Delhi, thursday, january 14, 2016

www.thehindu.in Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 6 No. 12 CITY EDITION 40 Pages Rs. 10.00

Printed at Chennai, Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Madurai, Noida, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Vijayawada, Mangaluru, Tiruchirapalli, Kolkata, Hubballi, Mohali, Allahabad, Malappuram and Mumbai

Bangladesh war hero

Lt. Gen. J.F.R. Jacob
passes away

Nirupam issue reveals

lack of coordination
in Congress

SC orders fresh test

of Maggi noodles
for lead content

Trump supporters target

Nikki Haley for remarks
on immigration

Page 12

Page 12

Page 13

Page 14

SUSPENSE OVER TALKS CONTINUES

Pakistan detains Jaish founder

Masood Azhar for questioning
No information
received on
Islamabad action,
says New Delhi
SUHASINI HAIDAR
NEW DELHI: Drawing out the

suspense over the future of

India-Pakistan engagement,
the government on Wednesday deferred a decision on
whether Foreign Secretary S.
Jaishankar would travel to Islamabad for talks on Friday,
as had been informally
agreed last month.
A decision had been expected after an announcement in Pakistan that security
forces carried out a crackdown on the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), accused of the
Pathankot airbase attack, and
that its founder Masood Azhar had been detained for
questioning.
However
government
sources said, No information has been received from
Pakistan on the arrests, indicating that a decision would
be taken on Foreign Secretary
talks only after Pakistan conveyed the nature of action it
has taken to the government.
National Security Adviser
Ajit Doval, who has been in
Paris since Tuesday, is ex-

pected back in Delhi on

Thursday, when a decision
may possibly be taken.
On Wednesday afternoon,
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
chaired a meeting in Islamabad of the entire top security
apparatus of Pakistan and the
State of Punjab in particular.
The meeting was attended
by Army Chief Raheel Sharif,
the ISI chief, the Corps Commander Lahore as well as several senior ministers and advisers, besides the Punjab
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
Based on the initial investigations in Pakistan, several
oicials belonging to the
Jaish-e-Mohammad
have
been apprehended, a statement from Mr. Sharifs oice
said.
It added that the govern-

ment would send a Special

Investigative Team to India to
gather additional evidence.
According to oicials in Islamabad, at least four oices
of the JeM were raided and
sealed, while more arrests
were expected.
Finally, Mr. Sharif constituted a team to probe the allegations of alleged involvement of certain individuals in
the Pathankot attack.
The six-member team included the Punjab police
counter-terror chief, Rai Tahir, as well as the Director IB
in Lahore, and oicials of the
Federal Investigation Agency,
ISI, and Military Intelligence.
Within a few hours, Pakistani police told local media
that they had detained JeM
founder Masood Azhar, the
man India believes master-

SC refuses to lift stay on jallikattu

KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL
NEW DELHI: A day after it stood
up for the bulls right to life
and dignity by staying a government notification allowing jallikattu, an unimpressed Supreme Court
refused to alter its stand despite fresh interventions on
Wednesday blaming the
court for being influenced by
the fogged vision of city
dwellers at the cost of hurting
the traditions of pastoral Tamil Nadu.

TN can issue
ordinance
CHENNAI: The Centre on

Wednesday said it was in no

position to bring in an
ordinance to lift the ban on
jallikattu but it would
support the State
government if it used its
powers to promulgate one.

DETAILS ON PAGE 12
A Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra held that the stay

was granted in accordance

with one of the highest of
principles enshrined in the
Constitution, that is, compassion for living creatures.
It referred to the Supreme
Court judgment of 2014,
which held that jallikattu
caused considerable pain
and distress to the bulls.
The 2014 judgment enshrines the concept of Article
51A (g) and (h) of the Constitution, Justice Mishra held.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

minded the attack, his operations chief and brother Rauf

Azhar and other associates
for questioning.
However, the information
was not confirmed by the
government.
More investigations are
under way.Pakistan would
remain engaged with India on
this issue, the PMO statement said.

IS poses no threat to U.S., says Obama

Talk of Americas
economic decline is
political hot air
VARGHESE K. GEORGE
WASHINGTON: Delivering his
seventh and final State of the
Union address to a joint session of Congress, U.S. President Barack Obama sought to
inspire and unify a country
that is gripped by fear and uncertainty fanned by a fractious election campaign that
is under way. The U.S. will
elect a new President in
November.
His rise seven years ago
represented a change that

brought hope, but in his parting speech Mr. Obama focussed on technological and
political changes that disrupt
lives and threaten security in
the U.S. Despite near total
employment and robust economic growth, two-thirds of

Americans feel their country

is on the wrong track and Mr.
Obama tried to reassure
them. ... all the talk of Americas economic decline is political hot airThe United
States of America is the most
powerful nation on Earth. Pe-

PRESSURE; HANDLERS WERE

CLOSE TO THE BORDER |

PAGE 12

Marine can stay in

Italy till April 30

HIGHEST IN FIVE YEARS

EPFO may recommend
8.9 per cent return

MALDA VIOLENCE
Officials destroy poppy
on 500 acres
KOLKATA: Officials have

DETAILS ON PAGE 12

destroyed poppy grown on 500

acres in Malda district of West
Bengal after the violence at
Kalichak. Illegal poppy
cultivation is believed to be one
of the reasons for the violence.
NEWS | PAGE 13

Afghan security personnel inspect a building believed to be used by IS militants

to launch an attack on the Pakistan consulate in Jalalabad on Wednesday. At least
seven securitymen were killed. PHOTO: AFP (REPORT ON PAGE 14)

Comedian mimicks Dera chief, held

ANURADHA RAMAN
& VIKAS PATHAK
NEW DELHI: Dera Sacha Sauda

that Italian marine Massimiliano Latorre will not return

to India to face the criminal
trial for the murder of two Indian fishermen in 2012, the
Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed his stay in Italy to
be extended for another three
months till April 30.
Mr. Latorre and another
marine, Salvatore Girone, on
duty aboard the vessel Enrica
Lexie, are accused of shooting
dead two fishermen of the
Kerala coast in February 2012,
mistaking them for pirates.

NEW DELHI: Nearly 8.7 crore

employees are in for some good
news with the EPFO likely to
declare an 8.9 per cent return
on provident fund savings for
2015-16, the highest rate in five
years.
NEWS | PAGE 13

LEGAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: Amid news reports

SPELLS OUT FOUR-POINT

AGENDA FOR FUTURE | PAGE 14
MIXED LEGACY OF THE
OBAMA YEARS | EDITORIAL

BRIEFLY

IS targets Pak. consulate

Confirmation awaited
However Indian oicials
said they felt the news of Azhars arrest could have been a
deliberate plant and had
not been confirmed through
oicial channels.

PAKISTAN UNDER GLOBAL

riod. Its not even close, he

said.
Rejecting a narrative being
popularised by Republican
frontrunners Donald Trump
and Ted Cruz that the Islamic
State was an existential threat
to the U.S., the President said:
We just need to call them
what they are killers and
fanatics who have to be rooted out, hunted down, and destroyed Thats exactly what
we are doing. But they do
not threaten our national
existence.

chief Baba Ram Rahim and

stand-up comic Kiku Sharda
may have a thing in common.
Seven years ago, the Dera
chief was accused by the Sikh
clergy of mimicking and aping
the tenth Sikh Guru Gobind
Singh during a religious congregation of the sect.
It took seven years for a sessions court to absolve the Dera
chief of the charges as parts of
Punjab witnessed violent
clashes between the Dera followers and Sikhs.
Seven years down the line,
with Punjab going to the polls
early next year, following a
complaint by Dera follower

Kiku Sharda will be in judicial

custody for 14 days.

Uday Singh from Kaithal in Haryana, popular comedian Kiku

Sharda, whose signature drag
act earned him followers on the
show, Comedy Nights with Kapil, was arrested by the Haryana Police in Mumbai on
Wednesday for hurting religious sentiments by mimicking
the sect head.

He was remanded in judicial

custody for 14 days.
The alacrity shown in arresting the actor, is not entirely
without political implications.
The Dera had extended support to the BJP in the Haryana
and Delhi polls. The safron
party wants to repay the Dera
for its support to it in the State
and also in Delhi.
However, an immediate reason for action is also the potential law and order implications
of the comedians act of mimicking the Baba. The stand-up
comic not only made derogatory remarks against the Dera
chief but also portrayed him as
a womaniser, alcoholic and a
money-seeking man during one
of his acts, said Dera spokesperson Aditya Insaan.

DIARY OF EVENTS 2015

Diary of Events 2015,
a special annual issue
listing important regional,
national, international and
sports news developments
during the year, is being
published and distributed
with The Hindu today
with an additional
cover price of Rs. 2.

METROPLUS
4 Pages

Metro challaned
for dust pollution
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: Aiming to arrest the

biggest polluter of the citys

air dust -- the Delhi government has come down heavily
on construction projects, including the Delhi Metro, for
flouting pollution norms.
The government has issued
challans to 14 construction
sites of the Delhi Metro Rail
Corporation (DMRC) and 42
major construction projects
of various authorities, including private builders, for violating dust control measures.
Notices have been issued to
all the defaulters to deposit a
compensation of Rs.50,000
for each project.
Most of the DMRC construction sites that have been
penalised are in South Delhi,
including upcoming stations
at INA, South Extension, Sarojini Nagar, Bhikaji Cama
Place, Moti Bagh, South Campus, Delhi Cantonment and
Dhaula Kuan. Other sites include Azadpur, Shalimar
Bagh and Mukundpur among
others.
Reacting to the challans,
the DMRC said it would re-assess the areas pointed out and
take necessary measures.
The DMRC will examine every issue and location pointed
out and if it is found that any
of our contractors are not

maintaining the required environmental standards, then

suitable action will be initiated against them, said a
DMRC oicial.
However, it maintained
that it carries out air monitoring in three stages -- prior to
the start of construction, during construction and during
the operation stage. Only
pollution under control certified vehicles are allowed inside the DMRC premises. Water is sprinkled on not only
the soil, but also on the tyres
of trucks to reduce dust, the
oicial added.
Challans have also been issued for burning of leaves and
garbage.
Meanwhile, the government, which has collected air
samples from 183 locations
across the city since January 1,
said on Wednesday that the
data continued to show a
dip in the levels of particulate matter.

MORE REPORTS ON PAGE 4

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THE HINDU

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THE HINDU

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

|3

D E L H I

Jan 14, Thu

Jan 15, Fri

Jan 16, Sat

RISE 07 16 SET 17 46

RISE 07 16 SET 17 46

RISE 07 15 SET 17 47

RISE 10 11 SET 22 20

RISE 10 53 SET 23 22

RISE 11 34 SET 00 00

7 held in Rajinder Nagar triple murder case

Woman found murdered,

husband missing

The Delhi Police have named Rajan, former fellow inmate of Sanjay in Tihar, as the mastermind behind the incident

STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: A 30-year-old womans blood-ridden body was
found at her home in NorthEast Delhis Seelampur area on
Wednesday morning.
Since the womans husband
has been missing ever since the
crime came to light, the police
suspect him to be behind the
murder.
The couples seven-year-old
son too has not been traced yet,
prompting the police to believe that he has been taken
away by his father. A search for
both was on at the time of filing
this report.
Neighbours have told the
police that the couple quarrelled frequently over domestic issues. The police have also
learnt that there was trust deficit between the couple, which
is being seen as one of the primary reasons behind the murder. The victim has been identified as Firoza, a native of
West Bengal who lived with
her family in Seelampurs
Shastri Park area.

SHUBHOMOY SIKDAR

nravelling the mystery behind

the murders of a property dealer Sanjay Sonaria, his wife and
their son at Old Rajinder Nagar
last Sunday, the Delhi Police
have named Rajan, a former fellow inmate of Sanjay in Tihar,
as the mastermind behind the
incident.
Rajan is among the five arrested in connection with the
incident while two minors have
been apprehended for being
part of the conspiracy and execution of the triple murder at
Sanjays residence.
It is alleged that robbery was
the main motive behind the
murders.
Sanjay had told Rajan that
he had cracked a
successful property
deal and earned a
good share from it.
BLOODY
Coming to know of
this, Rajan along
TRAIL
with his co-conspirMurder
ators hatched a plan
to eliminate Sanjay
mystery
and take away the
money kept in his
house, said Deputy
Commissioner of
Police (Central) Paramaditya.
The police, however, have
not recovered any cash from
the accused despite having all
of them in their net. The total
amount taken away from Rajan
and others after murdering
Sanjay, his wife Jyoti and son
Pawan, was not mentioned at
the press conference either.
In 2013-14, Sanjay who was
jailed in a cheating case and Rajan, booked for another murder, were lodged in the same
cell. They maintained contact
after coming out also. Sanjay
boasted of his success in property business to Rajan and offered him to join him. Rajan initially tried his hand but in vain,
said Mr. Parmaditya.
During his unsuccessful
tryst with the property business, Rajan found out that Sanjay deals in big money and
thought he could be an easy
prey.
And thus the plan was made.
According to the plan, they reached Rajinder Nagar around 8
p.m. Five of them, including Rajan, entered Sanjays residence
on the pretext of going with a
dealing party.
Two of them kept a watch
on the road and one of them for

The Central District of the Delhi Police team with the arrested accused (faces covered) who were involved in the triple murder case.
PHOTO: SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

any suspicion just below the

house. Then they engaged Sanjay Kumar in one room while
his wife and son were busy in
another room. The door was
closed from inside to ensure
that the conversations or any
noise was not heard in the
kitchen or another room where
Jyoti and Pawan were respectively present, said Mr.
Paramaditya.
When they got an opportunity, they strangulated Sanjay, vacated a cupboard and stufed
his body in it. This, according
to their statements to the police, was done to ensure that
the wife did not detect the matter immediately.
Rajan immediately moved
to the kitchen to engage Jyoti in
a conversation. Even as he was
at it, his accomplices went to
the other room where Pawan
was watching TV.
They strangulated Pawan
and laid him on the bed and
covered him with a blanket, to
give the impression that he was
sleeping,
said
Mr.
Paramaditya.
It was Jyotis turn thereafter.
As soon as she entered the

Rajan is among the

five arrested, while
two minors have
been apprehended for
being part of the
conspiracy
room where Pawans body was,
she was overpowered and
smothered by the accused
persons.
In efect, till the time they
died, none of the family members were aware of the death of
each other.
After the murders, in search
of the booty, all the accused
ransacked the house leaving
nothing unturned.
They then decamped with
cash and jewellery, clothes and
other articles, said Mr.
Paramaditya.
While the adult accused
were busy committing the
crime, the two juveniles were
standing outside the house to
raise an alarm in case it was
needed, said the police.
The accused had conducted
a reconnaissance of the house
two days before the murders.

Biker charred to death after collision

STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: A man was charred

to death when his Royal Enfield motorcycle caught fire

upon colliding with a stationary tempo in South-West Delhis Shankar Vihar on Wednesday morning.
Police quoted eyewitnesses
as saying that the bleeding victim was lying unconscious under the motorcycle when it
suddenly went up in flames.
The victim has been identified
as Manik Gaur, a Vasant Kunj
resident who works for a private firm. He was travelling on
the National Higway-8 around
2 p.m. on Wednesday when the
accident took place.
A tempo with a punctured
tyre was stationed on the roadside. The motorcyclist was
apparently riding at a high
speed because of which he was
unable to bring the two-wheel-

The motorcycle, which went

up in flames. PHOTO: SPECIAL
ARRANGEMENT

er to an immediate halt on suddenly finding the tempo

ahead, said a senior police
oicer.
Gaur was thrown of the motorcycle and both skid a short
distance before the two-wheeler landed on top of him. Within
moments of coming to a halt,
the motorcycle went up in
flames. Since Gaur was lying
unconscious because of possi-

ble severe injuries, he was unable to react and his clothes

caught fire. Police suspect that
the collision would have
caused the motorcycles fuel
tank to leak, igniting the fire.
Seeing the blaze, some locals
rushed to his aide, but it was
too late by then. They even
tried using small fire extinguishers, but to no avail. Police
said the flames had caused
Gaur to gain semi-consciousness, but he was unable to react. Whether he died of burn
injuries or due to the impact of
the collision will be known only after the autopsy report arrives, police said. The victim
was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was declared brought
dead.
His motorcycle number
helped identify his address and
his family was informed about
his death. His body has been
handed over to them.

STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: One of the clues that
led the police to zero in on Rajan
and his accomplices in the triple
murder case of Rajinder Nagar was
the manner in which the victims
were killed.
The previous murder of a
woman for which Rajan was
serving jail where he met the
now deceased Sanjay Sonaria
was also an incident where the
victim was strangulated in the
same way as the property dealer.
The victim in that case was the
woman who was persistent on
lodging a police complaint in
Dwarka after Rajan refused to
marry her, said a senior police
officer. Initially we were confused
because of the long list of cases
Sanjay had against him, throwing
up many possibilities and making
all those allegedly cheated by him
suspects. While we were probing
the list it came to our notice that
Sanjay had served jail as well. We
called for a list of fellow inmates
and the manner in which Sanjay

was murdered pointed the needle

of suspicion towards Rajan, said
the officer. He added that call
records were then checked and it
was found that Rajan was in
constant touch with Sanjay and
had even visited Rajinder Nagar on
the day of the murder. He and
others were held from different
parts of Delhi and Western Uttar
Pradesh.
During interrogation, Rajan is
learnt to have told the police that
the amount they took away from
Sanjays residence was far less
than what they had hoped for.
Initially, all those who were
roped in were promised Rs. 1 lakh
each but later Rajan had second
thoughts and wanted to keep most
of the robbed amount himself,
which enraged the co-accused,
said a source. It is also learnt that
when the accused reached Pawans
room, they used the remote to
increase the volume of the TV,
which made Pawan a little
suspicious. But before he could put
up a fight, he was overpowered and
murdered.

Firoza was a housewife,

while her absconding husband
did odd jobs. They had moved
into the rented flat only around
a month ago.
The crime came to light
around 11 a.m. on Wednesday
when a relative came to visit
the family. He opened the
house that was latched from
outside to see Firoza lying in a
pool of blood near the door.
He immediately informed
the neighbours who in turn
called police. The victim was
declared brought dead at the
hospital and her body was sent
for post-mortem.
Given the nature of injuries,
she is suspected of being killed
with a sharp weapon, possibly
a kitchen knife. However, no
weapon of ofence has been recovered yet.

Robber wanted for four

murders in 10 days nabbed
STAFF REPORTER

How the case was cracked

Given the nature of

injuries, she is
suspected of having
been killed with a
sharp weapon

NEW DELHI: A man wanted for

killing four persons in a span

of 10 days in Uttar Pradesh
has been arrested from the
Capital, police said on
Wednesday.
Accused Rohit Kumar alias
Baba and his gang had also allegedly committed two highway robberies and opened
fire at a police team during
that same period.
Baba, 24, was arrested from
North-West Delhis Keshavpuram on Monday after the
Delhi Police received a tip-of
about his presence in that area, allegedly planning a
crime.
The suspect allegedly
whipped out a pistol on being
surrounded by the police
team, but was overpowered
before he could fire, said Ravindra Yadav, Joint CP
(Crime).
During interrogation, Baba
revealed that he was a member of the Aditya gang, notorious in UPs Baghpat district.
Gang leader Aditya was a
constable dismissed from the

Baba went on a
murder spree in the
last week of
December and the
carnage continued
till January 6
Indo Tibetan Border Police.
Baba went on a murder
spree in the last week of December and the carnage continued till January 6 when he
finally killed Aditya, apparently with an aim to take
charge of the gang.
His other three victims belonged to the rival gang and
police said the murders were
connected to the recentlyheld local elections in Baghpat district.
In the meantime, he and his
gang also kept robbing bus
passengers travelling on the
highway passing through the
area.
One such robbery had also
drawn a police team on their
trail. The gang had been surrounded by the police, but
they managed to escape, following a brief encounter.

Fresh set of
instructions
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: Following Mon-

days incident of a man

jumping of the Ambedkar
Nagar police station terrace, fresh instructions for
questioning procedure have
been issued. According to
sources, the station house
oicer was not in the loop in
the Ambedkar Nagar case.
Sources said all the police
stations of the South Eastern range have now been
told that questioning of suspects shall be done on the
ground floor and nobody
can be taken to the higher
floors. Further, it is learnt
that it has been made mandatory for staf to intimate
their respective station
house oicers before carrying out questioning.

DELHI TODAY
Art: Bong Connecxn II - a group
art show at the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre (IHC),
Lodhi Road, Near Airforce Bal
Bharati School, from 10 a.m. - 8
p.m.
Art: Alankriti- a group art
show at All India Fine Arts & Craft
Society (AIFACS), 1 Rafi Marg, 11
a.m. - 7 p.m.
Exhibition: Traditional Tribal
Art - an exhibition of paintings
curated by Priyanka Banerjee at
Convention Centre Foyer, India
Habitat Centre (IHC), Lodhi Road,
Near Airforce Bal Bharati School,
11 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Exhibition: Obscure Clarity - A
Journey in Monochrome a solo
photography exhibition by Pranav Budhiraja at Delhi O Delhi
Foyer, India Habitat Centre (IHC),
Lodhi Road, Near Airforce Bal
Bharati School, from 10 a.m. - 8
p.m.
Music: Hindustani Vocal recital
by Akhil Kumar Das at the Habitat World, India Habitat Centre
(IHC), Lodhi Road, Near the Airforce Bal Bharati School, from 7
p.m.
Music: Naad Nartan presents a

two-day festival of Hindustani

Classical Vocal and Classical
Dance. Hindustani Vocal recital
by Ustad Iqbal Ahmad Khan followed by Bharatanatyam recital
by Nandini Eshwar at Habitat
World, India Habitat Centre
(IHC), Lodhi Road, Near Airforce
Bal Bharati School, 7 p.m.
Talk: C.D. Deshmukh Memorial
Lecture 2016: Cosmic Odyssey:
Past Present and Future by Professor T. Padmanabhan, Distinguished
Professor,
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Physics, Pune;
Chair: Shri Soli J. Sorabjee, President, IIC at C. D Deshmukh Auditorium, Main Building, India
International Centre (IIC), No.40,
Max Mueller Marg, 6:30 p.m.
Screening: Big Joys, Small Sorrows - Japanese film with English subtitles screening at The
Japan Foundation, 5A Ring Road,
Lajpat Nagar IV, 6:30 p.m.
(Mail your listings for this column
at
cityeditordelhi@
thehindu.co.in)

Published by N. Ram at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., Chennai-600002. National Editor: Suresh Nambath (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).

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THE HINDU

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

SWEEPING AWAY DELHIS

DUST MONSTER
Soil and road dust are the single largest source of air pollution in the Capital
STAFF REPORTER

t 38 per cent, soil and road

dust are the single largest
source of air pollution in
Delhi and now the government has cracked the whip
on defaulters for bad construction site management
practices.
Targeting construction
sites, which cover more
than 20,000 sq metre area,
the Delhi government has
issued challans to 14 construction sites of the Delhi
Metro Rail Corporation
(DMRC) and 42 major construction sites, including
private builders, for violating dust control measures.
Delhi Health Minister
Satyendar Jain, who is also

the nodal minister for controlling air pollution, said

on Wednesday that among
Delhi's major 48 construction projects, 42 have been
challaned
this
week.
He
chaired
a meeting
with officials
of diferent agencies,
where he was apprised of
the action taken against violators. He said that out of
47 verification done, notices have been served to
42 defaulters for depositing a compensation of Rs.

BREATHE FRESH

Now pedal your

way to good health
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: Transport

Minister Gopal Rai on

Wednesday inaugurated
the Green Ride Public
Bicycle Sharing Service at
the Rohini Metro station
here. Dedicating 66 cycles
that can be hired by those
so inclined on an hourly
basis to the Aam Aadmi
Party governments first
phase of promoting
cycling in the Capital, the
Transport Minister said
the service aimed at
improving the health of
Delhiites and the air they
breathe. We will work on
the cycling plan in two
phases. In the first, we will
encourage people to use
cycles for daily chores. We
have already announced
that the government will
give a subsidy on
purchase of cycles. The
second phase will consist
of constructing cycle
lanes on roads so that
people can use cycles for
longer commutes, Mr.

50,000 each.
The Department of Revenue has collected Rs. 41
lakh through challans, the
Delhi Pollution Control
Committee
(DPCC)
has
mopped up Rs. 4
lakh and the East
Delhi Municipal
Corporation
(EDMC) has collected Rs. 2 lakh in
fines.
All corporations
and land owning agencies
have been asked to display
boards containing information regarding steps to
be taken for dust control
during construction activity. While all the concerned
agencies provided action

taken reports on dust pollution and leaves and garbage burning, Delhi Development Authority (DDA)
oicials said that they have
not come across any such
cases in the O zone area
(the Yamuna river-front).
Mr. Jain took a serious
note of the DDA report and
DPCC oicials have been
asked to conduct surprise
visits in the O zone and
parks under DDA.
The Department of Revenue has mopped up Rs.
95,000 from violators for
burning leaves, garbage
etc. The EDMC has collected Rs. 20,000 and the New
Delhi Municipal Council
has collected Rs. 5,000 in
fines from violators.

The level of pollutants rose on Wednesday evening as a thick blanket of fog enveloped parts of the city, a situation that is likely to
persist on Thursday. PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Govt. to take take stock of

odd-even scheme next week

As many as 66
The AAP has also planned an event to express gratitude for the city's support to the scheme
cycles are available
for Delhiites at a
STAFF REPORTER
minimal cost of
NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi ParRs. 10 per hour
Rai said. Atul Jain,
founder-cum-director of
Delhi Cycles, a private
organisation assisting the
Delhi government with
the initiative, said the
cycles up for hire were
available at Rohini (East)
Metro station, apart from
DMRC facilities located in
Sector 8, 13 and 14.
These can be hired for
Rs. 10 per hour. The
number of cycles is
expected to go up to 100
by the end of January, Mr.
Jain said.
According to a senior
government oicial, a
similar cycle renting
service was available in
the area around the year
2009, but it had to be
stopped due to
operational issues.

Transport Minister Gopal Rai inaugurated the Green Ride Public

Bicycle Sharing Service at the Rohini Metro station on
Wednesday. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

ty government will review its

odd-even vehicle rationing
scheme next week to decide if
it needs to resort to the antipollution measure in the future, Transport Minister Gopal Rai said on Wednesday.
A review meeting in this regard, which is to be presided
over by Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal, is scheduled for
Monday after which a decision
will be taken, said Mr. Rai.
The review meeting will
revolve around an analysis of
the impact of the scheme on
the basis of which a decision
on the future of the odd-even
scheme will be taken. This is in
addition to a discussion on
other anti-pollution measures, Mr. Rai said at a press
conference.
The Transport minister
added that the government
will organise a Thanksgiving
event at the Chhatrasal stadium on January 17 to express
the governments gratitude to
Delhiites for supporting the
initiative and making it a resounding success.
The people of Delhi evidently accepted the odd-even
scheme and supported it
wholeheartedly. To thank
them, the government has decided to organise the thanksgiving function, he said.
Mr. Rai also added that Mr.
Kejriwal, the Delhi Cabinet,
volunteers from various government departments, the
Delhi Police, volunteers from
Civil Defence, the NSS and
representatives of the DMRC
and the DTC would also be
present at the event.
In addition, the Transport

A meeting has been scheduled for Monday to decide on the course of action with regard to the
anti-pollution measure. PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Minister said the governments next step towards ensuring lesser pollution would
revolve around promoting cycling across Delhi an issue
that is likely to be discussed at
the meeting.
The meeting on Monday
will also focus on a discussion
on how to promote cycling in
Delhi. A committee will be
formed to make the plan, Mr.
Rai said.
On January 11, Mr. Rai had
announced that as much as Rs.
1.5 crore, which had been generated from challans issued
when the odd-even plan was in
place, would be utilised to provide a subsidy on the purchase
of cycles.
The government is also
working on creating exclusive
cycle lanes across Delhi to attract more cyclists.

Pollution worsens with fog

STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: The level of
pollutants in the atmosphere
rose on Wednesday evening as a
thick blanket of fog enveloped
parts of the city, a situation that
is likely to persist on Thursday,
an India Meteorological
Department (IMD) official said.
The average levels of
Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 and
PM 10, extremely fine respirable
particles, were 152 and 251
respectively. The corresponding
safe limits are 60 and 100.
The official said that an active
western disturbance will bring
down the temperature, possibly
below 10 degrees Celsius,
resulting in the subsequent

formation of fog.
Real-time PM 2.5 and PM 10
readings of several Delhi
Pollution Control Committee
stations were six to seven times
above the prescribed safe
standards around 8 p.m.
The Delhi government said
that its air quality sampling
across 16 locations on Tuesday
established consistent decline
in pollution which shows a
highly encouraging trend.
PM 2.5 air pollution levels on
Tuesday at these 16 locations
showed recordings of less than
100 (ug/m3) at nine locations,
which is around 50 per cent less
than average recordings since
the odd-even regulations were
put in place, said a statement.

14 DMRC construction
sites issued challans
Delhi Metro says it will take all necessary
measures to bring down the dust levels
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: The Delhi

Metro Rail Corporation

(DMRC) has
maintained that it will
reassess the
construction sites
challaned by the State
government on
Wednesday, besides
taking necessary
measures to bring the
dust levels down in
these areas.
At the same time, the
DMRC also explained
that it carries out air
monitoring in three
stages prior to the
start of construction,
during construction to
monitor the impact and
during the operations
stage.
Construction
activities are carried
out in accordance with
DMRCs Environmental
Policy. Only Pollution
Under Control (PUC)
certified vehicles are
allowed inside the
DMRC premises and
regular checking is
carried out to ensure
the validation of the
certificate. Water is also
sprinkled not only on
the ground, but also on
the tyres of trucks to
reduce dust, the oicial
added.
Under the policy, all
waste is segregated
before disposal. To
prevent land and water
contamination,
hazardous liquid wastes
such as used oil and
chemicals are disposed
of only through
government-approved
recyclers of such waste.

Officials say
water is sprinkled
on the ground
and truck tyres
to control dust
Water is sprinkled
regularly to avoid soil
erosion and wheels of
trucks are entering the
sites are washed.
In addition, grass
paving and tree
plantation are quick and
efective means of dust
control for disturbed
areas, the DMRC said in
a statement issued soon
after 14 of its
construction sites were
challaned for exceeding
the permissible dust
levels as prescribed by
the Delhi Pollution
Control Committee
(DPCC).
The 15-point dust
pollution guidelines of
the DPCC include
checking whether any
construction materials
or debris are stored or
dumped on roads, or
whether the
construction area has
protective scafolding
around it.

NDMC announces budget, sets smart goals for itself

DAMINI NATH
NEW DELHI: Smart projects

will top the New Delhi Municipal Councils (NDMC)

agenda in the next financial
year, even though many
proposals in the 2016-2017
budget
presented
on
Wednesday are rehashed
versions of old initiatives.

