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THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIAHYDERABAD I TUESDAY I 3 DECEMBER 2019

Vol. 82 No. 333 Established 1938 | 32 PAGES | `6.00

COUNTER POINT

Max: 26.8OCMin: 21.7OC RH: 86%Rain: Trace

Forecast: Cloudy skywith traces of rain.

Max/Min temp. 28/21ºC

WEATHER

ASTROGUIDEVikari; Dakshinayana

Tithi: Margasira Shudda Saptamitill 11.15 pm

Star: Danishta till 2.17 pm Varjyam: 10.21 pm to 12.08 am

Durmuhurtam: 8.47 am to 9.31 am and 10.48 pm to 11.40 pm

Rahukalam: 3 pm to 4.30 pmHIJRI CALENDAR

Rabi-ul-Akher 6, 1441 AHPRAYERS

Fajar: 5.27 amZohar: 12.16 pm

Asar: 4.05 pmMaghrib: 5.47 pm

Isha: 6.56 pmSUNSET TODAY 5.40 PM

SUNRISE TOMORROW 6.30 AMMOONRISE TOMORROW 12.02 AMMOONSET TOMORROW 11.45 PM

20% searchesgo vernacular

Bhopal: Languagesearches have grown

manifold in the countryin the past five years

with as many as 20 per-cent of all the billions of

online searches beingcarried out in the local

languages, says Google.This is a massive growthsince 2014 when langu-

age searches were only 2per cent of the total

online searches. — PTI

Hedge spillsMaha ‘secret’

Bengaluru: BJP MPAnantkumar Hegde has

stoked a political rowwith his claim that

Devendra Fadnavis wasmade the MaharashtraCM last month for few

days only to protect`40,000 crore centralfunds from being mis-

used. Mr Fadnavis, howe-ver, dismissed the claim.

■ Full oon PPage 77

Railway financesare worst: CAG

New Delhi: The Railwaysrecorded an operating

ratio of 98.44 per cent in2017-18 which is the

worst in the previous 10years, the Comptroller

and Auditor General hassaid in a report tabled in

Parliament. Operatingratio shows how efficie-ntly the railway is oper-

ating and how healthyare its finances. — PTI

KANIZA GGARARI || DCHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

Onions will be dear forthe next two months asstocks are dwindling.Telangana earlier had 80trucks supplying thewholesale market butnowadays it is only 40trucks. The state has con-trolled the price to `100per kg, but vendors areincurring losses and un-willing to stock onions.

December and Januarywill see a shortage, saidwholesale vendors. Theyrue that Telangana is theonly state where it is`100 per kg; in otherstates it ranges from `120to `140 per kg.

The government hastold wholesalers that theprice must not peak.“The stock from Alam-pur is over,” said whole-saler Venkar Ramana.“Only stock from Sholap-ur is available. But asprices in Telangana arecontrolled, they are notsending any here.” In Sh-olapur, 60 per cent of thecrop was spoiled and therest is selling at a higherprice in other states.

■ Page 22: VVendors aare qutting oonion ssale

PARMOD KKUMAR || DDCNEW DELHI, DEC. 2

The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind(JuH) on Monday movedthe Supreme Court seek-ing the reconsiderationof its November 9 verdictgiving ownership of thedisputed site at Ayodhyafor the construction ofLord Rama’s temple, say-ing it not only amountedto condoning the illegalacts of Hindu parties butit also awarded them.

Pointing out that hewas conscious of the sen-sitive issue and under-stood the need to main-tain peace and harmonyin the country, petitionerMaulana Syed AshhadRashidi (president,Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind,Lucknow) asserted thatthere could be no lastingpeace without justice andaccountability.

Pointing to the “errors”in the judgment, the pleafor reconsideration saysby directing a temple tobe built amounted to thedestruction of BabriMasjid if it had not beendemolished on December6, 1992.

The direction “virtual-ly amounts to a man-damus to destroy, beca-

use had the Babri Masjidnot been illegally demol-ished on December 6,1992, the execution of thepresent order would haverequired the destructionof an existing mosque tomake space for a pro-posed temple”, says thepetition.

Though the top court inits verdict had notedthree of the illegalitiescommitted by the Hinduparties, the JUH’s reviewpetition says that yet itproceeded to “not onlycondone the said illegalacts but to award thesame by allotting the dis-puted site to the HinduParties.”

Today is the 24th daysince the judgment bythe five-judge SupremeCourt bench and the pleaseeking reconsiderationwas to be filed within 30days. The three illegali-ties included damagingthe domes of the BabriMasjid in 1934, the dese-cration of the BabriMasjid by placing theRam Lalla idols underthe central dome in 1949,and the demolition in1992.

■ Page 77: SSC eexercised iitsplenary ppowers wwrongly

ONIONS WILLMAKE PEOPLECRY LONGER

JuH files reviewplea on Ayodhya

S.N.V. SSUDHIR || DDCVIJAYAWADA, DEC. 2

Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister YS Jagan MohanReddy gave a sharp rebut-tal to his detractors’ allega-tions on his religion andcaste, saying “my religionis humanity and my caste iskeeping the promisesmade”.

Brushing aside remarksraking up his Christian cre-dentials by the Hindutvagang, both online and else-where, Mr Reddy said noth-ing would deter him frommoving forward with hiswelfare agenda. He wasspeaking at the launch ofYSR Post OperativeSustenance (YSR Arogyasri

Asara) scheme here onMonday.

“It is unfortunate thatsome people are talkingabout my religion and mycaste,” he said. “I tell younow that humanity is myreligion and keeping myword is my caste. Despiteall such talk, we will go for-ward with our welfare

work.”BJP state chief Kanna

Lakshminarayana hadgone a step forward andexpressed doubt thatJagan’s government had ahidden agenda to promoteconversions by introducingEnglish medium instruc-tion in government schools.A few days ago, Jagan was

targeted on social media,particularly Twitter, for hisChristianity.

#SaveHindusFromJaganReddy trended for two daysand garnered around 60,000tweets. This was for thefirst time so many tweetswith religious tinge againstJagan emerged since hebecame the Chief Minister.

Besides opinions on gov-ernment programmes andissues, Twitteratti alsoshared pictures of Jaganwearing a cross and takinga holy dip during one of thepushkarams for the riverGodavari. They found faultwith `5,000 per month topastors, and the razing of atemple recently for roadwidening in Guntur.

Humanity is my religion: Jagan■AP CM speaks on Oppn using religion to target himEASY | HIT

■ ■ #SAVEHINDUSFROMJaganReddy trended fortwo days and garneredaround 60,000 tweets. Thiswas for the first time somany tweets with religioustinge against Mr JaganMohan Reddy emergedsince he became the ChiefMinister.

Bloodlust in Parliamentover Disha’s gang-rapeJaya asks government how it will stop repeat of such incidentsDC CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, DEC. 2

The gang-rape and mur-der of a veterinary doc-tor (“Disha”) in Hyderab-ad reverberated in bothHouses of Parliament onMonday with SamajwadiParty MP Jaya Bachchangoing to the extent ofdemanding that theaccused be lynched.

“These types of peopleneed to be brought out inpublic and lynched,” MsBachchan said. “I thinkit is time. The peoplewant the government togive a proper and defi-nite answer.”

She led a chorus ofangry voices in the RajyaSabha over the horrificrape and murder. “I don’tknow how many timesI’ve stood and spokenafter this kind of crime. Ithink it is time... whet-her Nirbhaya or Kathuaor what happened inTelangana... I think thepeople now want the gov-ernment to give a properand definite answer.”

“What has the govern-ment done? How havethey tackled it? How hasjustice been done for thevictims? I am not takingnames... but shouldn’tthe security be held res-ponsible? I feel only oneday earlier somethingsimilar happened in Tel-angana... why wasn’t thisstopped?” she continued.

■ Page 22: MMercy sshouldn’tbe sshown: VVenkaiah

MADDY DDEEKSHITH || DDCHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

While people are demanding capitalpunishment for the accused in the“Disha” rape-murder case, many sickindividuals are searching her name onporn websites, looking for a video of thecrime. It tops the most-visited pornsites. Though a pornography ban is ineffect, porn addicts have created mirrorwebsites with slightly altered address-es. (Pornhub, the world’s biggest pornsite set up pornhub.net.)

“Disha” was a top search on a popularporn site “Xvideos” which has been offi-cially banned by the Centre. Theauthorities claimed that the evolutionof technology has enabled consumers tobrowse gruesome videos with a differ-ent IP address located in a foreignnation. Activists say the mobile opera-tors providing free internet have been

the root culprit. “A person can searchher name 100 times or 100 people havesearched for her videos,” psychologyprofessor G. Padmaja said. “Even ani-mals have an ethical code which is lack-ing in some humans and these pervertshave to be serious dealt with.”

The idea of providing free internet hasbeen root cause such brutal acts in soci-ety, said V. Sandhya, the all India con-vener of the Progressive Organisationfor Women (PoW).

■ Page 22: IInternet iis mmisused: AActivist

‘Disha rape’ top porn site searchSOCIETYSICK

SANJAY SSAMUEL PPAUL || DDCHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

Rape tourism: people are visiting thescene of the crime where “Disha” wasraped and murdered, stopping theircars and bikes, and clicking photos assouvenirs. Some even took selfies.

Police are finding these voyeurs toughto handle and chase away. Sometimesentire families turn out for this ghoul-ish exercise. While the police try to shooone set of photo-shooters away, anotherwill come from behind to do the same.

Policemen claimed they could not eventake a bio-break.

The open plot where the crime tookplace has been cleaned of weeds andbushes; the wall has been broken andcleared. It is next to the toll gate atShamshabad, where lorries are usuallyparked. Police now does not allow anyvehicle to be parked.

A road leads to the Chatanpalli bridgewhere Disha’s body was burnt, but few-er people come here as it is under thebridge, and people feel spooked. Still, itis not exempt from the odd voyeur.

Selfie tourism is on at crime site

From Page 1

“The Modi governmentshould be held responsiblefor rise of porn-watchingin the country. While peo-ple in the country aredeprived of food, shelterand education, the govern-ment joined hands withcorporates to provide freeinternet to citizens whowere misusing it. Disha’sname search on porn-sitesis proof of it,” MsSandhya from PoW said.

Dileep Konatham, direc-tor of Digital Media for thegovernment of Telanganasays despite the porn banpeople can watch videoseasily through virtual pri-vate networks (VPNs)which help mask internetbrowsers’ IP address inIndia. Reports on socialmedia said Disha's namehad been searched 80 lakhtimes by Monday morning.

PAGE

2CityTUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE

Suspension moveBJP’s Sangareddy unit suspends itsyouth leader T. Asish Goud, who is fac-ing allegations of sexual harassment

The accused in rape-murder of Disha mustbe brought to justice

within 30 days— Nama Nageshwar Rao

TRS MP

IN BRIEF

CENTRALPRISON TURNS

INTO FORTRESS

Internet is misused: Woman activist

DC CCORRESPONDENT HYDERABAD, DDEC. 22

The police has increased secu-rity measures at theCherlapalli Central Prison,where the accused in the rape-murder of Disha have beenhoused since Saturday. Thishappened after four to fivepeople came in the morningwith banners to the prison tostage a protest. They were sentaway after a while.

There is a battery of police-men and special forcesdeployed near the jail who arenot allowing more than fourpeople to gather at a spot. Theroad outside the jail connectsto the industrial zone andthere is constant movement ofvehicles. There are also twopetrol bunks. The jail was thevenue of protests on Saturday.There were fewer people onSunday. Barricades have beenplaced as the police does notwant to be taken by surprise.So far no one has come to meetthe accused — Mohd. Ali, J.Naveen, J. Shiva andChennakeshavulu — and theyhave been kept separately incells meant to house thoseaccused in terror cases.

DISHA’S FAMILYPERFORMS HER

LAST RITESSANJAY SSAMUEL PPAUL || DDC HYDERABAD, DEC. 2

The family of Disha, the vet-erinarian who was raped andkilled, immersed her ashesand returned home. The resi-dents of Nakshatra Vilas atSiddanthi Shamshabad, whereshe stayed, took out a candle-light rally where 500 residentsparticipated. The gated com-munity has 137 villas and fiveapartments.

Disha’s family has asked thatno outsider be allowed to meetthem. Politicians A. RevanthReddy, Prof. Kodandaram andother politicians who visitedthe place were not allowedentry.

A large number of policepersonnel was stationed out-side the gated community.

Fifty metres from the colonygate is a Maisamma temple.Shivaraj, caretaker of the tem-ple, said Disha used to stop topray to the Goddess every day.

Shut wine shops, cry residents5 outlets run near the spot where Disha was raped and killedMADDY DDEEKSHITH || DDCHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

The new liquor policy hasenabled five liquor shopsto open in a two-kilometreradius of the Tondupallytoll plaza in Shamshabad,where a veterinarian nowknown as Disha was bru-tally raped and murdered.

Residents in the vicinityclaimed that the area hasbecome unsafe and womenare living in constantpanic. They claim that theliquor shops near the tollplaza encourage com-muters to stop and drinkliquor which can leadthem to commit heinouscrimes.

“The new liquor policyallows them to be open till11 pm in GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation limits. Thereare at least five liquorshops within a radial dis-tance of 2 km fromTondupally toll gate,where the rapists con-

sumed liquor. Stop liquorshops. Single biggest fac-tor that makes localitiesunsafe,” said Mr D.Bhardwaj, a resident ofthe area.

Another resident, Ms K.Kalavathi, said, “The areahas been attracting com-muters who stop and con-sume alcohol becausethere is sufficient parkingplace. We are living in con-stant panic and requestauthorities to take seriousnote of the issue to protectresidents, especiallywomen.”

The new liquor policyfollows a cluster systemthat enables wine shopowners to set up 18 wineshops in the demarcatedarea.

Telangana Wine Dealers’Association president D.Venkateswara Rao saidthat the government hasmerged eight wards andmade it a cluster andallowed wine shop ownersto set up 18 liquor shops in

any location within thecluster.

Mr Rao said that the pre-

vious liquor policyallowed a maximum offour shops in each ward.

Excise department offi-cials were not available forcomment.

Preventive step

The usually bustling Charminar looks deserted as police prevented midnight rev-ellers from visiting the place in view of the recent rape and murder of Disha.

— P. SURENDRA

Mercy shouldn’t beshown: Venkaiah

From Page 1

Samajwadi Party MPJaya Bachchan alsodemanded that peoplewho failed to protectwomen and children fromsuch horrific assaultsshould be “named andshamed”. Rajya SabhaChairman M VenkaiahNaidu also suggested arethink on allowing con-victs in heinous crimes tosubmit mercy appeals.

“What happens evenafter punishment isgiven,” he asked. “We allare witness. Appeal,mercy (petition)...Cananybody think of havingmercy on such people?”

“We should really thinkabout a change in thelegal system, in our judi-cial system,” he said afterMPs expressed outrageover the rising incidentsof crime against women.

Mr Naidu said crimeagainst women was a“societal disease” andthere are lacunae in thesystem, both legal as wellas in policing. “This kindof violation of dignity ofwomen cannot go onunchallenged. It shouldbe nipped in the bud,” hesaid. The Chairman alsosuggested photographs ofthe guilty should be pub-lished so that there issocial stigma and fear.

While the Chairmandescribed the incident asa disgrace to humanity,Leader of the Oppositionin Rajya Sabha GhulamNabi Azad said societywill have to tackle thisproblem at its root. Theguilty should be givenstringent punishmentwithout any discrimina-tion of religion or caste,he said.

Similar voices wereraised in the Lok Sabha.

Congress MP fromTelangana Uttam Reddydescribed the Telanganahome minister’s com-ment, that the victimshould have contactedpolice and not her family,as extremely insensitive.

He claimed that the fam-ily had to walk to two orthree police stationsbefore a case was regis-tered. “If the first policestation would have regis-tered a case and startedinvestigation then the lifeof the victim would havedefinitely been saved,” hesaid. He also blamed theindiscriminate sale ofliquor in the state for theincrease in crime rateand said demanded that afast-track court give aquick verdict and hangthe accused.

TRS MP KothaPrabhakar Reddy termedthe incident as shamefuland said: “We need tobring an act to curb suchincidents”. DMK’s T.R.Baalu also raised theissue of the sexualassault of a schoolgirl inCoimbatore.

Those involved in thecrime should be pun-ished, Mr Baalu said,adding the governmentshould come forward andensure time-boundaction. Intervening onbehalf of the government,defence minister RajnathSingh said the govern-ment was ready for a dis-cussion in the Lok Sabhaon the issue of crimeagainst women and will-ing to explore stringentprovisions in laws tocheck incidents like theHyderabad rape and mur-der case.

Anger, protests continueseeking justice for DishaKANIZA GGARARI || DDCHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

More than 2,500 studentsprotested on Mondaydemanding stringentaction against the fouraccused in the Disha rapeand burning case. Femalestudents were present invisibly large numbers inthe procession that startedfrom Indira Park, takingthe police by surprise.

The students, under thebanner of AkhilBharatiya VidhyarthiParishad, went in a pro-cession from Indira Park

to gather at BaghLingampally. Those whospontaneously turned upto register their protestincluded students fromuniversities and collegesin and around the city.Initially, police estimatedthat only a few of the stu-dents would assemble, buttheir numbers picked upgradually.

The protesting studentscarried banners and plac-ards during their march,while also shouting slo-gans condemning the inci-dent.

National secretary gen-

eral of ABVP NidhiTripathi criticised thepolice, Telangana Statehome minister MahmoodAli and the state govern-ment for the way the casewas initially dealt with.They demanded that afast-track court be set upimmediately to try theaccused and award deathpenalty to Disha’s rapists.

A large number ofpolicemen guarded theprocession.

At one stage, students satdown near the Indira Parkand raised slogans relent-lessly.

Cops seek 10-daycustody of rapists DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

Shadnagar police has fileda petition in court askingfor 10-day police custodyof the four accused in therape and murder of veteri-narian Disha. The policesaid it needed more timeto gather evidence and has

not questioned the foursuspects thoroughly. Thepolice has also pointed outthat Disha’s mobile hasnot been found.Meanwhile, at a reviewmeeting on Sunday. DGPM. Mahendar Reddy saidthe probe must be com-pleted in a time-boundmanner.

SREEPARNA CCHAKRABARTYI DDCNEW DELHI, DEC. 2

The Congress has decided tohold a demonstration andcandlelight vigil inHyderabad on December 4 inprotest against the gang-rapeand murder of a veterinari-an there.

The vigil will be organisedby the All India MahilaCongress — the women’swing of the party — and willbe attended by MahilaCongress chief SushmitaDev and leaders of theTelangana Congress.

“We demand the resigna-tion of the Telangana ChiefMinister and time-boundpunishment for the rapist-murderers,” Congress gener-al secretary in-charge ofTelangana R.C. Khuntia toldthis newspaper.

The Congress leader saidthat in addition to the

Mahila Congress’s vigil anddemonstration on December4 in Hyderabad, the YouthCongress will hold protestsacross the country.

The Congress had in themorning raised the issue ofthe gang-rape-murder vocif-erously in both Houses ofParliament.

Members of the TelanganaCongress, including PradeshCongress chief N. UttamKumar Reddy and RajyaSabha MP M.A. Khan, laterassembled at the Gandhistatue in the Parliamentprecincts and protested hold-ing placards demanding jus-tice for the victim.

Mr Uttam K. Reddyslammed Telangana statehome minister Mahmood Alifor his purported “insensi-tive” remarks that Dishashould have called the policeinstead of her sister, as wellas the state police for initial-ly delaying lodging a case.

Addressing a separatepress conference, womenCongress MPs said that bothPrime Minister NarendraModi and Women and ChildDevelopment MinisterSmriti Irani should showpolitical will and lay out anemergency plan in thisregard.

■ ■ THERE WWERE protests onSaturday but Sunday andMonday have seen only twoto three people come withbanners who were sentaway. There are barricadeskept handy as they do notwant to be taken by surprise.

Thousands of students, led by the ABVP, hold a protest rally from Baghlingampally to Indira Park on Monday against the gangrape and murder ofveterinary doctor Disha. — S. SURENDER REDDY

Victim not spared even during periods PILLALAMARRI SSRINIVASI DDCYELLAPATAR (KUMARAMB-HEEM ASIFABAD), DEC. 2

Police said Aparichita, 30,(name changed) who wasraped by three men andmurdered was on her peri-od when the incidentoccurred on November 24.The trio said she pleadedwith them to spare her butthey did not listen. Herhealth condition wasreported by her husband.

Aparichita who used tocollect fallen hair inhouseholds and offer bal-loons and trinkets inexchange. She would sellthe hair to traders.

Police said the accusedhad pushed her into bush-es while was walking witha load of utensils, gaggedand assaulted her nearYellapatar in Lingapur

mandal in KumaramBheem Asifabad district.

At the scene of theassault, bloodstainsremained on the stonesand dry leaves almost aweek after the attack.Footwear said to belong toAparichita still lay there.

The spot is just 100

metres from the govern-ment school at Ramnaikthanda. As it was aSunday, the road to theschool,was deserted.

It has now emerged thatAparichita had gone to thehouse of one of the perpe-trators to give a containerjust two hours before the

incident. The two familiesknew each other well. Shehad gone to the house togive a container to collectwaste hair.

Accused SheikShaboddin’s elder brotherSheik Sharfoddin said he(Sharofuddin) was feelingguilty. He said the vil-lagers especially thewomen and children, hadgood relations withAparichita. Mr SheikhChand, the brother ofSheik Babu, anotheraccused, said their familyhad failed to change hischaracter and lifestyle.

The local police seem tohave failed to keep a closewatch on the threeaccused who had a crimi-nal background. A sectionof villagers say that thefamily members of theaccused used to protectthem.

Accused Sheik Shaboddin’s brother Sheik Sharfoddinwith the silver bowl given by the rape victim just beforeshe was raped and murdered in the Yellapatar village inLingapur mandal in Kumarambheem Asifabad district,on Monday. — PILLALAMARRI SRINIVAS

Telangana Congress MPs hold placards as they protestdemanding justice for rape and murder victim Disha, duringthe ongoing Winter Session at Parliament House in New Delhion Monday. — PTI

Congress wants KCR to resignGOVT CRACKDOWN

■ ■ However, immediately after blocking websites, VPN mobile applications have increased. In span of 12 months, 33.19 milliondownloads were reported.

■ ■ In July 2015, the Supreme Court refused to allow the blocking ofpornographic websites and said that watching pornographyindoors in the privacy of one’s own home was not a crime.

■ ■ In August2015, theGovernmentof Indiaissued anorder toIndian ISPs toblock at least857 websitesthat it con-sidered to bepornographic.

■ ■ In 2015, theDepartment ofTelecommunications (DoT) partial-ly rescinded theban after a lawyerfiled a petition inthe SupremeCourt arguingthat onlinepornographyencourages sexcrimes and rapes.

■ ■ In February 2016, theSupreme Court asked theGovernment to suggestways of banning all formsof child pornography. InOctober 2018, the govern-ment directed ISPs toblock 827 websites thathost pornographic con-tent following an order bythe Uttarakhand HighCourt. The court cited therape of a class 10 girl

PAGE

3CityTUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE

Global recognitionCity-based social crusader Rohith Vakrala con-ferred Karmaveer Chakra Award 2019 byiCONGO, UN for his contribution in social work

The deteriorating airquality in Central

India is due to biomass burning

— Vijay Kanawade researcherUniversity of Hyderabad

IN BRIEF

Vendors quittingonion sale

From Page 1

“We can’t bring stock fromGujarat as the government is

not willing to increase theprice,” said Duggu JagdishKumar, another wholesaler.“We are supplying 50 bagsto rythu bazaar in the state

at a loss. The onion procuredby us is `55 per kg but we

have to give it to the govern-ment at `40 per kg. We are

incurring losses so that peo-ple can get onions.” Many

vendors have quit the marketas they cannot afford this

loss. Crop damage has madeit difficult to get returns oninvestments. The prices will

come down once the newcrop comes by January-end.

Urban heat effect is atits worst during nights

DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

Mayor BonthuRammohan on Mondayhanded over `5 lakh tothe family of PasalaNaga Venkata Satyaveni,

who died in a freakmishap at theBiodiversity flyover inGachibowli onNovember 23. Satyaveniwas standing on the foot-path beside the flyoverwhen a car flew off the

n e w l y - i n a u g u r a t e dstructure and landed ona tree near her. The treefell on Satyaveni, killingher on the spot. She washouse-hunting alongwith her daughter whenthe accident occurred.

The car was driven byone K. Milan Krishna, 27,who was speeding on theflyover. The car was trav-elling at 104 kmph. Helost control of the vehi-cle, which hit the flyoverwall and fell on the road.

ADITYA CCHUNDURU ||DCHYDERABAD, DEC 2

A five-day internationalmeet, ‘Counterm-easures to Urban HeatIslands’ was kicked offby municipal develop-ment secretary ArvindKumar at the IIIT-Hyderabad on Monday.The term ‘urban headisland’ refers to a metro-politan area that is sig-nificantly warmer thansurrounding ruralareas due to humanactivity.

The conference targetsscientists, engineers,builders, architects andgovernment officials,who have been calledupon to find solutions to

relieving excessive heatand air pollution duringsummers in hot cities. Ithad earlier been held inTokyo, Berkeley(California, USA),Venice and Singapore.

Mr Kumar said theconference wasextremely relevant toHyderabad. “The busi-ness space occupied inHyderabad may go upfrom the current 120million sq ft to 140 mil-lion sq ft in 2025. Whatthat happens, the UHIeffect will double,” hesaid. The senior bureau-crat shared some of thestate government’scountermeasure toreduce the heat islandeffect. “All 33 districts inthe state will have a

green action plan for allurban local bodies(ULB). Each ULB willalso have a nursery, 10per cent of its budgetearmarked for a greenbudget. Also, the townplanning department istaking the necessarymeasures to fix trafficand infrastructureissues. The state isencouraging the devel-opment of integratedtownships,” he said.

Explaining the con-cept, Mr Vishal Garg,head of the Centre of ITin Building Sciences,IIIT-H, and organisingchair of the conference,said, “The temperaturedifference in an urbanheat island is usuallylarger at night.”

Pleasant showers on a sultry night

Commuters caught unawares as the city received light showers on Monday evening after the sky remainedovercast throughout the day. — DEEPAK DESHPANDE

Service Existing NewOrdinary2 km `5 `106 km `10 `1512 km `15 `2020 km `20 `2530 km `25 `3040 km `30 `35

Metro Deluxe2 km `10 `156 km `15 `2014 km `20 `2524 km `25 `3032 km `30 `3540 km `30 `35

LONG DISTANCE SERVICESService Existing New MinPallevelugu `63 `83 `5Semi Express `75 `95 `5Express `87 `107 `15Deluxe `98 `108 `20Super Luxury `116 `136 `25Rajadhani ACVajra AC `146 `166 `35Garuda `171 `191 `35Garuda+ `182 `202 `35Vennela `253 `273 `70

Service Existing NewMetro Express2 km `10 `158 km `15 `2016 km `20 `2526 km `25 `3036 km `30 `3540 km `30 `40

THE FARE HIKE CHART CITY SERVICESIREDDY SSRINIVAS RREDDY ||DCHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

If anyone is breathing easythat bus services have beenregularised and things areback to normal withTelangana State RoadTransport Corporation(TSRTC) then better be pre-pared to shell down moreon travel costs, hereafter.

The corporation hashiked bus fares followingthe government's decisionto increase 20 paise per kmtowards which it issuedorders on Monday. Therevised fares would comeinto effect from Tuesdaymidnight.

Following the November28 Cabinet meeting, ChiefMinister K. ChandrasekharRao informed that theincrease in the bus fareswould fetch profits for theRoad TransportCorporation.

The buses departing fromall depots after 12 am willcharge the revised fares.The minimum fare in ordi-nary buses in Hyderabadhas been doubled to `10from the existing `5, whileit has been enhanced to `15

on Metro Deluxe services.The minimum fare in

Palle Velugu and semi-express buses is `10 whilethere is to be `5 increase onall Express services withthe minimum fare being`15.

The minimum fare fordeluxe services will be `20and `25 on Super Deluxeservices.

It will be `35 for Rajdhani,Vajra, Garuda, and GarudaPlus AC services and theminimum fare on AC sleep-er services has beenincreased to `70.

The student’s monthlybus pass, which cost `130,has been increased to `165in Hyderabad limits whilethe quarterly passes for stu-dents will now cost `.490from the existing `390.

The monthly ordinarypass for general commutersand government employeeshas also been increasedfrom `770 to `950.

The Metro Express servic-es pass has also beenincreased to `1,070 from theprevious `880, and for theMetro Deluxe services, thefare of the monthly passhas been revised to `1,185from `990.

Get NoC to hold Numaish,HC tells Exhibition Society VUJJINI VVAMSHIDHARA IIDCHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

The Telangana High Courton Monday made it clear tothe Exhibition Society thatit will not allow theNumaish, the annual AllIndia Industrial Exhibition,to go ahead if it does not getall the approvals includingfrom the fire department.The Numaish starts on NewYear’s Day.

A fire had ravaged a sec-tion of the exhibition lastyear. It had subsequentlyemerged that the societywas running the show with-out a fire department clear-ance. “Until and unless youfurnish all the NoCs (no-objection certificates) before

this court, we will not per-mit the Exhibition Society tohold Numaish next year.Even if the governmentaccords permission, thiscourt will not allow the soci-ety to hold the exhibition,”said a division bench ofChief Justice RaghavendraSingh Chauhan and JusticeA. Abhishek Reddy.

