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CMYK
thursday, june 13, 2019 Delhi
City Edition
22 pages O ₹��10.00
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The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on Wednesdayarrested a Facebook friendof Zahran Hashim, the mastermind of the Easter attacksin Sri Lanka, and detainedfi��ve others in Coimbatore.
NIA alleged that the primesuspect Mohammed Azharudheen, 32, and his associates were “propagating theideology of proscribed terrorist organisation IslamicState on social media withthe intention of recruitingvulnerable youth for carrying out terrorist attacks inSouth India, especially inKerala and Tamil Nadu.”
NIA claimed Azharudheen was highly radicalisedand was running a Facebookpage called “Khilafah GFX.”
“We do not know if Azharudheen’s acquaintancewith Hashim was only limit
ed to interactions on Facebook or went beyond it. Weare questioning him buthave named him and fi��veothers in the FIR. His onlineactivities were under watchfor a few months now,” said
an NIA offi��cial. The residence and offi��ces of the suspects were searched onWednesday.
The other suspectedmembers of the modulehave been identifi��ed as Ak
ram Sindhaa, 26, Y. Shiek Hidayathullah, 38, AbubackerM., 29, Sadham Hussain, 26,and Ibrahim Shah, 28, all residents of Coimbatore.
Houses searchedThe NIA conducted searchesat seven places in Coimbatore, including the houses ofthe accused.
Mobile phones, an electric baton, 300 airgun pellets and a large number ofdocuments along with a fewposters of the Popular Frontof India (PFI) and SDPI pamphlets were seized duringthe search, the agency said.Agency sleuths also interrogated the accused during theraids that lasted for severalhours.
(Inputs from WilsonThomas and R. Akileish)
Coimbatore man held for tieswith Easter attack mastermind NIA probe nets sixmember module propagating IS ideology on social media
Vijaita Singh
New Delhi
HE DESIGNED IS-INSPIRED
LOGOS, SAYS NIA A PAGE 12
Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik onWednesday said the rulingelite involved in corruptionin the State “will face action soon”.
Speaking at a press conference on the achievements of his government,the Governor also urgedthe youth to give up armsas “neither azaadi (independence) nor autonomywas possible”.
“People of J&K were never told the truth by the leadership. Political partiesexploited the people in thename of autonomy, azaadietc. Neither autonomy norazaadi is possible,” Mr. Malik said.
“Now, in the name of ja-naat (heaven), radicalisedyouth are being exploited,”he said. “Kashmir is also aheaven, nurture it fi��rst,” headded.
Neither azaadinor autonomypossible: Malik
Peerzada Ashiq
Srinagar
CONTINUED ON A PAGE 12
A group of senior Congressleaders met here on Wednesday to discuss the upcoming Assembly electionsin Maharashtra, Haryana,Jharkhand and Jammu &Kashmir. Briefi��ng the mediaafter the meeting, chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asserted that party president Rahul Gandhi wouldcontinue to lead the party.
“An informal meeting ofCongress leaders was heldtoday under the guidance ofA.K. Antony,” Mr. Surjewalasaid. “The preparations forthe four electiongoingStates — Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir — were discussed. We did not discussanything else,” he added.
Chaired by Mr. Antony,the meeting was attendedby party treasurer AhmedPatel, P. Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh, leader of the
Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Deputy Opposition leader inthe Rajya Sabha AnandSharma, MallikarjunKharge, general secretary(organisation) K.C. Venugopal and Mr. Surjewala.
Mr. Gandhi and UPAchairperson Sonia Gandhidid not attend the meeting.Asked if Mr. Gandhi was outof town, Mr. Surjewala declined comment.
Discuss upcoming Assembly polls
Sobhana K. Nair
New Delhi
Ahmed Patel arriving for aparty meeting in New Delhion Wednesday. * PTI
Congress leadersmeet sans Gandhis
CONTINUED ON A PAGE 12
Five CRPF personnel werekilled and one police offi��cerwas among four injured in amilitant attack on securityforces in south Kashmir’sAnantnag on Wednesday afternoon. An unidentifi��ed militant was also killed.
A senior police offi��cial saidtwo militants attacked a jointdeployment of the CRPF andthe police. The militants,who came on a motorbike,fi��red at the security forces
and lobbed grenades on a busy stretch near OxfordSchool on K.P. Road around4.55 p.m. “Five CRPF jawanswere killed and the body ofone Pakistani militant was recovered from the spot.Another militant is believedto have escaped,” said Inspector General of Police(Kashmir) S.P. Pani.
Another senior police offi��cial said one of the attackerswas immediately spotted and“engaged in a standoff�� fi��re”.
Five CRPF jawans killed in
militant attack in KashmirSecurity forces fi��red on in Anantnag
CRPF men shifting the body of their colleague at Anantnagin south Kashmir on Wednesday. * REUTERS
Special Correspondent
Srinagar
CONTINUED ON A PAGE 12
With cyclonic storm ‘Vayu’inching closer to Gujarat,the India Meteorological Department (IMD) classifi��ed itas a “very severe” storm andpredicted wind speeds of upto 175 km per hour duringlandfall on the Saurashtracoast around noon onThursday.
An IMD update on Wed
nesday evening said, “Vayuis about 280 km south of Veraval in Gujarat and likely tocross Gujarat coast betweenDwarka and Veraval.”
According to the Gujaratgovernment, the cyclonicstorm is likely to be extremely severe when it willhit the coast between Veraval and Dwarka.
Cyclone Vayu to be very severe: IMD Wind speeds of 175 km per hour likely
To safe shores: Fishermen moving a boat from the Veravalport in Gujarat. * VIJAY SONEJI
Mahesh Langa
AHMEDABAD
2.5 LAKH EVACUATED A PAGE 9
Darvesh Singh Yadav, thenewly elected president ofthe Bar Council of Agra, wason Wednesday shot dead bya fellow lawyer on the premises of the Agra civilcourt. She was elected justtwo days ago.
Additional DGP (Agrazone) Ajay Anand said Ms.Yadav was shot dead by herassociate Manish Sharma ata welcome ceremony in theBar Council chamber.
When the programmewas on, Sharma stood upand fi��red thrice at Ms. Yadavwith his licensed pistol. He
then turned the gun onhimself. Ms. Yadav wasrushed to a hospital, whereshe was declared dead.Sharma is in a “critical”condition.
Compensation soughtThe Bar Council of Indiacondemned the murderand demanded security forits members. It sought a minimum compensation of₹��50 lakh to the family of thevictim, reported agencies.
Samajwadi Party chief
Akhilesh Yadav took a dig atthe Yogi Adityanath government for the incident andsaid rapes, murders andpolitical killings were increasing at an alarmingrate.
“The CM is chairingmeetings upon meetingsbut the law and order situation is only deteriorating.Now the fi��rst woman headof the bar council of Agrahas been shot. Even upholders of the law are not safe,”Mr. Yadav said on Twitter.
special correspondent
LUCKNOW
Darvesh Singh Yadav
New Agra Bar Council president shot dead
Retail infl��ation in Maymoved marginally up to3.05% mainly due to a risein food prices, notably vegetables. This is a sevenmonth high; infl��ation inApril was 2.99%.
Good newsHowever, there was goodnews on the industrialgrowth front with factory
output rising by 3.4%,which is a sixmonth high.
The growth was mainlydriven by the electricityand mining sectors, withmanufacturing growing by2.8%.
“If you look, most of thisgrowth [in factory output]would have been due to public expenditure,” said D.K.Srivastava, chief policy adviser, EY India.
Retail infl��ation at a 7month high of 3.05% Special correspondent
New Delhi
REPORT A PAGE 15
Triple talaq Bill to besent to Parliament againNEW DELHI
The Union Cabinet on
Wednesday approved the
Muslim Women (Protection
of Rights on Marriage) Bill,
2019, paving the way for the
legislation to be introduced
in the upcoming session of
Parliament.
NEWS A PAGE 12
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NEARBY
Sitharaman, Jaishankar toget JNU’s Alumni AwardNEW DELHI
JNU on Wednesday said it
would confer its
Distinguished Alumni Award
on Union Ministers Nirmala
Sitharaman and
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
NEWS A PAGE 13
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YKA ND-NDE
DELHI THE HINDU
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CITY
Sitting at the district headquarters, DCP (East) JasmeetSingh looks at his computerscreen to monitor the movement of 52 police patrol vehicles deployed under hisjurisdiction.
In the video feed from oneof the vehicles, he spots aconstable whiling away timetwirling his moustache. TheDCP quickly picks up thewireless and orders the copto resume his duties.
“A soundenabled camerais also fi��xed inside the vehicles to keep an eye on the activities of the police staff�� sitting in the EmergencyResponse Vehicles (ERVs).We can monitor the movement of the police vehicleswith the help of the technology and get their exact location of patrolling,” said Mr.Singh.
In order to increase effi��ciency and visibility of district police staff��, the DeputyCommissioners of Police ofall 15 districts are installingGPS devices in all patrollingvehicles and livestream
cameras in fourwheelersthat are used as ERVs andQuick Response Team (QRT)vehicles.
Mr. Singh said the GPSdevices are being fi��xed in allpatrolling vehicles in eastDelhi and as a pilot projectthey have installed a dashboard camera in an ERV.
Customised software
The software has been customised according to the requirement of each district.
“I can get details of vehicles that are moving, halting
or stopping due to breakdown. I can easily check thestatus of the vehicles and thepolice staff�� in them. Thedashboard camera can helpidentify miscreants duringlaw and order situation,”said Mr. Singh.
The GPSenabled vehiclesare geofenced (virtual geographic boundary defi��nedby GPS) under the limits ofthe police station that hasdeployed them.
“It helps to track if there isany misuse of police vehicles. The software notifi��es
every time the vehicle crosses the geofence. Instead ofmanually recording theodometer reading, the software keeps record of totalrunning of vehicles. In caseany vehicle patrols less than50 km a day, it notifi��es thesoftware user about the vehicle,” said Mr. Singh.
The idea of installing livestream cameras in policevehicles was fi��rst implemented in Outer district by DCPSeju P. Kuruvilla around twoweeks ago.
Mr. Kuruvilla said it hasbeen done to strengthen thecontrol room of the district.With the help of livestreaming of the situation, additional force can be sent on timebefore the situation turns volatile, he said.
“We were entirely dependent on walkietalkie instruments to get details of patrolling staff��, but with thehelp of GPS devices andspeakerenabled livestreamcameras, the communication has gone to the next level. Any crisis situation canbe handled more professionally now,” said Mr. Kuruvilla.
Move over walkie-talkie, Delhipolice get hi-tech eyes and earsSound-enabled cameras, GPS devices being installed in all police vehicles
SAURABH TRIVEDI
New Delhi
Exhibition: Bahaaredilli, a soloexhibition by Bahaar Jain and calligraphy in Urdu by Dr. Touseef Sheikhat Delhi ‘o’ Delhi Foyer, India HabitatCentre (IHC), 11 a.m. 7 p.m.
Exhibition: "Spirituality", a solopainting exhibition by SujataAgrawal at Convention Centre Foyer,India Habitat Centre (IHC), 11 a.m. 7 p.m.
Exhibition: “Utsav”, an art show ofpaintings, photography, digital artsand sketches at All India Fine Artsand Craft Society (AIFACS), 1 Rafi��Marg, 11 a.m. 8 p.m.
(Mail your listings for this columnat [email protected])
DELHI TODAY
In order to help Delhi University cope with the increased intake of studentson account of reservation for‘Economically Weaker Sections’, the University GrantsCommission has made an additional fund allocation ofabout ₹��191 crore to the university and its colleges.
A letter dated June 10states that the UGC has allocated ₹��143.76 crore to DU under the heads of ‘capital’ ‘salary’, and ‘recurring’.‘Capital’ has got the highestallocation of ₹��120 crore. Anallocation of ₹��47.24 crore hasalso been made to affi��liatedcolleges under the recurringand salary heads.
The allocation has beenmade for the academic years201920 and 202021.
The additional fundsgranted under the capitalhead are, however, to besought from the Higher Education Financial Agency (HEFA), the letter states.
President of the Delhi University Teachers’ Association Rajib Ray said that EWSquota are being used to tieinfrastructure developmentof the university to loanbased funding. “This is unacceptable,” he said.
DU has also been directedto submit its proposal forcreation of posts as per requirement within the allocated funds. Claiming that thefunds were inadequate, Mr.Ray said: “Till posts are sanctioned, imposition of EWSquota will cause displacement and the nature of appointment of additionalteachers will be a matter ofdispute.” He also called forthe formation of a standingcommittee to look into howthe grant would be divided.
In order to accommodate10% reservation, DU is increasing its intake by 10%this year and 25% in the nextacademic session. This year,the number of undergraduate admissions are expected to touch 63,000.
DU gets additional fundsfrom UGC for EWS quotaTo deal with increased intake
Staff Reporter
New Delhi
The U.S. Embassy organised its fi��fth annual ‘Student Visa Day’ on Wednesday and launched‘EducationUSA India’, amobile application to provide Indian students with“current, comprehensiveand accurate informationabout studying in the U.S.”.
During the event, theembassy catered exclusively to students seeking admission to universitiesbased in the U.S. and facilitated their visa process.
The app is available onboth iOS and Androidbased mobile phones.
New app tohelp students
Pallavi Keswani
NEW DELHI
To help improve its positionin the NIRF rankings, DeenDayal Upadhyaya CollegeCollege plans to focus on research and innovation, saidprincipal Hemchand Jain.
While the college secured13th position in the NIRFranking in 2018, in 2019 itsposition dipped to 16. To encourage research, Mr. Jainsaid that teachers would begiven special grants to undertake studies and will begiven support to publish
their fi��ndings in peerreviewed journals.
The college has also setup an ‘incubation centre’ toencourage entrepreneurship among its students.
The college is currently inits second cycle of NAAC accreditation which is expected to be completed in thenext three months.
The college is among 12institutions facing a fundcrunch as a consequence ofa tussle between the Delhigovernment and DU over selection of governing bodies.
‘DDU will focus more on research, innovation’Staff Reporter
New Delhi
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THE HINDU DELHI
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Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday thatthe Delhi Metro Rail Corporation had submitted a “concrete proposal” for the implementation of the AAPgovernment’s ‘free metrotravel for women’ scheme.
A week after announcingthe scheme, Mr. Kejriwal, ata press conference, claimedthat “major progress” hasbeen made in relation to theproposed initiative to subsidise fares for women passengers on buses and metrotrains to the point of allowing such travel free of cost.
“I want to share somegood news with the womenof Delhi. The DMRC has submitted a concrete proposalon our scheme. Two optionshave been proposed by themfor implementation of thescheme. One is a longtermplan that will take one yearto implement and will involve changing of theDMRC’s software, tokensand cards. However, the second option is a stopgap ar
rangement,” the CM said.“As per the second model,
women shall be able to procure tokens at ticket windows and automatic ticketvending machines (ATVMs)by simply sharing their destination. There will be a separate entry gate for women,but their exit gates will remain common. The DMRCdoes not need to change itssoftware,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
According to Mr. Kejriwal,the government has decidedto settle for the stopgap arrangement for implementation even as more “perma
nent” solutions were also onthe table as per the submission of the DMRC.
Two-step process“Although the DMRC saidthat it needs eight months toroll out this model, we believe that we can work withthe offi��cials and implementthe scheme in the next 23months. Only two steps needto be taken by the DMRC —special tokens need to beprinted and at 170 stationswhere ticket windows havebeen shut, they need to bereopened. We do not think
these steps will take morethan 23 months,” said theChief Minister.
The Delhi governmenthad asked the DMRC to submit a proposal regarding theimplementation of thescheme within a week.
Mr. Kejriwal said that theproposal would need the approval of the Fare FixationCommittee, adding that thescheme was “propeople”and that the Delhi government was well within its fi��nancial means to make theinitiative a reality.
“The DMRC said it expectsa 50% increase in women ridership after the rollout ofthe scheme, which means4550% of the riders will bewomen. This will mean a total fi��nancial commitment of₹��1,566.64 crore. The Delhigovernment has no objection to this…Approval fromthe Fare Fixation Committeeis not required in this case asthis is not a matter of fare fi��xation. However, if the DMRCthinks it is necessary, we willgo ahead with it,” the ChiefMinister added.
Free ride scheme for women tobe reality within 2-3 months: CMKejriwal says AAP govt. has picked a stopgap option proposed by the DMRC
Staff Reporter
New Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodiaaddressing the media on Wednesday. * SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
A delegation from the DelhiCongress headed by its chiefSheila Dikshit met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal onWednesday to request him toorder a probe into howcrores of rupees in the formof fi��xed charges were collected to benefi��t power distribution companies.
Ms. Dikshit said that over₹��7,401 crore that has beencollected from the people ofDelhi in the name of fi��xedcharges and surcharge forpension funds should beeither returned to the peopleor adjusted against electricity bills in the next sixmonths.
Speaking after the meeting, Congress working president Haroon Yusuf said thatthe CM had agreed to order aprobe into the matter. He added that the Congress had also demanded the immediaterollback of fi��xed charges andsurcharge for pension fundsbeing “illegally” collectedfrom the power consumers.
“The AAP government’spromise of providing 24hour
uninterrupted power supplyhas turned hollow as the people of Delhi have been goingthrough a harrowing timedue to frequent power cuts,”Mr. Yusuf said.
Working president RajeshLilothia said that the Kejriwalgovernment, instead of juggling with statistics to mislead the people, should address the ground reality,“which is very diff��erent fromwhat the AAP governmenthas been trying to project”.
‘Unable to explain’AAP said that the Congressdelegation was unable to explain the reason behind their
complaint on power pricing.Power Minister SatyendarJain termed the allegations“baseless”.
Addressing the media after the meeting, AAP chiefspokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “When the CMasked Ms. Dikshit what wasthe basis of her calculationson electricity pricing in thecity, she could not explain it.She looked at her colleagueand former Power Minister ofDelhi Haroon Yusuf for support... Unfortunately, noneof them could explain whatwas the basis of their concerns.”
Refuting the Congress allegations, Mr. Jain said, “During the reign of the Congressin 2010, they were charging₹��153 for 50 units. In 2013, thisescalated to ₹��264. Withinthree years, the bill went upby 73%. Today, for the sameconsumption, people have topay only ₹��128 which is approximately half the bill in2013.”
Meanwhile, a statement issued by AAP said that theCongress delegation failed toshow any proof of the allegedscam claimed by them.
Congress delegation seeks rollback of fi��xed charges
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI
DPCC president SheilaDikshit arriving at CM’sresidence on Wednesday.
* R V MOORTHY
Dikshit asks Kejriwal to probebenefi��ts given to discoms
With just a few months to gofor the Assembly election inDelhi, the AAP governmenton Wednesday notifi��ed newautorickshaw fares eff��ectingan 18.75% increase in existing rates.
The move will benefi��towners and drivers of over90,000 autorickshaws plying in the national capital,
who had played a crucialrole in the rise of the AamAadmi Party (AAP).
“Govt fulfi��ls its key promise. Transport Departmenthas notifi��ed revision of autorickshaw fares. After revision also, auto fares in Delhito remain lower than othermetro cities,” Transport Minister Kailash Gahlottweeted.
“Autorickshaw drivers will
be able to charge the revisedrates after necessary recalibration of fare meters and itwill take around 1.5 months,”said a senior transport department offi��cial.
Revised ratesUnder the revised rates, themetre down charge will be₹��25 for the fi��rst 1.5 km, instead of existing 2 km. Theper km charge has been in
creased from existing ₹��8 to₹��9.5, which is a hike ofaround 18.75%.
The notifi��cation introduces waiting charge at the rateof ₹��0.75 per minute if an autois caught up at a traffi��c signal. Luggage charges will be₹��7.50. The notifi��cation on revised fare structure was forwarded to the State Transport Authority by thetransport department.
Autorickshaw fares in city raised by 18.75% AAP govt issues notifi��cation; move to benefi��t owners, drivers of over 90,000 vehicles
Press Trust of India
New Delhi
Peak power demand inDelhi touched 6,904 MWfor the fi��rst time this season on Wednesday, according to electricity discom BSES. It was 6,792MW at 11.52 pm on Tuesday.
With people preferringto stay indoors due to rising temperature, the discom expects peak powerdemand to touch 7,400MW this year.
During last year’s summer, the peak power demand had breached the7,000 MW mark andtouched 7,016 MW. Thisyear, Delhi’s peak powerload in June has been higher than June 2018 on atleast eight occasions, according to BSES analysis.
“The BSES discomsBRPL and BYPL successfully met the peak power demand of 2,951 MW and1,580 MW in their respective areas,” a spokespersonof the discom said.
Use of air conditionersin summers makes up 50%of the national capital’spower consumption andelectricity bills, the spokesperson added.
Peak powerdemand at6,904 MW
Staff Reporter
New Delhi
The BJP on Wednesday demanded the AAP government to rollback fi��xed charges, power purchase costadjustment charges (PPAC),and pension trust surcharges which were leading to infl��ated electricity bills in theCapital.
It also accused the AAPand the previous Congressgovernments of “looting”
consumers to ensure profi��tfor power distribution companies through “backdoor”charges and payments.
“The government shouldcompensate electricity consumers for the fi��nancial losson account of payment ofthese charges. These charges were levied by discoms inconnivance with the Kejriwalgovernment. According toconservative estimates, consumers have already been
made to pay ₹��10,000 croreto discoms by way of levyingof these charges through thebackdoor,” Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Guptaalleged.
“Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal, Power Minister Satyendar Jain and other AAPleaders are projecting a misleading and false picturewith regard to power tariff��sand fi��xed charges. The Con
gress is shedding crocodiletears on the loot by discomsand is equally responsiblefor it during its 15year rule,”he said.
“The electricity tribunaland the Supreme Court hadalready held that power purchase cost adjustment charges are unconstitutional. But,it is still being collected fromconsumers as part of electricity bills,” Mr. Gupta alleged.
BJP accuses AAP, Cong. govts of ‘looting’ public Ensured profi��t for power distribution companies through ‘backdoor’ charges: Gupta
Staff Reporter
New Delhi
A ND-NDE
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DELHI THE HINDU
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CITY
Sporting a fl��oral top, 10yearold Khushi was rolling agreycoloured 30litre plasticbarrel fi��lled with water on anarrow lane of Sanjay Colony in south Delhi.
The fourth grader kickedrepeatedly at the barrel tomove it through the lane andused her hands whenever itgot stuck. She was fetchingwater to her house from atanker on the main road. “Itis heavy and I can’t lift it.That is why we roll it,” shesaid.
Despite Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s promise toprovide water supplythrough pipes to Tughlakabad residents within a week,a spot check revealed thatthe residents were yet to getproper supply throughpipes.
In Sanjay Colony in Harkesh Nagar, a slum clusterMr. Kejriwal had visited onJune 2 before making thepromise, people were stilldependent on water tankers.
While people in B and Fblock said they got very littlewater supply for about 10 minutes each for the past threedays, residents of A and Dblock said there had been no
supply. Like Khushi, manychildren were seen fetchingwater from tankers. Peoplecomplained that there was awater shortage.
“We tried delivering water[through pipes] there thrice,but the pipeline burst. Weare working on it and it willbe fi��xed in two to threedays,” said Dinesh Mohaniya, vicechairman of DelhiJal Board, which is responsible for water supply in the city.
More water tankersWhen asked about someareas not getting water at all,he said, “Since the pipelinesburst, the areas ahead of it
did not get water at all.”Residents said that the pi
pelines were laid about twoyears ago, but there has beenno water supply throughthem. Almost over a dozenresidents, The Hindu met,said that they get free waterfrom DJB tankers and thereare more water tankers sinceMr. Kejriwal came to power.
On alternate days The residents said they ration their use of water as thetanker comes on alternatedays.
Jubeda Begum, 45, wasstanding outside her housein A block, next to two 200litre plastic barrels used to
store water, as she complained of water shortage.
“We are always short ofwater. Sometimes, I have to‘polish’ my son with littlewater before sending him toschool,” she said.
Ms. Begum, who works asa dailywage labourer, said,“No one takes a bath twice aday here as there is notenough water. My husbandcannot handle the heat andthe water shortage, so hestays in the village during thesummer and comes backduring the winter.”
The city faces water shortage with a requirement ofabout 1,120 million gallonsper day (MGD) and an average water production ofabout 900 MGD. On certaindays, the production peaksto 936 MGD but cannot besustained at that level, according to DJB.
Tughlakabad yet to get properwater supply despite CM’s promiseResidents depend on water tankers as supply remains way below demand
Staff Reporter
New Delhi
Water woes: Residents of Sanjay Colony in Harkesh Nagar fi��llwater from a DJB tanker. * FILE PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
<> We tried delivering
water [through
pipes] there thrice,
but the pipeline
burst. We are
working on it and it
will be fi��xed in two
to three days
Dinesh Mohaniya
DJB vicechairman
BJP MP acquitted in2004 assault case NEW DELHI
BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri has
been acquitted by a Delhi
court in a 2004 case of
assaulting a man here.
Additional Chief Metropolitan
Magistrate Samar Vishal
noted that there were
contradictions in the
testimonies of the witnesses
as he absolved Mr. Bidhuri,
who represents South Delhi
Lok Sabha constituency. PTI
IN BRIEF
Pickpocket arrested from metro stationNEW DELHI
A 50yearold woman was
arrested for allegedly
pickpocketing in Delhi metro,
the police said Wednesday.
The woman, a resident of
Jahangirpuri, was nabbed
from Karol Bagh metro
station on June 10, the police
said. The accused used to
keep a close watch on women
passengers and target them.
Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vicechairman Dinesh Mohaniyaon Wednesday said that aBJP delegation had damagedproperty at the agency’s offi��ce during their sitin protest, which started on Tuesday and ended onWednesday morning.
DJB CEO Nikhil Kumar hasfi��led a complaint with thepolice in this regard.
The delegation had cometo meet the DJB CEO, butwent on to stage a proteststating that they would notleave till the city’s waterwoes are resolved.
Police assistance“Around 3 a.m. on Wednesday, we [DJB offi��cials] fi��nallyleft the building with thehelp of extra police force,”the DJB PRO said. Around 15DJB offi��cials were inside theCEO’s room and the protesters were not allowing the offi��cials to leave the room, according to the DJB.
“Around 35 people alongwith BJP leader Vijay Goelentered Mr. Kumar’s offi��ce at5.30 p.m. on Tuesday andrefused to leave,” an offi��cialwho was inside the CEO’sroom had said. “We informed the police and the
SHO reached by 6.30 p.m..Though the CEO promisedto resolve the issue as soonas possible, the protesterskept demanding that the issue be settled ‘now’. Around1.30 a.m., we gave a writtencomplaint to the SHO requesting him to depute extraforce to help us exit thebuilding,” the offi��cial said.
Mr. Goel had said onTuesday: “They [DJB] haveno clue as to how many complaints they have received.
They don’t have any knowledge of the areas where people are getting contaminated water or no water at all,”
Mr. Mohaniya said thatthree BJP leaders were protesting separately on the issue of water. He said thatthey did not have any particular issue and were allegedlydoing it as the three of themare in the race to become theBJP’s chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Protesting against water woes, they had gheraoed CEO’s room
Staff Reporter
New Delhi
A dust storm with gustywinds of 6070 kmph blewacross the city on Wednesday evening, bringing muchneeded relief from the heatwave witnessed over the pastthree days.
Traffi��c came to a standstilldue to low visibility andstrong winds. Motorcyclistswere forced to park theirvehicles and wait till the sit
uation improved. There werereports of branches fallingand hoardings being dislodged across the city. Flightoperations were also hit dueto the strong winds with ninefl��ights being diverted between 6.40 p.m. and 7.15 p.m,an airport spokespersonsaid. The situation returnedto normal by 7.45 p.m.
The Met Department saidthat temperature fell fromabout 40 degrees Celsius at 5
p.m. to around 33 degreesCelsius by 7 p.m. when thewinds were at the peak. Theweatherman had forecastthat dust storms would hitthe city in the evening onWednesday and Thursdaybut said that the activitywould be only in the eveningand the days would continueto remain hot.
The city recorded a maximum temperature of 41.6 degrees Celsius on Wednesday
and a minimum of 31 degreesCelsius, both two and threedegrees above normal.
The forecast for Thursdayreads partly cloudy sky withthe possibility of very lightrain. The maximum and minimum temperatures arelikely to be between 43 and29 degrees Celsius. The cityis likely to come under the infl��uence of another duststorm/thunderstorm on June16 and 17.
Temperature drops by 7 degrees Celsius; fl��ight operations hit due to strong winds
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI
Motorists faced a hard time as a dust storm hit the Capital on Wednesday. * SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
Dust storm brings respite; rain likely today
A man arrested for allegedly duping former Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha of₹��1 lakh, by hacking his colleague’s email account,was sent to twoday policecustody on Wednesday.
The judge allowed police the custodial interrogation of Dinesh Mali,nabbed from Udaipur earlier this month, said DCP(South Delhi) Vijay Kumar.The police may seek further custody since the investigation is still going on, Mr.Kumar said, adding thatthe accused was broughtfrom Udaipur on Tuesday.
The incident came tolight on May 30 after Justice Lodha, a resident ofSouth Delhi’s PanchsheelPark, got an email from retired SC judge B.P. Singhstating that his ID washacked by some unknownperson on the interveningnight of April 18 and 19.
Man whoduped ex-CJIremanded inpolice custody
Press Trust of India
New Delhi
A 29yearold man was arrested from northeast Delhi’s Harsh Vihar on Wednesday for allegedlyslaughtering a cow on Holi inMarch with the intention ofcreating communal tension,the police said.
The accused, identifi��ed asImran, a resident of Ghaziabad, was hiding in Uttarakhand and had come to meethis family members near Loni from where he wasnabbed in the morning, thepolice said.
Earlier, Imran’s accomplices Parvaiz, Lukman and
Insallaham were nabbed bythe police. A reward of₹��25,000 was announced onImran’s arrest, the policesaid.
The incident was reportedon Holi on March 21. The residents of Harsh Vihar hadapproached the police afterthey found the cattle’s dismembered parts and an animal foetus lying at a vacantplot.
The situation turned tenseas the locals staged a protestagainst the alleged cowslaughter. The police pacifi��ed the protesters and thesituation was brought undercontrol.
A case was registered anda probe launched. Raidswere conducted in Delhi andUttarakhand and following atipoff��, Imran was nabbed,DCP (Special Cell) P.S. Kushwah said.
“During interrogation, hedisclosed that the act wascommitted to disturb communal harmony and triggera law and order situation inthe Capital,” the offi��cer said.
Imran’s family has a cattlebusiness, he added. According to the plan, the accusedslaughtered a cow and “mischievously” threw the bodyparts of the animal in HarshVihar, the DCP said.
Incident was reported in Harsh Vihar on Holi in March
Staff Reporter
New Delhi
Man arrested for ‘cattle slaughter’
After staging an overnightsitin protest at the Delhi JalBoard (DJB) offi��cer here, BJPleader Vijay Goel on Wednesday demanded that the agency’s Chief Executive Offi��cer(CEO) be sacked “immediately” if he failed to address the issues of contaminated water and allegedwater mismanagement inthe Capital.
Alleging that the residentsseemed to have “lost allhopes” for redressal of theirgrievances from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Mr. Goelwarned of gheraoing other
offi��cials of the DJB if theycontinued to “indulge in corruption and negligence”.
The BJP delegation putforth six demands, includingthe constitution of a taskforce to address the issue ofcontaminated water immediately, uploading publiccomplaints on the DJB website, waiving off�� bills of consumers not receiving wateror those receiving contaminated water, strict actionagainst the “tanker mafi��a”,the release of a summer action plan and the provisionof water connections in every household in jhuggijhopri colonies.
Goel seeks DJB CEO’s resignation
Staff Reporter
New Delhi
DJB fi��les complaint after BJPteam damages offi��ce property
Author Amitav Ghosh wasfelicitated with the 54th Jnanpith Award for his “outstanding contribution to theenrichment of Indian Literature in English”, on Wednesday.
Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who was the chief guestat the event, presented theaward to the author. Mr.Ghosh is the fi��rst English language writer to become aJnanpith laureate.
“When I started writingmany years ago, I could notimagine that the JnanpithAward would ever come myway. In those days, Indianswho wrote in English wouldthink of themselves as marginal, both to Indian and to
English literature,” said Mr.Ghosh
The Jnanpith award is thehighest literary award in India and can only be conferred upon an Indian citizen. English language wasadded to the list of languagesfor consideration after the49th Jnanpith Award.
“Even though I write inEnglish, I draw constantly
from Bangla and its vastimaginative resources,” hefurther said.
Mr. Ghosh’s works hasbeen translated in morethan 30 languages. He wasawarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990 for hisbook The Shadow Lines andthe Padma Shri in 2007 forhis services to literature andeducation.
First English language writer to get the honour
Pallavi Keswani
NEW DELHI
Gopalkrishna Gandhi presents the Jnanpith Award to AmitavGhosh (second from right) on Wednesday. * SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
Amitav Ghosh conferred Jnanpith Award
A 19yearold woman andher friend were allegedly attacked with a chemical substance suspected to be acidby unidentifi��ed personswhen they were travellingon a motorcycle in west Delhi’s Vikaspuri, the policesaid on Wednesday.
The incident took placeon Tuesday. The victim andher friend refused to give a
statement after the incident,the police said.
However, they approached the Vikaspuri police station on Wednesdayand a case under relevantsections of the IPC was registered, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) MonikaBhardwaj said.
Her friend who suff��ered10% to 15% burn injuries wasdischarged from hospital,the offi��cer said. The girl was
also given fi��rstaid treatmentand was discharged on thesame day, she said.
According to doctors, thewoman and her friend wereattacked with acid. However, they are awaiting forensicreports for fi��nal confi��rmation on the nature of injury,the offi��cer added.
The police are also questioning a suspect in this connection. Further investigation is on, said the offi��cer.
They were on a motorcycle when the incident happened
Staff Reporter
New Delhi
Woman, friend attacked with ‘acid’
Elderly siblings founddead at residenceNEW DELHI
A 90yearold woman and her
80yearold brother were
found dead in their house in
Bharat Nagar on Wednesday.
The police ruled out any foul
play and called it a natural
death. The bodies have been
sent for postmortem. “The
house was locked from inside.
It seems the woman [Raj
Kumari] died first. She took
care of her paralysed brother
who perhaps died later after
getting no help,” said DCP
(North West) Vijayanta Arya.
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THE HINDU DELHI
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DELHI Timings
Thursday, June 13
RISE 05:23 SET 19:20
RISE 15:25 SET 02:29
Friday, June 14
RISE 05:23 SET 19:20
RISE 16:26 SET 03:07
Saturday, June 15
RISE 05:23 SET 19:20
RISE 17:27 SET 03:47
The sun has helped theNortheast Frontier Railway(NFR) save big on energyexpenditure without having to spend on installingsolar panels.
The shift to solar energyat railway stations, levelcrossings, barracks, andother setups has coincided with the NFR’s push forelectrifi��cation of 6,242 kmof its tracks till the farthestpoints such as Murkongselek near Assam’s borderwith Arunachal Pradeshand Sabroom on the TripuraBangladesh border.
The NFR had during the201819 fi��scal commissioned solar panels generating a peak 2298 kW energy that helped it consume23.07 lakh units less ofelectricity, leading to a saving of ₹��1.88 crore.
“This was after payingtwo executing agencies —one from New Delhi andthe other from Hyderabad— for the solar energy atrates fi��xed by them. It hasbeen a winwin deal forNFR and the agencieswhich set up the solar panels and solar plants free ofcost. The assets will beours after 25 years,” NFRspokesperson Pranav JyotiSharma said.
NFR savesbig through solar energySPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
GUWAHATI
In a bid to alleviate the woesof the State’s distressedfarmers, the Punjab government has sought a hike inthe Minimum Support Priceof various crops for the201920 rabi season fromthe Central government.
The State agriculture department has come out witha detailed proposal for hikein the MSP of wheat cropfrom ₹��1,840 per quintal in201819 to ₹��2,710 in 201920,and barley from ₹��1,440 to₹��1,974 per quintal.
Gram, mustard prices“The proposal, submitted tothe Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, alsoseeks a hike in the MSP ofgram from the earlier₹��4,620 to ₹��5,631 per quintal,and of rapeseed and mustard from ₹��4,200 to ₹��5,384per quintal,” an offi��cialstatement said onWednesday.
Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh said thehike was necessary for promoting crops like barley,gram, rapeseed and mustard in the State, to give themuchneeded push for cropdiversifi��cation that wouldhelp arrest the deleting
groundwater table inPunjab.
“While the State government had taken all possiblesteps to ease the problemsof farmers, including farmdebt waiver, the Centre’s intervention was needed tosupport these measures, especially in the matter ofMSP which was under itscontrol,” he said.
Swaminathan reportThe Chief Minister also reiterated his demand for fullimplementation of the M.S.Swaminathan Commissionreport to ensure the muchneeded improvement in theagriculture system and better remuneration for thefarmers.
Punjab govt. seekshike in MSP of crops Will ease problems of farmers: CM
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
CHANDIGARH
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh
The ruling Congress on Wednesday won eight seats inthe byelections to 17 wardsof 15 urban local bodies heldin a total of 11 districts of Rajasthan on June 10. While independent candidates supported by the Congress wontwo seats, the BJP registeredvictory in fi��ve wards.
Byelections were held tofi��ll the vacant positions incertain wards of municipalities and municipal councilsin Jaipur, Alwar, Bhilwara,Sri Ganganagar, Bharatpur,Churu, Karauli, Hanumangarh, Bundi, Dholpur and Sirohi districts. A total of 14municipality and three municipal council wards werecontested in these districts.
The Congress candidates
won in Behror, Khairthal, Jahazpur, Indragarh, Sujangarh, Nohar, Shahpura andHindon local bodies, whilecandidates supported by theparty won at Gajsinghpurand Rawatsar.
Rajasthan Congress president and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot said the
bypoll results were an indication of people’s faith in theState government’s welfarepolicies launched after theDecember 2018 Assemblyelections. However, the Congress lost all the 25 seats inthe State to the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha election.
We won more seats: BJPBJP spokesperson Satish Punia said the number of seatswon by the party had increased as the BJP earlierheld only three of the 17wards where byelectionswere held. He alleged thatthe Congress governmenthad “misused the resources” to win the bypolls afterits failure on the law and order, agricultural loan waiverand water and power supplyfronts.
Congress triumphs in localbody bypolls in RajasthanResults indication of people’s faith in State govt.: Pilot
Special Correspondent
JAIPUR
Deputy CM Sachin Pilot.
The strike by junior doctorsat governmentrun medicalcolleges and hospitals in theState entered the second dayon Wednesday. Junior doctors refused to withdrawtheir strike despite a seriesof meetings held by senior
health offi��cials.The protests started late
on Monday night after twointerns at Nil Ratan SircarMedical College and Hospital in Kolkata were assaultedby the family members of apatient who passed awayduring treatment.
Soon, doctors from other
government hospitals in thecity and districts joined thestir.
During the day, BurdwanMedical College and Hospital witnessed violence between family members of patients and junior doctors.The hospital had kept itsOPD and emergency shut.
Strike by junior doctors enters second daySpecial Correspondent
Kolkata
Weather WatchRainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday
Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: INSAT/IMD (Taken at 18.30 Hrs)
Forecast for Thursday: Heavy to very heavy rainfall likely atsome places over Saurashtra Kutch, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat,Konkan, Goa, coastal Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland,Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura
city rain max min city rain max minAgartala................. —.... 37.0.... 28.4 Kozhikode ...........28.7.... 30.0.... 28.7
Ahmedabad............ —.... 42.7.... 31.5 Kurnool ................... —.... 38.1.... 29.0
Aizawl ................... —.... 30.4.... 20.9 Lucknow.................. —.... 36.7.... 30.6
Allahabad .............. —.... 40.7.... 32.4 Madurai................... —.... 38.6.... 27.4
Bengaluru .............. —.... 29.4.... 21.6 Mangaluru...........14.5.... 32.1.... 25.0
Bhopal................... —.... 43.7.... 30.6 Mumbai.................0.1.... 33.5.... 27.7
Bhubaneswar ......... —.... 42.4.... 28.1 Mysuru.................... —.... 29.0.... 22.4
Chandigarh ..........0.3.... 42.0.... 30.8 New Delhi ............... —.... 41.6.... 31.0
Chennai ................. —.... 39.2.... 31.3 Patna ...................... —.... 41.0.... 28.6
Coimbatore..........2.8.... 32.0.... 24.0 Port Blair ............21.1.... 28.4.... 24.1
Dehradun.............4.8.... 39.0.... 22.7 Puducherry.............. —.... 38.8.... 29.4
Gangtok..................4.... 25.1.... 16.7 Pune ....................... —.... 31.2.... 25.8
Goa ...................33.3.... 31.0.... 24.0 Raipur ..................... —.... 44.2.... 33.9
Guwahati ..............37.... 37.4.... 26.9 Ranchi..................... —.... 41.2.... 26.7
Hubballi................. —.... 27.0.... 22.0 Shillong....................3.... 24.2.... 17.4
Hyderabad ............. —.... 37.7.... 28.2 Shimla...................8.9.... 26.7.... 17.4
Imphal.................0.9.... 33.0.... 21.7 Srinagar ..............39.2.... 38.8.... 19.6
Jaipur ..................2.2.... 42.8.... 29.7 Trivandrum .........17.8.... 29.7.... 23.6
Kochi....................33.... 28.2.... 28.2 Tiruchi .................... —.... 39.9.... 28.6
Kohima................2.3.... 27.5.... 17.4 Vijayawada .............. —.... 43.6.... 29.5
Kolkata.................. —.... 36.5.... 29.3 Visakhapatnam ......... —.... 34.2.... 30.2
(Rainfall data in mm; temperature in Celsius)
Pollutants in the air you are breathing Yesterday
CITIES SO2 NO2 CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE
In observation made at4.00 p.m., Bhiwadi,Rajasthan recorded anoverall air quality index(AQI) score of 285indicating a unhealthylevel of pollution. Incontrast, Eloor, Keralarecorded a healthy AQIscore of 38
Ahmedabad..... 105 180 88 ... 71 .....— ....*
Bengaluru ....... .16 .50 36 ... 54 .....— ....*
Chennai .......... ...8 .24 49 . 104 .....— ....*
Delhi .............. .29 .51 45 . 148 .298 ....*
Hyderabad ...... .13 .28 10 ... 19 ...55 ....*
Kolkata........... ...3 .12 11 ... 62 ...86 ....*
Lucknow ......... ...2 .35 49 . 234 .....— ....*
Mumbai .......... .27 .21 99 ... 27 ...71 ....*
Pune............... .62 ...8 29 ... 21 ...20 ....*
Visakhapatnam .26 .68 47 .....— .126 ....*
Air Quality Code: * Poor * Moderate * Good (Readings indicate average AQI)
SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system,
making breathing difficult. It can affect visibility by reacting with other air
particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues
and monuments.
NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by
reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters.
CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to
critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause
dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death.
PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes,
nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced
lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and
premature death in people with heart or lung disease
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THE HINDU DELHI
THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019 7EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
WEST
With just three days to go forthe start of the monsoon session of the Assembly, there isno clarity in the Congress onwho will be their legislativeparty leader. Neither thecentral leadership nor theState unit of the party has informed the CLP on the selection of the new group leader.
Following the resignationof former Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna VikhePatil, the CLP is left with noleader. Both at central andState level, the party is stillstruggling to recover fromthe drubbing it received inthe Lok Sabha elections andthe issue of choosing the
new leader is pending for over 15 days.
“The decision to choosethe group leader will be announced from Delhi. Thecentral leadership has beenapprised of the situation and
a decision will be takensoon,” said MaharashtraCongress spokesperson Sachin Sawant.
The State party leadershipwill be meeting in Mumbaion June 13 and 14 to discussthe Lok Sabha poll results inMaharashtra. It has alreadyheld similar meeting for Marathwada and north Maharashtra regions and the nextmeeting will discuss the results in Konkan, Mumbai andwestern Maharashtra.
“We have no clue on whatis going to happen in the Assembly or who will be chosen as the legislative partyleader. This is the monsoonsession and also the last before Assembly polls. We
need to be united and aggressive, but we do not knowwho is going to be our leaderinside the House,” said aCongress MLA, on conditionof anonymity.
Former Chief MinisterPrithviraj Chavan, seniorCongressman BalasahebThorat, Vidarbha’s leader Vijay Vadettiwar are few of thenames which are makingrounds in the Congress circles. However, no decisionhas yet been taken. Maharashtra Pradesh CongressCommittee president AshokChavan too had off��ered hisresignation following theparty’s loss in Lok Sabhaelections. That issue too hasnot been decided yet.
Monsoon session set to begin,Cong. has no leader in AssemblyThis will be last session of the House before elections are held later this year
Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil’sresignation triggered thecrisis. * FILE PHOTO
Alok Deshpande
Mumbai
Union Minister of State forDefence Shripad Naik onWednesday appeared beforePanaji Judicial MagistrateFirst Class ( JMFC) Artikumari Naik as a witness in acheating case fi��led againsthis alleged former staff�� Vinod Desai. In his depositionhe denied that Mr. Desai wasever his staff��er.
In November 2018, oneMervin Fernandes had initiated criminal proceedingsagainst Vinod Desai after being duped on the promise ofa government job. His lawyerAires Rodrigues submitted incourt that Mr. Desai, a resident of Old Goa, whilefl��aunting his connectionwith politicians had dupedhundreds of job seekers.
On being summoned bythe JMFC to testify and givematerial evidence on whathe knew about the case, Mr.Naik said on Wednesday thathe has known the accusedfor the last 10 to 15 years andhe also sometimes used to visit his house. However, Mr.Naik said, Mr. Desai was never employed by him thoughhis father worked for him.He further testifi��ed that hisoffi��ce on September 26 lastyear had written to the OldGoa police station that Mr.Desai was not on their staff��.
But another witness Sripad Bhosle in whose presence Mr. Fernandes hadpaid Mr. Desai the ₹��2 lakh,testifi��ed to the contrary andsaid Mr. Desai was workingat Mr. Naik’s Sao Pedro residence in North Goa.
Desai not my employee,says Shripad Naik in court He was testifying in cheating case
Special Correspondent
Panaji
Giant waves crash on the Donapaula jetty in Goa, on Wednesday afternoon. The jetty has beenclosed for tourists after being declared unsafe by the State government. * ATISH POMBURFEKAR
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Riding a wave
The Goa unit BJP presidentVinay Tendulkar claimedon Wednesday that 10 Congress MLAs had approached them to mergetheir legislative unit, but itwas rejected.
Mr. Tendulkar dismissedas “baseless” the allegations made by Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar that “money andministership” were off��eredto these MLAs.
“From our side, we donot want to destabilise anyparty. The 23 MLAs we haveare enough to run the party. Earlier, 10 CongressMLAs had come to mergethe party with the BJP. Butthe Central leadership rejected the plan. We clearlysaid no,” he told the press.
‘10 Cong. MLAswanted to joinBJP in Goa’
Special Correspondent
Panaji
A Pune police team on Wednesday searched the residence of human rights activist Father Stan Swamy inRanchi in connection withthe Bhima KoregaonElgaarParishad case and for his alleged Maoist links. This wasthe second time the city police raided his house in Ranchi’s Namkum area.
While electronic devices,including a hard disk andsome other materials, wereseized, the 83yearold activist was not taken in custody.
The Pune police were assisted by the Ranchi police inthe search that lasted nearlythree hours, said sources.
Ashutosh Sekhar, Superintendent of Police, Ranchi(Rural), told The Hindu,
“The search began after 7a.m. and lasted nearly two
andahalf to three hours.The Maharashtra policeteam took some electronicmaterial and some documents. They will examinethis material and decide onthe future course of action.”
Raids were conducted bythe police at Fr. Swamy’s residence on August 28 last
along with that of six otheracademics and activistsknown for their dissentiousviews against the powersthat be.
Assistant Commissionerof Police (Swargate division)Shivaji Pawar, the investigating offi��cer in the case, toldThe Hindu that the police
seized some electronic devices and other material fromFr. Swamy’s house. “We havenot taken him into custody.We conducted this operationfor gathering more evidenceas a part of the ongoing investigation in the case. Thematerials seized will be sentfor probe,” he said.
Fr. Swamy runs a schoolfor Adivasi children and atechnical training institute inhis residential premises. Avocal critic of the Jharkhandgovernment, he is known forhis work among the tribalpeople of the State throughhis NGO, Bagaicha.
In 2016, he released an expose following a Jharkhandundertrials’ study, whichshowed that an overwhelming majority of the tribal people languishing in jails werefalsely implicated and arrested for daring to protest.
Pune police raid Fr. Stan Swamy’s Ranchi home Action is in connection with Bhima Koregaon-Elgaar Parishad case
An accused in Bhima Koregaon case being produced in court inPune. * FILE PHOTO
Shoumojit Banerjee
Pune
CMYK
A ND-NDE
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DELHI THE HINDU
THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 20198EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
SOUTH
In a surprise move, the Karnataka government on Wednesday announced that money towards farm loanaccounts, which qualify under the ambitious farm loanwaiver scheme in commercial banks, would be released in one go, thus completing the entire process.
In total, the scheme hasbenefi��ted 28.48 lakh farmers, including 9.8 lakh incommercial segment.
The announcement is adeparture from the decisionto pay the amount in four instalments when the schemewas launched in 2018. Of theestimated ₹��8,550 crore required to fund various typesof loan accounts in commercial banks, the governmenthas already released ₹��3,930
crore towards 7.49 lakhaccounts.
Ready for disbursalThe announcement wouldmean that the governmentwill have to release about₹��4,620 crore to complete thewaiver process in commercial banks, of which about₹��1,219 crore is ready for disbursal. Net amount to be re
leased by the governmentwould be ₹��3,397 crore. In thecooperative sector, the farmloan waiver is almost complete with the governmentreleasing ₹��8,759 crore towards loan accounts of 18.70lakh farmers.
Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who has come under attack by the Oppositionover the delay in payment ofmoney to loan accounts overthe last few months, took toTwitter on Wednesday tomake the announcement.
This move is set to benefi��tthose farmers with regularloans, restructured loans,and loans that are overdue incommercial banksimmediately.
The government, however, said that the decision onwaiver of NPA loans and payment of interest on such
loans from January 1, 2018,would be notifi��ed later.
The Janata Dal (S)Congress coalition governmenthad earmarked ₹��6,500 croretowards the loan waiver inthe 20182019 Budget. Mr.Kumaraswamy in his Budgetpresented for the fi��nancialyear 20192020 earlier in February had earmarked₹��6,500 crore and ₹��6,150crore for commercial bankand cooperative sector loanwaiver, respectively.
Though Mr. Kumaraswamy had indicated earlier thatthe loan waiver could becompleted much before thescheduled four instalments,the decision came after reports emerged that nearly14,000 farmers, ineligiblefor the farm loan, had beenpaid due to errors committed by banks.
Karnataka announces waiver ofcommercial farm loans in one go The decision will bring immediate relief to 9.8 lakh farmers across the State
Special Correspondent
Bengaluru
H.D. Kumaraswamy
Chandrayaan2, India’s second Moon mission, will belaunched on July 15, IndianSpace Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Sivan announced on Wednesday. Chandrayaan1 missionwas launched about 10 yearsago.
Chandrayaan2, whichwill be launched at 2.51 a.m.from Sriharikota, includes alander and a rover for thefi��rst time in an Indian spacemission. The moon landingis planned for September 6or 7. The spacecraft, with amass of 3.8 tonnes, has anorbiter, the lander (Vikram)and the rover (Pragyan).
The mission costs ₹��603crore for the spacecraft system and ₹��375 crore for thelauncher, a GSLVMKIII. Thelander and the rover willhave the Tricolour paintedon them. The Ashoka Chakra will be imprinted on therover’s wheels.
The orbiter, with scientific payloads, would goaround the Moon. The lander would softland on theMoon at a predeterminedsite and deploy the rover. Instruments on the lander andthe rover would also carryout scientifi��c experiments,the ISRO said.
The scientifi��c payloadsare expected to performmineralogical and elemental
studies of the lunar surface.The orbiter and the lan
der would be interfaced mechanically and stacked together as an integratedmodule and accommodatedinside the GSLV MKIII. Therover is housed inside thelander.
After the launch into anearthbound orbit by GSLVMKIII, the integrated module would reach the Moonorbit using the orbiter propulsion module, and subsequently, the lander wouldseparate from the orbiterand softland at the predetermined site, close to the lunar South Pole. The roverwould then roll out, the ISRO said.
Chandrayaan-2 to be launchedon July 15 from Sriharikota: ISROIt is India’s second mission to the Moon, says K. Sivan
Madhumathi D.S
Bengaluru
Gearing up: Scientists working on the orbiter vehicle and lander of Chandrayaan-2 at theISRO’s satellite integration and testing facility, in Bengaluru on Wednesday. * K. MURALI KUMAR
Jagan back in A.P.Assembly after 2 yearsAMARAVATI
Andhra Pradesh Chief
Minister and YSR Congress
Party president Y.S. Jagan
Mohan Reddy returned to the
Andhra Pradesh Legislative
Assembly after nearly two
years. The YSR Congress
Legislature Party at a
meeting on October 25, 2017,
decided to boycott the
Assembly to protest against
the Speaker’s inaction against
20 MLAs who were elected
on the YSRCP ticket but
crossed over to the TDP. He
set foot in the Assembly only
after his party won 151 of the
175 seats and he became the
Chief Minister.
IN BRIEF
Seven IMA directorssurrender before policeBENGALURU
Hours before the SIT was
formed to probe the multi-
crore Ponzi scam, with
thousands of investors
alleging that they had been
cheated by the IMA Group,
the police on Wednesday
arrested seven directors of
the company. The accused —
Ahmed, Arshad Khan,
Nizamuddin, Nasir Hussain,
Anwar Pasha, Waseem and
Dadapeer — who were on the
run, surrendered before the
police. However, MD and CEO
of the company, Mohammed
Mansoor Khan, is still at large.
Gaffe over consent lettersfor medical collegesTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM
The Kerala government
landed itself in trouble on
Wednesday after it issued
consent letters to
self-financing medical
colleges to apply for an
increase in MBBS seats for
implementing reservation for
the economically weaker
sections (EWS), only to nullify
them later after realising
that the scheme was
applicable to government
medical colleges alone.
Coastal areas across Keralahave been put on alert withthe India Meteorological Department (IMD) warning thathigh waves are expected tolash the State coast till Thursday night.
The forecast is valid forthe coastal stretch from Pozhiyoor in Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod till 9.30p.m. on Thursday. Waves ashigh as 2.5 to 3.3 metres arelikely to lash the coast, according to the IMD.
Vayu cycloneFishermen have been advised not to venture into thesea as strong winds are blowing from a westerly direction
along the Kerala and Karnataka coasts with the ‘VerySevere Cyclone’ Vayu moving on a northnorthwesterlypath in the Arabian Sea.While Kerala is not in the
path of the cyclone, sea conditions are expected to remain rough for the next fewdays. “Strong winds from awesterly direction speedreaching 3545 kmph gusting
to 50 kmph are likely alongand off�� Kerala coasts,” theIMD said in an advisory.
Meanwhile, Kerala is likelyto receive widespread rainfall on Thursday. The IMD
has issued an orange alert forMalappuram for Thursday,indicating the possibility ofheavy to very heavy rainfall.Yellow alerts indicative ofisolated heavy rainfall havebeen issued for Alappuzha,Ernakulam, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod forThursday.
Hundreds evacuatedIn Malappuram, dozens ofhouses along the coast ofPonnani and adjacent areaswere damaged as ArabianSea ate into the coast at places where the seawalls weremissing.
Hundreds of people livingalong the coast at Aliyarpalli,Marakkadavu, Murinjazhi,Puthuponnani, Azhikkal, Veliyankode, Thannithura, Palappetty and Kappirikkadevacuated their houses following threat of sea erosion.In Ernakulam, the situationin the coastal village of Chellanam continues to be grim.
High waves to lash Kerala, says Met Dept. Coastal areas puton alert; seaerosion triggersevacuation
Breaking barriers: Waves break over the seawall near the Subramania Swamy Temple inThiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. * S. GOPAKUMAR
Special Correspondent
THIRUVANANTHAPURAMPeople in at least 18 stationsacross Andhra Pradesh reported heatwave and severeheatwave conditions onWednesday, according to theIndia Meteorological Department.
The A.P. Weather Forecasting and Research Centre(AWARE) attributes the intensifying temperatures totransposition of moisturefrom high pressure to lowpressure area following Vayucyclone.
The IMD weather stationsin Tuni of East Godavari andMachilipatnam of Krishnadistricts registered a departure of 6.4° Celsius from normal and maximum temperature hovered around 43.2°
Celsius and 42.2° Celsius respectively. Bapatla and Jangamaheswara Puram in Guntur, Kakinada in EastGodavari, Kavali in Nellore,Narsapur in West Godavariand Vijayawada in Krishnadistricts also experiencedheatwave conditions.
Laxminarasampet mandal of Srikakulam district registered the State’s highestmaximum temperature at46.6° Celsius, according to areport by the A.P. State Disaster Management Authority. It is followed by Devarapalle of West Godavari at46.2° Celsius.
While some mandals insix districts including Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam,West Godavari, Krishna,Guntur and Prakasam regis
tered more than 45° Celsiusof maximum temperature,some other mandals in Guntur, Visakhapatnam, Krishnaand Nellore received verylight to moderate rainfall.
Thunderstorms likelyThe State, particularly in thedistricts of Coastal Andhraregion, is most likely to witness similar weather conditions during the next fourdays. The IMD, in its forecast, warned of very likelyheatwave condition at isolated pockets over Yanam, EastGodavari, West Godavari,Krishna, Guntur, Prakasamand Nellore districts.
Also, thunderstorms withgusty winds and lightningare very likely in pockets ofthe Coastal Andhra region.
Cyclone in Gujarat triggers aheatwave in Andhra PradeshSimilar weather condition to prevail for the next four days
Staff Reporter
VIJAYAWADA
The 12 Congress MLAs whodefected to the TelanganaRashtra Samithi (TRS) havethreatened to fi��le defamation cases against TelanganaCongress leaders who arecriticising them for crossingover to the ruling party.
At a press conference atthe TRS Legislature Party(TRSLP) offi��ce here on Wednesday, the MLAs claimedthat the merger of CLP withthe TRSLP was legal and asper Constitutional provisions. The Congress leaderstargeting them should beready to face defamationcases for characterassassination.
“We did not join the TRSindividually, but had expressed our wish to leave theCongress and then join theTRS. We met as a group anddecided to leave the partyonly on June 6 and we in
formed the Assembly Speaker. He released the bulletinrespecting our views as wecomprised twothirds of theexisting Congress MLAs,”said Rega Kantha Rao andGandra VenkatramanaReddy.
Mr. Kantha Rao said thegroup also met Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao
and requested him to admitthem into the party. He refuted allegations that theywere lured with money andcontracts.
Mr. Venkatramana Reddysaid they were not buff��aloesor sheep to be purchased orkids to be threatened. “Infact, our decision has beenapproved by the people, gi
ven the results in the localbody elections,” he claimed.
The MLAs also targetedthe TPCC leadership, including its president N. UttamKumar Reddy, and CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka, sayingpeople had lost faith in theirleadership and the cadrewas deserting the party.
Taking objection to thesevere criticism against bythe BJP, Mr. Reddy said evenPrime Minister NarendraModi had openly claimedsupport of 40 TMC MLAs inWest Bengal. Some of themjoined the BJP after the elections. Recently two MLAs ofMaharashtrawadi GomantakParty joined the BJP in Goa.
The BJP leadership in Telangana should explain themergers in Goa and Tripuraand defections in Bengal.“Our decision is as per theConstitution and there wasno need for resignations,”they said in reply to a query.
Defected MLAs warn Congress leaders Our merger with TRS is legal, be ready to face defamation cases, they say
Special Correspondent
Hyderabad
The Telangana High Courtdirected on Wednesday thatnotice be served onTelangana AssemblySpeaker, the ElectionCommission of India (ECI)and the LegislatureSecretariat on a writpetition challenging therecent merger of theCongress Legislature Party
with the Telangana RashtraSamithi Legislature Party inthe Assembly.
Tagging this writ petitionfi��led by Congress MLA MalluBhatti Vikramarka and MPN. Uttam Kumar Reddy withtwo others, a DivisionBench posted the matter forhearing after four weeks.The 12 Congress MLAs whojoined the ruling TRS wouldalso be served notice.
HC notice to MLAs, SpeakerSpecial correspondent
HYDERABAD
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
The Kerala Open University(KOU), which has been proposed along the lines of theIndira Gandhi National OpenUniversity (IGNOU), willcome into being from the202021 academic year.
J. Prabash, Special Offi��cer,KOU, submitted his report ofprospective guidelines toHigher Education MinisterK.T. Jaleel on Wednesday.
The open university willenable the government tobring all distance educationand private registration programmes under one roof.
While admissions to distance education courses willbe conducted by the respective varsities this year, the
process will be undertakenunder the aegis of the KOUfrom the next academic year.
The existing distance education facilities of the univer
sities will also become regional centres of the KOU.
Dr. Jaleel said the endeavour would not entail fi��nancial burden on the exche
quer with the existingdistance education centresto be utilised for conductingclasses under the KOU.
Moreover, laboratoriesand other facilities of government and aided collegeswould be utilised.
Yet to identifl��y location The government was yet toidentify a location for settingup the university headquarters. The proposed university, which will off��er coursesin science and humanities,will ensure priority to vocational and skill developmentcourses.
Besides the conventionalcourses, the university willalso off��er massive open online courses.
Kerala to have its own open universityAll distance education, private registration programmes will come under one roof
Staff Reporter
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
The journey of food involvesinsect pollinators for 75% ofcrops, but what cues makethem pick specifi��c fl��owers?
Researchers from theNational Centre forBiological Sciences (NCBS)here, who have copublished a study on whypollinators prefer somefl��owers over others, areturning to art to take theirinquiry further.
Recent studies point to analarming decline in insectpopulations, making thestudy important.
The scientists haveteamed up with the ThomasPausz Studio in an ‘artasscience’ project that utilisesart and design knowledge.This, they say, will helpthem develop better ways toattract dwindling pollinator
populations. Their work iscurrently on display at theVictoria and Albert Museum(V&A) in London.
Colour or shape?Researchers from UppsalaUniversity in Sweden,Flinders University inAustralia and NCBS,Bengaluru, looked at thepreferences of pollinatorsacross continents.
“We studied hoverfl��ies,
highly prolifi��c pollinatorsfound on every continentexcept Antarctica. Wereplicated cues from fl��owers— colour, shape, size, odour— in the form of artifi��cialfl��ower lures,” said ShannonOlsson from NCBS.
The team found somelures were attractive tohoverfl��ies only in certainenvironments, but there wasone fl��ower lure that wasattractive everywhere.
“This was exciting as itsuggested the possibility of auniversal lure. We didn’tknow which cues wereimportant – colour, odour,shape, or more,” she said.
Paper, fi��lms, UV lightThe researchers approachedartist Thomas Pausz atSrishti Institute of Art,Design and Technology tocreate the nonfl��ower. “Totranslate ideas, we usedpaper, fi��lms and UV light,”he said. The result is six‘nonfl��ower’ artefacts onshow at the V&A alongsideVirtual Reality fi��lms basedon fractal geometries. “Thestructures echo scientists’fi��ndings — pollinators preferfl��owers with many edges,”said Mr. Pausz.
The actual artefacts wererealised using a 3D printingmachine.
