Kumaraswamy govt. loses trust vote - SPLessons
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Transcript of Kumaraswamy govt. loses trust vote - SPLessons
wednesday, july 24, 2019 Delhi
City Edition
24 pages O ₹��10.00
Printed at . Chennai . Coimbatore . Bengaluru . Hyderabad . Madurai . Noida . Visakhapatnam . Thiruvananthapuram . Kochi . Vijayawada . Mangaluru . Tiruchirapalli . Kolkata . Hubballi . Mohali . Malappuram . Mumbai . Tirupati . lucknow . cuttack . patna
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Centre is bent upon
subverting RTI Act,
says Sonia Gandhi
page 12
ED examining cases
of land grab against
SP leader Azam Khan
page 13
UN Envoy on Climate
Change Luis Alfonso de
Alba meets Javadekar
page 13
Li Peng, hardline Chinese
leader in Tiananmen
crackdown, dies at 90
page 14
OPPORTUNITIES A PAGE 15
The 14monthold CongressJanata Dal (Secular) government in Karnataka collapsedon Tuesday, with Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamylosing the confi��dence motionin the Assembly by six votes.He later tendered his resignation to Governor VajubhaiVala.
With the BJP deciding tostake a claim to form the government, the return of itsState president B.S. Yeddyurappa as the Chief Minister isimminent.
Heated debate The motion was put to votelate in the evening, six daysafter Mr. Kumaraswamymoved it and after a protracted and heated debate on theissue of 15 resignations fromthe ruling parties, allegedlyengineered by the BJP.Though the outgoing ChiefMinister was aware that thenumbers were stackedagainst him, he said he“would not run away” fromthe House and resign, but
put the motion to vote. As Mr. Yeddyurappa also
demanded that there be a division of vote, Speaker K.R.Ramesh Kumar counted thevotes row by row. While 99MLAs expressed confi��dencein the government, 105 opposed the motion. He an
nounced that the motionwas defeated, and adjournedthe House sine die.
In a House of 225 MLAs(including one nominated),20 MLAs were not present atthe time of voting. They werethe 15 rebel MLAs who haveresigned — 12 from the Con
gress and 3 from the JD(S) — 2Congress MLAs who abstained for health reasons, 2Independents and the loneBSP MLA.
Kumaraswamy govt. loses trust voteConfi��dence motion moved by the CongressJanata Dal (Secular) coalition is defeated by 6 votes
Special Correspondent
Bengaluru
Long-drawn battle: B.S. Yeddyurappa and other BJP MLAs celebrating after the vote of confi��dence in the Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday. * K. MURALI KUMAR
INSTABILITY WILL HAUNT YOU,
SAYS KUMARASWAMY A PAGE 8
CONTINUED ON A PAGE 12
Just two months afterbringing his pet pug Sheruhome, Vikas Chawlanoticed the puppyconsistently wobble. Veryquickly, the dog lost allmobility in his hind legs.
“Veterinarians wereunable to understand theproblem, let alone diagnoseit,” recalls the 51yearoldKolkata resident.
Chasing doctors For a whole year, theChawla family chaseddoctors, took Sheru forphysiotherapy and evenswimming classes. “Butthere was no improvementand it was tormentingSheru,” says Mr. Chawla,who was advised by severalveterinarians to euthanisehis puppy.
Instead Mr. Chawladecided to buy him awheelchair. Withinternationalmanufacturers quoting awhopping ₹��40,000 for aclunky product, he turnedto Gujaratbased webdesignerturnedanimalprosthesis maker BhumitVyas.
Sheru today has awheelchair built for just₹��8,000.
“My dog’s life haschanged. He’s so happyrunning around,” says Mr.Chawla.
Mr. Vyas has always beenan animal lover, but theidea of building economical
and sturdy wheelchairs forinjured pets was sparkedthree years ago by theplight of a stray dog thathad been hit by a vehicle.Even though it was taken inby a local shelter, Mr. Vyasrecalls that it washeartbreaking to see thedog drag itself across theshelter’s rough fl��oors.
Ever since, he hasworked on designing andbuilding custommadeanimal wheelchairs,extending a lifeline to petswith few other options inthe country.
100 pets get helpEarlier this year, Mr. Vyasestablished Mintbowl.inc,off��ering custombuiltwheelchairs for animals assmall as kittens and as largeas St. Bernards. He hassince sold more than 100such prosthetic aids acrossthe country, with ordersfrom as far away as theAndamans.
The parts are importedfrom China and SouthKorea and assembled byMr. Vyas.
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Have wheels, will run — made in India aids for petsDeborah Cornelious
Mumbai
Sheru is happy runningaround with a wheelchairbuilt for just ₹��8,000. *
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Boris Johnson won the raceto become Britain’s nextPrime Minister on Tuesday,heading straight into a confrontation over Brexit withBrussels and Parliament.
The former London
Mayor easily beat his rival,Foreign Secretary JeremyHunt, in a vote of membersof the governing Conservative Party.
He is expected to be confi��rmed as Prime Minister onWednesday, when TheresaMay formally tenders her re
signation to Queen ElizabethII.
U.S. President DonaldTrump was the fi��rst worldleader to off��er his congratulations, saying: “He will begreat!”
Boris Johnson to become Britain’s next PM Agence France-Presse
London
AVOWED BREXITEER A PAGE 14
With the BJP defeating theconfi��dence motion movedby the H.D. Kumaraswamygovernment, it will stake itsclaim to power in the State.
Speaking to The Hindu,national general secretary P.Muralidhar Rao said theparty would take stock ofthe situation and make thenext move. “We will notshirk the responsibility thatthe trust vote has thrustupon us,” he said.
“As per the directions ofthe parliamentary board,decisions will be taken,” hesaid.
“State unit chief B.S.Yeddyurappa is the fi��ttest tobe the next Chief Minister,” aparty source said.
The indications wereclear that no snap pollswould be called.
BJP will stakeclaim, saysMuralidhar Rao
Nistula Hebbar
NEW DELHI
Both Houses of Parliamentwitnessed disruptions onTuesday as Oppositionmembers demanded thatPrime Minister NarendraModi himself clarify on Donald Trump’s remarks thathe had asked the U.S. President to mediate on theKashmir issue.
External Aff��airs MinisterS. Jaishankar said in the Rajya Sabha that he “wouldlike to categorically statethat no such request hasbeen made by the Prime Minister to the U.S. President.”
Mr. Trump made the remarks while meeting Pakistan Prime Minister ImranKhan in Washington onMonday.
Mr. Jaishankar said alloutstanding issues betweenIndia and Pakistan “can bediscussed only bilaterally”.
“Yesterday evening, afterthe House adjourned, weheard remarks by PresidentDonald Trump at a meetingwith Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan...that heis ready to mediate if re
quested by India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. Iwould like to categoricallyassure the House that nosuch request had beenmade by the Prime Ministerto the U.S. President... Iwould further underlinethat any engagement withPakistan would require anend to crossborder terrorism. Let me conclude byemphasizing that the ShimlaAgreement and the LahoreDeclaration provide the basis for resolving all issuesbetween India and Pakistanbilaterally,” he said.
As soon as the UpperHouse assembled for Question Hour mentions, members of all Opposition parties, including the Congress,the SP, the BSP, the DMK,the Trinamool Congress andthe CPI(M), demanded thatthe Prime Minister come tothe House and explain.
Both Houses in disarray as Oppositiondemands clarifi��cation from PM Modi
Special Correspondent
New Delhi
Modi did not seekTrump’s mediationin Kashmir: Centre
WHAT SUITS TRUMP A EDITORIAL
WEAK MINISTRY DENIAL NOT
ENOUGH, SAYS RAHUL A PAGE 13
CONTINUED ON A PAGE 12
SURPRISED BY INDIA’S STAND,
SAYS IMRAN A PAGE 13
The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the deadlinefor the publication of the fi��nal National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam fromJuly 31 to August 31.
A Special Bench of ChiefJustice of India Ranjan Gogoiand Justice Rohinton F. Nariman, however, did not accede to the “fervent” pleas ofthe Union and Assam governments for a “sample reverifi��cation” of the names included in and excluded fromthe draft, which was pu
blished on July 30 last year.Both governments said
many names had beenwrongly included and excluded, and a sample reverifi��cation was necessary toquell the “growing perception” that lakhs of illegal immigrants might have made itto the list, especially in districts bordering Bangladesh.
“This is too great a matter... People’s lives will be affected. We have to be 100%right. There cannot be aspeck of doubt on the entirety of the NRC exercise... Theerror percentage in the bor
der districts is just over 7%,while in other districts theaverage is over 12%,” Attorney General K.K. Venugopalsaid.
He said the low error percentage in the border districts was suspicious, especially when over the yearsthese areas had seen peoplecross the border illegally andsettle down in the State, thusspoiling the opportunity ofthe natives to make a life forthemselves.
Assam NRC fi��nal publication deadline extended to August 31No ‘sample reverifi��cation’ though as Supreme Court turns down pleas of Centre and Assam
Krishnadas Rajagopal
NEW DELHI
Doubts raised: The Centre and Assam said many names werewrongly included in and excluded from the draft NRC.
CONTINUED ON A PAGE 12
VERDICT HAILED A PAGE 13
CMYK
Order to grant land rightsin illegal colonies soonNEW DELHI
The order to implement the
Centre’s proposal to grant
ownership rights in 1,797
unauthorised colonies in
Delhi is likely to be issued in a
month, according to the
Union Ministry of Housing
and Urban Aff��airs.
CITY A PAGE 4
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
JNU sedition case: courtgrants police more time NEW DELHI
A Delhi court on Tuesday
granted police two more
months to get sanction from
the city government to
prosecute former Jawaharlal
Nehru University Students’
Union president Kanhaiya
Kumar and others in a
sedition case.
CITY A PAGE 3
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
SC moves to rein infraudulent buildersNEW DELHI
The Supreme Court on
Tuesday directed the Union
and State governments to
move against builders
defrauding homebuyers even
as it cancelled the
registration of Amrapali
Group under the Real Estate
Regulatory Authority and
directed the Stateowned
National Buildings and
Construction Corporation to
complete the unfi��nished
housing projects of the
company in a relief for over
40,000 homebuyers.
NATION A PAGE 9
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
NEARBY
DELHI THE HINDU
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CITY
The Delhi DevelopmentAuthority (DDA) on Tuesdayconducted the draw of lotsfor its housing scheme 2019.
There are 18,000 newlyconstructed fl��ats on off��er under the scheme but only10,000 were included in thedraw. The scheme got a poorresponse with only 8,400fl��ats being allotted at the endof the draw. The urban bodyhad received over 45,000applications for the fl��ats.
Offi��cials said that the reason behind the poor response was due to the littleinterest the DDA got for itsfl��ats in Narela. The scheme,which was launched inMarch this year, off��ered fl��atsunder various categories inVasant Kunj and Narela.
‘Avoid scattering’“The highincome group(HIG) and middleincomegroup (MIG) fl��ats in VasantKunj got good response witharound 20 applications foreach fl��at. However, it wasnot the same for Narela andhence, we decided to limitthe number of fl��ats for thedraw of lots,” said DDA ViceChairman Tarun Kapoor.
Stating that the restriction
of the lot for Tuesday’s drawwas to avoid “scattering” ofpeople, Mr. Kapoor said: “Inthe past there have been cases where the allotment hasbeen such that no one blockgets occupied completely aspeople end up getting fl��atsacross the society. Later,they end up complainingthat either they have noneighbours or that there areother maintenance issues.To avoid such issues, wethought of selecting specifi��cblocks instead of opening upall the blocks.”
Meanwhile, to tackle thelow response received forthe fl��ats under the economically weaker section (EWS),the DDA will off��er the fl��atsonce again at a reduced rate.
40% discount“There will be a drastic reduction in the price of theEWS fl��ats as a 40% discountwill be given. The DDA willwaive the cost of construction that is usually includedin the price. Those who havealready applied for the EWSfl��ats will have to pay the reduced prices only,” said Mr.Kapoor.
However, the DDA is stillmulling over steps to be taken for the lowincomegroup (LIG) fl��ats that alsosaw a poor response.
“The response to the LIGfl��ats is a bit disappointingbut we will take a call onwhat to do next soon. Whilethe fl��ats are good in Narela,access is an issue. We are trying to get business into Narela and trying to undertake aredevelopment projectthere. Once people startworking in the area, apprehensions about living andtravelling to Narela willhopefully reduce,” addedMr. Kapoor.
DDA draw of lots: fl��ats inNarela get tepid response8,400 fl��ats allotted; to reoff��er EWS houses at reduced price
Shinjini Ghosh
NEW DELHINGT rejects pleas oversteel pickling unitsNEW DELHI
Observing that steel pickling
units cannot be allowed in
residential areas as they fall
under the prohibited list of
industrial activity under the
Master Plan 2021, the
National Green Tribunal
(NGT) dismissed review
pleas moved by the Delhi
government and the
polluting industries. The
Bench directed an expert
panel to assess the extent
of damage caused to
the environment since
June 2008.
IN BRIEF
HC asks Super Cassettesto show movie to litigantNEW DELHI
The Delhi High Court on
Tuesday asked Super
Cassettes Pvt. Ltd. to hold a
special screening of its
upcoming movie Khandaani
Shafakhana for a Delhi-based
sexologist who has alleged
that the film defames him
and his profession. Justice
Rajiv Sahai Endlaw asked
Super Cassettes to show the
film to the sexologist on July
26 so that his apprehensions
regarding damage to his
reputation can be addressed.
The matter has been listed for
further hearing on July 29.
The movie, starring Sonakshi
Sinha, is slated to be released
on August 2. The Delhi zoo has written tothe Central Zoo Authority(CZA) demanding suspension of a veterinary offi��cerclaiming that the “wellbeingof the animals of the zoo is indanger”.
The zoo claimed that anailing nilgai was declareddead in May and the veterinary offi��cer was responsiblefor it. The letter is based onan inquiry report by a former joint director of the zoo. Itstates that the animal’s treatment was stopped at 2 p.m.on May 21 though the animaldied only at 5.05 p.m.
The letter dated July 12,accessed by The Hindu,
reads: “The evidence andcircumstances also point towards the fact that an aliveanimal was declared dead byAbhijit Bhawal, veterinaryoffi��cer, without followingthe laid down medical procedure. Under such circumstances, it is strongly recommended that disciplinary
proceedings against Dr. Bhawal... may be initiated. Simultaneously, it is recommended that Dr. Bhawal maykindly he placed under suspension.”
‘Records tampered’“Tampering of record hasbeen observed once againby Dr. Bhawal... This is notan isolated case where hehas been observed to be professionally incompetent,”the letter reads. This is thethird time that the zoo director has called for suspensionof the veterinary offi��cer, anoffi��cial said. The CZA is yetto take action in the matteras it is waiting for the boardmeeting in August where itwill decide whether it wantsto take over the administration of the zoo.
The zoo has a high mortality rate and 245 animalshave died during a period of14 months from April 2018 toJune 2019, reveals documents submitted in the Delhi High Court in June.
Delhi zoo writes to CZA alleging negligence
Nikhil M Babu
New Delhi
Ailing nilgai declared dead by vet,zoo seeks suspension of offi��cial
Talk: Panel discussion on “Where isSudan Going?” Panelists include Dr.John Cherian, Foreign Editor, Front-line; Dr. Meena Singh Roy, ResearchFellow and Coordinator, Institute ofDefence Studies and Analysis; andProf. Ajay Dubey, Chairperson, AfricaStudies Centre, JNU. Chair: Ambas-sador K.P. Fabian at ConferenceRoom – I, India International Centre(IIC), 6:30 p.m.
Talk: Founder and CEO of TechniticsConsulting, Dominic Karunesudas,will deliver a lecture titled, “China’sCyber Warfare: A Different Perspect-ive”, at Seminor Room, Institute ofChinese Studies (ICS). Civil Lines, 3p.m.
Dance: India International RuralCultural Centre (IRCEN) presents aKathak dance recital by SulagnaBanerjee at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidy-alaya, Rampura, 9 a.m. and Sar-vodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, J.J.Colony,Wazirpur, 11 a.m.
Exhibition: “The Food DiplomacyMakan Ngga Makan Asal Kumpul”, agroup art show by curated by M. Ha-ryo Hutomo at Exhibition Gallery,Korean Cultural Center, A-25, LajpatNagar IV, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
(Mail your listings for this column [email protected])
DELHI TODAY
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and ClimateChange (MoEF&CC) has“cautioned” former Delhizoo director, Amitabh Agnihotri, to be “careful inthe future”. He would, however, not face any disciplinary action, it said.
Multiple irregularities inthe Delhi zoo, includingfalse postmortem reportsof animals, were foundduring his tenure by a 2016report by D.N. Singh, thenMember Secretary of theCentral Zoo Authority. Anew report, which wassubmitted to the DelhiHigh Court, by a fi��vemember highlevel committee,had also fl��agged irregularities during his tenure at thezoo. Mr. Agnihotri refusedto comment.
Centre cautionsexzoo director
Staff Reporter
New Delhi
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THE HINDU DELHI
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Fire breaks out in NMRCoffice, no casualtiesNOIDA
A fire broke out at the
headquarters of the Noida
Metro Rail Corporation on
Tuesday. No casualties have
been reported. The fire is
suspected to have started
from a short circuit at 9 a.m.
and caused structural damage.
A Delhi court on Tuesdaygranted police two moremonths to get sanction fromthe city government to prosecute former Jawaharlal NehruUniversity Students’ Union( JNUSU) president KanhaiyaKumar and others in a sedition case.
The case pertains to theraising of “objectionable” slogans at an event in 2016against the hanging of AfzalGuru, the mastermind behind the 2013 Parliament attack. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) ManishKhurana extended the deadline after the court was toldthat no sanction had been received from the city government’s Home Department.
The CMM has also askedthe Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (Special Cell) to fi��le astatus report on the issue andposted the matter for furtherhearing on September 18.
The court has been deferring taking cognisance of thechargesheet in the case sincethe probe report was fi��led bythe police without sanctionfrom the city government inJanuary this year. At thattime, the police had said itwould get the required sanction within 10 days.
In April, the governmenthad said that the policechargesheeted the accusedin a “hasty and secretive manner” without taking prior prosecution sanction from thecompetent authority. It hadthen promised to the court
that it would take more than amonth to decide on the probeagency’s request for prosecution sanction.
According to lawSection 196 of the CriminalProcedure Code states that“no court shall take cognisance of any off��ence punishable under Chapter VI of theIPC except with the previoussanction of the Central government or of the State government”. Section 124A (sedition) of the Indian PenalCode (IPC), under which theaccused persons have alsobeen chargesheeted, isplaced under this chapter.
The accused have alsobeen chargesheeted underIPC Sections 323 (voluntarilycausing hurt), 465 (forgery),471 (using as genuine, forgeddocument), 143 (punishmentfor unlawful assembly, 149(unlawful assembly with common object), 147 (rioting) and120B (criminal conspiracy).
JNU sedition case: courtgrants police more time To get sanction to prosecute Kanhaiya Kumar; hearing on Sept. 18
Nirnimesh Kumar
New Delhi
Kanhaiya Kumar
Services on Magenta Linehit due to technical snag NEW DELHI
Services on the Delhi Metro’s
Magenta Line saw delays on
Tuesday due to “civil
maintenance issues”. Trains
on the affected 700-metre
stretch between Palam and
Sadar Bazar Cantonment
stations were running at a
restricted speed of 10 kmph
in the morning. From 10 p.m.,
services between Janakpuri
West and Terminal 1 IGI
Airport section were run on a
single line, the DMRC said.
IN BRIEF
Two men arrested forcarrying illegal weaponsNEW DELHI
Two people have been
arrested from Kapashera for
alleged illegal possession of a
pistol, the police said on
Tuesday. DCP (South-West)
Devender Arya said both the
accused — Sameer and
Mukesh — are from Bhalswa
Dairy. A countrymade pistol,
six live cartridges and two
magazines were seized from
them, added Mr. Arya.
The Haryana governmenthas claimed that the DelhiHigh Court does not have thejurisdiction to decide on theYamuna watersharing dispute between it and Delhi.
Haryana said that the Upper River Yamuna Board isthe appropriate body to decide the dispute between thetwo States. It has urged theDelhi High Court to decidethe jurisdiction issue on“priority” basis.
It also contended that the
court “has failed in its dutyto decide the issue of jurisdiction before proceedingfurther in the matter”.
The Haryana governmentmade the submissions in anaffi��davit fi��led in reply to a petition by lawyer S.B. Tripathiseeking suffi��cient water supply for Delhi.
Committee reportHaryana has also objected tothe fi��ndings of a courtappointed committee, whichwas set up to inspect whether ‘bunds’ have been put in
the canals carrying watermeant for Delhi. The Stategovernment has urged thecourt to reject the committee’s report, which foundthat largescale mining wasgoing on in the river bed ofthe Yamuna and the Haryanagovernment had not disclosed any information regarding the activity.
Apart from the panel’s report, the State has also opposed the Delhi Jal Board’spleas raising apprehensionsof water shortage in the Capital during the lean season.
Also opposes DJB’s pleas regarding water shortage in Capital
Staff Reporter
New Delhi
Delhi HC has no authority to decideon water-sharing dispute: Haryana
All district DCPs in the cityhave been ordered to scanthe records of policemenunder their jurisdiction andsack those involved in criminal activities.
The order, which was issued by the Vigilance Department of the Delhi Policeon July 19, stated that “deadwood” and “dark sheep”personnel suitable for compulsory retirement on a premature basis should besacked with immediate effect. On Tuesday, Delhi Police Commissioner AmulyaPatnaik held a law and order
meeting with all districtDCPs and SHOs at the DelhiPolice Headquarters askingthem to take action immediately.
Doubtful integrityThe notice states that personnel should be identifi��edon the basis of doubtful integrity, moral turpitude, habitual absentee, alcoholism ordrug addiction andindiscipline.
On July 19, a Delhi PoliceSubInspector was held bythe Central Bureau of Investigation for demanding ₹��20lakh from a man to settle thecase.
Order to sack policementied to criminal activitiesSaurabh Trivedi
New Delhi
Two foreign nationals werearrested with 50 kg of heroin on Tuesday during araid in Haryana.
The accused, MohmmadAkbar (45) and Nedfa Mohammad (38), both from Afghanistan, allegedly smuggled the drug into thecountry through the AttariWagah border between India and Pakistan, the DelhiPolice said.
A senior offi��cer said thatthey had uncovered leadswhile investigating a casewhere they had busted aninternational drug cartel onJuly 19. He added that raidswere conducted at coldstorage units on MariyapuriRoad, and in Kundli and Sonipat districts of Haryana.
“On the instance of oneof the Afghan nationals arrested on July 19, a raid wasconducted at cold storageunits in Kondli and Sonipatwhere two more Afghan nationals were found with 102
cartons of raisins,” said theoffi��cer. These cartons wereinterspersed among a consignment of over 600 cartons, which had arrived inIndia from Kandahar, Afghanistan, through AttariWagah border check post inMarch this year, said the offi��cer. While checking thecartons, 204 polythenepouches containing heroinwere recovered.
On July 19, 150 kg of heroin worth ₹��600 crore wererecovered with the arrest offi��ve people, including twoAfghan nationals.
Police seize 50 kg ofheroin, two arrested Found in consignment from Afghanistan
STAFF REPORTER
New Delhi
The cartons of raisins seizedfrom the accused had 204 pouches containingheroin. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Two persons have been arrested for allegedly abducting and raping a 17yearoldgirl in Gurugram. One of theaccused is known to the victim for the past two months,the police said on Tuesday.
On July 19, the accusedalong with his friend luredthe teenager to come withthem in a car and took her toan Economically WeakerSection fl��at in Sector 102.The friend stays in the fl��at onrent. The main accused allegedly raped the girl in thefl��at and dropped her off�� the
next day.The victim’s father lodged
a complaint on July 21 statingthat two men had allegedlyabducted his daughter.
During her statement before the Magistrate, the girlrevealed the name of theman who had raped her.
A case was registered under the POCSO Act at ShivajiNagar police station.
Judicial custodyThe accused were arrestedon Monday. The duo wasproduced before the courton Tuesday and remandedto judicial custody.
Two held for raping girlSpecial Correspondent
GURUGRAM
Outfit demands disposalof reservation issue NEW DELHI
The All India United Muslim
Manch (AIUMM) on Tuesday
staged a demonstration
outside the Supreme Court
demanding the early disposal
of the reservation issue of
Dalit Muslims along with the
Ayodhya dispute. In a
statement, the AIUMM said
that Article 341 defines who
can be recognised as
Scheduled Caste, but because
of religious binding, Dalit
Muslims have not been
availing the facilities of SCs
since August 10, 1950.
Two Noida policemen allegedly thrashed an icecreamvendor after he asked themto pay ₹��50 for the dessertthey had taken from him,the police said on Tuesday.
A video of the incident,which took place on July 13,
is doing the rounds on social media.
“They took the victim,Amit Kumar, to the chowkiand again beat him. Meanwhile, the locals called upthe police and anotherteam reached the spot.Further investigation is under way,” said an offi��cer.
Policemen thrash vendor for demanding payment Press Trust of India
Noida
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DELHI THE HINDU
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CITY
Jamia Millia to introducefour new courses NEW DELHI
Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI)
announced on Tuesday that it
would be introducing four
new courses from the current
academic session. The
university has also increased
the number of seats in
M.Tech. Mechanical
Engineering from 18 to 30.
The new courses introduced
are Master of Science in
Banking and Financial
Analytics in Department of
Economics, M.Tech.
Environmental Science &
Engineering (full time)
programme , P.G. Diploma in
Molecular Diagnostics and
Advance Diploma in Turkish
Language (part-time).
IN BRIEF
Drive to enrol specialkids in schools NEW DELHI
The Directorate of Education
said that it will be conducting
a special drive by August 20
to identify children with
special needs, who are
currently out of school, to get
them admitted in schools.
DoE issues circular toprevent damage to treesNEW DELHI
The Directorate of Education
(DoE) has sent a circular to
heads of schools asking them
to remove all sign boards,
names, advertisements, any
kind of boards or signages,
high tension cables or other
damaging elements from the
trees on campus.
The order is likely to be issued in a month for implementing the Centre’s proposal to grant ownership rightsin 1,797 unauthorised colonies in Delhi, according tothe Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Aff��airs.
At a press conference hereon Tuesday, Union Ministerof State for Housing and Urban Aff��airs (IndependentCharge) Hardeep Singh Purisaid a Cabinet note had recently been circulated, afterthe committee led by LieutenantGovernor Anil Baijalsubmitted its report to theMinistry in June on the grantof ownership rights.
Ministry’s Secretary DurgaShanker Mishra said that after getting the proposalcleared by the Cabinet, theMinistry would “issue orderswithin a month”.
As for the ownershiprights in posh illegal colonies
like Sainik Farms in southDelhi, Mr. Puri said the “affl��uent colonies” would be taken up later.
Slams KejriwalMr. Puri hit out at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal andthe Aam Aadmi PartyledDelhi government for attempting to “take credit” forthe proposal.
“He [Mr. Kejriwal] hasbeen quick to take credit forsomething he has been obstructing,” he said, referringto a recent statement by theChief Minister that theCentre had acted on the Del
hi government’s proposal togrant ownership rights.
On July 18, Mr. Kejriwalhad said that on November 2,2015, the Delhi governmenthad passed a proposal in theCabinet to regularise the unauthorised colonies and giveownership rights to peopleliving in the colonies. On November 12, 2015, the proposal was sent to the Central government for approval.
“On July 17, the Centregave a positive response onit. The Centre is ready to regularise the unauthorised colonies. We want to congratulate the Central governmenton behalf of the people ofDelhi,” he had said.
Mr. Mishra said the Delhigovernment had submittedcomments on the Ministry’sguidelines for these coloniesin 2015 and “had not proposed granting ownershiprights”.
He said the earlier surveyhad covered 1,797 colonies
that existed as on March 31,2002, and had 50% unauthorised occupancy as onMarch 24, 2008. These dateswere revised during the fi��rstgovernment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to includethe colonies that existed ason June 1, 2014, and had 50%occupancy till January 1,2015. The survey to identifythe colonies in accordancewith the revised norms wasyet to be completed by theDelhi government, whichhad fi��rst asked for time till2019 and then till July 2021,he said.
“It is absolutely clear thatthe Chief Minister’s statement is not only factually incorrect, but the Delhi government is also ignoring alarge population in unauthorised colonies that couldhave been covered by the recent steps taken by the Central government for ownership and mortgage rights,”Mr. Puri said.
Order to grant land rights in illegalcolonies may come in a month Affl��uent colonies will be taken up later, says Union Minister Hardeep Puri
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
Hardeep Singh Puri
The Delhi government’s proposed nomination of nonbureaucrats, including AamAadmi Party leaders RaghavChadha and Atishi Marlena,to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s Board of Directors could face a roadblock,as Union Minister HardeepSingh Puri on Tuesday saidthere was “no scope for nonoffi��cial people” on theBoard.
Asked about the AAP government’s nomination ofnongovernment offi��cials,Mr. Puri said: “I have a situation where the Board is handled with great competenceby the serving secretary inthe Ministry. There is noscope in that Board for nonoffi��cial people. So my answer, you have got.”
Further, asked if the Delhigovernment insisted on going ahead with its nominees,Mr. Puri said: “Who are theyto insist? It’s a joint venture.You see what is happeningelsewhere. I hold one or twoother portfolios. If the people don’t agree, then theyhave problems amongstthemselves.”
Mr. Puri said he would notbe “party” to the appoint
ment of directors whowould not be as accountableas government offi��cials.
On July 13, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot had named Ms. Marlena,Mr. Chadha, the vicechairperson of the Delhi Dialogueand Development Commission, Jasmine Shah, and Naveen Gupta, the son of RajyaSabha MP and AAP treasurerN.D. Gupta, as the State government’s nominees to theBoard.
On July 16, the MoHUAwrote to the Delhi Chief Secretary asking for the nomination of private individuals,for the fi��rst time, as government nominees to bewithdrawn.
Owned in equal parts bythe Centre and Delhi government, the DMRC’s Board hasfi��ve nominees each fromboth. Currently, the Delhigovernment’s nominees include offi��cers.
According to a Ministryoffi��cial, the nomination ofdirectors would have to beprocessed by the Centre.
Draws comparison Meanwhile, making a comparison between late formerChief Minister Sheila Dikshitand current Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal, Mr. Purisaid when Dikshit had objected to the appointment ofBJP MP Madan Lal Khuranaas DMRC chief in 2003, heresigned.
On the other hand, hesaid, the AAP governmenthad nominated “two peoplewho have lost their elections”, referring to Ms. Marlena and Mr. Chadha, whocontested the recentlyheldLok Sabha polls.
Responding to the attack,Mr. Chadha said in a tweet:“By the extension of that logic since the Hon’ble Minister@HardeepSPuriachievedthe unachievable feat of losing the Lok Sabha electionsfrom Amritsar on a BJP ticketdespite Modi Tsunami andBJP winning 300+ seats, hemust put in his papers immediately. (sic).”
Former Union Ministerand Congress leader AjayMaken also said in a tweet:“@HardeepPuriji shouldcheck his facts. Khurana Jiresigned both from Lok Sabha and as Chairman ofDMRC on 24th Dec 2003Because he was being made theGovernor of Rajasthan. Sheila Ji had best of working relationships with oppositionleaders!(sic).”
AAP’s nomination of nonbureaucrats could face roadblock
Damini Nath
NEW DELHI
No scope for appointing nonoffi��cialpersons to DMRC board, says Puri
The All India Students’ Association (AISA) and other Leftwing student and teacher associations as well as theABVP on Tuesday organisedprotests at the Arts Faculty,Delhi University, over the ongoing syllabus row.
Professors at the university alleged that members ofthe ABVP tried to barge into
the departments duringtheir protest. “They blockedthe entrances, tried to bargeinto the departments and attempted to destroy the gatesof the English and Historydepartment,” Professor Rudrasheesh Chakrabarty ofthe English Department said.
The ABVP, however, saidthat it had organised peaceful protest marches outsidethe offi��ces of the HODs of the
Departments of English, Sociology, History, Hindi andPolitical Science demandingimmediate revision of thesyllabus.
The students’ union saidthat it was protesting to emphasise the need for democratisation of academia.
The AISA’s protest was targeted against the ABVP’s “interference” in the DU syllabus.
Eva Thakur
NEW DELHI
Protests over DU syllabus continue
A day after students of JNUorganised a mass postermaking campaign, the JNUSU on Tuesday organised aprotest march on the campus and pasted the posterson the walls to reclaim it.
The administration hadthreatened the studentswith disciplinary action ifthey paste posters on thewalls saying that it amounted to defacement ofproperty.
The students said thatthe “fascist administrationfeared art” and pasting ofposters on the walls was apart of the culture of thecampus. “The walls speakat JNU. The walls are the publishers of the poor and wewill continue our dialoguethrough posters,” Sai Balaji,president of JNUSU said.
Students pasteposters onJNU walls to reclaim it
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI
A businessman was arrestedfor allegedly availing loansworth ₹��30 crore from a nationalised bank after producing forged documents,the police said on Tuesday.
The suspect, Sidharth Jain(39), a resident of ShalimarBagh, deals in the businessof supplying metals to BALCO and some other privateoperators, they said.
According to the police,in 2011, he was chargesheeted by the CBI in a similarcase of cheating where hestood as ‘guarantor’ for a ₹��3crore bank loan. In 2004, hewas arrested by Rajouri Garden police in a ₹��12 lakhcheating case.
The matter came to lightafter a retired Colonel, LoveKumar Ojha (77) alleged thatsome land grabbers had dispossessed him of his plot in
Cooperative House BuildingSociety Ltd, Saraswati Vihar,the police said. Later, another case was fi��led after policefound that the original fi��lepertaining to the plot was allegedly missing from the offi��ce of DDA, they added.
Investigation revealedthat Jain had obtained creditfacility of ₹��7 crore from a nationalised bank with forgeddocuments claiming him tobe the owner of the allegedplot of Cooperative HouseBuilding Society Ltd, ACP(Crime), Rajiv Ranjan said.
