16.02.2017 Views

TESTR

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

DELHI, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 ● RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ● ISSN 0971 - 751X ● Vol. 5 ● No. 17 ● CITY EDITION ● 20 Pages ● Rs. 8.00 ● www.thehindu.in<br />

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

• •<br />

Change at<br />

the helm at<br />

The Hindu<br />

The Board of Directors of<br />

Kasturi and Sons Ltd.<br />

(KSL), publishers of The<br />

Hindu and Group publications,<br />

at its meeting on<br />

January 20, unanimously<br />

appointed Malini Parthasarathy<br />

as the Editor<br />

of The Hindu effective<br />

February 1, 2015. Dr. Malini<br />

Parthasarathy will be<br />

in charge of all editorial<br />

operations, and be the<br />

Editor responsible for selection<br />

of news under the<br />

Press and Registration of<br />

Books (PRB) Act.<br />

N. Ravi, Wholetime Director,<br />

will step down<br />

from his role as Editorin-Chief<br />

of The Hindu on<br />

January 31, 2015. The<br />

Board placed on record<br />

Mr. Ravi’s contributions<br />

to maintaining The Hindu’s<br />

pre-eminent position<br />

as the most<br />

respected English newspaper<br />

in India.<br />

The Board also noted<br />

that Dr. Malini Parthasarathy<br />

has the rare distinction<br />

of being The<br />

Hindu’s first woman Editor,<br />

and wished her the<br />

very best in taking The<br />

Hindu to greater heights.<br />

INSIDE <br />

OBAMA VISIT<br />

Tackling terror<br />

In an exclusive article, Bruce<br />

Riedel, Director, the Intelligence<br />

Project, the Brookings<br />

Institution, discusses how<br />

tackling terrorism will be high on<br />

the agenda during<br />

Barack Obama’s visit to India,<br />

coming as it does when the<br />

terrorist threat environment in<br />

the subcontinent is in transition.<br />

COMMENT | PAGE 11<br />

EMPOWER<br />

— on Page 8<br />

DU student<br />

drugged, raped<br />

Staff Reporter<br />

NEW DELHI: A Delhi University<br />

student was raped allegedly<br />

by her friend at his residence<br />

on Monday. The incident has<br />

been reported from South<br />

Delhi’s Vasant Vihar. The accused<br />

was arrested on Tuesday<br />

morning.<br />

According to police, the incident<br />

took place when the<br />

victim, who is a resident of<br />

Munirka area went to a party<br />

at her friend’s residence in<br />

South Delhi. The accused was<br />

known to the victim for last<br />

three years.<br />

In her statement to the police,<br />

the victim said that after<br />

the party, the accused promised<br />

to drop her home.<br />

“Before leaving , the accused<br />

offered her a drink that<br />

was laced with sedative. After<br />

consuming the drink, the girl<br />

became unconscious and the<br />

accused raped her. After few<br />

hours when she woke up, she<br />

realised that she had been<br />

raped. Somehow she managed<br />

to reach home and narrated<br />

the incident to her<br />

mother who later approached<br />

the police ,” an officer said.<br />

She was taken for the medical<br />

examination which confirmed<br />

rape.<br />

A case of rape was registered<br />

on the basis of the girl’s<br />

statement and the accused<br />

was arrested from his residence.<br />

The identity of the accused<br />

has not been disclosed<br />

by the police.<br />

CM<br />

TIGER CENSUS GOOD NEWS FROM THE JUNGLE<br />

Giant leap for big cat<br />

Western Ghats<br />

Landscape holds<br />

the world’s<br />

single largest<br />

population<br />

Meena Menon<br />

NEW DELHI: India now has 70<br />

per cent of the tiger population<br />

in the world with<br />

the latest assessment estimating<br />

2,226 big cats, up 30<br />

per cent from 1,706 in 2010,<br />

show preliminary estimates<br />

in “Status of Tigers in<br />

India, 2014.”<br />

The largest increase is recorded<br />

in the Western<br />

Ghats Landscape complex<br />

— Kerala, Karnataka, Goa<br />

and Tamil Nadu — with 776<br />

tigers (up from 402 in<br />

2006). The Mudumalai-<br />

Bandipur-Nagarahole-<br />

Wayanad complex holds<br />

the world’s single largest tiger<br />

population currently<br />

estimated at over 570 tigers<br />

(in 11,000 sq.km of habitat),<br />

the report says. Goa now<br />

has a persistent tiger presence<br />

with three to five animals.<br />

However, the Sunderbans<br />

did not report an increase<br />

in the numbers<br />

because of a low prey base<br />

and other factors. Odisha<br />

reported a fall in number.<br />

Releasing a summary of<br />

figures of the third round of<br />

CBI examines ex-PM in coal scam<br />

Devesh K. Pandey<br />

the country-level tiger assessment,<br />

Union Minister<br />

of State for Environment<br />

and Forests Prakash Javadekar<br />

said here on Tuesday<br />

that the increase in numbers<br />

was a great achievement<br />

and a result of the<br />

combined efforts of passionate<br />

officers.<br />

With so many tigers, India<br />

could send them to<br />

countries where there was<br />

demand for them. Mr. Javadekar<br />

said 9,753 camera<br />

traps had been set up and<br />

over 100 people were<br />

trained to use them.<br />

The latest round of assessment<br />

used state-of-the<br />

art technology of double<br />

sampling, using camera<br />

traps to estimate the assessment<br />

and distribution<br />

of tigers over 3,78,118 sq.km<br />

Manmohan Singh<br />

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau<br />

of Investigation has recorded<br />

the statement of former Prime<br />

Minister Manmohan Singh in<br />

connection with alleged irregularities<br />

in the allocation of an<br />

Odisha coal block to industrialist<br />

Kumar Mangalam Birla’s<br />

company Hindalco.<br />

Although CBI officials confirmed<br />

that Dr. Singh’s statement<br />

was recorded, they<br />

remained tight-lipped over<br />

when exactly the agency approached<br />

him.<br />

Dr. Singh’s statement was<br />

recorded following a direction<br />

by the Special CBI Court last<br />

month. Observing that a concerted<br />

effort was being made<br />

to manipulate the entire government<br />

machinery so as to<br />

protect the interest of Hindalco,<br />

the court directed the agency<br />

to examine the then Coal<br />

Minister (Dr. Singh) on various<br />

aspects of the coal block<br />

allocation to the company.<br />

The CBI had sought closure<br />

of the case, in which Mr. Birla,<br />

former Coal Secretary P.C. Parakh<br />

and others were named as<br />

accused. However, the court<br />

directed the agency to carry<br />

out further investigations in<br />

the case and submit a progress<br />

report on January 27, stating<br />

that before examining the<br />

matter further, it was appropriate<br />

that the then Coal Minister<br />

was first examined.<br />

The CBI in October 2013<br />

registered the case alleging<br />

that Mr. Birla and Mr. Parakh,<br />

along with other accused persons,<br />

entered into a criminal<br />

of forests in 47 reserves in<br />

18 States. The only portions<br />

which were not scanned<br />

were some parts of the<br />

north-east and Jharkhand.<br />

Rajesh Gopal, Additional<br />

Director and head of the<br />

National Tiger Conservation<br />

Authority, said the<br />

state-of-the art technology<br />

meant that there was very<br />

little extrapolation based<br />

on data. There were 1,540<br />

photos of individual tigers<br />

aged above a year and a half<br />

for the first time.<br />

Mr. Gopal said tigers<br />

from India had been in demand<br />

in countries such as<br />

Laos and Cambodia.<br />

ANTI-POACHING STEPS PAY OFF;<br />

PERIYAR TIGER RESERVE WINS NTCA<br />

AWARD | PAGE 12<br />

conspiracy to facilitate partial<br />

allocation of the Talabira coal<br />

block to Hindalco in 2005.<br />

The move prompted the<br />

PMO to issue a detailed statement<br />

in Dr. Singh’s defence.<br />

The PMO said Dr. Singh was<br />

“satisfied” that the final decision<br />

was “entirely appropriate”<br />

and based “on the merits<br />

of the case placed before him,”<br />

and that he had formally endorsed<br />

the Coal Ministry’s decision<br />

to overturn the 25th<br />

screening committee’s recommendation<br />

to accommodate<br />

Kumar Mangalam Birla’s company<br />

for the allocation of the<br />

coal block in question.<br />

The Hindu in July last reported<br />

that the CBI was then<br />

planning to seek clarifications<br />

from the former Prime Minister<br />

as a witness in the coal<br />

block allocations scam. Dr.<br />

Singh held the charge of the<br />

Coal Ministry for almost five<br />

years from the time the United<br />

Progressive Alliance came to<br />

power in 2004. Several coal<br />

block allocations made during<br />

the period are under the CBI<br />

scrutiny.<br />

Sowmiya Ashok<br />

NEW DELHI: Protests broke out<br />

at Pant Marg headquarters of<br />

the BJP here on Tuesday after<br />

party workers from rival factions<br />

gathered in a show of<br />

strength demanding tickets<br />

for their leaders. Dheer Singh<br />

Bidhuri, an aspirant from Okhla<br />

constituency, resigned after<br />

he was denied the ticket.<br />

Supporters of Delhi BJP<br />

chief Satish Upadhyay were<br />

among the protesters as his<br />

name was not included in the<br />

list of candidates released late<br />

on Monday night. The party<br />

released names of 62 candidates<br />

but did not name the<br />

candidate for Malviya Nagar<br />

constituency from where Mr.<br />

Upadhyay is seeking the ticket.<br />

His supporters, however,<br />

demanded the party consider<br />

fielding him from Mehrauli<br />

which is a BJP stronghold. The<br />

constituency was held by former<br />

Chief Minister Sahib<br />

Singh Verma’s son Pravesh<br />

Verma who went on to become<br />

Member of Parliament from<br />

SC reposes faith in SIT on black money<br />

Krishnadas Rajagopal<br />

NEW DELHI: Trusting the government<br />

and its own Special<br />

Investigation Team to<br />

complete the job of unearthing<br />

black money Indians<br />

have stashed away in<br />

foreign banks, the Supreme<br />

Court on Tuesday spoke in<br />

the voice of the common<br />

man: “We are interested in<br />

seeing the money come<br />

back to us [nation], not in<br />

names, details.”<br />

A Bench of Chief Justice<br />

H.L. Dattu and Justices Madan<br />

B. Lokur and A.K. Sikri<br />

made the oral observation<br />

on an application by Rajya<br />

Sabha member and senior<br />

lawyer Ram Jethmalani<br />

that not a “single rupee has<br />

come out in the past six<br />

months” and investigation<br />

into black money has been<br />

reduced to “a raid here, an<br />

attachment there and that’s<br />

Jethmalani angry<br />

Legal Correspondent<br />

NEW DELHI: Senior lawyer<br />

Ram Jethmalani expressed<br />

his displeasure in the Supreme<br />

Court on Tuesday at<br />

the “silence” of the government<br />

to a draft law prepared<br />

by him to check the flow of<br />

black money out of the<br />

country. Mr. Jethmalani<br />

told a Bench led by Chief<br />

all.”<br />

It was on Mr. Jethmalani’s<br />

petition in 2009 that<br />

the court set up the SIT, led<br />

by two retired Supreme<br />

Court judges — Justices<br />

M.B. Shah and Arijit Pasayat<br />

— to retrieve the<br />

money.<br />

Senior advocate Anil Diwan,<br />

counsel for Mr. Jethmalani,<br />

said the BJP<br />

manifesto had promised to<br />

take steps on a “priority basis<br />

to minimise the scope of<br />

corruption by minimising<br />

the hoarding of black money.”<br />

But Attorney-General<br />

Mukul Rohatgi strongly objected<br />

to the line of argument.<br />

“It is completely wrong in<br />

Justice of India H.L. Dattu<br />

that he drafted the legislation<br />

on the advice of the<br />

Special Investigation Team.<br />

“I sent it to the SIT and to<br />

the Prime Minister. It is a<br />

matter of regret that I have<br />

not heard one word from<br />

the Prime Minister,” Mr.<br />

Jethmalani said. The court<br />

did not react to his comments.<br />

Release funds<br />

to Greenpeace,<br />

HC tells Centre<br />

Mohammed Iqbal<br />

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High<br />

Court on Tuesday directed the<br />

Centre to release foreign contributions<br />

to Greenpeace India<br />

that were frozen by the Ministry<br />

of Home Affairs in June last<br />

year, observing that there was<br />

no material on record to restrict<br />

the environmental NGO from<br />

accessing foreign fund.<br />

Greenpeace India hailed the<br />

court’s decision as a “victory for<br />

democracy and free speech” and<br />

recognition of the vital role<br />

NGOs play in a free society.<br />

Disposing of Greenpeace India’s<br />

writ petition, Justice Rajiv<br />

Shakdher said the Home Ministry<br />

had not produced any material<br />

on record against<br />

Greenpeace India or Greenpeace<br />

International. “The<br />

amount in fixed-deposit in the<br />

bank be unblocked and transferred<br />

to Greenpeace India’s account,”<br />

the court said. It had, in<br />

September last year, ordered<br />

that the frozen foreign donations<br />

totalling €2,35,000 be<br />

kept in interest-earning fixed<br />

deposit till further orders.<br />

Pulling up the Centre for not<br />

issuing notice to the NGO before<br />

freezing its account, the<br />

court said the recipient was entitled<br />

to an opportunity to be<br />

heard. However, the Centre was<br />

free to take action against<br />

Greenpeace India if it was found<br />

violating the FCRA norms.<br />

GREENPEACE HAIL HIGH COURT<br />

RULING | PAGE 13<br />

Odds of escaping poverty<br />

in India, U.S. same: WB<br />

Study says urbanisation, non-farm jobs offering mobility<br />

Puja Mehra<br />

Suhasini Haidar<br />

NEW DELHI: When<br />

U.S. President Barack<br />

Obama lands<br />

in New Delhi the<br />

coming weekend,<br />

the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD),<br />

headed by Hafiz Saeed, a<br />

26/11 accused, will hold a<br />

NEW DELHI: A World Bank report<br />

has challenged the conventional<br />

understanding of<br />

India’s inequality. The report,<br />

“Addressing inequality<br />

in South Asia,” has found<br />

that the probability of a poor<br />

person moving out of poverty<br />

in India in 2014 was as<br />

good as that in the U.S.<br />

“There is good news — India<br />

is no longer the land of<br />

extremes and there are<br />

some bright spots,” said<br />

Martin Rama, one of the authors<br />

of the report and<br />

World Bank Chief Economist<br />

for South Asia.<br />

The report has found that<br />

sons from Scheduled Caste<br />

and Scheduled Tribe households<br />

are no longer stuck in<br />

the jobs done by their fathers.<br />

Across generations,<br />

mobility of occupational<br />

profiles among Muslims has<br />

been similar to that of higher<br />

caste Hindus, whereas<br />

mobility among Scheduled<br />

Castes and Scheduled<br />

Tribes and Other Backward<br />

Classes has become higher<br />

than that of upper caste<br />

massive public rally<br />

in Karachi, putting<br />

paid to reports that<br />

Pakistan had assured<br />

the U.S. of a<br />

crackdown on the<br />

organisation.<br />

With Saeed and the JuD<br />

planning to go ahead with<br />

their so-called “million<br />

Hindus over time.<br />

The report shows that one<br />

of the main drivers of upward<br />

mobility is the increase<br />

in number of<br />

non-farm jobs in rural India.<br />

URBANISATION REDUCING<br />

INEQUALITY; “JOBS CAN OFFSET THE<br />

DISADVANTAGES OF CASTE” | PAGE 12<br />

TERROR CHALLENGE Hafiz Saeed plans ‘million march’<br />

On day Obama lands, JuD rally in Pak.<br />

The scene outside Delhi BJP office on Tuesday.<br />

PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA<br />

West Delhi.<br />

Different factions of party<br />

workers -- supporters<br />

of Mr. Upadhyay,<br />

Shikha Rai and some<br />

from the poorvanchal<br />

community -- shouted<br />

slogans and held a<br />

dharna against the top<br />

leadership. According<br />

to the police, party<br />

supporters scuffled inside the<br />

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police Commissioner<br />

B.S. Bassi on<br />

Tuesday said they would<br />

probe the IPL angle in Sunanda<br />

Pushkar’s death in<br />

January 2014.<br />

Talking to reporters at<br />

the police headquarters<br />

here, Mr. Bassi said, “former<br />

Union Minister Shashi<br />

Tharoor was questioned for<br />

over three hours on Monday<br />

night and he was cooperative.”<br />

According to sources, one<br />

of the important questions<br />

that Mr. Tharoor was asked<br />

related to the IPL controversy<br />

that broke out in early<br />

2010 when Mr. Tharoor was<br />

Minister of State for External<br />

Affairs.<br />

There were allegations<br />

that he had misused his authority<br />

to ensure that Rs. 70<br />

crore, a sum equivalent to<br />

19 per cent equity in IPL<br />

Kochi<br />

franchise<br />

Rendezvous Sports, was<br />

paid to Ms. Pushkar.<br />

Ms. Pushkar who was Mr.<br />

Tharoor’s friend at that<br />

time had refuted allegations<br />

of any wrongdoing.<br />

“I am rendering services<br />

for Kochi franchise. (I) have<br />

march” on Sunday in protest<br />

against the French<br />

magazine Charlie Hebdo’s<br />

latest cartoons of Prophet<br />

Mohammad, it is clear the<br />

reports were unsubstantiated.<br />

PAKISTAN DENIES ANY MOVE<br />

FOR BAN | PAGE 12<br />

Protest breaks out at Delhi BJP office<br />

saying that not a penny has<br />

come up. Some of them [627<br />

Indian account-holders]<br />

have paid penalties. Besides,<br />

time was given to us<br />

till March 31, 2015, to complete<br />

prosecution of black<br />

money holders abroad under<br />

the Income Tax Act,”<br />

Mr. Rohatgi countered.<br />

“Everything the government<br />

has is with the Supreme<br />

Court’s SIT. We have<br />

shared every single document,<br />

name, account details<br />

with them. Nothing has<br />

been hidden from them.”<br />

Chief Justice Dattu interjected,<br />

saying: “We are interested<br />

in seeing the<br />

money come back to us [nation],<br />

not in names, details.”<br />

Mr. Rohatgi submitted<br />

that the government and<br />

the SIT should be allowed to<br />

do their job. Chief Justice<br />

Dattu said, “We are certain<br />

the SIT will do its job well.”<br />

Sunanda case: IPL angle under lens<br />

Kritika Sharma Sebastian<br />

office premises. “Force was<br />

deployed outside the office, so<br />

when the scuffle broke<br />

out, our personnel<br />

took control of the situation,”<br />

said a police<br />

officer.<br />

Mr. Upadhyay tried<br />

to pacify but the unrelenting<br />

supporters<br />

kept on shouting slogans<br />

against the leadership.<br />

Shashi Tharoor<br />

He had earlier indicated his<br />

willingness to fight the polls;<br />

but on Tuesday he said he voluntarily<br />

opted out to focus on<br />

campaigning in the city. “I<br />

want to contest on all the 70<br />

seats. I want to focus on entire<br />

Delhi and that is why I am not<br />

contesting. BJP workers want<br />

the party to win and this is<br />

their feeling,” he said.<br />

“These are momentary issues.<br />

We want the party to win<br />

under Kiran Bedi's leadership.<br />

We have to oust Arvind Kejriwal.<br />

I am a worker of the<br />

party and it is my responsibility<br />

to make BJP victorious,”<br />

he told his supporters. "It is<br />

my own decision (to not contest).<br />

The Parliamentary<br />

Board asked me and I conveyed<br />

them my decision."<br />

Party workers also staged a<br />

protest in Rohini in West<br />

Delhi.<br />

Late on Tuesday night the<br />

BJP released the names of the<br />

candidates for the remaining<br />

four seats in which Mr Upadhyay’s<br />

name was missing.<br />

SEE ALSO | PAGE 2 & 3<br />

advised them in getting IPL.<br />

I am also advising them on<br />

marketing and branding<br />

and hence I am getting<br />

sweat equity. It is only on<br />

paper now. I have not yet<br />

got it,” Ms. Pushkar had said<br />

in a statement when the IPL<br />

controversy had broken out.<br />

‘SIT team will analyse<br />

what Tharoor had said’<br />

“Special Investigating<br />

Team (SIT) will analyse<br />

what Mr. Tharoor had told<br />

them and then take further<br />

action”, Mr. Bassi stated.<br />

“We are investigating the<br />

case with an open mind. We<br />

are trying to ascertain what<br />

happened …..whether somebody<br />

is criminally liable and<br />

who that person is. So it is<br />

an open-ended questioning,”<br />

Mr. Bassi added.<br />

He also hinted that Mr.<br />

Tharoor might be called for<br />

a second round of questioning.<br />

ND-ND


NOIDA/DELHI<br />

2 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

When gates at BJP<br />

office were locked<br />

Staff Reporter<br />

The ruckus caused by<br />

party workers in the<br />

Delhi BJP office here caused<br />

the police to intervene and<br />

escort some of them outside<br />

the premises. Some of them<br />

were disgruntled with the<br />

way Poorvanchalis have been<br />

represented in the BJP list.<br />

When police personnel<br />

approached protesters and<br />

asked them what their<br />

demands were, they replied<br />

they were there for a “quiet<br />

sit-in”, which was contrary to<br />

what they were actually<br />

doing.<br />

The gates of the Delhi BJP<br />

headquarters were then<br />

locked to keep the protesters<br />

out. However, the guards who<br />

were in possession of keys<br />

disappeared leaving several<br />

journalists, party workers and<br />

visitors to the office stranded<br />

inside the premises with no<br />

way out. The only escape<br />

route was climbing the<br />

compound wall. One party<br />

worker broke the lamp while<br />

doing so.<br />

Congress’ Amar,<br />

Akbar and Anthony<br />

Staff Reporter<br />

The Congress’ new face<br />

and General Secretary<br />

Ajay Maken chose a unique<br />

analogy to put to rest<br />

speculation over a seeming<br />

rift between him and Delhi<br />

Pradesh Congress Committee<br />

(DPCC) chief Arvinder Singh<br />

at a press conference a day<br />

after Mr. Singh was asked not<br />

to contest the Assembly polls.<br />

Standing with Mr. Singh<br />

and veteran leader Haroon<br />

Yusuf, Mr. Maken amicably<br />

declared that they were not<br />

only a troika but the “Amar,<br />

Akbar and Anthony” of the<br />

Delhi Congress in an open<br />

reference to the 1977 hit<br />

revolving around three<br />

brothers separated during<br />

childhood.<br />

The only difference,<br />

however, according to a jovial<br />

Mr. Maken, was that “they<br />

had a Singh instead of an<br />

Anthony.”<br />

Every<br />

Minister and<br />

government<br />

official will work<br />

together. I<br />

will bring<br />

a clean<br />

govt. in<br />

Delhi, which<br />

would focus on<br />

every department<br />

KIRAN BEDI<br />

BJP's CM candidate<br />

I never<br />

wanted to<br />

contest and BJP<br />

as<br />

a party will<br />

work<br />

together<br />

and win<br />

the Delhi<br />

Assembly polls<br />

this time<br />

SATISH UPADHYAY<br />

Delhi BJP chief<br />

People want<br />

to know<br />

whether BJP will<br />

reduce power and<br />

water tariff, and<br />

how it will<br />

bring<br />

down<br />

prices of<br />

essential items,<br />

how it will put an<br />

end to bribery and<br />

corruption<br />

ARVIND KEJRIWAL<br />

AAP convenor<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

KEJRIWAL AND KIRAN BEDI TURNED ON THE POLL HEAT WHEN THEY VISITED KRISHNA NAGAR ON TUESDAY. WHILE<br />

THE AAP LEADER DREW HUGE CROWDS, THE BJP'S CM CANDIDATE INTERACTED WITH WORKERS IN A BASEMENT<br />

CAMPAIGN HITS THE ROAD<br />

Kejriwal does it again<br />

AAP supporters at Krishna Nagar on Tuesday. PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA<br />

Shubhomoy Sikdar<br />

Once bitten, twice shy. But not if you<br />

are Arvind Kejriwal.<br />

On a day when he received his second<br />

notice for asking voters to accept bribe<br />

from the BJP and the Congress, but only<br />

vote for the Aam Aadmi Party, he made<br />

the statement once again.<br />

Addressing a jan sabha in support of<br />

his party candidate S.K. Bagga from the<br />

Krishna Nagar constituency, where the<br />

BJP has fielded its chief ministerial candidate<br />

Kiran Bedi, the former Delhi<br />

Chief Minister told the crowd gathered<br />

that other parties will offer them bribe,<br />

but they had to make the right decision<br />

by choosing the AAP.<br />

Earlier on Sunday, he made a similar<br />

statement during a public rally in Uttam<br />

Nagar following which the BJP and the<br />

Congress lodged complaint with the EC.<br />

However, Mr. Kejriwal seemed undeterred<br />

and repeated the statement while<br />

Sowmiya Ashok<br />

In a corner of a large tent at<br />

the Pandit Pant Marg office<br />

of the Bharatiya Janata<br />

Party, a young woman is surrounded<br />

by party supporters<br />

sharing couplets that sang<br />

her praise. She smiled affectionately<br />

at them, applauded<br />

their efforts and coaxed others<br />

to stand up to introduce<br />

themselves.<br />

It was a meeting of BJP<br />

party workers from the Gole<br />

Market mandal and the<br />

sooner Nupur Sharma gets<br />

to know them, the better it is<br />

for this “almost 30-year-old”<br />

to begin campaigning for the<br />

February 7 polls. It had not<br />

even been 24-hours since<br />

her name was announced as<br />

the candidate from the New<br />

Delhi Assembly constituency<br />

and Ms. Sharma had decided<br />

to hit the ground<br />

running.<br />

In the winter of 2013, it<br />

was the same constituency<br />

from where a newcomer<br />

named Arvind Kejriwal had<br />

entered the big fight against<br />

a veteran Congress leader<br />

Sheila Dikshit. This year,<br />

Ms. Sharma is the newcomer<br />

and Mr. Kejriwal is her “big<br />

attacking Ms. Bedi at her constituency,<br />

which is a traditional BJP bastion.<br />

He alleged that the former IPS officer<br />

was unaware about the ground realities<br />

in Delhi.<br />

“Kiranji said in a television interview<br />

that people of Delhi did not need reduced<br />

power tariffs and were capable of<br />

paying their electricity bills. She has no<br />

idea about how people live here. She<br />

should come out and talk to people to<br />

know what they really need,” said Mr.<br />

Kejriwal, while reiterating claims about<br />

relief given to the people during his tenure.<br />

He further claimed that roping in Kiran<br />

Bedi was a ploy by the BJP to ensure<br />

that they have a scapegoat to blame for<br />

an “imminent election debacle”.<br />

“On February 10 (when the election<br />

results will be announced), Ms. Bedi will<br />

realise that she was brought in just to<br />

take the blame for the defeat,” said Mr.<br />

Kejriwal.<br />

Schoolchildren take a peek from a classroom window as AAP chief Arvind<br />

Kejriwal takes out a road show in New Delhi on Tuesday. PHOTO: AFP<br />

Nupur gears up for the big fight<br />

fight”, prompting the Aam<br />

Aadmi Party to have referred<br />

to her as a “lamb fielded for<br />

slaughter”.<br />

“Was Arvind Kejriwal the<br />

lamb ready to be slaughtered<br />

when he fought against Sheila<br />

Dikshit?” asks Ms. Sharma<br />

after she is done interacting<br />

with her colleagues. “Today,<br />

he stands with almost 80 per<br />

cent of his party leadership<br />

not standing with him. You<br />

can’t betray the trust of people,<br />

run away from power,<br />

come back and expect people<br />

to accept you. You are<br />

not a child!” she says.<br />

Since Tuesday morning,<br />

Ms. Sharma has received a<br />

string of visitors, mostly<br />

mandal and zila workers excited<br />

that the BJP has chosen<br />

a “local candidate”,<br />

keeping her away from visiting<br />

her 95-year-old grandfather<br />

who was the one who<br />

encouraged her to request<br />

the party for a ticket to contest.<br />

“When you contest<br />

elections, people repose<br />

their faith in you. They expect<br />

you to be there through<br />

happiness, sadness, problems<br />

and grievances. You<br />

need to stand with them,”<br />

she says.<br />

BUSY DAYS AHEAD: Nupur Sharma during a<br />

meeting with party workers on Tuesday.<br />

PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA<br />

Mixed welcome for Bedi<br />

Jatin Anand<br />

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kiran<br />

Bedi, on Tuesday, received a<br />

mixed welcome at East Delhi’s<br />

Krishna Nagar constituency after arriving<br />

to address party cadres in<br />

what was her maiden interaction<br />

with them after being anointed chief<br />

ministerial candidate a day earlier.<br />

In tow was Dr. Harsh Vardhan, a<br />

Union Minister who has been an<br />

MLA from the Assembly constituency<br />

since 1993 and evidently continues<br />

to enjoy tremendous local<br />

support in spite of Ms. Bedi’s newly<br />

announced candidature from it by<br />

BJP president Amit Shah on Monday.<br />

Slogans of “Dr. Harsh Vardhan<br />

zindabad” (long live Dr. Harsh Vardhan)<br />

clashed with “Kiran Bedi zindabad”<br />

(long live Kiran Bedi) as soon as<br />

both arrived at the middle-class, East<br />

Delhi neighbourhood and kept resounding<br />

throughout the event.<br />

On his part, Dr. Vardhan introduced<br />

his former constituents to<br />

Shubhomoy Sikdar<br />

Displaying a show of strength in his<br />

Assembly constituency of New Delhi,<br />

Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind<br />

Kejriwal apparently “failed” to file his<br />

nomination papers here on Tuesday.<br />

Mr. Kejriwal was scheduled to file the<br />

nominations at Jamnagar House after a<br />

road show from Mandir Marg to Jantar<br />

Mantar. However, he announced in<br />

front of his supporters that he had missed<br />

the 2 p.m. deadline, attributing it to<br />

the “overwhelming support” his show<br />

received. He said the time taken to reach<br />

the District Magistrate’s office at Jamnagar<br />

House was longer than expected<br />

due to the huge crowd.<br />

In the days leading up to the nomination<br />

date, the AAP had appealed people<br />

from all parts of the city to join Mr.<br />

Kejriwal to the nomination centre.<br />

He was flanked by his senior party<br />

colleagues Manish Sisodia, Ashutosh<br />

and Somnath Bharti.<br />

Oblivious of the fact that Mr. Kejriwal<br />

Yet, from a party that has<br />

in the last week “parachuted”<br />

big netas, Ms. Sharma<br />

believes in working through<br />

the party ranks inspired by<br />

Prime Minister Narendra<br />

Modi.<br />

“The point is you need to<br />

start with a strong base and I<br />

have been working in the organisation<br />

for a long time. As<br />

a public representative, how<br />

does it work if you are disconnected<br />

from the people?<br />

You need to be connected to<br />

them.”<br />

For Ms. Sharma, canvassing<br />

in New Delhi is much<br />

easier than manoeuvring the<br />

lanes of Delhi University.<br />

“Geographically, DUSU was<br />

more spread out and it was<br />

difficult managing traffic. It<br />

will be easier in New Delhi<br />

and I plan to knock on every<br />

door.”<br />

their new candidate as ‘behen (sister)<br />

Kiran’. “Our sister has come<br />

home to talk to us today,” Dr. Vardhan<br />

said at the conclusion of a protracted<br />

welcoming at a cramped<br />

basement functioning as a party office<br />

in the area.<br />

Ms. Bedi chose to acknowledge,<br />

and seemingly respect, the support<br />

the gathering displayed for Dr. Vardhan<br />

without qualms and went to the<br />

extent of saying that she was expecting<br />

him to be the CM and would treat<br />

the constituency as a garden and him<br />

as a trusted advisor.<br />

“Krishna Nagar is a very pure constituency,<br />

which is why I said that I<br />

will nurture this garden well. I’m going<br />

to be here temporarily only, as a<br />

caretaker. I hope Dr. Sahab will be at<br />

rest as this caretaker is also very effective<br />

and hardworking and knows<br />

the work which needs to be done.<br />

He’ll be my advisor, if I have any<br />

problem, I will go to him,” she said.<br />

She promised longer interaction<br />

on Wednesday when she would file<br />

her nomination.<br />

Kiran Bedi addressing workers during a meeting at Krishna<br />

Nagar on Tuesday. PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA<br />

Jatin Anand<br />

Faces representing each of<br />

the three major<br />

contenders of the upcoming<br />

Delhi Assembly polls took to<br />

debating the validity of a<br />

public debate on issues facing<br />

the Capital, and what<br />

solutions they are willing to<br />

bring to the table.<br />

Early Tuesday, after news<br />

of AAP national convenor<br />

Arvind Kejriwal’s challenge<br />

to the BJP’s newly anointed<br />

chief ministerial candidate<br />

Kiran Bedi through a tweet<br />

began doing the rounds, the<br />

issue became the topic of a<br />

tug-of-war for them, with the<br />

Congress’ Ajay Maken<br />

joining the fray.<br />

Ms. Bedi chose to accept<br />

Mr. Kejriwal’s challenge, but<br />

only in part saying that she<br />

would rather debate with<br />

him on the floor of the Delhi<br />

Assembly. Mr. Maken said he<br />

was all “for a structured<br />

discussion among the three<br />

politicians who are leading<br />

the campaign of their parties<br />

BJP’s ally Akali Dal to<br />

contest from four seats<br />

Staff Reporter<br />

The day after its ally,<br />

the Bharatiya Janata<br />

Party, released its list of 62<br />

candidates to the Delhi<br />

Assembly Polls, the<br />

Shiromani Akali Dal on<br />

Tuesday said it will contest<br />

from four seats in the city,<br />

one of which it will contest<br />

in the weighing scale<br />

symbol.<br />

Manjinder Singh Sirsa<br />

will be contesting from<br />

Rajouri Garden, Harmeet<br />

Singh Kalka from Kalkaji<br />

and Jitender Singh Shunti<br />

from Shahdara. The party<br />

left out Shyam Sharma<br />

from the Hari Nagar seat<br />

and instead chose Avtar<br />

Singh Hit.<br />

Among the four, Mr.<br />

Sirsa will contest on Akali<br />

Dal’s weighing scale<br />

for the Assembly polls”.<br />

This lack of consensus<br />

among them of the future<br />

debate was echoed by<br />

political observers and<br />

academicians.<br />

“Debates like these are,<br />

and can only be, an urban<br />

phenomenon and I’m against<br />

these,” said Professor Sanjay<br />

Kumar, director, Centre for<br />

the Study of Developing<br />

Societies. “Though dialogue<br />

is welcome in a<br />

Parliamentary democracy it<br />

should centre around issues<br />

such as poverty in a country<br />

like ours instead of around<br />

symbol, while the other<br />

three candidates will fight<br />

on the BJP’s lotus symbol.<br />

Drug menace not an<br />

issue: Punjab CM<br />

Punjab Chief Minister<br />

Parkash Singh Badal on<br />

Tuesday said the drug<br />

menace was hardly an<br />

issue in the upcoming<br />

Delhi Assembly polls and<br />

described it as a “malicious<br />

propaganda” unleashed by<br />

the Opposition to “defame<br />

Punjabis and tarnish the<br />

State’s image”.<br />

“Drug problem was<br />

neither an issue in Punjab<br />

nor in Delhi, but it is being<br />

blown out of proportion by<br />

the opposition under a<br />

deep rooted conspiracy to<br />

tarnish the image of hard<br />

working Punjabis,” he said.<br />

(With inputs from PTI)<br />

AAP chief ‘fails’ to file nomination<br />

MISSES 2 P.M. DEADLINE, ATTRIBUTES IT TO THE PRESENCE OF HUGE CROWD<br />

FEAT OF STRENGTH: Arvind Kejriwal and his supporters during the<br />

road show in New Delhi on Tuesday. PHOTO: SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY<br />

had disbanded the road show at Gole<br />

Dak Khana , some supporters kept waiting<br />

for his arrival at Jantar Mantar. They<br />

were told by the police deployed there<br />

that the nomination had been postponed.<br />

The former Delhi Chief Minister<br />

would now file his nomination on<br />

Wednesday, which is also the last date<br />

for filing<br />

Kejriwal challenges Bedi<br />

for debate, Maken says yes<br />

leaders representing political<br />

parties,” he added.<br />

Professor Neera<br />

Chandhoke from Delhi<br />

University’s Department of<br />

Political Science seemed to<br />

agree and warned against a<br />

rapid build up of a cult of the<br />

leader and the dangers this<br />

posed to the essence of<br />

Parliamentary government.<br />

“There must be public<br />

debates on substantive issues<br />

in the manifestos between<br />

leaders and members of the<br />

political public, so that<br />

instead of an audience,<br />

citizens can become<br />

participants,” she said.<br />

According to renowned<br />

social scientist Shiv<br />

Visvanathan, however, such<br />

debates could go a long way<br />

in bringing politicians out of<br />

their comfort zones provided<br />

they were structured and<br />

regulated.<br />

“I’m all for these given<br />

neutrality in issues, time<br />

provided to each participant<br />

and a ruthless moderator,”<br />

Professor Visvanathan said.<br />

ND-ND


NOIDA/DELHI<br />

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

CITY<br />

3<br />

DELHI TODAY<br />

Jan RISE 07 14 Jan RISE 07 14 Jan RISE 07 13<br />

21<br />

22<br />

23<br />

SET 17 52<br />

SET 17 53<br />

SET 17 54<br />

RISE 07 30 RISE 08 18 RISE 09 04<br />

WED SET 18 58 THU SET 20 05 FRI SET 21 11<br />

Focus of the entire world is<br />

on Delhi election, says CEC<br />

Staff Reporter<br />

NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner<br />

(CEC) H.S. Brahma<br />

on Tuesday said that the Delhi<br />

election on February 7 is a crucial<br />

one as it is a standalone<br />

election and the focus of the entire<br />

world is on it. “Delhi being<br />

the capital of the country, ruling<br />

Delhi has a separate meaning<br />

and it is a big challenge for the<br />

Election Commission (EC) to<br />

put the most effort into ensuring<br />

free and transparent elections<br />

in the Capital,” Mr.<br />

Brahma said.<br />

Talking about how the EC has<br />

grown over the years, Mr. Brahma<br />

said in the first Lok Sabha<br />

polls held in 1951, India had<br />

17.32 crore voters and today it<br />

has 83 crore voters, nearly two<br />

crore voters more than those<br />

who were eligible to participate<br />

in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.<br />

The CEC was speaking at the<br />

inauguration of the week-long<br />

Voters’ Fest organised at Dill<br />

Haat to celebrate the National<br />

Voters Day on January 25. A<br />

EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT: Chief Election Commissioner<br />

