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Mukul Roy quits Trinamool Cong; party expels him for 6 years

Assets worth ₹1.16 crore linked to Karti attached provisionally by ED

Trump expands U.S. travel ban to North Korea, Venezuela

Shuttler P.V. Sindhu has been recommended for Padma Bhushan

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Pr i n t e d at . Ch e n n a i . Co i m b ato r e . Be n g a lu ru . Hy d e r a b a d . M a d u r a i . No i da . V i s a k h a pat n a m . Th i ru va n a n t h a p u r a m . Ko c h i . V i j ayawa da . M a n g a lu ru . Ti ru c h i r a pa l l i . Ko l k ata . Hu b b a l l i . M o h a l i . M a l a p p u r a m . M u m b a i . Ti ru pat i . lu c k n ow

NEARBY

PM launches ‘Saubhagya’ plan for household electrication

Surgical strikes were a message: Army chief

NEW DELHI

The welfare of the poor is linked to the identity of the NDA government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Monday. He was speaking at the launch of a ₹16,000 crore scheme, Saubhagya, under which households across the country that have no access to electricity, will be given power connections free of cost.

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LUCKNOW

Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh on Monday ruled out forming any new party “as of now”, putting a lid on speculation that he could part ways amid the continuing battle for supremacy in the party. He said his blessings were with his son Akhilesh Yadav though he did not agree with the decisions made by him. NEWS A PAGE 10

Economic panel to be revived

Special Correspondent

India had conducted surgical strikes last year as a message to Pakistan. They can continue in future too, said Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Monday. “The strikes were more of a messaging that… If required and if the adversary does not behave, then we have to continue these kind of activities,” he said.

Not forming new party yet: Mulayam

Free connections “Under the PM Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya), every household in the country, whether it is in a village or a city or in a far-flung area, will be given an electricity connection. No price will be charged for the poor to get an electricity connection, and the government will go to their houses to give them the connection,” Mr Modi said on Monday evening. The government will bear the expected ₹16,000 crore cost of giving electricity connections to the four crore households in the country, which the Prime Minister regretted are yet to get any

Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

Bright idea: Narendra Modi launching the scheme to supply electricity to poor households, in New Delhi on Monday. PTI *

electricity and haven’t seen a light bulb. “It’s been over 125 years when the famous scientist Thomas Alva Edison invented the bulb and said: ‘We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles’,” Mr. Modi stressed, highlighting that it was unfortunate many households were still lit only with candles or lanterns.

‘Dreams of the poor’ “Forget about conveniences; the women of the house have to cook in the dark, which is why most of them are under pressure to try and finish the cooking before

the sun sets,” Mr. Modi said after inaugurating Deen Dayal Urja Bhavan, a green building built by the ONGC. Arguing that few would have imagined a government that would give bank accounts to 30 crore poor people, insure 15 crore people at a cost of 90 paise per day and reduce the price of stents and knee replacements, Mr. Modi said the dreams of the poor were the dreams of his government. NO COMPROMISE ON CORRUPTION: PM A PAGE 11 BJP RESOLUTION LAUDS GST ROLL-OUT A PAGE 11

With the economy hitting a rough patch in recent months, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to reconstitute the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, rendered defunct after the previous UPA government demitted office in May 2014. NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy has been picked as the Chairman of the Council, which will include NITI Aayog’s Principal Adviser and former Finance Secretary Ratan Watal as its member-secretary. Economist Surjit Bhalla, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy director Rathin Roy and Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research professor Ashima Goyal have also been roped in as members of the Council. CONTINUED ON A PAGE 10

TN orders probe into Jaya’s death

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Eman Ahmed dies in Abu Dhabi MUMBAI

We don’t have anything to fear, says T.T.V. Dhinakaran Dennis S. Jesudasan Chennai

Egyptian national Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, known to be the world’s heaviest woman at 500 kg, passed away on Monday at the Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi. Doctors said her condition suddenly deteriorated over the past 24 hours. NATION A PAGE 7 DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

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The Tamil Nadu government on Monday announced the constitution of a Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice A. Arumughaswamy, retired judge of the Madras High Court, to investigate the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. A short official release issued here said the Commission of Inquiry was “constituted to conduct an inquiry

J Jayalalithaa

and submit a report on the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa,” and a Gov-

ernment Order regarding the Commission was issued on Monday. However, till the time of filing of this report, the G.O. was not available in the public domain. Earlier in the day, T.T.V. Dhinakaran, nephew of deposed AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala (now in jail), told journalists that his family had nothing to fear from any probe. Stating that Apollo Hospitals, where Jayalalithaa un-

derwent treatment, would have the CCTV footage, he claimed that he was in the possession of video footage of Jayalalithaa in hospital, which was shot by Sasikala. The video was not released earlier as Jayalalithaa was in a night dress, and it would not be appropriate to show her thus. Mr. Dhinakaran said he would submit the video to the probe panel. CONTINUED ON A PAGE 10

U.P. police les FIR against 1,000 BHU students Cops charged with assaulting and looting scribes covering the protest on Saturday Omar Rashid VARANASI

The Uttar Pradesh police on Monday lodged an FIR against 1,000 unknown students of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) on charges of arson and rioting during the protest in the campus on Saturday night. A case was registered at the Lanka police station here under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 148 (rioting with armed weapon), 307 (attempt to murder), 353 (criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of duties), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 436 (destruction of immovable property). The police have also

On the boil: Samajwadi Party Chhatra Sabha activists being stopped from entering BHU on Monday. ANAND SINGH *

lodged a case against policemen on charges of assaulting and looting the journalists covering the protest on Saturday night. A case was lodged under Sections 323,

325, 352 and 393 of the IPC. A delegation of the U.P. State accredited correspondents committee had apprised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of the incident,

after which he instructed the Varanasi divisional commissioner to probe the case. The four injured journalists were identified as Alok Pandey, Kaushalendra, Amitesh Srivastava, and Arshad Khan. Meanwhile, the State also removed three additional city magistrates, Manoj Kumar Singh, Sushil Kumar Gaund, and Jagdamma Prasad Singh, and two policemen, in connection with the baton-charge on the protesters in which several students, including girls, suffered injuries. Station Officer of Lanka police station Rajiv Singh was transferred to the police lines, while the Circle Officer of Bhelupur, Nivesh Katiyar,

‘Human shield was wrongful connement’ He (Mr Dar) had cast his vote, says the two-page police report shield under threat.” It pointed out that it was a “wrongful confinement” by the Army officer. The report was submitted to State DGP S.P. Vaid in August.

Peerzada Ashiq Srinagar

The police inquiry into the ‘human shield case’ has revealed that it was an incident of “wrongful confinement” of a civilian “who had cast his vote” on the day he was tied to the bonnet of an Army vehicle in Budgam. “During the investigation, it came to surface that Mr. Dar cast his vote at a polling booth in his native village of Chill. After casting his vote he, along with Hilal Ahmad Magrey, left for a condolence meeting to Gampora,” said the two-page police report. The report said that as Mr. CM YK

Rural ride

Says welfare of the poor is linked to the identity of the NDA government

NEW DELHI

NEWS A PAGE 10

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Video grab of Farooq Ahmad Dar being used as a human shield by the Army in April. *

Dar left the Gampora village and reached Utligam crossing, “he was lifted by the

Army during stone pelting and was tied to bonnet of the Army vehicle as human

Huge furore The viral video of the victim, a weaver of shawls weaver by profession, created a furore in and outside J&K. The video was apparently shot on April 9, when the bypoll for the Parliamentary seat of Srinagar was being held in central Kashmir. The area had witnessed fierce stone-throwing from local protesters all day.

has been replaced by Ayodhya Singh. The students were protesting against an alleged case of molestation and had demanded that the vicechancellor come in person to the dharna site to assure them that action would be taken against the culprits. According to the police, some elements among the protestors engaged in arson, attacked public property, and pelting stones at university officials as well as policemen. Several policemen were injured in the incident.

Reality check: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi rides a bullock-cart at Hanjrapar in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat on Monday. Mr. Gandhi is on a two-day visit to the State ahead of the Assembly elections in December. VIJAY SONEJI (REPORT ON PAGE 10) *

Mahmood Farooqui acquitted of rape charge Delhi High Court overturns trial court conviction Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court on Monday gave writer and film-maker Mahmood Farooqui the benefit of the doubt and acquitted him of the charge of raping a U.S. researcher at his home in a drunken state. The High Court ordered the release of Mr. Farooqui, who was serving a sevenyear sentence in Tihar Jail. The trial court had found him guilty of rape in July 2016. The judgment referred to past instances where the re-

Mahmood Farooqui

lationship between Mr. Farooqui and the victim extended beyond “friendship.” The court said it was not clear whether Mr. Farooqui had any intention of raping her. It asked whether his bipolar condition at the time

of the alleged incident in March 2015 had made him to mistake some verbal or nonverbal communication from the woman as sexual consent. The woman, however, rubbished this defence by Mr. Farooqui’s legal team, led by senior advocate Kapil Sibal. She stated that the alleged rape had to do more with his physical power than his mental condition. CONTINUED ON A PAGE 10 ‘SEXUAL CONSENT KEY FACTOR IN DEFINING ASSAULT’ : DELHI METRO A PAGE 1

Uneven rain may dip farm output Special Correspondent New Delhi

The uneven distribution of monsoon will impact output of kharif, or summer crop, according to data released by the Union Agriculture Ministry on Monday. The first advanced estimates of kharif crop for 201718 put the overall production at 134.67 million tonnes, 3.86 million tonnes lower than last year’s record out-

put of 138.52 million tonnes. The Agriculture Ministry said “these are preliminary estimates and will undergo revision based on further feedback from the States.” Among food grains, rice will see a drop of 1.91 million tonnes from the previous year as the estimates suggest 94.48 million tonnes of rice production. Pulses, a staple Indian diet that is highly sensitive to

supplies, too will see a marginal drop of 70,000 tonnes. Estimates put the pulse production at 8.61 million tonnes for 2017-18. Production of coarse cereals too might decrease to 31.49 million tonnes. Maize production is pegged at 18.73 million tonnes However, sugarcane production for 2017-18 will go up. That should be sweet news for consumers.

PM, SHAH EXPRESS CONCERN A PAGE 7 PROTESTS, CALL FOR FREEDOM: DELHI METRO A PAGE 1

Mattis likely to push India on troops Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis landed in India on Monday for his maiden three-day visit, the first by a Cabinet member of the Trump administration. Officials said the focus was on deepening the defence partnership and expanding the high technology cooperation, and among the key focus areas of discussion would be the situation in Afghanistan. Mr. Mattis could push for Indian troops in Afghanistan. DETAILS ON A PAGE 11 A ND-NDE

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Ready for any debate, says AAP She empowers women through rural craft Congress leader Sunil Jakhar has challenged Opposition for a discussion SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT CHAnDIGARH

In response to the challenge thrown by Congress leader Sunil Jakhar for a public debate on the current political situation in Punjab ahead of the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat bypoll, Leader of the Opposition Sukhpal Khaira on Monday said the Aam Aadmi Party was ready for the debate.

“My party [AAP] accepts the challenge of Mr. Jakhar and leaves the choice of leader, place and time to him. Mr. Jakhar could pick any leader to debate with from amongst our State president Bhagwant Mann, MP, Major General Suresh Khajuria, AAP candidate from Gurdaspur, or if he wishes he can have a debate with me as well,” he said.

Mr. Jakhar, who is the Congress candidate from Gurdaspur, had recently challenged the Opposition to have a debate on any issue related to the State.

‘No big rallies’ Mr. Khaira said he had repeatedly announced that his party would neither hold big rallies nor splurge money in any manner to woo the voters of Gur-

daspur. “The burning issues of farmer suicide, unemployment, rampant corruption, drug abuse, complete breakdown of the law and order etc in Punjab need to be debated. Similarly, the failures of the Central government, which include slow down in the growth rate, demonetisation warrant debate,” he said.

Suman Singh trains and employs poor and needy women for garment production Mohammed Iqbal Jaipur

An unusual rural craft centre established in the small and dusty Korer village in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan has become a facility that offers livelihood opportunities to the poor and needy women. After improving their skills for tailoring, the centre employs women for garment production. Woman entrepreneur Suman Singh has built the institution, Kirti Crafts, by sheer grit and determination while fighting against odds for several years. She took up training of women in tailoring in 2000 in her native Korer village when she came back home after spending two years in a difficult marriage with her drunkard husband. Having faced torture by her

Women employees at work at Kriti Crafts.

in-laws at her marital home in Agra, Ms. Singh, then only 24 years, was unwilling to go back. She started taking tuitions of small groups of women in the tailoring skills in her village. Ms. Singh, now 41, is the owner of the biggest tailoring centre in Deeg tehsil of the Bharatpur district.

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The garments manufactured at her centre are exported to the countries such as Argentina, Germany and Japan through Jaipur-based export house Arihant Creations. Kirti Crafts employs about 20 women, who get remuneration ranging between ₹15,000 and ₹16,000 per month. Ms. Singh said on Monday that the

women were regularly experimenting with new designs, fabric and colours while sewing garments. The rural entrepreneur got a breakthrough in 2013 when the Bharatpur-based Lupin Foundation helped her in starting the tailoring centre at her home and assisted her in obtaining loan for purchasing the single needle lock-stitch sewing machines. Ms. Singh said she later acquired a five-thread interlocking machine as well, which helps workers in speedy sewing of garments. Mother of two teenage children, Ms. Singh said the rural women needed a “hand-holding support” at the right time to enable them to make the best use of their skills. “In my crisis, I received my parents’ support. I then became an entrepreneur with the help of a philanthropic organisation.”

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Published by N. Ram at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Mukund Padmanabhan (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act). Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 7 No. 230 ●

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Bijepur by-poll: BJD announces candidate Widow of Congress leader gets ticket Special Correspondent BHUBANESWAR

Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Monday announced that Ritarani Sahu, widow of the late Congress legislator Subal Sahu, will be the party's candidate for the bypoll to the Bijepur Assembly seat.

No schedule yet Mr. Patnaik made the announcement to pre-empt speculation about the party’s nominee even though the schedule for the by-poll is yet to be announced by the Election Commission. Ms. Sahu along with her son Sumit Sahu and hundreds of supporters and local Congress leaders had formally joined the BJD at

the party headquarters in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. She had told presspersons on the day of her joining that it was her husband’s wish to fight the next election on a BJD ticket and she joined the party to fulfill his wish. With a triangular contest on the cards in the upcoming bypoll, the BJD has taken the lead by getting Ms. Sahu into its fold as both the Congress and the BJP had also wanted the family in their respective party-folds. Subal Sahu had won by a margin of less than 600 votes by defeating senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya, while the BJP had finished third in the 2014 elections. Mr. Acharya is presently a Rajya Sabha member of the BJD.

Nandankanan loses zebra Staff Reporter BHUBANESWAR

The last of the zebras at the Nandankanan Biological Park (NBP), one of country’s premier zoos, has died under mysterious circumstances. “The only male zebra at Nandankanan was found dead in its enclosure on Monday. There was no symptom of weakness till

Sunday night. It accepted normal feed and its behaviour too was normal,” said Deputy Director of NBP Jayant Das. According to Mr. Das, veterinarians suspect the death could have been caused by a lightning strike. “The exact cause of death will be ascertained after the post-mortem is conducted,” he said.

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IN BRIEF

OPS reignites Mullaperiyar row Is Ganapathi on his way out as Maoist thrust shifts to militarism? Says Tamil Nadu will take steps to raise water level to 152 ft Giji K. Raman

Basavraj, an expert in explosives and military techniques, is likely to succeed him Republic of Palau mints Lord Venkateswara coin AMALAPURAM

On the occasion of the Brahmotsavam of Lord Sri Venkateswara, the Republic of Palau, an island country in the western Pacific Ocean, has minted silver coins of the god and it was collected by numismatist Putsa Krishna Kameswar. The silver coin weighs one ounce and the country issued 1,111 coins.

Bababudangiri: experts’ panel hears views HASSAN

The experts’ committee, constituted by the Karnataka government on the issue of Guru Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy Dargah in Chikkamagaluru, held its meeting in Bengaluru on Monday. The panel, headed by H.N. Nagamohan Das, had invited the litigants to provide information.

Sumit Bhattacharjee VISAKHAPATNAM

Is the elusive Muppala Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathi, General Secretary of the banned CPI (Maoist), on his way out? Documents gathered by the intelligence agencies from various encounters and exchanges of fire between the security forces and the Maoists in the AndhraOdisha Border (AOB), Chhattisgarh and Odisha, hint that 68-year-old Ganapathi is paving way for his second-incommand and chief of the Central Military Commission (CMC) Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavraj.

Ideological differences Ganapathi has led the CPI (Maoist) since its formation in 2004. The outfit was formed following the merger of the CPI (Marxist-Leninist), People’s War (People’s War

Ganapathi and, right, Basavraj Group) and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI). Primarily, the outfit is riven by ideological differences. In the early days, the movement was driven by the intelligentsia, sustained by young entrants from universities and colleges in Bengal, Andhra, Telangana and Bihar. Over the years, however, this is down to a trickle and the thrust is now on militarism. This is where Nam-

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SPECIAL ARRANGMENT

bala Keshav Rao alias Basavraj scores. Basavraj is an expert in explosives and military techniques, has good network with the arms traders and a military strategist. He appears to be a better choice over other senior leaders such as Prashant Bose of the MCCI. “There is a clear indication that the focus has now shifted to a military movement rather than an ideolo-

gical movement. And in such a scenario, Basavraj fits the cap, as he has been heading the CMC, the strongest and only military wing of the CPI (Maoist), ever since its formation in 2004,” said a senior officer in anti-Maoist operation in the AOB region. The CMC was formed with the merger of the PGA (People’s Guerilla Army) of the CPI(ML), the PWG and the PLGA (People’s Liberation Guerilla Army) of the MCCI. It is the strongest, fittest and well-armed military outfit of the Maoists, and is credited with all the recent military strikes in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra and Telangana. The leadership crisis was evident from a 7,000-word letter written by Ganapathi in 2013 to the cadres. The Politburo that had a strength of about 14 in 2005 has dwindled to seven, within 11 years.

IDUKKI

Tamil Nadu will take measures to raise the Mullaperiyar water level to 152 ft and discussions in this regard will be held with the Kerala government, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam has said. At a function to open the shutter for water release to irrigate the farms in Tamil Nadu at Thekkady on Monday, Mr. Panneerselvam said former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had visited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise this demand.

Severe shortage The water level in the Mullaperiyar dam was raised by the Supreme Court in its 2014 order from 136 ft to 142 ft. Tamil Nadu tried for a further raise as there was a severe shortage of water in the five districts where farm lands are irrigated with water from the Mullaperiyar dam. The water level had fallen

O. Panneerselvam

below 110 ft prior to the southwest monsoon this year, one of the lowest in recent years, restricting the intake from the dam by Tamil Nadu only for meeting drinking water requirements.

Kerala’s demand Large stretches in Cumbum Valley were kept uncultivated during the last two seasons due to severe shortage of water. Meanwhile, Kerala has demanded that the Supervis-

NHRC notice to T.N., A.P. over Devadasi practice

HC judge Jayant Patel resigns

Controversy rages over Kancha Ilaiah’s book

In this system, girls are ‘married’ to deities, live in temples

Special Correspondent

N. Rahul

AHMEDABAD

HYDERABAD

Justice Jayant Patel, former acting Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court and currently a judge in the Karnataka High Court, has resigned from the Service. According to sources, Justice Patel has apparently not cited any reason for tendering his resignation. However, sources said Justice Patel was apparently not made the Chief Justice in any High Court, despite his seniority. The Supreme Court Bar Association and the Gujarat High Court Bar Association have in the past raised the issue of his elevation as Chief Justice.

A 20-page book of political thinker and writer Kancha Ilaiah that dubbed ‘Vysyas’, traditionally a trading community, as social smugglers has inflamed the community members so much that one of its prominent leaders and Rajya Sabha member of the Telugu Desam Party T.G. Venkatesh issued a ‘fatwa’ seeking Mr. Ilaiah’s hanging publicly. Mr. Venkatesh’s diktat met with an equally stern warning by Telangana Mass and Social Organisation’s Forum (T-MASS) which is spearheading the ideological campaign by Mr. Ilaiah. The TMASS State convenor John

Staff Reporter NEW DELHI

Taking cognizance of a complaint, the National Human Rights Commission on Monday issued notice to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh over the “inhuman treatment” of girls and women in the name of the Devadasi system. According to the complaint, girls and women are taken to the temples of Goddess Mathamma in the Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu and adjoining areas and given as ‘offerings’ to the deity. This is a form of the Deva-

Writer gifts books to children in Kerala

dasi system in which girls are ‘married’ to deities, resulting in many becoming prostitutes.

Report in four weeks This is practised in parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The NHRC issued notices to the Chief Secretaries and the DGPs of both States and the District Magistrates and SPs of Thiruvallur and Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. The officers had been asked to submit detailed reports within four weeks. Referring to the complaint and a media report,

the NHRC observed that the reported continuance of this practice, which had been abolished, amounted to violation of human rights, including the rights to education, life and dignity, besides children’s rights.

Sexual exploitation Reportedly, the girls are dressed as brides and after the ritual, their clothes are taken off by five boys. Then, they are forced to live in the temple “deemed to be like a public property and face sexual exploitation,” the NHRC statement said.

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Cleaning time

Kancha Ilaiah

Wesley said the agitating Vysyas will face serious consequences if they did not relent. In the eye of a raging controversy, Mr. Ilaiah has imposed on himself a “housearrest” till October 4. On Saturday, he faced an agitated

ory Committee appointed by the Supreme Court should immediately visit the dam in the wake of new leakages found on block 10 and 11 of the old structure. A team of the Water Resources Department led by Kerala’s representative in the Mullaperiyar sub panel George Daniel visited the dam on Sunday. The Supreme Court had ordered that the sub-panel should visit the dam every week when the dam waters rise above 125 ft (the present level is 127.4 ft). Kerala had demanded a visit by the Mullaperiyar panel, but it had not turned up since the monsoon started. Sources in the Water Resources Department said that it would give a report to the higher-ups regarding the new leakages found in the dam. It is feared that the leakages would increase with the pressure on the dam when more water is stored.

Kerala HC closes Kavya’s bail plea

mob that allegedly hurled slippers and stones at his car near Parkal in Warangal. The strains between the two sides cropped up after Mr. Ilaiah culled out a chapter from his 2009 book, Post-Hindu India, and came up with the latest version targeted mainly at Vysyas. Agiri Venkatesh, media committee chairman of Telangana State Arya Vysya Mahasabha, says the community did not take Mr. Ilaiah seriously so far because there was no reference to it in the earlier book. The latter only drew inference to Vysyas not contributing to three ‘Ps’ — production, productivity and protection (meaning national security).

Special Correspondent KOCHI

The Special Investigation Team probing the case relating to the sexual assault on a woman actor does not propose to question Kavya Madhavan, actor and wife of actor Dileep, in the case. When the anticipatory bail petition filed by Ms. Kavya came up for hearing on Monday, senior government pleader Suman Chakravarthy submitted that the actor had not been arraigned as an accused in the case. The Kerala High Court closed her petition in the light of the submissions made by the government pleader.

CM seeks housing scheme for Keralites in Sharjah Project can be conceived as a joint venture, says Pinarayi

Staff Reporter Special Correspondent

KOZHIKODE

Arya Rajeev’s eyes sparkled with delight as some all-time classics in Malayalam literature were handed over to her by the writer himself. The Class 9 student, afflicted with cerebral palsy, was a bit surprised too when M.T. Vasudevan Nair placed a box of sweets also in her hand. Arya, a student of Government Vocational Higher Secondary School for Girls, was among those who visited the writer at his residence here on Monday to receive books as part of the ‘Koottukoodan Pusthakachangathi’ programme of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).

Home libraries It is aimed at setting up home libraries with at least 100 books for differently abled students who are bedridden. When M.T. showed her the awards he had received in the course of his literary journey, Arya was quick to tell him that she had studied his short story Kuppayam in Class 8. Praising the initiative, M.T. said books were the best gifts children could hope for. “I was an introvert child. Often I did not mingle much with other children or played with them. Books were my best friends,” he recalled. To donate more The students were given Nalukettu, Asuravithu, Manju, Kilivathililoode, Gopuranadayil, Bandhanam, and Pathiravum Pakalvelichavum. M.T. promised that he would donate more books to them soon. The programme was inaugurated by writer M. Mukundan on World Reading Day this year. The aim was to set up 350 home libraries by December 3, the World Day for Persons with Disabilities. CM YK

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Work is worship: Rain water ooded the Annamma Temple at Gandhinagar, Bengaluru, on Monday. Heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds lashed various districts of Karnataka on Sunday and Monday. SUDHAKARA JAIN *

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues have requested visiting Sharjah ruler Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi to implement a housing scheme for Keralites in Sharjah. At an interaction with the ruler at Raj Bhavan on Monday, Mr. Vijayan and the Ministers said a project for constructing 10 apartment towers on 10 acres could be conceived as a joint venture of Kerala and Sharjah. The proposed family city would have modern medical care facilities and if developed further, would be helpful for the citizens of Sharjah too. They proposed setting up of schools of international standards, engineering and medical colleges, skill development and training centres, and such others.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan at a meeting with the ruler of Sharjah Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. S. GOPAKUMAR *

A cultural complex for showcasing the culture, history, and tradition of the State was mooted on another 10 acres. It would have a museum, venues for presenting art forms, exhibition centres and space for promoting ayurveda-based

health tourism and a ayurveda hub too. The cooperation and participation of Sharjah was sought for ₹50,000-crore investment planned by the State in IT, tourism, infrastructure, and other sectors in the next four years.

ACB books 2 ocials, seizes property worth over ₹100 cr.

Now, laws and rules in Kannada

Raids conducted in 23 places in A.P. and other States

K.V. Aditya Bharadwaj

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The move underscores Karnataka’s goal to prioritise Kannada in the public domain Bengaluru

Searches were conducted on the houses of the kin and well-wishers of the two officers in Krishna, Guntur, Visakhapatnam, Chittoor, East Godavari and in Hyderabad, said ACB Director General R.P. Thakur on Monday.

Staff Reporter Vijayawada

In a huge catch, sleuths of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) conducted simultaneous raids on the properties of Director, Town and Country Planning, Golla Venkata Raghu and Junior Technical Officer, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation, Nalluri Venkata Shivaprasad, on Monday. The Central Investigation Unit of the ACB conducted searches in 23 places and found nearly 10 kg of gold ornaments, 15 acres of land, 26 house sites and equal number of houses, one lodge at Shirdi, 26 flats and other documents, worth crores of rupees, belonging to the two officers. The market value of the

ACB ocials take a look at the gold ornaments seized during raids in Vijayawada.

seized properties may cross ₹100 crore. Both the officers were booked under disproportionate assets cases. Raids were conducted in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana.

JTO’s assets The raids revealed 21 house sites registered in the name of Shivaprasad’s wife, Chintamaneni Gayatri, two apartments at Gannavaram, three houses in Vijayawada, 11.65 acres land at Krishna, East Godavari and Guntur districts. About ₹43 lakh cash, seven kg of gold and diamond jewellery and documents related to five companies floated by the accused officers were found.

The language barrier can often leave people struggling to understand the letter of the law, but that will no longer be the case in Karnataka. In a move that underscores the State government’s goal to prioritise Kannada in the public domain, for the first time ever, hundreds of Union laws and rules written in English have been translated into the official language of the State. The translation is not limited to only Union laws but also includes State Acts and rules, which are usually published in English. This initiative comes close on the heels of the demand for Kannada in Namma Metro signage and its

Appreciable act: A Screen shot of Kanaja.in/acts

implementation as an administrative language. Kanaja.in, an online Kannada encyclopedia, has put out official translations of 239 Acts and rules: 118 Union and 121 State laws and rules. These include the Hindu Marriage Act and Rules, Armed Forces Special Powers Act and other Union laws, as well as the Cadre

and Recruitment Rules, and Karnataka Cooperative Societies Act, Karnataka Education Act among other State laws and rules.

Legal nuances The challenge is to ensure that the legal nuances of the laws are not lost in translation. “The translations are official

versions, and much thought and gate-keeping has gone into them,” said Vishu Kumar, Director, Kannada and Culture Department. The laws and rules were translated by the Translation Directorate of the State, and were vetted by a panel of retired justices. These were then approved by the Governor of the State, officials said, adding that the laws and rules translated were selected on the importance and relevance to the common man. The move has earned much praise from the legal community in the State. Leading criminal lawyer C.H. Hanumantharaya said this was the first step towards making laws in a language that people understand. A ND-NDE

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6 NATION

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Punjab govt ambulances not to carry CM’s photo

Yavatmal farmer’s suicide: PMO asks for report Government to provide job to wife, bear expenses of children’s education

CHANDIGARH

Special Correspondent

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday asked State officials to ensure that his photographs are not carried on government owned ambulances. In the previous SAD-BJP regime, these ambulances carried the pictures of the then Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal.

NAGPUR

PTI

Newborn babies’ bodies found stuffed in bag SAGAR (MP)

Bodies of three newborns, including two girls, were found stuffed in a bag near the Police Training College (PTC) ground here, the police said on Monday. The bodies were recovered from a roadside near the PTC ground under the Gopalganj police station limits, City Superintendent of Police (CSP) Vikram Singh said. PTI

Nursing home’s Navratri gift to girl children DHANBAD

Aiming to popularise the Centre’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign, a nursing home in Jharkhand’s Jharia district has decided not to charge for deliveries of girl children during Navratri festival. The nursing home has already waived all charges for 24 women who have given birth to girl children since the first day of the festival on September 21. PTI

Jharkhand: student dies while clicking selfie LATEHAR

A Class XII student fell into a waterfall and died in Jharkhand’s Latehar district while clicking a selfie on his mobile. The 19-year-old had gone to the waterfall at Suggabandh with friends on Sunday evening and climbed a rocky stretch to click the selfie but lost his balance and slipped into the waterfall, the police said. PTI

CM YK

The Prime Minister’s Office has taken note of the suicide of a farmer in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra who wrote the words “Modi Sarkar” and “Karjasathi Atmahatya [Suicide for debt]” on two leaves before ending his life on September 16.

Family visited Kishor Tiwari, who heads Maharashtra government’s Farmer’s Mission, said: “The Prime Minister’s Office took note of the suicide of farmer Prakash Mangovkar in Titavi village of Yavatmal and asked the Farmers’ Mission to visit the family and submit a report. Officials of the mission along with all senior district officials visited the family. We spoke to his wife Vidya, daughter Dhanashri and

Rural concerns: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacting with a farmer in Yavatmal, Maharashtra. FILE PHOTO *

brother Rajnishrao. The government will bear expenses of the education of Mr. Mangavkar’s three children from ‘KG to PG’ [kindergarten to post-graduation]. His wife will be given a government job by the Devendra Fadnavis government.” Mangovkar’s family members reportedly demanded

that the Prime Minister be booked for suicide. However, the Farmers’ Mission has denied that the family made any such claims. Mr. Tiwari said Mangovkar’s suicide was an example of the misery gripping rural farmers in Vidarbha and a warning sign to the government. He said, “Politics also

played a role in the spread of such talks [booking the PM for suicide]. This man was moving around with a rope for over a week before his suicide and was openly saying that he wanted to kill himself. Where was the administration? There is a Prerana Project under which the distressed farmers have to be identified.” He added, “I have already demanded that the health officials concerned in the area should be sacked of this negligence. What were they doing when this farmer was moving around with a rope? Why was he not taken to the rehabilitation centre by the authorities concerned ? He was not a poor farmer. He was an educated man and a part-time RTI activist. We have taken his suicide very seriously.”

Goan girl’s essay hailed Panaji

A Goan girl has been lauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for her essay titled ‘How Can I Make India Clean’ on the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Ravisha Kudchadkar, a Class IX student at Fatima Convent High School in Margao, had written in the essay that Gandhi Jayanti should be observed every day and not just on October 2. The Prime Minister tweeted, “In her prize winning essay, Ravisha from Goa writes about what should be done for a @swachhbharat. I compliment her for her work.” Chief Minister Parrikar also praised Ms. Kudchadkar, who hails from Chandorvillage in South Goa, on Twitter. He wrote, “Congratulations Ravisha. Let your essay be the leading light for all Goans as we move towards a #SwachhGoa.”

Most of the rural games were aimed at enhancing the strength and stamina of women folk They were Thia Puchi, Basa Puchi, Hulahuli, Khapara Dian, Kaudi Khela and Sankhanada or blowing of conch shells. According to Prafulla Jagannath Padhy, a veteran sportsman and chief organiser of the tournament, most of the rural games were aimed at enhancing the strength and stamina of women folk who were earlier confined to the interior of their homes.

BERHAMPUR

A sports tournament of a different kind has been organised in Odisha’s Berhampur to promote traditional rural games for girls. Due to urbanisation, these rural community games have been losing their sheen. So the Madhumaya Panigrahy Foundation (MPF) has organised this tournament in Berhampur, where around 400 girls are competing in six different events. According to Hrushikesh Panigrahy of the MPF, their aim is to select around 20 girls. The selected girls would be trained to perform a dance ballet related to the ‘Kumar Purnima’ festival of the State. The steps and movements of rural games would be

Traditional games: Girls taking part in an event during a function to promote rural sports in Berhampur. LINGARAJ PANDA *

made an integral part of the dance ballet. The first ballet performance would be held in Berhampur during the ‘Kumar Punei Janha Lo’ cultural programme of the foundation on the day of ‘Kumar Purn-

ima’ on October 5. The troupe will also perform in different parts of the State and outside to popularise the dying rural games, said Mr. Panigrahy. The girls took part in six traditional rural games.

