india fortifying case to ‘isolate’ pak. put jaish on ban list · dian air force (iaf) last...
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monday, march 4, 2019 Delhi
City Edition
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A forensic audit report ofIL&FS has found seriouslapses in the manner inwhich huge loans were extended to certain entitieseven after internal risk assessment clearly showedthat the borrowers were under fi��nancial stress.
Further, various instanceshave been found whereinthe committee of directorsof the infrastructure fi��nanc
ing company extended loansat a negative spread to borrowers facing liquidity issues. (A negative spread occurs when interest ratescharged on amounts lent arelower than interest ratespaid on borrowed sums.)
Potential stress
According to the forensic audit report prepared by GrantThornton, the quantum ofsuch loans is pegged at over₹��4,300 crore.
Among other observations, the report said the forensic audit “identifi��ed 18 instances where the
Committee of Directors(CoD) ultimately approvedloans to those borrowerswho appeared to be in po
tential stress on the basis ofmedia reports/articles in thepublic domain and in spiteof a negative assessment by
the risk team” while peggingthe quantum of such loans atabout ₹��2,400 crore.
Meanwhile, another 16 instances with a cumulativeloan amount of ₹��1,922 crorewere found wherein the CoDsanctioned loans at a negative spread or limitedspread, for those companies, which clearly were under stress.
Seven loans written off��
Of such instances, sevenloans have either been written off�� or are related partiesof the companies for whomloans were written off��, while
in fi��ve instances, the CoD ultimately approved loanseven after a negative assessment by the risk team, as perthe report. Separately, theaudit found 29 instances ofloans collectively worth over₹��2,500 crore that were givento entities, whose groupcompanies used the moneyto repay existing loans takenfrom IL&FS Financial Services, a 100% subsidiary ofIL&FS and a Systemically Important NonDeposit TakingNonBanking FinanceCompany.
IL&FS ignored risk assessment reports while extending loans: audit ‘Firms took money from company topay off�� existing loans to its subsidiary’
ASHISH RUKHAIYAR
MUMBAI
CONTINUED ON A PAGE 10
The appeal of the Board ofControl for Cricket in India(BCCI) for ‘isolation’ of nations supporting terrorism, without naming Pakistan, did not fi��ndsupport at the International Cricket Council (ICC)board meeting.
The meeting in Dubaiconcluded on Saturday.
The BCCI had made theappeal following the Pulwama terror attack, whichleft 40 CRPF personneldead on February 14.
“The issue [related toterrorism] was raised, butsuch matters are not decided in one meeting,” thechairman of the Committee of Administrators(CoA), Vinod Rai, told TheHindu.
The BCCI CEO RahulJohri raised the issue of security at the next WorldCup and received an assurance from the ICC in thisregard.
Mr. Johri was told byICC chairman ShashankManohar that it wasbeyond them to take a decision to bar any particular nation. Such decisions,the BCCI was told, were inthe hands of the respectivegovernments and not theICC.
Since Pakistan was apermanent member of theICC, it would not be possible to “isolate” it unless itis supported by all Testplaying countries.
Mr. Rai said, “India hasbeen raising the issue ofterror emanating from Pakistan at various international forums for a longtime.”
ICC rejectsrequest to‘isolate’ Pak.
Vijay Lokapally
NEW DELHI
CONTINUED ON A PAGE 10
As India, supported byFrance, prepares a freshproposal to place JaisheMohammad ( JeM) chief MasoodAzhar on the ban list operated by the UNSC’s 1267 committee, security agencies areputting together new detailsof the outfi��t’s threat not onlyto India but also to the West.
A senior offi��cial said theywould highlight how theJeM’s parent outfi��t, HarkatulAnsar (HuA), included bythe U.S. in its list of ForeignTerrorist Organisations in1999 had been rechristenedas JaisheMohammad andcontinued to train terroristsfor attacks against the U.S.troops in Afghanistan.
Another senior offi��cialsaid Balakot, the JeM training camp that was hit in aprecision strike by the Indian Air Force (IAF) lastweek, was established afterthe Taliban collapsed in Afghanistan in 2001.
“The primary aim of theestablishment of this campwas to train people to go toAfghanistan to attack theU.S. troops there. Their nextobjective was to train fi��dayeen [suicide bombers]and then the local militants.As many as twothirds of themilitants trained here weresent to Afghanistan,” the senior offi��cial said.
He said the JeM’s creationcould be linked to the popularity surrounding MasoodAzhar after his release fromIndia in 1999. He was released in exchange for thepassengers of the Indian Air
lines aircraft IC 814 that washijacked from Nepal.
“He was the general secretary of the newly established HarkatulAnsar(HuA) in 1994 and was on amission in J&K when he wasarrested on February 11 thesame year. After he was released [in 1999], the HuAwas included in the U.S. listwhich compelled the outfi��tto rename itself as the HarkatulMujahideen (HuM).Azhar decided to fl��oat a newoutfi��t, JeM. He received assistance from Pakistan’s InterServices Intelligence(ISI), the then Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Osamabin Laden and several Sunnisectarian outfi��ts of Pakistan,” said the offi��cial.
He said the formation ofthe outfi��t was endorsed bythree religious school chiefsin Pakistan, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai of the MajliseTawaneIslami, MaulanaMufti Rashid Ahmed of theDarul IftaewalIrshad andMaulana Sher Ali of theSheikhulHadith DarulHaqqania.
A 1998 report by the U.S.’sCentral Intelligence Agency(CIA) said, “HuA, an Islamicextremist organisation that
Pakistan supports in itsproxy war against Indianforces in Kashmir, increasingly is using terrorist tacticsagainst Westerners and random attacks on civilians thatcould involve Westerners topromote its panIslamicagenda.” The report alsosaid that since early 1994 to1998, the HuA had kidnapped at least 13 individuals, 12 of them Westerners.
Released in 2002
After India and other foreigncountries put pressure onPakistan, after the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament by the outfi��t, Azharwas arrested by Pakistani security forces on December29, 2001. However, a threemember Review Board ofthe Lahore High Court ordered on December 14,2002, that Azhar be released. He was never detained or arrested after that.The offi��cial said the outfi��t isrun like a family enterprise.
He said the outfi��t islinked, through the Binoriamadrasa in Karachi, with theformer Taliban regime ofAfghanistan.
India fortifying case toput Jaish on ban list It will show howthe outfi��t is athreat to the West Vijaita Singh
New Delhi
THE WEEK AFTER A EDITORIAL
India’s improved ties withMyanmar led to that country’s crackdown in late January on the National Socialist Council ofNagalandKhaplang (NSCNK), considered the motherlode of most extremistgroups in the northeasternregion.
Another factor thatprompted the Tatmadaw —Myanmar’s military — takeover of the NSCNK headquarters, in an operationfrom January 29 to February 5, was the outfi��t’s violation of an agreement not toallow Myanmar territory tobe used by “any rebel group
to attack a neighbouringcountry [India].”
According to The Irrawaddy, a Myanmar publication, the Tatmadaw took over the NSCNK’s
ing the Indian governmentin Assam and Manipur” under the NSCNK’ssupervision.
A top offi��cial said the takeover was signifi��cant as Taga was the collective headquarters of extremistgroups active in the northeastern region, except theNSCN IsakMuivah that hasbeen on a ceasefi��re since1997.
Extremist groups such asthe United Liberation Frontof Asom and the United National Liberation Front ofManipur are known to usejungle routes for hitandrun operations in Indiafrom the NSCNK’s base.
headquarters, three outposts and two militarytraining schools at Taga inSagaing, near the Indianborder. The schools wererun by rebel groups “fi��ght
India nudges Myanmar action on Naga militantsBoost in bilateral ties fuelled the crackdown on training camps
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
GUWAHATI/NEW DELHI
CONTINUED ON A PAGE 10
This 2016 photo shows Army camps set up for an exercise inAssam’s Baksa district after an assault by Naga militants.
CMYK
A ND-NDE
Printed at . Chennai . Coimbatore . Bengaluru . Hyderabad . Madurai . Noida . Visakhapatnam . Thiruvananthapuram . Kochi . Vijayawada . Mangaluru . Tiruchirapalli . Kolkata . Hubballi . Mohali . Malappuram . Mumbai . Tirupati . lucknow . cuttack . patna
The distance from a slum inMumbai to Cardiff�� in Walescould be just 22 metres, as80 hopefuls take part intrials to select Indian teamsfor the 17th edition of theHomeless World Cup.
The tournament, whichkicks off�� in the Welsh capitalon July 27, off��ers a window ofopportunities tounderprivileged men andwomen across the worldthrough football.
This version of football isplayed by two fourmemberteams over two halves of
seven minutes each, on afi��eld that is just 22 metreslong and 16 metres wide.
The probables werechosen from the nationallevel tournament held inMumbai last month. Eightmen and as many womenwill be chosen to fl��y to Walesfor the tournament.
Since 2006 India has beenfi��elding teams at theHomeless World Cup, whichbegan in 2003, thanks to theeff��orts of the NagpurbasedNGO Slum Soccer.
“We missed only oneWorld Cup all these years;we give excellent training toour players,” Slum Soccer’s
CEO Abhijeet Barse told TheHindu, speaking over thephone. “We started sending
Indian teams to theHomeless World Cup afterwe were invited by Mel
Young, one of the foundersof the movement.”
The movement, which isspread over 70 countries,uses football as aninspiration for homelesspeople to change their lives.Of course, there are noprizes for guessing the mostcrowned winners in thisform of the game, too —Brazil.
Six on the list
“Most of our players are fromMaharashtra, Delhi,Haryana, Andhra andChhattisgarh, but we arehappy that States like Keralahave now begun to show
interest,” Mr. Barse said. Six Kerala players are in
the list of probables — allfrom the coastal village ofChellanam near Kochi. Theywere brought together by theBengalurubased NGOFourth Foundation.
“Earlier I simply dreamt ofgraduating and doing somejob, but now I want topursue football as aprofession,” said Jeffi��nJoseph, one of the shortlistedplayers. “I want to prove allthose who kept saying thatfootball will not give me afuture wrong,” Joseph says,echoing the spirit of theHomeless World Cup.
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Gearing up for Cardiff�� with hope and a ball
P.K. Ajith Kumar
M.P. Praveen
KOZHIKODE/ KOCHI
80 probables are vying for places on the Indian men and women’s teams for the Homeless World Cup
On a high: Aneeta Raichal, Thomas Mayjo, Jefi��n Joseph and Rajalakshmi have been longlisted. * THULASI KAKKAT
Bone dry: A woman carries potable water on the dry bed of the Yamuna, behind the Taj Mahal at Agra. The water table has gonedown, leading to a water crisis in the city. * V. V. KRISHNAN
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A river ran through it
The family of one of thethree men killed duringmob violence in ArunachalPradesh capital Itanagarlast month has declinedthe compensation off��eredby the State governmentand demanded punishment of the “killers” according to tribal customarylaw. A 48hour shutdownagainst the government’smove to grant permanentresident certifi��cates to sixnontribal groups had taken an ugly turn on February 22.
Arunachal:family declinescompensation
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
GUWAHATI
Two LashkareTaiba militants, fi��ve security personnel and a civilian werekilled in a 56hour encounter in Kupwara district ofJammu and Kashmir, thepolice said here on Sunday.
A police spokesman saidthe operation in the Babagund area went on for somany hours from Fridaymorning as the topographyposed considerable diffi��culties to the security forces. The two militants werekilled by security forces,the spokesman said.
Two Lashkarmen killed in 56-hour battle
Press trust of india
Srinagar
DETAILS ON A PAGE 3 DETAILS ON A PAGE 11
Neighbour shoots at manover loud party, arrestedNEW DELHI
A 24yearold man was shot
at by his neighbour for
allegedly making noise while
partying on the terrace of an
apartment in Vasant Kunj on
March 2, the police said on
Sunday. Victim Mohit Chabra
is now battling for life in a
hospital. DELHI METRO A PAGE 1
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G PUBLISHING PVT LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Suresh Nambath (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).
Notwithstanding his diff��erences with the BJP, partyMP Shatrughan Sinha saidon Sunday he will notchange his constituency inthe coming Lok Sabha election “whatever the situation”, making clear hewould contest again fromPatna Sahib seat irrespectiveof the party decision.
“Situation kuch bhi ho, location wahi hogi (Whateverthe situation, location wouldbe same),” Mr. Sinha said onthe phone from Ranchi.
Sitting MPThe sitting Patna Sahib lawmaker has been at loggerheads with the current BJPleadership since the 2015 Bihar election, over severalissues.
He has often taken astance at variance with theoffi��cial party line, includingon demonetisation and
Goods and Services Tax, andshared the stage with Opposition leaders at an antiBJPrally in Kolkata in January,where he was projected asthe “star speaker”.
Wife may enter politicsOn a recent visit to Lucknow,he had held a meeting withSamajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, giving rise tospeculation his wife PoonamSinha may enter active politics from the Uttar Pradesh
capital, currently represented in Lok Sabha by HomeMinister Rajnath Singh.
Asked about it, the actorturnedpolitician said he willneither confi��rm nor denythis.
“Poonam Sinha has beenbusy with social work forlong. She is liked by all. People want her to contest butwhether this will happen ornot only time will tell,” Mr.Sinha, 72, said.
Following his meetingwith Mr. Yadav, there was also a talk that Mr. Sinha couldcontest the general election,which must be held by May,on a Samajwadi Party ticket.
He had also visited the Samajwadi Party headquartersand joined Mr. Yadav on JaiPrakash Jayanti programmewith Yashwant Sinha.
The SP and BSP haveforged an an alliance in UttarPradesh for the general election, deciding to contest 37and 38 seats respectively.
Will contest from PatnaSahib, says Shatrughan‘Whatever the situation, location would be the same’
Press trust of india
Lucknow
BJP Lok Sabha MPShatrughan Sinha *
The Haryana government onSunday issued transfer andposting orders for nine IASoffi��cers with immediate effect, including 1991batch senior bureaucrat AshokKhemka.
Ashok Khemka, principalsecretary of Sports andYouth Aff��airs Departmenthas been posted as principalsecretary of Science andTechnology Department,where he had been postedearlier as well.
Vadra land dealThe 1991batch IAS offi��cerhad fi��rst been mentioned bythe media in 2012 when hehad cancelled the mutationof a land deal between Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’ssoninlaw Robert Vadra’sSkylight Hospitality and major real estate developerDLF.
The IAS offi��cer, who was
posted for nearly 15 monthsin the Sports and Youth Affairs Department, headed byMinister Anil Vij, has beentransferred over 45 times inhis career so far.
The other IAS offi��cerstransferred include AmitJha, additional chief secretary of Medical Educationand Research, advisor to Haryana Saraswati HeritageBoard and additional chiefsecretary of Science andTechnology Department. Hehas been posted as additional chief secretary of Sports
and Youth Aff��airs Department and advisor to Haryana Saraswati Heritage Board,an offi��cial release said here.
Siddhi Nath Roy, additional chief secretary of Forestsand Wildlife Department,has been given additionalcharge of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Aff��airsDepartment as AdditionalChief Secretary.
Rajeev Arora, chief resident commissioner of Haryana Bhawan, New Delhiand additional chief secretary of Health and FamilyWelfare Department, hasbeen given additional chargeof Medical Education andResearch Department.
Apoorva Kumar Singh,principal secretary of Townand Country Planning andUrban Estates Department,has been given additionalcharge of Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority as its chief executiveoffi��cer.
Khemka among 9 IAS offi��cerstransferred in Haryana He has been transferred over 45 times in his career so far
Press trust of india
Chandigarh
Ashok Khemka *
A Panchkula court on Sunday granted bail to VishantChaudhary, son of Chandigarh BJP secretary AnitChaudhary, in connectionwith the case of stalking hisformer colleague.
Vishant, aged 27, wasbooked under Sections 354D(stalking) and 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint)of the India Penal Code, be
sides provisions of the ArmsAct.
“We produced Vishant inthe local court (duty magistrate) today and he wasgranted bail. After due investigation the accusation relating to Arms Act could not beproved. The allegations under rest of the sections remain intact. We will keep investigating the matter,”Noopur Bishnoi, ACP,Panchkula (Women), told
The Hindu.The woman, a former col
league of Vishant, had alleged that while she wasdriving her car, Vishantchased her in his car on thenight of February 23, fromSector 15 market. He later,threatened her of dire consequences at gunpoint at Kalagram light point in Chandigarh. The woman soughthelp by dialling the Chandigarh police control room.
Chandigarh BJP leader’s songranted bail in stalking caseHad allegedly threatened his former colleague at gunpoint
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
CHANDIGARH
A schoolgirl died after shewas allegedly raped and setablaze by a man in a villagein Dildarnagar police station area here, police said.
SP Arvind Kumar Chaturvedi said the incidenttook place on Friday night.The girl was sleeping in herhouse when the man,who’s her neighbour,barged in and allegedlyraped her. He later pouredkerosene on her, set her onfi��re and fl��ed.
Schoolgirlraped, setablaze in U.P.
Press trust of india
Ghazipur (U.P.)
Two killed after car fallsinto gorge in J&KJAMMU
Two persons were killed after
their car skidded off the road
and fell into a gorge in
Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi
district on Sunday, police
said. PTI
IN BRIEF
A hailstorm in the buff��erzone of Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradeshon the intervening night ofSaturdaySunday has killed1,102 birds, a senior forestoffi��cial said.
The hailstorm lashedKhamarpani and Kanharvillages in Chhindwara district, over 60 kilometresfrom here, the offi��cialadded.
Egrets and parrots“The dead birds comprise590 egrets, 360 parrotsand 152 crows. They werekilled in the hail that struckKhamarpani and Kanharvillages in Chhindwara district,” Pench Tiger ReserveField Director VikramSingh Parihar said on Sunday. After the dead birdswere examined as per theWildlife Protection Act,they were disposed of, headded.
Hailstorm killsover thousandbirds nearPench Reserve
Press trust of india
Seoni (M.P.)
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#70929
CMYK
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THE HINDU DELHI
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EAST
The Trinamool Congressformed a 12member committee on Sunday to prepare an initial list of candidates for the upcoming LokSabha elections. The committee will also plan campaign strategies, party’s secretary general ParthChatterjee said. However,the fi��nal decision will be taken by party chief MamataBanerjee.
2 MPs, 10 MinistersThe committee comprisesMs. Banerjee’s nephewAbhishek Banerjee, general secretary SubrataBakshi, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim and Arup Biswas, Suvendu Adhikari,Chandrima Bhattacharya,Sashi Panja, Moloy Ghatak,Jyotipriyo Mallick, SubrataMukherjee, Derek O’Brienand Partha Chatterjee.
While Mr. Banerjee andMr. O’Brien are Lok SabhaMPs, the other 10 members
of the committee are Ministers in the State Cabinet.
Out of the 42 Lok Sabhaconstituencies in the State,the TMC won 34 seats, theCongress got four and the BJPand CPI(M) won two each inthe 2014 general election.
“The committee will lookinto electionrelated publicity and screening of applications of aspiring candidatesin consultation with partychief Mamata Banerjee,” MrChatterjee said.
On the BJP, which has
emerged as the main Opposition party in the State interms of vote share in the2018 panchayat elections,Mr. Chatterjee said the party indulges in creating division among people.
(With PTI inputs)
TMC forms 12-member panel forpoll campaign in West Bengal Committee to prepare list of candidates, fi��nal selection by Mamata Banerjee
Special Correspondent
Kolkata
The West Bengal unit ofthe BJP, which has set atarget of winning over 23of the 42 Lok Sabha seatsin the State, is carrying outa survey to assess the winnability of its candidates.
With more than 6070aspirants for one seat, especially in the northernand southern part of theState, the party is facingdissent over ticketdistribution.
Several factions, including the ones led by leaders
who switched to the BJPfrom the TMC, are stakingclaims to the same seat,forcing the State unit toseek an assessment of itscandidates to meet its 23seat target, set by party national president AmitShah.
“It is unprecedentedthat we have been receiving such a huge number ofapplications for someseats. Ten years ago, weused to have a tough timeconvincing people to contest on our ticket,” a BJPState unit leader said.
He added that a sectionof leaders has appealed tothe central leadership toensure that old timersdon’t feel sidelined.
The State unit, in consultation with the centralleaders, has roped in anexternal agency to assessits prospects in the LokSabha constituencies, hesaid.
BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said that a list will beprepared based on inputsby the external agency andparty’s senior leaders.
BJP to assess winnability of candidates Press Trust of India
Kolkata
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inauguratedthe muchawaited ₹��431croreJanibili drinking water project for Berhampur and ruralareas of Ganjam district onSunday.
During the ceremony inBerhampur, he alsolaunched the ‘Smart Park’scheme for 114 urban centresin the State. As part of theongoing ‘Unnati Yojana’ inthe State, more than 200parks with an array of amenities will be developed inthese urban areas over thenext six months at a cost of₹��200 crore.
Mr. Patnaik said that theState government has decided to implement the SeventhPay Commission recommendations for all employees ofurban local bodies in Od
isha. Another project launched
was renovation and development of crematoriums withtoilets, changing rooms,drinking water facility andprovision for devotionalmusic in these urbancentres. This project is beingtaken up at a cost of ₹��200
crore.First phase of the Janibili
project became operationalfrom Sunday. The government has termed it the fi��rst‘integrated mega water supply project’ of Odisha. Apartfrom Berhampur, this project will benefi��t Berhampurcity and 53 villages in 16 pan
chayats. As per an estimate,it will supply 300 lakh litresof drinking water to over fi��velakh inhabitants of theseareas through a 253kmlongnetwork of pipeline.
A large reservoir has beenbuilt at Janibili in Dharakoteblock of Ganjam district. Water would be brought to Jagdalpur on the outskirts ofBerhampur for purifi��cationby a 55kmlong pipeline.The 53 villages on the pipeline’s path will also get waterfrom it. Earlier Berhampurwas getting 54 Million Litresper Day from the Dakhinpurreservoir and the Rushikulyadrinking water supply system, while its requirementwas 64 MLD or more. Drinking water was becoming tooscarce during the summermonths and had to be supplied through tankers to several areas of the city.