H. S. Brahma on Tuesday at Dilli Haat during an<br />

exhibition that showcase elections down the years.<br />

S— PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR<br />

photography exhibition in celebration<br />

of democracy was inaugurated<br />

by the CEC that takes<br />

viewers on a journey though the<br />

many elections that the Election<br />

Commission has conducted<br />

over the years.<br />

From black and white images<br />

of prominent leaders casting<br />

their vote to the harsh terrain<br />

the polling officers have crossed<br />

to set up polling booths.<br />

There is even a ‘selfie’ wall<br />

that shows many celebrities<br />

posing with ink on their fingers.<br />

There was also a street play performed<br />

by members of the Asmita<br />

Theatre group that<br />

encouraged voters to stop making<br />

excuses and come out to<br />

vote. A model polling station has<br />

been set up at the venue so that<br />

voters can familiarise themselves<br />

with the entire process.<br />

BJP declares names of<br />

4 remaining candidates<br />

NEW DELHI: BJP on Tuesday<br />

night declared its remaining<br />

four candidates for the<br />

February 7 Delhi Assembly<br />

elections and left four other<br />

seats for its ally Shiromani<br />

Akali Dal.<br />

BJP had on Monday declared<br />

a total of 62 candidates<br />

for the 70 Assembly<br />

seats in Delhi Assembly.<br />

The Central Election<br />

Committee has decided to<br />

field Sanjay Singh from Vikaspur<br />

Assembly seat, Nandani<br />

Sharma from Malviya<br />

Nagar, Sarita Chaudhary<br />

from Mehrauli and Rakesh<br />

Gulia from Greater Kailash<br />

constituency for the elections,<br />

BJP general secretary<br />

J. P. Nadda said in a<br />

statement.<br />

BJP has left Rajouri Garden,<br />

Hari Nagar, Kalkaji<br />

and Shahdara for Akali Dal<br />

which also announced its<br />

candidates on Tuesday.<br />

Avtar Singh Hit will contest<br />

from Hari Nagar, Harmeet<br />

Singh Kalka from<br />

Kalkaji, Jatinder Singh<br />

Shunty from Shahdara and<br />

Manjinder Singh Sirsa from<br />

Rajouri Garden for Akali<br />

BJP candidate from<br />

Mehrauli Sarita<br />

Chaudhary<br />

BJP had on Monday<br />

declared a total of 62<br />

candidates for the 70<br />

Assembly seats<br />

Dal.<br />

SAD Delhi unit chief<br />

Manjit Singh GK said that<br />

the party candidate from<br />

Rajouri Garden Manjinder<br />

Singh will contest on SAD<br />

symbol while the remaining<br />

three party nominees will<br />

contest on BJP’s Lotus<br />

symbol.<br />

In the last assembly polls<br />

in Delhi, SAD had contested<br />

four seats, two of which<br />

were contested on their<br />

own symbol.— PTI<br />

Suspected Ebola<br />

victim admitted<br />

to AIIMS<br />

NEW DELHI: A man having severe<br />

fever was admitted to<br />

AIIMS on Tuesday amid<br />

fears that he has contracted<br />

Ebola, which the hospital authorities<br />

are yet to confirm.<br />

The patient, referred by a<br />

private hospital in Jodhpur,<br />

was admitted to the Medicine<br />

department.<br />

“The patient has been admitted<br />

in the Medicine department<br />

of AIIMS under<br />

professor Dr Sanjeev Sinha.<br />

He has symptoms of high<br />

grade fever and appears to be<br />

suffering from viral hemorrhagic<br />

fever. His condition is<br />

being constantly monitored<br />

and tests are being carried<br />

out,” said a doctor from<br />

AIIMS.<br />

When asked if the patient<br />

had contracted Ebola, the<br />

hospital authorities said, so<br />

far, nothing could be said.<br />

“His samples might be<br />

sent to the National Institute<br />

of Communicable Diseases<br />

(NICD) or RML for<br />

confirmation if he is infected<br />

by Ebola virus. But, as of now<br />

it doesn’t appear that he has<br />

got the disease,” said the<br />

doctor.— PTI<br />

Plea in High Court seeks CBI<br />

probe into Pushkar’s death<br />

Mohammed Iqbal<br />

NEW DELHI: A public interest<br />

writ petition seeking a CBI inquiry<br />

into the suspicious death<br />

of Sunanda Pushkar was filed in<br />

the Delhi High Court on<br />

Tuesday.<br />

The petitioner, Anti-Corruption<br />

Front, has claimed that the<br />

investigation by the Delhi Police<br />

was “tainted and aimed at<br />

saving some influential persons”.<br />

It said the police, by registering<br />

an FIR in the case on<br />

January 1 after a delay of a year,<br />

had flouted the basic law of the<br />

land and ignored guidelines laid<br />

down in various Supreme Court<br />

judgments.<br />

EC issues second show<br />

cause notice to Kejriwal<br />

Special Correspondent<br />

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party<br />

(AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal<br />

was issued a show cause notice<br />

by the Election Commission<br />

on Tuesday, the second in the<br />

last three days, for “prima facie”<br />

violation of the poll code:<br />

he allegedly made a provocative<br />

speech in which he asked<br />

voters to take bribes<br />

from the BJP and<br />

the Congress but only<br />

to vote for his<br />

party.<br />

The statement,<br />

the EC notice said,<br />

was made at a public<br />

rally on January 18<br />

in the capital’s Uttam<br />

Nagar and it amounted to<br />

“abetting and promoting the<br />

electoral offence of bribery”<br />

under the relevant sections of<br />

the Representation of People<br />

Act read with the IPC.<br />

In the speech that invited<br />

the EC notice, Mr Kejriwal<br />

said, “It’s election time. When<br />

people both from BJP and<br />

Congress come offering money,<br />

don’ refuse, accept …..some<br />

have looted money from 2G,<br />

some have looted money from<br />

coal scam...Take money from<br />

both the parties but vote for<br />

AAP…We will fool them this<br />

time. They have been deceiving<br />

us for the last 65 years. Now it’<br />

our turn.”<br />

The EC notice follows complaints<br />

from political parties.<br />

It had asked the Chief Electoral<br />

Officer of Delhi to submit a<br />

CD of the speech made for a<br />

Statement make at a<br />

rally in Uttam Nagar<br />

amounted to<br />

“abetting and<br />

promoting the<br />

electoral offence of<br />

bribery”, said the EC<br />

notice<br />

review by it.<br />

Mr Kejriwal has<br />

been asked to respond<br />

and present his side by<br />

4pm on Thursday, failing<br />

which the EC<br />

“shall take a decision<br />

without any further<br />

reference” to him. The Commission’s<br />

notice says the Model<br />

Code of Conduct (MCC)<br />

envisages that parties and candidates<br />

participating in the<br />

electoral fray shall “avoid scrupulously<br />

all activities which<br />

are corrupt practices and offences<br />

under the election law,<br />

such as bribing of voters.”<br />

This notice follows another<br />

on January 17 when the AAP<br />

leader was issued a show cause<br />

notice by the EC for “prima<br />

facie” violating the MCC with<br />

remarks alleging that BJP is<br />

trying to incite communal violence<br />

in Delhi.<br />

The deadline for his reply to<br />

that notice was Tuesday but,<br />

the EC, accepting Mr Kejriwal’s<br />

request, gave him three<br />

more days to respond to its<br />

earlier show cause notice issued<br />

on January 17.<br />

Key member of<br />

international<br />

drug cartel held<br />

NEW DELHI: An alleged key member<br />

of an international drug<br />

cartel which smuggled heroin<br />

from Myanmar to Delhi via Manipur<br />

and Bareilly, has been arrested,<br />

police said on Tuesday.<br />

The Special Cell of Delhi Police<br />

arrested Ganpat (32) from<br />

Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh on<br />

Saturday.<br />

They also recovered two mobile<br />

handsets along with two<br />

SIM cards used by him to communicate<br />

with his associates for<br />

drug trafficking activities.<br />

Ganpat is already wanted in<br />

cases of NDPS Act by Guwahati<br />

and Delhi Police. Police had<br />

earlier arrested two drug suppliers,<br />

Dharamraj and Chander<br />

Sekhar and recovered heroin<br />

weighing 1.5 kg from them.<br />

Their interrogation led to the<br />

arrest of Javed Khan and Pankaj,<br />

both resident of Bareilly,<br />

who supplied drugs to Delhi<br />

and NCR through their couriers.—<br />

PTI<br />

Published by N. Ram at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor-in-Chief: N. Ravi (Editor responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act), Editor: Malini Parthasarathy<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

ND-ND


CITY/NCR<br />

NOIDA/DELHI<br />

4 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

NDMC parks fraught with safety hazards<br />

Councillors raise concern over live wires, dilapidated swings and lack of security<br />

Damini Nath<br />

NEW DELHI: Municipal parks<br />

across Delhi have become<br />

safety hazards, with live<br />

wires, dilapidated swings and<br />

lack of security being highlighted<br />

by councillors themselves.<br />

A 24-year-old lawyer, Gaurav<br />

Rana, was electrocuted by<br />

an exposed wire at a North<br />

Delhi Municipal Corporation<br />

park in Pitampura on Sunday.<br />

The incident evoked sharp<br />

criticism from municipal<br />

councillors, who said the accident<br />

was just waiting to<br />

happen.<br />

While the North Corporation<br />

has started a probe, the<br />

state of municipal parks<br />

across Delhi is in question.<br />

Officials admit there is a<br />

shortage of staff, including<br />

gardeners and security<br />

guards, and that it has led to<br />

parks being neglected.<br />

Councillors said repeated<br />

complaints had gone unaddressed<br />

and the parks posed a<br />

threat to the children and senior<br />

citizens who frequent<br />

them.<br />

DU V-C to take<br />

charge of new<br />

online course<br />

Staff Reporter<br />

NEW DELHI: Delhi University<br />

Vice-Chancellor Dinesh<br />

Singh will be in-charge of<br />

the University’s first and<br />

soon-to-be launched online<br />

course on India in the<br />

21st Century.<br />

10 lectures<br />

The course comprises 10<br />

lectures, all to be delivered<br />

by Prof. Singh, and will be<br />

open to people from all<br />

over the world. It will<br />

come with a certificate if it<br />

gets approved by the University’s<br />

Academic Council.<br />

A statement issued from<br />

the Registrar explains that<br />

this course is designed to<br />

portray some of the great<br />

milestones in the India’s<br />

modern history, with perspectives<br />

from the past<br />

and indications into the future.<br />

The course can be accessed<br />

by students and<br />

others in the University<br />

community by using the<br />

DU internet network, but<br />

others will have to enrol<br />

for the course to view the<br />

lectures on the University<br />

website. The course will<br />

begin from January 30.<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

OPEN DANGER: Lack of coordination between the electrical division and<br />

Horticulture Department results in lights not being repaired at municipal<br />

parks in Delhi. — PHOTOS: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT<br />

South Delhi Municipal<br />

Corporation councillor Virender<br />

Kasana said his Chittaranjan<br />

Park ward had many<br />

such parks where naked wires<br />

pose a threat.<br />

“A six-year-old boy had<br />

died in 2009 after being electrocuted<br />

at an Alaknanda<br />

park, but we don’t seem to<br />

have learned. The parks in<br />

South Delhi still have so<br />

many risks,” Mr. Kasana told<br />

the House on Tuesday.<br />

The light poles in municipal<br />

parks are installed by the<br />

electrical division, while the<br />

greenery is maintained by the<br />

Horticulture Department.<br />

Mr. Kasana added that the<br />

lack of coordination between<br />

the two departments was responsible<br />

for the lights not<br />

being repaired and<br />

maintained.<br />

SDMC Mayor Khushi Ram<br />

Fortis does a first with<br />

rare heart implant<br />

Bindu Shajan Perappadan<br />

NEW DELHI: Doctors at the Fortis<br />

Escorts Heart Institute<br />

implanted India’s first Subcutaneous<br />

Implantable Defibrillator<br />

(S-ICD) on a 48-year-old<br />

heart patient from Bihar.<br />

The S-ICD system is approved<br />

for patients who are at<br />

a risk of sudden cardiac death<br />

due to life threatening ventricular<br />

arrhythmias and<br />

those who do not require a<br />

pacemaker. The patient was<br />

treated by Ashok Seth, chairman,<br />

Fortis Escorts Heart Institute,<br />

and Anil Saxena,<br />

director of Cardiac Pacing<br />

and Electrophysiology, who<br />

implanted the device.<br />

The patient, Arvind Sahay,<br />

had suffered damage to his<br />

heart following a heart attack<br />

in October, 2014, and his<br />

heart was pumping at a low<br />

efficiency of only 25-30 per<br />

cent. He had undergone angiography<br />

and angioplasty<br />

with three stents after the<br />

heart attack and was breathless<br />

on occasions. In view of<br />

his poor heart function and<br />

the risk of sudden death, the<br />

decision to implant the subcutaneous<br />

ICD was taken.<br />

Dr. Seth said, “This first<br />

case of S-ICD in India will be a<br />

strong hope for several potential<br />

ICD patients who could be<br />

S-ICD is approved for<br />

patients who are at a<br />

risk of sudden cardiac<br />

death due to life<br />

threatening<br />

ventricular<br />

arrhythmias<br />

at risk of sudden death, including<br />

those with poor veins<br />

and those at high risk for major<br />

infection associated with a<br />

transvenous lead.’’<br />

He said that sudden cardiac<br />

death is a major public health<br />

problem in India and accounts<br />

for about 10 per cent<br />

of all deaths in the country.<br />

Nearly, 80 per cent of these<br />

deaths are due to ventricular<br />

arrhythmias, a large number<br />

of which can be prevented by<br />

timely resuscitation.<br />

Implantable defibrillators<br />

(ICDs) have changed the outlook<br />

for such patients, by significantly<br />

reducing the risk of<br />

sudden cardiac death and totally<br />

external subcutaneous<br />

ICD is a landmark advancement<br />

in this direction. The<br />

subcutaneous ICD is an innovative<br />

device which does<br />

not require any lead to go into<br />

the chamber of the heart for<br />

its functioning unlike the<br />

other previous devices.<br />

ordered the Commissioner to<br />

give a report about the status<br />

of the Corporation’s parks in<br />

the next meeting of the<br />

House. Meanwhile, the North<br />

Corporation is investigating<br />

the Pitampura incident to fix<br />

the responsibility of officials<br />

concerned.<br />

The three municipal corporations<br />

of Delhi have a total of<br />

15,000 parks under their jurisdiction.<br />

Uber driver<br />

alleges attack<br />

in prison van<br />

NEW DELHI: The Uber cab driver,<br />

accused of rape, alleged in<br />

a court here on Tuesday that<br />

he was threatened and attacked<br />

in a prison van. Accused<br />

Shiv Kumar Yadav’s<br />

counsel Alok Dwivedi moved<br />

a plea alleging that the driver<br />

was threatened and attacked<br />

in the prison van by fellow<br />

inmates while he was being<br />

taken back to jail after the January<br />

17 court proceedings.<br />

Additional Sessions Judge<br />

Kaveri Baweja asked the lockup<br />

in-charge for a report on<br />

the allegations.<br />

Yadav had earlier made a<br />

similar complaint to the<br />

court, which had directed the<br />

Delhi Police and Tihar jail authorities<br />

to ensure his security<br />

and provide him a separate<br />

enclosure in the prison van.<br />

Meanwhile, the court recorded<br />

the statements of two<br />

Delhi Police officers — a constable<br />

and an official of the<br />

malkhana (where evidence<br />

related to cases is stored) —<br />

and a nodal officer of Vodafone.<br />

Constable Arvind told<br />

the court that on December<br />

12, 2014, he had deposited the<br />

mobile phone recovered from<br />

Yadav at the time of his arrest<br />

with the CFSL office for forensic<br />

tests. — IANS<br />

NHRC directs Chief Secretary to<br />

submit report on church attacks<br />

Says these may violate fundamental right to freedom of religion<br />

Mohammed Iqbal<br />

NEW DELHI: The National Human<br />

Rights Commission has<br />

taken suo motu cognisance of<br />

reports about a church in Vikaspuri<br />

, which was vandalised<br />

last week. Prior to this,<br />

four other incidents of attacks<br />

and suspected arson at<br />

Christian religious institutions<br />

have occurred in Dilshad<br />

Garden, Rohini and<br />

Jasola since December 1,<br />

2014.<br />

The NHRC has observed<br />

that these frequent attacks on<br />

religious institutions of the<br />

minority community, if true,<br />

may violate the fundamental<br />

right to freedom of religion<br />

and cause “immense harm” to<br />

the country’s social fabric.<br />

The culprits involved in these<br />

incidents should be brought<br />

to book, it said.<br />

The commission has issued<br />

notice to the Delhi Chief Secretary<br />

calling for a report on<br />

these incidents within four<br />

weeks.<br />

The Chief Secretary was also<br />

directed to submit a report<br />

about the action proposed to<br />

Street vendors protest<br />

delay in issuing licence<br />

Street vendors say in the absence of legal documents they have<br />

to pay bribes to operate. — FILE PHOTO<br />

Staff Reporter<br />

NEW DELHI: Street vendors from<br />

across the Capital on Tuesday protested<br />

outside the offices of the municipal<br />

bodies against the delay in<br />

issuing licences to hawkers.<br />

The three municipal corporations<br />

and the New Delhi Municipal<br />

Council were supposed to conduct a<br />

survey before allotting vending licences<br />

as per the Street Vendors<br />

Bill, 2014.<br />

The National Association of<br />

Street Vendors of India (NASVI)<br />

that organised the protests, said<br />

be taken to prevent recurrence<br />

of such incidents in the<br />

Capital.<br />

The church in Vikaspuri<br />

was allegedly vandalised by<br />

two men in the early hours of<br />

January 14, even as the<br />

church authorities claimed<br />

that the attack was carried<br />

out to stoke communal tension.<br />

Marching to the tune<br />

Christians at a candle light vigil against the fire in<br />

a Delhi Church. — FILE PHOTO<br />

Captured on CCTV<br />

The incident was captured<br />

on closed circuit television<br />

cameras installed in the vicinity<br />

of the church.<br />

When the priest arrived at<br />

the church in early morning,<br />

he found the glass cabinet<br />

mounted on the outside wall<br />

broken and the statue of<br />

Mother Mary lying on the<br />

ground. Video footage reportedly<br />

showed two men on a<br />

motorcycle vandalising the<br />

church, first by breaking the<br />

glass cabinet and returning<br />

shortly after to push the statue<br />

causing a fall.<br />

Earlier, an incident of arson<br />

was reported at St. Sebastian’s<br />

Church in Dilshad<br />

Garden, which is among the<br />

biggest churches in East Delhi,<br />

in December.<br />

The entire interior, including<br />

the altar, the Cross and<br />

religious scriptures, were reduced<br />

to ashes in the incident.<br />

The church was active till a<br />

night before the burning because<br />

of religious ceremonies<br />

for Catholic children receiving<br />

their first Holy<br />

Communion.<br />

The NHRC had taken cognisance<br />

of the incident of arson<br />

at St. Sebastian’s Church<br />

as well, while observing that<br />

the destruction of a place of<br />

worship with intent to insult<br />

the religion of any group was<br />

an offence under the Indian<br />

Penal Code.<br />

FLYING HIGH: Rehearsal for the Beating Retreat ceremony under way at Vijay Chowk on<br />

Monday ahead of the Republic Day celebration. — PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR<br />

that the vendors had to pay bribes<br />

to be able to operate in the absence<br />

of legal documents.<br />

NASVI national coordinator Arbind<br />

Singh said the corporations<br />

had set up town vending committees,<br />

but “not a single vendor was<br />

given a licence in the past 10 years”.<br />

The street vendors handed over a<br />

memorandum to the three municipal<br />

commissioners and the chairperson<br />

of the NDMC.<br />

According to the NASVI, the officials<br />

assured the vendors that challans<br />

would not be issued till the<br />

surveys were completed.<br />

PK makers accused of plagiarism<br />

NEW DELHI: Novelist Kapil Isapuri<br />

has approached the Delhi High<br />

Court, accusing the makers of Aamir<br />

Khan’s film “PK” of plagiarism.<br />

He said certain portions from his<br />

Hindi novel “Farishta” published in<br />

2013 were “stolen and copied” and<br />

used in the film. Isapuri has sought<br />

punitive damages of Rs.1 crore from<br />

the filmmakers along with credit<br />

for his work. The Rajkumar Hirani<br />

directorial, which raises questions<br />

about religion and people’s blind<br />

faith in godmen, has been co-produced<br />

by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and<br />

Hirani.<br />

The movie also stars Anushka<br />

Sharma and Sanjay Dutt. The plea,<br />

filed through advocate Jyotika Kalra,<br />

alleged that the makers of the<br />

film as well as scriptwriter Abhijat<br />

Joshi stole the characters, expression<br />

of ideas and sequences from<br />

the novel “Farishta”. — IANS<br />

Court indicts PMO officials for<br />

hiding facts in coal block case<br />

Nirnimesh Kumar<br />

NEW DELHI: A Special court<br />

here dealing with coal block<br />

allocation scam cases on<br />

Monday indicted the then<br />

Prime Minister’s Office<br />

(PMO) officials for hiding<br />

facts on the allocation of a<br />

coal block to a private company<br />

in Maharashtra.<br />

Special Judge Bharat Parashar<br />

put the officials in<br />

the dock while considering<br />

a charge-sheet in connection<br />

with the allocation of<br />

“Lohara (East) Coal Block”<br />

to Messrs Grace Industries<br />

Limited allegedly in an illegal<br />

manner.<br />

The Central Bureau of<br />

Investigation has chargesheeted<br />

only one director of<br />

the company. It has given a<br />

clean chit to the other director<br />

and the public ser-<br />

NEW DELHI: Four people, including<br />

a government pharmacist,<br />

have been arrested<br />

for illegally selling Central<br />

Government Health Scheme<br />

(CGHS) medicines in the<br />

open market, police said on<br />

Tuesday.<br />

Shahid Usmani(32) — the<br />

kingpin of the racket —<br />

along with Manoj Rajpal(35)<br />

was arrested on January 17<br />

from Bhagirath Palace,<br />

wholesale market in old Delhi,<br />

where he had gone to deliver<br />

a consignment of<br />

stolen medicines.<br />

Sanjay Kumar (42) and<br />

Swaraj Dhankad (57) were<br />

arrested from different locations<br />

on Monday for their<br />

involvement in selling the<br />

medicines meant strictly for<br />

government hospitals and<br />

vants involved in the<br />

allocation of the coal block<br />

to the company.<br />

Referring to the specific<br />

opinion by the then Minister<br />

of State of Coal, Dasari<br />

Narayan Rao, that GIL was<br />

not ‘eligible’ for allocation<br />

of the coal block applied for,<br />

the judge said that “the<br />

PMO officials should have<br />

highlighted the same before<br />

the file was submitted to<br />

then Prime Minister Manmohan<br />

Singh”.<br />

The PM was at that time<br />

also holding the additional<br />

charge of the Ministry.<br />

“…I am constrained to<br />

observe that even the working<br />

of the officers of the<br />

PMO also does not appear<br />

to be above board,’’ the<br />

judge said<br />

“Cognisance of the aforesaid<br />

offences thus needs to<br />

ESI dispensaries.<br />

Police have recovered life<br />

saving and antibiotic medicines<br />

worth Rs. 5 lakh from<br />

their possession.<br />

“We have arrested four<br />

people, including a government<br />

employee, for illegally<br />

selling CGHS medicines in<br />

the market and seized medicines<br />

worth Rs.5 lakh from<br />

their possession,” Joint<br />

Commissioner of Police<br />

(Crime Branch) Ravindra<br />

Yadav said.<br />

be taken including that of<br />

the offence of criminal conspiracy<br />

against the public<br />

servants (H C Gupta, Secretary,<br />

Coal, K S Kropha,<br />

Joint Secretary, Coal, and<br />

Vishwas Sawakhande, Director,<br />

Directorate of Geology<br />

and Mining,<br />

Government of Maharashtra.<br />

At the same time the<br />

private parties involved in<br />

the process i.e. M/s GIL and<br />

its two directors, Mukesh<br />

Gupta and his wife Seema<br />

Gupta, cheated the Government<br />

of India by making<br />

false claims regarding net<br />

worth of the company and<br />

its installed capacity so as<br />

to obtain wrongful gain i.e.<br />

seeking allotment of the<br />

coal block,” the judge said.<br />

The court also ordered<br />

the CBI to further investigate<br />

the case.<br />

Four held for selling CGHS medicines<br />

Police have recovered<br />

life saving and<br />

antibiotic medicines<br />

worth Rs. 5 lakh from<br />

their possession<br />

He said the accused disposed<br />

off the medicines at<br />

Bhagirath Palace.<br />

“The investigation conducted<br />

so far has revealed<br />

that Dhankad and Kumar<br />

used to obtain costly medicines<br />

meant for government<br />

health scheme<br />

beneficiaries and then sell<br />

the same to Usmani on<br />

charging their commission.<br />

Usmani would further sell<br />

the same to Rajpal,” Yadav<br />

said.<br />

“The accused were indulging<br />

in this illegal trade<br />

for around five years,” Yadav<br />

said.<br />

Dhankad, a pharmacist at<br />

a government dispensary in<br />

Najafgarh, met Usmani five<br />

years ago and agreed to sell<br />

him the medicines.— IANS<br />

ND-ND


NOIDA/DELHI<br />

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

Traditional crafts with a chic makeover<br />

Jaideep Deo Bhanj<br />

OLD MEETS NEW: The Design Fair is on at Nature Bazaar in Andheria Modh<br />

till January 27.<br />

NEW DELHI: Dastkar Haats are<br />

always about interacting<br />

with artisans trying to keep<br />

their crafts alive by adapting<br />

to contemporary taste.<br />

Buyers learn about crafts<br />

that are unique to a region<br />

and help the artisans sustain<br />

themselves by making purchases.<br />

However, the current<br />

Design Fair being organised<br />

at the Nature Bazaar in Andheria<br />

Modh here is a bit<br />

different.<br />

The fair connects buyers<br />

directly with jewellery, textile<br />

and décor designers who<br />

have adapted crafts in contemporary<br />

styles. The new<br />

ideas and designs from these<br />

creative minds have helped<br />

give a new lease of life to artisans<br />

struggling to sell their<br />

crafts as designs have not<br />

evolved for decades.<br />

The event, organised in<br />

partnership with Delhi Tourism,<br />

has many items up for<br />

grabs, including stoles, jackets,<br />

accessories and garments<br />

made from recycled<br />

textiles; jewellery made using<br />

ancient techniques interpreted<br />

in modern designs;<br />

innovate block-printing<br />

techniques; and new motifs<br />

and graphic designs that are<br />

executed on the looms of traditional<br />

handloom weavers.<br />

Many of the stalls are a result<br />

of a design intervention<br />

project by the National Institute<br />

of Design or other notable<br />

designers who have<br />

helped craftsmen make their<br />

products more appealing to<br />

the customer.<br />

Chhandak Jana, a fashion<br />

designer based in West Bengal<br />

who is participating in the<br />

fair, says he has used motifs<br />

inspired by Madhubani<br />

paintings and new block<br />

print designs on his clothes.<br />

“The problem was that<br />

there were very limited motifs<br />

and block print designs.<br />

Although people liked the<br />

style, they did not purchase<br />

more as two garments would<br />

look similar. Now that I have<br />

used new motifs, people will<br />

have a lot more to choose<br />

from,” he adds.<br />

Another stall set up by<br />

Amanda Brown sells poly-fill<br />

duvets for kids’ bedrooms.<br />

During her quest to find decent<br />

bed furnishings for her<br />

kid’s room Amanda came<br />

across very limited and expensive<br />

options. So she took<br />

a trip to Jaipur, met with<br />

block-print artisans and<br />

came up with a line that is<br />

moderately-priced and safe<br />

for kids.<br />

“Many kids in the city develop<br />

allergies due to the<br />

dust around. Therefore, it is<br />

very important to choose<br />

materials that do not attract<br />

dust,” she says.<br />

Apart from the usual pinks<br />

and blues, she has come up<br />

with line of gender neutral<br />

colours like mauve, yellow,<br />

green and orange for parents<br />

fed-up with pinks and blues.<br />

The exhibition is on till January<br />

27 at Nature Bazaar,<br />

Kisan Haat, Andheria Modh,<br />

opposite Chhatarpur Metro<br />

Station, Delhi.<br />

STATE<br />

5<br />

DUTA to<br />

approach<br />

President<br />

Staff Reporter<br />

NEW DELHI: Alleging that misgovernance<br />

of University administration<br />

had resulted in<br />

the decline of several institutions,<br />

the Delhi University<br />

Teachers’ Association (DU-<br />

TA) is planning to approach<br />

President Pranab Mukherjee,<br />

who is the Visitor of the University,<br />

Vice-President Hamid<br />

Ansari, who is the<br />

Chancellor, and the Union<br />

Ministry of Human Resource<br />

Development.<br />

‘Inefficiencies’<br />

“The sharp decline in the<br />

number of DU-maintained<br />

institutions, as a result of the<br />

current administration’s misrule,<br />

is increasing exponentially<br />

by the day,” said DUTA<br />

president Nandita Narain,<br />

adding that three institutions<br />

had been affected by the administration’s<br />

inefficiencies.<br />

“In Kirori Mal College, the<br />

governing body is protecting<br />

an acting-Principal facing<br />

criminal investigation following<br />

Court orders on serious<br />

charges of financial bungling<br />

levelled by the University<br />

Grants Commission. On the<br />

other hand, it has dismissed<br />

the suspended Principal,<br />

even though a statutory inquiry<br />

headed by a former Supreme<br />

Court Judge<br />

exonerated him,” said DUTA<br />

member Saikat Ghosh.<br />

The recent loss of the University<br />

College of Medical<br />

Sciences (UCMS) to the Delhi<br />

Government has also not<br />

gone down well with the<br />

DUTA.<br />

“The UCMS, which is the<br />

most important medical college<br />

under DU, has been severely<br />

neglected by the<br />

University administration<br />

and now, surreptitiously<br />

handed over to the Delhi Government<br />

without discussion<br />

and approval of the University<br />

Executive Council,” said<br />

Ms. Narain.<br />

She added that at the Vallabhbhai<br />

Patel Chest Institute<br />

too, two Assistant<br />

Registrars who raised the<br />

twin issues of corruption and<br />

financial irregularities were<br />

terminated by the governing<br />

body; one of them, despite<br />

having a High court order reinstating<br />

him, and the other,<br />

through an inquiry, despite<br />

the fact that the governing<br />

body has no disciplinary power<br />

against such employees<br />

“The fact that the University<br />

administration is treating<br />

its medical colleges with such<br />

contempt and indifference<br />

shows the scant regard it has<br />

for the health and well-being<br />

of the University community,”<br />

said Ms. Narain.<br />

She added that the DUTA<br />

had already asked for an appointment<br />

with the Visitor,<br />

and is currently awaiting a response<br />

from Rashtrapati<br />

Bhavan.<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

Portraits of women through the ages<br />

Rana Siddiqui Zaman<br />

NEW DELHI: A show of nearly<br />

300 works of art by 100 artists,<br />

from circa 1900 to 1980,<br />

is going to be unveiled on<br />

January 23 at Swaraj Art Archive<br />

in Noida’s Sector 2.<br />

Aptly titled Stri Avalekha,<br />

which means women in<br />

painting, the show has been<br />

culled from the Swaraj Art<br />

Archive. The works explore<br />

the female form as painted<br />

and photographed by both<br />

male and female painters<br />

and photographers through<br />

the ages.<br />

For instance, it shows<br />

how women, especially<br />

women models, reacted to<br />

painters and photographers.<br />

The motions and reactions<br />

can be seen in the gestures<br />

and body language — coy,<br />

bold, careless, conscious and<br />

so on.<br />

What makes the show<br />

unique is its unusual display<br />

method. The works of art are<br />

devoid of the name of the<br />

artist, period, chronology or<br />

titles in order to allow visitors<br />

enjoy them without the<br />

influence of “tags”, as show<br />

curator Smriti Rajgarhia<br />

Bhatt puts it.<br />

“No chronology, names,<br />

periods, etc. will allow the<br />

viewer to read and dwell into<br />

the artwork itself, rather<br />

than assess it pragmatically<br />

based on market researches<br />

associated with specific artists.<br />

A small effort has been<br />

made with this exhibition<br />

for the art to speak for itself<br />

without being weighed<br />

down or enhanced by the<br />

artists’ biographies. The<br />

viewer will then experience<br />

art without judgement and/<br />

or in comparison with the<br />

plethora of stylistic languages<br />

through Indian art,” she<br />

added.<br />

The works have been divided<br />

into categories like<br />

love, pride, devotion and acquiescence.<br />

They will include<br />

works by legendary<br />

painters like Raja Ravi Verma<br />

and M. F Husain, and<br />

A show of nearly 300 works of art by 100 artists,<br />

titled Stri Avalekha, will be unveiled on January 23<br />

at Swaraj Art Archive in Sector 2 of Noida<br />

modern and post-modern<br />

artists like F. N. Souza and<br />

Rekha Rodwittiya.<br />

However, a pamphlets<br />

mentioning the names and<br />

histories of each work will<br />

be available for the visitors.<br />

“The show will provide a<br />

visual comparative of the<br />

iconography associated with<br />

each of the artists and their<br />

muse,” said Prarthna, the research<br />

personnel of the<br />

show.<br />

Some of the works at the<br />

exhibition are by foreign<br />

artists who were inspired by<br />

India, specifically Goddesses<br />

Kali and Durga as depicted<br />

by artists from around<br />

the globe and not by those<br />

from the Bengal school of<br />

art.<br />

For instance, Kali and<br />

Durga as painted by the famous<br />

Nandlal Bose and unknown<br />

Dutch Bengal<br />

painters in stark contrast to<br />

nude models as painted by<br />

students in college and<br />

known/unknown painters<br />

and photographers, Raja Ravi<br />

Verma’s women deities,<br />

which finally became a<br />

house hold possession, especially<br />

the portraits of Goddesses<br />

Lakshmi and<br />

Sarawati, etc.<br />

The show also has Bollywood<br />

lobby cards, pictures<br />

of popular arts by modern<br />

and post-modern masters.<br />

The show will be on till April<br />

1.<br />

From March 1, Swaraj will<br />

hold several workshops for<br />

students and others around<br />

the show to educate them<br />

about Indian and foreign<br />

artists and their sensibilities<br />

with the reference to the female<br />

form.<br />

ND-ND


NORTHERN REGION<br />

NOIDA/DELHI<br />

6 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

Haryana Govt’s decision to<br />

reduce retirement age upheld<br />

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar<br />

CHANDIGARH: The retirement<br />

age of Haryana government<br />

employees now stands reduced<br />

to 58 years from 60 years as the<br />

Punjab and Haryana High<br />

Court has upheld the decision<br />

of the Manohar Lal Khattar<br />

government to the effect.<br />

The decision is likely to impact<br />

nearly 5,000 of the 3 lakh<br />

employees on an immediate basis.<br />

Government sources had<br />

earlier claimed that while the<br />

reduction in retirement age<br />

would result in an additional<br />

burden of Rs. 200 crore on the<br />

exchequer on immediate basis<br />

it would prove beneficial in the<br />

long run as it would lead to<br />

more job opportunities at the<br />

entry level.<br />

It was on November 25 that<br />

Mr. Khattar had announced the<br />

reduction in retirement age of<br />

employees.<br />

He had also stated that all<br />

employees who had completed<br />

Staff Reporter<br />

PATNA: Almost all the villagers<br />

who fled the strife-torn Azizpur<br />

village following a violent attack<br />

on Sunday by members of the<br />

majority community returned<br />

to their homes on Tuesday amid<br />

heavy security deployment.<br />

“Yes, the villagers who had<br />

fled have returned. The situation<br />

is under control and the<br />

administration is taking all<br />

measures to ensure peace,” said<br />

R.K. Mishra, Muzaffarpur Superintendent<br />

of Police.<br />

The villagers who returned to<br />

their half burnt homes on Tuesday<br />

were seen taking stock of<br />

the damage amid heaps of burnt<br />

boxes and trunks.<br />

Azizpur is a village of about<br />

70 families, mostly belonging to<br />

the minority communities. A<br />

Haryana Chief Minister<br />

Manohar Lal Khattar<br />

58 or 60 years in their respective<br />

categories and were still<br />

serving would be retired on November<br />

30, 2014.<br />

Though the Chief Minister<br />

had noted that the decision had<br />

been taken to ensure maximum<br />

employment opportunity to the<br />

youth, several employees<br />

unions and individuals had appealed<br />

against the decision in<br />

the High Court.<br />

On Tuesday, the court dismissed<br />

the petitions filed by the<br />

mob from the neighbouring Bahilwara<br />

Mali Tola had unleashed<br />

violence after the body<br />

of a youth from their village was<br />

found in an agricultural field in<br />

Azizpur.<br />

The Opposition BJP has<br />

blamed the State’s JD(U) government<br />

and demanded a judicial<br />

probe into the incident.<br />

Five policemen have been suspended<br />

for negligence.<br />

“Nothing is left, everything<br />

has either been burnt or looted…<br />

even my half-thatchedhalf-concrete<br />

house has been<br />

gutted,” Mohd Nasirrudin told<br />

The Hindu over phone.<br />

The administration has distributed<br />

cheques and some cash<br />

for reconstructing homes and<br />

buying kitchen utensils. A police<br />

check point has come up at<br />

the village and there is heavy<br />

employees against the decision.<br />

In their petition, the employees<br />

had charged that the decision<br />

was politically motivated<br />

as the previous Congress government<br />

under Bhupinder<br />

Singh Hooda had only in August<br />

2014 increased the retirement<br />

age to 60 and also increased the<br />

age limit for entry into government<br />

services by two years to<br />

42.<br />

The petitioners had also<br />

sought parity with other cadres<br />

stating that judicial officers, Indian<br />

Administrative Services<br />

officials and teachers of colleges<br />

aided by the government<br />

were still retiring at 60.<br />

Raising a question of law, the<br />

petitioners had also charged<br />

that the decision of the BJP<br />

government was illegal and<br />

void as the Council of Ministers<br />

lacked the minimum numbers.<br />

But the Single Bench of Justice<br />

Tejinder Singh Dhindsa<br />

dismissed the bunch of<br />

petitions.<br />

Azizpur villagers return home<br />

deployment of security personnel<br />

to restore the confidence of<br />

the frightened villagers. “I’ve<br />

suspended five officials following<br />

the directive of the Additional<br />

Director General of<br />

Police Gupteshwar Pandey,”<br />

said the Muzaffarpur SP.<br />

Meanwhile, leaders from various<br />

political parties continued<br />

to visit the village.<br />

Senior State BJP leader Sushil<br />

Kumar Modi, who visited on<br />

Tuesday, blamed the State for<br />

the incident. The BJP also demanded<br />

a judicial probe. Mr<br />

Modi said the government must<br />

sanction Rs. 10 lakh as<br />

compensation.<br />

Some RJD and LJP leaders<br />

too visited the village on Tuesday.<br />

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav<br />

is also expected to pay a visit<br />

soon.<br />

2 constables<br />

injured in<br />

Maoist attacks<br />

Pavan Dahat<br />

RAIPUR: Two constables were<br />

injured in Maoist attacks in<br />

the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh<br />

on Tuesday.<br />

Pankuj Thakur, a constable<br />

with the 13th battalion of the<br />

Chhattisgarh Armed Force,<br />

was injured when a pressure<br />

bomb exploded near Murdonda<br />

village of Bijapur, the<br />

police said.<br />

He is said to be out of danger<br />

now. Suspected Maoists<br />

attacked a “Sayakak Arakshak”<br />

(auxiliary constable),<br />

Kichche Soya, with sharp<br />

weapons at a marketplace at<br />

Pollamapalli in Sukma.<br />

Camp busted<br />

In another incident, a joint<br />

team of Dantewada and Bijapur<br />

police busted a Maoist<br />

camp in the Hurrepal forests<br />

of Dantewada.<br />

Three Maoists surrendered<br />

before the police in Dornapal<br />

town of Sukma district on<br />

Tuesday.<br />

Madkam Sukka (28), Padam<br />

Ayata (35) and Kichche<br />

Ayata (36) surrendered before<br />

the Sub-divisional Police<br />

Officer and Central Reserve<br />

Police Force officers, Additional<br />

Superintendent of Police<br />

Santosh Singh said.<br />

SC panel raps<br />

Punjab govt.<br />

Sarabjit Pandher<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

CHANDIGARH: The National<br />

Commission for Scheduled<br />

Castes (NCSC) on Tuesday<br />

expressed serious reservations<br />

over the failure of the<br />

Punjab government to implement<br />

the provisions of<br />

the Prevention of Atrocities<br />

against Scheduled Castes<br />

(PoA) Act, as well as underutilised<br />

or mis-utilised funds<br />

and financial assistance under<br />

the Scheduled Caste Special<br />

Component Plan<br />

released by the Centre in<br />

2010.<br />

Talking to reporters after<br />

a review meeting for Punjab<br />

and Chandigarh, NCSC<br />

Chairman P. L. Punia said<br />

that the State vigilance and<br />

monitoring committee,<br />

headed by the Chief Minister,<br />

had not held its meeting<br />

since 2006 even though the<br />

PoA Act mandated its meeting<br />

every six months. Similarly<br />

meetings at district<br />

levels were also not being<br />

held on regular intervals.<br />

ND-ND


NOIDA/DELHI<br />

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

7<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

ND-ND


8 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

NOIDA/DELHI<br />

FOR JOB LISTINGS & ARTICLES, VISIT www.thehindu.com/jobs<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