The court was dealingwith a PIL filed by advocateKhaja Aijazuddin allegingapathy of the ExhibitionSociety in taking up safetymeasures. In the PIL filedafter last year’s fire acci-dent, the petitioner hadurged the court to takeaction against the societymembers and officials ofthe fire safety departmentfor not taking preventive

measures.This PIL has been heard

many times and, on the thelast occasion, the court hadasked the government aboutthe action it had taken.

Mr S. Sharath, specialcounsel, said the Hyderabadpolice commissioner hadtaken control of theExhibition Society and DCP,central zone, appointed asnodal officer to supervisethe arrangements. He, how-ever, failed to submit theplan of action and the requi-site permissions. Respond-ing to this, Chief JusticeChauhan said “Merely mak-ing statements won’t suffice,there should be documen-tary evidence because itinvolves the lives of inno-cent traders and people.”

`5L for flyover crash victim’s kin

Now, shell out more for RTCbus travel, pay minimum `10

POWER | SHUTDOWN9 am to 5 pm: Sagar SocietyColony, Kamalapuri Phase-III,Arora Colony area;Krishnanagar, Roads No. 2, 5, 9,Jubilee Hills Check Post; CareHospital area, Banjara HillsRoad No. 2 area, Balagoud PT,area behind Masjid, WaterWorks area, Road No.12, VijayaRama Rao house area; Sony TVshowroom aea, Apple Softwarearea, BSNL Exchange, JubileeHills Road No. 62, Ramalayam,area behind LV Prasad Marg,LV Prasad Film Labs, EyeHospital; Venkatagiri waterworks10 am to 5 pm: Anjali theatrearea, Kalaniketan, Kalasiguda,SD Road area, SwapnalokComplex, Manju theatre area,Margadarshi Chit Funds office,Andhra Bank ATM, CMRTextiles, Chennai ShoppingMall, RP Road, Passport office,Sri Sai Ganesh Lodge, Rathifilebus stop, Hotel Basera area,ICICI Bank, St Mary’s Church,IBP Petrol Bunk area, St Ann’sSchool area, South IndiaChurch, Madhava Hospital, HPPetrol Pump, St Patrick’sSchool, Nagarjuna Health,Regimental Bazaar 10 am to 1 pm: BSNL Office,Meraj Colony, IAS Colony,Janakinagar, ChotaJanakinagar, Bakthavarguda,Paramount Colony, MCHColony; Hakeempet, AlHasnath Colony, Yousuf Tekdi,Military area, MandarRestaurant, 4 Seasons, PistaHouse area.2 pm to 5 pm: BrundavaColony, Chota Janakinagar,Bada Janakinagar, FathimaColony, Paramount Colony,Mini Brundavan Colony,Viratnagar; Al Hasanth Colony,Yousuf Tekdi, Nizam Colony,Toli Chowki, Delux Colony,Dowlet Gulshan Colony, areanear KFC, Hakeemshakunta.

Staff crunch hits food safety checksTelangana performs badly in food enforcement, reports FSSAI dataADITYA CCHUNDURU II DDCHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

Around a week ago, theFood Safety StandardsAuthority of India(FSSAI) released data onfood enforcement in thecountry. Telangana hasperformed poorly alongwith West Bengal,Karnataka and Assam.

That Telangana is at thebottom of the charts innot surprising. TheCommission of FoodSafety in the state is run-

ning on a skeletal staff. Ithas fewer employees thana typical restaurantwhose food it is supposedto monitor. These officershave far too many respon-sibilities and very fewresources.

There are 58 sanctionedposts of food safety offi-cers (FSO) in the state,but only five are filled. Infact, GHMC alone has 30sanctioned FSO posi-tions, though none ofthem is filled. The fiveserving FSOs are each

stationed in the districtsof Suryapet,Kothagudem, Mancher-ial, Warangal Rural andMahbubnagar.

Another pain point forthe department is thatthere are only nine dis-trict officers (DO) work-ing across the state’s 32districts (excluding theGHMC region). Thoughdistricts were reorgan-ised in 2016, the jurisdic-tion of the DOs corre-sponds to the erstwhiledistricts. Since most of

them have no FSO work-ing under them, theythemselves are asked toact as the FSO. Betweenthemselves, these officershave the unenviable taskof ensuring food safetyacross the thousands ofrestaurants and streetvendors in the state.

A senior official fromthe department said thathiring new employees isnext to impossible.“There is no budget. Infact, we can’t buy a coupleof copies of the Food

Safety and Standards Act,2006. That’s how short offunds we are,” he said.Indeed, the money is sonon-existent that there isonly one computer acrossthe entire department,which is at the head officein Hyderabad! None ofthe DOs or FSOs has acomputer on which to filereports. There isn’t evena printer anywhere. Theofficers have to get every-thing done externallyfrom cyber cafes. The offi-cial quoted above said

DOs and FSOs rarely evercheck their emails. Allbusiness is done overphone and WhatsApp.

The DOs have no assis-tants and act completelyon their own. “They haveto travel across theirjurisdiction on their ownand collect samples fromrestaurants and streetvendors all on their own.Things can get hairy inrural areas, where restau-rant owners can gang upon the officer and threat-en him.

PAGE

4CityTUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE

Collector rewardedSangareddy collector M. Hanumantha Rao getsbest collector award for providing facilities topersons with disabilities during elections

Gandhi Hospital’sblood bank has beenrecognised as best in

state sector— Etala Rajender

Health minister

IN BRIEFMan gives fakejob offers, held

Hyderabad: The police onMonday arrested a city resi-

dent who duped job aspi-rants by collecting money

and provided fake appoint-ment letters with the

Airports Authority of India.The aspirants realised they

had been cheated only whenthey went to join duty at the

Shamshabad airport. TheTask Force said the accused,

Mohd Jameel Ahmed, 34,was working on an outsourc-

ing basis for an airline toclear the flight cabins and

had quit in 2018. Ahmedfaces one case each at theKanchanbagh, Dabeerpura,

and Mailardevpally policestations. Police seized a

computer, a mobile phoneand four fake appointment

letters from him.

2 held with45-kg ganja

Hyderabad: Two personsfrom Punjab who weresmuggling ganja from

Andhra Pradesh to Delhi in atrain were arrested by the

Government Railway Policeof Secunderabad on

Monday. The police seized45 kg of ganja. GRP

Superintendent B. Anuradhasaid that during the check-

ing by the GRP and RailwayProtection Force personnel

at the SecunderabadRailway Station, the

accused, Santosh KumarSingh, 32, and Rahul Verma,

23, residents of Patiala inPunjab, were found carrying

13 packets of ganja in fivebags on the foot overbridge.

Ms Anuradha said the duobought ganja from

Visakhapatnam and was tak-ing it to Delhi.

Burglars heldin KhammamKhammam: Two persons

allegedly involved in theftsin four states, were caught

in Khammam on Monday.Property worth of `30 lakh

including a multi-utility vehi-cle was recovered from

them. They were stoppedduring routine checks.

Finding their movementssuspicious, police searchedthe vehicle and found 267

gm of gold jewellery and 30kgs of silver there. They

were identified as RayapatiVenkanna aka Venkaiah and

Munagala Jayaram aliasRaju. The MUV (MH13 BH2023) was also stolen in

Maharashtra and they hadchanged the number to

AP30 AE 0123. Venkannahailed from Chaitanyapuri,Guntur, and Jayaram from

Rajarajeswaripet,Vijayawada. Police said theywere taking the loot to their

homes in Andhra Pradeshwhen they were nabbed.

MOLESTERBEATEN UP,GIRL SAVED

DC CORRESPONDENTTIRUPATI, DEC. 2

Villagers thrashed a young-ster at Peddakondamarri inChowdepalli mandal ofChittoor district on Mondayfor trying to molest a nine-year-old girl. He was handedover to local police and a casehas been registered underPOCSO Act against theaccused who is identified as G.Muni Raja (28) and a relativeto the victim.

According to Chowdepallisub-inspector Mandli AnilKumar, the incident happenedon Sunday evening when thegirl was playing at her home,while her parents were awayon some domestic work. WhenMuni Raja tried to molest her,she began screaming. This ledto locals rushing in and theycaught hold of Muni Raja.

Acting on the complaintlodged by the victim’s parents,police registered a case andthe girl was sent to the hospi-tal for conducting medicalexamination.

OBITUARY

Rt. Sub. HARDIT SINGH1926-2019

With great grief we inform you that our revered Pitaji left for

his heavenly abode on 29.11.2019Bhog Shri Akhand Path Sahib,Antim Ardas & Kirtan 4.12.2019,12-1 p.m. followed by Guru kaLangar, House No. 52, Shakti Nagar,Ramakrishna Puram, Secunderabad

9246331860, 9494060735,8106257467

Inserted by Family

(S/1920/D01354)

3rd DEATH REMEMBRANCE

MADISHETTY BHUSHAIAHDOB: 02-02-1937 DOD: 06-12-2016

“Your memories are always in our heartsforever”M. Jaya Laxmi, M. Sudha Venugopal,M. Swarna Raj Gopal, V. Siri Harin,

B. Divya Arvind, M. Rishik Raj.

OBITUARYJesus said... “I am the resurrection andthe life. The one who believes in me willlive even though they die.” John 11:25

JAMES VIJAY KUMAR(Retd. Railways Employee)

DOB: 18-05-1950 DOD 02-12-2019Funeral Service at 3.00 p.m. All Saints’Church, Trimulgherry on 3-12-2019.Burial at No.12, Cemetery, Lane Opp.RTA, Trimulgherry.Inserted by: Mrs. Chandra James & Family

Cell No. 9966030074/ 9885574007

(CA-3090)

SHRADDANJALI

Smt. CHANDRAPRABHADAMODARDAS SHAH

D.O.D: 2nd December 2019Inserted by Grieving Son & Family

Shri Sunil D. Shah (Son)Smt. Sunanda S. Shah (Daughter-in-Law)

Shri Apurva S. Shah (Grand Son)Shri Amrit S. Shah (Grand Son)

Smt. Shikha A. Shah (Grand Daughter-in-Law)Master Krishan A. Shah (Great Grand Son)

And all other family members of Raja Bhagvandas Haridas & Sons.

SHRADDANJALI

Smt. CHANDRAPRABHADAMODARDAS SHAH

D.O.D: 2nd December 2019You will always be there in our memoriesInserted by Grieving Son & Family

Son: Sudhir Damodardas Shah Daughter in law: Anjana Shah

Grand Son & Spouse: Akshay & Nehal Shah, Grand Daughters & Spouse:

Sanjeeta & Amit Sheth Sonam & Rahul Jhaveri and

Anaika, Sophia & Sarina, AmayDaughter in law: Kamini Vinod Shah

Grand Son & Spouse: Avinav &Swarna Shah and Ayaan

With profound grief we inform the sad demise of

Smt. CHANDRAPRABHA (Hira Bai)W/o late Damodardas Mukandas Shah

On 2nd December 2019Funeral procession will start from ourresidence at Plot #8-2-684/3/K/22, KaushikSociety, Vemireddy Enclave, Road No. 12,Banjara Hills to Vaikunta Mahaprasthanamnear Whisper Valley Crematorium onTuesday 3rd December 2019 at 11.00 am

Sudhir ShahRBH & Sons Jewellers

9849011062, 9949900055SHRADDANJALI

Smt. CHANDRAPRABHADAMODARDAS SHAH

D.O.D: 2nd December 2019You will always be there in our memories

Inserted by Grieving Daughter-in-law & Family

Daughter in law: Kamini V ShahGrand Son & Spouse:

Avinav & Swarna Shah + Ayaan shahGrand Daughter & Spouse:

Nandita & Vijay Trivedi

SHRADDANJALI

Smt. ChandraprabhaDamodardas Shah

D.O.D: 2nd December 2019You will always be there in our memories

Inserted by:Grieving Daughters & Family

Jaidevi Madhusudan ShahKamini Krishnavadan Shah

Anuradha Anil Parikh &Niraj, Deepti, Aarti, Pooja,Darshini, Aditi & Ayush

SHRADDANJALI

Smt. ChandraprabhaDamodardas Shah

A woman to be remembered, A life to behonoured.

WE will miss you Dadima…Nandita & Vijay Trivedi

Yana & Vritti

OBITUARY

Blessed are the dead who die inthe Lord. Revelation 14:13

KOTHAPALLY REV. JOHN CLEOPHASS/o Late Kothapally John Abraham

DoB: 22-12-1945 DoD: 02-12-2019Funeral today at Nakrekal,Mandlapuram, at 11.30 am.

— Grieving family members.Phones: 9550391033, 9849202020

33rd FOND MEMORY

Mr. RAMNATH MEHANSole Prop. Signal Sports Co., Abids Circle

DOB: 14-12-1906 DOD: 3-12-1986I THANK HIM FOR TEACHING ME GOOD

BUSINESS WITH HONESTY.Inserted by:

Gianeshwar Kumar Mehan (Puppy)CEO & MD of Signal Sports Co. Abids

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

A 31-year-old man who sexu-ally abused a minor girlwhen she was alone in herhut at Balanagar has beenconvicted and imprisonedby a court for three years.

According to Cyberabadpolice, a case was registeredagainst K. Ravi Shekar, aresident of Ferozguda onJanuary 8, 2016, for sexuallyabusing the child. He hadtaken advantage of theabsence of the girl's parents.

After investigation, thecase was charge-sheetedbefore the Ninth AdditionalDistrict Judge Court (FastTrack Court) at LB Nagar.

Fast Track CourtMagistrate N. RaghunathReddy on Monday gave thejudgment.

MAN GETS 3-YEARRI FOR SEXUALABUSE OF MINOR

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

A 22-year-old MBA stu-dent died of a severehead injury when thehelmet he was wearingbroke in a mishap atLanger Houz onMonday. The policesaid that the helmetwas of poor qualityand broke when it hit aGHMC water tankerand a median.

The victim, V. Pranay,22, of Kranthinagar,Mehdipatnam, was afirst year student in aprivate college in thecity. His father, Mr V.Prabhakar, works inthe panchayat raj

department.Pranay left home at

about 10.40 to go to thecollege located atIbrahimbagh on hisbike (TS12 EF 1844).When he reached themain road at NanalNagar, he lost controlover the bike rammedit into a water tanker(AP28 TD 1160) belong-ing to the GHMC fromthe rear and fell down.

Langer Houz inspec-tor Ch Srinivas saidthe accident took placeon the main road at aU-turn at AndhraFloor Mill. He saidPranay’s head hit thetanker and the median.

“Pranay was wearing

a helmet. When he felldown after hitting thelorry, it broke. Hishead came in directcontact with the watertanker and then themedian. He suffered acritical head injuryand died on the spot,”said the inspector.

The helmet appearedto be of low qualityand it broke due to theimpact.

A case has been regis-tered following a com-plaint from the vic-tim’s father for theinvestigation and thebody was handed overthe autopsy atOsmania GeneralHospital.

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

The death toll in the murder of thetahdsildar Ch Vijaya Reddy at theAbdullapurmet mandal revenueoffice increased to four with thedeath of Kavali Chandraiah onMonday. After battling for life for28 days, Chandraiah succumbed tothe severe burns he sustained, atApollo DRDO hospital inKanchanbagh. Chandraiah, 53, aresident of Rallaguda inShamshabad, worked as an atten-dar at the tahsildar’s office.

On November 4, K. Suresh, 38, aresident of Gowrelli village inRanga Reddy district, went to thetahsildar’s office and had setablaze Vijaya Reddy. Her driverGurunatham received over 60 percent burns and Chandraiah 40 percent in their attempt to save her.Suresh also received burns.

Vijaya Reddy died the same day.Gurunatham died the next day andSuresh two days later.

Weak helmetproves deadlyPoor quality helmet breaks uponimpact, MBA student on bike dies

JAYENDRACHAITHANYA T. I DCHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

Apprehending out-right rejection by fami-ly elders, two youngcouples committed sui-cide separately atKesahmpet and Sha-bad in Ranga Reddydistrict on Monday.

At Shabad, the manand woman were foundhanging on a tree,while at Keshampet, ayoung man hangedhimself to a tree afterlearning about the sui-cide of his girlfriend.

Keshampet sub-ins-pector K. Venkatesh-warlu said that N.Sriramulu, 23, and P.Susheela, 18, both resi-dents of Thommidi-rekula were in love forthe last two years.They were planning toget married with theconsent of their fami-

lies. Meanwhile, Sus-heela conceived andshe was four monthspregnant. They wereworried about parentalacceptance as theybelonged to differentcommunities.

A worried Susheelahanged herself to theceiling at her house ataround 1.30 am anddied. In the morning,

as the news spread inthe village, Sriramulualso committed sui-cide. He was foundhanging to a tree locat-ed on the outskirts ofthe village at around 7am, said the SI.

Two cases of suspi-cious deaths have beenregistered and the bod-ies were handed overto their kin afterautopsy, he said.

At Lingareddiguda inShabad, Pallavi, 19 andMahendar, 21, werefound dead hanging toa tree on the outskirtsof the village.

The police found thatthey were in love forsome time but wereworried about accept-ance of their families.This could have led totake the extreme step,police said. A case ofsuspicious death hasbeen registered by theShabad police.

Fear of rejection turns fatal

Attender atVijaya Reddyoffice dies

Balapur copsuccumbs tosuicide bidDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

An assistant sub-inspector work-ing in Balapur police station whohad set himself ablaze allegingdied at the Apollo DRDO hospitalon Monday.

On November 22, the ASI, K.Narsimha, 54, climbed a watertank near the Balapur police sta-tion and tried to immolate himself,alleging that he was targeted byhis superiors and was being sub-jected to humiliation.

Police said Narsimha had a heat-ed argument with two constableswho had asked for the music sys-tem at a marriage to be shut offwhere he was present.

Subsequently, a constable lodgeda complaint with the Balapurpolice against the ASI and his sonfor using objectionable language.Narsimha was transferred toManchal police station. Upset withthese developments, he attemptedsuicide.

LIVES | LOST

With the Biodiversity Park flyover closed, heavy traffic is seen on the roadon Monday. The flyover was after the accident in which a speeding car flewoff and killed a woman standing on the footpath. — P. SURENDRA

Stuck again

2 couples fear theirfamilies, end lives

■ ■ IN ONE of thecases, the womanhad become preg-nant and this causeda further scare forthe couple over theiracceptance.

■ ■ THE WOMANcommitted suicide ather home. As newsspread, her friendhung himself from atree.

Umasankar

PAGE

5PoliticsTUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE

Disability DayP. Chokka Rao, national general secretary, All India Confederation of The Blind, urges people to extend financial support to the disabled

We need stringentlaws to punish those

who indulge inviolence on women

— Malothu Kavitha

TRS MP

SHORT TAKES

Cong raps CM on fare hike‘KCR failed to maintain law and order, provide safety’

SCHOOLS TOCOME UP ON 50

WAKF LANDSDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

Fifty Wakf properties havebeen earmarked to buildminorities residential schools.Government adviser onminority affairs A.K. Khan,who is also the society presi-dent, is keen to build residen-tial schools on Wakf proper-ties as they are now function-ing from private buildings forwhich the TMREIS is payingabout `150 crore annually inrent.

The Central Wakf Councilhas accorded consent.

The Telangana MinoritiesResidential EducationalInstitutions Society (TMREIS)runs 204 residential schoolsand 12 junior colleges.

A meeting of the Wakf Boardand TMREIS officials was heldin the presence of home minis-ter Mohammed Mahmood Alion Monday.

Mr Khan also held discus-sions with MIM legislatorAkbaruddin Owaisi. Mr Khanwill send a detailed proposal tothe government.

Wakf Board ChairmanMohammed Saleeem saidthere is a provision in theWakf Act for long-term lease.Amendments carried out inthe Wakf Act in 2013 envisageleasing of a Wakf property forcommercial activities, educa-tion or health purpose for upto 30 years with the approval ofthe state government follow-ing certain guidelines laiddown in the act.

S.N.C.N. AACHARYULU || DDCHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

Telangana state Cong-ress leaders slammed theTRS government for thefailure to maintain lawand order and forincreasing bus fares.

AICC secretary and for-mer MP V. HanumanthaRao demanded that a suomotu case be registeredagainst Chief MinisterK. Chandrasekhar Rao,holding him responsiblefor the death of 30 RTCemployees and cheatingthe courts during theRTC strike period.

Speaking to the mediain Zaheerabad, he askedhow Mr Rao is announc-ing sops to RTC employ-ees worth crores ofrupees when he has toldthe High Court that thegovernment has nomoney to give to RTC.

Mr Hanumantha Raodemanded that theaccused in the Disharape-and-murder caseshould be given capitalpunishment immediate-ly.

Meanwhile, TPCC vice-president Mallu Ravi andformer minister NagamJanardhan Reddy, alsospeaking to the media atGandhi Bhavan onMonday, alleged that the

law and order situationhad deteriorated in thestate. People have lostconfidence in the policeand “friendly policing” isonly for the TRS leaders.They said that had theCM made the announce-ment of giving crores ofrupees to the RTCemployees a few daysago, 30 RTC employeeswould not have died.

The TPCC conductedprotest rallies in all dis-trict headquarters onMonday against the hikein RTC fares.

TPCC Campaign Com-mittee chairperson andformer MP Vijayasha-nthi said in a statementthat it is surprising thatit took the CM 72 hours toreact to the Disha rapeand murder. The ChiefMinister held a pressmeet immediately afterthe Huzurnagar by-elec-tion result was declaredrecently, but it took himthree days to react to theghastly rape-and-murderof a woman.

Ms Vijayashanthi saidwhen the CM had saidearlier that no one cansave the RTC, how has hedone so in two months?She said the CM values adog in Pragathi Bhavanmore than he doesTelugu society.

HC on strike: All’swell that ends wellVUJJINI VVAMSHIDHARAI DDCHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

The Telangana HighCourt was not inclined togo into the issue of thegovernment ignoring theTSRTC trade unions. Italso dismissed a PIL filedon seeking a direction tohold the governmentresponsible for the deathof employees that occur-red during the strikeperiod.

A division bench com-prising Chief JusticeRaghavendra Singh Cha-uhan and Justice A.Abhishek Reddy dis-missed with the PIL filedby retired Osmania Uni-versity professor P.L.Vishveshwar Rao, sayingthat the prayer in the PILhad been answered asthe government hadtaken the employeesback.

The bench drew fromthe Ramayana and saidRavana’s brotherVibhishan was crownedking only after Lankahad been destroyed. Thebench dismissed the PILwith citing the name of aShakespearean play,“All’s Well That Ends

Well”. Prof. Rao, submit-ting his arguments onhis own, said that ChiefMinister K. Chandra-sekhar Rao had calledthe workmen and heldtalks with them withoutthe trade unions being apart of the talks.

He said the unionswere part of the demo-cratic set-up and wererecognised and had comeinto existence in the1920s. “The state is act-ing as per its conven-ience and all its deci-sions are not in conso-nance with theConstitution,” Prof. Raosaid.

The bench said that thegovernment had donemany things for theworkmen. If at all thetrade unions had a griev-ance, they can approachthe appropriate forum.The trade unions do notrequire the support ofthe common citizen inthis issue, the benchsaid.

Excess toll: FASTagempties cash fasterN. VVAMSI SSRINIVAS II DDCVIJAYAWADA, DEC. 2

Fastag users at certain tollplazas are ending up payingexcess fee than mandatedwhen completing thereturn journey within 24hours. Users can do nothingabout it, as the fee is auto-matically deducted fromthe vehicle’s FASTagaccount. Under the manualsystem, vehicle users couldtake the return ticket bypaying just 1.5 times theregular fee.

For example, the Kalapar-ru toll plaza near Eluru onChennai-Kolkata NationalHighway deducted a toll feeof `40 when a vehiclepassed it at 8.13 am onSunday while proceeding inthe direction of Kolkata.The vehicle user got withinminutes an SMS and mailfrom the banker on deduc-tion of the toll fee. Thesame vehicle passed theKalaparru plaza in returndirection about 12 hourslater at 9.39 pm. The sameamount of `40 was deduct-ed from the FASTag accou-nt, instead of `20 collectedin the manual process.

“The board at toll plazaclearly indicates that only`20 must be collected for thereturn journey on the sameday,” the dismayed vehicleuser pointed out.

Toll fee collection is in theprocess of getting automat-ed through FASTag, withthe Centre making it mand-atory for all vehicles thatwill pass through toll plazasfrom December 15 onwards.Based on the concessionalagreement for the plazaconcerned, the NationalHighway Authority ofIndia notifies collection ofsubsidised toll fee which, inmost cases, is half the regu-lar fee, provided the returnjourney is completed with-in 24 hours. For some oldprojects, however, there isno subsidy on return fare.

According to gazette noti-fication 371 issued by theMinistry of Transport andHighways on February 18,2013, the rate for lightmotor vehicle at Kalaparrutoll plaza, taking 2008 as thebase year, is `0.65, which

works out to `40 for a one-way trip. Column 6 of thegazette lists out the fee formultiple journeys, accord-ing to which only 1.5 timesthe regular fee should becollected when a vehiclecompletes two trips withina day. At some plazas, likeKaza between Vijayawadaand Guntur, a vehicle canpass any number of timeswithin 24 hours for thesame fee.

A senior official at Regio-nal Office of NHAI, Vijaya-wada, told Deccan Chroniclethat individual toll plazasdo not have access to themain server, wherein thehighway authority inte-grates toll plazas. “Nonecan tamper with the rates,”he maintained. When theexcess collection wasbrought to his notice, hemerely said the vehicle usercan register a complaintwith NHAI.

The NHAI websitetis.nhai.gov.in containsdetails of toll fee collectedat every plaza in the coun-try. Vehicle users can crosscheck the fee on the websiteand bring excess collection,if any, to attention of theauthorities concerned.

Incidentally, informationcontained on the website istoo confusing in case ofKeesara toll plaza betweenVijayawada and Hydera-bad. Vehicle users are beingcharged `55 for each tripeven if the return journeyis completed within 24hours. The website, howev-er, shows that only `15should be charged for thereturn journey.

“This might be a discrep-ancy. There is no conces-sional tariff for return jour-ney at Keesara,” the NHAIofficial clarified.

DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

Concerned over the delay inrevival of Musi river, theTelangana High Court onMonday decided to hear allthe pending petitions whichhave became a hindrance tothe work of the officials.

Some persons who haveencroached into the Musiriver have approached theHigh Court and obtained astay order which has ham-strung officials.

The division bench com-prising Chief Justice Rag-havendra Singh Chauhanand A. Abhishek Reddy wasdealing with two PILs thatsought revival of the Musiriver.

The court felt that the gov-ernment was not serious ingoing ahead with riverclean-up.

“The Chairman andDirector of the Musi RiverFlood DevelopmentAuthority, during the meet-ings held with me assuredthat the stretch of 5 km ofthe Musi river which flowsin front of the High Courtwill be cleaned and encro-achments removed. TheHigh Court is waiting forthe assurance to be ful-filled,” the Chief Justicesaid adding that there wereno stay orders on the workon this stretch.

Justice Chauhan said,“We are forced to breathethe terrible air... we do notknow what chemicals we

are breathing and whatadverse affects it will haveon our health, apart fromthe mosquito menace. Weare not able to hold themeetings on the adminis-trative side in the eveninghours due to the mosquitomenace.”

The bench expressed dis-may that no lake in the statehad potable water. “We thecitizens of this state are pol-luting our lakes and theenvironment, imperillingour lives.”

Referring to the immer-sion of idols in the lakes,particularly Hussainsagar,Justice Chauhan said, “Godnever said that we shouldlive in a dirty environment.There should be concept ofpurity. I can assure that the

condition of our lakes arehorrible.”

Citing the examples ofRajasthan where the gov-ernment had taken the ini-tiative to clean eight lakes,Gujarat where the Sabar-mati was cleaned up and ofthe Gomti in Lucknow, theChief Justice asked theTelangana state govern-ment why it cannot do it.

Expressing confidencethat the government wascapable to reviving theMusi, the Chief Justicesaid, “When the govern-ment can create a miraclelike the Kaleshwaram irri-gation project, why can’t ittake up the Musi riverissue? It is lagging behinddue to the lack of willpower.”

Kaleshwaram-like miraclecan be done on Musi: HC

● Vijayashanthi said that it is surprisingthat it took the CM 72 hours to react onthe rape and murder of Disha.

● Prayer in the PILhad been answeredas the employeeswere taken back,the High Court said.

● Toll fee collection isin the process of get-ting automatedthrough FASTag, withthe Centre making itmandatory for allvehicles that will passthrough toll plazasfrom December 15onwards.

DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

Chief Minister K. Chan-drasekhar Rao left forDelhi on Monday nightfor three days. Depend-ing on the situation, MrRao may extend his Delhivisit.

The purpose of thevisit is to attend the mar-riage reception of PowerFinance Corporationchairman Rajeev Shar-ma’s son on Tuesday. Mr

Rao will also undergo adental check-up and isscheduled to return toHyderabad on December5.

Two days ago, at a

media conference, MrRao said he was going toDelhi on December 3 andwould meet PrimeMinister Narendra Modito discuss pending issuesrelated to the state.

He said he wouldrequest Mr Modi to setup the Indian Institute ofManagement (IIM) atHyderabad. But theappointment with thePrime Minister has notbeen confirmed. Shouldit come through, he will

stay on. Mr Rao was also going

to discuss with the cen-tre the privatisation ofRTC routes in the stateas per the central govern-ment’s Motor VehicleAct.

But now he seems tohave shelved the privati-sation plan. He did saythough that the Centralgovernment owes RTCaround `25,000 crore, soif he meets Mr Modi, thisissue may be discussed.