In another case, he managed to get a credit limit of₹��6 crore from the same bankagainst a property in Pitampura. He also managed toobtain credit limit of another ₹��11 crore on a property inModel Town, the senior offi��cer said. In total, he is supposed to pay about ₹��30crore to the bank.
Businessman cheatsbank of ₹��30 croreSubmits forged papers to avail of loans
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI₹��
Five persons were arrestedfrom Najafgarh on Tuesdayfor opening fi��re at a womanwhile driving a car in Dwarka earlier this month, thepolice said.
Chandra Prakash (27),the main accused, hadhatched a conspiracy to kill30yearold Kiren, a property consultant, as he heldher responsible for his uncle’s suicide, they said.
On July 11, when the woman was driving back homeafter dropping her son toschool, two bikebornemen shot at her.
“Analysis of call recordsand CCTV footage led to thearrest of Chandra Prakash.On his instance, Gulab (27),Giriraj Singh Tomar (26),Abhishek (23), and Narender (33), were arrested,”Joint Commissioner of Police (Western Range) Madhup Tewari said.
Five held inDwarka fi��ring case
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI
BJP Mahila Morcha holdsevents to extend baseNEW DELHI
The State BJP Mahila Morcha
on Tuesday organised various
programmes across the
Capital in connection with its
membership drive, aimed at
extending its base.
CMYK
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THE HINDU DELHI
WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2019 5EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
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DELHI Timings
Wednesday, July 24
RISE 05:38 SET 19:17
RISE 23:53 SET 11:52
Thursday, July 25
RISE 05:39 SET 19:17
RISE 00:00 SET 12:46
Friday, July 26
RISE 05:39 SET 19:16
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Published by N. Ravi at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Suresh Nambath (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).
Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 ● RNI No. UPENG/2012/49940 ● ISSN 0971 - 751X ● Vol. 9 ● No. 175
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesdaysaid he would meet the Central government Ministersand offi��cials to press for reinforcement of the embankments of the Ghaggar river,which has breached andcaused serious damage tostanding crops and other assets in Sangrur and Patialadistricts after the recentrain.
He said the division ofPunjab by the Akalis in 1966had led to the Ghaggar goinginto the hands of the CentralWater Commission, causingthe State to lose control overthe critical maintenance ofits embankments.
“The Akalis had evenstopped the reinforcementwork undertaken by him inhis previous term,” he said.He added that during his last
term, his government hadcompleted 22 km of reinforcement, after which all workwas suspended by the previous Shiromani Akali Dal
Bharatiya Janata Partygovernment.
He made an aerial surveyto assess the damage causedby the fl��ooding due to abreach in the Ghaggar catchment area in Sangrur and Patiala districts.
Crops damagedCapt. Amarinder said about50,000 acres of crop hadbeen lost in Patiala andanother 10,000 acres in Sangrur. “The Ghaggar wascreating problems in Bathinda also, where even the Police Lines are under water,”he said, adding that the district had received the highest rainfall in 40 years, causing the water to fl��ow at veryhigh levels.
Will urge Centre to reinforceGhaggar embankment: CM Capt. Amarinder blames the Akalis for ‘losing’ control with Punjab’s division
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
CHANDIGARH
Punjab CM Amarinder Singh making an aerial survey of fl��oodaff��ected areas in Sangrur on Tuesday. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday tabled aBill seeking an undertakingfrom private universities thatthey will not allow their campus to be used for antinational activities.
Several conditionsThe Uttar Pradesh PrivateUniversities Bill, 2019, nowbefore the Assembly, listsseveral conditions for settingup such institutions, including following a common curriculum. Among them is thecondition that the promotersof private universities give anundertaking that the institution will not be involved in orpermit anyone to cause orpromote antinational activi
ties on the campus. If anysuch activity takes place, itshall be considered a majorviolation of the conditionsfor setting up the university,the draft legislation warns.
The government may thentake action according to theprovisions under the Act orany other law in force, itsays.
The Bill is meant to enactan umbrella legislation togovern all private
universities.A statement on the objec
tives of the Bill said 27 private universities have been established and incorporatedunder diff��erent State Acts.This means there is no uniform law to monitor suchprivate universities, it added.It has become diffi��cult to collect information and ensurequality standards in highereducation, the governmentsaid.
The draft Bill was approved by the State Cabinetrecently. An offi��cial had thensaid that the universities willhave to ensure that patriotism, national integration,communal amity, social harmony, secularism, ethics andinternational goodwill are included in the curriculum.
U.P. Bill to tackle ‘anti-national’activities on campus tabledThe draft Bill was approved by the State Cabinet recently
Press Trust of India
Lucknow <> The universities
will have to ensure
that patriotism,
national
integration,
communal amity
etc. are included in
the curriculum
An official
A Border Security Force offi��cer places a wreath at the Kargil War Memorial during a function in connection with Kargil VijayDiwas at Humhama near Srinagar on Tuesday. * NISSAR AHMAD
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Saluting the brave
An FIR has been fi��ledagainst Samajwadi PartyMLA from Kairana in UttarPradesh’s Shamli districtfor allegedly asking peopleto boycott shops being runby BJP supporters, policesaid on Tuesday. The FIRwas fi��led on Monday evening after a video, in whichMLA Nahid Hasan was seenmaking the appeal, wentviral, they said.
In the controversial video, Mr. Hasan is seen asking people to boycott shopsbeing run by BJP supporters in Kairana, SP Ajay Kumar said. He has beenbooked under various sections including 153 (wantonly giving provocation tocause riot), 153 A (promoting enmity between diff��erent groups) and 505(statements conducing topublic mischief ), he said.
Kairana MLAbooked for‘provocative’video
Press Trust of India
Muzaffarnagar
The body of the brother ofDharampal, one of the threeundertrials who escapedfrom police custody inSambhal after killing twoconstables, was found hanging from a tree outside hisvillage on Tuesday morning.The Sambhal police called ita suicide while the familymembers alleged that Udaiveer ended his life becauseof police pressure.
On Tuesday, the residentsof Bharatpur village, underthe Behjoi police station limits of Sambhal, foundUdaiveer’s body hangingfrom a tree in the jungle outside the village. The policewere called in and the bodysent for postmortem.
According to sources,Udaiveer’s wife has alleged
that the police was mounting pressure on him to reveal Dharampal’s whereabouts, and that might havepushed him to take his life.
Sambhal Superintendentof Police Yamuna Prasad,however, denied the charge.“He might have succumbedto social pressure. Nobodyapproached me with charges of mental torture. We arewaiting for the postmortemreport,” he told The Hindu
over phone.It has been a week since
Dharampal, Kamal and Shakeel made an audacious escape from police custody.The U.P. police had declaredan award of ₹��2.5 lakh eachon their arrest. Last Saturday, Kamal was gunneddown by the police in an encounter on GawanSambhalroad under the Adampurpolice station limits of Amroha disrict.
“The hunt is on for theother two. We have increased the area of oursearch,” Mr. Prasad said.
Brother of escapedundertrial found dead Three undertrialshad killed twoconstables inSambhal recentlySpecial Correspondent
Ghaziabad
A measlesrubella vaccination campaign, targeted tocover 2.26 crore children upto 15 years of age, has startedin Rajasthan amid protestsby parents in some parts ofthe State.
The drive met with resistance on its opening day onMonday at a school in Bharatpur district’s Nagar blockwhere the parents of 600students prevented thehealth offi��cials from vaccinating the children.
At least 15 children, whowere administered the vaccine in Jhunjhunu district’sKakoda village, were shiftedto a hospital when they complained of vomitting andnausea. On Tuesday, halfadozen girls at Vaidik KanyaVidyalaya in Jaipur were admitted to Sir Padampat
Mother & Child Hospitalwhen they felt dizzy aftervaccination. They were keptunder observation till late inthe evening.
‘Without consent’While the Medical & HealthDepartment maintained thatthe vaccination was voluntary, the local offi��cials triedto convince the villagers ofits benefi��ts. Some parents alleged that the vaccinationwas being done without taking their consent and itwould have an “adverse im
pact” on their futuregenerations.
Inaugurating the monthlong campaign at MahaveerPublic School here, Medical& Health Minister RaghuSharma said it would be thebiggest vaccination drive inthe world, as India accounted for 36% of deaths of theworld’s children by measles.The campaign’s fi��rst phasewill cover all schools acrossthe State and the secondphase will involve outreachto local communities.
About 17,000 trained personnel will undertake vaccination activities at 61,000Anganwadi centres, while2.11 lakh principals and nodal teachers, 51,000 accredited social health activists(ASHAs) and 59,000 Anganwadi workers and volunteerswill assist in the task. The arrangements for vaccination
have been made in 65,000government schools and40,000 private schools.
Dr. Sharma said his department was paying thehighest attention to reduction in infant mortality rateand maternal mortality ratio, as a result of which thehealth indicators had depicted a continuous improvement. The infant mortalityrate in the State had registered an improvement by 4digits, showing a declinefrom 32 to 28 per 1,000, hesaid.
Besides, the World HealthOrganization has reportedthat Rajasthan has carriedout 90% vaccination in 201819. The measlesrubella vaccination drive is set to coverall preschool children, government and private schoolchildren and outofschoolchildren.
Rajasthan vaccination drive starts amid protests Parents in Bharatpur prevented health offi��cials from vaccinating children
Special Correspondent
JAIPUR <> Our department is
paying highest
attention to
reduction in infant
mortality rate and
maternal mortality
ratio
Raghu Sharma
Medical & Health Minister
The National Green Tribunal has directed the Ministry of Environment, Forestsand Climate Change to consider evolving a mechanismto tackle unregulated scrapping of vehicles.
A Bench headed by NGTChairperson Justice AdarshKumar Goel said, “Wewould like to note thatscrapping of vehicles in ascientifi��c manner may needto be taken up on (an) organised basis. Current capacity to scientifi��cally scrapvehicles is hardly adequate... there is need to evolve anappropriate mechanism toset up authorised recyclingcentres compliant with theenvironmental norms andprohibit unorganised, unscientifi��c and unauthorisedscrapping activity.”
NGT for propermechanism toscrap vehicles
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI
BJP leader Mago Munda,his wife Lakmani and sonLiprai were gunned downby unidentifi��ed persons inJharkhand’s Khunti district, police said onTuesday.
Munda was sitting withhis family near his house inHethguha village when theassailants opened fi��re atthem around 8.30 p.m. onMonday, the police said.
Another woman, a relative, suff��ered bullet woundand was referred to Rajendra Institute of MedicalSciences in Ranchi.
Munda was a member ofthe BJP’s Schedule TribeExecutive Committee, party sources said.
Khunti SP Alok said aprobe is on.
BJP leader,wife & songunned down
Press Trust of India
Khunti (Jharkhand)
Days after interState synthetic milk rackets were busted intwo districts of Madhya Pradesh, State Public Health andFamily Welfare Minister Tulsiram Silawat has said thatthe National Security Act,1980, would be invokedagainst those involved inadulterating milk and dairyproducts and selling it.
Directing Divisional Commissioners, District Collectors and Superintendents ofPolice to invoke the Act whenever necessary and theFood and Drug Administration Department to form fl��ying squads to raid units manufacturing synthetic milkand dairy products, he said,
“Adulterators will not be allowed to play with the healthof people. Moreover, if offi��cials adopt a callous attitudein catching them, they willface disciplinary action.”
The State, for the fi��rsttime, had invoked the Act ina case of milk adulterationagainst four persons in Gwalior two years ago.
Stating that the adulterators were a threat to publichealth, State Controller ofthe Food and Drug Administration Department RavindraSingh said, “After the racketswere discovered, we begancollecting samples across theState and have sent them to alab for testing. Mr. Silawathas asked us to identify andact against government offi��
cials who may be part of thenexus.”
Spurious products in Morena and Bhind may still beon the market shelves, admits Mr. Singh. “We’re working on identifying the originof the chain to break the supply,” he added.
On July 19, on a tipoff��, aSpecial Task Force team andthe department raided Khandeshwari Dairy and AgrawalChemicals in Amba in Morena district and found samples of the same shampoo,detergents and chemicals inboth the places and milklaced with them. In Lahar inBhind district, another teamraided Naveen Traders andGopal Chilling Centre whereadulterated milk was seized.
M.P. government to invokeNSA against milk adulterators‘Identify and act against guilty government offi��cials’
Staff Reporter
Bhopal
A day before the States are tofi��le affi��davits in the SupremeCourt over the status of rejected claims under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, gramsabhas are yet to be organised in several districts ofMadhya Pradesh, which resolved to reconsider 3.6 lakhrejected claims afresh, sayactivists.
“The government’s pace issluggish and it is not workingon a missionmode to reviewthe rejected claims. There islack of coordination amongthose on the fi��eld and theCollectors, who are nottrained to hold the sabhas.
Although the governmenthad declared it would reconsider the rejected claims,there is no road map for it,”said Bharat Jan Andolan national convener Vijay Bhai.
Despite this, the government has sent a positive signal, he added, by declaring inthe affi��davit that the Act is alegislation which doesn’t prescribe eviction but grantsrights to tribals and other forest dwellers.
In a mammoth drive fromJuly 15 to 20, the State government had decided to review 3,60,181 rejected claimsand Additional Chief Secretary, Panchayat and Rural Development, Gauri Singh had
directed the District Collectors to hold the sabhas.
In Burhanpur district,Madhuri Krishnaswamy ofthe Jagrit Adivasi Dalit San
gathan, said in almost 5060villages having around 100 families each, residents whohave been living in forests foryears lost another opportuni
al Alliance of People’s Movement member Rajkumar Sinha. “The offi��cials rejected theclaims earlier in an arbitrarymanner and now they are notreviewing them properly.They still demand governmentissued documents asproof of rightful claim, whereas an affi��davit from villageelders is allowed,” he added.
Shankar, an activist fromAlirajpur district, said villagers have no clue about thespecial gram sabhas beingheld. “Although the patwarishave started visiting villages,they are busy working for thePM Pradhan Mantri KisanSamman Nidhi programme,”he said.
ty to stake claim as gram sabhas were not organised. Ofthe 14,260 claims in the district, 6,462 were rejected ason June 30.
The district became afl��ashpoint recently when foresters on July 9 in Siwal village allegedly used pelletguns on tribals, injuring fourof them, as part of an eviction drive. On Tuesday, almost 1,000 villagers of Nepanagar tehsil in the districtstaged a sitin outside the local police station.
In Jabalpur division, thedistrict administration wasmainly trying to justify the40,012 rejections rather thanrectifying them, said Nation
Review of rejected claims under Forest Rights Act patchy: activists‘The Madhya Pradesh government is focusing on justifying rejections instead of rectifying them’
Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan members at a press conferencein Bhopal on Tuesday. * A. M. FARUQUI
Sidharth Yadav
Bhopal
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DELHI THE HINDU
WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 20196EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
The proceedings of the Odisha Assembly were paralysed for the second consecutive day on Tuesday withOpposition members demanding the resignation ofChief Minister Naveen Patnaik over rising incidents ofmissing children and sexualassault on minor girls in theState.
Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress stalled the proceedings as soon as the Houseassembled at 10.30 a.m.,urging the Speaker to discuss the issue by cancellingquestion hour.
Speaker Surjya Narayan
Patro had to adjourn theHouse again and again asthe Opposition membersstalled the proceedings tillevening.
The House transacted business only after the Speaker agreed to allow a discussion on the issue in the
House on Wednesday.Congress Legislature Par
ty leader Narasingha Mishrasaid the House was adjourned as the governmentwas afraid of theOpposition.
‘No moral right’ “The Chief Minister has nomoral right to continue inhis post in the wake of thetwin issues,” he said.
Senior BJD MLA andformer Minister Debi Prasad Mishra said the Opposition should cooperate to ensure smooth functioning ofthe House. “The State hasso many issues to be discussed. The Oppositionshould come forward and
cooperate,” Mr. Mishra said.The Opposition members
had stalled the proceedingsof the Assembly in a similarfashion on Monday, demanding a debate on sexualassault on minor girls andthe deteriorating law andorder situation in the State.
When both the BJP andthe Congress were trying tohighlight the issue in theHouse, the latter announced at the CongressBhavan in the city that theywould stage demonstrations at all district headquarters towns on Wednesday to highlight the issue ofdeteriorating law and ordersituation in the State.
(With PTI inputs)
Odisha Assembly paralysed again;Oppn. seeks Naveen’s resignationOver rising incidents of missing children and sexual assault on minor girls
Special Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR
Naveen Patnaik
Students getting admitted toJadavpur University this academic year will have to signa declaration that they willnot consume narcotic substances or drink liquor inside the university premisesand the hostels, a senior varsity offi��cial said.
Admission to Arts,Science and Engineeringcourses in the universityhere will begin this week.
“Candidates of all thethree streams will have tosign the written undertaking,” Engineering Department Dean Prof. ChiranjibBhattacharjee said.
However, the nature of
punishment for the off��enders is yet to be decided, hesaid.
Asked about the necessityof such a declaration, a university offi��cial said, “It hasbecome important to havesuch a clause for the candidates now, than in the past.”
The only undertakingfreshers had to sign, over thepast two academic years,
pertained to ragging.Partha Pratim Roy, a se
nior member of the Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association ( JUTA), said theteachers have welcomed themove.
“Students will always support constructive moves bythe JU administration,” Krittika Roy, a secondyear Artsstudent said.
The decision comes afterstudents were reportedlyfound consuming alcoholand taking drugs inside thecampus, following which theadministration had regulated the entry of outsiders.
There were also incidentsof narcotic and alcoholabuse inside the hostels.
University teachers, students welcome the move
Press trust of india
Kolkata
Freshers to sign ‘no narcotics,no liquor’ declaration in JU
A view of the JadavpurUniversity campus. * THE
HINDU
West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on Tuesday wrote to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi urging himto “stall and reverse the process of corporatisation andprivatisation” of the ordnance factories.
“I have been receiving reports regarding a decisionthat the Government of India has apparently taken tocorporatise all the ordnancefactories, including the Ordnance Factory Board. It hasalso been suggested that thiswill fi��nally lead to privatisation of these great nationalassets,” Ms. Banerjee said.
The Chief Minister said
that Ordnance FactoryBoard, founded in 1775 withits headquarters in Kolkata,has 41 factories all over thecountry, nine raining institutes and about 1.6 lakh offi��cers and employees and isconsidered to be the world’slargest government setupfor manufacturing arms andammunition.
‘Shock and surprise’She expressed “shock andsurprise” that “this vital pillar of the country’s defence”and key industrial initiativewas now being contemplated to be privatised withoutholding any consultationwith the stakeholders.
“I would request you to
kindly stall and reverse theprocess of corporatisationand privatisation in the interest of national securityand defence of our country,”she said.
Ms.Banerjee in her twopage letter noted that hergovernment has not received any “inkling of discourses that have led tosuch inexplicable initiativesin the Government ofIndia”.
Observing that industrialpolicies of the Centre “hasgradually been made moreand more friendly towardsthe private companies”, theChief Minister said “coreand strategic areas” shouldbe kept unaff��ected in future.
Stall privatisation of ordnancefactories, Mamata tells PM Ordnance Factory Board has 41 factories in the country
Special Correspondent
Kolkata
A man was lynched in WestBengal’s Jalpaiguri districton the suspicion of being achild lifter, the police saidon Tuesday.
The incident occurred inthe Sukhani Basti area under the Nagrakata policestation limits of the districton Monday.
Debasish Chakrabarti,SubDivisional Police Offi��cer, told The Hindu that sixpersons have been arrestedfor their involvement in thecrime. The offi��cer said thatthe identity of the victimhas still not beenascertained.
A vagabondMr. Chakraborty said therehas not been a single inci
dent of childlifting in thearea and the unfortunateincident was triggered byrumours. Locals said theman, a vagabond, wasusually seen in the area. Asection of people said hewas either a cross dresseror a transgender, but policesaid they weren’t sure.
Videos of locals, including children, beating up theman have surfaced on theInternet. The police rescued him from the mob butby then he was bleedingprofusely and when he wastaken to a primary healthcentre he was declareddead.
Attacks on vagabonds onthe suspicion of being childlifters (chhele dhora) havebeen reported in otherparts of the State.
‘Child lifter’ lynchedin Jalpaiguri district Six persons arrested, say police
Special Correspondent
Kolkata
OBITUARY &
REMEMBRANCE
DEATH
DEATH ANNIVERSARIES
DEATH
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THE HINDU DELHI
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CMYK
M ND-NDE
WEST
Prime Minister NarendraModi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will participate in the Bharatiya JantaParty’s (BJP) monthlongoutreach programmescheduled across Maharashtra in the runup to the Assembly elections.
Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis on Tuesday confi��rmed that Mr. Shah hasbeen invited and is likely tofl��ag off�� the Maha JanadeshYatra on August 1. Mr. Modiwill attend the concludingday of the event, for which adate is yet to be fi��nalised, senior party functionaries said.
A senior BJP minister, whois part of the event management committee, said, “TheMaha Janadesh Yatra willstart from Amravati and willbe fl��agged off�� by Mr. Shah,while the honourable PrimeMinister will conclude theevent in Nashik.”
Last week, at the BJP’sState executive meeting heldin Mumbai under the leadership of working president J.P.Nadda, party leaders announced their intention toreach out to diff��erent sections of society through theStatewide tour. Mr. Fadnaviswill cover 152 of the 288 As
sembly constituencies over aperiod of one month, and islikely to address 150 rallies,senior party leaders said.
30-district tour
The Maharashtra BJP clarifi��ed it has yet to receive confi��rmation from the PrimeMinster’s Offi��ce, but doeshave one from Mr. Shah’s offi��ce. The yatra will cover adistance of over 4,000 km
across 30 districts. “This is a new war, we
need a new strategy to fi��ghtthe enemy. There is no pointresting on our laurels; eventhe Pandavas did not do soafter winning the war in theMahabharata. We mustwork on this new strategyand take it to the people,”Mr. Fadnavis told partyworkers in the meeting.“The planning of this yatra
must be fl��awless and ensurethat maximum people participate in it,” he said.
The BJP yatra is beingseen as a move to counterthe Shiv Sena’s Jan Aashirwad Yatra, in which Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackerayis travelling across major districts. The tour has fuelledspeculation that the party ispreparing Mr. Thackeray forthe role of chief minister.
Modi, Shah to take part in BJP’sprepoll outreach programmeHome Minister to kick off�� CM’s Statewide tour, PM likely to conclude it
Sharad Vyas
Mumbai
Show of strength: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will cover 152 of the 288 Assemblyconstituencies over a period of one month in the tour of the State. * FILE PHOTO
Three Punebased menwere killed and fi��ve othersseriously injured after atruck collided with theirtwowheelers on the PuneSatara road early onTuesday.
Aniket Randive (23),Sushil Kamble (23), and Suraj Shinde (24), were residents of the Taljai Tekdiarea of Pune.
According to the police,the eight were celebratinga friend’s birthday till lateon Monday night. Theywere travelling towardsShivapur, on the outskirtsof the city, sometime aftermidnight on three twowheelers. Around 1 a.m., atruck hit them from behindnear Kondanpur, around25 km from the city.
Two of the men werekilled on the spot as theirvehicles were fl��ung off�� theroad, while the third diedduring treatment at a nearby hospital where all injured were taken.
Police offi��cials said theyare investigating the causeof the accident.
In a similar accident early on Sunday, nine studentswere killed on the spotalong the PuneSolapurhighway after their car,which was apparently overspeeding, hit a medianand collided with a truck.
Three killed in accidentnear Pune
Shoumojit Banerjee
Pune
The State Cabinet onTuesday approved the fi��rstphase of the ₹��4,293croreMarathwada water grid project to mitigate water woesin the region.
The fi��rst phase of the project will be implemented inAurangabad and Jalna, StateMinister of Finance andPlanning, Forests SudhirMungantiwar told reportersafter the meeting.
The council of ministersalso gave a goahead for thebidding process on the basisof hybrid annuity to set upthe water grid.
Marathwada, comprisingeight districts, has traditionally been a lowrainfall areaand the grid project aims tocreate an integrated pipednetwork to supply water fordrinking, industrial and agricultural purposes allthrough the year.
Mr. Mungantiwar also announced that employees oflocal selfgovernment bodieswill receive benefi��ts of theSeventh Pay Commission.“The government will bearthe burden of ₹��409 crore annually (towards the salariesof these employees). Theemployees of municipalcouncils and panchayats willget their arrears of fi��ve years
in instalments,” he said.In another decision, the
government will set up ascheme to provide domesticgas connections. Under thisscheme, the governmentwill provide ₹��3,448 for everynew gas connection to nearly 50,000 families who donot get benefi��ts of theCentre’s Ujjwala scheme.
When asked about the demand for reservation raisedby the Lingayat community,the minister said ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavishad given instructions tofi��nd out if the demand iswithin the framework ofexisting laws.
When asked about the decision of the Maratha Kranti
Morcha, which had spearheaded the Maratha quotacampaign, to enter the frayfor the Assembly polls, Mr.Mungantiwar said everybody has the right to contestelections in a democracy.“The BJP will continue towork for the welfare of Marathas and other communities,” he said.
Meanwhile, a statementfrom Chief Minister’s Offi��cesaid the government’s shareof the viability gap fundingfor the HinjewadiShivajiagar stretch of the PuneMetro will be raised throughthe transfer of governmentland to the PuneMetropolitan Regional Development Authority.
Cabinet clears fi��rst phase of Marathwada water grid State to set up scheme to provide domestic gas connections
Press Trust of India
Mumbai
The grid project aims to create an integrated piped networkto supply water to the region all through the year. * FILE PHOTO
Selfmedication is not new toIndia. A 2015 survey conducted by Lybrate among20,000 people across 10 cities showed that 52% ofpeople practised selfmedication. But the countrylacks a welldefi��ned regulation for over the counter(OTC) medicines, importantfor patient safety.
The government is in theprocess of fi��nalising an OTCdrug policy, which maybring more clarity on thedrugs that a wider population can access. TheOrganisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India(OPPI), a body of multinational drug companies, hasworked with the governmentover the past one year byproviding inputs to the draftof the OTC policy.
The Hindu spoke to OPPIpresident Annaswamy Vaidheesh about the need forsuch guidelines and thechanges they will bringabout in healthcare.
What role did OPPI play
in creating the OTC
policy draft?
■ We brought experts together to help develop theguidelines. We also invitedcompanies like Cipla, Glenmark, Sun Pharma and others who are not members ofOPPI, but their inputs werevaluable. Additionally, wegot international experts tobring in perspective. The government has hailed the inputs and is seriously considering taking them forward.We have looked at the bestpractices in various economies and highlighted whatwe can take from them, thekind of drugs that should beincluded in the OTC list andthe ones that should not.
How will an OTC policy help?
■ First of all, when you widen access to OTC drugs, itautomatically releases thegovernment’s time and re
sources, which can be focussed on drugs that need tobe stringently prescribed.We are saying that drugs thatare known to have negligibleside eff��ects and don’t requiremuch explanation can beclassifi��ed as OTC so that access to them becomes easyand wide. These drugs canbe made easily accessible insmall towns as well. The ideais to make sure thatthe right product rests inthe rightplace. Society haslearnt thatOTC medi
cines are those that don’thave major side eff��ects buthelp improve health. Manycountries have broughtmore products under theOTC category to focus ondrugs that need to be strictlyregulated.
We also face the threat of
antibiotics resistance. Will
bringing more drugs under
the OTC category lead to
overuse or misuse?
■ An antibiotic is adrug meant to treat abacterial infection.But people who haveviral infections, fever and so on are tak
ing antibiotics, causing theresistance. However, whendrugs for common viral infections, sore throat, acidity,indigestion, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, injury,cuts, wounds, burns, acneetc are made available underOTC, people will get accessto the right medication. Many people are using suchdrugs without prescriptionanyway. But an OTC policywill improve access to drugsthat are okay to be sold asOTC and restrict access toother drugs. Besides antibiotic resistance, steroid useis also a big problem. Thereare people who use steroidcreams for skin whitening.But we are working with thegovernment to spreadawareness about the responsible use of antibiotics andsteroids.
What stage is the policy in?
■ The submission has gone;we have crossed threefourths of the passage. Thegovernment may take sixmonths or a year. It is in theprocess of fi��netuning it andconverting it into alegislation.
INTERVIEW | ANNASWAMY VAIDEESH
‘Wide access to OTC drugs frees up govt. resources’ OTC policy may take shape in six months to a year, says drug producers’ group chief
Jyoti Shelar
Mumbai <> Drugs known to
have negligible
side eff��ects … can
be classifi��ed as OTC
so that access to
them becomes
easy and wide
Following the success of acesprinter Hima Das, the Maharashtra government has decided to speed up its programme to spot Olympictalent in remote tribal regions of the State. SudhirMungantiwar, State Ministerof Finance and Planning,Forests, held backtobackmeetings on Tuesday to formalise the launch of MissionShakti and hunt for talentedathletes in remote areas.
“Through Mission Shakti,internationalquality facilities will be provided with aview to increase our medaltally in the Olympics. ActorAamir Khan will inaugurateit in Chandrapur on August4. I have reviewed the inauguration plans and the statusof development works,” Mr.Mungantiwar said, aftermeeting offi��cials.
The actor is already involved in several social initiatives of the governmentand had last year agreed toparticipate in the programme, which aims togroom tribal student for an
Olympic medal by 2024. Theprogramme for now is beingimplemented in Chandrapurand Gadchiroli districts andwill be extended to the restof the State soon. A bunch oftribal students scaled MountEverest last year, promptingthe government to announce the support systemto train and encourage future athletes.
The mission is directed towards six sporting disciplines, while grooming thestudents for selection in the2024 Olympics. The govern
ment has set aside funds atthe district level to constructfacilities and a stadium,while a mega sports complex is planned at Ballarpurin Chandrapur with a focuson six areas: archery, shooting, volleyball, swimming,weightlifting and gymnastics. “The actor had last yearpromised to visit the districts and encourage youngstudents for the mission. Weare all set to launch theevent and hope to fi��nd a Hima Das in Maharashtrasoon,” said a senior offi��cial.
State to fi��nd its own Hima Dasthrough Mission Shakti Aamir Khan to inaugurate programme in Chandrapur
Sharad Vyas
Mumbai
Role model: Hima Das has won fi��ve gold medals in a span of three weeks in Europe. * PTI
Dubious honour: Members of Goa Congress “felicitate” Umesh Kulkarni, Chief Engineer, National Highways, Public WorksDepartment (PWD), to protest the poor condition of roads in the State, at the PWD offi��ce in Panaji on Tuesday. * ATISH POMBURFEKAR
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Saying it with fl��owers
The Pune Police told theBombay High Court onTuesday that activist Gautam Navlakha, arrested inconnection with the BhimaKoregaon riots, is a member of the CPI (Maoist).
A Division Bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre was hearing aplea fi��led by Mr. Navlakhaurging the court to quashthe fi��rst information reportregistered against him.
Additional public prosecutor Aruna Kamat Pai toldthe court that Mr. Navlakhais a member of CPI (Maoist).Her arguments will continue on Wednesday.
Recently, the Bench waspresented with some letters allegedly written to Mr.Navlakha by senior Maoistleaders. After perusingthem, the court had said,“We are of the prima facieopinion that there is nothing against [Mr. Navlakha]based on the documentssubmitted to us.”
Sonam Saigal
Mumbai
Navlakha is aCPI (Maoist)member, Pune Police tell HC
It is highly improper on theCentre’s part to try andamend the Right to Information (RTI) Act, anticorruption crusader Anna Hazaresaid on Tuesday. The government’s introduction ofthe regressive RTI Amendment Bill was akin to deceiving the people of the country, he said.
Speaking at his residencein Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district, the octogenarian said the RTI Act was asolid piece of legislation empowering citizens of thecountry.
He said that while the Narendra Modi governmentwas otherwise doing goodwork, he failed to understand why the Centre wassuddenly bent upon introducing changes to the RTIAct that would only weakendemocratic institutions andpeople’s rights. “Introducing amendments like con
trolling the appointment ofinformation commissionerswill only lead to a dictatorship,” Mr. Hazare said. Thestanding committee, whichwas constituted at the timeof the drafting of the Act,had already taken into consideration all factors pertaining to the status of information commissioners, andno further change was necessary, he said.
He recalled that he hadstaged a massive ‘Jan Andolan’ (people’s protest rally)on August 9, 2006, in Alandi
near Pune to protest againstproposed amendments tothe RTI Act being consideredby the Manmohan SinghledUnited Progressive Alliancegovernment.
“Eleven days after I sat ona hunger strike, Dr. Singh,through Prithviraj Chavan,who was then Minister ofState for the Prime Minister’s Offi��ce, had sent me awritten assurance that hewould not eff��ect any changes in the RTI Act” Mr. Hazaresaid. He said he would writeto the Prime Minister on theissue and urge him not tobring about any amendments to the RTI Act.
Asked whether he wouldlead a new agitation againstthe RTI Amendment Bill, hesaid he had sat on 19 hungerstrikes in the past. “At 82, Ido not have the strength tolead new agitations. However, if the youth and citizenstake the lead, I will participate in such a demonstration,” he said.
Highly improper for Centre toamend RTI Act, says Hazare Move will weaken democratic institutions, says activist
Shoumojit Banerjee
Pune
Anna Hazare
CMYK
M ND-NDE
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DELHI THE HINDU
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SOUTH
HC bars release of Teluguremake of Hindi movieNEW DELHI
The Delhi High Court has held
that Yash Raj Films’ 2010
movie Band Baaja Baaraat,
starring Ranveer Singh and
Anushka Sharma (in picture),
was “blatantly copied” by the
makers of Telugu film
Jabardasth. The HC restrained
the makers of the Telugu film
from releasing the movie in
any format.
IN BRIEF
Kerala CPI MLA hurt inlathicharge during protestKOCHI
The CPI and the CPI(M) in
Kerala are at daggers drawn
after Eldo Abraham, CPI
legislator, was hurt in police
batoncharge during a CPI
protest on Tuesday. The
march was to demand action
against police inspector M.K.
