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Jadhav sentence: Sushma talks tough Minister warns Pak. of consequences, tells Parliament no efort will be spared for ‘son of India’

Jadhav has 60 days to go on appeal

Special Correspondent New Delhi

Yogi orders 18-hour power supply in villages LUCKNOW

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday ordered 18-hour power supply in villages, 20-hour at the tehsil level and in the Bundelkhand region, besides deciding to ink a pact with the Centre to ensure electricity in all UP villages by 2019. 쑺 PAGE 3

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Students’ stir in Panjab varsity turns violent CHANDIGARH

Situation in Panjab University turned tense on Tuesday after protest by students against fee hike turned violent as police and students clashed on the campus. Many students have been charged with sedition and other criminal ofences. NEWS

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Accusing Pakistan of trying to cast aspersions on India to deflect attention from its role as a global sponsor of terror, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament on Tuesday that India would spare no effort to save Kulbhushan Jadhav, the former Naval officer awarded the death sentence by a military court in Pakistan for espionage and sabotage. In her statement to Parliament that asserted the charges against Mr. Jadhav were concocted, Ms. Swaraj said he had been kidnapped from Iran. India was denied consular access to him despite several requests, which showed that the case against him was weak, she said. “Earlier this year, the Pakistan government sought our assistance to obtain evidence and other materials for the investigation process. In doing so, they levelled ridiculous charges against senior Indian officials, who had no connection to this issue. Thereafter, they linked providing consular access to our acceptance of their position,” she said. Asserting that there would be consequences on the bilateral relationship if Pakistan were to proceed on

Mubashir Zaidi

Go for urgent dialogue: Kasuri Kallol Bhattacherjee NEW DELHI

Pointing to the growing threat of radicalisation, a prominent Pakistani politician asked India and Pakistan on Tuesday to hold an urgent dialogue on the Kashmir issue. The former

Foreign Minister, Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, urged both countries to reduce hostilities on the issue of the death sentence awarded to Kulbhushan Jadhav. “I have come to India, though bilateral ties are not in good condition, as I

believe both countries must speak as not engaging will give space to the disturbances of West Asia to move to south Asia,” Mr. Kasuri said, indicating that the problems of Kashmir and Afghanistan required urgent solutions.

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the matter, Ms. Swaraj said: “There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Shri Jadhav. If anything, he is the victim of a plan that seeks to cast aspersions on India to deflect international attention from Pakistan’s well-known record of sponsoring and supporting terrorism. Under these circumstances, we have no choice but to regard

the sentence, if carried out, as an act of pre-meditated murder.” To a suggestion made by Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Minister said the government would ensure that Mr. Jadhav was provided the best of lawyers in the Supreme Court of Pakistan and take up the

Cong. cries foul over deferment of Anantnag byelection, accuses EC of partiality Peerzada Ashiq Srinagar

Restoring peace: Security personnel on duty in Srinagar on Tuesday, the second day of the strike against the killing of eight people during the Lok Sabha bypoll. NISSAR AHMAD *

has evoked sharp reactions from political parties. Congress leader G.A. Mir, candidate of the CongressNational Conference alli-

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Repoll ordered in 38 Srinagar booths Repolling will be held at 38 booths on Thursday for the Srinagar Lok Sabha byelection, which saw widespread violence on Sunday that left eight dead. Chief Electoral Officer Shantmanu said the Election Commission decided on repolling for those centres “where polling was hit by violence.” All these booths are in Budgam district. Scores of EVMs were snatched and damaged. The counting will be held on April 15. The EC on Monday deferred the Anantnag byelection to May 25. The decision

Back home: The boat which collided with the Pakistan’s vessel has returned to the Jakhau harbour. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

ance, called for Governor’s rule. National Conference working president Omar Abdullah said, “Situation isn’t

conducive for polls in Anantnag but it’s conducive for a repoll in the areas worst affected by violence on the 9th. Logic??” Separatists on Tuesday withdrew the shutdown call for Wednesday keeping in view the postponement of the bypolls, Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar said. JKLF chairman Yasin Malik, who was arrested on March 18, was produced in a court and remanded in fiveday custody, a JKLF spokesman said. For the third consecutive day on Tuesday, a separatists-backed shutdown affected life in the Valley. A PROLONGED PROTEST 쑺 EDITORIAL

matter at the level of the President of Pakistan too. “Whatever is necessary, we will do,” she said, adding that Mr. Jadhav was “not only the son of his parents, but is the son of India.” (With inputs from PTI) CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10 RISKY, ILL-CONSIDERED 쑺 EDITORIAL

CBI probe against Satyendar Special Correspondent New Delhi

The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a preliminary enquiry against Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain to probe allegations of money laundering against him. The action comes on a reference from the Income Tax Department.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a military court for espionage, could appeal to the Army chief and the President in 60 days, and stressed that the country would follow the legal course in the case. Speaking in the Senate, Pakistan’s upper house of Parliament, Mr. Asif criticised the Indian response to the conviction. “All I want to say is that we have followed all the rules and regulations, and the laws of the land.” He added that Pakistan would not allow anyone to work against the security and stability of the country. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan’s armed forces were fully prepared to respond to any spectrum of threat. (With inputs from PTI) CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10

Coast Guard saves 2 Pak. securitymen Rescued after their vessel capsized Mahesh Langa AHMEDABAD

Coast Guard personnel and fishermen rescued two members of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) after their boat capsized in Indian waters early on Monday. The Coast Guard and fishermen also retrieved the bodies of three personnel, who were killed in the accident that occurred just hours before the Pakistan government announced that a military court martial had sentenced former Indian naval commander Kulbhushan Jadhav to death. One PMSA guard is missing. According to sources, a fleet of PMSA boats had allegedly entered Indian ter-

ritorial waters around 70 nautical miles off the Jakhau port, where a dozen Indian trawlers were on a fishing expedition.

Fishermen rounded up Subsequently, the PMSA personnel started rounding up the Indian trawlers, and they were asked to move towards the Karachi port. However, one trawler Mahenoor stalled and collided with a PMSA vessel, which capsized. “The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday, and the Coast Guard’s Okha-based ship Arinjay was pressed into service,” a source from Kutch told The Hindu. CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10

Player hurt in blast near team bus in Germany Reuters DORTMUND

Borussia Dortmund’s team bus was damaged and a player was injured following three explosions near the vehicle while it was on its way to Tuesday’s Champions League game at home with AS Monaco, police said. The match, a quarter-final

first leg, was called off and rescheduled for Wednesday.

Windows smashed “According to what is currently known, the windows of the bus were smashed and one person was injured,” Dortmund police said in a statement. The police said the incid-

ent happened in Hoechsten outside the city. “It is not yet possible to say exactly what the explosion was or exactly where something exploded,” said the statement. Dortmund said defender and Spanish international Marc Bartra had been taken to hospital.

₹4.63 crore laundered The CBI alleged that while holding public office, Mr. Jain laundered about ₹4.63 crore in 2015-16 through three companies DETAILS 쑺 PAGE 10

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Robotic hand rocks manufacturing cradle Manisha Mondal Mumbai

It looks like any other industrial automation machine, but ‘Brabo’ is more than just that. Designed and made by TAL, a Tata Motors subsidiary, it is touted as India’s first indigenously made industrial articulated robot for micro, small and medium enterprises. Part of the Make In India drive, it took TAL three years to develop it but the Punebased firm, which unveiled the robot on Tuesday, says it already has 55 Brabos out in the market: 25 were installed after an outright sale; the remaining 30 are in factories and manufacturing units on a six-month trial basis. Brabo, a combination of the words ‘bravo’ and ‘robot’, can handle payloads of up to 10 kg, mapping it to human lifting potential. Its arm length was also chosen to compare well with that of a human. TAL representatives said in Mumbai that it could manage raw material as well as product packaging in the final stage. The manufacturer has released two variants for payloads of 2 kg and 10 kg. R.S. Thakur, non-executive CM YK

Programmed to work: Brabo can handle payloads of up to 10 kg. ARUNANGSU ROY *

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director and chairman of TAL, said, “The introduction of India’s home-made robots will take ‘Make in India’ to a new level. The robots will ensure product quality is maintained, and this, in turn, will improve competitiveness. As a consequence, Indian industry at the small and medium enterprise level will grow.” Ashish Gandhi, director of CPG Industries manufacturing two-wheeler components, who has purchased Brabos, said, “We wanted robots to do the work that humans cannot. Our obvious choice was the Brabo, because it is also cheaper than imported robots.” At ₹5 lakh to ₹7 lakh, it is up to 40% cheaper, Mr. Thakur told The Hindu. A ND-ND

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DELHI

Timings

Wednesday, April 12

RISE 05:59 SET 18:45 RISE 19:48 SET 06:44 Thursday, April 13

RISE 05:58 SET 18:46 RISE 20:40 SET 07:21 Friday, April 14

RISE 05:57 SET 18:46 RISE 21:32 SET 07:58

Schools, colleges reopen in Bhadrak Curfew relaxed for nine hours; to be lifted in phases Staff Reporter BHUBANESWAR

Curfew was relaxed for nine hours in Bhadrak town on Tuesday as part of the district administration’s strategy to lift it completely in a phased manner. Though curfew was lifted from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, it will remain in force till Wednesday morning as the administration does not want to take any chances.

Members of the minority community rallying for peace in Bhadrak on Tuesday. BISWARANJAN ROUT *

‘NDA wants to make India ODF’ Press Trust of India Dimapur (Nagaland)

BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayavargiya said that the NDA government at the Centre wants to make the country ‘open defecation-free’ (ODF). A budgetary provision of ₹1,46,000 crore has been made for the mission to construct 11 crore toilets in urban and rural areas across the country, he said on Tuesday. Himachal and Sikkim have been declared ODF States while some other States are also in line for achieving the target.

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‘Wounds are deep’ “The situation is fast improving. The wounds of communal violence are deep and we need sufficient time for them to heal. At the same time, we do not want to loosen our grip over the situation,” Revenue Divisional Commissioner A. B. Ota told The Hindu over phone on Tuesday. “After communal violence erupted in the town on April 7, the administration handled the situation admirably. In 1991, when communal violence last hit Bhadrak, 21 deaths were reported. This time we have not come across a single in-

jury,” he added. Mr. Ota said a preliminary assessment of the losses incurred by the general public in the violence and arson has been made. “We are exploring ways and means to compensate those losses. We will convene a peace committee meeting in a day or two.”

‘Tension is simmering’ Although schools and other educational institutions reopened after five days on Tuesday, the attendance was thin. Parents did not want to take any chances by sending their wards to schools.

“Tension is simmering in the town. No harm will be done if children remain absent for a few more days. We hope the situation gets back to normal soon,” said Rakesh Nanda, a parent. Banks and government offices functioned normally. Meanwhile, the Bhadrak district police has expedited its investigation to trace the miscreants who instigated the violence in the town. As many as 35 platoons of police personnel, two companies of the CRPF and two companies of the RAF would remain in the town till complete normality is restored.

Four held for fraud in PMGSY Syed Sajjad Ali Agartala

The Tripura Police have arrested four people, including a bank employee, in connection with embezzlement of ₹70 lakh from the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) project. One of accused is a cashier in the Rural Development Department which is implementing the flagship programme of the central government. The police launched the

investigation after an internal audit in the department detected a fraud in the PMGSY. A senior official lodged a complaint with the New Capital Complex police station last month seeking a probe.

Alleged mastermind Sources said the money involved in the scam could be higher and more arrests are likely. It is believed cashier Raja Dey is the mastermind

in the scam. The other accused are an auditor with the PWD Anjan Kumar Deb, Axis Bank employee Sonam Chakraborty and Utpal Roy. Anjan and Sonam were arrested on Monday and have been sent in police remand for six days. The police said Sonam played a major role in the scam. He used to receive unauthorised cheques from Raja Dey and arrange their encashment.

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. 87 ●

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IN BRIEF

Khattar directs Ministers to visit grain markets

Adityanath orders 18-hour power supply in villages CM to ink pact with Centre to ensure electricity in all UP villages by 2019 Press Trust of india

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has directed all his Ministers to visit different grain markets and review the arrangements made for wheat procurement. “The Ministers will ensure that farmers do not face any inconvenience,” state Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Krishan Kumar Bedi said. PTI

Lucknow

LUCKNOW

The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday said it was monitoring the situation arising out of Japanese Encephalitis in certain eastern districts of the State. Last year alone over 200 patients died in BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur where patients from neighbouring districts as well as from Nepal undergo treatment.PTI

Petrol pump dealers on 12-hour strike in Bihar

Cops involved in the case have been shifted to police lines SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHANDIGARH

UP govt monitoring Japanese Encephalitis

Amarinder orders probe into ‘extortion’ by police

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday ordered 18-hour power supply in villages, 20-hour at the tehsil level and in the Bundelkhand region, besides deciding to ink a pact with the Centre to ensure electricity in all UP villages by 2019. A meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Mr. Adityanath, the second since he assumed office last month, also decided that district headquarters will get 24-hour power supply, Power Minister Shrikant Sharma told reporters after the three-hour-long meeting. The CM directed the Power Department to ensure that defective or burnt transformers are replaced expeditiously in rural areas so that agricultural operations do not suffer, he said.

Yogi Adityanath Mr. Sharma said the ambitious ‘Power for All’ pact will be signed by Adityanath and Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal here on April 14 to meet the Centre’s target of making the State energy efficient by 2018 and help in ensuring power in all UP villages before 2019. “It was the order of the Chief Minister that all Shaktipeeths are supplied 24hour power during Navratris and we have been successful in it...examinations are on and students should get

power during the night so that they do not have to suffer,” Mr. Sharma said. The CM directed the officials to ensure uninterrupted supply to the villages from 6 in the evening to 6 in the morning so as to help the students prepare for exams. “It is the dream of BJP chief Amit Shah and the Chief Minister that every house, every poor, and every village get power by 2018,” Mr. Sharma said. On former CM Akhilesh Yadav’s statement that there is nothing new in providing power during Navratri and Ramnavami, he said the earlier roster system was not implemented on the ground and remained restricted to the CM’s residence, Shakti Bhawan and for the VIPs. “The difference is, our VIPs are poor residing in villages. We will take action against officers if the roster

is not implemented at the rural level, which was ignored earlier. The government is working for providing 24-hour power supply by October 2018,” he said. It has also been decided to change defective transformers within 48 hours not in 72 hours, the time fixed earlier, and 24 hours in urban areas.

Settlement scheme Announcing a one-time settlement scheme, Mr. Sharma said it was decided to waive surcharge on domestic connection and take only principal amount of the bill. “For farmers having bills of over ₹ 10,000 pending, they will get relief by making the payment in four instalments,” he said. In a bid to end woes of potato growers, the Cabinet decided to purchase 1 lakh tonnes of potato at ₹487 per quintal.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered a vigilance inquiry into the alleged extortion of money from two farmers by five police officials, including a former Senior Superintendent of Police, in Sangrur. All five cops have been transferred to the police lines till the inquiry is pending. Chief Minister's media advisor Raveen Thukral said that Capt. Amarinder has also ordered removal of former SSP Indervir Singh’s name from the panel for the post of SSP Chandigarh in the wake of the change in his vigilance clearance status. The Chief Minister’s orders came after an initial probe by the Sangrur SSP found former SSP Indervir Singh and four other cops, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, prima

BSP holds State-wide protests against EVMs

Haryana roadways staff continue strike CHANDIGARH

Talks between the protesting state roadways employees and the Haryana government failed on Tuesday, even as thousands of commuters were left stranded across the State, as the strike continued for the second day. PTI

Victim was Dhanbad deputy Mayor

Exactly a month after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections were declared, the Bahujan Samaj Party on Tuesday held a State-wide protest alleging that the BJP victory was due to the tampering of the Electronic Voting Machines. The BSP marked April 11 as “Virodh Diwas” or protest day, and has vowed to hold similar protests on the 11th day of every month. The State Assembly poll results

were declared on March 11. The party held protests at all district headquarters, where party candidates, local heads and senior leaders in-charge of the region participated. The protest in Lucknow along the banks of the Gomti at Lakshman Jhula maidanwas led by party general secretary and Mayawati-aide, Nasimuddin Siddiqui. Adressing the small gathering of just about 200 people, most of them party workers, Mr. Siddiqui said, “We will

Mayawati

not remain silent. Do not be dejected. We will toil once again, even if we need to remain hungry or thirsty.” If the BJP had the confidence, why was it staying

Union leader dies; Nitish orders probe Press Trust of India Patna/Motihari

A sugar mill workers’ union leader, who had attempted self-immolation to protest against non-payment of arrears in East Champaran district, succumbed to his burn injuries on Tuesday, prompting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to order an inquiry into it. The Chief Minister has directed East Champaran District Magistrate Anupam Kumar and SP Jitendra Rana to jointly probe into the incident, Chief Minister Office sources said in Patna. The union leader, Naresh Srivastava (50), succumbed to burn injuries the wee hours on Tuesday during treatment at Patna PMCH, East Champaran Civil Surgeon Prashant Kumar said. Another protester, Suraj Baitha, who had sustained burn injuries, is receiving treatment at PMCH, he said. The two workers of the mill had on Monday set themselves afire during a protest following which they were rushed to a nearby hospital and later shifted to PMCH.

Udaipur. Three other incubators will be set up in the engineering colleges and one under the public-private partnership at the Footwear Design and Development Institute in Jodhpur. The incubators will also provide facilitation for funding to empower the individuals to launch their enterprises.

Primary focus Mr. Kunal, who visited the Livelihood Business Incubator at the National Small Industries Corporation in New Delhi recently, said the primary focus of these incubators would be on creating jobs at local levels and reducing unemployment by creating a favourable ecosys-

OBITUARY & REMEMBRANCE DEATH

tem for entrepreneurial development. “Young minds are full of innovative and indigenous business ideas. Their entrepreneurial thinking has to be fostered and developed in a supportive environment,” said Mr. Kunal. adding that the incubators would help train and monitor youths at all stages of ideation, finance, production, mentoring and industrial tie-upsEach institution has been given a target of training at least 4,100 individuals for self-employment. He said eight to ten trades pertaining to entrepreneurship development would soon be seen operating in the ITIs after the establishment of incubators

DEATH

away from the use of ballot papers, he asked. At the meeting, the BSP called for an end to the use of EVMs, with workers and leaders shouting slogans against them saying, “voting machine se chunav bandh karo, (end election using EVMs) ” and “lok tantra ki hatya matt karo (do not murder democracy).”

Tampering alleged Individual BSP candidates at the protest claimed they had lost due to the alleged tam-

Talaq to end in 1.5 years, says Kalbe Sadiq ‘Govt should not interfere in the matter’ Press Trust of India

Getting the benefit of funds allocated by the Centre for a scheme to promote entrepreneurship in different trades, seven livelihood business incubators will be set up shortly in Rajasthan to provide skill development training and mentoring of the youths in order to enable them to start their own business enterprises. The Centre has allocated Rs.1 crore each for the government-owned incubation centres. State Commissioner for Skills, Employment and Entrepreneurship Krishna Kunal said here on Tuesday that three of the incubators would be established at the ITIs in Alwar, Jaipur and

Vigilance probe In his report, the Sangrur SSP had recommended an FIR and a vigilance bureau probe. “The farmers, whose fam-

Omar Rashid LUCKNOW

The centres will provide skill development training JAIPUR

facie guilty of extorting money from two farmers while allegedly threatening to implicate them in a murder case.

Taken into custody The farmers, Dhanwant Singh of Kotra Amrhu village and Harjinder Singh of Dugga village, alleged that they were taken into custody illegally, merely because they knew Randhawa before he became a gangster. The police then extorted money from their families, they further alleged, seeking protection from further victimisation and harassment.

Leaders alleged tampering had ensured BJP’s victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls

Livelihood business incubators to be set up in Rajasthan soon Special Correspondent

Amarinder Singh

BJP MLA arrested for murder of Cong leader

PATNA

Petrol pump dealers here went on a 12-hour strike on Tuesday to protest against the growing incidents of loot and vandalism at petrol pumps in the State. PTI

ilies sold land and took loan to pay the extortion money, are fearful for their lives and the CM has directed the concerned officials to ensure full protection for them,” Mr. Thukral said. Notably, a 25-year-old financier, Hardev Singh, was allegedly shot dead in Longowal in February by five gangsters “led by” Davinder Singh alias Babli Randhawa. They later posted a video celebrating the murder.

CHANDIGARH

Bijnor

All India Muslim Personal Law Board vice-president Kalbe Sadiq has said the Board will end the practice of triple talaq itself in oneand-a-half years so the government should not interfere in the matter. He also advised the Muslims against eating beef. Mr. Sadiq, who was here on Monday to attend a programme, said the triple talaq system was unfair to women but it was a personal affair for the community and they would solve it themselves within one to one-and-a-half years. He said the government should not interfere in it. On the issue of beef consumption, he said in reli-

gious books eating beef is not advised and Muslims should not have it.

Cow vigilantes Mr. Sadiq said if the government enacts laws banning cow slaughter and beef eating in the country, the Muslims would welcome it. He condemned the unlawful activities of cow vigilantes and demanded that it be stopped. On the Ram temple issue, he said the dispute should end now and the Hindus and the Muslims should yield some ground to each other so that a compromise could be reached. He said Muslims should not insist on making a mosque at the site where the temple would be built.

pering. Saroj Kumar Shukla, who lost from Lucknow East, referred to a couple of booths, Akbarnagar and Gyanpur, where he claimed the BSP had around 350 sure shot votes, including that of the Jatavs, the BSP’s coreDalit support, the Muslims, and his own family members. “Can you believe I got only four votes?! How is it possible,” Mr. Shukla asked, adding that his complaints to the returning officer had been ignored.

Cow smuggler held after shootout Press Trust of India Jaipur

An alleged cow smuggler was arrested after a shootout with the police in Bharatpur district on Tuesday while two others who were transporting bovines illegally managed to escape, the police claimed. “The smugglers fired six times at us and did not stop at the check post. We were able to puncture their truck tyre and arrested one of the three smugglers who were transporting 12 bovines illegally, after a long chase,” SHO Kothwada Naresh Kumar told PTI. According to police officials, after receiving a tipoff they had put up a check post near Dharamtal village.

Press trust of india Dhanbad

A BJP MLA in Jharkhand was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly being involved in the murder of his cousin and Congress leader Neeraj Singh here, the police said. DIG (Bokaro range) Saket Kumar said Sanjiv Singh, the BJP MLA from Jharia, was arrested after his interrogation at Saraidheal police station in the afternoon. Neeraj, the former

deputy mayor of Dhanbad, was gunned down along with his personal assistant Ashok Yadav, bodyguard Munna Tiwary, and driver in on the evening of March 21 at the Steel Gate under Saraidhela police station while he was returning from Jharia coal belt in his car. Sanjiv and his younger brother Sidharth Singh and three others were named as accused in the FIR filed in the murder case.