CM in Delhi, awaits PM meet

A file photo of the polluted Musi river. — DC

K. CChandrasekhar RRao

PAGE

6NationTUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE

More big catsUnion minister Prakash Javadekarsays tiger population has increased by750 in the last four years to 2,976

The Centre is notaccepting the

economic slowdownin current scenario

— A. Raja

DMK MP

IN BRIEF

45-YEAR-OLDHELD FOR

RAPING MINORKendrapara, Dec. 2: OdishaPolice on Monday arrested a45-year-old man on charges ofallegedly raping a 9-year-old inKendrapara district of Odisha,police said on Monday.

The incident took place onSunday night at a villageunder Derabish police stationlimits of the district and boththe accused and the victim hailfrom it, the police said.

The minor girl was returninghome from her private tutor’shouse when the accused camein his motorcycle, offered todrop her home and offered herpotato chips.

The unsuspecting girl agreedto go with the man as he isknown to her family, the policesaid.

The man then took the girl toa deserted spot and raped her,the police said.

The victim returned homelater that night and narratedher ordeal to her mother.

Her family complained to thepolice, who nabbed the manfrom a neighbouring village,said SDPO Rajib LochanPanda.

The man was arrested andmedical examinations of thevictim and the accused wereheld.

RS PASSES BILLPROHIBITING

E-CIGARETTESNew Delhi, Dec. 2: TheParliament on Monday passeda bill prohibiting the produc-tion, trade, transport, storageand advertisement of electron-ic cigarettes in the country.

The Prohibition ofElectronic Cigarettes Bill,2019, was passed in RajyaSabha with a voice vote. It waspassed in Lok Sabha earlierthis month.

The government had issuedan ordinance to ban e-ciga-rettes in September this year.The new law would replace theordinance.

Health minister HarshVardhan said the governmenthas brought in the bill in orderto control the problem at theonset before it becomes too bigto handle.

“All my life, I have foughtagainst tobacco lobby. You(members) should not haveany suspicion about our inten-tions. We want to nip this prob-lem in the bud,” Mr Vardhansaid in the Rajya Sabha whilereplying to various queries ofthe opposition members.

Once the consumer base of aproduct becomes big, like inthe case of regular tobaccoproducts and alcohol, it is noteasy to control the situation,he added. Vardhan said it wasimportant to being in the ordi-nance in September this yearas big companies were gearingup to launch their products inthe country.

“The same tobacco compa-nies are also promoting e-ciga-rettes..As conventional busi-ness is going down, these com-panies are now promoting newmethods like e-cigarettes,” headded. It is easy for children toget addicted to e-cigarettes, sourgent steps were required,the minister said.

PARMOD KKUMARNEW DELHI. DEC. 2

Activist Bindu Ammini onMonday moved the SupremeCourt seeking safe passageand protection for women ofall age groups going to theSabarimala temple.

Ms Ammini in her petitionhas contended that the topcourt while referring theissue of the entry of womenin the Sabarimala temple toa larger seven-judge benchhad not put on hold the oper-ation of 2018 judgment bywhich women of all age

groups were permitted toenter the temple.

The top court while refer-ring the issue of the entry ofwomen in the Sabarimalatemple to a larger bench hadclubbed it with the issue ofMuslim women’s entry tomosques, cases of femalegenital mutilation in theDawoodi Bohra communityand Parsi women beingbarred from participating inreligious activities of thecommunity if she marries outside the commu-nity.

Ms Ammini has sought

direction to Kerala to ensuresafe passage for everywomen going to theSabarimala temple withoutany hindrance from any

source, including the stateand its agencies.

She has sought furtherdirection to the Kerala gov-ernment to “respect, fulfiland protect the rights of allwomen regardless of age toenter the Sabarimala templewithout hindrance in anymanner whatsoever and inparticular by preventing theunruly mobs or individualsfrom obstructing them from entering the temple.”

Ms Ammini and KanakaDurga had entered theSabarimala temple on

January 2 this year after thetop court verdict inSeptember 2018 allowingwomen of all ages to enterthe shrine.

The top court had onNovember 14 referred to aseven-judge ConstitutionBench the question of theentry of menstruatingwomen in the age group 10 to50 years in Lord Ayyappa’sSabarimala temple and theissues relating to discrimi-natory religious practicesrelating to women inMuslim, Parsi and DawoodiBohra community.

Activist seeks direction to govt for ensure safety from mobsSAFE | PILGRIMAGE

Banihal/Jammu, Dec.2: Civilian traffic on the270-km Jammu-Srinagarnational highway wassuspended on Monday toallow smooth passage ofsecurity convoys and tofacilitate maintenanceof the road damaged byrecent landslides, trafficdepartment officialssaid.

“No civilian vehiclewas allowed to ply on thehighway from eitherSrinagar or Jammu thismorning to allowsmooth passage of secu-rity convoys and tocarry out some repairwork on the road dam-aged by recent land-slides in the Rambansector,” an official said.

Meanwhile, efforts areon to restore the 434-kmSrinagar-Leh Nationalhighway — the only roadlinking Ladakh withKashmir — and Mughalroad which connectsPoonch and Rajouri dis-tricts in Jammu withShopian district. WhileSrinagar-Leh highwaywas closed on Nov. 27 fol-lowing heavy snowfall atZojilla pass, the Mughalroad was closed on Nov.6 after the high altitudeareas experienced heavysnowfall. — PTI

TRAFFIC SHUTON SRINAGAR HIGHWAY

DC CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, DEC. 2

The Centre on Mondayurged the Supreme Courtto constitute a seven-judge bench to revisit its2018 verdict providing forthe exclusion of creamylayer within the SC/STfrom reservation benefitsin jobs.

Seeking the reconsidera-tion of 2018 judgment pro-viding for the exclusion ofthe creamy layer withinthe SC/ST from reserva-tion benefits, attorney-general K.K. Venugopalsought setting up a seven-judge bench for a relook atlast year’s judgment.

A three-judge bench,headed by Chief JusticeS.A. Bobde, told the attor-ney-general that the ques-tion whether the exclu-sion of creamy layeramong SC/ST can bereferred to a larger benchor not will be dealt withafter two weeks.

Mr Venugopal said thatthe questions to beaddressed by the largerbench have already beenframed.

The plea by the attorney-general was resisted by anumber of lawyers whofelt that there was infir-

mity with the 2018 judg-ment.

The entire matter cameup in the course of thehearing of a petition bySamta Andolan Samitiand former IndianAdministrative Serviceofficer O.P. Shukla.

The top court by itsSeptember 26, 2018, judg-ment had said that theconcept of creamy layer

as provided in 2006Nagaraj judgment wouldremain but it left it to theparliament to exclude thecreamy layer fromPresidential Lists con-tained under Articles 341and 342.

“We do not think it nec-essary to go into whetherParliament may or maynot exclude the creamylayer from thePresidential Lists con-tained under Articles 341and 342”, said JusticeNariman speaking for thebench .

Having left it to the par-liament to exclude or notthe creamy layer from thePresidential list con-tained under Articles 341and 342, the court hadsaid, “Even on theassumption that Articles341 and 342 empowerParliament to exclude thecreamy layer from thegroups or sub-groups contained within theseLists, it is clear thatConstitutional Courts,applying Articles 14 and16 of the Constitution toexclude the creamy layercannot be said to bethwarted in this exercise” as it can be done by parliament alone.

Centre seeks SC reviewon SC/ST creamy layer

CONG CALLSNIRMALA‘NIRBALA’New Delhi, Dec. 2:Congress leaderAdhir RanjanChowdhury onMonday took aswipe at financeminister NirmalaSitharaman by call-ing her ‘Nirbala,’which immediatelydrew protest fromBJP members in theHouse. Particip-ating in the discus-sion on the TaxationLaws Bill, he sug-gested that thefinance ministerhas become weakand called her‘Nirbala Sitha-raman.’ As the BJPmembers protestedagainst his com-ment, Speaker OmBirla ruled that anyunparliamentaryremark would beremoved from therecords. — PTI

Woman moves SC over safety at Sabari

Honeytrap tracedto media house

CAB: Assam organisationsintensify agitation in stateMANOJ AANANDGUWAHATI, DEC. 2

If anti-CAB movementhas started subsiding inthree states ruled byInner Line Permit (ILP),the student bodies ofAssam and other north-eastern states have inten-sified their agitation toblock Citizenship (Amen-dment) Bill (CAB) expect-ed to be tabled in the par-liament in its new formatnext week.

The All Assam StudentUnion (Aasu) workerswho took out motorcyclerally throughout the stateon Monday also demon-strated in front of region-al Asom Gana Parishad(AGP) offices accusing theparty of betraying thepeople who gave themmandate to oppose theCAB.

Expressing surpriseover the silence of AGPleaders who had left rul-ing alliance while oppos-ing the CAB, the Aasuleaders said that partyhas surrendered beforethe saffron leadership.

The Aasu leaders saidthat their protest againstCAB will continue untiland unless the govern-ment scraps the bill. TheAasu which has alsobanned the entry of

Assam chief ministerSarbananda Sonowal inDibrugarh University onMonday demonstratedoutside the parental hoseof the chief ministerwhere he had gone toattend a marriage cere-mony.

Describing the CAB as athreat to the existence ofindigenous people of thestate, the Aasu leader-ship, which has beeninvited for a talk withministry of home affairs,said that they are notgoing to budge from theirstand.

Claiming that proposeddiscussion with unionhome minister was a“sheer drama”, theKrishak Mukti SangramSamity (KMSS) onMonday said that foreign-ers may not be able to buyland in the sixth schedule

or the area administeredby ILP but they will beable to work and castetheir vote besides takingland on lease.

The KMSS chief AkhilGogoi who has not beeninvited for talks by unionhome ministry onTuesday said that Centrehas not said that the areasunder sixth schedule andstates having ILP areexcluded from CAB,rather it said that CABwould not violate or overrule the existing provi-sion of these areas.

Visibly not happy withdecision of the home min-istry to isolate him in dis-cussion, the KMSS chiefsaid that discussion wasone way traffic so far. Assoon as union home min-ister Amit Shah declaredthat clause VI of theAssam Accord would beimplemented before theCAB is passed, most ofthe organisations aresilent and protest againstCAB has become weak.

It is significant that withunion home minister’smeeting with all thestakeholders in NewDelhi, anti-CAB move-ment has come down sig-nificantly in ILP ruleds t a t e s — M i z o r a m ,Nagaland and ArunachalPradesh.

From Page 1

The petition contendedthat instead of awardingthe disputed site to theMuslim parties, it wasgiven to Hindu partiesknowing well that theirclaim over the disputedsite was based on threeacts of illegalities com-mitted in 1934, 1949 and1992.

It further says that thetop court “erroneously”exercised its plenarypowers under Article 142directing the allotmentof five-acres of alternateland which was neitherpleaded for nor prayedfor by any party.

Contending that theBabri Masjid demolitionwas in brazen violationof multiple orders of thetop court, the reviewpetition pointed out thateven the November 9judgment had called theevents of December 6,1992, an “egregious vio-lation” of the rule of law.

In such circumstances,complete justice couldhave been done by direct-ing the central govern-ment and the UttarPradesh government toreconstruct the BabriMasjid.

Instead, the top courtwas in “grave error” inhanding over the disput-ed site to Hindu parties“who had notapproached the Courtwith clean hands andindulged in repeatedlyflouting its orders.”

Though MaulanaRashidi today filed thepetition, another by theAll India MuslimPersonal Law Board(AIMPLB) is likely to befiled before December 9.

‘COURT WRONGLYEXERCISED PLENARY POWERS’

■ ■ THE All AssamStudent Union workersdemonstrated in frontof regional Asom GanaParishad (AGP) offices accusing theparty of betraying the people who gavethem mandate tooppose the CAB

■ ■ Bindu Ammini andKanaka Durga hadentered the temple onJanuary 2 this year afterthe SC verdict inSeptember 2018 allowingwomen of all ages toenter the hilltop shrine

■ ■ Seeking the recon-sideration of 2018 judg-ment providing for theexclusion of the creamylayer within the SC/STfrom reservation bene-fits, attorney-generalK.K. Venugopal soughtsetting up a seven-judge bench for arelook at last year’sjudgment.

■ ■ The top court by itsSeptember 26, 2018,judgment had said thatthe concept of creamylayer as provided in2006 Nagaraj judgmentwould remain.

RABINDRA NNATHCHOUDHURY || DDCBHOPAL, DEC. 2

Late on Sunday nightpolice raided the mediaoffice and other businessestablishments owned bythe editor of a local Hindidaily, which has createdripples in official andpolitical circles here bybringing to light sleazyvideos and audios pur-portedly linked to theinfamous honey trapscandal unearthed in thestate recently, in Indore inMadhya Pradesh.

According to Indore dis-trict senior superinten-dent of police (SSP) RuchiVardhan Mishra, 67women were rescuedfrom a hotel owned by theeditor-cum-entrepreneur,Jitendra Soni, in Indorecity and live and spentcartridges were recoveredfrom his house.

“He (Jitendra) wasbooked under immoraltrafficking and ArmsActs. He is currentlyabsconding. We haveannounced a bounty of`10,000 on his head,” thepolice officer toldreporters on Monday.

The editor’s son Amitwas also arrested on vari-ous charges. He was pro-duced in a local court inIndore which remandedhim to police custody tillDecember 6.

The newspaper, SanjhaLokswamy, recently pub-lished photographs of asenior BJP leader, a min-ister in the previousShivraj Singh Chouhangovernment, in a compro-mising position with oneof the five womenaccused in a honey trapscandal involving black-mailing of politicians,

bureaucrats and busi-nessmen.

The evening newspaperalso carried a story of asleazy audio in which apurported retired bureau-crat is heard having sexon the phone with awoman accused in thescandal.

The raids followed acomplaint lodged by alocal civic body officerHarbhajan Singh, one ofthe victims of the honeytrap gang, alleging thatMr Soni published “objec-tionable pictures andvideo grabs” of him in hisdaily and also circulatedit on YouTube channel,according to the policeofficer.

“The 67 rescued womenand seven children werekept in the hotel indeplorable conditions.They appeared veryscared. They were beingcounselled and would besuitably rehabilitated,”SSP Mishra said.

Police said the 67women, a majority ofthem from Assam andWest Bengal, were report-edly serving as bardancers in the hotel.

■ ■ THE raids fol-lowed a complaintlodged by a localcivic body officerHarbhajan Singh,one of the victims ofthe honey trap gang,alleging that Sonipublished objection-able pictures andvideo grabs of him inhis daily and alsoposted it on YouTube

Adhir calls Modi, Shahinfiltrators, slammedDC CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, DEC. 2:

Congress MP AdhirRanjan Chowdhury’sremarks calling PrimeMinister Narendra Modiand Home Minister AmitShah as “infiltrators” cre-ated a ruckus in the LokSabha on Monday withBJP members demandinghis apology saying theywill not tolerate such aninsult.

The attack from thetreasury benches was ledby Parliamentary affairsminister Prahlad Joshiwho took a swipe at theCongress Party over itsPresident Sonia Gandhi’sforeign origin by dubbingher an infiltrator.

While speaking on the

controversial NationalRegister of Citizens issue,Mr Chowdhury is under-stood to have made theinfiltrator barb at the BJPbigwigs.

In the House on Monday,he sought to explain hisremarks and said he willapologise if the BJP is not

satisfied with hisresponse.

He used the opportunityto underline his opposi-tion to the NRC, saying hisfamily had come fromBangladesh. “We do nothave many documents soif somebody calls (us) aninfiltrator, we cannot do

much.” However, as BJPMPs refused to accept hisexplanation and contin-ued with their protest,Speaker Om Birlaadjourned the House.

Mr Joshi said MrChaudhary’s remarkswere an “outright insult”to people who had givenPrime Minister Modi amandate in the recent LokSabha elections and itshowed that the Congressis still not able to come toterms with its defeat.

Rajasthan MP ArjunRam Meghwal said: “Youwill have to apologise”.

Some BJP members alsoaccused Mr Chowdhury ofrunning a “syndicate” inWest Bengal for helpingBangladeshi infiltratorsbecome Indian citizens.

Tourists play on a hillside after fresh snowfall, at Anjni Mahadev in Manali on Monday. — PTI

Chilling out in Manali

■ ■ ADHIR’S RREMARKSwere an insult to peo-ple who had given PMModi a mandate in therecent Lok Sabha elec-tions and it showed theCongress is still notable to come to termswith its defeat, Joshisaid.

In response, Prahlad Joshi dubs Sonia Gandhi ‘infiltrator’

PAGE

7NationTUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE

Law and orderAAP spokesperson Atishi alleged that lawand order has deteriorated in Delhi afterAmit Shah took over as Home Minister

Yet to get financialhelp for Cyclone

‘bulbul’despite PMModi’s assurances

— Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal

Chief Minister

SHORT TAKES

ODISHA MANARRESTED FORRAPING MINOR

TMC TO HOLDTHANKSGVING

RALLY

NITISH SET TOBEGIN STATE

YATRAPatna, Dec 2: Bihar ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar willbegin his statewide ‘Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Yatra’ againstclimate change fromDecember 3, officials said onMonday.

Emphasising the importanceof water conservation andafforestation, the chief minis-ter will undertake the four-dayfirst phase of the tour in thenorthwestern districts of thestate, they said.

“Kumar will commence the‘yatra’ from Bagha in WestChamparan district and aftertraversing East Champaranand Siwan districts, he willconclude the first phase of thetour at Gopalganj district,” asenior official said.

The chief minister willspeak in public meetings onclimate change, launch proj-ects under his ‘Jal JeevanHariyali Abhiyan’, inspectponds and waste managementunits and hold talks with offi-cials concerned, he said.

Initiatives such as a ban onsale and consumption ofliquor and drives againstdowry and child marriage willalso be showcased during thetour, the official said.

The tour comes less than ayear ahead of the stateAssembly elections. – PTI

Odisha, Dec. 2: Odisha PoliceMonday arrested a 45-year-oldman on charges of allegedlyraping a 9-year-old inKendrapara district ofOdisha, police said on Monday.

The incident took place onSunday night at a villageunder Derabish police stationlimits.

The minor girl was return-ing home from her privatetuition when the accusedcame in his motorcycle,offered to drop her home andoffered her potato chips.

The man then took the girl toa deserted spot and raped her,the police said.

The victim returned homelater that night and narratedher ordeal to her mother.

Her family complained to thepolice, who nabbed the manfrom a neighbouring village,said SDPO Rajib LochanPanda.

The man was arrested andwas produced before the localcourt and charged under sec-tions 376(rape), 506(criminalintimidation) of Indian PenalCode. –PTI

Kolkata, Dec 2: West BengalChief Minister and TrinamulCongress supremo MamataBanerjee on Monday said shewould hold “thanksgiving”programmes in Kharagpur,Karimpur and Kaliaganjassembly constituencies tomark her party’s victory fromthe three seats in the recentlyheld bypolls.

The chief minister also saidthat she would begin withKharagpur Sadar- vacated byBJP state president DilipGhosh following his LokSabha win from Medinipur.

TMC’s Pradip Sarkar wrest-ed Kharagpur Sadar seat fromthe BJP in last week’s by-elec-tions.

“I will hold thanksgivingprogrammes at the three con-stituencies. The first one willbe held in Kharagpur onDecember 9,” Banerjee toldreporters.

Sources close to the TMCchief said the party wouldtake out a rally in Karimpuron December 14, afterBanerjee returns from herindustrial meet in Digha. –PTI

Security breachat PriGa houseSANJAY KAW | DCNEW DELHI, DEC. 2

Soon after SpecialProtection Group (SPG)security cover was with-drawn from the Gandhis,a security breachoccurred at Congress gen-eral secretary PriyankaGandhi Vadra’s LodhiEstate residence. In anincident that highlightsthe miscommunicationbetween the Delhi Policeand the CRPF — nowresponsible for guardingher house and provideher personal security —seven people drovestraight to the porch areaof Ms Vadra’s residenceand got photos clickedwith her.

At about 2 pm onNovember 26, a blackScorpio SUV carryingthree men, three womenand a child drove towardsMs Vadra’s residence. Asa meeting was going on inher office, her aide cameout and enquired whatthey wanted.

The car’s occupants saidthey had come all the wayfrom a town in UttarPradesh to have a photoclicked with the Congressleader.

Though Ms Vadra wassurprised, as no visitorhad taken any appoint-ment to meet her, it is reli-ably learnt that theCongress leader chattednicely with the visitorswho took pictures withher and then headed out.

She reportedly askedCRPF personnel how thevisitors came inside with-out her knowledge, thattoo in a car.

As soon as the CRPFpersonnel, who also didnot have any informationabout visitors scheduledto meet her, realised whathad just happened, the

security detail closed inon the visitors and theentire compound was puton alert.

This was one of theworst security breaches,as the guards not only letthe car come in but alsodid not check the identityof the passengers. Later,when Ms Vadra’s officefiled a complaint with theCRPF to ascertain howthe car breached the secu-rity cover, they were toldthat access to her house iscontrolled by the DelhiPolice and a blame gamebegan.

Though the incident isreported to have occurredon November 26, ministerof state (MoS) for HomeAffairs, G. Kishan Reddy,said, “I don’t know thedetails yet. I discuss thematter with my officers.”

The breach was con-firmed to a news agencyby the Congress leader’shusband, Robert Vadra.

“They were not from theparty. This is a seriousmatter, a complete breachof security norms.” hesaid.

New Delhi districtdeputy commissioner ofpolice Eish Singhal, how-ever, said early onMonday that they haven’treceived any complaint.

“No complaints receivedin the local Police Stationregarding entry of anyunauthorised vehicle inthe house of MrsPriyanka Gandhi.”

It was learnt later thatDelhi Police has ordered aprobe into the breach.

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia with Jama Masjid Imam Shaban Bukhari, at Jama Masjid, in NewDelhi on Monday. This is their third visit to India. President Ram Nath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talkswith the Swedish monarch. The President later hosted a banquet for the royal couple. — PTI

17 die inTN wallcollapseANANTH MATHIVANAN| DCCOIMBATORE, DEC. 2

In a heart-wrenchingrain-related tragedy, asmany as 17 personsincluding 13 women andchildren, were killedafter a huge compoundwall collapsed over threehouses at Mettuplayamnear here in the earlyhours of Monday.

Accentuated by heavyrains at the foothills ofNilgiris inMettupalayam late onSunday night, a huge 25-ft high, 80-ft wide wall atNadur AT Colony theresuddenly collapsed overthree tiled-roof housesaround 3.30 am onMonday, hopelessly trap-ping its occupants.

Police said while NEmonsoon lashingNilgiris and Coimbatoredistricts, amid frequent,even if moderate rain-fall for the past twomonths, resulting inminor landslide in thehills, many parts of thefoothills atMettupalayam, havebeen taking the brunt ofthe heavy rains in thelast two days.

The tragedy was fall-out of acute wetness.

As the landscape wasinclined, the compoundwall fell over the housesbeneath, while the resi-dents were sleeping.Before they could get uphearing the huge sound,they were buried underthe debris of both thecollapsing wall and theside walls of their hous-es that crumbled alongwith it.

On information fromlocal residents, fire fit-ting commandos andpolice rushed to the spotand undertook rescueoperations amid pouringrain.

The bodies were recov-ered and sent toMettupalayam GH forpost-mortem.

Expressing deep shockand pain at the tragedy,Chief Minister Edap-padi K. Palaniswamiannounced `4 lakh ascompensation to thenext of kin of each ofthe deceased. He willvisit Mettupalayam onTuesday. DMK leader M.K. Stalin will also visit-ing the town.

SC’s interim stay on tree fellingSONALI TELANG | DCMUMBAI, DEC. 2

The Supreme CourtMonday ordered statusquo on the felling of 1,023trees in the Thane area forconstruction work of themetro line 4, also known

as the Wadala-Thane-Kasarvadavali line. Theapex court ordered aninterim stay for two weekswhile hearing a petitionmoved by a Thane activistafter the Bombay highcourt last week lifted itsearlier stay on tree-cut-

ting. A bench headed byChief Justice S.A. BobdeMonday heard the pleafiled by activist RohitJoshi, challenging the HCorder of lifting its earlierstay. The original petitionhad demanded that themetro line be made under-

ground instead of the pro-posed elevated corridor.

“We had also highlightedin the high court that thetree-cutting was approvedillegally by tree authorityof the Thane MunicipalCorporation” Mr Joshisaid.

Will ensure farmloan waiver: Rahul

The royal tour

Fadnavis made CM to transferfunds to Centre, alleges HegdeEx-Maha CM rubbishes Anantkumar Hegde’s claim on central fundsDC CORRESPONDENTMUMBAI, DEC. 2

Just when it looked likethe month-long politicalcrisis in Maharashtra wasa closed chapter,Karnataka BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) MPAnantkumar Hegde dro-pped a bombshell onMonday, claiming thatDevendra Fadnavis wasmade chief minister forthe second time only toprevent `40,000 crore inCentral funds that weremeant for developmentfrom falling into the handsof the Shiv Sena, NCP andCongress.

Mr Hegde claimed thatMr Fadnavis — in a bid toprevent the ‘misuse’ of thefunds — had transferredthe amount to the Centrejust 15 hours after becom-ing chief minister despitelacking a majority.

“You all know thatrecently in Maharashtrafor just 80 hours our per-son was chief minister,but soon Fadnavisresigned. Why did we haveto do this drama? Didn’twe know, despite knowingwe don’t have majority,why did he become CM?This is the question com-monly everyone ask (sic),”Mr Hegde said speaking inUttara Kannada district.

“More than about `40,000crore was under CM’s con-trol. If NCP, Congress andShiv Sena come to powercertainly that `40,000 cro-re would not have gone fordevelopment work and wo-uld have gone for differentthings,” he said.

“It was entirely plannedearlier itself. Once we gotto know about three par-

ties forming government,it was decided that adrama has to be playedout. So, adjustments weremade and oath was takenby Fadnavis as CM. Afteroath within 15 hours,Fadnavis systematicallyensured that the moneyreaches where it had to

and protected it,” he said.Mr Fadnavis, apparently

embarrassed by the clai-ms, promptly issued adenial, stating that nomajor decision was takenduring his second stint aschief minister.

However, the claims pro-vided fresh ammunition to

the Shiv Sena, whichlashed out against its for-mer ally and Mr Fadnavis.Sena MP Sanjay Raut saidMr Fadnavis’ purportedactions were “treacheryagainst Maharashtra”. Hesaid the state chief secre-tary would clarify on theissue.

Bullet train a burden onMaharashtra: Shiv SenaDC CORRESPONDENTMUMBAI, DEC. 2

A day after chief ministerUddhav Thackeray saidthat the bullet train proj-ect will be reviewed, theShiv Sena highlighted thatthe party is not againstdevelopment. Sena leaderSanjay Raut Monday saidthat the project is a “bur-den” on the people ofMaharashtra, which isreeling under a financialcrisis. Farmers in Palgharand Dahanu welcomed themove.

Sena leaders have beenexpressing concern overPM Modi’s ambitious bul-let train project. Mr RautMonday told media per-sons, “The Sena is againstimposing the burden ofthe bullet train project onthe citizens of Maharash-tra. The financial condi-tion of Maharashtra isvery serious.”

The tribals in Palgharand Dahanu, who hadbeen resisting the projectwelcomed the move.

PANKAJA NOTQUITTING BJP,SAYS PATILDC CORRESPONDENTMUMBAI, DEC. 2

The suspense overPankaja Munde’s nextmove has increased afterthe BJP leader removedthe party name from herTwitter bio Monday. OnMonday, Ms Munderemoved all details fromher Twitter bio, includingthe word “BJP” and thedescription of her politi-cal journey.

Incidentally, in herrecent tweets, she alsocongratulated new chiefminister UddhavThackeray. Sena MPSanjay Raut furtherraised speculation byclaiming that many lead-ers are keen on joining theUddhav Thackeray-ledparty.

In the event Ms Mundequits the BJP, it will be abig jolt for the partywhich is yet to get over theshock of losing power inMaharashtra.

Ms Munde has consider-able clout among the OBCcommunity.

However, state BJP chiefChandrakant Patil deniedthat Ms Munde is leavingthe party.

“BJP leaders are intouch with Ms Munde.She is introspecting afterher defeat. She may behaving good family rela-tions with the Thackeraysbut it does not mean she isjoining the Sena,” he said.

Shiv Sena MP’s carknocks down deerMumbai, Dec. 2: A carbelonging to Shiv SenaMP Rajendra Gavitknocked down and killed aspotted deer at the SanjayGandhi National Park(SGNP) here, an officialsaid on Monday.

Gavit, the Lok Sabhamember from Palgharnear Mumbai, was not inthe vehicle when the inci-dent took place lastWednesday evening nearthe main gate of the park,he said.

The spotted deer wascrossing a road nearTrimurti station, a part ofthe Van Rani narrowgauge train route in thenational park, when it wasrun over by the vehicle,the official said.

The animal was thenrushed to a veterinary

hospital where it wasdeclared dead, he said.

“We have registered anoffence against the SUV’sdriver under provisions ofthe Wildlife Act. The carbelongs to MP RajendraGavit though he was notin the vehicle at the timeof the incident,” SGNPdirector Anwar Ahmedsaid. The vehicle has beenseized, he added. Anotherforest official said there isa speed limit of 20 kmph

— PTI

■ ■ The spotteddeer was crossinga road nearTrimurti stationwhen it was runover by the vehicle

DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, DEC 2:

The Indian Navy onMonday got its firstwoman pilot, SubLieutenant (SLt)Shivangi.

A batch of three traineeofficers, including SLtShivangi, on Mondayqualified as Dornier pilotsand were awarded the cov-eted golden ‘wings’ at asimple ceremony held atINS Garuda. It signifiestheir qualification asnaval aviators.

Vice Admiral A.K.Chawla, the Flag OfficerCommanding-in-Chief,Southern NavalCommand presented the‘wings’ to the passing outofficers.