Murali, who allegedly waylaid
CPI district secretary K. Raju
when he tried to meet AISF
activists who were injured in a
clash with SFI activists.
Another burglary atPadmavati guest house TIRUMALA
In a span of less than three
weeks, burglars struck for the
second time at one of the
guest houses in the posh
Padmavati area, and
decamped with 100 gm of
gold ornaments and ₹��20,000
in cash. According to the
police, the incident took
place when a pilgrim party,
who was put up in one of the
suites in Sannidhanam guest
house, had gone out.
Tusker tramples forestwatcher to death HASSAN
A tusker, which had been
moving around Hassan for the
last month, was spotted at
Javenahalli tank on Tuesday.
Though Forest Department
officials had driven it back
into the forest, it trampled a
forest watcher to death.
The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Tuesdaypassed fi��ve Bills aimed atpolitical, social and economical uplift of women andBackward Classes, Scheduled Castes, ScheduledTribes and minorities, in theongoing second session.
The Bills moved by Minister for Backward ClassesWelfare M. Sankaranarayanaand passed by the Assembly,include A.P. Commission forBackward Classes, otherthan Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes Bill, 2019;A.P. (50% Reservation toWomen in Works Contractsand Service Contracts Givenon Nomination) Bill, 2019;A.P. (50% Reservation toBackward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled
Tribes and Minorities inWorks Contracts and ServiceContracts Given on Nomination) Bill, 2019. A.P. (50% Reservation to Women in Nominated Posts) Bill, 2019, andA.P. (50% Reservation toBackward Classes, Sche
duled Castes, ScheduledTribes and Minorities inNominated Posts) Bill, 2019.
Members of the of rulingYSR Congress Party calledthe passage of the Bills a historic achievement by theA.P. government.
A.P. Assembly passes fi��veBills for uplift of women, BCsYSRCP members hail it as a ‘historic achievement’
Staff Reporter
VIJAYAWADA
Three TDP MLAs — K.Atchannaidu, GorantlaButchaiah Chowdary andNimmala Ramanaidu —were suspended from theA.P. Assembly on Tuesdayfor obstructing theproceedings. DeputySpeaker Kona Raghupati,who was in the Chair,announced that their
suspension would continuetill the end of the ongoingBudget session.
Trouble broke out whenthe TDP MLAs demandedimplementation of promiseof extending pension toSCs, STs, BCs andminorities, who attainedthe age of 45 years, aspromised by AndhraPradesh Chief Minister Y S.Jagan Mohan Reddy.
3 TDP MLAs suspended Staff Reporter
VIJAYAWADA
A couple from Tamil Naduwas brutally beaten up by atruck driver at Ambalavayalin the district on Sundaynight. The police identifi��edthe accused as Sajeevanand,39, of Kayattuthara.
The incident came tolight on Tuesday after a video of it went viral on socialmedia. The video revealedthat a Tamilspeaking youthwas brutally beaten up bySajeevanand, while a mobwas watching the scene.When the woman, whoclaimed to be the wife of theyouth, tried to prevent theattack, she was also beatenup by the accused. Moreov
er, he used abusive wordsagainst the couple.
Later, some youths intervened and tried to producethem before the police station. However, the couplerefused to register a case,the police said.
State Women’s Commission chairperson M.C. Josephine registered a suo motu
case on Tuesday. She saidthe police had committed afault as they failed to register a case against the culprit.
Meanwhile, Health andSocial Welfare Minister K.K.Shylaja extended her support to the couple and saidthe government wouldadopt stringent actionagainst the culprit.
T.N. couple brutallybeaten up in Wayanad Women’s panel registers suo motu case
Staff Reporter
KALPETTA An employee of a privatefi��rm, Nabeel, 26, was arrested here for allegedlysexually assaulting a 21yearold woman and abandoning her on a desertedroad on June 10. The woman had come to the cityfor internship as part ofher academic curriculumand was staying in a payingguest accommodation.
In her complaint, shesaid she met the accused inthe company where shewas interning. On June 10,Nabeel took her on a drivein his car. The accusedstopped at an isolatedplace and sexually assaulted her, she alleged.
Man held forsexual assaulton woman
Special Correspondent
Bengaluru
A view of the rejuvenated Sarakki Lake at J.P. Nagar in Bengaluru. The lake hosted birds of many varieties until it shrank and thewater quality began to deteriorate. The Sarakki Lake Area Improvement Trust took up rejuvenation work. * BHAGYA PRAKASH K.
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Back to life
Holidayers coming to Keralafor rejuvenation therapyand wellnessbased Ayurveda can look for better quality and standardised serviceswith Kerala Tourism’s newclassifi��cation scheme inplace for Ayurveda centres.
Henceforth, all classifi��edunits will have to appendthe term “Kerala TourismAyurveda Centre’ to thename of their units on brochures, signages and communications. Besides creating a brand and helpingholidayers to identify approved centres, this is expected to further promotewellnessbased Ayurveda,the USP of Kerala Tourism,and increase footfall.
Road and vehicle access,qualifi��ed doctors with ‘A’class registration from theTravancore Cochin MedicalCouncil, government ap
proved male and femalemasseurs, 24hour doctorfacility, separate treatmentrooms for men and women,Englishspeaking front offi��ce staff��, non airconditioned treatment rooms,and surveillance camerashave been made mandatoryat the Ayurveda centres.
Based on facilities andquality, the centres will beclassifi��ed as per the guidelines and checklist by a fi��vemember committee headedby the Director of Tourismas Ayur Silver, Ayur Gold,and Ayur Diamond. Ayur Silver will off��er minimum facilities and Ayur Diamond themaximum.
Ayur Silver and Ayur Goldwill replace the existingGreen leaf and Olive leaf categories, offi��cial sourcestold The Hindu. Only AyurGold and Ayur Diamond categories will be eligible forincentives and subsidies.
New classifi��cation forAyurveda centresKerala Tourism’s new initiative
S. Anil Radhakrishnan
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
An unidentifi��ed person kidnapped fouryearold Jaswith at Mandapeta town inEast Godavari district ofAndhra Pradesh on Monday.
As there was no call fromthe kidnapper and the police could not make anyheadway in the case, familymembers have expressedfears over the safety of theboy. Jaswith’s parents, Venkata Ramana and Nagavalli,are bank employees. Theywere staying in an apartment at Vijayalakshmi Nagar in Mandapeta. Jaswithwas studying UKG in a nearby school.
The miscreant allegedlykidnapped the boy around 6p.m. while he was returningafter playing in the groundand fl��ed on a bike. A few locals chased and tried in vainto nab the kidnapper.
“We were entering our
apartment building. Oneperson enquired if powerwas there. Then he slappedme and before I could realise what happened, the accused picked up Jaswith,made him to sit on a motorbike and escaped,” said theboy’s grandmotherParvathamma.
Seven teams have beenformed to trace the kidnapper and rescue the boy, thepolice said.
Son of bank employeeskidnapped in A.P. 7 teams formed to rescue the 4yearold
Staff Reporter
VIJAYAWADA
Jaswith
Another apple season hasstarted at Kanthallur inIdukki, giving a boost tofarm tourism activitiesthere. Kanthallur is the onlyplace in the State whereapples are cultivated andtourists throng the farms toenjoy the fruits.
The apple is late entrantto Kanthallur, a fruit hub,where almost all varieties offruits are grown. Everyseason has its own delicacyranging from oranges,guavas, gooseberries,blackberries, egg fruits,peaches, plums, to passionfruit, pears, and tamarillo.
However, tourists preferapples which they can pluckfrom the trees even as they
walk around the orchards.The visitors can also directlybuy the apples from thefarmers who can command
better prices at the farmgatethan in the market.
July and August are theprime apple months. The
fruits is grown atKulachivayal, Keezhanthur,Perumala, and Puthur in thegrama panchayat. Thoughapple is not the main fruit atKanthallur, farmers cultivateit with other fruit species. Itis estimated that around fi��vehectares are under applecultivation.
“It is an additionalincome to the farmers andtourists who taste it alsopurchase and pay better,”says C.T.Kuruvila, an applefarmer, adding that morefarmers are taking up applecultivation.
Kanthallur agricultureoffi��cer M. Govindaraj sayssoil and climate conditionshere are suitable for applecultivation, though theproduction depends on
weather conditions.“If the temperature drops
below O° C in the winter,apple production will bebetter. The averagetemperature favourable toapple farming in Kanthalluris 5 to 15°C. Unlike oranges,which have been cultivatedhere for decades, farmersmoved to apple cultivationjust about a decade ago withKashmiri species such asTropical Beauty and ParleBeauty grown there,” Mr.Kuruvila says. Apple treesshed leaves in January andnew leaves and fl��owersemerge by February. Themajority of the fruit ripen bythe end of July. Orange is theother attraction for thetourists visiting the orchardsin Kanthallur.
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Forget Kashmir — Kerala’s apples charm tourists
Giji K.Raman
IDUKKI
Fruit hub Kanthallur is playing host to visitors with orchards of ripe fruit ready for picking
Fresh and juicy: Tourists throng Kanthallur to taste apples thatthey can directly pluck from orchards. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Passengers at the Kempegowda International Airport(KIA) will soon have the option of boarding their fl��ightwithout producing traveldocuments at each touchpoint, with the KIA rollingout a biometrics based selfboarding facility.
Vistara passengers travelling from Bengaluru to Mumbai on Monday were the fi��rstto experience paperless travel, a facility that the airlineexpects to expand to all itsfl��ights out of the city by theend of October.
For paperless boarding, apassenger has to enroll theirID, facial biometric data and
fl��ight details at a kioskmanned by CISF personnelbefore entering the terminalarea. Thereafter, the passenger will be verifi��ed at everytouch point including baggage drop, security hold andboarding gate by the facialbiometrics basedtechnology.
Early next yearBangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), KIA’soperator, expects to deploythe paperless biometric system at over 350 passengertouch points in Terminal 1with the completion of the fi��nal phase of the project early next year, BIAL said in astatement on Tuesday.
BIAL asserted that thebiometric data would beused only for authenticationand verifi��cation of passengers to assist the boardingprocess and not for recognition. “The process off��ers thehighest degree of safety andsecurity while ensuringstringent standards of safety,” the airport operatorsaid, adding that passengerdata would be deleted within a few hours of fl��ightcompletion.
“The technology and process will be used extensivelyfor seamless fl��ow in our upcoming Terminal 2 Projectas well,” Hari Marar, MD andCEO of BIAL, said in thestatement.
Bengaluru goes live with facialbiometricsbased air travelVistara fi��rst airline to off��er paperless boarding option at KIA
Special Correspondent
Bengaluru
Declaring that he was quitting happily without anxiety,outgoing Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamyon Tuesday cautioned theBharatiya Janata Party’sChief Ministerial candidateB.S. Yeddyurappa that political instability would haunthim as reverse political defections were bound to beginsoon.
“The BJP leaders are in atearing hurry to capturepower after eff��ecting political defections from the coalition. But let’s see what happens after a week. I’m sureyou [Mr. Yeddyurappa] willsee dropping of bombs soonafter you form your Ministry,” Mr. Kumaraswamy remarked minutes before theconfi��dence motion was putto vote.
Declaring that his partywould not entertain its rebels if they want to return,Mr. Kumaraswamy felt that itwould be better to face midterm polls as the BJP had vitiated the political environment. “You look anxious,but I’m not. In fact, I’m veryhappy,” Mr. Kumaraswamytaunted Mr. Yeddyurappa.“Yes, I had wept when I hadto quit during my earlierstint as Chief Minister, butnot now.”
Recalling how Income Taxraids had taken place on various nonBJP leaders in Karnataka just ahead of the LokSabha polls, Mr. Kumaraswamy wondered why the IT department was keeping quietnow though hundreds ofcrores of rupees were allegedly changing hands whileeff��ecting defections.
He also accused the BJP oftrying to misuse the ongoinginquiry into the IMA scam topressure an MLA, who alleg
edly has a link to the scam,to toe its line. Seeking to setthe record straight on thefl��agship programme of farmloan waiver, he reeled outstatistics on the status of itsimplementation. He said₹��25,000 crore had been earmarked so far. He alsotouched upon all the majorprogrammes taken up by hisgovernment.
Refutes rebels’ claimsDebunking claims of the rebel MLAs that neglect oftheir constituencies was themain reason for them to tender resignations, Mr. Kumarsawamy furnished details tothe Legislative Assembly onhow the rebels had actuallyreceived a huge quantum offunds for development oftheir segments.
As per the statistics revealed by him, all the rebelshave got more than ₹��100crore for their constituency
in the last one year, whilesome of them have even received more than ₹��500crore.
Mr. Kumaraswamy statedthat Ramesh Jarkiholi, whobegan the episode of rebellion, had received ₹��262crore, while Munirathna hadbeen given ₹��559 crore andByrathi Basavaraj ₹��332 crore.Pratapgouda Patil had got₹��517 crore, while K.R. PetMLA Narayana Gowda, whohad been lamenting aboutlack of funds, had actuallybeen given ₹��474 crore, hesaid.
He particularly choseformer JD(S) president andrebel MLA A.H. Vishwanathfor attack by saying that hewas pained over the veteran’s remarks that his government had indulged indemonic politics.
Similarly, he alleged thatanother JD(S) rebel Gopalaiah wanted him to protect
his brother who was allegedly involved in a murder.
‘Dangerous trade’Terming the defection ofMLAs in the present scenario as “wholesale horsetrade,” Congress LegislatureParty leader Siddaramaiahon Tuesday said while wholesale trade is dangerous, retail trade is not such an issue.
“How can a democratically elected government survive if there is wholesaletrade of MLAs?” he asked.
Condemning the BJP’s attempts to form the government using unconstitutionalmethods, he said: “Horsetrading began as soon as theBJP was given 15 days by theGovernor to prove majoritylast year. If one or two MLAsare traded in retail, it is onething. If they are traded wholesale, it causes a problemfor any government.”
Political instability will hauntyou, Kumaraswamy tells BJP ‘You will see bombs dropping soon after you form your Ministry’
Special Correspondent
BENGALURU
Calling it quits: JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy submitting his resignation letter to KarnatakaGovernor Vajubhai Vala in Bengaluru on Tuesday. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
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THE HINDU DELHI
WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2019 9EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
NATION
Weather WatchRainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday
Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: INSAT/IMD (Taken at 18.00 Hrs)
Forecast for Wednesday: Heavy to very heavy rainfall likely overGoa, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Sikkim,Bihar, east Rajasthan, Kerala, Mahe, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,central Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab,Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Odisha, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura
city rain max min city rain max min
Agartala................—....35.4....27.0 Kozhikode............... 44.0....27.0....22.8
Ahmedabad........ 4.2....39.7....28.4 Kurnool .......................—....34.1....25.4
Aizawl...................—....28.5........ — Lucknow......................—....37.1....29.1
Allahabad..............—....38.0....29.2 Madurai .......................—....36.6....26.4
Bengaluru .............—....25.8....19.2 Mangaluru .............. 34.8....26.8....21.8
Bhopal ..................—....36.1....26.6 Mumbai .......................—....32.1....27.0
Bhubaneswar.........—....36.0....27.0 Mysuru ..................... 8.0....27.0....19.5
Chandigarh ...........—....36.6....28.0 New Delhi ................ 3.6....37.6....28.2
Chennai ............. 1.6....34.5....26.3 Patna ..........................—....37.4....27.6
Coimbatore ........ 2.1....30.8....20.8 Port Blair.................. 3.8....30.7....24.4
Dehradun ..............—....35.0....25.2 Puducherry ............... 0.8....33.4....25.3
Gangtok........... 41.0....20.6....18.1 Pune......................... 0.1....30.5....24.0
Goa.................. 63.0....27.8....23.6 Raipur .........................—....35.5....27.0
Guwahati ........... 0.2....33.2....26.6 Ranchi .........................—....34.4....25.0
Hubballi ................—........ —........ — Shillong.................. 10.4....25.0....17.3
Hyderabad ............—....33.0....24.6 Shimla.........................—....25.8....17.2
Imphal ..................—....27.9....22.7 Srinagar.......................—....33.1....19.5
Jaipur ...................—....39.2....27.4 Thiruvananthapuram...... 1.3....31.8....22.8
Kochi ............... 11.6....30.0....22.0 Tiruchi...................... 0.5....37.3....26.0
Kohima .............. 7.8....27.8....18.0 Vijayawada ..................—....34.6....27.2
Kolkata .................—....35.2....28.6 Visakhapatnam .............—....34.8....27.9
(Rainfall data in mm; temperature in Celsius)
Pollutants in the air you are breathing Yesterday
CITIES SO2 NO2 CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE
In observation made at4.00 p.m., Jodhpur,Rajasthan recorded anoverall air quality index(AQI) score of 187indicating a moderate levelof pollution. In contrast,Haldia, West Bengalrecorded a healthy AQIscore of 20
Ahmedabad..... ..— ..— ...— ..... — .....— ....*
Bengaluru ....... ..9 .59 .75 ..... — ...78 ....*
Chennai .......... 20 .33 .61 ....61 .....— ....*
Delhi .............. 20 .56 .48 ..142 .244 ....*
Hyderabad ...... 22 .21 .10 ....22 ...59 ....*
Kolkata........... ..6 .32 ...8 ....45 ...65 ....*
Lucknow ......... ..5 .29 .50 ..103 .....— ....*
Mumbai .......... 18 .17 109 ....21 ...46 ....*
Pune............... 68 ...8 .67 ....20 ...20 ....*
Visakhapatnam 21 .17 .18 ....27 ...46 ....*
Air Quality Code: * Poor * Moderate * Good (Readings indicate average AQI)
SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system,
making breathing difficult. It can affect visibility by reacting with other air
particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues
and monuments.
NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by
reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters.
CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to
critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause
dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death.
PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes,
nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced
lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature
death in people with heart or lung disease
Air India pilot suspendedfor faulty landingNEW DELHI
The DGCA on Tuesday
suspended an Air India
Express pilot for a year for
faulty landing under high
speed after his flight veered
off the taxiway at Mangaluru
airport last month. There
were 183 passengers and six
crew members on board.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Union andState governments to moveagainst builders defraudinghomebuyers even as it cancelled the registration of Amrapali Group under the RealEstate Regulatory Authority(RERA) and directed theStateowned National Buildings and Construction Corporation (NBCC) to completethe unfi��nished housing projects of the company in a relief for over 40,000homebuyers.
A Bench of Justices ArunMishra and U.U. Lalit listedout how the company and itsdirectors diverted the hardearned money of homebuyers on luxury watches,cars, helicopter rides, villasin tourist destinations tohave “fun”, etc. Over 70 percent of the housing projectsinitiated a decade ago remained incomplete. Families
ended up paying both theirrent and the loans due fortheir “dream home” in oneof Amrapali projects.
The court directed the Enforcement Directorate andother law enforcement agencies to investigate and nailthe people in the group responsible for fraud and mo
ney laundering. It sought aprogress report. It fi��xed thenext hearing for August 9.
The 270page judgmentmade scathing remarks atthe lender banks, Noida andGreater Noida authoritieswho remained mute spectators while the company andits directors conducted
“sham transactions” undertheir very nose. These included sublease of publicland got on huge concessions, grant of NOC for illegalmortgages, diversion ofloans to “dummy companies” run by their offi��ce boysand peons. All this withoutbothering to pay compensation to the farmers whoselands were taken away forhousing projects.
The court accused thebanks of “negligence andnonmonitoring”; of turninga blind eye to such an extentthat even the basic checkswere not done. On the otherhand, the group owed overRs.5426.09 crore to the Noida and Greater Noidaauthorities.
The judgment also exposed the ways in whichbuilders collude with banksand authorities to crush thehand which feeds them – thelower income and middleclass homebuyers.
SC moves to rein in fraudulent builders Cancels the registration of the Amrapali Group under the Real Estate Regulatory Authority
Krishnadas Rajagopal
NEW DELHI
Unfi��nished business: Over 70% of the projects initiated by thegroup a decade ago are still incomplete. * PTI
The Enforcement Directorate has summoned 11 persons in connection with amoneylaundering caseagainst the Amrapali groupand its promoters.
The agency had registered the case on July 1,based on the FIRs registered by the U.P. police following complaints lodgedby home buyers.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court directed theED to carry out moneylaundering investigationagainst the group functionaries, following evidencethat hundreds of croreswere allegedly diverted.
The agency plans to study the order to decidefurther action.
ED summons11 persons
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued alist of 23 fake universitieswhich are “selfstyled, unrecognised institutions functioning in contravention ofthe UGC Act”, warning students not to be taken in bytheir claims. Most of theseinstitutions have been on theUGC’s watchlist for well overa decade, despite the regulator’s annual claim that itsAntiMalpractice Cell(AMPC) has been taking appropriate legal actionagainst them.
Out of the 23 institutionsin Tuesday’s public notice,as many as 14 of them also
appear on the 200506 list offake universities publishedby UGC. These longterm offenders include four institutions in Delhi: CommercialUniversity, United NationsUniversity, Vocational University and ADRCentric Juridical University. Seven institutions in Uttar Pradeshhave also been on the listsince 2005: Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Mahila Gram Vidyapith/Vishwavidyalaya, Gandhi HindiVidyapeeth, National University of Electro ComplexHomeopathy, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose OpenUniversity, Uttar PradeshVishwavidyalaya and theMaharana Partap Shiksha
Niketan Vishwavidyalaya.Others, which seem to
have existed for the last 14years despite UGC’s watchlist, include the BadaganviSarkar World Open University Education Society (Karnataka), St. John's University(Kerala) and Raja Arabic University (Maharashtra).
The AntiMalpractice Cellof the UGC was set up in1995 to deal with complaintsregarding fake universities.Through the years, theUGC’s annual reports havedocumented FIRs and showcause notices fi��led againstsome of these institutions.Despite the Cell’s eff��orts,many of the institutionshave yet to shut their doors.
UGC list of fake universities: 14out of 23 around since 2005 Yet to close doors despite AntiMalpractice Cell’s eff��orts
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
A teenager died after reportedly starving for fi��ve days inOdisha’s Nuapada district,members of the Odisha Khadya Adhikar Abhiyan (Rightto Food CampaignOdisha)claimed on Tuesday.
The deceased’s sister,who was also starving, however, survived. She wasshifted to a shelter home after her brother’s death.
Waking up late on the distress of the siblings, the Odisha government issuedthem a ration card underthe Antyodaya Anna Yojana(AAY), a scheme to providehighly subsidised food tothe poorest of poor families,three days after the death.
A threemember team ofthe Right To Food Campaignvisited the village on July 13
after receiving informationabout the death of GoutamBehera, 17, a physically challenged youth. He died on July 6.
Deserted by fatherBehera was living with hissister Debanti, 22, as theirfather had deserted them after the death of theirmother.
“The siblings were denied an AAY card even afterrepeated requests by them,the villagers, and a few mediapersons,” charged Basudev Mohapatra, a seniorjournalist and member ofthe team.
After the death, the administration swung into actionand hurriedly supplied 70kg of rice after issuing anAAY card on July 9, Mr. Mohapatra alleged.
Group alleges starvationdeath of youth in OdishaStaff Reporter
BHUBANESWAR
The government on Tuesdayordered a “highlevel inquiry” into three instances offi��re that occurred at buildings owned by the stateruntelecom fi��rms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)and Mahanagar TelephoneNigam Limited (MTNL) inthree cities on Monday.
No casualitiesWhile two major incidentsoccurred at the MTNL building in Mumbai and the BSNL
building in Kolkata, one minor incident occurred in theMTNL building in New Delhi.
“These outbreaks werecontrolled by the fi��re department. No casualties of theMTNL/BSNL employees orother persons in the buildings were reported,” an offi��cial statement said.
It said while the reasonswere being established bythe fi��re and the police departments, Minister forCommunications Ravi Shankar Prasad “has ordered ahighlevel inquiry by BSNL/
MTNL in relation to the saidincidents”. He had alsoasked that the two fi��rmsshould conduct fresh fi��reand safety audit for all theirbuildings.
Services disruptedFollowing the fi��re at theninefl��oor building in Mumbai, landline services ofabout 25,000 customers andInternet services of about8,000 customers weredown. These are likely to berestored within four days.
Likewise, due to the inci
dent at the BSNL building atSalt Lake, Kolkata, mobileservices in the Andaman &Nicobar Islands and data services in West Bengal havebeen impacted and are expected to be restored in thenext 24 hours.
“Expert teams from BSNLand MTNL have been deployed round the clock toensure complete restorationof services at the aff��ectedpremises. The situation isbeing closely monitored atCMD level in both the organisations,” the statement said.
Highlevel probe into three incidents of fi��re Union Minister orders fi��re and safety audit for all their buildings
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
Rajnath announces hikein awards for NCC cadetsNEW DELHI
Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh has approved an
increase in the number of
awards given to cadets of the
National Cadet Corps (NCC)
from 143 to 243 and a big
increase in cash incentives,
the Defence Ministry said on
Tuesday.
IN BRIEF
August 31 is last date for filing IT returns NEW DELHI
The government on Tuesday
extended the due date for
filing income tax returns by
individuals for financial year
201819 by a month till
August 31. There have been
demands for an extension
date since issuance of TDS
statement was delayed. PTI
CBCID grills Mugilan in ‘rape case’KARUR
The Crime Branch CID was
given custody of
environmental activist
Mugilan alias Shanmugam for
three hours by a Karur court
in T.N. on Tuesday to
investigate him in a “rape
case” against him. The police
had originally sought him in
custody for three days.
Kerala jail launchesfreedom combo packKOLLAM
Customised for online sales,
the Kollam District Jail
launched its freedom combo
pack priced ₹��125. The combo
includes biriyani, chapati,
chicken curry, dessert and
bottled water. The meal will
be prepared by 14 inmates of
the jail and homedelivered
to the customers.
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DELHI THE HINDU
WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 201910EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
CMYK
M ND-NDE
EDITORIAL
J.V.R. Prasada Rao
The Joint UN programme onAIDS, commonly known asUNAIDS, is facing one of the
worst challenges affl��icting the global AIDS response — this time anexistential threat questioning itsvery relevance. The UN SecretaryGeneral, António Guterres, is expected to appoint a new executivedirector after the departure of Michel Sidibé in May 2019 on the recommendation of the programmecoordinating board which manages the organisation. There arestrong contenders from Africa andthe U.S. in the reckoning amongthose who have been shortlisted.
A pivotal roleAt such a crucial time, it is disturbing to hear voices again questioning the relevance of UNAIDS forthe global response.
There are suggestions that AIDSshould go back to the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO) whereit originally belonged to some 25years ago. And that the new executive director should be equipped
with an exit strategy to wind upthe organisation.
Since its establishment in 1994,UNAIDS has been able to successfully mobilise world opinion tomount an exceptional response toan epidemic which has consumedover 20 million lives with still noeff��ective treatment or cure. TheUN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) 2001 was a gamechanger with the adoption of apolitical resolution that itself wasexceptional in many ways. Thecreation of a Global Fund to FightAIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria(GFATM) and the slashing of pricesof AIDS drugs by Indian genericshave brought treatment within thereach of many countries. Todaysome 22 million people are underantiretroviral therapy (ART) andpreventing mothertochild transmission of HIV has become anachievable goal by 2020. The organisation has provided leadership to many countries which in 10years (20012010) could halt theepidemic and reverse the trend.
The epidemic is still aliveHowever, at a time when it shouldbe leading the global response toend AIDS as a public health threat,the organisation has started to falter in its strategy. First came theextremely optimistic messagingblitz that the world was going to
see the end of AIDS very soon.This is far from true. Regions suchas eastern Europe and Central Asiaand West Asia are nowhere nearreaching that goal, with manycountries such as Russia witnessing a raging epidemic among drugusers and men who have sex withmen (MSM) communities. Withthe top leadership in UNAIDS exhorting countries to bring AIDS“out of isolation” and integratewith health systems, the politicalleadership in many countries havethought that AIDS is no more achallenge.
Second has been the thinkingthat the AIDS epidemic can simplybe treated away by saturating antiretroviral (ARV) coverage. Nothingcould be farther from the truth. Itis forgotten that AIDS aff��ects thepoor, the marginalised and criminalised communities disproportionately as they face challenges inaccessing the ‘test and treat’ programmes. The ever increasingnumber of young people who are
joining the ranks of vulnerablepopulations do not get preventionmessages like in the past. Nationalprogrammes do not any more consider condoms, sexual educationand drug harm reduction as central to the prevention of HIV transmission that results from unprotected sex and drug use. Fundingfor nongovernmental organisations and communitybased organisations working on preventionhas virtually dried up.
Third has been the weakeningof country leadership of UNAIDSin many highprevalence countries. Senior countrylevel positions are, in many instances, heldby people who do not possess thecore competence to constructivelyengage political leadership to undertake legal reforms and provideaccess to services to marginalisedpopulations.
Weakening activismBut the biggest setback has beenthe lost voice of vulnerable communities which was the main driving force of AIDS response in thedecade after UNGASS. Activismsurrounding AIDS has suddenlyfi��zzled out emboldening manycountries, especially in Africa, tofurther stigmatise and discriminate by enacting new laws that criminalise vulnerable sections ofsociety.
To add to its woes, the chargesagainst one of the senior most staff��and his exit from the organisationhave seriously compromised UNAIDS at a time when the global response needs its leadership themost. The new executive directorwill have an unenviable task of notjust restoring the credibility andrelevance of the organisation butstrengthening its presence atcountry level and making it moremeaningful to the communitieswhich look to it for leadership. Thenew executive director has towork relentlessly to place prevention of the epidemic and empowering communities at the centreof global response.
With 1.7 million new infectionsand one million deaths occurringevery year, we can’t aff��ord to dropthe ball half way. The commitmentto end AIDS by 2030 is ambitiousbut not impossible to achieve.What we need is a reenergisedUNAIDS with a strong and fearlessleadership from a person of highintegrity and commitment alongwith a sincere eff��ort to remove thedeadwood from the organisation.Any thought of winding it up orgiving the mandate back to WHOwould be suicidal at this moment.
J.V.R. Prasada Rao is a former Health
Secretary, Government of India. The views
expressed are personal
Faltering steps in the anti-AIDS march The commitment to end the AIDS pandemic by 2030 needs strong and fearless leadership
GE
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Y IM
AG
ES/IS
TO
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more letters online:
www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/
Ties between India and Pakistan are at an ebb — their lowest in two decades. The
thread from this phase, as a seriesof events — the Kargil war (1999),the Agra Summit (2001), the attackon Parliament (2001) and Operation Parakram (200102) — meant asustained period of deep hostilities, with diplomatic missionsdowngraded and travel routestruncated. Since 2015 and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s Lahorevisit in the same year, the leadersof both countries have not met fortalks. In mid2018, the backchannel diplomacy between the National Security Advisers of bothcountries was called off�� by Pakistan, while in September 2018, India called off�� a planned meetingbetween the Foreign Ministers inNew York. In the wake of the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu andKashmir in February this year, India attacked terror targets in Pakistan which in turn sent fi��ghter jetsto the border. Subsequently, afterIndia moved missiles and deployed submarines, Pakistanraised a full air alert and imposedan airspace ban that lasted till midJuly.
Unbroken threadWhat has been disconnected fromall those tensions are the talks onthe Kartarpur corridor. The off��erfrom Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan to open the corridor wasconveyed fi��rst by Pakistan ArmyChief General Qamar Javed Bajwa,and accepted by Mr. Modi, marking a rare moment of coordinationbetween the two nations.
That the talks have continuedthrough one of the most diffi��cultyears in the relationship is equallyremarkable; there have been threerounds of technicallevel meetingsto ensure both sides complete theinfrastructure needed before November 2019, the 550th anniversary of Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak.
The symbolism for pilgrimswho will be able to travel from Dera Baba Nanak town in Punjab tothe Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur just a few kilometres insidePakistan, which are sites whereGuru Nanak spent his last fewyears, goes well beyond the dateand year. This is a route that theGuru and his followers traversedwith ease for half a millennium until Partition resulted in the IndiaPakistan border cutting through it.While Sikh pilgrims have been given easy access since then to GuruNanak’s birthplace at Nankana Sahib, the circuitous 200 km route toKartarpur via AmritsarWagah hasbeen off�� limits. The Kartarpurshrine has one of the last copies ofthe original Guru Granth Sahib;there are some who believe that itcontains not only the wisdom ofthe 10 Gurus but is itself the 11thand last Guru. Giving life to thewishes of so many will also ensurepolitical dividends in India, an aspect no government in the State orat the Centre can ignore.
Some irritantsDespite the rich signifi��cance of thecorridor, there were many reasonsfor the earlier hesitation to revivethe project. The Kartarpur corridor project is an issue that hasbeen raised by India for several decades, with New Delhi’s reasonsfor wanting the corridor clear. However, in the case of Pakistan,these have not been as transparent, with the military establishment’s surprise backing onlyraised doubts on whether Islama
bad has an ulterior motive. In adossier handed over during thelast round of talks on Kartarpur onJuly 14, India spelt out its apprehensions over Pakistan allowingseparatist Khalistani groups, including those funded by groupsbased in the United Kingdom, theUnited States and Canada, to tryand infl��uence pilgrims. Of specifi��cconcern is the ‘Referendum 2020’plan by the Sikhs for Justice group(banned by India).
This group has already held aseries of public events in the U.S.and the U.K. demanding a ‘worldwide referendum’ on a separateSikh state. The other irritant is thepossible use of the corridor fordrugs and arms movement; thereare many routes and tunnels at theborder between the two Punjabs.The terror threat by Pakistani Punjabbased antiIndia groups suchas the LashkareToiba and theJaisheMohammad is also a constant concern.
Agreeing to the Kartarpur corridor means the government hasmade an exception from a matterconcerning national policy for amatter of faith. In the last fewyears, every avenue has been shutdown from those for offi��cial, bilateral and regional (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) talks to even those for traveland tourism. Trade too has groundto a halt with crossLine of Control(LoC) trade route suspension thelatest casualty.