Naveen inaugurates drinking water project
Announces his govt.’s decision to implement 7th Pay Commission recommendations
Naveen Patnaik inaugurating the Janibili water project atKhalikote stadium in Berhampur on Sunday. * LINGARAJ PANDA
Staff Reporter
BERHAMPUR
The OMR sheets of the mathematics paper of 108 students who had appeared fortheir matriculation examination were found missingfrom a governmentrun highschool in Malkangiri districton Sunday.
Complaint lodgedThe matter came to light after the authorities of SSDHigh School at Padia lodgeda complaint at the Padia police station, police said.
The complaint said the
optical mark recognitionsheets of nearly 108 studentshave gone missing from theschool premises.
Probe is onMalkangiri Superintendentof Police Jagmohan Meenasaid a team led by ASP U.C.Nayak has been sent to theschool to conduct a probe.“Investigation is in progressto ascertain the circumstances in which the OMR sheetswent missing,” he said.
The school authoritieshave also informed the district administration and the
Board of Secondary Education, which conducts the annual matriculation examination in the State, about theincident, said an offi��cial.
Malkangiri SubCollectorRameswar Pradhan and other senior offi��cials havereached the school for theprobe.
Three suspended The development comes aday after images of the mathematics question paper surfaced on social media on Saturday, prompting the Stategovernment to suspend
three teachers in Kalahandidistrict.
Earlier, the question papers of Odia, Hindi and English went viral on social media, putting the Board in atight spot.
The matriculation examinations began on February22 and would conclude onMarch 8.
The BSE had earlier suspended 10 persons, including four examination centresuperintendents, for their alleged role in circulating theimages of questions on socialmedia.
OMR sheets of 108 students go missing A day after photos of the maths question paper went viral on social mediaPress Trust of India
Malkangiri (Odisha)
The family of one of thethree men killed during mobviolence in Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar lastmonth has declined thecompensation off��ered by theState government and demanded punishment of the“killers” according to tribalcustomary law.
A 48hour shutdownagainst the government’smove to grant permanent resident certifi��cates to six nontribal groups had taken anugly turn on February 22.Risso Tari, 22, was killed thatday while Biji Ruja, 20, andTsering Wangdi, 34, werekilled in police fi��ring nearChief Minister Pema Khandu’s private residence on February 24.
Mr. Khandu later announced compensation of₹��20 lakh and a governmentjob for the next of kin of eachof the deceased and up to
₹��10 lakh for the injured. “Mybrother Tari’s death wascoldblooded murder by thesecurity personnel sinceHome Minister Kumar Waiisaid he did not order the security forces to open fi��re. Instead of money and job, wewant his murderers to behanded over to us for trialunder Nyishi [tribe] customary law,” Risso Kiagung toldnewspersons in Itanagar onSaturday.
Call for compensationCustomary laws, often inconfl��ict with the judicial system, prescribe punishmentsaccording to the degree ofseriousness of a crime. Theyrange from caging a culpritand pouring itching powderon him to death by lynching.
Mr. Risso also sought action against the organisations that called the “illegal”shutdown that led to thedeath of his brother and twoothers.
The Khandu government,meanwhile, has been fl��ooded with demand for compensation from shops and business establishments thatwere razed or plundered bymobs during the violent agitation. Assam and Nagalandbased musicians and suppliers of equipment for thevandalised Itanagar International Film Festival havesought compensation fortheir losses, too. “People ofthe city and the agitatorslooted almost everything wehad on display. If we don’tget compensation for thegoods stolen and propertydamaged, we might have toshut down,” the local manager of a shopping mall chainsaid. The aff��ected malls haveassured to pay their employees for at least twomonths, by which time theyexpect a compensation package for rebuilding. “We arestaring at job cuts for at least200 local youth,” he said.
Arunachal violence victim’sfamily declines compensation Demands punishment of the killers according to tribal law
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
GUWAHATI
Due to high pressure overthe Bay of Bengal, Kolkataexperienced its fi��rst Nor’wester of the season,sharply bringing the temperature down in March.Thus, the city is experiencing its coldest days andnights in March over thelast decade, according tothe Kolkata meteorologicalcentre.
The early half of February saw humidity in the air.This had led to record rainfall in and around Kolkata,according to weather reports.
The city saw a recordminimum temperature of15.5 degrees Celsius. Theclosest to this temperaturewas in 2011, when the mercury plummeted to 15.7deg C in March.
The cold wave is likely tocontinue for a few moredays. Siliguri saw the mercury dipping to 9.8 degrees, Purulia 11.4 and Sriniketan 11.8 respectively.
Coldest Marchin West Bengalin a decade
Staff Reporter
Kolkata
Green activists have urged the Chief ElectoralOffi��cer of Odisha to initiate measures to stoppolitical parties from harming trees by nailingpublicity materials on them during electioncampaign.
Berhampur Sabuja Bahini, an organisationof young environmental activists, has submitted a memorandum addressed to the CEO toBerhampur SubCollector Digant Raut on theissue.
“Mr. Raut has promised that all trees on public property in and around Berhampur willbe protected from being harmed by metal intrusions to put up publicity materials duringthe election process,” said BSB president Sibaram Panigrahy.
BSB activists had some months ago removed nails and other metal intrusions fromover 2,000 trees in Berhampur. They had alsoused herbal remedy to cure wounds caused tothe trees by these metal intrusions in a fi��rstofitskind eff��ort to save trees in Odisha.
According to BSB secretary M. Dilip Kumar,a large number of trees are likely to be harmedduring the coming elections. Trees are easiestpoints to put up advertisement materials. “Wewant this practice to end all over Odisha.”
Don’t harm trees duringpolls: green activists
Staff Reporter
BERHAMPUR
Newly appointed Congress president inTripura Pradyot Kishore Debburman onSunday invited all former party leaders toreturn to the partyfold and said everyonewould be given due respect.
Mr. Debburman, who was the workingpresident of the Tripura Pradesh CongressCommittee, was appointed the TPCC president by AICC chief Rahul Gandhi on February 25.
Mr. Debburman met expelled leader andformer Chief Minister Samir Ranjan Barmanand asked him to return to the party. Mr.Barman did not join any party after his expulsion from the Congress in March 2017. Heaccepted Mr. Debburman’s invitation andrejoined the party on Saturday.
A large number of leaders, led by formerPradesh Congress president Sudip Roy Barman, had defected to the TMC in 2016 and tothe BJP in 2017.
Rejoin Cong.: new TPCCchief to ex-partymen
Press Trust of India
Agartala
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CMYK
A ND-NDE
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THE HINDU DELHI
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019 5EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
SOUTH
A traditional fi��sherman trying his luck at a kole wetland in Thrissur, Kerala, on Sunday. Scientists of the Kerala University ofFisheries and Ocean Studies have expressed alarm over the presence of alien fi��sh in the wetland as they have the potential tooutnumber the native species. * K.K. MUSTAFAH
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Fish trouble
Ranil takes part in‘Suprabhatam’ seva TIRUMALA
Sri Lankan Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe,
accompanied by his wife
Maitree, on Sunday offered
prayers at the temple of Lord
Venkateswara here. He took
part in the ‘Suprabhatam’
seva. Later, he motored down
to Tirupati, from where he
flew back to Colombo.
IN BRIEF
Monkey fever toll inShivamogga district 12SHIVAMOGGA
Sagar taluk is reeling under a
fresh outbreak of Kyasanur
Forest Disease, also known as
monkey fever, as three
persons hailing from here
have died because of this viral
infection in just three days.
With this, the KFD death toll
in Shivamogga district since
December has touched 12.
“Women have never gottheir due, not just in Indiabut across the world. In contrast to the constant claimsmade by the political classon uplift of the fairer sex, thestatus of women has beenreduced to mere vote bank,”says Kavuri Lavanya, an NRI,who launched a politicalparty Nari Shakthi here onSunday.
Ms. Lavanya said, “Totranslate the slogan of ‘women empowerment’ intoreality, we must enter politics as that’s the only way tobreak the economic, socialand political barriers.”
A native of West Godavaridistrict in Andhra Pradesh,she left the State 20 yearsback and worked for various
multinational companiesin Europe before settling asa management consultantin London.
During this span, sherealised that justice, equality and empowerment ofwomen are a far cry and decided to return home andlaunch a political party toachieve the same.
“Our immediate task is to
visit villages to reach out towomen at the grassroot leveland make them aware of thisnew party and its objectives,”she said later on the sidelinesof a meeting.
Nari Shakthi will implement 30% reservation ofseats for male candidates,she says and adds, “We willnot ask for a Bill for it. We arevery generous.”
Nari Shakthi to strive for equal role in political system
Special Correspondent
VIJAYAWADA
Kavuri Lavanya releasing the logo of the party she launchedin Vijayawada on Sunday. * CH.VIJAYA BHASKAR
NRI launches party for women
Motupalli — where a historictemple of Veerabhadraswamy, a fi��ery form of Lord Siva,is located — has been an important port for centurieswith fl��ourishing trade withSouth Asian countries, especially during the medievalperiod. But the heritage sitein Chinnaganjam mandal ofPrakasam district of AndhraPradesh presents a picture ofneglect now.
The temple, constructedduring the regime of theCholas, is an Indologists’ delight with stone inscriptionsin Telugu and Tamil andaweinspiring Panchalohaidols.
The temple remainsclosed ever since the Department of Archaeology took it
over for conservation andpreservation of the archaeological marvel in the wake ofdiscovery of Panchalohaidols of gods and goddessesincluding that of Lord Nataraja in dancing posture andBhadrakali in the 1970s fromnearby farms, after idollif
ters tried to lay their handson them in view of the demand for such idolsoverseas.
Temple tourismPeople of the sleepy villagenow yearn for reviving thepast glory of the temple by
reinstalling the idols in thehistoric temple and promotion of temple tourism in abig way as Motupally is wellconnected by road and railnetwork on the east coast.
₹��2 lakh collected“We have collected about ₹��2lakh for the purpose and taken up the matter with theState Endowments Department for contribution fromthe Common Good Fund.But more funds are requiredto revive the temple,” saysformer village sarpanch K.Govindu, who has been impressing upon the people inand around the village tocontribute their mite as aninactive temple in the locality is not good for the community.
They are sentimentally at
tached to Lord Veerabhadraswamy and make it apoint to name their childrenafter the god, he says.
Pilgrims in large numbersvisit the nondescript villageclose to the east coast highway, especially during theauspicious Maha Sivaratriand Karthika Pournami totake a holy dip.
They return disappointedwithout the darshan of LordVeerabhadraswamy, explains another villager T.Venkata Subbaiah.
Most of the antique idolswere shifted either to theState Archaeology Museumor to the Victoria Museum,Vijayawada. The villagers’demand is that they shouldbe brought back and reinstalled, says a village elderP.V. Rama Rao
A.P. villagers yearn to revive historic temple Located in Prakasam district, it remains closed after Archaeology Dept. took it over for conservation
Lost glory: A view of the historic Veerabhadraswamy templeat Motupalli village. * KOMMURI SRINIVAS
S. Murali
ONGOLE
“When you enter a forest tohunt, you cannot be loud. Ifyou want to take an elephantdown, you must hide at ablind spot where the herdcannot spot you,” explainsM. Nallamayan, a formerpoacher and now gamekeeper at the Periyar TigerReserve (PTR), Kerala.
Skilled strategyHe goes on: “I would light abeedi to identify the direction of the wind so that wecould approach the herdfrom a diff��erent direction.You see, the elephant has asharp sense of smell andcould crush me at fi��rst sight.I would hide, aim and shootat the animal in the back ofits head or near the temples.The elephant would die and
my team would begin theprocess of removing thetusk.”
Mr. Nallamayan’s shiftfrom poaching to protectingwildlife at the PTR comeswith an interesting bag ofstories about brutalityagainst animals, includingtigers, sambar deer, langursand gaurs, and the smuggling of valuable timber likesandalwood and rosewoodacross south Indian States.He, along with 17 other wellknown poachers from Lower Gudalur in Theni district,with at least three cases toeach of their names, havenow pledged to work towards protecting species,providing information onpotential smuggling, andtaking tourists on treks.
“We spent most of ouryears in the dark, hiding
from offi��cials and animals.Now, we are in the light forour dedicated service. Weare called Vidiyal — a newdawn,” says K. Kamatchi,group leader of this NGO.
Vidiyal was formed in2004 when Arivu, a poacherfrom Mr. Nallamayan’sgroup, was caught by theKerala Forest Department.
“When Raju K. Francis,Range Offi��cer, Thekkady,who caught Arivu in possession of truckloads of sandalwood, enquired why we returned despite theavalanche of cases, he saidthat they were not given anyrespectable jobs becausethey were branded as criminals. That is when Mr. Raju
off��ered us jobs,” says Mr.Nallamayan.
Although the group wasinitially skeptical of the Kerala Forest Department’s off��er to drop all charges againstthem, the poachers say theywanted to leave their murkypast behind.
Moment of change“We went to PTR, apologised, handed over our gunsand our tools,” says V. Mahamayan, another member ofthe group. After the fi��rstround of talks and trustbuilding, offi��cials from theKerala Department contacted a senior offi��cial from theTamil Nadu Forest Department for permission torecruit.
“We do not want to namethe TN offi��cial who told Mr.Raju that we all belonged to
generations of poachers andwere good for nothing. Heimplied that the caste we belonged to were known for indulging in thievery and thatwe could never be changed.This hurt us deeply andspurred us to truly transform. We wanted to prove tothat offi��cer and everyoneelse who suspected us thatwe could lead respectablelives,” says Mr. Mahamayan.
The group of 23 agreed totake part in a 3month training course. “This is wherewe learnt about the importance of conservation. I willnow proudly call myself aconservationist because Ihave seen a sharp spike inthe elephant populationhere,” he says.
Though the number of Vidiyal members have comedown to 17, the group is
closely knit and helps PTRoffi��cials gain access to themovement of poachers andsmugglers in other parts ofthe State through their network. Mr. Kamatchi and Mr.Mahamayan say that havehelped solve over 200 casesand captured several notorious poachers based ontheir intelligence and existing network from areas suchas K.G. Patti, Varusanaduand Gudalur — areas knownto be hubs for poaching.This includes the recent seizure of elephant tusks fromMeghamalai in the Thenidistrict.
Vipin Das P. K., AssistantField Director, PTR, says,“They have excellent skillsets. The park is a safespace, which the Vidiyalgroup now takes ownershipover. ”
Vidiyal heralds a new dawn: poachers turn protectors in Periyar 17 of them are now protecting the Tiger Reserve, winning respect for their skills and dedication, in a unique initiative that benefi��ts all
New role: M. Nallamayan and K. Kamatchi. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Sanjana Ganesh
THENI
High drama prevailed at theresidence of whistleblowerThummala Lokeshwar Reddy in Hyderabad when Andhra Pradesh police tried todetain him for lodging a data breach complaint againstthe IT fi��rms engaged by theTelugu Desam Party (TDP).
The incident took place ata gated community in KPHBColony where police personnel of the two States hada standoff�� over Mr. Reddy.
Mr. Reddy is a data analyst associated with YSRCongress Party.
The KPHB police of Cyberabad foiled the attempt ofGuntur policemen to takeMr. Reddy into custody andshift him to Andhra Pra
desh. Later in the afternoon,he met Cyberabad PoliceCommissioner V.C. Sajjanarand appealed to him to provide adequate security tohim and his family members.
Mr. Reddy had lodged acomplaint against TDPfunded IT Grids (India) Pvt.Ltd and Bluefrog MobileTechnologies Pvt. Ltd,“which were given access tothe enormous amount of offi��cial data in respect of thebenefi��ciaries of various government schemes.”
According to him, the ruling party had also providedprivate data of 3.70 crore voters of Andhra Pradesh, including Smart Pulse Surveyreports, Aadhaar details, colour photographs of the vo
ters and their mobile numbers. “Everything wasamalgamated and uploadedin the TDP’s Sevamitra appused by the party cadre foradvancing the party’s electoral prospects,” he said.
Voter profi��lingThe TDP activists were giventasks to identify nonTDP voters so that the governmentcan delete their names fromelectoral rolls based on voter profi��ling, he alleged.
According to Mr. Reddy,the fi��nancial status, caste,benefi��ts acquired from thegovernment and even thepolitical preference of thevoters was included in theapp, which “helps the rulingTDP to easily identify thenonTDP sympathisers.”
Bid to arrest whistleblower ‘foiled’He had lodged data breach complaint against IT fi��rms
Abhinay Deshpande
Hyderabad
A crucial meeting of thecoordination committee ofthe JD (Secular)–Congresscoalition will be held hereon Monday under the chairmanship of the former ChiefMinister Siddaramaiah toiron out diff��erences amongthe allies over seat sharingfor the Lok Sabha election.
Though the JD(S) hasruled out conceding theMandya seat to the Congress, Sumalatha, wife oflate M.H. Ambareesh, hasmade public her aspirationto contest on Congress ticket from the seat, for whichChief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil is alsosaid to be an aspirant.
JD(S)Congresscommitteeto meet today
Special Correspondent
BENGALURU
The Left Democratic Front(LDF) is likely to take a fi��nal call on its candidates tobe fi��elded for the Lok Sabha elections on March 8.
Main front partners, theCPI(M) and the CPI, wouldfi��nalise their candidateswell before that and a fi��nalratifi��cation would be madeat the March 8 meeting.
Since the front leadership had almost reached aconsensus on maintainingstatus quo in terms of thenumber of seats both themajor partners shouldcontest, seatsharingwould not be an arduoustask.
Some of the front constituents had staked claim forseats, but it may be settledwithout leaving any roomfor discord, sources said.
The Central leadershipof the CPI(M) is in sessionand the CPI national leadership too will meet soonto fi��nalise the list.
LDF to take callon candidateson March 8
Special Correspondent
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
The consumer forum foundfault with Vijaya Bank forclaiming that two personsfrom a family withdrew₹��30,000 each in 2017, whendemonetisation had restricted cash withdrawals fromATMs and banks. The bankwas directed to return theamount and pay ₹��5,000 ascompensation.
The District ConsumerDisputes Redressal Forum –II was dealing with a complaint fi��led by Rinki Agarwal,25, and her mother RekhaJindal, 49.
They stated that theywithdrew cash in January2017 and deposited ₹��1,500and ₹��40,000 on February 20and February 23 respectively into their bank accounts.But, after updating the passbooks in March 2017, records showed withdrawalsof ₹��10,000 on three occa
sions — January 29, 30 and31. They argued that they didnot make these transactions.
They complained to thebank on March 14, 2017, requesting offi��cials to furnishevidence of the withdrawals,but to no avail. They alsosought Reserve Bank of India’s intervention.
No over draft facilityThey alleged that it was notpossible to withdraw a totalof ₹��60,000 from both accounts on January 29, 30and 31, as the balance wasmuch lower than that andthere was no overdraft facility. However, the bank rejected all claims and stated thatthe complainants had theiraccounts overdrawn and ithas the right to adjustcredits.
The bank also said thatthe case was taken to thebanking ombudsman, whoruled in its favour. It stated
that the ombudsman hadobserved that as per CCTVfootage, Ms. Agarwal’s father withdrew the money.“There was a third partycompromise of the card details,” it said.
It maintained that duringdemonetisation, ‘almost95% ATMs’, including itsown, experienced technicalglitches and claimed that thewithdrawals were not immediately debited and the complainants with ‘fraudulentintentions’ withdrew thecash. The bank also provided the forum with documents that supported its arguments. The forumobserved that since the accounts had insuffi��cientfunds, they could not haveoverdrawn the money. Apartfrom directing the bank topay ₹��30,000 to each complainant and ₹��5,000 to eachas compensation, it ordered₹��2,500 to each as costs.
Consumer forum asks VijayaBank to compensate clientsAccounts showed excess withdrawals in their name
Syed Mohammed
Hyderabad
The railway station in the fi��ctional south Indian town ofMalgudi around which novelist R.K. Narayan spun enchanting stories may at somepoint fi��nd a place on the railway map of India.
B.Y. Raghavendra, MP forShivamogga, has sent a proposal on renaming Arasalustation in the district as Malgudi station.
And a museumThe small station on the ShivamoggaTalaguppa railwayline is where scenes for thepopular television serialMalgudi Days were shot bythe late Shankar Nag.
Mr. Raghavendra told The
Hindu that the proposal alsoincludes setting up a Malgudi museum near the railwaystation. “I discussed the matter of renaming the stationand setting up the museumwith the Divisional Managerand the response was enthu
siastic,” the MP said, addingthat the project would havefunding from the MP LocalArea Development Fund aswell as the Railways.
In 2011, the Railway Ministry named the YeshwantpurMysuru Express (operating
between Bengaluru and Mysuru) as Malgudi Express,thanks to the eff��orts of thethen Union Minister for Foreign Aff��airs S.M. Krishna.
Interestingly, in his introduction to the short storycollection Malgudi Days(1942), R.K. Narayan saysabout the location of Malgudi: “All I can say is that it isimaginary and cannot befound on any map (althoughthe University of ChicagoPress published a literary atlas with a map of India indicating the location of Malgudi). If I explain that Malgudiis a small town in South India, I shall only be expressing halftruth, for the characteristics of Malgudi seem tobe universal.”
Will ‘Malgudi’ fi��gure on rail map?Shivamogga MP moots renaming of Arasalu station after famous fi��ctional town
Muralidhara Khajane
Bengaluru
Malgudi memories: Scenes for the TV series Malgudi Dayswere shot in Arasalu station area. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
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DELHI THE HINDU
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 20196EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
NATION
A 10yearold girl was allegedly raped and killedand her body dumped inan unused biogas tank inKatni district of MadhyaPradesh, the police saidon Sunday.
After foul smell emanated from the tank located underground in theBarhi area, around 80 kmfrom here, a farmerlooked into it on Saturdayand spotted the body, Katni Additional Superintendent of Police SandeepMishra said.