PENNY WISE
The budget, presented
by NDMC chairperson Naresh Kumar, again focused
on pet projects of the
Union government including Smart Cities, Digital India and Swachh Bharat. Projects for a smart
electricity grid, lighting,
teaching and parking were
part of the budget for the
second year in a row. The
NDMC is competing in the
Union Urban Development
Ministrys Smart Cities
Challenge (Stage-2). If selected, the civic body will
receive funding for many of
the projects.
Mr. Kumar proposed a
cloud-based hospital management information system for all NDMC healthcare institutions, as well as
a state-of-the-art AYUSH
polyclinic.
CM
YK

Projects for a
smart electricity
grid, teaching and
parking are part of
the budget for the
second year
In the education sector,
smart classrooms for students of classes VI to XII
would be set up.
Apart from high-end
computers, projectors and
interactive white-boards,
the schools will be given
subject matter.
As part of the Skill India
initiative, three skill training centres would be set up
in collaboration with the
National Skill Development Council.
Taking of from the Centres focus on energy eiciency, the NDMC will also
set up a smart grid to improve the power distribution infrastructure and
consumer services like billing. Further, to give entrepreneurs an opportunity to
grow, the NDMC will set up
an incubation centre for the
IT industry with the help of
Software Technology Parks
of India.
Though there are few

new initiatives, many proposals in the 2016-17 budget

are those that the NDMC
failed to implement this financial year.
For instance, the smart
poles project was presented last year but was stopped due to irregularities in
the tendering process. A
new tender will be floated
soon, said Mr. Kumar.
A dedicated cab service
for and by women called
Shakti Cabs was included
in last years budget, but the
project failed to take of.
Mr. Kumar said that the
NDMC is in talks with
banks to help women drivers get loans to buy cabs.
Some projects could not
work out during the current financial year. But, we
are working on implementing them, said Mr. Kumar.
Another project that
failed to take of was a
world-class football academy at Shera Maidan behind
N.P. Senior Secondary
School on Mandir Marg.
The fundamental issue
is that the area demarcated
for the football academy
could be in the protected
ridge area. We have asked
the Forest Department to
clarify, said Mr. Kumar.

City may get more air

monitoring stations
DAMINI NATH
NEW DELHI: The Capital will get

Hotel woes continue unabated

STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: Five years after its lease expired, Tataowned Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL)
may get some more time before it has to give up
the iconic Taj Mansingh hotel.
The New Delhi Municipal Council, which has
already given nine extensions to IHCL since the
lease expired in 2011, is still completing paperwork for the hotels auction. The last extension
given in November will expire on January 31.

NDMC chairperson Naresh Kumar said: We

are completing documentation for the auction. It
is an iconic hotel and has been with the IHCL for
33 years, so we are being very thorough.
Mr. Kumar said the NDMC was assessing the
assets of the hotel. He said that a meeting of the
Council would be held soon to decide on the auction, but refused to comment if IHCL would get
another extension. Meanwhile, the NDMCs dispute with Le Meridien hotel over licence fee continues. The matter is in court, said Mr. Kumar.

three more air quality monitoring stations, the New Delhi Municipal Council announced as part of its budget
for 2016-2017 on Wednesday.
The civic body will be setting up a system to take samples from three locations,
analyse them at a laboratory
and display the data on LED
screens in Lutyens Delhi,
NDMC chairperson Naresh
Kumar said. He added that
the NDMC has taken up the
issue with the Union Environment and Forest Ministry.
Under the guidance of the
Central Pollution Control
Board, we will take samples
from three areas. Large
screens, 20 feet by 10 feet in
size, will be put up at three
other locations to disseminate information about air
quality and NDMC policies,
said Mr. Kumar.
The screens will also be
used to generate revenue
through advertising, he said.
Another new proposal in

The civic body has taken up

the issue with the Union
Environment and Forest
Ministry.
PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

the budget is a mentoring

scheme for students belonging to the economically weaker sections (EWS).
Senior citizens will be invited to mentor students.
Each mentor will be matched
to a student. They will help
the students with decisions
like what subjects to take in
Class XI, what professions to
look at, and how to develop
new skills, said Mr. Kumar.
ND-ND

CITY/STATE

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

Amended street vendors Act notified

Revived Town Vending Committees to be responsible for policy enforcement, decision-making
SWETA GOSWAMI
NEW DELHI: Street vendors in

the Capital have finally got

clarity on the rules guiding
them, with the Delhi government notifying the amended
Rules and Schemes to the
Street Vendors (Protection
of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act,
2014.
The new Act has given
teeth to the nearly defunct
Town Vending Committees
TVC), which will now be
responsible for not just enforcement of the policy, but
also act as decision-making
body.
According to the Act, the
government shall constitute
a TVC under each municipal
corporation.
This means, Delhi will
have five TVCs one each
under the East, South and
North corporations, the
New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the Delhi
Cantonment Board (DCB).
The validity of a hawkers
certificate will be for nine
years from the date of issue,
after which they will have to
submit fresh applications to
the TVCs for renewal.
Rentals from the vendors

will be collected by the civic

bodies. The new Act will
streamline the entire street
vending system as there will
be a concrete list of registered vendors. The TVCs
will also be responsible for
enforcement, that will help
keep a check on illegal vendors. Most importantly, the
rules are expected to remove
bribery, which will benefit

the vendors in a big way, said

a senior government oicial.
Constitution of the TVCs
is in the process, he added.
Once formed, the committees will first conduct surveys to prepare a final list of
street vendors. For registration, a vendor will have to
provide a photo identification card along with other
documents.

The TVCs will also have

the authority to revise
monthly rentals from timeto-time, based on prevailing
rates of the area concerned.
The Act has given a range of
Rs.200-Rs.Rs 5,000, within
which vendors having stalls
will have to pay monthly
charges. For street cart vendors, it has been fixed at
Rs.300 to Rs.2,500. The ven-

dors will also have a fixed

time during which they will
be allowed to put up stalls
and sell items. The stalls will
be restricted to an area of 6x4
feet, with a height of up to
three feet.
Besides, the Act also mentions a State TVC, of which
the Delhi Urban Development Principal Secretary
will be the chairperson. For
TVCs under the three corporations, the respective commissioners will be its chairperson, whereas, the NDMC
chairperson will head the
TVC constituted in its area.
For DCB, its CEO will be the
chairperson of the TVC.
Despite raising objections
earlier, traders largely welcomed the Act. However,
some issues remain.
We are happy that so
much of power has been given to the TVC, where 40 per
cent representation will be
from the street vending community. But, advertising
about the survey on the day it
is to be conducted is wrong.
Vendors should be given
time to have their documents
ready, said National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) coordinator Arbind Sagar.

Metro station name changed to Haiderpur Badli Mor, HC told

MOHAMMED IQBAL
NEW DELHI: The name of the

new metro station on HUDA

City Centre-Samaypur Badli
line has been changed to
Haiderpur Badli Mor following the complaints made by
commuters that it was creating lots of confusion, the
Delhi High Court was informed on Wednesday.
A writ petition filed in the

High Court had taken exception to renaming of the

Badli Mor metro station in
Northwest Delhi to Haiderpur, alleging that the arbitrary decision was taken in
violation of recommendations made by the authorities concerned.
The issue had led to protests by the locals in October, when they gathered at
the metro station and burnt

eigies of Chief Minister

Arvind Kejriwal, alleging
that the renaming had been
done for the third time at
the behest of area Aam Aadmi Party MLA Bandana
Kumari.
Petitioners Atul Kumar,
Dinesh Agrawal and Tej Pal
said there was no justification for naming the metro
station after Haiderpur, a
village situated two km from

the station.
The proposal to rename
the metro station was earlier
dropped after conducting
some surveys, the petitioners added.
In its aidavit filed before
a Division Bench of Chief
Justice G. Rohini and Justice
Jayant Nath, the Delhi government said the metro stations name was changed to
Haiderpur Badli Mor.

The petition had named

the Union government, Delhi government and the Delhi
Metro Rail Corporation
(DMRC) as respondents in
the case.
The Haiderpur Badli Mor
metro station forms part of
the 4.4 km-long extension of
the HUDA City Centre-Jahangirpuri line to Samaypur
Badli, which became functional in November.

|5
Haryana stops issuing fitness
certificates to oversized vehicles
Transporters were given one year to adhere to norms on vehicle size
ASHOK KUMAR
GURGAON: After the one-year

time limit to transporters to

adhere to norms on size of
their vehicles transporting
two-wheelers and fourwheelers ended this past
week, the Haryana government has stopped issuing
fitness certificates to oversized vehicles, afecting a
large number of truckers.
The Haryana governments move to not to issue
fitness certificates to oversized trucks will afect
35,000-40,000 vehicles. We
are prepared for it and have
purchased new trucks adhering to the size norms,
said Automobile Carrier
Welfare Association (ACWA) general-secretary Daman Dewan.
In mid-December 2014,
the Haryana government
had stopped renewing fitness certificates for trucks
that did not adhere to dimension norms.
The transporters had
threatened to go an indefinite strike, seeking time to
adhere to the norms. The
government relented and
gave then a one-year exemption after the truckers
met Haryana Chief Minister on January 7 last.
Mr. Dewan, however,
said the truckers were facing diiculty in plying their
vehicles due to lack of uniformity of law on the issue.
Our trucks adhere to
norms in Haryana, but are
being challaned in Maharashtra for being oversized.
Even the BJP-ruled States
have diferent rules on dimensions of trucks, making
it diicult for us to comply
with the law, said Mr. Dewan.

The norms on size pertain to vehicles transporting twowheelers and four-wheelers. FILE PHOTO

He said an all-India level

meeting of the two-wheeler carriers association was
scheduled for Saturday,
following which the truckers might decide to shift
their business out of Haryana.
We are contemplating
shifting our transport business out of Haryana to Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
It will cause heavy revenue
loss to the State exchequer, said Mr. Dewan.
Contradicting claims of
truckers that diferent
States have diferent laws,
S.P. Singh, Senior Fellow,
Indian
Foundation
of
Transport Research and
Training (IFTRT), told The
Hindu that the law on the
size of trucks was uniform
across the country and the
truckers were misleading
on the issue.
The dimensions prescribed in Rule 93 of the
Central Motor Vehicles
Rules, 1989, are the same
for the entire country. It is
an issue of road safety and
environment,
and
the

truckers were supposed to

comply with the law. It
could be done in a month,
but they were given a long
rope, said Mr. Singh.
He also wrote to automobile manufacturers earlier this month and urged
them not to hire oversized
vehicles.
Normally, vehicle manufacturers should be the
guardians of working towards road safety and environmental concerns. However, in order to manage
their logistic needs, they
indulge in hiring oversized
transport vehicles in contravention of the Central
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
This is a very alarming situation and certainly not
tenable. Despite several reminders in the larger public interest, precious little
initiative at the ground level has been taken by the
global size auto majors in
the country. Compromising road safety should be a
matter zero tolerance for
auto industry and transporters, read the letter.

Batting for green insulin

injection technique
Unsafe disposal of waste subjecting caretaker, community to health risks
BINDU SHAJAN PERAPPADAN
NEW DELHI: Go green, stay fit is

the latest mantra being advocated by the Forum for Injection Technique (FIT) India.
And here is why they are advocating it.
According to estimates released by the Forum, the net
amount of plastic generated
from insulin syringes alone,
each year, is 6,00,000 kg. This
is excluding the plastic generated from over 40 million pen
needles used every year in
India.
What is adding to the woes
is the fact that most of these
devices are not disposed of
safely, subjecting both the
caretaker and the community
to health risks
There are over 200 million
insulin delivery devices generated in India each year. Approximately 65 million Indians living with diabetes
consume about 160 million insulin syringes and about 50
million pen needles annually,
along with about 40 million
syringes used for immunisation. Most of these devices are
disposed of under unsafe circumstances, noted an article

Plastic generated
from insulin syringes
per year is 6 lakh
kg, besides 40
million pen needles
on Green Diabetology, published in the Indian Journal of
Endocrinology and Metabolism recently. The article
called for urgent need for
proper disposal of insulin delivery sharp devices.
Meanwhile, besides this, 9.6
crore vials, cartridges and prefills are consumed in a 12month period (6.7 crore vials,
2.5 cartridge and 0.7 disposable pens), adding to the burden of glass and plastic on the
environment.
While modern insulin
technique guidelines address
the need for appropriate disposal of needles and syringes,
safe disposal of insulin delivery sharps is seldom practiced
in clinic and home care environment, said Sanjay Kalra,
FIT advisory broad member
and lead author of the Green
Diabetology article.
Apart from environmental
contamination, unsafe dispos-

al also has an adverse impact

on healthcare workers. As per
the FIT recommendations,
biomedical diabetes care-related wastes need to recycled
and not reused.
In an efort to address safe
and environment-friendly insulin disposal, healthcare professionals will initiate a nation-wide movement for
green diabetology Go
Green, Stay Fit which will
aim towards safe disposal of
insulin syringes and pen needles and prevention of reuse
or re-capping of insulin injecting devices to prevent accidental needle-stick injuries.
The programme will also
sensitise diabetes care professionals to their responsibility
toward the physical environment, while reinforcing the
need for interdisciplinary
cooperation between all
stakeholders.
While modern insulin
technique guidelines address
the need for appropriate disposal of needles and syringes,
safe disposal of insulin delivery sharps is seldom practiced
in clinic and home care environment, said Prof. S. V. Madhu of GTB Hospital.

Disclaimer: Readers are requested to verify &

make appropriate enquiries to satisfy
themselves about the veracity of an advertisement before responding to any published in
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Publisher & Owner of this newspaper, does not
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6|

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

EDUCATIONAL

EDUCATIONAL

EDUCATIONAL

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

EDUCATIONAL

011- 43579738, 43579797

EDUCATIONAL

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|7

STATE

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

DMRC to augment ticket system

Special emphasis on unattended ticket sales on phases I and II stations

Chinese Opera comes to town

Congress leaders
demand funds
for cash-strapped
municipalities

STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: To kick-start 2016

SWETA GOSWAMI
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Metro is

all set to augment the ticketing

system of stations falling under phases I and II. The project
will cover about 100 metro stations, with special emphasis
on unattended ticket sales. Under the project, a total of 240
additional access gates and
300 ticket vending machines
(TVM) will be installed.
In addition, 150 automatic
vending machines (AVM) dedicated for card top up will also
be put up.
Installation of the access
gates is scheduled to be delivered by next month and completed by September 2016.
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) oicials said
French firm, Thales Group, has
won the contract for the project.
As part of this upgrade, additional ticketing machines
and access gates will be provided to improve passenger
travel facilities and comfort,
the company said. Phase I of
the Delhi Metro is 65 km, while
phase II is 125 km.
Under the upcoming phase
III, the DMRC is planning to
focus on TVMs. Instead of set-

Under the project, a total of 240 additional access gates and 300 ticket vending machines (TVM)
will be installed. FILE PHOTO

ting up ticket counters, as has

been the usual practice, the
135.4-km phase III network
with 93 stations will have as
many as 506 AVMs.
There are only 170 TVMs in
the existing 147 metro stations,
including six of the Airport Express Line, in Delhi-NCR.

These machines are installed

in just 82 of the total stations.
With 16 TVMs, the busy Rajiv
Chowk station currently tops
the list with the highest vending machines in the Delhi
Metro.
Most countries rely completely on automated ma-

chines in metro journeys; It

will not only help save time,
but also help in cutting down
on the workforce. There is going to be almost a 300 per cent
increase in reliability on automatic ticket generation in the
new metro stations, said an official.

Municipal staf to go on strike today

STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: Thousands of employees of the Capitals cashstrapped municipalities will
be on strike on Thursday to
demand that their salaries,
which have not been paid in
four months, be released immediately.
Representatives of the
unions of sanitation workers, clerical staf, doctors,

nurses, engineers, teachers

and even some oicers have
said that they will strike
work and hold a protest at
the headquarters of the
North and South corporations the Civic Centre.
The municipalities employees will be go on a protest march from the Civic
Centre to the residences of
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and Home Minister

Rajnath Singh.
Some of us havent been
paid in four months, the rest
for three months. It is getting
diicult to run our households. We are left with no
other option but to escalate
our agitation, said Rajendra
Mewati, the general-secretary of the United Front of
MCD Employees.
Diferent groups of employees have been going on

strike to demand their dues

for about a year now. But,
Thursdays protest is likely
to be the biggest such agitation by the staf of the civic
bodies.
The union representatives
have said that if they do not
get a positive response by
Thursday evening, they may
go on an indefinite strike.
Another massive protest has
been planned for January 27.

NEW DELHI: A delegation of

Congress councillors and
leaders on Wednesday met
Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung to demand his intervention in the municipalities long-standing demand
for funds from the Delhi government.
The three Bharatiya Janata
Party-run municipal corporations are facing a financial
crisis, and have been demanding that the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government
implement
the
recommendations of the
Fourth Delhi Finance Commission, which give the civic
bodies a bigger share of taxes.
The Congress leaders said
that their partys government had given the municipalities grants whenever
they needed help in the past.
They told the LieutenantGovernor that the financial
condition of the corporations was so bad now that
salaries had not been paid
for month and employees
have been forced to protest.
Mr. Jung promised the
Congress delegation that he
would take up the matter
with Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal.
Among those who met the
Lieutenant-Governor were
the leaders of Opposition in
the North, East and South
corporations, Mukesh Goel,
Varyam Kaur and Farhad Suri.
Mr. Goel said: Whether it
is the AAP or the BJP that is
responsible for this crisis,
the fact of the matter is that
our employees, pensioners
and the average Delhiites are
sufering.

as a year for China-India

Tourism the Anhui Huangmei Opera Theatre is performing a Chinese Opera
Show at Siri Fort Auditorium on January 14.
The musical evening is
being organised by China
National Tourism Administration. The aim of this cultural evening is to represent
a slice of Chinese culture to
the Indian audience and
promote Indian tourists to
visit China.
Speaking about the initiative, L.E. Yucheng, Chinese
Ambassador to India said
that as ancient neighbours
living across the Himalayas
for thousands of years, now
is the time for both the
countries to embrace each
other, discover each other,
and learn from each other.
The show titled Goddess Marriage is a love story between immortal and
mortal. It is presented by
the Huangmei Opera that

PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

has earned a reputation for

telling folk tales with its
country stlye music.
Li Jinzao, Chairman of
China National Tourism
Administration shared that
the initiative of Visit India
Year in China 2016 and Visit
China Year in India 2016 is
not only a glorious calling
to the tourism fraternity in
our two countries, but also
a significant opportunity
for both sides to strengthen
tourism exchange and
cooperation. The five-act
opera will present a slice of

culture and Chinese lifestyle that will act as a trailer

to encourage Indians to visit the country.
The Huangmei Opera,
which is a century old, has
grown into one of the five
significant Chinese operas
for folk drama, and has
been listed in the first batch
of the national intangible
cultural heritage list in
China.
Entrance is free on first
come first serve basis. Performance begins at 7 p.m. at
Siri Fort Auditorium.

CBI arrests senior branch manager

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: The Central Bu-

reau of Investigation on
Wednesday arrested a senior branch manager of
United India Insurance
Company at Ghazipur in
Uttar Pradesh for allegedly

DEATH
Prof. C.G. RAMAMOORTHY expired 10
012016. Renowned Scholar, Rtd.
Prof. of Maths, Sir Theagaraya College Chennai. A brilliant Mathematician, set a standard in everything he did. Always remain in our
Hearts T.M. Kumaraswamy, Dr. M.
Rajagopalan, Shantha Srinivasan Ct
09383199139

EDUCATIONAL

Rescued leopard on
the road to recovery

The Anhui Huangmei Opera Theatre will perform a Chinese

opera show at Siri Fort Auditorium on Thursday.

accepting a bribe of
10,000.
A corruption case has
been registered against the
Senior Branch Manager,
United India Insurance
Company Limited, Ghazipur, for allegedly demanding 10 per cent of the claim

amount from the owner of

a truck which had met
with an accident in May,
2015, said a CBI oicial.
Based on the complaint,
the CBI laid a trap and arrested the accused when
he was accepting the bribe
amount.

Please contact: 011-43579797

from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m

Log on to
www.thehinduads.com
For Placing Advertisements Online
EDUCATIONAL

PACKERS

011- 43579738, 43579797

EDUCATIONAL

LEGAL NOTICE

The leopard cubs front right limb was completely crushed, with multiple
fractures on the radius and humerus. Photo: Special Arrangement
BINDU SHAJAN PERAPPADAN
NEW DELHI: A leopard cub found
trapped on the Delhi-Gurgaon
border last month is making
speedy recovery at a rescue
facility in Agra.
Following its rescue from Tikli
village near the Delhi-Gurgaon
border, the female cub is making
progressive recovery at our
rescue facility in Agra, said a
release issued by Wildlife SOS on
Wednesday.
The police had alerted Wildlife
SOS about the cub.
The animal was rescued soon
after with assistance from the
Forest Department and subjected
to a medical examination.

The leopards front right limb

was completely crushed, with
multiple fractures on the radius
and humerus. The cub was
understandably in a state of
severe distress and cried
constantly through the
examination, said oicials from
Wildlife SOS.
The cub now weighs 13.5 kg and
is slowly regaining a proper
appetite.
In addition to this, her soft
tissue injury has healed. However,
since she is a growing playful
stage she was getting fidgety with
her plaster and would
occasionally tear it. The bone
wound will take some more time
to heal, noted Wildlife SOS.

Bid to increase VAT collection

STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: In a bid to increase its reve-

nue through the collection of Value

Added Tax (VAT), the Delhi government has asked all government entities that have oices in the Capital to
furnish online quarterly returns of
purchases made by them from registered dealers.
In a notification issued on Wednesday, the government said that any
government entity, including the
State government, Central government, corporation, board, authority,
undertaking, etc., will have to enrol
themselves by logging on to website
www.dvat.gov.in.
A unique ID would be generated for
each Drawing and Disbursing Oicer
(DDO) at these organisations and the
unique ID will have to be conveyed to
the dealers selling or supplying goods
to the government entity for mentionCM
YK

All govt. entities with Delhi

offices told to furnish
online quarterly returns of
purchases made from
registered dealers

PUBLIC NOTICES

ing on the sale invoices.

The returns will have to be filed on
quarterly basis in Form GE-II by 28th
of the month following the quarter to
which the return pertains. To begin
with, return for the first three quarters
of the current financial year, i.e., April
1, 2015 to June 30, 2015; July 1, 2015 to
September 30, 2015 and October 1, 2015
to December 31, 2015, is required to be
filed by February 15, 2016.
The returns will be uploaded on the
Departments website by logging on to
the website of the Department using
the GEID and password, the notification added.
ND-ND

8|

NATION

Finally, ray of hope for rape survivors

son to get Scheduled Caste certificate
Raghu's mother made a living by begging in a Dalit colony in Karnataka's Mandya district
MURALIDHARA KHAJANE

Raghu applied for the job

of a sweeper in a bank, but his
application was rejected
because his caste column
was left blank.

PSLV C31 launch

likely on Jan. 20
STAFF REPORTER
NELLORE: Preparations are in
full swing for the launch of
the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C-31 from the Satish
Dhawan
Space
Centre
(SDSC) at Sriharikota on January 20. This is aimed at putting the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System 1E
satellite into a geo-synchronous orbit.
The scientists are likely to
announce the launch date officially once the weather forecasts are found favourable for
the mission. The IRNSS 1E is
the fifth satellite in the navigation constellation.

BENGALURU: What is the caste of

a child born to a rape victim
who is mentally unsound and
is also speech and hearing impaired? Twenty-four-year-old
Raghu, whose mother was the
victim, has been seeking a
Scheduled Caste certificate
since she made a living by
begging in a Dalit colony in
Mandya district.
After running from pillar to
post for months, there is some
hope for Mr. Raghu now. The
government
has
finally

agreed to explore the possibility of giving him a caste

certificate after a mahajar
(inspection) by oicials to establish that his mother was
begging in the Dalit colony.
Bank job
Mr. Raghu, who has passed
his SSLC, had applied for the
job of a sweeper in a bank in
Mandya, but his application
was rejected because his
caste column was blank. Born
in 1991, Mr. Raghu was separated from his mother after
birth because she was in no

condition to take care of him

and he was sent to a government home in Ballari.
Karnataka Minister for Social Welfare H. Anjaneya convened a meeting of oicials
and former and present chairpersons of the Karnataka
State Commission for Backward Classes on how this
vexed issue could be addressed and legal hurdles
circumvented.
According to Mr. Anjaneya,
certain guidelines had to be
followed before issuing an SC
certificate.
Mr.
Raghus

school transfer certificate (after SSLC) categorises him as

Hindu but does not mention
any caste.
He, however, said there was
prima facie evidence to prove
that his mentally challenged
mother was begging in a slum
dominated by SC and ST
communities.
I have asked the authorities to take cognisance of the
issue and conduct a mahajar
(inspection) and explore the
possibility of issuing him an
SC certificate, the Minister
said.

NGO disputes Kerala govt. claim

over infant mortality in Attapady
K.A. SHAJI
PALAKKAD: Hardly a week after
Kerala Minister for Panchayats and Social Welfare
M.K. Muneer claimed that only 14 infant deaths were reported from Attappady in
2015, a non-governmental organisation has come out with
statistics proving there were
24 such cases during the
period.
The Centre for Tribal Education, Development and Research (Thambu) has prepared a detailed list of infant
deaths, miscarriages, and

miscarriages and neonatal

deaths were reported from Attappady last year. According
to him, three infant deaths occurred at Government Medical College in Thrissur while
another occurred at Palakkad
District Hospital.
neonatal deaths which ocSeven such cases were recurred in 2015 and despatched ported from Government
it to the Chief Minister, Health Tribal Specialty Hospital at
Minister, and the Scheduled Attappady and five deaths reTribes Welfare Minister.
ported from Medical College
Talking to The Hindu here Hospital, Coimbatore.
on Wednesday, Thambu conAn infant died while undervener K.A. Ramu said the going treatment at Sree Chitra
agency had documentary evi- Tirunal Institute for Medical
dence to prove that 26 cases of Sciences & Technology in

Peoples audit
of govt.-sponsored
welfare schemes
in region
demanded

Thiruvananthapuram and one

such case was reported from a
private hospital at Attappady.
Six infants died at tribal settlements in Attappady, he said.
According to Mr. Ramu,
there was a concerted efort to
claim that tribal health in Attappady had improved considerably following efective
government
intervention
since 2013 when 47 infant
deaths were reported.
Thambu president Rajendra Prasad demanded a peoples audit of ongoing government-sponsored
welfare
schemes in Attappady.

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

Bihar to tax
samosa &
sweets

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

Craze for fancy kite

flying growing in A.P.

AMARNATH TEWARY
PATNA: Anticipating a

revenue shortfall
because of the ban on
liquor from April 1, the
Bihar government has
decided to impose a 13.5
per cent value added
tax on such items as
samosa, salted peanuts,
sweets, mosquito
repellents and a few
branded snacks to make
up the loss.
The decision was
taken at a meeting of
the Cabinet, presided
over by Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar, on
Tuesday.
Brajesh Mehrotra,
Principal Secretary,
Cabinet Coordination
Department, told
journalists a similar tax
would be imposed on
inverters, battery parts,
UPS, cosmetic stufs,
scent and hair oil.
Clothes costing Rs.
500 a metre or more
and saris valued above
Rs. 2,000 will invite 5
per cent of value added
tax, he said.
But the Cabinet
decided to waive
entertainment tax on
Chalk N Duster, a film
made by Jayant
Gilatkar, for sending
out a strong message
about the reverence
and love for the overworked but under-paid
teachers.

Fancy kites being sold during the Sankranti festival in

Vijayawada. PHOTO: V. RAJU.
M. SRINIVAS
VIJAYAWADA: Fancy kites are
back again this festival season. This time, kites featuring
images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are the flavour
during Sankranti Sambaralu
in Andhra Pradesh.
Kites with a theme Mana
Amaravati and Mana Rajadhani (Our Amaravati, Our
Capital) are selling like hotcakes at the make-shift stalls
in Vijayawada.
In addition to the cover and
paper-made kites available in
the market, Chhota Bheem
and Spiderman kites sre also
introduced to attract buyers,
says a kite-seller Vinnakota
Ramesh.
Compared to last year, the
craze among students has
gone up this season and a majority of them are evincing in-

terest in buying fancy kites.

A few Telugu Desam Party
leaders from Guntur district
placed an order for 100 kites
with Our Amaravati Our
Capital theme. We delivered
the kites to the client and displayed some at the counters
to attract customers. Within
no time, the kites were sold,
says Mr. Ramesh, who put up
a stall at Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation (IGMC)
stadium.
The price of these kites
ranges from Rs. 10 to Rs. 30.
According to him, 100 metres
of manja, an abrasive string
used for flying kites, is sold at
Rs. 40 while complete manja
winder for Rs. 600 and thread
for more than Rs. 40. Fifty varieties of kites, thread, winder
and manja, are bought from
Dhoolpet in Hyderabad and
Jaipur in bulk.

Freeze on Arunachal
Assembly proceedings
LEGAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday

ordered a freeze on the holding of proceedings

of the politically embattled Arunachal Pradesh Assembly till January 18, 2016. A Bench
led by Justice J.S. Khehar passed the direction
while agreeing to hear the various pleas arising out of orders passed by the Gauhati High
Court in connection with the ongoing political
duel between the ruling Congress on one side
and rebel and BJP MLAs on the other.
The instant order be placed by the parties,
before His Excellency the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, for his consideration, the order
said.
The Bench further allowed Nabam Rebia,
allegedly removed by 14 rebel Congress and
BJP MLAs from the post of Assembly Speaker,
to take back his plea filed against an administrative order passed by the Acting Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court.

Probe absolves Mani

of bar bribery charge
G. ANAND
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Vigilance and AntiCorruption Bureau (VACB) of Kerala has given former Finance Minister K.M. Mani a second reprieve in the bar licence renewal bribery case.
The agency reiterated that there is no evidence to criminally indict him for graft. An anti-corruption court here rejected a similar
finding by the agency in October and ordered
a further inquiry.
The agencys final report absolves Mr. Mani
of all guilt rested primarily on four findings.
There is no merit in the imputation that Mr.
Mani had a corrupt motive in deferring the
Cabinets decision on renewal of non-standard bar licences from March 26 to April 2,
2014.
The postponement was as per mandatory
rules of business and to get the Law Departments opinion. The next Cabinet decided not
to renew the licences and the complainant, the
Kerala Bar Hotel Association (KBHA), has no
case that it got a favourable decision in reciprocation for the bribe it allegedly gave.
The allegation that KBHA oicials had
handed over Rs.15 lakh to Mr. Mani at his private residence in Pala on March 22, 2014, was
full of holes.

140 people killed in Bastar

naxal violence in 2015
PAVAN DAHAT
RAIPUR: The Bastar region of Chhattisgarh continuous to be a hotbed of Maoist activities,
with 47 security personnel losing their lives in
2015.
Around 115 security men sufered serious injuries during the same period. Forty-seven civilians were killed by the ultras in 2015, according to statistics released by Chhattisgarh
polices Anti-Naxal Operation (ANO) unit on
Wednesday.
Security forces managed to kill 46 Maoists
and recovered 167 weapons, including an
AK-47, an SLR, a 303 gun and four 9 mm pistols.
Most of our men died in independent killings rather than during anti-Maoist operations, R.K. Vij, Additional Director-General
(ADG) of Police, ANO, told reporters here.
Around 327 suspected Maoists surrendered
before the police during 2015.
This was the second consecutive year when
a large number of Maoist surrenders were reported in Bastar.
In 2014, Bastar police claimed that 421
Maoists surrendered before police as compared to the meagre 39 surrenders in 2013.

CM
YK

ND-ND

|9

NATION

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

VIDARBHA REGION IS WORST HIT

Maharashtra saw 3,228 farmer suicides in 2015

With 610 deaths in just two months, State records highest ever number of suicides by farmers

Oicials suspended for non-delivery

of Paswans New Year greeting cards
AMARNATH TEWARY
PATNA: Three oicials of the

ALOK DESHPANDE
MUMBAI: Suicides by farmers

touched a grim high in 2015.

The year that had recorded
2,590 suicides until October -the higher ever since 2001 -went on to register 610 more
deaths in just the last two
months. The death toll on December 31, 2015 stood at 3,228,
indicating that the slew of
measures the government undertook through the year
failed to arrest the disturbing
trend.
Maharashtra has recorded
20,504 farmer suicides since
2001. Data obtained from the
government shows Vidarbha,
the region Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hails from,
was the worst hit last year,
with around 1,541 farmers
from Amaravati and Nagpur
division committing suicides.
As many as 1,130 farmers ended their lives in the Aurangabad division of Marathwada.
Nashik in North Maharashtra
witnessed 459 cases of farmer
suicides.