Full-moon-lit sky Both types of Puchi are linked to the Kumar Purnima festivities in rural areas where girls used to play it under the full-moon-lit sky. Thia Puchi is performed in a standing position and Basa Puchi is played in a squatting position.

Rainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday

Special Correspondent

Keeping alive Odisha’s rich traditional rural games Staff Reporter

Weather Watch

They strengthen the whole body, especially thighs and feet. Khapara Dian is a team sport where participants have to perform various tasks while jumping on one leg on a special court. Kaudi Khela is a traditional board game of rural Odisha and Hulahuli is a typical sound made by vibrating the tongue during every auspicious happening in any Odia household. “Our aim was to keep alive these rich traditions of Odisha among the new generation girls,” said Mr. Padhi. Brij Bhusan Mohanty, veteran boxing coach and first Dronacharya award winner of Odisha, was the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the tournament on Sunday.

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

Forecast for Tuesday: Heavy rain is likely at isolated places over Andaman & Nicobar Islands, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty wind is likely at isolated places over south interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry city rain max min Agartala................. —.... 34.5.... 27.7 Ahmedabad............ —.... 33.3.... 23.7 Aizawl ................... —.... 30.4.... 16.6 Allahabad .............. —.... 32.1.... 25.4 Bengaluru ..........54.3.... 26.4.... 19.4 Bhopal................... —.... 33.1.... 23.0 Bhubaneswar ..........2.... 34.8.... 25.2 Chandigarh ............ —.... 32.9.... 23.0 Chennai .............15.6.... 30.2.... 24.6 Coimbatore..........3.1.... 30.6.... 23.0 Dehradun............... —.... 32.8.... 19.5 Gangtok.............17.6.... 21.3.... 18.0 Goa .....................0.1.... 31.3.... 24.3 Guwahati ............... —.... 35.1.... 26.2 Hubballi................. —.... 27.0.... 21.0 Hyderabad ............. —.... 31.0.... 23.6 Imphal................... —.... 32.2.... 22.6 Jaipur .................... —.... 36.4.... 26.3 Kochi..................... —.... 31.8.... 26.0 Kohima.................. —.... 26.5.... 18.5 Kolkata.................. —.... 35.1.... 28.2

city rain max min Kozhikode ............... —.... 33.6.... 26.0 Kurnool .................9.3.... 30.3.... 24.2 Lucknow.................. —.... 32.5.... 24.6 Madurai................... —.... 35.4.... 25.0 Mangaluru ............... —.... 29.9.... 25.0 Mumbai................... —.... 31.2.... 25.7 Mysuru..................9.6.... 28.0.... 20.1 New Delhi ............... —.... 35.1.... 23.8 Patna ...................... —.... 34.9.... 25.9 Port Blair ............10.2.... 29.7.... 24.6 Puducherry.............. —.... 33.0.... 24.1 Pune ....................... —.... 32.3.... 20.9 Raipur ..................... —.... 35.0.... 26.5 Ranchi...................1.2.... 32.5.... 22.3 Shillong................... —.... 24.0.... 15.2 Shimla..................... —.... 23.3.... 14.9 Srinagar .................. —.... 28.7.... 11.7 Trivandrum ............. —.... 31.2.... 24.9 Tiruchi ................22.2.... 33.1.... 23.0 Vijayawada ............5.6.... 34.2.... 25.4 Visakhapatnam ......... —.... 34.2.... 26.4

Particulate matter in the air you are breathing CITIES

SO2 NO2

Yesterday

CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE

Ahmedabad ........ .....— ....— .....—....... —.......— ......— Bengaluru........... .117...26 ...24...... 29.......— ......* Chennai .............. ...65...51 ...56...... 89.......— ......* Delhi .................. .....—...23 .110.... 200 ...119 ......* Hyderabad .......... .....6...40 ...38...... 74 ...103 ......* Kolkata............... ...18...59 ...34....... — ...110 ......* Lucknow............. ...15...21 ...39...... 74.......— ......* Mumbai .............. ...17...13 ...18...... 31 .....48 ......* Pune................... ...34...13 ...81...... 30 .....59 ......* Vishakhapatnam . ...17 ....1 ...27...... 76 .....92 ......*

In observation made at 4.00 p.m., Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh recorded an overall air quality index (AQI) score of 304 indicating an unhealthy level of pollution. In contrast, Thiruvananthapuram recorded a healthy AQI score of 56

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

A ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

NATION 7

NOIDA/DELHI

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Campus unsafe, say BHU students Poor lighting, misogynist guards, administrative apathy add to woes Omar Rashid

Dera chief les appeal against conviction CHANDIGARH

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Monday filed an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against his conviction by the special CBI court on two counts of rape of his female followers. The appeal, filed through his counsel S.K. Garg Narwana, is yet to be listed.

One killed, 35 injured as balcony falls in Pune PUNE

A worker was killed and 35 were injured when the metal balcony of a labour camp in Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park at Hinjewadi in Pune collapsed on Sunday night. Sources said the workers had gathered on the first floor after an altercation broke out between two workers. “The metal structure was unable to withstand the weight,” the police said.

Nine dead in Jharkhand firecracker unit accident JAMSHEDPUR

The death toll in the fire at an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand has risen to nine, officials said on Monday. The fire killed six persons and injured four others on Sunday. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said the fire caused an LPG cylinder to burst, leading to the loss of lives. PTI

VARANASI

“We can’t step out of the hostel for even 10 minutes without being harassed. Halfa-dozen boys follow us, passing lewd comments,” says Kumari Akanksha, a second year Arts student at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). “What makes it worse is that if we complain to the warden or the proctor, they resort to moral policing. They scold us for going out in the evening or question us about our dress,” added the student, who stays in the Mahila Maha Vidyalaya (MMV) hostel on the BHU campus. Almost every woman student The Hindu spoke to echoed Ms. Akanksha’s complaint about the unsafe nature of the BHU campus. The fresh controversy in the varsity was triggered by the molestation of a fine arts student on Thursday evening. But the students’ grouse was not restricted to this particular case. They feel the campus is generally unsafe, given its poor lighting, lack of CCTV cameras, and uncooperative, misogynist security guards. The poor lighting makes it easy for hooligans to molest or harass women and escape without being identified, said Aishwarya Singh, a Sociology student. “Instead of protecting our basic rights and ensuring that the culprits don’t

Drug meant for women used on cattle

Cong. wants V-C sacked

Afshan Yasmeen Bengaluru

Special Correspondent New Delhi

The Congress on Monday demanded the immediate sacking of the BHU ViceChancellor and a judicial probe into the lathi-charge on students. Rather than empathising with the students who were seeking a safer campus, the BHU “colluded in the most barbaric lathi-charge” against them, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said.

Hub of tension: Police personnel outside the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, on Monday. ANAND SINGH *

get away, the administration is trying to impose a curfew on us. We don’t want locks, we want lights,” Ms. Singh said. Following the molestation incident, the woman students submitted a memorandum to the Dean of Student Welfare. It states, “Boys come from outside and engage in objectionable acts like masturbation. They pelt stones, and use filthy language while passing by.” Shradha Singh, proctor, admits that the women students have “genuine demands” and claims she promised to raise these before the administration. However, before any action could be taken, the protests turned violent, she says.

SC refuses more time for medical admissions

PM, Shah express concern Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

The crackdown by local police on women students protesting over the lack of security at the BHU campus had its echoes at the BJP mega National Executive meet in New Delhi, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah both expressing concern over the issue to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Minister for Roads and Highways Nitin Gadkari while briefing newspersons said the BJP felt it was an issue of concern. “Both

Assamese told to prove ‘nationality’

Prime Minister Modi and party chief Amit Shah have spoken to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the issue and it is an incident that is regrettable. The State government will take appropriate action in this regard,” he said.

‘Incident regrettable’ Both Mr. Gadkari and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal termed the incident at the BHU campus a matter of concern. “Our party and government are committed to women’s empowerment; the design of our welfare programmes like Ujjwala

Special Correspondent Mumbai

Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court has refused to extend the deadline for filling up vacant seats in medical super-speciality, post-graduate and MBBS courses. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra refused to extend the September 14 time limit, especially in the case of superspeciality courses. In a four-page order on September 22, the Bench referred to the apprehensions raised in the various pleas that many seats remained vacant and there was a need to extend the date for admissions. But the court dismissed the pleas, saying the concern voiced in them “travels from rational sphere to emotional sphere.” It acknowledged the Medical Council of India’s (MCI) stand that discipline was essential in academic admission matters

and any extension would result in chaos. Ineligible students would benefit from such confusion, leaving the worthy ones in dire straits. “We are of the convinced opinion that an extension at this juncture would not be appropriate. A sense of concern is one thing, but sustenance of discipline and order is another aspect. Weighing both the concepts in a balanced manner, we unhesitatingly come to the conclusion that the prayers made in the interlocutory applications do not deserve any acceptance and, accordingly, they stand rejected.”

Centre backed move The court’s refusal came despite the Centre favouring an extension. But MCI, through advocate Gaurav Sharma, vehemently opposed the government’s position. “Once this court has extended the time limit till September 14, 2017, and the

candidates did not avail the facilities. It will be an anathema to the concept of law to grant extension at the behest of the institutions or the students,” Mr. Sharma said. Among the applications was one by 23 doctors from various parts of the country seeking an extended round of counselling for the candidates who had qualified in the NEET-SS examination to fill up vacant seats available in government and private medical colleges. NEET-SS is an eligibility-cum-ranking examination prescribed as the single entrance examination to various DM/M.Ch. courses under the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Act, 2016. The petitioners, led by Chennai-based doctor T.T. Senthilnathan, had contended that over 25% of the seats in super speciality DM/ M.Ch. Courses remained unfilled even after two rounds of counselling.

Meerut

An Assamese student was denied entry into the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daula in Agra by security personnel. They called her a “foreigner” and asked her to “prove Indian nationality”, she has alleged. Manjita Chanu, who visited the monument early this month, alleged that the guards were “extremely rude” to her and repeatedly asked her to prove her nationality, even though she had tickets that are issued only to Indian nationals. Her Facebook post narrating her ordeal has been shared by 5,149 people and commented upon by about 1,900 people. “Is this the land of my India? Am I safe here or not?” she wrote on Facebook. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials in Agra told The Hindu that they were not aware of the incident. “We will enquire and see what happened,” said a senior ASI official.

yojana that free women from firewood-run kitchens and its attendant hardships, our emphasis on education for women through Beti Padhao, Beti Badhao prove that empowerment of women is central to us. This is a regrettable incident and cannot be condemned enough as far we are concerned,” said Mr. Gadkari. Party sources confirmed that Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah had a short pull aside meeting with Mr. Adityanath on the sidelines of the BJP meet and expressed their concerns.

Despite a ban on the retail sale of hormone drug Oxytocin (that is used to induce labour in women) for veterinary use, several pharmacies in Karnataka continue to sell it illegally over the counter to dairy owners and farmers, who use it to boost milk production. In the long run, it lowers the lifespan of cows and makes them infertile sooner. Under Schedule H of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, the drug can be distributed on the prescription of a registered medical practitioner only. To avoid its bulk sale, Oxytocin injections are packed only in single unit blister packs.

Monitoring ineffective Health Minister K.R. Ramesh Kumar on Monday admitted during a programme in Belagavi that despite strict monitoring of the drug sale, it continues to find its way into the market illegally. Vigilance has been effective in Belagavi district. While a case has been booked against Vardhaman medical stores in Mangasuli of Athani taluk in the past, it was detected last week that another medical store in Belagavi city has been selling the drug to farmers. In fact, officials from the Drugs Controller’s office in Belagavi

The use of Oxytocin lowers the lifespan of cows. *

FILE PHOTO

led by Deputy Drugs Controller Deepak N. Gaikwad posed as farmers and purchased the drug from the store in bulk. “The product sample has been sent for laboratory tests and we are awaiting results. We learnt that the drug was being supplied to the pharmacy by an Indore-based manufacturer. Investigations are on and we will soon file a case,” Mr. Gaikwad said. “The Drugs and Cosmetics Act explains the manner in which Oxytocin can be prescribed and the detailed records which need to be kept by registered medical practitioners. The records need to be maintained for three years,” he said. Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Shalini Rajneesh told The Hindu that the ban restricts the Oxytocin bulk drug manufacturers from selling it to only those with licences to make the drug formulations.

Eman Ahmed dies in Abu Dhabi

Staff Reporter

Acknowledges MCI’s stand that discipline is essential

Illegal sale of Oxytocin continues

Eman Ahmed

Egyptian national Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, who was known to be the world’s heaviest woman at 500 kg, passed away on Monday at the Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi. Doctors said her condition had suddenly deteriorated over the past 24 hours, following which she suffered a multiple organ failure. A statement from the hospital said that Ms. Ahmed breathed her last at 4.35

a.m. on Monday due to complications from underlying co-morbid conditions, including heart disease and kidney dysfunction. Doctors said she had developed an infection that led to septicaemia, which worsened her condition. “Over the last few days, she did not respond to the treatment as we expected,” Dr. Nabeel Debouni, Medical Director, Burjeel Hospital, told The Hindu. Ms. Ahmed’s body will be flown to Alexandria on Tuesday for her last rites.

Before being shifted to the Abu Dhabi Hospital, Ms. Ahmed was admitted to Mumbai’s Saifee Hospital for 82 days. She was operated upon by bariatric surgeon Dr. Mufazzal Lakdawala. But a fallout between the Saifee Hospital management and Ms. Ahmed’s sister eventually led to her being shifted to Abu Dhabi. From 500 kg, she had gone down to 176 kg at the time of her discharge from the Saifee Hospital.

Now, a Braille guide to Kolkata pandals

Inclusive celebrations: Workers carry out nishing touches at a pandal made of bottles in Kolkata. The Braille guide will describe the decorations at the pandals. K.R. DEEPAK *

Indrani Dutta KOLKATA

A Braille guide for the visually impaired, alongside a route map, may make Durga Puja much more inclusive this year. Working over a period of time, it has now become possible to make available vivid descriptions of the various pujas in the city while also printing route maps that would enable a visually impaired person or groups of such people to reach certain puja pandals (mandaps). “We had done a pilot project at a pandal last year and we will do it for 10 major pandals this year,” said DeCM YK

bojyoti Roy, secretary of NIP, an NGO which has executed this initiative. He said around 300 pujas had been mapped using the Braille system, charting out the closest railway station, bus routes and metro stops, to enable the visually impaired reach a proximate point. “Usually after that, there is always someone to help them navigate their way through the crowd,” said Mr. Roy. Visually challenged Sumita Roy, associated with the 75-year-old Blind Persons Association, welcomed the initiative, saying that this would enable them to participate in the festival. A ND-NDE

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8 EDITORIAL

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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Diary of a very long year A year after the surgical strikes across the Line of Control, India must recover its role as a regional stabiliser with immense potential to lead up to a ‘competition in risk-taking’, a tendency already prevalent on the frontlines of the India-Pakistan border in J&K. Put dierently, preventive strikes in hyper-nationalist bilateral settings could defy our expectations and go out of control, with disastrous implications.

Merkel’s world

Worrying downgrade Removing the snow leopard from the Red List must not aect conservation eorts

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he elusive and charismatic snow leopard has lost its endangered status in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, causing genuine worry among wildlife biologists, who believe this sends out the wrong signal to those working to protect it. If the argument for a downgrade to vulnerable status from endangered is that conservation actions have reduced the threat to the cat, there is an equally persuasive response on how little scientists know about its population health, given its remote habitat in the alpine zones of the Himalayas and trans-Himalayas. As a major range country, India has worked to protect these animals, and even launched a programme on the lines of Project Tiger for its conservation, covering 128,757 sq. km of habitat in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. There is also an upcoming international collaborative eort, the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program, involving the countries that make up the range of this graceful animal. It is vital that this momentum should not be lost merely on account of the technicality that the estimated numbers have crossed the threshold for an ‘endangered’ classication, which is 2,500. If anything, studies on its vulnerability have to be intensied, and the task of monitoring its entire habitat of high mountains speeded up. It would be a disservice to conservation if governments shift their focus away from the big challenges to the snow leopard’s future: tracking in live animals in Central Asia, and hostility from communities because of its attacks on livestock. India handled the problem of the cat preying on goats, sheep, donkeys and other animals by roping in communities in conservation, and compensating them for any losses. An insurance programme in which residents of a part of Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh participated also worked well. New research indicates that even when wild prey is available, the attacks on livestock by snow leopards have cumulatively been on the rise. The response to this nding must be to insulate the owners from losses and encourage them to move away from traditional pastoral grazing. A more fundamental worry is over the likely loss of habitat owing to changing climate patterns. Fortunately, research models indicate that there are considerable stretches of steppes in High Asia that could withstand climate-related changes in the greater Himalayan region, creating refuge lands for snow leopards. Today, the factors that pose a threat to the species remain unchanged, and the IUCN down-listing, which changes the classication since 1986, should not be misread by policymakers. If conservation has protected the cat, it must be strengthened by enlarging protected areas in all the range countries, and keeping out incompatible activities such as mining and human interference. CM YK

happymon jacob

“T

he surgical strike was a point we wanted to drive home, that the Line of Control is not a line that cannot be breached. When we want to, we will be able to breach it, go across and strike when we need. This was the message we wanted to convey and we did,” Lt. Gen. Devraj Anbu, the Northern Army Commander, stated in a recent press conference at his headquarters in Udhampur.

The big picture It has been one year since the special forces of the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes to destroy terror launchpads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on September 29, 2016. It is important to take stock at this point on how India-Pakistan bilateral relations and the regional security situation have evolved over the past year since the strikes. Showing no appetite for a bilateral rapprochement, the two acrimonious neighbours have limited their interactions to ring across the borders in Jammu and Kashmir and calling each other names in global forums. At the United Nations General Assembly a few days ago, for instance, External Aairs Minister Sushma Swaraj termed Pakistan a “pre-eminent exporter of terror” — to which Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi, responded: “India is the mother of terrorism” in South Asia. The future direction of the foremost regional forum, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), remains unclear after India dropped out of the 2016 Islamabad summit in the wake of the Uri terror attack. (The summit was eventually postponed.) The regional security situation remains embattled, thanks to

worrying potential for escalation to higher levels. The border standos often lead to, as is evident from the data from the past 15 years, military, political and diplomatic escalation as well as contribute to escalating an ongoing crisis. While this was common even prior to the surgical strikes, the September 2016 operation has made ceasere violations more worrisome in at least two ways: rst, Pakistan has been retaliating ever since the surgical strikes by increasing the pressure on the frontlines; and second, surgical strikes have reduced the critical distance between ceasere violations and conventional escalation. While stealthy surgical strikes may not, strictly speaking, qualify as conventional escalation, they certainly reduce the psychological distance between sub-conventional violence and conventional escalation in the classical sense. That sure is bad news for regional stability. The second challenge is more practical than theoretical. Conventional escalation as discussed in the academic/policy literature tends to put too much emphasis on pre-conceived and war-gamed escalation scenarios. However, surgical strikes could easily oset the logic behind such familiar and analytically elegant scenarios. The perils of preventive strikes, in other words, are unpredictable. Preventive strikes are pregnant

confused American policies in South Asia, continuing turmoil in Afghanistan, heightening IndiaChina rivalry, and the IndiaPakistan hostility.

Regional stability From a regional stability point of view, the surgical strikes do not seem to have had much of an adverse impact. The fact that Pakistan neither acknowledged the attacks nor responded in kind shows that the general deterrence between the South Asian nuclear rivals remains intact. It is easy to talk about nuclear use and threaten nuclear retaliation, as Pakistan has been doing for long. It is, however, not easy to translate such talk into action. In that sense, the surgical strikes have called Pakistan’s nuclear blu. And that certainly is good news for regional stability. But such higher-level stability seems to have come with heightened lower-level instability — and that is the bad news. There are two sets of challenges that are more apparent today, one year after the surgical strikes. One, the India-Pakistan escalation ladder has become far more precarious today it has ever been in the past one and a half decades, i.e. since the ceasere was agreed to in 2003. The recurrent, and almost daily, occurrence of border battles between the two militaries in Jammu and Kashmir today have a

Deteriorating environment Have the surgical strikes helped the country’s overall national security environment? The Central government argues that surgical strikes have been a spectacular success. Notwithstanding the more conceptual challenges I have explained above, let’s try and break down this claim to see if indeed surgical strikes have improved our national security in plain practical terms. The rst obvious question to ask is whether the strategy of punishment has worked vis-à-vis Pakistan. There are two reasons why the strategy of punishment may not have worked. For one, a strategy of punishment requires consistency and commitment. The momentum achieved by the surgical strikes was not followed up (despite several attacks thereafter), nor was the government committed to its declared determination to respond rmly to terror strikes, thereby lacking in both consistency and commitment. Second, and more importantly, Pakistan’s responses thereafter of supporting insurgency in Kashmir, aiding inltration across the border, and allegedly supporting attacks on the Indian army convoys and bases continued without much reaction from New Delhi. This has led to a visible lack of credibility on New Delhi’s part which makes one wonder whether, bereft of domestic political uses, there was any strategic planning behind the September operation. By all accounts, India’s national security environment is fraught today. Terror attacks in Kashmir continue to break the calm. Consider Gen. Anbu remarks: “Large number of terrorist camps and

The big picture With two hostile neighbours on either side, terror attacks against India on the rise, and the South Asian neighbourhood unsure of India’s leadership any more, New Delhi has a lot to be concerned about the continuation of its pivotal position in the region and the nature of its future engagement with it. The events since September last year have further contributed to South Asia’s regional ‘insecurity complex’. For a country that has traditionally been the regional stabiliser, New Delhi seems to be quickly embracing the virtues of geopolitical revisionism. The costs of aggression, self-imposed regional exclusion and an absence of strategic altruism are bound to become starker sooner or later. Happymon Jacob is Associate Professor of Disarmament Studies, Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Waiting for a signal The Railway Minister must put a safety upgrade above plans for punctuality and new trains

sarabjit arjan singh

E

very time there is a change of guard in the Railway Ministry, expectations are raised that the new minister will cut the Gordian knot by focussing on issues that will enable the Indian Railways to recoup from past excesses. This also holds true for the new Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal. It is not as if the problems cannot be addressed, but those who have to address them tend to focus on issues that may be important in themselves but are not necessarily the ones that will enhance the performance of the Railways. Is this out of ignorance? Or are these issues ‘insignicant’? Or are they a political hot potato? It is anybody’s guess. For decades the lack of consistent political direction has aected the Railways. The country lacks civilian expertise on railway matters and only a few politicians are interested in the railways. Railway ofcers are professional and have the expertise. However, results are de-

termined by the Ministry-Railway Board relationship and how much the Minister is willing to follow professional advice, especially when it does not gel with the political compulsions of pandering to constituencies. The results are a haphazard introduction of trains, subsidising passenger fares by overcharging freight, investment in unwanted new facilities, and modernisation and induction of new technologies without a plan. The fallout of all this is a balkanisation of the organisation on departmental lines, with each following its own narrow interests. Decision-making revolves around pursuing immediate goals that can show the department in a good light.

Safety concerns That this state of aairs has led to a breakdown of systems is exemplied in the case of the Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express derailment in Uttar Pradesh in August, where over 20 passengers lost their lives and scores were injured. Safety is not something that can be separated from the normal functioning of the Railways and is a window that reveals the underlying health of the system. The accident shows that the numbers of trains have now reached a level where eld sta are unable to carry out main-

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Lodhi’s gae One has only deep scorn for Pakistan’s eorts to embarrass India at the United Nations General Assembly by trying to pass o a picture of a woman from Gaza as a pellet gun victim from Kashmir (“Pak. envoy commits gae”, September 25). The goof-up shows that Pakistan will not hesitate to stoop to any level to defame India. With its credibility in tatters, Islamabad would do well to refrain from indulging in needless slander and levelling accusations against New Delhi lest it becomes the laughing stock in the eyes of the international community. N.J. Ravi Chander, Bengaluru

It is unfortunate that a global platform is being used to present baseless and fake statements instead of discussing what can be done to maintain peace in the world. Now that the Pakistan envoy has been

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ngela Merkel’s return for a fourth consecutive term as Chancellor, with a much-reduced mandate for her Christian Democratic Union, marks a watershed moment in Germany’s post-War history. For the rst time since 1949, a far-right nationalist party, the Alternative for Germany (Afd), is in the Bundestag, posing a potentially bracing challenge to Berlin’s predominant political creed of consensus and compromise. With her natural instinct for caution and pragmatism, Ms. Merkel embodied such a stance, one that was seen as a national trait assiduously cultivated to denitively turn the page on the country’s Nazi past. There is ample evidence of these qualities at work in Ms. Merkel’s remarkably long tenure, which led her to embrace Social Democratic Party policies on minimum wages, at times to the chagrin of her ally in the grand coalition. To be sure, this seemingly anodyne approach came under sharp attack for its ideological ambiguity, but it was a tactic that Ms. Merkel deftly deployed to blunt the opposition. It is, however, nearly impossible to accuse the Chancellor of pandering to the extreme right, so characteristic of the centre-right leadership in several European states in the face of the populist surge against the expansion of the EU and globalisation. The 8-plus percentage point plunge in support for the incumbent CDU and its Bavarian ally over 2013, combined with the all-time low returns for the Social Democratic Party, is a measure of the erosion of the middle ground. This shift in fortunes is all the more telling given the widespread perception that Germans have never had it so good in terms of economic well-being and political stability. A possible explanation of the nature of the verdict is also that the grand coalition between the archrivals, the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, pushed voters in search of an alternative at the extreme. A mocking reference of the blurred ideological divisions within the alliance was that there were two SDPs in Germany. Nonetheless, the fact that there has been a steady decline in support for the two major mainstream forces — from about 90% in the 1970s to about 50% — reects the steady fragmentation of the polity. Conversely, the gains for the AfD follow its capture of the vote in more than 10 states in regional elections. The implication of the verdict is a possible ‘Jamaica coalition’ among the CDU, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats, given the Social Democrats’ likely choice to serve as an opposition. There has been speculation that Ms. Merkel, who has deed the recent record of Europe’s politicians even in terms of sheer longevity in oce, would look to consolidating her legacy. Revitalising the rules-based post-War liberal world order, one that she committed to as a counter to President Donald Trump’s ‘America rst’ agenda, could not be more urgent. Even a year ago, she may have little imagined that her victory would come as such a relief, domestically and globally.

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

Her re-election as Chancellor comes with huge challenges domestically and globally

launch pads exist across south and north of Pir Panjal, they have not decreased... Launch pads and terrorist camps have increased since last year.” Let’s also look at some gures from J&K. Credible media reports show that 110 militants, and 38 army personnel were killed between January and September 2016 (i.e. prior to the surgical strikes). However, since the surgical strikes, at least 178 militants and 69 Army personnel have been killed. Forty-four army personnel were killed between January and September this year, compared to 38 last year between January and September (including those killed in the Uri Army base attack). One might argue that the terrorist casualties have also gone up. While that is true, more militants killed can be a barometer of the level of militancy too. Surgical strikes, then, may have been a tactical victory for New Delhi, but its strategic value is far from settled.

tenance without cutting corners. In this case, track maintenance sta had decided to replace a defective glued joint even though the section control sta had refused to block trains from entering the section that was to be repaired. Repair work involved cutting out the defective joint and welding in a new one. Trying to carry this out without stopping trains was an invitation for disaster. If this was an isolated case, then the case could have been closed by punishing the guilty. But it appears that the practice of repairing tracks without blocking trains is quite widespread, which is cause for concern. The situation is the outcome of

pursuing three inconsistent goals at the organisational level. These are: moving more people by continuously adding trains even when sections are saturated; focussing on increasing speed and punctuality; and diverting freight earnings to subsidise passenger fares. These are incompatible with the declared objective of safety, especially when there is a shortage of capacity to run existing services. Unless the numbers of trains can be brought down to what the system can handle without cutting corners in track, signalling and rolling stock maintenance, there is really no way to make the system both safe and punctual. The problem is further exacerbated by a lack of money to replace old assets or purchase spares. The Utkal train accident is a distressing example of how incompatible organisational goals connect to unsafe behaviour at the eld level.

It can be done The task before Mr. Goyal may be politically challenging but is doable technically. He has to make dicult political decisions such as cutting back on trains on saturated sections and putting punctuality on the back burner, at least until the system can recoup its capacities. He has to accept that time has

to be allotted for maintenance systems to stabilise even at the cost of delaying trains. His aim must be to restore the strong culture that underpinned every decision in the eld — that no unsafe condition would be allowed to exist and be addressed even at the cost of delaying or slowing down trains. For this, the judgment of the supervisory sta must be respected. There is also a need to restore the well-established practice of eld inspections at all levels to grasp what is happening in the eld. The energies of eld ocers should not be sapped by meaningless drives and responding to social media as it diverts their attention from their main job of oversight and correction of divergences from standard procedures. He needs to ensure money for maintenance and replacement of aged assets. This should be done by freeing freight from subsidising passenger fares through a subvention from the general Budget. Which path will Mr. Goyal choose? Will he give the Railways the space to recoup or will he follow the beaten path of pushing goals that are incompatible with enhancing safety? Sarabjit Arjan Singh is a former General Manager, Indian Railways and Member of the Central Administrative Tribunal

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

shown in a bad light, will the UN take action against her and in turn Pakistan for making false statements? In this content, India should also seek an apology from Islamabad. P.S.V. Prasad Babu, Bhadrachalam, Telangana

In private hands The report on the “readiness” of the Central government to sell o railway lines to the private sector is disturbing (“Private players may run railway lines”, September 25). Politicians are already playing havoc by dividing us. The one factor that has ensured our oneness, and still is, is the Indian Railways. Now comes the threat of its disintegration. Instead of improving the viability of this great institution by boldly raising the fare structure and ensuring accountability and eciency, the Railway Ministry is trying wash its hands of this by resorting to privatisation.

The factor holding back the Railways is the inadequate upward revision of fares. In the face of such yawning disparity and inequality, how can the Indian Railways function protably? One only sees this as an attempt to break the railway unions whose demand for wage revision appears unacceptable. Another nail in the Railways’ con has been the merger of the Railway Budget with the general Budget. M.R. Anand, Chennai

The proposal is a subject that must be approached with great caution. Railway operations are not just a matter of selling tickets and earning money but also one that involves operational safety. When even welltrained sta with decades of experience make mistakes leading to accidents, it would be a risky exercise to allow private players to try their hand in this eld. The proposal may work

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extremely well if conned to areas such as sanitation and catering, and which do not directly involve operations and safety.

infrastructural problems. Civic issues too need to be sorted out. R. Ramanathan, Coimbatore

J. Eden Alexander, Thanjavur

Past and present In my opinion, three main factors have led to the present and abysmal state of Bangalore (“The idea that used to be Bangalore”, September 25). They are mindless, limitless materialism, rampant, suocating commercialism, and political degradation and parochialism. A society evolves only when care and consideration is extended towards each other which makes life creative, cosmopolitan, harmonious and balanced. It was exactly this kind of an atmosphere that was prevalent in Bangalore earlier. But now the life and charm of the city has been reduced and its mounting problems further compounded by serious

■ Shiv Visvanathan must be thanked for a fair presentation of Bangalore now and then. It is saddening to witness a slow degeneration of this magnicent city with its fabled cosmopolitan tolerance. Jarring incidents such as molestation of women, a racist attitude towards Indians from the North-east and the hounding of journalists and activists are on the rise.

Buddha Deb Chattopadhyay, Mumbai

■ The writer’s assertion, at one point, of the transgression of IT into every sphere of public life may be more evident in Bangalore, but is now common in many parts of India. The inux of IT-based rms into Bangalore is what has made it an expensive

city to live in. Finally, research in the basic sciences is a must for any country to progress and prosper. There has to be a balance as IT is no one-stop solution for a nation’s growth and development. Dr. K.A.R. Reddy, Hyderabad

A game-changer There need not be any doubts about the all-around abilities of Hardik Pandya, the rising and bright star on the Indian cricket horizon, who deservedly won the man of the match award in the Indore ODI, and who also played a major role in enabling an unassailable 3-0 lead for India against Australia. If Pandya eectively utilises the opportunities that come his way, the day is not far o when he will become another Kapil Dev — a legendary all-rounder. S. Vaithianathan, Madurai

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

A ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

OPED 9

NOIDA/DELHI

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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Journalists reporting on the recent political developments in Tripura put themselves in danger

Brinda Karat Mourn Santanu Bhowmik. A young television journalist in Tripura, he was in his late-20s when he was brutally killed. On his last journey, thousands of grieving citizens walked beside his body. In late December 2016, Bhowmik had posted on his Facebook wall the image of a message that read: “Life is Short... Do the Things you Love to do... Speak the Truth.” Tragic, prophetic words. His murder led to shock and outrage not just in Tripura but across India, more so because it followed the cruel silencing of another fearless journalist and activist, Gauri Lankesh. Like Lankesh, Bhowmik too had angered fanatical forces who have powerful backers. They both have paid the price for speaking the truth. Bhowmik worked with Dinraat, a local channel, and was responsible for much of its political coverage. To identify the forces behind his murder, it is necessary to look at the political developments he was reporting on in his State which is heading for elections early next year.

