Medalmixpointstoa tectonicshiftforIndia - Newspaper Direct

SandipSikdarandShijithPKunhittyn [email protected]

NEW DELHI: On Friday, SawarnSingh,DattuBhokanal,OmPra-kash and Sukhmeet Singh —noneofthemhouseholdnamesinIndia — triumphantly raisedtheir oars, and their hands, as anation cheered. The joy of thegold-medal-winningmen’srow-ing teaminthequadruplescullseventpointedtoanAsianGamesinwhichIndiansportisbreakingnewbarriers—thedaily‘hitrate’ofmedalsissurging,therangeofmedal disciplines is widening,andthemedal-winner isbecom-ing younger, leading experts todescribeJakarta2018asawater-shed moment in the country’ssporting journey.Thisweek,India’schampions

havestruckgoldatafasterpace,wonmedals in sports as diverseas sepak takraw and wushu,and two of them, gold-medallistSaurabhChaudharyandsilver-medallistShardulVihan,are15.“We,asanation,havearrived

in the sporting field. I’m veryhopefulandconfidentwe’llkeepgetting better. In the Rio Olym-pics,wewononlytwomedalsbuttherewereabout15athleteswhowenttheretowinamedalascom-paredtoearlierwhentherewereonlythreeorfour.Thenumbersare increasing.Thewholeequa-tionhaschanged.Wehavetolookforward,”saidGeetSethi,multi-

pleworldbilliardschampionanddirector of Olympic Gold Quest(OGQ), which supports 67 ofIndia’seliteathleteswithfundingand training. “This is theculmi-nation of the entire eco-systemcoming togetherwhich consistsof the government, federations,NGOs, private enterprises, ath-letes themselves and coaches.Everything is getting profes-sional,”Sethiadded.SawarnSingh,Bhokanal,Pra-

kashandSukhmeetSingh’svic-tory gave India only its secondgoldfromrowinginAsianGameshistoryafterBajrangLalTakharclinchedthemen’ssinglescullsatGuangzhou2010.In martial art wushu, India

stunned the continent by win-ning four bronze medals, themen’sreguteamwonabronzein

sepaktakraw(likevolleyball,butwiththefoot).“It ishearteningtoseesports-

persons from different disci-plineswinningmedalsandbring-ingglorytothenation.Itisclearlyanindicationofhowmuchdepthwehave.Nowthatweknowwhatelse we are good at, we need togive them a lot of encourage-ment,”saidPankajAdvani,alsoaformerworldchampionbilliardsandsnookerplayerwhowontwoAsian Games golds in 2006 and2010.At the same time, India is

building further on sports thattraditionally bring medals.Though both the men’s andwomen’s kabaddi teams did notwin golds in two of the biggestupsetsattheGames,boxing,bad-

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Can India set new record?

Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze

Medals won in six daysat the 2018 Asian Games

6 514 15 13

Projectedmedal countbased on these six days

The projected 15 golds would equal the record gold-medalhaul of the first Asian Gamesway back in 1952.

35

AUG 18 – SEP 22018

asiangames

Medalmix points to atectonic shift for India

Press Trust of Indian [email protected]

MUMBAI:TheMaharashtraAnti-TerrorismSquad (ATS),whichis investigating the recent sei-zure of explosives and arms inthestate,hasarrestedonemorepersonfromGhatkopar,anoffi-cial said onSaturday.Avinash Pawar (30) was

arrested Friday night and wasonSaturday produced before aspecial court,whichremandedhim inATScustody tillAugust31, the official said.Pawar, a worker with the

Mazagoan Docks Ltd, is alleg-edly linked to a radical Hindugroup, he said.He was involved in the con-

spiracy to carry out blasts andother terror activities in thestate with Vaibhav Raut,Sharad Kalaskar, SudhanwaGondhalekarandShrikantPan-garkar, who were earlierarrested in the case, the ATSsaid.On August 10, the ATS

arrestedRaut (40),who ran the“HinduGovansh Raksha Sam-iti”, a little-knownpro-cowpro-tection outfit.It nabbed Kalaskar (25) and

Gondhalekar (39), followingraids in Palghar and Pune dis-tricts.Pangarkar,a formerShivSena corporator from Jalna,was arrested onAugust 19.Kalaskar had told the ATS

during interrogation that he,along with Aurangabad resi-dent Sachin Andure had shotdeadrationalistNarendraDab-holkar.Andurewas arrested inPuneonAugust 19 by theCBI.

Explosives haul:ATS arrests manfrom Mumbai;five held so far

ELON MUSK SAYS TESLA TO REMAINA PUBLIC COMPANY >>P13

EXTRUMP TOWER GUARD SET TO SPILL BEANS ON PREZSAJUDINHASBEENRELEASEDFROMACONTRACTHEHADWITHAMEDIAINC >>htworldP13

22 NEW AIIMSCOMING UP,SAYS JP NADDAhtnationP4


NEWDELHI:Gearingupforthe2019Lok Sabha elections, the Con-gressonSaturdayformedthreecrucialcommitteesto lookafterthe party’s coordination,mani-festo and publicity in the polls,with the old guardmaintainingitspositioninthecoregroupsetupunderpartypresidentRahulGandhi.Gandhi formed the key nine-

memberCoreGroupCommitteecomprisingAKAntony,GhulamNabi Azad, P Chidambaram,Ashok Gehlot, MallikarjunKharge, Ahmed Patel, JairamRamesh, Randeep Surjewala,andKCVenugopal.While all those in the core

committee had worked underSoniaGandhi, those in the pub-licityandmanifestocommitteeswere a mix of old-timers andfresh faces.The 19-member Manifesto

Committee comprised of veter-anslikeformerfinanceministerP Chidambaram, former Hary-ana chief minister BhupinderSinghHooda,andformerunionministers JairamRamesh, Sal-manKhurshid,ShashiTharoorand Kumari Selja, besidesformer Meghalaya CM MukulSangma.PartyspokespersonRandeep

Surjewala,Punjabfinancemin-isterManpreetBadal,Congress’women’s wing head SushmitaDev, Rajya Sabha MP RajeevGowda,andTamradhwajSahu,who was also the party’s Back-ward class department chief,

RahulGandhiformskeyCongpanelsaheadof2019LSpolls

were also part of the panel. TheothernameswereBinduKrish-nan, Raghuveer Meena, Bhal-chandraMungekar,MeenakshiNatarajan,RajniPatil,SamPit-roda,SachinRao,andLalitheshTripathi.Gandhialsoformedacommit-

tee comprising 13 leaders whowouldlookaftertheparty’spub-

licity during thepolls,All IndiaCongress Committee (AICC)generalsecretaryAshokGehlotsaid.ThePublicityCommitteehad

SurjewalaandformerministersAnandSharma,ManishTewariand Rajeev Shukla. The othernameswereBhaktaCharanDas,Praveen Chakravarty, Milind

Deora, Kumar Ketkar, PawanKhera, VD Satheesan, JaiveerShergill, social media headDivya Spandana, and formerRajyaSabhaMPPramodTiwari.Announcingthecommittees,

Gehlotsaidthatwiththeconsti-tutionof thesepanels, thepartywasonelectionmodeandwouldstartwork on itsmanifesto andstrategise publicityandcoordi-nation.ThedecisionbytheCongress

presidentshowedhehadchosenagainst any drastic overhaul.Party leaders said he had optedto combine the experience ofveterans and the energy of theyouth.

n Congress president Rahul Gandhi at an interactive session at London School of Economics on Friday. PTI

OLD GUARD INTACT But new faces make entry in two of the three committees

GANDHI FORMEDTHEKEYNINEMEMBERCOREGROUPPANELCOMPRISINGAKANTONY, GHULAMNABI AZAD, P CHIDAMBARAM, ASHOKGEHLOT,MALLIKARJUNKHARGE, AHMEDPATEL, JAIRAMRAMESH, RANDEEPSURJEWALA, KC VENUGOPAL

mustread‘RENEWFOCUSONRESEARCH’PATNA:UnionHRDministerPrakash Javadekar on Satur-day exhorted the studentsto focus on innovation andresearch as sustainableprosperity of any societyrested on innovative abilityof the country. Javadekarwas here to attend thevaledictory function ofPatnaUniversity. ››P2

HTCorrespondentn [email protected]

PATNA: In a setback to formerBihar social welfare ministerManjuVermaandherhusbandChandrashekhar Verma, twoseparate courts in Begusarairejected their anticipatory bailpetitionsinconnectionwiththeseizure of ammunition, includ-ing several of prohibited arms,from their house in Begusaraidistrict following a CBI raid onAugust 17.Theraidwaspartof theongo-

ingCBIprobeintotheinfamousMuzaffarpur shelter home sexscandal in which 34 out of 44minor inmates were sexuallyabused.The court of district and ses-

sions judge Diwan Abdul AzizKhan rejected the anticipatorybailpetitionofChandrashekharwhileManju’s bail petitionwasrejected in the court of addi-tionaldistrictandsessionsjudge(5)RajkishoreRai.Ex-minister Manju had to

resign on August 8 followinguproarandvociferousdemandsbytheOppositioninBiharafterallegations surfaced that herhusbandChandrashekharwasafrequent visitor to the shelterhome. Call detail recordsunearthedbyCBIrevealedthathe had spoken as many as 17times to the shelter home sexscandal prime accusedBrajeshThakur between January andMaythisyear.Earlier on August 17, a CBI

team ledbyDSPUmeshKumarhadraidedManju’sinlawsplace

atArjunTolavillageunderChe-riaBariarpurareaofBegusaraidistrict.It foundseveral cartridges of

self-loadingrifles(SLRs)andsixcartridges of 303 bore rifleamong others in a steel con-tainer.AnFIRwasregisteredonAugust 18against thecoupleonthebasis of the statement of theDSP.On Saturday, both the

accused pleaded before thecourtsthattheyhadnocluewhohadkept theammunition in theancestral Begusarai house asmorethan50personslivethere.PublicprosecutorSayyedMan-sur Alam and APP Dilip Kush-waha,whoappearedonbehalfofthe prosecution side, said thecourt had rejected the separatebailpetitionsasprohibitedboreammunitionofSLRsand303riflewerefoundintheraid.Thesearestrictly meant for security for-ces, theysaid.In its submission, the PP

stated that the probe was at aCONTINUEDONP5

Anticipatory bail pleas of ex-minManju Verma, husband rejected

n Manju Verma

was found that Banka districthadreporteditsperformanceofloandisbursalunderKCC(KisanCredit Card) was only 34%whereas in theSLBCmeeting itwas reported the district hadachieved figures of 74%. Modisaid he had found a similar dis-crepancy in data in other dis-tricts duringhis field visits. “Inthe next meeting of SLBC, wewant this issue of data discrep-ancy resolved,” Modi told thebankers.OnKCC,oneofthemajortools

for giving loans to farmers, thedeputychiefministerurgedthebankerstomakemorepublicity

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bursementsunderKCC,techni-calissuespertainingtodisburse-ment of funds of schemesthrough direct benefit transfer(DBT)andappointmentofbusi-nesscorrespondents(BCs) inallvillages. “Right now, we havebusiness correspondents in15,025 villages. We want thatbankingactivityshouldreachall42,000villages throughBCsandruralbranches,”Modi said.Butthedeputychiefminister-

cum-finance minister wasunhappy with bankers forreportingdifferentdataregard-ingthedisbursementof loansatdistrict andstate levels.Citing an example, he said it


PATNA: All prominent banks inthe state have been directed todisburseloansonaprioritybasisinfourtopextremist-hitdistrictsnamely Gaya, Lakhisarai,Aurangabad and Jamui so thateasyavailabilityofcredit topeo-ple, especially from economi-cally backward sections, couldhelp them become monetarilystrongandnotget influencedbyNaxals.A directive to this effect was

given by deputy chief ministerSushilKumarModiat thequar-terlymeeting of the State LevelBankers’ Committee (SLBC)meeting inPatnaonSaturday.“Both the central and state

governmentswantthatloandis-bursements should be high inNaxal-hit districts to curb Leftextremism.Whileloandisburse-mentisgoodinAurangabadandJamui,GayaandJamuiare lag-ging behind. We have askedbankers to speed up loan dis-bursements in these districts,”hesaid,afterchairingthemeet-ing.TheSLBCmeetingprimarily

discussed issues like loan dis-

Bankers told to give loans onpriority basis in Naxal-hit dists

n Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi at the SLBCmeeting,Patna on Saturday. AP DUBE/HT PHOTO

LALURETURNSFROMMUMBAI,TO SURRENDERONAUGUST 30PATNA:RJDpresident and fodderscam convict Lalu Prasad onSaturday returned to Patna fromMumbai, where hewas treated ata hospital for threeweeks, andwould surrender before the CBIcourt at Ranchi next Thursday asper the Jharkhand high courtorder. The Jharkhand high courthad on Friday refused to extendthe provisional bail of the formerBihar chiefminister and askedhim to surrender by August 30before the CBI court. ››P3

Enough evidence tosummon Lalu: ED to courtNEWDELHI: The EnforcementDirectorate on Saturday told aDelhi court that therewasenough evidence to take cogni-sance of its charge sheet andsummonRJD chief Lalu Prasad, hiswife Rabri Devi and others asaccused in connectionwith theIRCTC hotels allotmentmoneylaundering case. Special judgeArvind Kumar reserved his orderonwhether to summonPrasad,hiswife, their son former Bihardeputy chiefminister TejashwiYadav as accused for Sept 11. PTI

Child welfare committeesto be restructured soonPATNA:Aftermonths of condem-nation and criticism, the stategovernment has nowdecided torestructure childwelfare commit-tees (CWC) across the state. Thesocial welfare department hasdecided that the CWCswill nothave any nominatedmembersand now the candidateswill beselected through examinationand screening. Besides, biometricsystemwill be installed in everyCWCoffice to keep track of theattendance and activities of themembers. ››P2

Defamation case plea filedagainst Rahul GandhiMUZAFFARPUR: A complaintwasfiled against Congress presidentRahul Gandhi in a court here onSaturday seeking registration of adefamation case against him forallegedly tarnishing the image ofthe country. The complaintwasfiled by advocate Sudhir KumarOjha in the court of chief judicialmagistrate Hari Prasad here. ››P3

WELCOMETOBODHGAYA

n Foreign Buddhist monks arrive at Gaya airport on Saturday to take part in the final leg of fiveday sixth International BuddhistConclave at Bodh Gaya. >>See also page 2 HT PHOTO

shortstories

n Lalu Prasad

₹46K cr defence buys clearedHT Correspondentn [email protected]

NEWDELHI:TheDefenceAcquisi-tion Council (DAC) headed byUniondefenceministerNirmalaSitharamanonSaturdayclearedtheacquisitionofmilitaryhard-ware for the Indian Army andNavywortharound₹46,000crore,thegovernmentsaid.Among its key decisions, the

council approved the procure-

mentof111utilityhelicoptersforthe IndianNavyata cost of over₹21,000crore.“Thisisthefirstprojectunder

theMoD’sstrategicpartnershipmodelthataimstoprovidesignif-icant fillip to the government’s‘MakeinIndia’programme,”thestatement said. The strategicpartnership model “envisagesindigenous manufacturing ofmajor defence platforms by anIndianstrategicpartner. ››P4 n Nirmala Sitharaman

Uniongovernment,inadditiontoreleasingthefundsandsanction-ing 55 million person-days ofwork,theUniongovernmenthasalso asked the state for a freshlabour budget so that moremoneycanbegiven.Earlier this week, the Kerala

governmentwrotetotheCentreseeking additional MGNREGSfund to cover reconstructionworks.Thewagesforunskilledlabour

is entirely sponsored by theUnion government, which alsopays 75% of the cost for skilledand semi-skilled workers, andunderwritesthecostofthemate-

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securityprogrammethatallowsadministrationstohirepeopleforlabourwork.According toanofficial in the

helpreconstructioneffortsunderMGNREGS (Mahatma GandhiNational Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme), a social

SaubhadraChatterjin [email protected]

NEWDELHI:TheUniongovernmentreleasedonFriday₹543croreforKerala under the rural employ-ment programme MGNREGS,raisingthefinancialassistancetothe southern state where flashfloods earlier this month led towidespreaddevastation.At least 265 people have been

killed since August 8, when aweek-long bout of heavy rainsbegan,andthestategovernmentsaid assets worth ₹19,500 croreweredestroyedashomes, roadsandbridgeswerewashedaway.ThefundsreleasedFridaywill

Kerala: Centre eases norm for relief

n Submerged houses in Alappuzha district of Kerala. HT FILE PHOTO

Ranchi/METRO nVol.15 No.34 nPrice ₹7.00 n 14Pages + 4Pages ofHTSundayMagazine + 6Pages ofHTCity. Area specific pages extra. AUGUST 26, 2018

www.facebook.com/hindustantimes www.twitter.com/htTweets n DOWNLOAD OUR iPAD APP www.hindustantimes.com/iPad n OUR EDITION ON KINDLE http://read.ht/JS4

02 hindustantimes SUNDAY HINDUSTAN TIMES, RANCHIAUGUST 26, 2018

hhttranchi weathertodayFORECAST:

HIGH LOW

Cloudy sky, rain

30.2° C 22.5° C


RANCHI: Governor DroupadiMurmu on Saturday said while80% of rural population of thestatewas dependent on agricul-ture, there were several road-blockshamperingitsprogress.“The dependence of agricul-

tureonthevagariesofraincanbegauged fromthe fact thatnearly90%ofthetotalcultivatedareaisunirrigated,”saidthegovernor.She said that theagricultural

economy had other drawbackslikelowinvestment,lowproduc-tivity,mono-croppingwithpaddyasthemaincropandsmall land-holdings.Thegovernorwasspeakingat

the all India wheat and barleyresearchworkers’meetatBirsaAgricultural University (BAU).She said that despite receiving“goodrainfall”thesurfacewateravailability was not sufficient.Thewater table in theChhotan-agpur plateau was also goingdown in theabsence of artificialrechargingfacilities,sheadded.Underlining that the Prime

Minister had targeted to doublethe farmers incomeby 2022, shesaid, “Cropping intensity in thestate is about 120%as comparedto 142% in the country. In theabsence of assured irrigationfacilities,over14lakhhectarefal-

low area (land left vacant afterharvestofrice)remainedunutil-ized. This needs to be broughtundercultivationofsecondcropforincreasingfarmers’income,”shesaid.ICAR director general Tril-

ochanMohapatrasaidwheatpro-ductioninthecountryin1950-51wasonly11milliontonneswhichhad increased to 98million ton-nes in2017-18.However,hesaidthatbecause

oflackofirrigationfacilities,thestate’s average production ofwheatwasonetonneperhectarelessthanthatofthenationalaver-age.According to national esti-

mates, theaverageproductivityofwheat in thestatewasaround2.13 tonnesperhectare vis-à-vis

the national average of 3.17 ton-nesperhectare.On the vacancies of teaching

staff at BAU, he said that theICAR had provided sufficientautonomy to the university forrecruitment. Even for researchwork 75% of the grant was pro-videdbythecouncil,hesaid.“Weareholding talkswith state offi-cials to remove any obstaclebeingfacedbytheuniversity,”hesaid.Around 300 scientists from

across the country and abroadincluding those from Mexico,USA, Lebanon, Nepal and Bhu-tan would discuss the ways toincrease the production andnutritional content of wheatandbarley in seven sessions tillMonday.

90% of total cultivated land inJharkhand is unirrigated: Guv

n Governor Droupadi Murmu inaugurating 57th All India Wheat andBarley Research workers meet at Birsa Agricultural University inRanchi on Saturday. DIWAKAR PRASAD/ HT PHOTO

UNITEDFORCOMMONCAUSE

n Civil right activists Medha Patkar, Swami Agnivesh, Prashant Bhusan and other politicians takepart in march to the Raj Bhawan in protest of recent attacks on minorities, lynching incidents,tribal land issues and starvation deaths in the state in Ranchi on Saturday DIWAKAR PRASAD/ HT PHOTO


RANCHI: Former Indian captainMahendraSinghDhoni onSat-urday visited the JharkhandJaguarcentreatTendarvillage,around 10km from the statecapital.After saluting themartyrsof

the elite force, he offeredprayersat the temple inside thepremises. Dhoni also had aninteractive session with thepolice personnel, where heencouraged them. Recallinganecdotes fromhis life, ‘captaincool’ said to lead a team oneshould have an intrinsic bondwith the teammembers.“One should practice with

commitment. Most importantis fitness,whichrequires regu-lar practice. The intensityof preparation should neverdip,” he said adding, “Societyexpectedadditionalresponsibil-ity from all uniformed person-nel.” Inthequestionandanswersessionwith the force,hespokeabout training for cricket andother games. He also plantedsaplings near the paradeground.

DHONI VISITSJHARKHANDJAGUAR CENTRE

n Cricketer Mahendra SinghDhoni at martyr’s memorial inTendar village. HT PHOTO

AFTERSALUTING THEMARTYRSOF THE ELITEFORCE, HEOFFEREDPRAYERSAT THE TEMPLEINSIDE THEPREMISES.DHONI ALSOHADANINTERACTIVE SESSIONWITH THEPOLICEPERSONNEL,


JAMSHEDPUR: Inyetanother inci-dent of ‘witch’ killing, a widowwaskilledbyvillagersinfrontofherminor son atHanumatberavillage under Rajnagar policestation (PS) in Seraikela-Khar-sawandistrict of JharkhandonThursdaynight.Policearrestedandsentfourpersons, includingthe village sorcerer, in connec-tion with the brutal murder,police said.“We have arrested four per-

sons, including the village sor-cerer, in connection with themurder of the woman afterbranding her ‘witch’ and theyhavebeensenttojail.Acasehasbeenlodgedagainstfivepersonsof a family in this connection,”Yagya Narayan Tiwari, Rajna-gar PS officer-in-charge (OC),told themedia.Asperavailable information,

villagers were in the process ofburying the dead body of theslain woman when Jharkhand

Disom Party (JDP) leader Sug-nath Hembram informed theRajnagarpolice.The 14-year-old son of the

slainwidow told the police thathewassleepingwithhismotheratnightonThursdaywhensomepeople broke down the doors oftheir house and attacked them.“Mymother asked me to flee. Itried to flee through the backdoorbutmyelderauntandsistergrabbedmeandheldmeback,”policesourcesquotingtheboyassaying.He also said his elder cousin

brother ChanaMurmu – son ofelderbrother-in-lawoftheslainwomanKalyanMumru – killedhis mother on instruction of asorcererLavaTuduwhocametothevillagefromOdisharecently.Police have lodged FIRmakingRajala Devi, Chana Murmu,Lakhan Murmu, ChampaMurmu and the sorcerer LavaTudu in thecase.EarlieronAugust2thisyear,

Birsa Bodra had killed his55-year-old Uncle Deka BodraaliasDeepakBodraand50-year-oldAuntBudhnialiasHeeramanBodraatLiynagivillageinBand-gaon Block under WestSinghbhumdistrictof thestate.

Branded as witch,widow killed infront of minor son›Wehave arrested fourpersons, including the

village sorcerer, inconnectionwith themurder of thewomanYAGYANARAYANTIWARI, RajnagarPS officer-in-charge

Addressingthegathering, thechief minister said Jharkhandgovernment is all set to imple-mentAyushmanBharatschemein the state.Inaddition to thepopulation

tobe coveredbyUniongovern-ment, the state governmentwouldprovide insurancecovertoadditional29 lakhunderprivi-legedfamiliesundertheschemeforwhichthestategovernmenthas already made budgetaryprovision in thehealth budget.

Pankaj Kumarn [email protected]

DHANBAD:ChiefministerRaghu-bar Das on Saturday laid foun-dationforRs31croreexpansionproject of Bokaro Airport tomakeitoperational forcommer-cial flights.At abrief functionatBokaro

airstripof theSteelAuthorityofIndia (SAIL), thechiefministersaid once made operational,Bokarowouldbeontheairmapof the country having air con-nectivitywithKolkata,RanchiandPatna.The airport expansion

project includesstrengtheningand expansion of existing run-way, taxiarea, tarmac, installa-tion of security system, fire-fighting equipment, air trafficcontrol tower besides all otherfacilitiesneededforcommercialflight operations.Das said Bokaro project is

under the second phase of theregional connectivity schemeand in third phasemore cities,includingDumkawouldbecon-nectedwith air.“Theoperationof flights from

Jamshedpur to Kolkata wouldcommencesoon.Wehavetargetof making it operational fromDecember25 thisyear.Thegov-ernment is committed forexpansion of road, air andwaterway connectivity in thestate for its all-round develop-ment,” the chiefminister said.Officials said theBokaroair-

port is being developed to han-dle operation of 72-seaterplanes.The foundation laying func-

tion was also graced by MP ofDhanbad PN Singh, BokaroMLA Biranchi Narayan andothers, including officers fromSAIL and the district adminis-tration. The CM also met BJPworkers later in the day.

CMlaysfoundationforRs31croreexpansionprojectofBokaroairportBRINGING ON AIRMAP The airport expansion project includes strengthening and expansion ofexisting runway, taxi area, tarmac, installation of security system, air traffic control tower besides others


DHANBAD:Ministerofstate forcivilaviationJayantSinhahassaidthatmorecitiesofJharkhandwouldhaveairconnectivityduringthethirdphaseof the ‘UdeDeshkaAamNagarik(UDAN)’, theflagshipprojectof theminis-try forprovidingair travelfacility tocommonman.Addressingmediapersons

atBokaroafter foundationlayingfunctionforexpansionofBokaroairport,Sinhasaidhisministry iscontemplatingchopperservice forJainshrineParasnathHill fromRanchiundertheproject.Theproject isunderactive

reviewof theministry,hesaid.“AtthesametimeDumka,

Deoghar,Daltongunj,Dhal-bumgarhnearTataandHaz-aribagtoowouldhaveaircon-nectivityduring3rdphaseoftheUDANandregionalcon-nectivityproject.Landacqui-sitionforHazaribagairport isalreadyunderprogress,” theministeradded.Dumkaairport is tobe

developedatacostofRs27croretomakeitoperationalforcommercial flights.Allthese locationswouldbecon-nectedwith72-seaterplanes.Sinhasaid inall the

regionalconnectivity flights,includingtheflight tobemadeoperational fromBokaro,50

percentseatswouldbereservedforcommonmanwhowouldbeable tobookseatsbypayingRs2500 foranhour’s flight.Operationofcommercial

flight fromJamshedpurwouldstartassoonastheDirectorGeneralofCivilAvi-ationgivesclearanceforoper-atingflights, saidtheminis-ter.Sinhasaidhisministry is

alsoplanningaGreenfieldproject forconstructing largeairports tomeet futurerequirementofpeopleresid-ing inDhanbad,BokaroandGiridihdistricts.“Myministry issearchinga

suitable locationfor thisproject thatwouldcoverthree

districtsDhanbad,BokaroandGiridih. Identificationoflandforthisproject isunderprogressasmorethan500acresof landwouldberequiredfor it.”Sinhaclaimedthatsince

Modigovernmenttookovernumberofair-passengershaveincreased.Ranchiairportnowhandles8.5 lakhpassengersonannualbasisthatwas just3.5 lakhpriorto2014.“Currently,Ranchioper-

ates30 flights.Thenumberofflightsmayincreaseasperdemand,”hesaid.Hesaidunderregionalcon-

nectivityproject35moreair-portshavebeenmadopera-tional in last fouryears.

J’KHANDTOHAVEBETTERAIR CONNECTIVITY UNDERUDAN: JAYANT

n Chief minister Raghubar Das and Union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha layingfoundation for expansion project of Bokaro airport on Saturday. BIJAY/ HT PHOTO

DASSAIDBOKAROPROJECT IS UNDER THESECONDPHASEOF THEREGIONALCONNECTIVITYSCHEMEAND IN THIRDPHASEMORECITIES,INCLUDINGDUMKAWOULDBECONNECTEDWITHAIR

E-tenderingTourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd [TCGL]

Tenders are invited by TCGL regarding Venue Design,Temporary Structures & Infrastructure as well as EventManagement with all services for Rann Utsav 2018-19 tobe held at Dhordo, Kutch. Interested bidders/agenciesmay download the tender document from the website:www.nprocure.com from Dt.27/08/2018 onwards.Tender document may also be referred onwww.gujarattourism.com.ManagingDirector of TCGLreserve the right to reject oraccept any or all tenderswithout assigning any reasonthereof.

Managing DirectorTCGL

stolen, indicating that ant-so-cial elementsdid this todisturbharmony and trigger violencein the region. We appeal to thepeople tomaintainpeace. Inves-tigation is on and perpetratorswill be arrested soon,” saidPrasad.Asperavailable information,

unknownmiscreants alsovan-dalised the goddess Kali idolwhiledecampingwith thecrossfrom Lal Girja Church on Fri-daynight.Earlier this month, miscre-

ants had stolen jewellery andcash from100-year-oldgoddessDurga temple at Etwari Bazarhere.Enraged over frequent such

incidents, people of Chakrad-harpursatondharnaatthesitesof crime, which was withdrawafter DC Arava Rajkamal andSP Kranti Kumar Gadideshiassured of stern action againstthe culprits.

have been few such incidentshere recently and this appearsto be an effort to disturb socialharmony,”SDPSakalDevRamsaid.SDO Pradeep Prasad said

handsofLordShivawere founddamaged at Shiva temple inPanchMorwhile the lockswerebrokopenof theKali templeandthe church.“Nothinghas,however,been

Mor Shiva Temple, Maa KaliTempleatrailwayaccountscol-ony and nearby Lal GirjaChurch.The officials were hard-

pressed to pacify agitatedcrowds as several such inci-dents have taken place in thecity during recent past.“We are investigating the

incidents and are confident toarrest the culprits soon. There

officer-in-charge(OC)GopinathTiwari inspected the Panch

Debashish Sarkarn [email protected]

JAMSHEDPUR:Railway townshipof Chakradharpur, headquar-tersofChakradharpurdivisionof South Eastern Railway (SERailway) and Chakradharpursub-division headquarters onSaturday woke up to shockingdevelopment of three places ofworship—two temples and achurch—having been vandal-ised and idol broken.Officials said security has

been beefed up around thecity and investigation was onto nab the culprits soon afterChakradharpur SDO PradeepPrasad, SDPO Sakal Dev Ram,

Outrage after temples, church vandalised in Chakradharpur

n Police deployment in Chakradharpur (L), members of church after temples and church were vandalised on Friday MANOJ KUMAR/ HT PHOTO

SUNDAY HINDUSTAN TIMES, RANCHIAUGUST 26, 2018 hindustantimes ranchi 03

Debashish Sarkarn [email protected]

JAMSHEDPUR: In simultaneousraidandsurveysinceFridaybydifferent teams of Income Tax(I-T) department from Ranchi,Jamshedpur and Dhanbadreportedly unearthed tax eva-sion to the tune of Rs 40 crorefrom 11 locations belonging toJamshedpur-based BhalotiaGroupandCompanyandAdity-apur-basedrealestatepromoterandbuilderHareramDubey, I-Tsources said.Separate teamsof I-Tsleuths

from its investigationwings inRanchi,JamshedpurandDhan-bad swooped the premises ofAshok Bhalotia (Agrawal) andAjayAgrawal’sBhalotiaGroupandCompanyat 11 locations inJamshedpur,RanchiandKolk-ata at around 9 am on Fridaymorning. The raids concludedonSaturday.Ashok Bhalotia is also the

incumbent president ofSinghbhum Chamber of Com-merceandIndustry(SCCI)here.Ontheotherhand,a15-mem-

ber team of Jamshedpur I-Tcommissioner’sofficesurveyed

three premises belonging toTata Workers Union (TWU)committee member HareramDubey and his brother Hare-krishna Dubey’s residence atroadno-8 inAdityapurand twooffices inBistupurlocalityof thecityhere.About150I-Tsleuthsandoffi-

cialswerepartof the teamsthatraidedBhalotiaGroup’s prem-ises at 11 locations – BhalotiaEngineering Works Pvt ltd in

Adityapurindustrialarea,Bha-lotia Body Building, BhaloitiaNissanshowroominGamharia,office of contactors’ and theirpalatialhousenearJubileeParkhere.Threepremises of the group

inKolkataandtwopremisesonRatu road and showroom inKokarwere also raided.According to sources, the

Jamshedpurteamledbyassist-ant director (investigation)

AshishKumar has seized harddiscs, laptops, incriminatingdocumentsof investment inrealestate, about a dozen bankaccounts, half dozen lockersduring the raids.The 15-member team from

Jamshedpur I-T commis-sioner’sofficecarriedoutsimul-taneous surveys at propertydealer and builder HareramDubey and his brother Hare-krishnaDubey’s residenceandtwo offices and reportedlyseized documents, computerdata, bank accounts, cash andjewellery.“Due to survey at various

locations, theestimatedtaxeva-sion is still not clear.Wewill beinaposition to reachat conclu-sive figure only after detailedassessment,”anI-Tofficialsaid,on condition of anonymity.

ITraidsatBhalotiaGrouprevealRs40crtaxevasionSEARCH IT sleuths from Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad swooped firm’s premises

n Security personnel at the premises of Bhalotia Group and Companywhere IT raid was conducted in Jamshedpur. MANOJ KUMAR/HT PHOTO

THREEPREMISESOF THEGROUP INKOLKATAANDTWOPREMISESONRATUROADANDSHOWROOMINKOKARWEREALSORAIDED

LASTMINUTESHOPPING

n Customers at a rakhi shop in Ranchi on Saturday. DIWAKAR PRASAD/ HINDUSTAN TIMES

SubhashMishran [email protected]

DHANBAD:Manystates includingJharkhand and Bengal mayplunge inpowercrisisany timeas generation inDamodarVal-leyCorporation (DVC)hasnos-edivedduetocoalshortageat itspowerplants.A DVC senior official said

that power generation wasrecorded merely 2491 MW onSaturdayagainstnormalgener-ation of 4000MWper day. DVCpower plants do not have suffi-cient coal to generate power asper strength of units as CoalIndiaLimited(CIL)hasreducedsupply.Official said DVC requires

16.86 lakh MT coal per day forgenerationofpower in itsunitsatallseventhermalplants---Me-jia, Chandrapura, Bokaro,Koderma, Durgapur, Andaland Raghunathpur power sta-tions. The DVC is getting onlyone fourth of the requiredcoal.Seniorpublicrelationofficer

of DVC, M Vijay Kumar, saidMejia power plant is a majorpowergenerationplantofDVCwhich requires 4 to 5 racks ofcoal per day while it gets onlyone rack of coal fromCIL.Gen-erationof power in fiveunits iscompletely stopped. SimilarlyDurgapur, Raghunathpur andother plants get less coal thanrequired.“Due to coal crisis the DVC

has to face heavy revenue loss

per day as it has to purchasepowerathigherrate fromotherpowercompanies tocater to therequirementof itsconsumers,”said M Vijay Kumar. Officialsaid DVC purchases power attherateofRs5.25perunitwhileit supplies to consumer at Rs4.25 perunit.“DVC has given several

reminders toCIL for supplyingas per agreement. Even coalministerhasgivendirectionbutno improvementhasbeen seenin coal supply from CIL,” theDVCofficial said.Eastern Coalfield Limited

(ECL),BharatCokingCoalLim-ited (BCCL), Central CoalfieldLimited (CCL) and MahanadiCoalfield Limited (MCL) aremajorcoalsuppliersofDVCandproduction of all these compa-nies has decreased sharply. Inhis two-dayvisit ofJharkhand,August 22-23, coal secretaryInder Jit Singh directed coalcompanies to increase produc-tion.However, a senior officer of

BCCL said that since DVC hasbeensittingonpaymentofbillsworth thousands of crores ofCIL, all subsidiarycoal compa-nies have reduced in the fixedquota of coal supply toDVC.CILdirectorpersonneloffice,

however, refused to commenton the issue saying only corpo-rate communication officerSunilKumarcouldcommentonit.However,Kumarcouldnotbereached for comment as he didnot take calls.

Coal supply crisis hitspower generation atDVC plants in state

HT Correspondentn [email protected]

JAMSHEDPUR: JMM leader DrTudu alias Shyama PrasadTudu, alleged ringleader inNagadih lynching of four per-sonslastyear,wasconvictedformurderofanotherJMMleaderLakahi Hansda on January 19,2014, by a local court here. Thecourt also convicted two co-ac-cusedChotraialiasChotuSorenandKaruSoreninJMMleader’smurder case.“The court of additional dis-

trictandsession judge (ADJ-13)Prabhakar Singh convictedDrTudu, Chotrai Soren andKaruSoren of murdering LakhaiHansda by bombing latter’sScorpioinKarandihonJanuary19, 2014. The court will pro-nounce the punishment onAugust 29 in the case,” ShyamKumarMahato,additionalpub-lic prosecutor (APP), said onSaturday.Mahato said this case was a

difficult one after eye-witnessGaneshLohar,driverofLakhaiHansda, turnedhostile.“I foundthe forensic laboratory reportof explosives used in bombingslainLakhai’sSUVunavailable.I filed a petition to bring this tocourt’s notice following whichthe forensicreportwasbrought

fromRanchiFSL,whichnailedthe accused and the convictioncame out. The mobile locationreport and statements of sevenwitnesses also helped a lot,”addedMahato.As per the police and court

records, all the three accusedwere on bail but Dr Tudu hadsurrendered in the court inNagadih lynching case onAugust 10.

All the three accused wereproduced at the time of convic-tion on Friday. On May 18 lastyear, amob allegedly led byDrTudu had beaten three youthsand their grandmother inNagadih village.The accused had come on a

red car and bombed Lakhai’sScorpio inKarandih at around7.30pmonJanuary19,2014overdisputeonpossessionofaplotof

governmentlandinBedhadhipabehind Ghagidih jail here.Police had seized the red carusedbyDrTuduandhisassoci-ates fromChaibasa.A case was lodged by slain

JMMleaderLakhai’swifeDangiHansda at Parsudih policestation (PS) in this connectionon January 20, 2014, makingthe three convicts namedaccused.“I had faith that we will get

justice inthecourt. Iwantall thethree convicts be hanged todeath. The way my family hasbeen orphaned, their familiestooshouldbeorphaned,”DangiHansda said after convictionorder by the court.Dr Tudu – himself a JMM

leader – was on loggerheadswith another JMM leaderLakhai Hansda over suprem-acy. “JMM block level leaderLakhaihadstood intheelectionof block president of the partyunitwhileDrTudutoowaseye-ing the toppost.The bitter political rivalry

coupled with illegal businessof selling encroached govern-ment landhad led toagang-warin which Lakhai had earlierkilled Dr Tudu’s close aideGanesh Tudu in Bedhadhipaon May 15, 2011,” sourcessaid.

