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Jayalalithaa’s niece movesMadras HC to restrainrelease of her aunt’s biopic

NATION | Tamil Nadu

2

TABLOID

Prashant Bhushan fofile PIL on WhatsApphacking in top court

NATION | Snooping

3

THE ASIAN AGENEW DELHI SATURDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2019

John Abraham game for comedies

Max: 31OCMin: 17OCRH: 68%Rainfall: Nil

Forecast: Mist

WINDOWS

WEATHER

ASTROGUIDE

India’s Lilima Minz celebrateafter scoring a goal againstUSA during Hockey OlympicQualifiers 2019 (Women) inBhubaneswar on Friday. Indiadefeated USA 5-1. — PTI

Vikari: DakshinayanaTithi: Kartika Shudda Shasthi

till 1.33 am (early hours ofSunday)

Star: Poorvashada till 11.04pm

Varjyam: 7.59 am to 9.40 amDurmuhurtam: 6.18 am to

7.49 amRahukalam: 9 am to

10.30 amSUNSET TODAY 5.37 PM

SUNRISE TOMORROW 6.33 AMMOONRISE TOMORROW 11.35 PM

MOONSET TODAY 9.16 AM

New Delhi: Aviation regula-tor DGCA told IndiGo

on Friday to replace thePratt and Whitney (PW)

engines under both wings of 97 A320neo air-

craft “at all costs” byJanuary 31 or they

would be grounded. Thedirective came after the air-

line faced four mid-airengine malfunctions inA320neo planes in the

last one week. — PTI

IndiGo ordered toreplace 97 engines

COUNTERPOINT

RNI No. 57290/94, Regd No: DL-SW-05/4189/15-17 Vol. 26 No. 256 | 32 PAGES | `5.00

24

KARTARPUR CORRIDOR INAUGAURATION

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her ceremonial reception atRashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Friday. — PTI

SRIDHARKUMARASWAMINEW DELHI, NOV. 1

In a remark that has com-pletely overshadowed hervisit to India and come asa huge embarrassment tothe government, visitingGerman ChancellorAngela Merkel said onFriday that the situationin Kashmir was “not sus-tainable and not good”and that “this has tochange for sure”.

The remark is sure tohave shocked the Indiangovernment, though there

was no immediate, officialreaction.

Speaking with theGerman media accompa-nying her on the visit toIndia, Ms Merkel wasquoted by a Reutersreport as saying, “The sit-uation for the peoplethere is currently not sus-tainable and mustimprove.” The reportalso quoted Ms Merkel assaying that she wouldraise the matter withPrime Minister NarendraModi later on Fridayevening, and that whileshe was aware of India’s

position regardingKashmir, she wanted tohear Mr Modi’s plans forrestoring normalcy in theregion. The remarks weremade ahead of restrictedtalks with Mr Modi andafter she had co-chairedthe Indo-German FifthBiennial InterGovernmental Consult-ations (IGC) with thePrime Minister. Sourcessaid that the Kashmirissue did not figure dur-ing IGC meet on Fridaymorning.

There was no officialword on whether

Kashmir or Ms Merkel’scomments were discussedduring the restricted talkswith Mr Modi.

Friday was the 89th daysince India revokedArticle 370 andannounced the bifurca-tion of the state of Jammuand Kashmir into twoUnion Territories thatcame into being onThursday. Restrictions onmovement and communi-cation in several parts ofJ&K remain, as does thedeployment of troops incivilian areas. Many■ Turn to Page 4

SONU SHRIVASTAVAMUMBAI, NOV. 1

Even as Shiv Sena onFriday issued a veiledthreat to the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) that itcould form the nextMaharashtra governmenton its own, the latterremained confident thatDevendra Fadnavis willtake oath as chief minis-ter before November 7.Senior BJP leader andstate finance ministerSudhir Mungantiwar toldThe Asian Age that theallies will form the nextgovernment together.

“Our talks with the ShivSena are on. The finaldecision on governmentformation will be reachedsoon, and ministers willbe sworn in on November6 or 7,” Mr Mungantiwarsaid.

The Shiv Sena, on theother hand, has hardenedits stand on the imple-mentation of the 50-50power-sharing formula —which includes the CM’spost coming to it for 2.5years — that it claims theBJP had agreed to.

Mr Mungantiwar, how-ever, maintained that MrFadnavis would be backas chief minister. “We areconfident that we willconvince our alliancepartner. We have donethat in the past and wewill do so this time also,”he said.

Asked about the possi-

bility of President’s Rulebeing imposed inMaharashtra if no gov-ernment is formed beforeNovember 7, the ministerreplied, “There is no ques-tion of President’s Rule.”

Earlier, Shiv Senaupped the ante with itsspokesperson SanjayRaut stating that if hisparty decides, it would getthe required numbers toform a stable governmentin Maharashtra without■ Turn to Page 4

J&K situation must improve: Merkel

Fadnavis will be sworn in as CM by Nov. 7: BJP

SREEPARNACHAKRABARTYNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

Amid a stalemate in gov-ernment formation inMaharashtra, theCongress has decided tolet NCP chief SharadPawar take the lead informalising an alterna-tive arrangement to theBJP-Shiv Sena combine.

Sources said thatCongress presidentSonia Gandhi toldsenior Maharashtraleaders who met her onFriday that theCongress would “readi-ly” give support if anysuch scenario worksout.

Sources said that a del-egation of Congressleaders, which included

Maharashtra Congresschief Balasaheb Thorat,former chief ministerAshok Chavan andsenior leader PrithvirajChavan, met generalsecretary (organisation)K.C. Venugopal and dis-cussed the situationwith him. The same del-egation later met MrsGandhi. Ashok Chavantold reporters after themeeting that theCongress is watchingthe situation and willtake a decisionat the righttime.

Cong to let NCP take the leadin coming up with alternative

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

After appealing forpeace and harmony overSupreme Court’simpending verdict onthe politically and reli-giously sensitive RamJ a n m b h o o m i - B a b r imajid title suit, theR a s h t r i y aSwayamsevak Sangh(RSS) has asked its officebearers and seniorpracharaks to remainstationed at their desig-nated kshetras andprants (designated areasof work).

The RSS top brass hastold its members andoffice bearers that what-ever the verdict be,there will be no proces-sion, either in favour oragainst, and also onlythe top brass will reactto the verdict. In a state-ment issued, the RSShad asserted that what-ever the verdict, itshould be “acceptedwholeheartedly byeveryone.”

The RSS top brass,including its chiefMohan Bhagwat, held atwo-day long coordina-tion meeting with seniorpracharaks and repre-sentatives of Sangh affil-iates, including theVishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP) and the BJP onvarious issues. Theimpending verdict bythe apex court on thetitle suit, Article 370 andthe National Register ofCitizens were key issueson the agenda.

From the BJP, nationalpresident and Unionhome minister AmitShah, working presidentJ.P. Nadda, general sec-retary (organisation)B.L. Santosh, joint gen-eral secretaries (organi-sation) Shiv Prakashand V. Satish, attendedthe meeting.

The VHP is spearhead-ing the Sangh’s Rammandir movement and■ Turn to Page 4

No processions,says RSS, tellspracharaks tostay in ‘kshetras’

YUSUF JAMEELSRINAGAR, NOV. 1

A day after Jammu andKashmir was formallysplit up into two UnionTerritories, the police onFriday used force to dis-perse a religious gather-ing at a Sufi shrine inSrinagar. The cops alsothrashed reporters andphotographers coveringthe incident.

The police also did notallow Friday congrega-tion in the nearby GrandMosque for the 13th con-

secutive Friday. As devo-tees — both men andwomen — began converg-ing at and around theshrine in the city’sKhawaja Bazaar area tooffer Khoji Diggar (spe-cial late afternoonprayers), the police swunginto action and used bam-boo sticks and fired tear-gas canisters to dispersethem.

The shrine is dedicatedt o B a h a - u d - D i nNaqshband Bukhari(1318-1389), the Bukhara■ Turn to Page 4

SAJJAD HUSSAINISLAMABAD, NOV. 1

Pakistan’s Oppositionleaders on Fridaylaunched a determinedbid to oust Prime MinisterImran Khan, saying thetime has come to get rid ofhis “fake” governmentthat came into powerthrough “blatant rigging”in the 2018 general elec-tions.

The much-hyped “AzadiMarch” — led by influen-tial right-wing Pakistanicleric Maulana FazlurRehman’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) —reached its final destina-tion Islamabad on

Thursday after it set offfrom the Sindh provinceand left Lahore onWednesday.

Along with Fazl, leadersof the Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N),Pakistan People’s Party

(PPP), and AwamiNational Party (ANP) par-ticipated in the march■ Turn to Page 4

Pak Opp. marches to PM’s doorstepAGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

The Assembly electionsin Jharkhand will be heldfrom November 30onwards in five phases.Giving out the details, theElection Commission ofIndia said on Friday thatpolling will be held onNovember 30, December7, 12, 16 and 20 whilecounting will be onDecember 23.

The term of 81-memberLegislative Assembly ofJharkhand is due toexpire on January 5, 2020.Out of these 81 seats, nineare reserved forScheduled Castes and 28are for Scheduled Tribes.

The state has around 2.26crore general voters outof which 41,336 are ser-vice voters.

The state is expected tosee a close contestbetween the rulingBharatiya Janata Party,headed by Chief MinisterRaghubar Das and thepossible alliance ofCongress and JharkhandMukti Morcha (JMM).

The ECI has decided touse Voter VerifiablePaper Audit Trail(VVPAT) along withEVMs at every pollingstation in the Jharkhandelections “to enhancetransparency of the elec-tion process.”

■ More on Page 3

Jharkhand polls fromNov. 30, results Dec. 23

No namaz allowed at Valley shrine

AGE CORRESPONDENTSRINAGAR, NOV. 1

The PDP on Fridayexpelled its Rajya Sabhamember Nazir AhmadLaway from the partyfor attending the swear-ing-in ceremony ofJ&K’s first L-G, GirishChandra Murmu, hereon Thursday.

A PDPspokesman saidthat by attendingMr Murmu’sswearing-in cer-emony, Mr

Laway had “underminedthe party leadership inentirety.” Mr Laway wasthe only non-BJP politi-cal leader who attendedthe ceremony.

PDP MP suspended from party for attending L-G swearing-in

Firefighter Giannis Giagos battles the Maria Fire in Santa Paula, California, on Friday.According to Ventura County Fire Department, the blaze has scorched more than8,000 acres and destroyed many structures. — PTI

New Delhi: The Delhihigh court wasinformed Friday thataccording to AIIMSMedical Board, thehealth condition offormer finance minis-ter P. Chidambaram,who is lodged inTihar jail, is fine anddoes not require hos-pitalisation.

■ More on Page 2

‘PC fine, noneed to bein hospital’

VINEETA PANDEYNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

In a special gesture,Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan on Fridayannounced waiver of themandatory 10-day-longregistration process forIndian Sikh pilgrims vis-iting Kartarpur SahibGurudwara, as well ascarrying passports asidentity proof. Mr Khanalso waived off $20“Service Fee” for allIndian pilgrims comingon the day of inaugura-tion, November 9, and onGuru Nanak’s 550th birthanniversary, November12.

“For Sikhs coming forpilgrimage to Kartarpurfrom India, I have waivedoff 2 requirements: 1)They wont need a pass-port — just a valid ID; 2)They no longer have toregister 10 days in

advance. Also, no fee willbe charged on the day ofinauguration and onGuruji’s 550th birthday,”Mr Imran Khan tweetedon Friday.

However, sources in theIndian government saidthat so far no official com-munication has reachedthem. It is learnt that anychange, as announced byPakistan’s PM, wouldmean modification in theagreement that wassigned between the twocountries on October 24.Sources added that insuch a scenario a freshagreement will have to besigned.

The Indian governmentis hoping that Pakistanwill at some point give upits demand for $20“Service Fee” for pil-grims visiting KartarpurSahib Gurudwarathrough the corridor. In a■ Turn to Page 4

Passport, advance registration notrequired: Imran

New Delhi: The Delhigovernment on Friday

decided to shut allschools till November 5after a Supreme Court-

mandated paneldeclared a public healthemergency in Delhi-NCR

in the wake of spike inpollution level. As the airquality deteriorated andthe pollution level in the

region entered the“severe plus” category,

the EnvironmentPollution (Prevention

and Control) Authoritybanned construction

activity till November 5 and bursting of

crackers during the winter season.

Full report on Page 13

‘Emergency’ inDelhi, all schools

shut till Nov. 5

India beats US 5-1in qualifiers

AYODHYA VERDICT

Fee waived on corridor opening day Laway

Shiv Sena adamant on sharing CM’s post

Sahib, mat paliyeahankar ko itna,waqt ke sagar mekai Sinkandar doobgaye. (Don’tnurture yourarrogance. ManyAlexanders havedrowned in theocean of time.)— Sanjay Raut,

Sena leader

Gone are the dayswhen one used touse Islam to gain

power. This is a newPakistan. Sit however longyou want. Whenyour food runsout, we willsend more. Butwe will not giveyou an NRO

—Imran Khan

Supporters of Pakistani cleric Maulana FazlurRehman leave for Islamabad to participate in amarch in Peshawar on Thursday. — AP

■ Time to get rid of Imran’s fake govt, say leaders at rally

PAGE

2NationSATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

PoliticsThe state govt should not turn Madhya Pradesh into ‘Madira Pradesh’, says former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Statements by theNarendra Modi will

not get PoK back into India

— Kapil Sibal,Congress leader

SHORT TAKES

Mumbai: MaharashtraNavnirman Sena leader

Sandeep Deshpande andthree others were arrested

on Friday for allegedly assaulting a BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation offi-

cial in Shivaji Park area incentral Mumbai, police said.

The incident took place afterBMC staff in Dadar area

removed MNS posters andhoardings greeting peopleon the occasion of Diwali,

an official said. “While theseitems were being removed,

Deshpande had a heatedargument with G North Wa-rd officials and some of hissupporters assaulted civic

staff,” he said. “After a BMCofficial filed a complaint, we

charged Deshp-ande andothers under Indian Penal

Code,” he said. — PTI

Bhopal: A Bhopal court sen-tenced BJP MLA from Pannadistrict Prahlad Lodhi and 12others to two years’ impris-

onment for attacking atehsildar in 2014. The spe-cial court helmed by addi-

tional sessions judge SureshSingh also slapped a fine of`3,000 each on all convicts.

Raipura tehsildar R.K. Vermawas attacked by the BJP

leader on August 28, 2014after he seized a tractor fullof sand and kept in Simriyapolice station. While going

back home after the duty,Lodhi along with his associ-ates thrashed the tehsildarand also hurled abuses for

taking such a move.— ANI

Berhampur, Odisha: Over 20families in Ganjam district

have not been given rationsupply after a panchayat

body decided to stop thebenefits from reaching peo-

ple who were found defecat-ing in open. According to a

decision taken at a panchay-at meeting on October 20,

the distribution of rationunder the public distribution

system (PDS) was stoppedto over 20 families in last 11

days, Sushant Swain, thesarpanch of Goutami pan-

chayat in Sanakhemundiblock, said. However, Ganjam

district collector VijayAmruta Kunage said, the

benefits under NationalFood Sec-urity Act (NFSA)

and State Food Security Act(SFSA) to any person should

not be curtailed. If anyonewas found defecating in

open, particularly on road-side, the panchayat body

will instruct the dealer con-cerned to stop giving rationto such people for a month,

Swain said. The move isaimed at making people

aware of the need to use toi-lets, he said. Around 300women, all members of a

self-help group (SHG), patrolthe open spaces in the pan-

chayat from 3 am to 5 amand 5 pm to 7 pm to keepvigil on the violators, the

sarpanch said. — PTI

FAMILIES DENIEDRATION FOR OPEN

DEFECATION

Bhopal BJP leaderjailed over attack

Bengaluru: As the BJP gov-ernment in Karnataka is all

set to complete 100 days inoffice on November 2,

Congress leader Siddar-amaiah on Friday gave ascore of “zero” for chief

minister B.S. Yediyurappa-led ministry, alleging no

development work had hap-pened. Calling Yediyurappaa “weak chief minister”, theLeader of Opposition in the

state Assembly said trans-fers, “wooing” disqualified

MLAs were the mainachievement of this govern-

ment so far. “Where is theperformance or achieve-

ment to score, there is noth-ing...Zero, zero,” the former

chief minister said. — PTI

Sidda gives zeroscore to BSY govt

Chandigarh, Nov. 1: Ha-ryana chief minister M-anohar Lal Khattar onFriday held a meetingwith the party leaderswho held ministerialpositions in the previousgovernment to reviewthe losses suffered by theBJP in the Assemblypolls. A discussion washeld on the reasonsbehind the losses suf-fered by the party andthe defeat of a majority ofministers, BJP leaderKrishan Kumar Bedi saidhere after the meeting.

He said it was dis-cussed as to how the theparty was reduced tojust 40 seats and the for-mer ministers gave de-tailed information abouttheir defeat.

In the just concludedpolls, eight of the 10ministers fielded by theBJP had tasted defeatwith only two of them —Anil Vij and BanwariLal — retaining theirseats.

Two ministers in theprevious Cabinet, VipulGoel and Rao NarbirSingh, were denied tick-ets by the party.

Those who lost theelections were RamBilas Sharma, Capt Abh-imanyu, Om PrakashDhankar, Kavita Jain,Krishan Lal Panwar,Manish Kumar Grover,Krishan Kumar Bediand Karan Dev Kamboj.

In the 2014 polls, theBJP had won 47 seats,forming its first-evergovernment in Haryana.

Earlier in the year, ithad won the Jindbypolls, taking its tallyto 48. After beingreduced to 40 seats in therecently held elections,the party formed thegovernment in the statewith with the support of10 JJP MLAs and sevenIndependents. — PTI

Khattar, ex-mantrisdelve intoloss of seats

MNS leader, 3 othersheld for assault

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

Incarcerated formerfinance minister P.Chidambaram does notrequire hospitalisationfor his ailments, the Delhihigh court was informedon Friday. The Tihar jailauthorities, nonetheless,were directed to take aslew of steps for his well-being.

The court was hearing74-year-old Chidamba-ram’s plea for interim bailin the money launderingcase filed by theEnforcement Directorate(ED) on medical grounds.

The Congress leader hadsubmitted that his condi-tion is deteriorating andneeds to be in a sterileenvironment.

Solicitor general TusharMehta read out the reportof AIIMS Medical Board,set up on the court’s orderto examine the Congressleader’s health condition,and said he does notrequire a sterile environ-ment.

Justice Suresh Kait, whowas hearing Mr Chid-ambaram’s interim bailapplication, directed theTihar jail superintendentto provide clean andhygienic surrounding tothe veteram Congressleader as also home-cooked food, mineralwater, a mosquito protec-

tion net and repellant.The court also directedthat Mr Chidambaram’smedical check up be doneregularly.

The court disposed ofthe plea after senior law-yer Kapil Sibal, represent-ing Mr Chidambaram,said they did not requireany further direction.

The court had onThursday directed theAIIMS director to consti-tute a medical board togive opinion on the healthof Mr Chidambaram, whois suffering from Crohn’sdisease or the inflamma-tion of the digestive tractleading to abdominalpain, diarrhoea and alsoweight loss.

The high court had saidthat the Hyderabad-basedgastroenterologist Nage-shwar Reddy, who hasbeen treating the Cong-ress leader, be included inthe board to give his opin-ion on Mr Chidambaram’smedical condition.

Mr Chidambaram hassought interim bail in thecase.

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) is allset to question seniorCongress leader and for-mer chief minister ofUttarakhand, HarishRawat in connectionwith its investigationinto his alleged role in a2016 sting video that pur-portedly shows himnegotiating a deal to buythe support of rebelMLAs.

According to sources,“The former chief minis-ter of Uttarakhand isexpected to be questionednext week. The agencywill also question histhen cabinet colleagueHarak Singh Rawat, whois now a member of thestate's BJP-led govern-ment, in connection withthe case.”

Besides, the CBI will

also question three for-mer Congress MLAs asthey are suspected tohave been in constanttouch with HarishRawat, it said.

The CBI recently filed aFIR against HarishRawat and Harak SinghRawat for alleged horse-trading in 2016, whichwas caught on tape by theeditor of a news channel.

The CBI had registereda preliminary enquiry toprobe the alleged horsetrading attempt onMarch 23, 2016, when the

state was underPresident’s Rule. It sentthe tape for analysis tothe Forensic Science lab-oratory, Gandhinagar,Gujarat, which opinedthat the recording was“genuine” and there wasno evidence of any "addi-t i o n / d e l e t i o n / i n s e r -tion/tampering/morph-ing" in the video that pur-portedly showed theCongress leader dis-cussing money to winback the support of dis-gruntled MLAs who hadcrossed over to the BJPso that the Congresscould get back to power.

Recently, theUttarakhand high courtgave its nod to the CBI togo ahead with its investi-gation and lodge a FIRagainst Rawat after theagency submitted areport in a sealed coverupon preliminaryinquiry.

CBI to question Rawatin horse-trading case

In a fresh setback, courtdenies interim bail to PCAIIMS says he is fine, doesn’t need hospitalisation

■ Amid BJP-Sena deadlock, Maha leaders meet Venugopal

Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi distributes fruits among Chhath devotees in Patna on Friday. — PTI

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

Amid a stalemate in gov-ernment formation inMaharashtra, the Con-gress has decided to main-tain a “wait and watch”approach and let Nation-alist Congress Party(NCP) chief Sharad Pawartake the lead in the forma-tion of any alternate arr-angement apart from theBJP-Shiv Sena combine.

Sources said that a dele-gation of Congress lead-ers, which includedMaharashtra Congresschief Balasaheb Thorat,former chief ministerAshok Chavan and seniorleader Prithviraj Chavan,met general secretary(organisation) K.C.Venugopal and discussedthe situation with him.

Ashok Chavan toldreporters after the meet-ing that the Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP) failedto keep its promise to theShiv Sena, which has ledto the political crisis inMaharashtra.

He said that theCongress was watchingthe situation and it wouldtake a decision at the righttime.

Earlier, PrithvirajChavan had said that ifShiv Sena approached hisparty with a proposal, hewould discuss that withthe top leadership in

Delhi. However, Sushilk-umar Shinde and SanjayNirupam are against theidea of Congress associat-ing with Shiv Sena as,they think, it would dam-age the secular image oftheir party.

Sources, however, toldthis newspaper that theMaharashtra Congresswas divided as far asextending support to theShiv Sena for governmentformation was concerned.

It has been close to twoweeks since the Assembly

election results wereannounced and the BJPand Sena are yet to begintalks on government formation.

While Shiv Sena is stick-ing to its demand for equalrepresentation in the gov-ernment and the chiefminister’s post for 2.5years, the BJP is not will-ing to concede and is notwilling to offer anythingmore than the deputychief minister’s post.

Shiv Sena chief UdhhavThackeray has openedcommunication lines withthe Congress and NCP andhas signaled he is ready toexplore options if the BJPdoesn’t accede to itsdemand.

On Thursday, seniorShiv Sena leader andRajya Sabha MP SanjayRaut on Thursday metNCP chief Sharad Pawarand discussed politicaldevelopments.

Cong adopts wait & watchplan, lets Pawar take lead

AGE CORRESPONDENTMUMBAI, NOV. 1

A farmer from Beed wroteto the governor Friday,requesting the latter toappoint him chief minis-ter of the state till suchtime a new one is appointed.

In a letter addressed toto governor Bhagat SinghKoshyari in Marathi, oneShrikant Gadale from theDahifal Wadmauli talukain Beed district’s Kaijtehsil, described his ownsocio-political status andsaid that he has beenworking in the fields forthe past 10 to 12 years.

“Make me the CM to solvethe problems of farmerswho have lost their crops,till the BJP and Shiv Senaresolve the issue of select-ing the chief minister,” hehas written. Mr Gadalehas promised to solve theproblem of crop lossesand indicated that if the

governor does not takecognisance of his letter,he will protest in a demo-cratic manner.

Mr Gadale has pointedout that the tussle betw-een the BJP and Shiv Sena has gone on longenough at the expense offarmers’ issues whichhave not been solved. Hehas said that the governormust make him the CMfor the common man’swellbeing.

Mr Gadale Thursdayhanded over the letter to the collector ofBeed district, and askedthat the same be submit-ted to the governor.

Farmer wants to be MahaCM, writes to governor

Mumbai, Nov. 1:Congress leader SanjayNirupam on Friday crit-icised party leaders whoare mulling supportingthe Shiv Sena in forma-tion of the next govern-ment in Maharashtra,where the ruling saffronallies are engaged in atug of war over sharingof power.

Mr Nirupam said theongoing war of wordsbetween the BJP and itsally Shiv Sena was noth-ing but “drama” and theCongress should stayaway from it.

“Have they lost? Howcan some Congress lead-ers think of supportingthe Shiv Sena,” the for-mer Mumbai Congresspresident tweeted.

“Congress should notget into Shiv Sena-BJPdrama. It's fake. It’stheir temporary fight tograb more power share,”said the ex-MP, who ismiffed with party lead-ership over ticket distri-bution for the October21 polls.

“To thebest of myu n d e r -standing,Shiv Senawill nevercome outof BJP’ss h a d o w, ”said Mr

Nirupam, who was asso-ciated with the BalT h a c k e r ay - f o u n d e dparty before joining theCongress.

He cautioned his partyagainst “flirting” withthe Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

“It is going to be afutile exercise. Hope thestate leaders realise thetruth. Instead we mustintrospect why the partylost 2 per cent of votesas compared to 2014assembly elections.

“We are down from 17to 15 per cent (in termsof vote share). As aparty we have comedown from the third tothe fourth position (interm of seats),” he said.

— PTI

Do not flirt withSena: Nirupam

Sharad Pawar

◗ Ashok Chavansaid that the Con-gress would take a decision at the right time ◗ Sushilkumar Sh-inde and Sanjay Nir-upam are opposedto the party associ-ating with the Sena

Harish Rawat

New Delhi: Rajasthanchief minister AshokGehlot on Friday metsenior Congress leaderP. Chidambaram in TiharJail and expressed hopethat he would be out ofjail soon. Mr Gehlot,who was accompaniedby Chidambaram’s sonand Congress MP Karti,said the case was a“perfect example ofvendetta politics”. “I amhopeful that he will getbail soon and will beout from jail. There isnothing in this case,” hetold reporters. — PTI

Gehlot pays visit to ex-FM in Tihar

SanjayNirupam

Bhagat Singh Koshyari

PAGE

3NationSATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

‘Real unity’Abrogation of Article 370 brought real unity of the nation, says vice-president Venkaih Naidu

The investigationmust go to the root ofthis matter (snooping)

and find out culprits

— Shatrughan Sinha,Actor-turned-politician

SHORT TAKES

Samastipur: A police officerhas been arrested

for allegedly sexually harass-ing a girl in an inebriated

state at a police station inBihar's Samastipur district.

Confirming the incident,Dalsinghsarai sub-division

Deputy Superintendentof Police Kundan Kumar saidthat the accused police offi-

cer, Vedanand Choudhary,was forwarded to

Samastipur divisional jail onFriday. Mr Choudhary, a sub-inspector at Ghataho police

station, was arrested onThursday after a medical

test conducted on him con-firmed that he had con-

sumed liquor, which isbanned in Bihar, Kumar said.

An FIR was registeredagainst him in this regard, he

said. — PTI

Bhind: A swarm of beesattacked the students hereon Friday, who had assem-bled to celebrate the foun-

dation day of MadhyaPradesh. Minister Dr Govind

Singh was making thespeech on the occasion,

when the studentsstarted running helter-skel-ter to save themselves from

the attack of bees. Almosttwo dozen students werebitten by the bees. They

were seen whimpering andcrying. Many of them were

injured in the process. Whilethe students were crying forhelp, politicians and bureau-

crats on the dais did not evenbother to get down from thestage and extend help to the

students in distress. — PTI

Chennai: Minutes after take-off, an IndiGo Chennai-

Kuwait flight in wee hoursof Friday made an emer-

gency landing here follow-ing a smoke alarm. Indigo’sInternational flight, 6E-1751

with 163 passengers tookoff at 1:07 am on Friday

from Chennai for Kuwait.After takeoff, the crew got

an alarm and declared a fullemergency. Later, the flightlanded safely in Chennai at

1:34 am. However, oninspection, it turned out tobe a false alarm. According

to a press release by theairline, “IndiGo A320 wasoperating Chennai-Kuwait

6E-1751. After take-off fromChennai, the pilot observed

a momentary message ofthe smoke detector in the

aft cargo compartment. Asa precaution, the pilot

returned to Chennai. Afterarrival, it was confirmed

that the message was false.The aircraft will be back inoperations shortly.” IndiGo

made alternate arrange-ments for all the passen-

gers. The matter wasreported to the Directorate

General of Civil Aviationand an investigation is

underway. — ANI

INDIGO FLIGHTFORCELANDSAFTER SCARE

Student suffer beesattack in MP school

Drunk Bihar SI heldfor harassing girl

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

The activist lawyerPrashant Bhushan willmove the Supreme Courtfor investigation into thehacking of theWhatsApp accounts ofthe human rightactivists, lawyers andjournalists seeking toknow whose phones weretapped and at whoseinstance.

Seeking an investiga-tion by a body of cyberexperts, Mr Bhushan onFriday said that it needsto come in the publicdomain who had orderedthe snooping of theaccounts of the rightactivists, lawyers andjournalists and why.

The petition before theSupreme Court could beon behalf of the affectedpeople whose nameshave come to light orcould be a public interestsuit on behalf of anorganisation.

The names of thosewhose accounts werehacked include rightsactivists, lawyers, acade-micians and journalists.

Those whose accountswere allegedly hackedinclude Telangana highcourt lawyerRavindernath Bhalla,Bastar based lawyerShalini Gera, civil anddalit right activist Anand

Teltumbde, human rightactivists Bela Somari,Nagpur based lawyerNihal Singh Rathod,Chandigarh based humanrights lawyer AmitGrewal and Delhi basedjournalist Sidhant Sibal.

Anand Teltumbde is aProfessor at GoaInstitute ofManagement. ShaliniGera a co-founder ofJagdalpur Legal AidGroup is alsos lawyer forjailed activists SudhaBhardwaj – one of theaccused in BhimaKoregoan case among

with other activistsincluding GautamNavlakha.

