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Two killed in communalclash in north Gujarat

Two persons were killed andaround a dozen injured fol-lowing an argumentbetween children of two dif-ferent communities at Vad-vali village in Patan districtof north Gujarat onSaturday.

Among those killed is 50year old Ibrahim Khan, alocal resident.

In the violence that lastedan hour, more than 30houses were set on firewhen the two sides threwstones at each other and

then clashed with sticks andsteel pipes.

More than two dozenvehicles parked in front ofhouses were also burntdown.

Seven rounds firedPolicemen who were rushedto the spot fired sevenrounds in the air and lobbed60 tear gas shells to dispersethe violent mob, sourcessaid.

Director General of PoliceP.P. Pandey despatched In-spector General of Police,Gandhinagar, to the riot-

torn village.“We have deployed State

Reserve Police personnel inthe village and right now thesituation is normal,” a seniorpolice official said, addingthat the injured were takento a nearby hospital in Patantown.

Asked about what causedthe communal clashes, hesaid it started off with apetty brawl between chil-dren after their examina-tions. “We are investigatingwhy such large scale viol-ence broke out after a smalltussle,” the official added.

30 houses were set on ire, situation under controlSpecial Correspondent

Ahmedabad

The search: As the temperature increases, animals go in search of water in the Kabini backwaters near Mysuruin Karnataka. A scene on Friday. * BHAGYA PRAKASH K

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Whomoved my water?

CMYK

A ND-ND

march 26, 2017 Delhi

City Edition

42 pages � ₹15.00

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A Delhi court on Saturdayframed charges against DelhiChief Minister Arvind Kejri-wal and five AAP leaders andsent them to trial in a defam-ation case filed by FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley.

Chief Metropolitan Magis-trate (CMM) Sumit Dasframed charges against thesix accused — Mr. Kejriwal,Ashutosh, Kumar Vishwas,Raghav Chaddha, DeepakBajpai and Sanjay Singh —after they pleaded not guiltyand claimed a trial.

Recording of evidenceLater, the CMM fixed May

20 as the date for recordingthe evidence of witnesses lis-ted by Mr. Jaitley in hiscomplaint.

The CMM had in Januarythis year dismissed a jointapplication by the six ac-cused seeking permission toaddress arguments at thestage of framing of charges.

Opposing the application,

counsel for the Minister Sid-harth Luthra, along withManoj Taneja, had arguedthat there was a settled lawin a summons case that thecourt had no option but toframe notice against the ac-cused persons.

The Minister has filed thecase against the accused forallegedly linking him to al-leged corruption in the Delhi& District Cricket Associ-ation (DDCA).

In March 2016, the courthad summoned Mr. Kejriwaland the five AAP leaders.

Charges framedagainst Kejriwal5 AAP leaders also face defamation trial

Special Correspondent

New Delhi

UPROOT AAP, AMIT SHAH

TELLS BJP CADRE � PAGE 9

Arvind Kejriwal

CONTINUED ON � PAGE 10

SUNDAYMAGAZINE � 8 PAGES

Meenangadi in Wayanaddistrict is on a mission tobecome India’s first carbon-neutral panchayat. The localbody in Kerala is workingtowards a zero carbonfootprint, to be achieved bybringing down pollution,carbon emissions, andplastic waste.

The carbon-neutralproject intends to offsetcarbon dioxide and othergreenhouse gases emitted byhuman activities through aseries of greening initiatives,said Beena Vijayan,president of the panchayat.

Planting trees is a toppriority. With a carbon-neutral status, the panchayat

hopes to attract theenvironmentally-consciousconsumer: it will brand andmarket locally grown cropssuch as coffee and pepper aspremium, sustainable

products. The project issupported by theenvironmental advocacygroup Thanal, M.S.Swaminathan ResearchFoundation’s Community

Agrobiodiversity Centre,Academy of Climate ChangeEducation and Research(ACCER) under KeralaAgricultural University, andthe Zoology department ofKannur University.

Carbon auditThe project was launched onJune 5 last year with anassessment of carbonemissions from powerconsumption, fuel use in the9,000 houses in thepanchayat and fromvehicles.

Assessment of carbonemission from trees has justbeen completed with helpfrom the students andfaculty of ACCER. The teamstarted measuring the

carbon content in the soil onFriday.

“The results will helpdecide which areas needmore trees to offsetemissions. We havedistributed one lakhseedlings to farmers andplan to supply the samenumber this year,” she said.

The panchayat hasallocated ₹11 crore for theproject, which includes abiodiversity park, soil andwater conservationprogrammes under theMahatma Gandhi NationalRural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme and awaste treatment plant. TheState government hasearmarked ₹10 crore thisfiscal, Ms. Vijayan said.

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Meenangadi has a green dream: carbon neutralityPanchayat in Kerala has audited its emissions and is ofsetting them with more trees and less waste

E.M. Manoj

KALPETTA

From ground up: Beena Vijayan, panchayat president,launches work on the study of soil carbon.

CLASSIFIEDS � PAGES 4, 5 & 6

INSIDE

OnMarch 7, Madhya Pradeshpolice arrested three men —Danish Akhtar, Syed MirHussain and Atif Muzaffar —from Pipariya, around 300km from Bhopal, for al-legedly planting a pipe bombon the Bhopal-Ujjain passen-ger train. Nine people wereinjured in the explosion.

The bomb was plantedaround 8.30 a.m. at the Bho-pal railway station and it ex-ploded around one-and-half-hours later when the trainreached the Shajapur sta-tion.

Based on inputsWithin hours, the M.P. po-lice announced that the

three men, who had plantedthe bomb in the passengertrain, had been arrested onthe basis of informationprovided by Central intelli-gence agencies.

Four others were arrestedfrom Uttar Pradesh whileone man, Saifullah, waskilled in an encounter inThakurganj area of Lucknowthe same night.

U.P. ADG Daljit SinghChaudhary told a newsagency a day later that Telan-

gana police had providedspecific intelligence aboutthe whereabouts of thegroup, who were inspired by

the Islamic State.A senior Home Ministry

official told The Hindu thatthe accused were caught

within hours as they werebeing trailed by a Telanganapolice officer.

The police officer fol-

lowed the accused from Luc-know when they boardedthe Pushpak Express onMarch 6 and even when they

got down at the Bhopal rail-way station.

“This officer had penet-rated the various social me-dia platforms the group usedto search for information re-lated to the Islamic State. Allof them are self-radicalisedand they even made severalattempts to go to Syria andeven to Kashmir for jihad.When they failed, they de-cided to do something in In-dia,” the Ministry officialsaid.

Gaining their trustThe Telangana officer gainedtheir trust and pretended tobe their Syria-based handler.

The DGP, Telangana,Anurag Sharma, could notbe contacted for comment,

despite repeated attempts.“The accused told their

handler they wanted to pro-cure explosives andweapons. They downloadedal-Qaeda’s propagandamagazine Inspire and IS’smagazine Dabiq to learn howto prepare the bomb. Theymade the bomb at the rentedhouse in Lucknow, whereSaifullah was killed. OnMarch 7, three of themboarded Pushpak Expressfrom Lucknow and wantedto plant the bomb in it. See-ing the crowd, they droppedthe plan and travelled tillBhopal in the Mumbai-bound train,” the officialsaid.

How a Telangana cop iniltrated U.P. terror groupPretending to be their Syrian handler, ahead of bombing of Ujjain-bound train, he helped to secure the arrest of three IS sympathisers

SUNDAY SPECIAL

Vijaita Singh

New Delhi


Announcing an alliancewith former arch-rival andformer PresidentMaumoon Abdul Gayoomis the only way to ensuredemocracy in the Mal-dives, Opposition leaderand former President Mo-hammad Nasheed has said.

Speaking to The Hindufrom Colombo hours afterhe announced a politicalfront including Mr.Gayoom and leaders of theJumhooree party as well asthe Islamist Adaalath party,Mr. Nasheed said he hopedIndia would back theircause by pressuring thegovernment of PresidentYameen to “stop arrestingOpposition members.”

He said Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s “decisionnot to visit the Maldives” sofar was “thoughtful.”

“As long as PresidentYameen insists on runningthe country as an autocrat,he cannot be a friend of In-dia,” he added.

Maldivianarch-rivalsjoin forcesSuhasini Haidar

NEW DELHI


Shiv Sena MP RavindraGaikwad, who was forced totake a train from Delhi afterall major airlines in thecountry put him on theirno-fly list for assaulting asenior Air India official, didnot get down at the MumbaiCentral station here on Sat-urday as expected.

He is understood to haveleft the train at Vapi stationin Gujarat, Sena sourcessaid. However, it was notclear whether he headed forMumbai or Osmanabad, hisconstituency.

According to railway offi-cials, Mr. Gaikwad, with twocompanions, boarded theAugust Kranti Rajdhani Ex-press from Hazrat Nizamud-din at 6.55 p.m. on Friday.

“Once the train startedfrom Delhi, he started com-plaining of chest pain andasked the train staff for adoctor. We provided him adoctor at the very next sta-tion in Mathura, where thedoctor told him that he wascompletely fine,” said asenior Western Railwayofficial.

Sena MP leaves trainto Mumbai midwayAlights at Vapi to avoid media glare

Vedika Chaubey

Mumbai


SECTION 2 � 14 PAGES

Will abolish house tax,says KejriwalNEW DELHI

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind

Kejriwal on Saturday

announced that his party

would abolish residential

house tax and waive arrears if

voted to power in the

municipal elections.

CITY � PAGE 2DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

NEARBY

CMYK

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NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU

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CITY

TN farmers climb tree toget their demands heardNEW DELHI

Dramatic scenes were

witnessed at Jantar Mantar

on Saturday when two

protesting Tamil Nadu

farmers climbed a tree and

threatened to jump from it if

the government did not

respond to their demand of

loan waiver. The two farmers

Akilan, 19, and Rajesh, 25,

hail from Tiruchirappalli.

Their action caught the

attention of the public and

the police who talked to the

farmers and convinced them

to come down. STAFF REPORTER

IN BRIEF

Training for docs to dealwith sexual offence casesNEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court on

Saturday held an exercise to

train doctors on how to deal

with cases of sexual offences

as per the Supreme Court

guidelines. A high court

committee, headed by Justice

Gita Mittal, conducted the

training to apprise the

doctors of the methods and

procedures to record the

medico-legal certificates, the

death summaries and the

post-mortem examination

reports in cases of sexual

offences. PTI

‘Gangster’ arrestedfrom Batla HouseNEW DELHI

An alleged gangster carrying

a reward of Rs.50,000 was

arrested in the early hours of

Saturday at Batla House in

south-east Delhi.

According to the police, the

arrested man, Asif alias Kala,

is an associate of gangster

Satyaprakash Satte. He had

managed to escape two

encounters with Delhi Police

in February this year and

December last year. A police

officer said that they had got

a tip-off that Kala would go

to meet his friend at Batla

House. He was arrested after

a short chase. STAFF REPORTER

Delhi Chief Minister and AamAadmi Party (AAP) convenorArvind Kejriwal on Saturdayannounced that his partywould abolish residentialhouse tax in the Capital andwaive all previous arrears ifvoted to power in the up-coming municipal elections.

Speaking at a press confer-ence at his residence, theChief Minister said: “We havefulfilled our promise to slashpower tariff by half andmake water free for resid-ents. For the municipal polls,we will do away with residen-tial house tax. However, in-dustrial and commercialhouse tax will be there.’’

Budget 2017 had alsostayed away from imposingany new tax on citizens forthe third year in a row.

Mr. Kejriwal further saidthat money could be savedby plugging corruption.

Curbing harassment“Currently, the public is har-assed in the name of collec-tion of house tax. We willend that harassment. Wehave seen councillors gettingrich after winning electionsbecause the tax goes to theirpockets,” he said.

Citing the example of theNorth corporation, Mr. Kejri-wal said the body had abudget of ₹3,300 crore, ofwhich ₹250-300 crore camefrom house tax. “This muchcan be easily saved,” he said,adding that the party wouldsoon come up with a detailedmanifesto for the polls.

‘Judicious use of money’“Corruption is the biggestbane of the civic bodies.People who roam around onscooters buy five luxury cars,land and houses after com-ing to power. We want tostop this trend. We wantpeople’s money to be usedjudiciously. The moneysaved is money in yourpocket,’’ said the Chief Minis-ter. Elections to three muni-cipal corporations are dueon April 23.

Kejriwal vows to abolish residential property taxAlso promises to waive arrears if voted to power in upcoming municipal elections

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI

There’s good news for citydwellers. A flock of 10Egyptian vultures— whichare rarely spotted in thecity— has been living on landnear the Yamuna sinceJanuary.

According to experts,Egyptian vultures havenearly disappeared from thecity in the last few years.Their nesting areas wouldinclude areas near theYamuna, Okhla BirdSanctuary and Ghazipurlandfill.

“This current populationis being monitored for thelast two months. But, wefound that their feedinghabits had changed due to aloss of habitat. The birdsnow feed mostly onbiodegradable garbage,” said

ecologist T.K. Roy.He, however, added that

the return of the bird was a“good indication”.

The vulture is a useful

scavenger as it feeds oncarrion and keeps theenvironment clean. It alsocontrols the spread ofdiseases from decaying

carrions.

Decline in populationThe Egyptian vulture(Neophron percnopterus),

one among nine vulturespecies available in theIndian sub-continent, is alarge-range distributedspecies in Europe, Africa andAsia, but its population hasrapidly declined in India dueto factors such asdisturbance, poisoning,electrocution, scarcity offood and habitat loss, butlargely due to the toxic effectof veterinary drug Diclofenacthrough livestock carcasses.Continuous efforts by BNHSfor vulture conservation,Drug Controller General(India), Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare,Department of AnimalHusbandry and Ministry ofAgriculture, have, however,proved to be a boon. In2006, the governmentbanned Diclofenac forveterinary purposes.

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Egyptian vultures ind their nest back in DelhiThe species— rarely spotted here— has made the Capital its home; ecologists say it’s a ‘good indication’

Good news: :A lock of 10 birds has been living near the Yamuna since January.* SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI

A group of JNU students al-legedly clashed with securityguards at the university’smain gate during theirprotest against the decisionto reduce the number ofseats in M.Phil and Ph.Dcourses, resulting in minorinjuries to persons from bothsides.

The incident happened onFriday after the protestingstudents forcibly closed themain entrance to thecampus.

Injured undergo testsThe police said the injuredpersons were sent to a hos-pital for medico-legal testsand the two sides have filedcomplaints, but a case is yet

to be registered.The JNU administration in

a statement on Saturday ap-pealed to the agitating stu-dents to immediately endtheir “forcible closure” of thenorth gate to the campus,following which it wasopened.

JNU Registrar Pramod Ku-mar said the behaviour ofthe protesters is “condem-nable” and claimed that hewas “abused” by them.

“They verbally abused mewhen I went to request themto keep the north gate open.Some of them manhandledthe security guards whotried to open the gate for thecommuters,” the statementread.

The Registrar said somesecurity guards were injured

and were taken to thehospital.

‘Bad name’The university administra-tion also criticised the agitat-ing students for protestingoutside the UGC office at ITOand blocking traffic on Fri-day. “Such disruptive activit-ies by a small section of stu-dents have brought nothingbut bad name to JNU,” hesaid. Several students in thefinal year of their MA pro-gramme, who have been dir-ectly affected by the newrules, staged a protest on Fri-day, demanding that UCGchairperson Ved Prakash ad-dress their concerns. Thestudents also tried to blocktraffic at the busy ITOjunction.

JNU students protestingseat cut clash with guardsUniversity terms incident ‘condemnable’; FIR yet to be iled

Press Trust of India

NEW DELHI

Abolishing property tax onresidential buildings, whichChief Minister Arvind Kejri-wal said the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) would do if elec-ted to the municipal corpor-ations next month, wouldstrain the already cash-strapped and go against theDelhi Municipal CorporationAct, as per experts.

Officials, both currentand former, and leaders ofthe three municipal corpora-tions of Delhi said the AAP’spromise of doing away withhouse tax, including arrears,would need the interventionof the Central and Stategovernments.

K.S. Mehra, a retired IASofficer who had served asthe commissioner of the uni-fied Municipal Corporationof Delhi, said as per theDelhi Municipal CorporationAct, the civic bodies are re-quired to collect propertytax. Section 113 of the DMCAct lists the taxes that thecorporation has to collect,with property tax occupyingthe first slot on the list.

Question of funds“Any change would requirean amendment passed byParliament...If enacted, thequestion would be wherethe funds for discharging theobligatory functions of thecorporation would comefrom, forget about the dis-cretionary questions,” saidMr. Mehra. He added thatthe Constitution also statesthat local bodies should beself-sustaining.

“The funds from the gov-ernment are limited. Thecorporation has to strike abalance,” he added.

Officials in the municipalcorporations, however, saidif the Delhi governmentcould give subsidies to thecorporations for the poten-tial loss of revenue fromproperty tax.

In all, the North, Southand East corporations earnabout ₹1,300 crore in annualproperty tax. As per offi-cials, about 35% of thiscomes from residentialproperties, while govern-ment buildings account for40% and commercial estab-lishments about 25 per cent.

While property tax isamong the top sources ofrevenue for the corpora-tions, the civic bodies havefailed to increase the taxbase over the years. Estim-ates suggest that at most40% of property-owners paytax.

“We have been trying toincrease the number ofproperties in the tax net. Westarted a survey of proper-ties and are giving themunique Ids. But, the AAP istrying to collapse the system

of self-sufficient local gov-ernment,” said Vijay PrakashPandey, the Leader of theHouse in the North DelhiMunicipal Corporation.

He also said that Mr. Kejri-wal’s announcementmarked a U-turn from theAAP government’s previousstance.

“On one hand, the ChiefSecretary of the governmenttold local bodies to becomemore self-reliant and in-crease property tax collec-tion. In fact, when the gov-ernment released ₹314 croreas grant to the corporations,increasing revenue was oneof the conditions,” said Mr.Pandey.

‘Another false promise’The Opposition Congress,too, hit out against the de-cision. Farhad Suri, theLeader of the Opposition inthe South Delhi MunicipalCorporation, said one of theconditions of the govern-ment for giving MunicipalReform Fund to the corpora-tions was to increase the taxnet. “This is just the latest ina series of false promises bythe AAP. Would Mr. Kejriw-al’s government be so gener-ous towards the corpora-tions if the Congress wins?”asked Mr. Suri.

‘Move to strain already cash-strapped civic bodies’

Damini Nath

NEW DELHI

Lengthy process: Civic oicials said the AAP’s promise of doingaway with house tax would need the intervention both theCentre and the State. * FILE PHOTO: SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

House that, say experts

<> Wehave been

trying to increase

the number of

properties in the

tax net. But, the

AAP is trying to

collapse the system

of self-suicient

local government

Vijay Prakash Pandey

Leader of the House, North DelhiMunicipal Corporation

The Congress termed theAAP’s promise of abolish-ing house tax a gimmick,raising questions about theunfulfilled campaignpromises from the 2015Delhi Assembly elections.Delhi Congress presidentAjay Maken said Mr. Kejri-wal's government had onlymade “tall promises”.

“Where is free WiFi,marshals in DTC buses, 5lakh toilets and other tallpre-poll promises made bythe Aam Aadmi Party? Inthe last two years, the AAPgovernment’s perform-ance in every field, includ-ing fiscal management, has

been dismal”, he said.He added that the AAP,

if it came to power, would“inflict more damage” onDelhiites.

‘Absentee CM’“People of Delhi now seethe true face of Mr. Kejri-wal; he is an absenteeChief Minister. Peoplewant development, notpolitics of freebies,” saidMr. Maken, adding that theCongress’ plan for the mu-nicipal corporations was tomake it self-reliant withintwo years.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJPpresident Manoj Tiwarisaid the promise was“shameful” as his govern-

ment had been “forcing”the BJP-ruled three muni-cipal corporations to“sternly” levy and realisehouse tax.

“Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal is saying onceAAP wins civic elections itwill exempt residentialproperties from house tax.However, during the lasttwo years, his governmenthas written to the threecorporations several timesto levy and realise the taxsternly especially fromthose living in unauthor-ised colonies,” he said. TheLeader of the Opposition,Vijender Gupta, said theAAP “can fall to any lowsto come to power”.

It’s a poll gimmick, says CongStaff Reporter

New Delhi

Bright idea:Scene at the India Gate before and during the Earth Hour. Several prominent buildings in the city put out their lights for 60minutes during Earth Hour(8:30-9:30 p.m.), a global call aimed at raising awareness about climate change. * SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

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Going all out

The AAP on Saturday wroteto the Election Commission,alleging large-scale riggingand tampering of EVMs inPunjab and demanding veri-fication of paper trail.

AAP’s national secretaryPankaj Gupta said his partyanalysed booth-wise votingpattern and reached a con-clusion that electronic vot-ing machines weretampered with.

‘Irrefutable evidence’There is “clear and irrefut-able evidence of manipula-tion of results at pollingbooths” in the Punjab As-sembly polls, he alleged.

“In the interest of justiceand transparency, the AAPhas appealed to the EC thatthe results of all pollingbooths, where voter verifica-

tion paper audit trail hadbeen deployed, be cross-checked with the paper trailso that the cloud loomingover the use of EVMs issettled and the faith of thecommon man in the elect-oral process is restored,” Mr.Gupta said.

He said the initial analysishas shown that at severalbooths, where the AAP hassecured very less number ofvotes, voters in much biggernumber than the total num-ber of votes secured by theparty have come forward,saying they had voted forthe AAP.

“These people are readyto file affidavits to supporttheir claim. These peopleare shocked that their voteshave either not been coun-ted or have been transferredto other parties by EVM tam-pering,” Mr. Gupta said.

Claims manipulation, demands veriication of paper trail


NEW DELHI

AAP writes to poll panel over‘EVM tampering’ in Punjab

Delhi Chief Minister andAam Aadmi Party leaderArvind Kejriwal, who wasscheduled to address arally of party workers inGandhinagar in Gujarat onSunday, has cancelled hisvisit.

“Mr. Kejriwal has can-celled his visit,” said AAP’sGujarat convener KanuKalsaria, a former BJP legis-lator who joined the AAP afew years ago. “We havebeen told that he is busywith the Municipal Corpor-ation of Delhi polls wherenames of candidates arebeing finalised,” Mr.Kalsaria said.

CM cancelsGujarat visit


AHMEDABAD


THE HINDU NOIDA/DELHI

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CMYK

A ND-ND

CITY

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

Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 ● RNI No. TNENG/2012/49939 ● ISSN 0971 - 751X ● Vol. 7 ● No. 12

A final-year B-Tech studentof Amity University diedafter he was run over by aHonda City, which draggedhim for 200ft near NoidaSector 18 on Friday night.

The police said that thevictim has been identified asVivek Kumar (21). Kumarhailed from Mangalagiri inGuntur district of AndhraPradesh and was pursuingengineering from Amity Uni-versity in Sector 125.

Victim with friendsNoida Superintendent of po-lice Dinesh Yadav said thatthe incident happenedaround 11:30 p.m when thevictim was returning homeafter a movie in Sector 18.Passersby raised an alarmand a police team was imme-diately dispatched to thespot. “Vivek suffered severehead injuries. He was rushedto a nearby private hospitalwhere he succumbed to in-juries,” Mr. Yadav said.

The police said that at thetime of the incident the vic-tim was with his friends. Hewas living in a PG accom-modation in Sector 126 inNoida with his friends, the

police added. The driver hasbeen identified as 32-year-old Apoorv, a resident ofSector 66 in Noida whoworks as an engineer in HCLTechnologies.

Reversing vehicleMr. Yadav said the driver wasreversing his vehicle whenhe hit the student. In his at-tempt to escape he alsorammed an SUV anddragged the injured Vivek

nearly 200 feet before beingstopped by the locals. “Wehave arrested the driver anda case has been registeredagainst him,” said the police.The police said that test res-ults did not show any pres-ence of alcohol in the ac-cused’s bloodstream.

However, they said they arelooking into the possibilitythat he was under the influ-ence of some other sub-stance. Kumar’s body hasbeen sent for post-mortemand his parents have beeninformed about theaccident.

Amity student killed aftercar hits, drags him for 200ftIncident happened near Noida Sector 18; victim was on his way back from a ilm

Cut short: (Clockwise fromtop) the damaged car; theaccused Apoorv; deceasedVivek. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Purusharth Aradhak

Noida

In separate cases of moneyseizure, the Delhi Police onSaturday detained four menand claimed to have seizedfrom them over ₹1.25 crorein new currency notes, innorth-east Delhi onSaturday.

Questioned by I-T deptThe Income-Tax depart-ment is questioning the menabout the source of themoney. A senior police of-ficer said the recovery wasmade during a special picketchecking at Machli Farmarea in north-east Delhi’sSeelampur. Policemen at thepicket intercepted a vehicleand on checking found

about ₹50 lakh in cash fromthe two occupants of thevehicle.