Nagadih lynching ringleaderTuduconvicted in JMM leader’smurder case

n JMM leader Dr Tudu. HT PHOTO

n Coal loading at Kushunda loading point in Dhanbad. BIJAY/HT PHOTO


RANCHI:TheUSConsulate Gen-eral inKolkata incollaborationwiththeAmericanNGOshostedthe ‘US Universities Alumni:India Connect Programme’ inRanchi onSaturday.Theday-longeducationinfor-

mation fair provided guidanceonhighereducationopportuni-ties in the US to prospectiveIndian students. The pro-gramme underscored thatstudying at one of the 4,500accreditedUScollegesanduni-versities offers a world classeducation, robust alumni com-munities, rewardingcross-cul-tural experiences, and a life-long engagement with theUnited States.Inauguratingthe fairatBirla

InstituteofTechnology,Mesra,Ranchi, acting public affairsofficer of the USConsulate JayTreloarsaid,“There isnosectorthat better illustrates themutual benefit of our relation-ship better than education, apriority sector in both the USand India.Educationhasbecomeoneof

themainpillars inourbilateralstrategic partnership. Wealreadyhave avery stronghis-tory of cooperation in highereducation.”During theeventalumniand

experts briefed the studentsabout thebenefitsofstudyinginthe US. The students met

alumni of US universities andaskedthemquestionsabout theAmericaneducationsystemandadmissions process.The organisers said goal of

the alumni fairs is to provideprospective students and

their parents with firsthandinformation and advice fromUSStateDepartmentexchangeprogrammealumni,universitystudent counselors, EducationUSA representatives and theUSStateDepartment officials.

Education fair held in BITMesra

n Acting public affairs officer of the US Consulate Jay Treloaraddressing a gathering in Ranchi on Saturday. HT PHOTO

ManojChoudharyn [email protected]

JAMSHEDPUR:AmukhiaofavillagepanchayatinPotkablockofEastSinghbhum district allegedlycommittedsuicideonSaturday,withfamilymembersclaiminghewasunderdepressionforpastfewdays. Police are yet to arrive atthereasonbehindhissuicide.Raj Kamal Singh, mukhia of

Domjudi, under Potka blockallegedlyjumpedbeforeatrainatKhairbani railway crossing onSaturdaymorning.Thebodygothighlydamagedaftertheincidentand his familymembers identi-fiedhimfromhisdress.Officer in-chargeofJadugora

police station Prabhat Kumarsaid that reason behind suicidewas not yet clear. “The policewouldbeabletoreveal theexactreason of suicide only afterproperinvestigation,”headded.Potkablockdevelopmentoffi-

cer,PrabhatChandraDassaidhewas shocked over the incident.However, he denied that themukhiawasunderpressuredue

to work load as he had brilliantperformance in completing alltheworkswithinthetimeframe.“Singhhadcompleted100%of

295 toilet construction targetunderSwachhaBharatMissioninhispanchayat.Hehadsubmit-tedphotographsasproofoftoiletconstruction.Hewasnotnamedinanycaseofcorruption,irregu-larityofdevelopment fund,mis-use of power orviolationof gov-ernmentnorms.Hewasoneofthebest performingmukhias in theblockandhadnevergotnoticefornegligenceinduty,”Dassaid.The BDO said that Singh

seemed to be under depressionforpastcoupleofdaysbuthewasignorantabout itsreason.

East Singhbhummukhiacommits suicide

n Raj Kamal Singh

Manish Rajn [email protected]

RANCHI : Police, on Saturday,havearresteda35-year-oldmanon the charge of allegedly gan-graping a woman in a movingcar last month while she wasreturning to Jamshedpurwithherhusbandand son.“We have arrested Sanjay

Pramanik of Kobadih afterextensive raids.Theaccused isa former Maoist. He is notemployed anywhere. After hisarrest, the accused confessedthat he had raped the woman.He told that he had consumedalcohol before committing thecrime.Thewoman’shusbandisamilk trader in Chandil,” saidVimalKumarOC,Tamarpolicestation.Earlier,onJuly30,policehad

registeredFIRundersection376D (gangrape) of the IPC. Theincident occurred on Parasiroad, an off-shoot of Ranchi-JamshedpurRoadonNH-33.Police said, the woman was

returning inacarwithherhus-band and son after visitingSurya Mandir and DashamFalls. In her complaint, shesaid, “Around6pm,nearDeoditemple, the driver Krishnastopped the vehicle andrequested my husband totake a person to Jamshedpur.Thedriver said that thepersonwas his friend. After some dis-tance, the driver stopped thecar,but insteadofgettingdown,anotherpersonentered thecarand sat in the rear seat nexttome.”

She said that, “They forcedmyhusbandandsontogetdownand threatenedme not to raisean alarm. The driver wasaddressing the person as San-jay. They rapedme after start-ing the car.Meanwhile, the cargotstuck inadrain,afterwhichall the accused escaped. I toldthe village residents, who hadgatheredonthespotafterseeingthe car being stuck. Theyinformed the police” Thewomansaidshe thencontactedherhusband,whowasatRanga-mati.After registering a case,

Tamar police had arrestedthe driver Krishna Naik,36, of Chutiya. “He hadrevealed the name of threeaccomplices,basedonwhichweconducted raids for arrestingthe co-accused,” said VimalKumar. “While, we arrestedSanjay Pramanik, two othersare still at large. We haveknowledge of their where-abouts, and will arrest themsoon,” he said.

Police arrest one in gangrapeof woman inmoving car

ONJULY 30, POLICEHADREGISTERED FIR UNDERSECTION 376D(GANGRAPE) OF THE IPC.THE INCIDENTOCCURREDONPARASIROAD, ANOFFSHOOTOFRANCHIJAMSHEDPURROADONNH33

SubhashMishran [email protected]

DHANBAD:CoalofficersworkinginsubsidiarycompaniesofCoalIndia Limited (CIL) are on boilover being paid lesser salarythannon-executive staff.Against the issue, coal offi-

cers haveannounced agitationfrom September 10 and havethreatened to go on strike afterDharna at CIL headquarters,Kolkata onSeptember 27.OfficersofJharkhand-based

Bharat Coking Coal Limited(BCCL),CentralCoalfieldLim-ited(CCL)andEasternCoalfieldLimited (ECL) have openedfrontagainst thepayanomalies.However,officersbodyofWest-ern Coalfields Limited (WCL),The Singareni Collieries Com-panyLimited (SCCL)andothercoal companies, too, have sub-mitted memorandum to CILmanagement over pay anoma-lies.CoalMinesOfficersAssocia-

tionof India (CMOAI), the fron-tal organization of coal execu-tive officers, has announced to

go on agitation path from Sep-tember 10 if CIL managementdoesnotcorrect thepayanoma-lies.Onfirstdayof theiragitation,

coal officerswouldworkwear-ingblackbadgeonSeptember10andholddemonstrationat theirrespective coal companyhead-quarters till September 16. OnSeptember 27, officers wouldstage dharna at CIL headquar-ters.CMOAI joint general secre-

tary, BCCL chapter, DK SinghsaidasperestablishednormsofDepartment of Public Enter-prises (DPE) the pay scale of

executiveclasswouldbealwayshigher than non-executiveclass.But inPayRevisionCom-mission-3 (PRC) recommenda-tion, theexecutive classofficerhas been given Rs 40,000 payscale while non-executive Rs47,000 pay scale.Singh said anomalies in pay

scaleofofficersdonotendhere.PRE-3 of officers held in 2017andnextrevisionwouldbeheldafter 10 years (in 2027). But fornon-executive staff, last payrevisionwasheld in 2016 and itwould be held every five years(in 2021 and 2026).“Obviouslynon- executive’s

scalewouldbehigherthanexec-utive officer in next 10 years,”said Singh.AdelegationofCMOAIoffice

bearersmetdirectorpersonnel,CIL,onAugust16over the issueand he reportedly assured toremove the anomalies in payscale. CMOAI office bearersaid that CILmanagement hastaken time till September 20 tocorrect the anomalies. There-fore strike date would bedecided after that.

Coal officers on boil over pay disparityCMOAI, THE FRONTALORGANIZATIONOFCOALEXECUTIVEOFFICERS,HASANNOUNCED TOGOONAGITATIONPATHFROMSEPTEMBER 10 IFCILMANAGEMENTDOESNOTCORRECT THEPAYANOMALIES

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Or any other Precision Structuresas per Customers Drawing/Specications.

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hhttnation NOW, YOU CAN’T HOLD RAHUL GANDHI RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT (1984 RIOTS) HE WAS 13 OR 14 YEARS OF AGE THEN...HE HAS NOT ABSOLVED ANYONE.

>PCHIDAMBARAM , Congress leader

ARMY LIGHTSUP200ADDITIONALJ&KMUDHOUSESBHADARWAH:The armydistributed200more solar lights among thenomadic communities living in thehigh altitude areas here in JammuandKashmir. The Army’s RashtriyaRifles unit based in Bhadarwah hasso far distributed over 17,000 suchlights among the Gujjars andBakerwals under its ‘ProjectRoshni’(light). In the latest initia-tive, the troops distributed 200solar lights among the floatingpopulation residing in ‘Dhoks’ (mudhouses) on high altitudemeadows,includingNaag lootan, Padri, BhalPadri, Qatari,Machora, Satlad, Biddi,Qatari Gali, Chipli and Bashot ofBhaderwahValley, an Armyofficertold news agency PTI.

‘Work on Patel’s statue to becompleted by October 25’NARMADA: The finishingwork onSardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s giganticstatue inNarmada district ofGujaratwould be over byOctober25, an official press release onSaturday said. The state govern-ment had earlier said the 182-metertall statuewill be inaugurated onSardar Patel’s birth anniversary onOctober 31 by PrimeMinisterNarendraModi. Chiefminister VijayRupani and deputy CMNitin Patelon Saturday visited the site of thestatue to take stock of thework.The statue is being built at a cost of₹1,989 crore.

No Amarnath yatri has comeor left base camp: OfficialsJAMMU: Nopilgrim has arrived orleft the base camphere on Saturdayfor the Amarnath Yatra that isscheduled to end on Sunday,officials said. The annual 60-daypilgrimagewill endwith the arrivalof the holymace, popularly knownas ‘CharriMubarak’, at the 3,880metre-high holy cave shrine ofAmarnath in south Kashmir Himala-yas. No pilgrim has arrived at thebase camphere for the yatra andaccordingly, Friday’s batch of 137pilgrimswas treated as the lastfrom Jammu, the officials said.

Kaptan Solanki takes oathas new Tripura governorAGARTALA: Kaptan Singh Solanki onSaturday took oath of office andsecrecy as the newgovernor ofTripura in a ceremony at theDarbarHall of the Raj Bhavan here. Solanki,who had served as Haryana gover-nor for a little over four years, wasadministered the oath of office andsecrecy by Tripura high court chiefjustice Ajay Rastogi. Chiefminister

shortstories

Biplab Kumar Deb, his cabinetcolleagues, chiefwhip Kalyani Royand chief secretary Sanjeev Ranjanwere also present at the function.

Heavy rain forecast forOdisha in next 48 hoursBHUWANESWAR: Heavy rain islikely to lash several parts of Odishaover the next two days owing tothe formation of a lowpressure areain the region, theMet office heresaid Saturday. Under its impact,moderate rain and thundershowerare likely to occur atmost places,while heavy to very heavy rainfall isforecast at someplaces in Dhenka-nal, Angul, Deogarh, Sambalpur,Bolangir, Jhaesuguda, Baragarh andKeonjhar districts, it said. Someareas in Puri, Ganjam, Khurda,Cuttack, Balasore,Mayurbhanj,Kalahandi, Boudh, Sonepur andSundergarh districts are likely to getheavy rainfall aswell, it said.

Fake currency racket bustedin Jammu, three heldJAMMU: Police on Saturday claimedto have busted a fake currencyracketwith the arrest of threepeople and seizure of counterfeitnotes of face value ₹82,000. Thearrestsweremade after receiving afromaman on Friday,who claimedthat ₹75,000 he received afterselling amobile phonewere in fakenotes, a police official said. “Afterhectic efforts, some suspectswererounded up and put to sustainedquestioning,” he said.

22 newAIIMS comingup across the country,says healthministerBHUBANESWAR: Unionhealthminister JPNadda onSaturday said 22 newAllIndia Institutes ofMedicalSciences (AIIMS) are comingup across the country andadmitted that therewas ashortage of skilled humanresource in the healthsector. He also said ensuringthe highest standards ofmedical educationwas atop priority for the govern-ment. “Twenty-two newAIIMS are coming up acrossthe country under thePradhanMantri SwasthyaSurakhya Yojana...,” Naddasaid.

HEALTHPLAN

ChetanChauhann [email protected]

NEWDELHI:Kerala’sworstfloodsinclosetoacenturylefthundredsofpeopledead,displacedoveramil-lion, andcausedunprecedentedloss of propertyworth billion ofrupees in less than a fortnight.Thoughexcessiverainsfilledthedams,expertsblamedpoorwaterflowmanagementfromthereser-voirs for the inundation of thecoastal state andmany parts ofthesouthernIndia.Itisnotforthefirsttimethatthishashappened.A Comptroller and Auditor

General report submitted inTamil Nadu Assembly in 2016squarely blamed the unwar-rantedreleaseof29,000cusecsofwater for 21 hours inDecember2015, in violation of dam safetynorms, for flooding in Chennai.The report said the floods couldhavebeenavoidedhadthePublicWorksDepartmentfollowedtheCentral Water Commissionguidelines on regulated waterrelease from the three watertanksupstreamofthecity.Inhindsight,waterexpertsare

saying that the intensity ofKer-ala floods could have beenreduced if thewater from 35 bigdams in Kerala was releasedmuch earlier. Kerala blamedneighbouringTamilNaduforthefloods in the Supreme Court onFriday,sayingthegatesofMulla-periyar dam were suddenlyopened without anywarning, aclaimdeniedbyTamilNadugov-ernment.WhathashappenedinKerala

posesabiggerquestionregardingfloodmanagement in India con-sidering that around 15% ofIndia’s land mass is prone tofloods, with an average of 1,548people losing their lives andaround eight million hectaresgetting affected, causing loss ofabout ₹5,628 crore every year.The 5,254 dams in India are anintegral part of flood manage-ment, apart from storing waterfor irrigation and generatingpower. The2017CAGreportsub-mitted in Parliament presentedaninsightonwhatiswrongwithIndia’s floodmanagement plan.Of the 219proposednewteleme-try stations, used to forecastfloods,onlyaquarterwereset-uptillAugust 2016.Of the 375 exist-ing stations, almost 60% werenon-functionalafterinstallation,thereportsaid.“Flood forecasting data was

used in the formulation of floodforecastonlyaftercomparingthetelemetry data with manuallyobserveddata;and in thecaseofmismatchbetweenthetwosetsofdata,manualdatawasadopted,”the CAGreport said, pullingupCWCfornotdependingontelem-etrydata evenafter investing inmodernisation for nearly 20

years. The report also said thatthereisanemergencyactionplanfor only 7%of thedams in India.Forthe61inKerala,thereisnone.In eight out of 17 flood-pronestates, theintegratedfloodman-agement plans for entire river/basinhavenotbeentakenup,thereportsaid.Theauditoralso said that fre-

quent check of damsbefore andaftermonsoonhappenedinonlyintwo--BiharandOdisha--ofthe17twostates inrecentyears.MadhavanNairRajeevan,sec-

retaryintheministryofearthsci-ences,admittedearlierthisweekthat there was poor flood man-agementsysteminIndia.“Aspermyunderstanding,no

bigreservoirhasadecisionsup-port system. So we don’t knowwhen to open gates and how toopen them…There is a commonperception that in Indiamost ofthe flood management systemsarenotsupportedbyscience.Iamvery sure we don’t have a deci-sionsupportsystemandweneedit,”hehadsaid.AKGosain,professoremeritus

atIndianInstituteofTechnologyDelhi, agreedwithhimand saiddammanagementinIndiaworksontheprinciplethatatendofthemonsoon the reservoirs shouldbe full. “The tendency is not toreleasewater till the last go andthisiswhathashappenedinKer-ala,”hesaid.Himanshu Thakkar of the

South Asia Network of Dams,RiversandPeoplesaidthereasonforthistendencywasthatmostofthe big dams in India are runbythepowergenerationcompanies,who are unwilling to reducewater level beyond a limit as itcanimpactpowergeneration.InKerala, thewaterlevel inthebigdams is monitored by KeralaStateElectricityBoard.Experts say the flooding in

downstreamareascanbebettermanagediftheIndiaMeteorolog-ical Department’s 72-hour fore-cast isused to create simulationmodelsforwaterrelease.GujaratandOdishagovernmentsusetheIMD’s forecast to release waterslowing from the dams on Tapiand Mahanadi rivers respec-tively, helping the two statesmanage floods. Despite Gujaratreceiving substantial rainfall in2017,SuratcityontheTapiriverwasnot flooded.A CWC scientist, who asked

not to be named, said they canonly advice states as manage-mentofdamsisastatesubject.“Thelegislation(DamsSafety

law)willensureadoptionofstan-dardprotocolsforalldamsinthecountry, ensure regular inspec-tionandimplementationofemer-gency action plans,” said aCen-tralgovernmentstatementwhentheCabinetapprovedthedraftofthebill inJunethisyear.

Poordammanagementbehind‘natural’disasters,sayexperts

5,254dams,notall flood-readyThe 5,254 dams in India are an integralpart of floodmanagement, apartfrom storingwater for irrigation andgenerating power. A 2017 CAG reportsubmitted in Parliament said thatthere is emergency action plan foronly seven percent of these dams.For the 61 in Kerala, there is none.

Dams in other states

Reservoir capacity in m3

Source: Central Water Commission

1895: A dam was built on the riverMullayar and its tributary, Periyar, inKerala, to provide water to deficitregions of Tamil Nadu.1979: The Kerala government claimedthat the dam was in an earth-quakeprone area and sought its rebuilding.1980s: Tamil Nadu demanded height ofthe dam to be raised to about 150 feetfrom existing 136, which Kerala opposed.2006: The Supreme Court directed thatthe water level to be raised to 142 feetbut Kerala brought a law to negate it.The SC appointed a panel to examinesafety and the new dam.

Idukki Idamalayar Kakki Mullaperiyar

State-wisenumber of damsincluding underconstruction

Meghalaya 8Goa 5Arunachal Pradesh 4Assam 4Manipur 4Andaman &Nicobar Islands 2Sikkim 2Haryana 1Mizoram 1Nagaland 1Tripura 1

2,354

906632

258

231

1,459,510

1,022,800

299,311436,381

211

204

184

167

116

79

62

30

26

25

20

17

16

Majordams inKerala

1 2

HistoryofMullaperiyarDam

Maharashtra

KERALA

Thiruvananthapuram

MadhyaPradesh

Gujarat

Chhattisgarh

Karnataka

Rajasthan

Odisha

Telangana

AndhraPradesh

130UttarPradesh

TamilNadu

Jharkhand

Kerala

West Bengal

Bihar

Uttarakhand

HimachalPradesh

Jammu &Kashmir

Punjab

12

3

IdukkiErnakulam

3Pathanamthitta

4

4

MANMADE DISASTERS Flood intensitycould have been reduced if the water from 35big dams in Kerala was released much earlier

IndoAsianNewsServicen [email protected]

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Formerchief minister of Kerala Oom-menChandy said that the trag-edy caused due to heavy rainsandfloodsinthestatewasduetothe present state government’sglaring omission of not beingable to foresee things.Chandysaidthateventhough

thiswasnotthetimetopoliticisethetragedy,hewasforcedtosaywhat chief minister PinarayiVijayanhimself pointedout.“Since the monsoon season

began in theendofMay,Keralareceived heavy rains in threeparts and since being in seg-ments thereshouldhavebeenabasic planning process. But forsome reason it did not happenand hence tragedy struck thestateveryhard,” saidChandy.Monsoon began in the last

week of May and heavy rainscame in three segments till thesecondweekofAugust.“The glaring omission came

when the government failed toact according to the pattern ofrains. In hindsight, it’s easy tosaythatitshouldhavebeendonethis way and not that way, butit’sherewhere the calculationswenthaywire,”hesaid.For the first time in the his-

tory of the state, on account ofthe heavy rains during the pastthree months had to open thesluicegatesof33damsincludingthe Idukki dam which wasopenedafter 26years.“The authorities misfired

when it came to handling theIdukkidamasitwasnotopenedearlierandinsteadwaitedtillthelastminutewhichcausedahugedamage to life and properties.Theweatherforecastswererightin front of the authorities. TosubstantiatewhatIsaid,youcanjust look into the manner inwhichstatepowerministerMMMani handled the Idukki damand then correlate it withwhatVijayansaid,”addedChandy.The number of dead in the

rains and floods now stands at417 sinceMay.

Lack of foresighton govt’s partcaused floods inKerala: ExCM

PressTrustof Indian [email protected]

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Thedeathtoll inKerala floodshastouched265sinceAugust8while36peopleare still missing, the latest gov-ernment figures show, even asthe state prepares to mount amassive rehabilitation processfor thedisplaced.The hilly district of Idukki,

housing the largest archdam inAsia from which waters werereleased for the first time in 26years,hasbeenhit thehardest --51 deathsand10 stillmissing, asperthelatestfiguresreleasedbytheDisasterManagement State

ControlRoom.The district, home to tea and

spices plantations, is also oneofthe favouritetouristdestinationsinthestate.Thrissur has reported 43

deaths, Ernakulam (38), Ala-puzha(34)andMalappuram(30).Withover8.69lakhpeoplestill

in 2,287 relief camps, it is a sub-dued‘Onam’,theharvestfestival,inthestate.Forsomewhoreturned,clean-

ing up their homeswas the top-mostpriority.A government release issued

Friday night said the flood-hitareaswouldberecordedusingamobile app,with thehelp of vol-

untary organisations and localbodiesandcompensationwouldbedistributedafterthisprocess.Atotalof₹10,000eachwouldbe

transferredtothebankaccountsof3.91 lakhaffectedfamiliesand₹242.73crorehasbeenearmarkedfromtheChiefMinister’sDisas-terReliefFund(CMDRF) forthepurpose, thereleasesaid.Plansarealsoafoottoretrieve

certificatesandlostdocumentsoftheflood-affectedpeoplefromthedatabaseofvariousdepartmentsinthestate, it said.The information technology

and other departments were inthe process of developing a soft-wareforthepurpose.

Adalats would also be heldfromthefirstweekofSeptembertofacilitaterecoveryofthedocu-ments, according to the govern-mentrelease.Withthegovernmentempha-

sisingsanitationactivitiestopre-vent outbreak of water-relateddiseasesinflood-affectedareas,atotalof1.31lakhhouses,about31per cent of total flood-hit build-ings,havesofarbeencleaned.Thestategovernmentwasalso

mullinginterest-freeloansofupto ₹10 lakh for the flood-affectedsmallscale industries.Earlier, a moratorium was

declaredforagricultureloansbythegovernment.

‘265 dead, 36missing due to floods since Aug’

₹3,364.78crore.The defence spokesperson

tweeted: “The DAC chaired bySmt @nsitharaman ... hasapprovedprocurementof servi-cesvaluedat₹46,000crores.Theprocurement will improve theoperational preparedness ofArmedForces.”Thesegunshavebeen indige-

nously designed and developedbyDefenceResearchandDevel-opment Organisation (DRDO)andwillbemanufacturedbypro-duction agencies, as nominatedbyDRDO.The DAC also accorded

approval to procure 24 navalMulti RoleHelicopters (MRHs),which will have the capabilitytoengageinanti-submarinewar-fare.TheMultiRoleHelicoptersare

an integral part of the frontlinewarships like the aircraft carri-ers,destroyers, frigatesandcor-vettes. In addition, the govern-mentalsoapprovedprocurementof 14 vertically launched shortrangemissile systems. Of these14, 10 systemswillbeindige-

TanmayChatterjeen [email protected]

KOLKATA:SinghaBahini,aBengaliHindu organisation formed lastmonthbyformerleadersofafar-rightgroupisdiscreetlysendingitsmembers toAssam to collectdata onBengalis excluded fromthedraftNationalRegisterofCiti-zens (NRC)publishedonJuly30thisyear.Over the past 10 days, Singha

Bahinileadershavevisitedmanylocations, including Barak Val-ley, spread across six districts.Theycollecteddataandtookpho-tographs and videos of affectedBengaliHindufamilies.Theorga-nisationwillsooninitiateacam-paignforwhichitstartedraisingmoneythroughMilaap,acrowd-fundingwebsite,fivedaysbeforethedraftNRCwaspublished.Thoughofficialrecordsdonot

offeranybreak-upoftheethnicorreligiousbackgroundofthepeo-pleleftoutfromtheNRC,BengalirightsgroupsinAssamclaimthatanythingbetween1.2and1.5mil-lion Bengali Hindus have notmadeit tothedraft.“A few officers in Kolkata

interact with us from time totime. I cannot go into details,” asenior leaderof theHinduoutfitsaidonconditionofanonymity.SinghaBahini secretaryPra-

sunMaitrasaidthefindingswillbe made public in Kolkata onMonday,August27.Theoutfithasbeenformedby

eight former leaders of HinduSamhati,theKolkata-basedHin-dutvagroup.“Most people outside Assam

seemtothinkthatconfinementto

detention camps is the worstthinghappening,andlifeoutsidethecampsisnormal.TheplightofBengaliHindus isendless,” saidShantanuSanyal,president,AllAssamBengaliParishad(AABP),fromGuwahati.“On August 14, 102-year-old

ChandradharDastravelled40kmfromhisresidenceinBarakVal-leytoreachoneoftheNRCtribu-nals in Silchar. He waited forthreehoursforahearingbutwastoldtoreturninSeptembersinceno government lawyer waspresentonthatday.Suchabsen-teeism is common. We haverequested the government to atleastprovidelawyersonhumani-tarianground,”hesaid.“Censusfiguresshowthatthe

numberofHindus inAssamhasgone down by around 10%between1971and2011.Thiscon-tradictsallegationsofmigrationby Hindus from Bangladesh,”saidSanyal.AABPhassetupcampsacross

AssamtohelpHinduBengalisfillupclaimandobjectionformspro-vided by the government. It hasalsosubmittedmemorandumstochiefministerSarbanandaSon-owal and Union MoS for homeaffairs,KirenRijiju.BengalchiefministerMamata

Banerjee hasmade it clear thatshe wants to make NRC a keyissueintheLokSabhapolls,BJP accused Trinamool of

politicising the issue to secureminority votes. BJP presidentAmitShahevenallegedatarallyinKolkataonAugust11thatille-gal Muslim immigrants fromBangladesh comprised Trina-mool’svotebank.

Bengal outfit collectsNRC data fromAssam

CELEBRATINGBUDDHISTHERITAGE

n Foreign delegates, who have arrived to take part in the International Buddhist Conclave 2018,visit the ruins of the ancient Nalanda University, in Nalanda, Bihar on Saturday. PTI

IndoAsianNewsServicen [email protected]

BHUBANESWAR:Vice-PresidentMVenkaiah Naidu on Saturdaysaid that every doctor shouldserveatleastthreeyearsinruralareasbeforegettingapromotion.“Itshouldbemademandatory

foryoungdoctorstoserveatleast3years inruralareasbeforeget-ting promotion,”Naidu told thefirstconvocationceremonyoftheAllIndiaInstituteofMedicalSci-ences ,Bhubaneswar.He said there was a need to

increase the number of doctorsavailableathealthcarecentresin

ruralareasastheirabsencewasmakingpeopleapproachquacks.“Weneed toovercome theacuteshortageofhealthcareprovidersasalsotheinfrastructureinruralareas,”headded.Naidu also stressed on the

need to increase the number ofmedicalcolleges.TheVice-Presi-dentsaidmedicaleducationcur-riculum should be constantlyupdated, by including the latestdevelopments and methods oftreatment.“Doctorsmustbetrainedtobe

more sensitive towards the suf-ferings of the patients and theirfamilies and should provide the

healingtouchwitheffectivecom-munication. There can be nogreaterservicethanrestoringfel-low human beings to goodhealth,” he said. Naidu saidschemes such as ‘AyushmanBharat’(NationalHealthProtec-tion Scheme) would be a game-changer in terms of accessinghealthcareservices .Speaking on girls’ education,

hesaid:“Whosayswomencandonothing? Given an opportunitythey can do wonders. Girls areoutperformingboys.”Notably,AtalBihariVajpayee

had laid the foundation stone ofthehospitalhere in2003.

Doctors should serve three years inrural areas before promotion: Naidu


NEWDELHI:Inamajordecision,thedefence ministry on Saturdaygave itsnod toacquisitionof 111utilityhelicoptersfortheNavyatacostofover₹21,000crorebesidesapprovingseparateprocurementproposals worth nearly ₹25,000crore,accordingtoofficials.A meeting of the Defence

Acquisition Council (DAC), theministry’shighestdecision-mak-ingbodyonprocurement,clearedtheproposals.Theprocurementoftheutility

helicopters will be the firstprojectunderthe ambitiousstra-tegic partnershipmodel, whichprovides for roping in privatefirmtobuildselectmilitaryplat-forms in India in partnershipwith foreign defence manufa-cturers.“TheDAC,inalandmarkdeci-

siontoday(Saturday),approvedprocurement of 111 utility heli-copters for the IndianNavy at acost of over ₹21,000 crore,” thedefenceministrysaid.Theutilityhelicopterswill be

usedinattackmissionsaswellasfor search and rescue and sur-veillanceoperations.TheministrysaidtheDACalso

granted approval to a few otherprocurementproposalsamount-ing to ₹24,879.16 crore, whichincludedoneonbuying150indig-enouslydesignedanddeveloped155mmadvancedtowedartillerygunsystemsfortheIndianArmyat an approximate cost of

nouslydeveloped.“Thesesystemswillboost the

self-defence capability of shipsagainst anti-ship missiles,” theministrysaid.TheIndianNavyinAugustlast

year had issued global Requestfor Information (RFI) for pro-curement of 111 utility and 123MultiRoleHelicopters.TheNavyhas been pressing the govern-ment to procurenewutility andMRHstoaddteethto itsexistingcapabilityandreplaceitsageingfleetofchoppersbuttheprocure-ment process has seen yearsofdelay.Thegovernmenthadissuedan

RFIforitin2011aswellasin2013.InMay last year, the defence

ministryhadfinalisedthestrate-gic partnership model underwhichselectprivatefirmswillberoped in to build military plat-forms like submarines, fighterjetsandchoppersinIndiainpart-nershipwithforeignentities.The policy envisages estab-

lishment of long-term strategicpartnershipswithIndiandefencemajors through a transparentandcompetitiveprocesswhereintheywouldtieupwithglobalorig-inal equipment entities to seektechnology transfers to set updomestic manufacturing infra-structureandsupplychains.Initially,thestrategicpartners

willbeselectedinfoursegments-fighteraircraft,helicopters,sub-marines andarmoured fightingvehicles/mainbattle tanks. It isexpectedtobeexpandedtoothersegmentsata laterstage.

Govt nod for procurementof 111 helicopters forNavy

THESENAVALUTILITYHELICOPTERS TOBEACQUIREDATACOSTOFOVER₹21,000CROREWILLBEUSED IN ATTACKMISSIONS, FORSEARCHANDRESCUEANDSURVEILLANCE

photooftheday

n Visitors at a stall on the inaugural day of Delhi Book Fair atPragati Maidan, in New Delhi on Saturday. SONU MEHTA/HT PHOTO

SUNDAY HINDUSTAN TIMES , RANCHIAUGUST 26, 2018 hindustantimes region 05

Champaran.While struggling to occupy a

place for the BJP ahead of theparty’s maiden electoral test in1982, it was the Nazarbag ParkwhereAtalBihariVajpayeehadattacked the thenCongressgov-ernments at centre and state,enumeratingtheirfailures inhistypical sarcastic styleat a rally.

RecountingVajpayee’sstyleofaddressing people, 63-year-oldNaresh Kumar Srivastava, alocal resident, said that he wasunsparing in criticism to theopposition and had also targedthe then government over theDalda scandal. HTC

BETTIAH:Notwithstanding inces-sant rain and waterlogging allaround the district headquar-ters of West Champaran, hun-dredsofBJPworkersoffered flo-ral tributes to ‘AsthiKalash’ offormer Prime Minister AtalBihariVajpayeeat the sprucedup Nazarbag Park here on Sat-urday. Mortal remains of theformer PM was on its way toimmersion in Gandak river atBagaha.

The Asthi Kalash Yatrarevived the almost forgottenmemoriesofVajpayee’sspeech,36 years after he addressed hisfirst meeting as a BJP leader in

Atal’s Asthi KalashYatra


PATNA:RJDpresidentand fodderscamconvictLaluPrasadonSat-urday returned to Patna fromMumbai,wherehewastreatedata hospital for three weeks, andwouldsurrenderbefore theCBIcourt at Ranchi next ThursdayaspertheJharkhandhighcourtorder.

The Jharkhand high courthadonFridayrefused toextendtheprovisionalbailofthe formerBihar chief minister and askedhim to surrender by August 30before theCBI court.

It had on May 11 granted sixweeksprovisionalbail toPrasadon medical grounds which wasextended on several occasions,the last being tillAugust 27.

Flankedbyparty leadersandworkers at the airport here,Prasad refused to make com-ments on any issue citing thecourt order restraining him tospeak to media. He said hishealthcondition isnot good.

“Bolna nahi hai. Instructionhai. Tabiyat theek nahi hai (Ihave not to speak (withmedia).There are instructions. Myhealthisnotgood),”Prasad toldreporterswhileonhiswaytohiswife Rabri Devi’s residence 10,Circular Road.

When pressed by journalists

forhiscommentonMuzaffarpurshelter home sex scandal,Prasad reiterated that he hasbeen barred from speaking onany issues inpublic.

Bhola Yadav, Prasad’s closeconfidantandanMLA,said thatPrasad had gone to “Mumbai’sAsianHeart InstituteonAugust6 for the treatment ofheart andkidney infection and hasreturned to Patna today (Satur-day)after19days.HewouldgotoRanchi on August 29 and willsurrender before theCBI courtonAugust 30.”

Asked about Prasad’shealthcondition, Yadav said that “he(Prasad)hasgot infections inhis

valve (heart) and kidney. Doc-tors of Asian Heart Institutehave prescribed that Laluji bekept in a very sanitised andhygienicconditions. If someonevisits his residence in PatnawherehewouldstaytillAugust29, then thevisitingpersonmustbe sanitised.”

Yadav said that they wouldmake an application before theCBI court inRanchi for shiftingPrasad toRIMS (Rajendra Insti-tute of Medical Sciences) but itwillbeuptothecourtastowhereit refers Prasad.

Asked whether his sons,Tejashwi and Tej Pratap, orother family members werepresent at the airport, Yadavsaid that they were at a partyfunction organised to celebratethe 100th birth anniversary ofthe lateB P Mandal, the formerBihar chief minister who alsoheaded the Backward ClassesCommission which recom-mended 27 per cent quota forOBCs in jobs.

Lalu returns toPatna fromMumbai, to surrender onAug 30

n Lalu Prasad

THE JHARKHANDHIGHCOURTHADON FRIDAYREFUSED TOEXTENDTHEPROVISIONALBAILOF THE FORMERBIHARCHIEFMINISTER


ARARIA:Inatragic incident, threepersons were killed when thewall of an under-constructionbuilding collapsed onSaturdayevening.Theincident tookplaceinamarketatForbesganjofAra-ria district when there was ahugecrowdontheeveofRaksha-bandhan that falls onSunday.

SubdivisionalpoliceofficerofForbesganj,ManojKumar, con-firmed theincidentandsaid the

victimshadasmallshopneartheunder-construction building.The deceased have been identi-fied as Shrwan Sah, Suraj andNiraj. All three belonged to thesame family.

The SDPO said the buildingowner,abusinessman,wouldbebooked fornegligence.Someper-sons standing near the shopswerealso injuredintheincident,headded.

Later, angry locals blockedtheroaddemandingcompensa-tion to thebereaved family.

Three die inwallcollapse at Araria

PATNA:More than10,000studentsfrom over 500 schools partici-pated in the Deendayal Sparshscholarship examination con-ductedbytheBiharpostalcirclein theeastern region.

Students, who qualify in thewritten quiz contest, will getscholarshipofRs500permonth.Besides, hundreds of studentsgotthemselvesregistered forthe“DhaiAkhar” letterwritingcon-test to beheldnext monthat thecircleandnational level.

PMG, east, Anil Kumar saidthe scholarship exam was con-ductedinNawada,Sheikhpura,Biharsharif,Barh,Samastipur,Rosera, Dalsingsarai, Katihar,Manihari, Kishanganj, Purnia,Araria,Forbesganj,Bhagalpur,Banka, Tarapur, Naugachia,Saharsa, Supaul, Madhepura,Begusarai,Khagaria,JamuiandMunger towns. HTC

Deendayal Sparshscholarship test

rialrequired.The federalgovernment also

relaxednormsfortheruralhous-ingfinanceschemePrimeMinis-ter AwasYojana (PMAY)—oneofthemostpopularprogrammesacrossstates—toallowmorepeo-ple torebuildhomesthey lost inthe floods.

“Wetoldthestatethat ifsome-one’s home, built earlier withgovernment funds, has beenwashed away in this flood, hemustbeallowedtogetfundsandbuild another house. We haveearmarked fund forareasaffec–ted by natural calamities and11,000houses canbebuilt out ofthat,”UnionruraldevelopmentsecretaryAmarjeetSinhasaid.

The Centre also directedKerala to include beneficiariespreviously excluded from therural housing scheme. Peoplepaying income tax, owningahousemadeofbricks,arefrig-erator or a landline phone asdetermined by the Socio Eco-nomicCasteCensus were auto-matically excluded from thePMAY.

Kerala

minton, and field events areexpected to yield dividends inadditiontothealreadyrichhaulsfromshooting(ninemedals)andwrestling (threemedals).