“The postmortem report confi��rmed the girlwas raped and throttledto death before the bodywas dumped,” he said.
The girl went out of herhouse on Wednesday withher uncle, who resided intheir neighbourhood inthe district, but did not return home.
When her parents enquired, her uncle toldthem he thought that shehad returned home, thepolice offi��cer said.
Police complaintThe family members
then searched for the minor and after being unable to fi��nd her, theylodged a police complaintthe next day.
The Additional Superintendent of Police saidthey were investigatingthe case from all angles totrace the culprit.
As of now, a case hasbeen registered againstthe unidentifi��ed accusedunder the Indian PenalCode sections for rape,killing and other off��ences,as well as the Protectionof Children from SexualOff��ences Act (POCSO), headded.
Girl raped,killed in M.P.;body dumpedin tank
Press trust of india
Katni
Bengal committed toprotect wildlife: Mamata KOLKATA
The West Bengal government
is committed to protect
wildlife and conserve forests,
and has been doing so for the
past seven years, Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee
said on Sunday on the
occasion of World Wildlife
Day. Describing forests and
wildlife as assets of the
State, she said it was
everyone’s responsibility to
conserve the biodiversity. PTI
IN BRIEF
Three killed in roadaccident in U.P.BALLIA
Three people, including two
students returning home
after board examinations,
were killed when their
motorcycle dashed into a
stationary truck on Ballia
Gorakhpur road, the police
said. The deceased were
identified as Sunita (18), Rani
(17) and Pankaj Ram (38),
they said. PTI
Two killed as bikecrashes into stray cattleKOTA
Two men were killed when
their motorcycle collided with
stray cattle crossing the
highway in Rajasthan’s Bundi
district, the police said on
Sunday. Pappulal Meena (40)
and Rakesh Meena (22) were
killed on the spot in the
accident that took place on
near Balapura village on
Saturday night, they said. PTI
Man with smuggled goldheld at Guwahati stationGUWAHATI
A man has been arrested by
Government Railway Police
personnel from the Guwahati
railway station for possessing
smuggled gold. The GRP
personnel recovered six gold
bars, weighing 499 grams,
from the man on Saturday
night, Superintendent of
Railway Police of Guwahati,
Hemanta Kumar Das, said. PTI
The Odisha government hasdecided to have lightningprotection system in multipurpose shelters across 25districts as lightning hasemerged as the leadingcause behind natural deathsacross the State.
The governing body of theOdisha Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) under the chairmanship ofChief Secretary A. P. Padhihas underlined the need forfi��xing lightning arresting systems in multipurpose shelters and strengthening theoutdoor lightning alertsystem.
“Multipurpose sheltersoperating in 25 districtswould be retrofi��tted withlightning protection system.In the fi��rst phase, 640 shelters would be taken up with
funding support from theWorld Bank under the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project,” said Bishnupada Sethi, OSDMA. ManagingDirector.
He said about ₹��17 crorewould be invested in the project while the remaining 239multipurpose shelters wouldbe taken up at a later stage.
“The OSDMA in collaboration with the USbased EarthNetworks has installed sixlightning detection sensorsin diff��erent parts of the State.The system gives predictionof lightning about 30 to 45minutes in advance. Moreover, more mapbased lightning alerts are being provid
ed,” said Mr. Sethi.The government will in
stall more alert systems in 14most lightingprone blocksof the State on a pilot basis.
“The system would specify the exact location of thelightning and storm and provide automatic warningthrough sirens. The sirenwould be audible at a onekilometre radius,” he said.
In Odisha, lightningclaims an average of 400lives every year. The totalnumber of reported deathsdue to lightning during thelast three years from 201516to 201718 is 1,256, which accounts for about 27% of totalnumber of disaster deaths.
Odisha shelter homes to havelightning protection system640 shelters to be taken up in fi��rst phase with funding from World Bank
Staff Reporter
BHUBANESWAR
₹��17 crore will be invested inthe project.
A man carrying garlands on his shoulder at a fl��ower market in Kolkata on Sunday on the eve of Shivratri festival. *
DEBAJYOTI SARKAR
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For the holy day Weather WatchRainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday
Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: INSAT/IMD (Taken at 18.00 Hrs)
Forecast for Monday: Thundersquall accompanied by lightninglikely at isolated places over Odisha; thunderstorm accompaniedby gusty winds likely over Jharkhand and Gangetic West Bengal;squally winds reaching speeds of 4050 kmph likely to prevailover northwest Bay of Bengal, fi��shermen advised to avoid area
city rain max min city rain max min
Agartala................. —.... 28.8.... 11.6 Kozhikode ............... —.... 36.3.... 26.2
Ahmedabad............ —.... 31.2.... 21.5 Kurnool ................... —.... 37.1.... 24.7
Aizawl ................... —.... 27.7.... 13.9 Lucknow................1.4.... 24.7.... 14.0
Allahabad .............. —.... 24.1.... 14.4 Madurai................... —.... 36.2.... 23.2
Bengaluru .............. —.... 31.5.... 20.5 Mangaluru............... —.... 34.2... 24.4
Bhopal................... —.... 32.6.... 18.6 Mumbai................... —.... 29.6.... 20.2
Bhubaneswar ......... —.... 33.0.... 19.6 Mysuru.................... —.... 34.5.... 20.6
Chandigarh ..........9.9.... 23.5.... 11.3 New Delhi .............9.6.... 22.7.... 11.5
Chennai ................. —.... 32.9.... 25.7 Patna ...................... —.... 25.8.... 13.8
Coimbatore............ —.... 35.9.... 22.5 Port Blair ................ —.... 30.5.... 22.2
Dehradun...........10.5.... 24.4.... 10.6 Puducherry.............. —.... 33.4.... 23.7
Gangtok................. —.... 12.6...... 7.7 Pune ....................... —.... 34.1.... 15.7
Goa ....................... —.... 31.5.... 21.9 Raipur ...................0.5.... 29.8.... 20.7
Guwahati ............... —.... 29.1.... 11.4 Ranchi..................... —.... 25.6.... 13.1
Hubballi................. —.... 33.0.... 22.0 Shillong................... —.... 17.6...... 6.6
Hyderabad ............. —.... 35.6.... 21.8 Shimla......................3.... 14.2...... 2.5
Imphal................... —.... 25.5...... 8.6 Srinagar .................. —...... 7.8...... 0.8
Jaipur ..................0.3.........—.... 13.0 Trivandrum ............. —.... 34.5.... 25.2
Kochi...................5.4.... 33.8.... 24.4 Tiruchi .................... —.... 35.6.... 26.1
Kohima.................. —.... 21.6...... 8.6 Vijayawada .............. —.... 33.1.... 23.6
Kolkata.................. —.... 28.9.... 16.0 Visakhapatnam .......3.9.... 31.0.... 25.0
(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., Jalandhar,Punjab recorded an overallair quality index (AQI) scoreof 307 indicating anunhealthy level of pollution.In contrast, Khanna, Punjabrecorded a healthy AQIscore of 29
Ahmedabad..... 70 .66 27 ..119 .....— ....*
Bengaluru ....... ..7 .58 68 ..... — .126 ....*
Chennai .......... ..9 .15 21 ....87 .....— ....*
Delhi .............. 16 .94 44 ..209 .130 ....*
Hyderabad ...... ..2 .80 18 ....75 ...77 ....*
Kolkata........... 13 115 27 ..288 .169 ....*
Lucknow ......... ..8 .36 70 ..345 .....— ....*
Mumbai .......... 10 .16 78 ....26 ...63 ....*
Pune............... 31 .15 32 ....68 ...77 ....*
Visakhapatnam ..8 .25 24 ....44 ...68 ....*
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
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019 7EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
CMYK
NATION
Parrikar’s cancer inadvanced stage: MinisterPANAJI
Ailing Goa Chief Minister
Manohar Parrikar is suffering
from an advancedstage
cancer, State Cabinet Minister
Vijai Sardesai said on Sunday.
Mr. Parrikar, 63, underwent
checkup at the staterun
Goa Medical College and
Hospital (GMCH) in the
morning. “His health
condition is stable,” an
official said. PTI
IN BRIEF
The country’s fi��rst RajdhaniExpress, which revolutionised Indian Railways by wayof speed and luxury in the1960s, turned 50 on Sunday.Decorated with red and yellow marigold fl��owers itchugged out of Howrah station on its golden jubileerun.
An Eastern Railway (ER)offi��cial said the KolkataNewDelhi Rajdhani Express embarked on its fi��rst journey onMarch 3, 1969 from Howrah,making it the country’s fi��rstfullyairconditioned, highspeed train that covered the
1,450 km stretch in 17 hoursand 20 minutes.
It was fl��agged off�� by threeformer staff��ers of RajdhaniExpress after ceremonialcakecutting and release of agreeting stamp to commemorate the epochmakingevent.
Senior offi��cers of ER, including its general managerHarindra Rao, were presentat platform number 9, whichhas been the berthing placeof Rajdhani Express sinceinception.
Passengers on the goldenjubilee run were treated tosome of its old delicacies likefi��sh fry or vegetable cutlets
and ‘rosogollas’ apart fromice cream for dessert, saidIRCTC (East) general manager Debasish Chandra.
Rajdhani was the fi��rsttrain in the country whosefares included charges formeals served.
Keep up with the timesBrand new linen and disposable napkins with greetingsof “50 Years of Rajdhani Express” were distributedamong the passengers, theER offi��cial said.
The railway staff�� on dutywore a commemorationbadge.
On its fi��rst run it had nine
vacuum braked coachesbuilt at Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Perambur, two power cars, fi��ve AC chair cars,one AC dining car and oneAC fi��rst class coach.
With the passage of time,the chair cars were replacedby AC 2tier and AC 3tiercoaches.
The number of AC fi��rstclass coaches was increased,while the dining car wasdone away with.
Now it has 20 LHB coaches consisting of two AC fi��rstclass, fi��ve AC 2tier, 10 AC 3tier with one pantry car andtwo power carscumluggagevans.
Rajdhani Express turns 50, passengers pampered with ‘rosogollas’ Golden jubilee run of train fl��agged off�� by former staff��ers after ceremonial cakecutting and release of stamp
Glorious journey: The KolkataNew Delhi Rajdhani Express embarked on its fi��rst journey onMarch 3, 1969. It was the fi��rst train with meals included in the fares. * SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY
Press Trust of India
Kolkata
Workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and policeclashed in parts of West Bengal, as police tried to preventthe saff��ron party’s bike rallyas the part of its nationwidepoll campaign. Many onboth sides were injured. Apolice statement noted thatthe BJP did not have a permission to hold such ralliesand thus the rally wasstopped. State BJP, on theother hand, claimed thatpermission was denied.
As part of BJP’s ‘Vijay Sankalp’ rally, the party organised motorbike rallies in various parts of the State onSunday.
When police stopped therallies, clashes broke out, injuring many on both sides.
Later, a Kolkata Police statement said that “between10.30 and 14.30 hours, BJPsupporters tried to organisebike rallies in several placeswithin the city of Kolkatawithout having any validpermission.”
BJP’s State president DilipGhosh, however, said that
they sought permission butit was denied.
“We are continuously denied permission. Police andTMC workers have brutallybeaten us today…[but] wewill continue with our protest challenging [Trinamool]cadres and the police,” hesaid. (With Agency inputs.)
BJP workers, policeclash in West Bengal Party cadres were trying to take out ‘Vijay Sankalp’ rally
Special Correspondent
Kolkata
Charged up: Police personnel baton charge BJP workers aftera clash, in Midnapore on Sunday. * PTI
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has identifi��ed theproperties of Brajesh Thakur, the main accused in thecase involving sexual assaultof at least 34 girl inmates at ashelter home in Bihar’s Muzaff��arpur for attachmentunder the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The agency is probing themoney laundering chargeon the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) lodgedby the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in July lastyear.
The statement of the accused was recently recorded at the Patiala jail in Punjab, where he was kept injudicial custody on thecourt’s instructions. It islearnt that his assets, worthmore than ₹��6 crore, havebeen listed as alleged pro
ceeds of the crime forattachment.
The CBI has so far recorded the statement of 33 victims in connection with thecase, and most of them havegiven their testimoniesagainst Mr. Thakur, allegingthat he would bring in people for sexually assaultingthem.
Some victims were allegedly also taken to hotelswhere they were raped.
Bihar shelter case: ED toattach assets of accused It is probing money laundering charge
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
A fi��le photo of the shelterhome, where minors wereallegedly raped. * PTI
Three days after two earthquakes rocked Mahrashtrain quick succession, theNational Centre of Seismology (NCS) and India Meteorological Department(IMD) said another seismometer would be installed in Palghar district,taking the total number ofsuch monitors to four.
According to offi��cialsfrom IMD, the fourth instrument to be located eastof the last earthquake’s epicentre will enable theteam in acquiring a moreaccurate data.
Palghar district has seenthousands of small earthquakes since November2018, but the March 1quake measuring 4.3 onthe moment magnitude(Mw) scale was the fi��rsttime the magnitudecrossed 4 here.
Palghar to get anotherseismometer
Suyash Karangutkar
Mumbai
A herd of six female elephantssurviving under severeanthropogenic stress may behelped by transboundaryconservation, say scientists. Forseveral years now, thebeleaguered group has beennegotiating the internationalborder between India andBangladesh, ranging from thewestern side of the Karimganjdistrict of Assam to the easternside to the Sylhet district ofBangladesh.
In a publication titled “Theimportance of transboundaryconservation of the AsiaticElephant Elephas maximus inPatharia Hills Reserve Forest,northeastern India”, scientistshave called for “jointconservation activities” for theprotection of the herd. The paperwas published in the Journal ofThreatened Taxa.
Researchers said that its lastmale elephant died almost fi��veyears ago, causing the populationto stagnate. Electrocution causedthe death of a female elephant in2017.
Human settlement“The elephants are now dividedinto two small herds with threein each group, and one herd
always follows the other. Theystay on both sides of the forest,that is, the sections in India aswell as Bangladesh, and cross theborder frequently. They havebroken border fences to use theirmigratory corridor,” ParthankarChoudhury, one of the authors ofthe publication, said.
The researchers said a greaterpart of the elephants’ habitat liesin southern Assam’s PathariaHills Reserve Forest, where a lotof illegal settlements have comeup in the recent decades. Thepublication points out that “ifconservation action is not takenup, the Reserve Forest (RF) willbe a dense human settlement
area without any trace of wildlifein the near future.”
“During the summer, fromApril to July, the elephants stay inBangladesh, while in the winter,from November to December,they prefer to remain in theforest patches and tea estates ofthe Indian side,” ProfessorChowdhury, Head of theDepartment of Ecology andEnvironmental Science, AssamUniversity, told The Hindu.
The authors of the paper saidthat the elephants’ “shiftingpattern of migration may be dueto the food shortage on bothsides as anthropogenic activitieshave increased.”
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
A tale of six elephants using one corridor in two countries
Shiv Sahay Singh
Kolkata
Scientists advise trans-boundary conservation for wildlife along the border
Need safe passage: Elephants passing through the Putni Tea Garden inPatharia Hills Reserve Forest, Assam. * NAZIMUR RAHMAN TALUKDAR
Hostel warden, husbandheld for molesting girls JAIPUR
The warden of a government
run girls hostel and her
husband were arrested on
Sunday for allegedly
molesting and harassing girls
of the hostel in Alwar district
of Rajasthan. The action was
taken after two girls
complained to the police that
the accused used to call them
to their house and molested
them. PTI
CISF sets world record insingle line bicycle parade NEW DELHI
Troops of the CISF on Sunday
set a Guinness world record in
‘single line bicycle parade’ to
mark 50 years of the
paramilitary force. The record
was created at the Yamuna
Expressway in Noida when
personnel rode 1,327 bicycles
“nonstop with uniform
distance between bicycles in
a single line,” said a senior
official. PTI
Coal mine mishap killsfour in Nagaland GUWAHATI
Four miners have died in a
mudslide at an illegal coal
mine in Nagaland. Mining in
the area had been suspended
a month ago. The four — all
from Assam — used to work at
the mine in Yonglok village
and had returned to collect
their belongings, but were
caught in a mudslide.
A Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) on Sundayfi��led a chargesheet against38 people in the Bulandshahr district court in connection with the killing ofa police inspector.
Out of the 38, fi��ve people have been arrested under 302 (Punishment formurder) and other sections of the Indian PenalCode, while 33 have beenheld under 307 (attemptto murder) and other relevant sections of IPC.
Superintendent of Police Atul Srivastav said: “Ofthe 38 chargesheeted, fi��vehave been charged withmurder.”
On December 3, Subodh Kumar was killed inthe violence after carcasses of 25 cattle were foundin the forests close to apolice station.
Bulandshahrviolence: 38face charges
Asian News International
Bulandshahr
As many as 41 persons sustained injuries after their busfell into a ditch off�� the BengaluruMysuru highway, nearMaddur, in the district onSunday.
20 women injuredThe victims, including 20women and three children,were rushed to government
hospitals in Maddur andMandya. The accident occurred near Aishwarya International School off�� the highway at 2.30 p.m., said theMaddur police.
The passengers, all pilgrims, left Kolkata on February 17.
They visited places in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, AndhraPradesh, and Telangana.They were returning to Kol
kata. The driver failed to notice
a truck that was parked onthe left side, which resultedin the accident, said a policeoffi��cer.
Ambulances called People working along thehighway and local residentscalled for ambulances toshift the injured to hospitals.While most of the injured
were treated as outpatients,around 10 passengers wereadmitted to the Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences(MIMS) here as inpatients,police said.
According to police, theywill be discharged from hospitals on Tuesday and the remaining passengers have decided to continue theirjourney through alternativevehicles.
41 injured as Kolkata-bound bus falls into ditch
The passengers were on a pilgrimage tour and had left Kolkata on February 17
Special Correspondent
Mandya
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DELHI THE HINDU
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 20198EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
CMYK
A ND-NDE
EDITORIAL
Soham D. Bhaduri
In 2011, a highlevel expertgroup on universal health coverage reckoned that nearly 70%
of government health spendingshould go to primary health care.The National Health Policy (NHP)2017 also advocated allocating resources of up to twothirds ormore to primary care as it enunciated the goal of achieving “thehighest possible level of goodhealth and wellbeing, through apreventive and promotive healthcare orientation”. However, if current trends and projections areanything to go by, this goal is likelyto remain a pious hope.
Last year, an outlay of ₹��1,200crore was proposed to transform1.5 lakh subhealth centres intohealth and wellness centres by2022, which would provide a wider range of primary care servicesthan existing sub and primaryhealth centres (PHC). Going by thegovernment’s own estimate, in2017, it would cost ₹��16 lakh to convert a subhealth centre into a
health and wellness centre. Thisyear, the outlay is ₹��1,600 crore (a33% increase) clubbed under theNational Health Mission (NHM)budget. Assuming that at least thesame number (15,000) of newhealth and wellness centres wouldbe planned for 201920, and that atleast half the aforementionedamount of ₹��16 lakh would be required to run an already approvedhealth and wellness centre, the required sum for the year 201920stands at around ₹��3,600 crore.While this is a conservative estimate, the realistic fi��gure could easily exceed ₹��4,500 crore. The current outlay is less than half theconservative estimate — not tomention that building health andwellness centres at the given rate(15,000 per year) can fulfi��l noteven half the proposed target of1.5 lakh health and wellnesscentres till 2022.
Picture of extremesThe overall situation with theNHM, India’s fl��agship programmein primary health care, continuesto be dismal. The NHM’s share inthe health budget fell from 73% in2006 to 50% in 2019 in the absence of uniform and substantialincreases in health spending byStates. The mediumterm expenditure projection statement present
ed by the Ministry of Finance toParliament in August 2018 projected a 17% increase in allocation forthe NHM in 201920. However,there has only been only an increase of 3.4% this year. With this,the NHM budget for this year(₹��31,745 crore) barely crosses theactual spending on the programme in 201718 (₹�� 31,510 crore).
On the other hand, the Centrelooks fairly committed to increasing access to hospitalisation care,predominantly through privateplayers. This refl��ects in the 167%increase in allocation this year forthe Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) — the insurance programme which aims to cover 10crore poor families for hospitalisation expenses of up to ₹��5 lakh perfamily per annum — and the government’s recent steps to incentivise the private sector to openhospitals in Tier II and Tier III cities. The increase in the PMJAYbudget is a welcome step — spend
ing on this colossal insurance programme will need to rise considerably with every passing year sothat its commitments can be met.However, the same coming at theexpense of other critical areas isilladvised.
Staff�� shortageToday, the condition of our primary health infrastructure is lamentable: there is a shortage of PHCs(22%) and subhealth centres(20%), while only 7% subhealthcentres and 12% primary healthcentres meet Indian Public HealthStandards (IPHS) norms. Further,numerous primarylevel facilitiesneed complete building reconstruction, as they operate out ofrented apartments and thatchedaccommodations, and lack basicfacilities such as toilets, drinkingwater and electricity. Data by IndiaSpend show that there is a staggering shortage of medical and paramedical staff�� at all levels of care:10,907 auxiliary nurse midwivesand 3,673 doctors are needed atsubhealth and primary healthcentres, while for communityhealth centres the fi��gure is 18,422specialists.
While making hospitalisation affordable brings readily noticeablerelief, there is no alternative tostrengthening primary health care
in the pursuit of an eff��ective andeffi��cient health system. It must beremembered that the achievementof a “distressfree and comprehensive wellness system for all”, asenunciated by the Union FinanceMinister in this year’s Interim Budget speech, hinges on the performance of health and wellnesscentres as they will be instrumental in reducing the greater burdenof outofpocket expenditure onhealth. Their role shall also be critical in the medium and long termsto ensure the success and sustainability of the PMJAY insurancescheme, as a weak primary healthcare system will only increase theburden of hospitalisation.
