential weapon for a paceman, particularly in the shorter forms of the game. In the ongoing IPL, the slower deliveries from pacemen have swung several games. Prasad weighed in on three essential forms of this delivery. Knuckle ball: “You need to keep the ball in the nonbowling hand and switch at the last moment, during your gather, to the bowling hand. It has to happen fast without the batsman realising it. “The ball, in normal instances, is gripped with the forefinger, middle-finger and the thumb. But while bowling the knuckle ball, the ball is only supported by the
Venkatesh Prasad.
*
FILE PHOTO
forefinger and the thumb. The middle finger and the ring finger are folded. There is not enough pressure on the ball when it is released and it floats. The batsman is often off-set by the lack of speed in the ball. Back-of-the-hand ball: “There is a subtle change in
the wrist position. Normally the palm will be facing the batsman. Here the batsman sees the back of the palm. The ball rolls on the fingers, comes out slow to baffle the batsman. Because of my high-arm action, I used to get some bounce as well when I bowled this delivery.” Split finger slower delivery: “This is difficult to bowl. There is a last minute change in the grip. When you bowl the split finger slower ball, you widen the gap between the forefinger and the middle-finger as you hold the sphere. “And the ball rests between the two fingers that are wide apart. There is hardly any pace on the ball as it is released. Dilhara Fernando was a fine exponent of this delivery.”
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16 SPORT
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017
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‘Jhulan’s feat up there with the best ’
IN BRIEF
Mithali Raj speaks glowingly of the fast-bowler’s commitment and team-spirit V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM HYDERABAD
Rice named TCS World 10K ambassador BENGALURU
Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice, who won three Olympic gold medals with world record times at Beijing, was on Wednesday announced as the International Event Ambassador for the tenth edition of the TCS World 10K, to be run here on May 21.
Breaking away: After the two were tied in the irst round, Harpreet Singh managed to put some distance between Junjie Na and himself, and then saw out the time to clinch the win. *
SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
Harpreet Singh opens India’s account
McIlroy signs big deal with TaylorMade
Pips Junjie Na of China in the 80kg bronze-medal bout
LOS ANGELES
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy has signed a deal, worth $100 million over a decade, with US golf equipment manufacturer TaylorMade, it was reported on Tuesday. He recently signed a $200 million extension to his contract to wear Nike golf apparel. AFP
Kamesh Srinivasan NEW DELHI
Harpreet Singh provided the bronze medal start for the host by winning a thrilling 3-2 decision over Junjie Na of China in the 80kg category of the Greco-Roman in the Asian Wrestling Championship at the K.D. Jadhav arena in the Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex on Wednesday. Considering that GrecoRoman is hardly India’s forte, it was creditable that the host managed to put two wrestlers in the fight for a medal through repechage on the opening day where the competition was restricted to five weight categories. However, Gurpreet Singh, who had lost 6-8 in a close quarterfinal to Maxat Yerezhepov of Kazakhstan, the eventual champion in the 75 kg category, was a disapointment in the bronze medal bout as he was outclassed in no time and lost
Billings to try Dravid’s lessons at CT KOLKATA
England wicket-keeper Sam Billings is looking forward to trying out the off-field lessons he has picked up from Delhi Daredevils coach Rahul Dravid to make an impression in the upcoming Champions Trophy. “I just enjoy talking to him, whether it’s about life or cricket. He is very calm and offers his insights and has lots of experience,” said Billings. IANS
ASIAN WRESTLING 8-0 by technical fall to Bing Yan of China. He had won the qualification round against Dilshodjon Turdiev of Uzbekistan in the morning and the repechage against Bungo Beishalev of Kyrgyzstan, to be eligible for the bronze match.
Strong comeback Harpreet, who had beaten Yuya Maeta of Japan 2-1 in the morning’s preliminary round, lost his quarterfinal bout to Junehyoung Ki of Korea 8-1 by technical fall, and did well to make it to the bronze contest. He showed considerable alacrity to gain two points in the second round of the medal match after being level at 1-1 against the Chinese, and managed to see through the time even as the Chinese fought to bridge the gap.
Bhambri in quarters Sports Bureau Karshi (Uzbekistan)
Yuki Bhambri defeated Aldin Setkic 7-5, 7-5 in the second round of the $75,000 Challenger tennis tournament here on Wednesday while Sriram Balaji lost to Egor Gerasimov and all the Indian players crashed out of the doubles. In the $25,000 Futures in Abuja, Sasi Kumar Mukund entered the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles. Karman Kaur Thandi made the quarterfinals of the the $25,000 women’s event in Hua Hin, and the doubles semifinals with Zhanlan Wei.