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A nonfl��ower, but just as bright for insects
K.C. Deepika
Bengaluru
Bengaluru researchers use art to study pollinators, show results at London’s museum
Unconventional fl��owers: Artefacts made using a 3D printerto study the preferences of insects. * THOMAS PAUSZ
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THE HINDU DELHI
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CMYK
NATION
Two sisters raped at gunpoint in U.P.MUZAFFARNAGAR
Two minor girls were
allegedly raped by four men
at gunpoint on Tuesday
evening, police said. The men
have been booked and efforts
are underway to nab the
accused, Alok Sharma, S.P.
(rural), said. PTI
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed 40 teams along thecoastal areas of Gujarat andthe union territory of Diuahead of the anticipatedlandfall on Thursday afternoon of the severe cyclonicstorm Vayu.
Apart from the NDRF, thegovernment has also deployed the SDRF and otheragencies while the Army, AirForce and the Navy havebeen put on standby for rescue operations along thecoastal districts in Saurashtra. The Coast Guard has alsodeployed ships and aircraftto enable search and rescueoperations.
NCMC review
Union Home Secretary RajivGauba chaired a meeting ofthe National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC)where preparation for reliefand rescue operations werediscussed.
More than 2.5 lakh peoplehave been relocated fromthe aff��ected coastal areas tosafer locations in more than2000 shelters.
“It is expected at presentthat the impact of cyclonewill start being felt from the
midnight on Wednesday.The intensity of the cycloneis seen increasing. As a precaution, the government isshifting the citizens so thatwe can achieve our aim of zero casualties. Food packetsand medical aid is being provided,” Chief Minister VijayRupani said addressing themedia on Wednesday.
After making the landfall,the cyclone is likely to movealong and parallel to the Saurashtra and Kutch coast, theIndia Meteorological Department has said.
Ahead of the cyclone, thegovernment has suspendedfl��ight operations in all air
ports in Saurashtra, cancelled or short terminatedtrains and also halted operations at the ports where signal 9 has been hoisted.
“Thirty six teams havebeen prepositioned/deployed at Kutch, Morbi, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Dwarka, Porbandar, Gir Somnath,Amreli, Junagarh, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Valsad, Suratand Gandhinagar, while fourteams have been prepositioned at Diu for prompt response,” an NDRF releasesaid.
“In addition, six teamseach are being airlifted fromPatna airport and INS Rajali
to Gujarat. This will raise thenumber of teams to 52 — 47in Gujarat and 5 in Diu for assisting the local administration” it added.
All pilgrim places including Somnath, Dwarka andschools and colleges havebeen closed.
A total of ten columns ofthe Army each having astrength of about 70 personshave been deployed in Jamnagar, Gir, Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Somnath,Morbi, Bhavnagar, Rajkotand Amreli, while another 24columns have been put onstandby to carry out rescueand relief operations
2.5 lakh shifted ahead of Vayu landfallArmed forces, NDRF brace for the cyclone; Union Home Secretary chairs meeting of crisis managers
special correspondent
AHMEDABAD
Red alert: Waves crashing against the coast at a fi��shing harbour ahead of the expected landfallof Cyclone Vayu at Veraval in Gujarat on Wednesday. * REUTERS
The Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation(DRDO) on Wednesday conducted the test of an indigenously developed Hypersonic TechnologyDemonstrator Vehicle(HSTDV) along with severalcritical technologies.
“The DRDO launched atechnology demonstratorvehicle to prove a number ofcritical technologies for futuristic missions from DrAbdul Kalam Island off�� thecoast of Odisha,” the Ministry of Defence (MoD) saidwithout identifying what thetechnology demonstratorwas or if it met the objectives. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh witnessed thelaunch.
The missile was successfully launched at 1127 hoursand it was tracked by various radars, telemetry stations and electro opticaltracking sensors through itscourse, the MoD added.
The test was undertakento validate several technologies including the HSTDV, aDefence source said. “Sometechnologies have been validated while some remained
inconclusive of which thedata is being analysed,” thesource added.
In the test, a missile withthe technology demonstrator vehicle mounted on it islaunched and the vehicle isreleased only after the missile reaches a certain altitude and velocity, one offi��cial explained.
Former DRDO Chief V.K.Saraswat had said in 2008,as the Chief Controller, Rand D (Missiles and StrategicSystems), that through theHSTDV project the idea wasto demonstrate the “performance of a scramjet engineat an altitude of 15 km to 20km, is on”.
“Under this project, weare developing a hypersonicvehicle that will be poweredby a scramjet engine. Thisis dualuse technology,which when developed, willhave multiple civilian applications. It can be used forlaunching satellites at lowcost. It will also be availablefor longrange cruise missiles of the future,” he hadstated.
In scramjet technology,fuel combustion takes placein a chamber in the missileat supersonic speeds.
HSTDV will have multiple civilian use
Dinakar Peri
NEW DELHI
DRDO tests techdemonstrator
Mi17 and Advanced LightHelicopters airdropped 15mountaineers on Wednesday at a navigable point closest to the site of the IndianAir Force’s (IAF) Antonov32transport aircraft crash inArunachal Pradesh on June3.
Nine of the mountaineersare from the IAF and fourfrom the Army. Two are civilians. Offi��cials said the wellequipped team of 15 campedovernight at the drop sitedue to the diffi��cult terrainand weather. It would try toclose in on the crash site andlook for survivors onThursday.
“The helicopters operatedfrom Aalo [headquarters ofthe West Siang district ofArunachal Pradesh] and other bases,” said Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh,
IAF’s spokesperson based inMeghalaya’s capital Shillong.
An IAF chopper had onTuesday located the crash atLipo, about 16 km northeastof Tato, headquarters ofAruanchal Pradesh’s ShiYomi district. The site is closeto Gatte village in the adjoining Siang district.
ShiYomi and Siang dis
trict offi��cials said it couldtake a few days to reach thecrash site because the mountains are steep — Lipo isabout 12,000 ft above meansea level. Besides, the nearest MoloKaying road waswashed away after rainfallon June 9, they said.
Siang’s Deputy Commissioner Rajeev Takuk said fi��ve
local mountaineers andsome villagers and huntershad been roped in for thesearch and rescue operation.The mountaineers includedtwo Everesters — Taka Tamutand Kison Tekseng. Theyhad followed the fl��ight pathof the AN32 before it lostcontact with the ground control over Payum circle ofSiang district. “
They scouted the western,southern and eastern partsin vain and were sent to thenorthern region [toward Lipo],” Mr. Takuk said.
Besides, the district authorities had engaged a largenumber of scouts for a dailyfee of ₹��800 each to locatethe aircraft.
The AN32 aircraft was going from Jorhat to the Mechuka Advanced LandingGround near the border, onJune 3, when it lost contactwith the ground staff��.
Mountaineers airdropped near AN32crash site for search, rescue operations Nine are from the Air Force and four from the Army; two are civilians
The team that was airdropped. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
GUWAHATI
In the wake of 11 deaths between January and June 8 thisyear in Bihar due to AcuteEncephalitis Syndrome(AES) against 48 reportedcases, the Union government has deployed a multispeciality team to take stockof the situation in the State.
“The team, which arrivedon Wednesday, will reviewthe surge in cases of encephalopathy/ encephalitisand assist the State in containment/ control operations. This is in addition to aCentral team that is alreadyin Muzaff��arpur. They will also visit various hospitals toassess the situation and support the State government,’’said a senior Union HealthMinistry offi��cial.
The State has registered arise in cases of AES in Muzaffarpur and Japanese Encephalitis ( JE) in Gaya.
The Central team consists
of offi��cials from the NationalCentre for Disease Control,the All India Institute ofMedical Sciences and the National Vector Borne DiseaseControl Programme, amongothers.
“Currently, Sri KrishnaMedical College and hospitalin Muzaff��arpur has 22 admit
ted cases of fever, hypoglycaemia and unconsciousness. The Health Ministry iscoordinating with the Ministry of Women and Child Development for distributionof nutritious food with glucose in the meals to preventdevelopment of AES,’’ says aMinistry release.
Central teams arrive to fi��ghtencephalitis surge in BiharSpecial Correspondent
NEW DELHI
The Indian Navy is hosting amaritime information sharing workshop under the aegis of the Information Fusion Centre – Indian OceanRegion (IFCIOR) atGurugram.
Over 41 delegates from 29countries of the IOR are participating in the twodayevent which was inaugurated by Deputy Chief of NavalStaff��, ViceAdmiral MS Pawar on Wednesday.
“In the course of twodays, the workshop aims to
acquaint participants aboutIFCIOR and its informationsharing mechanisms andpromote sharing of bestpractices in this fi��eld,” theNavy said in a statement.This aims to yield better response to the myriad security and safety challenges thatIOR faces, it added.
Issues such as maritimeterrorism, piracy, humanand drug traffi��cking, humanitarian assistance aswell as disaster relief andthe legal perspective ofcombating these challengeswould be looked into.
Navy hosts informationsharing workshopSpecial Correspondent
NEW DELHI
The continuing presence ofchild labour in the country isa refl��ection of the fact thatimplementation of the lawsat the State and district levels has been lacking, a topoffi��cial of the Union Labourand Employment Ministrysaid on Wednesday.
Though the number ofchildren engaged in labourhad come down to 10.1 million, or 1.01 crore, according
to the 2011 Census, from 1.26crore in the 2001 census,there was still a lot to bedone to end the scourge,said Labour and Employment Secretary Heeralal Samariya on the occasion of
World Day Against ChildLabour.
“Everything is in place,but if we still have child labour, it means that somewhere we are not implementingor enforcing at the fi��eld le
vel... somewhere we are failing in enforcing the laws. Ithas to percolate down,” heasserted.
“It is the time to act. At thedelivery point, the districtand State level, they have alot to do,” he said.
Speaking at the event, International Labour Organisation (ILO) Director for IndiaDagmar Walter said Indiahad ratifi��ed conventions prescribing minimum age foremployment (14 years in developing countries) and employment in hazardous conditions (18 years).
Ms. Walter stressed theneed for a targeted approachto combat the problem.
‘Enforcement of child labour laws lacking’Time to act, says Labour Secretary
special correspondent
NOIDA
A girl working at a chilli packaging unit in Nagpur.
Two more children died onWednesday in Bihar’sMuzaff��arpur district, whichis reeling under anoutbreak of AcuteEncephalitis Syndrome(AES) or brain fever, takingthe toll to 43. However, atop State health offi��cialmaintained that the deathswere caused by
hypoglycemia and not AES.Hypoglycemia causes
abnormally lowlevels ofsugar in the blood or adefi��ciency of sodium orpotassium in the body.
The Muzaff��arpuradministration said twochildren died at the SriKrishna Hospital here onWednesday, where 117 casesof AES have been reportedsince June 1.
Two more children die inMuzaff��arpur; toll hits 43 Press Trust of India
Muzaffarpur
Chinese boats grantedshelter at Ratnagiri port MUMBAI
India has granted special
permission to 10 Chinese
boats to enter its waters and
dock at Ratnagiri port with
Cyclone Vayu expected to
make landfall on the western
coast on Thursday. The Coast
Guard followed protocol and
provided shelter to the boats.
A Coast Guard official
said,Coast Guard Inspector
General K.R. Suresh said it is
common practice for vessels
to seek shelter at ports in
nearby countries during a
calamity.
AAI to suspend flights at 5 Gujarat airports NEW DELHI
The Airports Authority of
India on Wednesday
announced that flight
operations will remain
suspended at five airports in
Gujarat for 24 hours from
midnight Wednesday in order
to minimise the damage to
airport infrastructure and to
avoid inconvenience to
passengers due to Cyclone
Vayu. Flight operations will
remain suspended in
Porbandar, Diu, Bhavnagar,
Keshod and Kandla airports,
the Airports Authority of India
(AAI) said. PTI
CBI conducts raids inillegal mining caseNEW DELHI
The CBI on Wednesday
conducted searches at more
than 20 places, including
premises linked to former U.P.
Mining Minister Gayatri
Prajapati and former Lok
Sabha MP Ghanshyam
Anuragi, in connection with
alleged illegal mining of
minerals in Hamirpur district.
The National InvestigationAgency has arrested a 44yearold man, who arrivedat the Delhi airport fromDubai, in connection witha case linked to the bannedPakistanbased outfi��t FalahiInsaniyat Foundation(FIF).
The Agency said Mohammad Arif Ghulambashir Dharampuria, a residentof Valsad district in Gujarat, was evading examination and arrest for long anda look out circular hadbeen issued by the Agencyagainst him.
Terror funds
This is the fi��fth such arrestin the case related to receiving terror funds sent byFIF operators to their associates through hawala operators to further their nefarious activities to createunrest in India, the Agencysaid.
NIA arrestsaccused in FIFfunding case
Special Correspondent
New Delhi
High Court junksSterlite’s objection CHENNAI
The Madras HC on
Wednesday rejected all
objections raised by Vedanta
Limited to applications filed
by politicians and anti
Sterlite activists to include
them as respondents to the
company’s writ petition for
reopening its copper
smelting plant in
Thoothukudi.
IN BRIEF
On June 3, M. Annalaksmireceived an order from theMadurai Collector’s offi��ceconfi��rming her appointment as anganwadi workerin her village Valayapatti.Ms. Annalakshmi, a Scheduled Caste woman, appointed as a helper and acook at the anganwadicentre, was transferred toKilavaneri, a nearby villageby the district administration the next day.
“The caste Hindus of thevillage went to the ICDS of
fi��ce in Tirumangalam talukand said that their childrenwould never eat food prepared by an SC woman,” shesaid. The administration,fearing a backlash from thecaste Hindus, immediatelytransferred her to Kilavaneriand another SC appointeeM. Jyothilakshmi to Madhipanur. The latter, appointedas an anganwadi worker inthe same centre, used to supervise the cooking.
The people who complained said they the presence of the two women“would pollute the food.”
Caste Hindus say ‘no’ toDalit anganwadi workers Sanjana Ganesh
MADURAI
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CMYK
A ND-NDE
EDITORIAL
V. Sudarshan
Before the 2019 general election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the
problem in Jammu and Kashmirhas been kept confi��ned to “twoandahalf districts” and that thepanchayat polls (December 2018)were an indication of the enthusiasm in the State for democraticprocesses. It is surprising that hehas been able to make this claimunchallenged. No one asked himwhich sevenandahalf districts inthe Valley are shining examples ofa problem being satisfactorilysolved. It is a kind of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ syndrome. Given the nature of prime ministerial interviews, often minutely scripted andchoreographed, his advisers alsoseem to be suff��ering from this syndrome, characterised by a signifi��cant distortion of reality. The attempt to put off�� the Assemblyelections till after the Amarnathyatra is a piece of this distortion.
Beyond the lockdownConsider these developments inthe State. On April 4, over amonthandahalf after the Pulwa
ma attack (in February), an announcement was made that theNational Highway between Baramulla and Udhampur would beclosed to civilian traffi��c for twodays a week to facilitate convoymovements. It did not get the attention it deserved in the nationalmedia, but many security planners were aghast.
The highway is a lifeline for thelocal population, with many lateral roads and passes through morethan twoandahalf districts. Thearmed forces are so heavily deployed and the necessity for supplies and replenishments so constant that they use the roads morethan two days in a week. If the bannow stands lifted, it was because itis untenable.
A sense of alienationLike Alice in the Hall of Mirrors,Mr. Modi has presented us an illusion. He has slipped into the habitof telling various interviewers theoffi��cial version of the way peoplein J&K are warming up to elections. He told one: “You have seenthe peaceful manner in whichpanchayat elections (December2018) were conducted in the Valley. It has enthused us and shownthe love of common Kashmiris fordemocracy.” To another he pointed out: “Locallevel elections werenot held for many years in the Srinagar Valley. Earlier governmentswere obstructions. Right now we
have conducted elections; 75% ofthe polling took place and therewas not a single incident of violence. Hundreds of people werekilled in panchayat elections inWest Bengal, but there was not asingle incident in Kashmir. Areconditions bad in Bengal or inKashmir?”
The panchayat polls, held overas many as seven phases, weremarked by the absence of themainstream political parties suchas the Congress or the NationalConference or the Peoples Democratic Party. It is not prudent to interpret the enthusiasm here andproject it on to the Assembly elections.
A parsing of the panchayat pollfi��gures also shows a diff��erent reality, marked by astoundingly lowpolling in many wards, no representatives in hundreds of otherwards, overall something that was
reiterated more eff��ectively in theLok Sabha election.
In the parliamentary constituencies of Baramulla, Srinagarand Anantnag, voter turnoutdipped while in the Shopian andPulwama areas there was hardlyany enthusiasm. At dozens ofbooths no one turned out to vote,the most dismal voting fi��guressince the late 1980s. That’s how farback Mr. Modi’s policies have setthe clock. Not the best advertisement for a problem that is confi��ned merely to twoandahalfdistricts.
Worse, this low turnout was notthe result of separatists trying toenforce a boycott. All of the Hurriyat leaders have been taken out ofthe reckoning. As there was notmuch violence, militants were notout in strength in trying to intimidate people from voting. The people were simply not interested invoting. A great sense of alienationand a rejection of democratic process alone explains this abysmalturnout.
Arresting the driftThough the Prime Minister oftensays that he has taken the highroad of his predecessor Atal BihariVajpayee (recall the former PrimeMinister’s ‘Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat,Kashmiriyat’ formulation) there islittle evidence of this on theground and in the minds of Kashmiris. Only if the stage is set for an
early Assembly election can something be salvaged. By not holding Assembly elections soon, thetwoandahalf district problem isnot going to be halved. The bulk ofthe Indian Army is not deployed inWest Bengal because of some trifl��ing twoandahalf district problem. It is deployed in Kashmir. Ifthe problem was indeed so small,it should have been easy enough tohave held the Lok Sabha and theAssembly elections simultaneously in J&K. The results of the LokSabha election have confi��rmed thedeep political divisions.
Yet now is the time to hold Assembly elections. It is easy enoughto fi��nd reasons not to hold polls tillan option suitable to New Delhiemerges: it is easy enough to citethe “tourism season” and theAmarnath yatra to put off�� the decision till November, when the capital shifts to Jammu. And so on. Inthe 1990s, when Governor’s Rulewas imposed for nearly sevenyears, militancy soared. The longer the decision is put off��, themore young and educated people,who are already disillusioned withthe way things are going in thatarea, are going to drift towardsmilitancy. Now that the Prime Minister has made a conciliatorystart, he should extend the samesense of inclusiveness to the Kashmir Valley, and begin anew.
Back to Kashmir with an open heartAny delay in holding Assembly elections in the State will only deepen the sense of alienation
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more letters online:
www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/
In the heady fi��rst fl��ush of a newlyelected government, commentators often compose, as usual
ly unsolicited counsel, optimisticlists of what the governmentshould do in its fi��rst 100 days in offi��ce.
Ideologically-driven signalsI am in an entirely diff��erent frameof mind after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphatic victory inIndia’s 2019 midsummer election.Instead of optimism I experience amounting disquiet. This deepenswhen I observe Mr. Modi’s choicesfor India’s Home Minister and forthe Minister for Human ResourceDevelopment.
I worry when against a backdrop of violent cow vigilantism,Animal Husbandry and Dairying isseparated from the Ministry ofAgriculture and carved into a separate ministry stewarded by threeMinisters who have a history ofhate speech and hardline Hindutva politics.
The messaging is abundantlyclear. The signals are of a muchmore openly ideologicallydrivengovernment than even the fi��rst tenure of Mr. Modi, one determinedto advance its agenda of hardlinemajoritarianism at all costs. Thiswill play out variously in its approach to fraught questions suchas of citizenship, Kashmir, Hindutva terror, the Ram temple, and dissent. The government will feelmandated to rewrite history, deracinate leftliberal universities,abandon the scientifi��c temper, andamend cow protection laws to
make these more draconian.
A possible line of actionTherefore, my list here is diff��erent.It is of what I hope this government will not do, but intenselydread that it will. I do not fear thatthe letter of India’s Constitutionwill be changed. But what will betorn to fragments would be itspractice. I fear, fi��rst, an even morefrightening rise in hate speech;and the hate violence that this willinstigate and encourage. Lynchingshould not become an indeliblepart of the broken social contract,pushing Muslims further into underserviced ghettos transactingtheir lives in everyday dread.
I fear that the National Registerof Citizens (NRC) in Assam will manufacture statelessness at a scaleno country has known. There is nochance of Bangladesh acceptingthese socalled ‘stateless persons’;so, they will continue to live in Assam: some in concentration camplike detention centres, but moststripped of rights in local communities. This will create a Rohingyalike situation, with widespread social violence androutinised state repression. TheCitizenship (Amendment) Bill, ifpassed, will ensure that excludedBengali Hindus will be absorbed ascitizens, thereby barring only Muslims from citizenship. This willcreate a frightening cleavage between communities, reminiscent ofPartition, and will be the most decisive deathblow to the Constitution of which the centrepiece isthe idea of equal citizenship to people of every faith.
The suff��ering to millions of Assam’s most disadvantaged peopleswill then be spread to other partsof India, beginning with Bengal,where the lethal combination ofthe NRC and the Citizenship Billwill push many millions of India’sMuslims into the vortex of dread
about their futures as Indian citizens, crushed by merciless andpartisan state institutions.
Just as a spurious (and unconstitutional) link of citizenship withreligion would be created, anotherbogus link of religion with terrorcould be reestablished. All casesof Hindutva terror would be whitewashed and alleged perpetratorssuch as Pragya Thakur and killersof rationalists such as M.M. Kalburgi and progressive journalistssuch as Gauri Lankesh will befreed from any taint, and the arrest of Muslim youth for terror willmount once again.
The three Ministers who headthe newly created Animal Husbandry Ministry could design evenmore stringent laws against cowslaughter, with draconian punishments and the dilution of evidentiary standards. This would furtherencourage cow vigilante groups toextort and lynch Muslims and Dalits. Impoverished Muslim dairyfarmers such as in Mewat and Uttar Pradesh, will be forced to abandon dairying, but will fi��nd it hardto survive with any other livelihood. Dalits will struggle to lookfor work which does not requirethem to skin cattle. The agrarianeconomy will fl��ounder further.Tribal, Dalit and Muslim communities will lose access to their onlysource of cheap protein, as beefeating (and even eating meat of
buff��aloes) will become too highrisk an enterprise for poorcommunities.
The Kashmir Valley would burnwith an even more muscular militarist approach to protests. Butthese smouldering fi��res could explode into terminal explosions ofpublic rage if the Central government persists with its perilous resolve to abrogate Article 370 of theConstitution which accords a special status to Jammu and Kashmir,and Article 35A which fl��ows fromthis to enable it to sustain the demographic character of the State.
The Central government mayuse the pathway of legislation topave the way for the building of aRam temple in Ayodhya at the veryspot where the Babri Masjid wasdemolished. The communal triumphalism which would accompany this could lead to a rash ofantiMuslim violence in every corner of the country like a raging forestfi��re in a dry jungle, as in 1992after the demolition of the BabriMasjid.
A relook at historyThere could be a massive projectto rewrite textbooks countrywide,to plant the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS’s) version of history in literally millions of youngminds. Ancient India will becomea golden land in which every scientifi��c accomplishment of the 21stcentury was already anticipatedand achieved. Brahmanical violence against Dalits and Buddhistswill be airbrushed. Medieval Indiawill become homogenised as anera of unmitigated darkness, inwhich Muslim rulers oppressedtheir defenceless Hindu subjectsand subdued their religion andculture. India’s freedom strugglewill discover many unknown Hindutva patriots, and others like Sardar Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, andeven Mahatma Gandhi and B.R.
Ambedkar will be recast as Hindutva icons. Gandhiji’s lifelongstruggle for HinduMuslim unityand his assassination for this reason in the hands of a Hindutva ideologue will be erased from history.
Progressive thought and dissentin universities will die. Dissentingsocial movements and civil societyinstitutions will be starved offunds and criminalised. Every public institution including the higher civil services (through lateralentry), institutions such as theLokpal, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the National Investigation Agency, and even the judiciary will be packed with ideologicalsympathisers. Even the armedforces won’t remain unaff��ected.Labour, land acquisition and environmental laws and banking regulations will all be ‘reformed’ to benefi��t selected big business houses.The media will become even morepliant in its abject metamorphosisinto cheerleaders of the government, and its majoritarian andprobusiness policies.
We can debate the reasons whyso many Indian voters chose Mr.Modi. But there can be no doubtthat Mr. Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party view the mandate asone for consolidating the masterplan of the RSS — the ideologicalmentor of the BJP — and therebychanging India forever.
My wishlist for the new government, therefore, is not of what itshould do, but what it should notdo. If any or all of this is what thenew Narendra ModiAmit Shah government actually accomplishes,then the country we give our children will no longer be a place offreedom and justice, or even ordinary kindness. I have very littlehope, but I would be overjoyed if Iam proved wrong.
Harsh Mander is a human rights worker,
writer and teacher
A summary of fears and possibilities �� Why the Narendra Modi government should be cautious about a majoritarian agenda
Harsh Mander
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GDP over-estimationThe former Chief EconomicAdviser’s startlingrevelation (Page 1, June 12)that GDP fi��gures from201117 were overstated —when growth was actually4.5% — is a severeindictment of both the UPAand the NDA governments,but more the latter. Thiswas apparently done toshow that the economy wasdoing all right when thesituation was not as brightas it was made out to be.This fl��ies in the face of thegovernment trumpeting itsachievements and claimingthat the country was thefastest growing economy.The sour note is that theformer CEA took such along time to come out withthis when he should havedone so while in offi��ce.V. Padmanabhan,
Bengaluru
■ Mr. Subramanian’sargument needs to be
debated in order to come toan acceptable appraisal ofthe economy. In the recentpast, there has been debateon the methodology adoptedin estimating growth rate.Contradictory data relatingto the growth rate onlycreate confusion and erodeour confi��dence. Theunprecedented rise inunemployment, a fall inindustrial production andmanufacturing and thealarming issue of nonperforming assets can allaff��ect the growth engine. Thegovernment needs to takeappropriate policy measuresand in a transparent manner. V.V.K. Suresh,
Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
■ It is often said that if agroup of fi��ve economists gettogether, they will each comeout with six diff��erentopinions. Therefore, Mr.Subramanian’s “revelation”should not be a cause forsurprise. The irony is that
during his tenure as the CEA,he “failed” to notice thisirregularity. That such overestimation happened underthe watch of ManmohanSingh as Prime Minister —also an economist of repute— makes the issue moreintriguing. The commonman hardly understands thesignifi��cance of GDP to aneconomy, leave alone gettingto the roots of methodologyor changes in it to estimatethe GDP. It would be a pity ifhe is taken for granted andfed with imaginary fi��gures tomake him believe that we area buoyant economy. Anygovernment will only bewilling to project a rosypicture of the economy.However, the reputation andcredibility of economistswould be under stress if theyare inclined to tow the line ofthe government of the day,ignoring prescribed rules ofcomputing economic data,which is also an unethicalact. When there are such
variations advanced bydiff��erent economists, onewonders how the budgetedestimates would proveeff��ective in a large economysuch as India’s. Instead ofattempting to come up with adefence, the governmentwould do well to revisit thetenuous link between theestimate and reality.V. Subramanian,
Chennai
The classroom todayThe article, “Truth,technology and the teacher”(OpEd page, June 12), shouldbe read by all those who areinvolved in making thechildren of India responsibleand better citizens. Today,children, especially those ofimpressionable age, face adiffi��cult time sorting factfrom fi��ction. As for teachers,they are slowly becomingrobotic. Smart boards canprobably help supplement ateacher’s work but cannotmake him a smart teacher. It
who has to plan, decide anduse the most eff��ective tool inhis or her teaching.Unfortunately, teachers arebeing marginalised. Finally,even parents who alwaysdream of instant results asfar as their children areconcerned have more andcomplete faith in the ‘drillmaster’ in coaching centresthan the regular classroomteacher. A. Panneerselvam,
Puducherry
Great humoristIn the passing of “Crazy”Mohan, Tamil Nadu has losta redoubtable stage artist.His heart and soul wereembedded in theatre fi��rstand cinema second. His“clean humour”, a brandthat will be hard to replicate,struck a deep chord withfamilies. Mani Natarajan,
Chennai
is no surprise that childrenare unable to face the realworld, as wellgrounded andknowledgeable individuals.N. Nagarajan,
Secunderabad
■ There is a misconceptionthat educational technologyis the panacea for allshortcomings in theachievement of educationalgoals. Under this falsenotion, eff��ective teaching cansaid to be accomplishedthrough the use oftechnological gadgets, withmost private educationalinstitutions vying with oneanother in advertising their‘smart’ classrooms.No doubt technologicalgadgets such as radio,television, computer and theInternet can enhancelearning and be valuableadjuncts to the teacher. Butall these can onlysupplement a teacher’s workand cannot supplant him.Ultimately, it is the teacher
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.
India’s farsighted Right to Education Act is making
slow progress in mainstreaming equity, in the ab
sence of a strong political commitment in several
States. The proposal to extend its scope to younger chil
dren through early childhood education is, however,
wholly positive. The move suggested in the draft Na
tional Education Policy to put children three years and
older in a stimulating nursery environment is a wel
come logical measure. The pedagogical view is that the
preschool phase is crucial to stimulate a child’s curios
ity and help her prepare for schooling at age six. The
NEP proposal to infuse the existing child development
schemes, which are primarily nutritionoriented, with
a learning component is in line with this thinking on ho
listic development. An extension of the RTE would be a
big step forward, but in the absence of measures that
will deepen equity, the law cannot be transformative.
The Centre has to guarantee that in its totality, the Right
to Education will encompass all schools bar those cater
ing to minorities. This is necessary to achieve its moral
goal of bringing quality schooling to all in the 614 age
group; adding the early childhood section, now under
the Ministry of Women and Child Development, will
then be meaningful. Unfortunately, the evidence indi
cates that only 12.7% schools comply with the law’s re
quirements, and at the pace seen since RTE became law
in 2010, it will take decades to achieve full coverage.
Giving all children aged three and above the right to
an education can become a reality only if the state is
willing to live up to its promise of devoting more fi��nan
cial resources. An expenditure of 6% of GDP on educa
tion could have transformed the sector, given the large
wealth generated since economic liberalisation. But far
less is spent — for instance, 2.7% in 201718. The lost
years have cost millions a brighter future, but the draft
NEP provides an opportunity to make amends. Bring
ing more children into the formal stream needs a well
thoughtout road map. The Centre has to play a leader
ship role to ensure that States, some of which have
done a poor job of implementing the RTE Act, are per
suaded to implement urgent reform. The NEP’s propo
sal to have welldesigned school complexes, where pre
primary to secondary classes will be available, is in it
self an ambitious goal that will require missionmode
implementation. Shortcomings in anganwadi centres
must be addressed in the expansion plan. State govern
ments will have to fi��ll teacher vacancies and ensure that
the training of recruits is aligned to scientifi��c, child
oriented teaching methods. Education reform is vital to
prepare for a future in which cuttingedge skills will be
necessary for continued economic progress. Changes
to the RTE Act that will prepare all children for a more
productive schooling phase can help make India’s edu
cational system morally fair and more egalitarian.
Starting at threeExtending the right to education to younger
children would be a welcome step
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to
Male this month, his fi��rst trip abroad after his re
election, he delivered a speech rich in meaning
ful metaphors to the Maldivian Parliament. He referred
to the ties that bind India to the Maldives, and which
could be extended to other maritime neighbours in the
Indian Ocean as well. Pointing out that the waves that
wash the Indian shores are the same as those that reach
the shores of the Maldivian island chain, Mr. Modi
called them “messengers” of peace, friendship and
trust that exist between the two countries. Going
beyond geographical proximity, the speech spelt out
common interests in maritime cooperation, democra
cy, pluralism, climate change, and in battling the twin
scourges of terrorism and radicalisation. The agree
ments announced during the visit followed these
themes as well: including MoUs on hydrography coop
eration and sharing ‘white shipping’ information, and
India’s decision to fund a conservation project for
Male’s Friday Mosque built with coral in 1658. The
Prime Minister expressed a resolve for the common
fi��ght against terrorism and radicalisation, which he
called the “litmus test for today’s leadership”, and said
“state sponsorship of terrorism” remains the biggest
threat to all humanity today. On his next stop, for a few
hours in Colombo, he spelt out the same message, mak
ing a detour after landing to visit the St. Anthony’s
Shrine in Kochchikade, one of the sites of the Easter
Sunday terror attacks that left more than 250 dead.