Mr Bhushan on Fridaysaid that they are collect-ing the papers relating tothe hacking of theWhatsApp accounts andwould move the top courtafter it opens onNovember 4 after week-long Diwali holidays.

While the questions arebeing raised as to whowas behind the snoopingof the rights activists,lawyers and the journal-ists, the government hasissued denial.

Bhushan to move SC forprobe in WhatsApp row

New Delhi, Nov. 1:Congress leaderPriyanka Gandhi Vadraon Friday said if the BJPor the governmentengaged Israeli agenciesto snoop into the phonesof journalists, lawyers,activists and politicians,it is a "scandal" withgrave ramifications fornational security.

Her remarks come afterWhatsApp said thatIndian scribes andhuman rights activistswere among those global-ly spied upon byunnamed entities usingIsraeli spyware Pegasus.

“If the BJP or the gov-

ernment has engagedIsraeli agencies to snoopinto the phones of jour-nalists, lawyers, activistsand politicians, it is agross violation of humanrights and a scandal withgrave ramifications onnational security,"Priyanka Gandhi said ina tweet.

Waiting for the govern-ment's response, theCongress general secre-tary said.

The Congress onThursday attacked theModi government overthe issue, alleging that ithad been "caught snoop-ing". — PTI

‘Engaging Israeli agencies forsnooping is violation of rights’

Chandigarh, Nov. 1:Punjab chief ministerAmarinder Singh onFriday said he was “happyand grateful” that thePakistan governmentdecided to waive passportrequirement for Sikh pil-grims visiting KartarpurSahib and urged PrimeMinister Imran Khan toextend the waiver for allIndians.

Mr Singh also reiteratedhis demand for the waiverof $20 service fee, which isto be charged from Indiandevotees visiting the his-toric shrine.

“Happy & grateful forwaiver of passport &advance registration con-ditions for Sikh pilgrimsby @ImranKhanPTI govt,but would urge Pakistanto apply this not just toSikhs but all citizens ofsecular India. Also urgePak PM to waive off $20fee on all days instead ofjust two,” he said in atweet.

The Pakistan prime min-ister on Fridayannounced that Sikh pil-grims from India wouldnot need a passport totravel to Kartarpur and nofee would be charged fromthem on the opening dayof the corridor onNovember 9.

“For Sikhs coming forpilgrimage to Kartarpurfrom India, I have waivedoff two requirements: i)they won’t need a pass-port-just a valid ID; ii)they no longer have to reg-ister 10 days in advance.Also, no fee to be charged

on day of inaugurationand on Guruji's 550thbirthday,” Mr Khan tweet-ed.

The corridor will con-nect Darbar Sahib inPakistan’s Kartarpurwith Dera Baba Nanakshrine in Gurdaspur dis-trict in Punjab and facili-tate visa-free movement ofIndian pilgrims, who willhave to just obtain a per-mit to visit KartarpurSahib, which is located inPakistan’s Narowal dis-trict across the Ravi river.

Kartarpur Sahib is locat-ed in Pakistan’s Narowaldistrict across the Raviriver, about four kilome-tres from the Dera BabaNanak shrine.

Pakistan is building thecorridor from the Indianborder to the GurdwaraDarbar Sahib inKartarpur, while the otherpart from Dera BabaNanak in Gurdaspur up tothe border is being builtby India. — PTI

Capt. welcomes Pakistanwaivers for Sikh pilgrims

YUSUF JAMEELSRINAGAR, NOV. 1

The People’s DemocraticParty (PDP) on Fridayexpelled its Rajya Sabhamember Nazir AhmadLaway from the party forattending the swearing-inceremony of Jammu andKashmir’s first lieutenant-governor Girish ChandraMurmu here on Thursday.

A PDP spokesman saidthat he has been expelledfrom the basic member-ship of the party forindulging in “anti-partyactivities”.

Confirming that Mr.Laway has been expelledfor attending Mr. Murmu’s

swearing-in ceremony, thespokesman said, that “bydoing so he has under-mined the party leader-ship in entirety”.

Mr Laway was the onlynon-BJP political leaderwho attended the ceremo-ny held at Raj Nivas here.

The PDP spokesman saidthat his participation inthe ceremony was in con-travention to the party’sstand on the revocation ofArticle 370 of theConstitution, splittingJ&K into two UnionTerritories and the cur-rent political situation inthe (erstwhile) state.

This is not for the firsttime that Mr Laway has

gone against the partystand on issues?

In July this year, he hadalong with another PDPRajya Sabha memberFayaz Ahmad Mir ren-dered his support for thepassage of the RTI bill inthe Upper House ofParliament despite objec-

tions raised by their party.PDP president MehboobaMufti had opposed the billon the plea that J&K hadits own RTI Act 2009 and,therefore, there was “noquestion of supporting theRTI bill in Rajya Sabha”.

Mr Laway and Mr. Mirhad also instead of votingagainst the Triple Talaqbill abstained from theHouse on the day of votingeven after publicly assert-ing that they will oppose itas “it is against the princi-ples of Islam”?

Mr Laway said that hehas not received the expul-sion notice from the partyyet and that he wonderedwho is authorized to take

such action against himwhen the party leadershiphas been incarcerated bythe authorities. “I don’tknow who is doing this. Itis the party president whois the ultimate authorityto take such a decision.She is in detention for pastthree months,” he said.

He added that some peo-ple within the party wereagainst him and they havebeen trying to denigratehim. “In fact, I raised theissue of the party leader-ship’s uncalled-for deten-tion and also the incarcer-ation hundreds ofKashmiri youth with thenewly appointed lieu-tenant-governor,” he said.

AGE CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, NOV. 1

J. Deepa, niece of formerchief minister lateJ.Jayalalithaa, has filed asuit in the Madras highcourt to restrain producersA.L.Vijay, Vishnu VardhanInduri and GowthamVasudev Menon from pro-ducing a film in on the lifeof Jayalalithaa and/or herfamily members and theirdirect descendants alleged-ly without her consent.

The suit filed by Deepa islikely to come up for hear-ing next week.

In her suit, Ms Deepasubmitted that she is alegal heir and directdescendant of late J.Jayalalithaa. Jayalalithaais her aunt (sister of herfather). She had very closeacquaintance with herduring her life time.

“Jayalalithaa was a wellknown public personalityand had acquired an iconicreputation among the peo-ple of Tamil Nadu as wellas across India. She hadestablished a great namefor the party AIADMK,founded by former chiefminister M.G.Ramachandran. She had ahuge number of followersand her fame is written ingolden letters in the histo-ry of Tamil Nadu,” shesaid.

She said A.L.Vijay andVishnu Vardhan Indurihave announced to producea film on the biography ofher late aunt andannounced the samethrough public media. Shesaid that she has learnt thatactress Kangana Ranaut hasbeen identified to for the roleof Jayalalithaa and the filmhas been titled as Thalaiviin Tamil and Jaya in Hindi.“They planned to release thesaid film on the life story ofJayalalithaa as a bilingualfilm for their commercial

and monetary benefits with-out her consent,” shealleged.

Meanwhile, filmmakerGowtham Vasudev Menonhas announced to makeweb serial on the life storyof Jayalalithaa and actressRamya Krishnan is likely-to perform the role ofJayalalithaa.

■ Nazir Laway was only non-BJP politician who attended swearing-in

PDP MP attends L-G event, expelledNiece moves HCto stall making of movie on Jaya

Hyderabad, Nov. 1:Hyderabad Police regis-tered a case against aman here for allegedlygiving triple talaq to hiswife for having crookedteeth. Rukhsana Begumhas alleged that herhusband Mustafa andin-laws demandeddowry and in the lieuharassed her. Begummarried Mustafa onJune 27, 2019.

According to thepolice, on Oct 31 a casewas registered againstMustafa under section498 A of the IndianPenal Code (IPC),Dowry Act and TripleTalaq Act. Furtherinvestigation is under-way. Circle InspectorKushaiguda, K.Chandra Shekar said,“We have received acomplaint from Begumaccusing her husbandof pronouncing tripletalaq as she has crookedteeth and harassing herfor extra dowry.” — ANI

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

The Assembly elections inJharkhand will be held fromNovember 30 onwards in fivephases. Giving out thedetails, the ElectionCommission of India said onFriday that polling will beheld on November 30,December 7, 12, 16 and 20while counting will be onDecember 23.

The term of 81-memberLegislative Assembly ofJharkhand is due to expireon January 5, 2020. Out ofthese 81 seats, nine arereserved for ScheduledCastes and 28 are forScheduled Tribes. The statehas around 2.26 crore general

voters out of which 41,336 areservice voters.

The state is expected to seea close contest between theruling Bharatiya JanataParty, headed by chief minis-ter Raghubar Das and thepossible alliance of Congressand Jharkhand MuktiMorcha (JMM).

The ECI had earlier direct-ed the state election machin-ery to complete special sum-mary revision of the elec-toral rolls in time to ensurethat all eligible but un-enrolled citizens in the Statewere registered, ECI officialssaid. The ECI has decided touse Voter Verifiable PaperAudit Trail (VVPAT) alongwith Electronic VotingMachine (EVM) at every

polling station in theJharkhand elections "toenhance the transparencyand credibility of the electionprocess," officials said addingthe ECI has made arrange-ments to ensure availability ofadequate number of EVMsand VVPATs for the smoothconduct of elections.

The ECI further said spe-

cial efforts have been made toidentify the critical gaps inthe electoral rolls and target-ed SVEEP activities were car-ried out to address them. TheECI is also taking a new ini-tiative for the physically dis-abled voters and senior citi-zens above the 80 years. Theywill now have the option ofpostal ballot facility. “TheECI has notified that all sen-ior citizens above 80 years ofage and PwD marked electorsin the E-roll, will have theoption of voting either byPostal Ballot or by voting atthe their polling stations,"ECI said. All such votershave to apply for the postalballot within five days ofnotification for election intheir constituencies.

J’khand to vote in 5-phase elections

Amarinder Singh

J. Deepa

Nazir Ahmad Laway

◗ The state is expect-ed to see a closecontest between theruling BharatiyaJanata Party, headedby chief ministerRaghubar Das andpossible alliance ofCongress and JMM

To be known to all that I, M/s. BrainwaveMedical Technologies Pvt. Ltd. through itsDirector Sh. Somesh Verma, Office No.4, 1Floor, CSC Block B, Yojna Vihar, Delhi-110092 is the owner of Unit No.5, 1 Floor,Block B, CSC Planning Commission-I, YojnaVihar, Delhi-110092 has applied for conversionof the aforesaid shop from lease hold to freehold in DDA. The original Demand LetterNo.F-57(8)2015/CE/1/1578 dated 22.06.2015in respect of the above said unit was destroyedin fire while in the custody of Kotak MahindraBank Ltd. An NCR to this effect has lodged inP.S. Crime Branch, vide SO No.430/2014 DelhiPol ice , LR No.1819874/2019 dated31.10.2019.Any person(s) claiming any right,interest, having any objection or found inpossession of original documents, maywrite/contact with above named person atabove address/phone 9717797001 within 15days from the date of publication of this notice.The person claiming any right, interest,objections with respect to this property canpersonally inform or write to Director(CE),orDy.Director (CE),A Block,2 Floor,VikasSadan,INA,New Delhi.

st

st

nd

Public Notice

C h e n n a i :K a n g a n aRanaut is allexcited aboutd o i n gJayalalithaain Thalaivi. The nation-al award winningactress is now in LosAngeles and said to beneck-deep in the film’spre-production prepa-rations, which includel e a r n i n gBharatanatyam andgoing through prosthet-ic measurements atJason Collin’s Studiothere. “Jason has previ-ously worked forCaptain Marvel creat-ing prosthesis for BrieLarson. Needless to say,Jayalalithaa's biopicwill definitely be some-thing mind-blowing”,said Team KanganaRanaut, which sharedsome of those pictureson Instagram. Theactress is not herself onsocial media.

Kangana elated onJaya role portrayal

Man booked forgiving tripletalaq over wife’s‘crooked teeth’

PAGE

4NationSATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Taking chargeAir Marshal B. Suresh takes charge of IAF’s Western Command

Terrorism is a globalthreat that must be

fought jointly bythe world.

— Ram Nath Kovind,President

SHORT TAKES

Lucknow: The Uttar PradeshCabinet on Friday gave

approval to a proposal tobuild a digital museum on

Lord Ram in Ayodhyato boost tourism and beauti-

fy the temple town.Cabinet minister ShrikantSharma briefed reporters

about the meeting chairedby Uttar Pradesh chief minis-

ter Yogi Adityanath.“A proposal for beautifica-

tion of Ayodhya and boost-ing tourism has been

approved by the UP Cabinet.A digital museum based on

Lord Ram, a food plaza,landscaping and a statue of

Lord Ram will comeup in the town. The Cabinetapproved `446.46 crore to

acquire 61.3807 hectare landin Meerpur village of

Ayodhya,” he said. — PTI

Mathura: An Army jawanaccused of killing a

man over a dispute in 2018was on Friday arrested here

by the Uttar Pradesh’sSpecial Task Force (STF),

officials said. Pinku Kumar, anative of Gulawathi in

Bulandshahr district, iscurrently posted with the

army's Mahar Regiment inPathankot. He was arrested

around 3 pm by the STF'sNoida unit from Mathura,

they said. “Kumar, a consta-ble in the army, was accused

of killing Tekram on May 5,2018 owing to a rivalry

between their families, liv-ing in same village,” STF

DSP Raj Kumar Mishra said.— PTI

Jawan held for killing man in UP

Tiruchirappalli: In a majortheft in a cooperative

bank here, `1.5 crore cashwas found missing on

Friday, police said.When the staff came to theBHEL Cooperative bank onFriday morning, they foundthe door open, papers anddocuments strewn around

and the cash missing.Police said the staff had not

kept the cash in the lockerbut in a table drawer in thepremises of the bank locat-

ed in the high-securitycomplex of the public sectormajor. They suspect the roleof some insiders who knew

about the locationof the cash.

— PTI

`1.5 cr stolen fromcooperative bank

New Delhi, Nov. 1: Indiaand Germany on Fridayidentified artificial intelli-gence as one of the keyareas of cooperation asthe two sides signed ajoint declaration of intentfor cooperation inresearch and develop-ment.

In a joint press state-ment after the Inter-Governmental Consul-tations (IGC) withGerman ChancellorAngela Merkel, PrimeMinister Narendra Modisaid the capabilities oftechnological and econom-ic power houses likeGermany will be usefulfor India’s priorities.

“Therefore, we have laidspecial emphasis onincreasing cooperation inareas like new andadvanced technology, arti-ficial intelligence skills,education, cyber securi-ty,” he said.

Ms Merkel also said AIand digital transforma-tion are the areas wherecooperation can beramped up.

She said India has a hugepotential especially whenit comes to digitalisationwhere its development isvery fast.

“But when it comes to 5Gand AI it is a challengeand if we work together,this would be a wonderfulway of cooperation,” shesaid.

The statement said bothsides reaffirmed theimportance of buildingdigital partnership tointensify regular interac-tion and coordinationtowards collaboration onthe next generation tech-nologies.

Both sides reaffirmedthe importance of build-ing an internationalforum to ensure responsi-ble and human-centricdevelopment and use ofartificial intelligence inaccordance with interna-tional law.

They also agreed on con-

sulting each other on iden-tifying best possibleapproaches on cyber secu-rity and also device meth-ods to identify areas ofmutual cooperation inthis regard.

“India and Germanyaspire to build a collabora-tive partnership by lever-aging advantages on each

side recognising increas-ing integration of hard-ware and software indeveloping IoT (Internetof Things) and AI solu-tions for societal bene-fits,” it said.

It said the potential syn-ergies in focus areas suchas health, mobility, envi-ronment and agriculture

offer immense opportuni-ties for enhancing cooper-ation and building on eachother's comparativeadvantages. “Germanyand India intend to engagein further cooperationespecially by fosteringm u l t i d i s c i p l i n a r yresearch and developmentin AI,” it added. — PTI

AI will be key area of Indiaand Germany cooperation

Lucknow, Nov. 1: Atleast five people werekilled after they inhaledtoxic gas, which leakedduring repairing of asewer tank in a villagein Sultanpur district onFriday, the police said.

According to superin-tendent of police ofSultanpur HimanshuKumar, the incident tookplace Katghara Patti vil-lage under the Dostpurpolice station area.

“Owing to leakage of atoxic gas at the time ofrepairing of a sewertank in the absence of agas pipe, six personsbecame unconscious asthey fell into the tank. Ofthese, five succumbed toinjuries during thecourse of the treatment,while one is undergoingtreatment at a communi-ty health centre inDostpur,” he said.

The deceased havebeen identified asRajendra Nishad, 32,Ashok Nishad, 40,Ravindra Nishad, 25,Mohd Shareef, 52, andRam Kishan, 40. The toi-let and the sewer tank ofRajendra Nishad werebeing repaired when theincident took place,police said. Meanwhile,Uttar Pradesh chiefminister YogiAdityanath expressedgrief over the loss oflives, and has conveyedhis condolence to familymembers. — PTI

5 die afterinhalingtoxic gas inUP district

UP to build digitalmuseum on Ram

AAP leader Atishi Marlena meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel in New Delhi onFriday. German Chancellor Merkel met five women, including senior AAP leader Atishiand Supreme Court lawyer Karuna Nundy here, sources said. She also met YourStoryfounder Shradha Sharma, Brookings India director of research Shamika Ravi andNatasha Zarine, they said. — PTI

New Delhi, Nov. 1: German ChancellorAngela Merkel on Friday undertook aguided tour of Gandhi Smriti here withPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Prime Minister received theGerman Chancellor in front of the stat-ue of Mahatma Gandhi sculpted byrenowned artist Ram Sutar.

Explaining the significance of theplace, Mr Modi informed Merkel that thememorial is located at the site whereMahatma Gandhi spent the last fewmonths of his life and was assassinatedon January 30, 1948. “Took ChancellorMerkel to Gandhi Smriti in Delhi. Thethoughts and principles of MahatmaGandhi also reverberate in Germany,"the PM tweeted. — PTI

New Delhi, Nov. 1: Underlining thatIndo-German relations are progressingwell, President Ram Nath Kovind onFriday said both countries need tostrengthen cooperation in counter-ter-rorism and coordinate their positions atmeetings of the Financial Action TaskForce, an intergovernmental organisa-tion to combat money laundering.

Welcoming German Chancellor AngelaMerkel, who is on a two-day visit toIndia, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mr Kovindsaid both countries are rightfulclaimants to a permanent membership ofa reformed UN Security Council.

The President said both countriesshould work together to strengthenmulti-lateralism. — PTI

Prez: Must strengthencounter-terror steps

Modi & Merkel walkaround Gandhi Smriti

Bhopal, Nov. 1: MadhyaPradesh has been desig-nated the “Top 3rd BestValue Destination” in theworld by global travelexpert Lonely Planet,state officials said here onFriday.

The honour for the statecame as part of the top 10countries, cities, regionsand best value destina-tions listed in the LonelyPlanet’s Best in Travel2020”, a Madhya PradeshTourism Board releasesaid here on Friday.

“Madhya Pradesh, beingone of the most diversetourist destinations, hasbeen honoured as Top 3rdBest Value Destination ofthe world,” it said.

It added that the stateoffers wildlife-spotting ata lower cost than Africa,and boasts sites likeKhajuraho’s temples withfewer crowds than neigh-bouring Rajasthan.

The state is blessed withrich wildlife experiences,marvelous heritage,divine pilgrim spots,architectural wondersand food to suit every-body’s taste.

“It is a matter of greatpride for us that MP hasbeen ranked Top 3rd BestValue Destination,”MPTB officials said here.They also presented acopy of the book to MPchief minister KamalNath. — PTI

■ Continued from Page 1Kashmiri Oppositionleaders remain in deten-tion or under housearrest.

Several heads of statesand foreign leaders havecriticised India for thecommunications clamp-down in J&K. New Delhi,however, has maintainedthat the restrictionswould be lifted in duecourse and remain inforce to prevent violenceand maintain peace.

Despite Ms Merkel’sstatement, governmentsources expressed confi-dence that the long-stand-ing German position, thatKashmir is a bilateralissue which has to be dis-cussed between India andPakistan, remainsunchanged and that theGerman Chancellor maywell have had to commenton Kashmir keeping inview her home con-stituency and theEuropean position onhuman rights.

“Germany has been sup-porting India on theKashmir issue on interna-tional fora,” sourcespointed out.

But, ironically, MsMerkel’s remarks cameafter more than 20 mostlyrightwing EuropeanUnion MPs — who visitedKashmir recently on a“private visit” that was“facilitated” by the Indiangovernment — backedIndia on the Kashmirissue and menace of

cross-border terrorism.Earlier in the day, in a

veiled message toPakistan without namingit, PM Modi and MsMerkel on Friday “under-lined the need for all coun-tries to ensure that theirterritory is not used tolaunch terrorist attackson other countries in anymanner”.

In the presence of theGerman Chancellor, PMModi said the two coun-tries would “intensifybilateral and multilateralcooperation to deal withthreats like terrorism andextremism”.

On the occasion, Indiaand Germany also heldtheir Fifth Biennial InterG o v e r n m e n t a lConsultations (IGC), withthe two nations signing atotal of 22 pacts, includingfive joint declarations ofintent in fields such asgreen technology, artifi-cial intelligence, preven-tion of marine litter,space, civil aviation,smart cities, start-ups,skill development, educa-tion, yoga and sports.

Praising Ms Merkel,Prime Minister Modi said,“Not only in Germany andEurope, ChancellorMerkel is counted amongthe leading leaders of longstanding service in theworld. I am proud andhappy that she is a friendof India and mine. AsChancellor for the lastnearly one and a halfdecades, she has con-

tributed significantly indeepening Indo-Germanrelations. I thank her forthis. Today we had the 5thmeeting of the Inter-G o v e r n m e n t a lConsultations... We havelaid special emphasis onincreasing cooperation inareas like new andadvanced technology, arti-ficial intelligence, skills,education, cyber security.We have decided to devel-op new possibilities ofcooperation in e-mobility,fuel cell technology, smartcities, inland water ways,coastal management,cleaning of rivers andenvironmental protection.Our cooperation in theseareas will also help injoint efforts against cli-mate change. We areencouraging the privatesector to further acceler-ate our increasing partici-pation in trade and invest-ment… We inviteGermany to take advan-tage of opportunities indefence production in thedefence corridors in UttarPradesh and TamilNadu.”

Prime Minister Modiadded, “IndependentIndia will be 75 years oldin 2022. We have set a tar-get of building a newIndia by then. For India’spriorities and require-ments in this multi-dimensional effort capa-bilities of technologicaland economic power hous-es like Germany will bevery useful.

RABINDRA NATHCHOUDHURYBHOPAL, NOV. 1

Chhattisgarh has devel-oped an innovative way tocombat malnutritionamong children by concep-tualising “nutrition gar-dens” in schools in thestate to provide balanceddiet to students in middaymeal.

The concept of “nutri-tion garden”, developed bythe Krishi Vigyan Kendra(KVK) or AgricultureScience Centre at Kankerin Chhattisgarh’s Naxal-hit Bastar region, has been

highly appreciated by theCentre which has recom-mended other states to fol-low the model, aspokesman of IndiraGandhi AgricultureUniversity (IGAU) atRaipur in Chhattisgarhtold this newspaper onFriday.

“The model, developed toensure uninterrupted sup-ply of nutritious food tostudents in schools in mid-day meal round-the-year,has been found successfulin combating malnutritionto some extent amongschool children”,spokesman of IGAU

Sanjay Nayar said. The‘nutrition garden’ concept,the brain child of the agri-culture scientist of KVK,Kanker, Dr Birbal Sahuwas first implemented inten schools run byChhattisgarh governmentin tribal-dominatedKanker district in 2015-16

on experimental basis.The model was laterimplemented in 30 otherstate government schoolsin the district.

“The evaluation ofimpact of the model wasquite encouraging. Wehave now made it manda-tory for the schools in thestate which have boundarywalls to develop ‘nutritiongarden,” he added.

Nutrition gardens havebeen developed in around10,000 out of total 44,500high schools inChhattisgarh in the lastone and half years”, addi-tional director in direc-

torate of public instruc-tion (DPI), Chhattisgarh,Maheswar Nayak, told thisnewspaper.

The Chhattisgarh gov-ernment has set a target todevelop ‘nutrition gar-dens’ in around 20,000high schools in the cur-rent financial year, heindicated.

Particular varieties ofseasonal vegetables andfruits, found to be rich invitamin, minerals, aminoacid, and fiber, have beenidentified for plantation inthe ‘nutrition garden’.

At least 300-500 squaremeters of area has been

earmarked in each schoolfor development of ‘nutri-tion garden’ and anamount of Rs 10,000 hasbeen sanctioned for devel-oping each such kitchengarden, Mr Nayar said.

The species identified for‘nutrition garden’ areleafy plants with rich ironcontents, carrot, cauli-flower, tomato, lady finger,papaya, drum stick, pome-granate, lemon and man-goes.

According to latest dataof NITI Ayog, around 37.60children in Chhattisgarhare suffering from malnu-trition.

■Concept developed by Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Kanker, in Naxal-hit Bastar region

‘Nutrition gardens’ provide balanced diet in C’garh schools

MANOJ ANANDGUWAHATI, NOV. 1

The powerful North EastStudents’ Organisation(Neso), a conglomerationof leading student organi-zations of north-easternstates, on Friday threat-ened to launch agitationto prevent the passage tothe proposed CitizenshipAmendment Bill (CAB)which it described as“communal.”

The Neso adviserSamujjal Bhattacharyawho has been in the fore-front of anti-foreignersmovement toldreporters,”The proposedCAB is to give protectionto illegal migrants at thecost of identities and safe-guards of the indigenouspeople of the northeast.We cannot allow a com-munal, unconstitutionaland anti-indigenous bill tobecome a legislation.”

Assam health ministerand convener of the BJP-led North EastDemocratic Alliance

(Neda), Himanta BiswaSarma, had announcedlast month that the Centrewill introduce the (CAB)in Parliament inNovember and will ensurethat it is passed. MrSarma also claimed thatthrough the CAB, theNarendra Modi govern-ment will ensure that per-secuted religious minori-ties from Bangladesh,Pakistan andAfghanistan, who havetaken shelter in India tillDecember 31, 2014, aregranted citizenship.

The Neso chairmanSamuel Jyrwa, taking cog-nisance to the minister’sremark said, “We will gofor an agitation to preventthe passage of the CAB in

the winter session ofParliament. On November18, there will protestsagainst the CAB in thestate capitals of theregion. The Centre shouldnot impose the billbecause it is against theinterest of indigenouspeople of the northeast.”

The Neso leaders said,“We have been telling theCentre not to impose CAB.The proposed legislationis being pursued by thegovernment for politicalbenefits as it will create avote bank. But we will notspare anybody who sup-ports the bill.” The deci-sion to intensify agitationto block CAB was taken inthe executive body meet-ing of Neso which washeld here on Thursday.

The executive bodymeeting also decided tohave a National Registerof Citizens (NRC) for allthe seven states in theregion. “Assam has got theNRC done. Now, all the NEstates need NRC,” MrJyrwa added.

Neso warns of agitationagainst passage of CABSays new law will give protection to illegal migrants

Lonely Planet rates MP as top tourist destination

◗ The Chhattisgarhgovernment has seta target to develop‘nutrition gardens’ in around 20,000 highschools in the cur-rent financial year

◗ The decision tointensify agitationto block CAB wastaken in the execu-tive body meeting ofNeso which washeld on Thursday

‘Kashmir situation must improve’■ Continued from Page 1held to topple PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf govern-ment led by PrimeMinister Khan.

“The time has come toget rid of this fake gov-ernment. We will not letImran Khan Niazi go freeuntil Pakistan gets rid of(the prime minister),”said PML-N presidentShehbaz Sharif whileaddressing the huge gath-ering attended by tens ofthousands of people here.

“You started this con-tainer politics, you saidyou will burn down theParliament, you saidsomething about me. Iwill not respond to you inyour language. Despitesuch blatant rigging, forthe benefit of the nation,we said we are ready for acharter of economy. Herejected our offer withextreme pride and arro-gance,” he said whiledelivering a fiery addressat the joint Oppositionrally.

The joint Oppositioncan stabilise the coun-try’s economy within sixmonths if given a chance,Mr Sharif said, addingthat he has never seen aworse state of affairs inthe country’s 72-year his-tory. “If given a chance,we along with the jointopposition will fixPakistan’s economy with-in six months, [otherwise]you can rename me as‘Imran Niazi’,” he wasquoted as saying by the

Dawn newspaper.He said the first and

foremost demand of the“Azadi March” protesterswas the resignation ofPrime Minister Khan.

“Our election has beenstolen,” he said, referringto the Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) government cominginto power. According tosecurity institutions,thousands of people aretaking part in the march.

The crowd swelled inIslamabad, as supportersof Opposition parties,including the PML-N andthe PPP) joined the anti-government protest rally.

The protestors haveencamped in the sprawl-ing ground nearPeshawar Mor areawhere different politicalparties have set up theircamps to house theirworkers.

Addressing the demon-strators at the venue, PPPchief Bilawal BhuttoZardari said Imran Khanwas a “puppet” and thenation is not ready to bowits head before a “select-ed” Prime Minister and“those who have selectedhim”. Unfazed by theprotest, Prime MinisterKhan, while addressing apublic rally in Gilgit-Baltistan, told the protest-ers congregated inIslamabad that when theyrun out of food, more willbe sent to them, but theirleaders should not expectany relief from him.

— PTI

Pak Opp. marches...■ Continued from Page 1the BJP. In the 288-mem-ber House, the Shiv Senahas 56 MLAs and theparty also has the supportof seven IndependentMLAs. If the Sena joinsforces with the NCP andCongress — which have98 MLAs between them —they can easily cross themagic mark of 145.

Mr Raut also said thatparty president UddhavThackeray had said thatthe chief minister wouldbe from the Shiv Sena. “Ifwe have to, we will proveour majority on the floorof the House. We candeclare in writing thatthe chief minister will befrom Shiv Sena. Thosewho do not have a clearmajority should notattempt to form the gov-ernment or they will fall

flat on their face,” MrRaut said. “The peoplewant a chief ministerfrom the Shiv Sena. The50-50 formula, which wasdecided before the public,should be implemented inthe state. Shiv Sena andBJP should together runthe government. This isthe people’s mandate. Butif they refuse to acceptthis, we cannot have anydiscussions with theBJP,” the Sena MP added.