Struggling Inter Milan ires manager Pioli MILAN
Inter Milan has sacked manager Stefano Pioli after a run of seven league games without a win, the club said in a statement on Tuesday. It was Inter’s second managerial change of the season. Youth coach Stefano Vecchi will take charge of the remaining games of the campaign. REUTERS
The results: $75,000 Challenger, Karshi: Second round: Yuki Bhambri bt Aldin Setkic (Bih) 7-5, 7-5; Egor Gerasimov (Blr) bt Sriram Balaji 6-3, 6-4. Doubles: First round: Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (Chi) & Andrei Vasilevski (Blr) bt Toshide Matsui (Jpn) & Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6(7), 6-3; Alsal
TV PICKS Federation Cup football: TEN 2, 4 p.m. & 7 p.m.
West Indies v Pakistan: 3rd Test, TEN 1 HD, 7.30 p.m. UEFA Europa League: TEN 1 & 2, 11.30 p.m. NBA: Sony Six & Six HD, 5.30 a.m. (Friday)
Karatsev (Rus) & Aldin Setkic (Bih) bt Jason Jung (Tpe) & Yuki Bhambri 6-4, 2-6, [10-4]; Sergey Betov & Yaraslav Shyla (Blr) bt Sriram Balaji & Vishnu Vardhan 7-6(8), 7-6(8). $25,000 Futures, Abuja: Second round: Sasi Kumar Mukund bt Mateusz Smolicki (Pol) 6-1, 6-1; Fernando Romboli (Bra) bt Kunal Anand 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Doubles: First round: Jose Fco. Vidal Azorin (Esp) & Sasi Kumar Mukund bt Adrian Andrzejczuk & Mateusz Smolicki (Pol) 6-4, 2-6, [11-9]. $25,000 ITF women, Hua Hin: Second round: Karman Kaur Thandi bt Chihiro Muramatsu (Jpn) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5; Guilana Olmos (Mex) bt Ankita Raina 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. Doubles quarterfinals: Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) & Ankita Raina bt Kamonwan Buayam (Tha) & Shanshan Guo (Chn) 6-4, 6-2; Zhanlan Wei (Chn) & Karman Kaur Thandi bt Margarita Lazareva (Rus) & Qiangian Zhao (Chn) 6-4, 7-6(4).
Hardeep Singh also made it to the repechage, in the 98 kg category, but lost 9-0 by technical fall to Yerulan Iskakov of Kazakhstan. He had lost to Seyedmostafa Seyedgharibar Salehizadeh of Iran in the quarterfinals, but the latter went on to make the final and revived the Indian grappler’s chances. In a small field of seven in the 130 kg section, Naveen lost 2-1 on points to Muminjon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan in the qualification stage. In the 66 kg category, Ravinder Khatri lost 5-3 on points to Ali Reizollah Arsalan of Iran in the quarterfinals. Korea won the first gold medal of the championship as Sanghun Oh beat Alimat Kebispayev of Kazakhstan in the 66 kg section. Maxat Yerezhepov beat Korean Park Daeseung for gold in the 75 kg section.