“The two men were iden-tified as Jasmeet singh (24),a resident of Paschim Vihar,and the driver Gurmeg.Meanwhile our staff stoppedanother vehicle on receivinginformation and found ₹25lakh cash from the driverwho as later identified asPankaj from Shanti Nagararea. In another case, ₹50lakh and ₹30,000 were re-covered from Arun, a resid-ent of Shahadra. A fewsigned and unsignedcheques were also re-covered from his car. In all,the total seizure was₹1,25,30,000,” said theofficer.

Currency notes worthover ₹1.25 cr seizedNearly all recovered notes are new

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

A 19-year-old plumber waselectrocuted to death innorth-west Delhi's SwaroopNagar area on Saturday.The victim, Subhash, wasworking with a drill on theterrace of a house and it issuspected that it came incontact with a live wire,the police said.

PlumberelectrocutedPTI

New Delhi




CITY

A caretaker of a plastic fact-ory was killed and his sonsuffered burns after a majorfire broke out on the factorypremises in the early hoursof Saturday.

According to the police,there were six workerspresent in the factory at thetime of the fire but barringthe victims — Koski NandanDubey (50) and Niraj Dubey(22) – others were rescued.

Combustible materialA fire department officialsaid the call was made at12:10 a.m. and 35 fire tenderswere pressed into service.“The factory staff memberswere present on the firstfloor. We have not ascer-tained where the fire started.But it spread rapidly as a lot

of combustible substanceswere lying on all three floorsof the building. After the callwas received, a police teamand fire officials visited thespot and rushed the victimsto a nearby hospital,” said asenior police officer.

Son out of dangerKoski Nandan Dubey diedduring treatment while Nirajis said to be out of danger.The fire official added thatthe fire was doused afternearly nine hours of firefighting.

The police added thatsince many of the firetenders went for a water re-fill, it is estimated that waterfrom 80-90 water tanks waspumped in to control thefire.

The police said the casu-alty could have been much

higher had the fire brokenout at any other time of theday as there is limited activ-ity in the factory at night.Dubey is survived by his wifeand two sons. Niraj workedas a labourer in the factory.

Forensic evidenceThe police said that they sus-pect a short circuit led to thefire but considering thatplastic is a petroleum by-product, sometimes hightemperature in the factoryalso causes fire. “We willtake forensic and other ex-perts to the site once it coolsdown,” said the officer,adding that all three floorswere completely gutted.

The police have registereda case under Section 304 A(causing death by negli-gence) against unidentifiedpersons.

Fire at factory kills caretakerVictim’s son sufers burns; police suspect short-circuit to be the cause of blaze

Charred: Fireighters said ittook nine hours to douse thelames. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

A statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkarwas vandalised by unidenti-fied miscreants in Sarfabadvillage in Noida on Fridaynight, triggering tension inthe area.

Residents visiting the parkin the morning found thestatue’s right hand and nosebroken. As the news spread,people from nearby areasalso gathered at the spot andstarted protesting.

Sentiments hurtSoon, senior police and ad-ministration officials reachedthe spot and tried to pacifythe protesters. They coveredthe broken statue, which islocated in a park adjacent tothe indoor stadium. Accord-ing to the residents, someanti-social elements vandal-

ised the statue to disrupt thepeace in the village.

BSP’s Gautam Budh Nagarunit president Lal SinghGautam said, “It appears tobe the work of someone whowants to trigger tension inthe area. We demand a fairprobe and stringent actionagainst those who hurt thepeople’s sentiments by van-dalising the statue,” he said.

The protesters demandedthat the administration re-place the statue, completethe fencing of the park anddeploy a security guard. “Wereached the spot before thepolice and pacified thepeople and asked them notto take the law in theirhands. We have given an ulti-matum to the police and ad-ministration to replace thestatue and ensure safety ofall statues in the district,”Tikam Singh, an Ambedkarfollower, told The Hindu.

Statue to be replacedGautam Budh Nagar DistrictMagistrate N.P. Singh said hehad directed the police to re-place the statue. SP, NoidaCity, Dinesh Yadav confirmedthat the new statue will be in-stalled at the park by Sundaymorning.

Ambedkar’s statuevandalised in Noida villageResidents protest, demand prompt replacement of statue

Purusharth Aradhak

Noida

The defaced statue. *

SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Four students of a privateuniversity here have beenbooked for allegedly rag-ging their junior on thecampus, the police said onSaturday.

The incident is allegedto have taken place onThursday following whichthe student informed hisparents, who complainedto the police on Friday.

Varsity denies claimHowever, the universitymanagement claimed thatthe incident was a fallout ofa personal dispute and notrelated to ragging.

Based on the complainta case has been lodgedagainst the four accusedstudents. The victim saidhe could identify only oneof them. The SHO said in-vestigation in this connec-tion is under way.

4 studentsbooked forraggingPress Trust of India

Noida




CMYK

ND-NDCMYK

A ND-ND

NORTH

To meet its latest com-mitment of paying anunemployment allow-ance and to pay thesalaries and pensionsof the State govern-ment employees, fund-starved Himachal Pra-desh has again soughta loan of ₹700 crorethis week, according toa government notifica-tion of the Finance De-partment.

The governmenthad already taken aloan of similar amounton March 14.

The demand for re-peated loans has beennecessitated becauseof the recent an-nouncement of provid-

ing a stipend to thejobless youth in theelection year by theVirbhadra Singh gov-ernment. There aremore than 8.5 lakh re-gistered unemployedyouth in the State, ac-cording to the Eco-nomic Survey.

8.5 lakh joblessThe Chief Minister dur-ing his Budget estim-ates presentation onMarch 10 had declaredthat all Class 10+2 passunemployed youthwould be given an al-lowance of ₹1000 permonth and the dis-abled youth would begiven ₹1,500 permonth from the monthof April this year. Hehad said that he had

kept a provision of₹150 crore in theBudget.

The State govern-ment had earlier takena loan of ₹1,000 crorein January this year fordevelopmental worksand meeting its in-creasing liabilities. Therequests for the loanhave baffled the Op-position. Earlier loanshave been adjusted inpaying the 3 % DA tothe State employees.The government payesover ₹150 crore everyyear for the DA to theserving employees andthe pensioners.

Himachal has a debtof around ₹42,000crore now with the re-cent count of ₹2400crore.

HP again seeksloan from RBITo pay allowance to jobless, salaries to govt staf

Staff

Correspondent

SHIMLA

1,291 cases registered byACB: MinisterJAIPUR

A total of 1,291 cases were

registered by the ACB of

Rajasthan in last three years,

State Home Minister Gulab

Chand Kataria said on

Saturday. Of these, 803 were

of bribery, 165 of

disproportionate assets and

423 registered against

officials misusing their

official positions. PTI

IN BRIEF

Woman held with heroinnear Nepal borderMOTIHARI (BIHAR)

The SSB on Saturday

recovered 420 gms of heroin

worth ₹2.5 crore from a

woman from Mahadeva

checkpost along the Indo-

Nepal border in East

Champaran district, SSB 47

battalion Commandant

Sonam Cherring said. PTI

j

A week after beingsworn-in as the State’snew Chief Minister,Trivendra Rawat,while reiterating thathe would work to-wards a corruption-free system of gov-ernance, on Saturdaysaid he recommendeda Central Bureau of In-vestigation (CBI) probeinto a ₹240 crore landacquisition and com-pensation scam re-lated to the construc-tion of NH 74 inUttarakhand’s UdhamSingh Nagar district.

An initial probe bythe Kumaon Commis-sioner shows thatbetween 2011 and2016, the State had tobear losses of up to₹240 crore in the dis-tribution of compensa-tion to the peoplewhose land was ac-quired for the con-struction of NH 74.

Since national agen-

cies, including the Na-tional Highways Au-thority of India, arealso involved in thecase, a CBI probewould be recommen-ded in the scam, Mr.Rawat said, addingthat all State enquiriesshall now be stoppedand only the CBIwould probe thematter.

Agricultural landIn the alleged scam,while agricultural landbeing allegedly shownas commercial land toinflate the compensa-tion money by about20 times, and manyfarmers who had to begiven compensationwere excluded, theCommissioner’s reportstated.

“So far, about 18cases have come up,where payment irregu-larities of up to ₹240crore have been repor-ted,” Mr Rawat said.

Rawat for CBI probe

into highway scam

Six govt oicials suspended

Trivendra Singh Rawat being welcomed at StateBJP oice at Dehradun. * VIRENDER SINGH NEGI

Staff Reporter

DEHRADUN




CMYKCMYK

EAST

The Odisha Assembly on Sat-urday unanimously passed aresolution seeking upwardrevision of the minimumsupport price of paddy from₹1470 to ₹2930 per quintal.

After hours of debate, itwas decided that a Housecommittee would be consti-tuted under the chairman-ship of Speaker Niranjan Pu-jari in which all politicalparties would haverepresentations.

House panel to meet PMThe House committee wouldmeet Prime Minister Naren-

dra Modi to submit itsdemand.

Earlier in the day, StateAgriculture Minister PradeepMaharathy moved the resol-ution, stating that the Stategovernment had been re-peatedly demanding ahigher MSP for paddy fromthe central government toensure adequate and fair re-turns for the farmer.

“The MSP fixed by theUnion government is notcommensurate with therising costs of inputs such asseeds, fertiliser, manure, mi-cro nutrient, irrigationcharges and hiring chargesof farm machineries being

incurred by farmers in theState,” Mr. Maharathy said.

As per statistics of theState government, the costof production of per quintalof paddy is ₹2,344.

The minister had pro-posed fixation of MSP at₹2,500 per quintal in theresolution.

Congress demandThe opposition Congress,however, said the MSP at₹2500 per quintal of paddywas too low considering thata farmer spends ₹2344 toproduce a quintal of paddy.

The leader of the Opposi-tion, Narasingha Mishra, had

proposed the MSP at ₹3516,or 150% of the cost of pro-duction. However, the Houseresolved to demand MSP at₹2930 per quintal paddystating that it was an accept-able figure.

Farmers’ suicideThe State Assembly has beenfrequently disrupted overfarmers’ suicide for severaldays. Opposition Congressand BJP members had beendemanding constitution of aHouse committee whichwould probe the reason be-hind the suicides. The rulingBJD had rejected thedemand.

Odisha Assembly passesresolution on paddy MSPSeeks upward revision of price from ₹1,470 to ₹2,930 per quintal

Satyasundar Barik

Bhubaneswar

Three Maoists surrenderin OdishaMALKANGIRI

Three hardcore Maoists,

carrying rewards on their

heads, surrendered on

Saturday before the police in

Malkangiri district.

The three were allegedly

involved in around 30 cases

including murder. - PTI

IN BRIEF

Three killed in Bengalroad accidentBURDWAN

Three persons were killed in a

head on collision between a

bus and their car in West

Bengal’s Burdwan district on

Saturday. The car was on way

to Katwa from Asansol. - PTI

Two stolen newborns, whowere rescued by the Cuttackcity police earlier this monthafter successfully busting a kid-napping racket, were handedover to their respective biolo-gical parents here on Saturday.

The real parents of the babieswere identified after a DNAtest that was held following alocal court order.

“The babies were till datekept under the care of SCBMedical College and Hospital,”informed local ACP SeetaramSatpathy.

Stolen babies handed overto parents after DNA testCorrespondent

CUTTACK

The West Bengal Govern-ment today expressed con-cern against the single en-trance examination for allengineering colleges from2018 and urged the Centreto scrap its proposed move.

State’s Education MinisterPartha Chatterjee said thathe had already sent a letterto the Union HRD MinisterPrakash Javadekar opposingthe Centre’s move to scrapstate engineering entranceexams and pave the way fora central entrance test foradmissions to all engineer-ing colleges.

In his letter, Mr Chatterjeesaid that he had requestedMr Javadekar to reconsider

the decision to begin thesingle entrance exam for allengineering colleges from2018 onward and dismissthe proposal.

Describing the proposedmove as Centre’s intrusioninto State’s jurisdiction, hesaid that this should nothave been done in a federal

structure as the State gov-ernments were not consul-ted before initiating suchmove on an issue which fallsunder Concurrent List.

‘No parity in syllabus’“The West Bengal Joint En-trance Examination Board -the nodal body conductingthe JEE engineering tests inthe State is an establishedagency set up by us. Therehave been no problems inconducting the engineeringexams. Then why does theCentre want to discontinuethis existing system?” theMinister asked.

Mr Chatterjee also saidthat there is no parity in thesyllabus among the variousboards.

‘Move amounts to Centre’s intrusion into State’s jurisdiction’Press trust of India

Kolkata

Bengal EducationMinisterPartha Chatterjee *

Minister urges Centre to scrapsingle engineering entrance test

CMYK

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SOUTH

Suresh Prabhu launchesschemes via video linkHYDERABAD

Union Minister of Railways

Suresh P. Prabhu launched

several projects and new

passenger facilities at various

places across the South

Central Railway limits. He

inaugurated the projects

through remote video-

linkage from Hi-tech City

Railway Station in Hyderabad

on Saturday.

IN BRIEF

Kannur varsity teacherbooked for misconductKANNUR

The Kerala police registered

a case against T.V.

Ramakrishnan, head of the

mathematics department,

Kannur University, following a

complaint of misconduct by

three postgraduate students.

The registrar forwarded the

complaint following the

varsity Syndicate’s decision on

March 14.

‘Agrarian crisis inAnantapur district dire’ANANTAPUR

The Congress on Saturday

accused the A.P. government

of being “heartless and

callous” in its response to the

agrarian crisis in Anantapur

district. Addressing the

one-day ‘Samuhika

Satyagraham’ programme

here, APCC president N.

Raghuveera Reddy came

down heavily on the TDP

government.

Hanumantha Raodetained in HyderabadHYDERABAD

Former Congress MP

V. Hanumantha Rao was on

Saturday detained for

protesting over the FIR

lodged against him for

misbehaving with a

policeman. “This is a

conspiracy against me. I did

not say anything wrong,” Mr.

Rao told the media here. ANI

Parents of software engineerN. Sasikala, who was foundmurdered along with her sonin New Jersey, U.S., pro-duced emails on Saturday tosubstantiate their allegationthat their son-in-law N.Hanumantha Rao was be-hind the crime. The motivewas to “continue his affairwith his colleague,” theyalleged.

Sasikala and her seven-year-old son were founddead in a pool of blood intheir apartment in MapleShade on Thursday.

‘Daughter harassed’In what they said was “solidevidence” that establishedan affair between Mr. Hanu-mantha Rao and a colleague,Sasikala’s father S. Ven-kateswara Rao, mother S.Krishna Kumari, familymembers and their advoc-ates presented before the

media screenshots of pur-ported conversationsbetween the two.

Ms. Kumari said there wasevidence to show that Mr.Hanumantha Rao had beenhaving an affair with a col-league who worked as amanager. Since 2012, theyhad been having an affair

and “from then, our daugh-ter was subjected to harass-ment,” the retired schoolteacher alleged.

“A year after giving birthto Anish, she (Sasikala) cameto know about the affair. Mydaughter strongly believedthat he (Mr. HanumanthaRao) would heed his moth-

er’s advice and change. Sheeven booked a ticket for herto the U.S. hoping that shewould help her out of thesituation. Unfortunately, shesupported her son and askedmy daughter to adjust,” Mrs.Kumari alleged.

Appeals to govt.“We have emails showinghow he was harassing ourdaughter since 2014,” shesaid, and added that Sasikalahad sent mails to her brotherVijay Bhaskar with attach-ments of screenshots of pur-ported text conversationsbetween Mr. HanumanthaRao and his colleague.

“None of Sasikala’s in-lawshas called us so far to give usinformation or console usafter the murder of ourdaughter and grandson,”said the slain techie’s father.

Vijayawada Mayor KoneruSridhar visited Mr. Ven-kateswara Rao's house andconsoled the family.

‘Son-in-law behindmurder’We have solid evidence of his afair with colleague, allege slain A.P. techie’s parents

Huge loss: VijayawadaMayor Koneru Sridhar (right) withSasikala’s parents in Vijayawada. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Tharun Boda

VIJAYAWADA

The risky ritual of Sidi washeld as part of the annualUdusalamma festival at Hari-harapura in the Holenar-sipur taluk on Saturday, des-pite opposition by a fewpro-Dalit organisations.

The Hassan district ad-ministration’s attempt topersuade people againstparticipating in the ritualfailed.

Walking on fireFour Dalit men of Chakena-halli got metal hooks inser-ted in their bodies beforetaking part in the Sidi.

Many women from allcastes, locked up theirmouths with metal hooks totake part in the processionof the deity, held as part ofthe festival. They all parti-cipated in the fire-walking

ritual in front of the Udus-alamma temple.

The religious events,which started at dawn, cul-minated with the Sidi, inwhich Dalit men are tied to awooden pole. They do manyrounds as the pole is rotatedat the other end. More than

10 men took part in theritual. The district adminis-tration had deployed policeat Hariharapura and in theneighbouring villages, asthere were reports that pro-Dalit organisations wouldstage a protest opposing therisky ritual.

Government’s eforts to persuade people against it fail

Sathish G.T.

Hariharapura

Risky feat: Aman performing Sidi at Hariharapura in Hassan onSaturday. * PRAKASH HASSAN

Row notwithstanding,Sidi ritual held in Hassan

The girl would suddenly fallasleep, even while standingor sitting on a sofa oranywhere. She once evenslept for five days at astretch.

It was impossible to wakeher up even after an hour ortwo, when one wouldassume she had got enoughsleep.

Parents of the child, Liya,who was four years old,were left dazed by what theylearnt. She was having ‘sleepattacks’ that left her in deepsleep for hours, with somebouts lasting between 10-12hours and even five days.

“In a desperate momentwe tried shining a torch intoher eyes”, said Linu Denny,

her mother. Nothing wouldwake her up; it wasfrightening, she said.

The trips to hospitalsstarted with the sleep attacksthat began in October lastyear.

“What I found was thatshe was tremendously

hungry before the attacks”,said Linu. “Hungry, irritableand crying.”

The doctors found highblood pressure and evenhigh blood sugar in thechild, but the heart rate waslow, the mother said.

Liya’s developmentalparameters did not follow anormal timeline. She haddelayed speech and showedcertain autistic features.Linu and her husbandDenny Anthikkadan, a ricemill worker in Kanjoor,Kalady, had sought helpearlier. She started speakingonly when she turned three.

Eight ‘attacks’ so farThe girl has had eight sleepattacks since October. Shewas treated also for non-

convulsive epileptic attacksearlier, and it was duringone such episode that shewas found to be bleedingfrom nose and mouth. TheESI hospital that wassending them to referralcentres then sent her toAster Medcity.

Dr. Akbar MohammedChettali, paediatricneurologist treating thechild, said it was a rare caseof a sleeping disorder calledKleine-Levin syndrome or‘Sleeping Beauty’ syndrome.It is a rare neurologicaldisorder with only aroundone or two cases per million,he said.

A neuropsychiatricdisorder, it had earlier beenfound in a few cases in smallchildren who had autistic

features. But no studies havelinked it with autism, headded.

A study was done usingPolysomnography: recordingbrain waves, the oxygenlevel in blood, heart rate andbreathing as well as eye andleg movements to diagnosesleep disorders.Consultations with otherspecialities followed,indicating prolonged REM(rapid eye movement, deep)sleep. Investigations throughclinical criteria anddiagnosis through exclusionpointed to Kleine-Levinsyndrome, said Dr. Chettali.The child has responded totreatment.

The sleep attacks areexpected to come down withage, the doctor said.

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4-year-old’s sleep problem is parents’ nightmareRare ‘Sleeping Beauty’ syndrome afects Kerala girl who once slept for ive days at a stretch

Liya with her mother LinuDenny. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Shyama Rajagopal

Kochi

In a dastardly act, maskedmen sprayed a sedative, ab-ducted a 22-year-old womanfrom her house in the Hala-harvi mandal headquartersof Kurnool district and al-legedly raped her.

They dumped the uncon-scious woman with herhands and legs tied, andmouth gagged, in the fore-court of her house in theearly hours of Saturday.

Severely beaten upA group of persons withfaces covered allegedlybarged into the woman’shouse after switching off theelectrical main outside,sprayed a sedative, abducted

her and severely beat her upin the early hours of Sat-urday, Adoni DSP KolliSrinivasa Rao said. A casehad been booked, he added.

The victim’s husband toldthe media in the Kurnoolgeneral hospital that hisnephew who had gone to alate night film at Adoni, re-turned around 2.30 a.m. andfound the bleeding womanlying in the forecourt andalerted the family membersand relatives. She wasrushed to the hospital in Ad-oni, 36 km away. Alur circleinspector Ghouse and staffvisited the hospital and in-quired about the incident.Doctors referred the womanto the Kurnool general hos-pital, he told the media.

Woman abducted inKurnool, rape suspected

Dumped at her house after the incident


KURNOOL

CMYK

A ND-ND




NATION

Ram JethmalanihospitalisedKOCHI

Rajya Sabha member and

well-known lawyer Ram

Jethmalani was admitted to a

private hospital in Kochi on

Saturday after he complained

of tiredness. He was in Kochi

for a felicitation meeting.

Hospital sources said his

condition was stable. He was

in the ICU for observation.

IN BRIEF

Man kills daughter,honour killing suspectedRAMPUR

In a suspected case of honour

killing, a man allegedly

strangulated his 16-year-old

daughter to death and then

burnt her body at Hasanpur

North village here, as he was

against her relationship with a

boy, the police said on

Saturday. PTI

Elephant census beginsin Assam’s KazirangaGUWAHATI

The Assam forest department

on Saturday started its

four-day census of elephants

in the Kaziranga National

Park. The number of

elephants was 1,165 during

the last census in 2012,

according to Kaziranga Park

director Satyendra Singh. IANS

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)national president AmitShah urged thousands ofparty cadre to “uproot” theAam Aadmi Party (AAP) andto increasingly strive to-wards “replacing with saf-fron” the sole remaining“white spot” that currentlycharacterises the Capital onthe political map of northernIndia at a workers’ conven-tion here on Saturday.

Formally setting thewheels in motion for theparty’s campaign for the up-coming civic polls with con-vention events similar to thatwhich preceded the BJP’scampaigns in the recently-concluded Assembly elec-tions in five States, Mr. Shahtook the opportunity atRamlila Maidan to open adirect front against ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal andthe incumbent AAP Delhigovernment on issues ran-ging from corruption to itsalleged failure at deliveringon manifesto promises aftercoming to power.

‘Failed to keep promises’Direct comparisons betweenthe Prime Minister NarendraModi government at theCentre — including the ‘sur-gical strike’ in Pakistan —

and that of Mr. Kejriwal’s atDelhi found multiple men-tions in Mr. Shah’s 24-minute-long address to anestimated 65,000 booth-level workers.

These were in line withthe party’s strategy to pro-ject the civic polls as a battlebetween what the BJP pres-ident termed were Mr.Modi’s “corruption-free andpro-poor” policies and over-all image versus the “inher-

ent corruption and failure todeliver on promises” of thelatter.

Union Minister andformer party president M.Venkaiah Naidu, BJP’s na-tional organisation generalsecretary Ramlal, UnionMinisters Dr. Harsh Vardhanand Vijay Goel, were also inattendance.

“I have been asked manytimes the secret to the spec-tacular success of the party

in five State elections re-cently. There are manyfactors like the work of Modi-ji‘s government, his person-ality, his popularity, his pro-poor policies and the love ofthe people for the country.But I believe the biggest andmost important factor is theBJP activist fighting at thebooth level,” he said.

“In all these States, thecampaign began with con-ventions like this one and theresult is the spectacular winthat the party has secured,”he further said.

Stepping stonePointing to a map of Indianear the stage, Mr. Shah saidthat while the country wasbeing painted in “saffron”,Delhi continues to remain a“white spot”, and he askedparty workers to ensure theBJP’s victory in the civicpolls.

“After 2014, the BJP haswon nearly everywhere, ex-cept Delhi and Bihar. Today,BJP workers will go back witha resolve to plug the gaps sothat the BJP’s victory flag isunfurled in the national cap-ital,” the BJP chief said,adding that a victory in theMunicipal Corporation ofDelhi (MCD) polls guaran-teed a victory in the Delhi As-sembly elections.

Uproot AAP, Shah tells cadreBJP chief sets the wheels in motion for party’s campaign in Delhi civic polls

Direct challenge: Amit Shah in ameeting at the RamlilaMaidan, NewDelhi, on Saturday. He is lanked byM. VenkaiahNaidu and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari. * SANDEEP SAXENA

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

Colossal loss: A ire broke out at the ordnance factory in Khamaria, Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, on Saturday, setting of aseries of explosions. There were no casualties as all workers had already left for home. The ire was doused after three hours. * PTI


Up in lames

A day after a forest workerwas allegedly killed by thesand mafia for attemptingto prevent illegally minedsand from being smuggledin Uttarakhand’s Ramnagararea, the police on Sat-urday arrested one personin connection with thecase.