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Karnataka power tarif up by 8%

IN BRIEF

NEET mandatory for Kerala admissions

Bengaluru supply company launches diferential tarifs to encourage domestic consumption savings “The hike is not for this year, this is to cover last year’s deficit. After the breakdown of the Sharavathi Hydro Power Station last year, low cost hydro electric power was not available. So the Escoms went for thermal power. The deficit because of this was ₹ 2,296 crore for 2016-17, which accounts for 42 paise per unit.”

K. C. Deepika Bengaluru

76 head of cattle rescued in Karnataka MANDYA

The Mandya Rural police and a group of animal rights’ activists from Bengaluru rescued over 76 head of cattle from a rice mill at Kabbanahalli in the taluk on Monday. A political worker had allegedly hoarded the animals to be transported to slaughterhouses in Kerala and other areas, the police said.

20 passengers injured in Mandya bus accident MANDYA

Twenty persons, including children, were injured when a private bus, travelling from Mangaluru to Bengaluru, rammed into a stationary truck on National Highway 75. The incident happened at the Kanchinakote village in Nagamangala taluk of Mandya district early on Tuesday, the police said.

The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) announced a hike of an average 8% in tariff for 2017-18 on Tuesday, against the 25% increase the Electricity Supply Companies (Escoms) had sought. The average tariff increase is now 48 paise per unit, ranging from 15 paise to 50 paise per unit, for all categories. The hike the Escoms had asked for was ₹1.48 per unit. The new tariffs, though announced late, will be applicable from April 1. Last year, the KERC had hiked tariffs by an average 9%, which amounted to a 48 paise average hike. The increase sought was ₹1.02 per unit.

Curbing demand For the first time, the KERC announced differential tariffs for consumers catered to by the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom). The commission accepted

the power utility’s proposal of introducing different tariff hikes for different slabs, submitted in an amended petition. It was the submission of this petition that was cited as the reason for the delay in announcement of tariff revision. When domestic users consume less, the hike is also

No special status for A.P.: Minister NEW DELHI

The Centre has no plans to grant Special Category Status to any State, Minister of State for Planning, Rao Inderjit Singh, told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. The Minister was replying to Congress member K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, who wanted to convene a meeting of National Development Council to discuss the necessity for continuance of the concept of SCS. Members of the Congress, the Left and the Trinamool Congress, however, were not satisfied with the Minister’s reply and staged a walkout.

Responding to the attack by the Opposition parties, he said, instead of criticising the government, they should ensure fiscal discipline in their respective States and develop them utilising the extra ₹1.78 lakh crore that the Centre had given through the Finance Commission.

No approval from NDC He said he would not deny that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced that they would give Andhra Pradesh SCS for five years. Mr. Singh said the basic principle for according SCS

(20 paise in second slab, 40 paise in first slab). The commission defended this move saying many HT consumers had started purchasing power from open access, leading to losses for the Escoms. Announcing the new rates, KERC chairman M.K. Shankarlinge Gowda said,

Special Correspondent Thiruvananthapuram

The Kerala government has promulgated an ordinance to streamline admissions to private medical colleges and made the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET) held by the CBSE mandatory. The ordinance, which precedes the Kerala Medical Education (Regulation and Control of Admission to Private Medical Colleges) Bill, 2017, mandates the constitution of a committee headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or High Court to fix the fee and admission norms. The committee would have representatives of the government and the Medical Council of India on board. The fee to be decided by the committee would be applicable for students up to the end of the course, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vi-

jayan said here on Tuesday. Any excess amount collected from students would be counted as capitation fee, he said.

Violation to attract fine The regulatory committee would have the powers of a civil court to handle complaints about irregularities in admission and fee. It would fix the fee and finalise an agreement with the managements. Violation of the agreement would attract a fine of up to ₹10 lakh. The committee can also cancel irregular admissions and direct the college to return the excess fee to students. Mr. Vijayan said the ordinance was issued on the basis of the decisions taken at an all-party meeting following the Supreme Court order making the NEET exam mandatory for admission to medical colleges.

Ham radio operators help unite family in T.N.

Cong. raises issue in the Rajya Sabha; Oppn. stages walkout Press Trust of India

lower. However, it is the opposite for HT (high tension) consumers. To encourage consumption by HT consumers under the industrial and commercial categories, the tariff increase for consumption in the second slab (beyond one lakh units) is 50% lower than the increase in the first slab

Higher purchase costs The other justifications given were the increase in power purchase cost for 2017-18 mainly due to increase in fuel cost of thermal power plants (about six paise), and fuel adjustment cost (FAC) coming to ₹280 crore recoverable during April-June at an average increase of 20 paise per unit. To reduce consumers’ burden, KERC allowed for the FAC to be collected at an average increase of five paise per unit, with which the hike would add up to 53 paise per unit.

Regulatory panel to decide on fees

Joyous reunion for native of Vellore district who ended up in Kolkata by mistake

was the approval from the National Development Council. “As far as Andhra Pradesh is concerned, there was no endorsement, approval from the NDC... We are not giving SCS to Andhra,” the Minister added. He said the previous government could have asked the NDC to approve the status for Andhra Pradesh, but it did not do so. He said after taking over, the BJP government gave 10% extra grant, amounting to ₹1.78 lakh crore per year, to the States through the Finance Commission to take care of their requirements.

place near a Sathyanarayana temple in Vellore district, he was lost in Kolkata, and we had his photo — this was all we had to work with,” said Mr. Biswas. They sent out WhatsApp pictures and videos and requested 37 police personnel in Kolkata to help find his family.

Aditi R. CHENNAI

A few days after the Gangasagar Mela, the annual religious fair in West Bengal, Ambarish Nag Biswas was told by Kolkata’s health officer about a 25-year-old man admitted in a local government hospital, pining to go home. “When we met him, he could hardly speak. He had head injuries,” said Mr. Biswas, secretary of the West Bengal Radio Club (Amateur Club), a group of ham radio enthusiasts. With the help of the interpreter, they found that the

EDUCATIONAL

Together again: Dhanasekaran with his family & members of West Bengal Radio Club (Amateur Club). SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

man’s name was Dhansekaran, that he was a native of Vellore district, that he had ended up in Kolkata by mistake and had lost all

EDUCATIONAL

his belongings on a train. Mr. Biswas and his team of ham radio operators took up the task of locating his family. “Dhansekaran was from a

Family traced Over a month later, his family was traced. Dhanasekaran was a resident of Sholingur, Vellore. His aged father, a daily wage worker, broke down on hearing his son’s voice over phone. The team then arranged his travel to

EDUCATIONAL

Kolkata and arranged for their return too. “We were very happy to have finally found our boy,” cried Dhanasekaran’s uncle, who had also gone to Kolkata to bring him home. “He was supposed to go to Gujarat for work but somehow ended up in Kolkata. He has big dreams to help his family.” On Monday morning, Dhanasekaran, his father and his uncle landed in Chennai and headed to their home town. “The idea is to put this radio into best use. Our motive is to unite families, and we will continue doing it,” said Mr. Biswas.

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IN BRIEF

Mamata may visit China in June

NHRC notices on alleged No headway in talks over disposal of bodies in Manipur rape by security forces Govt was hoping to convince tribal activists to bury eight persons killed in 2015

Staff Reporter

KOLKATA

Iboyaima Laithangbam

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she might visit China next June on an invitation from the Chinese Communist Party. The Chief Minister said she would visit the country because it wanted to invest. “They have requested me many times. Perhaps we may go there in June for 4/5 days,” she said.- PTI

IMPHAL

Three killed as car rams truck in Rajasthan JAIPUR

Three members of a family were killed on Tuesday and as many were injured when the car they were travelling rammed a stationary truck in Dausa district. The incident occurred near Samleti village when Agrabased family was returning after visiting Khatu Shyam temple. - PTI

Three tiger poachers held in MP BHOPAL

The Tiger Strike Force of Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has arrested three persons wanted in tiger poaching cases in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, an official said on Tuesday. The three accused, identified as Rokin, Tiliya and Tayohari, were arrested from Uchhera in Satna district, a public relations department official said. - PTI

Three killed in UP road accident BAREILLY

A man and his two children were killed when the motorcycle they were riding was hit by a jeep on AonlaAliganj road, police said on Tuesday. While Anokhe Maurya(40) and his son Aman(12) died on the spot, daughter Anjali passed away at the hospital. - PTI

Panel asks for report from the Centre, Chhattisgarh govt

The Manipur government’s hope for a settlement with tribal activists to convince them to perform the last rites of eight persons killed in 2015 came to a naught on Monday. Officials said on Tuesday that no new date has been fixed for the next round of talks. The government had hoped to sign an agreement by Wednesday, following which the activists would claim the eight bodies. Nine persons were killed during violent protests in September 2015. While one body was claimed, the remaining have been lying in the morgue till date. Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had initiated talks with tribal activists, who have been agitating against the passing of three Inner Line Permit (ILP) Bills in the State Assembly on August 31, 2015. Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla had urged the tribal

ation of seven districts, creation of a new district out of Churachandpur district, ex gratia of ₹10 lakh to the next of kin of the nine dead persons, and ₹ one lakh and a government job for the injured persons. The activists, who had participated in the second and most crucial round of talks on Monday, later told journalists that the discussion had failed to achieve a breakthrough.

Unhealed wounds: Nine persons were killed in police iring during clashes at Churachandpur in Manipur in September, 2015, over the Inner Line Permit issue . SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

activists to arrive at a settlement so that the bodies are given a decent burial. She had said that differences in a democracy can be sorted through talks. Officials said the activists had put forth several demands on Monday, which weren’t related to attempts

to bury the dead, and that these demands had caught the officials off guard. The officials said most of the demands can’t be fulfilled by the Chief Minister alone. The activists have demanded the extension of the Sixth Schedule in the hill areas, a rollback of the cre-

Protracted agitations There have been protracted agitations in Manipur demanding implementation of the ILP system, which is in force in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland. A student was gunned down during the agitations. The ILP system regulates the entry and stay of non-locals. The President had refused to sign one Bill and returned the other two. The previous Congress government too had failed to resolve the crisis.

NEW DELHI

The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday issued notices to the Centre as well as the Chhattisgarh Police over allegations that security personnel had raped a teenage girl in that State. The Commission issued notices to the Union Home Secretary and the Chhattisgarh Director-General of Police on the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl in the Sukma district by some Central Reserve Police Force or Chhattisgarh Police personnel. The men, who were not identified, allegedly entered the victim’s house at the Patel para of Chintagufa village around 4 a.m. on April 2. They were apparently on the look-out for a man, the victim’s brother, who was a member of the banned outfit, Sangham. When her family tried to save her, the security personnel allegedly beat them. As per reports, the victim and her mother are in police custody and are allegedly

‘Dark’ side: The 15-year-old was allegedly raped at Sukma in Chhattisgarh during a search operation. FILE PHOTO *

being pressured to change her statement. The State police have denied the allegations, which they say have been levelled in order to defame the force.

Violation of rights Taking cognisance of the matter, the NHRC observed that the allegations, if true, were violation of human rights and that the security forces are supposed to protect the rights of citizens, not violate them.

“The perpetrators are required to be booked under law. There is extreme need to provide protection and proper counselling along with relief and rehabilitation to the victim and her family,” the Commission noted. The NHRC took cognisance of the matter after news reports and copies of complaints of the victim’s mother to the area Superintendent of Police and a complaint by the Bharatiya Mahila Federation to the District Collector.

BJD protests reduction Old cars to don new colours at Jaipur art festival in kerosene quota

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3-day protest by the party in Odisha Staff Reporter Berhampur

Led by two State Ministers, the students’ wings of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) held a protest demonstration in Berhampur on Tuesday against reduction of Odisha’s kerosene quota by the Central government. The demonstration was part of the three-day protest over the issue by the BJD. On Wednesday the ruling party will hold a similar protest in Sambalpur. Protests were held in Bhubaneswar on

Monday. State Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Dasburma and Women and Child Eelfare Minister Usha Devi led the agitation on Tuesday. Several BJD MLAs of Ganjam district also took part in it.

Rally in Berhampur BJD activists took out a rally, which culminated in a public meeting in front of the office of the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), southern division in the Berhampur.

‘Event will highlight aesthetic aspect of automobiles, which is often ignored during their mechanical use’ Mohammed Iqbal Jaipur

Breaking some stereotypes, artists from across the country will spread colours and paint live vintage cars, bringing in the concept of automobile art on display, at the third edition of the Cartist Art Fesitval beginning here on Wednesday. The uniqueness about painting the cars will be in carrying out the legacy of automobile art on the car models which are 60 to 70 years old. The five-day festival will

Ready for makeover: A vintage Mercedes that will be painted at the Cartist fest in Jaipur on Wednesday. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

provide a platform to artists to showcase their talent to the art connoisseurs and popularise the new style of

creative activity. “The event will highlight aesthetic aspect of automobiles, which is often

ignored during their mechanical use in the fast paced life of their users,” Cartist founder-member Himanshu Jangid, who is also a vintage car restorer, said here on Tuesday. Emphasis would be laid on the role of automobile art in encouraging people to live a happy life, he said. The Cartist group of young artists has been popularising the concept of merging automobiles with art through the art festival launched in 2015, encouraging the public at

EDUCATIONAL

large to learn, explore and create art.

Special workshops Mr. Jangid said special workshops in the areas of photography, mono print, wood carving, paper craft, pottery, miniature, caricature, oil painting and graphic art would also be organised during the five days of the festival. Besides, as many as seven solo exhibitions featuring the works of different artists from Jaipur and elsewhere will be held.

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IN BRIEF

Sushil levels new charges against Lalu’s family

Communal tension in Ranchi

Stayzilla co-founder Vasupal gets conditional bail

Staff Reporter

Court directs him to deposit ₹40 lakh within one week

Kolkata

Kanimozhi & Kamalanathan

‘Prime land worth crores of rupees transferred to their names’

Kanimozhi is The Hindu staf union president

Amarnath Tewary

CHENNAI

Rajya Sabha MP M.K. Kanimozhi was on Tuesday elected president of The Hindu Office and National Press Employees’ Union. M. Kamalanathan was reelected general secretary for the fourth consecutive time. In addition, two vicepresidents, one joint secretary, one treasurer and 13 executive committee members were elected.

Non-bailable warrant sought against Zakir Naik MUMBAI

The Enforcement Directorate moved the Prevention of Money Laundering Act court on Tuesday seeking for an issuance of a non bailable warrant against Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. The application moved by Mr. Venegavkar read, “The NIA’s FIR reveals that Dr. Naik and his associates are indulging in unlawful activities through provocative utterances, promoting enmity and hatred between different religious groups in India. His inflammatory speeches and lectures have been inspired and incite a number of youths in India to commit unlawful and terrorist acts.”

First sunstroke death this year in Odisha

PATNA

Senior Bihar Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushil Kumar Modi has levelled fresh allegation over yet another ‘land scam’ by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s family members. “Lalu Prasad’s family got prime land worth crores of rupees transferred to their name in lieu of favours done to a businessman who had set up a liquor company factory by the name of Iceberg Industries Pvt. Ltd at Bihta in Patna when Mr. Lalu Prasad’s wife Rabri Devi was the Chief Minister of the State from 20002005,” Mr. Modi said on Tuesday.

Documents on deals When asked, Mr. Modi said he has been receiving all the documents exposing the “dubious land deals” by Lalu Prasad’s family from those in the government. “I will also appeal to all those who know about any such dubious deals related with Lalu Prasad’s family to

Sushil Kumar Modi

Lalu Prasad

also appeal to < > Iallwill those who know

erandi by which Mr. Lalu Prasad opted to transfer two acres of prime land on which Bihar’s biggest shopping mall is coming up in Patna through Delight Marketing Pvt. Ltd., in lieu of giving two railway hotels to hotelier Harsh Kochar on lease,” alleged the BJP leader, who also demanded that an FIR be lodged for the misuse of the Chief Minister’s official residential address 1, Anne Marg by his daughter Chanda Yadav in 2014.

about any such dubious deals related with Lalu Prasad’s family to come to us… we will never reveal their name. Sushil Kumar Modi BJP leader

come to us… we will never reveal their name,” said Mr. Modi. “It is the same modus op-

Tension spread in Ranchi following a clash between two communities over playing of a song near a mosque. According to locals, the incident took place near M.G. Road area around 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Some people who took out a rally to celebrate Hanuman Jayanti “started playing a song on Ram Mandir”, to which some members of the minority community objected.

No one arrested Speaking to The Hindu, Senior Superintendent of Police in Ranchi Kuldeep Dwivedi said: “The situation is normal now.” No one had been arrested in the case so far, he said. “Some youth of the minority community confronted those who were playing the song and asked them to stop it. Suddenly, the situation flared up and the two groups came to blows,” residents said. They also said that some participants in the rally called members of a rightwing organisation who assaulted the Muslim youth.

CHENNAI

Twenty-eight days after being arrested on the complaint of cheating a Chennaibased ad agency, Yogendra Vasupal, co-founder of Chennai-based homestay start-up Stayzilla, was on Tuesday granted conditional bail by the Madras High Court. “The accused is granted bail on a condition to deposit ₹40 lakh to the account of the crime number in the Magistrate court in one week,” Justice S. Baskaran said in his order. On March 14, Mr. Vasupal was arrested based on a complaint from C.S. Aditya of Jigsaw Advertising and Solutions Private Limited for offences under Sections 406 (Punishment for Criminal Breach of Trust), 420 (Cheating), 506 (i) (Criminal Intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Failure to pay According to the complainant, Stayzilla had failed to make payments for advertising services rendered by him since February 2016 and

Man dies of snake bite; one held Press Trust of India Jodhpur

The police have arrested a snake charmer who was absconding after one of his snakes fatally bit a man in Jodhpur district, the police said on Tuesday. Inderam Suthar was arrested from Jatawas village in the district last night, they said. “A case under Section 304 of IPC (causing death by negligence) has been registered,” SP (Rural) Harendra Kumar said. The incident took place on Sunday when Suthar put the snake around 35year-old Baburam Jakhar’s neck as part of a religious ceremony in Lohawat area, he said. “Suthar came with snakes in a sack and boasting about having control over them, attempted to roll the snakes on the necks of the devotees sitting there despite protest from the villagers,” said Mr. Kumar. The reptile bit Jakhar on his temple during the act, the police said. The snake charmer took Jakhar to a nearby temple for conjuration activities for two hours but later rushed him to a hospital when his condition worsened. “He was declared brought dead at the hospital and his family later filed a complaint,” the police said.

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Yogendra Vasupal

defrauded him of ₹ 1.69 crore.

‘Pure civil dispute’ When the bail plea came up for hearing, senior counsel B. Kumar for the petitioner said, “This is a pure civil dispute. The disagreement was on the excessive bill raised by the complainant for the services rendered. Being not satisfied with the services rendered is not a criminal offence. How could people do business if arrested for such reasons? If that is the case, persons who are not afraid of facing imprisonment can only be entrepreneurs.”

Malayalam made mandatory in all Kerala schools Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan says the new law will come into efect this academic year

NEW DELHI

Odisha reported its first sunstroke death this year as temperatures remained above the normal levels in several parts of the country, including in Telangana, where many cities recorded their maximums in excess of 40 degrees Celsius. It was a hot day in Delhi where the maximum temperature rose to settle at 37.6 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season’s average. PTI

Asserting that the company run by Mr. Vasupal is a bona fide company, Mr. Kumar said, “Two major multinational companies based in U.S. have invested in the company. They would be continuing their investment.”

Sureshkumar

Special Correspondent Thiruvananthapuram

The Kerala government has promulgated an Ordinance to make teaching of Malayalam mandatory up to the Std. X in all schools. Briefing the media after a Cabinet meeting here on Tuesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the new law would come into effect this academic year and be applicable to government, aided, unaided and self-financing institutions following the State, CBSE and ICSE syllabi.

Hefty fines Schools violating the new law would attract hefty fines and such CBSE and ICSE schools would be denied NOC or face cancellation of NOC. Schools should not put up

boards or notices or conduct campaigns against speaking Malayalam. A fine of up to ₹5,000 would be imposed on headmasters of such institutions. “It has come to the notice of the government that Malayalam is not taught in certain schools. In fact, some schools have even imposed a ban on Malayalam on their premises. The new law is intended to curb such practices,” the Chief Minister said. The Ordinance exempts students from other States and countries from learning Malayalam. However, those from linguistic minorities would have the option to learn Malayalam. Mr. Vijayan said the Ordinance had been approved by the Governor on Monday evening.

Foreign funds Opposing the arguments, the Additional Public Prosecutor said, “The accused has cheated a 24-year-old young man who is also liable to pay other vendors for the services rendered to the accused. Foreign funds are flowing into the company. If enlarged on bail, the accused might fly away to some other country to evade proceedings.” Denying the submissions, Mr. Kumar said, “We are ready to deposit ₹30 lakh in the court to prove the petitioner’s bona fide intent to stay in the country and settle the dispute.” The prosecutor further requested the court to direct for mediation to settle the dispute. The judge refused to pass any orders on the prosecutor’s request for mediation.

Govt. to curb wastage of food in hotels Press Trust of India New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pitch against wastage of food has prompted the government to consider asking highend restaurants and hotels to specify the portion size of a meal to enable customers order the right amount. Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the hospitality industry would be asked whether it can do it “voluntarily” or or needed the government to make legal provisions for it. Mr. Paswan’s remarks came nearly a fortnight after Modi expressed concern over large-scale wastage of food. “This idea has come out of my personal experience. When we go out for eating, we see a lot of food being wasted, ” he told reporters.

‘Banning online pre-natal sex determination content dangerous’ Will curtail fundamental right to know of a genuine information-seeker, who is driven by curiosity: SC Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that a general prohibition on all online content about pre-natal sex determination will curtail the fundamental right to know of a genuine information-seeker who is driven by curiosity. “Pre-natal sex determination ads is an offence. But a general prohibitory order against all online informa-

tion pertaining to sex determination is dangerous. We will be curtailing the right to know under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution,” a three-judge Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra observed orally. Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi said there was a distinction between the right to know of an information seeker and the purely commercial objectives of those who post online sex determ-

ination ads to make money. “The search of the information seeker is protected by the right to know,” Mr. Rohatgi submitted. “Yes. Curiosity is fundamental to the right to know and you cannot curtail it with a direct order,” Justice Misra observed orally.

Restriction needed “Yes, there should be a restriction on sex determination ads. But can we smother

choice of a person to gain information? Right to know is a fundamental right. If we pass a general type order, that is likely to offend Article 19(1) (a),” Justice Misra asked. The court asked for Mr. Rohatgi’s assistance and allowed advocate Sanjay Parekh, counsel for petitioner Sabu Mathew George, to effectively address the court on the question as to whether the ban on sex determination advertisements

under Section 22 of the PreNatal and Pre-Conception Sex Diagnostic Techniques Act is restricted only to paid advertisements. The court will hear them on April 13. Senior advocates Harish Salve and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for search engines Yahoo and Google, said intermediaries were not directly responsible for people uploading content online.