Sub Lieutenant (SLt)Shivangi is the first

woman pilot of the IndianNavy.

The award of the ‘wings’marks the culmination ofone year of flying trainingat the Air Force Academy,Dundigal, and IndianNaval Air Squadron(INAS) 550, INS Garuda inKochi. From here on,these pilots will join theDornier OperationalFlying Training course atINAS 550 from mid-January 2020, prior tojoining an operationalMaritime Reconnaissancesquadron.

SLt Shivangi is from

Muzaffarpur in Bihar andwas inducted into theIndian Navy under theShort ServiceCommission (SSC)-Pilotentry scheme, and waspart of the 27th naval ori-entation course at theIndian Naval Academy,Ezhimala.

She was commissionedinto the Navy in June lastyear. As part of her train-ing, SLt Shivangi hasflown Pilatus PC 7 Mk II,Basic Trainer at the AirForce Academy and com-pleted DornierConversion with theIndian Navy at Kochi. Shewill continue her trainingat INAS 550, the Dorniersquadron at INS Garuda,to become a fully opera-tional pilot on MaritimeReconnaissance (MR) air-craft.

Indian Navy gets its first woman pilot Shivangi■ Sub Lieutenant Shivangi, qualified as a Dornier pilot, set to join NavyPRIDE OF | INDIA

Shivangi joinedoperational duties atKochi naval base andwill be flying theNaval Dorniersurveillance aircraft

Sub-lieutenant Shivangi stands in front of the Dornier surveillance aircraft. — PTI

■ ■ MIS-COMMUNICA-TION between Delhipolice and the CRPF ledto the security breachat the Congress leadersresidence.

NAYEAR AZAD | DCNOV. 2, PATNA

Ahead of the secondphase of polling inJharkhand, political par-ties have intensified theircampaigning and aremaking bigger claims,promises and accusationsagainst their opponentsin order to woo voters.

Congress leader RahulGandhi, while addressinga rally in Jharkhand onMonday said that hisparty would ensure thatfarmer’s loans are waivedoff after Congress is elect-ed to power.

He also used the occa-sion to highlight theachievements of theCongress government inother states includingChhattisgarh. He said,“The face ofChhattisgarh changedafter Congress was elect-ed to power. BJP was busyacquiring tribal land forindustrialists but it wasthe Congress whichreturned them. We willprotect your land inJharkhand. We alsopromise to waive offfarmers loan”.

This was his first politi-cal rally in Jharkhandafter the dates the of elec-tions were announced.

Adding further, Rahul

Gandhi said that the rev-enue generated from com-mon people in the form ofdemonetisation and GSTwere distributed amongbig industrialists.

“During demonetisa-tion, common man, poorand tribal people like youwere standing in thequeue. Did you see anyindustrialist standing inline? GST money was alsodistributed among only 15industrialists of thiscountry”, Rahul Gandhisaid.

However, BJP nationalpresident Amit Shah,who was also inJharkhand to address twopolitical rallies onMonday raised the politi-cal pitch by blaming theJMM- Congress alliancefor misleading people.

While addressing a rally,Mr. Shah challengedRahul Gandhi to give anaccount of his party’sdevelopment programme.He said, “I would like toask Rahul Gandhi to givean account of his party’sdevelopmental schemesfor last 55 years while weare ready with what wedid in the last five yearsin the state”.

The BJP chief also set2024 deadline to completethe NRC process allacross the country.

Workers are up in arms against the latest labour code bill. Itamalgamates three old and very successful industrial laws —Trade Unions Act 1926, Industrial Employment (StandingOrders) Act 1946, and Industrial Disputes Act 1947 — to draft a

new one that contractualises their work, introducing the concept of “fixedterm employment” across sectors, and curtails their right to strike.Strikes will now be seen as mass casual leaves if engaged in without a 14-day notice. The law also chips away at their collective negotiating power:a trade union will be recognised only if it has the support of 75 per cent ormore workers, compared to the earlier 60 per cent. Termination of serviceon completion of tenure in a fixed-term employment will no longer betermed retrenchment. This bill is part of a four-bill package merging 44labour laws. Industry has welcomed the bill, saying it will improve theease of doing business and streamline the relationship between manage-ments and workers.

It can’t be denied that strikes and lockdowns are a big loss of man-hoursand have led to a tragic breakdown of ethical work culture among whitecollar workforces. But also remember that if an individual goes to court,or an industrial tribunal, they don’t have any staying power versus bigbusiness.

This is where support from co-workers comes in handy, and not only aswitnesses. It becomes more pertinent as the bill doesn’t care to expand thedefinition of employee, while contractualising jobs.

With much unorganised labour already performed traditionally andtechnology changing the structure of other jobs, we have entered what isknown as the “gig economy”, where the worker isn’t necessarily attachedto a workplace and expects payment on the basis of tasks performedrather than hours worked. Will such a worker, say in the garments or bidiindustry, then be sacked without notice or denied the minimum wage?What if they are working for two rival taxi apps, for instance? Will they beconsidered an employee of both companies?

These employees are being told that they are entrepreneurs without cap-ital, when in reality they’re only poorly paid workers. There is muchuncertainty and confusion in this new bill.

Like the minimum wages code passed a few months ago, which stoppedshort of defining a central floor wage even as MNREGA wages post-hikecame out as less than the minimum wage set by states (and last month, thegovernment released the Code on Wages Central Rules draft, under whichthe floor wage would be less than half of `375 per day as suggested by itsown ministry and far less than the 7th Pay Commission’s recommenda-tion), the industrial relations code too left critical areas unaddressed.Perhaps it’s fair to say that the bill, in this form, is not, by far, labour’smost important legislative need.

3 DECEMBER 2019

Sri Lanka’s new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa made New Delhi hisfirst port of call, after our external affairs minister S. Jaishankar flewin right after the results to greet him, with the visit offering the first

opportunity in a long time to smoothen ties.The President is a former Army officer who was his nation’s defence

minister when his brother Mahinda was President, and played a key rolein bringing the LTTE militancy to a decisive closure in 2010, not shyingaway from using questionable means that drew an adverse global reac-tion.

He was elected with a massive mandate based on the country’s Sinhalamajority. This can conceivably turn the Sri Lanka leader in a majoritari-an direction.

New Delhi must be deft and practical if it is to play a moderating influ-ence without appearing to meddle in Sri Lankan politics. Mr Rajapaksatold India that he would be receptive to its security concerns over China(and Pakistan). He suggested in a newspaper interview that his country’sinterest in China was “purely commercial”. Thus, the return of Chinesesubmarines to Sri Lankan waters is not an immediate possibility.

This is a good start. However, the President was careful to urge Indiaand others (Japan, Australia, Singapore) to invest in a big way in SriLanka, otherwise (he implied) China’s importance in the island nationcannot be wished away.

While Mr Rajapaksa promised to pump in economic aid to Tamil areas,he was clear he can’t effect devolution of power to the country’s north andeast, as this won’t be acceptable to the majority community. India hadmounted pressure on this question, principally due to sensitivities inTamil Nadu. New Delhi will have to manage Chennai very carefully if it isto help Jaffna have a secure political space within a united Sri Lanka.

Lanka: Pragmatism is key

New labour bill is amissed opportunity

c m y k c m y k

No man is good enough to govern anotherman without the other’s consent

There is not a woman born who desires to eat the bread of dependence

ABRAHAM LINCOLNMIND POWER

SUSAN B. ANTHONY PAGE

8EditTUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE

The six-month extensiongiven to Army Chief Gen.Qamar Bajwa by theSupreme Court will effec-

tively keep him in office for at leastthe next three years as the court-mandated parliamentary approvalto the legislation for this is a fore-gone conclusion.

Nine out of 10 people will tell youthis when you ask them. But is itindeed a cakewalk for the incum-bent? If you look hard enough youwill also find the contrarian view,audaciously arguing that this isnot the case and a cakewalk it isnot.

This (miniscule) minority opin-ion would have you believe thatGen. Bajwa, if his former seniorand a “defence analyst” Lt. Gen.(Retd.) Amjad Shoaib is right,should have stuck to his guns andsaid no to the offered extension.

The retired general, who claimsfirst-hand knowledge of develop-ments, says the Army Chief neverwanted or asked for an extension,

in fact, offering to step down againas recently as last Wednesday(November 27) in a meeting withPrime Minister Imran Khan.

There is no way a fringe journal-ist like this columnist can confirmthis as access to the real centre ofpower in Rawalpindi is restrictedto ISPR-approved retired generalsor a few so-called analysts, who aregiven to near-hysterical histrionicson TV programmes. We have totake their word for it.

To get a sense of the big pictureone really needs to take a stepback. Only then does the largercanvas become somewhat clearer.Those who think that Gen. Bajwawill now remain in office for atleast three more years, argue thatthe Prime Minister’s rationale forthis is a significant factor.

Imran Khan, they say, feels quitesmug that the man in such a pow-erful office does not shy away frombeing identified closely with thePTI government and supports it invital ways. After all, is the security

establishment’s hand in bringingthe party to the finish line and car-rying it over any secret?

More significantly, since theparty has been in power and itsgovernment has looked no betterthan a rudderless ship, listing fromone crisis to another, the securityestablishment has stood firmlybehind it and publicly reiteratedits support more than once.

Against this backdrop, it was per-fectly logical for the PrimeMinister to want the incumbent tocontinue in office for another threeyears at least, as, with such extra-ordinary powerful positions, whoknows what dynamics areunleashed by an incoming chief.This ensured mutual longevity.

As for the court-mandated law-making that Parliament has to doin order to retain or reject theincumbent beyond six months, itdoes not take an Einstein to lookback at the political developmentsof the past 20-odd months.

In the current political environ-

ment, the only defiant politicalparty may not be an obstacle. Thegrave illness of its top leader, andas a possible consequence thesilencing of his outspoken daugh-ter, has left the party in the handsof its defiance-averse, deal-inclined“pragmatic” leaders.

Therefore, the Senate nod shouldalso be a mere formality.

Despite having been ragged wit-less over its incompetence in noti-fying the Army Chief’s extension oftenure or fresh appointment,whichever may be the case, the PTIwas not too wrong in saying thatthe legal challenge that was mount-ed to Gen. Bajwa’s extension wasunprecedented.

Although generals Zia ul Haq andPervez Musharraf may have giventhemselves extensions during peri-ods of their own unchallengedrules and powers, the secondtenure of Gen. Ashfaq Kayani wasgifted by an elected governmentvia a similar notification and facedno such challenge.

Keen Islamabad observers alsomake another important point.They say the petition challengingGen. Bajwa’s notification was sub-mitted by a lawyer who is knownfor his “patriotic” credentials,track record and is not a rebel ofany sort. Even as the PrimeMinister took to Twitter to blamehis political opponents, the “loot-ers and plunderers” and the hostileforeign powers for trying to sowthe seeds of chaos in the countryvia the legal challenge, nobodymay have told him that the petitionwas coming from a patriot, possi-bly even an insider.

No matter how small the minori-ty that is expressing this view, it ismaking a point to ponder withoutdoubt. And ponder we shall.Things may be resolved quickly orgo to the wire and we’d be sittingon the edge of our seats well intothe summer. There is never a dullmoment in our beloved land.

By arrangement with Dawn

Who’s behindBajwa petition?

Imran wantedhim to stay on

US-China wrangling onHK just sound & fury?

The Chinesecould take asmuch excep-tion to theAugust 30

march in New Delhi byexiled Tibetans in sup-port of the Hong Kongprotesters as to USPresident DonaldTrump signing the so-called Hong KongHuman Rights andDemocracy Act lastThursday. India wouldhave exploded in fury atany such gesture of sym-pathy for Kashmiriswho are regarded as“terrorists”. Or in earli-er years for the Naga,Mizo and Khalistanisecessionists.

So it’s understandablethat Beijing should bestunned by the ferocityof the protests and evenmore by the recent elec-tion when candidatesseeking to loosenChina’s control seizedan overwhelming major-ity of the 452 electedseats in the city’s 18 dis-trict councils. The out-come indicated the HongKong public’s loss ofconfidence in the “onecountry, two systems”formula which Beijingput in place whenBritish rule ended in1997 and the formercolony was merged withChina. It is interpretedas a rebuke to Beijingand to 62-year-old CarrieLam Cheng Yuet-ngor,whom Beijing appointedin 2017 as Hong Kong’sfourth chief executive.Ms Lam, who earlier dis-missed calls for politicalreform while insistingthat a silent majoritysupported her, has beenforced to eat humble pie.The pro-democracycamp is now demandingdirect popular electionsfor the city’s leadershipand legislature, and aprobe into alleged policebrutality against demon-strators.

Although comments byforeigners are resentedas interference inChina’s internal affairs,the Chinese are politi-cally mature enough to

know that the Americanbark is worse than itsbite. Despite fulmina-tions about humanrights in Tibet, theUnited States has doneprecious little to compelBeijing to introducereforms, or make it pos-sible for exiled Tibetansto return, or to restorethe Dalai Lama’s author-ity. Every so often anAmerican Presidentstages an “accidental”meeting with the DalaiLama to remind Chinathat he still has an ace ofspades up his sleeve. Butdoes he play it? Never!Doing so would close hisultimate option.

Washington playsthese games when it hasproblems with Chinathat have nothing to dowith Tibet. The lastmeeting between theDalai Lama and a USPresident (BarackObama) was in 2016, andcoincided with Japaneseand American accusa-tions that China wasextending its influenceinto the Western Pacificwith submarines andsurface vessels andpushing territorialclaims in the SouthChina Sea. In one inci-dent of brinkmanship, aChinese observationship shadowed a US air-craft carrier as it joinedwarships from Japanand India for drills (thefamous Quad) close towaters which Beijingconsiders its backyard.China’s official newsagency accusedWashington of breakingits promise not to sup-port Tibet’s indepen-dence — the US had

“seriously jeopardisedChina-US relations, anddeeply hurt the Chinesepeople’s feelings”.

But both sides pulledback from the brink.This time too, the soundand the fury are expect-ed to stop short of action.Vowing retaliation,China has denouncedMr Trump’s new law asillegal interference andtwice summoned theAmerican ambassadorin one week for a dress-ing down. But just as theChinese are not expect-ed to break the tradetalks with the US, theAmericans are notexpected to impose sanc-tions on China whichthe new law permits.Trade matters morethan human rights.Soybean is more pre-cious to Washingtonthan students.

Hefty Chinese tariffshave already seen USsoybean sales to Chinafall by 90 per cent since2017, largely replaced byimports from Brazil,which is expected to har-vest a crop 27 per centbigger than the US,according to the agricul-tural data provider GroIntelligence. If theChina-US trade talksdrag on for another twomonths, American farm-ers will miss the bestsales chance to China inthe new marketing yearand unsold soybeanswill add further to USstockpiles. China boughtmore than 13 billionpounds of Argentinianbeans this year, out of itstotal demand of roughly187 billion pounds. InOctober, almost 100 percent of Argentina’s soy-bean exports went toChina. Expecting abumper crop in 2020,Argentinian farmers arekeeping their fingerscrossed hoping thatefforts to clinch a China-US deal will continue tobe frustrated.

Sanctions are a two-way street. The Institute

for InternationalEconomics inWashington calculatedas long ago as 1995 thatsanctions cost the USeconomy a staggering$20 billion in lostexports, and some200,000 Americans theirjobs. America’s owninterest was anotherreason for seeking a wayout of the sanctionswhich the US imposedon India and Pakistanafter the 1998 nucleartests. America’s wheat-growing Pacific north-west states feared anoth-er glut and a slump inworld prices that wouldseverely affect USincomes if they couldnot sell to South Asia.Pakistan, which hadbought 37 per cent of thewheat grown in this par-ticular region of the USthe previous year, facedanother food shortagebut sanctions preventeda similar deal. So,despite his gesture ofsupport for democracyin Hong Kong, there’slittle likelihood of MrTrump cutting his noseto spite his face by usingsanctions against China.

Democracy in HongKong can expect morethan lip service only ifthe cause also servessomeone else’s interest.That factor ensuredIndian support for EastBengal (which eventual-ly became independentBangladesh) in 1971. Thecoalescence is unlikelyto be repeated.

*****

Readers in Kolkata,and especially the oldboys of La Martiniere,will be interested tolearn that the HongKong protesters last metin the park named afterSir Paul Chater (1896-1926), whom the schoolprayer eulogises as “ourbenefactor”. BornKhachik PogoseAstwachatoor, one of the13 offspring of Armenianparents, Chater wasorphaned at the age ofseven, and admitted toLa Martiniere on ascholarship. As a bankerand broker, he madegood in Hong Kong. His`11-lakh bequest in 1924-25 saved the institutionfrom closure.

The writer is a seniorjournalist, columnist

and author

Democracy in HongKong can expect

more than lip service only if thecause also serves

someone else’sinterest. That ensu-red Indian support

for East Bengal(eventually Bang-

ladesh) in 1971.

Although commentsby foreigners areresented as interference inChina’s internalaffairs, the Chineseare politicallymature enough toknow that theAmerican bark isworse than its bite

Subhani

Sunanda K.Datta-RayReflections

Abbas Nasir

View from Pakistan

LETTERSNOOSE, A DETERRENTI am ashamed that I am liv-ing in a country with toomuch law and very littlejustice. We only blame thesystems, politicians, courts,prosecutions and media.The death penalty as apunishment is not avengeance, nor a healingprocess, but will act aspsychological basis ofdeterrence that by takingthe life of another humanbeing will result in execu-tion. Let’s make it as a partof the law in the eyes ofthe population as an ulti-mate punishment to pre-vent some future barbariccrime by potential crimi-nals.

Mansoor DashtiSikh Village, Secunderabad

MARTIAL ARTSEvery rape and murder of a womanis followed by blame games, candlemarches, television debates andeven questioning the victim’s char-acter. The onus is on the woman tocall for help whereas the accusedalways escape using the loopholesin the law. There has to be a long-term plan. Martial Arts should bemade compulsory in all schoolsand colleges. Free training campsshould be conducted for womenemployees and housewives. Inalmost all the cases, the culpritsare fully drunk. Women empow-ered with self-defence techniquescan easily counter-attack andescape instead of waiting for some-one to come and rescue them.

Krishna Murthy ThanikantiBowenpally, Hyderabad

RTC SOPSThe government made severalstatements on the RTC strike thatit was illegal, employees self-dis-missed, RTC would not exist in thepresent form, privatisation etc. Butthe government took an U-turn andannounced several sops includingno sacking of employees and no pri-vatisation (KCR showers sops onRTC staff, DC. Nov. 2). RTC unionshave called off their strike withouta single demand being fulfilled.The actions of both the partieshave cast doubts in the minds ofpeople about their seriousness.

Dr O.P. RAOLower Tank Bund, Hyderabad

WHY HIKE FARES?Why should we pay for salaries ofthe RTC staff for their strike peri-od? It sets a wrong signal, pleasereconsider.

Balaji ShankerLower Tank Bund, Hyderabad

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9OpedTUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE

ACTIVE AGING NETSPEAKWord SPY

An aging process in which peopleremain active physically and mentally

The words, idioms and pecularities of spelling andgrammar characteristic of online communication

Wh i l eIndia isattempt-ing torebuildsaggingrelation-ships in

the Saarc region, with the out-come of the exercise likely todepend on the openness of com-munication and intent, and inthe display of transparencyand approachability on NewDelhi’s part, there appears tohave been a damaging recentdevelopment in relation toAfghanistan, whose ominousshadow could hurt this coun-try’s regional strategic calcu-lus unless repair work isundertaken at the earliest, andin earnest.

It is unclear if the present dis-pensation in New Delhi has thenational vision, politicalresources, or the ideologicalmake up to undertake this deli-cate task since from the start ithas chosen to tie itself to theapron strings of Washington in

picking its way in Kabul. This has been seen to be espe-

cially the case in the context ofthe play by Afghanistan’sother, influential neighbourswho appear focused on the con-tours of their future role in apost-US Afghanistan, and havenot seriously bothered them-selves with the sensitivities ofthe major powers.

In the context of the concert-ed activities of the world’smajor powers in the Afghantheatre, and of Kabul’s neigh-bours, India has shown a per-plexing readiness to surrenderits functional autonomy — inessence its sense of agency —in operating in a complex envi-ronment in whichAfghanistan’s key neighbours— Pakistan, Iran, Russia andChina — have sought to under-line their single-minded pur-pose and sturdy independenceof spirit in pre-positioningthemselves for the day whenUS military engagement hasthinned in the landlockedcountry.

This stands in stark contrastwith India’s persistence inlooking to operate inAmerica’s shadow, and havingno gameplan of its own for thepost-US period, for which itcould have, with relative ease,leveraged the enormous good-will it has enjoyed inAfghanistan in the pastdecade-and-a-half.

On the contrary, Indiaappears to have suffered anerosion of its stock inAfghanistan through a deeplyquestionable recent act whichis being openly discussed inpolitical and diplomatic circlesin Kabul, and also more widelyin the public domain — an actthat in the minds of Afghanscan hardly be divorced fromNew Delhi’s oft-noted sub-servience to Washington in thecomplicated Afghan arena, andalso more generally.

India’s recent action suggeststhat it has been unmindful ofits own strategic well-being inthe region to pursue anautonomous path inAfghanistan — and be seen byall concerned, especially theAfghan people, to be doing so.

In a time of being wrapped upin processes relating to a his-toric transition that anAmerican departure necessari-ly spells, the people ofAfghanistan are unlikely tocontinue reposing their trustin India if they come to believe

that New Delhi prefers to dothe bidding of others. In thelast 40 years, the story ofAfghanistan has been a saga ofmaking all possible efforts,first, to get rid of Pakistanidominance, and then untram-melled US hegemony.

President Donald Trump,after his secret visit lastThursday to Bagram,America’s military base justnorth of Kabul, for aThanksgiving dinner with UStroops there, has publiclycalled for renewing discontin-ued negotiations with theTaliban aimed at facilitatingAmerican troop withdrawal.The Taliban have signalledtheir responsiveness.

After nearly a year of contact,and nine rounds of negotia-tions in Doha, the US-Talibantango had come close tofruition in early September,when it was abruptly called off.

Only after this did the USobliquely give the green lightto the long-delayed Afghanpresidential election whichhad been held hostage to theprospect of the signing of a US-Taliban agreement.

In this election, Washingtonbacked the incumbentPresident, Ashraf Ghani,against his main rivalAbdullah Abdullah, probablyin the not unlikely expectationthat Dr Ghani might be moreamenable to accept without toomuch fuss the return of theTaliban to the country’s powergrid on the lines that Americadesires, while the country’sother leading public figuresmay advance conditions inarriving at a settlement withthe Taliban for the sake ofnational peace.

As a major national event,the election proved to be aresounding flop. It producedthe lowest turnout since thefirst presidential poll in 2004,with reliable recent estimatessuggesting that only around 1.2million votes were cast (totalelectorate: close to 10 million).The ground had just not beenprepared for it since the USwas busy working on a dealwith the Taliban.

In the low-polling September28 election in which theAmericans had initially shownscant interest, and with DrAbdullah’s chances being

rated as more than fair, India— it is being strongly suggest-ed in Kabul — gratuitouslyinterfered in the ongoingcounting process to help padthe votes for Dr Ghani.

Even if the allegations ofIndian malfeasance have thesmallest basis, then NewDelhi’s action has not onlybeen stunningly stupid but isalso one that severely compro-mises this country’s short-term and long-term prospectsin Afghanistan. It is also likelyto sow doubts amongst India’sother Saarc neighbours aboutits trustworthiness.

Since the Taliban were dis-lodged from power in Kabul in2001, no country has matchedthe goodwill India has enjoyedat the level of the governmentand among ordinary people ofwar-devastated, landlockedAfghanistan. New Delhi’s con-siderable economic assistancehas been seen by Afghans asbeing selfless.

India has built massive infra-structure in their country,helped with development activ-ity in the rural hinterland,strongly aided the educationsector, hosted tens of thou-sands of Afghan students inIndia, and provided militarytraining and equipment,besides doing much for thatcountry’s trade. As a signifierof democracy, India has alsobuilt Afghanistan’s landmark

Parliament building.After the vote-padding fiasco,

much of this goodwill built upwith sagacity over the years isat risk of being eroded. India’sbest friends among the Afghanpolitical elite are now likely tobe wary of their Indian connec-tion.

They are likely to see NewDelhi as readily taking theAmerican view in relation tothe place of the Taliban inAfghanistan’s power structureat the expense of those withinthe country who have been atodds with the Taliban but arenow trying to reach a modusvivendi in hopes of the returnof peace to the country. Fortheir part, the Taliban arehardly likely to see India ashaving extended them afavour. The two have had nocontact worth the name.

If India finds its statusrelegated in Afghanistan, theother major players in thetheatre — Russia, Iran, Chinaand Pakistan — too will notaccord it first rank status anymore. Pakistan will naturallybe delighted at the turn ofevents. Since the end ofTaliban rule, a key objective ofIslamabad has been to limitIndian influence in Kabul. ForIndia, a friendly and receptiveKabul has meant easy landaccess to Central Asia and acountervailing weight againstPakistan.

On December 3and 4, BritishPrime MinisterBoris Johnsonwill host a

grand international con-ference of 29 NorthAmerican and Europeannations to mark the 70thanniversary of the founda-tion of Nato — the NorthAtlantic TreatyOrganisation, which, ledby the United States, keptthe peace during thefraught years of Cold Warconfrontation with theSoviet Union. We are toldthat Queen Elizabeth IIwill give a reception inhonour of the heads ofstate and government andthat Donald Trump hasaccepted the invitation.

Just over a week later,the British general elec-tion takes place.Intrinsically the twoevents are quite uncon-nected. In reality they arebound together by the com-mon menace of thePresident of the UnitedStates, who bobs beneaththem like an untetheredfloating mine.

It is hard to think of aninternational conferencemore ill-timed than Nato’scelebration, slap-bang atthe culmination of its hostcountry’s election cam-paign. It is not the fault ofthe Nato planners, whoorganise these thingsmonths in advance. Howwere they to know thatBrexit would erupt into a

second national electionlittle more than two yearsafter the last, and with aFixed-Term ParliamentAct supposedly in place?

When I first joined theUK Diplomatic Service,there was a well-nighsacred convention thatWestern democracies didnot intervene in eachother’s internal affairs,especially elections. Thatmeant avoiding state andofficial visits during thesensitive period immedi-ately before election day.You did not make publiccomments about the partyleaders or their mani-festos, and above all youdid not express a prefer-ence between them. (I onceasked a Soviet official whohe wanted to see win our1970 general election. Hegrowled: “They are all jac-kals from the same lair.”)

By and large Westerndemocracies have beengood at keeping out of eachother’s politics. But therehave been slip-ups over theyears between London andWashington, perhapsbecause of their very close-ness. Neither RonaldReagan nor George BushSr bothered to hide theirdisdain for senior figuresin the Labour Party. JohnMajor got into hot waterwith the Democratic Partywhen, on his watch, thehome office investigatedRepublican claims that ayoung Bill Clinton, on aRhodes scholarship to

Oxford, had applied forBritish citizenship tododge the Vietnam draft.Mr Major apologised. TonyBlair, on the other hand,despite the closeness of hisrelationship with MrClinton’s DemocraticParty, was scrupulous inavoiding any publicfavouritism in theBush/Gore contest of 2000.

This is not a potted regis-ter of calculated manoeu-vres to influence the elec-toral outcome on one sideof the Atlantic or the other.There was PresidentBarack Obama’s unhappyintervention in the 2016referendum campaign atDavid Cameron’s behest.Against his better judg-ment, so we are told, MrObama threatened to sendthe UK to the “back of thequeue” for a free tradeagreement if we voted toleave the EU. This proved adisastrous gambit. It blewup in the government’sface. People do not respondwell to threats from grandforeign carpetbaggers,even amiable Americans,who are remote from theireveryday lives.

But Mr Obama’s inter-vention was as nothingcompared with Donald

Trump, with his fondnessfor disruption andunthinking improvisation.And herein lies the dangerto Nato, to Boris Johnsonand even to the Queen. It ispotentially incendiary.

If it suits him — andmuch will depend onwhether he needs a distrac-tion from news emergingin the US on, say, impeach-ment — Mr Trump will nothesitate to leap feet firstinto our election cam-paign. He did so this yearin Israel. The closeness ofthe summit to election daywill be an added tempta-tion. He has already med-dled several times in ourpolitics, questioningTheresa May’s negotiatingtactics with the EU, criti-cising Mr Johnson’s with-drawal agreement, and giv-ing support to both MrJohnson and Nigel Farageat various times. It is thekind of thing he loves to doand he may genuinelythink he is being helpful.(Mind you, HillaryClinton, while flogging herbook last week in London,had no inhibitions aboutwading into UK politics ata sensitive electoralmoment and calling thegovernment “shameful”.She, of all people, shouldhave known better.)

Boris Johnson needs tobe ruthlessly pragmatic.His first, second and thirdpriorities are to win thegeneral election. MrTrump’s public supportwould be the kiss of death.It would send JeremyCorbyn into hog-heaven,giving a turbo-boost to hisclaim that the Tories arebent on selling off chunksof the NHS to Americancompanies. With Mr

Trump, Boris must supwith the longest of spoons;and if this injects morethan a touch of coolnessinto the relationship, so beit. A free trade agreementwith the US is no holy grailand will be desperatelyhard to negotiate. Besides,there is little point in fur-ther work on the agree-ment in case a newPresident and administra-tion are in harness justover a year from now.

The hope must be that theNato meeting agenda willbe sufficiently charged andinteresting to keep MrTrump occupied. It is notas if there are not issueswhich demand a construc-tive American input. TheTurks, who have anchoredNato’s eastern approachesfrom its creation, are drift-ing off to follow anOttoman vocation. Presi-dent Emmanuel Macronhas recently declared theorganisation “brain-dead”.