India’s tally of totalmedals atthe2018AsianGamesstandsat25medals in in six days -- six gold,five silver and 14 bronzemedalsattherateof1gold,0.8silverand2.3bronzemedalsperday.

ThiseditionoftheGameswillgoonforninemoredays,tillSep-tember 2, 2018, and if the rateholds for the duration of theGames,thatwouldmeanIndia’s570-member contingent wouldend up with 15 golds, 13 silversand 33 bronzes, according to asimpleback-of-the-bookcalcula-tion.

This would matching therecord of 15 goldmedals won attheveryfirsteditionoftheAsianGamesinNewDelhi67yearsago.India’s next best performancewas at Guangzhou in 2010 – 14golds, 17 silvers and 34 bronzemedals --twoyearsaftershooterAbhinavBindra’sbreakthroughGoldat theBeijingOlympics.

Rifle shooter Joydeep Kar-makar,whofinishedfourthatthe2012LondonOlympics, saidonebigdifference is that former topathletes are now giving back tothesport.

major commercial and privatebanks along withprincipalsec-retary, finance,Sujata Chatur-vediandNABARD officials.

The finance minister alsourged bankers to ensure cashflow indistrictshavinghighpro-ductively of cash crops includ-ingsugarcaneandmaizesothatfarmers do not face any cashcrunch.

However,Modiexpressedsat-isfaction over theperformanceof bankers ingiving credit stat-ing that the loan disbursementby bankers in the first quartersof this fiscalwasRs25,241croreagainsttheannualcreditplanofRs 1.3 lakh crore for this fiscalyear. “The loan disbursementthis fiscal in the first quarter is11%higherthanthecorrespond-ing period in the last fiscal,”hesaid.

Thebankerswerealsoappre-ciated for opening 3.46 croreaccounts under the PradhanMantri Jan Dhan Yojana, ascheme to open bank accountswith zero balance for poor peo-ple.ModisaidRs6277crorewasdeposited in the accounts withbanks having also provided anoverdraft limit of Rs 5000 toaccount holders to meet anyemergency need. “Under thePradhanMantriMudraYojana,34 lakh people have benefittedwithriseinnumberofbeneficia-ries getting loans up to Rs 5lakh,”he said.

The SLBC meeting wasattended by representatives of

“Athletes in our era hardlyhad any scientific coaching butnowwecanseemanygivingbackto the system as coaches. Theyhavebeen there, seen it, done it.They’re telling today’s athleteswhat mistakes not to make.Therearegenuine coaches whoaregrooming this teenage inva-sions,”Karmakarsaid.

“The young brigade is alsofearless and they know how toignorenegativity.”

frompageone

Sports

of the credit scheme so thatrecoveryof loanscouldbe fasterand timely.

“ThegrowingNPAs(non-per-formingassets) inKCC isaprob-lem.So,wewantbankerstopub-licise that farmersrepayingtheloans timely will only have topay3% interestwhiletherest4%will be given in subsidy by theCentreand the state,”he said.

sensitivestageand theaccusedwere capable of tampering evi-denceagainst them.

According to Begusarai SPAdityaKumar,someof thecar-tridges seizedwereof SLRs.Nocivilianinthecountry ispermit-ted to keep SLRs, he said.

Verma

SLBC

mentandensuringdisciplineonthecampus.”

However, it washis action todislodgeafinalyearstudent,whohad illegally occupied a hostelroom, sparked the protests, theprincipalsaid.

“AnFIRhasbeenlodgedinthisconnectionand11studentshavebeen named in this case forindulging inunrulyactanddam-agingcollegeproperty,”hesaid.

Meanwhile, principal secre-tary of science and technologydepartment, Navjot Kaur Bam-hrah, visited the college on Fri-dayeveningandenquiredaboutthe incident. She talked to bothteachers and students in courseofhervisittocollege.Shealsohadadiscussionwithdistrictmagis-trate (DM) Pranav Kumar andSSPAshishBaharati,regardingthestudents’unrest.

Soon after the incident, theBCEprincipalhadintimatedtheprincipal secretary about theunrest andexpressedhis inabil-ity to function in the prevailingsituation.

EarlieronThursday,studentsinameetingwiththeDMandtheSSP had alleged that principalhad been functioning in auto-cratic styleandwhoever amongthemtrytohighlight theirprob-lemswere targetedbyhim.

ransacked official residence ofthe principal located on the col-legecampus,”hesaid.

Followingthesuicideattemptby the third year student, samegroupofstudentsonceagaintriedtorampagethecollegecampusonSaturday.However,thesecuritypersonnel deployed at the cam-pusrestrained themquickly.

Inviewofprevailingunrestatthecollege,localadministrationhasvacatedthecollegehostelsonSaturday.Earlier,BCEprincipalNirmal Kumar had ordered toclosethecollegetillSeptember14followingtheincident.

BCEprincipalsaid,“Theram-pagingactbystudents istheout-come of cumulative reaction ofstudents, who are opposed toreformmeasuresbeing taken incollege, for academic improve-


BHAGALPUR: Thestudents’unrestat Bhagalpur College of Engi-neering(BCE)tookaseriousturnonSaturdayafterafinalyearstu-dent of mechanical engineeringattempted to commit suicide byhanging himself in his hostelroom.

The student, Kshitij KumarShukla, a resident of West Cha-maparanandboarderofthehos-tel,was admitted to JawaharlalNehruMedicalCollegeHospital(JLNMCH)inacriticalcondition,but later referred to IGIMS,Patna, forbettertreatment,saidRameshKumar,DSP(headquar-ter),whovisited thehospital.

The DSP said that two morestudents of the college,whohadsustained injury in theirhands,were also admitted at theJLNMCH. “It is not clear yetwhether the students acciden-tallysustainedinjuryincourseoframpageordeliberately injuredthemselves,”hesaid.

RajbansSingh,DSP(city),whowas present at thehospital, saidthat the student,who attemptedsuicide, was earlier named in acomplaintbythecollegeadminis-tration in connection with theThursday night incident. “Agroup of about 200 studentshad

BCE unrest takes serious turnafter student’s suicide attempt

FOLLOWINGTHESUICIDEATTEMPTBY THE THIRDYEARSTUDENT,SAMEGROUPOFSTUDENTSONCEAGAIN TRIED TORAMPAGE THECOLLEGECAMPUSONSATURDAY.HOWEVER,SECURITYPERSONNELSTOPPEDTHEMQUICKLY

06 nation hindustantimes SUNDAY HINDUSTAN TIMES ,RANCHIAUGUST 26, 2018

son. The problem is furtheraggravatedbybodyshamingthatwe have normalised; it can be atrigger for someone to take adrasticstep,”shesaid.

Anestimated0.7%to2%ofthepopulationsufferfrombodydys-morphicdisorder.Thedisorderisseenin7%to15%peopleseekingcosmetic surgery and 12% seek-ing derma to log ica ltreatments, according toastudy.

“Peoplewithbodydysmorphiausually obsess over one part ofthebody,likethelowerjaw,teeth,nose,theshapeofthelipsoreventhe breasts. This leads them toseekcosmeticsurgery.Ofcourse,asurgeryshouldnotbeofferedtosuch people because it will nottreat the underlying conditionand theanxiety is likely tocomeback,” said SK Khandelwal,former head of department ofpsychiatryatAll India Institute

AnonnaDuttn [email protected]

NEWDELHI:Delhi doctors suspectthatthe22-year-oldwhocommit-tedsuicideonFridaybecauseshefelt that her “body brought herinsult”andmadeherfeel“caged”mighthavebeensufferingfromatype of body dysmorphic disor-der.

Bodydysmorphicdisorderisavery serious condition thatmakes a person obsessabout a particular flaw in theirappearance.

“Usuallybodydysmorphicdis-order does not happen in isola-tion; thereare otherunderlyingconditions. But, the girl doesseem to have some sort of bodyimageissue.However,tobecon-sideredasadisordermoreinfor-mation would be needed,” saidNishaSachdeva,consultantclini-cal psychologist atHolyFamilyhospital.

“Depressionmightalsoleadtosuchbodyimageissuesbecauseitlowers the self-esteem of a per-

ofMedicalSciences (AIIMS).The anxiety over the body

imagealsomeansthatthepeoplebecomeasocialandfinallyreachastagewheretheydecidetotaketheir life.

“People are so concernedabout how they look that theystart avoiding social situations,stop going out, leave theirjobs and inextremecasesmightwanttotaketheirlife.Although,inmostcasesasuicideattemptisa cry for help rather than ades i r e to d ie , ” s a i dKhandelwal.

Media has a very prominentroleinpromotingthedisorder,hebelieved.

“Althoughitisararedisorder,thenumbershavedefinitelygoneup in the last three decades —since the time we have startedidealisingtheWesternzerofigurebody type. This leads to a lot ofeatingdisorders.And,themoviesandfashionmagazinesglorifyinga c e r t a i n t y p e o fimage isdefinitelya reason,”hesaid.

Body image issues lead to asocialbehaviour, saymedical experts

Dysmorphic disorderA disorder where one can’t stop thinking about perceiveddefects in one or a particular aspect of their appearancen People with the disorder areobsessed with their looks andspend time repeatedlychecking the mirror, grooming,or seeking reassurancen They might seek cosmeticsurgeries to “correct” thedefect

n The disorder causesanxiety, especially in socialsituationsn People with the disorder alsotend to withdraw and try tokeep to themselvesn Estimated 2% of populationsuffers from the disorder


THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:TheKeralagovernment will Sunday orga-nise a farewell for variousdefence forces who helped inreliefandrescueoperationsdur-ing the recent unprecedentedfloods in the state to express itsgratitude.

“Thegovernmenthasdecidedtoorganisea farewellonAugust26 to express its love and grati-tudetowardsthevariousdefenceforces that helped in relief andrescue operations in the state,”chiefministerPinarayiVijayanhadsaidatapressconferenceonWednesday.

Defence forceswere involvedinseveraldaringrescueactssuchas the air-lifting of a pregnantwomanandwinchingupofatwo-year-oldwhichwon themwide-spread appreciation. They alsocontributed to relief efforts,

includingshippingmaterialandprovidingmedical assistance tothedisplacedpeople.

The navy had onWednesdaycalled off its 14-day long Opera-tionMadadduringwhich it hadevacuated16,005people.

Besidesthenavy,personnelofthe Army, the Air Force andCoastGuardwerealso involvedin the rescue and relief opera-tionsalongwiththeciviladminis-tration, the National DisasterResponseForce(NDRF)andvol-

unteers, includingfishermen.Army’s Southern Command

chiefLtGenDRSonihadonMon-daysaiditspersonnelwouldcon-tinuetobeengagedintherescueoperations in the flood-hit statetill thesituationstabilised.

The Indian Air Force on Fri-daysaiditisengagedinprovidingmedical facilities to the affectedpeople in relief camps, with itsteams treatingover 1,600peoplein 26 camps. It has also set up a10-bed mobile hospital and aRapid Action Medical Team atChetankery near Pathanam-thitta’sThiruvala.

EXPRESS ING GRAT I TUDE

Kerala to hold farewell for forces today

n Army personnel rescue people from a residential area in Kerala’sAlappuzha district. RAJ K RAJ/HT FILE

THENAVY,ARMY, AIRFORCEANDCOASTGUARDWERE INVOLVEDIN THERESCUE ANDRELIEFOPERATIONSALONGWITH THENDRF

SRINAGAR: FormerUnionminis-ter and senior Congress leaderManiShankarAiyarsaidonSat-urday that Article 35A mustremain part of theConstitutiontoensurethatthepeopleofKash-

mirdonot feel threatened.Aiyarwasdeliveringa lecture

in a seminar organized by theCentreforPeaceandProgress insummercapitalSrinagartoday.

“Aright thatKashmirishave

for the last 90 years shouldremainwiththemsothattheydonot feel threatened,”he said.

“It is in ourConstitution andonemustnotmakeanyattemptto revoke it. Some people are

unnecessarily raking up theissue which is not in anyone’sinterest,” he said. “...I hope thecourt would take the nationalinterest intoaccountbeforetak-inganydecision,”Aiyar said.

Article 35Amust be protected, saysCong’sAiyar

VikramGopaln [email protected]

BENGALURU:Karnatakachiefmin-isterHD KumaraswamysaidonSaturday that he was aware ofmoves to destabilise the Con-gress-JanataDal (Secular)coali-tiongovernmentbutthepeopleofthe state would safeguard himbecause it was not the length ofthetenurethatmattered,buttheworkthat itdid.

Kumaraswamy’s remarkscameadayafterhispredecessorandCongress leaderSiddarama-iah said in Hassan that he har-boured ambitions of becomingchief minister of the state onceagain inthefuture.

“With the blessings of seniorpeople I have been given anopportunity to serve the peopleonceagain,”KumaraswamysaidatafunctioninBengaluruonSat-urday. “God decided howmanydaysIwouldbechiefministerthedayItookcharge,”hesaid.

“Media friends informed methat a new chief minister waswaiting to take oath on Septem-ber3.Iamnotworriedaboutthat.I am not thinking about howmanydaysIhavetoholdontothechief minister’s seat and don’thavetowastetimethinkingaboutsafeguardingit.Itisn’timportanthowlongIamchiefminister,Ifeelthework I dowill safeguardmyfuture,”Kumaraswamysaid.

He claimed that heknewhowto take care of the legislators inhis party and keep themhappy,andmocked reports suggestingthat someof themwere ready tojump ship and bring down thecoalition government, threemonthsafter itwasswornin.

“Ifsomepeoplethinktheycandestabilise me… the way I takelegislatorsalongandrunthegov-ernment…Iknowhowtorunthegovernment.For12years Ihaveworked for this... This govern-mentwon’t fall,don’tworry.”

K’taka CM says heis confident thathis govt won’t fall

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SUNDAY HINDUSTAN TIMES, RANCHIAUGUST 26, 2018 hindustantimes nation 07

Mayawati will be sharing thedais with INLD leaders afterthey announced a tie-up.“Wewill invite all friends of

Devi Lal who were with himduring his days of struggle,”DushyantChautala,DeviLal’sgreat grandson, said.Another INLD leader said

formerprimeministerHDDeveGowdaof theJanataDal (Secu-lar),AndhraPradeshchiefmin-ister N Chandrababu Naidu ofthe Telugu Desam Party, AjitSinghof theRashtriyaLokDal,

Mulayam Singh Yadav of theSamajwadi Party and severalothers will be invited to theevent.Devi Lal was one of north

India’smostsignificantpoliticalfigures.He first entered the Punjab

LegislativeAssemblyonaCon-gress ticket in 1951.Acriticof theEmergency,he

was jailed during the period.A follower of the tall Jat leaderand former prime minister(PM) ChaudharyCharanSingh,

n Dushyant Chautala

HT Correspondentn [email protected]

NEWDELHI:Almost threedecadesafter Haryana leader andformer deputy prime ministerDevi Lal played an importantrole inbringingtogetheropposi-tion parties against the Con-gress, the Indian National LokDal (INLD), led by his politicalsuccessors, will invite keyregional parties to Lal’s 105thbirthanniversarycelebrationstocementanotherbroadunder-standing, party leader Dushy-antChautala said.The event will be held at

Gohana in Sonepat, Haryana,onSeptember 25.Bahujan Samaj Party chief

Mayawati,whohas analliancewith the INLD in Haryana, isexpected tobeoneof thepromi-nent faces at the event.Senior INLD leader Abhay

Singh Chautala metMayawatiin NewDelhi onWednesday toinvite her to the rally.Thiswillbe the first timethat

he first becameHaryana ChiefMinister in 1977.But Lal’s most significant

moment on the national stagewasin1989,whenhewaschosenbytheJanataDaltobecomePM.But Lal stepped back and pro-posed V P Singh’s name as thePM.Thetwosoonfellout.AndLal

teamedupwithMulayam Singhand Chandrashekhar andhelped the latter becomePM.HefoundedHaryanaLokDal

(Rashtriya) in 1998, which waslater known as India NationalLokDal.“We want all non-Congress

and non-BJP forces to unite,”Dushyant said.“We want to form a govern-

ment in Delhi next year thataddressesregionalaspirationsandgivesavoice tosmallerpar-tieswhohaveabase indifferentparts of the country.”The INLDdraws itselectoral

strength from the Jat commu-nity, and is pitted against theBJP and the Congress inHary-

ana. It hopes an alliance withtheBSPwillhelpattractsignifi-cantDalit votes.TheINLDmoveissignificant

for it represents yet anothereffort, inwhat is turning out tobe a multi-pronged effort, tochallenge theBJP.The first push is by the Con-

gress, which has indicated itsopenness to forgestate-specificalliances in specific states andeven reconcile itself to a juniorstatus.The second push for opposi-

tionunity isbeing ledbyTrina-mool Congress leaderandWestBengal CMMamata Banerjee.But the third effort, ofwhich

the INLD meeting is a part, isthe one spearheaded byMaya-wati. InHaryana, the twohaveanalliance.But BSP is also central to an

alliance with the SamajwadiPartyand theRLDinUP,and isnegotiating with the Congressfor a tie-up in election-boundstates of Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh andRajasthan.

DeviLalanniversaryOppnunifier?PAST FORWARD INLD intends to unite ‘likeminded’ parties to come together against the ruling BJP in Haryana

THE INDIANNATIONALLOK DAL (INLD) MOVEIS SIGNIFICANT FORIT REPRESENTSYETANOTHEREFFORT, INWHAT IS TURNINGOUTTOBEAMULTIPRONGEDEFFORT, TOCHALLENGETHEBJPAT THEPOLLS

Press trustof Indian [email protected]

NEW DELHI: Union minister ofexternalaffairsministerSushmaSwarajwillbeginafour-daytourof Vietnam and Cambodia onMonday, with an aim to deepenIndia’s strategic cooperationwith the two key nations in theASEANregion.Swaraj will visit Vietnam on

August 27 and 28,while shewillbeginhertwo-daytriptoCambo-diaonAugust29, theministryofexternalaffairssaid.“The visit of the external

affairsminister toVietnamandCambodiawillprovideanoppor-tunity to hold in-depth discus-sionswiththepoliticalleadershiponawiderangeofglobal,regionalandbilateralissuesandadvanceour strategic engagement withthese countries and ASEANregion,” itadded.In Vietnam, Swaraj will

co-chair the 16thmeeting of theJointCommissionalongwiththecountry’sdeputyprimeministerandforeignministerPhamBinhMinh. She will also meet Viet-namesePrimeMinisterNguyenXuan Phuc and inaugurate thethirdeditionoftheIndianOceanConference.In hermaiden official visit to

Cambodia, Swaraj will holdextensivetalkswithhercounter-part Prak Sokhonn, coveringentire expanse of bilateral andregional issues ofmutual inter-ests.She will also call on Prime

MinisterHunSenandPresidentofSenateSayChhum.India’s tiesareonanupswing

with bothVietnamandCambo-dia, particularly scaling up itscooperationinareasofmaritimesecurityandenergy.DuringVietnamesePresident

Tran Dai Quang’s visit to NewDelhi in March, both the sideshad vowed to join hands for anopenandthrivingIndo-Pacific.Vietnam and several other

ASEANmember-countrieshaveterritorial disputes with Chinaover the resource-rich SouthChinaSea(SCS).China has been opposing

India’sOilandNaturalGasCor-poration(ONGC)exploringoilinareasclaimedbyVietnamintheSCS.

Swaraj to embarkon fourday tour ofVietnam, Cambodiafrom Monday

Hiral Daven [email protected]

AHMEDABAD:PatidarquotaleaderHardik Patel started his indefi-nite hunger strike at his resi-dence in outskirts of the city onSaturday,renewinghisdemandforreservationforfarmingcom-munityinjobsandadmissionsininstitutesofhighereducation.In the presence of a few sup-

porters who reached his resi-dencedespitepolicerestrictions,the25-year-oldvowednot toeatuntil his two demands — OBCstatus to Patidars and loanwaiver for farmers—weremet.Like theAugust 2015 Patidar

rally inAhmedabad, thisevent,too,startedwithaspeechbyHar-dik,whowasissuingwarningstothe ruling BJP. But, this year,the police and administrationhavetakenadequateprecaution-arysteps toensure that thepro-test does not turn violent like itdid then, when 14 youths werekilledandpublicpropertyworthRs44crorewasdamaged.“I appeal all thepolitical par-

ties and leaders to raise voiceagainst Britisher’s type rule oftheBJPgovernment.AJallian-wala Bagh-like situation hasbeen created outsidemy home.Even supply of essentials likemilk and water has beenstopped.Some16,000supporters,who had started to reach here,have been detained across thestate,’’ saidHardik.Additionaldirectorgeneralof

police, RB Brahmbhatt, dis-

missed his allegations, saying,“Not 16,000, only 158 personsacross Gujarat have beendetained’’. “He [Hardik] wasdenied permission this time tokeep law and order situationundercontrol,’’ he said.Topreventarepeatofthe2015

agitation,policepersonnelhavebeendeployedatsensitivecitiessuch asAhmedabad, Surat andRajkot, BRTS services in Pati-dar-dominatedareasofSuratarediscontinuedforadaytopreventtorchingofpublicvehicles.Asourcesaid threeCongress

MLAs—LalitVasoya,LalitKag-athara and Kirit Patel — werenot allowed to reach Hardik’shome.However, the source added,

Patel did host a lunch for a cou-pleofhundredpeople later.Chief minister Vijay Rupani

anddeputychiefministerNitinPateland,whowereatKevadiyaColonytooversee theconstruc-tionofSardarPatelstatue,said,“It isaCongress-sponsoredagi-tation... the Congress wants todivide thecommunity.”Congress MLA Vasoya said

thepartyhassoughtanappoint-mentwithgovernorOPKohli tomake representation that Har-dikshouldbeallowedtoprotest.Laterintheday, independent

MLA and Dalit leader JigneshMevanivisitedPatel toofferhissupport. “Vijaybhai (Rupani)and Narendrabhai (Modi)should think that why one isrequiredtoobservefast forfarmloanwaiver...,’’ he said.

Hardik launcheshunger strikefor Patidar quota

n Hardik Patel has vowed not to eat until his two demands — OBCstatus to Patidars and loan waiver for farmers — are met. HT PHOTOS

PunyaPriyaMitran [email protected]

BHOPAL:TheMadhyaPradeshfor-estdepartment’sproposaltorein-troduce the African CheetahfromNamibiainNauradehisanc-tuary near Sagar district hasbeen rejected by the NationalTiger Conservation Authority(NTCA).In a letter addressed to the

chief wildlife warden, ShahbazAhmadonThursday, theNTCArejectedtheproposal,statingthatthematter on reintroducing theCheetahtoIndiawasbeingheardbytheSupremeCourt.TheNTCAwas responsing to

theforestdepartment’sletterear-lierthismonth,whichstatedthatthedepartmenthadmadeallthenecessarypreparationsforrein-troductionof theCheetah in thesanctuary, including relocationof10oddvillagesfromtheNaura-dehi sanctuary and developingtheidealgrassland.Theforestdepartmentis,how-

ever,notconvinced.Ahmadsaidtheapexcourt orderwas incon-nection with the Kuno PalpursanctuaryinSheopurdistrictandnotapplicabletoNauradehi.“WewillwritetotheNTCAagainwithourtakeontheissue,”headded.Recently, a pair of tigers was

releasedinNauradehi,butforestofficialssaidtherewasverylittlechance of conflict between thetwospecies,as theCheetahprey

onsmalleranimalsandprefertheopen grassland where they canoutruntheprey.In 2010, theUnionministry of

environmentand forest (MoEF)had proposed a ~300-crore planfor the introduction of AfricanCheetahs toKunoPalpur,but in2013 the Supreme Court hadstayed it on the ground that nodetailed study had been con-ductedonintroducinga“foreign”species. However, according tomediareports,theapexcourthadadmitted a petition from theNTCAaskingforarethinkonthe2013stay.Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey

saidthattheMadhyaPradeshfor-estdepartmenthad“jumpedthegun”.“TheSupremeCourtrulingof2013clearlysaidthatNamibianCheetahcouldonlybeintroducedafter its DNA was tested andmatched with those of AsianCheetah and then also it wouldneedtheSC’sapproval.Theorderwasapolicydecision,notrelatedtoanyparticularsanctuary.”

NTCA rejects plan to bringback Cheetah in Nauradehi

n NTCA rejected the plan, statingthat the matter was subjudice.

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

TN ‘SEXUAL EXPLO ITAT ION ’


CHENNAI:An assistant professor,arrested a few months ago forallegedlysexuallyexploitingstu-dents, now faces the charge oftrafficking, the police told theMadrasHighCourt.The probe revealed that Nir-

mala Devi had allegedly con-spired with two other arrestedaccused, Professor Murugan ofMadurai Kamaraj University,and Karuppasamy, a researchstudent,todeceiveandseducethegirls for sexual exploitation, theCrimeBranch-CriminalInvesti-gation Department (CB-CID)police toldthecourt.Police said Devi had “illegal

intimacy”withboththeaccusedandhadpromisedtopleasethemby“providing”herstudents.Devihadonvariousoccasions

inducedfourstudentsforsexualexploitation, theyadded.In light of the recent revela-

tions,thecasehasbeenalteredtoinclude trafficking, sexual har-assment, conspiracy (IPC), andrelevant provisions of theImmoral Traffic (Prevention)Act, Tamil Nadu Prohibition ofHarassment ofWomenAct andtheInformationTechnologyAct.If convicted for trafficking

more than one person, it is pun-ishablewith rigorous imprison-ment for aminimumof 10 yearsandcouldextendtolifeimprison-mentasperIndianPenalCode370(3)readwith370(1),achargenowNirmalaDevi faces.Additional police superin-

tendent, special investigationdivisionofCB-CID,SPLavanya,inherstatusreportsubmittedtoadivisionbenchofjusticesonFri-day,detailedthenewprovisions.DeviwasarrestedonApril 16

after anaudio clip, inwhich shewas purportedly seen tellingsomegirlstudents“toadjustwithsomeofficials”forhighermarksandmoney,wentviral.

Prof faces charges oftrafficking,HC told

is the#1 EnglishNewspaperalliance in India

TM

The One India group of publicationscomprising Hindustan Times, The Hinduand The Telegraph is the #1 EnglishNewspaper Alliance in the countryon AIR.

One India with a cumulative AIR of 51.7 lakh,is well above 50.6 lakh of TOI.

Reach India with One India.

TOI One India(Hindustan Times + The Hindu

+The Telegraph)

50.6 51.7

* Source: IRS 2017, One India cumulative AIR = HT AIR + The Hindu AIR + The Telegraph AIRAIR: Average Issue Readership, of Main excluding variants for all publications

ReadershipinLakh

08 hindustantimes

VivinaVishwanathann [email protected]

What’s theaverageweight ofa panda? Howdo Iget paintoff my face? Howcan Imakea fidget spinner?Nomatterhow random thequestion, the Internet willlikelyhaveananswer,andtheeasiest way to get to it,is throughGoogle.

It’s been 20 years sinceLarry PageandSergey Brin’s websitewasincorporatedas acompany inSeptember1998. In2015,under CEO Sundar Pichai,GooglebecameAlphabet – a many-branchedmultinationalwhoseproductsand services range from searchandadver-tising toYouTube,Maps and theAndroidOS for smartdevices. Theseare its money-spinners;a majority of Alphabet’s revenuecomes from GoogleAds,which is inte-gratedwith theseplatforms.

A forward-looking branchof Alphabet,calledOther Bets, is focusedonnon-coreareasexpected to boom in thenear-to-dis-tant future. These includecompanies likeFiber (a superfast internet service),Nest(homeautomationproducts),Calico (R&Dinbiotech),GoogleX (futuristicR&D, intoproducts including wearable techand self-drivecars),VerilyLifeSciences (whichworks at the intersectionof techandhealthcare),andVentures andCapital, itstwo investment arms.

HowexactlydidGoogleget this big?“Theanswer lies in itsclear focus on theuserexperience,” says SanchitVir Gogia,founder andCEO of researchandadvisoryfirm Greyhound. It analyses what peopleare trying to use it for,and looks for waystodo it better,quicker,with fewerclicks;then it looks for ways to monetise thatimprovedproduct or service.

That’show wegot image searchand ‘Didyou mean’, the reverse image functionandtheExploreoptions onGoogleMaps.

As Googlehas grownandbranchedout,concerns about privacy anddata securityhave reared theirheads. According toGeneMunster, founder andmanagingpartner at venturecapital firmLoupVen-tures, theseconcerns – and the laws takingshapearound theworld to try andaddressthem – are the realchallenge to theGooglesuccess story. Anotherchallenge is main-taining thekindof growth ithasenjoyed sofar. Google is valuedat about $863 billion.

A lot of Google’snew users will have tocome from China, if thecompany is toachieve its stated target of reaching ‘thenext billionpeopleonline’. Governmentinterference saw Googlequit theChinamarket in 2010,but it isnow trying tore-enter.

UNIVERSALGATEWAYAbout 72 percent of allweb searches in theworldarecurrentlyconductedvia Googleaccording to analytics firmNetMarket-

THEBIGSTORY

Share. “Googlebrought in theconcept ofcrawling, identifyingcontent on its own,passing along information, essentially get-ting involved. That was thekeydifferentia-tor inhow it pickedup,” says AmitJaju,senior managingdirector for India atglobalbusiness advisory firm FTIConsult-ing. These tools saw Googledecimate theearlycompetition– AltaVista,Yahoo,Excite. It also rather seamlessly made theshift to mobile.

Onearea where ithas failed to makeamark is socialmedianetworking. It took agamblewithOrkut that fell flat, leavingthe fieldwideopen for Facebook. Cur-rently GoogleandFacebookcompetedirectly fordigitalad revenue shares.

Some smart acquisitionshavehelped.GoogleacquiredAndroid in2005 and theplatformnow runs inover 85 percent ofsmartphones around theworld. It boughtYouTube in2006 for $1.65 billionand that’slikely to boost ad revenuegrowth,accord-ing to analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence.

“Their search is better thanothersearchproducts on themarket. But theAdSense [interactiveadvertising algo-rithm] that they built behind it is oneoftheir best products todate,” says SandipMaiti,CEO ofdigitalmarketing agencyExperienceCommerce. “Not only is itreaching morepeople, it is often turningadvertising from a pushproduct to aresponse – because theconsumer isalready in seek mode.”

Allbasedonanalgorithm thathelps theuser,as thecompanyhelps itself.

THEGROWTH INNUMBERSnGoogle started out in a garage in1998. It nowhas a 30 lakh-sq-fthead office in California, and 70other offices and 15data centresacross 50 countries.

n Fromeight employees in 1999, itnowhas over 89,000.

n Amazon andApple have per-formedbetter for investors lately.But if you had put $1 (about ₹47)into the stockwhen itwas listed in2004, it would be about $1,116(about ₹ 78,000) today (excludingstock splits and bonuses).

n Google founders Sergey Brin (left)and Larry Page. GETTY IMAGES

IT’S LIKE THECLASSIC LINE FROMUNCLEBEN INSPIDERMAN: ‘WITHGREATPOWERCOMESGREATRESPONSIBILITY.’ INGOOGLE’SCASE, ITSGREATSIZE ISWHATBROUGHTGREAT POWER TOBEGINWITH

WHAT’STHEDAY’SDOODLE?Be it Christmas,MFHusain’s 100th birth anniversary or actress Nutanturning 81, Google ensures you don’t forget. Quirky stick figures, interac-tivemultimedia games and open contests for sketches, billions of peoplelogging into theGoogle search engine everymorning also look forward tothe day’s doodle.These fun changes to the logo have a history as old as the company itself,“In 1998, before the companywas incorporated... founders Larry andSergey playedwith the corporate logo to indicate their attendance at theBurningMan festival in theNevada desert,” says the company blog. Theyplaced a stick figure drawing behind the second ‘o’ in Google, implyingtheywere out of office.In 2000, the currenthead ofweb, DenHwang, an internthe time,was askto produce a doofor Bastille Day.Denis’s doodle—featured fireworand the French fl—was sowellreceived that heappointedGoog‘chief doodler’.Initially, the doodlewas the same across all countries andwas restricted towell-recognised national holidays. Over the years it began to be used tocelebrate events, people and objects that fewhad heard of to tourna-ments like the footballWorld Cup. This demand led to a teamof artists andengineers dedicated to creating doodles relevant to different countries.Music, videos and interactive games havemade it to doodles over thisdecade. OnOctober 8, 2010, Google ran its first video doodle, an animationshort that celebrated the 70th birth anniversary ofBeatles co-founderJohn Lennon.With ‘Imagine’ playing in the background, groovy sketchesflowed into patterns that combinedwith his iconic spectacles to form thelogo.

n

ko

—rl

ln The India Republic Day 2018 doodle.

ByDipanjan Sinha

THEJOURNEYTOOMNIPRESENCESince startingout in agarage in 1998,Google has grown steadily and is an online gianttoday. It’s become synonymouswith information.HT analyses its success and the challenges ahead

IMAGESWhen Jennifer Lopez walkedthe Grammy’s red carpet in

2000 wearing a sea-green DonatellaVersace with a plunging V necklinethat went down to her crotch,millions of people started searchingfor images of the dress. All Googlehad were the usual links. Users werefrustrated and that’s how GoogleImages was born. In 2011 came thereverse-image search option.

MAPSIf you commute, this issomething you use every

day. The app began as a C++programme designed by two Danishbrothers, Lars and Jens EilstrupRasmussen, at the Sydney-basedcompany Where 2 Technologies, in2003. A year later, Google Inc acquiredthe company and turned the web appinto Google Maps. You can now use iton any web-enabled platform.

AUTOCOMPLETEDanny Sullivan, public liaison forsearch at Google wrote in thecompany’s official blog that autocor-rect, on average, reduces typing byabout 25 per cent. Cumulatively, theyestimate, it saves over 200 years oftyping time worldwide per day!Some of its options, however, rangedfrom offensive to hateful.

NOTJUSTSEARCH:ADDINGTOTHECONSUMEREXPERIENCE

VidhiChoudharyn [email protected]

Evenafter spending almost seven-and-a-half years at technology firm,Goo-gle,RajanAnandan,vice-president,(South-East Asia and India) stilllovescoming to work. “Everyday at

Google is special,”he says, reinforcingthatcliches becomecliches because theyare true.

Anandandivideshis timeequallybetween India andSouth-East Asia. InIndia,Google’s missionhas been to bring abillion Indians onlinebut Anandan saysexpectationsneed to bekept incheck. “Theonebillionuser mark will take time. Indiahas infinitepotential. Andweare just get-ting startedas anation,”he says, sitting inacubicleon the second floor of Google’sGurugram office.

Earlier this month thecompany tookresponsibility for acoding flaw thatcausedadefunct Unique IdentificationAuthorityof India (UIDAI) helplinenumber to myste-riously appear in thecontact lists of mobilephones running on its Androidoperatingsystem. However, it said thatno userdatawascompromised.Next month, the tech-nology firm willcomplete 20 years as asearchengine,globally.

Anandan talks about thecompany’s14-year India journey. Editedexcerpts:

AsGoogle completes 20 years of searchglobally, could you take us through itsyears in India?Themission statement of Google is to orga-nise theworld’s informationandmake it

‘EXPORT IT,DELETE IT...YOUHAVEFULLCONTROLOVERYOURDATA’

THEWAYFORWARD:PRIVACY, FAKENEWS&THEFUTURERachel Lopezn [email protected]

WhenSergey BrinandLarry Pageweredeveloping a software thatsearchedbetter and loaded fasterthanExplorer,Navigator andAltaVista, the Internet itselfcon-

sistedof just one lakhwebsites. Google’smission statement was succinct: To orga-nise theworld’s informationandmake ituniversally accessible. Theircorporatecodeofconduct waseven simpler: Don’tbeevil.

PerhapsevenGoogledidn’t realisewhere its missionwould take it. The fol-lowingdecadebrought GoogleNews,Gmail,Maps andChrome. By 2014, theInternethadgrown to onebillionwebsites.The searchengine, theircoreproduct,hadbecome thedefaulthomepageof the Inter-net. InMay this year,Googlequietlydropped the ‘Don’t beevil’ tag. The samemonth, its Androidoperating systemcrossed two billionmonthly activedevi-ces. Googleoncedirectedyou to informa-tion. Today, it’s often the sourceof infor-mation,usingdata you andothershaveshared,oftenwithout you realising it. Pub-licknowledgegoes whereGoogle takes it.

“Thekeyconcern is that Googlehasgrown so big,” says PraneshPrakash,pol-icydirector at Bangalore’s Centre forInternet & Society. “It’s like theclassic linefrom [Spiderman’s]UncleBen:Withgreat

powercomes great responsibility. InGoo-gle’scase, its great size is what broughtgreat power to beginwith.”

For billions of Googleusers, thebiggestconcerns arenow of privacy andaccounta-bility, saysNikhilPahwa, founder of Medi-anama,whichanalysesdigitaland telecombusinesses. “Thereare fewchecks onGoo-gle’s ability to take, retainandprocessinformation from users,”he says.

HITS ANDMISSESFor Google,all is going according to plan.Its searchengine isnow smartenough tocompleteyour sentences. It’s learningcon-stantly from what you search for,watch,spendon, shareand regret; it knows yourcommuteandyour vacationplans. And it’sprofiting from this knowledge.

In theUK,Google is being sued forbypassing iPhoneprivacy settings to trackandcollectdata from 4.4 millionusers in2011 and2012. Informationon race,physi-

calandmental health,political leanings,sexuality, shoppinghabits and locationswas apparently used to buildadvertisingcategories. Googlealsocreates productsfor theUS government,andhas userdatafrom around theworld. “Anyentity thathas this much insight into us,and is inaposition to use it,whether for thegovern-ment orcommercialgain, iscause forworry,” says Prakash. Most users aren’tworried,and that’s worrying too.Wedon’trealisehow muchdata is being trackedorcollected. Themorewe share, themoreusefulGooglegets,and thegreater itspotential for misuse, for mapping say,beef-eaters,onlinedissenters, LGBT sup-porters or singlewomenwho work late.

The Internet’s other giant,Facebook,recently suspended400 apps over privacyconcerns,admitting that 87 millionusersmayhavehaddatacompromised in 2016.Meanwhile, evennon-Googleapps arecapableofhijackingdata using softwaredevelopedby Google.Weather apps look atyour photo gallery, ride-sharing softwarekeeps tracking you after the ride... Gmailknows your flight timings,andyour banktransactions.

