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www.thehindu.in ● Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 ● RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ● ISSN 0971 - 751X ● Vol. 7 ● No. 9 ● CITY EDITION ● 20 Pages ● Rs. 8.00

wednesday, january 11, 2017

EMPOWERPages 6 & 7

EC issues show-causenotice to Sakshi on Meerut speechPage 12

Mamata dubs Modi a salesman ofplastic money Page 13

Jeremy Corbyn callsfor a maximum wageto combat inequality Page 14

Azharuddin filesnomination for postof HCA presidentPage 17

BRIEFLY

NEW DELHI: After it decided toremove Suresh Kalmadi andAbhay Singh Chautala as its lifepresidents, the Indian OlympicAssociation is set to be re-recognised by the SportsMinistry. “I am happy that theIOA has reversed its decision, ,”Sports Minister Vijay Goel said.

U-turn by IOA onKalmadi, Chautala

� SPORT | PAGE 17

NEW DELHI: A special court hereon Tuesday framed chargesagainst Himachal EMTA PowerLtd, its directors Ujjal KumarUpadhaya and Bikash Mukherjeeand senior executive N. C.Chakraborty in a coal blockallocation scam case.

Charges framed inanother coal scam case

� NATION | PAGE 9

NEW DELHI: Agreeing to hear theplight of the landless victims ofthe Sardar Sarovar Project, theSupreme Court on Tuesday saidthat giving cash instead of land tofarmers who lost their fertile landis “tentatively” not acceptable.

Cash in lieu of farmlandis unacceptable: SC

� NATION | PAGE 9

LUCKNOW: In the end, UstadBismillah Khan’s prizedshehnais were reduced toa lump of silver and woodresidue, after hisgrandson who allegedlystole them, sold theinstruments to a couple ofgoldsmiths for a smallsum.

A special task force ofthe U. P. police onTuesday arrested NazreHasan alias Shadab, thelate Bharat Ratnaawardee’s grandson forthe theft.

Police also arrested twogoldsmiths — ShankarSeth and Sujit Seth — towhom Shadab sold theinstruments for Rs. 17,000.

Four shehnais,including one that theUstad played on specialoccasions, along with akilo of melted silver wererecovered, police said.

The shehnais includedthree made of silver giftedto Bismillah Khan byformer Prime MinisterP.V. Narasimha Rao,Congress leader KapilSibal and former BiharChief Minister LaluPrasad. The fourth silver-and-wood instrument washis prized possession andthe musician would play iton Muharram every year.

The jewellers hadmelted down the silver inthe three shehnais leavingonly wooden frames.Police said the silver-and-wood shehnai wasrecovered with its metallayer stripped.

The theft took place lastmonth in the house ofBismillah Khan’s sonKazim Hussain —Shadab’s father — inVaranasi. Additional SP,STF, S. Anand, whoseteam cracked the case,said the motive for the actwas money.

“[Shadab] isunemployed and hadshown such a tendency,”the Additional SP said.While the family hadreported that fiveshehnais and othermemorabilia were stolen,Mr. Anand said theaccused confessed tostealing only four.

“The grandson was theprime suspect. Weinterrogated him and heconfessed,” Mr. Anandtold The Hindu.

Bismillah’s grandson stoleshehnais, sold them for a songOMAR RASHID

Leaving his imprint

Prime Minister Narendra Modi records his fingerprintson a scanner on Monday to inaugurate the Nobel Prizeseries exhibition in Ahmedabad. On Tuesday, heopened the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. — PHOTO: PTI (REPORTS ON PAGE 13)

NEW DELHI: The Election Com-mission (EC) on Tuesday re-ceived the Centre’s reply to areference on the Oppositionparties’ demand for defer-ring the Union Budgetpresentation due to the As-sembly elections in fiveStates.

The Commission is ex-amining the response.

While the Commissionremained tight-lipped overthe government’s exact re-sponse, Finance MinisterArun Jaitley had last weeksaid there was no need forpostponing the Budgetpresentation, scheduled for

February 1. The Minister said the date

for the Budget had been final-ised well before the electionschedule was announced andthat all the preparations hadalready been made.

His statement came after adelegation of Oppositionparties petitioned the EC ask-ing for a recommendation tothe government to postponethe Budget till the electionswere over.

The Budget presentation isnot likely to be deferred incase the government de-clines to postpone it.

EC receives govt. replyon plea to defer Budget DEVESH K. PANDEY

NEW DELHI: The SupremeCourt on Tuesday directedthe government to auditnearly 30 lakh NGOs whichreceived public funds butconsistently failed to explainhow they spent the money.

A Bench of Chief Justice ofIndia J.S. Khehar and JusticesN.V. Ramana and D.Y.Chandrachud was hearing awrit petition filed by advoc-ate Manohar Lal Sharma.

It ordered that any NGOfound to have cooked itsbooks or indulged in misap-propriation should be sub-ject to immediate criminalprosecution. Besides, thegovernment should initiatecivil recovery proceedingsagainst such rogue organisa-tions.

The Supreme Court de-manded that the governmentfile a compliance report byMarch 31.

The judicial order is un-precedented because de-faulting NGOs so far havebeen only blacklisted by thegovernment.

Pulling up the governmentfor failing to put in place aregulatory mechanism tokeep a watch on the financialactivities of NGOs and vol-untary organisations, theapex court ordered that bynext hearing, the govern-ment should have framedguidelines for their accredit-ation, the manner in whichthese organisations shouldmaintain their accounts andthe procedure for recoveryin case they fail to submit

their balance sheets.At one point, the court was

taken aback as the govern-ment seemed to be unawarethat General Financial Rules,2005 mandate a regulatorymechanism for the NGOs.“This is your [government]money and you have no re-cord of how they [NGOs] useit?” Chief Justice Kheharasked the government.

Asks govt. tobook those thatfudged accounts,swindled money

SC orders audit of 30 lakh NGOs

LEGAL CORRESPONDENT

� CBI BLAMES LAWS IN SOME STATES | PAGE 12

NEW DELHI: A day after BorderSecurity Force (BSF) con-stable Tej Bahadur Yadav up-loaded a video where he al-leged that troops wereserved bad quality food andsome times had to go on an“empty stomach,” he wastransferred to another loca-tion.

BSF oicials claimed thetransfer had been done toensure a “fair probe,” even asthey accused the jawan ofbeing a “chronic alcoholic.”The BSF also ordered an en-quiry and deputed a DeputyInspector-General rank of-ficer to check the veracity of

ficers “sell it of” in an “il-legal” manner .

On Tuesday, the HomeMinistry set BSF Director-General K.K. Sharma a dead-line of Wednesday to submitthe enquiry report.

BSF Inspector-General(IG) in Jammu D.K. Upad-hyay said Mr. Yadav was sentfor duty at the Line of Con-trol, which is under the oper-ational control of the Army,only on December 28 asmany were on leave. He alsosaid that for four years, Mr.Yadav was not given anyfield duty and was stationedin the headquarters.

the allegations levelled byMr.Yadav. In a series ofvideos, which went viral onsocial media, Mr. Yadavclaimed that while the gov-ernment procures essentialsfor the forces and para-milit-ary, the higher-ups and of-

BSF transfers jawan as video post on bad food goes viralSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Tej Bahadur Yadav in hisvideo post. — PHOTO: SPECIAL

ARRANGEMENT

� CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

NEW DELHI: Automobile de-mand was hit hard by thewithdrawal of high-valuecurrency, with total sales ofcars, two-wheelers and com-mercial vehicles shrinking18.7 per cent in December —the steepest such drop sinceDecember 2000.

While sales of two-wheel-ers fell the most, slumping 22per cent to post the biggestdecline since 1997, passengervehicle sales fell 1.36 per centand commercial vehiclessales slid 5 per cent, accord-ing to data released by theSociety of Indian Auto-mobile Manufacturers(SIAM) on Tuesday.

“This is the highest de-cline across all categoriessince December 2000, whenthere was a drop of 21.8 per

cent in sales,” SIAM DirectorGeneral Vishnu Mathur said.“The reason is largely due tothe negative consumer senti-

ment in the market due to de-monetisation.”

LCVs buck trend

Light commercial vehiclesemerged as the only segmentthat managed to grow inDecember, rising 1.15 percent.

Vehicle sales across cat-egories declined to 12,21,929units from 15,02,314 units inDecember 2015.

Total two-wheeler sales,which witnessed the steep-est decline since SIAM star-ted recording data in 1997,slumped to 9,10,235 units.Motorcycle sales, a largechunk of which is recordedin the rural areas, declined 22per cent to 5,61,690 units.

Two-wheeler salesrecorded the steepestdecline of 22%

Note ban puts the brakes on auto sales

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

� HOUSING SALES DIP 44%AFTER NOTE BAN | PAGE 15

� CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

NEW DELHI: In an incident thatexposes the vulnerability ofthe homeless in the city, a 15-year-old girl was sexually as-saulted for months, allegedlyby five teenagers who werealso homeless.

On Monday, two juvenileswere apprehended in con-nection with the incident.On December 29, the policehad received a call from arag-picker saying a girl waslying unconscious near theMayur Vihar Phase I metrostation. Upon reaching thespot, they had found that shewas pregnant.

Homeless girlraped by teens SHUBHOMOY SIKDAR

� DETAILS ON | PAGE 3

CHANDIGARH: Aam AadmiParty (AAP) leader andDelhi Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia on Tuesdaygave a clear indication thatparty supremo Arvind Kejri-wal could be its chief minis-terial candidate if it is votedto power in Punjab.

At a public gathering inMohali, Mr. Sisodia said:“When you are voting, youvote thinking that you arevoting to make Arvind Kejri-wal as the chief minister.Your vote is for Kejriwal,” he

said. Mr. Sisodia said Mr.Kejriwal would ensure thatwhatever promises are madeto the people of the State arefulfilled when the partycomes to power.

Mr. Sisodia said: “The pub-lic was asking me who will bethe CM. I told them theyshould believe that ArvindKejriwal is going to be Pun-jab’s CM,” he said, whileadding that, “MLAs will de-cide who their CM is going tobe, but I can assure you thatall promises made by theparty will be honoured byMr. Kejriwal.”

Notably, Mr. Arvind Kejri-wal has recently said that theAAP would not announcechief ministerial candidatein Punjab.

Shiromani Akali Dal

(SAD) and the Congressparty were quick to hit out atArvind Kejriwal after Mr.Sisodia’s statement.

Punjab Deputy CM Sukh-bir Singh Badal said, “The catis out of the bag. Kejriwal hasbeen salivating to becomechief minister of Punjabsince two years now and fi-nally the party has made hisannouncement.”

Mr. Badal said the AAPmight have succeeded in itsgame plan of making Mr.Kejriwal the CM candidateof the party but it would notbe able to fool Punjabis.

Think of Kejriwal as CM is AAP’s Punjab pitchVIKAS VASUDEVA

Arvind Kejriwal

Ustad Bismillah Khan.

� EC WARNING ON FUELLINGRELIGIOUS DIVIDE | PAGE 12

2 |THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

CMYK

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CITYSanitation staff continue strike

Garbage remained strewn across most parts of east Delhion Tuesday as a section of sanitation workers refused tocall off their strike for timely salary payments Page 4

Baijal, Kejriwal laud each other

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and new Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal drop hints of cordial relations in firstpublic appearances together Page 5

Calling all readers to connect with us for all things Delhi at

twitter - @DelhiConnect www.facebook.com/NewDelhiConnect

DELHICONNECT

NEW DELHI: It is usual for cus-tomers to ask for particulartitles or authors at bookstallsbut at the ongoing New DelhiWorld Book Fair, the questionmost commonly asked at thestalls of publishers and booksellers is if they accept digitalpayments.

“Most buyers coming toour stall ask if they can paythrough cards or Paytm. Infact, most of our sale in thisyear’s fair has been throughdigital payments,” said TarunArora, who is managing thestall of Pan Macmillan Indiaat the fair.

Not hit by cash crunch

Almost all the stalls at thebook fair, from big to smallpublishers and book distrib-utors to sellers, have madeprovisions for digital pay-ments keeping demonetisa-tion in mind. While manyhave installed Point of Sale(POS) machines to swipedebit or credit cards, almost

all stalls are providing the op-tion of paying through e-wal-lets too.

The cash crunch didn’tseem to have deterred booklovers from thronging the fairas a majority of them could beseen purchasing booksthrough digital payments.“Though we were apprehens-ive initially that the cash

crunch would lead to thin at-tendance at the fair, saleshave been better this yearcompared to previous years,”said a manager at the PenguinBooks stall who didn’t wish tobe named. “The fair this timehas witnessed massivecrowds on the opening days,which was a weekend buteven the footfall on weekdays

has been quite high compar-atively,” he said.

Takers for local languages

The crowd at the pavilionshowcasing books in Hindiand other Indian languagesalso witnessed an impressivefootfall. “It seems people’s in-terest in Hindi books hasgone up, as seen from the

crowd at our stall,” saidChandrashekhar Chaturvedi,sales manager of Rajpal Pub-lication. “The sales this yearhas been much better thanprevious years,” Mr.Chaturvedi added.

‘Moderate dip in sales’

There are, however, otherpublishers who said that de-monetisation has taken thesheen out of the publishingindustry, even if for a limitedperiod.

“There has definitely beena moderate dip in sales, atleast for the time being. Afterdemonetisation, our distrib-utors were complainingabout a dip in the daily trans-actions due to unavailabilityof cash,” said Sunil Kukreti,senior manager, S. ChandPublishing. “The situation,however, is now improvingwith distributors getting POSmachines now,” he said.

The cash crunch, however,has not afected sales at thebook fair though, Mr. Kukretisaid.

Most transactions at World Book Fair done through cards and e-wallets; general rise in footfall

Book lovers go digital at global fairSIDHARTHA ROY

HASSLE-FREE: Almost all stalls at the ongoing World Book Fair at Pragati Maidan have point-of-sale machines in view of the demonetisation move. PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

NEW DELHI: Ending the longwait, Delhi schools startedthe nursery admission pro-cess, most of which is nowonline, on Tuesday. The ad-mission process will con-tinue till January 31 and asper the Directorate of Educa-tion, Delhi government, 25per cent of the seats will bereserved for children be-longing to the EconomicallyWeaker Section (EWS)category.

Helpline numbers

Parents can also use theDoE helpline numbers8800355192 or 8800355146and citizens grievance portalhttp://doepvt.delhi.gov.in/for any help.

“The DoE on Tuesday an-nounced admissions underSection 12(1)(c) of the Rightto Education Act that man-dates 25 per cent reservation

in entry class of private un-aided non-minority schoolsfor children belonging toEWS and Socially Disadvant-aged Groups,” an oicialsaid.

Lottery for transparency

He explained that forschools recognised underthe Delhi School EducationAct, admissions will be con-ducted online and a central-ised lottery to bring in trans-parency and accountabilitysince this process eliminatesany interference of privateschools during the admis-sion process.

“Nearly 28,000 students in1,158 schools stand to benefitfrom this. To avoid any du-plication of admission, thedepartment has madeAadhaar ID mandatorywhich will curb any attemptto have unfair advantage ofadmission by means of mul-tiple applications,” he added.

Nursery admissionsbegin in the Capital BINDU SHAJAN PERAPPADAN

NEW DELHI: The Capital onTuesday witnessed chilly andstrong breezy conditions thatresulted in the mercury drop-ping to 5.2 degrees Celsius,making it the coldest day ofthe season so far.

According to a MeT depart-ment oicial, the Safdarjungobservatory recorded a min-imum temperature of 5.2 de-grees, two notches below nor-mal while Lodhi Roadrecorded a minimum of 3.4degrees Celsius.

At Palam, the minimumtemperature settled at 5.9 de-grees and at Ayanagar andRidge it was 5.8 and 7.0 de-grees Celsius respectively.

Lowest in 5 years

Tuesday’s minimum tem-perature was the lowest in lastfive years, the MeT oicialsaid. The maximum temper-ature settled at 17.8 degrees,two notches below the sea-son's average at Safdarjung,the oicial added.

The visibility was recordedat 800 meters at 5.30 am at Saf-darjung which improved to1,200 meters at 8.30 am andsignificantly improved to

3,500 meters at 11.30 am.At Palam, the visibility was

250 meters at 5.30 am and 8.30am. It improved to 1,200meters at 11.30 AM, the oicialsaid. According to a NorthernRailway spokesperson, 21trains were reported to berunning late while nine wererescheduled and seven had tobe cancelled.

Flight operations normal

However, flight operations

at Indira Gandhi Interna-tional Airport were reportedto be normal. The humidityoscillated between 100 and 52per cent.

The weatherman has fore-cast clear skies for Wednes-day with mist and shallow fogin the morning. “The max-imum and minimum temper-atures are likely to hoveraround 16 and 4 degreesCelsius, respectively,” theweatherman said. — PTI

Coldest day of season in the Capital

NIPPY: A girl with an elderly travel in a DTC bus on a coldTuesday night in New Delhi. PHOTO: V. V. KRISHNAN

NEW DELHI: Around 1.6 lakhnew voters have been addedin the electoral roll in Delhi,while there has been a 10 percent increase in the genderratio which now stands at624 female per 1,000 maleelectorates.

Gender ratio improves

As per the electoral rollpublished on Tuesday, thetotal number of voters in thecity have been estimated at1,34,70,263 of which 74,63,732are men and 60,05,702 arewomen.

Voters' gender ratio im-proved from last year's 564female per 1,000 male elect-orates to 624.

As per the data, there are505 electors aged over 100years in Delhi, of which 236are male and 269 female.

However, compared toJanuary 11, 2016, the numberof voters between 18 to 19years in age has decreased by18,137.

"During the period of spe-cial summary revision-2017,total 1,60,327 new voterswere added after publicationof Draft Roll on October 1,2016," Kumar said.

Summary revision

During the Special Sum-mary Revision, names of24,825 voters of 18 years havebeen added in the electoralroll as comparison to the13,788 electors added duringthe last summary revision.

Out of this, 13,554 are maleand 11,271 female as com-pared to the respective fig-ures of 8,303 and 5,485 of lastsummary revision.

Delhi's Chief Electoral Of-ficer Chandra Bhushan Ku-mar said that as no election isaround, this may be one ofthe reasons for the dip in thenumbers. PTI

Over 1.5 lakh new voters added to Delhi

NEW DELHI: Delhi University’sCampus Law Centre will or-ganise the 13th K.K. Luthramoot court on the law ofsedition and the propriety ofdeath penalty as a punish-ment for the ofence.

The three-day event, to beheld between January 13 and15, will see participation of60 institutions from acrossthe country, includingNLSIU Bangalore, NALSARHyderabad and SymbiosisLaw School and ILS Pune.

Death penalty and sedition

International teams fromUSA, U.K. and Sri Lanka willalso take part.

The idea behind thisyear’s competition is tomake participants focus onapplying the test of deathpenalty to the ofence ofsedition. Supreme CourtJudge Amitav Roy will be thechief guest at the inauguralfunction, a release by Cam-pus Law Centre said onTuesday.

Moot court at DULaw Centre fromJanuary 13NIRNIMESH KUMAR

CMYK

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CITY | 3THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

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

Disclaimer: Readers are requested to verify &make appropriate enquiries to satisfythemselves about the veracity of an adver-tisement before responding to any published inthis newspaper. Kasturi & Sons Limited, thePublisher & Owner of this newspaper, does notvouch for the authenticity of any advertisementor advertiser or for any of the advertiser’s pro-ducts and/or services. In no event can theOwner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Director/s,Employees of this newspaper/company be heldresponsible/liable in any manner whatsoever forany claims and/or damages for advertisementsin this newspaper.

D E L H I

Jan 11,Wed Jan 12,Thu Jan 13,FriRISE 07 15 SET 17 44 RISE 07 15 SET 17 44 RISE 07 15 SET 17 45

RISE 16 46 SET 05 44 RISE 17 49 SET 06 44 RISE 18 51 SET 07 40

Talk: Panel discussion on “Pro-spects for India-US relations undertheNewUSAdministration”, atGul-mohar Hall, India Habitat Centre(IHC), 7 p.m.

Exhibition: “Timeless”, an exhibi-tion of ceramic sculptures by UshaGarodia, at Visual ArtsGallery, IndiaHabitat Centre (IHC), 11 a.m. – 7p.m.

Exhibition: A show of sculpturesby Pintu Sikder, at Shridharani Gal-lery, Triveni Kala Sangam, 205,

Tansen Marg, Mandi House, 11 a.m.– 7 p.m.Culture: Tirumala Tirupati Dev-asthanam: Thirupavai UpanyasambyDr. K. Ananthachariar at LakshmiNrisimha Mandir, Karol Bagh, 6:30p.m.Screening: Of Vietnamese film“Nostalgia for the Countryside”,with English subtitles, at The SteinAuditorium, India Habitat Centre(IHC), 7 p.m.(Mail your listings for this columnat cityeditordelhi@thehindu.co.in)

DELHI TODAY

NEW DELHI: In an incident thatexposes the vulnerability ofthe homeless in the city, a 15-year-old girl was sexually as-saulted formonths, allegedlyby five teenagers who werealso homeless.On Monday, two juveniles

were apprehended in con-nection with the incidentwhich came to light onDecember 29. On that day,the police had received a callfrom a rag-picker saying agirl was lying unconsciousnear theMayurViharPhase Imetro station and uponreaching the spot, they hadfound that she was heavilypregnant.“The girlwas rushed to Lal

Bahadur Shastri Hospital,where she was admitted inan unconscious condition,”said a police oicer.Two days later, she de-

livered a premature baby girlat the hospital. She, however,remained unconscious tillJanuary 3 due to pregnancy-related complications.

Statements recorded

When she regained con-sciousness, her statementswere recordedunderSection164 of the Criminal Proced-ure Code.

The revelations wereshocking. She said she wassexually exploited by fiveboys who lived in villagesaround the metro station.The accused, she said, wereone Chintu* and his friends.The areas around Mayur

Vihar were searched, andthe police zeroed in on overtwo dozen boys with thesame name. They, however,failed to nab the accused.

Breakthrough achieved

It was only when the po-lice caught a group of sixminor boys on Monday forallegedly committingsnatching that theystumbled upon anotherChintu*. This time, the vic-tim confirmed that it washim. She also identified an-other boy among the groupapprehended as the onewho had allegedly assaultedher.Deputy Commissioner of

Police (East) Omvir Singhsaid a case of gang-rape un-der Section 376D of the IPCand Sections 6, 9 and 10 ofthe Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Ofences(POCSO) Act had been re-gistered against unknownpersons at the Mayur Viharpolice station.*Name changed

15-year-old gets pregnant, reveals trauma after giving birth; two accused apprehended

Homeless girl raped by juvenilesSHUBHOMOY SIKDAR

NEW DELHI: Probe has revealedthat the chemicals --Midazolam, Fortuin andPhenergan -- used to form alethal combination that wasinjected into the body of abanker lastweek–was stolenfromtheAll India InstituteofMedical Sciences (AIIMS).A police oicer close to

the investigation told TheHindu that the chemicalswere stolen by Prem, whowas allegedly hired by AnishYadav to kill Ravi Kumar.According to the police,

Anishwas in lovewith Ravi’swife and wanted him out ofthe way so that he could wooher.

Lethal combination

“While the conspiracywasbeing hatched, Premhappened to take a relative toAIIMS for treatment onDecember 27. There, he no-ticed that these drugs wereused to provide anaesthesiaand learnt that a combina-tion could be deadly,” said

the oicer.The two then allegedly

prepared the injection to beadministered to victim RaviKumar.Anish also disclosed that

he had paid Prem ₨1.5 lakh toeliminate Ravi.Asked if the police were

probing the negligence angleon the part of AIIMS, the of-ficer said they would firstverify the claims.

Gang-rape charges

According to the police,Anishwas accused in a gang-rape case reported two yearsago. Deputy Commissionerof Police (North) Jatin Nar-wal said he was out on bailwhenheplanned themurder.His divorced wife had also

accused him of torturing herfor dowry.After their arrest, both

tried to misguide the policeby saying thatRavi’swife hadhired them to kill him.However, when confron-

ted with the evidence, theyconfessed to their crime, saidMr. Narwal.

Chemicals used in injectionstolen fromAIIMS: policeSHUBHOMOY SIKDAR

NEW DELHI: A constable was allegedlythrashedbyagroupofmenwhohadbeen flagged down for dangerousdriving.The incident happened near Ma-

likHotel in southDelhi’sMasudpuraround 11 p.m. on Monday, whenConstable Mohd Alam and his col-leagues were deployed at a police

picket.The police team had noticed a

Skoda car being driven “rashly anddangerously”, and had signalled thedriver to stop. “Thecarwasabout tohit the police barricades,” saidChinmoy Biswal, Additional DCP(South).“Thepolicemen told the driver to

drive safely. The man and his asso-ciates, however, got of the vehicleand started thrashing constableAlam,” theoicer added.Theassail-ants then sped away. The policenoted down the car’s registrationnumber, but were unable to inter-cept the vehicle.

‘Assailants inebriated’

Alam was later hospitalised. “Allthe assailants appeared to be in aninebriated state,” the oicer said. Acase has been registered.

Constable protestsreckless driving, thrashedSTAFF REPORTER

NEW DELHI: Out to deliver hermarriage invitation cards, a25-year-old woman met atragic death after falling of aDTC bus and getting runover under its wheels onTuesday.Thevictim, Jyoti, servedas

a nurse at Ayushman Hos-pital before she quit the jobfor her marriage that wasscheduled for February 1,said Surender Kumar, DCP(South-West).A resident of Najafgarh,

Jyoti, her mother and somefriends had boarded a DTCbus that plies on route num-ber 835, betweenTilakNagarand Dhansa Border. The po-lice said they were all stand-ing near the rear gate of thebus. “As the bus reached pil-lar number 800, the driver

opened the doors, causingJyoti to fall of the runningvehicle,” said the DCP.

Eforts in vain

Before the woman couldget on her feet, she was runoverby the rearwheels of thebus. Her mother and friendsraised an alarm in a bid to

draw the driver’s attention,but it was too late by then.“She was killed on the spot,”the DCP added.

Driver caught

The accident drew the at-tention of passers-by, whoforced the bus to come to ahalt and caught the driver.The police subsequently ar-rived at the spot and appre-hended him. The driver isbeing questioned about thecircumstances under whichhe opened the bus gateswhile the vehicle wasrunning.

Woman out to distributeweddinginvites run over byDTCbusSTAFF REPORTER

Victim Jyoti.PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

NEW DELHI: Aman convictedof raping a widow aftermarrying her deceptivelyduring the subsistence ofhis previousmarriage hasbeen acquitted of theofence of rape by theDelhi High Court.A Bench headed by

JusticeMukta Gupta notedthat the victim hadattended theman’s firstwedding 24 years ago, andwas, therefore, aware ofhis marital status.“...from this admission

of the prosecutrix [victim]that she knew theappellant [man] and hisfamily, as supported bythe testimony of the sister-in-law of the prosecutrix,the latter has not been ableto prove that she did notknow about theman’smarital status when shemarried him andestablished sexualrelations with him. Thus,the convict is entitled tobe acquitted in respect ofofences punishable underSections 420/376

(cheating and rape) of theIPC,” said Justice Gupta.Theman, Raj Kumar,

was convicted of theofences of cheating,forgery and rape on July17, 2013, and sentenced toseven years ofimprisonment. A fine of₨75,000was also imposedon him.TheHigh Court also did

not delve into the chargesof bigamy.“Though the ingredients

of ofence punishableunder Section 494(bigamy) of the IPC areestablished, the court neednot delve into the same asthe charges have not beenframed,” Justice Guptaadded.

Forgery charge upheld

It, however, upheldKumar’s conviction forforgery for making a falseaidavit showing himselfas a bachelor and directedthat he be releasedforthwith as he hasalready served four year’sjail term.In the instant case, the

woman’s husband died in2000. She had claimed thatshemarried Kumar in areligious procession in2006, after which hestarted visiting her quiteoften and expressed hisdesire tomarry her. In2008, they got married andmoved into a rented housein UttamNagar.After threemonths,

Kumar left the house oneday on the pretext ofsubmitting somedocuments at the oicer ofthe Delhi Jal Board, wherehe claimed to have beenemployed.He, however, did not

return home.Twomonths later, he

went tomeet the victimaccompanied by his firstwife.Thewoman claimed she

did not know that manwasmarried and had twochildren. However,Kumar’s first wife herselfdeposed that the victimwas their neighbour andoften visited them. Eventhe victim’s husbandwasfriends with Kumar.

HC acquitsman of rape chargeAKANKSHA JAIN

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Policerecently busted a two-mem-ber gang that was allegedlyprinting fake ₨2,000and ₨500notes.The accused — 25-year-

olds Krishan and Ashish—were allegedly running theracket from a one-room setin Uttam Nagar. The policesaid the equipment used toprint the noteswas not state-of-the-art and the produc-tion cost of one ₨2,000 notewas notmore than ₨20.

Large-scale racket

In all, they had allegedlyprinted fakenotes to the tuneof ₨6,10,500.They were nabbed on

Monday, when the policelearnt that they would be go-ing to Bindapur.“Wehad received informa-

tion that some individualshadmanaged to replicate the₨2000 and ₨500 notes, andwere giving out themoney ata 50 per cent discount,” saidDeputyCommissionerofPo-lice (South-West) SurenderKumar.Three policemen, posing

as customers, met the ac-cused at Bindapur, andstruckadealwith themtoex-change ₨4,000 for ₨2,000.“The minute the exchange

took place, we apprehendedthe duo,” saidMr. Kumar.

Gang printingfake notes bustedSTAFF REPORTER

NEW DELHI: A 34-year-old gymtrainer was shot at byunidentified motorcycle-bornemen in south-eastDel-hi’s Amar Colony onMonday.The incident happened

around 11 p.m., when victimRavi Thapa was returninghome with a cake to celeb-rate his daughter’s birthday.

Vehicle intercepted

Two men intercepted hismotorcycle and fired severalrounds at him.They then sped away from

the spot.Ravi, who was hit twice,

was rushed to the All IndiaInstitute ofMedical Sciencesbypassers-by.He is said tobecritical.A case of attempt to

murder has been registered.

Gym trainershot at, criticalSTAFF REPORTER

NEW DELHI: Vibha Matta, themother of murder accusedRahul, still cannot believethat she has lost her husbandover a property dispute.Speaking to The Hindu,

Ms. Matta said on Tuesdaythat her husband Ravinderwas ready to part with hishouse and all other assets toensure peace in the familyand pacify their son.Surrounded by relatives in

the drawing room of thehouse where Rahulmurdered his father twodays ago and forced hismother lock herself forsafety, Ms. Matta is at a lossfor words. The house is said

to be at the centre of the dis-pute between the father andthe son.“Matta Saab (her late hus-

band) did everything to keepRahul’s temper in check. Asfar as I can recall, neither ofus ever hit our children. Iwould still lose my calm oc-casionally, but even till hislast day, my husband dideverything to sort things outwith Rahul,” saidMs.Matta.

Fatherwanted peace

The incident has left Ms.Matta in a state of shock. Allshe remembers is her son’sbehaviour and her husband’sreplies on the day of themurder. “I remember myhusband telling him ‘What

do you want? If you wantmoney take it, if you wantthis house take it. Yourmother and I will shift andlive somewhere else’. Buteverything all ended on sucha brutal note,” she said. Ac-cording to the police, Mr.Ravinder Matta had dis-ownedRahul fromhisAjantaApartments property andsince then he had beenthreatening his parents.Joginder Singh, a family

friend, claimed that the fam-ily had submitted a com-plaint to the police againstRahul, butMs.Matta saidherhusband had not shared anysuchdetailwithher.Anotherissue that had afected theparents-son relationshipwas

Rahul’smarriage to awomanthat the family did not ap-prove of. Ms. Matta chosenot to comment on what thefamily had to say about themarriage, but said the wo-man approached the policeseveral times when her hus-bandwas alive.

Wife calls himmad

“Pagal tha wo, mujhe koibaat nahin karni (he wasmad and I do notwish to talkabout him),” said Rahul’swife whenThe Hindu calledher on Tuesday. Despite re-peated requests, she did notshare any more details onher husband’s mental stateand the family’s reluctanceto accept her.

‘Mattawas ready to give house to son’SHUBHOMOY SIKDAR

The victim, who wasstanding near the reargate of the bus, felloff when the driveropened the door

CMYK

ND-ND

CITY4 |THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

NEW DELHI: Garbage remainedstrewn across most parts ofeast Delhi for the sixth con-secutive day on Tuesday as asection of sanitation workersrefused to call of their strikedemanding pending salariesand arrear payments.

On Tuesday, the East DelhiMunicipal Corporation(EDMC) said that the salar-ies of the sanitation staf hadbeen paid on Monday using₨119 crore that the Delhi gov-ernment had transferred onthe same day.

In a statement, the EDMCsaid that after a meeting withCommissioner MohanjeetSingh “all unions” had calledof the strike and promised toreturn to work by “Tuesdayevening”.