Seventy years is a longtime in the life of an inter-national defence organisa-tion, especially one nevertempered in the heat of bat-tle with its declared adver-sary. The arteries fur, thereflexes dull, defence bud-gets shrivel, the sense ofcommon purpose passes.Yes, this summit should bea time for celebration. Butit must also be the momentfor renewal.

That, anyway, is thehope. In reality it may takeonly one well-aimed ques-tion from a journalist forMr Trump to detonate hismine under both Nato andBritish politics. Preparethe lifeboats!

By arrangement with the Spectator

Aboy accidentallyfell into a small,shallow pond.Panicking, he

began to shout: “Help!Bacchao!” Seeing hispredicament, a passerbybent over, held out hishand and said, “Give!Give me your hand!” Theboy did not do so, but keptstruggling. Then, thepasser by shouted, “Take!Take my hand!” The boyimmediately grabbed hishand and was pulled out.The man asked him:“When I said ‘give meyour hand’, you did noth-ing. But, when I said ‘take

my hand’, you grabbed itimmediately — howcome?” The boy replied,“Daddy and mummy saidwhen people say ‘give’,never give! But when theysay ‘take’, grab, takefast!”

Strange as this storysounds, it somehow cap-tures the disposition ofmost of us today — quickto receive from others butnever willing to give of“who” we are and “what”we have.

Mother Earth and herprogeny are prolificgivers. Trees give fruits,hens hatch eggs, animals

give milk and the fieldsbirth rich harvests.

The Bhagwad Gita seesgiving as a deeply spiritu-al act. Accordingly, a giftmay be pure (sattvika) ifunconditionally given; orcoloured by selfishmotives (rajasika); ordark (tamasika) with evilintentions. Let’s ask:Why do I givewhat I give? Forrecognition? Orreward?

Jesus praisesthe mite of twocopper coinsthat a poorwidow put intothe temple trea-sury because, while oth-ers donated out of theirabundance, “she put ineverything she had”.Pure self-gift!

Elsewhere, Jesusexhorts his disciples:“Give and it will be givento you. A good measure,pressed down, shaken

together, running overwill be poured into yourlap. For the measure yougive will be the measureyou get.”

“Zakat” or almsgivingis one of the pillars ofIslam, next in importanceonly to prayer and wor-ship.

Saint Paul writes, “It ismore blessed togive than toreceive”. Do wesavour theblessings of giv-ing? Thoughone’s worth isoften valued notreally by whoone “is” but by

what one “has”, let usstrive to be go-givers, notjust go-getters. That willmake our world a happierplace for all.

Francis Gonsalves is aprofessor of theology.

He can be contacted atfragons@gmail.com

Will Trump, in London for a Natomeet, jump into UK election fray?

Strive to be go-givers, not just go-getters

Kowtowing to US, India at losing end in Afghan

US, India need to worktogether on innovationfor mutual prosperity

With the legacy of supportingthe Green Revolution thattransformed scarcities intoabundance, the innovation

potential of the United States can helpaddress socio-economic disparities inIndia. The Green Revolution was fos-tered and funded by the US throughthe Ford Foundation in 1961. Nobellaureate Norman Borlaug was theAmerican scientist behind a newwheat seed. This led to increase infoodgrains production, easing thechallenges of feeding increasing popu-lations and combating famine in Indiathen. This happened in spite of anunfriendly relationship between thetwo countries at that time. Today, therelationship is extremely friendly,thus expanding the scope for strongercooperation across the spectrum,including innovation.

Building innovation cooperation hasbeen a prime focus of the bilateralpartnership in some way or another.However, the full potential is yet to berealised. Bilateral initiatives thatencourage innovation to play a greaterrole in steering socio-economic devel-opment in the two countries do exist.Government-to-government initia-tives such as the Indo-US Science andTechnology Forum (IUSSTF), theUnited States-India Science &Technology Endowment Fund (USIS-TEF) and Defence Technology andTrade Initiative (DTTI), among others,are testimonies to this fact. In addi-tion, the deepening of the Indo-USpartnership on bilateral as well asIndo-Pacific fronts is poised to trans-form all aspects of bilateral relations.

At the recent US-India InnovationRoundtable organised by CUTSInternational on October 30 inWashington, Harsh Vardhan Shringla,Indian ambassador to the US, under-lined the significance of bilateral inno-vation cooperation to pursue win-winoutcomes. “India — a young countrybrimming with talent and futureentrepreneurs — is the ideal destina-tion for US expertise and capital. TheUS is also the repository of cutting-edge technology that is highly relevantto what India requires for its econom-ic growth and development”, said MrShringla.

Furthermore, developing an alliancebetween India and the US on digitaland cyberspace issues is the need ofthe hour. The core objectives, amongothers, should aim at fostering innova-tion, development and defensivemechanisms, which includes aroadmap for artificial intelligence.

The announcement by the IndianSpace Research Organisation (Isro)introducing the Indian regional navi-gation satellite system, NavIC, pro-vides an opportunity to leapfrog in thetechnology sector. This original navi-gation system really has the potentialfor improvements in geolocation capa-bilities of mobile, automotive, Internetof Things, and all of that requires 5G.

In addition to retaining its positionas the world’s third largest startuphub and with a growing number oftech startups, India is strategicallypoised to drive the next wave in tech-nological advancement. Supportingthe increasing number of tech start-ups, in cognisance of their role in pro-

viding direct and indirect jobs, includ-ing attracting foreign investments, iscrucial in that sense. Recent policyinterventions have ensured thatprogress is made in this direction.However, there is still work to be donein terms of sending a strong signalthat investors are welcome, and toensure that fiscal incentives are mademore lucrative and in favour of star-tups while ensuring consistent supplyof electricity and a relatively skilledworkforce.

Also, for innovation-based transfor-mation, the foremost requirement isnot to underplay the role of institu-tional and policy innovations. The roleof government is in fact central in thatsense. The need for such kind of inno-vation makes more sense in the con-text of the Defence Offset Policy, 2016of India. Due to complexity of regula-tions, the foreign suppliers and ven-dors fail to meet their offset obliga-tions. This actually affects the intentand spirit envisaged in the first place.

In some instances, the regulatoryenvironment was reported to havegiven rise to unbridled mobilisation ofcapital for non-productive purposes.To arrest such gaps, it is imperativefor policymakers to keep creatingspace for multi-pronged, multi-sec-toral and multi-stakeholder engage-ment. It will require the whole of gov-ernment support both at the politicaland policy levels. Not only will thishelp decentralise the use and supply ofgovernment and private capital butalso bolster the requisite technical andmentorship support to both defenceand non-defence startups in India.

Last but not the least, issues involv-ing intellectual property rights (IPR)between the US and India should beworked through carefully, withoutsacrificing our development interests.Some IPR may be perceived as publicgood but others may not. It will alsorequire India to build awareness onIPR and innovation issues in theindustry, particularly start-ups. Froma standpoint that patents are crucialin bridging innovation gaps, thepatenting process in India needs to beexpedited from the existing period of64 months to at least 30 months asagainst 24 months in the US.

Seemingly, the US may provide greathelp in addressing socio-economicissues facing India. The US govern-ment and private sector hold tremen-dous potential in mobilising capital,technical, skilling and knowledge sup-port for the country.

On the part of India, it will remainvital to increase expenditure onresearch and development from theexisting level of 0.7 per cent to at least2 per cent of the GDP. The same inChina is 2.1 per cent while in US it is2.8 per cent.

It is therefore the time to exploredeeper linkages and build on bilateralinnovation cooperation in defence andaerospace, energy and environment,information and communication tech-nology, emerging technologies anddigital infrastructure, entrepreneur-ship and inclusive growth, infrastruc-ture and manufacturing and health-care among others. We must build onthe momentum, collaborate more infavourable geo-economic circum-stances, groundwork done and initia-tives taken and come together toadvance bilateral relations with afocus on innovation.

The writers work for CUTSInternational, a global public policy

research and advocacy group

India appears to havesuffered an erosion ofits stock in Afghanistanthrough a deeply questionable recentact which is beingopenly discussed inpolitical and diplomaticcircles in Kabul, andalso more widely in thepublic domain

When I first joinedthe UK DiplomaticService, there was a well-nigh sacred conventionthat Westerndemocracies did not intervene ineach other’s internal affairs,especially elections

Pradeep S. Mehta &Prashant Sharma

Francis Gonsalves

Anand K. Sahay

Far & Near

Christopher Meyer

50 YEARS AGO IN

CALCUTTA, Dec. 2.POLICE made a lathichargeas violence flared up todayat the Curzon Park tentwhere Chief Minister AjoyMukherjee and 30 otherBangla Congress memberswere continuing their fastfor the second day in protestagainst the prevailingatmosphere of violence inWest Bengal.

The lathicharge wasresorted to after a crowd ofdemonstrators started ston-ing the tent injuring abouthalf a dozen policemen, oneof them seriously.

Police Commissioner P.K.Sen told newsmen that oneof the demonstrators wassuspected to be carryingbombs in a bag.

Violence againat Ajoy’s tent: 6policemen hurt

PAGE

10WorldTUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE

Tough talkAustralia's foreign minister Marise Payne said onMonday said the treatment of an Australian writerdetained in China was unacceptable

For yearshumans have been at

war with the planet,now it is fighting back

— Antonio GuterresUN chief

IN BRIEF

FIREWORKSLAND INDIANIN TROUBLE

Singapore, Dec. 2: A 43-year-old Indian-origin man wascharged with setting off fire-works in Singapore’s LittleIndia precinct during the festi-val of Diwali in October.

Sivasarvanan Suppiah Mur-ugan faces a charge under theDangerous Fireworks Act,which prohibits a person topossess or discharge any dan-gerous fireworks.

Under the Act, he could bejailed for up to two years andfined up to $7,306 or both.According to court docu-ments, Murugan allegedly setoff a box of fireworks ataround 12.35 am on October 27at the junction of CampbellLane and Madras Street in theLittle India precinct. Thepolice had earlier said that noinjuries were reported.

It was the second time thatday that fireworks were set offin Singapore. In a separateincident, a 38-year-old manwas arrested for allegedly set-ting off fireworks in JurongWest, the housing and indus-trial estates of Singapore.

Putin, Xi launchgas pipeline

Malta PM to quitover journo probe

Valletta: Malta’s PrimeMinister Joseph Muscat,

under fire over his handlingof the murder of journalist

Daphne Caruana Galizia, saidhe would step down after his

replacement is chosen inJanuary. Muscat declined to

make a link with CaruanaGalizia’s 2017 murder, sayingthat he was resigning ‘as this

is what needs to be done’.The announcement came

after two weeks of mountingpressure and popular

protests calling for Muscat toquit for his handling of the

probe into Caruana Galizia’scar bomb killing. Muscat said

he would resign after hissuccessor is chosen byJanuary 12. Earlier, the

Labour leader got the unani-mous backing of part MPs at

an emergency meeting.

Moscow: Russia, the world’stop gas exporter, is planningto launch three major natural

gas pipelines in the nearfuture. Billed by Russian

President Vladimir Putin as“the world’s biggest con-

struction project,” the giantpipeline will send Siberian

gas to China. The 3,000-kilo-metre pipeline runs from

remote regions of easternSiberia to the city of

Blagoveshchensk on theChinese border. Gazprom is

to supply the world’s fastest-growing market with 38 bil-

lion cubic metres of gasannually when the pipeline

becomes fully operational in2025. The 30-year, $400 bil-lion deal was signed in 2014

after a decade of talks.

London: Terrorchecks intensified

London: Britain’s BorisJohnson said the securityservices were stepping up

monitoring of convicted ter-rorists released early from

prison, as the London Bridgeattack became embroiled in

the election campaign.The prime minister revealed

officials were scrutinisingaround 74 people with ter-rorist convictions who had

been released early fromprison like Usman Khan, who

left jail last December andwent on to stab two people

to death in Friday’s rampage.“They are being properlyinvigilated to make sure

there is no threat,” Johnsonsaid. “We’ve taken a lot of

action as you can imagine inthe last 48 hours.” Khan, 28,

was shot dead wearing afake explosives vest by

police on London Bridgeafter a stabbing spree

launched in a nearby hallhosting an ex-offender event

that also left three peopleinjured.

Washington, Dec. 2:Two Indian students werekilled in a hit-and-runaccident in South Nash-ville, Tennessee on Than-ksgiving night, authori-ties have said.

Judy Stanley (23), andVybhav Gopisetty (26),were graduate students ofthe Tennessee StateUniversity (TSU) andwere pursuing food sci-ence degrees in theCollege of Agriculture,the university said.

The university studentshave raised, through aGoFundMe Page, morethan USD 42,000 for theirlast rites and funeral inIndia.

According to the localpolice, Stanley andGopisetty died in anapparent hit-and-run inci-dent on the night ofNovember 28. Stanley wasseeking a master’s,Gopisetty, a doctorate, theuniversity said in a state-ment.

David Torres (26), theowner of the GMC pickuptruck involvedin the dou-ble-fatal crash onNolensville Pike nearHarding Place, surren-dered before the police,Metro Nashville PoliceDepartment said onSunday.

“Torres would notanswer questions. Offic-ers took a DNA sample.Investigation is continu-ing,” the police said.

According to the police,Torres’ vehicle crashedinto a Nissan Sentra, inwhich the two Indian stu-dents were travelling.

The pickup truck wasspeeding and ran a redlight when it hit the pas-senger side of the Sentra,witnesses said. The carwent off the road and

through a fence beforeslamming into a tree onthe Walmart property.

Stanley and Gopisettysuccumbed to injuriesand their families havebeen notified, police said,adding that Torres ranaway from the scene.

According to eyewitnessLouis Mireles, he waswalking to the bus stopwhen he heard it happenand saw the GMC driverrun away from the scene.

“Boom boom like thatand I looked backward. Itwas right there I would’vebeen dead right there, butsomething told me to stepback,” he said.

“They’re dead but weare going to make themalive again, so people gettheir chance in court gethim because that guyran... he didn’t even careabout their lives,” Mirelessaid. Bharat Pokharel,associate professor at thedepartment of agricultur-al and environmental sci-ences, College of Agri-culture said the studentswere humble, innocent,and hardworking. “Icould not believe whathad happened to the livesof these two young ener-getic scientists, he said ina Facebook Post.

Sharath Julakanti ofthe food science club atTSU has created theGoFundMe page.

According to the page,Vybhav Vipul SudhirGopisetty landed inNashville with a dream toshine in the field of foodscience and completed hismaster’s with excellentscores and four publica-tions in internationaljournals. “Judy Stanleycame from a middle-classfinancial background,” itsaid. — PTI

Beijing, Dec. 2: Chinasaid on Monday US mili-tary ships and aircraftwon’t be allowed to visitHong Kong, and alsoannounced sanctions agai-nst several US non-govern-ment organisations forencouraging protesters to‘engage in extremist, vio-lent and criminal acts’.

The measures wereannounced by China’s for-eign ministry in responseto US legislation passedlast week supporting anti-government protesters. Itsaid it had suspended tak-ing requests for US mili-tary visits indefinitely,and warned of furtheraction to come.

“We urge the US to cor-rect the mistakes and stopinterfering in our internalaffairs. China will takefurther steps if necessaryto uphold Hong Kong’s sta-bility and prosperity andChina’s sovereignty,” saidministry spokeswomanHua Chunying.

China last week prom-ised it would issue “firm

counter measures” afterUS President DonaldTrump signed into law theHong Kong Human Rightsand Democracy Act,which supports anti-gov-ernment protesters inHong Kong and threatensChina with potential sanc-tions.

Meanwhile, protestersreturned to the streets ofHong Kong, ending a briefelection lull and demand-ing the government make

concessions a week afterpro-democracy candidateswon a landslide victory.

The US-headquarteredNGOs targeted by Beijinginclude the NationalEndowment for Demo-cracy, the National Demo-cratic Institute for Inter-national Affairs, the Inter-national Republican Ins-titute, Human RightsWatch, and FreedomHouse.

— Reuters

A pro-democracy protester runs away from the tear gasfired by riot police during a rally in Hong Kong. — AP

Hong Kong, Dec. 2: HongKong is set to record itsfirst budget deficit in 15years, the city’s financechief warned on Monday,as the business hub reelsfrom the twin shocks ofthe trade war and seethingdemocracy protests.

In the latest grim assess-ment for the city, financialsecretary Paul Chan toldlawmakers that the econo-my was set to contract 1.3percent in 2019 hitting thecity's usually bulging cof-fers.

Chan blamed the 2019-2020 deficit on decreasedtax revenues, a slowdownin land sales and recenteconomic sweeteners heunveiled in a bid to winover the public during atumultuous year ofunrest.

“At the end of the finan-cial year, the SAR govern-ment will be in the red,”Chan said, using an abbre-viation for the Hong Konggovernment.

“Hong Kong’s economyis now in extremely diffi-cult times,” he added, ashe called for political vio-lence to cease.

The city has been bat-tered by nearly six monthsof protests triggered byrising public anger overChina’s rule and the poli-ce’s response to protests.

The increasingly violentrallies have hammered theretail and tourism sectors,with mainland Chinesevisitors abandoning thecity in droves. Figuresshowed mainland arrivalsfell a record 46% inOctober. — AFP

US military ships, aircraftnot allowed into Hong KongWe urge the US to stop interfering in our internal affairs, says China

Economy facingeconomic stress

Hit-and-run kills2 Indian students

■Youth suffer in silence while offenders holding power are not punished: ActivistsSEXUAL | HARASSMENT

Japan job-seeking students facing sexual exploitationTokyo, Dec. 2: Japaneseactivists on Monday calledfor drastic steps by thegovernment, companiesand universities to stampout sexual harassment ofjob-hunting students, aproblem they said lurks inthe shadows because vic-tims fear speaking out.

Although the labourministry drafted guide-lines in October to preventpower harassment inworkplaces, it said onlythat such measures were

“desirable” for studentsand other non-employees.

Despite some diversifica-tion in recruitment, manyJapanese firms tend tohire new graduates, whobegin the job hunt whilestill at university.

Many feel too vulnerableto denounce harassment,members of Safe CampusYouth Network (SAY), avolunteer group of profes-sors and students at sixTokyo universities, told anews conference.

“Today, harassmentagainst job-hunting stu-dents, especially sexualharassment against fema-le students, is a seriousissue that could interfere

with life choices on theircareer path,” the groupsaid in a statementdemanding action.

“These cases are almostnever reported and

employees can say any-thing they like becausestudents are the weakones,” said Rhea Endo, a19-year-old student atTokyo’s InternationalChristian University.

“People suffer in silenceand offenders are not pun-ished.”

Harassment runs thegamut from forced sex andinappropriate touching toverbal harassment, suchas asking the job-seekerwhat kind of sexual rela-

tions she has, theactivists said.

The guidelines againstpower harassment areexpected to be finalisedthis month after a peri-od of public comment,but have come underfire from some expertswho say the definitionof power harassment istoo narrow. Employersin most countries areasked to conduct educa-tion and sensitisationprogrammes. — Reuters

Berlin, Dec. 2: Ukraine’spresident on Mondayrenewed his denial of aquid pro quo with DonaldTrump over military aid,despite a growing caseagainst the US presidentin impeachment proceed-ings in Washington.

“I did not speak with USPresident Trump in thoseterms: you give me this, Igive you that,” VolodymyrZelensky said.

In remarks published inGerman, Zelensky said he“did not understand at all”the accusations heard atthe hearings and did not“want to give an impres-sion that we are beggars”in Ukraine.

The scandal centersaround a phone conversa-tion on July 25 in whichthe Republican leader issuspected of putting pres-sure on Ukraine to launchinvestigations against for-mer Democratic vice-pres-ident Joe Biden and hisson Hunter, who workedfor a Ukrainian gas com-pany.

The key issue is whether

Trump set up a “quid proquo” — Latin for seekingone action in exchange foranother — with Zelenskyby holding back promisedUS military aid forUkraine until the Bidenswere investigated.

In the interview pub-lished on Monday, Zelen-sky also played downexpectations ahead of asummit on December 9 inParis in which he is set tomeet his Russian counter-part Vladimir Putin for

the first time. He said thatan end to the conflict withRussia-backed separatistsin eastern Ukraine couldnot be discussed untilthree preliminary stepshad been taken.

He said there should firstbe a prisoner exchangewithin a “reasonable timeperiod”, followed by a gen-uine ceasefire and theretreat of all armed forcesto allow local elections tobe held in the region.

— AFP

Ukraine President denies quidpro quo with Donald Trump

(File) Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and his UScounterpart Donald Trump. — AFP

Visitors walk into pollution pods, an immersive artinstallation which encourages visitors to walk andexperience the daily reality of air pollution lived bymillions, during the UN Climate Change ConferenceCOP25 in Madrid. — AFP

Donald Trump

TRUMP TALKSTO NETANYAHUABOUT IRAN

Washington, Dec. 2: USPresident Donald Trump’sattorney said that theWhite House will not par-ticipate in congressionalhearings set to begin thisweek that will considerpassing impeachment art-icles against the presi-dent.

“We cannot fairly beexpected to participate ina hearing while the wit-nesses are yet to be namedand while it remainsunclear whether the Judi-ciary Committee will affo-rd the President a fairprocess through addition-al hearings,” White Housecounsel Pat Cipollonewrote in a letter to theDemocratic chairman ofthe Judiciary Committeein the House ofRepresentatives, JerryNadler. — AFP

WHITE HOUSE TOSKIP COMMITTEEHEARINGS

Washington, Dec. 2:US President DonaldTrump spoke to IsraeliPrime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu aboutIran and other issues,the White House said ina brief statement.

“The leaders discussedthe threat from Iran, aswell as other criticalbilateral and regionalissues,” the White Housesaid in an email state-ment.

Relations between Iranand the United Stateshave worsened since lastyear when Trump pulledout of Tehran’s 2015nuclear deal with worldpowers and reimposedsanctions on the coun-try.

Iranian consulate inIraq set on fire again

Demonstrators onSunday set the Iranianconsulate building inIraq’s southern city ofNajaf on fire for the sec-ond time in a week asviolent anti-governmentprotests continue to rockthe regions.

The Iranian consulatebuilding in Najaf wasset on fire on Wednesdayas part of the protests inthe city, which left morethan 100 people injured.

Tehran lodged a diplo-matic protest to Bagh-dad and Iraqi foreignminister Mohamad Alh-akim offered apologiesto his Iranian counter-part, Mohammad JavadZarif. The building wasset ablaze today again.

Nationwide protests inIraq began in earlyOctober, with peopledemanding the govern-ment’s resignation, aswell as economic refo-rms, better living condi-tions, social welfare andan end to corruption.

— AFP

■ ■ The labour ministry drafted

guidelines inOctober to

prevent power harassment in

workplaces

■ ■ Japanese firmstend to hire newgraduates, whobegin looking forjobs while stillstudying at the university

Protesters take part in a march near Chilean President Sebastian Pinera’s home in Santiago. Dozens of protestersshowed their rejection against the right-winger in front of a large security operation preventing the approach toPinera’s residence. — AFP

Pinera, go home

2-week climatesummit beginsMadrid, Dec. 2: Theworld must choose hopeover surrender in thefight against climatechange, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterressaid on Monday, warninga summit in Madrid thatgovernments risked slee-pwalking past a point ofno return.

Two weeks of talksaimed at bolstering the2015 Paris Agreement tocurb global warmingbegan against a backdropof unusually severeweather disasters thisyear, from fires in theArctic, Amazon andAustralia to intense tropi-cal hurricanes.

Guterres, a formerPortuguese PM and lead-ing advocate of moreambitious action toreverse the upwardmarch of greenhouse gasemissions, urged govern-ments to avoid a “path ofsurrender” that wouldendanger the health andsafety of all.

“Do we really want to be

remembered as the gener-ation that buried its headin the sand, that fiddledwhile the planet burned?”Guterres told an openingsession at the summit,held in a hangar-like con-ference center.

He urged delegates toresolve an important out-standing issue from theParis accord: rules on car-bon trading, seen as vitalfor kick-starting fasteraction to cut emissions.

Michal Kurtyka, Polan-d’s climate minister wholed the last round of UNclimate negotiations inKatowice last year, hadsaid a surge in youth-ledclimate activism under-scored the urgency of thetask. Existing pledgesmade under the Parisaccord fall far short ofthe kind of transforma-tional action needed toavert the most disastrousconsequences of globalwarming in terms of sea-level rise, drought, stor-ms and other impa-cts,scientists say. — Reuters

PAGE

11TechnomicsTUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE

Crypto chargeUS cryptocurrency expert VirgilGriffith faces charges of helpingNorth Korea evade sanctions

SHORT TAKES

FB UNVEILS DATA TRANSFER

FEATUREWashington, Dec. 2:Facebook launched a transfertool that allows users to easilysend pictures and videos toother online services, includ-ing Google Photos. The featurehas been made available inIreland for now.

The company plans torelease the feature worldwidein the first half of 2020.

After its release, users canaccess the option in YourFacebook Information sectionin settings.

All the data that is trans-ferred is encrypted and userwill be asked to enter a pass-word before data is moved,Facebook said.

The social network devel-oped the tool using code devel-oped through its participationin the open-source DataTransfer Project, which itjoined in July, along with tech-nology giants like Apple,Google, Microsoft and Twitter,with an aim to give peoplemore control of their onlinedata.

The initiative was set upafter several tech giants foundthemselves embroiled in dataprivacy scandals.

— Agencies

SOFTWARE TOKEEP POWER

OUTAGES AT BAY Los Angeles, Dec. 2: A newtechnology being tested byCalifornia utilities is aimed atdiagnosing problems beforethey can cause power outagesor spark wildfires.

The technology, invented byresearchers at Texas A&MUniversity, was designed toprovide greater reliability forutility customers, but itsbiggest selling point could beits use in preventing disasters.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co.and Southern CaliforniaEdison have been testing thesoftware billed as a one-of-akind diagnostic tool calledDistribution FaultAnticipation.

Professor B. Don Russell,who invented the technology,said the software detects prob-lems on power lines longbefore they occur and could beused to determine when toshut off electricity to preventa fire from starting in highwinds.

Utilities in California havebeen blamed for several of thedeadliest and most destructivefires.

— AP

GOOGLE TO KEEP AN EYE ONSTEM CELL ADS

Washington, Dec. 2: Despitethe fact that transplanted stemcells can be as lifesaving asdonated organs, US authori-ties have recently warned con-sumers against believing incertain stem cell clinics whichonly pretend to be in the busi-ness of producing miraculousrecoveries.

After years of showing adsfor questionable stem celltreatments, Google is now try-ing to protect its users.

The company stated that itwill stop allowing ‘bad actors’to post Google ads that “takeadvantage of individuals byoffering untested, deceptivetreatments.”

Google spokesperson AlexKrasov said eenforcement ofthe new policy started at theend of October.

That change, while helpful,is unlikely to shutter clinicsthat cloak themselves in afaçade of reputable science inorder to peddle questionablestem cell treatments.

— Agencies

Parramatta, Dec. 2:Asusage of mobiles whiledriving remains a prob-lem in many parts of theworld, Australian policeappear to be making astride towards checkingthe problem.

The country's NewSouth Wales has startedusing cameras that canautomatically detect driv-ers using their phones.

The camera system usesAI to review photos withsigns of phone use, withreview of the flaggedimages is done manuallyto prevent any false posi-tives. There will be twokinds of cameras - fixedand trailer-mounted -totrace distractedmotorists.

The initiative, in its firstthree months, will let

first-time guilty driversget away with a warning.After that, huge penaltieswill be levied.

Distracted drivers willreceive a fine and fivedemerit points in typicalcases, with higher penal-ties for violations inschool zone and 10 demer-it points during doubledemerit periods.

Authorities feel the ini-tiative will lead to reduc-tion in incidents.

An officer said studiesshowed that the initiativecould prevent 100 fataland serious injury crash-es in five years.

If not for the results, thesystem could serve as adeterrent. However, pri-vacy issues are not signif-icant as the cameras don'tlook for faces. — Agencies

Washington, Dec. 2: It allstarted in 1982, when acomputer scientist namedScott Fahlman was chat-ting on an online bulletinboard and used a combina-tion of a colon, a hyphen,and a round bracket toindicate that he was jok-ing. It was perhaps thefirst emoticon, a symbolthat emerged in onlinecommunications to com-pensate for the loss offacial expressions, ges-tures and the like. Thencame emoji, which beganspreading rapidly intowider use around 2011.Emojis are now used byroughly 90 per cent of theonline population.

Emojis are a keen topicof interest to linguists likePhilip Seargeant, a seniorlecturer in applied linguis-

tics at The OpenUniversity in England. Hisspecialty is the study oflanguage and socialmedia, with a particularfocus on the politics ofonline interaction. Givenhis expertise in linguis-tics, he naturally foundhimself intrigued by therise and eventual domi-nance of emoji in onlinecommunication, and thatfascination led to his firstpopular science book: TheEmoji Revolution: HowTechnology is Shaping theFuture ofCommunication.

“I have always beeninterested in a mixture ofthe visual as a sort of lan-guage,” he says. “Emojisare often seen as very friv-olous, a little bit childlike.But at the same time,

there’s something moreserious about the way theyare being used, despitetheir cartoonish look —both in the way people usethem, and in the sophisti-cation they have as lan-guage.” The evolution ofemoji has been driven byrapid technologicalchanges as the Internetbecame a dominant forcefor global mass communi-cation. Far from being aunique feature of theInternet era, Seargeantargues that human beingshave long sought to findthese kinds of visualshortcuts to indicate tone.

