BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD. | ESTABLISHED 1838 | TIMESOFINDIA.

COM

NEWS DIGEST
Delhi cops kill
man, dump body
The discovery of an unidentified body outside a Metro
station on Thursday has
blown the lid off a grisly case
of police brutality. The victim,
a fruit-seller, was allegedly
beaten to death inside the
lock-up at Adarsh Nagar
police station in Delhi and his
body dumped in a cover-up
bid. Cops tried to pass it off as
a suicide, then called it a
failed escape bid. But a probe
indicated otherwise. P12

Mobile panic button

delayed: The Centres plan
to introduce mandatory panic
buttons on new mobile
phones from January 1 as a
safety measure for women in
distress may have to wait for
at least another month as
manufacturers, hit by a dip in
sales after demonetisation,
have sought some time to
clear old stocks before rolling
out new phones. Sources said
all companies are on board
but they need time. P11

Muslim minor can legally

wed: The Gujarat HC has
given legal sanction to the
marriage of a minor Muslim
girl who had eloped with her
21-year-old lover, citing an
earlier judgment enabling a
Muslim girl to marry when
she reaches puberty. But the
couples union has been
jeopardised by their desperate attempt to fortify their
case. P2

All stalls booked at Vibrant summit: Govt: The

countdown to Gujarats
biennial mega global business
summit has begun with the
state government claiming
that all of its over 1,500 stalls
have been booked. P2

Pal drags Supriyo into

Rose Valley scam: Trinamool MP Tapas Pal on Sunday
dragged Union minister Babul
Supriyos name into the Rose
Valley scam. He was very
close to Kundu (Rose Valley
boss), Pal said on Sunday.
Supriyo, on the other hand,
reacted saying he was contemplating legal action. P10

`42L payments to IRF

employee under scanner:
Probing controversial Islamic
preacher Zakir Naiks alleged
funding of terrorists, the NIA
is looking into suspicious
payments of Rs 42 lakh to
Arshi Qureshi, a guest relation
manager with his NGO IRF,
who was arrested in July 2016
for allegedly radicalising
some Kerala youths to join the
Islamic State. P10

19

WEATHER
Max
30.6 (+3)
..........................
Min
12.4 (0)

Ahmedabad forecast: Clear sky.

Maximum temperature is expected
to be around 31 C

AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017 | PAGES 26 | PRICE `3.00

EPAPER.TIMESOFINDIA.COM

Home loans cheapest in 6 yrs 2 Indians among 39 killed

as SBI slashes rates by 0.50% in attack on Istanbul club
Union Bank, PNB
Too Cut Rates; Pvt
Banks To Follow
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Home loan rates

have fallen to their lowest level
in six years with State Bank of
India, the countrys largest
lender, cutting the effective rate
by 50 basis points to 8.6% from
9.10%.
While SBI cut its one-year
marginal cost of lending rate
(MCLR) the benchmark to
which home loans are linked
to 8%, against 8.9% earlier, it
kept the spread above MCLR at
60 basis points, against 20 basis
points earlier. So, home loans
up to Rs 75 lakh, earlier available at 9.1%, can now be taken at
8.60%. For others, the rate
would be 8.65%, against 9.15%

YOU SAVE 3 LAKH OVER 15 YEARS

Bank
SBI
Union Bank
IDBI Bank
SBT
IOB
PNB

MCLR* (%)

8
8.65
9.15
9.2
9.15
8.45

Old Rates (%)

DIFFERENCE

8.6%

9.10%

8.9

Loan ( )

50 lakh

50 lakh

9.3

Years

15

15

9.3

EMI ( )

49,530

51,011

Total Interest ( )

39 lakh

42 lakh

9.45
9.5
9.15

*MCLR: Marginal Cost of Lending Rates for 1 year from Jan 1

earlier.
Besides SBI, Union Bank of
India and Punjab National
Bank also cut rates. Private sector banks like ICICI Bank are
expected to follow suit.
TOI had carried a frontpage report on January 1, saying SBI and other banks were
set to cut rates following a prod
from PM Modi to signal that
benefits of demonetisation in
the form of record deposits are

EMI will drop by 29/1 lakh in this scenario

SBIs effective home loan rate based on
60 basis points spread over MCLR

being shared with the poor and

middle class.
The reduction in lending
rates by several public sector
banks will make the affordable
home loan scheme, announced
by the PM on Sunday, available
at a little over 4% for borrowers
seeking loans of up to Rs 9 lakh.
Details of the scheme are yet to
be announced.
The reduction in MCLR
will mean that new borrowers

will get loans at the cheaper

rates. Since home loans are
linked to one-year MCLR, the
rates are locked in for 12
months. Older loans will get the
benefit of the new rates only after their one-year lock-in ends.
Those who had availed loans
before April 2016 would have
their EMIs linked to the earlier
benchmark, the base rate.
Continued on P 15

Gold worth `1,250cr sold in just 2 days

Pradeep.Thakur
@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: More than four

tonnes of gold worth over Rs
1,250 crore were sold within 48
hours of the announcement of
demonetisation of high-value
currency notes on November 8,
according to a survey conducted by the Directorate General
of Central Excise Intelligence
(DGCEI).
Two tonnes of the precious
metal were sold on November
8, probably the highest retail
sales on any given day, officials
claim, raising suspicion of
huge money laundering activ-

ATMs must stock

`500 notes too: RBI

ities, allegedly to convert

banned currency notes into
gold. A leading Delhi-based
jeweller had sold 45kg gold to
700 people on November 8,
showed entries found in its accounts. A day before, the jeweller had sold just 820gm.
Lalita Jewellers in Chennai
sold 200kg of gold jewellery on

BI has directed banks to

ensure that the higher ATM
withdrawal limit of Rs 4,500 is
dispensed in Rs 2,000 and Rs
500 notes. This is to ensure that
ATMs do not run dry soon and
there is enough lower
denomination notes to provide
liquidity for the Rs 2,000 notes.

November 8. A day before (November 7), the jeweller had sold

less than 40kg, according to entries detected by the central ex-

SP goes for beta version

Party Meet Ousts
Mulayam, Names
Akhilesh Chief
Swati Mathur &
Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui

Continued on P 6

NSG website
defaced by
Pak hackers
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

TNN

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav

staged a coup on Sunday, dislodging his father Mulayam
Singh Yadav as Samajwadi
Party president and installing
himself as the boss at an
emergency convention of
the party.
While this caps three
months of acrimonious manoeuvres and counter-manoeuvres that the two sides claimed
would not lead to a split, Sundays developments have torn the
party asunder with two separate entities, SP (Mulayam)
and SP (Akhilesh) likely to contest the UP assembly elections.
Although Mulayam indicated his willingness to fight, this
cannot blur the fact that he is
no longer the party boss. Worse
for him, the Election Commission is likely to freeze the bicycle symbol as it doesnt have
enough time to verify the claim

cise officials who surveyed the

accounts. Jaipurs Laawat
Jewellers had reported 100gm
of gold stock on November 7,
but its sales exceeded 30kg on
November 8. The jeweller is under investigation.
The government has already detected a central excise
duty evasion of Rs 20 crore
based on the sales admitted by
over 400 jewellers surveyed
across the country since demonetisation. The duty evasion is likely to touch Rs 100
crore once the scrutiny is completed, say officials.

Akhilesh at the SP national convention in Lucknow on Sunday

of either of the two factions as

to which one is real. The freezing of the symbol would further erode any leverage Mulayam has left with the MLAs, and
level the playing field between
him and his son.
Akhilesh took the precaution of not appearing to be ungrateful to his father by making
Mulayam the margdarshak
or mentor, but this would hardly mask the fact that the party
the 77-year-old former UP CM
founded has gone out of his
control.
MSY showed he wasnt ready to give up by sacking cousin
Ram Gopal, who had called the

meeting, for the third time in

less than two months, and declared it unconstitutional.
Mulayam then called his own
national meet on January 5,
possibly the last dangal (bout)
of his political career.
Sources said Mulayam is
also reaching New Delhi on
Monday along with his brother
Shivpal for a meeting with the
EC. Sacked party MP Amar
Singh too is back from London
and sources suggested there
could possibly be a meeting
between the three in the national capital.
Continued on P 6

New Delhi: Suspected Pak-affiliated hackers hacked the official website of the elite National Security Guard (NSG)
on Sunday and defaced it with
a profanity-laden message
against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and anti-India
content.
Officials said the hacking
was noticed on Sunday morning and the URL www.nsg.gov.in - was blocked
soon after by the counter-terror special force from its headquarters.
The hackers, identifying
themselves as Alone Injector,
posted offensive content on
the sites home page.
Official sources said the
hacking attempt could have
been carried out by Pak-affiliated hackers, though they were still trying to ascertain the
details. Investigators strongly
felt that the hackers are based
in a third country and work for
Pakistans spy agency ISI as
they left a message - Pakistan
Zindabad -- on the home page.

70 Injured As
Gunman Targets
NY Revellers

Istanbul: Two Indians were

among the 39 people killed
when a gunman opened fire
on New Year revellers at the
posh Reina nightclub on the
shores of the Bosphorus in
Istanbul on Sunday night before fleeing. At least 70 people were injured.
Officials in Turkey spoke
of a single attacker, a lone
wolf in the parlance of Islamic State, but some reports
citing witnesses, including
on social media, suggested
many others may be involved. A manhunt for the attacker was under way.
The deceased Indians weRelated reports, P 13
re Abis Hasan Rizvi, 49, son
of former Rajya Sabha member and builder Akhtar Hasan Rizvi, and Khushi Shah
of Gujarat. Abis Rizvi was
CEO of Rizvi Builders and
had produced a number of
films, including the 2014 movie Roar: Tigers of the Sundarbans, external affairs
minister Sushma Swaraj
tweeted.
Swaraj said Indian envoy
to Turkey Rahul Kulshreshtha has been asked to receive
the families at the airport
and make all necessary arrangements. Expressing his
condolences, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi tweeted,
Heartfelt condolences to
the government and people
of Turkey on the tragic loss
of lives in Istanbul. AGENCIES

A tribute outside the posh Reina nightclub in Istanbul

Vadodara girl Khushi, 27,

had boutique in Mumbai
re they would be going to Turkey to get her body. Their visa
Vadodara: The Istanbul terror for the tour had also been arranattack took the life of 27-year-old ged by the ministry of external
Khushi Shah from Vadodara. affairs.
Sources said that Khushi
Khushi, who studied fashion dewas single and was
signing in the US, had
amongst the two sibshifted to Mumbai filings of Ashwin
ve years ago and opeShah. Her mother
ned a boutique nadied recently after a
med Khushi Z there.
prolonged illness.
She had gone to IstanOther
family
bul on New Years eve.
members had been
Nishant Ramani,
desperately trying
the business partner
to reach her after
of Khushis father
getting to know aboAshwin Shah, said, Khushi Shah
ut the terror attack.
We broke the news
to Ashwinbhai late in the night. However, they failed to get any
update till they saw the news
He is too shocked to speak.
Her father is into chemicals about external affairs minister
business. Ramani is also their Sushma Swaraj tweeting about
neighbour in Chikoowadi area. the tragedy.
The family, however, is not
Ramani told TOI that her brother Akshay and another cousin aware about who else was achave left for Mumbai from whe- companying her on the trip. P 6
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Early-stage funding
deals sail along in 16
Shalina Pillai, Anand J &
Shilpa Phadnis TNN

Bengaluru: The year 2016

might not have been a big
one for large-scale funding,
but there hasnt been much
of a roadblock for earlystage funding deals, which
continue to ride the startup
wave.
According to data analytics firm Venture Intelligence, there were 107 funding deals this year, almost on
a par with last years figure
of 117 deals, for investments
within $1 million.
The top deals in this category were raised by Bengaluru- based self-publishing
platform Pratilipi, which
raised $925,000 in seed funding from Nexus Venture
Partners and others in June.
The trend changed as the
deal size increased. For instance, funding rounds between $1 million and $10 million saw a drop from 205

deals last year to 170 deals

this year.
The big-ticket funding
rounds of more than $10 million saw only 56 funding
rounds this year, compared
to last years 93.
Parag Dhol, managing
director at Inventus Capital
Partners, said that 2016 was a
good year barring big deals.
Indian economy is big
enough to support several
smaller early-stage deals,
whereas it is not big enough
to support several above $100
million deals, he said.
Dhol added that while the
big private equity funds or
hedge funds have retreated,
the interest of small Japanese funds and the Chinese
tech companies supporting
several Indian startups
make him hopeful of the ecosystem doing well. They
have the money and the
right intent. Even SoftBank,
despite setbacks, has made
the right noises, he said.

Petrol price up by
Rs 1.29, diesel 97p
New Delhi:The New Year started on a crude note for consumers as fuels across the board
became costlier due to an uptick in global oil prices in the
wake of a global production cut
deal among major oil exporters, including Opec and Russia. State-run fuel retailers raised petrol price by Rs1.29 a litre,
the third in a month. Diesel rate was hiked by 97 paise a litre,
marking the second increase in
a fortnight. TNN

Industrialist held
in Ukhand forest

elhi-based industrialist
Samir Thapar and 15
others were arrested by
Uttarakhand police on New
Years eve in Kolhu Chaur area
of Lansdowne, in Pauri Garhwal, on charges of trespassing
on forest land. One person has
been charged for carrying illicit liquor and another for carrying rifles and live cartridges
in contravention of licence regulations. TNN P12

India, Pakistan begin New Year

I know what you download: This site sees it all with face-off over captive spy
Times Classifieds | P 6

New Tool Can Reveal IP Addresses, Anyone Can Use It To Spy On Friends Download History

Sachin.Parashar
@timesgroup.com

Getty Images

Andrew Griffin

wners of a new website

claim to know everything you and your
friends have ever downloaded.
I Know What You Download
gathers information from
across the internet to find out
what people are downloading.
It knows everything, including your IP address. This tool
can reveal IP addresses of anyone who has downloaded songs,
movies, or anything on the BitTorrent without using VPN
(Virtual Private Network),
proxy or seedbox for public
viewing.
In addition, it also offers a
spy tool where you can see what
your friends are downloading,

without knowing their IP address. If your friend clicks on

the hyperlink of a file-sharing
site via SMS, then their alleged
download history shows up immediately, without the IP address being exposed.
However, it is unclear who
the site is run by or what they
are doing with the information
being collected. The people behind the site said that they were
running it as a way of marketing their services to content
owners and police. The site can
also find out who is downloading a certain content and help
protect that same content as
well as other services, like finding users who share child pornography.
So, how does the service

NO PRIVACY: The people behind the site said that they were running
it as a way of marketing their services to content owners and police

work? While torrenting, people

seed or send out and leech or
download content all of
which happens from other users in the network, and so those
computers connect with each
other. Thus, a computer can

then easily find out the identity

of others who are sending or
taking content from it and that
is what happening on the new
website.
Similar tools are already being used by film, music, TV

companies to prevent their

shows from being torrented.
There have been reports of
these firms pursuing people
who have downloaded their
content either for costs or to
force them to stop illegal downloads.
However, downloads from
torrents are only tied to IP addresses and not to specific people. This means that the site will
only show whether someone
has been on your internet connection, and not necessarily
which computer did it or even if
the computer was in a persons
house. However, the site claims
to have limited records as peoples IP can change and one address may be assigned to a
range of people. THE INDEPENDENT

New Delhi: India and Pakistan will begin the New Year facing off again over alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav
who is currently in Pakistans
custody. As Islamabad prepares to present a dossier before
the UN on the alleged terrorist activities of Jadhav, India
has issued yet another note
verbale to the Pakistan foreign ministry seeking immediate consular access to him.
This is the 9th note verbale, an unsigned diplomatic
communication, issued by India for access to Jadhav and also the first since reports from
Islamabad quoted Pakistans
de facto foreign minister Sartaj Aziz as saying that there
was no conclusive evidence

GENERALS SALUTE: Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat paying

homage at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate, in New Delhi on Sunday

against Jadhav.
Pakistan though later denied that Aziz had made that
statement and said that there
was ``irrefutable evidence
against Jadhav. The two countries saw the customary exchange of lists of prisoners on
January 1. India in its statement mentioned that it was
still awaiting consular access

to Jadhav.
Islamabad has not yet directly responded to New Delhis fresh diplomatic communication but on Sunday it
launched a counter-attack on
India saying that Pakistan
was a direct victim of Indian
state- sponsored terrorism.
Continued on P 6

TIMES CITY
THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

DALIT LAWYER WAS THREATENED BY UPPER CASTE

PRISONERS IN JAIL; HE WAS ARRESTED FOR MURDER | 4

SWAYAMSEVAKS REMAIN SOCIAL MESSENGERS IN

TIME OF DIGITAL MEDIA: BHAGWAT | 4

Cops chaperone, Amdavadis party Muslim minor can wed,

Pics: Yogesh Chawda

New Years
Eve Peaceful:
Police; 55 Held
For Drinking

Drive against
liquor to continue?
ity cops were engaged in the
drive against liquor as a
run-up to December 31that spurs
illegal liquor consumption.
However, sources said that the
top cops are determined to
continue the drive. In 11days
since December 21, city police
have registered 470 cases and
have caught caught over 450
persons. The number of
barricades might be fewer but
there will be regular vehicle
checking nonetheless. Parallel
activity to keep an eye on known
bootleggers is also on, said a
senior city police official. TNN

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: Major city roads were flooded with vehicles in the first minutes of January 1, 2017, as citizens cheered the arrival of the New Year. Public places were turned
into impromptu party zones.
City police started dispersing the crowds after 12.30 am
to ease traffic. Demonetization evidently dampened celebrations there were fewer fireworks compared to
earlier years when the clocks
hit the midnight hour. Police
officials also remarked that
crowds were thinner than
those seen in the previous years, partly due to the stringent stand taken by the police
against illegal liquor consumption.
CG Road remained the top
choice for many who just
wanted to bask in the festive
spirit. They started crowding
the road from 10 pm onwards.
Most of the hotels and restaurants were brimming with revellers till late in the night as
Sabarmati Riverfront emerged as the new destination to
ring in the New Year.
Clubs and party plots also
reported increase in footfalls.
Many Amdavadis decided to
spend the night in the company of friends and families. On

Clockwise from left: Celebrations were in full swing across the city as
people let their hair down while ringing in the New Year.

A car carrying over 100 IMFL bottles met with an accident near Sargasan
crossroads early on Sunday. One of the occupants fled from the spot,
while the car driver was taken to Gandhinagar Civil Hospital. A video of
passers-by looting the IMFL bottles on Sunday morning went viral on
social media.

January 1, special prayer meetings were organized at city

churches.
There were few untoward incidents reported on
December 31 or the early hours of January 1, said a se-

nior city police official. Optimum staff was deployed on

the road both for security and
traffic management. DCP-level officers were stationed at
important locations such as
CG Road and SG Road. He sa-

id the some stretches near SP

Ring Road were lighted up; on
these sites, robbery and eveteasing had been reported
earlier,
Special teams of the traffic branch were on the road

NURTURING THE ROBO CHAMPS

TOI

NRG Duo Ready

City Kids For
Global Robotics
Competitions
Parth.Shastri@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad: It was exactly

three years ago when Nimish
Shah, an IT
expert based
in California,
US, and his son
Shalin, then
14, had come to
the city and
had decided to
engage
with the local student
community.
Shalin, at that time, had
already been captain of RoboKnights, one of the winning teams of 2013 Robotics FIRST Tech Challenge
of Northern California, and it
was the duos dream to warm
up the local student community to the exciting world of robo-

They have raised funds in the US to bring the kits for the initiative

tics. We have been working for

three years with various schools and institutions like Ahmedabad University (AU) and

ROOTS & WINGS

IEEE to fulfil the dream. We are
happy by the response we are
getting, said Nimish on Sunday, when four teams of robo-

tics got engaged in a competition following international rules at AU.

According to him, it is the
first sure step towards making Ahmedabad the fifth city in India having its own
FIRST (For Inspiration and
Recognition of Science and
Technology) tournaments
that amalgamates mathematics, science, computer
programming and above
all thinking out of the box.
Every year, thousands of teams
participate in regional, national and international competitions.

We brought in kits and also toured a number of schools

in the city, talking about the
concept and how to assemble
programmable robots through
Lego-like blocks. We have also
found great mentors in Jaina
Mehta and Dhruv Gupta, members of AU and IEEE respectively, who form the formidable
support system to sustain it,
while we would be in the US,
said Shalin.
Shalin has already raised
funds in the US to bring the kits
for the initiative and has also
provided curriculum in form
of teaching material, videos
and online resources for the
students.
The programme across
the world is run by enthusiastic
volunteers and we believe that
parents would take up the
mantle once the programme
finds its feet, said Nimish. We
are committed to the cause and
we will visit Ahmedabad on a
yearly basis and engage them
online to prepare them for tournaments in India, he said.
We hope that a team will be
ready within a year, said Nimish.

till 3 am clearing traffic and

catching errant drivers. At
100-plus points, city police also carried out vehicle checking, particularly to catch inebriated people.
Police also reported fewer
cases of violation of prohibition laws. In all, 55 persons
were caught from areas such
as Sardarnagar, Chandkheda, Vejalpur, Vastrapur, Ellisbridge, Sola, Krishnanagar,
Amraiwadi and Odhav, said
an official. At Chandkheda,
nine persons were caught
from Purushottam Park Society near D Cabin where local
residents had reported loud
music even after midnight.
When a team reached the
spot, all those present were
found inebriated. Most of the
cases were registered while
checking people on roads
with breathalyzers.

GMC launches
smart services
in Gandhinagar
Ahmedabad: After close to two
years of trial, the Gandhinagar
Municipal Corporation (GMC)
launched its new citizen centric
smart services on Saturday. The
services will include city wide
Wi-Fi, IP-based surveillance systems, smart street lighting, ambient air quality sensors, digital
display at roundabouts and
junctions, speed and face detection system, public address system, smart call centre and a
centralized command centre to
monitor and control all activities. Its new automatic number
plate recognition system with
infrared night vision capabilities have also been installed over
the past four months and are
now functional on three major
roads of the city.
Municipal commissioner
DN Modi, said, The smart services will help the government
deliver citizens seamless connectivity, security, cost savings
and system transparency. The
open to sky Wi-Fi services for
mobiles, ensures public security
with IP surveillance. TNN

but cant sign agreement

Girls Dad
Moves HC
Over Live-In
Contract

Saeed.Khan @timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat

high court has given legal
sanction to the marriage of a
minor Muslim girl who had
eloped with her 21-year-old
lover, citing an earlier judgment enabling a Muslim girl
to marry when she reaches
puberty. But the couples
union has been jeopardized
by their desperate attempt to
fortify their case. Apart from
solemnizing their nikah, the
couple had also signed a livein relationship contract.
This bid to secure double
protection has put in trouble
all who helped the couple.
So while the youth got the
high courts protection when
the girls father alleged abduction, the court now has
directed the police to investi-

gate charges against the youth after the girls father moved the HC, demanding action against those involved
in the preparation and notarizing of the contract. The
girls father has contended
that a minor cannot legally
enter into any agreement.
Jainulabedin Ganji and
the girl from Jamnagar eloped on November 9. The
girls father lodged a complaint against Ganji for abducting the girl. Ganji moved the
HC to have the charges quashed on the grounds that an
HC order permits a Muslim
girl to marry, if she so chooses, when she reaches puberty. He provided the nikahnama to substantiate his case.
Justice J B Pardiwala, who
had passed the judgment in

question, was hearing the

quashing plea. On November 22, he directed cops not to
arrest the youth, but allowed
the investigation to proceed.
He ordered cops to file a chargesheet if an offence was made out.
To become doubly sure
that the family members do
not separate them, the couple had sent a copy of their live-in relationship agreement to the girls family. This
was accompanied with a notarized affidavit of the girl
stating that she had willingly
joined the youth. On basis of
this agreement, the girls father approached cops once
again and demanded action
against those who helped her
prepare the documents. Cops
gave him the cold shoulder.
This brought him before the
HC. This case too came up for
hearing before Justice Pardiwala, who pulled up the police for lethargy and directed
them to start an investigation against those involved
in helping the minor girl prepare the affidavit and the
contract.

All stalls booked at Vibrant

summit, claims state govt
TOI

5,000 Sq M
Space Reserved
For MSMEs,
Startups
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: With the countdown to Gujarats biennial mega global business summit begun, the state government on
Sunday claimed that all of its
over 1,500 stalls have been booked. Minister for revenue and
education, Bhupendra Chudasama, claimed that the Vibrant
Gujarat
Global
Summit
(VGGS) will be spread across
1.5 lakh sq m with over 77,000 sq
m being exclusive exhibition
and seminar space.
This year, the state government claimed that it expects
over15-20 lakh visitors between
January 9 and January 13 at the
summit in Gandhinagar. Industries commissioner, Mamta
Verma, claimed, There has been registration of more than
25,000 individuals from SME
and MSME sectors alone.
This year, of the total confirmed participants, 35% constitute Indian private companies and corporates, 8% constitute international companies,
15% are central government
agencies and bodies, 15% are
Gujarat PSUs and depart-

The state government claimed that it expects over 15-20 lakh visitors

VIBRANT FACTS
Stalls | 1,500
Wifi hot spots | 1,500
CCTV cameras | 350
Venue area | 1.5 lakh sq m
Partner countries | 12
Expected footfalls | 15-20 lakh

ments, while 12 % constitute

Union government PSUs.
Apart from this, there will be a
display area for the Army, Air
Force and Navy at the Vibrant
summit.
In almost 28 sectors, the illustrative list of companies
and bodies consists of 92 government and semi-government bodies, PSUs and agencies, while 77 are private corporate companies, including financial banks and insurance

companies.
Post demonetization, the
VGGS authorities claim that a
space of 5,000 sq m out of the
77,000 sq m exhibition area has
been allotted to SMEs, MSMEs,
women entrepreneurs and
startups, claim sources.
Chudasama claimed that
the participation from 12 partner countries will be confirmed in the coming two days.
This year, the summit will
see presidents of Kenya and
Rwanda and prime ministers
of Portugal and Serbia and deputy prime ministers of Russia
and Poland as special guests.
Along with them, will be government and industry representatives from Poland, France, Japan, Sweden, Denmark,
Canada, UAE, Singapore, The
Netherlands, UK and the USA.