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No place for scholarship New guidelines cutting the number of MPhil and PhD students a professor can supervise will kill research

Risky, ill-considered

A prolonged protest The by-elections in Kashmir were marked by a mix of indiference and violent anger

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n election that isn’t free is not fair either. With violence by political protesters marring the byelection in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, resulting in the lowest-ever voter turnout of around 7%, the Election Commission was left with no choice but to put of the by-election in Anantnag. After ignoring the advice of the Union Home Ministry against the conduct of elections in the Kashmir Valley, the EC had to perforce go by the report of the State administration that the law and order situation in Anantnag constituency was not conducive to holding of polls on April 12. Certainly, the EC is right in maintaining that it was not bound to consult the Union Home Ministry before deciding to conduct elections, but as demonstrated by subsequent events, the Centre had called this matter correctly. The security forces were unprepared for the scale of violence, and failed to ensure conditions for free, unrestricted polling. Whatever the reasons or provocations for the violence in Srinagar, which left eight people dead and more than 170 injured, the end result was that most voters chose to stay away from polling stations. One polling station was set aire; many were temporarily shut following attacks. Unlike a general election, where a change of government is possible, a by-election does not interest voters to any great degree. And, unlike in a general election protesters ind it easier to disrupt the polling process in a by-election. For voters, the political stakes are low and the physical risks high. Whether they were too scared to vote or they heeded the calls for a boycott of the poll process, the byelection appeared like an elaborate farcical exercise that was robbed of all political legitimacy. After the higher voter participation in recent years in the Valley, the way the Srinagar by-election unfolded is indicative of a dramatic slide in the political situation. The killing of Burhan Wani, a ‘commander’ of the Hizbul Mujahideen, by security forces in July last year set of a new cycle of violence in Kashmir that does not seem to have ended to this day as stone-pelting is met with pellet guns. In these circumstances, by-elections may have no political meaning. In any case, without free re-polling in all the booths that witnessed violence, the result in this election counts for little. Ideally, repolling in Srinagar too should be put of by a few weeks. But Kashmiris will also need a larger political motivation to go to the polling booths, a belief that they are in charge of their own lives and that their vote will count for something. Otherwise staying at home might seem the better option to facing the stones of protesters and the guns of security forces. Time alone will not heal wounds. CM YK

he claim that something as innocuous as the number of MPhil students that a university teacher is allowed to supervise will determine the future of research in Indian universities must seem far fetched. However, the drastic cuts mandated by the latest (2016) University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines on MPhil and PhD are indeed alarming, and it is worrisome that they have not received the attention they demand.

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A three-tier balance For those unfamiliar with it, research in Indian universities is located at the top rung of a threetiered structure. The bottom rung is made of undergraduates who account for the vast majority of students in higher education, and are enrolled in a range of disciplines in the arts, social sciences, sciences, technology, and so on. The second rung is expectedly much smaller and consists of student enrolled for two-year post-graduate degrees. The third tier, much the smallest, is that of research students who may either enrol directly in the PhD degree, or opt to do an MPhil degree (usually of two years duration) before eventually going on to the PhD. The two-stage option is designed to address the need that master’s students often feel for additional training and skills before taking on the challenge of conducting original research for several years. This is a common requirement because in India master’s level courses do not involve ori-

ginal research — they emphasise the assimilation and reproduction of existing knowledge. The MPhil helps to orient students towards the new and entirely diferent activity of research aimed at adding to current knowledge by asking and answering new questions. Moreover, an MPhil degree makes one eligible for a full-time teaching position at the university and college level, and is thus critical for expanding faculty strength. Many commentators have remarked on the extraordinary expansion of Indian higher education in recent years. Oicial statistics show that enrolment has doubled over the past decade, placing us among the largest such systems in the world. Equally remarkable is the restructuring that has accompanied and enabled expansion. Increasing privatisation has meant that the majority of colleges today are privately managed (though many may also receive some government aid).

(albeit to varying degrees) of students from rural areas, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Muslims is transforming what until recently was an elite structure. Moreover, women from all these groups are also present in numbers large enough to approach parity with men (oicial igures for 2015-16 place the share of female enrolment at 46.2%). Even more unprecedented is the fact that this kind of diverse student body is found not just at the lowest rungs of higher education but also at the top. Thanks to the implementation of reservations and the willingness of parents from vulnerable backgrounds to invest in higher education for their children, this transformation is also visible in postgraduate and research level classrooms. There is, therefore, a tremendous sense of promise associated with this historical moment. Indian higher education is poised to produce new generations of students at all levels, including young researchers from hitherto underor un-represented groups who can expand and transform the knowledge base of society. They will also form the next generation of university and college faculty. However, instead of enabling and strength-

The oxygen of access There has also been a widening of access to students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are the irst from their families to enter higher education. Apart from the very poor who have little chance of going beyond school, the presence

across the country. Given the transformation in the student body with more and more irst generation students making it to this level, there is an acute need for adequate training in undertaking research, including more inventive and rigorous ways of imbibing research methodologies. Several institutions are currently engaged in planning new modes of teaching the kinds of reading, writing and research skills necessary to aid this process. Besides, younger faculty also need new training. Supervising an MPhil student is one of the best ways for an assistant professor to grow as a researcher and teacher, so much so that junior faculty should be encouraged to have more such students, at least initially.

Route to unviability But the precise opposite is being made to happen. MPhil classes will turn unviable because of low numbers. More students will try to get into PhDs straight from an MA degree and being ill-prepared for the challenges they will face, they are more likely to sink than swim. Faculty will be less equipped to develop as research supervisors. And most important of all, the necessary expansion in faculty strength — both to meet existing severe shortages, particularly in faculty from disadvantaged sections, and to meet the growth in students — will not only be halted but also reversed under the new conditions. The UGC, under the direction of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, appears in fact to be bent not just on quietly killing the research potential of India’s universities, but on diminishing higher education altogether.

Mary E. John is with the Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi

Pivot to the Indo-Paciic Cooperation with like-minded countries gives India more space to emerge as a key regional interlocutor

harsh v. pant

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t a time when India inds itself consumed once again by its obsession with Pakistan in light of the death sentence pronounced on Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani military court, two recent visits to India by foreign dignitaries underscore the gradually evolving foreign policy priorities of Indian diplomacy. The visits of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to India this week exemplify not only the country’s rising global proile but also its growing stakes in the larger IndoPaciic.

Positive trajectory There are now new demands being made on India. And New Delhi seems ready to play ball. Its role as a security provider is visible in the Delhi-Dhaka joint statement which has stressed the need for greater military-to-military training and exchanges, and complimented the armed forces for their professional conduct during joint search and rescue operations in the Bay of Bengal leading to the rescue of a large number of ishermen from

both sides. The defence relationship was the highlight of Ms. Hasina’s visit to Delhi this time as it included a memorandum of understanding on a defence framework, and a $500 million line of credit (LoC) for defence procurement by the Bangladesh military forces, the largest such LoC India has extended to any country so far. What makes this line of credit more signiicant is that Bangladesh will not be bound to use it to source its supplies only from Indian companies. This is India’s way to reposing conidence in the Hasina government that it will not challenge New Delhi’s vital interests. India is also ready to demonstrate it keenness to share its economic growth with its regional partners. It is also extending a $4.5 billion line of credit to Bangladesh, over and above the existing $2.8 billion line, to fund around 17 infrastructure projects which includes port upgradation work at the Mongla, Chittagong and Payra ports. Given the critical need for enhancing connectivity in South Asia, India is pushing for early implementation of the BangladeshBhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement, aimed at facilitating seamless transport of goods over land customs stations. Bus and train services between Kolkata and Khulna have been started, and there are plans to revive inland waterway channels. Prime Minister Narendra Modi

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Save Kulbhushan News of a Pakistani military court having awarded the death penalty to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav on the grounds that he was involved in “espionage and terror activities” is shocking. There is no truth in this. Pakistan’s act of denying him a fair trial and failing to provide him a lawyer to defend himself violates the basic norms of law. It is not only a miscarriage of justice but also makes a mockery of the law. Pakistan needs to rethink and reconsider its stand, which can severely damage India-Pakistan ties. K.R. SrInivasan, Secunderabad

The development is reprehensible and diabolical, and there are many loose ends in this case. Most sources say that Mr. Jadhav was on a business visit to Iran, from where he was abducted by Pakistani authorities. If this is so, why are the Iranian

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K.R. Jayaprakash Rao, Mysuru

■ Pakistan’s decision is a clear indication that it will go to any extent to ensure that India dilutes its tough stance on Balochistan. India should mobilise world opinion against the sentence. New Delhi should also take up the matter at the United Nations at the earliest as a prisoner’s rights guaranteed under the Geneva Convention have also been breached.

Bengaluru

and Ms. Hasina have both been instrumental in shaping the positive trajectory of this important bilateral relationship. Mr. Modi used his political capital to push through the land boundary agreement (LBA), to swap enclaves India and Bangladesh held in each other’s territory, in 2015 and is working towards mitigating diferences on the critical Teesta water sharing pact. Ms. Hasina has been equally responsive to Indian concerns. Bangladesh is taking serious steps to deal a decisive blow to separatist Indian insurgent organisations such as ULFA and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland. There is now greater convergence between India and Bangladesh on dealing with fundamentalist forces such as the Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, the Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh

and Harkat-ul-Ansar. For her commitment to strong Delhi-Dhaka ties, Ms. Hasina has faced a lot of opposition at home. Soon after New Delhi and Dhaka signed 22 pacts in key sectors, Bangladesh’s Opposition leader, Khaleda Zia, accused Ms. Hasina of “selling out” the country to India to translate into reality her “dream of staying in power for life”. Given the size and scale of India, it inevitably becomes part of the domestic political milieu in its neighbouring states. So it will always have to trudge cautiously in South Asia where suspicions about New Delhi’s intentions run high. But the more India is seen to be reciprocating its neighbours grievances, the better chances it will have of mitigating these tensions.

For a larger Indian role The other way out for India is to enhance its engagements in the larger Indo-Paciic, thereby getting out of the straitjacket of being a “mere” South Asian power. New Delhi’s success in engaging countries such as Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia in recent years is testament to the growing demand in the region for a larger Indian role and presence. Mr. Turnbull’s visit to Delhi this week once again showed that India is now widely perceived to be a strong and credible regional force. The two countries pledged to enhance maritime cooperation as they underlined “the importance of

freedom of navigation and overlight, unimpeded lawful commerce, as well as resolving maritime disputes by peaceful means, in accordance with international law, including UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea)”. Defence cooperation once again is at the centre of this relationship with the decision to hold a bilateral maritime exercise named AUSINDEX in 2018. A bilateral exercise of the Special Forces will be held later this year, while the irst bilateral army-to-army exercise will also take place in 2018. The two countries should now prioritise the conclusion of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) at the earliest to give economic heft to their growing security interactions. Despite the hype about the possibility of India emerging as the guarantor of the liberal economic and security order in Asia, there are now new possibilities for reimagining New Delhi’s regional and global role. Greater cooperation with likeminded countries in the region and beyond will give it greater space to emerge as a credible regional interlocutor at a time when Washington’s policies remain far from clear and Beijing is challenging the foundations of the extant order. Harsh V. Pant is a Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi and Professor of International Relations at King’s College London

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

authorities not objecting to the act of abduction conducted on their soil? How can a military court in Pakistan try a civilian who belongs to another country? The trial itself has been conducted in a deceitful manner, without giving the hapless man any opportunity to defend himself. India must try all means possible to ensure that the penalty is not carried out.

C.V. Aravind,

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

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akistan’s sudden announcement on Monday that former Indian naval oicer Kulbhushan Jadhav has been sentenced to death by a Field General Court Martial is a development fraught with danger. It could lead to a rapid escalation in bilateral tensions that the region can ill aford. The trial, sentencing, and its conirmation by the Pakistan Army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, were carried out so secretly that the news took many in Pakistan as well by surprise. There are glaring holes in the procedures followed by Pakistan’s government and military in the investigation and trial of Mr. Jadhav. His recorded confession that was broadcast at a press conference within weeks of his arrest in March 2016 appeared to have been spliced. At various points in the tape, and in the transcript of the confession made available, Mr. Jadhav contradicts his own statements, suggesting that he had been tutored. Even if the confession was admissible in a court of law, little by way of corroborative evidence has been ofered by Pakistan to back up the claim that Mr. Jadhav, who was allegedly arrested in Balochistan last year, had been plotting operations against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s statement in Parliament detailing 13 requests by the government for consular access, and replies from the Pakistan government that made the access conditional on India cooperating in the investigation, further casts the procedures followed in a rather poor light. International human rights agencies too have criticised them. Mr. Jadhav must be allowed a retrial, preferably in a civil court and with recourse to appeal. New Delhi must step up its responses in the matter, as it seems to have kept it on the backburner, conining itself to fruitless, repeated representations. India must also pursue the issue with Iran, where Mr. Jadhav is believed to have been based for more than a decade, and investigate how he was brought, by force or otherwise, into Pakistan. The timing of the announcement of the death sentence is also being seen in a spy versus spy context, with the recent disappearance of a former Pakistan Army oicer in Nepal. These are matters best left to security agencies at the highest level, but the questions around Mr. Jadhav’s arrest need to be dispelled. Moreover, this escalation highlights the consequences of the breakdown in the India-Pakistan dialogue process, limiting the channels of communication between the two governments to sort out matters in a sober manner. The government has stood fast on its decision to not hold bilateral talks after the Pathankot attack in January 2016, but this policy is hardly likely to bring the desired results when a man’s life hangs in the balance. The Jadhav case requires a proactive threepronged response from India: impressing on Pakistan that the death sentence must not be carried out, explaining to the international community the lawed trial process, and sending interlocutors to open backchannels for diplomacy for Mr. Jadhav’s safe return home.

mary e. john DEEPAK HARICHANDAN

Pakistan’s announcement on Kulbhushan Jadhav threatens to escalate bilateral tensions

ening this surge, the UGC’s 2016 guidelines (which are mandatory for all institutions from the 2017-18 academic year) appear to be bent on halting and reversing it. The “vision” of these guidelines, embedded in its various clauses, is to severely curtail the number of MPhil students, perhaps with the intention of doing away with the degree altogether. The previous guidelines of 2009 allowed faculty to supervise up to eight PhD and ive MPhil students, with the overall cap intended to regulate faculty workload. Surprisingly and inexplicably, the 2016 guidelines now say that an assistant professor can have just one MPhil and four PhD students; an associate professor two MPhil and six PhD students; and a full professor three MPhil and eight PhD students at a given point of time. Moreover, it has been further decided that only fulltime regular faculty of a given department can be supervisors; that arrangements across departments (for interdisciplinary research) would require co-supervisors; and that supervisors from ailiating colleges must have at least two publications in refereed journals to be eligible to supervise. Keeping in mind that the MPhil is a two-year degree, with supervisors being allotted during the course of the irst year itself, these guidelines amount to cutting down on student intake every other year, leading to unviably small cohorts at best. If anything, the signiicance of the MPhil has only grown in recent times. Today, more than ever before, State universities have been starting MPhil programmes in the pure sciences, social sciences and humanities, and in various interdisciplinary ields such as development studies, human rights programmes and women’s studies, and large numbers of students are entering this programme

Blot on democracy The Election Commission has done a commendable job in cancelling the R.K. Nagar by-election but it is a well-known fact that this malady is not conined to R.K. Nagar alone (Editorial – “A damning indictment”, April 11). The practice of bribing voters through various means and thus inluencing them is alive and kicking throughout the length and breadth of the country. While we may proclaim ourselves to be the ‘world’s largest democracy’, it is an open secret that serious malpractices continue unabated during elections, which undermine the legitimacy of the entire process. The EC must leave no stone unturned in punishing the ofenders regardless of their political ailiations. N. Venkata Sai Praveen, Punggol, Singapore

■ There was plenty of evidence that voters were being bribed — indeed being

showered — with large sums of money in order to vote in favour of the ruling AIADMK (Amma). Given that the constituency was the centre of attraction right from the beginning, ruling party functionaries were said to be distributing money without any fear. One hopes that once the election is held again, people will be represented by an upright representative who will deliver the goods fairly. Mani Nataraajan, Chennai

Farmers’ plight Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears to have forgotten the relevance of Gandhiji’s struggle for the cause of exploited farmers. This is evident from the continuing neglect towards farmers from Tamil Nadu who have been protesting in New Delhi for over two weeks now (“TN farmers spring a surprise”, April 11). Though many politicians have extended their support towards their cause, no

action seems to have been taken so far. They have failed those who voted for them. A blind eye towards these desperate farmers at a time when huge tax concessions are given to corporates clearly shows the priorities of our “people’s representatives”. Alisha Abraham, Hyderabad

A large-scale waiver of agricultural loans, involving huge inancial deprivation to the nation, cannot be ■

ordered overnight. Such a decision requires deep deliberation with the ministry concerned and inancial experts. Our farmers must realise that going at the issue hammer and tongs will only result in disappointment.The delegation must realise that the powers-that-be will not cow down to such idiosyncrasies. V. Lakshmanan, Tirupur, Tamil Nadu

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

corrections & clarifications: A sentence in “Transformative visit” (Editorial, April 11, 2017) read: “Both governments would do well to understand the advice hidden in Sheikh Hasina’s message during a speech where she praised “all parties and all politicians” for coming together and clearing the land boundary agreement, to swap enclaves India and Pakistan held in each other’s territory, in 2015. It should have been the enclaves held by India and Bangladesh. A wrong illustration accompanied the Business page story headlined “Demonetisation resulted in 60% surge in tax ilers using our service: ClearTax” (April 9, 2017). It is the policy of The Hindu to correct signiicant errors as soon as possible. Please specify the edition (place of publication), date and page. The Readers’ Editor’s office can be contacted by Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday); Fax: +91-44-28552963; E-mail:[email protected]; Mail: Readers’ Editor, The Hindu, Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860 Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002, India. All communication must carry the full postal address and telephone number. No personal visits. The Terms of Reference for the Readers’ Editor are on www.thehindu.com

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THE HINDU

OPED 9

NOIDA/DELHI

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2017

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THE WEDNESDAY INTERVIEW | FAROOQ ABDULLAH

‘I see India heading towards disaster’ The former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on how national politics forced a change in his campaign in the by-election in Srinagar Peerzada Ashiq

Your party too was in alliance with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the past. How is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dispensation different from that of Atal Bihari Vajpayee?

Despite differences in the party over whether to contest the byelection from the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat or not, National Conference president and three-time Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah took the plunge. In an interview conducted before and after polling on April 9, which saw an abysmal turnout, Mr. Abdullah talks about the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s strained relationship with Pakistan, and the current challenge to secularism. Excerpts: On April 9, the day of voting for the by-election, Srinagar witnessed unprecedented violence, which left eight civilians dead, and the lowest ever voter turnout. Were you expecting this? What was the cause of this rage on the streets?

The Peoples Democratic Party-BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) alliance should acknowledge the disastrous consequences of its antipeople and power-hungry politics. The ruling coalition is responsible for shedding innocent blood during the bypolls. The elections should have been peaceful. This government has failed in doing so. The deaths only showed how much the situation has deteriorated in Kashmir. ■

Since 2002, mainstream parties contested polls on the issues of bijli, sadak, paani (electricity, roads, water) but in this election, political ideology was central to your campaign. What has changed?

Communal elements in India are changing the situation. The idea of diversity, even protected by the Constitution of India, is being destroyed. It has even changed the polity of the State. In 2002, unity and diversity was a strong element. The Congress, with a strong secular tradition, was in power then. There was no visible threat. Today the situation has taken a 360-degree turn. There is dictation being done in Delhi to make India a com-

■ Mr. Vajpayee was a man from the RSS but he realised [that] if India has to survive, then everyone has to survive. His thinking was totally different. He wanted to see India strive forward with all religions. The present dispensation is completely different.

plete Hindu Rashtra, which was not there when the country came into existence. I see India heading towards disaster. If this policy of division and one-religion rule continues to dictate terms, I see nothing but a dark future. Development is not going to take place if there is unrest. As trouble increases, the GDP is going to fall. You contested polls in 1996 when the situation was really tough. How good or bad is the situation in 2017?

We don’t face less tragedy now. The presence of guns and grenades may not be the same. However, today, at least you are able to put forth the idea before the people. But there is tremendous unrest, youth are throwing stones and people are dying, and that… conducive atmosphere is not there. I am surprised elections are being held. Why elections now when the gravity of tragedy is so big? As a party, we have no other option but to jump into the fray.

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What is your sense of the ground situation?

I see tremendous alienation. The youth are up in arms. They do not fear for their lives. Every day incidents are occurring in the Valley. There is an atmosphere of destruction. There has been no progress on many fronts, whether it’s power projects, talking to Hurriyat leaders as promised in the joint agreement (between

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Farooq Abdullah at his residence in Srinagar.

the PDP and the BJP), and creating a conducive atmosphere for India-Pakistan talks. In your election rallies, you described the bypoll as one against tyranny and fascism. What threat does Kashmir face?

Kashmir is being threatened by communal forces emerging in the nation. It’s those forces we are fighting. Today, it is not about development or construction of tunnels, but those forces who are out to finish every other religion and have the supremacy of only one religion.

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NISSAR AHMAD

feel if India < > We makes no positive moves towards resolving the problem with Pakistan, we stand for U.S. mediation to come to an agreement.

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You lost the 2014 parliamentary election by a margin of 40,000 votes. How confident are you this time?

This election is not just important to me and my party but important [for] the survival of Kashmiriyat; whether we will survive as an entity of a Muslim-majority State,

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Mr. Modi too refers to Mr. Vajpayee’s phrase of Jamhooriyat, Insaaniyat and Kashmiriyat to address the Kashmir problem.

which is under threat. The Muslim Rashtriya Manch, projected by the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), is already recruiting youth to infuse the ideology of the RSS. How important is the Jamaat-e-Islami’s ( JeI) support for the National Conference-Congress alliance candidate in south Kashmir? Why did you seek their support? ■ JeI brought Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to power (in 2002) from south Kashmir. Today, the JeI has realised its folly of supporting it (PDP) as the PDP has loaded the RSS on its shoulders. The JeI is

also seeing the danger. The time has come for the JeI to support those forces that are going to fight the elements supporting communal politics. The JeI, in fact, has reacted to your statements saying it will support you only if you take “concrete measures” for the welfare of Islam.

Yes, I am fighting not only for Islam but for the very existence of people of the entire country. People are going to suffer at the hands of these communal elements. Two young people bring their herd to a market (in Jharkhand) and goons hang them by the tree. They are saying they will put their gods’ pictures in the mosques. They want to thrust their code on us. Where is the Constitution of India?… Muslims of Kashmir have never been communal. Neither does Islam teach us communalism. It teaches us brotherhood and respect for other religions.