For example, JohnWilkins, a co-founder ofthe Royal Society in the17th century, believed thatthe limitations of lan-guage were holding back

scientific progress. Hedreamt of inventing a uni-versal language and, alongwith several colleagues,went so far as to constructa group of symbols hecalled “Real Characters.”These were not writtenrepresentations of spokenwords; rather, they repre-sented key concepts visu-ally, much like emoji dotoday.

Philip Seargeant arguesin his new book that emo-

jis are at the vanguard ofrapid changes in language.

Asked whether the rea-son behind emergence ofemoji lies in the rapidtechnological changes,Seargeant said, “You canthink of writing itself as atype of technology, in away that speech isn't.Speech is something thatwe all naturally do as wegrow up. The alphabet is atechnology. Writing wasinvented. In that sense,emoji are just part of thathistory, part of the humancondition. On the otherhand, it's very specificallya part of that history as itrelates to digital communi-cation devices. Emoji isvery much suited to whatwe do on social media now.

The main advantage isthat it adds emotional col-

oring, or emotionalflavour, to written lan-guage. Written languagecan obviously expressthings in great nuance.But when you are writingon social media quickly, ina conversational style, alot of that stuff gets lost.Emoji are a way of addingthat back in.

It’s very difficult toinvent a language andthen assume people willpick up on that. It is sort oforganic. It is being in theright place at the righttime, being backed by theright people at the righttime. When Apple addedemoji to the iPhone, thatgave it a huge boost. Thisis why its rise is tightlylinked to corporate historyand corporate culture. Butthe creativity part of it is

another reason why theyare so popular. You can doquite innovative things ina very simple way withthings like Bitmoji orMemoji. You can designthem to look like your-self.”

Responding to claimsthat emoji usage is ruininglaunguages, he said there’sa natural tendency for peo-ple to have mini moralpanics. It's not just emoji,before it was texting,before that it was probablysomething else, even backto people sendingtelegrams. So it's verymuch generational, liketeen slang. But languagealways changes; patternsof language shift constant-ly. It's incredibly complex.We all have a repertoire.

— Agencies

Emojis compensate for emotional flavour in textsCreative tools like Bitmoji, Memoji make conversations interesting and innovativeMESSAGING | MATTERS

Smart TVs couldbe risky, FBI saysWashington, Dec. 2: Didyou just buy a smart TV?Or do you intend to buyone soon? Wait, there area few boxes in the FBIchecklist you may have totick before you decide tobuy.

We all know that smartTVs are the latest innova-tion in tech world whichcomes with an internetconnection. This is alsoone of the most sold elec-tronic appliances, thanksto the advent of Netflixand other live streamingoptions. But did you knowthat Smart TVs are vul-nerable to security risks?Even though most smartTV sets come with a cam-era and microphone, theydon’t come with a securitywarning for customers.

The FBI has raised secu-rity concerns over thesesmart TVs. They havewarned consumersagainst making a blindbuy.

Ïn a warning messageposted on its website, theFBI stated: “Beyond therisk that your TV manu-facturer and app develop-ers may be listening andwatching you, that televi-sion can also be a gatewayfor hackers to come intoyour home. A bad cyber

actor may not be able toaccess your locked-downcomputer directly, but it ispossible that your inse-cure TV can give him orher an easy way in thebackdoor through yourrouter.”

Your smart TV could beprone to hacking andhackers could use micro-phone and camera onyour smart TVs.

Smart TVs being hackedis not unheard of but rare.This is because the soft-ware inside these TVs isof the manufacturer.Thus, the security riskscannot be ignored. In fact,recently, hackers demon-strated how Google’schromestack streaming

stick and braodcast videoscould be easily hacked.

More than anything else,what viewers watch isalways of interest toadvertisers and it wasreported that even popu-lar smart TV brands likeLG and Samsung collectthis information to passon to the advertisers.

After a serious breach ofprivacy, Smart TV makerVizio was penalised $2.2million for secretly gath-ering customer viewingdata.

As per FBI, it helps tokeep the smart TV camscovered and also ensurethat your smart TVs arebetter protected.

— Agencies

Windows OS is biggest victim of malicious ads Washington, Dec. 2:Windows users are mostvulnerable to maliciousadvertisements, accord-ing to data shared bycyber-security firmDevcon.

The company stated that61 per cent of the mali-cious ads observedbetween July 11 andNovember 22 were aimedat Windows users.

This included maliciousad campaigns designed toredirect the user to mali-cious sites or to trick theuser into downloading apiece of malware.

The firm said the reasonbehind it could be attrib-uted to Windows’ hugemarket share, and mostmalware in the past 30years has targetedWindows devices.

However, the firm alsocame with a surprisingdiscovery — malvertisingcampaigns over the pastfour months have targetedChromeOS in surprisingnumbers.

Devcon said 22 per centof the malicious ads theyobserved targetedGoogle’s fledgling OS,more than macOS (10.5per cent), iOS (3.2 percent), Android (2.1 percent), and iPadOS (0.8 percent).

The least targeted OSwas Linux, whichaccounted only for 0.3 percent of all malicious ads

the company recorded,which is no surprise,since most Linux systemsare used as servers.

A different report pub-lished recenlty by ad secu-rity firm Confiant, lookedat the entire ecosystem,and the source of thesemalicious ads.

The company said it ana-lyzed more than 120 bil-lion ad impressions pub-lished from July 1 toSeptember 30 via 75 adver-tising networks calledsupply-side platforms(SSPs).

The company said thatat one point or another,every advertising plat-form will have its plat-form abused by malvertis-ers (malicious advertis-ers) all the time.

However, while some adnetworks fight againstabuse and have security

measures in place, someplatforms tolerate malver-tisers on a regular basis.

Confiant said it foundthat nearly 60 per cent ofall the malicious ads itrecorded came from justthree advertising plat-forms.

“Most alarmingly, a sin-gle SSP was responsiblefor 30 per cent of mali-cious ad impressions,”Confiant said.

The company didn’tname the three ad plat-forms, but it did say thatan SSP should be able todetect an ongoing malver-tising attack performedvia its platforms, as thesetend to be quite noisy andhave even been seen toswallow up to 13.84 percent of a platform’s entiread impressions.

— Agencies

Warns about hacking risks, privacy issues

AI cameras to checkcellphone driving

Bengaluru, Dec. 2:Buoyed by the 1,500Internet of Things (IoT)startups in the country,the IoT think-tank hasdecided to set up‘ E l e c t r o p r e n e u r s h i pPark’ in every state, saidan IoT Forum on Monday.

“Basically, this is anintelligent electronicscentre incubation facility,which we are trying to setup along with STPI(Software TechnologyParks of India) and theMinistry of Informationand Technology in all thestates. So either it is anelectro-park or a centre ofexcellence, vice-chair-man of India Electronicsand Semiconductor

Association Satya Guptasaid. The first such incu-bation centre was startedin Delhi and in a couple ofmonths, it would be set upin Bhubaneshwar.

The next plan is to havemedical electronics cen-tre in Lucknow and thenan agritech centre inRanchi and one isplanned in Punjab, Guptasaid. So slowly, as thebandwidth becomes avail-able, along with the gov-ernment we are trying tocover the whole countrythrough this, he said.

Another such incuba-tion centre has beenplanned in Bengaluru, ,Gupta said.

— PTI

Electropreneurshippark in every state

NOKIA SMARTTV LAUNCH ONDECEMBER 5New Delhi, Dec. 2:After a long wait,Flipkart is finallyannouncing its newrange of smart TVs‘Made in India,’ withNokia branding and JBL audio on December5.

Flipkart confirmedthat it would be enteringa strategic partnershipwith Nokia to makesmart TVs for the Indianmarket, a few monthsago. This is Nokia’s firstventure into the televi-sion segment globally.

The e-commerce com-pany will handle themanufacturing, distri-bution, and marketing ofthese Nokia brandedTVs.

The smart TVs willalso be a part of theMake in India initiative.Flipkart has a similararrangement forMotorola TVs.

According to Flipkart’sconsumer insights,audio quality and expe-rience are the key painpoints for consumers. Toresolve the issue, JBLhas been inducted to theproject to make use ofits expertise in the audiosegment.

It will also be JBL’sfirst partnership with aTV manufacturer. DTSTruSurround sound andDolby Atmos are alsoprovided. — Agencies

Emojis are at thevanguard of

rapid changes inlanguage

PHILIP SEARGEANTThe Open University,

England

61%

0.3%

22%

of the malicious ads observedbetween July 11 and November 22were aimed at Windows users

The least targeted OS was Linux,which accounted only for 0.3 percent of all malicious ads

of the malicious ads targetedGoogle’s fledgling OS, more thanmacOS (10.5 per cent), iOS (3.2per cent), Android (2.1 per cent),and iPadOS (0.8 per cent)

SMS UNSAFE FOR BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONIn a major revelation that signifies the need for a strongencryption, a massive database with tens of millions of textmessages has been compromised. Most of the messages inthe database, monitored by TrueDialog, were sent bybusinesses to potential customers and were found onlinerecently by security researchers.

TrueDialog is a commercialSMS provider for businessesand higher educationproviders, which helps com-panies, colleges, and univer-sities send bulk text mes-sages to their clients. TheUS-based company claimsthat one of the advantages toits service is that recipientscan also text back, allowingthem to have two-way conver-sations with businesses.

An examination of aportion of the data revealslogs of messages sent bycustomers who usedTrueDialog system, includingphone numbers and SMSmessage contents. Thedatabase containsinformation about universityfinance applications,marketing messagesfrom businesses withdiscount codes,and job alerts,among otherthings.

As part of theirinternet scanning

efforts, securityresearchers

Noam Rotem andRan Locar found

the database.

The data alsocontains sensi-

tive text mes-sages, such as

two-factorcodes and

other securi-ty mes-

sages, whichmay have

allowed any-one viewing

the data to gain access to a per-son's online accounts.

Many of the messages havecodes to access online medical

services to obtain, and pass-word reset and login codes for

sites including Facebook andGoogle accounts.

The data also has user-names and passwords ofTrueDialog's customers,

which if used could havebeen used to access and

impersonate theiraccounts.

Some of the two-waymessage conversations

contained a unique conversa-tion code meaning reading the

full conversation is possible.

TrueDialog is just one of many SMS providers that haverecently left systems and sensitive text messages on theinternet for anyone to access. This shows why textmessages may be convenient but is not a secure way tocommunicate, particularly for sensitive data, like sendingtwo-factor codes.

The data-base has years of

sent and received textmessages from its cus-tomers and since it wasleft unprotected on theinternet without a pass-word, none of the data

was encrypted andcan be easily

accessed.

TUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABAD

■ Exchanges cite non-compliance with market rules

ASHWIN JJ. PPUNNENMUMBAI, DEC. 2

BSE and NSE on Mondaysuspended Karvy StockBroking Ltd’s tradinglicence for all segmentsdue to non-compliancewith exchange and securi-ties market rules.

Besides the two leadingbourses, Multi Comm-odity Exchange (MCX) andMSEI have also suspendedthe licence of the broker-age firm.

The BSE said it has deac-tivated trading terminalsof Karvy in equity anddebt segment and put themin the risk reduction modein equity derivatives, cur-rency derivatives and com-modity segment.

Action by the bourses fol-lows the November 22 Sebiorder, which had in its pre-liminary findings held thatthe brokerage firm hadmisused client securitiesand used it for other pur-poses. Karvy had soldclients securities and theproceeds were transferredto related party businesses,such as Karvy Realty Ltd.

The Securities andExchange Board of Indiahad barred the firm fromtaking on new clients andlimited its use of power ofattorney for existingclients. The regulator hadalso directed the exchan-ges to initiate disciplinaryproceedings against the

broking firm.This suspension order is

a culmination of the disci-plinary proceedings, wherethe exchange found thatKarvy did not segregatebroker securities fromclient securities and usedclient securities for fundraising.

Since the NSE suspen-sion order has kicked in,Karvy's existing investorshave been unable to squareoff their derivatives posi-tion, said an investor toMint newspaper. Since pay-outs are pending fromKarvy and positions arenot being squared off itwill add on to the woes ofinvestors, he added.However, an NSE officialclarified that investors areallowed to square off theirexisting open derivativeposition.

"Investors will be protect-ed and they can square offat a later stage too" he said.

The mess at Karvy StockBroking seems to be muchbigger than first believed.The markets regulator nowestimates the misuse ofclient securities by the bro-ker at Rs 2,800 crore, 40 percent more than the Rs 2,000crore it estimated earlier.

The misutilisation ismuch larger according tothe initial estimates of aforensic audit, RafiqueDada, the senior counselappearing on behalf ofSebi at the SecuritiesAppellate Tribunal (SAT),said on Friday.

Meanwhile, a big reliefcame for investors ofKarvy on Monday whendepository NSDL said in astatement that it has trans-ferred securities into theaccounts of the clients.

NSDL has transferredsecurities worth Rs2,013.77 crore into theaccounts of 83,806 clientswho have paid full amount

for these securities.Karvy Stock Broking has

misused clients securities'worth Rs 2,800 crore,according to reports. It isalso likely that the amountwould increase further butthat would emerge onlyafter the forensic analysisis completed.

All the clients’ securitieswere pledged with banksand non-banking financialcompanies (NBFCs), asource added.

Banks have fund-basedexposure of Rs 1,415 croreto Karvy and some more innon-fund-based guarantees.

Lenders are seeking own-ership of the pledgedshares, but Sebi is unlikelyto consider the request, thereports said.

Clients would be at a dis-advantage if the banksreceive ownership of theshares and invoke thepledges, a source told thepaper.

According to a report,83,000 clients out of 90,000clients of Karvy StockBroking have receivedsecurities worth Rs2,013.77 crore.

The securities have beentransferred from Karvy'sdemat account to those ofthe 83,806 clients who havepaid in full against thesesecurities. The NationalSecurities Depository Ltdhas started the process oftransferring securities inclient demat account.

SANGEETHA GGCHENNAI, DEC. 2

There is nothing much instore for employees evenin 2020. The salarygrowth in the comingyear is expected to beslower than this year.Moreover, the incre-ments will be largelyuneven—average per-formers witnessing aslower growth comparedto high performers, findsKorn Ferry GlobalSalary Forecast.

The salary growth inIndia is expected to be 9.2per cent in 2020. At thefag end of last year, KornFerry had predicted 10per cent salary growthfor 2019. However, theinflation-adjusted realwage rise for India willremain at 5 per cent thisyear as well.

“With current econom-ic scenario and progres-sive reforms by the gov-ernment, there is a senseof cautious optimismacross sectors in Indiathat continues to showhigh salary increments,”said Navnit Singh,Chairman and RegionalManaging Director ofKorn Ferry India.

Among the high growthcountries, Egypt’ssalaries are expected toincrease by 13.5 per centand a 6.6 per cent real-wage increase. In Asia,India‘s salary growth isthe highest. Indonesia isforecast to have a salarygrowth of 8.1 per cent,whereas, Malaysia,China and Korea isexpected to have a salarygrowth of 5 per cent, 6per cent and 4.1 per centrespectively.

India will continue tosee salaries growingunevenly bet-ween highperformers and averageperformers. “In line withslower and lower incre-ments across the board,companies will continueto differentiate their topperformers, high poten-tials and critical talentsharply,” said RoopankChaudh-ary, AssociateClient Partner–KornFerry India.

FALAKNAAZ SSYEDMUMBAI, DEC. 2

The Insurance Regulatoryand DevelopmentAuthority of India (Irdai)has written to public sec-tor banks that are mergercandidates to provide aroad map on what theypropose to do with theirstakes in insurance com-panies after the mergercomes into effect. Publicsector banks haveresponded to the regulatorseeking time sources said.Banking officials said thata couple of banks willshed their promoter tag intheir insurance compa-nies by divesting theirstake to below 10 per centto be categorised as aninvestor.

A top industry officialtold FC, “The Irdai hadwritten to these banksasking them to submit aroad map on what theypropose to do with theirstake in their insurancecompanies. One is being apromoter and the other isbeing an investor. Bankswill have to take a call andthen come to the regulatorwith a road map on whatthey want to do.”

“The Irdai wrote to thebanks last month, thebanks have written backsaying that they needsome time as they arefirming up their plan andwill respond. They saidthat they are fully awareof their responsibilitiesand have assured the Irdaithat they would be takinga decision keeping the pol-icyholders interest in

mind,” added the official.A senior official of

Andhra Bank told FC thatthe bank has already start-ed the process of divestingits stake in IndiaFirst LifeInsurance Company to bel-ow 10 per cent to be aninvestor after the bank ismerged with Union Bankof India and CorporationBank. Headquartered inMumbai, IndiaFirst LifeInsurance is promoted bytwo large public-sectorbanks—Bank of Barodaand Andhra Bank, whichhold 43.30 per cent and29.53 per cent stake eachin the company while theremaining 27.17 per cent isheld by Warburg Pincus.

“The regulations wouldbe complied with in thisconnection,” said a seniorofficial of Andhra Bank.

A senior official ofUnion Bank of India saidthe bank would continueto be the promoter of StarUnion Daiichi LifeInsurance and an investorin IndiaFirst. Union Bank,

which will take overAndhra Bank andCorporation Bank, isrequired to reduce stakein one of the two insur-ance companies as a resultof the amalgamation.Union Bank holds around46 per cent stake in StarUnion Daiichi LifeInsurance while AndhraBank is a promoter inIndiaFirst Life Insurance.

Remaining an investorwill help banks to earn afee income by distributingproducts of insurancecompanies.

An entity holding over 10per cent in an insurancecompany is categorised asa promoter while oneholding below that limit istermed as an investor.Under existing rules, onebank cannot be a promot-er in multiple insurancecompanies of the samesegment. However, theycan sell products of threelife, non-life and stand-alone health insurerseach.

PNB holds around 30 percent stake in PNB MetLifeIndia Insurance as a pro-moter and OBC holds 23per cent stake in insur-ance joint venture—Canara HSBC OrientalBank of Commerce LifeInsurance Company.Following the merger,which will come intoeffect from April 1, 2020,PNB will take over OBCand United Bank.

On August 30, FinanceMinister NirmalaSitharaman hadannounced the merger of10 PSBs into four entities.

KiranMazumdarShaw: India Inc not anti-national

Govt finds way to limitpalm oil flow

Karvy’s tradinglicence suspended

Salarygrowth to

crawl in 2020New Delhi, Dec. 2: Thecountry’s manufactur-ing sector activity saw amarginal rise inNovember as growthrates for new orders aswell as production weremodest amid competi-tive pressures andunstable market condi-tions, a monthly surveysaid on Monday.

Subdued sales amidchallenging economicscenario prevented hir-ing in November, withpayroll numbers declin-ing for the first time in20 months.

Some firms were ableto secure new workamid successful market-ing and strengtheningdemand, but othersstruggled in the face ofcompetitive conditions,amid challenging eco-nomic scenario andtroubles in the automo-tive sector.

The IHS Markit IndiaManufacturing PMIrose to 51.2 in Novemberfrom 50.6 in October,when it had fallen to atwo-year low, indicatingonly a slight improve-ment in the health ofthe sector.

According to the sur-vey, growth was support-ed by the launch of newproducts and betterdemand, thoughrestrained by competi-tive pressures andunstable market condi-tions .—PTI

Marginalrise in mfg

activity

FC BBUREAUCHENNAI/KOLKATA, DEC. 2

Around $35 billion, or 38per cent, of the total loanadvances to the real estatesector is under stress, ofwhich $14 billion is reelingunder ‘severe stress” andfacing difficulties in debtservicing.

However, over 62 per cent,or nearly $58 bn, of thetotal loan advances of $93bn to the real estate sectorby banks and NBFCs/HFCs

is currently completelystress-free. Another 22 percent, or nearly $21 bn, isunder some pressure butcan potentially be resolved.

Those under ‘severe’stress have either limitedor extremely poor visibilityof debt servicing due to acombination of factors,says an Anarock Capitalreport. The entire ‘severestressed’ loan value in realestate is spread acrossmore than 50 developers.

“The ‘stress’ loan amount

in real estate is not as badas seen in other major sec-tors like telecom andsteel. For instance,the entire ‘severestressed’ loanvalue in realestate is spreadacross morethan 50 develop-ers. In the telecomor steel industries,default by a single com-pany alone equals a sizableportion of the overallstress in the real estate sec-

tor. Also, every real estateloan is backed by hard

security, which is any-where between 1.5

times to 2 times.Even if the loanis NPA, there isenough securityfor the lenders to

get a significantportion of their

money back. Even ifdefaulting developers

decide to sell their realestate at a discount, there isenough margin for them to

pay back,” said ShobhitAgarwal, MD & CEO,Anarock Capital.

Among the lenders, hosu-ing finance companies, orHFCs, account for thelargest share or 38 per centof total realty loans. Bankshave nearly 34 per centshare and non-bankingfinance companies(NBFCs) account for 28 percent. The majority of theloans, or nearly 58 per cent,of the total NBFC lendingis on a watchlist. Compared

to NBFCs, banks and HFCsare better placed with 70per cent and 65 per cent oftheir lending book in acomfortable position.

In absolute terms, $12.35billion stressed assets ofHFCs is slightly lower than$15.1 billion of NBFCs.Banks have stressed assetsof $9.49 billion.

Out of the total $93 billionloans, Grade A buildersaccount for over $65 billionand $27 billion has gone toGrade B players.

About $14 bn of realty loans under severe stress

PSBs told to outlineinsurance JVs’ future

New Delhi, Dec 2: In asignificant move, the gov-ernment on Mondaylaunched a databank ofindependent directorswhich will be a “compre-hensive repository” ofexisting as well as thoseeligible to be independentdirectors.

Independent directorsare required to registerthemselves with the data-bank—set up under theCompanies Act, 2013—within three months fromDecember 1, as per rulesnotified by the CorporateAffairs Ministry.

“Companies also mayregister themselves withthe databank to search,select and connect withindividuals who possessthe right skills and atti-tude for being consideredfor appointment as inde-pendent directors,” theministry said in a release.

The ministry noted thatthe databank is expected tobecome a comprehensiverepository of both existingindependent directors aswell as individuals eligibleand willing to be appoint-ed as independent direc-tors.

The Indian Institute ofCorporate Affairs (IICA),under the ministry, wouldbe maintaining the data-bank portal. Independentdirectors are also requiredto pass a basic online profi-ciency self-assessment

test, which would be avail-able from March 2020. Thetest has to be taken within12 months of registration.

“In order to provide suffi-cient practice to individu-als, a number of onlinemock tests have also beenmade available in the sys-tem. The real test can betaken online through asimple scheduling process.The real test would beremotely proctored,” therelease said.

Independent directorshave a substantial role inensuring good governancepractices at corporates. Inrecent times, many indi-viduals have come underthe regulatory lens in con-nection with irregularitiesat companies where theywere serving as independ-ent directors.

The databank portal hasvarious e-learning cap-sules and videos for users.

The databank can beaccessed at ‘www.mca.gov.in’ and ‘www.inde-pendentdirectorsdata-bank.in.’ —PTI

Centre launchesdatabank of Ind. directorsFC BBUREAU

NEW DELHI, DEC. 2

The Lok Sabha on Mondaypassed the Taxation Laws(Amendment) Bill, 2019, toreplace the Ordinance thatslashed corporate tax ratesin September. The bill willamend the Income Tax Act1961 and the Finance (No 2)Act 2019.

In the biggest reductionin 28 years, the govern-ment has slashed corpo-rate tax rates for existingcompanies to 22 per centfrom 30 per cent, and to 15per cent from 25 per centfor new manufacturingfirms incorporated afterOctober 1, 2019 and start-ing operations beforeMarch 31, 2023.

In all, the tax breaksamounted to a whoppingRs 1.45 lakh crore.

Earlier, replying to adebate on the in the LokSabha, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharamanallayed fears that the steepcorporate tax cut wouldimpact revenue collection.Asserting that there is nodecrease in tax collections,

Sitharaman said in fact,there is an increase of 5per cent in the gross directtax collection tillNovember in this fiscal.

Historically, maximumcollection of direct taxeshappens in the last quarterof the fiscal, she added.

The government’s deci-sion to reduce corporatetax rate, she said, wasaimed at attracting invest-ment and creating jobs.“The government’s deci-sion was also necessary toattract investment frommulti-national companies,which are wanting to shiftoperations from China inview of ongoing Sino-UStrade war,” she said.

“We think we will attractinvestment by reducing taxrate”, she said while stress-ing that several neighbour-ing countries and emerg-ing nations have reducedtax rates to attract invest-ment. She said severaldomestic and global firmshave expressed interest ininvestment post- annou-ncement of the corporatetax cut. She said the effec-tive rate has come down to25.17 per cent from 34.94per cent.

On the liquidity issue inthe system, the financeminister said banks havedisbursed about Rs 2.5 lakhcrore during their recentoutreach programme.

London, Dec 2: Europeanand US stock marketsswooned into the redMonday on downbeat USeconomic data and newsof fresh US tariffs againstArgentina and Brazil.

Asian markets had beencheered earlier in the day

by a surprise jump inChinese factory activity,but the party ended with atweet by US PresidentDonald Trump.

Trump tweeted thatowing to unfair policies byBrazil and Argentina, hewould reinstate tariffs on

steel and aluminium fromthose countries.

Trade-related concernwas also stoked by China'sGlobal Times, which saidBeijing wanted all US tar-iffs rolled back as part of amini deal, which obser-vers said is unlikely.—AFP

Tax collection rises by5% till Nov: Sitharaman

Markets sour on US data, Trump’s new tariffs

quickBITES

INDICATORS %Sensex 40,802.17 +0.02Nifty 50 12,048.20 -0.07S&P 500 3,114.31 -0.85Dollar (`) 71.65 -0.13Pound Sterling (`) 92.58 -0.10Euro (`) 78.88 -0.14Gold (10gm)* (`) 38,718▼161 -0.41Brent crude ($/bbl)* 61.27 +1.29IN 10-Yr bond yield +6.485 +0.387US 10-Yr T-bill yield +1.847 +3.998

* As of 9:30 pm IST

Crisil slashesFY20 growthforecast to 5.1%The slowdown in India is deeperthan anticipated and will be pro-longed, Crisil warned, slashing itsgrowth estimate sharply to a low5.1 per cent from 6.3 per cent. Itattributed the sharp revision tovarious high-frequency indicatorsshowing a softness and partlyblamed the same to the reformslike GST, realty regulation, andthe bankruptcy code which arestill a “drag” on the economy.

NCLAT benchto be set upin Chennai

The Centre has decided to setup a bench of NationalCompany Law AppellateTribunal (NCLAT) at Chennai inpursuance of a Supreme Courtjudgement, junior finance minis-ter Anurag Singh Thakur, toldthe Lok Sabha. At present, thereis an NCLAT bench in New Delhiand 16 NCLT benches across thecountry. Five new benches ofNCLT were set up in 2018-2019.

NCLT admits RBIplea for DHFLbankruptcy The NCLT admitted the ReserveBank's petition to initiate insol-vency proceedings againstmortgage player DHFL, makingit the first financial services firmto be resolved through thebankruptcy code. The movecame in after the RBI lastFriday referred DHFL to theNCLT Mumbai to resolve thedebt crisis at the third largestpure-play mortgage player.

Mahindra Fin toget $200 mn fromIFC for MSMEs

Printed & Published by T Venkateswarlu on behalf of DeccanChronicle Holdings Limited, Printed at

Deccan Chronicle Press at DeccanChronicle Holdings Ltd. #563/9/D&9/E,Behind Andhra Bank Pet Basheerbagh,

Kompally, Ranga Reddy Dist. Editor:T.Venkatram RReddy, RNI Reg

No.APENG/2008/24282. © All rightsreserved. Reproduction in whole or in partwithout written permission of The Editor,

Financial Chronicle ® is prohibited.

Overleaf

World Bank Group arm IFC saidit has anchored an investmentround of $200 million (aboutRs 1,433 crore) in MahindraFinancial Services to create adedicated pool of financing forMSMEs in low-income states. Atleast $100 million will be ear-marked for women-ownedMSMEs. "IFC has invested $75million from its own accountand is mobilising another $125million as parallel loans," it said.

FM TUNES◗ Many domestic and foreign com-panies have shown interest toinvest post-corporate tax reduction◗ PSBs disbursed Rs 2.52 lakhcrore loans during outreach pro-gramme◗ About Rs 1.1 lakh cr oredis-bursed into farmers’ accounts

UNBUNDLING◗ Andhra Bank startsthe process of divest-ing stake in IndiaFirstLife Insurance Co tobelow 10%◗ UBI has to cut stakein one of the 2 JVs—Star Union Daiichi andIndiaFirst.◗ Remaining aninvestor will helpbanks to earn a fee

Outof the total

$93 bon realtyloans, Grade A

builders accountfor over $65 bn

TUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABAD

SHRUTI SSRIVASTAVA &&PRATIK PPARIJADEC. 2

India is considering impos-ing new restrictions onrefined palm oil imports tocurb purchases and boostthe local edible oil industry,according to a person withdirect knowledge of thematter.

The government is look-ing to move away from cur-rent regulations that don’tstipulate unit sizes onrefined imports to settingstandard import units atfive-litre containers, saidthe person, who asked notto be identified because theinformation is not yet pub-lic. That would increasecosts for many buyers, andfits into the government’sstrategy to cut edible oilimports and double farm-ers’ income by 2022, theperson said.

The south Asian country,which imports about two-thirds of its cooking oil

needs, has been trying tocut overseas purchases byencouraging local farmersto grow more. Any move byIndia to limit palm oilimports may hurt top grow-ers Indonesia and Malaysiaand put a lid on soaringbenchmark prices, whichsurged to a two-year highlast month.

Discussions on therefined palm oil proposalbetween various govern-

ment departments are at anadvanced stage, the personsaid. The CommerceMinistry’s spokespersonwas not immediately avail-able to comment, while theAgriculture Ministry’sspokesperson declined tocomment.