In an apparent referenceto the Bharatiya JanataParty’s top leadership, MrRaut also tweeted, “Sahib,mat paliye ahankar koitna, waqt ke sagar mekai Sinkandar doobgaye.” (Boss, don’t nur-ture your arrogance.Many Alexanders havedrowned in the ocean oftime.)

Fadnavis as CM by Nov. 7

■ Continued from Page 1( U z b e k i s t a n ) - b o r nfounder of what wouldbecome one of the largestand most influential SufiMuslim orders, theN a q s h b a n d .Traditionally, large num-ber of women devoteesalso joins Khoji Diggar,the main ritual of theannual Urs at the shrinepremises. The policemenalso prevented media per-sons from covering theincident. At least one pho-tographer was injured in

the police action, witness-es said. Police actionevoked anger among theresidents. A woman devo-tee, Hafiza, said, “This isunfortunate that thepolicemen didn’t allow usto offer namaz. Yes, it wasdone by J&K police, ourown J&K policemen.”

The authorities had ear-lier re-imposed restric-tions under Section 144CrPC in a few areas ofcentral Srinagar “as aprecautionary measure toprevent breach of peace.”

No namaz allowed at...

■ Continued from Page 1its leaders have been asked tohold sessions at district levels toapprise its members about deci-sions taken at these meetings.

In a statement issued earlierthis week, RSS publicity headArun Kumar had said, “TheSupreme Court’s decision on theissue of temple construction onthe birthplace of Lord Ram isexpected in the coming days.Whatever be the verdict, every-one should accept it wholeheart-edly. It is everybody’s responsibil-ity to ensure that social harmonyis maintained. The meeting isalso discussing the issue.” On theNRC issue, the RSS, sources said,told the BJP top brass that themeasure should be implementedacross the country.

RSS leaderson Ayodhya

■ Continued from Page 1statement issued some time back,the ministry of external affairshad urged Pakistan to shed rigid-ity and drop the ideas of chargingthe pilgrims $20 “Service Fee”.

“Government has consistentlyurged Pakistan that in deferenceto the wishes of the pilgrims, itshould not levy such a fee,” theIndian government said in astatement, adding that Indiawould be ready to amend theagreement accordingly at anytime when Pakistan decides tochange its mind.

Kartarpur...

PAGE

5WorldSATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Good newsPakistan’s ailing former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s health has showed signs of improvement

I have beentreated very badly

in NY... I ammoving to Florida

— Donald Trumpon his relocation to Florida

Supporters of Islamist political party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam wave flags during an anti-government ‘Azadi(Freedom) March’ in Islamabad on Friday. Thousands of Islamists rallied as several huge marches from acrossPakistan converged in the capital to demand that Prime Minister Imran Khan step down. — AFP

PROTESTS TO TOPPLE IMRAN KHAN GOVERNMENT

PAK TRAIN FIRE

China to boost patriotism in HKBeijing pledges not to allow foreign interference in Hong Kong affairs

Beijing, Nov. 1: Chinawarned on Friday it wouldnot tolerate any challengeto Hong Kong’s governingsystem, as it laid out plansto boost patriotism in thecity and change how itsleader is chosen orremoved after months ofpro-democracy protests.

Beijing also said it wouldbrook no foreign interfer-ence in Hong Kong affairsas it discussed the unrestin the semi-autonomouscity at a major, four-daymeeting of the Comm-unist Party chaired byPresident Xi Jinping, acc-ording to a senior partycadre.

The central governmentin Beijing has so far voicedits confidence in HongKong chief executive

Carrie Lam and the citypolice to put a lid on theincreasingly violentprotests.

But all eyes have been onwhether the party leader-ship will assert more con-trol over the situation ifthe demonstrations spinout of control.

The former Britishcolony has been rocked bymonths of protests withcitizens lampooning thecity’s pro-Beijing leadersand erosion of basic rights.Shen Chunyao, director ofthe Hong Kong, Macau and

Basic Law Commission,said party leaders at themeeting in Beijing agreedto “further improve thecentral government’s sys-tem of governance over theregion” and maintain its“long-term prosperity andstability.” China, he added,would “never tolerate anyact” that aims to split thecountry or endangernational security.

Elements of the People’sArmed Police weredeployed over the summerin Shenzhen, the city bor-dering Hong Kong, fuelling

speculation that Beijingmight be prepared to inter-vene if necessary.

The paramilitary groupwas seen conducting drillswith assault rifles fittedwith bayonets at a sportsstadium in Shenzhen.

Hong Kong’s chief execu-tive is not directly elected,a source of major frictionand a headache for theleaders themselves be-cause they have no popularmandate.

Currently the city’sleader is chosen by a 1,200-strong committee that is

stacked with Beijing loyal-ists. Lam, who now boastsrecord low approval rat-ings, became leader in 2017after securing 777 votes.

hen said China's commu-nist leaders want "patriotsto form the main body" ofthose selected to governboth Hong Kong andMacau.

Beijing Wednesdayexpressed "approval andsupport" for the disqualifi-cation of Hong Kongdemocracy activist JoshuaWong from upcoming localelections. — AFP

Hong Kong, Nov. 1:Protesters in Hong Kongare learning to fight. Theyhave joined self-defenseclass where instructorsgive lessons on how tofight police, evade arrest,and navigate the unreston the streets of the Asianfinancial hub. Lessonssometimes incorporatevideos of real protestclashes.

These classes are one ofseveral that have sprungup in recent months, sayprotesters, pitched atdemonstrators and othersconcerned about gettingcaught in the chaos.

The rallies have beenmarred by violence whichflares mostly during

weekends, with demon-strators throwingMolotov cocktails,destroying shops seen aspro-Beijing, vandalizingtrain stations and engag-ing in running battleswith police.

“Not only the frontlinersor the youngsters, we allneed to learn these skillsto protect ourselves,” saidWilliam Cheung, theorganiser.

Pino, who volunteers asa medic during protestsand attends to thoseinjured, said she haslearned how to disarm anattacker. “I think in thissociety, we need to fight,”she says.

— Reuters

Protesters take upself-defence classes

Beijing: From budgeting forrural weddings to dressingappropriately and avoidingonline porn, China'sCommunist Party hasissued new guidelines toimprove the "moral quality"of its citizens.

Officials have releasedseveral sets of guidelinesthis week alongside a secre-tive conclave of high-rank-ing officials in Beijingwhich discusses the coun-try's future direction.

On Sunday the govern-ment published its "Outlinefor the Implementation ofCitizen Moral Constructionin the New Era" — whichadvises readers how to usethe internet, raise children,celebrate public holidays

and behave while travellingabroad. The guidelinesfrom the CentralCommission for GuidingCultural and EthicalProgress calls for building"Chinese spirit, Chinesevalues, and Chinese power".

The texts urge citizens toavoid pornography and vul-garity online, and followcorrect etiquette when rais-ing the flag or singing thenational anthem.

Public institutions likelibraries and youth centresmust carry out "targetedmoral education" toimprove people's ideologi-cal awareness and moralstandards, according to therules.

. — AFP

China pushes higher‘morals’ for citizens

Jakarta, Nov. 1: AnIndonesian man workingfor an organisation thathelped draft strict reli-gious laws has been pub-licly whipped himselfafter he was caught hav-ing an affair with a mar-ried woman.

Flogging is a commonpunishment for a rangeof offences in the deeplyconservative Aceh regionon Sumatra island,including adultery,drinking alcohol, andhaving gay or premaritalsex.

Aceh is the only regionin the world's biggestMuslim-majority nationthat imposes Islamic law,part of a 2005 autonomydeal with the central gov-ernment that ended adecades-long separatistinsurgency. On Thursday,a masked religious officerlashed Mukhlis, an AcehUlema Council (MPU)member, 28 times on theback after he was caughtwith a married womanlast month. — AFP

MAN FLOGGEDFOR BREAKINGADULTERY LAWHE HELPED WITH

Chile protesterscontinue marchSantiago, Nov. 1:Thousands of young Chil-eans marched to demandimproved social servicesas government and oppo-sition leaders debated theresponse to nearly twoweeks of protests thathave paralysed much ofthe capital and forced thecancellation of two majorinternational summits.

Despite some vandalismand confrontations withpolice, the march on thepresidential palace wasmostly peaceful, the firstday of a four-day holidayweekend in Chile. While

there were several thou-sand people on the street,some said the massivewaves of protests of thelast two weeks appearedto be at least temporarilyflagging. “I think there’s afatigue factor. People arenow more than 10 daysinto coming to protestevery day, most from theoutskirts of Santiago,”said José Solís, a student.

A proposed hike in sub-way fares in October setoff the 14 days of proteststhat morphed into a callfor deep-rooted changes.

— AP

Survivors recall ordealMultan, Nov. 1: A ragingfire swept through a trainin Pakistan’s easternPunjab Province killing 74people, and survivors saidafterward it took nearly 20minutes for the train tostop amid contradictoryreports about the condi-tion of the train’s brakes.

Three carriages wereconsumed by flames froma fire caused by a cookinggas stove and dozens ofpeople jumped in panicfrom the speeding train.

Conductor SadiueAhmed Khan said thetrain’s emergency break-ing system was in perfect

working order and thetrain stopped within threeminutes after the first

signs of fire. “This is theworst tragedy in my life asa driver,” he said. — AP

Johnson defendsnew Brexit dealLondon, Nov. 1: BritishPrime Minister BorisJohnson's office hasdefended his Brexit dealwith the EU, after USPresident Donald Trumpwarned it would make itimpossible for the twonations to strike a futuretrade agreement.

The president, whoseimpeachment in the UShas moved a stage closerfollowing a key vote inCongress, waded into theBritish election campaignon Thursday to criticiseJohnson's divorce termswith the European bloc.

"This deal... you can't doit, you can't trade. We can'tmake a trade deal with theUK," he said.

But a Downing Streetspokesman later said thedeal would allow the UK tostrike "our own free tradedeals around the worldfrom which every part ofthe UK will benefit".

Mr Trump's commentsappear at odds with his pre-vious pledge in Septemberthat he was working close-ly with Johnson to strike a"magnificent trade deal"once Britain left the EU.

The US President alsolaunched a stingingattack on the country'smain opposition leaderJeremy Corbyn andurged Johnson to unitewith eurosceptic hard-liner Nigel Farage, a keyfigure in the 2016 refer-endum on EuropeanUnion membership.

"Corbyn would be sobad for your country,"Trump told Farage dur-ing a phone interviewbroadcast on his talk-show on British radio

station LBC."He'd take you in such a

bad way. He'd take you intosuch bad places."

"I'd like to see you andBoris get together... I thinkit'd be a great thing," MrTrump added.

Mr Farage, whose newBrexit Party is campaign-ing for Britain to leave theEU without any deal inplace, has urged Johnsonto form an electoralalliance but has so far beenrebuffed. He is due tolaunch his party's electioncampaign on Friday.

Within minutes of theinterview airing, Corbynshot back on Twitter that"Trump is trying to inter-fere in Britain's election toget his friend BorisJohnson elected". — AFP

Los Angeles, Nov. 1:Officials from a Californiaschool district were leftred-faced after studentswho dialed a suicide pre-vention hotline listed ontheir ID badges insteadstumbled on a sex line.

“I was just kind of flab-bergasted. I was very sur-prised,” parent JaneneLavelle said that after herdaughter, who attendsmiddle school, alerted herto the mixup.

Lavelle said the teen haddialed the number forkicks and was in disbeliefwhen she got a sex hotline.“Someone who genuinelyneeds help like that, theyshouldn’t hear that kindof thing from what theythought was going to helpthem,” the student said.

“They should fact-checkthat kind of thing.” Thesuicide prevention num-ber was in a directory ofemergency lines and

other resources on theback of badges for stu-

dents at New Vista MiddleSchool in Lancaster, a 90-minute drive north ofdowntown Los Angeles.

However, because of amistake with just onedigit, a sex hotline num-ber instead of the correctsuicide prevention num-ber was given to students.

“We were made awarethat the middle school stu-dent Identification cardshave the wrong phonenumber listed for the sui-

cide hotline,” theLancaster Unified Schooldistrict said in a state-ment.

“The phone numbershave two digits transposedand this is a mistake. Thenumber listed on the cardis actually a sex line.”

School officials said theyhave collected all the oldbadges and planned toissue new ones — thistime with the correctnumber. — AFP

School lists sex hotline for suicide helpCalifornia students who dialed helpline got phone sex insteadBAD | CHAPTER

People walk past the burnt train carriages, a day after74 people were charred to death in fire. — AFP

IN BRIEF

MORE FIRES,EVACUATIONS

IN CALIFORNIALos Angeles: Calif-ornian

firefighters tackled fresh andfast-moving wildfires

overnight making headwayagainst a number of major

blazes that have forced massevacuations and power cuts.Three rapidly moving infer-nos broke out in the south-

ern part of the state, burningseveral homes and forcingpeople to flee. One — theHillside Fire — was in San

Bernardino, some 60 mileseast of Los Angeles, whilethe other — the 46 Fire —

was in neighboring RiversideCounty. The third — dubbed

the Maria Fire — broke out inVentura County, threateningtwo small agricultural towns

nearby, and forcing theevacuation of more than7,000 people as it raged

across 5,000 acres, accord-ing to Ventura County firedepartment. Hundreds of

firefighters backed by water-dropping helicopters wereattacking blazes driven by

record so-called Santa Ana winds that have

prompted unprecedentedwar-nings of “extremely crit-

ical” fire risk — the mostsevere category. There have

been no fatalities linked tothis year’s fires.

— Agencies

Turkey-Russian patrols in Syria

US withholdingLebanon aid

Washington: US PresidentDonald Trump’s administra-

tion is withholding $105 mil-lion in security aid for

Lebanon, two US officialssaid, after the resignation of

Lebanese prime ministerSaad al-Hariri. The state

department told Congressthat the White House budget

office and National SecurityCouncil had decided to with-

hold the foreign militaryassistance. The officials did

not say why the aid wasblocked. One of the sources

said the state departmentdid not give Congress a rea-

son for the decision. Theadministration had sought

approval for the assistancesaying it was crucial for

Lebanon, an important USpartner in Middle East, to be

able to protect its borders.

Sevimli: Turkey and Russialaunched joint patrols on

Friday in northeastern Syria,under a deal that halted aTurkish offensive against

Syrian Kurdish fighters whowere forced to withdraw

from the border area follow-ing Ankara’s incursion.

The patrols will cover twosections, in the west and

east of Turkey’s operationzone in Syria, with a depth

of 10 kilometers. Turkishtroops and allied Syrian

opposition fighters now con-trol the border towns of Tal

Abyad, Ras al-Ayn and near-by villages. The deal on thepatrols excludes the city ofQamishli, according to the

ministry’s statement.

N. Korea test-firesthird rocket

Seoul: North Korea con-firmed on Friday it conduct-

ed its third test-firing of anew “super-large” multiplerocket launcher that it says

expands its ability to destroyenemy targets in surprise

attacks. The latest launchesextended a months-long

streak of weapons displaysby the North, which contin-

ues to use a standstill innuclear negotiations to

advance its military capabili-ties while pressuring

Washington for concessions.Pyongyang’s official Korean

Central News Agencydescribed the tests a day

after the South Korean andJapanese militaries said they

detected two projectileslaunched from an area near

the Pyongyang travelingmore than 321 kilometers.

China wouldnever tolerate

any act that aims tosplit the country orendanger nationalsecurity.

– SHEN CHUNYAO, Director, LawCommission

■ ■ BECAUSE OF a mis-take with just onedigit, a sex hotlinenumber instead of thecorrect suicide prevention numberwas given to students

Boris Johnson

Public NoticeTo be known to all that I, Poonam Arora W/oShri Ashwini Kumar Arora R/o Flat No.C-3/442C,Second Floor,MIG Flat, Janak Puri,New Delhi-110058 owner of Flat bearingNo.442C, Second Floor, under MIG category,Block-C-3, situated at Janak Puri, New Delhi-110058 has applied for conversion of theaforesaid flat from lease hold to free hold inDDA. The original documents i.e. Allotment ofthe above flat have been lost. An FIR to thiseffect has been lodged in P.S. Crime Branch invide S.O. No.430/2014 LR No.1819552/2019dated 31.10.2019.Any person(s) claiming anyright, interest, having any objection or found inpossession of original documents, maywrite/contact with above named person atabove address/phone 9868146156 within 15days from the date of publication of this notice.The person claiming any right,interest,objections with respect to this property canpersonally inform or write to Dy.Director(LAB) H or Director (H)-1, D Block, 3 Floor,Vikas Sadan, INA, New Delhi.

rd

Since the latest controversy on a theme that defines our lives andtimes — citizen privacy — revolves around our second lives on socialmedia and digital platforms, let us start with a joke gone viral as ameme. A government-employed cyber-snoop is seen chiding activists

and citizens protesting against violations of their privacy, saying, “But fordecades, you complained the government does not listen to you?”

Big Brother is watching more, more of us, and for most of our time, armedwith more eyes than Lord Indra, mythological king of heaven, who had allof a mere 1,000 eyes. There are CCTV cameras everywhere. Phones can belistened to and are listened to; conversations are recorded, emails are read.Your real-time bank statements, latest location details, payments, chats —everything is adding up as an offering to the Deity of the Century — the BigData God, who in turn, subserviently, works for the Supreme Duo of thesurveillance state — lords of national security and anti-terrorism. Theubiquitous mobile phone, proof of our economic renaissance since thegreat liberalisation of 1991, the measure of India’s rise as a nation in thenew millennium, the telecom bridge to closing all gaps, obliterator of allinequalities, provider of opportunities for all, delivering governance and

pizzas to your doorstep, the panacea in yourpocket linking you to the world, running to thecommand of your fingertips — has beenbreached, unimpeachable reports cite, at thebehest of Big Brother himself.

As we read about how Pegasus, an Israelispyware, sold only to governments, hasbreached the privacy protecting wall webelieved was bigger than the Great Wall ofChina, and stronger than the wall USPresident Donald Trump is yet to build, theend-to-end encryption of WhatsApp, owned byFacebook, owned by a gawky teenage disrup-tor-turned-tech moghul Mark Zuckerberg.

Gone are days when science, fiction and fearfused to moments of epiphany when you stoodunder a divinely lit dark sky, wondering while

counting the stars, if we are alone in the universe and if some alien iswatching us from somewhere up there, from beyond the Milky Way.Today, you and I must just look at our WhatsApp group or the FB chat,and wonder, who else is there? Each WA group admin must know a larg-er, unseen, omnipotent, omnipresent vigilant of a tax-paid Theo is indeeda reality. The Bard of Avon must read the rejoinder they have emailed tohim — the ghost of Banquo is no longer imaginary.

There is a war underway, AI-powered, between two sets of codes of zeroesand ones — one protecting your privacy, and the other, protecting the gov-ernment against your privacy, and despite the festive season’s claims, thegood is losing. Let us make no mistake, on this, all governments are togeth-er. The surveillance will get sharper, stronger and more intense. Such isthe magical power of a password called “national security” that it will getthe minions of Big Brother past any firewall, break any protest or resis-tance and stop any attempt to seek privacy in a world where the thoughtsof the deepest recess of your soul are a threat to everyone else.

We will slide down this slope till the Pegasus of the future can read yourminds, hack your hearts and snoop in your soul. To the brave new world,ahoy!

2 NOVEMBER 2019

Rising sea levels may prove a threat to millions of more people thanpreviously thought as new research, based on a more accurate wayof calculating land elevation, now reveals that earlier reports were

far too optimistic in their projections. The danger of seas rising because ofuncontrolled carbon emissions in environmental degradation caused bymankind predicts that large swaths of lands in coastal cities like Mumbaiand Chennai in India and many more around the world, especially inAsia, will lie far below the high tide line by 2050. And this is not a scaryscenario thought up by Hollywood writers creating scripts for a moviebased in a dystopian future. Recall what happened to New Orleans in 2005as the result of an extreme climate event and it might just tell the story ofthe kind of danger the world is facing.

The new report is, however, unlikely to scare the likes of Donald Trumpand others of his ilk still convinced that climate science is a spoof. But theworld knows that melting glaciers and rising seas are getting to be thenew normal on a planet being pummelled in quick succession by extremeclimate events like storms and exceptional rainfall patterns, all of themlinked in away to the natural equilibrium of the oceans and seas that occu-py more than five-eighths of the globe. The social and political instabilityand likelihood of armed conflicts render this as such a frightening sce-nario that climate change and the consequent rising seas cannot be con-sidered just an environmental problem. The point is even as the warningsare getting more dire, we seem incapable of listening and acting in time.Can we just procrastinate, because this seems like a problem for the nextgeneration? Can we afford to sit back and do nothing while our very inac-tion threatens to destroy our planet?

Climate will lead to conflict

Our Orwellian realitywill get scarier

THE ASIAN AGE

T. VENKATRAM REDDYEditor in Chief

Printer & Publisher: T. VENKATESWARLU

THE ASIAN AGE offices are located at:New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi-110002. Phone: (011) 23211124.Mumbai: Sigma House, # 43, Ground Floor, R. A. Kidwai Marg, Near Wadala Rly Station, Wadala (West),Mumbai - 400 031 Phone (022) 24195301 Fax (022) 24195347Kolkata: 4th Floor, Chowdhury Building, 8/1A Little Russel Street, Kolkata 700 071.Phone: (033) 2289 0676/77 Fax (033) 2289 0686Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office in the United KingdomAir surcharge for Kathmandu and J&K `1Published and Printed on behalf of and for◗ Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi 110 002 at BFL Infotech Ltd., C-9, Sector-III, Noida -201301.◗ Mumbai: Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, Plot No 22, Digha MIDC, TTC Industrial Estate Area, Vishnu Nagar, Digha, Navi Mumbai-400708.◗ Kolkata: Satyajug Employees Cooperative Industrial Society Ltd, 13/A, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Kolkata 700 072. ◗ London: Quickmarsh Ltd, 8th Floor, Block 2, Elizabeth House, 39 York Road, London, SE1 7NQ.

RNI Registration number: 57290/94Postal registration numbers: DL(S)-05/4189/15-17

There is a warunderway betweentwo sets of codes

of zeroes and ones:one protecting

your privacy, and the other, protecting the

government againstyour privacy. The

good is losing.

c m y k c m y k

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you

PABLO PICASSOMIND POWER

RAY BRADBURY PAGE

6EditSATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

It’s as close to a truism as possi-ble in Pakistani politics:Punjab was, is, and presum-ably will be, for the foreseeable

future, the heartland of the estab-lishment-centric structure ofpower.

The British made Punjabis thedominant component in the army,transformed its ecology and societyby building the world’s biggestperennial irrigation system andalso introduced a uniquely author-itarian method of governmentknown affectionately in the annalsof colonial bureaucracy as the“Punjab school of administration”.

When Pakistan came into being,Punjab became a hegemon forthese interrelated reasons: first, itsupplied the majority of both therank and file and officers of theemergent Pakistan Army; second,Punjabis, alongside Urdu-speak-ers, dominated the civil bureaucra-

cy; and third, Punjabi landowningpoliticians at home with theauthoritarian “Punjab school ofadministration” put their lot inwith the civil-military state appa-ratus to thwart democratic rule.

Counter-hegemonic social forcesin East and West Pakistan demol-ished both the material and discur-sive foundations of the oligarchicproject in the 1970 election. Yeteven after the eastern wing seced-ed, the Punjab-centric establish-ment refused to budge, now armedwith demographic power whilstcontinuing to be the “guardian ofthe country’s physical and ideolog-ical frontiers”.

So Balochistan, Sindh, the NWFPand other peripheral regions con-tinued to be coerced and cajoled,with the junior partner of the mili-tary establishment now a moreurbanised and vernacular “bour-geois” politician that reflected

socioeconomic changes in Punjabi.Cue Nawaz Sharif. More than 30years after his emergence, MianSahib is now biting the hand thatonce fed him. So, is the “Punjabcard” being played against theestablishment that has alwaysemployed it to perpetuate its ownauthoritarian project?

Only time will tell, and otherwisecounter-hegemonic political narra-tives proffered by Pakhtun, Baloch,Sindhi and other ethnic-nationalistmovements would benefit fromthinking more deeply about inter-nal cleavages within Punjabi soci-ety to help make the prospect of a“Punjab card” a reality.

Sharif illustrates that even bour-geois politicians can turn againsttheir masters, let alone the work-ing masses.

The PML-N never represented theclass interests of working people inPunjab, and the PPP does not any

longer. The reception of MaulanaFazlur Rehman’s long march inLahore and other parts of Punjabclarifies that the PML-N leadershipdid not mobilise its cadres to heedNawaz Sharif’s call to support themarch. In short, a counter-hege-monic secular politics appealing toPunjab’s ordinary people is con-spicuous by its absence. It is partlybecause of this reason that flash-in-the-pan populist religious move-ments like the TLP make inroadsinto Punjabi society from time totime.

It is amongst more upwardlymobile segments of society that thehegemonic project is under ques-tion. Remember that it was vernac-ular middle-class elements in smalltowns, even big metropolitanareas, that Nawaz Sharif and thePML represented. These elementsnow understand that perennialenmity with India and pandering

to the establishment is not the bestbusiness strategy. Yet another seg-ment of the urban middle class isstill propping up the establish-ment-centric structure of power asmanifested through Imran Khan.

The urban middle-class is rela-tively fickle, and so it is only if andwhen a genuinely counter-hege-monic political force takes root inPunjab that there will be clarity onwhether urban middle-class dis-content in contemporary Punjabcoalesces into a wider anti-estab-lishment project which speaks tothe interests both the lowest ordersof Punjabi society, Pakistan’soppressed ethnic-nations and allother segments of society that wantto replace the national securitystate once and for all, and usher inpeace, democracy and an egalitari-an social order.

By arrangement with Dawn

Of discontentover Punjab’s

hegemony

‘Hybrid’ export growthmodels: Hope for India

Exports in thefirst half ofthis fiscal yearwere $267 bil-lion, 1.9 per

cent higher than lastyear. This was dismal ifexports are to be theengine driving GDPgrowth. Imports, at $312billion, reflected poordomestic demand andcontracted by 3.2 percent. The only goodnews was that the tradedeficit shrank to $45 bil-lion.

During the period 2003-2011 when world exportand GDP were growingwell, we ranked sixth(out of a set of 60 largeeconomies) in thegrowth of servicesexports. During the slowgrowth period of 2012-2017, we slipped to the23rd rank. In the growthof manufacturingexports, we slipped from16th to 25th rank; in mer-chandise from 10th rankto 38th; in agriculturefrom 11th rank to 30thrank. A depressing storyof falling competitive-ness all around.

And yet there is hope.While world exportsgrew at 11.5 per cent peryear (pcpy), our exportgrowth was slightly lessthan double of that levelat 20.5 pcpy during 2003-2011. World exportsgrowth slipped to 0.3pcpy but our exportsgrew at 5X that level to1.5 pcpy during 2012-2017. We did much betterthan the average, butnot well enough to keepup with the topexporters.

By the standards of ourconventionally minimal-ist stance on the role ofexports being merely tofill the hole in foreignexchange reserves afterpaying for imports,there is no reason foralarm. Net inwardremittances from our 18million Indian expatri-ates bridge around two-thirds of the tradedeficit. But this is a slen-der thread to hang by foran economy with globalaspirations.

A new foreign tradepolicy was eagerly await-ed some time this year.

But with time passingby, the next best thing isthe report of a High LevelAdvisory Groupunveiled on October 30.Helmed by economistSurjit S. Bhalla, nowIndia’s executive direc-tor to the InternationalMonetary Fund, but ear-lier a part of PrimeMinister NarendraModi’s EconomicAdvisory Council, thegroup report has muchneeded gravitas — a crit-ical asset if core tradereforms are intended.

Government advisorycommittees come withimplicit constraints tostay within the limits ofwhat is politicallydoable. Consequently,identifying what thecommittee report doesnot try and do gives anindication of how deep isits reform imprint.

First, the report doesnot call for realigningthe overvaluedexchange rate, whichhandicaps export com-petitiveness and simul-taneously reduces pro-tection for domesticmanufacturers. Thereport uses Bank ofI n t e r n a t i o n a lSettlements data todebunk the overvalua-tion argument.

Curiously, per the RealEffective Exchange Rate(REER) computed by theRBI, INR depreciatedagainst the US dollar byaround 15 per cent in the12-year period from FY2005 to FY 2017 — anaverage annual depreci-ation of around one percent per year. Over thesame period, inflation inIndia was more thanfour per cent per yearhigher on average thanin the US, indicatinginsufficient deprecia-tion of INR.

Curiously, the reportdecries the upward revi-sion of import tariffs in2017 and 2018 whichreversed the low, stableimport tariff regimeimplemented by the 1991trade liberalisation.Ironically, REER baseddepreciation could haveprovided a natural pro-tection to domestic man-ufacturers possibly mak-

ing upward revision ofimport tariffs unneces-sary. The extantexchange rate policy ismore focused on avoid-ing imported inflationthan boosting exports.

Second, the reportignores the urgency torevamp the plumbing formanaging externaltrade. Inducting 500 topclass trade economists,lawyers and operationalspecialists into key posi-tions in the Union andstate governments andour key embassies couldgenerate Total FactorProductivity improve-ments via well-knownspill-over benefits fromsuch communities ofpractice extending seam-lessly into academia andthe private sector.

However, the reportredeems itself on theimmediacy metric byunequivocally recom-mending that it is inIndia’s interest to jointhe RCEP, that is nowbeing negotiated.Statistical analysis byNCAER shows that thisproposition holds truewhether or not the US-China trade war contin-ues, and whether or noteither or both imposetariffs on Indianimports. It also confirmsthat imposing tit-for-tattariffs is not in India’sinterest.

The institutionalchanges proposedinclude an externalagency for big-dataanalysis; the establish-ment of a real-time man-agement informationand statistical analysissystem and an apex bodyto identify and pushthrough FDI; more pow-ers for Sebi to regulateforeign investors direct-ly and a 20-year“Elephant Bond” in tan-dem with an illegal for-eign assets amnestyscheme to generate the$4.5 trillion required forinfrastructure and logis-tics till 2045.