Mr. Modi’s twin visits underlined several initiatives
that he had promoted in his fi��rst tenure, including his
commitment to “Neighbourhood First” and “Security
and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)” for the In
dian Ocean Region. Going forward, it is necessary to en
sure that these themes receive constant attention
through steady communication, and that relations are
not allowed to fray as they did in the fi��rst few years of
that tenure. The next imperative is the delivery of all
projects that India has committed to, on time and with
in the budgets estimated, an area where India’s reputa
tion has suff��ered in the past. Finally, Mr. Modi chose to
speak in Male about two important liberal values as
common causes: democracy, which he called the Mal
dives a “glowing example of”, and inclusiveness. He re
peated his motto, Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas aur Sabka
Vishwas (together with all, for the development of all
and with the trust of all), and his outreach to the mos
que in the Maldives and the church in Sri Lanka rein
forced the words. These words must be buttressed by
the power of example, as India’s neighbours will see
whether the same values that India hopes to see in its
neighbourhood are implemented within the country.
Values to live byPM Modi’s call for inclusiveness in the
Maldives and Sri Lanka is relevant in India too
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THE HINDU DELHI
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Arrangements are now being fi��nalised for the formation of anindustrial security force in the public sector industrial plantsin the country. Details of the force – including its strength, service conditions and fi��nancial implications – are being workedout by the Home and Finance Ministries in consultation withMinistries such as Steel and Heavy Engineering and IndustrialDevelopment and Company Aff��airs which are in charge of theunits concerned. It is expected that the force will start operating in the Durgapur steel plant in the fi��rst instance. Later it willextend its activities to cover other units. On a rough estimateinstallations in public sector units in the country excludingrailways and defence are worth about Rs. 5,000 crores. Theproposed force will be an allIndia force.
FIFTY YEARS AGO JUNE 13, 1969
Industrial security force for public sector plants
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FROM ARCHIVES
The Maharajah of Bikanir, Lord Pentland and a number of Indians were present in the Gallery today [of the House of Commons in London on May 4] when [Secretary of State for IndiaMr. Edwin] Montagu moved the second reading of the Government of India Bill. Mr. Montagu said: In discharging the highlyimportant task of which he fully realised the responsibility, hedesired to avoid entering into details of, the necessarily complicated and technical measure the series of elaborate documents, with which he had provided the House and which hewould assume the House had mastered, would obviate muchtechnical disquisition. Recalling the origin of the Bill, Mr. Montagu remarked that it was suggested in some quarters that theBill arose spontaneously in the minds of the Viceroy and himself, without previous enquiry or consideration under the infl��uence of Mr. Lionel Curtis.
A HUNDRED YEARS AGO JUNE 13, 1919.
Indian Reform Bill. Mr. Montagu’s Speech.
At the 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek,Kyrgyzstan, India will have to navigatebetween two contradictory imperatives. While on the one hand it must actas a willing partner of regional cooperation led by China and Russia, on theother it must avoid being seen as a partof the ‘antiAmerican gang’. It could also be seen as a paradox that India wantsto fi��ght against terrorism through a body that includes states that pose the biggest threats to Indian security.
Trade and terrorism In Bishkek, Russia and Central Asiancountries are likely to express “broadsupport” for China in its escalating tariff�� fi��ght against the U.S. India is equallyconcerned about this trade war, but it isunclear whether it will join the othersin slamming U.S. protectionism. NewDelhi is seemingly confi��dent of dealingwith the U.S. without necessarily supporting China. For Chinese President XiJinping, whipping up antiAmericanismserves to stave off�� mounting oppositionagainst his anticorruption campaignand concentration of power. It is alsonotable that all SCO members barringIndia are enthusiastic supporters of theBelt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The summit is likely to have a mutedagenda. SCO Secretary General Vladimir Norov has hinted at adopting documents to deepen multilateral cooperation and discussing nonconventionalissues such as the fi��ght against drugtraffi��cking, cooperation in IT, environmental protection and healthcare. Terrorism is likely to be approached fromthe angle of improving the situation inAfghanistan and not necessarily ofcurbing the terrorist elements emanating from Pakistan. China is sure to off��erits experiences of dealing with counterterrorism, and the deradicalisationmeasures it has taken in Xinjiang. China’s achievement in expanding its highspeed rail network to restive Xinjiangcomes with enormous economic andsecurity implications for Eurasia. Chinahas also enhanced its military projection capabilities to meet any potentialcrises beyond its western frontiers.
Kyrgyzstan is the latest to create an
international nearborder trade centrein Alai district bordering China. If theregional countries switch to adoptingthe Chinese railway track gauge of 1,435mm, then China will be successful inuniting Eurasia to challenge a unitedEurope. As the situation unfolds, Chinaand Russia are adopting a new era ofglobal strategic partnership. Where India fi��ts in is the question.
On the sidelines Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Xi on the sidelines ofthe summit will be critical, especially asMr. Modi is now being guided by hisnew External Aff��airs Minister. Thismeeting also comes after China’s decision to withdraw its technical hold onlisting JaisheMohammad chief MasoodAzhar as a global terrorist at the UnitedNations Security Council (UNSC). Thekey concern for the two leaders is theimpact of the U.S.China trade war, butjudging from the trends, both sidesseem to be gearing up for a big settlement of pending bilateral issues.
Mr. Modi’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is important tosave the S400 contract deal againstWashington’s mounting threat to actunder CAATSA. India and Russia havean ambitious economic agenda drawnup for 2019, and Mr. Putin might reiterate his invitation to Mr. Modi to be thechief guest at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September. Itwould be a good opportunity for Indiato explore Russia’s Far East region notjust for developing economic cooperation but also for exploring the prospects of transferring skilled labourersto off��set Chinese demographic threatsin the region. Russia is also keen that India joins the Arctic: Territory of Dialogue Forum.
India seems committed to work within the SCO to develop a ‘cooperativeand sustainable security’ framework, to
make the Regional AntiTerrorist Structure more eff��ective, and participate ineff��orts to bring about stability in Afghanistan. Even though the regional aspirations of Central Asian countriescontradict India’s goals, these countriesback India’s proposal for a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. Mr. Modi is certain to bring up India’s resolve to fi��ght terrorism bydrawing the SCO’s attention to the attacks in Pulwama and Sri Lanka. ButChina would not like India to use theSCO to name and shame Pakistan.
India may stick to its position on BRI,but accelerating progress on the International NorthSouth Transport Corridor, the Chabahar Port, the AshgabatAgreement and the IndiaMyanmarThailand Trilateral Highway should bevery much on the cards.
The Pakistan policyThe IndiaPakistan stalemate enduresbut the environment has changed a little since India’s air strikes in Balakot.Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khanhas been less belligerent, but whetherthe Pakistani military is taking toughermeasures to curb antiIndia terrorgroups is not known. Mr. Khan will haveto demonstrate clearly if he wants Mr.Modi to give diplomacy a chance shouldthey meet on the margins of the SCOmeet. Mr. Modi might chart a new policy course in favour of normalising ties,especially since India has scored a pointwith Masood Azhar being designated asa global terrorist at the UNSC.
Pakistan places high hopes on theSCO to regulate key regional security issues (Afghanistan and Kashmir) eventhough the SCO discourages bilateraldisputes to be raised. Its other agendawould be to sell the Gwadar Port as apotential passage to landlocked CentralAsian states, besides promoting theChinaPakistan Economic Corridor forregional economic integration and security cooperation.
To be sure, none of the institutionallevel measures including the joint SCOmilitary exercises have so far entailedany satisfactory results in jointly fi��ghting against terrorism. Nevertheless, theSCO is relevant for India to garner support for reforms of the UNSC to makethe latter more representative and effective. India has been lending supportto the member countries’ candidaturesfor nonpermanent membership of theUNSC for a long time.
Phunchok Stobdan served as India’s
Ambassador to the Republic of Kyrgyzstan
The regional aspirations of Central Asian countries contradict India’s goals
Navigations in Bishkek
P. Stobdan
PM Modi and President Xi Jinping on thesidelines of the SCO in China in 2018. * AP
The 2019 Lok Sabha election was undoubtedly a calculated rightist takeoverof the country; a victory so massive thatits magnitude was beyond the expectations of even some in the Sangh Parivar.
A well-oiled machineIt is important to acknowledge that thisvictory was no overnight incident. TheRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)and its various outfi��ts were working assiduously towards this from 2014.About 6,00,000 welltrained swayam-sevaks were deployed at the grassrootslevel. Social media was used to eff��ectively communicate the Sangh Parivar’smessage. Thousands of WhatsAppgroups worked overtime. A section ofthe print and visual media aided theRSS, its organisations and the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP). This wellthoughtout strategy and welloiled machineworked — sometimes visibly, sometimes invisibly — and carried the idea ofmajoritarian politics all over the country — to cities, towns and villages.
The Election Commission (EC) usesthe words ‘free and fair’ to talk aboutelections, but these words have become meaningless today. The EC wasbrought to its knees during this election. Money and muscle power alsoplayed a very big role in the BJP’s victory. Electoral bonds were seen as a wayof bringing accountability and transparency in political funding. But the useof electoral bonds has opened thedoors to corporate India to infl��uencethe political structure. It is estimatedthat the BJP was the biggest benefi��ciaryof the electoral bond scheme this time;it reportedly bagged 95% of the funds.
Social engineering was the favouritetheme in the 2014 election as well as in2019. This time, this theme was appliedat the micro level. Religion and castefactors were used in a very clever manner, while real issues like unemployment, price rise, the chaos caused bydemonetisation, the problems in implementing the Goods and Services Tax,and atrocities against Dalits and minorities were not discussed. History hasshown us that rulers who fail to fulfi��ltheir promises use war and pseudonationalism as their road to victory. This
was true of this election too. The BJP focussed on the air strikes carried out bythe Indian Air Force on Balakot as wellas on the 2016 surgical strikes. Questions about the Rafale deal were papered over in the name of nationalismand defence preparedness of the country. Truth was the biggest causality inan enormous propaganda warfare.
Disunited OppositionIt was against all this that the Opposition had to fi��ght. Ideologically, politically and organisationally, the BJP campwas well organised, whereas the Opposition camp was disunited. Even thoughalmost all Opposition parties, includingthe Congress, talked about the necessity to defeat the BJP, none of them tookthe fi��ght seriously on the battleground.Narrow partisan priorities and individual vanities overshadowed their electoral strategy. The Opposition partieswere not concerned about securing thefuture of secularism in India. That theBJP increased its vote share from 2014means that these Opposition partiesneed to seriously introspect. If theseparties had been united, they couldhave won the battle. But due to lack offoresight, they missed the bus.
The Communist Party of India (CPI)had put forth the idea of a broad platform of secular, democratic forces andhad campaigned for the same. But mostof the secular and democratic politicalparties failed to understand the signifi��cance of such a platform. The experience in Tamil Nadu, where the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam took acommendable position to forge an alliance of likeminded parties, has lessons for the democratic forces.
The call of the CPI for the ‘reunifi��cation of the Communist movement on aprincipled basis’ has special signifi��cance now. Communists accept withhumility that they are not such a bigforce to decide the destiny of the nation
singlehandedly. They are aware of theserious setback faced in this election.The CPI and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) together have only fi��veseats in the Lok Sabha, the lowest theyhave ever had in Parliament. Even incommunist strongholds, both partieslost miserably. Naturally they areobliged to look deep into the causes ofthis shameful defeat. Communists aredefi��nitely not going to give up theirstruggles because of this electoral debacle. They have to be in the thick ofthings in the days to come — in all themass struggles.
A glorious historyCommunists have ample reason to beproud of their glorious history of struggle and sacrifi��ce. It is the communistswho put forth the agenda of completeindependence before the freedommovement, for the fi��rst time. In free India, it is the communists who fought forthe cause of the oppressed in all walksof life. It is the communists who fi��rstraised the slogan of bank nationalisation and called for the end of PrivyPurse. It is the communists who foughtagainst separatist forces in Jammu andKashmir, and Punjab, for the unity ofIndia. Hundreds of communists weremartyred in those struggles. In Ayodhya, communists built the wall of lovefor communal harmony. Communistshave championed the cause of secularism wherever and whenever communal forces have come out to underminethe Indian concept of unity in diversity.In the ideological fi��ght against fascism,communists have always been in the forefront, even losing people like GovindPansare. This great movement whichwas built on the blood, sweat and tearsof the toiling masses cannot be broughtdown by an electoral defeat.
But the communist movement basedon the science of Marxism has no rightto close its eyes to the reasons for thissetback. Ideologically, politically andorganisationally it should introspectand it should do so keeping in mind aunifi��ed communist movement. Morethan fi��ve decades have passed since theIndian communist movement split. Thecommunists have fought diff��erently, theresult of which is now before everyoneto evaluate. At this juncture, the downtrodden who regard the red fl��ag as thefl��ag of hope urge all communist partiesto think seriously about reunifi��cation.
Binoy Viswam is the secretary of the CPI
National Council and Member of Parliament,
Rajya Sabha
A mix of all shades of red It is time for communist parties to start thinking seriously about reunifi��cation
S.
JA
ME
S
Binoy Viswam
We have lost all three ofthem: A.K. Ramanujan,U.R. Ananthamurthyand Girish Karnad.These were the threebrilliant thinkers andwriters of Karnataka.Now Karnad has joinedRamanujan and Ananthamurthy. They all acknowledged the infl��uence
they had on another. I wonder whether there are other such small groups of
writers in other States who are famous all over the world fortheir brilliance but who are also rooted in their own cultureand language. Even if there are, I haven’t noticed it. I haven’tcome across, say, three Tamil or three Bengali literary giantswho were known in both English and Tamil, or English andBengali, and who lived in the same period.
I bring this up because I think Karnataka is special. Its cosmopolitan nature has been built into it for decades. Theerstwhile princely State of Mysore encouraged cultural diversity. We had R.K. Narayan (who was born in Madras andbrought up in Mysore) and R.K. Laxman (a Mysorean) sending waves across India and the world with their writing andcartoons, respectively, which were so expressive of ‘native’India and yet so relatable in the wider world. This princelyState also had a modern touch. It had pioneers in buildingindustrial enterprises. M. Visvesvaraya, for example, is wellknown across India for entrepreneurship. I believe that Mysore had a civilisational sophistication and an open mind tobe able to encourage its ‘native’ civilisation but also open itsdoors to modernity.
Karnad studied at Oxford University, which is where I fi��rstmet him. His brilliance meant that he could live and workanywhere in the world. But he chose to come back to Bangalore where he continued to produce excellent plays thatbuilt on our own folk literature and had philosophical underpinnings. Not only did he excel in this fi��eld, he wasequally outstanding in the fi��lms in which he acted. He wasalso an institutionbuilder, an activist who hated religiouschauvinism, and a friend.
I last met Karnad at the memorial meeting for Gauri Lankesh. He had a placard hung around his neck that read in English and Kannada, ‘Me Too Urban Naxal’. After the protest,he dropped me home, all the way wearing tubes and carrying his oxygen cylinder.
Karnad’s plays always contained in them, without defi��nition or too much underlining, the moral consciousness ofIndians. Perhaps I belong to their generation, but I have notcome across new geniuses in Karnataka of the kind that wehad in these three stalwarts.
Devaki Jain is a feminist writer and economist
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Three stalwarts of a State Karnataka is poorer without A.K. Ramanujan, U.R. Ananthamurthyand Girish Karnad
Devaki Jain
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Condorcet’s jury theoremPolitics
This refers to a theory which states that the wisdom of thecrowds is usually better than that of experts in predicting thefuture. Decisions made through majority voting, for instance,are better than expert opinion. It is, however, important thata suffi��cient number of people are asked to participate in thevote to arrive at the right decision. Some believe that the accuracy of predictions can be further improved by limiting thesize of the crowd. The theorem is named after French philosopher and mathematician Marquis de Condorcet who outlined it in his 1785 book Essay on the Application of Analysisto the Probability of Majority Decisions.
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CONCEPTUAL
This temple in Assam helps nurture ‘extinct’ turtle back to
life
http://bit.ly/AssamTurtle
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MORE ON THE WEB 3
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DATA POINT
CMYK
A ND-NDE
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DELHI THE HINDU
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NEWS
FROM PAGE ONE
polls. According to party offi��cials who spoke on thecondition of anonymity, Mr.Antony had asked Mr. Surjewala to fi��nd out who hadleaked information about aproposal to form a 1015member decisionmakingpanel, which would workalongside the party president’s offi��ce.
Senior party leaders aresaid to be anxious about thespeculation on interim arrangements till there is clarity about Mr. Gandhi’s continuance as party President.“The only fi��nality in this issue will come when a Congress Working Committee isconvened to either acceptor reject Mr. Gandhi’s resignation,” said a senior Congress leader, who declinedto be identifi��ed. “But wehope that he is persuaded tostay on.”
(With inputs fromSandeep Phukan)
He rejected speculationabout an interim arrangement to appoint workingpresidents, clarifying thatsuch an option was not being considered. “There is noquestion in light of my answer,” he added.
“Rahul Gandhi was thepresident of Congress, is thepresident and will remainso; none of us are havingany doubt about it,” Mr. Surjewala said.
Observing that the ‘coregroup’ had been constitutedduring the Lok Sabha pollsand that all groups had beendisbanded since the elections had concluded, a party offi��cial said a “strategiccommittee” had been put inplace.
Separately, Mr. Venugopal would soon be convening a meeting of the generalsecretaries incharge of allStates to take stock of the situation post the Lok Sabha
Congress leaders meetsans Rahul and Sonia
parties “parrot the separatists and need to draw aline”. He also questionedthe regional parties’ representative character, citingthe 2% turnout in the Bijbehara Assembly segmentrecently. The segment is thehometown of PDP presidentMehbooba Mufti.
The Governor also dispelled rumours on reporteddelimitation in the Stateahead of Assembly polls orabrogation of Article 35(A)or Article 370.
“Delimitation is a rumour. People should notworry as there was no threatto the Articles,” he said.
Mr. Malik said corruption inthe State was more than inany other part of thecountry.
“There were two majorcases of corruption, involving ₹��150 crore each. I apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and got manydeals cancelled where middlemen were off��ering kickbacks. Many powerful people, with access to the PM,were involved in it. Rulingelite in J&K has been a partof the corruption. You willhear big news soon involving former Ministers,” hesaid.
Mr. Malik asked armedyouth to lay down arms and“join me for dinner”.
“I will hold a dialoguewith them (militants) on futility of violence. No violence can make India bend.Only dialogue can winhearts. We are open forthat,” said Mr. Malik.
“The Islamic State (IS)ideology has already beendefeated where it started.The shelf life of militancy isshort,” he added.
Mr. Malik was fl��anked byChief Secretary B.V.R Subrahmanyam and otheradvisers.
Without naming the National Conference (NC) orPeoples Democratic Party(PDP), Mr. Malik said local
‘Neither azaadi norautonomy possible’
bullet wounds in the limbs,according to the Anantnaghospital.
This is the fi��rst major attack by militants since thePulwama attack on February 14. It comes just weeksahead of the commencement of the Amarnath yatraon the same route. TheKhanbalPahalgam road,which came under the attack on Wednesday, is themain approach road to theshrine in Pahalgam.
Meanwhile, a spokesmanof the AlUmar Mujahideenoutfi��t claimed responsibilityfor the attack.
National Conference vicepresident Omar Abdullahand Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti condemned theattack.
“Subsequently, the attackerwas killed. His identity is being ascertained,” he added.
The fi��ve CRPF jawans of116 Battalion, who werekilled by the fi��rst volley ofbullets were identifi��ed as Assistant SubInspector (ASI)Neeru Sharma, ConstableSantinder Kumar, ConstableM.K. Kushwa, ASI RameshKumar and Constable Mahesh Kumar.
Station House Offi��cer,Anantnag, Arshad Ahmedwas among three securitypersonnel injured and shifted to hospitals in Srinagar.“Ahmad was hit by bullets inthe chest and may be shiftedoutside J&K for specialisedtreatment. His condition remains critical,” said thepolice.
One woman also suff��ered
Five CRPF jawans killedin militant attack in J&K
Being above the fray in a partisan political environmentis a delicate balancing act inpublic life. President RamNath Kovind seems to haveaddressed it by erring on theside of caution during the recently concluded Lok Sabhapolls, with only three engagements outside Rashtrapati Bhavan in the 83day period between thenotifi��cation of the dates forthe polls on March 10 to thegovernment formation byMay 31. This is of course notcounting the 10 days hespent on a state visit to SouthAmerica in the interregnum.
President Kovind’s reticence seemed a counterpoint to the deeply bitterelection campaign thatthreatened to wind up at theRashtrapati Bhavan’s doorsteps at every phase.
The three events he addressed were a function onuniversity rankings, grassroots innovations (held inAhmedabad, his only offi��cial
trip outside the Capital inthat period) and a visit to theNational Police Memorial ona day when the Central Reserve Police Force’s observesmartyrs day.
In the meanwhile, the bitter political campaign didspill over to almost washingup at the Rashtrapati Bhavangates.
From a letter from armedforces veterans protestingthe mention of the Army byBJP leaders which made theheadlines, to one from AirMarshall Suri claiming thathe wasn’t a signatory to the
letter as was being suggested, to a third by another setof armymen who foundnothing wrong with the party’s speeches. All three wereset aside, the matter left tothe ECI.
Polite rebuff��Delegations from politicalparties including the BJPseeking appointments, fromthe Congress party and theTrinamool Congress werepolitely rebuff��ed.
Chief among these requests was one from the BJPwhich was protesting theconduct of the polls in WestBengal and another delegation to have been led by thenAndhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu,which sought to convincethe President of summoningan assortment of Oppositionparties as a prepoll grouping to stake claim to form thenext government.
Even the national fi��lmawards function, scheduledfor May 3, was postponedand the Information Minis
try told to wait till the newgovernment was in place.
While all Presidents areexpected to be above thefray, was this an exercise ofcaution excessive? S M Khan,former press secretary tolate President APJ Abdul Kalam, recalls that during the2004 polls, Mr. Kalam had infact addressed the nation over Doordarshan and AIR asking citizens to vote in largenumbers and exercise theirdemocratic right. “It is however true that during thepoll period, even in the caseof President Kalam there wasa cutting back on public engagement. The degree of it,Mr Khan adds, is a matter ofan individual President’s discretion.
The heat and dust of thepolls now being over, President Kovind will be addressing both Houses of Parliament on June 20 for the fi��rstsession of the 17th Lok Sabha. His cautious approachduring the polls, a precedentfor successors, and a sign ofour times.
Kovind’s balancing act during pollsHe addressed only 3 events outside Rashtrapati Bhavan in the 83-day period
Ram Nath Kovind
Nistula Hebbar
NEW DELHI
NEWS ANALYSIS
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the MuslimWomen (Protection of Rightson Marriage) Bill, 2019, paving the way for the legislationto be introduced in the upcoming session ofParliament.
The Bill, which would replace an ordinance, would,once approved, put a curbon the practice of talaqebiddat, or instant tripletalaq.
“‘SabkaSaath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ has beenthe pivot of NDA governmentlead by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” the Centresaid in a statement, addingthe government had fulfi��lledone of its promises.
“The Bill would ensuregender equality and genderjustice to Muslim women.The Bill would also help inprotecting the rights of married Muslim women and prevent divorce by practice of‘talaqebiddat’ by their husbands.
The Bill had been introduced in Parliament in 2018but had lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. The Bill declares thepractice of triple talaq voidand illegal, making it punishable by three years in jail anda fi��ne.
Faculty reservationsTaking forward decisionsmade in the last months ofthe previous NDA government, the Centre has decid
ed to introduce a Bill on faculty recruitment in centraleducational institutions inthe coming session of Parliament.
The legislation would provide for 10% reservation foreconomically weaker sec
tions (EWS) and restore anolder system of reservationwhich would allow full representation of ScheduledCastes, Scheduled Tribesand Other Backward Classes.
The Central EducationalInstitutions (Reservation inTeachers’ Cadre) Bill, 2019,was approved by the Cabineton Wednesday, and will allow fi��lling up of more than7,000 existing vacancies bydirect recruitment, according to an offi��cial statement.
The Bill will replace an ordinance approved by Cabinet in March, just before theLok Sabha elections, whichrestored the earlier “200point roster system” considering the university or college as a single unit for thepurpose of faculty reserva
economically backward sections in the general category.
The new Bill is “expectedto improve the teaching standards in the higher educational institutions by attracting all eligible talentedcandidates belonging to SCs/STs/SEBCs/EWS” categories,the Centre said.
OBC categorisationCabinet also approved a twomonth extension to the commission for examining subcategorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) so that itcould consult States and Union Territories on the issue.
The tenure of the commission, headed by retired DelhiHigh Court Chief Justice G.Rohini, has been extendedtill July 31.
tions. This had been a longstanding demand of Dalitand Adivasi activists and political parties, with a threat ofelectoral consequences ifdenied.
They had complained thatthe “13point roster system”considering each department as a separate unit,which was mandated by acontroversial Allahabad HighCourt judgement in April2018 and upheld by the Supreme Court in January2019, eff��ectively made reservations negligible.
The new Bill will also pavethe way for implementationof the 103rd ConstitutionalAmendment passed by Parliament in January, mandating a 10% quota in jobs andeducational institutions to
Triple talaq Bill to be sent to Parliament againCabinet approves Bill to replace ordinance; it will be introduced in the upcoming session of the new Lok Sabha
Women celebrating thepassing of the Triple TalaqBill by the Lok Sabha onDecember 28, 2018.
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
The BJP on Wednesday reconstituted its parliamentary party executive committee, which is the nodalcommittee for coordinationof the legislative party whileParliament is in sessions,marking a generational shiftin the party as perhaps forthe fi��rst time L.K. Advaniand Murli Manohar Joshi arenot part of it. Neither of theparty veterans are MPs now.
Prime Minister Modi willbe the Leader of the Housein the Lok Sabha as well as ofthe BJP’s parliamentary party; Defence Minister RajnathSingh will be deputy leaderof the parliamentary partyin the Lok Sabha.
Union Minister for SocialJustice and EmpowermentThawar Chand Gehlot willbe the leader of the House inthe Rajya Sabha, with Railway Minister Piyush Goyal asdeputy leader. Lok Sabha
MP from Bihar Sanjay Jaiswal will be the chief whip ofthe party in the Lok Sabha,with Narayan Panchariya ashis Rajya Sabha counterpart.Mr Gehlot replaces formerUnion minister Arun Jaitleyin the post after the latter requested the leadership of relieving him from key postsdue to health issues.
Irani elevatedUnion Minister Smriti Irani'sinduction in the BJP's parliamentary party executivecommittee shows elevationwithin the party after she defeated Congress president
Rahul Gandhi from Amethi.Other special invitees
from the Lok Sabha to theexecutive body are NitinGadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Arjun Munda, NarendraSingh Tomar and Jual Oram.
From the Rajya Sabha,special invitees are J.P. Nadda, Om Prakash Mathur, Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmedndra Pradhan andPrakash Javadekar.
BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya has beenreappointed as incharge ofthe party's parliamentary offi��ce and BalasubrahmanyamKumarsu as secretary.
The fi��rst meeting of theexecutive will be held onJune 16 at 3:30 p.m., a daybefore the commencementof the fi��rst session of the 17thLok Sabha session. The government has also called anallparty meeting on thesame day in the morningwhich will be chaired byPrime Minister Modi.
BJP rejigs parliamentarypanel to include new MPsNew members mark generational shift in party
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
Smriti Irani
The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved aBill to allow voluntarysubmission ofAadhaar as identityproof for use byprivate entitiessuch as banks andtelecom companies.
‘The Aadhaar and OtherLaws (Amendment) Bill,2019’, which will replace anordinance, also gives a childan option to exit fromAadhaar on attaining 18
years of age. “Theamendments proposed arethe same as those
contained in theOrdinance
promulgated by thePresident on 2ndMarch, 2019,” thegovernment said in
a release.The Bill proposes
deletion of section 57 ofthe Aadhaar Act that barsuse of Aadhaar by privateentities, while alsoproviding for civil penaltiesfor violation of rules.
Cabinet nod for Aadhaaras ID proof at banks, telcosSpecial Correspondent
New Delhi
The Cabinet has approvedthe Indian Medical Council(Amendment Bill),2019 and theHomoeopathyCentral Council(Amendment Bill),2019 – both of whichhad lapsed in the 16thLok Sabha session. The Billswill be reintroduced in thenext Parliament session.
The Medical Council Billis aimed at bringing intransparencyand quality in
the governance of medicaleducation.
Homoeopathy CentralCouncil (Amendment
Bill), 2019,meanwhile, seeksto extend theperiod forreconstitution of
the Central Councilfrom existing period
of one year to two years sothat the tenure of the Boardof Governors may beextended for a furtherperiod of one year witheff��ect from May 17, 2019.
Indian Medical CouncilAmendment Bill clearedSpecial Correspondent
New Delhi
Evicting those overstayingat governmentresidences couldbecome a quickerprocess, with theUnion Cabinetclearing anamendment to thePublic Premises(Eviction of UnauthorisedOccupants) Act, 1971 onWednesday.
“The proposedamendments would enablethe estate offi��cer to apply
summary proceedings forevicting unauthorisedoccupants from residential
accommodations and tolevy damage charges
for accommodationheld during theperiod oflitigation,” the
statement said. Thiswill prevent delay in
making allotments toothers.
The new Bill will replacea 2017 Bill and will beintroduced in the upcomingParliament session.
Eviction from govt.residences to be quicker Special Correspondent
New Delhi
West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has convened a meeting of theState’s four major politicalparties — the TrinamoolCongress, Bharatiya JanataParty, Communist Party ofIndia (Marxist) and the Congress — to urge them tomaintain peace and harmony in the State. The meeting
will be held at the Raj Bhavan at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
Multiple incidents of violent clashes between supporters of diff��erent politicalparties have been reportedfrom across the State following the announcement ofthe Lok Sabha election results, with several politicalactivists killed in theseclashes.
Meanwhile, the political
slug fest between the BJPand the Trinamool continued on Wednesday, withthe BJP’s march to Lalbazar,the headquarters of the Kolkata Police.
A scuffl�e between themarchers and police personnel manning barricades ledto clashes that saw the policeusing water cannons andtear gas to disperse hundreds of BJP supporters.
Special Correspondent
Kolkata
Battling it out: BJP activists clashing with the police in Kolkata on Wednesday. * AFP
West Bengal Governor calls for meeting to end political violence
The National InvestigationAgency (NIA), which arrested Coimbatore resident Mohammed Azharudheen anddetained fi��ve others onWednesday, said Azharudheen designed Islamic Stateinspired logos that werequite popular on social media platforms.
His Facebook page, however, said, “KhilafahGraphics — a page for Islamic posters” with the typicalblack and white IS fl��ag in thebackground.
The Agency said the accused had shared “radicalcontents attributed to Zahran Hashim — the mastermind of the Easter Sunda attacks in Sri Lanka — over thesocial media,” adding thatall of them used to followHashim’s videos.
The case was registeredon May 30 when an NIAteam was in Colombo toprobe two IS related casesregistered by the agency in2015 and 2018, with links tothe April 21 Easter terror attack that killed more than250 people.
Coimbatore man madeIS-inspired logos: NIAVijaita Singh
New Delhi
President’s rule in J&K hasbeen extended for six moremonths beginning July 3,Union Minister PrakashJavadekar said onWednesday. A meeting ofthe Cabinet, chaired by PMNarendra Modi, gave itsapproval to the extension.Central rule has been inforce since June 20, 2018.