Bangalore season from May 13 Racing Correspondent
India Women’s captain Mithali Raj says Jhulan Goswami’s feat of becoming the highest wicket-taker in ODIs is something which makes every player proud and that it should be up there at the top in terms of achievements by any Indian sportsperson. “If you look at the fact that not many Indian players hold records in women’s cricket, this is a fabulous achievement by someone who has proved her endurance for such a long time,” Mithali said in an exclusive chat with The Hindu from Potchefstroom on Wednesday. “It is a commendable feat by Jhulan as the fast bowlers generally have very short careers, for obvious reasons. She stands apart
Rituparna advances
Unique: Mithali Raj says Jhulan Goswami stands apart from the rest of the crowd because of her hard work. FILE PHOTO *
from the rest of the crowd because of her great commitment level and hard work. “Be with the new ball or in the second or third spells, Jhulan shows great grit and determination to be in the thick of things. “I remember, when I
threw the ball to her in the Test in England in 2007, she was very visibly tired and had some trouble with her legs too. And, yet she didn’t say no, and went on to bowl and return a five-wicket haul. Amazing cricketer in any format to have in your
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\ NEW DELHI ROUND-UP \
Principal Correspondent Bengaluru
ONGC’s Rituparna Das beat GAIL’s Spurthi Etukuri 21-3, 21-5 in the women’s quarterfinals of the 38th PSPB inter-unit badminton championship here. The results: Men (round-of-16): Siril Varma (GAIL) bt Kiran (MRPL) 21-8, 21-9; Sameer Verma (BPCL) bt M. Raju (HPCL) 21-9, 21-5; H.S. Prannoy (ONGC) bt Arintap Dasgupta (IOCL)19-21, 21-10, 21-14; Shreyansh Jaiswal (GAIL) bt R.M.V. Gurusai Dutt (BPCL) 16-10(retired); Aditya Joshi (BPCL) bt Rahul Yadav (HPCL) 21-11, 12-21, 21-14. Women (quarterfinals): Ashwini Bhat (IOCL) bt Latha Kumari (MRPL) 21-0, 21-5; Shreyanshi Paradeshi (ONGC) bt Maya Dashrath (GAIL) 21-1, 21-4; Arundhati Pandawane (ONGC) bt Shyamala (MRPL) 21-2, 21-3.
AC Sports beats Air India, enters semiinals An unbeaten 53 by Mrinal Saini and three-wicket hauls by Saurabh Singh and Achal Singla helped AC Sports beat Air India by five wickets and enter the semifinals of the 33rd all-India Laxman Das Chhabra memorial cricket tournament. The scores: Air India 228 for nine in 40 overs (Kaif Ahmad 73 n.o., Himanshu Asnora 65, Hiten Dalal 35, Saurabh Singh three for 33, Achal Singla three for 78) lost to ACS 229 for five in 35 overs (Mrinal Saini 53 n.o., Amit Pal 43 n.o., Abhimanu Yadav 42, Vikram Dhariwal 40, Harpreet Singh three for 27).
Pankaj, Mihir, Rohit shine for Players Academy Pankaj Joshi scored an unbeaten 65 while Mihir
Dhawan and Rohit Malik picked up three wickets each as Players Academy beat Young Friends Club by seven wickets in the first Admiral Cricket League match. The scores: YFC 170 in 34.4 overs (Sarwan Kumar 44, Amir Malik 31, Mihir Dhawan three for 31, Rohit Malik three for 33) lost to Players Academy 176 for three in 33.5 overs (Pankaj Joshi 65 n.o., Ajit Rawat 34 n.o.).
Abhay scalps ive in Springdales Academy’s victory Abhay Suri’s five-wicket haul and half-centuries by Gaurav Sabbarwal and Aditya Yadav helped Springdales Academy down Airliner Academy by six wickets in the Ghevra Cup cricket tournament. The scores: Airliner Academy 153 in 37.3
Ginobili denies Rockets Spurs win a thriller to grab the advantage
Reconstituted Board of Appeal: Messrs V. Harimohan Naidu (chairman), H. Kumara Swamy, K.R. Prakash, I.S. Praveen Sood and Shivakumar Kheny. Racing dates: May: 13, 14, 20, 21, 27 and 28. June: 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24 and 25. July: 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 and 30. August: 3 and 4.
overs (Ayush Saklani 43, Abhay Suri five for 25) lost to Springdales Academy 154 for four in 21.5 overs (Gaurav Sabbarwal 55 n.o., Aditya Yadav 54).
Keshav and Shivam excel for Ashoka Club Shivam Sharma top-scored with 55 and Keshav Sharma picked up four wickets as Ashoka Club defeated Sarojni Nagar Gymkhana by six wickets in the third Sardari Lal Makkar memorial cricket tournament. The scores: SNG 122 in 29.2 overs (Jagmeet Singh 43, Honey Sahukeen 32, Keshav Sharma four for 31, Rahul Mishra two for 20, Avinash Gange two for 28) lost to Ashoka Club 123 for four in 17.2 overs (Shivam Sharma 55, Dhruv Aggarwal 45, Keshav Tyagi two for 29).