Generic suggestionsfor reforms in the finan-cial sector, industrial

and labour regulation,single point regulationof pharmaceuticals andbiotech products allalign with a much need-ed “whole of govern-ment” approach toreform. This could betransformative. Butsadly, India is betterknown for reform bystealth.

The report does signalservice by identifyingkey operational barriersto higher export growthin textiles and garments— India’s staple exports;merchandise exports;p h a r m a c e u t i c a l s ;biotechnology; medicaldevices; electronics andagricultural produce —the last with the caveatthat the export of water-intensive products likesugar or low value riceshould be discouraged topreserve our fast-deplet-ing ground wateraquifers.

The report also doeswell to emphasise thathigher trade-to-GDPratios are a signal ofcompetitiveness and anentry point for couplingthe Indian economywith the internationaleconomy, includingthrough global valuechains. These generategood jobs and contributeto higher GDP growth,which in turn is a neces-sary precondition forending poverty. In thiscontext, sadly, thereport ignores a splen-did opportunity to applya poverty reduction fil-ter to the proposed inter-ventions to demonstratethat export-led highgrowth need not be anti-poor.

Is the report likely toturn around India’sexternal trade in thenear term? Probably not.Expansive institutionalchanges take time tomature. Opting to takethe rents out of regula-tion of the factors of pro-duction needs massivepolitical will. At present,India seems to be drift-ing into a hybrid model— staying afloat on bor-rowed foreign capitalattracted by high realinterest rates and a sta-ble exchange rate, likethe United States, whileusing the borrowings tofund a China-style BigState model of exportgrowth. Who knows,maybe even hybrids canfly.

The writer is adviser,Observer Research

Foundation

Net inward remit-tances from our

18 million Indianexpatriates bridgearound two-thirds

of the tradedeficit. But this is

a slender threadto hang by for an

economy withglobal aspirations.

HORSE HAS BOLTEDTHE STARTLING claim made byWhatsApp that several Indianactivists and journalists wereamong those snooped upon usingthe Israeli spyware Pegasus, soldonly to official agencies, has raisedeyebrows. The spyware can turnone’s phone into a spying device.The development has triggered ablame game between the BJP andthe Congress and brings into sharpfocus the credibility of deployingsuch software. Though the govern-ment has asked the messaging plat-form to explain the breach of priva-cy, it is another case of closing thestable door after the horse has bolt-ed.

N.J. Ravi ChanderBengaluru

SENA’S POWER GRABIN ORDER to grab power inMaharashtra either by hook or bycrook, will the Shiv Sena fall preyto a trap laid by the Congress-NCPcombine? Will it be prepared tosacrifice its hitherto-held Hindutvaideology for the sake of ruling thestate? Will it be seen in the compa-ny of “secular” parties like theCongress, the NCP, the VBA and soon?

Arun MalankarMumbai

LETTERSEGG ON FACEMadhya Pradesh BJPleader Gopal Bhargava’sstatement that eatingmeat and eggs mayturn children into cannibals is ridiculous.Packed with high-quality proteins andother essential nutrients, eggs are thebest food for children.Under ProjectShaktiman, launched in2007, MP kids were provided boiled eggsby the Shivraj SinghChouhan government.But in 2015, the samegovernment withdreweggs from anganwadimeals. Nonetheless, theKamal Nath governmenthas decided to serveeggs to malnourishedchildren from Novemberthis year. Eggs shouldbe given to childrenwho prefer them.

Khokan DasKolkata

Every Monday the best letter ofthe week wins `500. Email:

letters@asianage.com Else, sendto Jawaharlal Nehru NationalYouth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal

Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi 110002

Subhani

Sanjeev Ahluwalia

Aasim SajjadAkhtar

View from Pakistan

PAGE

7OpedSATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

FOODSHED PHILANTHROCAPITALISMWord SPY

The region that produces the foodused by a person, family or town

Philanthropy that uses the principles, models and techniques of capitalism

Re m e m b e r ?When we wereall bachchasand our par-ents orderedus to share anice creamsandwich —

50-50? Of course, we didn’t doany such thing! We cheated!And took the biggest bite wecould, hoping to get more intoour mouths than the portionwe were asked to pass on!Several brands tried to cash inon the 50-50 concept. I recall aBrittania biscuits pack whichdared to name its product 50-50(1993), hoping to catch studentswith limited pocket money topay up and split the bill for thesweet and salty cookie. I won-der how it fared over the years— I never fell for that phony 50-50 pitch. Frankly, it is adoomed formula that has never

worked for anybody, asDevendra Fadnavis is discov-ering in Maharashtra. This isone political marriage whichhas been brokered by thewrong middleman (not namingwhich one!). The jhagdasbetween the BJP and the ShivSena were being openly foughtover the past several months,even while the two partieswere faking a bromance. Comeon — it was always about thenumbers and had nothing to dowith a shared ideology. So whypretend? I am asking my latestBFF Alexa to play an oldfavourite: “It could have beenlove… but it’s over now…” andsmiling to myself as MrFadnavis and the Thackerayssquabble. One guy declaresthere was an understanding inplace. The other guy says,“What understanding?” Firstguy shakes his head and

admits he should have takenall the promises made, in writ-ing. Oh-oh… too late, honey.Never heard of a pre-nup?That’s how it’s done aaj kal. Nopre-nup, no shaadi. The idea ofa pre-nup is in itself pretty cyn-ical. But nobody wants to takechances these days. High pro-file alliances are primarilyabout wealth sharing. Same-same as seat sharing. Pre-nupscarefully design how the cakegets cut if the marriage collaps-es. Who gets to keep what —and what happens to the familyjewels.

This is what our mature, sea-soned and supposedly shrewdpoliticians are busy hagglingover, while we, the people ofMaharashtra, wait for them toresolve these issues and get onwith running the state — thejob we elected them for in thefirst place. The day AadityaThackeray’s team put out thesuggestion about him becom-ing the chief minister ofMaharashtra, it was obviouswhat the Sena’s gameplan was.Don’t forget, they had hired themaster strategist PrashantKishore himself to help sealthe deal during this election.And to his credit, Mr Kishorehas done a terrific job of posi-

tioning the 29-year-old grand-son of Balasaheb Thackeray.Convincing a Thackeray toactually stand for an electionwas challenge number one.Getting Aaditya to carefullypick the urban, cosmopolitanWorli constituency was thenext brainwave that paid richdividends (Aaditya won withan impressive margin). Butpreparing the voters’ minds tostart seriously thinking aboutthe almost 30, third-generationThackeray in politics as thenext CM was the single-mostbrilliant touch! An inspiredidea was planted surreptitious-ly in voters’ minds when nosuch thought previously exist-ed. It worked! Aaditya musthave been briefed to demur

and say modestly that he wasjust on the first step of the lad-der and had a long way to gobefore assuming this highoffice. But he also added he was“100 per cent ready for the job”.However, the subtextremained clear: Maybe it was alittle premature to pitch him asthe next CM… but hey — sure-ly nobody would mind himbecoming the deputy CMright? The power of suggestion,I tell you!

Today, Mr Fadnavis wants tohang on to all the key portfo-lios and hand out the leftoversto the Shiv Sena. This isn’t fly-ing! There is much talk of“dharma” and “social service”being the most important val-ues cherished by the Sena.Aaditya has also declared hisparty’s reluctance to take thesame old dhamkis and violenceroute, correctly assessing thatthe old ways will not work intoday’s environment. This is apositive move, which voterswill hold him to, in case he andhis lieutenants change theirmind. Presenting a “new,improved”, tamer, milder Senais a risky makeover to under-take at this stage, given thebrand’s tough USP which hasbeen regularly and aggressive-

ly reinforced as and whenrequired.

So… as we all know, the realfight is for control over theBombay MunicipalCorporation (BMC) and thehumungous money it controls.It is a fight for real estate,that’s it. To hell with ideology,it’s only about the money. As ofnow, the Shiv Sena has domi-nated the BMC for decades,and that’s where the realpower lies. He who controls theBMC, controls Mumbai. And,indirectly, Maharashtra. Withan annual budget running intocrores and crores (`30,692crores in 2019), the BMC is oneof the wealthiest civic bodieson earth. That’s one hell of a lotof money to go 50-50 on! Therest of the so-called issues arejust hot air — a way to divertattention. While Mr Fadnavisfirefights, and seeks ordersfrom his bosses (Amit Shah,primarily), Maharashtra con-tinues to struggle with prob-lems new and ancient. Thepower, or Pawar, tussle to grabcontrol of the state and contin-ue to milk it does not reallyconcern citizens. Whether ornot a fresh numbers game isplayed with the NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena joining forces, buy-

ing independents and waitingfor defections, voters want toknow who will be cleaning upthe mess? And how soon? Ourcoastline is all but gone, ourforests are no longer identifiedas forests, our mangroves aredenuded, the shrinking of openspaces and brazen land grabscontinue. Do we really care adamn how the portfolios getcarved up? Who gets what?Whether it is 15 berths or 17 inthe Cabinet? Come on, youchaps. Do what you have to do.We all know 50-50 does not fly.Sharing the chief ministership(two and a half years each) isthe worst idea ever. It cannotwork in the long term. So, youcan pose for all the photo-opsin the world, with turbans,phetas, topis or crowns. Weremain skeptical. Prove uswrong! It will be good forMaharashtra if that happens.That is, if you are thinking ofthe welfare of Maharashtra inthe first place. And yes, doengage a competent divorcelawyer from now itself: Whytake a chance? Till then...tamasha dekho... ghodeybecho.

Readers can send feedback to www.shobhaade.blogspot.com

“In every lying story, there’s agrain of truthAnd in every moral story, thegerm of a lieExtracting each from other islike pulling a toothFrom your own inflamed gumand it makes you cry…”From Pau Roti to Pavarotti byBachchoo

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,head of what hecalled the IslamicCaliphate and whichthe world realised

was Daesh the death-cult, hasbeen pronounced dead.

US President Donald Trump,whose American special forceskilled Baghdadi, said “he diedlike a dog, crying and whimper-ing as he ran into a dead-endtunnel with two of his childrenwhom he took with him whenhe detonated his suicide bombvest”.

The reports on world televi-sion showed a load of rubbleunder which Baghdadi’s bodyparts, certainly blown to bits bythe detonation, were supposedlyfound. The US TV reports,repeated on the BBC in Britain,said his DNA had been identi-fied as belonging to the leader ofDaesh, Baghdadi himself. Howthe US forensic teams had gath-ered this individual’s DNA inorder to compare it to that of thebody parts in the rubble, wasnot clear.

The reports also showed MrTrump and his Vice PresidentMike Pence, together with sev-eral advisers and military high-ups sitting around a table andsupposedly watching the assaultand the end of Baghdadi record-ed by the assault forces as theoperation happened. Today, his-tory can be picturised

“Baghdadi”, as this animalchose to call himself, was themost wanted man on today’searth, responsible for the mur-der, execution and rape of thou-sands in the name of a religionwhose contemporary practition-ers dissociate it from his ruth-less, meaningless death-cult.

That he was hunted down, cor-nered and killed was what heasked for.

Several times in the pastyears, since Daesh began itsmurderous intrusion into thetroubled lands of the MiddleEast and in the process of push-ing its volunteer armies back,there have been several reportsof Baghdadi’s death. This time itseems beyond dispute. The USadministration has hinted thatit will release footage of theoperation which assaultedBaghdadi’s encampment andpossibly footage of his flight andfinal suicide.

Gentle reader, I won’t bewatching.

Mr Trump’s speech curiouslysaid that one military dog wasinjured in the explosion whenthe suicide vest was detonatedand that he regretted the injuryto the animal and sympathisedwith it. No word from thePresident about the two certain-ly innocent children whomBaghdadi took to his death withhim.

There was and remains an ele-ment in this totally justifiedoperation of a manipulateddrama. Of course, the perpetra-tor, advocate and focus of mean-ingless mass murder and terror-ism in our times had to be hunt-ed down. And yes, there ought tobe considerations of modernhumanistic compassion versusmurderous medieval-cultviciousness, but these opposi-tions are not, gentle reader,absolute in our world.

In the announcement of thehunting down of Baghdadi byMr Trump’s troops, there wasthe feel of Batman corneringand killing the Joker. There isno doubt that Mr Trump’s tri-umph is calculated to and willcount towards his electability innext year’s presidential elec-tion.

Baghdadi and his ideas, ifdeath-cultism can be given therespectability of “ideas”, wereevil — but is the sale by the USof weaponry and training to theSaudis to murder thousands of

Yemenis less so?Was the betrayal of the Kurds

who had sacrificed thousands oflives to fight Daesh in northernSyria by Mr Trump pulling UStroops out of the territory toallow Turkey to invade a greatmoral act? It has led to the deathof thousands of innocents —fewer or more than Daesh andBaghdadi killed.

Yes, gentle reader, the world isand has perhaps always been, acomplicated place and its pur-poses contradictory. In the past,and in the example of Daeshtoday, religious orders declaredtheir intentions. “Kill the kafirsregardless, they deserve to die”,“Burn the Catholic monasteriesand kill the papists”, “Hinduism

demands the destruction of theheretical Buddhist cult”, etc.

Today’s states don’t declaretheir every intention, though itis evident why the US and theUK sells arms to Saudi Arabia.It is evident why China givesloans and assistance to hithertounderdeveloped African coun-tries. Money, material gain andeven strategy.

Yet in our world, ideologicalmoves and gestures by politi-cians in power often trump mil-itary, strategic and materialconsiderations. These are calcu-lated to appeal to constituenciesin the countries regardless ofthe turmoil they cause. Theimmediate example is that ofthe UK’s Boris Johnson stakinghis career on taking the countryout of the European Union,regardless of the damage it willdo to the UK’s economy, regard-less of the fact that Scotland andperhaps Northern Ireland willsecede and break up the coun-try, regardless of the fact thatEngland and Wales, if they staytogether, will become second-rate Bringapore, subservient toMr Trump’s trade deals.

Another example may be theIndian government’s appeal toits core vote through withdraw-ing Jammu and Kashmir’s spe-

cial status. They may argue (asthough they were ardent theo-retical Marxists) that they aredragging reluctant Kashmirfrom the pastoral poverty of afeudal economy into the contem-porary capitalist world. Themove could not be made withouta heavy military presence, cur-fews and the imprisonment ofKashmir’s spokespeople.

While the integration ofKashmir into the economy ofthe rest of India may be the end— the repressive, undemocraticimposition of such a transitionis unjustifiable as the means.The transition could and shouldhave been brought aboutthrough the mechanisms avail-able to democratic consultation.

In the cruel transformation ofthe continent of North Americafrom a tribal settlement ofnative Americans to the land-grabbing development thatensued from European settle-ment to the prosperity that UScapitalism boasts, there existedno such democratic mecha-nisms. Slaughter and slaverywere the founding principles ofthat transformation.

In today’s world and today’sIndia, the democratic mecha-nisms were available but werebypassed in favour of bigotry.

Most prayers may only bringhope. They do not bring dis-passion. That is how theprayers are structured: all

about hope and more hope and morehope. People have lost the ability toappreciate hopelessness. Hopelessnessis like a bottomless pit, and a bottomlesspit is the safest pit to jump into. Theonly problem with the pit is that it has abottom. If it did not have a bottom, whatis the problem? It will be a wonderful

leap. If you go skydiving, youdo not know whether you aregoing up or down or nowherebecause there is no context foryou. Only if you look down, thedamn planet is approachingyou with great speed — thenyou know. If the planet was notthere, jumping off and justfloating would be wonderful.

In the traditions of yoga, we havealways cultured people towards hope-lessness because when there is no hope,you will stop clinging. When you do notcling, you will be liberated — a verysimple technique. Nothing clings to youby itself. It is you who is clinging onto somany things.

If you do not cling to anything, nothingnaturally clings to you. So liberation isa free process if you are joyfully willingto walk into hopelessness. But too muchhope has been taught. I have already

acquired enough enemies inthe world talking against love,talking against compassion. Iflove and compassion are anexperience, it is different, butas principles in your life, theyare stupid. “I want to lovesomebody,” is a silly thing todo. It is coming from a certain

desperation and inadequacy. If youremotions are sweet towards everythingaround you, it is a wonderful way to be.If you call that love, it is fine, but if youimmediately make it into a commoditythat you can exercise, then it becomesugly.

How Shiva nurtured hopelessness:The yogic culture has always tried toculture people towards hopelessness —towards nothingness. That is why, whenShiva’s closest disciples asked him, “Ifwe are in trouble, will you be there?” helooks at them incredulously and says,

“If you are in trouble, I will sleep.” He isnurturing hopelessness in them. Not, “Iam going to be there; wherever you maybe, I’ll jump in and act.” No, he is say-ing, “If you are in trouble, I’ll go tosleep.” If he explains, “When I sleep, Iam with everything and anyway I’ll bethere,” then they will nurture hope. Sohe does not explain. He says, “I will go tosleep,” and they give up. What is the usehoping for any help from this man?When they give up — you call it “let go”.Giving up is letting go, is it not? Theygive up — there is no point in looking upto this man and asking for help. Nowthey are wide open. Now things willhappen.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, an internationally renowned spiritual

leader, is a visionary, humanitarian,author, poet and speaker. He can be

contacted at www.ishafoundation.org

J&K and the plight of native American

Liberation is close if you feel hopelessness

BJP-Sena drama: Bhaisaab, yeh 50-50 kya hai?I never fell for thatphony 50-50 pitch.Frankly, it is a doomedformula that has neverworked for anybody, asDevendra Fadnavis isdiscovering inMaharashtra. Thispolitical marriage hasbeen brokered by thewrong middleman.

In the transformation ofthe continent of NorthAmerica from a tribalsettlement of nativeAmericans to Europeansettlement to the prosperity that US capitalism boasts, there existed no democratic mechanisms

Sadhguru

Shobhaa’s Take

Shobhaa De

Farrukh Dhondy

Cabbages & Kings

PAGE

8Sport+SATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

New Delhi, November1: Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi and hersupporters today decid-ed to call a special ses-sion of the All-IndiaCongress Committeein New Delhi onNovember 22 and 23 toelect a new CongressPresident and appoint-ed a three-memberCommittee to makearrangements for thesession.

The decision was takenat a two-hour meeting atMrs. Gandhi’s residenceattended by nearly halfof the 21 members of theParty’s WorkingCommittee.

The preparatory com-mittee consists of Mr.Fakhruddin Ali Ahmedand Mr. C.Subramaniam, both ofwhom were removedfrom the CWC byCongress President S.Nijalingappa and Dr.Shankar Dayal Sharmawho has announced hisdecision to resign hisGeneral Secretaryshipof the AICC and mem-bership of the CWC. Amajority of theCongress ChiefMinisters endorsed therequisition signed by 405members of the AICCout of the total 705 for aspecial session.

Among those whoattended the meetingwere Mr. C.Subramaniam, Mr. K.C.Abraham, Mr UmaShanker Dixit, Mr.Satyanarayan Sinha, Mr.K. Brahmananda Reddi,Mr. Jagjiwan Ram, Mr.Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed,Mr. V. P. Naik, MrBansilal, Mr. Y. B.Chavan, Dr. S. D.Sharma, Mr. B.P. Chalia,Mr. S. C. Shukla, Mr. G.L. Nanda and Mr.Kamala Pati Tripathi.

Altogether 11 membersout of a total of 21 of theCWC attended the meet-ing at the PrimeMinister’s residence. Inaddition there were sixChief Ministers, fourspecial invitees and fourPresidents of PradeshCongress Committees.

Fine startIndian golfer Anirban Lahiri got off to a flying start with a five-under 66 in the first round of the PGA Tour’s inaugural Bermuda Championship

PM calls for special AICC meet

London: TottenhamHotspur’s players invitedtheir manager and coachesto a bonding dinner in afashionable London restau-rant last week as a way ofhelping turn their seasonround, something theirnorth London rivalsArsenal might want to copy.

Both the North Londongiants hopes of contestingthe title are already over —barring a remarkableLiverpool and ManchesterCity burn out. They willinstead be embroiled in theattritional battle to make upthe already significant gapsto Leicester and Chelsea tosecure a Champions Leaguespot.

The problem for Spursmay largely be a lack ofform: just two wins in theirlast nine games.

The Gunners, on the otherhand, are struggling withboth poor performances andinternal division as theyprepare to Liverpool in theLeague Cup on Wednesday.

Granit Xhaka’s tantrum atbeing substituted afterArsenal had surrendered atwo goal lead in a 2-2 drawwith Crystal Palace high-lighted the continuing riftbetween supporters andplayers.

When fans booed Xhaka,the Arsenal captain firedback ‘Fxxx off.’ On the side-lines team-mate LucasTorreira wept. Three of theXhaka’s team-mates visitedhim at home that night.

According to the Britishmedia Arsenal managerUnai Emery will not unilat-erally decide who is captainand will consult the squad,who chose Xhaka by secretballot in the first place.

Some critics argue thatthis democracy highlightsthe Spanish manager’s fail-ure to show firm leadershipby not chosing the captainhimself.

The Xhaka saga piles morepressure on the 47-year-oldformer Sevilla and ParisSaint Germain coach.

Arsenal are fifth in thetable but that gives a falsepicture of stability. Theyhave only won two of theirlast eight Premier Leaguematches.

Many have questionedwhether Emery has had theimpact the board hoped fol-lowing the stagnation of thelast years under their mostsuccessful manager ArseneWenger.

“We were better underWenger,” an Arsenal direc-tor remarked acidly to TheSun following the Palacedraw.

Hector Bellerin, the thirdcaptain in the squad-voted

hierarchy, called for calmand unity.

“We are all humans, we allhave emotions, and some-times it’s not easy dealingwith them,” he tweeted.

“It’s time to lift each otherup, not to push each otheraway. We only win when weare together.”

‘HAS TO BE STRONG’A source at the club, whospoke at length to Tuesday’sedition of The DailyTelegraph, said Emery’srefusal to play mercurialGerman Mesut Ozil —apparently with the consentof the board — has alsocaused internal consterna-tion.

The often infuriatinglyinconsistent Ozil has been

sitting on the sidelineswhile £72 million ($92 mil-lion) summer signingNicolas Pepe has struggledto find his feet in England,He has scored only a penaltyin eight Premier Leaguestarts, although he hit twoin the Europa League onThursday.

“You’ve got to wonder whois making the decisions. Hasthe coach been told not toplay Ozil or does he have aproblem with the player?”the source asked.

“You also have to wonderwhy Pepe is starting everygame. He was an expensivesigning for the club, so doesEmery have to start him ordoes he want to?

“It may be that he is feel-ing pressure to do what the

board wants, but he has tobe strong and make his owndecisions.

“It is creating a strangeatmosphere within thesquad because nobody isreally sure what is goingon.”

Compared to that, Spursmanager MauricioPochettino’s problemsmight appear simple.Although there are back-ground issues with playerswhose contracts are about toexpire, he probably justneeds one big win can turnround his side’s season.

The charismaticArgentinian believes theplayers inviting him and thecoaching staff for dinnerlast Thursday was a positivesign. — AFP

Inzai, Japan: Tiger Woodssaid on Monday his latestinjury comeback to win theZozo Championship and tiethe US PGA Tour’s winrecord had ended the “mostchallenging” phase of hisstoried career.

Woods held off HidekiMatsuyama at AccordiaGolf Narashino CountryClub to equal Sam Snead’srecord of 82 wins and moveto number six in the worldrankings from 10th.

It was his first tourna-ment since arthroscopicleft knee surgery in Augustand came after he startedthe tournament onThursday with threestraight bogeys.

Four back surgeries,countless knee operations,marital strife and run-inswith the law meant Woodshad not won a major since2008 and no tournamentssince 2013 when he teed upat the PlayersChampionship at EastLake, Atlanta, just over ayear ago.

He had endured two yearsout of the game and hob-bled out of the February2018 Dubai Desert Classicwith back spasms on hislong-awaited return.

His ranking plummetedto 656 at the end of 2017,and with form and fitness

deserting him manyobservers felt he mightnever get the three furthertour wins he needed to tieSnead, let alone anothermajor.

Not only did he win theTour Championship for hisfirst victory in five years,but Woods went on tosecure a fifth Green Jacketand 15th major at Augustaearlier this year to standjust three behind JackNicklaus’s record 18.

And now he standsunsurpassed as the mostsuccessful PGA Tour golferof all time after victory atthe weather-delayed inau-

gural tournament inJapan.

“Well, it’s satisfying todig my way out of it andfigure out a way,” saidWoods, who finished threeshots clear on 19-under par.

“As far as playing, I didn’treally know that I wouldcome back and play at thislevel.

“But I’ve come back withdifferent games over theyears, moving patterns,and this one’s been obvi-ously the most challeng-ing,” he said, after fourstunning rounds of 64, 64,66 and 67 for a three-strokewin.

OLYMPIC AMBITION“Then having another pro-cedure a couple monthsago and again coming backand winning an event, noteasy to do, but I trust myhands and today was no dif-ferent.”

Woods recalled as a five-year-old in 1981 getting toplay with Snead for theonly time.

“I played with Sam at, Ithink, it was CalabasasCountry Club,” saidWoods.

“He was doing an outingthere and I had come out toplay the 17th and 18th holeswith him.

“I remember hitting theball into a little creek andplaying it out of the waterand making bogey. Ibogeyed the last and hewent par-par.

“It was the only time Iever got a chance to playwith Sam Snead — I wastwo-down through two,” hesmiled.

While Snead registeredhis 82nd win at the age of52, Woods is nine yearsyounger.

“As far as playing until 52,I hope that’s the case,” saidWoods.

“If you would have askedme a few years ago, I would

have given you a differentanswer, but certainly thefuture looks brighter thanit has.”

And that includes comingback to Japan for the TokyoOlympics next year beforedefending his ZozoChampionship.

“I hope to qualify for theteam and represent mycountry,” he said.

“I know some of myfriends have made Olympicteams before in the pastand they said it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“I’ll be 44 and I don’tknow if I have many morechances after that.” — AFP

■ Four backsurgeries,countlessknee opera-tions, maritalstrife and run-ins with thelaw meantWoods hadnot won amajor since2008 and notournamentssince 2013when he teedup at thePlayersChampionshipat East Lake,Atlanta, justover a yearago

Shanghai: Yaya Touresays Fifa is not doingenough to stamp outracism and that Englandshould have walked offthe pitch in the face ofmonkey chants duringtheir Euro 2020 qualifierin Bulgaria.

The 36-year-old formerBarcelona andManchester City midfield-er made the comments toAFP after helpingQingdao Huanghai clinchpromotion to the ChineseSuper League at the week-end.

England’s 6-0 victory inSofia earlier this monthwas marred by racistchants and Nazi salutesfrom a section ofBulgarian fans.

The game was haltedtwice during the first half,but England players optedto complete the matchinstead of walking off thepitch.

“This is a shame, whyare you playing forEngland?” Toure, who hasbeen outspoken on foot-ball’s racism problem,said of the decision.

“They are always talk-ing, ‘Blah, blah, blah’, andwhat? Nothing changes.”

Turning his real fire onfootball’s decision-mak-ers, the four-time Africanplayer of the year said:“People from fifa don’tcare anyway becausewe’ve been talking aboutthis, but it’s still continu-ing.

“I don’t want to say thatI’m not concerned, I’mconcerned,” said the for-mer Ivory Coast interna-tional.

Raheem Sterling, theEngland and ManchesterCity forward, has beenwidely praised for playinga prominent role in callingout the racists at homeand abroad.

But Toure, his formerteam-mate at City, said

that was “not goodenough”.

Toure, whose trophyhaul includes threePremier League titleswith City and a UefaChampions League withBarcelona, believes it istime the players took moredecisive action.

“They have to be seriousabout it, players need tomake serious moves aboutit otherwise they (theracists) will continue to dothat,” he said.

“They have to get theplayers out of the field.”

In response, Fifa saidthat “the fight againstracism is of utmost impor-tance” to football’s worldgoverning body.

In the aftermath of theBulgaria match, Fifa pres-ident Gianni Infantinosaid that racists must be“kicked out” of stadiums.

‘THEY RESPECTNOBODY’

Toure was speaking afterhe played a pivotal role forQingdao in a 2-0 win onSaturday at ShanghaiShenxin, attended by justa few hundred spectators.

Victory ensured promo-tion to the top-tier ChineseSuper League for the teamthat Toure joined in July,but he is unlikely to makethe move up with themnext year.

“I think I’ll finish inDecember or January,then go, have anotherchallenge,” he said, vow-ing to play on until he is40.

“People are thinkingthat I’m done, but I’m notdone yet,” he said.

Toure has enjoyed hisspell in Chinese footballand stressed that he hasnever experienced anyform of discrimination inthe country.

“It’s been a nice experi-ence because I’ve seen peo-ple with a different men-tality from Europe — theway to play football, theway they feel and theirbehaviour on the field,” hesaid.

“When I play in the sta-diums, nobody boos mebecause I’m black, it’s adifferent culture, theyrespect.

“In Europe, they respectnobody.” — AFP

Fifa do not care about racism in football: Tourespotlight

50 YEARS AGO IN Tiger emerges from ‘most challenging’ career phase

Tottenham struggling to earn their spurs

Tiger Woods of the US poses with trophy afterwinning the PGA ZOZO Championship golf tour-nament at the Narashino Country Club in Inzai,Chiba prefecture on October 28. — AFP

SATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHI

■ PMI Factory activity growth hits two-year low; escapes industrial contraction by 0.6 point

Bengaluru, Nov. 1: India’sfactory activity growth hita two-year low in Octoberas new orders and outputrose at a slower pace, drag-ging business confidenceto its weakest since early2017, a survey showed onFriday, suggesting morepolicy easing is on thecards.

That mirrors a recentsharp deceleration in glob-al manufacturing activityas a protracted US-Chinatrade war took a toll onbusiness sentiment, inves-tment and overall growth.

The Nikkei Manufac-tur-ing Purchasing Managers’Index, compiled by IHSMarkit, dropped to 50.6

last month from Septem-ber’s 51.4, confoundingexpectations in a Reuterspoll for a rise to 51.8.

Just the same, it has heldabove the 50-point thresh-

old mark that separatesgrowth from contractionfor the 27th straightmonth, an uninterruptedrun not seen for aroundfive years.

“PMI data for Octobershowed a continuation ofmanufacturing sectorweakness in India, withsales growth softening tothe slowest in two years,”noted Pollyanna De Lima,principal economist at IHSMarkit. “Weakeningdemand had a dominoeffect in the manufactur-ing industry, knockingdown rates of increase inproduction, employmentand business sentiment.”