The BJPled government claims to have undertaken several measures to tackle the agrarian
crisis, which has emerged after three consecutive years of drought.

Figures indicate that that

Pune division, which covers
the states prosperous Western region, too recorded 96
suicides of which 27 were registered in the last two months
of the year.
Of the 3,228 suicides, the

state has found only 1,841 eligible for government aid,

while 903 were found ineligible. While 484 cases are pending for inquiries, ex-gratia aid
has been extended to 1,818.
Packages will no longer
work for farmers and the gov-

ernment seems to be missing

this point completely. There
is a need of farmer oriented
policy and not packages, said
Chandrakant Wankhede, an
activist from Vidarbha working on issues of farmers suicides. He said when loan

waivers were announced in

2008, there was a drop in suicides. But since 2011, no such
steps have been forthcoming.
The number may only increase in the coming years.
Maharashtra had recorded a
75% deficit in rainfall between
June and September last year.
While the CM had announced
a Rs 10,512 crore package of
farmers in December 2015, he
had refrained from announcing any loan waivers. On
Wednesday, Mr Fadnavis
thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching the
PM Crop Insurance Scheme,
which assures covering over
50% of the farmers under the
insurance scheme in the coming three years. Under this
scheme, 90% premium money will be paid by the Centre
and not just the fully grown
crop but even the stem will be
insured.
In the last three to four
years, Maharashtra witnessed
extreme weather conditions
that have either destroyed
crops or left them damaged.

Genome of Indian Jews has traces of West Asian ancestry

Y. MALLIKARJUN
HYDERABAD: Using high
resolution genetic markers,
an international team of
scientists has found that
Indian Jewish population
possessed minor traces of
Middle Eastern ancestry,
but the majority shared
genetic ainity with their
local South Asian
neighbours.
The study relating to the
unique blend of Indian and
Middle Eastern Ancestry
has been published in the
recent issue of the Natures
online journal, Scientific
Reports.
In the absence of
archaeological evidence

and with the availability of

only scanty historical
documentation of the
Indian Jewish community,
the team led by
Kumaraswamy Thangaraj
from the Centre for
Cellular and Molecular
Biology (CCMB), Estonian
Biocentre, Tratu, Estonia,
Amala Institute of Medical
Sciences, Thrissur,
University of Kolkata and
Genome Foundation, have
traced the founder of
Indian Jewish populations,
using genetic data,
according to a press release
here on Wednesday.
The team estimated that
the first migrant Jewish
group entered the Indian

It is estimated that
the first Jewish
group entered
Indian subcontinent
1,500 years ago
subcontinent about 1,500
years ago.
Dilution of genome
According to Dr.
Thangaraj, the Jewish
migrants married local
people and as a result their
original Jewish genome got
diluted. Due to admixture
with local people for
several generations, their
genetic mutations which
make them susceptible for

various cancers were

almost absent.
There are three main
distinct Jewish groups
living in India the Jews of
Kochi in Kerala, South
India; the Bene Israel in
Mumbai, West India; and
Baghdadi Jews in Kolkata,
East India. Each of these
communities is socially
linked to their neighbours
than one another. CCMB
Director Ch. Mohan Rao
said that to trace the
mixture of Indian Jewish
populations, the
researchers analysed the
DNA of Indian Jewish
people using high
resolution genetic markers
and compared them with

native Indian populations

and people from the rest of
the world.
The analysis of
autosomal data revealed a
high level of heterogeneity
among the Indian Jewish
groups and their closeness
with local neighbours.
However, sharing of
specific maternally
inherited mtDNA and
paternally inherited Ychromosomal haplogroups
between all the studied
Indian Jewish groups and
lack of them among other
local Indian populations
can be seen as a remnant of
a shared ancestry with
Middle Eastern
populations.

Department of Posts in Bihar

were suspended on Wednesday for non-delivery of the
New Year greeting cards from
Lok Jan Shakti Party chief and
Union Minister Ram Vilas
Paswan to the people of Hajipur, which he represents in
the Lok Sabha.
Party leaders brought the
issue to the notice of Mr. Paswan when he visited Hajipur
in Vaishali district recently.
After receiving a complaint that the cards were
dumped in a building, I ordered an inquiry. The complaint was found to be true,
and preliminary action was
taken against three oicials,
District Postal Superintend-

More than 450 greeting cards

sent by Union Minister Ram
Vilas Paswan were found
strewn on the third floor of the
District Bar Council building.

ent Umesh Chand Prasad

said.
Those who have been sus-

pended are Lallan Ram, postmaster of the Hajipur main

post oice, Raj Kumar Shrivastva, PRO, and postman Deonarayan Mahto.
More than 450 greeting
cards sent by Mr. Paswan
were found strewn on the
third floor of the District Bar
Council building.
Many party workers and
people of the district complained that they had not received the greeting cards
from Mr. Paswan, district LJP
president Awadhesh Kumar
Singh said.
A complaint was registered
with the Postal Superintendent in this regard.
The Department of Posts
arranged to distribute the
cards as soon as possible,
Mr. Prasad said.

SP rebels face the music after

U.P. zilla panchayat elections
panchayat members
The party has acted
against those leaders and office-bearers who opposed our
declared candidates, showed
indiscipline and made eforts
to ensure their defeat, Cabinet Minister Rajendra Chaudhary said.

OMAR RASHID
LUCKNOW: Winning 60 out of
the 74 posts, the ruling Samajwadi Party secured a resounding victory in the recently
concluded
zilla
panchayat elections in Uttar
Pradesh. While the results
brought the party much joy,
the polls also exposed the
fractures and disagreements
within the party over selection of candidates and dissent
by
several
senior
functionaries.
Cracking the whip on dissenters, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday
suspended and expelled several party members.

Probe launched
Acting sternly against rebels in Sitapur, where the party faced open rebellion, the SP
has suspended four MLAs
Mahendra Singh alias Jheen
Babu, Anoop Kumar, Radheshyam Jaiswal and Manish
Rawat. A probe has also been

Akhilesh Yadav has suspended

four MLAs in Sitapur and
expelled many office-bearers
in Fatehpur.

initiated against them.

In Sitapur, the SP faced embarrassment as Jitendra Yadav, the son of a rebel party
MLA Rampal Yadav, defeated
the oicial SP candidate Seema Gupta. The party also dissolved its district executive
unit, and removed district
chief Shamim Kausar. In Mirzapur and Shravasti districts,
too, the SP expelled three zilla

Former MP suspended
The SP also suspended for
six years former Shahjahanpur MP Mithilesh Kumar,
while in Fatehpur it expelled
around a dozen oice-bearers, including former MLA
K.K. Singh and former State
Minister Samarjit Singh.
During the zilla panchayat
elections, the SP made it clear
that indiscipline would not be
tolerated. The party went to
the extent of expelling three
popular youth leaders, including two close aides of Akhilesh Yadav Sunil Singh
Yadav alias Sunil Sajan and
Anand Bhadauria for antiparty activities. The two were
later re-instated.

Centre clears new crop insurance scheme Air Force oicer mowed down
by car during R-Day rehearsal

Amit Shah to
choose Gujarat
BJP chief

ment on Wednesday approved the much-talked

about new crop insurance
scheme in which it has kept
the premium amount for
farmers at a maximum of two
per cent for foodgrains and
oilseeds while capping it up
to five per cent for horticulture and annual commercial
crops.
The new scheme is being
perceived as Prime Minister
Narendra Modis first significant move to address rural
hardship and woo rural voters
ahead of key elections.
It is a historic day and I
strongly believe the Pradhan
Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana will
bring about a huge change in
the lives of farmers, Mr. Modi tweeted after the scheme
was jointly announced by the
Ministers of Home, Agriculture
and
Parliamentary
Afairs.
Home Minister Rajnath

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: An Air Force oicer

was killed when a speeding
car ran over him during the
Republic Day rehearsal parade in Kolkata.
The incident occurred in
the early hours of Wednesday
on Red Road when the important city artery was kept out of
bounds for private vehicles
and the rehearsal was on.
The police have registered
a case under Section 302
(murder) and Section 120 B
(criminal conspiracy) of the
Indian Penal Code against the
unknown driver of the vehicle
that has been impounded.
According to senior police
oicers, the vehicle has been
registered under the name of
Ambia Sohrab, son of the former Rashtriya Janata Dal
(MLA) from West Bengal
Mohd.
Sohrab, who, recently shift-

AHMEDABAD: Bharatiya Janata

VIKAS VASUDEVA

NEW DELHI: The Union govern-

Farmers will not be burdened

with high premium under
the Pradhan Mantri Fasal
Bima Yojana.

Singh told reporters here that

the Cabinet had approved the
PMFBY, replacing the existing National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) as
well as the modified NAIS.
The scheme will be implemented from the kharif season this year.
The farmers share of pre-

Govt. to set up three

committees to address
issues in medical tourism
YUTHIKA BHARGAVA
NEW DELHI: The government
on Wednesday said that it
would set up three subcommittees to look into the
issues of regulation, accreditation and marketing of
medical and wellness tourism in the country, in an attempt to promote the
sector.
We will be addressing
the problems faced by the
people (coming to India for
medical and wellness purposes). We are going to propose hassle-free visa facility
to medical tourists. We have
plans to engage with tour
and travel operators and ensure that a transparent system of medical facilities is
provided, Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said after the first meeting of the
National Medical and Wellness Tourism Promotion
Board.
Some of the issues raised
by the members of the
board were the need for
more accredited hospitals,
an easy visa regime, linkag-

CM
YK

We are going
to propose
hassle-free visa
facility, says
Tourism Minister
es between service providers and the end user, besides
promoting and marketing
India as a medical and wellness tourism hub.
The government had last
year announced the setting
up of the National Medical
and Wellness Tourism Promotion Board. Its members
include yoga guru Ramdev,
renowned cardiologists Naresh Trehan, Devi Prasad
Shetty and K.K. Aggarwal,
and Sangeeta Reddy of
Apollo Hospitals.
We will be taking this
(medical and wellness tourism) in a mission mode.
That is why we have formed
a board with a seed capital
of Rs.2 crore, the Minister
said.
He said that private players too must be roped in for
exploiting the full potential
of the health care industry.

mium has been substantially

reduced and the government
will provide subsidy on premium, said Mr. Singh, adding
that government liability on
premium subsidy would be
shared by the Central and
State governments on a 50:50
basis.
The scheme will have a uniform premium of only two per
cent to be paid by the farmers
for all kharif crops and 1.5 per
cent for all rabi crops. In case
of annual commercial crops
such as cotton and horticultural crops, it will be only five
per cent.
The premium rates to be
paid by farmers are kept very
low and the balance premium
will be paid by the government to provide full insured
amount to the farmers against
crop loss on account of natural calamities.
There is no upper limit on
government subsidy. Even if
the balance premium is 90 per
cent, it will be borne by the
government.

Smart phones will be used

to capture and upload data of
crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment and remote sensing will be used to
reduce the number of crop
cutting experiments, points
out the scheme document.

Coverage raised
The scheme comes at a
time the country is facing a
drought for the second
straight year due to poor
monsoon rains and the government wants to enhance insurance coverage to more
crop area to protect farmers
from climate variations.
The government expects
the scheme to help increase
the insurance coverage to 50
per cent of the total crop area
of 194.40 million hectares
from the existing level of
about 25-27 per cent crop area. Meanwhile, the BJP has
welcomed the initiative terming it as a pro-farmer decision
which will go a long way in reducing farmers woes.

Akashvanis Raagam to
captivate connoisseurs
RANJANI GOVIND
BENGALURU: The dream of Prasar Bharati under which All
India Radio and Doordarshan
operate to create a national
channel for classical music
will be realised on January 26,
2016. The 24 x 7 radio satellite
channel, which users can access on TV too, will be called
Raagam and will air Carnatic
and Hindustani music.
Apart from the Direct To
Home platform that the
broadcast will be available on,
the programme will be simultaneously webcast, according
to oicials of Akashavani Bengaluru. The music channel
will be inaugurated by A. Surya Prakash, Prasar Bharati
Chairman, at Bengalurus
Town Hall on January 26.
Bengaluru is more involved
in technical broadcast and
content management, even as
14 other stations will oicially
contribute to its programmes, said Dr. N. Raghu,
Programme
Executive,
Akashavani Bengaluru, who is
also in charge of Raagam.
For millions of radio enthusiasts, medium-wave plays
spoilsport with its noisy in-

The car that killed an IAF officer during a rehearsal for the
Republic Day parade in Kolkata on Wednesday. PHOTO: PTI

ed loyalties to the Trinamool

Congress.
Despite searches being
made at the residence of Mr.
Sohrab, he could not be
apprehended.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assured strict action
against the guilty.

The car raced towards

Corporal Abhimanyu Gaud,
the AF drill instructor supervising the parade, knocked
him of his feet and continued
at high speed till it hit a barricade and came to a stop, a
spokesperson of the Ministry
of Defence said.

Party president Amit Shah is

likely to select the president
of Gujarat party unit, which is
being revamped to gear up the
cadre for the next Assembly
polls in December 2017.
According to insiders, Mr.
Shah will have a final say in
the appointment, not Chief
Minister Anandiben Patel.
After the party's rout in the
local elections, the Chief Ministers clout within the party
has diminished. Organisationally, Mr. Shah will have
the final say in the appointment of oice-bearers, including the State unit president, a senior BJP leader told
The Hindu.
Mr. Shah is arriving in Ahmedabad on a private visit for
three days, but is likely to have
meetings with leaders to select the president.

5 die of swine flu

in Rajasthan
JAIPUR: Five persons died of

swine flu in Rajasthan and 38

tested positive for the H1N1
virus since January 1. Two
died in Jaipur, and one each in
Churu, Sikar and Kota districts. The spread of the virus
is attributed to the rising temperature in winter. PTI

Raagam, the 24x7 radio channel, will air Carnatic and

Hindustani music from January 26.

terruptions and signal breaks.

We are aware that even radio
manufacturers were finding it
diicult to satisfy connoisseurs Prasar Bharatis move
to create Raagam on DTH
with concurrent webcast will
bring in clarity, said Mr.
Raghu adding that the App for
Webcast has been developed.
The channel will introduce
personalised
interactions
with listeners in its broadcast
and research-oriented capsules. While Akashavani stations in New Delhi, Mumbai,
Kolkata, Pune, Dharwad, Bhopal and Lucknow will contribute to Raagams Hindustani

music, Bengaluru, Chennai,

Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchi, Thrissur, Hyderabad and
Vijayawada will provide Carnatic content. We in AIR
have the largest artistes pool.
Add to this our own recording
for Raagam at every station
and our biggest archival pool.
This will bring in variety and
diversity, said Mr. Raghu.
The classical channel could
occupy the space created by
satellite radio Worldspace after it shut down. We are
starting of with no advertisements though and will decide
on the flow gradually, say
oicials.
ND-ND

10 |

EDITORIAL

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

To talk or not to talk

thursday, january 14, 2016

Incremental steps
not enough
he Defence Acquisition Council has approved
a revised Defence Procurement Procedure
(DPP), aimed at boosting indigenous defence
procurement and encouraging better participation from the Indian private sector. The Council is headed
by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and includes key
stakeholders of the defence establishment. Among its key
decisions is a proposal to introduce a new category of acquisition termed Buy Indian (or IDDM, indigenous design
development and manufacturing), which would become
the most preferred acquisition category. Under Buy Indian, domestically designed equipment with 40 per cent indigenous components or foreign-designed equipment
with 60 per cent local components will be considered. The
new DPP has significantly increased the ofset threshold
for foreign contracts from Rs. 300 crore to Rs. 2,000 crore
(with 30 per cent of the contract value to be procured from
within India), while it has certain provisions for encouraging Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. At first glance,
the DPP is an incremental improvement over recent efforts to reduce Indias import dependence, which stands at
65 per cent of total defence procurement, to help create a
robust military industrial complex within the country.
It is imperative that India succeeds at the earliest in creating a cutting-edge domestic military industrial base: no
major nation state has transitioned to becoming a developed economy without one. Such a complex would create
not only latest war machines but also hothouse innovations and technologies to improve overall scientific capabilities, and make India self-reliant at least in critical areas.
If the ambition is to truly make Make in India a reality in
the defence sector, then the DPP falls significantly short of
expectations. Many private sector participants have been
flagging a host of issues, and inbuilt biases against indigenisation. There are two key impediments to Indias private
sector becoming active participants in defence R&D and
production: the monopoly enjoyed by defence public sector units, and the favours that foreign suppliers enjoy.
DPSUs are the workhorses of the sector as well as the biggest drag on indigenous military research. A significant
number of them are merely assembling foreign kits. Given
Indias over-dependence on foreign military vendors, several biases have crept in favouring them in procurements.
A foreign vendor gets most of his payment on self-certification of project progress, while Indian vendors have to
wait for a government inspectors certification, which can
delay payments by several months. A foreign vendor enjoys upfront customs duty exemption, while the excise duty exemption for a local supplier is a reimbursement
months after he has supplied an item. The new DPP may
work towards expanding the number of participants in
military tenders, but it may not help dramatically improve
the present environment for all participants. Going by the
present trend, the $100 billion and more that India will
spend over the next decade will mostly end up in foreign
markets. Political boldness and radical reform are needed
in defence procurement. Neither is visible in the new DPP.

After the terrorist attack at

the Pathankot airbase, a lot of
discussion has taken place
about whether or not the India-Pakistan Foreign Secretary-level talks, scheduled for
RAKESH
mid-January in Islamabad,
SOOD
should go forward or not. However, that should not be the
question. The question should be whether
Prime Minister Narendra Modis government
has a policy on Pakistan, and if so, what? So far,
each time Mr. Modi has taken an initiative for
resumption of dialogue with Pakistan, his policy has been hijacked by establishing new redlines which have been rubbed out and forgotten as and when a new opening appeared.
As a result, there seems to be a lack of coherence in policy which appears to oscillate between talks and no-talks. Clearly, the Prime
Minister needs a more centred policy to take
forward his agenda, a BeJAK policy Between Jhappi and Katti.
During the last quarter century, after the
end of the Cold War and as the Indian economy gradually began opening up, every Indian
Prime Minister has faced a similar dilemma
and has dealt with it in the context of Indias
larger geopolitical interests and domestic priorities. Yet, there has been a remarkable degree of consistency in the approach they followed though each one of them P.V.
Narasimha Rao, I.K. Gujral, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr. Manmohan Singh also put their
own distinctive imprint on how they approached the talks.
Twenty-five years and counting
Following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, jihadist terrorism had already
reared its ugly head in Kashmir and tensions
rose between the two countries. Pakistan was
widely believed to have developed a small nuclear arsenal. U.S. Deputy National Security
Adviser (NSA) Robert Gates paid a low-key
visit to New Delhi and Islamabad in May 1990
after taking the Soviets on board. Subsequently, Prime Minister V.P. Singh approved Foreign Secretary-level talks which focussed for
the first time on the issue of Confidence
Building Measures (CBMs). Gradually, these
talks took on a more structured character and
the first CBMs were concluded in 1991. Other
agenda items were gradually added on to the
Foreign Secretaries dialogue, while the Directors General of Military Operations of the
two sides focussed on finding a resolution for
the Siachen glacier.
By the time Prime Minister Gujral took

Talk we must, but for any dialogue with Pakistan

to be successful, New Delhi will have to be
sensitive to Nawaz Sharifs imperative that it be
seen as a win-win outcome for both sides
over, the Foreign Secretary-level talks had an
established pattern which had survived a
number of political changes in Pakistan. Together with Pakistans Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif, Mr. Gujral sought to put his own stamp
on the dialogue process by putting it in the
framework of an eight-point Composite Dialogue. Despite ups and downs in the political
relationship when the dialogue got suspended, the basic structure remained intact. Diferent subjects were dealt with by the relevant
Secretaries while the Foreign Secretaries directly dealt with the subjects of peace and security, including CBMs and Jammu and Kashmir, and also coordinated the process. Siachen

vey a significant message to the people of Pakistan when he visited Minar-e-Pakistan to

boldly state: A stable, secure and prosperous
Pakistan is in Indias interest. Let no one in Pakistan be in doubt. India sincerely wishes Pakistan well. Even then there were many who
accused Mr. Sharif of a sell-out and the Kargil
war reflected the limits imposed by Pakistans
Army on a dialogue process led by an elected
government in Islamabad. The banquet in
honour of Mr. Vajpayee at the Lahore Fort had
to be delayed because of Jamaat-e-Islami protesters who went to Minar-e-Pakistan the following week to cleanse it with rose water because Mr. Vajpayee, an apostate, had

There seems to be a lack of coherence in policy which appears

to oscillate between talks and no-talks. Clearly, the Prime
Minister needs a more centred policy to take forward his agenda,
a BeJAK policy Between Jhappi and Katti
stepped on the site which was set up to commemorate the decision to create Pakistan. Undeterred, Mr. Vajpayee continued with the
Agra invitation to General Pervez Musharraf
and when that failed, used coercion, diplomacy and international pressure to establish a
ceasefire across the Line of Control (LoC).
Dr. Manmohan Singh inherited the RaoGujral-Vajpayee legacy. The ceasefire held as
long as General Musharraf was in control.
Lacking the political authority and the oratory
of his predecessor, Dr. Singh used back-channel diplomacy to build cross-border trade and
transport linkages across the LoC in Kashmir.
These talks evidently made considerable proTwo steps forward, two steps back
gress on core issues of Kashmir and the LoC
After the nuclear tests in 1998, Prime Minis- but lacking ownership on either side, ended
ter Vajpayee soon realised that absence of dia- up getting mired in the political quicksand in
logue between two nuclear armed neighbours both countries. Changes in Pakistans domeslocked in a hostile relationship would gener- tic politics, in the Army, and the U.S. withate negative perceptions in the region and be- drawal from Afghanistan created a set of new
yond. Following the meeting with PM Sharif short-term priorities for Pakistan in which Inin New York in September 1998, the announ- dia did not figure. Dr. Singhs government
cement about a Delhi-Lahore bus service was went into a defensive mode during its last two
made. Thereafter came Mr. Vajpayees histor- years and the Foreign Secretary-level talks
ic visit to Lahore on the inaugural bus journey ended up being shelved. His speech, where he
where he used his oratory and poetry to con- talked of a vision of an interconnected South

was handled by the Defence Secretaries; Sir

Creek by the Surveyors General; trade and economic relations by the Commerce Secretaries; and Tulbul Navigation Project/Wular
Barrage by the Water Resources Secretaries.
Terrorism and narcotics were tied up together
and handled by the Home Secretaries while
people-to-people contacts dealt with religious tourism, consular matters and cultural
issues. Incremental progress was registered
periodically though any breakthroughs on key
issues were regularly held hostage by linking
it to progress on other matters.

CARTOONSCAPE

Mixed legacy of
the Obama years
n a speech long on past achievements and short on
policy promises for his final year in oice, U.S. President Barack Obama delivered his seventh and last
State of the Union address to a House of Representatives chamber on Tuesday. Equally dedicating his time
at the pulpit to defending his two-term record in oice and
to laying out a vision consistent with the liberal paradigm
of the Democratic Party, Mr. Obama posed four definitive
questions, the answers to which he said would determine
how much progress the U.S. would make in the years
ahead. First, on how the U.S. middle class finds suicient
opportunities in the new economy to secure its prosperity; second, on how the U.S. harnesses the power of technology to tackle climate change; third, what are the means
to secure the safety of Americans at home and abroad
without getting trapped in any military quagmires; and
fourth, how could America's leadership foster a less hateful, less anti-minority brand of national politics? In the
face of the Republican Partys attitude of rancour and suspicion, Mr. Obama has deftly navigated a path forward on
domestic priorities including healthcare reform, economic revival, and sustainable technologies in the energy sector. Yet his record on foreign policy is more patchy and
complex. The partial realisation of the dream of America
leading a multilateral world sits rather uncomfortably
with notable cases of stasis and deepening conflict.
An unequivocal feather in Mr. Obamas cap is the dtente with Iran, which, on his watch, has rolled back its nuclear programme, shipped out its uranium stockpile, and
helped the world step back from the brink of war. So too is
the revival of formal diplomatic ties with Cuba last summer which, after more than 50 years of isolation and economic embargo, witnessed the relaxation of travel restrictions but awaits a nod from the Republican-controlled
Congress before trade can be fully opened up. At the macro level, seven years since the end of Bush-era unilateralism, the adoption of multilateral, regionally focussed and
hemispheric political models have certainly come into
vogue under the able guidance of the Obama machine. Yet,
even as multilateralism has thrived, bilateral crisis-resolution has taken a back seat. With Russia, the legitimate concerns of an important strategic player are reduced to
sound bites and talking heads on U.S. news channels. Consequently in Ukraine and Syria there is often a hair-trigger
situation. Washingtons China engagement was more reactive than proactive, and led to more aggressive positions
in the region. The unravelling security prospects of Afghanistan and the festering Palestine-Israel conflict were
inconsistently addressed over the two presidential terms.
India, though, turned out to be the classic partner for Obamas America there was enough bilateral economic
depth to keep ties strong, and the shared idiom of pluralistic democracy held the two nations together in a close but
light strategic embrace.

CM
YK

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

No jallikattu this Pongal
One of the reasons for justifying
jallikattu is that it is a traditional
game of valour (No jallikattu in
Tamil Nadu this year, Jan. 13). I
have seen jallikattu in more than
one location and Ive also seen clips
of it on television. In this sport, at
least two people attack the bull
from its sides, and one pulls the
animals tail. Not once have I seen
anyone take the bull by its horns.
Where is the valour in this? This is
nothing but bullying and torture. I
would consider it valour if one man
took the bull by its horns and tamed
it in a closed arena where neither
the bull nor the hero can escape.
Supposing three or four bulls took
on one man at a time, how valorous
do you think he would be? I can
only visualise the valorous bulltamer taking to his heels.
S. Pushpavanam,
Tiruchirappalli

What is this madness to revive

jallikattu? The argument advanced
is that it is an expression of Tamil
tradition and culture and that the
Tamil people display their valour
in this game. Arent there many
other humane ways of achieving
the same objective? The people of
Tamil Nadu risked their own lives
to rescue people during the floods.
Was that not valour?
And harping on tradition and
culture bears no scrutiny. Sati was
practised for centuries; do we want
to revive it now in the name of
tradition?
Manu
sanctioned
oppression of women and castes; is
that in tune with the modern
concepts of justice and equality?
The Supreme Court would do

Asia where you could have breakfast in Amritsar, lunch in Lahore and dinner in Kabul, was
given concrete shape by his successor Mr.
Modi on Christmas Day last year when he
lunched in Kabul, had tea in Lahore with Mr.
Sharif and was back in Delhi for dinner.
Putting realpolitik over redlines
During these years, there were a number of
terrorist attacks which led to the derailment
of talks but communication channels were always kept open. Each of Mr. Modis predecessors had a vision but the dialogue process was
grounded in realpolitik. Each of them realised
that relations with Pakistan could not be allowed to become a distraction from the primary task of sustaining a healthy economic
growth rate and improving the political climate in Kashmir. Secondly, they were acutely
conscious that tensions with Pakistan constrained Indias diplomatic space for wider
engagement, by keeping it locked in an IndiaPakistan construct in terms of external perceptions. None of them established arbitrary
redlines that could become liabilities; instead
they shared their thinking with all political
leaders, cutting across party lines. Senior oicials were often asked to provide background
briefings to retired oicials and foreign policy
commentators so that expectations were not
allowed to get out of hand and both the pace
and outcome of the dialogue process was
controlled.
Mr. Modis neighbourhood first policy
got of to a good start with his invitation to all
the regional leaders for his oath-taking ceremony in May 2014, and his Ufa meeting with
Mr. Sharif to restart the dialogue was also received positively. However, both times, the
follow-up talks were nixed by a shrill media
forcing the government to retreat. The third
time around, expectations were kept low-key
by keeping the media at a distance, both at the
two leaders meeting in Paris and the followup NSA talks in Bangkok. Clearly, the lesson
about managing expectations had been
understood.
Pathankot was not planned after Mr. Modis
surprise visit to Lahore but is certainly intended to test his redlines again. The key difference is that this time, the communication
channel between the NSAs seems to be working and it is highly likely that what is considered a prompt and adequate response by Pakistan has already been spelt out. Mr. Sharifs
call to Mr. Modi, his setting up of a joint investigation team to probe into the links of the
Pathankot attackers with Pakistan, and most
importantly, his statement on January 8 that
no terrorist and terrorist organisations
would be allowed to use Pakistans soil for
committing terrorism anywhere in the world
indicate that Pakistan would like the talks to
go forward. This is not a new commitment;
Gen. Musharraf had said the same to Mr. Vajpayee in 2004 but reiteration has some value.
Mr. Modi still needs to spell out his policy.
He has shown that he is a risk-taker and his
preference is for a personalised style of diplomacy. However, he should have realised by
now that this runs the risk of converting each
encounter into a zero-sum game. The dialogue, in order to deliver on the Modi governments priorities, has to be perceived as a winwin outcome for both sides. For this, the
Prime Minister has to understand that Pakistan cannot be seen to be giving in to Indian
pressure as this becomes Mr. Sharifs limitation. Domestically, for the opposition parties,
engaging in political rhetoric is a cost-free exercise. The way to neutralise this is to reach
out, as his predecessors have done. Only then
will Mr. Modi be able to make his Pakistan
strategy dovetail with his neighbourhood
first policy, thereby stamping both with his
own distinctive imprint.
(Rakesh Sood, the Prime Ministers Special Envoy for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation till May 2014, has also been First
Secretary and Counsellor in Indias High
Commission
in
Islamabad.
E-mail:
rakeshsood2001@yahoo.com)

Letters emailed to letters@thehindu.co.in must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.

well to make this ban on jallikattu

permanent and spare these poor
animals such cruelty. There should
be no room for politicking here. Let
Tamil society come up with a new
game that will showcase valour
without showcasing cruelty.
Chris Theodore,
Chennai

Ludicrous justifications have been

posed by the protagonists of
jallikattu (Centre defends new
notification, Jan. 13). AttorneyGeneral Mukul Rohatgi is reported
to have said, Certain breeds are
meant to do certain things. If they
dont, they will die. Animals have
feelings and rights. They cannot be
bullied, teased or provoked into
doing unnatural things. Sport
involves consent and fair play.
Letting loose starving lions on
prisoners in the Colosseum was
also a great Roman sport.
A.N. Lakshmanan,
Bengaluru

Jallikattu has been dubbed a cruel

sport but what about all the other
forms of cruelty to animals? In
India, in some places, bullocks are
castrated and their horns are
mutilated using hot iron. On the
farm or while dragging transport
vehicles, they are continuously
whipped. Horses that drag tongas
are also whipped. Monkeys are
made to perform on the streets.
Elephants are ill-treated by
mahouts. Animals are tortured
while being transported to
slaughterhouses. Will the Animal
Welfare Board of India also take
action against all this?
M. Subrahmanyan,
Chennai

Killing animals for food, leather

products, and hurting them for
transport are all daily occurrences
in India. But hurting animals for a
traditional sport in Tamil Nadu
and Maharashtra is suddenly cruel,
according to animal rights activists
and others.
Lakshmanan L.N.L.,
Chennai

The problem is not with the sport

but in the way in which it is being
played. People tie blades to the legs
of cocks before they are made to
fight, in Andhra Pradesh. Similarly,
many birds die in Gujarat during
the kite festival due to the use of
manja (lethal thread made of glass
powder). So, the court should not
ban the sport but allow it to play
out in a more humane manner.
Kshirasagara Balaji Rao,

Nadu
are
generating
this
controversy to gain political
mileage before the Assembly
elections. This is very unfortunate.
In a constitutional democracy, it is
the duty of the apex court to
exercise its independence to set
right such controversies through
pronouncements, and not succumb
to the pressures of particular
parties or sections of people. If this
happens, then the judiciary would
be redundant.
The question now is, should
there be a legislative overreach on
this issue through promulgation of
an ordinance which will nullify the
existing judicial pronouncements
on the subject?
T. Ramaswamy,
Chennai

Italian marines case

It is strange that those sitting in

cocooned enclosures armchair
activists pass strange judgments
or comments without any real
understanding of the dynamics of a
society. Jallikattu is an age-old
sport and there are other sports
involving animals too. Will the
learned judges have a similar
approach to those practices too?
Slaughtering of animals for food is
also cruelty. Anyone who visits a
slaughterhouse would give up
meat-eating immediately.