ND-ND


NOIDA/DELHI<br />

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

SOUTHERN REGION<br />

9<br />

ASKS PEOPLE TO HAVE MORE CHILDREN<br />

Naidu’s remark stirs up hornets’ nest<br />

Ravi Reddy<br />

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh<br />

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu<br />

Naidu has drawn flak from<br />

political parties for his remark<br />

calling people to have<br />

more children.<br />

Mr. Naidu on Monday said<br />

a ‘demographic crisis’ loomed<br />

large over Andhra Pradesh.<br />

Interacting with people at<br />

Bramhanagudem, Unagatla<br />

and Chagallu on the last leg of<br />

his two-day programme in<br />

West Godavari district, he expressed<br />

fears of the ageing of<br />

the country following a sharp<br />

decline in the birth rate.<br />

The family planning programme<br />

with “one or none”<br />

slogan resulted in population<br />

growth coming to a standstill<br />

leading to a reversal of the<br />

demographic profile of the<br />

State of late, he said. Quoting<br />

Karnataka first<br />

in country to<br />

give universal<br />

health coverage<br />

Nagesh Prabhu<br />

BENGALURU: Karnataka on<br />

Tuesday became the first in<br />

the country to provide universal<br />

health coverage with<br />

the launch of two schemes,<br />

the Rajiv Arogya Bhagya for<br />

APL households and the<br />

Jyothi Sanjeevini for government<br />

employees.<br />

The health coverage is estimated<br />

to cost the government<br />

Rs. 120 crore annually.<br />

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah,<br />

who launched the<br />

schemes, said APL family<br />

members would be entitled<br />

for a health check costing up<br />

to Rs. 1.5 lakh a year.<br />

In special cases, if the expenditure<br />

exceeds Rs. 1.5<br />

lakh, the government could<br />

sanction an additional sum of<br />

Rs. 50,000, he said. The<br />

scheme proposes to cover 449<br />

surgical procedures and 50<br />

follow-up packages.<br />

Beneficiaries can avail<br />

treatment in 160 hospitals,<br />

including 14 hospitals outside<br />

the State.<br />

The government employees<br />

will get cashless treatment<br />

in 124 empanelled<br />

private hospitals under the<br />

Jyothi Sanjeevini scheme.<br />

Vigilance books<br />

5 officials in<br />

Titanium case<br />

Special Correspondent<br />

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Vigilance<br />

and Anti-Corruption<br />

Bureau (VACB) on Tuesday<br />

booked five Travancore Titanium<br />

Products (TTP) officials<br />

on the suspicion of corruption<br />

in the setting up of an effluent<br />

treatment plant at the public<br />

sector industrial unit.<br />

In a First Information Report<br />

(FIR) filed in the court of<br />

the Vigilance Enquiry Commissioner<br />

and Special Judge<br />

here, the VACB named as accused<br />

former managing director<br />

Eapen Joseph, chief<br />

manager Santosh Kumar, executive<br />

director A.M. Bhaskaran,<br />

former chief manager<br />

Thomas Mathew, and former<br />

chief commercial manager<br />

Gopakumar Nair.<br />

The allegation was that the<br />

accused had conspired together<br />

to appoint M/s. MECON,<br />

Ranchi, as consultant, causing<br />

undue pecuniary advantage to<br />

the private firm and consequent<br />

loss to the public sector<br />

entity.<br />

Ramadoss appears<br />

before judge<br />

Special Correspondent<br />

CHENNAI: The PMK founder,<br />

S.Ramadoss, on Tuesday appeared<br />

before the Principal<br />

Sessions Judge (PSJ), Chennai,<br />

in connection with a case<br />

of alleged defamation against<br />

him. Earlier, the City Public<br />

Prosecutor had filed a complaint<br />

before the court on behalf<br />

of the Food Minister,<br />

R.Kamaraj, that Mr.Ramadoss<br />

had defamed the Minister.<br />

The matter pertained to<br />

the procurement of pulses.<br />

Dr.Ramadoss issued a statement<br />

and it was carried in a<br />

Tamil eveninger on November<br />

17 last year.<br />

Contending that the statement<br />

defamed the Food Minister,<br />

the CPP filed the<br />

complaint on his behalf.<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

Chandrababu Naidu<br />

the latest official data, Mr.<br />

Naidu said the ratio of births<br />

and deaths looked similar and<br />

if this situation continued,<br />

the State would end up with<br />

BJP may seek permission<br />

to prosecute Siddaramaiah<br />

B.S. Satish Kumar<br />

Siddaramaiah<br />

BENGALURU: The Bharatiya Janata<br />

Party is expected to file a<br />

petition before Karnataka<br />

Governor Vajubhai R. Vala<br />

this week seeking permission<br />

to prosecute Chief Minister<br />

Siddaramaiah over his alleged<br />

involvement in the denotification<br />

of land acquired for the<br />

formation of Arkavathi Layout<br />

in Bengaluru.<br />

However, contrary to the<br />

belief that the BJP itself may<br />

file such a petition, the party<br />

is likely to get an individual<br />

either from its cadre or from<br />

outside to approach the<br />

Governor.<br />

There were expectations in<br />

the political circles that leader<br />

of the Opposition and former<br />

Chief Minister Jagadish<br />

Shettar or BJP State president<br />

Pralhad Joshi would file<br />

TCS revokes employee<br />

termination order<br />

K.T.Sangameswaran<br />

and Sangeetha Kandavel<br />

CHENNAI: The Tata Consultancy<br />

Services has revoked<br />

the order terminating a<br />

woman employee following<br />

which the Madras High<br />

Court on Tuesday dismissed<br />

as infructuous a petition<br />

filed by her.<br />

Sasirekha Thangavel Natarajan,<br />

working as an Assistant<br />

Consultant in Tata<br />

Consultancy Services Ltd.,<br />

Chennai, since March 2011,<br />

said that her employer had<br />

issued a termination order<br />

dated December 22 last<br />

year stating that she would<br />

be relieved on January 21.<br />

She moved the High<br />

Court challenging the termination<br />

order. On January<br />

13, Justice M. Duraiswamy<br />

granted an interim injunction<br />

for four weeks restraining<br />

the company from<br />

removing the employee.<br />

When the matter came up,<br />

the company counsel submitted<br />

that TCS had revoked<br />

the order dated<br />

December 22. He also produced<br />

the order and the<br />

court placed it on record.<br />

Mr.Justice Duraiswamy<br />

said that since the company<br />

had revoked the letter<br />

which was the subject matter<br />

of the writ petition, he<br />

did not find any reason to<br />

keep the petition pending<br />

further and dismissed it as<br />

infructuous.<br />

A senior official in TCS<br />

told The Hindu, “The fact<br />

that she was pregnant was<br />

not made known to us during<br />

her exit. As per our Tata<br />

Group’s policy we always<br />

ensure that pregnant women<br />

are taken care off.’’<br />

The company also issued<br />

a statement saying, Ms Sasi<br />

Rekha has stated in the affidavit<br />

before the Madras<br />

High Court that she is pregnant.<br />

This fact was not<br />

made known to TCS by Ms<br />

Sasi Rekha during the exit<br />

process.<br />

CHENNAI: “Perumal Murugan<br />

should return and pen more<br />

enlightening pieces with<br />

strong social themes for the<br />

generation next,” was the<br />

united call from those who<br />

gathered at Valluvar Kottam<br />

on Tuesday morning to express<br />

solidarity for the author.<br />

The protesters also<br />

condemned the reactions by<br />

State authorities in the case.<br />

Mr. Murugan’s novel Madhorubhagan<br />

released in 2010<br />

was criticised by a few caste<br />

outfits that cried foul over the<br />

portrayal of a temple ritual in<br />

Tiruchengode in the 1930s. In<br />

January, the author was<br />

forced to tendering an apology<br />

and also offered to remove<br />

the alleged<br />

controversial portions from<br />

book. He abstained from<br />

writing after the incident.<br />

Scholars, senior journalists,<br />

free thinkers and political<br />

leaders voiced in support<br />

of Mr. Murugan and lashed<br />

out on Namakkal police and<br />

local Revenue officials alleging<br />

ill treatment of the author<br />

and termed it a cowardice act<br />

suppressing freedom of<br />

expression.<br />

While participating at the<br />

Tuesday’s protest, Communist<br />

Party of India’s senior<br />

leader R. Nallakannu, condemned<br />

the role played by<br />

the State authorities in withdrawing<br />

a fine work that<br />

talks about freedom on women<br />

in society and atrocities in<br />

the name of caste. “This is a<br />

clear case of freedom of expression<br />

being crushed and it<br />

is ridiculous that such an act<br />

against a work of fiction is<br />

initiated after four years,” he<br />

less number of youth, resembling<br />

the precarious condition<br />

of Japan, he cautioned.<br />

It was time people come<br />

out of the earlier mindsets<br />

vis-à-vis the size of families<br />

and have two to three children<br />

as the young generation<br />

held the key to realisation of<br />

his smart village/town mission.<br />

Claiming that he was the<br />

one who took the lead in the<br />

past in his capacity as Chief<br />

Minister in implementing<br />

birth control measures, Mr.<br />

Naidu said it was time to revisit<br />

such policies.<br />

‘Naidu pleasing<br />

Sangh Parivar’<br />

At a press conference here,<br />

CPI national general secretary<br />

Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy<br />

said Mr. Naidu’s remark<br />

was surprising, to say the<br />

least, and amounted to pleasing<br />

the Sangh Parivar. “Anyway,<br />

Mr. Naidu will not be<br />

allowed to exist politically till<br />

the 2019 general elections.<br />

He is simply wasting his<br />

breath, but coming from the<br />

Chief Minister of a State, it<br />

raises eyebrows about his political<br />

motives,” Mr. Narayana<br />

said.<br />

He wondered if it meant<br />

that India’s family planning<br />

programme no longer had<br />

any importance.<br />

Lok Satta founder president<br />

N. Jayaprakash Narayan<br />

said Mr. Naidu’s call to young<br />

couples to have more children<br />

is outrageous. Andhra<br />

Pradesh’s birth rate is 17.5<br />

and population is growing at 1<br />

per cent PA.<br />

(With additional reporting<br />

by G. Nagaraja in Eluru and<br />

Suresh Krishnamoorthy in<br />

Hyderabad)<br />

the petition. However, party<br />

sources said they wanted an<br />

individual rather than the<br />

party or its leaders to do the<br />

formalities due to the “legal<br />

nitty-gritty”.<br />

Sources denied that such a<br />

decision had been taken to<br />

prevent embarrassment to<br />

party national vice-president<br />

B.S. Yeddyurappa, who is facing<br />

denotification cases.<br />

“Any person who files such<br />

a petition will have to be<br />

physically present at the<br />

courts regularly and monitor<br />

the legal process. This may<br />

not be possible for a political<br />

leader and hence, we want the<br />

formalities to done by an individual,”<br />

sources said.<br />

added.<br />

Addressing mediapersons<br />

after the event, Viduthalai<br />

Chiruthaigal Katchi leader<br />

Thol Thirumavalavan said<br />

that the actions are not<br />

against a single writer but<br />

totally against freedom of expression.<br />

“When a pen is broken,<br />

more pens such rise and act<br />

against such injustice. Perumal<br />

Murugan should return<br />

SC grants Janardhan Reddy bail<br />

Krishnadas Rajagopal<br />

NEW DELHI: The Supreme<br />

Court on Tuesday granted<br />

bail to former Karnataka<br />

Minister G. Janardhan Reddy<br />

in an illegal mining case<br />

involving Obulapuram<br />

Mining Company (OMC) on<br />

the condition that he does<br />

not visit any of the mining<br />

zones in Karnataka or Andhra<br />

Pradesh.<br />

A three-judge Bench, led<br />

by Chief Justice of India H.L.<br />

Dattu and comprising Justices<br />

A.K. Sikri and Arun Mishra,<br />

took on record the<br />

submission by the CBI that it<br />

had no objection to the court<br />

granting bail to Mr. Reddy as<br />

the investigation is<br />

complete.<br />

Additional Solicitor-General<br />

Maninder Singh submitted<br />

that the CBI had already<br />

filed a charge sheet and supplementary<br />

charge sheet in<br />

the case.<br />

“Since the investigating<br />

CHENNAI: The unexpected decision<br />

of Union Finance Minister<br />

Arun Jaitely to call on<br />

former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa<br />

on Sunday has sent<br />

shockwaves through the Tamil<br />

Nadu BJP unit, some<br />

leaders of which want the<br />

party to reconsider decision<br />

to contest the Srirangam bypoll.<br />

The high-profile meeting<br />

between the two leaders,<br />

which Mr. Jaitely termed as a<br />

“courtesy call,” took the Tamil<br />

Nadu BJP by surprise at a<br />

time when it was gearing to<br />

field a candidate in the bypoll.<br />

The constituency was of<br />

significance as it was vacated<br />

by Ms. Jayalalithaa following<br />

her conviction in the disproportionate<br />

assets case.<br />

A senior BJP leader lamented<br />

that the BJP Central<br />

“Perumal Murugan should write more’’<br />

Staff Reporter<br />

Writers express their solidarity with novelist Perumal Murugan in Chennai on<br />

Tuesday. - PHOTO: M.PRABHU<br />

to writing and offer more<br />

works to the society without<br />

fear,” Thirumavalan added.<br />

Organised by the Karuthurimai<br />

Padhukappu Kootamaippu,<br />

Tamil Nadu Kalai<br />

Ilakiya Perumandram and<br />

the Tamil Nadu Progressive<br />

Writers and Artists Association,<br />

the protest meet also<br />

witnessed the launch of a<br />

signature campaign in support<br />

of Perumal Murugan.<br />

G. Janardhan Reddy<br />

leadership was now acting<br />

like that of the Congress,<br />

which hardly ever consulted<br />

the Pradesh committees before<br />

making important decisions.<br />

“None of us were<br />

informed that Mr. Jaitely<br />

would meet the AIADMK<br />

leader. We have been mounting<br />

severe criticism on the<br />

AIADMK government over<br />

the last four months. All that<br />

has crashed with this one<br />

meeting,” the leader said, requesting<br />

anonymity.<br />

A state general secretary of<br />

the BJP said the idea of contesting<br />

the Srirangam by-poll<br />

was to send a strong message<br />

to the electorate that the party<br />

wanted to be a formidable<br />

alternative to the two Dravidian<br />

parties. “But now that a<br />

senior Union Minister has<br />

met Ms. Jayalalithaa, it has<br />

reiterated a notion that the<br />

two parties were always<br />

Nine killed as bus falls into gorge<br />

Staff Reporter<br />

DHARMAPURI: Nine persons,<br />

including two women and<br />

two children, were killed after<br />

a State Transport Corporation<br />

bus swerved off the<br />

ghat road near Hogenakkal<br />

and fell into a 100-foot-deep<br />

gorge on Tuesday.<br />

G.Nagammal (50), M.Shivashankatri<br />

(10) both of-<br />

Kammalapatty in Palacode,<br />

K.Vengatammal (50), Kaliappan<br />

(55) both of Alakappadu<br />

in Dharmapuri; M.<br />

Sahadevan (50) of Mallapuram<br />

in Pennagaram, C.Manivannan<br />

(50) of<br />

Dharmapuri, M. Manikandan<br />

(10), Sudhakar of Krishnagiri<br />

(38) were killed on the<br />

spot. Duraisamy (50) of<br />

Dharmapuri died at the<br />

Dharmapuri GH.<br />

Over 40 passengers were<br />

rushed to Pennagaram and<br />

Dharmapuri Govenrment<br />

Hospitals with injuries.<br />

The Tamil Nadu State<br />

Chevening<br />

scholarship for<br />

Indian students<br />

to go up<br />

S. Prasad<br />

PUDUCHERRY: There will a fourfold<br />

increase in funding for<br />

Chevening scholarships for<br />

Indian students over the next<br />

two years making India the<br />

largest recipient in the world,<br />

said Andrew Soper, Minister<br />

Counsellor (Political and<br />

Press), British High Commission.<br />

Addressing mediapersons<br />

here on Tuesday on the eve of<br />

inauguration of the Great<br />

U.K. education seminars, Mr.<br />

Soper said the British Council<br />

was giving an opportunity to<br />

750 Indian students to<br />

achieve scholarship worth<br />

around 1.51 million pounds<br />

(approximately Rs. 151 million).<br />

The U.K. attracts over<br />

400,000 overseas students to<br />

its institutions annually, of<br />

which almost 30,000 are<br />

from India, he said.<br />

India, which has the second<br />

largest Chevening programme<br />

after China, will see<br />

an increase from 0.6 million<br />

pounds to 2.4 million pounds<br />

funding for the 2014-2015<br />

and 2015-16. Mr. Soper said<br />

the U.K. government’s global<br />

scholarship programmes<br />

aims to make India the largest<br />

recipient in the world over<br />

the next two years.<br />

agency has no objection, we<br />

are granting bail to Reddy,”<br />

Chief Justice Dattu recorded<br />

in the court order, dictated<br />

after a brief hearing.<br />

Senior advocate Dushyant<br />

Dave, counsel for Mr. Reddy,<br />

submitted that his client had<br />

been in jail for over three<br />

years and agreed with the<br />

court’s caution to co-operate<br />

in the trial before a special<br />

court in Hyderabad.<br />

The court acceded to the<br />

conditions put by the CBI, including<br />

that Mr. Reddy<br />

would surrender his passport,<br />

not influence witnesses<br />

and refrain from visiting Ballari<br />

district in Karnataka, and<br />

Anantapur and Cuddapah in<br />

Andhra Pradesh. It further<br />

ordered Mr. Reddy to furnish<br />

two sureties of Rs. 10 lakh<br />

each as condition for bail.<br />

In a hearing in December,<br />

Mr. Reddy had drawn the<br />

court’s attention to the long<br />

time he has spent in jail. He<br />

had sought bail in view of his<br />

poor health, among other<br />

reasons.<br />

Mr. Reddy had approached<br />

the apex court challenging a<br />

2013 High Court order rejecting<br />

his bail petition.<br />

The petitioner and his<br />

brother-in-law B.V. Srinivas<br />

Reddy, managing director of<br />

OMC, were arrested by the<br />

CBI on September 5, 2011,<br />

from Ballari and brought to<br />

Hyderabad. He, along with<br />

others, is facing five other<br />

cases.<br />

friends,” the functionary said,<br />

calling the timing of the<br />

meeting as most “unfortunate.”<br />

The leader added that not<br />

only would it be difficult to<br />

face the voters in Srirangam,<br />

the party organisation too<br />

would be demoralised by this<br />

“constant shift in position.”<br />

“On Sunday morning, our<br />

national president gave a very<br />

positive signal about contesting<br />

the by-poll. In the evening,<br />

a senior leader goes and<br />

meets Ms. Jayalalithaa. All of<br />

us are totally confused. There<br />

has to be some clarity on what<br />

our position in the State<br />

should be,” the leader pointed<br />

out.<br />

The growing opinion in the<br />

party since Sunday was that<br />

entering the fray in Sririangam<br />

should be avoided. Rather,<br />

a candidate of one of the<br />

allies could be supported. But<br />

The bus which fell into a deep gorge near<br />

Hogenakkal on Tuesday. — PHOTO: SPECIAL<br />

ARRANGEMENT<br />

Transport Corporation bus<br />

from Bommidi to Anjetti<br />

left Dharmapuri town at<br />

11.40 a.m with over 60 passengers.<br />

The driver lost control<br />

while negotiating the<br />

narrow hill road about sixkm<br />

down the Forest Department<br />

check post in Hogenakkal.<br />

It swerved off the<br />

Sabarimala<br />

temple closes<br />

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor<br />

PATHANAMTHITTA: The Ayyappa<br />

Temple at Sabarimala was<br />

closed on Tuesday after the customary<br />

darshan for the representative<br />

of the Pandalam<br />

Palace, Kerala Varma Raja,<br />

marking the end of the twomonth<br />

Mandalam-Makaravilakku<br />

pilgrim season.<br />

Head priest (Melsanthi), E.N.<br />

Krishnadas Namboodiri,<br />

opened the temple at 5.30 a.m.<br />

Tantri Kandararu Rajeevararu,<br />

assisted by the Melsanthi, performed<br />

the Ashtadravya Maha<br />

Ganapati homom. Later, the<br />

Melsanthi closed the sanctum<br />

sanctorum and handed over the<br />

keys to the royal representative<br />

The royal-designate and his<br />

entourage descended the holy<br />

18-steps (Pathinettampady)<br />

and returned the keys to the<br />

Melsanthi at the Lower Tirumattom,<br />

in the presence of the<br />

Devaswom Executive Officer<br />

and Administrative Officer.<br />

Jaitley meet confuses Tamil Nadu BJP<br />

Sruthisagar Yamunan<br />

UDF likely to show<br />

KC(B) the door<br />

Girish Menon<br />

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The<br />

‘Oust Balakrishna Pillai” movement<br />

in the United Democratic<br />

Front (UDF) gathered momentum<br />

on Tuesday with ruling<br />

coalition leaders arriving at a<br />

general agreement that the Kerala<br />

Congress (B) leader should<br />

be shown the door without further<br />

delay. At the end of daylong<br />

discussions UDF convener<br />

P.P. Thankachan held with senior<br />

leaders here, including telephone<br />

conversations with<br />

leaders of some coalition partners<br />

who were not in the State<br />

capital, it has become almost<br />

certain that the Kerala Congress<br />

(B) will be expelled from<br />

the ruling coalition when its<br />

high-power committee meets<br />

on January 28.<br />

Kerala Congress (M) leader<br />

and Finance Minister K.M. Mani<br />

is adamant about ousting Mr.<br />

Pillai from the ruling coalition<br />

and has hinted that he would be<br />

forced to keep away from UDF<br />

meetings if a decision was not<br />

taken immediately.<br />

Mr. Thankachan held discussions<br />

with Chief Minister Oommen<br />

Chandy, Indian Union<br />

Muslim League leader and Industries<br />

Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty,<br />

Home Minister Ramesh<br />

Chennithala in Thiruvananthapuram,<br />

besides following it<br />

up with phone calls to SJ(D)<br />

leader M.P. Veerendrakumar,<br />

and Mr. Mani himself.<br />

The current mood in the UDF<br />

is quite different from last<br />

month when KC(B) MLA K.B.<br />

Ganesh Kumar, Mr. Pillai’s son,<br />

came out with corruption allegations<br />

against Public Works<br />

Minister P.K. Ebrahim Kunju<br />

and his staff. According to UDF<br />

leaders’ evaluation, the controversial<br />

telephone conversation<br />

that Mr. Pillai had with Thiruvananthapuram-based<br />

hotelier<br />

Biju Ramesh has given a different<br />

dimension because Mr. Pillai<br />

has not only made new<br />

corruption charges, but also appears<br />

to be part of a conspiracy<br />

against Mr. Mani. Another reason<br />

why UDF leaders are keen<br />

on taking quick action against<br />

Mr. Pillai is because of the nuisance<br />

value he will have being<br />

part of the coalition.<br />

DEATH<br />

ANNIVERSARIES<br />

this line seemed unviable on<br />

Tuesday with the PMK openly<br />

declaring that it would neither<br />

field a candidate nor<br />

would support anyone in the<br />

by-poll.<br />

Sources in the DMDK, the<br />

other ally in the NDA, said the<br />

district unit of the party<br />

wanted to contest the byelection<br />

alone. But time is<br />

running out to take such a decision.<br />

“The last date for filing<br />

nominations is January 27. A<br />

decision like this has to be<br />

taken at least a month earlier<br />

so that you can prepare the<br />

ground. The opinion in the<br />

party is that it is too late now<br />

to make any impact. But the<br />

final decision would be taken<br />

by our party president,” a<br />

DMDK MLA said.<br />

Both the DMK and the<br />

AIADMK have already announced<br />

their candidates.<br />

ghat road and rolled into a<br />

gorge.<br />

According to police, the<br />

narrow stretch overlooking<br />

an Anjenayar temple had already<br />

witnessed two accidents<br />

an year ago. After a<br />

five-hour-long operation,<br />

the fire service personnel<br />

hauled out the wreckage.<br />

DEATH<br />

DEATH<br />

ANNIVERSARIES<br />

ND-ND


EDITORIAL<br />

NOIDA/DELHI<br />

10 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

Ideology and the rise of terror<br />

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

Short of<br />

stalwarts<br />

A<br />

prize catch or a liability, a master stroke or a<br />

mistake? In projecting new entrant Kiran Bedi<br />

as its chief ministerial candidate in the<br />

Delhi Assembly election, the Bharatiya Janata<br />

Party must have entertained visions of beating the principal<br />

rival Aam Aadmi Party at its own game. Ms. Bedi,<br />

whose post-retirement political activism was centred<br />

on Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement, was seen<br />

as the ideal counter to Arvind Kejriwal, who too was a<br />

prominent member of Team Anna before forming the<br />

AAP. The saffron party’s strategy was to cut into the<br />

freshly built vote bank of the AAP: the aspiring middle<br />

class that had tired of the political class, perceived as<br />

corrupt and inefficient. But in leaning too heavily on a<br />

newcomer to lead the campaign, the BJP showed itself<br />

up as a party that was short of stalwarts in Delhi. After<br />

Harsh Vardhan, who was propped up as the clean,<br />

incorruptible face of the party in Delhi in the last<br />

election, moved to the Lok Sabha and then the Union<br />

Cabinet, the BJP was left without a widely acceptable<br />

leader. Whether Ms. Bedi can unite the warring factions<br />

of the BJP, or whether she would end up adding one<br />

more faction to the mix, is the big question. What is<br />

certain is that Ms. Bedi’s entry will not be smooth; she<br />

was earlier a strident critic of the BJP and Prime Minister<br />

Narendra Modi. Already there are murmurs of protest<br />

at the manner in which she was made the chief<br />

ministerial candidate without broad consultations<br />

within the party.<br />

Like Mr. Kejriwal before her, Ms. Bedi failed to win<br />

the support of Mr. Hazare for her political ambitions.<br />

Mr. Hazare has stayed away from all political parties,<br />

but for a brief spike in interest in the Trinamool Congress.<br />

Although she was a prominent face in Team Anna,<br />

Ms. Bedi is unlikely to win the backing of all those who<br />

had joined the anti-corruption crusade behind the<br />

Gandhian at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in 2011. She might<br />

match Mr. Kejriwal’s crusading spirit, but whether she<br />

will be able to capture the popular imagination remains<br />

to be seen. At one level, her entry — just days before the<br />

election — comes across as politically opportunist. For<br />

the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah team, Delhi is of a different<br />

order from the Assembly polls held after the Lok<br />

Sabha election. Here the BJP has no ally to shed, and<br />

there can be no excuse for falling short of an absolute<br />

majority. Anything short of a majority will likely be seen<br />

as a failure, and not as the success of a bold experiment<br />

of going it alone. In that sense, Delhi will be a greater<br />

test than Maharashtra or Haryana or Jharkhand. How<br />

far Ms. Bedi, who is expected to turn the campaign into<br />

a direct contest between her and Mr. Kejriwal, will help<br />

the BJP in this endeavour, remains to be seen.<br />

Focus on public<br />

investment<br />

T<br />

he idea that the government should lead investment<br />

revival by spending from its purse<br />

seems to be gaining ground quickly. The<br />

thought was first expressed by Chief Economic<br />

Adviser Arvind Subramanian a month ago while releasing<br />

the government’s mid-year review of the<br />

economy. Mr. Subramanian was of the opinion that<br />

public investment may have to play a greater role to<br />

complement and “crowd-in” private investment. Of<br />

course, this had to be done within the constraints of the<br />

fiscal situation. In an interaction with industrialists in<br />

Chennai on Monday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley<br />

endorsed this view, saying that the government would<br />

take some “special steps” to increase public investment<br />

while pointing out that it would be a challenge to do so<br />

within the constraint of the fiscal deficit. Mr. Jaitley<br />

expressed the government’s predicament well. It is a<br />

fact that private investment in infrastructure is in a<br />

comatose state thanks to over-leveraged balance sheets<br />

and excess capacities that may take a long time to be<br />

absorbed. The banking system is groaning under the<br />

collective weight of the overdues of private borrowers,<br />

and banks are clearly unwilling to lend for new projects.<br />

Of course, some companies have already started to<br />

repair their balance sheets by shedding assets through<br />

mergers and acquisitions and using the proceeds to<br />

settle their dues with banks. Clearly, though the deleveraging<br />

process has begun, it will be a while before<br />

the private sector cleans up its act and goes for fresh<br />

investment. The onus to stimulate a revival is, therefore,<br />

clearly on the government now. The Centre has<br />

been appropriating a part of the bounty from falling<br />

global oil prices in the form of higher excise duties, and<br />

the Finance Minister is on record as saying that this<br />

money will go directly towards building new roads and<br />

highways and not into the Consolidated Fund of India.<br />

This will give an impetus to the highways expansion<br />

programme that has been struggling for want of adequate<br />

interest from private developers. But then, the<br />

scale and quantum of public investment required is<br />

much bigger, and this is where the government will run<br />

into the fiscal wall. With 99 per cent of the projected<br />

deficit for this year already accounted for in the first<br />

eight months, headroom for additional spending is nonexistent<br />

this fiscal, even if one were to account for<br />

bountiful proceeds from the spectrum auction that is<br />

due next month. The focus is therefore on the coming<br />

fiscal, and the Budget will provide an insight into the<br />

government’s plans on this front. Clearly, some tightrope<br />

walking will be required as the Centre seeks to<br />

increase spending on infrastructure projects to compensate<br />

for private investment.<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

Vasundhara Sirnate<br />

The first two weeks of 2015 have not<br />

helped moderate Muslims anywhere<br />

in the world. Between the<br />

Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant<br />

(Syria) [ISIS/ISIL and now IS], the Tehreeke-Taliban<br />

Pakistan, Boko Haram and the renegade<br />

gunmen claiming allegiance to the al-<br />

Qaeda in Yemen that shot the cartoonists of<br />

Charlie Hebdo, the world seems to have exploded<br />

in a frenzy of Islamic ideology-fuelled<br />

killing. Reactions to Islamic radicals conducting<br />

acts of terror have been varied. Between<br />

the Moroccan-born Mayor of Rotterdam,<br />

Ahmed Aboutaleb, rudely telling Muslims to<br />

get out of his country, the thousands of people<br />

in Germany marching in an anti-Islam demonstration,<br />

anchor Jeanine Pirro on Fox<br />

News saying “we need to kill them” and Rupert<br />

Murdoch tweeting about holding Muslims<br />

collectively responsible for terrorism, common<br />

Muslims everywhere are being forced to<br />

apologise and take responsibility for the dangerous<br />

actions of less than one per cent of the<br />

world’s total Muslim population.<br />

CARTOONSCAPE<br />

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR<br />

Words of advice<br />

Even though President Pranab<br />

Mukherjee’s words of advice to the<br />

political class to ensure the passage<br />

of laws is timely, Article 108 of the<br />

Constitution, which deals with joint<br />

sittings of Parliament, does not<br />

stipulate any limit regarding the<br />

number and frequency of joint<br />

sittings (“‘Joint session no solution<br />

to end Rajya Sabha logjam,” Jan.<br />

20). To conclude that a joint session<br />

could be called whenever a Bill does<br />

not get through would be based on a<br />

narrow reading of Article 108.<br />

The Opposition in the Rajya<br />

Sabha appears to be looking out for<br />

issues each day in order to stall the<br />

functioning of the House. There<br />

should be ways and means to<br />

explore how there can be healthy<br />

debates.<br />

Arulur N. Balasubramanian,<br />

Chennai<br />

There have been a number of<br />

incidents obstructing and stalling<br />

the passage of important Bills. On<br />

many an occasion, there has been<br />

no spirit of cooperation, harmony<br />

and purpose as both ruling party<br />

and Opposition MPs have been<br />

adamant and selfish without giving<br />

any thought to how the taxpayer’s<br />

money is being wasted.<br />

Each tries to avoid finding a<br />

solution citing previous cycles of<br />

disturbances. The honourable<br />

President himself was a<br />

parliamentarian not very long ago<br />

and should note that the party to<br />

which he belonged, the Congress,<br />

has hardly functioned with a spirit<br />

of cooperation and harmony in the<br />

House. The need now is for every<br />

political party to think about the<br />

aspirations of the people. A<br />

parliamentarian must think of<br />

himself/herself as a student who<br />

attends school regularly, fearing<br />

and respecting the school head and<br />

Militant ‘Islamic’ movements are organisations<br />

born out of particular configurations of geopolitics<br />

and superpower interventions. Beginning as<br />

resistance movements and later moving on by<br />

aiming to create new states, their strategies have<br />

been ideological and violent with scant regard for<br />

human rights<br />

Insurgents as global terrorists<br />

People that believe such things seem to<br />

have missed some key pieces of information<br />

pertaining to the rise of some of these movements.<br />

In this piece, I will attempt to historicise<br />

the rise of some militant “Islamic”<br />

movements so that in our public debate we<br />

may have balance and some context. This is<br />

important because the rationalisations that<br />

are coming our way use Islam as the driving<br />

force behind all recent acts of terror. I believe<br />

that we need to shift this debate onto more<br />

logical terrain, i.e., we need to understand the<br />

conditions which beget certain types of insurgent<br />

and terrorist organisations. I assert<br />

here that Islamic ideology alone is not the<br />

driving force behind these organisations. Islamic<br />

ideology is merely the fabric in which<br />

an articulation of inequality, marginalisation,<br />

and alienation is embedded or stitched. Islamic<br />

ideology is deployed to get new recruits<br />

to particular terrorist groups. Think of such<br />

ideology as an advertising strategy or a marketing<br />

campaign to get people to adhere to the<br />

political causes being championed by these<br />

groups at the barrel of a gun.<br />

Let’s start with the usual suspect, the Taliban.<br />

Raised by the Central Intelligence Agency<br />

(CIA) to fight the Soviet invasion in<br />

Afghanistan in 1979, the Taliban went on to<br />

capture power in Afghanistan after its western<br />

handlers left and the Cold War ended.<br />

What followed in Afghanistan was brutal<br />

fighting between several Taliban leaders;<br />

some of whom under Mullah Omar were able<br />

to consolidate a new Afghan state. Common<br />

Afghans suffered during this period of civil<br />

war and deal brokering. Osama bin Laden,<br />

initially a Taliban recruit, floated al-Qaeda,<br />

which, after 9/11, was forced into a partnership<br />

with the Taliban in a resistance against<br />

the American invasion of Afghanistan. The<br />

war with the U.S. destroyed whatever state<br />

the Taliban had created and fragmented both<br />

organisations — the Taliban and al-Qaeda —<br />

leading to different splinters of the same<br />

groups in West Asia and South Asia, each<br />

practising deadlier violence to distinguish itself<br />

from its competitors.<br />

Similarly, IS was once known as Al-Qaeda<br />

in Iraq (AQI) led by the Jordanian terrorist Al<br />

Zarqawi, who was killed in 2006 in a targeted<br />

attack by the U.S. Air Force. In 2003, AQI<br />

began fighting the American occupation of<br />

Iraq. Later it merged with other small resistance<br />

groups and turned into the Mujahideen<br />

Shura Council, before emerging as the ISIS<br />

under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.<br />

Again, IS also emerged as a reaction to<br />

western intervention in West Asia and gradually<br />

broadened its scope to Syria during the<br />

protests against President Bashar al-Assad.<br />

Boko Haram (western education is forbidden)<br />

arose in Nigeria in the mid-1990s as a<br />

moderate Islamic group in the aftermath of<br />

the Biafran War, which left two million people<br />

dead between 1967-1970 following the<br />

brutal suppression of the people of Biafra by<br />

the Nigerian government, supported by<br />

prominent western countries and oil companies.<br />

Boko Haram started as a movement that<br />

criticised the corrupt, oil-wealthy government<br />

of Nigeria and became a provider for the<br />

poor undertaking state-like welfare functions<br />

in northeast Nigeria. As Boko Haram receded<br />

“<br />

With the left discredited in societies with strong ethnic and<br />

religious sentiments, the fallback ideology of rebellion is mostly<br />

religion-based.<br />

”<br />

the teachers. The season of sermons<br />

must end.<br />

J.P. Reddy,<br />

Nalgonda, Telangana<br />

The President’s words, “a noisy<br />

minority cannot be allowed to gag a<br />

patient majority”, sums up the<br />

parliamentary logjam. The number<br />

of sittings has shrunk from 677<br />

during the first Lok Sabha session to<br />

357 in the 15th session.<br />

Cancellations have become the<br />

order of the day, and events no<br />

longer newsworthy. We spend<br />

crores of rupees on elections and<br />

then waste mandays in Parliament.<br />

Self-interest and self-concern have<br />

become the factors guiding<br />

parliamentary business.<br />

A.J. Rangarajan,<br />

Chennai<br />

Very often, the media focus on<br />

scenes of pandemonium that<br />

prevail in Parliament. The Speaker<br />

is often shown to be helpless. Why<br />

cannot the rules be modified? For<br />

instance, if anyone rushes to the<br />

well of the House to protest, he or<br />

she must be debarred for the whole<br />

session. All members must speak<br />

only from their designated seats.<br />

Opposition Parties must play their<br />

roles creatively. Forms of<br />

punishment and of discipline,<br />

which would be something new to<br />

our parliamentarians, must be<br />

considered.<br />

Thomas Edmunds,<br />

Chennai<br />

The electorate has given its<br />

mandate to the ruling party to rule<br />

the nation for five years and fulfil its<br />

promises. Similarly, the Opposition<br />

is expected to oppose, expose and<br />

tweak the ears of the government<br />

whenever it errs. It may sound<br />

philosophical, but the fact remains<br />

that one hand cannot clap without<br />

the other. The ruling party requires<br />

the support of the Opposition<br />

parties, and vice versa. Respecting<br />

the other is the only way out to<br />

establish comity and amity for a<br />

healthy atmosphere to prevail in<br />

Parliament. One wishes that our<br />

elected members give credence to<br />

the sermons of the President in the<br />

interest of the nation.<br />

H.P. Murali,<br />

Bengaluru<br />

Members of the Rajya Sabha must<br />

be educated on the purpose for<br />

which they are elected through an<br />

indirect process. Both Houses now<br />

function like Tweedledum and<br />

Tweedledee. This was not the intent<br />

with which the Rajya Sabha, the<br />

equivalent of the House of Lords,<br />

was created. Members of the Rajya<br />

Sabha are dignified and experienced<br />

seniors and they are expected to rise<br />

above party politics and serve the<br />

nation through effective debates.<br />

Nikhil Balan,<br />

Thiruvananthapuram<br />

U.S. & ‘Make in India’<br />

This refers to the report, “U.S.<br />

worried at ‘Make in India’ rule”<br />

(Jan.19). As the U.S. is known to<br />

tenaciously safeguard its own<br />

interests while blithely overlooking<br />

the interests of the less powerful<br />

nations with whom it has bilateral<br />

cooperation, it is small wonder that<br />

during his visit to the ‘Vibrant<br />

Gujarat’ summit U.S. Secretary of<br />

State John Kerry voiced concern<br />

over the push for the use of<br />

indigenous capabilities. That this<br />

concerns the renewable energy<br />

policy, particularly solar energy, is a<br />

fact. If New Delhi has announced a<br />

series of 1,000 MW grid-connected<br />

solar photovoltaic (PV) power<br />

projects that has a mandatory<br />

condition that all PV cells and<br />

modules used in solar plants set up<br />

under this scheme will be made in<br />

India, it is apparently because the<br />

into the jungles of northeast Nigeria, successive<br />

governments repeatedly ignored the<br />

growing radical and militant nature of the<br />

group.<br />

The place of Islam<br />

The Taliban, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda and IS<br />

are organisations born out of particular configurations<br />

of geopolitics and superpower interventions<br />

and invasions. They started as<br />

resistance movements that were aimed at<br />

creating more ideal states and opposed foreign<br />

invasions, bad governance and despotic<br />

regimes. These groups are trying to create<br />

new states. This is why their strategies have<br />

been ideological and extremely violent with<br />

Letters emailed to letters@thehindu.co.in must carry the full<br />

postal address and the full name or the name with initials.<br />

need is to revive the ailing<br />

manufacturing sector and also<br />

address the unemployment<br />

problem.<br />

Even if it is imperative that the<br />

world’s largest democracy<br />

maintains a healthy relationship<br />

with the world’s oldest, the Indian<br />

government must ensure that<br />

bilateral cooperation with the U.S.<br />

is on an equal footing, irrespective<br />

of whether it means losing out on<br />

investments from the U.S. at the<br />

moment. As the U.S. wields<br />

immense power in the WTO,<br />

Washington will most certainly<br />

deploy its rule that prohibits<br />

measures that discriminate against<br />

imported goods in order to<br />

browbeat New Delhi into toeing its<br />

line. The U.S. needs to be reminded<br />

that as a developed nation with a<br />

historical responsibility to mitigate<br />

greenhouse gas emissions, it is<br />

bound by the Copenhagen<br />

Declaration of December 2009,<br />

which calls on the rich,<br />

industrialised nations to<br />

economically and technologically<br />

help developing nations like India<br />

reduce emissions.<br />

Nalini Vijayaraghavan,<br />

Thiruvananthapuram<br />

War on tobacco<br />

The war on tobacco has to be won at<br />

any price (Editorial, Jan.20) as it<br />

eats into the vitals of our youth —<br />

and our nation’s human capital. In<br />

this, the Act is the first right step<br />

towards winning the war. In this<br />

tussle between tobacco companies<br />

(which have assured and<br />

guaranteed markets for their<br />

products) and the government<br />

(which tries to contain/eliminate<br />

the tobacco menace while<br />

attempting to stand up to the<br />

powerful tobacco lobby), the<br />

winner should be the government. I<br />

would suggest an online strategy<br />

involving counselling and<br />

scant regard for human rights; for state formation<br />

is a messy, bloody affair. Just think of<br />

Europe between 900 and 1900 AD.<br />

So what about Islam? I suggest here that<br />

Islam is the only commonly known ideology<br />

and script in these regions in which an articulation<br />

of resistance can be embedded, which<br />

common folk can understand, practise and<br />

stand by. Islam gives these movements legitimacy.<br />

It gives them a discourse and it attracts<br />

money. It is their USP. The movements are<br />

not initially motivated by Islam but by bad<br />

and corrupt governments, unequal power relations<br />

between countries, invasions by foreign<br />

powers and global income inequalities<br />

made persistent by the current global economic<br />

regime where the metaphorical one<br />

per cent has captured half of the world’s<br />

wealth. Let us not for one moment forget that<br />

most Muslims live in democratic countries<br />

like India, Malaysia and Indonesia and practise<br />

their religions peacefully and within the<br />

bounds of law. Let us also not forget that<br />

there are strong overlaps between Muslim<br />

countries with terrorist groups aspiring to<br />

statehood and where there has been a prolonged<br />

war with at least one great power.<br />

Similarly, the Algerians who killed 12 people<br />

in France last week lived on the margins of<br />

French society and were immigrants from a<br />

country which had been virtually socially, economically<br />

and politically destroyed by<br />

France, which many historians agree was always<br />

the worst country to get colonised by.<br />

One million Algerians died to overthrow<br />

French colonialism. This was followed by a<br />

postcolonial regime (the FLN state) that willingly<br />

killed over 1,00,000 of its own people in<br />

order to safeguard its oil interests backed by<br />

western powers.<br />

Neo-mercantilism and terror<br />

Let me be clear that historicising these<br />

groups does not mean that one condones<br />

their actions. None of these groups can find<br />

ethical support because indiscriminate violence<br />

used by IS, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, the<br />

Taliban and their hydra-headed babies has<br />

snatched away the human rights of thousands<br />

of people. However, we absolutely must understand<br />

the current rise of religious extremism<br />

as what it really is — the only readily<br />

available response in a shrinking political discourse<br />

that can challenge, or even attempts to<br />

challenge, the current world system. The left<br />

is popularly discredited and doesn’t find purchase<br />

in societies with strong ethnic and religious<br />

sentiments, so the fallback ideology of<br />

rebellion is mostly religion-based.<br />

If we want to make sense of terrorism we<br />

need to launch a strong challenge to the current<br />

economic system that breeds and perpetuates<br />

global inequality and encourages a<br />

neo-mercantilism of sorts where western nations<br />

have encouraged and backed despots to<br />

preserve economic interests, and have undertaken<br />

military invasions to cement control<br />

over economic and natural resources.<br />

But we must not, under any circumstance,<br />

demand that Muslims all over the world take<br />

collective responsibility for the actions of a<br />

fraction. In doing so terrorism unwittingly<br />

wins, because the whole point about terrorism<br />

is to fracture communities, destroy social<br />

capital and scare people into changing how<br />

they relate to each other. The need of the hour<br />

is to think carefully and hard about the factors<br />

and variables that have led to the formation<br />

of anti-state groups, treat each case as<br />

unique and not indulge in religion blaming.<br />

Terrorism and insurgency are businesses motivated<br />

by greed and grievance as Collier and<br />

Hoeffler told us many years ago. Islam, like<br />

any other ideology like Maoism (China and<br />

India), Marxism (USSR) or Catholicism<br />

(Northern Ireland) is the glue that holds the<br />

plot together.<br />

(Vasundhara Sirnate is the Chief<br />

Coordinator of Research at The Hindu Centre<br />

for Politics and Public Policy.)<br />

awareness involving various health<br />

institutions that will help reduce or<br />

eliminate the urge to use tobacco<br />

products. There must also be<br />

compulsory pictorial warnings on<br />

even single cigarettes. As a norm,<br />

there should be fewer cigarettes/<br />

bidis in each packet.<br />

Th Luwangamba,<br />

New Delhi<br />

Notes and coins<br />

This refers to media reports on the<br />

Prime Minister having noted the<br />

suggestion to issue a Rs.25 currency<br />

note in order to overcome a<br />

shortage of Rs.5 coins. Any such<br />

idea will be contrary to the metric<br />

spirit of measures introduced in the<br />

country back in 1957. Instead, the<br />

root cause of the shortage of five<br />

rupee coins should be analysed. It<br />

was only recently that there were<br />

reports of the government planning<br />

to reissue one-rupee notes (which<br />

have a short lifespan) to overcome<br />

the shortage of one-rupee coins<br />

caused by widespread melting of the<br />

coins. Unfortunately, the emphasis<br />

appears to be more on short-term<br />

measures. When it eliminated 10<br />

paise and 25 paise coins, the<br />

government should have abolished<br />

50 paise coins as well. The new onerupee<br />

coin could have been the size<br />

of the earlier 10 paise coin. But since<br />

there was abundant stock of coinblanks<br />

in the sizes of the earlier 50<br />

paise and one rupee coins, new<br />

coins, for one and two rupees, were<br />

issued in these sizes, confusing the<br />

public. The government should<br />

drop the idea of issuing one and 25<br />

rupee notes and instead issue more<br />

coins in the denominations of one<br />

and five rupees. The five-rupee coin<br />

should be made of stainless steel of<br />

a thicker grade to avoid melting. A<br />

huge amount of money can also be<br />

saved by reducing the size of notes.<br />

Subhash Chandra Agrawal,<br />

New Delhi<br />

ND-ND


NOIDA/DELHI<br />

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

COMMENT<br />

11<br />

WORLD VIEW<br />

A portrait of modern<br />

inequality<br />

The National Gallery’s colonnaded splendour radiates across Trafalgar<br />

Square a sense of the importance of art in Britain’s national life. But<br />

the reality inside is far less glorious. The 400 gallery assistants are about<br />

to be outsourced to a private company against their will, to squeeze pay<br />

and conditions. A ballot by their union, PCS, closes this week, calling for a<br />

five-day strike in protest.<br />

All day they guard the nation’s treasures: not automata, but wellinformed,<br />

if untrained, guides who like to be asked questions, know<br />

where paintings are, are glad to advise nervous visitors unsure what to<br />

look at. Some have worked there for 40 years, some are younger, many<br />

former art students.<br />

A letter to staff from the director, Nicholas<br />

Penny, says all gallery services go out to tender<br />

in April, something no other national gallery or<br />

museum has done. As Tupe — Transfer of<br />

Undertakings (Protection of Employment) —<br />

regulations require, staff will transfer to a<br />

private company on the same terms, but that’s<br />

weak protection: they can be sent to work<br />

anywhere in that company.<br />

This is the only national museum in London<br />

not paying the living wage. A tangle of pay rates<br />

means that older staff (predominantly male) are<br />

paid more than newer (predominantly female).<br />

POLLY TOYNBEE The gallery’s grant is being cut, so it needs to<br />

make more money with extra paid evening<br />

events. Staff are willing — but expect extra pay.<br />

The only national<br />

Management says negotiations went nowhere,<br />

museum in London so they have to go nuclear: let a private company<br />

is not paying the<br />

get tough with them. That’s how private<br />

companies profit from these contracts: as old<br />

living wage<br />

staff leave, new staff can be hired at any pay<br />

rate.<br />

What happens in hard times is always the same: spreadsheets show the<br />

most crushable item is staff. Numbers are cut and squeezed hard for<br />

longer hours. It’s easier to let ruthless companies to do the dirty work, so<br />

squeamish managers can wash their hands of consequences. Both sides<br />

will now go to Acas: there is still time to pull back from this privatisation<br />

too far.<br />

The public servant<br />

This shedding of long-term employees is emblematic of low-pay<br />

Britain, where a million public jobs are being lost. Public servants are<br />

more unionised than other workforces, and so irksome to managers who<br />

eye a commercial world of 19th century employment practices — lump<br />

labour on zero hours, temp agencies, free interns, the bogus selfemployed<br />

free of national insurance. The public servants’ ethos, their<br />

attachment to the civic realm, has been systematically trashed as mere<br />

unionised self-interest.<br />

What’s afoot at the gallery explains why pay is falling as a share of GDP.<br />

Galloping inequality is the result of a million such decisions employers<br />

think prudent, mainly because everyone is doing it. The derelict Low Pay<br />

Commission has let the minimum wage itself fall £1,000 in real value<br />

since 2008. The Tory call last week for higher wages was breathtaking<br />

dishonesty, echoing the TUC’s “Britain Needs a Pay Rise” campaign. The<br />

government has huge sway over pay. If it demanded the living wage not<br />

just for its employees, but also from every contractor and supplier, then<br />

national pay norms would rise instantly. If the Low Pay Commission set<br />

higher minimums appropriate to each sector, like the old wages councils,<br />

larger companies could pay decent salaries according to profitability.<br />

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s latest report finds 40 per cent of<br />

families with children living below a minimum threshold of decency.<br />

Most are in work — but earning too little to buy what a majority of the<br />

public in focus groups consider essentials for participation in society: no<br />

drink or cigarettes, £5 a fortnight for eating out, £40 for Christmas food,<br />

one week’s U.K. holiday.<br />

That takes an income of £20,400 a year for a couple with two children<br />

— which is almost £3,000 more than National Gallery assistants earn.<br />

GDP growth is near invisible to the eight million squeezed hardest, by<br />

this government’s deliberate choice: average income loss since 2010 is<br />

£33 a week. Now the government promises full employment — but what<br />

kind? Most new jobs are low paid, precarious and part time. For all<br />

George Osborne’s hi-vis posturing about his sham “northern<br />

powerhouse”, the latest figures from the Centre for Cities show how far<br />

the gap between the south and the rest has widened.<br />

At Davos this week, central bankers will echo the fashionable view that<br />

accelerating inequality is the real economic risk, a danger to capitalism<br />

itself. Oxfam tells them one per cent of the population will next year own<br />

99 per cent of the world’s wealth: in Britain, the top one per cent has<br />

soared away, and the bottom 10 per cent has done worst while paying the<br />

highest proportion of its income in taxes: 47 per cent. But no sign yet that<br />

the Davos set is worrying unduly: by Epiphany — January 6 — FTSE 100<br />

chief executives had already earned more than a year of the average wage.<br />

How do you wrest back wealth from them? Restoring power to unions<br />

would help, ensuring every workplace is offered union membership.<br />

Instead, Mr. Cameron’s manifesto will make strikes near-impossible,<br />

with a 40 per cent ballot threshold unknown anywhere in the democratic<br />

west. That’s a reason to hope the ever-patient attendants at the National<br />

Gallery resist being cast out to G4S, Serco and the rest — and remain as<br />

treasured employees of us all. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited,<br />