President’s rule in J&Kextended
Special Correspondent
New Delhi
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The Bombay High Court onWednesday said prima faciethere is nothing against activist Gautam Navlakha, whohas been booked for his alleged involvement in theBhimaKoregaon violence,and extended his protectionfrom arrest till June 18. A Division Bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangrewas hearing a plea fi��led byMr. Navlakha urging the
court to quash the FIR registered against him by thePune police. The Bench waspresented with some lettersallegedly sent by seniorMaoist leaders to Mr. Navlakha. After perusing the letters, the court said, “Thereis nothing against him in anyof the letters. Based on thedocuments, we are of theopinion that there is nothing against him that supports any of the charges levelled against him.”
Bombay HC fi��nds nothing
against Gautam Navlakha Sonam Saigal
Mumbai
CMYK
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THE HINDU DELHI
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NEWS
The Jawaharlal NehruUniversity on Wednesday said it would conferits Distinguished AlumniAward on Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharamanand SubrahmanyamJaishankar.
The award will bepresented at JNU’s thirdconvocation to be heldin August.
“The Executive Council of the JNU approved aproposal to bestow theaward on Finance Minister Ms. Sitharaman and
External Aff��airs MinisterMr. Jaishankar, duringthe third convocation ofthe university to be heldin August this year,” registrar Pramod Kumarsaid in a statement.
“Their highly distinguished career andachievements havemade the university very proud and they are agreat source of inspiration for JNU students
and researchers. Theywill be the fi��rst recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award,”Mr. Kumar added.
Ms. Sitharaman completed her M.A and M.Phil degrees from theSchool of Social Sciences and School of International Studies respectively. Mr. Jaishankarcompleted his M.Philand doctoral research inthe School of International Studies, where hespecialised in nuclear diplomacy, the universitysaid.
Sitharaman and Jaishankar to getJNU’s Distinguished Alumni Award ‘Their achievements have made the university very proud’
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI
Nirmala Sitharaman and S. Jaishankar
Stating that the fairness ofthe Indian justice systemhad never been in question,the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesdaysaid the government hadmade a formal request forpreacher Zakir Naik’s extradition and would continueto pursue the matter withMalaysia.
The MEA statement cameafter Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad onMonday said the country reserved the right to disallowNaik’s extradition to India ifhe was not going to be accorded justice.
In response to queriesabout Naik’s extradition, theMEA spokesperson said: “India has extradition arrangements with many nations. Inthe past, there are numerous cases of successful extradition to India. The fairness of the Indian justice
system has never been inquestion. The Governmentof India has made a formalrequest for the extraditionof Zakir Naik. We would continue to pursue the matterwith Malaysia.”
Sirul’s case
As reported by The Star, aMalaysian daily, Dr. Mohamad said the situation wasthe same with Australia notsending Sirul Azhar Umarback to Malaysia. Umar, aformer bodyguard, was sentenced to death in 2015 forthe murder of a Mongolianmodel. “We requested Australia to extradite Sirul andthey are afraid we are going
to send him to the gallows,”Dr. Mohamad was quoted assaying.
He said Naik “in generalfeels that he is not going toget a fair trial [in India].”
The Enforcement Directorate, which is probing money laundering chargesagainst Naik, is preparing tosecure a nonbailable warrant against him on June 19.The court has already takencognisance of a chargesheetfi��led in the case.
Based on the warrant, theDirectorate can request Interpol to issue a Red Noticeand also approach the Malaysian authorities seekingNaik’s extradition.
Will pursue Zakir Naik extradition: MEAIndia fi��les formal request with Malaysia, says country’s judicial system is fair
Zakir Naik
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
India has clarifi��ed that Pakistan’s airspace will not beused for the fl��ight of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toreach Kyrgyz Republic.
The information camejust before the Prime Minister issued a predeparturecomment that he would beholding several bilateralmeetings on the sidelines ofthe Shanghai CooperationOrganisation’s summit inBishkek.
“The government of Indiahad explored two options forthe route to be taken by theVVIP Aircraft to Bishkek. Adecision has now been takenthat the VVIP aircraft will fl��yvia Oman, Iran and CentralAsian countries on the wayto Bishkek,” said the offi��cialspokesperson to a query.
The Hindu had earlier reported that India had urgedPakistan to allow the aircraftto use the airspace of thecountry.
Subsequently, Pakistanhad agreed to grant over
fl��ight facility to the VVIP aircraft.
Pakistan had closed its airspace for all fl��ights from India after the IAF carried outstrikes in Balakot inside Pakistan on February 26. Diplomatic sources could notclarify when exactly Pakistan would lift the air blockade for Indian fl��ights whichis forcing airlines to takelong detour for most of theWestbound fl��ights.
No meet with Imran?
The route taken by Mr. Modi’s aircraft has dampenedthe speculation of a possiblemeeting between the Indianleader and his Pakistan
counterpart Imran Khan.The SCO summit will be thefi��rst occasion where both theleaders will be seen togetherin a multilateral platform, after the weeks of high tensionfollowing the Pulwama terror attack and the Balakot airstrike.
However, there is no indication of any such bilateralmeeting though Mr. Modi announced ahead of his visit toBishkek that he plans to“meet several leadersbilaterally”.
The Ministry of ExternalAff��airs had informed that Mr.Modi would meet RussianPresident Vladimir Putinand Chinese President Xi
Jinping on the sidelines ofthe summit but did not hintthat a meeting with Mr. Khanwas on the cards.
The fl��ight of Mr. Modiwhich will be routed overthe Arabian Sea and the airspace of Oman and Iran is expected to take eight to ninehours.
The duration indicates theextent of the problem thatair connectivity between India and Central Asia hasbeen experiencing since Pakistan blocked its airspace.The airlines from CentralAsia have been taking up tofour hours longer than normal travel duration since February 26.
Pak. airspace won’t be used forModi’s fl��ight to SCO, says India ‘He will fl��y viaOman, Iran andCentral Asiancountries’Kallol Bhattacherjee
NEW DELHI
The U.K. High Court on Wednesday rejected Nirav Modi’sbail application, his fourthattempt, as the diamondmerchant fi��ghts his extradition from Britain to India inthe nearly $2 billion PunjabNational Bank (PNB) fraudand money laundering case.
In her judgment handeddown at the Royal Courts ofJustice in London, Justice Ingrid Simler concluded thatthere were “substantialgrounds” to believe that the48yearold fugitive diamantaire would fail to surrenderas he did possess the meansto “abscond”.
Reiterating similar concerns as those raised by thelower court in the U.K. during the previous bail hearings, judge Simler ruled thatafter considering all the material “carefully”, she hadfound strong evidence tosuggest there had been interference with witnesses anddestruction of evidence andconcluded it could stilloccur.
“The applicant has accessto considerable fi��nancial resources, supported by an in
creased [bail bond security]off��er of £2 millions,” thejudge noted.
“It is diffi��cult, in my judgment, to see how the U.K. isa safe haven as there is nocase of him being tried hereThere are still places in theworld one can escape to,which are an even safer haven from the Indian investigating authorities,” she said,countering his lawyers’ assertion that he did not haveany incentive to fl��ee the U.K.as he saw it as a safe haven ofjustice.
‘A serious case’
The judge stressed thatwhile it was not for her totake a “defi��nitive view” onthe evidence, she had pro
ceeded on the basis that thegovernment of India had acted in good faith in what was“undoubtedly” a seriouscase and a “sophisticated international conspiracy” todefraud together with money laundering.
The judge concluded thatit was “diffi��cult to predicthow Modi would react to developments in the extradition process, which raises a‘strong incentive’ of failureto surrender before the U.K.courts to avoid returning toIndia.”
“All 12 witnesses make similar allegations — theywere threatened and kept infear in all these circumstances, there is compelling evidence that the applicant[Modi] and those acting onhis behalf have sought to interfere and destroy evidence,” the judge said.
Modi, who was not produced before the court forthe latest bail hearing, remains in custody at theWandsworth prison in London and was due to appearfor his next remand hearingat Westminster Magistrates’Court via videolink on June27.
Nirav Modi’s bail rejectedover fears he will abscondWitnesses threatened, evidence tampered with: U.K. court
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
London
Nirav Modi
A 45yearold woman wassent to a detention camp inAssam’s Jorhat on Wednesday after being declared anoncitizen by a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT).
Members of her familysaid the tribunal rejectedDolly Roy’s papers linkingher to the 1951 National Register of Citizens as she hadfailed to turn up for threehearings before she wassummoned to a Jorhat FTon Tuesday.
The tribunal also rejected the medical certifi��catesthat Ms. Roy produced toclaim she could not attendthe hearings because of illness, her son Sagar Roysaid.
Woman sentto jail despite1951 NRC link
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
GUWAHATI
SC dismisses petition of Sanjiv BhattNEW DELHI
In a setback to sacked
Gujarat-cadre IPS officer
Sanjiv Bhatt, the Supreme
Court on Wednesday refused
to entertain his plea seeking
examination of 11 additional
witnesses in a 30-year-old
custodial death case in which
he is facing trial. PTI
IN BRIEF
Reach office on time, PM tells MinistersNEW DELHI
Reach office on time and
avoid working from home to
set an example for others —
these were some of the
instructions given by PM
Narendra Modi to the Council
of Ministers on Wednesday.
Mr. Modi also asked senior
Ministers to hand-hold the
new incumbents.
The Uttar Pradesh police onWednesday suspended aGRP (Government RailwayPolice) station house offi��cerand a constable in Shamlidistrict for allegedly thrashing a journalist, locking himup illegally and urinating inhis mouth.
The journalist, Amit Kumar Sharma, who workswith Hindi news channelNews 24, had gone to Dhimanpur in Shamli district toreport on the derailment ofa goods train when the incident took place.
Mr. Sharma said he wasgathering footage whenShamli SHO Rakesh Kumarfi��rst threw his camera to theground and then snatchedhis mobile phones. Whenqueried on the reason forbeing targeted, Mr. Sharmaclaimed that the offi��cer began beating him.
In a video clip that hasgone viral on social media,the SHO’s subordinates canalso be seen assaulting the
journalist. Mr. Sharma saidhe was then taken to the police station and locked up. Healleged that the offi��cer urinated in his mouth.
Taking cognisance of thefootage, U.P. DGP O.P. Singhordered the suspension ofthe SHO and constable Sanjay Pawar. Both were in plainclothes during the incident.
“Strict punishment shallbe accorded to policemenmisbehaving with citizens,”Mr. Singh said.
Mr. Sharma alleged thatthe GRP had acted out ofvendetta as he had recentlycovered a story exposing illegal vendor activity ontrains plying between NewDelhi and Saharanpur thatwas being run in collusionwith GRP offi��cials.
Two GRP personnel suspendedfor assaulting journalist in U.P.SHO, constablehad locked himup illegally
Special COrrespondent
LUCKNOW
The journalist beingassaulted on Tuesday. * ANI
As journalist Prashant Kanojia was released on bail onWednesday, the fate of fi��veothers — three journalistsand two Gorakhpur residents — arrested for postingand sharing alleged objectionable remarks againstChief Minister Yogi Adityanath hung in balance.
The police are looking forone person each in Kannaujand Basti on similar charges.
With the Supreme Courtbreathing down the neck ofthe Uttar Pradesh government for putting Mr. Kanojiabehind bars, the journalistwas granted bail a day afterthe apex court order.
Mr. Kanojia was arrestedfor sharing a video about the
U.P. CM on his Twitter andFacebook accounts. According to the police, Mr. Kanojia’s comments on social media had maligned the ChiefMinister’s image.
Offi��cials said Ishika Singh,channel head of Nation Live,
and editor Anuj Shukla werearrested in Noida on June 8,two days after telecasting thecontroversial content “without verifying” its authenticity. The duo was remanded injudicial custody for 14 days.
Nation Live editor Anshul
Kaushik was arrested in Noida on Monday night and sentto 14day judicial custody onTuesday on the samecharges.
In a separate incident, ascrap dealer Peer Mohammad was arrested in Gorakhpur on Monday for allegedlymaking a fake “weddingcard” of the U.P. Chief Minister go viral on social media.
In Gorakhpur itself, anursing home manager, RamPrakash, was put behindbars on Monday for allegedlymaking indecent remarksagainst Mr. Adityanath on social media.
Meanwhile, cases havebeen registered against twoother persons on similargrounds, but they have notbeen arrested so far.
Prashant Kanojia released on bail Five others remain in jail for posting ‘objectionable remarks’ against U.P. CM
Let go: Prashant Kanojia addressing the media after beingreleased from Lucknow jail on Wednesday. * PTI
Press Trust of India
Lucknow
Pakistan on Wednesday saidit will “specially” open itsairspace for the fl��ight ofPrime Minister NarendraModi to Bishkek.
Aviation Minister GhulamSarwar Khan said theairspace will be opened as a“goodwill gesture”.
‘Pak. airspacewill be open’
Press Trust of India
Islamabad
Amnesty not allowed torelease Kashmir report SRINAGAR
Authorities in Srinagar on
Wednesday cancelled the
permission granted earlier to
Amnesty International to
release its report on “misuse”
of the Public Safety Act (PSA)
in Kashmir. “The event was
cancelled as the district
administration denied
permission,” an Amnesty
spokesman said here.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
CMYK
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DELHI THE HINDU
THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 201914EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Macron promises tosend Trump a new treePARIS
French President Emmanuel
Macron promised to send a
new oak to President Donald
Trump after the tree he gave
him during last year’s state
visit to the U.S. died. Mr.
Macron said the death of the
tree shouldn’t be read as a
indication of the upand
down relationship between
the two countries. AP
ELSEWHERE
U.S. President to meetPutin at G20 in JapanWASHINGTON
President Donald Trump said
on Wednesday that he would
meet his Russian counterpart
Vladimir Putin on the
sidelines of the G20 summit
in Japan later this month. He
had said last month that he
would meet with Mr. Putin,
but the Kremlin indicated
that there was no agreement
on a bilateral meeting. AFP
A former Governor and prominent Muslim politicianhas accused the Rajapaksagovernment of being complacent while its military intelligence unit “workedclosely” with the NationalThowheeth Jamaath (NTJ),the radical Islamist organisation behind the Easterbombings.
Azath Salley was one ofthe two Muslim Governorswho stepped down from offi��ce earlier this month, following a fasting Buddhistmonk’s demand that they resign over alleged links withEaster suspects. They havedenied the accusation.
Testimony to PSCTestifying before a Parliament Select Committee(PSC) probing the terror attacks, Mr. Salley said onTuesday that he had informed top authorities in government about the activities of extremist elementsseveral times. Further, heclaimed that the Defence Ministry of the previous Rajapaksa administration hadbeen funding the NTJ forsome years now.
Following the April 21 attacks, some reports speculated that military intelligence under the Rajapaksa
government had paid theNTJ and the Bodu Bala Sena(Buddhist Power Force), ahardline group that has inthe past been accused of instigating antiMuslim violence. So far, investigatorshave not shared any evidence or documentation tosubstantiate the claim.
“Dr. Rajitha Senaratne[one of the members of thePSC] asked me if Easterblasts mastermind ZahranHashim was among the Islamist radicals said to havebeen funded by military intelligence. I told the panelthat I didn’t know about Zahran, but reports say AbdulRazik was among thosepaid,” he told The Hindu onWednesday.
Mr. Salley was referring toR. Abdul Razik, a prominentmember of the Ceylon Tha
wheed Jamaath, a splintergroup of the Sri Lanka Thawheed Jamaath (SLTJ).
The PSC held its fourthsitting on Tuesday, amid escalating tensions betweenthe executive and the legislature. President MaithripalaSirisena wanted the Speakerto scrap the PSC, on thegrounds that it could hindercourt proceedings on theEaster attacks.
Sirisena’s concernsIn an emergency Cabinetmeeting last week, Mr. Sirisena also raised concern over security offi��cials providing evidence to theparliamentary panel in frontof the media. Further, hesacked Chief of National Intelligence Sisira Mendis,who testifi��ed to the inquirythat the Easter attacks couldhave been averted.
The suspended InspectorGeneral of Police and formerDefence Secretary too toldthe committee that prior intelligence on the attacks hadbeen available, pointing toserious lapses in acting onintelligence. As tensions appear to escalate between thePresident and Parliament —with the Speaker and PSCfi��rmly backing its proceedings — President Sirisenacancelled the weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
ExGovernor says the wing worked closely with the NTJ
Meera Srinivasan
COLOMBO
Former Governor Azath Salley. * TWITTER
‘Easter suspects were funded byRajapaksaera intelligence unit’
Hong Kong police fi��red rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators, who threwplastic bottles, on Wednesday as protests against an extradition Bill that would allow people to be sent tomainland China for trial descended into violent chaos.
Tens of thousands of protesters had gathered peacefully outside the Chineseruled city’s legislature beforetempers fl��ared, some charging police with umbrellas.Police warned them back,saying: “We will use force.”
10 woundedAmbulances sped towardsthe protest area as panicspread through the crowd,with many people trying tofl��ee the stinging tear gas, according to a witness. Morethan 10 people were wounded in the clashes, Cable TVreported.
Police used pepper spray,tear gas and batons to forcethe crowds back.
Civil Human Rights Front,which organised a protest onSunday that it estimated sawmore than a million peopletake to the streets in protestagainst the extradition Bill,accused police of using un
necessary violence. The violence had died down by early evening under light rain,but tens of thousands stilljammed the streets in andaround Lung Wo Road, amain eastwest artery nearthe offi��ces of embattledHong Kong Chief ExecutiveCarrie Lam.
Opposition to the Bill onSunday triggered HongKong’s biggest political demonstration since its handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997 under a“one country, two systems”deal guaranteeing it specialautonomy, including freedom of assembly, free pressand independent judiciary.
China’s meddling But many accuse China of extensive meddling since, including obstruction of democratic reforms,interference with local elections and of being behind thedisappearance of fi��ve HongKongbased booksellers,starting in 2015, who specialised in works critical of Chinese leaders.
Ms. Lam has vowed topress ahead with the legislation despite deep concernsin the Asian fi��nancial hub, including among businessleaders, that it could under
mine those freedoms and investor confi��dence and erodethe city’s competitive advantages.
In a brief evening televised address, Ms. Lam“strongly condemned” theviolence and urged the cityto return to normal as soonas possible.
In a separate interview recorded earlier on Wednesday before the worst of theviolence, she repeatedlystood by the introduction ofthe Bill, and said the timewas right for it to be debated.“I have never had any guiltyconscience because of thismatter, I just said the initialintention of our work is stillfi��rmly right.”
The government said debate on the Bill that was dueto take place in the city’s 70seat Legislative Council onWednesday would be delayed until further notice.The legislature is controlledby a proBeijing majority.
Violence erupts at Hong Kong protest Opposition to extradition Bill triggered unrest; police fi��re tear gas, rubber bullets at crowd
Reuters
HONG KONG
Police action: Protesters outside the Hong Kong government’soffi��ce disperse after tear gas was fi��red on Wednesday. * AFP
The U.S.’s top South Asia diplomat will testify on Thursday before the House Foreign Aff��airs Committee(HFAC) in a hearing on ‘U.S.Interest in South Asia and FY2020 Budget’.
The budget request for India will be increased andthose for Afghanistan andPakistan will be “rationalized” as per the statementAlice Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary forSouth and Central Asia, willmake. A copy of the statement was released by theHFAC.
The overall budget request of $1.07 billion is 16%below the FY2019 request.
The annual exercise formally articulates the budgetrequest to Congress but also,in reality, is a forum to discuss foreign policy in the region.
Ms. Wells will testify thatthe budget request for India
“refl��ects its preeminent rolein the Administration’s IndoPacifi��c vision and our twocountries’ commitment toshared principles and values”.
Coherent India policy The Trump administrationand the HFAC are not inagreement on how foreignpolicy in South Asia is beingconducted. Signifi��cantly, agroup of House Democratshad written to President Donald Trump in midMayhighlighting the fact that theState Department did not
have an Assistant Secretaryfor South and Central Asiaand said the Departmenthad failed to come up with a“coherent” India policy (Ms.Wells is currently runningthe department in an actingcapacity).
The statement talks aboutthe growing bilateral tradewith India, a deepening defence relationship but notesthe challenges. The U.S. islooking to India to takestronger action on crimesbased on religion — and thisis expected to contribute toa stronger relationship.
“We look to India’s democratically elected leadersand institutions to swiftlycondemn acts of violence onthe basis of religion and holdperpetrators accountable.This will help further India’ssecurity and economic interests and strengthen our bilateral relationship,” thestatement reads. “We tooknote of PM [Narendra] Modi’s comments following his
reelection highlighting hisgovernment’s commitmentto inclusiveness…”
The statement also refersto market access issues andtariff�� and nontariff�� barriersbeing “longstanding concerns”.
Smaller budget The State Department willmake a smaller budget request for Afghanistan. Ms.Wells will testify that the U.S.is decreasing the size of itsportfolio and calling forfunds from other donors,such as the EU and theWorld Bank.
“The smaller request forFY 2020 for Afghanistan anticipates this more focusedportfolio; however, signifi��cant prior year resources inthe pipeline will allow us toavoid program disruptionsas we transition to a smallerportfolio and have fl��exibilityto respond to a political settlement,” the statementreads.
South Asia budget of U.S. is set to fallAllocation for India to be raised and for Pakistan to be rationalised, says offi��cial
Sriram Lakshman
Washington
Alice Wells, Principal DeputyAssistant Secretary for Southand Central Asia. * THE HINDU
China has launched a campaign to clean up its Internet, state media said onWednesday, amid a freshwave of apparent censorship. Authorities have, in recent days, blocked more foreign media websites andshut down domestic accounts on social media.
The “rectifi��cation” eff��ortwas launched in May by thecyberspace administration,the Information TechnologyMinistry, the public securitybureau and the markets regulator and will run until theend of the year, the offi��cialXinhua news agency said.
The campaign will punishand expose websites for “illegal and criminal actions”,failing to “fulfi��l their obligation” to take safety mea
sures or the theft of personal information, it added.The campaign follows a series of shutdowns and blockages of certain websites andsocial media accounts.
Several foreign mediabeyond Beijing’s control,such as The WashingtonPost and The Guardian,have not been accessible online since last weekend, adding to a list of blocked sites.
Online Chinese fi��nancialnews publication Wallstreetcn.com said on Monday it took its website andmobile app offl��ine at theauthorities’ request, butgave no details of the rules itmay have broken.
Social media accountsranging from those publishing politically sensitive material to fi��nancial news havealso been shut.
China launches Internet‘clean-up’ campaignIt will punish sites for ‘illicit actions’
Reuters
Beijing
Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that he would onlytake Britain out of the European Union (EU) without adeal as a “last resort”,launching his campaign tobe Prime Minister with apromise to unify a countrydeeply divided over Brexit.
Mr. Johnson is the favourite among the 10 candidatesvying to succeed TheresaMay. At a launch event inLondon packed with seniormembers of the ruling Conservative party, Mr. Johnsoninsisted that Brexit musthappen on October 31.
He said Britain must prepare to leave with no new arrangements if need be, butsoftened his previous rhetoric, suggesting that this was“a last resort, not somethingthat anybody desires”.
However, Mr. Johnson of
fered no details of how tobreak the deadlock in Parliament that prevented Ms.May from getting her dealthrough. He said a new government with “new optimism” and “total convictionabout the way forward”could fi��nd a way.
The EU has insisted repeatedly that it will not renegotiate the terms of the divorce, while Parliament hasvoted against leaving without an accord. On Wednes
day, a crossparty group oflawmakers made a fresh bidto block such a scenario.
Hammond’s warningFinance Minister PhilipHammond warned Mr. Johnson and other leadership rivals not to make promises onBrexit they could not keep.
In his speech, Mr. Johnsonskipped over an underwhelming twoyear stint asForeign Secretary and instead drew on his eight yearsas Mayor of London, whichhe said gave him the experience to govern.
Conservative lawmakerswill hold the fi��rst of a seriesof secret ballots on Thursdayon the leadership candidates. They will whittledown the fi��eld to two byJune 20, and that pair willthen be put to a ballot ofaround 1,60,000 Conservative Party members.
Nodeal Brexit will be a last resort, says the frontrunner
Agence France-Presse
London
Boris Johnson. * AFP
Johnson begins leadership bid
More than 400 people, including Russian Oppositionleader Alexei Navalny, weredetained in Moscow on Wednesday, a monitor said, asauthorities sought to breakup a rally urging police reform after the framing of a
journalist on drugs charges.Many Russians had hoped
to harness the widespreadoutrage over last week’s arrest of respected reporterIvan Golunov on trumpedup drugs charges to press forgenuine reform of Russia’stainted law enforcement andjustice systems.
But a much smaller crowdof protesters had turned upin central Moscow on RussiaDay. OVD Info, which tracksarrests, said more than 400people were detained.
Moscow police said earlier around 1,200 took partin the march and more than200 people were arrested.
More than 400 arrested at Russia rallyAgence France-Presse
Moscow
CMYK
BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
THE HINDU DELHI
THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019 15EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
NIFTY 50
PRICE CHANGE
Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424.95. . . . . . . . -1.35
Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1425.45. . . . . . . . -0.05
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Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2944.50. . . . . . -42.65
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BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381.00. . . . . . . . -6.00
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Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561.60. . . . . . . . . 1.75
Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257.00. . . . . . . . -1.75
Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 2589.70. . . . . . -16.15
Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. 20105.95. . . . . . -26.05
GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310.10. . . . . . . . . 4.05
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HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1108.10. . . . . . . . . 0.20
HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2181.95. . . . . . . . -7.90
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Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 2728.05. . . . . . -48.10
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Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1847.10. . . . . . . . . 7.30
Indiabulls HFL . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 621.05. . . . . . -53.50
ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418.00. . . . . . . . -3.35
IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1569.85. . . . . . -20.75
Bharti Infratel . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 273.25. . . . . . . . -9.90
Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753.80. . . . . . . . -1.10
Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 162.55. . . . . . . . . 0.05
ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279.95. . . . . . . . . 0.10
JSW Steel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271.25. . . . . . . . -2.10
Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1483.50. . . . . . -24.20
L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1509.25. . . . . . -15.05
M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632.20. . . . . . . . -4.65
Maurti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 6852.00. . . -126.30
NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134.40. . . . . . . . -0.90
ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170.85. . . . . . . . . 1.60
PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 191.15. . . . . . . . -2.50
Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1332.15. . . . . . . . . 3.00
State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344.00. . . . . . . . -3.10
Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391.40. . . . . . . . . 1.45
Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169.05. . . . . . . . -1.70
Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505.85. . . . . . . 13.35
TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2260.90. . . . . . . . . 8.10
Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 747.95. . . . . . -14.15
Titan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1288.85. . . . . . . . . 3.90
UltraTech Cement. .. . . . 4569.10. . . . . . -15.65
UPL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1020.75. . . . . . -13.75
Vedanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170.10. . . . . . . . . 0.75
Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298.00. . . . . . . . . 0.30
YES Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134.75. . . . . . . . -4.80
Zee Entertainment . . . . . . 342.85. . . . . . . . -3.35
EXCHANGE RATES
Indicative direct rates in rupees a unitexcept yen at 4 p.m. on June 12
CURRENCY TT BUY TT SELL
US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 69.14. . . . . . . 69.46
Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 78.29. . . . . . . 78.65
British Pound. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 88.14. . . . . . . 88.56
Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 63.80. . . . . . . 64.10
Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 9.99. . . . . . . 10.04
Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 69.58. . . . . . . 69.91
Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 50.68. . . . . . . 50.92
Canadian Dollar. . . . . . . . .. . 51.99. . . . . . . 52.23
Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 16.62. . . . . . . 16.72
Source:Indian Bank
market watch
12-06-2019 % CHANGE
Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 39,757 ddddddddddddd-0.48
US Dollardddddddddddddddddddd 69.34 ddddddddddddddd0.14
Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 33,570 ddddddddddddddddd 0.6
Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 60.75 ddddddddddddd-2.36
The recent downgrades ofdebt papers of wellknownconglomerates are not isolated instances as the currentyear has seen a record interms of the number of suchdowngrades of debt instruments.
Data from Prime Databaseshows there have alreadybeen 163 instances of suchdowngrades in the currentyear till date, which is morethan twice compared to lastyear when 61 instances ofdowngrades were witnessed.
Some of the well knowncorporates whose debt papers have been downgradedin 2019 by rating agencies include Yes Bank, Wockhardt,Diligent Media Corp, Eveready Industries, Jet Airwaysand Peninsula Land apartfrom the prominent ones
like Anil Dhirubhai AmbaniGroup entities, Essel Groupand the most recent instanceof Dewan Housing Finance.
To be sure, the data has taken into account all kinds ofdowngrades and does not limit only to a downgrade todefault rating.
Interestingly, the rise inthe number of downgradesin 2019 has come with a cor
responding fall in instancesof upgrades, which was notthe norm last year.
Rating upgradeThis year, there have been 87instances of rating upgrade,lower than last year when over 100 debt securities saw anupgrade. “There has been alarge number of downgradesin the recent months,” said
R. Sivakumar, head, fi��xed income, Axis Mutual Fund. “Itlooks like we are still seeingthe fallout of the IL&FS matter and so the market is quitecautious right now,” he added. From an investor perspective, the increasingdowngrades are a cause forconcern as mutual fundshave a large exposure towards such instruments andlarge instances of downgrades aff��ect portfolio selection and thereafter the netasset value of the scheme.
“Till a few months backthe spread between a AA andAAA rated instrument haddipped to 50 basis points,which was quite lower thanthe historical average. Whilecurrently it is around 150 basis points, the challenge isdowngrades have increasedthereby pushing up the riskcurve,” said Mr. Sivakumar.
Debt downgrades at a record highMutual funds have large exposure to such instruments thereby impacting NAVs
ASHISH RUKHAIYAR
MUMBAI
The Bimal Jalan committee,which is looking into thesize of capital reserves thatthe RBI should hold, willhave one more meeting before fi��nalising its report tobe submitted to the apexbank by the monthend.
The sixmember panel,under former RBI GovernorJalan was appointed on December 26, 2018, to reviewthe economic capital framework (ECF) for the ReserveBank after the Finance Ministry wanted the RBI to follow global best practicesand transfer more surplusto the government.
The RBI has over ₹��9.6lakh crore surplus capital
with it.“The ECF panel will meet
one more time and will submit the report by monthend,” an offi��cial told reporters here after the meeting.
The ECF panel was mandated to submit its report tothe RBI within 90 days of itsfi��rst meeting which tookplace on January 8. Following this, the panel was givena threemonth extension.
Asked about the reasonfor delay in fi��nalisation ofthe report, the offi��cial said,“There may be diff��erencesof opinion, but that is beingdiscussed“. Other membersinclude Rakesh Mohan,former Deputy Governor ofRBI and Finance SecretarySubhash Chandra Garg.
Jalan panel report on RBIreserves by June end Bank has ₹��9.6 lakh cr. surplus capital
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI
Life Insurance Corporationof India (LIC)owned IDBIBank on Wednesday reduced its marginal cost offunds based lending rate(MCLR) by 510 basis pointsacross various tenors, withimmediate eff��ect.
The lender has reducedits oneyear MCLR or theminimum lending rate to8.95%.
The oneyear MCLR isthe benchmark againstwhich most customerloans such as auto, personal and home loans arepriced.
New overnight, onemonth, sixmonth rates are7.90%, 8.15% and 8.60%respectively, the bank saidin a release.
IDBI Bank cutsMCLR by 5-10bps acrossvarious tenors
Press Trust of India
Mumbai
Barring KumaraswamyMines in Karnataka, production of iron ore by NMDCcame to a standstill as thestateowned company halted production at BailadillaRange in Dantewada inChhattisgarh also due toprotest by tribals.
The miner is losing70,000 tonnes of iron oreproduction from Chhattisgarh and already losing 0.5million tonnes per monthfrom Donimalai mines inKarnataka since Novemberlast year, offi��cial sourcessaid.
Earlier, NMDC suspendediron oremining from its Donimalai mine following thestate government’s decisionto impose 80% premium onthe ore sales from that minein November 2018. Lately,the miner suspended pro
duction at Bailadilla Complex consisting of Bacheliand Kirandul mining blocksin Chhattisgarh followingthe agitation by tribal groupsagainst the iron ore miningon hills in the Deposit No.13,offi��cial sources said.