When Massimiliano Latorre, one of

the two Italian marines accused of
murdering two fishermen of the
Kerala coast in 2012, was allowed
by the Supreme Court to go back
home because of ill-health, I knew
he would not return to India to face
a judicial probe (Italian marine
Latorre will not return to India,
Jan. 13). My fears have come true.
Latorre deserves the second prize
for the ease with which he has
cocked a snook at the Indian
authorities. The first prize was
bagged long back by Warren
Anderson.

S. Srinivasan,
Bengaluru

P.G. Menon,
Chennai

The
editorial,
A
political
misadventure (Jan.13), which sees
the issue both from a legal and a
political angle, is excellent. It is
clear that political parties in Tamil

The discovery of the 45 shortfinned pilot whales on the beaches

of Thoothukudi district has come
as
a
rude
shock
to

Hyderabad

Whales washed ashore

environmentalists and animal

activists (45 whales die on TN
coast, 36 pushed back, Jan. 13).
Though
it
would
be
presumptuous to assume the
reasons behind the whales being
washed ashore, the answers could
lie in our own failing to protect
these wonders of the ocean.
Extreme weather patterns and
pollution of waters by humans
have contributed in large measure
to this problem. Whales are highly
intelligent and emotional beings
with a strong bond, and a distress
call sent out by one could cause the
entire pod to respond.
The fisheries department and
the local fishermen deserve
applause for pushing back 36 of
them.
N.J. Ravi Chander,
Bengaluru

Dress code in temples

The decision of a Division Bench of
the Madras High Court Bench is
timely (HC stays order imposing
dress code for temple entry, Jan.
11). Otherwise, it would have led to
a lot of complications and
controversies. That the Division
Bench quoted Ramana Maharishi is
appropriate. In thousands of
photographs, he is seen only
wearing a loin cloth and there is
nothing indecent about it. The
court has rightly spoken of the eyes
of the beholder. One of your
readers has quoted examples of a
dress code for the Army, the police
and for students, which are hardly
appropriate. The first two are for
identity and the last is for equality
and camaradarie.
N.G.R. Prasad,
Chennai
ND-ND

PERSPECTIVE

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

DIPLOMATIC LICENCE

China, the missing piece

to the Pakistan puzzle?

What Free Basics did not intend to do

The public now sees the Internet not just in market terms, but as a social phenomenon
that requires public interest regulation

SUHASINI HAIDAR

PARMINDER JEET SINGH

Of all the casualties from the Pathankot attack, perhaps the

one least spoken about was the India-China dialogue. By calling of his visit to Beijing that was due at the beginning of January, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval may have sent a signal that dealing with the crisis at hand with Pakistan was more
important than the next chapter of the protracted border talks
with China. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. For a
number of reasons, Prime Minister Narendra Modis engagement with China is not just more connected than ever with its Pakistan outreach, it is a
natural consequence of his desire to connect with all of South Asia.
The first reason is that the Pakistan-China bond, often termed an allweather friendship, is deeper than ever before, reinforced by the concrete
to be used in their biggest infrastructural initiative, the $46-billion ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) announced in April 2015. Second,
China is involved closely in other subcontinental developments, such as
the Afghanistan-Taliban talks, that will have a bearing on India-Pakistan
ties. Third, the biggest source of tensions between India and China, the border issue in Jammu and Kashmir, is geographically linked with Pakistan.
And fourth, on the subject of terrorism, it is China that has had a higher rate
of success in controlling the levers in Pakistan that run terror groups than
most other countries.

In its aggressive campaign

for Free Basics, couched in
simplistic developmental
language, Facebook underestimated the political sophistication of the Indian
public. It must be regretting it now. The
social networking services reportedly Rs.
100-crore campaign, through double fullpage newspaper advertisements, billboards and television, appears simply to
have congealed public opinion against
Free Basics. Everyone seems to be eager
to discuss and write about what is wrong
with Free Basics. When the regulator had
last called for Net neutrality-related inputs, in May 2015, the opinions were relatively more divided. If they are so much
more polarised today against Free Basics
and Net neutrality violations, the manner
in which Facebook pushed this campaign
does bear some responsibility for it.
Facebooks campaign may actually have
ended up doing a lot of good to India,
which, after all, was its professed goal. We
must thank Facebook for that. These benefits have been on two explicit fronts, and
one more which will become apparent in
some time.

New axis in the making?

However, despite all those reasons, 2015 saw a strain in India-China ties
grow. Paradoxically, this is not a strain in bilateral ties, but borne of their ties
with other players in the region. The year began with India heralding a decided shift towards the U.S., signing the joint vision statement for the AsiaPacific and Indian Ocean region with
the U.S. when U.S. President Obama
visited New Delhi. The agreement
was the first of its kind, committing
India to ties with the U.S. outside of
South Asia, specifically mentioning
ensuring freedom of navigation and
over flight in the South China Sea as
a goal. China did not react well to the
snub, and just a few months later, and
a few weeks before Prime Minister
Modis visit to China, unveiled the CPEC, making the road through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan an integral part of its One Belt, One
Road (OBOR) plan. Significantly, maps issued in 2014 had no mention of
Gwadar port in Pakistan, but mentioned Kolkata as a possible stop, but
since India remained cold to the OBOR/Silk Route initiative in 2015, a new
line through Pakistan connecting Gwadar port to the Maritime Silk Route
has become much more visible.
Indian strategic ties with the U.S. and Japan, both allied against China on
the South China Sea issue, also got closer. The year began with President
Obamas visit and ended with President Shinzo Abes visit. Trilateral talks
and military exercises were institutionalised among the three countries,
which China has always read as an attempt at its containment.

It is puzzling why India

would pick a battle with
China outside of its own
neighbourhood, when
many benefits accrue to
it by engaging China

Balancing the gains

While Indias move to the U.S.-Japan corner will no doubt win it strategic
power in one respect, it must also consider what it could lose. China today
is a close friend to Russia, controls much of the Asian economy, and has
most of Europe in its debt. It also remains Indias largest trading partner.
China is also involved too deeply with each of Indias neighbours, including
Afghanistan, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and especially Pakistan, for it to be cut out of Indias equations with them. Afghanistans decision to trust China as a guarantor for its talks with the Taliban, or the agreement between China and Nepal for fuel supplies and the opening of trade
routes and port access after the stand of between India and Nepal, should
only underline that point. It must be remembered that even the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline will draw from reserves
developed by Chinese loans.
The truth is that while China is seen as a hegemonist power by its maritime neighbours, it is seen as a stabilising force that invests in long-term development by its neighbours on land in South and Central Asia. It is puzzling why India would pick a battle with China outside of its own
neighbourhood, when it benefits India to engage China in promoting infrastructure and fighting terror in the neighbourhood. It also makes little
sense to unite Pakistan and China in their antagonism to India, when previous decades have shown that it is possible to appeal to China to use its influence with Pakistan for peace in the region. In his superb discourse of the relationship in his recent book, The China-Pakistan Axis, Andrew Small
gives a detailed account of the Chinese role in forcing General Pervez
Musharraf to withdraw troops during the Kargil war (1999), its push for
peace during Operation Parakram (2001-2002), and its Vice Foreign Ministers shuttle diplomacy after the Mumbai attacks.
Given all of the above, Mr. Modi might find that a new push to Beijing is
worth making in a year India hopes to push for the elusive UN Security
Council seat, and also given his desire to pursue the spirit of May 2014,
when he invited leaders of all SAARC nations, including Pakistan, to his
swearing-in ceremony. A distant relative may not be as helpful as a near
neighbour, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had said during a visit to Delhi in
2013. The Prime Minister may well find that eastern neighbour helpful
when considering its vexed relations with Indias western neighbour as
well.
suhasini.h@thehindu.co.in

FROM THE ARCHIVES

(dated January 14, 1966)

New P.M. to be
chosen in a week
A successor to Mr. Lal Bahadur
Shastri as Prime Minister of India
will be chosen within a week. The
Congress President, Mr. Kamaraj
who gave this news to Pressmen
this afternoon [Jan. 13] after a
meeting of the Congress Working
Committee said that the exact date
would be settled to-morrow
[January 14]. Congress leaders
from all over the country are now
in Delhi. After having paid their

last homage to late Mr. Shastri,

they are now engaged in settling
the successor to Mr. Shastri. The
Congress President is at the centre
of these discussions. The Working
Committee met this afternoon to
adopt a condolence resolution
touching the death of Mr. Shastri.
At its meeting to-morrow [January
14] it will consider the question of
a successor to Mr. Shastri. In the
first instance the Committee
would settle the procedure to be
followed in the election of the new
leader.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

>>The opening sentence of Living with legacy issues (Politics Watch, Perspective page, Jan. 13, 2016) read: On December 7, when Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) patriarch Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was laid to rest ... It should
have been January 7.
It is the policy of The Hindu to correct significant errors as soon as
possible.
Please specify the edition (place of publication), date and page.
The Readers Editors oice can be contacted by
Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to
Friday); Fax: +91-44-28552963;
E-mail:readerseditor@thehindu.co.in
Mail: Readers Editor, The Hindu, Kasturi Buildings,
859 & 860 Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002, India.
All communication must carry the full postal address and
telephone number.
No personal visits.
The Terms of Reference for the Readers Editor are on www.thehindu.com
CM
YK

| 11

ILLUSTRATION: SATWIK GADE

concept which has begun to be discussed

globally.
The Internet as a right
The second unintended consequence
First, the campaign forced everyone to of the Free Basics campaign has been a
respond to the question, can those in pov- groundswell of public consciousness that
erty be denied connectivity? The obvious now sees the Internet not just in pure maranswer being no, everyone had to come ket terms, but as a unique social phenomup with concrete alternatives. As a result, enon which requires special public intersomething interesting happened. Even est regulation. The last round of Net
with the current middle-class sentiment neutrality consultation was the first heave
largely being pro-free markets and anti- in this direction, but it was still a bit tentagovernment subsidies, a strong opinion tive and immature. It is also much easier
has emerged that those who cannot aford for people to see the logic for an Internet
connectivity must be provided some ba- that treats all content equally, than develsic free connectivity as an entitlement to op a case against a free service. (Remembe ensured by the government. It can be in ber, free service is already the dominant
the form of a limited data package. Many Internet service model in application and
commentators as well as responses to the content layers, a point which we will
regulators consultation have sought such come to later.) That the Indian public
could form a considered opinion on this
an entitlement.
This should make the regulator and the rather complex social and policy issue is
government think seriously about some heartening to note. It is likely to usher a
such data entitlement for every citizen. It new era of Internet rights activism, with
could also have an impact on how connec- people claiming digital technologies as a
tivity through the governments National right and not just something that the marOptical Fibre Network will be provided to ket provides on its own terms.
the people. This network, connecting alAt the many public interest discussions
most the whole of rural India, is expected on this subject, people came up with ingeto be in place within the next two-four nious analogies. One person said, I am
years. Such emerging public opinion in fa- ready to pay the auto driver according to
vour of free basic connectivity, if concre- the distance travelled, not based on the
tised into public policy, will be the first destination that I go to. Another said,
true expression of the Internet as a right, a Free Basics is like someone giving you

Facebook used its

monopoly social
networking platform for
a huge political campaign
in its own favour
cooking gas for free, but being able to decide what you will cook with it. There is
an emergence of a very sophisticated orientation as to how people see the Internet
in terms of its very crucial and strong role
in society today, and its hidden manipulative possibilities.
The cooking analogy is not a farfetched one if one projects ahead into the
emerging world of Internet of Things.
The Internet can be seen as a new neutral
system of society, one that organises our
lives, which can become very dangerous if
its manipulative potential is not closely
watched and kept in check. There will always be corporatist tendencies to place
control points on this neutral network,
with various kinds of free services as the
incentive, but which would lead to far
greater economic and other forms of
exploitation.
Neutrality in all layers
This brings us to the third unintended
consequence of the Facebook campaign.

This is only being informally talked about

as of now, but will break into prominence
soon when other similar platform abuses
come to the fore. This is about how Facebook used its monopoly social networking platform for a huge political campaign
in its own favour, making and sharing
lakhs (11 million, according to Facebook)
of template responses to the regulators
consultation. The same platform functionality was not available to other users,
who could be holding other views on the
subject.
The implications of such platform
abuse are not diicult to see. Imagine a
close election contest in the future when
Facebook, say, has 70 per cent of adult Indians as its users. There are two main parties and, say, FDI or higher corporate taxes
has become the key election issue. What if
Facebook does a similar campaign two
weeks before the elections, taking a
strong position favouring one side, reaching and engaging its users in a manner
that others cannot do using the same
platform?
The question then is, if a telco cannot
be allowed to provide diferent functionalities on its platform to diferent content
and application-providers, how can a monopoly social networking platform be allowed to discriminate among its users in
such a blatant way and with such far-reaching social consequences? It is much easier to switch between telcos today than to
even find a good alternative to the Facebook platform.
Net neutrality and zero-rating are
therefore just the first key Internet regulation issues that we are facing. As the Internet quickly transforms our social systems
and becomes an essential element, there
will soon be other kinds of platform neutrality issues.
The EU is already conducting a public
consultation on platform governance.
The French Digital Council has brought
out a comprehensive report on platform
neutrality. A draft bill on Internet rights in
the Italian legislature lays out public interest guidelines for platforms.
The keen public engagement with the
issue of Net neutrality and zero-rating indicates that we will soon hear about other
kinds of platform abuses as well, along
with calls for corresponding Internet
regulation.
(Parminder Jeet Singh works with the
Bengaluru-based NGO, IT for Change.
He has been an advisor to the Chair of
the United Nations Internet
Governance Forum. Email:
parminder@itforchange.net)

There is a rumble in the rubble

The VHPs heightened pitch for a Ram temple in Ayodhya might be a bid on its part to retain
relevance, but it will also give the organisationally weak BJP communal traction in U.P.
the capital at the release of a book titled
ShriRam Mandir, Mr. Kumar, who is also
patron of the Sanghs Muslim outreach
wing Muslim Rashtriya Manch, thus
sought to present opposition to Babur as
the cornerstone of Indian nationalism, a
view endorsed by Hindutva forces that
talk of 1,000 years of slavery that Hindus
purportedly sufered. A Ram temple in
Ayodhya, in such a schema, becomes a
symbol of national reawakening.
The Sangh is likely to ofer intermittent
support to the Ram temple rhetoric in
times to come.

VIKAS PATHAK

Twenty-three years after

the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya
was demolished, and 19
months after the Narendra
Modi government swept to
power on a promise of good
governance, the Ram temple campaign seems to be picking up
again, even if lazily.
Many see in this an attempt on the part
of Sangh Parivar groups to polarise Uttar
Pradesh (U.P.) and create some buzz
around the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
after its dismal loss in the Assembly elections in neighbouring Bihar; the State
goes to polls early in 2017. Others say this
is more a bid on the part of organisations
such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP)
to stay relevant.
Many in the BJP, however, warn that the
Ram temple as an electoral issue may
have lost relevance in U.P., unless a temple
indeed comes up. This, however, is beyond the partys capacity to deliver in the
near future. The Ayodhya title suit is
pending in the Supreme Court after the
Allahabad High Court in 2010 divided the
land between the Hindu and Muslim litigants, a verdict both sides appealed
against.
VHPs fight for relevance
On December 6, the VHPs youth wing,
Bajrang Dal, observed Shaurya Diwas
(Valour Day) to mark the 23rd anniversary
of the demolition of the Babri mosque.
Two weeks later, truckloads of engraved
stones began to arrive in the temple town,
generating political heat. We require
more stones for a grand temple to be built
in Ayodhya. We have waited for long and
the government should now get a law
passed in Parliament to facilitate the construction of the temple, was how VHP
joint general secretary Surendra Jain defended the development.
Many BJP leaders say the VHP a fellow constituent of the Sangh Parivar
fears a complete loss of clout and wants to
stay relevant by raising core Hindutva issues, something the ruling party at the
Centre may be in no position to control or
calibrate. The VHP has lost stature in recent years as the Ram temple movement
lost its appeal. Its clout among Hindus
apart, the death of its stalwart, Ashok
Singhal, in November 2015 seems to have
brought down the VHPs standing even in
BJP circles. Mr. Singhal was seen to be the
only VHP leader with deep access at top
levels of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) and BJP. It is reported that
Mr. Modi does not get along well with
VHP international working president
Pravin Togadia. It is also felt that the VHP
post-Singhal may be less concerned about
whether a renewed temple pitch may

Discussions on the Ram temple help fringe organisations retain the spotlight on
themselves. Picture shows Bajrang Dal activists demanding the construction of a
Ram Temple in Ayodhya. PHOTO: PTI

The State BJP lacks the

firepower in U.P. to convert
Mr. Modis rallies into votes
and Hindutva
is likely to be on the agenda
cause embarrassment to the Modi
government.
The RSS, which has much greater clout
as the fountainhead of the Sangh Parivar,
is much more reticent in speaking on core
issues. Rare statements apart, it avoids being seen as leading the pack on any Hindutva issue. It has in recent times backed
the Modi government on a number of difficult decisions, including its bid to engage Pakistan which is unlikely to find
favour with hard-line followers of Hindutva who want a belligerent line on Pakistan

despite the Pathankot attack.

However, the RSS often has to display
in-principle support for Hindutva issues
so as to not lose its core hard-line constituency. This makes the Sangh issue statements in favour of the Ram temple every
now and then.
In December, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had said in Kolkata, The temple will
be built within my lifetime Maybe we
will see it with our own eyes. None can
say when and how the temple will be constructed, but we need to be prepared and
ready.
On January 4, RSS leader Indresh Kumar said that Muslims of India should
choose to be seen as descendants of Hasan Khan Mewati, who fought Mughal invader Babur in alliance with the Rajput
warrior Rana Sanga to defend the country and died a martyrs death. Speaking in

Electoral compulsions in U.P.

The BJP wants to talk a language of governance rather than Hindutva at the national level, and particularly at the global
level. It is aware that while Hindutva gives
it a distinctive identity, it must be underplayed to shield the ruling party and the
Modi government from criticism.
But it does become a default option
where the BJP is organisationally weak,
indicating that the party may have to use it
in a calibrated manner in the run-up to the
polls in U.P. in 2017. Two things dictate
such an approach: the BJPs outstanding
electoral success in 2014 was built on the
edifice of rich pickings from the large
northern states of U.P. and Bihar, with U.P.
alone giving the party and its allies 73
seats out of the States 80; and the diiculty of emulating its performance in the
general election in the State given the fact
that the partys State-level machinery isnt
a patch on that of the two main claimants
to power there, the ruling Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
While the Modi wave of 2014 enabled
the BJP to sweep the State, party leaders
say the U.P. Assembly polls would be very
diferent. The issues would be more regional, to begin with. The party is unlikely
to pit the Prime Minister against the BSPs
Mayawati or incumbent Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav to avoid a repeat of the Bihar debacle. And even if it does showcase
the Prime Minister, the party organisation
may be lacking the firepower to convert
Mr. Modis high-profile rallies into votes.
In such a scenario, Hindutva is likely to be
on the agenda, as the party has few options otherwise. This would become all
the more pronounced in the State as the
SP too may adopt the politics of polarisation to retain Muslim support; SP leader
Azam Khan has been accused of making
polarising statements of and on anyway.
Times when the BJP is in power end up
also becoming times when Hindutva and
Sangh Parivar outfits are discussed more
often. Even if much of this discussion is
negative, it helps fringe organisations retain the spotlight on themselves, giving
their communal ideas a certain currency
in political discourse.
vikas.pathak@thehindu.co.in
ND-ND

NEWS

12 |
FROM PAGE ONE

The ban on jallikattu will force

farmers to send their bulls to
Kerala to be slaughtered, says
N. Rajaraman, counsel for the
farmers. FILE PHOTO: S.JAMES

the CJI court to the Bench

of Justices Dipak Misra and
N.V. Ramana, who had ordered the stay the previous
day.
Justice Misras Bench
took up the matter at 3 p.m.
Arguing for the petitioners,

advocate N. Rajaraman
spoke for the farmers, who
rear bulls like children and
brothers. The 2014 judgment of the Supreme Court
did not ban jallikattu. It only
said, stop the cruelty. It only
asked for safe play, not ban,
declaring jallikattu as cruelty, Mr. Rajaraman argued.
The stay order is a result
of the fogged vision of the
city dwellers about what
happens at jallikattu. We
worship bulls... The farmer,
with his moustache twirled,
breeds bulls as a matter of
pride, Mr. Rajaraman submitted. He warned that the
prohibition would only
force farmers to now send
their bulls to Kerala to be
slaughtered.
To this, Justice Misra
asked: You say you treat
these bulls like family
members. So now the bull
has no purpose, you send
them
to
Kerala
for
slaughter?

Centre in no position to bring in ordinance

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The Centre on
Wednesday said it was in no
position to bring in an ordinance to lift the ban on jallikattu but it would support
the State government if it
used its powers to promulgate one.
Speaking to reporters at
Mahabhalipuram near here,
Union Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman said the State
government could invoke its
jurisdiction under Entry 38

CHENNAI:

[sic Entry 28 of Seventh

Schedule of the Constitution] and promulgate an
ordinance.
If the State brings such an
ordinance the Centre will
support it, she said, adding
that the option was not available to the Centre as the matter was sub judice.
Entry 28 of the Seventh
Schedule brings markets and
fairs under the ambit of the
State.
The Ministers comment
came on a day the Supreme

Decks cleared for BJP

presidents election
NEW DELHI: Decks will be clear-

ed by this weekend for the BJP

to elect its new president,
most likely incumbent Amit
Shah, as a large number of
state units are expected to
complete their own processes
of electing a local president.
According to the partys
constitution, at least 50% of
state units are expected to
complete the election process
from district and block to state
level, for the new national
president to be elected. That
process will get done by this
weekend, said a senior
source in the party.
The quorum for state chiefs
required for electing a national president is 19, of which 17
states have completed the
election process, with Gujarat
and Odisha expected to be
done over the weekend. That
will also coincide with the end
of the inauspicious khar maas
that falls before Makar Sankranti. Most likely we can expect an announcement between January 19th -23rd, said
a source.
The election of the party
president and the setting up of
his team will also clarify future plans of a Cabinet reshuffle, party sources said. There
are at least three ministers facing the axe on the basis of their
performance and political calculations. That could happen

Four IS fighters
from India have
been arrested:
Syrian Minister

If re-elected, this would

officially be Amit Shahs first
term as party president.

in the inter session period between the two parts of the

Budget session of Parliament, said the top source in
the party. A national council
of the party may also be called
during that period to endorse
the new president, said the
source.
If re-elected, this would officially be Mr. Shahs first term
as party president as he was
elected to complete former
party president and current
Home
Minister
Rajnath
Singhs term when the latter
was made a member of the
Union Cabinet.
Senior RSS leaders are expected to be in Delhi over the
weekend to finalise the choice
of president (elections to the
presidents post are usually
unanimous) but sources said
that no schedule has been
drawn up for a meeting.

Court reiterated its stay on

the January 7 notification issued by the Centre to allow
the conduct of jallikattu.
State BJP president Tamilisai
Soundararajan said the party
leadership had communicated after a Cabinet meeting
on Wednesday that the State
had the option to bring in an
ordinance in the issue.
If the Centre promulgates
an ordinance, it will be easily
stayed and would jeopardise
a permanent solution to this
issue, she claimed.

U.S. called for swift action; China issued two statements condemning the terror strike
SUHASINI HAIDAR
NEW DELHI: The action by Pa-

kistan, promised by Prime

Minister Nawaz Sharif in a
telephonic conversation with
his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi last week, had
been expected for some days,
especially after pressure
from several sides.
The Indian government
had made it clear that there
would be no talks without
action from Pakistan on the
basis of evidence and leads
handed over by India about
the Pathankot attackers who
killed 7 Indian soldiers.
In a telephone call on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry repeated the
tough message, calling for
swift action, to which Mr.
Sharif had replied the world
will see our efectiveness and
sincerity in fighting terror.
In two separate statements,
China too had condemned
the attack, saying it shared
the pain and anger of the people of India.
In the meanwhile the Ministry of External Afairs kept
up the pressure by refusing to
confirm or cancel the Foreign
Secretary-level talks which
had been informally agreed
to for January 15. Until just a
day before the arrests in Pakistan, oicials had said they
had seen little evidence of
any action on the ground,
calling news reports about
Pakistani oicials moving in
the case as trial balloons.
Security experts also

Army was in control,

says Dalbir Singh
DINAKAR PERI
NEW DELHI: The Chief of the
Army Staf, General
Dalbir Singh, on
Wednesday put up a
vociferous defence of the
governments counterterror operations in
Pathankot, saying the
Army was in control of it
and he monitored the
situation.
But his defence of the
Centre, however, raised
several questions,
including the
contradiction in the
claims of the Air Force
and the government. His
statements went against
the observations of

warned against reading too

much into the action against
Jaish-e-Mohammad,
the
group that was set up by Masood Azhar after he was released at Kandahar by the Indian government in 1999 in
exchange for hostages on
board IC-814.
India has demanded action
against Azhar for the 2001
Parliament attack and the
deadly bombing of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly
building in Srinagar a few
months before that, as well as

LEGAL CORRESPONDENT

that Italian marine Massimiliano Latorre will not return

to India to face the criminal
trial for the murder of two Indian fishermen in 2012, the
Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed his stay in Italy to
be extended for another three
months till April 30.
Mr. Latorre and another
marine, Salvatore Girone, on
duty aboard the vessel Enrica
Lexie, are accused of shooting
dead two fishermen of the
Kerala coast in February 2012,
mistaking them for pirates.
A Bench of Justices Anil R.
Dave, Kurian Joseph and Amitava Roy agreed to the submissions made by counsel Soli Sorabjee and K.T.S. Tulsi
that Mr. Latorre, who sufered
a brain stroke and returned to
Italy to recuperate in September 2014, needed more time.
Senate stance
On Tuesday, the president
of the defence committee of
the Italian Senate said Mr. Latorre would not return.
Massimiliano Latorre will
not go back to India, and work
is being done on the possibility of requesting for Salvatore
Girone to be able to return to
Italy, Senatore Nicola Latorre (not related to the marine) was quoted as saying by
Italys ANSA news agency.
Latorre has been given periodic extensions by the Supreme Court to stay back ever

NATIONAL BUREAU

who went to Syria to fight for

the Islamic State have been
arrested by the Syrian security forces, Syrian Foreign
Minister Walid Al-Moallem
told on Wednesday during a
press conference at the end
of his four-day India visit.
Four Indians who went to
fight for the Islamic State are
in a prison in Damascus
right now, Mr Al-Moallem
said explaining that Syria
and India are in the process
of deepening intelligence
and security cooperation to
deal with the threat of international terrorism.
Terrorism does not know
any boundary. My discussion with the External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj reflected that our
views on important issues
converge and that is why
greater security cooperation
between two sides is underway, the Foreign Minister
said.
CM
YK

several terror attacks since

then.
The Pakistan government,
that has never explained how
Azhar appeared in Pakistan
shortly after his release, and
has not curbed any of his recent public statements vowing violence on India, only
acted against the JeM in 2003,
when it banned the outfit for
attempting to assassinate former President Gen. Musharraf. Azhar was put under
house arrest at the time, but
released subsequently.

He will have
to return,
says Centre
KALLOL BHATTACHERJEE
NEW DELHI: In its first response

Salvatore Girone with the marine Massimiliano Latorre (right),

who was allowed to leave India on health grounds.

Supreme Court
agrees to
submission that
Latorre needs more
time to recover
since he left the country. Girone, however, is still in India.
In August 2015, the court
suspended all proceedings in
India against the marines following an interim order
passed by the International
Tribunal for the Law of the
Sea (ITLOS) asking India to
maintain status quo till the
issue of which country had
the right to conduct the trial
was decided. Italy has invoked international arbitra-

A hero of the Bangladesh

liberation war passes away
NEW DELHI: Lieutenant-General
J.F.R. Jacob, who died in New
Delhi on Wednesday, was one
of the heroes of the 1971 war
with Pakistan. Born in Kolkata in 1923, where his Jewish
family had migrated from
Baghdad, Lt.Gen. Jacob started his military career with
the British Indian Army.
He served across Asia and
Africa, graduated from artillery schools in England and
the U.S., and finally opted to
serve with the Indian Army
after Independence. He
breathed his last at the Army
Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi.
Lt.Gen. Jacob was 92.
The Chief of the Army
Staf, General Dalbir Singh,
said Lt.Gen. Jacob personified the best qualities of a
soldier and a statesman who
will always be remembered
as one of the most prominent
leaders in the annals of Indian
military history.
Lt.Gen. Jacob began his career during World War II in

security experts about

the Armys failure to put
up a security perimeter.
As far as the Army is
concerned, it was not
under anybody; it was
under Army
Commander, Western
Command.. He was
[Army Commander] the
one controlling the
operation, Gen. Singh
said at the annual press
conference ahead of
Army Day. He said the
Army Para Special
Forces were present on
the ground. On the
ground, it was the Army
Brigade Commander
who was controlling the
operation.

Handlers were close

to the border: NIA

Indian soldiers take up position on the perimeter of the

Pathankot airbase during a combing operation after the
terror attack. FILE PHOTO: AFP
VIJAITA SINGH
NEW DELHI: The Pathankot ter-

rorists walked 1.5 kilometres

after abandoning the SUV
belonging to police oicer
Salwinder Singh before they
entered the Indian Air Force
base by scaling a wall, not far
from the main gate, shows a
re-enactment of the sequence of events by the National Investigation Agency.
A senior government oicial told The Hindu that
when the terrorists crossed
over to India through a riverine stretch, they were probably dressed in civvies and
must have changed into Army fatigues. Teams of NIA
have been dispatched to all
the border villages near the

airbase to recover the clothes

and any related evidence.
The NIA also suspects that
when the terrorists crossed
over to India through the riverine stretch in the Bamiyal
sector, they were in touch
with their handlers through a
Chinese-made wireless set.
Since the frequency of these
sets is generally only along
the line of sight, the NIA believes the handlers must have
positioned themselves somewhere close to the border.
They [the terrorists] took
internal roads of the villages
to approach the Pathankot
airbase. They abandoned the
police oicers vehicle and
went on foot for 1.5 km with
heavy arms and ammunition, said the oicial.