2015<br />

Mexico’s drone plan for<br />

porpoise conservation<br />

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS<br />

>>Errors in front page graphic: “Left out in the cold” (Jan. 20, 2015) said<br />

L.K. Advani – Deputy Prime Minister from 1999 to 2004 – (it should have been<br />

2002 to 2004) and A.B. Vajpayee – Prime Minister from 1999 to 2004 – (it<br />

should have been 1998 to 2004).<br />

>>The opening paragraph of the Comment page article, “Memories of<br />

Jawaharlal Nehru” (Jan. 20, 2015), talked about Dr. Khan Sahib (Khan Abdul<br />

Jaffar Khan). It is Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan.<br />

>>“Can Barack Obama break the nuclear logjam?” (Jan. 20, 2015) – in the<br />

second and penultimate paragraphs – erroneously referred to Mr. Obama’s<br />

visit to India in 2008. It should have been 2010.<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

Mexico is planning to use drones<br />

to patrol the upper Sea of Cortez<br />

to combat illegal fishing and save<br />

the critically endangered vaquita marina,<br />

the world’s smallest porpoise.<br />

Assistant environmental prosecutor<br />

Alejandro del Mazo said his agency<br />

has conducted tests of unmanned<br />

aircraft flights in cooperation with<br />

the Mexican Navy. Mr. Del Mazo says<br />

he hopes to have three drones patrolling<br />

the vaquita’s habitat in coming<br />

months. Also known as the Gulf of<br />

California, it is the only place vaquitas<br />

are found.Fewer than 100 of the<br />

shy, elusive porpoises remain.<br />

The vaquita is threatened by illegal<br />

gillnet fishing for totoaba, a large fish<br />

whose swim bladder is prized by<br />

chefs in China. Authorities are proposing<br />

a $37 million plan to ban gillnets<br />

in the upper Gulf. — AP<br />

It is the policy of The Hindu to correct significant errors as soon as possible.<br />

Please specify the edition (place of publication), date and page.<br />

The Readers’ Editor’s office can be contacted by<br />

Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to<br />

Friday);<br />

E-mail: readerseditor@thehindu.co.in<br />

Mail: Readers’ Editor, The Hindu, Kasturi Buildings,<br />

859 & 860 Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002, India.<br />

All communication must carry the full postal address and<br />

telephone number.<br />

No personal visits.<br />

The Terms of Reference for the Readers’ Editor are on www.thehindu.com<br />

For prudent crisis planning on terror<br />

Barack Obama and Narendra Modi should reaffirm their commitment to better cooperation<br />

on counter-terrorism and intelligence<br />

Bruce Riedel<br />

U.S. President Barack Obama’s<br />

visit to India, an unprecedented<br />

second trip in one Presidency,<br />

comes as the terrorist<br />

threat environment in the subcontinent is<br />

in transition and turmoil. Multiple massacres<br />

in Pakistan and the transition in<br />

Afghanistan are challenging the counter<br />

terrorist infrastructures built over the last<br />

couple of decades. It is a fluid situation<br />

that Mr. Obama and Prime Minister Narendra<br />

Modi need to compare notes on<br />

and develop strategies.<br />

Sponsor and victim<br />

Pakistan has long been both a sponsor<br />

of terrorism and a victim of terrorism but<br />

the balance seems to be shifting toward<br />

victimhood. Pakistan still sponsors the<br />

most dangerous terror group in South<br />

Asia, Lashkar-e-Taiba, which last May<br />

tried to disrupt Mr. Modi’s inauguration<br />

by attacking the Indian consulate in Herat,<br />

Afghanistan, just hours before his<br />

swearing-in ceremony. The Pakistani intelligence<br />

service, the Inter Services Intelligence<br />

(ISI) Directorate, continues to<br />

provide support to LeT and its leader Hafiz<br />

Mohammad Saeed lives freely in Lahore,<br />

Pakistan, with the ISI’s protection.<br />

The ISI also remains the primary patron<br />

of the Afghan Taliban in its war with the<br />

North Atlantic Treaty Organization<br />

(NATO).<br />

But Pakistan has been shaken profoundly<br />

by a series of mass casualty terror<br />

attacks on its own citizens. On November<br />

2, 2014, a suicide bomber killed sixty Pakistanis<br />

at the Wagah border crossing<br />

with India close to the border ceremony<br />

site. The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility<br />

and said it was retaliation for<br />

the army’s Zarb-e-Azb counter terrorist<br />

operation.<br />

On December 16, 2014, seven members<br />

of the Pakistan Taliban attacked an armyrun<br />

school in Peshawar and killed 145<br />

people including 132 schoolchildren. The<br />

attack prompted an unprecedented public<br />

outcry for the government and army to<br />

take concerted action to defeat the Taliban<br />

and to stop all terror attacks in the<br />

country. Not since the assassination of<br />

Benazir Bhutto in December 2007 has<br />

there been so much public outcry against<br />

terrorism. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif<br />

and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General<br />

Raheel Sharif promised collective action<br />

to destroy the Taliban and the army said it<br />

would no longer differentiate good Taliban<br />

from bad Taliban.<br />

Even al-Qaeda’s new franchise in the<br />

Indian subcontinent distanced itself from<br />

the school massacre, saying “our hearts<br />

are bursting with pain,” and urging its<br />

Shiv Visvanathan<br />

How does one talk of a man who<br />

defined a subject, determined its<br />

directions, was its dominating presence<br />

without a shade of pomposity or status.<br />

Rajni Kothari was clear about some of<br />

the subjects of his studies, irreverently<br />

and pragmatically certain that the Indian<br />

elite was knowledge-proof, that the<br />

only changes it would accept were pressures<br />

from below or by mimicking its<br />

colonial masters. Here was a man far<br />

ahead of his times, a futurist in<br />

perspective.<br />

Today the tributes will flow and embalm<br />

the man. Dissenting imaginations<br />

are best sanitised lest they destroy the<br />

hypocrisy and the current clichés of the<br />

establishment. The obituaries will recite<br />

how he started election studies,<br />

how he set up the institute of Chinese<br />

Studies, founded journals like the Alternatives<br />

and the Lokayan Bulletin.<br />

They will dub him the author of Indian<br />

Political Science’s only durable classic<br />

— Politics in India. Oddly, Kothari was<br />

embarrassed by the longevity of the<br />

book and even tried to stall further publications<br />

but the book like many of Rajni’s<br />

inventions had a wonderful life of<br />

its own.<br />

To me it was not just the inventiveness<br />

of the man that is important. It was<br />

the vision he brought to his work. Rajni’s<br />

enduring passion was his commitment<br />

to democracy, its sustainability,<br />

its creativity and its vulnerability. The<br />

sense of democracy was not an abstract<br />

one of formal definitions. He saw democracy<br />

as a way of life and wanted<br />

people to live it out and celebrate its<br />

everydayness.<br />

As founder of CSDS<br />

This is what impelled him to create<br />

that wonderful institution the Centre<br />

for the Study of Developing Societies<br />

(CSDS). CSDS was a community, a perpetual<br />

adda built around the gossip of<br />

democracy. Without this passion for democracy<br />

his many projects would have<br />

made little sense. They were mere pretexts<br />

for sustaining the texts of democracy<br />

which in a holistic sense went<br />

beyond elections, data analysis, governance<br />

and grassroots studies.<br />

Two things must be stated clearly,<br />

CSDS was a collage of friendships and<br />

Rajni invented many of his ideas along<br />

with his friends. He had an acute sense<br />

of the inventive and followed it up creatively.<br />

In that sense the idea often originally<br />

belonged to the others. Rajni’s<br />

idea of the Congress as a coalition of<br />

competing confusions was Gopal Krishna’s.<br />

The idea of Lokayan as a grass<br />

INTERNAL DYNAMICS: Pakistan has witnessed a series of mass casualty<br />

terror attacks on its own citizens, one being the November 2014<br />

suicide bomber attack near the Wagah border crossing. Picture shows<br />

the Indian side of the Wagah border crossing. — PHOTO: AFP<br />

Taliban allies to target soldiers in the future.<br />

Hafiz Saeed took the tack of blaming<br />

India for the attack, claiming it was a conspiracy<br />

orchestrated by Modi and vowing<br />

revenge on India. Former dictator Pervez<br />

Musharraf also blamed India and Afghanistan<br />

for supporting the Pakistan Taliban.<br />

It remains to be seen whether the Peshawar<br />

massacre and other atrocities will<br />

actually change the army’s behaviour toward<br />

terrorism. It is more likely than not<br />

that the ISI and COAS will remain patrons<br />

of some terror groups for the foreseeable<br />

future even as they fight others. The civilian<br />

politicians may be more determined to<br />

end Pakistan’s double policy but they have<br />

consistently failed to do so in the last<br />

decade.<br />

The ISI is particularly determined to<br />

see if its Afghan proxies, the Quetta Shura<br />

and the Haqqani network, can exploit the<br />

end of NATO’s combat presence in Afghanistan<br />

to gain control of significant<br />

parts of the country. Mullah Omar, the<br />

Taliban leader based in Karachi, has<br />

shown no interest in a political settlement<br />

and seems determined to try to resurrect<br />

his Islamic Emirate.<br />

New players<br />

Two new players in the terror game<br />

emerged in 2014. First is the al-Qaeda<br />

Another LeT attack on India is<br />

probably only a matter of<br />

time. Washington and New<br />

Delhi should have some idea of<br />

what the potential<br />

consequences of such an<br />

attack might be<br />

franchise for the Indian subcontinent. Al-<br />

Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri announced<br />

its formation which was immediately<br />

followed by an attempt to hijack a<br />

Pakistani frigate with the intention of using<br />

it to attack U.S. Navy ships in the<br />

Arabian Sea. The plot included an unknown<br />

number of Pakistani naval officers<br />

recruited to help al-Qaeda. Zawahiri remains<br />

hidden somewhere in Pakistan and<br />

continues to give lengthy audio messages<br />

to his followers. Al-Qaeda’s franchise in<br />

Yemen claims Zawahiri ordered the attack<br />

on the office of Charlie Hebdo this<br />

month, what it called the “blessed battle<br />

of Paris.”<br />

The other newcomer is the Islamic<br />

State, the heir to al-Qaeda in Iraq that<br />

proclaimed the creation of a caliphate this<br />

summer. Led by Abu Bakr al-Quraishi al-<br />

Hashemi al-Baghdadi, also known as Caliph<br />

Ibrahim, the Islamic State has attracted<br />

fighters from across the Islamic<br />

world to come and join it in Iraq and Syria.<br />

Several Indian Muslims have joined the IS<br />

and pro-IS propaganda has been distributed<br />

in India and Pakistan. Parts of the<br />

Pakistan Taliban have voiced support for<br />

Baghdadi. An Islamic State cell has been<br />

captured in Bangladesh. Al-Qaeda has denounced<br />

the caliphate as illegitimate and<br />

renounced any connection to Baghdadi<br />

roots experiment belonged more to Ramashray<br />

Roy and D.L. Sheth. Rajni took<br />

it and transformed it.<br />

As a commons of ideas, CSDS was<br />

extraordinary. For me, CSDS is that<br />

wonderful pack of quirky incorrigible<br />

scholars like Ashis Nandy, Basheer<br />

Ahmed, Sudhir Kakkar, Giri Deshingkar<br />

quarrelling over ideas at every lunch as<br />

if democracy was a hypothesis that had<br />

to be digested every day. No group had a<br />

greater passion for politics, its myths,<br />

its facts and its folklore.<br />

The style, the theory, was as important<br />

as the substance. Neither CSDS nor<br />

Rajni will rest in peace if I do not resort<br />

to a few anecdotes.<br />

I remember how he recruited me.<br />

Rajni was chairman of ICSSR and he<br />

had heard rumours about me as a rebellious<br />

and even problematic PhD student<br />

at the Delhi School of Economics. He<br />

dropped in one day for a casual chat and<br />

asked me to join CSDS. Some of my<br />

teachers warned him against it. And one<br />

of them even complained that I was a<br />

goonda, a gangster. Rajni smiled and<br />

said, “I need a few intellectual gangsters<br />

for my new project.” He had an easy<br />

charm that soothed opponents and part<br />

of it came from his acute ability to listen.<br />

If you insulted him, he listened intently<br />

almost as if you were wooing him.<br />

Role during the Emergency<br />

CSDS and Rajni became institutional<br />

legends during the Emergency. It was<br />

during that monstrous period that Centre<br />

became home for every dissenting<br />

imagination: George Fernandes, Romesh<br />

Thapar, Arun Shourie and Kuldip<br />

Nayar were frequent visitors. This hospitality<br />

to dissent seeded the creative<br />

style of the future where the Centre<br />

became home to critical studies, social<br />

movements and the search for alternative<br />

imaginations. The Centre, which<br />

glorified the Nehruvian era and the initial<br />

creativity of the Congress, now became<br />

Indira Gandhi’s fiercest and most<br />

obsessive critic. It became the hub of<br />

human rights movements, environmental<br />

struggles, and development battles<br />

that insisted that democracy had to reinvent<br />

itself beyond its electoral form.<br />

Civil society became the creative subject<br />

of study: a counter to the elitist<br />

preoccupation with the state and its development<br />

project.<br />

The Left was the dominant intellectual<br />

imagination of the period. Rajni<br />

had no quarrel with the left, only with<br />

leftists who romanced with the state,<br />

infiltrating government committees as<br />

if they were party cells. Oddly, both the<br />

Left and the Right were obsessed with<br />

being legitimised by the state. During<br />

the infamous controversy involving<br />

History text books when ideologists<br />

went hysterical, Rajni observed quietly:<br />

“That both sides wanted the state to<br />

approve of their version of history”.<br />

This intellectual dependency on state<br />

approval of scholarship worried Rajni.<br />

and his group. Zawahiri and Baghdadi are<br />

rivals for leadership of the global jihad and<br />

competing for the loyalty of jihadists<br />

around the world including in south Asia.<br />

Mr. Obama and Mr. Modi should reaffirm<br />

their commitment to close counterterrorism<br />

and intelligence cooperation.<br />

Much has improved since 2008 when the<br />

U.S. and the U.K. had intelligence on the<br />

Mumbai plot but failed to share it with<br />

India and failed to analyse it properly<br />

themselves. LeT is now a priority for both<br />

Washington and London. Mr. Obama<br />

should send his Central Intelligence<br />

Agency (CIA) Director to New Delhi to<br />

further improve cooperation.<br />

Mr. Obama and Mr. Modi should also<br />

upgrade efforts to stabilise Afghanistan<br />

after the withdrawal of most NATO<br />

forces. India should consider sending military<br />

field hospitals and personnel to help<br />

the Afghan Army as it did in the Korean<br />

War in the 1950s to support the United<br />

Nations forces. It should also help train<br />

and equip the Afghan Air Force, an area<br />

that NATO has been remiss in addressing<br />

robustly. Mr. Obama should rescind his<br />

decision to withdraw all U.S. forces by<br />

2017 and commit to long term advisory<br />

role.<br />

No tolerance policy<br />

Pakistan remains the heart of the issue.<br />

Late last year the U.S. hosted a visit by<br />

Gen. Raheel Sharif and Indians will be<br />

interested in hearing American impressions<br />

of him. Mr. Obama and Mr. Modi<br />

should compare notes on Pakistan’s support<br />

for terrorism. They should also address<br />

the blow back in Pakistan to the<br />

Peshawar massacre. They should encourage<br />

a no-tolerance policy by Prime Minister<br />

Sharif while recognising his<br />

limitations. They should look for opportunity<br />

to encourage Pakistan to take action<br />

against all groups, especially LeT.<br />

But they should also plan for the worst.<br />

Another LeT attack on India is probably<br />

only a matter of time. Washington and<br />

New Delhi should have some idea of what<br />

the potential consequences of such an attack<br />

might be. This is not a matter of<br />

ganging up on Pakistan or trying to pressure<br />

it in advance, rather it is prudent<br />

crisis planning and coordination. It might<br />

be wise to involve others like the United<br />

Kingdom in such discussions. If all this<br />

seems too sensitive for public officials,<br />

then it can be put in the hands of think<br />

tanks and former officials to study with a<br />

mandate to report to their governments.<br />

(Bruce Riedel is Director, The<br />

Intelligence Project, The Brookings<br />

Institution. This article is excerpted from<br />

a paper for The Brookings report on: The<br />

Second Modi-Obama Summit: Building<br />

the India-U.S. Partnership.)<br />

A prophet abandoned by his own community<br />

A tribute to political scientist extraordinaire and teacher, Rajni Kothari (1928 – 2015)<br />