TIMES CITY

THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

On mobile, man
records dying
declaration
Cops Soft On
Accused, Say
Kin Of
Deceased
Sarfaraz.Shaikh
@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad: A youth who

was stabbed multiple times
and was fighting for life got
his dying declaration recorded. In his final hours,
Brijesh Yadav, 26, of Saraspur area, asked his friend to
record his declaration on a mobile phone.
Cops in this case
went soft on the accused, allege Yadavs family members. They
have alleged that before Yadav died he repeatedly told the cops that it
was a case of attempt to
murder, but the police allegedly showed apathy and registered a case of injury under Section 326 of the IPC.
Yadav had been stabbed thrice in the abdomen on December 24 and succumbed to his
injuries on December 29.
Ironically, this case comes close on the heels of the
new city police commissioners appeal to his subordinates to be compassionate
towards complainants.
The deceaseds kin alleged that even after the Sheherkotda police officials were told that the youth had been stabbed thrice, they registered the complaint under
Section 326 of the IPC.
In-charge PI of Sheherkotda police station J A Rathava claimed that after Ya-

davs friend had recorded

his statement they too filmed his statement. Rathava
conceded that the case should have been registered under sections of attempt to
murder.
Though the audio of the
video is unclear, Yadav is heard saying in Hindi that he
wants justice. Rajubhai has
stabbed me in the stomach
and hand. He owed some money to me. We had quarrelled
earlier at Gopal Chowk as
well. He had threatened to finish my family. He has stabbed me, Yadav is heard saying this in his statement.
Vijaysingh Tomar, the official complainant in
this case, has accused
Nagendrasinh
Rajput, owner of a recovery agency, of stabbing
his friend Yadav on
December 24 while
they were passing by
Saraspur. It has been
mentioned in the complaint
that both Tomar and Yadav,
who used to work for Rajputs agency, left him to join
another agency about four
months back. Yadav was asking Rajput to clear his dues, said inspector Rathava.
When contacted Shaherkotda police station inspector S M Chaudhary claimed
that he was aware of the incident but was officially off
duty hours before the incident on December 24. He claimed that he is assisting the
CBI in the day-to-day court
proceedings of RTI activist
Amit Jethwa murder case.
Chaudhary was initially a
part of the Jethwa murder
probe. I dont have any idea
as to how the probe into the
Saraspur youths stabbing
was handled, Chaudhary
said.

Cash, camera stolen

Ahmedabad: An embroidery unit owner in Krishnanagar has
registered a complaint with Krishnanagar police for the theft of Rs
4 lakh cash and a CCTV camera along with DVR worth Rs 4,000.
According to a complaint by Manu Kapadia, a resident of
Thakkarnagar, suspect Ranjan Singh entered his unit Dimple
Enterprise at Pushpkunj Complex using a duplicate key. He then
stole the cash from the drawer while removing the DVR so that no
CCTV footage of the incident could be found. TNN

Dr Sudhir Shahs book on

neurological disorders launched
Ahmedabad: Padma Shri Dr
Sudhir Shah launched his first
public awareness guide on brain and neurological disorders
on Sunday.
The book was launched by
Gujarat governor O P Kohli.
Shah has co-authored the
book, Brain & Neurological
Disorders A simplified health education guide, with his
daughter Dr Heli Shah.
Elaborating on some important features of the book,
Dr Shah, who is also the HoD
Neurology at VS Hospital, and
director Neurosciences, Ster-

ling Hospital, said, The book

is a humble attempt to fill the
gap in the understanding of neurological disorders by providing authentic, research-based information in a simplified
manner for one and all. The book has 27 chapters and it is primarily intended to benefit the
patients, their families, and care givers.
He added, It will also be
useful for physicians, medical
students, paramedics, and
physiotherapists who have to
counsel their patients and their families. TNN

Youth saves man from ending life on tracks

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: Left with not

enough money for treatment
58-year-old tempo driver
Ramdhan Sendharkar, a resident of Amraiwadi, went to
the rail tracks to end life near
Maninagar crossing on Sunday evening. However, Jayesh
Mundhva, who had gone out

to buy a New Year cake for his family, saw

him and jumped off
his bike to pull him
just in time as the train passed by.
Khokhra police
station officials rushed to the
spot and recorded the statement of Sendharkar. Police said that Sendharkar was suffe-

ring from a stomach illness and was deeply depressed about his future
after treatment as he did
not have enough money
for the survival of his family.
Sendharkar drives a tempo and has a wife and four sons
to feed. He had several times
gone to government hospitals

for treatment without any positive outcome, said a police

official.
On Sunday, Sendharkar
left his house with an intention to commit suicide. He came near Maninagar railway
crossing and a few minutes later, stood between the rail
tracks in front of a train. It was
then that Mundhva saved him.

TIMES CITY

THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

Dalits kin sells jewellery to survive

Sankhat & His
Pregnant Wife
Were Beaten Up
In Ugala Village
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: There is no
end of woes for family members of Babu Sankhat and
his six-month-pregnant wife Rekha, who were attacked
by four persons of Bharwad
community on December 25,
over cattle grazing. Babu
has sustained injuries on
his ribs, legs and face, while
Rekha sustained injuries on
her legs and shoulder.
Police have nabbed the
accused whose bail plea is

Rekha and Babu Sankhat

pending before a local court

in Una.
The dalit family, which
was already struggling to
make ends meet, was financially devastated with their
breadwinner hospitalized.

They have begun to sell family jewellery to survive.

Babu and his elder brother Premji are the only earning members of the family,
but with Babu remaining
hospitalized and Premji ha-

ving to commute from Una

to Rajkot daily, theres no
one to earn money.
Premjis wife Bhanu
Sankhat, 50, and her daughter Hina, 20, have begun to
start working as daily labourers in a groundnut mill so
that the 10-member family
can survive.
We could not sit idle
with empty bellies, so I called in my married daughter,
Hina, from Mumbai to work
for some days here, so that
we can survive, Bhanu said.
However, we earn Rs 400
a day and it is difficult to meet all expenses including
those required to tend to Babu. So I had to sell my earrings and some silver ornaments at the throwaway pri-

ce of Rs 5,000 to get some money, Bhanu said, adding,

We did not have any other
option.
She said that no social activist or political party leader have come to meet them
after the incident, that had
taken place merely 6 km
from Mota Samadhiyala,
where four dalits -Ashok,
Vashram, Bechar and Ramesh Sarvaiya had been
mercilessly flogged by cow
vigilantes on July 11.
The treatment is free in
the Rajkot civil hospital,
where Babu is hospitalized,
but we have to bear the
transportation costs from
Una to Rajkot, food expenses, and survive the void created by lack of earning, said Bhanu.

Dalit lawyer threatened by upper caste inmates in jail

Parmar Was Arrested
For Murder Post Una
Flogging Episode
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: Navchetan Parmar, an

accused in the murder of a police
constable, during dalit protests post
the Una flogging episode in July 2016,
has alleged that some upper caste
prisoners had threatened him to keep mum about atrocities, when he
was lodged in Amreli jail. Parmar is
one of the accused in the murder of

Pankaj Amreliya, who was injured

While being taken to court for a
when a protest by dalits, on July 19, hearing on December 20, an upper
turned violent in Amreli. The cons- caste prisoner, who was also with me
table later died from the injuries.
in the prison van, threatened me in
A lawyer by profession,
the presence of about 11
Parmar had opposed torture
policemen, said Parmar.
and humiliation of lower casI have lodged a complate prisoners by upper caste
int with the police and alprisoners in presence of jail
so written to the additiostaff. He made a written
nal DGP, prisons, Parcomplaint in September remar said.
sulting in an order for a judiParmar was released
cial inquiry on October 15.
on bail on December 28.
The inquiry is still going on. Navchetan Parmar
As the inquiry could
Parmar alleged upper caste
land them in trouble and
prisoners began threatening him af- jail transfers, I was threatened and
ter the inquiry began.
told to keep quiet about the atrociti-

es, said Parmar.

Parmar said that many lower caste prisoners in the jail were made to
wash toilets, wash clothes of upper
caste prisoners, and in some cases
even made to drink water from toilets.
The lawyer alleged that upper
caste prisoners often beat lower caste prisoners mercilessly but jail authorities did not even get medico-legal cases registered.
Jail authorities said the inquiry
is in progress and they have recorded
statements of several Amreli Jail inmates with regard to Parmars allegations.

PAAS, dalit leaders threaten to disrupt VGS

TOI

Demand Fixed-Pay
Employees To Be
Made Permanent
By January 7
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: Conveners of
Patidar Anamat Andolan
Samiti (PAAS), OBC leader
Alpesh Thakor and dalit stir
doyen, Jignesh Mevani, have threatened to disrupt Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) 2017, if fixed-pay
and contractual employees
were not made permanent
by the state government by
January 7. The young political Turks were speaking at a
meeting of contractual and
fixed-pay employees called
by Pravin Ram, convener of
Gujarat Jan Adhikar Manch
(GJAM).
Police detained more
than 250 protesters trying to
convene at the Jan Akrosh
Rally, which was originally
planned at Pathikashram
Chhavani in Gandhinagar.
However, employees led by
Ram later started their programme at a parking area of
Akhsardham temple, from
where they were detained.
Pressing for demands of
fixed-pay employees, Ram
said, The fixed-pay system
should be abolished from a
developed state like Guja-

Police detained more than 250 protesters trying to convene at the Jan Akrosh Rally, in Gandhinagar

rat. Women working as

ASHA (Accredited Social
Health Activist) and anganwadi workers should be given full wages according to
norms and unemployed youths should be given jobs immediately, Ram said.
He also gave a memorandum of their demands to the
additional
collector
of
Gandhinagar.
We gave the list of our
demands to the government
representative. If the government does not consider
our demands by January 7,
then we will not allow VGGS
to take place, Ram said.
Thakor, Mevani and PA-

AS leaders, including Hardiks close aides, Dinesh

Bambhania, Varun Patel
and Lalit Vasoya, all endorsed his call.
At the meeting, Thakor
said that government should focus on the issue of
unemployment, and demands of fixed-pay and
contractual employees should be accepted otherwise,
the much-hyped VGGS will
be disrupted.
Extending support to
Rams movement, Mevani
said, If the Rs 60 lakh crore
MoUs are really realized
and the black money surfaced after demonetization,

then the fixed pay and contractual employees should be

given Rs 45,000 instead of
current pay scale of Rs
4,500.
PAAS leader Varun Patel
said, PAAS supports this
movement and we will keep
supporting the fixed-pay
employees all their public
meetings and protests.
A senior police official
told TOI that over 250 protesters were detained from the
meeting venue because the
organizers did not have permission to hold the meeting.
All of them were taken to SP
office for a while and released later, said the official.

2 cyclists head for

Delhi with
Zero Wastemessage
Ahmedabad: A team of two cyclists from Ahmedabad will pedal from the city to Delhi a distance
of 1,020 km to spread the message of Make Your
Home Zero Waste.
The 11-day journey of Sanjeeta Singh Negi, 51,
and Piyush Shah, 57, will begin from Gandhi Ashram on January 2 and will end at Raj Ghat in New
Delhi. Negi said: Zero waste is a philosophy that
ensures that all products are recycled and reused.
No trash is sent to landfills and incinerators. The
dry waste along with kitchen waste should be given to rag pickers who can segregate it.
Negi has been a green volunteer, while Shah is
amarathon runner from Gujarat who finds a mention in the Limca Book of Records for running on
a treadmill for 181km in 29 hours in 2013.
Our landfills are getting bigger and waste generation is increasing by the day. This is the story
of every village, town and city of India. The problem is big, but together we can solve it. We are not
talking about what big companies do and how
they pollute our resources. We are only talking
about how an individual or a house can take care
of the waste that may range between half a kilo
and 20 kg, said Negi. TNN

TRUE LIES

Cold war between

Rupani, Nitin?

cluding several controversial legislations

related to land acquisition and rights of
compensation, and other land issues. However, he is often blamed for very high pendency of routine files in the department and
some say he spends more time at Swarnim
Sankul I & II and at the chief secretarys
office than in his own office. Srinivas, who is
known for his presentation and project
management skills, was heard telling some
of his close people that I have given my best
to the revenue department and now have
little more to give. Many considered his
comment as a sign that he would be moving
ahead. Srinivas is also anchoring Prime
Minister Narendra Modis dream project of
the Statue of Unity.

Will Rupani clear way for

large industrial holdings?
File photo of Vijay Rupani and Nitin Patel

hough both the CM and the deputy CM are

putting up a unified front in public, the word
is that their differences regarding key government issues have become palpable to key
bureaucrats. Reportedly, the leaders
didnt quite agree with each other on
how their photos were displayed on
the publicity material of the Vibrant
Gujarat Global Summit. An officer said
that Vijay Rupani, the CM, had reportedly told a group of senior officials
dealing with publicity work to use
only photos of Rupani and the PM, Narendra
Modi, on VGS material. Officials said that in
recent cabinet meetings, the two leaders have
disagreed more often than ever before. In the
last cabinet meeting, when Rupani insisted on
passing a resolution to support the Karuna
campaign for saving birds in Uttarayan, Nitin
Patel held it couldnt be subject of a cabinet
resolution, and so the CM had to drop the idea.
The buzz in BJP corridors is that differences
between the two leaders have intensified over
pending appointments in the party and the
state government. The recent photo of the CM
in the cabinet room has also raised eyebrows
among the devout who feel scandalized at
Rupanis photo being a better close-up shot
than that of the PM there.

Swayamsevaks
are social
messengers:
Srinivas is Gujarats
Mohan Bhagwat new Todarmal

Ahmedabad:
Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
chief Mohan Bhagwat on
Sunday said that swayamsevaks are like social messengers who instill good values among citizens. Bhagwat was speaking at the 60th
year celebration of RSS magazine Sadhna in the city.
Speaking
as the chief
guest of the
event, Bhagwat
added
that the society has always
felt the need of media which
can speak with decency,
with facts and which can reach out to the masses to help
form ideas for betterment of
society. Today technology
has been advanced but the
media with such elements
are needed, a statement
from RSS quoted Bhagwat.
Now, people get information through internet
and though types of media
have changed, the society
still needs media which will
disseminate hope, positive
ideas and good values, he
said.
Bhagwat claimed that
Swayamsevaks have been
doing this kind of information
dissemination
all
along. TNN

Srinivas, principal secretary, revenue, has earned

the nickname of Gujarats
modern-day Todarmal in his IAS
fraternity due to his extraordinary zeal in revenue reforms.
Since June 2015, Srinivas has
anchored eight new revenue legislations in-

n coming days, the chief minister, Vijay

Rupani is likely to announce doing away
with restrictions on industries for holding
land acquired under section 63AA. According
to the present policy, industrial units have to
use land taken for industrial purpose in
stipulated 5-7 years, beyond which they
must either return the land to the
government, or pay additional
premium of 50% at jantri rates.
Recently, on the request of a leading textile company, Rupani had
asked K Srinivas, principal secretary, revenue department, to find
ways to waive the restriction for
this particular industry. Srinivas passed the
instruction down the line, but the news
spread like wildfire in the corporate lobby.
Now all corporate groups have their eyes
glued to the case, as its expected the CM
will take a policy decision in the election
year.

Race for cashless

rime Minister Narendra Modis call for a

cashless economy post demonetization
has given a key opportunity to junior officials to work into the good
books of the Prime Ministers
Office (PMO) and Chief Ministers Office (CMO). District
collectors are going all out to
promote cashless transactions in their respective
areas. It seems theres a race on between
Bhavnagar collector, Harshad Patel, Rajkot
collector Vikrant Pandey, Mehsana collector
Alok Pandey, and Valsad collector Remya
Mohan Muthadath. Its expected that in
the next list of transfers, success in pushing
cashless economy will count as a major
factor, and collectors are scrambling to
highlight their own efforts over those of
others.

FOR SAFER ROADS

Over 1,000 police personnel, members of various city-based bikers and

riders clubs along with representatives of NGO participated in 18-km
long rally on Sunday afternoon to promote safer driving. The event
organized by city traffic police, a precursor to National Road Safety
Week, observed in second week of January. The rally was flagged off
from GMDC Ground

World queues up in city for finest notes

37th Edition Of
Saptak Music
Fest Opens

Yogesh Chawda

Kannan.Somasundaram
@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad: For music lovers in Ahmedabad, and indeed around the world, January 1 is a climax rather
than a beginning. The crescendo of expectation reaches the apotheosis at the very start of the New Year, the
traditional opening day of
Saptak Indias longest
classical music festival. The
2017 edition, being held at
Amrut Mody School of Management, was inaugurated
on Sunday.
In its concertina folds,
the Saptak ticket preserves
the names of legends. This
year, performers will include Vidushi Shubha Mudgal,

Bhaskar Rao performing at Saptak

Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty,

Ustad Shujaat Khan, Pandit
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Vidushi N Rajam, and Ustad
Amjad Ali Khan.
Sitarist Vidushi Manju
Mehta, the guardian of the
Saptak spirit, is also scheduled to give a recital.

AT SAPTAK TODAY
Vidushi Manju Mehta | Sitar
Vidushi Shubha Mudgal | Vocal
Pt Birju Maharaj | Kathak
A salient feature of the
festival is that it lets young
stars share the stage with

Potato gaining ground in Gujarat

Sowing Of The
Crop Up By 18%
Against Last Year
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: Potato sowing in

the state is at an all-time high
with 18% more area sown than
last year and 30% more area
sown than normal. Apart from
potato, the sowing of isabgul, fennel and coriander, too, has been
higher than usual.
Potato is steadily gaining gro-

Yogesh Chawda

und. With 93,400 hectares taken

as regular sowing area for the
crop, 1.07 lakh hectares was sown
in 2015, and 1.23 lakh hectares
sown this season. Consequently,
abumper potato crop is expected.
Interestingly, cumin seed,
which was the most sought after
crop during winter sowing in Gujarat, has been witnessing a gra-

dual decline in popularity. Against the normal 3.39 lakh hectares sown for cumin in the state,
only 2.68 lakh hectares were
sown last year, and this year, sowing has further declined to 2.67
lakh hectares.
Overall sowing of winter
crops this year was 84% of the
33.08 lakh hectares normally
sown. The figures, however,
show an improvement in that
27.87 lakh hectares have been put
to the plough this winter against
24.72 lakh hectares last year.
North Gujarat has seen the
highest sowing activity in the sta-

te with 10.42 lakh hectares sown.

Officials said about 7.41lakh hectares were sown in central Gujarat. However, this year, sowing in
Saurashtra has not picked up
due to lack of water in dams and
only 6.71lakh hectares have been
cultivated. Sowing of coriander
and fennel has increased this year against past years. An agriculture official said that Surendranagar had the highest area sown
with cumin. Sowing of fennel,
isabgul, coriander, potato and
maize have crossed 100% of the
area normally sown with these
crops in the state.

stalwarts. As always, students of Saptak will show

that the Indian classical legacy has plenty of deserving
inheritors in Ahmedabad
and other Gujarat cities.
The festival, which will
end on January 13, has always been a forum for exchange of cultural notes.
Between performances, it is
common to hear the polyphony of ideas and counterpoints in the forecourt of
the venue.
It is orchestrated by conversations between readers
and writers, singers and
thinkers, students and gurus, and artists and their engaged disputants. The hum
of intelligence is italicized
by music streaming in from
the hall. Of course, music
dominates conversations
the rumble of a note taking a
raga to, say, the lava pit of a
lovers despair will freeze
all other talk.

CITY DIGEST

At 11.5C, Gandhinagar
coldest in state
State capital Gandhinagar was the coldest
town in the state as it recorded minimum
temperature of 11.5C. According to India
Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast
mercury is likely to dip further on Monday.
Ahmedabad too felt the chilly winds on
Sunday morning and late in evening as the
night temperature was recorded at 12.4C.

Maths Olympiad at IIT-Gn today: Indian

Institute of Technology Gandhinagar
(IIT-Gn) will on Monday hold its first Mathematics Olympiad in which around 200 students are likely to participate.

Only 15 caught drunk in 3 cities

S Gujarat Saw 292 Prohibition Cases On New Years Eve
TOI

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Surat/Vadodara/Rajkot:
Surat city police had a softer
approach compared to rural
police of south Gujarat in
implementation of prohibition laws if one were to look
at the number of cases registered in their respective jurisdictions on December 31.
A total of nine prohibition
cases were registered in the
Diamond City on December
31. Six people were caught
drunk, two persons arrested
with one bottle each of Indian Made Foreign Liquor
(IMFL) worth Rs250 and one
person caught with 12 litre of
country liquor worth Rs240.
However, in the districts
of south Gujarat that come
under Surat range police, a
total of 292 cases were registered out of which three were registered in Surat and
one in Valsad district for running a liquor den. At least 193
people were caught drunk, 40
cases registered for liquor
seizure and 55 drivers arres-

Police checking people with breathalyzer in Rajkot on the eve of New Year, on Saturday

ted for drunk driving.

Meanwhile, just one person was caught drunk in Rajkot city and three in the district on New Year as stricter
prohibition laws seemed to
have worked as an effective
deterrent against liquor. Also, one person was booked
for violation of the police
commissioners notification
regarding loud DJ music in
the city. Elsewhere in Saurashtra, 131 people were
caught in an inebriated condition in Gir-Somnath dis-

AROUND GUJARAT
4 youths killed in two accidents
Rajkot: Four youngsters were killed in two separate
accidents reported from Porbandar and Gir-Somnath
districts on Saturday night. Kartik Modha, 16, and his
friend Nayan Solanki, 18, died on the spot when a speeding Bolero rammed their bike near Bagvadar village of
Porbandar district. In another accident, Gopal Vanja and
his cousin brother Prakash, both 21, died after a speeding
Bolero car hit their bike near Ajoth village on VeravalKodinar Road.

Boy found in pit dies during treatment

Surat: A five-year-old boy found in a pit filled with water
near the railway track at Unn Patiya few days ago, died
during treatment on Saturday. The boy Farhan Shaikh
had fallen in the pit on December 21 while playing. His
parents had gone to work when the incident happenend.

38 shops near railway station razed

Vadodara: Demolition teams of the Vadodara Municipal
Corporation (VMC) brought down 38 shops at the Station
Shopping Complex opposite Vadodara railway station
during its drive which started on Sunday. The civic body
razed the shops as part of its station area redevelopment
plan which includes setting up an integrated transport
hub.

Cash stolen from bank account

Surat: An unidentified person stole Rs48,746 from the
bank account of a 52-year-old businessman Kanti Gondaliya on Saturday. Gondaliya received a call with the man
claiming that he was manager of Varachha Co-operative
Banks main branch and wanted his debit card details. He
also collected OTP number from the victim and transferred the money to his account.

GUJARAT

THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

trict with majority of the arrests being made at the two

check-posts of Diu at Ahmedpur Mandvi and Tad. At
these check points, 85 people
were caught drunk, police
sources said. At Khambha
check-post near Diu, 22 were
caught drunk. In Kutch,
three persons, including a
municipality councillor of
Mandvi were caught in a
drunken state while 36 were
arrested from Bhuj town.
On the other hand, the December 22 police raid in a

pre-wedding ceremony at a
farmhouse in Sevasi seems
to have acted as a deterrent
for tipplers this New Year
eve. The number of cases registered under Prohibition
Act in the city as well as district police was very less during the New Year eve celebrations. While the city police registered only eight cases
against people found in an inebriated state, in the district
only two cases were registered under the Prohibition
Act.

Birds fall prey to

cracker noise
HimansshuBhatt
@timesgroup.com

Surat: Many people chose to

burst firecrackers to herald
the new year on Saturday, but
unwittingly became the reason behind injuries caused to a
few birds in the city. The noise
of the firecrackers made the
birds that were sleeping to lose
balance and fall off their perches, which added to the number of the birds injured by
manja ahead of Uttarayan festival.
Prayas, a non-government
organization, received 14 calls
on Saturday about birds injured from falling off their perches and found entangled in
manja.
Last year during Uttarayan, we had received 700 calls of
injuries to birds. The state government has banned Chinese
manja and also glass manja,
but still we are getting calls of
birds getting injured by
them, Prayas volunteer Darshan Desai said. Many people
get injured by manja a few days
before Uttarayan because they
are not aware about kite flying

TOI

Liquor raid:
Police yet to
decide on arrest
of 64 women

Organ donation: Three

get new lease of life

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Vadodara: Police yet to decide whether to arrest the 64

women who tested positive
for alcohol in the December
22 liquor raid at Akhand
Farm in Sevasi.
The blood samples of 143
of the 271guests contained alcohol as per the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report
recieved on Saturday.
We are yet to have clarity
about whether the women guests tested positive for alcohol will be arrested or not.
The investigating officer will
go through Supreme Court
judgments and decide about
it, said Saurabh Tolumbiya,
superintendent of police, Vadodara (rural). The police is
wary about arresting the women as it doesnt want to take
unnecessary steps that could
put them in quandary.
A day after raiding the
pre-wedding ceremony where liquor was being served,
the police had arrested all the
men and then granted them
bail from the police station.
Blood test of women was done but they were allowed to go
as, according to the law, females cannot be arrested in
night.
We will investigate the
case in detail and also take
further statements if necessary, Tolumbiya added.

Surat: Two teenage boys got a

new lease of life in the city on
Saturday
thanks to the
kidneys of a
brain
dead
man. Forty-seven-year-old Apurva Desais
family members also decided
to donate his liver which was
transplanted in the body of a
41-year-old man. Doctors of Institute of Kidney Diseases
and Research Centre, Ahmed-

abad received the donation of

two kidneys and liver. Desais
kidneys were transplanted in
the bodies of 16-year-old Jay
Limbani and 14-year-old Pradipsingh Shekhavat, both
from Ahmedabad. His liver
was transplanted in the body
of Minesh Patel, who is a resident of Mehmadabad. The eyes of Apurva Desai were received as donation by Arpan
Charitable Public Trust.
Apurva Desai, a businessman living in Umarwada of
Navsari district, fell down
while brushing his teeth on

Teen clicking
selfie drowns

Leopard injures 5
near Palanpur
Palanpur: A leopard attacked five people in Jalotra
village, some 17km from Palanpur on the Ambaji highway on Sunday.
The wild cat entered the
village in the afternoon and
attacked the people who were going in the field. Farm
owner Bhuraji Rabari was
also mauled by the leopard.
All the injured were rushed
to the civil hospital in Palanpur.
Around 20 forest department staffers led by range
forest officer (RFO) B A

December 29. He had suffered

a paralytic stroke. Mahavir
Trauma Hospital doctors on
examination found that he
had a clot in his brain. The
clot was removed but Apurva
Desai was declared brain dead on the next day by the doctors.
Apurva Desais cousin Nirav Desai, his brother-in-law
Mihir Desai and uncle Bharat
Desai said, Organ donation
is a noble deed. There cant be
anything as noble as donating
organs and giving a new lease
of life to people.