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■ Mr. Modi doesn’t believe in it. These are mere words. We have seen nothing in these years to prove that Mr. Modi is moving towards that. If he believed in Jamhooriyat, Insaaniyat and Kashmiriyat, then why doesn’t he talk to the Hurriyat? They too are part [of the] Kashmir polity. You may not agree to a hundred things of the Hurriyat, but at least you can agree to some of the things which may bring this tragedy to an end. Has there been any solid move by the Centre to start a dialogue with Pakistan? Just visiting the Pakistan Prime Minister on his birthday does not make any difference. The Centre has to grapple with the situation in Kashmir. And Pakistan is a part of it. You will never have peace here unless we are able to bring Pakistan on board.

Do you have any road map on how India and Pakistan can get closer? ■ Let’s hope I win. My role will be to rope in all the ele-

ments in the Valley for a common agenda that could be presented to both India and Pakistan. Second, I will unite the Opposition in India to face jointly the communal threat. Of late, the U.S. is also offering mediation on Kashmir. How do you see this move? ■ India has always believed Kashmir has to be resolved bilaterally. We also agreed with that. After so many years nothing has been achieved by India and Pakistan. We feel today that if India makes no positive moves towards resolving the problem with Pakistan, we stand for U.S. mediation to come to an agreement as they did over the water dispute. It was settled by an American. It seems the time has come where America is able to settle this one too.

Centre has to < > The grapple with the situation in Kashmir. And Pakistan is a part of it. You will never have peace here unless we are able to bring Pakistan on board. Your party is for autonomy as a political solution and, in the past, demanded turning the Line of Control into an international border. Where does the National Conference stand now? ■ On autonomy, we stand where we were. It has been our stance from the beginning. The Centre has eroded Article 370, but if you want peace in the Valley, you have to go back to the position of 1953. My mother’s body was lying in this garden (in 2000) and the then Prime Minister, Mr. Vajpayee, and Home Min-

ister L.K Advani came here. We were leaving the coalition but they asked us not to leave and promised to discuss autonomy. They appointed K.C. Pant, then Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission (in 2001), who held a meeting and came to no conclusion. Later, BJP leader Arun Jaitley was on it and the government fell. Our report is still lying with the BJP and they have to one day grapple with this. As far as the border is concerned, that is also Kashmir and this side is also Kashmir. Let’s make the LoC a permeable border so that it’s easy for people to trade and meet relations. This wound should get some healing. Your political career spans four decades. All these years did you ever feel that the Kashmir problem was getting closer to a solution? Did you ever witness a peaceful Kashmir? ■ The discussions with former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf made us hopeful. We thought a solution was possible in the four-point formula. A former Pakistan Foreign Minister told me in Delhi that a solution was in hand. I met them abroad also. At that time, they were hopeful that a resolution would come.

Which political decision have you regretted the most since you started your political career? ■ I don’t think I took any such political decision. I always kept fighting and lost power because I stood for them. The Resettlement Bill (of 1983) did not go well with the people in Delhi and I paid a price in 1984.

For full interview, please see www.thehindu.com

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More robots, fewer jobs?

FIFTY YEARS AGO APRIL 12, 1967

K.N. Wanchoo new Chief Justice of India

Lately we have been inept at creating new employment-generating sectors

The President has appointed Mr. Justice Kalias Nath Wanchoo, Judge of the Supreme Court, to perform the duties of the Chief Justice of India vice Mr. Justice K. Subba Rao who resigned the office of Chief Justice with effect from this afternoon [April 11]. Mr. K. Subba Rao, relinquished his office this afternoon, as Chief Justice, his resignation having been accepted by the President. Mr. Rao has been nominated by the Opposition parties to contest the office of the President of India. Earlier, to-day, Mr. Subba Rao delivered his last two judgments in open court. He then expressed his thanks to the Bar for its “co-operation and kindness through the years,” and wished it success and prosperity.

Anil K. Antony

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Our burgeoning young population is clearly struggling for jobs, despite being in the world’s fastest growing economy. More than 30% of Indians aged 15-29 are neither in employment nor in any training or education, according to a recent survey by the OECD. This added to the gloomy state of employment, for only in March the All India Council for Technical Education had said that more than 60% of the eight lakh engineers graduating from technical institutions across the country every year remain unemployed. Bridging this employment gap could become an insurmountable challenge thanks to the growing integration of machine learning and artiicial intelligence (AI)-based technologies and robotics in all our core industrial sectors. Currently, various automation technologies are in the process of overhauling the mass employment-generating but lowskilled blue-collar labour markets. They could also threaten skilled white-collar workers. For instance, JP Morgan Chase and Co. recently developed a programme called COIN, a learning machine that interprets legal agreements in just a few seconds, a task that consumed 3,60,000 work hours for lawyers and loan oicers annually. Similarly, an American medical school tested IBM’s AI technology Watson to analyse 1,000 cancer diagnoses. In 99% of the cases, Watson was able to recommend treatment plans that matched the suggestions of well-renowned oncologists. Suddenly, the World Economic Forum’s estimate that automation threatens almost 69% of the existing jobs in India seems like a conservative number. Throughout history, we have always feared that machines will cause mass unemployment. “In every kind of endeavour, in oice work as well as industry, in skilled labour as well as common tasks, machines are replacing men, and men are looking for work,” John F. Kennedy had said in 1960. However, this never happened as once old jobs became obsolete, new ones evolved. Machines decreased costs and prices, boosted demand, and created more employment opportunities. In India, for instance, as jobs started dwindling in farms, more productive sectors like manufacturing and services emerged.

Creating employment opportunities However, lately we have been inept in creating new employment-generating sectors while machines are systematically cutting down the workforce requirements in the principal labour-generating triumvirate of agricultural, manufacturing and services sectors. This will be one of our foremost challenges. Even if we rise up to it, a majority of the jobs absorbing our labour requirements will be ones that do not currently exist. If most of our future jobs are expected to come from the services sector, it is also imperative to impart social and communication skills along with the requisite domain expertise to ensure the creation of a market-ready workforce. The success of the Modi government’s Skill India mission will turn out to be vital in the prevention of social inequalities that are bound to arise because of our current unemployment trajectory. Anil K. Antony is the Executive Director of an Indo-American think tank in cybersecurity, intelligence and surveillance technology. Tweets @anilkantony

CM YK

ARCHIVES

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO APRIL 12, 1917

Shiah Conference

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CONCEPTUAL

NOTEBOOK

The Clever Hans effect

My privilege of outrage

Psychology/Ethology

On meeting Dalits who are slowly ighting discrimination

Clever Hans was a ‘magical’ horse in the early 20th century that could supposedly count, do some arithmetic and tell time, among other things, by tapping his hoof. Such feats provoked systematic investigations and finally a psychologist, Oscar Pfungst, deduced that Clever Hans was actually picking up unconscious verbal cues from his master, or whoever was doing the questioning. The Clever Hans effect has relevance today in studies of the mental capacities of animals, child psychology, and making sure that experimenters design studies by being mindful of ways in which they may unintentionally lead their subjects. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

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They jumped the queue: By Shanti Bhushan http://bit.ly/ShantiBhushan

Mohit Rao

In calm coastal Karnataka, my stint as a “rural district” reporter had already exposed me to the complex dynamics of communalism and moral policing. However, when I travelled in 2013 in Dakshina Kannada, along a road whose every twist and turn revealed an undulating landscape of areca and rubber plantations, little did I know that my privilege to be outraged would be stripped of its pretensions. A few weeks earlier, I had stumbled upon a small report in a local daily on a press conference by a local temple. The priest had announced that the Dalits of the village were “forgiven” and did not have to leave during the annual festival. I arrived at the remote village, the last on a road that disappears into the Pushpagiri forests of the Western Ghats. In the absolute green stood the ramshackle houses of the Dalit and tribal communit-

ies. In a rather matter-offact way, Bhatiya, 85, explained their ostracising: “Some 300 years ago, during the temple festival, our ancestors were inebriated, and angered the community by throwing buffalo meat on the path of the procession. The deity was angered, cursed us with misfortune (look at our poverty), and banished us from his site. During the annual procession, we leave from the site.” Putting aside my notebook, my urban, educated, naive, idealistic self took over the questioning. Hadn’t they thought of protesting against this practice? Does the community see this as fair? Did Bhatiya believe this story? “I do not know,” he said pithily. “All that matters is that the temple and the upper caste households in whose farms we work believe this.” Only in the last few years, the younger generation in the village, including the genial Somnath, have questioned the ritual, not forcefully but politely.

They readily agreed to a compromise formula: sins were atoned through rituals in three temples, and a custom-made bronze lamp had to be donated. The cost came up to ₹5,000 per family — wiping out their savings and forcing some to take loans. Somnath told me when I did a follow-up that things have improved. “We can now sit in the temple, take part in the procession. Of course, we cannot enter the homes of the upper castes. But we cannot force them, right? We live in the same village after all. No number of rituals can change that, and I know things will improve eventually,” he said. Just like in 2013, I cannot understand this optimism. Hadn’t the community capitulated to a tradition that was clearly unfair and illegal? Does my outrage stem from my privilege of caste and class which clouds my discomfort with the “compromise”? The questions continue to frustrate.

At the All-India Shiah Conference (Lucknow, April 11) it was resolved that the Government of each province be requested to add as holidays the 11th and 12th Muharram in all public offices, courts, schools and colleges. A resolution of thanks was passed for the services rendered by Nawab Fateh Ali Khan Oizelbast, C.I.E., for the Shia College. It was also resolved that the Punjab University be requested to open an examination for M.A. in Persian like other Universities and also to make the value of Persian equal to that of Arabic and Sanskrit in the examinations of the Entrance, F.A., and B.A., that the Government of U.P. be requested to cancel Section 123 of the Educational Code to the effect that students who fail twice in the examination will not be admitted in any school, that in future one-fourth of the scholarships of the Shiah Conference may be given to students of arts and crafts.

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NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2017

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FROM PAGE ONE

Indian Coast Guard rescues Pak. patrol

Sushma promises strong ightback Minister tells Rajya Sabha that Centre will ield the best lawyers to take up Jadhav’s case but you cannot meet him or talk to him on the issue,” Mr. Kharge said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to visit Pakistan to attend the marriage of Nawaz Sharif ’s daughter near Lahore. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said there should be no spat on the issue. “We all are equally concerned about the fate of Jadhav,” she said. Mr. Kharge said that while India granted access to Pakistan to visit Pathankot to gather evidence on terror strike, Islamabad denied New Delhi access to Mr. Jadhav.

Special Correspondent

“We were informed about the incident and also about missing Pakistan commando by the ICG and other authorities,” A.K. Jadeja, IG of Gujarat's border range told The Hindu. While the ICG, has not issued an official statement, sources confirmed that its ship rushed to the spot after learning about the incident mid-sea. However, sources in the ICG and Gujarat police stressed that the incident oc-

curred in Indian waters, concluding that the PMSA came to capture fishermen who were in Indian waters. The PMSA subsequently released seven boats and around 60 fishermen who were being escorted to Karachi port in Pakistan when the tragedy struck. According to the National Fishworkers Forum secretary Manish Lodhari, the released fishermen with their boats reached Porbandar on Tuesday morning.

Parliament unites to save Jadhav

NEW DELHI

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Tuesday that the Centre should provide Kulbhushan Jadhav the best of lawyers in Pakistan. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj responded by saying that the government would not only ensure that Mr. Jadhav was provided the best of lawyers in the Supreme Court of Pakistan but would also take up the matter with the President of the neighbouring country. Mr. Azad’s suggestion came at a time when Opposition leaders condemned the death sentence awarded to the Indian citizen by a Pakistani court.

Serious issue “This is a very serious issue. The Government of India must take it very seriously. The entire nation is shocked and agitated about this matter,” former Defence Minister A.K. Antony said. “So, you must convey to Pakistan, in strong words, Earnest appeal: Students of Gurukul in Mumbai have urged the Prime Minister and the Union Minister for External Afairs for Kulbhushan Jadhav’s release. ARUNANGSU ROY CHOWDHURY *

Earlier in the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the government would do everything possible to get justice for Mr. Jadhav. “The government strongly condemns it. All norms of law and justice were ignored,” he said. Stating that Pakistan had

told the media there that Mr. Jadhav carried a valid Indian passport, the Home Minister wondered why a spy would carry a valid passport. It exposed Pakistan’s lies, he said. He also criticised the Pakistan government for not allowing consular access to Mr. Jadhav despite 13 attempts.

Jadhav has 60 days to appeal verdict Mr. Sharif said Pakistan’s armed forces have the government’s full support in equipping them to address the modern-day challenges. Addressing the passing out parade of graduating cadets at Pakistan Air Force Academy (PAF) Asghar Khan in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Mr. Sharif also said Pakistan wants friendly relations with all its neighbours. Cooperation, rather than conflict and shared prosperity rather than mutual suspicion is the hallmark of Pakistan’s policy, he added.

“Pakistan is a peace-loving country and has always maintained the policy of having friendly relations with other countries particularly its neighbours.” The Prime Minister said Pakistan on its part would never hesitate to extend the hand of friendship to all and would never waver from returning goodwill with even more goodwill. However, “despite our desire for peaceful coexistence, we cannot remain oblivious to defending our sovereignty and protecting our independence”.

Questioning the sentence: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge speaks in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, condemning the death sentence on Kulbhushan Jadhav. PTI *

that if they proceed with this, there would be serious repercussions and ultimately, Pakistan will have to repent.” The Lok Sabha witnessed

sarcastic exchanges between the Opposition and the treasury benches on the issue. When Leader of the Congress Mallikarjuna Kharge questioned the government’s

“silence” on the issue, BJP members retorted that India had condemned the death sentence. “Without an invitation, you can attend a marriage,

Nepal link to Jadhav verdict Sentencing was to pre-empt Indian disclosure on missing Pak. oicer, say oicials

Kulbhushan Jadhav

By announcing the death sentence to Jadhav they have pre-empted Indian move, and now if India were to make any move on that front it could be projected as retaliation,” an official source told The Hindu. At least two sources who had personally known Mr. Jadhav during his tenure with the Navy, said it [a link between Lt. Col. Zahir and Jadhav’s sentencing] was a hopeful sign. “If that is so then [we] can hope that he would be back home one day,” one of them said.

army chief has confirmed a court martial decision to award Mr. Jadhav the death penalty using a secretive anti-terrorism law that empowers the Pakistan Army. Indian officials viewed the Pakistani move publicising the death penalty awarded to Mr. Jadhav as a pre-emptive measure in case India were to disclose that it had Lt. Col. Zahir in custody. “Timing is important. They think that their missing officer is in Indian custody.

Job offer An FIR registered by Lt. Col. Zahir’s son, Saad Habib, has claimed that he was received by a man named Javaid Ansari at the Kathmandu airport on April 6. Since then, the retired Army officer has not contacted his family. The family claimed that he received an interview call from a U.K. telephone number generated via the internet. He also received an email from ca-

Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

Discussions over the possible link between the Pakistani army officer who has gone missing in Nepal since last week and the sentencing of former Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani army court martial deepened as further details emerged of the two incidents. Lt. Col. Muhammad Habib Zahir, a retired Pakistani Army officer, landed in Kathmandu last Thursday, purportedly looking for a job, but since then has been missing. His family and friends have told Pakistani media that they suspect that he was kidnapped by the Indian agencies.

Counter move While there is no indication from any of the Indian sources about a link between Lt. Col. Zahir’s disappearance and Indian agencies, speculation has further mounted since Pakistan on Monday announced that its

[email protected]. Lt. Col. Zahir, who reportedly retired from the Pakistan Army in 2014, has also worked with United Nation’s peace mission for two years, Pakistani media said. He then joined a Pakistani food company and was looking for other job offers. According to Pakistan media reports, he was contacted by a man named Mark Thompson, who offered him a job at an international company StartSolution.biz, and called him for an interview to Nepal. Media reports said the family suspect that the retired Pakistan Army officer may have been abducted by the Indian intelligence agencies.

Initial probe Saad said the initial probe by the family and friends revealed that the British telephone number from which the officer got the job offer was computer generated and the email domain and its associated website were registered in India.

Tharoor talks tough Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM urged the Union government to use its influence for the release of the Indian citizen. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said while India had always preferred not to internationalise its relations with Pakistan, it was time it told the world that tomorrow one of their citizens could face a similar fate in Pakistan.

CBI probe against Satyendar Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a preliminary enquiry against Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain to probe allegations of money laundering against him. The action comes on a reference from the Income Tax Department. The CBI alleged that while holding public office, Mr. Jain laundered about ₹4.63 crore in 2015-16 through three companies. It has also been alleged that Mr. Jain got ₹11.78 crore laundered between 2010 and 2012 through these companies and Indometal Impex Pvt. Limited. “The cash was allegedly transferred to Kolkatabased accommodation entry operators through his employees or associates. The funds were routed through shell companies for accommodation entry in the form of their shares, bought at a premium of 60 times their actual value,” said a CBI official.

In Lower Parel, a campaign for Jadhav His friend is exploring all options Special Correspondent Mumbai

Tulsiram Pawar, a childhood friend of retired Naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, said on Tuesday that he would spare no effort in keeping the demand for his friend’s release from a Pakistani prison alive. He has started a signature campaign against the death sentence awarded to Mr. Jadhav. Mr. Pawar, who grew up with Mr. Jadhav in Lower Parel, said he was still trying to come to terms with the news. “I am starting a signature campaign demanding Mr. Jadhav’s release and will be getting in touch with our mutual friends who used to stay here. I am already in touch with a few, and we are planning peaceful protest marches as well,” he said. He is exploring the op-

tion of turning to the social media. “I do not have much knowledge about social media or the Internet, and am seeking the help of the younger generation.” Mr. Jadhav, son of a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, stayed in the building behind N.M. Joshi Marg police station, which now houses Unit III of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch. The building earlier had quarters for police officers. Mr. Pawar, who stays in the opposite building, said he had been friends with Mr. Jadhav for as long as he could remember, and that his earliest memories with him are of roaming in the narrow lanes behind Bawla Masjid and playing together for hours. Sources said Mr. Jadhav’s family left the city late on Monday night, and are believed to be in Pune.

Modi pushes for reform agenda

Centre asked to talk to T.N. farmers

Sena ridiculed for attending dinner

Allies advise restraint on beef

Says there is a ‘positive’ public mood in favour of his government

Special Correspondent

In a U-turn, it accepted BJP’s invite

Special Correspondent

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI

NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday night spoke to leaders of 32 parties, all NDA allies and told them there was no difference between them and the BJP. “Aap hum hain, hum aap hain (you are us, we are you),” he reportedly said at the meeting, that ended close to midnight. While the NDA meet passed a resolution declaring firm faith in Prime Minister Modi's leadership, there were some concerns raised by allies on the BJP's somewhat lack of sensitivity to local concerns and cultural nuances. “We should avoid these occasional references to issues such as beef. Instead [we] should strive hard to ensure programmes announced for dalits and backward classes reach them,” said C.K. Janu, head of the Kerala-based Janadhipathya Rashtriya Sabha, an NDA ally. “There is a need to ensure that benefits aimed for adivasi and Dalits reach the beneficiary,” she added. Her speech, in Malyalam, was translated to English by P.C. Thomas of the Kerala Congress, another new ally of the BJP. Vijay Sardesai of the Goa Forward Party (GFP) that recently joined the NDA after extending support to the numerically challenged Manohar Parikkar government in Goa also expressed some concerns regarding a ban on loud music at night.

On the penultimate day of the budget session of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commended the treasury benches, terming it a “winner” for the legislative business that had been accomplished and declaring that there was a “positive” public mood in favour of his government. Addressing the BJP parliamentary party meet on Tuesday, Mr. Modi pushed for a reform and welfare agenda with the political winds in favour of his government. “In 2014, people voted for us with hope; in 2015-15, they started to believe and in

NEW DELHI

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien on Tuesday asked the government to talk to farmers of drought-hit Tamil Nadu agitating for a crop loan waiver. Tiruchy Siva of the DMK said no one from the government was listening to the grievances of farmers from the State agitating here. The farmers, he said, were demanding a crop loan waiver and the linking of the Cauvery river to help them overcome difficulties arising from drought in the State. “Assurance should be given by the Prime Minister or a senior minister .... (But) they are not even giving an audience,” he said. CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said newspapers had carried reports of the agitating farmers being forced to eat rats for survival. D. Raja of the CPI said that farmers were agitating not just in Delhi but also in Chennai. Mr. Kurien said he too has seen the reports of agitating farmers carrying human skulls and eating rats. He suggested that one of representatives of the government should meet and convince them to end their agitation. Agreeing with the feelings of the members, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said it was a sensitive and vital issue and he would convey the feelings of the House to the concerned Minister. CM YK

Alok Deshpande Mumbai

Days after boasting of hosting a ‘delicious dinner’ at Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s residence Matoshri, the party’s sudden U-turn in accepting BJP chief Amit Shah’s dinner invitation at Delhi is an act of submission and has raised questions over its intention, said the Opposition on Tuesday. Mr. Thackeray on Monday joined the dinner hosted by Mr. Shah for the members of ruling NDA, following which he held a brief meeting with him in which both leaders are said to have discussed the upcoming presidential election. Ironically, last month, the Sena had ridiculed the talks about dinner at Delhi saying those who want party’s support are welcome to visit Matoshri where delicious food is served. The Sena’s aggressive stand against the BJP since the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls had ignited talks about a possible break-up between the two old-time allies. In the recently concluded budget session of the State Legislature, Sena MLAs were in the forefront along with the Opposition to demand farm loan waiver. “In his talks with Prime Minister, Uddhavji aggressively put forward the demand of farm loan waiver. While he congratulated the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision, he asked the PM to implement the same in Ma-

Uddhav Thackeray harashtra as well,” said a Sena leader. Speaking about the presidential poll, the leader said that the Sena has made no commitments as of now. “Let us first know who the candidate is. We will declare our stand after that,” he said. According to other sources in the Sena, Mr. Modi’s visit with Mr. Thackeray is also to cool down heated relations between both the parties. “We do not have ideological differences with the BJP. We have been demanding respect from the other side which was given to us in this meeting,” he said.

‘Double standards’ The Opposition, however, did not leave the opportunity to target the Sena for its ‘double standards’. “Sena was never honest about its stand over the farm loan waiver. Had it been honest, it would have stepped down from the State and Central governments without delay,” said Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil.

Sabha passing 21 Bills and the Rajya Sabha 14. These include the GST Bills and also the politically important bill according constitutional status to the Backward Classes Commission. On Monday evening, the Prime Minister spoke in the same vein to the NDA constituents who had gathered in full strength for the first time since the formation of the government.

Job well done: Home Minister Rajnath Singh and his deputy, Kiren Rijiju, after the BJP parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. R.V. MOORTHY *

2017, they are convinced that it is only our government that can fulfil that hope for change,” he said. Briefing presspersons

after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said Mr. Modi had called the session very constructive, with the Lok

NDA resolution The NDA had also passed a resolution at that meeting endorsing the work done by Mr. Modi’s government and its intention to contest the 2019 General Election under his leadership.