SEARCH FOR TOMORROWPerhaps thebiggestconcerns arewithGoogle’s artificial intelligence technology,thebrand’s great leap forward fuelledbyits massivedata reserves. The tech isalready beingcriticised for being fed

biaseddata, creating global services thatmirror theprejudices of an insular,mostlywhite,mostly male, tech industry.

SaraWachter-Boettcher,author ofTechnicallyWrong,which looks athowtechnology reflects sexism and thebiasesof thepeople thatcreate it, says thiscre-ates problems. “Googledevelops tools thatother techcompanies rely on to buildotherproducts,” she says. So its biases spread toother products too. As machines learn,Google is starting to unlearn too.

“Machineunlearning is basically recog-nising whena machinehas learned some-thing inaccurate,or biased,and theneras-ing that learning,” saysWachter-Boett-cher. InAfrica, thecompany (along withFacebook) now funds a Masterscourse inmachine intelligence to improve the indus-try’sdiversity.Last year,Google took itsfirst steps tocurb fakenewshits on itssearchengines with tools that allow usersto report misleading or offensivecontent.

But perhaps it’s time to work towards afuture inwhichGooglewillbemonitoredin real time, indifferentcountries, ratherthandepending on thecompany to offer afix after a misstep. Prakashbelieves thattheway forward is reimagining an Inter-net whereGoogle isn’t the first and lastwordoneverything. “Thisdoesn’t meanmorecompanies likeGooglebut searchingthathappens ina moredecentralisedway,”he says. “Weneed to save thewebfrom largemonopolies in the long run.”

RAJANANANDAN,vicepresident (SouthEastAsia& India),Google

SANJEEV VERMA/HT PHOTO

facetoface

SUNDAY HINDUSTAN T IMES ,RANCHI 09AUGUST 26, 2018

years ago.Nevertheless,Googlekilled thesportofquizzing! Inaway that isgood,sincequizzingoftenonlymeans“recall” ofknowledge,” says O’Brien.Soft skills likethinking, ideating,writing, speakingcan’tbe taughtbyGoogleandyoungstersknowthat, headds.

Librarieswhichwereanecessityearlierhavebecomeachoice today.Bangalore-basedKavitha Rao,authorofTheLibrar-ian,published last year, grewup in librar-ies,accompaniedbyher father,anavidreader. “But formytwochildrenreading isassociatedwith the Internetor theKin-dle,” she says.Rao isnotnostalgicaboutthe fearfullydifficultaccess to informationin those times and the laboriousprocessofcross referencingbooks and takingnotes.“Itused tobeverydifficult. I don’t thinkthe Internet is acurse.But today librariesstill need tobe therealongside the Inter-net.Ahealthymix is required,” she says.

Mitra agrees thataccess to informationtomillionshas becomemucheasier,butthe information itself lacksdepth. “Theinformationon the Internet isnotnuanced, it’s basicandnotdeepenoughorlayeredenough togetaholisticunder-standingofany topic,”headds.

Dictionaries andglobeshavebecomeinvisible. “Vocabularies are shrinking,”

n Fourth yearcomputer sciencestudent AdityaBuridi, the currentresident ofwhatused to be SundarPichai’s hostelroom at IITKharagpur.SHUVANKUR /HT PHOTO

PoulomiBanerjeen [email protected]

Twenty-year-oldPreetiworks in thehousekeepingdepartmentofanoffice inNewDelhi.Her job is tokeepthe ladieswashroomsclean.As sheworks, sheandherco-workers listen

tooldHindi film songsvia Google searchonhermobile. “Wearenot educated.Wedon’tunderstandmanyof theother func-tions andapps.Mykidshave shownmehowtogiveavoicecommand to listen toaparticular songand that’s all that I cando,” says Sundari, oneofPreeti’scol-leagues.

ShashiKumarhas beenaprofessionaldriver inDelhi for 25years. “Half ofDelhiwas built in frontofmyeyes,”he says,witha laugh.There’s little thathedoesn’tknowabout thecity.Still,a fewmonths back,whileonhisway topickupaclient,hegotontoGoogleMaps to find theexact lane. “Itdoeshave itsuse.Especially, fornightdrivers andcabbies,” says thedriverwhoisemployedwithacorporatehouseandmostlyhas a set list ofpassengers.

Buthepointsouta few issueshe facedwith theapp. “Mapsmaynotalways showwhena road is blocked for repair. Some-

timesoneof the gates toa residential col-onyorapartmentmaybe locked, or usedforexitsonly.Mapswon’t showall that,”heexplains.

Googleuserscutacross theeducational,economicandurban-rural divide.Aresearch scholarmayuse it to check foracertainbook inanonline library,a taxidriver finds GoogleMapshelpfuland thou-sandsuse it towatchor listen tovideos andmusic. “Googlehas anamazingalgorithmwhich learns fastandadapts to theuser,”sayscyber lawexpertPrashantMali. “Thesearchengine interface is simple.You justtype inor speakwhat youare looking for.Also, it is intuitive. It guesses that’swhattheuser is looking for,”headds.

TheveryeasewithwhichGoogle canbeusedmay,however, lead toproblems forusers, especially if theydon’tknowhowtoprotect themselves. “Google is intrusive. Itiscreatingandpreservingaprofile of theuserbasedonhisorherusagepattern.Thosewhoarenotveryeducatedareuna-wareof this,”heexplains.Given thewiderangeofusers in India,Mali suggests itwouldbeagoodpractice forGoogle tohavedigitalawarenessclasses in local langua-ges for itsusers. “ItwillbeagoodCSR initi-ative,”he says.

n Libraries,whichwere anecessityearlier, havebecome achoice today.HT FILE PHOTO

PoulomiBanerjeen [email protected]

Itwas lateonenight in2013whenprofes-sorSanatKumarRoywaswokenupbythe shrill ringingofhisphone.A jour-nalist fromtheUSwanted toknowsomethingaboutapersonhe insisted

was a former studentofhis. “Itwasonlyafter someenquiries that I realised that thepersonhewas referring toas SundarPichai, thena seniorvice-president inGoo-gle,wasex-studentPichaiSundarajan,”says theretired IIT Kharagpurprofessor,witha laugh.

That’showIIT Kharagpurremembersoneof theirmost famous alumni – SundarPichai, currentGoogleCEO –whogradu-ated fromthepremier institute’smetallur-gical engineeringdepartment in1993, 25years ago.

The list of toppers thathangsononeofthewalls in thedepartment,bearshisnameas the topperofhis batch. IndranilManna,whohadbeenPichai’s B.Tech the-sisguide, still has acopyofhiswork.

Bothprofessors rememberPichaias“shy,quiet,but intelligent” inclass.Manna alsoremembershis“bighandwrit-ing”. “If youaskmetodaywhether Ihadknownthen thathewouldbe theGoogleCEOoneday, Iwill saya leader for sure,athinkingman...Hewas bright,hada star inhiseyes,” says Manna.

Mannawas in contactwithPichai till hefinishedhismasters fromStanford. “Ihadexpectedhimtogo in fora PhD ...”Headds:“If I rememberright,hedidn’thavebeardwhilehewashere.But thatapart, hehasn’t changedmuch.”

Mannawasnotat IIT KharagpurwhenPichai visited thecampus last year.ButboardersofNehruHall ofResidence – thehostelwherePichai had livedas a student– remember thevisitwell,asdomost ofthosepresentoncampus at the time.

Thecurrentoccupantof theroom,Aditya Buridi, sayshe textedhis friends totell themhewas inPichai’soldroom,whenitwas allotted tohim. “Theyaskedme foratreat,”he sayswitha laugh.Thecorridorsoutsidehavereceiveda freshcoat ofwhite-wash sincePichai’svisit last year.Someofthepaint covers the roomnumberpaintedon thedoor frame – 309– in frontofwhichPichai had sohappilyposed forphotos.

P Simalu,a formermemberof themessstaff,whoretireda fewmonths back,has atreasuredmemento fromthat visit hang-ingonhisdrawingroomwall—aphotowith theGoogleCEO. “He smiledwhenhesawmeandhuggedme,”he says. “Hewasaniceboy,happywhenwe serveddosaorsomeother south Indiandishat themess.Hedidn’t like things likechanacurry toomuch,”he sayswithachuckle.

Neither theprofessors, noranyof thestaff though, rememberPichai’s romancewith fellow studentAnjali (nowhiswife),which theGoogleCEO revealedduringhisvisit last year.But thatwouldbecharac-teristicof therelationship the shy studenthadwithhisprofessors. “Maybehisfriendsknew,” says Manna,witha smile.

SUNDARTHESTUDENT

THERE’SSOMETHINGFOREVERYONEHERE...

SUNDAY SPECIAL: 20 YEARS OF GOOGLE

Illustration: MANOJ SINHA

WHENGOOGLEGOT ITWRONGIt’s easy to forgive Google’s earlymistakes;mostweremadewhen the Internetwas in itsinfancy. Here’s a look at some of the biggerproblems they’ve faced over the past 20 years.

Accidental racism:Inmid-2015, the fledgling facial-recognitionsoftware fromGoogle Photos tagged twoblack teenagers in a picture as ‘Gorillas’. Googletook the tags down in under 15 hours.

Catalog Search:Between 2002 and 2009, Google had the brightidea to digitally record thousands ofpapercatalogues so buyers could browse online. Itnever took off.

Google Video:A short-lived attempt to offer video servicesbombed. In 2005, two years after strugglingagainst YouTube, it bought out its rival.

GoogleWave:It was hyped as next-gen email in 2009. Userswere too confused and thewavewashed out.

GoogleBuzz:Buzz integrated awhole bunch of products,including Twitter, in Gmail. Privacy infringe-ment cases followed, and Buzzwas discontin-ued in 2011.

Fake news:Google’s tech, designed to allow anyone touploadmaterial, didn’t account for the factthat enough userswould publish enough liesto trick the algorithms into believing theywerereal. Years later, Google hasn’t done enough toproduce better filters or take responsibility forits impact.

GoogleGlass:Sure, the tech-enabled spectacles offered ahost of services. But the glasses caused a hostof accidents, andmore importantly, no onewanted to look that stupid.

Diversity at the company:Google’s first transparency report in 2014revealed that the staffwasmostlymale, white,or Asian. Not enough has changed for acompany that servicesmost of the planet. In2017 the companywas still 80%male, 53%white and 39%Asian.

Compiled by : RACHEL LOPEZ

FACIAL RECOGNITIONIt’s a bit creepy when you’relooking at a picture of friends

and the cursor prompts you to tageach face by name.... How did itknow? Google’s Facial Recognition isa machine-learning-based softwarethat uses an algorithm to try and‘auto-recognise’ similar faces basedon the user’s history, uploadedcontent and past posts. It was rolledout in 2015.

LIBRARYIn 2004, Google decided tomake as many books as

possible accessible to all via itswebsite. In 2005, the Authors Guildand the Association of AmericanPublishers sued over violation ofcopyright. In 2008, Google proposeda settlement that would allow thebooks to be available to the publicfor pay. In October 2015, a US courtdeclared Google Books legal.

ARTS & CULTURE LABIn 2011, the Google CultureInstitute partnered with the

Yad Vashem World Holocaust Centerto take its archives online. Thissparked the idea for the Google ArtProject, an initiative to digitise artand artefacts from around the world.The project was led by Mumbai-bornAmit Sood, the director of the GoogleCulture institute. But there have beenconcerns about the lack of curation.

WHEN INFORMATIONWASNOTJUSTACLICKAWAYVidhiChoudharyn [email protected]

WhenUdayanMitra, publisher forliterarybooks atHarperCollinsfirstmoved toNewDelhi fromKolkata in 1996,heboughta 300-pagebookof themapofDelhipub-

lishedbymotorcyclemanufacturerEicherMotors. “Itwasverydetailed,” recallsMitra.Hedescribes itas theequivalentofzooming inonGoogle’snavigationapp,GoogleMaps.This analogy is symbolicofthe shift fromtraditionalways Indiansused to findanswers in the1980s and1990sto Internet firmGoogle’s searchenginetakingoverour lives since itwas launchedin India in 2004.

In India, gettingbasic information in thepre-Google setupmeant spendingdays atthe library, calling in favours tomeetexperts, useofdictionaries, directoriesandglobes, readingbooks andenclyope-dias,watchingquizzesetc. If youwerea’90skid, chances areSundaymorningswouldhave included switchingonZeeTVat 11amto seeDerekO’Brien throwinggeneral knowledgequestions at schoolkids fromdifferentpartsof thecountry. “Ihavenot conductedaquiz showformorethanadecadenow,as I joinedpolitics15

says Mitra. In 2012,Encyclopedia Britan-nica stoppedproductionof its iconicmulti-volumebook sets to focusondigital ency-clopedias.Thiswas another trend thatmarked the shiftand the impact of technol-ogyoneveryday lives.

Siddhartha Basu, creatorof the populartelevision showKaunBanega Crorepati(KBC), believes theworldwideweb andpowerfulweb browsershave triggeredaknowledgeand informationrevolutionwhichhas fewprecedents inhumanhis-torybutneeds tousedwithrestraint. “Butthe slopehasgot slippery too.Youhave toknowhowtonavigate thesevast oceansofinformation, sift thegrain fromthechaff,information frommisinformation,disin-formationandpropaganda,”heexplains.

universallyaccessibleanduseful.In theearlydays, very fewIndianswere

online, personal computerpenetrationwasextremely lowandconnectivitywas abig constraint.We startedbybuildingexperiences thataddressed theneeds,interests andpassionsof Indians.Wehavealso focusedonenablingagreatwebexpe-rience to theentire spectrumofusers –there isno single typeofuser in India –therearemany ‘Indias’wework for.Espe-ciallyat theentry-level endof the spec-trumwhereusers areconstrainedby thepowerofdevices andreliabilityofmobiledata services,wedeveloped technologieslikeWebLiteandGoogleGo [thenew setoflightappsmadebyGoogle thatusevery lit-tledata for entry-level smartphones]whicharebuilt toofferagreatwebexperi-enceeven in thisenvironment.

Duringour journey – alongwith thebroaderadoptionof theweb and fasteraccess speeds – twobig revolutionshap-pened in theSearchcontext, theKnowl-edgeGraph [a systemthatGooglelaunched inMay2012 that providesanswersnot just links to the searchquery]andmobileadoption.

What sets Indian users apart?Theirpassionpoints, really.What peoplereally careaboutdeeplyvaries fromcoun-try tocountry.For India, it’s sports –whichreally iscricket in India –movies,music.Music is always Indianmusic,there isvery little interestactually inwest-ernmusic in India.So, Iwould say thepas-sionpoints arevery specific.

Second is theuseof local languages. I’dsaywhat separates India as acountry isthe fact thatwehave somany local langua-ges.Third is this incrediblepropensity forvoice searchwhere Indianswouldmuchrather speakthantype,part of it is alsobecause theydidn’t growup in thedesktopera. Itwouldbehard to talk toadesktopcomputer.Butwith thephone, it’s avoice

device.One isused to talkingon thephone,nowyou’re just talking to the Internet.

Big surprises and discoveries along theIndia journey?Therehavebeenverymany.One is afford-ability,wearevery sensitive tohowmanyrupeeswe spend – theprice.

So, oneof thereasonswelaunchedYou-Tubeoffline [a feature fromGoogle thatallows subscribers touseYouTubewith-outanInternet connection throughdown-loads] orSearchLite [it is like theGooglesearchappbut itusesvery littledata,allowinguserswith limitedbandwidth tobeable to search for information] isbecausedatawasexpensiveandafforda-bilitywas ahugeconstraint.Andthenet-works at the timewerevery slowandpatchy. Indiawas the first countrywherewe tookYouTubeoffline, oneofour fastest-growing features. It happenedbecauseofthisuser insight.

Today,datahas becomemoreafforda-ble.Butwhat surprisesuseven today isthat evenat thecurrentdatapricing, off-line is stillbigand theappetite forcon-sumption isenormous. Iwould say latelywhathas takenmecompletelyby surpriseisvoice (search), itspickup.Voice isexploding inapositiveway. It’shappeningall over theworldbut in India it’shappen-ingatamuchbigger scaleandmuch faster.

HowcriticalhasYouTube been toGoogle’sgrowth in India?

In India,YouTubehas225millionusers.Evenat this scale ourwatch time,which isthenumberofhoursof content consumedperday, isgrowingat overa 100percent.So, the Indianuser’s appetite foronlinevideo is insatiable.Wehavenever seenanything like it in thehistoryofonlinevideoanywhere in theworld. It is superblyexciting.And ifyou lookat the reachofYouTube inmetro India in termsofuniquemillionvisitorsperday, it’s50percentmore thanthe largest televisionnetworkin India.Video ismassiveand it’sgrowingby theminute.The inflectionpoint reallyhappenedwith thecost of data becomingmoreaffordable.

What’s it been like for you atGoogle?It’s been seven-and-a -half years. It’s beenawonderful journey. I think inmanyways,when I joinedGoogle,wehad justcrosseda 100million Internetusers.Therewasvirtuallynoventurecapital in theeco-system.Therewere less than10millionactiveAndroidusers.Weweren’t even inthe top ten Internetmarkets in theworld.Todayweare the second-largestusermar-ket in theworld.

It’s beena fantastic journeyboth to seehowthe Internet in Indiahaschanged,howconsumershavechanged,howourteamherehasgrown,all the initiativeswehave launchedhere.Butall thatbeingsaid, Ibelieve that themost excitingmoment forGoogle in India,and forme,hasn’thappenedyet. It’sgoing tohappen.Italways is about the future.

What are themost used regionallanguages onGoogle in India?Wedon’t share that.What I cantell you isthat for every local language – Hindi,Kan-nada,Tamil,MalayalamorBengali – thecurves forall regional languagegrowthareperpendicular.You’ve tokeep inmindthat every single Internetusercomingonline in India – and therearea lot of them

every singleminute – isnotproficientinEnglish.From searchqueries tovideoconsumption, everything in locallanguages isgrowing.Theone lan-guage that’snotpart of thisgrowth isEnglish. It’snot thatEnglish isnotgrowingbuteverybodywho speaksEnglish is alreadyon the Internet.They’vebeenonline forawhile.

DoesGoogle know everything aboutus?Wetakeprivacyand securityvery seri-ously.At theendof thedayyouas ausercan figureoutexactlywhat datawehaveonyou. It canbeaccessedthroughMyAccounts [it letsyoucon-trolandprotectyourprivacyall inoneplace].That’swhatweknow.Thebeautyof it isyoucantotally export itandyoucandelete it.Youhave full con-trol overyourdata.So, if youdon’twantGoogle toknowanything, godelete thewhole thing.

But doesn’tnot having user data have abearing on your business?At theendof theday, ourview is tomake the Internetuseful.Whydidwego from10 blue links to theknowledgegraph?Becausewewanted togiveyoutheanswer.We’re trying tomakeourproductsmoreuseful tohelp Indianusers find theanswers theyare search-ing for.Thechoice isyours andwithfull transparency.

Won’t this lead to unhealthydependence on technology?Iamof thecampthatbelieves that tech-nologycanmake lives somuchbetter.And ifyou lookatacountry like Indiawherewehave somanyopportunitiesandchallenges – healthcare, educa-tion,agriculture, finance – technology,not just the Internet, canhelp somuchto improvepeople’s lives.

WHATPEOPLEREALLYCAREABOUTDEEPLY VARIES FROMCOUNTRY TOCOUNTRY. FOR INDIA,IT’S SPORTS –WHICHREALLY ISCRICKET IN INDIA –MOVIES,MUSIC.... INDIANMUSIC.

Compiled by : MADHUSREE GHOSH AND JAYATI BHOLANot all the icons above are original Google icons.


thisunderminingofCongresshegemony.Kar-unanidhi’sDMKrouted theCongress inTamilNaduin1967,paving thewayforotherexplicitlyregional formationssuchas theTeluguDesamandtheBijuJanataDal tocometopower in theirownstates in lateryears.TheCommunistswonKeralaoutright in1967andwonashareofpowerinWestBengal thesameyear; theywere formanyyears tobe themajor force inbothstates,and in time, inTripura too. In1967, theJanaSanghwontheDelhiMunicipalelectionsandwaspartofcoalitiongovernments inseveralstates.Muchlater, rebrandedas theBharatiyaJanataParty, it cametoenjoypower for longstretches inRajasthan,MadhyaPradesh,Gujar-at,UttarPradesh,Chhattisgarh,andHimachal

anti-imperialismmuchmorestrongly thantheCongressofGandhiandNehruhad.These (andother)challenges to theCongress

undoubtedlycontributed toadeepeningof Indi-andemocracy.Withnosinglepartyable tosettheagenda inmoststatesaswellascountry-wide, therewasa freerplayof ideasandacheckonauthoritarianismandthearbitraryuseofpower.As leadingmembersofmajoranti-Con-gress formations, the three individualswhorecentlydiedplayed theirpart in thisreshapingofourpolity.That iswhatbrings themtogether,despite theirdifferentbiographiesand ideologi-calaffiliations. Inascendingorderof signifi-cance,Chatterjee,KarunanidhiandVajpayeeallhelpedmoveIndiaawayfromasingle-partydominantsystemtoamulti-partyone.These three individuals spent their formative

yearsunder theshadowof the ‘Congresssys-tem’.As theypass thescene,however,wenowhavewhat Ihavecalleda ‘BJPsystem’.Thepar-tyofNarendraModiandAmitShahisalmostashegemonicacross Indiaas thepartyofJawahar-lalNehruandIndiraGandhioncewas.Then,asnow,massiveelectoraldominancehas led toacultofpersonalityanda certaindegreeof arro-gance.Individual tributeshavebeenpaid to the

memoryofVajpayee,KarunanidhiandChatter-jee.Thiscolumn,bytaking themtogether, seekstopoint toa larger lessontheir livespoint to.Forall threestoutlychallengedthe identificationofthecountrywithasinglepartyor individual.Nowthat theyaregone, theRepublicof Indiaurgentlyneeds21stcenturyanaloguesof thesethreedemocratsandpatriots.

Ramachandra Guha’s books includeGandhiBefore India

The views expressed are personal

TheNarendraModigovernment’spositionthat Indiawillnotacceptofficialhumanitarianassistancefromforeigngovernments tosup-plementdomestic funding fordis-

asterreliefmatches thatof itsprede-cessor, theManmohangovernment.In2004,after thedevastatingAsian

tsunamiwreakedhavocalongthe Indi-anOceancoastline,Singhasserted thatIndiawouldnotaccepthumanitarianassistance fromforeigngovernmentsas indigenousIndianresourceswouldsuffice todealwith thecrisis. In fact,theSinghgovernmentcutcheques toprovideassistance tootherAsiancountriesaffectedbythe tsunami.Theprinciplebeingestablishedand

what itprojectedwasclear: Indiawasno longeradesperatecountrywhichwould indiscriminatelyacceptmoneyfromanyone foranythingbutwouldbeselective in themoneywewould take

tobetteroutcomesbut in factmayleadtoworse.Fromtheexperienceof someof the

poorestcountries inAfricaor for thatmatterAfghanistanandIraqafter theUSinvasion,hugeamountsofmoneypoured inbutcouldnotbeabsorbedbyfragileandweakinstitutions.Theendresultwasmostlycorruptionandwasteof resourcesrather thanimprovedoutcomes.India isnotasdesperate:butstate

capacity is limitedandweakincrucialareas including thedeliveryofpublichealth, sanitation,and in thiscasedis-asterrelief.Thetruth is thatgiventhelevelof statecapacity fordisasterreliefontheground,presentlycommittedmonies—bothofficialandprivate—aremorethanenough.There is, therefore,no legitimate

reasontorevisit the“Singhdoctrine”that Indiashouldnotacceptmoneyfromforeigngovernments fordisasterrelief.TheoneexceptionIwouldarguefor isassistance inkind, regardlessofits source,which fills crucialgaps instatecapacity.During theGujarat

IF, INDEED, THERE’S A SPECIALRELATIONSHIP BETWEENKERALAANDTHEUNITEDARABEMIRATES, ITSGOVERNMENTCANDOBETTERTHAN JUSTWRITE ACHEQUE

“I can’t believe this ishowtheaver-age Indianprisoner is treated in jail.And if they’re layingonspecial treat-ment forVijayMallya that’shardlyfair or, even, justified.”AsPertie’s thoughts switched from

amazement to thoughtful reflectionhisvoice andmanner calmeddown.But I could senseanger lurkingnot farbehind.“Either this is anelaborate attempt

n ‘Even in jail [Vijay] Mallya’s good timeswon’t be over! Some blokes have allthe luck in the world’ AP

I’veneverknownPertie to get soexcited.Normally, he’s aplacid,laid-back sort of chap.Evenwhen thewaiter at theGymkha-naClubpouredchickencurry

intohis lapall he couldbringhimselfto saywasagentle ‘Steadyon, oldchap.’ Jeeveswouldhavebeenproudofhim.But this occasionwasverydif-ferent.“Doyouknowhowtheypropose to

treatVijayMallya?”Hisvoicewasbooming. I had tohold the telephonereceiver almost at arm’s length.“According toNDTVhe’s going tohavea television set, a personal toiletandproperbedding, awashingareaandacourtyard to takea stroll in thesunlight.And that’s in jail andnot inhis ownhome!”“WellPertie”, I said, trying to

soothehim. “What’swrongwithall ofthat? Ifwehope to extraditehim theIndianauthoritiesneed to convince

theBrits that our jails arehabitable.Otherwise theywon’t sendhimback.It’s as simple as that.”Pertiewasn’t convinced. Indeed, he

harrumphed.Orwas it a snort?At anyrate, itwasdefiantlydismissive.“Haveyouever seen the insideof aprison in India?Andwhichconvictgetshis ownTVand loo? In fact youonlyhearof this sort of thing inScan-dinavia.”In fact theNDTVreporthas further

delightful details. “Thebarrack inwhichMrMallyawill be lodged iseast-facing so it hasa lot of sunlighttoo…Thecell has crossventilationwithawindowonopposite sides.”And the report adds, tantalisingly,

“food is served four timesduring theday.”Pertiehadall thesedetails athisfingertips.Theyhadmade suchastrong impressiononhimthat theyhadalsobecome fixed inhismind.Onebyonehe rattled themoff.

FORMALLYA,GOODTIMESINACELLWITHAVIEW

especially fromforeigngovernments.TheAtalBihariVajpayeegovernmentin1999hadalreadydeletedanumberofEuropeancountriesandCanadaasofficialbilateraldonors,onthesameprinciple that thosemonieswerenotneeded.This isnotamatterofpricklyand

insecureegosandnationalpride.Oneelementofnationalsovereignty is torefuseaidbasedonone’spriorities.Asa formercolonyofseveralEuropeanpowers, it’sperfectlyproper for Indiatoassert thiselementof sovereigntyandnotbe“colonised”by foreignmon-eywedonotwant.Afterall, aidmoneyalwayscomeswithstringsattached,explicitor implicit.Buteventhis isnot thewholestory.

Thereality is that like inmanyotherareasofpublicspending, therealcon-straint isnot thesupplyof fundsbutlimitedandoverstretchedstatecapaci-ty,acrucialdimensionofgoodgovern-ance.SayingIndia isstill apoorcoun-tryandshould, therefore,acceptalloffersofassistancemisses thepoint.Foronething, Indiahasestablisheditselfasanet foreignaiddonor,notrecipient. Inanycase, simplypouringmoremoney intoasituationwhere therealconstraint iscapacitydoesnot lead

AIDMONEYALWAYSCOMESWITHSTRINGSATTACHED

Three individualspassedawaythismonth.Allwerepoliticians,althoughtheybelongedto threedifferentpar-ties.Andto threedifferentregionsofIndiaaswell.OnewasaHindi speaker,asecondaTamil, the thirdaBengali.Twohadsuccessful careersoutsidepolitics;oneasawriter,anotherasabarrister.Onepractisednepotismoccasionally,asecondflagrantly,a

thirdnotatall.The lifehistoriesofAtalBihariVajpayee,

MKarunanidhiandSomnathChatterjeewereverydifferent.Sowere their ideologicalalle-giances.Yet,whenviewed in thecontextofmod-ernIndianhistory, there is somethingstrikingthatunite them.This is theyall chose to joinpar-ties implacablyopposed to thedominantpartyoftheday.VajpayeeandKarunanidhiwerebothborn in

1924;Chatterjee,born fiveyears later, is recog-nisablyof thesamegeneration.All cametoadulthoodwhile the IndianNationalCongresswas themajor force in Indianpolitics.Theyeachsawmanyof theirownclassmatesandchild-hood friends join thepartyofGandhiandNehru.Yet theythemselvesdidnot.Asaveryyoungman,Vajpayee joined theRashtriyaSwayamse-wakSanghandthentheJanaSangh;Karunan-idhi, alsoasayoungman, joined theDravida

KazhagamandthentheDravidaMunnetraKaz-hagam.Chatterjeecametopartypoliticsmuchlater, inhis forties, andwhenhedid, joined theCommunistPartyof India (Marxist).TheCongresshadbeenhegemonic in Indian

politicseversinceMahatmaGandhi’s launch-ingof theNon-CooperationMovement in1920.WhentheBritish left India in1947, theCongressmoved into thecorridorsofpowerat theCentreaswellas in thestates.Gandhidied in1948,buthissuccessorsensured that theUnionsurvivedandtheCongressstayedontop.UnderNehru’scharismatic leadership thepartywonthreesuc-cessiveGeneralElections,aswellasaseriesofAssemblyelections in thestates (with the lossofKerala to theCommunists in1957beingamajorexception).In the late1960s, thepolitical scientistRajni

Kothariwroteabookwhichspokeof Indianpoli-ticsasbeingcharacterisedbythe ‘Congresssys-tem’.Thiswasaone-partydominantstate, sodifferent fromthe two-partyormulti-partysys-temscommonintheolderdemocraciesofNorthAmericaandWesternEurope.YetevenasKothariwrote, theCongresssystemwasbegin-ning tounravel. In1967 theparty lostpower inmanystates;and,10years later, it lostpowerattheCentre itself.Theparties towhichthe threemenwho

recentlydiedbelongedplayedamajorpart in

THETHREEWHOTOOKONTHECONGRESS

Pradesh.Anditwas inpowerat theCentrebetween1998and2004.These threepartieschangednot just theelect-

oralmapof India,but its ideological terrain too.Karunanidhi’sDMKemphasised linguisticandregionalprideverystrongly,puttingabrakeonGreaterHindiChauvinism. Inpower itbeganaseriesofwelfareschemes thathavesincebeenemulated inotherstates.Vajpayee’sJanaSangh/BJPchallengedcommandeconomics infavourofprivateenterprise,aSoviet-orientedforeignpolicy in favourofaWestern-orientedone,andsecular,non-denominationalnational-ismin favourofanationalisminflectedbywhattheysawasHinduideas.Chatterjee’sCPI(M)emphasised landreform,genderequality,and

Illustration: MOHIT SUNEJA

reflections RAMACHANDRA GUHApast&present

RUPASUBRAMANYA

earthquakeof2001, Israel setupandoperated fieldhospitalsrunbytheIsra-eliDefenceForcewhichmadeadiffer-ence intherelief efforts.HadIsraelmerelycutachequeto India, there’snoreasontobelieve thatoutcomesonthegroundwouldhave improved.In thecaseof thecurrentKeraladis-

aster,noofficialoffers fromforeigngovernmentshavebeenreceivedat thetimeof filing.So far, theUnitedArabEmirates (UAE)whichhasa largepop-ulationofmigrantworkers fromKera-la,hasunofficiallyoffered financialassistance,whichhasbeenunofficiallyrejectedbythe Indiangovernment.Whethergovernmentsor individu-

als, it’salwayseasier to throwmoneyataproblemthanhelpresolve theunderlyingproblem.As ithappens, theUAEisawealthystatewithahigh levelof statecapacityandsurelywouldbe inaposition tooffermeaningfulassist-ance inkind, suchassettingupfieldhospitalsandhelpingrebuild theshat-tered infrastructure.If, indeed, there’saspecial relation-

shipbetweenKeralaandtheUAEbecauseof themanymigrantswhoworkthere, surely theUAEgovern-mentcandobetter thansimplywriteacheque.Afterall,workers fromKeralahelpedbuild theUAE’s infrastructure.Itwouldbevery fitting if theUAEreturnedthe favour.RupaSubramanya is an independent economist

and researcher inMumbai.The views expressed are personal

to con theBrits or it’s simplywrong. Ifhe’s foundguilty andgoes to jail youcannot treatMallya likeaVIPwhilstall theotherprisoners are treated likescum!Youcanbecertain therewill beprotests. Someone is bound togo tocourt.”Pertiehadagoodpoint.Either the

CentralBureauof Investigation,whosubmitteda six-minutevideoof thejail to theBrits, ismisleading themorit intends to treatMallya likeaMaha-raja.Neitherwouldbe justifiedandbothcouldprovokepublic fury.“It seems tome” saidPertie, nowa

lotmore in control of himself, “even injailMallya’s good timeswon’t beover!Someblokeshaveall the luck in theworld.”“Whatdoyoupropose todo?” I

asked. I’mnot surewhy Iput thatquestion.After all,what couldhedo?It just poppedout.ButPertie seemedprepared for it.“Well, one thing’s for certain.”he

shotback. “If I ever endup in jail I’mgoing todemandmyown telly and loo.But Iwonder if they’ll stretch towineandcheese? I don’t careabout the lightandcrossventilationbut adrinkandaviewof theoceanas the sungoesdownwouldbeawonderfulwayofmakingjail acceptable!”

Karan Thapar is the author of The Devil’sAdvocate: The Untold Story


SUPERSTITIONS HAVE NO PLACE IN THEMODERN ERAThis refers to the article ‘Flood fury: Don’t blame it onwomen (Engender, August 19)by Lalita Panicker. She has aptly chronicled how certain individuals from Kerala, themost literate state, still believe in superstitions. Manywomen have been a casual-ties of such irrational beliefs while being blamed for death, destruction and diseasein their neighbourhoods. Lack of scientific thinking and poverty are the reasonsbehind this. How canwomen be blamed for lack of infrastructure and poor plan-ning? In themodern era, such regressive thinking should not be acceptable.

SUBHASH VAID, DELHI

AstatesmanwithmassappealApropos Vajpayee: Lessons in life andpolitics (Chanakya, August 19), AtalBihari Vajpayeewas a statesman and athorough gentleman. Theremay not bemany leaders in this mould in his partythese days. Vajapyee achieved a finebalance between nationalism andHindutvawith liberalism in the coali-tion era of the 1990s. With a pan-Indiaappeal, PrimeMinister Vajpayeemadefriends cutting across party lines.

LJ SINGHVIA EMAIL

Vajpayeewasdignity personifiedThis refers to Karan Thapar’s articleWhy Vajpayee’s death leaves us allpoorer (Sunday Sentiments, August 19).As far as respect for opponents wasconcerned, the former PM was a rolemodel for politicians in the country. Hisobituary about Nehru, written in poeticprose, is just another example of this.Vajpayeewas dignity personified.

YG CHOUKSEY, VIA EMAIL

KARAN THAPAR

sundaysentiments

sundayletters

thisweekthat

Having lived formore than40years in theSouthDelhi colonyofNizamuddin I feel great pridein the conservationofHuma-yun’sTomband its surround-

ingsby theAgaKhanTrust forCul-ture (AKTC) in collaborationwith theArchaeological Surveyof India, theMunicipalCorporationofDelhi andtheCentralPublicWorksDepart-ment. I takegreat pleasure inwalkingin thenewly laid outSundarNurserygarden. I amdelightedby theimprovements in thequality of lifethatmyneighbours living in thebasticlustered round the tombof the 13thcentury sufi saintNizamuddinAulianowenjoy.But lastweekas I listenedtoShrirajAlibhai, director ofAKTC,lecturingon strategies forurbanregenerationanddescribinghowarubbledumphadbeen turned intoapark inCairo, Iwonderedabout India.How,withall the emphasis onreduc-ing thepercentageof people livingbelow thepoverty line, constructinginfrastructure, improvingeducationandhealth, creating jobs, could spend-ingmoneyonconservationbe justi-fiedhere?Wanting to find reasons for giving

conservationaplace in India’s devel-opmentpriorities, Imet another citi-zenofNizamuddin, the eminenturbandesignerKTRavindran.He toldmeconservation shouldn’t need justi-ficationbecause itwasanancientIndian tradition enshrined in theSan-skritword ‘jeernodharanam,’whichhe translatedasdegeneration/regen-eration—the cycle of decayandregeneration.But thenhedid listsomeeconomic reasons for justifyingconservation.Between75% and80% of themoneyspent on the conser-vationofHumayun’sTombwaspaidto craftsmen.Among themanycrafts,whichhavebeenrevived,Ravindranmentioned inparticular stone carvers

whocarved jaalis so that they cannowbemade for conservationwhereverneeded.The footfall inHumayun’sTombhas increased from150,000 toapproximately twomillionperyearsince the conservationbegan.Because itwas consideredauspi-

cious tobeburiedneara saint’s tomb,thearea inwhich theTombstandscontains a largenumberof Islamicbuildings.That is thewhy the conser-vation is spreadover suchawidearea.At the same time theNizamuddinBas-ti community lives in this area.TheAKTCbelieves culture is a tool forurbanrenewal soawhole slewofimprovementshavebeenmade in theBasti, newemploymentopportunitiescreated, old skills revivedand the 800-year-oldSufi culturedocumentedandreinvigorated.Ravindranbelieves theconservation schemes centredonHumayun’sTombshould lead toanimprovement in thewayarchitectswork.Conservationhasbrought themtogetherwithavariety of otherpro-fessionals, ranging fromengineers toenvironmentalists, fromhorticultur-alists tohistorians.All theseprofes-sionalshavebenefited fromthis inter-mingling too.Therearebenefits of the conserva-

tionofHumayun’sTomband itsspace,whichcannotbe so easilyquan-tified.Ravindran said: “The tomb’sconservation shows thaturbandecayisnot inevitable, thatwearenot sohelpless.Wedon’t have toaccept thatthinggo towrackandruin.”Hepoint-edout that every Indiancity exceptChandigarhandGandhinagarhasahistoric core.Almost all of themhavegone towrackandruin.Butnow it’sbeen shown that theprocess canbereversedand it is possible to revivecities’ cores.With thatwould comeareinvigoratedprideof citizens in theircities, andhopefully greater effort toconserve them.ButRavindranwar-ned that conserving cores shouldn’tlead to gentrification,whichmeanscoresbeing takenoverbymoreafflu-ent citizensand the shops, restaurantsandbarswhichcater to them.Awhol-lyunquantifiable benefit of conserva-tion is thebeauty recreated.Tobeholdbeautymust alwaysbe enriching.