FUTURIST: “Rajni Kothari had an acute sense of the inventive and<br />

followed it up creatively.” — FILE PHOTO: S. ARNEJA<br />

Rajni’s enduring passion<br />

was his commitment to<br />

democracy, its<br />

sustainability, its<br />

creativity and<br />

its vulnerability<br />

Did truth need to be approved by<br />

power?<br />

Rajni had a playful response to criticism.<br />

I remember when a Serbic Marxist<br />

wrote a critique of his work claiming<br />

that Kothari had forgotten to mention<br />

the word class. With easy equanimity<br />

Rajni replied that he had not mentioned<br />

cucumbers either. This ease was important<br />

because the period of the 1960s and<br />

the 1970s was dominated by a pompous<br />

left which treated Marxism with a form<br />

of idolatry. Rajni felt that Marxist critiques<br />

dealt more with the formal economy<br />

and had little place for marginal<br />

groups and the informal economy. Little<br />

protests did not acquire the officialdom<br />

of trade union struggles. The<br />

movements alone in the era, Chipko,<br />

Narmada, Balliapal and fishermen<br />

struggle in Kerala had to struggle with<br />

the official radicalism which refused to<br />

go beyond conventional categories.<br />

CSDS became an archive and a sounding<br />

board for many of these struggles which<br />

linked ecology, livelihood and empowerment<br />

to the still life of electoral democracy.<br />

Rajni had an easy way of<br />

pushing younger colleagues to stretch<br />

beyond themselves. I remember when<br />

the Bhopal gas disaster occurred. He<br />

looked at me and said, “Let’s see if your<br />

work on science helps. Pack up. You are<br />

leaving for Bhopal tomorrow.” When I<br />

began my work on science and violence,<br />

he sent me to Hiroshima requesting the<br />

Mayor to take me around the city. He<br />

believed that projects should begin as<br />

pilgrimages; he was always nudging us<br />

to see linkages and connectivities. He<br />

never lectured, and wanted us to discover<br />

and internalise and share our insights.<br />

For him mistakes were<br />

something precious one owned up to.<br />

He was a great teacher but always<br />

taught by anecdote and example.<br />

I must confess that in the final decade,<br />

many of us moved away from the<br />

Centre and Rajni. Quarrels are important<br />

because they mark the contours of<br />

a relationship. One felt that the Centre<br />

was now imitating itself rather than inventing<br />

ideas. In spite of having moved<br />

on and all the distance I realised how<br />

much the Centre had taught me.<br />

In his final years, Rajni Kothari was a<br />

lonely man — ill and broken by the<br />

death of his wife Hansa and son Smithu.<br />

In the meanwhile, political science had<br />

lost its flavour of dissent. It had become<br />

a game of think tanks and Rajni must<br />

have watched it with wry sadness, a<br />

prophet abandoned by his own community.<br />

But the future will no doubt celebrate<br />

the man.<br />

(Shiv Visvanathan is a social<br />

scientist.)<br />

ND-ND


NEWS<br />

NOIDA/DELHI<br />

12 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

FROM PAGE ONE<br />

Tackling of tiger poaching<br />

has paid off, says official<br />

Meena Menon<br />

NEW DELHI: The tiger population<br />

had increased in Karnataka,<br />

Uttarakhand, Madhya<br />

Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and<br />

Kerala, Additional Director<br />

and head of the National Tiger<br />

Conservation Authority<br />

Rajesh Gopal told journalists<br />

on Tuesday.<br />

Y.V. Jhala, one of the principal<br />

investigators of the report,<br />

said this was only a<br />

summary and a detailed report<br />

would be ready by<br />

March-end. Assessment was<br />

in progress in the Simlipal<br />

and Satpuda tiger reserves.<br />

The population had increased<br />

at the rate of six per<br />

cent per annum in India<br />

from 2006 while the world<br />

Pak. denies move to ban JuD<br />

Suhasini Haidar<br />

NEW DELHI: Pakistani Interior<br />

Ministry sources have denied<br />

any move to ban the<br />

Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD),<br />

headed by Hafiz Saeed, and<br />

other terror organisations,<br />

but said the groups were on<br />

the “watch list.”<br />

Media reports had said<br />

Pakistan had assured the<br />

U.S. of a crackdown on the<br />

banned organisation as<br />

President Barack Obama is<br />

visiting India.<br />

The reports, which were<br />

officially denied by Pakistan’s<br />

Ambassador to the U.S.<br />

Jalil Abbas Jilani on Tuesday,<br />

said the U.S. had<br />

warned Pakistan against<br />

any terror activity during<br />

Mr. Obama’s visit to India,<br />

and Secretary of State John<br />

Kerry had received assurances<br />

on a crackdown on all<br />

terror groups, including the<br />

JuD.<br />

lost 97 per cent tigers in the<br />

last 50 years in 13 countries,<br />

Dr. Jhala said. The main reasons<br />

for this increase were<br />

effective tackling of poaching,<br />

and the positive attitude<br />

of the wildlife services.<br />

“We were in for a huge<br />

surprise as we didn’t expect<br />

the numbers to be above<br />

1,800 or 1,900,” said Dr. Jhala.<br />

While 1,540 tigers were<br />

actually photographed, the<br />

rest were estimated based on<br />

this. However, for long term<br />

survival, the movement of tigers<br />

was essential and corridors<br />

between forests would<br />

be the next conservation<br />

goal, he added. The priority<br />

should now change to landscape<br />

scale management, he<br />

added.<br />

Indian government<br />

sources told The Hindu they<br />

had not been informed by<br />

the Pakistani government of<br />

any move to ban the JuD,<br />

and expected that the extremist<br />

group, which had gone<br />

silent after the Peshawar<br />

school massacre, would be<br />

“back in business.” “The<br />

JuD was slightly on the defensive<br />

post-Peshawar,” said<br />

an official. “The cartoons issue<br />

has provided them an opportunity<br />

[to resurface].”<br />

Saeed has called for a series<br />

of protests across Pakistan<br />

for Friday that will<br />

culminate in the “million<br />

march” in Karachi on January<br />

25. The “million march”,<br />

JuD organisers say, will<br />

bring in a crowd bigger than<br />

the JuD’s Lahore rally on<br />

December 4 of more than a<br />

lakh. India criticised the Lahore<br />

rally, calling it “mainstreaming<br />

of terror.”<br />

In an interview to The<br />

Hindu last week, U.N. Secretary-General<br />

Ban Ki-moon<br />

had called upon the Pakistan<br />

government to “take necessary<br />

and corrective measures<br />

in accordance with the<br />

UNSC’s designated terrorist<br />

counter-terrorism policies.”<br />

Mr. Ban was referring to<br />

Saeed’s public appearances<br />

as he and the JuD are on the<br />

U.N. global terrorist lists,<br />

banned as affiliates of al-<br />

Qaeda, as well as designated<br />

Foreign Terrorist Entities<br />

by the U.S.<br />

In the past week, the U.S.<br />

State Department “welcomed”<br />

reports that Pakistan<br />

planned to ban the JuD<br />

and 11 other groups, including<br />

the Haqqani network.<br />

Urbanisation reducing<br />

inequality: World Bank report<br />

Puja Mehra<br />

NEW DELHI: A World Bank report<br />

has found that between<br />

2004-05 and 2009-10, 15 per<br />

cent of India’s population, or<br />

40 per cent of the poor,<br />

moved above the poverty<br />

line. In the same period, a<br />

sizeable portion of the poor<br />

and the vulnerable — over 9<br />

per cent of the total population<br />

or about 11 per cent of<br />

the poor and vulnerable —<br />

moved into the middle class.<br />

However, over 9 per cent<br />

of the total population, or<br />

about 14 per cent of the nonpoor<br />

group, slipped back into<br />

poverty, revealing the greater<br />

risks faced by the vulnerable<br />

and even the middle<br />

class than in other countries,<br />

the report, “Addressing inequality<br />

in South Asia,” said.<br />

The third finding of the report<br />

that challenges the conventional<br />

understanding of<br />

inequality in India, said Onno<br />

Ruhl, World Bank Country<br />

Director in India, is that<br />

urbanisation is reducing inequality,<br />

not increasing it.<br />

Mr. Ruhl said the policy<br />

takeaways from the report<br />

for Prime Minister Narendra<br />

Modi included “strive for<br />

universal health and sanitation;<br />

leverage the opportunity<br />

for urbanisation; and<br />

create jobs for all and build<br />

skills not just through technical<br />

training but also with<br />

servicing the population<br />

with primary and secondary<br />

education and nutrition.”<br />

Registration of Odia migrant<br />

workers begins in Telengana<br />

Staff Reporter<br />

BERHAMPUR: The registration of<br />

migrant construction workers<br />

working outside Odisha has<br />

been initiated by Odisha Building<br />

& Other Construction<br />

Workers’ Board (OBOCWB) in<br />

Telangana.<br />

It may be noted Odisha is the<br />

only State in the country to<br />

have decided to provide welfare<br />

benefits to Odia migrant<br />

construction labourers working<br />

in other States at par with<br />

the workers in Odisha. The<br />

process of registration of Odia<br />

migrant workers through<br />

OBOCWB camps in other<br />

States started in January.<br />

A team of OBOCWB led by<br />

its chairman Subash Singh had<br />

held camps in Telangana from<br />

January 2 to 16 to register Odia<br />

migrant labourers working<br />

there. They visited Rangareddy,<br />

Karimnagar and Nalgonda<br />

districts of Telangana and registered<br />

1,531 Odia migrant construction<br />

workers.<br />

Speaking to newsmen on<br />

Tuesday, Mr. Singh said they<br />

have decided to hold similar<br />

camps in other States like Andhra<br />

Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil<br />

Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Kerala<br />

to register Odia migrant<br />

construction workers. “From<br />

the next financial year, we will<br />

start registering these migrant<br />

workers when they travel outside<br />

the State,” he added.<br />

WORLD ECONOMIC OUTLOOK REPORT<br />

India to beat China in growth in 2016: IMF<br />

“India will grow at 6.3% in 2015, up from 5.8% in 2014”<br />

Puja Mehra<br />

NEW DELHI: Before the launch of<br />

a key World Bank report on inequality<br />

in South Asia, Martin<br />

Rama, the World Bank’s Chief<br />

Economist for South Asia region,<br />

spoke exclusively to The<br />

Hindu.<br />

The report finds that<br />

substantial levels of social<br />

mobility exist in India. Just<br />

as there is the popular<br />

notion of the American<br />

dream, is there an Indian<br />

dream too?<br />

We were impressed by the<br />

comparison between India and<br />

Bangladesh, two countries<br />

where we could conduct this<br />

survey, and the United States<br />

and Vietnam, which we chose<br />

as two countries that are seen<br />

in some ways as lands of opportunity.<br />

In that respect, the levels<br />

of social mobility in India<br />

are very encouraging.<br />

But there are also nuances;<br />

while the rates of moving out of<br />

poverty across the four countries<br />

are strictly comparable, in<br />

Not yet decided on joining<br />

BJP, says Dinesh Trivedi<br />

Suvojit Bagchi<br />

KOLKATA: If one goes by what a<br />

politician says, then perhaps it<br />

is a matter of time before Lok<br />

Sabha MP Dinesh Trivedi leaves<br />

the Trinamool Congress<br />

(TMC) to take up “a role to<br />

serve the country” assigned by<br />

the Prime Minister.<br />

“Why me, I think every one<br />

should serve the country… it is<br />

not opportunism, but one<br />

should not lose the opportunity<br />

to serve one’s country,” Mr<br />

Trivedi said and added that the<br />

TMC is “creating roadblocks”<br />

for the developmental programmes<br />

of the BJP-led government.<br />

He also admitted that<br />

he is “in touch” with the BJP,<br />

which is now the main rival of<br />

the TMC in West Bengal.<br />

On being asked whether he<br />

would leave the TMC to join<br />

the BJP, Mr Trivedi said that<br />

NEW DELHI: The International<br />

Monetary Fund (IMF) has<br />

projected India to grow at<br />

6.5 per cent in 2016, overtaking<br />

China whose growth<br />

was forecast to slow down to<br />

6.3 per cent.<br />

In its World Economic<br />

Outlook report released on<br />

Tuesday, the IMF forecast<br />

that India would grow at 6.3<br />

per cent in 2015, up from 5.8<br />

per cent in 2014. China’s<br />

2014 growth rate was 7.4 per<br />

cent.<br />

In another forecast released<br />

on Tuesday, the United<br />

Nations World Economic<br />

Situation and Prospects<br />

(U.N. WESP) report predicted<br />

a smart recovery for India<br />

in 2015. It pegged its 2015<br />

India growth forecast lower<br />

than the IMF’s — at 5.9 per<br />

cent. At 6.3 per cent, the UN<br />

WESP’s 2016 India growth<br />

forecast is, however, closer<br />

to that of the IMF.<br />

The IMF said global<br />

growth would receive a<br />

boost from lower oil prices.<br />

But this boost was projected<br />

to be more than offset by<br />

negative factors such as investment<br />

weakness, as adjustment<br />

to diminished<br />

expectations about mediumterm<br />

growth continues in<br />

many advanced and emerging<br />

market economies.<br />

It cut its global growth<br />

projection for 2015 to 3.5 per<br />

terms of moving into the middle<br />

class, the United States and<br />

Vietnam still do better, and the<br />

risk of falling into poverty is also<br />

substantially higher in South<br />

Asia. That raises the question —<br />

what kinds of jobs will increase<br />

this resilience.<br />

Additionally, the report finds<br />

he had “not decided” yet.<br />

“Whatever I do, (I) will do<br />

with dignity,” said the TMC<br />

MP. However, he also described<br />

the usual speculation<br />

of media as “myopic”.<br />

“Let us not be myopic...nothing<br />

may happen. I only say that<br />

the time has come to unleash<br />

the potential of the country under<br />

Mr Modi,” said the key<br />

founding member of the TMC.<br />

Speculation is escalating in<br />

Bengal’s media since Mr Trivedi’s<br />

comment in north-western<br />

Gujarat’s Kutch district,<br />

while sharing the stage with<br />

Prime Minister’s older brother,<br />

Somabhai Modi. Praising<br />

Prime Minister Narendra Modi<br />

for “good work”, Mr Trivedi<br />

said that TMC is “unnecessarily<br />

engaging” itself in confrontation<br />

with the BJP as Bengal is<br />

losing opportunities to grow.<br />

Reportedly, the rift between<br />

cent and for 2016 to 3.7 per<br />

cent, to show a downward<br />

revision of 0.3 per cent relative<br />

to its October 2014 forecast.<br />

The revision reflects a<br />

reassessment of prospects in<br />

China, Russia, the Euro area<br />

and Japan as well as weaker<br />

activity in some major oil exporters<br />

because of the sharp<br />

drop in oil prices, it said in<br />

the World Economic Outlook.<br />

The U.S. is the only major<br />

economy whose growth<br />

projections have been<br />

raised.<br />

In India, the growth forecast<br />

is broadly unchanged as<br />

weaker external demand is<br />

offset by the boost from lower<br />

oil prices and a pick-up in<br />

industrial and investment<br />

that social mobility was<br />

greater for backward castes<br />

When we look at the role of<br />

caste and tribe, first is in terms<br />

of opportunity — whether being<br />

from a backward caste or tribe<br />

matters for your access to education<br />

and health. The answer<br />

is yes, but it’s not the only<br />

factor.<br />

Then when we look at the<br />

mobility part, the news is mixed<br />

but generally positive. For older<br />

generations, people from<br />

lower castes and tribes tended<br />

to have lower occupational mobility<br />

than other groups; in recent<br />

years they have slightly<br />

more mobility than other<br />

groups, and that is encouraging<br />

news. This is not to say that jobs<br />

fully trump caste, but it is one of<br />

the few things that can really<br />

offset disadvantages.<br />

You have talked of the<br />

problems with redistributive<br />

measures, especially<br />

subsidies. Given that India is<br />

re-evaluating its food,<br />

fertilizer and fuel subsidies,<br />

what is your message on<br />

Mr Trivedi and TMC’s top<br />

management is increasing by<br />

the day and the former Railway<br />

Minister pulled no punches in<br />

criticising “the negative politics”<br />

of the TMC in West Bengal.<br />

On Tuesday, he went<br />

further. “It is time for mature<br />

politics in Bengal. But what are<br />

we doing (in Bengal),” he asked<br />

and added, “We are engaged in<br />

politics of violence and even in<br />

colleges, bombs are hurled during<br />

elections.”<br />

“The State is creating roadblocks<br />

to all developmental activities.<br />

Narendra Modi is<br />

doing very good work and tremendous<br />

positive energy has<br />

been generated. It is time to<br />

engage (with the Prime Minister)<br />

and grow together through<br />

some mature politics, but we<br />

are missing the opportunity,”<br />

the TMC M.P. from Barrackpore<br />

told The Hindu.<br />

activity after policy reforms<br />

by the Narendra Modi government,<br />

the IMF said.<br />

“India could overtake China,<br />

but it must be taken note<br />

of that China has grown at<br />

high growth rates of 9 per<br />

cent to 10 per cent over decades<br />

and it is a much larger<br />

economy and India will have<br />

to work to sustain high<br />

growth rates over a period of<br />

time to be an engine of global<br />

growth,” said Nagesh Kumar,<br />

the head of UN WESP,<br />

South and South-West Asia<br />

Office. He said there was no<br />

way other than the Centre to<br />

increase its public spending<br />

on infrastructure to take India<br />

on to a sustainable high<br />

growth path.<br />

“Jobs can offset the disadvantages of caste”<br />

Rukmini S<br />

NEW DELHI: Global Positioning<br />

System<br />

(GPS) tracking devices<br />

and satellite images<br />

would be used by<br />

intelligence and security<br />

agencies to keep a<br />

constant watch on the<br />

movements of U.S.<br />

President Barack Obama’s<br />

convoy during his visit.<br />

It is learnt that a dedicated<br />

joint control room consisting<br />

of senior Indian and U.S. security<br />

officials has been set up to<br />

monitor the security arrangements<br />

for Mr. Obama. A part of<br />

ITC Maurya, where the U.S.<br />

President will stay, has been<br />

converted into a control room.<br />

As a precautionary measure,<br />

agencies may block public access<br />

to online GPS maps of<br />

about a dozen places in Delhi,<br />

Martin Rama, Chief<br />

Economist of World<br />

Bank for South Asia<br />

region, interacts with<br />

The Hindu in New Delhi<br />

on Tuesday. — PHOTO:<br />

PRASHANT NAKWE<br />

what works?<br />

On the big picture, there is an<br />

approach to inequality that one<br />

could summarise as tax and redistribution.<br />

When you look at<br />

developing countries, that approach<br />

has many difficulties to<br />

be implemented. One of the<br />

things that characterises South<br />

Asia is low tax revenue and<br />

that’s not because taxes are<br />

structured differently — it’s because<br />

there is a lot of evasion, a<br />

lot of avoidance.<br />

And then, a lot of the tax revenue<br />

goes into subsidies. South<br />

Asia has remarkable social protection<br />

programmes — one<br />

should not throw the baby out<br />

with the bath water. But the issue<br />

is that in the name of inequality<br />

or poverty alleviation,<br />

some subsidies are regressive<br />

by design. This doesn’t mean<br />

that subsidies should be abolished<br />

— they should be well-targeted,<br />

they should be<br />

structured with Aadhaar cards<br />

or other mechanisms that can<br />

minimise leakage.<br />

(For full interview ,visit<br />

http://thne.ws/1AHRZin)<br />

GPS tracking devices to monitor Obama convoy<br />

Devesh K. Pandey<br />

which Mr. Obama is scheduled<br />

to visit. GPS maps of all venues<br />

have been designed<br />

to keep track of his<br />

movement. However,<br />

no drones will be<br />

deployed for aerial<br />

surveillance.<br />

U.S. sleuths have<br />

brought along antisabotage<br />

scanners<br />

to sanitise the venues in coordination<br />

with their Indian<br />

counterparts.<br />

Cyber security experts have<br />

been engaged for surveillance<br />

of suspicious online activity.<br />

Mr. Obama will use his own<br />

vehicle ‘The Beast.’ “His will be<br />

a larger cavalcade with over<br />

two dozen vehicles,” said an official.<br />

Following several rounds of<br />

meetings, it has been decided<br />

that on Republic Day, Mr. Obama<br />

will not accompany President<br />

Pranab Mukherjee to the<br />

parade venue, but will arrive in<br />

his 18-foot long Presidential<br />

car with Mr. Mukherjee’s cavalcade.<br />

“In 2007, as the chief guest<br />

at the Republic Day parade, the<br />

then Russian President Vladimir<br />

Putin had also used his<br />

own vehicle,” said the official.<br />

The entire city will be turned<br />

into a no-fly zone, allowing only<br />

the flypast of Indian Air<br />

Force aircraft.<br />

‘The Beast’ is an explosionproof<br />

heavily armoured vehicle<br />

fitted with a night vision<br />

system. It is a virtual shield capable<br />

of withstanding biochemical<br />

attacks and has its<br />

own oxygen supply mechanism.<br />

The seven-seater vehicle<br />

functions as a control room for<br />

the U.S. President to remain in<br />

touch with the Pentagon and<br />

senior U.S. government functionaries<br />

through video-conferencing<br />

or encrypted<br />

satellite phone communications.<br />

It is fitted with emergency<br />

medical equipment and has<br />

a bank of his blood type. The<br />

vehicle’s fuel tank, with a special<br />

foam coating, is armourplated<br />

and its doors have eightinch-thick<br />

armour plating. The<br />

car’s five-inch-thick windows<br />

are bulletproof. Its driver undergoes<br />

special week-long<br />

training at a secret service<br />

academy.<br />

For security reasons, the<br />

government may close the Yamuna<br />

Expressway connecting<br />

Delhi to Agra to facilitate Mr.<br />

Obama’s visit to the Taj Mahal.<br />

“We are yet to take a final decision<br />

in this regard. However,<br />

for VVIP movements, there always<br />

has to be an arrangement<br />

for alternative routes,” the official<br />

added.<br />

Atrocities can’t stop BJP,<br />

Amit Shah tells Trinamool<br />

Soumya Das<br />

BARDHAMAN: Accusing the Trinamool<br />

Congress (TMC) of<br />

committing atrocities against<br />

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)<br />

workers, party president<br />

Amit Shah cautioned Chief<br />

Minister Mamata Banerjee<br />

on Tuesday that if Trinamool<br />

wanted confrontation, BJP<br />

workers were ready for it.<br />

This comes in the backdrop<br />

of the increasing number<br />

of clashes between<br />

workers of the two parties in<br />

West Bengal.<br />

Addressing party workers<br />

at Bara Nilpur in Bardhaman<br />

district, Mr. Shah urged BJP<br />

workers not to get intimidated<br />

by TMC’s atrocities, but to<br />

work with the masses. Pointing<br />

out the BJP’s recent electoral<br />

success in Haryana,<br />

Maharashtra and Jammu and<br />

Strategy to convert<br />

ordinances into law<br />

Smita Gupta<br />

NEW DELHI: As the countdown<br />

to Parliament’s budget<br />

session, likely to start<br />

in the third week of February,<br />

begins, senior Central<br />

Ministers met here on<br />

Tuesday to strategise on<br />

ensuring that the slew of<br />

ordinances issued by the<br />

government are converted<br />

into law.<br />

This comes a day after<br />

President Pranab Mukherjee<br />

cautioned the Modi<br />

government on its excessive<br />

use of ordinances, in<br />

the wake of strident Opposition<br />

criticism that this<br />

was an attempt to bypass<br />

Parliament and, even some<br />

voices of dissent from<br />

within the Union Cabinet.<br />

A top government<br />

source told The Hindu:<br />

“The focus of today’s meeting<br />

was: since the Opposition<br />

is pursuing the<br />

ordinance issue so aggressively,<br />

let’s not be caught<br />

out on procedural issues.”<br />

If the government is<br />

conscious of the need to<br />

deal with the negative publicity<br />

its eight ordinances<br />

have received, it is equally<br />

concerned that if some of<br />

the key ordinances do not<br />

become law within the<br />

mandatory six weeks from<br />

the start of the budget session,<br />

the situation could<br />

‘Pakistan court ignored<br />

evidence given by India’<br />

Rashmi Rajput<br />

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Police<br />

have conveyed to the Ministry<br />

of External Affairs that<br />

the Pakistani court which<br />

granted bail to Zaki-ur-Rehman<br />

Lakhvi — the alleged 26/<br />

11 mastermind and top Lashkar-e-Taiba<br />

commander — in<br />

the ongoing Mumbai attacks<br />

trial in Pakistan, has apparently<br />

not taken into consideration<br />

the evidence they<br />

BJP president Amit Shah at a rally in Bardhaman<br />

in West Bengal on Tuesday. — PHOTO: PTI<br />

Kashmir, he said, “The BJP<br />

will form the next government<br />

in Bengal.”<br />

Referring to the alleged<br />

assault on a woman, said to<br />

be a relative of a BJP worker,<br />

by officials of Birbhum district<br />

police, Mr. Shah said,<br />

pose a problem. This is because<br />

no ordinance can be<br />

re-promulgated in the<br />

middle of a session and a<br />

budget session typically<br />

runs for roughly two-anda-half<br />

months with a<br />

break.<br />

The ordinances that received<br />

the maximum attention<br />

at the meeting<br />

were the Coal Mines Ordinance<br />

and the Insurance<br />

Ordinance, in that order.<br />

But Coal Secretary Anil<br />

Swarup — present at the<br />

meeting along with his<br />

counterparts from other<br />

Ministries — is reported to<br />

have assured the government<br />

that his department<br />

would be able to complete<br />

a substantial part of the<br />

work for which the ordinance<br />

was issued.<br />

The Coal Ministry, for<br />

instance, is confident that<br />

it will be able to have some<br />

alternative in place by<br />

March 23 for the 42 functioning<br />

coal blocks where<br />

mining was cancelled by<br />

the Supreme Court, so that<br />

the flow of coal does not<br />

stop. (These were part of<br />

the 204 blocks in which<br />

mining was cancelled by<br />

the apex court — mining<br />

has not begun in the others).<br />

In addition, the Ministry<br />

will have the time to<br />

auction another 32 blocks<br />

not in the SC list.<br />

submitted, The Hindu has<br />

learnt.<br />

Responding to a letter<br />

from the MEA on the Pakistan<br />

court’s bail order, the police<br />

have said they can make<br />

only a prima facie determination<br />

on the merits of the<br />

court’s action as they are not<br />

privy to the Indian court report<br />

on the cross examination<br />

of four Indian<br />

witnesses by the Pakistani<br />

Judicial Commission which<br />

visited Mumbai twice.<br />

“The Indian court had submitted<br />

its report in a sealed<br />

envelope and we therefore<br />

are not privy to what the<br />

court had opined. However,<br />

we have studied the order by<br />

the Pakistani court at length<br />

and it nowhere makes a mention<br />

of the evidence sent by<br />

the Indian court,” a senior<br />

police officer told The Hindu.<br />

In March 2012, the eightmember<br />

Pakistani Commission<br />

visited India and examined<br />

four Indian witnesses to<br />

collect evidence in connection<br />

with Lakhvi and others<br />

facing trial in Pakistan. However,<br />

the report submitted by<br />

the panel was rejected by<br />

their court as the Commission<br />

members were not allowed<br />

to cross-examine the<br />

witnesses.<br />

Eventually, the two countries<br />

arrived on a consensus<br />

to allow the Indian witnesses<br />

to be cross-examined by the<br />

Judicial Commission. In September<br />

2013, the Indian witnesses<br />

deposed before the<br />

Pakistani Commission during<br />

its second visit. The hearing<br />

took place at the<br />

Mumbai’s Esplanade court<br />

and the evidence was recorded<br />

by Additional Chief Metropolitan<br />

Magistrate P.Y.<br />

Ladekar who later sent the<br />

same in a sealed envelope to<br />

the Pakistani court.<br />

The MEA in its letter had<br />

asked the Mumbai police to<br />

study the bail order of Lakhvi<br />

issued by an anti-terrorism<br />

court of Pakistan. Lakhvi and<br />

seven others, including Abdul<br />

Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Sadiq,<br />

Shahid Jameel Riaz,<br />

Jamil Ahmed and Younas<br />

Anjum, were arrested in<br />

2009 for planning, financing<br />

and executing the Mumbai<br />

attack. In December 2014,<br />

Lakhvi was released on bail.<br />

“Mamata Banerjee, you cannot<br />

stop BJP’s winning<br />

streak by committing<br />

atrocities.”<br />

He accused Ms. Banerjee<br />

of shielding her party leaders<br />

who were allegedly involved<br />

in the Saradha scam.<br />

Periyar Tiger Reserve wins NTCA award<br />

Meena Menon<br />

NEW DELHI: The Periyar Tiger<br />

Reserve, spread over 925<br />

sq.km. in Kerala, bagged the<br />

National Tiger Conservation<br />

Authority (NTCA)<br />

biennial award on Tuesday<br />

for encouraging local public<br />

participation in managing<br />

the reserve.<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

There are 75 communities<br />

living around the reserve,<br />

including tribal<br />

people who are dependent<br />

on eco-development programmes,<br />

said field director<br />

of the reserve Amit Mallick<br />

on Tuesday.<br />

The community-based<br />

eco-tourism activities<br />

helped visitors and there<br />

were night scouting programmes<br />

with the help of<br />

expert trackers as well.<br />

Tourism was supplemented<br />

by pepper growing and marketing<br />

which was a value addition.<br />

Now, self-help<br />

groups were involved in<br />

honey processing and other<br />

income-generating activities,<br />

Dr. Mallick said.<br />

‘Hurdles to foreign investment will be cleared’<br />

Parvathi Menon<br />

LONDON: Inviting British industry<br />

to invest in “happening”<br />

India, Commerce and<br />

Industry Minister Nirmala<br />

Sitharaman pledged her government’s<br />

commitment to<br />

easing conditions for foreign<br />

companies in India.<br />

Speaking to U.K. and Indian<br />

businesspeople gathered<br />

at the 10th Joint Economic<br />

and Trade Committee meeting<br />

here on Monday, Ms.<br />

Sitharaman said that India<br />

with its 5 per cent growth<br />

rate remained a far more<br />

attractive investment destination<br />

than parts of Europe<br />

— including Germany — for<br />

British businesses, particularly<br />

given the Indian government’s<br />

recent drive to<br />

reform business rules.<br />

She pointed to the over 40<br />

changes to the rules of the<br />

Companies Act 2013 (effective<br />

since April 2014) that<br />

her Ministry had brought in.<br />

To ensure measures were<br />

speedily implemented she<br />

said the government had<br />

used — and would continue<br />

to use — the ordinance<br />

route.<br />

ND-ND


NOIDA/DELHI<br />

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

‘Modi is my action hero’<br />

Omar Rashid<br />

MUMBAI: As the political undertone<br />

of the newly constituted<br />

Censor Board of Film<br />

Certificate (CBFC) was apparent<br />

on Tuesday, there are<br />

serious concerns among artists<br />

in the film industry that<br />

the ideological ‘homogeneity’<br />

of the current crop of<br />

members could undermine<br />

freedom of expression.<br />

They pointed out that the<br />

new chairman of the regulatory<br />

body Pahlaj Nihalani,<br />

a day after assuming position,<br />

unabashedly lavished<br />

praises on Prime Minister<br />

Narendra Modi while openly<br />

flaunting his association<br />

with the BJP.<br />

Describing Mr. Modi as a<br />

visionary who believes in action,<br />

Mr. Nihalani said the<br />

PM was his “action hero.”<br />

“What's wrong in it? I’m<br />

proud to say I’m a BJP person.<br />

I believe in Mr. Modi<br />

and his leadership,” Mr. Nihalani<br />

responded to the allegations<br />

that the new board<br />

had a definitive BJP slant.<br />

A member of the BJP film<br />

cell, then headed by BJP<br />

leader Kirit Somaiya when<br />

the Vajpayee government<br />

India, Pakistan had a solution<br />

for Kashmir in 2001: Kasuri<br />

Nirupama Subramanian<br />

Pahlaj Nihalani<br />

was in power, Mr. Nihalani,<br />

however, said he would<br />

strictly enforce the guidelines<br />

of the board and would<br />

work in a fair and transparent<br />

manner. Training his<br />

guns on the outgoing chairman<br />

Leela Samson for “unnecessarily<br />

creating a<br />

controversy” over her resignation<br />

last week, Mr. Nihalani<br />

said Ms. Samson cried<br />

injustice at the end of her<br />

tenure but barely took any<br />

initiative to improve the<br />

functioning of the board.<br />

It is a well known trend<br />

that successive governments<br />

pack the regulatory board<br />

with members considered<br />

sympathetic to it.<br />

ssHowever, critics have<br />

Book by Pakistan<br />

ex-minister to reveal<br />

details of secret talks<br />

CHENNAI: “Are you a hawk or a dove<br />

on India, Kasuri saheb?” Those<br />

were General Pervez Musharraf<br />

first words to the man he was going<br />

to appoint as his foreign minister<br />

in 2002 after that year’s<br />

general election in Pakistan cemented<br />

the military ruler’s 1999<br />

coup and a controversially won<br />

presidency.<br />

Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri held<br />

the foreign affairs portfolio to the<br />

end of the Musharraf government<br />

in 2008, playing a leading role in<br />

the India-Pakistan peace process<br />

that formally began in 2003 with<br />

the ceasefire along the Line of<br />

Control (LoC).<br />

In a book to be published next<br />

month, the former minister is set<br />

to provide an insider account of<br />

those years, one of the most secretive<br />

and fascinating periods of India-Pakistan<br />

diplomacy, and also<br />

the best time in recent decades for<br />

bilateral relations.<br />

As the title of the book suggests,<br />

Neither Hawk Nor Dove was Mr.<br />

Kasuri’s response to the military<br />

ruler’s question. More exactly, the<br />

former foreign minister told The<br />

Hindu in an interview from Lahore,<br />

he has been “a great believer”<br />

in peaceful relations between<br />

the two countries “for decades,<br />

from even before the time I became<br />

a foreign minister.”<br />

Declining to divulge any specifics<br />

from the book as that would<br />

violate his contract with the publishers,<br />

Mr. Kasuri nonetheless<br />

said it would contain details that<br />

are “true” even if “it is going to<br />

make people angry.”<br />

“I have given the exact details<br />

that have never been revealed. I<br />

have given the background in<br />

which the peace process took<br />

place, and the context in which it<br />

happened,” said Mr. Kasuri. He is<br />

now a prominent member of Imran<br />

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-<br />

Insaf party. He is in India this<br />

week to speak at the Jaipur Literature<br />

Festival which begins on<br />

Wednesday.<br />

Earlier accounts have suggested<br />

that robust backchannel diplomacy<br />

had helped the two sides<br />

arrive at a non-paper, a secret<br />

document outlining the contours<br />

of a political settlement on Kashmir.<br />

It was widely believed then that<br />

only five people in Pakistan were<br />

privy to the peace process. Mr.<br />

Kasuri, who is admittedly one of<br />

them, said his book would lay<br />

bare the details of that non-paper<br />

beyond the generally known<br />

‘four-point formula.’<br />

raised serious concerns over<br />

the political affiliations of<br />

the new CBFC members saying<br />

their ‘political homogeneity’<br />

could lead to<br />

conservatism in line with the<br />

ideology of the RSS.<br />

Most of the nominated<br />

members of the new board<br />

are either direct members of<br />

the BJP, open sympathisers<br />

or considered ideologically<br />

close to the RSS. Mr. Nihalani<br />

is himself credited with<br />

the ‘Har Ghar Modi’ song in<br />

praise of Mr. Modi during<br />

the election campaign.<br />

Noted film critic Ajay Brahmatmaj<br />

said: “Any film that<br />

is perceived to be anti-BJP<br />

or anti-Hindu Rashtra or anti-nationalist<br />

could be censored.<br />

The party that<br />

stresses a ban on women<br />

wearing jeans and pubs on<br />

moral grounds may have the<br />

ideological inclination to be<br />

conservative.” A former<br />

member of the board, speaking<br />

to The Hindu on the condition<br />

of anonymity, said:<br />

“Some of the members are<br />

not just associated with the<br />

party but are RSS ideologues.<br />

There are strong fears that it<br />

might lead to ideological<br />

conservatism.”<br />

Rs. 1-crore award for villages<br />

attaining balanced sex ratio<br />

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar<br />

CHANDIGARH: Union Minister<br />

for Women and Child Development<br />

Maneka Gandhi announced<br />

a Rs. 1-crore award<br />

on Tuesday for any innovative<br />

village attaining a balanced<br />

sex ratio.<br />

At the inaugural session of<br />

a national thematic workshop<br />

on woman and child development<br />

in Panipat, Ms. Gandhi<br />

urged the State<br />

governments and the district<br />

commissioners and other officials<br />

to work together for<br />

the success of the Beti Bachao<br />

Beti Padhao (Save daughter,<br />

educate daughter) programme<br />

to be launched by<br />

Prime Minister Narendra<br />

Modi in that city on<br />

Thursday.<br />

Ms. Gandhi said the Prime<br />

Minister chose Haryana to<br />

launch the campaign as it was<br />

one of the States with a low<br />

female sex ratio. One<br />

hundred districts with a low<br />

female sex ratio were selected<br />

nationwide for the campaign,<br />

and 12 of them, including Panipat,<br />

were in Haryana.<br />

She said the campaign<br />

would aim to change the<br />

mindset of the people towards<br />

the girl child, calling<br />

for innovative solutions to<br />

ending violence and crime<br />

against women and the dowry<br />

system, the root cause of female<br />

foeticide. “The notion of<br />

Paraya Dhan must be discouraged<br />

to ensure that parents<br />

do not hesitate to have a<br />

girl child,” she said.The Minister<br />

said 70 per cent of the<br />

children affected by malnutrition<br />

in the country were<br />

“It will go beyond the four<br />

points. People will be able to<br />

understand what we did on the<br />

backchannel framework on Kashmir,”<br />

Mr. Kasuri said.<br />

That framework, Mr. Kasuri<br />

said, “is still the only workable<br />

solution. It took three years, so<br />

many drafts were exchanged. You<br />

can’t reinvent the wheel.”<br />

It was “pretty much finished,<br />

only one or two little things needed<br />

ironing out,” Mr. Kasuri said,<br />

and after that “we would have<br />

presented it to the governments,<br />

to the public, to the media.”<br />

There is a full chapter in the<br />

book on the Pakistan Army based<br />

on Mr. Kasuri’s five years of dealing<br />

with the country’s most powerful<br />

institution first hand.<br />

Dismissing suggestions that the<br />

Pakistan Army was not on board<br />

regarding the Musharraf-Vajpayee-initiated<br />

peace process,<br />

Mr. Kasuri said: “I have quoted<br />

secret cables to show that all the<br />

others in the Pakistan Army were<br />

fully on board… It will help understand<br />

the role played by the<br />

Army in that process.”<br />

The only way to break the impasse<br />

in the India-Pakistan relations,<br />

Mr. Kasuri said, was “to<br />

take forward the legacies of Pervez<br />

Musharraf and Atal Bihari<br />

Vajpayee.” Both, he said, had<br />

“travelled a long distance [in their<br />

thinking] to arrive at the wisdom<br />

that the only option is peace.”<br />

girls.<br />

Haryana Chief Minister<br />

Manohar Lal Khattar said his<br />

government would set up<br />

special funds at the district<br />

level for preparing schemes<br />

and programmes for the welfare<br />

of the girl child, from<br />

childhood to education. Expressing<br />

concern at the gender<br />

imbalance, he said: “The<br />

low sex ratio in the State is a<br />

cause for concern and a challenge,<br />

but the visit of the<br />

Prime Minister will inspire us<br />

to further improve the sex<br />

ratio.”<br />

Mr. Khattar warned of<br />

stern action to curb female<br />

foeticide, and cited the example<br />

of Jhajjar district, which<br />

had the overall lowest sex ratio<br />

of 782 at birth during 2011,<br />

but raised it to 901 last December.<br />

Greenpeace hails Delhi HC ruling<br />

Mohammed Iqbal<br />

NEW DELHI: Greenpeace India<br />

on Tuesday hailed the Delhi<br />

High Court decision directing<br />

the Centre to release foreign<br />

contributions that were frozen<br />

by the Ministry of Home Affairs<br />

in June last year. The<br />

NGO said the decision was a<br />

“victory for democracy and<br />

free speech” and recognition of<br />

the vital role NGOs play in a<br />

free society.<br />

The court observed that all<br />

NGOs were entitled to their<br />

views, and it could not be surmised<br />

that they were acting<br />

against national interest merely<br />

because they were not in<br />

consonance with the government’s<br />

views. The court also<br />

noted that the Home Ministry<br />

had stated in its reply that<br />

Greenpeace India could have<br />

access to all foreign funds except<br />

those of Greenpeace International,<br />

as the latter had<br />

been put on a watch list. But no<br />

material was placed on record<br />

against<br />

Greenpeace<br />

International.<br />

While the Central government’s<br />

standing counsel Jasmeet<br />

Singh opposed the<br />

arguments of Greenpeace India<br />

and contended that the<br />

Home Ministry had a problem<br />

I-T department notice to Greenpeace<br />

Meena Menon &<br />

Suhasini Haider<br />

Govt. sets a new<br />

record, opens 11.50<br />

crore bank accounts<br />

opened under Jan<br />

Dhan Yojana<br />

Special Correspondent<br />

with the donor, petitioner<br />

Greenpeace International’s<br />

counsel Sanjay Parikh said the<br />

Ministry’s decision was never<br />

communicated to it.<br />

Counsel contended that<br />

Greenpeace India submitted a<br />

representation to the Centre<br />

in July last year asking for the<br />

relevant documents, but did<br />

not receive any reply. The<br />

NGO accused the Centre of<br />

abusing its powers under the<br />

FCRA Act. The Home Ministry<br />

had reportedly directed the<br />

Reserve Bank of India to get<br />

prior permission from its<br />

FCRA Department before<br />

clearing any foreign aid to<br />

NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Arun<br />

Jaitley said on Tuesday that the Guinness<br />

Book of World Records had recognised the<br />

achievements made under the Pradhan<br />

Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the biggest<br />

financial inclusion initiative in the<br />

world. The records book gave a certificate<br />

on Tuesday stating that the “Most bank accounts<br />

opened in one week as part of the<br />

Financial Inclusion Campaign is 1,80,96,130<br />

and was achieved by the Department of Financial<br />

Services, Government of India, from<br />

23rd to 29th August, 2014.”<br />

By January 17, 2015 banks had opened<br />

11.50 crore accounts, covering 99.74 per<br />

cent of the households that were outside the<br />

banking system against the original target of<br />

7.5 crore accounts that Prime Minister Narendra<br />

Modi had set for achieving by January<br />

26, 2015.<br />

Addressing reporters, Mr. Jaitley said<br />

that out of the accounts opened, cumulatively,<br />

the deposits across the accounts totalled<br />

to Rs. 9,188 crore. The share of<br />

women account holders was about 51 per<br />

cent and 60 per cent of the accounts were in<br />

rural areas. Mr. Jaitley said Rupay cards had<br />

been issued to more than 10 crore beneficiaries<br />

who would get a benefit of personal<br />

accidental insurance of Rs. 1 lakh under the<br />

Yojana. In addition, a life insurance cover of<br />

Rs. 30,000 was also being provided to eligible<br />

beneficiaries.<br />

Haryana to create special<br />

fund for girls: Khattar<br />

PANIPAT: Haryana Chief Minister<br />

Manohar Lal Khattar on<br />

Tuesday said that special<br />

fund would be created at the<br />

district level for schemes and<br />

programmes for girls’ welfare<br />

right from their childhood to<br />

education.<br />

The schemes would aim at<br />

ensuring their education,<br />

marriage, construction of<br />

separate toilets and to eradicate<br />

malnutrition, Mr. Khattar<br />

said here addressing the<br />

inaugural session of two-day<br />

National Thematic Workshop<br />

on “Best Practices for<br />

Women and Child Development.”<br />

It has been organised<br />

as a part of ‘Beti Bachao Beti<br />

Padhao’ programme.<br />

Expressing concern over<br />

the gender imbalance, Mr.<br />

Khattar said that this problem<br />

is a country-wide issue. -<br />

PTI<br />

Greenpeace from Greenpeace<br />

International and Climate<br />

Works. The RBI clears such<br />

transactions on a case-to-case<br />

basis. Greenpeace India Executive<br />

Director Samit Aich said<br />

in a statement that the High<br />

Court’s decision was a “vindication<br />

of our work and the role<br />

that credible NGOs play in<br />

support of India’s development.”<br />

The court had upheld<br />

the legitimacy of the issues<br />

Greenpeace takes up in India,<br />

he said.<br />

“The Court’s decision has<br />

come at a crucial time when<br />

sections in the government<br />

seem determined to harass us<br />

NEW DELHI: The Union Health<br />

Ministry has asked the States to<br />

ensure facilities for the diagnosis<br />

and treatment of H1N1 infection<br />

(swine flu).<br />

Officials said the outbreak of<br />

the infection this time had not<br />

been as virulent as it was in<br />

2009. The Centre had urged the<br />

States to create awareness of flu<br />

symptoms, preventive measures,<br />

diagnostic facilities and<br />

treatment.<br />

The health departments have<br />

been asked to ensure sanitation<br />

and hygiene in public places.<br />

High-risk groups, which include<br />

those with low immunity,<br />

non-communicable diseases<br />

such as diabetes or serious ailments,<br />

have been advised to<br />

take precautions and report to<br />

the nearest hospital or diagnostic<br />

centre in case of symptoms.<br />

Earlier this month, senior officials<br />

took stock of the prepa-<br />

NEW DELHI: Even as the Delhi High Court on<br />

Tuesday directed the government to unblock<br />

contributions to Greenpeace, the<br />

NGO seems to have another battle on its<br />

hands.<br />

On March 31, 2014, Greenpeace India<br />

Society received a notice from the Income<br />

Tax department asking it to pay Rs 2.484<br />

crore for the financial year 2010-11 and<br />

assessment year 2011-2012. Another notice<br />

for Rs. 1.49 crore was sent to Greenpeace<br />

Environmental Trust for the same<br />

period, adding up to Rs 3.794 crore in all.<br />

In response to questions from The Hindu,<br />

Greenpeace India executive director Samit<br />

Aich said the NGO was planning to contest<br />

the amount.<br />

“We have appealed to the appellate authority,<br />

but in the meantime we have<br />

agreed to pay 25 per cent of that amount…<br />

about Rs. 99.47 lakh. We believe that the<br />

Income tax demand is not rational and we<br />

are determined to contest that.”<br />

redness level to deal with H1N1.<br />

The Centre has asked the State<br />

governments to stock medicines<br />

and make arrangements<br />

for treatment.<br />

NATIONAL<br />

13<br />

Karat: ordinance<br />

route shows up<br />

government<br />

J.S. Ifthekhar<br />

HYDERABAD: The central committee<br />

of the Communist<br />

Party of India (Marxist) has<br />

faulted the Narendra Modi<br />

government for bypassing<br />

Parliament and taking the ordinance<br />

route to increase foreign<br />

direct investment in the<br />

insurance sector by 49 per<br />

cent, opening up of the coal<br />

industry to private sector<br />

mining and diluting the Land<br />

Acquisition Act by adding<br />

amendments, taking away the<br />

right of farmers and landowners.<br />

“The ordinance route reveals<br />

the character of the Modi<br />

government,” General<br />

Secretary Prakash Karat told<br />

journalists here on Tuesday,<br />

after attending the second<br />

day’s session of the<br />

committee.<br />

The committee has taken<br />

strong note of the ‘right-wing<br />

offensive’ unleashed by the<br />

Bharatiya Janata Party after<br />

assuming power at the Centre.<br />

At the same time Rashtriya<br />

Swayamsevak Sangh-led<br />

Hindutva forces are also trying<br />

to advance their communal<br />

agenda, it said.<br />

H1N1: States told to be ready<br />

Special Correspondent<br />

and other NGOs. We are glad<br />

the court ruled that the government’s<br />

actions had no basis<br />

in law. This is a strong signal<br />

from the judiciary that the government<br />

must cease its campaign<br />

of harassment of the civil<br />

society,” said Mr. Aich.<br />

The court’s decision has<br />

come shortly after Greenpeace<br />

India campaigner Priya Pillai<br />

was prevented from boarding<br />

her flight to London earlier<br />

this month. She was on her<br />

way to address British parliamentarians<br />

on the alleged legal<br />

and human rights violations in<br />

Mahan, where a coal mine is<br />

proposed to be established.<br />

1 dead in Chennai<br />

A 53-year-old man died of<br />

complications from H1N1 viral<br />

infection (swine flu) in a government<br />

hospital here on<br />

Monday.<br />

Doctors at Rajiv Gandhi Government<br />

General Hospital said<br />

P. Sreenivasan of Mannady in<br />

north Chennai had been admitted<br />

first to a private hospital in<br />

the city. On January 16, he was<br />

brought to the General Hospital.<br />

“He was in a bad shape when<br />

he came in, with pneumonia.<br />

We administered Tamiflu and<br />

gave him all necessary treatment<br />

and support,” a senior<br />

doctor said<br />

Bal Thackeray’s medical<br />

records given to court<br />

Vinaya Deshpande<br />

MUMBAI: A representative of Lilavati<br />

Hospital on Tuesday submitted the<br />

medical records of deceased Shiv Sena<br />

leader Bal Thackeray to the Bombay<br />

High Court. The records<br />

pertaining to Thackeray’s medical<br />

condition between November and<br />

December 2011 were submitted as<br />

per the court’s directions.<br />

The court was hearing the matter<br />

challenging the probate of Bal<br />

Thackeray’s will by his son and present<br />

Shiv Sena leader Uddhav<br />

Thackeray.<br />

Uddhav’s elder brother and Balasaheb’s<br />

estranged son Jaidev Thackeray<br />

has challenged the will on the<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

ground that Balasaheb was of unsound<br />

mind while signing it. According<br />

to the will, Mr. Jaidev will not<br />

inherit anything from his father.<br />

On Tuesday, two volumes of medical<br />

records, running into 60 pages,<br />

were submitted to the court. Mr. Jaidev’s<br />

counsel Seema Sarnaik sought<br />

time to inspect the records. She said<br />

she would not be able to cross examine<br />

Dr. Jaleel Parkar, one of the attesting<br />

witnesses of the will,<br />

properly without studying the medical<br />

records.<br />

The court was to record Dr. Parkar's<br />

statement on Tuesday. But his<br />

examination was postponed till February<br />

20, when the court is slated to<br />

hear the matter again.<br />

ND-ND


INTERNATIONAL<br />

NOIDA/DELHI<br />

14 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

TWO JAPANESE JOURNALISTS UNDER THREAT<br />

IS demands $200-million ransom to free hostages<br />

Tokyo vows not to give in; since August, IS has murdered three Americans and two Britons<br />

Educated<br />

women face<br />

IS threat<br />

GENEVA: The U.N. on<br />

Tuesday decried numerous<br />

executions of civilians in<br />

Iraq by the Islamic State<br />

group, warning that<br />

educated women appeared<br />

to be especially at risk.<br />

The jihadist group is<br />

showing a “monstrous<br />

disregard for human life”<br />

in the areas it controls in<br />

Iraq, the U.N. human<br />

rights office said.<br />

The group, which<br />

controls large swathes of<br />

territory in Iraq and in<br />

neighbouring war-ravaged<br />

Syria, last week published<br />

pictures of the<br />

“crucifixions” of two men<br />

accused of being bandits,<br />

and of a woman being<br />

stoned to death, allegedly<br />

for adultery. — AFP<br />

BEIRUT: The Islamic State (IS)<br />

group threatened in a video on<br />

Tuesday to kill two Japanese<br />

hostages within 72 hours unless<br />

it receives a $200 million<br />

ransom, but Tokyo vowed it<br />

would not bow to “terrorism”.<br />

Japanese Prime Minister<br />

Shinzo Abe, in Jerusalem on<br />

the latest leg of a Middle East<br />

tour, demanded the jihadists<br />

immediately free the two hostages<br />

unharmed.<br />

He flew home several hours<br />

earlier than planned to take<br />

charge of the crisis after meeting<br />

with Palestinian President<br />

Mahmud Abbas, who condemned<br />

the threat against the<br />

abductees as “despicable”.<br />

IS has murdered five Western<br />

hostages since August last<br />

year, but it is the first time that<br />

the extremist group — which<br />

has seized swathes of Syria and<br />

neighbouring Iraq — has<br />

threatened Japanese captives.<br />

In footage posted on jihadist<br />

websites, a black-clad militant<br />

brandishing a knife addresses<br />

the camera in English, standing<br />

between hostages Kenji<br />

Goto and Haruna Yukawa who<br />

are wearing orange jumpsuits.<br />

“You now have 72 hours to<br />

pressure your government into<br />

making a wise decision by<br />

paying the $200 million to<br />

save the lives of your citizens,”<br />

he says.<br />

The militant says that the<br />

ransom demand is to compensate<br />

for non-military aid that<br />

the Japanese Prime Minister<br />

pledged to support countries<br />

affected by IS violence at the<br />

start of his Middle East tour.<br />

Would not bow: Abe<br />

But Mr. Abe said Japan<br />

would not bow to extremism<br />

and pledged to honour his<br />

promise of aid.<br />

“I strongly demand that<br />

they not be harmed and that<br />

they be immediately released,”<br />

he told a news conference in<br />

Jerusalem.<br />

“The international community<br />

will not give in to any form<br />

of terrorism and we have to<br />

make sure that we work<br />

together.”<br />

Mr. Abe said the aid he had<br />

A television screen with news reports about the two<br />

Japanese men kidnapped by the IS. — PHOTO: AFP<br />

promised in Cairo on Saturday<br />

was to help the displaced and<br />

those made homeless by the<br />

conflict in Iraq and Syria.<br />

“This position is unshakable,”<br />

he said, describing the<br />

assistance as “absolutely necessary”<br />

for the survival of people<br />

who have fled fighting.<br />

Since August, IS has murdered<br />

three Americans and<br />

two Britons, posting grisly video<br />

footage of their executions.<br />

The militant who appeared<br />

in the video threatening the<br />

Japanese hostages spoke with<br />

a very similar southern English<br />

accent to the militant<br />

who appeared in the footage<br />

posted of the executions of the<br />

Britons and Americans.<br />

Mr. Goto is a freelance journalist,<br />

born in 1967, who set up<br />

a video production company,<br />

named Independent Press in<br />

Tokyo in 1996, feeding video<br />

documentaries on the Middle<br />

East and other regions to Japanese<br />

television networks,<br />

including public broadcaster<br />

NHK.<br />

He had been out of contact<br />

since late October after telling<br />

family that he intended to return<br />

to Japan, NHK reported.<br />

Mr. Yukawa is a 42-year-old<br />

widower who reportedly has a<br />

history of attempted suicide<br />

and self-mutilation after his<br />

military goods business went<br />

bankrupt and his wife died of<br />

cancer.<br />

He came to widespread attention<br />

in Japan when he appeared<br />

in footage posted last<br />

August in which he was shown<br />

being roughly interrogated by<br />

his captors.He offered brief responses<br />

to questions posed in<br />

English about why he was in<br />

Syria and the reason he was<br />

carrying a gun.<br />

He replied in stilted English<br />

that he was a “photographer”<br />

and a “journalist, half doctor”.<br />

— AFP<br />

Yemen: President’s residence seized<br />

SANA’A: Shia militia fighters<br />

attacked Yemeni President<br />

Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi’s<br />

residence and seized the<br />

LAGOS: Nigeria was on Tuesday<br />

awarded $8.1 million in funding<br />

for a final push to eradicate<br />

polio, as it nears six months<br />

without a case of the disease.<br />

Nigeria is one of three<br />

countries worldwide where polio<br />

is considered endemic. The two<br />

others are Pakistan and<br />

presidential palace on Tuesday<br />

in what officials said was a bid<br />

to overthrow his embattled<br />

government.<br />

As the U.N. Security Council<br />

began an emergency meeting<br />

over the unrest, Secretary<br />

General Ban Ki-moon said he<br />

was “gravely concerned” and<br />

called for an immediate halt to<br />

the fighting. — AFP<br />

Nigeria: six months without polio case<br />

MOSCOW: Two Russian<br />

performance artists were jailed<br />

for 10 days on Tuesday after<br />

throwing holy water at the Lenin<br />

Mausoleum on Red Square and<br />

shouting, “Rise up and leave!”<br />

The men were sentenced to<br />

10 days in police cells for petty<br />

hooliganism after the protest<br />

they carried out on Monday, an<br />

Afghanistan.<br />

The last case of the polio<br />

virus in Nigeria was on July 24 in<br />

the northern State of Kano. Last<br />

year, the country recorded a<br />

total of six cases, according to<br />

the Global Polio Eradication<br />

Initiative. That compares with 53<br />

in 2013, the group said. — AFP<br />

2 jailed for desecrating Lenin Mausoleum<br />

Orthodox holiday, a member of<br />

their art group, Irina Dumitskaya<br />

told AFP.<br />

The two men, Oleg Basov, a<br />

dance teacher, and Yevgeny<br />

Avilov, a computer programmer,<br />

are members of an antiestablishment<br />

art group called<br />

Blue Rider, Ms. Dumitskaya said.<br />

— AFP<br />

Following Maoist-led strike, Constituent Assembly meeting adjourned<br />

Will implement 13th Amendment within a unitary state: Ranil<br />

Atul Aneja<br />

BEIJING: The change of guard<br />

in Sri Lanka has triggered a<br />

debate in China that despite<br />

its economic heft, the country<br />

may still be lacking in diplomatic<br />

power to influence<br />

smaller countries when it really<br />

counts.<br />

An editorial in the Global<br />

Times, usually a bellweather<br />

of the mood within the Communist<br />

Party of China (CPC),<br />

cautions that it would be premature<br />

to conclude that the<br />

exit of Mahinda Rajapaksa,<br />

and the arrival of Maithripala<br />

Sirisena as the President of<br />

Sri Lanka, is a blow to China’s<br />

interests in the strategically<br />

located island nation.<br />

Yet it signalled that uncertainties<br />

had crept in, and the<br />

new dispensation in Colombo<br />

was sending mixed signals.<br />

The article pointed out<br />

that last week, Sri Lanka had<br />

stated that “it would review<br />

the construction of a Chinese-backed<br />

port close to<br />

Colombo, citing issues over<br />

transparency in the contract<br />

and environmental reasons”.<br />

“But the new government<br />

also said the reassessment<br />

does not indicate a cancellation<br />

of the project, and construction<br />

can resume if the<br />

review finds no fault.”<br />

On Friday, the Sri Lankan<br />

government declared that<br />

the $1.5 billion Hambantota<br />

port deal with China Communication<br />

Construction Co.<br />

Ltd. would be reviewed over<br />

concerns that the Chinese<br />

company was getting freehold<br />

land in a high-security<br />

Damakant Jayshi<br />

Transition triggers introspection<br />

zone.<br />

The commentary pointed<br />

out that the Chinese side<br />

would suffer heavy financial<br />

losses if the project was halted<br />

— a situation similar to<br />

that in Myanmar, where projects<br />

were being stalled.<br />

On Colombo-Delhi ties<br />

The editorial recognised<br />

India’s traditional ties with<br />

Sri Lanka, but stressed that<br />

competition between Beijing<br />

and New Delhi in Sri Lanka is<br />

“not exclusive” or confrontational.<br />

It also focused on the complementarities<br />

in the relationship,<br />

stressing that<br />

China was an “irreplaceable’<br />

partner” to address Sri Lanka’s<br />

“urgent need of comprehensive<br />

economic<br />

development”.<br />

Nepalese supporters of the 30-party alliance, led by the Unified Communist<br />

Party of Nepal (Maoist), demonstrate during the general strike in Kathmandu<br />