On Friday night, whenPahalwan Singh, a BeatWatcher in the forest de-partment, was chasing atractor trolley that wassmuggling mined sandfrom Kosi river, he wascrushed to death by thetrolley in the Jwala forestarea river, Nainital SeniorSuperintendent of Police(SSP) Janmejay Khandurisaid.

Jaswant, the tractor-trol-ley driver, has been arres-ted by the police.

Sandmaiakills forester,one arrestedStaff Reporter

Dehradun

A large number of people inSouth Asian countries fa-vour a role for religiousleaders as against politiciansin major decision-making intheir country, at a timewhen all the countries in theregion have democratically-elected governments.

According to a reporttitled ‘State of Democracy inSouth Asia’, while inPakistan more than half therespondents favoured theinvolvement of religiousleaders in place of politi-cians in crucial decision-making, over one-third tookthis stand in Sri Lanka, andaround one-fourth en-dorsed this position inNepal, Bangladesh and In-dia.

The survey report, whichenumerates the opinions of18,576 citizens in India,Nepal, Bangladesh,Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, hasbeen brought out under theaegis of the Global Baro-meter Survey and conduc-ted by Lokniti, Centre forthe Study of Developing So-cieties, New Delhi, and JainUniversity, Bengaluru.

The support for a role forreligious leaders in highestamong the Muslims across

countries of the region, saysthe report.

“It can be a matter of de-bate whether this repres-ents a lack of faith in thepolitical class or a positiveendorsement of religiousleaders,” said the recently-released study.

In Pakistan, minoritiessuch as Hindus and Christi-ans favour a role for the reli-gious leaders. In Sri Lanka,the support for a role in de-cision-making for religiousleaders was not just amongthe Sinhala Buddhists andMuslims but also among theChristians and Hindus.

Rising polarisationThe report said, “Supportfor religious leaders reflectsis not so much a vote of con-fidence in their credentialsbut a clear frustration withthe political class. The in-creased religious polarisa-tion that societies in coun-tries of South Asia werewitnessing in the recent pastmight have also contributedto this unconscious asser-tion of faith in the capacitiesof religious leaders.”

In fact, “it is a rare mo-ment in South Asia todaywhen all the countries in theregion have democraticallyelected governments.”

People see larger rolefor religious leadersCitizens upset with politicians: report

Nagesh Prabhu

BENGALURU

An officer of the Border Se-curity Force, who lost hiseyesight in a counter-insur-gency operation, had an un-usual guest on Saturday inHome Minister RajnathSingh. Mr. Singh visited theofficer when he had gone toTekanpur to visit the BSFacademy to attend a passingout ceremony of jawans.

Mr. Singh decided to meetthe family of Assistant Com-mandant Sandip Mishrawhen he was told about himby officials. Mr. Singh wastold that Indrakshi marriedMr. Mishra four years afterhe lost his eyesight in 2000while fighting insurgents in

Assam. “Met the family ofBSF Assistant CommandantSandip Mishra who lost hiseyesight during an ambush.

It is their love for the countrywhich binds Sandip and In-drakshi together,” Mr. Singhsaid on Twitter.

BSF oicer plays host to VIP guestRajnath visits house of Assistant Commandant who lost his eyesight in action


New Delhi

Matter of honour: Rajnath Singh with BSF oicer SandipMishra in Tekanpur, Madhya Pradesh. * PTI/ TWITTER

Tanushree Pareek has be-come the first woman com-bat officer to be commis-sioned in the 51-yearhistory of the Border Se-curity Force. Ms. Pareek(25) led the passing outparade of 67 officers thatwas reviewed by HomeMinister Rajnath Singh atthe BSF camp at Tekanpuron Saturday. A resident ofBikaner, Ms. Pareek will beposted along the Indo-Pak.border in Punjab.

First woman

combat oicer


Gwalior

In a video footage goneviral, nearly a dozen HomeGuard jawans from Ra-jasthan have accused thedepartment officials of giv-ing them work only aftertaking cash and havethreatened to commit sui-cide if their issues are notresolved. They have alsoappealed to the Union andthe State governments toresolve their grievances byMarch 31, failing which,they said, they would com-mit suicide.

JawansthreatensuicidePress Trust of India

Bikaner

For the first time, theRashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) is all set to cel-ebrate Ram Navami on April6 across West Bengal with amassive show of strength.Speaking to The Hindu, RSSsources said the move is to“uphold Hindutva” inBengal.

Meanwhile, Chief Minis-ter Mamata Banerjee has

called a meeting of the Trin-amool Congress’ core com-mittee on April 1, aimed atformulating a strategy tocombat the RSS and BJP.

The RSS has planned “sixmega rallies” in Kolkata andat least 175 across the State,Sangh officials said.

In Kolkata, rallies will betaken out in Khidderpur,Burrabazar, Baranagar,Hastings and Brace Bridgeareas. The rallies are not be-

ing organised directly un-der the banner of RSS butby affiliated committees —the Ramnavami UdyaponSamity and Shree ShreeRam Navami Utsav Samity.

On the Trinamool meet-ing, a senior leader toldThe Hindu, “Among otherthings, we will discuss howto counter RSS and BJP inthe State, as neither theCPI(M) nor the Congress iskeen to resist the BJP.”

RSS plans ‘Ram Navami’ rallies in BengalStaff reporter

Kolkata

Days after the TrinamoolCongress was representedin the Supreme Court bytop Congress leaders andlawyers, Kapil Sibal andAbhishek Manu Singhvi,the Bengal Congress hasdecided to boycott them.Bengal Congress presidentAdhir Ranjan Chowdhurysaid that they will not in-vite the two Central leadersto any future programmesof the State unit.

“Mr. Sibal has told usthat he appeared as theTMC government’s counselas a professional lawyerbut we have decided not toinvite him and Mr. Singhvito any programme of theState Congress,” said Mr.Chowdhury. The Congressleaders represented theTMC-led government in theNarada cash-on-cameracase in the Supreme Court,challenging the CalcuttaHigh Court’s decision of aCBI probe.

Questioning Chief Minis-ter Mamata Banerjee’scredibility, Mr. Chowdhurysaid that if the CM is “reallyhonest” then she shouldhave asked the ministersand MPs who were pur-portedly seen takingmoney in the Narada videofootage to step down.

Bengal Congto boycottSibal, SinghviStaff Reporter

KOLKATA

CMYK

A ND-ND




NEWS


On the draw keshav

The BJP will hold its next na-tional executive meet inBhubaneswar between April15 and 16, Petroleum Minis-ter Dharmendra Pradhan an-nounced on Saturday.

The venue was arrived atafter considering Shimla andLucknow, the capitals ofStates where polls are due orwhere the party has postedvictory.

What swung matters in fa-vour of Bhubaneswar wasthe success of the BJP in thelocal body polls concludedlast month in Odisha. TheBJP came in a strong secondin most local bodies, pippingthe Biju Janata Dal’s tradi-tional challenger, the Con-gress.

Although the ruling BJDmanaged to remain ahead ofothers in the rural polls, theBJP won 297 as against 36seats in 2012 and the Con-gress finished third with 60

seats as against 128 in thelast elections. The meetingwill be held to thank thepeople of Odisha for theirunprecedented support tothe BJP in the panchayat

Fourth timeThis is the fourth time theBJP will hold an executivemeet in Odisha, after meet-ings in 1982, 1992, and 1997.Another, deeper strategicreason is the fact that BJPpresident Amit Shah lastyear had unveiled a plan forexpanding the reach of theBJP in non-traditional areas.

“About 113 seats had beenidentified in States likeOdisha, Andhra Pradesh,West Bengal, where the BJPdoes not have a big presencebut did well in the 2014 Gen-eral Elections. State unitchiefs and nationalprabharis [in charge] ofthese States were then toldto mobilise workers in thoseareas,” said a senior office-

bearer of the BJP.In the national executive

held in January this year,full-time workers have beenassigned for these areas.

“In 2019, we need to im-prove our performance inareas where we came a de-cent second or even gotmore than the votes re-quired to retain a deposit,”said the general secretary incharge of one of theseStates. After the RSS, in itsannual pratinidhi sabha,launched a frontal attack onWest Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee as fuelling“Jihadi” groups, it seems theparty is determined to fol-low the Sangh’s “Look Eastpolicy.”

BJP Odisha unit presidentBasanta Panda said the na-tional executive would en-courage party workers toprepare themselves for the2019 general elections.

(With Prafulla Das inBhubaneswar)

BJP to hold nationalexecutive meet in OdishaFocus on State after party’s success in local body polls

Nistula Hebbar

NEW DELHI

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP), reiterating its de-mand for a new law for theconstruction of a Ramtemple in Ayodhya, has putthe onus of that move en-tirely on Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi and the BJP-ledgovernments at the Centreand Uttar Pradesh.

Upping the ante on its de-mand, the VHP will convenea meeting of saints in Harid-war between May 31 andJune 2 with the sole agendaof discussing the templeissue.

“We will be calling ameeting of sants in Harid-war in June, but no DharmaSansad [the original con-gress of saints that firstpassed a resolution for aRam Temple in Ayodhya in1984] will again discuss theissue till we can see the be-ginning of the constructionprocess,” said VHP presid-ent Praveen Togadia.

He said VHP workerswould raise the demand forthe construction of thetemple in 5,000 placesacross the country betweenApril 1 and 16 during nation-wide Ram Mahostsavcelebrations.

Constitutional route“We want a Constitutionalroute to temple construc-tion, which can only bedone through the three ‘P’s— the Prime Minister, Parlia-ment and the people,” Mr.Togadia said.

He added that the tem-plate for the construction ofthe temple would be basedon the reconstruction of theSomnath Temple after inde-pendence. “The statementsand conversations that wenton between Sardar Patel,Babu Rajendra Prasad andK.M. Munshi is instructive inthis regard,” he said.

Last week the SupremeCourt had suggested an out-of-court settlement to thedispute between the parties

involved. While the BJP hadwelcomed the move, theVHP had released a state-ment sticking to its demandfor a law that would enablethe construction of a RamTemple in Ayodhya.

Palampur resolutionOn Saturday, Mr. Togadia re-fused to make any personalcomments on Prime Minis-ter Modi or Uttar PradeshChief Minister YogiAdityanath.

Instead he frequently in-voked the BJP’s Palampurresolution of 1986, when theparty had decided to sup-port the Ram Janmabhoomimovement, the fact that theissue has appeared in everyBJP manifesto for the Centreand U.P. since and the roleof Yogi Adityanath’s guru,Mahant Avaidyanath, whowas at the helm of themovement.

“The BJP passed this res-olution two years after theDharma Sansad held its firstmeeting at Vigyan Bhawanin New Delhi. And it hasbeen mentioned in everyBJP manifesto after the 1986Palampur resolution. Wehope that Prime MinisterModi, and the BJP will re-member their resolve,” hesaid. “Mahant Avaidyanath,Ramkrishna Paramhans (ofthe Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas)and Ashok Singhalji all de-parted the world withoutseeing the temple, we hopePrime Minister Modi andChief Minister of Uttar Pra-desh, Yogi Adityanath willmake it possible,” he added.

They are PM, Parliament and peopleSpecial Correspondent

New Delhi

Praveen Togadia

VHP insists on3 ‘P’s for temple

The official said that the po-lice officer had not knowntill then that they hadplanted the explosives, andgot to know about it onlywhen one of them, Atif Muz-affar, sent him a photographan hour later. They were onway to Allahabad when theywere caught at Pipariya, andfrom there they planned toreach Lucknow.

On March 9, Madhya Pra-desh Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan said AtifMuzaffar of Kanpur was the“mastermind of the attack”and the accused belonged toIS. “They clicked the photoof the bomb and sent it totheir handler in Syria. Oneof them is a mechanic andthey learnt the preparationof the bomb through Inter-net,” Mr. Chouhan had tolda news agency.

Coordinated operation“It was at this time that thepolice officer alerted otheragencies and a coordinatedoperation was launched tonab them. He was still trail-ing them and it was he whogave the exact location ofthe men when they were ar-rested at Pipariya,” said theofficial.

The same day, the M.P.police released a video foot-age to the media, where thetwo accused were seenalighting from a bus near atoll plaza. The video ap-pears to have been shot by

someone who was keeping awatch on them from a dis-tance. At one point, the per-son shooting the video evenasks a person who comes infront of his camera to moveaway. A Home Ministry offi-cial said the blast could havebeen averted had theTelengana police officeralerted the U.P. police whenthe accused were procuringweapons and explosives.Eight pistols, gun powderand shrapnel were re-covered from the housewhere Saifullah was killed.

“At best, we could de-scribe them as an IS-in-spired group, but with nodirect connection with any-one in Syria. MohammadGhaus Khan, a former IAFemployee was their ideo-logue,” said the official.

After initially claiming theaccused belonged to theKhorasan wing of the IS, theU.P. police retracted theirstatement and said the ac-cused were “self pro-claimed” members of theterrorist group.

In his statement to theLok Sabha, Home MinisterRajnath Singh said: “MP Po-lice coordinated with Cent-ral agencies for the investig-ation. Subsequently, basedon available intelligence,three suspects were takeninto custody by M.P. Policeduring vehicle checking atPipariya in districtHoshangabad.”

How a cop iniltratedU.P. terror group

FROM PAGE ONE

The court had, among oth-ers, examined RajatSharma, chairman and ed-itor-in-chief of India TV, as awitness in support of Mr.Jaitley.

He said he was very dis-turbed about the reputationof the complainant (Mr. Jait-ley) when I saw the allega-tions by the accused per-sons that ₹57 crore had beensiphoned off during his ten-ure as DDCA president.

Mr. Jaitley had said in hisevidence that he did not re-ceive a single rupee fromthe DDCA on any accountduring his presidential termbetween 1999 and 1913.

“Between December 1999and December 2013, I wasthe president of DDCA. I dis-charged my functions law-fully and with utmost integ-rity. During my tenure Ihave not received directly orindirectly a single rupeefrom the DDCA on any ac-

count whatsoever. I havenot even charged anyamount towards expendit-ure,” Mr. Jaitley had said inhis evidence.

Mr. Jaitley has sought pro-secution of Mr. Kejriwal andthe five AAP leaders for al-legedly defaming him andhis family by accusing himof taking illegal pecuniarybenefits from the DDCAwhen he was heading it.

Charges framedagainst Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal

While Mr. Modi cancelledhis visit to Male in 2015 overopposition protests, bothExternal Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj and ForeignSecretary S. Jaishankar havevisited the island nation andPresident Yameen visited In-dia in April 2016.

In a major developmentthat could spell trouble forPresident Yameen, the fourleaders signed a joint declar-ation on Friday, “agreeing touse their representation inparliament and in the polit-ical sphere to achieve thecommon objectives.” Al-though he and Mr. Nasheed,the MDP opposition leader,who was jailed twenty timesduring Mr. Gayoom’s term,decided to join forces somemonths ago, this is the first

time they have spelt outtheir plans.

Mr. Nasheed said their“first step” would be tobring a no-confidence mo-tion to impeach the Speakerand the Deputy Speaker ofthe Majlis. “With the four ofus joining together wewould have a parliamentarymajority, and we should beable to do this soon,” hesaid.

The Majlis is expected totake up the proceedingsagainst the speakers onMonday, when the strengthof the ruling PPM party willbe tested.

At present, Mr. Nasheedhas 21 members, while theJumhooree and Adaalathparties have 8, in the 85-member Majlis.

Four Maldivianarch-rivals join forces

Asserting that there will beno appeasement of anyone,Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath on Saturdaypromised development forall without any discrimina-tion on the basis of caste, re-ligion or gender.

Mr. Adityanath also toldBJP cadres and supportersnot to be “overzealous” incelebrating the party’s his-toric poll victory and not totake the law into their handsas it could provide “anarch-ist” forces a chance to dis-turb law and order.

He stated that the policehad been instructed not toharass innocent couples, adirection that comes amidcomplaints that the “anti-romeo” squads, meant totarget eve-teasers, weretroubling even the boys seenwith their female friends.

Bhavan for yatrisThe Chief Minister an-nounced that those under-taking the annual KailashMansarovar Yatra will be

given ₹1 lakh each by theState government and aKailash Bhavan will be con-structed for them in Noida orGhaziabad.

On his first visit to his LokSabha constituency Gorakh-pur after becoming the ChiefMinister, Mr. Adityanath saidhe intended to usher in de-velopment and progress of

all sections of the State as en-visaged by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and BJP chiefAmit Shah.

“There would be no dis-crimination on the basis ofcaste, religion or gender.There will be developmentof all. But there will not beany appeasement of any sec-tion,” he said.

Mr. Adityanath, who tookover as the Chief Ministerlast Sunday, talked about hispriorities including thesafety of women, opportun-ities for youth and supportfor farmers and labour.

He said that there wouldbe no place for ‘goonda raj’and corruption under hisrule.

This comes against thebackdrop of complaints thatthese squads were targetingeven the innocent boys.

Referring to the crack-down on illegal slaughter-houses, Mr. Adityanath saidhis government would fulfillthe promises made in theBJP’s manifesto before theelections.

With regard to the welfareof the farming community,he said a team of two minis-ters and some officials hasgone to Chattisgarh to studytheir system which is “veryefficient“.

Pothole deadlineThe Chief Minister directedofficials of the Public WorksDepartment (PWD) to makeall State roads pothole freeby June 15. He also asked theofficials to complete allworks and projects withinthe prescribed time frame ona priority basis.

The Chief Minister askedfor adoption of e-tenderingto make the system moretransparent and corruptionfree.

No appeasement, says AdityanathHis priorities include safety of women, opportunities for youth and support for farmers

Themahant returns:Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during his irst visit toGorakhpur as Chief Minister on Saturday. * PTI


Gorakhpur

Former Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Akhilesh Yadav onSaturday accused the YogiAdityanath government oftargeting police officers of a“particular caste”, after IPSofficer Himanshu Kumar wassuspended for“indiscipline”.

Mr. Kumar was recently innews for his controversialtweets accusing senior policeofficers of targeting subor-dinates of a particular caste.“Only policemen of one par-ticular caste are being sus-pended and transferred andeverybody knows about it,”Mr. Yadav said during an in-teraction with the press

ahead of the SamajwadiParty’s national executivemeet.

The Samajwadi Party,which Mr. Yadav heads, hasalso been accused by polit-ical opponents in the past ofworking in the interest of a

particular caste. Earlier, aHome Department spokes-man said, “IPS officer of the2010 batch, Himanshu Ku-mar has been suspended forindiscipline.” ThoughMr. Ku-mar’s tweet of March 22 thatstirred controversy in theState has since been deleted,its screenshot is still doingthe rounds. The deletedtweet said: “There is now arush among senior officers tosuspend/send to reservelines all police personnelwho have ‘Yadav’ surname.”

In the name of casteIn another tweet, Mr. Kumarsaid, “Why DGP office for-cing officers to punishpeople in the name of

caste?” Later, Mr. Kumar putout another tweet saying,“Some people have misun-derstood my tweet. I supportthe initiative of the govern-ment.”

After his suspension, Mr.Kumar tweeted: “Truthalone triumphs.”

The suspended officer wasattached with the DirectorGeneral of Police’s office inLucknow, where he hadbeen posted by the ElectionCommission. He was earlierposted as the Superintend-ent of Police in Mainpuri andFirozabad, which are knownSP bastions.

The IPS officer was in thenews last July for filing a caseagainst his estranged wife.

Akhilesh alleges casteism in govt.U.P. administration targeting police oicers of ‘particular caste’, says former CMPress Trust of India

Lucknow

Akhilesh Yadav

Samajwadi Party patriarchMulayam Singh and seniorleader Azam Khan on Sat-urday gave the party’s na-tional executive meeting amiss. The meeting, heldhere, was presided over byformer Chief Minister andSP leader Akhilesh Yadav.

Mr. Yadav took over asthe party’s national presid-ent on January 1 after a bit-ter split.

Mr. Singh is a member ofthe body in his capacity asformer national presidentand the party’s patron,while Mr. Khan is a mem-ber as he is the party’s na-tional general secretary.

Mulayam,Azam skipSPmeetingPress Trust of India

Lucknow

However, according to rail-way staff, the constant pres-ence of media persons atevery station caused a dis-turbance to fellow passen-gers who soon began com-plaining.

Passengers from adjoin-ing compartments also com-plained of media harass-ment. A passenger whodidn’t want to be quotedand was in the same com-partment said, “This is justnot done. Just because weare travelling with someleader, we have to face somany disturbances. We are

common people and needpeace. I also tweeted andalso put it on other socialnetworking sites about theruckus that was created lastnight.”

Interestingly, the passen-ger also said Mr. Gaikwadwas seen requesting the me-dia to be left alone. “Themedia people with theircameras even came insideand argued with him also,”the passenger added. Appar-ently, according to the pas-sengers and railway staff onboard, Mr Gaikwad couldn’tbe seen after Vapi station.

Sena MP leaves trainto Mumbai midway

The Examining Committeeof the Central Board ofFilm Certification (CBFC)has asked producer-dir-ector Dakxin Bajrange tocut the phrase “Mann kiBaat” from a dialogue inhis upcoming film, Sameer,on the 2008 Ahmedabadblasts. CBFC ChairmanPahlaj Nihalani told thefilmmaker that this couldbe seen as a reference tothe Prime Minister’s radiotalk show.

In a letter dated March16, which The Hindu has ac-cessed, the CBFC has de-manded that the BJP flagbe removed from the back-ground of one of thescenes, curse words be cutout, and post-blast scenesshowing dead persons withnails and glass pieces ontheir face and skin behalved.

After compliance, theboard has agreed to issuean ‘A’ certificate for thefilm.

CBFC hurdlefor releaseof Sameer

Vidya Venkat

Chennai

A case has been lodgedagainst a youth here for hisalleged objectionable poston Facebook against UttarPradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath and Hindureligion.

On the complaint of oneAkshit Agarwal, an FIR waslodged against ShahzadAkram on Friday underSection 153 A (promotingenmity between groups)and 504 (intentional insultwith intent to provokebreach of peace) of the IPCand IT Act, the police said.

Mr. Agarwal had allegedthat Mr. Akram had postedsome objectionable mater-ial against the Chief Minis-ter and the Hindu religionwhich hurt the sentimentsof Hindus, he said.

Youthbooked forFB postPress Trust of India

Sambhal

Muzaffarnagar riots ac-cused minister SureshRana has said that thecases against “innocentpeople” in connection withthe 2013 violence in thedistrict and its neighbour-ing places would be with-drawn by the Aditya NathYogi government after aninquiry.

Rana himself had beenarrested for allegedly mak-ing provocative speeches inthe 2013 riots and hadbeen booked under the Na-tional Security Act.

At least 62 people werekilled and more than50,000 displaced in thecommunal clashes in Muz-affarnagar and its neigh-bouring districts in 2013.He also said the govern-ment would ensure im-provement in the law andorder to prevent a “repeat”of the alleged Kairana massexodus.

Riot casesmay go:MinisterPress Trust of India

Muzaffarnagar

CMYK

A ND-ND




NEWS

The Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba, in a wide-ranging interview with The Hindu, clarifies that the Navy hasonly taken a purely technical decision in turning down the navalversion of the light combat aircraft developed by the DRDO des-pite its strong commitment to indigenisation. He highlights theneed to step up training facilities to meet personnel shortageand the Navy’s strong ‘Act East’ focus.

All along, the Navy hadplaced thrust onindigenisation of assets,but is now facing flak forturning down the home-grown fighter LCANavy,which is being read as aretreat from the earliercommitment.

We are the pioneers of indi-genisation, which we startedin the 1960s and haveworked shoulder-to-shoulderwith the DRDO, whose navallabs also have naval person-nel. As for the LCA (lightcombat aircraft Tejas) pro-gramme, the Navy was thefirst service to support theADA (the Aeronautical Devel-opment Agency) in its devel-opment and the Air Forcecame on board at a laterdate. What the Navy wants isa deck-based fighter, but theLCA Navy Mk1 doesn’t meetthat requirement. Its power-to-weight ratio, the thrust theengine generates [are insuffi-cient] and it’s underpoweredfor the airframe. Unfortu-nately, even the Mk2 variantdoesn’t qualify. That’s whywe took this case up to theDefence Ministry.

A good 25% of the finan-cial support for the project

comes from the Navy. As andwhen the ADA produces afighter that can operate fromthe deck of an aircraft car-rier, we will be more thanwilling to acquire it and fly it.The LCA Navy was supposedto be flying off from [the air-craft carrier] Vikramaditya.The second carrier, Vikrant,should be sailing in 2019. Sowe want a deck-based fightertoday. The timelines that theADA promised to generateone was over a decade ago.We are looking at a period ofat least a decade for the ADAto produce a deck-basedfighter. In the meantime, theMinistry has allowed us to goahead and look for a fighterthat meets our requirementsfollowing which we issued anRFI.