“There is a productionloss of about 70,000 tonnesof iron ore per day due to tribal unrest at Bailadilla Range
in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh. The mining was suspended in Bacheli minessince June 11 while it wasstopped at Kirandul minesfrom June 7,” the sourcestold PTI. Thousands of tribals, under the banner of Sanyukt Panchayat Samiti, resorted to protest against ironore mining on hills in deposit no. 13 since June 7.
NMDC halts iron ore production atall its mines except KumaraswamyProtest by tribals brings production to halt in Chhattisgarh
Press Trust of India
Hyderabad
Big blow: There is a production loss of about 70,000 tonnesof iron ore per day due to the tribal unrest in Chhattisgarh.
State Bank economists haveopined that an easy monetary policy will be ineff��ectiveto push the sagging growthengine and that what isneeded is more direct andquicker fi��scal measures.
The fi��nancial system is “inneed for some serious repair” and the governmentshould use the forthcomingbudget for the same.
“.. an easy monetary policy with a reasonable tight fi��scal defi��cit will be ineff��ectivein addressing the existing demand slowdown,” they saidin a note on Wednesday.
Support from the monetary policy — the RBI cut itskey rates for the third time in2019 and also changed thepolicy stance to accommodative last week to a nineyear low — is most welcome,
the report said, underliningthe need for help on the fi��scal front.
“We believe fi��scal channelis more direct and quickerand fi��nancial system is inneed of some serious repair,”the report said, adding “thegovernment would do betterwith reasonable fi��scal defi��citassumptions and should bevery clear of the fi��scal conso
lidation path.”
Plummeting growthGrowth plummeted to anearly fi��veyear low at 5.8%for the March quarter, pulling down the fullyear GDPfor FY19 to a low 6.8%.
Questions have also beenasked about the growthnumbers by Former ChiefEconomic Advisor Arvind
Subramaniam, who said thegrowth numbers during theModi government’s fi��rst innings till FY17 had been infl��ated by a whopping 2.5 percentage points.
All eyes are on the budgetas regards the policies whichthe new government mayadopt.
The ongoing crisis in thenonbanking fi��nance companies, which constitute up toa fi��fth of the overall lendingin the economy, according tosome watchers, needs immediate attention to revivethe fortunes of the fi��nancialsystem, it said.
The note warned therewere some “limiting factors”like the Food Corporation’smassive borrowings from theNational Small SavingsFunds, which is already inexcess of ₹��2 lakh crore or 1percent of GDP.
Easy money can’t revive economy: SBI report‘More direct and quicker fi��scal measures required to push sagging growth’
Policy support: RBI changing policy stance to accommodativelast week is most welcome, the report said. * PAUL NORONHA
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
MUMBAI
Industrial activity rebounded in April 2019 to grow to asixmonth high of 3.4%, driven by a turnaround acrossall the sectors measured, according to offi��cial data released on Wednesday.
Separate data releaseshowed retail infl��ation inMay 2019 accelerated marginally to 3.05% driven by aslight rise in food priceinfl��ation.
Growth in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) returned to positive territoryin April following a contraction of 0.1% in March. Within the index, growth in themanufacturing sector stoodat 2.8% in April comparedwith a contraction of 0.4%in the previous month. Mining sector saw growth accelerating to 5.1% from 0.8%over the same period.
“The recovery in the IIP ismostly due to the fact thatwith the new fi��nancial yearhaving started, the government might have been ableto spend through the approvals of the interim budget,”D.K. Srivastava, chief policyadvisor, EY India, said.“Those decisions that werepostponed would have been
taken up and so, that wouldhave spurred demand. Ifyou look, most of thisgrowth would have beendue to public expenditure.”
Election spending“In April and May, the election spending would havealso spurred demand,” Mr.Srivastava added. “And inthe fi��rst few months of thenew fi��nancial year, therewill likely be frontloading ofgovernment expenditure,and so, this growth couldcontinue for about threemonths.
Retail infl��ation as measured by the ConsumerPrice Index (CPI) quickenedto a sevenmonth high of3.05% in May 2019, up marginally from the 2.99% registered in the previousmonth. Within the index, infl��ation in the ‘food and beverages’ segment acceleratedto 2.03% from 1.38% overthe same period. The fueland light segment, however,saw infl��ation easing somewhat to 2.48% in May from2.56% in the previousmonth. ‘Pan, tobacco, andother intoxicants’ and the‘clothing and footwear’ segments, saw infl��ation easingmarginally in May.
Food prices show slight increase
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
Industrial growthrecovers, CPI infl��ation up
Stock exchanges will imposerestrictions on trading in JetAirways shares from June 28as part of preventive surveillance measures to curb excessive volatility, accordingto a circular. Jet Airways suspended operations in Apriland lenders are working onways to revive the airline.
Trade for Trade In a circular, NSE said sharesof the company would beshifted from “Rolling Segment to Trade for Trade Segment, wherein the settlement in the scrip will takeplace on gross basis with100% upfront margin and
5% price band.”There are restrictions in
trading of shares that are under ‘Trade for Trade’ segment. The decision has beentaken jointly by the exchanges and would be eff��ectivefrom June 28, it said.
According to the circular,the company has failed to
provide prompt responsesto queries of exchanges regarding various rumours.
The responses received“are not clear and satisfactory,” it added. Also, the company is not in a position toconsider and approve audited fi��nancial results for theyear ended March 2019 andthere are also observationsmade by the airline’s auditor. “There are concernswith regard to continuity offl��ow of information aboutthe company which is veryvital for the appropriateprice discovery in the scrip.Hence, trading in the scripmay not refl��ect the actualstatus of the company,” thecircular said.
‘Firm couldn’t provide prompt response on various rumours’
Press Trust of India
New Delhi
Stock exchanges to impose trading restrictions on Jet shares
Consumer goods groupReckitt Benckiser haspicked PepsiCo executiveLaxman Narasimhan as itsnext chief executive, becoming the latest industryheavyweight to turn to acompany outsider to tacklefaltering growth and newmediasavvy rivals.
Mr. Narasimhan, PepsiCo’s global chief commercial offi��cer, is the fi��rst external candidate to beappointed as CEO at Reckitt ever since it was formedin 1999. The 52yearoldtakes over as CEO on Sept.1, replacing Rakesh Kapoor, 60, who has led Reckitt for more than eightyears and said in Januaryhe would retire this year.
Analysts welcomed theappointment, saying thenew CEO would inject afresh perspective to a company facing industrywidechallenges to growth.
Reckitt picksPepsiCo exec as CEOReuters
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DELHI THE HINDU
THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 201916EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
IN BRIEF
CavinKare unveilsmilkshake variantCHENNAI
CavinKare has unveiled
Cavin’s Milkshake Lite with
no added sugar to further
strengthen its market share
in the dairy segment. The
readytoserve drink comes
in three fl��avours — vanilla,
strawberry and chocolate —
in a 180ml tetra pack that is
priced at ₹��40 a piece. With
this launch, we are aiming at
a 3%5% increase in our
market share and further
strengthen market position,”
said B.P. Ravindran, business
head — beverages and dairy.
Anil Ambaniled RelianceCapital and Reliance HomeFinance on Wednesday saidPrice Waterhouse & Co.(PWC) has resigned as statutory auditor of both thecompanies.
PWC has put in its resignation, with eff��ect fromJune 11, 2019, citing unsatisfactory response to “certainobservations” made by it asa part of the ongoing auditfor fi��scal 201819, the twocompanies said in their respective regulatory fi��lings tostock exchanges.
Firms don’t agreeBoth Reliance Capital andReliance Home Finance saidthey do “not agree with thereasons given by PWC“.
While the board of direc
tors of Reliance Capital hasnoted and accepted the resignation, Reliance HomeFinance said its audit committee and board will meeton Thursday and decideupon the new auditor. PWCalso stated that the companies said that they might initiate appropriate legal proceedings against the fi��rm,according to the fi��lings.
PWC quits as auditor oftwo Anil Ambani fi��rms Not okay with response on observations
Press Trust of India
New Delhi
Anil Ambani
Tech major Wipro anticipates tough challenges in theglobal marketplace that witnesses rapid technologicalchanges and changing clientpreferences.
The company said its future success would dependon its ability to anticipatechallenges in advance, enhance its existing service offerings and develop new product and off��erings to meetchanging clientrequirements.
Stressing the importanceof cost management, it saidany failure to cope with theevolving IT environment,particularly Internet ofThings, Artifi��cial Intelligence, cloud computing,etc., could have an adverseeff��ect on the company.
“Our business will suff��er if
we fail to anticipate and develop new services and enhance existing services in order to keep pace with rapidchanges in technology andthe industries on which wefocus,” the tech major said inits annual report.
The company said itwould be unsuccessful instimulating customer demand for new and upgradedproducts, or seamlessly managing new product introductions or transitions, if itfailed to quickly respond to
market changes. Under sucha situation, products, services or technologies that aredeveloped by competitorsmay render its services noncompetitive or obsolete, stated the company.
Elaborating on possiblerisk factors, the company inits stock market fi��ling said,“Our failure to address thedemands of the rapidlyevolving information technology environment, particularly with respect to digitaltechnology, the Internet ofThings, Artifi��cial Intelligence, cloud computing,storage, mobility and applications, analytics, augmented reality, automation,blockchain and quantumcomputing could have a material adverse eff��ect on ourbusiness, results of operations and fi��nancialcondition.”
On cost cutting, Wiprosaid its cost managementstrategies would includemaintaining appropriatealignment between the demand for services and resource capacity, optimisingthe costs of service deliverythrough automation and deployment of tools, and eff��ectively leveraging its sales,marketing and general andadministrative costs (SG&A).
$330 mn on expansionThe tech major invested$329.4 million towards purchase of property, plant andequipment during fi��scal ended March 31.
Additionally, the companyhad contractual commitments of $179.9 million related to capital expenditures onconstruction or expansion ofits software developmentand other facilities.
Wipro foresees tough challenges Failure to develop new services, enhance existing ones will take a toll on business, says tech major
Mini Tejaswi
Bengaluru
Future tense: Failure to quickly respond to market changesmay render its services obsolete, Wipro felt. * G.R.N. SOMASHEKAR
Indian Bank will strive forstrong growth this fi��scal withfocus on profi��tability, according to its managing director and CEO PadmajaChunduru.
“The prime focus thisyear will be on increasingthe current and savings deposits (CASA) and fee income, accelerating recoveryin respect of impaired assetsand containing the level ofnonperforming assets(NPA),” Ms. Chunduru saidin her message to the shareholders.
“The growth in businessshould culminate in improv
ing the bottom line of thebank,” she added.
During the current fi��scal,the bank would strive for anhealthy growth across corporate and retail, agricultureand MSME (RAM) segments.In FY19, the RAM sector con
stituted 58% and corporate42%. Plans were on to set upcorporate branches for handling exclusive large borrower accounts with exposure of₹��50 crore or more at selectmetro centres to improvequality credit dispensationand bottom line, she said.
Going forward, focuswould be on forging partnerships viz. coorigination ofloans in collaboration withNBFCs, tying up with builders/vehicle dealers andtractor manufacturers andexploring crosssell optionsthrough tieups with insurance companies for sale ofBancassurance products inlife and nonlife, she said.
Eyes increasing CASA deposits, fee income
N. Anand
CHENNAI
Padmaja Chunduru
Indian Bank to focus on stronggrowth, profi��tability in FY20
Blue Star Ltd. has drawn upplans to capture about 10%market share in residentialwater purifi��er segment by202021 and enter the commercial water purifi��er segment soon, said a topoffi��cial.
“We entered into residential water purifi��er segmentduring October 2016. We areaiming for 5%6% marketshare this fi��scal and doubleit by FY21,” said B. Thiagarajan, managing director, BlueStar Ltd.
As per the plan, Blue Starwould invest about ₹��30crore in advertising and
sales promotion in FY20, increase the number of storesto 5,000, raise the numberof store sales representativesto 1,000 and service franchisees to 500.
Starting from October
2016, the fi��rm had sold70,000 units and now itplans to sell 1.20 lakh unitsin FY20.
Various price pointsFor this, the companylaunched 34 new models, including variants that enrichwater with essential minerals. It covers various pricepoints starting from ₹��7,900to ₹��9,900 in the ultra violet(UV) range.
According to Mr. Thiagarajan, the electric residentialwater purifi��er market waspegged at around ₹��5,000crore with a compoundedannual growth rate of8%9%.
Blue Star eyes 10% marketshare in home water purifi��ers Rolls out 34 models; to spend ₹��30 crore on marketing
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI
B. Thiagarajan
Honda Motorcycleunveils BS VI Activa NEW DELHI
Honda Motorcycle and
Scooter India on Wednesday
unveiled its fi��rst BS VI
compliant twowheeler —
Activa 125 BSVI — ahead of
the April 2020 deadline.
“With the unveiling of new
Activa 125 BSVI, Honda will
begin this transition to BSVI
emission norms,” Minoru
Kato, president and CEO,
Honda Motorcyle and
Scooter India said. The new
scooter will be 1015% more
expensive than the BS IV
version.
Canon India eyes 25% ofinkjet printer marketNEW DELHI
Canon India is targeting a
25% market share of the
inkjet printer market in India,
which is pegged at about 1.8
million units, this year. “India
is one of the fastest growing
inkjet business for Canon,
especially among emerging
markets…in future, given the
size of population and GDP
rise, we see opportunities in
the Indian market,” Tamaki
Hashimoto, group executive
of consumer inkjet group and
executive offi��cer, Canon Inc.,
told The Hindu.
The independent directors'commitee (IDC), set up bytech fi��rm Mindtree, hasdeemed Larsen & Toubro's(L&T) open off��er as “fairand reasonable.”
The IDC said the off��erprice of ₹��980 was in accordance with regulations under Securities and Exchange Board of India(Substantial Acquisition ofShares and Takeovers Regulations, 2011), as per a fi��ling.
The IDC said, considering the market prices forequity shares on June 10 inBSE and NSE were at ₹��974and ₹��975 respectively, theoff��er price of ₹��980 was fairand reasonable.
‘L&T off��erprice fair,reasonable’
Special Correspondent
Bengaluru
CMYK
A ND-NDE
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THE HINDU DELHI
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SPORT
The centresquare here atTrent Bridge was layeredwith multiple sheets on Wednesday. The ground staff��scurried around, extendingthe covers, keeping an eye onthe feathery rain that oscillated between persistence andthe long pause. During onesuch break, the Indian teamtrained, not fulltilt but a gingerly trot.
The forecast hints at a few
showers during Thursday’sWorld Cup match featuringVirat Kohli’s men and NewZealand. Ambiguity is linkedonly to the weather, whilethankfully the other realm ofconfusion centred aroundShikhar Dhawan was eff��ectively dismantled. Battingcoach Sanjay Bangar said thata fi��nal decision on Dhawan’savailability would be takenonly after 12 days and thatrules out the injured openerwith a bruised leftthumbfrom India’s next set of fourgames.
The teammanagement ishoping that the southpawwould be fi��t in time for thebig clash against England onJune 30. As a consequence,K.L. Rahul will pair up withRohit Sharma atop the orderand, in the middle, either Dinesh Karthik or Vijay Shan
kar would step in. Both had along strike at the nets, onlyagainst throwdowns, as theoutfi��eld was deemed too softfor the regular bowlers topound their feet.
In good shapeExcept for the bad newsabout Dhawan, India is ingood shape, having wonagainst South Africa and Australia. Most of its cogs movedin unison and, with the skiesremaining damp, it remainsto be seen if Kohli would prefer speedster MohammedShami over spinner KuldeepYadav.
The venue is StuartBroad’s home ground and isknown for a fair bit ofbounce, though in recenttimes, especially in ODIs, theturf has gifted a bounty ofruns — England scored 481 for
six against Australia last June. India will be wary of New
Zealand and Kane Williamson’s men are known topunch above their weight inICC tournaments. The Kiwisstep in after registering threewins against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Thefast bowlers, especially Lockie Ferguson and JamesNeesham, have been amongthe wickets and more importantly, in the warmup joustagainst India at the Oval onMay 25, New Zealand rode onthe exploits of seamers TrentBoult and Neesham to skittleout the Men in Blue for 179.New Zealand won the gameby six wickets.
It would be a bit extremeto invest meaning into a practice skirmish which largelyserved as an exploratory exercise for teams to fi��nalise
their playing elevens, butNew Zealand would still derive some confi��dence. Its batsmen, notably Williamson,Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill, have been in good formbut what could stymie theoutfi��t is that the opposition itquelled in the three games,have been middling at best.
India would be its fi��rst bigtest and Kohli’s men are on aroll, dishing out intense cricket on the fi��eld, and off�� it, fi��nding time to unwind and evencatching Salman Khan’s Bha-rat at a nearby multiplex.
It is time for the action tounfold provided the interplay of dark clouds subsidesenough for a reticent sun topeep out.The teams (from): India: Virat
Kohli (Capt.), Rohit Sharma,M.S. Dhoni, K.L. Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Jasprit Bumrah,Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, YuzvendraChahal, Kuldeep Yadav andShikhar Dhawan.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson(Capt.), Ross Taylor, MartinGuptill, Colin de Grandhomme,
Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry,Tom Latham, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Tom Blundell,Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santnerand Ish Sodhi.
Umpires: Marais Erasmus andPaul Reiff��el; Third umpire:Bruce Oxenford; Match referee:Ranjan Madugalle.
Match starts at 3 p.m. IST.
Who will blink fi��rst — Indians or Kiwis?It’s a tossup between Karthik and Vijay Shankar for the No. 4 slot; fi��rst big test for New Zealand
K.C. Vijaya Kumar
Nottingham
Intense focus: Virat Kohli has a batting stint at the nets under the watchful eyes of coach Ravi Shastri ahead of the Kiwi clash. * AP
Softspoken Sanjay Bangar’sbiggest cricketing momentoccurred under the Englishskies. In the third Test atLeeds (Headingley) duringthe 2002 series, Bangar excelled as a makeshift opener.He scored a 68 and, more importantly, shared a 170runsecondwicket partnershipwith centurion Rahul Dravid.It validated Sourav Ganguly’sbrave decision to bat on winning the toss and the basewas set for a fi��ne triumph.
Shot at the topBack to the United Kingdom,albeit in a new role as India’sbatting coach, it is now Bangar’s turn to bolster the confi��dence of another player, whotoo has been pitchforked into the opener’s role. WithShikhar Dhawan ruled outwith an injured leftthumb, itis but inevitable that K.L. Rahul will get a shot at the topof the order against New Zealand here on Thursday.
Speaking to the media onWednesday, Bangar backed
Rahul to perform well andsaid that the ability to playacross the lineup augurswell for the Karnataka batsman. “The advantage ofplaying in various situationsis that you understand thegame a lot better. If you lookat the history of the game,some players have been veryversatile.
“Here you can take his namesake Rahul Dravid, whobatted at various positions,and it actually helped theteam big time. It’s a mentaladjustment and any player,who is able to do that requires a lot of skill but ultimately it will enhance the position that he will bat in, andit will also help the team’scause,” Bangar said.
In good rhythmThe former Railways cricketer also emphasised that despite the spectre of rain anddisrupted practice schedules, India is in goodrhythm: “When you come toEngland, you expect thesethings. So far, we have beenlucky that we haven’t had agame aff��ected by the weather. So let’s keep our fi��ngerscrossed. We have had a fairtime to prepare ourselves because we spent a lot of timebefore our fi��rst match. Thebowlers are in good rhythmand you don’t really want torisk bowlers [at practice] inconditions where it’s notreally fi��rm.”
K.C. Vijaya Kumar
Nottingham
Bangar backs Rahul to come good
K.L. Rahul... moving up * AP
Ross Taylor said that NewZealand is prepared for allkinds of weatherinducedcontingencies. Ahead ofThursday’s World Cup gameagainst India, Taylor spoketo the media. Excerpts:The playing eleven:There’s a full 15 to choosefrom. We can’t look too farahead but there are obviously diff��erent permutations if the weather doesplay a part, be it a reducedgame or a 50over game.
Wet weather blues: England is a beautiful place,but it’s not famous for goodweather. There’s still a longway to go in this tourna
ment and I am sure there’sgoing to be rained outgames. There are timeswhen forecasts have beenwrong as well. The pitch: Traditionally, itcan favour the batters but Iam sure the bowlers are going to have a little bit there.It hasn’t seen the sun andwe will have to wait and seewhat happens.
But fi��rst and foremost, it’sa great place to play cricket,and I am sure any time weplay India at a neutral venue, there will always bemore Indian supportersthan New Zealand. Tim Southee’s fi��tness: Heis fi��ne. All 15 are in contention.
As I said, with the weather around, we don’t want topreempt anything, but ifthere are shortened gamesand what not, that’s something the coach and captain will have to decide atthe time, but we haven’tmade a decision on our fi��nal11.
Haven’t decided on theeleven: TaylorSpecial Correspondent
Nottingham
David Warner was not hisusual destructive self but effective nevertheless, his fi��rstinternational century (107)since completing the balltampering ban, setting upAustralia’s 41run win overPakistan in the World Cup
here on Wednesday.Australia looked set for a
total in excess of 350 whileWarner and captain AaronFinch (82) were at the crease,but Mohammad Amir (fi��vefor 30) staged a comebackwith his best ODI bowling fi��gures to bowl the defendingchampion out for 307 in 49
overs.Pakistan’s innings ended
at 266 in 45.4 overs overs butnot before the duo of Sarfaraz Ahmed and Wahab Riazgave the Australians a scarewith a rearguard action thatrevived the hopes for awhile. Pakistan was at one
stage tottering at 160 for sixin the 30th over.
Tonup Warner delights; Australia survives scareAmir’s brilliant fi��vefor checks the runsurge towards the end
Press Trust of India
TAUNTON
Driving force: David Warner’s wellpaced century helpedAustralia run up a 300plus score against Pakistan. * AP
Succeeding in long tournaments like the World Cup
is not just about performingwell in matches, but alsoabout squad depth. Howgood are your replacementplayers, in case of an injurylayoff��?
We do not know the fullextent of Shikhar Dhawan’sinjury yet, but it looks like hewill stay with the squad inEngland. As it stands now, hewill miss at least one match.In Dhawan’s absence, K.L.Rahul should open the batting — he has the skills, and itis a wonderful opportunityto show the world how goodhe is. As for the No. 4 spot,
my choice would be KedarJadhav.
I’ll go with Ravindra Jadejaas the replacement player,especially if it is a brown, drypitch. Jadeja can whack itwith the bat, and he’s a verygood bowler and fi��elder.
On Dhawan’s injury, if itwas really bad, it would havebeen operated on by now.
You can learn how to batwith a broken fi��nger. We’veall done it. You have equipment specialists now whocan fi��x an extra bit of padding on your gloves. You canalso take a little injection toget through the pain.
I’m involved with the design of diff��erent safety components — PVC, sweat band— used in batting gloves. Notmany guys are pulling out ofgames with broken fi��ngersthese days. In my time, youlearnt to put up with thepain. Dhawan is a tough nut,and as an opener, he will beused to getting hit on thefi��ngers.
I get the feeling that if In
dia had the fi��nal or semifi��nalcoming up, Dhawan wouldhave played.
Perhaps the team management wants to play safe, andlook after Dhawan for the latter stages of the tournament.
In Trent Boult, the Indiantoporder faces another concern. Boult is a strike bowler,with a good record againstIndia.
You have to be mindful ofthe ball swinging back in andgetting the legbefore decision.
I have no doubt that RaviShastri would have summoned many leftarm pacersto bowl in the Indian nets.They would have been askedto bring the ball back in withthe brand new ball.
The good news is that Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli andevery other Indian batsmanis in great nick. Apart fromthe Dhawan setback, everything is going very well forIndia.
(Tune in to Select Dugouton Star Sports Select 1)
In Boult, the Indian toporder faces a challenge
AUSTRALIAAaron Finch c Hafeez b Amir 82(84b, 6x4, 4x6), David Warner cImam b Afridi 107 (111b, 11x4,1x6), Steven Smith c Asif bHafeez 10 (13b, 1x4), GlennMaxwell b Afridi 20 (10b, 2x4,1x6), Shaun Marsh c Malik bAmir 23 (26b, 2x4), UsmanKhawaja c Riaz b Amir 18 (16b,3x4), Alex Carey lbw b Amir 20(21b, 2x4), Nathan CoulterNilec Sarfaraz b Riaz 2 (3b), PatCummins c Sarfaraz b Hasan 2(6b), Mitchell Starc c Malik bAmir 3 (6b), Kane Richardson(not out) 1 (1b); Extras (lb10,w6, nb3): 19; Total (in 49overs): 307
FALL OF WICKETS1146 (Finch, 22.1 overs), 2189(Smith, 28.4), 3223 (Maxwell,33.4), 4242 (Warner, 37.5), 5277 (Khawaja, 42.1), 6288(Marsh, 44.3), 7299 (CoulterNile, 46.2), 8302 (Cummins,47.3), 9304 (Carey, 48.3).
PAKISTAN BOWLING Amir 102305, Afridi 100702, Hasan 100671, Riaz 80441, Hafeez 70601, Malik40260.
PAKISTANImam ulHaq c Carey b Cum
mins 53 (75b, 7x4), Fakhar Zaman c Richardson b Cummins 0(3b), Babar Azam c Richardsonb CoulterNile 30 (28b, 7x4),Mohd. Hafeez c Starc b Finch46 (49b, 3x4, 1x6), SarfarazAhmed run out 40 (48b, 1x4),Shoaib Malik c Carey b Cummins 0 (2b), Asif Ali c Carey bRichardson 5 (8b), Hasan Ali cKhawaja b Richardson 32 (15b,3x4, 3x6), Wahab Riaz c Carey bStarc 45 (39b, 2x4, 3x6), Mohd.Amir b Starc 0 (2b), ShaheenAfridi (not out) 1 (6b); Extras:(lb4, nb1, w9): 14; Total (in45.4 overs): 266.
FALL OF WICKETS12 (Zaman, 2.1), 256 (Azam,10.5), 3136 (Imam, 25.1), 4146(Hafeez, 26.6), 5147 (Malik,27.3), 6160 (Asif, 29.6), 7200(Hasan, 33.5), 8264 (Riaz,44.2), 9265 (Amir, 44.4).
AUSTRALIA BOWLINGCummins 100333, Starc 91432, Richardson 8.40622,CoulterNile 90531, Maxwell70580, Finch 20131.
Toss: Pakistan.
Man-of-the-Match: DavidWarner.
Australia won by 41 runs.
SCOREBOARD AUSTRALIA VS PAKISTAN
Rishabh Pant is fl��yinginto England as a coverfor the injured ShikharDhawan. India’s battingcoach Sanjay Bangarconfi��rmed the latestdevelopment to themedia at Trent Bridgehere on Wednesdayafternoon.
“The thing is in about10 to 12 days, we will betaking a call on thestatus of Shikhar. Untilthat point, just to makesure that if and whenthe replacement isrequired — and I amsaying if and when — itis always good to havethe replacement player[Pant] coming in andpractising with theteam, as a standby. He[Pant] bats in themiddleorder andobviously him being alefthander helps,”Bangar said.
As for Dhawan,Bangar explained: “Wewill be observing himand by the 10th or 12thday, we will get to knowwhere he stands, andwe will be in a betterposition to take a callbecause we don’t wantto rule out a preciousplayer like Shikhar. Asfar as the batting ordergoes, yes, K.L. [Rahul]moves to the top, andthere are various(middleorder) optionsthe teammanagementcan utilise going intothe next game.Obviously, VijayShankar is going to bean option, and there area couple of others aswell.”
Pant beingfl��own in as cover
Special
Correspondent
Nottingham
CMYK
A ND-NDE
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DELHI THE HINDU
THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 201918EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
SPORT
SUDOKU
Solution to puzzle 12650 Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
The Bhagavata Purana highlights bhakti marga as an easymeans for spiritual progress and God realisation. The LordHimself explains the supremacy of Bhakti and surrender inthe episode of Ambarisha and Durvasa, pointed out Sri B.Damodhara Dikshitar in a discourse. The Lord speaks atlength on the exclusive bond that is established betweenHim and His devotees. He is always subservient to His devotees who seek Him for His sake alone and do not desireanything else from life. Such devotees cannot be let down atany cost, He says. The pious are His heart and He resides forever in their hearts.
Ambarisha typifi��es the true devotee, steeped in his experience of faith and devotion to the Lord. This confers on himpeace and tranquillity. He does not entertain hatred or attachment towards people, places and objects of the world.He lives, acts and thinks in a righteous manner with hiswhole being totally dedicated to the Lord. Ambarisha’s actof taking a sip of sacred water as a token for completing theEkadasi vrata he had undertaken is seen as a lapse in hospitality on the king’s part and Durvasa gives vent to his anger.He creates an ogre to kill Ambarisha. The Sudarshana chakra, a gift from the Lord, acting as His deputy takes charge ofthe situation, kills the ogre and chastises the sage by givinghim a terrible chase. Though it is the Lord’s Chakra, He cannot recall it at the moment since He has not aimed it on Durvasa. Only Ambarisha can control it. So Durvasa gets back toAmbarisha and expresses regret for his anger.
Another aspect of the Lord’s nature is also revealed in thisepisode. Though the Lord has no enemies, is always freefrom partiality and bears no grudge against any being. Hecannot bear to see any devotee of His being wronged.
FAITH
Supremacy of bhakti 5 Cushy strip of feathers clipped
(4)
6 Belonging in a city rebuilt over
months (8)
7 Twist, as Republican fi��nally
falls out for peace (5)
8 They can be scorching
renderers of melody (7)
11 Motivating slogan at entrance
and exit? (223)
14 Graduate fools? Crazy! (7)
17 Western treatment comprises
drugs providing relief for
diabetic (9)
18 Tollfree passes indicate in
advance (8)
19 Somewhat cynical about
quitting good, healthy
activity (7)
21 Birds' husbandry — extremely
ridiculed thing (7)
22 Hunt for wise man picked up
near church (6)
24 Sports pain does not last till
the end? That's excellent! (5)
26 Go out with partner and
become unfashionable (4)
13 Jam emptied out pending close
of breakfast (6)
15 Leather from yak's used for
tailormade tops (4)
16 Bad costars spoiling TV shows
(10)
19 Sharing surname with cold and
disgusting Mongolian (10)
20 Posh car hired for money (4)
23 Cryptic message on hot image
being circulated (6)
25 Royal buses assemble here? (8)
27 It is possible that aid is
distributed over different
years (1,4,3)
28 Trims the edge off dry fruits
(6)
29 Try 5050? (2,6)
30 Wail loudly to snatch her fruit
(6)
■ DOWN
1 Show house's substandard, not
fi��ne (7)
2 Welldressed lecturer delivered
fulfi��lling drills (2,4,3)
3 Sour food for the losers? (6)
(set by Scintillator)
■ ACROSS
1 Meagre artist draws out a
prickly fi��sh (6)
4 On Fools' Day, beds trees (8)
9 Nonsense acting with a loud
laugh (6)
10 Turn Asia around to welcome
European (8)
12 Run out of fl��uorine? Iodine
could be substituting (2,4,2)
THE HINDU CROSSWORD 12651
There is a galaxy of cricketers at the Star Sports Studios here commentating onthe World Cup in various languages. Anil Kumble, DeanJones, Scott Styris, Brian Lara, and Kevin Pietersen livenit up with their anecdotaland predictive discussions inThe DugOut.
The regional viewers aretreated to excellent stuff��from the likes of Venkatapathy Raju, L. Sivaramakrishnan, L. Balaji, Manoj Tiwary, Vijay Bharadwaj, KiranMore, Nikhil Chopra, Mohammad Kaif, R.P. Singh, Ranadeb Bose, and SaurasishLahiri.
But the one man who isheld in awe and sought aftermost is G.R. Viswanath, whois a huge hit with his Kannadiga fans. The legendary batsman, who played 91 Testsand hit 14 centuries, each agem, teams up with Bharadwaj and G.K. Anil Kumar,with enriching comments on
cricket from his time.