CONSERVATIONCANREVERSETHEDECAY IN INDIA’SCITIES

MARKTULLY

PICTURE OFTHE WEEK

EWS OF THE WEEKCONGRESS RISES FROMITS ASHES

August 28: 15 Soviet touristswere killed when an Ilyushin-18airliner from Sochi crashed atVnukovo Airport. Sources saidmany other passengers wereseriously injured. All the crew,including the pilot, were saidto have escaped.

AUGUST 26: The CongressWorking Committee saved theparty from what looked like awreck. The CWC closed thechapter of action against thePrime Minister and those who hadadvocated freedom of vote in thePresidential contest.

INDIA WORLD15 RUSSIANS DIE INMOSCOW PLANE CRASHAUGUST 31:

Vice-President-electMr G S Pathakphotographed onSaturday (August 30).Also seen are his wifeand their grandchildren.

AUGUST 26-SEPT 1, 1969 >>FROMTHE ARCHIVESOF THEHINDUSTAN TIMESatera

NE

.

R.N.I No. JHAENG/2004/12398

PUBLISHED BY SHARAD SAXENA for and on behalf of HT Media Limited, 7, Kokar Industrial Area,Ranchi-834001 and Printed at the press of

Hindustan Media Ventures Limited, 7, Kokar Industrial Area, Ranchi-834001, PH:(0651)6600650RESIDENT EDITOR : B VIJAY MURTY

SUNDAY HINDUSTAN TIMES, RANCHIAUGUST 26, 2018 hindustantimes 11

Musk,whoownsaboutafifthof Tesla, had said earlier thismonththatheenvisionedtakingthe company private withoutusing the standardmethod of aleveraged buyout, whereby all

Agenciesn [email protected]

WASHINGTON:A former doormanwhoworkedatTrumpTower inNew York will be able to talkaboutanallegedaffairPresidentDonaldTrumphadwithahouse-keeperwhichreportedlyresultedinachild.Dino Sajudin has been

released froma contract he hadenteredwithAmericanMediaIncthathadprohibitedhimfromdis-cussingthematterwithanyone.AmericanMedia,whichowns

the tabloid National Enquirer,hasnotpublishedthestoryabouttheallegedaffair.On Friday, Marc Held, the

attorneyforSajudin, saidhiscli-ent had been released from thecontract recently” after back-

and-forthdiscussionswithAMI,CNNreported.The contract appears to have

been signed on November 15,2015, and states that AMI hasexclusive rights to Sajudin’sstory but does not mention thedetailsof thestoryitself.It says, “Source shall provide

AMIwithinformationregardingDonald Trump’s illegitimatechild.”Thecontractstatesthat“AMI

willnotowesourceanycompen-sationifAMIdoesnotpublishtheexclusive...” and the top of theagreement shows that Sajudincould receive a sum of $30,000“payableuponpublicationassetforthbelow”.Butthethirdpageoftheagree-

ment shows that about amonthlater, the parties signed an

amendmentthatstatesthatSaju-dinwouldbepaid$30,000withinfivedaysofreceivingtheamend-ment. It says the “exclusivityperiod”laidoutintheagreement“is extended in perpetuity and

shallnotexpire”.The amendment also estab-

lishes a $1millionpayment thatSajudinwouldberesponsibleformaking to AMI “in the eventsourcebreachesthisprovision”.

FormerdoormannowfreetodiscussallegedTrumpaffairPAID NEWS? Sajudin would have hadto pay $1 mn if he talked to anyone else

n Tower of secrets: A guard stands outside of Trump Tower on FifthAvenue in Manhattan in New York City. AFP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s new gov-ernmenthas banned the discre-tionary use of state funds andfirst-class air travel by officialsandleaders, includingthepresi-dent and the primeminister, aspartof itsausteritydrive.Thedecisionsweremade at a

cabinetmeetingchairedbyPrimeMinisterImranKhanonFriday,information minister FawadChaudhrysaid.“Ithasbeendecidedthatallthe

topgovernmentofficials,includ-ingthepresident,primeminister,chief justice, Senate chairman,speakerNationalAssemblyandthechiefministerswill travel inclub/business,”hetoldmedia.ChaudhrysaidtheArmychief

wasnotallowedfirstclasstravelandalwaysusedbusinessclass.Hesaidthediscretionaryallo-

cationoffundsbytheprimemin-isterandthepresidentandother

officialswasalso stoppedby thecabinet.Chaudhryclaimedthatformer

prime minister Nawaz SharifusedRs 51 billion discretionaryfundsinayear.Theprimeminis-teralsodecidedtostopusingspe-cial plane for foreign visits ordomestictravellingandusebusi-nessclass.AfterhisvictoryintheJuly25

general election, Khan decidednottousethepalatialPrimeMin-ister’sHouseandinsteadlivesinasmallportionofitthatwaspre-viouslyusedasresidenceby themilitary secretary to the primeminister. Khan also decided touse only two vehicles and keeptwo servants. He refused to useelaborate official protocol. Thecabinet also tookup the issue ofreverting to six-day workingweek, but decided to continuewiththefive-dayweek. PTI

Pakistan govtbans first-class airtravel by officials

Reutersn [email protected]

BEIJING: Afire tore throughahotspringshotelinthenortheasternChinese city of Harbin beforedawnonSaturday,killing19peo-ple and causing 23 others to betaken to hospital, city officialssaid.Authorities are investigating

thecauseoftheblazeatthefour-storey BailongHot Springs Lei-sure Hotel, an inexpensive sparesortvisitedmainlybydomestictourists, which broke out justafter4:30a.m. local time.ThePeople’sDailynewspaper

cited fire officials as saying theblazehadstarted inakitchenonthesecondfloor.Flamessweptthroughanarea

ofabout400squaremetresbeforebeing extinguished after threehours,ChinesestatebroadcasterCCTVreported.Footageshowedrescuework-

erspicking throughthecharredbuilding. Casualties treated inhospitalwereinthe40sto70sagerange,thenewspapersaid,citingtheHarbinFirstHospital.Further details about those

whowerekilledwerenotimmedi-atelyavailable.Anearlierdeathtollof18rose

byoneafteravictimdiedinhospi-tal,officialssaid.Chinahasapatchyrecord for

buildingsafetyregulations, andthe country’sMinistry ofEmer-gencyManagementsaiditwouldlaunch nationwide fire safetyinspections inbuildings suchashotels,sauna,hospitals,schoolsand shopping malls, CCTVreportedonSaturday.Harbin isfamousforawintersnowandicefestival. REUTERS

FIRE KILLS 19PEOPLE ATHOTEL IN CHINA

ROHINGYASMARKAYEAROFEXODUS

n Rohingya Muslims attend a ceremony organised to remember the first anniversary of a militarycrackdown that prompted a massive exodus of people fromMyanmar to Bangladesh, at theKutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia on Saturday. Thousands staged protests for bringing tojustice those responsible for the crackdown that forced them to flee to camps in Bangladesh. AFP

WASHINGTON:TheTrumpadminis-tration has announced it wouldnotspendthemorethan$200mil-lion set aside forPalestinianaidin theWest Bank andGaza, thelatestinaseriesofmeasuresthathaveinfuriatedthePalestinians.Thecancellationfollowsasim-

ilar decision last week againstspending $230 mn reserved byCongresstohelpstabiliseareasinSyriadevastatedbythecountry’sseven-yearwar.Anditcomesasthe administration considerscancellingnearly$3billioninfor-eign aid projects around theworld.As with themoney for Syria,

the administration intends toredirect the funds intended forPalestinians to higher-priorityprojectselsewhere,aseniorstatedepartment official said. Theadministrationhasyettoidentify

whatthoseprojectsare.HananAshrawi,amemberof

thePalestineLiberationOrgani-sation’s(PLO)executivecommit-tee, hit back, saying: “The USadministrationisdemonstratingthe use of cheap blackmail as apolitical tool.“The Palestinian people and

leadershipwillnotbeintimidatedandwillnotsuccumbtocoercion.TherightsofthePalestinianpeo-ple are not for sale,” Ashrawicountered.In January, theUShadmade

drasticcutstoitscontributiontotheUNagencyforPalestinianref-ugees UNRWA. Relationsbetween the US administrationand the Palestinian AuthoritytookanosediveafterTrumplastDecember decided to recognisethedisputedcityofJerusalemasIsrael’scapital. AGENCIES

US cuts $200mn inaid to Palestinians


SAN FRANCISCO : Tesla Inc CEOElon Musk has said he wouldheedshareholderconcernsandno longer pursue a $72 billiondeal to take his US electric carmaker private, abandoning anideathathadstunnedinvestorsanddrawnregulatoryscrutiny.The decision announced on

FridayleavesTeslaasapubliclylisted company but raises newquestions about its future. Itsshareshavebeentradingbelowtheir August 7 levels, whenMuskannouncedonTwitterhewas considering taking Teslaprivate for $420 per share, asinvestors wondered what the

long-shot bidmeant forMusk’sability to steer the company toprofitability.The move also leaves Musk

and Tesla having to fend off aseriesof investor lawsuitsandaUS Securities and ExchangeCommission investigation intothe factual accuracy of Musk’stweet that funding for the dealwas“secured”.Musksaid thathis belief that

thereismorethanenoughfund-ing to take thecompanyprivatewasreinforcedduringtheproc-ess.Heattributedhisdecisiontoabandon the bid to feedback hereceivedfromshareholdersandon the effort proving tobemoretime-consuminganddistractingthanheanticipated.

the other shareholders wouldcash out and the deal would befundedprimarilywithnewdebt.Instead, two-thirds of com-

panyshareholders,accordingtohisestimate,wouldhavechosenan option of “rolling” theirstakes and continuing to beinvestors inaprivatecompany,rather than cashing out. Thiswould significantly reduce theamountofmoneyneededforthedeal and avoid further burden-ingTesla,whichhasadebtpileof$11 billion and negative cashflow. However, Musk said anumber of institutional share-holders explained to him thatthey have internal complianceissuesthat limithowmuchtheycaninvest inaprivatecompany.

Tesla to remain a public company: CEOMusk

“Although the majority ofshareholdersIspoketosaidtheywould remain with Tesla if wewentprivate, thesentiment, inanutshell, was ‘please don’t dothis’,”Muskwroteinablogpost.

n An assembly line at Tesla's Factory in California. NYT FILE

JALALABAD:Asuicide bombblastkilledat least twopeopleonSat-urday outside an election com-mission office in the easternAfghan city of Jalalabad, offi-cials said.The latest attack in the war-

torncountryappearedto targetaprotestcampoutsidethebuild-ing in Nangarhar province,whereagroupofpeoplewereral-lying in support of a candidatedisqualifiedfromparliamentaryelectionsdue inOctober.The blast follows what has

alreadybeenabloodymonth inAfghanistan with the TalibanrampingupassaultsonsecurityforcesacrossthecountryandtheIslamic State group targetingKabul, with hundreds killedaccording toestimates.“Itkilledtwopeople,andfour

otherswerewounded,” provin-cialgovernorspokesmanAttaul-lah Khogyani told AFP, addingthat a suicide attacker wasresponsible for theexplosion.Provincial health director

Najib Kamawal confirmed thetwodeaths.An eyewitness said the blast

wascausedbyasuicidebomberdetonatingnearatentfullofpro-testersoutside theoffice. AFP

Suicide bombattack kills two inAfghanistan

world FOREIGN AID FROM EUROPEAN TAXPAYERS PERPETUATES THE REGIME’S ABILITY TONEGLECT THE NEEDS OF ITS PEOPLE AND STIFLES MEANINGFUL POLICY CHANGES

>BRIANHOOK, US special representative to Iran, onEuropeanUnion’smove togive$20.7mndevelopmentaid to Iran

PRINCEFamily sues doctor saying he failed to treat the lateAmericanmusician’s opioid addiction

1 The family claims the doctor failed to treat therock star for opiate addiction and thereforebears responsibility for his death two yearsago, their attorney announced

2 Prince Rogers Nelson died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl onApril 15, 2016. Authorities sayDrMichael Schulenberg admittedprescribing an opioid to Prince under his bodyguard’s name

3 The family allege that Schulenberg had “an opportunity and duty”during theweeks before Prince’s death to diagnose and treat hisopioid addiction and to prevent his death, but failed to do so.

inthenews

n Mount Etna in Sicily has roared back into spectacular volcanicaction, sending up plumes of ash and spewing lava. The volcanoreawoke in late July and went into fuller action on Thursday. AP

Iranwater heater explosiondowns building, kills 10TEHRAN: Iranianmedia arereporting that awater heater hasexploded inMashhad in thecountry’s north, causing a build-ing to collapse and killing 10people. Five otherswere injuredand hospitalised in Saturday’sincident, according to the reports,which did not elaborate. It wasone themost deadly such inci-dents in Iran.Many Iranians usegas-consuming storagewaterheaters and similar cases in thepast have been blamed on gasleakages from the heaters. AP

Pakistan: man shoots dead17yrold sister for ‘honour’LAHORE:A 17-year-old girl wasshot dead by her brother in asuspected case of “honour killing”in Pakistan’s Punjab province,police said on Saturday. SaminaBibi’s family suspected of herhaving a relationshipwith amanin Bahiwal village, some 200 kmfromhere, senior police officerMudasar Awan said. “Her brotherHabib had earlier caught herwiththe boy and thrashed both ofthem,” the officer said. “WhenHabib came to know that Saminahadmet theman on Eid, hethrashed herwith the help of hisfather and then shot her dead atpoint blank,” he said. PTI

Iran resumes talks withRussia on nuke power plantIran has resumed talkswith Russiato build a newnuclear powerplant capable of generating up to3,000megawatts of electricity,energyminister Reza Ardakaniansaid on Saturday, according to theTasnimnews agency. The IslamicRepublic currently has thecapacity to produce 1,000mega-watts of nuclear electricity,Tasnim reported. Iran already runsone Russian-built nuclear reactorat Bushehr, its first. Russia signeda dealwith Iran in 2014 to build upto eightmore reactors in thecountry. REUTERS

Teen killed in police firing atNepal protest against rapeKATHMANDU: One personwaskilled and dozens injured in Nepalwhen police opened fire onprotesters demanding action overthe rape andmurder of a 13-year-old girl, officials said on Saturday.Angry crowds took to the streetsin the country’s remotewest onFriday accusing police of protect-ing the person responsible for thebrutal crime. Police officer KrishnaRaj Ojha told AFP that 17-year-oldSani Khunawas killed “in firing tocontain the violent protest”. Theschoolgirl wentmissing in Julyand her bodywas later found in asugarcane field. AFP

photooftheday

shortstoriesSIX DEADAS TAIWANHIT BY FLOODSTAIPEI:Six people have been killed by floodwaters in Taiwan, officials saidon Saturday, after days of heavy rain forced thousands to evacuate theirhomes. A tropical depression has been dumping torrential rain in central andsouthern Taiwan since Thursday,with somedistricts receiving close to 1,000millimetres of rainfall. Six have died in the storm so far, according to govern-ment figures, including threewhowere killed by a falling scaffold in thesouthern city of Kaohsiung. Almost 100morewere injured.More than 6,000peoplewere evacuatedwithmore than 1,100 still in shelters on Saturday,officials said. Images showed residents in Kaohsiung and nearby Tainanwading in knee-deepwater, and soldiers carrying elderly and children. AFP

AgenceFrancePressen [email protected]

TUMBES:PeruonSaturdayclosedits borders to Venezuelanmigrantswithout a passport, asthousandsholdingonlyidentifi-cationcards reached theborderinalastminutecrush,somebeat-ing the deadline with specialassistancefromEcuador.Thousands of Venezuelans

fleeing theircountry’s spiralingeconomic and political crisisrushed towards the Peruvianborder after last week’sannouncement from Lima thattheyhadoneweektoenterbeforeapassportwouldberequired.The flood of Venezuelans at

Peru’snorthernbordercrossingatTumbeswassooverwhelmingthat thestation--normallyopen24 hours a day -- closed at mid-nightFridaylocaltimewhenthenewrulescameintoeffect.Theluckyonesalreadyinline

werehandedticketsandtoldtheycould still enterwithout a pass-port when the border crossingreopensatsunrise.Borderagentstooknoquestionsfromreporters.Ecuador opened a “humani-

tarian corridor” on Friday andlifteditsownentryrestrictionstofacilitate theVenezuelans’ trav-els toPeru.InteriorministerMauroTos-

canini said that 35 busloads ofmigrantswereonthemovealongtherouteauthoritieshadopenedtoPeru.“We got here because the

Ecuadorans brought us aboardfivebusesunderescort,”agrate-ful Virginia Velasquez, 36, toldAFP. She managed to slip intoPeru just minutes before mid-night.“Thank god I’m in Peru,”

added15year-oldFelipeFernan-dez,whoarrivedwithhisparentsandabrother.Peruisoneoftheregion’sfast-

est growing economies with 4.7percentgrowthprojectedfornextyear. But anti-immigrant senti-ment is on the rise, and stricterrequirements for Venezuelanshaspopularsupport.There are already an esti-

mated 400,000 Venezuelans inPeru.More than 2,500migrantsswampedthesmallAguasVerdescrossingonFriday--10timestheusualdailytraffic.

Venezuelans reachPeru in new exodus AssociatedPress

n [email protected]

SEOUL:KimKyung-jaewillprobablyneverbechoseninthegovernment lotterythatwouldallowhimtoreuniteonelast timewithhisrela-tives inNorthKorea.Butthat’snoproblem,hesaid,evenasasmallgroupof theluckySouthKoreanswhowonthelotterymetwiththeir lovedonesinNorthKorea.The86-year-oldKimisone

ofadwindlingnumberofeld-erlySouthKoreanswho,frustratedwithNorthKorea’sreluctancetoallowmorefrequentreunionsandbythesmallchancethatthey’llbeselectedbeforetheydie, foundunofficialnet-workstocommunicatewiththeirNorthKoreanrelatives.ForthreedecadesKimhasbeensendinghisNorthKoreansister lettersandaid.“It’sabsolutelyregrettable

thatotherSouthKoreansdon’tknowaboutthesecom-municationchannels,”Kimsaid,showingabunchof let-

terswithNorthKoreanstampsthathissisterhassent tohimovertheyears.Duringthisweek’sreun-

ions,whichendSundayandareorganizedbytherivalgovernments,hundredsofKoreans,manyintheir70sorolder,havebeenreunitedforthefirst timesincethe1950-53KoreanWar.Buttheyare justatinyfractionof thesepa-ratedfamilies intheKoreas,wheremillionsweresplitduringtheturmoilof thewar.This is the21st timethe

Koreashavehadsuchreun-ions,but theydon’toccurreg-ularlybecauseof longperi-odsofbadfeelingsbetweentherivals,andPyongyang’sreluctancetoexpose itspeo-ple totheoutsideworld.SoKimandothersturnto

friends,brokersandothers inChina,Japanandelsewheretotrytofindout if theirrela-tives intheNortharestillaliveandtoarrangeexchangesof letters,photos,phonecallsandsometimesface-to-facemeetings.

Elderly Koreans shut out of familyreunions use backchannels

DIVIDED BY WAR

n Kim Kyungjae, 86, is among those who found unofficialnetworks to communicate with North Korean relatives. AP

AssociatedPressn [email protected]

DUBLIN: PopeFrancis arrivedonSaturdayinIreland,groundzeroof the Catholic Church’s sexabusecrisis,withtheinstitutionunderfireacrosstheglobeforitssystemicfailurestoprotectchil-dren from rapists or to punishbishopswhohidthecrimes.Francis is making the first

papal visit to Ireland in almostfourdecades,butthereceptionhereceivedinDublinwasacontrasttotheraucous,rockstarwelcomethat greeted St John Paul II in1979. No one from the generalpublicwasonhandattheairportor the roads nearby, and only ahandfulofpeoplewaitedtocheerhim outside the Vatican resi-dence, despite gloriously sunnyweekendweather.Awareofthelastingwoundsof

theabusecrisishere,Franciswasexpected to meet with victimsduring his 36-hour trip andwillhave “many opportunities” tospeakoutaboutabuse, theVati-can said. But neither Francis’words nor a new meeting with

Pope visits Irelandamid new globaloutrage over abuse

abusevictimsislikelytocalmtheoutrage among rank-and-fileCatholics followingnewrevela-tions of sexual misconduct andcover-upintheUnitedStates,anongoingcrisisinChileandprose-cutionsoftopclericsinAustraliaandFrance.Ireland has had one of the

worst records of abuse in theworld,crimesthatwererevealedtothedeeplyCatholicnation’s4.8millionpeoplethroughaseriesofgovernment-mandatedinquiriesoverthepastdecade.Thereviewsconcludedthatthousandsofchil-drenwere raped ormolested bypriestswhilebishopscoveredupforabusers.

n Pope Francis GETTY IMAGES

NEWS, VIEWS & ANALYSIS. SINCE 1924Stay updated with the latest news and happenings from around the world with Hindustan Times.www.hindustantimes.comwww.facebook.com/hindustantimeswww.twitter.com/htTweets

12 sport hindustantimes SUNDAY HINDUSTAN TIMES,RANCHIAUGUST 26, 2018

TotalBSG

Japan

South Korea

Iran

Indonesia

34

25

14

10

31

26

11

12

43

33

9

16

108

84

34

38

Country

China 71 49 29 149

India (9th) 6 5 17 28G-Gold S-Silver B-BronzeThemedals tallywas updated till 7 pmIST onDay 7 of competitions

medalstally

MORADIBREAKSOLDEST LIFTINGWORLDRECORDJAKARTA:SohrabMoradi of Iranbrokeweightlifting’s longeststandingworld record on hiswayto gold in themen’s 94kg class atthe Asian Games on Saturday.Moradi hoisted 189kg in thecompetition’s opening disciplineto better the snatch record set at188kg in 1999 byGreece’s AkakiosKakiasvilis.Moradi nowhas acomplete set of 94kgworldrecords thatwill remain on thebooks forever. After the AsianGames all the sport’sweightclasseswill change ahead of theOlympic qualifying cycle begin-ning at November’sWorldChampionships.Moradi alreadyowned themarks for the cleanand jerk (233kg) and totalweight(417kg) in themen’s light heavy-weight division.

Bahrain complain as Inouewinsmarathon for JapanJAKARTA: Hiroto Inouewon theAsian Gamesmen’smarathon in acontroversial sprint finish onSaturday,with Bahrain laterlodging a complaint to raceofficials, accusing the Japaneserunner of barging second-placefinisher Elhassan Elabbassi. Inouewasmarginally ahead in the final100metreswhen theMoroccan-born Elabbassi tried to overtakethe Japanese on the inside of thestadium track but the duomadecontactwith the Bahraini stum-bling slightly and losing groundto his rival. “We have lodged acomplaintwith the race officials,”Bahrain’s chef demissionMoham-medBader told Reuters. “Ourathletewould have easilywonthe race. The Japanese athletekept blocking him. Everyone sawthat.”

Unified Korea teamwinsAsian Games bronzePALEMBANG: AUnified Koreateam featuring athletes fromNorth and South Koreawondragon boat bronze for their firstmedal at the Asian Games onSaturday. The highly symbolicall-Korean team, competingtogether after a rapid improve-ment in cross-border relations,came in behind China and hostsIndonesia in Palembang. The twoKoreas have also joined forces inrowing at the regional Olympicsaswell aswomen’s basketball, inwhich they lie second in theirgroup after threewins out of four.

Istomin pockets Asian gold,flies to USOpenJAKARTA: Uzbekistan’s DenisIstomin scoopedAsianGamestennis gold in Indonesia onSaturday before jumping on aflight round theworld to competein theUSOpen. Istomin, 31, camefrombehind to beat China’sreigningUSOpen boys’ cham-pion, 18-year-oldWuYibing, on atie-break,winning 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(7/2) in Palembang. Istomin had aflight booked Saturday afternoonto the States via Jakarta andIstanbul, a journey of 27 hours.

n Sohrab Moradi broke a 19year record on Saturday. AP

tracker

through.”In the semi-finals, theywona

tensetie-breakeragainstJapan’sUesugiKandShimabukuroS4-6,6-3, 10-8 and cleverly switchedsidestorattle theiropponents.“Wewantedtobreaktheirpat-

tern. That helps. When you areable to adapt and play, it’s a bigpositive.CredittoDivijashesaid‘let’sdoit’andwegaveitashot.Itwas the rightmove at that timeanditworked,”hesaid.

MESSAGETOCOORGWhile he was giving his all oncourt,Bopannawasintouchwith

familyandfriends inCoorg, try-ingtoarrangeforwhateverhelphecould.“A lot of emotionsweregoing

through when I stood on thepodiumandthenationalanthemplayed. I feltmore thanwinninggolditwouldsendapositivemes-sagetopeople inCoorg.“Ihavebeentalkingtomypar-

ents, friends and seen so manypeoplegoingthroughhardtimes.Idedicatethismedaltothemandall thosewhoaregivingsupportandfightingthroughthiscalam-ity,” said Bopanna as he left forhisnextassignmentUSOpen.

PAVITRAINLASTEIGHTJAKARTA: Pavitra registered acomprehensive win over Paki-stan’sRukhsanaPerveentopro-ceed to the quarterfinals ofwomen’s 60 kgweight categoryonSaturday.Pavitradominatedthe bout that saw the scorelinereading 10-8 in her favour afterthe refereeswere forced to stopthecompetitionevenbefore theopeningroundended.

SAYALIOUTOFDANGERPALEMBANG: Rower Sayali She-lakewill have to stay in Palem-bang for another seven daysafter undergoing an operationfor intestinalblockage.ShelakewashospitalisedonFridayaftershe complained of pain in theabdomen.“She isoutofdanger.She got operated in the nick oftime else it could have beenworse.Shewillbehereforsevendays. Two officials will be withheratall times,” anofficialsaid.

n Rohan Bopanna (left) and Divij Sharan faced a tight contest in the semifinals on their way to the Asian Games gold medal. REUTERS

AvishekRoyn [email protected]

NEWDELHI: Rohan Bopanna hasbeen on a roller-coaster ride inrecent weeks. First, a shoulderinjury threatened his AsianGamesdreamsandthenfloodsinhishometownCoorg(ontheKer-ala-Karnataka border) added tohisdistress.OnthepodiumafterwinningtheAsianGamesmen’sdoubles goldwithDivij Sharan,Bopannawas sombre. The cele-brations were muted as histhoughtswerewiththoseaffectedbythefloods.The 38-year-old pushed back

emotionsashepartneredDivijtoclinch gold. The duo was giventop billing but it was anythingother than a smooth sail. Thereweremomentswhentheyhadtodigdeepbuteachtimetheyfoundawayout.“Towingoldforyourcountry,

it’safeelingyoucan’tdescribeinwords. For us, it was a first andthat made it special,” saidBopanna as he dedicated themedal tothefloodvictims.BeingIndia’stop-rankedplay-

ers on the ATP doubles charts,BopannaandDivijhadcommuni-cated to the selectors that theywould like to play together. Thefirst-timepairinggelledwellwithBopannaexpressingwillingnessto partner Divij whenever theopportunityarises,startingwiththeupcomingawayDavisCuptieagainstSerbia(14-16September).“If we are asked to play

together(inDavisCup),nothinglike it. We would love to playtogether whenever we get theopportunity.Wehavedonewelltogether, so why not? ” saidBopanna in an interview. “It isgood to play with someone youknowandarecomfortablewith.We kept on backing each otherthroughout theweek.”Bopanna was happy the way

they negotiated the tough quar-ter-final and semi-final beforeprevailing over Kazakhstan’sAleksandrBublikandDenisYev-seyevinthefinal.“These tough matches help

you understand each other’sgamesandgaveusconfidence.It

JAKARTA 20181 8 AUGUST - 2 SEPTEMBERasiangamee

‘WouldliketoplaywithDivijwheneverthereischance’PERFECT PARTNER Bopanna says it is good to play with someone he knows and is comfortable with

n Prajnesh Gunneswaran with his bronze medal on Saturday. PTI

SharadDeepn [email protected]

JAKARTA: Saina Nehwal and PVSindhu stormed into thewomen’s singles quarter-finalsafter notching wins in straightgames at theAsianGameshereonSaturday.Saina,bronzemed-allist at the 2012 London Olym-pics, routed Fitrani Fitrani ofIndonesia 21-6, 21-14 in just 33minutes, while Sindhu got thebetteroff another local challen-ger,TunjungGregoriaMariska,winning 21-12, 21-15 in 34 min-utes.Despiteapartisancrowdegg-

ing on home girl Fitrani, Sainaracedtoaconvincing11-5leadatthe break, before capturing thenext 10 points with ease. SainafoundWorld No 40 Fitrani in adifferentmodeatthestartof thesecondgameandhadtosweattostage a comeback,managing tolevel 9-9after trailing4-8.Back-to-back points at this

juncture helped Saina breatheeasybeforestretchingherleadto15-11.

There was no looking backafterthatasSainaconcededonlyfivepointsbeforepocketing thegameandmatch.

FLYINGSTARTSindhu, World No 3 and RioOlympics silver medallist, toogot off to a flying start againstTunjung, takinga10-8 leadfirst,then 17-11, before finishing the

game at 12 in just 14 minutes.Things didn’t changemuch forTunjung in the next game asSindhu stretched her lead to18-15 before capturing the nextthreepoints inarow.

‘PLAYEDAGAINSTALL’“Crowdpressureisalwaysherewhen you play against hosts.Now, I am getting used to it as I

have played many big eventshere earlier,” said Saina afterherwin.“Conditionswerediffer-entwithastrongdrift in theair,but I remained focussed onmygameplan. I continued hittinglongralliesandmyrhythmwasreallygood today.“I had to play against all,

includingIndonesianfans,andIkept my calm. Every matchallowsyoulearnnewthingsandtoday I enjoyedmy goodmove-mentson thecourt,” sheadded.

SRIKANTHEXITSHOCKTheace shuttler also expressedsurprise at the early exit of topmen shuttlers like K SrikanthandHSPrannoyonFriday.“I wasn’t expecting it as Sri-

kanth likes to play fast,” sheremarked.Srikanth had been stunned

21-2319-21by28thrankedWongWingKiVincentofHongKongina tight second-round singlesencounteradayearlier.Hiscom-patriotHSPrannoywas beaten12-21 21-15 15-21 by Thailand’sKantaphonWangcharoen.

Saina, Sindhu cruise to quarter-finals

n Saina Nehwal. PTIn PV Sindhu. AP

ROUNDUP

HTC&Agenciesn [email protected]

NEW DELI/JAKARTA: India wereassured of twomoremedals onSaturday after the men’s teamand mixed team reached thesemi-finals in bridge, which ismakingadebut in theGames.BillionaireShivNadar’swife

andphilanthropistKiranNadarispartof thesix-membermixedbridge team that finished topaftersevenqualificationroundswitha total of 102.77points.The men’s team was placed

fourth with 162.61 points afterplaying13qualificationrounds.Indian mixed team will faceThailandinthesemi-finalwhilethemen’steamwilltakeonSing-apore in the last four stage onSunday.Boththelosingsemi-finalists

willwinabronze. India’ssuper-mixed team, however, failed toqualify for thesemi-finals.

India assured oftwo medals inbridge events

results

ARCHERYRecurvewomen’s teamquarterfinal: India lost toChinese Taipei 2-6Recurvemen’s teamquarterfinal: India lost toRepublic of Korea 1-5.

ATHLETICSMen’s high jumpqualification: ChethanBalasubramanya finished 5thin Group Bwith amark of 2.15,qualified for final.Men’s 400mqualification:MuhammedAnas Yahiyafinished 1st clocking 45.63,Arokiarajiv finished 8thclocking 46.82; both of themqualified for semi-finals.

BADMINTONMen’s doubles roundof 16:Chirag Shetty/SatwiksairajRankireddy lost to ChoiSolgyu /MinHyuk Kang ofRepublic of Korea 17-21, 21-19,17-21.Men’s doubles roundof 16:ManuAttri/ B Sumeeth Reddylost to Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen ofChina 13-21, 21-17, 23-25.Women’s singles roundof16: SainaNehwal beat Fitrianiof Indonesia 21-6, 21-14.Women’s singles roundof16: PV Sindhu beat GregoriaMariska Tunjung of Indonesia21-12, 21-15.Women’s doubles quarter-finals: Ashwini Ponnappa/NSikki Reddy lost to ChenQingchen/Jia Yifan of China11-21, 22-24.

BOWLINGMen’s teamof six block 1:India finished 13thwith 3876points.

BOXINGWomen’s light 60kg roundof 16: Pavitra beat RukhsanaPerveen of Pakistan 10-8.

BRIDGEMen’s teamqualificationround 13: India finished 4thwith 162.61 points.Mixed team roundrobin- round 7 India finished1stwith 172.56 points.Supermixed teamqualifi-cation round9: Indiafinished 8thwith 81.54 points.

SHOOTINGSkeetwomenqualificationday 1: Ganemat Sekhon (9th)Rashmi Rathore (10th)

ARCHERY9:20am: Compoundmen’s team1/8eliminations (India vQatar)12:10pm: Compoundwomen’steamquarterfinals (India v TBD)

ATHLETICS5:50pm:Men’s 10,000m (GovindanLakshmanan)9:00am:Women’s 400mhurdlesqualification (JaunaMurmu, AnuRaghvan)9:30am:Men’s 400mhurdlesqualification (Santhosh KumarTamilarasan, Dharun Ayyasamy)

BADMINTON11:30am:Women’s singles quarter-final (SainaNehwal v RatchanokIntanon of Thailand)11:30am:Women’s singles quarter-finals (PV Sindhu vNitchaonJindapol of Thailand)

BOXING5:45pm:Men’s light 60kg round of16 (Shiva Thapa v Shan Jun ofChina)2:15pm:Men’sWelter 69kg roundof 16 (Manoj Kumar v Abdurakh-

manAbdurakhmanov of Kyrgyz-stan)3:00pm:Women’s fly 51kg round of16 (Sarjubala Devi vMadinaGhaforova of Tajikistan)

BRIDGE2:45pm:Men’s team semi-finals2:45pm:Mixed team semi-finals

CANOE/KAYAKSPRINT8:30am: Canoe TBR 500mwomenheats8:50am: Canoe TBR 500mmenheats

EQUESTRIAN11:30am: Eventing individualjumping final (FouaadMirza,Rakesh Kumar, AshishMalik and

Jitender Singh)11:30am: Eventing team jumpingfinal

GOLF4:30am:Women’s team round 34:30am:Women’s individual round3 (RidhimaDilawari, Sifat SagooandDikshaDagar)4:30am:Men’s team round 34:30am:Men’s individual round 3(Rayhan Thomas, Aadil Bedi,Naveed Kaul andMohan Singh)

HANDBALL9:30am:Men’smain round group 3match 7 (India v Chinese Taipei)

HOCKEY4:30pm:Men’s tournament Pool A(India v Republic of Korea)

SAILING10:30am: 49ermen race 6, 7, 8(Ashok Thakkar and K Chengappa)10:35am: 49er FXwomen race 6, 7, 8(arshaGauthamand ShwetaShervegar)10:35am: Laser Radial race 6, 7(Nethra Kumanan)10:40am:Open Laser 4.7 race 6, 7

(Harshita Tomar andGovindBairagi)10:40am:Mixed RSOne race 6, 7, 8

SEPAKTAKRAW8:30am:Men’s regu preliminary(India vMalaysia)2:30pm:Men’s regu preliminary(India v China)

SHOOTING6:30am: Skeetwomenqualificationday 2 (Rashmi Rathore andGanemat Sekhon)7:30am: Skeetmen qualificationday 2 (Angad Veer Singh Bajwaand Sheeraz Sheikh)NB: Finals of both eventswould beplayed on the sameday.

TABLE TENNIS8:30am:Women’s teamprelimi-nary round (India vQatar)12:30am:Women’s teamprelimi-nary round (India v China)4:30pm:Women’s teamprelimi-nary round (India v Iran)2:30pm:Men’s teampreliminaryround (India vUAE)6:30pm:Men’s teampreliminaryround (India v Chinese Taipei)

INDIANS IN ACTION TODAY

n Shiva Thapa PTI

butwhenyouareplayingforyourcountryyou forget about every-thing else. I was a match pointdown but kept fighting. I waswasting chances also. But thenrain cameand I got abreakof 30minutes which helped merecover.Not being able to recover

enough from those crampsmayhaveplayedafactorinhissemi-fi-nal loss. “Iwasdrainedoutafterthewininthequarter-finalsandDenis Istomin was at his best,”saidPrajnesh.Prajnesh said he has not set

anygoalsbutwantstokeepmov-ing forward. “I am happy thatfinally everything is falling inplace in my career. I have notbeen able to play full seasonsbecause of injury but now I amabletodothat.Ineedtojustkeepmovingforwardandgoashighaspossible inrankings.“I likeplayingforthecountry

becauseyougetsomuchmotiva-tion around. I guess it alwaysgives me that bit of energy tofight.Herealsotheteamwasegg-ing me on and I was riding ontheirenergy.”