‘Encounter politics’ The electoral strategy practised by the current leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party under its president, Amit Shah, is on full display in Tripura. The motto is, anything and everything is legitimate to grab power. It is a version of ‘encounter politics’ — what is being encountered is ethics, morality, principles, truth, honesty, even national interest. Journalists who report on the different aspects of this ‘encounter politics’ put themselves in danger, as Bhowmik did. Plan A of ‘encounter politics’ is the use of money and intimidation against opponents. The three prongs used by the BJP-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh against political opponents are the powers of the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Income Tax department, and the Enforcement Directorate. In Tripura, they are up against the most popular and honest Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar, whom they cannot touch; nor can they bribe or threaten communist MLAs as they do in other parts of In-

Targeted: “Like Gauri Lankesh, Santanu Bhowmik too had angered fanatical forces who have powerful backers.” SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

dia. So they did the next best thing: they got most of those MLAs who won on a Congress ticket in the last elections to defect to the BJP. Thus, even without winning a single seat, the BJP has become the main Opposition party in the State Assembly in Tripura and is using that position to mobilise all the anti-communist forces. A corollary of Plan A is the ‘encounter approach’ of political intervention among the people. This is diametrically opposed to the normal democratic way of policy-based criticism of one’s opponents. ‘Encounter politics’ believes in dividing people, causing insecurities, perfecting the method of manufacturing lies and rumours to incite violence. This method of intervention is often timed just before the visit of Mr. Shah to any Opposition-ruled State and is usually linked to creating communal divisions, so as to provide the BJP president the opportunity to attack Opposition governments for “appeasement politics”, deteriorating law and order, and boost demand for the Centre’s intervention. It happened in Kerala, Karnataka, and Odisha. In Tripura, with only a small minority population, the communal card was not considered to be that effective. So the idea was to kill the peace between tribal (31% of the population in the State) and non-tribal communities.

The Left Front government had brought peace to Tripura. It built unity among tribals and non-tribals through people-oriented development policies combined with firm administrative action. The government’s initiatives were possible because of the sustained political work and heroic role of thousands of communist tribal cadre, hundreds of whom were killed by the extremists. A critical role was played by the Tripura Rajaer Upajati Ganamukti Parishad, the foremost organisation of tribals founded by the legendary communist leader, Dasarath Debbarma. The emphasis was to politically isolate the tribal extremists from the mass of tribals in the State rather than depend on paramilitary forces as in other parts of India. The draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act was scrapped in Tripura in 2015. Tripura has emerged as not just the best governed State in the Northeast, but one of the best in India. It has an enviable record of establishing the best indicators of social development, especially in the development and enhancement of tribal rights.

Nexus between BJP and IPFT The BJP is now resurrecting extremist politics. Among the various tribal groups and parties, the BJP has established close links with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura, the

political wing of an outlawed secessionist group which had, in the past, been organising terrorist attacks on non-tribals from its bases across the border. These groups had been backed by the Congress in their attempt to oust the Left Front government. It is now the BJP which is following the same path, with added aggression and money. The IPFT split into two factions reportedly on the issue of one of its leaders receiving a substantial amount of money from the BJP. Leaders of this faction, now known as the IPFT (NC Debbarma), met Jitender Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, and later made a public statement that the Central government was sympathetic to their demand of a separate Twipraland to be carved out of the area currently under the Tribal Autonomous Council formed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The IPFT has been indulging in violent agitations, including the blocking of the national highway. Bhowmik had been exposing the nexus between the BJP and the violent activities of the IPFT. While on the one hand, the BJP is encouraging violent activities for a separate tribal State, on the other, in urban areas, it is trying to whip up sentiment against the tribals. This has led to tension and even clashes between communities in some areas, though swiftly contained by the government. This is blatantly anti-national, more so in a sensitive border State. On September 19, a huge rally of tribals was held in Agartala. It was organised by the Ganamukti Parishad and addressed by Mr. Sarkar along with tribal leaders. Vehicles carrying the participants were attacked by small groups of the IPTF, and 118 were injured. Bhowmik had reported on this. The following day, he and his cameraman got footage of the continuing attacks on the Communist Party of India (Marxist) cadre and offices in Jirania. He then left the area, but went back hearing of more violence by the IPFT. His killers knew him. They knew of his reports exposing their violence. He was abducted by them, attacked, and his bloodied body was later found. Four IPFT men have been arrested. But can the practitioners of ‘encounter politics’ escape their responsibility for his death? Brinda Karat is a member of the CPI(M) Polit Bureau and a former Rajya Sabha MP

Solving food challenges with more research Linking agricultural and nutritional outcomes is crucial

M.S. Swaminathan & Jean Lebel The world’s population is booming. According to estimates, the global population is likely to exceed 9 billion by 2050, with 5 billion people in Asia alone. The capacity to produce enough quality food is falling behind human numbers. Food production in the region must keep pace, even as environment sustainability and economic development are ensured. The answer to these challenges lies in research for sustainable development. As the second goal of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals says: “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.”

Investing in research India’s fivefold increase in grain production over the past 50 years is largely the result of strong scientific research that has focussed on high-yielding crop varieties, better agronomic practices, and pro-farmer policies. However, India continues to face challenges such as food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly in rural areas. Providing the world’s growing urban population with safe and healthy food requires both a rural and a peri-urban agricultural movement — a huge challenge, but also an opportunity for ingenuity. Integrating agricultural production, nutrition, and health is emerging as a key focal point throughout Asia, with policymakers shifting their attention to the role of biodiversity and the power of local farming systems to improve nutritional status. There is considerable potential in targeting underused crops such as millets, pulses, and vegetables as a sustainable means of increasing agricultural production and improving nutrition and health in high-need areas. In one project, researchers tested the sustainable use of traditional crops, vegetables, and fruit trees, as well as greater livestock diversity, to increase income and improve food and nutrition security in rural India. This project demonstrated that in three Indian “agro-biodiversity hotspots”, home gardens could provide households with up to 135 kg of legumes, vegetables, tubers, leafy greens, and gourds per year — more than double the amount of vegetables they were buying in local markets. These crops add value to existing farming systems by providing an additional source of income and/or more nutritious food for the family. The Food Security

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ARCHIVES SEPTEMBER 26, 1967

China’s veiled threat to Pakistan Peking appears to have served a warning to Pakistan against excessive dependence on the Soviet Union in regard to economic or military aid. The warning came in a highly critical report on Soviet aid to India broadcast by Peking Radio on the eve of President Ayub’s visit to the Soviet Union beginning today [September 25]. Accusing the Soviet Union of “exploiting” the Indian people through her aid, the report seeks to notify that China views with disfavour and suspicion all Soviet aid to developing countries including Pakistan – its firm ally.

KUNAL RAY

SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

CM YK

M.S. Swaminathan is the founder of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, and Jean Lebel is the President of Canada’s International Development Research Centre

FIFTY YEARS AGO

In Hindi cinema, silence rarely speaks. ‘Newton’ is a breath of fresh air

Kunal Ray teaches literary and cultural studies at FLAME University and writes on art and culture

direct recipients of development impacts, such as access to markets and income, to improve theirs and their children’s access to adequate and diversified diets. Most importantly, it is crucial to continue to identify issues and seek evidence-based solutions through research. Building on the momentum of recent efforts by the government to improve understanding of India’s nutritional situation, there is considerable potential in building partnerships to extend the reach of research for development and to improve the connections between agricultural and nutritional research with extension services and policy. Taking a multisectoral approach that links agricultural and nutritional outcomes will help India sustainably grow, feed its people, and maintain the agricultural sector over the coming decades. India’s research community is poised to be a leader in meeting new food challenges by increasing food quantity and quality to improve food security and nutrition. The world needs to tap into India’s research excellence to experiment, innovate, share knowledge, and scale up effective solutions.

FROM

Ode to subtlety

Role of the supporting cast The ending is one of the best I have seen in recent Hindi cinema. It leaves possibilities open, and before you know you have witnessed the end. We have been raised on lms where something ‘concrete’ has to happen for a lm to conclude. Newton’s refusal to make things happen, or oer solutions on a platter, is praiseworthy. And what about subtlety of performance? This lm thrives because of its supporting cast. Pankaj Tripathi as the manipulative military ocer is stellar. Anjali Patil as the schoolteacher, Malko, delivers a consummate performance. Raghubir Yadav as election veteran Lokenath is indierent to the ongoings. And then there are faces we have never seen before or routinely encounter on our screens — actors cast from the local milieu who make it all so believable and authentic. How dreadful it would have been to see supporting actors from Mumbai being implanted in the jungles of Chhattisgarh. Good cinema doesn’t need any sloganeering. It’s only cause is good cinema itself.

Empowering women Studies show that women make up nearly half of agricultural labourers, yet they carry out approximately 70% of all farm work. Women are among the most disadvantaged because they are typically employed as marginal workers, occupying low-skilled jobs such as sowing and weeding. Our research shows that empowering women is one of the best ways to improve nutrition. Research needs to continue focussing on the needs of women farmers to ensure that they are the

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Hindi cinema doesn’t value subtlety. Hindi lms are often screechy, didactic, and illustrative. Audiences are told how to see, think, and perceive. Cinematic moments are undervalued and easily abandoned. The intelligence of the audience is not trusted; perhaps not even cared about. A case in point is Lipstick Under My Burkha which had a crackling rst half but descended into clichés post-interval. Remember the last scene? I haven’t seen anything more simplistic. Then there’s Simran, which is a disaster. A completely vacuous lm, it fails to build upon the few sparkling moments it creates and does a shoddy job of showing the vulnerability of the lead character. When will we learn to make silence speak? Masaan did that successfully. Have you seen that Varanasi before on screen? I haven’t. For similar reasons, Amit Masurkar’s Newton is a rare gem. It brims with subtle moments, and Rajkummar Rao delivers his career-best performance. Neither showing any high-pitched anti-Naxal rhetoric/propaganda (as was the case with Buddha in a Trac Jam), nor peddling poverty of the Adivasis in the Dandakaranya forest, Newton creates images to cherish. It is in this silence that perhaps lies its most forthright comment about the state of ill-being, which is already well known. If cinema is a visual medium, the key, not subsidiary, is image. Also, there is barely any violence in the lm, which is remarkable. Its creation of a feeling of lingering trepidation is masterful. Do you have to show violence to represent or address violence? Newton says a resounding no. We see the central character studying in his middleclass home with an Ambedkar portrait on the wall. This says much more than any dialogue can. Our lms have to enable such transmission of cinematic image to the audience. In the lm, the Adivasis are asked by a bunch of mediapersons, what will change if they vote? With some reluctance, they say nothing will change.

Act of 2013 was welcome, as was the inclusion of millets in the Public Distribution System as millets are superior to common grains in many ways and are also climate-resilient. Bio-fortification is also important in overcoming hidden hunger caused by micronutrient deficiencies such as iron, iodine, zinc, vitamin A, and vitamin B12.

AP

Why was Santanu Bhowmik killed?

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO SEPTEMBER 26, 1917

Motor accident at Rangoon.

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CONCEPTUAL

ABSTRACT

Jevons paradox

Removing toxic metals from tannery waste

Economics This refers to a form of induced demand wherein efficiency improvements in the use of a resource causes increased consumption of the resource rather than a decrease in its use. It was proposed by the English economist, William Stanley Jevons, in his 1865 book The Coal Question. Jevons observed that the efficient use of coal made possible by technology actually caused more coal to be extracted and consumed rather than allowing the preservation of existing reserves. Technological progress, in other words, only allows people to satisfy demands that could not be satisfied earlier in the absence of an appropriate technology. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

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Why is Donald Trump at loggerheads with America’s athletes? http://bit.ly/trmpn

Researchers nd that a fungal biomass does the job R. Prasad

Removing hexavalent chromium from industrial effluents, particularly untreated tannery waste, will become easier and more efficient thanks to the work by a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (CSIR-IICB), Kolkata. Importantly, the heatdried fungal biomass converts Cr(VI) — which is neurotoxic, genotoxic and a carcinogen — to a nontoxic trivalent form of chromium, thus eliminating the problems of disposing Cr(VI)-containing waste. Cr(VI) is found in very high concentration in tannery waste. The results were published in the journal, Scientific Reports. A team led by Sucheta Tripathy from the Structural Biology and Bio-Informatics Division at IICB isolated a fungus, Arthrinium malaysianum, and used the fungus biomass to remove Cr(VI). In experiments carried out in

the lab using potassium dichromate solution, the adsorption capacity of the biomass was found to be as high as over 100 mg per gram of dry weight. In the case of untreated tannery waste, the fungal biomass was able to remove over 70% of Cr(VI). It can also remove other toxic metals such as lead and arsenic, which are normally found in tannery waste. The positively charged functional groups found on the surface of the fungus binds to Cr(VI) ions. These groups were found intact even after heat drying. The functional groups have more ability to adsorb the negatively charged Cr(VI) through strong electrostatic attraction in acidic conditions. “Though the tannery waste is slightly alkaline, the fungus was still able to adsorb heavy metals,” says Rajib Majumder from the Structural Biology and Bio-Informatics Division at IICB and the first author of the paper.

Once Cr(VI) gets adsorbed, the reducing functional groups found on the fungus converts it to Cr (III), which is not toxic. “The efficiency of conversion of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) was unaffected even when the concentration of Cr(VI) was increased 10 times,” he adds. Besides adsorbing and converting the toxic form of chromium to a nontoxic form, the fungus biomass can also be reused by removing the adsorbed material. “We were able to reuse the biomass three times efficiently, beyond which it became unusable,” says Mr. Majumder. Having tested the ability of the heat-dried fungus biomass in removing chromium and other heavy metals, the team is working to immobilise the biomass on a glass or ceramic substrate. “We are trying to produce a biomaterial to increase the surface area for realtime applications,” Mr. Tripathy explains.

A serious motor car accident took place on the Commissioner Road [in Rangoon] at 7 o’clock last night. Mr. F.W. Watton, Assistant, Arracan Company, being the victim. Mr. Watton who was riding a motor cycle was returning from the west after parade. Two taxis, Nos. 1844 and 1877, containing students from Baptist college were returned from the eastern direction (Burma Athletic Association grounds). As the taxi 1877 reached the point opposite the eastern entrance to hospital compound, 1844 which was behind 1877 took a swerve from one side of the road to the other. The driver of 1844 apparently jammed his brake to avoid collision with 1877 and the car turned right round to the front striking a rickshaw, sending it and the puller. The flying car then hit up against a tree and Mr. Watton coming from west appears to have gone straight into the taxi on the roadside and clean over it on his face. He was removed to the hospital in a precarious state. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

DATA POINT

A ND-NDE

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10 NEWS

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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FROM PAGE ONE

Economic panel to be revived “Addressing issues of macroeconomic importance and presenting views thereon to the Prime Minister. This could be either suo motu or on reference from the Prime Minister or anyone else,” is the key term of reference for the panel. The terms of reference of the Council include analysis of any issue, economic or otherwise, referred to it by the PM and advising him on the same, and attending to any task ‘as may be desired’ by the PM from time to

time, as per an official statement. The formation of the Council at this time suggests it could play a critical role in reviving the economy’s growth momentum that has slumped over the past few quarters, with the first quarter of this financial year clocking just 5.7% growth, down from 7.9% a year ago. The last chairperson of the PM’s Economic Advisory Council, when Manmohan Singh was the PM, was former Reserve Bank of India Governor C. Rangarajan.

Mahmood Farooqui acquitted of rape charge But the court said bipolar disorder was one of the most severe of mental illnesses. “Though the mental makeup/condition of the appellant (Farooqui) may not be a ground to justify any act which is prohibited under law, the same can be taken into consideration while deciding whether he had the correct cognitive perception to understand the exact import of any communication by the other person,” the court said. The judgment doubted if the woman even chose to communicate to Mr. Farooqui the “fear in her mind” about the sexual act. The suspicions raised by the court belied arguments led by the woman’s lawyer, advocate Vrinda Grover, that her client was “scared” and a thought passed in her mind that she would also meet the same fate as Nirbhaya.” The prosecution said she had pretended to co-operate to “end the traumatic encounter.” But Justice Ashutosh Kumar said there were different ways for a woman to communicate her sexual

consent, and it was the “underlying/dormant communication which could lead to confusion in the mind of the other.”

Doubting the accuser “When parties are known to each other, are persons of letters and are intellectually/ academically proficient, and if, in the past, there have been physical contacts. In such cases, it would be really difficult to decipher whether little or no resistance and a feeble ‘no’ is actually a denial of consent,” the judge wrote. The woman, a Columbia University student and a Ph.D scholar, had met Mr. Farooqui in regard to her research on Nath Sampraday. Mr. Farooqui co-directed the film, Peepli Live, which was India’s official entry for the 83rd Academy Awards. The judge acknowledged that the woman had indeed shown signs of post-rape trauma, but said it remained unclear “at what point of time and for which particular move, the appellant [Farooqui] did not have the consent of the prosecutrix is not known”.

Panel to probe Jaya’s hospitalisation, death “Let it be by CBI or Interpol. We don’t have any fear,” he said. However, he insisted that in case of a judicial investigation, it should be led by a senior sitting High Court judge and not a retired judge. While some Opposition party leaders, including Dravida Munneta Kazhagam working president M.K. Stalin, had raised suspicions on the circumstances surrounding Jayalalithaa’s death over nine months ago, the ruling party had maintained that she was given the best treatment by doctors of Apollo Hospitals, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and a London-based intensivist, Richard Beale.

Demand by OPS However, a few days after O. Panneerselvam revolted against the then AIADMK interim general secretary, V.K. Sasikala, after having resigned as Chief Minister and proposing her name as

leader of the AIADMK Legislature Party, he demanded an investigation into Jayalalithaa’s death. Later, Mr. Panneerselvam had set this as one of the two preconditions for holding any talks of merger with the AIADMK (Amma). In August, in a bid to lay the ground for a merger of the two party factions, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced that a Commission of Inquiry would be set up for the investigation. On the night of September 22, 2016, Jayalalithaa was rushed from her Poes Garden bungalow to Apollo Hospitals on Greams Road in Chennai in an unconscious state. She died in the hospital on December 5 following a cardiac arrest. Justice Arumughaswamy, who will head the Commission, had served as the judicial member of the Madras Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal in Chennai.

Rahul slams Gujarat growth model ‘Modi’s policies serve only corporates at the cost of farmers, small businessmen, traders and poor’ Mahesh Langa Dwarka

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday went on the offensive in the politically significant Saurashtra region of poll-bound Gujarat, ripping apart the “Gujarat model” of development and the policies of the Modi administration that, according to him, serve only a handful of corporates at the cost of farmers, small businessmen, traders and poor. Embarking on a three-day yatra with prayers at the historical Lord Krishna temple in Dwarka, Mr. Gandhi rode a bullock cart in a small village before interacting with its people, chatting with women on their day-to-day difficulties, problems faced by their village and what his party would do should it form the next government in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home State.

Strategically planned In a strategically designed tour plan in the coastal hinterlands of Jamnagar district, Mr. Gandhi launched campaigning in the OBC-majority areas of Dwarka, Khambhalia and the villages of Jamnagar, while Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel,

Connecting with voters: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi interacting with villagers in Bhatia, Saurashtra, on Monday. VIJAY SONEJI *

who greeted the Congress leader on Twitter, was in the same district campaigning against the ruling BJP in Patidar-dominated Jamjodhpur and Lalpur. “Today, there are two main challenges before Hindustan. You go to any region, Gujarat, Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh. Our youth don’t get jobs. PM Modi had

Numerous interactions At every brief halt at villages on the Dwarka-Khambhalia highway, the Congress vicepresident’s campaigning was more in the nature of interactions, asking people,

Special Correspondent

‘Ruinous policies’ In Hanjrapar village with a population of 2,000, Mr. Gandhi rode a bullock cart to enter the village chauraha (intersection) and then held interactions with farmers. He freely chatted with women of the socially conservative Ahir community. In every brief address or interaction, he accused the Centre of ruining the economy with demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax, neglecting farm distress and unemployment while promoting a few industrial groups at the expense of farmers, labourers and small businessmen and traders.

Corruption, disorder “It is like andher nagari, chaupat raja in Bihar… there is loot and corruption everywhere. We’ve never seen such an example of corruption as when a canal built in 40 years breached a day before its inauguration. There is no law and order in the State,” he told media persons at the Patna airport. He said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was responsible for the end of the grand alliance government. “It was Nitish Kumar who betrayed the mandate people gave the alliance to rule for five years.”

Patna

Rebel Janata Dal (United) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sharad Yadav on Monday blamed the NDA government in Bihar and the Central government for the “barbaric baton charge” on students of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Starting his four-day “Samvad Yatra,” for direct interaction with the people, Mr. Yadav came down heavily on the Nitish Kumar-led government.

Trinamool Cong.

Gen. Rawat says India will act again if the adversary does not behave Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

India had conducted surgical strikes last year as a message to Pakistan. They can continue in future too, the Chief of the Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat, said here on Monday. “The strikes were more of a messaging that we wanted to communicate, and I think that they understand that … If required and if the adversary does not behave, then we have to continue these kind of activities. But there are also other ways of doing these things and they may not take the same form,” he said. Gen. Rawat made these comments after releasing a book, India’s most fearless: True stories of modern military heroes, authored by two

defence journalists, Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh. The book catalogues 14 personal accounts of soldiers and their courage in extreme situations under hostile conditions, including of officers who participated in the surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) and the strikes on insurgent camps in Myanmar. Eight are of the Army and three each of the Navy and the Air Force.

along the LoC, Gen. Rawat said they would keep coming and we would keep receiving them and “burying them under the ground”.

General Bipin Rawat

Recording history In September last year, the Army launched surgical strikes against terror launch pads across the LoC after 19 soldiers were killed in a terror attack on an Army camp in Uri. On the impact of the surgical strikes, Gen. Rawat said: “We are now more cap-

able of taking decisions keeping our national interests in mind.” Observing that the country was “poor in recording history”, he hoped that someday, such personal accounts would find their way into school textbooks. On increasing infiltrations

Enhanced image Former Army Chief Gen. Dalbir Singh, under whose tenure both the surgical strikes were conducted, echoed similar views on their impact. They had “struck well as deterrence and have enhanced India’s image abroad,” he said. He refused to delve into the details. “The methods and means of executing the surgical strikes cannot be made public,” Gen. Singh said. Stating that India’s Special Forces were the finest in the world, he stressed the need to upgrade them from time to time.

ED attaches assets of Karti The agency is conducting money-laundering probe into Aircel-Maxis deal case Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached assets worth ₹1.16 crore of Karti, son of former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, and a company as part of the moneylaundering investigation in the Aircel-Maxis deal case. Responding to the action, Mr. Chidambaram on Monday said the allegations contained in the press note released by the agency were a “crazy mixture of falsehoods and conjectures”. The press note, he said, was intended to intimidate him and silence his voice. “I will not be intimidated. As and when the attachment

Karti Chidambaram

order is served, suitable action will be taken in accordance with law.” “It [the press note] cleverly skirts the issue of jurisdiction of the ED when the only charge sheet filed in the

Ocial displays photo of soldier tortured and murdered in Kashmir Varghese K. George Washington

War of images: Indian diplomat Paulomi Tripathi shows the photo of a tortured Indian soldier to counter the use of a wrong image by the Pakistani envoy at the UN. MEA *

Tripathi told the UNGA, in response. Ms. Tripathi said the

one got a job after Mr. Modi became Prime Minister and the crowd shouted “no no no”.

mostly farmers and farm labourers, about their problems and difficulties. “When a small farmer is unable to pay his loan, he is declared a defaulter. But do you know that this government has written off ₹1,30,000 crore in debt of a few corporate groups. Today, ₹7 lakh crore of corporate debt has turned nonperforming assets (NPA),” he said, blaming the Modi administration for the massive NPAs which have turned the balance sheets of nationalised banks toxic.

‘Surgical strikes were a message’ Mukul Roy quits

India counters Pakistani narrative India on Monday fielded a junior diplomat at its permanent mission at the United Nations to rebut Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi’s allegations, raised on Saturday evening. Ms. Lodhi had accused India of terrorism and human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir and held out a picture in support of her arguments that turned out to be from Gaza. “The Permanent Representative (PR) of Pakistan misled this Assembly by displaying this picture to spread falsehoods about India. A fake picture to push a completely false narrative,” Indian diplomat Paulomi CM YK

promised to create two crore new jobs. So youth trusted him. We asked in parliament, how many jobs were created and the reply from the government was one lakh jobs,” Mr. Gandhi said, addressing some 3,000 people at Bhatiya village near Khambhalia. While chatting with the audience, he asked if any

‘Nitish betrayed mandate’

Pakistan PR “yet again sought to divert attention from Pakistan’s role as the

hub of global terrorism”. “She did so by callously holding up a picture of an injured girl.” The photograph was of Rawya Abu Jom’a, a girl from Palestine. “The picture was taken on July 22, 2014 by an American photographer Heidi Levine. This photograph was published by New York Times on 24 March 2015 under the caption ‘Conflict, Courage and Healing in Gaza’,” the Indian official said. Ms. Tripathi then went on to show a photograph that she said “reflects the real picture of pain inflicted by the nefarious designs of Pakistan on India” — of Lt. Umar Faiyaz, an Indian soldier, who was kidnapped and murdered in Kashmir.

case [Aircel-Maxis] has been quashed by the special judge,” he said in a statement. The ED said it had not issued any press note and the details of the attachment were tweeted through its Twitter handle. It said Mr. Karti was not part of the chargesheet that was quashed by the special judge and the FIRs of CBI and the ED in the Aircel-Maxis deal case were still valid. As for the FIPB clearance for Maxis investments in Aircel, the former Finance Minister said FIPB officials examined by the CBI affirmed that the FIPB, consisting of the Secretaries to the Government of India, had cor-

rectly approved and recommended the case and placed the minutes before the then Finance Minister (the competent authority) for approval. “Approval was granted in the normal course,” Mr. Chidambaram said. The attached assets includes ₹26 lakh in the form of fixed deposits of Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Ltd. The rest belongs to Mr. Karti in savings account and fixed deposits. The agency has alleged that the attachment has been made as it has grounds to believe that the assets under scrutiny are being disposed of.

He has been expelled for 6 years: party Special Correspondent Kolkata

Mukul Roy, one of the founding members of the Trinamool Congress, on Monday announced his decision to quit the party. Within hours of the announcement, the Trinamool expelled him for six years. “From December 17, 1997, as one of the first signatories to the birth of Trinamool Congress, till today ... with heavy heart and pain I am telling you that I will send an e-mail and resign from the working committee of the Trinamool Congress,” Mr. Roy, 63, said at a press conference. The Rajya Sabha member also announced that after Durga Puja, he will resign as an MP and from the primary membership of the party. A tall leader Trinamool secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said Mr. Roy was suspended for hampering the progress of the party and promoting his own interests. Mr. Roy, who held the posts of general secretary and vice-president of the

Mukul Roy after he resigned from the Trinamool Congress on Monday. PTI *

party and served as Railway Minister, was one of its tallest leaders. For years, he was the number two in the party, especially when Ms. Banerjee was in the Opposition in the State. He was the key election manager of the party and was often described as the go-to man in Trinamool. Ever since he deposed before the CBI in January 2015 in the Saradha chit fund scam, differences between him and Ms. Banerjee became evident.

RJD chief seeks two weeks’ time from CBI Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

RJD chief Lalu Prasad has sought two weeks’ time from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to join the probe in the award of maintenance contracts of two Railway hotels to a Patna-based private company.

Through fresh summons, the agency had asked Mr. Prasad to appear before the investigating agency on Monday . His son Tejashwi Yadav was asked to join the probe the next day. The ED has also summoned Mr. Prasad’s wife Rabri Devi on September 26 for recording her statement .

NIA questions two in terror funding case

Not forming new party yet: Mulayam

Chief of J&K traders body, Ph.D scholar examined in Delhi

Press Trust of India

Special Correspondent New Delhi

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) questioned the head of a Srinagar-based traders’ body and a Kashmir University Ph.D. student here on Monday in connection with a case related to the funding of terror activities in Kashmir, an official said. An NIA spokesman said Yasin Khan of the Kashmir Traders and Marketing Federation, and Ph.D scholar Aala Fazil were questioned about alleged funding to various groups that pelted stones at security forces, he said. The NIA had registered a

CRPF jawan questions a woman who was out with her children during a trade shutdown in Srinagar on Monday. NISSAR AHMAD *

case on May 30 against separatist and secessionist leaders, including unidentified members of the Hurriyat

Conference, who have been acting allegedly in connivance with active militants of proscribed terrorist organisations Hizbul Mujahideen, Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Lashkare-Taiba (LeT) and other outfits and gangs. The case was registered for raising, receiving and collecting funds through various illegal means, including hawala, for funding separatist and terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir and for causing disruption in the Valley by pelting the security forces with stones, burning schools, damaging public property and waging war against India, the NIA said in the FIR.

Lucknow

Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday ruled out forming any new party “as of now”, putting a lid on speculation that he could part ways amid the continuing battle for supremacy in the party. Blowing hot and cold, the Samajwadi Party patriarch said his blessings were with his son Akhilesh Yadav though he did not agree with the decisions made by him. “I am not forming any new party as of now,” Mr. SIngh said at a crowded press conference here, responding to a volley of questions from mediapersons on whether he was parting ways with the party he had formed 25 years ago. A ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

NEWS 11

NOIDA/DELHI

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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IN BRIEF

No compromise on corruption, says PM Narendra Modi deects Opposition criticism on note ban impact, says harsh words not a substitute for raising charges against government

BJP resolution lauds GST roll-out

Nistula Hebbar NEW DELHI

Rajiv Mehrishi takes over as new CAG NEW DELHI

Former Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, 62, took over as the Comptroller and AuditorGeneral of India on Monday. He succeeded Shashi Kant Sharma. President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath to Mr. Mehrishi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. PTI

EC asks parties to furnish ‘no-dues’ annual reports NEW DELHI

The Election Commission has asked all the recognised national and State parties to furnish annual reports declaring that there are no pending dues on account of rent of government premises, water, electricity and other basic amenities. The report has to be filed by June 30 of the following year.

Restrictions on Internet in Darjeeling lifted DARJEELING

In view of normalcy returning to Darjeeling hills, the State administration on Monday lifted the restrictions on Internet services in Darjeeling and Kalimpong, which were imposed on June 18. Normalty has been restored with the participation of the locals of the two districts. PTI

Free movement pact with Myanmar under review NEW DELHI

India is examining the impact of an existing bilateral agreement with Myanmar, which allows free movement of Indian and Myanmarese citizens within 16 km of the border, as the pact is being exploited by militants for smuggling arms, drugs and fake Indian currency. The move comes amid the mass exodus of the Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar. PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong statement against corruption in his speech to the BJP’s “extended” national executive in New Delhi on Monday, reacting to Opposition criticism over demonetisation, saying that his stand against corruption was “uncompromising”. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley briefed presspersons about Mr. Modi’s address to the closed-door meeting of the extended executive, including the Chief Ministers of 13 BJP-ruled States and more than 60 Union Ministers, 232 Ministers from various States, 1,515 MLAs and 334 MPs of the party. “Prime Minister Modi categorically said his battle against corruption was uncompromising and that he was not going to spare anyone. He added that he had no relatives,” said Mr. Jaitley quoting from Prime Minister Modi’s speech. Mr. Jaitley, while specifically answering a question on criticism of demonetisation by the Opposition, including the Finance Ministers of the past government, said he did not expect “those at the receiving end of anti-corruption drives” to praise the move. Opposition parties have been attacking the Modi government over demonetisation and cited the recent RBI figures on its adverse impact. “Prime Minister Modi also referred to the Opposition in two contexts. He said that for other parties, being in government was a means to consume, and now as an Opposition, they did not know how to react. Sometimes harsh words are used by the Opposition, but harsh language cannot be used as a substitute for any substantive charge against the govern-

‘Note ban broke back of black money’ Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

Making lotus bloom: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with party president Amit Shah during the BJP national executive meeting in New Delhi on Monday. V. SUDERSHAN *

ment,” Mr. Jaitley said, referring to some of the exchanges that have been taking place in public discourse.

Pro-poor tilt He said Mr. Modi referred to the closing of the celebrations of the centenary year of Jan Sangh’s founding general secretary, Deendayal Upadhyaya, as an affirmation of the pro-poor and pro-farmer tilt of the government. “He spoke of the savings that accrued to the government with the use of Aadhaar, and gave the examples of Chandigarh and Puducherry where Aadhaar and Direct Benefit Transfer had worked to target benefits under various schemes. Panchayats of beneficiaries under the LPG scheme, Ujjwala Yojana and Mudra Yojana were to be held,” Mr. Jaitley said.

Shah takes on Rahul, says BJP doesn’t back dynasty Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

BJP president Amit Shah on Monday countered the offensive mounted by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during a tour of the U.S., by asserting that the ruling party believed in the politics of performance rather than dynasty. Briefing presspersons about Mr. Shah’s speech at the BJP extended national executive meeting, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said: “The BJP president gave a befitting reply to Mr. Rahul Gandhi armed with facts and figures. He [Rahul Gandhi] should answer what the

Piyush Goyal

Congress has given the country apart from scams amounting to ₹12,000 crore and a politics of appeasement. The BJP believes in the politics of performance. That is why the President,

the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha are all people who have made it to these posts on the basis of merit,” Mr. Goyal quoted Mr. Shah as saying. “We welcome competitive politics; the longer Mr. Gandhi is in public life the better for us,” Mr. Goyal said as an aside. Mr. Shah also announced a fortnight-long campaign between October 13 and 17 in Kerala to protest alleged political violence by the Leftled government . The BJP chief gave details of his 110-day tour after the National Executive in Bhubhaneswar.