Stunning win for SAI Principal Correspondent
NBA
Bengaluru
BENGALURU
The 26-day Bangalore summer racing season will commence on May 13 (Saturday) and conclude on August 4 (Friday). Racing will be held on Saturdays and Sundays except during the last week. Briefing the media here on Wednesday, BTC chairman Y. Jagannath said the Kingfisher Ultra Derby Bangalore (Grade I) will be sponsored by M/s. United Breweries for the 30th consecutive year.
team!” “I am really happy to be part of this piece of cricketing history as we have been playing together for long, and know each other pretty well. She shows that rare trait of trying to improve with each game even now. Terrific character!” Speaking of how her record-breaking team-mate is off the field, Mithali said: “She is a very jovial person, who initially was a bit upset when I indulged in pranks. It is different now; we enjoy our friendship on and off the field a lot.” “Definitely, when we started playing together, we never thoughts we would be part of this kind of history. Honestly, I am thrilled at her feat which is one of those unparalled achievements.”
Holder Hockey GangpurOdisha lost to SAI 1-3 in the 7th Hockey India sub-junior boys’ national hockey championship (‘A’ Division) here on Wednesday.
Agence France-Presse San Antonio
Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points as the San Antonio Spurs outgunned the Houston Rockets 110-107 in an overtime thriller to grab a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference playoff series on Tuesday. Manu Ginobili pulled off an astonishing defensive block of James Harden as the Rockets star shaped for a game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds of overtime. It was a superb piece of athleticism from the 39year-old Argentinian, which gave the Spurs lead as the series headed to Houston for Game 6. It was a frustrating night for Harden, who led the scoring for the Rockets with 33 points and a triple-double.
Brilliantly done! Manu Ginobili comes up with a last-gasp block to thwart James Harden’s three-point attempt in the inal second of play in Game Five on Tuesday. AFP *
The results: Pool A: Hockey Odisha 4 (Matiyas Dang 18, Sushil Dhanwar 35, 42, 68) bt Hockey Andhra Pradesh 0; Hockey Gangpur-Odisha 1 (Deepak Ekka 25) lost to SAI 3 (Ankush 28, 34, Vishnukant Singh 54). B: Hockey Haryana 8 (Sachin Malik 6, Sunny Malik 7, 39, Amit 20, 32, Rohit 40, 49, Pankaj 51) bt Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 0. C: Hockey Punjab 4 (Surdarshan Singh 8, Jaspreet Singh 44, Rahul 47, Rajinder Singh 66) bt Hockey Patiala 0. D: Madhya Pradesh HA 5 (Shreyas Dhupe 6, 27, 63, Aniket Varun 47, Shailendra Singh 49) bt Delhi Hockey 1 (Rahul Gharai 21).
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THE HINDU CROSSWORD 12004 1
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(set by Dr. X)
11 Innovative smash! Advantage Leander inally (5-5) 12 Radical involved in incendiary lawlessness (4)
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14 Plotted with rascal to acquire pill of ecstasy (8)
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13 Caribbean cricketer securing victory needs grub (5)
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16 Feminine issue perhaps? Sleep on it! (8)
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18 Returning to party at bar (5) 22
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20 Not embarrassed about binders damaging number of books (1,1,1,1)
FAITH
SUDOKU
Brahma jnana is the key
2 Student gets slimmer to ensnare Romeo (7) 3 What it usually costs to leave thankless wretch (5,4) 5 Run into stake at cavern (5) 6 One boring commercial interrupts ight (7) 7 Break apart coming to grips with current beau introducing bedtime mate (5,4) 10 Burglar's a jester perhaps (9)
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21 Punctually late? (4,2,4) 23 Husband's boring, I hear? Worried (7)
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■ ACROSS 1 Indifference to humour (6) 4 Plays matches without energy having eaten a small amount (7) 8 Full of energy, police go back to arrest a lot of revolutionaries (7) 9 Features beaches and deserts (7)
CM YK
24 Husband lacking in potency? Rushed inside with traveller (7) 25 Have a quick look at appeal for protective winter gear (3,4)
13 Swimmer garnering a lot of interest? (4,5) 15 Charge to be paid, a result of inlation? (9) 17 Puzzle time — Not a type of cryptic clue (7)
26 Means business (6)
19 Expert to investigate near disaster (7)
■ DOWN
21 Refuse deposit (5)
1 It costs to watch Republican ignored in amazing party victory (3-2)
22 Plenty having thousand! It's worthless (5)
Solution to puzzle 12003 C H I K E L U D
O U P H E C A V Y A
I OARN OF RMOAO KN SS TP I GSHLO OE A U N SC DFEA RR DBEAR T
S C O O M B A N T F D A T S I G R U E L
C R N G A N N D E I E S
E T E E S T A D
O E R E D R T I MU S M T R O I P O N D E D I F Y O A N E R Y O G L E N T Y
Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku L
S
E
E