Centre set for a grand anniversary bash Ministers and MPs to travel to parts of country between May 24 and June 24 Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

The Union government is planning a month-long celebration on completing its third year in power in May, with Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu issuing elaborate instructions on the plan. Sources said here on Tuesday that Mr. Naidu briefed BJP MPs about the plans, which will see them travel to various parts of the country between May 24 and June 24. Senior Ministers have been told to be prepared to respond to people’s questions on their work and that

M. Venkaiah Naidu of the government. For example, Power Minister Piyush Goyal has been asked to prepare notes on the anti-corruption architecture put in place by the gov-

ernment, including the decision on demonetisation and its aftermath, and the plugging of loopholes in the funnelling of welfare subsidies. Textiles Minister Smriti Irani has been asked to prepare issues related to women, and Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta and former MP Chandan Mitra to prepare a response on the “intellectual discourse and counters to negative narratives on topics like employment generation, socalled threats to freedom of expression and the next generation reforms.” As last year, a Group of

Ministers had been set up to look into the preparations. “We have barely met three or four times, but this is the basic preparatory work we have come up with,” a senior Minister said.

Mum on extravaganza The Minister was silent on whether or not an extravaganza on the lines of the one held last year, with a special televised event with participation by superstars like Amitabh Bachchan and others was on the anvil. “Thematically, all I can say is that the focus will be on the Prime Minister’s propoor agenda,” he said A ND-ND

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THE HINDU

NEWS 11

NOIDA/DELHI

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2017

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IN BRIEF

HIV law promises equality Parliament passes Bill guaranteeing no discrimination in treatment, jobs Special Correspondent New Delhi

Gujarat to be made water hand pumps-free: Rupani VADODARA

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday said his government will free the State of hand pumps by supplying safe and adequate drinking water to people. He also launched a two-wheeler ambulance service at Dediapada town in Narmada district. The service will especially be used for tribals living in remote villages. PTI

Woman gangraped at gunpoint in UP MUZAFFARNAGAR

A woman was allegedly gang raped in her house at gunpoint by five men who also made a video clip of the act, the police said on Tuyesday. According to a complaint lodged by the victim, the accused entered her house on Monday and raped her at gunpoint, they said. They also shot a video clip of the act. - PTI

UAE firm sacks man for abusive posts DUBAI

An Indian man has left the UAE on being sacked by a Dubai firm after his abusive post against a Delhi-based woman journalist, Rana Ayyub, on social media and ‘offensive remarks against Islam’. The man, identified as B B, from Kerala, made a request to the firm that he be allowed to leave the country before legal action was taken, a media report said. PTI

Digvijaya’s motion not discussed NEW DELHI

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday complained in the Rajya Sabha about his substantive motion — on the role of the Goa Governor in government formation there — not being listed even as the budget session is coming to a close. Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien said the Chair could not do much as the motion could be listed for discussion only after the government allotted time for it.

With Parliament passing the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (Prevention and Control) Bill, 2017, on Tuesday, people living with HIV and AIDS are guaranteed equal rights in medical treatment, admission to educational institutions and jobs. Terming the unanimous passage of the Bill in the Lok Sabha “historic”, Health Minister J.P. Nadda said the government “stands committed to free treatment of HIV patients”.

‘People-centric’ law Maintaining that the Bill was “people-centric”, the Minister said it strengthened the rights of people infected with HIV. “It is not the case that before the coming of this Bill, these people [those infected with HIV] were not empowered. But with the passage of this Bill, they will get more powers,” he said.

The Bill lists various grounds on which discrimination against HIV-positive persons and those living with them is prohibited. Asserting that there will be no discrimination against persons infected with HIV, Mr. Nadda said, “Whosoever does not adhere to the provisions of the Bill will be penalised. There would also be civil and criminal proceedings against them. Action would be also taken against those who come between the implementation of the provisions of the proposed Bill.” The law provides a broad legislative framework for the

response to HIV in India and is the first national HIV law in South Asia. The legislation prohibits discrimination against people living with, and affected by, HIV in a range of settings, including employment, education, housing and health care, as well as with regard to the holding of public or private office, access to insurance and freedom of movement. It also bans unfair treatment of people living with and affected by HIV with regard to accessing public facilities, such as shops, restaurants, hotels, public entertainment venues, public facilities and burial grounds. The Bill also prohibits any individual from publishing information or advocating feelings of hatred against HIV positive persons and those living with them.

UNAIDS upbeat Welcoming the passage of the landmark legislation, UNAIDS said that the Bill

GST Bills are imperfect, says Chidambaram

would improve access to justice for People Living with HIV. “This is an important step forward for people living with and affected by HIV in India and around the world,” said Steve Kraus, Director, UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific. “This legislation begins to remove barriers and empowers people to challenge violations of their human rights.” Asserting that India runs the second largest Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) programme in the world, Mr. Nadda said the rate of new HIV infections had dropped by 67% from 2.5 lakh to 85,000 and AIDS related deaths have declined to 54%, which is more than the global average. He said the government had spent ₹2,000 crore on ART alone and this was a 100% Centrally sponsored scheme as the “government is committed to (treating every patient) and no one will be left out”.

Visit to India was hugely satisfying, says Hasina ‘We can wait with patience to sign Teesta water deal’ agreement. We can wait with patience for signing it.’

Haroon Habib DHAKA

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said her visit to India was hugely satisfying. “There’s nothing frustrating,” she told journalists briefing about her four-day tour. During the April 7-10 visit, the Bangladesh Prime Minister was given a rousing reception by her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi who came to receive her at Palam airbase breaking the protocol. Ms. Hasina termed it a “pleasant surprise.” She stayed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which broke the tradition of selecting guests for the presidential palace.

11 deals signed Ms. Hasina said 11 deals and 24 Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed between India and Bangladesh during her visit.

Sheikh Hasina

The Prime Minister said: “I did not return emptyhanded. I got something. Sometimes I jokingly say — I wanted water, but got electricity.” On the unresolved issue of Teesta water sharing, Ms. Hasina said nobody could stop the water flow. “We are in the downstream and thus water will come down. None will be able to stop the flow of water,” she said. As for the treaty on sharing Teesta waters, she said “the Indian Prime Minister has pledged to sign the

SC non-committal on exchange of old notes

Mamata’s proposal She also spoke about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s alternative proposal on giving Bangladesh water from four smaller rivers instead of Teesta but did not make any comment. Ms. Hasina claimed that India built a barrage at the Gazaldoba point on the Teesta when the BNP was in power. But the then government did not raise its voice against this. “Now we are facing the consequence of the barrage,” Ms. Hasina, president of the ruling Awami League, said. It was Prime Minister Hasina’s maiden official visit to India after her government was voted to power in 2014. The premier last paid her official visit to India in January 2010.

SC seeks U.P. response on bungalows Legal Correspondent NEW DELHI

‘Rajya Sabha was denied a chance to improve them’ Special Correspondent New Delhi

The Goods and Services Tax Bills passed by Parliament were “imperfect”, and “no attempt was made to make them less imperfect”, Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said here on Tuesday. Pointing out that the Rajya Sabha could have improved the Bills, he said, “The opportunity was denied when the government ... turned down the demand that the Bills be introduced, debated, and passed as non-Money Bills.”

Finance Bill The Finance Bill, he said, was “widely criticised for including non-financial and

P. Chidambaram

non-money matters, in flagrant violation of the historically accepted norms and conventions”. This was done “to avoid a scrutiny of these matters by the Rajya Sabha”. It was an assault on the Constitution of India and we hope that, sooner rather than later, courts will pro-

nounce upon the legality of such devices. Pointing to unacceptable provisions in the Finance Bill, he said the amendment to the Income Tax Act that the ‘reason to believe’ in the case of search need not be disclosed to any person or authority was an instance of “tax terrorism” while the provisions relating to electoral bonds was intended to make political funding more opaque and more partial”. Saying that the parliamentary session that will end soon was, “from the point of view of understanding and assessing the state of the economy,” unsatisfactory, Mr. Chidambaram said various indicators showed the economy was in a poor shape.

Bench to decide if there was need for such a window for citizens Legal Correspondent NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it will first decide whether there is a need at all to open a window for the public to exchange or deposit their demonetised currency notes post the cutoff date of December 31, 2016 prescribed under the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act. The possession of demonetised notes is now an offence under the Act. The petitions have claimed that the government went back on its word to offer a grace period to deposit and exchange demonetised currency. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar said the court would first de-

cide whether there was a need for such a grace period, and then depending on the outcome, factually decide on individual demands for more time to deposit or exchange demonetised currency notes. The Supreme Court posted the case for hearing in July 2017 as counsel for one of the petitioners sought time to respond to the re-

cent reply of the Centre on the issue. In its latest affidavit, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that it owed no legal duty to citizens to extend a “grace period” for deposit of their demonetised ₹500 and ₹1000 bank notes after December 31, 2016. The affidavit filed by the Union Ministry of Finance had said the decision to not extend the period for deposit of demonetised notes was taken consciously after an overall review of the rampant “malpractices and irregularities” detected between November 9 and December 30, 2016 when the public was allowed to exchange or deposit their old money for the new currency.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to respond to a petition seeking contempt-of-court action against State authorities for failing to evict five former Chief Ministers overstaying in government bungalows. A Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra sought the response from the Director of Estates of the State government within three weeks as to why the bungalows allotted to them were not vacated in time. The Uttar Pradesh-based NGO Lok Prahari sought action against the authorities for acting in contempt of a Supreme Court verdict on August 1, 2016 directing them to evict Rajnath Singh, Kalyan Singh, Mulayam Singh, Mayawati and N.D. Tiwari.

UNICEF seeks help from Islamic bodies to achieve vaccination goal ‘Myths around measles-rubella vaccine must be quelled to cover every child’ Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

To quell the rumours around the measles-rubella vaccine, UNICEF has reached out to Islamic civil society organisations, religious leaders and academia to create trust and address myths around immunisation. India has one of the largest immunisation programmes in the world, with nearly 26 million children targeted annually for immunisation. However, according to UNICEF, despite extensive coverage, only 65% of children in India received all vaccines during the first year of their life. India’s newest MR (measles rubella) vaccine also protects children from measles, a major cause of fatalities in small children,

Measles-rubella vaccine protects children against irreversible health issues

with 134,200 measles deaths globally in 2015, of which around 49,200 occurred in India — nearly 36%. This is the first time the rubella vaccine has been introduced in India’s childhood immunisation programme and misinformation about the vaccine in minor-

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Speaker’s work

ity communities has caused concern in the government. “Immunisation is one of the most effective and cost-effective ways to protect children’s lives and futures. Through full immunisation coverage, we can make sure that the benefits of life-saving vaccines reach every child. The recently introduced measles rubella vaccine, which will be provided for free in schools in health facilities and at outreach session sites during the campaign, is another such step to achieving our goals,” says Dr. Pradeep Haldar, deputy commissioner, Immunisation, Health Ministry.

Serious consequences Rubella, which is commonly referred to as German Measles, is a mild infection,

but can have serious consequences if it occurs in pregnant women. The introduction of these new vaccines in the Universal Immunisation Programme aims to reduce childhood mortality and protect children from three major highly preventable and potentially fatal diseases — measles, pneumonia and diarrhoea. The first-time introduction of the rubella vaccine, in a combination MR shot, protects children against irreversible and devastating health issues. UNICEF has engaged with Urdu media in efforts to create trust in vaccines and address myths around immunisation, Shamina Shafiq, executive founder director, Power Foundation, said.

Students’ stir in Panjab varsity turns violent Demand for rollback of fee hike SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT CHANDIGARH

Remembering a queen: PM Narendra Modi releases a book Matoshree, penned by LS Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, right, on the life of Devi Ahilyabai Holker, in Delhi on Tuesday. PTI *

CM YK

Situation in Panjab University turned tense on Tuesday after the protest by students against fee hike turned violent as police and students clashed on the campus. Many students have been charged with sedition and other criminal offences. Hundreds of students gathered outside the ViceChancellor office and started protesting against the fee hike for the 2017-18 session announced by the administration. Members of Students for Society, Panjab University Students’ Union,

Students’ Organisation of India and National Students’ Union of India shouted slogans against V-C Arun Kumar Grover and the HRD Ministry. They were demanding rollback of the hike. The clashes triggered when students attempted to push their way into the V-C’s office. “We issued them warnings but even after repeated requests they tried to barge into VC’s office. Later they [students] resorted to stone-pelting,” Senior SP Eish Singhal said. Police has also registered case under Sections 124-A (sedition) of the IPC against them. A ND-ND

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THE HINDU

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2017

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ELSEWHERE

G7 stands united on Syria U.S. toughens stance as Tillerson arrives in Moscow But powers fail to agree on sanctions against Russia Sriram Lakshman London

White House report accuses Kremlin of helping Assad cover up Idlib gas attack Varghese K. George

Putin expecting ‘attacks' to discredit Assad MOSCOW

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had information that the U.S. was planning to launch new missile strikes on Syria, and that there were plans to fake chemicals weapons attacks to discredit Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. REUTERS

9 dead as militants attack Philippine island MANILA

Nine people, including four security officials, were killed Tuesday during clashes with suspected Islamic militants from the Abu Sayyaf group on Bohol, a popular resort island in the Philippines, as millions prepare to travel for Easter. The jihadists have pledged allegiance to the IS. AFP

Indian-origin soldier on trial in U.K. for murder

Washington

The U.S on Tuesday clubbed Russia along with Iran and North Korea, naming them as countries opposed to Washington’s global interests, setting the stage for a potentially unpleasant conversation between Foreign Ministers of the two countries on Wednesday. The White House also reiterated that Russia was in cahoots with the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria that is accused of carrying out a chemical weapons attack on rebels last week. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Moscow to meet Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and other leaders. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump had hoped to reach an agreement with Russia in national interest. “But if we cant final-

High stakes: U.S. State Secretary Rex Tillerson attends a ceremony at the Moscow airport on Tuesday. REUTERS *

ise an agreement in our national interest, then we won’t,” he said.

‘We will be forceful’ “Russia is not an island when it comes to its support for Assad or its lack of acknowledgement of what happened in Syria. Russia is party to several international agreements that Syria is not

holding up to. Russia should ensure that they do. The President has been very clear on his position on Russia, and in this particular case, we are going to be very forceful,” Mr. Spicer said, adding that Mr. Tillerson would deliver this message to Moscow. The White House also released a four-page report

that details the assessment of the U.S. intelligence community that Russians were helping the Assad regime cover up the the chemical weapons attack, but Mr. Spicer said “there was no consensus” among the intelligence agencies that Moscow had prior knowledge of the attack. Mr. Spicer, however, added that the U.S. would be “open to strategic cooperation with Russia” if it can achieve the shared goal of defeating the Islamic State. During the election campaign, Mr. Trump had promised to seek partnership with Russia in the fight against Islamist terrorism. Russia has said President Vladimir Putin would not be meeting Mr. Tillerson. Ahead of the visit, the Secretary of State had asked the Russians to choose between the U.S. and its allies, and the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Foreign Ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries and several other West Asian countries spoke with one voice at a meeting in Lucca, Italy, condemning last week’s chemical attack in Syria that left 89 people dead. The U.S. and its allies hold Syrian President Bhashar al-Assad responsible for the attacks. The G7 also lent support to the U.S. for its attack on the Syrian government-controlled Shayrat airfield in Homs province last Thursday. While the G7 united to isolate Mr. Assad diplomatically and urged Russia to do the same, no agreement was reached on sanctions against Russia. “There is no consensus at this time for new sanctions as an efficient method to reach our goal,” Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said. Later, in a joint communiqué, the G7 said: “We call on Russia and Iran, who have a responsibility, as allies of the Syrian re-

Crunch talks: Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano and U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in Lucca on Tuesday. AP *

gime, to use their influence to ensure Syria’s compliance with all of its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.”

No dramatic change Some experts believe that the chemical attack and the U.S. strike may not change the situation in Syria dramatically. “We are likely to find that the major calculations of the U.S., Russia and other international actors with a major interest in Syria

haven’t really been altered fundamentally,” Tim Eaton, a specialist on West Asia at the London-based think tank, Chatham House, told The Hindu on Tuesday. “What really shouldn’t be lost is that one form of really egregious weaponry is unlikely to be used by the [Syrian] regime again. So while we are not seeing the Syrian conflict come closer to a resolution over this, I think it is still important to note that that is a minor success.”

LONDON

An Indian-origin soldier in the U.K. is on trial for killing his ex-girlfriend by slitting her throat after she ended the relationship due to his “abusive” and “manipulative” behaviour. Lance Corporal Trimaan “Harry” Dhillon is accused of breaking into his ex-girlfriend Alice Ruggles’ flat and murdering her. PTI

8 people arrested for St. Petersburg bombing MOSCOW

Eight members of extremist cells have been arrested in connection with last week’s deadly bombing on the subway in St. Petersburg, Russia’s intelligence chief said Tuesday. Akbardzhon Dzhalilov, a 22-year old Kyrgyz-born Russian national, has been identified as the bomber. AP

Johnson talks tough on Moscow, draws lak from all sides Leaders from across the U.K. political spectrum question the wisdom of the Foreign Secretary’s decision to cancel visit to the Russian capital Vidya Ram London

The past week and the recent developments in Syria have seen British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson adopting a vocal position with regards to the civil war-hit West Asian country and its ally Russia. First he cancelled a trip to Russia on the weekend, and then announced during the G7 meeting in Italy that there were discussions on sanctions against senior Russian and Syrian military figures. The Syrian crisis presents

Deplaning of passenger sparks outrage, anger United Express light was overbooked

a decisive moment for Mr. Johnson to send a message about the U.K.’s global positioning.

Political U-turns The challenge is particularly striking with regards to Mr. Johnson who, despite being the Foreign Secretary since July last year, has at points struggled to shed the image of the mop-haired former mayor, given the diplomatic faux pas and political Uturns. His appointment as Foreign Secretary was viewed

Kathmandu

Chicago

The Nepal government on Tuesday tabled a new Constitution amendment Bill in Parliament to address the demands of the agitating Madhesi parties which are demanding more representation and re-demarcation of state boundaries ahead of next month’s local elections. According to the new Bill, the government may form a federal commission to recommend it on the issues relating to the number of provinces and their boundaries. The coalition government registered the new Constitution amendment Bill at the Parliament Secretariat after Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ajaya Shankar Nayak withdrew the previous bill tabled in Parliament on November 29 last year.

Possible backlash The treatment of the passenger on Sunday night prompted outrage and scorn on social media. It

*

AUDRA D. BRIDGES VIA AP

could prompt a backlash against United from passengers threatening to boycott the airline as the busy summer travel season begins. United Airlines was trying to make room for four employees of a partner airline, meaning four people had to get off the flight to Louisville, Kentucky.

length of time it could take for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up power.

Angry tweets Russia has opted to play on his reputation, with the embassy in London churning out a series of tweets — some angry, some tongue-in-cheek — labelling Mr. Johnson as the “lieutenant” of U.S. President Donald Trump and describing the decision to cancel talks as “deplorable” and “absurd”. He’s also come in for criticism, both from the left and

the right domestically. Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, told Sky News that stepping back from the visit particularly just ahead of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, not only gave the impression of being a “poodle of Washington” but raised questions about the way his diplomatic abilities were viewed in Washington D.C. Labour too has condemned the government’s stance, saying it was a time for urging restraint from the U.S., rather than risk intensifying a conflict that had

already killed hundreds of thousands. Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage also condemned Mr. Johnson’s stance on Syria, warning that he risked Britain being seen as “America’s poodle.” Mr. Johnson’s political influence will face further questions as the G7 meeting concluded without an agreement on the sanctions that he proposed, and with Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfan’s insistence that they wished to have a dialogue with Russia, rather than push it into a corner.

It will address the Madhesis’ demands Press Trust of India

The unidentiied passenger being dragged of the light.

with “bewilderment” in Berlin, said Dr. Henning Hoff, executive editor of the Berlin Policy Journal, citing Mr. Johnson’s stance on the U.K.’s support for Turkish membership of the EU (during the Brexit referendum campaign, he was accused of stoking fears of EU membership, while as foreign secretary pledging to support it) as an example of continuing uncertainty about his political positioning.

Mr. Johnson has changed his position on Syria several times: “Bravo for Assad — he is a vile tyrant but he has saved Palmyra from ISIL,” he wrote in an article for the Daily Telegraph last year (before becoming the Foreign Secretary), also praising Russia for helping “winkle the maniacs from Palmyra”. Though he subsequently hardened his line on Syria after taking up his position as foreign secretary, in January he told a parliamentary committee that Britain was “open minded” about the

Nepal tables new Bill amending Constitution

Associated Press

Several minutes after a passenger recorded a video watched around the world that showed security officers dragging another passenger off an overbooked United Express flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, a smaller snippet of video showed an even more troubling scene. There stood the passenger who had been dragged on his back to the front of the plane, appearing dazed as he spoke through bloody lips and blood that had spilled onto his chin. “I want to go home, I want to go home,” he said.

NEWS ANALYSIS

A Cabinet meeting on Monday endorsed the new Bill with a view to addressing the demands of agitating Madhes-based parties and bringing them on board the local polls scheduled for May 14. The draft law aims to address some of the key demands raised by United Democratic Madhesi Front.

More representation The Parliament meeting was later adjourned for eight days, Speaker Onsari Gharti said. The Madhesi parties have been demanding more representation in all state mechanism. Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, launched a prolonged agitation between September 2015 and February last year against the implementation of the new Constitution, which they felt marginalised the Terai community.

North Korea threatens to nuke U.S. Will solve the problem with or without China’s help, says President Trump leader since former president Park Geun-hye was removed amid a graft scandal.