Viswanath, who recentlyturned 70, is immenselypopular because of his humility. As one of the offi��cialsconnected with the projectremarked, “He is much
loved, much respected.Viewers, who have hardlyheard him all these years,feast on stories of his time.”He is the superstar amongstars of contemporarycricket.
Not the one to talk abouthis batting, he can, whenprompted repeatedly, recallmost of his important innings with minute details,the shots he played to heraldeach century, his best anddisappointing moments.
Missing 100 Tests sometimes rankles him but Viswanath, in his words, has“moved on.”
For someone like Tiwary,every break has to be spentwith Viswanath.
“I fi��rst interacted with himat a NCA (National CricketAcademy) camp and havebeen a huge fan of him since.
“For us, not watching himplay obviously is a huge disappointment but I haveheard stories about his batting from his colleagues. I amlucky to be able to spendtime with such a legend,”said Tiwary, who does revisitsome of Viswanath’s inningswhich are available onYouTube.
His wrists were hisstrength. “I developed
strong wrists in order to playthe square drive and squarecut because other shotswould not fetch me boundaries. The ball would not reachthe fence. I worked on making my wrists strong.”
Much to the chagrin of thebowlers who would suff��er athis hands, for Viswanath hadthe reputation of dominatingthe attack on hostile pitches.
Master of square cut
One reminded him of aniconic image from his career,feet in air, playing a raspingsquare cut.
“Against Michael Holding.Off�� the second new ball (atPort of Spain in 1976).”
He recalls that epic victoryagainst the West Indies as theaudience around him sits fascinated, the storytelling spilling into late evening with notrace of fatigue on the legendary veteran’s face. We retirewith a promise of more fromthe humble man, who isfondly referred as the original God of Cricket.
GRV — standing out in a galaxy of stars The legendary batsman is a huge hit among Kannadiga fans with his World Cup commentary
Vijay Lokapally
MUMBAI
Legendspeak: G.R. Viswanath and G.K. Anil Kumar regalingviewers with their Kannada commentary for the World Cup.
* SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Before the Hockey Series Finals began here, when someone asked USA captainAjai Dhadwal if his team washopeful of going all the waydespite strong competitionfrom higherranked Japan,Poland and South Africa inits group, he simply smiledand said, “that’s the plan.”
The plan has worked perfectly for the side, eventhough it lost Dhadwal to arib injury in the very fi��rstgame.
USA drew with AsianGames champion Japan andupset South Africa to end ontop of Pool B and earn a direct entry to the semifi��nals.
“The exciting thing aboutHSF is that it brings teamsthat are not as high rankedan opportunity to competeagainst the best in the world.Rankings matter but theyare not the be and end all ofeverything, it’s important tokeep your head down andtry and get results with thestrategies that you come upwith,” Dhadwal told The
Hindu in an interaction.
Heartening resultsFor a team that has to notjust fi��ght for quality competition but also resourceswith other sports and thewomen’s national team —that fi��nished fi��fth at Rio —the results here have beenheartening.
But what is more important, says Dhadwal, is thefact that the sport is spreading out of its traditional image of a subcontinental sport
and making inroads into other communities.
“I think it is really important because then it will generate more number of thosewho want to play.
“On the West Coast TomHarris very much pioneeredhockey and even started thehockey ground at the Moorepark College.
“Pretty much half ourteam grew up playing in thatarea, plus there is a predominant population of nonsubcontinental guys playingon the East Coast as well, soit’s diversifying,” Dhadwalsaid. Harris, incidentally, isin town for the tournament.
Part-timersLike most other hockeyplayers across the world, theUSA team is made up of parttimers who earn a living doing other things.
Dhadwal himself is an assistant coach with the women’s team at Rutgers University in New Jersey,although he was born andraised in Los Angeles andpicked up the stick at fi��ve fol
lowing in his father’s footsteps, who played for Delhiand Indian Railways beforemoving abroad.
USA on Friday would takeon South Africa for a spot inthe fi��nal after the Africanchampion beat Russia 21 inthe quarterfi��nals on Wednesday to keep its Olympicdreams alive.
The other quarterfi��nalsaw Japan thrash Poland 62,three of its goals coming inthe third quarter, to set up aclash with host India in thelast four.
The last time the teamsmet — at the Azlan Shah Cup— India had won 20.
The results: 7-8 place: Mexico4 (Yamil Mendez, Roberto Gar-cia, Maximiliano Mendez, Alex-ander Palma) bt Uzbekistan 3(Gaybullo Khaytboev, RuslanSatlikov, Okhunjon Mirzakari-mov); QF: Japan 6 (Koji Yama-saki 2, Kenta Tanaka, Kenji Kita-zato, Shota Yamada, HirotakaZendana) bt Poland 2 (MikolajGumny, Mateusz Hulboj);South Africa 2 (Ryan Julius,Nqobile Ntuli) vs Russia 1 (Ge-orgii Arusiia).
India up against Japan in semifi��nals
UTHRA GANESAN
BHUBANESWAR
Goal! Mexico’s Ruben Martinez scores past the Uzbekistandefence. * BISWARANJAN ROUT
USA hopes to go all the way
HSF
The breaks extended beyondstipulated time and theplayers were barely able tostand or walk off�� the turf butat the end of their drainingencounter, Mexico came out42 winner over Uzbekistanin the classifi��cation matchfor the last two places at theHockey Series Finals at theKalinga Stadium here onWednesday.
The conditions, however,forced the InternationalHockey Federation to implement its warm weather policy in the second half of thegame played early in themorning and also reschedule the morning games forFriday, advancing the timingby 45 minutes.
With severe heat waveconditions continuing acrossthe entire state of Odishaand the meteorological department warning of the situation continuing for thenext couple of days, the FIHannounced that Friday’s fi��rstgame — match for 5th place —will begin at 8 a.m. instead ofthe scheduled 8.45 a.m. Al
ready, the organisers hadavoided any match in theday time to counter the hotweather.
“In order to adjust to thecurrent high temperaturesaff��ecting Bhubaneswar andconsidering that the welfareof athletes, fans, volunteers,offi��cials and everyone involved is paramount, theFIH... implemented its warmweather policy (on Wednesday),” it said.
Accordingly, the quarterbreak is extended to four minutes instead of two and anadditional 1minute break is
given after sevenandhalfminutes of play in the 3rdand 4th quarters. In the past,the warm weather policywas applied at the 2016Olympic Games in Rio aswell.
“It was very hot and notthe best of playing conditions. The organisers didtheir best to ensure playersafety, but when you takeunscheduled breaks, it affects the rhythm and tempoof the match. But weather isbeyond control for anybody,” Mexican coach Pol Moreno admitted.
Heat wave forces rescheduling Matches to start at 8 a.m.
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
BHUBANESWAR
Tough conditions: Mexico team members resort to ice packsand cold water to beat the heat. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Italy needed a late winnerfrom Marco Verratti to defeat a determined BosniaHerzegovina 21 in Euro2020 qualifying on Tuesday,while Germany and Francepiled up the goals in lopsided victories.
Edin Dzeko fi��red Bosnia infront in Turin, but LorenzoInsigne equalised shortly after halftime and Verratticurled home on 86 minutesto earn a fourth win in asmany attempts for RobertoMancini’s side in Group J.
“I expected the diffi��culties, but we showed thestrength and the convictionto overturn it,” said Mancini.
“The important thing isthat we are fi��rst in thegroup.”
ReboundWorld champions France rebounded from last weekend’s defeat in Turkey witha troublefree 40 win awayto minnows Andorra.
He retained just four ofthose who began Saturday’s20 loss in Konya, handingfi��rst international starts toKurt Zouma, Clement Lenglet and Leo Dubois.
Kylian Mbappe openedthe scoring with a chippedfi��nish on 11 minutes, withWissam Ben Yedder andFlorian Thauvin adding totheir lead. Zouma bundledhome a fourth on the houras France reclaimed top spotin Group H after Iceland beatTurkey 21 in Reykjavik.
Iceland draws levelTwo headers in the fi��rst halfby centreback Ragnar Si
gurdsson saw Iceland drawlevel on nine points withFrance as well as Turkey, forwhom Dorukhan Tokozscored a consolation.
Germany made light workof Estonia as Serge Gnabryand Marco Reus fi��red it to athundering 80 victory inMainz.
Gnabry and Reus scoredtwo goals each, with LeonGoretzka, Ilkay Gundogan,Timo Werner and LeroySane also on target, as Germany ran riot to seal a thirdwin from three games inGroup C.
Perfect startBelgium extended its perfectstart to Group I with a 30defeat of Scotland inBrussels.
Romelu Lukaku headed inan Eden Hazard cross on thestroke of halftime andbagged a second early in thesecond half, with Kevin DeBruyne thumping home
another at the death.The results: Group C: Germany8 (Reus 10, 37, Gnabry 17, 62,Goretzka 20, Gundogan 26-pen, Werner 79, Sane 88) bt Es-tonia 0; Belarus 0 lost toNorthern Ireland 1 (McNair 86).Group E: Azerbaijan 1 (Shey-daev 29) lost to Slovakia 5 (Lo-botka 8, Kucka 27, Hamsik 30,57, Hancko 85); Hungary 1 (Pat-kai 80) bt Wales 0.Group H: Iceland 2 (Sigurdsson21, 32) bt Turkey 1 (Tokoz 40);Andorra 0 lost to France 4(Mbappe 11, Ben Yedder 30,Thauvin 45+1, Zouma 60); Al-bania 2 (Cikalleshi 66, Ramada-ni 90+3) bt Moldova 0.Group I: Kazakhstan 4 (Kuat45+1, Fedin 62, Suyumbaev 65,Islamkhan 79) bt San Marino 0;Russia 1 (Ionov 38) bt Cyprus 0;Belgium 3 (Lukaku 45+1, 57, DeBruyne 90+2) bt Scotland 0.Group J: Liechtenstein 0 lost toFinland 2 (Pukki 37, Kallman57); Italy 2 (Insigne 49, Verratti86) bt Bosnia-Herzegovina 1(Dzeko 32); Greece 2 (Zeca 54,Fortounis 87) lost to Armenia 3(Karapetyan 8, Ghazaryan 33,Barseghyan 74).
Goal glut in Germany and France wins
Agence France-Presse
Paris
Winning strike: Marco Verratti, right, celebrates with GiorgioChiellini after scoring the clincher. * AFP
Verratti comes to Italy’s rescue
EURO QUALIFYING
The United States began itstrophy defence in scintillating style with a 130 Women’s World Cup thrashingof Thailand in a ruthless demonstration of strength topotential quarterfi��nal opponent and host France.
Threetime championUSA scored 10 goals in thesecond half on Tuesday as iteclipsed Germany’s 110 winover Argentina in 2007 andshattered its own previoustournament best of 70.
Alex Morgan starred withfi��ve goals, Rose Lavelle andSamantha Mewis nettedtwice each and Lindsey Horan, Megan Rapinoe, Mallory Pugh and Carli Lloyd also
got on the scoresheet in anembarrassingly onesidedGroup F encounter watchedby more than 18,000.
The Americans hit backafter at suggestions theycould have eased up andsaved 34thranked Thailandfrom complete humiliation.
“This is a world championship so every team thatis here has been fantastic toget to this point. To be respectful to opponents is toplay hard against opponents,” said USA coach JillEllis.
Morgan now has 106goals for her country.The results: Group F: Chile 0lost to Sweden 2 (Asllani 83,Janogy 90+4); USA 13 (Morgan12, 53, 74, 81, 87, Lavelle 20,56, Horan 32, Mewis 52, 54, Ra-pinoe 79, Pugh 85, Lloyd 90+2)bt Thailand 0.
USA slams 13 pastThailandSweden starts off�� with a win
Agence France-Presse
Reims
Running riot: Megan Rapinoe, right, and Alex Morgan wereunstoppable in the USA’s massive win. * AP
WOMEN’S WC
CMYK
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THE HINDU DELHI
THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019 19EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
SPORT
ICC World Cup: Star Sports1, 2 & Select 1 (SD & HD), 3p.m.
FIFA women’s World Cup:Sony Ten 1 (SD & HD), 9.30p.m.
TV PICKS
Injured Froome out ofTour de FranceROANNE, FRANCE
Chris Froome will miss the
Tour de France after hitting a
wall and suffering severe
injuries in a training accident
at the Criterium du Dauphine
on Wednesday, Team Ineos
leader Dave Brailsford has
confirmed. “It’s clear he’ll
take no part in the Tour,”
Brailsford told French
television while four time
Tour de France winner
Froome was being treated at
the scene in a parked
ambulance. “He is in a very,
very serious condition,” said
Brailsford.
IN BRIEF
Jemimah Rodrigues toplay in KSLLEEDS
Jemimah Rodrigues has
become the third Indian
batter to play Kia Super
League (KSL) after Yorkshire
Diamonds signed her for the
upcoming fourth and final
edition of the league. Smriti
Mandhana and Harmanpreet
Kaur are the other two Indian
cricketers who have
competed in the T20 league
hosted in England. The 18-
year-old, who made her
international debut in
February 2018, has a strike
rate of 123.57 in 25 T20Is.
Semenya wins 2,000mrace amid IAAF fi��ght PARIS
South African Caster Semenya
won Tuesday’s rarely-run
2,000m race in Montreuil
amid her ongoing legal battle
with the IAAF over its
testosterone rules. The
double 800m Olympic
champion, who was racing for
the first time since a
controversial new gender
ruling came into effect,
finished in 5min 38.19sec
ahead of Ethiopia’s Hawi
Feysa & Adanech Anbesa. AFP
Tokyo or bust as Tigereyes Olympic dream PEBBLE BEACH (USA)
Tiger Woods is setting his
sights on next year’s Olympic
games, driven on by the
knowledge that he may not
get many more chances to
add a gold medal. “Olympic
gold medal would be a hell of
a feat,” Woods said. “First I
need to qualify. It would be
exciting if I got a chance to
represent the United States.
Next time I’ll be 48. I don’t
have that many chances of
playing for the United States
in the Olympics. So it will
certainly be an honour if I
were able to represent the
United States.” AFP
India’s 1983 World Cup triumph is written in goldenletters and so is the name ofthe team leader — Kapil Dev.At a media interaction hereon Wednesday, the legend,in recognition of anotherchampion, expressed hisdesire for a proper onfi��eldfarewell for the just retiredYuvraj Singh.
Yuvraj, in his farewellpress conference, had saidthat the BCCI had off��eredhim a farewell match if hefailed the yoyo test. Yuvrajnot only cleared the test butemphasised that his performance was to be the criteriafor selection.
When asked, Kapil said,“I think I would love to see aplayer like him getting a farewell in the ground, notjust saying I’m retired.”
In his farewell message toYuvraj, the former Indiacaptain said, “Yuvraj will bein my alltime XI whenever Isit down to make my team,[for] the way he played hiscricket.
“The way he is looked upto, what he has gonethrough in life (beating cancer). I wish him even betterthan what he achieved onthe cricket fi��eld. We needmore players like him.”
Kapil also revealed thathe was working on his alltime world XI which was amammoth task. “I don’twant to be dropping any legend of the game.”
Kapil was present at thelaunch of fantasy gamingplatform Apne 11. He saidplaying outdoors should bethe priority for everyoneand joked that he ends losing when playing fantasycricket with his grandchildren.
At the event, Roland Landers (CEO, All India GamingFederation) quoted an interesting piece of statistics.“The Indian market is thefastestgrowing fantasysports market in the world,the market is projected totouch $5 billion in the nexttwo years.”
Kapil bats for Yuvraj’sonfi��eld farewellBHRIGU BAGGA
new DELHI
Kapil Dev.* SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The 119th US Open at PebbleBeach has the makings of aclassic as Tiger Woods returns to the scene of a signature triumph to take on anew generation of stars ledby twotime defendingchampion Brooks Koepka.
Koepka, 29, has a chanceto do what only one golferhas done before him — win athird straight US Open title.It’s been more than 100years since Willie Andersonaccomplished the feat, andKoepka says there’s no betterplace to chase history thanPebble Beach, where fi��veprior editions have produced enduring Major championship memories.
“It’s just such a specialplace,” Koepka said of thescenic course hugging thePacifi��c coast. “Just the history behind it. You look at theguys that have won here atPebble, some of the greatestplayers that have ever playedthe game.”
Jack Nicklaus won the fi��rstUS Open staged at PebbleBeach in 1972. Ten years later it was Tom Watson and in1992 Tom Kite.
Woods triumphed in2000 by a crushing 15strokes — still a Major cham
pionship record — andGraeme McDowell ended Europe’s 40year US Opendrought when he was the lastman standing with a classicUS Open total of even par284 in 2010.
Defying historyKoepka knows history isagainst his bid for a treble.
“I know the odds arestacked up probably evenmore against me now to gothree in a row than to back itup,” Koepka said, noting that“It’s hard to win the sameevent three times in a row.”
The last player to win thesame Major three years in arow was Peter Thomson atthe British Open from
195456.Having cemented his re
turn from the injury wilderness with his 15th Major titleat the Masters, Woods sayshe’s “trending in the rightdirection”.
The same can be said ofthreetime Major winner Jordan Spieth, who struggled to11 straight fi��nishes outside
the top 10 to start the seasonbut has posted three straighttop 10s coming into the thirdMajor of the season.
Dustin Johnson, whopushed Koepka late beforesettling for second behindthe American at the PGAChampionship last month,also features among the contenders, and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy arrivesoff�� an imperious sevenstroke victory at the Canadian Open.
Fivetime major winnerPhil Mickelson, who turns 49on Sunday, reckons PebbleBeach off��ers one of his lastlegitimate chances to fi��nallycapture the US Open — theonly Major to elude him.
Tricky courseOf course Pebble Beach,playing at par 71 and 7,075yards, will have something tosay.
“There’s nothing like playing a US Open set up at Pebble Beach,” Woods said.“The golf course is not overlylong. It’s not big in that regard, but man, it’s tricky.
“The greens are all slanted, very small targets,” hesaid, noting that staying below the hole would be crucial on the greens with a tendency toward bumpiness.
Chance for Koepka to create historyHe is going for a third straight US Open; Woods returns to the scene of his signature triumph
Prep time: Brooks Koepka getting ready for the third Major of the season at Pebble Beach. * AP
Agence France-Presse
PEBBLE BEACH
Top seed Vansh Nandalwas pushed by Vitin Rathee before prevailing 62,26, 76(6) in the under14boys quarterfi��nals of theAITA Super series juniortennis tournament, organised by Chamunda TennisAcademy, on Wednesday.
In the girls under14event, top seed ChandniSrinivasan cruised to a 62,60 victory over Ana Varshney. Riya Sachdeva, Sanjana Devineni and SamikshaDabas made it to the semifi��nals of both the under14and under12 events.The results (quarterfi��nals):Boys: Under14: Vansh Nan-dal bt Vitin Rathee 6-2, 2-6,7-6(6); Parag Jain bt LakshyaGupta 1-6, 6-4, 6-4; BhavyaSinghmar bt Aryan Deshwal6-2, 6-2; Aditya Chauhan btHemant Dixit 6-2, 6-3.
Under12: Krish Ajay Tyagi btMayand Tewary 6-3, 4-6, 6-1;Dhruv Ghanghas bt HrisheekVavilapally 6-3, 6-2; AkshatDhull bt Rian Sharma 7-5,6-4; Ekamjeet Singh Cheemabt Sehaj Sharma 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
Girls: Under14: Chandni Sri-nivasan bt Ana Varshney 6-2,6-0; Riya Sachdeva bt SuhaniGaur 6-1, 7-5; Sanjana Devi-neni bt Saijayani Banerjee6-2, 7-5; Samiksha Dabas btDhvani Kavad 6-0, 6-4.
Under12: Sohini Sanjay Mo-hanty bt Ana Varshney 6-3,6-3; Sanjana Devineni bt RajaSarvagnya Kilaru 6-2, 7-5; Ri-ya Sachdeva bt Saijayani Ba-nerjee 6-1, 6-2; Samiksha Da-bas bt Shatakshi Chaudhary6-1, 6-2.
Vansh beatsback Vitin’schallengeSports Bureau
KARNAL
He is the Asian Games champion and was the fi��rst Indianto win a medal at the IAAFContinental Cup last year.But after a bit of a high lastseason, this year is turningout to be a very disappointing one for triple jumper Arpinder Singh.
The 26yearold from Punjab, who has a personal bestof 17.17m, was in poor form
as he fi��nished eighth with abest of 15.78m in the ClassicPermit Meeting de Montreuilnear Paris on Tuesday.American Christian Taylor,the Olympic and Worldchampion, won the eventwith 17.41m.
Earlier this month, Arpinder had won the gold inanother meet in France, atPezenas with a mediocre15.85m.
“Yes, I’m shocked with Arpinder’s performance. Forsomebody who has jumped
above 17m, he should be doing something like 16.70m,”Romanian Bedros Bedrosian, the national coach forjumps, told The Hindu fromBucharest on Wednesday.
“I don’t think he is aggressive enough during thejumps, he is probably not attacking enough. The lasttime I saw him, at the AsianGames in Jakarta (in September 2018), his technique appeared to be coming down.”
Arpinder failed to qualifyfor the recent Asian cham
pionships in Doha after fi��nishing fourth in the Federation Cup in March with16.34m and with the qualifi��cation standard for this September’s World championships being 16.95m, hecertainly has a lot of work todo.
“With such performances, I don’t think he can qualify for the Worlds, but Arpinder is a fi��ghter,” said Bedros,who plans to return to Indialater this month after a longbreak.
Bedros shocked with Arpinder’s poor run ATHLETICS
Stan Rayan
KOCHI
Inspired by injured teammate Kevin Durant and facing an emotional mustwingame, the Golden State Warriors is counting upon resiliency and fi��ghting spirit tostay alive in the NBA Finals.
The defending champion,seeking a third consecutivetitle and fourth in fi��ve seasons, entertains TorontoRaptors in game six onThursday needing a victoryto pull level at 33 and force agame seven on Sunday atToronto.
“We’re going to have towill ourselves for another 48minutes to stay alive,” Warriors guard Stephen Currysaid. “And whatever it’s going to take from every singleguy in our jersey.
“I don’t know if there’s going to be a speech in the locker room, if there’s going toneed to be words at all. We
understand the moment andI think we can rally.”
“We’ll be suiting up infront of Oracle Arena andwith the amazing atmosphere and opportunity to playfor him, and to kind of honour the sacrifi��ce he made interms of putting his body onthe line,” Curry said. “We’regoing to give everything wegot. We’re going to fi��ght.We’re going to compete.”
Golden State guard KlayThompson will give his efforts in tribute to Durant.
“It obviously inspires youto play harder knowing yourbest player can’t be outthere,” Thompson said. “Youthink of him every time youdive for a loose ball or go fora rebound, because I knowhim and I know how bad hewants to be out there.”
Only once in 34 opportun
ities has a team that trailed31 in the NBA Finals won thetitle, that coming in 2016when LeBron James ralliedCleveland over the Warriors.
Adieu to Oracle ArenaThe Warriors will be playingtheir fi��nal game at OracleArena, their home venuesince 1971. They leave theNBA’s oldest arena for a new$1 billion home in San Francisco next season and hopeto exit Oakland as winnersafter two earlier fi��nals homelosses to the Raptors.
For the Raptors, top scorer Kawhi Leonard says thesecret is to keep doing whatput them one win from thefi��rst title in their 24seasonhistory and the fi��rst by anyteam from outside the United States. “Just try to comeout and match that emotionand drive, come out and dothe same thing, just be mentally focused, try to limit ourmistakes and be the aggressor,” Leonard said.
Warriors face an emotional mustwin testCurry and Co. wants to give everything as a tribute to the injured Durant
NBA FINALS
Doing it for Kevin: Stephen Curry says Warriors will competehard to try and level the series to honour Kevin Durant. * AP
Agence France-Presse
OAKLAND
Sumit Nagal knocked outeighth seed Quentyn Halysof France 63, 62 on clay inthe second round of the€92,040 Challenger here onWednesday.The results: €137,560 Challenger, Nottingham: Singles (fi��rstround): Saketh Myneni bt MatsMorang (Ger) 7-6(2), 6-3.
€92,040 Challenger, Lyon:Singles (second round): SumitNagal bt Quentin Halys (Fra)6-3, 6-2.
$ 54,160 Challenger, Columbus, USA: Doubles (prequarterfi��nals): Li Zhe (Chn) & Yasu-taka Uchiiyama (Jpn) btVolodoymyr Uzhylovskyi (Ukr)& Arjun Kadhe 6-4, 6-3.
$25,000 ITF men, Shenzhen,China: Singles (fi��rst round): YuHsiou Hsu (Tpe) bt KarunudaySingh 6-2, 6-1.
$25,000 ITF men, Hong Kong:Sinlges (fi��rst round): SidharthRawat bt Andrej Glvac (Svk)6-4, 6-4; Shintaro Imai (Jpn)bt Vijay Sundar Prasshanth6-2, 6-4; Maksim Tikhomirov
(US) bt Muthu Aadhitiya Sen-thilkumar 6-2, 6-4. Doubles (prequarterfi��nals):Jayden Court & AlexanderCrnokrak (Aus) bt Jose Fco. Vi-dal Azorin (Esp) & Vijay SundarPrashanth 7-5, 6-3. $15,000 ITF men, Singapore:Singles (fi��rst round): Jesse De-laney (Aus) bt Atharva Sharma6-0, 6-2; Aldan Mchugh (GBR)bt Siddhant Banthia 7-5, 6-1;Thanapet Chanta (Tha) bt Jag-meet Singh 6-3, 6-3; ShahinKhaledan (Iri) bt Gokul Suresh6-4, 6-4; Kelsey Stevenson(Can) bt Vidit Vaghela 6-1, 3-6,6-3.Doubles (prequarterfi��nals):Congsup Congcar (Tha) & Ka-zuki NIshiwaki (Jpn) bt KunalAnand & Jatin Dahiya 6-3, 7-5. $15,000 ITF women, Gimcheon, Korea: Doubles (prequarterfi��nals): Shou Na Mu & Zhuo-ma Ni Ma (Chn) bt Man YingMaggie Ng (Hkg) & AshmithaEaswaramurthi 4-6, 6-1,[10-7].$15,000 ITF women, Amarante, Portugal: Doubles (prequarterfi��nals): Muskan Gupta& Sathwika Sama bt EmmaMazzoni & Juliette Mazzoni(Fra) 6-0, 7-6(3).
Nagal in third round INDIANS ABROAD
Sports Bureau
LYON
Amit Beniwal knocked outtop seed Chandril Sood 63,61 in the fi��rst round of theCol. KK Uppal memorial$3,000 Asian men’s tennistournament at the VANSports Club, Baliawas, onWednesday.
On a day when therewere as many as six playerswho did not fi��nish theirmatch and conceded afterplaying one set or a littlemore, second seed VijayantMalik retired when he washandshaking distance awayfrom defeat.
Vimalraj Jayachandranled 75, 53 when Vijayantconceded. Vimalraj will playVilasier Khate in theprequarterfi��nals.
Amit Beniwal will faceLakshya Gupta, who endured a longdrawn battleagainst Shubham Malhotraand won 61, 67(8), 75.
Shashank Theertha overcame the loss of the fi��rst setin the tiebreak to beateighth seed Yugal Bansal as
the latter retired early in thethird set.
Twin brother of ChandrilSood, Lakshit Sood cruisedinto the second round witha 61, 62 win over AakashAhlawat.
The results (fi��rst round): AmitBeniwal bt Chandril Sood 6-3,6-1; Lakshya Gupta bt Shub-ham Malhotra 6-1, 6-7(8), 7-5;Parth Aggarwal bt AshutoshTiwary 6-3 6-2; ShashankTheertha bt Yugal Bansal 6-7(2), 6-3, 2-1 (conceded); NeerajYashpaul bt Deepak Senthilku-mar 6-3, 6-3; Kunj Kotak btFardeen Qamar 7-5, 6-4.
Rudraksh Mitra bt VashuGupta 6-3, 7-5; Garry Tokas btTanik Gupta 7-6(5), 6-4; Pran-jal Tiwary bt Parshwa Bhavishi6-1, 3-0 (conceded); Aditya Ti-wari bt Medhir Goyal 6-1, 6-0;Aditya Vishal Balsekar bt Apu-roop Reddy 6-1, 4-0 (conced-ed); Lakshit Sood bt AakashAhlawat 6-1, 6-2; Raghav Jai-singhani bt Nishant Dabas 7-5(conceded); Vilasier Khate btAkash Nandwal 7-6(2), 6-2; Vi-malraj Jayachandran bt Vi-jayant Malik 7-5, 5-3 (conced-ed).
Amit Beniwal stunsChandril Sood Special Correspondent
GURUGRAM
L.R. Balaji overcame a spirited fi��ght from Digivijay SinghMehta 62, 46, 61 in thequarterfi��nals of the₹��100,000 AITA men’s ranking tennis tournament at theHarvest Tennis Accademy,Jassowal, on Wednesday.
The results: Singles (quarterfi��nals): Dalwinder Singh bt
Drona Walia 7-5, 6-2; HardeepSingh Sandhu bt DeepinderSingh Bains 6-2, 6-4; L.R. Ba-laji bt Digvijay Singh Mehta6-2, 4-6, 6-1; Suraj Prabodh btAnuj Malik 6-2, 6-1.
Doubles (semifi��nals): Dalwin-der Singh & Hardeep SinghSandhu bt Alok Aradhya &Naesar Jewoor 6-2, 6-2; SurajPrabodh & Anuj Malik bt AmitBzad & Kshitij Kamal 6-3, 4-6,[10-6].
Balaji in semifi��nalsSports Bureau
LUDHIANA
Mahesh Mangaonkar ofMaharashtra and JoshnaChinappa of Tamil Naduhave been give the top billing in the men’s and women’s singles at the MSRA76th senior National squashhere.The seedings: Men: MaheshMangaonkar (Mah), AbhishekPradhan (Mah), AbhishekAgarwal (Mah), Vijay Kumar(SSCB), Gaurav Nandrajog(Del), Ranjit Singh (SSCB), Ja-mal Sakib (SSCB) Women: Joshna Chinappa(TN), Urwashi Joshi (Mah), Su-nayna Kuruvilla (TN), TanviKhanna (Del). The results: Qualifi��cation:Men’s fi��fth round: Guhan Sen-thilkumar (TN) bt Awdesh Ya-dav (SSCB) 11-2, 11-1, 11-5;Aishwary Singh (Mah) bt Ash-ish Patel (SSCB) 11-3, 11-5, 11-7;
Veer Chotrani (Mah) bt DineshR. (TN) 11-9, 11-6 retd.; San-deep Jangra (SSCB) bt RaunakSingh (Mah) 11-3, 11-3, 11-1; Ra-vi Dixit (SSCB) bt Mehul Kumar(SSCB) 11-4, 11-7, 11-5.
Women’s fi��rst round:AnjaliSemwal (Mah) bt Hresha Patil(Kar) 11-1, 11-1, 11-3; Sano Singhi(WB) bt Elie Tahmasebmirza(Mah) 11-1, 11-1, 11-1; AishwaryaKhubchandani (Mah) bt Radhi-ka Jain (Raj)11-1, 11-3, 11-2;Prashasti Mattas (Goa) btShruti Mane (Mah) 11-2, 11-0,11-2.
Anwesha Reddy (TN) bt An-kita Patil (Mah) 11-1, 11-2, 11-1;Gangu Nirguda (Mah) bt SoniKumari (Bih) 11-0, 11-2, 11-0;Howrah Bhanpurawala (Mah)bt Neaketa Chawla (Del) 11-3,11-5, 11-5; Yoshna Singh (Mah)bt Mehr Un Nisa (J&K) 11-1,11-1, 11-1; Bijali Darvada (Mah)bt Neha Kumari (Bih) 11-0,11-0, 11-1.
Mangaonkar andJoshna are top seedsSports Bureau
PUNE
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has swung into a‘clean and green’ drive incentres across the country,following a directive fromthe Union Sports Minister,Kiren Rijiju, in an attemptto create a more environmentfriendly atmospherein the sporting arenas.