The government needs to remember its promise of ‘Health assurance to all’ made in its electionmanifesto in 2014. Apart from anadequate emphasis on primaryhealth care, there is a need to depart from the current trend of erratic and insuffi��cient increases inhealth spending and make substantial and sustained investmentsin public health over the next decade. Without this, the ninth dimension (‘Healthy India’) of “Vision 2030” will remain unfulfi��lled.
Soham D. Bhaduri is Chief Editor, ‘The
Indian Practitioner’, and a medical doctor
based in Mumbai
The basics are vital Making hospitalisation aff��ordable ��will ��spell relief, but there is no alternative to strengthening primary health care
GE
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AG
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more letters online:
www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/
The February 26 aerial strikeby India on a JaisheMohammad ( JeM) training camp in
Balakot, located in Mansehra district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, came hardlya fortnight after the Pulwama terror attack on a Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF) convoy on theSrinagarJammu highway. The terror attack was carried out by a JeMsuicide bomber, who rammed hisexplosives laden vehicle into theconvoy, killing 40 CRPFpersonnel.
The Pulwama attack on February 14 was the deadliest attack todate on security forces in Kashmir.It was seen as a message to Indiathat ‘Terror Incorporated’ in Pakistan was upping the ante andtaking matters to a qualitativelyhigher level. That it chose to do sowhen the general election in Indiais around the corner further madeit an act of daredevilry, almost inviting India to retaliate.
Turning pointThe aerial attack featured Mirage2000 jets (designed to fl��y atspeeds of up to Mach 2.2) fi��ttedwith stateoftheart radar and fl��ybywire fl��ight control systems, carrying precision guided missiles.Sukhoi Su30MKI jets were standing by, and early warning aircraft —the Israeli Phalcon and the indigenously built Netra — were also deployed. The reliance on air powernot only induced a new pattern inthe IndiaPakistan confl��ictpost1971, but also marks a paradigmatic change in the nature andcharacter of India’s battle againstPakistanbased terror.
Two dates, 1971 and 1998, aresignifi��cant in this context. The fi��rstwitnessed the dismemberment ofPakistan, accompanied by Pakistan’s unremitting hostility towards
India. The second marked the yearwhen India and Pakistan formallyannounced their emergence as nuclear powers — leading to a kind ofstandoff�� between them. Between1971 and 1998, the South Asian region witnessed the retreat from Afghanistan of Russian forces, andthe simultaneous emergence ofthe phenomenon known as the‘Afghan Jihad’. The latter wouldthereafter spawn radicalised Islamist violence across the entire region and even beyond, giving riseto organisations such as alQaedaand its acolytes. In Kashmir, it ledto a shift in tactics, and the commencement of a more radicalisedand militant phase of struggle.Kashmir has never been the samesince.
Pakistan was the main benefi��ciary of this. It gained control of theTaliban, which soon achieved ascendancy in Afghanistan’s aff��airs.Recruits and tactics from the Afghan Jihad helped intensify thestruggle in Kashmir and tilt it in favour of Pakistan. Terror, thereafter, became the strategic instrumentality employed to keep Indiain check. That is, until the February 14 attack on the CRPF convoyin Pulwama.
A big provocationPulwama was the ultimate provocation. The suicide bomber detonated between 80 and 90 kg of explosives, which experts haveidentifi��ed as RDX, categorised as amilitary grade explosive availablewith the armed forces. Preparation for the attack suggests that itwas not a oneoff�� event, and thatthe planning had commencedmuch earlier. Preparing a suicidebomber to carry out an attack entails a great deal of psychologicaltraining, which is conducted overa considerable length of time (thispattern was seen in the case of theLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelamand of suicide bomber Dhanu responsible for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination). Intelligence available suggests that the suicide bomber wasassisted, guided and propelled toachieve maximum impact by han
dlers in Pakistan. The radicalisedsuicide bomber (Adil Ahmad Dar)was apparently spotted by JeMmasterminds in Pakistan manymonths prior to the attack, and Pakistan controllers continued their‘handholding’ almost till the lastminute. Pakistan’s fi��ngerprints areall over the Pulwama incident.
India’s decision to carry the battle beyond the Line of Control andinto Pakistan has several implications. At its most basic level, it signifi��es that in the battle against terror, India is more than willingcurrently to sidestep protocolsthat dictate conduct among nations not offi��cially at war. Noamount of euphuistic chicanery alters this reality.
We live in a highly disruptiveworld. Nations often fi��nd themselves in a state of undeclared war.Tensions and provocations between countries that share borders— among the more prominent being North and South Korea — oftenremain high. In the present instance, a strong riposte by Indiawas only to be expected, with thedebate centring round the degreeof restraint to be exercised.Whether an aerial attack on a terror target inside Pakistani territorycomes within the ambit of a credible minimum deterrent is, however, debatable.
Employment of air power is perse recognised the world over as anescalatory step. No amount of diplomatic verbiage can obscure thisfact. The phrase ‘nonmilitary preemptive strike’ used by the IndianForeign Secretary and other offi��cials does not in any way changethis reality. The nation, hence,needs to brace itself for the conse
quences that follow such a step.Any hope that international opprobrium on Pakistan for the JeMattack would deter Pakistan fromtaking a retaliatory step for the attack on Balakot needs to beeschewed.
The reality is that while fewwould sympathise with Pakistan,well recognised as a country thatharbours terrorists of every description, there are much larger issues at stake. There is the matterof maintaining the sanctity of theWestphalian Order, which hashelped keep the peace across theworld for centuries. This mandates certain rules and proceduresas far as the conduct of international relations is concerned. Violation of the territory of anothercountry, whether from land, seaor air, whatever be the degree ofprovocation, is generally perceived as an act of war. Today, Russia is being pilloried by the Westfor the former’s annexation of Crimea. Russia is also being castigated for interfering in the U.S. presidential elections in 2016. Yet, allcountries, including the U.S., havebeen reluctant to cross the Rubicon and enter into an open confrontation with Russia.
This should, hence, give us reason to pause, and to debate whether the world could construe ouraction of violating Pakistani airspace, even if it is to carry out anattack on a JeM training centre, asjustifi��ed or not. There is littledoubt that India’s policymakerstook the decision to carry out theattack on Balakot — even if itmeant violating Pakistan airspace— only after a great deal of deliberation, but it is still a highly debatable step.
Dilemma after 26/11Understandably, no two situationsare identical. Nor are the conditions prevailing the same at anytime. In November/December2008, on the eve of the generalelection of 2009, India confronteda similar dilemma following theNovember 2008 terror attack byPakistan’s LashkareToiba (LeT)
on multiple targets in Mumbai city(picture), in which nearly 170 persons were killed. Extensive discussions were held at that time as tothe possible actions that could betaken against Pakistan, and manyideas were considered — includingthat of similar preemptive strikeson terror training camps along theLoC and beyond — and given up.
The reality was — and this stillexists — that India did not possessthe kind of special forces (with therequisite capabilities) that othercountries had, viz. Russia’s Spetsnaz, Germany’s GSG9, the U.S.’sSEALS and the U.K.’s SAS and SBS.It was felt at the time that it wouldnot be possible in the circumstances to carry out a pinpointed attackon either the LeT or JeM headquarters. Whether India shouldviolate Pakistan’s airspace was also carefully deliberated upon, butwiser counsels at the time felt thatthis would be perceived as nothingshort of war. The failure to take action is being reviled today in certain circles, but it needs to be remembered that some of India’sfi��nest years were during the period 20092012.
Upholding India’s word It may be said that having alreadytaken the step, there can be no going back. India’s leaders, however,need to be reminded that India’srestraint in responding to previousterror attacks is the crucial factorgiving India credibility as far askeeping commitments are concerned. It is important to recognise in this context that India iscommitted to‘No First Use’ in nuclear matters, and the world hasaccepted this guarantee purelybased on India’s moral capital andstature. The question is whetherIndia’s word will be treated as inviolable in the future, even as India seeks a seat as a permanentmember of the UN Security Council. This is something that we needto ponder over.
M.K. Narayanan is a former National
Security Adviser and a former Governor
of West Bengal
Lines being crossed The reasons behind India’s restraint after the 26/11 attacks are still valid today
M.K. Narayanan
PT
I
JeM chief in Pakistan
The statement by PakistanForeign Minister ShahMahmood Qureshi that thefounder of the terroristgroup JaisheMohammad,Masood Azhar, is “unwell”is testimony to the fact thatthe civilian and militaryleaderships of Pakistan arewell aware of thewhereabouts of the leadersof various terroristorganisations (“Azhar downwith renal failure?”, March3). India should not acceptthe peace proposal ofPakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan but insteadshould continue mountingpressure on Islamabad tohand over the JeM chief toIndia. The people ofPakistan should realise thattheir leadership isprotecting and harbouringterrorists which does moreharm than good to their
own country as a whole. Dhruv Vyas,
Chennai
Double standards
The move by the UNSecurity Council’s 1267 ISISand alQaeda SanctionsCommittee to list Hamzabin Laden (the son ofOsama bin Laden) under itssanctions list, calling himthe “most probablesuccessor” to alQaeda’scurrent leader AymanalZawahiri just because hehas called for followers ofalQaeda to commit terrorattacks, points to the abjectdouble standards of thecommittee in fi��ghting globalterrorism (‘World’ page,“UNSC blacklists Osama’sson”, March 3). It isappalling that he has beenpreemptively proscribedby the UN Committee on amere threat perception
while India’s repeatedattempts to get the same UNto designate the UNproscribed Pakistanbasedterror group, JaisheMohammad chief, MasoodAzhar, as a ‘global terrorist’remains a voice in thewilderness even afterPulwama. Undoubtedly,China’s allweatherfriendship with Pakistanhas once again come in theway. If only China hadjoined the other permanentmembers of the UNSC indesignating Masood Azharas an internationalterrorist, the current crisiscould, perhaps, have evenbeen avoided. Nalini Vijayaraghavan,
Thiruvananthapuram
On the media
Union Finance MinisterArun Jaitley’s lament thatnews channels are resorting
to setting the country’sagenda instead of reportingis worthy of considerationby news channels that areobsessed with ‘breakingnews’ (“Jaitley takes a swipeat news channels”, March3). Viewers often look atbreaking news as nothingmore than a nuisance.While overzealous newsanchors cry for quickrevenge against Pakistan,others go straight for thegovernment’s jugular.There are still others whoset the agenda of thecountry’s judiciary. Thepress is the last line ofdefence in a democracy butreporters must also hold amirror to events on theground, rather than turningcritics of events. Moreoften, their news items readlike editorials.Kangayam R. Narasimhan,
Chennai
of groves (Kavu in Kerala),which indirectly signifi��esdisappearing human valuesand man’s alarmingdisconnect with nature.Every folk art whensincerely presented orperformed is a ‘return tonature’ experience andTheyyam is no exception.The entire mannaturerelationship is one ofeternal confl��uence,convergence and confl��icts,and eventually it is naturethat prevails. One wonders why in themodern age, we are grosslyunconcerned about theilleff��ects of selfmadedisasters when there areample lessons in myths andfolk tales to avoid suchsituations.M.V. Radhakrishnan,
Thrissur, Kerala
Mother’s role
That a mother is like aworkhorse from dawn todusk, especially in herprime, and who fulfi��lsevery need of the familyhas been capturedbeautifully in the narrative,“Caring with dignity andempathy” (‘Open Page’,March 3). I am sure that thearticle would have mademany readers recollect theprecious moments spentwith their mothers. It is aptto recall the quote about amother’s role: “A mother isshe who takes the place ofall others. But whose placeno one else can take”.K. Jayanthi,
Chennai
Dance and nature
The ‘Magazine’ cover story(Page 8, March 3), “‘Wherehave my groves gone?’,”laments the disappearance
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 economy is inarguably slowing, and the latest
estimates from the Central Statistics Offi��ce discon
certingly point to a deepening slowdown. GDP
growth is projected to have eased to 6.6% in the Octob
erDecember period. With the CSO now forecasting the
fullyear expansion at 7%, fi��scal fourthquarter growth
is implicitly pegged at an even slower 6.5%. At that le
vel, growth would have slowed to a sevenquarter low,
giving the incumbent NDA government its slowest pace
of annual growth. The data clearly refl��ect the pain
points in the real economy that have been evident for
some time now. For one, the farm sector continues to
remain in trouble with GVA (gross value added) growth
in agriculture, forestry and fi��shing having slowed sharp
ly to 2.7% in the last quarter, from a 4.2% pace in July
September and 4.6% a year earlier. With rabi sowing
showing a shortfall across most crops after a defi��cient
northeast monsoon, and the abiding structural issues
that have pushed a multitude of farmers into acute dis
tress nowhere near resolution, it is hard to foresee an
early revival in this crucial primary sector. This, in turn,
continues to dog demand in the hinterland for manu
factured products, from twowheelers to tractors, and
is evident in the consumption spending data. Growth in
private fi��nal consumption expenditure eased apprecia
bly to 8.4%, from the second quarter’s pace of 9.8%.
Manufacturing is another source of concern. The es
timates for growth in GVA for the sector put the pace at
6.7%, weaker than the 6.9% posted in the second quar
ter and a rapid deceleration from the AprilJune pe
riod’s 12.4%. The latest Index of Industrial Production
(IIP) fi��gures also give little cause for optimism as manu
facturing expansion in December slowed to 2.7%, from
8.7% 12 months earlier. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das
had in fact pointedly cited how “highfrequency and
surveybased indicators for the manufacturing and ser
vices sectors” suggested a slowdown in the pace of ac
tivity, to help justify his vote last month for an interest
rate cut to bolster growth. That most of the sectors com
prising the broader services basket remain becalmed
adds to the sense of disquiet. It remains to be seen if the
RBI’s reduction in borrowing costs helps check the de
mand slowdown in the fourth quarter, an improvement
in investment activity notwithstanding. Gross fi��xed
capital formation, the key metric for investment de
mand, expanded by a healthy 10.6%, building on the se
cond quarter’s 10.2% increase. Still, with military ten
sions with Pakistan on the boil, a long campaign for the
general election ahead, uncertainties looming on the
global trade and growth horizons, and little fi��scal lee
way to tease back momentum through increased
spending, the economy appears headed for a period of
uncertainty at least till the next government is in place.
Deepening slowdownCan the RBI’s reduction in borrowing costs
help check the demand slowdown?
With India and Pakistan deciding to deescalate
postBalakot tensions, the focus has moved to
the diplomatic sphere. India’s strikes on a tar
get deep inside Pakistan were coupled with diplomatic
manoeuvres that ensured no country censured India
for the move. And in a turnaround for ties with the Or
ganisation of Islamic Cooperation after half a century,
External Aff��airs Minister Sushma Swaraj was able to put
the country’s case before the body, while Pakistan
stayed out. In recognition of India’s justifi��cation to act
against an imminent terror threat from the JaisheMo
hammad, the U.S., the U.K. and France also moved in at
record speed to bring another listing request against
the group’s founder, Masood Azhar, at the UN Security
Council’s committee for terror designations. There is a
reasonable assumption that China will not block it this
time as it did during the last three attempts. There were
other outcomes that defi��ed the past. Although Islama
bad had spoken in the past of its abilities with “tactical
nuclear devices”, there was no such mobilisation after
India’s strikes. On the other hand, Pakistan was able to,
with its aerial response, also indicate that it was not
without nonnuclear options. Finally, indications that
the international community was involved in eff��ecting a
breakthrough are clear. U.S. President Donald Trump
hinted at a breakthrough in talks hours before Pakistan
Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the release of
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.
The government must, however, also assess what it
has actually achieved in strategic terms, and the conse
quences of the “new normal” it has sought to create
with Pakistan. Despite the strikes, it is far from clear
that the capabilities of the JeM have been degraded to
the point where it can no longer carry out attacks in In
dia. New Delhi must also track the JeM’s assets and abil
ities within Jammu and Kashmir, as well as any intelli
gence and security protocol failures that may have
preceded the Pulwama attack. Second, while Pakistan
announced it would study the dossier given by New Del
hi on Azhar and the JeM, it does not appear to be willing
to act against either, and has not taken steps akin to the
few it had after the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2008
Mumbai attacks or the 2016 Pathankot attack. Pakistan
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s comments
practically defending the JeM and putting out excuses
of “illness” for Azhar make that clear. It is also neces
sary to realise the limits of calling international atten
tion to India’s concerns, to ensure that there are no
curbs on what India sees as its strategic autonomy. Fi
nally, the government must have a fi��rmer handle on its
messaging after the events of the past week, so that a
public reading of its strategic purpose is not lost in the
claim vs counterclaim spiral with Pakistan.
The week afterIndia must keep up diplomatic pressure
on Pakistan to act against terror groups
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THE HINDU DELHI
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019 9EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
CMYK
A ND-NDE
OPED
The SinoSoviet border clash yesterday [March 3], involving anunspecifi��ed number of soldiers killed on both sides, is believed to have fi��gured in the twohour long talks today between the visiting Soviet Defence Minister, Marshal A. A. Grechkov, and the Indian Defence Minister, Mr. Swaran Singh. Theclash coinciding with the arrival of the Soviet Defence Ministerhere [New Delhi] on a weeklong goodwill visit naturally cameup for reference at the talks. In the absence of detailed offi��cialreports, maps were understood to have been consulted on thebasis of news agency reports that had come in late last nightand this morning. After the Soviet delegation left, the members of the Indian delegation stayed back in conference forabout half an hour. The incident and the motivations behindthe Chinese provocation which could not be considered indepth in the absence of details are, however, likely to come upat an informal level when the two Defence Ministers meetagain.
FIFTY YEARS AGO MARCH 4, 1969
China clash fi��gures in Delhi talks
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FROM ARCHIVES
Presiding this afternoon at the prize distribution of Sibpore Civil Engineering College [in Calcutta, March 3] His Excellency[Lord Ronaldshay, the Governor of Bengal] said that the Bengalee child hitherto was given no chance of developing any aptitude for mechanics, which he might possess. Somethingmust be done to develop the boys’ attitude for manual work inschool and institutions. A beginning had already been made inthis respect and manual training class had been introduced inabout 30 Zilla and high schools and proposals were beingmade for extending this form of instruction. This was themeans of fi��nding out whether the boy had any bent for engineering before he actually came to the college.
A HUNDRED YEARS AGO MARCH 4, 1919.
Mechanical Engineering: Lord Ronaldshay’s Speech.
On February 13, the Supreme Courtordered the eviction of more than 10lakh Adivasis and other forest dwellers from forestland across 17 States.The petitioners, mainly wildlifeNGOs, had demanded that State governments evict those forest dwellers whose claims over traditional forestland under the Scheduled Tribesand Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights)Act, 2006, known simply as the Forest Rights Act (FRA), had been rejected. On February 28, the court stayedits controversial order and asked theStates to submit details on how theclaims of the dwellers were decidedand the authorities competent topass fi��nal rejection orders.
While the Supreme Court has nowmade it clear that there will be no forcible eviction, what the order hassucceeded in doing is resuscitating asharp binary between the humanrights and wildlife rightsbasedgroups that have for decades tried toswing public opinion in their favour.The wildlife groups who went tocourt argue that implementation ofthe FRA could lead to ‘encroachments’ and fresh clearance of forestland for human dwellings. The human rights groups have argued thatthe FRA was passed by Parliamentand is aimed at correcting historicalinjustices to traditional forest dwellers who, since colonial times, havebeen subject to a cycle of evictions.Since colonial times, as governmentsasserted their control over forests,India’s forest history has become acycle of evictions from forestlandand rebellions by forest dwellers.
A fundamental diff��erenceNow, here’s the problem. Bothgroups have been so locked in ideological debates — whether in thecourtroom or on social media — thatthey have failed to protect whatcould potentially have been benefi��cial to their respective interestgroups: the forest. The FRA wasmeant for forest dwellers, but itcould have also been a powerful tool
for conservation. Sadly, both sideshave propagated misinformation togarner support for themselves.
The fi��rst myth that needs to bebusted for the wildlife lobby is thatwhen a right is recognised of a forestdweller/Adivasi on a piece of land, itdoesn’t mean that he/she will cutdown all the trees in that area. This isoften the strongest note of dissonance between the two groups — theimplication that recognising rightson forestland is the same as clearfelling that forest. Therefore, to arguethat the rights of millions of forestdwellers have been recognisedthrough the Act does not mean thatthe forest is a pie to be divided. Onthe other hand, when forestland is‘diverted’ for big development projects, like mining or highways orroads, it is actually clear felled orsubmerged. If this fundamental diff��e
rence between ‘recognition of rights’and ‘diversion’ were accepted, thegroups at loggerheads would in factfi��nd grounds for commonality.
It is in fact the Supreme Court thatpaved the way for this commonalityin 2013 when it asked the gram sabhas to take a decision on whether theVedanta group’s $1.7 billion bauxitemining project in Odisha’s NiyamgiriHills could go forward or not. It thusaffi��rmed the decisionmaking powerof the village councils of Rayagadaand Kalahandi under the FRA. All 12gram sabhas unanimously rejectedmining in the hills.
Again, in 2016, it was the FRA thatwas invoked by the National GreenTribunal (NGT) when the people ofLippa in Himachal Pradesh were given the powers to decide whether ornot they wanted a hydel power project in this area. The project would
have led to submergence of forestland and also caused heavy siltationin the river.
When wildlife groups point towards the thousands of ‘bogusclaims’ that are being fi��led and thatshould be rejected, what should notgo unnoticed is that the state in fact isnot always keen to recognise therights of people in forest areas (evenif it may get them votes) as it becomes tough to ‘divert’ land for bigprojects. A case in point is the Mapithel Dam that is under construction in Manipur. Once commissioned, it will submerge 1,215hectares (ha) of land, 595 ha of whichare under forest cover. In 2015, theNGT had asked for the state to seekforest clearance for the project. Toobtain forest clearance, the State government would have to prove thatthe rights of the tribal people and forest dwellers would not be aff��ected.However, the State government refused to recognise the rights of thepeople living there since it was keento construct the dam.
There have been hundreds of cases that off��ered both these divergentgroups the opportunity to come together for the cause of the environment and communities. Can the twogroups put down their metaphoricswords and use their powers to fi��ghtthe battle that needs to be fought?