Timelines have slipped forthe under-construction,maiden indigenouscarrier Vikrant thanks inpart also to delay indelivery of aviationequipment fromRussia.Also, what is the latest onthe third carrier?

There have been some delaysin the delivery of equipmentfor the aviation complex

from Russia. We are hopefulthat Vikrant will start goingto trials in 2019.

As for the IAC-II [secondindigenous aircraft carrier],we are taking up the casewith the Ministry for whichwe will get an approvalsooner than later. We arelooking at a CATOBAR air-craft carrier above 65,000tonnes and with EMALS andan advanced air strip.

Whatwill be the fate ofthe decommissionedcarrier INS Viraat?

The Navy will like the Viraatto be converted into a mu-seum, but it is not the Navy’sjob to do that. We made anoffer through the Ministry toall the coastal States, butonly Andhra Pradesh respon-ded. The offer was that wewill give the ship to you andyou will convert it into amaritime museum at yourcost, without any fundingfrom the Ministry. The pro-posal that we got from

Andhra Pradesh was for a50:50 partnership. The Min-istry is very clear that theyare not going to do that. So,at the moment, we have noproposal to convert her intoa museum. If we don’t have aconcrete proposal, we pro-pose that the ship bescrapped. Off the cuff, what Ithought was we could takeher out to sea and make hera maritime museum by sink-ing her in 30-40 metres ofwater not far from the coast,thereby turning her into adiving site. Interested peoplewill dive to have a sight of theship.

We don’t want to gothrough the Vikrant experi-ence in which we gifted theship to the State of Maha-rashtra for ₹1 and got stuckwith her for 17 years, occupy-ing valuable berthing space.

And, then there was this hul-labaloo when she was to bescrapped. It’s a costly affairto convert a carrier into afloating maritime museumand given the cost of con-struction of a jetty, it costsyou roughly about ₹1,000crore.

Howdo you plan toaddress shortage ofpersonnel and also attaingender parity byinductingwomen officersin combat roles?

There is a steady growth inthe number of sailors and of-ficers being integrated, andoverall shortages as per per-centage have come down.But we are constrained byour capacity to train. Wehave to get the right kind ofpeople and have to competewith other avenues that areopen to youngsters to get thekind of people we need. Theshortages are gradually beingbridged, with the IndianNaval Academy working infull capacity at 1,300 cadets.We induct about 800 officerseach year, but 500 retire an-nually. So the net gain is 300.With increase in training ca-pacity and the governmentsanctioning more numbers,we will be able to liquidatethe shortage in five to sixyears.

The other issue is of in-ducting women to serve onboard ships. We have about570 women officers inbranches such as education,logistics, ATC, as observers

on maritime reconnaissanceaircraft and the law, and notcounting the doctors. Wehave identified ships onwhich [billeting] facilities areavailable for women officersand are working on the mod-alities of their induction onboard ships. We need someminimum numbers [of wo-men] on each ship. We arealso going to do a survey andask them if they want toserve on board ships. Andthen we will take a call andtake this proposal forward.

A string of accidents haddented the image of theNavy a couple of yearsago. It seemed to be athing of the past when thefrigate INS Betwacollapsed on its side in thedrydock late last year.

To be honest, I cannot givean assurance that there willbe zero accidents. But SOPshave been put in place and aculture of safety is being en-forced. The number of acci-dents has come downdrastically lately. Some ofthose past incidents havebeen blown out of propor-tion by the media.INS Bet-wa’s was an accident thatshouldn’t have happened. ABoard of Inquiry is lookinginto it. Basically, there was amistake in calculating thestability [on the blocks].

Of late, the Navy has beenfocussing strongly on theeastern side,strengthening the

security apparatus alongthe island chains.

In Andaman and Nicobar,newer and more capable as-sets are in place in the formof Kora-class ships [cor-vettes] and there is a long-term infrastructure planwhere airfields in the north-ern group of islands are be-ing strengthened andlengthened for heavier air-craft to operate. A similarproject is taking place in thesouth. Infrastructure plans ofmaking OTR (operationalturnaround) facilities in thesouthern group of islandshave started to move. TheBoeing P8I [long range mari-time reconnaissance aircraft]is being deployed from PortBlair.

At the same time, our co-operation with our neigh-bours in the east has grown.We have resolved our mari-time boundary issues withBangladesh and there ismuch greater interactionwith Myanmar, Indonesia,Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysiaand Singapore. It’s no just‘Look East’, we are also ‘Act-ing East’ in accordance withthe government’s policy.

We are assisting island na-tions in the IOR (IndianOcean Region) and neigh-bours in the East in capabil-ity enhancement and are do-ing coordinated patrols withMyanmar, Thailand and In-donesia.

For full text of the interview, visithttp://bit.ly/sunillanbainterview

‘We back indigenisation, but Tejas didn’t it the bill’Naval chief outlines his vision for the force based on timelines for projects and induction of personnel, especially women

S. Anandan

Kochi

<> It’s not just ‘Look

East’, we are also

‘Acting East’ in

accordance with the

government’s policy

INTERVIEW | SUNIL LANBA

Facebook removesBengal poet’s postKOLKATA

Facebook has removed a

controversial poem Curse by

poet Srijato Bandyopadhyay,

after a Siliguri student

lodged a criminal case

against him for allegedly

hurting the sentiments of

Hindus. The poem was

posted on Facebook on

March 19, the day Yogi

Adityanath was sworn in as

U.P. Chief Minister. The poet

complained about receiving

“threats over the poem”. PTI

IN BRIEF

3 NSCN (K) cadres heldin Arunachal PradeshITANAGAR

Three suspected operatives of

the banned insurgent group

NSCN (K) have been

apprehended, and arms and

ammunition seized by the

police from the Lower Dibang

Valley district of Arunachal

Pradesh. Officials said the

three were apprehended after

a special operation by the

police a few days back. PTI

British man among threedrug-dealers held in GoaPANAJI

The Goa police on Saturday

busted a drug racket and

arrested three alleged drug-

peddlers. Chennai-born Yusuf

Bashir Mohammad was the

first one to be arrested.

Based on his tip-off, David

Johnson, a British national,

and Ganesh Pondir, a resident

of Himachal Pradesh, were

arrested. PTI

The government has ap-proved a host of reforms inthe military, with proposalsto cut flab and improve fin-ancial management.

If the proposal to reducedeployment of active-dutysoldiers in avoidable post-ings were to be implemen-ted, retired officers andjawans will replace servingpersonnel in the running ofthe National Cadet Corps(NCC).

Arun Jaitley, who took ad-ditional charge as DefenceMinister last week, has ap-proved most of the propos-als of a committee of ex-perts, headed by Lt. Gen.D.B. Shekatkar (Retd), con-stituted by the Defence Min-istry. The committee, set upin 2015 to recommend meas-ures to enhance combat cap-ability and rebalance de-fence expenditure of thearmed forces, submitted itsfinal report in December2016. Sources said Mr. Jaitley

had approved in principle90 of the recommendations.

Huge savingsThe committee has said thatif its recommendations areimplemented over the nextfive years, the governmentcan save up to ₹25,000 crorefrom the current expendit-

ure. Most of the recommend-ations are measures to cutdown flab in the Army tomake it lean and agile and in-crease coordination amongthe three Services.

The panel has recommen-ded a roll-on defence budgetto have enough capital ex-penditure available for mod-

ernisation as against thepresent practice of surren-dering unspent capitalbudget at the end of each fin-ancial year.

Performance auditThe committee has recom-mended a performanceaudit of the role of non-com-

bat organisations under theDefence Ministry. The organ-isations include those deal-ing with defence estates andaccounts, the Director- Gen-eral of Quality Assurance,the Ordnance Factory Board,the Defence Research andDevelopment Organisationand the NCC.

The committee has sug-gested downsizing or ration-alisation of manpower inthese organisations, whichcan lead to significant sav-ings. Another recommenda-tion is the setting up of ajoint services war college fortraining middle-levelofficers.

Sources said comprehens-ive reforms in the running ofNCC could be rolled out overthe next few years. Progress-ively, the NCC could be runby re-employed or on-con-tract ex-service personnel. Itis not clear if the NCC will betransferred out of the De-fence Ministry to the HRDMinistry, as recommendedby the committee.

A leaner military is on the cardsJaitley approves most proposals of expert committee; ex-servicemen may take over running of NCC

Combat training:NCC cadets in action. The Centre wants active duty personnel withdrawnfrom avoidable postings in such organisations. * PTI


NEW DELHI

National Security AdviserAjit Doval and his U.S coun-terpart, H.R. McMaster,committed to work togetherto “combat the full spec-trum terrorist threats”, aU.S administration officialsaid after a meetingbetween the two on Friday.

Mr. Doval also met U.SDefence Secretary JamesMattis and Homeland Secur-ity Secretary John Kelly dur-ing his three-day visit to theU.S capital.

The focus of Mr. Doval’smeetings was terrorism, butthe security situation in In-dia’s neighbourhood, in-cluding Afghanistan andmaritime security issues inthe Indian Ocean, were alsodiscussed, Indian officialssaid.

“The new administrationhas taken a very strong viewon terrorism. That is some-thing that is good for the en-tire world as this will lead toa more united approach totackling terrorism,” one offi-cial said, adding that Islam-ist terrorism and cross-bor-der terrorism specificallytargeting India were alsodiscussed.

Continuing cooperationTensions in South China Seaalso figured. The officialsspoke on broad objectivesand areas of common of in-terests between the twocountries, and according toIndian assessment, there iscontinuity on all fronts ofcooperation between thetwo countries.

India, meanwhile, hasasked the U.S. to provide de-tails of the 271 undocu-mented migrants Washing-ton wants New Delhi to takeback. “This is an ongoingmatter. The U.S. authoritieshad conveyed to us some-time back that out of certainstatistics provided to usearlier, 271 cases remainedto be addressed. However,no details of these caseswere provided. We haveasked for the same,” Ex-ternal Affairs Ministryspokesperson Gopal Baglaysaid.

Earlier, ahead of themeeting with Mr. Doval, Mr.Mattis said that no relation-ship can stay static as iteither declines or grows.

“Democracies like oursneed this sort of dialogue.We had a strengthening ofthe relationship over the lastseveral years. No relation-ship stays the same, eitherdecline or get better, theyget stronger. Intent heretoday is to continue tostrengthen the relationshipand make sure that it getsstronger every year.”

(With Press Trust of Indiainputs from New Delhi)

In U.S., Doval talksterror, S. China SeaNSA meets top oicials during visit

Varghese K. George

Washington

Ajit Doval

The Assam Chief Minister S.Sonowal, on Saturday saidthat the territorial integrityof his State would not becompromised to create a‘Greater Nagaland’ .

He was reacting to thestatement of ThuingalengMuivah, general secretary ofthe National Socialist Coun-cil of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah)that the framework agree-ment, signed between theCentre and the NSCN (IM) onAugust 3, 2015, had envis-aged the integration of theNaga areas in three States tocreate a ‘Greater Nagaland.’

Congress reactionA spokesman of the Con-gress party in Manipur haswelcomed the statement ofthe Assam Chief Minister.Talking to The Hindu he saidthat the BJP-led coalitiongovernment in Manipurshould provide the details ofthe agreement. If an explan-ation on the agreement wasnot forthcoming, therewould be widespread agita-tions in the State. “From thevery beginning, we havebeen pledging to protect the

territory of Manipur, ’’ hesaid.

The territorial integritywas an election issue in thejust-concluded polls in Ma-nipur. Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi and Home MinisterRajnath Singh had said dur-ing their election meetingsthat there was no cause forapprehension on the agree-ment.

Meanwhile, the ManipurChief Minister N. Biren

Singh, would be rushing toDelhi on Sunday, to discuss,inter alia, the ultimatumserved by the oppositionCongress in the State, de-manding the disclosure ofdetails of the frameworkagreement signed betweenthe Centre and the NSCN(IM).

Police have tightened se-curity in vulnerable areas ofthe three states to maintainlaw and order.

Assam’s territory willremain intact: SonowalHe was reacting to Muivah’s statement on Greater Nagaland

Iboyaima Laithangbam

IMPHAL

In a watered-down versionof his earlier statement,thegeneral secretary of theMinority Youth Federation(MYF) has said the organisa-tion is not against installa-tion of the bust of SheikhMujibur Rahman, the found-ing leader of Bangladesh,“in any place in the city” ex-cept at Baker Hostel, ahostel for minority stu-dents.

The general secretary ofthe influential minoritybody, Mohammad Quam-ruzzaman, has also blamedthe erstwhile Left Front gov-ernment for installing thebust of Mujibur Rahman in aMuslim hostel even as it was“against the tenets of Islamto install idols.”

On Saturday, Mr Quam-ruzzaman insisted again onremoving the marble bust,which was described as “un-fortunate” by the senior offi-cials of the BangladeshDeputy High Commission inKolkata. “We have been pay-ing tributes (at the statue)for such a long time, butsuddenly some people star-ted questioning it,” a senior

official said. The Hindu hadearlier reported the MYF de-mand for the removal of thebust of Sheikh Mujibur Rah-man from the third floorcorridor of Baker Hostel incentral Kolkata.

Mr Quamruzzaman reit-erated that such idol install-ation was “un-Islamic.”

The bust of Bangabandhuwas unveiled in 2011 to markMujibur Rahman’s two yearstay in the Baker Hostel inthe 1940s, while he wasstudying in Kolkata.

Mr. Quamruzzaman’s re-sponse was criticised bycivil society in Kolkata, withpoliticians of the ruling Tri-namool Congress (TMC) say-ing they would not “suc-cumb” to such a demand.

Muslim outit raises thepitch against Mujib bust

Cites Islamic tenets against idols

Soumya Das

Suvojit Bagchi

Kolkata

Caught in a row: The statueof SheikhMujibur Rahmanat Baker Hostel in Kolkata.

The Centre on Saturdayrefuted as “erroneous”the reports that it hadagreed to carve out a lar-ger Nagaland State, sayingno such decision hadbeen taken.

A Home Ministryspokesperson said somereports had appeared re-cently saying that theCentre was planning tocreate a larger Nagaland

by taking away territoriesof neighbouring States.

“Such reports are erro-neous. There is no suchagreement or decision,”the spokesperson said.Thuingaleng Muivah,General Secretary, NSCN-IM was quoted recentlythat the ‘FrameworkAgreement’ signed withthe Centre in 2015 recog-nised the demand for in-tegration of Naga inhab-ited areas.

Centre calls reports onNaga deal ‘erroneous’Press Trust of India

NEW DELHI

The Central Bureau of In-vestigation has registered acorruption case againstfour senior officials of Syn-dicate Bank’s Jaipur andUdaipur branches, achartered accountant andfive others for an allegedloan fraud of about ₹210crore involving 118 ac-counts. Some of the ac-cused had been bookedlast year for fraud of over₹1,000 crore. While threeof the officials have beensuspended, the fourth offi-cial has since retired.

Of the 118 loans, 80 weregiven for buying houses, 11for commercial properties,14 overdraft limits, 11 termloans and two Foreign Let-ters of Credit.

In all loans given for pur-chasing commercial spacesat World Trade Park inJaipur, the funds werecredited and instantlytransferred to fictitiousaccounts.

CBI booksfour bankoicialsSpecial Correspondent

NEW DELHI

The Joint Action Commit-tee Against Anti-tribal Billshas spurned the offer ofManipur Chief Minister N.Biren Singh to hold talks onperforming the last rites ofthe eight tribals, whosebodies are lying in themorgue for the past 562days. Their demand is thatthe government shouldfirst withdraw the Bills.

Nine tribals were killedin protest against the Pro-tection of Manipur PeopleBill, the Manipur Revenueand Land Reform (7theamendment) Bill and theManipur Shops and Estab-lishment (2nd amendment)Bill— in September 2015.

Tribals reject

Manipur CM’s

ofer of talksSpecial Correspondent

IMPHAL




CMYK

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WHO ●WHAT ●WHY ●WHEN ●WHERE

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debt segment to the infusion of fresh de-posits in the banking system that islikely to bolster demand for governmentbonds at banks, which augurs well forbond prices but makes debt less attract-ive for yield investors. The narrowing ofthe rate differential is likely to keep for-eign investors on the sidelines, it said.

Whatmakes FIIs so important?* FIIs have been the prime drivers ofevery bull run in the Indian equity mar-ket. They have been attracted by thehandsome returns and the robust regu-latory and trading mechanisms of thecountry for long. Data on foreign flowsin the Indian equity and debt segmentsare available from 1992-93, and sincethen, they have invested ₹8.51 lakhcrore in equities and ₹2.82 lakh crore indebt. Interestingly, between 1992-93and 2015-16, there have been only threefinancial years (1998-99, 2008-09, 2015-16) when FIIs ended the fiscal period asnet sellers of equity. In the debt seg-ment, they were net sellers on fiveoccasions.

Whywere FIIs being bearish?* If the period between the last quarterof 2016 and early 2017 was anything togo by, FIIs were quite bearish, both indebt and equity. Between October 2016and end-January 2017, FIIs were netsellers in the debt and equity segmentsat ₹48,406 crore and ₹31,903 crore, asper data from the National SecuritiesDepository (NSDL).

The equity segment saw selling byFIIs on expectations that the new gov-ernment in the U.S. under PresidentDonald Trump would take fiscal steps toboost growth even as interest ratestrended higher, thereby making theother markets relatively less attractive.Incidentally, the U.S. Federal Reserveraised rates by 0.25% on March 15, onlythe third such increase in a decade.

There was some amount of profitbooking in the equity segment on ac-count of demonetisation as well, whichis expected to dent corporate earningsover the next few quarters.

Portfolio management firm SanctumWealth attributes the outflows in the

Within the Asia ex-Japan pack, Indiatraditionally features among the highestrecipients of foreign money.

Whenwill foreign flows stabilise?* Going by the data for the past twomonths, it seems the outflows have sta-bilised for now. Data show that foreigninvestors have been net buyers of In-dian debt at ₹17,630 crore in Februaryand March. In equities, they have been

all the more bullish, putting in a cumu-lative amount of ₹30,863 crore in thisperiod. But a section of market analystsfeels that it is too early to conclude thatthe trends have changed as the past twomonths have seen a reversal in flowsacross all emerging markets, not just In-dia. For instance, while India has seeninflows of $4.6 billion in the current cal-endar year, as per Bloomberg data,South Korea and Taiwan have also seeninflows in excess of $4 billion. Further,Indonesia and Malaysia have seen in-flows of $455 million and $961 millionrespectively.

There is a view that the flows startedreversing by January-end on increasingexpectations that growth in the U.S.would accelerate, which would have aripple effect on the emerging marketstoo. Historically, a strong growth accel-eration in the developed markets hasled to emerging markets being signific-ant beneficiaries. This time though, ana-lysts are taking a cautious view as theTrump administration has talked abouttrade restrictions and punitive import

duties while calling domestic compan-ies to manufacture more in the U.S.Much would depend on the valuationsas the recent surge has made Indianmarkets expensive in both the relativeand absolute sense. Based on paramet-ers like price earnings and price to bookreturns, India looks about 40-50%higher than the regional average.

Finally, corporate earnings wouldalso be an important factor to decidethe course of foreign flows. Currently,there is hardly a bullish view on earn-ings growth as many are expecting a hitfrom demonetisation and global eco-nomic momentum is yet to decisivelystrengthen. Incidentally, the recentsurge has entirely been due to liquidityas investors have been betting on equityon the back of a strong mandate for theruling political party. So, from an eco-nomic point of view, a combination ofslightly cheaper valuations and con-sensus growth in earnings are the key tocontinued foreign flows.

ASHISH RUKHAIYAR

P Qp qWHY

have foreignfund lowsbeen volatile

ardship by her one-time mentor HelmutKohl, if not the first post-war ChancellorKonrad Adenauer.

Surprise entryAlready, Mr. Schulz’s surprise entry intothe fray, replacing the party vice-chair-man Sigmar Gabriel, has seen a 10 per-centage point surge in support for theSDP, with ratings within a narrow dis-tance of its archrival. Yet, indicationsare that Germany’s oldest party is un-likely to lean further to the left, thus lim-iting its appeal among voters looking foran alternative.

The recently anointed candidate ofthe SDP could not be more unlike hispragmatic and consensus-building con-servative contender. The outspoken Mr.Schulz admonished heads of EU statesin December to “stop pretending that allsuccess is national and all failureEuropean,” in his farewell speech aspresident of the European Parliament.Last July, the aftershocks of London’smomentous vote to leave the bloctriggered speculation among euroscep-tic fear-mongers on other capitals most

The September face-off between a po-liceman’s son and a pastor’s daughtercould well prove to be a most keenlyfought electoral battle in Berlin in dec-ades among the Social Democrats (SDP)and the ruling Christian DemocraticUnion (CDU). The centre-left contenderfrom Germany’s venerable SDP, MartinSchulz, is a one-time bookseller and vet-eran Member of the European Parlia-ment of 23 years and its former presid-ent for two terms. Pitted against him isincumbent chancellor Angela Merkel, aphysicist and formidable politician ofthe CDU, seeking a fourth term.

The quadrennial contest will testwhether Mr. Schulz’s role on the front-lines of the regional bloc would beviewed as more advantageous in a coun-try upon whom the mantle of Europe’sleadership, as well as of the entire freeworld, is being thrust.

Conversely, it remains to be seenwhether voters will plump yet again forMs. Merkel, whose nearly 12-year recordat the helm of Germany, as well as herinternational standing, has occasionedcomparisons with the country’s stew-

likely to further break the union. Pro-vocative enough for the plain-speakingformer Parliament president to call for adirectly elected European governmentalong national lines to replace the un-elected executive body. Mr. Schulz’s sug-gestion could not have seemed more ill-timed to pro-EU politicians hard put tocounter the populist and anti-immigrantsurge in the continent.

In contrast were the cautiousand circumspect remarks of Ms.Merkel on announcing her de-cision in November to seek re-election. The woman, often de-scribed as iron chancellor, sug-gested that it would be“grotesque and ab-surd” to suppose shecould solve all prob-lems by herself.But paradoxic-ally, rather thanthe contrast inpersonalities,it is in factpoliticalcommonalit-

ies which bind the two. That couldprove far trickier to determine voter loy-alty. The convergence in political stancebetween the CDU and the SDP is so con-siderable that the electorate couldswing either way. That would leave thecandidates dependent upon the re-spective ideological constituency for adecisive verdict.

Moreover, Ms. Merkel and Mr.Schulz are both staunch Euro-philes who believe a strongerGermany and a stable Europeare mutually compatible, unlikesome national leaders who viewthe 28-member bloc as a forum to

advance domestic interests. Adivergence of stancebetween the respect-ive parties on auster-ity measures fordebt-stricken Eurozone countries iswell-known. Evenso, differencesbetween thetwo leaderscould not be ex-

aggerated. As Chancellor, Ms. Merkelwas obliged to echo the hawkish line ofparty hard-liners. Conversely, Mr.Schulz’s more conciliatory tone on debtrelief reflected the views of his partyand popular sentiment.

Political outsiderAs a relative outsider to domestic polit-ics, Mr. Schulz will feel his shoulderslighter. He does not have to carry polit-ical baggage from his party’s current co-habitation with the CDU as part of agrand governing coalition. His centre-left stance of restoring trade unions totheir former strength has rejuvenatedthe party cadre. But the SDP announcedlast Sunday that it would sever its tradi-tional links with France’s Socialist Partyin the country’s coming general elec-tions. At home, this move is sure to nar-row the scope of the party’s anticipatedleftward slant, with potential to dampenenthusiasm among the SDP’s soaringnew cadres. Ms. Merkel has a match inher unlikely rival.

GARIMELLA SUBRAMANIAM

P Qp qWHO

Martin SchulzShould AngelaMerkel beafraid of him?

After he received the notice, SPB tookto his official page on social networkingsite Facebook to announce that he andtwo other singers, K.S. Chitra and S.P.Charan, had been served a legal noticeby Ilaiyaraaja’s attorney, asking themnot to perform his compositions. Thenotice stated that if they continued toperform his compositions, they wouldbe breaking the copyright law andwould have to pay huge financial penal-ties while also facing legal action.

SPB is currently per-forming a series of con-

certs as part of the SPB50 world tour,which began in August 2016 in Toronto.The singer and his troupe have alreadyperformed in Dubai, Singapore, Russia,Sri Lanka and Malaysia as well as partsof India and are currently touring theU.S.

While he had already finished con-certs in Seattle and Los Angeles, SPB,his co-singers, organisers of the con-certs in cities there and venue manage-ment firms received the legal notices be-

Last week, we were wit-ness to a rather messy legal tangle in-volving music composer Ilaiyaraaja andsinger S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, or SPBas he is popularly known, after theformer served on the singer a legal no-tice when he was performing concertsin the U.S.

fore the performance was scheduled tobe held in San Jose. In his statement onFacebook, the singer said, “I am ignor-ant of the law. If it is a law, so be it and Iobey it.” He also mentioned that despitehaving finished many concerts acrossthe globe already, he had not been in-formed of these legal issues earlier andhad only now got the notice from Ilaiya-raja. The Copyright Amendment Act,2012 sought to introduce a level playingfield, protecting the rights of all categor-ies of players in the entertainment in-dustry, not just the producers whoearlier held all the rights.