Veer Pal Parcha, the eastDelhi representative of theDelhi Pradesh Safai Kara-mchari Sangh, said that 16unions had decided to call ofthe strike at noon on Wed-nesday. “We are getting oursalaries and the Commis-sioner has assured us thatour arrears would be givenby April,” Mr. Parcha said.

‘Strike is still on’

However, many of the uni-ons representing a largenumber of workers claimedthat they had not receivedsalaries and their strike wasstill on.

“We are yet to receive oursalaries and will continueour strike till our demandsare met. In fact, other em-ployees, including teachersand doctors, will be soonpledging their support,” saidSanjay Gehlot, chairpersonof the MCD Swachhta Kara-mchari Union.

Protests in north Delhi

The North Delhi Muni-cipal Corporation, which toohasn’t paid employees fortwo months, saw protests onTuesday, though there wasno strike.

The United Front of MCDEmployees organised aprotest outside the RohiniZone oice of the corpora-tion. Rajendra Mewati, thegeneral secretary of the front,said that apart from sanita-tion staf, representatives ofmunicipal engineers andteachers also joined theprotest. He also said thatworkers would protest at theheadquarters of the NorthCorporation, Civic Centre,on January 18.

The EDMC sanitationworkers went on strike onJanuary 6 as employees of thecash-strapped civic bodyhadn’t been paid their salar-ies for November andDecember 2016. While theystopped sweeping streetsand lifting garbage fromJanuary 6, trash was not col-lected on January 5 as well,since it was a public holiday.

Using 28 private trucks, theEDMC said it had managed toremove 561.73 metric tonnesof garbage on Tuesday as of 4p.m. On Monday, the EDMCused 58 trucks to remove1,400 metric tonnes, a smallpart of the usual 2,500 metrictonnes of trash generated ineast Delhi every day.

Differences crop up after some unions say they will call off strike today, while others say the stir will go on; north corporation workers also join protest

Sanitation staf continue strike; EDMC says salaries paid DAMININATH

CLEANING UP: The east Delhi civic body used 28 private trucks to remove garbage from several spots, including the Mother Dairy area (above), on Tuesday. PHOTOS : R. V. MOORTHY

BEFORE - 8 A.M. AFTER - 6 P.M.

NEW DELHI: The National GreenTribunal (NGT) on Tuesdayconstituted a committee to in-spect major waste generatorsin the Capital, including five-star hotels, malls, hospitals,educational institutions withhostels and housing societies.

The NGT expressed con-cern that public authoritieslacked infrastructure and ap-propriate technical capacityto handle such huge quantityof waste — the city generatesnearly 14,100 metric tonnes ofmunicipal solid waste a day.

‘Not same as households’

The Tribunal said that massgenerators of waste cannot beequated to households gener-

ating trash. “Generators ofmass municipal solid wasteand sewage must ensure strictenforcement of the municipalsolid wastes (Managementand Handling) Rules, 2000,”the Bench said.

Experts in commission

The panel will include rep-resentatives of the ministriesof Environment and UrbanDevelopment, Director Gen-eral of Health Services, MCI,the DDA, the civic bodies, theDelhi government, the CPCB,the Railways and the DPCC.

The committee also com-prises four independent ex-perts: former NGT membersG. K. Pandey and D. K. Agar-wal, Dr. R. Dalwani, and Dr.Rashid Hasan.

NGT panel to inspectmajor waste generatorsSTAFF REPORTER

MAKING A MESS: Sanitation workers on Tuesday dumped garbage outside the residence of AAP’sTrilokpuri MLA Raju Dhingan in protest against non-payment of salaries. PHOTO: PTI

NEW DELHI: The Delhi HighCourt on Tuesday directedthe East Delhi MunicipalCorporation (EDMC) to en-sure that garbage dumped onthe roadside in the trans-Yamuna area by strikingworkers of the municipalbody is cleared.

The direction came from aBench of Justices Indira Ban-nerjee and Anil KumarChawla on a PIL alleging thatgarbage has been dumped onthe roads by the strikingworkers of the EDMC and itwas diicult to even drivevehicles let alone walk.

‘Respond by March 1’

The court also issued no-tices to the corporation andthe Delhi government seek-ing their response by March 1on the petition, which allegesthat the municipal workerswere protesting as they havenot been paid their salary.

The corporation, however,said that salaries for the lasttwo months were paid onMonday and the strike hadbeen called of.

Advocate Sugrive Dubey,appearing for petitionerSalek Chand Jain, opposedthe contention of the corpor-ation and said only a smallgroup had called of thestrike and several workerswere still abstaining fromwork. Mr. Jain also allegedthat the corporation has notpaid salary to all the workers.

‘Funds already released’

The Delhi government,meanwhile, told the courtthat it has already released₨605 crore for payment ofcorporation workers’ salar-ies till March 2017.

Rahul Mehra, standingcounsel of the Delhi govern-ment, said the administra-tion has paid more than whatwas due and now the EDMChas to explain why thepeople have been made tosufer when the funds werealready released.

Mr. Mehra also said that inthe last two years, the Delhigovernment has releasedmore funds than was done bythe previous dispensation.

The petitioner alsoclaimed that the EDMC hascommitted contempt ofcourt by disobeying the HighCourt’s orders that salariesto all its employees, includ-ing sanitation workers,should be paid by the 7th ofevery month. — PTI

Remove garbagefrom roadsides,HC to civic body

NEW DELHI: The East DelhiMunicipal Corporation(EDMC) will need a“special package” from theDelhi government to tideover the massive budgetdeficit, leaders and oicialssaid on Tuesday.

The request comes at atime when the civic body isdealing with an indefinitestrike called by sanitationworkers as it has beenunable to pay salaries forover two months. This isthe fifth time that workershave gone on strike todemand their salaries inthe past two years, with the

EDMC’s financial woesonly mounting. The BJPleadership of thecorporation blamed theAam Aadmi Party (AAP)government of delayingpayments and reducingallocations.

Jitendra Chaudhary,chairperson of theStanding Committee, saidthat either the Delhigovernment should

implement the FourthDelhi FinanceCommission’s report,which gives the civicbodies a bigger share ofDelhi’s taxes, or release aspecial package for theEDMC.

‘Owed ₨4,928 crore’

“The government has satover the report for yearsnow. It should implementit right away. We are owed₨4,928.76 crore as per thereport. If not that, weshould at least get a specialpackage of ₨2,000 crore inthe meantime,” said Mr.Chaudhary.

Commissioner

Mohanjeet Singh said thata special package of ₨331crore would be needed topay salaries till February.

‘Created with a deficit’

Speaking at a pressconference on Tuesday,EDMC Mayor SatyaSharma said that thecorporation had beencreated with a huge deficit.When the erstwhileCongress government splitup the MunicipalCorporation of Delhi in2012, east Delhi accountedfor 16 per cent of therevenue and 26 per cent ofthe expenses.

“Sheila Dikshit had said

that we would getadditional funds to addressthis mismatch. But, notonly did we not get thatmoney, even the bareminimum due to us has notbeen given,” said Ms.Sharma.

Responding to ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal’stweet on Monday accusingthe BJP councillors ofmisusing funds, Ms.Sharma said that theEDMC was open to anindependent probe. Sheaccused the AAPgovernment of playing apolitical game keeping inmind the municipal pollslater this year.

EDMC seeks ₨2,000 crore special package from govtSTAFF REPORTER The BJP-led civic

body blamed theAAP government for

delaying payments,reducing allocations

NEW DELHI: Taking a seriousview of the on-going strikeby the staf of the East DelhiMunicipal Corporation(EDMC), which has ad-versely afected sanitationservices, the National GreenTribunal (NGT) on Tuesdaysought responses from theCentre, the Delhi govern-ment and sanitation workers’

unions on the matter.The direction came after

advocate Balendu Shekhar,appearing for the East DelhiMunicipal Corporation, tolda Bench headed by NGTchairperson JusticeSwatanter Kumar that urgentdirections were needed asthe EDMC sanitation stafwere on an indefinite strikesince January 5 due to non-payment of salary.

Notice to Centre, Delhigovt, unions over stirSTAFF REPORTER

NEW DELHI: Demonetisationhas led to Delhi-NCR’s realestate sector witnessing oneof the lowest slumps since2010, a report by real estateconsultancy Knight Frankhas said.

According to the half-yearly report, Delhi-NCRwitnessed a dip in demandand supply by 29 per centand 73 per cent respectively.

The report said that newlaunches in Delhi-NCRdwindled to 26,735 units in2016, registering a year onyear 58 per cent drop com-pared to 2015.

Sales also registered a yearon year drop of 18 per centand even the festive seasonfailed to infuse life in the dullmarket as sales decline to40,000 units in 2016, the re-port said.

The report attributes the

73 per cent dip in newlaunches in residential sec-tor and sales volumeplunging down to 53 per centto demonetisation.

Oice space dries up

In the oice sector, the re-port said that project delayshave dried up oice spacesupply in NCR and new com-pletions have dropped to anall-time low.

Only 4.6 million squarefeet of new completionsentered the oice market in2016, as opposed to 11.5 mil-lion square feet in 2015, thereport said.

The report’s sector ana-

lysis of NCR oice market in-dicates other sectors is at 36per cent followed by manu-facturing and IT/ITeS at 28per cent each in terms oftransactions.

The report said that Guru-gram took up 63 per cent ofthe total transaction pie of3.8 million square feet with57 per cent of the total 107deals in 2016 and yet againemerged as the most pre-ferred business district.

“The NCR residentialmarket has been under pres-sure and 2016 was no difer-ent. The market has been in adownward slide since 2010with every passing year hit-ting a new low,” said RajeevBairathi, executive directorand head of Capital Markets,Knight Frank India.

“Piling up inventory, lackof consumer confidence dueto litigations and infrastruc-ture delays are some of the

major factors that have de-celerated new launches inNCR,” Mr. Bairathi said.“The market did start givingindications of marginal re-covery in Quarter 3, 2016 ow-ing to developments like pro-ject deliveries, reduction inprices and improving infra-structure in places like NoidaExtension and Noida–Greater Noida Expressway,”he added.

‘Huge blow’

“Demonetisation dealt ahuge blow to the NCR realtymarket and the Quarter 4,2016 numbers are a testa-ment to this,” Mr. Bairathisaid.

“As the sales number forthe first nine months hadshown an optimistic trend,we believe that 2016 wouldhave been at par with 2015had it not been for demonet-isation,” Mr. Bairathi added.

Note ban hit realty sector hard: reportSTAFF REPORTER 26,735 new units were

launched in Delhi-NCRin 2016, a 58 per cent drop compared to 2015

NEW DELHI: The Delhi HighCourt on Tuesday extendedthe parole granted to ManuSharma, serving a life impris-onment for the 1999 murder ofmodel Jessica Lal.

Justice A. K. Pathak exten-ded Sharma’s parole till Janu-ary 31 to enable him to writean LLB exam, attend familyengagements and registrationof marriage in Chandigarh.

Sharma was earlier grantedtwo weeks parole by the Delhigovernment on December 27last year to enable him to ap-pear for LLB second-semesterexams from December 31,2016 onwards. His parole wasending on January 12.

On Tuesday, Sharma’scounsel Amit Sahni asked thecourt to extend his parole say-ing he needed to prepare forbachelor of AdministrativeLaw exam and also appear be-

fore the registrar of marriagein Chandigarh on January 19.

Mr. Sahni said that Sharmaalso needed to attend “per-sonal contact programmesand maintain social ties”.

Granted parole six times

Mr. Sahni told the court thathe had requested the Delhigovernment for extension ofparole, but his request re-mained pending forcing himto move court.

Sharma has been grantedparole six times sinceSeptember 2009. He has com-pleted a post-graduate dip-loma in Human Rights and isnow pursuing a Bachelor’s inLaw course from AnnamalaiUniversity in Tamil Nadu.

The son of former UnionMinister Venod Sharma,Manu was awarded life im-prisonment by the HighCourt in December 2006 forkilling Jessica Lal in 1999.

Manu Sharma’s parole extended till January 31AKANKSHA JAIN

NEW DELHI: Solar panels onrooftops should be mademandatory for new residen-tial societies, recommendedthe Centre for Science andEnvironment (CSE) in apolicy brief published hereon Tuesday.

After studying the electri-city consumption of five res-idential societies in Delhi,Jaipur and Ghaziabad, theCSE found that by switchingfrom diesel generator (DG)sets to solar power forbackup, the facilities wouldbe saving lakhs of rupeesevery year.

In the policy brief, titled‘Solar Rooftop: replacingdiesel generators in residen-tial societies’, Priyavrat Bhatiand Rajan Kalsotra exploredthe diferent options for res-idential societies to switch tosolar energy.

‘Consider ban on DG sets’

The CSE recommendedthat solar rooftops shouldbecome a part of the applica-

tions for construction ap-provals, with the builderskeeping a certain portion ofthe plinth area “shadow-free” to aid solar panels.

A total ban on DG sets innew multi-storied housesshould be considered. Thiswould not apply to the essen-tial common areas.

While the Centre for Sci-

ence and Environment founddiscoms aiding rooftop solarsystems to meet the obliga-tions for renewable energy, itsaid that most of these werebeing installed on institu-tional and commercial build-ings.

“Our analysis shows thatsolar rooftop can cut dis-coms revenue since their

most profitable customersmay partly or fully migrate tosolar. Therefore, it is vitalthat discoms be financiallysupported to encouragethem to push solar rooftop,”said the policy document.

‘Give more incentives’

The CSE also said thatthough there is a capital sub-sidy of 30 per cent for solarrooftop systems that are con-nected to the grid, there is aneed to give incentives forswitching from DG sets tosolar systems with batterybackup.

The survey also found thatthere was a need for greaterawareness of solar power op-tions among RWAs.

The CSE said that RWAsdid not appear to be inter-ested in investing in the solarinfrastructure despite poten-tial savings.

It recommended thatfiscal incentives, includingrebate on building tax, couldbe considered in order to en-courage the switch to solarpower.

Make solar rooftops mandatory: CSESTAFF REPORTER

CMYK

CITY/STATE | 5THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwaland Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal to-gether inaugurated close to 1,000 newcommunity toilets here on Tuesday. Themove, the Chief Minister said, was in linewith his government's commitment to-wards making the Capital open defeca-tion free.

The toilet complex with 945 lavatorieshas been opened at the JJ Basti Bhoomi-heen Camp in south Delhi's Kalkaji aspart of a programme to add new toilets inJJ clusters across the Capital. The ChiefMinister also promised the residentstheir own local mohalla clinic at a loca-tion adjacent to the newly inauguratedcomplex.

Mr. Kejriwal took the opportunity torenew the AAP’s pre-Assembly pollpromise of in-situ rehabilitation of slumresidents and declared that the Delhigovernment intends to allot houses to theresidents of the cluster near their currentmakeshift housing “in the coming two tothree years”.

Lack of toilets

“In 2005-06, I was a part of an NGOcalled Parivartan and stayed for three to

four months in JJ colonies to see whathardships the residents were facing. Lackof toilets was their biggest problem, espe-cially for the women,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

“Women in such colonies either had towake up very early or wait for night to usetoilets. That was when I decided that ifthere was one initiative that had to betaken up on a war footing it was to maketoilets accessible to the residents of slumclusters,” the Chief Minister added.

More than 7,000 new community toi-lets have been built since the AAP gov-ernment assumed oice on 14 February,2015, Mr. Kejriwal said.

Home for slum residents

He said his biggest dream now was toensure that residents of slum clusterswere given a permanent home each bythe end of his term. “My colleague Saty-endra Jain is working on a pan-Delhi planto make this (in-situ rehabilitation) areality. It won't happen as early as tomor-row, but residents of JJ colonies and slumclusters will be rehabilitated within threeto five kilometres of where they now stayin the coming two to three years in aphased manner,” he said..

Kalkaji JJ cluster gets945-toilet complex

WAY FORWARD:Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the move was aimed at makingthe Capital open defecation-free. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

NEW DELHI: When a police team visited theWest Vinod Nagar home where a motherand daughter were found dead with stabinjuries on Monday evening, they did notview it as a crime that would requiremuch investigation.

Having found a hand-written “suicidenote” from the spot, the team immedi-ately concluded that the mother hadkilled her daughter before committingsuicide. “The half-page note said that thewoman was battling personal troublesand that no one should be blamed for hersuicide,” said an investigator.

‘Brutal wounds’

It was only when some senior policeoicers reached the spot a few minuteslater that the murder-cum-suicide the-ory was shelved. The brutal nature of thestab wounds clearly indicated that bothhad been murdered, said the police.

The two-year-old child, Ananya, wasstabbed in her chest and other parts ofthe body. “A mother would not inflictsuch grievous injuries on her child,” saida senior police oicer.

Ananya’s mother, Geetanjali (25), re-ceived four stab wounds. “It is highly un-likely that a person killing herself is ableto inflict multiple deep wounds on herbody. It appears someone who bore greathatred towards the duo killed them,” saidthe oicer.

The police have zeroed in on a list ofsuspects, with Geetanjali’s husband,Mithilesh Anand, being one of them.When his wife had failed to open theirflat door despite repeated ringing of thebell and calls to her phone, it was Mith-ilesh who had told a neighbourhood boy

about how to enter the flat through thebalcony.

“The balcony was the only way thekiller could have escaped after lockingthe flat from the inside,” said the oicer.Neighbours have said they heard no criesfor help and saw no one exiting the bal-cony. The police are now questioningMithilesh about this alternative exitroute. Probe has also revealed that thecouple shared a cold relationship andhad barely spoken to each other in thelast few months.

“Geentanjali had recently complainedto a relative about Mithilesh not treatingher well. We will speak to that persontoo,” said a police oicer. Neighbourshave told the police that when the mansaw his dead daughter and wife, he wasunusually “calm and composed”.

Probe on

Omvir Singh Binshnoi, DCP (East),however, said it was too early to say Mith-ilesh killed the duo. “He certainly is a sus-pect and we have detained him for ques-tioning. But we are yet to link him to thecrime,” said Mr. Bishnoi.

Police rule out suicide inmother-daughter deathSHIV SUNNY

CRIME SCENE:The Vinod Nagar homewhere the bodies were found.PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

NEW DELHI: All seems to be wellin the Capital’s corridors ofpower with Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal publiclythanking the newly sworn-inL-G, Anil Baijal, for honour-ing his government’s requestto be present at back to backinauguration programmes onTuesday, and the latter com-plimenting the AAP govern-ment for undertaking theprojects.

This is a pleasant shift fromthe past relations between theChief Minister and the formerLieutenant-Governor, NajeebJung, who had been engagedin a bitter tussle for power inthe Capital.

While the Chief Minister,who found an opponent in Mr.Baijal's predecessor NajeebJung on more than one occa-sion in the past, publiclythanked the newly sworn-inLG for honouring his govern-ment's request to be presentat back to back inaugurationprograms on Tuesday, the lat-

ter complimented the AAPgovernment for undertakingthe projects in question.

Mutual admiration

Even as Mr. Kejriwal andMr. Baijal made their firstpublic appearance together

on Tuesday, sources in theDelhi government termed therelationship so far “cordialand a working one”. DeputyCM Manish Sisodia, in fact,had commended the L-G forgoing out on a cleanliness in-spection last Sunday.

Speaking at the inaugura-tion of a skill-developmentcentre in west Delhi’s TilakNagar, Mr. Baijal said, whileMr. Kejriwal on his partthanked the LG for inspiringthe city administration to im-plement such public interest

initiative by gracing the func-tion. “Good to see that home-less people have not beenonly provided shelters here,but they are also being madeemployable so that they canearn their livelihood... This isa very good initiative and Iwelcome it.”

Skill development centres

Skill development centreshave been set up at 10 nightshelters where the homelesswill be trained in skills ran-ging from basic sewing,beauty culture, plumbing,electrical work and a crashcourse in simple cooking.

“People who stay at nightshelters are neither voters norvote bank of any politicalparty. In the past, no govern-ment had worked for them,”the L-G said. Mr. Kejriwalthanked Mr. Baijal for inspir-ing the government by com-ing to the event and expressedhope that in the coming days,“we would work for three-four folds development ofDelhi”.

Chief Minister, new L-G drop hints of cordial relations in first public appearance together

Baijal, Kejriwal laud each otherJATIN ANAND

GOOD VIBES:L-G Anil Baijal with CM Arvind Kejriwal at Tilak Nagar on Tuesday. PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA

F O R J O B L I S T I N G S & A R T I C L E S , V I S I T w w w . t h e h i n d u . c o m / j o b s

6 | THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

The problem of unemploy-ability, encounteredacross India Inc, can be

tackled efectively only if allstakeholders in educationand corporate world cometogether and take concertedeforts to ensure talent pro-duced by the academic sys-tem matches the require-ments of the industry.

Corporates can help im-prove the employability quo-tient of Indian youth by con-necting with students on thethreshold of employmentand those who have enteredthe workforce.

Training internsThe responsibility of a

corporate to make young-sters job-ready does not startwhen it hires fresh gradu-ates; it starts when it ofersinternships to students.Most employers look forevidence that a candidatewill be able to do the job thathe has applied for. An intern-ship can provide evidence ofthe suitability. Internshipsimpart skills to students thatrecruiters look for in freshgraduates.

Mentoring new stafCoaching and mentoring

involve pairing experiencedprofessionals with new em-ployees to help the latter ad-apt to the environment andculture of the workplace. Anew employee is providedpersonal guidance on spe-cific job duties, processesand responsibilities. Smallbusinesses can also usementors to help developtheir employees along a spe-

cific career path.Teaching new skillsAn organisation should

provide its employees withopportunities to work inother departments so thatthey understand the inter-connections and see howthey could contribute on alarger scale. Companies canalso ofer courses and train-ing sessions to employees todevelop new and hone exist-ing skills to make their con-tributions more significant

and meaningful.Working with institutesCollaborations between

institutes and corporateswill enable the latter to trainstudents along the lines oftheir requirements, therebyreducing their on-the-jobtraining costs. The institutes,on the other hand, benefitfrom good placement ofers.Institutes can market thiscollaboration and theirplacement records to in-crease the demand of the

course.Funding innovationCompanies can contribute

towards increasing employ-ability by funding instituteswith the objective of promot-ing innovate ideas from stu-dents. Doing so will helpthese students when theystart their careers; throughsuch aid, the infrastructurein institutions will get better.

(Premjith Alampilly is Head -

Marketing at MeritTrac

Services)

Corporates, colleges should worktogether to improve employabilityPREMJITH ALAMPILLY

File photo used for representational purpose only.

With their need forautonomy, flexibilityand adaptability, millen-

nials will disrupt the natureof the workplace in the yearsahead. Building an ‘intrapren-eurial’ culture in organisa-tions will go a long way to-wards meeting theexpectations of millennials.Here are certain factors con-tributing to ‘intrapreneur-ship’ (intrapreneurs are em-ployees of an organisationwho display entrepreneurialqualities, including takingcalculated risks to efect pos-itive changes) in an organisa-tion.

Pull down wallsRigid hierarchies and re-

porting lines will need to dis-solve into an interconnected,collaborative, matrixed net-work that operatesseamlessly.

Let them ‘fail fast’Leaders should encourage

employees to “fail fast”, andnot penalise them for failuresarising from experimentationand calculated risk taking.

By encouraging experi-mentation as well as nurtur-

ing and incubating innova-tion, an organisation will becreating a millennial-friendlyenvironment.

Hire rightTalent acquisition pro-

cesses have to be rigorousand assess learning agility,which is absolutely necessaryto succeed in today’s businessenvironment.

To be responsive to thelooser, more collaborativeways of working that areevolving around us, the talentacquisition process has to be-come more agile and flexible.

Be purpose-driven Research indicates that

companies with a larger pur-pose beyond just financialgrowth tend to perform bet-ter than their counterparts.

Being purpose-driven alsobrings in a sense of focus evenin the face of disruptivechange. Efecting thesechanges in workplace cultureis not without its challenges.Organisations today are in-creasingly multigenerational.Managing the expectations ofmillennials alongside that ofGen-Xers and in some cases,Baby Boomers in leadershiproles becomes a major chal-lenge. Each of these genera-tions brings in very diferentapproaches to work. Anotherchallenge is cascading the or-ganization’s purpose and val-ues to the last mile and ensur-ing that leaders “walk thetalk” every day. Balancing theneed for processes and stand-ardisation especially in larger

organisations, while main-taining the flexibility andagility of a start-up, is yet an-other challenge.

The organisation of the fu-ture thus has massive scalewhile maintaining the agilityof a start-up. It can be bothstable and dynamic at thesame time, rooted in its largerpurpose or values. New ca-reer paths open up, break-through ideas are nurturedevery day, and in-house talentpools are continuously iden-tified and developed. We be-lieve that ‘intrapreneurship’and empowerment will bethe hallmarks of new-age or-ganisations.

(Nandini Piramal is Executive

Director at Piramal

Enterprises)

They are entrepreneurs on the payrollTo keepmillennialsengaged,organisationsshould promote aculture of‘intrapreneurship’

NANDINI PIRAMAL

Illustration: Mihir Balantrapu

| 7THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

My wife and I, unlikemany intellectuals,spent five years work-

ing on assembly lines. Wecame to fully understandthe criticisms of the indus-trial age, in which you are anappendage of a machinethat sets the pace.

***The great growling en-

gine of change —technology.

***Technology feeds on it-

self. Technology makesmore technology possible.

***Our technological

powers increase, but theside efects and potentialhazards also escalate.

***The next major explosion

is going to be when geneticsand computers cometogether.

I'm talking about an or-ganic computer - about bio-logical substances that canfunction like asemiconductor.

Peter F. Drucker :Innovation requires us to

systematically identifychanges that have alreadyoccurred in a business — indemographics, in values, intechnology or science —

and then to look at them asopportunities.

It also requires some-thing that is most diicultfor existing companies todo: to abandon rather thandefend yesterday.

***For new technology to re-

place old, it has to have atleast ten times the benefit.

***Now that knowledge is

taking the place of capital asthe driving force in organiz-ations worldwide, it is alltoo easy to confuse datawith knowledge and in-formation technology withinformation.

***In a few hundred years,

when the history of our timewill be written from a long-term perspective, it is likelythat the most importantevent historians will see isnot technology, not the In-ternet, not e-commerce.

It is an unprecedentedchange in the human condi-tion. For the first time — lit-erally — substantial andrapidly growing numbers ofpeople have choices.

For the first time, theywill have to manage them-selves.

And society is totally un-prepared for it.

QUOTIN THE GURUS

Toler, Drucker on technology

Peter F. Drucker and (right) Alvin Toffler . FILE PHOTOS

8 |THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

SOUTH

ONGOLE: For the farmers in thePrakasam district of AndhraPradesh, from whom over22,000 acres were acquiredfor the Vadarevu and Nizam-patnam Industrial Corridor(VANPIC) project in 2008,the long wait for the return oftheir land may soon come toan end.

The farmers see a ray ofhope with the SupremeCourt taking up for hearing apetition for the return oflands acquired for the Spe-cial Economic Zones inAndhra Pradesh and otherStates, but remain unused.

With the mega infrastruc-ture project, comprising thedevelopment of two seaports and an industrial cor-ridor, remaining a non-starter, the farmers had in2012 removed the fence putby VANPIC during theiragitation. They started rais-

ing crops in Peddaganjam,Gundayapalem, Pathapadu,Chintagaripalem andDevarampadu, among othervillages. Ahead of the 2014general election, the thenLeader of the Opposition N.Chandrababu Naidu, whosymbolically tilled a piece ofland at Pathapadu, promisedto return their land aftercoming to power.

Unfulfilled promises

Now, the farmers want Mr.

Naidu to redeem his pollpromise.

“'We will not part with ourland come what may,” theyasserted. It is unfortunatethat the Chief Minister re-mains silent on returning thelands,” said Andhra PradeshRythu Sangam district sec-retary V. Hanuma Reddy.“We’ll hold a stir if the gov-ernment retains the lands onthe pretext of industrial de-velopment,” warned CPI(M)cadre M.Vasantha Rao..

Ryots in Prakasam turn restive,seek return of unused landSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Farm labourers removing the fence put up for the Vadarevuand Nizampatnam Industrial Corridor in Prakasam. — FILE PHOTO

Apex court move on Special Economic Zone land brings cheer

CHITTOOR: Unfailing agilityand vision are assets of80-year-old Kannamma ofKothur village in theYadamarri mandal nearChittoor. This ‘snake-catcher’ is a householdname.

The woman caught herfirst snake at the age of 10.She then went after thereptiles, dealing with themin not hundreds, butthousands, spread over twodozen villages along theChittoor-Tamil Naduborder.

She leads a happy life allby herself in a thatchedhut. Her husband,Krishnaiah, passed awaythree decades ago. ThoughKannamma’s daughter andson support her, she

doesn’t like the idea ofdepending on them. Shekeeps herself busy, workingin the fields and runningerrands for neighbours.

Whenever a snake isseen in the households ofvillages surroundingKothur, Kannamma’sservices are sought. In notime, she reaches the venueand solves the problem.

The fate of the snakes restson her mood. At times, shekills them. She can also bekind and release them intothe forests.

One look at their forkedtongues, Kannammaknows whether the snakesare “good or bad,” sheclaims. She has caught notonly cobras but also deadlyvipers and Indian kraits.

She can plunge into thebushes, and climb treesand walls with ease.

Magical hands

Kannamma does not usea stick or anything else tocatch snakes. Her hands dothe magic. She thumps theground close to the snakehideouts in a peculiarmanner. Luring them out,she lifts them in the air andmakes them coil aroundher arms. Though she hasbeen bitten by snakes manytimes, there has been noinstance of her beingtreated in hospitals.

In the latest episode, shecaught a cobra at Kothurvillage on Tuesday andkilled it. “I sensed its wrathunder its belly. It was notshowing signs of leavingthe village. So I killed it.”

Age does not deter her from trapping snakes 80-year-old Kannamma of Chittoor is much sought after for her excellent skill

STILL COUNTING: Kannamma, after catching a cobra at Kothurvillage, near Chittoor, on Tuesday. —PHOTO: K UMASHANKER

K. UMASHANKER

KOCHI: There seems to be noend to the crisis in the Malay-alam film industry over theissue of revenue sharingamong the exhibitors’ feder-ation, on one side, and pro-ducers and distributors, onthe other.

From Thursday, over 360cinema halls ailiated to theKerala Film Exhibitors’ Fed-eration, the combine of A-class cinemas in the State,will remain closed demand-ing a higher revenue share.The exhibitors are demand-ing 50 per cent of the earn-ings in the first week of re-lease, instead of the existing40 per cent.

P.V. Basheer Ahamed,president of the federation,said they had no other optionbut to close down. “The de-cision will also afect the re-

lease of other languagemovies in the State. We arenot in a position to releasethese movies owing to thethreat from certain youthwing organisations.

Unrelenting stance

“With producers and dis-tributors not relenting, allcinemas under the federa-tion will down shutters fromJanuary 12 indefinitely,” hesaid. The Kerala Film Produ-cers’ Association hadtoughened its stance after itdecided on Saturday to re-lease new Malayalam filmsin cinemas other than thoseowned by members of thefederation. The films wouldbe released in cinemas oper-ated by the Kerala Cine Ex-hibitors Association, multi-plexes, andgovernment-owned cinemahalls.

360 cinema halls todown shutters in KeralaSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Describing the ef-fects of Endosulfan as “dev-astating,” the Supreme Courton Tuesday directed the Ker-ala government to releasethe entire compensation toover 5,000 victims, mostlynewborns, and their familiesin three months.

A three-judge Bench ledby Chief Justice of India J.S.Khehar said the State of Ker-ala could initiate legal pro-ceedings to recover the com-pensation money frompesticide companies re-sponsible for the productionand sale of the highly contro-versial but cheap agrochem-ical. The court said the Stategovernment could also ap-proach the Centralgovernment.

Kerala has earmarked over₨ 180 crore for the payment ofcompensation to victims,some of whom are termin-

ally ill from the efects of thepesticide which was aeriallysprayed on cashew planta-tions, adjoining the habitatswhere the victims are loc-ated.

The State has paid a cashcompensation ranging from₨ 2 lakh to ₨ 5 lakh to the vic-tims. It said the entire rehab-ilitation scheme, including amulti-speciality hospital,would cost over ₨ 500 crore.

‘Welfare state’

Kerala counsel G. Prakashsaid a request to the Centreto spare ₨ 486 crore for thevictims fell on deaf ears des-pite the Kerala High Courtdecision highlighting thegravity of the health issuescaused by the pesticide.

“You are a welfare state ...Why don’t you make a pack-age? Are you not concernedof your obligations as a wel-fare state? Why don’t youframe uniform norms for

compensation? This is dev-astating,” CJI Khehar ob-served while perusing the re-cords, pictures and newsclips submitted by the peti-tioner, Democratic YouthFederation of India (DYFI),portraying the health crisisleft behind by the pesticide.

Disposing of the petition, thecourt said the State shouldconsider providing life-timemedical facilities to the En-dosulfan victims.

In 2011, the Supreme Courtordered the immediate banof Endosulfan while disreg-arding pleas of over 150

private export companies. Ithad said “any decision afect-ing human life, or which mayput an individual’s life at risk,must call for the mostanxious scrutiny.”