Sindhi rushed to the village

and have launched a massive operation to cage the leopard.
The leopard is injured
and hiding in the field. We
are ready with tranquilizers while two cages with
bait have also been placed to
catch it, Sindhi told TOI.
A team of 15 policemen
from Vadgam including police sub-inspector A Y Patel
are also camping in the village to keep the crowd away
from hampering the operation. TNN

Vadodara: Attempts to take a

selfie on the river bank cost a
19-year-old boy from Vallabh
Vidyanagar town of Anand his
life. The boy, Mayank Rathod,
slipped in Mahi River at Lanchanpura village on the outskirts of the city and got pulled
away in the strong current. His
body was fished out by the local
swimmers on Saturday and
handed over to his parents.
Mayank had gone to the river with his friends on Friday
for an outing. While sitting
near the river bank, he began
taking photos of himself. He
was standing on the rocks
when slipped and fell in the river, said PSI J J Pathan. TNN

50k kg scrap to be turned into sculptures

TOI

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Birds were injured after falling off

their perches and getting entangled
in manja

in the area. People become cautious about manja only a day or

two before Uttarayan, Desai
said, adding that three persons
had died from injuries caused
by manja in the city in 2015.
He asked people not to fly
kites when it is time for the
birds to fly. Birds mostly fly before 9 am and in the evening hours when it is time for them to
return to their nests. The major species of birds that were
injured this season so far from
manja were pigeons, crows
and egrets, Desai said.

Vadodara: A cursory look at

50,000 kg scrap including
unused water tanks, 15 to 20
feet pipes and road rollers would give you a feel of a scrap
yard. But the Akota stadium
where all these scrap was placed on Sunday played host to
a unique sculpture camp that
is being sponsored by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation to make sculptures out
of scrap.
The camp in which noted
artists from the city, almost
all past students of M S Universitys famed Faculty of Fine Arts, are participating
will continue till January 14.
The 25 artists will create
sculptures that will be installed at prominent locations
across the city.
The artists participating
in the symposium which was

Around 25 artists will create sculptures out of scrap that will be

installed across Vadodara

inaugurated by state sports

minister Rajendra Trivedi
will also be paid an honorarium by the civic body much
like other camps they attend.
The art works will be made on the theme Spirit of Vadodara. And a competition
to make best out of waste has

already started amongst the

artists, said Anuj Poddar,
who is coordinating the project.
In fact, earlier we had decided that the sculptures should be less than six feet. But
now I am thinking to limit the
size of the sculptures being

prepared by the artists as there are even 25 feet long works

being prepared!, said Poddar, who was all in praise of
VMC which has initiated the
first of its kind effort to rope
in artists.
This camp is also changing our perception towards
the civic body. It is more professional than many corporates. Since last 20 days, we already have three trucks, two
dumpers, one crane and one
JCB machine at our service,
he said.
The idea of roping in artists for making art works
that could be used by the civic
body had come up while VMC
was looking to spruce up its
lakes and crematoriums.
The stadium has been
kept open for students and citizens who can come and see
the artists working in the
open.

TIMES NATION

THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

India to bid for designating

Azhars bro a global terrorist
Proposal Could
Be Soon Sent
To The UN
Neeraj.Chauhan@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Even as Indias attempt

to enlist Maulana Masood Azhar as a global
terrorist by the UN
Sanctions Committee
under the Security
Council Resolution 1267
has once again failed due to Chinas
opposition, the Narendra Modi government is now working to put the
Jaish-e-Mohammad chief s brother
Abdul Rauf Asghar in the list.
Top government sources told
TOI that a proposal to designate Abdul Rauf Asghar, who is JeM chief s
partner in terrorist activities and
his younger brother, is under consideration and it could be soon sent
to the UN. A senior official in the
home ministry said this shows that
we are not going to step back from
our fight against terror and exposing Pakistan for supporting dangerous terrorists like Azhar, even
though China has repeatedly vetoed

On new year, India and

Pak trade fire on LoC
Jammu: The Pakistan Army on Sunday
resorted to unprovoked firing on the
Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district
of Jammu and Kashmir. Police said the
Pakistanis resorted to unprovoked
shelling and firing on Indian positions
at three places. "The Indian Army
retaliated effectively using same
calibre weapons," a police official said.
The shelling and firing started around
9.30am. IANS

our move and it has now become a

contentious issue.
Asghar was the mastermind of
the December 24, 1999 hijacking of
Indian Airlines plane IC-814 and
the subsequent release of Azhar and
two other terrorists by the Indian
government in lieu of the safe release of the passengers.
Abdul Rauf Asghar, who according to intelligence agencies also operates from Pak- occupied Kashmir
(PoK), is also alleged to be involved
along with his brother in the December 2001 Parliament attack.
He was charge-sheeted last
month by National Investigation

DGCEI has sent over

300 notices to jewellers
Continued from P1

he DGCEI survey was

initiated after reports
of money laundering
started pouring in from different parts of the country
soon after demonetisation of
currency notes of Rs 500 and
Rs 1000 denomination. The
DGCEI operations covered
at least 400 top jewellers and
bullion traders across the
country. The agency has
since served more than 300
notices to jewellers for suspected tax evasion and money-laundering.
Last week, DGCEI raided
Indias largest chain of gold
jewellery,
Thrissur-based
Joyalukkas, and found that
the company had sold more
than 5.7 tonnes of gold jewellery between April and November but had not paid the
mandatory 1% central excise
duty applicable since April 1,
2016 on sales of jewellery.
At least 11 outlets and factories of Joyalukkas were
searched by DGCEI officials
in different cities and a notice for central excise duty
evasion of Rs 16 crore was
served on the company, a senior DGCEI official confirmed. The company, which
has presence in almost all
major cities in India besides
Dubai and Abu Dhabi, has
paid Rs 10 crore in duty after
the DGCEI searches.

The Joyalukkas, according to DGCEI officials, had

sold more than 5,754 kg of
gold jewellery between April
and November worth over Rs
1,500 crore. Though most of
the sales detected so far are
accounted for and reflected
in its account books, the
company is facing charges
of tax evasion for not paying
the mandatory central excise duty.
The DGCEI has also conducted survey on the Delhibased PP Jewellers and
asked the company to pay Rs
4.5 crore in central excise duty. The jeweller, claim DGCEI
officials, had sales worth Rs
450 crore between April and
November and had a tax liability of Rs 4.5 crore. PP Jewellers, say sources, has already paid Rs 2 crore after
the DGCEI notice.
These unusual sales are
what the top jewellers have
admitted in their books of
accounts and do not include
large-scale illicit sale and
smuggling of gold bricks.
For instance, the income tax
department had in a single
raid in Chennai last month
seized 170 kg of gold. A similar raid by the Directorate of
Revenue Intelligence and the
Enforcement
Directorate
had unearthed hundreds of
kg of unaccounted gold, alleged procured with banned
currency.

To protect the ones you

love, you must make the
right decision: UP CM
Continued from P1

n his first reaction to the events, Akhilesh tweeted:

Sometimes to protect the ones you love, you must make
the right decision. What I did today was a tough decision
but one that I had to take.
The special convention called by Ram Gopal also
moved two other proposals; one, Mulayam remain SPs top
leader; and, second, Amar Singh be sacked from the primary membership of the party and Shivpal Yadav be removed as SP state president.
The convention, presided over by SP vice president Kiranmoy Nanda, a known Mulayam loyalist, was attended
by other of his confidants: Naresh Agarwal, Reoti Raman
Singh, Ahmed Hasan and Awdhesh Prasad -- all subsequently expelled by Shivpal, who flashed a letter purportedly signed by Mulayam, for anti-party activities.
Agarwal, however, said, Mulayam Singh Yadav ji
does not have the authority to sack me. He is no longer party president.
Later, in a dramatic turn of events, Akhileshwadi (CM
supporters) laid siege to the Samajwadi Party headquarters, bodily ousting Shivpals supporters from the office.
Sources said a revamp of the national executive will also begin in two days. Akhilesh is tipped to nominate cousin
and Lok Sabha MP Dharmendra Yadav to the national executive. According to Article 14(2) of the SP constitution, a
special convention can be convened on the back of a demand for it by 40% or more members. Ram Gopal claimed
this was the case. The SP constitution also permits a general secretary to convene such a convention, and says it
should be led by party vice president -- in this case Kiranmoy Nanda -- in absence of the president.

TN student hit by
train while taking
selfie, dies

21-year-old
engineering
student died when he
was hit by a train while
taking a selfie in
Coimbatore on Sunday.
The incident occurred
when Gunasekharan
was returning home
after celebrating New
Year. Police said the
student died on the
spot when he was
taking a selfie with
the train in the
background. TNN

Agency (NIA) as the mastermind of

the January, 2016 Pathankot terror
attack in which eight security personnel were killed. An Interpol red
corner notice (RCN) has already
been issued against him.
Indian officials say there is irrefutable evidence against Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother
Abdul Rauf for putting them in the
UN sanctions list and they should
be put under arrest and handed
over to India by Pakistan. The UN
Committee, government functionaries claim, is very keen to put Azhar in his global terrorist list but
China with veto powers as one of
the five permanent members has
been opposing it. Indias request has
been supported by the US, UK and
France.
A suspect/terrorist designated
in the 1267 UN sanctions list becomes a terrorist globally and countries concerned are required to immediately freeze funds, financial assets or economic resources of the individual/entity
apart
from
imposing travel ban.
IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,
slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, several Taliban, Boko Haram
leaders and underworld don Dawood
Ibrahim have been named in the UN
list as designated terrorists.

LIKE THAT ONLY

India has little

credibility on
counter-terrorism
Continued from P1

n a statement in which it described the 1267 Sanctions

Committee proposal to proscribe JeM chief Masood Azhar, who is an accused in the
Pathankot airbase attack case,
as politically motivated, it also
said that Jadhavs activities
were aimed at destabilizing
Pakistan and killing Pakistan
nationals.
With such duplicitous behaviour and blood on its
hands, India has little credibility on counter-terrorism,
said the Pakistan foreign office spokesperson, adding that
in the coming days Pakistan
will share with the UN ``additional evidence of Indian involvement in terrorism in Pakistan.
While India did not officially respond to the remarks,
sources here said India will
continue to actively seek access to Jadhav. While Pakistan
claims that Jadhav is a commander-rank officer with Indian navy, India maintains that
he retired from the navy in
2002 and had nothing to do with
the Indian government when
he was arrested allegedly from
Baluchistan.
JUG SURAIYA

&

AJIT NINAN

Bandra builder was

holidaying with friends
Hanuman Tekri in Malad of 3 towers of
22 floors each. I am shocked. He was reMumbai: Abis Rizvi (49), whose father, fined and very polite, said a contractor
former Rajya Sabha MP working on this project.
The Rizvi Educational Society issued
Akhtar Hasan Rizvi,
heads the Rizvi group, a statement on Sunday night saying it
was a well-known real es- mourned the death of its secretary Abis
tate developer and film Rizvi and that his family had requested
producer, and connected privacy in their hour of grief.
Two Indians were among the 39 peowith a few educational inple killed when a
stitutions bearing the family name.
He was vacationing in Turkey ISTANBUL TERROR gunman opened fire
on New Year revelwhen he fell victim to the terrorATTACK
lers at the posh Reists bullets. A resident of Almeida
Park in Bandra, he is survived by his wife, ina nightclub on the shores of the Bosphorus in Istanbul on Sunday night beson and parents.
A close associate of Abis said the fore fleeing. At least 70 people were inbuilder had a large residential project at jured.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

TIMES NATION

THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

I have changed my name Rina

Pravin Bhagwati to New
name Reena Pravin Bhagwati
Address: 1, Krishna Society,
Nr. Law Garden, Ellisbridge,
Ahmedabad-380006, Gujarat
I have changed my surname

from Parmar Sahil Ashwinkumar

to
Anand
Sahil
Ashwinkumar Add: 144/1125,
Kalapinagar, Ahmedabad-16.

Lalu says his fight

against note ban
will continue
Patna: RJD chief Lalu Prasad vowed on Sunday to continue his
crusade against demonetisation
of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
I have no personal malice
against anyone, but PM Narendra
Modi has failed to meet the expectations of the common man who
supported his decision with hopes of achhe din, Lalu told reporters as supporters and wellwishers thronged his residence to
wish him on New Years Day. Lalus elder son Tej Pratap, who is
Bihar health minister, dressed up
as Lord Krishna to greet supporters.
Lalu said, We should not have
any personal grudge against anyone. We should forget the past, move ahead and strive towards a better tomorrow in the New Year.
Reacting to the PMs address
to the nation on Saturday, Lalu said, The poor have been let down.
We will go ahead with our plans
for a massive rally in Patna and
protests all over the state against
demonetisation.
Lalu said the infighting in
Samajwadi Party was unfortunate. TNN

Saamna targets Centre for

raids on temple priests
Mumbai: I an attack on Income Tax
(I-T) authorities for recent raids on
Trimbakeshwar temple priests, Sena
mouthpiece Saamna accused the
Modi regime of targetting Hindus
while turning a blind eye to alleged
ill-gotten wealth by other
communities shrines.
The Congress and Lalu Prasad,
Mulayam Singh Yadav brand of
secularism pales into insignificance
before the Centres, Saamna said in a
recent editorial. Its comment is an
indication that Sena is set to play the
Hindutva card to garner non-Marathi
votes in the 2017 BMC polls, said
analysts. The I-T raided residences of
Hindu priests but didnt show courage
to come down heavily on Christian
priests... Radical forces get funds from
some special mosques... Saamna
said. TNN

ATMs to give 4.5k

in `500 & `2k notes
RBI Order To Ensure ATMs Dont Go Dry
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: The Reserve

Bank of India has directed
banks to ensure that the
higher withdrawal limit
of Rs 4,500 is dispensed in a
combination of Rs 2,000
and Rs 500 notes. This is to
ensure that ATMs do not
run dry soon and there is
enough lower denomination notes to provide liquidity to the Rs 2,000 notes.
Late on Friday, RBI had
instructed banks to hike
the daily withdrawal limit
from ATMs to Rs 4,500 from
the existing Rs 2,500 without increasing the weekly
limit of Rs 24,000. The central bank had also said that
such disbursals should
predominantly be in the
denomination of Rs 500.
Banks said they were
facing a situation in which
on one hand there was a
shortage of funds but at
the same time customers
were shunning ATMs where withdrawal was available only in Rs 2,000 denomination.
Rs 4,500 is more than
the average withdrawal
from an ATM pre-demonetisation, which was around Rs 3,500 in cities, said
a bank official.
But the main problem
faced by banks was that

RBI refuses to
share data on
notes released

due to the shortage of Rs

500 denomination notes
they were refilling ATMs
with a combination of Rs
2,000 and Rs 100 notes. However, customers were
draining the Rs 100 denomination notes from
ATMs by withdrawing
odd amounts.
With supply of the Rs
500 notes picking up,
banks
are
expecting
ATMs to remain live
much longer. Although
currency presses are now
largely printing Rs 500
notes and stopped printing Rs 2,000 notes, banks
are seeing a large number
of Rs 2,000 denomination
notes coming back as deposits.

Mumbai: The RBI has reserved

the right to keep mum on the
money it disbursed among
banks after demonetisation. RTI
activist Anil Galgali had sought
data on the count of notes given
to each bank by the central bank.
The RBI cited Section 8(1)(g)
of the RTI Act, 2005, for its
inability to share the data. The
section bars information, the
disclosure of which would
endanger the life or physical
safety of any person or identify
the source of information or
assistance given in confidence
for law enforcement or security
purposes. Galgali has
challenged the RBIs decision
and filed an appeal. It is unclear
why the apex bank cannot give
this information.A large section
of the public has withstood the
demonetisation drive, stood for
hours in queues only to be
turned back by several banks for
many days, he said. This
illogical reasoning has left me
bewildered. How on earth are
details of bank notes, now
probably distributed among the
pub-lic, going to endanger any
person or identify the source
of information? TNN

THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

Coup kingpin
Ram Gopal backs
CM, trumps MSY
Swati.Mathur
@timesgroup.com

Lucknow: Samajwadi Partys

original thinktank, the man who
wrote the partys constitution, also became the architect of its second coming and Akhileshs final elevation on Sunday.
Ram Gopal Yadav, Mulayams
cousin, often regarded as the goto man for all important decisions from picking tickets
probables to making key organisational appointments and famously disallowing SPs entry into the Bihar Mahagathbandhan
has solidly backed Akhilesh
through the family feud.
It began with Ram Gopal supporting Akhileshs decision to
sack two ministers from his cabinet and Deepak Singhal as UP
chief secretary. He had then said
it was the CMs prerogative to
take the-se decisions and no one
could question the dismissals.
The Rajya Sabha member,
who was expelled from SP in the
middle of the family fe-ud, had also blamed Amar Singh for orchestrating the rift. For his loyalty to Akhi-esh, Ram Gopal was
sacked thrice in the past three
mon-ths, even taking the blame
for working as part of a conspiracy in collusion with BJP to
weaken SP. But if Mulayam is
famous for U-turns, Ram Gopal
was important for his unwavering stand; not only in his support
of Akhilesh, but also in planning
meticulously the path that would
lead Akhilesh to unseat Mulayam and be anointed SP chief.

POWER POLITICS

The January 1 convention, as

well as the events leading up to it,
were planned to perfection.
Though Mulayam may call the
convention unconstitutional, the
party constitution allows the general secretary to convene such a
session if more than 40% of the
partys elected representatives
demand it.
Wading through the legalese
may be difficult for most, but Ram
Gopal also managed the toughest
element of Sundays developments getting SP vice-president Kiranmoy Nanda to preside
over the convention. Ram Gopals
masterstroke lay in this: the constitution does not lay down a procedure for impeaching its party
president. With the backing of
brute numbers, Ram Gopal has
ultimately used the one gap he
left out, to Akhileshs and his advantage.

Will a tug of war

wreck the cycle?
Akhilesh Kumar Singh
& Bharti Jain TNN

New Delhi: As Samajawadi

Party appeared headed for a vertical split, its election symbol
cycle could be the first casualty,
forcing the two factions led by
Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam
Singh Yadav to contest the upcoming assembly polls on separate symbols.
After Sundays meet of the
Akhilesh faction during which
the CM was elected party chief,
all eyes are now fixated on the
convention called by Mulayam
on January 5 when it may be finally known whether the two
sides will go for a split down the
middle.
With the Election Commission (EC) set to announce poll
dates this week, there is a possibility of both factions approaching the EC as early as on Monday to lay claim to the partys
cycle symbol, on which Akhilesh rode to power with thumping majority in 2012. If the EC
freezes the symbol, all efforts by
the Akhilesh government to
popularise the cycle will go in
vain.
According to former chief
election commissioner N Gopalaswami, the EC, while dealing
with conflicting claims from two
factions staking claim to the symbol, may end up allowing it to neither. Given that UP polls may be
announced any day now, the EC is
faced with a peculiar situation. In
the normal course, the Commission would decide on the issue after properly hearing the claims of
both factions, which usually is a
time-consuming process. But given that there is virtually no time
now before the UP polls, the best
course of action for the EC may
be to freeze the cycle symbol for
now and ask the two factions to

Did it to protect
party, parivar: CM

n his maiden address after

being declared as Samajwadi
Party national president
Akhilesh Yadav said whatever
happened was neccesary to
protect the party and the parivar
as some people were conspiring
to take control over both. People
have conspired to create a crisis
before the national president,
Akhilesh said speaking at the
special convention where he was
declared the partys new chief.
He said people will interpret the
developments in their own way
but that will not change his
affection and love for his father.
In fact I will respect him more
now, he said. TNN

contest on a new set of symbols.

Once the elections are over, the
EC may adjudicate as to which of
the two factions should retain the
cycle poll symbol, he told TOI.
The EC has laid down certain criteria about party symbols ... but if the commission is
not able to decide, it can freeze
the party symbol and allot other
symbols to both the factions,
said PDT Achary, ex-secretary
general of Lok Sabha. Achary
said in view of the short window
before the assembly polls, it will
be difficult for the EC to decide so
quickly. Freezing of the SP symbol is quite possible, he added.
We shall approach the EC as
Akhilesh has emerged our president as per norms. The party is
united under him, said an SP
leader after Sundays meeting in
Lucknow.
There are certain norms
about allotting election symbol
to a political party, but in case of
disputes, precedence determines
the fate of the claims.

Time for Muslims

to teach SP a lesson
Nazar Abbas

TNN

Rampur: Muslim voters in Uttar

Pradesh should
stop
thinking
about Samajwadi
Party and its leaders as the time
has come for the
community
to
consider another option, said
Syed Ahmad Bukhari, Shahi
Imam of Jama Masjid, remarking
on the ongoing feud in the ruling
party.
Speaking with TOIover phone,
Bukhari, who had openly supported SP, even sharing the dais with
Mulayam Singh Yadav during the
2012 assembly polls, said, They
cheated Muslims and supported
BJP in forming a government at
the Centre. Only five MPs from Mulayam Singh Yadavs family were
sent to the Lok Sabha back then.
The SP leaders have failed to address the issues related to the Muslim community, which they promised in their 2012 manifesto.
Bukhari said, Muslims should
teach the warring factions within
SP a lesson in the upcoming as-

sembly polls for cheating them. The

community should look for an option and not let the leaders take
them for granted. Alleging that
the SP government did nothing
for Muslims during its tenure,
Bukhari said, Before the 2012
assembly polls, Mulayam
Singh had sought my support.
Several demands, including
18% reservation for the community, were raised, which he
promised to fulfil. But the government has failed to protect
even basic rights of Muslims.
Bukhari claimed that a total of 113 communal incidents
took place in UP in just one
year of the SP regime and curfew had to be clamped at 13 places. Besides, the Shahi Imam alleged, Muslims were not given
adequate participation in administrative posts in the state.
In October, Bukhari had made
a trip to Lucknow to meet the family and to convince them about
sorting their differences. Bukhari
had met CM Akhilesh Yadav, Mulayam and Shivpal Yadav separately and then later all four of them
met.

PORTALUPDATE

TESTDRIVE

Online study

MONDAY | JANUARY 2, 2017

This year, what is the

biggest change youd
like to see outside of
your classroom?

In rural areas, which problems

should the focus be on?

Sonali.Sharma@timesgroup.com

48.6%

46.6%

Standardised
competitive
exams

32.2%

26%

Girl child education

Realistic cut-offs
in colleges

19.2%
Teacher
absenteeism

In your classroom,
what changes would
you want to see?

What change
would you like
to see in
students?

37%
Actively participate in
extracurricular
activities

ILLUSTRATION: SACHIN VARADKAR

46.6%
Take the initiative to
add on to their
classroom learning
by pursuing an
additional course or
gaining work
experience

16.4%
Do away with
rote learning

NEW DIRECTION
Nearly 47% students want a simpler admission
process, as per a nationwide survey by
Education Times to get a peek into the changes
learners would like to see in 2017.
Here are the findings

> For more information on

scholarships, visit
www.educationtimes.com

GOVERNMENT AWARD

ALERTS
> Osmania University,
Hyderabad
Applications are invited for
the advanced postgraduate
diploma courses in
anaesthesia technology;
cardiac technology; cath lab
technology; dialysis
technology; emergency
medical care;
echocardiography and
sonography; medical imaging
technology; medical lab
technology; operation theatre
technology; physician
assistant; respiratory therapy
technology; healthcare
technology; and health
insurance and billing
ELIGIBILITY: Applicants
with a Bachelors degree with
at least one life science
subject are eligible to apply,
whereas graduates in all
disciplines (except oriental
languages) are eligible for
healthcare technology; health
insurance and billing courses
FORM: The application
form is available at
www.osmania.ac.in
DEADLINE: January 13,
2017

10% of all
jobs to be
in tourism
Michel Rochat, CEO of
hospitality management
school Ecole htelire de
Lausanne (EHL),
Switzerland, gives an
overview of the
hospitality industry
Sonali.Sharma
@timesgroup.com
Can you give us an
overview of the hospitality
industry internationally?
Hospitality is a growing
industry worldwide. Travel
and tourism alone represent
nine per cent of the worlds
GDP and accounts for a
substantial
number of jobs
in the industry.
It is expected
that growth in
this sector will
continue to
outpace the
wider economy in the coming
years, offering a wealth of
career opportunities for
students. By sub-region, both
north-east Asia and south
Asia are seeing strong
growth in terms of
international tourist arrivals.
Within south Asia, the Indian
market is dynamic and
growing. It is the most
preferred destination with
the highest number of
international tourists in the
region.
>For the complete story,
click on Expert Eye at
www.educationtimes.com

43.2%
Moving from books
to more digital
tools of learning

30.8%
Focus on holistic learning

26%
A lower student- teacher
ratio

FUNDFACTS

The Union Department of Science & Technology is

inviting applications for the Innovation in Science
Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) Scholarship
for Higher Education (SHE) 2016 programme. There are
10,000 scholarships available under SHE every year. Rs
80,000 per year will be paid to each scholar for up to five
years
ELIGIBILITY: The applicant must have completed class XII
in 2016. Also, s/he must have enrolled in a three-year BSc,
four-year BS or five-year integrated MSc/MS programme
FORM: The application form is available at www.onlineinspire.gov.in
DEADLINE: January 15, 2017

nglish language test scores are one of the

requirements for entry to courses at overseas
universities. Before applying to universities
abroad, I took TOEFL. Initially, I was not aware
how competitive entry to US universities is. I found
out about the competition several months later
when I applied to universities. So, keep this in
mind while preparing for the test.
I primarily used the official guide to the test to
prepare. The CD with the guide contained practice
tests which were accurately representative of the
actual test. I read comprehension passages online
and practised speed-reading to understand the
essence of a piece of text without agonising over
the details. These exercises helped me quickly
distinguish what points to focus on. Additionally, I
would write a few essays a week based on prompts
I found online. I also took one practice test per
week.
I never relied on coaching. There are several
books, online resources and guides for successful
self-study. However, coaching can help those who
prefer a more structured approach
to preparing or who struggle with
self-motivation. If you decide to
opt for it, schoolwork coupled with
coaching sessions can often seem
overwhelming. However, time
management can enable learners
to study efficiently. It helps to
follow a timetable. Attempt many
tests in an actual test-like setting.
The speaking section is a little
hard for students who are
reasonably good readers and
writers, but have trouble
articulating their thoughts. In such
cases, it is important to practise
conversing with someone.
> For the complete story, click on
Test Drive under Tests at
www.educationtimes.com

Infrastructure,
including hygiene
facilities

A simpler
admission process with
affordable course fees

27.4%

Aditri Bhagirath, computer science major,

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, on
how she prepared for TOEFL

POLL

Your voice
Do you agree that the threelanguage formula for schools must
include a modern Indian language,
apart from Hindi and English?
> To participate, visit www.educationtimes.com
EXPERT EYE

Digital finance
An insight into the opportunity fintech
offers to certified financial analysts
> Click on Expert Eye at
www.educationtimes.com
CAMPUS LIFE

Design challenge
A college student recounts his
experience of winning a
design competition
> Click on College Life under
Campus Life at
www.educationtimes.com

GET IN TOUCH
FOR EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES, CONTRIBUTIONS
AND SUGGESTIONS,
CONTACT: DIPIKA RATHI,
mail: dipika.rathi@timesgroup.com,
TEL: 0265 - 6194418
DESIGN: RESP-ART, AHMEDABAD.