The outcome of thislegal spat will have an

impact on the lives — and work — ofevery creative person in the film in-dustry. While the composer himself isyet to react, social media has beenabuzz with talk about a friendshipbetween the composer and the singer,who have churned out several hit num-bers for decades, gone sour. Copyrightexperts state that Ilaiyaraaja is within

his rights as composer of the songs SPBis singing, to send him a legal noticeover his live performances.

The copyright law states that thereare two aspects to a composition: themusical aspect and the sound recordingpart. The composer holds completerights over the musical aspect of thework and according to performancerights, the singer holds the rights onlyover the specific performance he gavewhile recording the composition.

This is, however, not the first timethat Ilaiyaraaja has been involved in acopyright claim battle. In 2015, theMadras High Court gave an injunctionagainst four music labels from monet-ising the composer’s works. Stating thathe had signed agreements with labelsback in the day, Ilaiyaraaja said that theywere valid only for five years and thatthey had become void.

“Only I hold the right to all my songs.The money I would now get by sellingthe rights would be shared with the pro-ducer of the film, singers, and lyricists,”he said, after the injunction.

Since the composer said he holds theabsolute copyright to his works, he fur-ther warned that action would be takenagainst television channels and FM ra-dio stations if they play his workswithout permission.

With upset fans rais-ing questions about whether the com-poser was right in having sent a legalnotice instead of engaging in a conversa-tion with the singer, this issue has high-lighted the need for the Tamil film in-dustry to understand the terms of thecopyright law. Lyricist Madan Karkyjoined the debate and pointed out thatthe industry needs to discuss how royal-ties should be shared between musi-cians, lyricists and singers in future.Others in the industry said that thoseseeking to make a point about intellec-tual property rights in creative fieldscould probably take some advice fromyet another popular composer A.R.Rahman.

S. POORVAJA

P Qp qWHAT

Spat betweenIlaiyaraajaand SPBover songs

WHAT IS IT

HOW DID IT

COME ABOUT

WHY DOES IT

MATTER

WHAT NEXT

P Qp qWHEN

18March 2017

Greater Mumbai (MCGM), which runsthe zoo, bought eight Humboldt pen-guins from the Coex Aquarium in Seoul,South Korea. The species was chosenbecause they are better suited to relat-ively higher temperatures and adaptthemselves well to life in captivity.

Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus hum-boldti), also known as the Chilean pen-guin, Peruvian penguin, or patranca,breeds on the coasts of Chile and Peru.It is named after a cold-water current offthe coast of South America. They aremedium-sized penguins, with adults be-ing 56–70 cm tall and weighing 3.6 to 5.9kg. They have been recorded as livingup to 20 years in captivity.

The MCGM paid ₹2 crore for sixyoung birds (three males and three fe-males), and the Koreans added twomore females for free. The birds werebrought to Mumbai in July 2016 andkept in quarantine.

The process of preparation of theirenclosure began in 2014. The new pen-guin house, in which the birds now liveand can be seen by visitors, spans two

On March 19, Mumbai’s zoo in Byculla,Veermata Jijabai Udyan, opened its newpenguin house to the public. The zoosaw a spike in the number of visitors,with around 25,000, against the usualweekend traffic of 12,000, according toSanjay Tripathi, the zoo’s director.

The zoo had not bought new animalsfor 15 years until 2015, partly in compli-ance with a Bombay High Court order in2005 that zoos could not get new anim-als until their infrastructure improved.

The proposal to bring in penguinswas first made in 2009, and it tookmore than six years for it to fructify. InJuly 2016, the Municipal Corporation of

floors and 35,000 sq. ft. The air temper-ature in their enclosure is controlled,between 16°C and 18°C, and the water intheir pool is between 11°C and 16°C. Thepenguins eat seven to eight kg of mack-erels, anchovies and herrings every day.

The cost of the enclosure is an estim-ated ₹113 crore, and the civic body hasearmarked ₹45 crore for maintenance

during the next five years.The cost of bringing in the birds

caused a furore in the city, with Opposi-tion parties in the municipal corpora-tion alleging corruption, and animalrights activists questioning the purchaseitself, saying the city was not the rightplace for the birds.

Row over death in quarantineJust three months after the penguinscame in, a female (informally namedDory by one of the zoo’s doctors) diedin quarantine. The autopsy report sug-gested that the penguin contracted abacterial infection leading to sep-ticaemia. Dory’s death elicited angry re-sponses from animal rights activists. Ad-vocate Advait Sethana filed a publicinterest litigation petition in the Bom-bay High Court, seeking to stop the ex-hibition of penguins. High Court ChiefJustice Manjula Chellur ruled: “We can-not come to a conclusion that the pen-guins are not being taken care of prop-erly. We are not going to stop theexhibition. Why should Mumbaikars

not enjoy viewing such penguins? Arethere no penguin shows in othercountries?”

Daisy, Donald, Bubbles, Flipper,Olive, Popeye, and Mr. Molt — as thepenguins have been informally namedby the zoo staff — have settled into theirenclosure and spend a large part oftheir day swimming in their tank. Butmany visitors were disappointed on see-ing the birds. Used to seeing larger birdson nature channels on television, theyfound the smaller Humboldts under-whelming. Others complained that thebirds did nothing much beyond swim-ming. Many also criticised the enclos-ure, which they said was visually unap-pealing. An additional downer for somewas that the zoo does not permit photo-graphy in the penguin house.

Visitors to the penguin enclosure getfree entry till March-end. From April,they will pay an entry fee, which islikely to be ₹100 for adults and ₹50 forchildren.

HARIPRASAD RADHAKRISHNAN

In Mumbai,penguinscausea lutter

P Qp qWHERE

Another light goes out: Chuck Berry, oneof the founding fathers of rock and rollwho inspired generations of musicianswith his ‘ringing’ guitar rifs, memorablewords and swinging style of singing, diedat his Missouri home onMarch 18. He was90. Tributes poured in for the pioneerwho duck-walked on stage, with RingoStarr of the Beatles — the Fab Four haddone a cover of Chuck Berry’s Roll overBeethoven— tweeting, “R.I.P. And peaceand love Chuck Berry Mr. Rock ‘n’ Rollmusic.” Paul McCartney hailed him as oneof rock and roll’s greatest poets. RobbieRobertson, former member of The Band,called him the “original guitar god,” andMick Jagger of the Rolling Stones wrote,“Chuck, you were amazing. Your music isengraved inside us forever.” His songs,Maybellene, Johnny B Goode,Memphisand Sweet Little Sixteenwith its mix ofblues, rock and jazz provided theframework for rock and roll as we knowit. Chuck Berry was rock’s master theoristand conceptual genius, wrote The NewYork Times. He was the “songwriter whounderstood what the kids wanted beforethey knew themselves.”




CMYK

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COLUMNWIDTH

Why did the Bharatiya Janata Partywin and the Samajwadi Party getwiped out in Uttar Pradesh? Did theBJP win because of Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi’s promise of sabka saath,sabka vikas? Or did Akhilesh Yadavlose because of his government’s gov-ernance failure, particularly when itcame to law and order?

Most post-poll analyses have con-cluded for either or both of these pro-positions. The larger consensus is thatthe BJP won because of Mr. Modi’smuscular campaign predicated on de-velopment and a better future for all,while Mr. Yadav got done in by his gov-ernance failure, aided and abetted byhis damaging feud with his father anda disastrous alliance with theCongress.

The unchanged Indian voterWhile both arguments have merit, itwould be facile to conclude that the In-dian voter is changing, and develop-ment now makes a more compellingcase for the electorate than old-schoolpolitics of caste and community. Be-cause, if that were the case, the BJP-Shiromani Akali Dal combine shouldhave won rather than getting routed inPunjab, where the same ‘Modi plan’was pitched.

The governance argument used inMr. Yadav’s case doesn’t really holdeither, going by the results in the otherStates which went to polls at the sametime. Both development performanceand governance were not too bad inUttarakhand and Goa, for instance,but government change did happen(well, almost, in Goa’s case!).

Go back a little bit and you find thesame divergence emerging. If Mr.Modi’s ‘Gujarat model’ was indeed socompelling, why did the BJP suffersuch a humiliating rout in Delhi? If de-velopment was the key, why did theDravida Munnetra Kazhagam get

pitched out in Tamil Nadu in 2011?The reality is that when it comes to

governance delivery and electoral out-comes, there appears to be little cor-relation between performance andresults. Generally speaking, the devel-opmental die appears to have beencast in the first decade of reforms.States that picked up the ball early andran with it are at the top of varioustypes of development rankings as wellas governance rankings (where gov-ernance is generally defined as a com-bination of social development indicat-ors, law and order, and bureaucraticperformance as measured by some in-dicators of economic growth such as

investment, capital formation or pro-ject completion). Those that were atthe bottom have, by and large, stayedat the bottom. And regardless of theserankings and shifts, governments haverisen and fallen, both in the “better”States and the worse-off ones.

While there appears to be little cor-relation between winning electionsand actually delivering development —perhaps the most glaring example ofthis mismatch was the first NationalDemocratic Alliance’s debacle in 2004after the ‘India Shining’ campaign —there does, however, appear to be aclear linkage between governance anddevelopment: better the governance,higher the development, and viceversa.

Good governance and growthOne of the earliest studies to look atthis in the post-reforms period was a2000 paper by former Deputy Chair-

man of the Planning Commission,Montek Singh Ahluwalia, which ar-gued that good governance andgrowth were closely interlinked. Bettergovernance resulted in better andmore implementation of developmentprogrammes and generated better out-comes for public spending. Poor ad-ministration and corruption (two sidesof the same coin) resulted in the re-verse. Better governance also led to abetter investment climate, while apoor land order environment impededdevelopment activity.

A more recent and far more fo-cussed analysis of the linkage betweengovernance and growth is ‘Governanceperformance of Indian States’ bySudipto Mundle, Samik Chowdhuryand Satadru Sikdar, which used arange of economic and social indicat-ors to look at levels of governance. Theindicators ranged from State highwaydensity (in km per 100 sq. km of area)to infant and maternal mortality rates,per capita power consumption, howmuch a State generates as tax revenueon its own (excluding Central trans-fers), the rate of violent crimes, andpercentage of trials completed withinthree years to arrive at rankings.

The basic rankings were no sur-prise: the developed States (Gujarat,Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Punjab)were at the top; the usual suspects likeChhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Biharwere at the bottom. The surprise wasin the change over a decade (between2001 and 2011) when these rankingswere adjusted for base development.In the adjusted Governance Perform-ance Index so developed, States likeBihar, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pra-desh had climbed the most number ofranks, while the leaders had actuallyslipped a few notches. “Evidently,” theauthors argue, “governments in theseStates are attempting to offset theirnegative legacy of relative backward-ness, delivering a much better qualityof services than would be expected atthe relatively low level of developmentof these States.”

Did that help in winning elections?Not really. Politically, better-perform-ing States have seen just as many re-gime changes as non-performing ones.Clearly, promising a bright future in aconvincing enough manner works bet-ter than actually delivering it!

To win elections, what you say appears to be more important than what you do

Forget the delivery, it’s allabout the promise

raghavan srinivasan

is the Editor of The Hindu Business Line

*M.MOORTHY

Every time I read about criminals gradu-ating to become MLAs and MPs, I amstruck by how easily we gloss over thisdetail as an inevitable fact. As per re-ports, in the recent Uttar Pradesh As-sembly election, 859 out of 4,853 can-didates had disclosed criminal casesagainst them, of which 704 had “seri-ous” charges. Yet ironically, despite afree and fair electoral contest between aconscientious citizen and a criminal-politician, often enough the electorateoverwhelmingly prefers to vote in thelatter. What follows on our opinionpages is pious commentary about crim-inals in politics and the absence of hon-est citizens. What is often little notedamidst these displays of civic high-

mindedness is that the Indian electorateoften has a radically different under-standing than our intellectual class ofthe end goals of politics.

Not criminals, but doersIn a recent study about criminal politi-cians in north India, the anthropologistsAnastasia Piliavsky and Tommaso Sbric-coli document that these figures are of-ten seen as ‘doers’. In fact, they are of-ten not necessarily seen as ‘criminals’but as ‘toughs’ who protect society andprovide public goods, stepping in whenthe state machinery creaks to a halt. In away, this motif of a local hero who stepsout of convention to cater to immediatesocial needs reminds one of localised di-vinities who abound across India. These‘small’ divinities — from Aiyyanaar inTamil Nadu, Jhunjharji Maharaj in Ra-jasthan, Kail Bisht in Uttarakhand,Jasma Odan in Gujarat — who are oftenremoved from the ‘high’ philosophicaltraditions also accrue their worth in thesocial imagination as prolific ‘doers’who defend the social order. These loc-alised divinities stand often in contrastto the larger, homogenising, and tran-

scendental categories of belief that thestate calls ‘religion’.

What follows from such twofoldvalencies of belief — the local and thetranscendental — is that individuals seelittle conflict in relying on two differentethical frameworks for evaluation oftheir lives. They evaluate the exigenciesof social living in terms of efficacy, pur-pose, and performance, while on theother side, they think of their privatelives in terms of the transcendental:

pointment as Chief Minister is a defeatof India, what we see is this familiarclash of conceptual end goals. Our intel-lectual class views politics as a collectivepractice to produce citizens who valuegoods of internal excellence.

Meanwhile, for many Indian voters,still struggling after decades of misgov-ernance, democracy remains a meansto identify leaders with ‘virtù’ who willproduce goods of effectiveness. Theirlocus of evaluation is not the individualin a society but a maintenance of socialinfrastructure within which individualscan thrive. This is an analytical frame-work that exalts ‘action’ and produces amentality that seeks protectors of thatinfrastructure. Our tolerance for goon-das in politics is directly tied to our col-lective imaginary that thinks efficacy ofaction — of getting things done — is a vir-tue in itself.

The real puzzle of modern Indian his-tory then is how did democracy allowus to sidestep Gandhian claims that sawpolitics as a site of moral refinementand turn to a more ancient intuitionthat sees compartmentalisation of eth-ical frameworks as a natural way to be?

done. The key metric in his calculus wasefficacy of action. Machiavelli’s herowas a doer who doesn’t flag in energies,who bestrides the political scene not asa balm for our grievances but as a trans-formative presence.

Locus of investigationsIn contrast to this view, the great con-temporary philosopher of ethics, Alas-dair MacIntyre, thinks that politics is ameans to arrive at what he calls ‘goodsof excellence’ that are positive for all.This is in contrast to the practice ofpolitics that maximises ‘goods of effect-iveness’, such as money, prestige,power — goods whose possession mayallow for greater efficacy of action butare not ends in themselves. Framedthus, Machiavelli sees the purposive-ness of politics as maximising effective-ness of action to govern better, whileMacIntyre, much like Gandhi, sees polit-ics as a means for internal excellence.These two views have different locus ofinvestigations: society and man.

When our opinion pages reconcileheavy-heartedly to fiery presences likeYogi Adityanath and declare that his ap-

what is duty, what is good, what ismoral. This compartmentalisation ofethical frameworks is neither uniquelyIndian nor modern. Machiavelli, for in-stance, was dismissive of early medievalChristian theologians who demandedpolitics be reducible to the personal. In-stead, he demanded that leaders of soci-eties ought to demonstrate ‘virtù’, acomplex assemblage of potentialitieswhich he described as spirit, force,ruthlessness, and an intent to get things

The Indian electorate often has a radically diferent understanding of the purpose of politics than our intellectual class

The clash of conceptual end goals

keerthik sasidharan

is a writer and is on Twitter @ks1729

*AP

“Is travel writing dead?” is the ques-tion posed to some of the best of thegenre in the latest issue of Grantamagazine (138: Journeys). Of course,the very fact that it has been put totravel writers such as Pico Iyer, RobertMacfarlane, Rana Dasgupta and GeoffDyer makes it clear that travel writing,in the editors’ estimation, is definitelynot dead — though in their individualways the writers try to give the readera sense of how it’s changed, and con-tinues to change, since its “popularpeak in the 1980s”. That’s a solidenough nudge to drive the reader backto older writing. That nudge also camewith news this week of the death ofRobert B. Silvers, founder and editorof The New York Review of Books.

Recollecting revolutionary timesOn his watch, NYRB for decades setstandards not just for reviewing andpolitical commentary, but also travelwriting, excelling in international des-patches that did not just provide asense of place and time, but alsocaught a country/society/region at thecusp of change, so that the writingcontinued to give context years later.Some of the best of these despatcheswere collected into an anniversaryvolume in 2013 edited by Silvers, TheNew York Review Abroad: Fifty Years ofInternational Reportage. And to readthe book again this week is to wonder,as does Granta editor Sigrid Rausing inher introduction to Journeys, how willwe recollect the revolutionary timeswe are living through? Or, what travelreportage is currently being conductedthat may help us, in time to come, putin context the shape-shifting politicaldevelopments around the world?What may be the iconic images ofthese times?

In his brief, one-paragraph intro-duction, Silvers put the challenge like

this: “… many writers of these reportsset to clarify some corner of historythey thought was misunderstood, par-ticularly the ways people were beingtreated and mistreated by govern-ments and their neighbours. In somecases they took considerable risks inorder to observe and understand baff-ling violence.”

From April 1984 — appropriately1984, as the article itself makes clear —there is an interview with Natalya Vikt-orovna Hesse, a friend of physicist andhuman rights activist Andrei Sakharovand his wife Elena Georgievna Bonnerwho emigrated from the Soviet Unionto the United States, and brought adeeper picture of Sakharov’s detentionin the town of Gorky, now renamedNizhny Novgorod. Hesse’s meetingswith Sakharov would take place on thestreet, “at a prearranged place and aprearranged hour”. The Sakharovs’apartment was bugged, so anythingspoken there would be heard by theauthorities. Also, when they went out-side, the apartment would besearched. So: “This man with a badheart — suffering from acute hyperten-sion — is forced to carry this bag everytime he leaves home, even if only forten minutes.” It contained his manu-scripts, diaries, notes, even photo-graphs, and a radio receiver.

Another snatch from Hesse’s inter-view captured the absurdity of such in-tense surveillance. She recalls Bonnertelling her that once looking out a win-dow at the trash on the street outsidetheir apartment, she (Bonner) toldSakharov: “You know, Andrei, I thinkI’ll photograph this, take a picture andsend it to the West. Let them look atthis wonderful landscape.” Soldiers ar-

rived the next day and cleared thetrash.

Also from a 1984 issue of NYRB, andincluded in the anniversary volume, isWilliam Shawcross’s report “TheBurial of Cambodia”. It’s a tour of TuolSleng, a school in Phnom Penh thathad been converted by Pol Pot’s Kh-mer Rouge into an interrogationcentre, or as the sign at its gate said,“extermination centre”. It had by thetime Shawcross got there, in 1980,been turned into a museum by the Vi-etnamese after they invaded Cam-bodia and drove out the murderousKhmer Rouge, bringing to an end agenocide that left at least one-fifth ofthe country’s people dead. Around16,000 people, mostly Khmer Rougecadres who the party thought hadturned on it, were brought to TuolSleng, writes Shawcross. Hardly any ofthem got out alive, but before beingput to their death, they were photo-graphed and underwent thorough in-terrogation, their “confessions” metic-ulously filed.

Today Tuol Sleng is a sobering stopon the tourist’s itinerary in Cambodia,before she moves on to the splendoursof Siem Reap. But it is Shawcross’ssnapshot of the museum from theeighties, when the Vietnamese werestill in control of the country with theKhmer Rouge trying to regroup on theThai border, that you get a sense of theVietnamese attempt to shape the his-torical narrative. It helps explain thecurrent edgy relations between Viet-nam and Cambodia, so that someCambodians refer to the anniversary ofthe day the Vietnamese swept intotheir land as “liberation” while otherscall it “invasion”.

Does it take a traveller’s eye to catch the iconic images?

How to look back on ourshape-shifting times

Mini kapoor

is Ideas Editor, The Hindu*REUTERS

It all depends on what you’re used to, Isuppose. Maybe it has to do with howyou’re first introduced to something,how through repetition at a founda-tional stage the thing acquires themantle of comfort and authenticity,making you perhaps react badly whensomething similar-looking, or similarlylabelled, turns out not to be exactly likethe ‘original’. Keeping this confined tojust music and food, I can immediatelythink of a couple of examples. I waslucky enough to be exposed to Indianclassical music while young, when, aftera few years of initial resistance, I beganto develop a taste for both Hindustaniclassical and Carnatic, both glued to-gether by the more alien improvisatory

form of Jazz. Later, in London, I madefriends with a fellow Gujarati, RB, andwe spent many an evening listening tothe treasure trove of his father’s ¼” taperecordings of the Hindustani greats per-forming in the ’70s and ’80s for the oldgentleman’s music circle. On one visitfrom India, I lent RB a few Carnatic cas-settes, propagating with particular en-thusiasm an M.D. Ramanathan tape. Afew days later I called RB to ask what hethought. I could almost hear him wince,partly at least in embarrassment. “Youknow, I found it very difficult to listen tothese. I know I should like these mas-ters, and I know that one of them is do-ing a Bhairavi, say, but it’s notmy Bhair-avi! The taste is recognisable, but it’sjust wrong!”

Trojan Horses of flavourSpeaking about taste and south India, Iate my first idli and dosai as a child insouth Calcutta. I became addicted, andwhen the family went to Ahmedabad forour holidays, I demanded my biweeklyfix. To my shock, the stuff tasted radic-ally different: the idlis and coconutchutney were recognisable, but the

sambhar was sweet, and the dosai —pronounced ‘dhhawnsaa’ or ‘dh-hawnso’ in those parts — was somethingelse. Passing through Bombay, I had thesame experience again, but with localvariation — the familiar cluster of tastes,but with one or two important compon-ents replaced by impostors, TrojanHorses of flavour let open on my unsus-pecting palate. Across time, I began toappreciate Calcutta south Indian,Ahmedabad dhhawnsaa, and BombayUdupi as three related but distinctly dif-ferent cousin cuisines. When I finally

cians of the Calcutta kaathi rolls, thechefs within the Raj-Anglo tradition pro-ducing the very Indian ‘Chateaubriand’steak, and the great Kerala cooks dowith Indian cow meat.

Whether you’re a full-out carnivoreor a strict vegetarian, whether you loveonly Carnatic or a certain Khayal ghar-ana, perhaps the challenge is aboutfinding a balance between foundationalmemories and new experiences;between questioning the authenticitiesloaded onto you in childhood and ex-amining carefully the supposedly latestnotion someone is trying to sell you.Maybe your preferences in food remainunchanged, but perhaps it is otherthings that shift and open up. Perhapsdemocracy begins to taste different athome once you’ve tasted the thing withthe same label in another part of thecountry or at another time. Perhaps theleader you’ve been served with is notthe one you ordered when you voted,and you refuse to pay the bill. Perhapsthe freedom to speak, to love who youwant, to live alongside people very dif-ferent from you, perhaps this freedom,once tasted cannot be untasted.

Manchurian or cheese macaroni withketchup. This home food lust cutsacross generations. An old Anglo-Indianjazzman who spent a lot of time with hisfamily in Australia once told me: “Youknow the first thing I do when I comeback home? I go get a bottle of Direct-or’s Special whisky and a big tin of Amulcheese. I miss these so much!”

Between the new and oldTalking about tastes from home, there isa famous story of the Indian Prime Min-ister of a cow-protecting governmentwho was ‘caught’ eating beef steak in arestaurant abroad. When asked aboutthis, he apparently smiled and said,“These foreign cows have nothing to dowith our Indian cows, completely differ-ent species!” Like the former PradhanMantri-ji, many of us also discernbetween the beef we find abroad andthe beef we find at home. I first ate beefin Calcutta in one legendary eatery’s su-perlative kaathi rolls. Abroad, I love eat-ing decent steak, hamburgers, and beefstews, but none of these had lessenedthe desire for the lean and often slightlystringy beef of home, for what the magi-

made it to south India, this family was ofcourse further populated.