Saplings of trees, specialin a particular region, willbe planted in the 12 regional centres of SAI and in allthe stadiums under itspurview.
The idea is to increasethe green cover in the campus by nurturing localplants that may bear fruitsalso. Rain water harvestingwill be utilised to maintainthe green cover.
Awareness workshopswill be organised for thebenefi��t of athletes to inculcate the principles of the‘clean and green’ drive,which has emerged fromthe pledge taken by theSports Minister on theWorld Environment Daythis year.
SAI’s green driveSpecial Correspondent
NEW DELHI
National crossmintonin LudhianaNEW DELHI
The National Crossminton
championship will be held at
the Govind National College,
Narangwal district in
Ludhiana from June 27 to 29.
The General Secretary of the
All India Crossminton
Organisation (AICO), Bilal
Ahmad Khan stated that the
championship will feature
teams from 17 States. There
will be team championship
apart from singles, doubles
and mixed doubles.
Tvesa Malik in the vanBENGALURU
Tvesa Malik shot an even-par
72 to take the opening day’s
honours as the final leg of the
Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour
commenced here. The scores (top six after 18holes): 72: Tvesa Malik; 73:Millie Saroha; 74: RidhimaDilawari; 75: Khushi Khanijau;77: Gaurika Bishnoi; 78: AsthaMadan, Sneha Sharan (A).
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DELHI THE HINDU
THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 201920EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
CMYK
A ND-NDE
SHOWCASE
Hindustani musicIndia International Centre is hosting a two-day
summer festival of Hindustani music. Today, the
first day of the festival, will see a Siddha Veena
recital by Siddhartha Banerjee from Delhi. This
will be followed by a Hindustani vocal recital by
Meghna Kumar from Orissa.
Venue: C.D. Deshmukh Auditorium, India
Internationl Centre
Time: 6 p.m. onwards
PERFORMANCE
Summer specialThe All American Diner’s special month-long
summer menu will focuses on ways to stay cool.
On offer are a variety of cold soups and salads
such as smoked chicken sausage soup,
watermelon gazpacho, panzanella salad, and
curried chicken and mango salad. The menu has
been curated by their kitchen chefs.
Venue: The All American Diner, IHC
Time: 11 a.m. - 12 midnight
FOOD
Drawing exhibitAs part of the ongoing 24-day art festival called I
AM – Identity Art Marathon 2019, an exhibition of
drawings organised by Untitled Creations,
features Pehchaan by artist Abid Zaidi. Curated
by Aakshat Sinha, the art works on display depict
vultures, the birds of prey, and focus on their
disappearing numbers.
Venue: Aparna Art Gallery
Time: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
ART
Breakfast menuNukkadwala, the fast food restaurant chain
inspired by the many street foods of India, has
come up with a variety of new breakfast dishes.
On offer are typical breakfast dishes from across
India’s streets including kande pohe, mattra
kulcha, Parsi anda bhurji, egg rolls, medu vada,
and tulsi tea, Meerut shikanji, and more.
Venue: Nukkadwala, Saket
Time: 10 a.m.
FOOD
Desi Roots liveHard Rock Cafe will host the band Desi Roots on
Thursday evening. The band is coming together
of seasoned professional artists who have been
active in the music industry now for over a
decade. The band will play Bollywood and pop
numbers in addition to their sufi, folk, indie and
rock tunes.
Venue: Hard Rock Cafe, DLF Place, Saket
Time: 9 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
GIG
5 EVENTS WORTH YOUR WHILE
Overnight oats for breakfast havebeen in the market for a while butnever really picked up in India. Andmillets just take too long to cook —or so most people feel.
Sanjeeta Krishnakumar, founderOGMO Foods, hopes to bust this perception with her range of overnightmillets and oats. “I use rolled milletsthat require no cooking. Combinedwith spraydried fruit powders andchia seeds, it makes for a great fi��rstmeal,” she says. You soak the mix inwater the night before and pair itwith fruits the next morning, for awholesome start to the day. “Soaking whole grains has a lot of benefi��ts.One of them being that it neutralisesphytic acids and makes it easier toassimilate all the nutrients,” saysSanjeeta, who has spent the last couple of years researching the benefi��tsof soaked foods.
She began her career as a foodblogger back in 2008 and workedwith several restaurants and brands,creating recipes for them. By 2009,Sanjeeta began her career as a foodstylist, working on shoots for severaltelevision commercials and campaigns. “But for the last two years Ihad been wanting to do somethingon my own; introduce what I’vecreated into the market,” she says. “Iwanted to take it (overnight oats) astep further and include overnightmillets into the mix as well. I’d beenresearching these and creating recipes to see what works best. I gavesamples of whatever I made tofriends to try.”
Once she felt she’d got the recipesright, it was all about sourcing theingredients. “I use barnyard and little millets in the products,” Sanjeetasays. These are ideal, she says, forpeople who are on the go but don’t
want to compromise on eatinghealthy food.
Launched in December last year,OGMO has on off��er four products sofar, two that use rolled oats, spraydried fruits, cocoa, cinnamon andjaggery, and two with rolled milletsin savoury and sweet variants. “Tothe savoury overnight millets, onecould even add curd to turn intocurd rice.” Sanjeeta is working onfour more variants.
“All the products are made usingnatural ingredients and are preser
vativefree. They are minimally processed and are made using simpleingredients. The idea, is to promotea clean label,” says SanjeetaPlansare also afoot to move to a completely organic range of products soon.
Currently, OGMO is completelyselffunded. “We’re taking it slow.We want to fi��rst establish ourselveswell in the market. Funding willcome in later,” she says.
Available online on Amazon, Flipkart andBetter India, ₹��45 upward
With a choice of overnight millets and oats,OGMO has the answer for people looking forquick, healthy meal options
Soak it in The overnight millets and oats can be paired with everything fromfruit to curd * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Ranjani Rajendra
Breakfast in a jar
Discussing the renewed meaningof her chilling dystopian novelThe Handmaid’s Tale(publishedin 1985) in Trump’s era for TheNew York Times, Canadian writerand activist Margaret Atwooddrove one point home: “‘It can’thappen here’ could not be depended on: Anything could happen anywhere, given thecircumstances.”
Prayaag Akbar’s 2017 novel Leila paints a similarly bleak Indiandystopia that will be exploredacross six episodes for Netfl��ix bycreative executive producer anddirector Deepa Mehta, and codirectors Shanker Raman and Pawan Kumar. With her round spectacles resting on the table in frontof her, Mehta chats with us, fl��itting between a throaty laughwhen talking about the onlineoutcry following the trailer’s release, and a softer tone when expressing the unsettling way Akbar’s novel resonated with her.
Disquieting prescience
The series follows a mother insearch of her young daughter Leila, when they are forcefully separated under a totalitarian regimebuilt on segregation. It’s set in apolluted Aryavarta, circa 2040that is reeling under severe waterscarcity, and weaves the past andpresent through fl��ashbacks and adisquieting prescience. The trailer elicited strong reactions online
— many called for people to unsubscribe from Netfl��ix for showcasing what was being termed as“antiHindu” content. “Trailer kebaad outcry? (Outcry following atrailer?) I’m very impressed,”smiles the director.
Citing the uproar with Padmaavat (2018) which ended in theKarni Sena withdrawing its protest after watching the fi��lm, Mehtasays, “He [Sanjay Leela Bhansali]became a hero when the fi��lmcame out. Humara bhi yahi hoga;we’ll also become heroes!”
Mehta isn’t new to furoreaimed at policing her work. In1998, the release of her fi��lm Firesaw theatres vandalised for showing a fi��lm depicting its lead characters (portrayed by Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das) in a lesbianrelationship. A few years later,while shooting for Water (2007)in Varanasi, rightwing groupsforced Mehta and her crew outfor, “[running] down the image ofwidows in India”. EventuallyMehta shot the fi��lm with a newcast under an assumed titlein Sri Lanka, and fi��veyears after the Varanasiincident, it premiered atthe Toronto InternationalFilm Festival in 2005. Mehta says she deals with thenoise with a sense of humour. “Really, what else isthere to do?” she asks. “Icertainly don’t feel like Ideserve to feel like a victim. I don’t want to give
the power to anybody to make mefeel like a victim,” she shrugs.
Dipping into reality
With over four decades of experience in fi��lmmaking, Mehta’swork is vivid because it oftendraws from a pool of her experiences. Earth (1999), which isbased on Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel IceCandy Man, was a familiar landscape for the director, havingbeen born in Amritsar, postPartition. Water was inspired by an encounter with an old widow in Varanasi in 1996.
“I certainly can identify with Shalini,” saysMehta about Leila’sprotagonist,played by HumaQureshi, “in
the sense that she was privileged, entitled, andleading a normal life — so
what happens whenthat kind of privilege
is taken away fromyou?” Mehta elaborates that it reminded her of thetime she moved toToronto after getting married andher grandmothervoiced her concerns. “She toldmy mother,‘She doesn’teven knowhow to cook,what will she
do?’ So that privilege and verysmall, superfi��cial entitlement like‘How are you going to survivewithout a cook?’ is somethingthat I thought of, but it becamemuch bigger than that,” sharesthe director. Mehta adds that it’sthis reassessment of privilege thatQureshi explores with nuance onscreen.
Complex scenarios
It is this very understanding ofprivilege and deepening chasmsbetween haves and havenots thatstands out in Akbar’s novel. Thedirector, who read the book whenit was fi��rst published, says it washis lucidity that struck her: “Itwas simple — not simplistic — [il
lustration] of a very complicatedworld. And it was very chilling,and I kept thinking of all thesewalls: Trump talking about hisstupid walls. It’s such a realitythat you are actually trying tokeep people away by literal, physical embellishments. That’s reallyscary.”
While putting together Leila’sdistressing universe was a challenge in itself, Mehta sheds lighton what was trickiest. With everything shot on location, the director says that The Purity House,a place where “wayward” womenare “corrected”, was fi��nally foundin an old mansion in Daryaganj inDelhi. The Purity House segments, however, reminded Mehta
of a dystopian take on the widows’ home in Water. Whenasked how she went about it, shelaughs and says, “All these women [the characters in Leila’sPurity House] were drugged allthe time, so [I managed].”
Mehta’s next is also an adaptation: She will reimagine ShyamSelvadurai’s Funny Boy about ayoung boy struggling with his homosexuality in wartorn Sri Lanka. When asked about whetherExclusion, a fi��lm with a starstudded cast that even had AmitabhBachchan’s name attached to it,will see the light of the day, shesays, “Maybe someday.”
Leila premiers June 14th on Netfl��ix
Director Deepa Mehta on translating a 2017 novel Leila into a webseries, dealing with moral policing, and shooting dystopian scenes
Anahita Panicker
Bleak Indian dystopia (clockwise from left ): Deepa Mehta; stills from the movie * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
‘I kept thinkingof all these walls’
Named after a Hindu god andGreek goddess, one wouldimagine that the Spotted Owlet, Athene brama, would be atowering majestic creature,but its length is 1921 cm, depending on the sex — the females tend to be larger.
Athene, the goddess of wisdom, war and liberal arts, inGreek mythology, had a favourite bird: the owl, from herprimitive role as the goddessof the night. Brama or Brahmais the supreme Hindu spirit. InHindu mythology, the owl is aVahan (mode of transport) of
Lakshmi, who is the goddessof wealth.
The Athene brama or theSpotted Owlet is one of themost commonly sighted owlsin our backyard. It is a nocturnal raptor (a bird of prey)found in the Indian Subcontinent, except for Sri Lanka.
The owl is largely crepuscular (appearing as it doesaround twilight) and nocturnal, but is sometimes seenduring the daytime. It normally comes out before dusk andretires by sunrise to its roost ina tree hole or branch, wherepairs or small family groupshuddle together.
Its prey includes mostlybeetles, moths, other insectsand it also preys on earthworms, lizards, mice andsmall birds. At dusk, itperches on electrical wiresor street lamp posts, fences or other such vantagepoints to look for prey,pouncing on an unwary insect, or occasionally launchingan aerial attack toseize a fl��ying insectattracted to thelight from streetlamps.
Owlshave
always had a powerful hold onour imaginations by being apart of myths, legends and fairytales. Irrespective of theiraura, they are often considered bad omens, and this ishurting their survival. Owls aspredators keep a balance inour ecosystem by keeping acheck on rodent and insectpopulation. Hence, this perception needs to change as allcreatures have a role to play inthe ecological system andhurting this delicate balancecould harm us in the long run.
The writer is the founder of theNINOX Owl about Nature, a natureawareness initiative . He formerly leda programme at WWFIndia as anaturalist and is the DelhiNCRreviewer for Ebird, a CornellUniversity initiative, monitoring raresightings of birds in the region
Revered in many myths, the bird is a common sight in Delhi
Abhishek Gulshan
The spotted owletIN OUR BACKYARD
Bird on a wire The spotted owlet is seen at heights, on wires and cables * ABHISHEK GULSHAN
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THE HINDU DELHI
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CMYK
A ND-NDE
SHOWCASE
of blue. The Lupaqas, who livedhere many centuries ago, believed that the souls of the deadcame to rest in the depths of thelake, only to be slowly lifted up bythe warmth of the sun, to be reborn as stars.
The last carriage of the AndeanExplorer is open to air, and an observation car. There is a live bandin this car, who invited my son toplay the maracas, while theyplayed the Incan fl��ute. The observation car is a huge party, withdancing and music.
On the menuPeru Rail does an excellent job ofkeeping the passengers fed, witha nonstop supply of snacks. Themost popular snacks are bananachips (identical to our South Indian banana chips), and Incacorn, which comprises heated,not popped corn kernels. An excellent threecourse lunch is alsoserved, which tries to showcasethe local produce of Peru.
At precisely 7.30 am, to theringing of the station bell, ourtrain left Puno. The train itself is aslow one, taking nearly 12 hoursto cover the distance of 380 kilometres. Soon after we leave Puno,the houses become smaller, andsoon vanish altogether. We are inthe Altiplano. There is nearly no
At 7 in the morning, in the freezing cold, my 10yearold son, mywife and I, along with a largegroup of travellers, congregatedat Puno Railway Station. My sonand I are rail buff��s; my wife is not.The rail journey from Puno on thebanks of Lake Titicaca to Cusco incentral Peru is considered a seminal experience for rail afi��cionados, and we were keen on doingthis. Although my wife was apprehensive, the experience was incredible, and Peru Rail, which operates the route, takes great careto make sure that there is something for everyone, on this trip.
South America is home to thesecondlargest highaltitude plateau on Earth, the Altiplano. Thissurreal landscape comprisesbrown treeless mountains thattower over the fl��at expanse, thatstretches for hundreds of kilometres, at an altitude of over12,500 feet.
The Altiplano contains LakeTiticaca, the highest navigablelake on Earth. Until recently, therailway line from Puno to Cusco,was the highest regularlyrun passenger line on the planet.
Puno sits at the western end ofthe immense lake, the waters ofwhich are an unusually deep hue
vegetation and very little humanhabitation. The sense of loneliness here is overwhelming. Thetrain slowly curves and grinds itsway through the fl��at emptiness ofthis immense plateau.
By midday, the landscapechanges and the mountainswhich were distant grow higherand nearer. The train runsthrough a near desert, fl��anked by
snowcapped peaks on eitherside. It belches thick clouds ofsmoke as it powers its way upward for the next hour or so andcomes to a halt with an exhaustedscreech at La Raya, nearly 14,200feet above sea level.
Edge of the worldLa Raya was the highest passen
ger station in the world, untilTanggula (on the BeijingLhasaline) took the crown, a few yearsago. We all get off�� at La Raya, adesolate place, with an oldchurch, and a few bystanders.There is no station master here;not even a station building. Don’tthese people understand we areat one of the greatest railway sta
tions on earth? There is a singleboard, proclaiming that we areindeed at ‘The’ La Raya. After ashort halt, the bell rang, and weleft La Raya.
The air, at this altitude, is noticeably thin, and most peopleare nursing mild symptoms of altitude sickness. Peru Rail servedus ‘coca tea’ to enable us to beat
this. Coca tea is said to improveour oxygen content.
From La Raya, the track quickly drops back down to more human altitudes, and soon we areat the station of San Pedro,which is home to a natural hotspring. By dusk, the landscapehad changed again, and we werenow going through mountainswith some short trees. Signs ofhuman habitation appeared.Nameless towns fl��ashed past ourwindows.
As night fell, we were nearingthe ancient town of Cusco. Cuscolies in a broad valley. At one endis the enormous mountain, Ausangate. At the other end, are theruins of the ancient Inca capitalof Sacsayhuaman.
At 6.40 pm, (which was justabout 10 minutes behind schedule) the train came to a halt atthe Cusco Station. Thoroughlyexhausted, we disembarkedfrom the train, and emerged intothe cold evening.
South American saga (Clockwise fromabove) The train that runs across theAltiplano, a view of Cusco, the church at LaRaya * GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCK
FACTFILE
NEAREST AIRPORT: JuliacaInternational AirportRAILWAY STATION: Puno
BEST WAY TO REACH THESTATION: You can fl��y intoJuliaca, spend a couple ofdays on the banks of LakeTiticaca and then board theAndean Explorer.
BOOK YOUR TICKETS VIATHE PERU RAIL WEBSITE:They take care to seatfamilies and groups together— so this is a good option.
HEALTH TIPS: Puno andJuliaca are at an altitude of3,830m (12,560 ft). So beprepared for altitudesickness. Remember to carryalong meds. All hotels keep checkingyour blood oxygen levelsand have oxygen availablefor use. But it is a good ideato start having Diamox froma few days before. You will probably need tocontinue this dosage all theway to Cusco and until youhead to lower altitudesbelow 8,000 ft. Check withyour doctor before youleave.
THINGS TO TAKE ALONG:There is ample supply offood, drinks and fun on thetrain. So just take along agood camera and a warmjacket to keep you warm. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Srinath Sridevan
The groundbeneath their feetEvery year, this father-son duo goes on unusual train journeys across
continents. This time, it is from Puno to Cusco high up in the Andes
■ Across
1 Horrifi��ed (6)
4 Less in number (5)
7 Fruit (6)
8 Stimulus (6)
9 Young elephant (4)
10 Object of
abhorrence (8)
12 Young hooligans
(11)
17 One present at an
event (8)
19 Spanish painter, d.
1828 (4)
20 Insubstantial (6)
21 County town of
Devon (6)
22 Snag (5)
23 Social position —
prestige (6)
■ Down
1 Give an ovation (7)
2 Cooperative (7)
3 Long drawnout (9)
4 Deceptive
manoeuvre (5)
5 Most crafty (7)
6 Annul an act of
parliament (6)
11 Lighthearted
pastime (9)
13 Uproot by force (7)
14 Treat carelessly (7)
15 Diffidence (7)
16 Affection (6)
18 Cardinal point (5)
THE GUARDIAN QUICK CROSSWORD-13095
6
Solution will appearin The Hindu dated
June 14, 2019.
Solution No. 13094
POOCH CAFE
HAGAR THE HORRIBLE
TIGER
PEANUTS
CALVIN AND HOBBES
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE
WUMO
CMYK
A ND-NDE
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DELHI THE HINDU
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Kohli is the sole Indian in list of toppaid athletesNEW DELHI
Cricketer Virat Kohli, the sole
Indian in the Forbes list of
the world’s highestpaid
athletes, is ranked 100th with
estimated annual earnings of
$25 million. Football star
Lionel Messi tops the list with
$127 million in earnings. PTI
IN BRIEF
‘Lovelorn fi��sh turngloomy when separated’ PARIS
Researchers in France found
that the Central American
convict cichlid turn gloomy
when separated. The tropical
fish, known to be a loyal and
monogamous partner, suffers
from heartache when
separated from its lover. AFP
WHO emergency meet asEbola spreads to Uganda GENEVA
The World Health
Organization said on
Wednesday that a key
emergency committee would
meet on Friday following
confirmation that an Ebola
outbreak in the Democratic
Republic of Congo had spread
to neighbouring Uganda. A
fiveyearold boy in Uganda
has died of Ebola. AFP
Eightysix percent of Internet users have been dupedby fake news — most of itspread on Facebook — according to a global surveypublished on Tuesday.
Respondents said theywant both governments andsocial media companies tocrack down on these activities, which are contributingto a growing distrust of theInternet as well as negativelyimpacting economies andpolitical discourse.
The U.S. took the lion’sshare of the blame forspreading fake news, followed by Russia and China,
according to the annual Ipsos survey of more than25,000 Internet users in 25countries.
Fake news appeared to bemost prevalent on Facebook, but also appears on
YouTube, blogs and Twitter,the pollsters found.
The results showed people in Egypt were the mostgullible while respondents inPakistan were the most sceptical. It also revealed wides
pread distrust of social media fi��rms and growingconcerns over privacy andbiases baked into algorithmsused by Internet companies.
The poll — which relied onboth inperson and onlineinterviews — was conductedbetween December 21, 2018and February 10, 2019 on behalf of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). “This year’ssurvey not only underscoresthe fragility of the Internet,but also netizens’ growingdiscomfort with social mediaand the power these corporations wield over their dailylives,” CIGI’s Fen OslerHampson said.
Survey reveals 86% of Internetusers fall victim to fake news Lion’s share of blame for its spread lies with the U.S., followed by Russia and China
Agence France-Presse
Ottawa
Fake news is most prevalent on Facebook, but also appears onYouTube and Twitter. * GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
Two weeks ago, Facebookdeclined to remove a doctored video in which NancyPelosi, Speaker of the U.S.House of Representatives,seemed to drunkenly slurher speech. Over the weekend, two British artists released a doctored video ofFacebook’s Chief Executive,Mark Zuckerberg, as a slycomment on the spread offalse information online.
Posted to the Facebookowned social network Instagram, the video shows Mr.Zuckerberg speaking directly into the camera, boastingof nefarious motives behind
his online empire.“Imagine this for a se
cond: One man, with totalcontrol of billions of people’s stolen data, all their secrets, their lives, their futures,” he appears to say. “Iowe it all to Spectre. Spectreshowed me that whoevercontrols the data, controls
the future.” Spectre is a reference to a fi��ctional, evil organization in James Bondlore.
The two artists behind thevideo, Bill Powers and Daniel Howe, did not immediately respond to requestsfor comment on Tuesdayevening. Stephanie Otway, aspokeswoman for Instagram, said the fake video ofZuckerberg would receivethe same treatment as thefake video of Pelosi. “If thirdparty fact checkers mark itas false, we will fi��lter it fromInstagram’s recommendation surfaces like Exploreand hashtag pages,” shesaid. NY TIMES
It shows him boasting about his online empire
Cade Metz
SAN FRANCISCO
Mark Zuckerberg
A fake Zuckerberg videochallenges Facebook rules
Marine life: A biologist inspecting corals growing on tables in the Red Sea as a part of research carried out by the InteruniversityInstitute for Marine Sciences near the southern Israeli city of Eilat. * AFP
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Diving deeper
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Wednesday said hehelped pay off�� outstandingloans of over 2,000 farmersfrom Bihar.
The 76yearold actortook to his personal blog toshare the news.
Mr. Bachchan said hecalled some of the farmersto his residence and donated the amount.
“A promise made done.The farmers from Bihar whohad outstanding loans,picked 2,100 of them, andpaid off�� their amount withan OTS with the bank.Called some of them over to
Janak and personally gave itto them at the hands ofShweta and Abhishek,” hewrote on his blog.
The Badla star also saidhe was on his way to honouranother promise he made tothe families of the martyrsof the Pulwama terror attack.
Big B pays off�� loans of2,100 Bihar farmers Press Trust of India
Mumbai
Amitabh Bachchan
People worldwide could beingesting 5 g of microscopicplastic particles every week,equivalent in weight to a credit card, researchers said onWednesday.
Coming mostly from tapand especially bottled water,nearly invisible bits of polymer were also found inshellfi��sh, beer and salt,scientists from the University of Newcastlereported.
The fi��ndings, drawn from52 peerreviewed studies,are the fi��rst to estimate thesheer weight of plastics consumed by individual hu
mans: about 250 g over thecourse of a year.
Another study calculatedthat the average Americaneats and drinks in about45,000 plastics particlessmaller than 130 microns an
nually, while breathing inroughly the same number.
“If we don’t want it in ourbodies, we need to stop themillions of tons of plasticthat continue leaking intoNature every year.”
In the last two decades,the world has produced asmuch plastic as during therest of history, and the industry is set to grow by 4% ayear until 2025, according toa report by Grand ViewResearch.
75% plastic wastedMore than 75% of all plasticswinds up as waste. A third ofthat — some 100 million
tonnes — is dumped orleaches into Nature, polluting land, rivers and the sea.On current trends, the oceanwill contain one metrictonne of plastic for everythree metric tonnes of fi��shby 2025, according to TheNew Plastics Economyreport.
Plastic particles have recently been found inside fi��shin the deepest recesses ofthe ocean, and blanketingthe most pristine snows inthe Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain.
The authors have invitedother researchers to buildon their conclusions.
How much plastic is in your diet?‘People are ingesting 5 g of microplastic every week, equal in weight to a credit card’
Humans consume about 250 g over the course of ayear. * ISTOCKPHOTO
Agence France-Presse
Paris
It’s a musician’s dream — rehearse alongside a full orchestra, but in your own living room. And theimmersive experience hasbeen made possible with anapp, courtesy French startup, Digital Music Solutions.
“NomadPlay” is all downto an algorithm which separates out the sound components of a score to removeany instrument as desired,fading out an oboe or pianopart for instance, and allowing the home musician tojoin the fray.
“When we were young weall practised with records toget the impression we wereplaying along with the Vienna or Berlin philharmonic.That was very gratifying,” internationallyrenownedFrench violinist Renaud Ca
pucon, 43, said.“But it was a nightmare
when our parents heard usplay because it just wasn’tthe same thing!”
Now, thanks to the app,“you’re accompanied by anorchestra all on your own inyour room — it’sextraordinary.”
The app can be down
loaded for free on a phoneor tablet and off��ers a catalogue of albums, rangingfrom Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony to Schubert’s Fantasia in F Minor. Amateurs andprofessionals buy the piecesfor between fi��ve and €20($5.60$22.50).
The concept is similar tothat of karaoke.
Solo, yet tutti: an app putsorchestra in your living room ‘NomadPlay’ is free and off��ers a catalogue of albums
Agence France-Presse
Aix-en-Provence
Melody of innovation: French violinist Renaud Capuconpractising with the new application ‘NomadPlay’. * AFP
The proposal to legalise surrogacy in New York was presented as an unequivocalprogressive ideal, a remedyto a ban that burdens gayand infertile couples andstigmatises women who cannot have children on theirown.
And yet, as the State legislature hurtles toward the endof its fi��rst Democratled session in nearly a decade, theBill’s success is anything butcertain.
Coercive to poor womenFemale lawmakers have spoken out against it. Prominentfeminists, including GloriaSteinem, have denounced it.Women’s rights scholarshave argued that paid surrogacy turns women’s bodiesinto commodities and iscoercive to poor women given the sizeable payments itcan bring.
The Bill has the support ofGov. Andrew M. Cuomo, and
passed the State Senate onTuesday. But it remainsstalled in the Assembly,where several prominent female lawmakers have expressed fi��rm opposition.
Assembly woman Deborah Glick, who became thefi��rst openly gay member ofthe Legislature in 1991, saidsurrogacy rights were notthe only marker for equality.“I’m not certain that, considering the money involved,that this is an issue for the
broader LGBT community,”she said.
Surrogacy arrangementsin the U.S. cost from $20,000to more than $200,000, according to a report from Columbia Law School. Ms.Glick added, “It is pregnancyfor a fee, and I fi��nd that commodifi��cation of womentroubling.”
But Sen. Brad Hoylman,one of the Bill’s sponsors,said the legislation showed“the importance of the
LGBTQ community to thestate of New York.” “I thinkthat’s a mark of progress forour community and a markof progress for human rightsin general,” said Mr. Hoylman, who is the State’s onlyopenly gay senator and hastwo daughters born throughsurrogacy in California.
In response to an adThe debate over surrogacyrights is relatively new, as itis inherently entwined withadvances in reproductivetechnology. Its roots are inthe infamous Baby M case,when Mary Beth Whitehead,a woman in New Jersey, answered a newspaper ad in1984 to be a surrogate for acouple, Elizabeth and William Stern.
But after Ms. Whiteheadgave birth to a girl, Baby M,she changed her mind: shewanted to keep the baby,who was biologically herdaughter, as she had usedher own egg for the pregnancy. A protracted legal battle
ensued. The Sterns won custody of the baby.
In the wake of that case,many States, including NewYork, banned surrogacy. Butthat trend has reversed in recent years. Washington stateand New Jersey legalisedpaid surrogacy last year,joining about a dozen otherstates. Many other states allow it under certain circumstances or have no laws onthe topic, eff��ectively permitting it.
Between 1999 and 2014 inthe U.S., more than 18,400infants were born throughgestational surrogacy, wherethe carrier is not related tothe foetus, according to datafrom Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention.
Yet the opposite has happened globally. Surrogacy isillegal in most of Europe.And India — where “fertilitytourism” brought in $400million a year — outlawedcommercial surrogacy lastyear, over exploitation concerns. NY Times
Surrogacy Bill pits progressives against feminists in U.S.New York seeks to legalise surrogacy after Washington State and New Jersey did it last year
Between 1999 and 2014 in the U.S., over 18,400 infants wereborn through gestational surrogacy. * GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
Vivian Wang
A Marvel fan in the U.S. is doing his part to help Avengers:Endgame become the highest grossing movie in history— he’s seen the superheroblockbuster a whopping 110times, possibly setting aGuinness record.
“I work 10 hours, watchend game 2 times on weekdays at least 6 hours,” saidAgustin Alanis in a messageon Twitter on Monday.
Mr. Alanis’ feat beatsanother record set last yearby Anthony Mitchell, whosaw Avengers: Infi��nity War103 times, which got him aplace in the Guinness Bookof World Records and a tripto the Endgame set.
Mr. Alanis, who lives inFlorida, has been chronicling his trips to see the movie on Twitter, posting a picture of himself at each
viewing with his ticket stub.The latest megablockbus
ter from Marvel Studios hasearned a worldwide total of$2.732 billion at the box offi��ce so far, putting it withinrange of beating Avatar,which raked in $2.788 billionto become the highestgrossing movie of all time.
Industry watchers, ho
wever, say the movie has begun to lose steam with viewers and may end up in thenumber two spot for the foreseeable future — possiblyuntil an eventual rerelease.
That’s unless more fanslike Mr. Alanis make it theirduty to ensure Endgamesnatches the title from Avatar.
Works for 10 hours, watches movie two times on weekdays
Agence France-Presse
Los Angeles
A fi��le photo of fans at a costume contest before the fi��rstscreening of Avengers: Endgame in Los Angeles. * AFP
No ‘Endgame’ for Avengersfan who watched fi��lm 110 times
Pope Francis on Wednesday put Father AugustineTolton, the fi��rst AfricanAmerican Catholic priestwho started life as a slavein the 19th century U.S., onthe path to sainthood.
The Vatican said PopeFrancis approved a decreerecognising Tolton’s “heroic virtues,” an early stepin the sainthood process,after a fi��veyear investigation in Chicago.
Tolton was born in BushCreek, Missouri, on April 1,1854, into a family of slavesowned by a white RomanCatholic family.
His father escaped bondage by serving in the Union army during the American Civil War and the restof the family gained freedom in 1862 by crossingthe Mississippi river into Illinois, a free State.
Although tutored byCatholics who recognisedhis intellectual prowess, hehad to study for the priesthood at a papal universityin Rome because no seminary in the U.S. would takehim. He was ordained in1886 and returned to Illinois to serve in black parishes in that state until hisdeath in 1897.
The Pope on Wednesdaygranted Tolton the title“Venerable,” meaning thatCatholics can pray to himfor intercession with God.
Priest, exslave,on path tosainthood
Reuters
VATICAN CITY
Augustine Tolton