The BJP’s national executive on Monday lauded the Narendra Modi government’s performance so far, and termed the implementation of the Goods and Services (GST) regime a path-breaking reform, which may be facing “teething trouble” but will be good in the long run. The executive passed a political resolution lauding the government for the decision to demonetise highvalue currency last November, saying, “the overwhelming public support for demonetisation needs to be underscored. This one major decision has broken the backbone of the black market and black money hoarders.” Union Minister for Roads and Highways Nitin Gadkari, who briefed presspersons after the resolution was adopted, said, “The GST, the ‘one-country-one-tax’ measure, is the biggest reform we have done since Independence. There are teething troubles in the beginning but it would be of great service in ensuring growth and strengthening the economy. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and PM Narendra Modi were thanked by the national executive for the GST roll-out.” The resolution also flagged political violence in various States. “The national executive welcomes the assurance given by Prime Minister Modi to the public to keep the ideolo-

Nitin Gadkari gical violence and narrowmindedness in check. The violence against our karyakartas (cadre) by Opposition party workers in Tripura, Kerala and West Bengal is disheartening and against the democratic ethos,” said the resolution.

Journalists’ killing “The national executive strongly condemns the violence and killing of journalists in a democracy like India,” the resolution stated in a reference to the killing of Bengaluru-based journalist Gauri Lankesh and Tripura journalist Shantanu Bhowmick. The omnibus political resolution lauded the government for resolving the tense standoff with China at Doklam. On the Rohingya issue under the sub-heading, “Primacy of sensibility in international diplomacy”, the resolution said the government “duly fulfilled its responsibilities when it provided humanitarian relief to Bangladesh for the Rohingya refugees while ensuring that internal security was not compromised.”

Jim Mattis likely to push for Indian troops in Afghanistan First Cabinet-level visit from Trump administration to enhance bilateral ties logue with his counterpart, Nirmala Sitharaman, followed by delegation-level talks on Tuesday. After the talks, the two Ministers would issue press statements. Later Mr. Mattis will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also meet National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. The two sides are expected to conclude the agreement for holding a bilateral maritime exercise, focussed on providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis landed in India on Monday for his maiden three-day visit, the first by a Cabinet member of the Trump administration. Officials said the focus was on deepening the defence partnership and expanding the high-technology cooperation, and among the key focus areas of discussion would be the situation in Afghanistan. In the light of U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed engagement in Afghanistan and call for a greater Indian role, Mr. Mattis could be expected to push for Indian troops in Afghanistan. India has already extended a $3-billion aid to Afghanistan and also provides

Jim Mattis

training to its military and other assistance. The two sides could also discuss the new Chinese posturing in the region and terrorism originating from Pakistan, officials said. The Defence Secretary will hold a restricted dia-

Defence talks They are also expected to discuss significant measures under the Major Defence Partner (MDP) status. They will also review high-technology cooperation under the Defence Technology and

Trade Initiative (DTTI). An Indian delegation led by Secretary, Defence Production, who co-chairs the DTTI from India, was in the U.S. recently to prepare the ground. However, the cooperation is contingent on India signing other foundational agreements, especially the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA). The U.S. has been pressing for early conclusion of the agreement but India has been cautions. Discussions are under way. Earlier, the U.S. Department of Defence had said the Secretary would emphasise that the U.S. viewed India as a “valued and influential partner, with broad mutual interests extending well beyond South Asia”.

Putin to send special representative Amid Delhi’s concerns over its ties with Pak. and its new position on talks with Taliban Suhasini Haidar Kallol Bhattacherjee NEW DELHI

Close on the heels of U.S. Defence Secretary James Mattis, who will hold talks in Delhi on Tuesday, and the arrival of Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Wednesday, Russia is sending President Putin’s special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov to Delhi in October, senior Russian officials confirmed to The Hindu. Mr. Kabulov’s visit, when he is also expected to discuss Moscow’s new position on talks with Taliban, will come amid growing concerns in India over Russia’s ties with Pakistan. “Russia is not supplying arms to the Taliban, but we think it is necessary to talk to those in Taliban willing to give up violence, and we hope India will join in the effort,” a senior Russian diplomat said, adding that in their CM YK

Zamir Kabulov

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assessment the “Taliban cannot be defeated militarily by the government in Kabul.”

More U.S. troops The tough predictions are in sharp contrast to the U.S.’s new Afghanistan policy, that will see at least 3,000 more troops sent to fight in Afghanistan, and offers India an increased role in development projects while pushing Pakistan to act against terrorist “safe havens”. Moscow has already criti-

cised the U.S. plan as a “dead-end policy”, and warned against “putting pressure” on Pakistan. Another sign of the growing shift in Russian policy came on Monday, as Russian and Pakistani special forces began military exercises in the Mineralnye Vody region. The exercises will be a precursor to a visit by Pakistan’s Army Chief General Bajwa to Moscow in October. “Regular high-level exchanges between the two sides in the past few years have set the stage for translating political goodwill into a substantial partnership in particular, in the field of defence,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said on Friday while announcing General Bajwa’s visit.

‘Moscow format’ During the visit to Delhi, Mr. Kabulov would also talk about the “Moscow format”

for talks on Afghanistan, which was started last year with only Russia, China and Pakistan, and then expanded to include Afghanistan, Iran and India. However, after the U.S. rejected an invitation to join, the talks have been shelved “temporarily” according to officials, as the Ghani government now wants all such processes to be held in Kabul and led by the Afghan government. Russian officials told The Hindu that they are already in discussions with India about the possibility of security cooperation for Afghanistan. This would include facilitating an ongoing proposal to refurbish Soviet-era planes and repair Russian Mi-25 helicopters donated by India, along with talks on providing spare parts and ammunition to Afghan forces, but conceded that the talks had not yet been concluded. A ND-NDE

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Merkel faces tough coalition talks after election victory Far-Right AfD hit by inghting

She urges Social Democrats not to shut the door to a ‘grand coalition’; FDP, Greens are other possible allies

Agence France-Presse Reuters Berlin

Germany’s Angela Merkel began the tough task of trying to build a government on Monday after securing a fourth term as Chancellor, urging the centre-left Social Democrats not the shut the door on a re-run of their “grand coalition”. Damaged by her decision two years ago to allow more than one million migrants into Germany, Ms. Merkel’s conservative bloc secured 33% of the vote, losing 8.5 points — its lowest level since 1949. Her coalition partners, the centre-left Social Democrats, also slumped and said they would go into Opposition. Voters flocked to the anti-

ELSEWHERE

immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), the first farright party to enter the German Parliament in more than half a century. Many Germans see the rise of the AfD as a similar rejection of the status quo as votes for Brexit and Donald Trump last year. But Germany’s political centre held up better than in Britain and the United States as more voters have benefited from globalisation and most shun the country’s extremist past.

Potential partners Ms. Merkel’s party remained the biggest parliamentary bloc and Europe’s most powerful leader sought to keep her coalition options open on Monday, saying she

would start talks with the Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens as well as the SPD. SPD leader Martin Schulz said earlier his party had no choice but to go into Opposition “to defend democracy against those who question it and attack it”, after dropping to a post-war low of 20.5%. “I heard the SPD’s words, nevertheless we should remain in contact,” Ms. Merkel told a news conference. “I think all parties have a responsibility to ensure that there will be a stable government.” Ms. Merkel’s next coalition could be her toughest yet with her only remaining potential partners, the business-friendly FDP and the pro-regulation Greens, at

Berlin

Shock outcome: Demonstrators protest against the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) in Berlin on Sunday. REUTERS *

odds on issues from migrants to tax, the environment and Europe. FDP leader Christian Lindner set the stage for tricky talks, saying his party would not agree to a coalition with the conservatives

N. Korea, Venezuela in new travel ban

They point to great levels of discontent, particularly in eastern Germany, which need to be addressed Vidya Ram London

Washington

Japanese PM Abe calls snap election TOKYO

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday called a snap election, seeking a fresh term. “I will dissolve the House of Representatives on the 28th” of September, Mr. Abe told reporters, a precursor to a general election. He did not give a date for the vote but it is widely expected to be October 22. AFP

‘Trump’s remarks a declaration of war’ SEOUL

North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump had declared war on North Korea when he declared that the Minister and leader Kim Jong-un “won’t be around for longer”. He said Pyongyang reserves the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down U.S. bombers even if they are not in its air space. Reuters

Palestinian PM to visit Gaza over reconciliation JERUSALEM

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah will travel to Gaza on October 2 as part of a fresh push to end a decadelong split between Fatah and Hamas, his government said on Monday. The visit follows concessions by Hamas after discussions with Egypt, which has urged it to take steps towards reconciliation with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah. AFP

Iraqi Kurds vote in referendum IRBIL

Iraqi Kurds voted in an independence referendum on Monday, defying warnings from Baghdad and their neighbours in a historic step towards a national dream. The non-binding vote, initiated by veteran leader Massud Barzani, has angered not only Iraq’s federal government but also Turkey and Iran. AFP

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U.S. President Donald Trump issued a new openended travel ban on Sunday that saw North Korea, Venezuela and Chad among a list of eight countries cited for poor security and lack of cooperation with U.S. authorities. The new restrictions replace an expiring 90-day measure that had locked Mr. Trump in political and legal battles since he took office in January over what critics alleged was an effort to block Muslims from the country. But the White House stressed that the measure was to protect the United States from terror attacks.

Terror threat “We are taking action today to protect the safety and security of the American people by establishing a minimum security baseline

for entry into the United States,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. Sudan, one of the six majority-Muslim countries on the original travel ban, was removed from the list. The U.S. has recently praised Sudan’s efforts in fighting terrorism ahead of a decision expected in October on whether to lift decades-old sanctions on Khartoum. Full bans were newly placed on nationals from North Korea and Chad, and extended for five countries on the original list: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Limited restrictions meanwhile were placed on Venezuela, for officials from government agencies including Interior and Foreign Ministries, the main police and intelligence services, and other agencies. Mr. Trump’s order said Caracas was not cooperating on security issues.

For months, it had been pretty clear that the real question concerning the German federal elections of 2017 was not whether Angela Merkel would emerge the winner but where the greatest challenge to her would come from. Early this year, it appeared to come from the Left as support for the Social Democratic Party (SPD) surged when Martin Schulz, former President of the European Parliament, announced his intention to run to lead the party — a position he eventually won — and began campaigning on a platform focused on social justice. However, as it became apparent that the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) would easily cross the 5% threshold to enter the Bundestag, the threat posed by the Right started becoming clear. The extent to which the SPD had lost ground was re-

vealed as Mr. Schulz pledged not to enter another ‘grand alliance’ on Sunday, an acknowledgement of damage the partnership had done to the party. His focus around issues of social justice failed to enthuse a nation whose economy has continued to demonstrate resilience through the recent upheavals and uncertainty that have gripped the world economy.

Germany will enter a period of uncertainty as the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its coalition partner, the Christian Social Union (CSU), attempt to hash out a working coalition, potentially with the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). As the results began emerging on Sunday night, German television channels were buzzing with heated debates between the poten-

Pressure from Right Had the SPD not ruled out a coalition, thereby ensuring its position as the main Opposition party, the AfD would have secured this position. The AfD’s 13% vote share is a sign that the populist forces that have been growing across the world have also gained a firm foothold in Germany. It is the first time that a far-Right party has had such success in post-Second World War Germany. With the SPD steadfastly refusing to enter a coalition,

NEWS ANALYSIS tial partners, suggesting that many areas of disagreement remain between them and compromise may be difficult. Indeed, analysts were speculating on whether a governing coalition could be cobbled together by Christmas. However, what is clear is that the election results will add greatly to pressure from the Right: the CSU has regional Bavarian elections next autumn and the success

Deant NFL athletes intensify race debate The U.S. was confronted with a display of politics in the athletic arena with no recent precedent Alexander Burns

It began as a crowd-pleasing tirade from U.S. President Donald Trump to an overwhelmingly white, conservative crowd in Alabama. But even before dozens of NFL players knelt in silent protest on Sunday, Mr. Trump’s remarks had spiralled into a national uproar over race, patriotism and free speech. By savaging individual athletes — including Colin Kaepernick, the former quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors — and calling for the firing of those who bring protest onto the field, Mr. Trump created a larger moment of choosing sides that brought sports uncomfortably and unavoidably into the nation’s political divide.

Widespread unease: San Francisco 49ers player Eric Reid kneels during the singing of the national anthem before an NFL football game on Sunday. AP *

The clash that erupted over the weekend took the form of unfiltered indignation from a largely black community of players, tortured expressions of discomfort from white franchise

Differences on issues But even Ms. Petry herself had openly criticised one of her party’s two key candidates Alexander Gauland over his claim that Germany should be proud of its war veterans, saying that would lead voters to shun the party. On Monday, seated next to Mr. Gauland, she declared that “there is dissent in the AfD over the issues”.

“I decided after careful reflection that I will not sit with the (AfD) parliamentary group” in the Bundestag, said Ms. Petry who added she will serve as an independent MP. Hours later, four AfD local MPs said they were leaving party ranks and forming their own group in the state Parliament of MecklenburgPomerania. Alice Weidel, another top AfD candidate in the election, revealed that Ms. Petry had not spoken to either her or Mr. Gauland “for months” even though the duo were the leading faces of the AfD’s campaign. For now, Ms. Weidel and Mr. Gauland appear to have prevailed, as they basked in the fact that the party has become Germany’s third biggest political force.

Results add to uncertainty in Europe

U.S. removes Sudan from earlier list Agence France-Presse

and the Greens, dubbed “Jamaica” because the parties’ colours mirror the country’s flag. The Greens set out climate change, Europe and social justice as their priorities in any coalition talks.

The nationalist Alternative for Germany was hit by party infighting on Monday, just hours after winning its first seats in Parliament, with its co-chief Frauke Petry declaring that she won’t join its Bundestag group. Citing “dissent” with more hardline colleagues, Ms. Petry dropped her bombshell at a morning party press conference, catching other key AfD figures by surprise as she abruptly left the room. The spectacle played out before the media put the spotlight on the tug-of-war within the party between radical and more moderate forces at the top, and raised questions on how far right it planned to position itself.

Although its beginnings as an anti-euro party were rooted in populism, the AfD’s rhetoric veered further right in the run-up to elections. Outraged mainstream politicians have heaped on criticism, including Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel who had labelled the AfD’s leaders as “real Nazis”.

owners — and an ongoing stream of anger from the President and his supporters, venting on social media or in the stands. By Sunday, the sports-watching world was confronted with a display of

politics in the athletic arena with no recent precedent in the U.S. — from images of two football squads declining to take the field in Nashville; to a New York Giants star, Odell Beckham Jr., celebrating a touchdown by raising his fist to the air; to a procession of football executives, including some personal friends of Mr. Trump, expressing unease with his remarks. The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Mr. Trump had effectively challenged athletes of all races to rise against him, by using language Rev. Jackson described as displaying a “slave-master-servant mentality”. Mr. Trump is unlikely to back down in the face of criticism. He disinvited Mr. Curry’s entire team to the White House, after Mr. Curry said he would not visit the

presidential residence to celebrate the Warriors’ basketball championship. And Mr. Trump suggested on Twitter on Sunday that football fans might “refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country”. Perhaps the most significant warning sign for Mr. Trump was the criticism from football team owners, a largely white and Republican-leaning group that includes several Trump associates. By Sunday, several owners who have been prolific donors to Mr. Trump and the Republican Party had spoken out against him in cautious language, including Robert C. McNair, owner of the Houston Texans, and Robert K. Kraft of the New England Patriots, a close friend of Trump. NYTIMES

of the AfD in Bavaria will increase the pressure for a tougher line on issues such as immigration, with potential knock-on effects on federal policy.

CDU’s base eroded The results suggest that the complacency that many had about the elections was misplaced. Many observers had been suggesting that the real electoral contest wouldn’t begin until after the federal election, when Ms. Merkel’s successor to lead the CDU would have to begin to be identified. The decline in the party’s support suggests that the situation is far more complex, and that levels of discontent had been greatly underestimated — it is notable that in the former East Germany, the far-left Die Linke party and the AfD together commanded nearly 40% of the vote. The CDU’s stance has so far been one of continuity: “for a Germany that we live

well and happily in” playing on Ms. Merkel’s track record and the need for certainty and stability in otherwise unstable times. While it certainly continued to appeal to many, and left the SPD with little ground to attack it on, the results suggest that there are deep pockets of discontent that will have to be addressed to prevent a further populist surge. The results are likely to add to uncertainty in Europe, already distracted by the tussles over Brexit and particularly because French President Emmanuel Macron has become embroiled in domestic politics. Ms. Merkel has played a leading and crucially calming role in Brexit talks. On Sunday, she maintained the cool which she has become known for, and which will likely be a hugely important factor going forward, quoting a well-known German saying that power is to be found in a calm approach.

Rohingya not yet given refugee status ‘Decision only after bilateral talks’ Haroon Habib Dhaka

Bangladesh said on Monday that a decision on giving the Rohingya people official refugee status will be taken only after talks with Myanmar. Indicating that bilateral talks will be held with Myanmar, Disaster Management and Relief Secretary Shah Kamal told the media: “Their status will be reconsidered if this turns into a long-term situation. But this is not the time to think about it.” The statement came after a meeting of the Ministry with the visiting UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Monday. Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury on

Monday reiterated the country’s stance that the Rohinhya will have to go back to Myanmar. “We have made it clear from the very beginning... This is Myanmar’s issue and they will have to solve it.” Also, the United Nations on Monday warned of growing humanitarian needs amongst the Rohingya refugees, seeking urgent funding to meet their lifesaving needs. The Rohingya, about 4,50,000 of whom have come to Bangladesh, are settled in overcrowded camps and makeshift settlements where there is very limited access to basic services such as food, clean water and shelters, the statement said. A ND-NDE

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market watch 25-09-2017

% CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 31,627 ddddddddddddd -0.93 US Dollar dddddddddddddddddddd 65.10 ddddddddddddd -0.48 Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 30,700 ddddddddddddd -0.32 Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 57.99 ddddddddddddddd2.52

NIFTY 50 PRICE CHANGE

ACC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1632.65. . . . . . -55.65 Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388.65. . . . . . -12.55 Ambuja Cements. . . .. . . . . . 262.25. . . . . . . . -7.65 Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1196.95. . . . . . -16.30 Aurobindo Pharma . . . . . . 700.85. . . . . . -23.35 Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501.70. . . . . . . . -3.60 Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3044.10. . . . . . . . . 1.65 Bank of Baroda . . . . . .. . . . . . 142.60. . . . . . . . . 0.75 Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 389.75. . . . . . . . -5.60 Bosch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21172.55. . . -322.50 BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487.15. . . . . . . . -4.85 Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577.20. . . . . . . . -8.15 Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257.05. . . . . . . . . 3.25 Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 2417.25. . . . . . -40.50 Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. 30979.85. . . -599.75 GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 398.15. . . . . . . . -0.40 HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 874.05. . . . . . -10.40 HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1755.05. . . . . . -25.90 HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1799.75. . . . . . -24.35 Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 3755.95. . . . . . -35.20 Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229.10. . . . . . . . -1.80 Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1247.15. . . . . . . . . 7.95 Indiabulls HFL . . . . . . . .. . . . 1203.95. . . . . . -38.40 ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279.50. . . . . . . . . 2.40 IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1701.70. . . . . . . . -5.90 Bharti Infratel . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 391.35. . . . . . . . . 1.35 Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 895.35. . . . . . . . -2.95 Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 399.00. . . . . . . . -9.40 ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262.25. . . . . . . . -6.20 Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 999.50. . . . . . -22.40 L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1165.20. . . . . . -19.60 Lupin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991.70. . . . . . -22.70 M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1260.00. . . . . . -27.15 Maurti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 7964.95. . . -103.25 NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166.25. . . . . . . . . 0.25 ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164.80. . . . . . . . . 0.35 PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 210.15. . . . . . . . . 0.60 Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 821.55. . . . . . . . . 4.15 State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258.75. . . . . . . . -3.10 Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 505.95. . . . . . . . -7.90 Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 408.20. . . . . . . . -3.60 Tata Motors DVR. . . .. . . . . . 228.80. . . . . . . . -1.95 Tata Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.85. . . . . . . . . 1.45 Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639.75. . . . . . -14.25 TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2510.75. . . . . . . . . 7.15 Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 451.95. . . . . . . . -6.45 UltraTech Cement . .. . . . 3901.80. . . . . . -97.80 Vedanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306.80. . . . . . . . -1.10 Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291.90. . . . . . . . -2.55 YES Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359.60. . . . . . . . -1.05 Zee Entertainment . . . . . . 526.50. . . . . . . . . 4.80

EXCHANGE RATES Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit except yen at 4 p.m. on September 25 CURRENCY

TT BUY

TT SELL

US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 64.90. . . . . . . 65.22 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 77.07. . . . . . . 77.47 British Pound . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 87.52. . . . . . . 87.96 Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 57.86. . . . . . . 58.15 Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 9.80. . . . . . . . . 9.85 Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 66.63. . . . . . . 66.97 Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 48.05. . . . . . . 48.29 Canadian Dollar . . . . . . . . .. . 52.64. . . . . . . 52.91 Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 15.43. . . . . . . 15.52 Source:Indian Bank

BULLION RATES

CHENNAI

September 25 rates in rupees with previous rates in parentheses Retail Silver (1g) . . . . . . . . . . . 42.50. . . . . (42.40) 22 ct gold (1 g) . .. . . . . . . . . . . 2,832. . . . . (2,831)

CM YK

Database soon of savings schemes linked with Aadhaar Cabinet Secretariat has directed that all GPF, EPF, PPF account data be seeded

‘Intervention, rethinking needed to stir demand’ Centre, States should step up capital spending in this scal Chandrajit Banerjee

schemes was being worked out as all banks had their own systems in place.

Somesh Jha NEW DELHI

The Cabinet Secretariat is keen on a central database of government and private sector employees who have subscribed to the general provident fund (GPF), public provident fund (PPF) and employees’ provident fund (EPF) with Aadhaar as the primary identifier. It has directed the various departments monitoring such savings schemes to ensure that 100% Aadhaar seeding of all salaried accounts takes place by December 31, according to the minutes of the meeting seen by The Hindu. The proposal came up in a meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretariat with the Ministry of Finance, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Ministry of Labour and Employment on August

Savings repository: The Centre is keen on establishing portability of fund accounts across establishments. AP *

25 to discuss the “interoperability of savings schemes” and linking them to Aadhaar. “The objective of meeting is to deliberate on Aadhaar linking of GPF, PPF and EPF accounts of employees, examine the possibility of a centralised repository of employees’ fund details with Aadhaar as the primary identifier and establishing portability of fund accounts across organisations,” Peey-

ush Kumar, Joint Secretary [Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Mission], Cabinet Secretariat, said in the meeting. The Department of Economic Affairs informed that small savings schemes, including PPF, were operated by post offices, public sector and private banks. The Cabinet Secretariat asked the Ministry of Finance to examine whether a centralised platform of all savings

Employees’ information For government employees, the Ministry of Finance said that it is developing Employees’ Information System, an online salary application system, which may also be used to maintain information related to GPF. While EPF is the savings scheme for private sector employees, the GPF is meant for government employees and PPF can be subscribed to by all workers. The Department of Posts informed the Cabinet Secretariat that 4.7 crore out of 56 crore PPF accounts in post offices were linked with Aadhaar. “All stakeholder departments to ensure 100% Aadhaar seeding of GPF, PPF and EPF accounts by December 31, 2017” the Cabinet Secretariat directed.

India, S. Korea to upgrade FTA at ‘earliest’ New Delhi wants its English, yoga teachers to get opportunities to oer services ARUN S

eligible to teach English in South Korea must “be a citizen of a country where English is the primary language.”

New Delhi

Even as the India-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be expanded soon to boost bilateral trade and investment, New Delhi has voiced concerns about the low utilisation of the FTA by India due to the ‘complicated’ provisions in the pact as well as South Korea’s regulations. According to official sources, the recent bilateral talks in Seoul saw India cite the difficulties being faced by its English teachers in getting permission to teach in South Korea. Though, going by the FTA, Indian English language teachers should be

The upgrade will lift bilateral trade. GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK *

getting opportunities to teach in primary and secondary schools in South Korea, this is not being implemented effectively in practice. This is because the ‘English Program in Korea’ (EPIK) stipulates that those

South Africa example The EPIK specifies that “EPIK teachers must be citizens of one of the following countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, U.K, U.S., or South Africa.” India has now asked that it be included in the EPIK countrylist by pointing out that South Africa was on the list though that country has 11 official languages including Afrikaans, and English was only one of them. India is also keen on sending its yoga teachers for

short-term work while Seoul has stated their services may not be needed since many Koreans are now learning yoga in India and returning to teach it in South Korea. On the goods side, India is keen that norms are eased to upgrade the FTA in a way that Indian goods get greater market access. Since the implementation of the FTA in 2010, India’s trade deficit with South Korea has increased from about $5 billion to more than $8 billion. To ensure greater market access for Indian products, India is seeking a set of mutually accredited bodies for export inspection.

Economic growth in India has weathered the global tail winds over the last few years and the economy is well equipped to move to a higher growth trajectory in the near future. However, subdued growth in the last few months, coupled with the slowdown in exports perhaps calls for some intervention and rethinking to push investments and demand in the economy. One of the critical contributions made by the government to economic growth comes from its capital spending on areas such as roads, railways, irrigation projects, affordable housing and building other productive assets. These tend to have a multiplier effect on economic growth as higher spending on projects creates jobs which further creates greater demand for goods and services in the economy. In many cases, we find that the finances are not a problem. Implementation bottlenecks need to be addressed. For example, the National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF) has sufficient funds to take over sound assets that are stranded due to paucity of funds.

Special infra bonds The other option that the government could explore is to issue special bonds for large infrastructure spends in railways and other projects in roads and highways, bridges to name a few. The recent PPP option announced for low cost housing is innovative as it targets issues in risk allocation. Similar models can be offered to other infrastructure sectors where private investments can come in. Clauses on renegotiation and grievance redressal

need to be included in such policies as absence of these have stranded several projects in the past. In the current year, capital expenditure of not only the central government but also the state governments should be stepped up. Even if this leads to some breach in the fiscal consolidation target, this may be relaxed for a year, as suggested by the FRBM Act for exceptional circumstances.

Trimming bank holdings One area of concern that needs immediate attention is to do with bank recapitalisation. This has become even more imminent given the stress caused by the NPAs. The government can look at raising this capital without putting pressure on the balance sheet by trimming its large holdings in these banks.

COMMENT This will enable the banks to restore their financial health and provide an opportunity to the retail capital market. The government has also been concerned about a slowdown in job creation. While growth revival through public spending will itself create jobs especially in the construction sector, it is also necessary to focus on the labour-intensive sectors. It is time to recast labour laws and allow fixed term employment contracts ensuring more flexibility. The government’s recent initiative on setting minimum wages is a move in the opposite direction and should be reconsidered. To quickly restore confidence among businesses, the government needs to resolve issues related to GST especially for the small and medium sector.

A clear and simple framework needs to be defined and instituted for claiming input tax credit. Problems faced by exporters such as withdrawal of duty drawback benefit need to be addressed immediately. In the near to medium term, reducing the number of rates under GST and expanding its coverage to include electricity, oil and gas, alcohol and real estate at the earliest should be a priority. The country has been fortunate to have two successive years of normal monsoon and good agricultural production. There is need to catalyse FDI in organized food retail which can create a supply chain transformation and strengthen the linkages between farmers and markets.

RBI’s supporting role The RBI also needs to play a role in providing support to the economy. For one, it needs to place some priority on growth while deciding on monetary policy. Having switched to an inflation-targeting regime, the monetary policy committee seems to be ignoring the weak growth trends while setting interest rates. The policy repo rate of 6% does seem excessively high for an economy that is facing recessionary pressure. The RBI could outline a plan of cutting interest rates over a period of time. Further, the exporters should have access to easily available credit. This can be done by expanding interest rate subvention from the current rate to 4% and allowing commercial banks to lend more to SME exporters or tweaking working capital norms. (The author is director general, Confederation of Indian Industry)

A ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

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IN BRIEF

Mangalore Chemicals to invest ₹1,000 crore To set up ₹600 cr. facility for making seven lakh tonnes of phosphatics; spend almost ₹400 cr. on ammonia, urea plants Jay Shankar Bengaluru

M&M unveils premium variant of compact SUV MUMBAI

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. has introduced the high-end variant of TUV300, a compact SUV, at a price starting ₹9.66 lakh (exshowroom Mumbai). The variant, called T10 of TUV300, comes with several high-tech features. Pan-India bookings have opened across all dealerships, the rm said. The TUV300 has introduced a new high-end 7” colour touchscreen infotainment system with GPS navigation and leather seats.

SBI cuts minimum balance for SB account MUMBAI

State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday lowered the minimum average monthly balance requirement in a savings account to ₹3,000 from ₹5,000 and revised downwards penalties for non-adherence. The revised requirement and charges will become applicable from October. The bank also decided to exempt pensioners, beneciaries of social benets and minors from the requirement. PTI

Suven’s NCEs for neuro disorders get patents HYDERABAD

Suven Life Sciences has secured a patent each in India and Japan for a product corresponding to new chemical entities (NCEs) for treating disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases. The granted claims, valid till 2027 and 2032 respectively, include class of selective 5-HT compounds being developed as therapeutic agents, useful in treatment of cognitive impairment associated with neurodegenerative disorders.

Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers, a subsidiary of Zuari Fertilisers and Chemicals, an Adventz Group company, plans to invest ₹1,000 crore over the next three years to set up a brownfield facility in Mangaluru and improve energy efficiency, Suresh Krishnan, managing director, said in an interview. “We plan to set up a manufacturing facility for making seven lakh tonnes of phosphatics a year at Mangalore,” Mr. Krishnan said. “Technically, it will be a brownfield expansion. We expect to invest ₹600 crore in this unit. We are looking at a threeyear time frame. “We will be implementing the project beginning next year and closing out in about 24 months time. As we implement the project we will parallely work on creating

the required market share for absorbing the additional capacity. We will actively pursue a sales strategy to increase our sales from one million tonne currently to 1.5 million tonnes. We expect the sales to come through from southern markets,” he said.

complete our efficiency projects.” Mr. Krishnan said the losses were mainly due to the closure of Mangaluru plants for maintenance. India imports about 12 million tonnes of fertilisers from nations such as China, Saudi Arabia, North Africa, Russia and Canada.

Natural gas feedstock MCFL is working on introducing natural gas as a feedstock for its fertiliser plant. The company expects a pipeline, delivering gas from Kochi terminal owned by Petronet, to fructify by 2019. “We plan to invest further in the ammonia, urea complex to ensure significant improvement in operational efficiencies. There will be investments made to reduce the consumption of energy for making the same quantity of urea. We have already done the engineering, and as

Industry prospects “The prospect for the industry due to a good monsoon is quite encouraging. The key challenges are the implementation of the direct benefit transfer scheme and we also hope GST issues are solved in a timely manner,” he said. “For the input for our manufacturing, naphta, GST rate is at 18% and output product, the rate is at 5%. So we have an inverted duty structure. There is a difference between what we pay and what we recover from the market. It should be re-

Bountiful prospects: The rm will pursue a strategy to increase sales to 1.5 million tonnes, says Mr. Krishnan. SUDHAKARA JAIN *

and when the gas supply is made available, we will get to invest. “We are looking at an investment of close to ₹400 crore in the ammonia and urea plants for improving energy efficiency. Today, the energy required per tonne of urea is roughly between 6.5 and seven giga calorie per tonne of urea. The idea is to

Tata Motors to cut platforms: Pareek Move aimed at boosting eciency, customer satisfaction and cost benets Special Correspondent HYDERABAD

Tata Motors is working on a plan to rationalise the number of platforms to two from the six at the present, a move aimed at driving in more efficiencies, deriving cost benefits and improving customer satisfaction levels. “We have decided to rationalise the number of platforms,” said Mayank Pareek, president-passenger vehicles business unit at the introduction of compact SUV Nexon here on Monday. Fewer platforms help in achieving “commonisation, gives you economies of scale, helps servicibility of vehicles,” he said adding Advanced Modular Platform (AMP), one of the two platforms that the company would have, is rated among

Mayank Pareek

the best in class. Small and big hatchbacks, small and big sedans, vans and MPVs can be made on the AMP. The other would be D8-Range Rover ( JLR) platform which would primarily be used for manufacturing “small, big and bigger” SUVs. “Instead of creating unnecessary cost structure

by [having] multiple platforms, you create single platform on which you can provide multiple shapes. All our future products will be based on the new platforms,” Mr. Pareek explained. From a customer perspective, serviceability of vehicles would improve. Unveiling the Nexon, he said it was the fourth product which was unveiled by Tata Motors in the last 16 months as part of a strategy for “filling in product gaps and tapping the white spaces that will emerge. Our focus is to introduce products that not only enhance the brand, but simultaneously align well with the rising aspirations of customer segments.” By 2020, the company would have products covering 95% of the market.

TGI Group aims to operate 2,000 rooms by 2020: CEO

Tata Capital divests forex, travel arms

To enter neighbouring countries after strengthening brand

Special Correspondent

N. Anand CHENNAI

Puducherry-based TGI (The Great India) Group of Hotels and Resorts is planning to expand its room inventory fivefold to 2,000 by 2020, said a top official.