NEWDELHI: At 28, PrajneshGun-neswaran is only getting better.Frombeingamere journeymanin Indian tennis, the Chennaiplayerhassuddenlypitchedhim-selfasoneofthehottestprospectin men’s singles. The recentmonthshavebeennothingshortofadreamsojournforhimanditcontinuedwhen he climbed thepodiumwith a bronze medal inPalembangonSaturday.A stunning performance in

Davis Cup in China, beatingworldNo.28DenisShapovalovinMercedes Cup in Stuttgart andreachingacareer-highof152,theleft-hander is enjoying hismomentunderthesun.HecouldnotplayintheUSOpenqualifiersas dates clashed with AsianGames but Prajnesh has noregrets.“Iamveryhappytowinamedal for the country. I neverthought Iwould participate in amulti-disciplinary event andreturnwithamedalforthecoun-try,”hesaid.In fact, Prajnesh was India’s

No.2playerinthesinglescompe-tition and after the early exit ofRamanathan Ramkumar, pres-surewas onhim.He played twolong matches and fought backSoonwooKwonofSouthKoreainamarathonthree-hourmatchinthequarter-finals.“Thequarter-finalcouldhave

gone eitherwayand Iwasbadlycramped. The weather is suchthat it was difficult on the court

Prajnesh continueshis dream journeywith bronzemedal

ASTUNNINGDAVIS CUPVSCHINA, BEATINGNO.28 SHAPOVALOVANDREACHINGACAREERHIGHRANKINGOF 152,HASBEENPRAJNESH’SHIGHLIGHT THIS SEASON

SharadDeepn [email protected]

JAKARTA: Indian squash playerson Saturday celebrated theirbest-ever haul in singles at theAsian Games, bagging threebronze medals, at the GBKSquash Stadium here. DipikaPallikal Karthik and JoshnaPonappa(women’ssingles)andSaurav Ghosal (men’s singles)baggedabronzemedal each.Had Ghosal not lost control

overhissemi-finalagainstMingChunofHongKong, Indiacouldhavesealedevenasilvermedal.Indiawonfourmedalsinthe2014Incheon Asian Games: men’steam gold, silver in women’steam,silverinmen’ssinglesandbronze inwomen’s singles.Dipika, bronze medallist in

2014,was the first to exit, losing7-11,9-11,6-11tofour-timeAsianGames gold medallist anddefendingchampionNicolDavidofMalaysia.ShewasfollowedbyJoshna,whowentdownfighting10-12, 6-11, 11-9, 7-11 to heryounger Malaysian opponentSivasangariSubramaniam.However, the day’s biggest

disappointmentcamefromSau-rav, who squandered a 2-0 leadagainst Chun. The scoreline12-10, 13-11, 6-11, 5-11 and 6-11 isenough to let one understandhowSauravmissedafinalberthina thriller.

Squash trio returnswith best-ever haul

n Dipika Pallikal competes against Nicol David on Saturday. PTI

› I am hopeful that wewould be doing ourbest in team event. I triedmy best to challenge Nicol,but things didn’t happen aspermywish.DIPIKAPALLIKAL, squashmedallist

preparedusforthefinal.Divijhashad a goodyear.He is a positiveperson on court. The format ofno-ad scoring and super-tiebreaksmakethingsunpredicta-

› If we (me andDivijSharan) are asked toplay together (in DavisCup), nothing like it.Wehave donewell together.

ble.Weplayedacoupleof teamsin theChallengers andATPcir-cuit, so it was never going to beeasy.Butwefocusedononeoppo-nent and their style and came

›Weplayed a coupleof teams in theChallengers and the ATPcircuit, so it was nevergoing to be easy.

bopannasays

SUNDAY HINDUSTAN TIMES, RANCHIAUGUST 26, 2018 hindustantimes sport 13

AjaiMasandn [email protected]

PALEMBANG:Indiamayhavewonnine medals at the PalembangComplex shooting ranges, butpistolkingJaspalRanafeelstheycouldhavewonmanymorehadanother Indian great AbhinavBindrahad “donehis bit”whenhe was International ShootingSport Federation’s (ISSF) Ath-letes’Committeechairmanfrom2014till 2018.“We were the people who

elected him. Indian shooters,coaches and officials, whowerepartofthecontingentfortheISSFWorld Championships in Gra-nada, Spain, in September 2014,votedforBindrabecausehewasafellowshooter.Butheremovedsomekey shooting events, suchasfreepistoland50mrifleproneamongothers,whereour shoot-ers were really, really strong.Bindra headed the seven-mem-ber Athletes’ Commission forfour years and now has beennominated in the InternationalOlympicCommittee’s(IOC)Ath-letes’Commission.Whenhewasthe ISSF Athletes’ Commissionchairman,hecouldhaveatleastasked themembers in the com-mission tokeep freepistol in themix. There was no oppositionfromtheIndianside(Bindra)andtherevisedlistofshootingeventswascleared.Wecouldeasilyhavewon 13-14medals in shooting atthe Asian Games here had freepistol and 50m rifle prone beenthere,”saidJaspal.Bindra,the2008BeijingOlym-

picsgoldmedallist,counteredtheallegation,saying,“Anyonewhounderstands the matter knowsthatthiswasnotapersonaldeci-sion. Mr Rana must look at theholistic picture andnot basehisthinking on emotions and hisrelationship with industry. WehavetoremainpartoftheOlym-picMovementandeveryinterna-tionalfederationhashadtoalterits programme. The NationalRifleAssociationofIndia(NRAI)president also sits on the execu-tive board of the ISSF. The deci-sion was thoughtful, whichinvolved a thorough process.ISSF’s decision was completelyvalidatedwhen the IOC’s event-based analysis ranked thedroppedeventslastamongshoot-ingsports,”addedBindra.“Also,thiswasaunanimousdecisionof

Ranahits out for ‘wrongdecisions’, Bindra defends

WHAT JASPAL RANA SAYS

›Bindra removed some key shootingevents, such as free pistol and50m rifle prone among others,where our shooters were really,really strong.

›Why didn’t Bindra think about freepistol — a slightly more expensivesport than air pistol as live .22cartridges are used — as it is aspopular in India as air pistol?

boththeISSFadmincouncilandexecutivecommittee.Anextraor-dinary general assembly wascalled for,which all federationsattendedandthematterwasdis-cussedandvotedonbyallmem-berfederationsofISSF.Thevotewas completely in favour ofchanges. If therewas a problemwiththeISSFdecision,MrRanashouldhavemadesuretheNRAIbroughtitupattherightforum.”On the issue of certainmixed

team events being included tobring gender equality as man-datedbytheIOC,Jaspal,winneroffourAsianGamesgoldmedals,said, “This talk about bringinggender equality in the OlympicMovementisjustfine,butatleastathoughtshouldhavebeengiventowhateventswerebeingadded,retainedorremoved.Theairpis-tol event has always been thereandtheyaddedamixedteamairpistoleventforgenderequalityinthecurriculum,whichIfeelwas

wrong. Why didn’t he (Bindra)think about free pistol — aslightly more expensive sportthan air pistol as live .22 car-tridgesareused—asitisaspopu-lar in Indiaasair pistol?Wehadsuch a greatmix of players likeJituRai,PNPrakashandAman-preet Singh in 50m pistol andtoday they are not part of theAsian Games contingent onlybecauseofonewrongdecision(ofthe ISSF). The event that couldhave been axed was 50m riflethree-position, an expensivesport. I’ve seen three-positionshooters coming for nationalleveleventsinbusesandsecond-classrailwaycompartmentsjusttosavemoneytobuyequipment.The50mproneeventcouldhavebeenretainedandthree-positionremovedfrominternationalcur-riculum.Thereversehappened.Whenwe all voted forAbhinav,we didn’t know this would hap-pen,”concludedJaspal.

›Ranamust look at the holisticpicture and not base his thinkingon emotions and his relationship withindustry.

›The votewas completely in favourof changes. If there was a problemwith the ISSF decision, Mr Rana shouldhavemade sure the NRAI brought it up

at the right forum.

WHAT ABHINAVBINDRASAYS

AjaiMasandn [email protected]

PALEMBANG:Beforeyoustopyourchild fromplayingvideo gamesor‘shootinggames’,whichtestaplayer’sspeedandreactiontime,be warned. The kid might justemergeasthecountry’stopshot-gunshooter,withtherightkindofguidanceand training.TheIndianteam’sseniorshot-

guncoach,MansherSingh,sayshehasneverstoppedhiswards-many of them in their teens -from playing video games asthey“reducethereactiontime”duringactual competition.“But I always draw a line. I

don’t want to see those gizmosafter 10:00 pm. That’s the timemywardsshouldbeinbed,”saysMansher whose trainees - trapshooter Lakshay Sheoran (19)and double trap marksmanShardul Vihan (15) - won silvermedals at the Asian Games, aunique achievement, consider-ing that till the last Games atIncheon in 2014, only the oldguardswereholdingcentrestagein thediscipline.The other day when Vihan,

fromMeerut, saidhis favouritepastime was playing PUBG(PlayerUnknown’s Battle-grounds, anonlinemultiplayergame), after clinching silver indouble trap, a few faces in themediagroupwereleftconfused.That,perhaps,wasthesecret

tohisquickreactiontimeincom-petition and also the killerinstinct. “In video games, he isconstantly trying to beat some-one, so he brings that mindsetinto competition. For him, it’scooltobeatsomeone.Forhimit’snotaboutmoney... thathe’ll getaprize-moneyofRs1-2crore.Heis too young to think aboutmoney,” saysMansher.Mansher, who has won the

national trap title more than adozen times, is recipient of theArjunaAwardsandhasclinchedtheCommonwealthGamesgoldin1994atVictoria,says,regularinvolvement and interactionwith thosewhohavewon inter-

nationalmedals has helped thejuniorimmensely.“Infactthat’sbecomethenorm.Juniorshoot-ers are being trained by ‘iconicchampions’ and that, in turn, isgiving them the motivation towin,toperformaswell,orbetter,thantheir idols,”saysMansher.The second-most important

factorhesays is theavailabilityof guns and ammunition. “A12-year-old who achieves a‘renowned shot’ score becomeseligible to import a gun andammunition.And,withintwotothree years, he makes it to thenational junior or senior squadandstartscontestingformedalsat the international events,”says thesenior teamcoach.Forhim,anotherkeyingredi-

enttoproducingchampionsisto

trainthemwiththeseniorteam.“The juniorswhomake it to thenationalsquadmustcompeteatthe senior level. That is some-thing I have enforced since thejunior training programme forshotgun shooting came intobeing in2014,”hesaid.ForMansher,who competed

inhis firstOlympicGames(1984Los Angeles) as an 18-year-old

and whose last quadrennialgames were the 2008 BeijingOlympics,saysthatbeingabletounderstand theyoungshooterscoming from humble back-grounds,andwithlimitedexpo-sure, is what’s making Indiancoaches sosuccessful.“Foreigncoachesarenotable

to fill thatpart.They(kids)needto beprotected in order to build

their self-confidence. I cannotthrow a shooter who is from aruralbackgroundandwithverylimitedexposuretotheworldtogoandtrainwithaforeigncoach.“The way these children are

broughtupinIndia, it’smoreofahands-onapproachofparents. Itry to simulate that samehands-on relationshipwith thekids,theirlikesanddislikes.Theother day Shardul wanted tohave baked beans for dinner. Itook him out so that he couldhavehis fill.“Kids will be kids and a for-

eign coachwill not understandthat.Youhavetotreatthemlikechildren,yetgivethemtheapti-tudeofanOlympic-levelathlete,that’swhatwewanttoachieve,”concludesMansher.

ASIANGAMES JAKARTA 2018

VideogameshelpingyoungshootersmastertheircraftCOACH’S ADVICEMansher Singh feels it helps in reducing reaction time but there should be a limit

›The kids need to be protected inorder to build their selfconfidence.I cannot throw a shooter who is from arural background to theworld to go andtrain with a foreign coach.MANSHER SINGH, Indian team’s shotgun coach

n Coached by Mansher Singh, Indian shooter Shardul Vihan won a silver in men's double trap in Palembang on Thursday. PTI

Ajai Masandn [email protected]

PALEMBANG: Indian shootingcoaches feel theyarenotgettingthe importance due to themfrom the government and areopen to the ideaof shiftingbaseto other countries “who valuethem”.MansherSingh, senior shot-

guncoachwith themen’s team,said on Saturday that after theamazingperformanceof Indianshooters in top internationalcompetitions, a lot of officialsand managers from variouscountries were approachingIndian coaches for guidance.

RECOGNISEEFFORTS“Some say they want to sendtheirshooters to India for train-ing, while others want to hireIndian coaches.“I personally have got offers

fromquite a fewcountries dur-ing the course of the AsianGames. It is timefor thegovern-ment to recognise our efforts;(comparedto) thekindofmoneybeing paid to foreign coaches, Ifeel we are doing selfless ser-vice,” saidMansher.“I’m sure, former shooters

like Suma Shirur, Jaspal Ranaandmanymorewouldhavegotmany offers, especially Sumawho is a terrific rifle coach,”saidMansher, adding, “finally,

the lureofmoneywill comeintoplayandmanyofusmightwellstart coaching squads of othercountries. But we don’t enter-tain those thoughtsasourcom-mitment is to the country.”Kabaddi coachShailajaJain

spentmorethan30yearscoach-ing children in Maharashtra,but had to leave the country infrustrationafternotbeinggiventheopportunityto leadtheIndiateam.Shailaja plotted a coup of

sortswhentheIranianwomen’steamshecoacheddefeatedIndiafor the first time in the AsianGameskabaddi final.Perhaps, it’s timeforthepow-

ers thatbe togivewhat’s due toIndian shooting coaches.

Pay usmore or we leave:Indian shooting coaches

n Suma Shirur has become a good rifle coach, says Mansher. GETTY

PressTrust of Indian [email protected]

PALEMBANG:Indianathletesareyettogettheirdailyallowanceof$50perdayeventhoughtheircompe-titionat theAsianGamesdrawstoanendatthisvenue,anofficialof thecontingenthasconceded.Palembang is co-hosting the

Gameswith Jakarta and sportsliketennisandshootingarebeingcompetedhere.The Indian participation in

tennisisalreadyoverandshoot-ingwillendonSunday.Athletesofthesemajorsports,whichhavegivenIndia threegoldmedalssofar,areyet toget theirdue.Mosttennisplayersandshoot-

ers have already departed fortheirnextassignment.Shooters are headed for the

WorldChampionshipsinChang-

won while some tennis playersincludingdoublesgoldmedallistsRohanBopannaandDivijSharanwillbecompetingattheUSOpeninNewYork.

NOMONEYLOADEDINFOREXCARDAll athletes have been given aforex card but themoney is notloadedinityet.BSKushwaha,deputychefde

missionfromtheIndianOlympicAssociation (IOA),saidthatforex

cardswillbeactivatedsoon.“Thecardsaretobeactivated

fromNewDelhi,nothere.IaminconstanttouchwiththeIOAoffi-cialsinNewDelhiandtheysaiditwillbedonesoon.Itcouldbedoneby Saturday evening,” Kush-wahasaid.Theallowanceissanctionedby

the sports ministry but it is theIOAwhich is inchargeofensur-ing the athletes get the dailyallowance.Whilethedelaydoesn’timpact

theseniorplayersmuch,thejun-iorathletesare left inthe lurch.“Everythingistakencareofin

theGamesVillage but there aretimes you need the money. Mypointisthatifyouhavetogivethemoneyanyway,whynot do it atthestartofthetournament?Mostofthetennisplayersaregone,sowhat is thepoint if they load the

cardnow,”anIndianathletesaidonconditionofanonymity.Ateamofficialfromtheshoot-

ingcontingentsaidtherewasnodelayduringtheCommonwealthGamesinGoldCoastbuttheyareawaitingtheallowancethistime.“Weare toldwewouldbeget-

tingitbytonight.Butobviously,itisbetterifwegetitatthestartoftheeventoreveninthemiddleofthe competition. Right now, wearenearingtheend,”saidtheoffi-cial.Kushwaha pointed out that

sometimesincorrectinformationof theathletemightcausedelay.“Sometimes, the passport

numbers they send could bewrong,orsomeothererrorinfill-inguptheformthatcancausethedelay. Anyway, the officials inDelhi are on it and it should bedonesoon,”hesaid.

Indian athletes yet to get daily allowanceTHEALLOWANCE ISSANCTIONEDBY THESPORTSMINISTRYBUTTHE IOA IS IN CHARGEOFENSURINGATHLETESGETDAILY ALLOWANCE


JAKARTA: The Indian recurvearchers will return empty-handed from the 18th AsianGames with both the men andwomen’s sides crashing out inthe teamquarterfinals here onSaturday.After witnessing a disap-

pointingcampaigninindividualrecurveevents, theonuswasonthemen’sandwomen’steamstomake up for the poor show buttheywerenot able to.Thewomen’s team lost 2-6 to

Chinese Taipei. India, repre-sented by Ankita Bhakat, Pro-mila Daimary and DeepikaKumari, lost 0-2, 0-2, 2-0, 0-2against the trio of Chien-YingLei,Chia-MaoPengandYatingTan to bow out. They haddefeatedMongolia5-3 inthepre-vious round.Itwasa similar script for the

menastheylost1-5 to favouritesKorea. The team of JagdishChoudhary,AtanuDasandVis-wasstartedbrightly tohold theKorean trio of Woojin Kim,Wooseok Lee and Jinhyek Oh1-1 in the first set before theKoreans upped their ante topocket the next two sets withidentical 2-0 margin and enterthe semis. The Indianmen hadbeatenVietnam5-3 intheprevi-ous round.

Indian recurvearchers returnemptyhanded

PALEMBANG:Agold-med-allist at theCommon-wealthGames, 15-year-old IndianshooterAnishBhanwalapro-ducedabelow-parper-formance to finishwith-outamedal in themen’s25mrapid fireairpistolevent.Bhanwala fin-ishedninthoverallwith576.Another Indian inthe fray,ShivamShukla, ended11thwith569. PTI

BHANWALAFAILS TOWIN


POLLARD’S BLITZHELPSST LUCIADOWNWARRIORSMUMBAI:Kieron Pollard under-lined his prowess once again,scoring 30 runs off a DevendraBishoo over to take St Lucia Starsto a six-wicketwin over tabletoppers Guyana AmazonWarriorsin a Caribbean Premier League(CPL)match. Chasing 141, theStars, who are currently at thebottomof the table, seemed tolosemomentum in themiddleovers and needed 31 off the last 18balls. Captain Pollard sealed thematch in the 18th overwhen heslammedBishoo for three sixesand asmany fours to ensure histeam remained in the race for theplay-offs. He remained unbeatenon 41 off 18 balls.Brief scores:Guyana AmazonWarriors 140/9 in 20 overs (CDelport 25, L Ronchi 24; KWilliams2/23, OMcCoy 2/23) lost to StLucia Stars 141 for 4 in 18.1 overs (AFletcher 45, K Pollard 41*;VPermaul 2/20) by 6wickets.

Agarwal ton guides India Bto easywin over India ABENGALURU:Mayank Agarwalcontinued his formwith anotherton despite being ignored for theIndia team, to guide India B to acomfortable seven-wicketwinover India A in a quadrangularseries encounter here on Satur-day. Chasing amodest target of218,Mayank smashed 112 off 114ballswith 14 boundaries and threesixes to help India B romphome in41.1 overs. BesidesMayank,ShubmanGill scored 42,whileIshan Kishan and skipperManishPandeymade 25 and 21 respec-tively. Left-armpacer KhaleelAhmed (2/33) picked up twowickets for India A. Opting to bat,India Awilted againstMPrasidhKrishna’s (4/50) opening spell tobe bowled out for 217 in 49 overs.Ambati Rayudu top-scored forIndia Awith 48 off 75 balls.In anothermatch, Australia Adefeated South Africa A by 32runs in a high-scoring encounter.Electing to bat, Australia A rodeon Travis Head’s 110MarnusLabuschagne’s 65 to post animposing 322 for five. Besides theduo, D’Arcy Short (49) andMattRenshaw (42 not out) alsomadeuseful contributions. KhayaZondo’s 117went in vain as SouthAfrica fell short by 30 runs.

n Kieron Pollard scored 41 off18 balls. GETTY IMAGES

shortstories

todayontvASIANGAMES7.00am:Day 9; live onSony Ten 2&HD 2, SonyTen 3&HD 3

FOOTBALLPREMIER LEAGUE

6.00pm:Watford vCrystal Palace;8.30pm:Newcastle v Chelsea; liveon Star Sports Select 1 &SHD 1LA LIGA

1.45am (Monday):Girona v RealMadrid; liveon Sony Ten 1 &HD 1

MOTORSPORTFORMULA ONE

6.30pm:Belgian GrandPrix; live on Star SportsSelect 2 & SHD 2

For latest in sports, go towww.hindustantimes.com/sport-news

AgenceFrancePressen [email protected]

WOLVERHAMPTON: AymericLaporterescuedadrawforMan-chester City against newly-pro-motedWolvesonSaturdayasPepGuardiola’s teamdropped theirfirstpointsof theseason.Thereigningchampionswere

forcedtodigdeeptorescueapointon a day of mild controversy atMolineux,withLaporte’sheaderinthe69thminutecancellingoutWilly Boly’s opener 12 minutesearlier thatwent inoffhisarm.It appeared Wolves might

inflictafirstleaguedefeatonthePremierLeaguechampionssinceCity’sderbydefeattoManchesterUnitedinApril.The home side exposed some

chinksinCity’sarmourthatwilloffer a glimmer of encourage-ment to the rest of the PremierLeague.Nuno Espirito Santo’s men

weatheredintenseCitypressurebeforeclaimingasurprise lead.Andeven thoughCity shared

thepointsthankstoanemphaticheader by Laporte, the gamethrew up rare questions forGuardiolatoanswer.HavingstormedtothePremier

League title last season andstarted the new campaign inimpressive style, life has beenplainsailingformuchofthepast18monthsforGuardiola.In the absence of the injured

KevinDeBruyne, however, thecomposure his side so often dis-playinattackingareaswassome-times missing at Molineux,although they still createdenoughchancestoseeoffWolvescomfortably.Ofmoreconcern,perhaps,was

the lack of solidity in defence,where Vincent Kompany andLaporte at its heart looked farfromassuredasapartnership.

With John Stones left on thesubstitutes’ bench, there weresignsthatKompany’slackofpaceandLaporte’slackofexperiencecould be exposed, although theyoungFrenchman looked like aseasoned Premier League cam-paigner when he thunderedhometheheadertogivehissideapoint.

PATRICIOSAVEA first half in which Wolvesplayedtheirpartinanentertain-ingspectaclewasstill,inevitably,

dominatedbythereigningcham-pions,whostruckthewoodworktwice,oncewiththeaidofafabu-loussavefromRuiPatricio.TheWolvesandPortugalnum-

beronethrewhimselfhightohisleft to claw a long-range effortfrom Raheem Sterling onto thecrossbaron22minutes.ThatcameshortlyafterSergio

AguerohadstruckPatricio’sleft-hand upright with a snap-shotfromaKyleWalkercross.Thateffortcamefromabreak

that followed a disallowed goal

for Wolves, who had Raul Jim-enez flaggedoffside afterhehadtapped home a cross-shot byDiogoJota.Fernandinho fired narrowly

wide for City and Ruben NevesdidlikewiseforWolves,withBolymaking two fine challenges onAgueroastheopening45minutesfailedtoproduceagoal.It was unusual territory for

City, who then conceded a 57th-minute goal to add to their frus-trations. Joao Moutinho’s deli-ciouscrossfromtheleftskimmed

the head of Matt Doherty andfoundBoly,withtheball findingitswayintothebottomcornerviahisarm.Citybelievedtheopenermight have been ruled out foreither offside or handball andtheywerefurtheragitatedwhenDavidSilvawasdeniedapenaltyfor what he felt was a shove byDoherty. But they were rightbackinthegamewhenIlkayGun-dogandeliveredafree-kickfromtherightandLaporteleaptaboveBoly toheadhometheequaliserfromsixyards.

LaportesaveschampsCitytheblushesagainstWolvesPREMIER LEAGUE Defender’s goal cancels out Boly’s controversial opener for newlypromoted club

n Manchester City's Aymeric Laporte (left) tussles for possession with Wolverhampton’s Raul Jimenez on Saturday. REUTERS


MUMBAI: The fifth edition ofIndian Super League (ISL)willget underway with two-timechampionsATKtakingon two-timerunnersupKeralaBlastersat the Salt Lake Stadium inKolkata onSeptember 29.The ISL on Saturday

announced theschedule for the2018-19seasonuntil themid-sea-sonbreak inDecember.In total, 59 matches will be

played in 12 roundsduring thisperiod, a statement from theleague said.Theopeningmatchof thesea-

son would be a repeat of lastyear. However, this time ATKwill play their rivals fromKer-ala at home rather than travel-ling to Kochi like they did lastyear.Last season’s runners-up,

Bengaluru FC, will have anopportunity to avenge their

defeat in the final when theyhost defending champions andtwo-time winners ChennaiyinFC ina superSundaymatchonSeptember 30.NorthEast United FC begin

their campaignagainstFCGoain Guwahati on October 1whereasMumbaiCityhostJam-shedpur FC in their seasonopener onOctober 2.Delhi Dynamos’ campaign

startsathomeagainstFCPuneCityonOctober3.KeralaBlast-ersandBengaluruFCsquareoffforthefirst timeintheseasononNovember 5.The 2018-19 seasonwill have

threebreaks, two forFIFAwin-dows (8 -16 October and 12-20November), and one, startingfrom17DecemberfortheIndianteam’spreparatorycampaheadof theAFCAsianCup inUAE.All gameswill kickoff at 7:30

pmwith the league deciding todispense with double headersonweekends this season.

ISL to kick offwith Blasters,ATK encounter

htsportsmax I WON THE US OPEN FIVE TIMES SO I STAND HERE PRETTY HAPPY.IT’S NOT LIKE, GOD, THE US OPEN NEVER WORKED OUT FOR ME.

>ROGERFEDERER, onexpectations aheadof theUSOpen


PARAMUS(US): India golfer Anir-ban Lahiri made the cut on theline after producing a secondsuccessive 71 in the secondround of the Northern TrustChampionships, the first eventon theFedExCupplay-offs.Lahiripickedupthreebirdies

againstasmanybogeys-- includ-ingoneat the18thhole -- to lieatTied67th, slipping sevenplacesfrom the first round. TigerWoods (71) also shot a secondsuccessive even par round tostayaroundforweekendaction.Ridinghighontwomajortro-

phies this season, BrooksKoepkaplayeda stunningbackninetoshootsix-under65andgotto 10-under to join Jamie Love-mark (66) who is winless in 135startsonPGATour.Lovemarkhadfivebirdiesina

six-holestretcharoundtheturn.Koepka,whohasthreeMajors

and just one regular PGATour

win,haspreparedfortheFedEx-CupPlayoffslikemajorsbyrent-ingahouseandbringinghisownchef, trainerandregularcrew.Lahiri had a fine start with

three birdies in four holesbetweenfourthandseventh,butcouldnotbuildonit.Lahirihit10of14fairwaysand11of18greensinregulation.Woodshit theballbeautifully

and had a birdie putt on everyhole until the par-3 15th, whenhis tee shot went off the greenagainstthecollarandhefinishedwithathree-puttbogeyfromjustinside30 feet on18th.

PGA TOUR

Lahiri makes cut,Koepka in joint lead

n Anirban Lahiri. AFP


SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS,BELGIUM: Fer-rari’sSebastianVettelclosedoutBelgianGrandPrixpracticewiththefastestlaponSaturdayaheadof team-mateKimiRaikkonen.Championship leader Lewis

Hamiltonwasthirdquickest forMercedes, 0.137 slower than hisGermanrival’sbestofoneminute42.661 seconds in the third andfinalsession,onanovercastanddampmorning in theArdennesforests.Hamilton,lastyear’swinnerin

Belgium,is24pointsclearofVet-telwithnineracesremainingbuttheFerrarislookstrongandhaveledeverysinglepractice--VettelthefirstonFridayandRaikkonenthesecond.Stoffel Vandoorne provided

themain talking point, the Bel-gianblamingValtteriBottas foran incident that squeezed theMcLarenontowetgrassbeforeitspunacrossthetrackandintothebarriers.

Vettel completesFerrari sweep ofBelgian practice


BERLIN: Champions BayernMunich scored twice in the lasteight minutes to beat visitingHoffenheim3-1intheBundesligapremiere on Friday and handnewcoachNikoKovacawinningleaguedebut.ThomasMuellerputthehosts

aheadwithaglancingheaderinthe23rdminutebutAdamSzalailevelled with a fine low shot inthe 57th for fellow ChampionsLeagueclubHoffenheim.BayernstrikerRobertLewan-

dowskinettedacontroversiallyawarded penalty in the 82ndminute,afterhehadtoretakehisspot kick, and Arjen Robbenfiredinthethirdgoal fromcloserangeinthe90thasHoffenheimranoutof steam.

LOPETEGUIUNSUREMADRID:RealMadridcoachJulenLopeteguihascastdoubton thefeasibility of La Liga’s plans tostageagameintheUnitedStatesthis season.The Spanish football league

hassigneda15-yearpartnershipwithReleventSportsthatwill, intheory, see a regular seasongame played in the U.S. amongotherpartnerships.Themovedrewcriticismfrom

theSpanishFAandtheSpanishFootballer’sUnion,withthecap-tainsofallclubsinthecountry’stop division, unanimouslyagreeing that theywouldnotbewilling to take part in such agame.“We’re obviously thinking

aboutotherthings,butI’veseenthis and I’mwith theplayersonthisone,”Lopetegui said.

SABIARE-SIGNSCHENNAI:BraziliandefenderEli Sabia has rejoinedIndian Super Leaguechampions ChennaiyinFC on a one-year con-tract. The 29-year oldcentre-back makes acomebackto theclub,hav-ingmade11appearancesforit in ISL2016 .“Iamveryhappytoreturnto

Chennaiyin FC. I always felt athomeduringmy first stintwiththe club, and I am looking for-wardtoworkingwithJohn(Gre-gory)andmyteammates,”Sabiasaid.

SHORT PASSES

CONTROVERSIALGOAL SECURESBAYERN’S WIN INSEASON OPENER


NEWYORK:RogerFedererheadstotheU.S.Openas third favouritebehind longtime rivals NovakDjokovicandRafaelNadalaftera season that has nose-divedsince he won the AustralianOpenat thestartof theyear.This time last year, Federer

was the pundits’ pick to claimathirdGrandSlamtitleof 2017 inNew York, after roaring backfrom a season decimated byinjury to win the AustralianOpenandWimbledon.HisrunatFlushingMeadows

was ended by Juan Martin delPotro in the quarter-finals, butFederer appeared to have putthat defeat behind him as heclaimed his 20th career GrandSlamtitle in style inMelbourneinJanuary.By July, however, that early

optimism had faded followingFederer’s defeat by KevinAnderson in the Wimbledonquarter-finals.Thelosswasevenmoreshock-

ingbecauseofthewayinwhichit

cameabout,withtheworldnum-ber two surrendering a two-setleadandatalosstoexplainwhathadgonewrong.Intruth,thefirstsignsthatall

was not well with the Swissemerged before Wimbledonstarted.Fourmonthsearlier,Federer

reachedthefinalatIndianWellswhere he was beaten by DelPotro, failingtoconvertamatchpointbeforelosinginthreesets.The pattern was repeated

againstBornaCoric intheHallefinal, and Federer headed toWimbledon with those twodefeats weighing on his mindbefore again losing from awin-ningpositionat theAllEnglandClub.

CATSUIT BANNEDPARIS: Serena Williams will bebannedfromwearingher‘BlackPanther’ catsuit again at theFrenchOpen after RolandGar-roschiefsdescribedtheoutfitas“going too far”.The 36-year-old American

star stunned Paris this year inher body-hugging outfit which

she said was inspired by the‘Black Panther’ movie andmade her feel like a ‘warriorprincess’.As well as describing it as

“funandfunctional”,Williamsinsisted it helped her prevent areturn of the blood clots whichputherlife indangeraftergiv-ingbirth lastyear.However, the French

Tennis Federation (FFT)insist that the outfit oranything simi-larly eye-catchingwillnot be wel-c ome a tRolandGarrosin2019.“Ireallybelieve

that sometimes wehavegonetoofar,”FFTpresident Bernard Giudicellisaid in remarks reported byFrenchmedia.“The outfit of Serena this

year, for example, will nolongerbeaccepted.Youhavetorespectthegameandtheplace.Everyonewants to enjoy theshowcase.”

TENN IS BAG

n Roger Federerlast won theUS Open in2008. AFP

Federer third favourite atUSOpen

Sept 29:ATK v Kerala BlastersVivekananda Yuba Bharti Kriran-gan, KolkataSept 30:Bengaluru FC v Chen-naiyin FC Sree Kanteerva Stadium,BengaluruOct 6: Chennaiyin FC v FCGoaJawaharlal Nehru Stadium,ChennaiOct 7:Bengaluru FC v Jamshed-pur FC Sree Kanteerva Stadium,BengaluruOct 17:Delhi Dynamos FC v ATKJawaharlal Nehru Stadium,ChennaiOct 19:Mumbai City FC v FC PuneCityMumbai Football Arena,MumbaiOct 31:Bengaluru FC v ATK SreeKanteerva Stadium, BengaluruNov5:Kerala Blasters v Benga-

luru FC Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium,KochiNov 11:Kerala Blasters v FCGoaJawaharlal Nehru Stadium, KochiNov 22: FCGoa v Bengaluru FCJawaharlal Nehru Stadium, GoaNov28:ATK v FCGoa Viveka-nanda Yuba Bharti Krirangan,KolkataNov29: Chennaiyin FC v KeralaBlasters Jawaharlal NehruStadium, ChennaiDec 2: Chennaiyin FC v ATKJawaharlal Nehru Stadium,ChennaiDec 13:ATK v Bengaluru FCVivekananda Yuba Bharti Kriran-gan, KolkataDec 16:Mumbai City v KeralaBlasters FCMumbai FootballArena,Mumbai

KEYCLASHES

In the first Test at Edgbaston,Jenningswasonnineinthefirstinnings when Ishant Sharmadrewan edge.AjinkyaRahane,one of India’s safest pair ofhands,dived fromfourthslip infrontofthirdanddroppedit.Jen-ningswas finallyout for 42.England won by 31 runs on

Day4,andthemarginwasessen-tially the extra runs scored byJennings. But India were elec-tricinthecordonatTrentBridgein the remarkable comebackafter the demoralising show atLord’s.DebutantwicketkeeperRishabh Pant and KL Rahul atslip both snapped up sevencatches.

CONCERNEASEDIt eased India’s long standingconcerns, be it in last year’shomeseriesagainstSriLankaorinSouthAfrica.At Trent Bridge, edges kept

flyingtothesafehandsofRahuland Pant as pacers shared 19wickets. Rahul’s seven victimswere one short of Rahane’sworld record eight in a match,against Sri Lanka at Galle in2015.India had struggledwith slip

catchingforawhile. InthehomeseriesagainstSriLankain2017,

questionswereraisedaboutcon-stantshiftingofpersonnelintheslip cordon. More crucialcatcheswereputdowninSouthAfrica,where India lost 1-2.With the ball swinging in

England, slip catching is every-thing.ExpertsputEnglandwayaheadof Indiabefore theseries.But it isEnglandwhoare facingtheheat.Thebiggest let-offwasDawid

MalandroppingKohlioffJames

Anderson on 21 in Edgbaston,and the India skipper hit acareer-defining149.Kohliwasalsodroppedon51.

Catches didn’tmatter at Lord’sbutJennings,whohasdroppedafew suggesting low confidencelevels, let Kohli’s edge on 93 offAndersongothroughhishandsand legs at fourth slip. The vet-eranswingbowler,yet togethismain man this series, doubledover inagony.

At Trent Bridge, initiallyIndia’s slip fielders were seenstanding too close but not for-ward enough as lack of bounceon the pitch saw chances fallshort.Those concerns vanished as

adjustmentsweremade.RahanewasusedatslipwhenRAshwinbowledbutmovedtopoint,mid-wicketorcoverwhenthepacerscameonwithPujara,RahulandKohli takingover.

n KL Rahul (left) and Virat Kohli’s superb show in slips proved vital in India’s win at Trent Bridge. REUTERS

LONDON :The Trent Bridge winhashandedIndiathemomentumgoing into the break before theseriesagainstEnglandresumesatSouthamptonwiththefourthTest startingonThursday.India’s rejuvenated batting,

the new-found confidenceamongbatsmenand their focuson team requirement, and thebowlers’ consistency have putViratKohli’steamaheaddespiteJoe Root’s side leading 2-1 withtwomatches togo.Bothaspectshavebeenhighlypraised.However, it is the brilliant

catching in the cordon that hasgivenIndiathethirddimension,turning the tables on England.An area in which many criticsputIndiabelowEnglandhasnowleft the hosts under fire afterdropping14catches so far.England’s weakest link is

youngopenerKeatonJennings.His repeated early dismissalshave left him on the verge ofbeingaxedonceagain.Thestorycould have been very different.

HT@ENGLAND

N ANANTHANARAYANAN

Finally, India banish catching blues in style

RAHUL, PANTEXCELJoeRoot: England skippernicks Hardik Pandya’s first ballofmatch and KL Rahul cups hishands on the ground to take it.Catchwas confirmed aftermany TV replays. Englandcouldmanage just 161.Ollie Pope: The batsman nicksIshant Sharmadown the legand debutant Rishabh Pantsmoothlymoves to the leftand plucks a low, diving catch.In 2nd innings, Kohli on thirdslip flies in front of second totake edge offMohammedShami.

2018: At Edgbaston, the Indiacaptain, facing a superb spell fromJamesAnderson, nicks on 21. Theball goes straight toDawidMalanat third slip, but dropped. Itcomes after Kohli had scoredjust one edged four off 20balls byAnderson.

HOWKOHLIWAS LETOFF

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RANCHI, SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018, 6 PAGES I Entertainment & Promotional Features

RANCHI

SnehaMahadevan

Only four filmsold, actorKriti Sanonhas anexciting lineupof projects

this year. That includes— invarious stages of production—ArjunPatiala, Panipat,Housefull 4, and the recentlyannouncedLukaChuppi.Hectic asher days are,Kriti

is ecstatic to playvaried rolesinherupcomingprojects.Asource close toher reveals,“AfterBareillyKiBarfi (2017),inwhichKritiwas appreciatedforher performance, shehasbeengetting really interestingoffers. The roles that shehaspickedareverydifferent fromoneanother, and right now, she[is] hopping fromone film set toanother. Leavingno room forcompromise, she’sworkingdoublyhard tomeet thetimelines of her film-makers.”The source adds, “Kriti shot

for twoweeks inLondon forHousefull 4, [and then]reported straight to the sets ofLukaChuppi inGwalior (MP).”Onherback-to-back shoots,

and themental juggling thatrequires,Kriti says, “Theday Iwrapped shooting forHousefull4 inLondon, I immediatelystartedmyprep forLukaChuppi. I had takenmyscriptalong; I knew Iwouldn’t havetime to spare inbetween thetwo schedules.Having saidthat, I’mmost happywith allthat is happening. It’s anexciting time forme.”Kriti is also excited about

her first itemnumber inStree.In the song titled,AaoKabhiHaveli Pe, an out-and-outdancenumber, she ismatchingstepswithherBareillyKiBarfico-starRajkummarRao.n [email protected]

Always with a script in herbag, Kriti zips between sets

Actor KritiSanon isworking onfour films atthe sametime

///\

WE WISHOUR READERSA VERY HAPPYRAKSHA BANDHAN

it’s always a rager! She getsmeinstinctively andweendupsharing our thoughts, ideasanddilemmaswith eachother.I’mreally lucky tohave suchabeautiful, funand smart sister.