on Tuesday. — PHOTO: AFP<br />

Meera Srinivasan<br />

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government<br />

will implement the<br />

13th Amendment to its Constitution<br />

within a unitary<br />

state, Prime Minister Ranil<br />

Wickramasinghe has said.<br />

Implementation of the<br />

13th Amendment — born out<br />

of the Indo-Lanka Accord of<br />

1987 — has remained a longpending<br />

demand of the Tamil<br />

National Alliance (TNA), the<br />

main party representing the<br />

island’s Northern Tamils.<br />

The Amendment envisages<br />

substantive devolution of political<br />

powers to the<br />

provinces.<br />

In his first parliamentary<br />

address after assuming<br />

charge as Prime Minister —<br />

following the Sri Lanka’s January<br />

8 presidential elections<br />

— Mr. Wickramasinghe said:<br />

“We will implement the 13th<br />

Amendment within a unitary<br />

state.”<br />

Given that the TNA backed<br />

KATHMANDU: Opposition parties<br />

continued their protests<br />

on Tuesday inside the Constituent<br />

Assembly (CA) as well<br />

outside to prevent the ruling<br />

parties from adopting the procedure<br />

to discuss the new<br />

Constitution.<br />

The nationwide bandh (general<br />

strike) called by the alliance<br />

of Opposition parties led<br />

by UCPN (Maoist) turned violent<br />

in several parts of the<br />

country while their MPs<br />

shouted slogans inside the Assembly<br />

to prevent CA Chairman<br />

Subas Nembang from<br />

entering the process of voting.<br />

Mr. Nembang adjourned the<br />

CA meeting until 11 a.m. on<br />

Wednesday after nearly two<br />

hours of slogan-shouting by<br />

Opposition lawmakers. In the<br />

wee hour of Tuesday, they attacked<br />

some UML leaders, and<br />

CA chairman, forcing another<br />

adjournment.<br />

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala<br />

termed Tuesday’s attack<br />

inside the CA as “conspiracy”<br />

to prevent the CA from writing<br />

the Constitution. “It did not<br />

turn nastier due to patience<br />

exercised by the ruling parties,”<br />

he said. “The UCPN<br />

(Maoist) leaders are expert at<br />

changing their words.”<br />

The deadline to promulgate<br />

the new statute which the parties<br />

set themselves is just two<br />

Ranil Wickramasinghe<br />

President Sirisena in the elections,<br />

the Northern Tamils —<br />

who voted against President<br />

Rajapaksa in large numbers —<br />

would expect the new government<br />

to be sensitive to their<br />

demands.<br />

Civilian Governor<br />

In a gesture that sections<br />

perceive as President Maithripala<br />

Sirisena’s willingness<br />

days away. Leaders from the<br />

Nepali Congress, the CPN-<br />

UML and the UCPN (Maoist)<br />

have been saying that the Constitution<br />

would be passed once<br />

they reached consensus. In<br />

that event, the likely step<br />

would be to suspend all regulations<br />

and processes and<br />

adopt the draft of the Constitution<br />

to be promulgated at a<br />

later date.<br />

With the parties failing to<br />

reach consensus or agreeing<br />

on a compromise despite<br />

many rounds of bilateral and<br />

multi-party discussions, the<br />

deadline of January 22 is likely<br />

to be missed, several leaders<br />

from various political parties<br />

have been saying.<br />

State restructuring has appeared<br />

to be the most difficult<br />

issue. The NC and the UML<br />

want no more than six or seven<br />

States and mostly drawn on<br />

the bases of economic viability,<br />

geography and culture.<br />

They also want the names of<br />

the new States to be decided by<br />

elected state assemblies.<br />

The UCPN (Maoist) and<br />

Madhes-based parties want<br />

between eight and 10 States,<br />

one, or at the most two, States<br />

in Tarai and are in favour of<br />

to engage with the Tamils’ demands,<br />

he recently replaced<br />

the former Northern Province<br />

Governor, a military<br />

man, with a seasoned diplomat.<br />

It is also learnt that orders<br />

have been passed to transfer<br />

the Chief Secretary of the<br />

Province who was on a collision<br />

course with Chief Minister<br />

C.V. Wigneswaran.<br />

Mr. Wickramasinghe also<br />

outlined the newly-formed<br />

government’s plan for the<br />

first 100 days. The government<br />

would set up independent<br />

commissions to run the<br />

police, the public service, the<br />

judiciary and the elections<br />

department, he said.<br />

The new government had<br />

presented its 100-day plan<br />

ahead of the elections promising<br />

a host of measures, including<br />

the abolition of<br />

executive presidency, which<br />

former President Mahinda<br />

Rajapaksa’s critics saw as being<br />

a huge impediment to democracy<br />

during his two<br />

terms. Mr. Wickramasinghe,<br />

appointed Prime Minister by<br />

President Sirisena, said the<br />

new government would also<br />

pass a Right to Information<br />

Act.<br />

Rajapaksa’s home<br />

raided<br />

Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s former<br />

President Mahinda Rajapaksa<br />

on Tuesday asked the<br />

new government to stop “revenge”,<br />

a day after police raided<br />

his country-side home in<br />

the southern district of Hambantota.<br />

“Our family has been in<br />

politics since 1931. But never<br />

our homes came to be<br />

searched. I ask them to stop<br />

this political revenge,” local<br />

media quoted Mr. Rajapaksa<br />

as saying. The police were reportedly<br />

looking for a Lamborghini<br />

sports car and<br />

launched a raid following a<br />

court warrant, but the search<br />

drew a blank.<br />

the states being carved and<br />

named mainly on single ethnic<br />

identity.<br />

With discussions yielding<br />

no result, the NC and the UML<br />

suggested that the disputes be<br />

decided by adopting the CA<br />

procedure which the parties —<br />

including the UCPN (Maoist)<br />

and Madhes-based ones — had<br />

agreed to in March last year.<br />

The ruling parties have more<br />

than the required two-thirds<br />

majority to get the Constitution<br />

passed if voting is adopted.<br />

The Opposition has<br />

insisted on “consensus only”<br />

approach.<br />

Meanwhile, responding to<br />

the situation in Nepal, Spokesperson<br />

of from Ministry of External<br />

Affairs in New Delhi<br />

said, “It is our expectation that<br />

all Nepalese leaders will work<br />

together in the final stage of<br />

the peace process, in drawing<br />

up a Constitution that honours<br />

past agreements and understandings<br />

as well as the<br />

mandate of the CA elections.”<br />

‘AirAsia jet<br />

climbed fast,<br />

then stalled’<br />

JAKARTA: An AirAsia plane<br />

that crashed into the Java Sea<br />

last month with 162 people on<br />

board climbed faster than<br />

normal and then stalled, the<br />

Indonesian Transport Minister<br />

said on Tuesday. Flight<br />

QZ8501 went down on December<br />

28 in stormy weather,<br />

during what was supposed to<br />

be a short trip from the Indonesian<br />

city of Surabaya to<br />

Singapore.<br />

Indonesia’s meteorological<br />

agency has said bad weather<br />

may have caused the crash,<br />

and investigators are analysing<br />

the data from the jet’s<br />

black boxes before releasing a<br />

preliminary report.<br />

Indonesian Transport<br />

Minister Ignasius Jonan, citing<br />

radar data, said “the plane<br />

suddenly went up at a speed<br />

above the normal limit that it<br />

was able to climb to. Then it<br />

stalled.” — AFP<br />

China steps up drive to integrate Africa into Silk Road<br />

Atul Aneja<br />

BEIJING: China has accelerated<br />

its drive to draw Africa<br />

into the Maritime Silk Road<br />

— Beijing’s ambitious transcontinental<br />

initiative — following<br />

the visit to the<br />

continent by Foreign Minister<br />

Wang Yi.<br />

Among the several themes<br />

covered during Mr. Wang’s<br />

five-nation visit, the push for<br />

speedy construction of a<br />

modern standard-gauge rail<br />

link between Nairobi and<br />

Mombasa was one of the star<br />

highlights.<br />

Nairobi to Mombasa<br />

The project to linkup the<br />

capital of Kenya and the<br />

country’s well-established<br />

port has much larger implications.<br />

Once it is through,<br />

the rail corridor will help<br />

connect the vast hinterland<br />

of East Africa with the Indian<br />

Ocean, making it a salient<br />

strategic project, which will<br />

add one more layer to the<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

Apart from building railroads, highways and<br />

airports, Beijing is developing 12 deep water<br />

ports, seven of which are along<br />

the African coastline<br />

realisation of President Xi<br />

Jinping’s dream of establishing<br />

a 21st century Maritime<br />

Silk Road (MSR).<br />

If plans materialise,<br />

Mombasa would be eventually<br />

linked with Malaba in<br />

west Kenya and then Kampala,<br />

Kigali and Juba — capitals<br />

of Uganda, Rwanda and<br />

South Sudan respectively.<br />

The Chinese undertook<br />

the project, clearly aware of<br />

the larger regional opportunities<br />

that it presented.<br />

Symbolically, this was evident<br />

when the leaders from<br />

Uganda, Rwanda and South<br />

Sudan stood aside with visiting<br />

Chinese Prime Minister<br />

Li Keqiang in Nairobi,<br />

along with representatives<br />

from Tanzania, Burundi and<br />

the African Development<br />

Bank, to sign a deal on the<br />

project.<br />

As concrete steps are taken<br />

on ground, it has become<br />

apparent that Africa is becoming<br />

one of the pillars of<br />

the MSR project. Apart from<br />

building railroads, highways<br />

and airports, the Chinese are<br />

developing 12 deep water<br />

ports, seven of which are<br />

along the African coastline.<br />

These are: Djibouti, Dares<br />

Salaam, Maputo, Libreville<br />

(Gabon), Tema (Ghana), Dakar<br />

(Senegal), Bizerte<br />

(Tunisia).<br />

In turn, these ports connect<br />

with the MSR, as they<br />

are meant to serve large<br />

commercial ships coming<br />

from Asia, laden with food<br />

and industrial products, and<br />

return with raw materials<br />

from Africa.<br />

Africa connects well with<br />

one of the major spurs of the<br />

MSR — the Chinese province<br />

of Yunnan, which shares<br />

borders with Myanmar,<br />

Vietnam and Laos, with<br />

Thailand further to the<br />

south.<br />

Bypassing Malacca<br />

Hoping to avoid the vulnerable<br />

Malacca strait, the<br />

Chinese are building rail<br />

corridors from Kunming,<br />

Yunnan’s capital, to Myanmar<br />

and Thailand via landlocked<br />

Laos. China has<br />

signed an agreement to build<br />

a rail corridor that will connect<br />

Yunnan with Myanmar’s<br />

port city of<br />

Kyaukphyu on the Bay of<br />

Bengal, thus bypassing Malacca<br />

straits. Kyaukphyu is<br />

also the starting point of the<br />

China-Myanmar oil and gas<br />

pipeline, and enters China at<br />

the city of Ruili<br />

With Laos, the China-<br />

Vientiane railroad project is<br />

expected to be completed by<br />

2018. China has recently approved<br />

a $23 billion project,<br />

which includes a high-speed<br />

link between Chaing Khong,<br />

just south of the Laos’ capital<br />

Vientiane, and Ban Phachi<br />

in Thailand.<br />

Some analysts are of the<br />

view that China and Thailand<br />

are taking the lead in<br />

building the MSR’s connection<br />

with Africa. The website<br />

East by Southeast reported<br />

that last year, Chinese and<br />

Thai officials formed investment<br />

vehicles for the construction<br />

of the seven<br />

strategic ports on the African<br />

coastlines.<br />

Thai rice exporters are<br />

likely to be one of the main<br />

beneficiaries of the Asia-<br />

Africa link under the MSR<br />

plan. Already 60 per cent of<br />

Thai rice exports in 2013<br />

headed for Africa, and consumption<br />

trend was even<br />

higher last year.<br />

Iran: a memorial for Jewish martyrs<br />

Members of Iran’s Jewish community pray for a<br />

relative who recently passed away at a new<br />

memorial for Jewish people. — PHOTO: AFP<br />

TEHRAN: It seems incongruous<br />

in Iran, where politicians<br />

chant “Death to Israel” and<br />

the Israeli flag is often<br />

burned, but a new memorial<br />

in Tehran is bringing recognition<br />

to the country’s “Jewish<br />

martyrs”.<br />

The memorial has been<br />

raised in the three-hectare<br />

(eight-acre) Jewish cemetery<br />

in south Tehran — a striking<br />

reminder of a minority faith<br />

whose more than 1,000-year<br />

heritage in Iran dwarfs the<br />

comparably short 35 years of<br />

the Islamic republic.<br />

For leaders of Iran’s small<br />

Jewish community, the memorial<br />

is a welcome sign of<br />

openness from authorities despite<br />

continued concerns over<br />

discrimination.<br />

“When someone looks at<br />

this monument, they will<br />

think about the sacrifices that<br />

were made by these martyrs,”<br />

said the head of Tehran’s Jewish<br />

community, Homayoun<br />

Sameyah Najaf Abadi.<br />

The names of 10 people<br />

have been etched in stone in<br />

the memorial, erected in December<br />

at the cemetery where<br />

thousands of Jews are buried.<br />

Five of them died fighting<br />

in the 1980-88 war against<br />

Iraq; three were killed by Saddam<br />

Hussein’s bombing of<br />

Tehran during the war; and<br />

the other two died in the tumultuous<br />

early days of the<br />

1979 revolution that ended<br />

the rule of the Iranian Shah.<br />

Construction of the Jewish<br />

monument and the restoration<br />

of the 10 tombs of the<br />

dead was funded by a foundation<br />

that helps families of soldiers<br />

killed or wounded in the<br />

Iran-Iraq war.<br />

Iran had between 80,000<br />

and 100,000 Jews before the<br />

revolution but most have<br />

since fled, mainly to the United<br />

States, Israel and Europe.<br />

There are now only about<br />

8,500, mostly in Tehran but<br />

also in Isfahan and Shiraz,<br />

major cities south of the capital.<br />

— AFP<br />

ND-ND


NOIDA/DELHI<br />

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

15<br />

BUSINESS<br />

BRIEFLY<br />

SEBI orders broker<br />

to refund money<br />

MUMBAI: Cracking down on<br />

an illegal money pooling<br />

activity running into an<br />

estimated Rs.5,000 crore,<br />

the Securities and<br />

Exchange Board of India<br />

on Tuesday barred an<br />

individual broker from<br />

mobilising funds from the<br />

public while asking him to<br />

refund investors money<br />

within seven days.<br />

Sameer S. Joshi, a subbroker<br />

with trade<br />

name Shreesurya<br />

Investments, has also<br />

been restrained from<br />

dealing in the securities<br />

market, till further<br />

directions. Shreesurya<br />

Investments has allegedly<br />

cornered more than<br />

Rs.5,000 crore from 6,000<br />

investors. — PTI<br />

Vikram Pandit, others<br />

invest $75 m in<br />

Bitcoin firm Coinbase<br />

NEW DELHI: Noted Indiaorigin<br />

banker Vikram<br />

Pandit along with the New<br />

York Stock Exchange and<br />

other investors have<br />

pumped in $75 million into<br />

U.S.-based Coinbase in<br />

what is billed as one of the<br />

biggest publicly disclosed<br />

funding for a Bitcoin<br />

company. The investment<br />

by marquee investors in a<br />

Bitcoin company comes at<br />

a time when the popular<br />

online cryptocurrency<br />

turned out to be one of the<br />

worst investments in 2014<br />

as its value plummeted by<br />

about 50 per cent. One<br />

Bitcoin is now valued at<br />

$206, about one-sixth of its<br />

peak price of about $1,200<br />

apiece in 2013. — PTI<br />

Xiaomi to launch<br />

Mi4 on Jan. 28<br />

NEW DELHI: Chinese handset<br />

maker Xiaomi is expected<br />

to launch its latest 4G<br />

device Mi4 in India later<br />

this month as it looks to<br />

strengthen its position in<br />

the booming domestic<br />

smartphone market.<br />

The company, which<br />

entered the Indian market<br />

last year, has launched<br />

three devices here so far —<br />

Redmi 1S, Redmi Note and<br />

Mi3 — in partnership with<br />

e-commerce major<br />

Flipkart.<br />

“You are invited to a frontrow<br />

view on January<br />

28...Mi hits a 4 and a 6,”<br />

Xiaomi said in an<br />

invitation. — PTI<br />

Virgin Atlantic picks<br />

TCS for digital<br />

transformation<br />

CHENNAI: Tata Consultancy<br />

Services has been selected<br />

by Virgin Atlantic Airways<br />

(VAA) of the U.K. to help<br />

the latter’s digital<br />

transformation<br />

programme. It will set up a<br />

private cloud for VAA and<br />

provide services including<br />

infrastructure-as-a-service,<br />

end-user services and<br />

application support<br />

services, according to a<br />

release from TCS. – Special<br />

Correspondent<br />

EXCHANGE RATES<br />

Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit<br />

except yen at 4 p.m on January 20<br />

Currencies TT TT<br />

Buying Selling<br />

U.S. Dollar 61.49 61.81<br />

Euro 71.16 71.53<br />

Pound Sterling 93.13 93.62<br />

Jap Yen (100 Units) 51.82 52.09<br />

Chinese Yuan 9.89 9.95<br />

Swiss Franc 70.20 70.61<br />

Singapore Dollar 45.96 46.22<br />

Australian Dollar 50.42 50.68<br />

Canadian Dollar 51.29 51.57<br />

Swedish Kroner 7.55 7.59<br />

Danish Kroner 9.57 9.62<br />

New Zealand Dollar 47.47 47.76<br />

Hongkong Dollar 7.93 7.97<br />

Malaysian Ringitt 17.04 17.13<br />

Kuwaiti Dinar 208.61 210.55<br />

UAE Dirham 16.74 16.83<br />

Bahraini Dinar 163.08 163.95<br />

Qatari Riyal 16.95 16.95<br />

Saudi Riyal 16.43 16.43<br />

Omani Riyal 159.69 160.55<br />

Source: Indian Bank<br />

BULLION RATES<br />

January 20 rates in rupees with<br />

previous rates in brackets<br />

Chennai<br />

Bar Silver (1 kg) 39,855 (39,500)<br />

Retail (1 g) 42.60 (42.30)<br />

24 ct gold (10 g) 28,480 (28,150)<br />

22 ct gold (1 g) 2,663 (2,632)<br />

Delhi<br />

Silver 39,200 (39,100)<br />

Standard gold 28,180 (28,080)<br />

Sovereign 24,000 (23,900)<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

Gilead licenses Strides to make,<br />

distribute AIDS drug in 112 countries<br />

Strides will be able to launch its product by mid-2016<br />

Ramnath Subbu<br />

MUMBAI: U.S. pharmaceutical<br />

major Gilead Sciences has<br />

signed a licensing agreement<br />

with Bengaluru-based Strides<br />

Arcolab, under which Gilead<br />

has extended non-exclusive<br />

rights to Strides to make and<br />

distribute Tenofovir Alafenamide<br />

(TAF), both as a single<br />

agent product and in combination<br />

with other drugs.<br />

This is seen as a goodwill<br />

creation exercise by sections<br />

of the Indian pharmaceutical<br />

industry as multinationals<br />

have been increasingly<br />

viewed with scepticism in developing<br />

markets.<br />

TAF is a novel nucleotide<br />

reverse transcriptase inhibitor<br />

used in human immunodeficiency<br />

virus (HIV)<br />

patients in the treatment of<br />

acquired immunodeficiency<br />

syndrome (AIDS). TAF is<br />

awaiting U.S. Food and Drug<br />

Administration (FDA) approval,<br />

and is expected to go<br />

to market by year-end.<br />

A statement from Strides<br />

said the licence extends to 112<br />

countries, which together account<br />

for more than 30 million<br />

people living with HIV.<br />

Strides will receive a technology<br />

transfer from Gilead, enabling<br />

it to make low-cost<br />

versions of TAF for developing<br />

countries.<br />

Strides will be able to<br />

launch its product by<br />

mid-2016. TAF has demonstrated<br />

high antiviral efficacy<br />

at a dose 10 times lower than<br />

Gilead’s Viread (tenofovir<br />

disoproxil fumarate), as well<br />

as an improved renal and<br />

bone safety profile, the statement<br />

said.<br />

Different model for<br />

developing markets<br />

Gilead pursuing different<br />

model for developing markets<br />

Today’s announcement<br />

Varroc Engineering inks<br />

pact with Scorpion of U.K.<br />

Ramnath Subbu<br />

MUMBAI: Varroc Engineering,<br />

the flagship company of leading<br />

auto component manufacturer<br />

Varroc group, on<br />

Tuesday signed a technology<br />

licence agreement with U.K.-<br />

based Scorpion Automotive<br />

to exclusively design, manufacture<br />

and sell licensed security<br />

products to two-wheeler<br />

and four-wheeler vehicle<br />

manufacturers in India. The<br />

collaboration will introduce<br />

innovative products for the<br />

two-wheeler sector in India<br />

such as alarms, heated grips,<br />

throttle locks and the like.<br />

“We have a strong relationship<br />

with original equipment<br />

manufacturers (OEMs) in India<br />

and this partnership will<br />

help us enhance our already<br />

diverse product portfolio for<br />

them,’’ Varroc Group President<br />

(Technology and Strategy)<br />

Ravi Damodaran told The<br />

Hindu. “This is part of our<br />

electrical business growth<br />

plan, and the need for these<br />

products has not been adequately<br />

addressed here.’’<br />

“We are targeting two and<br />

three-wheelers, which have a<br />

market of around three million<br />

units in India, and can<br />

reach five million units in<br />

2020 by which time we want a<br />

25 per cent share,’’ he said.<br />

Its three business divisions<br />

of polymers, electrical and<br />

metallic contribute equally to<br />

the turnover. With revenues<br />

● The move is seen<br />

as a goodwill<br />

creation exercise by<br />

pharma units as<br />

MNCs have been<br />

viewed with<br />

scepticism in<br />

developing markets.<br />

follows last week’s rejection<br />

of Gilead’s patent application<br />

for its blockbuster drug sofosbuvir<br />

by the Indian patent office.<br />

Sofosbuvir is considered<br />

a breakthrough drug in the<br />

treatment of Hepatitis C and<br />

Gilead’s application covered<br />

the metabolites of sofosbuvir.<br />

The main patent application<br />

for the product is still pending<br />

and Gilead is to appeal<br />

against the decision.<br />

In September, 2014, Gilead<br />

signed agreements with seven<br />

Indian generic drug manufacturers<br />

licensing them to<br />

make sofosbuvir to supply it<br />

to 90 countries. Sofosbuvir is<br />

priced at $84,000 per patient<br />

in the U.S., and the effective<br />

price for generic version is<br />

of Rs.6,900 crore, about 90<br />

per cent of Varroc’s business<br />

is from two-wheelers, and it<br />

plans to bring this down to 75<br />

per cent by 2020 with the rest<br />

from passenger cars and commercial<br />

vehicles. Mr. Damodaran<br />

said the company was<br />

looking at possible acquisitions<br />

in Russia and Brazil.<br />

. “There are no immediate<br />

plans for an IPO or fund-raising.<br />

We re-invest around Rs.<br />

450 crore in the business annually,’’<br />

he said. Varroc invested<br />

Rs. 20 crore in a<br />

polymer products plant in<br />

Chennai, and expects revenues<br />

of Rs.100 crore in two<br />

years from the unit. It is setting<br />

up a similar Rs.25 crore<br />

unit in Gujarat.<br />

around $900 and a 10 per cent<br />

royalty.<br />

“Gilead’s chosen voluntary<br />

licensing model is refreshing,<br />

and will certainly earn it<br />

goodwill. It ensures protection<br />

of intellectual property<br />

(IP) and simultaneously ensures<br />

access to medicines,’’ D.<br />

G. Shah, Secretary-General,<br />

Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance<br />

(IPA), told The Hindu.<br />

“Today, its TAF licensing announcement<br />

is just an extension<br />

of its existing model for<br />

developing markets. ’’<br />

Other multinational pharmaceutical<br />

giants such as<br />

GSK opt for a price differentiated<br />

model for developing<br />

markets mainly for their older<br />

products, which Merck<br />

uses the discounted model,<br />

pricing its drugs at 75 per cent<br />

of U.S. prices.<br />

“Pharmaceutical multinational<br />

prefer Indian manufacturers<br />

over other generic<br />

manufacturing destinations<br />

like South Africa and Brazil<br />

because India is already supplying<br />

generics to 200 countries<br />

and has proven<br />

capability, cost-effectiveness<br />

and quality,’’ Mr. Shah said.<br />

West Bengal zeroes in on bidders for<br />

privatising five loss-making tea gardens<br />

Indrani Dutta<br />

KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee<br />

Government has finalised<br />

two industry groups for privatising<br />

five tea gardens owned<br />

by the West Bengal Tea Development<br />

Corporation Ltd.<br />

While the Ambootia group<br />

is set to gain control of three<br />

gardens in Darjeeling, Malnady<br />

Tea Private Ltd. is likely to<br />

be given two estates in<br />

Dooars in North Bengal.<br />

The entire process was<br />

monitored by KPMG, and the<br />

two groups have emerged as<br />

the highest financial bidders,<br />

two sources connected with<br />

the process told The Hindu.<br />

There were at least three other<br />

companies in the fray for<br />

these operational gardens.<br />

Yuthika Bhargava<br />

NEW DELHI: Marking its first acquisition<br />

in India, microblogging<br />

site Twitter, on Tuesday,<br />

announced the acquisition of<br />

Bengaluru-based mobile<br />

marketing start-up ZipDial.<br />

“India is one of the fastest<br />

growing countries for us, and<br />

this acquisition is an important<br />

signal to how serious we<br />

are about this market. Our<br />

number one objective in the<br />

country has been to grow our<br />

user base. This acquisition<br />

will dramatically increase our<br />

ability to drive this growth,”<br />

Twitter Market Director (India<br />

and Southeast Asia) Rishi<br />

Jaitly told The Hindu.<br />

It is learnt that the ailing<br />

gardens had defaulted on<br />

Rs.30 lakh gratuity payments<br />

as also rations and firewood<br />

allowances to their employees<br />

for six months. Other payments<br />

were also in arrears.<br />

Twitter acquires ZipDial<br />

Rishi Jaitly<br />

Services on offer<br />

ZipDial offers services such<br />

as missed calls for user verification,<br />

alerts and other use<br />

cases. While the deal size was<br />

not disclosed, according to reports,<br />

it is pegged at about<br />

$30 million.<br />

It employs about 50 people<br />

in India, all of whom will be<br />

now part of Twitter. This acquisition<br />

will also bring Twitter<br />

a new engineering office<br />

in Bengaluru.<br />

“We have an office in Bengaluru,<br />

which will become the<br />

base of Twitter’s research and<br />

● According to<br />

reports, the deal size<br />

is pegged at about<br />

$30 million.<br />

development in India,” Zip-<br />

Dial Valerie Wagoner, Founder<br />

and CEO, ZipDial said.<br />

On the acquisition, she<br />

added, “Indian users behave<br />

differently from those in the<br />

U.S. For example, an Indian<br />

user uses 60 MB of mobile<br />

data on an average, which is<br />

4.5 per cent of the data which<br />

a U.S. user using monthly...<br />

Our platform will help Twitter<br />

engage users offline and<br />

help bridge the gap between<br />

online and offline world.”<br />

After India, Mr. Jaitly said<br />

the platform would be applied<br />

to other emerging economies<br />

such as Indonesia and<br />

Brazil.<br />

Total workforce at the five estates<br />

is estimated at 4,211, and<br />

the government is believed to<br />

have put in a condition on<br />

employment-protection by<br />

the new owner. The tea estates<br />

are located on 1,069 hectares,<br />

of which 679 hectares<br />

are in Darjeeling. The government<br />

had invited bids in two<br />

packages, one for Darjeeling<br />

and another for Dooars in the<br />

Himalayan foothills last year.<br />

The government had announced<br />

its intent to sell<br />

these two gardens two years<br />

ago. Sources said that absence<br />

of critical inputs, on the one<br />

hand, and lack of marketing<br />

skills (especially in overseas<br />

markets), on the other, had<br />

spelt doom for these stateowned<br />

gardens, which were<br />

languishing for nearly a decade.<br />

“Although they produce<br />

quality teas even now, their<br />

productivity has dwindled to<br />

around seven lakh tonnes<br />

now from nine lakh tonnes in<br />

2006,” a source said.<br />

Staff Reporter<br />

Sensex vaults 523 points on<br />

hopes of fresh reform measures<br />

Special Correspondent<br />

Mahindra, Peugeot<br />

complete deal<br />

Special Correspondent<br />

CHENNAI: Mahindra Two<br />

Wheelers Ltd (MTWL) and<br />

Peugeot Motocycles (PMTC),<br />

part of the France-based Euro<br />

54 billion PSA Group, on<br />

Tuesday, announced that<br />

they had completed the necessary<br />

formalities for former’s<br />

acquisition of major<br />

stake in latter.<br />

MTWL has infused euro 15<br />

million into PMTC to finance<br />

projects implemented<br />

through the strategic partnership<br />

and has also bought<br />

shares held by PSA which<br />

would allow MTWL to take a<br />

51 per cent stake in PMTC.<br />

Now, new Board has been<br />

constituted for PMTC.<br />

“This partnership would<br />

enable both MTWL and<br />

Capgemini to increase<br />

headcount in India<br />

Aruna Jayanthi<br />

BENGALURU: French IT service<br />

company Capgemini is planning<br />

to strengthen its presence<br />

in India by adding<br />

another 20,000 people in two<br />

years. The company, which<br />

employs more than 50,000<br />

people, is planning to take the<br />

total employee strength to<br />

70,000 by the end of 2016.<br />

“India is the largest centre<br />

for us, and with the way we<br />

are growing here, our ambition<br />

is to take the total team<br />

strength to around 70,000 in<br />

2016. With the kind of growth<br />

and expansion in the country,<br />

we believe we will be able to<br />

achieve it,” said Capgemini<br />

India Chief Executive Officer<br />

Aruna Jayanthi.<br />

With a presence in nine locations<br />

across India, Bengaluru<br />

is the company’s largest<br />

centre in India. The company<br />

employs around 18,000 people<br />

across its four centres in<br />

the city.<br />

“The expansion of teams<br />

doesn’t mean it will happen in<br />

MUMBAI: The benchmark stock<br />

indices surged to record highs<br />

on Tuesday as the market<br />

participants expect that<br />

many more reform measureswould<br />

be unveiled by the Narendra<br />

Modi Government in<br />

the forthcoming Union<br />

Budget.<br />

The Bombay Stock Exchange<br />

(BSE) 30-share Sensitive<br />

Index (Sensex) moved up<br />

by 522.66 points or 1.85 per<br />

cent to close at 28784.67<br />

points. It touched a high of<br />

28829.29 intra-day.<br />

Among the broader indices,<br />

BSE-100 gained 1.42 per cent,<br />

BSE-200 was up by 1.29 per<br />

cent and BSE-500 surged 1.22<br />

per cent.<br />

The mid-cap stocks were<br />

up by 0.44 per cent and<br />

small-cap ones gained 0.41<br />

per cent.<br />

On the National Stock Exchange<br />

(NSE), a broader 50-<br />

share closed at 8695.60 with a<br />

gain of 144.90 points or 1.69<br />

per cent.<br />

“While some analysts expected<br />

that the RBI’s surprise<br />

25 basis points cut in policy<br />

rate last week was factored in<br />

completely, with some even<br />

theorising that a correction<br />

might be in place — the markets<br />

clearly felt otherwise,”<br />

said Raghu Kumar, Co-Founder,<br />

RKSV, a leading broking<br />

firm. Although all sectors —<br />

including banking, metals, oil<br />

& gas, FMCG, and Realty —<br />

registered gains by more than<br />

one per cent, metal stocks led<br />

the way with a gain of 3.03 per<br />

cent.<br />

According to Mr. Kumar,<br />

the BSE Metal Index, which<br />

makes up 10 of the biggest<br />

heavyweights within the sector,<br />

went up more than three<br />

per cent.<br />

“Metal stocks rallied with<br />

the news that China’s GDP<br />

came in better than expected.<br />

China, being India's largest<br />

metals consumer, posted a 7.3<br />

per cent GDP growth, beating<br />

analyst expectations.”<br />

“The repo rate cut, combined<br />

with an infusion of consumer<br />

and investor<br />

optimism, will make ways for<br />

the government to execute<br />

many of its intended reforms<br />

EU lifts ban on Indian mangoes<br />

Parvathi Menon<br />

LONDON: The seven-month<br />

ban on Indian mangoes,<br />

imposed last year by the<br />

European Union, has been<br />

lifted well in advance of the<br />

deadline set for the ban,<br />

which was originally till<br />

December 2015.<br />

This came after an audit by<br />

the EU last September<br />

showed “significant<br />

improvements in the<br />

phytosanitary export<br />

certification system,” says an<br />

EC release. Shipments of<br />

mangoes from India,<br />

including the premium<br />

Alphonso mangoes, had been<br />

stopped last year after<br />

inspections found some<br />

consignments infested with<br />

fruit flies.<br />

The proposal by the<br />

European Commission to lift<br />

the ban on mango imports<br />

received the endorsement of<br />

experts at a Member State<br />

meeting, the EU said.<br />

However, the ban has been<br />

lifted only on mangoes. Ban<br />

on taro, bitter gourd, snake<br />

gourd and eggplant remains<br />

in force.<br />

The mango import season<br />

begins in April and lasts till<br />

June. Following the ban last<br />

year, British-Indian members<br />

of Parliament led by Keith<br />

Vaz campaigned hard to get it<br />

lifted.<br />

“The EU ban was due to<br />

remain until December 2015<br />

but today’s [Tuesday’s] vote<br />

shows that the hard work of<br />

the Indian authorities has<br />

paid off,” Britain’s<br />

Environment Minister Lord<br />

de Mauley said in a<br />

statement.<br />

Small traders and<br />

importers of the fruit in the<br />

United Kingdom were hit last<br />

year. Welcoming the<br />

decision, Seema Malhotra,<br />

Labour MP, said, “We are<br />

delighted that the<br />

government and the EU have<br />

listened to us at last. Now<br />

everyone in Britain can enjoy<br />

delicious Indian mangoes<br />

once again.”<br />

Yuthika Bhargava<br />

reports from New Delhi:<br />

The EU accounts for more<br />

than 50 per cent of total<br />

exports of fruits and<br />

vegetables from India.<br />

PMTC to speed up their international<br />

expansion by<br />

driving synergies and leveraging<br />

respective strengths.<br />

It is our intention to work<br />

closely to enable a win-win<br />

for both partners,” said Dr<br />

Pawan Goenka, Executive Director,<br />

Mahindra & Mahindra<br />

Ltd in a statement.<br />

Peugeot Scooters, one of<br />

the oldest two wheeler<br />

brands in the world, offers a<br />

comprehensive range of<br />

scooters and mopeds, from<br />

50cc to 400cc.<br />

The acquisition is expected<br />

to establish Mahindras as a<br />

serious player in two wheelers.<br />

It intends to sell Mahindra<br />

brand of two wheelers to<br />

mass segment buyers, while<br />

Peugeot brand would cater to<br />

premium segment.<br />

Bengaluru alone. It will be<br />

across all our nine locations,’’<br />

she added.<br />

When asked about the attrition<br />

rate of the company,<br />

she said, “In the last eight<br />

months, the attrition number<br />

has spiked across the board.<br />

We want to bring our attrition<br />

numbers down. Our<br />

numbers is less than 20 per<br />

cent.”<br />

As part of the expansion<br />

plans, the company opened a<br />

new centre, spread across<br />

4.60 lakh sq. ft., in Whitefield<br />

near here. The new centre<br />

will offer services such as application<br />

development and<br />

management, BPO and consulting<br />

services to customers<br />

based in the U.S. and Europe.<br />

Capgemini said it would<br />

add 5,000 more people in its<br />

new facility.<br />

in the upcoming budget,” said<br />

Mr. Kumar.<br />

PTI reports<br />

Asian markets ended higher<br />

after China reported its<br />

economy had not slowed as<br />

far as many had feared. Key<br />

indices in China, Hong Kong,<br />

Japan, Singapore, South Korea<br />

and Taiwan finished higher<br />

by 0.80-2.07 per cent.<br />

“The IMF’s optimistic<br />

forecast on India’s expected<br />

growth rate till 2016 was another<br />

shot in the arm, as was<br />

the prediction that India’s<br />

growth rate may exceed China’s<br />

after a long time,” said<br />

Jayant Manglik, President,<br />

Retail Distribution, Religare<br />

Securities.<br />

Rupee gains further<br />

MUMBAI: The rupee on Tuesday<br />

gained further by two<br />

paise against the dollar at<br />

61.69 with banks and exporters<br />

selling the U.S. currency<br />

amid sustained capital inflows<br />

The rupee resumed<br />

lower at 61.82 a dollar as<br />

against Monday’s closing level<br />

of 61.71 at the inter-bank<br />

foreign exchange (Forex)<br />

market on initial dollar demand.<br />

The Indian currency<br />

however staged a comebackand<br />

finally ended the day’s<br />

trade at 61.69, showing a marginal<br />

gain of two paise from<br />

its previous close.<br />

The U.K. is the main<br />

destination, followed by the<br />

Netherlands, Germany and<br />

Belgium.<br />

Reacting to the decision,<br />

M. Rafeeque Ahmed,<br />

president of exporters body<br />

FIEO, complimented the<br />

Commerce Ministry for<br />

resolving the issue in record<br />

time. “The imposition of ban<br />

on mangoes did affect India’s<br />

exports of fresh fruits which<br />

declined from $ 307.38<br />

million in April-November<br />

2013 to $ 291.43 million in<br />

April-November 2014. Mango<br />

exports to EU suffered a<br />

major dent and went down<br />

from $ 8.9 million in 2013-14<br />

to $ 1.07 million in 2014-15<br />

[April-September period],”<br />

he said.<br />

SIB Q3 profit<br />

at Rs. 88 crore<br />

Special Correspondent<br />

South Indian Bank<br />

40<br />

35<br />

30<br />

25<br />

20<br />

15<br />

Rs.29.30<br />

Jan 20, 14 Jan 20, 15<br />

KOCHI: South Indian Bank declared<br />

a net profit of Rs. 87.93<br />

crore for the three months<br />

ended on December 31, 2014,<br />

against Rs. 141.31 crore in the<br />

same period in the previous<br />

year.<br />

The profit for the nine<br />

months ended December 31,<br />

2014, was Rs. 290.88 crore<br />

against Rs. 382.90 crore in<br />

the year-ago period.<br />

Total income grew in the<br />

quarter by 9.92 per cent to<br />

touch Rs. 1,467.13 crore<br />

against Rs.1,334.74 crore for<br />

the same period in 2013-14.<br />

Total income grew by 8.90<br />

per cent for the nine months<br />

ended December 31, 2014 at<br />

Rs. 4,338.92 crore against Rs.<br />

3,984.35 crore in the same period<br />

last year. Gross NPA<br />

stood at 1.80 per cent of gross<br />

advances and net NPA stood<br />

at 1.04 per cent of net advances.<br />

The capital adequacy ratio<br />

under Basel 3 guidelines stays<br />

at 11.38 per cent.<br />

Total business<br />

Total business of the bank<br />

rose to Rs. 85,457 crore as on<br />

December 31, 2014, registering<br />

growth of 9.04 per cent<br />

over the business last year.<br />

Deposits grew by 8.54 per<br />

cent year-on-year basis to<br />

touch Rs.48,459 crore, while<br />

current and savings account<br />

grew by 10.33 per cent to<br />

touch Rs. 10,424 crore.<br />

Total advances registered<br />

increase of 9.71 per cent to<br />

touch Rs. 36,998 crore<br />

against Rs.33,724 crore last<br />

year, the release said.<br />

ND-ND


BUSINESS<br />

NOIDA/DELHI<br />

16 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

SNIPPETS<br />

Renault recalls 646 units of Pulse, Scala<br />

NEW DELHI: French auto major Renault is recalling 646<br />

units of hatchback Pulse and mid-sized sedan Scala in<br />

India, manufactured between September, 2011, and July,<br />

2012, to fix faulty driver side air bags. “Renault is<br />

conducting a voluntary check on certain potentially<br />

affected Renault vehicles, 620 Pulse and 26 Scala,<br />

produced between September, 2011, and July, 2012,<br />

which may have a possibility of driver air bag problem<br />

that was reported to Renault by airbag supplier, Takata,”<br />

a company spokesperson said. No incidents associated<br />

with this issue have been reported in Renault vehicles so<br />

far, the spokesperson added. — PTI<br />

VECV launches Pro 6000 series heavy trucks<br />

CHENNAI: VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd (VECV) has<br />