Tier II, Tier III cities “Currently, we are operating eight properties with 400 rooms,” said Amitava Roy, founder and chief executive officer, TGI Group. “We will start expanding our business operations by entering mostly Tier-II and Tier-III cities as major cities are saturated. “By 2020, our plan is to have 2,000 rooms under our fold in 30 properties. We operate on an asset-light model (which means they

bring it down to a range close to 5.5, which means you will need less feedstock to produce the same,” Mr. Krishnan said. “That means you are going to reduce the requirement of hydrocarbon to produce the same output. Also, carbon footprint will come down,” he said. “By 2020-21, we should be in a position to

Amitava Roy

do not invest in land and construction), as it is easier to take over and manage existing or under- construction properties,” he said. “After strengthening our brand in the country, we will start moving to neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Vietnam. But this will happen after 2020,” he said.

As per the proposed plan, TGI Group would be entering Indore, Ujjain, Bhopal, Thekkady, Tiruppur, Kannur, Coimbatore, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. The group plans to manage up to 70 rooms in each of these properties. “In the month of November, we will start operating a hotel in Bhopal with 40 rooms followed by Thekkady, Kerala with 36 rooms during December. Gujarat and Chhattisgarh properties would commence operations next year. Currently, we are negotiating with a property owner in Chhattisgarh,” he said. TGI Group expects 60% of revenue to come from South, 20% from Madhya Pradesh and balance from the East.

To queries, he said the company expected passenger vehicle sales going past the 2-lakh- mark in the current fiscal, a growth of 30% over last fiscal’s sales of about 1.52 lakh units. While the first half was affected by “GST confusion,” the second half would be better.

Virtual showroom Tata Motors also plans to unveil a virtual showroom. Noting that it was working with technology firms in the areas of AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality), he said the focus was to reach out to the customers and provide them the experience without creating physical infrastructure. Customisation of cars would also be possible in virtual showrooms, Mr. Pareek said.

imbursed by the government. This can add to our working capital pressures. It is a question of getting our refunds on time.” “In diammonium phosphate, we have a phosphoric acid which is imported, ammonia which is imported and both are at 18% duty and the end product is 5% duty. Here again we have to seek refund and it is our immediate concern,” he said. “There has been a backlog of subsidy for the industry over the last four to five years,” Mr. Krishnan said. “All I can say is that backlog has reduced of late but you still have a significant backlog. If you look at the industry on the whole, we started the current financial year with a total outstanding bill of ₹35,000 crore to the industry. Over the next couple of years we hope to see this completely squared out.”

Kapadia is new CFO of Tata Sons PRESS TRUST OF INDIA NEW DELHI

Tata Sons, the promoter of major Tata Group companies, has appointed group veteran Eruch N Kapadia as its new chief financial officer (CFO). Mr. Kapadia, who is vicepresident at Tata Sons and a member of the audit committee at Tata Business Support Services, assumed the new role following the retirement chief operating officer (COO) F. N. Subedar. He will report to Tata Group CFO Saurabh Agrawal. When contacted, a Tata Sons spokesperson confirmed the development. Mr. Kapadia is a Tata Group veteran with more than 18 years of service in Tata Chemicals in different roles. Besides being a chartered accountant, he is also a cost accountant.

Telcos want TRAI to defer new call drop rule by six months Facing problem in getting land for cell towers, operators say rules which will be come into effect from October 1. Under the new rule, penalty of up to ₹10 lakh will be imposed if telecom operators fail to meet call drop benchmark and call drop will be measured at mobile towerlevel instead of telecom circle.

Press Trust of India New Delhi

Telecom operators have requested the sector regulator TRAI to defer the new call drop rules by six months in order to tune their networks as per the new norms. “We have written to TRAI that give us two quarters to actually tune networks to implement the new regulation. TRAI has said that they would consider it. However, the regulator has not come back to us. It is a measurement issue. We are facing problem in getting space for installing cell towers,” COAI director general Rajan S. Mathews told reporters. He was speaking on the sidelines of curtain raiser of

Rajan S. Mathews

the three-day industry event India Mobile Congress, starting from September 27 in Delhi. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on August 18 issued stricter version of quality of service

Mobile towers Mr. Mathews said in States like Delhi, the telecom companies have gone to court against local civic bodies to get space for mobile towers on reasonable terms. “We got permission for installing mobile towers in government premise but getting on to government land is a challenge,” Mr. Mathews said.

MUMBAI

Tata Capital has signed a definitive agreement to divest 100% of its shareholding in its wholly-owned subsidiaries Tata Capital Forex Ltd. (foreign exchange) and TC Travel and Services Ltd. (travel services) to Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. for an unspecified amount. “These companies will continue to run under the Tata Capital management, in consultation with Thomas Cook on specific matters, till the closing date when the share sale will be consummated,” Tata Captal said in a statement. Tata Capital Forex and TC Travel Services handle clients from within the Tata Group companies and outside.

India’s rening capacity expansion lags behind growth in fuel demand Rising disposable income has helped boost rened fuel products’ consumption can process four lakh bpd of crude oil. “The possibility is always there but its still early days,” said Mr. Anand when asked if the company was considering expanding its refining capacity to help meet the increase in India’s fuel demand.

Reuters SINGAPORE

India may export fewer fuels in the next four years as growth in the demand for oil products is rising faster than new refining to produce them is being added, an Essar Oil company executive said on Monday. “Over the next three to four years, other than a few brownfield (refinery expansions), we really don’t see any major expansions coming in,” B. Anand, chief executive officer of Essar Oil told S&P Global Platts APPEC conference in Singapore.

Sticky wicket: India’s dependence on LPG imports may rise while limiting oil product exports, says Mr. Anand. REUTERS *

Capacity constraint India’s rising disposable income has helped boost its demand for refined fuels, including gasoline, jet fuel and liquid propane gas (LPG), but its capacity to keep up with this demand may be strained in the coming years. CM YK

With only about 3.50 lakh barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity being added through new greenfield projects over the next four years, India’s dependence on LPG imports may rise while limiting its exports of

oil products such as gasoline and diesel so it can cope with its domestic demand, the oil company chief executive said. Essar runs an oil refinery in Vadinar, the western Indian state of Gujarat, that

Business consolidation With Essar Oil’s recent ownership change, Mr. Anand told Reuters the company was currently focused on consolidating its businesses. In August, Russian oil major Rosneft and its partners — global trader Trafigura and Russian fund UCP — purchased a 98.26% stake in Essar Oil in a deal announced in October. India is a net importer of LPG, a fuel used in coking and heating, and a net exporter of other products such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. A ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

SPORT 15

NOIDA/DELHI

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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TV PICKS Premier Futsal: Sony TEN 1, 3 (SD & HD), 7.30 p.m. & 9 p.m.

PKL: Gujarat Fortunegiants vs Tamil Thalaivas, 8 p.m.; Dabang Delhi vs Patna Pirates, 9 p.m. , STAR Sports 2 (SD & HD).

Champions League: Sony TEN 1, 2, 3 (SD & HD), 12.15 a.m. (Wednesday).

IN BRIEF

Come out of retirement, Harbhajan tells Clarke NEW DELHI

Senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Monday took to Twitter to rub it in on former Australia captain Michael Clarke, urging him to “come out of retirement” since the current line-up lacks quality. Harbhajan, who was a thorn in Australia’s flesh during his playing days, had a dig at the team at Clarke’s expense. “Mate u need to come out of your retirement and start playing again I think. Era of Aussies producing top batsmans (sic) is over I feel. No quality,” Harbhajan tweeted tagging Clarke. PTI

Agar out of series with broken nger

Transformed Pandya prefers to keep it simple The all-rounder proves his worth after being promoted to bat at No. 4 about being < > It’s positive and

Amol Karhadkar INDORE

“Believe”. The seven-letter word has been inscribed on Hardik Pandya’s left forearm for over a year. When the Baroda all-rounder unveiled the tattoo to his fans through his social media account, some of the connoisseurs were sceptical, wondering whether it was another attempt of the young allrounder, often perceived to to be flashy, to seek attention. However, over the last year, he has proven that not only has he believed in his ability but also lived up to the faith showered on him in India’s change room.

Oozing confidence No wonder then that when Pandya, a fortnight shy of turning 24, sat down to interact with the media soon after pocketing yet another Manof-the-Match award after leading India’s run chase in the third ODI against Australia, not only did the tattoo stand out but the confidence he had in himself also oozed in each of his replies. Moments earlier, during the post-match presentation, captain Virat Kohli had credited coach Ravi Shastri for promoting Pandya to No. 4 to counter the spin of Ashton Agar. For the second time in a week, albeit in contrasting situations, Pandya tormented an Aussie spinner with his ability to heave the ball into the stands. If it was leggie Adam Zampa who bore the brunt during Pandya’s rescue act of a 66-ball 83 while walking in to bat at 87 for five in the sea-

backing yourself and if I feel like, I go for it I was told I < > When was going to go out to bat next (at No. 4), I was happy. This is the rst time I played so many balls

than seeing < > Rather this as a challenge, I see this as an opportunity to do something nice for the team son-opener in Chennai, on Sunday he took Agar to the cleaners after coming in exactly halfway into the chase of 294 after the set openers had perished in quick succession. “It’s not just about hitting. It’s pretty important that I read the game. That time (in Chennai) I thought that Zampa was bowling and I knew that I could hit a six off him any time I wanted to,” he said, as a matter of fact. “That’s why I waited till (Zampa’s) seventh over and then I got the opportunity to change the momentum and eventually one over changed the course of that game. “I tried and it came out pretty well. That’s just my thinking. It’s about being positive and backing yourself and if I feel like, I go for it. I read the situation and go for it.” That he is a clean hitter was widely evident when this

correspondent watched him dismantle Mumbai’s bowling attack, led by a certain Zaheer Khan, scoring an unbeaten 57-ball 82 in a zonal Twenty20 league match early in 2014. Incidentally, John Wright, the former India coach and talent scout for Mumbai Indians, was also in attendance, and it didn’t come as a surprise that Pandya was signed up for his base price of ₹10 lakh in the IPL auction a few weeks later.

Upward curve Since then, Pandya saw an upward curve before losing form — and his place in the Indian squad — in a short span of time. However, ever since he toured Australia as part of the India-A squad last year under the watchful eyes of coach Rahul Dravid, Pandya has emerged as a reliable allrounder who can bail the

team out with his strokeplay and consistent pace bowling from any situation. On Sunday night, he was offered his third opportunity to bat at the key position of No. 4. And after failing to capitalise in the first two outings — in West Indies in June and against Sri Lanka last month — he grasped the opportunity with both hands.

Opportunity When asked about the challenges of being part of a flexible middle-order, where an individual’s batting position is far from being fixed, Pandya preferred to keep it simple. “Rather than seeing this as a challenge, I see this as an opportunity to do something nice for the team. When I was told I was going to go out to bat next, I was happy. This is the first time I played so many balls, so it was great,” he said.

Making it count: Over the past year, Hardik Pandya has lived up to expectations.

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REUTERS

NEW DELHI

Spinner Ashton Agar has broken his finger and will miss the remaining two ODIs against India, Cricket Australia said on Monday. “Following the conclusion of the match he went for X-rays which have confirmed a fracture of the finger,” team doctor Richard Saw said in a statement. “He will return home to Australia and consult a specialist with a possibility of surgery.” AFP

Sri Lanka Cricket: ICC initiates probe DUBAI

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed it has initiated investigations in Sri Lanka and its AntiCorruption Unit (ACU) officers recently visited the country. ICC’s General Manager — ACU, Alex Marshall, said, “The ICC Anti-Corruption Unit works to uphold integrity in cricket and this includes conducting investigations where there are reasonable grounds to do so. There is currently an ICC (ACU) investigation underway in Sri Lanka. Naturally as part of this we are talking to a number of people.” ANI

Aston Martin to be Red Bull’s title sponsor PARIS

Aston Martin will become the title sponsor of the Red Bull Formula One team from 2018, it was announced on Monday. “Title partnership is the next logical step for our Innovation Partnership with Red Bull Racing,” said Aston Martin president and CEO Andy Palmer. Aston Martin, established in 1913, quit F-1 in 1960 and made its return as a sponsor to Red Bull, with Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo as the team’s drivers, last year. AFP

Kneeling down not a protest: Kyrgios PRAGUE

Nick Kyrgios denied that his kneeling gesture before his Laver Cup clash against Roger Federer was part of similar protests against US President Donald Trump. “I’m doing that before most matches just to remember, you know, the two most important people that have passed away,” said the World No. 20 Kyrgios in reference to his late grandmother and grandfather. Prompted whether it had anything to do with the Trump protest, he offered a puzzled look: “No. Serious?” AFP

CM YK

KSCA to roll out a ‘decent ODI pitch’ Special Correspondent Bengaluru

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) will roll out a “decent ODI pitch” for the fourth one-dayer between India and Australia at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday. “I won’t say it will be full of runs but it will be a decent ODI pitch. It should make for an evenly-poised game,” said assistant curator Prashanth Rao. “During the IPL, although the pitch was on the slower side, teams had no complaints and we got to see good contests.” During the IPL earlier this year, the pitch played slow in contrast to its usual

nature, producing a series of low totals. In March, when India and Australia met in the second Test here, the pitch received a “below average” rating from the match referee for having variable bounce. “We had just refurbished the pitch. That Test match perhaps came a little too early. But it still played largely true,” said Prashanth. Following the conclusion of this ODI, the KSCA will ‘top-dress’ the pitch, as part of maintenance work. Hence no Ranji Trophy matches will be played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium this season.

Captain Smith issues warning to teammates platform was set for a 330plus total, a must for putting India’s batsmen under pressure at the Holkar Stadium.

Amol Karhadkar INDORE

Barring the milestone of earning his 100th ODI cap, Steve Smith has had little to smile about this tour to India. In each of the three matches, the Australia captain — despite faring well with the bat — has dropped a catch, has seen his batting unit flounder in key moments and thus faced the ignominy of having lost the five-match ODI series against an on-song India with two matches still left. No wonder he had a stern warning for his teammates after suffering another disappointing loss in Indore on Sunday. “I’ll certainly like to start winning some games in every format, to be honest,”

What’s wrong? Steve Smith feels recent results have not been good enough for an Australian team. AP *

Smith said. After electing to bat, on the best surface for batting in the series so far, Australia appeared to be heading for a

mammoth total, with the score 224 for two at the end of the 38th over. Despite centurion Aaron Finch having perished, the

Unable to execute “We just weren’t able to execute it in the back end. We got 69 off the last 74 balls and lost five wickets. If we had got to 330-340, which we probably should have done, things certainly could have been different,” Smith said. “We are quite often getting ourselves into good positions but not taking advantage of those. Today was no different. “We continually address it. It is just hard to put your finger on it what we are actually doing or not doing to get the results we are after.

Today, it was about execution.” With the series lost, Smith now has a huge challenge to help his teammates keep their chins up in the remaining two ODIs and avoid a whitewash. “It’s always hard when you lose. Particularly when we’re down three-nil at the moment. “We’ve got to continue to try and motivate them and get them up for the next two games,” he said. “We’ve got to start winning games. I think we’ve lost 13 of the last 15 we’ve played away with two being no results. That’s pretty ordinary. Not good enough for an Australian cricket team. We need to start turning the results around and winning some games.”

Prithvi serves notice of his talent

I just stayed positive, says Prithvi

The 17-year-old opener makes 154 for Red, adding 211 with Dinesh Karthik (111)

LUCKNOW

Vijay Lokapally

DULEEP TROPHY

LUCKNOW

Prithvi Shaw took a small but significant step on Monday in his pursuit to qualify for the highest level of cricket. Having begun his First Class career with a century on Ranji Trophy debut last season, the 17-year-old from Mumbai crafted a hundred that had determination and talent written all over it in his maiden Duleep Trophy match. Growing in the company of the seasoned Dinesh Karthik, Prithvi did not wilt, and built on the confident start that he enjoyed from the moment he took strike to make 154. The two put on 211 runs for the third wicket as India Red, opting to bat against India Blue, finished the opening day on 317 for five. Karthik’s brilliant knock was worth 111 runs off 155 balls with 12 fours while Prithvi faced 249 balls and hit 18 fours and a six before falling to a tentative prod towards the fag end of the day. As the floodlights at the Ekana Stadium glowed, Prithvi produced an innings that reflected his strong cricket upbringing. India Red was given a resplendent launching pad by this gifted opener, who did not strike a false note. The lone jarring note came from the opposition – the poor over-rate, India Blue falling short by 6.3 despite an extension of 45 minutes.

pitch. He might not have been hustled by the India Blue seamers, but Shaw was in command when tested by the spinners. He was willing to wait for the ball even though at times he took the liberty of leaving the sanctuary of his crease. He cross-batted only on two occasions — once to swipe left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt over midwicket and next to swat Ishant Sharma over slip to herald his century. Karthik, ever under pressure to prove his credentials, was commitment personified in his innings and deserved credit for not only shouldering the innings but also helping his young partner stay focused. A quick study: Prithvi Shaw summed up the conditions adeptly and looked to score square of the wicket. RAJEEV BHATT *

India Blue skipper Suresh Raina made desperate efforts to snare Prithvi with frequent bowling changes. Nothing worked. Prithvi, with unflinching discipline that strengthened his hunger for runs, maintained his compact hold on the game. Motivation came from Karthik’s presence as the dapper wicketkeeper-batsman guided the youngster well. Prithvi does not come across as the archetypal

Mumbai batsman. He does possess a sound defence, especially against the slow bowlers, but does not believe in curbing his natural flair. The ease with which he played the anchor at one end enhanced the reputation his batsmanship already enjoys. The day’s play was all about Prithvi’s run-making prowess. He cannily picked the deliveries to feast on. Having read the surface well, he avoided shots in front and made merry square of the

The scores: India Red — 1st innings: Prithvi Shaw c Bharath b Bhatt 154, Akhil Herwadkar run out 25, Suryakumar Yadav c Raina b Bhatt 8, Dinesh Karthik lbw b Wakhare 111, B. Indrajith c Kishan b Bhatt 4, Ishank Jaggi (batting) 9; Extras (lb-4, nb-2): 6; Total (for five wkts. in 83.3 overs): 317. Fall of wickets: 1-74, 2-89, 3300, 4-306, 5-317. India Blue bowling: Ishant Sharma 10-1-51-0, Pankaj Singh 11-0-44-0, Akshay Wakhare 160-62-1, Bhargav Bhatt 26.3-183-3, Suresh Raina 6-0-22-0, Jaydev Unadkat 7-0-32-0, Deepak Hooda 5-1-12-0, Manoj Tiwary 2-1-7-0.

Special Correspondent

“I was told by DK bhai (Dinesh Karthik) not to play any risky shot. I did not have any specific plans but patience had to be exercised on this pitch,” said Prithvi Shaw, after his innings of 154.

New Zealand drops Neesham and Broom

Reflecting on the knock, Prithvi noted, “I just stayed positive. I knew defence would be important but I also looked to dominate the bowler. “My game is always aimed at taking the initiative and it worked today.” Prithvi built his innings

with support from Karthik. “He is a very positive player and I gained a lot from his guidance. “This tournament has been a nice learning process for me. An important lesson learnt in this innings was to pick the right ball to hit,” Prithvi added.

Sindhu recommended for Padma Bhushan Press Trust of India New Delhi

Agence France-Presse Wellington

New Zealand on Monday dropped all-rounder Jimmy Neesham and batsman Neil Broom from the one-day squad to tour India next month.

Core group Coach Mike Hesson named a core group of nine players for the tour, with a further six to be selected from the New Zealand-A side currently in India. Neesham and Broom both missed out after failing to fire at the ICC Champions Trophy in June. New Zealand plays the first of three one-dayers against India in Mumbai on October 22. The selected players: Kane Williamson (Capt.), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Adam Milne, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee and Ross Taylor.

Olympic silver medallist shuttler P.V. Sindhu has been recommended for the prestigious Padma Bhushan, the country’s third highest civilian award, by the Sports Ministry here on Monday. The 22-year-old clinched the 2016 China Open Super Series Premier, India Open Super Series, bagged a historic silver at the Glasgow World Championship last month before laying claim to her third Super Series title at the Korea Open this month. A three-time Macau Open champion, Sindhu also won the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in Lucknow this year. Riding on a series of good performances, Sindhu achieved a careerbest world ranking of No. 2 in April for a brief period. Last week, she climbed back to her No. 2 position,

P.V. Sindhu.

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PTI

following a good week at Seoul. In 2014, Sindhu won four bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games, Incheon Asian Games, Uber Cup and Asia Championship. In March 2015, Sindhu was awarded India’s fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri. Sindhu thanked the Sports Ministry for the nomination. “I am happy and thank the Sports Ministry for recommending my name,” said Sindhu. A ND-NDE

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16 SPORT

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Karn, Nadeem spin a web

Valencia pips Sociedad

The visitors oer little resistance as the pair skittles the opposition out again

Agence France-Presse

V. V. Subrahmanyam

Valencia moved ahead of Real Madrid into fourth in La Liga as Simone Zaza’s winner five minutes from time edged a thrilling 3-2 win at Real Sociedad on Sunday. Valencia remains unbeaten in six games since Marcelino took charge after two seasons in the doldrums littered with managerial changes. In total 20 goals were scored in five La Liga games on Sunday as Espanyol, Getafe and Celta Vigo also celebrated big wins. Meanwhile in Serie A, Atalanta snatched a late 1-1 draw at Fiorentina to move up to ninth.

VIJAYAWADA

Asian Indoor Games: Kothari wins billiards gold ASHGABAT

India’s Sourav Kothari overcame a stiff challenge from former World billiards champion Praprut Chaitanasakun of Thailand to win the gold with a 3-1 margin in the Asian Indoor Games here. This is the first medal in cuesports in this year’s competition. PTI

Serena focused on comeback: Wozniacki WUHAN

Serena Williams remains focused on her tennis comeback just weeks after becoming a mother and will make a strong return, Caroline Wozniacki said. “I think Serena can be focused on both (the baby and tennis). I think she’s going to do a strong comeback.” AFP

Teenage shuttler dies while training

The duo of leggie Karn Sharma and left-armer Shahbaz Nadeem spun a web yet again, picking up four wickets each, to bowl India-A to an innings and 31-run win over New Zealand-A in the first Test at Mulapadu Cricket Complex here on Monday. After a 30-minute delayed start because of a sharp drizzle in the morning, the Kiwis, resuming at 64 for two, were never really in the game — losing wickets at regular intervals. This despite there being no devil in the pitch. It was all in the mind, and the Kiwis lost the psychological battle. The batsmen lacked the technical competence required to tackle the spinners, who stuck to the basics — bowling to the field with a good line and length and made the batsmen play every ball. Once Karn got the first breakthrough in the sixth over of the day, when he had the well-set opener, it was a real struggle for the those who followed him to the crease. When Will Young was dismissed — top-edging a sweep off Karn to be caught at silly-point by Hanuma Vihari, the Kiwis were reduced to 81 for four.

Oh, no! New Zealand-A opener George Worker looks back to see his bails dislodged by Karn Sharma. V. RAJU *

At lunch, the Kiwis were 118 for six and the only issue was if the innings defeat could be avoided or not. Karn and Nadeem mopped up the tail in 11 overs after the break to bring down the curtains on what was a thoroughly disappointing batting display. The scores: New Zealand-A — 1st innings: 147.

India-A — 1st innings: 320. New Zealand-A — 2nd innings: George Worker b Karn 35, Jeet Raval b Nadeem 21, Henry Nicholls lbw b Karn 1, Will Young c Vihari b Karn 14, Tom Blundell lbw b Shardul 12, Tim Seifert lbw b Karn 14, Todd Astle b Shardul 0, Scott Kuggeleijn c Pant b Nadeem 15, Ish Sodhi c Karun b Nadeem 13, Matt Henry b Nadeem 0, Lockie Ferguson

(not out) 10; Extras (lb-3, nb-4): 7; Total (in 63.1 overs): 142. Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-42, 374, 4-81, 5-89, 6-99, 7-118, 8118, 9-120. India-A bowling: Shardul 9-117-2, Md. Siraj 8-6-3-0, Nadeem 20.1-6-51-4, Karn 234-62-4, Karun 3-1-6-0. India-A won by an innings and 31 runs.

Madrid

The results: La Liga: Real Sociedad 2 (Elustondo 33, Oyarzabal 59) lost to Valencia 3 (Rodrigo 26, Vidal 55, Zaza 85); Eibar 0 lost to Celta Vigo 4 (Cabral 17, Sergi Gomez 23, Hernandez 39, Wass 72); Las Palmas 0 lost to Leganes 2 (Beauvue 47, Eraso 90+6). Serie A: Crotone 2 (Mandragora 43, Rohden 58) bt Benevento 0; Cagliari 0 lost to Chievo 2 (Inglese 53, Stepinski 90+3); Sassuolo 0 lost to Bologna 1 (Okwonkwo 89); Fiorentina 1 (Chiesa 12) drew with Atalanta 1 (Freuler 90+4); Inter Milan 1 (D’Ambrosio 87) bt Genoa 0; Verona 0 lost to Lazio 3. (Immobile 24-pen, 40, Marusic 60).

RACING

Negress Pearl wins the Jagtial Plate HYDERABAD: Negress Pearl (Md. Ismail up) won the Jagtial Plate, the main event of the Hyderabad races at Malakpet on Monday. Trained by S.S.F. Hassan, the winner is owned by M/s. Gulam Hussain Gulabi and Mirza Ayub Baig. AKKANNA PLATE (1200 m) — Cat. III, 3-y-o & over, rated upto 30: ASHWINI (Kunal Bunde) 1, Invasion (Akshay Kumar) 2, Take a Bow (Nakhat Singh) 3, Shandaar (Ajit Singh) 4. 1-3/4, 3, 2-1/4. 1 m 17.14 s. ₹ 38 (w), 8, 7, 5 (p), SHP. 16, FP: 278, Q: 101, Tanala: 553. Favourite: Shandaar. Owner: Mr. Teegala Balreddy. Trainer: R.H. Sequeira. TANASHA PLATE (D. I), (1100 m) — Cat. II, maiden 3-y-o only (Terms): LORD GIFT (P. Ajeeth Kumar) 1, All Star General (P. Sai Kumar) 2, Conroy (C Umesh) 3, Good Opinion (Shailesh Shinde) 4. 1-1/4, 4-1/4, s hd.. 1 m 10.21 s. ₹ 54 (w), 8, 6, 10 (p), SHP: 14, FP: 266, Q: 97, Tanala: 1527. Favourite: All Star General. Owners: M/s. Yadaiah Pilly, Rammohan Belde & Premanand Sugandhi. Trainer: Anupam Sharma. JAGTIAL PLATE (1200 m) — Cat. II, 4-y-o & over, rated 42 to 62: NEGRESS PEARL (Md. Ismail) 1, Big Flash (Deepak Singh) 2, Mandy (Akshay Kumar) 3, Miracle King (Abhishek S. Pawar) 4. ¾, 1-1/4, 5-1/4. 1 m 15.82 s. ₹ 13 (w), 6, 7, 5 (p), SHP: 19, FP: 67, Q: 33, Tanala: 150. Favourite: Mandy. Owners: M/s. Gulam Hussain Gulabi & Mirza Ayub Baig. Trainer: S.S.F. Hassan. TANASHA PLATE (D. II), (1100 m) — Cat. II, maiden 3-y-o DIPPY DIP only (Terms): (Shailesh Shinde) 1, Titus (Deepak Singh) 2, Withrosemakeup (Akshay Kumar) 3, Negress Princess (B.R. Kumar) 4. 2, hd., 1-1/2. 1 m 09.92 s. ₹ 16 (w),

1

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5, 7, 6 (p), SHP: 14, FP: 68, Q: 33, Tanala: 131. Favourite: Withrosemakeup. Owners: M/s. Zoheb Shaikh, Lakshmana Chowdary Yalamanchili & Soma Raju Adipudi. Trainer: Zoheb Shaikh. GRAND ENTRY PLATE (D. I), (1400 m) — Cat. III, 4-y-o & over, rated upto 30: VIJAY`S EMPRESS (Kuldeep Singh) 1, Princess (Abhishek S. Pawar) 2, New Comer (Akshay Kumar) 3, Jayin (Aneel) 4. 8-3/4, ¾, ¾. 1 m 30.20 s. ₹ 28 (w), 8, 12, 6 (p), SHP: 47, FP: 597, Q: 307, Tanala: 1309. Favourite: Symbol of Star’s. Owners: M/s. Vijay Racing & Farms Private Limited represented by Mr. Vijay Kumar Gupta, Mr.Susheel Kumar Gupta & Mr.Srikanth Reddy Muppidi. Trainer: Laxman Singh. KITTY BANK CUP (1400 m) — Cat. III, 3-y-o only, rated 26 to PHENOMENAL CRUISE 46: (Deepak Singh) 1, Mega Million (Md. Ismail) 2, Inzaire (Praveen Gaddam) 3, After Eight (S S Tanwar) 4. 4, ½, ½. 1 m 29.19 s. ₹ 8 (w), 5, 14, 8 (p), SHP: 71, FP: 167, Q: 135, Tanala: 860. Favourite: Phenomenal Cruise. Owners: M/s. P. Ranga Raju, C. Nanda Kumar & K. Ramakrishna. Trainer: D. Netto. GRAND ENTRY PLATE (D. II), (1400 m) — Cat. III, 4-y-o & over, rated upto 30: WINE N DINE (Nakhat Singh) 1, Blaze of Glory (B.R. Kumar) 2, Chemical Daddy (Md Sameeruddin) 3, Angels Bay (Akshay Kumar) 4. 1-1/4, 3-3/4, 2. 1 m 31.84 s. ₹ 13 (w), 5, 8, 18 (p), SHP: 23, FP: 54, Q: 26, Tanala: 555. Favourite: Wine N Dine. Owner: Dr. M.A.M. Ramaswamy Chettiar of Chettinad Charitable Trust represented by Dr. A.C. Muthiah. Trainer: K. Satheesh. Treble (i): ₹ 880 (48 tkts), (ii): ₹ 132 (724 tkts). Consolation: ₹ 137 (940 tkts). Jackpot: ₹ 1089 (277 tkts).

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KOLKATA

In a tragic incident, an 18year-old shuttler from Madhyamgram died while training at the SAI’s Eastern Centre on Sunday. Niharendu Mallick, who had joined SAI’s ‘Come and Play’ course in April, was doing shadow practice on Saturday when he fell unconscious. According to reports, Mallick was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead. Cardiac arrest and brain haemorrhage are said to be the reasons behind his death. ANI

Sowjanya-Rishika pair bows out HUA HIN

Sowjanya Bavisetti and Rishika Sunkara lost to the Japanese pair of Shiho Akkita & Aiko Yoshitomi 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament on Monday. Y. Pranjala was the sole Indian, among nine girls, to make it to the singles main draw. She blanked Natasha Palha in the final qualifying round.

Maradona to kick o football conclave

BADMINTON

Going to the top is the new Lakshya Ashwin Achal Bengaluru

After the recent high of reaching the top of the world junior badminton ranking list, Lakshya Sen suffered a minor blip. The teenager slipped to World No. 2, behind Thailand's Kunlavut Viditsarn. Lakshya can regain his numero uno status with a good show at the BWF World junior championships, to be held at Yogyakarta (Indonesia) next month. The 16-year-old, who trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton

Lakshya Sen.

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K. MURALI KUMAR

Academy here, is not too worried about the ranking slip. “I don't think about the rankings much. If I win a few major tournaments, it will take care of the ranking,”

Lakshya said on Monday. Asked about his medal chances at the Worlds, Lakshya replied, “I just want to play to my full potential. If I do that, I will do well.” Former National women’s singles champion Sayali Gokhale, who coaches Lakshya at PPBA, stated that the youngster possesses an even temperament which comes to the fore in pressure situations. “His chances are bright. His training has progressed well, and we want him to peak at the right time for the Worlds,” Sayali said.

TABLE TENNIS

Manav Thakkar wins gold Sports Bureau Otocec (Slovenia)

Dwyane Wade and Bulls set to part ways: report CHICAGO

Dwyane Wade and Chicago Bulls have agreed to part ways after the veteran point guard’s first season with his hometown team, the US media reported on Sunday. Wade, 35, has reached a buyout agreement with the Bulls, according to American broadcaster ESPN. AFP

India’s Manav Thakkar defeated Japanese Takeru Kashiwa 11-6, 11-3, 11-5, 11-6 in the final to win the junior boys’ gold in the 2017 Slovenia Junior and Cadet Open table tennis tournament which concluded on Sunday night. Not only did Manav claim the singles crown, but also emerged the most successful player of the tournament. He had clinched the doubles gold and silver medals in the

team events earlier. In the cadet boys’ final, Owen Cathcart defeated Jeho Himnakulhpuingheta 11-6, 12-10, 11-3 and the Indian had to be content with the silver.

Bronze for Selena In the junior girls’ section, S. Selena Deepthi of India had to satisfy herself with the bronze medal after she went down to 14-16, 11-3, 11-9, 11-8, 5-11, 9-11, 4-11 to Hong Kong’s Wong Chin Yau in the semifinals.

Manav Thakkar...striking it rich. FILE PHOTO *

Maradona.

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AFP

Press Trust of India Kolkata

Argentine legend Diego Maradona will kick off a football conclave on October 3 in the presence of a galaxy of current and former Indian stars like Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri and I.M. Vijayan. The first season of ‘Goal 2017’ will bring the country’s top current and former footballers and celebrities together. The day will start with a session with Vijay Goel, former Union Sports Minister. It will be followed by a session by former India cricket captain and Atletico de Kolkata co-owner Sourav Ganguly who will speak about “A career that could have been”, giving insights on his love for football. Maradona will also lock horns against Ganguly in a ‘Match for Unity — Deigo vs Dada’ on October 5 at Barasat.