‘Social responsibility’

“Every industry shouldlook into corporate social re-sponsibility also, you cannotjust look at the money. For uscost is not the only point,even if one child sufers wedo not want it on our heads.We hope it is the same foryou,” then Chief Justice of In-dia S.H. Kapadia had said.

The Bench led by ChiefJustice Khehar also issued acontempt notice against agroup for its advertisementin an English daily in March2012, accompanied by a pic-ture of Chief Justice Kapadia(as he was then), claimingthat the medical reports andsurveys on the Endosulfanvictims were “fabricated.” .

Asks Kerala to release compensation amount to over 5,000 victims in three months

Efects of Endosulfan devastating: SC

KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL

YEARS OF STRUGGLE: A file photo of Endosulfan victims and theirkin staging a protest in Thiruvananthapuram.

HYDERABAD: The streets ofDhoolpet, Gulzar Houz, Yak-utpura and Koka ki Tattisport the festive colours ofTil Sankranti. Rows of shopshave colourful kites andbundles of manja to draw theattention of buyers.

The printed synthetickites this year have taken acinematic turn with popularmovie and TV serial charac-ters such as Baahubali, Motuand Patlu and Chhota Bheememblazoned on them.

Modi kites

Among the printed kitesare a few with Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi’s face andnew currency notes with thetag line ‘Surgical Strike.’ An-other has ‘Aaj ka Mahanayakas a tag line.

But such kites can be spot-

ted only in Dhoolpet wherethe wholesale traders gettheir stock fromAhmedabad, Rajkot andSurat.

“I refused to buy thosekites. We used to have a guar-anteed business of a fewlakhs but now I am not sure Iwill be able to sell all the in-ventory I have,” says FerozKhan at Gulzar Houz.

“The government hasbanned tangus (Chinesemanja), it should also bancover kites (plastic kites),”Mr. Khan said, adding thatthese are equally dangerousas they stay in the environ-ment for a longer time,” hesays pointing to a singleplastic kite fluttering fromthe Kaman near his shop.

“Try to navigate a kitemade of plastic. It is un-wieldy,” says Raees Khan ofAghapura.

Motu-Patlu, Chhota

Bheem set to dot the skiesSERISH NANISETTI

CMYK

NATION | 9THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

NEW DELHI: A special courthere on Tuesday framedcharges against HimachalEMTA Power Ltd (HEPL)and three others in a coalblock allocation scam case.

Special Judge Bharat Para-shar framed the chargesagainst HEPL, its directorsUjjal Kumar Upadhaya andBikash Mukherjee, andsenior executive N.C.Chakraborty.

The court said prima faciethere was evidence whichsuggested that the accusedcommitted the ofences ofcriminal conspiracy andcheating.

‘Misrepresented status’

The CBI had charge-sheeted only HEPL, Mr. Up-adhaya and Mr. Mukherjee inthe case but the judge said“though the CBI has notcharge-sheeted N.C.Chakraborty, I do not findmyself in agreement with thesaid conclusion drawn byCBI.”

The CBI has alleged that

the HEPL had grossly mis-represented its status in notonly its application form butalso in the feedback formsubmitted on June 22, 2007and in the information sup-plied by Mr. Chakraborty tothe West Bengalgovernment.

It further alleged that Mr.Upadhaya and Mr. Mukher-jee had deliberately con-spired with HEPL.

They had submitted falseinformation to the Ministryof Coal to secure allocationof Gourangdih ABC coalblock in West Bengal in itsfavour.

Joint venture

Messrs Eastern Mineralsand Trading Agency Ltd(EMTA) had entered into ajoint venture with HimachalPower Corporation Ltd to es-tablish a power project inWest Bengal, and the com-pany was named Messrs Hi-machal EMTA Power Ltd(HEPL). HEPL, in its January10, 2007 application had ap-plied for the allotment of theGourangdih ABC coal block.

Charges framed inanother coal block caseSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

PUNE: Congress MLA Jayku-mar Gore, who is facingcharges of sexual harass-ment, surrendered beforethe Satara district police onTuesday.

He was arrested and pro-duced in a local court whichremanded him in police cus-tody till January 12.

The anticipatory bail plea

of Mr. Gore, who representsthe Mann-Khatav Assemblyconstituency in Satara, wasrejected by the Bombay HighCourt on Monday.

According to the SataraSuperintendent of PoliceSandip Patil, Mr. Gore hadabsconded from the MLAhostel in Mumbai fearing ar-rest after his pre-arrest bailapplication was rejected bythe court.

Congress MLA held insexual harassment caseSHOUMOJIT BANERJEE

MUMBAI: Maharashtra’s bank-ing infrastructure remaineddeficient more than a monthafter demonetisation, withfewer functional ATMs andBanking Correspondents(BCs) in rural areas. Thelatest bank data also showsabnormally poor disburse-ment of crop loans undervarious central schemes,with only 17% targetachieved for the Rabi seasonas opposed to 88 per cent inthe Kharif season, clearlysignalling that an overburdened banking systemwas unable to cope with thedemands of demonetisation.

The Rabi season in Statestarts from mid-October andcontinues until February 15,but this year good rains hadencouraged farmers to ad-vance the sowing to late Au-gust.

Farm sector demand

“Senior State oicials ex-pressed concern over stafproblems at bank branchesand assured help to copewith the load, urging bankersto improve coverage of farm-ers," read the minutes of the

recent State bankers' com-mittee meeting.

The latest data submittedby State’s 36 major banks tothe Union Ministry of Fin-ance show a higher numberof ATMs, as many as 14,490,were recalibrated (for Rs2,000 notes) betweenNovember 8, 2016 andDecember 20, 2016.

But 5,846 or 34 per cent of

the total ATMs remained in-active as on December 20,along with 6,306 or 41 percent of the Banking Corres-pondents (BCs) not func-tional as on December 20,2016.

The BC’s are vital micro-finance agents who helpreach out to segments ofpopulation left out of the fin-ancial inclusion in the rural

areas of the state, oicialssaid.

Following the November 8announcement scrappinghigh value currency notes,the department of financialservices, New Delhi, had ad-vised banks and the State-level bankers’ committee(SLBC) to report daily de-monetisation progress to thecentral government.

Time-consuming process

Senior oicials of the Stategovernment told The Hinduthat though the BC model is asolid alternative route to fin-ancial inclusion, the assess-ment, background check andselection of BCs was timeconsuming, resulting in lownumbers.

“Some of these BCs didnot have enough incentivesto work as human ATMs butthey are now returning toour fold (state banks) afterthe announcement of de-

monetisation. The numberwill surely show a spike in fu-ture,” said a senior oicial ofthe State Rural Developmentdepartment.

Rupay cards inactive

The data presented duringthe during the 133 SLBC heldin Mumbai on December 30also shows that as many as36,54,471 RUPAY card pinsremained un-distributed,which simply meant as manycards were inactive as onDecember 20. Senior oi-cials said inactive cardsmeant the transactions in therural areas were afected andmay have some impact onthe rural economy in thecoming months.

Maharashtra has a total of6,06,71,379 savings accountsof which 2,98,95,613 havebeen seeded with Aadhaarand another 3,93,37,820seeded with the mobilephones. There are a total of1,62,69,586 accounts underthe Pradhan Mantri Jan DhanYojna (PMJDY), of which1,20,17,595 have been seededwith Aadhaar while 59,56,170seeded with mobile.

The tele density is as highas 93% in the State.

Latest data on loans signal that an over-burdened system was unable to cope with demonetisation

Maharashtra banks in doldrumsSHARAD VYAS Senior State officials

expressed concern

over staff problems

at bank branches and

assured help

KOLKATA: Bangladeshi Nobellaureate Muhammad Yunuson Tuesday urged forchanges in India’s legislationto set up banks for the poor.

Participating at the bicen-tenary celebrations of Pres-idency University, thefounder of Grameen Banksaid the existing bankswithin the current structurewould not be able to servethe poor.

Calls for new laws

“I have been asking the In-dian government to bringnew laws for setting up newbanks. The existing laws arefor making banks for the rich.In order to bring financialservices to the poor, a new le-gislation is required so thatthe country has banks for thepoor,” he said referring to theGrameen Bank.

Many NGOs in India, whoare dependent on financialassistance, have been run-ning large micro-credit pro-grammes, he said.

“They require limitedbanking licence so that theycan function as banks. Thegovernment has started giv-ing new banking licencewhich is good,” he said.

The banks now are likehuge ships, that can sailacross oceans, but the poortoo should have access tobanks, which are like smallships, he said.

Speaking about povertyand unemployment, Mr.Yunus said, “Poverty is notdue to the poor people. It iscreated by the system.”

He said that “the poor arevictims” of the system,adding that, “unemploymentis being thrust upon them bythe present societal system.”

“Why should today’syouth seek jobs. Instead,they should look for creatingjobs for others. This wrongthinking has put all of us inthe wrong direction,” Mr.Yunus said.

Set up banks for poor,Yunus tells IndiaSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Muhammad Yunus

NEW DELHI: A new Bench ofJustices Arun Mishra andAmitava Roy will on Wed-nesday hear petitions filedby the NGO Common Causeand another organisationseeking a Supreme Court-monitored probe into docu-ments recovered duringraids at Birla and Sahara of-fices in 2013 and 2014, al-legedly showing massivebribes paid to high-profilepoliticians, including PrimeMinister Narendra Modiwhen he was the GujaratChief Minister.

The development followsadvocate Prashant Bhushan’srequest in the last hearingthat Justice J.S. Khehar, whois the present Chief Justice ofIndia, should withdraw fromthe case as his “file for eleva-tion is pending with the PM[Prime Minister].”

The lawyer’s request,which, he said, was made inhis capacity as an oicer ofthe court to protect the judi-ciary from rumour-monger-ing and “unpleasantness,”triggered a rash of criticismagainst him from both theSupreme Court and thegovernment.

New Bench tohear Sahara-Birla‘pay-ofs’ case LEGAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Agreeing to hearthe plight of the landless vic-tims of the Sardar SarovarProject in detail, the Su-preme Court on Tuesday ob-served that giving cash in-stead of land to farmers wholost their fertile lands to themega dam project is “tentat-ively” not acceptable.

“We will tell you now it-self. You giving cash insteadof land is tentatively not ac-ceptable. That’s just notdone,” Chief Justice of IndiaJ.S. Khehar, who headed athree-judge Bench, told theNarmada authorities andcounsel for Madhya Pradesh.

Appearing for the Nar-mada Bachao Andolan, ad-vocate Sanjay Parikh askedwhy poor people whoselands have been taken awayfrom them should continueto sufer. “It is land for land,”Mr. Parikh said.

“They have worked intheir lands all their lives,”Chief Justice Khehar saidduring the hearing.

Mr. Parikh said the farm-ers are left with neither landnor livelihood despite therebeing binding orders from

the Supreme Court uphold-ing their right to land.

Hearing adjourned

Chief Justice Khehar, whowanted to hear the petitionson Tuesday, agreed to ad-journ the hearing to January19 for a detailed hearing afterthe government authoritiessought time for preparation.

Earlier, the apex court haddismissed an application bythe Madhya Pradesh govern-ment and the Narmada Val-ley Development Authorityfor a modification of theapex court judgments of2000 and 2005 upholdingland rights for adult sons ofthe Sardar Sarovar Project-afected farmers.

The apex court’s SocialJustice Bench led by JusticeMadan B. Lokur had said theState’s application suferedfrom gross delay, after hav-ing been filed several yearssince the Supreme Courtgave its verdict on the issue.

Mr. Parikh had submittedthat as per the NarmadaTribunal Award and the Su-preme Court verdicts, alladult sons were indisputablyentitled to five acres of cul-tivable and irrigable land,and any discriminationwould lead to the violation ofthe constitutional rights ofthe oustees.

Terming the application as“not to be good governance,”the Bench had dismissed it.

Cash for land is just not done: SCLEGAL CORRESPONDENT

A view of the Sardar Sarovar dam. — FILE PHOTO

KOLKATA: Five persons were in-jured when a new Jalpaiguri-bound toy train derailed atKurseong in West Bengal’sDarjeeling district onTuesday.

The injured, including thedriver of the train, were ad-mitted to Kurseong Hospital,District Magistrate AnuragShrivastav said.

“The accident occurred at3-30 p.m. when the engineand one coach got derailed,”Pranab Jyoti Sharma, ChiefPublic Relations Oicer(CPRO) of North East Fron-tier Railways, told TheHindu. Mr. Sharma said thederailment was “veryunusual.”

Cause of accident

The cause of the accident

was being looked into, hesaid.

According to the Railwayoicials, the train did nothave many tourists on board.

The Darjeeling HimalayanRailway, popularly known astoy train, was started in 1881when Sir Ashley Eden wasthe Lieutenant Governor ofBengal. It was declared aUNESCO World HeritageSite in 1999.

Toy train derails; five injured

Police and railway officials on the accident spot after a train derailed at Kurseong on Tuesday.PHOTO: PTI

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Continuing theirongoing demand, UnionPublic Service Commission(UPSC) aspirants staged aprotest near UPSC, in ShahJahan road, on Tuesday de-manding compensation inthe form of additional at-tempts. The aspirants saidthey they had lost the chancefor additional attempts dueto a discriminatory CivilServices Aptitude Test(CSAT) paper during thepreliminary examination.

Discriminatory paper

“The protest is against theloss of attempts of the aspir-ants due to the discriminat-ory nature of CSAT examwhich was introduced in theCivil Service Examinationfrom 2011. Due to the dis-criminatory nature of CSATfrom 2011 up till 2014, manyserious candidates hadsufered the loss and therebyexhausted their attemptseven though the governmentincreased the number ofpossible attempts,” said

Pranav Kumar, an afectedaspirant who was part of theprotest.

He added that the statist-ics of UPSC show that theCSAT paper had mostly af-fected candidates from arural background and thosetaught in regional languagesand Hindi. The number ofHumanities students takingthe exam has also graduallyreduced over the years.

Level-playing field

“All the afected candid-ates from 2011 to 2015 shouldbe provided with compens-atory attempts. Bring intransparency in the wholeprocess of Civil Service ex-aminations. There should bea level playing field for all as-pirants across the country,irrespective of their back-ground,” added anotheraspirant.

The protesters, mean-while, chose to clarify thatthey were not asking for ajob or reservation. “We arejust asking for an opportun-ity to appear in the examagain,” they said.

Protest to demandmore UPSC attemptsBINDU SHAJAN PERAPPADAN

CMYK

ND-ND

10 |THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

W E D N E S D A Y , J A N U A R Y 1 1 , 2 0 1 7

EDITORIAL

CARTOONSCAPE

The Supreme Court’s observations on thequality of a round of appointments madeto the Tamil Nadu Public Service Com-mission last year expose the gross dis-

respect shown by the State government to the insti-tutional integrity of the constitutional body.Standing by the Madras High Court judgmentquashing the appointment of 11 members, the courthas directed the State government to make a freshselection of TNPSC members after a “meaningfuland deliberative process”. These observations fore-ground the arbitrary manner in which administrat-ive power is used to pack recruitment institutionswith political favourites. In the case of the TNPSC,the high court had noted that absolutely no processhad preceded the appointments, including of aformer district judge who had not been ofered thetwo-year extension that is given on merit to districtjudges on their reaching the age of 58. The govern-ment has been specifically told that the retiredjudge would not be eligible in the fresh selectionprocess. TNPSC vacancies were not filled for threeyears, but close to the Assembly election, chosenpersons were asked to submit their bio-data and ap-pointed within a day. The high court could not evengo into the relevance of the material on the basis ofwhich the Governor made the appointments, asthere was no material bar candidates’ resumes.

The core issue, however, is not eligibility or non-eligibility. Some may be qualified by dint of theirtrack record, educational qualifications or adminis-trative experience. What is disquieting is that theappointment process has become a “spoils system”based on political patronage. The high court hadnoted that it was not even fair to comment onwhether any candidate met the criteria of integrity,calibre and qualification as the process itself wasdeeply flawed. It had noted at least three instancesof absence of process in selections to State publicservice commissions. The concept of such com-missions was incorporated in the Constitution withthe idea that recruitment for public service wouldbe truly independent and free from the pressure ofthe political executive. Going by the recent roundof appointments, the Tamil Nadu government doesnot have a process, leave alone one that is free fromarbitrariness. It needs to evolve a process for ap-pointments to the TNPSC that will make integrityand calibre the principal qualifications, while alsodrawing upon a wider pool of talent than what theruling party’s limited list of favourites has to ofer.

Appointments asspoils of oice

The U.S. Oice of the Director of NationalIntelligence has released a declassifiedreport purportedly supplying the minu-tiae of a conspiracy theory that has

dogged the victory of Donald Trump in the Novem-ber presidential election: Russia’s alleged “influ-ence campaign” that sought to tip the scales in fa-vour of the property magnate. The report, whichpulls together intelligence gathered by the FederalBureau of Investigation, the Central IntelligenceAgency and the National Security Agency, con-cludes with “high confidence” that Russian Presid-ent Vladimir Putin personally ordered such a cam-paign in 2016, which saw hacking of email accountsof Democratic Party oicials and other political fig-ures. Further, personal information of the victimswas passed on to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaksand broader media, which in turn disseminatedlarge troves of data. These releases and public pro-paganda by the Russian regime, the report suggests,undercut the campaign of the Democratic candid-ate, Hillary Clinton. The report comes at a timewhen relations between Washington and Moscowcould not be worse. President Barack Obama him-self cited the “highest levels of the Russian govern-ment” as the provenance of this malicious cyberactivity. When he announced sanctions againstRussia and expelled 35 diplomats from U.S. soil inDecember, matters reached boiling point.

The hacking saga raises two sets of questions.First, how consequential are the U.S. intelligenceagencies’ claims in terms of the impact on the ac-tual election outcome of the concerted disinforma-tion campaign? It is possible that a section of voterswas swayed by this covert action; yet Mr. Trump’swin, as even the liberal-minded U.S. media con-cede, was the result of factors deeply rooted in do-mestic politics, including economic woes and theanti-immigrant attitudes of an angry middle classin the Rust Belt States. On the flip side, conservativeAmericans’ view of Ms. Clinton as an untrust-worthy and over-connected Washington insiderscarcely required corroboration from an outsideactor. There is, of course, some irony in the intelli-gence report given the unparalleled record of theU.S. in interfering in the elections of other nations,including in almost all of South America and evenin Russia, in 1996. The second concern that thehacking episode throws up is that Mr. Trump’s dis-missive reaction of the intelligence report couldsend a dangerous signal to Russia that it could carryout more such shadow campaigns with a sense ofimpunity. Information is ultimate power in the di-gital universe of 21st century democracies. The riseof hacking and fake news thus is, justifiably, asource of deep fear for liberal governments acrossEurope, poised on the brink of elections and facingthe prospect of a Brexit-style sweep in some cases.

The great Americanelection hack

In a wide-ranging interview with IndiaToday, the new Chief of Army Staf, GeneralBipin Rawat, appeared to drop a bombshellby acknowledging the existence of thearmy’s Cold Start strategy. Many defenceanalysts presumed the army had abandonedthis limited war concept altogether, or nar-rowly focussed on streamlining mobilisa-tion while still maintaining the fundamentalStrike Corps organisation and doctrinalconcept. Either Gen. Rawat has dispensedwith 15 years of semantic gymnastics andsimply referred to these “proactive strategyoptions” by their more common nomen-clature, Cold Start, or, the Indian Army hasbeen quietly reorganising its limited warconcept along more aggressive, and ofens-ive, lines with little fanfare. The governmentwould be wise to clarify Gen. Rawat’s state-ments. Ambiguity surrounding Cold Start,which incurred real diplomatic and securitycosts for India without delivering de-terrence benefits, did not advance the coun-try’s interests when it was first announced,and such uncertainty is unhelpful today.

Pakistan-centric retaliatory option

What is Cold Start? At heart, it is part ofthe army’s attempt to develop a useable,conventional retaliatory option that pun-ishes Pakistan for terrorist attacks againstIndia without triggering wider conventionalor nuclear escalation. In its more aggressiveformulations, it was believed the aim was tocreate division-sized formations that couldrapidly mobilise and carry out short-notice,retaliatory ofensives of limited duration toquickly seize and hold Pakistani territory,while simultaneously pursuing narrowenough objectives to deny Islamabad a justi-fication to escalate the conflict by openingadditional conventional fronts or to employnuclear weapons.

The perceived failure to mobilise the

army’s Strike Corps in a timely fashion afterthe December 2001 attacks on Parliamentwas the impetus for Cold Start, and its oi-cial status has been the subject of extensivedebate and controversy since it was first dis-cussed in 2004. The idea originated with thearmy and has been publicly debated inthink-tank circles, but it has never beenformally accepted by the Indian govern-ment, which has repeatedly denied its exist-ence. In 2010, the then Army Chief, Gen. V.K.Singh, declared point-blank that Cold Startdid not exist. However, he did note ambigu-ously that the army possessed a “proactivestrategy” for responding to Pakistan. Thispresumably referred to the conversion of IX-XII Corps near the border from defensive“holding” corps to formations called “pivot”corps which could more quickly undertakelimited ofensive operations while the mainStrike Corps elements surged from the in-terior of India over several weeks.

Despite its lack of imprimatur, Cold Start

has significantly shaped security dynamicson the subcontinent. For a brief period, In-dian security managers might have believedthat the ambiguity surrounding the con-cept’s status and the Indian Army’s ability toimplement it generated enough uncertaintyin the mind of Pakistani decision-makers todeter their support for militant attackswithin India. This thesis was disproved,however, by the audacious 2008 Mumbai at-tacks and its aftermath. At the same time,the “threat” posed by Cold Start has been re-peatedly cited by Pakistani authorities asproof of India’s hostile intentions and hege-monic designs. This, in turn, has provided ajustification for Pakistan to build up, andbuild out, its nuclear forces, both increasingthe sheer size of its nuclear arsenal (whichcarries its own risks of theft and nuclear ter-rorism) and developing lower-yield nuclearwarheads and short range missiles, so-called tactical nuclear weapons, which areaimed at deterring — or in the worst case,defeating — a limited Indian militaryincursion.

Can India pull it of?

Although Pakistan has responded as if In-dia has an aggressive limited war strategy,there is no public evidence that India re-motely has the capability to adopt or ex-ecute such a doctrine. It is one thing to carryout a raid across the Line of Control with ahandful of commandos. It is quite another toundertake a major cross-border incursionby armoured formations that seeks to cap-ture Pakistani territory.

The army simply lacks the materiel andorganisation to implement the more ag-gressive versions of Cold Start. It is not at allclear, for example, that the Indian Army atpresent possesses suicient superiority innumbers of troops and armoured vehicles inthe vicinity of the International Border to beable to overcome the Pakistan Army’s de-fensive and geographic advantages in ashort conflict. Indeed, the large number ofobsolete tanks and artillery pieces, not tomention critical shortages of ammunitionand air-defence assets raises serious ques-tions about the army’s ability to implement a

Cold Start-style operation at all. Further-more, sustaining ofensive operations inPakistan requires joint operations with theair force. Not only does the Indian Air Forcelack the kind of close air support capabilityCold Start would require, but army-air forcecooperation is also beset by inter-servicedysfunction. This has put India in the worstpossible strategic position: claiming a cap-ability that it does not have, but whichprovides justification for Pakistan’s aggress-ive expansion of its conventional and nuc-lear forces. Such an approach has rarelyserved a nation’s security interests.

A case for clarity

On balance, the formally unacknow-ledged limited war strategy has createdmore problems for India than it has solved.In this vein, Gen. Rawat’s comments appearto represent a puzzling reversal. Yet it raisesthe important question of what he meant by“Cold Start”. Was he simply dispensing withthe euphemism of “proactive strategy op-tions” and referring to India’s somewhatstreamlined, retaliatory, mobilisation pro-cedure — but no real doctrinal shift — asCold Start? Or did he specifically mean thatthe Indian Army is indeed prepared to un-dertake multiple, short notice, armouredthrusts into Pakistan to seize and hold territ-ory, representing a real doctrinal shift? Moreimportantly, was Gen. Rawat given politicalauthorisation to speak on the matter by thegovernment or was he speaking too loosely?Cold Start’s status has been murky in partdue to the fact that it is an army concept thathas never publicly received approval fromthe country’s political leadership. It is im-portant for Indian security to know if thathas changed.

It is understandable that, in the wake ofthe September 29 surgical strikes, the Modigovernment would want to signal toPakistan that all options are on the table inthe event of another terror attack within In-dia. However, if reviving Cold Start is part ofthat efort, it may markedly escalate ten-sions in bilateral relations with Pakistanwithout necessarily delivering a clear bene-fit, since there is still no evidence that Indiahas the required capabilities to implementanything resembling Cold Start.

The term “Cold Start” has thus becomeone of the Indian Army’s biggest liabilities.The perception that its most aggressiveform exists is the gift that keeps on giving tothe Pakistan Army, which uses it to justify arapid expansion of its conventional and nuc-lear forces. But given the wide range of oper-ational concepts that the phrase “Cold Start”could refer to, casually invoking it withoutpossessing the requisite capability to imple-ment this perceived version continues toput India at a strategic disadvantage. It istime for both the army and the governmentto clarify what precisely its conventionaldoctrine is — not with bold euphemismssuch as “Cold Start,” but by identifying itsoperational and strategic objectives andhow it fits into India’s larger strategy to de-ter major militant attacks on the homeland.History is littered with tragic exampleswhere discrepancies between perceiveddoctrine and actual doctrine have causedminor skirmishes to escalate into majorwars. The continued loose talk of the so-called Cold Start doctrine puts South Asia inthe unfortunate situation that it may be thenext case, and this time with nuclearweapons in the mix.

Walter C. Ladwig III is a Lecturer in international relationsat the Department of War Studies, King’s College London.Vipin Narang is Mitsui Career Development AssociateProfessor of political science at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology.

Taking ‘Cold Start’ out of the freezer?General Bipin Rawat’s reference to Cold Start raises vital questions about what he means by the phrase andwhether he was authorised to speak on the matter by the government

The perception that its mostaggressive form exists is the giftthat keeps on giving to Pakistan,

which uses it to justify a rapidexpansion of its forces

WALTER C.

LADWIG III

VIPIN

NARANG

ILLUSTRATION: SURENDRA

Father vs. son

The ongoing tussle in Uttar Pradeshfor political supremacy, betweenfather and son — Samajwadi Partysupremo Mulayam Singh Yadav andState Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav— appears to be a game set up tohoodwink people of the State(“Mulayam ofers olive branch, saysAkhilesh will be CM”, Jan.10). Thereis hardly any democracy in UttarPradesh as the political set-up isonly dynastic rule in the guise ofdemocracy. Another point is theway in which voters are beingtreated like a herd of cattle. Itremains to be seen whether thecommon man will see through thegame plan and act in a sensible wayin the forthcoming Assemblyelections.

Nikhil Akhilesh Krishnan,Mumbai

The ongoing tussle betweenMulayam Singh and Akhilesh Yadavshould serve as an eye-opener forour ageing politicians. Havingtasted power and fame, they do notwant let go. The veterans have hadtheir time and should gracefullyexit, paving the way for the young totake over. The young should beallowed to bring fresh ideas andvigour into the system.

Radhakrishnan A.P.,Bengaluru

Till recently, father and son werelike the two wheels of a bicycle,with one propelling and the othersteering it. Now that there is muchanimosity and flip-flops over apatch-up, the two wheels are notlikely to move in one direction. TheElection Commission of India

should freeze the symbol and allotthem other symbols so that they cantread their desired paths.

R.K. Kshitheesh,Thiruvananthapuram

Expulsion, reinstatement,expulsion, reinstatement — thecycle continues within theSamajwadi Party. It is obvious thatthere is no long-term strategywithin the party despite Assemblyelections being round the corner.The bad blood is bound to tarnishthe party’s image and result in ashift in the vote bank. MulayamSingh should realise that onlyAkhilesh Yadav can save the partyas no other party leader has theability to attract voters. The battleneeds to be fought jointly.

Ravi M. Singh,Noida, Uttar Pradesh

Aadhaar validation

After linking the EPF pensionscheme with Aadhaar, thegovernment has now made Aadhaara must for MGNREGA work. Whenthe Supreme Court has time andagain observed that no welfarescheme should be denied to anycitizen for want of an Aadhaar card,it is baling why the government isstill insistent on making Aadhaarmandatory for everything. Aadhaaris a dangerous ‘adventure’especially as data in India does nothave a foolproof security system. Aswe are ringed by hostile neighbourswho are ready to pounce on anydata on Indians and with hacking onthe rise, the Aadhaar route is a toorisky to be pursued.

T. Anand Raj,Chennai

Digital speed bumps

Before the note swap policy, therewas some balance between onlinepayments and cash transactions(Editorial – “Oiling cashlesswheels”, Jan.10). However, in onestroke the government is pushingeveryone to make online payments,ignoring resistance. The warning bypetrol pump owners is just thebeginning. Another example is ofnotices in supermarkets on how themanagement will not be heldresponsible for any billing errors.There have to be systems in placebefore customers and merchantsend up clashing with each other.

N. Nagarajan,Secunderabad

If the idea of a less-cash society hasto be realised, there must be nocharges levied whatsoever on anyform of cashless transaction (“Noextra charge for card use at petrolpumps”, Jan.10). What is the pointof nudging consumers to gocashless when banks and merchantsare still levying kinds of transactioncosts? I have been paying some sortof “POS Terminal Charge”, of ₨11.20,on every refill at petrol pumps. Theshock of seeing these deductionswas enough for me to get back tothe cash-based method. There is nouniform policy across banks andpetroleum companies on sharingdiferent transaction costs. It is formerchants and bankers to sort thisout without involving consumers.

Gaurav Singhal,Rewari, Haryana

Cruelty or sport?

Many supporters of jallikattu claim

that reviving it is in the interest ofpreserving India’s culture (“Kamalbats for jallikattu” and “Jallikattu:TN urges Centre to take ordinanceroute”, Jan.10). This is where I difer.There were a number of socialpractices that were a part of ourculture. Do the “preservers” ofIndian culture want to bring themback? A culture must evolve withtime and the upholding of animalrights in the 21st century is ofparamount importance. Have theyforgotten that “the greatness of anation can be judged by the way itsanimals are treated”?

Kaushik Balakrishnan,Camarillo, California, U.S.

Many issues that cause acommunity to be stirred up do nothave reasoning. Politicians,students, villagers or even thegeneral public participating indemonstrations against thejallikattu ban appear to voice onlyone opinion: when elephants areused for strenuous labour in Kerala,and camels too in North India, whyis jallikattu not permitted in TamilNadu? All need to understand thatthe ban is not to safeguard theanimals or against their legal use foractivities such as farming, butinstead to safeguard lives. Takingpart in jallikattu, which eitherresults in participants ending upbeing seriously injured or evenlosing their lives, is akin to takingone’s life. Why shouldn’t provisionsin the IPC be extended toparticipants of jallikattu?

S.T. Daniel,Tirunelveli

Rooster fights have come back tohaunt the police, animal rights

activists and those of us who do notendorse this sport (“Unfazed,punters get ready to bet on roosterfights in AP”, Jan.8). This is yetanother instance of avoidableconflict much like jallikattu andcamel racing. Man’s craze to go toany length to entertain himself atthe cost of inflicting pain on otherliving creatures knows no bounds.In my childhood, it was low key andrestricted to very few rural pocketsbut has now transformed itself intoa show of family prestige and pride.Films have only aided in whippingup these interests associated withthe sport by presenting exaggeratedcelluloid versions of it.

Pushpa Dorai,Nurani, Kerala

A water crisis

This time round, South India haswitnessed the failure of bothmonsoons (“Alarming dip in watertable across districts”, Jan.7, and“Rain-starved Chennai sees dippingwater table”, Jan.6). The groundreality continues to be grim withregard to water storage andmanagement. Today we make talltalk of converting seawater intodrinking water, but it is paradoxicalthat we allow huge water resources,from perennial rivers of the northand the monsoon-induced spate inthe south to join the sea andthereafter leisurely think ofconverting that brackish water intodrinking water! The technology-driven Israeli model ofmanagement of monsoon failurewhich includes cloud-seeding isworth considering.

R. Sampath,Chennai

LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters emailed to letters@thehindu.co.in must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.

CMYK

ND-ND

PERSPECTIVE | 11THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

The Readers’ Editor’s oice can be contacted by Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Fri-

day); E-mail:readerseditor@thehindu.co.in The Terms of Reference for the Readers’ Editor are on www.thehindu.com

India for peacewith Pakistan

The Prime Minister, Mrs. IndiraGandhi, tonight [January 10, NewDelhi] sought Pakistan’s co-operation in resolving mutualdiferences peacefully and in anatmosphere of friendliness andtrust. She also reairmed India’scommitment to peace andpeaceful methods of settling

international diferences. “We canprosper only if we live in amity,”she declared in a broadcast to thenation on the occasion of the firstanniversary of the Indo-PakistanTashkent Declaration. The PrimeMinister, who was speaking on“Shastriji and Tashkent”, said thatit was a year ago, through thegoodwill of the Soviet Union, ahistoric agreement was signed inTashkent.