The new orders sub-

index, a proxy for domes-tic demand, slumped to51.3 from September’s 52.3,its lowest since October2017. That pushed firms toslow the pace of hiring toa six month low, which islikely to raise concerns forthe BJP government givenit is under pressure to cre-ate more jobs.

Moreover, in a furthersign the ailing economywill take a while to recov-er, optimism slipped inOctober to its weakestsince soon after a 2016high-value currency banthat affected day-to-dayoperations of small- andmedium-sized businesses.

— Reuters

Exportindex torank statesfrom Jan. 2020

Replace engines or facegrounding, IndiGo told

Factory output close to stagnation in Oct.

New York, Nov. 1:Alphabet Inc-ownedGoogle will buy fitnesstracker pioneer Fitbit Incfor $2.1 billion, as thesearch giant looks to takeon Apple and Samsung inthe fast-growing marketfor wearable devices.

Google said on Fridaythat it sees an opportunityto introduce “Made byGoogle” wearable devicesinto the market and investmore in wearable technol-ogy. It had announced adeal to buy Fossil GroupInc’s intellectual property

related to smartwatchtechnology earlier thisyear.

Fitbit’s share of the fit-ness tracking market hasbeen threatened by deep-er-pocket companies suchas Apple Inc and SamsungElectronics Co Ltd as wellas cheaper offerings fromChina’s HuaweiTechnologies Co Ltd andXiaomi Corp.

“We believe Google is anatural fit. The deephealth and fitness data,coupled with the 28 mil-lion active users on the

Fitbit platform, offer atremendous value,” CraigHallum analysts wrote ina note.

Xiaomi dominates theglobal wearables market,with a 17.3 per cent marketshare in the second quar-ter of 2019, followed byApple. Fitbit owns 10 percent of the market, datafrom International DataCorp showed.

Fitbit’s fitness trackersmonitor users’ daily steps,calories burned and dis-tance traveled. They alsomeasure floors climbed,

sleep duration and quality,and heart rate.

The company in Augustalso launched its latestsmartwatch, Versa 2,adding Amazon.com Inc’svoice assistant Alexa,online payments andmusic storage to thedevice’s capabilities.

Fitbit has been offered$7.35 per share in cash, thecompany said, a premiumof about 19% to the stock’sclosing price on Thursday.The company’s shareswere trading at $7.15.

The company’s shares

have gained more than40% since Reuters report-ed on Monday that Googlehad made an offer for themaker of the popular col-orful fitness trackers.

Fitbit also said healthand wellness data of itsusers would not be usedfor Google ads. Googlesaid it would give Fitbitusers the choice to review,move or delete their data.

Google, which has beendefended its privacy prac-tices, said it would betransparent about the datathat it collects. — Reuters

Google buys Fitbit to take on wearable giants

Jobless rateat 2-yr high

Labour productivityat multi-year lowSANGEETHA G. CHENNAI, NOV. 1

Labour productivitygrowth in organisedmanufacturing sectorhas dropped to multi-year lows. India Ratingsand Research’s analysisof data of AnnualSurvey of Industries(ASI) indicates a slow-down in labour produc-tivity growth in theIndian organised manu-facturing sector.

As per the data, labourproductivity grew at anaverage annual rate of3.7 per cent during thefinancial year 2016-2018.In the financial year2017, labour productivitygrowth fell to 2.6 per centand 2.9 per cent in FY18.

Labour productivityhad been growing by 9.6per cent in FY01-06 andhad peaked at 14.2 percent between FY04-FY08.It grew by 10.3 per cent

between FY06 and FY10.However between FY11and FY15, it sloweddown to 7.4 per cent.

According to Ind-Ra,longer and sustainablelabour productivity gro-wth is dependent on in-vestments in innovation,knowledge, and intangi-ble capital by business-es. It is also dependenton governments’ com-mitments towards struc-tural reforms.

Further, averagemonthly wage of a work-er in the organised man-ufacturing sector rose to`12,405 during FY16-18from `4,006 during FY01-FY05. However, the wagegrowth has slowed downlately.

The average wagegrowth has been 6.5 percent over FY16-FY18 ascompared to 11.7 percent and 8.1 per cent dur-ing FY11-FY15 and FY05-FY10, respectively.

quickBITES

INDICATORS %Sensex 40,165.03 +0.09Nifty 50 11,890.60 +0.11S&P 500 3,056.30 +0.62Dollar (`) 70.81 -0.15Pound Sterling (`) 91.40 -0.80Euro (`) 78.86 -0.64Gold (10gm)* (`) 39,395 ▲181 -0.47Brent crude ($/bbl)* $59.94 -0.54IN 10-Yr bond yield +6.44 -0.14US 10-Yr T-bill yield +1.73 +2.48

* As of 9:30 pm IST

Centre ordersSFIO probe intocrisis-hit DHFL New Delhi: The governmenthas ordered an SFIO probe intoalleged financial irregularitiesat mortgage lender DHFL afterfinding instances of suspectedfund diversions, according to asource. DHFL came under thescanner in the wake of allega-tions that the company hadsiphoned off `31,000 croreworth bank loans through layers of shell entities. — PTI

Sanjeev Sahaitakes charge aspower secretary

New Delhi: Sanjeev NandanSahai has assumed charge asSecretary of the Power Ministryon Friday. “Sanjeev NandanSahai assumed charge asSecretary, Ministry of Powerhere today. Prior to this, he wasserving as the special secretaryin the Ministry of Power,” theministry said in a statement. MrSahai is a UT cadre IAS officerof 1986 batch.

Voda Idea stocksurges over 10%after clarificationNew Delhi: Shares of VodafoneIdea on Friday zoomed over 10per cent after Vodafone clari-fied that it is not going to exitthe Indian market. Shares ofthe telecom operator settled10.54 per cent higher at `4.30apiece on the BSE. The tele-com company added over`1,100 crore to its market capi-talisation, which now stands at`12,356.22 crore.

Gold demandtapers off afterfestival spike

Overleaf

Mumbai: Gold discounts inIndia widened this week asphysical demand cooledbecause of high prices after abusy festival week. “We lostmomentum this week due to arecovery in prices. Last weekdemand for Dhanteras andDiwali was lower than last yearbut better than our expecta-tions,” said Ashok Jain, propri-etor of gold wholesaler ChenajiNarsinghji. — Reuters

Weakeningdemand had adomino effect

in the manufactur-ing industry, knock-ing down rates ofincrease in produc-tion, jobs and busi-ness sentiment.

— Pollyanna DeLima, IHS Markit

Flipkart salesrise 42% infiscal 2019

■ Tripura, Haryana farebadly, TN best in IndiaFC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, NOV. 1

Unemployment rate inOctober rose to 8.5 percent — the highest sinceAugust 2016 — and upfrom 7.2 per cent inSeptember, according todata released by theCentre for MonitoringIndian Economy (CMIE)on Friday, reflecting theimpact of a slowdown inthe economy.

The increase in unem-ployment rate mirrorsthe fall in industrialgrowth and consump-tion in the country.

The latest PeriodicLabour Force Surveyclaimed an unemploy-ment rate of 6.1 per centthat India witnessedbetween July 2017 andJune 2018 was the worstin 45 years.

According to CMIE,urban India has a high-er unemployment at 8.89per cent than rural job-lessness which is at 8.28per cent. The averageunemployment rate is8.48 per cent.

The decline in employ-ment began in Novem-ber 2017 — a year afterthe Narendra Modi gov-ernment demonetisedhigh value currency andfour months after itrolled out the GSTregime.

Tripura topped the listwith 27.2 per cent ofunemployed. Delhi andadjoining states are themost impacted with theeconomic slowdown —Haryana having 23.4 percent of unemployed, fol-

lowed by HimachalPradesh 16.7 per cent,Punjab 13 per cent andDelhi 12.8 per cent.

Among the biggerstates, Rajasthan t o p sthe joblessness list withdouble digit unem-ployed figure at 14.4 percent, followed by Biharwith 12.7 per cent andUttar Pradesh 10.1per cent.

Uttarakhand has thelowest unemploymentamong northern statesat 1.5 per cent, followedMadhya Pradesh at 3.5per cent, Chhattisgarhat 7.8 per cent andJharkhand 9.8 per cent.

The southern statesfared comparativelywell by registeringlower unemploymentrates. Tamil Nadu is themost well-performingstate in the country. Ithas merely 1.1 per centu n e m p l o y e d .Puducherry followedclosely at 1.2 per cent,Andhra Pradesh at fourper cent, and Karn-ataka at 5.8 per cent.Telangana and Keralafared badly in the southwith an unemploymentrate of 7.5 per cent and7.4 per cent respectively.

In the east, Odisha per-formed well with 4.2 percent, followed by Megha-laya 4.3 per cent, WestBengal 6.8 per cent andSikkim 7.1 per cent.

In the western region,Goa has the highestunemployment at 9.1per cent, followed byMaharashtra 5.6 percent and Gujarat 5.2 percent.

Car firms get festiveboost, Oct. sales rise

MICHAEL GONSALVESPUNE, NOV. 1

The 42 days festive seasonbetween Navratri and endof Diwali, which typicallybrings in about 20 to 25 percent of car sales rescuedMaruti Suzuki, India’slargest car maker, whichfor the first time reporteda 2.3 per cent growth inpassenger vehicle sales inOctober ending a declin-ing trend in monthly salesthat started back inMarch.

But other major carmakers like Hyundai, thesecond biggest car maker,followed by Mahindra,Tata Motors, ToyotaKirloskar and Honda Carscontinued to reportdeclining sales butimproved their sales tallydue to demand in festiveseason, especially duringDhanteras and Diwali.

Maruti, which sells oneout of two cars bought inthe country, sold 2.3 percent more cars to 1,39,121units last month against1,35,948 units sold inOctober last year.

In absolute terms, thiswas Maruti’s highest salesin any month this fiscal.The last time it had postedhigher sales than this wasin March 2019 when it hadsent 145,031 units to itsdealers.

In India, auto makerscount car dispatches to

dealerships as sales.Maruti saw growth com-ing from two of the mostcrucial sub-segments –compact cars and utilityvehicles. While this couldstill be a temporaryrevival in the market sen-timent, Maruti’s numbersdo hint at a good monthfor other auto firms too.

Sales at Hyundai Motorfell 3.8 per cent at 50,010units last month, downfrom 52,001 units inOctober 2018, the companysaid. Sales at Mahindra

and Mahindra, India’sbiggest utility vehiclemaker, fell 23 per cent to18,460 units from 24,066units last year. “The fes-tive October month wasexcellent for Mahindra,with retail volume exceed-ing wholesale by approxi-mately 40 per cent. Thisrobust retail performancewas contributed by bothpassenger and commer-cial vehicles. Further, ourbilling numbers are inline with what we hadplanned for the month,since the objective was tosignificantly correct ourchannel inventory. Wehope to see the positiveconsumer sentiment con-tinue going forward,”Veejay Ram Nakra, Chiefof Sales and Marketing,Automotive Division atMahindra and Mahindra,said.

Sales at Tata Motors,

India’s biggest automakerby value, also declined by28 per cent at 13,169 units,down from 18,290 units itsold last year. “Retail salesresults have been encour-aging with retails at 36 percent more than whole-sale,” Mayank Pareek,president, passenger vehi-cles at Tata Motors, said.

Customer response waspositive to festive offersand retail sales last monthwere the highest in thisfiscal recording a 70 percent increase month-on-month, he said.

“We remain optimisticthat the positive senti-ments of the festive sea-son will lead to a structur-al recovery in the mar-ket,” Pareek said.

Sales at Japanese automajor Toyota dropped 6per cent at 11,866 units,down from 12,606 units itsold last year.

“Compared to the lastfew months of slowdown,it was quite encouragingto see the markedimprovement in customerorders on account of fes-tive season,” N Raja,deputy MD at ToyotaKirloskar Motor, said. Hesaid he is hoping this pacein retail sales continuesbeyond the festive season.

Sales at Honda Cars alsodeclined by 29.44 per centat 10,010 units in Octoberas against 14,187 units inthe same month last year.

Maruti, which sellsone out of two carsbought in the coun-try, sold 2.3 percent more cars to1,39,121 units lastmonth against1,35,948 units soldin October last year.

New Delhi, Nov. 1: Theincome tax departmenthas cancelled registrationof six Tata Trusts, includ-ing Jamsetji Tata Trust,R.D. Tata Trust and TataEducation Trust, follow-ing their decision to sur-render the same.

The Tata Trusts said thecancellation was a culmi-nation of the decisiontaken by these six Trustsin 2015 to surrender theirregistration and to notclaim the associatedincome tax exemptions.

The other Trusts areTata Social Welfare Trust,Sarvajanik Seva Trust,and Navajbai Ratan TataTrust.

“The decision to surren-der the registration (anoption available in law)was taken in the bestinterests of the Trust andto maximise theresources available to theTrust for their charitablework which is the princi-pal object and focus of theTrusts,” Tata Trusts saidin a statement on Friday.

According to the state-ment, the Office of thePrincipal Commissionerof Income Tax, Mumbai,by its order on Thursdaycancelled the income taxregistration of six TataTrusts companies.

“While the tax depart-ment’s order has can-celled the Trusts’ regis-tration with immediateeffect, we believe that as amatter of law and consis-tent with the depart-ment’s own decision inthe past, the cancellationshould take effect from2015, when the registra-tions were surrenderedand the Trusts them-selves consented to can-cellation,” it said.

The Trusts are examin-ing the order and willtake necessary next stepsin accordance with thelaw and the Trusts haveeffective legal options tovindicate their griev-ances against the orderboth factually and legally,it said. “Since inceptionin 1892, Tata Trusts,India’s oldest philan-thropic organisation, hasplayed a pioneering rolein bringing about anenduring difference in thelives of the communitiesit serves,” it said. — PTI

FC BUREAUNEW DELHI, NOV 1

The Goods and ServicesTax (GST) collectiondeclined by 5.29 per centto `95,380 crore in October2019, as against the samemonth last year. However,the GST collectionincreased 3.76 per centnotably in comparison toSeptember 2019, when itwas `91,916 crore, accord-ing to data released by thefinance ministry onFriday.

This is the third consec-utive month when GST

mop-up remained belowthe `1 lakh crore mark,despite October being afestive month.

The GST revenue collec-tion in October 2018 stoodat `1,00,710 crore. The rev-enue collection in

September this year stoodat `91,916 crore.

“The gross GST revenuecollected in the month ofOctober, 2019 is `95,380crore of which CGST is`17,582 crore, SGST is`23,674 crore, IGST is`46,517 crore and Cess is`7,607 crore,” the financeministry said in a state-ment.

It further said the totalnumber of GSTR 3Breturns (summary of self-assessed return) filed forthe month of September(up to October 30) was73.83 lakh.

I-T officialscancel six Tata Trustsregistration

Navratri, Diwali fail to cheerCentre, GST rises just 3.7%

This is the thirdconsecutive monthwhen GST collec-tion remained belowthe `1 lakh croremark, despiteOctober being afestive month.

FC BUREAUCHENNAI, NOV. 1

Flipkart’s revenuejumped 42 per cent year-on-year to over $6 billionin FY19, while its lossescame down by 63 per cent.Reduction in financecosts helped the e-com-merce company cut itslosses in FY19.

The stricter regulationsfor the e-commerce sector,especially for the FDI-funded entities, in thecountry have not affectedFlipkart’s revenuegrowth much.

FACTORY GROWTHThe Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Indexdropped to 50.6 in October. Less than 50 points

indicate a contraction in factory activity.

Source: IHS Markit

Printed & Published by T Venkateswarlu on behalf of DeccanChronicle Holdings Limited. Printed atBFL Infotech Ltd, C-9 Sector 3, Noida-201301. Published at 219, N D Tiwari

Bhawan, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg,New Delhi-110002.

Editor: T.Venkatram Reddy, RNIRegistration number 30074/09, Air sur-

charge Re 1. © All rights reserved.Reproduction in whole or in part with-out written permission of The Editor,Financial Chronicle ® is prohibited.

SATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHI

FALAKNAAZ SYEDMUMBAI, NOV. 1

Facing public ire for notbeing able to detect scamsand frauds on time, theReserve Bank of India(RBI) has created two sepa-rate departments for super-visory and regulatoryfunction to improve theoversight for banks, non-banking finance companies(NBFCs) and co-operativebanks. The developmentfollows the RBI’s centralboard decision to createseparate supervisory andregulatory cadre.

There have been a longlist of scams within banksand NBFCs that remainedundetected for years by theRBI inspections such as the`14,000 crore Nirav Modifraud at Punjab NationalBank, collapse of IL&FSscam, the recent PMC Bankcrisis and failure of largeNBFCs to service theirdebt.

“With a view to having aholistic approach to super-vision and regulation ofthe regulated entities so asto address growing com-plexities, size and inter-

connectedness as also todeal more effectively withpotential systemic risk thatcould arise due to possiblesupervisory arbitrage andinformation asymmetry, ithas been decided to inte-grate the supervision func-tion into a unifiedDepartment of Supervisionand regulatory functionsinto a unified Departmentof Regulation with effectfrom November 1, 2019,”said the central bank.

The central board of theRBI on May 21 hadapproved the creation ofthe separate supervisoryand regulatory cadre. Therestructuring of the regu-

lation and supervisionfunction is among a seriesof steps RBI will take toimplement this decision,the central bank added.

Currently, the supervi-sion of financial sectorentities is undertakenthrough three separatedepartments, Departmentof Banking Supervision,Department of Non-Banking Supervision andDepartment of Co-opera-tive Bank Supervision.Similarly, the regulatoryfunctions relating to finan-cial sector entities are car-ried out through three sep-arate departments, viz.,Department of Banking

Regulation, Department ofNon-Banking Regulationand Department ofCooperative BankingRegulation.

The RBI said that therestructuring will makesupervisory and regulatoryprocess more activity basedrather than being segment-ed purely based on theorganisational structure ofregulated entities. Theexercise will bestow gradedsupervisory approach to allthe RBI-supervised entitieslinked to their size andcomplexity, and also facili-tate more effective consoli-dated supervision of finan-cial conglomerates amongthe RBI-supervised enti-ties.

“The restructuring willresult in a more efficientallocation of humanresources attending to reg-ulation and supervision offinancial sector entitiesunder the Bank’s purview”,the RBI said.

It also said the revampingwill help build an experi-enced and skilled humanresources in the area ofregulation and supervisionof financial sector entities.

Financial

OPENING

PROJECTION FOR TODAYBELL

After a big rally inOctober, firstday of

November saw lacklustre trading session.Sensex gained for sixthconsecutive session asit closed 35.98 points upat 40,165.03 gainingjust 0.09 per cent. TheBSE index touched anintra-day high of40,283.30 and low of40,014.23.

Nifty-50 index closed13.15 points or 0.11 percent higher at11,890.60. The broadermarket outperformedwith BSE Mid CapIndex up 0.18 per centand BSE Small CapIndex up 0.32 per cent.Sector wise BSE Autoindex fell 0.75 per centas October month salesannounced so far weremixed. Other laggardsincluded BSE CapitalGood (-0.72 per cent),Consumer Durables (-1.16 per cent), IT (-0.77per cent). The gainersincluded BSE Metal(2.50 per cent), Telecom(1.49 per cent), Bankex(0.84 per cent), FMCG(0.46 per cent) andHealthcare (0.56 percent). Foreign portfolioinvestors were net buy-ers of equities worth`533.37 crore while thedomestic institutionsbooked were net sellersby `136.50 crore.

Technical View Mustafa Nadeem,

CEO, Epic Researchsaid, “Novemberrollover data showedmuch better numberswith Nifty seeingabove average whilethe underperformancefrom Bank Nifty con-tinued. So we do expectNifty to continue itsoutperformance withmuted action in Niftybank, which is skewedto private banks.”

“In the coming week,we will have earningsnumbers from HDFC,Dabur, Tata Steel, Canbank and also Divisand Titan which havebeen outperforming. Alot will also depend onhow global markets areperforming as theywill direct domesticsentiments. We remainbullish as far as Niftyis sustaining above11700 and dips shouldbe utilized,” he said.

Sameet Chavan, chiefanalyst-Technical andDerivatives, AngelBroking said, “Sensexalready posting a freshhigh, the Nifty is notgoing to shy away for along time. Soon, wewould be witnessingNifty traversing the12,000 mark to gobeyond its record highof 12103.05. Before thissome brakes seems tohave applied on therecent momentum.”

Market view

Sanjeev Zarbade, vicepresident, PrivateClient Group Research,Kotak Securities said,“Global equities wereflat or sideways duringthe week. Market senti-ment in the US wasmore driven by thedevelopments on theUS China trade deal.While in recent weeks,the trade talks seemedto be moving in theright direction but dur-ing the week, theChinese haveexpressed doubtswhether long termtrade deal is possible,leading to some weak-ness in US stocks. TheBSE-30 Index gained2.9 per cent in the pastweek. Markets wereupbeat on reports ofbetter-than-expectedfestive sales and slight-ly better-than-expected2QFY20 results as wellas progress on tradedisputes between USand China and a 25 bpsrate cut by the US Fed.FPIs bought equitiesworth $1.1 billion overthe past five tradingsessions while domes-tic institutionalinvestors sold $67 mil-lion worth of equi-ties,” Zarbade said.

Nov. tradebegins on aweak note

RBI rejigs internal setupto monitor banks better

■Central bank creates new supervisory and regulatory cadre

New Delhi, Nov. 1: Tele-com regulator Trai onFriday fixed phone callring time at 30 seconds formobiles and 60 seconds forlandline phones in case thecall is neither answerednor rejected by a sub-scriber.

The new rules will comeinto effect after 15 days.

“The time duration ofalert for an incoming voicecall, which is neitheranswered nor rejected bythe called party, shall bethirty seconds for CellularMobile Telephone Service(CMTS) and sixty secondsfor basic telephone serv-ice,” Trai said in an amend-ment to quality of servicenorms for basic telephoneservice and cellular mobiletelephone service.

The UN body Internati-onal TelecommunicationUnion (ITU) has specifica-tions for international callsor circuits in the range of1.5 minutes to 3 minutesbut there is no prescribedvalue for the timer fordomestic calls.

The present range ofduration of call alert bydifferent telecom serviceproviders (TSPs) variesfrom 30 seconds to 45 sec-onds in case of the mobilenetworks, except one tele-com operator has set “alertduration” as 25 secondsand in case of basic tele-phone networks, it variesfrom 60 seconds to 120 sec-onds.

Reliance Jio has accusedold operators, including

Bharti Airtel and VodafoneIdea, of “illegally” mas-querading wire-line num-bers as mobile numbers for“undue enrichment” andhas exhorted Trai to slap“severest penalty” on themfor violating regulationsand licensing norms.

Bharti Airtel has hit backsaying Jio is trying to mis-guide the regulator aheadthe consultation on callconnect charges (alsocalled interconnect usagecharges).

Telecom operators ontheir own were reducingincoming call ring time toattract reverse call fromsubscribers of other net-works.

Under the new rules, tele-com operators on whosenetwork call is made willhave to release the networkchannel which has beenused to send incoming callalert after 30 secondson mobile network and 60seconds on landline net-work.

Trai: Mobile callsto ring for 30 sec,landline 60 sec

SANGEETHA GCHENNAI, NOV. 1

By accelerating digitisationand leveraging next genera-tion technologies, the lifeinsurance sector can dou-ble its assets under man-agement to `70 lakh croreand the non-life to `4 lakhcrore, finds a study.

According to a study byBoston Consulting Group(BCG) and FICCI, the AUMof life business will growby a CAGR of 14 to 15 percent till FY25 and this willdouble the assets from`35.80 lakh crore to Rs 70 –75 lakh crore.

Non-life AUM too isexpected to grow by 15 to 16per cent from Rs 1.7 lakhcrore to Rs 3.85 – 4.15 lakh

crore in the next 5 to 6years. The new annualizedbusiness premiums of lifeinsurance sector and grosspremiums of non-life willalso grow at a similar pace.

Digital trends will be akey catalyst for growth andwill be at the core of theindustry’s transformation,finds the study. Insurerswill have to drive digital-ledtransformation across 10major themes to unlockgrowth, improve businesseconomics, and deliver sup-erior customer, distributor,and partner experience.

This includes building acustomer centric mindset,building bionic distribu-tion by leveraging digitaland data as a ‘force multi-plier’ to enhance human

interactions improving pro-ductivity and quality.

Insurers will have toaccelerate process digitiza-tion and automation bydeploying next generationtechnologies such as robot-ic process automation, arti-ficial intelligence andmachine learning. Theywill have to set up ‘next

generation’ technologyfunction as the core of adigital-led model andrewire business using ana-lytics at scale.

Policymakers and the reg-ulator also will have to playa crucial role in enablingthe insurance industry toinnovate. They will have todrive reforms in public sec-

tor insurance companies,deepen penetration ofinsurance through socialsecurity schemes, helpaddress product-need gapsby enhancing coverage ofsocial security schemes andencourage cross-pollina-tion of product innovation.

The sector will also needpolicies to attract furthercapital flow to the industry,encourage innovation,implement robust risk-based capital regime intimely manner and facili-tate dynamic underwritingfor enabling further prod-uct innovation. Mostimportantly, insurers willhave to adapt to the fastevolving reality and investin themselves as well astheir partners.

Insurance AUMs can double in 5 yrs with digitisation

PAGE

10

◗ The AUM of life busi-ness will grow by aCAGR of 14 to 15 percent till FY25 and thiswill double the assetsfrom `35.80 lakh croreto `70-75 lakh crore.

◗ Non-life insuranceAUM too is expected togrow by 15 to 16 percent from `1.7 lakhcrore to `3.85 -`4.15lakh crore in the next 5 to 6 years.

MARKET FORECAST

—RAVI RANJAN PRASAD

FC BANKING BUREAUMUMBAI, NOV. 1

Private sector lenderYes Bank on Fridayreported a net loss of`600 crore in the secondquarter ended Septem-ber 30, hurt by a one-time deferred tax adjust-ment (DTA) of `709crore and higher provi-sions on impaired loans.

Excluding the one timeDTA impact, the adjust-ed net profit was at `109crore. Yes Bank hadreported a net profit of`965 crore in the samequarter of the previousyear. Net interestincome during the quar-ter declined 9.6 per centyear-on-year to `2,185.91crore, including theimpact of around `228crore due to fresh slip-pages. The Non-interestincome or other incomein the second quarterdeclined by 35.8 per centyear-on-year to `946crore.

Provisions rose by 42per cent to `1,336 crorein the September quar-ter, as compared to `939crore in the year agoperiod. The pre-provi-sion operating profit fell38.4 per cent yoy to`1,458.44 crore.

Yes Bankregisters`600cr loss

Hyderabad, Nov. 1: DrReddys LaboratoriesLimited on Friday saidits profit after tax (PAT)for the quarter endedSeptember 30 was up 117per cent to `1,092.50crore.

Attributing theincrease to one-time rev-enues from selling therights of three brandsand tax advantage, pres-ident, CFO and globalhead (HR) of the city-based drug-makerSaumen Chakrabortysaid the PAT was `503.80crore for the secondquarter of FY19.

Revenue for the quar-ter under review was upby 26 per cent at `4,801crore against `3,798crore in the same quar-ter last fiscal, he said.

DRL garnered `720crore towards licencefee for selling US andselect territory rightsfor two of their neurolo-gy brands Symtouch(sumatriptan injection)and Tosymratm (suma-triptan nasal spray) 10mg and Zembrace toU p s h e r - S m i t hLaboratories, he said.

The drug-maker alsohad an income tax bene-fit of `326 crore duringthe quarter. — PTI

DRL profitmore thandoubles

New Delhi, Nov. 1:India's offer of seven oilblocks on revamped lice-nce terms attracted justeight bids from state-owned firms includingsix single bids in the lat-est licensing roundignored by both privateand foreign companies.

The Directorate Gene-ral of Hydrocarbons(DGH) in a statementsaid state-owned ONGCbid for all the sevenblocks while Oil IndiaLtd (OIL) put in an offerfor one block at the closeof bidding on Thursday.

The block in Rajasthansaw competition fromONGC and OIL but thefive in Madhya Pradeshand one in West Bengalsaw single bids fromONGC, DGH said.

“Seven onland blockswere on offer (in thefourth round of OpenAcreage LicensingPolicy) with an area ofapprox 18,500 sq km,”DGH said. “The resultsdemonstrate continuedinterest of establishedplayers in Indian E&P(exploration and pro-duction) with bidsreceived for all 7 blocks.The evaluation of thebids would be undertak-en in a time-bound man-ner.” — PTI

Oil blocks bidfails, only 2PSUs show up

The present range ofduration of call alertby different telecomservice providers(TSPs) varies from 30seconds to 45 sec-onds in case of themobile networks,except one telecomoperator has set“alert duration” as25 seconds

FC BUREAUNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

A day after IndiGo AirlinesA320 Neo plane had toreturn midway due toengine issues, the DirectorGeneral of Civil Aviation(DGCA) has ordered theairline to replace all of its97 A320 Neo planes thathave old Pratt and Whitney(PW) engines by Januaryend.

The latest order comes asa follow-up of an earlierDGCA order to changeengines in its 16 airplanes.

On Wednesday, one of thePW engines of an IndiGoA320neo plane that washeading to Pune stalledmid-air, forcing the pilot toreturn to Kolkata. Upsetwith such incidents, theDGCA said that last oneweek has witnessed fourAir Turn Back/InflightShut down and has causedserious concern and result-ant disruption.

“This situation cannot beallowed to go on indefinite-ly. Therefore, after consid-erable deliberations, it hasbeen decided that all air-craft in your fleet number-ing 97 as on date, need to beplaced with modified LPTfor both the engines.Appreciating that the task

is difficult and cannot beachieved instantly, it hasbeen further decided thatthe operator must ensurethat all these aircraft areprovided with ModifiedLPT by January 31, 2020 atall costs. In case, it is notdone, such aircraft shallnot be allowed to fly withunmodified engines,” theDGCA said in its letter toIndiGo.

It added that in such a sit-uation the airlines mayhave to stagger or defer itsfuture induction plans andprocure sufficient numberof modified engines to keepthe existing fleet in opera-tion. “You will appreciatethat four successive eventshave not happened everbefore and therefore, callfor an urgent and effectiveaction. We regret the

inconvenience but we needdesperate measures to putthings in order,” the DGCAletter to IndiGo said.