Are all people who know the Vedas certain to attain moksha? This is a question Lord Krishna answers in the Bhagavad Gita. He says that there may be persons well versed in the rituals prescribed in the Vedas. They may, therefore, know how to perform yagas. But if they are unfamiliar with the Upanishads, that means they lack Brahma jnana. Therefore, they do not know that even when other gods like Indra are being propitiated through yagas, it is only the Supreme One, Lord Narayana, who gives the benefits of the sacrifices. So will they not get any benefits by performing the yagas? Whatever benefits are assured through performance of a yaga will come to them, said Valayapet Ramachariar in a discourse. A portion of their sins also gets destroyed. But the rest of their sins remain. Because of acquiring some merit through a yaga, they go to svarga. But after some time, they are again born on this earth. They may do more yagas and go many more times to svarga, but each time they have to come back when their merits have been exhausted. That is why Lord Krishna says, gata agatam labhante — they keep coming and going and suffering. If a person knows that the Supreme One is in charge of everything, he will not seek petty things in life. His only aspiration will be to attain moksha. But he who does not know Him will keep performing sacrifices and seeking other ways of pleasing Indra and other gods, none of whom has the power to grant moksha. In his Varadaraja stavam, Kooratazhvan says that if one goes round Lord Varadaraja of Kanchipuram once, it will become clear that He is the Supreme One. The Vedas, it is true, reveal Him, but they will do so only to the one who has understood the Upanishads and not merely the ritual portion of the Vedas. A ND-ND
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THE HINDU
SPORT 17
NOIDA/DELHI
THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017
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IN BRIEF
Juventus enters inal Alves inspires Italian giant to beat back Monaco’s challenge
TENNIS
Djokovic and Nadal pull through Agencies MADRID
Novak Djokovic staved off a huge upset in his first match since splitting with his longtime coaching team to beat Nicolas Almagro 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 in the second round of the Madrid Masters on Wednesday. Rafael Nadal also struggled, needing three sets to get past Fabio Fognini. Djokovic had to battle back from 3-0 down in the deciding set to book his place in the last 16. In doubles, Rohan Bopanna and his Uruguayan partner Pablo Cuevas were
Dzeko sidelined for 10 days MILAN
Roma striker Edin Dzeko has been sidelined for 10 days with a calf strain, damaging the Serie A side’s bid for a top-two finish and his hopes of the top-scorer’s award. But the striker “underwent medical tests which revealed a minor calf strain in his left leg” on Tuesday, Roma said. The club’s statement added: “The Bosnian striker....is expected to be out of action for around 10 days.” AFP
Jagielka uncertain about his future at Everton LONDON
Everton captain Phil Jagielka has said his future at the Premier League club remains uncertain, with his contract due to expire at the end of next season. “It is not really about me and what I hope. You can never say never but I am looking forward to finishing off the season well, having a break and then coming back all guns blazing and trying to keep hold of my place in the team.” REUTERS
Want to inish my career in Rio: Marcelo RIO DE JANEIRO
Real Madrid defender Marcelo has revealed that he wants to finish his career in Brazil with Fluminense or its Rio de Janeiro rival Botafogo. “I would like to play for Fluminense but also for Botafogo, because they are my family’s team,” Marcelo was quoted as saying. IANS
CM YK
knocked out by Canada’s Fabrice Martin and Daniel Nestor 6-3, 6-2 in a one-sided first round contest. Important results: Men: Second round: Rafael Nadal bt Fabio Fognini 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4; Pablo Cuevas bt Nicolas Mahut 5-7, 6-4, 6-4; Tomas Berdych bt Robin Haase 7-6(5), 6-3; Milos Raonic bt Gilles Muller 6-4, 6-4; Nick Kyrgios bt Ryan Harrison 6-3, 6-3; Kei Nishikori bt Diego Schwartzman 1-6, 6-0, 6-4; David Ferrer w/o Jo-Wilfried Tsonga; Feliciano Lopez bt Gilles Simon 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(3); Novak Djokovic bt Nicolas Almagro 6-1, 4-6, 7-5; Dominic
Thiem bt Jared Donaldson 6-3, 6-4; Borna Coric bt Pierre Hugues Herbert 7-5, 6-4. Doubles: First round: Fabrice Martin & Daniel Nestor bt Rohan Bopanna & Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-2. Women: Third round: Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Qiang Wang 6-4, 7-5; Coco Wandeweghe bt Carla Suarez Navarro 5-7, 6-4, 7-5; Simona Halep bt Samantha Stosur 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Sorana Cirstea bt Misaki Doi 7-5, 3-6, 6-1; Kristina Mladenovic bt Oceane Dodin 6-2, 6-1; Anastasija Sevastova bt Lara Arruabarrena 7-5, 6-2. Second round: Halep bt Roberta Vinci 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(2).