Correcting historical injustice Likewise, could not the same wildlifeNGOs which fi��led this petition in theSupreme Court have joined handswith the local communities and usedthe FRA to challenge big development projects coming up on forestland instead? Human rights groupstoo cannot be absolved of blame.Most of them have been quick to respond when the judiciary steps in, buthave been missing when it comes tothe tedious groundwork of workingwith the gram sabhas and ensuringthat genuine claims are fi��led. Thesame human rights groups did notcome forward to fi��ght cases thatcould have helped conservation aswell as the people who live in thoseareas. Both groups have failed theforest. There is a chance to correctthe historical injustice has been infl��icted on the people and to India’sforests. And it is through the FRAthat India can achieve that aim.
Bahar Dutt is an environment journalist
Both human rights and wildlife rights groups have not used the Forest Rights Act as a conservation tool
“In 2013, the Supreme Court affi��rmed the decisionmaking power of the gramsabhas under the Forest Rights Act when it asked them to take a decision onwhether or not they wanted bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills of Odisha.”The Dongria Kondhs who unanimously voted no. * A. MANIKANTA KUMAR
Failing the forest
Bahar Dutt
Since the terrorist attack in Pulwama thatkilled 40 CRPF personnel and the subsequent military response, there have beentwo distinct narratives in the media. On theone hand is an uncritical group of peoplewho constantly whip up patriotism and construct nationalism in a narrow sense. Theyare keen to reduce journalism to propaganda. On the other is a set of professionals whocontinue to retain their commitment to thecore values of journalism and opt to reportevents instead of becoming a tool of war.
Reporting war and confl��ictThe reportage and headlines of The Hinduexhibit a commitment to facts as well as a desire to minimise tension between two neighbours. Here journalism is a public good andrefuses to become an instrument of deceit.The headline of Feb. 28, “IAF plane shotdown, pilot taken captive by Pak. army”, wasboth appreciated and vilifi��ed by readers. Thepeople who felt that the headline was not patriotic enough drew their inspiration frommany broadcast journalists. I would urgethem to watch senior journalist Sashi Kumar’s video, “Parasites of prime time”, inwhich he clearly establishes how dominantTV channels have become cheerleaders forhate politics and intolerance.
My friend and the founder of the EthicalJournalism Network, Aidan White, nevertires of pointing out a simple fact: that journalists who work in or near a confl��ict zonesee fi��rsthand the brutal and inhumane consequences of war. The act of bearing witnesshelps them refrain from promoting propaganda based on what he calls “skewed notions of romantic patriotism or tribal allegiance”. There is a huge corpus of literatureon war and confl��ict journalism. One factemerges from such literature and from warreporters — from the time of the World Warsto my colleagues who have covered more recent wars in the neighbourhood: those whobay for blood are far removed from the sitesof violence and do not have a sense of theloss and pain experienced by families. In hisinsightful book, The First Casualty, PhillipKnightley gives us an important warning:
“The sad truth is that today government propaganda prepares its citizens for war so skilfully that it is quite likely that they do notwant the truthful, objective and balanced reporting that hero war correspondents oncedid their best to provide.”
Fact and fi��ctionSoon after India’s air strikes in Balakot, Pakistan, many TV channels citing anonymoussources claimed that the attack across theLoC killed 300 terrorists. However, when theoffi��cial version was put out, the governmentspokesperson refused to speculate on thenumber. Meanwhile, international mediapersons, who have access to Balakot, visitedthe site. Their fi��ndings made a mockery ofmany of the tall claims that were being madefrom India’s TV studios. In this newspaper, asober and responsible analysis was mademuch before Wing Commander AbhinandanVarthaman’s capture. For instance, in hiscomment piece, “India’s options after Pulwama” (Feb. 19), Happymon Jacob examinedthe option of using strike aircraft to carry outprecision strikes in locations across the LoC.He presciently warned: “But such air incursions are likely to be detected and intercepted by Pakistani radars and air defence systems. If an aircraft is shot down or pilots arecaptured, it could become a bigger headachefor the government. Pakistani retaliatorystrikes cannot be ruled out either.”
Writer Namita Gokhale made an important observation recently: “One of the greatest life learnings of the ever contemporaryMahabharata is the lesson of the Chakravyuhand the consequences of entering it withoutfull foreknowledge.” Her tweet doesn’t applyonly to governance and military aff��airs, butto journalism too. The very act of verifi��cationthat diff��erentiates this profession from allother forms of communication tells us not bean Abhimanyu, one who knew the entrystrategy but not the exit one.
Indian journalists have made some of themost incisive arguments against the pernicious idea of embedded journalism (thepractice of placing journalists under the control of one side’s military during an armedconfl��ict). The diff��erence between journalismand propaganda lies in the language that isused in reports. Ethical journalism will report the killing of a solider as the killing of asolider and refrain from using loaded propagandist words like martyr.
The diff��erence betweenjournalism and propagandaJournalists should report events rather than becomecheerleaders for hate politics and intolerance
A.S. Panneerselvan
FROM THE READERS’ EDITOR
‘Character actor’ is an annoyingterm that Bollywood taught meearly on. Though it owes its originto the West, it is used in a pejorative way in mainstream Hindi cinema. This coinage with its inherent class distinction sets apart acohort of actors from the leadingmen and women of Hindi fi��lms. Iwonder why, though. After all,
the central lead is also playing a character in the fi��lm. Andwhat would many of these fi��lms be without the socalledcharacter actors?
Characters do not exist in a vacuum. They are createdand embellished visavis their social backgrounds. The milieu of the lead characters or a contrast is created throughtheir association with an array of supporting characters whoare uncharitably labelled character actors.
In the larger power hierarchy too, character actors are often relegated to a secondary status. We barely see them atfi��lm promotions unless they are yesteryear sensations staging a comeback or if their performance has received rave reviews. For a very long time, Hindi cinema used character actors as comic relief, or they essayed prototypical aunts,uncles, parents or friends. Very few received an independent storyline or back story unless it impacted the hero orthe heroine of the fi��lm.
A new crop of Hindi fi��lms is, however, attempting tochange that portrayal. In many recent fi��lms, ‘character actors’ successfully eclipsed the main lead and attracted moreattention for their performance. There are perceptiblechanges at the level of scriptwriting where special attentionis being accorded to the character arc of these actors. For instance, I think of fi��lms such as Bareilly Ki Barfi��, Masaan,Newton and Badhaai Ho equally, or perhaps more, for themultiple stories that abound alongside the lead, sometimesto the point where one wonders who the lead really is.
In this context, Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy stands out formany reasons: its nuanced storytelling, superlative performances, luscious camerawork ( Jay Oza), extremely measured editing (Nitin Baid) and eff��ort in fi��nding other storiesof Dharavi beyond the known and the obvious. It also excelsin bringing to the forefront a bunch of ‘character actors’who make every bit of their screen time memorable. VijayVarma as the unscrupulous yet humane Moeen and Siddhant Chaturvedi as rapper MC Sher are the highlights of thefi��lm. They are not second fi��ddles but hold their own in theplot. They are both integral to the narrative while also helping to bring about diff��erent facets of Ranveer Singh’s Murad.In fact, the fi��lm opens with Moeen and then Murad appearsfrom behind. Similarly, Murad is unimaginable without hisfriend and mentor, MC Sher. The hope is that this will enablenew encounters in storytelling in Hindi fi��lms.
The writer teaches literary & cultural studies at FLAME University, Pune
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SINGLE FILE
Equally in the spotlight Some recent Hindi fi��lms show that ‘character actors’ no longer have asecondary status
Kunal Ray
SP
EC
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AN
GE
ME
NT
Hygiene hypothesisMedicine
This refers to the hypothesis that certain allergic reactionsmay simply be the result of the lack of exposure of individualsto germs during childhood. It is believed that exposure to microorganisms during childhood can help in the suffi��cient development of the body’s immune system and also in establishing a benefi��cial symbiotic relationship with microbes. Thehypothesis was fi��rst proposed by British epidemiologist DavidP. Strachan in his 1989 paper “Hay fever, hygiene, and household size”. Strachan proposed that children growing up insmall families with better amenities may actually be more susceptible to various allergies due to insuffi��cient exposure togerms.
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CONCEPTUAL
World Wildlife Day: Organisations which help India’suntamed
http://bit.ly/WorldWildlifeDayVideo
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MORE ON THE WEB 3
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DATA POINT
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CMYK
A ND-NDE
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DELHI THE HINDU
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 201910EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
NEWS
FROM PAGE ONE
ECB (England CricketBoard) has a robust securityplan in place for the WorldCup.”
On the issue of playingagainst Pakistan at theWorld Cup, Mr. Rai said,“The match is sometimeaway. Why should we concede two points by not playing the match. We will follow what the governmentsays in this matter.”
“Most Test nations don’teven travel to play cricket inPakistan for this very reason. As far as the BCCI isconcerned, we will keepraising the issue at everyICC meeting and every possible forum to demand Pakistan’s isolation from cricket.”
One of the demandsmade by the BCCI related toincreased security for Indian players, offi��cials andfans at the World Cup to beheld in England later thisyear.
The ICC CEO David Richardson assured the BCCI,“As you would expect for aglobal sporting event, theICC, in partnership with the
ICC rejects request to ‘isolate’ Pakistan
<> Why should we
concede two
points by not
playing? We will
follow what
government says
Vinod Rai
Chairman, Committee of Administrators
sefi��re agreement but is clearthat the Indians must leave,”he added.
The offi��cial said NSCNK’smilitary chief Niki Sumi,among the last Indian Nagasin the outfi��t, moved northtowards the China border after the crackdown. “TheMyanmar Army is puttingpressure on them; theydon’t want bloodshed,” theoffi��cial said.
There has been no wordabout rebels belonging tothe other northeastern outfi��ts, specifi��cally the Kathe(Manipuri) groups that theTatmadaw is after. But theIndian Army and securityforces have strengthened vigil along the 1,643 km border with Myanmar.
New Delhi has been constantly conveying to Myanmar the problems createdby these outfi��ts. The interaction with the Myanmar government intensifi��ed afterthe NSCNK split last yearand many of its Indian members returned. “We told theMyanmar government thatthey needed to act,” the offi��cial said.
Out of reachHe said all the outfi��ts thatthe NSCNK sheltered havevacated the Taga area andare out of reach. “Membersof the NSCNK faction comprising Myanmar nationalsare still there. The government there wants it to engage in the nationwide cea
India nudges Myanmarcrackdown on rebels
Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday condemnedOpposition parties for askingfor proof of the Indian AirForce’s strikes on Pakistaniterror camps.
Addressing the NDA’s Sankalp rally in Patna on Sunday, Mr. Modi said the newIndia would not sit quiet onthe martyrdom of its bravesoldiers.
“Instead of boosting themorale of our brave soldiers,they are asking for proof ofthe air strike on terror campsin Pakistan like they had earlier asked for evidence of surgical strikes … I want toknow from the Congress andother parties, why are theybent on destroying the morale of the armed forces?Why is the Congress givingspeeches where enemies arebenefi��ting? When we have tostand united against terrorfactories, 21 parties unitedfor questioning us,” Mr. Modisaid in his speech of close to40 minutes.
“We’re proud of our defence forces but some people in our country are making statements which havebrought a smile on the facesof our enemies,” he said.
“But, your chowkidar(watchman) is standing rock
solid before them for the security of the country andprotecting the interests ofthe poor people,” the PrimeMinister said. “The new India doesn’t sit quietly overthe martyrdom of its bravesoldiers … it takes revengepoint by point,” he added toloud cheers from the crowd.
“My priority is to end terrorism but they [the opposi
tion] have united to fi��nishModi,” he added.
Praise for Nitish“The people of the countryhave decided to punish them[Opposition parties] onceagain,” he said, listing outthe Centre’s initiatives in theState while lauding theachievements of Bihar ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar for
“giving new direction to Bihar.” “Today, Bihar has got abetter atmosphere for business activity,” he said.
Mr. Modi also said that forthe fi��rst time in 50 years, India was invited to the Organisation of Islamic Countriesconference and “its voicewas heard with respect”.
Mr. Kumar and other NDAleaders, including Lok Jan
shakti Party chief Ram VilasPaswan, who addressed therally also referred to the IAFstrikes and praised thearmed forces, saying thestrikes were made possiblebecause of the “strong leadership of PM Modi”.
State NDA leaders termedthe rally “historic”, claimingthat over fi��ve lakh people attended.
Opposition demoralising our forces: PMDecries demands for proof of air strikes against Pakistani terror camps; says these help enemies
Amarnath Tewary
Patna
Poll bugle: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan at theNDA’s ‘Sankalp rally’ at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Sunday. * RANJEET KUMAR
The Opposition parties inBihar attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi fordragging the Army into hisaddress to the NDA’s Sankalp rally in Patna on Sunday allegedly to garnervotes in the upcoming LokSabha polls.
“PM Modi didn’t speakon special status, specialpackage, Srijan scam, unemployment, smart cities,agrarian crisis, corruption,jobs, black money and hisearlier promises. PM is unsuccessfully trying to pullthe Army in his narrowminded politics to garnervotes,” tweeted RJD MLAand Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Yadav.
Earlier, Mr. Yadav said,“Modi ji had promised special category status to Bihar but till date the promise has not beenfulfi��lled”. He also advisedChief Minister Nitish Kumar not to be “afraid of PMModi and demand the genuine rights of Bihar”.
His father and RJD president Lalu Prasad as well asleaders of the Congressand the CPI highlighted the“thin crowd” at the Sankalp rally.
Modi invokingArmy for votes,says Tejashwi
Special Correspondent
Patna
fale jets been there (with theIAF), the results would havebeen diff��erent. What is themeaning of this,” Congressspokesperson Manish Tewari asked during a press conference here.
Mr. Modi should himselfexplain what would havebeen diff��erent with the Rafale jets. He held the PrimeMinister responsible for thedelay in induction of theFrenchmade fi��ghter jets intothe IAF by ‘cancelling’ theearlier negotiations.
The Prime Minister had
The Congress said on Sunday that it was not seekingany evidence of the crossborder strikes by the IndianAir Force but Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had himself‘questioned’ them by his remarks that the country wasfeeling the absence of Rafalefi��ghter jets as the resultscould have been diff��erent ifIndia had these aircraft.
“The Prime Minister hashimself questioned the airstrikes. He said had the Ra
on Saturday hit out at theOpposition for doubting thearmed forces on the antiterror air strikes in Pakistan
and said the country wasfeeling the absence of the Rafale fi��ghter jets.
‘Nation suff��ering’“India is feeling the absenceof Rafale. The entire countryis saying in one voice today,if we had Rafale probably theresults would have been different. The country has suffered a lot due to selfi��sh interests earlier and nowpolitics over Rafale,” he hadsaid at the India Todayconclave.
Other Opposition leaders
also hit out at the Modi government for allegedly trying to politically exploit thePulwama tragedy and AirForce strikes.
“He [Mr. Modi] started histenure with the commentthat he is not Pradhan Mantri but Pradhan Sewak. Today he is reduced to PradhanPracharak. He has refused tohold a dialogue with the Opposition. He does not takeParliament into confi��dence.Instead he is busy addressing boothlevel activists,” CPIleader D. Raja said.
‘PM himself has questioned air strikes’ Congress wants Modi to explain why he said results would have been diff��erent with Rafale jets
Special Correspondent
New Delhi
Manish Tewari
Bahujan Samaj Party chiefMayawati on Sunday accused the Narendra Modiled BJP of politicising thedeaths of Army jawans inJammu & Kashmir, sayingwhile the entire country wasworried and saddened, thePM was trying to “hide hisfailures” under the garb ofthe incident.
Ms. Mayawati made thestatement before holding ameeting of top offi��cebearers of the BSP here in preparation for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. She cautionedher workers against theBJP’s strategy and narrativeon the Pulwama attack andthe airstrikes that followed.
After the meeting, Ms.Mayawati issued a statementsaying that even after thePulwama attack, the BJP didnot let go of its “parochialpolitics.” This made peoplefeel that the security and honour of the country werenot in strong and securehands, she said.
The BSP chief, whose party is contesting 38 seats outof the 80 in Uttar Pradesh aspart of an alliance with theSamajwadi Party, asked herworkers to reach out to thefamilies of the CRPF jawans
who were killed in Pulwama, as much as possible and“share their pain and sorrow.” She said it was necessary as after the initial formalities, the governmentleaves such families to fendfor themselves.
Call to forget diff��erencesThe coordination betweenthe workers of the BSP andthe SP was a key part of themeeting. Ms. Mayawatiasked both workers to settleand forget any minor or major “grievances or diff��erences” they shared and workcollectively to make the alliance a success at any cost.
The fourtime formerChief Minister said it was important to defeat the “antipoor and arrogant” BJP inthe interest of the countryand the people and in orderto save the Constitution.
‘PM trying to hide his failures’
Special Correspondent
LUCKNOW
Mayawati
Modi politicising deathsof jawans: Mayawati
Emir Sheikh Tamim binHamad Al Thani, the rulerof Qatar, on Sunday urgeddeescalation of tensionsbetween India and Pakistan.
A statement from the government said the Emircalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss theregional situation. The PMexpressed India’s securityconcerns regarding Pakistan. The Emir also calledPakistan PM Imran Khan.
Qatar urgesdeescalationof tensions
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
A Twitter handle @_WCAbhinandan that claimed tobe the offi��cial twitter account of Wing CommanderAbhinandan Varthaman,who was released by Pakistan on Friday, was suspended by Twitter on Sunday. The account had over7,300 followers at the timeof suspension.
The account, which wascreated on Saturday, soonstarted gaining tractionand a number of politiciansalso followed the accountassuming it to be of the IAFoffi��cer. However, an IAF offi��cial told The Hindu thatthe account was a fake handle. The wing commanderis currently under medicalcare.
Twitter scraps fake accountin pilot’s name
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI
board who are also a part ofthe CoD — were potentiallyaware that the loans provided to third parties werefurther forwarded/lent toIL&FS group companies,”stated the report.
The Hindu has reviewed acopy of the report. It has also highlighted instances ofpossible confl��ict of interestwherein loans were given toentities whose promoters also served as directors ofIL&FS Group companies.
As per the report, Electrosteel Steels, Kvk Energy & Infrastructure, Pallav Tradingand Dev Rishabh Real Estate, were among entitieswho were either given loanson a negative spread or a limited spread of less than3%, even as money was lentto many borrowers at aspread of 79%.
“Unapproved board minutes appear to suggest thatthe board of directors —specifi��cally members of the
‘IL&FS ignored riskassessment reports’
Taking a veiled dig at theprevious Congressled government, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Sundaysaid it had “overlooked” therequirements of the securityforces and made “brave” soldiers wait endlessly for modern rifl��es, bulletproof jackets, artillery and aircraft.
Speaking at the launch ofthe production of AK203 assault rifl��es in Amethi, Mr.Modi said the new Kalashnikovs would give an edge to“our soldiers during encounters with terrorists and naxals”. Amethi is the politicalturf of Congress presidentRahul Gandhi.
The PM said Amethiwould now be known as theproducer of the advancedKalashnikov rifl��es.
IndoRussian ventureAccompanied by Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharamanand Smriti Irani, who lost toMr. Gandhi in the 2014 election in Amethi, Mr. Modilaunched the production unit at the Korwa OrdnanceFactory at Kauhar, Amethi.
The IndoRussia Rifl��esPrivate Ltd. project is a jointventure between India’sOrdnance Factory Boardand Russia.
Addressing the event atGauriganj, Mr. Modi blamedthe previous Congress go
vernments for the delay instarting production at Korwa. The factory was inaugurated in Amethi by its MP(Mr. Gandhi) in 2007, twoyears after the Army askedthe UPA government formodern weapons, he said.Even by 2010, the UPA government could not decidewhat weapon to be manufactured at the unit, he said.
Ms. Sitharaman said inthree years, 100% transfer oftechnology would take placeand the components of theAK203 series would bemade in India. Mr. Modithanked Russian PresidentVladimir Putin for makingpossible the venture in ashort time.
UPA govt. ignored Army’srequirements, says Modi Launches rifl��e production at ordnance factory in Amethi
Omar Rashid
LUCKNOW
No bugs have been found implanted in Indian Air Forcepilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman duringan MRI scan, a source saidon Sunday.
The security agencieswere understood to havebeen checking for any bugswhich could be present inWing Commander Varthaman, who was returned byPakistan on Friday.
The scan showed an injury in his lower spine whichcould have happened following his ejection from theMiG21 fi��ghter plane after adogfi��ght with Pakistani F16jets on Wednesday, thesource said. He also has a ribinjury due to an assault by
the Pakistani locals soon after he landed in Pakistanoccupied Kashmir after his aircraft was shot down.
The pilot also underwentdebriefi��ngs by security agencies. He conveyed to the IAFbrass that he wants to return
to the cockpit as soon as possible, offi��cials said.
His health condition is being monitored by a group ofdoctors at the Army’s Research and Referral hospital.
He will be the fi��rst recipient of the ‘Bhagwan Maha
vir Ahimsa Puraskar’ instituted by the Akhil BharatiyaDigambar Jain Mahasamiti, afunctionary of the organisation said. It will be presentedon April 17, on MahavirJayanthi.
(With PTI inputs)
MRI scan reveals no bugs in pilot Wing Commander tells IAF brass he wants to return to cockpit at the earliest
Union Minister Subhash Rao Bhamre meeting WingCommander Abhinandan at a Delhi hospital on Sunday. * ANI
Asian News International
New Delhi
Former Union Minister andCongress leader SalmanKhurshid said AbhinandanVarthaman earned hisfl��ying badge in 2004 and“matured” as a fi��ghter pilotduring the UPA rule,remarks that attractedcriticism on social media.
Khurshiddraws fl��ak
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
While the AIADMK remainshopeful of a tieup with theDMDK for the coming LokSabha polls, the latter hasconvened an emergencymeeting of senior offi��cebearers in Chennai on Tuesday to be presided over byits leader Vijayakant.