IndiGo and GoAir are thetwo airlines that have beenfacing glitches in PWengines. Out of its fleet of247 aircraft, IndiGo has 92n e w g e n e r a t i o n A 3 2 0NEOs while GoAir has 35.At present there are 127such aircraft in India –which means about 40 percent of the domestic seatcapacity — and 436 globally.Post induction of A320 Neoaircraft fitted with PW1100G engines into servicesignificant technical issueshave been experienced onthese engines worldwide.These include LowPressure Turbine failure,Gear Box failure, enginevibration.

Replace jet engines or facegrounding: DGCA to IndiGo

RAVI RANJAN PRASADMUMBAI, NOV. 1

Auto stock fell as Octobermonth sales data hit mar-ket on Friday which werenot as per market expecta-tions. Earlier last monthauto stocks had rallied onhope of better sales duringthe festival season, theNSE Auto index hadgained close to 13 per centin October.

But there was disappoint-ment as first set of autosales number hit marketon Friday.

But for Maruti otherautomobile companiesreported decline in salesin October month year onyear. Hyundai, Mahindra,Tata Motors, ToyotaKirloskar and Honda Carsreported decline in sales,though their monthly salesimproved month on monthfrom September 2019 dueto festival season demand.

Auto makers, however,saw a pick up in sales dur-ing the Diwali season.

BSE Auto Index fell 0.75per cent while NSE AutoIndex fell 0.67 per cent. Theauto ancillaries makerswere mixed though.

The losers on NSE includ-ed TVS Motor (-3.92 percent), Mahindra & Mahin-dra (-2.71 per cent), EicherMotor (-2.39 per cent), TataMotors (-1.52 per cent),Bajaj Auto (-0.53 per cent).

Maruti stock gained 0.56per cent on reportingimprovement in monthlysales closing at Rs 7616.25on the BSE.

Amara Raja Batteriesand Exide Industriesgained 1.41 per cent and1.19 per cent respectively,other gainers were BharatForge (0.85 per cent) andBosch (0.42 per cent).

New Delhi, Nov. 1: The gov-ernment is likely to releasethe first index in Januaryto rank states and Unionterritories based on theirpreparedness to promoteexports, an official said.

The exercise would helpin promoting healthy com-petition among states andUTs to work on parametersfor promoting the coun-try’s exports, which is oneof the key indicators forboosting economic growth.

The index will rank themon some key parameterssuch as business environ-ment, infrastructure,transport connectivity,access to finance, exportinfrastructure and tradesupport, the official said.

Both the Niti Aayog andthe commerce ministry isworking on this index.

Besides overall ranking,it will also be there forcoastal states, landlockedstates and hilly states.

According to experts, theexercise would help in giv-ing a direction to states and

UTs to work on their poli-cies and infrastructure toattract both investors andexporters.

“It would give an empiri-cal tool to states and UTsfor introspection for theirexport preparedness.Exporters will also get adirection and guideline,”Professor at IndianInstitute of Foreign Trade(IIFT) Rakesh Mohan Joshisaid.

The government isalready carrying out simi-lar exercise to rank statesand UTs on the ease ofdoing business.

Several steps are beingtaken to promote foreigntrade as it constitutes 45per cent of the country’seconomy. There is a targetto increase share of thecountry’s exports in globaltrade.

India’s share in globalmerchandise exports andservices was 1.7 per centand 3.4 per cent, respective-ly. — PTI

Mumbai, Nov. 1: Even as there arereports of companies laying offand putting a halt to new hiring,some sectors remain resilient dur-ing this difficult times, includingbanking and financial services,FMCG, food and technology,according to industry experts.

Despite the economic downturn,the BFSI sector has shown a posi-tive outlook in terms of hiring,TeamLease Service vice presidentAjay Shah said.

Banks’ penetration into ruralmarkets will result in a surge ofjob opportunities in tier II-IIIcities, he said. Top banks likeHDFC Bank and Axis Bank areslated to add around 10,000 jobs inthe next 9 to 12 months, he added.

Similarly, retail and online busi-

ness have shown demand in thehiring of temporary and contractu-al workers so fresh hiring can beseen in this sector. For this festiveseason, e-commerce portalsincreased their temp head-count by 30-50 per centyear-on-year,” he added.

However, automotive,real estate and manufac-turing sectors are affect-ed the most, he saidadding it has seen around2.3 lakhs of lay-offs, thehighest in the last 20 yearsdue to a dip in sales.

In the real estate sector, lakhs ofjobs have been lost because of thelow demand and liquidity crunchand according to estimates morethan a million jobs will still be lost

in the coming few months, headded.

Since there is a dip in the produc-tion in the manufacturing sector,

jobs are being cut in this indus-try across the ancillary com-

panies in food processing,auto and agriculture, hesaid.

Michael Page Indiamanaging directorNicolas Dumoulin

opined that everythingwithin the technology

space is resilient todaybecause there is already a shortageof good people within that particu-lar field. “Most companies knowthat they need to invest in technolo-gy to be future-ready. And there’s ahuge start-up community in India,

which requires and thrives on tech.So these types of industries, whichare looking at long term growth aretypically tech-based. We have nothad any reduction in hiring in thissector,” he added.

He said due to the liquiditycrunch in the markets investmentshave been altered in heavy capitalequipment, real estate and so on.

Claricent Partners ManagingPartner Jyoti Bowen Nath saidmany small and medium-scalecompanies have been forced to layoff lakh of employees over the pastfew months to reduce productioncosts. Contractual manufacturingjobs, associated with the auto sec-tor would also be at risk because oflower consumption. — PTI

States to be ranked forexport-preparedness

BFSI, FMCG, tech sectors resilient to layoffs: Experts

Auto-motive, real

estate and man-ufacturing sec-

tors are affectedthe most, he

said

Auto sales failto enthusestock markets

LIC’s new MDstake chargeof officeFC BUREAUMUMBAI, NOV. 1

Mukesh Kumar Gupta andRaj Kumar have takencharge as new managingdirectors of LIC on Friday.

Prior to taking over thischarge, Mr Gupta wasexecutive director (person-nel). Earlier to that, he waszonal manager (I/C),Central Zone, Bhopal. Hiskey postings include execu-tive director (bancassur-ance and alternate chan-nels), director (manage-ment development centre),chief (marketing), regionalmanager (marketing),Western Zone, Mumbai.

Raj Kumar served the LICas executive director(international operations),CEO, LIC Mutual FundAsset Management, zonalmanager (I/C), CentralZone, Bhopal, ED (HRD-OD), ED (estate and officeservices).

Stanley Kubrick refused to talk about his movieson set as he was directing them and neverwatched them when they were completed

PAGE

11MoviesSATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

ARNAB BBANERJEE

What does a 30-year-old man dowhen he gets to know that hisfast progressing problem ofalopecia (or unpredictable hair

loss) could lead to his remaining a bache-lor all his life? He panics, of course. But isthere any hope, or any remedy that wouldbring some semblance of happiness in hislife? Director Abhishek Pathak’s directo-rial debut Ujda Chaman is about a bache-lor Chaman Kohli, who is a Hindi lecturerin a prestigious college in Delhi, and suf-fers from premature balding, but is in thequest for a beautiful wife. The two have tobe juxtaposed to let you know that the filmwritten by Danish Singh and Raj B. Shettyis all about a young man tryinghard to find a suitable bridefor himself. Despite his“problem” in place!

After facing severalrejections as a prospec-tive groom because ofhis baldness, Chaman(Sunny Singh) hits rockbottom when anastrologer (SaurabhShukla) spells doom forhim, and pro-

nounces a deadline to either find himselfa girl or remain celibate forever. His par-ents (theatre actor Atul Kumar andGrusha Kapoor) are worried stiff too, andso is his younger brother (Gagan Arora),who gives emotional trauma to him evenas he struggles hard to come to terms withhis insoluble problem.

The rest of the film is all aboutChaman’s struggle at the workplace, hispride collapsing at his sense of rejectionby young girls, and eventually his self-dis-covery and acceptance.

That Chaman is striving hard to dealwith his lack of confidence is what onegathers right off the bat when Chamanand his family are shown visiting a typi-cal Punjabi middle class family in WestDelhi’s Rajouri Garden. They are virtual-ly thrown out for not letting them knowabout Chaman’s receding hairline. He isshattered and must do something. He triesto find himself a solution by visiting ahair transplant clinic where the astro-nomical damages in terms of a huge feemake his head go for a spin. His idea ofsporting a wig elicits only laughs from his

students, making him a laughing stock.Now, this was one opportunity for the

writers to come up with a script that couldhave just floated on the changing tides oftime, social stigmas, values and taste, andstill remained relevant and hilarious.Instead, what we have is a muddled storypopulated with thinly written characterswhich are wasted and are over the top.

When Chaman wants to go on a date andinvites a fellow lecturer (AishwaryaSakhuja) for a coffee, he is further hurtwhen she rejects the offer, and he takes itpersonally. There are other instances toothat knock him out to the extent that healmost gives up hope.

Finally, when his fortunes turn around ashe finds a pretty girl, Apsara (MaanviGagroo), but he seems to be under acutedistress over her overweight issues. Theintroduction of a character who is other-wise fine but is seemingly unfit for himlooks too contrived, and is clearly some-thing to rub it in — that everyone has somedrawback or the other. In yet another track,the director forces his moral codeon us by making Chamanbefriend his college peonwho it seems is too content-

ed and blissfully cheerful because of hisspouse and her concern for him.

The film is a remake of the Kannada hitOndu Mooeya Kathe, but has been onlyadapted partially. Chaman may not be per-fect but wants a girl who has to be picture-perfect. His confused state of mind andhis rejections point out a grave flaw in hisown character. How I wish the film haddealt with that part of his psyche in its 120minutes of runtime.

Whether it’s his lack of self-assurance,or his targeting Apsara for not being themost ideal match, the film’s narrativerecedes from other sensitive issues thatare most vital to such men. In a storywhere there is a larger challenge to notallow prejudices and stereotypical repre-sentations of men and women, the screen-play doesn’t allow itself to steer towardsan end where some of the questions couldhave been answered. Ultimately, wasn’tPathak trying to tell us that it’s our innerbeing that matters the most? Our physicalattributes don’t makes us human, and

remain superficial.The past decade or so, we have

seen quite a few Hindi films inwhich a personal anom-

aly, a disorder, or anailment has been

the focus, that too,of the lead charac-ter. As an instantrecall one can countGone Kesh, Dum

Laga Ke Haishya,which may be very

different from this film.But adding a certain

irregularity to the leadactress’ role, the character

— particularly BhumiPednekar’s in the latter — adds

enough spunk to her which evengives her strength to counter per-sonal jibes at her.

All those who may want to lookfor something relatable in thestory will be sorely disappointed.And the ones who want a laugh-riot will be annoyed at the juve-nile jokes and quite unintelli-gent and dim personal snideremarks being passed off forcomedy. One also felt sad thatan actor of Atul Kumar’s cali-bre is reduced to playing aloud-mouthed father. Kapooras his wife too is over the top.Movies on such subjects canturn out to be tricky pro-

ductions, more so, since justa week before we had to

endure the same saga. ButBala, next week’s film,

has the current flavourof Bollywood Ayush-

man Khurrana inthe lead.

Hopefully, itwill pass

muster.

RATINGOUR CRITIC’S Outstanding ★★★★★ | Great ★★★★ | Good ★★★ | Okay ★★ | Poor ★ | Truly Terrible TT

Ujda Chaman (U/A) 120 minCCAASSTT:: Sunny Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Maanvi GagrooDDIIRREECCTTOORR:: Abhishek PathakRRAATTIINNGG:: ★★★★

22000011:: AA SSPPAACCEEOODDYYSSSSEEYY

Released in 1968Review written on March 27, 1997

Roger Ebert’s

GGrreeaatt MMoovviieess

The genius is not in how much Stanley Kubrick doesin 2001: A Space Odyssey, but in how little. This is thework of an artist so sublimely confident that he does-

n’t include a single shot simply to keep our attention.He reduces each scene to its essence, and leaves it on

screen long enough for us to contemplate it, toinhabit it in our imaginations. Alone among sci-

ence-fiction movies, 2001 is not concerned withthrilling us, but with inspiring our awe.No little part of his effect comes from the music.

Although Kubrick originally commissioned an originalscore from Alex North, he used classical recordings as a

temporary track while editing the film, and they workedso well that he kept them. This was a crucial decision.

North’s score, which is available on a recording, is a good jobof film composition, but would have been wrong for 2001

because, like all scores, it attempts to underline the action —to give us emotional cues. The classical music chosen byKubrick exists outside the action. It uplifts. It wants to be sub-lime; it brings a seriousness and transcendence to the visuals.

The film did not provide the clear narrative and easyentertainment cues the audience expected. The closingsequences, with the astronaut inexplicably finding himselfin a bedroom somewhere beyond Jupiter, were baffling. Theovernight Hollywood judgment was that Kubrick hadbecome derailed, that in his obsession with effects and setpieces, he had failed to make a movie.

What he had actually done was make a philosophical state-ment about man’s place in the universe, using images asthose before him had used words, music or prayer. And hehad made it in a way that invited us to contemplate it — notto experience it vicariously as entertainment, as we mightin a good conventional science-fiction film, but to stand out-side it as a philosopher might, and think about it.

The film falls into several movements. In the first, prehis-toric apes, confronted by a mysterious black monolith,teach themselves that bones can be used as weapons, andthus discover their first tools. I have always felt that thesmooth artificial surfaces and right angles of the monolith,which was obviously made by intelligent beings, triggeredthe realisation in an ape brain that intelligence could beused to shape the objects of the world. The bone is throwninto the air and dissolves into a space shuttle (this has beencalled the longest flash-forward in the history of the cine-ma). We meet Dr Heywood Floyd (William Sylvester), enroute to a space station and the moon. This section is will-fully anti-narrative; there are no breathless dialogue pas-sages to tell us of his mission. Instead, Kubrick shows usthe minutiae of the flight: the design of the cabin, thedetails of in-flight service, the effects of zero gravity.

Then comes the docking sequence, with its waltz, and fora time even the restless in the audience are silenced, I imag-ine, by the sheer wonder of the visuals. On board, we seefamiliar brand names, we participate in an enigmatic con-ference among the scientists of several nations, we see suchgimmicks as a videophone and a zero-gravity toilet.

The sequence on the moon (which looks as real as the actu-al video of the moon landing a year later) is a variation onthe film’s opening sequence. Man is confronted with amonolith, just as the apes were, and is drawn to a similarconclusion: This must have been made. And as the firstmonolith led to the discovery of tools, so the second leads tothe employment of man’s most elaborate tool: the spaceshipDiscovery, employed by man in partnership with the artifi-cial intelligence of the onboard computer, named HAL 9000.

Life onboard the Discovery is presented as a long, eventlessroutine of exercise, maintenance checks and chess gameswith HAL. Only when the astronauts fear that HAL’s pro-gramming has failed does a level of suspense emerge; theirchallenge is somehow to get around HAL, which has beenprogrammed to believe, “This mission is too important forme to allow you to jeopardise it.” Their efforts lead to one ofthe great shots in the cinema, as the men attempt to have aprivate conversation in a space pod, and HAL reads theirlips. The way Kubrick edits this scene so that we can discov-er what HAL is doing is masterful in its restraint: He makesit clear, but doesn’t insist on it. He trusts our intelligence.

Later comes the famous “star gate’’ sequence, a sound andlight journey in which astronaut Dave Bowman (KeirDullea) travels through what we might now call a wormholeinto another place, or dimension, that is unexplained. Atthe journey’s end is the comfortable bedroom suite in whichhe grows old, eating his meals quietly, napping, living thelife (I imagine) of a zoo animal who has been placed in afamiliar environment. And then the Star Child.

There is never an explanation of the other race that pre-sumably left the monoliths and provided the star gate andthe bedroom. 2001 lore suggests Kubrick and Clarke triedand failed to create plausible aliens. It is just as well. Thealien race exists more effectively in negative space: Wereact to its invisible presence more strongly than we possi-bly could to any actual representation.

2001: A Space Odyssey is in many respects a silent film.There are few conversations that could not be handled withtitle cards. Much of the dialogue exists only to show peopletalking to one another, without much regard to content (thisis true of the conference on the space station). Ironically,the dialogue containing the most feeling comes from HAL,as it pleads for its “life” and sings Daisy.

The film creates its effects essentially out of visuals andmusic. It is meditative. It does not cater to us, but wants toinspire us, enlarge us. Nearly 30 years after it was made, ithas not dated in any important detail, and although specialeffects have become more versatile in the computer age,Trumbull’s work remains completely convincing — moreconvincing, perhaps, than more sophisticated effects inlater films, because it looks more plausible, more like docu-mentary footage than like elements in a story.

Only a few films are transcendent, and work upon ourminds and imaginations like music or prayer or a vast belit-tling landscape. Most movies are about characters with agoal in mind, who obtain it after difficulties either comic ordramatic. 2001: A Space Odyssey is not about a goal but abouta quest, a need. It does not hook its effects on specific plotpoints, nor does it ask us to identify with Dave Bowman orany other character. It says to us: We became men when welearned to think. Our minds have given us the tools to under-stand where we live and who we are. Now it is time to moveon to the next step, to know that we live not on a planet butamong the stars, and that we are not flesh but intelligence.

Muddled and unsure!

Published by T. Venkateswarlu for and on behalf of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited at Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi 110 002. and Printed by him at BFL Infotech Limited, C – 9, Sector – III, Noida – 201301. Editor – T. Venkatram Reddy,RNI Registration number 57290/94, Price in Nepal - Nep. Rs. 20.00 per copy.

PAGE

12NewsmakersSATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Bee Gees’ biopicParamount Pictures isworking on a biopic of thelegendary band, Bee Gees

IN BRIEF

Los Angeles: Hollywood starMeg Ryan and musician John

Mellencamp have partedways and called off their

engagement. The duo decid-ed to go their sperate ways

after being together for eightyears. According to E! online,Ryan ended the engagement.

“It got exhausting for her todeal with. There were too

many ups and downs and itwasn’t healthy. She just

needed to get out and not be in that environment anmore. It’s for the best and

she can focus on herself for awhile. “She cares about John

but it was time for her tomove on,” a source told the

publication. — PTI

Los Angeles: Author GeorgeMartin has made it “perfectlyclear” that he will start work-ing on Game of Thrones pre-

quel House of The Dragononly after he is finished withWinds of Winters, the long-pending penultimate install-

ment of his A Song of Iceand Fire saga. The epic fan-tasy series, which served asthe basis for HBO’s multiple award winning show, awaits

the final two books — TheWinds of Winter and A

Dream of Spring — that theauthor had announced long

back but has not yet penned.— PTI

Meg Ryan and JohnMellencamp split

Joaquin’s Joker isone of the greatest

performances I haveever seen

Jessica Chastain,American actress

Martin to work onGoT prequel later

Los Angeles: Actor CubaGooding Jr pleaded not

guilty to fresh charges ofsexual misconduct involvinga third woman on Thursday.It comes less than a month

after the star denied accusa-tions of groping one

woman’s breasts and pinch-ing another woman’s but-

tocks, the BBC reported. The51-year-old Jerry Maguire

star pleaded not guilty to thenew charges of forcible

touching and sexual abuse inManhattan Supreme Court.

He is due back in court on 22January. — Agencies

Gooding denies newsexual assault charge

London: Actress OliviaColman has received her CBE

medal from the PrincessRoyal at Buckingham Palace.Colman, who will portray the

Queen in the new series ofThe Crown, was given the

award byPrincess Anne,rather than the

monarch herself.The 45-year-old

star accepted thegong under her

real name, SarahSinclair, for serv-ices to drama. It

caps quite a yearfor Colman, whowon an Oscar in

February for playing QueenAnne in The Favourite. Theceremony also comes justweeks before The Crown,

which charts the story of theroyal family during the

Queen’s reign, returns onNetflix, the BBC

reported.Colman will takeover from Claire Foy as the

monarch for the third andfourth series. The third

series, which launches on 17November, will cover the

years 1964-1977. British cavedivers Joshua Bratchley and

Connor Roe also receivedtheir MBEs after helping tosave a young football team

trapped in a flooded cave inThailand last year. — Agencies

OLIVIA COLEMANCOLLECTS HER

CBE FROM ANNE

OliviaColman

Banjul, Gambia: AGambian former beautyqueen on Thursdayaccused former PresidentYahya Jammeh of rapingher to punish her forrejecting his marriageproposal, in evidence tothe country’s truth andreconciliation commis-sion.

“What he wanted to dowas to teach me a lesson,what he wanted to do ismanifest his ego,” FatouJallow said.

“There were words like‘who do you think youare?’, that he is thePresident and that he getsany woman that hewants,” Jallow toldGambia’s Truth,Reconciliation andReparations Commission.

Jammeh fled the countryin January 2017 after los-ing presidential electionsand initially refusing tostep down.

He had come to power ina bloodless coup in July1994 and was repeatedly

re-elected in disputed cir-cumstances until beingdefeated in December 2016by the relatively unknownAdama Barrow.

After other West Africanstates intervened, he fledinto exile in the centralAfrican state ofEquatorial Guinea.

The Truth,Reconciliation andReparations Commissionwas set up to review abus-es under Jammeh. — AFP

Ex-Gambia Prez raped me,says former beauty queenSays President wanted to manifest his ego & teach me a lesson

The indestructible happymeal protected in Iceland

Washington: Hordes ofbrain-munching undeadterrorising neighbor-hoods make for fun televi-sion and movies, but zom-bies could never be real...Or could they?

There are in fact a grow-ing number of document-ed examples in the animalkingdom of parasites thatchange their hosts’ behav-ior — and increasing evi-dence that humans are notimmune to zombie-likemanipulations.

It’s a subject that fasci-nates theoretical evolu-tionary biologist AthenaAktipis of Arizona StateUniversity, who hosts apodcast called“Zombified” that appliesreal world science to thetypes of apocalyptic sto-ries first popularized byfilmmaker George Romeroin the 1960s and now a sta-

ple horror genre. “Morethan half of the speciesthat we know on Earth areparasites,” Aktipis said.

One example is theOphiocordyceps fungus,which releases spores thatinfect the carpenter ant’sbody, allowing it to takeover the insect’s locomo-tive activity.

Eventually, it kills itshost by forcing it to leave

its nest and bite down on apiece of vegetation whichit gets stuck to as a resultof a tetanus-like infectionthat gives it lockjaw.

The parasitic funguserupts out of its host’shead with a mushroom-like growth called a stro-ma. At night, when unin-fected ants are out forag-ing, this growth shoots outmore infectious spores

and the 2-3 week cyclerepeats itself.

“We’re totally convincedthat the behaviors that theant show are all to benefitthe fungus,” said Charissade Bekker, an assistantprofessor of biology at theUniversity of CentralFlorida who is carryingout genetic research tobetter understand thetakeover process. — AFP

Zombie science: Will the undead rise?

HEALTH NUGGETS

Washington: Infectionby the measles viruscauses long-term dam-age to the immune sys-tem, and makes peoplevulnerable to otherinfections, accordingto a study which cau-tions parents to vacci-nate their childrenagainst the highly con-tagious airborne dis-ease.

The researchers,including those fromthe Howard HughesMedical Centre in theUnited States, hadanalysed blood from 77unvaccinated childrenfrom the Netherlandsbefore and after ameasles outbreakswept through theircommunity.

— PTI

London: Heavy tobaccosmoking may give you a“Smoker’s Face” — acondition where peoplelook older than theyare, according to astudy.

Researchers from theUniversity of Bristol inthe UK noted that somepeople carry one or twocopies of a genetic vari-ant linked with heaviertobacco use.

To identify the effectsof heavy smoking, sci-entists can separate outthe effects of the genet-ic variant throughtobacco use from otherpossible effects associ-ated with carrying thatvariant that are unre-lated to tobacco use.

The study has beenpublished in the jour-nal PLOS Genetics.

— PTI

Washington: In a first,researchers have foundthat the malaria parasitewhich kills nearly4,35,000 people world-wide every year, pre-pares for its life cycle inhumans even before itenters the host, anadvance that may lead tonew drug targets againstthe mosquito-bournedisease.

The study, published inthe journal NatureCommunications, notedthat the malaria parasitePlasmodium makes ablueprint of the proteinsit needs to infect theliver while still living inthe mosquito, well inadvance of its life cyclestages in the humanhost.

The researchers,including those fromPennsylvania StateUniversity in the US,

studied the proteins, andother molecules pro-duced by the parasite inits life cycle stage inmosquitoes called sporo-zoites.

“We found that thesporozoites make andstore all these plans forproteins, but then don’tactually make the pro-tein,” said study co-author KristianSwearingen fromSeattle’s Institute forSystems Biology in theUS.

The researchers saidthat the strategy makesthe Plasmodium adapt-able, helping it launchits attack seconds afterthe mosquito bites ahuman. — PTI

DECODED: HOWMALARIA PARASITEINFECTS HUMANS

MEASLES CAUSESDAMAGE TOIMMUNE SYSTEM

‘HEAVY SMOKINGCAN MAKE YOULOOK OLDER’

B r a s i l i a : B r a z i l i a nPresident JairBolsonaro’s governmentcancelled its subscrip-tions to one of the coun-try’s main newspapers inthe latest episode of hisopenly hostile relation-ship with his country’smajor media outlets.

“Today I decided thatthe Folha subscription iscanceled under my execu-tive power. Whoeverwants to read Folha canstop by the Brasilia busstation and buy it,” hesaid in Thursday’s week-ly Facebook live broad-cast. US President DonaldTrump — an ally ofBolsonaro — similarlycancelled subscriptionsto two of America’sbiggest newspapers, theNew York Times and

Washington Post, lastweek. Bolsonaro fre-quently lambastedBrazil’s media outlets —including Folha, TVGlobo, and Veja — bothduring his presidentialcampaign and since tak-ing office in January.

“We are not going tospend more money on anewspaper like that, andwhoever advertises withFolha, pay attention,” hesaid. — AFP

Brazilian Prez stopstaking biggest daily

Los Angeles: Veteranactor James Cromwellwas arrested during aprotest at Texas A&MUniversity.

The 79-ye a r- o l dactor anda n o t h e rman werec h a r g e dwith dis-o r d e r l yc o n d u c ta f t e rp o l i c esaid theydisrupt-ed ameeting of the TexasA&M University SystemBoard of Regents.

According to theHollywood Reporter,Cromwell was a part of ademonstration onThursday by people forthe ethical treatment ofanimals (Peta), toprotest A&M’s use ofdogs for medicalresearch.

The actor, who is ananimal welfare activist,was released after post-ing a bond of $5,000.

“Texas A&M continuesto torment goldenretrievers and otherdogs, even thoughdecades of these experi-ments have not led to acure for humans withmuscular dystrophy.

“It’s time to let the dogsout, and my friends atpeople for the ethicaltreatment of animalsand I want themreleased to good homeswhere they can live outthe rest of their lives inpeace,” Cromwell said ina statement issued byPeta.

Texas A&M Universityannounced had recentlythat it was reducing itsbreeding of dogs formedical research, butthe group wants theexperiments to stopentirely. — PTI

Cromwell heldfor protests against dog labat Texas varsity

JamesCromwell

Los Angeles: DavidLetterman has tenderedan apology to NellScovell, ten yearsafter she had calledhim out for creatingtoxic work environ-ment and indulgingin sexist behaviouron the sets of hislate night show.

Scovell, who worked as awriter on Late Night WithDavid Letterman in the1990s, had penned anessay in Vanity Fair in2009 and accused him ofpromoting “sexualfavouritism” among his

staffers. On Wednesday,Scovell wrote anotheressay for the outlet and

said that she andLetterman recent-ly had a conversa-tion about thewhole issue.

“You know, theother night I readthe piece that you

wrote 10 years ago. And Ithought, this is so dis-turbing and, sadly, a per-spective that I did nothave. I’m sorry I was thatway,” Letterman toldScovell during their meet-ing. — PTI

Canberra: An Australianreality TV show contest-ant has been arrested forallegedly assault-ing her Tinder dateand extortingmoney from him.

Suzi Taylor, 49,demanded moneyafter arrangingthrough the datingapp to meet the man at aBrisbane house onWednesday, police said.

When he refused to pay,another man allegedlyentered the room andassaulted the 33-year-oldvictim.

Ms Taylor appeared on ahit home renovationsshow, The Block, in 2015.

On Thursday, sheand a 22-year-oldman were arrestedand charged withextortion, assault,deprivation of lib-erty and otheroffences, BBC

reported.According to

Queensland police, thepair had held the victimagainst his will and hadforced him to transfermoney into a bankaccount. — Agencies

Letterman apologises to Nell Scovellover her ‘sexual favouritism’ claims

Australian reality TV show contestantSuzi Taylor ‘extorted’ her Tinder date

Jair Bolsonaro

Jaipur: Rajasthan-basedorganisation Karni Senahas sought a ban on thereality TV show BigBoss 13 for allegedly pro-moting obscenity duringa task name ‘Bed friendForever’

Calling it “highlydeplorable”, the organi-sation in its letter to theUnion minister of infor-mation and broadcast-ing Prakash Javdekaralso urged the govern-ment to immediately putban on broadcasting ofReality show Bigg Boss13 and lodged an F.I.R.against CEO of colorschannel and all produc-ers, directors, actors andparticipants of the show.

The makers of BigBoss Show have noshame or remorse of notbothering what kind ofan impact will it leaveon our generations tocome. The format of theshow is such that themakers cannot show

bonding, familyv a l u e s . . . , ”

the letterread.

— ANI

Karni Senanow wantsBigg Boss 13to be banned

NITIN MAHAJANNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

Big B willprovide thestar power atthis year’sInternationalFilm Festivalof India, the50th editionof the presti-gious event. 6 movies ofAmitabh Bachchan willbe showcased under theretrospective sectionof the festival scheduledto be held in Goabetween November 20 to28. It is understood thatBig B, as he is affection-ately called, has himselfapproved the 6 films tobe featured as per con-vention established forselection of films byDada Saheb PhalkeA w a r drecepient. Sources stat-ed that the Amitabh ret-rospective will beginfrom Nov. 21 with themovie Pa. Other filmsthat will be showcasedare Deewar, Sholay,Badla, Piku and Black.