Marine can stay in Italy till April 30 Mehbooba looking

KALLOL BHATTACHERJEE
NEW DELHI: Four Indian men,

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

Pakistan was under global pressure

NEW DELHI: Amid news reports

NISTULA HEBBAR

THE HINDU

PATHANKOT ATTACK

SC refuses to lift stay on jallikattu

There cannot be a scintilla
of doubt that the Constitution is an organic and compassionate document. We
are unimpressed... and do
not alter our stay order,
Justice Misra held, adding
Pongal will happen even
without jallikattu.
The drama, a sequel to
the jallikattu hearing on January 12, started when certain
individuals,
who
claimed to be afected by
the Supreme Court stay of
the January 7, 2016 notification issued by the Ministry
of Environment and Forests
allowing the sport, made an
urgent mention before
Chief Justice of India T.S.
Thakur on Wednesday
morning. They sought to
intervene in the Supreme
Court to voice the concern
of rural Tamil Nadu about
the stay.
The petitioners, led by A.
Ramakrishnan, a Chennai
resident, was referred by

NOIDA/DELHI

Lt.Gen. J.F.R. Jacob played a

key role in the negotiations
which led to the surrender of
Pakistani troops in Dhaka
during the 1971 war.

J.F.R. JACOB
(1923-2016)
1942 as a young Army oicer.
He served in northern Iraq,
North Africa, Burma (now
Myanmar) and Sumatra as
part of the British forces. After World War II, Lt.Gen. Jacob graduated from artillery
schools in England and the
United States.

Lt.Gen. Jacob has composed an Indian Army

manual on desert warfare.
He also took part in the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965.
However, it was in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971,
which resulted in the liberation of Bangladesh, that
Lt.Gen. Jacob, as Major-General and Chief of Staf of the
Eastern Army Command,
achieved his military glory,
playing a crucial role in negotiating the surrender of Pakistan in Dhaka. Later, Lt.Gen.
Jacob became the Commander-in-Chief of the eastern
command.
He retired from the Army
after 37 years of service in
1978. During his retirement
years, he was appointed Governor of Goa and Punjab.
Israeli Ambassador Daniel
Carmon said, For many
years, the General has been a
staunch supporter of IndiaIsrael relations and visited Israel a number of times. He
shall forever be remembered
as a human bridge between
our peoples.

tion challenging Indias jurisdiction to try the marines.

Arbitration
To a question from Justice
Roy when the arbitration proceedings would be concluded, Mr. Sorabjee said it might
take at least a year. However,
the court asked AdditionalSolicitor
General
Pinky
Anand to take instructions
from the government and report back on April 13 on how
long the proceedings would
take.
We will post it on April 13.
We will decide then on what
future course of action to take
in the case, Justice Kurian explained to the court for the
Bench.

to Italys decision not to return marine Massimiliano

Latorre to face the trail in the
2012 case of the killing of
fishermen of the Kerala
coast, the External Afairs
Ministry said here on
Wednesday that Latorre
would have to return to India
on or before April 30 as decided by the Supreme Court
during a hearing on the case
earlier in the day.
Mr. Latorre will have to
produce documents supporting his health conditions, so that India can decide whether he needs any
further care in Italy, said a
diplomatic source elaborating that he was allowed to
leave in 2014 on strict health
grounds and he would have
to fulfil them again if he
wished to stay in Italy.
Despite its strong position
on the case, the government
has not so far charged the
two marines, Latorre and
Salvatore Girone, who are accused in the case.
The Ministry welcomed
the courts decision to hold
the next hearing on April 13,
saying it would help in finding a satisfying solution.

for guarantees
PEERZADA ASHIQ
SRINAGAR: Several attempts by

the BJP to jump-start the dialogue on government formation in Jammu and Kashmir
with the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) failed to take of
on Wednesday as PDP president Mehbooba Mufti insisted
on sharing her assessment of
nine-month progress with the
highest level in the BJP before taking over the reins.
Mourning calls by top BJP
leaders and Union Ministers
like Rajnath Singh and Nitin
Gadhkari, besides BJP national general secretary Ram
Madhav, were highly political in nature and were not limited to condolence messages.
Top sources in the PDP told
The Hindu that Ms. Mufti,
during her meetings with BJP
stalwarts, which include Arun
Jaitley in New Delhi, conveyed her displeasure to the
top BJP leadership over the
progress of agenda set by the
coalition in March last year.
Till Mr. Mufti breathed his
last, he had faith that this coalition will deliver despite the
bitter experiences of the past
nine month. His last query on
the dead bed was about the relief money and package for
displaced Pandits over which

Mehbooba Mufti is unhappy

with the progress of the
agenda set by the coalition.

the government of India not

only dragged its feet and haggled, a top PDP leader and
close aide of Ms. Mufti told
The Hindu. He expressed displeasure over New Delhis
failure to make an attempt to
end the triangle of hatred
among Srinagar, New Delhi
and Islamabad through reconciliation from Kashmir.
Sources said the government formation would be delayed till Ms. Mufti got guarantees
from
the
BJP
leadership in New Delhi on
implementation of the Agenda of Alliance. It is reliably
learnt that several attempts on
Wednesday by middle-rung
leaders of the BJP to reach out
to Ms. Mufti were turned
down.

CBI papers on Zoom

Nirupam issue reveals lack Developers case stolen
of coordination in Cong.
MEHBOOB JEELANI
NEW DELHI: The lack of coordination between the Congress
high command and its Mumbai unit left the party at an odd
spot on Wednesday.
The All India Congress
Committees
disciplinary
board headed by former Defence Minister A.K. Antony
sent a show-cause notice to
Sanjay Nirupam, the chief of
Mumbai Congress unit, seeking his explanation on the
controversial article that was
published in Congress Sandesh magazine last December.
Since Mr.Nirupam is the
editor of the magazine, which
is the partys mouthpiece in
Mumbai, he was asked to explain how an article filled
with criticism of the Gandhi
family could get published
under his watch.
Engrossed in making arrangements for Congress
vice-president Rahul Gandhis two-day visit to Mumbai
starting from January 15
Mr. Nirupam denied having
received any such notice.
Speaking to The Hindu, he
said if he received any such

notice, he was happy to explain his position.

Back in New Delhi, the
Congress high command
went into a damage control
mode with senior party leaders neither confirming nor
denying to have sent the
notice.
The Congress sources said
that the high command declared the notice invalid after
realising that Mr.Nirupam
was leading the preparations
for Mr. Gandhis Mumbai visit. The leadership thought
the notice may spoil Rahuljis
visit, so they postponed it, a
senior party leader said.
A closer look at the confusion also reveals intra-party
rift brewing in the State unit.
The Congress sources said
that one faction was led by
two senior Congress leaders
Gurudas Kamat and Kripashankar Singh, and another by
Mr.Nirupam.
The Kamat-Singh duo is
whats recognised as Maratha lobby.
Since Mr.Nirupam is from
Bihar, sources said, Mr. Kamat
doesnt want a Bihari lobby to
dictate rules in the party.

DEVESH K. PANDEY
NEW DELHI: One of Indias biggest bank loan default cases
has taken a murky turn with
the Central Bureau of Investigation claiming that several vital documents pertaining to the case have been
stolen in a conspiracy involving some of its own
oicials.
The documents pertain to
investigations against Zoom
Developers Private Limited,
which is being probed for allegedly defrauding several
nationalised
banks
of
Rs.2,200 crore by taking out
loans on the pretext of
launching realty projects in
Europe.
Indian public sector banks
have been witnessing massive loan defaults by big corporate houses, many of
which are suspected to be
criminal conspiracies to siphon of funds and not merely business turning bad.
This was one of the biggest alleged default cases
that the CBI is investigating.
The CBI has registered a
case against its own unidentified oicials, the company
and its director Vijay
Choudhary, under various

provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention

of Corruption Act. Criminal
conspiracy, theft, criminal
breach of trust and criminal
misconduct are the substantive charges.
Oicials under scanner
The CBI has alleged that
by abusing their oicial position, some of its own oicials
helped
prime
accused
Choudhary and his company
get hold of these stolen papers that were used by the
accused for their benefits at
various places.
While the theft was detected in June 2014, the agency is yet to sum up investigations and identify all those
involved in the case.
It lists six such documents, which include the papers provided by Punjab National Bank, parts of a report
on loans sanctioned by Syndicate Bank, and a confidential report prepared by a senior CBI oicial. Copies of
another confidential letter
and the complaint lodged by
Punjab National Bank and
papers containing certain internal comments on the investigations
were
also
stolen.
ND-ND

NEWS

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

THRUST TO ACTION PLAN

High-power body to
lead Namami Gange
Special Purpose Vehicle will be on the lines of DMRC
NISTULA HEBBAR
NEW DELHI: The Central government will be setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)
for its ambitious programme
Namami Gange or Clean
Ganga initiative.
According to oicial sources in the Ministry of Water
Resources, after deliberations
with various stakeholders, it
was found that an SPV on the
lines of the Delhi Metro Rail
Corporation (DMRC) would
be best suited for the project.
A dedicated SPV with a bureaucrat of the calibre of E.
Sreedharan who headed
DMRC is the way forward.
The Chief Secretaries of all
States through which the
Ganga passes will be made
members of the board of this
SPV, as would select municipal commissioners of big cities on the Ganga route, said
a top oicial in the Ministry.
As of now, the Clean Ganga
project involves the Ministries of Water Resources, Ur-

Sewage being directly discharged into the Ganga in Patna. By

bringing on board Chief Secretaries of all States through which
the Ganga passes, the government expects better results from
the Clean Ganga initiative. FILE PHOTO: RANJEET KUMAR

ban Development, Environment and Forests, Roads and

Highways and Rural Development and Sanitation. It is
hoped that an SPV will help
coalesce all these diferent
strands into one coherent
plan, said the source.
Hydel power projects on
the river, especially in Uttarakhand, and the efect it has

on the flow of the river and

how to balance this with requirements of power in various States will also be
studied.
Datarest, a Dutch company, will be looking at issues related to distribution and flow
in the Ganga and any decision
on hydel projects will be taken after that, said the source.

U.S. national, chased by

villagers, drowns in slush
PRAKASH KAMAT
PANAJI: Caitan Vholte, a 30-year-

old American tourist, died after

he drowned in the slush in a
paddy field at Korgao, in Pernem in north coastal Goa, on
Tuesday evening. He was being
chased by a group of villagers
who thought he was a thief.
Chief Minister Laxmikant
Parsekar confirmed the shocking incident that occurred in
Mandrem, his constituency,
when Opposition leader Pratapsing Rane raised the issue in
the Assembly during zero hour
on Wednesday.
I am told he was chased by
the people as well as the police
and he died of sufocation in a

CM
YK

paddy field at Korgao, said Mr.

Parsekar. He assured the House
that he would get further details
of the case.
Police tried to help him
Deputy Superintendent of
Police Mapusa Mahesh Gaonkar, however, denied that Mr.
Vholte was chased by the police. He claimed that the police,
in fact, tried to help the American national.
According to the information
with the police, the deceased
had an argument with some Nigerians in Harmal village of
north coastal Goa. Running
away from the Nigerians, Mr.
Vholte reached Korgao village.
He was resting on a scooter

when some locals, believing

that he was trying to steal the
vehicle, ran towards him shouting. Mr. Vholte took of once
again. He jumped into a roadside paddy field and was quickly pulled down when he tried to
run in the slush.
The locals went to his rescue
and managed to pull him out.
He was rushed to a doctor, but
he died on the way.
Mr. Gaonkar said the police
too had tried to help him, but he
only ran faster when he saw
them. The police have registered a case of unnatural death
and are awaiting the arrival of
American Embassy oicials for
the post-mortem, a spokesperson of the police said.

| 13

Crackdown on poppy in Malda

SHIV SAHAY SINGH
KOLKATA: Even as political par-

ties continue to blame one

another over the violence at
Kalichak in West Bengals
Malda district, the district
administration has begun a
drive to destroy the extensive
poppy cultivation in the district.
Senior oicials of the excise department told The
Hindu on Wednesday that
poppy cultivated on nearly
500 acres had been destroyed
in Kaliachak and adjoining
areas over the past one week.
The drive started on January 5 and till today evening
(January 13), 1,500 bighas
(495 acres) of poppy cultivation has been destroyed in a
joint operation where the police, BSF and excise department are involved, the oicial said.
We have also registered
cases against the owners of
the land where it has been
cultivated. While several theories are floating about the

BJP to make violence a poll issue

VIKAS PATHAK
NEW DELHI: The Malda vio-

lence is likely to be a core

issue for the BJP in West
Bengal as it kicks of its
campaign for the Assembly
polls in the State later this
year.
In Malda, which has a
high Muslim concentration, a mob had attacked
the Kaliachak police station recently apparently
protesting an insult to the
Prophet by Hindu Mahasabhas Kamlesh Tiwari.
While many are accusing
the BJP of playing communal politics on the issue, the
party claims that the attack
January 3 violence in the Kaliachak area, it is also believed that illegal poppy cultivation could be one of the
reasons behind the incident.

on the police station was to

destroy records relating to
fake currency, etc., and
calls it a national security
concern.
The party was planning a
rally in Malda on January 18
but has had to shift the venue to Dinajpur as the State
government refused permission, sources said.
Union Minister Nitin
Gadkari is expected to address the Dinajpur rally.
Three more rallies are
tentatively slated for the
month to be addressed
by Home Minister Rajnath
Singh, HRD Minister Smriti Irani and party chief
Amit Shah.
Several police vehicles were
torched and the local police
station was attacked during
the violence.
Along with other illegal

activities like smuggling of

fake Indian currency notes
and illegal arms, poppy cultivation remains an open secret in Malda.
Thousands of acres of land
is used for the cultivation under the guise of mango orchards, with mango trees
grown just on the periphery.
Oicials said a similar drive
had been taken up a couple of
years ago. The drive that was
started on January 5 was likely to continue for a few more
weeks, they said.
Fake currency smuggling
Other than poppy cultivation, smuggling of fake currency is also a major concern
for law enforcement authorities in the district which
shares a border with Bangladesh. Fake currency notes
amounting to Rs.3.08 crore
were seized in the district in
2015 and 105 cases were registered. Also, 187 cases of possessing illegal arms were registered in the district in the
same year.

Bengal no stranger to communal violence

EPFO may pay

8.9% interest
SOMESH JHA
NEW DELHI: Nearly 8.7 crore
employees are in for some
good news with the government likely to declare an 8.9
per cent returns on their
provident fund savings for
2015-16, the highest rate in
five years.
The Employees Provident
Fund Organisation (EPFO)
board is expected to meet in
early February to recommend an 8.9 per cent returns
on employees provident
fund savings.
If approved, the EPF
would deliver better returns
than most saving alternatives, including small savings schemes and commercial bank deposits.
The Finance, Investment
and Audit Committee of the
EPFO will meet next Monday to consider the 8.9 per
cent annual dividend proposed on PF savings.

SC orders fresh
test on Maggi
LEGAL CORRESPONDENT

SHIV SAHAY SINGH

KOLKATA: Even as West Bengal

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continues to claim

that no incidents of communal violence take place in the
State, data presented by the
Home Ministry in Parliament
prove otherwise.
In response to questions
asked by two MPs, Minister
of State, Ministry of Home
Afairs, Kiren Rijiju, placed
on record the number of
communal incidents in 2014
and between January and October 2015. In fact, in West
Bengal the number of communal incidents increased
from 16 in 2014 to 24 during
January-October 2015, the reply submitted in the Lok Sabha, read.
Peaceful State: CM
However, on January 8, Ms.
Banerjee said: Bengal is a
peaceful State. There is no
communal tension or incident. We do not allow it.
The Ministers reply shows
that in 2014, 644 communal

incidents were recorded in

the country. This increased
to 650 between January and
October 2015.
An analysis of data provided by the Home Ministry
shows that the number of
communal incidents in West
Bengal has remained more
or less the same over the past
few years. While in 2012, 23
communal incidents occurred in West Bengal where
nine persons lost their lives

and 66 were injured, in 2013,

24 communal incidents were
reported in which one person died and 80 were
injured.
In fact, during the previous Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front
government, whose leadership claims that the situation
was better than now, the
number of communal incidents remained nearly the
same.

During the regime of the

United Progressive Alliance
government, Union Minister
of State, Ministry of Home
Afairs, R.P.N. Singh, had put
on record details on communal incidents in the country
from 2010. He pointed out
that in 2010 (when the Left
Front was in power in West
Bengal) 21 communal incidents occurred in which six
persons lost their lives and
82 were injured.

NEW DELHI: Even as Nestle

claimed that tests showed
Maggi noodles to be safe, the
Supreme Court on Wednesday remained cautious and
asked a government laboratory at Mysore to further
clarify that the lead and glutamic acid content in the
popular noodles is within
permissible parameters.
The Bench led by Justice
Dipak Misra said its caution
stems from the concern that
the noodles brand is the favourite food of the young
generation.
We would like the Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, to
apprise this court on two aspects: whether the test report relating to lead and glutamic acid are within the
permissible parameters and
if these are within the parameters prescribed under
the Food Safety Act, Justice
Misra observed.
The Bench refused to pass
any interim order. It posted
the hearing for April 15.

ND-ND

WORLD

14 |

7 killed in IS attack on Pak. consulate

A suicide bomber detonated explosives outside the Jalalabad mission; it was followed by a gun battle

he Islamic State group

claimed responsibility for
an attack on a Pakistani
consulate in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday,
which Afghan oicials said
left at least seven members
of the security forces dead.
In a statement translated
by the SITE Intelligence
Group, U.S. monitors of
militant groups, the Khorasan Province of the Islamic State said three of its
soldiers attacked the consulate in Jalalabad, capital
of the volatile province of
Nangarhar, which borders
Pakistan. It claimed to have
killed dozens of consulate staf.
Afghan oicials said seven members of the security
forces
were
killed in the attack.
Attaullah
GROWING
Khyogani,
THREAT spokesman for
Governor
Afghanistan the
of Nangarhar
province, said
another seven
people were
injured during the attack,
which began when a suicide bomber detonated explosives outside the consulate and ended with a gun
battle between Afghan security forces and militants.
The siege ended when
the two gunmen, who had
taken position in a guesthouse close to the consulate, were killed at around
12.30 p.m. local time, Mr.
Khyogani said.
It was the first insurgentstyle attack on a Pakistan
embassy or consulate in Afghanistan, an oicial at the
Pakistani embassy said,
speaking on condition of
anonymity.
Pakistani
government
properties have come under attack in the past during protests by Afghans angry
at
Islamabads

A school girl falls as she and others run for cover after a blast near the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on
Wednesday. A local affiliate of the the Islamic State said three of its soldiers carried out the attack. It is the first
insurgent-style attack on a Pakistan embassy or consulate in Afghanistan. PHOTO: REUTERS

perceived support for the

Taliban, who have waged
war on the Kabul administration for more than 14
years. The scene of the attack is close to a hospital
and schools as well as the
Indian consulate. The
schools were evacuated, officials said.
The Pakistani consulate
is usually busy during
morning rush hour as people queue for visas. The suicide bomber joined the visa
queue before blowing himself up, oicials said. The
embassy oicial said all
consular staf were evacuated. AP

to a broken navigation
system.
Confirming the sailors
safe release, the Pentagon
said there were no indications they were harmed
while in Iranian custody.
A carefully worded statement did not explain how the
sailors and their two command boats ended up being
detained by Iran, saying only
that the Navy will investigate the circumstances that
led to the sailors presence in
Iran. The sailors were later
taken ashore by U.S. Navy
aircraft, while other sailors
took charge of the boats and
headed towards Bahrain,
their original destination.
U.S. Defense Secretary
Ash Carter said he was
pleased the sailors had been
freed and appreciated the
timely way in which this situation was resolved.
He added: I want to personally thank Secretary of
State John Kerry for his diplomatic engagement with
Iran to secure our sailors
swift return. Reuters

Turkey detains suspect over blast

Wednesday.
More than a dozen other
suspected IS militants were
detained in other parts of the
country, but they dont
appear to be tied to Tuesdays
attack just steps from the
Blue Mosque in the historic
Sultanahmet district. The
suspect with a link to the
attack was detained in
Istanbul late Tuesday, Interior
Minister Efkan Ala said. AP

15 killed outside polio centre in Quetta

KARACHI: At least 15 people,

mostly security officials, were

killed and over 20 others
injured today when a Taliban
suicide bomber blew himself
up outside a polio vaccination
centre in restive Balochistans
capital Quetta, the worst
attack on the anti-polio
campaign in the country.
The blast ripped through a
police van outside the
vaccination centre as security
officials gathered there to
escort polio workers for the
third day of a vaccination

campaign in Balochistan.
The suicide bomber
detonated his explosives
among the police officers,
said Balochistan Home
Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti.
Were in a war zone, he said.
The deceased include 12
policemen, one paramilitary
officer and two civilians, a
police official said. Over 20
others were also injured. The
bombing happened shortly
before vaccination teams
were due to be dispatched to
local neighbourhoods as part

CM
YK

Obama outlines four-point

agenda for the future

the Opposition in Parliament

R. Sampanthan, Foreign
Minister Mangala
Samaraweera, and former
President Chandrika
Bandaranaike Kumaratunga,
was here on a two-day visit
as part of the preparations for
next months meeting of the
Joint Commission.
In Jaffna, M.K.
Shivajilingam, Northern
Provincial Councillor,
organised a protest to
demand justice for
genocide and alleged war
crimes. T. Ramakrishnan

of the immunisation
campaign, said Deputy
Inspector General (DIG) Police
Quetta Syed Imtiaz Shah.
Shah said about eight
kilogramme of explosives
were used in the blast.
Hours after the blast,
Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan
spokesman Muhammad
Khurasani claimed the
responsibility for the attack.
Later, another militant group,
Jundullah, also claimed the
responsibility for the blast.
PTI

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Barack Obama has outlined a

four-point agenda that he
said was about focusing on
the future beyond the next
year making the economy
work for everyone, making
technology work for everyone, retaining American
leadership in the world
without becoming its policeman, and overcoming
the current hostility in U.S.
domestic politics.
In his last State of the
Union address, Mr. Obama
said despite the growth in
manufacturing and employment, the nature of the global
economy allowed workers
less leverage for a raise and
encouraged companies to
put quarterly earnings over
long-term returns.
Outlining his idea of Americas global leadership in the
coming decades, which he
said would be of instability in
West Asia, in Afghanistan
and Pakistan, in parts of Central America, Africa and Asia,
Mr. Obama said: We cant try
to take over and rebuild every
country that falls into crisis.
He said threats came not
from evil states, but from failing states. Leadership means
a wise application of military
power, and rallying the world
behind causes that are right,
Mr. Obama said, listing the
new opening with Cuba, the
nuclear deal with Iran, the
Trans Pacific Partnership
that would limit China and
establish U.S. leadership in
Asia as examples of his
internationalism.
Repudiating the anti-immigration, anti-trade and anti-Muslim rhetoric of the Republican
candidates
campaign, Mr. Obama wondered: Will we respond to
the changes of our time with
fear, turning inward as a na-

First lady Michelle Obama at her husbands last State of the

Union address, in the U.S. Congress in Washington on Tuesday.
PHOTO: THE NEW YORK TIMES

Trump supporter calls for

Nikki Haleys deportation
WASHINGTON: The IndianAmerican Republican
Governor of South
Carolina, Nikki Haley, on
Wednesday faced flak
from supporters of her
partys presidential
candidate Donald Trump
for citing her familys
immigrant experience to
warn against rhetoric that
could make hardworking
people feel unwelcome in
the U.S.
During her response to
President Barack
Obamas last State of the
Union address, Ms. Haley
recounted her own
Indian-American heritage

tion, and turning against each

other as a people?
When politicians insult
Muslims, he added, that
doesnt make us safer. Immigrants arent the reason wages havent gone up enough
Speaking for the Republican Party, South Carolina

to call for fixing the

countrys broken
immigration system.
During anxious times, it
can be tempting to follow
the siren call of the
angriest voices. We must
resist that temptation,
the South Carolina
Governor said.
Ms. Haleys remarks
made Mr. Trumps
supporters upset, which
was best reflected in the
series of tweets made by
columnist Ann Coulter, a
big Trump supporter.
Trump should deport
Nikki Haley, she
tweeted. PTI
Governor Nikki Haley agreed
with Mr. Obama that there
were lots of irresponsible
talk, but blamed him for that.
He is divisive.
Mr. Obama said for the
American leadership to sustain, the country had to fix its
internal politics.

S. Korea fires warning shots

Defence Ministry says suspected North Korean drone crossed the border
SEOUL: South Korean soldiers
fired warning shots at a suspected North Korean drone
on Wednesday that crossed
the tense border, the defence
ministry said.
The unidentified aerial vehicle flew across the border
and encroached into South
Korean territory by some
tens of metres [yards], the
Defence Ministry said.
The incursion occurred
near South Koreas Mount
Dora Observation Post, some
47 km north of Seoul, at 2:10
p.m.
South Korean soldiers responded by sounding broadcasts and firing warning shots
before the vehicle immediately returned to the north,
the Ministry said.
Yonhap news agency said
about 20 rounds had been
fired as warning shots from a
machine gun.
Meanwhile, South Koreas
President Park Geun-hye on

South Korean President Park Geun-hye at a press conference in

Seoul on Wednesday. PHOTO: AP

Wednesday urged North Koreas only major ally, China, to

help punish Pyongyangs recent nuclear test with the
strongest possible international sanctions.
Her comments came as Seoul said North Korea had
flown leaflets across the border describing her and her
government as mad dogs as

Cold War-style propaganda

warfare continued between
the rivals.
South Korea, the U.S. and
others are pushing hard to impose fresh sanctions and other punitive measures on the
North for what Pyongyang
said was a hydrogen bomb
test one week ago.
AP & AFP

China charges two more rights lawyers

BEIJING: China has formally arrested on subversion charges two more human rights
lawyers held in secret for six
months, a lawyer said on
Wednesday, bringing the total
accused to nine as a sweeping
crackdown intensifies.
More than 130 attorneys
and legal staf were summoned in July for questioning
in what campaigners call the
fiercest attempt yet to silence

activists attempting to redress

injustices in China's tightly
controlled courts.
Wang Yu, of Beijing's Fengrui law firm which is at the
centre of the crackdown, has
been formally arrested on suspicion of state subversion,
which carries a maximum
sentence of life in jail, her lawyer Li Yuhan told AFP.
Ms. Wangs husband Bao
Longjun is accused of incite-

ment to state subversion,

which carries a maximum
sentence of 15 years imprisonment.
It is the first time the couples family have been notified
of their whereabouts. Their
son, Bao Zhuoxuan, 16, is also
being held under a form of
house arrest, friends say. He
was nabbed in October after
crossing overland to neighbouring Myanmar. AFP

Smaller U.S. atom bombs are adding fuel to nuclear fears

WILLIAM J. BROAD &
DAVID E. SANGER

India hails Sirisenas address

COLOMBO: India has
commended Sri Lankan
President Maithripala Sirisena
for his address to Parliament
last week on the significance
of the Constitution-making
process and the history of the
ethnic problem.
This was conveyed by
Foreign Secretary S.
Jaishankar to Mr. Sirisena
during his meeting at the
Presidential Secretariat on
Wednesday.
Mr. Jaishankar, who met
Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe, Leader of

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

VARGHESE K. GEORGE

Claims two Navy boats entered its waters

ISTANBUL: Turkish police have

arrested one person
suspected of having a direct
link to the deadly suicide
bombing that killed 10
Germans in Istanbul's main
tourist area, officials said

THE HINDU

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley labels U.S. President divisive

Iran releases U.S. sailors

after brief detention
DUBAI: Iran released 10 U.S.
sailors on Wednesday after
holding them overnight,
bringing a swift end to an incident that had rattled nerves
days ahead of the expected
implementation of a landmark nuclear accord between Tehran and world
powers.
Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said
it had freed the sailors after
determining they had entered Iranian territorial waters by mistake. The sailors
had been detained aboard
two U.S. Navy patrol boats in
the Gulf on Tuesday.
Our technical investigations showed the two U.S.
Navy boats entered Iranian
territorial waters inadvertently, the IRGC said in a
statement carried by state
television. They were released in international waters after they apologised, it
added.
IRGC Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi had earlier said that the
two U.S. Navy boats entered
Iranian territorial waters due

NOIDA/DELHI

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the Hradcany Square in

Prague, where, in a landmark speech on April 5, 2009, he
pledged to take steps toward a nuclear-free world. But he may
well leave office having overseen the start of an upgrade in
Americas nuclear arsenal. PHOTO: THE NEW YORK TIMES

s North Korea dug tunnels at its nuclear test site

last fall, watched by U.S. spy
satellites, the Obama administration was preparing a test
of its own in the Nevada
desert.
A fighter jet took of with a
mock version of the nations
first precision-guided atom
bomb. Adapted from an older
weapon, it was designed with
problems like North Korea in
mind: Its computer brain and
four manoeuvrable fins let it
zero in on deeply buried targets like testing tunnels and
weapon sites. And its yield,
the bombs explosive force,
can be dialled up or down de-

pending on the target, to minimise collateral damage.