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\ DELHI ROUND-UP \

Delhi football festival from Oct. 1 The Delhi football festival will be organised by Soccer Watch magazine and In-Joy Life Center at the Ambedkar Stadium from October 1 to 4. Aimed towards bringing families to savour the game, the inter-club tournament featuring eight teams will also have concurrent events of 7x7 and 3x3 competition. There will also be many interesting ideas for engage the fans, apart from food stalls to make it an interesting outing for families. Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Dronacharya awardee Syed Nazir Hakim said that it was very important to have many such competitions in the country, as there was a big void in domestic football. “I thought there will be 25 to 30 schools, but only eight are participating,” bemoaned Hakim. The main tournament will have a trophy named after the legendary coach Rahim Khan. Among the many coming forward to support, Star Impact will provide football kit to the teams, while Delhi Dynamos will be a development partner for the event. The matches will be played under floodlights to prepare Delhi fans for the Under-17 World Cup. The main tournament will have Friends United Knights, Sudeva Moonlight Falcons, Hindustan Rangers, NUSC Panthers, Hindustan

Giants, Ahbab Sea Hawks, Delhi Blasters and Indian Air Force Titans. The schools competition will feature Modern School, Tagore International, Aster School, Zakir Husain memorial School, Delhi Public School (Noida), Sanskriti School, St. Mark’s and Delhi Dynamos.

Air India routs SAI Centre Star-studded Air India upped its game when needed most, thrashing SAI Centre, Kurukshetra 8-0 in the final Group B league match of the 11th Maharaja Ranjit Singh hockey tournament here on Monday. With this, Air India also qualified for the semifinals, completing the line-up for the knock-out stage. Joga Singh and Raj Kumar struck twice for the winner, which will take on Punjab National Bank in the semifinals on Tuesday. The other semifinal will be an all-Services affair with Indian Navy taking on Indian Air Force. In another match on Monday, Army Sports Centre, Bangalore drew with Central Secretariat 3-3 in an inconsequential Group A fixture. The result: Group A: ASC 3 (Toppo, Sarin, Anant Nag) drew with C. Sectt. 3 (Shailendra Bundela, M. Gunasekar, Hassan Basha); Group B: Air India 8 (Joga Singh 2, Raj Kumar 2, Rahil Mohd, Arjun Sharma, Nitish Kiro, Harsahib Singh) bt SAI Centre 0.

Gaurav Gill in command Sports Bureau Jaipur

Two-time APRC champion Gaurav Gill asserted his supremacy in the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2017, comfortably winning four out of the six special stages to claim Round three here on a blistering Sunday. Gill and his partner Musa Sharif began the march for Team Mahindra Adventure late on Saturday, conquering the championship’s first night stage with élan. They took barely 13:21.1 minutes to complete the 13.9 kilometre Night Hawk stage, zipping through the sharp turns and undulating curves in the dark with ease. The results: INRC: 1. Gaurav Gill & Musa Sharif; 2. Dean Mascarenhas & Shruptha Padival; 3. Rahul Kanthraj & Vivek Y Bhatt; INRC 2: 1. Rahul Kanthraj & Vivek Y Bhatt; 2. Younus Ilyas & Harish Kumar; 3. Jacob KJ & Manoj Mohanan; INRC 3: Dean Mascarenhas & Shruptha Padival; 2. Saddam Ali Saikh & Abhijeet Singh; 3. Daraius Shroff & Nitin Jacob. FMSCI 2WD Cup: 1. Chetan Shivram & Rupesh Koley; 2. Suraj Thomas & Thomas Paul; 3. Sachin Sharma & Sagar Malappa. 4WD Open: 1. S. Yadav & V. Kashyap; 2. Himangshu Arora & Kunal Kashyap; 3. Sanjay Razdan & Karan Aukta. 2WD Open: Lakshya Veer Dabbas & Aakshay Suhhag.

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THE HINDU CROSSWORD 12122

(set by Arden)

14 Period when one's not bighearted (7)

4 Enough help making it go up a bit (5)

16 Setter had managed to get power tool (7)

5 Alienates sergeant's order (9)

18 Ex-British PM's day out with Netanyahu, say (7) 20 A few have another name, tails clipped in the country (7) 22 Seats distributed according to what one has (5) 24 Demand for boy to get into mutual arrangement (9) 26 It's largely an assembly on the voice box (9) 27 High rent all around, it pricks (5)

■ ACROSS 1 Crafty bird takes measure to go sub-sonic (13) 10 Stuck in traffic, I'm so upset over smell (5) 11 Likely top line at random (9)

CM YK

28 Power behind the throne, Cardinal will revolt after midnight (8,5) ■ DOWN

FAITH

SUDOKU

The lamp called Gita

6 Change at the top, group gets a meal (5) 7 A month to accept offer — capital! (7) 8 Pompously it's rejected, call placed in Mumbai once (13) 9 WW III? China is a threat to the world (6,7) 15 Colossal gain nally — fertiliser input is unrestrained (9) 17 Change over — uncle in Chennai's from old school (4,5) 19 After meat and drink, a deserted platform (7) 21 Applications — only time pride is dented (7)

12 Dog crosses river, one to capture the moment (3,6)

2 Combines runs — made six (7)

23 Famous address in and out of joint (5)

13 After greeting, poke under cover (5)

3 Stable gear — cut a little extra (9)

25 Character detained inside until departure (5)

Solution to puzzle 12121

Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

When Rama and Lakshmana go to meet Sugreeva, Hanuman goes to meet them in order to find out who they are. He assumes the form of a sanyasi. When he sees Rama, Hanuman falls at His feet. But how could a sanyasi fall at someone’s feet? The moment Hanuman saw Rama, he knew that He (Rama) was the Supreme One. A sanyasi should not fall at the feet of a fellow human being. But even a sanyasi can fall at the feet of God. So Hanuman, who was in the guise of a sanyasi, falling at Rama’s feet was right, said Valayapet Ramachariar in a discourse. When Arjuna saw the Lord’s Viswarupa, he knew that he was seeing the Supreme One. Until then Krishna had been telling Arjuna that He was the primordial cause of everything. Now Arjuna sees it for himself. The Gita says that Lord Krishna is sAsvata dharma goptA — He is the only protector of dharma. The Ramayana says, ramO vigrahavAn dharmah — Rama is the embodiment of dharma. Vedanta Desika, in his Daya Satakam, says that the Lord’s mercy, personified as Daya Devi, prompted Him to take avataras. Daya Devi wanted His feet to touch everyone. Hence She made Him take the Trivikrama avatara. During the Rama avatara, the Sethu was built. It is said that if one sees the Sethu, one’s sins will vanish. So He took the Rama avatara to build the Sethu and make it easy for us to get rid of our sins. The Puranic story of why Lord Krishna appeared on this earth says that the earth prayed to Brahma for relief from the many wicked men who inhabited the earth. But Vedanta Desika says that this was only an excuse. The Lord wanted to rid the world of the darkness of ignorance. To dispel that darkness, He lit the lamp called the Bhagavad Gita. That lamp throws its light all around. A ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

SPORT 17

NOIDA/DELHI

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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Anand held Sports Bureau DOUGLAS (ISLE OF MAN)

Viswanathan Anand dropped half a point to Germany’s Jonas Lampert in the second round of the Isle of Man chess tournament here on Sunday. On a day when D. Harika, Swapnil Dhopade and S. L. Narayanan were part of a 20-player leaders’ group headed by Magnus Carlsen, Anand forced a draw by perpetual checks in 28 moves. Among the Indians, National junior champion Harsha Bharathakoti caused the biggest upset by beating 25th seed Varuzhan Akobian, rated 2662. The results (involving Indians): Second round: Jonas Lampert (Ger, 1.5) drew with Viswanathan Anand (1.5); R. Praggnanandhaa (1) lost to Michael Adams (Eng, 2); N.R. Visakh (1) lost to Pavel Eljanov (Ukr, 2); Francisco Pons Vallejo (Esp, 2) bt P. Magesh Chandran (1); C.R.G. Krishna (1.5) drew with S.P. Sethuraman (1.5); S.L. Narayanan (2) bt Ojas Kulkarni (1); Swapnil Dhodade (2) bt Alina L’Ami (Rou, 1); Michael Babar (Ger, 1) lost to D. Harika (2); Martin Zumsande (Ger, 0.5) lost to Vidit Gujrathi (1.5); Raja Harshit (1) drew with B. Adhiban (1); Arjun Kalyan (0.5) lost to Jones Gawain (Eng, 1.5); Alexander Raizantsev (Rus, 1) drew with S. Kidambi (1); Harsha Bharathakoti (1.5) bt Varuzhan Akobian (USA, 0.5); Fenil Shah (1) drew with Dennis Wagner (Ger, 1).

Aronian and Liren draw again Sports Bureau Tbilisi

Levon Aronian and Ding Liren played out a third successive draw in the four-game final of the World Cup chess here on Monday. The 31-move draw leaves the players at 1.5 points each from three games. The results: Final: Game Three: Levon Aronian (Arm, 1.5) drew with Ding Liren (Chn, 1.5).

Vishnu and Prarthana lose in nal SPORTS BUREAU ASHGABAT (TURKMENISTAN)

Vishnu Vardhan and Prarthana Thombare had to be content with the mixed doubles silver in tennis after losing 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to Thailand’s Nuttanon Kadchapanan and Nicha Lertpitaksinchai in the final of the Asian Indoor Games on Monday. In singles, third seed Vijay Sundar Prashanth knocked out the top seed Sanjar Fayziev of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-2 to set up a title clash with second seed Sumit Nagal. In women’s doubles, Ankita Raina and Prarthana Thombare bounced back from 1-5 down in the second set — they had lost the first set — to script a 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 victory over Jessy Roompies and Lavinia Tananta.

Dortmund out to ruin Sarita and Tejinder clinch gold Ronaldo milestone

As expected, Lakshmanan and Surya win men’s and women’s 5000m ited the Nehru-B ground the other day didn’t say anything about the shot put and hammer throw facilities, leading them to believe that all was well. In terms of providing basic facilities to mediapersons, the local organisers have failed miserably till date.

K. Keerthivasan CHENNAI

The Portuguese is expected to make his 150th CL appearance

Tough test: Real Madrid will aim to lay down a marker at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday in its quest for a third consecutive Champions League crown. REUTERS

Slumped in her chair, Sarita P. Singh looked sullen. She had just hurled the metal ball to a distance of 60.54m to bag the women’s hammer throw gold in the 57th National Open athletics championships at the Nehru-B ground here on Monday. Having created a National record (65.25m) at the Federation Cup this June in Patiala, the Railway athlete was crestfallen that she couldn’t deliver her best. Speaking to The Hindu, she blamed the poor quality of the circle. “It wasn’t up to the mark,” she said. An official present there concurred. Like Sarita, Tejinder Pal Toor of Services, who won the men’s shot put with a throw of 18.86m, was also not happyt with the throwing circle, saying it was ‘slow’ and played a part in his mediocre display. National record holder Om Prakash Singh was lead-

Gold, but... Though Tejinder Pal Toor of Services won the shot put gold, he wasn’t happy that his performance was marred by the ‘poor quality of the throwing circle.’ K. PICHUMANI *

ing with a throw of 18.80m in his second attempt. Till his fifth attempt, Tejinder, a silver medallist in the Asian championship in Bhubaneswar, could only manage a best of 18.73. However, in his sixth and final effort, Tejinder came up with a 18.86m to bag the gold. Om Prakash finished second. “This is my first gold in the Open Nationals. I am disappointed with my perform-

ance as the flooring was slow. Moreover, we had a lot of travelling to do as I took part in an International event in Kazakhstan and the Asian Indoor Games in Turkmenistan,” said Tejinder. As expected, G. Lakshmanan of Services and L. Surya (Railways) won the men’s and women’s 5000m with a measure of comfort. Local organisers said that the Athletics Federation of India delegates who had vis-

The results: Men: 5000m: 1. G. Lakshmanan (Ser) 14:04.21, 2. Abhishek Pal (Rlys) 14:08.38, 3. Mann Singh (Ser) 14:08.87. Shot put: 1. Tejinder Pal Toor (Ser) 18.86m, 2. Om Prakash Singh (ONGC) 18.80, 3. Jasdeep Singh (Rlys) 18.51. Women: 5000m: 1. L. Surya (Rlys) 16:02.85, 2. Chinta Yadav (Rlys) 16:40.45, 3. Saigeeta Naik (AIPSB) 16:53.97. Hammer: 1. Sarita P. Singh (Rlys) 60.54m, 2. Gunjan Singh (Rlys) 59.10m, 3. Jyoti (Har) 57.07m. Long jump: 1. V. Neeva (Rlys) 6.35m, 2. Priyanka Kirketta (Jha) 6.22, 3. D. Aishwarya (Kar) 6.16.

Qualication doors for CWG now open

*

The Federation Cup in Patiala is the last competition for selection

Agence France-Presse Berlin

Borussia Dortmund will aim to maintain its unbeaten record at home to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday and spoil Cristiano Ronaldo’s 150th European appearance. Dortmund and titleholder Real meet in the group stage for the second year running. The teams drew both games 2-2 last season as the Germans topped the section before bowing out in the last eight while Real went on to win a record 12th title. Dortmund has won three and drawn three of their meetings at Signal Iduna Park, including its dazzling 4-1 first-leg win in the 2013 Champions League semifinal when Robert Lewandowski scored all four goals. Defending champion Real opened its group campaign with a 3-0 win at home to APOEL while Dortmund suffered a 3-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur a fortnight ago. The Germans’ main task will be containing four-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo, who has scored 110 goals in European competition but failed to find the net in his last two outings. The Portuguese superstar

Stan Rayan Kochi

is among the final three nominees for the Best FIFA Men’s Player 2017 award and the winner will be announced on October 23. Dortmund flexed its muscles ahead of the heavyweight showdown with a 6-1 home drubbing of Borussia Monchengladbach in the German league on Saturday as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted a hat-trick. He has forged a partnership — dubbed Philameyang by the German media — with left-winger Maximilian Philipp, who has scored four goals in his last three games. “Things couldn’t have gone better,” said Dortmund’s Mario Goetze, who is back in form after a metabolic disorder, follow-

ing the Gladbach win. Zinedine Zidane’s Real is unlikely to be as forgiving. “Against Real, mistakes like that will be punished totally differently,” warned Dortmund director Michael Zorc. Dortmund’s big win came with forwards Marco Reus, Andre Schurrle and Raphael Guerreiro injured while new signing Andriy Yarmolenko, Nuri Sahin and Gonzalo Castro were not used. Meanwhile, Zidane is without a left-back as Marcelo (hamstring) and Theo Hernandez (shoulder) are both out, so Nacho is set to fill in. Karim Benzema is missing with a hamstring injury while Toni Kroos is expected to return after injury.

Some of the country’s finest athletes have kept away from the National Open which began in Chennai on Monday but quietly, without anybody being aware of it, the qualification doors in athletics for next year’s Commonwealth Games have just opened. The Athletics Federation of India’s qualification guidelines for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast (Australia, April 4-15) and the Asian Games in Jakarta (Indonesia, Aug. 18Sept. 2) were released late on Sunday night, but surprisingly, it does not mention when the qualification period opens and closes. However, Chief National Coach Bahadur Singh ex-

plained how the system will work this time. “The Federation Cup (planned for March 5-8 in Patiala) is the last competition for selection for the Commonwealth Games (CWG). From today onwards, till that competition in March is the qualification period,” Bahadur Singh told The Hindu on Monday evening. “But the most important thing is, one should be able to repeat the qualification performance in the last meet before the CWG, the Federation Cup. You can call the event which started in Chennai as part of the qualification system but if you don’t do well in the final competition, there is no use of that. “It is important that you are in good shape just before you go for the CWG.”

Bahadur Singh.

The AFI has laid out a similar policy for the Asian Games and the last competition will be the Inter-State Nationals (planned for July

15-18). For the last few years, many of our top athletes have made the grade in foreign meets… will it be possible for them to repeat their performances in low-quality domestic meets especially if there is none to push them? “If there is a tough competition, of course it is an advantage but if there is nobody, you should still show your calibre and repeat that performance,” said Bahadur. “If an athlete is not able to do even the fourth place performance (of the last Commonwealth Games or the Asiad as the case may be), what is the need to send him? My view is very clear, we must send an athlete who is a medal hope, if performance is poor, nobody should go.”

The results: Tennis: Men (semifinals): Vijay Sundar Prashanth bt Sanjar Fayziev (Uzb) 6-4, 6-2; Doubles (semifinals): Vijay Sundar & Vishnu Vardhan bt Chun Hun Wong & Hong Kit Wong (Hkg) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Women’s doubles (semifinals): Ankita Raina & Prarthana Thombare bt Jessy Rompies & Lavinia Tananta (Ina) 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4. Mixed doubles (final): Nuttanon Kadchapanan & Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (Tha) bt Vishnu Vardhan & Prarthana Thombare 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. Chess: Standings (after four rounds): Men: 1-2. Turkmenistan, Vietnam (6 game points); 3. China (5.5); 5-8. Iran, India, Qatar, Uzbekistan and Bangladesh. Women: 1. Indonesia (7 game points), 2. China (6), 3. India (5.5), 4. Kazakhstan (5). Men (under-23): 1-2. Turkmenistan, India (6 game points), 3-4. Vietnam, China (5.5), 5. Philippines (5), 6. Tajikistan (4.5). Women (under-23): 1. China (7.5 game points), 2-4. India, Kazakhstan, Vietnam (5.5), 5. Indonesia (4.5).

CM YK

A ND-NDE

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18 LIFE

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Riding towards a waste-free tomorrow The La Tricyclerie association has been recognised by the U.N. for its eorts to recycle organic material it’s easy and it doesn’t disrupt the service at all,” she says. Fellow restaurant manager Guenole Clequin says, “It’s simple and very effective.”

Agence France-Presse Nantes

Liam Payne’s next single out on October 20 LONDON

Singer Liam Payne is set to release his next single, Bedroom Floor, on October 20. Payne’s first solo single, Strip That Down, featuring Quavo, released on May 19. Liam and his partner, Cheryl Tweedy, welcomed a son six months ago. “I feel great about what’s going on in my life. I’m extremely lucky,” the singer said. IANS

Ronin star Jan Triska falls to death PRAGUE

Czech-American actor Jan Triska has died, after falling off Prague’s Charles Bridge, Czech media reported. Triska, 80, who fell off the bridge on Saturday and was rescued by two tourists, died in hospital on Sunday. He had acted in movies such as The People vs Larry Flynt and Ronin. AFP

A team of French cyclists has made it their mission to put an end to the unnecessary burning of biodegradable waste, one restaurant at a time. La Tricyclerie, a neat play on the French words for sorting out rubbish, recycling and biking, turns vegetable, coffee, and other organic waste into compost. Launched at the end of 2015, with just eight restaurants on board, the anti-waste tour has grown to include 23 restaurants and nine businesses. Coordinator Valentine Vilboux, 29, travels on her electric bicycle to restaurants in the western city of Nantes, collecting peelings otherwise destined for the bin. “It’s simple; we take everything, even the eggshells and citrus fruits. Everything apart from bread, meat and fish,” she says. This creative initiative, which relies largely on volunteers, has even impressed the United Nations. La Tricyclerie and its founder Coline Billon, 26,

Eco-friendly future: Members of La Tricyclerie association collect organic waste from restaurants in the French town of Nantes. AFP *

are one of the 12 world finalists, whittled down from 2,400 candidates, for the UN’s “Young Champions of the Earth” competition. The prize, to be awarded in November, is $15,000. “It’s very rewarding, even if you don’t feel like you’ve invented something incred-

ible,” says Ms. Vilboux. While paper and glass recycling is becoming automatic for many, biodegradable waste generally ends up in landfill or incinerators in France. This “black gold” could serve as fertiliser for farmers once it’s been composted,

and currently represents a third of French household rubbish. Salad bar manager Colette Marghieri wanted to join the scheme, even though there is no legal obligation to separate biodegradable rubbish. “At the start, I had some doubts about the sorting, but

Community engagement La Tricyclerie, which has two paid staff and about 10 volunteer collectors on bikes, receives a financial contribution of € 40 per month and an annual membership fee of € 50 from each business. “A real community, with the restaurants, has built up around the reduction of rubbish and the creation of compost — we are real environmental actors,” said one of the volunteers, Pierre Briand, while stirring compost. Cyclists call at each restaurant twice a week to pick up the waste. The compost is redistributed free of charge to community gardens or to students of the Nantes horticultural school. La Tricyclerie, which collects around 1.5 tonnes of waste a month, has set itself an objective of reducing the volume of restaurant food waste in the city by 40 %.

Baby panda named after fragrant owers Tokyo zoo celebrates 100 days since birth Reuters Tokyo

Tokyo’s newest baby panda, who is just beginning to crawl, has been named “Xiang Xiang” to evoke the image of petals unfurling. Japan celebrated the birth of the healthy female cub in June, five years after her mother, Shin Shin, lost another cub within days of its birth. It has been nearly three decades since a baby panda at the capital’s Ueno Zoo has survived this long. The name, written with the Chinese character for fragrant, was chosen from more than 3,22,000 suggestions submitted by the public. Most pandas are named at around 100 days of age, which Xiang Xiang reached last week. “This name evokes the idea of fragrance, and it’s extremely cute,” said Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, a former ruling party lawmaker who dealt Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party a historic defeat in Tokyo elections in July. The baby, at birth small

Panda Xiang Xiang.

*

TOKYO

ZOOLOGICAL PARK SOCIETY/REUTERS

enough to fit in the palm of a hand, now has typical panda markings and weighs roughly 6 kg. She can support herself on all fours and is taking tentative steps. Shin Shin and her partner, Ri Ri, arrived from China in February 2011 and went on view soon after the following month’s devastating earthquake, offering a scrap of good news for an anguished nation. A male cub born in 2012 was the first in 24 years at the Ueno Zoo, but six days after its birth, it was found lying motionless on its mother’s belly and efforts to revive it failed.

Robotic fashion: Wear your heartbeats on your sleeve Designer Anouk Wipprecht describes how she pushes boundaries by combining digital technology with haute couture Agence France Presse Milan

Engines tested for plane with largest wingspan LOS ANGELES

A colossal airplane with the world’s largest wingspan — designed to serve as a launching platform for sending rockets into low Earth orbit — has successfully completed its initial engine tests. “In these initial tests, each of the six engines operated as expected,” the spaceflight company Stratolaunch announced. PTI

CM YK

Dutch designer Anouk Wipprecht believes, that hightech fashion is the key to a world in which people stop telling themselves little lies about their emotions. Her creations — which combine digital technology with haute couture — play with social norms and aim to engineer a cold-turkey solution to our dearest deceptions, she said. The 32-year-old has already seen her stuff worn by former Black Eyed Peas

Magic in the air: Wearable tech by Anouk Wipprecht. *

TWITTER/@ANOUKWIPPRECHT

star Fergie during a performance at the American football extravaganza, the Super Bowl. She has also created

3D printed outfits for Canadian super troupe Cirque du Soleil. Yet, one of her most deviously disruptive designs is a piece she is developing with crystal-maker Swarovski that uses built-in sensors to blink in time with the wearer’s heart beat. It sounds simple, and maybe even poetic to put one’s vital force on display, but it also is incredibly revealing. Imagine wearing the thing while talking to a special someone you’d like to be

more than just friends with or how about a job interview? They’ll be able to see that your heart is pounding with fear or excitement. “It’s sort of almost like you are having goosebumps, you cannot control it or you start to be red in your face. So in a really pure sense, you are able to broadcast your emotions,” she said. “If you are wearing your heartbeat on your sleeve it is a really pure thing. It also gets you in a lot of really awkward situations that for me are super interesting.”

This fascination with where human behaviour and digital couture meet has already led Ms. Wipprecht to conjure similarly striking experiments.

Experimentation is key One of the most famous is called, appropriately enough, the “Spider Dress”. The 3D printed garment is topped with a collar that is studded with robotic spider legs. The legs jump out, or “attack” as Ms. Wipprecht says, when someone moves too far into the wearer’s per-

sonal space. Yet, after showing off the dress in Europe, China and the United States she has made some interesting discoveries. “People in the Netherlands, they go very fast, very close by, while in America they are more gentlemen... they stand further away,” she said. Her journey to a creator’s life, lived mostly in New York and California’s Silicon Valley, started early for Ms. Wipprecht. She was about 14 years old when she fell in love with fashion because it’s “express-

ive and you can communicate with it” and began to study design. Then came her discovery of robotics. “For me the robots had basically a brain and a heartbeat. That’s what I wanted my fabrics and garments to have,” she said. She is optimistic that her work will one day lead to a ready-to-wear collection coming down the catwalk, but at the moment she is focused on pushing boundaries: “The things I do are out there to provoke and to be more experimental.”

A ND-NDE

tuesday O september 26, 2017

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thehindu.com facebook.com/thehindu twitter.com/the_hindu CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

10 new foot over-bridges

Drive against encroachment

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Stalled for around eight months, PWD will now start work on 10 new foot over-bridges Page 2

The three municipal corporations kick started a special anti-encroachment drive on Monday Page 3

Director Amit V Masurkar on the making of Newton, India’s entry for the 90th Academy Awards Page 5

The Panasonic EX600D is a 4K HDR TV with great picture quality but has some tough competition Page 6

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IN BRIEF

Protests, call for freedom after BHU violence Several organisations and student groups take to streets in protest against the lathi charge on girl students at varsity

IIT graduate leaps to death in Gurugram Staff Reporter GURUGRAM

Woman, sister-in-law killed at Wazirabad home NEW DELHI

A 24-year-old woman and her cousin’s wife were murdered at their residence in north Delhi’s Wazirabad in the early hours of Monday. The prime suspect is the victim’s cousin and husband of the other victim who is absconding, the police said. Sonia’s body was found in the washroom and her sister-inlaw, Premlata, was found with her throat slit. CITY

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DCW gives ₹25 lakh relief to rape victim NEW DELHI

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The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Monday announced a compensation of ₹25 lakh for a minor who was raped in 2011. The Women’s Commission said that the initiative had been taken after a mandate by the Juvenile Justice Board, which asked the panel to compensate the girl for a healthy upbringing. CITY

Dramatic scenes: Activists of NSUI stage a protest against police action on students of BHU, on Monday. They were detained before they reached Shastri Bhawan as the police had barricaded the road from the NSUI oce on Raisina Road to the MHRD oce; (right) members of ABVP, who also staged a protest, were detained by the security sta . V. SUDERSHAN/ PTI Staff Reporter NEW DELHI

Several student groups and progressive organisations took to the streets in the Capital on Monday to protest against the lathi charge on women students at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) who were demanding better safety measures on campus.

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Member of Neeraj Bawana gang arrested NEW DELHI

A 31-year-old man member of the notorious Neeraj Bawana gang, who is wanted in a case of robbery, has been arrested, the police said on Monday. Ravinder, who holds an MBA degree, is a resident of Paharganj. He was arrested by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police last week. “Ravinder was wanted in a case of robbery at gun point in Janakpur on August 10,” said the police. PTI

‘Attitude needs change’ Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA), said that “not just in BHU but across the country, vicechancellors of universities think that in order to ensure the safety of women, they need to kill the freedom of women.” Addressing protesters at Jantar Mantar, she called for a change in this attitude. “The BHU administration says security and freedom can't be given together. We

‘Consent key in dening assault’ Is a yes or no really yes or no, asks HC Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI

Is a ‘yes' or 'no' from a woman to a sexual act really a 'yes' or 'no', the Delhi High Court has asked. The debate is a part of an 82-page judgment which acquits filmmaker Mahmood Farooqui in a rape case on the benefit of doubt that he might have misread the 'no' of the woman as a 'yes'. In normal parlance, consent would mean voluntary agreement of a woman to engage in sexual activity without being abused or exploited by coercion or threats, Justice Ashutosh Kumar, who authored the verdict, observed.

‘Consent key factor’ The consent can be revoked at any moment. “Thus, sexual consent would be the key factor in defining sexual assault as any sexual activity without consent would be rape,” the judgment explained on Monday. On the “various models of sexual consent”, the judge started with the “traditional and the most accepted” one, which is the “affirmative model” where a “yes is yes and no is no”. But the judgment went on to tackle a situation where a woman's affirmative consent or positive denial is not asserted, but conveyed in an “underlying/dormant” fashion, leading to a “confusion in the mind of the other”. Gender influence The court then noted that there are “differences between how men and CM YK

normal < > The construct is that man is the initiator of sexual interaction. He performs the active part whereas a woman is, by and large, non-verbal. Justice Ashutosh kumar

women initiate and reciprocate sexual consent”. “The normal construct is that man is the initiator of sexual interaction. He performs the active part whereas a woman is, by and large, non-verbal. Thus, gender relations influence sexual consent,” Justice Kumar noted.

Act of passion But this may not be true in the case of modern society where gender equality is the “buzzword”, Justice Kumar added. The court took into account how individuals react differently “in an act of passion, actuated by libido”. It observed that “myriad circumstances” influence consent, and a 'yes' or a 'no' may actually mean the opposite.

say security of our freedom is our constitutional right, and no government and no Vice -Chancellor has the right to take that away,” said Ms. Krishnan. At the same event, Geeta Kumari, the president of the JNU students’ union, said that the events at BHU show that the administration of universities are not sensitive about gender issues and are hence not capable of dealing with complaints of sexual harassment. “This shows that JNU's fight for keeping alive its Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) is an important one as universities across the country need similar committees that can deal with complaints of sexual harassment in a proper manner,” said Ms. Kumari. An activist from Pinjra Tod, Ritika, said: “They im-

pose curfew timings on women, they deny non-vegetarian food in their mess, then they allow rampant humiliation and derogatory comments about women. And now, when women are demanding justice against molestation, lathi charge is being ordered. That's patriarchy presented before you.”

NSUI detained The National Students Union of India (NSUI) took out a protest march on Monday against the HRD Ministry. However, they were detained before they reached Shastri Bhawan as the police had barricaded the road from the NSUI office on Raisina Road to the MHRD office. The NSUI submitted a memorandum to the Ministry asking for the resignation of the BHU V-C and an inquiry under a sitting High Court judge.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also staged a protest against the lathi charge on the students by the police and demanded the constitution of a factfinding panel. The NSUI claimed that while they were detained even before they could reach the Ministry, the ABVP was allowed to protest outside the Ministry before being detained.

‘Two-faced’ Many left-leaning student groups accused the RSSbacked ABVP of being “twofaced”, as the BHU V-C, who was openly am RSS supporter, did not address the concerns of the students. ABVP national media convener Saket Bahuguna said that the organisation works for the student community and not for any political party.

AAP govt calls police action ‘shameful’ Party says safety is the right of students Staff Reporter New Delhi

The violence against women students at Banaras Hindu University in Uttar Pradesh shows the inhuman and brutal face of the BJP government, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said on Monday. Senior AAP leader Ashutosh said that it is extremely unfortunate and shameful that the UP police used violence against women students who were only protesting against alleged molestation on campus. “Instead of taking action against the molesters, the authorities ignored all pro-

‘Didn’t believe stories against Baba’ Kin of ‘rape victim’ say they were initially staunch followers of Falahari Maharaj Ashok Kumar ALWAR

Blinded by their faith and unshakeable trust in self-styled godman Kaushalendra Prapannacharya Falahari Maharaj — who has been arrested for allegedly raping a young law intern — the family of the victim never paid heed to stories casting doubts on the Baba’s character till it happened to their own girl.

Lewd comments Speaking to The Hindu over phone, the uncle of the survivor recalled how they had heard several stories, directly and indirectly, about the Baba passing lewd comments on his young women followers, but never actually believed them.

The uncle, a journalist, said their families were staunch followers of Baba and, therefore, people usually did not discuss such stories in their presence. “Still we heard a few stories, but never paid attention to them. We dismissed them as stories concocted by those jealous of Baba’s growing popularity,” recalled the uncle, who has been Baba’s follower for almost three decades. However, the family was left shattered when the girl revealed her ordeal, 20 days after the incident in August. The girl slipped into depression and her father was gripped by suicidal thoughts, said the victim’s uncle. He added that the matter

was discussed and deliberated among the most staunch followers of Baba in Bilaspur before the family eventually decided to report the matter to the police.

‘We discussed impact’ They discussed the possible impact of the case on the girl's career and social life. There was also allegedly a suggestion to just warn Baba and not report the matter to the police. “But being a journalist, I suggested that we pursue it legally,” said the uncle, who now suspects there could be more such cases. Days before she told her parents, the victim had alluded to the incident to her brother, who works with a

private bank in Delhi. He then posted on social media cautioning people against the self-styled godman. It alerted Falahari Maharaj as well, and he called the girl's uncle to find out whether the family had any hint of the incident. But the family had no knowledge about it then and Baba was rest assured.

Political connections After the zero FIR was registered at Bilaspur, the family ensured most of the legal formalities and probe was done by the Chattisgarh Police itself before it was transferred to Alwar. “We knew how well connected Baba was. We feared the Rajasthan Police might not conduct a fair probe,” said the uncle.

tocol and barged into the campus during the wee hours to beat up the students,” Mr. Ashutosh said.

FIR against 1,200 He said that the women students were only raising their voice against molestation, demanding safety on campus, which is their right. “Action should have been taken against the men, who molested the woman. But the BJP-ruled State government and the university acted against the protesters. FIRs were registered against 1,200 students. This is shameful,” he said.