Big B. to addstar powerto 50th IFFIthis year

Oxford, US: A womanhas been found deadwith an 8-foot-longpython wrappedaround her neck at asnake-laden home innorthern Indiana.

Indiana state policeSgt. Kim Riley says36-year-old LauraHurst of BattleGround was foundu n r e s p o n s i v eWednesday at home,with snake wrappedloosely around herneck. Woman’s causeof death remainsunder investigationwith an autopsy sched-uled Friday. — AP

With pythonaround neck,US womanfound dead

Big B

People incostumestaking aselfie duringHalloweenin China’sJiangsu.

— AFPJudith Light (above) atan event in New Yorkon Thursday. — AP

A model (left) walksramp during fashionweek in Beijing onFriday. — AFP

People in costumes participate in the annualvillage Halloween parade on Sixth Avenue on inNew York on Thursday. — AFP

A burger with a side of fries protected in a glasscase, belonging to Iceland’s Hjortur Smarason, is ondisplay in the Snotra House on Thursday. TheAmerican chain closed its only three branches inIceland during the subarctic island’s financial crisisin 2009, making it one of the only Western countrieswithout a McDonald’s. — AFP

Former Gambian beauty queen, FatouJallow, accused former President YahyaJammeh of raping her as punishment forrejecting his marriage proposal during atestimony. — AFP

MichaelDouglas (left)and Catherine

Zeta-Jones attendBette Midler’s annual

Hulaween party inNew York on

Thursday. — AP

◗ There are docu-mented examplesin the animal king-dom of parasitesthat change theirhosts’ behavior andan evidence thathumans are notimmune to zombie-like manipulations

◗ Jammeh fled the country inJanuary 2017 after losingpresidential elections andinitially refusing to stepdown◗ He had come to power in abloodless coup in July 1994and was repeatedly re-elect-ed in disputed circum-stances until beingdefeated in Dec.2016 by the rela-tively unknownAdama Barrow◗ After othercountries inter-vened, he fledinto exile inEquatorialGuinea Yahya Jammeh

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

In the wake of the Odd-Even implementation inDelhi from Wednesday,chief minister ArvindKejriwal held a reviewmeeting with all the con-cerned agencies onFriday. The CM wasapprised of several detailssuch as the actions to betaken on violators as wellas other preventive meas-ures by the concerneddepartments.

Mr Kejriwal wasinformed that this year,four departments will beauthorised to levy chal-lans or fines on the viola-tors. The SDMs and tehsil-dars from the revenuedepartment, the trafficpolice, the transportdepartment, and assistanttraffic inspector teamswill be able to levy fineson the violators. The vio-lations will be bookedunder the Motor VehiclesAct, compoundable with afine of `4000, which was`2000 in the earlier twoeditions of the scheme.

The Delhi transportdepartment has taken sev-eral steps this year toensure safe and conven-ient travel for the peopleduring the implementa-tion of the Odd-Evenscheme. They have issuedadvisories to companiessuch as Ola and Uber tonot surge prices and toTSRs and e-rickshaws toavoid over-charging. Thegoverment will alsodeploy civil defence vol-unteers on major intersec-tions in Delhi with plac-ards informing people ofthe Odd-Even rule andurging them to follow it.

The Delhi Metro RailCorporation will conduct61 additional trips and a

total of 5100 trips through294 trains and will displayelectronic messages on theOdd-Even scheme at vari-ous Metro stations. Toensure smooth function-ing of all the Metro linesand trains, 35 teams will bedeployed at all the majorMetro stations. Additionalmanpower will also bedeployed to manage theticketing system due to theincreasing inflow of peo-ple during the Odd-Evenimplementation.

The most significantmeasure, however, hasbeen taken by the DelhiTransport Corporation, inwhich 2000 additionalbuses will be engaged forpublic commuting. Thenumber of buses deployedhas been increased by1500 from the last Odd-Even implementation,where it was 500 buses in2017. All cluster buses will

also be deployed alongwith the entire fleet ofDTC buses.

Around 300 trafficinspectors and assistanttraffic inspectors will bedeployed in two shifts dur-ing the Odd-Even drive.

A special training pro-gramme was conductedfor TI, ATI and revenuedepartment officials ofDelhi TransportCorporation from 30th to31st October as directedby Delhi transport minis-ter Kailash Gehlot. Thechallan books, receiptsbooks, and guidelineshave been issued to theDTC officials during thetraining programme.

The training programfor the induction ofATIs/TIs of DTC was alsoheld on Friday at theDelhi SecretariatAuditorium from 10:30AM to 12:00 PM.

26-year-old mancommits suicide

New Delhi: As a part ofobservance of Vigilance

Awareness Week, a sensiti-sation workshop on anti-cor-

ruption awareness for Delhipolice personnel was con-ducted on Friday. The 243

personnel including 30ACPs, 44 inspectors, 43 SIs,50 ASIs, 72 head constablesand 4 constables from vari-ous districts and units were

there, said Addl CP(Vigilance) Dheeraj Kumar.

The workshop started with afilm on the history of Delhipolice which set the moodfor the workshop, pressing

home the grand legacy thathas to be carried forward for

the future Delhi police. Itwas followed by a presenta-

tion on “CorruptionMindset” by Spl. CP

Vigilance and later a lectureon “Aberrations in function-ing of Delhi police observed

during variousenquiries/investigations” by

Addl CP (EOW) Dr. O.P.Mishra.

New Delhi: A 19-year-old manwas shot at allegedly by twobike-borne men in southwest

Delhi’s Kishanganj area,police said on Friday. The vic-

tim has been identified asPrashant, a resident of

Kishanganj. The incident tookplace on Thursday evening,

they said, adding that the vic-tim has been admitted to the

Fortis Hospital and is recover-ing. Preliminary investigations

revealed that one of twoaccused - Sanjay - had a fight

with the victim’s brother onDiwali over a petty issue after

which he planned to takerevenge. Sanjay also lived in

the Kishanganj area, a seniorpolice officer said. On

Thursday evening, Prashantwas going with his brother

when Sanjay and his associ-ate, who were on a bike, shot

at him twice and fled fromthe spot. Prashant sustainedbullet injuries in his legs and

hip, the officer said.

New Orleans beatNuggets for first victory of season

SPORT | Basketball

14 15GUIDE TO FORTUNE

SHORT TAKES

■ Coffee ■1950■Marble

THE ANSWERS TO TODAY’S GUIDE TO FORTUNE

1For which crop produc-tion is ‘Saopalo’ famous?

■ Maize■ Coffee■ Cotton

2The Indo-Nepal Treatyof Peace and Friendship

was signed in which year?

■ 1950 ■ 1951■ 1952

3Which of the followingrocks is different from

the remaining three on thebasis of its mode of origin?

■ Sandstone■ Limestone■ Marble

NEW DELHI SATURDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2019

New Delhi: A 26-year-oldman allegedly committed

suicide after hanging fromthe ceiling of his rented

house in Dwarka’s UttamNagar area, police said on

Friday. Sashank Mishra was anative of Deoria in Uttar

Pradesh and used to work inan insurance firm at NehruPlace here. His neighbourcalled police after a foul

smell started coming out ofhis house. Police broke open

the gate and found Mishrahanging from the ceiling, hesaid. It seems like the victimhanged himself around two

to three days ago. No sui-cide note was recovered

from the spot, a seniorpolice officer said.

DELHI SPECIAL Yamitakes astand forBhumi

DELHI AGEMatinee 24

Awareness drivefor cops organised

Youth shot at bybike-borne men

Tick the answer and checkthem below. Public health emergency

declared in Delhi-NCR

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

Rajya Sabha member andformer Delhi BJP presi-dent Vijay Goel, on Friday,observed one-day fastagainst AAP govern-ment’s failure to controlair pollution.

He claimed that his fastagainst pollution was sup-ported by Delhi BJP presi-dent Manoj Tiwari, LokSabha member ParveshVerma, BJP nationalspokesperson ShahnawazHussain, hundreds ofRWA workers, and com-mon people.

Mr Goel said that he isfasting because of tworeasons—firstly, he isappealing to the people ofDelhi to co-operate in

reducing pollution levelsand secondly to pres-surise the ArvindKejriwal government totake some action.

“The Kejriwal govern-ment did not do anythingin reducing the pollutionlevels in the last five years,but it is about time thatthey wake up and takesome action. SAFAR,CPCB, and other environ-mental organisations havestated that stubble burn-ing contributes only fourto 10 per cent in pollutionlevels. The rest 90 per centis because of internalsources in Delhi like dustpollution, constructiondust, industrial pollution,burning plastic waste, etc.

“This fast is an indica-tion that everyone shouldcontribute in reducingpollution and stand upagainst the Delhi govern-ment’s failures and cal-lousness,” Mr Goel said.

Goel observes 1-day fastagainst AAP govt’s failure

Noida, Nov. 1: Two Uberdrivers and an AIIMS tech-nician were among 10 peo-ple held for assaulting androbbing passengers inNoida and Greater Noidaon the pretext of offeringthem a ride, police said onFriday.

The 10 accused are part ofthe three gangs involved inover 100 such cases in theregion and were held byofficials from the Site 5police station, they said.

All the accused thoughfrom different gangs wereknown to each other andwould pickup target pas-sengers from places likeSector 37, Pari Chowk,Mahamaya Flyover—major junctions for publichailing transportation,

early in the mornings orlate at night, a senior offi-cer said.

“All 10, including twoUber drivers and one for-mer Uber driver and a tech-nician working on ad-hocat the All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS)in Delhi, were currentlystaying in Gejha villageunder Sector 49 police sta-tion area,” SeniorSuperintendent of Police,Gautam Buddh Nagar,Vaibhav Krishna said.

“Probe findings indicatetheir involvement in over100 such cases — one of thebiggest — in which theyhave offered rides to peo-ple, then assaulted androbbed them off cash, valu-ables, credit/debit cards,

mobile phones, 18 of thesecases that took placerecently have been workedout with their arrest,” hetold reporters.

Nearly two dozen mobilephones, two illegalfirearms along with ammu-nition were recovered fromtheir possession and theirtwo hatchbacks with threeseparate number plates,

which were used by themduring crime, impounded,Krishna said.

Those held have beenidentified as ChandrakeshYadav, Bhagirath Yadav,Suresh Yadav, Kuldeep,Shashikant Singh, SurajSingh, Sonu Gautam,Badal Singh, Janardan andSonu Jatav, police said.

The district police chiefalso rewarded the Site 5police station team with`25,000 cash for workingout this case. Noida Policealso appealed to the peopleto be cautious while hitch-ing rides on unverifiedcabs, and opt only for taxisthat they have booked

themselves and match thedetails before a ride.

— PTI

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

The Delhi government onFriday decided to shut allschools till November 5after a Supreme Courtmandated panel declared apublic health emergency inthe Delhi-NCR region inthe wake of rising levels ofpollution.

As the air pollutionreached alarming levels,hospitals reported a surgein the number of patientssuffering from respiratoryand breathing complica-tions, with doctors advis-ing residents, especiallychildren and the elderly, tostay indoors as much aspossible.

“Patients are comingwith complaints of wateryeyes, cough, breathing dif-ficulty, allergy, exacerba-tion of asthma, and chron-ic obstructive pulmonarydiseases (COPD),” AIIMSdirector Randeep Guleriasaid, adding that childrenand those above the age of60 are the worst affectedwhen pollution levels arehigh.

Besides affecting thelungs, high levels of pollu-tants in the atmospherecause inflammation inblood vessels and may leadto hardening of arteries,which can act as a triggerfor stroke or heart attack inpersons already at risk ofthe disease, Dr Guleriaexplained.

In a tweet, chief ministerArvind Kejriwal said thatDelhi has turned into a“gas chamber” due tosmoke arising out of cropburning in Punjab andHaryana.

He said that the ManoharLal Khattar governmentand Captain AmrinderSingh government wereforcing their farmers toindulge in stubble burningcausing spike in pollutionin the national capital.

Stubble burning in theneighbouring states hasbeen one of the major con-tributors to pollution in thenational capital. OnThursday, stubble-burningin Punjab and Haryanacontributed to 27 per centpollution in Delhi while onWednesday the contribu-tion was recorded at 35 percent, the highest so far.

Mr Kejriwal also distrib-uted masks to school chil-dren as part of the govern-ment’s initiative to protectthem from pollution andalso explained the childrenabout stubble burning.

He told students thatsmoke emanating fromstubble burning in Punjaband Haryana was causingair pollution here andasked them to write lettersto the chief ministers ofthe two states urging themto control it.

As the pollution level inthe region entered the‘severe plus’ category, the

Environment Pollution(Prevention and Control)Authority (EPCA) bannedconstruction activity tillNovember 5 and burstingof crackers during the win-ter season.

“In the wake of the risinglevel of pollution caused bystubble burning, the Delhigovernment has decided toshut all schools tillNovember 5,” Mr Kejriwaltweeted in Hindi.

Unattended bag creates panic atIGI, later claimed by passenger AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

An unattended bag trig-gered panic on Friday atthe Delhi airport on thesuspicion of containingRDX, but officials latersaid it has been claimed bya passenger who had for-gotten it outside theTerminal-3.

It is almost certain thatthe bag does not have theexplosive, they said.

Shahid Hussain contact-ed airport authorities afterover 16 hours of allegedlylosing his bag. He said hehad forgotten it outside theIndira GandhiInternational Airport’sTerminal-3 after he arrivedfrom Mumbai on aSpiceJet plane, sourcessaid.

The man, the sources

said, told a joint investiga-tion team of security offi-cials that the bag con-tained a laptop, amongother items. He was takento the isolated area wherethe black coloured trolleybag was kept inside a totalcontainment vessel (TCV)or a thick metal sheetedbomb defusing container.

The entire security para-phernalia at the sensitiveairport went into a tizzyafter initial inputs suggest-

ed that the bag could beholding RDX. What addedto the suspicion was thatthe place where the bagwas spotted was in a “darkzone” outside the arrivalterminal, where there islittle CCTV coverage.

The bag was detectedaround 1 am by a CentralIndustrial Security Force(CISF) staffer.

“The bag was removedwith the help of the CISFand shifted to anotherplace. It has not beenopened yet. It seems likethere are some electricwires inside it. We haveincreased the security ofthe airport premises,”Sanjay Bhatia, DCP (air-port), said.

Preliminary inputs sug-gested the contents of thebag could be RDX, thesources said.

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

The Delhi governmenton Friday decided tostagger working hours ofits offices during theimplementation of the12-day Odd-Even scheme,a move aimed at reduc-ing traffic congestionand pollution in the city.

However, privateoffices in the nationalcapital will not comeunder the governmentorder, with chief minis-ter Arvind Kejriwal say-ing this is the first exper-iment of staggered officetimings, but next timethe AAP dispensationwill consider the samefor them.

“This is the first exper-iment of staggered officetimings. Private officesare not included but next

time we will considerstaggered timing forthem also,” Mr Kejriwalsaid at a press confer-ence here.

A senior official saidthat on an average,around 75 per cent gov-ernment offices open at9.30 am and close at 6 pm,while the rest of theoffices such as healthand education open at 9am.

According to an orderissued by the generaladministration depart-ment, working hours ofa total of 42 governmentoffices have been stag-gered, with 21 havingoffice timings from 10.30pm to 7 pm and the restfrom 9.30 am to 6 pm.

The order said the newoffice timings will beonly applicable duringthe Odd-Even schemefrom November 4-15.

Delhi govt employees tohave staggered work hrs

New Delhi, Nov. 1: Chiefminister Arvind Kejriwalon Friday told school-children in the city thatsmoke emanating fromstubble burning inPunjab and Haryana wascausing air pollutionhere and asked them towrite letters to chief min-isters of the two states.

Mr Kejriwal distributedmasks to schoolchildrenand also explained themabout stubble-burning.The Delhi governmenthas procured 50 lakh N95

masks for distributionamong children in pri-vate and governmentschools.

“Please write letters toCaptain uncle andKhattar uncle and say,‘Please think about ourhealth’,” he told chil-dren. He also urgedHaryana CM ManoharLal Khattar and PunjabCM Capt AmarinderSingh to think about thehealth of children andtake steps to stop stub-ble-burning. — PTI

CM asks schoolchildren to writeto ‘Captain uncle, Khattar uncle’

� The 10 accused arepart of the threegangs involved inover 100 such casesin the region andwere held by officialsfrom the Site 5 policestation

� Preliminary inputssuggested the con-tents of the bag couldbe RDX, the sourcessaid. It was checkedby an explosivedetector and a snifferdog.

SHASHI BHUSHANNEW DELHI, NOV. 1

Doctors at a leading hos-pital saved two youngkids suffering fromosteosarcoma, a raresttype of cancer. Five-year-old Atharv hadosteosarcoma near hipjoint and seven-year-oldIrfan’s lower thighbonedeveloped a cancer.Doctors claimed it wasunfortunate because theavailable treatmentmeant amputation of theaffected portion orremoval of tumor andimplantation of metallicprosthesis. Doctors per-formed new technique oflimb salvaging calledrotationplasty.

According to doctors,Atharv had the sarcomaat upper femur, near thehip joint while Md Irfanhad a 10 cm tumor nearthe knee. Talking aboutthese two rare cases,associate director andhead, MusculoskeletalOncology, Max SuperSpeciality Hospital,Saket, Dr Akshay Tiwarisaid, “One of the keyadvantage of rotation-plasty compared to othersurgical options is that itallows the child to have acomplete active lifestyle.With limb-salvage sur-gery or full amputation,the child wouldn’t havebeen able to do highimpact sports.”

Dr Tiwari said that inrotationplasty, the seg-ment of limb with thedisease is cut and onlythe artery, vein and nerveis preserved.

Docs save 2kids sufferingfrom rarestform of cancer

■ Schools shut till Nov. 5 as pollution reaches alarming level

2 Uber drivers held for robbing passengers

Adapting to pink ballis a challenge in D/NTest, says Pujara

SPORT | Cricket

Students go to school wearing masks to get protection from air pollution in New Delhion Friday. — PTI

No surge in auto, cab faresduring Odd-Even drive

Noted environmentalist and social activist ChandiPrasad Bhatt being conferred Indira Gandhi Award forNational Integration by Congress president SoniaGandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh at JawaharBhawan auditorium in New Delhi on Friday.

BJP Rajya MP Vijay Goelsits on fast in New Delhi onFriday. — ASIAN AGE

2,000 morebuses, 61 extraMetro trips

PAGE

14Cricket

TAKES

England draw firstblood in NZ T20

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: Former India cap-tain and CoA member Diana

Edulji on Friday took offence tothe “foolish” comment made by

Farokh Engineer targettingher, saying the 81-year-old’s

poor cricket knowledge sur-prised her.

Speaking to a newspaper,Engineer, who played 46Tests and five ODIs for

India, had ridiculed thecredentials of India’sfive-member selec-

tion panel led byMSK Prasad. He had

also calledCommittee of

Administrators’ 33-month tenure at the

BCCI a “waste of time”, sayingthe three-member panel had no

idea about the game thoughEdulji had played “little crick-

et”. “He is an old friend. Forsomeone whom I have knownfor years, I am surprised that

his knowledge of cricket is sopoor. I wish he had thought a

bit before making such a fool-ish statement. I don’t want tosay further because I respect

his cricket and he shouldrespect the cricket that I haveplayed,” Edulji, who played 20

Tests and 34 ODIs. “Whether itis women’s cricket or men’s

cricket, one should not discrim-inate between the two,” said

the 63-year-old. — PTI

NNeeww DDeellhhii,, NNoovv.. 11:: Indiacaptain Rohit Sharma onFriday assured BCCI bossSourav Ganguly that histeam are ready to playSunday’s T20 Internationalagainst Bangladesh despitegrowing concerns aboutsevere air pollution in theNational Capital Region.

While the Bangladeshiplayers wore anti-pollutionmasks during the fieldingsession in the morning,there was no such concernsfor the Indian team as theytrained in the afternoon.

“The BCCI presidentcalled the team to check onits well being. SouravGanguly had a discussionwith stand-in skipper RohitSharma on how the team iscoping up with the situa-

tion. Indian captain has con-firmed that the team wasfine and had a full outdoortraining session withoutany issue,” a BCCI sourcesaid.

Meanwhile, the CentralPollution Control Board(CPCB) has advised theDelhi and Districts CricketAssociation (DDCA) to“wash trees inside the FerozShah Kotla premises” and“track polluting items with-in its 2 km radius” ahead ofthe game.

RRoohhiitt ssuurrvviivveess ssccaarreeRohit, who was hit on hisleft abdomen during a netsession, has been declared“fit and available” for thefirst T20. Rohit received theblow early into the net ses-sion while taking throw-downs. After a few throw-

downs, one sharp deliv-ery hit Rohit on the

inside region ofleft thigh.

— PTI

NNeeww DDeellhhii,, NNoovv.. 11:: Gettingthe core of players rightwithout too much tinker-ing will be India’s prioritygoing into the 2020 T20World Cup, batting coachVikram Rathour said hereon Friday.

India will start theirthree-match T20 cam-paign against Bangladeshhere on Sunday with anaim to test young playerslike Shivam Dube andSanju Samson. Rathour

said that experiments canhappen but he is not infavour of frequent chopand change.

“You can’t be changingtoo much as well. I agree.But a big tournament iscoming so we need toknow the core of our teamand we need to maintainthat core,” Rathour saidduring the media confer-ence.

“And in between, try outnew players who are com-

ing through. If they workout good for our combina-tion, it will work for ourteam,” said Rathour.

The former India openersaid that winning match-es while batting first isone area the team needs toimprove on. “In the lastseries, we deliberatelybatted first in one gamewhich we lost. That’s oneare we need to work on.”

— PTI

NNeeww DDeellhhii,, NNoovv.. 11:: The pre-vailing smoggy conditionsin the national capital arenot perfect, admittedBangladesh coach RussellDomingo but said “no oneis dying” as pollution is anissue in their country aswell.

Domingo said gettingexposed to poor quality airin India was not as big ashock for them as it is forsome other countries.

Bangladesh players AlAmin, Abu Hider Rony

and team’s spin con-sultant Daniel

Vettori were seenwearing masks

during their

fielding sessionthis morning.

“We know the SriLankans struggled last

time and look there’s a bitof pollution in Bangladeshas well, so it’s a not a mas-sive shock unlike someother countries. The play-ers have just got on withthe game and haven’t com-plained too much about it,”Domingo told reporters.

As the situation got bet-ter, the players removedtheir masks, except Vettoriand other non-Bangladeshisupport staff. “It’s onlythree hours so it’s going tobe easy. There maybescratchy eyes, sore throatbut that’s ok. No one isdying,” Domingo added.

The pollution levels inthe Delhi-NCR regionentered the “severe plus”category” on Friday, pro-pelling the Environment

Pollution (Prevention andControl) Authority todeclare a public healthemergency. The SupremeCourt mandated panel alsobanned the bursting ofcrackers during the winterseason apart from banningthe construction activitytill November 5.

On Thursday, Bangladeshbatsman Liton Das brieflywore the mask duringpractice session but latersaid it was due to a person-al health issue and notbecause of pollution.Domingo admitted that thesituation is not ideal andit’s same for both teams.

“There’s no breeze butobviously not perfectweather with the smog.But it same for both teams.Not perfect, not ideal butyou can’t complaint aboutand get on with the game,”the coach said.

When India’s battingcoach Vikram Rathour’sresponse was sought onprevailing conditions, hesaid,”You are asking thewrong person. I haveplayed all my cricket inNorth India (Punjab andHimachal Pradesh).Basically nothing special.There is pollution but agame has been scheduledand we have to play.”

BCCI president SouravGanguly made it clear onThursday that match willnot be cancelled at the lastminute but promised prac-tical scheduling in future,hinting that North Indiavenues may not consideredfor matches post Diwali.

SShhaakkiibb eeppiissooddee wwiillllaaffffeecctt BBaannggllaa:: DDoommiinnggoo

Domingo expects therecent ban on Shakib AlHasan to affect the team’sperformance against Indiabut is hopeful that his play-ers will step up to the chal-lenge against the formida-ble hosts.

“He has been a big playerfor Bangladesh and is closefriends with a lot of play-ers. Obviously he has madea mistake and he is payingthe price for it,” Domingosaid. — PTI

We need to identify core ofplayers for T20 WC: Rathour

You can’t bechanging too

much as well. Iagree. But a bigtournament iscoming so weneed to know thecore of our teamand we need tomaintain thatcore.

—VIKRAMRATHOUR,

India battingcoach

KKoollkkaattaa,, NNoovv.. 11::Cheteshwar Pujara can’twait for India’s first everDay/Night Test despite allthe talk of it being a chal-lenge as he is confidentthat the country’s formida-ble batting line-up willhave no trouble adapting tothe pink ball.

The prolific batsmantopped the run charts (453)

with two daddyhundreds, includ-ing a 256 not outfor India Blue inthe Duleep

Trophy more thanthree years back

when pink ball wasexperimented with for

the first time by theSourav Ganguly-led BCCI

technical committee. Now, after taking over as

the BCCI president,Ganguly has convinced theBangladesh Cricket Boardand both the countries willplay their maiden pink ballTest at Eden Gardens fromNovember 22-26.

“It’s going to be excit-ing...What we played was afirst-class match, this isgoing to be a Test match.

I’m sure all the players areexcited about it,” theIndian Test No.3 said.

Pujara said pink ballcould pose some problemsduring the twilight period.“In the twilight period, Ifeel that maybe, sightingthe ball could be a littlechallenging. But the moreyou play, you get used to it.It’s always about experi-ence and knowing how theball is behaving,” he said.

Pujara had complainedabout sighting the ballunder lights in the 2016-17season but he claims to bebetter-prepared now. “Themore we play, the more wegain experience of how totackle the ball. I don’tthink it will require a hugechange to shift from redball to pink ball. The rea-son is it’s the same format.We are still playing a five-day match,” the 31-year-oldsaid.

“Yes, under lights, it willbe different. But it’s aboutgetting used to the pinkball. That’s what I feel.Rest, I don’t think will be amajor difference.”

— PTI

Agarwal, Gill hit tons asIndia ‘C’ storm into finalRRaanncchhii,, NNoovv.. 11:: OpenersShubman Gill andMayank Agarwalsmashed spectacular hun-dreds before Jalaj Saxenatook a career-best seven-wicket haul, steeringIndia ‘C’ into the final ofthe Deodhar Trophy witha massive 232-run winover India ‘A’, here onFriday.

India ‘C’ skipper Gill(143 off 142) and Testopener Agarwal (120 off111) shared a 226-runstand before a specialknock from SuryakumarYadav (72 not out off 29)propelled the team to 366for three in 50 overs.

India ‘A’ were never inthe chase and off-spinnerSaxena (7/41) ran throughtheir batting line-up witha memorable spell.

It was India A’s secondsuccessive defeat in asmany days, knockingthem out of the tourna-ment. India ‘C’ and India‘B’, who beat India ‘A’ onThursday, will play thefinal here on Monday.

Before the title clash,

they meet each other inthe final league game onSaturday.

India ‘C’ effectively bat-ted Hanuma Vihari-ledIndia ‘A’ out of the gamewith Agarwal and Gill pil-ing up the runs.

Gill, who was part ofthe India Test squad forthe home series againstSouth Africa but didnot get a game, ham-mered as many ashalf a dozen sixesbesides 10 fourson way to hishighest scorein List Acricket.

A g a r w a lcarried hisstellar formin Test crick-et into the 50-over for-mat, collecting 15fours and a six.

Following the open-ers’ double centurystand, Suryakumargot into the act andshowed why he is con-sidered as a dangerouswhite-ball batsman.

— PTI

Pujara says adapting to pinkball is a challenge in D/N Test

MMeellbboouurrnnee,, NNoovv.. 11::Australia cruised past SriLanka to clean-sweep theirthree-match Twenty20series Friday, with an in-form David Warner grind-ing out a third successivehalf-century in the sevenwicket win.

The home team have beendominant throughout, win-ning by 134 runs inAdelaide and by nine wick-ets with seven overs tospare in Brisbane ahead of

the clash in Melbourne.Sri Lanka’s batting had

been insipid until now, butthey finally posted a com-petitive score of 142 for six,with Kusal Perera hitting57.

However their bowlers,led by Lasith Malinga, havebeen no match for a qualityAustralian batting line-up,spearheaded by Warnerwho has now scored 217 inthree innings without los-ing his wicket.

“The way the bowlers setit up for us over the last twogames, it was outstanding,”said captain Aaron Finch.

— AFPBBrriieeff ssccoorreess:: Sri Lanka142/6 in 20 overs (K.Perera 57; Starc 2/32,Richardson 2/25,Cummins 2/23) lost toAustralia 145/3 in 17.4overs (A. Finch 37, D.Warner 57 not out;Malinga 1/22, Kumara1/49, Pradeep 1/20).

Warner leads Australia to T20clean-sweep over Sri Lanka

Australia celebrate after winning the three-match Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka onFriday. — AFP

Bangladesh coaches Daniel Vettori (left) and RussellDomingo wear masks during a training session in NewDelhi on Friday. — AFP

Rohit Sharma during atraining session in NewDelhi on Friday. — AFP

DEODHAR TROPHY

Air of uncertaintyIndia eager to play in Delhi despite growing concerns over air pollution

Cheteshwar Pujara

CChhrriissttcchhuurrcchh:: A maiden halfcentury from James Vince pow-

ered England to a convincingseven-wicket victory over New

Zealand in the openingTwenty20 international in

Christchurch on Friday.Vince top-scored for the

tourists with 59 as Englandchased down New Zealand’s

154-run target in 18.3 overs totake a 1-0 lead in the five-

match series. While Vince’sman-of-the-match performance

caught the eye, captain EoinMorgan was also full of praise

for his bowlers, who laid theplatform for victory by restrict-

ing the Black Caps to 153 forfive. “The game was won and

lost in the first innings... JamesVince played outstanding well

but all credit to the bowlerstoday,” he said.A three-wicket

haul from spinner MitchellSantner was not enough to res-cue the Black Caps, whose bat-

ting line-up failed to fire afterMorgan won the toss and sent

them in. England’s win camedespite the absence of severalsenior players, who have been

rested for the series after a gru-elling period that saw them win

the World Cup and fail toreclaim the Ashes. — AFP

Bangladesh coachsays no one will die

The dew factor is aconcern, there is nodoubt about that. Ifthe ball is wet, just

change it. — Dean Jones, former Australia

batsman on ‘dew factor’ in day-night Tests

Edulji hits out at‘friend’ Engineer

SHORT

THE ASIAN AGE

ClearedNew Zealand captain Kane Williamson’s bowling actionwas given the stamp of approval by the ICC after he wasreported during the first Test against Sri Lanka in August

SATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHI

PELICANS ROAR

SSyyddnneeyy,, NNoovv.. 11:: TennisAustralia put a brave faceon Friday on RogerFederer’s withdrawal fromthe inaugural ATP Cup,but some fans demandedrefunds after paying topdollar to see him.