(dated January 11, 1967)

FROM THE ARCHIVES

>>A number of readers have pointed out a contradiction that had crept in in re-gard to the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Bengaluru — whether it was the 14th orthe 15th edition of the meet as given respectively in the front-page story, “Noteban critics revere black money: PM”, and in the Editorial page main article,“Revisiting a passage from India” (Jan. 9, 2017). The Editorial page article iscorrect. It was the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

>>Editing error: The strap line that accompanied the report, “Krishna waterreleased, to reach [Chennai] city by weekend (Jan. 10, 2016, some editions), er-roneously said that oicials expected Tamil Nadu to receive at least 2,000 tm-cft from Andhra Pradesh. It should have been 2 TMC ft.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

During the 2014 national and Stateelections, for the first time women’ssafety and empowerment were topicsof debate, marking a significant shift inhow gender concerns are viewed bythe political class as well as by voters inIndia. In the two years since, policy fo-cus and public scrutiny on persistent

gender inequality has grown exponentially. In 2015, 194 member states, in-cluding India, adopted the Sustainable Development Goals. Gender equal-ity is one of the 17 goals to “transform our world”. This year, India ratifiedthe Paris Agreement. The direct link between empowering women and al-leviating poverty, increasing productivity, and combating climate changeis well-recognised. However, the lack of targeted resources is often statedto be the biggest reason behind the sluggish progress in furthering thegender agenda. Therefore, it is important that India’s budget priorities re-flect its commitment to invest in women and girls.

Last year, the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap Re-port ranked India 87 in terms of gender equality in economy, education,health, and political representation. Women’s declining labour participa-tion, under-representation in Parliament, skewed child sex ratio, and pre-valent gender-based violence are recognised challenges. To bridge thesegaps, India formally adopted Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in2005. The rationale behind GRB is that policy outcomes are not as gender-neutral as commonly believed, and can reinforce or exacerbate exitinghierarchies. Hence, gender budgeting initiatives aim to integrate criticalgender concerns into fiscal policies and administration to addressdisparities.

Every annual budget since 2005has included a statement that listsout two parts. There is Part A, whichreflects ‘Women Specific Schemes’,namely, those which have 100 percent allocation for women, and PartB, which reflects ‘Pro WomenSchemes’, namely, where at least 30 per cent of the allocation is for women.Over the years, India has stood out for its implementation of genderbudgeting, and with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) playing the centralrole, it has managed to successfully institutionalise the concept at both thenational and State levels (16 States have embraced the exercise). Studiessubstantiate the positive link between GRB and improved indicators forwomen. For instance, a recent International Monetary Fund study foundthat States that employ GRB also show better female to male school enrol-ment ratios. Further, it was observed that GRB also has a positive impacton infrastructure spending.

Decentralisation of funding

Despite the successes, better implementation and planning are needed toensure that these policies percolate right down to the last woman in themost remote parts of the country. In recent years, allocations have either re-mained stagnant or have been on the decline. For instance, Budget 2016-17was widely considered to be a mixed bag for women. While the Ministry ofWomen and Child Development and National Commission for Women sawnominal increases, the scheme meant for implementing the Domestic Viol-ence Act did not receive any allocation. Further, there was a decline in thenumber of ministries and departments that fall under GRB. The budget alsoinitiated the decentralisation of funding in GRB, thus shifting the onus forbudgeting and implementation from the Central Ministry to State counter-parts. While this did empower the States to come up with women-specificpolicies as per their respective challenges, the obvious downside was therisk that States could choose to not prioritise gender in their budgeting. Inthis way, the intent of universalising the process, so that it equally benefitswomen in all States, was lost in the pragmatism of the move.

For it to be truly efective, GRB must be viewed as an essential tool totackle societal inequality that hinders progress instead of a symbolic exer-cise for pleasing the emerging women constituency. So far, GRB has fo-cussed on identifying schemes that are exclusively dedicated to women.While this focus is imperative, it has restricted benefits without the incor-poration of a gender lens across all welfare schemes. Sectors such as en-ergy, urban development, food security, water supply and sanitation con-tinue to operate in silos, despite having causal interrelationships withwomen’s empowerment. Policies carried out by these sectors do have a dif-ferent impact on men and women. Therefore, moving forward, everybudget presents the opportunity to mainstream gender in the policy envir-onment, and demonstrate the commitment to include and enable women’sinclusion in India’s growth story. Equally, women’s potential in enabling de-velopment, instead of being passive beneficiaries of it, must be recognisedin these processes. Commendably, the MoF organises pre-budget consulta-tions. It must be ensured that women are given adequate representationand opportunities to voice their diferent experiences on such platforms.

Gender budgeting alone is not suicient to tackle deep-rooted genderdisparities. However, policies can be more efective if budgeting takes abroader, gendered approach which includes planning targeted interven-tions, getting the right policy push with the right budget allocation, andmonitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure implementation.Moreover, policies should also be flexible to change based on feedbackfrom the intended recipients as their exclusion from planning and execu-tion processes is often the reason behind the failure of well-intentionedpolicies. It would also help if the Central government could, through an in-centive mechanism, encourage State governments to take up GBR as a pri-ority in their budget layouts. As the government gears up to present theUnion budget in February, it will hopefully keep current realities and feed-back in mind. While some issues can be debatable, the need to urgently ad-dress gender inequality is not.

Priyanka Chaturvedi is the National Spokesperson of Indian National Congress and Vidisha Mishra isJunior Fellow at Observer Research Foundation.

Mind the gender gap

Gender responsivebudgeting must be seen asan essential tool to tacklesocietal inequality insteadof a symbolic exercise

BUDGET

On December 31, 2016, the streets ofBengaluru became one of the most dan-gerous places in the country for womenof all ages. On New Year’s Day, photo-graphs emerged of terrified womenthere clinging to police oicers as mobssurged around them, and reports de-scribed the brazen spree of mass sexualassaults that occurred overnight.

On the same evening, in another partof Bengaluru, an unrelated violent at-tack on a woman walking through a darkalley was captured in a spine-chilling,two-minute CCTV video.

The two sets of visuals fromBengaluru that night were mirror im-ages of shameful events that occurredelsewhere in the world, including the“taharrush” (collective harassment) at-tacks that have, since 2005, blighted theepochal political events in TahrirSquare, in Cairo, Egypt, and the 2015New Year’s Eve attacks in Cologne, Ger-many, among others.

Yet, as countless women would con-firm across India, where, paradoxicallythe female essence is apotheosised asgod, and mother, sister, and daughter areregarded as sacred and pure in the pan-theon of religiosity, mass molestationsrun parallel to brutal everyday acts ofleering, catcalling, verbal abuse, threat-ening behaviour, groping, and violentsexual acts across the spectrum.

It is a fact that the freak show of sexualperversion in Bengaluru on New Year’sEve could have happened just aboutanywhere in the country, in any nook orcranny into which the grotesque ghoulof Indian masculinity finds its way.

Learned behaviour for men

What is wrong with men in general,and Indian men in particular, that theyhave lived comfortably for this long in amoral vacuum, in a world where theschizophrenic divergence between theirproclaimed conservative mores andtheir repressed, distorted sexual im-pulse does not produce an evolutionaryresponse towards a more civilisedethos?

In part, the answer is that in India,masculinity and the progression —some would justifiably call it descent —from boyhood to manhood has neverbeen governed by taught principles orenlightening examples in the majority ofcases.

Machismo, the objectification of wo-men, and that deranged ability to regardsome women with pious fidelity and

others with unbridled, disrespectful lustare learned behaviours for most Indianmen, whose fathers, grandfathers andhigher forefathers have all carried on inthe same vein.

However, the notion that 586 millioncitizens out of a population of 1.2 billioncan be subject to daily threats of attackand humiliation must be anathema evento consequentialist political leadershipof the sort that the country has now, andproactive policy attention must focuson practical solutions that can genu-inely impact the ground realities.

Given the sheer weight of India’s pat-riarchy, and the historic-psychic inertiaof its two-faced conservatism, creativethinking is needed to encourage theemergence of a new breed of moregender-sensitive men who may be cap-able of teaching themselves, fathers tosons and one generation after the other,to respect women not only in the pri-vacy of their family settings but also inwider society and in public places.

This new, imagined cohort of menwill have to contend with the misogyn-istic forces of globalisation, includingeverything from the numbing efects ofpornography, which has surged into thecountry since the globalisation projectof India took hold, to the dehumanising

impact of the traicking of women forprostitution. In this regard, Indian menwould, however, be no more disadvant-aged in their prospects for becomingmore humane than their counterpartsacross the open global order.

A useful tool in curbing runaway sex-ism and sexual violence could be amuch greater degree of advocacy forgender sensitivity by the government,starting with gender education from theprimary school level, through the yearsof high school and university learning.

Yet the mission to secure the safetyand dignity of women in India cannotwait on such a grand, softly-softly typeof project. There is an urgent need forthe legal system to deal with sexual viol-ence with an iron fist.

The magnitude of the problems thatabound in this domain are daunting. Inthe aftermath of the 2012 gang rape casein New Delhi, which was one of thoserare occasions that seemed to focus the

minds of the political leadership onpractical legal solutions, Section 354 ofthe Indian Penal Code was revamped togive it more teeth and make prosecu-tions more expedient and, hopefully,efective.

Yes, fast-tracking of legal cases of ex-treme sexual violence and mandatingharsher punishments can help, butsurely more is needed to address thehorrifyingly commonplace sexual as-saults that women and girls face in somany everyday situations, from thewalk down the street to the groceryshop, to the celebration of New Year’sEve in public to that all-too-familiartragedy of a young girl who spends anightmarish afternoon in the home of arelatively unknown older male relative,to be scarred for life by what he did toher.

In this context, it is the overall inter-pretation of the statutes by law enforce-ment oicials that need to be more sens-itive. Specifically, police attitudes indealing with victims of sexual violenceneed to be forced into a more sensitivemode through aggressive monitoringand carrot-and-stick incentivisation, ifIndia is to become even marginallymore secure for all women and girls. Ifnot, then ever more crimes against wo-men will go unreported or under-repor-ted and male impunity will rise evenhigher.

Changing primitive notions

In terms of broader social attitudes,the preoccupation with the anachron-istic notion of “outraging the modesty”of a woman needs to go. Why is being“modest” a precondition for getting theprotection of the law from sexual as-sault? Doesn’t every woman, regardlessof her attire, her attitude or her loca-tional and physical presence, deserverock-solid insulation from any and allsuch assaults?

Directly related to this colonial-eralegal anachronism is the morally in-defensible and logically flawed puritan-ism of blaming women who wear “West-ern attire” for “inviting” sexual assault,as indeed at least two political leadersinsinuated in the aftermath of the NewYear’s Eve incidents in Bengaluru.

When all of these patriarchal notionshave been unceremoniously shoved intothe dustbin of history, when retributionfor sexual assaults is swift and just, andwhen boys learn from their fathers thatall women have an inviolable right tospace and untrammelled dignity, thenalone will the creeping moral rot withinIndia be arrested and the country be-come egalitarian.

narayan@thehindu.co.in

Stemming the moral rot within It is time that attitudes changed and the law asserted that all women have an inviolable right tospace and untrammelled dignities

NARAYANLAKSHMAN

A useful tool in curbingsexism and sexual violencecould be a greater degree ofadvocacy for gendersensitivity by the government

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: “The legal system must deal with sexual violence with an ironfist.” Protests in Bengaluru against sexual assault. FILE PHOTO: K. MURALI KUMAR

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, oneof India’s most important African part-ners, is here in India. He has particip-ated in the Vibrant Gujarat Global Sum-mit as a special guest and will holddiscussions with leaders in Delhi begin-ning January 11. When a foreign leaderreciprocates a visit by the Indian PrimeMinister to his country with a tripwithin six months, it sends a clear signalthat something significant is under way.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’sAfrican safari in July 2016 took him toSouth Africa, Mozambique, Tanzaniaand Kenya. He received a warm wel-come everywhere, but he built an in-stant rapport with the Kenyan presidentwho is committed to development,counterterrorism and peace in EastAfrica. In an unusual gesture, in thejoint communiqué issued after the visit,Mr. Modi congratulated Mr. Kenyattafor his initiatives and achievements un-der his “strong and forceful leadership”.Mr. Kenyatta, in turn, acknowledged theimportant role Mr. Modi was playing“both nationally and internationally”.

Kenya hungry for more

At the summit-level dialogue inDelhi, the two leaders may give mo-mentum to deepening bilateral ties,with the focus most likely to be onstrengthening economic cooperation.Bilateral trade, valued at $4.23 billion in2014-15, has the potential for rapidgrowth if Indian companies are willingto be active in a competitive market.Kenya, the earliest home to Indian in-vestments, is hungry for more. Diversesectors in Kenya, such as energy, phar-maceuticals, textiles, agriculture andfinancial services, will welcome greaterinvolvement of India Inc. Some majorIndian corporates, including the Tatas,Reliance, Essar, Kirloskars and Dr.Reddy’s, are flourishing in Kenya. Thegovernment must approve additionalLines of Credit in strategic areas to se-cure mutual interests. Education andhealth are other promising fields.

Strategic and economic interests co-alesce as India tries to leverage the in-tense competition among Asian nationsfor Kenya’s afections. Mr. Kenyatta, fol-

lowing his ‘Look East’ policy, has de-veloped close relations with China buthe needs other partners too. He scored amajor victory when he persuaded Japanto hold the sixth Tokyo InternationalConference on African DevelopmentSummit in August 2016 in Nairobi. Thiswas the first TICAD summit held inAfrica. Japan and India are committed,especially after Mr. Modi’s visit toTokyo, to enhance long-term collabora-tion in Africa. By participating jointly inkey infrastructure development pro-jects in Kenya and the surrounding re-gion, Indian and Japanese companiescan ofer an innovative model.

Future of East African Community

The East African Community (EAC),comprising Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda,Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan, hasemerged as one of the most successfulof Africa’s Regional Economic Com-munities. Having established a customsunion, it is building a single market andwants to set up a monetary union.While progress is slow, it remains set onits path to grow as a market of 168 mil-lion consumers and a combined GDP of

$161 billion. Intra-EAC trade increasedfrom $1.85 billion in 2005 to $5.63 billionin 2014, while the flow of foreign directinvestment declined from $7.8 billion in2006 to $3.8 billion in 2012. The bulk offoreign investment now comes fromChina. Andrew Othieno, an expert onEAC afairs, says that despite its com-plex challenges, “the EAC has fared ad-mirably well”.

The Indian government and IndiaInc. need to devise a trade and indus-trial cooperation strategy to upgradeexisting links with the EAC. But Indiahas to tread with caution as the tradi-tional rivalry between Kenya, the re-gional economic powerhouse, and Tan-zania, the largest member-state, hasbeen renewed. To Tanzania’s chagrin,President Kenyatta has establishedcloser ties with Uganda, Rwanda and

Burundi under the umbrella of “the co-alition of the willing”. However, Indiaenjoys friendly and cooperative rela-tions with all EAC members and is in aposition to enhance its engagementwith the region. The presence of PaulKagame, president of Rwanda, at the Vi-brant Gujarat Global Summit, hasofered India an opportunity to discussexpansion of economic ties.

Africa in Trump era

As U.S. president-elect DonaldTrump prepares to enter the WhiteHouse, what will be Africa’s place in theinternational agenda? In the current de-bate on the likely impact of Mr. Trump’sentry on to the world’s stage, Europeand Asia are under the scanner, butthere is hardly any mention of Africa.The apprehension is that Africa may besidelined in the first two years of thenew administration. This makes it im-perative for India to take a keener in-terest in Africa if it is serious about play-ing a global role.

India’s Africa policy is broadly in linewith Agenda 2063, promoted by theAfrican Union. However, some recalib-ration in New Delhi’s approach may beneeded because issues such as UN re-form, counterterrorism, climate changeand international solar alliance will in-evitably take longer to show results.Meanwhile, India must concentrate onactions that strengthen its economic co-operation with select African countries.

Building on the path forged by its pre-decessor, the Modi government hasalready achieved much: holding the In-dia-Africa Forum Summit in 2015 and anunprecedented political outreach toAfrica through visits by the President,Vice-President and Prime Minister to adozen countries in 2016. The time isripe to implement the agreements thathave been signed.

India’s Africa experts have been dis-appointed with the decision to put ofthe next summit with Africa to 2020 in-stead of 2018 as was expected. SouthBlock should consider convening aministerial review meeting in early2018. Nairobi, with its excellent locationand conference facilities, could be anideal choice and Mr. Kenyatta a willingpartner.

Rajiv Bhatia is Distinguished Fellow, Gateway House,

and a former high commissioner to Kenya, South

Africa and Lesotho.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta could be a willing partner for India to deepen relations

AFRICA CALLING: “During his Africa visit last year, PM Narendra Modi received awarm welcome everywhere, but he built an instant rapport with the Kenyanpresident.” Mr. Modi with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO: PTI

RAJIV BHATIA

India’s Africa policy is broadlyin line with Agenda 2063.However, some recalibrationin New Delhi’s approachmay be needed

Reaching out to Africa

PRIYANKACHATURVEDI

VIDISHAMISHRA

CMYK

ND-ND

NEWS12 |THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

FROM PAGE ONE

“Instead of putting a videoon Facebook, we would havebeen happy had he comethrough the proper griev-ance redressal system,” saidMr. Upadhyay.

“I am amazed as on Janu-ary 6, a DIG visited the unitand he didn’t complain ofanything. His intent wassomething else and now it isobvious,” said Mr.Upadhyay.

In an interview to ABPNews, Mr. Yadav refuted theBSF IG’s claims and said hehad “informed his currentcommander about the stateof things about three to fourtimes.”

On Tuesday, the BSF alsorevealed that Mr. Yadav hadbeen court-martialed in2010 for indiscipline and foraiming a gun at a senior of-ficer.

“It is reality. He has manycomplaints against him in-cluding intoxication, insub-ordination... But keeping inview his family and his chil-dren, he was not dismissedfrom the service but wasgiven a rigorous imprison-ment of 89 days. He had ap-plied for a voluntary retire-

ment from the force and wasto leave the services onJanuary 31,” Mr. Upadhyaysaid.

In the television inter-view Mr. Yadav admitted tohave made the mistakes butsaid he had also received agold medal for his perform-ance.

“Yes, I have been accusedbut if all of this is true, thenyou should also ask those ac-cusing me why did they thenaward me? I have been awar-ded 16 times and I have alsowon a gold medal for thebest BSF all-rounder. I ac-cept that I made mistakes.Humans make mistakes andthat I did undergo punish-ments for them but then whywas I given awards?” Mr. Ya-dav said.

Responding to severalclaims that rations to theBSF are supplied by theArmy, sources said on theLoC, which is manned by theArmy, there are some BSFcompanies at several places.As these units are under theoperational command of theArmy, rations are issued tothem as per their entitle-ment and laid down scales.

BSF transfers jawan

NEW DELHI: The Election Com-mission will hear both fac-tions of the Samajwadi Partyon January 13 to determinewhich of them has a validclaim to the election symbol,the bicycle.

Rajya Sabha memberRamgopal Yadav, a repres-entative of the Akhileshgroup, had on Monday urgedthe Commission to settle thedispute before the process ofnominations starts for theUttar Pradesh elections onJanuary 17.

Documents examined

Having received repres-entations from both sides,the Commission has gonethrough the documents sub-mitted by them.

During the hearing, thepoll panel will examine theclaims and counter claims.The final decision would betaken on the basis of the nu-merical majority in terms of

supporters in the party’s or-ganisational and legislativestructures.

Mr. Mulayam Singh hasmaintained that the factionled by him is the real Sama-

jwadi Party. He has also ac-cused the rival faction of sub-mitting forged documents aspart of the aidavits to theEC. He again met Commis-sion oicials on Monday and

staked a claim to the partysymbol.

The party patriarch alsosaid as Mr Ramgopal Yadavhad already been expelled,the convention called by him

to elect Mr. Akhilesh Yadavas the party’s national pres-ident was not valid.

He also inisisted had notbeen removed from the postof party chief.

EC to hear SP factions on row over ‘cycle’The final decision will depend on the number of supporters in the party’s organisational and legislative structures

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Ramgopal Yadav Akhilesh Yadav

PATNA: Rashtriya Janata Dal chiefLalu Prasad said here on Tuesdaythat Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav would remain theparty chief till the Assemblyelections. Mr. Prasad said thefamily feud would not have anyadverse electoral impact on theSamajwadi Party as it had its owncore voters for long.

“Akhilesh Yadav has made itclear that he would remain the

party chief for the next threemonths but after the Assemblyelections, he would call a partymeeting and hand over thepresident’s post to his father[Mulayam Singh],” Mr. Prasadtold presspersons at hisresidence.

Phone call

He had a telephonicconversation with Mr. AkhileshYadav on Monday evening.

“Mr. Akhilesh also told me that

he is still with his father and theparty,” Mr. Prasad said.

The RJD chief, whose youngerdaughter has married into Mr.Mulayam Singh’s family, said noother party, even the BJP, wouldhave any electoral advantagefrom the Samajwadi Party’sbickering as both the SP and theBahujan Samaj Party have theirown core voters.

Mr. Prasad also hailed Mr.Mulayam Singh as a matureleader.

Feud will not afect poll prospects: LaluAMARNATH TEWARY

NEW DELHI: Taking cognisanceof a complaint lodged by theCongress, the Election Com-mission has issued notice tothe BJP leader Sakshi Maha-raj for his recent speech inMeerut that allegedly pro-moted enmity on religiousgrounds.

The Unnao MP has beenasked to respond to the alleg-ations by Wednesday. How-ever, it is learnt that Sakshihas sought time to furnish areply.

He has asked for a Hinditranslation of the notice re-ceived on Tuesday.

Model code

Noting that the ModelCode of Conduct for elec-tions was in place in the Stateand the Supreme Court hadrecently ruled that appeal forvotes on religious groundswas a corrupt practice, theCommission raised ques-

tions on the January 6speech.

A video clipping of thespeech has also been sent toSakshi.

Earlier this month, the Su-preme Court held that an ap-peal for votes during elec-tions on the basis of religion,caste, race, community orlanguage, even that of theelectorate, will amount to acorrupt practice under Sec-

tion 123 of the Representa-tion of the People Act andcalls for disqualification ofthe candidate.

Congress complaint

The Congress complaintfiled on January 7 alleges thatSakshi’s speech, read in itsentirety, had the efect ofpromoting enmity betweendiferent classes in connec-tion with the election ongrounds of religion.

In the speech, the MP hadallegedly said that it was notthe Hindu community butthose who talked about fourwives and 40 children whowere responsible for thegrowth of population of thecountry.

Poll panel issues notice toSakshi on Meerut speech SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Sakshi Maharaj

EC points to ModelCode of Conduct andSupreme Court rulingon appeal for voteson religious grounds

NEW DELHI: The ElectionCommission onTuesday issued a sternwarning to politicalparties against makingstatements that mighttrigger disharmony insociety on the basis ofreligion and hamperfree and peacefulconduct of Assemblyelections in the fivepoll-bound States.

“The Commissionwill not remain a silentspectator if theprovisions of the law orModel Code ofConduct are violatedand no one can do itwith impunity. TheCommission will takestern actions for anyviolation under allpowers available,” saidthe EC advisory to theoice bearers of allrecognised nationaland State politicalparties.

Stating that theModel Code ofConduct was in place,the Commission saidvarious provisions ofthe Indian Penal Codeprovided that politicalparties and theirleaders should desistfrom makingstatements to createdisharmony betweendiferent sections ofsociety on the basis ofreligion, as the samedisturb peace andtranquillity.

The Commissionalso quoted theSupreme Courtjudgment earlier thismonth on the use ofreligion and caste,terming it a ‘corruptpractice’.

EC issueswarning

SPECIALCORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: After weeks of dis-cussions, the Union govern-ment has decided not to takethe U.S.-based ChristianNGO Compassion Interna-tional of the “watch list”after it was accused of fund-ing Indian NGOs that werenot registered under the For-eign Contribution (Regula-tion) Act (FCRA).

The decision was con-veyed by Foreign SecretaryS. Jaishankar, who met Gen-eral Counsel and SeniorVice-President of Compas-sion International StephenOakley who flew down fromthe U.S. specifically for themeeting last week, govern-ment sources told TheHindu.

“We told the representat-ive of CI that they will haveto abide by the law of theland and no exceptionswould be made. We sharedevidence of FCRA violationsdone by NGOs associatedwith them, which includesreligious conversions,” an of-ficial privy to the meetingsaid.

“Being foreign does notgive them [Compassion In-ternational] exemption,”said another source presentat the meeting. “We made itclear to them that they mustfollow laws [here] as theywould in the U.S. itself.”

Compassion Internationalwas put on the “watch list” bythe Home Ministry onMarch 28 last year amid re-ports by security agenciesthat it was funding unre-gistered Indian NGOs whichwere accused of encouragingreligious conversions. Themove meant the Colorado-based donor had to seek theHome Ministry’s permissionevery time it has to sendfunds to Indian NGOs re-gistered under the FCRA.The source said the allegedviolations done by twoNGOs — the Caruna Bal Vi-kas in Chennai and Compas-sion East India — wereflagged by the government inthe meeting at the Ministryof External Afairs (MEA).

The MEA and the U.S. Em-bassy refused to commentbut The Hindu spoke to sev-eral government oicials inNew Delhi and Washingtonand they confirmed themeeting.

The clampdown on CI hasbecome a major issuebetween India and the U.S. inrecent months. Last month,the U.S. Embassy also wroteto the Indian governmentasking it to share evidenceon the religious conversionsdone by the Indian NGOsfunded by it.

Asked if the Foreign Sec-retary would be meetingother NGOs like Greenpeaceand Amnesty who are amongabout 22 internationalgroups that have faced stric-tures in the past few years, anoicial said, “No.”

CI has the distinction ofbeing raised at the highestlevel by the U.S. governmentand was the subject of a Con-gressional hearing in the U.S.as well. As reported by TheHindu on October 18, theCentre had allowed thedonor to disburse around ₨2crore funds to 10 NGOs in In-dia, following a visit by U.S.Secretary of State John Kerrywhen he brought up his con-cerns over the treatment ofCI with External Afairs Min-ister Sushma Swaraj. InDecember 2016, U.S. ‘Ambas-sador-at-Large’ for interna-tional religious freedom(IRF) David Saperstein whohad met with MHA oicialsover the issue said that he“hoped for an accommoda-tion (on CI issue) so that theycan provide social services.”

VIJAITA SINGH

S. Jaishankar

‘Compassion’ to remain on Centre’s ‘watch list’

M.L. Koul. The judicial com-mission investigated morethan 60 civilian killingsamong the 113 deaths thattook place in 2010 duringstreet clashes.

Denial of right

“I filed an application forthe report in the first week ofJanuary. I am told that I willget access only to a smallportion of the report. Isn’t itmy right to get a copy of thereport of which I have been apart since its formation in2014,” asked Mr. Mattoo,whose son, a Class 12 stu-dent, was killed on June 11,2010 in police firing.

His death sparked a cycle

SRINAGAR: The family of TufailMattoo, who was killed at theage of 17 in police firing inSrinagar in June 2010, onTuesday accused the Stategovernment of denying it theaccess to the report submit-ted by the one-man commis-sion on the 2010 civiliankillings.

The report was submittedto Chief Minister MehboobaMufti on December 30.

Speaking to The Hindu,the victim’s father, AshrafMattoo, alleged that oicialsat the tribunal in Srinagardenied him access to the re-port by the retired Justice

of violence in the KashmirValley.

Mr. Mattoo said he had de-posed before the Commis-sion more than six times and“cooperated with the author-ities to deliver justice” in oneof the most widely reportedcases.

Repeated pleadings

“I had pleaded before theCommission repeatedly to

make all people who were atthe helm of afairs then to de-pose before the Commission.To my shock, neither thethen Chief Minister, OmarAbdullah, nor the HomeMinister deposed before theCommission in any case orcollectively. I want to gothrough the report to seehow much of our plea washeard and incorporated,” Mr.Mattoo said.

He warned that if theCommission failed to deliverjustice, then “this report is atombstone of the idea ofjustice” in Kashmir.

“In the absence of justice,civilian killing gives oxygento the mainstream parties in

Kashmir. Both PeoplesDemocratic Party and Na-tional Conference accuseeach other of civilian killingsbut none is ready to deliverjustice. Do I have the right toknow who killed my son andhow,” Mr. Mattoo asked.

Procedural lapses

The one-man commission,in its report, raised questionson procedural lapses by thesecurity forces while dealingwith the law and order prob-lem in the State.

“Both administration andpolice were inactive and in-dolent in tackling the lawand order situation,” itremarked.

Kin seek access to report on Kashmir killingsFamily of boy says ithas been allowedaccess only to asmall portion of theCommission’s report

PEERZADA ASHIQ

KOLKATA: Days after TrinamoolCongress MLA MohuaMoitra lodged a complaintagainst the Union Ministerand BJP leader BabulSupriyo, the Kolkata policehave summoned him for in-terrogation.

Earlier this week, the po-lice lodged a case against Mr.Supriyo under Section 509 ofthe Indian Penal Code (word,gesture or act intended to in-sult the modesty of a wo-man) following Ms. Moitra’scomplaint that the Ministerhad made “derogatory re-

marks” at her during a debatein a television news channel.

The police havesummoned Mr. Supriyo toappear for interrogation atthe Alipore police station onThursday.

Minister’s charge

The Minister dubbed Ms.Moitra’s complaint as an “in-stance of childishbehaviour”.

Mr. Supriyo has sent legalnotice to Trinamool MPsSaugata Roy and Tapas Pauland Ms. Moitra for making“ofensive remarks” againsthim.

STAFF REPORTER

Police to questionBabul on MLA’s plaint

NEW DELHI: In the last hearingon the writ petition filed byadvocate Manohar LalSharma, the Supreme Courthad noted that NGOs get“mind-boggling” funds andthis has become a “majorproblem” without an efect-ive law to regulate the flow ofmoney.

It had considered the pos-sibility of referring the taskof framing the law to the LawCommission of India.

CBI records filed in the Su-preme Court show that only2,90,787 NGOs out of a totalof 29,99,623 registered underthe Societies RegistrationAct file annual financialstatements.

In some States, the CBIsaid the laws do not evenprovide for the NGOs to betransparent about their fin-ancial dealings.

In the Union Territories,out of a total of 82,250 NGOsregistered and functioning,only 50 file their returns.

New Delhi has the highestnumber of registered NGOsamong the Union Territoriesat 76,566. But none of theseorganisations submit re-

turns, the CBI chart showed.In Kerala, which has 3,69,137NGOs, there is no legal pro-vision to submit returns. Thesame is the case for Punjabwith 84,752 and Rajasthanwith 1.3 lakh NGOs.

Among other States, UttarPradesh, which has thehighest number of NGOs at5.48 lakh among 26 States,has only about 1.19 lakh filingreturns. Tamil Nadu hasabout 1.55 lakh NGOs re-gistered but only 20,277 filereturns. Andhra Pradesh has2.92 lakh NGOs, though only186 file financial statementsannually. West Bengal has2.34 lakh registered NGOs, ofwhich only 17,089 activeNGOs file annual returns.

The Supreme Court hadexpanded the scope of Mr.Sharma’s PIL plea allegingmisuse of funds by AnnaHazare’s NGO Hind SwarajTrust to include the status ofall NGOs.

LEGAL CORRESPONDENT Agency says they donot even provide forthe NGOs to betransparent abouttheir finances

CBI blames laws in some States

NEW DELHI: The Election Com-mission on Tuesday reiter-ated that government fundedadvertisements, which pub-licise achievements of polit-ical functionaries or parties,violate the Model Code ofConduct guidelines.

The order comes a dayafter the Congress partyurged the EC to get the pho-tographs of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi removedfrom government postersand hoardings in the fivepoll-bound States.

The Commission said theposters that publiciseachievements of politicalparties or their functionariesshould be either removed orcovered suitably in the poll-bound States.

According to a 2004 order,no political party or func-tionary can use public re-sources to eulogise them-selves or enhance theirimage.

However, governmenthoardings with general mes-sages on social welfareschemes and awarenesscampaigns are allowed.

Screening panels

The Commission has alsoinstituted screening com-mittees for carrying outspeedy screening and grant-ing clearances to advertise-ments being put out by thegovernment.

The candidates have beendirected to submit no-objec-tion certificates issued byowners of private propertieswhere their posters or hoard-ings are displayed. Other-wise, the cost involved willbe included in theiraccounts.

EC starts screeningof government adsSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Posters that publicise

achievements ofpolitical parties ortheir functionariesshould be removed

NEW DELHI: A note prepared bythe Reserve Bank of India(RBI) that indicates it wasthe government that “ad-vised” it to consider demon-etisation of ₨500 and ₨1,000currency notes — ratherthan the other way around —has raised questions aboutthe autonomy of the centralbank while drawing the ire ofopposition parties.

“Section 26(2) of the RBIAct says that on the recom-mendation of the RBI, thegovernment may demonet-ise a particular series of acurrency note,” Congressspokesperson and formerUnion Minister Manish Tew-ari told The Hindu on Tues-day, stressing, “A strict read-ing of the Act, therefore,makes it plain that it does notgive the RBI the power to de-monetise an entire denomin-ation, and the RBI has done acommand performancewithout basic application ofmind. It is a sad commentaryon the inability of the centralbank to maintain itsautonomy.”