A 26-year-old IIT-Kanpur graduate allegedly leaped to his death from the 23rd floor of a high-rise at DLF Magnolias here early on Sunday. Ankit Wadhwa, a resident of Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, had come to Gurugram to appear for his GMAT exam in Delhi on Monday. He was staying at his paternal uncle's flat on Golf Course Road. He went to his room after dinner around 10:30 p.m. and was allegedly found dead on the ground floor four hours later. The matter came to light when the security guard heard a loud thud and discovered the body lying in a pool of blood. No suicide note has been found, the police said.

‘He was depressed’ His uncle and aunt and the couple's son and daughterin-law were inside the flat when the alleged incident took place around 2:00 a.m. Station House Officer, Sushant Lok Police Station, Inspector Gaurav Phogat said that Ankit had been depressed for over a year and was undergoing treatment for the same. “He had some career-related issues and was depressed,” said Mr. Phogat. He had earlier worked with J.P Morgan company in Mumbai for over two years, said the police. The family has been informed about the incident and the body will be handed over to them after post-mortem, the police said.

Honeypreet moves HC for anticipatory bail Lookout notice was issued against her Press Trust of India New Delhi

Honeypreet Insan, who has been on the run following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in two rape cases, on Monday approached the Delhi High Court seeking transit anticipatory bail, her lawyer said.

Honeypreet Insan with Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

Tops ‘wanted’ list Priyanka Taneja alias Honeypreet, the adopted daughter of the jailed Dera chief, tops the list of 43 persons 'wanted' by the Haryana Police in connection with incidents of violence that had followed Ram Rahim's con-

viction in the rape cases. Earlier, a lookout notice was issued against Honeypreet by the police. The CBI court on August 28 had sentenced Ram Rahim to 20 years in prison for raping two of his disciples in 2002.

School reopens 2 weeks after murder Security measures in place at Ryan International; over 800 students attend class Staff Reporter GURUGRAM

The Bhondsi branch of Ryan International School opened again on Monday, over two weeks after the murder of a Class II student on its premises. The district administration claimed that around 850 students attended school, which has a strength of around 1,200.

Washrooms separated District Education Officer, Gurugram, Ram Kumar Phalaswal said that most of the security guidelines mandated by the CBSE and Haryana government were put in place. Around 40 CCTV cameras were installed across the campus and the parents appeared satisfied with the efforts of the administration. Mr. Phalaswal, who was present at the morning as-

A close watch: As many as 40 CCTV cameras have now been installed across the school campus. MANOJ KUMAR *

sembly, said a gazetted officer was appointed on behalf of the Deputy Commissioner to be present during the school hours every day to ensure that there was no violation of security guidelines. He further said that washrooms for the students and

the support staff were separated and an attendant each was deployed outside the toilets in view of the security of the students.

GPS in buses “GPS and CCTVs have been installed in most of the school buses. Only those

buses plied today [Monday] that were fitted with GPS and CCTVs,” claimed Mr. Phalaswal. He said that the bus conductors would undergo three days’ training at Red Cross Society and also get their licences made. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced earlier this month that the administration of the school would be taken over by the Deputy Commissioner for three months to ensure that all security measures were put in place and the confidence of the parents was restored. The school had earlier been opened on September 18, 10 days after the murder. However, the district administration later decided to close it down for four more days since the parents were not satisfied with the security. B ND-NDE

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2 CITY

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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IN BRIEF

PWD to begin work on 10 new foot over-bridges Plans stalled for around eight months; the structures will help decongest, gradually pedestrianise city

AAP accuses PWD secy of corruption

Jatin Anand New Delhi

HC urges govt to make policy for artisans NEW DELHI

The Delhi HC on Monday directed the AAP government and the local bodies to formulate a policy for allocating land for the work of artisans who come here to make and sell their wares like idols during festivals, and to consider providing temporary housing to them. PTI

600 sites for STPs identified, says govt About 600 sites have been identified for setting up decentralised sewage treatment plants (STPs), with a focus on unauthorised colonies and villages, CM Arvind Kejriwal was informed by the Delhi Jal Board on Monday. The STPs would produce treated water that would be used for recharging water bodies. STAFF REPORTER

NGT asks for report on Yamuna cleaning NEW DELHI

The National Green Tribunal asked the State government and the Delhi Jal Board to submit a status report on the progress of the work in the first phase of cleaning the river Yamuna. A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar asked to file a comprehensive report on the project, which aims to bring down pollution levels in the Najafgarh and Delhi Gate drains. PTI

After almost a year of multiple meetings and a dispute with civic bodies over the possibility of generating advertising revenue through them, the decks have finally been cleared for the Public Works Department (PWD) to undertake the construction of 10 new foot over-bridges (FOBs) across the Capital. According to a source, the 10 FOBs in question, which were stalled for around eight months, are among a total number of 24 such installations proposed as a significant measure to decongest, and gradually pedestrianise, the Capital. Currently, there are 75 FOBs in the Capital with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government having allocated a sum of ₹800 crore in its budget for the 2017-18 fiscal for the construction of more such structures.

PPP mode “There was a view within the Department that these FOBs should be built on PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) mode with an aim to earning revenue through advertising from them which, however, is against the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority [EPCA] rules,” said a source. Not ready to budge “The underlying idea was to recover the entire cost of construction of these FOBs through the resulting rev-

Says private rms being favoured Staff Reporter New Delhi

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Burari Sanjeev Jha on Monday levelled corruption allegations against the Public Works Department (PWD) secretary saying that development projects were stuck and certain private companies were being favoured while issuing tenders.

enue, which, in theory, seems sound but is against laid out guidelines which were reiterated in the meetings by the civic bodies and other government departments concerned. But neither the civic bodies nor the Delhi government were in the mood to budge from their respective positions leading to a stalemate,” the source claimed further. A senior government official pointed out a recent directive from a Supreme Court Bench of Justices M.B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta which had directed the expeditious implementation of a new outdoor advertisement

policy framed by the EPCA in addition to a clause necessitating the permission of local civic bodies for the erection of any hoardings.

Bone of contention The court had said that no advertisement shall be erected, exhibited, fixed or retained “upon or over any land, building, wall, hoarding, frame, post or structure or upon or in any vehicle or shall be displayed within the jurisdiction of municipal corporations of Delhi or the New Delhi Municipal Council without written permission of the commissioner or the chairman of respective

body” which, the official said, was the core of the civic bodies’ argument against the Delhi government’s. Among the upcoming foot over-bridges, the one at Saket Metro Station, which sees an estimated daily footfall of 27,500 pedestrians, has seen completion of 80% of work, one at Najafgarh near Janakpuri (west) Metro Station, which sees an estimated daily footfall of 7,500 pedestrians, has seen completion of 75% of work. The one at Swarn Nagar near Mundka, which sees an estimated daily footfall of 6,600 pedestrians, has seen completion of 40% of con-

French company Mr. Jha alleged that a foot over-bridge project in Jahangirpuri was stuck by PWD secretary Ashwani Kumar for over a year to favour a French company. “The foot over-bridge opposite the Jahangirpuri hospital was supposed to have been completed by now. The tender for this project was floated last year, but the work was stuck because of corrupt practices in the PWD,” Mr. Jha alleged.

struction work. Foot over-bridges at Africa Avenue near Mohammad Pur Village, Kamal T-point (near restaurant) New Rohtak Road, Ullan Bator Marg, Khampur village on NH-44 and the Kirti Nagar Metro station are yet to get started with construction work. “The department has, finally, been given the goahead to draw up the necessary plans for new FOBs and speed up the construction of these where it has already begun, at 10 locations in Delhi which, hopefully, will be completed by the end of the current fiscal,” said the source.

Quality assurance unit He said that an investigation was carried out by his team against Mr. Kumar where it was allegedly revealed that Mr. Kumar had come up with a fixed formula under which no official under his department proceed with any project without taking

money in return. “The government had earlier appointed a quality assurance unit (QAU) in the PWD, which was responsible for undertaking quality checks of the projects initiated by the department and provide an update of work to the Delhi government. This was being done to ensure proper work. However, when Mr. Kumar took over, he did away with this unit. Despite several reminders by the government to bring this unit back, nothing was done,” Mr. Jha said.

Letter to CM He also said that apart from this project, several other projects across the city were stuck. Mr. Jha said that he has written to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and has requested him to take strict action against the “corrupt” official. Mr. Jha also alleged that the PWD secretary has also stopped the government’s initiative to install CCTV cameras across the Capital for the safety of women, to provide benefits to two private companies. Mr. Kumar, however, denied the allegations calling it baseless.

Vijender demands rollback AAP objects to hiring of lawyers by Services Dept. Questions why they need a separate set of advocates; asks L-G to stop recruitment process of hike in fuel VAT rates Staff Reporter

Says rise ‘avoidable and motivated by greed’ Staff Reporter New Delhi

Terming it “unjust and irrational”, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta on Monday demanded that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government roll back the hike in VAT on petrol and diesel which, he alleged, was increased twice during its regime. The increase on both the occasions, according to the Rohini legislator, were “avoidable and motivated by greed” for increase in revenue despite Delhi being a revenue-rich State.

‘Robbed Delhiities’ “In 2015, VAT was increased on petrol from 20% to 25% and on diesel from 12.5% to 16.6%. The increase was announced as soon as the Central government reduced the rate of petrol and diesel by ₹2 each. It, in fact,

Vijender Gupta

robbed the city consumers of the benefit given by the Central government,” Mr. Gupta alleged. According to the leader, in 2016, these rates were further increased from 25% to 27% and from 16.6% to 18%, respectively, on petrol and diesel. The government, he alleged, had defended the decision saying that it was necessary to bring the uniformity in tax rates in northern States and, in effect, “robbed Delhiities” on the

pretext of protecting the financial interest of neighbouring States. “Before shedding crocodile tears on price rise of 7% and 5.5.% on these two commodities, Chief Minister Kejriwal must admit his government’s mistakes as to how it robbed Delhiities of the benefit of reduced petrol and diesel prices, and how it needlessly increased VAT rates joining northern States for bringing uniformity in tax rates. The increase in both the instances was absolutely uncalled for,” he alleged. Mr. Gupta argued that State Finance Minister Manish Sisodia had, in his Budget speech, claimed that Delhi was a revenue surplus State. “Therefore, the two aforesaid impositions of VAT on Delhiities are absolutely unjustified. The BJP had protested even when these irrational increases were forced,” he said.

NEW DELHI

After the Services Department, which reports directly to the Lieutenant-Governor, started the process of hiring its own lawyers against the opinion of the Law Department earlier this month, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday asked L-G Anil Baijal to put the recruitment on hold. Mr. Sisodia, who is the Minister in-charge of Services, wrote to Mr. Baijal that he was “shocked” to see that the Services Department had on September 14 invited applications for standing counsels and additional standing counsels since the Delhi gov-

ernment already has standing counsels, additional standing counsels and a panel of advocates. These, Mr. Sisodia, wrote were appointed by the LieutenantGovernor following an elaborate process. He added that the lawyers hired by the government catered to all its departments.

‘Was not aware’ “Then why does Services Department need a separate set of advocates? I am all the more shocked because I am Minister (in-charge) of Services and I am completely in dark. I have no idea about it,” he wrote. Further, he said that when

he asked to see the file, he was told by the officers that they would not show it to him upon instructions by the L-G. Asking to see the file, he urged Mr. Baijal to put the recruitment on hold till he has a chance to go through the proposal and give his opinion.

ment are fighting against each other.

cases

‘Concerns unfounded’ In its opinion, the Law Department wrote that the Services Department’s apprehension that it would find it difficult to get a brief transmission form (BTF) issued for the counsel of its choice was “unfounded”. Earlier this year, two Delhi government counsels, one being former Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Rahul Mehra, ended up at a hearing in a case regarding the Delhi Assembly secretary. The Law Department, however, said that it cleared up that matter by issuing direc-

‘Serious legal infirmities’ Referring to the Law Department’s opinion on the file, Mr. Sisodia said the recruitment process suffered from “serious legal infirmities”. This issue has cropped up since the Lieutenant-Governor, who represents the Delhi government, and the Aam Aadmi Party govern-

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Jazzy aair

NEW DELHI

AAP councillors seek formal reply from BJP-ruled civic body New Delhi

The meeting of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) House was disrupted on Monday after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sought an explanation from the BJP-ruled civic body on the Ghazipur landfill collapse earlier this month. AAP councillors demanded that the EDMC give a formal reply on what caused the collapse and why did the corporation fail to act when the landfill was operating beyond its capacity for several years now. “It was almost like the civic body was waiting for a mishap and to get a sanction for a new landfill site,” the AAP councillors said. EDMC’s Leader of the Opposition Abdul Rehman said that since this was the first meeting after the incident in which two people lost their lives, was expected to come up in the agenda of the meeting. However, the BJP conveniently tried to brush the incident under the carpet and allegedly wanted to escape giving a formal reply, he CM YK

oered them < > Itohad take up the matter after the day’s agenda was discussed, but they were adamant and created a ruckus Neema Bhagat East Delhi Mayor

said. “I told the Mayor that we must first discuss as to what had happened, and what could be done to avoid such incidents in future. But she said that we must first discuss the agendas of discussion. We protested against this after which she called off the meeting,” Mr. Rehman said. The next meeting has been scheduled for September 29. The landfill had hit its capacity in the year 2000, and at the time of the collapse had a height of 49 metres as opposed to the 20 metres capacity.

No solution yet AAP councillors alleged that the BJP has been in power in the municipalities for over a decade now and it is shock-

ing that they have not found a solution for the overflowing landfills. The Opposition demanded that the BJP-led municipality take responsibility for the incident and guarantee that such incidents will not happen in the future and if it does, the corporation, including the Mayor will be responsible. “The BJP wants to blame everything on the Delhi government. But, the land for the landfill needs to be sanctioned by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which comes under the BJP. Then why did they not proceed with an alternative,” Mr. Rehman asked. East Delhi Mayor Neema Bhagat said that a formal action report was offered to the Opposition, but they insisted to have the discussion in the beginning only to waste time. “I had offered them to take up the matter after the day’s agenda was discussed, but they were adamant and created a ruckus because of which the proceedings had to be called off,” Ms. Bhagat said.

DU prof. suspended over FB post Staff Reporter

EDMC meeting disrupted after din over landll issue Soumya Pillai

tions to both Mr. Mehra and the additional standing counsel, in whose name the BTF was first issued. The Law Department further said that whenever the Services Department asked for a particular counsel to be assigned, the request was agreed to. Though the Law Department recommended rejecting the proposal, the Services Department went ahead with its public notice inviting applications. Responding to the development, a spokesperson for Raj Niwas reiterated that services was a reserved subject and that the Services Department was entitled to have its own legal panel.

Musical night: Enthusiasts at the 7th Delhi Jazz International Festival at Nehru Park in the Capital.

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V.V. KRISHNAN

Over 90 schools return ‘75% of excess fee’ Another 20-odd schools to comply with High Court order within two weeks Press Trust of India New Delhi

Over 90 private schools of the city on Monday claimed in the Delhi High Court that they have complied with its order to deposit 75% of the excess fees charged by them. Another 20-odd schools said they would deposit 75% of the amount within a period of two days to two weeks, as recommended to be refunded to the students by the Justice Anil Dev Singh

Committee set up by the court. A Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Najmi Waziri protected the schools, which claimed they had deposited the money with the HC registry, from any coercive action subject to their claims being verified by the Delhi government. It also said that those schools which deposit the money within the time stated before the court, will also be protected from any

coercive action after their claims are verified by the Directorate of Education (DoE). The Bench asked the DoE of the Delhi government to verify the claims of deposit in all the matters and inform the court on October 27, the next date of hearing.

Plea withdrawn Meanwhile, the Action Committee, an association representing several hundred private schools which had

challenged the Dev Singh committee’s recommendations, withdrew its plea after the court said that several of its members have raised similar grievances in their respective petitions. “There is no need for multiplicity of proceedings,” the Bench said. Delhi government standing counsel Ramesh Singh told the Bench that till September 22, around ₹60 crore were deposited by 61 private schools.

Kedar Kumar Mandal, an assistant professor at Dayal Sigh College, was suspended on Monday over a Facebook post, college governing body chairman Amitabh Sinha said. Professor Mandal had posted on social media “Durga is the very much sexy prostitutr in the Indian Methology (sic)”, a comment criticised by a large section of society. Offended by the Facebook post, members of the National Democratic Teachers Front lodged a complaint against Mr. Mandal at Lodhi Road police station on Saturday. Mr. Sinha said that the governing body of the college has set up a four-member committee to probe the incident and decide on the quantum of punishment. “Until the committee submits its report, Prof. Mandal has been suspended from entering the college,” said Mr. Sinha. He added that the decision was taken keeping in mind — public sentiment, law and order issue on campus as well as the safety of Prof. Mandal. The college said a notice summoning him for the meeting on Monday to offer a justification was sent to Prof. Mandal’s official address, but he was not available to collect it. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad also organised a protest outside the college to call for the suspension of the professor. B ND-NDE

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THE HINDU

CITY 3

NOIDA/DELHI

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Woman, sister-in-law killed at home Screwdriver, knife used in crime found at spot; hunt launched for cousin, prime suspect in the case Hemani Bhandari NEW DELHI

Over 850 dengue cases reported in Capital NEW DELHI

At least 894 fresh cases of dengue have been reported in the city over the last week, taking the number of the people affected by the vector-borne disease this season to 3,109, according to a municipal report released on Monday. The number of malaria and chikungunya cases recorded in the city till September 23 stood at 954 and 533 respectively. PTI

Illegal arms dealer arrested in city NEW DELHI

A suspected gunrunner, Khajanchi Singh (50), was arrested on Monday with four firearms procured from Siwan in Bihar, police said. Two 7.65 bore pistols, three magazines, ten 7.65 bore rounds, two 315 bore country made pistols, four 315 bore rounds and ten 12 bore rounds were seized from the illegal dealer, Joy Tirkey, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), said. During questioning, the accused told the police, he had procured the weapons from Siwan in Bihar in January. PTI

Man caught with live bullets at IGI airport NEW DELHI

A man was apprehended at the Delhi airport on Monday for allegedly carrying 10 live bullets in his bag, an official said. “Bullet rounds of .32 calibre were recovered from his bag. He was handed over to the police as he could not produce the valid documents for carrying it,” a senior official said. The man was supposed to take a flight to Bengaluru, the official added.PTI

A 24-year-old woman and her cousin’s wife were murdered at their residence in north Delhi’s Wazirabad in the early hours of Monday. The prime suspect in the murder is the victim’s cousin and husband of the other victim who is absconding, the police said. Sonia’s body with over 15 stab injuries was found in the washroom of her house in Gali number 6 and her sister-in-law, Premlata, was found with her throat slit. The screwdriver and knife used for committing the crime was found at the spot by the police.

Phone switched off Sonia’s father Raj Kumar said he was calling on her number since morning but nobody responded. He called on Premlata’s number too, but it was not reachable. Mr. Kumar then tried the cellphone number of Premlata’s husband Mohit and found it to be switched off. Worried, he called the tenant living on the upper floor of the house to check why no one was answering the phone. The tenant found the door latched from outside and as opened it, she saw blood and Premlata body on the floor. Scared, she ran to the owner of the restaurant adjacent to the house and informed him about what she saw. The man came to the house, saw the body, and immediately approached Mr Kumar’s friend Rohtash Singh who lives nearby. “I saw Premlata’s body, went inside and saw Sonia in a pool of blood in the toilet. I immediately called the police,” he said. ‘Surgery on Sept. 17’ According to the family, only

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11-year-old was brutally raped in 2011

I saw Premlata’s body on the oor, went inside the house and saw Sonia dead in the washroom. I immediately called the police

STAFF REPORTER NEW DELHI

Rohtash Singh Family friend

the two victims and Mohit were staying in the house as Mr. Kumar and his son Shailendra (20) had left for Kanpur to attend a family function on Saturday. Mr. Kumar said his daughter Sonia had undergone a surgery on September 17 and he had called his sister’s son Mohit and his wife Premlata to take care of his daughter. “My son went to Kanpur and brought them here earlier last week to take care of the house and Sonia. On Monday, she had to go for the second round of dressing which is why I was trying to reach them to check on her,” said Mr. Kumar who reached Delhi late Monday evening. An empty liquor bottle was found in the house which made the police suspect that Mohit, who wasn’t at home and his phone was also switched off, had consumed it. Mr. Rohtash said that Mohit visited a neighbour’s house on Sunday evening. “Which means everything was alright till that time,” he said. According to the family, Mohit and Premlata got married in April this year. DCP (North) Jatin Narwal said a case under Section 302 (punishment for murder) has been registered and the police are looking for Mohit. “The prime suspect is on the run. It appears that he has taken the wife’s phone with him. The phone has been put on technical surveillance,” he said.

Crime scene: Police outside the residence in north Delhi’s Wazirabad where the two women were murdered on Monday. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

Father not ready to accept nephew’s role in murder Says he will wait for the investigation to reveal the truth Staff Reporter NEW DELHI

Raj Kumar, the father of one of the victims, Sonia, and the maternal uncle of Mohit, who is the prime suspect in the case, finds it difficult to believe that his nephew could kill his cousin sister and his wife. Not ready to accept him as the murderer, Mr. Kumar said he will wait for the investigation to reveal the truth. “So far, I don’t think he has done it. We have known him for too long. But he is running away from the po-

lice which makes him a suspect,” said Mr. Kumar. According to Sonia’s family, Mohit was working with a private firm in South India before he got married to Premlata in April. After marriage, he was jobless and sitting at home, Mr. Kumar said, giving the reason why he called Mohit and his wife to Delhi from Kanpur to take care of Sonia who had recently undergone a surgery.

Marriage plan Mr. Kumar said he had planned to get his daughter

married next year. “She had completed her Masters in Hindi from Kanpur University this year and we were thinking of her marriage. We were going to start looking for a groom,” he said. Remembering the last conversation he had with his daughter, Mr Kumar said that he spoke to her around 4:30 pm on Sunday. “I called Sonia to check on her health. She said everything was fine. I also spoke to Premlata and asked her if Mohit was at home, she said he had gone out,” he said.

HC rejects Chadha’s plea on retweets

Two held with drugs worth ₹20 cr

Says his argument ‘devoid of merit’

Staff Reporter NEW DELHI

Press Trust of India NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed AAP leader Raghav Chadha’s plea that he cannot be made to face a criminal case only for retweeting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s post against Union Minister Arun Jaitley in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) row. Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal, however, did not go into the question whether the retweets by Mr. Chadha would constitute an offence of defamation, saying the issue would have to be decided during trial. The court dismissed Mr. Chadha’s plea, saying it was “devoid of merit”.

Trial court summons The case came to the High Court on the direction of the Supreme Court which had on September 15 asked it to decide by September 25, the AAP leader’s plea against the trial court’s summoning order. Mr. Chadha in his plea had sought setting aside of a trial court order summoning him as an accused in the criminal defamation case filed by Mr. Jaitley against him and five other AAP leaders, including Mr. Kejriwal. Apart from Mr. Chadha and Mr. Kejriwal, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay

Raghav Chadha

Singh and Deepak Bajpai are also accused in the criminal defamation case filed by the BJP leader. Mr. Chadha had moved the apex court against the High Court’s July 11 order refusing to stay the lower court proceedings against him in the defamation matter. In his plea, Mr. Chadha had raised the question before the High Court as to whether the trial court could have summoned him without determining if the alleged defamatory statements, which were purportedly made through Twitter, were covered under the penal provisions of defamation under the IPC.

Defamation suit Mr. Kejriwal and other AAP leaders are facing a criminal defamation suit after they had alleged that Mr. Jaitley was involved in corrupt practices when he was the president of the DDCA, a post he had held from 2000 to 2013.

DELHI TODAY Talk: “Global Sustainable Development: Role of Science, Technology and Innovation” by Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientic Advisor, Government of India at Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre (IHC), 7 p.m. Talk: Dr. Bibek Debroy, Member, Niti Aayog and Sairee Chahal, Founder, Sheroes, in conversation with Geetanjali Pandit on her new book, `Buddha at Work’ at Conference Room – I, India International Centre (IIC), 6:30 p.m. Music and Dance: Smriti – An Indian Classical Music & Dance Festival. Sitar recital by Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, followed by a Kathak group performance choreographed by Jai Kishan Maharajat at The Stein Auditorium, IHC, 7 p.m. Music: Concert by Varsovia Piano Trio – Ewa Skardowska on piano; Adam Zarzycki on violin; and Piotr Hausenplas on cello at C.D. Deshmukh Auditorium, IIC 6:30 p.m. Exhibition: “Forms and Feelings” -

CM YK

group show of sculptures and paintings by four talented artists at Shridharani Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Exhibition: A group show by paintings by Shahed Pasha and Talat Sahkeel at All India Fine Arts & Craft Society (AIFACS), 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Culture: Navarathri Music Festival. Vocal by disciples of Lalita Anand at Ram Mandap, Y Avenue, Institutional Area, 7 p.m. Culture: Navaratri Celebrations: Shukla Shashti Homam – Murgan Abhishekam, 8 a.m. — 11 a.m. at Shri Ganesh Sewa Samaj. Screening: “Les regles du jeu” French lm screening with English subtitles at M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 10 a.m. (Mail your listings for this column at [email protected])

Violators feel the heat: A car being towed away by the civic authorities.

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Over 200 vehicles impounded On Day 1 of anti-encroachment drive at no-tolerance zones Staff Reporter New Delhi

The three municipal corporations (east, north and south), along with the Delhi Traffic Police, started a special anti-encroachment drive on Monday to remove illegally parked vehicles at 29 ‘No Tolerance Zones’ identified by them.

Cranes, trucks used A total of 238 vehicles were impounded on Day 1 -- 142 by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), 75 by the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and 21 were towed away by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation.

DCW gives ₹25 lakh relief to rape victim

Around 38 cranes and around a dozen trucks were used for the drive by the civic bodies and around 50 licensing inspectors were deployed for the task. The 29 stretches include Aurobindo Marg, Mathura Road, Savitri Flyover, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, Dhaula Kuan, Sardar Patel Marg, Najafgarh Road, Pankha Road, Vikas Marg, Ring Road (from Vijay Nagar to Burari Chowk), and Outer Ring Road (between Hanuman Setu and Chandgi Ram Akhara and Bhalswa Road and Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar). Residents across the city

welcomed the move by the authorities to decongest the roads and many said the drive should be expanded to other areas as well.

Move welcomed B.S. Vohra, the president of East Delhi Resident Welfare Association Joint Front, said that it was a good move, which will not only help reduce traffic but will also control pollution in the city. “However, if people know that the police and the civic bodies are only targeting the 29 stretches then they will park their vehicles in areas around it. This should be a pan-Delhi initiative,” Mr. Vohra said.

The Delhi Police Special Cell on Monday claimed to have arrested two drug traffickers and seized four kilograms of heroine and 10 kg opium with a combined worth of over ₹20 crore. The consignments were being sent from Manipur packed inside a secret compartment in the trucks and were meant to be delivered to various parts of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, said the police. They added that the arrested men have been identified as Sukhwinder Singh and Vinay Jain.

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Monday announced a compensation of ₹25 lakh for a minor who was raped in 2011. The Women’s Commission said that the initiative had been taken after a mandate by the Juvenile Justice Board, which asked the panel to compensate the girl for a healthy upbringing. The amount was decided by the DCW after examining the minor’s medical history and the family’s financial condition. The 11-year-old daughter of a rickshaw puller was brutally assaulted when she was five years old. “On an average, the father earns ₹300 per day and the mother is a housewife. The father informed that he was unable to arrange funds for scans which were due,” said the DCW. The minor was abducted by an unknown person from outside her house and savegely raped in a nearby park. “The perpetrator left her for dead and it was only by sheer luck that she survived. She was taken to the hospital with severe injuries on account of the attack,” read the DCW statement.

Rehab programme Planning a rehabilitation programme for the rape victim and calling her welfare a responsibility of the State, the Commission said, “The trauma often becomes a permanent scar on the survivor’s psyche. Without an appropriate support system and positive coping mech-

Swati Maliwal anisms, a survivor may never take steps towards recovery. The support system required by the survivor mandates not just adequate financial compensation but more importantly safeguards to guarantee the child’s empowerment.”

Fixed deposits The DCW further stated that fixed deposits will be made in the child’s name so that she can use the same for pursuing further studies. “₹3 lakh will be given in cash to the girl to meet her day-to-day expenses. Further deposits will be made for health insurance, medical and nutritional expenses,” the Commission informed. The DCW will also bear the legal expenses of the minor. Overcoming trauma DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal said, “At times it takes an entire lifetime to overcome the trauma of such a gruesome incident. Even though there can be no compensation for such a traumatic experience so to speak, the DCW has decided to compensate the child.”

Scribe ‘thrashed’ at daughter’s school Had gone to deliver lunch box to her STAFF REPORTER NOIDA

A journalist was on Monday allegedly thrashed by security personnel at a private school in Noida when he went there to deliver the lunch box to his daughter after she forgot to carry it to school. A case has been registered in the matter and an investigation has been launched, said the police. Yusuf Saifi (37), a correspondent with a Hindi news channel, said he went to the RD Public School to hand over the lunch box to his daughter. “The security guards did not allow me to enter the school premises and said outside food was not allowed,” said Mr. Saifi, who is

recuperating from his injuries at a private hospital in Noida. “When I insisted on meeting the principal, they took me to the school’s gallery. The school owner, Karamveer Singh, came to the reception and along with other staff started thrashing me following an argument,” Mr. Saifi added.

Following the orders Mr. Singh said: “After the Ryan incident, the district administration has issued instructions not to allow any outsider, or outside food into the school during working hours. Our staff was only following the orders, but the parent started arguing and threatened to get the school shut using his influence.”

Repeat offender While Singh is a truck driver, Jain is a repeat offender and has several cases of smuggling drugs against him in different States, said DCP (Special Cell) Sanjeev Yadav. Singh was arrested in Delhi on September 22 after the police received a tip-off. He purportedly revealed that earlier he used to work as carrier for one Karu from Madhya Pradesh. However, when Karu was arrested for drug peddling cases, Sing started working for Jain. A search for Jain was then initiated and a raid was conducted at Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh from where he was arrested.

Two held for duping security personnel CISF constable and Army personnel among the victims who were eeced Shubhomoy Sikdar NEW DELHI

The Delhi Police have arrested two men for allegedly duping at least four persons, including a CISF and an Army personnel, of thousands of rupees at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here. Azad Khan (24) and Mohammad Tamanne (19), both residents of Bawana, were arrested from Terminal 1D on Sunday last..

The first incident was reported on September 20, when Manoj Kumar, a CISF constable, reported that he was duped by two co-passengers travelling with him in an auto-rickshaw. One of the co-passengers claimed that he had stolen money from his landlord to teach the latter a lesson. He showed the “stolen” sum of ₹3 lakh in cash bundles, and said it was risky for him to carry the money as he would

have to explain the source at different check points, said DCP (IGIA) Sanjay Bhatia.

Cash exchange “In exchange for the cash the man asked for ₹3,000 that he needed to go to his house in Bihar. The other copassenger offered to pay ₹3,000. Finally, both agreed to pay ₹3,000 each and share the cash,” said Mr. Bhatia. The second person asked

Mr. Kumar to wait till he comes back after seeing off the first person to a nearby bus stop . “The victim gave ₹33,000 as surety to the second person but the duo never returned,” said Mr. Bhatia. The bundle when checked contained paper cuttings in the size of ₹500 notes covered by a real ₹500 note. The duo was nabbed two days later while trying to fleece an Army man. B ND-NDE

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QUICK CHAT Dr Sridhar Vaitheswaran, psychiatrist with the Dementia Care Centre at Scizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF), Chennai, and his team, take us through care-giving.

In our knowledge-based society that celebrates the cerebral, it’s ironic that Alzheimer’s dementia, a progressive, degenerative disease is hitting our brains, our lives and our future

Healthy

There is hope Everything changed for Uma Rajendran (name changed to protect identity) in 2015. “Months before my husband was set to retire, our daughter’s wedding plans came apart and he fell into depression.” This deteriorated very fast, and he was soon diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Her husband was prescribed medication, and joined therapy sessions. But the going was slow. “He used to get disoriented, and I would get angry sometimes,” she said, “So the doctors listed out tasks he had to do every day, and he would tick them o as he completed them.” The simplication of his daily routine made a huge dierence. The family got him a white board and pens. “Every day he writes the day, the date and two lines of the Thirukkural on it. I list his daily tasks, like trips to the library and his drawing work; he goes through them diligently.” His trips to the library are an achievement. “I accompanied him to the library nearby, and sat with him while he read, for three months. Now he walks there by himself and even notes down what he reads. It’s a habit he has picked up now!” she says. He also loves drawing and colouring, after an art teacher taught him the basics. These activities have helped him stay focussed, and have been an additional boost, over and beyond meds and his weekly cognitive behavioural therapy sessions.

Normal neuron

Amyloid plaques

preclinical disease stage of Alzheimer’s, Meghna Majumdar

With both the care and cure for Alzheimer's dementia missing from our healthcare systems, it’s important to know that there is always prevention. Experts help us piece together the puzzle that is Alzheimer’s dementia, so we understand it better.