10
Order on Jaya most uncalled for, says Vaiko
Chennai: MDMK functionary Vaiko took exception on Sunday to
recent comments made by Madras high court judge S Vaidyanathan
on exhuming the body of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
Saying that Jayalalithaas body should be exhumed, is most
unwarranted, most unfortunate and most uncalled for, said Vaiko.
I express my regret and dissent. He is a judge, but there should be
a limit, said Vaiko, addressing reporters in Chennai.
The MDMK functionary, who recently met PM Narendra Modi and
hailed his demonetization move, demanded to know what evidence
the judge had to utter such words. TNN

TIMES NATION

THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

`42L payments to IRF staffer under scanner

Neeraj.Chauhan @timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Probing controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naiks alleged

funding of terrorists, the National Investigation Agency is looking into suspicious payments of
Rs 42 lakh to Arshi
Qureshi, a guest relation manager with
his NGO IRF, who
was arrested in July
2016 for allegedly radicalising some Kerala youths to join the Islamic State terror group.
While checking the financial details of Islamic Research Foundation
(IRF), NIA sleuths recently noticed

payments of Rs 42 lakh to Arshi in

bank documents, sources said. Whether this payment, which has been
made over a period of time, has been
used to fund any suspect is being looked at, they said.
Sources said they are looking into
the transactions and it could be regular salary payments as well. The bank
documents analysed by NIA sleuths
raised eyebrows as recently it was found that IRF paid Rs 1.5 lakh to Rajasthan-based IS operative Abu Anas in
the form of scholarship payments.
Arshi Qureshi came under the
scanner of agencies in July last year
during a joint operation by Kerala
and Mumbai police after it was found
that he could be linked to radicalisa-

NIA is looking into

suspicious payments of
Rs 42 lakh to Arshi
Qureshi, a guest relation
manager with his NGO
IRF, who was arrested in
July 2016 for allegedly
radicalising some Kerala
youths to join the Islamic
State terror group
tion of 21 missing people, including
women and children, from Kerala,
who travelled to IS territory.
It was alleged that Arshi had a role in radicalising some of these youths and he also converted many to Is-

lam over a period of time before being

booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
NIA is probing a larger conspiracy by Zakir Naik and his NGO IRF for
radicalising Muslim youths and also
terror funding. IRF had come in support of Arshi saying he has never
forced a single person into conversion against his or her free will, as it is
against Islam. We emphatically deny
all allegations.
The development comes a week
after NIA questioned Zakir Naiks
sister Nailah Naushad Noorani, his
brother-in-law Naushad Noorani, his
friend and associate for past 21 years
in IRF Manzoor Shaikh apart
from several relatives and colleagues.

Sources had claimed that Nailah,

who is director and additional director in five private companies Harmony Media Pvt Ltd, Longlast Constructions Pvt Ltd, Right Property Solutions Pvt Ltd, Majestic Perfumes
and Alpha Lubricants Pvt Ltd was
examined about the funding of these
companies. These firms had close
links with IRF.
She is learnt to have told NIA that
she handled the companies as her
brother had asked her to.
NIA is investigating the inflow
and outgo of funds in IRF and other
organisations associated with it. The
agency has found that IRF and Naiks
Peace TV owned several properties
in Mumbai and other areas.

Man gets life

term for
raping minor
daughter
Rebecca.Samervel
@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: A special Protection

of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSOA) court recently sentenced a 34-year-old
man to life imprisonment for
raping his 10-year-old daughter
at their residence in 2014. The
childs testimony along with
those of her mother and brother helped the prosecution nail
the accused. Being the father
it is his duty to protect the victim, but in this case, he himself
committed such heinous crime
on his own daughter, which is
very shameful, the court observed.
The court said considering
the gravity of offence and relation between the victim and accused no leniency could be
shown. It also held that the victims testimony was corroborated by the medical evidence
which showed that she was sexually assaulted.
Referring to the testimony
of the the victim who deposed
against her father the court
said, No child can support illicit relation of their parents.
There is also medical evidence
which corroborated victims
version.
On the day of the incident
on June 15, 2014 the victims
mother was away in Gujarat as
she was dropping her son to a
hostel there. The victim and
her sister were alone at home
with their father. On August 4,
2014 the son revealed to his
mother that the victim, on his
previous visit to home, had
confided in him about the sexual assault. The mother told
the court that she immediately
confronted her husband and
informed relatives, who arrived home and physically assaulted the accused. She further stated that without responding to the allegations the
accused left home and did not
return for the next two days.
On August 6, 2014 the mother
filed a complaint with the police, following which the accused was arrested.
Refuting the defence allegations in the cross examination,
the victim denied that on the
insistence of her mother who
had long standing dispute with
her father she had falsely implicated him. The court also denied the defence suggestions
that the mother of the victim
was in a relationship with a former employee and hence made
false allegations against her
husband.

Supriyo
played role
in scam
Bhubaneswar/Kolkata:
Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Paul, who was arrested
by the CBI last Friday for his
alleged involvement in the
Rose Valley Chit fund scam,
on Sunday said his innocence would be proved in
due course. I am innocent. I
am not guilty at all. Everything will be proved later,
Paul told reporters while
getting into a CBI car in
Bhubaneswar, Odisha, after
a health check-up at a hospital. Asked about the allegation that he availed of financial advantage from the chit
fund company, Paul vehemently denied it. I know for
a fact that I havent taken
any monetary advantage
from anyone, he said.
He alleged that Union
minister Babul Supriyo is
involved in the multi-crore
Rose Valley chit fund scam.
Babul Supriyo tricked me
into the scam and he is involved, he claimed. Terming his arrest politically
motivated, his wife Nandini said, He worked as a director in a film produced by
Rose Valley and received
monthly remuneration by
cheque after TDS deduction. I know he hasnt taken
any money apart from the
remuneration,
she
said. AGENCIES

Med device cos may get

code respite for 6 mths
Ethics Rules Will Be Voluntary For Half A Yr
Photo for representation

Rema.Nagarajan
@timesgroup.com

he Department of
Pharmaceuticals
(DoP), which is drafting a separate marketing
code for medical device manufacturers, might give the
companies six months for
voluntary implementation
of the code before making it
statutory. Medical device
manufacturers were already
a part of the uniform code of
pharmaceutical marketing
practices
(UCPMP)
announced on January 1, 2015,
which was to be made statutory after six months but the
voluntary code has been extended indefinitely.
Following the implementation of the UCPMP, on
March 9, 2015, the DoP issued
a clarification that it was also applicable to the medical
devices industry.
Following this, the Association of Indian Medical
Device Industry (AIMED)
wrote to the DoP saying it
was willing to follow the
code but asked for medical
devices to be made a separate product category. The
letter also stated that if there
were practical challenges in
complying with the code, the
industry would seek minor
amendments. AIMED asked
that the devices industry be
given a trial period till December 31, 2015.
However, in July, the Federation of Indian Chambers
of Commerce and Industry
(FICCI) asked for a separate
code altogether for the device
industry due to the unique
nature of medical technology as opposed to pharmaceutical industry.
It added that since users
(physicians, nurses, technologists etc.) needed to be
trained in the use of devices,
it was important for the manufacturer to be engaged in
educational activities. It suggested that India could adopt
the US or Japanese code.
Till November 2015, the
DoP continued with the
UCPMP for both drugs and
devices. But in 2016, DoP en-

Jaipur: Rajasthan police arrested a poacher at Phulia in

Bhilwara district on Sunday
for killing six peacocks using
poisonous seeds and selling
their meat.
Goddu Bhagaria confessed to have dipped the seeds
in pesticides and spread
them out in a farm frequented by peacocks. He then sold
the peacock meat at road side
eateries. Phulia SHO Sahdev
Singh said, Following a tip
off about six peacock carcasses, we conducted a search at
a farm near Rupbas village.
Bhagaria was arrested from
a nearby house, where he
was hiding. We are also looking for his friends to keep a
check on such killings.
Police said that people in
the area often kill birds so that
their meat could be sold as
chicken in road side eateries.
The carcasses would be examined by a medical board, an
officer said. An FIR has been
lodged against Bhagaria under the protection of wildlife
act. TNN

Notebandi
pushes mobile
panic button
rollout to Feb
Ambika.Pandit@timesgroup.com

covered by the code, would be

expected to have a working
knowledge of it. This was
meant to tackle bribing and illegal marketing done by dealers on behalf of the device
companies, a common practice in India. However, this
clause has been deleted.
Malini Aisola of All India Drug Action Network
said, Civil society groups
like us and the Jan Swasthya
Abhiyan have not been invited to any of the meetings
though we have been involved in the issue of devices
and their marketing. How
can DoP make a code only in
consultation with the industry? .
This ethical code is urgently needed as incorrect
practices of aggressive marketing by some pharmaceutical companies are also beginning to be followed for
medical devices by some
multinationals. This is putting unhealthy pressure on
domestic manufacturers to
match such practices, which
include sponsoring of exhibitions and conferences at
huge costs to please the
heads of departments and
hospital CEOs who make the
decisions on device purchases, said Rajiv Nath of
AIMED. Yet, the implementation of the code remains
stalled.

New Delhi: The governments

plan to introduce mandatory
panic button on mobile phones
as a safety measure for women
in distress may have to wait for
some more time. Faced with a
dip in sales post demonetisation, mobile manufacturers have sought more time to clear their old stocks before getting panic button-enabled ones.
The plan was to be in place
from January 1but now the ministry of women and child development hopes to introduce
the panic button sometime in
February. The project, which is
being monitored by PMO, was
reviewed by secretaries of
WCD ministry and department of telecommunication
last week. It is learnt that the
companies have conveyed their inability due to large inventory following demonetisation
that has resulted in poor sales
in the last two months. They
want some time but are very
much on board to implement
the panic button scheme, a source said.
The Panic Button and Global Positioning System in Mobile Phone Handsets Rules
2016 were notified by the telecommunications department
after relentless pursuit by the
WCD ministry since 2014.
Under the rules, all new feature phones will have a panic
button configured to the numeric key 5 or 9 and all smartphones will have the panic button
configured to three times short
pressing of the power button.
The phones will be required to
have the facility of identifying
the location through GPS. The
alerts will not only go out to police but also to notified persons.
It is the first time in the
world that the hardware is being changed so that women can
press a button to seek help in an
emergency. Now, we need to get
mobile manufacturers to repair the phones that that have been already sold to make way for
the feature, WCD minister
Maneka Gandhi told TOI. We
are also working to put in an
application so that the alert goes to 10 nearest people in proximity so that till police comes
people around are alerted.

HC: Ad hoc hiring

in univs a disease

Now, dress
code for govt
teachers in MP

Poacher kills
6 peacocks to
sell meat, held

The new code seeks to restrict unethical practices employed by

some manufacturers of medical devices to market their products

gaged the National Health

Systems Resource Centre
(NHSRC), the Union health
ministrys technical support
institution, to draw up a code
suitable for India.
The first meeting to discuss the uniform code for
medical device marketing
practices was held by the
DoP with the industry on August 24, 2016, followed by another on November 5.
Even as a separate code
for devices was being finalised, the DoPs last notification on August 30, indefinitely extending the UCPMP, still
included devices and sought
details from both the pharmaceutical and the devices
industry on steps taken by
them to implement the code
to prevent unethical and illegal practices.
The DoP meetings included the then NHSRC director
Jitendra Sharma, and representatives from FICCI, CII,
ASSOCHAM and the American Chamber of Commerce
in India. The device industry
demanded that the code be
voluntary for the first six
months. In the meetings, several clauses in the original
draft were deleted or put off
for review after six months.
For instance, the draft stated
that even third parties working for device companies,
when engaged in activities

Ajay.Sura@timesgroup.com

Chandigarh: Miffed over ad

hocism and contractual arrangements in educational
institutions across Haryana,
the Punjab and Haryana high
court said such appointments
were like disease subjecting
the academia to disrepute.

COURT CODE

Justice Rajiv Narain Rainas comments came while issuing guidelines regarding
remuneration and working
conditions of guest faculty
working in various universities and colleges of Haryana.
The HC has clarified that
those working as guest faculty in have no right to claim
equal pay for equal work, as
they were paid honourarium
per lecture as per UGC
norms. Such appointees
would also not be entitled to
remuneration during the vacation period, the court said.
Guest women employees
would also be entitled to maternity benefits in terms of

statutory rules, clarified the

court.
The HC, however, held that
those appointed as assistant
professor on ad hoc/temporary basis or on contract awaiting regular recruitment and
employment co-terminus with
availability of regular hands
were entitled to basic minimum pay scale (without allowances) provided by UGC. Such
appointees cannot be replaced
by other temporary staff and
can be replaced by a regular
employee only. They will also
be entitled to salary for the vacation period.
The high court also advised the universities and colleges to scrap ad hoc arrangements as soon as practicable
and make regular appointments without delay.
The
petitioners
had
sought directions to the alleged malpractice in the universities/colleges which relieve them before the vacations and keeps them on tenterhooks that they might not
be called again.

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh government announced on Sunday that school teachers would have to mandatorily wear
an apron with a name plate on
it while on duty from the next
academic session.
The government had earlier made dress codes must for
government colleges, civic bodies and district collectorates
staff. MP will become a pioneering state to have introduced dress code for teachers
and its aim is to give teachers
an identity as Rashtra Nirmata (nation builders). The
apron will have a name plate
bearing name of the teacher,
state minister for education
Kunwar Vijay Shah told TOI.
Sources said that the education department has sought
help of the National Institute of
Fashion Technology to decide
colour and design of the apron.
Officials have been asked to
complete all formalities before
Shahs upcoming meeting with
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on
January 4. TNN

We celebrate Jan 1 as New Year

due to 1582 Gregorian calendar
 Since when is New Year
being celebrated on January 1?
This celebration of the New
Year coincides with the use
of the current international and the worlds most
widely used calendar, the
Gregorian calendar, which
was first proposed by Italian doctor Aloysius Lilius
and decreed on February
24, 1582, by Pope Gregory
XIII, after whom it is
named. It was adopted to
rectify the errors in the older Julian calendar. However, due to its obvious Christian
connotations,
its
sometimes used by replacing the traditional era notations AD and BC (Anno
Domini and Before Christ)
with CE and BCE (Common Era and Before Common Era), respectively.
 What was the Julian
calendar?
Julius Caesar introduced
the Julian calendar in

11

TIMES NATION

THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

45BC. It was a reform of the Portugal and most of Italy,

Roman calendar and proba- soon adopted it. But Protestants were a bit rebly designed to apluctant. The British
proximate the tropiEmpire and Sweden
cal year, or the time
adopted it in 1752
taken by the sun, as
and 1753, respectiveseen from the Earth,
ly. Russia, however,
to return to the same
remained on the Juposition along its
path. It has a regular LEARNING lian calendar until
WITH
year of 365 days dividafter the 1917 Rused into 12 months, and THE TIMES sian
Revolution
a leap day is added to Febru- (which is thus called the
Revolution
ary every four years. Hence October
the Julian year is on aver- though it occurred in Greage 365.25 days. It was in gorian November), and
common use in Europe un- Greece until 1923.
til the 1500s, when countries  What are the other calin that region started shift- endars?
ing to the Gregorian calen- The Hijri calendar is used
dar.
to determine the proper Is How did countries shift lamic holy days. It is a luto the Gregorian calendar? nar calendar with 354 days
Pope Gregory XIII decreed and hence a year is about 11
that 10 days should be drop- days shorter than the solar
ped from October 1582 so that year. As a result, Islamic
October 15 should follow im- holy days, although celebrated on fixed dates in
mediately after October 4 of
that year. Most Catholic their own calendar, usually
countries, including Spain, shift 11 days each year in

the Gregorian year. Similarly, the Saka calendar,

which is a lunisolar calendar, is the official calendar
of India. Together with the
Gregorian calendar, its
used in The Gazette of India and communications
issued by the government.
Its year 0 starts in 78CE.
To determine leap years,
add 78 to the Saka year if
the result is a leap year in
the Gregorian calendar,
then the Saka year is also a
leap year. Similarly, the
Persian calendar is used in
Iran and Afghanistan. The
Chinese, Hebrew and Hindu calendars are widely
used for religious and/or
social purposes. The 2009
Hollywood movie 2012, depicting catastrophic events
in 2012, was based on the belief of apocalypse in December 2012, which is said
to be the end date of the
5,000-year-old Mayan Long
Count calendar.

MECHANICS OF THE WILD

NATURAL SELECTION: IIT-M

DEVELOPS STEALTH SHIPS
Lessons From Dolphin, Fish Help Make Vessels Smarter

U.Tejonmayam@timesgroupcom

REVERSE
MECHANICS

f only one could soar with the birds

on a whim or dive into the deep
blue sea with the fish. Man has
always looked to nature for inspiration to do things distinctly unlike
humans. So weve had the Icarus [late,
of tragic legend] and the Wright brothers
[of more recent and well documented
success].
The Wright brothers were the first to
learn everything they needed to know
from birds, how to be able to fly and carry objects that are heavier than air
slats, wingtips, tailwings, empennage,
horizontal and vertical stabilisers, updrafts and downdrafts and thermals.
Weve also reproduced vessels that can
sail the high seas from the lessons that
waterborne creatures have taught us.
Well, almost. Evolution, you see, has
had a jump on us of a few thousand years
during which people developed the skills
and tools required. And imitating nature
has on occasion had devastating consequences.
One of the theories regarding the
sinking of British liner Titanic in 1912
was that its rudder was not efficient
enough to prevent what was then the
largest ship in the world from the striking the iceberg and claiming the lives of
more than 1,500 people.
With a less conventional rudder, scientists at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras hope to develop fin-like
blades, inspired by animals like penguins, turtles and fish, which can be
super-efficient propellers and whiplash-like rudders. These blades respond
faster to commands and their dual functions mean they can turn on a dime and
save on fuel consumption. T h e
bio-inspired propulsion systems
can be used in ships remotely,
underwater and in aerial vehicles
as well.
Just like aquatic animals that navigate without a ripple on the waters
surface, these systems can steer a vessel
underwater without creating a disturbance making them hard to detect.
Vehicles with these systems are stealthy
the current buzzword in military
hardware.
IIT-Ms department of ocean engineering P Krishnankutty says aquatic
animals make use of a variety of propulsion systems but the IIT-M team focused
particularly on penguins and fish, which
have better hydrodynamics and cause
less disturbance.
Research scholar M N Praveen Babu
said the penguin-inspired system has
two fins that use the pressure difference
between the upper and the lower surface

UNDERWATER VEHICLE
1 Two side (pectoral)
fins near to the fore
end along with a tail
fin inspired by
fishes

Pectoral fins

3 While the 4 The tail

2 It can
side fins
produces
stabilize,
rotate and
more
control and
swing, the
thrust
produce
tail fin
than the
thrust
sways
side fin
PROPELLER SHIP

Tail fin

PROPELLERS
MAN MADE
Efficiency

1 Two flapping
fin-like
blades
inspired
by penguins
and turtles

vs DEEP-SEA AQUATIC

65%

Harms
environment
Conspicuous
Stopping ability

15L

2 It will also
rotate and
swing to move
forward

(20L for large

displacement
vessels)

80%
Ecologically
friendly
Less
conspicuous
Stopping ability
Instantaneous
braking

APPLICATIONS
3 The fins work on the
pressure difference created
between the upper and the
lower surface of the fins

PROPELLERS | Bioinspired propulsion

systems can be used
in aerial vehicles for
surveillance, surveys,
mining

of the fins to generate propulsion, rotating and swinging to move forward.

The other system inspired by fish
has two side fins near to the fore end
(where the pectoral fins of a fish are) and
a tail fin, Babu said. Both the pectoral
and tail fins help propel and manoeuvre
but the tailfins give larger thrust.
The researchers tested propulsion
and rudder systems on ship models in

Bio-inspired
underwater vehicles
can be used for
coastal surveillance,
search and rescue,
and mapping

two different sizes at varying speeds. We

tested several parameters including selfpropulsion, thrust force, flapping amplitude, flapping frequency, forward speed,
lift and drag, Babu said. Certain devices, we found, had an efficiency of 80%
when compared to an average of 65%.
Countries like the US, Japan and China are involved in research of bio-inspired propulsion systems.

2017: Democracys Ground Zero?

CITY CITY BANG BANG
SANTOSH DESAI

he year 2017 feels like a knock

on the door in
the dead of a
dark
night.
There was no choice but
to open the door, but one is filled with a
sense of dread as to what exactly one
has let in. Mornings and new beginnings are known to arouse hopefulness,
but it is likely that 2017 will only make
concrete what 2016 has darkly hinted at.
When mature democracies throw up
decisions rooted in hate and anger, and
when policy becomes rooted in impulse
or delusions of grandeur, there is reason to worry.
2016 was the year of the great dismantlings. Donald Trump. Brexit. And
in a somewhat different way, demonetisation. The three events that shaped the
world from an Indian perspective, respond to very different kinds of needs,
but they share one thing in common
these are all focused on dismantling existing systems without having a clear
idea of what the consequences are, and
what needs to be put in their place. Each
dismantling is in response to an angry
impulse for sweeping change and each
is a product of the democratic process.
The anger is directed at the recent
past, and the answer is sought in returning to the idea of the past one that is
simpler, cleaner and more comfortable
with older certitudes. The desire for
sweeping change by challenging some
dominant narratives of the day is in effect a desire to arrest change.
The complexity of a globalised world,
and the changing of some fundamental
sources of identity such as race, gender
and sexual orientation have created deep unease and a sense of losing control.
The desire for change, the more radical the better, the less pragmatic the
more attractive, points to a deep disaffection with politics as it has come to be
practised. And while there are always
reasons that can be summoned up to explain this anger, it is still worth asking
if the world has indeed become such a
terrible place, that democracies are acting in such populist rage?
Some like cognitive scientist Steven
Pinker have argued that the world is in
fact a better place today than it has been
at any other time in history. Deaths due
to war, extreme poverty, child mortality,
illiteracy, and global inequality are, he
argues, at historic lows, while vaccinations, basic education, and the spread of
democracy are at all-time highs. And
yet, very few, whether on the Left or the
Right, share this sunny view of where
humanity finds itself today. Across countries, pessimistic electorates are rejecting the political establishment, and
2017 brings the prospect of many more

regimes tuning in to more extreme appeals.

Something more fundamental is
shifting and this needs to be speculated
upon. One of the biggest changes we have seen in the last few years is the dominant media form of the day and the wide-ranging and deep effects of this are
often not fully acknowledged. The print
era retained the ability to regulate mass
behaviour through the power of ideas
that seeped downwards from an influential educated elite. The ideals of democracy became well established boundaries within which political debate
was largely contained. Liberal democracies were the aspired for destinations, even if progress towards that goal was often slow and unconvincing.
Television changed the nature of
the discourse, as the world began to be
framed through the lens of desire and
consumption. Politicians became
brands, political platforms needed to be
encapsulated in emotionally resonant
terms, candidates needed to be telegenic and always on message. Campaigns became dependent on surveys and
pre-tests of messages elections became an exercise in consumer marketing.
Even in India, the 2014 elections were a
testimony to the advent of the telecracy
Narendra Modis great insight was
that people wanted to believe in someone strong who could provide clarity, and
his campaign was sharply focused on a
few carefully chosen emotional pegs,
rather than a laundry list of programmatic promises.
If television massifies audiences in
terms of desire, digital speaks to their
primitive impulses in a more direct and
personal way. The ability to acknowledge and broadcast every fleeting impulse
to the world without the filter of correctness and find that there are many

other people who feel the same way, creates an alliance of desires that bypasses
the culturally enabled ideas of legitimate and illegitimate. In a political sense, the carefully constructed frameworks of liberal ideals are being dismantled, and a new vocabulary based
on repressed anger has begun to replace it. The implicit hierarchy that placed
knowledge and those that possessed it
at the top has all but collapsed, in an unprecedented way.
Thinking of this change as a shortterm and cyclic phenomenon might be
nothing more than wishful thinking.
Theorist Tom Pettit used the idea that
we might be part of what he called the
Guttenberg Parenthesis to signify that
the brief era between the invention of
the printing press and the emergence of
the internet might be over for good. And
while one way of reading this shift, is to
focus on the empowerment that such a
change enables, perhaps there is a
much gloomier way to think about it.
What if the ideals brought about by the
age of enlightenment are firmly behind
us? What if we are about to witness is a
fundamental shift in the nature of a democracy? The digital era democracy
might well have its own rules which make our current understanding of how
democracies work largely irrelevant.
A new grammar of democracy has
begun rooted not on the lofty ideals of
how humanity should aspire to be,
but on what it might really be deep
down. The fears and hopes that are
being funneled through the political
process today come from a place of
anxiety and insecurity. This new form
of democracy is yet to find its higher
self in 2017 it is likely to be too busy
battling its demons to begin the hunt for
its better angels.
santosh365@gmail.com

12

Gujjars allege Rsthan backtracked on jobs

Jaipur: Gujjar leaders accused the Rajasthan government on Sunday of backtracking on its promise and going ahead with recruitment without resolving the issue of giving reservation to special backward classes (SBC) in government jobs.
The Gujjar leaders, under the banner of Gujjar Arakshan Sangharh Samiti, threatened to take
their agitation to streets again, if the government failed to lay the roadmap of giving reservation
to Gujjars and four other castes that fall in SBC category, by January 15. The Samiti said the government had promised that it would not fill any government post till it finalizes the plan how it
was going to give 5% reservation to SBC category in government jobs. TNN

TIMES NATION

THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

Man beaten to death in lock-up, body dumped

Somreet.Bhattacharya
@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: The discovery of an

unidentified body outside a Metro
station on Thursday has blown the
lid off a grisly case of police brutality. The victim, a 24-year-old fruit-seller, was allegedly beaten to death in-

side the lock-up at Adarsh Nagar police station in northwest Delhi and
his body dumped in a cover-up bid.
Cops tried to pass it off as a suicide, then called it a failed escape bid.
But a probe indicated otherwise.
SHO Sanjay Kumar and five others,
including constables Kuldeep, Surender and Indraj, have been booked

for culpable homicide, wrngful confinement and destruction of evidence, and suspended.
An assistant sub-inspector has
also been called for questioning.
DCP northwest Milind Dumbere has
been asked to probe the matter.
The police version is that Sompaldescribed it as a failed escape bid:

Sompal, while being locked up in a

room, had managed to climb to the fourth-floor terrace of the police station and fallen to his deathby accident.
On December 28, Sompal was detained outside Azadpur Mandi by
two policemen while he was having
an argument with another vendor.