Reuters Pyongyang

North Korean state media on Tuesday warned of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of aggression as a U.S. Navy strike group steamed towards the western Pacific. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has urged China to do more to rein in its impoverished neighbour, said in a Tweet North Korea was “looking for trouble” and the U.S. would “solve the problem” with or without China’s help. Tension has escalated sharply on the Korean peninsula with talk of military action by the U.S. gaining traction following its strikes last week against Syria and amid concerns the reclusive North may soon conduct a sixth nuclear test. North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said the country was prepared to respond to any aggression by the U.S. CM YK

Not backing down: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un holds up the Supreme People's Assembly card in Pyongyang. AP *

“Our revolutionary strong army is keenly watching every move by enemy elements with our nuclear sight focused on the U.S. invasionary bases not only in South Korea and the Pacific operation theatre but also in the U.S. mainland,” it said. South Korean acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn warned of “greater provoca-

tions” by North Korea and ordered the military to intensify monitoring and to ensure close communication with the U.S. “It is possible, the North may wage greater provocations such as a nuclear test timed with various anniversaries including the Supreme People's Assembly,” said Mr. Hwang, acting

Trade deal Mr. Trump said in a tweet a trade deal between China and the U.S. would be “far better for them if they solved the North Korea problem”. “If China decides to help, that would be great,” he said. “If not, we will solve the problem without them!” Mr. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Florida last week where the U.S. leader pressed Mr. Xi to do more to rein in North Korea. Saturday is the 105th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the country’s founding father. A military parade is expected in the North’s capital, Pyongyang, to mark the day. North Korea often also marks important anniversaries with tests of its nuclear or missile capabilities in breach of UN Security Council resolutions. A ND-ND

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THE HINDU

BUSINESS 13

NOIDA/DELHI

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2017

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market watch 11-04-2017

% CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 29,788 ddddddddddddddd0.72 US Dollar dddddddddddddddddddd 64.50 ddddddddddddddd0.09 Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 29,350 ddddddddddddddd0.20 Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 55.56 ddddddddddddd -0.19

Passenger vehicle sales race to 6-year high Growth for the overall segment may range between 7-9% in the current inancial year, forecasts SIAM Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

NIFTY 50 PRICE CHANGE

ACC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1489.90. . . . . . . 16.10 Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333.80. . . . . . -18.35 Ambuja Cements. . . .. . . . . . 248.90. . . . . . . . . 4.00 Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1072.50. . . . . . . 13.30 Aurobindo Pharma . . . . . . 655.15. . . . . . . . . 0.20 Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515.05. . . . . . . . . 4.30 Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2822.45. . . . . . -14.55 Bank of Baroda . . . . . .. . . . . . 174.70. . . . . . . . . 3.60 Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 350.20. . . . . . . . . 4.50 Bosch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22747.75. . . . . . . 17.50 BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710.40. . . . . . . 10.10 Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580.05. . . . . . . . -9.60 Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288.90. . . . . . . . . 2.15 Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 2628.10. . . . . . . . -7.75 Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. 25880.45. . . . . 302.20 GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 384.75. . . . . . . . -0.10 Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1088.35. . . . . . . . -2.30 HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833.80. . . . . . . . . 0.75 HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1476.85. . . . . . . . . 9.35 HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1439.50. . . . . . . . . 5.35 Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 3202.20. . . . . . . . . 2.80 Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196.45. . . . . . . . . 1.40 Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 923.70. . . . . . . . -2.25 Indiabulls HFL . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 937.15. . . . . . . . . 1.95 ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283.65. . . . . . . . . 6.00 IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1424.50. . . . . . . . -0.85 Bharti Infratel . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 355.55. . . . . . . . -1.45 Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 967.15. . . . . . . 13.75 Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 409.50. . . . . . . . -1.75 ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282.05. . . . . . . . . 8.50 Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 881.05. . . . . . . . . 3.70 L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1704.90. . . . . . . 30.85 Lupin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1429.45. . . . . . . 14.10 M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1281.55. . . . . . . . . 0.75 Maurti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 6247.80. . . . . . -21.05 NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167.00. . . . . . . . . 0.25 ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187.85. . . . . . . . . 1.40 PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 199.15. . . . . . . . . 3.85 Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1372.35. . . . . . . . -9.00 State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294.50. . . . . . . . . 5.15 Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 670.40. . . . . . . . . 2.65 Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 472.25. . . . . . . . -2.65 Tata Motors DVR. . . .. . . . . . 288.30. . . . . . . . -2.00 Tata Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85.45. . . . . . . . -1.60 Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488.10. . . . . . . . -7.25 TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2419.30. . . . . . . . -2.95 Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 445.20. . . . . . . . . 2.15 UltraTech Cement . .. . . . 4033.30. . . . . . -25.60 Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510.15. . . . . . . . . 5.75 YES Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1614.75. . . . . . . 15.15 Zee Entertainment . . . . . . 540.15. . . . . . -13.30

EXCHANGE RATES Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit except yen at 4 p.m. on April 11 CURRENCY

TT BUY

TT SELL

US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 64.30. . . . . . . 64.62 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 68.22. . . . . . . 68.58 British Pound . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 79.90. . . . . . . 80.30 Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 58.12. . . . . . . 58.41 Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 9.32. . . . . . . . . 9.37 Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 63.83. . . . . . . 64.15 Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 45.80. . . . . . . 46.03 Canadian Dollar . . . . . . . . .. . 48.28. . . . . . . 48.52 Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 14.50. . . . . . . 14.59 Source:Indian Bank

BULLION RATES

CHENNAI

April 11 rates in rupees with previous rates in parentheses Retail Silver (1g) . . . . . . . . . . . 44.60. . . . . (44.50) 22 ct gold (1 g) . .. . . . . . . . . . . 2,770. . . . . (2,763)

Jio rejigs plans after TRAI diktat Special Correspondent

Passenger vehicles sales grew at the fastest pace in six years in 2016-17, crossing the 30 lakh-mark for the first time in India, according to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Tuesday. Sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market grew 9.2% to 30.46 lakh units in 2016-17, compared with 27.89 lakh units sold in 2015-16. “In terms of passenger vehicles, we crossed the three million mark for the first time,” said SIAM deputy director general Sugato Sen. “The growth in passenger vehicle sales is driven largely by demand for utility vehicles ahead of sedans and hatchbacks.” The sales of sports unity vehicles (SUVs) grew at a four-year high of 29.9% to 7.61 lakh units in 2016-17. However, growth in the pas-

In top gear: Growth in passenger vehicle sales is being driven largely by demand for utility vehicles. GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO *

senger cars segment slowed to a three-year low of 3.8% at 21.02 lakh units.

Maruti Suzuki leads Maruti Suzuki, with 47% market share, retained the top spot in terms of passenger vehicle sales followed by Hyundai Motors (17%) and Mahindra and Mahindra

(8%). Tata Motors pipped Honda Cars to gain the fourth spot in passenger vehicle sales. The two-wheeler sales registered yearly growth of 6.9% to 1.75 crore units in 2016-17 after showing a modest growth of 3% in the previous financial year. However, sales of three-

wheelers declined by 4.9% to 5.12 lakh units and the total commercial vehicles sales grew 4.2% to 7.14 lakh units. The overall automobile exports declined 4.5% in 201617 on account of sharp decline in export of threewheelers and two-wheelers. The growth in export of passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles stood at 16.2% and 5% respectively in 2016-17. For the current financial year, SIAM expects overall passenger vehicles sales to grow 7-9%, two-wheelers 911%, commercial vehicles 4-6% and three-wheelers 4-6%.

BS-III inventory Passenger and commercial vehicle manufacturers have an inventory of 1.2 lakh vehicles, compliant with old BS-III emission norms, worth ₹5,000 crore piled up following the Supreme Court’s order last month disallowing

SC denies ofset tarif to Tata, Adani Coal export norms do not measure up to being a force majeure event: court Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside an Appellate Electricity Tribunal’s decision allowing Adani Power and Tata Power to charge compensatory tariff from their consumers spread across States, including Gujarat and Haryana. The tribunal, in a judgement on April 7 last year, had permitted the companies to increase the tariff after Indonesia — where they source coal from to power their plants — decided in 2010 to align its coal export prices to international market prices instead of what they had been charging for the last 40 years. The companies had ar-

The Supreme Court has ordered the CERC to review the matter afresh. gued that the increased coal prices was a force majeure event (an unforeseen situation) provided for in the power purchase agreements (PPAs) entered into between them and the distributors. The tribunal had then remanded the case to the Cent-

GSTN data will be totally secure: CEO

ral Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to find out the impact of the force majeure event to grant compensatory tariff. On December 6, 2016, the Commission had arrived at a certain determination as to compensatory tariff to be granted on account of force majeure. Setting aside all past orders of the tribunal and the commission, a Bench of Justices P.C. Ghose and Rohinton Nariman held that a change in Indonesian coal export regulations did not measure up to being a force majeure event for which the consumers had to compensate. “The fundamental basis of the PPAs remains unaltered. Nowhere do the PPAs state

that coal is to be procured only from Indonesia at a particular price. In fact, it is clear on a reading of the PPA as a whole that the price payable for the supply of coal is entirely for the person who sets up the power plant to bear, ,” Justice Nariman, who wrote the verdict, held in a 65-page judgment. The court held that “changes in the cost of fuel, or the agreement becoming onerous to perform, are not treated as force majeure events under the PPA itself.” It further held that the force majeure clause could not be claimed for a change in foreign laws, but only for Indian laws. It ordered the CERC to go into the matter afresh and decide the quantum of relief.

sales of such vehicles after April 1 because of nationwide implementation of BS-IV emission norms. Automobile dealers offered a heavy discount to sell their inventory after Supreme Court on March 29 ordered a ban on registration and sale of BS-III vehicles from April 1. “Because of heavy discounting, there was a revenue loss of about ₹1,200 crore to the industry in all segments,” said Vishnu Mathur, DG, SIAM, adding that the industry requires a “predictable and consistent policy environment.” Mr. Sen said: “While it will be possible to export some of the vehicles, other vehicles do not have any export market. Getting the vehicles back to the factory for changing the component (to upgrade to BS-IV standards) will be very expensive. Each company will have to take its own call on dealing with the inventory.”

42 PSUs do not have a regular chief PRESS TRUST OF INDIA NEW DELHI

As many as 42 central public sector enterprises in the country are at present functioning without a regular chairman or managing director or CMD, Minister of State in the Department of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Some of the firms having vacant board level posts include Andrew Yule & Company, Bharat Coking Coal, Cotton Corporation of India, HLL Lifecare Ltd, ITI Ltd, HMT, India Tourism and Development Corporation and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers.

Cash usage rebounds as digital modes slide ATM use may reach pre-note ban level MANOJIT SAHA Mumbai

Cash withdrawals from automated teller machines (ATMs) have further increased in February 2017 to ₹1.93 lakh crore from ₹1.52 lakh crore in January, data from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed, and is on track to reach the pre-demonetisation levels. Following the withdrawal of high-value currency notes from November 9, 2016, cash withdrawals from ATMs almost halved in that month as compared with October and further dipped in December. At the same time, use of debit cards on point-of-sale terminals more than doubled to ₹58,031 crore in December from the October levels.

PoS terminals However, with the remonetisation process well underway, use of debit cards at point-of-sale terminals have also come down in February, while cash withdrawal is going up, RBI data shows. “What we are seeing on

the ground is that with the cash situation having eased up a bit, [and] I am not saying it has completely eased up, transaction volumes have once again come back,” said Navroze Dastur, MD, NCR India. Close to half of the country’s 2.2 lakh ATMs are from NCR. “People are again going back to cash,” he said. “Withdrawals for cash have increased and we will see them getting back to more or less [the levels in the] pre-demonetisation period.” Total cash and currency circulation in the system was ₹13.32 lakh crore as on March 31, which is 76% of the ₹17.97 lakh crore that was in circulation before November 8. Digital modes of payment such as prepaid payments instruments (including mobile wallets) and mobile banking which also gained momentum post-note ban as transaction values surged, also declined in January and further fell in February, RBI data showed.

New irms to get PAN, TAN in a day

All information to be encrypted

Special Correspondent New Delhi

MUMBAI

Reliance Jio has started offering the ‘Dhan Dhana Dhan’ plan for ₹309 after telecom regulator TRAI asked the company to stop its ₹303 ‘Summer Surprise’ offer. The new offer gives consumers 84 GB of data for 84 days for ₹309 and 168 GB of data for 84 days for ₹509, according to a posting on Jio’s website. “Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan offer is limited to one recharge only and is not available along with Jio Summer Surprise,” according to the posting. This follows Vodafone and Bharti Airtel complaining to the regulator that Jio was still ‘luring customers’ to subscribe to its Summer Surprise offer, even after TRAI had asked the company to roll back that offer.

Special Correspondent New Delhi

Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN), a company set up to provide IT infrastructure and services to the Central and State Governments, tax payers and other stakeholders for implementation of the GST, will have a completely foolproof data security protection and taxrelated information, according to the firm’s CEO, Prakash Kumar. Mr. Kumar said only the tax payer and concerned assessing officer would have access to information submitted to GSTN portal by tax payers post GST. The system will have total stability and a backup facility. Even functionaries of GSTN would not have any access to tax-related inform-

ation of tax payers after GST is enforced and that tax payers should rest assured on the front of data protection, he said at an event organised by an industry body. “Such has been the arrangement made in GSTN for protection of data security with best available tools and technologies of the time and that no leakage or even tampering is almost impossible on data and information submitted to GSTN portal,” Mr. Kumar said. “Security of your data is of prime importance because in invoice, the item cost is also included. We are cognisant of the fact that if your competitor comes to know of it, it will be a big set back for you. So all the information which will come to us is always in encrypted mode,” he said.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has tied up with Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) to issue Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Tax Deduction Account Number (TAN) in a day, to improve the Ease of Doing Business for newly incorporated corporates. Applicant companies should submit a common application form SPICe (INC 32) on MCA portal, and once the data of incorporation is sent to CBDT by MCA, the PAN and TAN are issued immediately without any further intervention of the applicant. The Certificate of Incorporation (COI) of newly incorporated companies includes the PAN in addition to the Corporate Identity Number (CIN). TAN is also allotted simultaneously.

Toshiba warns of risk to its very survival Decision on whether to delist company rests with the Tokyo Stock Exchange Reuters TOKYO

Toshiba Corp. filed twicedelayed business results on Tuesday without an endorsement from its auditor and warned its very survival was in doubt, deepening a prolonged crisis at the Japanese conglomerate. “There are material events and conditions that raise substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” Toshiba said in announcing bigger than previously estimated losses for the nine months through December.

Possible delisting The filing carried a disclaimer from auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Aarata LLC that it was unable to form an opinion of the results, increasing the likelihood that shares in the nuclear-to-TVs company will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). CM YK

Tipping point: Delisting will worsen the crisis, raising inancing costs and leading to further lawsuits from shareholders. AP *

The move is a first for a major Tokyo-based firm, and puts the stock exchange centre-stage as it weighs the pros and cons of forcing Toshiba to delist. Toshiba CEO Satoshi Tsunakawa expressed regret that the auditor could not form an opinion, and said Toshiba pressed ahead with submitting its results rather

than seek an unprecedented third delay. “The decision on any delisting is for the stock exchange to make,” he told a news conference in Tokyo, the latest in a string of briefings that have opened with apologies to shareholders. “We will do our utmost to avoid it.” Failing to act tough with Toshiba would bring into

question authorities’ credibility in maintaining standards for investors, but a delisting would complicate the crisis at Toshiba, increasing its financing costs and exposing it to further lawsuits from angry shareholders. Accountants have been questioning the numbers at U.S. nuclear subsidiary Westinghouse Electric Co, where massive cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the Southeastern United States have forced its Japanese parent to estimate a $9 billion annual net loss and take drastic measures. PwC is questioning not only recent results, but also probing the books at Westinghouse for the business year through March 2016, sources have said, declining to be identified as they were not authorised to speak on the matter publicly. The decision on whether or not to delist Toshiba now rests with the TSE. A ND-ND

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14 BUSINESS

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Mahindra plans E-SUVs with SsangYong Korean unit aims to have a ‘competent’ electric vehicle by 2020, targets $5.24 billion revenue by 2019 Reuters MUMBAI

NTPC’s Bangladesh venture secures $1.6 bn. NEW DELHI

State-owned power giant NTPC’s joint venture BIFPCL has tied up funds to the tune of $1.6 billion to set up the 1,320MW Maitree Super Thermal Power Project in Bangladesh. BIFPCL is a 50:50 joint venture company between NTPC and the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) for setting up this coal-ired thermal power plant. An agreement has been signed with the Indian Exim Bank to lend up to $1.6 billion for inancing this project. PTI

BHEL bags Railways order for solar plant NEW DELHI

State-owned power equipment major BHEL on Tuesday said it had bagged an order from Indian Railways for installing rooftop solar photo voltaic systems at Diesel Locomotive Modernisation Works (DMW) in Patiala. The contract agreement for design, supply, installation, testing operations and maintenance for 5 years, was signed between BHEL and Indian Railways Organisation for Alternate Fuels (IROAF). PTI

IBA seeks forensic auditors to curb frauds NEW DELHI

Worried over rising cases of fraud in the banking sector, Indian Banks’ Association is looking for reputed CA irms to undertake forensic audit of banks to recover money and curb such practices. Short-listed chartered accountant irms will have to book debt analysis, credit appraisal, documentary analysis in foreign trade and foreign trade inance mechanism. “The last date for receipt of applications is April 25,” the IBA said. PTI

CM YK

Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and its Korean unit SsangYong Motor Co. plan to jointly develop a platform to manufacture electric sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) by 2020, the companies said on Tuesday. “We are now very diligently cooperating with Mahindra to develop the new generation of electric vehicles,” Choi Johng-sik, chief executive, SsangYong, told reporters in Mumbai.

Finalising a product Mr. Choi said the companies are currently finalising the product and expect to have a “competent” vehicle by 2020. This initiative by Mahindra and Ssangyong

Green drive: The initiative comes as automakers across the globe are focussing on reducing emissions. AFP *

comes at a time when automakers across the globe are focussing on reducing emissions by adopting cleaner fuel technologies. Mahindra manufactures

Shareholders approve Grasim, ABNL merger Listing of inancial arm also okayed Special Correspondent

electric cars in India, including the e2o small car and eVerito sedan, and builds electric two-wheelers in the United States. Even as India offers sub-

Eyes Russian re-entry SsangYong is also looking at ways to re-enter Russia, once its biggest export market, where it suspended shipments in 2015 after sales were hit due to a prolonged economic slowdown, Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis and sliding oil prices.

Networking irm in talks to get suppliers to set up base here Yuthika Bhargava

The shareholders of Grasim Industries Limited, Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited (ABNL) and Aditya Birla Financial Services Limited (ABFSL) have approved the merger of ABNL with Grasim followed by the demerger and listing of the financial services business. The move is in line with the National Company Law Tribunal order and the SEBI requirements and the merged entity will now span from manufacturing to services businesses with leadership positions in cement, financial services and textiles. “It augurs well that the public shareholders of both Grasim and ABNL have approved the merger by much more than the requisite majority,” Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla Group said. “The mer-

NEW DELHI

ger will create one of India’s largest companies. It will undeniably lead to shareholders’ value by bringing together the strong balance sheet of Grasim and the high growth potential of ABNL’s businesses.” The merged entity, Grasim, will have proforma consolidated turnover of ₹59,766 crore, EBITDA of ₹11,961 crore and a net profit of ₹4,245 crore for the year ended March 31, 2016, said a company statement.

port duties are high. Mr. Choi said the study is expected to be completed by mid-2017 after which SsangYong Motor will take a decision. In October, SsangYong signed an initial agreement with China’s Shaanxi Automobile group for setting up a local production facility. Mr. Choi said the agreement has not yet been finalised.

Cisco wants to make India a global hub for exports

MUMBAI

Kumar Mangalam Birla

sidies for clean-fuel cars, lack of charging facilities limits the sales of electric vehicles. Mr. Choi said developing an electric SUV will be a challenge as most electric vehicles today are passenger cars. He also said the move could be risky with the nonavailability of charging infrastructure in Korea and little government support. “We are trying to minimise the investment and budget as much as possible,” Mr. Choi said. SsangYong Motor, which by 2019, is targeting revenue of 6 trillion Korean won ($5.24 billion) and sales of 240,000 vehicles, is also conducting a feasibility study to locally manufacture vehicles in China where im-

Networking major Cisco, which recently started manufacturing its products locally, plans to make India a global hub for exports. The company also said that it expected to complete 50 digitisation projects across the country — part of the $100 million investment announced last year, by December 2017. “Our roadmap is very clear,” Dinesh Malkani, president, Cisco India and SAARC said at the Cisco India Summit 2017. “Our first intention was to start with 5 or 6 products that we wanted to make in India for the domestic market such as access points, routers etc. The second stage is to make that centre (Pune) a global export hub. That is the next stage we are working on right now,” he said.

Dinesh Malkani

Cisco had, in March, unveiled its first Made in India product. He added that the U.S.-based firm’s supply head was also in India recently and the company was also in discussions with the government on “how to scale that (the centre)”. “We are also encouraging our ecosystem providers to set up shop here,” he said. “We held a conference in Bangalore last year where

we had invited 80-90 of our global suppliers and showed them what can be done here... I hope that over time this will be our global supply chain centre,” he added. On investments, he said, “As part of our country digitisation acceleration investment of $100 million, 50 of our digitisation projects across India will be completed by the year-end.” These 50 projects include T- hub in Telangana, Fetri village in Rajasthan, a wi-fi project in Rajasthan and iCreate in Gujarat. He added that in the next phase of the digitisation initiatives, the company was collaborating with State governments for projects, including the addition of six new innovation labs and six centres of excellence. (The writer was at Gurugram at the invitation of Cisco)

Shoppers Stop sees ‘digital inluence’ spurring 20% sales ‘Shop online and collect from a store’

Key efect: ‘Digital inluence’ is the role the medium has in inluencing purchases, both online and oline. Special Correspondent New Delhi

Lifestyle retail major Shoppers Stop expects to make 20% of its revenue by 2020 through consumer purchases made as a result of ‘digital influence.’ “Physical stores are called offline, but there is nothing offline today... We say digital influence as a customer may shop online but collect the product at the store,” Shoppers Stop CIO Anil Shankar said at the Cisco India Summit 2017 here. “So, there is a digital influence. By 2020, we expect that 20% of our revenues will have a digital influence from the current levels of about 1%.” Digital influence refers to the role that the digital medium plays in influencing purchases, irrespective of whether the purchase is made online or offline. Mr. Shankar explained that a buyer may buy a voucher online and come to the store to make the purchase and this too was an example of digital influence.

Omni-channel model The listed firm is also likely to complete implementation of its omni-channel model i.e. retailing both online and offline in the next 2-3 quarters. With 80 outlets across the country, Shoppers Stop has earmarked about ₹60 crore for the process that includes digitisa-

tion of its stores and adding capabilities like “contactless payment” and a more personalised shopping experience. “We started the omnichannel journey in 2015 and we have already started piloting a lot of features such as enabling users to make contactless payment using audio technology,” he said. The firm has partnered with ToneTag for the technology wherein audio signals or ‘tone tags’ are used for making payments. As part of the transformation, Shoppers Stop has partnered with networking major Cisco to implement the latter's wireless solution across stores. This will enable Shoppers Stop to also offer Wi-Fi at its stores. “We are excited to collaborate with Shoppers Stop as they digitally transform their business, deliver hyper-relevant customer experiences and enhance workforce efficiency to emerge as the retailers of the future,” Cisco India and SAARC President Dinesh Malkani said. With these solutions, Shoppers Stop will get a single-view dashboard of connected customers, insights into customer behaviour analytics, traffic flow and analytics as well as location-based services for effective in-store marketing and in-store tracking.