CPI(M) general secretarySitaram Yechury, too, wasscathing in his criticism.“This exposes the bluf of the

government that this was anRBI decision. This was a gov-ernment decision. The RBIwas pressured to endorse it.And that explains the RBI’sflip flops ever since,” he toldThe Hindu. Another CPI(M)Politburo member, BrindaKarat, said, “This is an ex-ample of a lack of transpar-ency and the snatching awayof the autonomy of the RBI.The government is destroy-ing institutions. It is also acase of a straight lie. The gov-ernment must give ananswer.”

CPI leader D. Raja also ex-pressed concern over the re-ports. “The RBI willinglyagreed to undermine itsautonomy on monetarypolicy. The promise on the

notes is that of the RBI Gov-ernor, not of the government.We do not know whether itagreed or not with the gov-ernment on this. This is anattack on the autonomy ofthe RBI,” he said.

This criticism comes inthe wake of reports that thecentral bank, in a seven-pagenote submitted on Decem-ber 22 to the ParliamentaryStanding Committee on Fin-ance, headed by Congressleader M. Veerappa Moily,had said, “Government, on 7November, 2016, advised theReserve Bank that to mitig-ate the triple problems ofcounterfeiting, terrorist fin-ancing and black money, theCentral Board of the ReserveBank may consider with-drawal of the legal tenderstatus of currencies in highdenominations of ₨500 and₨1,000.”

To depose before panel

RBI Governor Urijit Pateland senior oicials of theFinance Ministry weremeant to depose before theparliamentary panel at itsnext meeting, earlier sched-uled for January 11, but it hasnow been postponed to Janu-ary 18, because of Pongal cel-ebrations.

RBI note exposes govt. blufon note ban, says OppositionSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The Opposition says RBI’sautonomy is under threat.

Sales of scooters, which aremore popular in urban mar-kets, saw the biggest declinein more than 15 years, falling26.4 per cent to 2,84,384units in December. The pre-vious biggest decline of 27.1per cent was recorded inMarch 2001.

“Almost half of two-wheeler sales come fromrural markets, which havebeen hit hard by demonet-isation,” Mr. Mathur said.

Abdul Majeed, partner atPrice Waterhouse, said de-monetisation had had a bigimpact on rural areas andthe north and east regions,where cash transactionswere typically high.

“Demand holdback is sig-nificantly visible in the autosector on account of discre-

tionary spends and demon-etisation,” Sridhar V., part-ner at Grant Thornton India,said.

Terming the dip a “tem-porary phenomenon”, Mr.Mathur said the industrywas likely to see a reversal infortunes in the next two orthree months. He hoped thebudget would help boostconsumer sentiment andimprove disposableincomes.

Mr. Mathur pointed outthat there was almost onemonth’s stock in the marketand it was important for theindustry to sell as much ofthis stock as possible beforethe end of the financial yearas many segments wouldmove to tighter emissionnorms starting April 1.

Demonetisation puts the

brakes on auto sales

CMYK

ND-ND

NEWS | 13THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

GANDHINAGAR: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said here onTuesday that India was onthe threshold of becomingthe world’s largest digitisedeconomy ofering immenseopportunities to global in-vestors.

Mr. Modi was inaugurat-ing the Vibrant GujaratSummit.

In his 35-minute address inEnglish and Hindi, Mr. Modihighlighted his initiativesthat have apparently madethe country the preferreddestination for Foreign Dir-ect Investment (FDI) and thefastest growing major eco-nomy.

“India alone ofers the op-portunities that could rivalthat of an entire continent. Itofers today the possibilitiesof a full century. And wewant to do all this in acleaner, greener, more sus-tainable way. We are alsocommitted to protecting theenvironment. This is whatIndia has stood for sinceages,” he told the gatheringof captains of Indian indus-tries, CEOs of many MNCsand heads of several statesand diplomats.

‘Progressive policies’

“For investment, sky is thelimit and our policies arevery progressive. India is go-ing to emerge as one of theworld’s largest constructionmarkets. All this ofers un-precedented opportunitiesfor the investment com-munity,” he added, listing thesteps his government had

taken to improve the coun-try’s ease of doing businessranking and making thepolicies business and invest-ment friendly.

According to him, the gov-ernment was committed toan India with better oppor-tunities, better purchasingpower, better income, betterquality of life, and better liv-ing standards.

“Creating an enabling en-vironment for business andattracting investments is mytop priority,” said the PrimeMinister, who also stressedthat his government wasvoted to power on a promiseof providing “clean gov-ernance”.

‘Democracy can deliver’

Calling ‘democracy’ In-dia’s biggest strength, thePrime Minister said: “Somepeople say democracy can-not deliver efective and fasttrack governance, but wehave seen in the last two anda half years, it is possible todeliver quick results aswell.”

“India’s strength lies in3Ds — Demography, Demo-cracy and Demand. Ours is anation of vibrant youth; thedisciplined, dedicated andtalented youth of India ofersglobally unmatched work-force while our middle classofers huge market.”

While seeking invest-ments in industrial sectors,Mr. Modi mentioned his so-cial commitments and said,by 2022, his governmentwould provide a house toevery poor family and a jobto every person in the coun-try.

He announced that Indiahad become the “sixthlargest manufacturing na-tion, up from 9th” and “thegovernment would ensurethat the growth process is in-clusive and encompassesboth rural and urban com-munities”.

Sky is the limit for investors in India: PMCreating an environment for business and attracting investments my top priority, he says at Vibrant Gujarat Summit

MAHESH LANGA

GUJARAT CALLING: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, left, Rwandan President Paul Kagame,centre, Portuguese PM Antonio Costa, second from right, and Serbian Premier Aleksandar Vucic, right, at the Vibrant GujaratGlobal Summit 2017 in Gandhinagar on Tuesday. — PHOTO: AFP

“Youth of India offerglobally unmatchedworkforce while our

middle class offers a huge market”

GANDHINAGAR: Ratan Tata,Mukesh Ambani wereamong the business honchoswho took pride in the factthey “were Gujaratis” whilepraising Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi for his “trans-formative leadership” thatchanged Gujarat into the“most dynamic and pre-ferred business hub.”

The two were among the20 speakers that includedCEOs of Japan’s automakerSuzuki, America’s CISCOand Emerson; PMs of Por-tugal and Serbia; Deputy PMof Russia and Ministers fromFrance and Israel at the in-auguration of the 8th VibrantGujarat Summit being held atthe Mahatma Mandir Con-vention Centre in Gandhin-agar. All speakers lavishedpraise on the Prime Ministerand his initiatives like MakeIn India, Digital India, Startup India and Swachh Bharat.

“Most respected PradhanMantriji, history will recordyou as a great transformativeleader. You first transformedGujarat. You are now trans-forming India with a series ofhistoric and visionary initiat-ives,” said Reliance Indus-tries’ Mukesh Ambani, whosaid his company investedmore than 2.4 lakh crore inits various projects in theState.

Mr. Ambani announcedthat Reliance Jio would con-nect all schools, colleges,hospitals and medical insti-tutes with high speed band-width in the State. He calledGujarat as “sacred land” for

him and said the Reliancegroup has roots in Gujarat.

Similarly, Tata group’s in-terim chairman Ratan Tata,who is locked in a bitter legalfight with sacked chairmanCyrus Mistry, said his de-cision to shift the Nano carfactory from West Bengal toGujarat led to the State be-coming an auto hub with car-makers like Suzuki, Hondaand Ford setting up theirfactories here. “Some yearsago when I attended the Vi-brant Gujarat Summit, I saidthat if you are not in Gujarat,you are stupid. And someyears later I can say that youare indeed stupid if you arenot in Gujarat, which is oneof the fastest growingStates,” he said.

Canadian tycoon PremWatsa, head of Fairfax Finan-cial Holdings called thePrime Minister as the mostbusiness-friendly leader inIndia. “For the first time in 67years, India has an un-abashedly business-friendlygovernment after Modi waselected as PM in 2014.”

Peter Huntsman, Presid-ent and CEO of Texas-basedHuntsman Corporation, saidMr. Modi “can take over theleadership of his countryalso.”

Modi’s initiativesget big applauseSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT The PM was praised

for his initiatives likeMake In India, Digital

India, Start up Indiaand Swachh Bharat

� ADANI’S INVESTMENTS | PAGE 14

KOLKATA: Accusing PrimeMinister Narendra Modi of“120 deaths” in the wake ofdemonetisation, WestBengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee said onFriday that her governmenthas provided jobs and finan-cial aid to kin of three per-sons who died while stand-ing in bank and ATM queues.

Uttar Pradesh CMAkhilesh Yadav providedcompensation of ₨5 lakh tofamily members of a womanin Aligarh who committedsuicide after failing to ex-change old notes. Mr. Yadavalso announced relief of ₨2lakh each to family membersof the victims.

“I have provided govern-ment jobs to family mem-bers of a person from the tri-bal community inBardhaman district and tothe family members of aState-government staf whodied in the ATM queue inBandel (in Howrah dis-trict),” Ms. Banerjee said.She also said that her gov-ernment has provided a re-lief of ₨2 lakh from the CM’sfund to the kin of an elderlyperson who died in thequeue. She targeted the PMfor the ongoing cash crunchand dubbed him as a “sales-man of plastic currency”.

Mamata dubs PMa ‘salesman ofplastic currency’

STAFF REPORTER

NEW DELHI: The Congress onTuesday took issue withthe Vibrant Gujaratsummit to mount an attackon Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

“The nation is stuck inan economic crisis and ithas become more acutesince the Prime Ministerannounceddemonetisation. It is stillstruggling to come to

terms with the aftermathof demonetisation,”Congress spokespersonShaktisinh Gohil toldreporters.

“Modiji, who initiatedthis summit as the ChiefMinister of Gujarat in2003, launched the 2015edition as the PrimeMinister of India,” he said.

Recalling that theGujarat government’s

claim of investments at theVibrant Gujarat summittotalled ₨84.55 lakh croreMoUs signed from 2003 to2015, he insisted that the“real authentic” data bythe Gujarat IndustriesCommissioner saysindustrial approvals inGujarat from January 1,1983, to August 31, 2016,stood at only ₨9,51,980crore. — PTI

Cong. slams Modi over summit

MEERUT: Even as the BJP lead-ers have started electioncampaigning in Uttar Pra-desh in a big way, the issue ofreservation to Jats may afectthe electoral prospects of theparty claimed the leaders ofJat Aarakshan SangharshSamiti (JASS), the organisa-tion with a substantial fol-lowing among Jats in west-ern Uttar Pradeshannounced an “all out war”against the BJP for “betray-ing” the Jats over the issue ofreservation.

The agitating outfit star-ted its campaign against theBJP early this week with a bigrally in Muzafarnagar fromwhere Jat leaders announcedtheir strategy to boycott thesafron party for “not ful-filling its promise of reserva-

tion to Jats”. The JASS organ-ised two rallies in Amrohaand Muzafarnagar and plansto hold many more fromJanuary last week in severalother parts of western UttarPradesh.

Campaign against BJP

The head of the agitatingoutfit, Yashpal Malik asser-ted that the JASS wouldopenly campaign against theBJP in the upcoming As-sembly election in Uttar Pra-desh and said, “We havealready started campaigningagainst the BJP and the mam-moth rally in Muzafarnagar

was a part of that. To startwith, we will launch pamph-lets against the BJP in all theAssembly constituencieswith a substantial Jat popula-tion”. Mr. Malik said that theoutfit would organise aseries of rallies against theBJP in all the Jat-dominatedconstituencies of westernUttar Pradesh.

‘False promises’

“The full-fledged cam-paign will go on from the lastweek of January till the UttarPradesh elections. Reserva-tion for Jats was cancelled bythe Supreme Court in March2015 as the BJP governmentdidn’t plead the case with therequired seriousness,” Mr.Malik said. After the verdict,top BJP leaders met a delega-tion of Jat leaders and as-sured that reservation will be

ensured to the Jats by law. Alot many things happened inthe last one and half years,but we didn’t get reserva-tion,” he added.

Mr. Malik said Jats were in-fluential in over 100 As-sembly constituencies in Ut-tar Pradesh where the JASSwill organise rallies.

“We already organised amassive Jat Sankalp rally inAmroha and Muzafarnagar.Now expect a huge rally inprominent districts likeMeerut very soon,” he added.

Asked about the modusoperandi of this campaignagainst the BJP, Mr. Malik as-serted that the JASS wouldform a committee in all 100Assembly constituencieswhere these committeeswould start the campaignagainst BJP candidates fromJanuary-end.

Jat quota row may hit BJP in U.P. pollsSTAFF REPORTER Jat leaders announced

their strategy toboycott the party for ‘not keeping its promise’

CHANDIGARH: Punjab DeputyChief Minister and Shiro-mani Akali Dal (SAD) pres-ident Sukhbir Singh Badal onTuesday attacked PunjabCongress chief Capt. Am-arinder, saying the Congressroped in former Prime Min-ister Manmohan Singh to re-lease its election manifestoas Capt. Amarinder has “lostcredibility” in the eyes of thepublic.

“No one believes Capt.Amarinder anymore, andhence, the Congress used“face” of Manmohan Singh torelease the election mani-festo — a document which isvisionless,” he said.

He said that the manifestohas nothing mentioned in itto address issues like power,sewerage and water supply

across the State. “Congressmanifesto had ratified thegood work done by the SAD-BJP government in manyfields and could not come upwith anything new except forpromising to continue wel-fare measures being under-taken by the Akali-BJP alli-ance if it comes to power,” hesaid.

He said that the nine-pointprogramme released byCapt. Amarinder promised aloan waiver to farmers butthe oicial manifesto copyreleased by Mr. Singh onlystates that the party will vig-orously pursue to get theloan waiver done. “Why didyou befool farmers, for allthese months if you did nothave any intention of puttingthis issue in your manifesto?”said Mr. Badal.

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Badal calls Congress

manifesto visionless

AHMEDABAD: India is not mov-ing fast enough on major sci-entific projects because of“political and legal delays,”David Gross, physicist and2004 Nobel laureate, told anaudience at a prelude to theVibrant Gujarat summithere.

He was referring to thestalled India-based NeutrinoObservatory, a massive un-derground detector of sub-atomic particles, proposedto come up in Tamil Nadu. Itis to come up in an ecologic-ally fragile zone, and has runinto criticism from activistgroups.

Scientists have assertedthat the detector is not an en-vironment threat, but it is yetto get clearances from theState.

“India has to go beyondbeing a minor collaborator inbig science research projectsand take the lead, but therehave been inexcusable polit-ical and legal delays,” Mr.Gross said. “China is fastseizing these opportunities.”

He also referred to the ap-proval given by the govern-ment last year for an India-based arm of an observatoryto detect gravitationalwaves, called LIGO (LaserInterferometer Gravita-

tional-Wave Observatory).The decision came aftersigns of gravitational waves,resulting from the collisionof two massive black holes1.3 billion light years fromthe earth, were announcedlast year by a large team ofscientists across the world,including several from India.

Prime Minister NarendraModi announced support forLIGO India last February, but

there has been little headwaysince then.

India is not the only coun-try to face environmentalhurdles to large observator-ies. The proposed ThirtyMeter Telescope in Hawaii islikely to be shifted out afterprotests by environmentalistgroups.

“I don’t see [India’s]hurdles as environmental,but [they stem from] fromlack of strong political will,”Mr. Gross told The Hindu onthe sidelines. “Withdrawal of[the high-value] currencymay be good or bad, but Mr.Modi has gone ahead anddone it.”

‘Lack of political will holdsup India’s big projects’JACOB KOSHY

Physics Nobel laureate David Gross. — FILE PHOTO

‘India has to gobeyond being a minor collaborator in science projects and take the lead’

DEHRADUN: There is growingresentment in the BJP in Ut-tarakhand ahead of the As-sembly elections whichcould see party ticket beinggiven to 10 Congress “rebels”who had joined the BJP lastyear.

“At least eight of us are get-ting party ticket. The situ-ation of the remaining twowill be clear in the comingdays,” one of the former Con-gress legislators who joinedthe BJP told The Hindu onconditions of anonymity.

In March last year, nineCongress MLAs, who werelater tagged as Congress“rebels”, had chosen to standwith the BJP in voicing theirdissent against the HarishRawat-led Congress govern-ment. The rebellion broughtthe state under President’sRule. Two months later, inMay, another Congress MLAjoined hands with the BJP.

Later, the 10 “rebels” form-ally joined the BJP. The Con-gress had raised allegationsagainst the BJP stating thatthe 10 MLAs had been“bought” over by the party’scentral leadership and thatthey had been promisedparty ticket. Hence, when the“rebels” joined the BJP, therewas resentment among thecadres, and the resentment isgrowing as the electionnears. Uttarakhand BJP pres-ident Ajay Bhatt said, “Wehave received over 2,000 ap-plications from people whowant a ticket from the BJP,but there is no infightingwithin the party.

Resentment inUttarakhand BJPover ticket

KAVITAUPADHYAY

NEW DELHI: The Railways willput up ATMs on platformsin stations, ofer music andmovies in trains and ‘brand’trains to boost advertisingrevenue, opening up newrevenue streams.

These and otherinitiatives on revenues forIndian Railways from non-fare sources wereannounced by RailwayMinister Suresh Prabhu onTuesday. The Ministerunveiled the Railways’ firstnon-fare revenue policy,out-of-home advertisingpolicy, train brandingpolicy, content-on-demandand rail radio policy alongwith an ATM policy.

The ATMs are likely tobe located at the end ofplatforms or at a prominentplace in the circulating areaof stations.

“ATMs require round-the-clock security, sosetting up such facilities at

rail platforms will reducethe security cost,” Mr.Prabhu said at a pressconference here.

“The Railways hascaptivity and we can use itin multiple ways. Forinstance, one can watchvideos of one’s choice intrains or listen to radio forentertainment,” he said.

Railways will soonprovide entertainmentservices through audio andvideo systems bringingmovies, shows andeducational programmes to

passengers on theirpersonal electronic devicesinside trains and onplatforms. Some of theseservices will be chargeableto passengers and IndianRailways hopes to mop upmore than ₨6,000 crore bythe end of a 10-yearcontract period.

Under the train brandingpolicy, advertising in theform of vinyl wrapping oftrain exteriors (includingwindows of AC coaches)and inside the coacheswould be allowed on

contract basis for a 10-yearperiod. Each train ofers anaverage 25,000 sq. ft., ofspace for advertising andcan potentially generaterevenue worth ₨5 crore, Mr.Prabhu said.

Along with existingidentified sites, theRailways will allowadvertising along tracks,Road Over Bridges andlevel crossing gates.

The advertising rightsare to be awarded for 10years and are expected togenerate ₨6,000 croreduring the contract term.

Mr. Prabhu had said inhis Railway Budget 2016-17speech that Railwaysearned less than five percent of revenues fromnon-tarif sources. “InJapan, 25-30 per cent ofrevenue comes from non-fare sources. We aim toreach that level in seven toeight years and it will be anew revenue stream for theRailways,” he said.

Railways tune in to revenues with music, filmsPassengers can access paid entertainment in trains, draw cash at station ATMs

WAY FORWARD: The plan is to earn ₨6,000 crore in 10 years.

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

SEEKING SUPPORT: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia campaigns for Aam Aadmi Partycandidate Narender Singh Shergill in Mohali on Tuesday. — PHOTO: AKHILESH KUMAR

CHANDIGARH: The process of fil-ing of nomination papers bycandidates of diferent polit-ical parties contesting theFebruary 4 Assembly polls inPunjab will begin on Wed-nesday. The poll process willbe notified on Wednesday, anelection oice spokesmansaid.

While scrutiny of nomina-tion papers will take place onJanuary 19, the withdrawalcan be done till January 21.The polling will take place ina single phase on February 4whereas the counting ofvotes will take place onMarch 11.

Meanwhile, the filing ofnomination papers for by-poll to Amritsar Lok Sabhaseat will also commence onWednesday, the election of-fice spokesman said.-PTI

Filing of papersfor Punjab pollto begin today

CMYK

ND-ND

WORLD14 |THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

BANGKOK: The Thai king’soffice has requested changesto a draft Constitutionregarding his royal powersand the government hasagreed to make them, PrimeMinister Prayuth Chan-ochasaid on Tuesday.

The Constitution is centralto the junta’s plan to hold a

general election to return thecountry to democratic rule.

It was approved in areferendum last year and hasbeen awaiting theendorsement of King MahaVajiralongkorn, who took thethrone in December last yearafter the death of his father.— Reuters

Thai king’s office seeks changes to draft

ANKARA: Turkey has renamedthe street that houses theRussian Embassy after AndreiKarlov, the Ambassador whowas killed in an attack in the

Turkish capital. Ankara Mayor Melih

Gokcek on Tuesdaypresented a framed copy ofhis municipality’s decision torename the street to thewidow of Karlov.

Municipality workers thenreplaced the street sign withone inscribed with Karlov’sname. — AP

Street named after slain Russian envoy

LONDON: Britain’s Leader ofthe Opposition, JeremyCorbyn has called for the in-troduction of a maximumwage in the U.K. to combatinequality, among other re-forms, as he set out his visionto ensure that Britain was“better of” outside the EU inthe future, pledging for thefirst time to “accept the chal-lenges” that voters had givenhis party following the refer-endum, including on immig-ration.

Mr. Corbyn told the popu-lar BBC Today programmethat the introduction of amaximum wage cap was ne-cessary to create a more egal-itarian society and fund thenation’s public services,pointing to the recent crisisin the National Health Ser-vice (NHS).

“We can’t go on creatingworse levels of inequality-…what I would like to see is amaximum earnings limit…itsthe fairer thing to do,” hesaid. “We cannot setourselves to be a grossly un-equal bargain basement eco-nomy on the shores ofEurope.”

Later in the day, at aspeech in the English town ofPeterborough, which votedoverwhelmingly to leave, Mr.Corbyn elaborated on La-bour’s plans for post-BrexitBritain, telling his audience

that while Britain could bebetter of outside the EU, itwas not inevitable. “It cer-tainly won’t happen with agovernment that stands bywhilst wages and salaries aredriven down, industry is hol-lowed out and public ser-vices are cut to the point ofbreakdown.” He pointed tothe removal of EU state aidrules that limited the helpthe government could give toindustry as an example ofhow Britain could benefitfrom leaving the EU.

Change of tone

In a marked change oftone, Mr. Corbyn also saidthe party accepted the chal-

lenge that voters had giventhem on immigration. Whilepublic services were not un-der pressure “primarily” be-cause of immigration, he ac-knowledged that “migrationhad put a strain on publicservices in some areas”. Hesaid that a Labour govern-ment would reintroduce theMigrant Impact Fund thathad been set up by GordonBrown’s administration tosupport public services andwould put more funding intoEnglish-language teaching.“In many sectors of the eco-nomy, from IT to health andsocial care, migrant workersmake a vital and very import-ant contribution to our com-

mon prosperity and in manyparts of the country publicservices depend on migrantlabour,” he said

While he pledged to guar-antee the rights of EU cit-izens already in the U.K., hesaid that the party was not“wedded to freedom ofmovement of EU citizens asa point of principle”.

“Labour supports fairrules and the reasonablemanagement of migration aspart of the post-Brexit rela-tionship with the EU… whileputting jobs and living stand-ards first in the negoti-ations,” he said.

Actions to prevent the un-dercutting of pay and condi-tions, the banning of the ex-clusive advertising of jobsabroad, and the strengthen-ing of work place protectionwould help reduce the num-ber of EU migrant workers,he said.

Elaborating on his plans totackle income disparity, Mr.Corbyn suggested that initi-atives to incentivise com-panies to introduce pay ra-tios might be an alternative,arguing that the policywould not hit aspiration oropportunities for growth butwas about acknowledgingthat success was a collectiveefort, whose rewards mustbe shared. “You can’t run acompany without a wholeteam… it just points to afairer society.”

Removal of limits on state aid to industry can benefit U.K. after Brexit, he says

Corbyn calls for wage capto combat inequality

ON INCOME DISPARITY: Labour party leader Jeremy Corbynspeaks in Freston, near Peterborough, central England, onTuesday.— PHOTO: AFP

VIDYA RAM

TEHRAN: Iran said on Tuesdaythat it had finally received anoicial invitation from SaudiArabia for its pilgrims to at-tend this year’s Haj, twoweeks after Riyadh an-nounced it.

There was no oicial Ira-nian delegation at last year’spilgrimage to the Muslimholy places after Saudi Ara-bia severed relations withIran following the torchingof its missions in Tehran andMashhad by protesters inJanuary last year.

It was the first time inthree decades that Iranianpilgrims had been absentand the culmination of years

of worsening relations overthe conflicts in Syria andYemen.

‘Hope for tangible results’

“The Iranian delegationwill travel to Saudi Arabia onFebruary 23... and we hope toget tangible results,” Haj af-fairs representative AliGhazi Askar told the MizanOnline website.

“For the time being, noth-ing is certain and we will at-tend the Haj as long as thesituation is prepared for us,”he said.

Negotiations for Iranianpilgrims to join last year’sHaj broke down over the

questions of where theirvisas should be issued andhow their security could beensured following the deathsof 464 Iranians in a stampedeat the 2015 Haj. The tone ofthe invitation is “not thatmuch diferent from past let-ters”, Mr. Askar said earlieron Tuesday.

The Saudi-owned Al-Hayat newspaper had repor-ted on December 30 last yearthat Saudi Arabia’s Pilgrim-age Minister MohammedBentin had opened discus-sions with more than 80countries, including Iran, onthe arrangements for the2017 Haj. — AFP

Iran receives invite from Saudito discuss Haj arrangements

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON: If Pres-ident Barack Obama is stillwondering what to do whenhe leaves oice next week, hehas a ready job ofer — fromSpotify.

The world’s leadingstreaming service onMonday advertised an open-ing for “President of Playl-ists” — and said it was look-ing for someone with “atleast eight years experiencerunning a highly regardednation”.

‘Someone with a Nobel’

If it wasn’t any more obvi-ous whom Spotify was seek-ing for the New York-basedposition, it asked for an ap-

plicant with “good teamspirit, excellent work ethic, afriendly and warm attitudeand a Nobel Peace Prize”.

The company said thePresident of Playlists wouldcome up with songs to suitoccasions from “shootinghoops with your friends” towarming up for an addresson “health care legislationthat bears your name”.

The Swedish company’sCEO Daniel Ek revealed thetongue-in-cheek ofer overTwitter after Mr. Obama wasquoted as joking about a jobat Spotify.

Natalia Brzezinski, thewife of former U.S. Ambas-sador to Sweden Mark

Brzezinski, wrote on Ins-tagram that Mr. Obama toldher at a White House recep-tion last week that his 2013visit to Stockholm was his“favourite trip.”.

Mr. Obama was to closethe book on his presidencyon Tuesday, with a farewellspeech in Chicago that wasto try lift supporters felled byDonald Trump’s shockvictory.

Mr. Obama’s last trip onAir Force One was a pilgrim-age to his adoptive homet-own, where he was to ad-dress a sell-out crowd not farfrom where he accepted thepresidency eight years ago.

‘Vision for country’

Lead speechwriter CodyKeenan said the address wasto be about Mr. Obama’s vis-ion for where the countryshould still go. “It’s not goingto be like an anti-Trumpspeech, it’s not going to be ared meat, rabble rousingthing, it will be statesman-like but it will also be true tohim,” Mr. Keenan told AFP.“It will tell a story.” — AFP

President gets a job ofer, from SpotifyThe world’s leadingstreaming service onMonday advertised an opening for‘President of Playlists’

WASHINGTON: President-electDonald Trump has selectedhis son-in-law Jared Kushnerto serve as a senior adviser tohim in the White House, ag-gravating the ethical con-cerns that have already cast ashadow on the incoming ad-ministration. Mr. Kushnerwill work with incomingChief of Staf Reince Priebusand chief strategist StephenBannon “to execute Presid-ent-elect Trump’s agenda”,said a statement from thepresidential transition team.The three were often con-flicting power centres in thecampaign that led to Mr.Trump’s victory and the ar-rangement is set to continueinto the White House.

“Jared has been a tremend-ous asset and trusted adviserthroughout the campaignand transition and I amproud to have him in a keyleadership role in my admin-istration,” Mr. Trump said ofhis son-in-law, a real estatedeveloper and newspaperowner. Mr. Kushner oversawa highly efective and stealthdigital strategy for the cam-paign and has reportedly in-fluenced other appoint-ments made by thePresident-elect already. “It isan honour to serve our coun-try,” Mr. Kushner said.

Mr. Trump has said in in-terviews after his electionthat his son-in-law couldplay a crucial role in WestAsia. “He knows the region,knows the people, knows theplayers,” Mr. Trump told TheNew York Times lastNovember, suggesting thatMr. Kushner, a Jew who grew

up in New Jersey and studiedat Harvard, could be histroubleshooter for the re-gion. The statement announ-cing his selection did notspecify his job profile butsaid, “together, Bannon,Priebus and Kushner haveformed an efective leader-ship team”.

An anti-nepotism lawmade in 1968 bars a public of-ficial from appointing a rel-ative in an “agency” thatcomes under his jurisdiction.Legal opinion is not unanim-ous on the definition of“agency” and a court judg-ment has said White Housestafs do not fall under the re-striction. Mr. Kushner willnot draw a salary and will di-vest his investments to avoidconflicts of interests, said hislegal counsel.

Democratic lawmakershave been crying foul overthe potential conflicts of in-terests involving several ofMr. Trump’s appointees. TheRepublican-majority Senateis scheduled to hold con-firmation hearings for ninenew appointees this week,which the Democrats say ishurried and circumventingprocedures.

Trump’s son-in-lawcould be made West Asia point manVARGHESE K. GEORGE

Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President-electDonald Trump. — PHOTO: NYT

KABUL: Twin Taliban blastsstruck near the Afghan Par-liament in Kabul on Tuesday,killing at least 30 people andwounding 80 in a rush-hourattack that shattered a relat-ive lull in violence in thecapital.

The bombings came justhours after a Taliban suicidebomber killed seven peoplein Lashkar Gah, the capital ofthe volatile southernprovince of Helmand, as themilitants ramp up attacks.

Suicide bomber

The blasts in Kabul torethrough employees exiting aParliament annexe, whichhouses the oices of law-makers, leaving the arealittered with bloodiedbodies.

“A suicide bomber on footcaused the first explosion,leaving a number of innocent

workers killed andwounded,” Zabi, an injuredParliament security guard,told AFP. “The second onewas a car bomb. The vehicle

was parked on the other sideof the road and flung me backwhen it detonated,” he said.

The blasts left 30 peopledead and 80 wounded, some

of them in serious condition,health ministry spokesmanWaheed Majroh said, warn-ing that the toll was expectedto rise. The dead included atleast four policemen whowere killed in the second ex-plosion when they rushed tohelp the victims of the firstblast, a security oicial said.

Growing insecurity

The carnage underscoresgrowing insecurity in Afgh-anistan, where around 10,000U.S. troops are helping strug-gling Afghan forces to com-bat a resilient Taliban insur-gency as well as al-Qaedaand Islamic State militants.

Taliban spokesman Zabi-hullah Mujahid said theywere behind the Kabul ex-plosions, adding the victimswere mostly Afghan intelli-gence agents. The insurgentsare known to exaggerate bat-

tlefield claims.The Parliament complex

has been a prime target forinsurgents. In June 2015Taliban militants attackedthe old Parliament building,sending lawmakers runningfor cover in chaotic scenesrelayed live on television.

That incident ended twohours later when all seven at-tackers, including a suicidecar bomber, were gunneddown by Afghan forces.

The Taliban are pressingahead with nationwide at-tacks despite the onset ofwinter, when fighting usu-ally ebbs.

Afghanistan last weekwelcomed the Pentagon'sdecision to deploy some 300U.S. Marines to Helmand,where American forces en-gaged in heated combat untiltheir mission ended in 2014.— AFP

Taliban blasts near Afghan Parliament kill 30

An injured woman being taken to hospital after the suicideattacks in Kabul on Tuesday. — PHOTO: REUTERS

MOSCOW: Russia on Tuesdaycriticised Washington’sblacklisting of a high-rank-ing oicial and the suspectsin the murder of ex-spy Alex-ander Litvinenko as a moveby the outgoing administra-tion to further sour bilateralties.

Kremlin spokesmanDmitry Peskov told report-ers that the U.S. decision toblacklist Investigative Com-mittee chief AlexanderBastrykin and Litvinenko’salleged assassins, lawmakerAndrei Lugovoi and DmitriKovtun, represented “fur-ther steps in the artificiallycreated degradation of ourrelations”.

The U.S. Treasury onMonday added Mr.Bastrykin, Mr. Lugovoi andMr. Kovtun to the MagnitskyAct sanctions list in the latestspike of diplomatic tensionsbetween Moscow and Wash-ington.