With such strictures in place,New Delhi’s decision to embark ona course that will need regular andrepeated IndiaPakistan meetingsis nothing short of a breach of itsotherwise fi��rm “no talks withoutterror ending” policy. For example, at a time when Indian and Pakistani Ministers do not even holdtalks when they meet at multilateral conferences, New Delhi senttwo senior Ministers to Pakistan toparticipate in the groundbreakingceremony for the event. It remainsto be seen who the governmentwill send to the inauguration, andwhether Mr. Modi, who has likened building the Kartarpur corridor to the fall of the Berlin wall,will grace the occasion.
A range of possibilitiesWith the Kartarpur exception toIndia’s policy on Pakistan now established, it is necessary to seewhether it can be built on to createa mechanism for broader conversations between India and Pakistan. The obvious extension fromthis would be for having otherfaithbased “corridors” for Hindu,Muslim and Sikh pilgrims in bothcountries; this would be in addition to the list of 20 shrines (15 inPakistan, fi��ve in India) that werenegotiated under the 1974 Protocolon visits to Religious Shrines.
The template that Kartarpurhas given both sides is also worthconsidering for the format of otherbilateral negotiations given thatthe talks have been immunisedfrom both terror attacks and election rhetoric. The venue of thetalks, at the AttariWagah zeropoint, lends itself to more successful outcomes too away from theglare of the media, without focuson arrangements for both parties.The two sides can cross over, meetfor the duration of talks and returnafter issuing a prearranged jointstatement.
The timing of the Kartarpur
opening may also lend itself to exploring other bilateralengagements.
Ahead of the next plenary of theFinancial Action Task Force (FATF)in October, Pakistan will remainunder pressure to keep terrorgroups subdued. According to various reports, infi��ltration fi��gures atthe LoC are signifi��cantly lower (a43% reduction since the Balakotstrikes in February); offi��cials havemarked about 20 terror camps inPoK they believe have been “shutdown” recently. Civilian and military casualties from ceasefi��re violations have also reduced. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’sgovernment, which has been buoyed by Mr. Khan’s U.S. visit andby Pakistan’s newfound acceptance in the international community for its role in Taliban talks,and Mr. Modi’s government, whichhas been bolstered by its strongelectoral mandate, will also be inthe strongest positions politicallyto forge agreements.
Thus, it would be a travesty towaste the opportunity made possible by the Kartarpur corridor, andby extension, the founder of theSikh faith himself (revered by Hindus and Muslims in India and Pakistan) to bring both countriesback to the table for talks. Themost famous story at Kartarpur isthe one of the ‘miracle’ that GuruNanak wrought after his death ashis Hindu and Muslim followersdebated late into the night whether their Guru should be crematedor buried. When they awoke, hisbody had vanished, replaced byfl��owers which they divided up.The Guru Nanak’s ‘samadhi’ andgrave were built side by side. Aspilgrims across the border pay avisit in November, it should beclear what the bigger miracle is:that the Kartarpur exception hasbeen made at all.
A bridge across the India-Pakistan abyss It would be a travesty to waste the opportunities made possible by the Kartarpur corridor plan
Suhasini Haidar
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Trump and the ‘K’ wordThe claim by U.S. PresidentDonald Trump that PrimeMinister Narendra Modibroached the subject of Mr.Trump’s mediation on theKashmir issue during themeeting of the two leadersin Osaka in June, isstunning (Page 1, “I wouldlove to be a mediator onKashmir: Donald Trump”,July 23). Is it a white lie? Oris it a political gimmick?Even if India had sought hisassistance, the fact that theU.S. has all along beenproviding militaryassistance to Pakistanwould by itself makeAmerica very unsuitable asa mediator.B.V.K. Thampi,
Thiruvananthapuram
■ Mr. Trump’s off��er couldwell be a trap, a product ofhis meeting with the PakistanPrime Minister. The U.S. hasa history of long friendshipwith Pakistan. There may bea hitch at present in their
relationship but selfinteresthas always been a priority inAmerican foreign policy. Theoff��er may be a part of astrategy relating to PakistanChina policy. Once we aredrawn to the mediationtable, our contention ofsovereignty over Kashmirwill be jeopardised. S. Rajagopalan,
Chennai
■ It is signifi��cant that as noless than the POTUS himselfhas named the Indian PrimeMinister as personally havingsought Mr. Trump’smeditation, it is in the fi��tnessof things and in keeping withthe best parliamentarytraditions that the PrimeMinister off��ers his ownclarifi��cation on the fl��oor ofthe House even if it meanscausing personalembarrassment to Mr.Trump, who is not known toobserve diplomatic niceties.If Mr. Modi chooses toremain silent fearing adiplomatic backlash from the
U.S., a doubt about who iseconomical with the truthwill gain ground hurting thePrime Minister’s credibility. S.K. Choudhury,
Bengaluru
■ India may maintain that theKashmir issue should beresolved bilaterally but thefact is that there have beenregular global interventionsas far as IndiaPakistanrelations are concerned.During the Kargil intrusionsin 1999, it was the Clintonadministration which ledPakistan to step back. Alsoafter 9/11, it was the U.S. andthe U.K. which helped inblacklisting Pakistanbasedterror outfi��ts. India has reliedon global support when itcomes to cornering Pakistan.Therefore, Mr. Trumpwanting to be a mediatorshould not raise hackles.Harvinder Singh Chugh,
Jalandhar, Punjab
■ Mr. Trump is turning out tobe an inexperienced
statesman, examples beinghis meddling in Obamacare,his unilaterally scrapping theIran nuclear deal, verbalattacks on European leadersand his mishandling of theimmigrants issue in the U.S.Mr. Trump needs to set hisown house in order fi��rstbefore he can even think ofmediating on Kashmir.T. Anand Raj,
Chennai
■ The U.S. has most oftenbeen at the wrong end ofunderstanding thegeopolitical aff��airs ofdeveloping countries,Vietnam, Iran and Iraq beingexamples. America’s attemptto help these countries hasended in disastrous results.In the Kashmir confl��ict, amediator must understandthe sociocultural context ofthe State as well as its historywhich Mr. Trump is clearlyunaware of. I am sure that the PrimeMinister, despite hisshortcomings, did not raise
Narcotic hubThat it is not just youngstersfrom ‘dysfunctional families’but also those from ‘perfectlynormal families’ who arebecoming drug victims“solely for recreationalpurposes” is alarming(’Ground Zero’ page,““Ecstacy and the agony”,July 20). This is possibly dueto a lack of proper parentalmonitoring, compoundedwhen one or both parentsis/are working abroad as inKerala. The pocket moneybeing given to middle andupperclass youngsters isway beyond basicrequirements. The statement thatUthamapuram is “notoriousfor ganja trade but remainsout of bounds forenforcement agencies” isbaffl��ing. The “Student PoliceCadet” scheme must beemulated across India.Kosaraju Chandramouli,
Hyderabad
the question of mediationseriously with Mr. Trump.Observing the U.S.’s previousattempts at mediation, itwould be much better if theprocess involved only Indiaand Pakistan even if it takesanother 70 years.Hannah Jacob P.,
Bengaluru
The ISRO modelThe successful launch ofChandrayaan2 demonstrateswhat India is capable ofdoing if there is unwaveringfocus and funding. Thesuccessful model of ISROshould be replicated in thedefence sector especiallywhen India is spendingbillions of rupees buyingarms. If we can develop acredible weaponsmanufacturing ecosystemthat is on a par with ourspace industry, we can savebillions and also tap thebillion dollar internationalweapons market.Dr. N. Rathan Prasad Reddy,
Gajwel, Telangana
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.
In the past, a tour of the West Indies was deemed the
toughest endeavour for any cricketer. Reputations
were either enhanced or lost and fractures seemed
imminent in the battles against the fi��ery fast bowlers,
while the crowds requested the perfumeball, a euphe
mism for a nasty bouncer. But times change, and the in
herent quality of the Caribbean squads has declined so
much that a sporting visit to the isles with their sunny
beaches is seen as an exercise towards etching tri
umphs, fattening batting averages and multiplying bow
ling yields. With this as the backdrop, India will fl��y half
way across the earth for a set of three Twenty20s —
interestingly, two of them are being hosted in the Unit
ed States of America — three ODIs and two Tests against
the West Indies from August 3 to September 3. India will
be the favourites across the three formats, though in li
mited overs games, where the abridged nature of the
sport tends to iron out the fl��aws, the host might fancy
its chances. The tour, coming as it does close on the
heels of the World Cup in England, presents an oppor
tunity for India to look ahead, make a few changes in
personnel and prepare for the future. Transition always
coincides with the quadrennial World Cup and India
too is part of that global trend.
M.S. Dhoni has straddled three generations, the one
that had Sachin Tendulkar, the second with the likes of
Yuvraj Singh and the latest under Virat Kohli as captain.
The former India captain has held fi��rm in a storied ca
reer of triumphs, losses, frenzied runs, sharp catches
and quicksilver stumpings, but at 38 he is near his crick
eting twilight. Though he avoided retiring from the blue
shade by preferring to serve the Army in his role as an
honorary lieutenant colonel, Dhoni presented an op
portunity to M.S.K. Prasad and his fellow selectors to
fasttrack Rishabh Pant as the fi��rstchoice wicketkeep
er batsman across all formats. Dhoni, who retired from
Tests in 2014, might still make appearances in the shor
ter versions, and there is speculation about next year’s
Twenty20 World Cup in Australia being his preferred
last stop. But it all depends on what the selectors and
Kohli prefer as they look at building the team afresh for
the 2023 World Cup in India. The imminent West Indies
tour will help the team management get a fair idea
about the potential in the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Mayank
Agarwal, Manish Pandey, Rahul Chahar, Krunal Pan
dya, Washington Sundar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Cha
har and Navdeep Saini, besides the other regulars. The
opposition may be depleted, but for these players,
hope fl��oats and a crucial August awaits.
Caribbean cruise India goes to the West Indies sensing
more cricketing opportunities than threats
Facing a furore in Parliament over the issue, the go
vernment has clarifi��ed in no uncertain terms that
Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not request
U.S. President Donald Trump to “mediate or arbitrate”
on the Kashmir issue, as Mr. Trump claimed on Mon
day. Addressing Parliament, External Aff��airs Minister S.
Jaishankar said India remains committed to its policy of
discussing all outstanding issues with Pakistan only bi
laterally, and assured the House that Mr. Modi did not
raise this with Mr. Trump at their recent meeting in Osa
ka during the G20 summit. In making the claim that
has been roundly denied by New Delhi, Mr. Trump
breached several welllaid diplomatic protocols, includ
ing one against discussing privileged conversations
with a leader, during a public conversation with anoth
er. Mr. Trump also said a “lot” of his talks with the Pa
kistan Prime Minister would focus on India and Afghan
istan, an odd departure from the precept of putting
bilateral issues to the fore, and being more discreet
when discussing sensitive relations involving other
countries. For New Delhi, it may be time to recognise
that Mr. Trump’s comments are a sign of new realities in
international diplomacy, where leaders care less about
niceties and more about open communication. Mr. Mo
di will have to prepare accordingly for some plain
speaking when he visits the U.S. and meets with Mr.
Trump, as he is expected to, in September this year.
In the short term, the government’s decision to ad
dress the claim by Mr. Trump will have nipped any re
percussions in the bud. The government should pursue
the issue through diplomatic channels with the U.S. go
vernment, and determine whether Mr. Trump made
the comments out of confusion or deliberately. India
has always opposed any suggestion of thirdparty me
diation on Jammu and Kashmir; both the 1972 Shimla
Agreement and the 1999 Lahore declaration included
India’s and Pakistan’s commitment to resolving issues
between them. It is unlikely that Mr. Modi would have
spoken out of line with this policy, and the most charit
able explanation for Mr. Trump’s new contention is that
he mistook India’s appeal to the international commun
ity to hold Pakistan accountable for terror groups on its
soil that carry out attacks in Kashmir, for a general de
sire for mediation. Mr. Trump’s comment in March that
the U.S. successfully mediated for the release of cap
tured fi��ghter pilot Abhinandan by Pakistan may have
even given him some hope that the U.S. could play a
larger role on the Kashmir issue, and New Delhi would
need to address that. A more worrying proposition is
that Mr. Trump took the line favoured by his Pakistani
interlocutors on Kashmir as a way of enhancing his own
plans for a pullout from Afghanistan with Pakistan’s
help on security and talks with the Taliban. While the
damage from Mr. Trump’s words may not have a very
lasting impact on IndiaU.S. ties, that from any rushed
measures to force a resolution in Afghanistan will have
farreaching and lasting impact, including on India.
What suits TrumpThe U.S. President violated diplomatic
protocols in talking of mediation on Kashmir
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THE HINDU DELHI
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CMYK
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Indian castoroil has now been proved to bean excellent lubricant and the scarcity ofmineral oils here has made people to resortto the vegetable lubricant so much so that itsprices have soared very high in the pastsome months. In February 1918 the export ofcastoroil was restricted to the United Kingdom but the restriction was removed on22nd February 1919. Owing to the failure ofthe southwest monsoon in June and July,the 19181919 crop of castorseed was about25 per cent, smaller than the large crop of19171918. There was a strong local demandfor the oil which was extensively used as a lubricant in the absence of the usual minerallubricating oil. Local prices helped by speculation, it is stated, rose considerably varyingfrom Rs. 125 to Rs. 225 per candy of 500 lb.and reached fi��gures at which the Ministry ofFood was unwilling to buy and increase itslarge stocks in England. The total shipmentsamounted to 559,881 gallons in 191819against 920,758 gallons during the previousyear, practically the whole of which went tothe United Kingdom. The scope for the increased production of castor as a lubricantthus promises to be wide; and it would bewell if the Agricultural Department woulddevote some attention to this raising of castor seeds.
A HUNDRED YEARS AGO JULY 24, 1919.
Castor-oil prices.
The Nagaland government’s move tocompile a Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) opensup possibilities in the context of thedecision to link the register to the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system withouta consensus on the defi��nition of an‘indigenous inhabitant’.
One such possibility is of RIINpushing the negotiators engaged inthe ongoing Naga peace talks to articulate new and hardened positions onthe contentious issue of integrationof contiguous Nagainhabited areas.
Though the offi��cial notifi��cation onRIIN has not mentioned a cutoff�� dateto compile the proposed register, theauthorities in Nagaland have till dateissued indigenous inhabitant certifi��cates using December 1, 1963 as thecutoff�� date. Nagaland was inaugurated as India’s 16th State on this datefollowing the ‘16point agreement’between the government of Indiaand the Naga People’s Convention onJuly 26, 1960.
Opposition from NSCN (I-M)The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (IsakMuivah), which has beenengaged in peace talks with the government of India since 1997, has opposed the compilation of RIIN asserting that “all Nagas, wherever theyare, are indigenous in their land byvirtue of their common history”.
A statement issued by the ‘Ministry of Information and Publicity’ ofthe selfstyled Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim reads:“The present move of the State government to implement [the] Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) is contradictory to theinherent rights of the Nagas. It is politically motivated to suit the interestof the groups advocating for the ‘16Point Agreement’. The ‘NagalandState’ does not and will not representthe national decision of the Naga people. It was formed purely to dividethe Nagas.” The selfstyled government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim is the parallel government runby the NSCN(IM).
On June 29, the Nagaland government notifi��ed that RIIN “will be themasterlist of all indigenous inhabitants” of the State. All those to be included will be issued “barcoded andnumbered indigenous inhabitantcertifi��cates”. It added that all existingindigenous inhabitant certifi��cateswould become invalid once the process of compiling RIIN is completedand fresh certifi��cates issued.
RIIN is diff��erent from Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) asexclusion or inclusion in RIIN is notgoing to determine the Indian citizenship of anyone in Nagaland.
Three conditionsSince 1977, a person, in order to beeligible to obtain a certifi��cate of indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland, hasto fulfi��l either of these three conditions: a) the person settled permanently in Nagaland prior to December 1, 1963; b) his or her parents orlegitimate guardians were payinghouse tax prior to this cutoff�� date;and c) the applicant, or his/her parents or legitimate guardians, acquired property and a patta (landcertifi��cate) prior to this cutoff�� date.
The compilation of RIIN also involves the complexities of decidingclaims in respect of children of nonNaga fathers as well as nonNaga children adopted by Naga parents.
If the Nagaland government goesahead with a compilation of RIIN
with this cutoff�� date, then all Nagapeople who have migrated to theState from the neighbouring States ofAssam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh and elsewhere in India after thisday will have to be excluded.
The NSCN(IM) statement adds,“Nothing is conclusive on the Nagaissue, until and unless a mutuallyagreed honourable political solutionis signed between the two entities.Therefore, any attempt to dilute thefi��nal political settlement by justifyingany past accord of treasons shouldbe seriously viewed by all Nagas.”
This clearly indicates the opposition the Nagaland government mayhave to face if it goes ahead with themove to compile RIIN. The Centreand the NSCN (IM), which is the largest among all armed Naga rebelgroups, signed a Framework Agreement in 2015, the content of whichhas still not been made public, inturn leaving room for speculation onthe contentious issue of integrationof all contiguous Nagainhabitedareas of Assam, Nagaland, Manipurand Arunachal Pradesh.
Unless otherwise clarifi��ed throughan offi��cial notifi��cation, the proposedlinking of RIIN with the ILP systemmay require large numbers of nonindigenous inhabitants of Dimapur district, more particularly the commercial hub (Dimapur town), to obtainan ILP to carry out daytoday activities. Most of them migrated from oth
er States and have been carrying outtrade, business and other activitiesfor decades. Migration also explainsthe higher density of population inDimapur district (409 persons persq. km) when compared to all theother districts in the State. The ILP isa travel document issued by the government of India to allow a ‘domestic tourist’ to enter Nagaland, and isvalid for 30 days.
Streamlining ILPThe Supreme Court, on July 2, dismissed a Public Interest Litigationseeking a directive against the Nagaland government’s move to implement the ILP in the entire State including Dimapur district, which hadso far been kept out of the purview ofthe ILP system.
A report prepared by the government, in collaboration with theUNDP in 2009, gave information onmigration patterns in Nagaland. Titled ‘RuralUrban Migration: A Thematic Report’, it said that in 2001, Assam was the State with the highestnumber of migrants to Nagaland(19,176 people), followed by Bihar(7,249 people) and Manipur (4,569people). A large section of people(about 45% of them in the case of Assam, 59% in the case of Bihar and25% in the case of Manipur) had migrated for better employment andbusiness opportunities.
While the move to streamline theILP system to curb the infl��ux of “illegal migration” to Nagaland has beenwelcomed by civil society, publicopinion is still divided on compilingRIIN without a consensus on the cutoff�� date.
As the Nagaland government hasbegun a consultation process on RIIN, it will be under pressure to delink the work of streamlining the ILPmechanism from the proposed register and put it on hold till the ongoingpeace process concludes and the fi��nal solution is worked out.
Besides this, the complexities thatmay arise in streamlining the ILP mechanism due to nonissuance ofdomicile certifi��cates or permanentresidence certifi��cates to a large number of nonNaga, nonindigenous inhabitants could also make the taskeven more diffi��cult for the NeiphiuRioled Nagaland government.
Sushanta Talukdar is Editor, nezine.com, abilingual online magazine on the Northeast
The Nagaland govt. will face many hurdles in its quest to compile a list of indigenous inhabitants
Sumi tribesman performing a warrior dance during the Tuluni festival inDimapur, Nagaland, in 2016. * GETTY IMAGES
The complexities of Naga identity
Sushanta Talukdar
The advancing monsoon has brought reliefto many parts of India, but its progress hasbeen slower than average and the country isstill in the midst of a rainfall defi��cit, with millions facing an acute water shortage. Water isessential for human survival, and for agriculture and industry. It is important that India —which has only 4% of the world’s renewablewater resources but about 18% of the world’spopulation — consumes water more sensibly.
In India’s pursuit of 100% electrifi��cationgoal, the country’s installed power capacitywill need to be doubled. Even with thegrowth of renewable energy (RE), coal hasbeen projected to be the backbone of theelectricity sector till 2030 and beyond. Managing the electricity needs of a countrythat’s already dealing with water scarcity willbe a challenge.
Located in water-scarce areasThermal power plants (TPPs) consume signifi��cant amounts of water during the electricity generation process. Most of India’sTPPs are located in waterstressed areas, andwater shortages have led to electricitygeneration disruptions and signifi��cant revenuelosses to the economy.
In December 2015, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issueda notifi��cation setting limits for water consumption by TPPs. However, the amendedEnvironment Protection (EP) Rules codifi��edin June 2018 ended up permitting TPPs touse more water than what was initially specifi��ed. There are certain mechanisms thatneed to be strengthened to make these regulations more eff��ective.
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA)recently released the format for TPPs to report on their annual water consumption.The power plants were asked to specify bothmetered and unmetered usage, report onthe source (like river, canal or sea), and statethe percentage of deviation from the waternorms, along with the reasons and the corrective measures undertaken.
These guidelines can be strengthened byincluding other relevant inputs. First, TPPsshould disclose the amount of water consumed by them in previous years, so that abaseline for water consumption per TPP can
be established, and subsequent reductionsin water consumption can be quantifi��ed. Second, these reporting requirements — currently in the form of an Excel sheet on theCEA website — must be added to the EPRules, to accord the disclosure process greater transparency and enforceability. Third,TPPs should also be required to submit verifi��able evidence (for example, water bills) tosupport and substantiate the disclosures.Without these, the selfreporting guidelineswill remain weak.
Finally, the data supplied by TPPs shouldbe placed in the public domain, so that theparameters disclosed can be studied in thecontext of regionspecifi��c water shortages,outages in the plants, and future researchand analysis in this fi��eld.
Specifying penaltiesSection 15 of the EP Act provides for a blanket penalty for contravention of any provisions of the Environment Protection Act orEP Rules: up to fi��ve years of imprisonmentand/or up to ₹��1 lakh fi��ne along with additional daily fi��nes for continuing off��ences. However, the Act does not stipulate specifi��c penalties for specifi��c off��ences. Perhaps this is anarea for review by the government, so thatwe have a more nuanced framework for enforcement and penalties.
Further, the relevant offi��cials in charge ofenforcement, across the Ministry and theCEA, should be identifi��ed, and their rolesclearly defi��ned. The implementation ofthese norms should include milestones andtimebased targets, and periodic monitoringof the progress of TPPs in makingimprovements.
In addition to reducing the stress causedby TPPs, shifting to a more aggressive REpathway will help India achieve its global climate targets. However, this will need furtherwork — particularly to regulate water consumption by specifi��c RE technologies. TheMinistry of New and Renewable Energy hastaken a fi��rst step by issuing a notice to Stategovernments on reducing water use forcleaning solar panels and to explore alternative mechanisms to ensure that solar panelsremain effi��cient.
India will need to balance the needs of itsgrowing economy with its heightening waterstress. Stringent implementation of standards for judicious water use by TPPs, combined with the promotion of RE and energyeffi��ciency, will off��er pathways for achievingthese goals.
The writers work with the energy programme at theWorld Resources Institute, India
Making the waterguzzlingthermal plants accountableAn improved monitoring mechanism can play a key role
Parul Kumar
Bharath Jairaj
Prime Minister Narendra Modi metSouth Korean President Moon Jaeinon the sidelines of the G20 summitlast month in Osaka. Both agreed tofi��nd common ground between Seoul’s ‘New Southern Policy’ and NewDelhi’s ‘Act East Policy’.
Today, India and South Korea havethe shared values of open society, democracy and liberal internationaleconomic order and their mutual engagement is at a historically unprecedented level. Signifi��cant strides havebeen made in several areas of scienceand technology.
The IndoKorea Science and Technology Centre, established in Bengaluru in 2010 as a collaboration between the Indian Institute of Scienceand the Korea Institute of Scienceand Technology, is a shining examplein this regard.
The emerging balance of power inthe region has also started infl��uencing the trajectory of defence ties. Coproduction of the K9Thunder howitzer is aprime example of the ongoing defence collaboration. With technologytransfer from South Korea, India’s Larsen andToubro plans to achieveover 50% localisation by manufacturing the key components of these weapon systems domestically as part of‘Make in India’. Further, both countries have regularised education exchanges. Additionally, there is regular security dialogue between India’sNational Security Adviser and the intelligence agencies of Korea.
The fallout of trade warThe ongoing trade war between U.S.and China has also started playing into IndiaSouth Korea bilateral ties asSouth Korean companies are nowfi��nding it more diffi��cult to sell theirproducts in the U.S., whenever theyare produced in their Chinesebranches. Growing trade tensionshave forced South Korean companiesto contemplate moving their production facilities to locations outside China. India is emerging as a prime benefi��ciary here, not least because ofthe considerable size of the Indian
domestic market, its cheap labourcosts and a stable legal system.
At the Osaka meeting, both leadersemphasised the need to create a new“synergy” to meet new challenges.Since India opened up its economy inthe early 1990s, IndiaSouth Koreatrade ties have grown from fewhundred million dollars to $22 billionat the end of 2018. Today the majoritems that India exports to South Korea include mineral fuels, oil distillates (mainly naphtha), cereals and,iron and steel. South Korea’s main exports to India include automobileparts and telecommunication equipment, among others.
Trade target likely to be missedHowever, despite the robust ties, noteverything is going as planned. Thetrade target of $50 billion by 2030 ismost likely to be missed due to lackof adequate eff��orts. The Comprehen
sive Economic Partnership Agreement, originally the coremechanism for economic ties, requires immediate upgrading. An early harvest agreed to lastyear, under which Indiaagreed to reduce tariff��on 11 commodities andSouth Korea on 17, failed
to see completion.More than eight years into its exis
tence, the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ICCK), is strugglingto fi��nd its due space in promotingeconomic and business ties andspends most of its time organising social and cultural events. A new, empowered commerce body is the urgent need of the hour. The IndianCultural Centre, established morethan ten years ago, has failed to reachout to common South Koreans, whostill fail to diff��erentiate between Indiaand Indonesia. While it teaches regional dance forms to children, thebigger picture of introducing India tothe general South Korean populationhas been lost. Further, social andeconomic discrimination against Indians working and living in South Korea is still a regular occurrence.
The writer is a Seoul-based geo-strategist
Giving ties with Seoul a facelift
IndiaSouth Korea relations are yet to reach theirfull potential despite making signifi��cant strides
Lakhvinder Singh
The United States plans to put a space workshop into orbit in 1972, the Space Agency announced here [Houston] yesterday [ July 22].The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said the third stage of thegiant Saturn 5 rocket used to send Apollospaceships to the moon would be used tohouse the orbiting laboratory and observatory. The project will study man’s physiological and psychological responses in thespace environment, and provide more detailed information on his capabilities for extended manned fl��ight. The workshop is to befi��tted out on the ground and will belaunched into a 220 nautical mile circularearth orbit. It will be occupied by a crew ofthree astronauts who will follow in a smallerrocket about a day later. At fi��rst, the astronautscientists will spend about 28 days inthe orbiting workshop, but later visits lastingup to 56 days are planned. The laboratorywill be built into a modifi��ed SIVB third stageof the Saturn 5 rocket. The SIVB is used asthe Saturn 1B’s second stage.
FIFTY YEARS AGO JULY 24, 1969
Space workshop to be put in orbit
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
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DATA POINT
CMYK
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DELHI THE HINDU
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NEWS
FROM PAGE ONE
position walked out. Mr.Jaishankar was presentwhen the walkout happened and was in the midstof his statement assertingthat no such conversationhad taken place betweenMr. Modi and Mr. Trump.Trinamool Congress member Saugata Roy, however,said that rather than Mr.Jaishankar, whom he calleda seasoned diplomat, Mr.Modi himself shouldrespond.
‘Modi must speak’Earlier, at the start of ZeroHour, former Union Ministers Manish Tewari of theCongress and T.R. Baalu ofthe DMK demanded that Mr.Modi himself make thestatement and said theHouse wanted to hear fromhim.
Mr. Tewari said that sinceMr. Trump’s statement wasserious, the clarifi��cationshould come from thePrime Minister himself.Speaker Om Birla tried topacify the Opposition members, but they stood theirground and walked outwhile Mr. Jaishankar wasspeaking.
The Opposition, insistingon Mr. Modi’s reply, assuredthe government that theywould not seek any clarifi��cation. A Congress member ofthe Rajya Sabha said therewere multiple meetings between senior Oppositionleaders and the Parliamentary Aff��airs Minister. TheOpposition got the impression that Mr. Modi might issue a short statement. Whenit didn’t happen, the Opposition chose to walk out.
Amid uproar, senior BJPleader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who is also the MinorityAff��airs Minister, rued thatthe Opposition parties didnot trust their Prime Minister and government andsaid the Opposition couldnot dictate terms. He saidMr. Jaishankar’s statementwas a collective response ofthe government.
When the proceedingsresumed at 2 p.m., Congressmember P. Chidambaramexpressed anguish over thedebate amid protests andsaid that while a “large section of the Opposition is agitated” the Chair must adjourn the House and try tofi��nd a solution instead of allowing the business to goon.
When the House metagain at 3.00 p.m., thescenes of disarray continued. BJP member Bhupendra Yadav pointed out that ifthe Lok Sabha could be satisfi��ed with the External Affairs Minister’s statement,why not the House of Elders. To this, Leader of theOpposition Ghulam NabiAzad said the Rajya Sabhashould not be needlesslycompared to the Lok Sabhaall the time. There is a reason why there are two Houses and not one. “If this government wants to runParliament like a department we shall not let it happen. Parliament is not a department of any Ministrythat you can run on yourwhims and fancies. It can berun only as per the established principles andrules,” Mr. Azad said.
In the Lok Sabha, the Op
‘PM did not seek Trumpmediation in Kashmir’
la’s report said, while disposing of claims, 80 lakhnames were reverifi��ed.”
The court had said reverifi��cation of 80 lakh nameswould be mean that at least27% of names were covered.
“And you are asking for20%... So, is there need for asample reverifi��cation. If weare satisfi��ed that verifi��cationhas been done properly,then there is no need for asample reverifi��cation, is it?”Chief Justice Gogoi askedMr. Mehta then.
Border districtsThe Assam government, represented by advocate Shuvodeep Roy, had said the20% sample reverifi��cationshould target the border districts where the incidence ofillegal migration from Bangladesh was higher andwhere population growthhas been reported higherthan the State average as percensus reports.
The application fi��led bythe Ministry of Home Aff��airshad tried to impress uponthe court the “unprecedented large scale of complexities” involved in the NRCprocess. The draft NRC hadincluded 2,89,83677 persons in the State as Indiancitizens. But 40,70,707 persons were left out. Theywere found ineligible to beconsidered for inclusion.The Centre said reverifi��cation should be done for bothinclusions and exclusions.
Solicitor General TusharMehta for Assam said theproposed sample reverifi��cation would only take the extended time the court hadgiven till August 31. “It willnot harm anybody and willgive everybody satisfaction,” he submitted.
But the court refused theplea, banking on a July 18 report of the courtappointedNRC Coordinator, PrateekHajela, that reverifi��cationhad been done on a districtwise basis during the adjudication of claims.
“Mr Hajela, the Centreand Assam have made vehement, fervent pleas for asample reverifi��cation. Youtell us, as an offi��cer of thecourt, if this is necessary?”Chief Justice Gogoi askedhim. “No, I do not see thenecessity,” he replied.
The CJI said the court was“more than satisfi��ed” fromMr. Hajela’s conclusion thata reverifi��cation is not necessary. When Mr. Venugopalrepeated that the matter affected lives in the State, theCJI said, “everything we doaff��ects lives.”
The Centre and Assamhad urged the court for a20% sample reverifi��cationof names included in thedraft in the districts bordering Bangladesh and a 10%sample reverifi��cation in theremaining districts. Even inthe last hearing, the courtorally voiced its scepticism,pointing out that “Mr. Haje
Assam NRC publicationdeadline is now Aug. 31
The Right to Information(Amendment) Bill, 2019 isgoing to be the next fl��ashpoint in the Rajya Sabha withthe Opposition membersmoving a resolution to sendthe legislation to a selectcommittee.
The resolution was signedby the Biju Janata Dal, a party that maintains a neutralstance in Parliament keepingits distance from the Opposition and the ruling party.
The resolution has beenmoved by Derek O’Brien ofthe Trinamool and signed bythe Congress, the RJD, theBJD, the CPI, the CPI(M), theDMK and others. The Billwas passed by the Lok Sabhaon Monday.
“It is an important Billwhich has farreaching implications. We are not
against it in toto but we dofeel that it needs a detailedscrutiny and since there isno standing committee as ofnow, it should be sent to a select committee for furtherstudy,” BJD’s fl��oor leader inthe Rajya Sabha PrasannaAcharya told The Hindu.
Opposing the Bill in theLok Sabha, B. Mahtab of theBJD said it sought to bring inchanges involving the salaries and tenures of the Information Commissioners atthe States and the Centre.This would end up reducing
the Information Commissionto the level of a governmentdepartment and weaken itsauthority, he said.
Under the amendments,the Information Commissioners, who now have fi��veyear tenures, will have“terms as may be prescribedby the Central government”and salaries, instead of beingon a par with those of theElection Commissioners,will be decided by the Central government.
“Parliament has so farcleared 13 Bills without a sin
gle one sent to a standingcommittee. The TrinamoolCongress has decided to demand that every Bill that isintroduced from now on besent to a select committee.It’s not to say that we opposeall Bills, but we want to improve them,” Mr. O’Briensaid. The RTI Bill, he said,will curtail the statutorypowers of the InformationCommissioners.
RJD leader Manoj K. Jhasaid that while the government cannot take away theRight to Information Act, itwants to make it dysfunctional.
“The Act provided right toinformation without any caveats. The proposed amendments kill the very spirit ofthe Act and gives a tool forthe government to controlthe Central InformationCommission,” he said.
Scrutinise RTI Bill: OppositionNo easy passage for the proposed amendments in the Rajya Sabha
Sobhana K. Nair
New Delhi
A day after the Lok Sabhapassed amendments to theRight to Information (RTI)Act, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday accused the Uniongovernment of “disempowering every Indiancitizen”.
“It is a matter of utmostconcern that the Central government is hellbent oncompletely subverting thehistoric Right to Information Act, 2005. This law,prepared after widespreadconsultations and passedunanimously by Parliament,now stands on the brink ofextinction,” she said in astatement.