16 held in
Ukhand
forest
Sharma.Seema
@timesgroup.com

Dehradun: Sixteen men,

including Delhi-based industrialist Samir Thapar,
were arrested by Uttarakhand police on New Years
Eve in Kolhu Chaur area of
Lansdowne, in Pauri Garhwal, on charges of trespassing on forest land.
One person has been
charged for carrying illicit
liquor and another for carrying rifles and live cartridges. All 16 have been remanded in judicial custody
for 14 days. A few packets of
cooked and uncooked meat
that police said were recovered from some of the men
have been sent for tests.
Mukhtar Mohsin, senior SSP, Pauri Garhwal,
told TOI, On Saturday, we
got information that some
anti-social elements had
been spotted carrying
weapons and wearing military-style fatigues at the
Kolhu Chaur forest guest
house in Lansdowne forest
division and there was a
possibility that they might
hunt wild animals too. Accordingly, a team was constituted and sent to investigate the matter.
He added that when the
police team reached the
spot, they found a number
of people at the guest house
some staying in the
rooms and others in tents
pitched on the premises.
Asked to show proof of permission to stay at the guest
house, the men produced a
booking confirmation in
the name of Mohinder
Singh which showed that
three suites had been booked for them for December 31.
However, they could not
give a satisfactory explanation for the presence of the
additional people as well as
the pitching of tents, the
SSP said.

Rape victims kin seek

prez nod for
self-immolation
Chandigarh: Seven weeks
after the alleged rape and
murder of a 17-year-old girl in
Sonepat district of Haryana,
her family on Friday wrote to
the President, seeking nod
for self-immolation.
In their letter to the
President, Pranab Mukherjee,
the family highlighted the
inaction of Haryana Police
officials in investigating the
rape and murder case and
sought a CBI probe.
On November 12, the victim,
an undergraduate student,
went missing after leaving
for college. During
investigations, it was found
that the main accused,
Vikram, had allegedly taken
her to a hotel where she was
found dead. TNN

TIMES GLOBAL
THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

ADELE & BF SIMON KONECKI SHELVE PLANS TO

MARRY IN US, CHOOSE BRITAIN INSTEAD

IF WE DESIRE RESPECT
FOR THE LAW, WE MUST
FIRST MAKE THE LAW
RESPECTABLE
LOUIS D BRANDEIS

MARIAH CAREY FACES FANS IRE FOR WALKING OFF

TIMES SQUARE STAGE AFTER TECHNICAL SNAG

New Year nightmare: Man kills 39 in Turkey

No computer is
We walked on safe: Trump wants
top of people couriers, no emails

Revellers Shot
During Party At
Popular Club
Istanbul: A gunman opened
fire on New Year revellers at a
packed nightclub on the shores of Istanbuls Bosphorus
waterway on Sunday killing
at least 39 people, including
many foreigners, then fled
the scene.
Some people jumped into
the Bosphorus to save themselves after the attacker began shooting at random in
the Reina nightclub just over
an hour into the new year.
Witnesses described diving
under tables as the assailant
walked around spraying bullets from an automatic rifle.
The attack shook Nato
member Turkey as it tries to
recover from a failed July coup and a series of deadly bombings in cities including Istanbul and the capital Ankara, some blamed on Islamic
State terror and others claimed by Kurdish militants.
Security services had been
on alert across Europe for new
year celebrations following an
attack on a Christmas market
in Berlin that killed 12 people.
Only days ago, an online message from a pro-IS group called
for attacks by lone wolves on
celebrations and clubs.
At first we thought some
men were fighting with each
other, said a Lebanese woman who gave her name as
Hadeel and who was in the
club with her husband and a
friend. Then we heard the
sound of the gunfire and
ducked under the tables. We
heard the guy screaming Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest),
all three of us heard that ...
We heard his footsteps crushing the broken glass, she
said. We got out through the
kitchen, there was blood eve-

Shocked surviors outside the Reina

club in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday

Jan 1 | 75 minutes after

party-goers ring in the New
Year, gunman opens fire in the
Reina nightclub on banks of
the Bosphorus, killing 39

Dec 19 | Russias ambassador

to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, shot
dead at an Ankara art gallery
by an off-duty policeman to
avenge conflict in Syria

Dec 10: 44 people killed,

mainly police, in twin
bombings in Istanbul

Aug 20 | 57 people, 34 of
them children, die in an
rywhere and bodies.
Officials spoke of a single
attacker, a lone wolf in the
parlance of Islamic State, but
some reports citing witnesses
including on social media
suggested there may have been several. The incident bore
echoes of an attack by militant Islamists on Pariss Bataclan music hall in November
2015 that, along with assaults
on bars and restaurants, killed 130 people.
Nationals of Saudi Arabia,
Morocco, Lebanon, Libya, Israel, a Turkish-Belgian dual
citizen and a Franco-Tunisian
woman were among those killed, officials said. Saudi new-

Bdesh ruling party

lawmaker shot dead
lawmaker from Bangladeshs ruling party has
been shot dead by masked men in northern Bangladesh, police said Sunday.
Manzurul Islam Liton, a
national legislator from PM
Sheikh Hasinas Awami League party, was shot at his home
in Gaibandha district on Saturday evening, said local police chief Atiar Rahman.
Family members told police that four masked men arrived on motorcycles, entered
the house and shot Liton at
close range before running
away, Rahman said.
He was declared dead by
doctors at a local hospital. Liton had been vocal against religious extremism in Bangla-

WORLD DIGEST

Cops detain
100s of African
men in Cologne

olice in Cologne, Germany, say theyve detained

hundreds of men seemingly of African descent as
part of operations to prevent a repeat of the attacks
seen in the German city a
year ago. Police say the men
were detained so that
officers could question them
and check their identities.
Some revelers this year
complained on Twitter that
police appeared to be
detaining people based on
their appearance alone.

Close to test launch of

ICBM, says Kim Jong-un
North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un said on Sunday that
his country was close to
test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Research and development
of cutting edge arms equipment is actively progressing
and ICBM rocket test launch
preparation is in its last
stage, Kim said in his New
Years Day speech.

Burundi minister shot

dead in latest violence:
Burundis environment
minister, Emmanuel Niyonkuru, was shot dead in
the capital Bujumbura early
on Sunday, the first killing of
its kind since the country
was plunged into political
turmoil two years ago.

desh. Obaidul Quader, an Awami League general secretary,

told reporters that the attack on
Liton was a planned murder
and appeared to be a cowardly
act of the sectarian forces.
The state will make sure
that religious extremists will
pay a high price for this crime, Quader said.
Bangladesh has been experiencing threats in recent years from Islamist militants
possibly inspired by the Islamic State terror group. Dozens of atheist and secular
bloggers, writers, publishers,
members of religious minority groups and foreigners have
been attacked and killed in the
impoverished South Asian
nation in recent years. AP

YEAR OF ATTACKS
IS-linked bomb attack on a
wedding in Gaziantep.
President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan blames IS

July 15 | 248 people killed

in a failed coup bid to oust
Erdogan, authorities
blame US-based cleric Gulen
who Ankara says runs a
terror group

airport. No claim of
responsibility but authorities
say evidence points to IS

March 13 | 34 people killed

in a suicide car bomb
attack in Ankara
Feb 17 | 28 people killed in a
suicide bombing targeting the
Turkish military in Ankara

June 28 | 47 people killed,

including foreigners, in triple
suicide bombing and gun
attack at Istanbuls Ataturk

Jan 12 | 12 German tourists

killed in bombing at Istanbuls
Sultanahmet district, the
ancient tourist heart of the
city and home of the Blue
Mosque. PM blames IS

spaper al-Riyadh said five of

the dead were from Saudi Arabia. France said three of its citizens were wounded.
A massive security operation unfolded to track down
the fugitive assailant or assailants and any conspirators.
Turkish interior minister
Suleyman Soylu said 15 or 16 of
those killed at Reina were foreigners but only 21 bodies had
so far been identified. He told
reporters 69 people were in
hospital, four of them in critical condition.
As a nation, we will fight
to the end against not just the
armed attacks of terror groups, but also against their eco-

nomic, political and social attacks, President Tayyip Erdogan said in a written statement. They are trying to create chaos, demoralise our
people, and destabilise our country... We will retain our coolheadedness as a nation, standing more closely together,
and we will never give ground
to such dirty games, he said.
Reina is one of Istanbul's
best known nightspots, popular with local high society and
foreigners. Some 600 people
were thought to be inside
when the gunman shot dead a
policeman and civilian at the
door, forced his way in and
then opened fire. REUTERS

Istanbul: One of the revellers their investigation.

A police officer outside the
at the Istanbul nightclub
which came under attack du- venue is thought to have been
ring New Year celebrations the killers first victim.
Mehmet Dag, who watched
described the chaos and panic
as people tried to escape a the catastrophe unfold from
gunman intent on killing as the street, said: The man tarmany as possible. Professio- geted the security there... he
nal footballer Sefa Boydas took most of them down and
told AFP how several people went inside. Once he went in,
fainted after they heard guns- we dont know what happehots while many walked on ned. There were gun sounds
top of one another to escape and after two minutes, the sothe Reina club on the Europe- und of an explosion.
Sinem Uyanik, who was in
an side of the city.
Boydas said he
AFP
had only been in the
club with two friends
for about 10 minutes
before he heard
gunshots and his friend collapsed in
shock. Just as we
were settling down,
by the door there was
a lot of dust and smoke. Gunshots rang
out. When those sounds were heard, Inconsolable relatives of one of the victims
many girls fainted.
during his funeral in Istanbul on Sunday
He said that people appeared to be crushed as the nightclub, told the Hurriythey ran away from the attack- et newspaper she had been ener. They say 35 to 40 died but joying the night with her husits probably more because band, when they suddenly fowhen I was walking, people we- und themselves in a stampede
re walking on top of people, around people soaked in blosaid Boydas, who plays full ti- od. My husband said dont
me for Istanbul club Beylerbe- be afraid, and he jumped on
yi SK. Boydas described the me. People ran over me. My
screams which he said drow- husband was hit in three planed out anything said by the at- ces. I managed to push throtackers. But even if there we- ugh and get out, it was terribre shouting, you wouldnt hear le. People were soaked in blobecause the crowds screams od. Maximilien, an Italian
were 100 times louder, a dis- tourist, described it as a
night of horror. Ismail Cetressed Boydas added.
He described how the area lebi, who was across the strewas full of police, saying that et from the club, described
officers came quickly to the people running out, steppscene but kept many at the club ing on each other after heafor prolonged periods during ring a bang. AGENCIES

JAKARTA TOURIST BOAT BLAZE KILLS 23

Reuters

PIO appointed to
top military post
in Kyrgyzstan

n Indian-origin Saudi-based
entrepreneur has been
appointed Major General of
Kyrgyzstan, a rare military
position occupied by an Indian in
the central Asian country.
Shaikh Rafik Mohammed, who
hails from Kerala, was
appointed Major General of
Kyrgyzstan by defence minister
Ali Mirza. It is a rare
military position occupied
by an overseas Keralite, said
Omar Abu Baker, media adviser
of Rafik. Rafik was invited by the
Kyrgyzstan government to take
up the prestigious military
position in view of his earlier
contribution to the country. PTI

A boat carrying hundreds of local tourists caught fire off the coast of the Indonesian capital city of
Jakarta on Sunday, killing at least 23 and injuring 17, officials said. Another 17 were missing while 194
have been rescued. Zahro Express burst into flames shortly after leaving the port

Palm Beach: Presidentelect Donald Trump says that

no computer is safe when it
comes to keeping information private, expressing new
scepticism about the security
of online communications
his administration is likely to
use for everything from dayto-day planning to international relations.
Trump rarely uses email
or computers despite his frequent tweeting. You know,
if you have something really
important, write it out and
have it delivered by courier,
the old-fashioned way. Because Ill tell you what: No
computer is safe,Trump
told reporters during his annual New Years Eve bash. I
dont care what they say.
Trump has repeatedly
cast aside allegations by US
intelligence agencies that
Russia tried to influence the
presidential election through hacking. President Barack Obama earlier this week ordered sanctions on Russian spy agencies, closed two
Russian compounds and expelled 35 diplomats the U.S.
said were really spies. The
Russian government has denied the allegations.
Trump, who has said that
he plans to meet with intelligence officials next week to
learn more about the allega-

AP

Donald Trump with wife

Melania at a New Year party in
Mar-a-Lago on Saturday

tions, said he wants US officials to be sure because its

a pretty serious charge. He
pointed to intelligence failures over the existence of weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq before the US invasion, and declared himself
an expert in the area.
Trump made the comments during his annual
New Years Eve bash at his
Mar-a-Lago club. Hundreds
of guests gathered in the
clubs grand ballroom, including action star Sylvester Stallone and romance
novel model Fabio. Reporters were invited to watch as
guests arrived. AP

Have hacking info

others dont know
Maggie Haberman

West Palm Beach (Florida): President-elect Donald

J Trump, expressing lingering skepticism about intelligence assessments of Russian interference in the election, said on Saturday evening that he knew things
that other people dont
know about the hacking,
and that the information would be revealed on Tuesday
or Wednesday.
Speaking to a handful of
reporters outside his Palm
Beach club, Mar-a-Lago,
Trump said: And I know a
lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to
prove. So it could be somebody else. And I also know
things that other people
dont know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation.
When asked what he
knew that others did not,
Trump demurred, saying
only, Youll find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Choir member
refuses to sing for
Donald, resigns

member of a famed choir

group selected to perform
at Donald Trumps inauguration has resigned, saying
performing at the ceremony
would be like endorsing
tyranny and fascism. Jan
Chamberlin, a member of the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir,
sent a resignation letter,
saying that she could never
sing for Trump. PTI

The comments on Saturday were a departure from

a statement that Donald
Trump issued through
transition officials last week, in which he said that
it was time for people to move on from the hacking issue but that he would be briefed on the matter by intelligence officials early in the
new year. NYT NEWS SERVICE

AROUND THE WORLD

Reuters

Twitter may add an US lawmaker beats

edit button: Dorsey wife on 911 call, held
Andrew Griffin

witter might finally let

people fix their bad tweets. The troubled companys CEO, Jack Dorsey,
has suggested that he
might have the site add
an edit button so that
updates can be fixed after they are posted.
Dorsey
admitted
that the site needs such an
edit button, but said also that
he will need to think more
about how it can be rolled out.
The suggestion came after
Dorsey sent out a tweet asking
users what they would want to
see change about the site in
2017. A range of responses fol-

lowed, including a number of

people who asked for tweets to
be allowed to be changed once
they had been posted.
Is it more important to
edit for spelling/corrections? 5 minute
window to edit mistakes or do you need to be
able to edit anytime?
he asked users who
suggested the button.
An edit button has long been one of the sites most requested features. People doing so
have included Kim Kardashian, who posted numerous tweets requesting the feature and
once said she had personally
emailed Twitter asking for it to
be implemented. THE INDEPENDENT

Washington: A US lawmaker has been arrested for

punching his wife in the face
and pointing a gun at her after a 911 call recording emerged in which his children
can be heard screaming
just stop, Daddy.
Republican representative from South Carolina,
Chris Corley, who recently
voted for legislation toughening punishments for domestic violence, was arrested on Tuesday.
According to the warrants, 36-year-old Corley, in
the presence of an 8-yearold child, caused physical
harm and injury to his wife
by striking her about the

head and face with a closed

fist after threatening to kill
the victim, point a handgun
at the victim causing her to
fear for her life.
Aiken City dispatch was
alerted after receiving the
first 911 phone call on Monday in which piercing screams of children begging Corley to just stop were heard.
Just stop Daddy. Just stop...Daddy, why are you doing
this? can be heard in the recording released to the Aiken Standard newspaper.
Please stop. Stop. Please
stop, Chris. Just stop daddy,
just stop. Chris, please stop.
Daddy. Please help. Please
Chris. Chris, it said. PTI

Doyle & Cumberbatch are related

hy does actor Benedict Cumberbatch cut

such a dash as British literary detective Sherlock Holmes?
Thats elementary, according to genealogy website Ancestry.com. Cumberbatch is
distantly related to author Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle, who
created the brilliant but quirky sleuth some 130 years ago,
the website said on Sunday.
Cumberbatch, 40, star of
the Emmy award-winning
BBC TV series, Sherlock, is
a 16th cousin, twice removed

Reuters

Benedict Cumberbatch

of Doyle. The two are related

through 14th century English
nobleman John of Gaunt,
who, according to records,
was Cumberbatchs 17th gre-

at-grandfather and Conan Doyles 15th great-grandfather,

Ancestry researchers said.
John of Gaunt, born about 1340, was a son of Englands King Edward III, meaning that Cumberbatch and
Conan Doyle also have a distant royal connection.
How rare that an actor in
a major series has the chance
to play a character created by
a relative, especially one as
iconic as Sherlock Holmes,
said Jennifer Utley, a family
historian at Ancestry.
Conan Doyle published

the first of about 60 Sherlock

Holmes stories in 1887. The
eccentric, violin-playing character has since become one
of the best-known fictional
detectives in the world and
the inspiration for hundreds
of movies, stage plays, books
and TV shows.
Ancestry said its researchers looked at everything
from church records, censuses, land deeds, newspaper
announcements and tombstones to establish the link
between Cumberbatch and
Conan Doyle. REUTERS

BALL DROPS: Revellers share a kiss to usher in the new year at Times Square on Sunday

GOT turned out

to be saviour for
this Irish farmer

ame of Thrones is not

only one of the biggest TV
shows in the world but it has
also helped save the business
of a farmer in Northern Ireland. Forthill Farm in County
Armagh was struggling to
make ends meet until its
animals featured in the TV
series. Farmer Kenny Gracey
said, Any of the background
animals, the chickens, the
goats the geese, the dogs for
instance or the deer. Im
supplying those. Meanwhile,
the shows direwolves might
look like they come from a
fantasy word, but in reality,
they are from County Down.

Man tipped server with

Valium pill in US: Heres a
tip: Dont give a prescription
painkiller as a gratuity.
Police say that gesture led to
trouble for a patron of a Pennsylvania casino on Thursday.
State police say the man at the
Sands Casino in Bethlehem
tipped a server with a Valium
pill. David Carnevale, of New
Jersey, faces a charge of
possession with intent to
deliver a controlled substance.

Man pays $1,550 as late

fine for 40 years to library:
A library lover who found two
books more than four decades
overdue at a vacation cabin in
Canada is making a donation
to cover the late fees at the
1970s-era rate of a nickel a
day. Jon Kramer and his
family gave the Maryland, US,

library a check for about $1,550

to cover the fees.

After dead birds, woman

gets living canaries in mail:
The carnage of broken wings
and dead canaries that arrived
in an Alabama womans mail
last week have been replaced
by cheerful new birds live
ones. The US Postal Service
paid for seven canaries plus the
postage needed to send them
to Rhonda King, who operates a
hair salon in Alabama.

Queen misses New Year

service due to illness:
Britains Queen Elizabeth II
missed the annual New Years
Sunday church service at her
Sandringham estate due to a
lingering heavy cold. The
90-year-old Queen has had the
cold for more than a week.

AN ECSTASY
Thou shouldst not have been old
till thou hadst been wise

Lucknow Coup
Akhilesh grabs power from the old guard,
he represents the future of Samajwadi Party

ast weeks drama within Samajwadi Party spilled over into

the New Year with a dramatic coup by Uttar Pradesh chief
minister Akhilesh Yadav. He was declared the new national
president of the party, replacing his father Mulayam Singh Yadav
who was declared a margdarshak. The new president was announced
during an emergency meeting of the SP national executive yesterday,
where another sensational development was removing Akhileshs
adversaries Shivpal Yadav and Amar Singh from party posts. With
the old guard mulishly resisting a handover of the baton to the
gen-next leader, Akhilesh has done well to grab authority ahead of
the crucial assembly elections.
When Akhilesh was appointed CM by his father in 2012, it was
assumed that the move would end the succession battle within
SP. But the CM did not get a free hand in running the states affairs
and his authority was undermined
at regular intervals. When Akhilesh
asserted himself, it was met by stiff
resistance from uncle Shivpal and
from Mulayam. At the core of the
dysfunctional joint family politics is
the SP legacy of patronising criminal
elements and corruption. Akhilesh
has consciously tried to build a
different image.
It was against the wishes of
Akhilesh that mafia don Atiq Ahmed was given a ticket and
Mukhtar Ansaris Qaumi Ekta Dal was merged with SP. But while
its past glories might have come from muscle power and caste
politics, the future of SP lies with Akhilesh, who has managed
to brand himself as a leader committed to development and
middle-class aspirations in a state witnessing urbanisation. The
CM also enjoys popularity among women and youth.
Still, the sonrise is not definitive. Mulayam has complained to the
Election Commission that the meeting which declared Akhilesh the
party president was unconstitutional. Meanwhile political rivals
are keenly interested in how all this infighting is weakening SP. It
strengthens Mayawatis message that Muslim interests would be
better served by voting for BSP. It gives Amit Shah a reason to smile
too, after dismal reports of how public discontent over the cash
crunch has hurt BJP prospects. Congress would like to seek the CM
riding the saddle because he is more open to an alliance with it than
Mulayam. As for SP, its prospects strengthen with the strengthening
of Akhilesh.

Buried Under

Lalmatia mine collapse highlights

the lack of safety culture in India

n another shocking mining accident, at least 50 miners were

buried under tonnes of rubble when a mine collapsed at the
Lalmatia open-cast coalfields owned by ECL in Jharkhand. As
rescue workers continue to dig for survivors, over 17 fatalities have
already been reported. According to eyewitnesses, the miners had
been working 300 feet below ground when piles of rubble slid from
one of the inner walls of the mine. Some miners have also accused
officials of not stopping work when tell-tale signs of an impending
collapse were detected earlier.
Mining is one of the most dangerous professions in India, with a
mining fatality every 10 days last year. In the coal sector, on an
average 7 lives were lost for extracting every 100 million tonnes of
coal in 2015. Plus, as highlighted by a
2014 National Human Rights Commission
report, such mining-related accidents
have increased in frequency in recent
years. That report had also mentioned the
need for the mining sector to learn from
global best practices in terms of training
and accident investigation. But little has
been done in this regard.
Given that mining activity has a
proportional link to economic growth, such accidents are bound
to increase further if standard operating procedures and safety
mechanisms arent upgraded. In fact this is a problem that
cuts across sectors, from railways to urban construction. India
must build a culture of safety and maintenance where assets are
periodically checked, upgraded and replaced. Our reactions only
kick in when a disaster is upon us and lives are lost. This needs to
change with quicker uptake of technology and timely evaluation of
safety protocols. For, development sans safety is akin to building
skyscrapers in the air.

It is performing vital functions that are fundamentally different from the Planning Commission
Arvind Panagariya

Niti Aayog turned two

years old yesterday. The
anniversary offers an
opportunity to reflect
on how the new institution differs from its
predecessor, the Planning Commission,
and what functions it performs.
Two key activities of the Planning
Commission had been to prepare and
implement the Five Year Plans and to
allocate financial resources to states.
Neither of these activities forms a part
of the mandate of Niti Aayog. The
Twelfth Five Year Plan, which will
conclude on March 31 this year, will be
Indias last Five Year Plan.
Likewise, Niti Aayog does not allocate
any financial resources to states. The
14th Finance Commission raised the
share of states in the divisible pool from
32% to 42%, leaving no additional funds
for allocation to states through Niti
Aayog. The annual resource allocation
exercise that brought state chief ministers to the doorstep of the Planning
Commission is now a thing of the past.
Among many functions that Niti
Aayog performs, three stand out:
promotion of cooperative, competitive
federalism; assisting the central government in policy making; and serving
as the governments thinktank. These
three functions complement each other
instead of being mutually exclusive.
The Governing Council of Niti Aayog,
which includes all state chief ministers
and lieutenant governors of the Union
territories, set in motion the first function
at its maiden meeting on February 8,
2015. It appointed three subgroups of chief
ministers to advise the central government on the subjects of Centrally
Sponsored Schemes, Skill Development
and Swachh Bharat Mission. It also
set up two task forces at the Aayog
on Agricultural Development and
Elimination of Poverty, with parallel
task forces on each subject constituted
in the states and Union territories.
Assisted by the Aayog, the subgroups
completed their work and submitted the
reports in relatively short time. The two
task forces followed. The recommendations in the five reports have been either

implemented or are under consideration.