No agenda has been setfor the meeting slated a daybefore Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives to address a public rally on theChennai outskirts in whichalliance party leaderswould participate.
The BJP is keen that theAIADMK fi��nalises electoralpacts with all parties, including the DMDK beforethe public meeting.
On Sunday, seniorAIADMK leader D. Jayakumar said that there need notbe any doubt about a pact
between the two parties. “Things will get fi��nalised
in a good way,” he said. Revenue Minister R.B. Udhayakumar said the DMDKwould never go with theDMK as the two partieswere like ‘oil and water’.
DMDK sources said thatnegotiations with theAIADMK were never concluded and the party leadership continued to feelthat it should be treated ona par with the PMK.
The party realised that itwas indeed sought after inthis closely contested LokSabha elections after DMKpresident M. K. Stalin calledon Mr. Vijayakant recently.
AIADMK sources said theparty might be open to increasing its off��er on LokSabha seats, but it is unlikely to meet the DMDK’s demand for a Rajya Sabhaseat.
DMDK calls foremergency meetAIADMK remains hopeful of tieup
Udhav Naig
Chennai
The DMDK will never ally with the DMK as the two are like‘oil and water’, Minister R.B. Udhayakumar said. * FILE PHOTO
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THE HINDU DELHI
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019 11EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
NEWS
Two LashkareTaiba militants, fi��ve security personneland a civilian were killed in a56hour encounter in Kupwara district of Jammu andKashmir, the police said hereon Sunday.
A police spokesman saidthe operation in the Babagund area went on for so many hours from Friday morning as the topography posedconsiderable diffi��culties tothe security forces.
The two militants werekilled by security forces, thespokesman said. The bodieswere recovered from thesite.
One of the militants hasbeen identifi��ed as a Pakistani, while the identity of theother is being ascertained,the spokesman said.
Jawan dies of injuriesThe spokesman said CRPF jawan Sham Narayan Singh Yadav, who was injured in theexchange of fi��re on Friday,died on Sunday, taking the
number of security personnel dead to fi��ve.
CRPF inspector Pintu Kumar Singh and constable Vi
nod and two policemen —constables Naseer Ahmadand Ghulam Mustafa Barah —were killed on Friday, the
spokesman said.He said a civilian, Waseem
Ahmad Mir, who sustained abullet injury “in the nearby
area”, died in hospital onFriday.
The encounter beganwhen security forceslaunched a search followinginformation about the presence of militants atBabagund.
“The area where the terrorists were hiding was verycongested and civilians inthe adjoining houses had tobe evacuated to safer places,” he said.
The spokesperson said incriminating materials as wellas arms and ammunitionwere recovered from the siteof encounter.
The police registered acase, and the materialsseized were taken for investigation, he said.
He urged people not to gonear the encounter zone asthere could be stray explosives.
“People are requested tocooperate with the police tillthe area is completely sanitised and cleared of all theexplosives materials, if any,”the spokesman said.
2 Lashkar men killed in 56hour battleEncounter in Kupwara in north Kashmir also claims the lives of fi��ve security personnel, one civilian
Press Trust of India
Srinagar
Inconsolable kin: Family members mourn CRPF inspector Pintu Kumar Singh during his lastrites at home in Patna on Sunday. * PTI
There have been no reportsof ceasefi��re violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control in Poonch and Rajouridistricts of Jammu and Kashmir since Saturday night,even as the Army has beenput on high alert, offi��cialssaid.
Barring a violation in theNowshera sector of Rajouridistrict from half past noonto 2.30 p.m. on Saturday,there had been no reports offi��ring in the rest of the sectors since 11 p.m. on Friday,they said. “There was no report of fi��ring and shelling byPakistan along the LoC overnight ... The Army is on highalert,” a defence spokesperson said.
The crossborder shellingintensifi��ed after Indian fi��ghter jets targeted a JaisheMohammad terror camp at Balakot in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province ofPakistan on Tuesday, 12 daysafter the outfi��t said it wasresponsible for a suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF soldiers in Kashmir. The Pakistan Army had targeted morethan 80 villages in over 50ceasefi��re violations in Rajouri and Poonch alone sincelast Tuesday. The shellingkilled four civilians — threeof them from a family — and
injured several others. The letup in shelling was
a relief to the border residents after many familiesmoved to safer places.
The Chief of the ArmyStaff��, General Bipin Rawat,visited the JammubasedWhite Knight Corps on Saturday to review the operational preparedness andurged all soldiers to remainvigilant.
Offi��cials say no ceasefi��re violation since Saturday night
Press Trust of India
JAMMU
Cross-border rampage: Police personnel and locals carry aperson injured in the shelling to hospital in Krishna Ghati. * PTI
Guns fall silent on frontiersafter days of bombardment
The Centre on Sunday carried out a reshuffl��e of offi��cials with Braj Raj Sharmabeing made the Secretaryof the Border ManagementDepartment.
Ruolkhumliem Buhrilhas been moved from theInterState Council Secretariat to the Land ResourcesDepartment, where he willtake over as Secretary onAnant Kumar Singh’s retirement on March 31.
NHAI Chairman SanjeevRanjan has been moved tothe Road Transport andHighways Ministry to takeover as Secretary on Yudhvir Singh Malik’s retirement on March 31. Narendra Nath Sinha has beenmade the NHAI Chairman.Rabindra Panwar, SpecialSecretary, Home Ministry,has been moved to the Women and Child Development Ministry as Secretary.
Centrereshuffl��esoffi��cials
Special Correspondent
AHMEDABAD
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday questioned former ICICI Bankchief executive offi��cer andmanaging director ChandaKochhar for the third day ina row in connection with thealleged irregularities in thegranting of loans by the bankduring her tenure.
The ED also questionedNishant Kanodia, chairmanof Matrix Fertilizers andChemicals Ltd. and soninlaw of Essar Group vicechairman Ravi Ruia, for thefi��rst time in the case.
According to Enforcement Directorate offi��cers,Ms. Kochhar and Mr. Kanodia were summoned for inquiries on Sunday.
While Ms. Kochhar appeared for inquiries in the
morning, Mr. Kanodiareached in the afternoon.
“Inquiries so far indicatethat in 2010, when Ms. Kochhar was with the bank, loansamounting to $520 millionwere released to one of Essar’s companies based in theU.S. Shortly thereafter, asum of ₹��325 crore was paidto NuPower RenewablesPrivate Ltd., owned by Ms.Kochhar’s husband, by Firstland Holdings Ltd., a Mauritiusbased company ownedby Mr. Kanodia,” a senior EDoffi��cer said.
Similar to VideoconThe offi��cer added that thetiming of the money transferwas suspicious and similarto the alleged kickback paidto NuPower Renewables bythe Videocon Group immediately after ICICI Bank re
leased its loan amount to theVideocon Group.
The ED has named Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot as an accused inthe case, apart from Ms.Kochhar and her husbandDeepak.
The Income Tax Department, too, previously initiated an investigation into thealleged association betweenICICI Bank, the Essar Groupand Firstland Holdings, andletters rogatory (LRs) hadbeen issued to facilitatespeedy sharing of information, as some of the partiesinvolved were based out ofIndia.
The LRs are diplomatictools that are used for seeking information in caseswhere the investigationspans across internationalborders.
Chanda Kochhar, NishantKanodia questionedTiming of the money transfer suspicious, says ED offi��cial
Special correspondent
Mumbai
As the Indian Air Force (IAF)continues its eff��orts to procure new fi��ghter jets, theU.K. has made a pitch forcooperation in the fi��elds ofbuilding aircraft carriers andfuture fi��ghter aircrafttechnologies.
“It is not a selling proposition. It is a partnershipbuilding exercise on how India and the U.K. can collaborate as future defence technologies are increasinglygoing to be delivered by collaborative programmes,”British High Commissionerin India Dominic Asquithsaid at Aero India 2019 heldfrom February 20 to 24.
The IAF has fl�oated a tender for 114 fi��ghter jets, whilea proposed fi��fth generationstealth fi��ghter, the AdvancedMedium Combat Aircraft(AMCA), is on the drawingboard.
Sir Dominic said that onthe naval side, they werelooking at collaboration inaircraft carriers “where ourcapabilities and Indian interests are very closelyaligned”.
Combat planTalking of the U.K.’s air combat strategy, he said it wasessentially the “researchand development of technologies for future air platformswhich we would like to do inpartnership with others”.
As part of the air combatstrategy, BAE Systems hasbegun the Tempest projectto develop sixth generation
stealth fi��ghters to replacethe Typhoons in servicewith the Royal Air Force andare scheduled to be phasedout by 2040.
Concept stageSavraj Sidhu, a member ofthe Future air combat teamof the UK Ministry of Defence, said the project isnow at the concept stageand they still do not knowwhat it will look like or whothe partners are.
Preliminary discussionsare also on with Sweden,and Japan in addition to other allies.
“We are going to have exploratory discussions to understand what the Indian requirements are for future aircombat and whether theyalign with the U.K. and hopefully start a long detailed discussion after Aero India,” hesaid.
The Tempest project isjointly led by the U.K. government, BAE Systems,Rolls Royce, Leonardo andMBDA. Andrew Pulford, senior military adviser to theBAE, told The Hindu thatTeam Tempest is about todeliver a technology demonstrator and it is likely to bedone by 2035.
Talking of carrier cooperation, Air Marshal StuartEvans of the Royal Air Forceand Deputy Air Commander, Allied Air Commandsaid that comparing the nature of the two carrier programmes and some of theothers globally, the Indianand UK are the most similarin terms of requirement, sizeand capability.
“There is huge scope forcollaborative discussions onwhether there could bemore synergy between thesetwo programmes.”
U.K. off��ers collaborationin fi��ghter tech, carriers High Commissioner says it’s a partnership building exercise
Dinakar Peri
BENGALURU
Omar seeks review of Jamaat banSRINAGAR
National Conference vice-
president Omar Abdullah said
here on Sunday that the ban
on the Jamaat-e-Islami “is
having a major social impact”
in Kashmir, and appealed to
the Union government to
“urgently review” its decision
to seal schools and mosques
run by the organisation. The
Centre banned the Jamaat-e-
Islami Jammu and Kashmir
last week. PTI
IN BRIEF
Job for daughter ofPulwama victimGUWAHATI
Assam Chief Minister
Sarbananda Sonowal on
Sunday handed over an
appointment letter to the
daughter of head constable
Maneswar Basumatari, who
was one of 40 Central
Reserve Police Force
personnel killed by a suicide
bomber in Pulwama on
February 14. The appointment
for the post of assistant
tourist information officer
was handed over to Didwmsri
Basumatari after the last rites
for her father at her home in
Tamulpur.
The Congress on Sundaycondemned External Aff��airsMinister Sushma Swaraj’sparticipation in the inaugural plenary of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation(OIC), calling it an “abjectsurrender of national interest” by the Narendra Modigovernment.
The OIC meeting adopteda resolution calling for an“immediate halt to the continuing gross human rightsviolations of innocent Kashmiris by Indian OccupationForces”.
‘Hostile resolution’Speaking to reporters, Congress spokesperson ManishTewari said the Modi government had touted the invitation to the OIC as a major diplomatic success. This is thefi��rst time India has sent a representative to OIC in almostlast four decades.
“The NDA governmentsold national interest in AbuDhabi by participating in theOIC and getting such a hostile resolution in response;the NDA sold and surrendered the national interest,”Mr. Tewari said.
He said Ms. Swaraj’s visitwould lend legitimacy to theorganisation. “We would liketo ask PM of India and External Aff��airs Minister: is thisyour diplomatic achievement that you got India la
belled as a terrorist state;you got India labelled as anoccupier in Jammu andKashmir,” he added.
On the OIC resolution asking memberstates to provide humanitarian assistance to people of Kashmir,Mr. Tewari said: “Are we notcapable of looking after ourpeople? Humanitarian assistance is a euphemism forwhat? Supporting terroristactivity in J&K”
The MEA has maintained
the OIC is merely following aset template and has issuedsuch statements at every OICmeeting on Kashmir.
‘Diplomatic faux pas’Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, in aseries of tweets, called thevisit by Ms. Swaraj a “diplomatic faux pas”.
“Did PM send our EAM toOIC Meeting for such unacceptable & blasphemous accusations to be hurled at India?” he tweeted.
In a counter to the OICstatement, the MEA issued astatement late on Saturdayreiterating India’s stand onKashmir. MEA spokespersonRaveesh Kumar said J&K isan “integral part of India andis a matter strictly internal toIndia”.
But unlike previous statements, New Delhi did not saythat OIC has no locus standi,and that India rejects thestatement.
What did we gain at OIC, asks Cong.Terms Sushma’s presence at meeting an ‘abject surrender of national interest’
Minister Sushma Swaraj speaks at the Organisation of IslamicCooperation meeting in Abu Dhabi. * PTI
Special Correspondent
New Delhi
Ex-BJD leader BaijayantPanda likely to join BJPNEW DELHI
Former BJD leader Baijayant
‘Jay’ Panda is likely to join the
BJP, party sources said on
Sunday. Mr. Panda, who fell
apart with BJD chief Naveen
Patnaik, had recently said
that he was willing to join
hands with anybody
“committed to tackling the
severe problems that Odisha
now faces”. BJP sources said
the Kendrapara MP could join
the party in the coming days.PTI
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DELHI THE HINDU
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 201912EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Brexit could be delayedto June, says Irish PMDUBLIN
Irish Prime Minister Leo
Varadkar has told Cabinet
colleagues that a delay of
Britain’s exit date from the
European Union from March
29 to June is “very likely”,
Ireland’s Sunday Independent
quoted an unnamed Minister
as saying. Reuters
ELSEWHERE
Algerians protestleader’s bid for 5th termALGIERS
Hundreds of students staged
new protests on Sunday in
the Algerian capital and other
cities against a fi��fth term for
ailing President Abdelaziz
Boutefl��ika as he faced a
midnight deadline to register
for April elections. Chanting
“Boutefl��ika go away”,
protesters rallied near the
main city centre campus of
the University of Algiers,
cordoned off�� by police. AFP
Saudi Cabinet approvestourist visa for travellersDUBAI
Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet has
approved electronic visas for
foreign visitors to attend
sporting events and concerts,
local media reported, as the
world’s top oil exporter tries
to diversify its economy and
open up its society. The
country has previously
restricted visas to resident
workers, business travellers,
and pilgrims. Reuters
Bernie Sanders kicked off�� hispresidential campaign on Saturday, miles from the rentcontrolled apartment wherehe grew up in Brooklyn, andforcefully made the case thathe is nothing like fellow NewYorker Donald Trump, proclaiming himself the Democrat best prepared to beatthe incumbent in 2020.
“My experience as a child,living in a family that struggled economically, powerfully infl��uenced my life and myvalues. I know where I camefrom,” Mr. Sanders boomedin his unmistakable Brooklyn accent. “And that is something I will never forget.”
Mr. Sanders called Mr.Trump “the most dangerousPresident in modern American history” and said thePresident wants to “divide usup”. The Vermont Senatorpositioned himself in opposition to Trump administration’s policies — from immigration to climate change.
Working-class familyBeyond the issues themselves, Mr. Sanders, whogrew up in the heavily Jewish
neighborhood of Flatbush ina middleclass family, drew astark contrast between himself and the billionaire in theWhite House, who hails fromQueens. “I did not have afather who gave me millionsof dollars to build luxury skyscrapers, casinos and country clubs,” said Mr. Sanders,who has lived in Vermont for
decades. Mr. Sanders alsosaid that he “did not comefrom a family of privilegethat prepared me to entertain people on television bytelling workers, ‘You’refi��red’.”
“I came from a family whoknew all too well the frightening power employers canhave over everyday work
ers,” he added. Mr. Sandersenters the race at a momentthat bears little resemblanceto when he waged his longshot bid in 2016. Democratshave been mobilised by theelection of Mr. Trump andare seeking a standardbearer who can oust him from offi��ce. Many of Mr. Sanders’spopulist ideas have been em
braced by the mainstream ofthe Democratic party. Thefi��eld of Democrats that hejoins includes a number ofliberal candidates, most notably Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, whoshare similar sensibilities.
Mr. Sanders’s rally was hisfi��rst campaign event sinceannouncing a week ago thathe would run against Mr.Trump for the White House.
A reggae band played before Mr. Sanders spoke, andhe was introduced by a number of supporters, includingNina Turner, the formerOhio State Senator who is acochair of Mr. Sanders’scampaign this year, andShaun King, the writer andcivil rights activist.
Mr. King cited Mr. Sanders’s participation in the civil rights movement in the1960s, when he was a student at the University ofChicago.
As he began his speech,Mr. Sanders himself hintedat how he sees the race, acampaign that runs beyondthe battlegrounds. “This is a50State campaign,” he said.“We will not concede a singleState to Donald Trump.”
Sanders returns to NY roots for campaignVermont Senator launches presidential bid, calls Trump ‘the most dangerous American President’
Associated Press
New York
Bernie for 2020: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders greeting supporters as he kicked off�� hispresidential campaign on Saturday. * AP
In a slashing speech packedwith braggadocio, PresidentDonald Trump denouncedDemocrats as the party of“the socialist nightmare”and took on “sick,” “lunatic” and “dirty” foes at everyturn, earning him the unvarnished adoration of cheering conservatives.
After a trying week of tumult and setbacks, Mr.Trump delivered a stemwinder on Saturday that extended beyond two hoursand hardly left him winded.
It took him more than anhour to get to the messagethat Republicans and members of his administrationhave been emphasising inrecent weeks as they try tobrand Democratic policyideas as socialism. “Americawill never be a socialistcountry,” he said. “Socialism is not about the environment, it’s not about justice,it’s not about virtue.”
Mr. Trump revisited hismeeting with North Koreanleader Kim Jongun, callingtheir summit “very produc
tive.” With special counselRobert Mueller’s Russia investigation seemingly approaching its end, Mr.Trump spoke of the “collusion delusion” and lashedout at newly empoweredHouse Democrats, who areopening new inquires involving him.
“This phony thing,” hesaid of the probe, “looks likeit’s dying so they don’t haveanything with Russia there,no collusion. So now they goin and morph into ‘Let’s inspect every deal he’s everdone. We’re going to go intohis fi��nances. We’re going tocheck his deals. We’re goingto check’ — these people aresick.”
‘America will never bea socialist country’U.S. President lashes out at Democrats
Associated Press
Oxon Hill
President Donald Trumphugging a U.S. fl��ag. * AFP
Missing Chinese rightslawyer returns homeBEIJING
Jiang Tianyong, a prominent
Chinese human rights lawyer
has reappeared two days
after going missing following
his release from a jail
sentence for state
subversion, his wife said on
Sunday. Mr. Jiang was one of
the more than 200 lawyers
and activists detained in a
2015 clampdown. AFP
Describing India as a “veryhigh tariff�� nation,” U.S. President Donald Trump hastold his supporters that henow wants a “reciprocaltax” on goods entering theU.S.. Early this year, at anevent to announce his support for reciprocal tax, hehad said he was satisfi��edwith the Indian decision toreduce the import tariff�� onHarleyDavidson motorcycles from 100% to 50%.
Trump favours‘reciprocal tax’ Press Trust of India
Washington
U.S. President DonaldTrump said on Saturday thatNorth Korea does not haveany economic future withnuclear weapons as the Pentagon confi��rmed that the United States and South Koreahad agreed to end joint largescale spring militaryexercises.
“North Korea has an incredible, brilliant economicfuture if they make a deal,
but they don’t have any economic future if they have nuclear weapons,” Mr. Trumpsaid at a Conservative Political Action Conference. Headded that the relationshipwith North Korea seemed tobe ”very, very strong.”
According to a statement,acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan spoke withhis South Korea counterparton Saturday and they agreedto adapt their training programmes. The two “made
clear that the Alliance decision to adapt our trainingprogramme refl��ected ourdesire to reduce tension andsupport our diplomatic efforts to achieve complete denuclearisation of the KoreanPeninsula in a fi��nal, fully verifi��ed manner,” the Pentagonsaid.
South Korea’s military issued a similar statement alsoconfi��rming plans to end thespring joint militaryexercises.
Reuters
Washington/Seoul
N. Korea has no economic future if itkeeps nuclear weapons: U.S. President
Egypt’s top Muslim clerichas stirred up controversyafter saying that polygamy isan “injustice” to women,but stopped short of callingfor a ban on the practice.
“Those who say that marriage must be polygamousare all wrong. We have toread the (Koranic) verse infull,” said Sheikh Ahmed alTayeb, AlAzhar’s GrandImam. Sheikh alTayeb saidthe practice came from “alack of understanding of theKoran and the tradition ofthe Prophet” and it is “oftenan injustice to women andchildren.”
'Broader revamp neededThe Grand Imam also calledfor a broader revamp of howwomen’s issues are addressed. “Women representhalf of society. If we don’tcare for them, it’s like walking on one foot only,” hesaid. Egypt’s National Council for Women welcomedSheikh alTayeb’s comments. “Islam honours women, treats them fairly and
gives them numerous rightswhich didn’t exist before,”said Maya Morsi, the council’s chairwoman.
AlAzhar sought on Saturday to clarify the comments,saying that Sheikh alTayebwasn’t calling for a ban onpolygamy.
Though polygamy is legalin most Arab and Islamiccountries, the practice is uncommon. Regionally, polygamy is banned in Tunisiaand Turkey, and for ArabMuslims in Israel. In Egypt,the husband must gain theconsent of his current wifeor wives, if he hopes to marry again.
Polygamy is often unjustto women: Egypt cleric‘We have to read the Koranic verse fully’
Associated Press
Cairo
Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed alTayeb. * AFP
The Dutch husband of Shamima Begum, a Britishbornteenager who fl��ed to join theIslamic State (IS), wants tolive with her in the Netherlands, he said in an interview out Sunday from detention in Syria.