The new rule is likely tocome into force fromJanuary, when importduties on some edible oilswill automatically changedue to India’s existingagreements with someregional associations andcountries, the person said.

India’s vegetable oilimports climbed 3.5 percent from a year earlier to15.55 million tonnes in theyear ended in October,according to data compiledby the Solvent Extractors’Association of India. Palmoil purchases at 9.4 milliontonnes accounted for 60 percent of total vegetable oilimports last year.

— Bloomberg

Financial

OPENING

PROJECTION FOR TODAYBELL

The market remainedrange-bound on accountof weak GDP data andsubdued auto sales num-bers.

Investors were alsocautious ahead of RBImonetary policy to beheld this Friday.

The Sensex rose 8points to 40802 while theNifty closed 7 pointslower at 12048.

Sectorally, buying wasseen in telecom, energy,and metals while profitbooking was seen inauto, IT, and healthcarestocks.

The broader marketsunderperformed as theS&P BSE Mid-Cap Indexfell 0.77 per cent whilethe S&P BSE Small-CapIndex was down 0.39 percent.

Analysts said marketis cautiously awaitingRBI monetary policyespecially post weakGDP data.

Technical View

Jay Thakkar, CMT HeadTechnical andDerivatives Research —AVP Equity Research,Anand Rathi Shares andStock Broker, said,“Nifty has closed in thenegative territory in thelast trading session forthe second consecutiveday; however it has man-aged to close above 12000levels. On the lower side,12000 and 11950 are twocrucial support levelsand till those are heldthe probability of anupside is quite high till12150-12300 levels. Thedaily momentum indica-tor MACD is in sellmode with a hinge and anegative divergencewhich is a worry in theshort term. The momen-tum is signalling weak-ness whereas the pricehas not confirmed, soeither avoid beforeeither one confirms orbuy with a stop loss of11950 giving price a ben-efit of doubt.”

For the index one cantrade the range by buy-ing near the lower endand selling at higher endof the range or look towait for breakout oneither side to get intothe momentum andshort-term direction.

Market View

Ajit Mishra, VP —Research, ReligareBroking Ltd, said, “Theweak Q2GDP data andsubdued auto salesnumbers is likely toimpact the investor sen-timents in the shortterm. All eyes will nowbe on RBI monetary pol-icy for economic revivalmeasures going for-ward. On the globalfront, investors areeagerly awaiting a posi-tive outcome of the US-China trade negotia-tions which couldstrengthen the rally inthe global markets. Inaddition, currency andcrude price movementwill continue to impactinvestor sentiments.”

Marketmomentumsignallingweakness

Govt finds ways tolimit palm oil flow

■ Plan to insist on 5-litre containers for import

New Delhi, Dec. 2: BioconChairperson and ManagingDirector Kiran MazumdarShaw on Monday said IndiaInc is “neither anti-nationalnor anti-government”, cont-inuing her support for vete-ran industrialist RahulBajaj who stated that IndiaInc was afraid of criticisingthe Modi government.

Shaw, who had earlier saidthe government treatedIndia Inc as “pariahs” anddoesn’t want to hear anycriticism of the economy,was responding to FinanceMinister Nirmala Sithar-man remarks that spread-ing one’s own impression“can hurt national interest”in relation to the statementmade by Bajaj on Saturday.

“Madam we are neitheranti national nor anti gov-ernment. We want you tosucceed big time as fastestgrowing economy & rise tothe top of the global leagueof economies. I am a proudpolitical National & onlywant the Govt to promotegood policies including atState level,” Shaw tweeted.

She was replying to atweet by Sitharaman whoshared a video of The Econ-

omic Times’ ET Awardsevent in Mumbai on Satur-day where Bajaj, Chairmanof Bajaj Group, had toldSitharaman, Home MinisterAmit Shah and RailwayMinister Piyush Goyal ondais that people were afraidof criticising the BJP gover-nment’s policies and addedthat no one in the businesscommunity would speakabout this issue.

In the tweet, Sitharamansaid, “Home Minister@AmitShah answers onhow issues raised by Shri.Rahul Bajaj were addressed.Questions/criticisms areheard and answered/ addre-ssed. Always a better way toseek an answer than spread-ing one’s own impressionswhich, on gaining traction,can hurt national interest.”

— PTI

Shaw: India Incnot anti-national

SANGEETHA GGCHENNAI, DEC. 2

After the Walmart-Flipkartdeal, B2C e-commerce hasseen a lull in terms of pri-vate equity funding and thefocus has turned to thelarger online space. In thepast two years, online B2Bspace has witnessed height-ened activity with invest-ments growing multi-fold.

The online B2B space hadreceived just $26 millionand $28 million funding in2016 and 2017 respectively.However, in 2018 it surgedto $338 million and it morethan doubled in 2019 to $730million. In the past twoyears, the segment hasraised more than $1 billion,as per the data fromRedSeer Consulting.

Ninjacart had raised $100million from investors ledby Tiger Global. Jumbotailraised Rs 90 crore in itsseries B round. Shopx,which had raised $50 mil-lion in multiple rounds,raised another $35 millionthis year. Online B2B mar-ketplace, Udaan secured

Series B funding of $50 mil-lion last year.

The increased interestclearly indicates thegrowth potential in onlineB2B companies. RedSeerexpects online B2B toattain a market size of $60billion by 2025, growing at aCAGR of 80 per cent.

According to RedSeer, theregulatory landscape hasremained rather smoothfor online B2B compared toonline B2C, which hastighter FDI norms. Thegovernment also had clari-fied that 100 per cent FDIpermitted in online B2B.

The segment is also morecapital efficient. Online

B2B generated around $3.5GMV for every dollarinvested, almost 1.7 timeshigher when compared toonline B2C. RedSeer findsthat margins in the busi-ness have a potential todouble due to direct pro-curement from brands, pro-viding value added servic-es such as tech solutionsand credit. Going further, itcan have a strong play intier-II and beyond cities asit addresses the problemsof fragmented supplies andinefficiencies in the tradi-tional retail supply chain.

"The online platform con-nected through a mobileapp helps the kirana storedo away with the long trailof middle-men, includingwholesaler and distributorand order products directlyfrom the manufacturer.The benefits are not limitedto easy and better access toproducts. Analytical dataabout store-level demandcan improve efficiencies ofboth the retailer as well asthe manufacturer," saidAshish Jhina, co-founder ofJumbotail.

FC BBUREAUHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

While painting a gloomypicture of the Indian start-up scenario, Intel IndiaCountry Head Nivruti Rai,on Monday, announcedIntel’s plan tolaunch a new incu-bation centre inHyderabad byMarch 2020.

Speaking at theinauguration of theIntel India designCentre in Hydera-bad, Rai said, “MostIndian start-ups tend to dieafter five years…. Start-upsneed to grow to the pointthat it will be able to sustainitself.”

Later on, while speakingto Deccan Chronicle, sheadded, “Most Indian start-ups tend to focus on e-tail or

services. However, a start-up that is a product is morelike to have a bigger impactnot only on in India but alsoon a global scale.”

However, only innovationcan help change the thegloomy scenario. Rai said,

“We have alreadycommitted to set upan incubation centrehere. We will nowneed to work throu-gh the logistics….However, Incubationin Bengaluru orHyderabad doesn’t

mean that we willsolicit only Bengaluru orHyderabad start-ups. Showus the innovation.”

Meanwhile, Intel, hot onthe heels of Amazon andOnePlus, stepped up itspresence in the city with theformal inauguration of itsDesign Centre on Monday.

Intel plans a new incubationcentre in Hyderabad by March

SANGEETHA GGCHENNAI, DEC. 2

Discontinuation of magnetic stripecards and mass closure of zero balanceaccounts saw 154 million debit cardsgoing out of use at the end ofSeptember quarter.

There were about 836 million debitcards and about 53 million credit cardsin circulation at the end of Septemberquarter. Between September 2018 andSeptember 2019, there was a reductionof about 154 million debit cards,though the number of credit cardswent up by about 11 million, accordingto data from Worldline India.

“The fall in debit cards is likely dueto the discontinuation of magneticstripe and the mass closure ofaccounts with zero balances,’ findsWorldline. On the other hand, the risein credit cards may be attributed to thegrowing digital payments and theexpansion of retail borrowers in themarket.

The reduction in cards also reflected

in the growth in the transactions usingdebit cards. In Q3 2019, while the totalnumber of credit card transactionswent up 25.6 per cent to 540 million,debit card transactions grew only 6.4per cent to 3.7 billion. Value-wise also,credit card transactions grew 25.8 percent, while debit card transactionsgrew only 6.2 per cent.

Another important trend noticed wasthat debit cards are largely used forATM withdrawals while credit cards

for POS transactions. Of the totaltransaction value through credit cards,99.3 per cent was used for POS transac-tions and only 0.66 per cent camethrough ATM transactions. On theother hand, 83 per cent of debit cardtransactions were ATM withdrawalsand only 17 per cent were POS transac-tions.

Consumers tend to make larger ticketsize purchases through credit cards atPOS terminals when compared to debitcards. The challenge is to move ATMwithdrawals, especially for PMJDYaccount holders, into digital paymenttransactions.

“While the number of card transac-tions done at merchant locations is onthe up, ATM withdrawals data sug-gests that cards are being used forwithdrawing cash in a big way andthis is likely because there are little tono avenues for them to use their cardsor other digital instruments,” saidSunil Rongala, Vice President,Strategy, Innovation and Analytics,Worldline India.

154 mn debit cards out of use asmagnetic strips, zero balance go

FERGAL OO'BRIEN && ENDA CCURRANDEC. 2

Global manufacturing islooking a little brighterheading into the end of theyear, with a pickup in Chinaand Germany validatingcalls that global growth isstabilizing.

The better factory numbe-rs from China in Novemberfiltered across Asian econo-mies including South Korea,Japan and Malaysia, all ofwhich saw their PurchasingManagers’ Indexes nudgehigher. In Europe, Germa-ny’s reading came in stron-ger than initially estimated,rising for a second month.

The news lifted equities,with the Stoxx Europe 600up 0.4 per cent following ear-lier gains across Asia.Bonds fell, with German 10-year yields rising to thehighest in three weeks.

The latest numbers contin-ue a narrative seen acrosscontinents in recent weeksthat the global economy hasreached the bottom of thedownturn and is stabilizing.

Also fueling the optimism ishope that the US and China— despite mixed messagesand ongoing political ten-sions — are close to signingthe first part of a trade deal.

“The market is positionedfor a phase-one deal eitherby the end of this year or ifnot, then that the tariff hikefor December will be dela-yed,” said Christoph Rieger,Head of Fixed Rate Strategyat Commerzbank. “Thegreen-shoots spirit regard-ing the economy probablyhas room to extend.”

The next data point forinvestors is the US ISMmanufacturing report lateron Monday. Also comingthis week are readings fromGerman industry plus USmonthly payrolls.

Much of the better moodin Asia was down to China’simproved performance. TheCaixin index rose to 51.8from 51.7, following news onthe weekend that the officialmeasure jumped to 50.2, thefirst reading above the key50 level since April.

— Bloomberg

Global factory output growthsees green shoots as 2019 ends

MIHIR SSHARMA

It’s now official: The Indianeconomy is sufferingthrough a major slowdown,and one that shows noimmediate sign of easing.The only surprise is that theestimate for growth in grossdomestic product last quar-ter isn’t even lower than theannounced 4.5 per cent.

When the Narendra Modi-led government presentedits first budget after beingre-elected, it expectedgrowth in 2019-20 to bearound 7 per cent. A fewmonths later, the ReserveBank of India slashed thatto 6.1 per cent. It is hard,now, to see how even thatrate — relatively slow byIndia’s past standards —

will be achieved.Hidden in the disaggregat-

ed numbers is the story ofwhat has gone wrong. Inves-tment has collapsed. It con-tracted 3 per cent in real ter-ms last quarter, after grow-ing almost 12 per cent in thesame quarter last year. Wh-at has grown faster is gov-ernment spending. It mayhave been responsible for asmuch as 40 per cent of what-ever growth India did have.

Since early in his firstterm, Modi has largely aba-ndoned his campaign prom-ise to get government out ofbusiness. Instead, he’s reli-ed on the public sector to bu-ild a welfare state and propup growth. In the headyyears, as falling oil pricesflattered Indian growth and

fattened the treasury, itlooked like his strategy wasworking.

But the moneyis rapidly run-ning out. Inclu-ding spending byp r o v i n c i a ladministrations, the deficitis approaching 8 per cent ofGDP. Claims that publicspending would makeinvestment more attractivefor the private sector havenot been borne out. Theresimply isn’t enough moneyto go around — with the gov-ernment taking the lion’sshare of financial savings,private investment has to becontent with the meagerleavings.

India’s government hasnobody else to blame. The

economy has slowed in thepast - most recently, duringthe commodity boom and

the “tapertantrum” —but on eachsuch occasionthere was some

sort of exogenous calamityit had to deal with. Therehasn’t been a bad monsoon,or sudden commodity priceinflation, or a balance-of-payments crisis. The worldeconomy isn’t exactly boom-ing, yet export-orientedeconomies like Vietnam andBangladesh seem to bedoing fine. Vietnam grew at7.3 per cent in the last quar-ter, and Bangladesh may seetwo successive years of 8per cent growth.

Mismanagement at home

and increasing protection-ism abroad have ensuredthat India has dropped outof that group of fast-grow-ing emerging economies.It’s fashionable in India toworry about slumping con-sumer demand and blame itfor the slowdown. The reme-dy, some argue, is to openthe government’s spendingtap still further. Certainly,it’s possible to see a tempo-rary revival in the mediumterm if handouts increase.But that won’t be sustain-able. At some point, the bal-looning overall deficit isreally going to bite.

The whole point, surely, isthat developing countriesshouldn’t be dependent onlyupon domestic demand.Young, labour-surplus

nations must go out and tapworld markets, not limitthemselves to whatever canbe drummed up at home. Nostronger lesson can bedrawn from recent econom-ic history.

Instead, India has gotteninto a series of entirelyavoidable trade spats withcountries like the US, gonecold on a possible free-tradedeal with the EuropeanUnion and most recentlyrefused to sign the RegionalComprehensive EconomicPartnership with countriesfrom the Pacific Rim andSoutheast Asia.

The government wants tocoddle Indian industry inst-ead of giving it the meansto compete. It need not raisetariffs and run away from

free trade; it should insteadallow entrepreneurs andcompanies greater flexibili-ty in whom they hire, makeit easier to find land forindustry, and end a self-defeating crusade againsttax evasion that has scaredinvestors into hiding.

It’s still possible to hopethat something may changein New Delhi. Modi hasalready reinvented himselfonce, from a business-friendly chief minister to awelfarist prime minister. Hecould be capable of a thirdact, in which he re-invigor-ates Indian industry andmanufacturing throughdrastic structural reform.But don’t hold your breathwaiting.

— Bloomberg

Economy needs Modi to reinvent himself once again

PAGE

13

FC BBUREAUCHENNAI, DEC. 2

Under the FasterAdoption andManufacturing of(Hybrid &) ElectricVehicles in India (FAMEIndia), about 2.8 lakhvehicles receiveddemand incentives ofabout Rs 359 crore.Phase II of FAME has abudgetary support of Rs10,000 crore.

In the two-year Phase-Iof FAME India Schemewas launched in March2015 to promote adoption of electrical vehicles with an aim toreduce dependency onfossil fuel and to addressissues of vehicularemissions. The Phase-Iof the Scheme wasextended from time to time and the lastextension was allowedtill March 31, 2019.Among the 2.8 lakh vehicles, 425 e-buses alsohave received support,the government said.

The Phase-II of FAMEIndia Scheme whichcommenced from April2019 is for a period of three years. It has a total budgetary support of Rs 10,000crore.

FAME provides`359 cr supportto 2.8 L vehicles

FC BBUREAUMUMBAI, DEC. 2

Axis Bank announcedit's private banking plat-form which would caterto ultra-high net-worthsegment of customersand is called "BurgundyPrivate".

Third largest privatebank's "BurgundyPrivate" platform offer-ing tailor made wealthmanagement advisoryand solutions for highnet-worth individuals(HNIs)/ ultra-HNIs hasa team of 70 privatebanking specialists sta-tioned across 20 loca-tions.

During the event,Amitabh Chaudhry, MDand CEO, Axis Bankalso launched India'sfirst and an exclusive 3-in-1 metallic card, thatworks as a debit, creditand forex card. This all-in-one card will helpBurgundy Privateclients to perform theirfinancial transactionsseamlessly, both whilein India and overseas.

In 2014, Axis Banklaunched "Burgundy"-its wealth managementbusiness, which has nowmore than 1 lakh fami-lies as its client.

Axis unveils new servicesfor ultra rich

New Delhi, Dec. 2:Mumbai-based SurakshaRealty, which is in therace with state-ownedNBCC to acquire bank-rupt Jaypee Infratech, islikely to offer additionalcash and land to lenders,and higher delay compe-nsation to homebuyers tomake its final resolutionmore lucrative for finan-cial creditors, sourcessaid.

NBCC is also activelyconsidering offering mo-re land to lenders and re-duce timeline for comple-tion of about 20,000 flats.

In the last meeting ofthe committee of credi-tors (CoC) held on Nove-mber 28, lenders askedNBCC and SurakshaRealty to make a finaloffer by next Tuesday(December 3) after revis-ing their earlier bids.

According to sources,Suraksha is likely to inc-rease the upfront payme-nt to lenders from its cur-rent offer of Rs 25 crore.

Under the land-debtswap deal, the companyis considering toincrease the offer of landparcels in value terms.Currently, it has offered1,934 acres of land worthRs 7,800 crore.

— PTI

Suraksha to offercash & land toJaypee lenders

— Ashwin J Punnen

FC BANKING BBUREAUMUMBAI, DEC. 2

Life InsuranceCorporation has waivedoff the convenience fee oncredit-card originatedpayments towards renew-al premium, new premi-um, or repayment of loanand interest on loansagainst the policies willnot attract any additionalcharges or conveniencefee its parlance, fromDecember 1.

“This facility of freetransactions using creditcards shall be applicableto and implemented acro-ss all collecting systems--card less payment andcard dip/ swipe on point ofsale machines, LIC, whichcontrol over 70 per cent ofthe life insurance mar-ket,” LIC said in a state-ment on Monday.

The customers candownload the Mylic Appto for online transactions,it added.

LIC waivescredit cardtransaction

fees

Column

Imports climbed 8.7% to 9.4million tonnes in 2018-19

Hungry for palm

Source: Solvent Extractors’ Association of India

1.0 M

0.5

0.0Nov Jan —————————————— Oct2018 2019

Eastern promisesAsia manufacturing PMIs may have bottomed out after a rough 2019

Source: IMS Markit

Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep2017 2018 2019

■ China Caixin PMI ■ Japan ■ South Korea

Index Level

555453525150494847

Nivruti Rai

Online B2B investments growmulti-fold in last two years

PAGE

14CricketTUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE

Undermined!Former Australian captain Ian Chappell (in pic) feels SteveSmith undermined current skipper Tim Paine by trying toset the field in the second Test against Pakistan

SHORT TAKES

These are the bestbatting conditions inthe world. If you can

get used to thebounce and pace

you can make runs. — Azhar Ali, Pakistan captain on

playing in Australia

New Delhi: Delhi cricketerPrince Ram Niwas Yadav has

been banned by the BCCI fromdomestic cricket for the next

two seasons after being foundguilty of fudging his age in

under-19 tournaments.Yadav, who is registered with

the Delhi & District CricketAssociation, has been disquali-fied by the BCCI with immedi-

ate effect and banned from par-ticipating in 2020-21 and 2021-

22 domestic cricket seasons. “Itis confirmed. We have got inti-

mation from BCCI that PrinceYadav has been found guilty of

age fudging,” a senior DDCAsaid. The BCCI acted on the

basis of the certificate issuedby the Central Board of

Secondary Education in whichhis date of birth was found to

be June 10, 1996. But the crick-eter submitted a birth certifi-cate to the BCCI in which his

his date of birth was shown tobe December 12, 2001. — PTI

India to take part in 50 year-olds WC

Delhi player bannedfor age fudging

New Delhi: India will play theirmaiden cricket World Cup forthe 50-year-olds to be held inSouth Africa from March 10 to

24 next year. India will beginthe 50-over tournament with a

clash against England on March5 at Green Point Cricket Club.

West Indies, Namibia andZimbabwe will also be makingtheir debut in the tournamentwhich will be played in Cape

Town and Stellenbosch.India is placed in Pool 'B' along

with Pakistan, England, SouthAfrica, Namibia and Wales,

while Pool 'A' includesAustralia, West Indies, New

Zealand and Sri Lanka, amongothers. Sports and brand expert

Shailendra Singh will lead theIndian team and the legendary

Kapil Dev wished the team luckahead of the tournament. — PTI

Adelaide, Dec. 2: Spinking Nathan Lyon snaredfive wickets, includingdangerous half-centurymakers Shan Masood andAsad Shafiq, as Australiawore down a stubbornPakistan to clinch the sec-ond Test and wrap up theseries 2-0 Monday.

Pakistan resumed dayfour of the day-nightmatch on a precarious 39for three with Masood notout 14 and Shafiq on eightafter being bowled out for302 in their first inningsand forced to follow on.

It followed Australia’smammoth 589 for threedeclared, built aroundDavid Warner’s exception-al 335 not out — the 10thhighest Test score of alltime.

Needing another 248 toforce Australia to batagain and avoid a secondsuccessive innings defeat,they had a decent crackbut were eventually all outfor 239 with the hometeam claiming victory byan innings and 48 runs.

It was Australia’s sixthconsecutive win in a pinkball Test — four of them atAdelaide — with everyday-night Test played sofar since the concept wasintroduced in 2015 produc-ing a result.

“Really happy. Barringfew slip-ups in the fieldyesterday, we played excel-lent cricket in the last twomatches,” said Australiacaptain Tim Paine.

“David and Marnus

(Labuschagne) have beenunbelievably good. We allwitnessed a special knockfrom David Warner. It isamong the top one or twoinnings ever by anAustralian.”

Lyon was Australia’ssaviour, finishing with 5-69 on a lifeless pitch thatoffered little for the homeside’s fast bowlers, whowere made to toil.

It was his 16th five-wick-et haul and his firstagainst Pakistan, whohave lost all four Teststhey have played this yearafter two defeats to SouthAfrica in January.

Defeat continuedPakistan’s appallingrecord in Australia, wherethey have now crashed in14 consecutive Tests.

“I would like to congrat-ulate Australia and espe-cially David Warner,” saidPakistan skipper AzharAli.

“We have been beaten bya better team. We will takesome positives from here.As a bowling unit, we needto control the scoringrate.”

At least they offeredsome resistance onMonday, withMasood, who mod-els himself onE n g l a n d ’ sAlastair Cook,playing someg l o r i o u sstrokes as heassumed aleadershiprole afterBabar Azam and cap-tain Azhar Ali fellcheaply on Sundayevening.

His sixth Test 50, inhis 17th Test,arrived with aboundary offLyon, his sixthfour, before hechipped the

spinner to mid-off on 68where Mitchell Starc col-lected an easy catch.

Shafiq, who has 12 Testhundreds to his name,proved to be Masood’sequal and brought up his25th half-century with asingle off JoshHazlewood. But Lyonstruck again, with Shafiqgetting a thin edge to aflighted ball that carriedto Warner at slip and hewas gone for 57. — AFP

Lyon takes five as Australia thrash Pakistan with day to sparePak drown under

Australia (1st innings): 589-3 dec Pakistan (1st innings): 302 Pakistan (2nd innings): S. Masood c Starc b Lyon 68,Imam-ul-Haq lbw Hazlewood 0, A. Ali c Smith b Starc9, B. Azam c Paine b Hazlewood 8, A. Shafiq c Warnerb Lyon 57, I. Ahmed c Labuschagne b Lyon 27, M.Rizwan b Hazlewood 45, Y. Shah lbw Lyon 13, S. Afridic Hazlewood b Lyon 1, M. Abbas run out (Cummins) 1,M. Musa (not out) 4. Extras (llb6) 6. Total (in 82 overs)239.FoW: 1-2, 2-11, 3-20, 4-123, 5-154, 6-201, 7-221, 8-229,9-235.Bowling: Starc 16-3-47-1, Hazlewood 23-4-63-3,Cummins 15-4-45-0, Lyon 25-7-69-5, Labuschagne 3-0-9-0.

SCORECARD

Australia celebrate after winning the Test series 2-0 against Pakistan. — AFP

Scales are tilted in favour of home teams

The general responsefrom critics and fansalike on the recent

series’ in the WorldChampionship of Testcricket (WCT) has been elu-cidated in one word — ‘mis-match.’ And rightly so, aswe saw in two completedties against South Africaand Bangladesh in Indiaand the series’ currentlyongoing down under. TheAustralians are bullying ahapless, inexperiencedteam from Pakistan whilethe New Zealanders are giv-ing nightmares to JoeRoot’s Englishmen.

Watching David Warnertake Bradmanesque stridesin the two Test matches atBrisbane and Adelaide witha total of 489 runs, out justonce in two innings, givesus an idea of how badly thescales are tilted in favour ofthe home team. The capitu-

lation of the Pakistan bats-men, so far in the unbal-anced game (cannot call it a‘match’) on the same pitchthat looked great for battingwhile the Aussies did,shows the power of thehome team. Ditto the casewhen India wrapped theirencounters on their hometurf.

One would have thoughtthat visitors England wouldhave given hosts NewZealand a run for theirmoney but ended up leakingthe other kind of ‘runs,’ thekind that fill the score-sheets. The Kiwis pastedthe Englishmen by aninnings and 65 runs in thefirst Test at Bay Oval,Mount Maunganui.

The one aspect that allteams in the WCT musthave realised, by now, isthat they need to take fulladvantage of the games

played in their home condi-tions to maximise theirtally of points gained.

The three home teamsthat have dominated theWCT series so far — India,Australia and New Zealand— have ‘batted once and bat-ted big,’ as described by vet-eran Englishman StuartBroad after two days of playin the second Test at

Hamilton.Broad thought he and his

fellow compatriots (readbowlers) may have giventheir side a chance havingfinished the Kiwi firstinnings at 375 runs. To fol-low his advice the batsmenwill have to get at least 500plus runs to put a drop ofsweat on the forehead ofKiwi skipper Kane

Williamson. With the kindof form that the home teambatsmen have displayed sofar, Williamson has yet tofire, Broad should probablyhave advised his lot ratherthan address the Englishbatsmen.

Take the case of DavidWarner who became thesecond highest individualscorer for Australia in Test

cricket after his unbeaten335 against Pakistan. Of the23 centuries that he hasscored in Test cricket, onlyfive have been notchedabroad.

Two of those came against(and in) Bangladesh andthree in South Africa. Innon-Aussie conditions, thesouthpaw’s highest averagein Test cricket is 27.16 in SriLanka while it is 67.25 athome. For those critics whokeep hounding batsmenfrom the Asian sub-conti-nent about their dominancein local conditions,Warner’s case is a primeexample of a case by a non-Asian whose lack of runsaway from home has neverbeen questioned.

The general opinion, sofar, is that the tussle for theWCT pennant is betweenIndia, Australia, NewZealand and England. Theteams that win most match-es in ‘away’ series will bethe ones to contest the WCTfinal at Lord’s, England inJune 2021. One does hopeVirat Kohli and companyare watching the Kiwis atwork before they embarkfor their first real Test.

Hemant KenkreSilly Point

Australia coach Justin Langer with Pakistan players Imam-ul-Haq (left) and Babar Azamat the post-match ceremony. — AFP

RECORDS MEANTTO BE BROKEN:RECKONS LARA Adelaide, Dec. 2: WestIndies cricket legendBrian Lara has revealedthat he was looking for-ward to congratulateDavid Warner had theAustralian breached hisrecord of highest individ-ual Test score, just asGary Sobers had donewhen he achieved thefeat.

Lara said “records aremeant to be broken.” Larabroke the record of high-est individual Test scoretwice, first when he over-took compatriot GarySober's 36-year-old recordof 365 by scoring 375against England in 1994and then again when hebettered his own record toreach 400 in 2004.

Lara, who was inAdelaide attending tosome commercial engage-

ments, said he was get-ting ready to meet

Warner. “I was hop-ing they mightcatch me and get

me (out) thereand that was

one of thereasons I

was hop-ing they

might havelet him go

for it,” Lara said. — PTI

Root’s epic 226 givesEngland 101-run lead Hamilton, Dec. 2: JoeRoot’s masterful 226 tohighlight a return to formgave England a much-need-ed boost in the second Testagainst New Zealand onMonday as they ended dayfour believing they cansquare the series.

It took a five-wicket haulfor the tireless NeilWagner to bring England'sfirst innings to an end at476, a lead of 101. Atstumps, New Zealand were96 for two and needing tobat late into the final dayalthough rain may yet have

the last word with furthershowers forecast forTuesday. Jeet Raval (duck)and Tom Latham (18) wentearly in second innings,and for Raval it continueda poor run in which he hasfailed to reach double fig-ures in six of his last 10innings. — AFPBrief scores: New Zealand375 & 96/2 in 34 overs (K.Williamson 37 (batting),R. Taylor 31 (batting)) vsEngland 476 in 162.5overs (R. Burns 101, J.Root 226, O. Pope 75,Wagner 5/124)

Joe Root celebrates his double ton. — AFP

971 players to gounder hammerNew Delhi, Dec. 2: Asmany as 971 cricketers,including 713 Indians and258 overseas players, willbe up for grabs at the IPLplayers’ auction scheduledto be held in Kolkata onDecember 19.

There are 215 cappedplayers, 754 uncapped andtwo cricketers fromAssociate Nation, who willcompete for the available73 spots.