The Aayog has also helped promote
reforms in the states. It has formulated a
model land-leasing law, which Madhya
Pradesh has adopted and Uttar Pradesh
has substantially incorporated into a preexisting law. Several other states are actively considering adopting the model law.
The Aayog is also leading a campaign
to bring about major reforms in
agricultural marketing. Furthermore,
it has taken the initiative to help resolve
and expedite decisions on numerous
issues of states pending for months
with various central ministries. It also
identifies and spreads the best practices
across states in various areas through
regular interactions with state officials
from relevant ministries.
In its policy making role at the
Centre, the Aayog has taken the initiative
to identify numerous sick Public Sector
units for closure. Action on 17 such units
is under way. The Aayog has also
identified several functioning units for
strategic
disinvestment.
Finance
ministry must now move ahead with
the actual sales of these units.

A big bang reform the Aayog

has proposed is the
replacement of the Indian
Medical Council Act, 1956, by a
Medical Education Commission
Act to overhaul medical
education in India. The
proposed Act would require
entrance and exit examinations
and replace input norms in the
assessment of medical
colleges by outcome norms
A big bang reform the Aayog has
proposed is the replacement of the
Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, by a
Medical Education Commission Act to
overhaul medical education in India.
The proposed Act would require
entrance and exit examinations and
replace input norms in the assessment
of medical colleges by outcome norms.

A comprehensive National Energy

Policy draft is ready to be placed in
public domain for wider consultation.
The Aayog is also working on the
creation of 20 world-class universities
and reform of the University Grants
Commission Act, 1956 and All India
Council of Technical Education Act,
1987. It has also championed the
launch of Coastal Employment Zones to
accelerate the creation of well-paid jobs.
As a part of its thinktank function,
the Aayog has brought out a book of best
practices, conducted workshops of state
officials to spread these practices,
collaborated with thinktanks, created
the utility India Energy Security
Scenarios 2047, sponsored policy research and published several occasional
papers. It is also in the process of bringing
out the 15-year Vision, 7-year Strategyand
3-year Action Plan documents.
It also organises the Transforming
India lecture series featuring such
high-profile speakers as Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister of
Singapore and Bill Gates. The Prime
Minister, the entire Cabinet and the top
bureaucrats attend these lectures.
The Aayog has also led the way for the
creation of a vibrant innovation
and entrepreneurship ecosystem in the
country through its Atal Innovation
Mission. The mission will soon establish
tinkering labs in more than 200 schools
as well as several incubators to promote
innovation and entrepreneurship.
Organisationally, the Aayog had
inherited 1,200 positions from the Planning
Commission, which it downsized to 500.
Subsequently, it has taken the initiative
to appoint approximately 45 young
professionals and a dozen senior officers
from outside. These additions have
brought great energy to the institution.
When the Prime Minister invited me
to join the Niti Aayog two years ago, the
excitement of assisting him in the
transformation of India overwhelmed
the fear of taking up the challenge. I
instantly accepted his generous offer. I
feel proud, two years later, of what the
hard-working staff of Niti Aayog have accomplished. I hope we can maintain this
momentum as we step into our third year.
The writer is Vice Chairperson, Niti
Aayog. Views are personal

Trumps phone call with Nawaz Sharif was stupid no

way to counter China without India, Japan and Australia
With Donald Trump all set to take office as
the next US president, David J Rothkopf,
CEO and editor of FP Group, which
publishes Foreign Policy magazine, and
visiting scholar at Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace, spoke to Nalin
Mehta about how the Trump administration is looking to change US policies
towards China and the Asian region and
what this would mean for India and
Pakistan. Rothkopfs books include Power
Inc, Superclass, Running the World and
National Insecurity: American Leadership
in an Age of Fear and he served as US
Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for
International Trade under Bill Clinton:
Do you think what Donald Trump
has been saying about China is
grandstanding or will things change
seriously after he
formally takes over
as president?
I dont think those
two things are mutually
exclusive. There is a
lot of grandstanding
because it is in his
nature to grandstand.
There are signs that
real changes will be
afoot because there is a
group of people around
Trump who are very
hawkish on China.
There is no reason

to assume at this point that Trumps

pronouncements on China wont be
followed through to some extent. He
created a new White House Council
called the International Trade Council,
headed by a professor from University of
California, Irvine, Peter Navarro, who is
a real China hawk. Other members of
his trade team like Dan DiMicco and
some of the hawkish members of his
security team are tough on China. We
might well see some kind of worsening
in the US-China relationship.
There are a number of issues that are
likely to flare up quickly
where Trump may
feel his manhood is
being tested.
Will
Trumps
foreign policy be
about
testing
his manhood?
It will be, to
some extent.
This is not
someone
who has
foreign
policy

experience or someone who has ever

been very temperate or strategic. He is
very tactical, believes personality drives
outcomes and in that respect his view
could not be more antithetical to the
view of the Chinese.
There is a likelihood that we
may see a more central role
played by US Pacific Command
(in Hawaii), advocacy of a robust
military role and a lesser role
played by diplomats.
What conclusions can you draw
about Trump from the appointments
he has made?
He doesnt really value policy or
Washington executive branch experience.
He has no experience, his chief of staff
has no experience. He has three generals
in his team but they have military experience no executive civilian branch
experience and a lot of corporate folks.
He has gone from a White House which
was very Oval Office centric and had
gotten rid of Homeland Security Council
and blended the National Security Council
(NSC) and National Economic Council
(NEC) together to a White House where he
has recreated Homeland Security Council,
brought back to life NSC and NEC and a
new International Trade Council. So now
there are four councils doing what one
was doing before.
This suggests he is likely to run
the presidency like a loose holding company rather than one strong centrally

dilbert

operated government appropriation.

That suggests two things: he will
devolve power down and wont be
involved in day-to-day management
of things and he has said as much.
Secondly, the gatekeeper to the
president is going to have a lot of
power: it could be his chief of
staff, the NSA, vice-president
Mike Pence, his son-in-law Jared
Kushner or Steve Bannon. There is
going to be a lot of scrambling to be the
chief whisperer of this presidency.
What will Trump mean for India
and the India-Pakistan equation,
especially on Kashmir?
You saw the nature of the phone call
he had with Nawaz Sharif. It was just
stupid. We can talk about it in terms of
niceties but it was just dumb.
This is not a man with strong
opinions on this and so the question is:
are there more dealmakers around him
with stakes in India or more with
stakes in Pakistan? He has some ties
and interests in India developers from
Pune came to visit him early on and he
doesnt much like China so by default
the US-India relationship probably
wont deteriorate too much.
The rise of China is the defining story
and no way can you counterbalance
that without an Indo-Pacific quad
(quadrilateral partnership): US, India,
Japan and Australia. You might also put
South Korea in that.

Sacredspace
The Cosmozen
The cosmic person has two
bodies: the superior body is
pure consciousness which is
without beginning, middle or
end and the other body is
this world. He is able to view
the world from the outside
like the hen views the egg.

In 2017, I solemnly swear

New Year resolutions for our netajis,
including flip flops and flop shows
Sagarika.Ghose@timesgroup.com

Its that time of the year when our public figures announce
their New Year resolutions. Heres a non-sample.
Narendra Modi: Mitron! In 2017, I promise your cash will
be your cash alone. Whatever else I do, I will certainly never
demonetise currency of Rs 100 or below. Also, there will be
no more new schemes, we will only implement those already
announced. I promise I will not appear in any advertisement for any corporate.
Jio or jeene do, Paytm kiya karo.
Arun Jaitley: In 2017, I promise to make the RBI fully autonomous. They
will be allowed to take decisions subject to approval from North Block which in
turn will take approval from PMO. Yes we may do the occasional flip flop on our
notifications but isnt flip flop better than a flop show?
Rahul Gandhi: In 2017 I will not take my mothers advice before deciding
whether I am a clean-shaven or a bearded man. The PM is cutting down on the
countrys notes, I am only cutting down the Congress votes. Now you tell me,
which is worse?
Arvind Kejriwal: Haryana may be my janmabhoomi and Delhi my
karmabhoomi but in 2017 I promise to become a Punjab da puttar.
Forget odd even, its time now to sing balle balle. Punjab today, Goa
tomorrow, Delhi can be LG bharose.
Akhilesh Yadav: In 2017 my dad has been forced to sing papa
kehte hain bada naam karega. In UPs pari-war, I am the new netaji: forget the
chacha-cha, this is the age to dance to the bhatija.
Mayawati: In 2017 if the PM doesnt end note-bandi, I will do a statute-bandi.
Building monuments and parks requires cash and all this cashless talk is
making me very nervous. After all, how can we have votebanks without banks?
Mamata Banerjee: Chit fund or no chit funds, I never cheat my voters, so
even if riots take place in Bengal, I will always say, dont worry be happy.
The PM may claim to have a 56 inch chest but remember in Bengal didi is the
only dada. So dont mess with me else I will go on another Bengal bandh.
Voter: In 2017 I will queue up to watch the political dangal playing out at a
polling booth near me. I may not have my note but I still have my vote. But I hope
in 2017, netas wont decide to move from note-bandi to vote-bandi?

THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

Niti Aayog At Two

A thought for today

SHAKESPEARE, King Lear

OF IDEAS

Uday Deb

14

Yoga Vasishta

Lets Stoke And Nurture The Human Intellect

Swami Parthasarathy

or a long period of time there has

been no awareness or endeavour
by humans to develop the art of
thinking. As a result the lives of people
are based on groundless beliefs. And
their beliefs rest on some absurd
superstitions. Or mere assertions which
bear no proof. And now they find it
difficult to question their veracity.
People must wake up; realise the
need to develop, and strengthen the
intellect. The process of thinking
should have started from an early age.
Having failed to do so, at least now, start
the process. Develop the art of thinking.
Follow it up with the study of the impeccable truths of life. Delve deep into the
truths. Accept those that appeal to logic
and reason. Apply them in practical
living. Adopt this procedure all through
life. It will enable you to build your
intellect. Albert Einstein had observed:

Intellectual growth should commence at

birth and cease only at death.
Humans need a strong intellect to
exercise the right choice of action in
life. The world presents endless trials
and tribulations. The human species
alone is provided with intellect to
fight against and surmount
mundane challenges. All other
species, devoid of intellect, are
helpless victims of the rigours
of the external world. A powerful intellect helps us overpower
these onslaughts. But the role
of the human intellect does not
end there. The intellect has the
unique capacity to even
transcend the world and reach
the ultimate state of spiritual
Enlightenment. You must make
good use of the intellect to attain this
very purpose of human birth.
Unaware of the dire need to build the
intellect, people entertain themselves

with merely reading others periodicals

and publications. They indulge in the
mere length of study. Just poring over
pages of literature, apathetic towards
the message therein or its deeper
implications if any. Rare indeed are the
ones who go into the depth of study.
Thus little is assimilated or
absorbed by the readers.
People have been educated like
robots for generations. And
have been traversing through
life without knowing the
meaning and purpose of it.
The world abounds in
personalities with one-sided
development. Intelligence and
no intellect. An example of one
such person suffering from
this human imbalance is a
renowned scientist. He is an alcoholic
and his liver is damaged. He is extremely
short-tempered and his blood pressure
has shot up. And he is stressed, unable to

the

speaking
tree

face even the petty challenges of the

world. Just reflect over his state. He is a
brilliant scientist with profound
knowledge of his subject. He has
acquired abundant intelligence but
never cared to develop his intellect. His
intellect has always remained weak.
It lacks the strength to handle the multifarious demands of the mind. His mind
craves for alcohol. His intellect is not
powerful enough to control the nagging
desire. His frail intellect is unable to
control the ravings of his mind.
On the contrary, there are luminaries
possessing awesome intellects which
hold their minds under perfect control.
Some of them possess no academic
qualification but academies are built
around them.
It is time the world woke up to the
urgent need to develop the intellect.
Only then can we save ourselves from
impeding self-destruction and evolve to
spiritual perfection.

TIMES BUSINESS
THE TIMES OF INDIA,AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

ELON MUSK-LED TESLA SUED BY A MODEL X OWNER

CLAIMING SUDDEN ACCELERATION WHILE PARKING
EXECUTIVE DIGEST

FPIs in exit mode

for 3rd mth, pull
out $4bn in Dec
Overseas investors have
pulled out $4 billion from the
Indian capital market in
December following rate hike
by the US Fed. This was the
third consecutive month of
outflows by Foreign Portfolio
Investors (FPIs) and most of
the outflows by the overseas
investors have been witnessed in the debt markets. The
latest FPI outflow took place
following a withdrawal of over
Rs 49,700 crore on net basis
from the capital market in last
two months (Oct-Nov).

Macro data hold key for

stocks this week: Stock
market trends this week will
largely depend on domestic
as well as global macro economic data prints, while
expectation of tax sops in
budget and weakness of
dollar may add to the positive
sentiment for the year ahead,
experts say. Foreign investors
will continue to be net sellers
and the holiday spirit is
expected to keep the market
muted on account of less
volume on the FII counter.

Top 9 cos add `71,964cr in

m-cap: Nine of the 10 most
valued companies registered a
combined profit addition of Rs
71,964 crore in their market
valuation last week, with ITC
reporting maximum gains. ITC,
TCS, HUL, CIL, RIL, HDFC,
Infosys, HDFC Bank and SBI
saw their market capitalisation
grow by Rs 71,963.70 crore.

Govt permits 12 PSBs to

raise `3,000cr from mkt: In
a bid to strengthen capital
base of public sector banks
(PSBs), the government has
allowed 12 lenders to raise
nearly Rs 3,000 crore via
preferential shares over and
above the Rs 22,915 crore
capital support committed to
them in July last year.

Tata Steel hopes to get

back to normalcy soon:
Tata Steel on Sunday expressed confidence that the
situation would be back to
normal in the next quarter
after the companys performance was impacted
temporarily in November last
owing to demonetisation.
December was much better
month for Tata Steel than
November last affected due to
demonetisation, the companys MD (India and South East
Asia) T V Narendran said.

Bombay Dyeing to sell land,

some machinery for `174cr:
Bed and bath linen retailer
Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Co on Sunday said it
has inked an agreement for
sale of land, building and
some machinery of Ranjangaon unit at an aggregate value
of Rs 174.45 crore.

Gionee firm on manufacturing plans: Handset maker

Gionee on Sunday said it is
firm on its plans manufacturing mobile phones in India
despite disruptions due to
demonetisation. We are
committed to Make in India
and planning to set up a
manufacturing unit spread
across 50 acres in Faridabad
at a cost of Rs 500 crore,
Gionee India CEO and country
head Arvind Vohra told PTI.

S KOREA CENTRAL BANK CHIEF LEE JU-YEOL SAYS MONETARY

POLICY WILL STAY ACCOMMODATIVE FOR MORE TIME

Cash crunch blues force car PSU insurers post losses in

H1
FY17
on
higher
claims
sales into slow lane in Dec Solvency Margins Also Raised Red Flags
Rate Cut May Boost Sentiment, But Unlikely To Push Sales: Cos
Pankaj.Doval@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Demonetisation

hit car sales in December as
top makers, including Maruti and Hyundai, cut down on
deliveries to dealerships for
keeping inventory levels under check.
The decision of banks to
cut lending rates is being seen as a sentiment booster,
though not being too helpful
for giving an immediate fillip to sales. It will be the upcoming budget in February
that will decide the course
for the industry in the new
year, top officials told TOI.
Maruti witnessed a 4%
decline in domestic sales in
December as the company
reported wholesale deliveries at 1.06 lakh units against
1.11 lakh units in the same
month last year. The company saw a decline in sales of its
mini cars where volumes
dipped 15% in the Alto and
WagonR segment and 9% for
other compact cars.
Close rival Hyundai also
reported a similar decline in
December numbers (at 4%)

HITTING ROADBLOCK
Company

Dec 15

Dec 16

Maruti

1.11L

1.06L

Hyundai

41.8K

40.1K

Toyota

10.4K

12.7K

Royal Eneld

40K

56.3K

Change (%)
-4
-4
22
41

Source: Company Data

People will be
careful in purchases
in the new year as they will
wait for any positive
measures in the Budget

Abdul Majeed | PARTNER FOR

Rakesh Srivastava | SR VP
(SALES & MARKETING) AT HYUNDAI INDIA

THE AUTO INDUSTRY AT

PRICEWATERHOUSE INDIA

While the interest

rate cut is positive,
it will not immediately
push people to buy

people will be careful in purchases in the new year as

they will wait for any positive measures in the budget,
which will be presented on
February 1. The rate cut will
not result in any sudden shift
in demand. Though the benefits will be marginal from the
cut in interest rates, it will
improve customer sentiments and help reduce the
challenges posed by demonetisation.
Industry officials said

even as the company said

that its overall annual sales
volumes for 2016 crossed 5
lakh units (up 5%).
The decline comes despite companies across the industry offering huge discounts and freebies to attract
customers. Demonetisation
has dented demand in rural
markets and the pinch has also been felt in urban areas.
Rakesh Srivastava, senior VP (sales & marketing)
at Hyundai India, said that

that a 1% cut in interest rates

will reduce EMI by Rs 50 on
Rs 1 lakh loan for tenure of
three years. The reduction
will be Rs 200 per lakh on a five-year loan.
Abdul Majeed, partner
for the auto industry at Pricewaterhouse India, said that it
may not be easy to push sales
in the first quarter. While
the interest rate cut is positive, it will not immediately
push people to buy. It will be
slightly tougher. People will
expect a cut in duties and taxes in the budget.
Toyota is one of the few
companies that have registered strong growth in December. The company, which has
launched the new versions of
its popular Innova MPV and
Fortuner SUV, said sales were up by 22% in the month.
N Raja, director for sales
& marketing, said that the
January-March quarter may
go slow for the industry as
negatives are still strong.
The pressure on first-quarter volumes will be there, he
said, adding that Toyota expects demand to stay strong.

45% of loans going to only 300 cos

Continued from P1

he reduction in MCLR
will mean that new borrowers will get loans at
the cheaper rates. Since home loans are linked to one-year MCLR, the rates are locked in for 12 months. Older loans will get the benefit of the
new rates only after their
one-year lock-in ends. Those
who had availed loans before
April 2016 would have their
EMIs linked to the earlier
benchmark, the base rate.
These borrowers will have to
enter into a fresh contract
with the bank (by paying a
small fee) to get loans linked
to MCLR.
Other banks which have
announced lower rates with
effect from the New Year include State Bank of Travancore,
IDBI Bank and Indian Overseas Bank. Top officials of SBI

ans is going to only 300 companies. The extreme concentration of bank credit on
the top end of the corporate
sector has begun to border
on the ridiculous, said Rajiv
Lall, MD & CEO, IDFC Bank.
He added that the announcements by the Prime Minister
would help rebalance this by
encouraging loans to small
business where the framework has already been created with the help of payment
systems and bank accounts.
Lall also welcomed the
fact that the government was
encouraging small lending
through market related programmes as compared to the
past when priority sector lending was in the form of a diktat. From our perspective
this is extremely positive and
will help us further in penetrating into the segments we
serve. With these announce-

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST

th

Banks set to cut rates

after Modis nudge
Sidhartha.K@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Banks led by SBI

and ICICI Bank are set to announce rate cuts after a prod
from PM Modi to signal that
the benefits of demonetisation in the form of record deposits are being shared with the

points (100 basis points equals

one percentage point), depending on the tenure. Other lenders are expected to opt for a similar reduction, especially after
several banks reduced interest
rates on deposits.
A reduction in MCLR augurs well for those planning to
avail of home loan or other loans since these are linked to

The
Times of India dated Jan 1, 2017
 NRIs can exchange old

said that home loans would

provide the bank with an alternative to parking funds in government bonds where the return is less than 7%.
Meanwhile, banks expect
the interest subvention on loans for affordable homes and
home extensions and small
enterprises to counter the
slowdown caused by monetary contraction following demonetisation. The impact of
the schemes is expected to be
felt in lending and on the overall economy in the first quarter of FY18.
Today, 45% of bank lo-

ments, the challenges that all

faced following demonetisation would clearly be history,"
said Kapil Wadhawan, chairman and MD, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation.
According to Gagan
Banga, vice chairman and
MD, Indiabullls Housing Finance, subsidised home loans will find many takers as
the EMI cheque will now be
smaller than the rent cheque. "This is a tremendously
positive announcement coming on the back of many directed steps to realise the
'Housing for All' objective.
Along with the Credit Guarantee for SMEs, this will ensure small business owners
and middle class salaried
customers will be able to
achieve progress in their business and move out of rented homes to own their own
house, said Banga.

States to get new ease of biz ranking

Sidhartha.K@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: The Centre is set

to rework the way it ranks
states on ease of doing business with stakeholder feedback driving the new system.
Sources said that the department of industrial policy
and promotion, which already has a tie-up with the World
Bank, has now roped in the
United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) to work
out a feedback mechanism
across states. The UN body is
now working out the details
since it is seen as a massive
exercise involving all states
and Union territories.
Typically, the World
Bank, which carries out an
annual exercise globally, de-

In fact, World Bank officials themselves acknowledge

the problem in large countries such as India, China and
Brazil and have talked about
revamping the methodology.
Now the state rankings,
which are going to be based
largely on feedback, are expected to suggest a way to
overcome the shortcomings
seen in the global rankings.
The change in methodology
after two years is meant to
address concerns over states
blindly issuing notifications
to comply with the parameters set by the Centre, often
days before the deadline for
submission. But there is no
assessment of the situation
on the ground.
For instance, in the last

Implementation scorecard
for ease of doing business
1. Andhra Pradesh

98.78

2. Telangana

98.78

3. Gujarat

98.21

4. Chhattisgarh

97.32
97.01

5. Madhya Pradesh

Figures in %

pends on feedback on change

in regulations in one city. In
some cases, such as India,
the rankings factor in the feedback of changes in Delhi
and Mumbai but even this
has faced criticism from the
government as countries
such as India are seen to be
too large to make an assessment based on the feedback
in a couple of cities.

rankings, the top 12 states

implemented over 90% of
the reforms that they were
asked to undertake but several of them had seen little investment flow, which has
emerged as a major criticism
for the current ranking.
The top grossers, such as
Maharashtra,
Karnataka
and Tamil Nadu, are all ranked 10th or lower, while states such as Chhattisgarh and
Uttarakhand and Jharkhand enjoy higher ranking.
Although the government realises that the ease of
doing business rankings are
just one of the parameters
that investors look at while
deciding on the investment
destination, they want the
system to be foolproof.

India Inc curtails post-maternity attrition

Namrata.Singh
@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Several organisations have over the last few years introduced new policies
to curtail attrition among women employees post maternity. Between 2003-2010, according to Avtar, a diversity and
inclusion consulting firm,
over 48% of employed women
under 30 years of age dropped
off the workforce due to maternity and childcare. Its a
challenge organisations are
facing head-on. From flexiwork to phase-back programmes, no stone has been left unturned. The hard work is finally paying off. Organisations are witnessing a gradual reduction in attrition
levels among women employees post maternity.
Over the last three years,
Maersk Group India has seen
a steady decline in attrition
among women employees
post maternity from 30-33%
in 2013-2014 and 24-26% in 2015
to 7% so far in 2016. IBM India,
on the other hand, has reduced attrition among women
employees by 10% in the last
two years, while at Cummins,

a return-to-work programme
called Reboot launched in
May 2016 has already seen a
positive outcome.
Maersk had in April this
year introduced improved maternity benefits of a minimum
18 weeks of maternity leave on
full pay and a phased returnto-work programme with reduced hours by 20% on full pay
for up to six months to all employees who return from maternity leave. Year on year, 3-5%
of its women workforce proceed on maternity leave. Maersk
realised when women return
to their careers, they may sense reduced confidence levels.
Many lose leadership roles to
their peers who remained in
the workforce.
It was critical for Maersk,
which has a women-to-men
workforce ratio of 30:70, to introduce a return-to-work initiative and transition employees on a career break to full-time careers. Here, women leaders are provided with
real-time challenging business project opportunities, deployed through a holistic orientation and developmental
programme focusing on specific skills and capabilities to

WELCOMING BACK FEMALE STAFFERS

h Percentage of women
under 30 years of
48% age who dropped out
of workforce due to
maternity & childcare
over 2003-2010, according to diversity
& inclusion consulting firm Avtar

h Percentage by
which attrition
9%
rate of women
employees falls
at cos that have
a phase-back programme than
at those that do not

Cos that have reduced attrition among women

employees after return from maternity leave:
Maersk Group India | Attrition
down from 30-33% in 2013-2014
and 24-26% in 2015 to 7% so
far in 2016 (co will be able
to gauge actual 2016
impact by 2017 year-end)
Cummins Group in India
| Reboot programme
launched in May 2016

settle in their roles at the earliest and assigned a mentor.

Pratap G, senior director,
HR, Maersk Global Services
Centre, said, So far, we have onboarded eight women employees as a part of the programme.
Under Cummins Reboot, candidates go through an
induction and general global
on-boarding that brings them
up to speed with their peers.

enabled 22 candidates to
resume careers while
managing homes &
families significantly
higher than the target of 8
IBM India | Has seen 10%
reduction in attrition
among women
employees in last 2 years

In a short span of six months

(from launch of Reboot), it
has enabled 22 candidates to
resume their careers, said
Vikas Thapa, VP (HR), Cummins Group in India.
At IBM, a flexible work environment is created to help
employees get work done in order to achieve business objectives and meet personal needs.
Dilpreet Singh, VP (HR) & HR

head, IBM India & South Asia,

said, Getting women back to
work post child birth is an important metric for us. Around
70% of women who go out on
maternity leave come back
and stay with IBM.
Saundarya Rajesh, founder
(president), Avtar Career Creators & Flexi Careers India, said, In 2009, Standard Chartered Bank was among the first
companies to offer six months
maternity leave. Soon, a bunch
of companies started offering
this. But even after offering the
best-in-class six months, attrition rate of women who went
on maternity leave was high, at
35-40%. Most returning mothers were plagued with guilt
and in spite of having very understanding managers, they
decided to drop off.
In a study around career
enablers for women, Avtar found that not only did women
require a phase-back programme, they needed assistance in the form of supportive peer groups as also counselling. It has come to light
that companies with a phaseback programme have 9% lesser attrition rate of women
than those who dont.