One areawhere you’re poles apartand one thing that you bond overthemost?Sonam:Harsh is a lotmorerational than I am. I’ma lotmore emotional and sensitive.Food, fashionand films arewhatwebondover themost.Harsh:We’re pretty similar inour likes anddislikes, ourchoices andviewpoints abouteverything, butwediffer in oursartorial choices. She’s veryedgyandavant-garde,whileI’mmore of a classics guy.

Do you confide in each other aboutfriends, relationships, or wheneveryou need any advice?Sonam:Rhea,Harshand I areall fiercely independent.However,wedo confide in eachother, especially on importantdecisions, bothpersonal andprofessional.Wenever imposeourviewson eachother, butwe’re definitely there for oneanother.Harsh:Most of the times, I do.She’s anamazing listener.Heradvicehas evengotmeout of alot of trouble onmultipleoccasions.n [email protected]

Left: Harshvardhan Kapoor and sister Sonam K Ahuja; Above: Harshand Sonamwith their sister Rhea Kapoor

Prashant Singh

When it comes to seekingdivine intervention,Bollywood celebs areno

different fromanyone else. BeitAjmerSharif, Tirupati, or theGoldenTemple, actors ordirectors frequent spiritualplaces at regular intervals.Withhis filmManmarziyaan

about to release, actorAbhishekBachchan is set tovisit theGoldenTemple inAmritsar, Punjab, today.ProducerAanandLRai andwriterKanikaDhillonwill bewithhim. “Yes,Abhishek istravelling toAmritsar to seekblessings at theGoldenTemple.AbhishekandAanand sir arevery excited about the specialtrip. Theydiscussed it in detailfor almost aweekbeforefinalising their plans,” says aninsider close to the filmunit.What’s interesting is that

AbhishekandRaihave “goneout of theirway” tomake timefor it. “Theactor promotedManmarziyaan inNagpur(Maharashtra) onSaturday,andhe landsback inMumbai

andMarathi films, and is alsoproducingSikkimese andAssamese films.Akshay ispresenter for theMarathi film,Chumbak.AnotherBollywoodstar, RiteishDeshmukh,madehis debut as aMarathi filmproducer in 2013withBalakPalak; his secondproduction,Mauli, is underway.“Regional cinema is far

superior to regular commercialcinema for a reason.Theydon’thave the [big] budgets, so theonly thing theyhave is thecontent. That’swhyyou findthebest of content comingout

ofMarathi andMalayalamcinema,” says John.TopBollywoodproducer-

directorKaranJohar is in thisclub, too—after presenting theHindi version of SSRajamouli’sblockbusterBaahubali films,he also turnedpresenter forMadhuri’sMarathi actingdebut, BucketList.These actor-producers are

also tasting immense success,e.g. Priyanka’sMarathiproduction,Ventilator (2016),won three awards at the 64thNational FilmAwards.Ravi Jadhav,whodirected

onSundaymorning. Then, hecelebratesRakshaBandhanwithShweta (BachchanNanda) in the afternoonbeforetaking a flight toAmritsaralongwithAanand sir andKanika,” says the insider.InAmritsar, besides going to

theGoldenTemple,AbhishekandRai plan to visit the famousAhujaLassi ShopandKesarDaDhaba. “Bothof themarebigfoodies andalwayswanted totry out local food in the city,”says the insider. Interestingly,Abhishekplays aSikhman inthis film.His grandmother, thelateTeji Bachchan,was alsoSikh.Despite repeatedattempts,Abhishek couldn’t bereached for a comment.n [email protected]

BalakPalak, says that suchnameshelp regional cinemareachapan-India audience.“WithRiteish’s help,BalakPalak reachedanationalviewership,” he adds.Calling this a positive

trend, trade analystTaranAdarsh says, “Films inregional languages aredoing sowell, and thereshouldn’t be any[division]. Filmsarefilms—inanylanguage.”n juhi.chakraborty

@htlive.com

NOTE TO READERS: Some of the coverage that appears on our pages is paid for by the concerned brands. No sponsored content does orshall appear in any part of HTwithout it being declared as such to our valued readers.

LR: Madhuri Dixit Nene,John Abraham, and RiteishDeshmukh; Below: PriyankaChopra

PHOTO: RAAJESSH KASHYAP/HT

What makes these stars back regional cinema?Juhi Chakraborty

What regional cinemalacks inbudgets andstar power, itmore than

compensates forwith amazingstories.And topBollywoodactors,who’ve climbed theheights of fame thanks to theirmainstreamvehicles, arenowdrawn to regional languagefilms for precisely this reason.The interesting thing is that theBollywoodbiggies—suchasJohnAbraham,PriyankaChopra,AkshayKumar, andMadhuriDixitNene—aren’tstarring in these filmsbut arebacking themasproducers.John,whohas scoredback-

to-backBollywoodhitswithParmanuandSatyamevaJayate, has launchedhis firstMarathi production, SavitaDamodarParanjape.Madhuriis producing ayet-untitledMarathi film,whichwill be afamily entertainer. Priyanka,nowaglobal star thanks toherHollywood success, startedbyproducing aBhojpuri film,followed thatupwithPunjabi

MonikaRawal Kukreja

She’s a diva, he’s a star,and together, they’re ahouse on fire. SistersSonamKAhuja andRhea

Kapoor, and their brotherHarshvardhan, don’t reallyhave toworry about dealingwith eachother’s popularity—all three of themare stars intheir ownright. Excited to becelebrating their firstRakshaBandhanafter Sonam’smarriage, the siblings talk tousabout their bond.

This is Sonam’s first RakshaBandhan aftermarriage. Is theremore excitement this time?Sonam:Distancemakes theheart grow fonder.Our familyis constantly travelling, butdespite our schedules,we’revery close-knit and connected;more so on special occasions.

Harsh: It’s anewexperiencefor sure, [but] I’m sure shewillmake time this year,like shedoes everyyear.

What’s your best RakshaBandhanmemory ormostcherished gift?Sonam: I can’t zero in ononememory.Having theentire family over everyRakshaBandhanhas alwaysbeen special.However, duringour school years,weoftenwouldn’t be in the samecountry.ButHarsh,Rheaand Iwould connect over avideocall.Harsh got ournames(Rhea’s andmine) tattooed onhis shoulder. Thatwasprettyoverwhelming.Harsh:Wekeep it simple. It’smore about family bonding andeveryonebeing able to see eachother. SonamandRheaweremyearliest friends and in a lotofways,myguardianangels. Itwould behard to pick just onegift. As theyoungest sibling, Iwas always spoiled rotten.

Describe the bond and timewhenyou three are together.Sonam:Harsh is the youngestof the three andbydefault, themost pampered.Rhea and Idote onhim. In fact,we’ve beenbroughtupmore like friends.We loveholidaying, partyingtogether. It’s always a lot of fun.Harsh:Whenwe’re together

On RakshaBandhan, meetSonam, Harsh andRhea — siblings whoare a ‘rager’ whentogether

STOP PRESSDOSTANA JODI TOREUNITE?A ctors Abhishek Bachchanand John Abraham, whowere last seen together inDostana (2008), might justreunite once again for AneesBazmee’s next. According to aBollywood Hungama report,the film has been titledPagalpanti. The filmmight goon floor later this year.

JANHVI KAPOOR MAKESHER RAMP DEBUTA ctor Janhvi Kapoor lookedethereal as shewalked theramp for the first time onFriday at the Lakmé FashionWeek 2018. The young actorwore a very colourful lehengafor designer Nachiket Barve,walking as his showstopperon the third day of theongoing fashionweek. Hersisters Khushi and Anshulawere there. HTC

WE’REBESTFRIENDS, SAYSONAMANDBROHARSH

PHOTOS: INSTAGRAM/HARSHVARDHANKAPOOR

MOREONPAGE 4

PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/JANHVIKAPOOR

Abhishekgoing toGoldenTempleforhisnewfilm,rightafterRakhiActor AbhishekBachchan and(inset)filmmakerAanand L Raiwill be at theGolden Templetoday

Abhishek and Aanandsir are very excitedabout the special trip.They discussed it indetail for almost a weekbefore finalising theirplans... They [also]wanted to try out thelocal food.A SOURCE

htcity02 TIMEOUT HINDUSTAN TIMES, RANCHISUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018

The grass is always greeneron the other side: soleproprietary business

owners envy partnershipbusinesses for their manyassisting hands whereaspartnership companies fancysingle-operating businesses astheir gains or profits getdistributed among partners.But the fact of the matter is,in this era of highcompetitiveness,collaborating for more andsustained gains has becomeimperative. However, thosewho go for partners in abusiness may not have anunderstanding that nourishesa partnership. As a result, themuch-cherished businessdreams come to a crashingend, resulting in losses,bitterness, and rivalry.The answer to whether an

individual has the capabilityto run a business or not lies inthe horoscope and so do theways to combat theincapability. Those who seekcollaborations should gettheir horoscopes assessed forany issues that could paralysethe existence of the business.The extent to which thevalues of an individual would

change, the monetary appetiteof the individual, the hiddenagendas, lack of decision-making in a group, adisproportionate distributionof power and responsibility,and a lot many more thingscan be the reason for a failedpartnership initiative.The aftermath of a failed

partnership is even morefrightening as, besidesmonetary loss, the individualsuffers a loss of reputation,mental disorder andcascading losses.A systematic reading of the

horoscopes (D-1, D-9, D-10,D-12 & D-60 charts) with acomplete analysis of the firstand seventh houses and itslord gives a fair idea of thepath of least resistance andhigh success whileovercoming all the obstaclesthat are to come in the way of

partnering.Do give a read to my latest

blog on https://vinaybajrangi.com/blog/ which has adetailed explanation of theastrological methods toovercome all the hurdlesencountered in a partnershipentity. An office, a home, aninstitute, a hotel, a hospital allthese can have a VastuDosha,which can be evaluated fromthe horoscope of theindividual without visitingthe site. My next article shallexplain this. Connect with meat www.vinaybajrangi.com orcall 9278665588 or 9278555588.

HTCThe author is a PhD in

Astrology

Know how astrology canmend your businesspartnership

Disclaimer: The veracity ofany claims made in the abovearticle is the sole responsibilityof the concerned entity.

PHOTO: HTCS

PEANUTS Frank Johnson

HEATHCLIFFGeorgeGately

DENNIS THEMENNACEHankKetcham

ASTRO QUERYSend your astro queries to astrologer andVastu expertDr PremKumar Sharma [email protected]

When will I have my own house?(Dinesh, New Delhi)

Possibility of owning a houseappears to be fromOctober 16, 2018to October 15, 2020. However, strongpossibility prevails in the later partof 2019 or in the first part of 2020.You should wear emerald andturquoise to see your dreamsfulfilled at the earliest.

What are my career prospects in themedical field?

(Varun, Gurgaon)Medical profession suits youwell.You need towork hard to get yourgoals achieved as I foresee somehurdles in getting the goalsachieved. Test out blue sapphirewould prove to be lucky for you.

When will I conceive?(Nidhi, New Delhi)

Possibility of being blessedwith thechild is much indicated in your birthchart. Its strongmaterialisationseems to be before July 16, 2020.Later part of 2019 seems to be highlysignificant for this objective.Wearingwhite sapphire and redcoral would help in yielding goodresults.

When will I be blessed with child?(Anuradha, Meerut)

The possibility of being blessedwiththe child seems to be from April 21,2019 to April 20, 2021. Especially,2020 seems to be quite resultoriented on this end.Wear emeraldand turquoise for speedy results.

When would I have a job change?(Ankush, Rohtak)

Possibility of a change of job seemsto be in later part of 2019. Whitesapphire and pearls would bringgood luck to you.

When will I be able to change myjob?

(Kavita, Bulandshahar)Change seems to be imminentbefore 2019 that would followchange again. And changewouldprove to be good for you.Wearyellow sapphire and pearls for goodluck and prosperity.

What stream should I opt for to besuccessful?

(Manoj Kumar, New Delhi)Time is not bad. Put in the best toreap good rewards. Non-medicalgroupwould dowell. Wear white

sapphire and red coral for good luckand prosperity.

When will I go abroad for a job?(Nikita, New Delhi)

Possibility of going abroad is therein your birth chart, but I don’tforesee any settlement there. 2019might prove to be result-orientedfor going abroad.Wear yellowsapphire and red coral for results.

When will I get promotion in mycurrent job?

(SanjayWalia, Hyderabad)The possibility of being elevated into the job looks to be beforeMarch14, 2020. Its strong possibilityprevails in the later part of 2019 orfirst half of 2019. Wear emerald andturquoise for good luck.

When will I get a job or go abroad?(Vinod Gupta, Saharanpur)

Possibility of going abroad isdefinitely indicated but I don’tforesee any settlement there.However, the time of getting the joblooks to be fromMarch 12, 2019 toMarch 11, 2020.Wearing of yellowsapphire and red coral would bringgood results on the desired end.

SOLUTIONSUDOKU

SUDOKU Fill in all the squares in the grid sothat each row, column and each ofthe 9X9 squares contains all thedigits from 1 to 9.DIFFICULTY LEVEL

DID YOUKNOW?

AbhishekBachchan hadshot for a cameo role inKabhi Khushi KabhieGham... (2001), but laterthe actor asked the director(Karan Johar) to removehis scene from the finalcopy of themovie.

CALVIN AND HOBBES BillWatterson

Entertainment & Promotional Features

MOVIE ON TV

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STARMOVIES1042 Finding Nemo1244 Jumanji1451 Cars 31653 Ice Age: TheMeltdown1848 Tom YumGoong 22100 Spider-Man2336 Commando

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Pokhran

A still fromMan of Steel

Asia Argento allegedly settled asexual abuse claim by actorsinger James Bennett in 2013PHOTO: FRANK FRANKLIN II/AP

Late DJ AviciiEric Clapton is a threetime inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall ofFame PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

Actor Josie Totah currently starsin the comedy show Champions

Filmmaker Eli Roth, knownfor the 2005 filmHostel,went out on a datewith

NoorAlfallah, the formerlover of singerMick Jagger.Their lunch outing comes

shortly after the 46-year-oldactor-director split fromhiswife of almost four years,Lorenza Izzo, lastmonth,reports dailymail.co.uk.Alfallah, 22, was seen in a

black vest top and leggings,while Roth sported awhitecasual T-shirt with a pair of

black jeans.Both of themwere first

linked inAugust as theyattended awedding receptioninMalibu, US. IANS

Noor Alfallahand Eli Roth(inset) wererecentlyspotted on alunch datePHOTO: INSTAGRAM/

NOORALFALLAH; INSET:

SHUTTERSTOCK

Eli Roth on a date withMick Jagger’s ex

DisgracedmoviemogulHarveyWeinstein’slawyerhas slammed

Italian actor-directorAsiaArgento, following a reportthat shehad settled a sexualabuse claimbrought by actor-singer JamesBennett.Argentowas one of

Weinstein’s initial accusersrevealing toTheNewYorkerthat he forcibly performedoralsex onher 20 years ago.Shehas also beenone of the

vocal advocates of the#MeToomovement.TheNewYorkTimes, on

Sunday, reported thatArgento

arranged to pay $3,80,000 toBennett,who claimed shesexually assaultedhim in 2013whenhewas 17 andArgentowas 37.Weinstein’s attorney,Ben

Brafman, said in a statement toTMZ that the revelations aboutArgentoundermineher claimsagainstWeinstein.“This development reveals a

stunning level of hypocrisy byAsiaArgento, one of themostvocal catalystswho sought todestroyHarveyWeinstein,”read the statement.“What is perhapsmost

egregious is the timing,which

suggests that at the very sametimeArgentowasworking onher own secret settlement forthe alleged sexual abuse of aminor, shewaspositioningherself at the forefront of thosecondemningMrWeinstein,despite the fact that her sexualrelationshipwithMrWeinsteinwasbetween two consentingadultswhich lasted formorethan four years,” further readthe statement.Argento didnot sue

Weinstein andher allegationsagainst himarenot beingusedinhis planned trial.

PTI

HarveyWeinstein’s lawyerblastsAsiaArgento’s ‘hypocrisy’

VeteranmusicianEricClapton has announcedhis first-ever full-lengthstudio holiday album,

HappyXmas, set to release onOctober 12.The albumwill feature a

version of Jingle Bells that isdedicated to the late DJAvicii,who died of an apparentsuicide inOman inApril thisyear.HappyXmas is Clapton’s

24th studio albumandhis firstsince 2016’s I Still Do. Itmixesholiday classicswith lesser-knownunique titles, aswell asan original new song For loveonChristmas day, reportedBillboard.Clapton andAvicii both

struggledwith substance

abuse—Claptonwith bothdrugs and alcohol in the 1960sand 1970s, andAvicii withalcohol, whichmany believecontributed to the ill healththat led him to stop touring.Avicii was open about his

struggleswithmental healthand addiction before his death.“I had inmyhead that these

holiday songs could be donewith a slight blues tinge, and Istarted to figure out how toplay the blues lines in betweenthe vocals,” Clapton said inthe albumannouncement.“I got it down and one of the

most identifiable songs on thealbum, the one that becamethe foundational style, is HaveYourself aMerry LittleChristmas,” he added. PTI

The first fulllength Christmas album by the musicianwill contain a version of the holiday special, JingleBells, which is Clapton’s tribute to the late DJ Avicii

EricClapton toreleaseXmasalbum

HarveyWeinstein PHOTO: RICHARDSHOTWELL/INVISION/AP

Actor Josie Totah, who hasfeatured in various filmsand television shows

includingGlee, Spider-Man:Homecoming (2017), andChampions, has come out astransgender.Seventeen-year-old Totah

confessed about her genderidentity in an open letter toTimesMagazine. She said thatshewas “shoved into a box” ongender and sexuality duringher early acting career, andnow feels free to speak hertruth.Shewrote: “When Iwas on

the showGlee, I would standback andwatch (actor) LeaMichele. Shewas fabulous.And it was fun to see her andthe other girls wear dressesand put on lavishmusicalnumbers. But it was also hard,because Iwanted that to beme.”“My pronouns are she, her,

and hers. I identify as female,specifically as a transgenderfemale. Andmyname is Josie

Totah,” shewrote.Totah “always knew on

some level that (she)wasfemale” and asked toweardresses as soon as she couldspeak full sentences.But it was after she saw the

documentary series I AmJazz,about transgender activistJazz Jennings, that shedecided to pursue hormonereplacement therapy.Sharing the challenges she

had to face regarding hergender identity, Totahwrotethat reporters asked her how itfelt to be a “young gayman”.LGBTQ+ rights organisationswould also introduce her thatwaywhen presenting herwithawards.“I almost felt like I owed it to

everybody to be that gay boy. Iwas afraid Iwouldn’t beaccepted, that I would beembarrassed, that the fanswho knewme from the timewhen I acted in a children’sshowwould be confused,” sheadded. IANS

Josie Totah comes out astransgender via oped

htcityHINDUSTAN TIMES, RANCHISUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 ENTERTAINMENT 03

Rishabh Suri

Promoting a film today is ofparamount importance,and every actor wants to

do it in the best mannerpossible. And, when it’s a filmstarring two newcomers, thenthemakers naturally want tospread the word evenmore.The trailer of Loveratri,

whichmarks the Bollywooddebut of Aayush Sharma andWarina Hussain, received awarm response from theaudiences. And now, as partof their promotions, theactors will be visiting theheartland cities of India tospread the Loveratri fever.The latest buzz says the

lead couple will visit Varanasion August 26 and 27 (SundayandMonday) to promote theirmovie in the city.A source close to the actors

says, “Marking their debutwith themovie, Aayush andWarina are keen to visit

many cities in the countryand spread their love.They are scheduled to

travel to Varanasi and bothare very excited to attend theGanga aarti in the evening. Infact, they planned their visitin a way that they do get toattend the evening aarti andthen they continue with thepromotions.”The duowill land in the city

by afternoon and quicklyhead to the ghat for aarti.Later, the actors have

decided to stop by some localfood joints and binge on thecity’s delicacies.The duowill also visit a

college onMondaymorningand interact with their fans.Themovie, which unfolds

the love story between thelead couple, has beenextensively shot in Gujaratand London. The few portionsleft to be shot will be filmed inMumbai.n [email protected]

Aayush Sharma andWarina Hussainseek divine blessings for their debut

Actors Warina Hussain andAayush Sharma play the leads inthe upcoming romantic film,Loveratri PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/AAYSHARMA

I respect Ekta, but things went wrong: NausheenShreya Mukherjee

At the very start of heracting career, NausheenAli Sardar became a

household namewith the showKkusum. Starring in that hitserial for five years (2001-2005),the actor became close toproducer EktaKapoor. But,according toNausheen,because of a

miscommunication, she andEkta are no longer in touch.“I respect and admire Ekta a

lot. She gavememy first breakinKkusumand people stillrememberme for the show.But, in between, thingswentwrong. Someone— Iwould notlike to name [that person]—askedme a few questionsabout Ekta and then shemisquotedmy replies to Ekta,”

saysNausheen, adding thatwhat happenedwas reallypainful and she’s sure thatEkta is not aware ofwhatwasreally said.All this hasmadeNausheen

a little apprehensive and shehas decided to not speakmuchabout Ekta, so as to avoid anymoremisunderstanding. “I’vestopped talking about hermuch,” says the actor.

However, she’s hopeful thatthingswould get sortedsomeday. Sowill sheworkwith Ekta if an opportunitycomes?Nausheen replies,“I’d love toworkwith anygood producer.”We tried getting in touch

with EktaKapoor for acomment, but our effortswere notmetwith a response.n [email protected]

Nausheen AliSardar and(inset) EktaKapoor

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htcity04 LIFESTYLE HINDUSTAN TIMES, RANCHISUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018

Eating right can help fight dandruff

Abhinav Verma

Whatever the seasonmight be, dandruffseems like anevergreen problem

for some.Most of us depend onanti-dandruff shampoos, hairmasks and expensive hairtreatments to dealwith thiswhite, flaky irritatingmonsters that rob your hair ofits sheen and health. But italways seems to come backwith vengeance, becausewhatmanymaynot know is that theproblem could be the food thatwe eat. Diet plays animportant role in determiningour scalp health. NutritionistKavita Devgan, and hairspecialist and dermatologistVandana Punjabi explain howa good diet is imperative toprevent dandruff:

FOCUS ON ZINC INTAKE

Yes, there’sa thingcalled thedandruff diet!

Our scalp has a highconcentration of sebaceousglands that produces skin oils(sebum) to protect the scalp.However, excessiveproduction of sebumcan causedandruff. Experts suggest thatconsuming zinc can helpcontrol sebumproduction. Butremember that zinc requiresVitaminB6 for properdigestion. Therefore, includelegumes, nuts and grains inyour diet.

SUGAR CONTROLOneneeds to restrictconsumption of sugar if onehas dandruff issues as it canworsen the problem.Dandruffis often attributed to theCandida yeast, and sugaryfoods promote the overgrowthof this yeast. Sugar alsodepletes the body of vitaminB,which is an essentialcomponent of an anti-dandruff

diet. Reduce your sugarintake and

avoid

Add legumes inyour diet to keepyour scalp healthy

PHOTOS:

ISTOCKPHOTO

processed foods high in sugarcontent.

A HEALTHY DIGESTIVESYSTEMAnunhealthy, improperdigestive system is also areason for dandruff woes.Include garlic, onions andscallions in your diet, for theycontain allicin. Allicin is ahealth compound that is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. Itcan help combat dandruff.

FOOD ALLERGYOne of themost unknownreasons that cause dandruff isfood allergies. Experts suggestusing an elimination diet withthe help of a nutritionist tofigure outwhich foods causedandruff in an individual.n [email protected]

HOW DIET HELPSCOMBAT DANDRUFFOpt for food rich inprobiotics (fermentedfood) such as kanji, idli,homemade pickles,dhokla, miso and home-made curd.Include fish, flaxseeds andwalnuts in your diet.Omega-3 fatty acids keepyour scalp hydrated.Biotin (Vitamin B7) alsohelps combat dandruff.Foods such as salmon,sweet potatoes, egg yolksand almonds are a goodsource of biotin.

Amit Aggarwal restored vintage phulkari, the traditionalIndian metallic embroidery technique, by using polymerdetails and contemporary intricate hand embellishments

Inspired by the legendary South Indian star Savitri, fashion designer Gaurang Shah’s collection titled‘Savitri’ featured brocade, silk, organza, hand woven satin and chiffon celebrating the actor’s golden era

QUEEN ELIZABETH IIQueen Elizabeth IIopted for this AngelaKelly creation to attenda racecourse event heldin Ascot, UK. She uppedthe ante with brightpink flowers pinned onto her hat.

Susan Jose

One trend that has beenrecently catchingeveryone’s eye is the

return of neon. After beingrestricted to afew strips on safetyjackets,they’re nowbeinggenerously donned on by thestars. Unapologetically brightand eye-catching to say theleast, these shades have foundfavour fromprettymuch all ofHollywood’s stylists.What’smore, neon has even got theroyal approval fromQueenElizabethherself! HTCafé givesyou a peak into some ofthe best looks.n [email protected]

PENÉLOPE CRUZThe actor added a fun popof colour to her otherwisemonotonous pantsuitwhen she attended thePalais des Festivals at the71st annual Cannes FilmFestival held at Cannes,France inMay.

CHARLIE PUTHThe singer surelybrightened up everyone’smorning as he appearedfor a radio talk showwearing a pair of brightneon sweat pants andmatching hoodiein NewYork City,USA.

Theneonmania

SARAH PAULSONAll smiles, the actorwore this striking,fringe embellishedgown for thepremiere of Ocean’s 8held at New York City,USA earlier this year.She paired the Pradagownwithmatchingaccessories and a brightlip.

RITA ORANot stopping at justred hair, the singerdecided to go all outandwear a neon pinkoutfit with neon greengloves and ankle-lengthstockings for her redcarpet appearanceat the CapitalSummertime Ball heldat London, UK inJune.

BLAKE LIVELYThere are very few thingsBlake Lively can’t pull offand this suit fromVersace’s menswearcollection is not one ofthem. She opted for thisbrave ensemble which sheworewith iridescentaccessories for an eventheld in New York City, USA.

PHOTOS: GETTIMAGES

Akshata Shetty

Be it emerging designersor establisheddesigners, the one thingthat’s commonbetween

them is the runway. A blankcanvas laid out for the best ofthe best in the fashionindustry, day 3 of LakméFashionWeek saw elegantsilhouettes, intricateembroideries and inclusivefashion coming together.“I strongly believe in

individuality and Imakeclothes for all genders, sizesand ages,” says fashiondesignerAnvita Sharma (ofTwoPoint Two), whoopened day 3with hercollection titled,Simultaneity. So isinclusive fashion thewayforward? “I think, yes, becausethen a lot of people can havemore options and these days,

HANDCRAFTEDWITH LOVEThe fabrics thatgave life to thegarments, rangedfrom organza tocrinkled textures inindigo tones. All thesilhouettes createdby fashion designerduo IshaneeMukherjee andAnirudh Chawla ofPoochki, were handpainted and blockprinted, to create aperfect combinationof style, eleganceand glamour.

people are experimentingmore. So, awoman can opt foramasculine sort of a garmentand amale can go for afeminine one. Having an all-in-one kind of garment helps,”adds Sharma. Following suitwas the #GenderBenderartistic presentation featuringgender-neutral ensembles ofAnaam, The Pot Plant, BoboCalcutta andBloni.Closing day 3, on a

sparkling notewasAmitAggarwal, whomade his debutinmenswear this season.Speaking about his foray intomenswear, Aggarwal says,“We, as a brand, are all aboutexperimentation sowe relishthis kind of challenge. I thinkour textiles lend uniquely tomenswear silhouettes, helpingus redefine gender paradigmswith respect to luxurymenswear.”n [email protected]

Day 3, of Lakmé FashionWeekWinter/Festive2018 was an amalgamation of inclusivefashion, textures and lots of shimmer

ACOLLAGEOFCREATIVITY

PHOTOS: PRODIP GUHA/HT, SHASHI KASHYAP/HT, HEMANSHI KAMANI/HT

ALL FOR ATHLEISURETransforming this orientalgarment into street wear,designers Anvita Sharmaand Asit Barik of Two PointTwo, gave the silhouettesa 21st century athleisureimpact. The embroiderywas creatively addedwiththreadwork used as boldgeometric patterns ofcubism. The sea horsemotif was anannouncementthatemphasisedgenderbending innature.

ART ATTACKFashion designer ArmaanRandhawa’s Twin Queencollectionwas an artpresentation that paidtribute to British fashiondesigner AlexanderMcQueen

THEDARNINGEFFECTTheRafugarinspiredembroidery inred, black andwhite was the focalpoint of fashiondesignerMohammedMazhar’s collection. Togive his ensembles theperfect look for thefestive season, his basefabric included viscose,velvet, tweed and silk,while checks appeared ina red and blackcombination.

Amodel strikes a pose in fashiondesigner Nitin Kartikeya’spistachio green bomber jacketwith sheer tulle sleeves wornon crêpe silk shorts withblack and gold embroidery

A model strikes apose in AyushmanMitra’s (of Bobo

Calcutta)sequined dresswith abstractmotifs layeredwith a light,flowing jacket

JENNIFER LOPEZWorkouts can be boring,but not if you’ve got JLo’swardrobe. The singer-actor opted for grey yogapants with neon insertsand paired themwithsneakers of the same hue.

htcityHINDUSTAN TIMES, RANCHISUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 ENTERTAINMENT 05

Rishabh Suri

Once againmakingheadlines formanydifferent reasons,Bollywood actor

AkshayKumar gets talkingabout personal achievements,national pride, and politicalrumours.

After being featured on theForbes list of world’s highest paidentertainers earlier this year, youhave now been ranked as theworld’s 7th highest paid actor.How does it feel?Well I’mnot going to lie, itfeels goodmomentarily but Inever take these lists tooseriously as they keepchanging, like seasons. It’s notsomething I’d aimed for, theidea is only to do good, betterand bestwork but of course Iam forever grateful for thingslike these.

Gold has been receiving ravereviews. Which compliment hasbeen the best so far?It’s always good to see yourwork being lauded andappreciated, be it from thecritics or the audiences. Buthonestly, when I openmysocialmedia and see somanyclips of cinemahalls filledwithpeople standing up for thenational anthemand thankingthemakers about introducingthem to a piece of history thatthey had no idea about, thatforme is heart-touching andthe perfect payback as that’swhatwewanted, to establish aconnect between theaudiences and team India.

You are reuniting with KareenaKapoor Khan for Good News.How’s Kareena as a costar, andwhen do you start shooting?Yes that’s right, Kareena and Ishare a good rapport and anamazing onscreen chemistry.We hopefully beginGoodNews in January, 2019.

There are rumours that you aregoing to contest for a Lok Sabhaseat from Punjab or Delhi in the2019 elections. Is this true?Like you said it yourself, theyare rumours. I’mnotcontesting elections, at leastnothing that’s on the cards. Atthemoment, I’m extremelyhappywith thework that I’m

doing, and I’dmuch rathercontinue doing that.

A reference in the purportedlyleaked Justice Ranjit Singhcommission report in Punjabsuggests that you mediated ameeting between Dera SachaSauda chief Gurmeet Ram RahimSingh Insaan and politicianSukhbir Singh Badal, regardingthe release of the former’scontroversial film. What do youhave to say?(Laughs) See, here’s anotherrumour! I’ve not seen or readany such report. I find itamusing. I’ve nevermet thispersonMr. Gurmeet RamRahim ever inmy life. I’vemetSukhbir SinghBadal once or

twice, that too at publicfunctions. So, all this is clearlysomebody’swild imaginationworking overtime.What is thisreport about?

It is about incidents ofdesecration of Guru Granth Sahibin Punjab in 2016...My family and I’ve always hadthe highest regard for Sri GuruGranth Sahib, and Iwouldrequest everyone to refrainfromassociatingmyname inany such controversy.n [email protected]

Actor Akshay Kumar hasrecently been ranked as theworld’s 7th highest paid actorPHOTO: SWAPANMAHAPATRA/ PTI

Iamforevergrateful:AkshayThe actor says his aim is ‘only to do good, better and best work’

Ranch i , Augus t 26 , 2018 www.h indus tan t imes .com ON SUNDAY

INDULGE

Rude TravelIt is the world’s most beautiful city and greatestdestination but tread carefully! Page 03

Millennial SpeakWhy does the privileged millennial generation thinkthat vernaculars are beneath it? Page 04

All about the newHonda CR-V...page 3

Readers can send in their views [email protected] or to18-20, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi-110001

Sherbir andGul Panag

Ankita and YukiBhambri

Aashmeen Munjaaland Niell Talwar

Sama andShaad Ali

Naaz Joshiand Ajay Chaudhary

Akansha andNishantChoubey

and Niell TalwarDeepak andMalti Chahar

Rahil andNikhita Tandon

FEEL THE , BRO?8 BROTHER-SISTER duos say that today is less about who protects who:it’s a celebration of unfiltered love (and an excuse to get some gifts!)Text by Veenu Singh. Photos by Raj K Raj andManoj Vermayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

#HappyRakshaBandhan

GUL PANAG (39), ACTOR & SHERBIR PANAG(34), LAWYER

TWO MANY RAKHIS!Gul presents Sherbir with two rakhis every year:one outlandish one, and another subtle one thatcan be worn longer

Brain, beauty and brawn = beautypageant winner-actor-pilot Gul Pan-

ag! But her favourite achievement? It’sbeing partners in crime with her white-collar crime lawyer brother SherbirPanag. They’re travel buddies, businesspartners and each other’s best mentorsand worst critics. Gul, who is alwaysthe boss, presents two rakhis to Sherbirevery year: one is loud with lights andsounds that he has to wear all day, andthe other that can be worn longer. AndSherbir, a former member of the Indianshooting team, has always consideredhis sister to be the real hero. He trieshis best to defer the rakhi present onthe grounds that Gul hasn’t givenhim anything for bhai dooj. Fair deal!

OUR MOST MEMORABLE RAKSHABANDHAN…Gul: Once, knowing that Sherbir likesladdoos and would unsuspectingly eatthem, I stuffed them with raisins, whichI know he hates!Sherbir: I struggled with understandingsibling genders. If Gul was my sister, inmy four-year-oldmind I was her sister tooand insisted on giving her a rakhi too. Isometimes still give her a rakhi, becauseconsidering how fit she is, there’s ahigher chance she’ll protect me.

THOSE SWEET LITTLETHINGS WE DO…Gul: As a kid he woulddo anything I asked. Nowhe’s my sounding board,my rock and the bestbrother anyonecould have.S h e r b i r :When shewas pre-

paring for the Miss India pageant, I washer make-up guinea pig. And she wouldrefuse to take it off unless I agreed “inwriting” to be her slave for life. It speaksvolumes for my intelligence that I fell forthis three days in a row! Some habits diehard. We were in London this summerand I was getting ready for a meeting,only to find while tying my turban thatmy nails were painted pink. Standing ina corner, laughing her guts out, was mysister. She refused to give me her nail pol-ish remover.

Gul:“I’ve givenSherbir hisrakhi gift

already — aniPhone X!”W

HO’S

GETTIN

GWHAT...

WHO’S

GIFTING

WHA

T...

Sherbir:“It is a gift

for two RakshaBandhans, whichwas handed to atearful Gul this

summer: aChanel bag!”

PersonalAgendaSonal Chauhanon what her bioon Tinderwould be.Page 04

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

On Sherbir: Suit, King’s Tailors, Mumbai;belt, Ermenegildo Zegna; tie and shoes, SalvatoreFerragamo; shirt, Paul Smith; watch, RolexYacht-MasterOn Gul: Top, Anne Fontaine; jeans,Only; shoes, Prada; watch, IWC

Art direction: Amit Mallik; Make-up and hair: Artistry by Anjali Jain

COVERSTORY ONSUNDAY

02 | HINDUSTAN T IMES, RANCHISUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018

For the longest time ever,I have wondered whyDaniel Silva’s creation,the Israeli spy, Gabriel

Allon, does not get the JamesBond (or even the Jason Bourne)treatment. For thosewho have notread Silva’s series of spy novels,Allon is a marvellous creation,art restorer by day and assassinby night (and sometimes the otherway around), with a personaltragedy in his past life that hauntshim to this day, even though asecond marriage to a gorgeousItalian woman and a new family

has eased his pain somewhat.Allon always seemed like a char-

acter made for themovies to me. But,it turns out that he is destined tomake his mark on the small screen,with MGM Television having ac-quired the rights to the collection ofSilva’s Allon novels. So, Gabriel Al-lon will be arriving on a TV screensomewhere near you nearly 18 yearsafter he first came to life in The KillArtist (published in 2000) and I, forone, can’t wait.

As if this news wasn’t enough tosend me into ecstasies, it turns outthat another of my favourite novel-ists is having her works turned intoa television show as well. Produc-tion on Elena Ferrante’s My BrilliantFriend – the first book of her Neapoli-tan quarter – is underway in Caserta,Italy. The book will be turned into aneight-episode TV series set in Naples,telling the story of Lenu (ElenaGreco)and Lila (Raffaella Cerullo), the twogirls who find each other in childhoodand go on to have a life-long friendshipwith its share of ups and downs. (Andthe best part is that the series – pro-duced by HBO in collaboration withRai Fiction – will have the charactersspeaking Italian, which will give it a

certain verisimilitude that wouldn’thave been possiblewith an Italian castspewing heavily-accented English.)

But no sooner had I finished cel-ebrating all this good news than myinner Greedy Gretel got going. Andnow, I can’t stop fantasising aboutsome of my other much-loved bookseries being adapted for television,allowing me a glimpse of my favou-rite characters on the small screen.Here’s just a small sampling of

some of my fantasy TV series.

Well, that never happened.So, I guess the next-best thing– now that I am all grown up –would be to be transported tothe world of Malory Towersvia my TV screen. Strangelyenough, while The FamousFive and Noddy have had theirstints on television, Darrell Riv-ers and her friends at boardingschool have never managed tomake that transition.