Ms. Gandhi, who headedthe National Advisory Council during the CongressledUnited Progressive Alliancegovernment, was involvedin those consultations before the law was formallydrafted and passed byParliament.
The Congress leader saidover 60 lakh people had benefi��ted from the RTI Act,and the law had ushered in aregime of transparency andaccountability at all levels ofadministration.
“The foundation of democracy has, as a result,been strengthened immeasurably. The weaker sectionsof society have benefi��tedgreatly by the proactive useof the RTI by activists andothers,” she said.
Ms. Gandhi alleged thatthe government viewed theCentral Information Commission (CIC) as a “nuisanceand wants to destroy its status and independence thatwas on a par with the Central Election Commissionand the Central VigilanceCommission”.
“The Central governmentmay use its legislative majority to achieve its aim, but in
the process it would be disempowering each and everycitizen of our country,” shesaid.
On Monday, the Lok Sabha amended the RTI Act thatallowed the Centre to prescribe the term of offi��ce, salaries, allowances and otherterms and conditions. It alsochanged the status of the Information Commissioners,who were on a par with theElection Commissioners under the original RTI Act.
Currently, Section 13 (5)of the Act provides that salaries, allowances and otherterms and conditions of theservice of the Chief Information Commissioner shall bethe same as that of the ChiefElection Commissioner,while that of an InformationCommissioner shall be thesame as that of an ElectionCommissioner.
“The functions being carried out by the ElectionCommission of India andthe Central and State Information Commissions are totally diff��erent. The ElectionCommission of India is aConstitutional body ... Onthe other hand, the CentralInformation Commissionand State Information Commission are statutory bodiesestablished under the Rightto Information Act, 2005,”the amended RTI Bill says.
RTI Act on the brinkof extinction: Sonia ‘Law had brought in transparency’
Special Correspondent
New Delhi
<> The Centre is
hell-bent on
completely
subverting the
historic RTI Act
Sonia Gandhi
UPA Chairperson
The government on Tuesdayintroduced the Code on Occupational Safety, Healthand Working Conditions Bill,2019 and the Code on WagesBill, 2019 in the Lok Sabhaamid protests from the Opposition that the move wasbeing made at the behest ofemployers and not trade unions.
Opposing the introduction of the Bill, Adhir RanjanChowdury, Leader of theCongress in the Lok Sabha,said that the Bills should besent to a Standing Committee for scrutiny. He said itwould be a “grave injustice”if the Bill was not sent to aparliamentary panel forscrutiny. The Bills also needed more time to be allocatedfor discussion, Mr. Chowdhury said.
N.K. Premachandran ofthe Revolutionary SocialistParty and Saugata Roy of theTrinamool demanded thatthe Bills be sent to parliamentary panels for scrutiny,saying their passage willhave largescale ramifi��cations.
Mr. Roy said the government was referring to scrutiny reports on the Bill datingback to 2002, but held noconsultations lately, addingthat the Bills were being
pushed at the behest of employers and not trade unions.
‘Consultations held’Mr. Gangwar said the Occupational Safety, Health andWorking Conditions Codewas sent to the StandingCommittee during the previous Lok Sabha, adding thatthe legislation had beendrafted after consulting 13workers’ organisations andthat he would try to assuageconcerns raised by themembers.
On opposition to the introduction of the Bill, especially the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Code,Mr. Gangwar asked theHouse to allow the introduction of the Bills, for theHouse to take a call later. Theintroduction of the Bills thentook place.
The government said itsought to bring in the nextwave of labour reformsthrough these Bills thatwould subsume 17 Bills andimprove the ease of doingbusiness.
The OSH Code simplifi��es,amalgamates and rationalises the provisions of 13 Central labour laws into a concise volume with certainimportant changes.
It would apply to all establishments having 10 ormore workers, other thanthose relating to mines anddocks.
It provides the concept ofone registration for all establishments having 10 ormore employees and constitution of the National Occupational Safety and HealthAdvisory Board to give recommendations at the Central and State levels.
Labour Bills meet with protestRefer drafts to the Standing Committee on Labour, says Opposition
Santosh Kumar Gangwar
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
The Union government plansto extend the ongoing Parliament session by 10 days as itis keen on clearing its legislative agenda, and party MPsshould gird themselves for it,BJP president Amit Shah saidat a meeting of the parliamentary party on Tuesday.
Sources present at themeeting said Mr. Shah indicated that the extensioncould be as long as 10 days,pending a fi��nal decision. Under the original schedule,the session is to end on July26.
Briefi��ng reporters afterthe meeting, ParliamentaryAff��airs Minister Pralhad Joshisaid there was a “possibilityof this [extension of ses
sion]”, but that it had notbeen offi��cially conveyed yet.
However, Opposition parties said they were not in
agreement with the extension after Prime Minister Narendra Modi fi��rst hinted at itlast week.
The Opposition camp hascalled a joint meeting onWednesday afternoon afterCongress reached out to all
the Opposition and likeminded parties in the LokSabha for the fi��rst time inthis Lok Sabha session to ensure a unifi��ed strategy to oppose the issue.
‘Speaker under pressure’“We strongly oppose the government’s intent to extendthe House in Monday’s business advisory meeting,” saidKodikunnil Suresh, Congress’s Chief Whip in the LokSabha. “The Speaker is alsonot in a mood but the government is pressurisinghim. The session has beengoing on for more than amonth now, we have beencompletely disconnectedfrom our constituencies,” headded.
Observing that most legis
lations listed by the government had been pendingfrom the previous Lok Sabha, Opposition membersquestioned the urgency toclear the Bills.
Meanwhile, during theBJP meeting, the issue of water conservation fi��gured prominently, with Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra SinghShekhawat making a detailed presentation on thematter, Mr. Joshi said. TheMPs were asked to spreadawareness of waterconservation.
Mr. Shah, the Ministersaid, also briefed MPs aboutthe 150km foot march thePrime Minister had askedthem to undertake to markthe 150th birth anniversaryof Mahatma Gandhi.
Centre plans to extend session by 10 days amid uproarBJP keen on clearing its legislative agenda even as Opposition parties question urgency to pass Bills
Top deck: Narendra Modi fl��anked by Amit Shah and J.P. Nadda at the meeting. * SANDEEP SAXENA
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
The Lok Sabha on Tuesdaypassed the Motor Vehicles(Amendment) Bill, 2019 by avoice vote.
Several members cuttingacross party lines supportedthe safety and traffi��c violation aspects of the Bill, butsaid that through the amendment, the Centre was tryingto take away the States’ powers with certain provisions ofthe draft law.
“It is up to the States ifthey want to make their transport system more modernand effi��cient. The Centrewould not interfere with theStates’ working and only facilitate the implementationof the framework such as facilitating availability of foreign funds,” Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said inthe House. The Bill seeks toweed out corruption and improve road safety, he said,
adding that the governmentwas “fulfi��lling its promisesmade on better, smootherroads and latest transporttechnology”.
“The Bill proposes a National Transportation Policyfor ushering in guidelines onthe transportation of goodsand passengers,” the Minis
ter said. He announced thatthe Ministry would end thesystem of road monitoringbeing undertaken by independent engineers and itwould be carried out by anexpert company.
Speaking on the way forward, he said that soon twowheeler taxis would be areality apart from functionalwaterways, ropeways, cablecars and skybuses.
“We have also identifi��ed14,000 accidentprone blackspots in the country and₹��14,000 crore, raised fromthe Asian Development Bankand the World Bank, wouldbe invested to rectify themwith a view to control roadaccidents,” Mr. Gadkari said.
Another important feature of the Bill is that newvehicles will be registered atthe dealer level and it willeventually remove buyers’interface with registrationauthorities.
Centre usurping States’ rights: MPsThey fl��ag certain provisions of the Motor Vehicles Bill passed by the Lok Sabha
Special Correspondent
New Delhi
Minister of State for HomeAff��airs G. Kishan Reddytold the Lok Sabha onTuesday that the numberof terrorist attacks in thecountry during the past decade had come down by70% from the previous decade’s fi��gure and the number of terrorist attacks inJammu and Kashmir by86%. He was speaking onthe Unlawful Activities(Prevention) AmendmentBill, 2019.
Congress MP Manish Tewari said, “According tothe provisions of the Bill,anyone could be declared aterrorist. This could lead toa lot of misuse.” BJP MPMeenakshi Lekhi countered, saying, “The Ravanof today can appear in theform of NGO or a social activist and there should belaws to deal with this.”
Terror attackson the decline,says Minister
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
In a tweet outgoing Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, “From its fi��rst day,the CongJD(S) alliance inKarnataka was a target forvested interests, both within& outside, who saw the alliance as a threat & an obstacle in their path to power.Their greed won today. Democracy, honesty & the people of Karnataka lost.”
Mr. Kumaraswamywarned that the political instability, caused by engineered defections, wouldboomerang on the BJP.
A jubilant Mr. Yeddyurappa termed the fall of the government as a “victory ofdemocracy.” He said, “Anew era of development willbegin in the State from tomorrow. My priority has always been farmers and I assure them that I will worktowards their welfare.”
CLP leader Siddaramaiahsquarely blamed the BJP forthe fall of the government.“The BJP that used moneyand muscle power has wonin the numbers game, buthas lost morally,” he said.
Kumaraswamy govt.loses trust vote
The Union Home Ministryhas either removed ordowngraded the VIP security cover of over 20 persons, including former Bihar Chief Minister LaluPrasad, in a review donethis week. This is the fi��rstVIP security review doneby Home Minister AmitShah after he assumedcharge.
The Z plus security cover of BSP’s Rajya Sabha MPSatish Chandra has beendowngraded to Z category.The Z plus cover of A.K.Minha, senior journalist,and Babulal Marandi,former Chief Minister ofJharkhand, has been downgraded to Z category. Mr.Prasad, BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Uttar Pradesh Minister Suresh Ranahave been removed fromthe Central list.
Security coverof many VIPsscaled back
Special Correspondent
New Delhi
CMYK
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THE HINDU DELHI
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NEWS
Days before the prime suspect ina ₹��2,700crore drug haul case inPunjab died under mysteriouscircumstances at the AmritsarCentral Jail, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had writtento the Centre seeking to take overthe investigation.
The agency suspects that thecase is linked to another terrorcase pertaining to trade acrossthe Line of Control (LoC) in theKashmir Valley that it isinvestigating.
Linked to cross-LoC tradeThe Home Ministry on April 18suspended the crossLoC trade inJ&K, citing “funnelling of illegalweapons, narcotics and fake currency” as reasons.
Gurpinder Singh, a rock salttrader, and Tariq Ahmad Lone, atrader from Handwara in J&K,were arrested on June 29 by Customs offi��cials for allegedly smuggling narcotics in a truck throughthe integrated check post on theAttari border from Pakistan. The
drugs were found during a raidby the Amritsarbased CustomsPreventive Commissionerate,which then seized 532 kg of suspected heroin. The consignment,hidden under bags of salt in thetruck from Pakistan, was seizedin the import section at the checkpost.
Singh and Lone were lodged inthe same ward in the jail. However, Singh, a diabetic, was rushedto Guru Nanak Dev Hospital inthe city on Sunday but was declared brought dead. He was acrucial link to establish the drug
chain as it was on a licence heldby his company, Kanishka Enterprises, that the drugs were smuggled in.
“The Customs Department didnot take him into police custody.The Home Ministry is likely tohand over the case to the NIA. Allaspects are being ascertained.Though NIA can suo motu takeover the case, the convention isto get the State government'snod,” a senior offi��cial said.
However, a top source in thePunjab government said the Statepolice was also conducting parallel investigations and had not taken a decision on handing overthe case to the NIA.
On July 12, Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh saidthe State government was committed to “the total elimination ofdrugs” being smuggled into theState not just from Pakistan butfrom within the country, especially Kashmir.
On the death of the suspect,Additional DirectorGeneral ofPolice ( Jails) P.K. Sinha said, “Ajudicial inquiry would be completed, and action will be taken.”
NIA likely to take over ₹��2,700 crorePunjab drug smuggling caseAgency suspects it could be related to another operation it is investigating
Vijaita Singh
Vikas Vasudeva
New Delhi/ Chandigarh
Gurpinder Singh, prime suspect inthe case, died under mysteriouscircumstances on Sunday.
Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan on Tuesdaysaid he was “surprised”over India’s reaction toU.S. President DonaldTrump’s off��er ofmediation for resolvingthe Kashmir issue which,according to him, hasheld the subcontinenthostage for 70 years.
India has not beenengaging with Pakistansince the attack on theAir Force base atPathankot in January2016 by Pakistanbasedterrorists, maintainingthat talks and terrorcannot go together.
“Surprised byreaction of India toPresident Trump’s off��erof mediation to bringPak & India to dialoguetable for resolvingKashmir confl��ict whichhas held subcontinenthostage for 70 yrs,” Mr.Khan, who is here on athreeday working visit,tweeted at the end of hismaiden trip.
“Generations ofKashmiris have suff��ered& are suff��ering daily andneed confl��ictresolution,” he tweeted.
Mr. Trump onMonday made the off��erduring his meeting withMr. Khan at the WhiteHouse.
Surprised byIndian stand,says ImranPRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Washington
U.S. President DonaldTrump “does not make upthings”, a top presidentialadviser said on Tuesdaywhen asked about his statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked himto mediate on the Kashmirissue. India has strongly refuted Mr. Trumps’s remarks.
It is “a very rude question”, Mr. Trump’s ChiefEconomic Adviser Larry Kudlow said at the White Housewhen a journalist, followingup on the President’s remarks, asked if it was madeup.
“The President does notmake anything up. That’s avery rude question in my
opinion. I am going to stayout of that. It’s outside of mylane. It’s for Mr. [National Security Adviser John] Bolton,Mr. [Secretary of State Mike]Pompeo and President, so I
am not going to comment onthat. The President does notmake things up,” he said.
However, former UnderSecretary of State for Political Aff��airs Nicholas Burns,
who played a key role in theIndiaU.S. civil nuclear dealduring the Bush Administration, said, “This is embarrassing, to say the least, forPresident Trump. His claimthat PM Modi asked him tomediate the Kashmir confl��ictwas denied categorically byDelhi. This is what happensin diplomacy when youmake things up.”
Mr. Trump off��ered to bethe “mediator” between India and Pakistan on theKashmir issue during a pressmeet with Prime MinisterImran Khan at the WhiteHouse. Mr. Trump, who isknown to make inaccuratestatements, said Prime Minister Modi had asked him tomediate on Kashmir when
they met in Osaka on the sidelines of the G20 Summitlast month.
Committee responseThe Democratic chairman ofthe U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Aff��airs Committee, Eliot Engel, spoke tothe Indian Ambassador tosay there was no change inthe U.S. position on Kashmir,the committee said on Twitter. “Engel reiterated hissupport for the longstanding U.S. position on theKashmir dispute, saying hesupported dialogue betweenIndia and Pakistan, but thedialogues pace and scopecan only be determined byIndia & Pakistan,” it said.
(With Reuters inputs)
President doesn’t make things up: aideTrump’s Chief Economic Adviser dismisses questions on PM Modi’s request to mediate on J&K
Press Trust of India
Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump speaking during a meeting withPakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday. * AP
Outgoing Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took to Twitter to targetPrime Minister NarendraModi over U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that Mr.Modi had asked him to mediate on the Kashmir issue.
Mr. Gandhi said if the U.S.President was speaking thetruth, then Prime MinisterModi has betrayed the interests of the country. He said a“weak” Foreign Ministry denial would not be enough.
“President Trump saysPM Modi asked him to mediate between India & Pakistan on Kashmir! If true, PMModi has betrayed India's interests and 1972 ShimlaAgreement,” Mr. Gandhitweeted. “A weak Foreign
Ministry denial won’t do. PMmust tell the nation whattranspired in the meetingbetween him and U.S. president,” he added.
The Congress leader’s attack on the Prime Ministercame on a day when the Opposition launched an off��ensive in Parliament. Slogansof “Pradhan Mantri jawabdo” (Prime Minister, give an
answer) echoed in the UpperHouse.
On Monday evening, soonafter the controversy brokeout, Congress Member ofParliament Shashi Tharoortweeted to question Mr.Trump’s statement.
“I honestly don’t thinkTrump has the slightest ideaof what he is talking about.He has either not beenbriefed or not understoodwhat Modi was saying orwhat India’s position is onthird party mediation. Thatsaid, the External Aff��airs Ministry should clarify thatDelhi has never sought hisintercession,” he said.
However, later on Tuesday, he clarifi��ed his positionto say that the Prime Minister must speak inParliament.
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI
Rahul Gandhi
Weak Ministry denial notenough, says Rahul Gandhi
The National Conference(NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and theseparatist Hurriyat on Tuesday welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s pushfor dialogue between Indiaand Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.
“It is indeed a welcomestep. Any mediation in confl��ict resolution is not a newapproach; it is one of thetraditional means of diplomacy that aff��ords the twoconfl��ictridden countries asuitable solution,” NationalConference president Farooq Abdullah said.
Peoples Democratic Party president MehboobaMufti termed the statement
a “huge policy shift”. “Being the most aff��ected
party, the people of Kashmir want an early resolution. I have been urging fordialogue at all levels. Everyeff��ort, pushing India andPakistan in that direction iswelcome by the people ofJ&K,” said Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
J&K parties welcome U.S. mediation off��erHurriyat wants an early resolution
Special Correspondent
Srinagar
Farooq Abdullah
The United Nations SpecialEnvoy on Climate Change,Luis Alfonso de Alba, metUnion Environment andForests Minister Prakash Javadekar and discussed India’s initiatives to meet itsclimate commitments.
Ahead of the United Nations Climate Summit inNew York in September, Mr.de Alba, appointed by UNSecretaryGeneral AntonioGuterres as his climate envoy, is visiting several countries and urging leaders andbusinessmen to do more toensure that global warmingdoes not exceed 1.5 degreesCelsius.
“The SecretaryGeneral isexhorting countries andleaders to come with concrete plans at the meetingand not mere policy statements. We need to be getting into a trajectory toachieve emission cuts to capwarming at 1.5°C,” Mr. de Alba said in a press briefi��nghere on Tuesday.
This implies countries enhancing their nationally determined contributions by2020, in line with reducinggreenhouse gas emissionsby 45% over the next decade, and to net zero emissions by 2050, a UN state
ment noted.Mr. Javadekar, in a series
of tweets said, India was already taking a “leadershipposition” on achieving itsNationally Determined Contribution (or climate goals).
“India had created80,000 MW of renewablepower and set a target ofachieving 175,000 MW by2022; reduced energy intensity by 21%, was increasingforest cover and that the distribution of 70 million gascylinders under the Ujjwalascheme had helped savetrees, reduce pollution andimprove health,” the Minister tweeted.
The UN also announced a‘Clean Air Initiative’ thatcalls on governments toachieve air quality that issafe for citizens and to alignclimate change and air pollution policies by 2030.
“The climate crisis andthe air pollution crisis aredriven by the same factorsand must be tackled by jointaction. Governments at alllevels must have both an urgent need and huge opportunity to address it,” the UNenvoy said in a statement.
Prime Minister NarendraModi is expected to attendthe summit though this hasnot been offi��cially confi��rmed.
Initiatives by India discussed
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI
Clean transport: Luis Alfonso de Alba, UN Special Envoy onClimate Change, riding an erickshaw in New Delhi. * PTI
UN climate envoymeets Javadekar
Various organisations in Assamwelcomed the Supreme Court’sorder extending the deadlinefor publishing the fi��nal NRC toAugust 31 and turning down therequest of the Centre and Assam government to conduct20% sample reverifi��cation oflisted names in the districts bordering Bangladesh and 10% inthe other districts on Tuesday.
In a joint statement, the Assam State Jamiat and AllAssamMinority Students’ Union(AAMSU) said that the SC foileda conspiracy of the BJP to delaythe publication of the NRC.
“People have undergone a lotof misery in proving their citizenship by being forced to visitNRC service centres in faraway
places. Reverifi��cation wouldhave made these people suff��eragain,” AAMSU president Rezaul Karim Sarkar said.
“The extension is appreciated since people in fl��oodaff��ected areas could not go to the NRC
centres to settle claims and verify documents. Besides, NRCState Coordinator Prateek Hajela had said he would publish thefi��nal list in two phases if timewas not extended. It is goodthat with a month’s time, the fi��nal NRC will be published at onego,” State Jamiat president Maulana Mustaq Anfar said.
Dipanka Kumar Nath, president of AllAssam Students’ Union, said they trusted the Supreme Court, which has beenmonitoring the NRC exercise, totake steps for ensuring an errorfree NRC.
The Assam Public Works, anNGO that had fi��led a petitionseeking 100% reverifi��cationsaid what mattered was the satisfaction of the court about theNRC groundwork.
Thumbs up for new NRC deadlineReverifi��cation would have caused a lot of misery, says AAMSU
A fi��le photo of an applicant atan NRC centre in Guwahati.
Special Correspondent
GUWAHATI
The Enforcement Directorate(ED) is examining cases of alleged land grab against Samajwadi Party MP Azam Khan inUttar Pradesh’s Rampur district to determine whether money laundering investigationscan be initiated in the matter.
“We are looking into detailsto decide if a probe under thePrevention of Money Laundering Act can be conducted,” saida senior ED offi��cial, on condition of anonymity. “The agency is empowered to take up allthe FIRs registered under scheduled off��ences as listed in theAct,” the offi��cial added.
The U.P. police have regis
tered more than a dozen casesallegedly involving the then circle offi��cial and Mr. Khan, following complaints lodged by26 villagers. His name is alsoon the State’s antiland mafi��awebsite launched in June 2017,to help identify and initiate action against land grabbers.
ED mulls probe into landcases against Azam Khan FIRs followed complaints by 26 villagers
Devesh K. Pandey
NEW DELHI
Azam Khan
CMYK
M ND-NDE
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DELHI THE HINDU
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SUDOKU
Solution to puzzle 12685 Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
In the Mahabharata, the eternal confl��ict between dharmaand adharma is typifi��ed in the trajectory of the lives of thePandavas and the Kauravas. While the Pandavas are committed to dharma and acknowledge Krishna as their mentorand guide and always remain devoted to Him, Duryodhanaopenly opts for adharma and refuses to listen to the goodcounsels of his parents and elders. In a discourse, Nagai SriMukundan drew attention to the fact that the Pandavabrothers also are fully aware that Duryodhana’s nature cannot be changed even as a snake will only emit venom evenwhen fed with nectar. His vidhi is such that his intellect willnot listen to good advice. Can one hope to get sweet neemleaves by pouring tons of honey on the root of a neem tree?One’s natural qualities cannot be changed.
So when Dhritarashtra is unable to dissuade Duryodhanato abandon the wrong path, he sends Sanjaya to Yudhishtirawith a message seeking peace without giving them any sharein the kingdom. The Pandavas’ reaction is to go ahead withthe war and claim their rights. Still Yudhishtira makes an off��er that they would be content with fi��ve villages at least,though he is sure that even that will be denied. Krishna off��ers to go to Hastinapura and try to secure the rights of thePandavas without war. He then solicits the views of the Pandava brothers individually. What emerges from this discussion is an analysis of the cause and eff��ect of war and theneed to take all eff��orts to secure peace. But, in this situationall are aware that peace parleys will fail owing to Duryodhana’s desire to rule the entire kingdom. Moreover, the timehas come to retaliate against the many taunts and humiliations and Draupadi’s tresses that have been left untied haveto be answered only with the inevitable war.
FAITH
War and peace 2 Abuse of nicotine keeps
husband in a precarious
situation (2,4,3)
3 A reason for dismissal of
student involved in throwing
the party (8,3,4)
4 Right to change clothes (7)
6 It seems hotel’s prepared to
include roast dish from
Europe (7,8)
7 Refugee in complex I lease (5)
8 Study time! Get up
suppressing worry (8)
9 Huge clown entertains son (6)
16 Queen left England
overwhelmed by gesture (9)
17 Son made a mistake,
dispossessed (8)
19 Envelope from model leaving
Antwerp sadly (6)
20 Plan to wear torn garments
(7)
21 Echo effect always found in
Rhythm & Blues (6)
23 Authorise construction of wall
around Mexico at last (5)
13 Incompetent, unresponsive
Republican becomes President
(5)
14 Female is about to ruin brutes
(6)
15 Jointly presents expenses to
maintain house (25)
18 Having fever, weary one
dropped the boards (7)
20 Wander around emporium
gutted in fi��re (6)
22 Worthless, crazy son kicked
out (5)
24 Very obvious! Compose a letter
to win heart of mesmerizing
gal easily (4,5)
25 Yank — a fellow with perfect
grimace (4,1,4)
26 Hallucinatory experience on
Ecstasy? Nonsense (5)
27 British ballet dancer to prosper
(6)
28 Writer’s point? Be silent
perhaps (5,3)
■ DOWN
1 Close to where a nurse might
be dropping daughter (6)
(set by Dr. X)
■ ACROSS
1 Poor husband besieged by
poet, a boastful person (8)
5 Help to secure new permit (6)
10 Glossy fabric in stores at India
(5)
11 What a fi��sherman might do to
keep in touch? (4,1,4)
12 Bad time to enter perfect
precision marching unit (5,4)
THE HINDU CROSSWORD 12686
Boris Johnson, the Brexiteerwho has promised to leadBritain out of the EU with orwithout a deal by the end ofOctober, will replace Theresa May as Prime Minister after winning the leadership ofthe Conservative Party onTuesday.
His convincing victory catapults the United Kingdomtowards a showdown withthe European Union and towards a constitutional crisisat home, as British lawmakers have vowed to bringdown any government thattries to leave the bloc without a divorce deal.
“We are going to get Brexitdone on October 31, and weare going to take advantage
of all the opportunities it willbring in a new spirit of ‘cando’,” Mr. Johnson, 55, said after the result was announced. “Like some slumbering giant, we are going torise and ping off�� the guyropes of selfdoubt andnegativity.”
Mr. Johnson said the mantra of his leadership campaign had been to “deliverBrexit, unite the country anddefeat (Opposition Labourleader) Jeremy Corbyn — andthat is what we are going todo”.
The victory for one of Britain’s most fl��amboyant politicians places an avowed Brexit supporter in charge of thegovernment for the fi��rst timesince the U.K. voted to leavethe EU in the shock 2016 re
ferendum. The Brexit referendum showed a U.K. divided about much more thanthe EU, and has fuelled soulsearching about everythingfrom regional secession andimmigration to capitalism,the legacy of empire, and
modern Britishness.Brexit, which has already
toppled two ConservativePrime Ministers, will dominate. Mr. Johnson haspledged to negotiate a newBrexit divorce deal with theEU to secure a smooth transi
tion out of the EU before October 31. But if the bloc refuses, as it insists it will, he haspromised to leave anyway —“do or die” — on the currentagreed date. It is a step thatmany investors and economists say would send shockwaves through world markets and tip the world’s fi��fthlargest economy into recession or even chaos.
‘Ready to work with him’The EU said a nodeal Brexitwould be a tragedy for bothparties but again said thewithdrawal deal was not upfor negotiation.
“We look forward to working constructively with PMJohnson when he takes offi��ce, to facilitate the ratifi��cation of the withdrawal agree
ment and achieve an orderlyBrexit,” tweeted the bloc'snegotiator, Michel Barnier.
A Brexit without a divorcedeal would also weaken London’s position as the preeminent international fi��nancial centre while jolting thenorthern Europeaneconomy.
Mr. Johnson’s Conservatives have no majority in Parliament and need the support of 10 lawmakers fromNorthern Ireland’s Brexitbacking Democratic UnionistParty to govern.
Even then, the majority iswaferthin — and some lawmakers have threatened tobring down the government,a step that would probablydeepen Britain’s political crisis and lead to an election.
Johnson the Brexiteer vows to seal divorce deal‘We are going to deliver it on October 31, take advantage of all the opportunities it will bring, and defeat Jeremy Corbyn’
Reuters
LONDON
Three cheers: A pro-Brexit demonstrator and Brexit Partyactivists, right, in London on Tuesday. * AFP
Theresa May had a missionto fi��ght Britain’s “burninginjustices” through strongand stable leadership — buther legacy as Prime Ministerwill be anything but.
The Conservative premier’s turbulent time in offi��ce was swamped and ultimately sunk by herlegacydefi��ning battle to secure a Brexit divorce deal.
It eroded her authorityand led her to step down asleader, with the keys toDowning Street set to behanded to Boris Johnson.
Ms. May won praise forher determination and ability to survive a rolling threeyear political crisis since thereferendum vote to leavethe EU.
But her approach to theBrexit endgame, refusing toaccept MPs’ trenchant opposition to her deal beforebelatedly opening ultimately futile negotiations withOpposition Labour, left Ms.May politically adrift.
In a forlorn bid in Marchto appease the most ardenteurosceptic MPs in her party, Ms. May, 62, off��ered toresign if they fi��nally approved her deal. But severaldozens rebelled anyway,consigning it to a third defeat in Parliament and leaving her premiership mortally weakened.
She was forced by herparty to agree to set out a timetable for her departure,but asked for time to givelawmakers a fourth chanceto vote on the agreement inearly June. However, herown MPs’ patience ran outand she was forced in May toname the date of her departure, triggering the feveredleadership race to replaceher.
“She has failed,” said Simon Usherwood, from theUniversity of Surrey’s politics department. “There’s very little to commend her.“She doesn’t really have alegacy”.
Ms. May’s last major actas leader was to welcomeU.S. President DonaldTrump on a state visit to Britain, but symbolic of theirfractious relationship, thetwo still had time for onelast falling out. The President tweeted that Ms. Mayhad made “a mess” of Brexit.
She became Prime Minister in the aftermath of the2016 Brexit referendumwhich swept away her predecessor David Cameron.She took offi��ce pledging tofi��ght the “burning injustices” in British society, butmade little headway as herentire premiership becamedominated by the Brexitdrama.
Columnist Matthew Parris — a former ConservativeMP — called her the “zombiePrime Minister” for her ability to stagger on despitemultiple attacks.
She survived a noconfi��dence vote and the resignations of a string of highprofi��le Brexit supporters. Butultimately her closed styleof leadership and Brexit gridlock in Parliament doomedher premiership.
May had promised stable leadership
Agence France-Presse
London
Theresa May
A legacy dominatedby Brexit failure
Former Chinese premier LiPeng — known for his role inthe Tiananmen Squarecrackdown — has died at theage of 90, state media saidon Tuesday.
Mr. Li died of an unspecifi��ed illness in Beijing after hefailed to respond to medicaltreatment late on Monday,the offi��cial Xinhua newsagency said. The expremierhad previously battled bladder cancer.
Mr. Li gained notorietyworldwide as one of the keyarchitects of the brutal breakup of mass prodemocracydemonstrations in the capital on June 4, 1989, andstayed at the top of the Communist regime for more thana decade, while remaining a
hated symbol of the repression until his death.
After vast crowds of students, workers and othershad been encamped forweeks in Tiananmen Squareto demand change, Mr. Liproclaimed martial law onMay 20, 1989. Two weeks later, on the night of June 34,the military put a bloodyend to the protests, killing
hundreds of civilians — bysome estimates more than1,000. Though the decisionto send in the troops was acollective one, Mr. Li waswidely held responsible forthe bloody crackdown.
Its taint trailed himthrough to the end of his offi��cial political career in 2003,with his trips abroad generating widespread protests.
Nevertheless, he remained a member of theelite Politburo StandingCommittee for 15 years andfor most of the 1990s rankednumber two behind thenChinese President Jiang Zemin.
He held the premiershipfor 11 years until 1998, andwas Chairman of China’sCommunistcontrolled Parliament until 2003.
Former Chinese premierLi Peng passes away at 90Agence France-Press
Beijing
Li Peng
Pakistan’s spy agency, theInter Services Intelligenceagency, provided the U.S.with a lead that helpedthem fi��nd and kill alQaedaleader Osama bin Laden,Prime Minister Imran Khansaid on Monday.
This is a signifi��cant revelation as Islamabad had sofar denied having anyknowledge of the dreadedalQaeda chief in the country until he was shot deadby U.S. Navy Seals in 2011.
Mr. Khan made his claimin an interview with FoxNews. “It was ISI that gavethe information which ledto the location of Osamabin Laden. If you ask CIA itwas ISI which gave the initial location through thephone connection.”
ISI led CIA to Osama, saysImran Khan
Agence France-Presse
Washington President Donald Trump attacked Robert Mueller onMonday, even as he insistedhe would not watch the special counsel’s potentially damaging Congressional testimony this week about thetwoyear Russiainvestigation.
Two days before Mr.Mueller testifi��es — answering questions for the fi��rsttime about his highstakesprobe into Russian electionmeddling and Mr. Trump’salleged obstruction — thePresident repeated his longstanding claim that it was abiased “witch hunt.”
The U.S. leader also repeated his false claim thatMr. Mueller’s fi��nal report,released in April, found nocollusion with Russia by the2016 Trump campaign team
and no obstruction of justice by the President himself. “Highly confl��icted Robert Mueller should not begiven another bite at the apple. In the end it will be badfor him and the phony Democrats in Congress whohave done nothing butwaste time on this ridiculous Witch Hunt,” Mr.Trump tweeted.
“Result of the Mueller Report, NO COLLUSION, NOOBSTRUCTION!”
Trump attacks Muellerahead of testimonyAgence France-Presse
Washington
Special counsel RobertMueller
Afghan President AshrafGhani said on Tuesday theU.S. should clarify remarksPresident Donald Trumpmade about Afghanistan,including a claim that hecould win the war in 10days but didn’t “want tokill millions”.
Mr. Trump made thestatements on Mondaywhile meeting with Pakistan PM Imran Khan, whosehelp he seeks in negotiating a peace deal with theTaliban. Mr. Ghani’s offi��cecalled for clarifi��cation onthe statements “via diplomatic means and channels.” It also said that “foreign heads of state cannotdetermine Afghanistan'sfate in absence of the Afghan leadership.”