Rachel.Chitra@timesgroup.com

Chennai: Public sector insurers such as United India

and Oriental Insurance have
posted losses for the first half
of 2016-17, faced with higher
claims, operating costs and
an aggressive sales strategy.
Solvency margins a key
indicator of a companys
profitability and ability to
settle claims also raised
red flags. Solvency ratios of
National Insurance (1.26)
and Oriental (1.14) were well
below the regulators statuary requirements of 1.50, even
as some top private players
had an average ratio of 2.53.
Many private players such
as Future Generali, Bharati
Axa General, Kotak Mahindra, Star Health and Cigna TTK
also posted significant losses.
Their loss before tax for the
first half of 2016-17 was Rs 11.86
crore, Rs 19.09 crore, Rs 15.82
crore, Rs 71.58 crore and Rs
82.34 crore respectively.
The large public-sector
giants are faced with different issues. But for young private players, they need to balance growth with profitability and solvency margins.
One cant deplete capital reserves. We are an industry
that operates on unpredictability catastrophes, terrorism, natural disasters. We
have to keep our solvency at
certain levels so that we can
fulfil the trust policyholders
repose in us to pay claims,
said Sanjay Datta, chief (underwriting & claims), ICICI
Lombard General Insurance.
Another problem is overcompetition among insurers
for the same business without
increasing insurance penetration. Indias general insurance industrys penetration
levels are at an abysmal 0.72%,

according to sector regulator

Irdais 2015-16 annual report.
All four public-sector giants had massive underwriting losses for the half year
New Indias underwriting
loss was Rs 1,803 crore, followed by United at Rs 1,533 crore, Oriental at Rs 1,465 crore
and National at Rs 991 crore.
While New Indias large base
and position as the No. 1 insurer in India account for its large underwriting losses, its
more prudent underwriting
practise and solvency margin
of 2.04% is a benchmark that
its other public-sector peers

siness such as property, fire

and group health which drive
volumes for insurers have seen severe competition and
has seen prices fall to unsustainable levels, said Singhel.
Growth at what cost?
This is a question private insurers are trying to answer
by scaling back, after rapid
growth and a fierce price
war between 29 general insurers hammered down the industrys collective profits.
Top private insurers ICICI
Lombard (8.88% from 9.23%)
and Bajaj Allianz (5.71%
from 6.10%) saw their mar-

AGGRESSIVE ON GROWTH

Figures in `crore

GWP *

PBT

Underwriting
profit

New India

11,204

514

-1803

2.04

National

6,529

128

-991

1.26

United India

7,711

-429

-1533

1.56

Oriental

5,555

-382

-1465

ICICI Lombard

5,707

436

-250

2.03

Bajaj Allianz General

3,706

536

29

2.53

Company

Solvency
ratio

*Gross written premium

have not been able to meet.

Sustained underwriting
losses for the general insurance industry implies that insurers are too preoccupied in the
pricing game to look beyond
upping their capabilities to focus on improving the customer experience and may also
eventually impact the services offered, said Tapan Singhel, MD and CEO, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co.
Insurers said that the market has seen several new entrants, intensifying competition by focusing only on
growth which has led to competitive pricing pressure.
The premium rates especially in commercial lines of bu-

ketshare dip between September to November 2016.

But the companies said
that the dip in marketshare is
understandable as they are
no longer looking at high premium growth, but also quality underwriting. For the half
year, ICICI Lombard collected Rs 5,707 crore in premium, posted profit before tax
of Rs 436 crore and maintained solvency margin at 2.03.
Bajaj Allianz collected Rs
3,706 in premium, posted PBT
of Rs 536 crore and a comfortable solvency margin of 2.53.
Bajaj Allianz was also the only insurance player among 29
to post an underwriting profit
of Rs 29 crore for the half-year.

In sudden move, Infosys

chief compliance officer quits
Shilpa.Phadnis
@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: Infosys chief

compliance officer and general counsel David Kennedy
has quit, a sudden departure
that immediately led to speculation about whether it
had something to do with the
controversy around the
severance agreement
with former CFO Rajiv
Bansal. Infosys denied
any connection, but did
not provide any reasons for Kennedy's exit.The company will pay Kennedy a severance of $868,250
(Rs 6 crore) over a 12 month
period.
In response to TOIs query whether Kennedys departure was linked to Bansals
exit 15 months ago, the company said there is no correlation with matters related to
Bansal's separation. It said
that it has already issued a
detailed statement to address

all media speculation regarding payment to Bansal.

But some analysts were
not convinced. The abruptness around Kennedys exit
is completely astounding
and investors have a right to
know why a key management personnel has been let
go over a holiday season without any notice. Infosys hasnt divulged the
reason for paying a huge severance, said
Shriram Subramanian, MD of proxy advisory firm InGovern Research Services.
Infosys had said that there
was no impropriety of any nature related to Bansals exit
and some part of his severance money was suspended due
to pending clarifications. The
company had also said that
Bansals payment was suspended not on account of any extraneous considerations.
Bansal exited the firm
with an initial Rs 17.38 crore

severance payout that was

halted by the firm after it paid two installments.
Sources told TOI that Kennedy was instrumental in negotiating Bansals severance
package. Kennedy, based in
Palo Alto, joined the firm in
2014. Prior to that he was JDA
Software Groups executive vice president, corporate secretary and chief legal officer.
Infosys deputy general
counsel Gopi Krishnan will
succeed Kennedy as acting
general counsel. The company has begun the search for a
new general counsel.
On Kennedy's severance
amount, Infosys said: Under
his Separation Agreement,
and in line with the employment agreement that it supersedes, Mr Kennedy will receive aggregate severance payments of $868,250 plus reimbursements
for
COBRA
(insurance) continuation coverage over a period of twelve
months.

Growth in Chinas factories,

services slows in December

hinas manufacturing
sector expanded for a
fifth month in December, but growth slowed a touch more than expected in a
sign that government measures to rein in soaring asset
prices are starting to have a
knock-on effect on the broader economy. The official
Purchasing Managers Index
(PMI) stood at 51.4 in December compared with 51.7 in November. A reading above 50
indicates an expansion on a
monthly basis while one below 50 suggests a contraction.
Decembers reading was
slightly below the forecast in a
Reuters poll for 51.5. A housing boom in the second half of
2016 and a government spending spree on infrastructure
have helped boost prices for
commodities from cement to
steel, giving the manufacturing sector a much-needed
lift. But the government is
cracking down on speculative
property buying, and signals
from policymakers that more
will be done to contain asset
bubbles and rising debt
even at the expense of slower
growth means extra stimulus measures could be limited.
Todays PMI figures sug-

CHANGE OF POLICY TONE HAS TAKEN ITS TOLL

Flexible 17 growth target sought

uang Yiping, a monetary policy committee member of the

central Peoples Bank of China and Peking University
professor, has told the official Xinhua news agency Xinhua that
Chinas GDP growth target range should be 6-7% for this year,
compared with 6.5-7% in 2016. The 6.5% target is just an
average rate, Huang said. As long as employment is stable, a
slightly wider growth target range in the short term will reduce
the need for pro-growth efforts and give policy makers more
room to focus on reforms. REUTERS

gest that the change of policy

tone has taken its toll, as the
authorities are seriously
concerned about the asset
bubbles, said Zhou Hao, senior economist at Commerzbank. Factory output slowed
in December, with the sub-index hitting 53.3 compared
with 53.9 the previous month.

Total new orders were flat at

53.2, logging the same as in
November, while new export
orders fell to 50.1from 50.3.
Jobs were again lost, with
the employment sub-index sitting at 48.9, compared to 49.2 in
November, as the country pledged to cut excess capacity over
a range of industries. REUTERS

TIMES PERSONAL FINANCE

16

BEST
FUNDS
TO BUY

Equity: Large Cap

THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

1 Year

3 Year

5 Year

1 Year

3 Year

5 Year

1 Year

3 Year

Mirae Asset India Opp Fund

6.52

19.14

19.47

ICICI Pru Value Discovery Fund

3.3

23.77

24.51

HDFC Balanced Fund

7.98

19.15

18.3

SBI Bluechip Fund

3.2

17.9

19.33

Franklin India High Growth Co

3.26

23.23

23.84

ICICI Prudential Balanced Fund

12.1

18.52

19.03

Reliance Vision Fund

2.3

17.15

15.45

Birla Sun Life Special Sit. Fund

5.67

22.68

18.46

Tata Balanced Fund

2.9

18

18.05

Equity: Mid Cap

Equity: Multi Cap

Hybrid: Equity-Oriented

Equity: Tax Planning

5 Year

Debt: Income

Mirae Asset Emerg. Bluechip

11.02

32.54

29.71

Reliance Tax Saver Fund

2.83

22.37

22.25

Birla Sun Life Pure Value Fund

7.89

30.69

25.56

IDBI Equity Advantage Fund

-1.9

20.29

--

L&T India Value Fund

6.6

27.84

25.24

DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund

9.38

20.25

20.78

ICICI Pru Banking & PSU Debt

12.12

10.42

9.79

Birla Sun Life Treasury Opt

11.94

10.95

10.46

DHFL Pramerica Medium Term

11.81

32

returns in
past three
years

The three-year
return of Mirae
Asset Emerging
Bluechip Fund is
the highest in the
mid-cap category.

Figures are % returns. 3-year and 5-year returns are annualised.

Source: Value Research

New Year unlikely to bring cheer to investors

With asset classes across the board expected to perform poorly, 2017 is going to be a challenging year for the market.
GETTY IMAGES

Narendra Nathan

or debt investors, especially

those in long-duration bonds and
debt funds, 2016 was a fabulous
year. Those who put their money
in gold also earned decent returns. Equity and real estate investors,
however, had a lacklustre year. What
does 2017 have in store?

130

100.95
FMCG

101.6

110

Realty
100

93
IT

90

91
80

Healthcare

86.16

70
31 Dec 2015

Telecom and realty may continue to

drag the market in 2017 as well.

Foreign investors could exit

The dollar index is at a 14-year high and is still rising.
110

102.73

100 Dollar Index

84.06
90
80
70

26 Dec 2006

29 Dec 2016

If the dollar keeps strengthening, outflows

from emerging markets will increase

Gold is losing its glitter

Domestic gold prices are expected to
remain between `27,000 and `31,000.

Its going to be a choppy start

$2,000

The Sensex gave just 1% return in 2016. Revival is unlikely in 2017.

$1,800

26,366

28,000

$1,600
$1,400

1,148
1,419

$1,200 Price of gold /

troy ounce (31.1 gm)
$1,000
18 Mar 2011

SENSEX

26,118
26,000

24,000

22,000

29 Dec 2016

While global gold prices will remain weak,

rupee depreciation will mitigate its impact
on domestic the price.

31 Dec 2015

The stock market will remain under

pressure for the first few months of 2017.

come down, says Kohli. Export-oriented sectors will also be a big beneficiary
of the expected depreciation in the rupee (because of a strengthening dollar).
The dollar may go up to `70-71, says
Patnaik. However, given the stance of
US President-elect Donald Trump on
outsourcing, dont expect straight gains
for the IT sector. Though the sector
will benefit from the rupee depreciation, going by Trumps comments, it

29 Dec 2016

could see volatility, says Kohli. However, experts insist the broader trend
for IT is still up. Since the pharma sector is free of problems IT may encounter, the sector is a favourite.
Global industrial commodity is another segment expected to do well in
2017. Increased demand from the US
is a factor that will help industrial commodities and commodity companies,
says Dinesh Rohira, Founder and CEO,

5nance.While other sectors have taken a

hit due to demonetisation, banking and
financial services have benefitted. Banks
are likely to be the real winners because
money is now flowing into banks, instead
of non-banking financial companies. The
housing finance sector, which is taking a
hit because of falling housing sales has
prompted experts to caution against investing in NBFCs. Within banks, private
players are the best bet. Private sector
banks are more efficient and will be able
to deploy the money faster once the economy returns to normalcy, says Rohira.
Experts unanimously advise against
investing in real estate companies. Since
the economic pain will continue for a few
more quarters, investors should also avoid
companies with high debt such as telecom
firms.In addition to high debt, competi-

Do not ignore small funds

hen it comes to picking mutual funds, investors often go for
schemes with larger
assets under management (AUM). Since a larger group of
investors has put its faith in a particular fund, it seems reasonable to
invest in it. Should you then ignore
smaller funds? No, say experts. See
if the smaller fund is delivering
steady returns or not. Also, investors
should be concerned with the fund
being true to mandate, not focus on
size, says Nilesh Shetty, Fund Manager, Quantum Long Term Equity.
What Shetty says holds true for his
small fund. Quantum Long Term Equity, which, despite offering just a
direct plan, sold only by the fund
house not distributors, has attracted
investors because of its superior performance across market cycles. The
fund has delivered higher returns
over three- and one-year periods17.45% and 14.66% respectivelycompared to the category average
and the benchmark index. It is not the
only small fund to have beaten its
large category peers.
Bigger funds are more in the news,
advertised and the high AUMs of the

schemes are flaunted by the fund

houses. However, investors should see
if a fund has delivered superior riskadjusted returns over different market cycles. If its long-term returns are
not impressive, then the fund should
be avoided, irrespective of size. If
the fund is from a reputed stable, is
managed by a good team and is doing
well, we recommend it to our clients
even if the AUM is less, says Avinash
Damani, AMFI-certified fund distributor.

Big advantage of small funds

While a larger fund finds it tougher
to react quickly to special market
situations, it is not so with smaller
funds. For instance, if a big fund with
an AUM of `5,000 crore wants to have
2% of its fund invested in a promising
company, it would have to buy stocks
worth `100 crore. In comparison, a
smaller fund with an AUM of `500
crore will have to buy stocks worth
only `10 crore to have 2% of its portfolio in the company. The bigger fund
might even have to spread its investment over days, which might result
in opportunity loss. The same would
apply at the time of selling a stock. A
smaller fund would be able to get rid
of an underperforming stock much
quicker than a bigger fund.

Consider the example of Principal

Emerging Bluechip, which has an
AUM of `663 crore, and Franklin India
Prima with an AUM of `4,566 crore. A
look at the portfolios of these mid-cap
funds, both with five-star rating by
Value Research, shows that the former has a turnover ratioan indicator of the frequency at which a fund
buys and sells stocksof 72% and the
latter 25.06%. Since a higher ratio
means that the portfolio is churned
more often, it is clear that Principal
Emerging Bluechip is nimbler with
its stock movement.
Of course, a lower turnover ratio
can also mean that Franklin India
Prima consciously avoids churning
its portfolio and follows a buy-andhold strategy. However, the ability to
frequently churn the portfolio seems
to have worked in favour of Principal
Emerging Bluechip which has outperformed Franklin India Prima over
three- and one-year periods. Just like
Principal Emerging Bluechip, several small funds have performed substantially better than their large category peers.
This reinforces the point that investors should choose a fund based
on its performance across market
cycles, investment mandate and management teamnot its asset size.

29 Dec 2016
Figures are normalised to a base of 100.
Compiled by ETIG Database

tive intensity is increasing for the telecom sector, says Patnaik.

Bullion
Most experts are not bullish on gold,
primarily because gold performs negatively when the dollar strengthens. No
rally is expected for gold in 2017. The
first quarter will be weak. Whether gold
stagnates or falls further depends on the
upcoming events, says Kishore Narne,
Associate Director, Motilal Oswal Commodities Broker. However, domestic gold
investors may be protected a bit because
of the rupee depreciation. Domestic
gold is expected to remain between
`27,000 and `31,000 in 2017. While global
gold will be under pressure in dollar
terms, a part of it will be made up by the
fall in rupee against the dollar, says
Manglik. Since gold is not expected to
generate great returns, investors need
to keep gold investment to the minimum
needed for diversificationaround
5-10% of portfolio. Silver, however, is
expected to do better. Though silver will
also be weak, it will perform better than
gold because the demand for industrial
metals is going up and will have a rub-off
effect on silver, says Narne.
Real estate
Though several sectors have been hit due
demonetisation, realty has suffered the
most. The cash component in real estate
was more like FII money in the stock
market, says Feroz Azeez, Deputy CEO,
Private Wealth Management, Anand
Rathi Financial Services. As of now, the
ground situation is bad. With the customers still on a wait-and-watch mode,
there is no improvement on the ground,
says Dhruv Agarwala, CEO and CoFounder, PropTiger.
Should investors rush into real estate
in 2017 and be greedy when others are
fearful? No, say experts. We dont know
when and where the new equilibrium
will take the market. Why take the risk
now? says Azeez. Pankaj Kapoor, MD,
LiasesForas has an even more bearish
outlook: Real estate investment may not
be a good idea as prices are not expected

Pratap Pawar, 44, Salaried, Pune

Telecom

77.95

to go up in the next 2-3 years. There are

no sales because the prices are very high
and actual users cant afford it, he says.
A fall in land prices, also triggered by
demonetisation, is another pain point
for investors. Land prices are correcting and will come down further in 6-12
months. So prices of new launches will
also come down, says Agarwala. New
launches at lower rates will put the existing housing stock under pressure. More
importantly, the huge inventory is adding to the sectors distress. The all-India
housing stock is placed at around 42
months of sales, the highest level of inventory, says Kapoor. The only saving
grace is the fall in new launches.
Launches have already fallen and, due
to the new procedures from RERA, they
will fall further. But this slowdown will
only last 6-12 months, says Agarwala.
So, how deep a cut can be expected in
housing prices in 2017? Just like the
stock market, the residential real estate
also needs to be split into smaller componentsaffordable and luxury. As of
now, the downside pressure is clearly
visible in the high-end market. While
5-10% correction is possible in the affordable segment, it could be 20-30% in the
luxury segment, says Kapoor.
Residential real estate pricing trend
varies across cities. For instance, NCR,
mostly occupied by investors, will be on
the firing line. Since this is not propelled
by buyers dependent on home loans, a
fall in interest rate may not help push
up the demand. Small city residential
market may not be impacted much because it is the cleanest part of the market
bought on home loans, by end-users,
says Azeez. The price behaviour of properties under-construction and possession- ready will also be different. Due to
inordinate delays in possession, consumers have almost shifted from flats underconstruction to posession-ready ones. A
huge correction is happening in the
under-construction residential property
market and builders are offering up to
30% discount upon negotiation. The correction in possession-ready properties
would be around 20%, says Azeez.

F A M I LY F I N A N C E

Invest in line with goals

Many funds with small asset bases have out-performed their peers
Saurin Parikh

106.39
Sensex

120

Debt
With banks cutting fixed deposit rates,
fixed income investors are set for hard
times. The government has also cut the
interest on Employees Provident Fund
and you can expect similar cuts in smallsavings instruments like Public Provident Fund and National Savings Certificates. Since the 10-year government
bond yield has already seen a sharp fall,
the possibility of capital gain from longdated bonds and debt funds is limited.

Equity: Sectoral views

Since domestic growth and consumption
have taken a hit due to demonetisation,
experts have shifted focus. Companies
from export-oriented sectors, such as
pharma, IT, etc., will do well because
they are not affected by demonetisation, says Manglik. High valuation is
another problem plaguing sectors with
a domestic focus. Valuations had gone
up without earnings growth, so they may

Bankex

Export-oriented sectors, such as IT and pharma, and private banks, are likely to perform well.

Equity
With the Sensex generating just 1% return in 2016, it can be treated as a washout year for equities. (See: Its going to
be a choppy start). Experts do not expect
any significant revival in 2017. We predicted that 2016 would be a challenging
year. We also see 2017 as a difficult year
for emerging markets such as India,
says Daljeet S. Kohli, Director and Head
of Research, India Nivesh Securities.
Continuing economic recovery in the
US and a strengthening dollar will badly impact the Indian equity market in
2017. The global investor communitys
attention is now shifting from the emerging markets to the US. Dont be surprised
if we see some FII outflow, says Kohli.
The Dollar Index, an indicator of the
dollars strength vis--vis other currencies, is already at a 14-year high and
climbing (See: Foreign investors could
exit). Slow domestic growth, compounded by demonetisation, is another shortterm problem the market will have to
contend with. Market-wide earnings
growth in 2016-17 will only be around
2-3% because of the very low earnings
growth in the third and fourth quarters,
says Kohli. However, experts see most of
these problems petering out by the start
of 2017-18. The new year might see a
negative start, and it might last for a few
months. Once the demonetisation effect
wanes, things should start improving,
says Tirthankar Patnaik, Chief Strategist and Head of Research, India, Mizuho Bank. Jayant Manglik, President,
Religare Securities concurs: The first
3-4 months of 2017 may not be great, but
the Indian growth story will be back.

Most segments will remain under pressure

Use the cash corpus judiciously to fund a majority of goals, says Riju Dave.

Pawars cash flow

Income

`1.75 lakh

Expenses

`1.53 lakh

Investments

Nil
`21,725

Surplus

Singhs assets
Asset
Real estate

Value (`)
1 crore

Cash

47 lakh

Fixed deposit

10 lakh

Stocks

10,000

EPF

3 lakh

Gold

Total assets
Total loans
Net worth

50,000

1.7 crore
12 lakh
1.5 crore

Asset allocation
Existing

Recommended

Equity 14%

Debt 45%

Debt 8%

Equity 55%

Pratap Pawar took early retirement from defence services and is working with a private firm, drawing a
monthly salary of `1.75 lakh. He stays with his wife, two sons, and parents, and the familys monthly
expenses come to `1.53 lakh, leaving a surplus of `21,725. Pawar has a large cash holding from his retiral
benefits and financial planner Pankaaj Maalde suggests that he use this to achieve most of his goals
and repay home loan. Repaying the loan will free the EMI of `30,000 and boost the surplus. The goals
include saving for contingencies, vacation, sons education and weddings, as well as retirement. He can
invest the cash in suggested mutual funds
for vacation and sons
Further
Time to
education and wedFuture
Resource used investment
Goal
achieve
cost (`)
ding goals, while fixed
(`/month)
(years)
deposit, stocks and
Fixed deposit
Emergency fund
7.8 lakh
- EPF can be allocated
Cash
Vacation
5
8 lakh
5,000 to emergency fund
and retirement. He
Cash
1st sons education
6
24 lakh
- should also start SIPs
Cash
2nd sons education
10
32 lakh
- for retirement and
emergency fund.
Cash
1st sons wedding
13
27 lakh
Pawar also needs to
buy an online term
Cash
2nd sons wedding
17
37 lakh
plan (`2 crore), critical
Stocks, EPF
Retirement
16
4.6 crore
40,000 illness (`25 lakh) and
Investible surplus
45,000 accident disability (`50
lakh) plans.

Funds needed to achieve goals

Additional insurance cost

4,392

Total

49,392

Surplus

2,333*

*Surplus will rise to `51,725 after repaying home loan. Annual return assumed to be 13% for equity, 8% for
debt, 6% for ultra short-term funds. Inflation assumed to be 8%.

Plan by Pankaaj Maalde,

Certified Financial Planner.

For advice on your

portfolio write to:
etwealth@timesgroup.com
with Family Finances as
the subject.

TIMES SPORT
THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

ANGELIQUE KERBERS SAYS SHE IS ENJOYING

THE PRESSURE OF BEING WORLD NO. 1 I 18

LEBRON JAMES HELPS CAVALIERS END 2016 ON A

HIGH WITH A 121-109 WIN OVER HORNETS I 18

RETIREMENT TIME: SOM

QUITS, LEANDER HINTS

GALLERY

Getty Images

C Suresh Kumar

SOMDEV FACTFILE

Decision Well
Thought Out:
Devvarman
Indian paceman Mohammed Shami tweets a
picture with his wife Hasin Jahan on Sunday

Damayanti.Dasgupta
@timesgroup.com

I understand my game a
lot better, says Kohli

Chennai: It was the Chennai

Open of 2009 that saw the sudden
rise of Somdev Devvarman. Som,
then, 23, beat Carlos Moya and Ivo
Karlovic in back-to-back rounds
and went on to play the final,
where he lost to Marin Cilic.
It marked the beginning of a
journey that got over here on New
Years Day as Somdev pulled the
shutter down on his playing career. He hadnt played for a while
and when the former India No. 1
took over the mentoring duties of
Prajnesh Gunneswaran, one could
see the end was near. Starting
2017 on a new note, retiring from
pro tennis. Thanks to everyone for
the love and support over the
years. #newyearnewbeginnings,
Somdev tweeted on Sunday morning to make things official.
Somdev was with Prajnesh on
Sunday at the SDAT Nungambakkam centre, where his ward lost
in the final round of the qualifiers. Its not a sudden decision,

With 1215 runs in Tests and over 2500 plus runs

across all formats in 2016, Virat Kohli has been a
standout performer for India and he feels that
its about knowing his game better. It can be
put down to understanding my game a lot better
than I used to. Being happy with the ability I
have, the sort of drawbacks that I have. I understand my flaws and strengths nicely, Kohli told
ecb.co.uk during an interaction. Its also about
finding the right balance.

Shami posts another photo with wife: In

what can be taken as a rebuttal to the social
media storm that took centre stage after Mohammed Shami posted a picture with his wife
Hasin Jahan on Twitter a few days ago, the India
pacer on Sunday posted another similar photo
wishing his fans a happy New Year. Na Sathi
Hai, Na Hamara Hai Koi, Na Kisi Ke Hum Na
Hamara Hai Koi, Par Apko Dekh Kar, Keh Sakte
Hain Ek Pyarasa Humsafar Hai Koi Happy New
Year (Neither I have any companion, nor anyone
is mine nor I belong to anyone. But seeing you, I
can say there is one beautiful companion with
me. Happy New Year), Shamis tweet read.
Ponting is Oz T20 assistant coach: Former
Test skipper Ricky Ponting has been appointed
as an assistant coach to the Australia T20
international squad for next months series
against Sri Lanka, Cricket Australia said on
Sunday. Ponting, one of Australias greatest
batsmen, will work alongside the interim head
coach Justin Langer and interim assistant coach
Jason Gillespie during the three T20 internationals.
DDCA cant pay coach KP Bhaskar salary
as he is member: There seem to be no end to
Delhi and Districts Cricket Associations (DDCA)
troubles as the controversial body now cannot
pay its senior team coach KP Bhaskar his salary
due to the by laws of its constitution. Bhaskar
was appointed Delhi senior team coach but now
they have realised that he is a voting member of
DDCA. Since DDCA is registered under Registrar
of Companies (ROC), a member is not entitled to
any financial benefits.