While a certain umbilical cord stayedintact with the first experience of southIndian food, going abroad for a longperiod completely damaged my rela-tionship with what we now call ‘IndianChinese’ food, and also to what used topass off as ‘Italian’ food. Try as I did, Icould not bring myself to bubble up en-thusiasm for those ‘original tastes’ ac-quired in adolescence, even as other‘phoren’-returned friends gasped in ec-stasy between mouthfuls of Chicken

Whether an idli, or a certain Khayal gharana, or a form of democracy, what is once tasted cannot be untasted

Taking a leap of taste

*HRISHIKESHBHATTruchir joshi

is a writer, ilmmaker and columnist

CMYK

A ND-ND

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE



Tree in a chip

Trees and plants can pullup water from their rootsand sugar from the leavesthrough a system of tissuescalled xylem and phloem.Now a team of researchersfrom MIT has designed amicrofluidic device thatmimics this mechanism andpumps water and sugarsthrough a chip at a steadyrate, without requiringexternal pumps andmotors. To make this, theresearchers sandwichedtwo plastic plates anddrilled holes through themto represent phloem andxylem. They filled the‘phloem’ with sugar waterand ‘xylem’ with plainwater, separating the twowith a semi-permeablemembrane. Covering the‘phloem’ slide with amembrane, they placed asugar cube for addiionalsugar source. The chip wasconnected to a source ofwater. Once developed, thesystem was able to pumpwater continuously.

ODD & END

The phenomenon of niche con-struction in evolutionary biologyhas been mooted to be highlyimportant but neglected in evol-utionary biology theory. Not justthat, it has been termed aconcept at par with natural se-lection. Five Indian evolutionarybiologists connected to Evolu-tionary & Organismal BiologyUnit of JNCASR, Bengaluru, haveset out to show that this is notso. Apart from citing instancesof the concept’s use in earlierpapers, they also argue that in-corporating the phenomenondoes not involve a major rework-ing of Standard EvolutionaryTheory (SET). Their paper issoon to be published in theJournal of Genetics.

Over the last two decades,niche construction – the phe-nomenon by which evolving or-ganisms modify their environ-ment, which in turn increases ordecreases their own survival rate– has become much talked aboutin the literature. Proponents ofthis theory have argued that ithas been neglected in the Stand-ard Evolutionary Theory, whichtherefore needs a major over-hauling. This has been de-bunked in the paper by the au-thors. When posted on theBiorxiv, the paper got an unpre-cedented level of attention.

A new domainIt is interesting that evolutionarybiologists from India are enga-ging in this debate on the con-cepts of evolutionary theory.Amitabh Joshi, one of the fiveauthors of the paper, remarks,“We biologists from India havelargely added to the compen-dium of facts, sometimes(mostly Indian ecologists andevolutionary biologists) to theor-etical concepts, but hardly ever

to fundamental debates aboutthe conceptual foundations ofthe subject. For example, thefoundational debates withinevolutionary biology for the past15 years have been dominatedby scientists from North Amer-ica and Western Europe.”

One of the contentions of theauthors is that contrary to theclaims that Niche Constructionhas been neglected in the Stand-ard Evolutionary Theory, theyshow in the paper that it hasbeen considered by many au-thors to explain phenomena,even before the term “nicheconstruction” was coined. Oneof the examples they give is ofan experimental study done byBorash and others in 1998: Theexperiment involved breedinglarvae of fruit fly, Drosophilamelanogaster, in an environmentwhere food was reduced and

presence of nitrogenous wastewas increased. It was observedthat even within one generationthe larvae that formed early be-came heavy feeders and the latedevelopers grew to becomewaste tolerant. Thus, within onegeneration, they were able toobserve the effect of environ-ment that was altered by the or-ganism (the heavy feeders de-pleting the environment of foodfor the late developers). Theyfound that it introduced theabove polymorphism – separa-tion into heavy feeders andwaste tolerant types.

Proponents of niche construc-tion use the following examplesoften: The use of lactose to feedadult humans – which is be-lieved to have evolved alongwith cattle husbandry – and thehigh incidence of sickle cell an-aemia in populations where

there is a prevalence of malaria,due to yam cultivation. The au-thors debunk the claims by cit-ing references of the above ex-amples already having beenused within the classical theoryitself.

Other claimsThey also deny some of the oft-quoted claims about it: for in-stance, that NC is more than analternative perspective, and it isa serious body of formal evolu-tionary theory or that NC is anevolutionary process, at parwith natural selection.

The article has drawn the at-tention of the international com-munity as well. Prof. JerryCoyne, eminent biologist and re-cipient of the Richard Dawkinsaward has written a blog post inwhich he agrees with most ofthe points made in the paper.

A brewing debate on evolutiontheory picks up in IndiaIs ‘niche construction’ a revolutionary concept in evolutionary biology?

Debaters: (From left) N.G. Prasad, Sutirth Dey, Amitabh Joshi and T.N.C. Vidya get together periodically towork on conceptual issues at the foundations of genetics and evolutionary biology. *SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Shubashree Desikan

Indian researchers have found anew target that can potentially beused for developing new antibiot-ics that will be effective againstmany bacteria. The new target ismade of two proteins, which forma complex that is responsible forthe formation of biofilm, that per-form very important functionsand are critical for bacterial abilityto successfully infect humans. Theresults were published in thejournal Biofilms and Microbiomes.

Biofilm as a biological shieldBacteria form biofilms, a kind ofmatrix, during infection in plantsand animals. The biofilm shieldsthe bacteria from antibiotics andhelps bacteria survive harsh con-ditions such as extreme temperat-ure or stress. Now a study by In-dian researchers has found themolecular signalling events thatplay a crucial role in biofilm form-

ation in Bacillus anthracis, thecausative agent of anthrax.

Till now, all attention has beenon developing antibiotics that tar-

get disease-causing bacteria andnot the biofilm itself.

One of the basic questions thatscientists have been trying to an-

swer is how and when bacteria de-cide to form biofilms. “One pos-sibility is that bacteria has sensorson the surface which senses somesignal and helps in biofilm forma-tion,” says Andaleeb Sajid fromthe Institute of Genomics and In-tegrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi andone of the authors of the paper.

“It was serendipity. Our lab wasworking on signalling in bacteriaand we were studying PrkC andsimilar proteins. When PrkC pro-tein is deleted, Bacillus bacteriaare unable to form biofilm. So westarted studying the mechanismby which PrkC protein controlsbiofilm formation,” she says.

“Our hypothesis is that PrkCsenses some signal and transmitsit from outside to inside the cell.This signal goes to other proteinslike GroEL. PrkC adds phosphategroup (phosphorylate) to differentproteins. The mystery to biofilmformation lies with one chaperoneprotein called GroEL. The addi-

tion of phosphate to this tiny ma-chine initiates a course of eventswithin bacterial cells leading tocomplex biofilm formation,” Dr.Sajid says.

GroEL protein’s roleThe team found several proteinsreceive signals from PrkC protein.Using cutting edge genetics, mo-lecular biology and proteomicstechniques, they confirmed thatGroEL was regulated by PrkC.

“From other unrelated bac-teria, we already had a clue thatGroEL has a role in biofilm forma-tion. We looked at the molecularlevel and found six amino acidresidues where phosphate wasgetting added to the GroEL pro-tein. Through a series of steps, weascertained how important phos-phorylation was for proper func-tioning of GroEL,” says GunjanArora from IGIB and the first au-thor of the paper.

“We wanted to know if the bac-

teria has any other compensationmechanism to form biofilm in theabsence of PrkC. So we madePrkC mutant bacteria to producemore of GroEL. The bacteria wereable to form biofilm even in theabsence of PrkC. This experimenthelped us understand that PrkC isthe influencer and GroEL is key tobiofilm formation,” Dr. Arora says.

Both PrkC and GroEL performvery important functions and arecritical for bacterial ability to suc-cessfully infect humans. “Wethink GroEL-PrkC complex couldbe a target for developing new an-tibiotic that will be effectiveagainst many bacterial pathogenssuch as the ones that cause MRSA,TB and pneumonia. One strategyto tackle drug resistant bacteriawill be to develop multi-drug regi-men that combines traditional an-tibiotics with candidate drugs thatcan block bacterial signalling andprevent biofilm formation,” Dr.Arora says.

Indians ind a new bacterial target for drug developmentIn an innovative approach, the researchers focused on the bioilms that normally shield the bacteria from antibiotics

Serendipity: (From left) Anshika Singhal, Andaleeb and RichaMisradeduced the key to bioilm formation lies with one chaperone protein.

* SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

R. Prasad

Life on Earth may have originatedearlier than thought and could havedone so in hydrothermal vents onthe ocean floor. A new study inNature finds the origin of life at atleast 3,770 million and possibly4,290 million years ago in ferrugin-ous sedimentary rocks, interpretedas seafloor-hydrothermal vent-re-lated precipitates from theNuvvuagittuq supracrustal belt ofEastern Canada. Scientists led by Dr.Dominic Papineau of University Col-lege London made the discovery.

Epifluorescence imaging of mod-ern vent samples has shown that cyl-indrical casts composed of iron oxy-hydroxide are formed by bacterialcells and are undeniably of biolo-gical origin (biogenic). Hence, mor-phologically similar tubes and fila-ments in ancient jaspers may betaken as evidence that the jaspersheld organisms that can survive el-evated temperatures.

“The fact that we found micro-fossils in these rocks shows thatwithin only a few hundred millionyears of the accretion of the Earth,life had not only originated, but hadalso already diversified into special-ised microorganisms living in hydro-thermal vent environments wherebiologists have been suggesting foryears that that was the site for theorigin of life on Earth,” noted Dr.Papineau in an email to thisCorrespondent.

The scientists found that NSBrocks contain graphite with ratios ofthe 13C/12C isotopes (the two natur-ally occurring stable isotopes of car-bon – 13C having one more neutron

than 12C) indicative of biologicalmetabolism. The mineral graphite iscomposed of carbon and can formduring the metamorphism of biolo-gical organic matter. It is the samefor carbonate, but these mineralsrepresent oxidised organic matter.

Rosette remnantsMicroscopic spheroidally-concentricmineral structures called rosetteswere found in the NSB rocks and arecomposed of apatite (the phosphatemineral in our teeth and bones), car-bonate, and graphite. Also foundwere granules which are similar torosettes, but slightly larger, up to 2mm in diameter. The granules con-tain different iron minerals that in-dicate the former presence of chem-ical reactions. The scientists believethat both rosettes and granules arethe mineralised products ofputrefaction.

On the basis of chemical and mor-phological lines of evidence, thetubes, filaments and granules arebest explained as remains of iron-metabolising (consuming iron) fila-mentous bacteria, and thereforerepresent the oldest life forms recog-nized on Earth.

“Some bacteria can literally eatiron, which is what we think theseones were doing more than 3.77 bil-lion years ago. All these lines of evid-ence have also been documented inyounger jasper that formed whenwe know life existed, as well as inmodern ferruginous-siliceous (iron–silica containing) precipitates in thevicinity of hydrothermal vents.Hence, we conclude that we havefound the oldest fossils known,” Dr.Papineau says.

Oldest fossils hold clueto origin of lifeThe ind shows early diversiication of organismsK.S. Rajgopal

Stripes in zebrafishMacrophages are cells that

eliminate dead or dying cells

and microbes harmful to the

organism. A new study on

zebrafish, published in Science,

finds they have an unexpected

tissue-specific role. Their

presence or absence can affect

stripe formation during

development.

CAPSULE

Brain cells by the millionScientists have discovered a

stem cell technique using

which brain and muscle cells

may be generated by the

millions in just a few days. The

report published in Stem Cell

Reportsmakes possible

production of cell types that

could not be made earlier, for

use in studying disease.

Heart on a leafScientists have succeeded in

culturing beating heart cells

on spinach leaves that were

stripped of plant cells. This is

useful, as previous

bioengineering techniques

were unable to fabricate the

branching network of blood

vessels down to the size of

capillaries, which is needed for

it to function correctly.

Light makes sheets curveA new technique shows light

can curve two-dimensional

plastic sheets to form three-

dimensional objects.

Researchers printed black lines

on the sheet, placed it under

an infrared lamp, causing folds

to form due to nonuniform

absorption of heat. Controlling

the number of lines, they

could make various shapes.

View stars betterA research group has

developed a program to better

interpret noisy astronomical

data, such as the hazy image

of a galaxy, using a machine

learning algorithm. This

algorithm was trained by

comparing artificially

degraded images with the

correct original. This method

works better than traditional

ones, the researchers claim.

Researchers from IIT Bom-bay have found a novel path-way that is responsible forthe progress of cancer meta-stasis — spread of cancercells from its primary site oforigin to new areas of thebody. The finding holds po-tential in controlling meta-stasis to reduce cancerdeaths. The study was pub-lished in the journalOncotarget.

Treating metastasisSurgical removal of primarytumours has long been usedas a standard treatment forlocalised tumours, but treat-ing cancer metastasis re-mains a formidable chal-lenge. “Cancer stem cells(CSCs) are one cause of can-cer metastasis. However,there is no study done so farto examine the impact ofbiophysical properties ofcancer stem cells in cancermetastasis,” says Dr. Rahul

Purwar, Assistant Professorat Department of Bios-ciences & Bioengineering,IIT Bombay.

Contractile dynamics of atumour cell represents oneof the most important bio-physical properties and isclosely associated with cellspreading and cell adhesionproperties of tumour cell.Increased cell contractilityin breast cancer can initiatethe escape of cancerouscells from their primary sitesto distant organs, that is,metastasis.

Dr. Purwar’s investigatingteam as well as other, earlierresearchers have shown aclose relationship betweencell contractility (ability ofcells to contract) and invas-iveness in breast cancercells, ovarian cancer cellsand melanoma cells. In-creased contractility is cor-related with increased mi-gration of cells which helpsin metastasis.

However, it remains un-known whether contractile

dynamics of CSCs are dis-tinct as compared to thebulk tumour population andcontribute in CSC-mediatedmetastasis.

Robust remissionStudy lead author Dr. Pur-

war explains that “With thisstudy, we identified a dis-tinct pathway which CSCsuse to invade the extracellu-lar matrix and metastasiseto other organs. Surpris-ingly, we observed thatblockade of this pathway by

pharmaceutical drugs com-pletely abolished the inva-sion of CSCs as well as othertumour cells. Thus, target-ing this distinct pathwaymay lead to the develop-ment of robust and long-term remission of cancermetastasis’’.

Cell contractility is regu-lated by two groups of en-zymes including myosinlight chain kinase (MLCK)and Rho associated proteinkinase (ROCK). The teamfound that pharmacologicaltargeting of ROCK preventscontractility and cell inva-sion potential of both CSCsand non-cancer stem cells,and is therefore a novelstrategy for the treatment ofcancer metastasis.

“Our work provides thefirst evidence of targetingbiophysical properties ofcancer stem cells for con-trolling metastatic cancer.However, further work is re-quired to translate our find-ings before it goes to clinic,”he says.

IIT Bombay researchers ind a noveltarget for blocking cancer metastasisThe biophysical properties of cancer stem cells are used to control the metastatic cancer

Cell image: This luorescence coluredmicroscope image showsa culture of human breast cancer cells. * AP

Ratneshwar Thakur

Yatendra Kumar Satija

A protein “switch” withinthe tiny capillaries of thebrain controls the bloodflow that ensures optimalbrain function, a new study,published in Nature Neuros-cience, has found.

Researchers from Univer-sity of Vermont in the U.S.have uncovered that capil-laries have the capacity toboth sense brain activityand generate an electricalvasodilatory signal to evokeblood flow and direct nutri-ents to nourish hard-work-ing neurons. “When there isan increase in brain activity,there is an increase in bloodflow,” said Thomas Long-den, assistant professor atthe University of Vermont.Previously, capillaries werethought to be passive tubes,and the arterioles as thesource of action. Research-ers have discovered that ca-pillaries actively controlblood flow by acting like aseries of wires, transmittingelectrical signals to directblood to the areas that need

it most. To achieve this feat,the capillary sensory net-work relies on a protein (anion channel) that detects in-creases in potassium duringneuronal activity.

Increased activity of thischannel facilitates the flowof ions across the capillarymembrane, thereby creat-ing a small electrical currentthat generates a negativecharge — a rapid signal —that communicates the needfor additional blood flow tothe upstream arterioles,which then results in in-creased blood flow to thecapillaries, researchers said.

Researchers also determ-ined that if the potassiumlevel is too high, this mech-anism can be disabled,which may contribute toblood flow disturbances in abroad range of brain dis-orders.

“These findings opennew avenues in the way wecan investigate cerebral dis-eases with a vascular com-ponent,” said FabriceDabertrand of University ofVermont.

Brain switch thatcontrols blood lowCapillaries play an active role in this


CMYK

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BEING

DR HUMERUS KESHAV

What is Synlight?It is a giant honeycomb-like set-up of 149 spotlights in Juelich,Germany, and inching towards record books as the world’slargest “artiicial sun”. Switched on last week, the lights aredesigned to focus on a single 20x20 cm (8x8 inch) spot andproduce the equivalent of 10,000 times the amount of solarradiation that would normally shine on the same surface.Creating such furnace-like conditions —with temperatures ofup to 3,000o Celsius (5,432o Fahrenheit) — is key to testingnovel ways of making hydrogen, according to Phys.org. So far,Synlight’s energy needs are enormous but scientists hope toeventually directly tap solar energy.

DEMYSTIFYING SCIENCE

Acrumbling health system,

slashed budgets and an over-crowded country — these

factors make India the perfectplayground for one of the world’soldest diseases, tuberculosis.

In the past year, the global pub-lic health community, led byWorldHealth Organization (WHO), hasbeen looking at India with trepida-tion. In 2015 alone, 4.8 lakh Indi-ans died of the airborne disease. Infact, India’s leading chest physi-cian Dr. Zarir Udwadia called it“Ebola with wings” earlier thisweek during a TED Talk to markWorld Tuberculosis Day, which fellon Friday, March 24.

Thousands without accessTwo new TB drugs, Bedaquilineand Delamanid, being used inEurope and the United States forseveral years, are yet to be madeavailable in India’s national health-care system. In January, an 18-year-old Patna girl took the governmentto court after she was refused Be-daquiline on the grounds that shewas not a resident of Delhi. Thedrug is available only in six sitesacross the country and, accordingto Health Ministry’s annual TB re-port released on Friday, only 207patients have access to the drugneeded by at least 79,000 patients.Herein lies the crux of the matter,making India’s bureaucratic inertia

the world’s problem: TB does notrespect geographical boundariesand these patients continue totransmit drug-resistant forms ofthe disease due to the poor accessto medicines. Not only does Indiashoulder the highest TB burden inthe world with over 2 million of the10 million cases reported here, italso accounts for the most drug-

resistant patients — nearly 1.3 lakhpeople who do not respond tofirst-line drugs. “Transmission ofdrug-resistant TB will continue un-abated unless patients get earlydiagnosis and the right treatment.India has to invest extensively andurgently if it has to expand the test-ing facilities and get the drugs tothe patients. Currently, there is a

mismatch between the urgencywith which the government is talk-ing and the resources we are com-mitting,” says Chapal Mehra, apublic health specialist on TB.

In a major embarrassment forthe government, WHO had to re-vise global TB estimates last yearafter India informed that it hadbeen under-reporting TB casesfrom 2000 to 2015. The global es-timates were revised upwards to10.4 million people infected withTB — a jump of 5,00,000 from2014. In its annual TB report, theHealth Ministry explained that“this apparent increase in the dis-ease burden reflects the incorpora-tion of more accurate data. Withbackward calculations, both tuber-culosis incidence and mortalityrates are decreasing from 2000 to2015”.

The intent-action deficitWhile the global spotlight for ur-gent action has sent the govern-ment back to the drawing board,experts maintain that it is not put-ting its money where its mouth is.The budget estimates in the annualTB report are in fact lower thanthat of 2014-15. As against ₹1,358crore requested, the governmentapproved ₹710 crore in 2014-15. In2016, however, in the face oftrenchant criticism, the budget re-quested actually went down to₹1,000 crore and the approved

budget was a measly ₹640 crore.“By no means is this enough to ex-pand the programme. For the stra-tegic plan to show impact, we mustallocate enough resources,” saysMr. Mehra.

The government will soon belaunching a new strategy, andUnion Health Minister J.P. Naddahas announced that his Ministrywill aim to “eliminate TB” by 2025.“Ensuring affordable and qualityhealth care to the population is apriority for the government andwe are committed to achievingzero TB deaths and therefore weneed to re-strategise, think afreshand have to be aggressive in ourapproach to end TB by 2025,” hesaid on World Tuberculosis Day.

During the TED Talk, Dr. Udwa-dia, one of the first doctors tomake Bedaquiline available in In-dia, called tuberculosis patients“therapeutic destitutes”, adding,“Drug-resistant TB represents acollective indictment of all of us asa society. Of the tests too slow. Thedrugs too toxic. Of the governmentprogramme that’s underfundedand inefficient. Of the private prac-titioners who’ll dole out the drugsbut not compassion. Of the publicpolicy failure.”

The battle for patients and forcaregivers is far from over.

[email protected]

TB time bomb: the price of policy inertiaIndia’s TB burden is exacerbated by the government’s refusal to augment resources and enable access to newer drugs

Health alert: “Transmission of drug-resistant TBwill continue unabatedunless patients get early diagnosis and the right treatment.” Pictureshows an awareness campaign, at a railway station in Chennai. * AFP

Vidya Krishnan

India is the tubercu-losis (TB) capital of

the world, with morethan 2.8 million cases.Thousands of Indiansare being pushed intodepression, poverty,suffering and debt everyday due to this disease.

Clearly, we seem to be losing the battle against this foe,seemingly deadlier than terrorism.

TB is curable, but why is it such a challenge to con-trol? This disease is caused by one of the most mutat-ive bacteria that can respond differently to medica-tion. We have only a handful of drugs to treat TB, andthere are chances that the bacteria might turn resist-ant to some. Depending on the condition, we havedrug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), multi-drug-resist-ant TB (MDR-TB), extensively-drug resistant TB (XDR-TB), and totally drug-resistant TB (TDR-TB). India hasover 100,000 such cases. XDR-TB needs stringent andaccurate treatment, and few drugs work in such cases.Chances of survival are often minimal. More than 30years of research has yielded two new drugs — Beda-quiline and Delamanid. Considered miracle drugs,they can be used apart from traditional TB medicines.

Recently, a young girl, barely 18, and who is battlingXDR-TB, was denied Bedaquiline. The reason given bythe government was that she didn’t have the appropri-ate domicile. The drug is available in select cities andrequires stringent monitoring.

My fightIt reminded me of my own struggle, two years ago,when I was diagnosed as a borderline XDR-TB case.There was barely any medication that could work onme. My doctor applied for me to receive Bedaquilineon compassionate grounds. Unfortunately, I could notqualify for the drug for technical reasons. My heartrate and calcium levels were higher than the range re-quired, which posed a serious risk.

I could not believe the denial. All hope seemed toslip away. I was barely 21, 50 kg and had my entire lifeahead of me. However, my doctor did not give up andput me on a combination of highly potent drugs, usedin severe, drug-resistant conditions. Though a risk, itworked. But with the beneficial impact of treatment,came the sideeffects. Due to these medicines, therewas concurrent monitoring along with special care.

Think of the patientThis girl’s father went to court. It worked and she willbe started on Bedaquiline shortly. What if he hadfailed? The government needs to realise that not hav-ing access to a life-saving drug is devastating. Patientslose hope and the motivation to fight. While it is essen-tial to keep such drugs in safe hands to ensure no fur-ther resistance, you cannot deny patients potentiallylife-saving drugs. Why can’t we develop a system thatallows access to such drugs under strong monitoring?We need to ensure that patients everywhere, irrespect-ive of where they seek care, have access to it.

The case of this young girl is a mirror to thousandsof patients who do not have access to a potentially life-saving drug. For some, it could shorten the treatmentor provide a better quality of life, for others it couldsimply save them. The government needs to create astrategic partnership with the private sector to de-velop an easier protocol needed to make such drugsaccessible. Also, there is a need to estimate the need ofthis drug — we still don’t know how much drug resist-ance we have. Finally, we need to ensure that we havecost-effective, free, high-quality testing for drug resist-ance available early to all patients. Patients who needthis drug should be provided the free tests that are re-quired to get this drug.

An appropriate mechanism is a filtering process setup by an expert panel which has private sector repres-entatives too. This group can take vital decisions fordispensing Bedaquiline and other such new drugs.

Building further on this, there has to be prioritycatalytic funding provided to research organisationsfor development of revised regimes, drugs and tech-niques. There has to be adequate training of medicaland paramedical staff handling the drug and sensitisa-tion for those being given this drug.

Unless the public health system takes an integratedapproach to this problem, we will face countless com-promised lives despite a potential solution within ourreach. Nothing gets more disturbing than knowing thisfact.

Saurabh Rane, anMDR-TB survivor, is part of ‘Survivors AgainstTB’, a community of TB survivors working to strengthen India’sight against TB

saurabh rane

My battle with TB

Mapping dengueA study in Sciencemapping out the

transmission of the dengue virus

reveals that in small pockets roughly

200metres in size, about 60%of

infections are of the same strain.

Dengue viruses infect more than 300

million people annually, resulting in

more than 20,000 deaths. The study researchers sequenced

the viruses of 640 dengue infections that occurred between

1994 and 2010 in Bangkok and ive other locations throughout

Thailand. They combined these data with 160 sequences from

elsewhere in Asia, andmore than 17,000 hospital records of

dengue infection. There was very little transmission of local

Bangkok strains tomore distant areas, including other counties

in Southeast Asia. However, within a single season, the strains

had started to combine and well mixed across Thailand, both

within Bangkok and between provinces.