The build-it-smaller approach has set of a philosophical clash among those in
Washington who think about
the unthinkable.
President Barack Obama
has long advocated a nuclear-free world. His lieutenants argue that modernising
existing weapons can produce a smaller and more reliable arsenal while making
their use less likely because of
the threat they can pose. The
changes, they say, are improvements rather than
wholesale redesigns, fulfilling the Presidents pledge to
make no new nuclear arms.
But critics, including a
number of former Obama ad-

ministration oicials, look at

the same set of facts and see a
very diferent future. The explosive innards of the revitalised weapons may not be entirely new, they argue, but the
smaller yields and better targeting can make the arms
more tempting to use even
to use first, rather than in retaliation. As Mr. Obama enters his final year in oice, the
debate has deep implications
for military strategy, federal
spending and his legacy.
The B61 Model 12, the
bomb flight-tested last year in
Nevada, is the first of five new
warhead types planned as
part of an atomic revitalisation estimated to cost up to $1
trillion over three decades. As
a family, the weapons and

their delivery systems move

toward the small, the stealthy
and the precise.
Already there are hints of a
new arms race. Russia called
the B61 tests irresponsible
and openly provocative. China is said to be especially worried about plans for a nucleartipped cruise missile.
Last week, Brian P. McKeon,
the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy,
argued that anyone who looks
impartially at Obamas nuclear
initiatives in total sees major
progress toward the goals of a
smaller force and a safer
world. Weve cleaned up
loose nuclear material around
the globe, and gotten the Iran
deal. The New York
Times News Service
ND-ND

| 15

BUSINESS

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

While the stock of non-performing loans may

continue to rise, the pace of new impaired loan
formation in 2015-16 will be lower
SRIKANTH VADLAMANI, Vice-President, Moodys

SENSEX
13-01-16 24,854
12-01-16 24,682

GOLD
13-01-16
12-01-16

172
POINTS

26,060
26,250

190
/10gm

RUPEE
13-01-16 66.85
12-01-16 66.86

0.01
/$

BRENT OIL
13-01-16 30.46
12-01-16 31.00

0.54
$/bbl

Digital dividends not spreading

rapidly, says World Bank

Economists urge FM to stick

to fiscal target medium term

Automation of jobs is in some cases leading to inequalities in the labour market

the government to stick to its

fiscal consolidation targets in
the medium term while supporting the idea of providing
some budgetary leeway in the
short term to help pump
prime the economy as private
investments remain elusive in
the face of tepid demand.
The general view among
economists was that the contraction in domestic demand
coupled with accelerating inflation posed a dilemma for
the government.
Inflation, which is slowly
gathering pace, will make it
diicult for the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) to cut rates and
spur demand through monetary actions. The other option
of giving a fiscal push through
public spending is also tricky
if the fiscal deficit target has
to be met.
The government continues to adhere to the path of
fiscal consolidation, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley said in
his opening remarks at a preBudget consultation with
economists. The Budget
2015-16 targeted a fiscal deficit of 3.9 per cent of GDP compared to four per cent in 201415 in spite of the pressing need
for enhanced public investment to boost economic
growth. The achievement
was all the more significant
after devolution of 42 per cent
of taxes to states as recom-

NARAYAN LAKSHMAN

ith 60 per cent of the worlds population still oline, institutional

and regulatory barriers to eiciency are exacerbating the problem of
low and unevenly distributed digital dividends from growing Internet penetration across countries, a new World Bank study has
found.
In its annual World Development Report (WDR)
the Bank appeared to
strike a balance between outlining the
DIGITAL
positive
outcomes
DIVIDE
from a deepening digital economy in counWDR
tries such as India,
and the fact that automation of jobs was in With the advent of big data, secret snooping by governments can be for
some cases leading to legitimate law enforcement reasons, says World Bank.
inequalities in the labour market
between high-skill and low-skill Bank, said, While these achieve- reasons, but sometimes violates
ments are to be celebrated, this is laws and rights, as the Edward
workers.
The 2016 WDR issue titled Dig- also occasion to be mindful that Snowden revelations about spying
ital Dividends, noted that almost we do not create a new underclass. by the security agencies of the
1.063 billion Indians were oline With nearly 20 percent of the United States, the United Kingeven though India ranked among worlds population unable to read dom, and others have shown.
In fact, the Bank found that a
the top five nations in terms of the and write, the spread of digital
total number of Internet users, technologies alone is unlikely to large proportion of Indians bealong with China, the U.S., Japan spell the end of the global knowl- lieved that their online information was entirely private. The
edge divide.
and Brazil.
The report also cautioned that WDR noted, 57 percent of Indians
Commenting on the reports
findings that 40 per cent of the with the advent of big data, which believe private information on the
worlds population is connected includes the likes of Indias Aad- Internet is very secure, but only 18
by the Internet, Kaushik Basu, haar unique identity project, se- percent of French and 16 per cent
Chief Economist for the World cret snooping by governments can of German respondents do.
be for legitimate law enforcement
Yet, there were numerous exam-

BRIEFLY
SEZ DEVELOPERS
Govt gives more time
to complete projects
NEW DELHI: The Centre has granted

more time to developers of 13

special economic zones (SEZ),
including Navi Mumbai SEZ, to
implement their projects. An
inter-ministerial board of approval
for SEZs had taken this decision on
December 30. The validity period
of the formal approval given to
Navi Mumbai SEZ Pvt Ltd has been
extended by a year from October
24, 2015 to complete IT/ITeS SEZs
at Ulwe, Navi Mumbai,
Maharashtra. The board also
approved two proposals from
ValueLabs Infra LLP and GAR
Corporation for establishing
IT/ITeS SEZs in Telangana.
National Bureau

MOBILE BASE
Chinese mobile cos may
set up plants in India
NEW DELHI: Chinese mobile phone

makers have started looking at

India to set up base and may line
up investments worth $2 to $3
billion in the next two years. The
investments could help generate
jobs for about 1 to 2 lakh people,
said the Indian Cellular Association
(ICA). They (the Chinese
companies) are still seeing India as
the hottest next destination, ICA
National President Pankaj
Mohindroo said during a ChinaIndia Mobile Phone and Component
Manufacturing Summit. This is a
huge endorsement of PM Modis
Make in India vision, said Mr.
Mohindroo. Special
Correspondent

Exchange Rates
Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit
except yen at 4 p.m on January 13

Currencies
U.S. Dollar
Euro
Pound Sterling
Jap Yen (100 Units)
Chinese Yuan
Swiss Franc
Singapore Dollar
Australian Dollar
Canadian Dollar
Swedish Kroner
Danish Kroner
New Zealand Dollar
Hongkong Dollar
Malaysian Ringitt
Kuwaiti Dinar
UAE Dirham
Bahraini Dinar
Qatari Riyal
Saudi Riyal
Omani Riyal

TT
TT
Buying Selling
66.65 66.97
72.12 72.49
96.00 96.48
56.37 56.65
10.12 10.20
66.10 66.43
46.47 46.70
46.78 47.04
46.84 47.08
7.79
7.83
9.66
9.71
43.69 43.92
8.59
8.63
15.18
15.28
218.82 220.59
18.14
18.24
175.46 178.91
18.34 18.38
17.82
17.83
172.65 174.38

Source: Indian Bank

Bullion Rates
January 13 rates in rupees with
previous rates in brackets

Chennai
Bar Silver (1 kg)
Retail (1 g)
24 ct gold (10 g)
22 ct gold (1 g)
Delhi
Silver
Standard gold
Sovereign

33,360 (33,535)
35.70
(35.90)
25,930 (26,300)
2,424
(2,459)
33,400 (33,500)
26,060 (26,250)
22,300 (22,300)

CM
YK

ples worldwide of success stories

where the power of the Internet
had been leveraged to improve, for
example, the delivery of public
services.
Among them, the Banks report
outlined several cases of NGOs
partnering with the Indian government and such digital citizen
engagement led to success with
projects such as I Change My
City, I Paid A Bribe, and the
Karnataka BVS.
These cases notwithstanding,
the delivery of services through
the Internet ultimately depends
on the regulation of the service
sector itself, the Bank argued, and
India, along with Ethiopia and
Zimbabwe, has the greatest restrictions on service trade.
Overall, it was possible for digital technologies to be transformational, but for that to happen the
analogue complements are necessary, the reports authors said.
Among the conditions that may
apply to the Indian case is the need
to have an appropriate business
environment, which shapes how
firms adopt and use technology.
In this context, the World Bank
said, A poor business climate and
vested interests often hold back
digital adoption. Among online
firms, the economics of the Internet may enable natural monopolies to exploit their dominant position, hurting consumers and
suppliers.

Rise in NPAs at banks to

moderate, says Moodys

Orange to buy
two Bharti units
in Africa
YUTHIKA BHARGAVA

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
MUMBAI: The Indian banking
sector could expect some respite from bad loans that have
increased sharply over the
last three years with ratings
agency Moodys Investors
Service, and its unit ICRA,
stating that the pace of growth
in non-performing assets will
moderate over the next 12-18
months.
While the stock of nonperforming loans may continue to rise, the pace of new impaired loan formation in the
current financial year ending
March 31, 2016, will be lower
than the levels seen in the past
four years, said Srikanth Vadlamani, a Moodys Vice President and Senior Credit Oicer. This will result in the
banks credit matrix stabilising, according to the ratings
agency.
The ratings agencies noted
fresh NPA generation had
moderated during the first
half of the current financial
year despite withdrawal of
regulatory
forbearance.

Public sector banks need to

raise Rs.3.3 lakh crore of
Tier-I capital between FY 16
and FY 19, says Moody's

Banks are now mandated to

make standard restructured
asset provisioning on par
with NPA provisioning from
April 1, 2015.
According to RBI data,
gross bad loans in the banking
system increased to 5.1 per
cent of gross advances as of
September 2015, from 3.4 per
cent in March 2013. During
the same period, stressed assets, which are defined as
gross NPA plus standard restructured
advances,
increased to 11.3 per cent from
9.2 per cent.
The ratings agency noted

that while public sector banks

reported some moderation in
their bad-loan ratios during
the first six months of the financial year ended March,31,
2015, their holdings of weak
standard assets represented
2-2.5 times their total gross
non-performing assets.
Nevertheless, of these
weak assets, only 25-30 per
cent were classified as
stressed, Moodys said.
ICRA said that while credit
growth for the public-sector
banks may remain low until at
least end-FY17, such growth is
still likely to outpace internal
generation, thereby adversely
afecting capital adequacy.
The ratings agency estimate public sector banks
need to raise Rs.3.3 lakh crore
of tier-I capital between FY16
and FY19. The government
has said that it will infuse
Rs.70,000 crore in the public
sector banks in four years,
starting from this financial
year. With current plan to infuse Rs.70,000 crore, credit
growth will have to drop to 810 per cent, ICRA said.

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel on

Wednesday said it had signed

an agreement to sell its operations in the two African
countries of Burkina Faso and
Sierra Leone to French telecom giant Orange.
Orange will acquire 100
per cent of the two companies share capital. The consolidated revenue of the two
companies is around 275 million euros, the company said
in a statement. In July, last
year, Bharti had announced
entering into an agreement
with Orange to explore the
possible acquisition of its four
subsidiaries in Africa in Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville and Sierra Leone by
the French firm. The agreements regarding potential
transactions in the remaining
two countries have lapsed.
These acquisitions will be
implemented in partnership
with Oranges subsidiaries in
the Cte dIvoire and Senegal.
The outlay for Orange for
these transactions will be
based on the financials.

TCA SHARAD RAGHAVAN

NEW DELHI: Economists urged

NEW DELHI: The negotiations on

the Canada-India free trade
agreement (FTA), which began in in November 2010, have
been put on the back burner
due to several sticking points,
oicial sources privy to the
development told The Hindu.
Canada, the sources said,
had pulled back its team that
was negotiating India on the
FTA oicially called the
Comprehensive Economic
Partnership Agreement
and asked them instead to focus on completing the ratification process of the TransPacific Partnership (the U.S.led mega regional FTA between 12 Pacific rim nations,
including Canada). India is
not a part of the TPP.

Canada asks officials to focus on Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) ratification instead;

wants India to first ink bilateral investment pact

there are major diferences

between both the sides regarding the FTA though nine
rounds of negotiations have
been held including the last
one in March 2015. The FTA is
meant to help Canadian companies get greater access to
EXCLUSIVE
Indias huge market comprisSimultaneously, Canada ing over 1.25 billion people
citing demands from inves- and Indian firms obtain more
tors, especially from the fi- access to the lucrative North
nancial services sector, for American market by using
protection of their rights Canada as a hub.
The High Commission of
wanted India to first ensure
that the bilateral Foreign In- Canada did not respond to
vestment Promotion and Pro- specific questions from The
tection Agreement (FIPA) is Hindu on the reasons for the
signed and brought into force, delay in signing the FIPA and
before proceeding with the in concluding the FTA talks
FTA talks. The FTA includes but only said: Canadas new
chapters on opening up mer- government is focusing on exchandise goods and services panding trade with large fasttrade between both the coun- growing markets, including
tries. The investment aspects India Canadas new governare covered separately by the ment looks forward to engagFIPA. The sources also said ing India on key economic

and other issues that will enhance our mutual prosperity.

Diferences on FIPA
In June 2007, India and Canada had said they concluded
the FIPA talks. However, the
FIPA is yet to be ratified and
made operational, the sources
said. Later, India had decided
against signing new Bilateral
Investment Treaties (BIT) till
a model BIT text was in place.
Though India had recently
brought out a model BIT text,
the matter is yet to be taken
forward with Canada. However, the sources said since the
Indian government had decided to accord sanctity to all
the BIT negotiations that
went on till the freeze on signing new BITs, such a window
could help in expediting the
signing of the Canada-India
FIPA.
It is learnt that Canada has

diferences with India regarding clauses in the proposed

FIPA including on the Investor-State Dispute Settlement
(ISDS) mechanism.
In case of any dispute, India
wants investors to exhaust the
domestic remedies before approaching international tribunals. But Canada is worried
about judicial delays in India
and wants flexibility to help
investors approach international tribunals at the earliest.
Also, Canada wants India to
ensure protection of investment commitments made
based on existing policies in
case any roll-back / changes
in those policies later hurt
those investment plans.
India has not agreed to
Canadas demands on these
issues fearing that they will
lead to the government losing
policy space.
The unresolved issues in

mended by the 14th Finance

Commission, Mr. Jaitley said.
While there were some
people at the meeting asking
for fiscal deficit target to be
pushed, others were asking
for the government to stick to
it, said S. Mahendra Dev, Director of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research. We have said that
there can be some small deviation but the government
must adhere to its medium
term targets. Oicial data released on Tuesday showed
that industrial output in the
country shrank by a sharp 3.2
per cent, the worst contraction recorded since October
2011. At the same time, retail
inflation accelerated to 5.6 per
cent in December 2015 from
5.4 per cent in November 2015.
The decline was expected
because the base efect was
not favourable and the core
sector data also suggested
poor demand, D. K. Joshi,

Economy on track,
growth to pick up in
coming quarters: FM
NATIONAL BUREAU
NEW DELHI: Finance Minister

Arun Jaitley on Wednesday

said India still had a promising economic outlook and
that growth was expected to
pick up further in the coming
quarters.
His comments come a day
after the factory output data
for November showed a
sharp contraction.
India has emerged among
the few large economies in
the world with a promising
economic outlook. Economic
growth is moving in the right
direction and its pace is expected to gather momentum
in the coming quarters once
the impact of the on-going economic and structural reforms takes firm root, Mr.
Jaitley said during a pre-Budget consultation meeting with
the Financial Stability and Development Council.
While India has achieved
macro stability to a large extent, the ongoing moderation
in global growth and policy

Canada-India free trade agreement talks delayed

ARUN S

The government continues

to adhere to the path of
fiscal consolidation,
says Arun Jaitley

the FTA include clauses proposed by Canada namely

MFN-forward and ratchet. MFN-forward is to ensure that future concessions
accorded by India to any
other trading partner country
under a bilateral pact are
extended automatically to
Canada as well and vice-versa. India has opposed MFNforward saying each FTA is
inked on the basis of a unique
relationship with the partner
country and automatically extending all such benefits to
Canada will lead to imbalances and conflicts.
Ratchet is to make sure
that the benefits arising from
future liberalisation of Indias
domestic policies are automatically extended to Canada, and vice-versa. India is
against ratchet as it will result in a loss of policy space
for the government. India
has also opposed Canadas attempts to include labour and
environment standards as
well as competition and government procurement in the
FTA.
India-Canada trade in 201415 was just $6 billion (with Indias exports at $2.2 billion
and imports from Canada
worth $3.8 billion), much below potential.
FDI inflows from Canada to
India during April 2000-September 2015 were only $586
million (or 0.22 per cent of the
$265 billion in total FDI India
received in those 15 years).

India has emerged

among the few
large economies
with a promising
economic outlook
uncertainties among advanced economies posed a
risk to this outlook.
The Council recommended
that the government continue
on its path of fiscal consolidation along with some public
investment to achieve higher
growth.
Another important suggestion was for the upcoming
Budget to provide suicient
funds for the recapitalisation
of the banks so as to clean up
their balance sheets.
Another suggestion included the continuation of the
governments contribution
towards the premium for the
Atal Pension Yojana (APY)
for another year and an exemption from tax for the final
withdrawal under New Pension Scheme (NPS).

Chief Economist at Crisil,

told The Hindu. But nobody
expected such a sharp decline. One of the reasons for
that could be the Chennai
floods because it is a big industrial area, he said. The fiscal deficit in April-November
2015-16 stood at 87 per cent of
the Budget Estimates compared to 98.9 per cent in the
corresponding period of the
previous financial year, Mr.
Jaitley said.
Interestingly, while the
economists called for a conservative approach to the fiscal deficit target, they also
recommended that the government increase its expenditure, especially to increase
agricultural productivity and
enhance support to the social
sector.
Increased government expenditure is needed, and as
long as capital formation is
taking place, that is good, Mr.
Dev said. The government
can also reduce its subsidies,
he added.
The Indian economy is on
a path of recovery despite uncertainty and volatility in the
global economic situation. India recorded a higher growth
of 7.3 per cent in 2014-15 as
compared to 6.9 per cent
growth achieved in 2013-14
and 5.1 per cent in 2012-13, despite the slowdown witnessed in the world economy,
pointing towards resilience of
the
Indian
economy,
Mr. Jaitley said.

Satellite technology
to help NHAI monitor
highway projects
NATIONAL BUREAU
NEW DELHI: Indian Space Re-

search Organisation (ISRO)

and North East Centre for
Technology Application and
Research (NECTAR) will
provide help in monitoring
and managing the National
Highways.
The Union Road Transport
and Highways Ministry on
Wednesday announced a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the
National Highways Authority
of India (NHAI) with the National Remote Sensing Centre
(NRSC) under ISRO and
NECTAR for use of spatial
technology for monitoring
and
managing
National
Highways.
Use of UAVs
The NRSC distributes remote sensing satellite data
products in India and NECTAR of Department of Science and Technology uses unmanned
aerial
vehicles
(UAV) technology for acquiring aerial images for infrastructure planning.

Suzlon makes solar foray

with Telangana order
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
MUMBAI: Wind turbine maker

Suzlon announced its foray

into solar sector, with projects worth 210 MW in southern State of Telangana.
Suzlon joins a list of other
wind companies which have
enter into the solar sector,
buoyed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis target
to have 100 gigawatts of solar
power by 2022 and the development comes at a time when
solar prices are falling.
The company, in which billionaire Dilip Shanghvi owns
a significant stake, won the
projects from the State utility
Southern Power Distribution
Company of Telangana Ltd.
(TSSPDCL) through a competitive bidding process. The
210 MW of projects consist of
six diferent capacity projects
across the State and will be
commissioned in FY 2017, it
said in an announcement to
the stock exchanges.
Suzlon will sign six power
purchase agreements (PPAs)
this month with the State utilities for a 25 year period.
The company said that the
210 MW of projects includes
one project of 100 MW, one of
50 MW and four projects of 15
MW each. It will form six special purpose vehicle for executing the projects.
Solar and wind are complementary, hence we will

leverage our project execution capabilities and end-toend solutions to deliver solar
projects. With a strong backing of skilled workforce, excellent operations and maintenance service network,
current infrastructure and 20
years of experience in building the wind business, I am
confident that our maiden solar journey would be a success. It has further boosted
Suzlon's strong presence in
renewable energy sector,
Tulsi Tanti, Chairman, Suzlon
Group said in a statement.
The firm said out the six
special purpose vehicles to be
formed, one it is own subsidiary, while the other five are
acquired. The five firms have
been acquired at face value
and do not have any operations or assets currently, it
added.
Mr. Tanti also said that the
company was also working on
integrated renewable solutions by combining wind and
solar projects at a single
location.
ND-ND

16 |

BUSINESS

Premium hatchbacks, compact

UVs to drive in fast lane
The sub-4 metre models will remain flavour of the season due to duty benefits
G. BALACHANDAR
CHENNAI: The Indian passenger
vehicle market is likely to see
more action in the premium
hatchback and compact UV
(utility vehicle) categories
over the next couple of years
with pricing emerging as a
key factor in the choice of vehicles, according to industry
analysts.
Pricing has emerged as the
key diferentiator among the
passenger vehicle segments
rather than old school definition of segmental classification based on length, according to Subrata Ray, Group
Vice President Corporate
Ratings, ICRA Ltd.
The sub-4 metre premium
hatchbacks and compact
SUVs have emerged as the
fastest growing segments and
they will remain flavour of the
season as carmakers have the
advantage of pricing such
models competitively due to
lower excise duty benefits.
Post introduction of Hyundai Elite i20, the premium
hatchback
segment
has
gained stronger momentum.
This was further supported

Premium hatchbacks are priced at par or sometimes higher

than their compact sedan siblings owing to superior features
and comfort.

by roll out of Honda Jazz and

Maruti Baleno. These cars are
similar in length to their siblings (compact sedans), but
ofer more comfort and legroom.
Premium hatchbacks are
priced at par or sometimes
higher than their compact sedan siblings owing to superior features and comfort.
Among the premium hatchbacks, i20 as well as Jazz are
priced at premium as compared to compact sedans (ie,
Xcent and Amaze respective-

ly despite lower boot space).

However, Baleno is an exception. It is positioned as a premium product with ABS (anti-braking systems), airbags
as standard oferings and has
more boot space but priced
lower than Dzire.
The major growth drivers
of premium hatchbacks are
rising disposable incomes
and increasing customer
awareness on comfort and
safety, among others.
Similarly, compact UVs
have been seeing better

growth than bigger UVs due

to shift in customer preferences. During 2015, UV segment reported total sales exceeding five lakh units of
which compact UVs accounted for almost half.
Given the tax advantages
and growing preference
among the buyers, this segment is expected to witness
more introductions in the
coming weeks as companies
such as Mahindra, Honda,
Maruti, Hyundai and Tata,
among others, are lining up
their new compact UVs. Also,
there will be facelifts of existing products. In this calendar
year, Mahindra & Mahindra is
expected to be the first company to introduce a new compact UV, KUV100, which will
be unveiled shortly.
Automakers would continue to identify profitable niches and introduce exciting new
models, ofer improved customer experience and invest
in localisation, among others
to be able to quickly respond
to changes in the demand
mix, said Vinay Raghunath,
Partner - Automotive Practice, EY India.

Saint-Gobain charts Rs.1,000 cr expansion

G. BALACHANDAR
CHENNAI: Saint-Gobain, the 350year old French glass manufacturer, plans to invest about
Rs.1,000 crore over the next
two years to establish two
new units at its Sriperumbudur glass complex near Chennai.
The proposed expansion,
which will create additional
300-400 new direct jobs, has
been planned to meet the
growing demand for valueadded products in various
markets.
Under the new plan, a third
float glass production facility
(the Groups fifth unit in India) and a second magnetron

CM
YK

The company sees

growing demand
for its value-added
products in
overseas markets

ASEAN and Oceania, said B.

Santhanam, President & MD
Flat Glass (South Asia, Malaysia and Egypt), Saint-Gobain, said.
While glass capacity at the
Sriperumbudur complex will
increase to 2,500 tonnes a day
coater plant for the construc- (from 1,500 tonnes), the cation market will be set up. pacity of coater will go up to
While Indian export scena- 144 million sq. ft. (from 60
rio is challenging now, we million sq. ft. now). Total inhave had profitable exports in vestments in the complex will
2015. Despite global slow- increase to Rs.3,000 crore.
Float unit, which will make
down, there is really a happy
time for value-added prod- a wide range of complex
ucts in several markets across products that will cater to the
the globe. We see growing ap- needs of sustainable habitat
petite for our advanced prod- and afordable luxury, is exucts in regions such as Middle pected to go on stream by
East, Africa, South Asia, 2018. Coater unit, which will

manufacture high performance energy-eicient glass for

export markets, will be ready
by mid-2017. The expansion is
expected to contribute an additional 30 per cent to companys revenues, he added.
The 38 billion euro Parisheadquartered company is also using India as a hub for
R&D and innovation. It will
soon inaugurate its 7th Global
and Transversal Research and
Development Centre in
Chennai. The R & D operations, which will see investments of over Rs.250 crore,
will focus on developing solutions for hot and humid climate regions as also afordable housing segment.

KVB net rises 34%

N. ANAND
CHENNAI: Karur Vysya Bank on
Wednesday reported thirdquarter net profit jumped 34.2
per cent to Rs.152.83 crore,
from Rs.113.88 crore in the
corresponding year-earlier
period.
Net interest income increased by 14.6 per cent in the
three-month period ended
December 31 to Rs.448.20
crore, from Rs.391.07 crore,
while other income rose by
17.4 per cent to Rs.172.78 crore.
The operating profit climbed
23.9 per cent to Rs.325.57
crore from Rs.262.69 crore,
according to a company press
release. Net interest margin
improved to 3.47 per cent
from 3.08 per cent.
Managing Director and
CEO K. Venkataraman said
the increase in net profit was
due to better margins, lower
operational expenses and
provisions. Total income remained steady at Rs.1,525.14
crore against Rs.1,511.80 crore.
Gross non-performing assets remained constant at 1.91
per cent while net non-performing assets ratio increased
to 0.96 per cent from 0.73 per
cent.

Provisions
The bank had made provisions toward bad assets to the
tune Rs.92.74 crore in third
quarter against Rs.106.15
crore. The capital adequacy
ratio stood at 12.90 per cent.

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

Distribution Logistics
to invest Rs.750 crore
N. ANAND
CHENNAI: Distribution Logistics

Infrastructure (DLI) is setting

up an integrated logistics park
near Bengaluru and a free
trade warehousing zone in
Chennai at a total cost of
Rs.750 crore, a top company
oicial said.
The companys Managing
Director, K. Sathianathan,
said the move will help the
firm to strengthen its presence in the south.
DLI is setting up integrated
logistics park at Anekal near
Bengaluru at an investment of
Rs.300 crore. It is spread over
120 acre. It is expected to be
commissioned in six months
and will connect Chennai and
Kochi Ports.
It would be DLIs second facility in Bengaluru after Marigold container freight station
at Devangonthi. The logistics
park will have warehouses in
custom-bonded area and domestic area of 7,500 sq.mts
and automobile logistics park
on five acres.
It will also have liquid cargo
storage and distribution facilities. Railway sidings will get
ready by July.
Regarding the 120-acre free
trade warehousing facility at
Manali, Mr Sathianathan said
they would be investing

Rs.450 crore. It would have

warehouses in customsbonded area of 6,250 sq.mts. It
would become operational by
October.
On Monday, DLI, which already operates private container trains, signalled its entry into South by flagging of
its maiden train from Chennai
Port to Marigold Container
Freight Station at Devangonthi, Bengaluru. It would be a
bi-weekly service. During the
first trip, the train lugged 70
20-foot equivalent units
(TEU) containers.
Right now, 700 TEUs of
containers from Marigold
CFS are being moved by road.

It will go by rail, which means

that we will be taking nearly
one lakh TEUs of containers
from road and help reduce
congestion and emission at
Chennai Port, he said.
Chennai Port Deputy
Chairman, Cyril C. George,
said that they were trying to
improve rail volume share
from seven per cent to 25 per
cent by encouraging private
container trainer operators
and Concor to run additional
services.
To ease congestion, Chennai Port ofered several concessions and more would be
announced during the next
board meeting.

Infosys co-founders to promote healthcare innovations

PEERZADA ABRAR
BENGALURU: Axilor Ventures, a
business incubator run by Infosys co-founders, has partnered Narayana Health and
governments Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms
to promote innovations in
healthcare, Axilor Co-Founder D. Shibulal said.
Axilor, is creating a virtual
platform that will enable entrepreneurs and startups to
seek technical and business
advice. It will also provide access to research and clinical
resources and help entrepreneurs raise funds. Krish Gopalakrishan, a former vicechairman of Infosys, is the

other co-founder of Axilor.

There is a tremendous need
for innovation in healthcare
but it is not attracting as many
entrepreneurs as other sectors, according to Axilor.
You drive 15 miles out of
Bengaluru and it is completely a diferent scenario, you do
not have access to even basic
healthcare, said Mr. Shibulal.
He said 70 per cent Indians
live in rural areas. But about
70 per cent of Indias healthcare facilities are present in
urban areas. Even in urban areas, the poor dont have access to basic healthcare.
In its first initiative, Axilors virtual platform has introduced a nationwide inno-

prize of Rs two lakh. They will

also get free admission to accelerator programmes run by
Axilor and C-Camp.
Narayana Health and CCamp will provide the technical knowhow and access to research and clinical facilities.
vation
challenge
called Axilor said the startups are alHealiate 2016. It is focused so eligible to potential fundon finding innovative solu- ing of up to Rs.75 lakh, which
tions for diabetes. There were includes grant and seed capi66.8 million cases of diabetes tal. The winners will be anin India in 2014, according to nounced during an annual
International Diabetes Feder- conference, which would be
ation. The challenge is open held in February. There is an
to entrepreneurs, research- ecosystem being formed for
ers, medical professionals, in- innovation in the country. We
want to bring focus on healthventors and startups.
Axilor said that five win- care in a much more structurners will be eligible for a cash ed manner, said Mr. Shibulal.

Axilors platform
offers nationwide
innovation
challenge
Healiate 2016

ND-ND

SPORT

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

| 17

TV Schedule

Valcke fired

Spieth dethrones Tiger

South Africa vs England: 3rd Test, TEN Cricket & TEN HD, 2 p.m.
PBL: STAR Sports 2, 3 & HD 2 & HD 3, 7 p.m.

FIFA has fired secretary-general Jerome Valcke, who is under

investigation for misconduct, with immediate effect. The Frenchman
was suspended last September over allegations that he helped sell
2014 World Cup tickets on the black market

Reigning Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth topped

the Golf Digest 50 money list while Tiger Woods, who topped the
first 13 lists, settled for third place. Spieth, 22, made more than $53
million in combined winnings and endorsement deals.

EXTRAS
Vijender Singhs India
debut in July

Newcastle checks Manchester United

FOOTBALL / Dummetts 90th-minute goal neutralises Rooneys brace

LONDON: Indian boxer Vijender

Singh will fight his first professional

bout on Indian soil in July followed
by something huge in
September-October.
Hes making big waves and
improving on a daily basis. Vijender
is the flag-bearer of Indian boxing,
hes taken a huge step to putting
his country on the boxing map by
coming over here, said his United
Kingdom-based promoter Francis
Warren. PTI

Injury scare for Kyrgios

ahead of Oz Open

MELBOURNE: Nick Kyrgios suffered

an Australian Open scare on
Wednesday when he pulled out of
his opening match at the Kooyong
Classic with a right foot injury. The
years first Grand Slam starts on
Monday in Melbourne.I felt it in
training, said Kyrgios, the world
No. 30, after pulling the plug as a
precaution at the 12-man Grand
Slam warm-up event. I started
feeling it again when the treatment
wore off. I have to think about next
week, I really hate to do this but I
had to. AFP

Neymar ordered to
appear in court

MADRID: Barcelonas Brazilian star

Neymar has been called to give

evidence by Spain's national court
on February 2 for alleged fraud
surrounding his transfer to
Barcelona in 2013.
The players parents, Barcelona
president Josep Maria Bartomeu
and former club president Sandro
Rosell, as well as two directors of
Neymar's former club Santos have
also been called to give evidence,
according to a court filing released
on Wednesday. AFP

Suarezs appeal rejected

LONDON: Paul Dummetts deflected 90th-minute equaliser

denied Louis van Gaals Manchester United a morale-boosting victory as Newcastle United snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw
in the Premier League on
Tuesday.
Wayne Rooney completed a
brace with a stunning 79thminute goal to put United 3-2
up, after a 2-0 advantage procured by goals from himself
and Jesse Lingard had been
wiped out by Georginio Wijnaldum and Aleksandar Mitrovic.
But with United manager van
Gaal contemplating a win that
would have gone some way to
repairing
the damage
caused by
Saturdays
insipid 1-0
win over
third-tier
Sheield
United in the FA Cup, Dummett slammed home to prevent
the visitor drawing level with
fourth-placed
Tottenham
Hotspur.
Instead United was left two
points of the Champions
League places in sixth place,
with West Ham United moving
above it, and could lose further
ground after Wednesdays
matches.
Newcastle inched to within a
point of safety and while it remains in the relegation zone,
manager Steve McClaren will
have drawn great encouragement from his sides refusal to
be beaten.
An eventful evening at St.

shot into the top-left corner

from 20 yards after substitute
Memphis Depays shot cannoned into his path via a pair of
defenders.
But Welsh left-back Dummett had the final say with a
rasping left-foot efort from the
edge of the box that flicked of
Smalling and zipped into the
top-left corner.

THUNDERSTRUCK: Newcastle goalkeeper Rob Elliot fails to save a stunning goal from Manchester Uniteds Wayne Rooney on Tuesday. PHOTO: REUTERS

James Park began prior to kickof, with Newcastle presenting

new signings Jonjo Shelvey and
Henri Saivet to the crowd before honouring late former
goalkeeper Pavel Srnicek with a
minutes applause.
The former Czech Republic
international, a veteran of several classic clashes between

Indian shooting
team for SAG
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: Five shooters who
won the Olympic quota place
for the Rio Games have been included in the Indian shooting
team for the South Asian
Games (SAG) to be held in Guwahati. Gagan Narang, Apurvi
Chandela, Gurpreet Singh, Prakash Nanjappa and Chain Singh
are scheduled to compete in the
competition to be staged in Guwahati from February 10 to 15.