Mustafizur, Santner rise in ODI rankings:

Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman and
New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner have
attained career-best ICC rankings after creditable performances in a three-match ODI series.
Mustafizur has moved up 19 places to 29th rank
in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers.
Santner, on the other hand, has moved up 16
slots to 34th position in the rankings table led by
New Zealand pace bowler Trent Boult. AGENCIES

ACTION TODAY
INTERNATIONAL: CRICKET: South Africa
vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Day 1, 2 pm (Live on
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pm (Live on Star Sports2, HD)
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pm (Live on SS2 HD); Middlesborough vs
Leicester 6 pm, Sunderland vs Liverpool
8.30 pm, West Ham vs Man United 10.45
pm (Live on SS Select1 HD); Man City vs
Burnley 8.30 pm (Live on SS Select2 HD)
NATIONAL: BADMINTON: PBL: Awadh vs
Hyderabad, 7 pm (Live on SS HD1)
CRICKET: Ranji Trophy: Mumbai vs TN,
Semis, Day 2, 9.30 am (Live on SS 4)
TENNIS: Chennai Open, 5 pm (Live on
Sony Six)
WRESTLING: PWL: Mumbai vs Delhi, 7 pm
(Live on Sony ESPN)

Age: 31
Turned Pro: 2008
Current ranking: 909
Career high ranking: 62
(in 2011)
Career earnings:
$1,459,122
Win-Loss record: 62-81
(in singles)

MAJOR FEATS

SOMDEV DEVVARMAN

this was well thought out, Somdev told TOI.

Later he told PTI that the passion to play was dying down and
thats why he decided to call it
quits. I last played a match in Indian Wells in March (2015) and after that I had a chat with my people. I pretty much decided at that
time that it was time to stop. I have
read people saying I was injury
plagued but it was not about that.
I wanted to play for right reasons.
Playing for me was always super
fun and passion, that was dying or
slowing down, Somdev said.
The gutsy back-court slugger
added that he decided to stop
when he understood that it would

be difficult for him to get back

into top-100. The enjoyment in
training, travelling were not the
same. I was not tired I have done
it for so long. It was not fresh.
Playing and going for tournaments in Asia was not exciting
for me, Somdev, who touched a
career-high of 62 in 2011, said.
Som also took a dig at AITA
about the way they are running the
sport in the country. Professional
sport is not a joke...I have not come
from Indian system but from college system in US. I dont see what
AITA has done to churn out players. We dont have training centres
and dont have expertise, he said.
There was a players revolt led

LEANDER PAES

by Somdev in 2013 when AITA

was forced to bring in a few
changes about how Davis Cup
team was run. Changes were also
made in support staff and players share in Davis Cup prize
money was increased.

...Draws praise from teammates

Somdevs Davis Cup teammate
and friend Saketh Myneni praised
the players work ethic saying that
he is a great example for youngsters. I have known Som since
our college days and so I have been
there for the entire cycle of his
career. His work ethic is something that I have tried to imbibe. I
have seen people work on the

court but Som has given as much

effort off it too. He is a perfect example for youngsters and he has
shown us how to win. Most of us
dont remember seeing Leander
when he played singles, but we
saw Som and he showed us that
we could flourish in singles too,
the current India No 1 told TOI.
Leander Paes also lauded Somdevs achievements saying that
there is a lot he will be remembered for. Somdevs fitness has
always been good. He won the Commonwealth Games gold and became the first and only Indian to
reach the final of the Chennai
Open singles. These are the things
Somdev will be remembered for.

A counter-puncher who knew his limitations

Amitava.Dasgupta@timesgroup.com

or an Indian pro who rose to 62nd

on the ATP singles charts, Somdev
Devvarman cant be faulted for not
optimizing his potential. A late
bloomer, Somdev was a self-made player,
like most of his illustrious compatriots.
Blessed with a good tennis brain, Somdevs biggest strength lay in knowing his
limitations and always playing within
them. A counter-puncher who was willing
to slug it out on every point, Indias best
singles player of the millennium relied on
his strong legs and baseline solidity to
often punch above his weight.

occasional singles player Rohan Bopanna

who was also in the process of turning into
a doubles specialist.
The need of the hour was an accomplished singles player, and they got one in
Somdev. Somdev turned the corner in 2009.
With the team getting a relatively easy draw
in the World Group play-off, Somdev made
it count against South Africa, winning both
his singles rubbers to ensure Indias passage back to Davis Cups elite 16. Beating
Rik de Voist from being two sets down in
front of a noisy South African crowd was
one of the highlights of his career.
It capped off a memorable year for Somdev, who in January had become the first

His first smart move saw him move to

the US at the age of 20. Not averse to putting in the hard yards, Somdev struck it
rich in a couple of years in the extremely
competitive US collegiate system. He
earned his spurs for University of Virginia in 2007, beating the talented John
Isner to win the prestigious NCAA singles
championship and went on to defend the
title the year after. It earned him immediate recognition back home, as he was
drafted into the Indian team.
Somdev was like a breath of fresh air
in the Davis Cup team, which was overtly
dependent on doubles maestros Leander
Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, along with

Indian to advance to the final of the Chennai Open, knocking out the likes of Carlos
Moya and Ivo Karlovic on the way.
A shoulder surgery in 2012 slowed down
Somdev considerably and pulled his ranking
down from the 60s to 664. Like a true warrior, Somdev worked his way back to the top
100. He gave it a couple of years, only to realize that he didnt have the strength to sustain
his push for a top-50 spot.
True to his character, he was honest
with himself, so the retirement decision
didnt surprise those who knew him well.
His career lasted less than nine years,
but Som did enough in that time to carve
a niche for himself in Indian tennis.

Cilics turn to take over Chennai

In Wawrinkas Absence, World No. 6 Provides Star Value To A Depleted Field
PTI

great way to get acclimatized to the hot

conditions before playing in Australia. The
player field isnt very strong this year but
I am not letting my guard down, Paire said
on Sunday.
Cilics Davis Cup teammate Borna Coric will also be the one to watch out for this
time. The last years finalist who is coming
back from an injury will be looking to
sharpen his weapons in Chennai so that he
can be battle-ready before Australia.

Damayanti.Dasgupta@timesgroup.com

Chennai: Marin Cilic knows all about playing in Chennai. He was still a talented
rookie when he won the tournament for the
first time way back in 2009, beating the
crowd favourite Somdev Devvarman in the
final. A lot has changed since then, Somdev
is now retired, while Cilic is at the top of
his game. And this will be his sixth appearance here when he takes the court on
Wednesday as the top seed.
There was an initial sense of disappointment among the fans when the news
came out that the three-time defending
champion Stanislas Wawrinka wont come
to defend his title this year. The Swiss artist, who incidentally lost to Cilic in the 2010
final, would surely be missed, but then the
Chennai crowd would love to rekindle an
old affair with the Croat.
The field doesnt look too imposing but
the World No. 6 may not find it very easy,
more so because its just the beginning of
the season. The second seed Roberto Bautista Agut will possibly pose the biggest
threat to the 2014 US Open Champion. The

Priyank ton props up Gujarat

Nagpur: Gujarat opener
Priyank Panchals dream season in first-class cricket
just got better as his unbeaten 144 enabled Gujarat to
reach a comfortable 283 for 3
against Jharkhand on the
first day of the Ranji Trophy
semifinal here on Sunday.
Panchal and skipper
Parthiv Patels 62 were the
two significant contributions after Gujarat won the
toss. The day certainly belonged to Panchal, who again showed fantastic temperament during his 252-ball
undefeated knock that had 21
boundaries.
He blended caution with
occasional aggression adding 139 runs for the third
wicket with Parthiv, whose
62 had six fours and a six.
Panchal now has scored
five centuries in the current
season and his accumulated
runs in the national championship has swelled to 1264
runs already with a staggering average of 114.90.
Gujarat started cautiously with world record holder

2010 Delhi CWG gold

(singles)
2010 Asiad gold
(singles & doubles)

Marin Cilic during practice on Sunday

Ramkumar carries Indias hopes

World No. 14 Spaniard pulled off an upset

in October when he beat Novak Djokovic
in the semifinals of Shanghai Masters before going down to Andy Murray.
Theres Frenchman Benoit Paire, the
fifth seed, who can also pose a tough challenge to Cilic. Paire had beaten Cilic the
last time they played here, in 2013. Though
the Croat has avenged that defeat, beating
Paire twice in 2016 at Tokyo and Marseille,
the Frenchman could be a tough nut to
crack in Chennai. I am looking forward
to playing in Chennai and this is always a

The Indian hopes in singles will centre

around Ramkumar Ramanathan, Saketh
Myneni and Yuki Bhambri. Bhambri, who
missed most of the last season with an injury, qualified for the main draw on Sunday.
He is targetting Chennai Open as his
launch pad for the comeback and things
look bright at the moment.
This is the best opportunity for wild card
Ramkumar to stage a comeback after an erratic year in front of his home crowd. Ramkumar will face Bhambri in the first round
after the latter got the better of Argentine
Nicolas Kicker 6-3, 6-1 in the qualifier.

Mumbai fight
back against TN

PTI

SHEER DELIGHT: Gujarats Priyank Panchal celebrates after

completing his centuray against Jharkhand in Nagpur on Sunday

Samit Gohil once again playing his defensive game as he

crawled to 18 off 52 balls before seamer Vikash Singh removed him caught by Virat
Singh.
Panchal remain unfazed
as his 50 came off 72 balls. he
got good support from
Bharghav Merai (39). Merai
hit six boundaries in 66 balls
as he and Panchal added 65
runs for the second wicket.
Once Merai edged a Vi-

kash delivery to Ishan Kishan behind the stumps, skipper Parthiv joined Panchal
with a lot of positive intent.
It was the 173rd delivery and
just at the stroke of tea that
Panchal struck a boundary
to complete his 10th hundred
in first-class cricket. PTI
Brief scores: Gujarat 283/3
in 88 overs (Priyank Panchal 144
batting, Parthiv Patel 62, Vikash
Singh 2/48) vs Jharkhand

Rajkot: Mumbai picked up

four wickets after a thirdwicket stand of 110 to keep Tamil Nadu to 261 for six on day
one of their Ranji Trophy
semifinal here on Sunday.
Baba Indrajith top-scored
with 64 for Nadu Nadu, who
opted to bat after winning the
toss, and Kaushik Gandhi (50)
was the other half centurion
for the team. At stumps, Vijay
Shankar (41) and A Aswin
Crist (9) were at the crease,
and the duo will look to help
Tamil Nadu go past 300 tomorrow at the Saurashtra Cricket
Association Stadium.
Indrajith struck nine
boundaries in his 114-ball
knock, while Gandhi found
the fence eight times and
faced 137 deliveries. Seamer
Shardul Thakur and Abhishek Nayar picked up two wickets each, while there was one
each for Balwinder Sandhu
and Vijay Gohil.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 261-6
(Baba Indrajit 64, Kaushik Gandhi
50; Abhishek Nayar 2-56, Shardul
Thakur 2-64) vs Mumbai. PTI

Hyderabad: The second edition of the Premier Badminton League got off to a rollicking start with the marquee
clash between Carolina Marin and PV Sindhu at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium here. In a see-saw battle, Hyderabad Hunters rallied to beat
Chennai Smashers 4-3.
Though Marin provided
the winning start, the hosts
struggled in the middle losing
two matches before recovering brilliantly to win the last
two.
After Marin defeated Sindhu 11-8, 12-14, 11-2, Sai Praneeth
(Hunters) went down to Tommy Sugiarto 6-11, 8-11. Chennai
had also won their trump
match as Adcocks (Chris and
Gabrielle) made short work of
Satwiksai Rankireddy and Ho
Wan Chau 11-7, 11-9. With
Chennai leading 3-1 (two po-

Vivek.Krishnan
@timesgroup.com

Chennai: Leander Paes has

pretty much achieved it all in
tennis. He has participated in a
record seven Olympics, won 18
Grand Slam titles and been a
role model for youngsters all
the way through. He has had to
overcome a fair share of obstacles in doing so, more so in 2016,
but he never gave up. Now, here
to play in the 2017 Chennai
Open at 43, he finally seemed to
be giving signs of calling it a
day in the near future when he
told reporters, I have got a few
people new on my team that are
going to help me in the last few
months of my playing career
and my post-tennis career.
When pressed further, Paes
added: I play for fun now. I play
because I love the game. There
will come a point when the curtains come down. Before that
curtain comes down, I would
just like to say thanks to all of
you. Its been a fun journey and
you guys have been with me for
the last 20 years.
The indications were clear
to start working on his farewell piece, but Paes told TOI
later that he still has a few
boxes to tick before retiring
from the game. Retiring? Not
true. There are still a few
things I want to do. I would
love to now help players win
their first Grand Slam and
blood youngsters more than
participating in my eighth
Olympics or winning another
Major. They are just numbers
now, he told TOI.
The Indian Davis Cup set-up
has been in the eye of the storm
lately, following Mahesh Bhupathi replacing Anand Amritraj as the non-playing captain.
When asked whether playing under Bhupathi would be
difficult, Paes said that nothing would come in the way of
the interests of the country.
When it comes to playing for
the flag, that is the primary
focus. Yes, there is a lot of media frenzy around both of us.
But our aim is to achieve the
best for the country.

In doubles event, its

battle of Indian pairs
lian Open. Hopefully, we will have
a few good results and have a good
Chennai: With as many as four all- partnership going. We can hopeIndian pairs and Leander Paes fully play well for the next few
participating in doubles at the 2017 months, if not the whole year. Any
new partnership takes some
edition of the Chennai Open,
time to build, Paes said.
the local interest couldnt
There are also the unhave been greater. While
heralded pairs of VishPaes, who is seeded
nu Vardhan-Sriram
third alongside Brazils
Balaji and Purav RajaAndre Sa, will continue
Divij Sharan, both of
to be the biggest attracwhom will be hoping to
tion, the pair of Rohan
create an upset or two.
Bopanna and Jeevan
ROHAN BOPANNA
While Vishnu and BaNedunchezhiyan will
laji have a relatively
also be keenly watched
considering the formers snub for favourable tie against Swedens
the Davis Cup tie against New Zea- Johan Brunstrom and Andreas
Siljestrom, Purav and Divij have
land in February.
Paes confirmed that he will go their task cut out against the forinto the Australian Open with Sa midable Paes and Sa.
After his exclusion from the
as his partner and hopes to find a
good understanding with him Davis Cup tie against New Zeastarting in Chennai. I think An- land, the Chennai Open provides
dre is my 116th or 117th partner. I a perfect opportunity for the
am going to play with him here, 36-year-old Bopanna to hit back at
then in Auckland and the Austra- his critics.
Vivek.Krishnan@timesgroup.com

Marins Hunters rally to

beat Sindhus Smashers
Manne.Ratnakar
@timesgroup.com

Paes talks
about last
few months
of career

ints from the trump match

win), Rajiv Ouseph provided
the lifeline for Hyderabad by
defeating T Saensomboonsuk
6-11, 11-8, 11-6. With two wins
each, the last match turned
out to be the decider. In the
must-win contest, which was
also their trump match, Hyderabads Malaysian pair Boon

PBL
Heong Tan and Wee Kiong
Tan drubbed Sumeeth Reddy
and Mads Pieter Kolding 11-7,
11-8 much to the delight of the
packed stadium.
Marin, who expected full
support from the fans, was
right as the crowd from Sindhus hometown cheered the
Spanish girl throughout the
contest.
With little time to recover
in the 11-point game, Marin
broke free from 6-6 to move to
9-6 and won the first game at

11-8. Killing the rallies in quick

time, the Olympic champion
led Sindhu for most part of the
second game too. Staring
down the barrel at 8-10, Sindhu
made a brilliantly rally, saved
two match points and pushed
the match into the decider by
winning it 14-12.
But after such a fightback,
Sindhu ran out of steam in the
third game. Marin started the
game with a 5-0 lead and never
looked back. She hardly gave
time for Sindhu to get the measure of the shuttle.
Results: Hyderabad Hunters bt
Chennai Smashers 4-3 (Carolina
Marin bt PV Sindhu 11-8, 12-14,
11-2; Sai Praneeth lost to Tommy
Sugiarto 6-11, 8-11; Wah Chau/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lost to Chris
Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock 7-11, 911; Rajiv Ouseph bt Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 6-11, 11-8, 11-6; Boon Heong Tan/Wee Kiong Tan bt
MP Kolding/Sumeeth Reddy 11-7,
11-8).

Misbah to captain
Pak in Sydney Test
Sydney: The confusion surrounding the availability of
struggling Pakistan captain
Misbah-ul-Haq for the third
and final Test in Sydney
seems to have finally ended.
According to media reports,
Misbah will lead Pakistan on
to the field in Sydney on
Tuesday.
After Pakistans dramatic
defeat in Melbourne, Misbah,
who fell to a second-ball duck
in the second innings as the
visitors tried to bat out time,
had hinted that his time was
up as he was struggling with
shot selection and with making substantial contributions.
He had stated that the decision to retire could be immediate which meant Pakistan
may have to look for a new
leader in the dead rubber.
Pakistans team management however allayed those
concerns.
Misbah will play at Sydney and he will be the captain, the Pakistan Cricket
Board s director (media), Amjad Hussain, was quoted as
saying. AGENCIES

18

TIMES SPORT

Rise up Jaslok can

be a game-breaker

THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

ARSENAL CLIMB TO 3RD PLACE

Spurs Overpower Watford, Replace Man City In Premier Leagues Top-4
REUTERS

Hugh Jones

he Standard Chartered
Mumbai Marathon, to be
held on January 15, is always one of the first of the new
year. A new listing of world leading times starts. This list is
a form of guide
for race organisers looking
to attract top
runners to their races and for
national selectors considering who they
should pick for
the upcoming
World Championships in
London
this
year but the
listing needs
careful interpretation.
A marathon run in, for example, Dubai is nothing like
the same as the Marathon run
in Mumbai. Dubai is cool and
dead flat: Mumbai is warm and

hilly. The long drag up to Kemps

Corner can perhaps be taken in
the stride of an elite runner early in the race but the same rise,
up to Jaslok Hospital after
35km, can be a game-breaker. So
the pattern repeats each year:
good fast times set in Mumbai
gradually drop
down the list as
faster times are
recorded elsewhere. Though
the times may be
faster, very often
the performances are not as good. Hot weather
and hills encountered in Mumbai means runners have to give
more effort to
get those fast times.
The course records stand at
2:08:35 Gideon Kipketer last year) and 2:24:33 (Valentine Kipketer in 2013).
(THE WRITER IS RACE DIRECTOR OF SCMM
AND FORMER LONDON MARATHON WINNER)

London: Olivier Giroud scored a

stupendous "scorpion kick" volley as Arsenal climbed to third
place in the Premier League table
with a 2-0 New Year's Day victory
over Crystal Palace.
Giroud netted with a breathtaking improvised strike reminiscent of Henrikh Mkhitaryan's recent goal for Manchester United
and Alex Iwobi was also on target
at the Emirates Stadium.
It left Arsenal nine points below leaders Chelsea and they were
joined in the top four by Tottenham Hotspur, who replaced Manchester City in the Champions
League places after winning 4-1 at
Watford. Arsenal, who were without the ill Mesut Ozil, finish the
weekend three points below second-place Liverpool, with north
London rivals Spurs a point back,
above City on goal difference.
Armenian midfielder Mkhitaryan advanced a strong claim to
the Goal of the Season award in
United's 3-1 win over Sunderland
on Boxing Day, only for Giroud to
better his strike just six days later.
The France striker squan-

Liverpools Wijnaldum (c) scores against Man City in Liverpool on Saturday

dered a golden early chance when

he miscued from Nacho Monreal's volleyed cross, but he atoned
in memorable fashion in the 17th
minute.
Tottenham beat Watford in
their second successive 4-1 win,
having prevailed by the same
scoreline at Southampton in midweek, to rack up a fourth consecutive league victory. Deputising for

PWL, an ideal platform for wrestlers

Erica Wiebe

fter a long seasonthe pinnacle

of which was the Olympicsparticipating in the Pro
Wrestling League Season 2 is going to
be a great way to start the New Year.
The team format is an interesting twist
to an individual sport and additionally
I am also excited about the atmosphere
in the stadium. Ive heard a lot about Indian crowds, how engaged and excited
they are about wrestling and am really
looking forward to participating in it.
Its a great opportunity for any
wrestler, to be part of this sort of global
stage. For those who come from countries like mine, where wrestling is a niche sport, with very little public interest, leagues like this are a real boon. Pe-

ople are exposed to the sport in Canada, but a lack of knowledge and
information often holds back participation.
Despite that Canadian wrestling has done well for itself in couple of decades. After
the Olympics in year
2000 our performance
drastically improved.
One of the keys to
Canadas burgeoning
wrestling programme
is a focus on youth. We
start with the sport quite early in the country.
The straightforward
process involves wrestling competitively in

Universities where the regimes and systems are very rigorous and strenuous
a preparation for later years at the
elite level. From there,
the best of the lot are
picked out to train at
the high performance
centers, before making
the cut for the Nationals and so on.
It is a system that
has really helped create a strong foundation
for wrestling in Canada. Our women contingent at Rio was one
that had a strong representation in every available weight class, a
rarity in the sport.

the suspended Kyle Walker at

right-back, Kieran Trippier made
the most of the opportunity by setting up Kane for Spurs' first two
goals at Vicarage Road. His clever
pass freed Kane to beat Heurelho
Gomes at his near post in the 27th
minute and six minutes later the
former Burnley player's cross
was volleyed home by Kane at the
back post. AFP

Liverpool dent Man

Citys title hopes
Liverpool: Georginio Wijnaldum's early header earned Liverpool a 1-0 New Year's Eve victory over Manchester City that
left Pep Guardiola's men 10 points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea.
The Dutch midfielder struck
in the eighth minute, emphatically converting a cross from
Adam Lallana, as second-place
Liverpool trimmed Chelsea's advantage back to six points.
It was a fourth consecutive league win for Jurgen Klopp's side, who look best placed to hunt
Chelsea down in the season's second half. "They're on an outstanding run," said Klopp of
Chelsea. "Thirteen (wins) already. Not bad! But can you imagine
how annoying it is when you win
13 games in a row and there's one
team only six points behind?" He
added: "It was really hard work
tonight. But it's not like we expected something different." AFP

I can play even at 50!

ife just keeps getting better for Manchester United star striker Zlatan
Ibrahimovic. The super Swede arrived in England with a big reputation but
even so he has exceeded them by scoring 17
goals in his first 26 matches for United and
becoming an instant hero on the Stretford
End. His most recent
run is incredible 11goals in his last 10 games.
So West Ham should be
very afraid as Jose Mourinhos rejuvenated side
arrive in East London
determined to fire themselves into the title race.
Will it be Zlatan time again at the London
Stadium against West Ham?
What a season, Zlatan! Some critics
said that at 35 you might find the pace of
the Premier League difficult. But it seems like youre doing pretty well!
Its good. Im settling in. I feel happy, I feel
good. Even if Im 35, in my mind Im 20. The
older I get, the better I play. Like red wine!

For me, age is just a number so I am not worried.

It sounds like you are going to agree
another year to your contract at Old
Trafford. How many more years do you
think you can play?
I think I could play even at 50, but that

SNAPSHOTS

LeBron, Harden sparkle

Houston's James Harden scored a career-high
53 points, Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook
achieved a first-half triple double and LeBron
James sparked an injury-hit Cleveland squad in
triumphant NBA efforts on Saturday. Westbrook, the NBA's top scorer with 31.3 points a
game, needed only 19 minutes to reach double
figures and finished with 17 points, 14 assists
and 12 rebounds in the Thunder's 114-88 home
victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Harden,
Westbrook's former Thunder teammate, had a
triple double of his own with 17 assists and 16
rebounds in powering the host Rockets over
New York 129-122. Four-time NBA Most Valuable
Player James scored 32 points. Results:
Houston Rockets bt NY Knicks 129-122; Utah Jazz bt
Phoenix Suns 91-86; Oklahoma City Thunder bt LA
Clippers 114-88; Milwaukee Bucks bt Chicago Bulls
116-96; Cleveland Cavaliers bt Charlotte Bobcats
121-109; Memphis Grizzlies bt Sacramento Kings 112-98

Bolt from the blue as sprint star calls

United TV: Usain Bolt showed his love for
Manchester United when the sprint star made a
surprise phone call to the Premier League
club's in-house television channel on Saturday.
In the traditional post-match phone-in on MUTV
following United's 2-1 win over Middlesbrough,
presenter Mandy Henry introduced the next
caller as being a "Usain from Jamaica" and
added: "It's not Usain Bolt, is it?" Olympic
champion Bolt replied: "It is Usain Bolt." Henry
still looked disbelieving as Bolt gave his opinion
on United's win, saying: "They came through
like the old Manchester United. "They came
through and pushed on and persevered, the
Manchester United way. It was a great match, I
am very happy about this."

WNBA players were near site of Istanbul

attack, says coach: A handful of WNBA
players, including Essence Carson, Chelsea
Gray and Jantel Lavender of the Los Angeles
Sparks, were next door to a deadly shooting in
a nightclub in Istanbul on Saturday night.
Sparks coach Brian Agler said that Carson had
texted him that the three players were OK. An
assailant believed to have been dressed in a
Santa Claus costume opened fire at a nightclub
in Istanbul during New Year's celebrations,
killing at least 35 people and wounding 40
others in what the province's governor described as a terror attack.

Kerber enjoying No 1pressure: Germany's

wont be down to me. But at the moment, no
problem.
People expected you to be rested by
Jose Mourinho more often than you have been youve played 26 games for
United already! Dont you need a break?
No, Im here to play. As I said, my body is
fresh like a 20-year-old so I can keep going as
long as Im needed. Im happy to play. PMG/ESP

Angelique Kerber said on Sunday she was

enjoying the pressure of being the world's
top-ranked tennis player as she prepares to get
her 2017 season underway. Speaking ahead of
the Brisbane International, Kerber conceded
she would be under more pressure in 2017 as
the world number one but was not letting it get
to her. "I think it will be a completely different
year than 2016," she said. AGENCIES