AROUND THE WORLD

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Picking a partner,the GuppywayBrainy, female guppy ish go for looks

over brains in their mates, suggests a

study in Science Advances. In an

experiment, researchers found that

female guppies with bigger brains

choosemates withmore attractive

colouring, while females with smaller brains did not

demonstrate a preference. Before their experiment, the

scientists hypothesised that brain size, shown to be an indicator

of cognitive ability in previous guppy studies, impacts

assessment of partner quality. Big-brained and small-brained

females, as well as those with average brain size, were

presented with amale that was colourful (an advantageous

trait linked to foraging ability and physiological health, in

males). The females were also presented with a less attractive

male. Females could not observe bothmales simultaneously

and had to remember bothmales tomake their eventual choice.

The authors propose that cognitive ability was the underlying

factor leading to divergent results in the large and small-

brained guppy lines.

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

Go jogging, lazybonesInactive teens have weaker bones than

those who are physically active,

according to a new study. Researchers

in Canadameasured the physical

activity and bone strength of 309

teenagers over a speciic four-year

period that is crucial for lifelong,

healthy skeletal development. They arrived at their indings

based on high resolution 3D X-ray images to compare

diferences between youth whomet the daily recommendation

of 60minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per

day and those who got less than 30minutes a day. The four-

year window— between the ages of 10 to 14 for girls and 12 to

16 for boys — is a vital time when as much as 36% of the human

skeleton is formed and bone is particularly responsive to

physical activity. Bone strength is a combination of bone size,

density andmicro-architecture. — Eurekalert


New stem cell methodResearchers have developed a new stem

cell method that simpliies the

production of human brain andmuscle

cells — allowingmillions of functional

cells to be generated in just a few days.

The results published in Stem Cell

Reports open the door to producing a

diversity of new cell types that could not bemade before in

order to study disease. Human pluripotent stem cells ofer the

ability to create any tissue, including those which are typically

hard to access, such as brain cells. They hold huge potential for

studying human development and the impact of diseases,

including cancer, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, and heart

disease.

Existingmethods tomake them, unfortunately, are complex

and time-consuming, often producing amixed population of

cells. The new platform technology, OPTi-OX, optimises the

way of switching on genes in human stem cells and opens the

door to drug discovery, and potentially therapeutic applications

in which large amounts of cells are needed.


Social costs of smell lossA study reports that a woman’s social

life is associated with howwell her

sense of smell functions. Older

women, who do less well on a smell

identiication task, tend to have fewer

social connections, the researchers

add.

The study, published online in the open access journal Scientiic

Reports, is based on data from the National Social Life, Health

and Aging Project (NSLHP), a population-based study of health

and social factors in the United States. The researchers

compared each NSHAP participant’s odour identiication score,

an establishedmeasure of olfactory function, with an

aggregated “overall social life” score, which includedmeasures

such as participants’ number of friends and close relatives, and

how often they socialised. The data were adjusted to control for

possible confounding variables, including education level,

tobacco use, and physical andmental health status. The

researchers did not ind the same association between olfactory

function and social life in older men.


CMYK

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NON-FICTION

In a relationship like the one In-dia and Pakistan have sharedover the past 70 years, there are

few moments for reflection, fewpauses to take stock of winnersand losers. Yet, it is this task journ-alist Myra McDonald sets for her-self in the book Defeat is anOrphan: How Pakistan Lost theGreat South Asian War. In order todo so McDonald focuses on theperiod since the turn of the cen-tury (1999-2015), coming to herconclusion that India has the up-per hand and victory in a war thathas been played with every ver-sion in the book: overt, covert, us-ing Army regulars, and with prox-ies, as well as the diplomatic,economic and above all, the moralwar.

The Kandahar trailThe book begins in December1999 with the hijack of IC-814 fromKathmandu, a flight that took its178 passengers and their nation onthe worst possible nightmare rideto Kandahar. At the end of thatweek, India had suffered severalblows, its government brought toits knees in front of the world,who agreed to release MasoodAzhar, who went on to build athriving terror empire that attacksIndia to this day, along with AlUmar chief Mushtaq Ahmed Zar-gar, who directs attacks insideJammu and Kashmir, and SheikhOmar Ahmed Saeed, the man con-victed for the killing of DanielPearl and who organised the fund-ing for the 9/11 attacks in the U.S.in 2001.

While these were heavy blows,the unkindest cut was the re-sponse of the international com-munity that watched the week’sunfolding horror without offering

assistance, nor did it feel the needto hold the terrorists, their wel-coming Taliban hosts in Afgh-anistan, or Pakistan, that gavethose terrorists a hero’s welcomeback to account for it.

McDonald, who was based inIndia from 2000-2003, and haswritten an excellent work on theSiachen conflict (Heights of Mad-ness) provides a well-thought outepilogue as well, bringing thebook up to date with the impact ofthe ‘surgical strikes’ announced bythe government after the Uri at-tack in 2016, and of the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor. As ajournalist who has covered bothsides of the India-Pakistan fault-line, McDonald is even-handed, al-beit clearly more sympathetic toIndia’s case, which leads her toher conclusion of where ‘defeatand victory’ lie. Lest anyone doubther ability to turn the critical eyeon India’s actions, her chapter onthe flawed and unjust investiga-tion and trials of those suspectedto have conspired in the Parlia-ment attack of 2001 is important.

One is left wondering if such ashoddy process is the Indian gov-ernment’s way of covering up forits own lapses, and its own poorpreparation, and whether India isin denial of its vulnerability asmuch as Pakistan is in denial of itsdiabolical duplicity.

Some lapsesThere are, however, lapses in Mc-Donald’s narrative that are unfor-tunately common to other ac-counts of India-Pakistan relations,both western and Indian.

To begin with, there is thetemptation to see the relations in atime prism: that begins after thenuclear tests of 1998. In the jacket-

blurb of the book, it speaks of howIndia and Pakistan ‘restarted theclock’ after they both held nucleartests and as a result Pakistan used‘militant proxies’ with ‘reckless re-liance’ thereafter.

The truth is Pakistan’s ‘recklessreliance’ on proxies did not beginin 1998, but all the way back in1948, during the first Kashmir war.Later, the use of Sikh militantswho hijacked planes to Lahore inthe 1980s, or the D-Company thathas lived in Karachi after the Mum-bai blasts in 1993 were all part of asimilar strategy.

Before Uri, there was Path-ankot; before that there was Mum-bai 26/11, the train bombings, the

Parliament attack, IC-814 and soon.

Another lapse, shared withother writers on the subcontinent,is to describe the internationalcommunity, and in particular theU.S., as naïve players, who mis-takenly choose to pursue a SouthAsia policy that unwittingly allowsPakistan its terror war on India.The U.S. is neither naïve nor fool-ish. If it has pursued a certaincourse for decades, then that mustbe seen for what it is: a policy.

While the author painstakinglydetails the lead-up from the IC-814hijack to the 9/11 attacks, shedoesn’t probe why the CIA missedall the links between the Jaish-e-

Mohammad and al-Qaeda and theTaliban pre-2001. Similarly, on thecurious case of David Headley,now convicted in the U.S. for hisrole in planning the Mumbai at-tacks, the book fails to investigatewhy the U.S. government enteredinto a plea-bargain with him forhis life without even informing In-dian authorities, forcing the In-dian government to do the same in2015, or to let him travel to India inMarch 2009, months after theMumbai attacks, when he was un-der U.S. surveillance.

In Pakistan, the U.S. has under-taken unilateral drone strikesagainst several terrorists suspec-ted of harming U.S. citizens, buthas never turned its gaze on HafizSaeed with any seriousness. Evena much touted $10million ‘bounty’turned out to be a reward for in-formation against Hafiz Saeed, asMcDonald records, which the U.S.intelligence agencies should havein plenty.

Indeed, if Pakistan has ‘lost’ thiswar for parity with India through‘a thousand cuts’, there seemslittle evidence of introspectionwithin. While defeat might meanthe notional loss of U.S. trust,Pakistan will always be an import-ant interlocutor for the U.S. whenit comes to Afghanistan.

The diplomatic isolation ofPakistan that McDonald describesis only one part of the story. Theother part is Pakistan’s link-role inChina’s OBOR (One Belt One Road)plans, that is bringing even Russiainto a closer embrace. For all itsself-defeating tendencies, Pakistanis an orphan with a lot of backers.For India, faced with more import-ant wars with poverty, illiteracy,water shortages and other, thereare no winners in this battle forSouth Asia.

No winners in this battleA journalist who has covered both sides of the India-Pakistan faultline explains why ties between the two are so strained

■ Defeat is an Orphan:How Pakistan Lost the GreatSouth Asian WarMyraMcDonaldPenguin RandomHouse₹509

Suhasini Haidar

Peace under pressure: Indian Border Security Force Jawans and Pakistani Rangers at theWagah border. * AFP

India’s cities are miserableplaces to live in. We maydream of smart cities, but

our cities are currentlyrather un-smart. Even basicnecessities like piped drink-ing water and access to arudimentary sewage net-work are out of reach formost Indians living in urbanareas. Despite the deep polit-ical divides in the country,the one thing on which thereis broad consensus is this: In-dia’s cities require a lot ofwork.

The remarkable popular-ity of a pie-in-the-sky idealike 100 Smart Cities isrooted in that imagination.That urban India deservesbetter. P.K. Mohanty’s Finan-cing Cities in India is a timelyintervention that seeks to ad-dress this growing sense offrustration among citizensliving in urban India.

The author’s case is fairlystraightforward. Cities arethe engines of economicgrowth. Owing to a variety offactors ranging from availab-ility of skilled manpower tothe benefits of agglomera-tion, much of India’s futuregrowth is expected to comefrom its cities. By 2030, In-dia’s cities are expected tocontribute nearly 70% of theGDP, according to a McKin-sey Global Institute analysis.However, very little invest-ment goes back into thosevery cities.

Cities under-investedIndia’s annual per capitaspending on cities, whichstands at $50, is 14% of Chi-na’s $362, 10% of SouthAfrica’s $508 and less than3% of the U.K.’s $1772. The in-evitable outcome of that un-der investment is bad infra-structure and poor quality oflife. Mohanty’s case is thatthese crippling infrastruc-ture deficits matter not justbecause they cause hard-ships to residents, but be-cause India’s economicgrowth itself could be underthreat. If cities are unlivable,the benefits of agglomera-tion would hardly kick inand India would miss its nar-row window of opportunityto develop rapidly.

Early on in the book, hecites the grim picturepainted by the High PoweredExpert Committee (2011)constituted by the previousUPA government, which pro-jected that an expenditure ofat least Rs.39 lakh crore is re-quired by 2031 for upgrading

city infrastructure. If opera-tion and maintenance ex-penses are included, the fig-ure goes up to a whoppingRs.59 lakh crore. For thesake of comparison, the totalcombined outlay of theSmart Cities Mission and AM-RUT is only Rs.1 lakh crore,or about 2% of the funds re-quired by 2031.

Therefore, India’s spend-ing on urban infrastructurehas to increase eight-fold.But much of this money maynot come from the Centralgovernment. Cities them-selves have to figure outways to raise the money.However, the current rev-enue base of municipalitiesis narrow, inflexible andnon-buoyant (meaning, itdoes not increase in stepwith the economy, unlike,say, a service tax). That iswhy cities need to startthinking of ways to improvetheir financial muscle andthe author recommends aslew of methods which citiescan consider to raise ad-equate revenue.

What’s the way forward?The proposed strategies inthe book can be broadly di-vided into three categories:tax, user charges, and rais-ing money through bondsand debt. The author spendsconsiderable time digginginto history to make a casefor a land value tax, akin tothe ones that exist in theU.S., Taiwan or Malaysia.Most Indian cities tax builtform through a property tax,but the windfall increases inthe monetary value of landas a result of provisioningtaxpayer-funded public in-frastructure in the vicinity is

mostly not taxed. The authorinsists that the costs ofproviding water and sewerlines, as well as public roads,have to be recovered fromdevelopers through a com-bination of land tax, devel-opment charges and better-ment fees.

The next step is a rationaluser charge scheme for thecontinued provision of pub-lic services like water supply,with a fairly priced monthlylifeline charge for the poorand a graded increase incharges (based on usage) toensure the rich don’t end upgetting subsidised.

The third and last step isthe use of financial instru-ments to raise money in or-der to direct developmentalong certain corridors orgeographies, so that the citygovernment can controlgrowth instead of leaving itto developers. But exceptAhmedabad, no other Indiancity has even tried a bond is-sue and almost none arecredit-rated. Unsurprisingly,most of the examples men-tioned in the book are from

the U.S., which has heavilyrelied on such financialinstruments.

Overlooking questions offeasibility on all those threepoints though, the biggerconcern with the book isthat it ultimately reduces theissue to a money problem.But as the author himselfwould know, having workedextensively on Hyderabad asan IAS officer duringChandrababu Naidu’s earlierterm, what is possible at anygiven moment is not just aquestion of funds. A case inpoint is that only around40% of the funds originallyallocated for JNNURM werereleased. Many proposedprojects were either not star-ted or remain incomplete asthey got stuck in the Centre-State-city administrativevortex.

India suffers from a seri-ous local democracy deficit.Without fixing that, throw-ing money at the problemmay not help. In the book, asmall section deals withgood governance in the con-cluding pages. But good gov-ernance is just a catchphrasethat has come to mean somany different things for dif-ferent people. Without seri-ous introspection about thenature of our urban demo-cratic governance, innovat-ive taxes and user chargesmay not help much. The realopportunity that Indian cit-ies offer is a chance to builda better democracy, wherethere is considerable localautonomy and governmentspending is transparent andaccountable. While lack offunds is a concern in thatequation, it may not after allbe the central concern.

Maximum CitiesCrippling infrastructure deicits in our urban areas not only cause hardships,but can threaten India’s economic growth itself

Evolving landscape: India’s spending on urban infrastructure has to increase eight-fold,and cities themselves will have to igure out ways to raise themoney. * C.V. SUBRAHMANYAM

■ Financing Cities in India:Municipal Reforms,Fiscal Accountability andUrban InfrastructurePrasanna K. MohantySage Publications₹895

Ajai Sreevatsan

History shows that ideasspread through schol-

arly wanderers like HsuanTsang, Marco Polo, Fa Hienand Ibn Battuta, who haverecorded their experiencesfor posterity. In the Indiancontext, Rahul Sankrityayanaptly fits the bill through hisinnumerable writings on hisjourneys within and outsidethe country. However, thereis very little material avail-able about his own evolutionas a multi-lingual scholarfrom a boy born as Ke-darnath Pandey in a Brah-min family in a village inAzamgarh, Uttar Pradesh.

Best known as Rahuljiacross the country, RahulSankrityayan has donnedmany a robe. A vaishnavsadhu, Arya Samaji activist,a freedom fighter, aBuddhist monk, a Commun-ist who fought for the rightsof peasants, a pioneer ofmodern Hindi literature, ascholar who brought manyrare Sanskrit manuscripts,mostly Buddhist classics to

the outside world from inac-cessible Tibetan monaster-ies, which still feeds the hun-ger of scholars throughoutthe world and a multi-lin-guist (he is a master of 33languages) who became anardent advocate of the su-premacy of Hindi… the list isendless.

A Freethinking CulturalNationalist—A Life History ofRahul Sankrityayan by AlakaAtreya Chudal gives us an in-sight into the personality of

Rahulji as a product of histime—a period of social re-forms and movement forfreedom from foreign yoke.

The author also delvesdeep into his Buddhist philo-sophy which ultimately ledhim towards Marxism aswell as his special relation-ship with Nepal and its re-demption from the auto-cracy of the Ranas.

Chudal also exploresSankrityayan’s unique con-tribution to modern Hindiliterature. The Afterwordbrings out the main theme—‘his nationalist fervour’—through many stages of hislife which presents us with amulti-faceted picture of In-dia itself, covering many im-portant aspects of its richpast and its struggle to makethe transition to the futureworthy of that past.

In all, it is indeed an en-grossing study of a stalwartwho rekindled the know-ledge of Buddhism in Indiaand the world and who livedas an Indian at heart and inhis writings all through.

Oneman, many livesFreedom ighter, Buddhist monk, pioneer of Hindiliterature—an insight into a unique personality

V.B. Ganesan

■ A Freethinking CulturalNationalist—A Life Historyof Rahul SankrityayanAlaka Atreya ChudalOxford University Press₹950

It is perfect that the firstwoman in Ira Mukhoty’s

book Heroines is Draupadiand that Sita, shoved downour throats as ideal woman-hood, is entirely missing.Draupadi, dark, angry, intel-ligent, whose sexuality theMahabharata celebrates—sinuous hips, the sheen ofsweat on her skin—is no si-lent sufferer in exile, but anangry woman who demandsrevenge and her rightfulplace as queen.

Although Draupadi andRadha are mythologicalheroines, myths dominateour mindspace so much,whether culturally or politic-ally, that it is apt they shouldfeature here, as pointers tothe ways in which ancient lit-erature imagined women.These inconvenient rolemodels were quietly down-played down the ages andwomen relegated to theantahpura.

Besides them, Mukhotyresurrects six real womenwho played extraordinaryroles but who weren’t writ-ten into textbooks as were

their male counterparts.Take Jahanara Begum, ShahJahan’s eldest daughter. Mat-riarch of the royal house-hold after mother MumtazMahal’s death, she was therichest woman of her times.Unmarried, devoted toSufism, she is a vastly inter-esting, paan-loving figure.Surat’s revenues were hers,her ship Sahibi sailed theseas, she commissioned amosque in Agra (a maleprerogative) and was thefirst woman to be made‘keeper of the imperial seal’.

Such nuggets make excel-lent reading, and counter to

some extent the fact that wehaven’t thus far been toogood with disseminating ourpast in accessible ways. Onediary entry, for instance, es-tablishes that 1857 was not arag-tag uprising quelled by afew British bravehearts but abattle that needed one yearand half a lakh soldiersbrought in from Europe tocrush it. Or that immensewealth, art, books and docu-ments were destroyed by the‘civilised’ British inLucknow.

Ambapali, Raziya, Meera-bai, Rani Laxmibai, HazratMahal, they’re all revivedhere. Not with a romanti-cised retelling, but throughfacts extracted from real ac-counts, letters and diaries.Will we, in these fractioustimes, allow textbooks to cel-ebrate Hazrat Mahal, WajidAli Shah’s ex-wife, who ledthe longest and fiercest res-istance to the British in 1857?Will we acknowledge thatRadha, celebrated as a pin-ing devotee, was a marriedwoman who threw off hus-band and hearth to followKrishna’s flute?

Ascent of a womanResurrecting the lives of a few women who playedextraordinary roles but weren’t written into textbooks

■ HeroinesIra MukhotyAleph₹499

Vaishna Roy

The book unpacks Sino-Indian tensions from theangle of competitive state-making—through a study oftheir simultaneous attemptsto win the approval andsupport of the Himalayanpeople. The author usesoriginal archival research toshow how India and Chinabecame each other’s ‘shadowstates’.

BOOKSHELF

■ Shadow States: India,China and the Himalayas,1910-1962Berenice Guyot-RechardCambridge UniversityPress$99.99

In this deeply personal book,veteran sarodmaestro UstadAmjad Ali Khan writes aboutthe lives and times of some ofthe greatest icons of Indianclassical music whom he hasknown personally. He recallsanecdotes and details abouttheir individual musical stylesalong with portraits of theartists.

■ Master on MastersAmjad Ali KhanPenguin RandomHouseIndia₹499

Awriter in Beijing writesabout the young generationby following the lives of sixmillennials. There are over320million Chinese in theirteens and twenties. Bornafter Mao, with nomemory ofTiananmen, these ofspringof the one-child policy areradically transforming theirnation.

■ Wish Lanterns: YoungLives in New ChinaAlec AshPanMacmillan₹499

Two extended excerpts fromthe notebooks of thisNational Book Award-winning writer, one writtenon a road trip throughLouisiana, the other aboutCalifornia in the 70s, give us aglimpse of some of the issuesthat American society is stillgrappling with: racerelations, social hierarchies,prejudice.

■ South andWestJoan DidionPenguin RandomHouse₹1,052

A fascinating commentary onthe relation between scienceand society, this volume is apioneering work thatanalyses the science-media-public interaction in a non-Western context. It examinescritical questions about‘medialised science’ likewhether there are limits todemocratisation of science.

■ Contested Knowledge:Science, Media, andDemocracy in KeralaShiju Sam VarugheseOxford University Press₹995

CMYK

A ND-ND




SPORT

Rahane, ninth player fromMumbai to captain IndiaAjinkya Rahane, who became

India’s 33rd Test captain after

an injured Virat Kohli was ruled

out of the fourth Test, is the

ninth player from Mumbai to

lead the country in the longest

form of the game. Polly

Umrigar, Nari Contractor, G.S.

Ramchand, Ajit Wadekar, Sunil

Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi

Shastri and Sachin Tendulkar

are the others from the city to

helm the National side. PTI

Ashwin breaks Steyn’sworld recordWhen R. Ashwin had Steve

Smith caught at slip before tea,

he broke Dale Steyn’s 2007-08

record for the most wickets in a

Test season. Ashwin (79, 13

Tests) tops a list that includes

Steyn (78, 12), Ravindra Jadeja

(68, 13, 2016-17), Glenn

McGrath (66, 12, 1998-99) and

Anil Kumble (64, 11, 2004-05).

fourth TEST, DAY 1, HPCA STADIUM, DHARAMSHALA

AUSTRALIA — 1ST INNINGS RUNS BALLS 4s 6s

David Warner c Rahane b Kuldeep ddddddd ddd 56 ddddddd87 dddddddd 8 dddddddd 1

Matt Renshaw b Umesh ddddddddddddddddd ddddd1 dddddddd 6 ddddddddd ddddddddd

Steve Smith c Rahane b Ashwin dddddddddd dd111 ddddd 173 ddddddd14 dddddddddd

Shaun Marsh c Saha b Umeshdddddddddddd ddddd4 ddddddd14 dddddddddd dddddddddd

Peter Handscomb b Kuldeepddddddddddddd ddddd8 ddddddd23 dddddddd 1 dddddddddd

Glenn Maxwell b Kuldeepdddddddddddddddd ddddd8 ddddddd17 dddddddd 1 dddddddddd

Matthew Wade b Jadeja ddddddddddddddddd ddd 57 ddddd 125 dddddddd 4 dddddddd 1

Pat Cummins c & b Kuldeep ddddddddddddd ddd 21 ddddddd40 dddddddd 3 dddddddd 1

Steve O’Keefe run out ddddddddddddddddddd ddddd8 ddddddd16 dddddddd 2 dddddddddd

Nathan Lyon c Pujara b Bhuvneshwar dddd ddd 13 ddddddd28 dddddddd 2 dddddddddd

Josh Hazlewood (not out) ddddddddddddddd ddddd2 dddddddd 2 dddddddddd dddddddddd

Extras (b-1, lb-10) ddddddddddddddddddddddd ddd 11 dddddddddd dddddddddd dddddddddd

Total (in 88.3 overs) ddddddddddddddddddddd dd 300

Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Renshaw, 1.4 overs), 2-144 (Warner, 34.1), 3-153 (Marsh, 37.4),4-168 (Handscomb, 44.5), 5-178 (Maxwell, 48.6), 6-208 (Smith, 59.5), 7-245 (Cummins,72.4), 8-269 (O’Keefe, 79.3), 9-298 (Wade, 87.4).

INDIA BOWLING: Bhuvneshwar 12.3-2-41-1, Umesh 15-1-69-2, Ashwin 23-5-54-1,Jadeja 15-1-57-1, Kuldeep 23-3-68-4.

INDIA — 1ST INNINGS RUNS BALLS 4s 6s

K.L. Rahul (batting) dddddddddddddddddddddd ddddd0 dddddddd 6 dddddddddd ddddddddd

M. Vijay (batting) ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd0 dddddddd 0 ddddddddd ddddddddd

Total (for no loss in one over) dddddddddddd ddddd0

AUSTRALIA BOWLING: Hazlewood 1-1-0-0.

Toss: Australia.

Debut: Kuldeep Yadav.

A newcomer’s intrigue andthe seasoned art of a run-ac-cumulatormade for some fas-cinating cricket at the HPCAStadium here. Kuldeep Ya-dav’s excellent debut andSteve Smith’s third century ofthe series were the strikingfeatures of the opening day’splay in the fourth and finalTest.

The aggression was miss-ing in the Indian ranks sinceVirat Kohli was confined tothe dressing room butKuldeep, the practitioner ofchinaman bowling with abuilt-in smile, brought in a re-freshing style of attacking

game in a throwback to thedays of Anil Kumble and Har-bhajan Singh, taking wicketswith sheer skill and not beingover-reliant on the surface.