State Department spokes-man John Kirby said the ad-ditions followed “extensiveresearch” and targeted indi-viduals with “roles in the re-pressive machinery of Rus-sia’s law enforcementsystems, as well as individu-als involved in notorious hu-man rights violations”.

Washington has accusedthe Kremlin of orchestratingcyberattacks aimed at influ-encing the results of Novem-ber’s White House race.

Mr. Lugovoi dismissed hisbeing included on the sanc-tions list as “absurd”, tellingRussian media he was “per-plexed” by the decision.

Litvinenko (43), an ex-spyturned Kremlin critic, diedof radiation poisoning in2006. — AFP

Russia deploresblacklisting ofoicials by U.S.

BEIJING: For the first time, aChinese submarine hasdocked at a port in Malaysia,signalling deepening milit-ary ties between the twocountries, which are alreadypartners in the developmentof the Beijing-led MaritimeSilk Road.

The four-day stopover ofthe submarine from January3 at the port of Kota Kinabaluis being seen as a trigger forelevated tensions in theSouth China Sea (SCS). TheMalaysian port has a navalbase facing the SCS.

According to the informa-tion oice of China’s Min-istry of Defence, the submar-ine and a support shiparrived at the port for “restand recreation” after com-

pleting an escort mission tothe Gulf of Aden andSomalia. It was the secondconfirmed port visit by aChinese submarine, follow-ing a visit to Sri Lanka in2014, the People’s Daily on-line reported on Monday.

Special ties

Analysts say docking ofChinese submarine signalsthe emergence of special tiesbetween Beijing and KualaLumpur.

“Submarine port visits canonly happen when mutualtrust between two navies hasreached new heights, as sub-marine operations are verysecretive and sensitive,” thestate-run China Dailyquoted Zhong Feiteng, an ex-pert on Asia-Pacific afairs atthe Chinese Academy of So-

cial Sciences, as saying.The visit of the submarine

is adding a prominent milit-ary dimension to China’s tieswith Malaysia which is fastemerging as Beijing’s toppartner, close to the Strait ofMalacca, along the MaritimeSilk Road (MSR).

The MSR is part of theChina-led Belt and Road Ini-tiative (BRI) — a massiveconnectivity undertaking onland and sea, which covers 65countries. “I just came backfrom the investigation andstudy of the BRI in Malaysia.

I found out that we havealready established theChina-Malaysia port cooper-ation alliance, comprising 11Chinese and six Malaysianports. Besides, the Strait ofMalacca maritime industrialpark, among others, is alsobeing set up,” said LiangHaiming, chief economist atthe China Silk Road iValleyResearch Institute, in a con-versation with The Hindu.He added: “From 2013 whenit was proposed, the BRI isnow developing very fast.”

The Malacca industrialpark is part of the giantMalacca Gateway Projectthat China and Malaysiasigned last year. It also in-cludes the establishment ofthe strategically vital deepwater port in the Strait ofMalacca in Malaysia.

ATUL ANEJA

China deepens military ties with MalaysiaThe four-day stopoverof the submarine isseen as a trigger forelevated tensions inthe South China Sea

CMYK

BUSINESS | 15THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

SENSEX

10-01-2017 26,899

09-01-2017 26,726173points

GOLD

10-01-2017 29,030

09-01-2017 28,700330₨/10gms

RUPEE

10-01-2017 68.18

09-01-2017 68.210.03₨/$

BRENT OIL

10-01-2017 54.60

09-01-2017 55.691.09$/bbl

Developments in the Indian economy andpolicy framework shook the auto industry

Frank Schloeder, President (Acting), BMW Group India

Exchange RatesIndicative direct rates in rupees a unit

except yen at 4 p.m on January 10

TT TT

Currencies Buying Selling

U.S. Dollar 67.98 68.30

Euro 71.93 72.27

Pound Sterling 82.59 82.98

Jap Yen (100 Units) 58.60 58.88

Chinese Yuan 9.82 9.87

Swiss Franc 67.06 67.38

Singapore Dollar 47.30 47.53

Australian Dollar 49.94 50.18

Canadian Dollar 51.33 51.58

Swedish Kroner 7.53 7.56

Danish Kroner 9.68 9.72

New Zealand Dollar 47.53 47.76

Hongkong Dollar 8.77 8.81

Malaysian Ringgit 15.19 15.26

Kuwaiti Dinar 221.15 223.64

UAE Dirham 18.51 18.60

Bahraini Dinar 180.27 181.22

Qatari Riyal 18.72 18.73

Saudi Riyal 18.18 18.18

Omani Riyal 176.53 177.45

Source:Indian Bank

Bullion RatesJanuary 10 rates in rupees with

previous rates in brackets

Chennai

Bar Silver (1 kg) 40,760 (40,520)

Retail (1 g) 43.60 (43.40)

24 ct gold (10 g) 28,950 (28,780)

22 ct gold (1 g) 2,767 (2,751)

Delhi

Silver 40,750 (40,400)

Standard Gold 29,030 (28,700)

Sovereign 24,200 (24,200)

MUMBAI: The real estate sectoris estimated to have suferednotional revenue loss of₨22,600 crore in the fourthquarter of 2016 due to de-monetisation as home salesplunged 44%, as comparedwith the same period lastyear, according to real estateconsultancy Knight FrankIndia.

“The Indian government'sdemonetisation move onNovember 8 brought themarket to a complete stand-still,” Knight Frank India saidin its half yearly report on thesector. “Against this back-drop, developers refrainedfrom announcing any newlaunches and buyers turnedextremely cautious beforecommitting on purchases.”

The drop in sales volumeduring Q4 of 2016 due to thedemonetisation move hadresulted in a “massive no-tional revenue loss of₨22,600 crore to the real es-tate industry across thecountry, across top eight cit-ies,” according to the report.

States lose too

In other words, if theCentre had not taken the de-monetisation move, the res-idential segment would nothave sufered such a hugerevenue loss, it said. Stategovernments had alsosufered a notional loss of₨1,200 crore on account ofloss on stamp duty in thefourth quarter, it said.

“The efect of demonetisa-tion on all segments of thereal estate sector across allmarkets has been fairly bru-tal, to say the least,” ShishirBaijal, Chairman & Man-aging Director, Knight Frank

India, said while unveilingthe half yearly report.

Anuj Puri, Chairman andCountry Head JLL, while ad-mitting that the realty sectorhad been impacted severelysaid: “It is very diicult toquantify the revenue loss,but yes, the sector hassufered on sentimentalgrounds. Demonetisationhad a very negative impacton the sector.”

Lowest since 2010

Knight Frank said thefourth quarter numbers werea testament to the efect thatthe demonetisation movehad had on the real estatemarket of the country thatwas barely recovering fromits earlier sloth.

Sales volume dropped by44% year-on-year in Q4 of2016 and new projects fell by

a massive 61% year-on-yearduring the same period,” itsaid.

At 40,940 units, the Q42016 sales volume was at itslowest quarterly level since2010. The average quarterlysales used to be 90,000 unitsin 2010, it added.

The new projects numberwas much worse at just24,300 units in Q4 2016,which was not even one-fifthof peak quarterly levels dur-ing 2010, the report said.

The fall in sales volumeand in new projects were sosevere during Q4 2016 that itbrought down the entiresecond half 2016 numbers by23% and 46% respectivelycompared with the secondhalf of 2015, according to thereport.

The second half of 2016 re-ported sales volume and new

projects of 1,09,160 units and68,700 units respectively.The same number for secondhalf 2015 were 1,41,340 unitsand 1,26,860 units respect-ively across India.

Knight Frank said all citiesin India witnessed a crashduring the fourth quarter of2016. Mumbai with notionalsales revenue loss at ₨9,100crore bore the maximumbrunt while the impact inChennai was ₨1,100 crore andfor Bengaluru it was ₨4,800crore. The notional revenueloss witnessed in Hyderabadand NCR Delhi was ₨800crore and ₨3,700 crore re-spectively.

The impact of demonet-isation also brought downthe overall sales in 2016 by9% to 2,44,680 units from2,67,960 units in 2015, theconsultancy said.

Real estate sector may have lost ₨22,600 crore of revenue, says Knight Frank

LALATENDUMISHRA

Housing sales dip 44% aftercurrency withdrawal: Report

ABYSMAL PERFORMANCE: At 40,940 units, the Q4 2016 sales volume was at its lowest quarterlylevel since 2010. — FILE PHOTO: PAUL NORONHA

NEW DELHI: Ahead of a specialmeeting of trade ministerson the sidelines of the forth-coming World EconomicForum at Davos, India op-posed attempts by some de-veloped nations to introduce‘new issues’ including e-commerce and investmentinto the formal agenda of theWorld Trade Organisation(WTO)-level negotiationson liberalisation of globaltrade.

“It may be alright to haveinformal and non-bindingdiscussions (on these ‘newissues’). But unless there is aconsensus among all theWTO member countries,these issues cannot be madepart of the formal agenda. Idon’t think currently there isany consensus for such amove,” Union Commerceand Industry MinisterNirmala Sitharaman told re-porters.

India had on earlier occa-sions too rejected the at-tempts of the developedworld to make such ‘new is-sues’ part of the ongoingDoha Round talks saying itwill ‘dilute’ the ‘developmentagenda’ of the negotiations.The World Economic Forumis scheduled to take placebetween January 17 and 20.

India opposed toinclusion of ‘newissues’ in WTO SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI: Private sector lenderIndusInd Bank’s net profitgrew 29% for the quarterended December 31 due to asignificant drop in the cost offunds.

The lender posted a netprofit of ₨750.64 crore for thethird quarter as comparedwith ₨581 crore recorded dur-ing the same period of theprevious year helped by netinterest income (NII)growth of 35% to ₨1,578.42crore. NII rose despitecredit-to-deposit ratio drop-ping 3 percentage points to86% during the quarter. Non-interest income grew by 21%to ₨1,017 crore.

“NII growth was due to fallin cost of funds which was 34bps,” said Romesh Sobti, MD& CEO, Indusind Bank. “Thefall in yield on advances wasmuch less.”

As a result, the bank main-tained its net interest marginat 4% for the second success-ive quarter.

The bank hopes to main-tain its margins, going ahead,despite a softening of in-terest rates.

“Since 70% of our loanbook is on fixed rate, the paceof yield dropping on the re-tail side will be lower,” Mr.Sobti said.

The demonetisation exer-cise helped the lender to in-crease its share of low costdeposits to 37% from 35%during the quarter.

IndusInd Bank’sthird-quarter netprofit rises 29%SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI: Tata Sons, the hold-ing company of the TataGroup, has urged the Na-tional Company LawTribunal (NCLT) to dismissa petition filed by the invest-ment firms of ousted chair-man Cyrus Mistry as it feltthat the petition was notmaintainable as per the re-quisite norms of The Com-panies Act.

According to the replyfiled by the holding companyof the diversified conglomer-ate, the two firms — CyrusInvestments Pvt. Ltd andSterling Investment Corpor-ation Pvt. Ltd — do not holdenough stake in the companyto file a petition under Sec-tion 244 of The CompaniesAct.

“The issue of maintainab-ility needs to be decided asthe preliminary issue...” ac-cording to the reply.

While the Mistry familyfirms collectively own 18.4%equity stake in the company,Tata Sons is of the view thatthe preference share capitalof ₨294 crore has to befactored in along with the or-dinary capital of ₨40.4 crore.

In the combined capital,the two firms own 2.17%stake, which, as per TataSons, make them ineligibleto file a petition.

The regulations state thatonly those entities that ownat least one-tenth stake in thecompany can file a petitionunder Section 244.

Denies allegations

Tata Sons has denied allthe other major allegationsmade by Mr. Mistry regard-ing corporate governance,mismanagement, interfer-ence and oppression by theboard members of thecompany.

The National CompanyLaw Tribunal will deliberateon the matter on January 31.

Tata Sons asksNCLT to dismissMistry’s petitionSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: A day after formerRBI Governor Y.V. Reddyflagged ‘reputational risk’ be-ing faced by the central bank,another former Governor,Bimal Jalan, said itsautonomy was fundamentaland needs to be maintained.

“The autonomy of the RBI— that is a very fundamentalfact and we have to maintainit and I hope the governmentwould give attention to thatpart also,” Dr. Jalan said in aninterview to a private televi-sion channel.

Mr. Reddy regretted onJanuary 9 that the institu-tional identity of the RBI hasbeen damaged and stressedthat for a central bank “repu-tational risk is worst risk.”

Dr. Jalan said one wouldhave to wait and see how therelationship between thegovernment and RBI devel-ops which ultimately is amatter of coordination.

“It is a matter of consultat-ive approach and it is tooearly to be able to say how itwill grow in...autonomy ofthe RBI and autonomy is notwhat you call independence.

RBI is a part of the economicsystem and there is alwaysconsultative processbetween the RBI and the gov-ernment, but it is a processand when you talk aboutmonetary policy — theautonomy of the RBI is thatyou can take very hard de-cisions,” he said.

Dr. Jalan was RBI Gov-ernor from 1997 to 2003 andwas succeeded by Mr. Reddy.

‘Wait and see’

On the impact of demonet-isation on growth, he said, “Itis very diicult to go throughthe percentage points...buteverybody agrees that therewould be a decline in the rateof growth. How far it is due todemonetisation and how farit is the trend from 7.6 to 7.1,you have seen last year itself-...Let us wait and see.”

When asked whether hewould have advised the gov-ernment to take such a bigstep, Dr. Jalan said: “It is a de-cision and whether a de-cision is right or wrong thatcan only be proved over aperiod of time.” — PTI

RBI’s autonomy needsto be maintained: Jalan

NEW DELHI: India will not ex-tend the expiry date of Bilat-eral Investment Treaties(BIT) — providing legal pro-tection to investments —that it has signed with asmany as 83 countries whenthese pacts will come to anend by April 1, 2017, accord-ing to Commerce and In-dustry Minister NirmalaSitharaman.

This could lead to a situ-ation where investments —from those nations that havenot inked by April 1, 2017, anew investment protectionpact with India on the basisof the Union Cabinet-ap-proved revised text for BIT— may not be accorded com-plete legal protection, shesaid.

Taking such a scenariointo account, India had writ-

ten to all these countriesabout a year ago to start orexpedite talks on a new BITon the basis of the revisedBIT text.

No response

However, not may coun-tries have responded so far.

The development comes

in the context of theEuropean Commission (EC)recently taking up this issuewith Indian government oi-cials.

The EC had pointed outthat India’s separate BITswith 23 European Union(EU) member nations willsoon expire one after theother and that the lack of aBIT will hit Foreign DirectInvestment flows from EU toIndia.

This is because the ab-sence of a BIT adds to therisk premium and hikes thecost of funds for investors, inturn resulting in Europeanfirms deciding to makelesser investments in Indiathan earlier planned, the EChad said. Therefore, the EChad demanded extension ofthe expiry date of these BITstill an India-EU BIT is signedand becomes efective.

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Nirmala Sitharaman

Won’t extend expiry date ofinvestment pacts: Sitharaman

MUMBAI: Ratings agency Fitchsaid on Tuesday that short-term pain of the govern-ment’s demonetisation exer-cise could outweigh long-term gains that it said werestill ‘uncertain.’

In a report titled, “Benefitsof demonetisation are highlyuncertain”, the ratingsagency said since demonet-isation was a one-of event,people in the informal sectorwould still be able to use thenew high-denominationnotes and other options, likegold, to store their wealth.

“There are no new incent-ives for people to avoid cashtransactions. The informalsector could soon go back tobusiness as usual.”

Fitch had already reviseddown its GDP growth fore-cast for the financial yearending March 31, 2017 to6.9% from 7.4 %.

According to the report,there were uncertaintiesover the impact on the bank-ing sector as demonetisation

could also afect the ability ofsome borrowers, especiallySMEs, to service their loans,with negative efects on bankasset quality.

“Moreover, the positiveimpact on funding condi-tions will depend on depos-its remaining in banks bey-ond the next few months.There is nothing to preventthem being withdrawnagain,” the report said.

“The intentions behinddemonetisation were posit-ive and in keeping withbroader reform eforts, butthe short-term pain mightoutweigh the uncertain long-term gains.”

Moody’s outlook

Marie Diron, AssociateManaging Director, Sover-eign Risk Group, Moody’s In-

vestors Service said: “Wemaintained a positive out-look on India’s rating inNovember 2016 based on ourexpectation that economicand institutional reformswill support continued ro-bust growth.”

“Beyond the short-termnegative impact on growth,demonetisation has the po-tential to raise governmentrevenues and provide somefiscal space to supportgrowth if required,” shestated in a report.

Ms. Diron also said thatother measures of the gov-ernment could potentiallyspur growth as well.

“Measures including re-laxation of foreign invest-ment restrictions, passage ofthe Goods and Services Tax,and advancement of a work-able bankruptcy code havepotential to stimulate privatesector investment, whichcould lead to stable, bal-anced growth and graduallylower the government debtburden,” Ms. Diron said inthe report.

Benefits of demonetisationuncertain in long run: FitchSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT The ratings agency

has already trimmedits GDP growthforecast for FY17 to6.9% from 7.4%

BUSINESS16 |THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

SNIPPETS

NEW DELHI: After close to three years of unveiling CPSE ETF, thegovernment will, on January 17, initiate the second tranche of fundraising to garner up to ₨6,000 crore. The issue size of follow-on fundoffer, which will close on January 20, is ₨4,500 crore with a greenshoeoption of ₨1,500 crore. As much as a 5% discount will be given to anchorinvestors, a top official said. Besides, priority will be given to retail andpension funds at the time of allotment, the official added. Thegovernment had unveiled a CPSE ETF in March 2014 under which retailinvestors had to invest a minimum of ₨5,000 to buy units. It had raised₨3,000 crore through the Exchange Traded Fund (EFT) then.— PTI

CPSE ETF to open ₨6,000 cr. tranche on January 17

NEW DELHI: India’s telecom subscriber base crossed the 1.1 billion markin October, registering the highest customer addition of about 29 millionin a month, driven by Reliance Jio. As per the latest data released byTelecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), October also saw increasein landline subscriber base that had seen continuous decline inconnections after incoming calls were made free in 2003, shiftinggrowth from wireline to wireless telephony.“The number of telephonesubscribers in India increased from 1,074.24 million at the end ofSeptember 2016 to 1,102.94 million at the end of October 2016, therebyshowing a monthly growth rate of 2.67 per cent,” TRAI said.— PTI

October saw highest subscriber addition: TRAI

NEW DELHI: Global confectionery major Mondelez International will pay$13 million penalty to the U.S. Government for violation of anti-corruption law by its subsidiary, erstwhile Cadbury India, in gettingregulatory approvals for expansion of a unit in Himachal Pradesh.Thematter relates to violation of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) inIndia by Cadbury India which had, in 2009, took the help of an agent toobtain “outside assistance” in securing various licenses and approvals toincrease production capacity of one of its units at Baddi. A Mondelezspokesperson said: “As part of the settlement, Mondelez has agreed topay a civil penalty of $13 million to resolve the investigation.” — PTI

Mondelez to pay $13 mn. to settle U.S. probe case

NEW DELHI: Post-demonetisation, cash-based transactions worth₨25,000 crore have moved to the digital mode, says a survey. TheEconomic Research Department of State Bank of India carried out thesurvey from December 30, 2016, to January 3, 2017, to understand thenuances of demonetisation. It showed that 15 per cent of transactionsmoved to electronic payments such as m–wallets and Point of Salemachines.“This means that ₨25,000 crore of cash-based transactionshave moved to digital in the last two months. If this is so, this is a goodbeginning,” SBI Research said in its Ecowrap report.This number couldhave been higher because the behavioural shift has not happened yet,the report said. — PTI

₨25,000 cr. worth cash deals move to digital mode

NEW DELHI: Citi India introduced voice biometrics authentication thatwould replace the current practice of interactive voice response for itscustomers. The technology allows clients to use their voiceprints forauthentication rather than having to remember multiple PINs or respondto questions used for verifying identities, Citi South Asia Head(Operations and Technology) Anand Chopra said. The voice biometricsauthentication capability uses voiceprint, similar to fingerprint, which isunique for each person.The solution is fast, secure and convenient asverification is completed automatically within 15 seconds while clientsspeak to the (bank) official when they call CitiPhone Banking.— PTI

Citi India unveils voice biometrics authentication

BENGALURU: Financial analyststracking the IT services in-dustry said that growth inthe third quarter endedDecember will be muted.The results season is aboutto kick start with Indian ITservices major Tata Con-sultancy Services (TCS) setto announce its numbers forthe third quarter of the fiscal2017 on January 12. The thirdquarter is a seasonally weakquarter due to the holidays inthe major markets like theU.S. and weak spendingenvironment.

The country’s secondlargest IT services providerInfosys will follow with itsquarterly numbers on Janu-ary 13.

‘Double whammy’

“The December quarterrevenue growth will bemuted due to the twin com-bination of usual end-of-the-year furloughs and continu-ing weak spending environ-ment,” stated KawaljeetSaluja of Kotak InstitutionalEquities in a note.

Another analyst firmICICI Securities, whichtracks Indian IT services ma-jors, also said it expected Q3of the current fiscal to wit-ness typical weak seasonal-ity. Market watchers alsosaid that the quarter was un-likely to provide any impetusto improving growth.

Major issues faced by In-dian IT services providersinclude client-specific chal-lenges, vertical-specific is-sues, delay in decision-mak-ing (in general) by clientsand visa-related issues,among others. The steep fallin oil prices is likely to im-pact oil & natural gas vertic-als of IT majors while thebudgeting cycle for health-care verticals in the U.S. maybe impacted by the uncer-tainty surrounding policiesby the new President soon totake charge.

“The quarter is also un-likely to provide any materialevidence towards an improv-ing second derivative ofgrowth. We do not envisagemeaningful negative sur-prises as well in terms of ver-tical- and client-specific is-

sues, incremental aggressionin pricing, erosion inbudgets, and delays inpipeline build-up and de-cision-making cycles,” wroteKuldeep Koul of ICICI Se-curities in a note to clients.

However, market watch-ers said that changes in thevisa regulations can pose sig-nificant risk to revenue andmargin estimates. Signific-antly, they expected demandto pick-up in FY18.

Apart from these chal-lenges, the appreciation ofthe Indian rupee against theBritish pound and euro,wage hikes also may impactthe revenues of the large-capIT services players.

Tech Mahindra and HCLTechnologies are expectedto outperform their peers.

View on vendors

The revenue growth ofTech Mahindra is expectedto be healthy with about 3per cent quarterly growth inconstant currency whileHCL Technologies may re-port a 2.5 per cent quarterlygrowth in constant currency.As per estimates, TCS willalso witness growth whileInfosys is expected to wit-ness flat or negative growth.

Infosys, which had earlierannounced cancellation ofan RBS project, will witnessrelated impact on revenues.

Earlier, the IT major had re-vised its FY17 revenuegrowth guidance to 8-9 percent in constant currencyterms.

The growth of TechMahindra and HCL would bemainly fuelled through theacquisitions they had madeearlier.

“Acquisitions and inor-ganic activity will aid num-bers for HCL Technologies,Wipro and Tech Mahindra.On reported constant cur-rency basis, we expectWipro, HCL and TechMahindra to report growthof 1.2 per cent, 2.9 per centand 3.8 per cent respectively,while on organic constantcurrency basis, our growthforecast stands at 0.4 percent, 1.7 per cent, and 3.2 percent,” said Kotak Institu-tional Equities in a note.

On the mid-cap front,lesser number of workingdays and cross-currencychallenges are expected todrag growth.

In the segment, analystssaid that Persistent Systemswould post strong quarterlygrowth.

Subdued revenue growth expected due to end-of-year furloughs and weak spending environment

IT firms to witness muted Q3 growthPRADEESH CHANDRAN

RETARDING GROWTH: Delays in client decision-making and visa-related issues may continue to haunt IT firms. — FILE PHOTO: PTI

NEW DELHI: IT firms’ marginswill come under more pres-sure if the U.S. Governmentclears the H1B visa reformBill — ‘Protect and GrowAmerican Jobs Act’, ratingagency India Ratings and Re-search (Ind-Ra) said.

“The employee cost of ITcompanies has increasedover the past eight quartersand impacted margins negat-ively. The passage of the Billwould impact IT companiesoperations and might lead tofurther increase in the on-shore eforts and subcon-tracting expenses,” Ind-Rasaid.

The key proposal in theBill is to increase the salaryof H1B visa holder to$100,000 (₨66 lakh) from$60,000 per annum and thecessation of an exemption ofhaving a master’s degree.The cash cushion and lowdebt levels that IT compan-ies enjoy, however, will meanthe squeeze on margins willbe credit neutral. The salarylevel that has been proposedis significantly higher thanthe average employee cost ofIndian IT companies of un-der ₨1 million. — PTI

H1B reform toadd pressure onIT firms’ margins

BENGALURU: Real estate portalsPropTiger.com and Hous-ing.com announced that theyhad merged to form India’slargest online real estate ser-vices company.

Masayoshi Son’s SoftBankis the biggest investor inHousing.com and RupertMurdoch’s News Corp is thelargest shareholder inPropTiger.com.

“We are excited to joinhands with Housing.com.The timing of this deal is justright,” said Dhruv Agarwala,co-founder of PropTiger in astatement. He will serve asChief Executive Oicer ofthe joint entity. The com-pany said that Jason Kothari,CEO of Housing.com has de-cided to move on to pursueother opportunities in theIndian Internet space.

$50 million investment

REA Group Limited, anAustralian real estate firmowned by News Corp is in-vesting $50 million in thejoint entity, according to thestatement. It also said that an

ailiate of SoftBank is put-ting $5 million in the entity.

“India is an important partof our international growth

strategy,” said REA Groupchief executive Tracy Fel-lows in a statement.

By 2030, India is expectedto be the third largest real es-tate market in the world withthe sector contributing toover 15 per cent of the na-tional gross domesticproduct. News Corp ChiefExecutive Robert Thomsonsaid that with 1.2 billionpeople and a rapidly growingeconomy and middle class,India’s future as a “real estatepowerhouse is exceptionallybright.”

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

HUGE POTENTIAL: By 2030, India is expected to be the thirdlargest real estate market in the world. — FILE PHOTO

Housing.com, PropTiger.com toform largest online realty firm

With a rapidlygrowing

economy, India’sfuture as a realestate powerhouse isexceptionally bright Robert Thomson

Chief Executive, News Corp.

NEW DELHI: ABB will partner with Power Grid Corporation of India toexecute a more than ₨4,350 crore project to connect Raigarh in CentralIndia to Pugalur in Tamil Nadu by building an 1,830 km power line – oneof the longest in the world. “With a capacity of 6,000 MW – theequivalent of more than six large power plants – it will be enough tomeet the electricity needs of over 80 million people in India,” ABB said ina statement. “The two-way link will integrate thermal and wind energyfor transmission of power to high consumption centres locatedthousands of kilometers away, supporting electricity demands in thesouth, when wind strength is low and transmitting clean energy to thenorth, when there is excess wind power. The total project value is morethan ₨5,700 crore. The project is expected to be completed in 2019,according to the statement.— Special Correspondent

ABB partners Power Grid for power line to T.N.

GANDHINAGAR: Adani GroupChairman Gautam Adani an-nounced an investment of₨49,000 crore in Gujarat forexpansion of port capacity aswell as foraying into waterand cement businesses overthe next five years.

Adani Group will set up a10 million tonnes cementclinker plant at an invest-ment of ₨5,500 crore and an-other ₨2,000 crore in a desal-ination plant in Gujarat, hesaid at the 8th Vibrant Gu-jarat Global Summit here.

Adani Enterprises hasalready incorporated a newcompany, Adani Cementa-tion (ACL), which will carryon the cement business.“Inthe past five years, we haveinvested ₨48,000 crore in Gu-jarat,” Mr.Adani said.

Adani Ports, India’s largestprivate port and logisticscompany, in the next fiveyears will invest ₨16,700crore to expand capacity ofall its Gujarat ports at Mun-dra, Dahej, Hazira and Ajiraand Tuna, he said.

Mr. Adani said the group isalso accelerating its invest-ment in renewable space inGujarat. “In the year 2021,

our new investments in solaras well as wind developmentwill exceed ₨23,000 crore,”he added. In addition to in-frastructure business, theAdani Group is also makingsignificant investment in ex-panding its agri footprint.

“Adani Wilmar is India’slargest edible oil businessand recognised as undis-puted market leader thatsells under brand name For-tune,” he said, adding thegroup will invest ₨1,200crore in expanding edible oilmanufacturing capacity atMundra and Ajira.

The group currently oper-ates the world’s singlelargest edible oil refinery of3,400 tonnes per day capa-city at Mundra. — PTI

Adani Group to invest₨49,000 crore in Gujarat

Gautam Adani

MUMBAI: Business processmanagement company WNSannounced on Tuesday theacquisition of U.S.-basedDenali Sourcing Services for$40 million to improve itscapabilities in the sourcingand procurementcapabilities.

“Denali will play a comple-mentary role in our oferingsin the finance and account-ing space,” WNS chief exec-utive Keshav Murugesh toldPTI over phone. He saidWNS had been working withDenali, which is present inthe fast-growing procure-ment space valued at $3.5 bil-lion a year, as a strategic part-ner for last two-and-a-halfyears for rendering variousservices to clients.

Stating that the acquisitionis ‘accretive’ both from a rev-enue and margins perspect-ive, Mr. Murugesh said all200 stafers of Denali includ-ing the founders will be ab-sorbed into WNS. WNS willbe funding the acquisitionthrough debt, Mr. Murugeshsaid. The company aims tocomplete the acquisition bythe month-end. — PTI

WNS acquiresU.S.-based Denalifor $40 million

CMYK

ND-ND

SPORT | 17THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

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Endorsing an ideaIt (48-team World Cup proposal) gives eachcountry the dream and renews the passion forfootball. It gives more possibilities to countriesthat have never reached that level of competition. — Diego Maradona

Sharapova’s returnFive-time Grand Slam championMaria Sharapova will return tocompetitive action, following a15-month doping ban, at theStuttgart Grand Prix in April

He’ll be the bestYou can see the numbers. There are not many managers whohave done what he did in one year. Zidane is working verywell, with an incredible simplicity, modernity and training. He isready to be the best head coach in the world in the future. — Roberto Carlos on his former Real Madrid teammate

Telecast scheduleRanji Trophy final: Gujarat vs Mumbai,STAR Sports 4 & HD 4, 9.30 a.m. PBL:STAR Sports 1, 3 & HD1 & 3, 7 p.m. PWL:Sony ESPN, 7 p.m. NBA: Sony Six & SonySix HD, 6.30 a.m. (Thursday)

Someone has to tell the disqualified members ofthe Board of Control for Cricket in India that thematch is over. And they lost.

A bunch of oice-bearers now required to usethe word ‘former’ before that description, hold-ing a meeting to ‘tackle’ the Supreme Court’s

judgements makes no sense. On the field, the never-say-diespirit is something positive and admirable. Of it, that spirit canbe negative and deplorable.

If the idea is to make the Supreme Court look bad (formerPresident Anurag Thakur said sarcastically after he was sacked,“If the Supreme Court feels BCCI would do better under retiredjudges then I wish them all the best, I am sure they will dowell”), then this is an unequal fight.

It is not the Supreme Court’s responsibility to run cricket inthe country, but it can lay down the law. It can also haul upoicials on criminalcharges for mismanage-ment of funds, somethingthe BCCI should have donebut refused to because ig-noring corruption is theprice to pay for staying inpower.

Whether the strategy be-ing discussed by those un-seated is non co-operation,formation of a rival body,ruling by proxy or a scorched earth policy — all favourite tacticsof disenfranchised Indian sports oicialdom over the years —the likelihood of the men who ruled coming back to rule again isslim.

Transition is diicult enough without the old order organ-ising roadblocks to trip up the new. This is a good time to judgewhether the oicials were in it for the love of the game orpersonal aggrandisement.

When someone like Niranjan Shah, former board secretary,who has been an oicial for over four decades says, “When I amnot there, why should I bother about how the association func-tions?” and goes on to say in an interview with Gulf News, thatthere are people “who may need guidance and I will oferwhatever help they need,” the mindset becomes clear. Grave-yards are full of people who thought they were indispensable.

In the ideal world, the Lodha Committee, having done its jobsuperbly would have been disbanded now. The old BCCI wouldhave made way for the new. The Supreme Court, having de-livered its historic verdict awaits the announcement of theCommittee of Administrators to oversee compliance, and postJanuary 19 should have no role to play.

But we do not live in an ideal world.

A sounding boardThe Lodha Committee remains as a sounding board. That

Rahul Johri, CEO of the BCCI found it necessary to check withthe committee on the day of the selection of the national team isunedifying on two counts. The judgement was clear – the nineyear limit was clarified by the Supreme Court. It meant that thejoint secretary could not attend the selection meeting. Johrishould have been firm and better prepared. The old lot willpounce on any sign of weakness to stir things up.

Secondly, the new BCCI – even as it is being put into place –should resist the temptation to run to the Lodha Committee foreverything.

If the amicus curiae of the Supreme Court choose well, theCommittee of Administrators (COA) to oversee compliancewill make the transition smoother.