U.S. shouldclarify Trump’sremarks: Ghani
Agence France-Presse
Kabul
Mark Esper appointedPentagon chief WASHINGTON
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday
confirmed former soldier
Mark Esper as Secretary of
Defense, filling America’s
longest-ever Pentagon
leadership vacuum as
Washington faces mounting
tensions with Iran. AFP
IN BRIEF
‘U.S. may have downed 2Iranian drones last week’WASHINGTON
A U.S. warship may have
brought down a second
Iranian drone in the Strait of
Hormuz last week, the head
of the U.S. Central Command
said. “We are confident we
brought down one drone, we
may have brought down a
second,” General Kenneth
McKenzie said. AFP
CM
YKM ND-NDE
wednesday • july 24, 2019
July 15 and closes on October 15. Startups in the early,pilot or postpilot stagescan apply.
For details, visit https://e4.shell.in/howtoapply
Seminar on customer
experience design
NASSCOM, under theaegis of NASSCOM CEO Forum, is conducting a seminar on ‘How to become anexecutive leader in customer experience design’ onJuly 24 in Mumbai. According to the NASSCOM website, Eric Schaff��er, CEO,Human Factors International, will conduct thesession.
Accelerator programme
for start-ups
Shell is inviting applications from energybasedstartups for the next edition of its E4 (Energizingand Enabling Energy Entrepreneurs).
The accelerator programme includes a seedfund, access to laboratories for product development and testing, bootcamps, mentoring by experts and interaction withinvestors.
The next cohort is onthe theme ‘Future of Mobility for India’, registration for which opened on
NEWS BYTES
Waking up in the middle of the night,with the sleep hav
ing been cut short by anxietyover what lies ahead — theday’s schedule packed withfour backtoback meetingsand a project deadline thatcan’t be pushed to anotherday.
Can you relate to that? Theodds are high that a hugenumber of those readingthis, can.
According to a WorldHealth Organisation study,264 million people live withanxiety disorder. “This fi��gure for 2015 refl��ects a 14.9%increase since 2005,” saysthe study.
In a study conducted by1to1Help.net, a professionalcounselling company, in2016, one out of every twoemployees in corporate India showed signs of anxiety.
Workplace anxiety can bedealt with better, if it is identifi��ed right. Sometimes, anxiety can be mistaken forstress. Stress and anxiety arerelated. As Tanya Percy Vasunia, psychologist and outreach associate, Mpower The Centre, puts it: “Prolonged stress can lead toanxiety.”
However, stress and anxiety have their point of divergence. Anxiety over something cuts deeper, andalters one’s personality.
“Anxiety can aff��ect yourability to work, relax and en
joy life,” says Tanya.In the workplace context,
chronic anxiety can be triggered by uncertainty aboutthe future, and one’s place init.
New reports about companies laying off�� employees canhave an eff��ect on someone,causing them to ask, “Will Ibe next?”.
Anxiety can take variousforms, and sometimes it isovercompensation.
Mpower The Centre, amental health organisation,has dealt with a case that ispertinent to the point, saysTanya.
Here, a female employeewith a legal services fi��rmneeded help because shewas extremely anxious aboutnot being good enough in therole assigned to her. The trig
ger seemed mild, but thestate of anxiety it led to,didn’t.
She had missed an emailand her colleague was nastyto her about it. She startedfeeling like she wasn’t goodenough for the role, and thismade her anxious, whichcaused her to be extremelyhard on herself. She felt theneed to answer emails evenat odd hours in the night. Allof this was aff��ecting her personal life and she ended upfeeling constantly exhausted.
Ashwini N.V., director ofMuktha Foundation, saysthere are various theories explaining workplace anxietyand detailing how it can bedealt with.
‘Job Demand Control Theory’ suggests that anxiety
can result from an inabilityto make decisions at work,and one’s skillset being seenas inadequate, which couldbe real or perceived.
‘Eff��ort and Reward Imbalance Theory’, the lack of balance between the eff��orts putin by employees and the rewards and opportunities forgrowth received by themcreates distress and anxiety.
According to ‘DemandControl Support Theory’,having a social support system can help tackle anxietyand distress.
No matter what theoryone subscribes to, there is nogainsaying the fact that intervention has to take place exactly where the problemstarted — which is theworkplace.
Organisations have to fi��rst
create an environment thatwould encourage employeesto seek help for their anxiety.Employee assistance programmes (EAP) can do thatfor them.
According to the IndiaHealth and WellBeing Study2018, released by Willis Towers Watson, 66% of the employers in India have alreadydeveloped or are developinga stress or mental healthstrategy for their employees.And an additional 17% areconsidering it for 2021.
The study has also notedthat one in every four organisations now engage the employees’ family, while dealing with workplace anxiety.
Line manager’s role The line manager must betrained. “They must be ap
proachable, should protectconfi��dential information andknow when to empathisewith an employee,” says Tanya. Ashwini says companiesmust promote fl��exiworkschedules, have zero tolerance for harassment andcreate an environmentwhere employees have clarity about their roles and responsibilities.
If your anxiety spikeswhen you are unclear aboutyour goals, seek feedback.Facetoface meeting canhelp keep unnecessary anxiety at bay.
“Promoting peer supportgroups is another way ofhelping employees copewith workplace anxiety,”says Ashwini.
Find volunteers Companies can carry out internal surveys to gauge theemotional and mental wellbeing of employees and setbenchmarks on how to improve it. Companies canidentify mentalhealth volunteers who will take up theresponsibility of facilitating asystem where help is on off��erfor those employees whomay need it.
In 2017, National Instituteof Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) instituted awards for Best MentalHealth Practices in the workplace, which is one of the indications from the largerworld that companies arenow expected to keep theworkplace anxietyproof.
The process begins when an organisation creates an environment that would encourage employees to seek helpLiffy Thomas
Career-related anxiety is more common than we realise. FILE PHOTO
How to keep anxiety out of the cubicle
How do GenZ seethemselves? Theyclaim to be the har
destworking generation,but want fl��exible schedulesto stay longer in a company,according to a survey by theWorkforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated.
Almost twofi��fths (36%) ofGenZers believe they ‘had itthe hardest’ when enteringthe working world compared to all other generations before it, said the study. One in four admit theywould work harder and staylonger at a company thatsupports fl��exible schedules.
GenZ’s appeal for fl��exibility comes with a few actions they would never tolerate from their employer,
like being forced to workwhen they don’t want to(35%), inability to use annual leave days when theywant to (34%) and workingbacktoback shifts (30%), itadded.
The survey is based on aglobal research done on behalf of the Workforce Institute at Kronos and FutureWorkplace in 12 countries —including India, Australia,Belgium, Canada, China,France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, theU.K., and the U.S. — among3,400 respondents.
One in four GenZers saythey are least prepared tohandle negotiating (26%),networking (24%), speakingconfi��dently in front ofcrowds (24%) and resolvingworkrelated confl��ict (23%).
PTI
A peek into the mind ofthe Gen-Z employee
CMYK
BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
DELHI THE HINDU
WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 201916EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
NIFTY 50
PRICE CHANGE
Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399.75. . . . . . . . -7.45
Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1429.35. . . . . . . 25.15
Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728.00. . . . . . . . . 0.55
Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2523.85. . . . . . -39.05
Bajaj Finserv. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7170.35. . . . . . . . . 7.90
Bajaj Finance . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3276.90. . . . . . . 30.30
Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343.60. . . . . . . . . 1.05
BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359.05. . . . . . . . . 5.55
Britannia Ind . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2730.20. . . . . . . . -4.30
Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528.90. . . . . . . . -2.05
Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218.05. . . . . . . . -3.35
Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 2599.35. . . . . . -33.15
Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. 17098.45. . . . . . . 26.45
GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138.60. . . . . . . . . 0.60
Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883.50. . . . . . . . -8.65
HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1010.95. . . . . . . . -8.00
HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2138.50. . . . . . -48.40
HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2263.50. . . . . . -33.75
Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 2469.30. . . . . . . 65.60
Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203.10. . . . . . . . . 0.70
Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1693.35. . . . . . . 12.65
Indiabulls HFL . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 640.55. . . . . . -15.35
ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411.95. . . . . . . . . 0.45
IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1416.75. . . . . . . . -1.65
Bharti Infratel . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 261.80. . . . . . . . -2.25
Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790.05. . . . . . . . . 5.65
Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 147.35. . . . . . . . -0.60
ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270.65. . . . . . . . . 6.25
JSW Steel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263.30. . . . . . . . -1.10
Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1494.00. . . . . . . 39.70
L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1409.50. . . . . . . . . 5.80
M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559.10. . . . . . . . -5.80
Maruti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 5873.75. . . . . . -38.75
NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133.05. . . . . . . . . 2.20
ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144.60. . . . . . . . -2.05
PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 210.45. . . . . . . . . 6.35
Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1273.55. . . . . . . . -6.95
State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342.20. . . . . . . . -8.65
Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430.25. . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156.20. . . . . . . . -0.55
Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459.85. . . . . . . . -5.70
TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2112.45. . . . . . . . . 2.55
Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 671.20. . . . . . . . -0.75
Titan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1099.15. . . . . . . 13.60
UltraTech Cement. .. . . . 4539.45. . . . . . -44.65
UPL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645.15. . . . . . . . . 6.30
Vedanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168.10. . . . . . . . . 0.85
Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264.50. . . . . . . . -0.30
YES Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90.65. . . . . . . . -0.50
Zee Entertainment . . . . . . 360.80. . . . . . . . -3.25
EXCHANGE RATES
Indicative direct rates in rupees a unitexcept yen at 4 p.m. on July 23
CURRENCY TT BUY TT SELL
US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 68.74. . . . . . . 69.06
Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 76.80. . . . . . . 77.16
British Pound. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 85.56. . . . . . . 85.96
Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 63.57. . . . . . . 63.86
Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 9.99. . . . . . . 10.04
Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 69.91. . . . . . . 70.24
Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 50.40. . . . . . . 50.64
Canadian Dollar. . . . . . . . .. . 52.29. . . . . . . 52.54
Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 16.67. . . . . . . 16.77
Source:Indian Bank
BULLION RATES CHENNAI
July 23 rates in rupees with previousrates in parentheses
Retail Silver (1g) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.5. . . . . . . (44.5)
22 ct gold (1 g) . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 3332. . . . . . (3348)
market watch
23-07-2019 % CHANGE
Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 37,983 ddddddddddddd-0.13
US Dollardddddddddddddddddddd 68.44 ddddddddddddd-0.27
Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 35,720 ddddddddddddd-0.69
Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 63.09 ddddddddddddd-0.53
An overall slowdown in demand growth, especially inthe rural markets, aff��ectedthe country’s largest pureplay fast moving consumergoods company HindustanUnilever Ltd (HUL), whichreported its lowest volumegrowth in seven quarters.
For the quarter endedJune 30, HUL registered a7% growth in volume withnet profi��t rising 15% to ₹��1,755crore, compared with ₹��1,529crore in the correspondingquarter of the previous fi��nancial year.
The company, whileterming its performance ‘resilient’, attributed the slowdown to factors such asmoderated growth, with rural demand falling and being on par with urban, andsaid that going ahead, demand may be soft thoughbetter on account of government initiatives aimed ataiding consumption.
Rural market growthrates, which have historically been almost double thatof the urban market, havebeen showing signs of moderation in the recent past.
“FMCG is not completelydelinked from the state ofthe economy. But it is not adoomsday scenario,” saidSanjiv Mehta, chairman and
MD, HUL, while addressingthe media.
“There could be variousfactors — food infl��ation hasbeen very tepid, rural wagesover the last fi��ve years havebeen modest and thosewould have been primarycontributing factors as towhy there has been a slowdown in rural,” he added.
The fi��rm reported netsales of ₹��9,984 crore for thequarter ended June 30, ascompared with ₹��9,356 crorein the corresponding quarter of the previous fi��scal.
Personal care dragsSubdued growth in beautyand personal care, whichaccounts for nearly half ofHUL’s overall sales, was onaccount of slowdown in afew massmarket brands ofthe fi��rm, said Mr. Mehta.HUL has brands such asLux, Dove, Pond’s, Lifebuoyand Pears within the personal care segment.
The company expects thesecond half of the year to bebetter than the fi��rst, thoughthe initial weeks of the current quarter have not shownsignifi��cant signs of recovery.
“We believe our businessis well positioned... in termsof navigating the shorttermchallenges arising from softening of growth,” Mr. Mehta said.
FMCG major expects H2 to be better
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
MUMBAI
HUL net up 15% despitesluggish demand
Larsen and Toubro (L&T) reported 20.5% growth in itsfi��rst quarter net profi��t to₹��1,361 crore even as marginsfrom major business segments such as infrastructure, power, heavy engineering, information technology(IT) and information technologyenabled services(ITES), fi��nancial services andothers fell.
The rise in profi��t came ona 10% growth in revenue to₹��29,636 crore, with international revenue contributing31% of the total revenue or₹��9,268 crore.
L&T secured ₹��38,700crore worth of new orders,registering a 11% growth withinternational orders contributing ₹��9,005 crore or 23%
of the total order fl��ow. “Order wins in infrastruc
ture and power segmentswere the major contributorsto the order infl��ow duringthe quarter,” said the company in a statement, addingthat the consolidated orderbook of the group stood at₹��2,94,014 crore as on June30, 2019, with international
order book constituting 21%of the total order book.
L&T’s EBITDA marginfrom the infrastructure segment, which constitutesabout 75% of the order book,fell to 6.4% from 6.8% in theyearago period due to jobmix and seasonality ofexecution.
Commenting on the mar
gins, L&T MD and CEO S. N.Subrahmanyan said, “Infrastructure margins can't bejudged on a quarterly basisas the value of the projectsdiff��ers in every quarter. It’sbetter to judge on longtermview.”
‘PSU clients chip in’“While orders from the central and State governmentswere aff��ected during thegeneral elections, strongPSU and private sector orders enabled the growthduring the quarter," thecompany said. L&T GroupCFO R. Shankar Raman said,
“We estimate most of thegrowth will come towardsend of the year. We are optimistic on meeting our orderfl��ow guidance of 1012% andrevenue guidance of 1215%.”
Increase in profi��t came on 10% growth in revenue; infra major secures ₹��38,700 crore in new orders
Special Correspondent
MUMBAI
L&T profi��t rises 20.5%, margins drop
With Deputy Governor ofthe Reserve Bank of India(RBI) Viral Acharya demitting offi��ce on Tuesday, thecentral bank has allocatedhis portfolios to other Deputy Governors.
Deputy Governor B.P.Kanungo gets the allimportant monetary policydepartment, which meanshe will be a member of thesixmember monetary policy committee (MPC) whichsets interest rates byvoting.
The central bank will announce the review of itsmonetary policy on August7. Another important department, the fi��nancialmarkets department thatMr. Acharya was handling,will now be headed by Deputy Governor N.S. Viswanathan.
Post Acharya’sexit, RBI rejigsportfolios
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Mumbai
Etihad Airways PJSC, the national carrier of Abu Dhabi,is learnt to have initiated afresh round of talks to bid forJet Airways through the IBCprocess.
Etihad had always beeninterested but wanted a favourable deal, according people familiar with thedevelopment.
The foreign carrier, whichhas 24% stake in the grounded airline, is reportedly gearing up to submit a bid alongwith the Hinduja Group.
A detailed email sent toEtihad Airways remainedunanswered till the time ofgoing to press.
Similarly, an email to theHinduja Group seeking aconfi��rmation yielded noresponse.
Negotiations are underway between the two parties, the people said, butthey did not elaborate.
Financial investorThe Hinduja Group, whichhad thrown its hat in the
ring, is likely to come in as afi��nancial investor.
Commenting on the development, Ambareesh Baliga,independent equity analystsaid. “Yes, people are interested because Jet Airwaysstill has brand equity. They
may benefi��t but the company will off��er nothing for retail or other shareholders astheir value has been completely eroded.
“It does not make anysense for strategic investorsto provide any premium because the company’s networth is negative. Strategicinvestors will come at parand the dilution will be sohuge that retail investors willbe turned into micro minority. There will be nothing leftfor them,” Mr. Baliga said.
It is also believed that theNational Investment and In
frastructure Fund (NIIF), ajoint venture between thegovernment of India and theAbu Dhabi Investment Authority will be roped in by Etihad to bid for the airline.
All interested parties havebeen asked to submit expression of interest (EoI) by August 3, 2019 and the bidderswill be shortlisted by August14, 2019.
Besides the EtihadHinduja combine, a consortium ofJet Airways Employees’ union and the U.K.based AdiPartners will be keycontenders.
Reportedly the TataGroup, Qatar Airways, Apollo Global Management andTPG Capital are forming aconsortium to bid.
Jet Airways shares closedwith a loss of 1.87% at ₹��44.55on the BSE on Tuesday.
Etihad in the race to acquire Jet Airways Abu Dhabi carrier likely to submit bid along with the Hinduja Group
In the fray: Etihad may rope in National Investment andInfrastructure Fund to bid for the airline. * REUTERS
Lalatendu Mishra
MUMBAI <> Jet will off��er
nothing for retail or
other shareholders
as their value has
been eroded
Ambareesh Baliga
equity analyst
The International MonetaryFund (IMF) has cut India’sgrowth forecast for 201920to 7% from its forecast inApril of 7.3% on poor demand conditions, it said onTuesday.
The IMF’s World Economic Outlook July update alsocut India’s growth forecastin 202021 to 7.2% from theprevious estimate of 7.5%.
“India’s economy is set togrow at 7% in 2019, pickingup to 7.2% in 2020,” the report said. “The downwardrevision of 0.3 percentagepoints for both years refl��ectsa weakerthanexpected outlook for domestic demand.”
This latest cut in the forecast follows a series of cutsby the IMF in its previous updates.
In April, the IMF had cutIndia’s growth forecast for201920 to 7.3%, which was0.2 percentage points lowerthan the forecast made in January, which itself was 0.1percentage points lowerthan the forecast made inOctober 2018.
The forecast of 7.2%growth for 202021 is 0.5percentage points lowerthan what was forecastmade in October and Janu
ary. The 7% forecast for201920, however, is in linewith those made by the Reserve Bank of India, ChiefEconomic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian andthe Asian DevelopmentBank.
The IMF has also cut its forecast for world GDP growthby 0.1 percentage point eachin 2019 and 2020 to 3.2%and 3.5%, respectively.
The growth forecast foremerging markets and developing economies has alsobeen cut by 0.3 percentagepoints for 2019 to 4.1% andby 0.1 percentage points for2020 to 4.7%.
IMF cuts India’s growthforecast for 201920 to 7%Cites weakerthanexpected outlook for domestic demand
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI <> IMF also cut India’s
growth forecast in
FY21 to 7.2% from
the previous
estimate of 7.5%
L&T has identifi��ed anew CEO for its latestacquisition, Mindtree.
The name may beannounced after theboard meeting onAugust 2. Asked forcomments, L&T’s MD &CEO S. N.Subrahmanyan said,“We have identifi��ed theCEO and will announcethe name shortly.”
Identifi��esCEO forMindtree
Special
Correspondent
MUMBAI
In view of falling interestrates, the government hasincreased the time periodby 1 month for doublingthe money invested in Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) to 9years and 5 months.
The funds parked inKVP with eff��ect from July1, 2019, will double in “9years and 5 months” or 113months as against “9 yearsand 4 months” or 112months earlier, the Finance Ministry said whileamending the Kisan VikasPatra Rules, 2014.
The interest rate onKVP has been lowered to7.6% for the Septemberquarter, compared with7.7% in the AprilJune period. The interest rates on
the government’s smallsavings instruments arerevised every quarter.
Individuals can investtheir money in KVP inmultiples of ₹��1,000 andthere is no upper ceilingfor investments. KVPs areissued in denominationsof ₹��1,000, ₹��5,000,₹��10,000 and ₹��50,000.
KVPs are sold at post offi��ces and the certifi��catecan be encashed after twoandahalf years from thedate of issue.
In case of prematurewithdrawal after twoandahalf years, a person willget ₹��1,173 for every ₹��1,000invested. After 3 years, theamount will go up to ₹��1,211and after threeandahalfyears, the amount wouldbe ₹��1,251.
‘KVP funds will doublein 9 years 5 months’ Govt. raises time period by 1 month
Press Trust of India
New DelhiThe Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has directedmarkets regulator SEBI tolook into the alleged violation of market norms byCairn India, a subsidiary ofVedanta, with regard towithholding of dividendspayable to Cairn UKHoldings.
The order came afterCairn UK Holdings Ltd. fi��ledan appeal with the tribunalagainst an order passed bySEBI. In 2017, the U.K.basedfi��rm had approached theregulator over nonpaymentof dividend amounting toover ₹��340 crore by Cairn India and had appealed to SEBI to direct Vedanta’s subsidiary to pay the dividendalong with an interest of 18%per annum.
In the appeal, Cairn UK
Holdings had asked to “initiate proceedings under ...Companies Act against every director of Cairn Indiawho were knowingly a partyto the nonpayment of thesaid dividend.” However,SEBI disposed of the complaint on the grounds thatthe unpaid dividend of over₹��660.63 crore was handedover by the fi��rm to the income tax authorities and itwould not be appropriatefor SEBI to take any furtheraction.
SAT asks SEBI to probeCairn India ‘violations’Cairn U.K. plea is for 340 cr. dividend
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI
BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
THE HINDU DELHI
WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2019 17EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
IN BRIEF
Hyundai Motor India tohike car prices from Aug.CHENNAI
Hyundai Motor India Ltd. has
decided to increase the price
of its cars across all models,
excluding Kona and Venue.
This is due to an increase in
input costs, following the
introduction of enhanced
safety regulations in cars by
the government. The
carmarker announced a price
increase of up to ₹��9,200
across all models. The new
prices will be eff��ective from
August 1, the company said
in a statement.
Five Star Business gets$50 million in fundingCHENNAI
Nonbanking fi��nance
company Five Star Business
Finance has raised $50
million in its second round of
funding led by private equity
major TPG Capital. “The
funds will be used for
growing the existing
portfolio and entering new
geographies like central
India,” said Rangarajan
Krishnan, CEO, Five Star
Business Finance. “Currently,
we have a strong presence in
the south. Now, we will enter
more States,” he added.
VA Tech Wabag bags₹��1,187cr. BUIDCO orderCHENNAI
VA Tech Wabag Ltd. has
secured an order from the
Bihar Urban Infrastructure
Development Corporation
valued at ₹��1,187 crore to
develop sewage treatment
plants of 150 MLD (million
litres per day) capacity along
with a sewerage network of
over 450 km in the Digha and
Kankarbagh zones of Patna.
This project comprises
design, build and operate
scope worth ₹��940 crore and
hybrid annuity scope worth
about ₹��247 crore.
Public Sector Indian Overseas Bank’s (IOB) net loss forthe fi��rst quarter ended June2019 narrowed to ₹��342 crorefrom the ₹��919 crore reportedduring the correspondingquarter last year, on lowerprovisioning and improvedrecovery, the bank said in aregulatory fi��ling.
During the period underreview, IOB recovered ₹��2,238crore against ₹��3,389 croreduring the correspondingquarter last year.
Total fresh slippages (other than debits to existing nonperforming asset accounts)stood at ₹��2,050 crore.
Recovery achieved is higher than slippages during thequarter mainly due to focussed eff��orts towards recovery, the bank said.
Interest income stood at₹��4,336 crore (₹��4,249 crore).Net interest income rose to₹��1,288.50 crore from ₹��1,208crore while net interest margin widened to 2.01% from1.92%. The bank made provisions and contingencies of
₹��1,158 crore (₹��2,401 crore). The lender also increased
its provision coverage ratioto 72.24% (61.10%). The proportion of current accountsavings account (CASA) deposits improved to 38.05%from 36.85%.
Gross nonperforming asset (GNPAs) dipped to₹��33,262 crore with a ratio of22.53% from ₹��38,146 crorewith a ratio of 25.64%. NetNPAs also came down to11.04% from 15.10%. In actualterms, they stood at ₹��33,262crore against ₹��38,146 crore.
For the fi��rst quarter, thebank posted a total businessof ₹��3,68,777 crore against₹��3,74,530 crore. Total deposits stood at ₹��2,21,171 crore(₹��2,22,534 crore).
The bank said it hadevolved a policy of not takingfresh exposures in stressedsectors. It had also exitedfrom accounts in thestressed sectors. IOB also rebalanced the credit portfolio, with retail, agri andMSME sector share of totaldomestic advances rising to68.07% from 66.04%.
Recoveries help IOB narrow lossLender trims loss ₹��342 crore from ₹��919 crore, also aided by lower provisioning
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI
Data breaches have cost Indian enterprises ₹��12.8 croreon an average during the fi��rsthalf of calendar 2019, a7.29% increase comparedwith a year ago.
Each employee incurred aloss of ₹��5,019 on account oflost data or stolen record, anincrease of 9.76% from theprior year, said a study conducted by IBM Security in association with Ponemon Institute.
Some 45 enterprisesacross segments were part ofthe India leg of the study. Byper capital cost, industrial,pharmaceuticals, technology, and fi��nancial sectorswere the top aff��ected verticals, found the study.
The mean time to identifythe data breach increased
from 188 to 221 days; however, the mean time to containthe data breach decreasedfrom 78 to 77 days, said thestudy.
The root cause for 51% ofdata breaches was maliciousor criminal attacks, and itcost companies $1 millionmore on average than thoseoriginating from accidental
causes. System glitches accounted for 27% of databreaches while human errors accounted for 22%.
Commenting on the fi��ndings, Vaidyanathan Iyer, security software leader, IBMIndia/south Asia said: “Indiais witnessing a signifi��cantchange in the nature of cybercrimes; it is now extremely organised and collaborative. The cost of data breachcontinues to grow year afteryear.”
Firms with less than 500employees suff��ered losses ofmore than $2.5 million on anaverage.
“The fi��ndings highlightthe fact it is critical for organisations to invest in risk assessment, cognitive threat,management and buildingdigital trust to beef up cybersecurity,” added Mr. Iyer.
Each employee lost ₹��5,019 on lost data, stolen record: study
Special Correspondent
Bengaluru
‘Data breaches cost fi��rms dear’
* GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK
SundaramClayton Ltd.’s(SCL) standalone net profi��tfor the fi��rst quarter endedJune 2019 dipped 30.63%to ₹��4.87 crore from the₹��7.02 crore registered during the correspondingquarter last year on lowerrevenue from operations.
During the fi��rst quarter,income from operationsslipped to ₹��374 crore from₹��469 crore. Other incomerose to ₹��7.13 crore from₹��4.97 crore, the companysaid in a regulatory fi��ling.
Total expenditure forthe auto component makerdecreased to ₹��375.89 crorefrom ₹��465.17 crore reported for the correspondingyearago period. Raw material costs also dipped to₹��163 crore from ₹��250 crore.
Sundaram-Clayton Q1 netdips 30.6%
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI
American digital paymentsplayer PayPal is workingwith its partners on localisation of data as mandated bythe Reserve Bank of India,said vicepresident andhead (engineering) of PayPal India Guru Bhat here onTuesday.
“As part of our operatingsetup in India, we workwith a lot of partners and weare working with them withthe proposal right now onhow to enable this for thecountry,” he said whenasked if Paypal is considering ‘data localisation’ asmandated by the RBI.
The RBI had, in April lastyear, asked payment fi��rmsto ensure their data werestored exclusively on local
servers, setting a tight sixmonth deadline forcompliance.
That deadline was said tohave been missed by someforeign fi��rms, including credit card giants Visa andMastercard.
Policymakers in India believe storing data locallywould help monitor andconduct investigations if theneed arises.
“In all the markets thatwe are prevalent or operative in, our intent is to have aplatform that is compliantacross all those platforms.So we have the same approach for India and all thelaws of the land we willcomply with,” Mr. Bhatfurther said. PayPal alsolaunched its third globaltechnology centre here.
PayPal mulls datalocalisation for IndiaEstablishes technology centre
Press Trust of India
hyderabad
Shanthi Gears Ltd. has reported a 11% rise in its standalone net profi��t for thefi��rst quarter ended June2019 to ₹��9.45 crore fromthe ₹��8.50 crore posted inthe corresponding quarterlast year on a rise in totalincome.
The company posted a13.56% increase in its totalincome to ₹��73 crore.
Total expenses rosefrom ₹��53 crore to ₹��60crore, the company said ina regulatory fi��ling.
The company added ithad bought back 50 lakhequity shares during February 2019 and they wereextinguished by April 2019,according to its regulatoryfi��ling.
Shanthi Gearsnet up 11% onhigher income
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI
Rana Kapoor, the cofounder of Yes Bank who wasthe managing director andchief executive offi��cer tillthe end of January, haspledged 10 crore shares ofthe bank, amounting to4.31% stake, while MorganCredits Private Ltd., a promoter entity, has pledged7.02 crore shares or 3.03%stake.
The 7.34% shares werepledged by the two promoters in favour of MilestoneTrusteeship Services Pvt.Ltd., the debenture trustee, for the benefi��t of theholders of debentures issued by MCPL. Yes Bankshares declined 0.5% to₹��90.70 on the BSE compared to its previous close.
Rana Kapoorpledges YesBank shares
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Mumbai
Housing Finance Development Corporation Ltd(HDFC) clarifi��ed on Tuesdaythat the latest circular of theNational Housing Bank(NHB) which advised housing fi��nance companies(HFCs) to desist from providing loans to fi��nance subvention schemes off��ered bybuilders to sell homes is unlikely to impact growth ofthe individual loanbusiness.
HDFC said it disbursesloans to individuals basedon the stages of construction and that it has adequatemechanism for monitoringthe progress of housing projects. Customer consent isobtained prior to the release
of each stage of payment tothe developer, the mortgagelender added. HDFC’s exposure to housing loan products involving interest subvention schemes off��ered bydevelopers is negligible, itsaid. “The corporation is ofthe view that there is unlikely to be any signifi��cant impact on the growth of its individual business due to thecircular,” HDFC said.
‘Circular from NHB not to have impact on HDFC’ ‘Have ability to monitor project status’
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Mumbai
gave it a perfect texture. TheThai Green Curry Pizza is anovel twist on a thincrustItalian pizza.
There is also a tremendousselection of veg and nonvegbaos, tempura, curries, andmains on the menu, providing much choice, so nobodywill go hungry.
Skip: Surprisingly, someof the Mangathemed cocktails were a disappointment.I would avoid the Lust (described as a mojito with a Japanese makeover), as it reminded me of RoohAfza; alsothe Mugen, Japanese whiskeywith vanilla and lemongrasscordials — much too sweet.
Go with: A big gang anddance the night away. Stagsare not permitted.
Space bar: 10,000 sq. ft. How much: ₹��3,000 for
two (sans alcohol). Cocktails are priced at ₹��595
and above.Getting there:
Technically it is feasible to take the Metro toAerocity, but in realitya car/cab is your safestbet. Remember, don’tdrink and drive.
lent music — a good mix of‘70s and ‘80s English, with afew latest Bollywood tracksthrown in for good measure.Nothing is played at eardeafening pitch, so you can havea conversation. All in all, agreat addition to Delhi’s latenight scene. Badshah, “hordass kinniya tareefan chahidiae tenu!”
Do try: The dim sums —the Chicken Xialong was superb, with a thin skin on theoutside and bursting with fl��avour and spice on the inside.The Crispy Almond and Garlic Prawns were my favourite,and had a generous amountof thinlysliced almonds that
scribed as“Delhikitsch”. It’senergetic,with excel
CLEAR-CUTTHOUGHTS
If she were to choosebetween Pink andNerkonda Paarvai,which one wouldshe prefer? —“Hmm...Nerkonda
Paarvai! Because I’min it,” she laughs,
adding, “I haven’twatched it, but I have
faith in Vinoth. He wasprecise about certain thingsand showed commendable
clarity of thought.”Vidya has been keeping a tab
on South Indian movies, thanks toOTT platforms. The recent Tamilmovie she watched is Mahanati, whichshe loved.AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Vidya Balan isn’t a fan of remakes. She,in fact, despises the remake culture, forshe believes that it’s a convenient way ofmaking money — arguably the reasonwhy she stayed away from doing remakes — unless there’s an exception likePink, remade in Tamil as NerkondaPaarvai, directed by H Vinoth. Whenproducer Boney Kapoor shared the ideaof remaking Pink in Tamil, her instinctive reaction was: “Why would you remake it?” But now, she is convinced thatNerkonda Paarvai is a relevant subjectthat deserves to be told in Tamil, too.
“If there is a section of audiences whohadn’t seen the Hindi original because ofthe language barrier, they deserve achance,” says Vidya Balan over phonefrom Kolkata. Though Vidya agreed toact in Nerkonda Paarvai for Boney Kapoor and the late Sridevi, who, by theway, she “worships”, it so happened thatshe was paired opposite one of the biggest stars in Tamil cinema: Ajith Kumar.“When I learned that Boney ji brought inAjith on board, it was just icing on thecake for me,” she laughs, “I’m just gladthat everything fell in place; my fi��rst fi��lmin Tamil starring Ajith and produced byBoney ji.”
Given her impressive track record inBollywood, Vidya comes across as a daring actor who headlines projects thathave considerable meat for the character
she plays. By her own admission, her character in the Tamil remake is “small yetspecial”. However, Vidya was unperturbed by the screen time when BoneyKapoor off��ered the part. “When Boney jicame home, he gave me a sheet of paperand asked me to read. And I said, ‘Iwon’t... I’m doing this movie anyway’,”she says, adding, “You do movies for different reasons. This role may not be meaty, but it was something special.” Therewas no trace of Vidya Balan in NerkondaPaarvai’s trailer, which has clocked inmore than 12 million views since lastmonth.
Vidya is quite guarded about her character and doesn't mince words, although it’s an open secret that she playsAjith's wife. But those who have seenPink would know the fact that Vidya hasvery little or no presence to the proceed
ings, and she’s quick to admit that. Butwhere Nerkonda Paarvai diff��ers fromthe original is in its treatment of her character. “My portion is diff��erent fromPink. There’s a song too and anythingmore would take away the fun,” sheadds.