Yago Riedijk, who is being held in a Kurdishrun detention centre in northeastSyria, married Ms. Begumdays after she arrived in territory held by the IS whenhe was 23 and she was 15, hetold BBC television.
Ms. Begum, 19, from eastLondon and now in a refugee camp, has said shewould like to return to Britain but has been strippedof her British citizenship bythe government, whichdeems her a security threat.
Mr. Riedijk, 27, says henow rejects the IS after having fought for the jihadistgroup. Instead, he wants toreturn home to the Netherlands with his wife and theirnewborn son. Their fi��rsttwo children died.
Asked if he thought marrying a girl of that age wasacceptable, he acknowledged that she had been“very young”.
Mr. Riedijk, from Arnhem, said that he had beenimprisoned and tortured after the IS suspected him ofbeing a Dutch spy. He surrendered to Syrian fi��ghters.
He said he did not seehow Ms. Begum could bedeemed a threat by the British authorities. “I don’t understand how she would, inany form, be a danger. Allshe did was she sat in thehouse for three years, tookcare of me and my children,” he said.
Dutch ‘IS militant’ wantsto take ‘British’ wife home
He is currently in detention in Syria
Agence France-Presse
London
Shamima Begum
Peace talks between theTaliban and the U.S. areprogressing on a “stepbystep” basis, a spokesmanfrom the militant groupsaid on Sunday.
Meetings between thetwo sides restarted overthe weekend in Doha aftera temporary halt late lastweek to allow for “internaldeliberations”. “The current round of talks in Dohaare advancing on a stepbystep basis. As the issue athand is immensely crucialand delicate, its progression is taking place withthat much care and vigilance,” said Taliban spokesman ZabihullahMujahid.
The spokesman addedthat the negotiations continue to focus primarily on apotential troop withdrawaland a pact to prevent Afghanistan from being usedas a safe haven for terrorists. “It should be mentioned that no understanding has so far been reachedabout any agreement ordocument,” he added.
U.S.-Talibantalks ‘recordingprogress’
Agence France-Presse
Kabul
SpaceX’s new Dragon capsule successfully docked onthe International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, NASAand SpaceX confi��rmed during a live broadcast. “We canconfi��rm hard capture iscomplete,” NASA said.
The announcement wasmet with applause at theJohnson Space Center inHouston, Texas. The docking began at 1051 GMT, morethan 400 km above theEarth’s surface — and 27hours after the capsule’slaunch on a SpaceX Falcon 9rocket from the KennedySpace Center at Cape Canav
eral in Florida. Although thecontact appeared slow, theISS and the capsule weremoving at a speed of over27,000 km per hour in orbitaround the Earth. On boardthe ISS, the crew — American
Anne McClain, Russian OlegKononenko, and CanadianDavid SaintJacques — werescheduled to open theairlock.
The mission is a testlaunch with only a dummyon board the capsule aheadof a manned fl��ight scheduled for later this year.
The Dragon capsule willremain on the ISS until Friday before detaching tosplash down in the Atlantic.It will be slowed by four parachutes, in what is the oneof the mission’s riskiest stages. The launch is a key steptowards resuming mannedspace fl��ights from U.S. soil after an eightyear break.
SpaceX’s capsule docks on ISS The launch is a step towards resuming manned space fl��ightsAgence France-Presse
Washington
The SpaceX Dragon ispictured about 20 m awayfrom the ISS on Sunday. * AP
China’s Xinhua state newsagency on Sunday used a lifelike robotic news anchorthat mimics human facial expressions and mannerismsto present a story about delegates attending an annualParliament meeting.
The artifi��cial intelligencerobot, named “Xin Xiaomeng”, sported a short haircut and wore a pink blouseand earrings in a oneminute video presentation.
Xin Xiaomeng is modelled after news anchor QuMeng and was developed by
Xinhua and Sogou Inc. Thenews agency displayed twoAI news anchors, dressed inmen’s clothes, last November at the World InternetConference in the easternChinese town of Wuzhen.
Xinhua presents newsusing a robot anchorXin seen in a short presentation
Reuters
Singapore
Xin Xiaomeng. * TWITTER
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CMYK
BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
THE HINDU DELHI
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019 13EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
IN BRIEF
Pawan Hans biddershave time till March 6NEW DELHI
Shortlisted bidders of Pawan
Hans have time till March 6
to submit their fi��nancial bids
for buying the government’s
and ONGC’s stake in the
helicopter service provider,
an offi��cial said. Separately,
the transaction adviser has
worked out a reserve price
which will be submitted to
the Aviation Ministry.
The Centre holds 51% stake
in Pawan Hans, which has a
fl��eet of 46 choppers. PTI
NTPC to acquire assetsunder insolvency in NCLT NEW DELHI
Staterun power giant NTPC
has decided to acquire only
those stressed power
projects undergoing
insolvency proceedings in
the National Company Law
Tribunal (NCLT) to get fairer
deals. All insolvency deals so
far in the NCLT have got
discounts of up to 70% from
secured creditors. Earlier,
NTPC had planned to acquire
these stressed power
projects via negotiations as
well as a bidding process in
the NCLT. PTI
Adani Gas’ request forCNG retailing rejectedNEW DELHI
PNGRB has rejected Adani
Gas Ltd.’s (AGL) application
for authorisation to retail
CNG for automobiles and
piped natural gas to
households in Jaipur and
Udaipur, saying AGL was not
in compliance with rules for a
licence. Recently, PNGRB had
given reasons for rejecting
AGL’s claim of having
‘deemed authorisation’ to
operate a gas distribution
network before the regulator
came into being. PTI
Cumulative spending oncorporate social responsibility (CSR) has crossed the₹��50,000croremark fouryears after the legislativemandate was implemented,according to CrisilFoundation.
A Crisil estimate showsspending by listed companies rose 12% yearonyearin fi��scal 2018 to ₹��10,000crore, for the fi��rst time. Assuming the same rate ofgrowth, spending by unlisted companies is estimatedto be ₹��5,100 crore for theyear, taking the total for theyear to ₹��15,100 crore.
With this, cumulativespending over the four years
stands at ₹��34,100 crore forlisted companies and₹��18,900 crore for unlistedones, totalling ₹��53,000crore.
Maya Vengurlekar, chiefoperating offi��cer, CrisilFoundation said, “This vindicates our belief that CSRcan be a potent weapon forwelfare and development inlocksteqp with the government’s welfare initiatives."
While education and skilldevelopment and healthcare and sanitation remained the top spendingheads, two areas grew at afast clip — spending on national heritage protectionhas tripled and that onsports promotion has morethan doubled since FY 2015.
Cumulative spending onCSR crosses ₹��50,000 cr.Spending on national heritage trebles
Special Correspondent
MUMBAI
Saurabh Kumar, managing director, Energy Effi��ciency Services Limited (EESL), one of the world’s largest public energyservices companies, speaks about the company’s diversifi��cation plans, ownership structure, investments in energy effi��ciency and tapping the capital markets. Excerpts from aninterview:
How has EESL grown in the
last four years?
■ In the last four years, EESLhas grown its topline from₹��70 crore to ₹��2,000 crorethis year. At the group level,we are expecting to close thisyear with ₹��2,800 crore as wehave a subsidiary in the U.K.that we acquired. Last year,our profi��t after tax was ₹��50crore and this year we are almost doubling it to about₹��100 crore.
The gross margins for thefi��rst six months was 25%. So,say if we reach ₹��2,000 crorein revenue, our earnings before interest, depreciation,tax and amortisation will bearound ₹�� 500 crore.
Is the entire growth coming
from LED lighting alone?
■ It has been a very rapidgrowth both in terms of value and volume and also interms of diversifi��cation. Fouryears ago, we were just into acouple of verticals like LEDlighting for domestic and public [uses].
But now, there are manyinitiatives that we have started. While lighting remains astrong portfolio, we have gotinto buildings, electric mobility, smart meters and decentralised solar plants.
PFC is going to acquire
majority stake in REC.
Both are your
promoters...
■ It is not a mergerof PFC and REC.Whatever limited understanding Ihave onthis is, PFCis buying outthe govern
ment’s holding in REC. So,theoretically and legally,both will remain separate legal entities.
Today, our shareholdingpattern is 36% each withNTPC and PFC, 23% is withREC and the remaining iswith Power Grid. So, for us,the ownership structureswill not change per se unlessthere is something else to thecontrary as and when thetransaction gets completed.
Do you have any plans to go
in for an IPO?
■ We want to give good valuation to our promoters andfeel that the real value maynot accrue right now.
Internally, we have lookedat what could be the possiblevaluation, which is based onmultiples of Ebitda and feelright now we can’t have ourvaluation 810 times ofEbitda.
Therefore, we would rather wait for couple for yearswhen our Ebitda becomestwice what we have now, justto have a larger valuation togive more value to ourpromoters.
You equity base is quite
small to command large
valuation. Any plans to
increase the equity base?
■ At the moment, our equityholding is ₹��650 crore and wewant to raise it to ₹��1,500crore before we liquidateabout 2025% of it as weneed a large amount of capital in the next fi��ve years.
Most of it is projected tocome in 20232025. So, if wehave larger capital base, [wecan] get better valuationsand seamlessly do our projected investments. We willhave our IPO in FY2021.
What is EESL’s biggest
achievement so far?
■ Ujala was the LED bulbsprogramme. When we start
ed the programme in 2014, asevenwatt LED bulb cost₹��310.
Today, we are procuring afar more effi��cient ninewattbulb for ₹��40. We have distributed 32 crore bulbs over thelast four years, giving LEDsat ₹��72.
We are a market enabler,116 crore bulbs is done by theprivate sector.
We have done markettransformation in the lighting sector by saving 8,300MW of power capacity byLED lighting.
What about street lighting?
■ When we started, thetotal number of streetlights with urban local
bodies was about 1.4crore and we have re
placed nearly 81.5lakh street lights
till now.
How much have
you invested in
energy effi��ciency so far
against the target of ₹��74,000
crore?
■ Our investment till now inenergy effi��ciency and energyeffi��ciency products alreadydeployed and committed is₹��10,000 crore. Of course, weare very far away from that fi��gure, which has now doubled to ₹��1.5 lakh crore.
A large part of this is doneby industry on its own. Forexample, there is a schemecalled Perform Achieve andTrade, a regulatory schemeof the Bureau of Energy Effi��ciency (BEE).
In the fi��rst cycle, the industry had invested ₹��25,000crore to reduce their energyconsumption.
In the second, the expected investment is ₹��35,000crore. Most players do it forthemselves but we do it forothers.
What’s happening in the
electric vehicles space?
■ The role of governmentwill be that of an enabler.The Power Ministry hascome out with two guidelines that charging is not saleor resale of power but aservice.
It has capped what a distribution company cancharge an EV charging station, and it has also clarifi��edwhat kind of charging infrastructure you need to have ina charging station.
With this, the basic policyframework is there. We havestarted setting up publiccharging infrastructure inthe New Delhi municipalarea.
Some other entities are also seen tying up with discoms and municipal bodiesfor public charging. In India,besides Tatas and Mahindra,I know three OEMs — Hyundai, Nissan and Kia Motors —are coming out with theirelectric vehicles.
We are in a transitionphase and this augurs verywell for the country.
INTERVIEW | SAURABH KUMAR
‘Saved 8300 MW with LED lights alone’Staterun Energy Effi��ciency Services will go for an IPO in FY21, says its MD
Piyush Pandey
<> We will wait for our
Ebitda to double, to
give more value to
our promoters [in an
IPO]
Unauthorised surchargingand high MDR charges aresome of the reasons for impeding the growth of digital payments despite all efforts to promote it, a studyshowed.
“This is due to distortionary pricing of paymentproducts and the continued fraudulent practiceof surcharging by acquirerbanks and big merchants,”said the study by IITBombay. It estimated that merchants were burdenedwith ₹��10,000 crore towards credit card Merchant Discount Rate (MDR)in 2018, compared with theoverall cost of ₹��3,500 croretowards debit card MDR.
‘Unauthorisedsurcharginghurting onlinepayments’
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI
The quantum of recycledgold in the system is on therise in India on account of anincrease in gold prices andsome players ensuring transparency in evaluation andpricing, said jewellers andgold loan companies.
This trend is also helpingcurb imports, thus saving foreign exchange. India is thesecondlargest consumer ofgold and the largest importerof the yellow metal, importing about 700800 tonnesannually.
This has a bearing on India’s current account defi��cit(CAD). In 201718, India’sgold imports increased by22.3% to $33.65 billion andthe CAD jumped to $48.7 billion, or 1.9% of the GDP.
While gold imports have
not shown a declining trend,jewellers said that had it notbeen for gold being recycled,recent imports would haveshown a higherspike.
According to estimates,temples and households inIndia have more than 24,000tonnes of gold, large parts ofwhich are stored in vaults
and used on a need basis.Generally, people hesitate
to sell gold. Goldsmiths andjewellers tend to use opaqueand unreliable methods suchas rubbing ornaments on ablack stone, immersing themin some solution and conducting the entire process ofgold evaluation out of sight
of the seller, often resultingin inaccurate assessment ofquality and quantity. Thiscreates a defi��cit of trustamong retail sellers. Now,some players off��er transparent and scientifi��c processesto evaluate gold thereby ensuring best value to sellers.
Take, for example, southbased Muthoot PappachanGroup, whose Muthoot GoldPoint service claims to usetransparent and scientifi��cmethodology from gold assessment to fi��nal payment,including executing the entire process in front of thecustomer. It also sends thecollected gold to a refi��nerythat converts it into 995 goldbars and supplies them tothe domestic market therebyhelping reduce gold imports.
Suvankar Sen, ED, SencoGold and Diamonds, said,
“We are seeing a 15% increase in old gold exchangetransactions due to the increase in the gold price. Customers are keen to use theirunused gold to meet urgentrequirements of jewellery,say, for family occasions.
“Even new designs are being bought in exchange forold designs and jewellery. Itwill be good for the economy[if ] recycled gold is used,which will enable the government to use [foreign exchange] for other purposes.”
Colin Shah, vice chairman, Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council,said, “Recycling of familygold is a great idea and canunlock tonnes of gold, subject to proper involvementand support of key stakeholders. Reduction in outfl��ow offorex is great for the country
and we hope the government reduces import dutyfrom 10% to 4% as a consequence.” Reducing importduties, it is learnt, will helpimporters who use the gold,in turn, in jewellery meantfor exports.
Anantha Padmanaban,chairman, Gem and Jewellery Council, said, “Thelaunch of a comprehensivegold policy can help bring alot family gold into the openmarket. [We] recently metkey Finance Ministry offi��cialsand submitted a detailedroadmap for a revampedgold monetisation scheme.Its success is greatly dependent on the support of thebanking and fi��nancial systems network.”
Trend of recycling gold by retail users on the riseJewellers report up to a 15% increase in transactions involving exchange of old gold, attribute shift to a jump in metal price
New avatar: Higher prices and better transparency inevaluation is leading to more recycling. * REUTERS
Lalatendu Mishra
Mumbai
SEE ALSO GRAPHIC ON
BUSINESS REVIEW PAGE
The NITI Aayog has beentasked with drawing up a listof noncore assets of variousCPSEs, both healthy and sickones, as a fi��rst step towardsFinance Ministry’s plan tomonetise such assets andunlock value toshareholders.
This is part of the overallplans of the government tolay down a procedure andmechanism for monetisation of noncore assets ofcentral public sector undertakings (CPSEs), that includemainly land and building.
“NITI Aayog will draw upthe list of noncore assetsowned by CPSEs, which canbe sold separately after dis
cussion with a consultativegroup comprising offi��cialsfrom administrative ministries, Department of Economic Aff��airs, Departmentof Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM),”an offi��cial told PTI.
The process would takeabout six months’ time, theoffi��cial added. The report by
NITI Aayog would be takenup by the alternative mechanism on disinvestment,headed by Finance MinisterArun Jaitley, following whichthe CPSE and the Ministryconcerned would proceedwith the monetisation process, the offi��cial added.
“So far, the disinvestmentprocess was confi��ned to thecorporate level. Now, it willgo one step down and monetise noncore assets of CPSEsto unlock wealth and generate value on equity for shareholders,” the offi��cial added.
In 2016, NITI was asked todraw up a list of CPSEswhich could go in for strategic sale. It had identifi��edabout 35 CPSEs which couldgo in for outright sale.
NITI Aayog to draw up list of noncoreassets of CPSEs for monetisation Process may take 6 months; assets include land, buildings
Press Trust of India
New DelhiForeign portfolio investors(FPIs) poured in close to₹��17,220 crore on a net basisinto Indian equities in February, the highest sinceNovember 2017, amid clarity on government spending plans and positivesentiment.
They had pumped in anet amount of around₹��19,728 crore into Indianstocks in November 2017.As per the latest data fromthe depositories, foreigninvestors pumped in₹��1,17,899.79 crore intoequities and pulled out₹��1,00,680.17 crore in February, a net investment of₹��17,220 crore into the stockmarket.
FPI net infl��owsinto stocks at 15month high
Press Trust of India
New Delhi
With less than one monthleft in the current fi��scal,banks will have to workovertime to meet the MUDRA loan lending target of₹��3 lakh crore, as only about₹��2 lakh crore has been disbursed till February 22.
As on February 22, thetotal loans disbursed under the Micro Units Development and Refi��nanceAgency Ltd. (MUDRA)scheme stood at₹��2,02,668.9 crore versusthe sanctioned amount of₹��2,10,759.51 crore, said government data. Data fromthe Finance Ministry saidmore than 3.89 crore MUDRA loans have been sanctioned so far this fi��scal.
MUDRA: ₹��1lakh cr. morehas to be lentPress Trust of India
New Delhi
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They year 2018 was the yearfor electrics. Cumulativeelectric vehicles (EVs) onroad crossed the four millionmark and the Tesla Model 3 became the bestsellingpremium vehicle, deliveringover 1,40,000 vehicles in theyear. According to the latestGlobal Electric Vehicle Outlook published by the International Energy Agency, China has around 250 millionelectric twowheelers, withannual sales of 30 million.
This progress appears extremely promising as thereare close to a billion twowheelers in circulation in theAssociation of SoutheastAsian Nations, China and India.
However, electric twowheeler adoption is almostexclusively limited to China.Amidst all of this, there is aneven more impressive story,one that is not often told.
As highlighted in an articleby Akshat Rathi in Quartz, ofthe total carbon dioxideemissions saved by EVsworldwide, over 80% wasdue to China’s electric twowheelers alone. This raisesan interesting question of
what makes China diff��erentfrom its neighbouring countries in Asia.
Two factors are highlighted for this success story inChina namely: electric twowheelers were designated asbicycles, exempting themfrom registration and requiring a driving licence; and, cities placed severe limitationson the use of petrol twowheelers in the city centres.In order to write an EV success story for India, it is veryimportant to electrify twowheelers, which are about
threefourths of the transportation fl��eet, as noted byAmitabh Kant, CEO, NITIAayog. He also detailed thatby electrifying all the twowheelers in use, India canavoid about 15% of the totaltransportation emission andmore importantly, about30% of particulate matter,curbing air pollution.
This raises the question ofwhat makes it so diffi��cult tomake an electric twowheeler competitive with petrol
vehicles. In order to answerthis question, we fi��rst goback to some high schoolphysics.
To move an object, such asa vehicle and propel it forward, the propelling forcemust overcome the opposingforces. In a vehicle, the propelling force is powered bythe energy source whichcould be petrol, diesel, natural gas (CNG) or electricitywithin a device like an engineor a motor. There are fourkinds of opposing forces acting on a vehicle, the fi��rst isair drag — the force exertedby air when a biker is zippingthrough on a motorcycle.
The second is friction, between the tyres and the road,which wears the tyres out over time. The third is overcoming gravity while travelling on a road gradient, theforce required to go up an inclined road. The last is theforce required to overcomeinertia, which keeps objectsat rest or in motion unless aforce acts on them, so thevehicle will remain at rest unless a part of the propellingforce pushes it forward.
In the real world, a conventional scooter’s “mileage” is about 5070 km for
a litre of petrol, which can beinterpreted to be about 135190 watthours for every kilometre (1000 watthours isone unit in a monthly electricity bill).
On the other hand, if thesame scooter is electric, thenit would need about 2540watthours (equivalent torunning a modern LED tubelight for about two hours).The electric scooter isaround four to six timesmore effi��cient than a petrolscooter. The electric scootersare able to accomplish thisbecause they have two thingsthat are in their favour, viz.batteries and electric motorsare much more effi��cient thanpetrol engines and, electric
scooters have a trick up theirsleeve called regenerativebraking. Regenerative braking allows running the motors in ‘reverse’, storingenergy back into the batterypack while decelerating.
Cost per kmFor the price conscious Indian, it is important to quantify how much this translatesto in cost per km of driving. Alitre of petrol costs about ₹��70and the conventional scooteroperates at about ₹��70–₹��100per 100 km. For an electrictwowheeler, with an electricity price of around ₹��36per unit, it would cost about₹��10–₹��30 per 100 km, which issignifi��cantly lower. Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates that the total cost ofowning and operating electric twowheelers in 2020would be about ₹��2 per kmwhich is on par with petrolvehicles.
And, these estimates forelectric twowheelers dropto about ₹��1.5 or lower per kmby 2025 while their petrolcounterparts would continueto cost the same.
This is the rosy side of thestory. However, if the electric scooter needs to have a
range of 100 km, it needsabout three kilowatt hoursin its energy source. Theenergy source in all modernelectric vehicles is lithiumion batteries. These batteriesare the preferred energysource as they are compactboth in size and weight, animportant consideration forvehicles. This comes at acost.
Expensive batteries Lithiumion batteries cost over ₹��10,000 for every kilowatt hour. This means thatfor a 100km electric twowheeler, the battery costitself will be around₹��40,000–50,000, whichis close to the averageretail price of petrol two
strong commitment to improving this. An open question remains on where tostrategically place the chargers such that it can lead to widespread use and adoption.
One bright spot within allof this is that it is possible tocharge an electric scooter athome with a conventionalplug outlet in a couple ofhours.