launched its Eicher Pro 6000 series of heavy-duty (HD)<br />

trucks, developed and manufactured jointly by Volvo<br />

Group and Eicher. The new range includes 31-tonne and<br />

25-tonne haulage trucks and 25-tonne tipper. “Pro 6000<br />

Series is the next-generation HD trucks that offer bestin-<br />

class fuel efficiency, superior productivity, and a host<br />

of modern and intelligent features. The new series<br />

promises to deliver maximum profitability to the<br />

customers,” Vinod Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer,<br />

VECV, said in a statement. –– Special Correspondent<br />

Aurobindo, Actavis recall Gabapentin<br />

NEW DELHI: Aurobindo Pharma is recalling 24,816<br />

bottles of Gabapentin capsules used as anticonvulsant<br />

and analgesic following complaints of empty capsules<br />

in the U.S. market. According to notification by the<br />

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), the<br />

Indian firm’s arm Aurobindo Pharma USA Inc has<br />

initiated a Class II nation wide recall. Each bottle<br />

contains 100 capsules of 300 mg. The drug is<br />

manufactured by Aurobindo Pharma at its Mahabub<br />

Nagar facility in Andhra Pradesh. In another<br />

development, a total of 64,719 bottles of different<br />

strengths of the same capsule manufactured by<br />

Actavis Pharma Manufacturing Pvt. Ltd. at the<br />

Kanchipuram facility in Tamil Nadu were being<br />

recalled in Puerto Rico. The capsules were distributed<br />

by Actavis Elizabeth LLC. — PTI<br />

RCOM gets Rs.650 cr from promoter group co<br />

MUMBAI: Reliance Communications (RCOM) has received<br />

Rs.650 crore from promoter group company Telecom<br />

Infrastructure Finance Private Ltd (TIFPL), which<br />

exercised its right to subscribe to equity shares against<br />

8.67 crore warrants issued at Rs.150 per warrant in<br />

August last as part of RCOM’s qualified institutional<br />

placement (QIP) of Rs.6,100 crore in July last. The funds<br />

will be utilised for repayment of debt, the company said.<br />

— Special Correspondent<br />

NTT Com plans to buy<br />

unified licence<br />

To set up a wholly-owned subsidiary<br />

Lalatendu Mishra<br />

MUMBAI: NTT Communications<br />

Corporation (NTT<br />

Com) of Japan has announced<br />

plans to acquire a<br />

unified licence for national<br />

long-distance services (NLD)<br />

through its Indian subsidiary<br />

to provide domestic network<br />

services by the end of this<br />

year.<br />

For this purpose, the company<br />

has decided to set up a<br />

new company — NTT Communications<br />

India Network<br />

Services Private Ltd. — which<br />

will be established in May.<br />

Last year, group company<br />

NTT DOCOMO had decided<br />

to pull out of India by ending<br />

its joint venture with the Tata<br />

group. NTT Com is the ICT<br />

(Information, communication<br />

and technology) solutions<br />

and international<br />

communication business<br />

within the NTT group. After<br />

obtaining a unified licence,<br />

● Will steadily<br />

expand its ICT<br />

business<br />

infrastructure in<br />

India to help<br />

customers further<br />

grow their business.<br />

NTT Com plans to provide a<br />

range of network services<br />

sought by enterprises that are<br />

expanding in India. “Specific<br />

offerings will include secure,<br />

high-quality private network<br />

services such as IP-VPN connecting<br />

data centres or the<br />

cloud to the domestic sales or<br />

production bases of customers,”<br />

the company said.<br />

“By obtaining a unified licence,<br />

the NTT Com group<br />

will be permitted to offer total<br />

ICT solutions to enterprises<br />

in India,” it added.<br />

On Tuesday, NTT Com said<br />

its wholly-owned subsidiary<br />

NTT Communications India<br />

Private Ltd. (NTT Com India)<br />

will establish a branch office<br />

in Ahmedabad to offer ICT<br />

solutions starting June. The<br />

Gujarat branch office will be<br />

NTT Com India’s sixth office,<br />

followed by Gurgaon, Neemrana<br />

(Rajasthan), Mumbai,<br />

Chennai and Bengaluru.<br />

At present, NTT Com India<br />

is providing system integration<br />

services. Another NTT<br />

Com group company Netmagic<br />

Solutions Private Ltd.<br />

is offering data centre and<br />

cloud services with its eight<br />

data centres in India.<br />

NTT Com believes that renewed<br />

economic activity in<br />

India would create demand<br />

for high-quality ICT solutions<br />

from domestic and multinational<br />

companies. Going<br />

forward, NTT Com said it<br />

would steadily expand its ICT<br />

business infrastructure in India<br />

to help customers further<br />

grow their business.<br />

Installed solar capacity crosses 3 GW<br />

G. Balachandar<br />

CHENNAI: New capacity addition<br />

in the clean energy sector<br />

was up nine per cent<br />

during the first 9-month of<br />

this fiscal. The total installed<br />

capacity of solar power in the<br />

country crossed 3,000 MW<br />

during the 3rd quarter.<br />

Renewable energy sector<br />

added 2,104 MW of new capacity<br />

during first three quarters<br />

of this fiscal when<br />

compared with 1,922 MW a<br />

year-ago.<br />

This year’s new capacity<br />

target has been fixed at 3,770<br />

MW when compared with the<br />

previous year’s target of 4,325<br />

MW. So, the clean energy sector<br />

has achieved only 56 per<br />

cent of the capacity addition<br />

target during the 9-month period.<br />

Wind and solar segments<br />

contributed about<br />

1,333 MW (1,096 MW in a<br />

year-ago period) and 431<br />

MW, while small hydro power<br />

and bagasse cogeneration<br />

contributed 187 MW and 152<br />

MW respectively, according<br />

to Union Ministry of New and<br />

Renewable Energy (MNRE).<br />

As of December 31, 2014,<br />

India’s cumulative grid-interactive<br />

renewable energy installed<br />

capacity rose to 33,792<br />

MW, up from 29,989 MW on<br />

December 31, 2013.<br />

Wind sector accounted for<br />

66 per cent (22,465 MW).<br />

Small hydro power accounted<br />

for 3,991 MW, while solar was<br />

in third position with a capacity<br />

of 3,063 MW. Bagasse cogeneration<br />

and biomass<br />

contributed 2,800 MW and<br />

1,365 MW respectively.<br />

‘Leverage the young talent’<br />

Sanjay Vijayakumar<br />

Vijay Govindarajan<br />

CHENNAI: India will have only a<br />

couple of decades left to spur<br />

economic growth and pursue<br />

breakthrough innovation, according<br />

to Professor Vijay<br />

Govindarajan, who is regarded<br />

as one of the world’s leading<br />

experts on strategy and<br />

innovation.<br />

He feels time is just right<br />

for India and the U.S. to<br />

strengthen ties, with the former<br />

being the only country<br />

among BRIC (Brazil, Russia,<br />

India and China) nations to<br />

see improving economic prospects<br />

and the latter’s economy<br />

getting stronger.<br />

“I really believe India has<br />

only next couple of decades of<br />

time left. And, if we don’t do<br />

breakthrough innovation, we<br />

will be left far behind,” Mr.<br />

Govindarajan, The Earl C.<br />

Daum 1924 Professor of International<br />

Business at the<br />

Tuck School of Business,<br />

Dartmouth, U.S., said.<br />

“Why I say this is because<br />

the average age in India is<br />

about 25 years. In the next 30<br />

years, these 25 years will become<br />

55 years. So, you have<br />

got 30 years to leverage this<br />

young highly qualified, English-speaking<br />

youth with<br />

high aspirations. If you do not<br />

do that, the demographic dividend<br />

will become a demographic<br />

disaster. So that<br />

means we have got to find a<br />

way to kick-start this economy<br />

and make it really grow in<br />

the next 30 years,” he said.<br />

Breakthrough innovations<br />

could happen in areas such as<br />

healthcare delivery, energy,<br />

education and transportation,<br />

according to Mr.<br />

Govindarajan.<br />

Mr. Govindarajan, who has<br />

● Breakthrough<br />

innovations could<br />

happen in areas such<br />

as healthcare<br />

delivery, energy,<br />

education and<br />

transportation.<br />

worked for several years as<br />

the chief innovation consultant<br />

in GE and counts Boeing,<br />

Coca Cola as his marquee clients,<br />

also feels time is right<br />

for the U.S. and India to<br />

strengthen ties.<br />

“I was talking to a few CE-<br />

Os who have met Narendra<br />

Modi, when he visited the<br />

U.S. He was the first Prime<br />

Minister to spend more time<br />

talking to CEOs then talking<br />

to politicians. Something really<br />

struck me, they were all<br />

saying we feel lot more confident<br />

on India,” said Mr. Govindarajan.<br />

“That does not mean it is<br />

going to be easy. We still have<br />

lot of issues in terms of tax<br />

systems, regulatory policies<br />

and red tape. This needs to be<br />

cleaned up. But if you get<br />

someones trust and confidence,<br />

half the battle is won.”<br />

Sundaram MF launches value fund<br />

Special Correspondent<br />

CHENNAI: Sundaram Mutual<br />

Fund has come out with Sundaram<br />

Value Fund-Series II,<br />

a five year close-ended equity<br />

scheme.<br />

The scheme seeks capital<br />

appreciation by investing<br />

predominantly in equity and<br />

equity-related instruments of<br />

companies that are undervalued<br />

across the market capitalisation.<br />

The scheme aims to invest<br />

80-100 per cent of its corpus<br />

in equity and equity related<br />

securities.<br />

The new fund offer (NFO)<br />

is open till January 29.<br />

● The corpus will be<br />

invested in a<br />

well diversified<br />

portfolio of stocks<br />

Harsha Viji, Managing Director,<br />

Sundaram Mutual,<br />

said: “We believe there are<br />

opportunities to invest in all<br />

market conditions and Sundaram<br />

Mutual is known for<br />

unearthing these opportunities.<br />

“With our research based<br />

approach, we are ideally positioned<br />

to unearth stocks for<br />

our investors that are undervalued<br />

relative to either sectoral<br />

or intrinsic business<br />

value and can strongly benefit<br />

from the positive momentum<br />

in the equity markets.”<br />

According to Sunil Subramaniam,<br />

Deputy CEO, the<br />

fund would invest in a well<br />

diversified portfolio of stocks<br />

through fundamental analysis,<br />

where stock selection was<br />

characterised by an emphasis<br />

on value opportunity and less<br />

on earnings growth.<br />

Sundaram Mutual Fund, a<br />

major player in fund management<br />

with retail focus, had<br />

average assets under management<br />

and advice of about<br />

Rs.19,564 crore as on December<br />

31, 2014.<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

ND-ND


NOIDA/DELHI<br />

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

SPORT<br />

17<br />

My hard work<br />

paid off,<br />

says Finn<br />

BRISBANE: He scripted a memorable<br />

comeback on Tuesday<br />

snapping five wickets to set up<br />

England’s nine-wicket win over<br />

India in the cricket tri-series<br />

and pacer Steven Finn said he<br />

was happy to see that his hard<br />

work finally paid off.<br />

“It’s just nice to help England<br />

win a game of cricket. A<br />

lot has happened in the last 12<br />

months.<br />

“It was pretty much to a day<br />

where I went home from that<br />

tour of Australia. But that corner<br />

has been turned and I turned<br />

it a while ago,” said Finn in<br />

the post-match press<br />

conference.<br />

“All that stuff is in the past<br />

now and I am just looking forward.<br />

To take five wickets today<br />

was very pleasing after the<br />

work I have put in.<br />

“I always thought in my mind<br />

that it was possible to return to<br />

Australia and perform. To<br />

come here and be in the same<br />

hotels and get over those hurdles<br />

has been good fun and I am<br />

enjoying it,” added the lanky<br />

pacer.<br />

The 25-year-old Englishman<br />

said he was happy with the<br />

Gabba pitch that assisted him<br />

in taking five for 33 as India was<br />

bowled out for just 153 runs<br />

with James Anderson also taking<br />

four for 18.<br />

“The pitch bounced a lot especially<br />

from my end. And I<br />

could bowl a fullish (sic) length<br />

and it was coming at waist<br />

height which can be uncomfortable<br />

for anyone,” he said.<br />

“It was partly the way we<br />

bowled and partly the wicket.<br />

But we used that to our advantage<br />

and as a bowling unit<br />

we stuck to our guns really well<br />

and made the Indian batsmen<br />

come to us.<br />

“It is always tough to go out<br />

and defend a 150-run target.<br />

We have a couple guys who are<br />

in good touch and you know it’s<br />

always tough in that situation.<br />

Our seam bowlers bowled very<br />

well today and Moeen Ali also<br />

supported us well,” he added. —<br />

PTI<br />

Slow progress<br />

by Bengal<br />

KOLKATA: Bengal made slow<br />

progress, after opting to bat, on<br />

the opening day of the four-day<br />

quarterfinal of the Cooch Behar<br />

Trophy against Tamil Nadu at<br />

Kalyani on Tuesday.<br />

Bengal ended on 169 for two<br />

in 90 overs, with Kazi Junaid<br />

Saifi and Shubham Chatterjee<br />

unbeaten on 79 and 59 respectively.<br />

Delhi scores 194<br />

At New Delhi, half-centuries<br />

by Vishwas Malik (58 n.o.) and<br />

Sarthak Ranjan (54) helped<br />

Delhi score 194 in its first innings<br />

against Rajasthan.<br />

The scores: At Kolkata: Bengal<br />

169 for two in 90 overs (Kazi Junaid<br />

Saifi 79 batting, Shubham Chatterjee<br />

59 batting) vs Tamil Nadu.<br />

At Delhi: Delhi 194 in 57.3 overs<br />

(Vishwas Malik 58 n.o., Sarthak Ranjan<br />

54, S.K. Sharma four for 43, S.K.K.<br />

Ahamad three for 33) vs Rajasthan 23<br />

for no loss in eight overs (V.B. Kothari<br />

10 batting, A.V. Gautam 13 batting).<br />

At Meerut: Mumbai 19 for no loss in<br />

seven overs vs Uttar Pradesh.<br />

Finn, Anderson crush spineless India<br />

CRICKET/ Another loss puts India’s tri-series campaign in jeopardy<br />

BRISBANE: A spineless India suffered<br />

its second consecutive<br />

defeat as England crushed it by<br />

nine wickets with a bonus<br />

point, throwing its cricket triseries<br />

campaign in jeopardy<br />

here on Tuesday.<br />

Electing to bat, India was<br />

bundled out for 153 in 39.3<br />

overs with the top-five batsmen<br />

returning to the dressing room<br />

with just 67 runs on board by<br />

the 19th over on a lively Gabba<br />

track.<br />

Steven Finn (five for 33) and<br />

pace colleague James Anderson<br />

(four for 18) exploited the<br />

pacer-friendly deck to the hilt<br />

by extracting extra bounce as<br />

the Indians, barring Stuart Binny<br />

(44), struggled to come to<br />

terms.<br />

Binny was the lone Indian<br />

batsman to show some resilience<br />

on a day when the others<br />

got out due to poor shot selection.<br />

Opener Ajinkya Rahane (33),<br />

Virat Kohli (4), Ambati Rayudu<br />

(23) and Suresh Raina (1) were<br />

out playing poor shots, while<br />

Shikhar Dhawan (1) fell to a<br />

beauty from Anderson in the<br />

third over of the ndian innings.<br />

England chased down the<br />

target with more than 22 overs<br />

to spare and collected five<br />

points, including a bonus point,<br />

from the comprehensive win.<br />

Opener Ian Bell led the England<br />

run chase with a 91-ball<br />

unbeaten 88 while James Taylor<br />

also scored an unbeaten 56<br />

from 63 balls. The duo added<br />

131 in an unconquered second<br />

NELSON: Kane Williamson made<br />

a welcome return to the New<br />

Zealand side with an elegant<br />

century to set up a four-wicket<br />

victory over Sri Lanka in the<br />

fourth One-Day International<br />

on Tuesday.<br />

Backed by lusty hitting from<br />

Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi,<br />

New Zealand overtook Sri<br />

Lanka's 276 with 11 balls to<br />

spare and move 2-1 ahead in the<br />

seven-match series.<br />

In a tense finish New Zealand<br />

needed 47 off 36 balls when the<br />

24-year-old Williamson was removed<br />

for 103, his fifth ODI<br />

century.<br />

Anderson was run out for 47<br />

with New Zealand needing 32<br />

runs with 26 balls left.<br />

Up stepped Luke Ronchi to<br />

blast a rapid 32 including three<br />

sixes and Daniel Vettori hit a<br />

four as New Zealand finished<br />

with a flourish.<br />

After losing the early wickets<br />

of Brendon McCullum, Martin<br />

Guptill and Ross Taylor cheaply,<br />

an unflustered Williamson<br />

led the rescue mission, first in<br />

partnership with Grant Elliott<br />

and then with Anderson.<br />

He brought up his century<br />

with a steady accumulation of<br />

singles, only reaching the<br />

boundary seven times with six<br />

fours and a six.<br />

But having attained the milestone<br />

he was bowled by Thisara<br />

Perera and Anderson vacated<br />

the field soon after.<br />

McCullum, on whom New<br />

SUPERB SPELL: Steven Finn, who took five for 33, exploited the pacer-friendly deck to bowl India out<br />

cheaply. — PHOTO: REUTERS<br />

wicket stand as they negotiated<br />

the Indian bowlers without<br />

much difficulty on a pitch that<br />

seemed to have demons while<br />

the Indians were batting. Taylor<br />

hit the winning runs, a four,<br />

Williamson century guides NZ home<br />

ELEGANT KNOCK: Kane<br />

Williamson scored 103.<br />

— PHOTO: AFP<br />

TENNIS<br />

Unseeded Vanshika Sawhney stuns Pei Chen<br />

KOLKATA: Unseeded Vanshika<br />

Sawhney downed second seed<br />

Hsuan Pei Chen of Chinese Taipei<br />

6-2, 6-1 in the opening<br />

round of the girls’ singles in the<br />

ONGC-ITF Juniors (under-18)<br />

tennis tournament here at the<br />

DKS Complex on Tuesday.<br />

Important results (first round, all<br />

Sri Lanka: D. Karunaratne lbw b<br />

Southee 5, T. Dilshan c Guptill b Williamson<br />

44, K. Sangakkara c Guptill b<br />

Milne 76, M. Jayawardene c Ronchi b<br />

Anderson 94, A. Mathews c Ronchi b<br />

Milne 0, L. Thirimanne b McClenaghan<br />

19, T. Perera c McCullum b Southee<br />

5, J. Mendis c Vettori b Southee 12,<br />

N. Kulasekara (run out) 4, S. Senanayake<br />

(not out) 1, R. Herath c Williamson<br />

b McClenaghan 0; Extras<br />

(lb-2, w-14) 16; Total (in 49.3 overs):<br />

276.<br />

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-113, 3-180,<br />

4-180, 5-245, 6-253, 7-268, 8-270,<br />

9-273.<br />

New Zealand bowling: Southee<br />

10-1-59-3, Milne 7-0-28-2, McClenaghan<br />

9.3-0-58-2, Anderson 3-0-<br />

19-1, Elliott 3-0-19-0, Vettori 10-0-<br />

SCOREBOARD<br />

Zealand relys heavily to get off<br />

to a good start, failed to oblige<br />

this time with a gentle poke at a<br />

Nuwan Kulasekera delivery<br />

and was caught at mid on for<br />

just 11.<br />

Guptill failed to back up from<br />

his unbeaten 66 in the washed<br />

out third match in Auckland on<br />

Saturday as he was caught behind<br />

for 20 while Taylor went<br />

cheaply for eight as New Zealand<br />

slumped to 63-3 after 15<br />

overs.<br />

Elliott, who scored 44, was<br />

happy to accumulate singles in<br />

a patient 88-run stand with<br />

Williamson which ensured<br />

there were wickets in hand for<br />

the final run chase.<br />

Sangakkara,<br />

Jayawardene shine<br />

Sri Lanka’s innings was the<br />

product of finely constructed<br />

performances by their two elder<br />

statesmen Kumar Sangakkara<br />

and Mahela Jayawardene.<br />

Between them the 37-yearolds<br />

contributed all but 106 of<br />

Sri Lanka's 276 with Jayawardene<br />

scoring 94 off 82 deliveries<br />

and Sangakkara, who moved<br />

up to third on the list of top ODI<br />

run scorers, making 76 off 83.<br />

Sangakkara now has 13,490<br />

runs, 214 behind Australian<br />

Ricky Ponting on a list headed<br />

by Indian great Sachin Tendulkar<br />

who amassed 18,426 runs.<br />

Tillakaratne Dilshan, who<br />

made 44 in a 102-run stand<br />

with Sangakkara for the second<br />

wicket, was the only other Sri<br />

Lankan batsman to top 20 as<br />

the New Zealand bowlers<br />

carved up the lower order.<br />

In the space of 30 deliveries,<br />

six wickets fell for just 31 runs<br />

with the Sri Lankan innings<br />

folding three balls from the<br />

scheduled end.— AFP<br />

41-0, Williamson 7-0-50-1.<br />

New Zealand: M. Guptill c Sangakkara<br />

b Mathews 20, B. McCullum c<br />

Perera b Kulasekara 11, K. Williamson<br />

b Perera 103, R. Taylor c Sangakkara<br />

b Herath 8, G. Elliott c Thirimanne b<br />

Mendis 44, C. Anderson (run out) 47,<br />

L. Ronchi (not out) 32, D. Vettori (not<br />

out) 7; Extras (lb-1, w-7) 8; Total (for<br />

six wkts. in 48.1 overs): 280.<br />

Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-41, 3-63,<br />

4-151, 5-230, 6-245.<br />

Sri Lanka bowling: Kulasekara 9-<br />

0-51-1, Mathews 4-1-16-1, Herath 9-<br />

1-39-1, Perera 8-0-58-1, Senanayake<br />

9.1-0-57-0, Mendis 7-0-40-1, Dilshan<br />

2-0-18-0.<br />

Toss: Sri Lanka<br />

Man-of-the-Match: Kane<br />

Williamson<br />

BADMINTON<br />

Sindhu optimistic; Kashyap hopes to come good at home<br />

Uthra Ganesan<br />

LUCKNOW: When Saina Nehwal<br />

and P.V. Sindhu faced off in the<br />

Syed Modi International India<br />

Masters tournament here last<br />

year, they were only three<br />

ranks apart. The senior pro was<br />

under pressure to protect her<br />

No. 1 status in Indian badminton,<br />

staving off a fighting Sindhu<br />

in the final.<br />

A year on, Saina has consolidated<br />

her position at the top<br />

with three titles through 2014<br />

while Sindhu is out of the top 10<br />

despite a string of decent performances.<br />

A series of second and third<br />

place finishes mean Sindhu, despite<br />

a historic second World<br />

Championship bronze, has<br />

slipped to 11th in the world.<br />

Coming off a semifinal defeat<br />

at the Malaysia Masters, Sindhu<br />

is hopeful of going one step<br />

better in 2015 as the main draw<br />

begins on Tuesday.<br />

Sindhu begins her campaign<br />

against qualifier Ekta Kalia in<br />

the first round but her real<br />

challenge will begin in the third<br />

Indians unless specified): Boys:<br />

Aryan Goveas bt Cagatay Sami Soke<br />

(Tur) 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3; Yun Ruei Wen<br />

(Tpe) bt Anirudh Chandrasekhar 6-4,<br />

7-5; Siddhant Banthia bt Adil Kalyanpur<br />

6-1, 6-0; B.R. Nikshep bt Eric Junior<br />

Olivarez (Phi) 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-3;<br />

Ishaque Eqbal bt Tejas Shevde 6-3,<br />

2-6, 6-2; Yugal Bansal bt Christian<br />

round, when she is likely to face<br />

Thai sixth seed Porntip<br />

Buranaprasertuk.<br />

Saina will be up against Yin<br />

Fun Lim of Singapore and is<br />

likely to face Spanish fifth seed<br />

Beatriz Corrales in the third<br />

round.<br />

If everything falls in place,<br />

the two may well run into each<br />

other in the title clash once<br />

again.<br />

On the men’s side, K. Srikanth<br />

had an exceptional run in<br />

the second half of last year but<br />

that won’t make it any easier<br />

FIGHTING BACK: Jayan James and K. Vikranth came<br />

back after losing the first game to defeat Love<br />

Kumar and Varun Sharma in the qualifying event<br />

on Tuesday. — PHOTO RAJEEV BHATT<br />

Cummings 6-1, 6-0; Dhruv Sunish bt<br />

Breno Souza Plentz (Bra) 7-5, 6-2;<br />

P.V. Gnana Bhasker bt Paras Dahiya<br />

4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Cing Yang Meng (Tpe) bt<br />

Nitin Kumar Sinha 6-2, 1-6, 6-4; Kaya<br />

Gore (Tur) bt Parth Aggarwal 6-3, 6-2;<br />

Cheng Cheih Wang (Tpe) bt Mridul<br />

Kharkwal 7-6(5),6-4; Udayan Bhakar<br />

bt Sumit Pal Singh 6-4, 6-3; Alex Solanki<br />

bt Shrey Gupta 7-6(4), 6-4.<br />

Girls: Karman Kaur Thandi bt Huai<br />

Shu Chen (Tpe) 6-2, 6-1; Qianhui<br />

Tang (Chn) bt Shivani Manjanna 6-1,<br />

6-0; Mahak Jain bt Jaipet Anontaweesil<br />

(Tha) 6-4, 6-0; R. Janse van Rensburg<br />

(RSA) bt Snehal Mane 6-3, 6-4.<br />

Yubrani Banerjee bt Nina van Oost<br />

(Bel) 6-1, 6-2; Yu Pei Lee (Tpe) bt<br />

for him here with compatriots<br />

H.S. Prannoy, R.M.V. Gurusaidutt<br />

and fifth seed Singaporean<br />

Wei Feng Chong in his half of<br />

the draw.<br />

Commonwealth Games gold<br />

medallist P. Kashyap, who had<br />

an early exit at the Malaysia<br />

Masters, is also looking forward<br />

to come good at home.<br />

“I always do well at home and<br />

I like playing here. Malaysia<br />

was because of bad form and I<br />

committed errors but other<br />

than that, I have had a very consistent<br />

season. I have won this<br />

tournament before and I am<br />

looking forward to winning it<br />

again,” Kashyap said.<br />

With late pullouts in the<br />

main draws of both the men’s<br />

and women’s section, the qualifying<br />

rounds on Tuesday were<br />

a largely Indian affair restricted<br />

to a handful of games.<br />

UP Academy trainee and<br />

sub-junior Asian silver medalist<br />

Riya Muherjee didn't break<br />

sweat for her 21-9, 21-6 win<br />

over Seema Panchal.<br />

Talar Laa and Himanshu Saroha<br />

were taken the distance<br />

Kwan Yau NG (HKG) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4; Ye<br />

Xin Ma (Chn) bt Jennifer Luikham 3-6,<br />

6-0, 6-4; Fang Hsien Wu (Tpe) bt Adrija<br />

Biswas 6-2, 6-1.<br />

Zeel Desai bt Inci Ogut (Tur) 6-0,<br />

6-3; Nidhi Suparapaneni bt Maia Bernadetta<br />

Balce (Phi) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Vanshika<br />

Sawhney bt Hsuan Pei Chen<br />

(Tpe) 6-2, 6-1.<br />

on their respective matches by<br />

Ansal Yadav and Ameya Oak<br />

but other than that, there was<br />

hardly any excitement on<br />

court.<br />

The results: Qualifiers (Indians<br />

unless stated):<br />

Men: Singles: Love Kumar bt Jaswinder<br />

Singh 21-11, 21-15; K. Vikranth<br />

bt Mohd. Rahad Kabir Khaled<br />

(Ban) 21-15, 21-18.<br />

Sidharth Jakhar bt Kirill Romanuk<br />

(Rus) 21-10, 21-5; Himanshu Saroha<br />

bt Ameya Oak 16-21, 22-20, 21-16;<br />

Talar Laa bt Ansal Yadav 21-17, 14-<br />

21, 21-19.<br />

Ankit Chhikara bt Mostafizar Rahman<br />

(Ban) 21-13, 21-9.<br />

Doubles: Jayan James & Vikranth<br />

Karukonda bt Love Kumar & Varun<br />

Sharma 18-21, 21-13, 21-18; Utkarsh<br />

Arora & Tanvir Gill bt Rajat Joon &<br />

Ravi Kumar 18-21, 21-10, 21-12; Saurav<br />

Kapoor & Deepak Khatri bt Pavan<br />

Malik & Aditya Nair 21-18, 21-17; Kapil<br />

Chaudhary & Chandrabhushan Tripathi<br />

bt Kabir Kanzarkar & Akshay<br />

Raut 21-14, 22-20.<br />

Women: Singles: Riya Mukherjee<br />

bt Seema Panchal 21-9, 21-6; Lalita<br />

Dahiya bt Vaddepally Pramada 21-14,<br />

21-19.<br />

as England reached 156 for one<br />

in 27.3 overs to wrap up the<br />

match. The other English opener,<br />

Moeen Ali (8), was dismissed<br />

cheaply off Binny, who<br />

opened the bowling for India<br />

NEW DELHI: “Winning the World<br />

Cup will not be easy for India.<br />

Reaching the quarterfinals<br />

shouldn’t be difficult, but<br />

thereafter, any team with three<br />

good games, and a bit of luck,<br />

should be able to win,” said Rahul<br />

Dravid at the inaugural<br />

Sports Lecture Beyond Boundaries<br />

at the India International<br />

Centre here on Tuesday.<br />

Before a large gathering, that<br />

included several cricketers and<br />

sports personalities, Dravid<br />

maintained that it was possible<br />

for India to retain the cup<br />

should game-changers like Virat<br />

Kohli and M.S. Dhoni get<br />

going in the knockout games.<br />

He mentioned Australia,<br />

South Africa, India and New<br />

Zealand as teams that “should<br />

be expected to do well this<br />

time”. Dravid sympathised<br />

with the bowlers, saying, “With<br />

the change in rules, it has become<br />

very difficult for the bowlers<br />

(to be consistently<br />

effective). I never had any sympathy<br />

for the bowlers (as a batsman),<br />

but now I feel for them.”<br />

Enthralling speech<br />

Earlier, Dravid enthralled<br />

‘Asian pro Tour<br />

top priority’<br />

KOLKATA: Capt. P.V.K. Mohan,<br />

the newly-elected president of<br />

the International Billiards and<br />

Snooker Federation, said one of<br />

his priorities was to start an<br />

Asian professional snooker Tour.<br />

The tour, he said, will help talented<br />

cueists in Asia as they finding<br />

it difficult to travel to UK to<br />

compete in the European and<br />

qualifying events.<br />

He said the Billiards and<br />

Snooker Federation of India was<br />

in the process of finalising a new<br />

event — Cue Masters League —<br />

which will test the skill and overall<br />

prowess of players in billiards,<br />

snooker and pool. IMG has been<br />

asked to work out a spectatorfriendly<br />

format.<br />

The league will be franchiseebased<br />

in the lines of IPL. Six city<br />

teams will be identified comprising<br />

marquee players from India<br />

as well as from overseas.<br />

Capt. Mohan said he was working<br />

hard to increase the membership<br />

of IBSF to 100 countries<br />

from the present 85. Countries in<br />

Africa, Eastern Europe and the<br />

Americas were being approached.<br />

He said he was committed<br />

to include the cue sport in<br />

Commonwealth, Asian and<br />

South Asian Games. — Special<br />

Correspondent<br />

during the first session as England<br />

batted before the break<br />

after India folded up early.<br />

Australia is on top of table<br />

with nine points from two<br />

matches while England has five<br />

from two games.<br />

India will now have to win<br />

both its remaining matches if it<br />

is to qualify for the final. — PTI<br />

SCOREBOARD<br />

India: A. Rahane c Taylor b Finn 33<br />

(40 b, 1x4, 1x6), S. Dhawan c Buttler b<br />

Anderson 1 (5b), A. Rayudu c Buttler b<br />

Finn 23 (53b, 2x4), V. Kohli c Buttler b<br />

Finn 4 (8b), S. Raina st Buttler b Ali 1<br />

(3b), M.S. Dhoni c Buttler b Finn 34<br />

(61b, 1x4), S. Binny c Morgan b Anderson<br />

44 (55b, 3x4, 2x6), A. Patel b<br />

Finn 0 (1b), B. Kumar b Anderson 5<br />

(5b), M. Shami c Ali b Anderson 1 (7b),<br />

U. Yadav (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (lb-3,<br />

w-3, nb-1) 7; Total (in 39.3 overs): 153.<br />

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Dhawan), 2-<br />

57 (Rahane), 3-64 (Kohli), 4-65 (Raina),<br />

5-67 (Rayudu), 6-137 (Dhoni), 7-<br />

137 (Axar), 8-143 (Bhuvneshwar), 9-<br />

153 (Binny).<br />

England bowling: Anderson 8.3-2-<br />

18-4, Woakes 7-0-35-0, Broad 7-0-<br />

33-0, Finn 8-0-33-5, Ali 9-0-31-1.<br />

England: I. Bell (not out) 88 (91b,<br />

8x4), M. Ali c Kohli b Binny 8 (12b,<br />

1x4), J. Taylor (not out) 56 (63b, 4x4);<br />

Extras (w-3, nb-1) 4; Total (for one wkt.<br />

in 27.3 overs): 156.<br />

Fall of wicket: 1-25 (Ali).<br />

India bowling: Binny 7-0-34-1,<br />

Bhuvneshwar 2-0-18-0, Umesh 6-0-<br />

42-0, Shami 4-0-23-0, Axar 7.3-0-<br />

32-0, Raina 1-0-7-0.<br />

Toss: India.<br />

Man-of-the-Match: Finn.<br />

Dravid on India’s<br />

World Cup chances<br />

Special Correspondent<br />

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The new<br />

State of Telangana will compete<br />

as a separate entity in the 35th<br />

National Games to be held in<br />

Kerala from Jan. 31 to Feb. 14.<br />

This was communicated<br />

through a letter to the National<br />

Games organising committee by<br />

IOA secretary general Rajeev<br />

Mehta on Friday. In his letter to<br />

the audience as he read out<br />

from a prepared text and struck<br />

a note of optimism, looking at<br />

the future of sports in the country.<br />

Drawing from the deeds of<br />

the country’s celebrated and<br />

lesser-known sportspersons in<br />

the face of challenges, he mentioned<br />

how the autobiography<br />

of Olympic gold medallist Abhinav<br />

Bindra encouraged him<br />

to give it his all after a slump in<br />

form late in his career.<br />

He mentioned the ‘Dhoni Effect’<br />

that had inspired sportspersons<br />

from small towns to<br />

make it big by chasing their aspirations.<br />

Answering a question on<br />

boxer Sarita Devi, Dravid said<br />

her disappointment after losing<br />

the bout (in the Asian<br />

Games semifinals at Incheon)<br />

was “understandable”, but her<br />

reaction on the podium was<br />

“not right”.<br />

Sharing the dais with Dravid<br />

was former secretary general of<br />

the Indian Olympic Association<br />

Randhir Singh, who seconded<br />

the cricketer’s views on<br />

steps needed to uplift Indian<br />

sports. He hailed the efforts of<br />

the Government and the Sports<br />

Authority of India, despite the<br />

various constraints they faced.<br />

NATIONAL GAMES<br />

Telangana to compete<br />

the NGOC CEO Jacob Punnoose,<br />

Mehta said the decision<br />

was based on the numerous representations<br />

received by the<br />

IOA ever since the bifurcation<br />

of Andhra Pradesh.<br />

“The interests and concerns<br />

of sportspersons from both<br />

States are paramount to the<br />

IOA, and as such it has been<br />

su ldo lku<br />

A mind game and a puzzle<br />

that you solve with<br />

reasoning and logic. Fill in<br />

the grid with digits in such<br />

a manner that every row,<br />

every column and every<br />

3x3 box accommodates<br />

the digits 1 to 9, without<br />

repeating any. The<br />

solution to yesterday’s<br />

puzzle is at right.<br />

I don’t think we<br />

batted well,<br />

says Dhoni<br />

BRISBANE: His decision to bat<br />

first backfired on Tuesday as<br />

India was dismissed for a paltry<br />

153 against England and skipper<br />

M.S. Dhoni put the blame<br />

on his batsmen for their ninewicket<br />

loss in their second ODI<br />

of the cricket tri-series here.<br />

“I don’t think we batted well,<br />

especially after choosing to<br />

bat,” said Dhoni after James<br />

Anderson and Steve Finn produced<br />

sensational seam bowling<br />

to set up the win for<br />

England at The Gabba.<br />

“The wicket was a bit twopaced<br />

to start off and our batsmen<br />

did not really play well.<br />

We needed to build partnerships,<br />

but that did not happen.<br />

“If a ball is there to hit, you<br />

should, but if it needs to be defended,<br />

you should watch out.<br />

By the time you need to accelerate,<br />

there aren’t any wickets<br />

left,” he said.<br />

Demanding tour<br />

India will be in Australia for a<br />

long time since the World Cup<br />

is also starting next month and<br />

Dhoni said the four and a half<br />

months away from home was<br />

very demanding.<br />

“We have to use whatever<br />

time is left before the World<br />

Cup in a useful manner. Staying<br />

four and a half months away<br />

from home is difficult, but we<br />

have to switch on and switch<br />

off.<br />

“We need to switch on and<br />

assess what needs to be done in<br />

the nets, or wait in the hotel if<br />

the need be,” he said.<br />

It was England’s first win after<br />

its loss to Australia in the<br />

tournament-opener and skipper<br />

Eoin Morgan said he was<br />

delighted at the outstanding<br />

performance of his team.<br />

“Outstanding. We really put<br />

a team performance, which I<br />

was delighted with,” said<br />

Morgan.<br />

“And there were individual<br />

performance. Steve Finn got<br />

that bounce and made most of<br />

it. Jimmy set the tone with an<br />

early breakthrough. If it<br />

swings, he tends to take<br />

advantage.<br />

“It adds a hell of a lot of<br />

weight to the side. Australia very<br />

strong side at the moment,<br />

we will continue to concentrate<br />

on what we do well,” he added.<br />

— PTI<br />

Romuald Boco is<br />

Bharat FC’s<br />

marquee player<br />

NEW DELHI: Bharat FC bolstered<br />

its squad for the 2014-15 I-<br />

League football season by signing<br />

Romuald Boco as the marquee<br />

player.<br />

The 29-year-old Boco joins<br />

Bharat FC from English League<br />

One side Chesterfield FC. Boco<br />

is a versatile midfielder but prefers<br />

to play in advanced positions,<br />

having been mostly<br />

deployed as an attacking midfielder<br />

through large parts of<br />

his career.<br />

Bharat FC will play its first<br />

ever I-League fixture against<br />

Dempo SC on January 24. —<br />

PTI<br />

decided that all qualifying<br />

teams of Andhra Pradesh and<br />

Telangana should take part separately<br />

in National Games.<br />

“In this regard, the IOA will<br />

constitute committees to handle<br />

the participation and entries<br />

of teams from both States,” the<br />

letter said. — Special<br />

Correspondent<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

ND-ND


SPORT<br />

NOIDA/DELHI<br />

18 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

TV LISTINGS<br />

Australian Open, Sony Six<br />

& Sony Six HD, 5.30 a.m.<br />

& 1.30 p.m. ; Ranji Trophy,<br />

Tamil Nadu vs Mumbai,<br />

STAR Sports2 & HD2, 9.20<br />

a.m.; South Africa vs West<br />

Indies, third ODI, TEN<br />

Cricket & TEN HD, 5 p.m.<br />

Bengal downs<br />

Karnataka<br />

by 13 runs<br />

KOLKATA: Host Bengal continued<br />

its winning run downing a<br />

strong Karnataka side by 13<br />

runs in a senior women’s T20<br />

plate group knock-out match<br />

here at the Eden Gardens on<br />

Tuesday.<br />

Bengal posted 101 after opting<br />

to bat and Karnataka could<br />

manage 88 runs losing nine<br />

wickets in reply.<br />

The scores:<br />

Bengal 101 in 20 overs (Dipali<br />

Shaw 29, K. Rakshita three for 14,<br />

Rajeshwari three for 20) bt Karnataka<br />

88 for nine in 20 overs (V. Karuna Jain<br />

36, Gayatri Mal three for 13).<br />

Assam 62 in 19.4 overs (Shikha<br />

Pandey three for 14) lost to Goa 63 for<br />

six in 19.1 overs (Shikha Pandey 26).<br />

Lalu wins title<br />

YAMUNA NAGAR: Lalu Taku<br />

staved off a strong challenge<br />

from Deepak Lather to claim<br />

the boys' 62kg title in the National<br />

junior weightlifting<br />

championship here on Tuesday.<br />

Lather set a new snatch record<br />

by lifting 117kg and taking<br />

a lead of seven kg.<br />

However, Lalu fought back to<br />

a hoist 142kg in clean and jerk<br />

and beat Lather by an overall<br />

margin of one kg.<br />

The results:<br />

Boys: 56kg: 1. Jamjang Deru<br />

snatch 100kg, clean and jerk 137kg,<br />

total 237kg; 2. M. Manoj Kumar 97kg,<br />

128kg, 225kg; 3. Aruna Santa 96kg,<br />

127kg, 223kg.<br />

62kg: 1. Lalu Taku 110kg, 142kg,<br />

252kg; 2. Deepak Lather 117kg,<br />

134kg, 251kg; 3. T. Sudheer 109kg,<br />

136kg, 245kg.<br />

Girls: 48kg: 1. Poonam Dalal 71kg,<br />

84kg, 155kg; 2. Dipali Gursale 68kg,<br />

80kg, 148kg; 3. Reema Devi 63kg,<br />

84kg, 147kg.<br />

Shrivastava<br />

slams 124<br />

KOLKATA: Sanket Shrivastava<br />

slammed an unbeaten 124 to<br />

help Madhya Pradesh take a<br />

massive first innings lead<br />

against Maharashtra on the<br />

second day of the semifinals of<br />

the Vijay Merchant Trophy at<br />

Cuttack.<br />

75-run lead for Punjab<br />

Punjab took a 75-run first innings<br />

lead against Bengal in the<br />

other semifinal.<br />

The scores:<br />

Maharashtra 155 & one for no loss<br />

vs Madhya Pradesh 303 in 107.2<br />

overs (Sanket Shrivastava 124 n.o.;<br />

Soumitra Joshi four for 42, Shubham<br />

Harpale three for 121).<br />

Bengal 102 & 149 for two in 58<br />

overs (Sudip Gharami 71 batting, A.<br />

Chauhan 33 batting) vs Punjab 177 in<br />

71.1 overs (Shubman Gill 109; Roshan<br />

Singh three for 39, Souvik Paul four<br />

for 42).<br />

RANJI<br />

SCHEDULE<br />

Group A<br />

Railways vs Jammu and<br />

Kashmir: New Delhi<br />

Karnataka vs Baroda:<br />

Mysuru<br />

Tamil Nadu vs Mumbai:<br />

Chennai<br />

Uttar Pradesh vs Bengal:<br />

Ghaziabad<br />

Group B<br />

Gujarat vs Vidarbha: Surat<br />

Maharashtra vs Delhi: Pune<br />

Odisha vs Rajasthan:<br />

Balangir<br />

Saurashtra vs Haryana:<br />

Rajkot<br />

Group C<br />

Goa vs Assam: Porvorim<br />

Himachal Pradesh vs<br />

Andhra: Dharamsala<br />

Jharkhand vs Hyderabad:<br />

Ranchi<br />

Tripura vs Kerala: Agartala<br />

ENGAGEMENTS<br />

At New Delhi<br />

Cricket: Ranji Trophy, Railways vs<br />

Jammu & Kashmir, Karnail Singh<br />

Stadium, 9.30 a.m.<br />

At Ghaziabad<br />

Ranji Trophy, Uttar Pradesh vs<br />

Bengal, Mohan Meakin ground, 9.30<br />

a.m.<br />

DEATH<br />

D. BALASUBRAMANIAN (76), Retired<br />

Deputy Personnel Officer, The Hindu,<br />

Chennai, passed away on 20.01.<br />

2015. Address: Plot No.46, Mohanapuri,<br />

4th Street, Adambakkam,<br />

Chennai − 600 088 Phone: 044−<br />

22532090.<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic led<br />

a trail of the top men’s seeds<br />

into the second round at the<br />

Australian Open on a Tuesday<br />

that saw Stan Wawrinka make a<br />

successful return to the venue<br />

that witnessed his life-changing<br />

moment.<br />

World No.1 Djokovic beat<br />

World No.116 Aljaz Bedene 6-3,<br />

6-2, 6-4 as he begun his quest<br />

for a fifth title at Melbourne<br />

Park.<br />

Djokovic has been dogged by<br />

illness in the lead-up to the<br />

year’s first major tournament.<br />

But after encountering early<br />

problems from Bedene he went<br />

on to secure passage into the<br />

next round. “It’s fading away. It<br />

hasn’t been an ideal couple of<br />

weeks in terms of health and<br />

preparation,” Djokovic said.<br />

“But I fought my way through.<br />

Now it’s behind me. I’m only<br />

looking forward.”<br />

Djokovic broke Bedene four<br />

times and only had three breakpoints<br />

against his serve in the<br />

match.<br />

“For a first<br />

round performance<br />

it was pretty good, obviously<br />

I still need to work on a<br />

few things, I’m still developing<br />

my game,” Djokovic said.<br />

Wawrinka returned to Rod<br />

Laver Arena to begin his title<br />

defence. The Swiss fourth seed,<br />

who upset Rafael Nadal in the<br />

2014 final, waltzed past Turkey’s<br />

Marsel Ilhan 6-1, 6-4, 6-2<br />

to safely negotiate the first<br />

hurdle.<br />

“It was great to be back on<br />

Rod Laver Arena again, it<br />

brings back so many memories<br />

from last year,” Wawrinka said.<br />

“It was such an amazing two<br />

weeks so it was great to come<br />

back here and I am pleased with<br />

my game in general and I'm excited<br />

to start again.”<br />

Nishikori began with a hardfought<br />

opener against Spaniard<br />

Nicolas Almagro, winning a<br />

two-hour dogfight 6-4, 7-6(1),<br />

6-2 on Margaret Court Arena.<br />

“I'm getting close to the next<br />

level. Obviously, it was a really<br />

tough first match,” he said. “Nicolas<br />

could be seeded player,<br />

Djokovic and Wawrinka begin smoothly<br />

Serena sails; former No.1s Wozniacki and Azarenka set up an intriguing second-round clash<br />

AUSTRALIAN OPEN<br />

and I know he was injured, but I<br />

was getting more balls, especially<br />

third set, and I played a<br />

much better third set.”<br />

Other seeded winners included<br />

Milos Raonic, David<br />

Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez, Gilles<br />

Simon and John Isner.<br />

Lleyton Hewitt, playing in<br />

his 19th straight national open,<br />

also advanced beating China's<br />

Zhang Ze in four sets.<br />

On the women’s side, Serena<br />

Williams showed she was back<br />

to her Grand Slam best, and former<br />

World No.1s Caroline<br />

Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka<br />

set up an enticing second-round<br />

clash.<br />

Serena swept into the second<br />

round demolishing Alison van<br />

Uytvanck of Belgium 6-0, 6-4.<br />

Petra Kvitova, seeded four,<br />

Agnieszka Radwanska (6),<br />

Wozniacki (8), last year’s finalist<br />

Dominika Cibulkova (11),<br />

and Venus Williams (18) were<br />

among the other seeds to<br />

advance.<br />

The upsets of<br />

the day involved<br />

Jelena<br />

Jankovic (15), Andrea Petkovic<br />

(13) and Flavia Pennetta (12).<br />

Wozniacki, who downed US<br />

teenager Taylor Townsend 7-6<br />

(1), 6-2, said she and Azarenka<br />

were good friends on tour although<br />

the Belarussian was<br />

more focused on beating her<br />

rival.<br />

“I know she’s very dangerous<br />

and we always had some tough<br />

matches. I’d like to just focus<br />

on myself and what I can do to<br />

build my game and prepare,”<br />

said Azarenka, who defeated<br />

America’s Sloane Stephens 6-3,<br />

6-2.<br />

Radwanska cruised past Kurumi<br />

Nara 6-3, 6-0 and Venus<br />

Williams dispatched Spain’s<br />

Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor 6-2,<br />

6-2.<br />

“I love the game, I love the<br />

thrill, I love the ‘Go Venus’,”<br />

said Venus Williams.<br />

“It takes a lot of work to get<br />

to this level, so while I can play<br />

I’m going to play, when I can’t,<br />

I’m going to watch it on TV.” —<br />

AFP<br />

LONDON: International Cricket<br />

Council chief executive David<br />

Richardson said on Tuesday<br />

the global governing body<br />

would come down hard on<br />

players who ‘sledged’ or verbally<br />

abused their opponents<br />

at the upcoming World Cup.<br />

During the course of an extensive<br />

interview on the ICC<br />

website, former South Africa<br />

wicketkeeper Richardson also<br />

said officials were determined<br />

to continue their campaign<br />

against illegal bowling actions<br />

and added he was confident<br />

the World Cup would not be<br />

blighted by match or<br />

spot-fixing.<br />

Several high-profile incidents<br />

in recent months have<br />

led former Australia captain<br />

Ian Chappell to say he fears it<br />

can only be a matter of time<br />

before things get so heated<br />

that a physical clash ensues.<br />

Meanwhile, New Zealand<br />

great Martin Crowe has called<br />

for the introduction of a yellow<br />

and red card system common<br />

to many other sports in a<br />

bid to punish poor on-field behaviour<br />

in cricket, which has<br />

traditionally prided itself on<br />

being a “gentlemen’s game”.<br />

Unusual step<br />

India’s ongoing tour of Australia<br />

has been marred by numerous<br />

verbal spats, with<br />

Cricket Australia chief executive<br />

James Sutherland taking<br />

the unusual step of publicly<br />

telling David Warner to “stop<br />

looking for trouble” after the<br />

opener’s latest flare-up saw<br />

FLASH AND SUBSTANCE: The ever-colourful Gael Monfils clawed his way back from two sets down to survive his opener against Lucas<br />