Mudgal is a good choiceThe obvious candidate to lead the COA would be Justice

Mukul Mudgal, who has the experience, the integrity and thebackground. It is vital to have a legal mind in charge at this stage.He is also familiar with the tricks of the old BCCI. He headed thecommittee which apportioned guilt when the original IPL spotfixing charges first erupted in 2013.

A member of the Mudgal Committee, Sourav Ganguly,already a name as administrator, is another obvious choice.There is an argument for including one of the BCCI’s paidadministrators, someone like Prof. Ratnakar Shetty, who hasthe experience, and knows where the bodies are buried.

The Lodha Committee has dismissed the meeting of thedispossessed last week as a collection of individuals who can donothing now. That’s probably true, but the group has enormousnuisance value. And long memories.

The formation of a rival cricket board with new contracts forplayers and an application to the International Cricket Councilfor recognition can be stymied by both the Supreme Court andthe Shashank Manohar-led ICC. But the notion that that’s howsome oicials think is testimony to their reluctance to cedepower.

Those who have been disqualified have nothing to lose. Mostof them will be at a loose end, and one concentrated efort toregain their seats, by hook or by crook, mainly the latter is notsurprising.

This is a strangely quiet period (if it can be called that)between the sackings and the rebuilding of the BCCI. A name-change is indicated for the new. That ‘control’ in the BCCI is ananachronism. It reeks of the old and feudal. How about CricketIndia? Or Indian Cricket Board?

The old order will fight; ithas nothing to lose but itsill-gotten power

BETWEEN WICKETS

Transition isdifficult enoughwithout the oldorder organisingroadblocks to tripup the new

SURESH MENON

MUMBAI: At the end of the 41stover of the India-A innings, thespectators who had throngedthe Brabourne Stadium onTuesday rose to their feet.

More than acknowledgingAmbati Rayudu’s efortlesshundred, the Mumbaikarswere going berserk in anticipa-tion of the man for whom Ray-udu was retiring.

With just nine overs remain-ing in the batting essay, Ma-hendra Singh Dhoni crossedthe boundary ropes, shookhands with the centurion asthey crossed and marched to-wards the crease, amidst voci-ferous chants of “Dhoni,Dhoni…”.

It wasn’t the first time theseroof-raising chants were heardon Tuesday. They had chantedat the fall of each of India-A’sfirst two wickets, expectingDhoni to walk out.

But Dhoni stuck to his role asa finisher, when the stage wasset for a blitzkrieg. And hedidn’t disappoint the fans —who had queued up at least fora couple of hours before beingallowed to occupy the steps inthe stands — with a trademarkDhoni innings. Of the 54 ballsremaining in the innings whenhe strode out, Dhoni faced 40;and clobbered 68 runs (8x4,2x6) against a hapless Englandattack.

For the first half of his

cameo, he had his old partner-in-crime, Yuvraj Singh, at theother end. While Yuvrajcouldn’t continue his earlieronslaught in his captain’s com-pany, Dhoni didn’t take longbefore caressing successiveboundaries of David Willey —a pull followed by a cover-drive, let of in the deep by SamBillings.

Yuvraj soon miscued a pullof Jake Ball to ofer a regula-tion catch to Adil Rashid, theleggie who was tormented bythe stylish left-hander earlier,at fine-leg. Then it was over toDhoni to finish on a strongnote.

He wasn’t deterred when anenthusiast invaded the fieldand touched Dhoni’s feet afterthe end of the 46th over. Whilehe warmed up with a boundaryin each of the 47th, 48th and49th overs, the last over of theinnings made it a worthwhilewait for all the spectators whohad sat for hours.

6, 4, 4, 2, 6, 1: that’s the se-quence in which Dhoniwhacked 23 runs of ChrisWoakes’s last six balls. He star-ted the over by gliding a fullerdelivery on the stumps overlong-leg. The next ball wasshort and wide outside of-stump, and Dhoni cleverly up-per-cut it over short third-man’s head. The third was aperfect short-ball but Dhoni,having crossed his fiftywithout even realising it, top-

edged it over the ’keeper. Afterfailing to pitch the next two de-liveries well, Woakes finishedthe over with a perfect yorkerthat Dhoni dug out for a single.

Kuldeep takes fiveIn the end, even the late

charge wasn’t enough as thewell-oiled England XI – despitechinaman Kuldeep Yadav’simpressive five-wicket haul –cruised to a three-wicket vic-

tory, with seven balls to spare.But that didn’t matter to a sub-stantial crowd who had stayedback and continued to chantfor their favourite player evenwhen he led the team back asthe losing captain.

The scores:India-A: Mandeep Singh b Willey

8, Shikhar Dhawan c Buttler b Ball 63,Ambati Rayudu retd. out 100, YuvrajSingh c Rashid b Ball 56, M.S. Dhoni(not out) 68, Sanju Samson c Hales b

Willey 0, Hardik Pandya (not out) 4;Extras (lb-2, nb-1, w-2): 5. Total (forfive wkts. in 50 overs): 304

Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-136, 3-227, 4-250, 5-257.

England XI bowling: Woakes 10-1-71-0, Willey 10-1-55-2, Moeen 10-0-42-0, Ball 10-0-61-2, Rashid 8-0-49-0,Dawson 2-0-24-0.

England XI: Jason Roy c Mohit bKuldeep 62, Alex Hales c Samson bKuldeep 40, Sam Billings b Pandya 93,Eoin Morgan c Dhawan b Chahal 3, Jos

Buttler c Mohit b Kuldeep 46, MoeenAli lbw b Kuldeep 0, Liam Dawson c &b Kuldeep 41, Chris Woakes (not out)11, Adil Rashid (not out) 6; Extras (b-1,lb-2, w-2): 5. Total (for seven wkts. in48.5 overs): 307.

Fall of wickets: 1-95, 2-106, 3-112,4-191, 5-191, 6-290, 7-290.

India-A bowling: Nehra 6-0-50-0, Pandya 9.5-1-48-1, Mohit 9-0-58-0, Chahal 10-0-56-1, Kuldeep 10-1-60-5, Yuvraj 4-0-32-0.

Toss: England XI

Dhoni holds court as Brabourne’s leading manCRICKET / Rayudu’s 100 in vain; England XI chases down India-A’s 304 with seven balls to spare

AMOL KARHADKAR

BLITZKRIEG: India-A captain M.S. Dhoni did not disappoint his fans who had thronged the stadium. — PHOTO: REUTERS

HYDERABAD: Former India cap-tain Mohd. Azharuddin hasfiled his nomination for theHyderabad Cricket Associ-ation (HCA) president’s post,for which elections are sched-uled on January 17.

Azharuddin, accompaniedby former Ranji star VankaPratap and D.A.J. Walters,whose National Cricket Clubfacilitated his nomination,handed over the papers to Re-turning Oicer K. RajeevReddy at the Rajiv Gandhi Sta-dium on Tuesday morning.

“Things are in real badshape and I am moved by theway people have been sayingso many things about Hydera-bad cricket. The falling stand-ards and the urge to do some-thing diferent and with apurpose are the reasons for meto make this move,” Azharud-din told The Hindu after filingthe nomination.

“Yes, this can be the firststep towards donning an ad-ministrator’s role on the big-ger stage,” Azharuddin said.

The former India batsmansaid that his decision was notan after-efect of the recent Su-preme Court order directing arevamp of the BCCI set-up.

“I have been thinking onthese lines for close to sixmonths. I must thank Waltersand Vanka for motivating meand helping file this nomina-tion,” he said.

“For me, cricket and crick-eters would be the top-mostpriority. Everything else issecondary and I have not comehere to make money,”Azharuddin insisted.

“I am not here to commenton how others have func-tioned. But, I can assure thecricketing fraternity that I am

here with a specific objectiveof giving a new shape and dir-ection to the sport,” he said.

“It is a pity that some localplayers have opted to play forother States and Hyderabadhas to import players for theRanji Trophy campaign.These things are a reflection ofthe fact that all is not well inthe administration,” Azharud-din explained.

“Any association should berun as per the rules and regula-tions laid down and not ac-cording to the whims and fan-cies of individuals,” he felt.

“It is a shame that there aresome reports that the HCAwas not in a position to hostthe Bangladesh Test.

“Why should the HCA beshort of funds? Look at manyothers who have surplus

funds,” Azharuddin argued.

“Team selection should beon merit like when we played.Not like now, when a set ofplayers is called back halfwaythrough a championship andanother batch is sent. All thesethings really saddened me,” hepointed out.

Ban, a non-issue

“I don’t think the BCCI banon me can be an issue in mycontesting for the post. TheAndhra Pradesh High Courtset aside the ban four yearsago. I don’t foresee any issue inthis regard,” said a confidentAzharuddin.

Azharuddin said it was im-perative to ensure that thepride of the new State of Tel-angana was not dented.

“I am confident of all thesecretaries of the clubs aili-ated to the HCA joining handswith me in my endeavour toclean up the mess. I am notbothered whether there willbe a contest for my post,”Azharuddin insisted as hesigned of with a smile.

Azharuddin files nomination forHCA president’s post V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM

IN THE FRAY: Former India captain Mohd. Azharuddin says heintends to give Hyderabad cricket a new direction. — PHOTO: V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM

Cricket andcricketers are

the top priority. I’venot come here tomake money

MUMBAI: The last time AmbatiRayudu batted in a competit-ive match, before Tuesday,was over six months ago in aTwenty20 Internationalagainst Zimbabwe. He has notfeatured in a Ranji match thisseason and a lot of eyebrowswere raised over his selectionto the India-A squad.

Rayudu silenced his criticswith an elegant hundredagainst the touring Englandside at the Brabourne Stadiumon Tuesday.

Not many of the doubt-mongers were aware that Ray-udu had been sidelined with aknee injury that had beenplaguing him ever since re-turning from Zimbabwe.

After having partially re-covered pre-season, the Hy-derabad batsman, who hadbeen plying his trade for Bar-oda in domestic cricket, evensigned a two-year contractwith Vidarbha. However, theknee trouble resurfaced to putan end to his Ranji ambitions.

The 31-year-old worked rig-orously to get back into shapeat the National CricketAcademy in Bengaluru.

It was just before the selec-tion for the warm-up gamesthat Rayudu is understood tohave told the selectors he wasavailable.

He does appear to have puton a bit of flab, but it hasn’t res-ulted in any loss of flair.

He drove with panache,pulled efortlessly and evenran between the wickets well,thus giving an impression thathe has addressed the kneeproblem, at least for now.

His century not only justi-fied his presence but also gavea much-neeeded option to theNational selectors in case of abreakdown during the hecticlimited-over season.

Rayudu returnswith a bang AMOL KARHADKAR

NEW DELHI: The outrage againstwhat appeared to be an at-tempt to rehabilitate formerpresidents Suresh Kalmadiand Abhay Chautala within theorganisation has seeminglyforced the de-recognised In-dian Olympic Association tostep back.

In a letter to Sports Secret-ary Injeti Srinivas, in reply tothe government’s show-causenotice, IOA president N.Ramachandran claimed thatthe appointments were neverformalised at the association’sAGM on December 27.

The Sports Ministry, on itspart, welcomed the move andindicated that the nationalOlympic body would regainthe “deemed recognition”granted to it by the Ministry.

“I have seen media reportsthat the IOA has cancelled theappointment of Shri SureshKalmadi and Shri Abhay SinghChautala as lifetime Presid-ents.

“I am happy that IOA has re-versed its decision, which au-gurs well for governance ofsports in the country [...] TheIOA has complied with its ownconstitutional obligation [...]In the renewed circumstances,we look forward to partneringwith IOA,” Sports Minister Vi-jay Goel said.

Automatically nullifiedRamachandran clarified

that the appointments wereautomatically nullified for notconforming to technicalitiesand, as such, there was noquestion of revoking them.“This is with reference to theletter dated December 30, sus-pending the deemed recogni-tion of the IOA which is un-

called for. We would like toinform you that according tothe constitution of IOA there isa procedure prescribed foritems to be discussed in theAGM,” he wrote.

“In the AGM in Chennai onDec. 27, a point was raised by amember stating that IOAshould nominate two life pres-idents. As no notice in writingwas received at least sevenclear days as per the Constitu-tion Clause VII no resolutionwas put to vote and passed.”

“It is also clarified that mem-bers can make proposals but ifit does not meet provisions ofthe Constitution it cannot beassumed that the proposal hasbeen approved and passed inthe meeting. In view of theabove since the proposal wasnot in accordance with theConstitution, the inconveni-ence and embarrassmentcaused to the individuals con-cerned, members of IOA andto all is regretted,” he added.

That said, there had been noobjection to the proposal fromany of the members present inthe meeting on the day. In fact,several IOA members had de-fended the decision, claimingit was an honorary post withno executive powers or votingrights. Former Archery Asso-ciation of India (AAI) presid-ent Vijay Kumar Malhotra is alife president.

Associate vice-presidentand newly-elected FIH presid-ent Narinder Batra, however,resigned in protest the nextday while other federationsalso voiced concerns later on.

Kalmadi had declined thepost till his name was clearedof all charges but Chautala hadinsisted he would quit only onthe directions of the Interna-tional Olympic Committee.

GENERAL

IOA cancels life presidencygiven to Kalmadi, Chautala UTHRA GANESAN

Best FIFA Men’s Player: Cristi-ano Ronaldo

Best FIFA Women’s Player: CarliLloyd

Best FIFA Men’s Coach: ClaudioRanieri

Best FIFA Women’s Coach:

Silvia NeidFIFA Puskas Award: Mohd Faiz

Subri FIFA Fans Award: Borussia

Dortmund and Liverpool supporters FIFA Fair Play Award:

Chapecoense football teamFIFA Award for an Outstanding

Career: Falcao (futsal player)FIFA FIFPro World11: Goal-

keeper: Manuel Neuer.Defenders: Dani Alves, Gerard

Pique, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo.Midfielders: Luka Modric, Toni

Kroos, Andres Iniesta.Forwards: Lionel Messi, Luis

Suarez, Cristiano Ronaldo

HONOURS BOARD

We know Surinder Am-arnath was compelled

to become a left-hander by hisfather, Lala Amarnath, be-cause of the need of the times.Surinder adapted and de-livered with a century on Testdebut.

Can one train to be an all-rounder? “No,” insists formerIndia leg-spinner NarendraHirwani. “You have to be anatural. Someone like KapilDev. Yuvraj Singh is one.”

Yuvraj is part of a specificplan as India looks to main-tain its good international re-cord. The goal is the Champi-ons Trophy and Yuvraj, alongwith Ashish Nehra, is expec-ted to play an important role.

“I had always backed my-self and I feel good about mybatting this season. Therehave been ups and downs, butthe focus has been high,” saidYuvraj. His role, Yuvraj in-sisted, remained the same as

in the 2011 World Cup whichsaw him win the Player of theSeries award.

“I was supposed to bolsterthe middle-order and play thefinishing game. It is the sameeven now. Cricket has be-come faster but my job wouldstill be to chase the targetswhich have become biggerthan they were in 2011.”

There is another common

factor in Yuvraj’s expectedcontribution — NarendraHirwani. In 2011, Hirwani hadtrained him for the tourna-ment.

“I told him (in 2011) hewould do well because he wasanatural all-rounder. Since heknew the batsman’s psycho-logy being a good batsmanhimself, he would make a verygood bowler.”

Yuvraj confessed to Hir-wani that, when batting, hisrhythm would get disturbedby the slower one. “So, I askedhim to vary the speed to inflictthat agony on the batsmen,”said Hirwani.

The former India leg-spin-ner worked on Yuvraj’s con-fidence and bowling duringthe last Duleep Trophy atGreater Noida. The two againspent a week at the NationalCricket Academy recently.

“I told him to be uprightwhen bowling and bowl in theright place. It is the most im-portant thing. Bowling in the

right place comes from hardtraining. I also told him tohave a simple mindset.

“You have to enjoy yourbowling. I always look towork on the bowler withouttampering with his action andYuvi has taken the lessonswell.”

Yuvraj imbibed a pricelessbit of advice from Hirwani.“He asked me to back myselfas a bowler. Being called apart-time bowler helps me. Ifeel under pressure if I am re-ferred to as the main bowler.“I am more mature now andwant to use my experience toserve the team better,” saidYuvraj.

The left-hander was ex-cited about returning to themain fold. “I have a role toplay in the middle-order withMahi (MS Dhoni).

“I have loved batting withhim. We bring experience tothe middle-order and hope torelive the 2011 World Cup thisseason,” Yuvraj concluded.

The Yuvraj recall — part of a specific team planVIJAY LOKAPALLY

Yuvraj Singh. — PHOTO: PTI

SYDNEY: Russian teenager DariaKasatkina upset World No. 1Angelique Kerber 7-6(5), 6-2 ina second-round match at theApia International onTuesday.

Important results:

At Sydney: Apia International:Women: Second round: BarboraStrycova bt Roberta Vinci 6-2, 6-3;Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bt Svet-lana Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-3; EugenieBouchard bt Dominika Cibulkova 6-4,6-3; Daria Kasatkina bt AngeliqueKerber 7-6(5), 6-2; Caroline Wozni-acki bt Yulia Putintseva 6-0, 7-5; Jo-hanna Konta bt Daria Gavrilova 6-1,6-3; Agnieszka Radwanska btChristina McHale 7-6(1), 6-1. Men:First round: Alex de Minaur bt Ben-oit Paire 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(1); AndreyKuznetsov bt Martin Klizan 2-6, 6-1,3-0 retd.; Mischa Zverev bt NicolasAlmagro 6-4, 6-2; Gilles Muller bt Al-exandr Dolgopolov 3-6, 6-3, 7-5; Mar-cel Granollers bt Santiago Giraldo 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-3.

At Hobart: Hobart Interna-tional: Second round: Elise Mer-

tens bt Sachia Vickery 0-1 retd.;Veronica Cepede bt Andrea Petkovic6-3, 0-6, 6-4; Monica Niculescu btKirsten Flipkens 6-3, 6-2.

At Auckland: ATP AucklandClassic: First round: Joao Sousa btAlbert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 7-5; Mar-cos Baghdatis bt Adrian Mannarino6-4, 6-4; Ryan Harrison bt GuillermoGarcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-2. Brydan Kleinbt Facundo Bagnis 6-1, 6-7(6), 7-6(3);Lu Yen-Hsun bt Karen Khachanov4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(9); Jeremy Chardy btArtem Sitak 6-4, 6-2. — AFP

TENNIS

Kasatkina stuns Kerber

Kasatkina. — PHOTO: REUTERS

ZURICH: FIFA’s ruling councilon Tuesday unanimously ap-proved an expansion of theWorld Cup to 48 teams in2026, in a major coup for thebody’s president Gianni In-fantino.

In a bid to widen the game’sglobal appeal and enrich itscofers, the FIFA panel en-dorsed a format with 16 groupsof three nations, a tweet fromFIFA’s oicial account said.

The move represents thefirst major change to theWorld Cup format since thetournament was boosted from24 to 32 teams for the 1998tournament in France.

The controversial proposalfaced tough criticism in someof football’s key camps, in-cluding warnings that it woulddilute the quality of play andoverburden already exhaustedplayers. — AFP

FOOTBALL

FIFA approves 48-teamWorld Cup for 2026

CMYK

ND-ND

SPORT18 |THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

1 Set a limit to delta farmers' yieldunpredictability (7)

2 Arabian dromedary overlooking acluster of stars (9)

3 With double acceleration, cross aline on two pivots (6)

5 Creator of Tom Sawyer has not amatch (4)

6 Sudden change in a pH value —at sixes and sevens? (8)

19 Drona's students bend in front ofking's son (7)

21 Powerful and punchy one-liner?Not quite (7)

22 Stylish act successively with nointerruption (2,4)

24 Sign of 'Amazon' spelt without'A' (5)

26 Your tech members regularlyreflecting on lead role (4)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10

11

12 13

14

15 16 17

18

19 20 21

22

23 24 25

26

27 28

29 30

7 Drift in male voice (5)

8 Cut short relaxation, that is, inlodges (7)

11 Enlist courtiers to regulate,dethroning other small chiefs (7)

14 Equate the remainder (7)

17 Out-of-sync tune to cometogether in a different way (9)

18 Game-changing collapse inhopeless movie (8)

THE HINDU CROSSWORD 11901 (set by Scintillator)

F ACROSS

GDOWN

Sundarar enjoys a unique relationship as a close friend ofSiva and no other Nayanar can claim this status. In adiscourse, Nallur Sa Saravanan drew attention to the factthat this rapport was more easily misunderstood, even bystaunch devotees. This is seen in the case of EyarkonKalikkama Nayanar, one of His devotees. This Nayanar is adevotee of the Lord as much as Sivan Adiyars. He is notedfor his selfless service to the Lord and the temple premises.But he is enraged at the audacity of Sundarar on hearingthat he uses Siva as a messenger to appease his lovequarrels. Sundarar knows about the Nayanar’s feelingstowards him and prays to God to clear the misconceptionthat had arisen in his heart.

In another instance, Siva brings Cheraman PerumalNayanar and Sundarar together in a unique way. CheramanPerumal Nayanar, a responsible king and ruler, is also agreat Siva devotee and has extreme regard to all SivanAdiyars. Material and spiritual prosperity reign in hiskingdom. In spite of the constraints as a ruler, he isengaged in daily Siva worship. At the end of Siva Puja, it iscustomary for the Lord to bless him with the tinklingsound of his anklets.

On one occasion when he does not hear the ankletsound he wonders what fault he must have committed forthis to happen. He decides to end his life. But the Lordmakes him hear the anklet sound. Siva also tells him thatthe delay is because He had been immersed in the song ofSundarar. The Nayanar is overwhelmed by Siva’s love andis also drawn to Sundarar. Subsequently, CheramanPerumal Nayanar and Sundarar meet and together they areimmersed in their rich devotional experience. Finally allthree devotees reach Kailasa.

Experiences of Adiyars

FAITH

Sudoku is a mind game and a

puzzle that you solve with

reasoning and logic.

Fill in the grid with digits in such a

manner that every row, every

column and every 3x3 box

accommodates the digits 1 to 9,

without repeating any.

TODAY'S SOLUTIONS

CRABBYSTRUTTER

ANIWPEE

PEDLARDISHINGS

RRXRNEOI

IDOLATERRAMROD

CMLCBVE

EWERGREATAUNTS

DMULLE

ACADEMICALBULL

RGTNITE

CAVIARSCENARIO

HIFHETAN

ENROLLEDNUCLEI

RGORRLN

SCORPIONENZYME

VARIETY

SU | DO | KU

1 Irritating wail outside a hotel (6)

4 Bumble right when drunk andwalk with a swagger (8)

9 Seller's promotion comprisingexotic deal (6)

10 Curse having put asafoetida inservings (8)

12 Fan's vow in the future (8)

13 God with mace is a martinet (6)

23 A vicar consumed a delicacy (6)

25 Outline of some craters' crestsvisible near full moon (8)

27 Registered nurse turned over (8)

28 Clue in novel's central parts (6)

29 Insect’s stinging poison —creepier in the extremes (8)

30 Physical driver steering my Zenethic, primarily (6)

15 To ship furniture, we rented acontainer (4)

16 Kids facing entrance examtouring Assam's capital withsome relatives (5-5)

19 Acclaimed American oddball in auniversity (10)

20 Strong market? That'snonsense! (4)

INDORE: Gujarat did the hardyards after choosing to field onthe opening day of the RanjiTrophy final and shot outMumbai for a modest 228 atthe Holkar Stadium here onTuesday.

Equipped with limited re-sources in the absence of fast-

bowler JaspritBumrah and left-arm-spinning all-rounder Axar Pa-tel, Gujarat’sthree seamers, aspecialist left-arm spinner anda part-time fingerspinner showedthe right ap-proach and con-fronted Mum-bai’s batting

strength with enthusiasm. After the fall of Siddhesh

Lad to a dubious decision byumpire Anil Chaudhary at tea,Mumbai virtually crawled, be-fore Abhishek Nayar hit somebold shots to raise 21 runs forthe last wicket.

Mumbai had a chance to hitback with a wicket in the clos-ing minutes when Gujaratopener Samit Gohil nicked thefirst ball he faced from ShardulThakur, but Prithvi Shaw —the highest scorer for his side— put down a sitter at first slip.

Seamers with the ability toextract bounce and the skill toget sideways movement ofthe pitch have largely met with

success here. Even then it was a cour-

ageous decision by Gujaratskipper Parthiv Patel to put theopposition in. Mumbai had anew opening pair in Shaw andthe left-handed Akhil Her-wadkar. Initially the pitch didnot seem to ofer left-armseamers R.P. Singh and RushKalaria much.

But what stood out was the

determination and commit-ment they showed rightthrough their spells to keepthe Mumbai batsmen in checkand strike at regular intervals.

After an ordinary first halfan hour, R.P. Singh squaredHerwadkar up and won a leg-before decision from umpireNitin Menon.

The first bowling changeresulted in the exit of Shreyas

Iyer, a victim of poor shot-se-lection against medium-pacerChintan Gaja.

Breakthrough

The fall of Shreyas, of thefirst ball of the 18th over, was abreakthrough and Gujarattook control of the day’s pro-ceedings thereafter.

Shaw made an attractivehalf-century, executing some

well-timed on-drives. He wasdropped on 24 by Gohil ofGaja, but during his 164-minute stay, he showed he hadthe calibre to succeed in FirstClass cricket.

The third-wicket standbetween Shaw and Suryaku-mar Yadav, who hit seven 4sand a six to score a half-cen-tury, produced 52 runs.

But Shaw’s dismissal put

Gujarat on top. Lad made the mistake of

throwing his wrists at a boun-cer and paid the price for play-ing an indiscreet shot, but thedecision given by Chaudharywas questionable.

Full marks to Gujarat’sbowlers for keeping Mumbaiunder pressure. R.P. Singhbowled 21 overs with dexter-ity, Kalaria tried hard and Gajasustained a good line andlength. And once the mainbatsmen had been sent back tothe pavilion, Rujul Bhattchipped in with two wickets.

The scores:Mumbai — 1st innings: Prithvi

Shaw run out 71, Akhil Herwadkarlbw b R.P. Singh 4, Shreyas Iyer cParthiv b Gaja 14, Suryakumar Yadavc Hardik b Gaja 57, Aditya Tare cBhatt b Hardik 4, Siddhesh Lad cParthiv b R.P. Singh 23, Abhishek Na-yar c Parthiv b Kalaria 35, B.S.Sandhu Jr. c Merai b Bhatt 6, ShardulThakur c Merai b Bhatt 0, Vishal Dab-holkar run out 3, Vijay Gohil (not out)0; Extras (lb-9, nb-1, w-1): 11; Total (in83.5 overs): 228.

Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-54, 3-106,4-128, 5-169, 6-179, 7-202, 8-204,9-207.

Gujarat bowling: R.P. Singh 21-6-48-2, Rush Kalaria 20.5-5-66-1,Chintan Gaja 16-6-46-2, Hardik Patel21-4-54-1, Rujul Bhatt 5-1-5-2.

Gujarat — 1st innings: SamitGohil (batting) 2, Priyank Panchal(batting) 0; Total (for no loss in oneover): 2.

Mumbai bowling: ShardulThakur 1-0-2-0.

Toss: Gujarat.

Gujarat calls the shots on the opening day Mumbai batsmen, with the exception of Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav, disappoint

SILVER LINING: Mumbai’s Prithvi Shaw played an attractive knock against Gujarat on a tough day for the 41-time champion. — PHOTO: K. MURALI KUMAR

G. VISWANATH

HYDERABAD: Highly Acclaimed(Y.S. Srinath up) claimed the Hy-derabad Juvenile Million, the mainevent of the races held here onTuesday.

The winner is trained by L.V.R.Deshmukh and owned by Mr.Ahmed Alam Khan.

1. ADLER PLATE (1,600m),Cat. II, 4-y-o & over, rated 40 to 70:Mahathi (P. Trevor) 1, MiracleKing (Y.S. Srinath) 2, Coruba(Mukesh Kumar) 3, Wonder Eye (AM Tograllu) 4. Not run: Top Con-tender. 2-3/4, nk, 1-1/2. 1m 39.23s.Rs. 8 (w), 5, 7, 7 (p), SHP: Rs. 14, FP:Rs. 15, Q: Rs. 11, Tanala: Rs. 38. Fa-vourite: Mahathi. Owner: Mr. B.Shyam Sunder Reddy. Trainer:R.H. Sequeira.

2. ANMOL RATAN PLATE(D. I), (1,100m), Cat. II, maiden 3-y-o only (Terms): Palace OnWheels (Deep Shanker) 1, JumeiraExpress (P. Trevor) 2, City Of Sails(K Sai Kiran) 3, Turf Legend(Deepak Singh) 4. 4-3/4, 3-1/2, 1-1/2.1m 06.53s. Rs. 10 (w), 6, 5, 11 (p),SHP: Rs. 15, FP: Rs. 26, Q: Rs. 14,Tanala: Rs. 85. Favourite: Palace OnWheels Owner: Mr. Ahmed AlamKhan. Trainer: Laxman Singh.

3. HYDERABAD JUVENILEMILLION (1,400m), maiden 3-y-oonly (Terms): Highly Acclaimed(Y.S. Srinath) 1, China Millennium(Akshay Kumar) 2, Tootise Roll (P.Trevor) 3, Bayrd (Beuzelin Louis)4. 1/2, 1/2, 2-1/4. 1m 26.17s. Rs. 11 (w),7, 13 (p), SHP: Rs. 19, FP: Rs. 66, Q:Rs. 52, Tanala: Rs. 272. Favourite:Highly Acclaimed. Owner: Mr.Ahmed Alam Khan. Trainer: L.V.R.Deshmukh.

4. ANMOL RATAN PLATE(D. II), (1,100m), Cat. II, maiden 3-y-o only (Terms): Warrior Su-preme (Y.S. Srinath) 1, Asteria (P.Trevor) 2, Moondancer (P.S.Chouhan) 3, True Hymn (SurajNarredu) 4. Hd, 1-1/4, 3-1/4. 1m07.08s. Rs. 9 (w), 6, 9, 7 (p), SHP: Rs.29, FP: Rs. 39, Q: Rs. 26, Tanala: Rs.103. Favourite: Warrior Supreme.Owners: Dr. Prabhakar ChowdaryTripuraneni, M/s. S. Daljeet Singh& Ashok Chukkla. Trainer: M.Srinivas Reddy.

5. BAILE LALITH PERSHADMEMORIAL CUP (D. II),(1,100m), Cat. II, 5-y-o & over, rated46 to 70: Aakash Vani (P. AjeethKumar) 1, Legend (P. Sai Kumar) 2,Time Is Luck (Praveen Gaddam) 3,

Par Excellence (A.A.Vikrant) 4. 2-1/2, 2-1/4, 1. 1m 06.29s. Rs. 22 (w), 7,9, 6 (p), SHP: Rs. 24, FP: Rs. 123, Q:Rs. 61, Tanala: Rs. 335. Favourite:Time Is Luck. Owners: M/s. K.T.Raidu, Premanand Sugandhi &Rammohan Belde. Trainer:Anupam Sharma.

6. SRI A.S. KRISHNA ME-MORIAL CUP (1,600m), Cat. I,4-y-o & over, rated 86 & above:Baashagar (Akshay Kumar) 1, Vi-jay Viraaj (Y.S. Srinath) 2, HappyGuy (P.S. Chouhan) 3, Command-ing Boy (N. Rawal) 4. 1-1/4, 3/4,2-1/2. 1m 37.43s. Rs. 70 (w), 16, 8, 8(p), SHP: Rs. 25, FP: Rs. 397, Q: Rs.159, Tanala: Rs. 845. Favourite: Vi-jay Viraaj. Owners: Dr. A. Jalalud-din & Mr. Junaiduddin Ahmed.Trainer: Anupam Sharma.

7. BAILE LALITH PERSHADMEMORIAL CUP (D. I),(1,100m), Cat. II, 5-y-o & over, rated46 to 70: Rubyonrails (P. Trevor)1, Catherine (B.R. Kumar) 2, MightySwing (P.S. Chouhan) 3, Symbol OfGlory (P. Ajeeth Kumar) 4. 3-3/4,3/4, 2-3/4. 1m 05.99s. Rs. 13 (w), 6,10, 7 (p), SHP: Rs. 22, FP: Rs. 52, Q:Rs. 40, Tanala: Rs. 151. Favourite:Rubyonrails. Owners: M/s. M.Madhukar & Eswarachandra Ra-jagopal Tripuraneni. Trainer: R.H.Sequeira.

8. MEMBERS CUP (1,600m),Cat III, 5-y-o & over, rated 26 to 50:Man Of The Series (Akshay Ku-mar) 1, Dhool Ka Phool (Ajit Singh)2, Hard Fought (P. Trevor) 3,Forever Bullish (Aneel) 4. 2-1/4, hd,hd. 1m 41.10s. Rs. 31 (w), 9, 15, 7 (p),SHP: Rs. 43, FP: Rs. 414, Q: Rs. 205,Tanala: Rs. 1433. Favourite: HardFought. Owner and trainer: Mr S.A.Shehzad Abbas.