In the recent Interim Budget of 2019, the then FinanceMinister Piyush Goyalstressed on the need toswitch to EVs powered by renewables to reduce oil imports and combat climatechange. The electrifi��cationsuccess story in India hingeson electrifying twowheelerswhich will require loweringcosts of Liion batteries, increasing charging speed andimproving the charging
infrastructure.Shashank Sri
pad is a PhD candidate at Carnegie
Mellon Universityand Dr. VenkatViswanathan,assistant professor of mechani
cal engineering,Carnegie Mellon Un
iversity.
wheelers today. A secondchallenge remains which isto related to “refi��lling” thetank of an electric scooter.This requires an electricscooter’s battery to becharged and this can take ofthe order of an hour or moretoday. The slow chargingtime of Liion batteries remains a frustration for manycell phone users and thesame issue persists for electric scooters. Liion batteriestoday cannot be chargedsafely at faster rates.
The fi��nal question iswhere one should go tocharge an electric scooter. Charging infrastructure is sparse today but
there is a
India’s electric vehicle success story will ride on two wheels Adoption of electric twowheelers will need cheaper lithiumion batteries, increasing charging speed and improving charging infrastructure
Shashank Sripad
Venkat Viswanathan
<> The electric scooter
is around four to six
times more effi��cient
than a petrol scooter
<> By electrifying all the
twowheelers, India
can avoid about 15%
of the total
transportation
emission
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CMYK
A ND-NDE
BUSINESS REVIEW
The quest to collect seeds ofnative plant varieties hasproved to be never endingfor C. Yoganathan, a farmerof Thinnakonam village,near Musiri in Tiruchirapallidistrict of Tamil Nadu.
He started collecting theseeds in 2008 with the objective of preserving nativebreeds of vegetables, fruits,millets and pulses.
After a decade, he is nowproviding tonnes of seeds tofarms and kitchen gardensthrough Agathiyar FarmersProducer Company, supported by NABARD. This isone of the few companies involved in native seed production in the State.
The company, which has550 small and micro farmersas members, has seed production as one of its mainobjectives. It was formed in2017 as a culmination of a series of seed festivals organised all over Tamil Nadu andin a few other States. “Theinspiration to preserve native seed varieties came tome while meeting farmersalong with Nammalvar, agreen crusader.
“Identifi��cation and selection of native breeds tookseveral years,” he says.
Organic practicesAbout 80 members of thecompany now produce 93varieties of seeds of nativevegetables, climbers, milletsand pulses. They follow prescribed organic practiceswhile raising the chosencrop and all farm inputs areprovided by the company.Farmers process the seedswithout using any machine.
“We do not treat the seedsas any treatment involveschemicals. Only traditionalmethods of processing areadopted utilising water andsunlight,” he says.
Seeds processed throughtraditional methods have alonger life and their yieldtastes richer, he claims. Thenutrient value is also high in
these plants. Processedseeds are not ‘sold’ as commodities but exchanged aswealth. The benefi��cial outcome of this exercise is preservation of native varieties.
“For example, our focuson Manapparai Brinjal hasrevived consumer interestall over the State. There is abig demand for this varietyin urban areas, especially inChennai, where the company has over 1,000 households getting seeds for kitchen gardens. We provide the
seeds along with other farminputs like organic manureand pesticides,” he says.
Seeds of paddy varietiesare easily available but it isdiffi��cult to get those of nativevegetables. Seed production, Mr. Yoganathan says, isvery benefi��cial to microfarmers as it is easy to getaround ₹��30,000 by allocating 10 cents of land for thepurpose.
Pamayyan, an organicfarming expert, says, “Acountry’s sovereignty is governed by agriculture. Agriculture’s sovereignty is governed by the seed. Thegovernment should encourage micro and small farmersto produce native seed varieties in every village.”
Agathiyar FarmerProducer Company plans to set up acentralised processing unitfor seeds, which could beused by all farmers. At present, seed processing happens in individual farms.
A story of curating native seeds‘Organic practices are used while raising the chosen crop’
S. Annamalai
GREEN SHOOTS
Return of the native: An Agathiyar Farmer ProducerCompany’s outlet at Musiri.
The hit suff��ered by the exchequer following the income tax rebate announced for individuals with incomes of up to ₹��5 lakhwill be more than off��set by the overall growth in direct tax collections, Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey says. Onthe indirect tax side, he says that the government expects to atleast achieve its revised estimate for GST revenue, which islower than what has been initially budgeted for the year. Ex
cerpts from the interview.
Can you estimate by how
much Goods and Services
Tax (GST) revenue for the
year will fall short of what is
needed?
■ We have done a realisticassessment of how much revenue we are going to get inthis year and accordingly wehave revised our budgetaryestimates for the currentyear.
In the case of the GST, wehave brought down our revised estimates to a lower value as compared to what wehad given in our budgetaryestimate.
The reason is that duringthe 1.5 years of GST, we haddone lots of adjustments interms of process as well asrates. The rates have beenbrought down on manyitems.
The fi��nancial implicationof the rate reduction is about₹��90,000 crore a year. Basedon all these, accordingly forthe current year, we havebrought down our revenueestimates. And that much wehope to achieve.
Have you been able to
estimate the impact on
revenues following the IT
rebate given to those
earning up to ₹��5 lakh a year?
■ We have given a full income tax rebate to thosewhose total taxable incomeis less than ₹��5 lakh a year.
This is basically to providerelief to the people who arein the middle class and particularly those who are earning even in that class. The total benefi��t that we are goingto provide to this class isabout ₹��18,500 crore in ayear, so that is the likely im
pact on our revenues.
Can the government aff��ord
this the when GST revenue
has already been revised
downwards?
■ If you see our direct tax revenue, there we have increased the revised estimateby ₹��50,000 crore. And this,despite the reduction in taxrates.
Companies are asking for
corporate tax rates to be
reduced to 25%...
■ We have a policy, which wehad announced in 2015, thatthe rates of the income taxfor the corporates would bebrought down to 25% and ithas been, over the years,brought down to that level.
About 99% of the companiesare being taxed at a rate of25%. Only 1% of the companies are in the range of 30%.Now, we will have to watchfor the revenue trend andthen the appropriate decision will be taken in duecourse. As far as the remaining tax proposals are con
cerned, they will be considered by the governmentwhen the full Budget is presented in July.
Is the GST 2.0 system of
invoice matching still on
track to begin from April 1,
2019?
■ The GST Council has already taken a decision that thenew return system will comefrom July 1. The new returnsystem will be a very simplifi��ed system. Earlier, we had asystem of GSTR 1, GSTR 2,and GSTR 3. Now, in place ofthat, there will be only onereturn.
The system will be suchthat it will require minimuminformation from the taxpayers so that the compliance burden will be less.At the same time, it will alsoincentivise selfcompliancebecause the entire design ofthe GST system is such that itpromotes selfcompliancerather than someone goingand doing inspections andforcing compliance.
What additional
information will this new
return fi��ling system give?
■ If you see the design of thenew return system, fi��rst of allwhat we have done is thatthe monthly returns will beapplicable to only those whoare having a turnover ofmore than ₹��5 crore. Thesmaller taxpayers will be given relief. People with a turnover of between ₹��1.55crore will fi��le only on a quarterly basis. These are some ofthe advantages we have given. Only the minimal information, which is required forthe system to determine thecompliance, has been takenand this was done in consultation with the States andstakeholders.
INTERVIEW | AJAY BHUSHAN PANDEY
‘We hope to achieve the revised GST revenue estimate’ The fi��nancial implication of rate reduction is about ₹��90,000 crore a year, says the Revenue Secretary
TCA Sharad Raghavan
<> The new GST return
system will require
minimum
information from
taxpayers
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#70929
CMYK
A ND-NDE
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THE HINDU DELHI
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SPORT
Towards the end, Kedar Jadhav was treating the crowd tohis party pieces: a short ballfrom Pat Cummins washelped over the wicketkeeper’s head, a full delivery fromNathan CoulterNile was effortlessly chipped over longon, and Adam Zampa wasdriven insideout into thecover boundary.
Jadhav is a short man buthe generates great power inhis shots. After he chose toaccelerate on Saturday, hislast 51 runs came off�� 41 balls,with six fours and a sixstruck in that phase.
It was a fi��ne display of Jadhav's qualities as a fi��nisher,as he and M.S. Dhoni hauledIndia to victory over Australia in the fi��rst ODI here with apair of halfcenturies.
Filling the slot
"I've been batting at No. 6 formore than two years," hesaid later. "Since the seriesagainst England in India ( Ja
nuary 2017), the team management has been looking atme as a fi��nisher. They haveclearly told me, 'You will bebatting at No. 6 till the timeyou are there'.”
Dhoni's elevation in the order has needed India to fi��nda reliable No. 6, and Jadhav'scomposure and his range ofstrokes appears to havesolved that headache as theteam approaches the WorldCup.
Dhoni and Jadhav appearto bat well together: they sawIndia home in a similar lowscoring game in Melbourneearlier this year, and on Saturday they again paced therunchase to perfection.
"Every time I see Mahibhai, I feel very confi��dent,"Jadhav said. "I can't exactlyput it in words. He has thatsort of aura... you see himand feel 'I will deliver today’.He has that knack of gettingthe best out of every player."
Jadhav's spot in India'sWorld Cup side didn't alwaysseem so certain.
Last year, he suff��ered ahamstring tear in the fi��rst
game of the IPL and had toundergo surgery, missing therest of the tournament andthe England tour. He returned midway through theWest Indies home series, before breaking down again inthe fi��nal of the Asia Cup(where he sealed a lastballwin for India).
At 33, such wretched luckwith injury can be disheartening, but Jadhav is happythe team has kept faith withhim. He played the whole ofthe New Zealand series untroubled and India will hopehe has no recurrence of theissues that have plagued him.
"In this team, everybody isencouraging towards me irrespective of how manytimes I have got injured," theMaharashtra batsman said.
"Every time I have regained fi��tness, I have walkedinto the team. That was theconfi��dence the managementhad in me and obviously, thekind of confi��dence they havegiven has helped me deliverconsistently.
“Credit goes to the captainand management for backing
me. Now is the time I paythem back for the confi��denceand faith they have shown inmy diffi��cult times."
Jadhav's bowling is another string to his bow, althoughhe regards himself as nothingmore than a parttimer. Hispresence gives India an extraspin option when, like in thefi��rst ODI, Virat Kohli wants totake one of his seamers off��.
"I've never thought of bowling 10 overs in a game as ofnow," Jadhav said. "If the situation demands it and theteams requires it, I can defi��nitely do it. But doing so consistently will take mental andphysical adjustment.
Enjoying bowling
“I need to get fi��tter if I have tobowl 10 overs every game. Ienjoy the chance to bowl,but I don’t think I’m a bowler. I do my job, I know mylimitations."
He seemed to have this habit of breaking partnerships,it was pointed out. “I guess Iget lucky,” Jadhav smiled.
India will not be complaining.
Jadhav, the fi��nisher, establishes his credentials Says the team management has clearly stated the need for him to bat at No. 6
AUS IN INDIA
Shreedutta Chidananda
Hyderabad
Rock steady: Kedar Jadhav has repaid the team’s faith in him with consistent performances in the middle order. * K.V.S. GIRI
There is to this sprawling city in the northeast an oldworld charm. The weather israther pleasant, too, withthe winter refusing to giveway to summer, yet.
The setting for the threematch Women’s T20 International series between England and India, which begins at the Barsapara CricketStadium on Monday,couldn’t have been moreideal. The Assam Cricket Association’s decision to allowfree entry to the ground isexpected to make the atmosphere more festive.
The spectators can alsohope to watch some qualityaction over the next week.For, displaying their skillswould be some of the mosttalented women in international cricket.
For those who haven’t established themselves in theirsides, the series off��ers an excellent opportunity to makean impression and stakeclaim to be on a bigger stage— the Women’s T20 WorldCup in Australia, which is only 11 months away.
The teams had come faceto face in the last edition inthe Caribbean, in the semifi��nal. England won that matchlast November at NorthSound, Antigua, quitecomfortably.
Before that, the two sideshad squared off�� in Mumbaiduring a triseries. England
was the winner then, too,with Dannielle Wyatt hammering an astonishing 124 off��64 balls to help her teamchase down a Worldrecordtarget.
India’s record against England in the shortest formatof the game is hardly fl��attering. In the 14 matches between the two sides, it haswon only three.
So a chance for a paybackbeckons.
How Smriti Mandhana,one of the most elegant batswomen you would fi��nd inworld cricket at the moment, skippers India will certainly be keenly followed.She is leading the side in theabsence of the injured Harmanpreet Kaur, whose big
hits will be missed.
Strong line-up
India still possesses a strongbatting lineup, which includes the likes of Mithali Raj— there has been some speculation about the possible retirement of the former captain from this format — andthe prodigious Jemimah Rodrigues.
Seamer Shikha Pandeyand spinners Ekta Bisht andPoonam Yadav are expectedto continue the form theyshowed in the threematchODI series in Mumbai, whichIndia won 21.
They would be particularly keen to scalp inform Natalie Sciver, captain HeatherKnight and Wyatt.
In Katherine Brunt, Georgia Elwiss and Anya Shrubsole, England has a goodseam attack, but the injuryto leftarm spinner SophieEcclestone is a setback.The teams (from):India: Smriti Mandhana (Capt.),Mithali Raj, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, TaniyaBhatia, Bharti Fulmali, AnujaPatil, Shikha Pandey, KomalZanzad, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, RadhaYadav, Veda Krishnamurty andHarleen Deol.
England: Heather Knight(Capt.), Tammy Beaumont,Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross,Sophia Dunkley Brown, FreyaDavies, Georgia Elwiss, Amy Ellen Jones, Laura Marsh, NatalieSciver, Anya Shrubsole, LinseySmith, Lauren Winfi��eld, Danielle Wyatt and Alex Hartley.
Indian women primed for payback England has had the better of the exchanges in T20s P.K. Ajith Kumar
GUWAHATI
Warming up: The Indian women’s cricket team prepares for the T20 series in Guwahati.* SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Indian cricket saw a signifi��cant development after theICC Champions Trophy fi��nalin 2017 in England. The Menin Blue’s premier spinnerswere off��spinner R. Ashwinand leftarm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. However, theirwicketless spells (Ashwin:100700 and Jadeja: 80670) and inability to makeany impact in the title matchresulted in Pakistan registering a resounding win.
The two, with the squadalready selected for the tourof the West Indies, fi��gured inthe subsequent ODI series,but skipper Virat Kohli andRavi Shastri, who returnedas coach for a second stint,lost faith in the fi��nger spinners.
There are whispers thatthe 30yearold Jadeja willcome into the picture for the
World Cup but only in theevent of Hardik Pandya notmaking a full recovery fromhis lower back problem. TheSaurashtra bowler, who conceded only 33 runs in his 10over spell against Australiain Hyderabad on Saturday,came in for praise from Kohli. It was Jadeja’s 14th ODI after the Champions Trophy fi��nal.
Wrist spin is king
The fi��rm belief that wristspinners would yield betterresults caused the biggestchange in style of the Indianspin attack two years ago.Legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal made his debut againstZimbabwe in June 2016 andKuldeep Yadav, the chinaman bowler, played his fi��rstmatch against the West Indies a year after Chahal.Chahal has taken 71 wickets
in 40 matches at a strike rateof 29.76 and Kuldeep 79 in40 games at 26.05.
A rich harvest of 150 wickets in 80 matches and beingthe architects of quite a fewtriumphs has made themthe clear choice for theWorld Cup. Chahal (30 overs, two wickets) has notbeen as successful as Kuldeep (30 overs, nine wickets) in England, but as acombination, they havedominated even againstquality opposition.
Wrist spin will provide thethrust on pitches that haveconsistent bounce and arenot likely to aff��ord excessiveseam movement. However,what is in favour of Jadeja isthat he brings in a 148matchexperience, with additionalvalues of being a terrifi��c fi��elder and handy lefthanderlow down the order.
Can Jadeja make it to WC squad?
Livewire: Ravindra Jadeja gives it his all on the fi��eld all the time. * FILE PHOTO
G. Viswanath
Nagpur
Allround ability and experience give him an outside chance
Smriti Mandhana droveand cut her way to the topof the world rankings lastmonth.
To become the ICC’s No.1 batswoman was a goal shehad set for herself, she saidhere on Sunday. But, shehas a bigger goal. “As a batter, reaching the No. 1 position is the most importantthing, and reaching therewas really pleasing, butnow I have to work harderas staying there is more important,” she said, on theeve of India’s fi��rst Women’sTwenty20 Internationalagainst England. “But mymajor goal defi��nitely is towin the World Cup.”
About captaining Indiafor the fi��rst time, she feltthere wouldn’t be muchchange in the way she approached a match.
“As vicecaptain for thelast two years, I have beenattending all team meetings,” she said. “I used toknow what we would bedoing before a match evenwhen I was not captain.The only new thing, perhaps, is that I have to speakto the bowlers more now.”
Smriti lookingat the biggerpicture
Special Correspondent
GUWAHATI
Oshane Thomas (fi��ve for21) and Chris Gayle (77,22b) starred as the West Indies thrashed England byseven wickets in the fi��fthand fi��nal ODI here on Saturday. The scores: England 113 in28.1 overs (Oshane Thomasfi��ve for 21) lost to West Indies115 for three in 12.1 overs(Chris Gayle 77). Series tied22.
Thomas, Gaylestar for WI
Agence France-Presse
St. Lucia
Matthew Selt’s long wait isover.
Thirteen years after turning pro, the Englishman wonthe Indian Open, his maidenworldranking snooker titledefeating China’s 21yearoldLyu Haotian, who was alsoplaying his maiden rankingfi��nal, 53 in the titledecider.
After winning the fi��rst twoframes, World No. 51 Seltwatched as Haotian, one ofthe tournament’s youngestplayers here, produced abreak of 115 to clinch thenext frame. But Selt alsocame up with a centurybreak in the sixth to level thescores at 3all.
The seventh one was tightand, leading 4735, Selt missed a red but minutes later,Haotian missed a black tohand back the advantage tothe Englishman.
Higgins stunned
Earlier, despite a quarterfi��nal against China’s Lu Ning(Chn) that went past 1 a.m.,Selt kept calm and shocked
defending champion JohnHiggins, the World No. 4, 42in the semifi��nal.
“I didn’t even know whattime that match got over. Ididn’t sleep until 5.20 thismorning,” said Selt aboutthe match that slipped intothe early hours of Sunday.
But despite the excitement within, he was all calmagainst Higgins, taking thefi��rst frame with a centurybreak. “I missed the brownto go 31 up and luckily hemissed the pink. Even then,31 up, you don’t know if youare going to get a chance inthe next frame,” said Selt.
“I tried to stay as calm as I
could and got my chanceand I took it.”
Meanwhile China’s LyuHaotian also took a big stepin his promising career as hedefeated England’s AnthonyHamilton 42 and entered hismaiden ranking fi��nal.
The results: Final (bestofnine): Matthew Selt (Eng) btLyu Haotian (Chn) 5748, 89(84)6, 0115 (115), 1278 (56),2172 (66), 102 (102)0, 6749;96 (72)41.
Semifi��nals: Matthew Selt (Eng)bt John Higgins (Sco) 42 (103(103)0, 4166, 585, 6261, 5105, 1078); Lyu Haotian (Chn)bt Anthony Hamilton (Eng) 42(085, 3062, 6917, 1005,8322, 684).
The wait fi��nally ends for Selt Beats China’s Haotian, wins maiden ranking title
Stan Rayan
KOCHI
Big moment: Matthew Selt poses for fans with his trophy.* STAN RAYAN
INDIAN OPEN
Defi��ant centuries by Soumya Sarkar and Mohammad Mahmudullah were invain as Trent Boult's fi��vewicket haul gave New Zealand a crushing victory over Bangladesh in the fi��rstTest by an innings and 52runs here on Sunday. The scores: Sri Lanka 234 &429 in 103 overs (Tamim Iqbal74, Shadman Islam 37, Soumya Sarkar 149, Mahmudullah146; Boult fi��ve for 123, Southee three for 98) lost to NewZealand 715 for six decl.
Boult bowlsKiwis to win Agence France-Presse
Hamilton
Extra special: Roger Federer’s longevity has won him manyadmirers. * AFP
Pakistan has raised the issueof “visa guarantee” to itscricketers at the two International Cricket Council(ICC) events — the 2021 T20World Cup and the 2023World Cup — to be held inIndia.
It is learnt the PakistanCricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani brought upthe issue at the ICC boardmeeting which concluded inDubai on Saturday. He wasreportedly told these issuesare taken up one year aheadof the tournament and therewas time for the ICC to take
a call on it.In the past, Pakistan has
played in ICC tournamentsin India, including the 2011World Cup when it lost to India in the semifi��nals at Mohali. The bilateral cricket engagements between the twonations have remained suspended for a long period.Pakistan last visited India in201213 for a oneday series.
The IOC, however, hasdemanded a written assurance from the IOA that nofuture participants at any international sporting meethosted by India would bedenied visas. India is yet togive such an undertaking.
PCB chairman raisesissue of ‘visa guarantee’ Vijay Lokapally
NEW DELHI
South Africa captain Faf duPlessis hit an unbeaten century as the hosts cruised toan eightwicket victory overSri Lanka in the openingODI on Sunday.
du Plessis scored his 11thODI hundred (112 n.o., 114b,15x5, 1x6) as he and Rassievan der Dussen (32 not out)
took the team to victorywith a partnership of 82 off��96 balls. Earlier, Quinton deKock had contributed 81.
The scores: Sri Lanka 231 in 47overs (O. Fernando 49, K. Mendis 60, Dhananjaya de Silva 39,Lungi Ngidi three for 60, ImranTahir three for 26) lost toSouth Africa 232 for two in38.5 overs (Quinton de Kock81, Faf du Plessis 112 n.o.).
du Plessis powers SA AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
JOHANNESBURG
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