Preparation
Former Olympic champion
Abhinav Bindra has already
started preparing for the Olympics with his training and competition stints in Europe, while
Asian Games gold medallist
and World Championship silver medallist, Jitu Rai has also
sought to preserve himself for
the bigger challenges ahead.
The shotgun events do not
figure in the competition, and
thus skeet shooter Mairaj Ahmad Khan, who won a rare quota place for Olympics in the
event, has been spared.
By the time the competition
starts in the SAG, some more

Indian shooters who figure in

the list are expected to have attained the Olympic quota place
in the last opportunity, the
Asian Olympic qualification
event to be staged in Delhi from
January 25 to February 1.
The team:
Men: 50m rifle 3P and Prone:
Chain Singh, Gagan Narang, Surandra
Sinh Rathod. 10m air rifle: Imran Hasan Khan, Gagan Narang, Chain Singh.
25m centre fire pistol: Vijay Kumar, Pemba Tamang, Samaresh Jung.
25m rapid fire pistol: Gurpreet
Singh, Vijay Kumar, Akshay Suhas
Ashtaputre.
25m standard pistol: Gurpreet
Singh, Neeraj Kumar, Mahendar Singh.
50m free pistol: Om Prakash, Prakash Nanjappa, Omkar Singh.
10m air pistol: Jitendra Vibhute,
Omkar Singh, Gurpreet Singh.
Women: 50m rifle 3P: Lajja Gauswami, Elizabeth Susan Koshy, Anjum
Moudgil.
50m rifle prone: Kuheli Gangulee,
Tejaswini Sawant, Anuja Jung.
10m air rifle: Apurvi Chandela,
Pooja Ghatkar, Elizabeth Susan Koshy.
25m sports pistol: Anisa Sayyed,
Rahi Sarnobat, Annuraj Singh.
10m air pistol: Heena Sidhu, Yashaswini Singh Deswal, Shweta Singh.

Newcastle and United in the

mid-1990s, died of a heart attack aged 47 in late December.
The visitor quickly took control, with Rooney sending Rob
Elliot the wrong way from the
penalty spot in the ninth minute after referee Mike Dean penalised Chancel Mbemba for
handball.

Rooney spurned a chance to

inflate Uniteds lead when he
shot wide from Lingards
through-ball, but in the 38th
minute he created its second
goal with a delightful reverse
pass that allowed Lingard to
slot a shot between Elliots legs.
Wijnaldum sounded the
Newcastle revolt four minutes

later, neatly volleying in his

eighth goal of the season after
Marouane Fellaini had headed
Fabricio Coloccinis flighted
pass into his path.
After United goalkeeper David de Gea had blocked from
Moussa Sissoko and Lingard
had curled wastefully over at
the other end, Newcastle equal-

ised in the 67th minute.

Chris Smalling was penalised
for wrestling with Mitrovic at a
corner and the Serbian firebrand picked himself up to tuck
the resulting penalty past de
Gea.
With 11 minutes to play Rooney restored Uniteds lead,
lashing a glorious first-time

CHESS

Ivan Popov still in the lead

RAKESH RAO
NEW DELHI: Ivan Popov has
emerged as the man to beat in the
Delhi International Open Grandmasters chess tournament.
The second-seeded Russian
scored his seventh victory in as
many rounds following a wellcalculated
queen-sacrifice
against Ukraines Vitaly Sivuk.
With three rounds to go, Popov
holds a 1.5-point lead over the
nearest challengers.
Young talent Sayantan Das
proved equal to top-seeded Russian GM Boris Grachev to join Sivuk and nine others at 5.5 points.
Encouragingly, Pradeep Kumar
continued his fine run against
GMs and virtually sealed an International Master norm after a
54-move draw with Sriram Jha.
Though four of the top five
boards ended as draws, Popov
was relentless in his pursuit of
victory on the top board.
His 32-move destruction of
overnight second-placed Sivuk
was rather sudden. Once he saw
a five-move combination to
trade his queen and bishop for
two rooks, a bishop and a knight
to leave Sivuk in a hopeless posi-

GOOD SHOW: Sayantan Das (left) proved equal to top-seeded Russian GM Boris Grachev in the
seventh round of the Delhi International Open Grandmasters chess tournament.
PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

tion. Sayantan was locked in a

closed position in Sicilian Defence with Grachev. Though the
Russian did create some pressure with well-planted pawns,
the two chose to sign peace instead of engaging in long battle.
Meanwhile, the C Category
tournament, for those rated 1599
and below, opened with a record-making field. In all, 1012

players started the 10-round

competition, making it the largest congregation of players in an
event that has an oicial entry
fee of Rs. 3,500 in the country.
The results (Indians unless
stated): Seventh round: Ivan Popov
(Rus, 7) bt Vitaly Sivuk (Ukr, 5.5); Sayantan Das (5.5) drew with Boris Grachev (Rus, 5.5); S. Ravi Teja (5.5) drew
with Yuri Solodovnichenko (Ukr, 5.5);

Sriram Jha (5.5) drew with Pradeep

Kumar (5.5); Himanshu Sharma (5)
drew with Anton Demchenko (Rus, 5);
M. R. Lalith Babu (5.5) bt K. Praneeth
Surya (4.5); Nguyen Duc Hoa (Vie, 5.5)
bt S. Nitin (4.5); N. Srinath (5) drew
with N. R. Visakh (5); P. Iniyan (4.5)
lost to Attila Czebe (Hun, 5.5); N. R.
Vignesh (5.5) bt C. R. G. Krishna (4.5);
Valeriy Neverov (Ukr, 5) bt Mehar
Chinna Reddy (4.5).

Valencias brace
Elsewhere, Dimitri Payet
netted a glorious free-kick and
Enner Valencia scored twice as
West Ham came from behind to
win 3-1 at Bournemouth, which
had gone ahead through Harry
Arter.
Slaven Bilics West Ham
climbs above Manchester United to fifth place, just a point of
the Champions League places,
while Bournemouth remains
16th.
In the days other game, centre-back Joleon Lescott scored
with a 58th-minute header as
bottom club Aston Villa beat
Crystal Palace 1-0 to end a clubrecord run of 19 league games
without victory.
It also gave Villa manager
Remi Garde his first win at the
11th attempt, although his side
remains eight points from
safety.
The results :

Aston Villa 1 (Lescott 58) bt Crystal

Palace 0; Bournemouth 1 (Arter 17)
lost to West Ham 3 (Payet 67, Valencia 74, 84).
Newcastle 3 (Wijnaldum 42, Mitrovic 67-pen, Dummett 90) drew
with Manchester United 3 (Rooney 9pen, 79, Lingard 38). AFP

Former cricketer in
corruption claim
JOHANNESBURG: A former
South African national player
has been charged with
corruption involving matchfixing, according to a claim in
South African media. Cricket
South Africa (CSA) said on
Wednesday it had no
comment on what it said was
an ongoing investigation.
News24 website reported
that the former player was
allegedly the intermediary
who was the subject of a CSA
press release in December.
In the press release, CSA
said the intermediary had
been charged under its
anti-corruption code with
contriving to fix, or
otherwise improperly
influence aspects of the
2014/15 domestic T20
competition. The person
involved had also been
charged with failing, or
refusing without compelling
justification, to cooperate
with an investigation carried
out by an anti-corruption
oicial. The intermediary
was provisionally suspended
from any activity related to
cricket organised by CSA.
AFP

Indian basketball is looking

Uttarakhand survives Karnataka scare up, says Aravind Annadurai
BASKETBALL

ASHWIN ACHAL

MYSURU: Uttarakhand survived a

BARCELONA: Barcelonas Uruguay

forward Luis Suarez had his appeal

against a two-match suspension
rejected on Tuesday by the Spanish
Football Federations appeals
committee.
Suarez, 28, was banned for
insults he directed at Espanyol
players following Barcas 4-1 win
over their Catalan city rival on
January 5 after the first-leg of a
Spanish Cup last 16 clash. AFP

Roma sacks coach Garcia

ROME: Roma has sacked French

coach Rudi Garcia after a poor run
of form, the Serie A club confirmed
on Wednesday. AS Roma confirms
that Rudi Garcia, and his assistants
Frederic Bompard and Claude
Fichaux, will cease to manage its
first team with immediate effect, a
statement on the clubs website
said. Given recent results... the
club have decided to move in a new
direction. AFP

CM
YK

tough test from Karnataka to finish its group-stage engagements

on a high, at the Chamundi Vihar
Stadium here on Wednesday.
The defending champion,
which has lost just one of its four
outings so far, booked a quarterfinal spot in the mens section of
the senior National basketball
championship. Despite slipping
to a third loss, Karnataka also
sneaked through to the last-eight
round, edging out Delhi and Haryana on the basis of point-difer-

proving to be a treat to watch.

In the womens section, Keralas juggernaut continued. P.S.
Jeena and Stephy Nixon both
have been prolific in this tournament ensured that the side
shut out Telangana 72-46.
The results: Men: Level 1: Railways 84 (S. Somvier 28, Palpreet
Singh 21, Himanshu Sharma 12) bt

Kerala 70 (Eudrick Periera 16, Ashwin

Xavier Philip 15, Monish Wilson 14);
Uttarakhand 65 (Trideep Rai 24, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 20, Murali Krishna
13) bt Karnataka 58 (Sanil Sashi 11);
Punjab 83 (Gagandeep Singh 20, T.J.
Sahi 18, Rajveer Singh 13, Arshpreet
Bhullar 12) bt Haryana 66 (V. Virendra
23, B. Bijendra 11, Satyajeet 12).
Women: Level 1: Railways 68 (Ra-

SENIOR NATIONALS
ence. Delhi has been knocked out
but Haryana made it to the prequarterfinals as the fourthplaced team from Group A.
Determined to put on a show
in front of an adoring crowd, the
Karnataka side showed good
hustle to startle Uttarakhand
early. The young hoopsters outran their bigger rivals, and held
the lead briefly in the first-quarter. The visitors dependable triumvirate shooting guard Trideep Rai (24 pts), India captain
Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (20 pts),
and big man Murali Krishna (13)
then began to take control.
Uttarakhands size advantage
also started to take efect, as Karnataka lost out on rebounds. The
match eventually finished 65-58
in favour of Bhriguvanshis men.
Punjab, meanwhile, beat Haryana 83-66 to top Group A.
Point-guard T.J. Sahi called the
shots his quickness, court vision and sublime ball-control

RISING TO THE OCCASION: Murali Krishna (No. 14) was dependable

as ever and helped keep Karnataka at bay. PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

Injury worry

MYSURU: The fitness of

Karnatakas star player

Arvind Arumugam is in
doubt ahead of the sides
quarterfinal clash against
Services. The injured
Arvind he required six
stitches near his right eye
after taking an elbow to the
face in an earlier match
will compete in Thursdays
clash, but it remains to be
seen if he can go the
distance.
Arvind will play, but if he
finds any discomfort during
play, we will have to take
him out, Karnataka coach
Vijendra Devadasan said on
Wednesday.

ja Priyadarshini 19, Anitha Pauldurai

12, Sruthi Menon 10) bt Karnataka 49
(H.M. Bhandavya 13, Savita 10, Lopamudra 10); Maharashtra 73 (Manisha
Dange 22, Shireen Limaye 18, Sangeeta Mandal 18) bt MP 56 (Sakshi Pandey 18); Tamil Nadu 57 (R. Varshanandini 20, K. Prithi 11, Renjini Peter 10) bt
Punjab 37 (Harpreet Kaur 13, Indu Kumari 11); Kerala 72 (P.S. Jeena 20, Stephy Nixon 14, Neenumol 13) bt Telangana 46 (P. Divya 13).
Men: Quarterfinalists: Karnataka, Services, Railways, Uttarakhand,
Punjab, Tamil Nadu Pre-quarterfinalists: Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Gujarat Women: Quarterfinalists: Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala,
Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Railways
Pre-quarterfinalists: Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, West Bengal.

C.K. MURALIDHARAN

ravind Annadurai, the

power forward from Tamil Nadu, is fast becoming a
star in the Indian National
mens basketball circuit. This
lanky lad (67) who hails from
Thanjavur, was part of the Indian squad which won the
South Asian basketball championships 2015 at Bengaluru.
Aravind has been in excellent
form in the current National
senior basketball championships and has been playing a
stellar role in Tamil Nadus
fortunes in the tournament. In
an exclusive chat with The
Hindu on the sidelines of the
National senior basketball
championships at Mysuru on
Wednesday, he spoke about
the present condition of Indian
basketball and his goal to represent the country and bring
laurels to his State and nation.
Excerpts :
You were part of the
triumphant Indian team in the
SABA championships 2015 and
your views on that exposure
It was a good tournament for
India. India retained the title. I
got adequate exposure by playing against South Asian nations such as Nepal and Sri
Lanka. It gave me the confidence that I can also do well at
the higher level. I played well
in the final against Sri Lanka
and it was a nice learning
experience.
How did you take up basketball

and who introduced you to this

sport?
From a very young age I was
interested in sports. My uncle
played kabaddi and seeing my
height he encouraged me to
take up basketball in 2006. I attended a summer camp and later joined the Sports School in
Coimbatore (9th & 10th standard). Later I joined SAI Sports
Centre, Mayailaduthurai, and
trained under the guidance of
coach Bhaskar.
My big break was when I
represented the State in the
Youth Nationals in 2010. In
2011, I represented Tamil Nadu
juniors at the National championships in Mumbai where
we finished runners-up. In the
2011 Youth junior Nationals we
won the gold. I was part of the

gold-winning senior team in

the New Delhi championships.
In 2015, in Rajasthan we finished runners-up and in the
National Games at Kerala we
finished runners-up. I got a big
break when I represented India in the SABA championships in Bengaluru in 2015.
Your views on the present
condition of Indian basketball
Indian basketball is presently looking up. The standard of
the game has improved tremendously. The players are
young and they are willing to
learn. India has been doing
well at the senior and junior
levels. Indians are playing in
the NBA and Japanese league
which shows that our sport is
moving forward.
What are your future plans?
My aim is to represent India
and play well for the country. I
want to work hard and want to
contribute to the Indian teams
progress. I play as a power forward and want to learn new
techniques and improve my
skills.
What needs to be done in order
to improve the standard of the
game in the country?
First of all players should
work hard and improve their
skills and adapt to diferent
conditions. Then exposure
tours are a must. Playing
against diferent countries in
diferent conditions would
help the team. Professional domestic league should be
introduced.
ND-ND

18 |

SPORT

Learnt valuable
lessons from
first ODI: Boland
BRISBANE: Rookie Australian paceman Scott Boland got his first
taste of international cricket
with a sound thrashing from the
Indian batsmen in the first ODI
but still insisted that he learnt
valuable lessons from his debut
match.
I only missed a couple by
not too far. But when youre
bowling to someone whos on
150 (Rohit), theyre going to hit
them for six. I hit a few (yorkers) where he only got a one or
a dot. But the margin for error is
tiny, said the Victorian. PTI

Initiatives
explained to
IPL teams
MUMBAI: The IPL conducted a
workshop for IPLs team representatives, broadcast partners,
sponsors and digital partner on
Wednesday.
The team owners and representatives were given presentations on The Economic Impact
of the IPL by KPMG, Broadcast Summary (2015 season)
and Marketing Initiatives
(2016) by Sony Max, Digital
Summary and Initiatives 201516 by Hotstar, Twitter partnership and Initiatives by Twitter
India, Media Investments in
Sports by Group M, Brand
Protections and Copyright by
Copyright Integrity International, Anti-Corruption Code
briefing, Cricket Operations
and
Marketing
and
Promotion.

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

Smashers and Rockets make the grade

Sania-Hingis pair
equals record,
enters semifinals

PBL / Its curtains for Bengaluru Top Guns as it goes down to the Chennai outfit

SYDNEY: Sania Mirza and her

N. SUDARSHAN
BENGALURU: Chennai Smashers

(17 points) and Mumbai Rockets (13) joined Delhi Acers (20)
and Awadhe Warriors (17) in
the semifinals of the Premier
Badminton League after the last
round of league matches at the
Sree Kanteerava Stadium on
Wednesday.
In Thursdays first semifinal
here, the Acers take on Smashers and on Friday in Hyderabad,
the Warriors will meet the
Rockets.
Coming into their match
against the Acers, Rockets
needed a solitary point to confirm a last-four berth. But they
lost 5-0 and left their fate in the
hands of the Chennai and Bengaluru teams, who were to clash
in the days second game.
Bengaluru Top Guns required a 5-0 win including both
trump matches to harbour any
hopes of progress. But the moment Sameer Verma lost his
opening match against Sony
Dwi Kuncoro, which was the
latters trump, it brought the
curtains down for the local outfit and sent both Smashers and
Rockets through.
Later, both in mens doubles
with Hoon Thien How and J.F.
Nielse in action, and in the second mens singles, with World
No. 9 K. Srikanth, Top Guns
registered easy wins. But these
accounted for nothing. On her
part, Smashers P.V. Sindhu
convincingly beat Suo Di of
China 15-12, 15-7 to keep in tact

her spotless record in the

league stages.
Earlier in the afternoon, the
Mumbai side came within
touching distance of an automatic qualification twice. First
when eighteen-year-old Ruthvika Gadde, on whom the trump
was placed, almost did the star
turn for Rockets. After having
lost the first game, she stretched
the experienced P.C. Thulasi to
the third and came within two
points of clinching the match.
Then in the mens doubles,
Ivanov, along with Mathias Boe,
battled the Malaysian combine
of Koo Keat Kien and Tan Boon
Heong. The two won the first
game and was up 10-7 in the second. But the seasoned Ivanovs
level dropped at crucial moments and Delhi registered a
come-from-behind win.
The results:
Delhi Acers bt Mumbai Rockets 5-0
(Akshay Dewalkar & Aparna Balan lost
to Kamilla Juhl & Vladimir Ivanov 1513, 15-11; P.C. Thulasi bt Ruthvika
Gadde-T 15-11, 8-15, 15-13; Tommy Sugiarto bt H.S. Prannoy 15-8, 15-6; Koo
Keat Kien & Tan Boon Heong bt Mathias Boe & Vladimir Ivanov 11-15, 15-12,
15-10; Rajiv Ouseph-T bt Gurusai Dutt
15-7, 15-10).
Bengaluru Top Guns lost to Chennai Smashers 4-1 (Sameer Verma lost
to Sony Dwi Kuncoro-T 15-10, 10-15,
15-8; Hoon Thien How & J.F. Nielse bt
Chris Adcock Pranaav Chopra 15-7,
15-8; K. Srikanth bt Brice Leverdez
15-4, 15-12; Suo Di lost to P.V. Sindhu
15-12, 15-7; Ashwini Ponnappa & J.F.
Nielse-T lost to Chris Adcock & Pia Zebadiah 15-14, 15-12).

Swiss partner Martina

Hingis have equalled the
record for the longest
womens doubles winning
streak by advancing to the
WTA Sydney International
semifinals with a straightset win on Wednesday.
The top seeds got the
better of Chinas Chen
Liang and Shuai Peng 6-2,
6-3 in less than an hour and
remain on course for a
second successive title this
year.
With Wednesdays result,
Mirza and Hingis won their
28th consecutive match to
equal the record set by
Puerto Rican Gigi
Fernandez and Belarus
Natasha Zvereva in 1994.
PTI

Alex Solanki in
last eight
NEW DELHI: Alex Solanki warded

TOUGH OUTING: Experienced campaigner P.C. Thulasi of Delhi Acers was tested by teenager Ruthvika Gadde of Mumbai Rockets
before the former prevailed. PHOTO: K. MURALI KUMAR

TENNIS

CRICKET

Djokovic raises hopes of Golden Slam

Happy with some recommendations,

need more clarity on others: Pawar

MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic is

hitting greater heights ahead of

the Australian Open posing
problems for his rivals, and
raising distant hopes of the first
ever mens Golden Slam.
Picking up where he left of
after a blistering 2015, Djokovic
destroyed Rafael Nadal in last
weeks Qatar Open final, in a
performance the Spaniard
called stratospheric.
I played against a player
who did everything perfect. I
know nobody playing tennis
like this ever, said the 14-time
Grand Slam-winner.
No male player, and only
Stei Graf on the womens side,
has ever achieved the Golden
Slam: winning all four major
titles and Olympic singles gold
in a single year.
Last season Djokovic fell just
one victory short of the first
calendar-year Grand Slam
since Rod Laver in 1969, after
losing the French Open final to
Stan Wawrinka.
Acknowledging his form, the
28-year-old said in Doha: Im
hoping that I can actually peak
and play as well as I did today in
Melbourne.
A strong performance looks
likely in Melbourne, Djokovics
most successful Grand Slam
where he has won five out of
five finals, including last year
against Andy Murray.
But the 10-time major champion will not be looking too far
beyond the years opening
Grand Slam, which starts on
Monday.
My thoughts are only directed to Melbourne and what I
need to do there, he said.
Murray, who will be in the
bottom half of the mens draw
and seeded to face Djokovic in
the January 31 final, sees the
Serb as a huge challenge.
What Novak is doing... last
year he had an incredible year,

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

Novak is the
favourite for the
Australian Open. Plus
hes played well there
historically
Roger Federer

he said. Final of every tournament bar one.

Its been tough playing in an
era with Novak, Roger (Federer) and Rafa (Nadal) but at the
same time to have guys like that
to always be trying to catch up
to, to have to improve to try and
beat them, its a huge
challenge.
Murray carries the baggage
of losing four Melbourne finals
three of them to Djokovic
but is continuing his dogged
pursuit of a breakthrough.
Im doing everything I can

to try and win here, said the

28-year-old Scot, who has
promised to leave early if his
wife Kim Sears gives birth.
My number one goal is to try
and win here. Itd mean a lot because of how many times Ive
been close.
Federer, as the third seed on
rankings, could face either Djokovic or Murray in the semifinals as the 17-time Grand Slam
champion looks to win his first
major title since Wimbledon
2012. The Swiss maestro has
won four Australian Opens, but

lost to Djokovic at last years

Wimbledon and US Open finals. At 34, he is running out of
time to add to his all-time record haul of Grand Slam titles.
Of course, Novak is the favourite for the Australian
Open. Plus hes played well
there historically, Federer said
last week. Nadal has won once
in Australia, over Federer in a
classic five-set final in 2009,
and has had some of his career
low points with tournamentending injuries in Melbourne.
But he maintains he can do
well as he pursues his comeback from a disappointing 2015,
when he failed to win any
Grand Slam titles.
I am playing well, and Im
gonna keep working hard to try
to be ready for Australia. And I
think I will be. I am motivated
for it, the Spanish left-hander
said.
Switzerlands Stan Wawrinka will also be a contender after
he conquered Djokovic on the
way to winning the 2014 Australian Open, and beat him
again in last years French Open
final.
The world No. 4 tuned up by
beating Croatias Borna Coric
for a third straight Chennai
Open title in India last week.
Outside the top five, Japans
world No. 7 Kei Nishikori will
be looking to get past the quarters for the first time in Melbourne. AFP

G. VISWANATH
MUMBAI: The Mumbai Cricket

Association is agreeable to
many of the recommendations
on the count of transparency
and ethics, but it is yet to take a
firm decision on majority of the
other points the Supreme
Court-appointed three-member Justice (retired) R.M. Lodha committee has authored on
best practises and reforms the
Board can adopt in order to
provide clean administration.
AGM on Jan. 22
MCA president Sharad Pawar has asked the oicer-bearers and executive committee
members to give in writing
their opinions on all aspects of
the recommendations. The
MCA will meet again to discuss
the matter. The MCAs AGM is
scheduled for January 22, and
many of the 330-odd club-members are likely to raise impor-

tant aspects of the Lodha committee recommendations.

But, after the MCA managing
committee meeting here on
Tuesday, Pawar, when asked if
a single administrator could be
blamed for the plight the BCCI
finds itself in, shot back saying:
Administrators are not responsible for the situation.
We are happy with the recommendations. There are certain areas we have to discuss
with the BCCI. We want more
clarity.
For instance, MCA has two
or three grounds. And, in fact,
we want more grounds. People
have seen the number of teams
playing matches at the Azad
and the Cross maidans during
weekends. One of the suggestions is that if an association has
more than one ground, it has to
be given up for hockey or tennis. The size required for these
two sport are diferent. We cannot play cricket on the ground

which is given for hockey or

tennis.
There are practical diiculties which we will discuss with
the Board. In principle, we
would accept many suggestions, but many more important
ones have to be discussed with
the BCCI.
It is understood that the
MCA committee will have no
issues with appointing CEOs
and getting more women involved in administration.
An MCA statement said:
The managing committee met
today to deliberate on the recommendations of the Lodha
Committee and decided to accept the recommendations
made for transparency and ethics.
There are certain clauses of
administrative and cricketing
operations for which the association shall forward its views
to the BCCI as advised by
them.

WRESTLING

WFI shules coaching staf

NEW DELHI: Months ahead of the

Olympic qualifiers, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI)

has shuled the coaching staf,
including chief coaches, in all
three styles.
Two-time Olympian Jagminder Singh, who was in charge of
the countrys successful campaign during the 2010 Commonwealth Games here, has
been re-appointed as the chief
coach in freestyle.
Kuldeep Malik, who was
heading the coaching staf in
freestyle, has been shifted back
as the womens head coach.

Jagminder Singh has been

re-appointed as chief coach

in freestyle

Malik took the place of A.N. Yadav. Kuldeep Sehrawat returned to replace Mahabir Prasad as
the chief coach in Greco Roman
section. Besides, several assistant coaches have been changed
across all styles.
It was learnt that the WFI top
brass was not happy with the
performances of Indian wrestlers in recently-concluded
events, including the World

championship in Las Vegas

where only Narsingh Yadav
managed to win an Olympic
quota place in mens freestyle
74kg class. Indian wrestlers will
take part in the Asian championship to be held in Bangkok
next month.
They will compete in diferent Olympic qualifying events
in the following three months.
The National camps, which
were suspended due to the Pro
Wrestling League (PWL), will
resume at Sonepat and Lucknow from Friday. Special
Correspondent

of a stif challenge from qualifier Matthew Summers of Britain 7-5, 0-6, 6-2 in the pre-quarterfinals of the ITF grade-2
junior tennis tournament at the
DLTA
Complex
on
Wednesday.
He was the lone Indian boy to
make the quarterfinals and will
face second seed Seppe Cuypers of Belgium in the
quarterfinals.
It was firebrand tennis on
show court No. 1 as Nitin Kumar Sinha won the first set in a
long-drawn tie-break when his
opponent was slapped a point
penalty for unsportsmanlike
conduct that set him up a fifth
set-point. However, the Briton
was a class act in the next two
sets as he negotiated the gutsy
Nitin Kumar with a touch of
assurance.
In the girls section, Mahak
Jain, Nidhi Surapaneni and Zeel
Desai made the quarterfinals.The results: Boys (pre-quarterfinals): Alexis Canter (GBr) bt Nitin Kumar Sinha 6-7(12), 6-3, 6-2;
Louis Dussin (Fra) bt Parikshit Somani
6-0, 6-1; Lingxi Zhao (Chn) bt Udayan
Bhakar 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-5; Vorachan Rakpuangchon (Tha) bt Shramay Dhawan
2-6, 6-3, 6-4; Maxence Broville (Fra) bt
Yeongseok Jeong (Kor) 6-1, 6-7(4),
6-1; Finn Bass (GBr) bt Ray Ho (Tpe) 67(6), 6-4, 6-2; Alex Solanki bt Matthew Summers (GBr) 7-5, 0-6, 6-2;
Seppe Cuypers (Bel) bt Aleksa Lazarevic (Srb) 6-2, 6-2.
Doubles (quarterfinals): Nitin
Kumar Sinha & Aleksa Lazarevic (Srb)
bt Maxence Broville & Louis Dussin
(Fra) 6-1, 3-6, [10-1]; Tsung-Hao
Huang & Yun Ruei Wen (Tpe) bt Timothy Dollman & Richard Thongoana
(RSA) 7-5, 6-2; Seon Yong Han & Yeongseok Jeong (Kor) bt Parikshit Somani & Dhruv Sunish 7-6(3), 6-1; Udayan
Bhakar & Rian Pandole bt Finn Bass &
Jack Molloy (GBr) 7-5, 3-6 [10-5].
Girls (pre-quarterfinals): Mahak
Jain bt Jennifer Luikham 6-3, 6-2; Pei
Hsuan Chen (Tpe) bt Sohyun Park
(Kor) 6-2, 7-6(3); Thasaporn Naklo
(Tha) bt Jodie Anna Burrage (GBr) 6-3,
6-3; Nidhi Surapaneni bt Shivani Amineni 6-4, 6-2; Sing-Le Fan Chiang
(Tpe) bt Komola Umarova (Uzb) 7-6
(1), 6-0; Zeel Desai bt Abinikka Renganathan 7-5, 6-0; Eden Richardson
(GBr) bt Yarden Akler (Isr) 7-5, 6-4; En
Shuo Liang (Tpe) bt YeXin Ma (Chn)
6-3, 6-1. Doubles (quarterfinals):
Komola Umarova (Uzb) & Zeel Desai
bt Alexandra Pisareva (Ukr) & Abinikka Renganathan 6-3, 6-4; Pei Hsuan
Chen & Fang-Hsien Wu (Tpe) bt Sabhyata Nihalani & Sathwika Sama 6-2,
7-5; Eden Richardson & Camille Verden Anderson (GBr) bt Akanksshan
Bhan & Mahak Jain 6-3, 6-1; Sing-Le
Fan Chiang & En Shuo Liang (Tpe) bt
Thasaporn Naklo (Tha) & Sohyun Park
(Kor) 7-6(0), 7-6(5). Special
Correspondent

VARIETY
THE HINDU CROSSWORD 11600
1

Buzzer
7

9
10
11

12

13

16

20

14

15

17

18

21

19

22
23

24

25

26

Across

1 Pitch is good on all sides (6)

5 Rumble about ruddy
monotony (7)
9 Novel of witless Archer
ending abruptly in one line
(2,3,4,5)
11 Content to censor a dialogue
coming from the centre (6)
CM
YK

12 Small sharp source of light

caused alarm (8)
13 American's being old having
no yen or hunger (5)
14 Rosette I've made out of
ordinary paper napkin (9)
16 Short report of novel, science
fiction hit (9)
18 Canvas describing English

rule (5)
20 Tar to blacken paving? Fair
to say (8)
22 Reflecting on following
proper textbook (6)
24 Band showing promise (10,4)
25 Done with mostly breaking
limit (3,4)
26 Needle to come to a rest
going from south to north
(6)
Down

2 Author in a hurry to stop

working (7)
3 Outrageous and initially
unbelievable forehand shot
(7-2)
4 Remove or drop anchor (4)
5 Arc circling left to right over
100o hot burner (9)
6 Mention about fine monarch
(5)
7 Bird going over obstacle in a
small stream (7)
8 Married ones nowadays risk
failure (12)
10 Perhaps free agents do

procrastinate (4,4,4)
14 Political leader immediately
means corrupt? (9)
15 Cold season beginning to let
up periodically, perfect to
see in a different light (9)
17 Argument with right
perspective (7)
19 Insignificant traces of venom
in a lizard (7)
21 Past containing gross violent
behaviour (5)
23 Aware of local smuggling
ring (2,2)

Solution to puzzle 11599

L
R
L OWP R O F
U
E
M
O V E R C A S
R
S
N
S E T I N M
A
C O N N I V E
P
E
B E E S K N E
R
P
E
V A C A N T
T
R
I
B O S S
A D
R
E
N

S
V
T
J
I L E
A J A
X
R
R
L
T
T A T T O
E
I
A
U
E R C E R I S
N
A
I
F L I C K E
W
O
E S
U N I T
L
I
F
A
C O N V E R S
O
A
S
S
M I N I S T E
E
E
L

R
O
E
R
Y
E
R

FAITH

SU | DO | KU

Intercession of Grace
In Andals Tiruppavai, it is held that verses six to fifteen are
addressed to the Gopis in Ayarpadi who have undertaken the
Paavai Nombu with the objective of obtaining the highest
Purushartha, Moksha, from Krishna. Interpreters also
attribute these verses as specifically alluding to the ten
azhwars.
The verse Elle Ilankiliye is meant to speak of Tirumangai
Azhwar whose life and works are known for their
exceptional nature, said Sri U. Rajagopalachariar in a
discourse. This Azhwars relationship with the Lord is most
singular. He came to be known as Tirumangai Mannan since
the Chozha king, impressed by his extraordinary skills in
warfare, makes him ruler of a small province. He is initiated
into the Vaishnava faith by his wife who also makes him
undertake the Bhagavata Kainkarya of feeding around 1,000
Vaishnava Bhaktas daily. While engaged in this mission,
when all funds on hand are exhausted, he resorts to highway
robbery. The Lord and Sri decide to intervene in his life and,
posing as newly weds, pass through Tiruvali Tirunagari.
Getting wind of their presence, he is right on the spot and at
dagger point collects all their jewels, except for one toe ring
in the Lords foot. Tirumangai Mannan bends down and tries
in vain to unlatch the hook. He is further perplexed when he
is unable to lift the bundle of jewels collected from them.
He demands to know from them what spell has been cast
to make the bundle so heavy and immovable. The Lord then
imparts the sacred Ashtakshara mantra and by His
tremendous grace, the entire import of it is revealed in his
consciousness. Tirumangai Mannan now becomes
Tirumangai Azhwar who is gifted to sing excellent hymns
about the glory of the Lord.