The A-word Alzheimer's dementia comes under the umbrella of dementia, a neuro-cognitive disorder. Nerve cells in the brain are affected that has a bearing on cognition, mental processes relating to thinking, understanding, remembering, judging, problem-solving, decision-making. The loss of more than memory “It results in the decline and impairment in the brain’s GPS system: a person may suddenly lose track of where he is. There’s a loss in short-term memory and visio-spatial perception is affected, so a

person may stumble on steps, for instance. Decision-making is impacted: people may take a long time to reply to a simple question. They may also get confused with multiple stimuli. These executive functions are rooted in the hippocampus,” says Prof Pravat Mandal, a scientist at the National Brain Research Centre in Gurgaon, who has led research on the subject. The person usually withdraws from the world and may develop a language impairment, driving the person deeper into silence.

The brain on Alzheimer’s Nerve cells may be affected by amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The former are protein fragments that build up to form hard plaques. The latter are protein-based tangles that form in the brain’s cells. This makes Alzheimer’s a brain disease, because it leads to the death of neurons that the region. Researchers are focussed on the

Books that describe it best What’s happening to Grandpa? Maria Shriver My Mom Has Alzheimer's: Inspiration and Help for Caregivers Linda A Born My Mom My Hero: Alzheimer's, A Mother and Daughter's Bittersweet Journey Lisa Hirsch Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me Sarah Leavitt Measure of the Heart: A Father's Alzheimer's, A Daughter's Return Mary Ellen Geist "Where's My Shoes?": My Father's Walk Through Alzheimer's Brenda Avadian

when there are biological changes in the body, but there are no symptoms.

Aging, fast “We talk in terms of healthy ageing – there will be some wear on tear on our

In search of a hand-drawn line Bishwanath Ghosh’s latest book is a travelogue that looks at the Radclie Line in a new light Recounting tales of people who live along the Radcliffe Line, noted author and journalist Bishwanath Gosh’s latest book, “Gazing at Neighbours: Travels Along The Line That Partitioned India” (Tranquebar), was released at the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), in New Delhi this past weekend. Ghosh was in conversation with historian, author and convener of INTACH, Swapna Liddle. “Travelling for this book was highly educating, apart from being challenging at times and fun all the time. I found that the Radcliffe Line is perhaps one of the most peaceful and boring places on earth. You don’t find soldiers pointing guns at each other, but farmers going about their routine,” said Ghosh. Commenting on her perspective about the book, Liddle said, “What really surprises me as a historian is that I thought I knew history, but this book is full of surprises and it’s not just the travelogue but the nice, easy way in which the history comes across and the whole complexity of things that we assume today was amazing for me. And this was not long ago but the fact that it was so fluid

Engaging conversation: Bishwanath Ghosh and Swapna Liddle at the event

even in the 60s that really surprised me.” The event was attended by Syed Muazzem Ali, High Commissioner of Bangladesh, who said, “When I was posted in Paris, my relatives would come to see the historic border of France and Germany where the two great world wars were fought. Europe has fought thousands of years of wars and today, one moves freely from one side to another. Someday, I hope our next generation will be able to create a similar situation

between our borders too. Border is not the final answer, the answer is how we behave each other in a civilised manner. I hope Bishwanath’s book is able to build bricks of affinity between the two countries,”

‘Magical’ memory In a chat, Ghosh reflected on one memory that has stayed with him. “Sipping jaljeera with a BSF officer at a border outpost in Dawki, a village in Meghalaya overlooking the most fertile region of Sylhet in Bangladesh. It was dusk

A nalist at the Ms Diva Universe Contest, Tejaswini Manogna steps up her repertoire How to catch a cloud and pin it down? One doesn’t try. You just cherish the sight as it forges to form something more beautiful. Tejaswini Manogna — a doctor, Bharatanatyam dancer, Carnatic vocalist, yoga practitioner, sports person and a medal-winning NCC cadet, moved from one field to another, one achievement to another with élan. Her entry into a beauty pageant — though a different ball game — comes as no surprise. “Through this platform, I can reach a wider audience to fulfil my vision to propagate women empowerment,” says Tejaswini who is presently getting groomed for CM YK

the Miss Diva Universe competition to be held at the end of this month in Mumbai. Among the top 16 finalists, the multi-talented Tejaswini has been winning hearts and friends at the competition, an edge she clearly enjoys. A student of Hyderabad’s Rosary Convent, one remembers seeing this rather skinny and shy Tejaswini, accompanied by her mother, visiting us to share news and photographs of her dance performances, vocal concerts and later, of the many prizes she won as an NCC cadet and as a meritorious student of Osmania Medical College. Gradually one lost track of her numerous achievements. Tejaswini did not lose track of

Tejaswini Manogna her bucket list though. She went on to become a yoga practitioner, motivational speaker, compere — all the while pursuing her medical degree and dance. Her mother Anita shares, “She would return home at midnight after a dance performance, remove her make-up and sleep. She’d get up by 4am to do yoga and then go for her tuitions.” In fact, Anita says, “this habit of getting up early to do yoga and thereby managing her time well has made her what she is today.” A student of Bharatanatyam

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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

and I sat there gazing at a river and the village nestled along it, as the call of the muezzin rose from that land. It was, to use the cliché, magical.” On his takeaways from the journey that he took on the eastern and western frontiers of the country, Ghosh said, “I now have a new-found respect for Sikhs. Their religion is built and still functions on service and sacrifice; and in spite of being subjected to adversities from time to time, Sikhs are a happy people, which I find truly remarkable.”

guru Manjula Ramaswamy, Tejaswini attributes her understanding of Indian ethos, traditions and discipline to her guru’s tutelage. It was not just dance, but many an innate passion was ignited in young Tejaswini. That Tejaswini won Best NCC cadet award out of 13 lakh cadets at the age of 16 is Hyderabad’s favourite story. That was followed by winning the Young Achiever award at the SAARC meet in Sri Lanka. Tejaswini cherishes the late President of India Abdul Kalam’s word of praise when he said she’s the role model to this generation. Tejaswini, who won Ms Traditional title once, breaks all stereotypes of a studious medical student and belies the myth of a traditional south Indian upbringing; she represents that generation that can speak traditional language in a contemporary tone. Appreciative supporters can vote for Tejaswini Manogna online.

How do I help reduce anxiety? Simplify their surroundings and daily routine. Remove all clutter: If they need to have a bath, place only water, soap and towel in the bathroom, so they are not disoriented. The less confused they are, the less frustrated they will be. Frustration and helplessness can cause, depression or anxiety. So can the feeling of being cooped up with nothing to do. Enable them to do their tasks by themselves.

Prevent it now The good news: Alzheimer’s is preventable, unless you are a part of the 5% who may get it due of hereditary causes, says Prof Mandal. Most cases are caused by lifestyle, so make changes in your 40s. Doctors suggest the diet-fitness path, because obesity is a risk factor. Research published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry has shown that anxiety in those with MCI may speed up the onset of Alzheimer’s. Control stress and anxiety, and get a good night’s rest. Exercise can prevent neuron death, says Dr V S Natarajan, a geriatric physician and founder of the Geriatric Foundation, Chennai. “Eat for your brain,” he says, suggesting we incorporate antioxidant-rich foods (fruit, veg) and tuna, egg yolk, and sprouted wheat. A positive outlook and socialization can lower cognitive decline. “Loneliness is a major risk factor, as is depression,” says Dr Natarajan.

How do I keep him active? Balance their activities with safety and practical steps. One of our patients would get agitated if he couldn’t go for a walk: he was capable of crossing the street, but he would forget his way sometimes. We got him a basic GPS device for him to wear on his belt. His family could keep a track of him this way. Avoid forcing an activity on them. Is there any at-home care to support the caregiver? An Alzheimer’s caregiver may suer stress, social isolation, economic problems. Caregiver support and psycho-education is important. We at Demcare, SCARF have been holding caregiver support group meetings for two years. WHO is working with NIMHANS, Bengaluru, to start an online support system for caregivers of people with dementia.

Testing, testing Dr Natarajan recommends that at 70 everyone take a mini-mental state examination, even if there are no symptoms. If there are symptoms, “The evaluation for diagnosis includes careful clinical examination, assessment of the mental state, biochemical tests of blood, imaging of the brain (CT scan and MRI scan) and a battery of neuropsychological tests,” says Prof A B Dey, head of the geriatric medicine department at AIIMS, Delhi.

Crime in translation Two racy whodunits by Tamil writer Sujatha are now available in English as ‘Anita: A Trophy Wife,’ and ‘Nylon Rope’ Akila Kannadasan

Diva of destiny

S B Vijaya Mary

bodies and minds,” says Prof Mandal. The difference lies in whether a person has mild cognitive impairment (MCI) that involves “problems with memory, language, thinking and judgement that are greater than normal age-related changes,” says the Mayo Clinic, US. The cue: if you see a friend making frequent mistakes with these, talk to them about consulting a neurologist.

Alzheimer’s Disease

It was one of those magazine stories that make one cut out the pages and save them, just because. I vividly remember my first Sujatha short-story — it was on a mismatched couple’s honeymoon to a hill station. I cut it out from Ananda Vikatan, the magazine it appeared in. The man’s simple style is a reader’s dream. What better way to celebrate his stories than make them available for readers who want to read him, but don’t know Tamil? Westland Publications Ltd, in association with Mysticswrite, presents two of the author’s novels in English. Translated by Meera Ravishankar and Suganthy Krishnamachari, the novels, Anita: A Trophy Wife, and Nylon Rope, introduce Sujatha’s racy detective stories to English readers. Meera Ravishankar, the translator of Anita is an “ardent fan of Sujatha”. She has translated the works of writers such as Chetan Bhagat and Anuja Chauhan, and nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar to Tamil and Anita is her first attempt at Tamil to English translation. “It was with some trepidation that I took it up,” says Ravishankar. She explains that the novel is set in the suburbs of Delhi of the 1960s. The story takes one through the quaint Capital of the past, the politics of the time, and tells of Tamil people struggling to fit into Delhi so-

ciety, as it unfurls into an insurance scam. The novel can be considered as part of the Ganesh-Vasanth advocate pair detective series. “But in the story, Ganesh is a combination of both the characters. Vasanth, the flirtatious, humorous one, hasn’t evolved; the two of them aren’t a duo yet,” says Ravishankar. She adds, “Ganesh is still limping along in his practice.” Translating Sujatha’s novel, despite its simple language, was challenging, according to Ravishankar. “Every translation is difficult, but Sujatha is untranslatable in a certain way. It was tough to bring out certain quirky terms that he coined,” she says. Although she hasn’t met the late author personally, Ravishankar recalls an email thread that she shared with him. She wrote to him for copyright to translate one of his short-stories for a school textbook. “It was in 2006 and his health was a little unstable. But he was diligent with his emails — he wrote in his usual self-depreciatory style. He said that no one had translated his stories to English.” A murder in Mumbai. The mur............................................................... ...............................................................

Translating Sujatha’s novel, despite its simple language, was challenging, according to Ravishankar

Meeting of minds: Meera Ravishankar and Suganthy Krishnamachari

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derer is out there, basking in anonymity in a big city. Will Ganesh crack the case? Nylon Rope, a whodunnit set in the Bombay of 1960s, features the advocate who is challenged with the task of solving the murder. Explains Suganthy Krishnamachari, the translator: “It is a good detective novel. At a time when there were no cell phones and CCTV cameras, the sleuth’s work was very difficult,” she says. Krishnamachari feels that Sujatha was among the first Tamil writers to pick modern themes such as a whodunnit. An avid reader, Krishnamachari says that she had read the novel years ago. “But I had to reread it see it through the prism of a translator,” she adds. Because of the time it is set in, Nylon Rope is replete with references to technology that the present generation might not have heard of. “For instance, it has the term ‘radiogram’,” says Krishnamachari. The Chennai-based journalist says that she will never forget the conversation she had with Sujatha when she met him for a story in 2008. The writer had just had an open heart surgery. “He gave me half-an-hour, but we ended up talking for almost two-and-a-half hours,” says Krishnamachari. “We spoke about a lot — from quantum mechanics to the Upanishads,” she explains. Sujatha, though, was not alive to read her story.

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THE HINDU

SHOWCASE 5

NOIDA/DELHI

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Pressing the right button Director Amit V Masurkar on the making of Newton, which has been selected as India’s entry for the 90th Academy Awards Anuj kumar

Chef’s special Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor has now been appointed as brand ambassador for Food Street, a curated food experience zone at the World Food India, a three-day mega international event in Delhi from November 3 to 5. This has been announce by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. Sanjeev Kapoor said, “I am honoured to be associated with a platform such as Food Street that celebrates food as a means of bringing together cultures, heritage and business. This platform as a way of facilitating business opportunities, showcasing strength of India’s culinary journey and revelling international cuisines is an applaud worthy effort by Ministry of Food Processing Industries.”

Jazzy nights The seventh edition of the Delhi International Jazz Festival, a three day jazz extravaganza, was held at Nehru Park in Chanakyapuri. Organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the festival saw performances from the French Band, Lorrenzo Nacarrato Trio and 4 on a Swing, a Kolkata-based band, which presented song styles ranging from Latin jazz and swing jazz to bebop jazz and modern jazz. The third eloquent performance came from Spainish band led by Alfonso Aroca, who enthralled the audience. ICCR Director General, Riva Ganguly said: “We believe that music brings people from all religions, backgrounds together on one platform.”

Early in Amit V Masurkar’s Newton, a senior government officer (Sanjay Mishra) tells a young, honest colleague, Newton Kumar (Rajkummar Rao), the gravity of his name over a cup of tea. “Newton proved to the world that if an Ambani and this chaiwala fall from a mountain at the same time, they will land on the ground at the same time.” What he misses to tell the post graduate in Physics is that there is something called parachute which can easily subvert this law of ‘equality’. And during the course of 90 odds minutes, Newton discovers these ‘parachutes’ that help the rich and powerful corrupt the biggest festival in the democracy. During a conversation before the release of the satire, the young director, who emerged on the scene with the immensely likeable Sulemani Keeda said that he wanted to make a political film and found it strange that in the largest democracy in the world hardly any film had been made on the election process inside the polling booth. “While doing our research, we discovered what a huge logistical exer-

cise a general election is. We have around 814 million voters. It is more than the population of Europe. Some of the best brains from the administrative service work on it. They plan it so well....” And they don’t flaunt it, one interrupts. “Yes, the statistics never cease to amaze you. It is the success of the electoral process that the governments change. Keeping the Election Commission neutral is, in itself, a big miracle.” Amit said had it been set in Mumbai or Delhi, it would not have been a story. “We set in Chhattisgarh so that we could bring in Maoists who are opposed to elections. This creates conflict and if in this situation an idealistic government officer, who only does his duty, comes into the fray, it naturally lends itself to a compelling story.” As a counter to Newton, the film has a pragmatic deputy commandant of a paramilitary force in the form of Atma Ram, who advises Newton not to undertake the process in the dangerous zone where there are only 70 odd votes. “See, Newton and Atma Ram don’t represent the organisations as a whole. They are two individuals with their quirks.

about greed. There are entities which thrive < > Itonisthis conict. They want to keep the conict alive because it allows them to keep doing their work behind a façade

Pushing the envelope: Amit Masurkar; a still from the lm

Atma Ram is also there to do his job. He wants to protect his patrolling party and finds Newton a little too upright. And as Newton is younger to him, Atma Ram tries to ‘advise’ him, leading to an ego clash which lends itself to humorous situations.”

The gaze Talking about his gaze in dealing with the politically sensitive subject, Amit said he entered the jungle with Newton as an outsider and followed him. “It could not be anything else. The film is neither judgemental nor it is preachy. It is not about whether democracy works or communism works. It is just the story of a government official who is doing his duty. And he would have done it in any system he was

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ARUNANGSHU ROY CHOWDHURY

part of,” he underlined. However, Amit did discover that the situation is not as black and white as many would want us to believe. “It is about greed. There are entities which thrive on this conflict. They want to keep the conflict alive because it allows them to keep doing their work behind a façade. Whatever information they want to give out, they give, and we believe it. For instance, there is illegal mining and timber cutting going on in these areas. The person who controls them won’t like the other contractors to come into the fray. So he might use the conflict to his advantage. It is a grey zone.” In this situation, he added maintaining the sanctity of election process becomes all the more important.

Shot in Dalli Rajhra area of Chhattisgarh with the help of local government, Amit said it was a learning curve for all the departments in his team. “As part of the research we met all the stakeholders and it enriched the story. The art department had to create a voting machine. We had to create a school and and village in the area. As we shot without lights, it was a challenge for the cinematographer.” Reflecting on possible governmental intervention, Amit said he lived in a democracy and was free to make any film he wanted. “We did submit the script as it is part of the procedure but I don’t know whether somebody read it or not.” On the takeaways, Amit, who has travelled with the

Sreesanth impresses Ananth Mahadevan

Ayurvedic meals customised to one’s energy give food for thought How do you eat food that matches your temperament and keeps you balanced in mind and body? Perhaps Ayurvedic meals are the answer. A culinary experience tailored to suit each guest’s ‘dosha’ was curated by The Taj Mahal Hotel in Delhi recently. In Ayurvedic medicine, doshas are the three energies – Vata, Pitta and Kapha - believed to circulate in the body and govern physiological activity.

For inner peace: Pumpkin Seed and Mint Pesto; (left) gulab rice cream Dr Ipsita Chatterjee, Ayurveda expert at Forest Essentials, supervised the Ayurvedic menu that was prepared at the Taj Mahal’s rooftop Villa Medici restaurant. The dishes were finalised based on feedback to a common questionnaire given to guests earlier. “In Ayurveda, we believe in both external and internal beauty. So what you eat should be natural, fresh, organic and seasonal. You must have noticed that some people may not be exceptionally beautiful, but have a

natural aura, charm and vivacity. This is because of their inner beauty,” says Dr Ipsita. “Whatever you eat reflects on your skin. And whatever you eat should be put on your skin. This was the driving concept behind our collaboration with the Taj.” Another myth that the dinner dispelled was that Ayurveda has no place for nonvegetarian cuisine. According to Dr Ipsita, it’s a misconception that Ayurveda encourages only vegetarianism.

Wake up call And in India? “I have yet to get a response but I have made it for Indian audience. The idea was not just to travel with it to film festivals. If you notice, Hollywood is eating into our market. Recently, It made more money than the Bollywood films released that week. It is a wake up call for Bollywood filmmakers.” Does he consider

himself one. “Of course, I have worked with mainstream actors. It is not a ₹1-2 crore film. Around 8.5 crore rupees have already been spent. It is a big risk for the producer. I believe in trusting the audience. Ninety percent of our films flop because we keep offering the ‘regular’ stuff. You push the envelope and leave the rest to the audience.” Well, if the percentage of people who vote in elections turn up for Newton, it will sail through. “In that case, it will be a Dangal!” exclaimed Amit. With positive word of mouth and news of Newton going to Oscars as the Indian entry in Best Foreign Language film category adding to the buzz, it seems Amit will not lose his deposit at the hustings.

SHORT TAKES

A menu to suit your dosha Madhur tankha

film to some of the most prestigious film festivals, said, “It meant different things to different people. In the U.S., audience linked it to election malpractices; in Hong Kong audience identified it with their fight for democracy and in Germany people associated it with disenfranchisement and Syrian refugee crises.”

Understanding doshas For those with Vata dosha, the body constitution symbolises air and space. “Meat meant for them needs to be cooked with plenty of butter and ghee,” says Dr Ipsita. “Vata dosha people are thin, have prominent jaw bones and can eat without putting on weight. They have dryness on their skin. They are creative, and intelligent people but can often be indecisive.” Pitta, which represents fire, symbolises romanticism and commitment to work. People with Pitta dosha are born leaders. “They have a regal way of life and are passionate and intense about what they do. They take pride in their work but life is never stable. Their temperament can both hurt and enlighten,” says Dr Ipsita. “To douse this fire, Pitta dosha people must consume cold foods, herbs, salads and ice cream. They must avoid garam masala and chillies. Mint, fennel, and coriander should be used liberally in their food. Rose white tea is recommended. Other coolants are white coriander or a bit of candied rose petal (gulkand) with chilled milk,”

are very loving and patient. They listen to people and are loyal friends. It’s difficult to break into their inner circle.”

she adds. But what if there’s a craving for red meat? “Warming red meat is contrary to Pitta. So use mint and fennel in your meat portions. You can enjoy your meat and the mint will act as a cooling agent,” says Dr Ipsita. “After meat, have a glass of rose milk. Chicken is a light variant but chillies and mustard are to be strictly avoided. Egg whites can be eaten in moderation.” Kapha people are like water and earth. Generally they reflect lot of water attributes, says Dr Ipsita. “These people

Ayurveda, we believe < > In in both external and internal beauty. So what you eat should be natural, fresh, organic and seasonal

Taste test I got to taste a customised menu that was less on flavours but high on keeping me cool. Aubergine Quinoa and Tofu Salad with mint dressing, steamed fish with mint and coriander and Gulab Phirni, kept me relaxed and in a happy state of mind. Even though I felt like tasting the Irani chicken with saffron rice that was being served to guests with vata dosha, I was advised not to deviate from the menu. Apart from chicken, guests with the vata constitution, enjoyed including fresh pea soup with pumpkin seed pesto and Andhra sautéed sweet potatoes. For the steady, cautious and stable Kapha personalities, the menu focused on fresh vegetables, fruits and legumes consisting of dishes like Chickpea and Pink Lentil Ragout, Buckwheat Pancakes, fish steamed with star anise and ginger and Spiced Apple and Walnut Phirni to complete the meal.

Cricketer turned actor Sreesanth is all set to make his Bollywood debut with Ananth Mahadevan’s directorial venture Aksar 2. Says Ananth Mahadevan, on working with the cricketer, “I was a little nervous about Sreesanth and whether I would be able to extract a good performance from him. But he really took me by surprise. I was impressed with his discipline. He was always on set 15 minutes before his call time and had learnt all his lines. Working with him was an absolute

Commando calling A four episodes’ series ‘Breaking Point: Commando School Belgaum’ has been launched by Discovery Channel to give viewers a glimpse into the 35 days gruelling course that officers go through to be a part of India’s Elite Commando Force. For nearly 50 years, this school in Belgaum has produced Ghatak Commandos who have fought the most notable wars. Karan Bajaj, Senior Vice President & General Manager- South Asia, Discovery

pleasure.” Aksar 2 has music by Mithoon, lyrics by Sayeed Quadri, and stars Gautam Rode, Abhinav Shukla, Zareen Khan, Mohit Madaan, Lillete Dubey and Sreesanth. The film is slated to release on October 6.

Communications India, said, “We have captured the elite commando training course through a character driven narrative – following charismatic officers .”

5 EVENTS WORTH-YOUR-WHILE

FASHION

DANCE

EXHIBITION Purana Qila Dance Festival The five-day dance festival organised by Sahitya Kala Parishad will see on the first day Santosh Nair and Sadhya Dance group presenting Mahabharata in contemporary line. One of the highlights is the experiment with music and costumes. Venue: Purana Quila Time: 7 p.m.

CM YK

Paper Towns Ose Art & Design presents an art show by Apoorva Subbanna. For this show, the artist has worked on the city of Varanasi depicting its cultural lineage. Venue: Galerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi Estate, Time: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Runway Bridal 2017 Ramola Bachchan presents this exhibition on latest trends in next generation fashion. The 17th edition of the show will see a number of participants including Balance by Rohit Bal, Lustre by Poonam and Meenu, Kylee by Ruchi Jain and Lustre by Poonam and Meenu. Venue: The Ashok Hotel, 50-B, Diplomatic Enclave, Chanakyapuri Time: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

CANVAS TALK Global Sustainable Development The event will feature a talk on "Global Sustainable Development: Role of Science, Technology and Innovation". Speaker will be Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India. Venue: Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road Time: 7 p.m.

The Open Window A solo exhibition of paintings by Tara Sabharwal, an Indian artist based in the U.S. Tara has had 40 solo shows in USA, UK, France, Germany and India. Her latest non-figurative work, marks a return to the open awareness coupled with an ephemeral uncertainty, that she sometimes felt as a child. Venue : Art Alive Gallery, S-221, Panchsheel Park Time: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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6 TECH

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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Style statement: It’s not the most svelte device around, but it is a good looking one

UPGRADE TO ULTRA

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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Feast your eyes With 4K resolution and HDR support, the EX600 deosn’t skimp on quality

Instagram introduces face filters for live broadcast Live streaming on Instagram is getting livelier. The Facebook-owned photo and video-sharing application, has introduced face filters for live videos. In May, it had launched the feature, but it was available only for images and videos captured first and then posted to Instagram Stories. To apply face filters to a live stream all you need to do is tap the face icon at the bottom right corner either before you launch your broadcast or during the live streaming. You can play around with as many filters as you like, and check out how they look, by tapping on any of the filters. "When your broadcast has ended you can share a replay to stories, or choose ‘Discard’ and your live video will disappear from the app as usual," says Instagram in a blog post. Meanwhile, Facebook is making it easier to access Instagram, by introducing a link to your Instagram account in the Facebook app. By clicking on that link, you will be taken directly to your Instagram feed.

Pay at supermarket using your finger vein pattern Biometrics-based financial transactions are considered secure because it's unique to a person. Based on this premise, a new payment method, using a technology called FingoPay that relies on the vein pattern on a finger, is being tried out at the Costcutter supermarket at Brunel University in London, to authenticate payment — the first time ever it’s being tested at a supermarket. This technology, ever since its development by Sthaler in 2015, has been undergoing trials at various payment gateway systems. "Hidden within your finger we all have a unique, secret pattern that remains the same throughout our life. Unlike fingerprints, it can’t be damaged, stolen or forged," says Sthaler on its website. To use the technology, an infrared scan is done of the finger veins, and the unique vein pattern is mapped to bank cards. So, at the time of payment, all you need to do is place your finger on the reader. Sthaler says dozens of students are using the system, and it expects 3,000 out of 13,000 students to sign up by November. There are plans to deploy it at various locations across the UK.

The Panasonic EX600D is a 4K HDR TV which provides great picture quality, but nds it dicult to dierentiate itself in the increasingly competitive 4K battle arena Sooraj Rajmohan

Panasonic has long led the race when it comes to sheer image quality in TVs, and was known for its legendary plasma panels. Today, as the industry shifts towards newer panel technology like LCDs and OLED, Panasonic cannot claim the same level of domination, with Samsung and LG forging ahead with their own cutting-edge displays. Which makes this, the Shinobi Ultra EX600 series, a very important part of the manufacturer’s lineup. Out of the box The 49-inch EX600D we have at our disposal (it is also available in 43 and 55-inch versions) sports a 4K HDR panel, giving it plenty of resolution to work with. There is no OLED tech to be found here, and the panel is the tried-and-tested LED backlit IPS LCD variety. It’s not the thinnest or lightest TV in the market, and has a little heft to it, but manages to retain enough sleekness that it won’t look out of place in a contemporary setting. The EX600 has a stand that can be set up a couple of different ways to adapt to the footprint of the surface it is placed on, and this is accompanied

by the most confusing instruction manual we have ever seen. After a little head scratching, we finally got the EX600 up on its feet, plugged in the included adapter, and powered it on. This model, being a smart TV, comes with built-in WiFi and Panasonic’s My Home Screen 2.0, which provides handy shortcuts to streaming services and any other apps installed on it. Since it doesn’t have access to Android apps, users have to make do with the apps available on Panasonic’s own app store, of which the most prominent streaming option is Netflix — which gets a dedicated button on the remote control. The My Home Screen also allows one app to be selected and launched using a shortcut key on the remote control. The TV has all the basic inputs and outputs covered, with the most important ones being the three HDMI and two USB ports. It also has the capability to upscale content to 4K to better match its own native resolution, and for the most part, did a good

job handling the measly 1080p video we tried playing over HDMI. The EX600 also has the handy screen mirroring feature, offering some expanded functionality, given the rather limited streaming app selection. Getting a streaming stick would be recommended for this one. Experience zone Where the EX600 does pull up its socks is in the video department. Colours are bright and vibrant, and little details, like the textures on rocky surfaces or even skin, pop out spectacularly. This is the kind of screen that makes those GoPro videos and time lapses binge-watch-worthy, as it handles changing sceneries really well while maintaining a crisp image. The one gripe we have is that

Stand up in style The EX600’s stand can be assembled in multiple ways

this is not a panel that supports localdimming, so blacks aren’t as deep as what some competing TVs are capable of, but it still provides an immersive experience. The presence of HDR is apparent in some scenes in the content we tested it with, but in our experience it did not make a world of difference. True 4K content is also still hard to come by in India, unless you happen to have a top tier Netflix account for video or a Playstation 4 Pro or Xbox One X for gaming. For most people, the most easily accessible 4K content will be through the YouTube app. Sound is amply handled by the dual speaker setup on the EX600, though we did test it in a smaller room than the kind of setups a screen this size would normally be used in. The kicker for audio enthusiasts is that Panasonic also throws in a wireless UA7 sound system with this

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Colours are bright and vibrant, and little details, like the textures on rocky surfaces or even skin, pop out spectacularly model and the 55-inch version for free, which sweetens the pot considerably. Overall, the Panasonic EX600D is a very competent 4K TV which has most of its bases covered, and with the sound system bundled in, makes a very good case for its nearly ₹1.5 lakh asking price. On its own, it has a much tougher battle to fight against competitors — both established and upcoming — more than capable of giving it a run for its money.

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GAMESPOT

Clash of the titans Marvel Vs Capcom: Innite merges two superhero universes with heart Julian Almeida

Saregama launches bluetooth speaker Carvaan Mini Saregama India has launched Carvaan Mini, a smaller version of Carvaan. This is a sleek and portable bluetooth speaker that allows you to stream music from your phone or musicstreaming apps. You can also plug in your pen drive and listen to a collection of 251 most popular retro Hindi songs, sung by Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Mukesh. Carvaan Mini, available in two colours, has powerful speakers to play music through Bluetooth 4.1, USB 2.0 and AUX IN, says the company. The rechargeable battery lasts around 4 to 5 hours. Earlier, Saregama launched Carvaan, a digital music player, that looks like the good old transistor radio. It has over 5,000 evergreen Hindi songs, besides the option to play personal collections of songs by plugging in a USB drive or by streaming songs from the phone to Carvaan via Bluetooth.

Microsoft brings Xbox One S to India Xbox One S, which will be launched in India by October 5, is now available for pre-order. A part of the Xbox family of devices, it is 40% smaller than the original Xbox One, featuring a sleek, slimline design, “robot white” colour and a built-in power supply, said Microsoft. It supports 4K Ultra HD for Blu-ray movies and content streamed from partners like Netflix, as well as High Dynamic Range for video and gaming.The list of games includes Forza Horizon 3, Gears of War 4 and Battlefield 1. Xbox One S is available in two variants — 500GB and 1TB. Send in your queries and feedback to [email protected]

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MARVEL VS. CAPCOM: INFINITE

DEVELOPER: Capcom

PUBLISHER: Capcom

PRICE: ₹2499 on PlayStation 4, ₹3,999 on Xbox One

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA It's going to be hard not to compare the latest Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite game with DC's successful Injustice 2, which launched earlier this year. Both are fighting games, and both are based on successful comic books and comic book movies. While Injustice has been around for a few years, Marvel vs. Capcom has a pedigree, coming from a long line of games starting way back with X-Men vs Street Fighter and now culminating in the latest Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. It’s the crossover of our dreams where characters from Capcom's roster of games meet Marvel's superheroes and villains in an all out fireworks display of action.

What's it about? Ultron, the villain from the last Avengers movie is back and this time he's quite literally, joined forces with Sigma, the main bad guy from the Mega Man series. They’re fused into Ultron Sigma, a robotic super being that brings together two universes in order to stop it. Infinite sees a crossover of heroes from Marvel, all relevant from their recent hit movies, like Thor, Dr. Strange, Spiderman, Black Panther and even Rocket Racoon and Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy. From the Capcom side of things there's the usual Street Fighter characters like Chun Li and Ryu, as well as classic characters like

When heroes duke it out: Images from Marvel Vs Capcom Innite SPECIAL *

ARRANGEMENT

Mega Man and Dante make an appearance. The story itself is a stretch, which is part fan service to encompass all the characters, while giving enough time for both universes to shine. There’s a special focus on the Infinity Stones, which is the crux of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the focus of the new Avengers: Infinity War. As a result, the story is a mess, and does not make too much sense as it keeps jumping between universes, but it’s entertaining nonetheless. You get to see Spiderman wisecrack and Hulk smash in a cinematic story mode.

How does it play? The Marvel vs. Capcom series have always been known for

one into the other. Alternatively, if you are on the receiving end of a tag team trashing, you can choose to tag your character in to break the combo with the new counter switch move. What Infinite does throw into the mix are the Infinity stones, which you can select one at the start of the match, and these imbue your team with a special power called Infinity

their screen-filling special attacks and their over-the-top fighting moves. What they are also known for is their tag team fighting system, which is fantastic in Infinite, as you can select a team of two heroes and you can tag them in midmatch for special attacks. This allows you you to create continuous combos by seamlessly switching in characters, chaining special moves

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The story is a mess, and does not make too much sense as it keeps jumping between universes

Surge. There’s also the Infinity Storm that triggers an attack or speed boost depending on the stone selected. So the gameplay is smooth and most of all a lot more enjoyable than most fighting games out there, including Injustice 2. Where Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite really looses out are the graphics. The characters and backgrounds look very boring, with a lack of detail or graphical style. Sure, the game has tried to shoot for a very Overwatch-like look. But the latter had character in the form of animation and style, which Infinite lacks .

Should you get it? If you are a fan of Marvel and Capcom universes as well as the crossover series of games, you will love Infinite. But only if you can look past the lacklustre graphics and character design. There’s a fantastic fighting game beating at the heart of Infinite. Julian Almeida is a tech and gaming enthusiast who hopes to one day nish his sci- novel B ND-NDE