Shivajians stun Bengaluru FC Bagan wins by the odd goal in ive against Shillong Strike force: Host Juventus rode on goals from Mario Mandzukic, right, and Dani Alves to win 4-1 on aggregate against Monaco and progress to the inal to be held in Cardif. AP *
Agencies TURIN
Juventus defender Dani Alves produced an inspired display capped by a stunning volleyed goal in a 2-1 win over AS Monaco on Tuesday that took the Italians into their second Champions League final in three years. Brazilian Alves crossed for Mario Mandzukic to net the first goal in the semifinal, second leg and then scored the second through an explosive strike which, with Juventus leading 2-0 from the first game, effectively finished off the tie by half-ftime.
Buffon finally concedes Juventus was coasting until Monaco’s exciting 18-year-old forward Kylian Mbappe pulled a goal back in the 69th minute, ending a run of six successive clean sheets in the competition for the Serie A side and veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Tempers then flared when Monaco defender Kamil Glik appeared to stamp on forward Gonzalo Higuain, although the referee took no
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE action against the Pole, leading to a bad-tempered final 20 minutes as Juventus ran out comfortable 4-1 winner on aggregate. “I’m very happy with the way the lads played,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri, whose side lost 3-1 to Barcelona in the 2015 final. “It wasn’t easy to play in the Champions League and they deserved to get to the final.”
Bright start Monaco started brightly as it began the thankless task of trying to breach the Juve defence and the home side’s 39-year-old keeper Buffon flapped at Bernardo Silva’s cross in the first minute, although nobody was on hand to take advantage. Juventus always seemed to have too much guile and Higuain had already squandered one chance, with a failed attempt to dink the ball over goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, before Mandzukic put it ahead after
33 minutes. The move started with Alex Sandro breaking out of defence to charge 50 metres down the left and the ball eventually found Alves who lofted a high cross over from the right. Mandzukic’s header was brilliantly saved by Subasic but the keeper could do nothing as his fellow Croat fired home the rebound from close range. Both teams had further chances as the game ebbed and flowed but Juventus was sharper in attack and struck again just before half-time. Alves, who in the previous attack had played in Paulo Dybala with a precision pass, met Subasic’s punched clearance with a full-blooded volley from 25 metres and the ball flew into the net with the goalkeeper out of position. The result: Semifinal (second leg): Juventus 2 (Mandzukic 33, Alves 44) bt Monaco 1 (Mbappe 69). Juventus wins 4-1 on aggregate.
Young bunch Shivajians, which started with six youngsters from its academy to infuse energy into the side, counter-attacked under the guidance of the experienced Quero to rattle the rivals. With Bengaluru players losing steam, the momentum shifted towards Shivajians in the last 20
Press Trust of India Lisbon
Sporting Clube de Portugal defeated India under-17 football team 2-1 in the last match of the exposure trip to Europe here. Participating in friendly ties across Europe as part of an exposure tour, India was done in by goals from Carlos Silva (40th minute) and Ussumane (51st). Aniket Jadhav scored for India in the 41st minute.
Coach Rogers sympathises with Paul Special Correspondent CUTTACK
Y.B. Sarangi CUTTACK
Seasoned Brazilian midfielder Juan Quero’s double strike powered DSK Shivajians to a 2-0 upset win over Bengaluru FC in a Group B clash of the Federation Cup at the Barabati Stadium here on Wednesday. The win kept Shivajians in the hunt for a spot in the semifinals. Mohun Bagan beat Shillong Lajong 3-2 to virtually advance to last four with two wins, while it was the end of the road for Shillong. Following a goalless opening half, where Bengaluru twice came close to scoring, the former I-League champion pressed hard. However, goalkeeper Subrata Paul stood like a rock to block all threats.