A ND-ND

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THE HINDU

SPORT 15

NOIDA/DELHI

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Samson century cuts Supergiant to size

‘Other leagues cannot be a big hit without Indians’ Muralitharan admits that IPL has helped world cricket

Sets up Delhi Daredevils’ massive 97-run win over the host

Amol Karhadkar Mumbai

The phenomenon that was referred to as a T20 tamasha at the time of its inception almost a decade ago has spread like wildfire in the cricketing globe. Australia took the cue from the IPL and launched its Big Bash. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have all started their own franchise-based league while South Africa and England are set to join the club over the next year. Still, legendary Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is convinced that given the current scenario, none of the other leagues can match the IPL in stature. “Whatever said and done, if Indian players are not going to play in those tournaments, it’s not going to be a big hit. Because everyone wants Indian players, (otherwise) it won’t have (as) big an impact as IPL,” said Muralitharan, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowling coach. Indian cricketers are barred from participating in T20 leagues in other nations owing to a clause in their IPL contracts that states the

Nandakumar Marar PUNE

Virat Kohli eyeing comeback on April 14 NEW DELHI

India captain Virat Kohli dropped hints that he may make a return from injury in RCB’s IPL encounter against Mumbai Indians on April 14. Kohli posted a video on his instagram account of his gym session. He was seen doing a weightlifting clean and jerk drill. “Can’t wait to get back onto the field. Almost there now ??????. 14th April ?,” his post said, the question marks suggesting that his return is still not 100% confirmed. PTI

We didn’t capitalise in PowerPlay: Binny INDORE

Plenty of eyebrows were raised when RCB left out Chris Gayle on Monday, when the West Indian is just 25 short of becoming the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in T20 cricket. Speaking after the match, RCB allrounder Stuart Binny said, “I don’t think our combination was wrong. But we did not get many runs upfront after winning the toss. We got just 20 odd in the PowerPlay and it was not enough. Gayle has given us starts as an opener.” SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Sandeep thankful for Sehwag’s mentoring INDORE

Kings XI paceman Sandeep Sharma highlighted the role of Virender Sehwag in his development as a bowler. “He always encourages me to bowl in my natural manner, I am a swing bowler. I have discussed my field placements with him. Most batsmen struggle against swing and he encourages me to bowl to my strengths.” Sandeep added, “Viru paaji tells me ‘don’t worry about being dropped.’ He backs his players.” SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Sanju Samson’s 102 was a tough act to match, especially his poise at the crease and the timing in his strokes. IPL 2017’s first three-figure mark, the batsman’s first ton in the competition, enabled Delhi Daredevils set a challenging total of 205. And Rising Pune Supergiant promptly slumped to 54 for five in eight overs, eventually losing by 97 runs after getting bowled out for 108 in 16.1 overs. One of Rahul Dravid’s chosen ones, Samson would have made his coach proud for his calmness and style. The DD number three muscled in with eight fours and five stunning sixes and dealt with the bowling on his own terms. Chris Morris rattled up a quick-fire 38 off nine balls faced at number six, with four fours and three sixes. RPS leg-spinners Imran Tahir (one for 24) and Adam Zampa (one for 45) curbed Samson to some extent, indicating the assistance for slow bowlers at the MCA Stadium.

Mastermind Zaheer Later on in the night, Zaheer Khan (three for 20 off three overs) masterminded the defence in style, building on pressure to wipe out RPS’ hopes. Steve Smith sat out due to a stomach upset. Manoj Tiwari was also not available. Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane lasted nine balls and his teammates did not show the skill or spunk to match the bowlers’ spirited efforts earlier in the game. DD started with left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem first up but it was Zaheer’s variations which tricked rival captain Rahane. The home fans banked on M.S. Dhoni to pull off a miracle with the blade, but he picked out the fielder at midwicket. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra provoked Dhoni to shuffle at the crease and flick powerfully off his toes. Karun Nair tracked the dipping ball and completed a neat catch. Faf du Plessis tried an audacious scoop over third man against Nadeem, and was snapped up behind. Fascinating bowling The DD batsmen also faced difficulties against the fascinating bowling of Tahir, who teamed up with Adam Zampa for the second time

player cannot participate in any other league similar to IPL. While Muralitharan admitted that the IPL has helped “world cricket” with “more younger people watching cricket”, he stressed that Indian cricket has benefited the most from the league. “Indian cricket has got a lot of help from this one (IPL). You don’t see a Kuldeep Yadav come into a Test match and get four wickets on debut,” Mura-

Mumbai

Stunning assault: Sanju Samson, after gauging the pace of the wicket, set about taking the Rising Pune Supergiant attack apart with clinical stroke-making. AFP *

IPL 10 on home turf. The former struck with his seventh ball, his control over line and the wrist-work to gain turn impressive.

SCOREBOARD

Samson and partner Rishabh Pant played the spinners out. RPS were in control at the halfway mark and the two stroke-makers bided their time. The former started off at a brisk pace, crossed his half-century in 41

balls before stepping on the gas in the slog overs. The home team had match-winners in its batting line-up, but ended up making a hash of it and suffered a second defeat in three games.

RISING PUNE SUPERGIANT V DELHI DAREDEVILS

Delhi Daredevils: Aditya Tare c Dhoni b Chahar 0 (5b), Sam Billings b Tahir 24 (17b, 4x4), Sanju Samson b Zampa 102 (63b, 8x4, 5x6), Rishabh Pant run out 31 (22b, 1x4, 2x6), Corey Anderson (not out) 2 (4b), Chris Morris (not out) 38 (9b, 4x4, 3x6); Extras (lb-3, w-5): 8; Total (for four wkts. in 20 overs): 205. Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Tare, 1.1 overs), 2-71 (Billings, 8.1), 3-124 (Pant, 15.2), 4-166 (Samson, 18.2). Rising Pune Supergiant bowling: Ashoke Dinda 3-0-36-0, Deepak Chahar 3-0-35-1, Ben Stokes 4-0-41-0, Imran Tahir 4-

Amol Karhadkar

0-24-1, Adam Zampa 4-0-45-1, Rajat Bhatia 2-0-21-0. Rising Pune Supergiant: Ajinkya Rahane c Samson b Zaheer 10 (9b), Mayank Agarwal c Morris b Zaheer 20 (18b, 2x4), Faf du Plessis c Pant b Nadeem 8 (7b, 1x4), Rahul Tripathi c Nadeem b Morris 10 (5b, 2x4), Ben Stokes c Pant b Cummins 2 (5b), M.S. Dhoni c Karun b Mishra 11 (14b, 1x6), Rajat Bhatia c Morris b Mishra 16 (17b, 1x6), Deepak Chahar c Pant b Zaheer 14 (6b, 2x6), Adam Zampa c Samson b Mishra 5 (7b, 1x4), Ashoke Dinda c Mishra b Cummins 7 (7b, 1x4), Imran Tahir (not out) 0 (2b); Extras

PLAYING TODAY

MUMBAI

CM YK

FILE PHOTO

G. Viswanath

SRH likely to get Mustaizur-boost, according to coach Moody

Meagre return Rohit, who has skippered Mumbai Indians to both its IPL triumphs in 2013 and 2015, hasn’t played a vital knock ever since returning from a prolonged injury layoff (thigh injury). In two games in this edition, he has tallied a meagre return of five runs, although he was a victim of an umpir-

*

I am not on trial: Nehra

MI banks on milestone men Rohit and Malinga They are among the most prominent faces of Mumbai Indians. They are proven match-winners. While the batsman heads the batting charts of MI’s run-getters, the bowler leads the overall list of highest wicket-takers in the IPL. No wonder then that as Rohit Sharma and Lasith Malinga are set to feature in their 100th IPL game for the Mumbai Indians on Wednesday evening, the home team would be hoping for both the giants to stage a matchwinning performance against the defending champion Sunrisers Hyderabad. While Malinga has played all of his 99 IPL games for the most expensive of the eight original teams, Rohit has been a MI pillar ever since he moved to his home franchise from Deccan Chargers in 2011. Interestingly, neither of them has had a lasting impact in the early stages of the tenth edition.

Muttiah Muralitharan.

litharan said. “Because he had played with these guys and got experience similar to international cricket, he didn’t appear to be bogged down. You can’t get similar experience while playing domestic cricket.” While the likes of Muralitharan and Mahela Jayawardene have settled into coaching roles in the IPL, the number of Lankans featuring in the extravaganza has been on the wane in recent years. Muralitharan had no qualms in admitting lack of talent as the prime reason. “Obviously, we don’t have talent back home. We had great teams, great players but they are all retired at the moment,” he said. “New guys are coming; Until they establish themselves, franchises won’t pick them. Since you can pick only four (overseas) players in the side, it is natural to think when you have experienced performers available, why pick inexperienced Sri Lankans. When they do well, franchises will pick them.”

(lb-1, w-4): 5; Total (in 16.1 overs): 108. Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Rahane, 2.6 overs), 2-34 (Mayank, 4.5), 3-49 (Tripathi, 5.5), 4-52 (du Plessis, 6.4), 5-54 (Stokes, 7.5), 6-79 (Dhoni, 11.6), 7-94 (Bhatia, 13.1), 8-100 (Chahar, 14.1), 9-107 (Zampa, 15.3). Delhi Daredevils bowling: Shahbaz Nadeem 4-0-23-1, Pat Cummins 3.1-0-24-2, Zaheer Khan 3-0-20-3, Chris Morris 20-19-1, Corey Anderson 1-010-0, Amit Mishra 3-0-11-3. Toss: Rising Pune Supergiant. Man-of-the-match: Samson. Delhi Daredevils won by 97 runs.

Ashish Nehra has earned the tag of a Twenty20 specialist. Though he was 37, the national selectors chose him for the three Twenty20 Internationals against England three months ago. It’s unlikely though that they will recall him for the ODIs after six years, especially the ICC Champions Trophy to be played in June. The Indian team across all formats is filled with rightarm seamers and when asked if the selectors would look for a left-arm seamer, Nehra said: “It is not necessary that they would look for a left-arm seamer. And also, it is not that I am on trial. Everybody knows what I can do if I am fit. “If the team management, the captain and the coach want me, if I am fit, ready and raring to go, then definitely I will play. “Every team likes variety. We have bowlers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar who can swing the ball or Jasprit Bumrah, who is really good with the old ball.” Nehra has played for five franchises; Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils, Pune Warriors, Chennai Super Kings

I am it, ready and < > Ifraring to go, then deinitely I will play and Sunrisers Hyderabad and he has managed to fit into different team cultures. “As a professional cricketer you have to adapt. Every franchise has a different way of looking at the game or a different set up.” The Delhi left-arm seamer, whose career has been hindered by injuries, said he had to work hard to keep himself fit. He said: “For me, recovery is as important as training. If I say it doesn’t make a difference, at my age I will be lying. At the age of 38 (he will turn 38 on April 29), not only fast bowlers, but even for a batsman it becomes difficult. You have to put in the extra yards even for recovery or training or practice and that is what I

My game has not changed, still playing the same: Parthiv Patel It’s important not to worry about what the batting order is

have been doing.” Yorker-length deliveries have often been used in the short form of the game and Nehra said it was not easy to bowl a yorker. “Yorker is one word which I hear in T20 cricket, the more and more I play. It is very easy to say, ‘Oh, bowl a yorker!’ It is very easy to say go and bowl a yorker. If it’s in my hands to bowl good yorkers, I can bowl six.” Nehra echoed an opinion shared by many that the IPL has contributed to world and Indian cricket: “IPL is a big platform, not only for Indian cricketers but also the world’s. It’s done good things for India’s youngsters. Earlier there used to be a huge difference between India’s domestic and international players. “IPL has changed all that. There are English or South African or Australian players in the dressing room to learn from. The prime example is Nitish Rana. He hasn’t had a good domestic season, in fact Delhi dropped him. He played around 25 innings without a fifty and the kind of innings he played (against Kolkata Knight Riders) it will definitely give him the confidence.” he said.

Lynn’s further participation in doubt

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MUMBAI INDIANS V SUNRISERS HYDERABAD Sony Six, Sony ESPN, Sony Max (SD & HD), 8 p.m. DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

ine is so high < > The that I cannot risk commenting on the umpiring standards Parthiv Patel The MI ’keeper at his wittiest best

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Team’s pillars: Rohit Sharma and Lasith Malinga will be keen to turn in heavyweight performances against Sunrisers Hyderabad which has had a perfect start to its campaign. FILE PHOTOS *

ing error at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday night. Malinga, on the other hand, fared reasonably well in his maiden outing of the season against Kolkata Knight Riders. Having missed MI’s season-opener due to national duties, Malinga appeared to be a little bit rusty as he returned with figures of two for 36 off his four overs. David Warner & Co. has started the season from where it had left last year, putting in near-perfect performances in the team’s first two games.

If Sunrisers Hyderabad is to win its first game at the Wankhede, it got a perfect boost in addition to a welloiled unit that has delivered so far. Bangladesh left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman joined the squad on Tuesday evening. He is all but sure to come in for Australia’s Ben Cutting.

Telling contributions Barring that, Sunrisers are unlikely to make any change to their line-up. Each of the left-handed triumvirate of captain Warner, Shikhar

앫 Rohit has scored 2,709 runs in 99 games for MI, while Malinga has scalped 145 wickets in as many games 앫 Parthiv, who jointly holds the record for having played for the most IPL teams, needs 24 runs to complete 2,000 runs CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Dhawan and Yuvraj Singh has already made a telling contribution with the willow. All-rounder Moises Henriques has been in his element. And the Afghanistan leggie Rashid Khan has emerged as the surprise pick of the bowling lot, which includes reliable pacers like Ashish Nehra and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

G. Viswanath Mumbai

Parthiv Patel and West Indian Lendl Simmons have been a successful opening pair for Mumbai Indians, putting on half-century partnerships four times. Together they have made 619 runs in 13 matches, exactly a 100 runs short of MI’s most successful opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya who opened the innings on 20 occasions. But in the ongoing Vivo IPL10, the two-time winner MI has opted for England’s Jos Buttler to open the innings with the Indian lefthander. They have been successful too, making 45 against Rising Pune Supergiant at Pune and 65 against Kolkata Knight Riders in the first home match. Both have made the most of the six-over PowerPlay and MI has benefited posting a nine-plus run-rate in the first game and chasing down KKR’s 178 in the next. Parthiv said: “When Lendl and myself opened the innings, it turned out to be successful and we won the title in 2015. “With Rohit (Sharma) coming down the order it gives MI stability and it gives us (Parthiv and Buttler) a chance to play our shots in

Chris Lynn.

*

AFP

Special Correspondent KOLKATA

In form: Parthiv Patel is looking forward to another breezy knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday. SPORTZPICS *

the first six overs. “I think we gave a good start in the first two games before I got out at the wrong time. My game has not changed at all, I am still playing the game the way I have been all the time. It’s important to stick to your game and not to worry about what the batting order is. I just go out and play my game.”

Always confident When asked if MI heaved a sigh of relief after winning a close game against KKR, Parthiv said: “This is a tournament in which lots of runs have been scored in the last few overs. We were always confident, especially with

the way Hardik (Pandya) was batting in the nets or even in the last game. “We knew if we can take it deep we can always chase anything on this ground. Obviously dew was a very big factor, I think. But it was good to get a win early in the season.” Parthiv who has played 105 matches so far for Chennai Super Kings, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians and scored 1976 runs of 1729 balls for a strike rate of 114.29, will look forward to another breezy knock against the Hyderabad team on Wednesday.

The suspense over Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Chris Lynn’s injury will continue for a few more days. Even though Lynn, who injured his left shoulder while fielding in KKR’s last match against Mumbai Indians on Sunday, has undergone an MRI scan, his availability for the rest of the event remains doubtful. “This (incident has) aggravated an old injury, the extent of which still needs to be evaluated. KKR medical team will need a few days to properly establish his fitness and availability for the rest of the tournament,” said a KKR release on Tuesday. Nevertheless, the statement virtually rules Lynn out of KKR’s first home match, against Kings XI Punjab, on Thursday. A ND-ND

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16 SPORT

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2017

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IN BRIEF

India to play Canada in World Group play-of We will ight hard, says Bhupathi

Miami Heat keeps hopes alive

Sports Bureau NEW DELHI

India drew eighth seed Canada in the Davis Cup World Group play-off match to be played in Canada, from September 15 to 17. Since the two teams had not met before in Davis Cup, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), which made the draw in London on Tuesday, had to decide the host. It was a minor relief for India, as it would be playing a relatively less powerful tennis nation, after having fought the giants like Serbia, Czech Republic and Spain

MIAMI

Miami Heat kept its NBA playoff hopes alive on Monday with a 124-121 overtime victory over Cleveland that dropped the reigning NBA champion Cavaliers to second in the Eastern Conference. Other results: Celtics 114 bt Nets 105; Pacers 120 bt 76ers 111; Bulls 122 bt Magic 75; Jazz 105 bt Golden State 99; Clippers 125 bt Rockets 96, Trail Blazers 99 bt Spurs 98, Bucks 89 bt Hornets 79, Wizards 105 bt Pistons 101. AGENCIES

Neymar banned for Clasico

over the last three years in the play-off stage. Of course, Canada has World No. 6, the big-serving Milos Raonic, who has a 16-6 win-loss record in Davis Cup, but has not been playing Davis Cup after he lost to Kei Nishikori in five sets in 2015. His team had won the tie 3-2 then. “We will fight hard,” said captain Mahesh Bhupathi. With about five months to go for the tie, Mahesh was unwilling to discuss about it any further. Vasek Pospisil is the second best player in

Canada. The 26-year-old, standing at 6’4’’ may be ranked 119 now, but was No. 25 in the world in 2014. He has a current doubles rank of 29, and a best of No. 4 in 2015. Along with the evergreen 44-year-old Daniel Nestor (22) and Adil Shamasdin (65), Canada has three doubles players in the top-100 of world rankings. Peter Polansky (127), Denis Shapalov (172) and Steven Diez (179) are the other leading Canadian singles players, ranked in the top-200.

Haadin Bava, Karunuday progress

MADRID

Barcelona’s Brazilian superstar Neymar will miss the ‘Clasico’ at Real Madrid on April 23 after being handed a three-game suspension, the Spanish football federation said on Tuesday. Neymar, who got a red card in the match against Malaga, was handed an extra two-match suspension on top of the automatic one-game ban for sarcastically applauding the officials as he left. AFP

Sports Bureau Jakarta (Indonesia)

Haadin Bava and Karunuday Singh bounced back from a set down each to get past qualifiers in singles first round in the $15,000 ITF men’s Futures in Indonesia on Tuesday. The results: $25,000 ITF men, Luzhou, China: (first round): Bai Yan (Chn) bt Sasi Kumar

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\ NEW DELHI ROUND-UP \

Akash sparkles in FCI’s win Sports Minister to sort out diferences NEW DELHI

Sports Minister Vijay Goel said he would try to meet Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes and sort out the differences in the wake of the ugly public spat that took place during the Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan.“I think it is the captain’s prerogative how he selects the team. But as far as the spat between the two players is concerned, I will meet the players and if there were any differences, I will try to sort them out,” Goel said. PTI

Japan downs India WUXI (CHINA)

The Indian men’s team squandered a flurry of chances to lose 3-2 to formidable Japan in the quarterfinals of the Asian table tennis championships here on Monday. India, which subsequently lost the 5-6 positions match against Hong Kong 3-0. The results: Japan 3 bt India 2 (Yuya Oshima lost to Soumyajit Ghosh 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6; Koki Niwa bt Sharath Kamal 11-1, 6-11, 8-11, 14-12, 12-10; Kenta Matsudaira bt Harmeet Desai 5-11, 8-11, 11-2, 14-12, 11-6; Yuya Oshima lost to Sharath Kamal 11-8, 11-13, 11-5, 6-11, 11-6; Koki Niwa bt Soumyajit Ghosh 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4).

TV PICKS UEFA Champions League: TEN 1, 2 & TEN 1 HD, 11 p.m. NBA: Sony Six & Six HD, 5.30 a.m. (Thursday)

Akash Tomar’s 40-ball-122, studded wit 12 sixes and nine fours, helped Food Corporation of India beat Rohtak Road Gymkhana by 69 runs and enter the quarterfinals of the all-India Om Nath Sood memorial cricket tournament. The scores: FCI 358 for four in 40 overs (Akash Tomar 122, Nitin Saini 80 n.o., Paras Dogra 63, Umang Sharma 55) bt RRG 289 for seven in 40 overs (Kunal Dabas 63, Love Mahajan 50 n.o., Arjun Tewatia 46, Arun Drall 34).

Shawej shines for RSCC Shawej Khan scored a match-winning 74 and picked up two wickets as Run Star Cricket Club beat LB Shastri Club by 55 runs in the Admiral Cricket League. Anish Ali picked up four wickes for the losing side.

The scores: RSCC 253 in 39.5 overs (Shawej Khan 74, Himmat Singh 73; Anish Ali four for 32) bt LBSC 198 for eight in 40 overs (Mohit Ahlawat 80).

Jaspreet, Aviral score tons Quickfire centuries by Jaspreet Singh Dhingra (58 ball-103) and Aviral Himmatramka (46-ball 100) and brilliant bowling by Rajender Singh Gambhir (four for four) helped Playerz XI thrash Bringing Smiles by 179 runs in the Roshanara Premier League. The scores: Playerz XI 222 for five in 20 overs (Jaspreet Singh Dhinga 103, Aviral Himmatramka 100) bt Bringing Smiles 43 in 13.4 overs (Rajender Singh Gambhir four for four, Paras Bhatia two for 15); TGT 215 for six in 20 overs (Ash Gupta 101; Kabir Chadha two for 43) lost to Masu Hurricanes 218 for three in 18.2 overs (Tapan Jain 92, Dilip Dhunna 76).

Seven juniors called up for Azlan Shah Special Correspondent Bengaluru

Seven players from the junior ranks found a place in India’s squad for the 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, announced here on Tuesday. Four — goalkeeper Sumit Karkera, defender Gurinder Singh, and midfielders Sumit and Manpreet ( Jr) — are in line to debut, while Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh and Harjeet

Singh have already earned senior caps. The squad: P.R. Sreejesh (capt.), Suraj Karkera, Pardeep Mor, Surender Kumar, Rupinderpal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurinder Singh, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Sumit, Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh, Harjeet Singh, Manpreet, S.V. Sunil, Talwinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, Affan Yousuf, and Akashdeep Singh.

Mukund 6-3, 6-3. $15,000 ITF men, Jakarta, Indonesia (first round): Haadin Bava bt Sam Matheson (Nzl) 3-6, 6-1, 6-1; Karunuday Singh bt Dong-Kyu Lep (Kor) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Haadin Bava & Karunuday Singh bt Yu Hsiang Chiu (Tpe) & Hugo Voljacoues (Fra) 4-6, 6-4, 10-5. $60,000 ITF women, Istanbul, Turkey (first round): Polina Monova (Rus) bt Ankita Raina

6-1, 6-2. $15,000 ITF women, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Kirrsten-Andrea Weedon (Gua) & Shweta Rana bt Rio Kitagawa (Jpn) & Sowjanya Bavisetti 7-5, 6-4; Sandra Samir & Rana Sherif Ahmed (Egy) bt Theiviya Selarajoo (Mas) & Zeel Desai 6-4, 6-2; Kyra Shroff & Dhruthi Venugopal bt Valeria Bhunu (Zim) & Anette Munozova (Swe) 6-0, 7-5.