9. HOVERCRAFT PLATE(1,200m), Cat. III, 4-y-o & over,rated upto 30: Our Ensign(Praveen Gaddam) 1, Take A Bow(N S Rathore) 2, Cruiser (Sai Kiran)3, Kohinoor Love (Kunal Bunde) 4.Nk, nk, 1-1/4. 1m 15.06s. Rs. 72 (w),18, 16, 54 (p), SHP: Rs. 46, FP: Rs.872, Q: Rs. 662, Tanala: Rs. 50149.Favourite: Golden Joy. Owner: Mr.Sarasam Madhusudan Reddy.Trainer: Sk. Waseem Ahmed.

Treble (i): Rs. 107 (294 tkts.), (ii):Rs. 782 (49 tkts.), (iii): Rs. 2060 (53tkts.); Consolation: Rs. 3027 (57tkts.); Jackpot: Rs. 134225 (threetkts.)

RACING

Highly Acclaimedclaims feature event

LOS ANGELES: Russell West-brook fell one rebound shy ofhis 18th triple-double of theseason, but his 21 points wereplenty in the Oklahoma CityThunder’s 109-94 victory overthe Bulls in Chicago.

The results: Oklahoma City Thun-der 109 bt Chicago Bulls 94; Min-nesota Timberwolves 101 bt DallasMavericks 92; New Orleans Pelicans110 bt New York Knicks96.—Agencies

Thunder roll over Bulls

BANGKOK: Qualifier Sriram Bal-aji scored a 6-4, 6-0 victoryover eighth seed VaclavvSafranek in the first round ofthe $50,000 Challenger tennistournament on Tuesday. Inthe pre-quarterfinals, Balajiwill play Jurgen Zopp.

In the $75,000 Challenger inCanberra, Vijay Sundar Prash-anth let Sam Groth escape to a6-7(1), 7-6(8), 6-3 win in thefirst round.

The results (first round):$75,000 Challenger, Canberra:Sam Groth (Aus) bt Vijay SundarPrashanth 6-7(1), 7-6(8), 6-3.

$50,000 Challenger, Bangkok:Sriram Balaji bt Vaclavv Safranek(Cze) 6-4, 6-0.

$15,000 ITF women, Marti-nique: Alice Rame (Fra) bt KyraShroff 6-1, 7-5. — Sports Bureau

Sriram Balajiadvances

RAMANATHAPURAM: Shivani’shat-trick set up a 7-1 win forHockey Bhopal over KeralaHockey in the ‘B’ division ofthe seventh National sub-ju-nior hockey tournament forwomen here on Tuesday.

The results: ‘B’division: HockeyCoorg 1 (B. Rischika Thimmaiah) btAssam Hockey 0; Hockey Bhopal 7(Shivani Gowtham 3, Soni Ladwal 2,Priyanka Dogra, Priyanka Dakad) btKerala Hockey 1 (Sana Mansuri).

Hockey Madhya Bharath 4 (AditiSharma, Isha Agarwal, Aayushi Patel,Priyanka Yadav) bt Citizen Hockey XI(Urmila Pandya).

Hockey Himachal 1 (Neha Takur)drew with Goans Hockey 1 (NikitaSutar); The Mumbai Hockey Associ-ation 2 (Payal Sawant 2) bt Telan-gana Hockey 1 (Kalpana Marri).

Hockey HIM 5 (Ankita Dahiya 2,Arti Kashyap 2, Antim Malik) btMumbai School Sports Association 1(Sakshi Pagar). — Sports Re-porter

Shivani ’tricks inBhopal’s big win

NEW DELHI: Noted sports scribeRamu Sharma passed awayhere on Tuesday after pro-longed illness. He was 81.

After a 30-year-stint withThe Statesman, Sharmaworked as Sports Editor withIndian Express. Known for hisinsightful writing, Sharma, anall-round journalist, coveredathletics, boxing and hockeywith passion. He was a widely-respected figure in the sport-ing fraternity.

The last rites will be per-formed on Wednesday at theElectric Crematorium, LodiRoad, at 1.30 p.m. — SpecialCorrespondent

Ramu Sharmapasses away

NEW DELHI: Abhimanyu VannemReddy bounced back from aslow start to defeat AtharvaSharma 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in theboys’ first round of the ITFgrade-2 junior tennis tourna-ment here on Tuesday.

He will face eighth seedParikshit Somani in thepre-quarterfinals.

In the girls’ section, HumeraShaik lost to Axana Mareen ofBelgium without a fight, whilesecond seed and last week’schampion Mahak Jain blankedcompatriot Ishita Singh.

The results:Boys (first round): Abhimanyu

Vannem Reddy bt Atharva Sharma4-6, 6-4, 6-2; Jack Draper (GBr) btYugal Bansal 6-1, 6-2; Vasisht Cher-uku bt Sergey Fomin (Uzb) 6-4, 7-6(1); Palaphoom Kovapitukted (Tha)bt Sumitpal Singh 6-3, 6-2; LenSchouten (Ned) bt Kabir Manrai 6-2,7-5; Dhruv Sunish bt Megh BhargavPatel 6-2, 7-5.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals):Uisung Park (Kor) & Hua-Chen Yu(Tpe) bt Vasisht Cheruku & Nitin Ku-mar Sinha 6-3, 6-2; Sergey Fomin(Uzb) & Dostanbek T ashbulatov(Kaz) bt Shashank Theertha & Sriv-atsa Ratakonda 6-4, 6-0; HazemNaow (Syr) & Dhruv Sunish bt YugalBansal & Shramay Dhawan 6-3, 6-2;Kabir Manrai & Sumitpal Singh bt Ar-thur Craig Pantino(Phi) & Rithvik

Choudary Bollipalli 7-5, 6-4; Mritun-jay Badola & Sacchitt Sharma btRoko Savin (Cro) & SiddharthThakran 6-4, 6-3; PalaphoomKovapitukted (Tha) & Tonkla Mulada(Tha) bt Megh Bhargav Patel & AlexSolanki 2-6, 6-2, [10-8]; Joshua Bode(USA) & Len Schouten (Ned) bt Ath-arva Sharma & Drona Walia 7-6(4),6-3; Jack Draper (GBr) & ParikshitSomani bt Rishabh Sharda & Abhi-manyu Vannem Reddy 6-7(4), 7-6(5), [10-1].

Girls (first round): AxanaMareen (Bel) bt Humera Shaik 6-1,6-0; Mahak Jain bt Ishita Singh 6-0,6-0.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals):Lexie Stevens (Ned) & Mihika Yadavbt Shefali Arora & Smriti Singh 6-1,

6-0; Aesha Patel (USA) & VeronikaPepelyaeva (Rus) bt Eunji Oh (Kor) &Rhea Verma 6-3, 5-7, [10-4]; Kuan YiLee (Tpe) & MananchayaSawangkaew (Tha) bt Shivani Amin-eni & Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-2, 6-4; Vic-toria Kalaitzis & Axana Mareen (Bel)bt Shivani Manjanna & RiddhiRamesh Sharma 7-5, 6-4; Esther Ad-eshina & Gemma Heath (GBr) btYubarani Banerjee & Humera Shaik7-5, 7-5; Mai Napatt Nirundorn (Tha)& Akanksha Bhan bt Sravya Shivani &Tanisha Kashyap 6-4, 6-3; PriskaMadelyn Nugroho (Ina) & MuskanGupta bt Harsha Sai Challa & Sab-hyata Nihalani 6-3, 3-6, [10-7]; Yas-mina Karimjanova (Uzb) & MahakJain bt Sathwika Sama & ShivaniIngle 6-2, 6-1.

TENNIS

Abhimanyu fights to down AtharvaSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Amit Sharma ofMinistry of Communicationsand Information

Technology and SachinRawat of Ministry of Financeset up a title clash in the inter-Ministry badminton tourna-ment, organised by CentralCivil Services Cultural andSports Board at the AIIMSGymkhana on Tuesday.

The women’s final will bebetween two players of DelhiAudit, Sheetal Kargeti andSwati Sharma, who had earlierhelped the team to the trophy.

The results:Men, semifinals: Amit Sharma

bt Rajeev Sharma 21-9, 21-11; SachinRawat bt Keshav Sharma 21-15, 21-8;Quarterfinals: Rajeev bt AbhinavPrakash 21-15, 21-14; Amit bt N.Krishnan 21-8, 21-9; Keshav bt VijaySharma 21-18, 17-21, 21-19; Rawat btAmit Tyagi 21-7, 21-12.

Doubles (semifinals): HemantDuggal & Abhinav bt Rajeev & Ke-shav 21-3, 21-6; Amit & Rawat btShailendra Pawan & Tyagi 21-7, 21-5.

Women, semifinals: SheetalKargeti bt Ruchika Patwal 15-4, 15-8;Swati Sharma bt Rachita Sahdev 15-10, 15-11.

Quarterfinals: Sheetal bt PriyaNulgundwar 21-8, 21-14; Ruchika btAnnushree Viswakarma 21-12, 21-16;Swati bt Madhu Gyanchandani 21-10,21-10; Rachita bt Kalpana 21-8, 21-8.

Doubles, semifinals: Sheetal &Rachita bt Varsha Kohli & Madhu15-5, 15-5; Swati & Ruchika bt An-nushree & Priya 15-12, 15-11. — Spe-cial Correspondent

Amit, Sachin intitle clash

DOHA: Bayern Munich will notsell centre-back Holger Bad-stuber in the summer but hecan leave on loan in January,club coach Carlo Ancelottisaid on Tuesday.

Bundesliga rival Schalke 04is thought to be competingwith Manchester City andSwansea to sign the interna-tional defender in January’stransfer window.

But, speaking from Bayern’swinter training camp in Doha,Ancelotti said any move awayfrom Munich would not bepermanent.

“I said if he decided to leavebecause he wanted to play wecan deal with it for sixmonths,” said the Italian.

“We can speak about thiswith him.

“There is no chance he willbe sold.”

The 27-year-old has playedjust 28 minutes for the Bundes-liga leader since October, sit-ting out its last six leaguegames and has made it clear hewants more matches. — AFP

Bayern not to sellBadstuber, saysAncelotti

NEW DELHI: Carolina Marin ismore popular in India than inSpain, if one goes by the de-mands on her time during theongoing Premier BadmintonLeague.

“It’s unbelievable. It feelsgreat to find fans in diferentcities of India, and they wish totake ‘selfies’ with me,” saysMarin. “Even when I was play-ing in Hyderabad, a large num-ber of supporters were back-ing me against P.V. Sindhu andSaina Nehwal. It is very nice ofthem.

“It is not the same in Spain.But, after I won in Rio, I cansee more people playing bad-minton in my country. It is notlike football and tennis, but itis picking up.”

The World and Olympicchampion, who beat the two

leading Indian women on suc-cessive days to justify herworth for Hyderabad Hunters,is modest about her achieve-ments, and says she wishes toadd more to her collection thatincludes the European and AllEngland titles.

“Everyone wants to beat me.But I am keen to win back myWorld No. 1 spot. Today,among those in the world’stop-10 list, anyone can beatanyone. So it’s really close,”says the 23-year-old WorldNo. 2, ahead of HyderabadHunters’ last league matchagainst host and defendingchampion Delhi Acers. “Thisyear, I wish to win more Supertitles and keep the world title(for the third time).”

Her coach, Fernando Rivas,who is known to be a toughtask-master, maintains that hisstudent has put in more hard-

work in all these years.“She is not talented. What I

can say is that she had the po-tential. You can be talented

but if you are not workinghard, it gets you nowhere,” hesays. “You only see the resultsbut not the process. Let me tellyou, she was worked eighthours a day, everyday, to reachthis far. She works very hard,believe me.”

‘Played hard, but wasn’tenough’

Meanwhile, the men’sWorld No. 2 Jan O Jorgensencandidly stated that he camefor this edition of PBL to enjoyhimself.

“To be honest, I had a tough2016, and after working hardall the way, I thought it wouldbe nice to enjoy 14 days here,”he said.

“We, as a team (DelhiAcers), played as hard as wecould but it was not enough.We won our last match andhope to win again (on

Thursday).”Delhi Acers was the best

team on paper at the secondedition of the PBL. However,despite having the services ofJorgensen and World No. 4Son Wan Ho, the defendingchampion became the firstteam to be out of contentionfor a place in the semifinals.

What went wrong?“Nothing was specifically

wrong,” said G. Jwala, whopointed to the 11-point systemand extensive travel as pos-sible reasons for the team’sdismal showing.

“It doesn’t really matterwho is in your team in thispoint-format. Even if we hadthe best doubles pair in ourteam, there was no guaranteethat we would have done well.Look at Mumbai: with two In-dian singles players, they havedone so well.”

BADMINTON

Marin is not naturally talented but works hard: coachRAKESH RAO

Carolina Marin — PHOTO: PTI

CMYK

SPORT | 19THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017

NOIDA/DELHI

lowed by two quick two-pointers by Palpreet SinghBrar and Bijender made it 34-30. It however regroupedquickly with baskets from Siv-abalan and Prasanna.

Railways’s Palpreetshowed why he was picked inthe NBA draft recently with abrilliant performance overall.Around him, Railways triedits best to make a match out ofit. His 10 defensive reboundsand seven blocks came at acrucial time and kept TN incheck. However, TN’s con-sistent shooting saved theday.

The sore point was thatneither forward Vineeth ReviMathew nor Rikin appearedto be in control on defensiverebounds. TN and IndianRailways now have two winsand a loss each.

There hasn’t been much tofault the Uttarakhand men’steam for. The two-time cham-pion has played to itsstrengths — relying on centreAmritpal Singh, pivot MuraliKrishna and veteran forwardTrideep Rai, without beingovertly flashy.

With three wins from threematches including one overarch-rival Tamil Nadu, Ut-tarakhand will have the upperhand when it takes on Indian

PUDUCHERRY: Tamil Nadu’s 80-62 victory over Indian Rail-ways in a Group B men’smatch of the 67th senior Na-tional basketball champion-ships here on Tuesday mightappear easy on paper. In real-ity, it was anything but that.

Tamil Nadu did relativelywell in the first quarter,struggled in the second, waspatchy in the third before as-serting its superiority in thefourth.

Earlier, Uttarakhand toyedwith Chhattisgarh 65-36 toscript its third successive winin Group B.

It was smooth-sailing in thefirst quarter for Tamil Naduwith ball-handler Akilanshowing of his passingprowess in adequate measure.Centre Rikin Pethani and for-ward Prasanna Venkateshdazzled briefly with theirshooting.

TN fumbled in the secondquarter with several missedpasses and poor conversion ofofensive rebounds. From ahandy lead of 30-17 midway,Tamil Nadu panicked to allowIndian Railways to stage acomeback. Three-pointers byRailways’s Bijender Kumarand Himanshu Sharma fol-

Railways in its last groupmatch.

Chhattisgarh doesn’t have apivot or a centre to challengeAmritpal Singh or MuraliKrishna, or a forward likeVishesh Bhriguvanshi. And,as a result there, was littlechallenge. Only P. Rajeshmanaged to score. The con-test was one-sided in all thequarters: 25-7, 43-19, 57-25. Ut-tarakhand lowered its guarddeliberately in the lastquarter, where Chhattisgarhwas able to score more: 11 toUttarakhand’s 8.

The Indian Railway wo-men’s team continued its un-beaten run with a 93-33 winover Punjab in a Group A tie.If the 27-time champion beatsTelangana on Wednesday, itwill top the Group.

The results:

Men: Level 1: Group B: Ut-tarakhand 65 (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi21) bt Chhattisgarh 36 (Rajesh 14);TN 80 (Akilan 20, Rikin Pethani 17,Prasanna Venkatesh 15, Sivabalan10) bt Indian Railways 62 (PalpreetSingh Brar 24, Bijender Kumar 11).

Women: Level 1: Group A: In-dian Railways 93 (Madhu Kumari 26,Sruthi Menon 18, M.J. Libina 12) btPunjab 33; Telangana 61 (Ramya 16,Rachana 14, Suganya 12) bt Maha-rashtra 42 (Shireen Limaye 16, Sak-shi 12).

BASKETBALL / Uttarakhand thrashes Chhattisgarh for its third successive win

PLAYING HIS PART: Rikin Pethani helped Tamil Nadu beatRailways in a tough contest.— PHOTO: S.S. KUMAR

K. KEERTHIVASAN

TN’s consistent shooting does the trick against Railways

BENGALURU: Saina Nehwal has calledon the Badminton World Federa-tion (BWF) to increase the prizemoney on ofer at Super Seriesevents.

The Indian shuttler believesthat this should be done to preventtop players from choosing privateleagues — like the ongoingPremier Badminton League (PBL)— over BWF-sanctioned events.

In 2016, elite Super SeriesPremier tournaments carried atotal prize money of $700,000(minimum increment of $50,000in 2017). The singles winners tookhome $52,500. The total prizemoney on ofer at Super Seriesevents — one rung lower than Su-per Series Premier — is $250,000(minimum increment of $25,000 in2017). The PBL carries a total prizemoney of $10,00,000.

“Private leagues ofer moreprize money than Super Seriesevents. If you have two leagueslike PBL every year, then everyonewill play in leagues rather than Su-per Series. Players enjoy these

leagues, they make good money,and it is less strenuous too. I re-quest the BWF to increase theprize money for Super Seriesevents. A Super Series winner gets$50,000. It should be more. Playersshould be financially happy,”Saina said.

Saina, who represents AwadheWarriors in the PBL, added, “AGrand Slam winner in tennis canmake Rs. 21 crore (approx $3 mil-lion) — it is crazy. That’s why a lotof youngsters want to take uptennis.”

Players’ opinion

The 2012 Olympics bronzemedal winner stated that playersshould be consulted before the 11-point, best-of-five-games format isused in BWF events. As it standsnow, the BWF has requested itsmember nations to trial thisshortened format. “If players ob-ject to this format being used inBWF tournaments, then it shouldnot be changed from the 21-point,best-of-three-games system. Youhave to consult the players.

“You have to trial it in one or

two tournaments, and not put itinto Super Series events immedi-ately. The two formats can co-ex-ist. We can have four Grand Slamevents — like they do in tennis —which can use 21-points format,while the other events can have 11-points. Changing all tournamentsto 11-points will not be good,”Saina said.

“The 11-point game is tough. If aplayer wins six points, it is toughfor the opponent to catch up. Also,the long rallies will be missed. It’sall about taps and smashes,” the26-year-old explained.

The star shuttler added that shemight skip Awadhe’s final groupstage encounter, against ChennaiSmashers, to be held here onWednesday.

This means that the much anti-cipated clash between Saina andP.V. Sindhu may not happen in theBengaluru-leg.

“I will think about resting (onWednesday). I need to look aftermy knee, as I have to compete inthe Malaysian Open. I will go all-out in the knock-out stages of thePBL,” she said.

ASHWIN ACHAL

Saina Nehwal.— FILE PHOTO

Saina calls on BWF to hike Super Series prize money

EDINBURGH: Shreyas Mehta, In-dia’s top under-13 player, wonthe Scottish Junior Open beat-ing Colombia's Juan JoseTorres Lara.

The 9/12 seeded Indian won8-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7. Shreyaswas fluent, not dropping agame until the title-round.

A significant win en route tothe final came against Scottishplayer Ben Robert John Bar-ron, seeded at 3/4.

The Indian's trying mo-ments came in the final but theyoung talent showed the gritto wriggle out of a diicult ini-tial phase before coming outon top. — Sports Bureau

Shreyas Mehtabags Scottish junior title

ST. JOHN’S (ANTIGUA): The WestIndies Cricket Board (WICB)has announced that English-man Johnny Grave would takeup the position of chief execut-ive oicer from February in thehope of expanding its commer-cial footprint, improve its man-agement, and develop a betterrelationship with players.

Grave replaces MichaelMuirhead in the post, follow-ing the Jamaican’s decision tostep down last October, andwas appointed following whatthe regional governing bodydescribed as “a rigorous re-cruitment process,” reportssaid. —IANS

Johnny Graveappointed WICB CEO

VADODRA: Telangana’s VaruniJaiswal prevailed over DiyaChitale 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 4-11, 12-10in a hard-fought round-of-64junior girls’ match in the11Even Sports 78th junior andyouth National table tennischampionships here on Tues-day.

Premangi Ghosh of WestBengal shocked Maharashtra’sSwastika Ghosh 7-11, 8-11, 11-6,15-13, 11-7.

The results (round-of-64):

Junior boys: Manav Thakkar(PSPB) bt Samrat Chakraborty (NB)3-0, Mandar Hardikar (Mah) btKaushal Bhatt (Guj) 3-0, AkashChowdhury (WB) bt Gaurav Lo-hapatre (Mah) 3-2, Ali Mohammad(Tel) bt Tanmay Choukse (MP) 3-2,Yashansh Malik (Del) bt TusharPandey (Utk) 3-0, Akash Pal (WB) btHarsh Shrivastava (PSPBA) 3-2, JashDalvi (Mah) bt Aditya Dey (Asm) 3-0,Wesley Do Rosario (Goa) 3-0, ShivajiRoy (Jhk) bt Abhishek Pathak (UP)3-1, Ramesh S. Kumar (TN) bt NeerajRaj (Kar) 3-2, Shivjit Singh Lamba(Del) bt Siril Saroj (Tel) 3-0, IshaanHingorani (Guj) bt Avijit Basu (WB)3-1, Harshavardhan Lahoti (Tel) bt JaiJain (Har) 3-0, Sameer Pandey(PSPBA) bt Suranjit Dey (Meg) 3-1.

Shaurya Pednekar (Mah) bt AkashBarua (Asm) 3-1, Jeet Chandra (WB)bt Shubh Goel (Del) 3-2, Parth Vir-mani (Del) bt Lakhvinder Singh (Utk)3-0, Asif Khan (Raj) bt Piyush Sagar(TN) 3-0, Sridhar Harikrishna (Tel) btAgniv Bhaskar (Asm) 3-1, AniruddhaMarathe (Mah) bt Shubhadeep Das(WB) 3-1, Soham Bhattacharya (WB)bt Nikhil Nandha (Kar) 3-2, ReaganAlbuquerque (Mah) bt Amaan M.Rahman (CBSE) 3-0, Payas Jain (Del)bt Mainik Das (NB) 3-0, Anukram Jain

(PSPBA) bt Sanat Bokil (Mah) 3-0,Snehit Suravajjula (Tel) bt Vikas She-oran (Har) 3-0, Shubham Ambre(Mah) bt Jayabrata Bhattacharjee(NB) 3-1, Alberto Lrruata (Miz) bt An-gad Singh Chhabra (Del) 3-0, SarthakSeth (UP) bt Krishna Sundar (Kar)3-0, Rounak Mazumdar (WB) btShrikrishna Arunachalam (TN) 3-1,Hardik Khurana (Del) Sai Tejesh (Tel)3-2, Chinmaya Somaiya (PSPBA) btHardik Paliwal (UP) 3-0, ManushShah (Guj) bt Hrishikesh Malhotra(Mah) 3-0.

Junior girls: Jitakhee Mazumdar(Asm) bt Shreya Ghosh (WB) 3-0,Deepika Neelakandan (TN) bt RittikaKundu (NB) 3-1, Srushti Haleangadi(Mah) bt Suhana Saini (Har) 3-0, V.Laasya (Tel) bt Vanshika Sachar(Del) 3-1, Tulika Roy (WB) bt AanchalMalhotra (Del) 3-2, Manasi Chip-lunkar (Mah) w/o B. Nagasravani(AP) 3-0, Anjali Rohilla (Har) bt NehaKumari (NB) 3-0, Ananya Basak (Odi)bt Shrubabati Moitra (WB) 3-1, Var-uni Jaiswal (Tel) bt Diya Chitale(Mah) 3-2, Shruti Amrute (Mah) btSakshi Chaudhry (HP) 3-0, VanshikaBhrgava (Del) bt Trisha Gogoi (Asm)3-1, Nikita Sarkar (NB) w/o KajolRamjali (AP) 3-0.

V. Saasya (Tel) bt Eesha Joshi(Mah) 3-1, Tanisi Kirtani (Goa) btSrishti Gupta (Del) 3-1, AbhinayaRamesh (TN) bt Adrija Sarmah (Asm)3-1, Surbhi Patwari (WB) bt PranithaGarlapati (Tel) 3-0, Ishita Gupta (Del)bt Chhavi Singh (Raj) 3-0, PriyankaSarkar (NB) bt Kausha Bhairapure(Guj) 3-1, Diksha Biswas (NB) bt Re-nuka Aswani (Ker) 3-1, PremangiGhosh (WB) Swastika Ghosh (Mah)3-2, Selenadeepthi Selvakumar (TN)bt Gargee Goswami (Asm) 3-0,Naina (Tel) bt Spoorthi Venkatesh(Kar) 3-2, Amiesha Dhall (Del) btAditi Sinha (Mah) 3-0, Puja Paul (NB)bt Trisha Paul (Har) 3-2.

TABLE TENNIS

Premangi stuns SwastikaSPORTS BUREAU

NEW DELHI: Geeta Phogat re-turned to the UP Dangal teamline-up but was still awaitingher first bout of the Pro Wrest-ling League even as PunjabRoyals notched up its third vic-tory, winning 5-2 to go on top ofthe points table here on Tues-day. UP is yet to win a tie in thiscompetition.

While Geeta’s weight cat-egory (58kg) was blocked, Pun-jab rode on captain VladimirKhinchegashvili (57kg) and Ni-gerian Odunayo Adekuoroye(women 53kg) to dominate theproceedings. With both wrest-lers unbeaten so far, Punjab al-ways had the upper hand.

And Khinchegashvili gave itthe perfect start, winning 6-2against Amit Kumar Dahiya inthe opening bout. The Geor-gian, in fact, appeared to playaround with the 2012 LondonOlympian, provoking him but

turning Dahiya around andscooping up the points everytime the Indian tried to attack.He relaxed in the last fewseconds to concede a couple ofpoints but the result was settledby then.

Odunayo, on the other hand,registered her third win bytechnical superiority (a marginof 15 points or higher) in asmany bouts, wrapping up herfight against Pinki in fiveminutes 24 seconds.

Pinki, who replaced Babita,was no match for the Nigerianand was trailing 0-6 at the endof first round before beingthrown down to the mat re-peatedly as Odunayo raced to16-0 and victory.

The depth in Punjab’s line-upcan be gauged from the fact thatthe team replaced its doubleOlympic medallist and one ofthe strongest contenders here— Toghrul Asgarov ofAzerbaijan — without any set-

back as Russian Ilyas Bekbu-latov managed to do his jobnicely, winning 6-3 against An-drey Kviatkovski in the 65kg.

The only victories for UPcame via its captain ElitsaYankova, who managed to win2-1 with the winning point com-ing as bonus after Nirmala Deviwas penalised for her team’schallenge in the dying secondsof the game being rejected.

Amit Dhankar won the otherbout for UP, dominating the ex-perienced Pankaj Rana 13-5 inthe 70kg category. Dhankar led4-0 early on before Rana foughtback to level scores. There-after, it was Dhankar all the wayas the youngster kept pushinghis opponent down to the matrepeatedly.

Vasilisa Marzaliuk beatMaria Mamashuk 3-1 in an all-Belarussian fight to win the wo-men’s 75kg while Jitendra beatTariel Gaprindashvili in the74kg for other Punjab wins.

PWL

UTHRA GANESAN

Punjab’s regal display puts it on top

BENGALURU: When P.V. Sindhumade her way to the court, thecrowd at the Koramangala In-door Stadium went berserk.The Olympic silver medallistdid not let her fans down, put-ting on a fantastic show to de-feat Ji Hyun Sung.

Sindhu’s victory helpedChennai Smashers record a 4-3win over Mumbai Rockets inthe Premier BadmintonLeague here on Tuesday. With

her teamup 3-1,Sindhu(WorldNo. 6)toppled

World No. 3 Sung 11-8, 12-10 toseal the fate of the tie.

The lanky Sindhu used herreach to cover the court, andher exceptional wrist workgave her a distinct advantagewhen she closed in on the net.The 21-year-old took the firstgame with a crisp smash,which brought an end to a tre-mendous exchange.

The opening stages of thesecond game saw a marathon44-shot rally — the highlight ofthe rubber. Sindhu later estab-lished a 9-6 advantage, butSung pulled it level at 10-10. Anill-timed service error fromSung, however, gave Sindhumatch-point. A fierce hit fromthe Indian got her past the fin-ish line.

Earlier, Chennai’s P.Kashyap fell to H.S. Prannoy 9-11, 11-13. Chris Adcock and Gab-

rielle Adcock — Chennai’strump — gave the unit a 2-1lead by going past Chirag Sh-etty-Nadiezda Zieba 9-11, 11-2,11-7.

Mumbai’s Ajay Jayaram(World No. 19) started brightlyagainst World No. 21, TommySugiarto, but started to fade asthe encounter wore on. Ja-yaram set the arena alight withflair and athleticism, but un-

forced errors cost him dearly.The results: Chennai Smashers

bt Mumbai Rockets 4-3 [P.Kashyap lost to H.S. Prannoy 9-11, 11-13; Chris Adcock & Gabrielle Adcock(T) bt Chirag Shetty & NadiezdaZieba 9-11, 11-2, 11-7; Tommy Sugi-arto bt Ajay Jayaram 8-11, 11-2, 11-5;P.V. Sindhu bt Ji Hyun Sung 11-8, 12-10; Chris Adcock & Mads Pieler Kold-ing lost to Yong Dae Lee & NipitphonPuangpuapech (T) 3-11, 5-11].

ASHWIN ACHAL

FLYING HIGH: Chennai Smashers’s star player P.V. Sindhu playeda classy game against Ji Hyun Sung of Mumbai Rockets onTuesday. — PHOTO: G.P. SAMPATH KUMAR

Sindhu sizzles in Smashers’ win

MADRID: Valencia was dealt an-other heartbreaking blowwhen it missed a latepenalty kick then con-ceded in injury time tolet last-place Osasunaescape with a 3-3 draw, aresult that extended the club’swinless streak to eight games in

the Spanish league on Monday. Valencia seemed set for its

first victory since Octo-ber, but Osasuna de-fender Carlos Clercscored the equaliser twominutes into stoppage

time. About five minutes earlier,

playmaker Dani Parejo misseda chance to seal Valencia’s winwhen his penalty was saved byOsasuna goalkeeper MarioFernandez.

The result: Osasuna 3 (Riera 7,Torres 62, Clerc 90+2) drew withValencia 3 (El Haddadi 2, Riera 45+1-og, Montoya 73). — Agencies

Heartbreak for Valencia

NEW DELHI: Untitled NiranjanNavalgund scripted an un-likely story by stunning Ar-menian Grandmaster KarenMovsziszian, seeded 11, and re-turned to humble Interna-tional Master Saptarshi Roy tojoin 13 others in the lead with aperfect score after threerounds of the Delhi Interna-tional Open chess tournamenthere on Tuesday.

On a day when second seedM. R. Lalith Babu slipped afterbeing held by the lanky AkashThakur, Rahul Sangma wasthe other player to maintain anall-win sequence by beatingPolish GM Jacek Stopa. Therewas no stopping top seededTajikistani FarrukhAmonatov.

But this double-round daybelonged to Niranjan. The 22-year old punishedMovsziszian who pressed toohard for initiative in their Retigame. Niranjan, who hasalready authored an interest-ing book, held his nerves andseized the opportunity to pre-vail in 40 moves.

Ploy backfires

In the evening, Roy chosenot to take Niranajan’s knightto launch a decisive attack butthe ploy backfired. Roy had hisknight trapped and eventuallyresigned.

Leading results (Indians unlessstated):

Third round: Ihor Nester (Ukr, 2)lost to Farrukh Amonatov (Tjk, 3); M.R. Lalith Babu (2.5) drew with AkashThakur (2.5); Sayantan Das (3) bt

Diptayan Ghosh (2); ArystanbekUrazayev (Kaz, 2) lost to M.Karthikeyan (3); P. Itiyan (3) bt Vi-taliy Bernadskiy (Ukr, 2); Vitaly Sivuk(Ukr, 3) bt Srijit Paul (2); VadimMalakhatko (Bel, 2.5) drew with V. A.V. Rajesh (2.5); Nouri Hamed (Phi,2.5) drew with Swayams Mishra(2.5); Jacek Stopa (Pol, 2) lost toRahul Sangma (3); Anna Styazhkina(Rus, 2) lost to Valeriy Neverov (Ukr,3); Niranjan Navalgund (3) bt Saptar-shi Roy (2).

Second round: Amonatov btAradhya Garg; M. Mahalakshmi lostto Babu; Ghosh bt Joydeep Dutta;Pratik Patil drew with Alberto David(Ita); Karthikeyan bt S. Jayakumar;Bernadskiy bt Anish Gandhi;Chilukuri Likhit lost to Sivuk; Ja Gire-man drew with Adam Tukhaev (Ukr);Spencer Masango lost toMalakhatko; Karen Movsziszian(Arm) lost to Niranjan Navalgund.

CHESS

Niranjan lands double-blow, joins 13 others at the topRAKESH RAO

A DAY TO REMEMBER: Niranjan Navalgund stunned Armenian GM Karen Movsziszian and IM Saptarshi Roy.