No means noLong before the #MeToo movement,which took shape last year in India, Amitabh Bachchan delivered a powerfulstatement about consent — one thatroughly translated to : “No means no” inPink. Three years after its release, Vidyafeels that the movie is “going to be pertinent for years to come”. “Women havebeen conditioned to believe that theydon’t have the right to say ‘no’. Likewise,men believe that they cannot take ‘no’for an answer. But that’s changing now,”
she elaborates, “Which is why NerkondaPaarvai might plant a seed in the mindsof people who still don’t understandconsent.” And for that to happen, themovie, according to Vidya, required ahuge star like Ajith Kumar — to initiate adialogue in the mainstream Tamil cinema.
“He [Ajith] commands a massive starpower and has a huge fan following.When the message comes from him, it'llobviously pander to a wider sect ,” saysVidya.
Ask her a clickbaity question — howwould you describe Ajith as a costar? —
and she giggles at the mention of theword ‘clickbait’, saying that she wasfl��oored by “Thala’s personality”. So
much so that she wondered if she wasacting with Ajith’s doppelganger. “Icouldn’t believe that the guy, who
drives people mad, was standing in frontof me with utmost simplicity,” she exclaims, “To be honest, I felt as though Iwas acting with his lookalike. He wasthat humble. When I spoke to him aboutthe ‘Thala’ image and how diff��erent hewas in person, he was shy.”
Winds of changeThere’s a signifi��cant change in the kindof roles being written for women, andone can’t help wonder how much VidyaBalan has contributed to this movement.If anything, women are challenging thestatusquo in the industry, which, explains why we have a better representation of women on screen today.
“Statusquo has been upturned in society as well as in movies. These days,women are putting up a strong fi��ght andrealising their dreams and desires. Idon’t think it’s a trend because it’s soongoing to be a reality,” she says. At thesame time, Vidya is dismissive of “femalecentric” movies, even though she’smore than happy that they exist. Sheends on a positive note: “There will be aday when we stop the distinction andwatch movies for what they are.”
Kollywood in
sight
Actor Vidya Balan discussesworking with Ajith Kumar in
Nerkonda Paarvai, her fi��rststraight Tamil fi��lm, which is
scheduled for release on August 8
Shades of pink Vidya Balan believes that the movie is likely to plant a seed in theminds of those who don’t understand consent * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
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DELHI THE HINDU
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SHOWCASE
PaintingsThe ongoing solo painting show titled,
Spirituality, Serenity and Beauty by the
Karnataka-based artist Gouri Seth attempts to
promote compassion and love. Showcasing her
Buddhas at the exhibition, the artist has taken up
painting after a gap of 42 years. She takes
inspiration for her art work from light.
Venue: Convention Centre Foyer, India Habitat
Centre
Time: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
EXHIBITION
Mushroom feastCafé Knosh, the all-day dining, multi-cuisine
restaurant, is hosting a special mushroom food
festival called Make Room for Mushroom. On
until July 30, the festival presents a complete
meal ranging from soups and starters to main-
course dishes made of mushrooms, all sourced
from different parts of the country.
Venue: Café Knosh, Hotel Leela Ambience
Time: 12 noon - 11:30 p.m.
GOURMET
Piano recitalNew York-based Indian classical raga and jazz
pianist, Utsav Lal will perform this evening. He
will present Dhrupad-influenced raga renditions
in solo Alap Jod Jhalla, with Zuheb Ahmed Khan
on the tabla. Lal, a music composer and educator
has successfully taken the sounds of Indian ragas
on the piano to global venues.
Venue: Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre
Time: 7:30 p.m.
MUSIC
Chaat-pakoda specialSodaBottleOpenerWala is offering an exciting
monsoon menu with street-style chaat and
pakodasfound on the streets of Mumbai and
Delhi — all with a twist. The menu has a wide
range of pakodas such as Marcha Na Cheese
Poppers, Mangalorean Prawns Coconut Fritters,
Chutney Paneer Pakoda, and more.
Venue: All outlets in Delhi/NCR
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.
FAST FOOD
Comic actKingdom Come Entertainment is staging a
Hinglish stand-up comic show by ‘Knotty
Commander’ Manish Tyagi, this evening. Manish
used to be a Commander in the Indian Navy
before he decided to become a stand-up comic in
2014. In this act, he has some very funny tales to
tell from his life experience.
Venue: Max Towers, Sector 16B, Noida
Time: 7 p.m.
PERFORMANCE
5 EVENTS WORTH YOUR WHILE
A young colleague told me that a senior of ours is
harassing her (passing remarks about her clothes,
appearance), but we have no complaints committee in
our organisation. What can we do?
If your organization has more than 10 employees, including
consultants, temporary staff, and interns, amongst others,
the Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohbition and Redressal) Act, 2013 mandates that it ought
to set up an Internal Complaints Committee (‘ICC’) to
address complaints of sexual harassment. If an employer
does not constitute an ICC, it’s a punishable offence, and
the employer is liable to pay a fine of Rs 50,000/-.
If your organization does not have an ICC, please write
to your employer about their legal obligation to set up an
ICC. If there is still no action, you can write to the District
Officer in your area or write to the Department of Women
and Child Development of your State. The information can
be found on the website of the Ministry of Women and
Child Development, Government of India or the websites of
the State Governments.
In the case of your colleague, if she wants, she can file a
police complaint of sexual harassment against the senior
under Section 354A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The
complaint basically needs to state the details of the
harassment faced by her at the hands of her senior, which
warranted necessary legal action. She can file the
complaint online too, and then take a copy of the complaint
along with any documents to prove her case to the police
station, and get a receipt on her online complaint.
My daughter is not happy in her marriage, and my
husband and I would like her to come and live with us.
However, my son-in-law says she has no right to take
the child (male, 10). Is this true?IIn India, the custody and guardianship of children is
governed by the principle of ‘best interests of the child’. If
the child is under 5 years of age, then the mother is
‘ordinarily’ granted the custody of the child. If the child is
older, then the Court only considers the best interest of the
child in determining the questions of custody. In your case,
where the child is 10 years old, the Court may even ask the
child for his wish. Thus, it is not true that the mother has no
right of custody over a 10-year-old male child. If there is a
dispute between the parents over the child’s custody, the
mother can file a petition under the Guardian and Wards
Act, 1890, and seek custody of the child and the Court will
determine in accordance with the best interest of the child.
Amritananda Chakravorty is a Delhibasedadvocate, specialising in litigation ongender and sexuality. She was activelyinvolved in the landmark cases of
decriminalisation of sodomy (Section377) and the recognition oftransgender rights in India.
Women speak
Get answers to tricky situations pertaining to
relationships and soci-legal issues in Delhi/NCR
BAR CODE
iSt
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For a listing or to be featured here, email us [email protected]
Srivatsan S
Beyond Liines is a new café in Dwarka, with a cricket theme.
It consists of a pitch (in the dimensions of the large-format
game) along with a lounge and a casual dining area, with a
wall depicting a cricket stadium. The menu is divided into
Openers, Toss, Square cut, and Pinch Hitters. The space
also has an entertainment parlour for kids. The café has
facilities for live screenings of sports events. They serve
North Indian, Chinese, Continental fare.
Beyond Liines, Sec 13, Dwarka; approximately ₹��1,000 for two;₹��250 for 3 overs (on the pitch)
Cricket in a café
PLACE
The busiest of all establishments at Worldmark 1, Aerocity, Delhi’s current gotodestination for food anddrink, is the Dragonfl��y Experience. Promoted by the manwho has made Delhi drinklike no other, Priyank Sukhija(of Flying Saucer and Lord ofthe Drinks fame), and thesensational rapper Badshah,Dragonfl��y has a little for everyone. The focus is on dancing and cocktails. In fact,they teamed up with Londonbased mixologist Richard Hargroves of TGIF andTown House Cafe fame to develop speciality off��erings.The food, whilst secondaryto the experience, is exactlywhat one would want at anupmarket bar: an assortmentof fried, grilled and spicy, together with sushi, dim sums,pizzas. Whilst not culinaryheaven, Dragonfl��y has the recipe for a great night out.
The vibe: As soon as youwalk through the entranceyou are astounded by thesheer expanse of the restaurant, sprinkled with people
across three levels of seating.The doubleheight ceilinggives Dragonfl��y a welcomesense of openness and levitythat one does not easily fi��nd
at bars and clubs. A lot of effort has been put into the interiors, which attempts tochronicle the lifecycle of adragonfl��y, and is best de
The night, Badshah styleDragonfl��y Experience is a bar and club which ticks most boxes
Food for all (Clockwise from above)Butter garlic prawn dumplings; SushiDonut; Tuna & Salmon Nigiri; PriyankSakhija with Badshah * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Naval Satarawala Chopra FOOD REVIEW
Sergius Baretto
With the recent push towards electrifi��cation, we’re all set to see a slewof new allelectric models arrive onour shores, which will include theNissan Leaf — one of the pioneer EVsof modern times. Nissan hadplanned to launch the fi��rstgen Leafin our market but were deferred.Now, however, the carmaker is set tolaunch the secondgen model (pictured here) in India by the end of theyear. The model will arrive as a CBUimport with prices expected to beabout ₹��40 lakh (exshowroom).
A lot has been done to make theLeaf stand out from a conventionalcar. The wedge shape is alluring, especially in red. The headlights fl��owneatly into a fauxgrille area — ablack translucent panel that hasneat pyramidlike structures beneath. Around the side, the Leafgets a fl��oating roof and a blackedout rear section.
If your expectation of EVs isbased on what was on sale in Indiaso far, be prepared to be very surprised. While trims and equipmentare yet to be fi��nalised, we can expect it to get a fair bit of kit like sixairbags, ABS, a Bose sound system,electronic climate control, electricseat adjustment and a 7.0inchtouchscreen with Android Auto andApple CarPlay. Given that the connected car experience has alreadystarted in India, Nissan could off��erits full connectivity suite, which includes remote diagnosis and precooling the car via a smartphone; aswell as Amazon Alexa and GoogleAssistant control.
On the inside, the dash is quitefunctional and fairly conventional.The only giveaway to the car’s alternate propulsion system is the gearselector, which is a small knob witha joysticklike movement; the pattern isn’t intuitive, but there is asmall legend printed just ahead,along with a position indicator.
The quality of the switches, doorpads and dashboard are all quite acceptable if you think of midsize se
dans; but you’ll be disappointed tonot fi��nd the fi��nish and luxury you’dnormally expect from a car that costs₹��40 lakh. The premium paid is notfor a luxury car but for the extra attention it will get you — and for the alternate propulsion system that’sbilled to be the future of automobiles.
The seats are comfortable andsupportive, room at the front is decent and the seating position is quitehigh (because you sit above the batteries); despite this, you haveenough headroom. At the rear, legroom is very good for an averagesized adult and headroom is generous, too. Plus, you can also seat
three people in reasonable comfort,although the middle passenger willhave to contend with a centre tunnel.
Having tested a wide variety ofEVs, we know range anxiety is real,and so we made sure we were nearavailable charging points. The infrastructure is sparse today, but afew companies have started off��eringspace for public chargers — like DLF,which let us use the facility at DLFCyber City for our test.
We used about 70% of our chargein 87km, and this included a lot ofhard acceleration runs (timing), alot of stationary time with the AC on(cameramen need time to shoot theinsides) and very little use of thecar’s Eco mode.
As for motive power, there aretwo powertrains on off��er — one witha 40kWh battery system (the one wedrove), with an EPAcycle range of241km, and the other with a 62kWhbattery and a promised range of364km. The 40kWh system is theversion that’s likely to launch here.It has a 150hp motor that puts out320Nm of torque right from thestart. Electric motors develop maxtorque right from the word go. Thus,from behind the wheel, the Leaffeels like every other electric car —very quick off�� the line, followed bylinear acceleration. While the initialburst is very strong, it’s not reallydramatic. And while the claimed 0100kph time stands at a quick7.9sec, it doesn’t really feel all thatfast due to the lack of any auraldrama.
Lift off�� the pedal and the motoracts like a generator, sending chargeback to the batteries; this helps withrange and also slows the car down.
It’s calibrated to feel close to theslowdown of a conventional car during engine braking. Move to B modeand the eff��ect is stronger. However,it is in ePedal mode that it’s at itsmax, where the car also uses theregular friction brakes to come to afull stop. The eff��ect in this mode isdramatic enough for you to drivearound ignoring the brake pedaland using just the accelerator mostof the time. However, I found it to bea little too much in certain startstoptraffi��c conditions. Ironically, thebrakes — which feel unservoed otherwise — are at their best in ePedalmode.
The Leaf ’s ride is good despitethe stiff�� suspension necessitated bythe car’s heavy 1.5tonne weight;and apart from some updown clunkiness, ride on our roads was good.The light steering is great in traffi��c,and because of the lower centre ofgravity (thanks to the weight of thebatteries placed low down), you canfl��ing the car around with some levelof confi��dence; just don’t expect hothatch levels of grip from the newLeaf’s ‘effi��cient’ tyres.
At the end of the day, the Leaffeels pretty much like a conventional car. The ride is good, it’s got all thecreature comforts you’d expect, andthe space is more than adequate. Ofcourse, being an import, it isn’t going to be cheap; but the real issuewill be range. It isn’t bad on its own,but for now, charging points are fewand there isn’t a standardised fastcharging plug that can be used by allcars. A home charger would be amust then, but Nissan should consider the 62kWh battery — a potential range of 360km would be farmore practical in our environment.
A Leaf out of NissanIt feels pretty much like a conventional car — the ride is good, it’s got all thecreature comforts you’d expect
SPECIFICATIONS
PRICE: ₹��40 lakh (estimated)
L/W/H: 4480/1790/1540mm
WHEELBASE: 2700mm
KERB WEIGHT: 14901520kg
MOTOR TYPE: Synchronous
POWER: 110kW
TORQUE: 320Nm
BATTERY TYPE: Lithiumion
BATTERY CAPACITY: 40kWh
RANGE: 241kms (US EPA)
CHARGING TIME: 16hrs (3kW) /8hrs (6kW) 40min (quickcharge)AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
All charged up The Nissan Leaf isone of the pioneer EVs of moderntimes * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
■ Across
1 Popular starter (5,8)
8 Low wall along a
roof edge (7)
9 Lowest point (5)
10 Noise of a small
object dropping into
water (4)
11 Old campaigner (8)
13 Nervously
restrained laugh (6)
14 Hitchcock’s 1960
classic (6)
17 Event (8)
19 Expression of grief (4)
21 Large fl��ow of liquid
(5)
22 Those leaving their
own country for political
reasons (7)
24 Pellmell (67)
■ Down
1 Getupandgo (3)
2 Par trio (anag) —
Charles de Gaulle, say
(7)
3 Small bites (4)
4 Robin Hood fi��gure?
(6)
5 Capital of the
Democratic Republic
of the Congo (8)
6 Birch relative (5)
7 Relating to theft (9)
10 Abraham or Isaac,
perhaps (9)
12 French cop (8)
15 Guilty party (7)
16 Except if (6)
18 Not rude (5)
20 Gripper — fault (4)
23 Title for a baronet
(3)
THE GUARDIAN QUICK CROSSWORD-13130
6
Solution will appear
in The Hindu dated
July 25, 2019.
Solution No. 13129
POOCH CAFE
HAGAR THE HORRIBLE
TIGER
PEANUTS
CALVIN AND HOBBES
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE
WUMO
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THE HINDU DELHI
WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2019 19EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
CMYK
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SHOWCASE
Renault Triber to launch in AugustRenault will launch the Triber in India in early August.The car is a crucial part of the model off��ensive Renaulthas planned for India to double its sales by 2022. Builton the CMFA+ platform, the Triber is the only otheroff��ering in the Indian market (besides the Datsun Go+)with an overall length just shy of the 4m mark and thecapacity to seat seven. The fl��exibility it gets by beingable to remove the third row altogether gives theRenault an added dose of practicality. Upon launch, theRenault Triber is expected to carry a starting price tag ofabout ₹��5.30 lakh (exshowroom).
Ather 450 bookings open in ChennaiAther has opened bookings for the 450 in Chennai. Thebooking amount is set at ₹��5,000 with the escooterpriced at ₹��1.31 lakh (onroad, Chennai). Deliveries forthe fi��rst batch of 450s are set to begin in September,followed by the second batch between November andDecember. After that, deliveries will take place from February2020 onwards. Just like with its scooters in Bengaluru,Ather has also listed a lease programme in Chennai,with rentals starting at ₹��2,517 per month. Earlier,Ather revealed an ambitious target of selling one lakhunits by June 2021.
Honda updates WR-V with more kit,new trim levelHonda has updated the WRV with added kit and alsointroduced a new midlevel V trim. Prices now start at₹��8.15 lakh (exshowroom, Delhi). The new V trim, priced at ₹��9.95 lakh, is available withthe 1.5 diesel engine and sits between the base S andtopspec VX variants. In terms of kit, it packs in most ofthe features available on the VX, including the 7.0inchtouchscreen infotainment system, reverse camera,cruise control and powerfolding ORVMs among others.Interestingly, the only addition is a leatherwrappedsteering wheel. However, an electric sunroof is missing.
AUTO SNIPPETS
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DELHI THE HINDU
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SPORT
The World Cup is done and dusted,the caravan has moved on, the pun
dits have spoken, the analyses are over.Yet a couple of questions continue tonag. Why, for instance, would umpireKumar Dharmasena admit to making anerror while granting England the extrarun in the tied fi��nal, and then followthat up with “I will never regret that decision”? The decision was taken in consultation with the other umpire, he tellsus, it was a diffi��cult one to make, he assures us, and then ruins that with what
comes across as either arrogance orstupidity.
The second question is the more interesting. Why were Indian fans so angry with the fi��nal result? Not merely disappointed or upset, but angry? Can youimagine television debates in Englandor Australia had India missed out in themanner that New Zealand did?
England skipper Eoin Morgan hasspoken to his New Zealand counterpartKane Williamson “on numerous occasions” since the fi��nal, he has said, andneither has been able to get his headaround everything that happened. Hewas quoted as saying, “I’m not sure winning it makes it any easier,” adding later,“It would be more diffi��cult to lose, ofcourse.”
Waves
In New Zealand, Kane Williamson told aradio station, “It will take a little bit of ti
me…you get waves. You just forgetabout it for 10 minutes then it hits youagain … ” And importantly, “The ruleswere there from the start, we have toswallow that and accept it.”
One Indian fan told me, “I didn’tmind that India lost in the semifi��nal. Itgave us a chance to watch the greatestoneday international ever.” He was theexception, as the majority wanted to dosomething about that fi��nal — from a signature campaign asking the International Cricket Council to alter its playingconditions and letting the teams sharethe trophy to sacking various offi��cials.
Everybody had an opinion, expressed more forcefully and with greater concern than anything articulatedon issues such as the country’s watershortage, or fudging in the national budget, which should aff��ect us deeply. Anumpiring decision made under pressure in a far away land got even the si
lent majority raising fi��sts in anger.
Love for the underdog
It would have been hilarious if it didn’tsay something interesting about us. Ageand gender were no barrier to dissatisfaction; my uncle in his 80s was ascheesed off�� as nieces in their teens andtwenties. Social media, the arbiter of acountry’s innermost thoughts, couldnot tear itself away from the subject. Iseverybody angry because New Zealanddidn’t make it or because England did?
Perhaps it is more of the former,which rules out any colonial hangover.Perhaps it is a genuine love for the underdog, although Indian cricket fans arenot renowned for this.
Perhaps Williamson came as a breathof fresh air and we wanted to show ourappreciation by fi��ghting his team’s battles.
New Zealanders weren’t nearly as an
gry, and Williamson didn’t once sayanything about luck going against them— an easy enough line to take, particularly since it’s true — and handled it allwith dignity.
Perhaps once India lost in the semifi��nals, their fans transferred their considerable energies to New Zealand, andthus found a reason to retain their interest in the World Cup. Traditionally,teams in South Asia, from the schools level to the international, have tended tosupport the opponents of the team thatbeat them. Not so this time.
Springs of sorrow
The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins hassaid that the springs of sorrow are thesame. Perhaps it is the same with thesprings of anger too. For the course ofone match, New Zealand were the Indiathat made it to the fi��nal, didn’t lose thematch but lost the Cup. Blaming the
players was out of the question. Burningeffi��gies didn’t make sense. Part of theanger might have risen from the frustration of not being able to do these things.And part from a feeling of ‘We wuzrobbed’.
The normally demanding Indian fandidn’t explode when India lost; didn’tquestion the money the players makeoutside the fi��eld, didn’t blame the IPL orthe quality of Indian wickets or the standard of domestic matches.
The ones who wanted a change incaptaincy were few, and no one calledfor major changes in the team or askedquestions of the Board of Control forCricket in India. If any players’ houseswere stoned or effi��gies burnt, thesedidn’t get any publicity.
All this is new. And welcome. And asign — let us hope — that the aggressiveIndian fan is beginning to learn to takedefeat.
The new Indian fan and why he was angry after the fi��nal This is a welcome change and holds out hope that the aggressive follower of the game is beginning to learn to take defeat
BETWEEN WICKETSsuresh menon
Rajasthan’s Rahul Chahar,just a few days from turning20, is the latest legspinner tobreak into the India team.
Five months ago, Punjab’s21yearold Mayank Markande made his India debutin the T20 against Australiain Visakhapatnam. Markande was given the chanceafter his 14match appearance for Mumbai Indians inIPL Season11.
And now, Chahar, after 13matches for Mumbai Indiansin IPL Season12, has won acallup for the threematchT20 series against the WestIndies. Chahar was MI’s mainspinner, taking 13 wickets atan economy rate wellunderseven.
Mumbai Indians can takecredit for spotting talent inboth Markande and Chaharand bring them onto the T20stage where batsmen rulethe roost.
After Yuzvendra Chahal(31 matches/46 wkts) andKuldeep Yadav’s (18/35) success, Indian cricket is looking more at wristspin options. India’s previouslegspinners for T20 Internationals were Amit Mishra (10matches/16 wkts), Piyush
Chawla (7/4), Rahul Sharma(2/3), Karn Sharma (1/1) andSachin Tendulkar (1/1).
Together they have accounted for 106 wickets at18.34 and an economy rate ofa little over seven.
Former India seamer andMI talent scout Abey Kuruvilla feels the ideal situationwould be to perform in FirstClass cricket and impress theselectors. He cited Anil Kumble as an example.
Talking about wrist spinners getting an early breakand also of Rahul Chahar hesaid: “Legspinners bring inthe novelty factor and wickettaking ability. The fi��ngerspinners are vanishing in thisformat, given the smallerboundaries and heavy bats.IPL is a highpressure competition and Chahar hasbeen able to absorb pressure; he’s mentally toughand very accurate.”
In all 28 legspinners —specialists, parttime and casual — have bowled for Indiain Test cricket, and 15 inODIs. Most of them foundtheir way into the Indianteam through First Classcricket (Ranji, Duleep, IraniTrophy matches). Thesedays the IPL has become theexpress lane for legspinners.
Rahul Chahar — fi��nding his spot on the big stageIPL performance for Mumbai Indians earns the legspinner the right to wear India colours
Bright talent: Rahul Chahar has been able to absorb pressure, is mentally tough and very accurate, according to Mumbai Indianstalent scout Abey Kuruvilla. * FILE PHOTO: K.V.S. GIRI
G. Viswanath
Mumbai
Wriddhiman Saha will begin his reintegration after amajor shoulder injury withhis fi��rst First Class game in18 months when IndiaAtakes on West IndiesA inan unoffi��cial Test startinghere on Wednesday.
Saha and Hanuma Vihariare the two Test specialistswho have been included inthe A squad to prepare forthe twoTest series startinglate August.
Saha, who is only threemonths shy of his 35thbirthday, is returning aftera careerthreatening injury.Having stayed under M.S.Dhoni’s shadow, Saha’s injury during the last IPL wasa massive blow.
With Rishabh Pant proving his credentials, it’sagain that phase in his career where he could beseen carrying drinks.The squad: Shreyas Iyer(Capt.), P.K. Panchal, Abhima-nyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill,Hanuma Vihari, Shivam Dube,Wriddhiman Saha (wk), K.S.Bharat (wk), K. Gowtham, S.Nadeem, Mayank Markande,Navdeep Saini, MohammedSiraj, Shardul Thakur andAvesh Khan.
Anotherlifeline for Saha Press Trust of India
North Sound (Antigua)
Wriddhiman Saha.* FILE PHOTO: BISWARANJAN ROUT
There are hints that anotherround of tussle between theCommittee of Administrators (CoA) and the BCCImembers who are not keenon implementing the Lodhareforms is likely to ensue inthe coming weeks.
It has been a little morethan three years since theapex court accepted theLodha reforms on July 2016,and then again on August 9,2018, after which it askedAmicus Curiae P.S. Narasimha to mediate with the StateAssociations on the irritating issues and bring about asolution.
On Tuesday, the CoA —which, on May 21, after ameeting with the AmicusCuriae outlined a BCCI AGMdeadline for October 22,2019 —asked the BCCI members to fall in line by correcting anomalies in their bylaws that strayed from theBCCI Constitution approvedby the Supreme Court.
ProactiveThe CoA got proactive in thelast few days by sending alist of aspects that someBCCI members needed tocorrect, failing which themember would lose itsrights to attend the AGMand contest for posts in theApex Council.
The CoA’s note to theBCCI members pointed outthe inconsistencies in thebylaws on (1) the formationof the Apex Council andCommittees; (2) votingrights for internationalcricketers; (3) appointmentof the election offi��cer by July24 (the timeline set on May21 had actually set July 1 asthe date for appointing theelection offi��cer); and a fewmore like checking out, as inthe case of the MumbaiCricket Association, if any ofits cricket clubs are also Social Clubs.
The BCCI members havebeen told to appoint, by July24, a retired Chief ElectionCommissioner of the Stateor a Central Election Com
missioner, as the election offi��cer. “Many States were doing the wrong things. Theyhave been told to rectify,” divulged an offi��cial who hasbeen in touch with the CoA.
ObjectionAn offi��cial of a State Association countered the CoAmove by saying: “Who arethey to set deadlines forelections? They are not theSupreme Court. During ourmeeting with the Amicus[Curiae], certain issues weretaken up and the understanding was that the Supreme Court would give itsopinion. The CoA is not theSupreme Court.”
About 13 members, including Assam and six newmembers from the NorthEast, and Vidarbha, have accepted the New BCCI Constitution and hence are receiving their annualsubventions.
The CoA has been constantly monitoring the process of Constitutionalamendments made by themembers in terms with theNew BCCI Constitution.
Jurisdiction issueAn offi��cial of the MumbaiCricket Association said:“We have been told to revertwith our positions on theterritorial jurisdiction forgiving voting rights to retired international cricketers, to reveal if any of theclubs are social clubs and also on the appointment ofthe election offi��cer. The CoAhas said that the Stateshould be the territorial jurisdiction for internationalcricketers, but we feel thejurisdiction is Mumbai city.All our clubs are cricketclubs and we have beensearching for a retired ChiefElection Commissioner ofthe State who can be appointed as the ElectionOffi��cer.’’
The CoA believes thatonce the Election Offi��cer isappointed, the election process can start so that theBCCI AGM and Elections canbe held on October 22.
‘Appoint the correct election offi��cer by July 24’CoA’s directive to BCCI membersG. Viswanath
Mumbai
The veteran duo of Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard wereon Tuesday recalled to a 14member West Indies squadfor the fi��rst two games of thethreematch T20 International series against India inFlorida in the United States.
WicketkeeperbatsmanAnthony Bramble is the onlyuncapped player in thesquad selected for the T20Isto be played on August 3 and4 at the Broward County Stadium, Lauderhill, Florida.
The panel could makechanges for the third T20I on
August 6 at the Guyana National Stadium, the West Indies Cricket Board said.
The squad, to be led byCarlos Brathwaite, also includes allrounder AndreRussell subject to passing afi��tness assessment.
Russell injured
Russell had made an earlyexit from the World Cup toundergo an operation on histroublesome left knee.
Interim selection panelchairman Robert Haynessaid veteran opener ChrisGayle had notifi��ed that hewas unavailable for the series due to commitments inCanada. This has given JohnCampbell an opportunity.
Lefthanded openerCampbell and leftarm spinner Khary Pierre have alsobeen included alongside anumber of regulars, as thepanel seeks to explore options with the ICC T20 WorldCup next year in Australia.
Haynes said he expectedthe T20I series to be a keenlycontested one.
India plays three ODIs andtwo Tests against the WestIndies after the T20Is.The squad (for fi��rst two T20Is):Carlos Brathwaite (Capt.), SunilNarine, Keemo Paul, KharyPierre, Kieron Pollard, NicholasPooran (wk), Rovman Powell,Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas,
Anthony Bramble (wk), JohnCampbell, Sheldon Cottrell,Shimron Hetmyer and Evin Le-wis.
West Indies recalls Narine and Pollard Board announces squad for fi��rst two T20Is; Bramble only new facePress Trust of India
St. John’s (Antigua)
Kieron Pollard.* FILE PHOTO: K.V.S. GIRI
Sunil Narine.* FILE PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK
Test cricket is all set to undergo a major change asAustralia and England willlineup with names and jersey numbers on their Testwhites in the upcomingAshes series.
ODI and T20I jerseyshave had personalisation ontheir backs since a longtime, but Test matches hadto wait for this change.
Confi��rmation
England Cricket offi��cialTwitter handle confi��rmedthe jersey number of team’sTest match skipper Joe Rootand wrote “Names andnumbers on the back of Testshirts,” as the caption.
Earlier this year, therewere reports that the Ashesseries between England andAustralia would bring inmodernisation of cricketingkits.
Cricketing fans on Twitter seemed divided on thisdevelopment in Test cricketand made their voicesheard on the socialnet
working platform. “Absolutely no problem withnumbers 1 to 11 etc., butcan’t see the benefi��t ofnames or random high
numbers on shirts. I guessit’s all to do with increasingmerchandise sales, hoping aname will sell more. @YorkshireCCC,” wrote one fan.
“Names r okay bt nevergot the idea about these random numbers in cricket...could still live with it in ODIsn T20s bt spare tests...names r fi��ne bt w/o numbers@ICC,” another fantweeted.
“A good addition. Improves both the supporterand media experience ofseeing who it is.
On July 14, Englandscripted history as theymanaged to win its maiden50over World Cup and theside will look to continue itswinning momentum going.
England will take on Ireland in a oneoff�� fourdayTest from Wednesday andthen the team will face Australia in the Ashes, beginning on August 1.
Ashes jerseys to have players’ names, numbers ANI
New Delhi
Novelty: Cricket fans are set to witness a spectacle like this,come the Ashes series. * RYAN PIERSE/GETTY IMAGES
England’s World Cup heroBen Stokes, who was nominated for the New Zealander of the Year Award, hasgraciously turned it down,saying Black Caps skipperKane Williamson is the“worthy recipient” of theaccolade.
The 28yearold Stokeswas born in Christchurchbut moved to England atthe age of 12, going on to establish himself in the England setup.
“I am fl��attered to benominated for New Zealander of the Year,” he postedon his social media accounts.
“I feel the whole countryshould align their supportto New Zealand captainKane Williamson. Heshould be revered as a kiwilegend.”
No thanks,says Stokes
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
LONDON
Caleb Ewan beat his sprinting rivals in suff��ocating heatto win Stage 16 of the Tourde France on Tuesday, withFrenchman Julian Alaphilippe keeping the race leader’s yellow jersey.
With temperatures soaring as high as 40 degreesCelsius, Alaphilippe and hismain rivals did not attackeach other over the 177kmmainly fl��at stage in theNimes rural hinterland.
Defending champion Geraint Thomas crashed about40km after the race startedfrom the Roman city but escaped largely unscathed,with a few scratches on hisleft elbow.
Ewan, a Tour debutant,edged Elia Viviani and DylanGroenewegen to post his second stage win.
Thomas, who is second inthe overall standings, hadalready been caught in pileups during the fi��rst andeighth stage of the threeweek race.
Danish rider Jakob Fuglsang, who stood ninth overall, also fell with 28km leftand abandoned the Tour.
Caleb Ewan wins Stage 16
TOUR DE FRANCE
Associated Press
NIMES
Caleb Ewan. * AFP
CMYK
M ND-NDE
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THE HINDU DELHI
WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2019 21EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
SPORT
Ireland’s march to becominga fullfl��edged member ofcricket’s elite will reachanother important stagingpost when it plays its fi��rstTest against England atLord’s on Wednesday.
The Irishmen made theirTest debut last year, suff��eringa fi��nalday defeat by Pakistanin Dublin. However, theywere well beaten by fellownewcomer Afghanistan intheir second Test in Marchthis year.
Since the turn of the century, Ireland has becomeknown for their oneday exploits, beating Pakistan(2007) and England (2011) atWorld Cups.
HighlightThe Lord’s match is set to bethe highlight of Ireland’syear given it did not qualifyfor the World Cup.
The sport has a long history in Ireland and cricket washugely popular there in the19th century. But a rising tideof Irish nationalism and thegrowth of the Gaelic AthleticAssociation led to cricket being declared a “garrison” or“foreign” game.
Irish cricket went into something of a retreat althoughmemorable occasions suchas a televised win over thetouring West Indies in 1969
helped to change attitudes.
Several of the present sidehave played county cricket,including Tim Murtagh, astalwart for Middlesex, whorecently took his 800th FirstClass wicket.
Fast bowler Boyd Rankinwas briefl��y an Englandplayer when that was the only way Irishmen could playTest cricket before switchingback. “It is a dream cometrue, and it is something I
never thought would happenin my playing career,” saidRankin, who played just theone Test for England on theillfated 201314 Ashes tour ofAustralia.
England will be resting
several of its World Cupstars, including fast bowlerJofra Archer, Ben Stokes andbatsman Jos Buttler.
Eoin Morgan, the victorious Dublinborn captain,no longer plays Test cricket
with Joe Root, a fellow WorldCup winner, in charge.
Anderson out
But England could still fi��eldTest newball bowler StuartBroad, with alltime leadingwickettaker James Anderson ruled out with a calf injury. Somerset’s Lewis Gregoryand Warwickshire’s OllyStone could come into the attack. As for the batting, England could give a Test debutto World Cupwinning opener Jason Roy.