The Swiss great, 38,announced on Thursday hewas pulling out of the newmen’s team competition, tobe held in Australia inJanuary, citing “familyreasons”.

He was scheduled to playin Sydney for Switzerlandin the innovative 24-teamtournament.

Matches will also takeplace in Perth andBrisbane with Aus$22 mil-lion ($15 million) in prizemoney and a maximum of750 singles and 250 doublesATP rankings points atstake.

Federer’s no-show leavesa big void, although worldnumber one NovakDjokovic and Rafael Nadalare still scheduled to takepart — in Brisbane andPerth respectively.

Some disgruntled fansdemanded refunds onTwitter.

“Very disappointing for

Fed fans who paid the exor-bitant ticket prices for hisSydney sessions. Will@TennisAustralia@ATPCup refund them?,” askedone.

Another complained: “Sohow do we get a refundthen? The prices werejacked up for Roger andnow he is not playing.”

Others called for a returnof the Perth-based mixed-teams Hopman Cup, whichroutinely got rave reviewsfrom players, including fre-quent visitor Federer, butwas axed to make way forthe ATP Cup.

“Terrible decision toremove Hopman cup, theplayers loved the relaxingstart to the Australian sea-son,” said one Twitter user.“Don’t want to say I toldyou so... but.” — AFP

SSeeppaanngg,, NNoovv.. 11:: Honda 2Wheelers India Pvt. Ltd.announced thatMohamed Mikail — the2018 IDEMITSU HondaIndia Talent Huntfindand running 2019IDEMITSU Honda IndiaTalent Cup (NSF250R)champion has made anew record. Just two years into racingwith Honda, the 15-year-old rider MohamedMikail from Chennai isnow the first Indian riderto join the prestigious2020 IDEMITSU AsiaTalent Cup (IATC) grid.

Talented Mikail wasamong the five young rid-ers from India to partici-pate in the selection for2020 season of IATC at

Sepang circuit ofMalaysia.

These included 13-year-old Sarthak ShrikantChavan from Pune, 14year-old KavinSamaarQ u i n t a l , 1 5 - y e a r - o l dGeoffrey and 16-year-oldVaroon S. from Chennai.

Since its inaugural sea-son in 2014, the IDEMIT-SU Asia Talent Cup isDorna’s developmentplatform for young ridersin the Asia Oceaniaregion.

One of the key objectiveis to ensure developmentof future generations ofsuch new talented riders,who will eventually takethe place of current starsof MotoGP™ andWorldSBK. — Agencies

PAGE

15SATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

SHORT TAKESGames marathon

to be movedTTookkyyoo:: The 2020 Olympic

marathon and race-walking willbe moved to northern Japanover heat concerns, officials

said Friday, after Tokyo’s gover-nor offered her reluctant sup-

port. The International OlympicCommittee’s plan had caught

Tokyo and 2020 organisers bysurprise, with Governor Yuriko

Koike repeatedly expressing heropposition. But on Friday, she

said the city would not stand inthe way. “We cannot agree with

the IOC but we will notobstruct the decision made by

the IOC, which has the finaldecision-making authority,” shesaid at a meeting with Olympic

officials and organisers. “Inother words, this is a decision

without an agreement.” TheIOC announced last month that

it wanted to move the eventsnorth to Sapporo, citing con-

cerns about the hot and humidconditions of the Tokyo sum-

mer. John Coates, head of theIOC’s coordination commission,welcomed Koike’s statement as

well as assent from Japan’sOlympic minister and organis-ers. “I think then it’s clear we

do have an acceptance of thisproposal,” he said. — AFP

Jorge faces Natein UFC fight night

NNeeww YYoorrkk:: After the action-packed weekend in Singapore

where Maia proved everyonewrong and giving Askren the

second humiliating defeat of hiscareer, UFC is all set to host

one of the best events of theyear. It will be a dream come

true for all MMA enthusiasts tofinally witness Jorge Masvidaland Nate Diaz face each other

in the cage at the MadisonSquare Garden this weekend for

the main event under theWelterweight category.

To add to the electrifying mainevent, the co-main event will

showcase Middleweight divisioncontenders Kelvin Gastelum

and Darren Till who are all setto punch and grapple their path

to the top of the Middleweightdivision.

Live on TV: UFC 244 featuringJorge Masvidal vs Nate Diaz,

from 7.30 am (Sunday) on SonyTEN 2, HD. — Agencies

We have beenknocked out of a

Cup that I wantedto win, the playerstoo. It is shameful.

— Marseille coach Andre Villas-Boas on French League Cup

LeaderWorld number two Rory McIlroy closed his day with a crucialeagle to cap a see-saw round and move to within one shot ofthe half-way lead at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai

SportNadal eases pastStan, Novak winsPPaarriiss,, NNoovv.. 11:: RafaelNadal and NovakDjokovic continued theirbattle for the year-endworld number one rank-ing as both playersreached the Paris Mastersquarter-finals with winsover Stan Wawrinka andKyle Edmund respective-ly.

The 33-year-old Nadal isalready guaranteed tousurp Djokovic at therankings summit nextweek, but winning a maid-en Bercy title would alsosecure the year-end topspot before next month’sATP Tour Finals inLondon.

He produced an impres-sive display on Thursdayto take his career head-to-head record against three-time Grand Slam champi-on Wawrinka to 19-3 witha clinical 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Djokovic had earlierbooked his last-eightplace with a 7-6 (9/7), 6-1win over Britain’sEdmund.

Nadal has never won theParis Masters or the ATPFinals and only two of his84 titles have comeindoors.

“That’s the beautiful

thing about this sport, (to)have the capacity to adaptyourself to the differentconditions,” said the 12-time French Open winner,who called the doctor ontothe court in the second setto help deal with a stom-ach problem.

Nadal will face 2008champion Jo-WilfriedTsonga in the quarter-finals after the Frenchwildcard saved two matchpoints to edge outGermany’s Jan-LennardStruff 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6).

Djokovic v Tsitsipas

Top seed Djokovic need-ed seven set points in thefirst set before beatingEdmund with relativecomfort by racingthrough the second tomake his eighth quarter-final in the tournament.

The 16-time Grand Slamtitle-winner is chasing arecord-extending fifthBercy crown and will nextface world number sevenStefanos Tsitsipas, who beat Alex de Minaur6-3, 6-4.

The 21-year-old Tsitsipasleads his head-to-headwith Djokovic 2-1. — AFP

NNeeww OOrrlleeaannss,, NNoovv.. 11:: TheNew Orleans Pelicans’matchup against NikolaJokic and the DenverNuggets looked trouble-some on paper, yet a stun-ning performance byJahlil Okafor lifted thePelicans to their first winof the young season.

Okafor scored 26 points,Brandon Ingram added 25and the Pelicans beat theNuggets 122-107 onThursday night as NewOrleans claimed it firstvictory in five games.

The Pelicans’ defensiveperformance - particular-ly against Jokic, the reign-ing first-team All-NBAcenter - helped them endtheir early-season strug-gles in which they allowedat least 123 points in eachof the first four games.

“More so than anything,I thought we were lockedin defensively,” NewOrleans coach AlvinGentry said. “I thought wedid a really good job, espe-cially on Jokic.”

Jokic finished with 13points, six assists and sixrebounds for a Nuggetsteam that has now lost twostraight after a 3-0 start.

“I thought our startinggroup struggled; I thoughtthey were low energy,”Nuggets coach MikeMalone said. “We werelucky to be down by fourat halftime, and they comeout and punch us in themouth to start that thirdquarter. I thought tonightwas a disappointing,embarrassing effort.”

Okafor scored 20 pointsin the second half, and thefifth-year center went tothe free-throw line acareer-high 13 times, mak-ing 10.

Ingram has scored atleast 22 points in each ofhis first five games forNew Orleans after comingover from the LA Lakers.

The Pelicans led thefinal three quarters. Theymade four of their firstfive shots in the thirdquarter to take a 10-pointlead, and Denver strug-

gled to recover. NewOrleans’ best defensiveperformance of the sea-son came after a listlesswire-to-wire loss to theGolden State Warriors.

“We got killed the otherday in film after that badperformance againstGolden State, but it wasnecessary,” Okafor said.“It was much needed, andwe were able to fix the

things that we talkedabout.”

Jrue Holiday added 19points and seven assistsafter missing the previoustwo games because of asprained left knee sprain.Frank Jackson had 21points on 8-of-10 shooting,and Gentry said Jackson’simprovement is a relatedto his offseason workoutswith Holiday.

“He seems to get betterthe more time he spendsaround Jrue,” Gentrysaid.

Michael Porter Jr. ledthe Nuggets with 15 pointsin his NBA debut. JamalMurray and Jerami Granteach had 14 points.

New Orleans benefitedfrom improved shot selec-tion. The Pelicansattempted at least 41 3-

pointers in each of theirfirst four games, but theyreduced that to 33 andmade a season-high 46%.New Orleans shot 53%overall from the field.

The Nuggets made just 7of 26 3-pointers. Thedivide in long-range shoot-ing was crucial, butOkafor’s aggressivenesshelped the Pelicans winthe battle. — AP

TTookkyyoo:: Kieran Read did notwant a World Cup third-placeplay-off to be his last Test but

you would never have known itfrom the way the New Zealand

captain played during the AllBlacks’ 40-17 win over Wales in

Tokyo on Friday. The numbereight had hoped his 127th inter-national, his final match before

he quits Tests and continues hisclub career in Japan, wouldhave seen him leading New

Zealand to a third successiveWorld Cup title. Last week’s

stunning 19-7 semi-final loss toEngland, however, put paid tothat ambition. Instead the 34-year-old Read, a double worldchampion, found himself lead-

ing his country in a match oftenlabelled as the fixture no onewants to play in but which, inthis case, preserved NZ’s 66-

year unbeaten run againstWales. And yet from his pas-

sionate display in the tradition-al pre-match haka, or the fact

he was the last man up fromthe bottom of the opening

ruck, it was clear this was busi-ness as usual for Read, whose

52 Tests as captain are secondonly to that of former team-

mate Richie McCaw’s 110.“Immensely proud,” Read told

broadcasters immediately afterthe match. “Just awesome topull on the jersey again. The

guys really appreciate what itmeans to be an All Black,” he

added after a victory that sawhim end his Test career with an

astonishing win rate of morethan 84 percent. Read’s 11 yearsan international have also seen

him emerge as one of the finestball-handling back-row for-

wards of his generation. — AFP

NZ CAPTAINREAD BOWS

OUT IN STYLE

New Orleans Pelicans center Jahlil Okafor (right) goes to the basket past Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic dur-ing the second half of an NBA game in New Orleans on Thursday. — AP

AAuussttiinn ((TTeexxaass)),, NNoovv.. 11:Formula One launched aradical, cut-price, slowervision of the sport when apackage of new financial,sporting and technicalregulations to be intro-duced from 2021 wereunveiled.

In a dramatic overhaulrevealed in Austin onThursday, the Americanowners of the commer-cial rights, LibertyMedia, introduced budgetcaps, a new car and rulesdesigned to develop closerand more environmental-ly-friendly racing.

It was the first time allof the main parts of thesport and its business hadbeen reviewed andreformed in a singlethree-part package thatwas approved by theWorld Motor SportCouncil of the governingbody, the InternationalMotoring Federation

(FIA) earlier Thursday.Ahead of this weekend’s

United States Grand PrixFormula One’s chiefexecutive Chase Careyhailed the successful pas-sage and publication ofthe package as “a water-shed moment”.

And FIA president JeanTodt said it would signal a“major change in how the

pinnacle of motorsportswould be run”.

The teams are to be lim-ited to a budget of 175 mil-lion dollars per season fortheir on-track perform-ance — about half of esti-mated current budgets forthe top outfits — withnew heavier and slowercars, which will continueto be powered by the cur-

rent hybrid turbo-charged engines.

The season will alsoexpand to a maximum of25 races, a figure that issure to alarm many in thesport. The current seasonhas 21 races.

Carey said he believedthe new rules showedrespect for the DNA of F1,which had been a keypoint of argument duringthe last two years of talksbetween the stake-holderswith the richest teamspreventing a moreextreme set of changes.

“For the first time, wehave addressed the tech-nical, sporting and finan-cial aspects all at once,”said Todt, speaking viavideo link.

“The 2021 regulationshave been a truly collabo-rative effort and I believethis to be a great achieve-ment.”

— AFP

F1 unveils new rules for 2021

■ New Orleans beat Nuggets for first victory of season

●● Fans are angryafter Federer pulledout from inauguralATP Cup in Australia

●● Federer’s no-showleaves a big void,although Djokovic,Nadal are taking part

TENNIS|| ROUND-UP

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL

MOTOR RACING

Busy Inter have chanceto overtake JuventusMMiillaann,, NNoovv.. 11:: It is earlydays in Inter Milan’s pur-suit of perennial Serie Apacesetters Juventus,but already the chasersare worrying about flag-ging.

Inter travel to Bolognaon Saturday in the 11thround and can brieflyoverhaul Juventus aheadof the Turin derby laterin the day.

Third-place Atalantaface in-form Cagliari onSunday. Roma, in fourth,open the weekendagainst Napoli.

The top two flip-floppedin midweek. Inter won 2-1 at Brescia on Tuesday.Juventus, playing with10 men, regained a one-point lead whenCristiano Ronaldo con-verted a 90th-minutepenalty at home to

Genoa on Wednesday.After the victory at

Brescia, Inter managerAntonio Conte, always aglass-half-empty type,complained that hissquad is being asked todo too much.

“It becomes difficult to

talk about the gamebecause we’ve nowplayed our fourth matchin nine days with thesame players,” he said.

“We now have to recov-er because we’re onlyhalfway there, I haven’tseen any other side hav-ing to play seven match-es in 20 days. Next up it’sBologna on Saturday andthen we’ve got a Tuesdayfixture away toDortmund.”

Meanwhile Juventus’sweekend opponents arein some disarray. WalterMazzarri, the Torinomanager, received thedreaded vote of confi-dence ahead of the Turinderby.

Torino lost 4-0 at Lazioon Wednesday. Torinopresident Urbano Cairowas not happy. — AFP

Spain’s Rafael Nadal reacts after defeating 6-4, 6-4 SwissStan Wawrinka in the Paris Masters on Thursday. — AP

Dortmund hopefor turnaroundBBeerrlliinn,, NNoovv.. 11:: BorussiaDortmund attacking mid-fielder Julian Brandt sayshe hopes his side’s 2-1 mid-week win over BorussiaMoenchengladbach in theGerman Cup will mark aturning point in the sea-son. Borussia Dortmundhost fourth-placedWolfsburg at Signal IdunaPark on Saturday.

While some had the blackand yellows as favourite towin the Bundesliga afteran aggressive off-seasonrecruitment effort,Dortmund sit in fifth placeafter nine rounds, withfour wins, four draws and aloss.

New recruit Brandtscored two goals in threeminutes in the second halfof the German Cup tie, awelcome return to form fora player who had scored

only once in 12 appear-ances for Dortmund priorto Wednesday night.

With pressure mountingon coach Lucien Favre, anda mounting injury list,Brandt said the win wasjust the tonic Dortmundneeded.

“These games, these diffi-cult games, give you a lot ofconfidence,” said Brandt.

“We are a young team,and we definitely have a lotto learn. We don’t do every-thing right, but if you canmanage to win despitethese difficulties, it’s like abalm for the soul.

“And if you win, the pres-sure will of course sub-side.”Brandt himself hadcome in for stinging criti-cism after his performancein the Champions Leagueagainst Inter Milan theprevious week. — AFP

Tennis Australiaputs brave face

Mikail to drive inAsia Talent Cup

George Russell, Lance Stroll, Max Verstappen andLando Norris inspect the mockup of the F1 car. — AFP

Live on TVSSEERRIIEE AA

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VILLAS-BOASSTRUGGLING TOREVIVE HIS TEAMPPaarriiss,, NNoovv.. 11: He has onlybeen in charge for 12games but the pressure isbuilding on Andre Villas-Boas at Marseille after adisastrous week for theformer European champi-ons.

Marseille were dumpedout of the French LeagueCup at the first hurdle onWednesday, going down 2-1 at Monaco as a potentialroute to silverware andEuropean qualificationwas cut off.

That result followed a 4-0 humbling away to ParisSaint-Germain, a losswhich left OM winless in16 Ligue 1 meetings withtheir greatest rivals.

Villas-Boas has over-seen only four wins thisseason and Marseillehave managed only onevictory in their last sevenoutings. They lie seventhin Ligue 1. — AFP

PAGE

16GamesSATURDAY | 2 NOVEMBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Booted outStrugglers Stoke City sack coachNathan Jones only 10 monthsafter his charge at the club

Liverpool resume chargeBBiirrmmiinngghhaamm,, NNoovv.. 11::Liverpool resume theirPremier League titlecharge at Aston Villa onSaturday with JurgenKlopp hoping to avoid arepeat of the defensivemayhem that nearlywrecked their dramaticLeague Cup win againstArsenal.

Klopp played a reserveside for the fourth roundtie on Wednesday, featur-ing a number of emergingstars, and saw themadvance via a penaltyshoot-out having twiceovercome two-goal deficitsto draw 5-5 in 90 minutes.

Liverpool conceded asmany goals in one cupgame as they have all sea-son at Anfield in thePremier League so, whileit was a memorableevening, Klopp will bebanking on his regulardefence returning to theirmiserly ways at Villa Park.

Klopp’s system is basedon defending from thefront and launching a dev-astating press wheneverthe opposition are in pos-session.

It is an approach thatcarried Liverpool toChampions League glorylast season and has putthem in pole position towin the title this term.

Klopp’s high-tempogame-plan also makes themost of the abilities ofBrazilian striker RobertoFirmino.

The 28-year-old hasscored just three leaguegoals in 10 appearancesthis season, below his nor-mal productivity rate.

While Firmino’s goalrecord may have comeunder scrutiny outsideAnfield, within the clubhis status and reputationappears to be rising withevery passing month.

Experts have describedFirmino as the best playerin the world at what hedoes: implementingKlopp’s complicated, buthugely successful, tactical,pressing system.

By comparison, XherdanShaqiri has been withLiverpool for nearly 18months and is still nottrusted by Klopp, in biggames at least, because ofhis inability to carry outprecise and demandinginstructions.

The Liverpool managerrequires his forwards,when out of possession, toconstantly close downangles to prevent opposi-tion defences passing theball forward.

GGUUAARRDDIIOOLLAA’’SS CCIITTYY TTAAKKEEOONN SSOOUUTTHHAAMMPPTTOONN

Meanwhile, Sergio Agueroholds the key toManchester City’s bid tooverhaul Premier Leagueleaders Liverpool as theArgentine striker reapsthe rewards of the “bestdecision of his life”.

When Aguero walks ontothe Etihad Stadium pitchahead of Saturday’s clashwith Southampton, he willfeel more at one with hissurroundings than hewould ever have imaginedwhen he arrived eightyears ago.

Back then, Aguero was atalented but not yet fullyrounded player hoping tothrive in England after apromising start to hisEuropean career withAtletico Madrid.

The intervening yearshave been a dream come

true for Aguero, who isnow City’s record goal-scorer and has amassedfour Premier League titles,one FA Cup and fourLeague Cups while help-ing the club’s become topdogs in Manchester.

Aguero marked his 350thappearance with two goalsagainst Southampton ear-lier this week.

UUNNIITTEEDD TTRRAAVVEELL TTOOBBOOUURRNNEEMMOOUUTTHH

Elsewhere, ManchesterUnited, enjoying a mini-revival after their poorstart, can make it four suc-cessive away wins whenthey visit Bournemouth.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer'sside beat Chelsea in theLeague Cup on Wednesdaythanks to MarcusRashford’s superb free-kick and the United strik-

er feels confidence is grow-ing in the squad.

“If you get a couple ofwins back-to-back early onin the season it can changethe direction the season isgoing,” Rashford said.

“When you’re winningback-to-back games, theteam’s confidence levels goup,” the ManchesterUnited star said.

In another match,Arsenal boss Unai Emerywill be under pressure todeliver a win againstWolves after his side blewleads against Liverpooland Crystal Palace.

The Palace match wasmarred by Granit Xhaka’sastonishing feud withGunners fans and the fall-out continues, with Emerystill deciding whether tostrip him of the captaincy.

— AFP

Lionel back inArgentina sideBBuueennooss AAiirreess,, NNoovv.. 11::Lionel Messi was called upby Argentina on Thursdayfor friendly games againstBrazil and Uruguay nextmonth, the country’s foot-ball associationannounced on Twitter.

Messi has not played forArgentina since he wassent off against Chile intheir victorious third-place play-off match in theCopa America on July 7.

The striker was thenhanded a three-month sus-pension for comments hemade after the game, inwhich he accused CON-MEBOL, the governingbody of South Americanfootball, of corruption.

In-form Manchester Cityforward Sergio Aguerohas been recalled aftermissing out on the lastfour friendlies, whileManchester Uniteddefender Marcos Rojoremains in the squad fol-lowing his surprise recallafter the Copa America.

In Messi’s absence,Argentina have playedfour friendlies, drawingagainst Chile (0-0) andGermany (2-2) whilethrashing Mexico 4-0 andEcuador 6-1.

They face Brazil in SaudiArabia on November 15and then Uruguay inIsrael on November 18.Messi’s ban ends onNovember 3.

The five-time Ballon d’Orwinner has endured aninjury-hit start to the sea-son after hurting his foot

in August and then histhigh in September.

But his recovery hascoincided with a return toform for Barcelona, whohave won their last sevenconsecutive games in allcompetitions.

Messi scored twice in a 5-1 win over Real Valladolidon Tuesday. — AFP

TTHHEE SSQQUUAADDGGooaallkkeeeeppeerrss:: AgustinMarchesn, Juan Musso,Emiliano Martinez, andEsteban Andrada.DDeeffeennddeerrss:: Juan Foyth,Renzo Saravia, NicolasOtamendi, German Pezzella,Marcos Rojo, WalterKannemann, NicolasTaglafico, Nehuen Perez,and Guido Rodriguez. MMiiddffiieellddeerrss:: Giovani LoCelso, Leandro Paredes,Nicolas Dominguez,Rodrigo de Paul, MarcosAcuna, Roberto Pereyra,and Lucas Ocampos.FFoorrwwaarrddss:: Lionel Messi,Sergio Aguero, NicolasGonzalez, Lucas Alario,Lautaro Martinez, and PauloDybala. — AFP

Reds look to consolidate lead at English top in game against Villa

Lionel Messi (centre) practices with his Argentinian teammates in this file photo.

Sergio Aguero will play a key role in Manchester City’s English Premier League clashagainst Bournemouth on Saturday.

Lilima Minz (left) of India celebrates with her teammates after scoring a goal during their Hockey Olympic Qualifiersagainst the USA at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Friday. India won 5-1. — PTI

●● Five-time Ballond’Or winner, LionelMessi has notplayed for Argentinasince he was sentoff against Chile intheir victoriousthird-place play-offmatch in the CopaAmerica on July 7.

SHORT TAKES

He’s an incrediblyimportant player. Heenjoys it so much toplay in this team, to

be really there.— Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool

manager, on striker Roberto Firmino

Anand urges GMsto improve ELO

CChheennnnaaii:: Indian chess legendand former World champion

Viswanathan Anand onThursday praised P. Iniyan,

Prithu Gupta and RaunakSadhwani, who recently became

the country’s 63rd, 64th and65th grand masters respective-

ly, and urged them to work hardto break the 2600 Elo points

barrier.He was speaking at a felicita-

tion function organised here byMicrosense Private Limited, aglobal technology company.

Hailing the individualstrengths of the players,Anand

spoke also about the impor-tance of the role played by par-

ents and institutions likeMicrosense.

He urged the youngsters tokeep working hard, improve

their Elo rating and break the2600 barrier.

Anand, whose next tourna-ment would be in Romania, saidhe had not yet firmed up plansfor 2020 but made it known he

would playing Wijk Ann Zee.— PTI

AIFF sign 7 MoUswith German body

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: The All IndiaFootball Federation (AIFF)

signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) with its

German counterpart, DFB, hereon Friday.

The signing of the agreementcoincided with German

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visitto India. Kushal Das, GeneralSecretary AIFF and Friedrich

Curtius, General Secretary DFB,signed the document to for-

malise the relationship betweenthe two football bodies.

“The MoU covers a wide rangeof areas pertaining to Indian

football such as coach educa-tion (including grassroots), tal-

ent scouting and promotion,deployment of professional ref-

erees to India, exchangebetween national teams andvisit of DFB all-star team (if

feasible), joint marketing initia-tives and sports administration

via discussions on their compe-tition management solutions,”

said the AIFF in a statement.“Germany are renowned for

their footballing prowess, andthe work done by them,” Das

said. — PTI

MANVIR NETSEQUALISER

FOR GOA FCGGuuwwaahhaattii:: Manvir Singh’s late

equaliser preserved the Gaurs’unbeaten run in season six of

the Indian Super League as F.C.Goa drew 2-2 with NorthEast

United at the Indira GandhiStadium in Sarusajai, Guwahati

on Friday.Hugo Boumous and ManvirSingh scored for the Gaurs,

while Asamoah Gyan andRedeem Tlang netted for the

Highlanders. Len Doungel wassent off for FC Goa.

Sergio Lobera made twochanges to the line-up that

drew 1-1 with Bengaluru FC atthe Fatorda Stadium. Hugo

Boumous made his first start ofthe season and Jackichand

Singh came back into the 11 atthe expense of Seimenlen

Doungel and Manvir Singh. NorthEast United made twoalterations to their winning

combination against Odisha FC.Wayne Vaz and Panagiotis

Triadis made way for MislavKomorski and Nikhil Kadam.Asamoah Gyan led their line,

aided by Kadam, Martin Chavesand Redeem Tlang.

The Gaurs started at a fastpace, almost taking the lead at

the start of the game. NorthEast United was able to

clear their lines twice within thefirst minute as Coro, Boumousand Jacki combined to put the

Highlander defence under earlypressure.

With this draw, FC Goa nowhave 5 points from 3 games

and are in 3rd position in thetable. The Gaurs face the

Islanders next on November 7at the Mumbai Football Arena

in Andheri. — PTI

India hammer USABBhhuubbaanneesswwaarr,, NNoovv.. 11::Indian women’s hockeyteam took a giant leaptowards Olympic qualifi-cation with a near-flaw-less performance to ham-mer USA 5-1 in the first-leg of the two-match FIHQualifier here on Friday.

It was expected to be atricky tie for the hostsbut the women punchedabove their weight tosimply demolish USA’schallenge in front of apartisan crowd at theKalinga Stadium.

Dragflicker Gurjit Kaur(42nd and 51st) struckbrace while Lilima Minz(28th), Sharmila Devi(40th) and Navneet Kaur(46th) were the otherscorers.

USA’s consolation goalcame from a penaltystroke converted by ErinMatson in the 54thminute.

Ranked ninth in theworld, India now need todefend their four-goaladvantage in Saturday’ssecond and final-leg toseal their Tokyo 2020 tick-et.

USA got their acttogether with passage oftime and had a clear sightof goal in the seventhminute but Alyssa Parkershot wide from top rightof the striking circlewith only Indian goal-

keeper Savita to beat.India got their first

scoring chance a minuteinto the second quarterbut Sharmila Devi failed,in the far post, to get herstick on to a cross fromLalremsiami.

Sushila Chanu’s shotfrom top of the box wassaved by the Americangoalie but from therebound India securedtheir second penalty cor-ner.

Sushila failed to stopthe push but from theensuing move, anunmarked Lilima, sta-tioned at the far post,tapped it in to break thedeadlock.

The late goal in the sec-ond quarter seemed tohave worked wonders forthe Indian girls as theycompletely dominatedthe remaining minutes ofthe game. — PTI

Battle heatsup in Spainfor top spotMMaaddrriidd,, NNoovv.. 11:: RealMadrid’s 5-0 thumping ofLeganes on Wednesdaywas their biggest win inLa Liga since his firstspell as coach butZinedine Zidane washardly in a celebratorymood.

In the press conferenceafter the match, oneexpectant journalistasked if it was Madrid’sbest performance of theseason. “No I don’t thinkso,” Zidane said.

The fact is there are fewcandidates, from a cam-paign in which RealMadrid have producedonly in spurts, flittingbetween commandingand chaotic even withinindividual matches, letalone from week-to-week.

“The problem is we haveto show every three daysthat we are good. That isthe difficulty and that iswhat we do not do”Zidane said earlier thismonth.

After 10 games, the junc-ture when teams can sup-posedly be judged, the pic-ture is still not clear, yetthere are signs, inZidane’s selection at least,that his second tenure istaking shape.

A spine has been estab-lished with the places ofThibaut Courtois, SergioRamos, Raphael Varane,Toni Kroos and KarimBenzema seeminglyassured.

Dani Carvajal has beenmore reliable at right-back than the erraticAlvaro Odriozola whileon the other side FerlandMendy has yet to dislodgeMarcelo, despite his 50million arrival.

Casemiro remains thesquad’s only defensivemidfielder and FedeValverde has broughtmuch-needed energy intothe midfield.

Lionel Messi’s mesmer-ic performance againstReal Valladolid served asan announcement that heis fit and firing again.

Diego Simeone insistsAtletico Madrid are awork in progress but theirdraw away at Alaves inmidweek leaves themplaying catch-up. — AFP

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The problem is we haveto show every threedays that we are good.That is the difficultyand that is what we donot do.

— ZINEDINEZIDANE

Real Madrid coach

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●● Dragflicker GurjitKaur struck twicewhile Lilima Minz,Sharmila Devi andNavneet Kaur hit agoal each as Indiahumbled USA 5-1in their HockeyOlympic Qualifiersin Bhubaneswar.