India u-17 goes down
On target: The experienced Quero found the net twice for Shivajians in their shock win over Bengaluru. BISWARANJAN ROUT *
FEDERATION CUP minutes. Bengaluru custodian Lalthuammawia Ralte brought down Lallianzuala Chhangte inside the box in the 71st minute and Quero converted the penalty. Five minutes later, another hara-kiri deflated Bengaluru. Udanta Singh tripped Chhangte outside the area and Quero found a gap to fire his free-kick straight into the net. After conceding a thirdminute own goal, Mohun Bagan piled misery on Shillong through a series of wellcrafted attacks. Daryl Duffy
beat the goalkeeper in the fifth minute, Sony Norde converted a free-kick and later assisted Katsumi Yusa to make it 3-1. Yuta Kinowaki reduced the margin for Shillong in the 80th minute. The results: DSK Shivajians 2 (Quero 71, 76) bt Bengaluru FC 0; Mohun Bagan 3 (Daryl Duffy 5, Norde 23, Yusa 43) bt Shillong Lajong FC 2 (Pritam KotalOG 3, Kinowaki 80). Thursday’s fixtures: Group A: Chennai City FC vs Churchill Brothers (4 p.m.); Aizawl FC vs East Bengal (7 p.m.).
Subrata Paul, playing his first match since testing positive for a banned substance, was in focus when he captained DSK Shivajians to a win over Bengaluru FC here on Wednesday. Paul was a picture of determination as he made several saves to deny Bengaluru any advantage. “I don’t need any motivation to play football,” said the 30-year-old. Even as Paul, who is expected to present his case before a National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) disciplinary panel sooner than later, parried questions related to the doping issue, Shivajians’ coach Dave Rogers hailed the seasoned goalkeeper for his performance and commitment. “Subrata was really disappointed when I did not start him [against Mohun Bagan]. I did that for a reason, but today he was the captain. I love the guy,” said Rogers. He said Paul deserved better treatment from the press. “Subrata is innocent until proven guilty,” said Rogers.
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18 LIFE
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017
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IN BRIEF
Dinosaur gets a ilmy name Scientists draw inspiration from Zuul, a ictitious beast that appeared in Ghostbusters Reuters
To enhance acoustic system and improve lighting
Washington
New device to check ripeness of tomatoes LONDON
Scientists have developed a portable device that can measure the optimum ripeness of tomatoes without destroying the fruit. Researchers accomplished this by appling the principle of the Raman spectrometer, which observes pigments in a painting without having to extract samples. PTI
Fitness capacity reduces during space missions WASHINGTON
Astronauts on deep space missions have lower physical fitness and exercise capacity as their heart and blood vessels become less effective at transporting oxygen to muscles, a new study has found. The exercise capacity decreases between 30% and 50% in long-duration spaceflight. PTI
It was more of a leg buster, but scientists have named a spiky, tank-like dinosaur that wielded a sledge-hammer tail after the fanciful beast Zuul from the blockbuster film Ghostbusters that menaced Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and friends. Scientists have described fossils unearthed in the northern Montana badlands of the four-legged, plant-eating dinosaur called Zuul crurivastator that was about 20 feet long, weighed 2.5 tons and lived 75 million years ago. Zuul belonged to a group of Cretaceous Period dinosaurs called ankylosaurs that were among the most heavily armoured land animals ever. They were clad in bony armour from the snout to the end of the tail, often with spikes and a tail club that could be used to smash the legs of predators like the Gorgosaurus that lived alongside Zuul. Zuul is one of the most complete and best-pre-
Sydney Opera House to go for largest-ever upgrade Agence France-Presse Sydney
Powerful reptile: An illustration of the newly discovered armoured dinosaur named Zuul crurivastator. ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM/REUTERS *
served ankylosaur ever found, including rare soft tissue, paleontologist Victoria Arbour of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto said. Its fossils included skin impressions and keratinous sheaths on the tail spikes.