Ashu Dani’s take on selection panel meeting Vijay Lokapally New Delhi

Delhi junior selector Ashu Dani has taken strong exception to the views expressed by the North Zone selection committee convenor Siddharth Sahib Singh on Tuesday regarding his behaviour during the meeting. Siddharth Sahib had alleged that Dani had misbehaved during the meeting. In a statement to The Hindu, Dani said, “When the meeting got underway, I found a surprising pattern playing out. While the Punjab, Haryana and J&K selectors were content to give their

players’ names, what shocked me was the undue interest being shown by the Convener to include some boys who had not even been a part of the team this year. Even more surprising was the undue support that was being given by the representatives of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to this undue inclusion of Shivaay Oberoi.” Dani continued, “Giving allowance for the Board’s directive to not include those boys who did not have one year to go in Under-19 category, only a few boys were left to be considered. “Boys who had done reas-

NEW DELHI

Denim Yadav consolidated his chances of a quarterfinal berth by outplaying Sanjith Devineni 6-4, 6-2 in a group-D league match of the Road to Wimbledon Masters under-14 tennis tournament at the Gymkhana Club here on Tuesday. In the girls’ section, Gargi Pawar will need to beat top seed Sandeepti Singh Rao to get a quarterfinal berth. Akanksha Nitture will fancy her chances better as she will play Hrudaya Shah. The results (league): Boys: Pool-A: Nishant Dabas bt Ajay Malik 7-6(5), 6-2; Dhruv Tangri bt Rudra Kapoor 7-6(4), 6-2. Pool-B: Krishan Hooda bt Pranav Ikkurthy 6-0, 6-0; Udit

Elaborating further Elaborating on the issue, Dani said, “I took serious umbrage at this uncalled for interference in the selection process by the Convener who was clearly exceeding his brief. What was more

galling was the fact that he was trying to push the names of boys who had not been found good enough for selection in the first instance. “When I asked the convenor to include the names of Ayush Bhadoni and Hitesh Sharma, he simply refused and made sure that he included Shivaay Oberoi, who had not even played during the season.” Dani insisted, “When I made my objection known, he simply brushed aside my concerns. After I refused to budge, he went ahead and included the name of Shivaay Oberoi. This forced me

to write my ‘note of dissent’ with the convener. “I can say it with authority that some of undeserving players, who were not even regulars in Delhi’s U-19 team, were picked by the Convenor. “Meritorious boys like Ayush Bhadoni and Hitesh Sharma, who are good longterm prospects, should have been automatically included in the list but Sidhharth Sahib Singh seemed intent in keeping them out.” Dani too has promised to take the issue to DDCA Administrator Justice Vikramajit Sen and the BCCI.

Chawrasia, Deepa honoured

Denim outplays Sanjith Special Correspondent

onably well should therefore have simply walked into the proposed list. “However, I was shocked to see during the course of this hour long meeting that instead of asking me while picking players from Delhi, it was the convener who was jotting down names on his own.”

Special Correspondent Kolkata

Gogoi bt Nikhil NIranjan Thirumale 6-1, 6-0. Pool-C: VM Sandeep bt Shashidhar Kota 6-0, 6-0; Sushant Dabas bt Aman Dahiya 6-1, 6-3. Pool-D: Denim Yadav bt Sanjith Devineni 6-4, 6-2; Divesh Gahlot bt Kartik Saxena 6-1, 6-1. Girls: Pool-A: Sandeepti Singh Rao bt Akanksha Nitture 6-0, 6-2 ; Gargi Pawar bt Hrudaya Shah 6-2, 6-1. Pool-B: Sudipta Senthil Kumar bt Ayushi Singh 6-1, 6-1; Aditi Narayan bt Mushrath Anjum Shaik 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Pool-C: Sarah Dev bt Divya Bhardwaj 6-1, 6-1; Naisha Srivastav bt Avi Shah 6-2, 6-3. Pool-D: Srujana Rayarala bt Yana Dhamija 6-4, 7-6(1); Priyanshi Bhandari bt Renne Singla 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

Two-time Indian Open champion golfer S.S.P. Chawrasia and the country’s lone woman Paralympic medallist Deepa Malik were conferred the Sportsperson of the Year and Inspiration of the Year awards respectively at the annual function of the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club (CSJC) here on Tuesday. Chawrasia received the award amidst loud applause at the ICCR auditorium here. “Without journalists nobody will know sportspersons. I hope this award becomes a lucky charm as I get ready for tournaments in Japan, China and England,” said Chawrasia. Deepa, who claimed a silver medal in shot put on a wheelchair in the Rio Games, could not be present

due to family commitments. “This means a lot to me. It is good that performances of athletes in Paralympics is being covered,” Deepa said through a video message. Wriddhiman Saha was hounoured with a special award. His wife, Debarati, received it on behalf of the cricketer. Former Bengal and East Zone coach and current Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) match referee Raju Mukherjee, country’s second Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua and member of the 1970 Asian Games bronze medal winning football team Shyam Thapa, who is also the head of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) technical committee, were honoured with lifetime achievement awards. The award winners: Sportsperson of the year: SSP Chawrasia;

Junior sportsperson of the year: Saurav Singh; Inspiration of the year: Deepa Malik. Athletes of the year: Mohammed Rafique and Jeje Lalpekhlua (football); Abhimanyu Easwaran (cricket); Moumita Dutta (table tennis); Atanu Das (archery); Sathi Dolui (hockey); Chandan Bauri and Rajashree Prasad (athletics, men and women winners respectively); Utsava Palit (badminton); Sitamoni Tudu (basketball); Tithi Dhara (volleyball); Arpita Mukherjee (chess); Moupriya Mitra (aquatics-diving). Special awards: Wriddhiman Saha (cricket), Mridul Banerjee (football), Anindita Chakraborty (table tennis), Pranab Nandy (cricket), Manvir Singh (football), Rana Gharami (football). Lifetime achievement awards: Raju Mukherji (cricket), Dibyendu Barua (chess), Shyam Thapa (football).

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THE HINDU CROSSWORD 11979 1

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13 14

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3 Foul at heart, they're oddly supericial (5)

11 The last word, inally uttered, is correct (5)

4 Dividend in GST's framing resolutions (7)

13 Gangster lingered, smuggling silver (8)

5 Small, long-haired and jumpy (8)

15 Work policy (8)

6 Doctor claimed marijuana might be allowed on these grounds (7)

20 He goes round in circles frittering time, raking in rupees, radically anarchist, very independent society hothead (8,7)

■ ACROSS 1 Traditions surrounding Easter empty, but they're always right (9) 6 Dance to rock music of Springsteen, Hendrix, Genesis (4) 8 Indian man left England's shores, not being from that country originally (8) 9 Scene of Biblical parting one

24 Script with no stop, no start (8) 25 Earth in water dissolves evenly (4) 26 Thrown out as papers not in order when security check checked to ascertain age (9) ■ DOWN 1 Butterly that might give you pause (5)

FAITH

SUDOKU

Chanting His names

2 Cryptid's evanescent winter creations (7)

10 Actor slacked in Strange Red Sign (6,3,6)

23 A revolutionary expression of disgust at plenty (6)

26

CM YK

junction away from Zhongnanhai (3,3)

18 Well-oiled artillery's inal discharge backiring (5)

19

24

25

(set by Skulldugger)

7 What bees assess in empty gardens after a while (9) 12 Traders's goods carried by organised workers (9) 14 Heartless Scandinavian journalist is ruined (8) 16 Party roundabout lacking inish (7) 17 Contraptions for a game not usually seen around (7) 19 Requested fashionable regular tweed jackets, a half dozen (7) 21 Subsidiary tax reform involving registered middlemen (5) 22 Head of state unsympathetic harridan (5)

Solution to puzzle 11978 A D V O C A C Y

D L E E A R A N E U R S

I I C O N E J B L U A R G R E

I B S A C I E F I L R O A S T R U A D Y C A T T E O R A N T R O Z W I N E MA M U E Q U E R O R T O L S H P R O X A A T M L I N S O

D E A D L Y S I N B R I C K

U R E P P A E C K E M D A H L O G MA N A Y

Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku I C H L E R A R Y H L A N O D H T E L E D

Lord Narayana’s Trivikrama avatara is celebrated in the Puranas, said P.T. Seshadri, in a discourse. Srimad Bhagavatam says ears have been given to us to hear of His greatness. If we do not use our ears for this purpose, then they wouldn’t qualify to be called ears. They would just be two useless holes. The tongue has been given to us to sing His praises. Any other words are the equivalent of a frog’s croaks. Tiruvalluvar says that a king who is not lazy will get all the three worlds that Lord Narayana measured with His steps. Ilango Adigal, in his Silappadikaram, talks of Trivikrama avatara. One of the names of the Lord in Vishnu Sahasranama is Amita Vikrama. Parasara Bhattar, in his Bhagavad Guna Darpana, says that this name is a reference to the Lord’s Trivikrama avatara. Andal has also sung of the Trivikrama avatara in Her Tiruppavai. Andal stresses the importance of chanting the Lord’s names. Wasn’t it Draupadi’s act of calling out His names, that brought Lord Krishna to her rescue? We have no refuge, but the Lord. Suppose there is a wicked son, who beats his mother. Suppose his hands ache while he is indulging in this wicked act. Even then he calls out to his mother in his pain. Likewise, even those who are ill disposed towards Him, ultimately sing His praises. Nanjeeyar asked Parasara Bhattar whether any special qualification was needed to sing His praises. Bhattar clarified that there were no special requirements to chant His names. Anyone could do it. We think that with our burden of sins, we should not approach Him. But we cannot sully Him in any way. Our fear to seek the Lord, is akin to that of a man who thought that he should first bathe in a pond, before he bathed in the Ganges, lest his sins polluted the Ganges! A ND-ND

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THE HINDU

SPORT 17

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2017

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Palace embarrasses Arsenal Loss a big blow to Gunners’ chances of playing Champions League next season

Record-setting, pioneering all-rounder Wednesday marks the birth centenary of the legendary Vinoo Mankad Agencies

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No Indian cricketer has set as many long-enduring Test records. Only a select few in the world have batted at all spots like he has. And yet many Indians know little about him — much like Virender Sehwag, who admitted as much after having come close in 2005 to breaking his partnership record for the opening wicket. Mulvantrai Himmatlal ‘Vinoo’ Mankad, born on April 12, 1917, was an accomplished all-rounder (righthand batsman/slow left-arm orthodox) who played 44 Tests between 1946 and 1959, scored 2,109 runs, including five centuries, and took 162 wickets. He captained the National team in 1955-56 and 1958-59. Vinoo was instrumental in India’s first Test victory (against England in Madras in

Arsenal’s hopes of finishing in the Premier League topfour suffered a huge blow as it crashed to a humiliating 3-0 defeat at relegationthreatened Crystal Palace on Monday. Palace, winners of four of its previous five league games, started in confident fashion and opened the scoring when former Tottenham Hotspur winger Andros Townsend swept the ball home at the end of a smart passing move after 17 minutes. Palace striker Christian Benteke then had a goal ruled out for offside before Yohan Cabaye’s superb curled effort and Luka Milivojevic’s penalty in five second-half minutes completed a miserable night for Arsene Wenger’s struggling

First hit: Andros Townsend celebrates scoring Crystal Palace’s opener with Yohan Cabaye, who curled in the second, and Wilfried Zaha CLIVE ROSE/GETTY IMAGES *

side.“It's damaging of course,” said a seemingly dispirited Wenger when asked about how serious the blow was to its chances of Champions League football

next season. “That's the most difficult thing for us tonight.” The results: Premier League: Crystal Palace 3 (Townsend 17, Cabaye 63,

Milivojevic 68-pen) bt Arsenal 0. La Liga: Real Sociedad 3 (Willian Jose 3, Juanmi 27, Berchiche 77) bt Sporting Gijon 1 (Echiejile 87).

1952) by taking eight for 55 and four for 53. His centuries include the first double ton by an Indian (his 231 against New Zealand at Madras in 1956 was the highest individual score by an Indian till Sunil Gavaskar broke it in 1983 in Madras with 236) and he was the first Indian to get 100 wickets, and had eight five-wicket hauls in an innings (including two eight-wicket hauls). His 231 was part of a 413run first-wicket partnership with Pankaj Roy, which remained the world record till 2008, and his double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in 23 matches stood for a quarter of a century before Ian Botham did it in fewer Tests. The 1952 Test against England at Lord’s has gone down in folklore as ‘Mankad’s match’. The all-rounder scored 72 on the first day,

bowled 73 overs in England’s first innings, taking five for 196, and then made 184, at the time India’s highest individual score in Test cricket, in just under five hours. But the cruel cut of fate was the visitors lost by eight wickets. Vinoo had his share of controversy too, lending his name to a form of dismissal. ‘Mankading’ became the Australian media’s term for the bowler running out the non-striker for backing up before the delivery, which he resorted to during the 194748 tour of Australia. Sir Donald Bradman defended him, however. On his death in August 1978, Wisden termed him “one of the greatest allrounders that India has ever produced” and said “for some years he was undoubtedly the best bowler of his type in the world.”

Vinoo Mankad...a champion for the ages THE HINDU PHOTO *

ARCHIVES

N. Srinivasan and the limits of ambition Cricket teams are expected to build for the future, administrators apparently not

BETWEEN WICKETS suresh menon

In dealing with N. Srinivasan, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) must acknowledge an important fact: the former President of the BCCI has nothing to lose. The Supreme Court ruling dealt him a triple whammy: he is over 70 (the cut-off age for office-bearers), he has been in administration for over nine years each at the state and national level, and he has not resigned as President of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. For any one of these reasons he could be expected to bid goodbye to cricket and focus on gardening or golf. Yet, there is significant support crys-

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tallising around him. There are those who believe that he alone can make the BCCI great again — a Trumpian dream common to officials everywhere — for he alone understands which switches to press and when. All speculation might be rendered moot once the Supreme Court rules on his eligibility to represent the BCCI at the International Cricket Council. If recent events are any guide, though, that might not be the end. The ICC might have no objection, after all. Indian cricket’s coming man might be Sourav Ganguly — who is evolving as a credible alternative to the old-timers — but it is difficult not to have a sneaky regard for the man from Chennai whose thick skin and unyielding ways might have served him well had he been a Test cricketer. Bowlers would have struggled against Srinivasan’s obdurate defence and unexpected strikes for six. For those who wonder why the Supreme Court is so involved in cricket administration, the answer is: Srinivasan.

If there is a loophole anywhere, either in the rules or in the interpretation, he has the nous to both spot it and turn it to his advantage. Nothing seems final. From the outside, we watch in fascination (and some horror) as the drama unfolds. Meanwhile, the drama that should have unfolded — the rejigging of the state associations, fresh elections and setting up of the system as mandated by the Supreme Court — is nowhere near completion yet. The wait-and-see policy of the erstwhile office-bearers accompanied by energetic work behind the scenes (orchestrated apparently by Srinivasan), has ensured that uncertainty has ruled. If board members now feel that Srinivasan is the solution rather than the problem, it is testimony to the governing body’s allergy to creating a line of succession. Cricket teams are expected to build for the future, administrators apparently not. Ganguly represent-

ing India at the ICC meetings might not find favour with everybody, but he clearly is the new generation, and his credentials need no special endorsement.

Genuine interest Srinivasan’s interest in cricket is genuine, he is not seen as financially corrupt (two qualities that place him above most officials), and in recent years has acquired a romantic image as the man who had the cricketing world kowtowing to him. The Robin Hood impression — robbing the rich to pay the even richer — may not actually fit, but there is a surface attraction to it. Had he not let the “my family, right or wrong” philosophy drag him down, there would have been no Supreme Court in the affairs of the game, no Committee of Administrators, no standoff. But his irrational support of his son-in-law who was later shown to be betting on IPL matches despite being

a team owner, initiated the process of cleansing the board. Indian cricket has reason to be grateful for Srinivasan’s arrogance. When he was President and kept ignoring the Supreme Court, Srinivasan appeared both haughty and desperate; the new Srinivasan seems to be enjoying the uncertainty and looking for ways of gaining from it. There are no age or tenure rules (in the home association) that go with the chairman’s post in the International Cricket Council, for example, and Srinivasan sees an opportunity there. If elements in the BCCI (and in the ICC) support him, that is because he is master of the carrot-and-stick policy. In any case, he is the known devil. The ICC chairman is independent of the country he comes from. Shashank Manohar, who resigned recently, was keen to right what he saw as the wrongs of revenue sharing, and was cheered on for a while till it became clear that his

reforms might not have the necessary support. In 2014, the Big Three — Australia and England being the others — took over the ICC, giving themselves a bigger slice of the financial pie. Manohar’s attempt at a more equitable distribution was supported by the same Australia and England. There are no permanent friends (or permanent adversaries) in the ICC. And if Srinivasan has his way in the ICC, however unlikely that appears now, then doubtless his two junior partners will be happy to go back to the Big Three system again. The CoA has, in any case, indicated that India need a bigger share of the pie. So much for equitable distribution, fair play, sportsmanship and all those concepts associated with the game — but obviously not with its administration. At 72, Srinivasan has nothing to lose. As Kenneth Kaunda, the Zambian leader once observed, ambition never comes to an end.

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THE HINDU

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2017

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IN BRIEF

Pulitzers honour U.S. election coverage David Fahrenthold bags reporting award, while Peggy Noonan is honoured for commentary Agence-France Presse New York

Malala gets U.N. honour to boost girls’ education UNITED NATIONS

United Nations SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres has appointed Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai a U.N. Messenger of Peace to promote girls education, more than four years after a Taliban gunman shot her in the head on her school bus in 2012. At 19, Ms. Yousafzai is the youngest Messenger of Peace. REUTERS

The Pulitzer Prizes, the most prestigious awards in U.S. journalism, on Monday honoured work that challenged President Donald Trump during the country’s divisive election campaign and delivered a passionate defence of a free press. The 101th edition of the awards, announced at Columbia University, came with the U.S. news media under assault from the White House for peddling “fake news” critical of the adminis-

tration, and after the press took a bashing for failure to predict Trump’s election. David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post won the national reporting award for what the board called “a model for transparent journalism” that cast doubt on Mr. Trump’s assertions of charitable generosity. Mr. Fahrenthold investigated not only Mr. Trump’s charity claims but also disclosed that the Republican presidential candidate had boasted in crude terms about groping women in a

Top honour: Washington Post editor Martin Barron, left, joins the paper’s staf in congratulating David Fahrenthold. AP *

2005 videotape. The Pulitzer for commentary went to Peggy Noonan of The Wall

Street Journal for what the board called “beautifully rendered columns that con-

Soon, doctors can ‘see’ a fever Team at IGCAR makes visual monitoring of body temperature possible Comb jellies were the earliest animals: study NEW YORK

The delicate marine predators called comb jellies were the earliest animals — not sponges as had long been thought, claims a new genetic analysis. The study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, suggests that comb jellies were the first branch of the animal family tree. IANS

Bangladesh stars’ secret marriage creates lutter DHAKA

One of Bangladesh’s biggest film stars caused an Internet sensation on Tuesday when she revealed she had wed her on-screen lover, Shakib Khan, but kept the marriage secret for nine years to protect his career. Apu Biswas told a TV station she had a child aged seven months with Khan and was only going public now because of his neglect. AFP

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R. Prasad CHENNAI

Visual, non-invasive monitoring of body temperature of patients without using a thermometer may become a reality soon, thanks to the work carried out by a team of scientists led by John Philip, head of the smart materials section at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, near Chennai. The concept is based on ferrofluid emulsion contained in a thin film that changes colour with rise in temperature within a narrow range — 30-40° C. The study was published in the journal Optical Materials. The emulsion has iron oxide nanoparticles containing oil droplets dispersed in water. “Till now ferrofluid was used as a magnetic stimuliresponsive material. We now found that in the presence of a temperature-sensitive polymer — poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), also known as PNIPAM) — the ferrofluid emulsion can be used as a thermally tunable grating to produce different colours,” says Dr. Philip.

Cutting edge: IGCAR scientists A.W. Zaibudeen, left, and John Philip have developed a thermally tunable ferroluid grating to measure temperature. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

“Recently, we were looking at the interaction forces between droplets covered with thermo-responsive polymers. To our surprise, we found that the adsorbed polymer swells and collapses upon changing the temperature between 32° and 36° C. This change was clearly manifested as colour change. From this observation came the novel idea of using PNIPAM-stabilised emulsions as a multistimulii grating. This is a first of its kind approach where the grating spacing can be tuned

either by changing the temperature or by changing the magnetic field strength,” says Dr. Philip.

Reversible change Up to about 34° C, the polymer is highly hydrated and swollen due to repulsive interaction between individual monomer segments. But when the temperature crosses 34° C, the polymer becomes dehydrated leading to a collapsed state. The polymer will once again become hydrated and swollen when the temperat-

ure falls below 34° C. “By using certain additives, we can tune the collapse of the polymer to higher temperature to reflect fever conditions,” clarifies A.W. Zaibudeen, senior research fellow at IGCAR and the first author of the paper. Using magnetic fields, the scientists first achieved a particular ordering (spacing between the arrays of emulsion droplets) of emulsion and got a particular colour. When polymer is added as a stabiliser and the temperature is increased, the grating spacing of the polymer changes and gives rise to a different colour or spacing. “The colour given off at normal temperature can be fixed by changing the emulsion property and magnetic field strength,” Dr. Philip says. If the normal temperature is fixed at yellow, the change will be to green when the temperature increases. Colour with higher wavelength is produced at lower temperature and colour of lower wavelength at higher temperature.

nected readers to the shared virtues of Americans during one of the nation’s most divisive political campaigns.” The coveted Public Service medal went to New York Daily News and to investigative news site ProPublica for uncovering official abuse of eviction rules that ousted hundreds of mostly poor minorities from their homes. There were a total of 21 categories in journalism, arts and letters. The Pulitzer for fiction went to Colson Whitehead for slavery novel The Underground Railroad.

Global collaboration project Belle-II moves a step forward Particle detector integrated with powerful accelerator Shubashree Desikan

The High Energy Accelerator Research Organisation (KEK) completed the muchawaited ‘rolling-in’ of the Belle-II experiment in Tsukuba, Japan, on Tuesday. This experiment is designed to study violations of the Standard Model of particle physics. A grand collaboration of 700 scientists from 23 countries, Belle-II has a significant Indian participation both on experimental and theoretical sides. The fourth layer of the six-layer, highly sensitive particle detector, which is at the heart of Belle-II, has been built by Indian scientists, led by Tariq Aziz and Gagan Mohanty, who are with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. “In 1998, when Indians [in this field] were working mostly with CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research), KEK first wanted us to participate in this experiment, which had

New physics: The Belle-II experiment in Tsukuba, Japan.

a complementary approach,” says Prof Aziz. Scientists from the Indian Institutes of Technology in Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Guwahati and Hyderabad; the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai; Panjab University; Punjab Agricultural University; Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur; Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali; and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, are participating in this research.

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“Building the silicon vertex detector has been a directing force that brought us together. It is a very young team, with an average age of 30 years, apart from some senior leaders,” says Professor Mohanty. The lone person leading theoretical studies among this group of 35-40 experimentalists, IMSc’s Rahul Sinha says, “Some of the modes and techniques that will be possible for Belle-II to study were first proposed by the group at IMSc.”

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