The match will only last amaximum of four days ratherthan the standard fi��ve, a consequence both of being shoehorned into the narrow gapbetween the end of theWorld Cup and the start ofEngland’s fi��veTest Ashes series against Australia nextmonth and a desire by offi��cials to experiment with“spectatorfriendly” playinghours. Certainly an Irelandwin would be a huge upset.
“In my generation I don’tthink any of us expected tobe playing a Test at Lord’s, soto have the opportunity isgreat,” said Ireland wicketkeeper Gary Wilson. “But wemustn’t lose sight of the factthat we have to come hereand perform as well. I meanthat’s what it is about, it’s notjust turning up and having allthe fanfare around Lord’s.
Ireland set for landmark Lord’s Test Chance for the Irish to pull a fast one on England
Agence France-Presse
London
Prepping for the occasion: Ireland’s Simranjit Singh and Lorcan Tucker get ready for their Lord’s assignment. * REUTERS
Former captain Allan Borderfeels Australia should pick itsbest six batsmen for the upcoming Ashes series againstEngland beginning on August 1 in Birmingham.
Border revealed his fi��rstchoice team to foxsports.com.au, naming southpaws David Warner, Marcus Harrisand Usman Khawaja as hispreferred top three.
“The top three batsmenare lefthanders, which is notnecessarily the wrongthing,” Border said.
“A lot of people jump upand down about picking toomany lefthanders but if theyare your best players then gowith them.
“If they were righthanders, no one would sayanything,” he added.
The former Australia skipper also stated that wicketkeeperbatsman MatthewWade should come into theside considering his gooddomestic form.
Nod for Wade“I’d be very tempted to gowith Wade. You talk aboutpicking the guys in form, andhe’s in great form. (Marnus)Labuschagne might get thatguernseys in that he canbowl some pretty handy legspin and he’s good in thefi��eld too,” Border said.
“Wade can bowl some mediumpace. He can get itthrough allright, you couldsling him half a dozen oversif you had to here and there.”
The 63yearold also advised the Australian team toresist from temptation ofplaying an allrounder at No.6 and instead play a properbatsman.
“I wouldn’t go the allrounder at No.6. I’d pick a straightoutandout batsman.
“England’s conditions area bit softer underfoot andtemperature wise. There’snot as much physicality andstress on the bowlers,” hesaid.
‘Pick your best batsmen’Border tells Australia not to be averse
to having topthree lefthanders
IANS
Sydney
Border. * FILE PHOTO: M. VEDHAN
<> A lot of people jump
up and down about
picking too many
left-handers but if
they are your best
players then go with
them
Former World No.7 Richard Gasquet beat qualifi��er Sumit Nagal 62, 76(2)in the fi��rst round of the1,855,490 ATP500 tennistournament in Hamburg,Germany, on Tuesday.
Sumit converted two offour breakpoints that heforced but the Frenchmancapitalised on four of tenbreakpoints to make it astraightforward aff��air, inabout an hour and 30minutes.
Sumit collected 20 ATPpoints for qualifi��cation, asthe fi��rst round loser doesnot get any point, and collected €13,065.
In the €250,000 WTAevent in Latvia, the 264thranked Patricia Maria Tigof Romania proved too hotfor Ankita Raina, in racingto a 62, 61 victory. Ankitawho was the last player tobe directly accepted intothe draw with her rank of173, collected one WTApoint and €1,694.The results:
€1,855,490 ATP500, Hamburg, Germany: Singles (fi��rstround): Richard Gasquet (Fra)bt Sumit Nagal 62, 76(2).
€ 250,000 WTA, Jurmala,Latvia: Singles (fi��rst round):Patricia Maria Tig (Rou) bt Ankita Raina 62, 61.
$15,000 ITF women, Tabarka, Tunisia: Doubles (prequarterfi��nals): Sowjanya Bavisetti & Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi bt Elena De Santis &Francesca Delledera (Ita) 64,62.
Nagal loses
to Gasquet
Sports Bureau
Hamburg (Germany)
INDIANS ABROAD
At his peak, Deepak Thakurwas a feared forward. Usinglightning speed and deftstick work, Thakur gave defenders a horrid time. Ingeneral, his Indian team ofthe noughties played a freefl��owing style of hockey. Thisis in contrast with the ‘European style’ used now, wherethe emphasis is on possession and precisiontechnique.
Thakur believes that the‘Asian style’ of his era stillhas its place in modernhockey, and that the Indianteam should utilise the services of his former teammates like Prabhjot Singh,Gagan Ajit Singh and Dhanraj Pillay to refi��ne theseskills.
‘Second pattern’“Today, all internationalsides employ the Europeanstyle of play. When all teamsare playing like this, youneed a second pattern tobreak their gameplay. Thisis where you need to beadept at Asianstyle skillslike dodging, returnpasses,and stick work.
“If you can develop theseaspects of your game, youwill be able to break openthe defence.
“This Asian style is missing now, which is hurtingIndian hockey,” Thakur, theIOCL team coach at the Bengaluru Hockey AssociationSuper Division hockey
championship here, said.“Former players like
Prabhjot Singh, Dhanraj Pillay and Gagan Ajit Singhwere masters of Asian stylehockey. They should bebrought in to coach the National team in some capacity. This will be hugely beneficial, as we can get the bestof both worlds,” Thakuradded.
Professional approachThe Arjuna awardee is happy that a more professionalapproach has entered thesport.
“Money is being investednow. Though top facilitiesare not available at the grassroot level, it is good that ithas come to the elite level.
“Everything is a lot moreprofessional now — playersearn good money, and we also have video analysts, physiotherapists and so on,”
Thakur said, “If we hadthese facilities during ourplaying days, we could havewon Olympic and World Cupmedals.”
On his electrifying attacking partnership with Prabhjot Singh and Gagan AjitSingh, Thakur said, “Thereason why we were so goodtogether on the fi��eld was because we shared a closebond off�� the fi��eld.
“The three of us came upthrough the junior ranks atthe same time.
“And during our seniorIndia days, we spent a lot oftime together. In those days,we did not have much entertainment.
“So we played cards together, chatted, and kepteach other company.
“This sort of team bonding is missing now, withmost players busy with theirsmartphones.”
Bring back Asian style: Thakur ‘Utilise former players’ services to help the National team’
HOCKEY
Plainspeak: Deepak Thakur says India will gain by mergingthe Asian and European styles of play. * G.P. SAMPATH KUMAR
Ashwin Achal
Bengaluru
It is never easy, even for alead performer, to brushaside emotions when upagainst a team for which heplayed for six seasons. Thestory was no diff��erent for Rahul Chaudari when he debuted for Tamil Thalaivasagainst former team TeluguTitans in the Vivo PKL Season7 the other night.
“There were a lot of emotions. I was a bit nervous. Iwas not sure how thingswould turn out to. Fortunately, we were off�� to a winning start against Titans,”said Chaudari in a chat withThe Hindu on Tuesday.
“It was a great feeling tobe back in Hyderabad and infront of such a vociferouscrowd supporting me. I
loved the atmosphere andenjoyed every moment onthe court against Titans.”
“Honestly, I am just following the guiding principleof my coach — just do well,don’t look back. I must sayhere that there is lot of experience and depth in Thalaivas which was not the casewith Titans, where I was theonly big player looked up to
by teammates,” said the26yearold.
“This in a way should beof great help to me as it is ajoy to play alongside such abrilliant raider like Ajay Thakur. He is a huge motivatoralways telling — tujhe kohinahi rokh sakega (no onecan stop you). And, he encourages everyone in theteam in a similar way,” ad
ded the star raider.
Depth and balance“I sincerely hope that we willreach the fi��nal as we havethe depth, balance and allround superiority. We aredetermined to give morethan 100 per cent and payback to the amazing way themanagement is taking careof players. We were neverfound wanting for anything,”said the Bijnor (UttarPradesh)native.
“I am glad that the PKL isno more about only one Rahul or Ajay Thakur. Thereare so many brilliant playerswho are now householdnames. This is good for thesport itself,” Rahul said.
“I was never a member ofa winning team. So, I am justpraying to give me the opportunity of having my handon the winner’s trophy thistime around,” he added.
Chaudari yearning to lay hands on trophyPKL
V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM
HYDERABAD
Star raider: Rahul Chaudari has already come good for TamilThalaivas. * V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM
“We don’t believe in stardomof players. For us, the onlysuperstar is our owner, Abhishek Bachchan,” says coachSrinivas Reddy.
The 42yearold Hyderabadi, who earlier coachedHaryana Steelers and TeluguTitans in the ProKabaddiLeague, is visibly delightedat the impressive start histeam made against U Mumbaon Monday night when it recorded it’s fi��rstever win over the opponent in sixseasons.
“This is exactly what weare looking for — team eff��ort.We always tell the boys towork as a unit. The focus inthe camps has been on fi��tness with the owner himselfsetting the benchmark,” hesays in a chat with The Hin-
du. “It was an unforgettableexperience to start on such awinning note in front of myhome crowd,” he says.
Srinivas, who is into hissecond season with the Jaipurbased outfi��t, says hismantra for success to hisplayers is pretty simple —“believe that your are thebest, don’t look for others as
role models, you should bethe ones with yourperformances”.
“I believe that body language and the confi��dence level are the key factors whichplay a major role in anysport,” says the bankmanager.
For someone who played18 senior Nationals and was
also a member of the 2006Asian championship goldmedal winning Indian team,Srinivas says the fi��rst targetis to reach the playoff��s. TheJaipur coach, who earlierguided India to a gold overIran in the Dubai Masterschampionship, reveals thatowner Abhishek, despite being a celebrity is a very simple human being, involved inthe sport, and takes specialcare of the players’ welfare,especially on the diet front.
“Abhishek keeps reminding us how his father Amitabh continues to work forlong hours even now whenhe can actually take a breakand relax. This to emphasisethat there is no substitute forwork,” says Srinivas, whowas also the Indian women’steam coach in the last Asiadwhere it settled for a silver.
Srinivas puts his money on team eff��ortPink Panthers delighted with impressive start to season
V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM
HYDERABAD
Coachspeak: Pink Panthers’ Srinivas Reddy believes that bodylanguage and confi��dence levels are key factors. * K.V.S. GIRI
Gareth Bale will not be leaving Real Madrid on loan during the transfer window despite falling out of favourunder Zinedine Zidane, hisagent said on Tuesday.
The Real boss said at theweekend the La Liga giantwas poised to offl��oad the 30yearold Wales star.
But his representative, Jonathan Barnett, told SkySports News any deal wouldhave to be a permanent one.
“There will be no makeshift deals to get him outof the club,” said Barnett,who said previously that Zidane has shown “no respect” for Bale’s achievements at Real.
“Gareth is one of the bestplayers on the planet. I can
guarantee you he will not begoing on loan to any club.”
Bale has been deemedsurplus to requirements atReal despite helping his sideto a Spanish title and fourChampions League crownssince arriving from Tottenham Hotspur six years ago.
His brace, including abrilliant bicycle kick, sankLiverpool in the 2018 fi��nalbut he was not used as a regular starter by Zidane afterthe Frenchman returned tothe Real bench in earlyMarch.
“Gareth is a Real Madridplayer and for now he’s staying as a Real Madrid player,”said Barnett.
“If something comesalong that suits us, thenthings could change and hecould be gone in a day or aweek. Or he could still be aReal player in three years,when his contract ends.”
No loan move forBale, says agent
FOOTBALL
Agence France-Presse
London
Goals from Tammy Abraham and Ross Barkley sawChelsea grab a 21 victory over Barcelona on Tuesday inan exhibition match.
Chelsea striker Abrahamopened the scoring in the34th minute, pouncing on abotched clearance by Barcelona midfi��elder SergioBusquets.
Busquets fumbled underpressure from Jorginho andthe ball rolled towards Abraham who only had to steppast onrushing goalkeeperMarcAndre ter Stegen andgently send it into the net.
Four minutes later, Chelsea midfi��elder Christian Pulisic showed off�� his speedand footwork in infi��ltratingthe Barca defence, but hisleftfooter went just wide.
Barcelona went on the offensive in the second half,with substitute striker Carles Perez leading the way.But superb saves by Chelseagoalkeeper Kepa Arrizabala
ga repeatedly denied Barca.In the 55th minute Perez
zipped past three defendersbut his leftfooter was notgood enough to get pastArrizabalaga.
A few minutes later, hedashed deep into the leftside to feed a highspeedcross to striker Malcom, butArrizabalaga again deniedthem.
Chelsea made it 20 withless than 10 minutes left asmidfi��elder Barkley pickedup a cross in front of the boxand curled it into the net,with substitute 'keeper Netogetting a touch but unable toblock it.
Just before injury time,Barcelona got a freekickjust outside the box but midfi��elder Ivan Rakitic's shotwent over the bar.
Rakitic, however, quicklyredeemed himself in injurytime, picking up a cross andfi��ring a lightning rightfooter that went deep into thenet for a consolation goal forBarcelona.
Chelsea downs BarcelonaAbraham and Barkley fetch the goals,Arrizabalaga stands fi��rm
In you go! Ross Barkley scores Chelsea’s insurance goal. * AP
Agence France-Presse
Saitama
Pakistan Cricket Board’schairman Ehsan Mani hasbeen appointed as the headof the ICC’s infl��uential Finance & Commercial Aff��airscommittee.
The appointment wascarried out during the International Cricket Council(ICC)’s annual conference
last week.The PCB announced on
Tuesday that another PCBoffi��cial, Salman Naseer, whois its general counsel andbarrister, has been includedon the ICC’s Safeguardingpanel.
The PCB said both appointments were made byICC chairman ShashankManohar.
Ehsan Mani named chief of ICC committee PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
KARACHI
CMYK
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DELHI THE HINDU
WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 201922EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
SPORT
Aussie Horton warnedover podium protestGWANGJU
Australian swimmer Mack
Horton has been warned by
FINA after he snubbed
China’s Sun Yang on the
podium after the 400m
freestyle final in the World
championships. Horton, who
took silver behind Sun,
refused to pose for photos
after the medal ceremony as
doping allegations swirl
around Sun. AFP
IN BRIEF
Indians pugilistscontinue good runNEW DELHI
Bhagyabati Kachari (75kg)
assured India of at least a
bronze at the Thailand
International boxing
tournament by making the
semifinals in Bangkok on
Tuesday. Bhagyabati defeated
Vietnam’s Nguyen Huong 50
to make the medal round. In
men’s section, Ashish Kumar
(69kg) entered the lasteight
after easing past Croatia’s
Petar Cetinic 50 while
Mohammed Hussamuddin
(56kg) outpunched
Botswana’s George
Molwantwa 50. PTI
HYDERABAD: Agni, who is in finetrim, may score in the Major MirMujtaba Hussain Memorial Cup(1,200m), the feature event of theraces to be held here on Wednesday ( July 24).
1 RANI LAXMI BAI PLATE (DIV.
I), (1,200m), maiden 3yo only(Cat. II), (Terms), 130 p.m.: 1.Blazing Jupiter (11) Kuldeep Singh56, 2. Brave Syera (7) Aneel 56, 3.Dimension (13) Rohit Kumar 56,4. Mehrzad (6) S.G. Prasad 56, 5.Prince Valiant (8) Ajeeth Kumar56, 6. Son Of Sardar (10) SurajNarredu 56, 7. Sun Dancer (3)Kunal Bunde 56, 8. TremendousDesire (12) Santosh Raj 56, 9. Angel Tesoro (1) P. Sai Kumar 54.5,10. Augenstern (9) R. Ajinkya54.5, 11. Flying Queen (ex: Remember Forever) (2) B.R. Kumar54.5, 12. Her Legacy (5) N. Rawal54.5, and 13. Silver Set (4)Harinder Singh 54.5. 1. SON OF SARDAR, 2. MEHRZAD,
3. HER LEGACY
2 CUPID PLATE (1,100m), 5yo& over, rated upto 25 (Cat. III),
200: 1. Invasion (1) Ashhad Asbar 60, 2. Recumbentibus (5) R.Ajinkya 60, 3. Composure (7) C.P.Bopanna 59.5, 4. Dippy Dip (10)G. Naresh 59, 5. Agilis (3) A.A.Vikrant 58.5, 6. All Star General(12) Deepak Singh 58.5, 7. Cowboys Delight (2) Umesh 57.5, 8.Royal Dancer (8) Ajit Singh 57.5,9. Silver Dollar (4) Gaurav Singh56.5, 10. Negress Princess (11) P.Sai Kumar 56, 11. Golden Adara(9) Afroz Khan 53.5 and 12. NewHope (6) B.R. Kumar 50.1. INVASION, 2. AGILIS, 3. COW-
BOYS DELIGHT
3 RANI LAXMI BAI PLATE (DIV.
II), (1,200m), maiden 3yoonly (Cat. II), (Terms), 230: 1.Born Greek (12) R. Ajinkya 56, 2.City Of Blossom (1) Deepak Singh56, 3. Golden Faraska (8) P. SaiKumar 56, 4. Premier Action (5)Umesh 56, 5. Rathasapthami (3)Kuldeep Singh 56, 6. SterlingKing (6) S.G. Prasad 56, 7. ToughAnd Go (2) Rafique Sk. 56, 8. Vijays Maestro (7) Gopal Singh 56,9. Aristocrats Charm (11) AjeethKumar 54.5, 10. Flamingo Fame(10) N. Rawal 54.5, 11. Red River(4) Nakhat Singh 54.5, 12. RoyalGift (9) Ajit Singh 54.5, 13. TopSaga (13) Suraj Narredu 54.5. 1. RED RIVER, 2. TOP SAGA, 3. VI-
JAYS MAESTRO
4 FOND HOPE PLATE (DIV. II),(1,400m), 5yo & over, rated
40 to 65 (Cat. II), 305: 1. WarriorSupreme (3) Kiran Naidu 60, 2.Yanga (8) B.R. Kumar 59.5, 3.Somerset (4) Umesh 58.5, 4.Mozambique (1) Ashhad Asbar58, 5. N R I Symbol (7) KuldeepSingh 56, 6. New State (2) G.Naresh 56, 7. Hope Is Eternal (9)Ajeeth Kumar 54.5, 8. Vancouver(10) R.S. Jodha 54.5, 9. Shandaar(6) Ajit Singh 54 and 10. EuroZone (5) C.P. Bopanna 53.5.1. MOZAMBIQUE, 2. YANGA, 3. N R
I SYMBOL
5 WARANGAL PLATE (1,600m),4yo & over, rated 20 to 45
(Cat. III), 335: 1. Egyptian Prince(16) Surya Prakash 61, 2. AmazingScript (2) Ajeeth Kumar 60, 3.
City Of Sails (9) Deepak Singh 60,4. Dandy Man (13) S.G. Prasad59.5, 5. Wings Of Eagles (8) B.R.Kumar 59.5, 6. Ashwa Arjun (12)Gaurav Singh 58.5, 7. Top Man (7)A.A. Vikrant 58.5, 8. Buttonwood(1) Koushik 58, 9. Balius (4) SurajNarredu 57.5, 10. Alta Vita (3)Afroz Khan 56.5, 11. Semira (5)Aneel 56.5, 12. Royal Style (15)Uday Kiran 56, 13. Mr. Shanghai(11) Kuldeep Singh 55.5, 14. Nazariya (10) Nakhat Singh 54.5, 15.Royal Avenger (6) Umesh 53 and16. Yogya (14) G. Naresh 52.5.1. BALIUS, 2. EGYPTIAN PRINCE, 3.
WINGS OF EAGLE
6 FOND HOPE PLATE (DIV. I),(1,400m), 5yo & over, rated
40 to 65 (Cat. II), 405: 1. TootsieRoll (6) Umesh 60, 2. Top Link (4)Suraj Narredu 59.5, 3. CelticQueen (5) Afroz Khan 58, 4.George Cross (10) G. Naresh 58, 5.Vijay’s Empress (1) Gaurav Singh58, 6. Gorgeous Lady (7) RafiqueSk. 56, 7. Bayrd (11) B. Nikhil 51, 8.On The Fire (9) R. Ajinkya 54.5,9. Sarvatra (3) Koushik 54, 10. TaTa (2) A.A. Vikrant 54 and 11.Elysian (8) Harinder Singh 51.1. SARVATRA, 2. TOP LINK, 3. VI-
JAY’S EMPRESS
7 MAJOR MIR MUJTABA HUS-
SAIN MEMORIAL CUP
(1,200m), 3yo & over, rated 40to 65 (Cat. II), 435: 1. Ashwa Raftar (5) Kunal Bunde 60, 2. That’sMy Magic (11) A.A. Vikrant 57.5, 3.Lazer Beam (4) Deep Shanker 58,4. Royal Dynamite (8) R. Ajinkya56, 5. Lightning Fin (12) RafiqueSk. 54.5, 6. Digger (6) Afroz Khan54, 7. La Mer (15) Surya Prakash53.5, 8. Rahil (3) Gopal Singh53.5, 9. Rose Eternal (14) SantoshRaj 53, 10. Desert Moon (9)Kuldeep Singh 52.5, 11. Kingswood (1) P. Sai Kumar 52.5, 12.Classy Guy (7) Jitendra Singh 52,13. Dancing Doll (13) G. Naresh51.5, 14. Palsy Walsy (2) R.S.Jodha 51.5, 15. Lockhart (10)Ajeeth Kumar 51 and 16. Agni (16)Zervan 50.5.1. AGNI, 2. LAZER BEAM, 3. ROYAL
DYNAMITE
8 ARISTOCRACY PLATE
(1,400m), 3yo & over, rated20 to 45 (Cat. III), 505: 1. Havelock Cruise (6) Kiran Naidu 60.5,2. Consigliori (9) Surya Prakash60, 3. Crimson Fire (11) Rohit Kumar 59.5, 4. Darshish (3) S.G.Prasad 59, 5. Southern Meteor(15) Gaurav Singh 59, 6. Spice Up(5) Nakhat Singh 58.5, 7. Zamora(14) Ashhad Asbar 58.5, 8. SnowCastle (1) B.R. Kumar 57, 9.Supurinto (4) Ajit Singh 56, 10.Handsome Duo (12) Ajeeth Kumar 52.5, 11. Moka (13) JitendraSingh 52.5, 12. Super Act (7)Harinder Singh 52.5, 13. WoodBridge (10) Gopal Singh 52.5, 14.Yogastha (8) Afroz Khan 52.5, 15.Ursula (16) B. Nikhil 52 and 16.Just Like That (2) P. Sai Kumar 51. 1. CONSIGLIORI, 2. HAVELOCK
CRUISE, 3. CRIMSON FIRE
Day’s best: AGNI
Double: MOZAMBIQUE —
CONSIGLIORI
Jkt: 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8; Mini Jkt: 5, 6, 7& 8; Tr (i): 1, 2 & 3; (ii): 3, 4 & 5(iii): 6, 7 & 8; Tla: All races.
Agni primed to sizzle
PKL: Star Sports 1 & 2 (SD &HD), 7.30 p.m.
TV PICKS
Former Asian champion andsecond seed Bhakti Kulkarnidefeated top seed SoumyaSwaminathan in the seventhround to emerge the soleleader with 6.5 points in the46th National women’schess championship here onTuesday.
Pawn advantage Playing white in a GrunfeldDefence game, Bhakti got apawn advantage on the 23rdmove and exerted pressureon the open queenside ofher rival.
Under time pressure, Soumya blundered on the 39thmove to give a minor pieceadvantage to Bhakti and resigned immediately.
Vantika Agrawal held theupper hand for most partagainst Pratyusha Bodda,but failed to capitalise andshared the point with heropponent. Vantika, with sixpoints, now holds the solesecond spot.
After the sixth round,
Bhakti and Vantika remained joint leaders with5.5 points.Important results (seventhround, TN unless specifi��ed):
Bhakti Kulkarni (AI) 6.5 btSoumya Swaminathan (PSPB)5; Pratyusha Bodda (AP) 5.5drew with Vantika Agrawal(Del) 6; Michelle Catherina 5.5drew with P.V. Nandhidhaa 5.5;S. Meenakshi (AI) 5.5 bt SwatiGhate (LIC) 5; Harshita Guddanti (AP) 5 drew with SrijaSeshadri 5; Mary Ann Gomes(PSPB) 5 bt Priyanka Nutakki(AP) 4.5; J. Saranya 4 lost to Di
vya Deshmukh (Mah) 5; S. Vijayalakshmi (AI) 4 lost to Potluri Saye Srreezza (TS) 5.
Kiran Manisha Mohanty (LIC)5 bt M. Mahalakshmi (Rly) 4;Aarthie Ramaswamy (AI) 4.5drew with Nisha Mohota(PSPB) 4.5; K. Priyanka 5 btC.H. Meghna (Rly) 4; Isha Sharma (Kar) 4.5 drew with RutujaBakshi (Mah) 4.5; P. Bala Kannamma 5 bt Parnali S. Dharia(Mah) 4; Y. Saranya 4 lost to Nityata Jain (MP) 5; V. Nanditha(TS) 4 lost to Bagyashree Thipsay (Mah) 5; Mrudul Dehankar(Mah) 5 bt V. Rindhiya 4.
Bhakti beats top seed SoumyaMoves in to sole lead; Vantika in second spot
NATIONAL CHESS
Stalemate: Pratyusha Bodda held Vantika Agrawal, who hadthe upper hand for most part. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Special Correspondent
KARAIKUDI
Sun Yang was in the middleof controversy at the Worldswimming championshipsagain. Only this time, itwasn’t his doing. The Chinese star still got shunned onthe medals podium again.
Sun retained the 200mfreestyle criwn on Tuesdayafter Danas Rapsys of Lithuania, who fi��nished fi��rst, gotdisqualifi��ed for an apparentfalse start. Sun touched second, but got elevated afterRapsys had already celebrated in the pool.
Sun appeared surprised,clasping his hands to hisface, but quickly sat on thelane rope and raised botharms in the air as a mix ofcheers and boos rang out.
Katsuhiro Matsumoto ofJapan took silver. Martin Malyutin of Russia and DuncanScott of Britain tied forbronze.
On the podium, Scottwanted no part of sharingthe moment with Sun. Scottkept his hands clasped behind his back and refused toshake Sun’s hand, standingoff�� on his own while the other medalists joined Sun topose for photographers.
This action prompted a furious Sun to get in Scott’sface and bark “You lose, I
win!” as they walked downstairs for their lap of honour.
Sun, who served a threemonth doping ban in 2014, isbeing allowed by FINA tocompete in Gwangju aheadof a Court for Arbitration inSport hearing in Septemberthat threatens Sun’s career.
American Lilly King andRussia’s Yulia Efi��mova keptall the drama in the pool inthe women’s 100 breaststroke.
They were neckandneckdown the stretch before Kinggot her hand on the wallfi��rst, touching in 104.93. Efi��
mova was second in 105.49.Martina Carraro of Italy tookbronze.
Ailing LedeckywithdrawsWithout threetime defending champion Katie Ledeckyin the fi��eld, Simona Quadarella of Italy won the 1,500freestyle in 1540.89 well off��Ledecky’s world record of 1520.48.
Earlier Tuesday, theAmerican star withdrewfrom the fi��nal because of unspecifi��ed illness. Ledecky also dropped out of the 200
freestyle heats.
Olympic and defendingworld champion Ryan Murphy was upset in the men’s100 backstroke with Xu Jiayuof China winning in 52.43 seconds.
In the women’s 100 backstoke, Kylie Masse of Canadawon in 58.60, while USA’sKathleen Baker, the world record holder, tied for sixth after being tied for the lead atthe turn. The results:
Men: 200m freestyle: 1. SunYang (Chn) 1:44.93s, 2. Katsuhiro Matsumoto (JPN) 1:45.22, 3.
Martin Malyutin (Rus) & DuncanScott (GBr) 1:45.63.
100m backstroke: 1. Xu Jiayu(Chn) 52.43, 2. Evgeny Rylov(Rus) 52.67,3. Mitch Larkin(Aus) 52.77.
Women: 1500m freestyle: 1. Simona Quadarella (Ita)15:40.89, 2. Sarah Kohler(Ger)15:48.83, 3. Wang Jianjiahe (Chn) 15:51.00.
100m backstroke: 1. KylieMasse (Can) 58.60, 2. MinnaAtherton (Aus) 58.85, 3. OliviaSmoliga (USA)58.91.
100m breaststroke: 1. LillyKing (USA)1:04.93, 2. Yulia Efi��mova (Rus) 1:05.49, 3. MartinaCarraro (Ita) 1:06.36.
Sun retains 200m freestyle, snubbed againBronze medallist Scott refuses to shake hands; King pips Efi��mova in women’s 100 breaststroke
WORLD SWIMMING
Well done: Lilly King, right, being congratulated by Russia’s Yuliya Efi��mova after the American edged out the latter in the 100mbreaststroke. * REUTERS
Associated Press
Gwangju (Korea)
TT coach Papic tojoin next monthNEW DELHI
The uncertainty over the
joining of the National table
tennis team’s new head coach
Dejan Papic ended on Tuesday
when the Canadian accepted
the oneyear contract offered
by the Sports Authority of
India (SAI). The Table Tennis
Federation of India (TTFI) had
shortlisted Papic back in
March but it was only a
couple of weeks ago that SAI
sent him the contract. “He
was travelling and probably
that is why the delay in
signing the contract. But now
he has and he should be in
India early next month,” TTFI
secretary M.P. Singh said. PTI
After four days of matchesin tough conditions, as rainhad increased the humiditypercentage in the atmosphere, the young tennisplayers had fruitful sessionsapart from undergoingphysical fi��tness assessmenton Tuesday at the DLTAComplex here.
“We had a very niceawareness session with theexpert Dr. Ankush Guptafrom National Anti DopingAgency. We had the parentsalso attending the session,as it is an important subject.It was a very interesting session that went on for anhour,” said Prashant Menon,who was coordinating thescholarship scheme for theAITA Trust.
Apart from the anti doping awareness session, theplayers also had the benefi��tof listening to a diet and nutrition expert from theSports Authority of India(SAI).
It was indeed a strugglefor some of the under14kids on Monday to play twomatches, in high humidity,and after three days ofmatches. However, therewas an the assurance thatthe results would not count
as much as the way theplayers conductedthemselves.
With the physical fi��tnessassessment being conducted by Dharmendra PratapSingh, aff��ectionately calledin the tennis circles as Abhimanu, who has worked withsome of the best players likeSomdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri, it was a challenge for the young playersto retain their enthusiasmand energy.
The matches were playedin the best of 13game format, which eff��ectivelymeant one set. It was equally hard on the three members of the selection panel —Balram Singh, Vishaal Uppaland Ankita Bhambri — tokeep track of all the players,spread over 11 courts.
There will be a fi��nal fi��tness assessment on Wednesday morning, both oncourt and in the gym, beforethe fi��nal list of eight boysand eight girls areannounced.
The fi��rst instalment of₹��50,000 is also expected tobe presented to the selectedplayers. The players arescheduled to get ₹��100,000 ayear, to meet their tennis requirements through the season.
AITA Trust to announce scholarshipSpecial Correspondent
NEW DELHI
Sarthak Gandhi defeatedfourth seed Ansh Kundu26, 64, 62 in the boys’ under16 prequarterfi��nals ofthe AITA Championship series junior tennis tournament at the CLTA Complexon Tuesday.
In another match in thesame section, Ajay Kundubeat eighth seed YogeePanwar 64, 60.
In the girls’ under16 section, qualifi��er Suhani Sabharwal beat sixth seed Kristi Boro 63, 63.The results(prequarterfi��nals):
Boys: Under18: Krishan Hooda bt Yogee Panwar 60, 60;Karan Parashar bt Ajay Kundu63, 75; Shashikant Rajput btRishi Jalota 63, 60.
Dhanya Shah bt Ajay Singh64, 61; Divanshu Hooda btSukhpreet Singh Jhoje 62,62; Bhupender Dahiya btAtul Chhillar 63, 61.
Torus Rawat bt ManveerSingh 63, 62; UddayvirSingh bt Sonu Khan 60, 60.
Under16: Arjun Kundu btAkash Deb 46, 63, 63; AjayKundu bt Yogee Panwar 64,
60; Sarthak Gandhi bt AnshKundu 26, 64, 62.
Rishi Jalota bt SarabjotSingh 61, 63; Ajay Singh btSamar Bir Singh Sidhu 75,61.
Dhanya Shah bt Jitin KumarChetry 62, 46, 60; Sukhpreet Singh Jhoje bt GurustatSingh Makkar 61, 26, 62;Kartik Saxena bt Gaurav Kumar 61, 60.
Girls: Under18: LakshmiPrabha Arunkumar bt KristiBoro 61, 61; Harleen Kaur btRidhima Mehra 60, 61; Sandeepti Singh Rao bt ShreyaChakraborty 64, 62.
Tanushri Pandey bt SaiBhoyar 64, 63; PaavaniiPathak bt Ameek Kiran Batth75, 64.
Kaavya Sawhney bt KaavyaPalani 61, 60; Aditi Singh btCatherine Bhangu 61, 61;Vanshika Choudhary btKaashvi Thapliyal 61, 60.
Under16: Sai Bhoyar bt AditiSingh 61, 60; Kaavya Palanibt Vishita Jhorar 60, 62.
Lakshmi Prabha Arunkumar bt Mahika Amit Gupta62, 63; Paavanii Paathak btCatherine Bhangu 60, 60.
Suhani Sabharwal bt KristiBoro 63, 63; Tanushri Pandey bt Kuhoo Atrey 62, 61.
Nandini Dixit bt SnighdhaSran 75, 60; Sanvi Ahluwaliabt Maitreyi Phogat 61, 60.
Sarthak in last eightTENNIS
Sports Bureau
Chandigarh
Federation Cupbasketball in Jan. 2020CHENNAI
Pondicherry Basketball
Association (PBA) will host
the Federation Cup after
more than two decades, in
the third week of January
2020. The Federation Cup
will witness the top eight
teams from the senior
Nationals held at Bhavnagar,
Gujarat from January 5 to 12,
in action, apart from the
host. In the last edition at
Noida, Punjab won the men’s
title while Indian Navy
finished second. In the
women’s section, Eastern
Railway emerged triumphant
and Tamil Nadu was the
runnerup.