Monster twin In the 1984 movie, Zuul (pronounced ZOOL) was described as an ancient Near East demigod and appeared as a big, horned, vaguely dog-like monster with glowing red eyes, possessing Sigourney Weaver’s body. The dinosaur’s name was inspired by its skull similarities to the head of the Ghost-
Royal busters monster, Ontario Museum paleontologist David Evans said. “The skull of the new dinosaur has a short, rounded snout, gnarly forehead, and two sets of horns projecting backwards from behind the eyes, just like Zuul,” Mr. Evans explained. Mr. Aykroyd, the Ontarioborn Ghostbusters star and co-writer, appeared in a video released by the museum alongside the dinosaur’s skull, holding a photo of the movie beast. “We’re so honoured that the Royal Ontario Museum would accord the name of this magnificent creature
with the appellation that we called our ‘terror dog’ in the movie, and that is Zuul, Z-UU-L,” Mr. Aykroyd said. The dinosaur’s tail, about 10 feet long, was an intimidating defensive weapon. “The menacing, spiked tail of Zuul is by far the coolest part of the animal,” Mr. Evans said. “It has a wicked series of large spikes at the base of the tail, then a series of elongated, peaked spines that run the length of the tail club, and it ends in a massive, expanded club.” The research was published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
Australia’s world-renowned Opera House is to undergo its first major renovation since being opened in 1973 to help tackle sound problems that have haunted the building for years. The decades-old equipment that power performances beneath its iconic white sails are ageing and will be updated to improve the experience for artistes and audiences. Backstage engines, rigging and hoists that have supported the lighting and props for hundreds of ballet and opera productions will be replaced. A “state-of-theart acoustic enhancement system” will also be installed to address the building’s poor sound quality. The work in the Joan Sutherland Theatre, to begin on May 20, kicks off a US$201 million project at the heritage-listed landmark, one of the world’s most fam-
Time for change: The curtain will fall on the Joan Sutherland Theatre for seven months as it undergoes its irst major upgrade since the Opera House was opened in 1973. AFP *
ous buildings. “All of this machinery and the technology we use... was used in the 1970s, and we installed it back in the 1960s to be ready for that, so it was actually designed in the 1950s,” technical manager Philby Lewis said on Wednesday. “So we are really using here at the moment, and trying to keep alive, 1950s tech-
nology.” The Austrian company that first constructed the backstage equipment installed before the Opera House opened has been called on again to carry out the work. The other five venues within the Opera House will remain open during the seven-month renovation of the Joan Sutherland Theatre.
Qantas boss says he won’t be silenced despite pie protest Alan Joyce, a staunch supporter of gay rights, was attacked by a 67-year-old man who wanted “pushback” against same-sex marriage Agence France-Presse Sydney
Public asked to name rare albino orangutan JAKARTA
The public are being asked to name a rare albino orangutan rescued in the Indonesian part of Borneo island, with conservationists saying she has become an “ambassador” for the threatened species. Names can be sent to
[email protected] or by using the hashtag #albinoorangutan. AFP
YK
Qantas chief Alan Joyce, who was hit in the face by a pie in a protest against gay marriage in Australia, said Wednesday he would not be silenced on important social issues. Mr. Joyce, a staunch supporter of equal rights, said he plans to bring charges against his attacker. The airline chief was targeted on Tuesday while addressing a business breakfast
in Perth, when a man wearing a suit walked on stage and smothered a lemon meringue pie over the stunned Irishman. He was named by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as 67-year-old former farmer Tony Overheu, a devout Christian opposed to same-sex marriage. “Alan Joyce is a very active individual in this process (towards marriage equality) and in that context he was appropriate (to target),” Mr.
Overheu told the broadcaster. “I’ve never done that sort of thing, I’m a law-abiding person but I think this is part of inevitable pushback. “When the community is grumpy, figures who are overstepping the line have got to anticipate there will be pushback in some shape or form. The broad community have had a gutful.” In March, Mr. Joyce, who is gay, was one of 20 chief executives of some of Aus-
Alan Joyce
*
AP
tralia’s largest companies to sign a joint letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in support of marriage equality.
It urged the government to “deliver civil marriage equality for every Australian so that our nation can move forward as a more inclusive place to live, work and play”. Mr. Joyce said in a statement on Wednesday that the pie incident would not stop him being vocal on the subject.
Fighting a bully “I’ve long held the view that there is a role for companies and CEOs to speak up on
economic and social issues. My opinion on this has not changed,” he said. “We’ll continue to speak about important social issues including indigenous reconciliation, gender diversity and marriage equality, because it’s the right thing to do.” He added to reporters that he would never cave in to “bullying”. “Certainly what happened yesterday has reinvigorated me, in actual fact. It’s really encouraged me to be out
there and to continue to be out there and express my views even more strongly than I have done in the past.” Police have so far only charged the man with providing false details, but the Qantas chief said he wanted to take it further. “The police are continuing their investigation and my intention is to send a message that this type of behaviour isn’t acceptable and that I have every intention of pressing charges,” he said.
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