With the IPL PlayerRegistration closed onNovember 30, franchiseswill now have time tillDecember 9 evening to sub-mit their shortlist of play-ers that will make up thefinal Player Auction list.

Among the registeredplayers, 19 are cappedIndians, 634 uncappedIndians, 60 are uncappedIndians who have played atleast one IPL match, 196cricketers are cappedInternationals, 60uncapped Internationalsand two are from AssociateNations.

Hugh Edmeades will onceagain set the balls rollingon the dais during the auc-tion which will see crick-eters from Afghanistan(19), Australia (55),

Bangladesh (6), England(22), Netherlands (1), NewZealand (24), South Africa(54), Sri Lanka (39), USA(1), West Indies (34) andZimbabwe (3) go under thehammer. — PTI

IPL-2020 | AUCTION

Kathmandu, Dec. 2:Nepal’s Anjali Chandclaimed the best-ever bowl-ing figures of six fornought in a women’sTwenty20 international atthe South Asian Games onMonday.

Chand, making her inter-national debut, bowled 2.1overs without conceding asingle run as Nepal bowledout Maldives women for 16in 10.1 overs in Pokhara.

The 24-year-old Chandsurpassed the efforts ofMalaysian Mas Elysa whoclaimed six wickets forthree runs from her fourovers against China’s

women in January.Nepal needed five balls to

achieve their target to winby 10 wickets.

India’s Deepak Chaharset the best T20 bowling fig-ures for men — six forseven — againstBangladesh. — AFP

Country Players● Afghanistan 19● Australia 55● Bangladesh 6● England 22● Netherlands 1● New Zealand 24● South Africa 54● Sri Lanka 39● USA 1● West Indies 34● Zimbabwe 3

Country-wise breakdown

Nepal girl claims 6 for 0,creates Twenty20 record

Aiming to fill up theavailable 73 spotsare 215 cappedplayers, 754uncapped and2 players fromAssociate Nations.

CappedIndians19

196

UncappedIndians634

Uncapped Indians whohave IPL experience 60

CappedInternational

UncappedInternational60

Associate: 2 players

BCCI may increase hostingfee of domestic matches Kolkata, Dec. 2: TheSourav Ganguly-led BCCIis likely to increase thehosting fee of domesticmatches for both playingand non-playing daysafter the state associa-tions sought a revisionduring the Board’s 88thAnnual General Meeting.

Besides the BCCI mayalso reconsider its deci-sion to forcefully retire 17

scorers who haveattained the age of 60after these points wereraised by a member dur-ing the Board’s AGM inMumbai on Sunday.

“We have sought for arevision and also pro-posed for fees during non-match days to bear thecosts of travelling and allother arrangements,” amember said. — PTI

Anjali CChand

Nathon LLyon

Suryakumar namedMumbai skipper

Mumbai: In-form batsmanSuryakumar Yadav was on

Monday named the captain ofMumbai's Ranji team a week

ahead of start of the domesticpowerhouse's campaign in the

prestigious cricket tournament.Suryakumar was in a red-hot

form during the just concludedSyed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a T20

competition in which Mumbaiwere out in the Super League

stage.Yadav, who made his Mumbai

debut against Delhi way back in2010, is one of the senior play-

ers of the team. — PTI

Mumbai, Dec. 2: AceJamaican sprinterYohan Blake on Mondaysaid he is eyeing nothingless than a gold medal innext year’s TokyoOlympics, his lastappearance at the quad-rennial extravaganza.

“It is going to be mylast Olympics and defi-nitely I am going for thegold,” said Blake, whoalready has two gold andtwo silver medals in theOlympics.

“I have got plenty ofmedals in the past, butthis will be the icing onthe cake for me,” he saidhere.

Blake considers him-self favourite to clinchthe yellow metal in the100m sprint at Tokyo.

“I’m always thefavourite, the secondfastest man in the uni-verse. Everyone has tolook up to me. Definitely

there are some goodguys coming and I’ll belooking forward to thechallenge,” he said.

“I think it is going to beepic, this is the greatestshow on earth andeveryone is looking forthat blue-carpet event,which is the 100m,”Blake added.

The Jamaican sprinterwas in the city to pro-mote the ‘Road SafetyWorld Series’, a T20series, which will be

held in February nextyear.

Blake lashed out atWorld Athletics chiefSebastian Coe for remov-ing four events, includ-ing the 200m race fromnext year’s DiamondLeague. “It has changeda lot, I am not going tolie. The times we arerunning have sloweddown, track and field isdying a little. If he (Coe)can take away the 200mand triple jump, I don’tknow if he is trying tobuild it (track and field)or trying to kill athlet-ics,” he said.

“But that’s a stupidmove he is making. Hemust enhance the sport,but he is killing it. It isjust madness,” Blakesaid.

The 29-year-old alsosaid that he would starta programme in India tounearth talent. — PTI

Mumbai, Dec. 2: UttarPradesh batsman PriyamGarg will lead defendingchampions India in nextyear’s Under-19 ICCCricket World Cup afterthe BCCI on Mondaynamed him captain of a15-member squad for thetournament to be held inSouth Africa.

The All-India JuniorSelection Committeepicked the squad for thetournament to be heldfrom January 17 toFebruary 9.

The 19-year-old Garg, aright handed top-orderbatsman, has a first-classdouble hundred and a ListA century to his name.

He was a part of theIndia ‘C’ team that fin-ished runner-up in theDeodhar Trophy. He hit a74 in the final againstIndia ‘B’ last month.

In the 2018-19 RanjiTrophy season, Garg wasthe second-highest run-scorer for Uttar Pradeshwith a tally of 814 at anaverage of 67.83. This per-formance also fetauredtwo hundreds, including acareer-best 206.

Another player to watchout for would be 17-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal.Jaiswal became theyoungest to hit a List Adouble-century during the

Vijay Hazare Trophy ear-lier this year for Mumbai.He averaged 112.80 withthree hundreds and a fiftyduring the season.

The 13th edition of theU-19 World Cup will beplayed among 16 teams,split into four groups.

India are placed inGroup A with first-timequalifier Japan, NewZealand and Sri Lanka.The top two teams fromeach group will qualifyfor the Super Leaguestage.

India is the most suc-cessful team in the tour-nament, having won fourtitles till date, includingthe last edition in 2018,when they beat Australiaby eight wickets in thefinal and remainedunbeaten in the tourna-ment.

Ahead of the World Cup,the India U-19 team willtravel to South Africa forthree one-day matchesagainst the Proteas U-19side, followed by aQuadrangular Series fea-turing South Africa U-19,India U-19, Zimbabwe U-19and New Zealand U-19.

Hyderabad’s CTLRakshan will be the addi-tional player in the squadfor the South Africa tourand the QuadrangularSeries. — PTI

MOSES KKONDETY || DDCHYDERABAD, DEC. 2

There was cheer inHyderabad cricket circleson Monday when promis-ing player NambooriThakur Tilak Varma wasnamed in the Indian teamfor the ICC Under 19 WorldCup to be played in SouthAfrica next month.

The opening batsmanand part-time bowlermade it to the side withease, riding on his per-formances in the six seriesthat he has played so farsince breaking into thenational U-19 side in Junelast year.

Now, he plans to raise thebar. “I want to performvery well at the Under 19World Cup, be the bestbatsman at the tourna-ment and help the Indianteam win the trophy,” the17 year old told this news-paper on Monday.

He oozes confidence. “Ihave a fair amount ofexperience playing inEngland (the U-19 series)and that will help me agreat deal in South Africa,where the wickets will besimilar. I am positiveabout doing well,” he says,adding, “The series inSouth Africa precedingthe big tournament shouldhelp us acclimatise to theconditions.”

The Indian U-19 side willplay three one-day match-es against the home team,followed by aQuadrangular Series fea-turing South Africa U-19,India U-19, Zimbabwe U-19and New Zealand U-19.

That he has playedagainst most of the teamsshould stand Tilak in goodstead — he has been partof six series with the U-19team so far, againstAfghanistan, Nepal,Pakistan, Sri Lanka,England, South Africa,Bangladesh U-19 sides.

Tilak has also scored acentury against Pakistanat the Under 19 Asia Cupthis year, which Indianwon. “That 110 (off 119balls with 10 fours and asix) has been my bestknock so far. The 90against England in a bi-lateral series is anothersatisfying innings,” hesmiles.

While growing up, theyoungster modelled him-self after Suresh Raina, aleft-hand batsman andright-arm off-break

bowler like him. In thecurrent Indian senior side,it’s Ravindra Jadeja (witha similar ambidextrousallround skillset as his)who Tilak tries to emulate.It’s natural that he wantsto play alongside bignames. “I want to make itto the senior Indian teamby the end of next year,”says the Intermediate sec-ond year student atLepakshi Junior Collegein Chandanagar withCivics, Economics andCommerce as his subjects.

The hugely popular IPLis another tournamentthat he thinks can pave hispath to the senior side. Hehas enrolled himself at theupcoming December 19auction. “If I get a chanceon any of the IPL teamsand perform well, I can getinto national reckoning,”he says.

To achieve his long-termgoal, Tilak punishes him-self at practice, “with dif-ferent balls and in simu-lated conditions — onspinning and well as boun-cy wickets — at the LegalaCricket Academy inLingampally. I’m at theground from 6 to 11 amand then again from 2 to 6pm.”

His childhood coachSalam Bayash is the driv-ing force. “He’s a hard-working player, startedwith tennis ball cricket asa 11-year-old and hasquickly moved up the age-group sides to where he isnow. Given his work ethic,I am sure he will breakinto the senior Indianteam in the near future,”Salam believes.

Tilak pays back the com-pliment. “I cannot forgetthe sacrifices made by mycoach and parents, theywork equally hard withme. My father wakes upalong with me at 5 am andaccompanies me to thetraining ground. My moth-er too is so much involvedin my career,” he says.

Sport runs in his family.His elder brother TarunVarma is a national levelbadminton player, who isstudying B Tech first year.“I too play badminton andtable tennis, just to keepfit,” says Tilak, who playsfor Gemini Friends in theHyderabad CricketAssociation’s three-dayleague.

Now, a longer versionmust be playing on hismind — five days. Thakur Tilak Varma poses with the Under 19 Asia Cup Trophy in this file photo.

PAGE

15GamesTUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE

Costly slipHarry Maguire is frustrated that defensive lapsesare costing Manchester United crucial points afterthey let slip a winning position against Aston Villa

SHORT TAKES

As a team we wantto move forwardso, next year, we

want to fight for thetitle, of course.

— Max Verstappen, after theseason-ending race

Hamilton has topick his loyalty

Abu Dhabi: Lewis Hamiltonhas admitted he will be torn

between loyalty to Mercedesand the novelty of a new chal-lenge at Ferrari when he con-siders his options for what is

expected to be his last racingdriver’s contract in Formula

One.The 34-year-old Briton had lit-tle time to bask in the glory of

his stunning dominance ofSunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

before being pressed to talkabout his future and a possible

switch from the Silver Arrowsto Ferrari.

The six-time world championwas circumspect, however, inhis answers during post-race

interviews in which he declinedoffers to deny that he had

already spoken to the Italianteam’s chairman, John Elkann.

Hamilton’s current contractwith Mercedes ends next year,

leaving him free to move forthe 2021 season when

Formula One ushers in a radi-cal new set of rules that may

coincide with Sebastian Vettelchoosing to leave Ferrari, possi-

bly for Mercedes in a dramaticswap with Hamilton,

or to retire.— AFP

Martinez carriesInter to table topMilan: Lautaro Martinez’s first-half brace sent Inter Milan top

of Serie A on Sunday with a 2-1win over SPAL. Argentinian

Martinez put Inter ahead on 16minutes at the San Siro, and

then headed in AntonioCandreva’s cross to score his

eighth league goal this season.Mattia Valoti pulled a goal

back, but second-from-bottomSPAL fell to their ninth defeat

of the campaign.Conte has guided Chinese-

owned Inter to 12 victories in 14league games for the first time,

and they reclaimed the topspot which they had previously

held until their 2-1 defeat byJuventus on October 6.

Lazio consolidated third place— seven points behind Inter —

with a 3-0 win over Udinesethanks to a double from Serie A

top scorer Ciro Immobile,including one from the spot, to

bring his tally to 17 goals thisseason, and a Luis Alberto

penalty.Roma moved up to fourth,

two points behind their cityrivals, after a 3-1 win at mid-

table Verona. — AFP

DONCIC DOMINATESAT THE NBA

Los Angeles: Luka Doncic fin-ished just shy of a triple double

as the Dallas Mavericks gavethe Los Angeles Lakers a realitycheck Sunday by snapping their

10-game win streak with a 114-100 win.

Doncic was just one reboundshort of the triple double finish-

ing with 27 points, 10 assistsand nine rebounds, as the visit-ing Mavericks avenged a 119-110

overtime loss to Los Angelesone month ago. “It’s a great winthat means a lot to us,” Doncic,20, said. “It shows that we can

play against big teams, too. Wejust need to keep it rolling.”

The first-place Mavericksimproved to 13-6 on the season

and were too much to handlefor the Lakers, whose win

streak came against 10 teams,all with losing records. The last

time Los Angeles played a teamwith a better than .500 record,which was the Toronto Raptorson November 10, they lost 113-

104. Delon Wright came off thebench to tally 17 points and

nine assists while DwightPowell, Kristaps Porzingis andJustin Jackson contributed 15

points apiece in the win.Anthony Davis had 27 pointsand 10 rebounds and LeBronJames tallied 25 points, nine

rebounds and eight assists forLA. James also had six of the

Lakers 17 turnovers. The Lakers’next two games are against

Denver and Utah, who are oneand two atop the Northwest

Division standings. — AFP

Tilak ticks big boxMakes Indian team for next month’s U-19 World Cup

Blake trains his eyes ongold in Tokyo Olympics

Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake speaks at the launch of Road safety WorldSeries, an annual T20 cricket tournament in Mumbai on Monday. — PTI

I’m always thefavourite, the secondfastest man in theuniverse. Definitelythere are some goodguys coming and I’llbe looking forward tothe challenge, Blakesaid.

— YOHANBLAKE

Jamaican sprinter

Garg captain ofIndia U-19 side

CAMP FOR RAJASTHANROYALS IS UNDERWAYNagpur, Dec. 2: Eight players, including new recruitsAnkit Rajpoot and Rahul Tewatia, will sweat it out forthe next three days at a new training facility atTalegaon as Rajasthan Royals on Monday began theirpre-season camp for Indian cricketers ahead of nextyear’s IPL.

The cricketers will undergo training for three daysunder the watchful eyes of head of Cricket, ZubinBharucha, who will be supported by batting coachAmol Mazumdar, spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutuleand UK Academy director Sid Lahiri. — PTI

THE SQUADSIndian squad for U-19 World Cup: Priyam Garg (cap-tain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Divyaansh Saxena,Dhruv Chand Jurel (vice-captain & wicketkeeper),Shashwat Rawat, Divyansh Joshi, Shubhang Hegde,Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, AtharvaAnkolekar, Kumar Kushagra (wicketkeeper), SushantMishra, Vidyadhar Patil.

India U-19 squad for the tour of South Africa: PriyamGarg (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma,Divyaansh Saxena, Dhruv Chand Jurel (vice-captain &wicketkeeper), Shashwat Rawat, Divyansh Joshi,Shubhang Hegde, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Singh, KartikTyagi, Atharva Ankolekar, Kumar Kushagra (wicket-keeper), Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil, CTL Rakshan.

PAGE

16GamesTUESDAY | 3 DECEMBER 2019 | HYDERABADDECCAN CHRONICLE

Pepped up Man City boss Pep Guardiola praises the progressmade at Leicester since Brendan Rodgers was appointed manager earlier this year

SHORT TAKES

The best teamshave spirit. This is a

team that is sostrong together.

— Brendan Rodgers, Leicestermanager was all praise for his

side’s fightback after their 2-1 EPL win over Everton

New Delhi: International medal-winning Indian woman boxer

Neeraj (57kg), who was amongthe probables for 2020 Tokyo

Olympics, has been provisional-ly suspended after failing a

dope test.The Haryana-boxer tested posi-tive for performance-enhancingdrug Ligandrol and “other ana-

bolic steroids”.A former national medallist,

Neeraj won a bronze medal atthe prestigious StrandjaMemorial Tournament in

Bulgaria and a gold at a tourna-ment in Russia this year.

She was also a gold-medallistat this year’s India Open in

Guwahati.Her sample was collected on

September 24 and was testedat Qatar’s Ani-Doping lab,

which gave its findings earlierlast month.

“As per the adverse analyticalfinding report dt. 03/11/2019

received from Anti-Doping Lab,Qatar, Ms. Neeraj was found

positive for presence of LGD-4033 (Ligandrol), Other

Anabolic Agents (S1 – WADAProhibited List 2019),” the

National Anti-Doping Agencystated.

“Ms. Neeraj, was notified byNADA by issuing notice of

charge for violation of Anti-Doping Rules 2015 of NADAand suspended provisionally

w.E.F 13/11/2019,” it added.Neeraj has accepted the find-

ings and has declined a ‘B’sample test. — PTI

BOXER NEERAJFAILS DOPE

TEST, BANNED

Jamshedpur: Sergio Castel’sfine form in front of goal was

not enough for Jamshedpur FCas NorthEast United foughtback late for a pulsating 1-1

draw at the JRD Tata SportsComplex here on Monday.

The hosts were the dominantside in this Hero Indian Super

League encounter and Spanishstriker Sergio Castel’s fifth goal

of the season in the 28th-minute seemed to have given

all three points for AntonioIriondo’s men. But a 90th-

minute equaliser fromPanagiotis Triadis ensured

NorthEast United’s unbeatenrecord remained intact.

The result sees Jamshedpursecond on the table, level on

points (11) with ATK at the topwhile NorthEast are now fourth

with 10 points to their name.Jamshedpur started on the

front foot and looked danger-ous going forward. Six minutes

into the game, Noe Acostadribbled to the byline on the

left flank and chipped the ballto the centre of the box for

Farukh Choudhary whose acro-batic overhead kick flew justover the bar. The NorthEast

defence struggled to contain aclever Jamshedpur forward line,

led by Castel. — Agencies

JFC, NorthEast split points in ISL

Kannur, Kerala: Punjab’sMinakshi, Chandigarh’s Rituz

and crowd favourite AnchuSabu emerged winners on the

opening day of the fourth EliteWomen’s National Boxing

Championship here on Monday.A total of 235 boxers from 33

teams will be seen in action. A total of 23 matches wereplayed on the first day with

Punjab pugilist Minakshi (48kg)displaying superb control and

movement to beat Meghalaya’sEva Marbaniang 5-0.

Rituz defeated Ladakh’sDechen in a one-sided affair in

the light fly weight category.Spurred by home support,

Anchu Sabu (48kg) sprung thesurprise of the day as she land-

ed a string of power-packedpunches on Manika Kumari

from Bengal and bagged thebout with an RSC verdict in

round 2. The preliminary match-es will be played on the first

four days followed by theknockout stage starting from

December 6. The final matcheswill be played on December 8.

— PTI

Meenakshi, Rituzwin on Day One

SOUTH ASIAN | GAMES

Foxes come to party

New Delhi, Dec. 2:Veteran tennis playerLeander Paes on Mondayhinted at a possible retire-ment, saying he nowrelies on his experience tooutsmart opponents andshouldn’t be playing pastanother year.

Paes was named inIndia’s Davis Cup squadfor the Pakistan tie afterseveral top players madethemselves unavailable totravel to Islamabad.

The 46-year-old went onto better his own recordby achieving his 44thDavis Cup doubles win asIndia routed Pakistan 4-0last week. “My experi-ence carries me throughnow but in the longevityfor what’s the best for theteam I should not be play-ing past another year,”Paes told reporters.

The Olympic bronzemedallist added that nur-turing a new, young teamshould be the main objec-tive for Indian tennisright now. “Already by 46,I should have been movedout by the next generationcoming up,” Paes said.

“So to really be lookingat it objectively, the healthof the team, to nurture ayounger team is what’simportant,”he said — PTI

Pokhara (Nepal),Dec. 2: India openedits medal account inthe 13th South AsianGames (SAG) with onegold, two silver and abronze in the triathlonevent on the openingday of competitionshere on Monday.

Adarsha M.N.Sinimol gave India thefirst gold by winningthe men’s individualtriathlon event whilecompatriot BishworjitSrikhom took the silverin a 1-2 finish for thecountry.

Thoudam SorojiniDevi and MohanPragnya added a silverand a bronze in thewomen’s individualevent.

The individualtriathlon event consistsof continuous threelegs of 750m swim,20km bike race and a5km run. The first ath-lete to complete thecourse is declared thewinner.

Sinimol clocked01:02.51 secs to win thegold in men’s eventwhile Bishworjit wassecond with a time of01:02:59. Basanta Tharuof Nepal took thebronze in 01:03:06.

In the women’s indi-vidual event, Sorojiniclocked 01:14:00 to fin-ish second behind SonyGurung of Nepal whotook the gold in01:13:45. AnotherIndian, Pragnyaclocked 01:14:57 to winthe bronze.

India is being repre-sented by 487 athletes

in more than 15 disci-plines.

INDIAN KHO KHOTEAMS ENTER SEMISContinuing theirunbeaten run, Indianmen’s Kho Kho teamentered the semi-finalsafter clinching twowins in a day onMonday.

India first thrashedhosts Nepal by aninnings and 12 pointswith scores of 17-5 andlater in the evening,went on to beatBangladesh by aninnings and two pointswith scores of 12-10.

After finishing top ofthe points table, Indiawill now take on bot-tom-placed Sri Lankain the semi-final onTuesday.

In the other semi-final, Nepal will playagainst Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Indianwomen’s team alsosecured semifinalberth as they postedtheir second successivewin in the competitionwhen they beat Nepalon Monday.

Nasreen-led side, whobeat Sri Lanka in theiropening game onSunday, notched up aninnings and eight-pointwin with scores of 11-3on Monday. — PTI

PAES HINTSAT HANGINGUP RACQUET

Sinimol bags 1stgold for India

Madrid, Dec. 2: LionelMessi delivered a majorboost to Barcelona’s LaLiga title hopes by scoring alate winner in a 1-0 victoryat Atletico Madrid onSunday.

Messi is the favourite towin a record-breaking sixthBallon d’Or in Paris onMonday and he came uptrumps again for Barca atthe Wanda Metropolitano,where an even contestlooked destined to finishgoalless.

“In matches that are closeand intense, having Leo isalways a big advantage,”said Barcelona coachErnesto Valverde.

The Argentinian’s 86th-minute strike, after a neatone-two with Luis Suarez,keeps Barcelona level onpoints with Real Madrid atthe top of the table whileleaving Atletico with amountain to climb if theyare to rejoin the race.

“It’s important for thethree points but also for themental side,” said Valverde.“It sends us into theChristmas period with con-fidence.”

Atletico now sit six points

adrift of both Real andBarca, with those two alsohaving a game in handwhich will be played out inthe season’s first Clasico atthe Camp Nou on December18.

It means Atleti could con-ceivably head into theChristmas break ninepoints off the lead, a signif-icant gap, particularly con-sidering they will have toplay away against bothBarca and Real Madrid inthe second half of the sea-son.

“We need points,” saidAtletico coach DiegoSimeone. “We are not farfrom them but we are wor-ried. I am happy with theway we are playing but Iwill not smile at thatbecause that does not bringus points.”

Antoine Griezmann waswhistled on his return tohis former club, whom heleft for 120 million euros($132.3 million) to joinBarcelona in the closeseason, while toy ratswere dropped on theplaque that still bearshis name outside thestadium.

But Messiscored his 12thgoal of the season

and sixth in his last fivegames. He has now 25 in 27in the league againstAtletico although this washis first at the WandaMetropolitano.

PIQUE REPRIEVED

Barcelona were fortunatenot to be reduced to 10 menin the second half whenGerard Pique escaped a sec-ond yellow card for a latechallenge on AlvaroMorata.

They rode their luck inthe opening 20 minutes too,marooned in their own halfand able only to survivethanks in large part to theirgoalkeeper.

Marc-Andre ter Stegenmade two excellent point-blank saves although wasgiven the chance to asMario Hermoso found him-self free at the back postbut shot straight at himbefore Morata met KieranTrippier’s corner but failedto head into the corner.

Earlier on Sunday, third-placed Sevilla stayed justone point behind Real andBarca with a 1-0 victoryover Leganes. — AFP

THE RESULTS

Atletico Madrid 0Barcelona 1 (Messi 86)

Sevilla 1 (Carlos 63) Leganes 0

Athletic Bilbao 2 (Raul Garcia 41-pen,Berchiche 83) Granada 0

Espanyol 2 (Roca 20-pen, Calleri90+3) Ossasuna 4 (Santos 46, Avila 49,Moncayola 84, Torres90+2-pen)

Getafe 4 (Cabrera 54, Jorge

Molina 60-pen,Rodriguez Diaz 67,

Timor 78) Levante 0

SPANISH LEAGUE

Late Messi winner sinks Atletico

Manchester United’s Daniel James (left) vies for theball with Tyrone Mings of Aston Villa in their EPLmatch at Old Trafford on Sunday. — AP

Manchester, Dec. 2:United threw away a sec-ond-half lead to remaineight points outside thePremier League’s topfour with a 2-2 draw athome to Aston Villa onSunday.

Jack Grealish put Villain front with a superbsolo effort, but Unitedlevelled before the breakwhen Marcus Rashford’sheader hit the post andcame off Villa goalkeep-er Tom Heaton into hisown net before VictorLindelof then headedthe hosts in front.

But a week after OleGunnar Solskjaer’s mensurrendered a late leadto draw 3-3 withSheffield United, theydid not learn their les-son as Tyrone Mingssecured a deserved pointfor Villa.

The loss of those fourpoints has cost Unitedthe chance to climb up tofifth in the table.

Instead they lie downin ninth and trail twopoints behind a revi-talised Tottenham, whovisit Old Trafford onWednesday with newboss Jose Mourinhoeying revenge againstthe club that sacked him11 months ago.

“I wouldn’t be sat heretalking about us sitting

fifth if we had got thatgoal extra,” saidSolskjaer.

“The league table atthis point is not thebiggest concern, it’s sotight. I just need to makesure we get performanc-es and get three or fourperformances andresults after each other.

“What I can say is sofar we have had the leadin so many games andhaven’t been able to winthose games. Six orseven times we havebeen up and we shouldbe better at seeing thesegames into wins.”

First, United them-selves had to come frombehind after a superb11th-minute opener fromGrealish, who has scoredthree league goals andmade four assists thisseason. — AFP

Villa frustrateSolskjaer’s men

Iheanacho scores as Leicester close gap on LiverpoolLeicester, Dec. 2:Kelechi Iheanacho wasthe unlikely hero asLeicester came frombehind to beat Everton2-1 and close the gap onLiverpool at the top ofthe Premier League toeight points.

The Nigerian had notplayed a single minuteof Premier League foot-ball this season prior tobeing summoned fromthe bench just after thehour mark, butIheanacho teed upJamie Vardy’s equaliserbefore scoring the win-ner deep into stoppagetime.

“Kelechi is a wonder-ful demonstration ofsomeone who trainswith a great attitude

every day. It was aboutgiving him the confi-dence and reinforcinghis role. The rest washim. I’m absolutelydelighted for him,” saidLeicester managerBrendan Rodgers.

Richarlison had giventhe visitors a shock leadat the King Power asEverton produced a per-formance that may doenough to save managerMarco Silva’s job aheadof the Merseyside derbyon Wednesday.

Silva was reportedlyon the verge of losinghis job earlier in theweek after a shocking 2-0 home defeat toNorwich.

Another defeat leavesthe Toffees hovering

just two points abovethe relegation zone withLiverpool, Chelsea,Manchester United andArsenal to come in theirnext four league games.

“A really harsh result

for the players and theclub. We deserved morefrom this game,” saidSilva. “No one can sayanything about the play-ers’ commitment, atti-tude or desire.”

Silva responded with achange of formationand his switch to a 3-5-2worked to perfection forthe opening goal.

Djibril Sidibe brokeupfield from right wing-back and his cross wasbulleted home byRicharlison with a div-ing header.

Leicester had alreadyseen two half-heartedappeals for a penaltywaived away for chal-lenges on Ayoze Perezby the time that refereeGraham Scott did point

to the spot for MasonHolgate’s apparent tripon Ben Chilwell.

However, a lengthyVAR review concludedno contact had beenmade and the Foxeswere frustrated oncemore.

Leicester laboured inthe search for anequaliser, but the intro-duction of Iheanacho asa substitute just afterthe hour mark providedthe much-needed spark.

His first effort was tooclose to JordanPickford, but he got inbehind the Evertondefence again momentslater and squared forVardy for score his 13thgoal of the season at theback post. — AFP

THE RESULTS

Leicester 2 (Vardy 68,Iheanacho 90+5) Everton 1 (Richarlison 23)

Man Utd 2 (Heaton 42-og,Lindelof 64) Aston Villa 2 (Grealish 11, Mings66)

PREMIER LEAGUE

LeicesterCity’sKelechiIheanacho(right) scoresagainst Evertonin their EnglishPremier Leaguematch inLeicester onSunday. Thehosts won2-1. — AFP

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi celebrates afterscoring against Atletico Madrid in their LaLiga match in Madrid on Sunday. — AFP

● Thoudam SorojiniDevi and MohanPragnya added asilver and a bronzein the women’s indi-vidual triathlonevent.

● Instead ManUnited lie down inninth and trail twopoints behind a revi-talised Tottenham,who visit OldTrafford onWednesday with newboss Jose Mourinhoeying revengeagainst the club thatsacked him 11months ago.

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