Pouille. — PHOTO: AFP<br />

First round: Men: 1-Novak Djokovic<br />

(Srb) bt Aljaz Bedene (Slo) 6-3, 6-2,<br />

6-4; 4-Stan Wawrinka (Sui) bt Marsel<br />

Ilhan (Tur) 6-1, 6-4, 6-2; 5-Kei Nishikori<br />

(Jpn) bt Nicolas Almagro (Esp) 6-4,<br />

7-6(1), 6-2; 8-Milos Raonic (Can) bt<br />

Illya Marchenko (Ukr) 7-6(3), 7-6(3),<br />

6-3; 9-David Ferrer (Esp) bt Thomaz<br />

Bellucci (Bra) 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-0, 6-3;<br />

12-Feliciano Lopez (Esp) bt Denis Kudla<br />

(USA) 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8;<br />

13-Roberto Bautista Agut (Esp) bt Dominic<br />

Thiem (Aut) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6(5);<br />

Alejandro Gonzalez (Col) bt 16-Fabio<br />

Fognini (Ita) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4; 17-Gael<br />

Monfils (Fra) bt Lucas Pouille (Fra)<br />

him demand India’s Rohit<br />

Sharma “speak English” during<br />

a One-Day International<br />

in Melbourne on Sunday.<br />

Richardson said he was confident<br />

the existing system,<br />

whereby match referees oversee<br />

disciplinary punishments<br />

at major international fixtures,<br />

could cope with “disrespectful<br />

behaviour”.<br />

However, he insisted the<br />

ICC had been stressing to onfield<br />

umpires the need to stop<br />

such conduct at its source,<br />

with the World Cup in Australia<br />

and New Zealand now less<br />

6-7(3), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4; 18-Gilles<br />

Simon (Fra) bt Robin Haase (Ned) 6-1,<br />

6-3, 6-4; 19-John Isner (USA) bt Jimmy<br />

Wang (Tpe) 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4; Paolo<br />

Lorenzi (Ita) bt 21-Alexandr Dolgopolov<br />

(Ukr) 6-4, 6-3, 6-2; Benjamin Becker<br />

(Ger) bt 25-Julien Benneteau (Fra)<br />

7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4; Matthias Bachinger<br />

(Ger) bt 27-Pablo Cuevas (Uru) 7-6<br />

(1), 6-3, 6-1; 30-Santiago Giraldo (Col)<br />

bt Jan Hernych (Cze) 6-3, 6-2, 6-2;<br />

31-Fernando Verdasco (Esp) bt<br />

James Ward (Gbr) 2-6, 6-0, 7-6(6),<br />

6-3; Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Ze Zhang<br />

(Chn) 6-3, 1-6, 6-0, 6-4; Jerzy Janowicz<br />

(Pol) bt Hiroki Moriya (Jpn) 7-6(5),<br />

CRICKET<br />

ICC to crackdown on ‘sledgers’ at WC<br />

Over the last six months, or even going back<br />

further to the last Ashes series, there have<br />

been too many examples of player<br />

behaviour going too far and overstepping the<br />

boundaries of acceptability<br />

— DAVID RICHARDSON,<br />

ICC chief executive<br />

Weather might play<br />

spoilsport<br />

Principal Correspondent<br />

GHAZIABAD: With its undulating<br />

outfield and patchy grass, the<br />

Mohan Meakin cricket stadium<br />

seems markedly different from<br />

a regular First Class cricket<br />

venue. No stands for spectators<br />

and battered sightscreens only<br />

further the venue’s distance<br />

from cricket’s elite.<br />

Yet, the Ranji Trophy group<br />

A encounter between Uttar<br />

Pradesh and Bengal that begins<br />

here on Wednesday is by no<br />

means a landmark event. This<br />

was where the final of the 1977-<br />

78 season, when Karnataka<br />

reigned over UP, was played.<br />

For UP, and indeed Bengal, a<br />

group round elimination is a<br />

veritable threat now.<br />

After five group games, the<br />

host has won one match while<br />

the visiting side is still looking<br />

for its opening win. Compare<br />

this to last season when Bengal<br />

reached the semis while Uttar<br />

Pradesh lost to eventual champion<br />

Karnataka in the last<br />

eight. Since a draw helps neither<br />

side, the sight of a resultoriented<br />

trace must have come<br />

as a relief.<br />

However, Bengal skipper<br />

Laxmi Shukla has ruled out the<br />

possibility of playing an extra<br />

seamer. Despite a stiff calf,<br />

Shukla is expected to function<br />

as third medium pacer for the<br />

visitor. For UP, R.P. Singh has<br />

missed out on the squad after<br />

picking up an injury against Tamil<br />

Nadu in the previous round.<br />

However, it’s the host’s batting<br />

that has been the problem area<br />

for the team management.<br />

UP’s highest score this season<br />

is just 307, although it did<br />

declare at 299 for five against<br />

Jammu and Kashmir in another<br />

match. Only Tanmay Srivastava<br />

has scored a hundred in his<br />

side’s ongoing campaign, and<br />

even his tournament average is<br />

an uninspiring 36.44.<br />

Lying bottom of the table on<br />

seven points, UP trails Bengal<br />

by three.<br />

Considering there’s a distinct<br />

possibility of inclement weather<br />

in the coming days, it’s unlikely<br />

that enough play will be<br />

possible for either side to post a<br />

win.<br />

The squads (from):<br />

Uttar Pradesh: Piyush Chawla<br />

(captain), Praveen Kumar, Tanmay<br />

Srivastava, Parvinder Singh, Arish<br />

Alam, Mukul Dagar, Eklavya Dwivedi,<br />

Amit Mishra, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Ankit<br />

Rajpoot, Kuldeep Yadav, Akashdeep<br />

Nath, Umang Sharma, Himanshu Asnora<br />

and Israr Khan.<br />

Bengal: Laxmi Shukla (captain),<br />

Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha, Arindam<br />

Das, Sudip Chatterjee, Abhimanyu<br />

Easwaran, Shreevats Goswami,<br />

Saurasish Lahiri, Writtick Chatterjee,<br />

Veer Pratap Singh, Ashoke Dinda,<br />

Amitava Banerjee, Pritam Chakraborty,<br />

Iresh Saxena and Sourav Sarkar.<br />

PUNE: Pradeep Sangwan last<br />

played for Delhi, against Vidarbha<br />

at Nagpur, in the last<br />

week of December 2012.<br />

Banned for 18 months for a<br />

dope-offence in the IPL 2013,<br />

the BCCI informed him last<br />

November that he was eligible<br />

to play again.<br />

However, coach Vijay Dahiya<br />

put an end to all speculations of<br />

Sangwan being in the scheme of<br />

things against Maharashtra,<br />

which is placed third in the<br />

group and will look for a “big<br />

breakthrough match” in order<br />

to advance to the knock-out<br />

stage.<br />

Sangwan, who replaced the<br />

injured medium pace Navdeep<br />

Saini in the team for the Ranji<br />

trophy group ‘B’ league match<br />

against Maharashtra to start<br />

here on Wednesday, took part<br />

in group warm up sessions at<br />

the Gahunje village stadium,<br />

did upper-body drills with a<br />

medicine ball, bowled and batted,<br />

but Dahiya was categorical.<br />

“We have played five bowlers<br />

so far, and we will continue<br />

with this policy; but Pradeep<br />

(Sangwan) will not be in the<br />

eleven,” he said.<br />

Topping the table with 30<br />

points, Delhi’s good run so far<br />

has been due to the terrific<br />

work of its bowling unit comprising<br />

seamers Saini (16 wkts),<br />

than a month away.<br />

Players going too far<br />

“Over the last six months,<br />

or even going back further to<br />

the last Ashes series, there<br />

have been too many examples<br />

of player behaviour going too<br />

far and overstepping the<br />

boundaries of acceptability,”<br />

Richardson<br />

told<br />

icc-cricket.com.<br />

“The amount of sledging<br />

and disrespect shown by players<br />

to each other was bad.<br />

“Since then, we have done a<br />

lot of work with our umpires<br />

and match referees to ensure<br />

they are much more pro-active<br />

in terms of policing behaviour<br />

on the field and — when<br />

players do overstep the mark<br />

— taking appropriate action.”<br />

The past year has also seen<br />

a significant increase in the<br />

number of bowlers banned for<br />

suspect actions, with Pakistan<br />

off-spinner Saeed Ajmal the<br />

most high-profile case. — AFP<br />

Sumit Narwal (12), Parvinder<br />

Awana (10), Rajat Bhatia (8),<br />

off-spinner spinner Shivam<br />

Sharma (13) and left-arm spinner<br />

Varun Sood (19); the second<br />

left arm spinner Manan Sharma<br />

played one match and took<br />

eight wickets.<br />

“There is not a single Delhi<br />

bowler in the top 19 in the<br />

league’s bowling honours; we<br />

have taken 89 wickets and<br />

many bowlers have shared it.<br />

We have not been dependent<br />

on one or two,” said Dahiya.<br />

Maharashtra’s bowlers have<br />

as many as Delhi’s (89), but<br />

IMPORTANT RESULTS<br />

2-6, 6-3, 7-5; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez<br />

(Esp) bt Peter Gojowczyk (Ger) 6-7(1),<br />

7-5, 6-4, 1-0 retired; Marcel Granollers<br />

(Esp) bt Stephane Robert (Fra) 6-3,<br />

6-4, 6-4; Gilles Muller (Lux) bt Pablo<br />

Carreno Busta (Esp) 6-4, 7-6(5), 7-6<br />

(3); Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) bt Andrey<br />

Golubev (Kaz) 6-1, 6-2, 7-6(6); Sergiy<br />

Stakhovsky (Ukr) bt Dusan Lajovic<br />

(Srb) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4.<br />

Women: 1-Serena Williams (USA)<br />

bt Alison van Uytvanck (Bel) 6-0, 6-4;<br />

4-Petra Kvitova (Cze) bt Richel Hogenkamp<br />

(Ned) 6-1, 6-4; 6-Agnieszka<br />

Radwanska (Pol) bt Kurumi Nara<br />

(Jpn) 6-3, 6-0; 8-Caroline Wozniacki<br />

Delhi will look to build<br />

on its success<br />

Special Correspondent<br />

Sumit Narwal.<br />

— FILE PHOTO<br />

Rajput beats Zaveri<br />

CHANDIGARH: Local lad<br />

Shashikant Rajput bounced<br />

back strongly to beat the<br />

seventh-seeded Aaryan Mehul<br />

Zaveri of Gujarat 6-7(4), 6-4,<br />

6-3 in the boys’ second round<br />

of the HSBC Road to<br />

Wimbledon AITA National<br />

series under-14 tennis<br />

tournament on the grass<br />

courts of the Chandigarh Club<br />

here on Tuesday.<br />

The results (second round): Boys:<br />

Himanshu Mor bt Akash Reddy 6-0,<br />

6-0; Dev Javia bt Sammar Raina 6-3,<br />

3-6, 6-2; Bhupender Dahiya bt<br />

Kanishk Pal 4-6, 6-3, 7-5; Rithwik<br />

Choudary bt Sanskar Jeswani 6-2,<br />

6-1; Divesh Gahlot bt S. Boopathy<br />

2-6, 6-3, 6-4; Shashikant Rajput bt<br />

Aaryan Mehul Zaveri 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3;<br />

Kevin Patel bt Shubham Saini 6-0,<br />

6-1; Sandesh Kantimahanti bt<br />

Sundari Arvind 6-1, 6-3; Dhrumil<br />

Thakkar bt Tribhuvan Reddy 6-1, 7-5;<br />

Mann Shah bt Nishant Dabas 6-1,<br />

4-6, 6-4; Rhythm Malhotra bt Ajay<br />

Malik 6-2, 6-0; Sacchitt Sharrma bt<br />

Lanka Suhit Reddy 6-0, 6-1.<br />

Girls: Mubashira Anjum Shaik bt<br />

they have come at the cost of<br />

2,244 runs as against Delhi’s<br />

1,537.<br />

“The wicket here does not<br />

support the spinners, and it’s<br />

not flat; it offers bounce. We<br />

will not try and play safe,” said<br />

Maharashtra captain Rohit<br />

Motwani, knowing that the<br />

odds are stacked against his<br />

team.<br />

However, Sangwan will have<br />

to wait a while to add to his tally<br />

of 123 First Class wickets. His<br />

inclusion will now hinge on a<br />

range of circumstances the Delhi<br />

think-tank and captain Gautam<br />

Gambhir may act upon,<br />

from favourable pitch conditions<br />

to injury to other performing<br />

bowlers.<br />

Clearly Delhi does not want<br />

anything to get in the way of<br />

Saini’s return to the XI once he<br />

is declared fit.<br />

The teams (from): Maharashtra:<br />

Rohit Motwani (captain), Harshad<br />

Khadiwale, Shrikant Mundhe, Swapnil<br />

Gugale, Chirag Khurana, Kedar Jadhav,<br />

Rahul Tripathi, Ankit Bawne,<br />

Sangram Attitkar, Akshay Darekar,<br />

Dominic Muthuswamy, Anupam Sanklecha,<br />

Samad Fallah,Nikit Dhumal,<br />

Naushad Shaikh.<br />

Delhi: Gautam Gambhir (captain),<br />

Virender Sehwag, Unmukt Chand,<br />

Mithun Manhas, Varun Sood, Rajat<br />

Bhatia, Vaibhav Rawal, Puneet Bisht,<br />

Pradeep Sangwan, Parvinder Awana,<br />

Sumit Narwal, Shivam Sharma, Milind<br />

Kumar, Vikas Tokas, Manan Sharma.<br />

(Den) bt Taylor Townsend (USA) 7-6<br />

(1), 6-2; 11-Dominika Cibulkova (Svk)<br />

bt Kirsten Flipkens (Bel) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1;<br />

Camila Giorgi (Ita) bt 12-Flavia Pennetta<br />

(Ita) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Madison Brengle<br />

(USA) bt 13-Andrea Petkovic (Ger)<br />

5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3; Timea Bacsinszky<br />

(Sui) bt 15-Jelena Jankovic (Srb) 6-1,<br />

6-4; 18-Venus Williams (USA) bt Maria-Teresa<br />

Torro-Flor (Esp) 6-2, 6-2;<br />

19-Alize Cornet (Fra) bt Zhang Shuai<br />

(Chn) 6-3, 6-2; 20-Samantha Stosur<br />

(Aus) bt Monica Niculescu (Rou) 6-4,<br />

6-1; 24-Garbine Muguruza (Esp) bt<br />

Marina Erakovic (Nzl) 7-5, 6-0; 25-<br />

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Cze) bt<br />

REGIONAL ROUND-UP<br />

Kaavya Sawhney 6-2, 1-6, 6-3; Aesha<br />

Hiten Patel bt Alisha Menon 4-6, 6-3,<br />

7-5; Tanisha Kashyap bt Dharana<br />

Anand 6-2, 6-3; Kiran Kalkal w/o<br />

Shaikh Humera; Chetna Kumari bt<br />

Ashpreet Kaur Bajwa 6-1, 6-2; Richa<br />

Chougule bt Anu Verma 6-0, 6-4;<br />

Rashmikaa Shrivalli bt Diya Chauhan<br />

6-2, 6-0; Shreya Gulia bt Vanshika<br />

Choudhary 6-1, 6-0; Rachana Reddy<br />

bt Smriti Singh 6-4, 6-1; Sai Dedeepya<br />

bt Princy Panchal 6-3, 6-2; Muskan<br />

Gupta bt Shambhavi Tiwari 6-3, 6-1;<br />

Reetika Grewal bt Sanya Singh 6-2,<br />

7-6(3); Shivani Amineni bt Sandeepti<br />

Singh Rao 6-2, 6-3.<br />

St. Stephen’s<br />

retains title<br />

NEW DELHI: Defending<br />

champion St. Stephen’s College<br />

beat Hansraj College 3-0 to<br />

retain the crown in the Delhi<br />

University inter-collegiate<br />

squash tournament. This was<br />

St. Stephen's sixth successive<br />

title.<br />

The result (final): St. Stephen’s<br />

College 3 (Kunj Bansal bt Arjun<br />

Minocha 3-1, Anshul Jain bt Harshit<br />

Muchhal 3-1, Utkarsh Kumar bt<br />

Abhishek Kumar 3-1) bt Hansraj<br />

NEW DELHI: Railways and Jammu<br />

& Kashmir are praying to<br />

beat the rain forecast in the<br />

next two days and have a fulllength<br />

Ranji Trophy Group A<br />

match, starting at the Karnail<br />

Singh Stadium here from<br />

Wednesday.<br />

Seven teams are placed within<br />

seven points between second<br />

and eighth spots. With the<br />

league stage entering the decisive<br />

phase, Railways and Jammu<br />

& Kashmir, which managed<br />

a point each from their last engagements,<br />

are desperate to<br />

break the mid-table logjam.<br />

Jammu & Kashmir, which<br />

impressed in its win over multiple<br />

champion Mumbai and<br />

first-innings lead against Baroda,<br />

is fifth with 11 points from<br />

six matches. Railways, which<br />

drew four of its five matches to<br />

be slotted at seventh with 10<br />

points, is not far behind.<br />

According to Jammu &<br />

Kashmir skipper and prominent<br />

all-rounder Pervez Rasool<br />

his team was not a pushover<br />

anymore with the season’s<br />

fourth best run-getter Ian Dev<br />

Singh, Adil Reshi, Rasool and<br />

Bandeep Singh providing depth<br />

to the batting line-up.<br />

Seamer Ram Dayal, with 20<br />

wickets from five matches, is a<br />

potent weapon in the Jammu &<br />

Kashmir attack. Besides, a battery<br />

of faster bowlers — such as<br />

Samiullah Beigh, Umar Nazir<br />

and Mohammed Mudhasir —<br />

and some effective spinners —<br />

Timea Babos (Hun) 6-4, 6-4; 26-Elina<br />

Svitolina (Ukr) bt Yulia Putintseva<br />

(Kaz) 6-3, 7-5; 29-Casey Dellacqua<br />

(Aus) bt Yvonne Meusburger (Aut)<br />

6-4, 6-0; 30-Varvara Lepchenko<br />

(USA) bt Vitalia Diatchenko (Rus) 6-3,<br />

6-3; Vera Zvonareva (Rus) bt Ons<br />

Jabeur (Tun) 6-2, 6-3; Anna Tatishvili<br />

(USA) bt Kimiko Date-Krumm (Jpn)<br />

7-5, 6-4; Kai-Chen Chang (Tpe) bt<br />

Zheng Jie (Chn) 6-1, 6-2; Daniela<br />

Hantuchova (Svk) bt Zheng Saisai<br />

(Chn) 6-4, 6-4; Victoria Azarenka (Brs)<br />

bt Sloane Stephens (USA) 6-3, 6-2;<br />

Coco Vandeweghe (USA) bt Francesca<br />

Schiavone (Ita) 6-2, 6-2.<br />

Desperate for points<br />

Special Correspondent<br />

College 0.<br />

Punjab varsity<br />

triumphs<br />

MANGALURU: Punjab University,<br />

Patiala emerged overall<br />

champion of the 75th all-India<br />

inter-university athletics<br />

championship at Moodbidri<br />

near here on Tuesday.<br />

Mangalore University was<br />

runner-up.<br />

Fourteen records were rewritten<br />

during the meet.<br />

List of new record-holders: Men:<br />

Sreenith Mohan (Mangalore<br />

University, high jump); Vijay Singh<br />

Malik (Calicut University, 400m<br />

hurdles); Jadhav Sanjivini (Punjab<br />

University, 5000m & 10,000m); Lalith<br />

Mathur (University of Delhi, 400m);<br />

Wagh Suresh (Savithribai Phule<br />

University, 1500m); K.M. Rachana<br />

(Punjab University, hammer); M.<br />

Naresh (Hyderabad University,<br />

steeplechase); University of Kerala<br />

(4x100m relay, men).<br />

Women: Anilda Thomas (M.G.<br />

University, 400m); Navjeet Kaur<br />

(GNDU Amritsar, shot put); Khushbir<br />

Kaur (Punjab University, 5000m walk);<br />

M.G. University team (4x400m relay).<br />

including off-break bowler Rasool<br />

and left-arm spinner Waseem<br />

Raza — offer a lot of<br />

variety.<br />

Floods in Kashmir might<br />

have denied the team any home<br />

match, but coach Sunil Joshi<br />

felt that it was a blessing in disguise<br />

for the players as they now<br />

played away from their comfort<br />

zone and had gathered valuable<br />

experience.<br />

The team looked ready for<br />

the challenge of playing on a wet<br />

pitch with a thick cover of green<br />

grass.<br />

Railways has regained some<br />

strength after the return of allrounder<br />

Karn Sharma from the<br />

tour of Australia. On a track that<br />

holds some promise for the pacers,<br />

Karn’s inclusion will give<br />

the host the flexibility to add an<br />

additional seamer and press<br />

hard for an outright win.<br />

“We just hope to have a full<br />

match and go for the kill,” said<br />

Railways coach Harvinder<br />

Singh.<br />

The teams (from): Railways: Mahesh<br />

Rawat (capt., wk.), Arindam<br />

Ghosh, Anustup Majumdar, Nitin<br />

Bhille, Anureet Singh, Amit Paunikar,<br />

Arnab Nandi, Amit Mishra, Abhishek<br />

Kaushik, Ranjit Mali, Ashish Yadav,<br />

Karn Sharma, Krishna Kant Upadhyay,<br />

Rohan Bhosale, Prashant Awasthi.<br />

Jammu & Kashmir: Pervez Rasool<br />

(capt.), Ram Dayal (vice-capt.), Ian<br />

Dev Singh, Bandeep Singh, Shumbham<br />

Punir, Imran Haroon, Ubaid Haroon<br />

(wk.), Umar Nazir, Mohammaed<br />

Mudhasir, Mahzoor Ali, Aditya Pratap<br />

Singh, Paras Sharma, Waseem Raza,<br />

Vimansh Kaw, Rouf Bisati.<br />

ND-ND


NOIDA/DELHI<br />

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

19<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

ND-ND


VARIETY<br />

NOIDA/DELHI<br />

20 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015<br />

FAITH<br />

Message of the story<br />

Andal sang of the glory of Lord Narayana’s feet in His<br />

incarnations as Trivikrama, Rama and Krishna.<br />

Periazhvar who imagined himself to be Yasoda,<br />

nurturing baby Krishna, sang that as Krishna walked,<br />

His feet left impressions of the conch and discus,<br />

showing that He was the Supreme One. It is these<br />

celebrated feet that He put on the heads of everyone in<br />

all worlds when He took the Trivikrama avatara.<br />

Mahabali was the only one who bent his head before<br />

the Lord, and asked Him to place His foot on his head.<br />

But Mahabali’s request resulted in a blessing for<br />

everyone, said P.T. Seshadri, in a discourse.<br />

The Trivikrama avatara has some important<br />

messages for us. A disciple of Nanjeeyar, however, got<br />

it all wrong. After hearing the narration of the<br />

Trivikrama avatara, he said that the message of the<br />

story that he had picked up was that the good will<br />

perish! Mahabali was not a bad king. And yet he was<br />

banished to the netherworld. Sukracharya did the<br />

right thing by advising his king and warning him to<br />

beware of Vamana. But Sukracharya lost an eye! So<br />

those who do the right things suffer, concluded the<br />

disciple.<br />

Nanjeeyar then corrected him and pointed out the<br />

real message of the story. Mahabali had always paid<br />

heed to his guru — Sukracharya. But he did not obey<br />

him when Sukracharya warned him not to grant<br />

Vamana His wishes. So Mahabali had to pay for<br />

ignoring his guru’s advice. As for Sukracharya, there is<br />

a rule that one should not stop anyone from donating<br />

or giving to others. By trying to stop Mahabali from<br />

agreeing to Vamana’s request, Sukracharya was trying<br />

to stop Bali’s act of giving. So he had to pay for this,<br />

and lost an eye.<br />

FROM THE ARCHIVES<br />

(dated January 21, 1965)<br />

Rail track to<br />

Dhanushkodi<br />

Experts would go into<br />

the question of a new<br />

road communication or<br />

re-laying of the railway<br />

track to reach<br />

Dhanushkodi, which is<br />

now isolated, said the<br />

Union Railway Minister,<br />

Mr. S.K. Patil who was<br />

talking to newsmen at<br />

Mandapam after<br />

travelling up to<br />

Rameswaram Road on the<br />

Pamban-Dhanushkodi<br />

section on the repaired<br />

track.<br />

The Minister<br />

emphasised that some<br />

kind of communication<br />

with Dhanushkodi had to<br />

be re-established. Part of<br />

the shore at Dhanushkodi<br />

has been washed away<br />

and quite a large area of<br />

land had also<br />

permanently gone under<br />

water. Mr. Patil said the<br />

main task of<br />

reconstruction of the<br />

Pamban rail-bridge was<br />

going on and he expressed<br />

the hope that it would be<br />

completed before the end<br />

of June.<br />

THE HINDU CROSSWORD 11297<br />

Across<br />

1 Asian got mugged in this city<br />

(8)<br />

5 Fine home in silent<br />

neighbourhood (6)<br />

9 Happy about top protection<br />

given to first lady! (8)<br />

10 Web designer picked<br />

primarily into a team<br />

leading in research (6)<br />

12 I don't fume at others (9)<br />

13 Mountain place sounding like<br />

8 (5)<br />

14 Remains a girl that doesn't<br />

keep time (5)<br />

17 Magazine seller's recentlyacquired<br />

small place (9)<br />

19 Adding together and<br />

recapping (7,2)<br />

22 Scheme to avoid (5)<br />

23 Clearly admitted, orally (5)<br />

24 Understanding of war in a<br />

sense that is different (9)<br />

27 Team consumed by anger,<br />

upset with a drink (6)<br />

28 Dull edge of player's old hat<br />

(8)<br />

29 Spoil lawyer's dirty game (6)<br />

30 Freezing point begins here<br />

(4,4)<br />

Down<br />

1 Creases removed<br />

completely, basically after<br />

applying special powders<br />

(9)<br />

2 Cloth many Londoners wear<br />

(5)<br />

3 Supporter, one with a broad<br />

smile (1-4)<br />

CM<br />

YK<br />

Chinese active in<br />

Ceylon<br />

About 100 students<br />

staged a demonstration<br />

before the Chinese<br />

Embassy in Colombo on<br />

January 20. They carried<br />

placards which read<br />

“Hands off Ceylon” and<br />

“We do not want Red<br />

Chinese jugglery.” There<br />

were reports in the local<br />

Press during the last few<br />

days that the Chinese had<br />

bought large stocks of<br />

five-cent stamps causing<br />

their shortage in the<br />

country. The two local<br />

dailies reported that Mr.<br />

Dudley Senanayake,<br />

United National Party<br />

leader, was being<br />

followed in his electorate<br />

by the Chinese.<br />

Capitation fees<br />

The Education<br />

Minister, Mr. S.R. Kanthi,<br />

stated in the Mysore<br />

Legislative Assembly on<br />

January 20 that the Govt.<br />

was against the collection<br />

of capitation fees by<br />

private engineering<br />

colleges in the State.<br />

Answering questions<br />

from Mr. G.V. Gowd<br />

(Ind.) the Education<br />

Minister said that two<br />

Universities were not in<br />

favour of capitation fees.<br />

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8<br />

9 10<br />

12 13<br />

14 15 16 17 18<br />

19 20 21 22<br />

23 24 25 26<br />

-<br />

27 28<br />

29 30<br />

11<br />

Vulcan<br />

4 After the end of wedding,<br />

girl's family in a pickle (7)<br />

6 “Awed by setter”, reports<br />

editor (9)<br />

7 Uncover Nehru and<br />

daughter's top secret (9)<br />

8 Mysterious English lake (5)<br />

11 Design department coming up<br />

(4)<br />

15 Movement of my limbs so<br />

badly affected (9)<br />

16 Swim and in the end, fish, for<br />

long (9)<br />

18 In this German town, mostly<br />

doctors go around in black<br />

tie! (5,4)<br />

20 Indian godman without a bit<br />

of dignity or a hint of<br />

morality (4)<br />

21 Team's project extremely<br />

boring (7)<br />

23 Change seen in guys after a<br />

date (5)<br />

25 Bowler has no right to bend<br />

this (5)<br />

26 Oily thing resulting from fuel<br />

emission (5)<br />

Solution to puzzle 11296<br />

C H E S T N U T P S Y C H E<br />

O A E M A H L<br />

W A R D R O B E O F F I C E<br />

A L S R O E N P<br />

R H Y M E A U T O G R A P H<br />

D B G T U A<br />

N I B B L E O V A T I O N<br />

S R E R N T<br />

E N D E M I C E L D E S T<br />

T Y A X I L<br />

P E D A G O G U E R O D E O<br />

O O U Y C A E A<br />

I N U R E D T U R B O J E T<br />

N S S T B O H<br />

T R E A T Y R E L I A B L E<br />

Jaipur Literature Festival begins today<br />

Aarti Dhar<br />

JAIPUR: The eighth edition of<br />

the ZEE Jaipur Literature<br />

Festival, all set to open on<br />

Wednesday, will see a galaxy of<br />

literary and musical stars<br />

come together. The organisers<br />

expect over two lakh visitors<br />

during the event.<br />

To be inaugurated by Chief<br />

Minister Vasundhara Raje, the<br />

event is seen as an agenda-setter<br />

on key issues from the<br />

global economic crisis to the<br />

rise of e-books, the current<br />

state of politics in the Middle<br />

East to the increasing importance<br />

of Indian language publishing.<br />

This year the festival<br />

will look at gender equity in<br />

India in a series titled ‘Women<br />

Uninterrupted’, supported by<br />

U.N. Women to mark the 20th<br />

anniversary of the Beijing<br />

Conference on Gender, leading<br />

up to the world summit at<br />

the U.N. this September, as<br />

well as ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’<br />

that polarise society.<br />

There will also be sessions<br />

on the exile and identity of the<br />

indigenous people of Australia,<br />

the road ahead for the subcontinent<br />

as well as<br />

conversations on the contemporary<br />

status of Sanskrit and<br />

the dualistic rise of China and<br />

India.<br />

The festival will go beyond<br />

the four walls of Diggi Palace<br />

and hold over 300 events at 10<br />

venues, including the Music<br />

Stage at Clarks Amer, the Jaipur<br />

BookMark at Narain Niwas<br />

and two special sessions at<br />

Amer Fort and Hawa Mahal to<br />

Jaipur’s Diggi Palace is all set for the Jaipur Literature Festival.<br />

- PHOTO: ROHIT JAIN PARAS<br />

focus on heritage and culture,<br />

supported by Rajasthan<br />

Tourism.<br />

‘The Poetic Imagination’<br />

will be the theme of a keynote<br />

speech to be delivered by acclaimed<br />

writer and translator<br />

Arvind Krishna Mehrotra,<br />

Sahitya Akademi Award winner<br />

Ashok Vajpeyi and Pulitzer<br />

Prize winner Vijay Seshadri.<br />

Other highlights over the five<br />

days include the participation<br />

of Nobel Laureate V.S Naipaul,<br />

Man Booker Prize winner<br />

Eleanor Catton, renowned<br />

travel writer Paul Theroux,<br />

legends of the silver screen<br />

Waheeda Rehman, Naseeruddin<br />

Shah and Shabana Azmi as<br />

well as leading novelists Sarah<br />

Waters, Kamila Shamsie, Amit<br />

Chauduri and Eimer McBride.<br />

Three prizes<br />

This year the festival will see<br />

the announcement of three<br />

prizes, including the DSC<br />

Prize for South Asian Literature,<br />

the Ojas Art Award and<br />

Khushwant Singh Memorial<br />

Prize for Poetry. The festival is<br />

working with 42 corporate<br />

partners, educational institutions,<br />

government departments,<br />

trusts and foundations.<br />

It has booked 4,000 hotel<br />

nights to host over 300 speakers<br />

and over 140 musicians.<br />

According to Namita Gokhale,<br />

author and festival co-director,<br />

the event has<br />

Amazon to take JLF closer to book lovers<br />

Aarti Dhar<br />

JAIPUR: Amazon.in, India’s<br />

largest online store, has partnered<br />

with Jaipur Literature<br />

Festival (JLF) to bring the festival<br />

closer to book lovers<br />

across India.<br />

As official book partner of<br />

the JLF this year, it will create<br />

a special JLF Store on its marketplace.<br />

The store that goes<br />

live with the inauguration of<br />

the festival will be a one-stop<br />

destination for customers<br />

across India to access books of<br />

their favourite authors from<br />

the festival as well as purchase<br />

new releases such as Arise,<br />

Awake by Rashmi Bansal, Restart<br />

by Mihir Sharma, India<br />

Shastra by Shashi Tharoor and<br />

In Other Words by Javed<br />

Akhtar.<br />

“The festival has emerged<br />

as one of the biggest events in<br />

India which sees the confluence<br />

of readers and writers<br />

and the publishing industry,”<br />

according to Samir Kumar, Director<br />

Catefory Management,<br />

Amazon India. “Through the<br />

special JLF Store we are delighted<br />

to provide an opportunity<br />

to those who are not able<br />

to attend this event in person,<br />

to be part of it,” he said.<br />

At the event, Amazon.in will<br />

Indian novelist reaches finals of<br />

top American literary award<br />

NEW YORK: An India-born<br />

novelist has been named<br />

among the finalists for one<br />

of the most prestigious<br />

American literary awards for<br />

his work about the culture of<br />

computer programming and<br />

classical Indian aesthetics.<br />

Delhi-born Vikram<br />

Chandra, 53, is the finalist in<br />

the criticism category for his<br />

non-fiction work ‘Geek<br />

Sublime: The Beauty of<br />

Code, the Code of Beauty’<br />

for the National Book Critics<br />

Circle (NBCC) Awards.<br />

The non-fiction work<br />

about the culture of<br />

computer programming and<br />

classical Indian aesthetics<br />

was published in 2013 as<br />

‘Mirrored Mind: My Life in<br />

Letters and Code’ and in<br />

2014 as ‘Geek Sublime:<br />

Writing Fiction, Coding<br />

Software’. The book has<br />

been published in the U.S. as<br />

‘Geek Sublime: The Code of<br />

Beauty, the Beauty of Code.<br />

Mr. Chandra currently<br />

teaches creative writing at<br />

the University of California,<br />

according to the biography<br />

on his website.<br />

His other acclaimed works<br />

include ‘Red Earth and<br />

Pouring Rain’, published in<br />

1995, which won the<br />

Commonwealth Writers<br />

Prize for Best First Book<br />

and the David Higham Prize<br />

for Fiction. His novel<br />

‘Sacred Games’ published in<br />

2006 won the Hutch<br />

Crossword Award for<br />

English Fiction for 2006<br />

and a Salon Book Award for<br />

2007.<br />

It was a finalist for the<br />

National Book Critics Circle<br />

Award for Fiction and was<br />

included on numerous “Best<br />

of the Year lists, according<br />

to his website. Mr. Chandra<br />

also co-wrote the Bollywood<br />

film ‘Mission Kashmir’<br />

starring Sanjay Dutt,<br />

Hrithik Roshan, Preity<br />

Zinta, and Jackie Shroff.<br />

The awards will be<br />

presented on March 12.<br />

Legendary American<br />

novelist Toni Morrison, 83<br />

will receive the ‘Ivan<br />

Sandrof’ Lifetime<br />

Achievement Award for<br />

being a powerful catalyst in<br />

reshaping literary culture<br />

over the past half century. –<br />

PTI<br />

Indian-origin boy builds Braille<br />

printer, starts company<br />

SANTA CLARA (US): In Silicon<br />

Valley, it’s never too early to<br />

become an entrepreneur. Just<br />

ask Indian-origin 13-year-old<br />

Shubham Banerjee.<br />

The California eighth-grader<br />

has launched a company to develop<br />

low-cost machines to<br />

print Braille, the tactile writing<br />

system for the visually impaired.<br />

Tech giant Intel Corp<br />

recently invested in his startup,<br />

Braigo Labs.<br />

Shubham built a Braille<br />

printer with a Lego robotics kit<br />

as a school science fair project<br />

last year after he asked his parents<br />

a simple question: How do<br />

blind people read? “Google it,”<br />

they told him.<br />

Shubham then did some online<br />

research and was shocked<br />

to learn that Braille printers,<br />

also called embossers, cost at<br />

least $2,000, too expensive for<br />

most blind readers, especially<br />

in developing countries.<br />

“I just thought that price<br />

should not be there. I know that<br />

there is a simpler way to do<br />

this,” said Shubham, who demonstrated<br />

how his printer<br />

works at the kitchen table,<br />

where he spent many late<br />

nights building it with a Lego<br />

Mindstorms EV3 kit.<br />

Shubham wants to develop a<br />

desktop Braille printer that<br />

costs around $350 and weighs<br />

just a few pounds, compared<br />

with current models that can<br />

weigh more than nine kg. The<br />

machine could be used to print<br />

Braille reading materials on paper,<br />

using raised dots instead of<br />

ink, from a personal computer<br />

or electronic device.<br />

“My end goal would probably<br />

be having most of the blind people<br />

... using my Braille printer,”<br />

said Shubham, who lives in the<br />

Silicon Valley suburb of Santa<br />

Clara, just minutes away from<br />

Intel headquarters. – AP<br />

set up a kiosk so that visitors<br />

can not only browse through<br />

some of the best sellers of<br />

2014 and new launches of<br />

2015 but also experience Kindle<br />

devices and the world of<br />

e-reading.<br />

Customers will get to engage<br />

with prominent authors<br />

including Girish Karnad,<br />

Javed Akhtar, Ashwin Sanghi,<br />

Rajdeep Sardesai, Mihir Sharma,<br />

Naseeruddin Shah, Bibek<br />

Debroy, Sudha Murthy, Shobhaa<br />

De, Salima Hashmi, Amit<br />

Chaudhuri, Basharat Peer,<br />

Rashmi Bansal and many<br />

more at the kiosk and also<br />

through the Amazon India<br />

transformed the way South<br />

Asian writing views itself and<br />

its place in the world.<br />

William Dalrymple, author<br />

and another co-director, said<br />

this year’s programme was the<br />

biggest.<br />

“Each year we showcase literary<br />

India to the world, and<br />

world literature to India,” he<br />

added. “The ZEE Jaipur Literature<br />

Festival has become synonymous<br />

with the best<br />

creative minds on the planet.<br />

Each of them brings his or her<br />

own unique voice to the festival,<br />

adding up to a multitude of<br />

views and opinions,”' said Sanjoy<br />

Roy, Managing Director of<br />

Teamwork Arts, and producer<br />

of the festival.<br />

Facebook and Twitter handles.<br />

Books in Hindi and other<br />

Indian languages will be available<br />

at the Amazon.in kiosk at<br />

JLF and also on the JLF Store<br />

on Amazon.in.<br />

Amazon.in will also provide<br />

gift coupons to those who<br />

make a purchase at the Amazon.in<br />

kiosk so that they can<br />

avail discounts for their next<br />

online purchases. On offer is<br />

also a special discount of Rs.<br />

1,000 on all Kindle models<br />

purchased at the kiosk.<br />

Customers across India get<br />

a chance to win original autographed<br />

copies of various<br />

bestsellers.<br />

Coronation Street’s<br />

Anne Kirkbride dies<br />

LONDON: ‘Coronation Street’<br />

star Anne Kirkbride, who<br />

played the character Deirdre<br />

Barlow in the long—running<br />

television soap, has died aged<br />

60 after a short illness. She<br />

passed away peacefully in a<br />

Manchester hospital. - PTI<br />

I’m No 1 snubbed:<br />

Aniston<br />

LOS ANGELES:<br />

Jennifer Aniston<br />

is surprised to<br />

see the support<br />

that she<br />

received after<br />

she was snubbed for an Oscar<br />

nomination for her role in<br />

‘Cake.’<br />

“Yeah, I’m the No. 1 snubbed.<br />

That’s the silver lining, right?,”<br />

Aniston joked to Ellen<br />

DeGeneres. - PTI<br />

Shakira, Pique throw baby shower with UNICEF<br />

LOS ANGELES: Pop star Shakira and her boyfriend Gerard Pique are<br />

hosting a ‘World Baby Shower’ campaign for UNICEF to welcome<br />

their second baby.<br />

The couple are expanding their original ‘World Baby Shower’<br />

initiative they came up with when celebrating a baby shower for<br />

their first child Milan, reported Ace Showbiz.<br />

“Now that we are soon welcoming our second child, we want to help<br />

other children around the world and also<br />

contribute to a long—lasting solution for<br />

getting children living in extreme poverty the<br />

supplies they need to survive," Shakira said.<br />

The ‘Waka Waka’ hitmaker shared on Facebook<br />

two photos of her and her family posing<br />

together for the campaign. - PTI<br />

India is world’s second most<br />

trusted nation: survey<br />

DAVOS: Moving up the ranks,<br />

India has emerged as the second<br />

most trusted country in<br />

the world in terms of faith<br />

reposed on its institutions<br />

even as globally trust levels<br />

have fallen, says a survey.<br />

As the world’s rich and<br />

powerful gather in the Swiss<br />

resort of Davos, a study by<br />

public relations firm Edelman<br />

has found that general<br />

level of trust in institutions<br />

among college-educated people<br />

around the globe are at<br />

levels not seen since 2009 in<br />

many of the markets it<br />

surveyed.<br />

Trust in institutions in India<br />

has improved sharply in<br />

2015 with the country moving<br />

up three notches to the second<br />

place among 27 nations.<br />

While the number of<br />

“truster” countries are at an<br />

all-time low of six in 2015 including<br />

UAE, India, China<br />

and Netherlands, the number<br />

of “distruster” countries has<br />

grown significantly to 13 including<br />

Japan, Russia, Hong<br />

Kong, South Africa and Italy.<br />

Brazil, Malaysia, France<br />

and the US are among the 8<br />

“neutral” nations as per the<br />

trust index, the survey said.<br />

India, which last year saw<br />

the BJP-led NDA government<br />

storming to power at<br />

the Centre, stands tall.<br />

According to the report, an<br />

“alarming evaporation of<br />

trust” has happened across all<br />

institutions, reaching the<br />

lows of the Great Recession in<br />

2009.<br />

Trust in government, business,<br />

media and NGOs in the<br />

general population is below<br />

50 per cent in two-thirds of<br />

countries, including the U.S.,<br />

U.K. and Germany, it said.<br />

From fifth most trusted in<br />

2014, India has now become<br />

the second-most trusted in<br />

2015 with a score of 79 per<br />

cent in the barometer. The<br />

study has put India Prime<br />

Minister Narendra Modi’s<br />

image on the first page.<br />

The list is topped by UAE<br />

with 84 per cent trust.<br />

Indonesia (78 per cent),<br />

China (75 per cent), Singapore<br />

(65 per cent) and Netherlands<br />

(64 per cent) are the<br />

others that have recorded<br />

highest levels of trust. — PTI<br />

ND-ND

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!