And that’s a pity, if you askme. It’s time anew generationofchildren was introduced to theantics of this group of girls: thesensible but hot-tempered Dar-rell, her best friend Sally Hope,the spoilt little bratGwendolineLacey and the resident jokerAlicia Johns. And what betterway to do that for this non-read-ing generation than through themedium of television?

Journalist and author Seema Goswamihas been a columnist with HT Brunch since 2004.

Her new book Race Course Road is currentlytopping the charts.

Spectator appears every fortnight

›While The Famous Fiveand Noddy have hadtheir stints on TV, MaloryTowers has not managed tomake that transition

DONNA LEON’SMURDERMYSTERIESSet in Venice, this series revolvesaround the career and life ofone of the most engaging private de-tectives of modern fiction. Commis-sarioGuido Brunetti is not your aver-age tortured detective, smoking anddrinking too much as he tries to copewith challenging cases and a dysfunc-tional family.No, that kind of clichédwriting is not for Leon. Her detectiveis a family man who walks home tolunch everyday to feast on the three-course meals served up by his intel-ligent and feisty wife, Paola, so thathe can enjoy the company of his twochildren, Raffi and Chiara.The crimes themselves are inter-

esting enough but the real star of theseries is the city of Venice itself. Youcan almost smell the dank scents ris-ing from the canali and calli of thecity, see thewinding streets that leadto thewaters of the Grand Canal andthe laguna, and marvel at the archi-tecture of the beautiful buildingsthat keep Brunetti company as hewalks to and back from work.Strangely enough, only a Ger-

man production house had filmedsome of the stories though the serieshasn’t been distributed widely. It’stime someone in the English-speak-ing world stepped up and gave usVenice andBrunetti in all their glory.

GEORGETTE HEYER’S REGENCYROMANCESRegular readers of this columnwillknow what a dedicated fan of Hey-

er’s romances I am. So, it would beno exaggeration to say that I havespent the last two decades of mylife waiting for someone to makea TV series based on her Regencynovels. But much to my disappoint-ment, while every ‘period’ workfrom Poldark to Howards End isregaling TV audiences across theworld, nobody seems willing to giveHeyer a shot.It’s a baffling state of affairs.

These are ready-made storylines,incredibly well-plotted, laced withhumour and wit, and almost cin-ematic is their treatment. Thecharacters are very well-drawn aswell, both the dashing heroes andthe sparkling, wilful heroines whoare no shrinking violets. And yet,nobody seems to have thought ofbringing the lovely Arabella, themasterful Frederica or the amazingGrand Sophy to life.Well, the first one who does will

have a bonafide hit on his or herhands.Meanwhile, I live in hope.

ENIDBLYTON’SMALORYTOWERS SERIESThese were my absolute favouritebooks growing up. I would devourthem late into the night, reading bythe light of a torch that I had smug-gled into my bed. And then, when Ifinally fell asleep I would dream ofmidnight feasts, night-time swims,classroom pranks, and so muchmore, waking up even more deter-mined than ever to go to boardingschool.

SPECTATORSeema Goswami

Screen TimeTHERE’S NOTHING quite as fun as seeing a belovedbook series make the transition to television

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Feel The , Bro?

Photo:iSTOCK

DEEPAK CHAHAR (25), CRICKETER &MALTI CHAHAR (26), MODEL AND ACTRESS

A DIGITAL RAKHI? UMMM….The point is that rakhi cannot be missed: travels,continents, commitments be damned!

Malti: “I’ve al-ready given himfive bottles ofperfume – hisnew craze!”

Deepak:“I’m givingdi the newiPhone X”

WHO

’SGETTING

WHAT...

WH

O’SGIFTINGW

HAT.

OnMalti: Dress,Ritu Kumar; earrings,Kasturi Jewellers;shoes; Charles & KeithOn Deepak: Suit, shirtand shoes, Louis Philippe;belt, Ted Baker

Remember the face that became anovernight sensation during the in-tense IPLmatch between the ChennaiSuperKings and Kolkata Knight Rid-ers on April 10? It wasMalti Chaharwatching her brother in action,whois now hailed as the bowling prodigyof Indian cricket. A littlemore thanaweek after that, Deepak helped CSKbag awin over SunrisersHyderabad.On the other handMalti, after study-ing software engineering, found hercalling in the glamworld and has justmade her debut in the Nawazuddin

Siddiqui-starrer,Genius.

THOSE SWEET LITTLE THINGSWE DO…Malti: Back in school, Deepu bashedup a boy who was troublingme. But hetroubles me too and spares no chanceto taunt or annoy me, even on socialmedia!Deepak: At the IPLmatches, playershad their wife or girlfriend comealong.Meenu diwas the only sistersupportingme. She knows allmypasswords and checks my chats.

NAAZ JOSHI (36), TRANSSEXUAL MODEL &AJAY CHAUDHARY (26), FASHIONMODEL

ACCEPTANCE AGAINST ODDSShe is the mentor, he — the protective brother!

Born a boy into a Hindu-Muslim fam-ily, Naaz Joshi is now a strong, indi-

vidual-minded woman living life on herown terms. She is the first Indian trans-sexual model to appear on the cover ofa magazine, and is currently the reign-ing Miss World Diversity. Despite theseachievements, one thing she hasn’t beenable to win over, is love and acceptancefrom her biological brother.

Enter Ajay Chaudury, a starry eyedmodelwho was being sexually exploitedwhile trying to make it big in the fash-ion industry. With her strength, Naazshielded him, giving him support andguidance, and he proposed to make herhis elder sister.

Thus, in 2013, Naaz not only founda brother but also her best friend.She is now treated like adaughter by Ajay’s family.

OUR MOST MEMO-RABLE RAKSHABANDHAN…Naaz: When Ajayasked me to be his old-er sister and gifted me asalwar kameez.Ajay: The dayNaaz di accept-edmy request to bemy sisterandmyparents accepted heras their own daughter.

THOSE SWEET LIT-TLE THINGS WEDO…Naaz: Ajay is veryprotective. He makes

sure he hasmet and interviewed the boybefore I go on a date. The worst thing isthat he once bashed a boy in a club forlooking at me inappropriately.Ajay: She is my mentor. But shebullies me at times.

On Ajay: Shirt, self designed; jeans, Levi’s;shoes, Lee CooperOn Naaz: Sari gown, Naaz Joshi; earrings,Soni Sapphire; shoes, Venus Steps

Naaz:“I’m getting

gym wear and anew gym bag formy body-building

brother!”

Ajay:“I’m gettingNaaz a giganticsoft toy. Shecan’t haveenough ofthem…”

WHO’SGIF

TINGWHAT...

WHO’S

GETTINGWHAT

...

NIKHITA TANDON (30), FASHION DESIGNER &RAHIL TANDON (25), ACTOR

MOTHER AND BEST FRIENDNikhita has a dozen cousin brothers, but Rahil is special!

Daughter of designer ReynuTaandon, Nikhita, forayed into

fashion with a collection at a pres-tigious fashion week in 2008. She isboth amother figure and best friendto her little brother Rahil, an actorwho has starred in the Red Chilliesproduction, MenWill Be Men (2011),after polishing his skills…They both ensure they are

under the same roof for rakhi everyyear!

THOSE SWEET LITTLE THINGSWE DO…Nikhita: Can you believe… Rahilmademe once buyhim Christian Dior shoeson my birthday!Rahil: My parents were not tookeen that I pursue acting. But it wasNikhs who managed toconvince them and broke the newsto me on the rakhi dayof 2006!

On Rahil: T-shirt, Burberry; jeans,Giorgio Armani; shoes, Jimmy Choo;watch, Tag HeuerOn Nikhita: Top, Mynah by ReynuTaandon; earrings, Silver Line Jewellery;shoes, Steve Madden

Rahil:“I’m giving

her a bag that Iknow she reallylikes…”

Nikhita:“I’m gettingRahil an albumof our memoriesframed for hisroom. Hope helikes it!”

WHO’SGETTINGWHAT...

WHO

’S GIFTING W

HAT...

YUKI BHAMBRI (26), TENNIS CHAMPION &ANKITA BHAMBRI (31), TENNIS COACH

DOUBLE SERVES OF LOVEWhen Yuki served Ankita a paratha filled with chilli,and other such stories…

Currently being India’s No 1 tennischampion comes with responsibil-

ity and travel for Yuki Bhambri. Heis playing at the US Open as we readthis.

For his eldest sister, Ankita, beingcoach for the women’s team at the 2018Asian Games has her occupied. She istaskedwith making our girls win.

Despite their own commitments totheir country, their sport and their ca-reers, they’ve ensured they’ll be therefor each other on Raksha Bandhan…like they are all year through!

OUR MOST MEMORABLE RAK-SHA BANDHAN…Ankita:When Yukiwas really

young, he and our youngest cousin,Vinayak,made a beautiful paranthafor me. After a few bites,mymouthstarted burning. They had stuffedthat paratha with two spoons of redchilli powder!Yuki: In 2014, very close to rakhi,I got selected to play for the AsianGames in Incheon, Korea. To cel-ebrate the acheivement allmy sisterstiedme tri-colour rakhis.

THOSE SWEET LITTLE THINGSWE DO…Yuki:When Iwent to the US last year,to play for the US Open,Ankita hid tworakhis inmy suitcase: one from her, theother frommy other older sister!

Ankita:“I’m going togift Yuki somenice formalclothes”

Yuki:“I’m goingto get her aniPhone X asshe really wants

one”

WHO’SG

ETTINGWHAT...

WHO’

SGIFTINGW

HAT...

On Yuki: Bandhgala from Khan Market; pants,Banana Republic; shoes, Rockport; watch,Longines Roland Garros On Ankita: Kurta, TopsIn Fashion; pleated pants; Ritu Kumar; shoes,Aldo; pendant and chain, Jewel Palace; bangleand earrings, Pipa Bella

SHAAD ALI (43), FILMMAKER & SAMA ALI (27),FASHION DESIGNER

HALF SISTER, DOUBLE THE LOVETurns out, an age gap only makes the sibling even more special!

Sama: “I’mdesigning a nicewaistcoat and kurta

set for Shaad, which willbe a rakhi-cum-weddinggift from my side as I’mpreparing to tie theknot soon”

Shaad:“I will have toask Sama whatshe wants forrakhi.

She doesn’t likesurprises…!”

WHO’S GETTING

WHAT...

WHO’SGIFTINGW

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On Sama: Outfit,House of Kotwara;shoes (khussas),from LahoreOn Shaad: Kurta,pyjama and jacket,Kotwara; shoes(khussa),from Lahore

They say ‘Like father, like son’. It’sno surprise, then, that filmmaker

Muazaffar Ali’s son Shaadwent on tomakemovies like Saathiya, Bunty AurBabli,OK Jaanu and Soorma, amongstothers. ‘Likemother, like daughter’ iswhat they should also say. For, ShaadAli’s half sister, 16 years his junior anddaughter of designerMeeraAli, Sama isan established designer herself. Their ca-reers have them into different directions,but they ensure their long-distance rakhibond doesn’t change.

OURMOST MEMORABLE RAKSHABANDHAN…Sama: Iwas seven and living in Lucknow.Iwas sad to spend yet another rakhi away

frommy brothers. But just before theday ended both my brothers surprisedmewith a visit andwe spent the eveningeating out andwatching a film together. Itwas our first rakhi together.Shaad: I get a rakhi anywhere in theworldon the day or the day before, never late.

THOSE SWEET LITTLE THINGSWE DO…Sama: I’m told thatMurad, our oldestbrother, came to the hospitalwhen I wasborn with his friends. Each brought ared rose, and Murad heldme in his armsand recited a funny poem.Shaad: Sama always sends rakhis, butshe has also saidmean things about mejust to makemy girlfriends, run away!

NISHANT CHOUBEY (35), CHEF &AKANSHA CHOUBEY (28), STUDENT

A DAY FOR PRANKS!The story of salty laddoos and thermocol-filled gujiyas…

Chef Nishant Choubey mayhaveworked at top

hotels, but his siblingscome first. Big brotherNishant is a rolemodel to youngestsister AkanshaChoubey,who isdoing her PhD inMarketing. Beingbusy with their chaoticDelhi lives doesn’t stopthe brother-sisterduo to join theirfamily everyyear for a sweethomecoming inRanchi for rakhibecause for them,it’s family beforeeverything!

OURMOST MEMORA-BLE RAKSHA BANDHAN…Nishant:My sister once gaveme a salty

laddoo instead of a sweetone.We fought with all theleftover laddoos, and the

housewas amess!Akansha: This year, I’llmake

gujiyas filledwith thermocolballs to bring back our sweet

childhoodmemories.

Nis-hant: “I amplanning to giftAkansha a tripto Europe, herfavouritedestination”

Akansha:“Since bhaiya ismostly on the moveI plan to gift him a fireTV stick by Ama-zon so that he canwatch his favourite

shows”

WHO’S

GETTINGWHAT..

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W

HO’SGIFTING

WHAT.

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AASHMEEN MUNJAAL (41), MAKE-UP ARTIST&NIELL TALWAR (31), ENTREPRENEUR

PARTNERS IN CRIMEThe family that works together, stays together!

On Akansha:Dress, Forever21; shoes,Steve MaddenOn Nishant:T-shirt, trousersand jacket,Zara; shoes,Red Cherry

Big sister Aashmeen tookover the role of her mother

when she passed away fouryears ago, but her true pillar ofstrength, support and love hasbeen her little brotherNeill,and this is not just personally,but also professionally. Shemay have sparkled brides and

models for 13 years, but whatbrings the spark in her life isher relationship withNeill.Rakhi for them is a day to betogether at their parents’ home,or for amini family vacation.

THOSE SWEET LITTLETHINGS WE DO…Aashmeen: Theworst thingNeill’s done is makeme

Niell: “Iwill gift hera ManishMalhotraoutfit”

Aashmeen:“I’m planning afamily holiday

for my brothers sothat we all can betogether”

WHO’S

GETTINGWHAT...

WHO’S

GIFTINGWHAT...

deliberately jump from one of thescariest rides in Dubai.Niell: Every Sunday Aashmeeninsists on cooking for us,which is atorture, as she is not a great cook!

[email protected]@VeenuSingh12 on Twitter

and the second is an extra row ofseats, which makes the CR-V aseven-seater. But is this enough toput it on an SUV buyer’s radar?

SUAVE AND SOPHISTICATEDThe new car looks more grown upthan the outgoing one thanks toan increase in length, width andheight. The high, sculpted bonnetand chunkier sides gives it a muchneeded dose of muscle. The classylooking alloy wheels, striking taillight design and generous splashesof chrome also help ratchet up theCR-V’s road presence

As far as tourists are concerned,there is no greater destinationthan Venice. It is, quite simply,the most beautiful city in the

world. The first time I went there, adecade and a half ago, I felt that I was ina dream. The beauty was so unreal thatVenice seemed like a work of art ratherthan a functioning city.

But here’s the twist.As far as tourists are concerned,

there is also no worse destination thatVenice. It is a city designed for 200,000residents. Yet, each year, it gets between25 million to 30 million tourists. Thestreets can be hideously overcrowded.Hotel rooms are often overpriced. Everysecond shop is run by a rip-off mer-chant. Most of the restaurants are hor-rible. And the food can be terrible.

But, God knows, I love Venice. Thiswas my fifth trip there and if you askedme what my favourite destination inEurope is, I would say Venice; at least onthose occasions when I can afford it.I have told the story of Venice on

these pages six years ago. (http://read.ht/Bqv3) But here’s a summary: thecity was created in the Middle Ages bypeople fleeing Attila the Hun. Theybuilt it on a base of nothing. It wasconstructed on marshland and islands

| 03HINDUSTAN T IMES, RANCHISUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018

INDULGE ON SUNDAY

Thesmall tribe of HondaCR-V owners is a veryhappy lot. They swearby this trustworthy SUV

and I have yet to come across anunhappy CR-V owner. You wouldthen imagine the CR-V to be hugelypopular, with loads of them flyingout of showrooms, but curiously,there are hardly any takers for itand sales are miniscule.The thing is the CR-V,

however brilliant it is to drive andown, never ticked the importantboxes to gain mass appeal. It’sexpensive, there’s no diesel optionand it looks more like a crossoverthan pure SUV.Honda is now all set to launch

the fifth generation CR-V thisOctober and this time roundit comes with an extra shot of

More Power ToYou, Please...

SUNDAY DRIVEHormazd Sorabjee

THE ONLY real lack in the fifth gen Honda CR-V is engine capacity

(And no, I am not going to tell you theones I go to.)

And finally, there are the touristtraps which constitute 80 per cent of therestaurants in Venice. The food isalways disgusting, the owners can becheats and many don’t even have chefs:they buy pre-packaged food from indus-trial catering companies and reheat it inmicrowaves. As a general rule, if a res-taurant has a Menu Turistico or if itsells pizza, don’t go in.

So yes, Venice can be challenging.The crowds can be suffocating. Thecheaper hotels can be dodgy. Most of therestaurants are terrible. You shouldnever shop in Venice because 95 per centof the shopkeepers will sell you over-priced tourist tat, much of which isproduced in China.

But I still believe you should go.Try visiting off-season (spring or win-ter), my favourite times in Venicewhen the tourist hordes have stayedaway. Choose your hotels carefully.Research your restaurant on the net.Do not take small children: they willmiss the point of Venice and you willspend more time looking after themthan you will in enjoying Venice.

But hey, it is the world’s most beau-tiful city.

How can you not go?

but, it still very much followsthe sleek and sophisticateddesign template of the older car.The result is a car that’s nowherenear as imposing as the Fortuneror even the Skoda Kodiaq, butis unmistakably a CR-V. Forthe urbane SUV buyer, that’s nobad thing.The cabin too is bigger and a

lot better appointed with a big stepup in quality.The highlight is the all-digital

instrument panel and the uniquepush button gear selector. There’s

in the ‘economy class’ section ofthe CR-V and quite frankly onlychildren can use it or if you’refrom Lilliput.

HIGHWAY TO HELLThe big question on everyone’smind is does the CR-V with its120hp 1.6 diesel engine with its9-speed automatic gearbox haveenough punch? Initial impressionsare that the lowly power outputisn’t as bad as it seems. The CR-Vdiesel pulls quite smartly off theline and is quite responsive at lowspeeds and in city traffic. It’s anastonishingly refined engine tooand apart from a bit of diesel clatterat idle, the noise subsides withspeed. It’s on the highway when youwant to drive in a hurry that thedisappointment sets in. It builds upspeed quite slowly and overtakingon single lane roads requires a fairbit of planning. Performance isfar from effortless and makes youfeel shortchanged. I just wish ithad another 20 or 30 horsepowerto make it a pleasure to drive.Redeeming the power deficit tosome extent is the new CR-V’s muchimproved ride and handling, whichgives it a reassuring feel at speed.Expected at an estimated price

just shy of ~ 30 lakh, the new CR-Vwon’t be cheap but what you do getis a high quality and well-equippedSUV that will appeal to a broaderswathe of buyers than just the CR-Vloyalists. If only it had more power.

Hormazd Sorabjee is one of the most seniorand much loved auto journalists in India, and is

RUDE TRAVELVir Sanghvi

It is the same with restaurants.They fall into categories. There are thegrand restaurants like the Club delDoge at the Gritti (the best meal I had inVenice), the overpriced terrace at theDanieli where the chef ’s ambition is notmatched by the talent in the kitchen anda disappointing tasting menu for twocost us 370 euros with only local wines.

There is Harry’s Bar, where theBellini cocktail and the Carpaccio wereinvented. Harry’s is a tourist trap dur-ing the day but turns into a clubby res-taurant at night for the rich and well-connected. The food is good but only ifyou stick to classic dishes.

There are the foodie places. Quadriin San Marco square is above a famouscafé of the same name but has excel-lent food, is Michelin-starred anddesigned by Philippe Starck. (Quadri isrun by the owners of Le Calandre, oneof the world’s great restaurants, whichis near Padua). Al Covo was madefamous by Anthony Bourdain butdespite the influx of American visi-tors, standards have been maintained.

Then, there are the places locals goto. Most are good but they are off thebeaten track and can be hard to find.

They crowd around Piazza San Marcoand a couple of other tourist sites, takeselfies, understand nothing of the artor ethos of the city and leave by theevening.People who come on cruise ships

are even more hated. The ships arehuge, floating hotels that disfigurethe Venetian lagoon and the passen-gers wander zombie-like throughVenice, spending little money (theyeat and sleep on the ships) andcrowding out other visitors.

The way to do Venice is to go forthree to four days and to immerse your-self in the dream of Venice.

There are three categories of Venicehotels. There are the grand hotels. Ofthese, the Cipriani (which is not really inVenice but on an island in the lagoon) isthe best known along with the GrittiPalace. I haven’t stayed at the Ciprianibut I stayed at the Gritti this time.I am not easily impressed by

famous hotels and when I am payinghigh rates, I tend to be more critical.But the Gritti is one of the world’sgreat hotels; among the best I have everstayed at. It is a palazzo which is manycenturies old, the public areas look likethey are out of a painting, the roomsare magnificent and the service is out-standing. This is the most tightly man-aged grand hotel I know.Then there is the Danieli, which I

stayed at last time and I liked. Thistime, however, I thought it had a cer-tain down-at-heel, lazily-run air aboutit with tour groups sitting forlornly ontheir suitcases in the lobby. The Baueris well-regarded though I have no per-sonal experience of it.

There are also the five star hotels,the JW Marriott, the Kempinski and theHilton, all of which are outside the maincity and are run to modern standardswith prices that are on par with similarhotels in other European cities.

And then, there are the four andthree-star hotels. Some are good butmany are not, so choose carefully.

where the world’s rich went when theywanted to see great beauty – and bepampered and indulged at the sametime.Sometime in the 1950s and 1960s,

with the introduction of jet travel,this began to change. Americans dis-covered Venice and the traditionalhold of the English and Europeanaristocracy was broken.

Then, in the ’90s, as Asia (and theMiddle East) grew in wealth, Asiansdiscovered Venice. Since then, in the eraof cheap flights and downmarket cruiseships, Venice has become the world’sgreatest mass tourist destination.

There is nothing wrong with that –Venice should be for everyone. Exceptthat the city was not designed to accom-modate so many millions of visitors. Sothe 200,000 or so Venetians who grew upin the city are moving out. Today, onlyaround 50,000 remain.The millions of tourists need ser-

vicing, however, so each day, around125,000 people commute to Venicefrom the surrounding areas. Theywork in the shops, hotels and restau-rants and their presence oftenreminds the native Venetians thatthey have lost control of their city.If you do go to Venice – and I

reckon you should, it’s a much smarterthing to do than to fly to Switzerland to

see where a Bollywood film wasshot – then be warned, it is notcheap. On the other hand, it isprobably cheaper than London,Paris, Switzerland or the Southof France.There are many ways of

doing it. The two least desir-able ways are of taking a daytrip from some nearly Italiancity or by coming on a cruiseship. Venetians hate day-trip-pers and with good reason.

IT IS theworld’s most beautiful city andgreatest destination but tread carefully!

that were filled up to allow structuresto be constructed.

Because hundreds of tiny islandsmade upVenice, themenwho created thecity did not link them all up. Instead,they left waterways or canals between the islands, giving the city its peculiarcharacter. Even today, there are nomotorvehicles in Venice. You either walk, oryou take the boats on the canals.

Because this is not a city thatgrew up organically as much as onethat was constructed out of nothing,Venice is like a giant stage set,designed to impress.

The history of Venice reflects thistheatrical urge to show off. Till a fewcenturies ago, Venice was one of theworld’s greatest trading centres andpowerful city states. The Venetian fleettravelled far and wide, spreading thecity’s power. Venice sackedConstantinople, plundered its wealthand Venetians controlled the land routeto the East, making fortunes from trade.

After Vasco da Gama discovered aconvenient sea route to the East, Venicebegan to lose out. But it reinventeditself in a variety of ways. It became acentre of art with such painters asTintoretto and Titian becoming worldfamous. Its architecture set globaltrends. The city became the world’spleasure capital with the best brothelsand casinos, a sort ofearly (but more tasteful)prototype for Las Vegas.

And most signifi-cantly for us, it becamethe world’s first greattourist centre. Such wasits reputation for beautyand of course, for fun,that rich people from allover Europe came toVenice. Wealthy youngEnglish noblemen madeit the centre of what usedto be called The GrandTour and over the last twocenturies, Venice has been

There Is OnlyOneVenice

■ VISITORS OF VENICEDay trip tourists throng the waterfrontnear the Doge’s Palace understandingnothing about the real Venice

■ DRINKING GAMESThe Bellini cocktail was inventedat Harry’s Bar in Venice

Photos:SHUTTERSTOCK

no gear lever anymore and thisfrees up a lot of storage space.The new CR-V abounds withcubbyholes, storage boxes andbottle holders, which is great forholding bits and bobs. There aremany USB slots and Apple Car playand Andriod Auto will be standardon the India-spec cars.There’s a big improvement in

seat comfort too. The front seatsare heavily bolstered and embraceyou the moment you get behind thewheel. Generous cushioning andlots of thigh support makes themiddle row very comfortable too,whilst the flat floor and wide cabindoesn’t make three abreast seating

a squeeze.What is a tight squeeze though

is the third row, which can beaccessed by pulling a pair of fiddlystraps to flip and fold the middleseat. There’s hardly any legroom

■ APPEARANCEWISEThe high, sculpted bonnet andchunkier sides gives the new carmuch needed dose of muscle

■ SMARTER SPECSThe car’s highlight is the all-digitalinstrument panel. The cabin too is biggerand better appointed

■ PURE BEAUTYVenice from the windowsof the Gritti; a view thatstuns and astonishes

■ UP TO THEMARKAlCovo has maintained its standardsdespite the influx of American tourists

■ FOOD LOVERS, REJOICEQuadri, a famous and historical caféin SanMarco, now has aMichelin-starred restaurant upstairs

LIFE ON SUNDAY

04 | HINDUSTAN TIMES, RANCHISUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018

Her controversial 2011 memoirBa ttle H ymn of the Tiger M oth-er caused an uproar like noparenting book has: criticised

vehemently for its borderline cruel,strict child-rearing approach to her Chi-nese-American daughters. But little didAmy Chua expect that it would lead toracial slurs, accusations of child abuseand even death threats in the years tocome.

“It put me – and my whole family –in the public eye. But it also opened somany exciting opportunities. The fire-storm was extremely rough at the begin-ning, but seven years later, I wouldn’ttrade the experience. As always, I findthat what doesn’t kill you makes youstronger,” says Amy. “We survived! Andmore important, both my daughters arethriving and happy. They are both kind,strong young women with huge person-alities and wonderful senses of humour,and I’m incredibly proud of them.”

GROUP DYNAMICSAmy had never read any child-rearingbooks as a mother and never intendedher book to be a parenting book in thefirst place. “I often wonder if I shouldhave edited it more,” she says in hind-sight. “But as many have pointed out,it’s the fact that the book was so raw andunfiltered that made it unusual.”

Although her editor and publish-ers wanted her to do a follow-up to thatgigantic bestseller, the Yale law profes-sor has instead written a very differ-ently personal book. Politica l Tribes:

G roup Instinct a nd the F a te of Na -tions looks at the destructive powerof political tribalism and how it isaffecting America.

Amy explains that she wrote thisbook for two reasons. “The first wasabout three years ago. I was on a televi-sion news show, discussing Ukrainiannationalism.Afterwards, I sawabunchof mean Twitter posts saying, ‘Why isthe tiger mom talking about national-ism?’ I remember thinking to myself,‘That’s it. People don’t even know I’m aYale professor!’ I told my publisher thatI was returning in my next book to myarea of academic expertise, which isforeign policy and political tribalism.That was before Trump was in the pic-ture, and little did I know how relevantthe topic was going to be.

(America) is being split by race andclass. “In America today, every groupfeels threatened,” says Amy. “Whitesand blacks, Latinos andAsians, men andwomen, Christians, Jews, and Muslims,straight people and gay people, liberalsand conservatives – all feel their groupsare being attacked, bullied, persecuted,discriminated against. And when peoplefeel threatened, that’s when they becomemore insular, more defensive, more Usvs. Them – more tribal.”Growing up in Indiana, Amy,

whose Chinese parents emigratedfrom the Philippines, was often bulliedfor her accent being different – some-thing she faced even years later whenstudying at Harvard. “I’ve alwaysbeen an outsider, and I think what I’vetried to do throughout my life – bothpersonally and in my writings – is toturn being an outsider into a sourceof strength. One of my favourite linesfrom Ba ttle H ymn of the Tiger M otheris: ‘Do you knowwhat a foreign accentis? It’s a sign of bravery.’”

She shrugs off the question of fac-ing misogyny in her field. “Oh, I’ve ex-perienced plenty! But I’ve tried to flipit, and use adversity and insult as a wayto inspire myself to accomplish more,and perhaps be a role model for youngwomen down the road.”

Inspired by the works of authorslike Vladimir Nabokov, Italo Svevo,John Kennedy Toole and Dave Eggers,would she like to try her hand at fictionnext? “Yes! But I’m bad at coming upwith a plot,” she laughs.

“Second, last spring, just a fewmonths after Donald Trump becamepresident, I was teaching my usualclass on international business, mak-ing a point that I’ve emphasised for 20years, which is that because the politi-cal dynamics in developing countriesare so different from our own, we oftenget our foreign policy wrong. So I wasdescribing how in certain conditionspopulist leaders with no political ex-perience can sweep to power, stunningthe establishment, by tapping into deepcurrents of social resentment – andI suddenly stopped. I looked up, andthere were 80 students staring at me,all thinking what one of them finally

said: ‘It sounds like you’re describingAmerica.’ The passage was actuallyabout Hugo Chávez in Venezuela.”

US AND THEMIn her book, Amy expounds on howAmerica is being pulled apart by tribaldivisions and how the ‘super-group’

PERSONAL AGENDA

Photo: AMIT MEHRA

HIGHPOINTOF YOURLIFEWinning the Miss World Tourism title in 2005

PLACEOFBIRTHAgra

FIRSTBREAKPonds TV commercial

SUNSIGNTaurus

SCHOOL/COLLEGEDelhi Public School / Gargi College, Delhi

DATEOFBIRTHMay 16

Sonal ChauhanActress

Which is that one film that you can watchover and over again?It would be a tie between Before Sunrise (1995)and E terna l Sunshine of the Spotless M ind(2004).

Your biggest fashion faux pas is...?Plastic bra straps. It still makes me cringe!

A song that’s in your head right now...?In M y F eelings by Drake and it’s really annoy-ing me now. Kiki better give him clarity!

Your favourite cheat meal would include?A vanilla pound cake.

What’s the one thing about you that annoyspeople the most?That I cancel plans with friends to sleep in.

If you were to change your Twitter bio,what would it be?That Sufi girl from the mountains.

When you are not working, you are...?Just watching Netflix and sleeping.

Name three essentials in your handbag.Lip balm, hair brush and mouth sprays!

What’s the one must-have in your ward-robe?Track suits and white tees.

What’s your fitness mantra?Eat it all but burn it all.

A health food item you hate but can-not avoid...?Green leafy vegetables.

What’s your idea of a perfect day?Eat. Sleep. Netflix. And repeat!

What would your Tinder bio read?Unavailable.

Interviewed by Lubna Salim

Track s

WhaW tEatE

AAnn

WWEE

WWhUnaU va

My FavouritesCUISINE:

DISH:

BOOK:

STREET FOOD:

SOCIAL MEDIA:

INTERNATIONALLY FAMED author Amy Chua on dealingwithdeath threats, being bullied for her ethnicity and how Trumpwas a catalyst for her new book By Farhad J. Dadyburjor

Return Of TheTiger Mom

Our Betraying TonguesWHY DOES the privilegedmillennial generation thinkthat vernaculars are beneath it? By Zuni Chopra

I’mwalking down the halls with agood friend of mine. Our schoolshoes, scrubbed clean the nightbefore, squeak against the mar-

ble floor. Chatter swirls through theair around us, students push pastus with files and smiles and worriedlooks on their faces. The corridor isabuzz with a sea of checked pattern,the occasional flash of colour signal-ling a teacher, around whom crowdsan oasis of oddly dignified children.“You know,” my friend begins,

grinning already, “Last night, mycousin and I were watching this mov-ie and an ad came on. I tried to mimicwhat they were saying and he justburst out laughing at myHindi!”

I smile back, picturing it easily.“Don’t worry dude, that happens to meall the time. I never speak Hindi aroundmy brother – he loses it whenever I try!”“I mean I can understand it,”

she cuts in, “but speaking it – I justsound ridiculous!”

A last laugh, and the topic of ourconversation turns to other things.The exam paper next week. The newMarvel movie. Lunch.

MASSES AND CLASSESLater, when I’m supposed to be stud-ying, mymind drifts back to the nowsomewhat faded amusement. But…why? Why couldn’t I speak Hindi?Why not as well as my brother? Ob-viously, my brain responded, it’sbecause he plays cricket. He’s sur-rounded by a team of people whodon’t always speak English. So, hespeaks Hindi all the time. You don’t.End of story. Get back to math.

But is it? Is it truly as simple asthat? Or is there something far moresinister behind such simple words?To contradict my earlier point,

I am in fact immersed in a societyof people speaking Hindi. The staffat home, the housekeeping staff atschool, the bus didis that take us homeeveryday, and, most importantly, myown parents. The proof of this is inthe simple fact that I understand it

perfectly. But here’s the differencebetween my brother and I; he travelsbetween pitches, between classes, be-tween social spheres. He speaks withpeople to whomHindi is a way of life. Ihave been settled inwith the very samegroup of classmates since I was fiveyears old; a group of rich, millennial,technologically advanced classmates –who see Hindi as an inferior language.We look upon those that speak it, andwe see them as a little more unedu-

cated, a little more naïve, a little morelikely to belong to a class lower thanours. It’s something shameful, almost.

No one says it. Of course, no onewould. But I see it in the way we holdourselves, I see it in those we choose toadmire, I see it in the waywe speak, sen-tences measured, sharp and precise.

GOING NATIVEGrowing up, you were never re-ally scared of the Hindi teach-er. At Parent-Teacher Meetings,in fact, some students justskipped that table alto-gether. They were, to us,loveable and amusing.Their subject was funand fairly simple. Butserious? Not often.And respected? Al-most never. Classeswere always moreeducative, poems moremeaningful, speakersat events more enrich-ing, when their wordswere English. English, itseems, is the symbol of anelite, sophisticated, and glo-rified way of life.

A girl at summer camp,forgettable but for the blood

red bow in her hair, once casually re-marked she was bilingual. “I guess it’sjust a family thing,” she’d offered. “Weprefer to speak Finnish at home.” “Wow,”I replied, nodding slowly. “Bilingual.That’s impressive. I wish I was.” She shotme a puzzled look. “But…aren’t you?”“I mean, yeah, but – ” I stopped myselfshort. Just short of saying, but Hindidoesn’t count. It isn’t like Finnish. Itisn’t…what’s the word?...beautiful. Shewouldn’t have understood. It was a lack

of pride and self-worth that her countryhad never faced.

And here lies the most shatteringconclusion of all. We believe that atelling-off from a grown-up is the worstthat could come of this ideology.But weare, after all, Indian. We will never beable to separate ourselves from this lan-guage we don’t connect with. We havelost touch with our roots, and in them,ourselves. We will move to new coun-tries, to posh boarding schools, to vastuniversities. We will become a part ofa new society. Our own subconsciouswill tell us that our culture is insome way valued less. This is thecomplex my generation is fac-ing.

It is a complex we mustlearn to fight. Our cultural iden-tities are not mounds of putty,to be shaped and changed andreformed at our will. They arefaded gemstones, smothered with-in us, waiting to be acknowledged.And I, for one, think it’s high timewe embraced them.Right. Back to math!

The author is the daughter of film-maker VidhuVinod Chopra and journalist Anupama Chopra. Shedebuted as a novelist with The House That Spoke

and has also penned two poetry books.

PhotoImaging:PARTHGARG

›OUR CULTURAL IDENTITIES ARE NOT MOUNDS OFPUTTY, TO BE SHAPED AT WILL. THEY ARE FADEDGEMSTONES, WAITING TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED

›“I’VE EXPERIENCEDMISOGYNY IN MY FIELD,BUT I’VE USED IT AS AWAYTO INSPIRE MYSELF ANDPERHAPS BE A ROLE MODELFOR YOUNGWOMEN”

—AMY CHUA

Photo:FADILBERISHAPHOTOGRAPHY

Fashion’s Most Iconic!WHO IS your ultimate style guru? And... is there something (s)hedid that you would not? 5 fashionistas attempt an answer

By Farhad J. Dadyburjor

Pria Kataaria Puri PrayagMenon-Vimadalal Anu Ahuja Amit Aggarwal Karn Malhotra

THE CHIC FEMINIST“Coco Chanel. She kick-startedthe fashion era in the 20s through40s and is still continuing to inspiregenerations since.But…I personally don’t like tweed. It’suncomfortable and heavy to wear, anda lot of their suits are made in tweed.”

— Pria Kataaria Puri,fashion designer

HISTORYWITH A TWIST“Alessandro Michele of Gucci. Hehas successfully brought about a newlanguage for the brand, keeping inmind Gucci’s historic identity andjuxtaposing it with his contemporaryaesthetic.But…His turbans and religiousheadgear may be too close forcomfort.”

—Prayag Menon-Vimadalal,celebrity stylist

QUIRKY 101“AlexanderMcQueen. For hisunique and provocative vision, hisfearlessness in always challengingboundaries and our perception ofwhat we see as beauty – whether itwas the ‘dying swan’ model or hisprosthetic-inspired collection.But…I couldn’t quite digest thecrazy shoes he used, which lookedlike torture instruments.”

— Anu Ahuja, choreographer

ANGEL OFFASHION“AzzedineAlaïa. Hedeveloped aunique signatureand stuck tohis craft – keptevolving it tillthe very end.But…The onlything critical is

that the heavens took him too early!”— Amit Aggarwal, fashion designer

OVER THEEDG(Y)Gianni Versace.It wasn’t just hisexcessive useof bling, metalor flamboyantprints that madehis work standout – it was theconfidence andattitude with

which he carved his niche that made himiconic.But…If I was forced to pick an element,it would be to smoothen the edginess atad bit.

— Karn Malhotra,fashion designerP

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