A mind game and a

puzzle that you solve
with reasoning and
logic. Fill in the grid with
digits in such a manner
that every row, every
column and every 3x3
box accommodates the
digits 1 to 9, without
repeating any. The
solution to yesterdays
puzzle is at left.
ND-ND

SPORT

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

Mathews
promises action
over misconduct

| 19

A stern Test awaits new captain de Villiers

CRICKET / South Africa has gone eight Test matches and more than a year without a win

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka skipper An-

gelo Mathews on Wednesday

promised no mercy for any
teammates found guilty of misconduct during a disastrous
tour of New Zealand after the
sports minister raised allegations of drunken behaviour and
squabbling.
Dayasiri Jayasekera said he
had seen photos of national
players at all-night drinking
parties just before crucial
matches against hosts New
Zealand who made a virtual
clean sweep in the just-ended
tour.
Mathews, 28, said an oicial
probe had begun into the allegations that players attended
parties until 3 or 4 a.m., and of
tension within the team and
with interim coach Jerome
Jayaratne.
I cant deny or accept that
these things happened, Mathews told reporters at a posttournament press conference
in Colombo.
But, I can promise that there
will be no mercy for any member
found
guilty
of
misconduct.
He said the team could have
done better and admitted the
New Zealand tour was
demoralising.
Sri Lankan spectators heckled the national team as it lost
the final Twenty20 match
while social media sites
showed footage of player Tillakaratne Dilshan engaging in
an angry exchange with a spectator who asked him to retire.
As players, we dont play to
lose and you get hurt when
spectators say things like this,
Mathews said. Fans are also
hurt when we lose and you have
to look at it from both ways.
AFP

Trivedi, Hingrajia
lead Gujarats
fightback
MUMBAI: Karan Trivedi registered a century (103, 169b,
14x4, 5x6) and M.A. Hingrajia
scored an unbeaten 96 (181b,
11x4, 1x6) as Gujarat under-19
put up a vastly improved performance on day three of its
Cooch Behar Trophy semifinal against Mumbai under-19
in Valsad.
When stumps were drawn
at the Sardar Patel Stadium on
Wednesday evening, the host
had posted 353 for seven, still
158 behind. Yuvaraja Kosamia
(47 batting, 97b, 5x4, 1x6) was
keeping Hingrajia company.
The duo has already added
82 runs for the eighth wicket.
Resuming on 57 for three,
Gujarat lost Rahul Shah (11) in
the ninth over of the day. Trivedi, who started the day with
no runs to his name, got going
immediately. He added 52 runs
with Kavish Panchal (28), before the latter was caught and
bowled by Mumbai skipper
Shams Mulani.
Trivedi then found an able
ally in Hingrajia, and the pair
stitched a crucial 129-run
stand for the sixth wicket to
take Gujarat to safety. However, seamer Minad P. Manjrekar
returned to remove Trivedi
soon after he completed a
well-deserved century.
Gujarat received another
jolt when hard-hitting batsman Het Patel fell a few overs
later. The scoreboard read 271
for seven and Mumbai was
well and truly on top.
Kosamia then provided adequate support to Trivedi. They
occupied the crease for 28
overs and ensured Gujarat
lived another day.
With a day to go, Mumbai is
still the firm favourite to progress to the final.
In the other semifinal, Uttar
Pradesh defeated host Baroda
inside two days. That game
was completed on Tuesday.
The scores: Mumbai under-19 511
in 134.4 overs (Prithvi Shaw 62,
Shams Mulani 80, Sairaj Patil 183 n.o.,
Sidak Singh 46, Yuvaraja Kosamia five
for 150) vs Gujarat under-19 353 for
seven in 133 overs (Karan Trivedi 103,
M.A. Hingrajia 96 n.o.).

TOUGH TASK AHEAD: A.B. de Villiers, who took over from Hashim Amla as captain at a difficult time,
will be hoping that South Africa wins the next two Test matches against England if it wants to
maintain its No. 1 Test ranking. PHOTO: LEE WARREN/GETTY IMAGES

JOHANNESBURG: A.B. de Villiers

faces the biggest challenge of a
glittering career when he leads
South Africa in the third Test
against England, starting at the
Wanderers
Stadium
on
Thursday.
Arguably the worlds best
batsman he is ranked third
in Tests and first in One-Day
Internationals de Villiers,
31, made no secret of his ambition to captain the South African Test team following the
retirement of Graeme Smith in
2014.
But Cricket South Africa decided to appoint Hashim Amla
instead, with de Villiers continuing to lead the one-day
side.
Now de Villiers has the job
he wanted, following the surprise resignation of Amla after
the second Test last week
but only for the remaining two
matches of the series.
A long-term appointment
will probably not be made for
some time, with South Africa
not due to play another Test
series until it meets New Zealand in August.
de Villiers takes over at a
diicult time. Despite fighting
back strongly to draw the second Test in Cape Town, South
Africa has gone eight Test
matches and more than a year
without a win.
England leads the series 1-0

and South Africa will lose its

No. 1 Test ranking unless it can
earn at least a share of the series honours. The Wanderers
has traditionally favoured fast
bowlers, but the bowling firepower at de Villiers disposal
has been severely depleted by
injuries to Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander.
As was the case in the second Test, it leaves Morne Morkel as the only experienced
bowler in the line-up.
The bowlers took some severe punishment at the hands

of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow at Newlands, although

they performed better in the
second innings.
Picking the right bowling
line-up will be a key factor for
South Africa, with Kyle Abbott
and the uncapped Hardus Viljoen, who plays for the Wanderers-based Lions franchise,
coming under consideration.
There is also a possibility
that South Africa might decide
to go without specialist spin
bowler Dane Piedt, which
could mean a recall for bat-

sman and part-time spinner

J-P Duminy.
The teams (from): South Africa :
A.B. de Villiers (capt.), Dean Elgar,
Stiaan van Zyl, Hashim Amla, Faf du
Plessis, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de
Kock (wk), Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Piedt, J-P Duminy, Chris
Morris, Kyle Abbott, and Hardus
Viljoen.
England : Alastair Cook (capt.),
Alex Hales, Nick Compton, Joe Root,
James Taylor, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad,
Steven Finn, and James Anderson.
AFP

de Villiers confirms bit of truth

in retirement rumours
JOHANNESBURG: New South African captain A.B. de

Villiers said on Wednesday he was fully committed to

leading the team in the next two Tests against England,
but confirmed there was a bit of truth in rumours he
was considering retirement.
For two or three years Ive been searching for the
right answers to play a little less cricket in one way or
another, to keep myself fresh and enjoying the game, he
said.
De Villiers, 31, admitted: Every now and then I find I
am not enjoying myself as much as I should be. Ive been
talking to a few people and obviously thats leaked.
Im still very committed to the job, he said. The
two Test matches now is all that I am focusing on.
Theres a nice big break of six months before we play
Test cricket again.
Lots of things can happen before then. But for now I
am as committed as I can be and very hungry to make a

success of these two Test matches.

The nice thing about captaincy is you are completely
focused on the team. Your personal performance is put
aside and that is a good thing, more often than not, he
said.
de Villiers acknowledged that big-money Twenty20
tournaments around the world were tempting for
players.
I think its a going concern for the ICC (International
Cricket Council) to find the right sort of structure to
keep all the guys fresh. International cricket is the main
cricket you want to play, especially Test cricket.
There are big tournaments going on around the
world and some of them you cant ignore because
financially they make a huge difference in our lives.
But international cricket comes first and one or two
things will have to happen in the future in order for that
to happen. AFP

Big Bash hits the heights

SYDNEY: Australias Twenty20

Big Bash League has finally hit

big time, with enormous
crowds, quality cricket and a
dash of controversy putting it
firmly in the public eye in
what could be a threat to the
traditional Test format.
Midway through the fifth
season of the five-week domestic tournament, interest has
never been greater, with a
whopping 80,883 people packing the Melbourne Cricket
Ground for a recent clash between the Renegades and the
Stars.
A Sydney derby this weekend between the Thunder and
the Sixers is also expected to be
a heaving 42,000 sell-out.

This contrasts sharply with

waning interest in Test cricket,
as seen in Australias recent series against the West Indies.
Even the flagship first day of
the Boxing Day Test, also at the
cavernous Melbourne Cricket
Ground, could only attract
some 53,000.
When you get 80,000 at the
Big Bash at the MCG and its
more than youve had on day
one at the Boxing Day Test, you
can see people saying, well,
which way is this going? Are the
scales tipping? Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland told
reporters.
According to Sutherland, it
will be a diferent scenario
when stronger Test teams are

in town.
In two years time when the
next Ashes series (against England) comes around, people
will understand the Big Bash is
complementing and living in a
symbiotic relationship with international cricket, he said.
Federation of International
Cricketers Associations chief
Tony Irish is less sure, fearing
Test cricket could slowly die
unless action is taken as more
stars opt for the lucrative,
shorter format.
Already several high-profile
players have preferred turning
out in domestic T20 competitions where commercial interests, and hence wages, are
rapidly growing rather than

for their country.

The once-formidable West
Indies is one of the biggest losers with Chris Gayle, Dwayne
Bravo and Darren Sammy all
showing of their talents in the
eight-team Big Bash League
rather than the Test series
against Australia.
ICC events are strong because they have context... but
bilateral cricket is struggling,
Irish told Londons Daily Telegraph this week.
Players are starting to turn
away from the game because
they have an alternative market
now.
He cited the Big Bash League
as an example of the changing
trend.

Where are the crowds going? Where is the interest?

Where do the players really
want to play?
Illustrating its burgeoning
pulling power, the Sydney
Morning Herald reported on
Monday that the Big Bash had
burst into the top 10 most attended sports leagues in the
world alongside the NFL, English Premier League and fellow T20 tournament, the Indian Premier League. To keep
Test cricket relevant and interesting in the face of T20s rise, a
host of former greats, led by
Shane Warne and Greg Chappell, have advocated four-day
Tests and abolition of the coin
toss. AFP

A whopping 80,883 people gathered at the Melbourne Cricket

Ground for a recent clash between the Renegades and the Stars.
PHOTO: DARRIAN TRAYNOR/GETTY IMAGES

GOLF

No communication problem
in the Asian team: Chawrasia
SHAH ALAM (MALAYSIA): With food
being their common interest
and golf their common language, Team Asia players are
having no trouble communicating and bonding ahead of
the EurAsia Cup this weekend,
says the sides Indian member
SSP Chawrasia.
Chawrasia, who has completed exactly 10 years on the
Asian Tour during which he
has also been on the European
Tour, is looking forward to his
first appearance in an international team competition.
The EurAsia Cup presented
by DRB-HICOM will tee of at
the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club from January 15.
He has been to Malaysia
quite a few times before and is
comfortable with the heat and
humidity just as he is with his
teammates, who come from six
diferent countries and speak
six diferent languages.
There really is no problem
about communication. Most
speak a little English and golf is
our common language, he
said with a smile.
And then there is Jeev
(Milkha Singh), our captain,
who takes care of everything.
What about the food? We
all love food, it is our common
interest, he said.
I love sushi and Thai food
and in fact I try all kinds. When
I am at home I eat a lot of Indian food, so when I am travelling I like to try new dishes.

cessful golfers.
Chawrasia, whose fine 2015
helped him finish fourth in
Asia and earn a spot into EurAsia Cup team, said, This is my
first time in this event. Im very excited and Im playing very
good this year (and last year).
So hopefully I will be doing
well this week. Thats my
goal.

Chawrasia.
PHOTO: STANLEY CHOU/GETTY IMAGES

Jeev is taking us out for Japanese team dinner tonight. So

the food and spending time together is giving us a chance to
understand each other and we
have practised last two days
together.
As for the practice sessions,
there was some indication of
the pairings, as Chawrasia
played with Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Anirban Lahiri
played with Chinas Wu
Ashun.
It also showed that Jeev is
not going to make his pairings
based on nationalities.
Meeting the media alongside Chawrasia was Korean
Beyong Hyung An, Chinas
Wu Ashun and Shingo Katayama, one of Japans most suc-

No pressure
On whether the team format
of the event puts him under
any pressure, Chawrasia shot
back, Really, this is one week
where I am not feeling any
pressure at all. You play any
other tournament, and there is
no second chance. But here, I
know that I can depend on my
partner.
If I mess it up on any hole,
chances are that my partner
will save me. You never get
that in stroke play events.
I also think that if you make
a double bogey in a strokeplay
championship, you are almost
certain not to win the tournament.
In match play, you can get
away making an eight on a
hole and all you have lost is
that one hole, Chawrasia added.
Byeong, who is the son of
two-time Olympic table tennis
medallist Ahn Jae Hyung and
Jiao Zhimin, but who lives in
Orlando felt proud to represent Korea and Asia. PTI

RACING

Solange in good shape

MUMBAI: Solange, who is in good
shape as evidenced by her track performances, may win the Moonlight
Romance Double Stakes, the feature
event of the races to be held here on
Thursday (Jan. 13).
Rails will be placed 5 metres away
from its original point from 1600m to
1000m and thereafter 7 metres away
from 1000m upto the winning post.
1 GENERAL
OBAIDULLAH
KHAN TROPHY (2,400m), Cl. II,
rated 60 to 86, 2-15 pm: 1. Bold Appeal (3) Sandesh 59, 2. Square
Moon (2) R.Vaibhav 58 and 3. Savage Beauty (1) Neeraj 50.
Bold Appeal
2 RAJPIPLA
TROPHY
(1,600m), Cl. I, rated 80 and upwards, 2-45: 1. Remember Me (4)
Neeraj 59, 2. Laurita (1) C.S.Jodha
56.5, 3. Spirit Of Mercy (2) T.S.Jodha 56.5 and 4. Congressional (3)
Zervan 56.
Congressional
3

AVANTAGE

CM
YK

PLATE

(1,200m), Maiden 3-y-o only, 3-15: 1.

Carbonara (3) Zervan 55, 2. Finest
Moment (6) Bhawani 55, 3. Franz
Ferdinand (2) P.S.Chouhan 55, 4.
Imperial Heritage (7) Yash Narredu 55, 5. Ricardus (5) R.Vaibhav 55,
6. San Martino (4) Trevor 55, 7. Star
Councillor (8) Sandesh 55 and 8.
Good Thing (1) Dashrath 53.5.
1. Carbonara, 2. Star Councillor,
San Martino
4 MOONLIGHT ROMANCE
DOUBLE STAKES (1,600m), Cl.
III, rated 40 to 66, 3-45: 1. Solange
(3) P.S.Chouhan 59, 2. Samba Warrior (2) Neeraj 58, 3. Cha Cha Cha
(1) Dashrath 56, 4. Multiglory (5)
Trevor 55, 5. His Highness (4)
C.S.Jodha 52 and 6. Personify (6)
Sandesh 51.5.
1. Solange, 2. Multiglory
5 INDIAN AIR FORCE CUP
(1,200m), Cl. III, rated 40 to 66, 4-15:
1. Phoenix Cat (9) Dashrath 59.5, 2.
Stand And Dance (2) Yash Narredu
58.5, 3. Stormy Princess (1) Kuldeep

57.5, 4. Magnum Opus (5) Bhawani

56, 5. Phoenix Fire (6) Donoghue 56,
6. Monza (4) Parbat 55, 7. Cannonball Run (12) S.K. Jadhav 54.5, 8.
Sugar Bay (10) J.Chinoy 54.5, 9.
Eternal Royalty (13) Sandesh 54, 10.
Final Encounter (7) Trevor 53.5, 11.
Nirbhaya (8) Joseph 53, 12. Mount
Rushmore (3) Parmar 52.5 and 13.
Clouds Of Glory (11) C.S.Jodha 51.5.
1. Final Encounter, 2. Phoenix
Fire, 3. Clouds Of Glory
6 ANMOL PREET PLATE
(1,400m), Cl. IV, rated 20 to 46, 445: 1. Korol (3) C.S.Jodha 60.5, 2.
Abigail (10) R.Ajinkya 60, 3. Night
Of Stars (14) Parbat 59, 4. Sawgrass
(7) Santosh 56, 5. Simona (15) Dashrath 54.5, 6. Swaraj (9) T.S.Jodha
54.5, 7. Ascendency (11) Neeraj 54,
8. Secret Ritual (4) Merchant 54, 9.
Severus (2) Sandesh 54, 10. Streetjammer (2) Yash Narredu 53.5, 11.
Wajood (1) Bhawani 53, 12. Chote
Nawab (6) Shelar 52.5, 13. Goldsmith (5) Parmar 52.5, 14. Mizilla
Gold (13) Pereira 52 and 15. Barysh-

nikhov (12) V.Jodha 51.

1. Korol, 2. Simona, 3. Sawgrass
7 APRIL BLOSSOM PLATE
(1,200m), Cl. V, rated 01 to 26, 5-15:
1. Decibell (15) Sandesh 60.5, 2. Deltin (14) Yash Narredu 60.5, 3. Running Wild (7) S.Amit 60.5, 4.
Fairfarren (6) Vishal 59.5, 5. Gold
Dream (8) Merchant 59.5, 6. Starry
Image (13) Trevor 59.5, 7. Bright
Halo (5) Zervan 59, 8. Shukran (3)
Parmar 57, 9. Wind And Rain (11)
Nadeem 56.5, 10. Zafirah (12) Bhawani 56.5, 11. Loveable Locks (2)
Ranjane 55.5, 12. High Winds (4)
Hanumant 55, 13. Wonder Story (1)
Shelar 55, 14. Nobita (Late Star Benevolent) (9) Prasad 51.5 and 15.
Emerald Fortune (10) Neeraj 50.
1. Deltin, 2. Loveable Locks, 3.
Zafirah
Days best: Congressional
Double: Carbonara Korol
Jackpot: 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7.
Treble: 5, 6 & 7.
Tanala: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7.
Super Jackpot: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7.
ND-ND

20 |

LIFE

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

Whiteleys engagement ring cost $3,50,000

Asthma may raise odds for myopia in young

Potatoes linked to gestational diabetes

Model-actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was proposed to by

Jason Statham with a ring said to be worth $3,50,000. Statham
presented her the diamond ring when he asked her to marry him.

People with asthma, sleep apnea or Down syndrome, have higher

odds of developing an eye condition that causes progressive
nearsightedness at a young age, a new research reveals.

Women who eat more potatoes before pregnancy may be at a

higher risk of gestational diabetes compared to women who
consume fewer potatoes, a new study says.

OF ROYALTY AND HISTORY

STAR TREK
Dream girl turns bhajan singer

Victoria to work with Spice Girls

eteran actress-MP Hema Malini has now ventured into

singing and will soon release her album of bhajans.
Hema, 67, took to Twitter to share details with fans
about her new venture. The celebrated
actress recorded a bhajan on Tuesday at
Lata Mangeshkar studio. Yesterday, I
recorded a lovely bhajan at Lata
Mangeshkar studio. Composed by
Pandit Jasraj ji. (I) was assisted by his
disciple Tripti ji. Lyrics are written by
Narayan Agarwalji and music
coordination is by Vivek Prakash. Im
coming out with an album of
bhajans very soon and will need
your encouragement & support,
read her tweet. PTI

Abhishek proud of Big B in Wazir

Megastar Amitabh Bachchans intense
portrayal of a wheelchair-bound chess
grandmaster in Wazir has not only won the
audiences hearts but has also left his
actor-son Abhishek proud. The 39-year-old
Happy New Year star, while praising his
father, said he reinvents himself with every
film. Breaking news! You CAN re-invent
the wheel... Ask @SrBachchan he does so
with every film. Unbelievable. #ProudSon
#Wazir, Abhishek tweeted.
Wazir opened last Friday to mixed reviews from critics and
fans. Directed by Bejoy Nambiar, it also stars Farhan Akhtar,
Aditi Rao Hyadri and Neil Nitin Mukesh. PTI

inger-turned-designer Victoria Beckham,

who was earlier part of Spice Girls, has
reportedly agreed to perform with the group
in London. The 41-year-old had initially refused to
be a part of the 20th anniversary reunion tour
with former bandmates Geri Horner, Emma
Bunton, Mel B and Mel C, but has now come up
with a compromise that will see her take part in a
handful of shows, reports
femalefirst.co.uk.
There are still lots of
details to sort out
but Victoria said
shell perform with
the girls, Closer
magazine quoted a
source as saying.
However, she
stressed she needed
to focus on her
husband David and
their four kids this year
after a stressful 2015 of
trying to juggle work
and family life, so
committing to all
the dates would be
too much.
She already has
a lot on her
plate with her
design
empire, the
source added.
IANS

Brit Awards to pay tribute to David Bowie

Picking up the threads

Ace fashion designer Manish Malhotra revisits the rich textile
legacies of Benaras and Gujarat and gives them a modern spin
NEW DELHI: Ace fashion design-

er Manish Malhotra will be

bringing the essence of Benaras and Gujarat with his latest
collection
titled
Regal
Threads for his label Manish
Malhotra.
Asked why he named the
collection Regal Threads,
Mr. Malhotra, whose creations have been donned by
Bollywood stars such as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor Khan, said over
phone from Mumbai: This is
the first time I am doing all
clothes in woven and its all a
part of Make in India (initiative). Its exciting to work in
something that I have not
ventured into.
While watching old movies, he discovered that there
was so much luxury in the
lifestyle of India.
There was so much of respect and texture that India
has...For all this dying crafts,
its important that a few of the
designers get it out there in
focus in their own style. I am
doing it in my own style, he
said.

GLAMOURISING HANDLOOMS: Malhotra says it is the first time he is

doing all clothes in woven and excited about it.

This is another venture

where we (me and my label)
are focussing on various textures from Gujarat and Benaras. They have a certain regalness,
royalty
and
a
history...And thats why Regal
Threads, he added.
Mr. Malhotra, who has
styled global names like Michael Jackson, Reese Witherspoon, Kylie Minogue, Naomi
Campbell, said the collection

was for a bride, a girl attending a wedding and for a boy.

Its festive and evening wear.
The designer has used an
array of colours for the collection such as red, black, soft
pink, aqua blue, aqua green;
salmon pink, blue, beige and
ivory.
Mr. Malhotra said he wanted to glamourise the Benarasi and Gujarati handlooms
like he did for Kashmiri

embroidery.
I want to put up my own
centres to help the weavers
there (Benaras). I was in Benaras for three days and I noticed that the weavers need a
lot more work. I am doing a
lot of bandhinis, which are
untouched and untapped. I
am glamourising it like what I
did with Kashmiri embroidery. I got it in focus in bridal lehengas, evening wear and saris. Thats what I want to do
for Benaras and Gujarat, he
said.
The Regal Threads range,
which consists of saris, highwaisted skirts, lehengas and
jackets, will be showcased in
Mumbais Regal Room. Fitoor
actors Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapur will up the
glam quotient of the new
range.
Asked why he chose Katrina and Aditya as showstoppers, the designer said: Its a
very Indian collection. Its very organic. I think Katrina and
Aditya are tall, beautiful, very
today, sexy and glamorous.
IANS

Homage will be paid to the rock legend for his extraordinary life and work
LONDON: Tributes will be paid

icons, he added.

to rock legend David Bowie

for his extraordinary life and
work at the Brit Awards next
month.
The late rock legend, who
died of cancer on Sunday,
will be honoured at the show
here on February 24, reports
bbc.com.
David Bowie was one of
the most important and influential songwriters and performers ever and, like so
many fans around the world,
were devastated to hear of
his loss.
A visionary and groundbreaking pioneer, he has inspired generations of musicians and will continue to
shape music for many years
to come, said Brits chairman

Oldest recipient
Bowie, who was 69, was
named best British male singer at the 2014 Brit Awards, becoming the oldest recipient
of a Brit Award in the ceremonys history.
Bowies death will also be
marked by a memorial concert at New Yorks Carnegie
Hall on March 31.
The concert, titled The
Music of David Bowie, was
already arranged before the
stars death, but was originally intended as a tribute show.
The Music of David Bowie
was billed as a tribute show
featuring his songs, but has
now been changed to a memorial. IANS

David Bowie will be honoured posthumously at the show in

London on February 24 PHOTO: REUTERS

Max Lousada.
Naturally, we wish to honour his extraordinary life and

Are you obese? Cut

down on sitting time
NEW YORK: If you are sufering
from obesity, reducing the
time spent on watching television or playing computer
games may be as important as
doing exercise to reduce the
risk of diabetes and heart diseases, suggests new research.
Sedentary behaviour is associated with poor cardiovascular health and diabetes in
adults with severe obesity, independent of how much exercise they perform, the study
said.
According to the researchers, the findings could be used
to design and test programmes meant for adults
with severe obesity that emphasise reducing time spent
sitting, rather than immediately working toward increased moderate to vigorous-intensity
physical
activity or exercise, such as
brisk walking.
Adults with severe obesity
often have diicultly following national guidelines to participate in at least 30 minutes
per day of moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity for health benefits, said
lead author Wendy King, associate professor at University of Pittsburgh in the US.
Our findings suggest that
replacing sedentary behaviour, like watching television
or sitting at the computer,

work at the forthcoming Brit

Awards and pay a fitting tribute to one of our greatest

Fit for the queen?

Brooches, marzipan, homemade honey butter
are some of the official gifts Queen Elizabeth II
received from world leaders and dignitaries
LONDON: What does the woman

who has everything get as

gifts?
A list of oicial gifts received by Queen Elizabeth II
from world leaders and dignitaries during 2015 features
jewellery, ornaments and
some more unusual choices
including homemade honey
butter from Michelle Obama.
Buckingham Palace said on
Wednesday the United States
first lady ofered a gift box of
lemon verbena tea, a candle,

two small pots of honey and a

jar of honey butter from the
White House kitchen garden
during her visit to Britain in
June.
She also gave the queen a
Tifany & Co. silver honeycomb and bee bud vase.
Other curious gifts the
Governor of the British Virgin
Islands presented a bag of
salt and German President
Joachim Gauck ofered a marzipan model of the Branden- The Governor of the British Virgin Islands presented the Queen
a bag of salt PHOTO: AFP
burg Gate. AP

Sharp in math?
Thank your
innate ratio
processing skill

Let the show begin

Sedentary lifestyle
is tied to poor
cardiovascular
health in adults
with obesity

NEW YORK: An innate ratio proc-

essing ability may serve as the

building block for math
knowledge and help in determining our aptitude for understanding fractions and
other formal mathematical
concepts, new research has
found.
Our findings suggest that
human beings come wired
with a sort of naive non-symbolic ratio processing ability
and that diferences in these
abilities have meaningful effects on the development of
mathematical thinking, said
Percival Matthews, psychological scientist at University
of Wisconsin-Madison.

with low-intensity physical

activities, such as light housework or going for a casual
stroll, may improve cardiometabolic health in this population, Mr. King added.
For the study, the researcher followed 927 patients participating in a prospective
study of patients undergoing
weight-loss surgery at one of
10 diferent hospitals across
the US.
For every hour per day, participants spent in sedentary
bouts of at least 10 minutes,
their odds of having diabetes
increased by 15 percent, metabolic syndrome by 12 percent and elevated blood pressure by 14 percent.
These findings indicate
the importance of investigating sedentary behaviour as a
distinct health risk behaviour,
not simply lack of moderate to
vigorous-intensity physical
activity, among adults with
severe obesity, Mr. King
pointed out.
The study was published
online in the journal Preventive Medicine. IANS
Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan being welcomed by children as former cricket captain Sourav Ganguly looks on during the inauguration of a
cultural programme at Victoria Memorial in Kolkata. PHOTO: PTI

The most energetic light ever in space

Replacing sedentary behaviour with low-intensity physical

activities may improve cardio-metabolic health.
CM
YK

LONDON: Scientists have discovered the most energetic light

ever detected in the universe
from the centre of a supernova known as Crab pulsar
which is situated 6,500 light
years away from Earth.
The Crab pulsar is the
corpse left over when the star
that created the Crab nebula
exploded as a supernova.
It has a mass of 1.5 times the
mass of the Sun, concentrated
in about a 10 km diameter object, rotating 30 times per second.
It is surrounded by a region
of intense magnetic field 10
thousand billion times stronger than that of the Sun.

The pulses were found by

researchers working with the
Major Atmospheric Gammaray Imaging Cherenkov
(Magic) observatory in the
Canary Islands, Spain.
We performed deep observation of the Crab pulsar
with MAGIC to understand
this phenomenon, expecting
to measure the maximum energy of the pulsating photons, said Emma de Ona Wilhelmi from the Institute of
Space Sciences (IEEC-CSIC)
in Barcelona.
The new observations extend this tail to much higher,
above trillion electron volt
(TeV) energies, which is sev-

eral times more energetic

than the previous measurement, added Roberta Zanin
from
ICCUB-IEEC,
Barcelona.
The Crab pulsar, created in
a supernova explosion that
occurred in 1054 A.D., is located at the centre of a magnetised nebula visible in the
Taurus constellation.
The Crab is the most powerful pulsar in our galaxy and
it is one of only a few pulsars
detected across all wavelengths, from radio up to gamma rays.
In its rotating magnetic
field, electrons and positrons
are accelerated up to relativis-

tic energies and emit radiation that arrives to our telescopes in the form of pulses
every 33 millisecond, each
time the neutron star rotates
and meets our telescopic
sight.
Before the MAGIC measurement, this radiation was
believed to stop abruptly
when the photons reach an
energy few billion times
larger than visible light.
The new discovery challenges current theories about
how neutron stars operate,
the authors of the study noted
in a paper that appeared in the
journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. IANS

Basic ability
The researchers hypothesised that we must have some
basic ability that allows us to
reason, in an informal way,
about proportions.
The human brain existed
way before we had things like
math and reading, which
means that however we do
these things, we have to sort
out recycle abilities that the
brain already has, Mr. Matthews said. To investigate this
hypothesis, the researchers
recruited 181 college undergraduates to participate in
their study. The research was
published in the journal Psychological Science. IANS

Forgetful kids at risk of

becoming school dropouts
NEW YORK: A habit of forgetting

things in toddlers puts them

at risk of dropping out of high
school, reveals a new study.
According to the researchers, pre-schoolers who score
lower on a memory task are
likely to score higher on a
dropout risk scale at the age of
12.
The children who perform
better on a memory-testing
task during toddlerhood are
more likely to perform better
in school later on and
therefore more likely to stay
in school, the findings
showed. IANS
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