Kuldeep’s strikes werepure demonstration of a spin-ner’swiles as Australia, ridingon a classy century by Smith,finished at 300 after electingto bat.

From 144 for one, Australialost ninewickets for 156 runs,the collapse triggered byKuldeep, who earned praisefor not compromising with

the situation.What stood out was

Kuldeep’s wicket-taking abil-ity in a lively display of tem-perament befitting the ex-pectations fromhim.

The tepid spectator-re-sponse to this hilly town host-ing its first ever Test was adampener on a day when In-dia took the field without itsbest player, Kohli, ruled outdue to a shoulder injury.However, his involvement re-mained in tact as he kept run-

ning inwithmessages.Kohli’s stamp was visible

as India picked five bowlers —rightly leaving out IshantSharma. The 22-year-oldKuldeep’s inclusion wasbased on the fact that hiswares were unknown to Aus-tralia and some of the dis-missals confirmed the fearsof the visiting batsmen. Fail-ing to read Kuldeep’s wristleft them embarrassed at thecrease and India seemed tohave found a bowler to join

the galaxy of slow bowlers —the first of his kind.

It was a pleasant sight towatch skipper Ajinkya Ra-hane execute his plans withan unpretentious presence atfirst slip. He backed the bowl-ers with some astute fieldplacements and essentiallybrought a calming effect dur-ing the phase when Australialooked to dominate.

The Test saw a two-minutedelay and a first-ball thrill asDavid Warner edged

Bhuvneshwar Kumar butKarun Nair was late in re-sponding at third slip andspilled the offering.

Matt Renshaw, however,played the wrong line toUmesh Yadav and the contestwas off to a gripping start, awicket in the second over.The next, however, cameafter a struggle asWarner andSmith laid the structure of theAustralian innings with aquality 134-run partnershipthat brought the best of the

day’s batting.The first session left the In-

dian camp in a state of worry.A score of 131 for one presen-ted the new captain with adaunting challenge. His re-sponse was calculated evenas Australia approached dif-ferently.

Warner showed patienceand respect for the ball.Smith attacked and attackedwell, picking the line earlyand gaps at will. The sessionwas a salute to Smith’s tem-perament and Warner’s re-solve to adapt.

The pitch played its part.The bounce was true andmovementminimal — a sharpcontrast to the nature of thepitch here. It suited the Aus-tralians. India feared a hugerun-assault but Kuldeep

stepped in and changed thecourse by removing Warner,Peter Handscomb and GlennMaxwell with superblyplanned deliveries.

Warner was surprised bythe extra bounce; Hand-scomb was bowled throughthe gate and Maxwell foxedby a beauty that squared himup.

Kuldeep’s control and con-fidencematched the tenacityof Smith and took the com-petition a notch higher. Theskipper, displaying exem-plary ease in combating theIndians, had contributedmore than half his team’sscore when he fell at 208,edging R. Ashwin to slip. Ahalf-century by MatthewWade helped Australia to 300and left India tackle an over.

Kuldeep trips Aussies even as Smith revels with a tonThe debutant chinaman bowler’s four-for helps India come back strongly to bowl out the visitors for 300

Beaten all ends up: Peter Handscomb is foxed by the late drift to be bowled through the gate by Kuldeep Yadav. * V.V. KRISHNAN

Vijay Lokapally

DHARAMSHALA

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

� Steve Smith is only the

second visiting skipper —

Alastair Cook (2012-13),

the other — and the sixth

overseas batsman to make

three centuries in a series

in India.

� Saturday’s 111 was his

20th Test hundred in 99

innings. Only Don

Bradman (55 innings),

Sunil Gavaskar (95) and

Matthew Hayden (95)

have been quicker to 20.

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

It isn’t often that a 22-year-old Test debutant walks infor a press conference andowns the place with hischeekiness. But with fourwickets on the opening dayof the final Test against Aus-tralia, Kuldeep Yadav wasn’tgoing to let the chance tocock a snook at the visitorsgo waste, in line with thetone of the series.

“If you see my first wicket,it was not a chinaman but aflipper, which I learnt fromShane Warne. To learnsomething from him and useit to bowl his own batsmen isobviously a very good feel-ing,” Kuldeep said with theslightest of smiles that led toan explosion of laughter andseveral quizzical faces fromthe Australian media.

It was in response to whattips he had received from thelegendary Australian duringthe Pune Test and not the

only one where he wasclearly enjoying himself.

Asked about Steve Smith’sdoughty innings, Kuldeepwasn’t perturbed.

“I did not find anythingdifficult or special, but thenhe was not playing any shotsagainst me. But I have alwaysbelieved that a good spinnerwill always go for runs butalso take wickets,” he said.

When informed aboutMatthew Wade’s statementthat it had been difficult toread him, Yadav commen-ted, “Good if he said that, itmeans they are finding it dif-ficult to play!”

Having led India off the

field at the end of the Aus-tralian innings, Yadav was allpraise for Virat Kohli, whokept speaking to him fromthe sidelines. Kohli evenwalked in with the drinks,clearly unable to stay out ofthe action.

‘Kohli the motivator’“He reminded me of ourplans and how to go about it.There cannot be anythingbetter for a player than yourcaptain motivating you somuch even when he is notplaying,” Kuldeep said.

It may be his first Test butthe youngster backs himselfto make sure it won’t be hislast. “I have a lot of confid-ence in my skills and vari-ations even when I get hit forruns. I always believe that agood spinner will go for runsbut also take wickets andwith both Kohli and Anilbhai (Kumble) encouragingme, I am happy we stuck tothe plan,” he said.

Debutant cocks a snook at the visitors‘Using Warne’s tips against his men is a special feeling’

Uthra Ganesan

DHARAMSHALA

Right attitude: Kuldeep Yadav, seen celebrating with UmeshYadav, says he has a lot of conidence in his skills and variationseven when he goes for runs. * V.V. KRISHNAN

<> I am impressed with

@imkuldeep18’s

variations and the

way he has started.

Keep going strong,

this can be your

match to shine

— Sachin Tendulkar

Australia wicketkeeper Mat-thew Wade, who made afighting 57, said that it wasn’tas easy to score as itappeared.

“From 140 for one, obvi-ously you have to push on abit after lunch but credit tothe Indians — they bowledreally well through themiddle session. We had tofind a way to grind out 300,”he said.

The middle session col-lapse was largely orches-trated by debutant KuldeepYadav. “It took a few balls toget used to. He bowled a lotof different deliveries andwith a scrambled seam aswell. But once you stayedthere for a while, you get aread on him. We had a lookat everyone before the startof the series so the boyswere on top of what he wasgoing to bowl,” Wadeexplained.

Praising captain SteveSmith, who got his third cen-tury of the series, Wadetermed him to be the bestplayer in the world.

“You look at the score-board and before you know,he is on 50. It looks so easy

for him but obviously it’snot. From outside, it lookslike he is playing a differentgame. He is the best playerin the world at the momentand he is on track to becomeone of the greatest playersAustralia has ever seen,”Wade declared.

He was also hopeful of hisbowlers replicating India’ssuccess. “The cracks areplaying a huge role for thespinners as well as the quickbowlers. We will be lookingto get a bit out of the crackstomorrow and grab our op-portunities,” he hoped.

He finally allowed himselfa smile towards the endwhen asked about the differ-ence in India’s captaincy un-der Ajinkya Rahane in theabsence of Virat Kohli. “I feelthey were very, very good;they were very calm andwent about their work. Theyweren’t overexcited. It wasno different, to be honest,”he said.

Smith the best: Wade‘Indians bowled well in the middle session’


DHARAMSHALA

Steve Smith. * V.V. KRISHNAN

Safe hands: Ajinkya Rahane about to grasp a chance oferedby DavidWarner of Kuldeep Yadav. * REUTERS

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Gotcha!

Can BCCI office-bearers C.K.Khanna, Amitabh Chaud-hary and Anirudh Chaudhrywork independently of theCommittee of Administrat-ors (CoA)?

In its order of January 2,2017 that removed AnuragThakur as BCCI presidentand Ajay Shirke as secretary,the Supreme Court said:

“Upon the CoA nomin-ated by this Court assumingcharge, the existing office-bearers shall function sub-ject to the supervision andcontrol of the CoA.”

And, after naming themembers of the CoA, the Su-preme Court by its order ofJanuary 30 said: “Mr. VinodRai shall be the Chairman ofthe CoA. The CEO of BCCIshall report to the CoA andthe administrators shall su-pervise the management ofBCCI.”

The office-bearers whohave not been affected bythe disqualification norm atthe BCCI level — AmitabhChaudhary and AnirudhChaudhry (treasurer) — havesubmitted their undertaking,the contents of which havenot been revealed so far.

The Supreme Court’s in-terpretation, on Friday(March 24), of the nine-yeartenure ceiling set by theLodha Committee may haveled Messrs. Khanna, Amit-abh Chaudhary and AnirudhChaudhry understand thatthey have the right to dis-charge their functions.

But, according to the SC“only under the supervision

and control of the CoA.”All the aforementioned of-

fice-bearers, would go intothe three-year cooling offperiod only when notice forthe next election is served.

That’s the million-dollarquestion now because theCoA is still trying to findways to persuade the fullmembers to accept theJustice Lodha Committee

recommendations.Only the 31 members have

the right to change the MoUand Rules and Regulations ofthe BCCI. And the CoA is noteven in the know of who areeligible to be called for a Spe-cial General Meeting. Thenews on the grapevine is thateventually the entire reformsreport may be referred to aConstitution Bench.

CoA has full control and supervision: SCBCCI oice-bearers cannot work independently

G. Viswanath

Mumbai

An agreement signed by theBCCI and the internationalmatch-staging associations forthe first time for a home bilat-eral serieswasmade full use ofby the Himachal PradeshCricket Association (HPCA) toclaim its compensation of ₹2.5crore from the BCCI, at the Su-premeCourt on Friday.

A BCCI official told TheHindu: “For the first time, wesigned agreements with full-member associations thatwere given matches againstNew Zealand, England,Bangladesh andAustralia.

“The agreement spelt out

the responsibilities of the sta-ging associations. The BCCIwas committed to pay ₹2.5crore for a Test match, ₹1.5crore for an ODI and ₹1 crorefor a T20I.”

EarlierpracticeEarlier the practice was to addthe international match com-pensation to the media rightsshare of 25 full-member asso-ciations (not including Rail-ways, Services, All India Uni-versities, Cricket Club of India,Mumbai and National CricketClub and Kolkata) and remitthe consolidated sum to theassociations’ account, after theBCCI annual accounts are ap-

proved at the AGM inSeptember.

Following the SupremeCourt decision on Friday, theSaurashtra Cricket Association(SCA) has sent its invoice forstaging the first Test againstEngland at Rajkot inNovember2016.

The BCCI will now have toremit money to Uttar PradeshCA, CAB, MPCA, Andhra CA,Punjab CA,Mumbai CA, TNCA,Hyderabad CA, MaharashtraCA, KSCA, Jharkhand CA, Hi-machal Pradesh CA, DDCA,Vidahrbha andOdhisha associ-ations for playing host to Testmatches, ODIs and Twenty20matches this season.

HPCA claims ₹2.5 croreG. Viswanath

MUMBAI

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal cGunathilaka b Kumara 127,Soumya Sarkar c Chandimal bLakmal 10, Sabbir Rahman cTharanga b Gunaratne 54,Mushfiqur Rahim c & bSandakan 1, Shakib Al Hasan cSandakan b Lakmal 72, Mosad-dek Hossain (not out) 24, Mah-mudullah (not out) 13; Extras(lb-10, w-13): 23; Total (for fivewkts. in 50 overs): 324.

Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-119, 3-120, 4-264, 5-289.

Sri Lanka bowling: Lakmal 8-0-45-2, Kumara 8-0-74-1, Per-era 8-0-63-0, Pathirana 5-0-27-0, Sandakan 8-0-43-1,Gunaratne 10-0-40-1, Gunath-ilaka 3-0-22-1.

Sri Lanka: D. Gunathilaka lbw bMortaza 0, U. Tharanga cMortaza b Taskin 19, K. Mendisc sub b Mehedi Hasan 4, D.Chandimal c Soumya Sarkar b

Mehedi Hasan 59, A. Gunar-atne c Mosaddek Hossain bShakib 24, M. Siriwardana c subb Mustafizur 22, S. Pathirana cMahmudullah b Mortaza 31, T.Perera c Mahmudullah bMustafizur Rahman 55, S. Lak-mal c Sabbir Rahman bMustafizur 8, L. Sandakan runout 3, L. Kumara (not out) 0;Extras (lb-5, w-4): 9; Total (in45.1 overs): 234.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-15, 3-31,4-87, 5-121, 6-153, 7-171, 8-208, 9-232.

Bangladesh bowling:MashrafeMortaza 7-2-35-2, MehediHasan 10-0-43-2, TaskinAhmed 9-0-41-1, Shakib alHasan 8-0-33-1, MustafizurRahman 8.1-0-56-3, MosaddekHossain 3-0-21-0.

Toss: Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh won by 90 runs.

SCOREBOARD SRI LANKA VS BANGLADESH, FIRST ODI

Bangladesh beat Sri Lankaby 90 runs in the first ODI ofa three-match series here onSaturday.

Opener Tamim Iqbalstruck a century asBangladesh posted a record324 for five. Tamim made

127 off 142 balls while ShakibAl Hasan and Sabbir Rah-man added two more fifties,helping the visitors passtheir previous highest scoreof 265 for nine against SriLanka.

Mustafizur Rahmanscalped three for 56 to helpdismiss Sri Lanka for 234.

Bangladesh mastersSri Lanka in openerAgencies

Dambulla

Kuldeep Yadav on Saturdayreceived lavish praise fromformer cricketers for his im-pressive display.

India batsman RohitSharma termed Kuldeep a“mystery” spinner.

“New mystery guy in thehouse @imkuldeep18 #Ma-gical,” Rohit tweeted.

Former India off—spinnerHarbhajan Singh tweeted:“Welldone @imkuldeep18for making a dream debut-..magical bowling??????may

god be with you.. god bless-..keep shining.”

Another former Indiaspinner Murali Kartik wroteon his Twitter handle:“Wonderful beginning for adebutant.. 2 very good wick-ets &the way he hasbowled.. Way to go.. Godbless #KuldeepYadav.”

Former Australia captainMichael Clarke was also ef-fusive in his praise ofKuldeep.

“This has been a magnifi-cent spell of bowling fromthe young man Kuldeep.”

‘Newmystery guy’Press Trust of India

Dharamshala

CMYK

A ND-ND




SPORT

SUDOKU

Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Memorable day forGianluigi BufonPALERMO

It was a day for veteran

goalkeeper and Italian captain

Gianluigi Buffon to savour on

Friday as he not only played

his 1,000th professional

match but also won a

European record 168th cap.

The 2-0 World Cup qualifying

win over Albania also helped

Italy extend its unbeaten run

in qualifiers to 55 matches (41

wins, 14 draws). AFP

IN BRIEF

AIBA coachescertiication courseKOLKATA:

Altogether 49 out of 50

coaches have passed the

International Boxing

Association (AIBA) one-star

certification course

conducted at the National

Boxing Academy, Rohtak, last

month.

AIBA had sent a team of

instructors, including

Coaches Commission

chairman Adams Kusior and

Mofu Makhaya Andile, to

conduct the course.

The initiative will help the

Boxing Federation of India

spread correct and latest

coaching methods among

boxers at the grassroots

level.

England hires Saqlain asspin consultantKARACHI

The England and Wales

Cricket Board (ECB) has hired

former Pakistan off-spinner

Saqlain Mushtaq as spin

consultant for a period of

two years. “ECB has hired my

services for two years and I

have to work 100 days a year

with them. My main duty will

be with the England cricket

team but I will also work with

young and rising spinners in

English cricket,” Saqlain told

Dawn. He has previously

worked with New Zealand

and the West Indies. ANI

Triple World championLewis Hamilton will start offthe pole in the season-open-ing Australian Grand Prixafter winning qualifying onSaturday.

Hamilton in a Mercedesclocked a record lap of oneminute 22.188 seconds totake his 62nd career poleand sixth in Australia intoSunday’s race here.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettelwas second with Hamilton’sMercedes teammate ValtteriBottas third.

Fourth straight poleHamilton has been on polein Melbourne in each of thelast four seasons, and in fiveout of the last six AustralianGPs.

“It’s been a fantasticweekend so far. I’m incred-ibly proud of my team,”Hamilton said. “Valtteri dida great job and it’s great forus as Mercedes. It’s going tobe a tight race.

“Tomorrow is about put-ting all the work togetherand making sure I comeback stronger than ever.”

He was pushed in the fi-nal Q3 stage, first by Bottasand then by Vettel beforeclinching the fastest lap.

“I lost a bit in turn oneand in turn nine I tried a bittoo much, but I don’t thinkit would have been enough,”said Vettel, who claimedFerrari’s first front row since2015 in knocking Bottas outof second place.

Hamilton’s pole time was1.7 seconds quicker than hisqualifying time last year.

“Third position is notideal,” Bottas said. “In gen-eral I’m not happy. But I’mproud of what the team hasdone. I only saw a very small

part of the preparation andit’s nice to see the work haspulled off and we’re fightingat the front.”

Ricciardo crashesAustralia’s big hope DanielRicciardo crashed his RedBull at turn 14 looking topost a good time in Q3 andwill start 10th.

Ricciardo damaged therear of his RB13 car and washeard over the team radio assaying: “I’m alright... sorryguys.”

The final session of quali-fying was suspended whileRicciardo’s car was removed

from the gravel alongsidethe track.

Sergio Perez, NicoHulkenberg, FernandoAlonso, Esteban Ocon andMarcus Ericsson all failed tomake it through the top tenshootout.

Red Bull’s Max Verstap-pen had a lock-up into turnsix on ultrasoft tyres beforehe posted a time to stay aliveinto Q2.

McLaren’s Stoffel Van-doorne had a fuel-flow issuewhich sent the Belgian tothe pits and knocked out inQ1.

Vandoorne was joined by

Antonio Giovinazzi, KevinMagnussen, Lance Strolland Jolyon Palmer to beeliminated in the first ses-sion of qualifying.

Giovinazzi is making his

F1 debut after replacing Wil-liams teammate PascalWehrlein, who has not suffi-ciently recovered from aback injury sustained in apre-season crash.

Hamilton on pole with record lapVettel claims Ferrari’s irst front row since 2015 ahead of Bottas

Agence France-Presse

MELBOURNE

Burning rubber: Lewis Hamilton scorched the Albert Park circuit on Saturday en route to taking pole for the season-openingAustralian GP. * CLIVE MASON/GETTY IMAGES

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes),2. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), 3.Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), 4.Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), 5. MaxVerstappen (Red Bull), 6. Ro-main Grosjean (Haas), 7. FelipeMassa (Williams), 8. CarlosSainz Jr. (Toro Rosso), 9. DaniilKvyat (Toro Rosso), 10. DanielRicciardo (Red Bull), 11. Sergio

Perez (Force India), 12. NicoHulkenberg (Renault), 13.Fernando Alonso (McLaren), 14.Esteban Ocon (Force India), 15.Marcus Ericsson (Sauber), 16.Antonio Giovinazzi (Sauber), 17.Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 18.Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren),19. Jolyon Palmer (Renault) and20. Lance Stroll (Williams).

STARTING GRID

MUMBAI: Trainer Pesi Shroff ’sward Commodore, who ransecond in his last outing, shouldwin the Tata Housing Turf Cham-pionship (Gr. 3), the featureevent of Sunday’s (March 26) af-ternoon races.

Rails will be 5 metres wide from1400m to 1200m and 10 metreswide from 800m upto the win-ning post.

1 JAYANT M. SHAH PLATE

(2,400m), Cl. IV, rated 20 to46, 2.30 p.m.: 1. Jager Bomb (2)Sandesh 59, 2. Ventura (6) S.Kamble 57.5, 3. Danse Debonaire(8) S.J. Sunil 55.5, 4. Othello (5) J.Chinoy 54.5, 5. Kitty Hawk (7)Dashrath 54, 6. Care Free (3) C.S.Jodha 54, 7. Koal (4) S. Amit 53and 8. Red Fort (1) Nirmal Jodha51.

1. OTHELLO, 2. KITTY HAWK, 3.

JAGER BOMB

2 CURSETJEE DHUNJISHAW

TROPHY (1,400m), Cl. II, rated60 to 86, 3.00: 1. Mountbatten (4)Parmar 59, 2. Miss Saigon (1)Neeraj 57.5, 3. Benezeer (2) C.S.Jodha 54, 4. Carbonara (3)Sandesh 53.5 and 5. Streetjam-mer (5) J. Chinoy 52.5.

1. MISS SAIGON, 2. BENEZEER

3 MANYATTA PLATE (1,600m),Cl. V, rated 1 to 26, 3.30: 1.

Dem Sao (5) Bhawani 59, 2. Hur-acan (6) Trevor 58.5, 3. FriskyWhiskey (3) K. Kadam 56.5, 4.Baker Street (2) Zeeshan 56, 5.Royce (10) Parmar 55.5, 6. Shiva-lik Skies (1) Merchant 54.5, 7. Os-cillation (9) S. Amit 52.5, 8. BlackJaguar (4) S. Kamble 51.5, 9.Secret Flame (7) C.S. Jodha 51and 10. Star Ace (8) Sandesh50.5.

1. OSCILLATION, 2. DEM SAO, 3.

SHIVALIK SKIES

4 D.W. REID PLATE (1,200m),Cl. III, rated 40 to 66, 4.00: 1.

An Jolie (2) Santosh 60.5, 2. IrishBailey (1) J. Chinoy 56, 3. MagicalMemory (4) Sandesh 55, 4. AnvillStar (5) Bhawani 54.5, 5. MagnumOpus (3) Kuldeep 54.5, 6. HouseOf Commons (8) Trevor 54, 7.Golden Eclipse (7) Parmar 53.5and 8. Arakawah (6) Tograllu 53.

1. HOUSE OF COMMONS, 2. AN

JOLIE, 3. MAGICAL MEMORY

5 MEMORIES OF YOU PLATE

(1,000m), Maiden 3-y-o only,4.30: 1. Brooklyn Bridge (8) Agar-wal 55, 2. Gazino (4) Sandesh 55,3. Macgyver (2) K. Kadam 55, 4.Montecasino (9) Shelar 55, 5. ArcShine (10) Merchant 53.5, 6.Dance Of Fire (5) Bhawani 53.5, 7.Princess P (3) Trevor 53.5, 8.Rishab’s Pet (1) Roushan 53.5, 9.Star Anise (7) C.S. Jodha 53.5 and10. Wild Fire (6) Dashrath 53.5.1. GAZINO, 2. PRINCESS P, 3. WILD

FIRE

6 TATA HOUSING TURF CHAM-

PIONSHIP (Gr.3) (1,800m), 4-y-o & over, 5.00: 1. Colombiana(2) Sandesh 59, 2. B Fifty Two (3)C.S. Jodha 56 and 3. Commodore(1) Trevor 51.COMMODORE

7 KARL UMRIGAR TROPHY

(1,400m), Maiden 3-y-o only,5.30: 1. Adonijah (7) Trevor 55, 2.Gandalf (4) S. Kamble 55, 3. Ma-gic Dust (5) Dashrath 55, 4. ManOf Word (12) Akshay Kumar 55, 5.Sandalphon (9) S. Sunil 55, 6.Someone Somewhere (11) J.Chinoy 55, 7. Fortitude (8) Par-mar 53.5, 8. La Magnifique (6)Neeraj 53.5, 9. Lady Be Good (10)Sandesh 53.5, 10. Magical Script(1) K. Kadam 53.5, 11. Poetryin-motion (2) C.S. Jodha 53.5 and 12.Point The Star (3) Bhawani 53.5.1. LA MAGNIFIQUE, 2. LADY BE

GOOD, 3. SOMEONE SOMEWHERE

8 SION F NESSIM PLATE

(1,000m), Cl. IV, rated 20 to46, 6.00: 1. Jimbo (1) Trevor 62, 2.Double Nine (7) Vishal 61.5, 3.Rock In Rio (11) Kuldeep 61, 4.Barringo (5) Nazil 58.5, 5. El Ty-coon (9) S. Amit 58.5, 6. FringeBenefit (2) Merchant 58.5, 7. RiotOf Colours (10) Raghuveer 56, 8.Forever Yours (13) C.S. Jodha55.5, 9. Royal Sapphire (8)Bhawani 55, 10. Firebolt (3) Zee-shan 54.5, 11. Dibaba (4) S.J. Sunil52, 12. Samurai (12) Joseph 52 and13. Abu Al Bukhoosh (6) Roushan51.1. DOUBLE NINE, 2. JIMBO, 3. EL

TYCOON

Day’s best: LA MAGNIFIQUE

Double: MISS SAIGON — GAZINO

Jackpot: 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8.Treble: (i): 5, 6 & 7; (ii): 6, 7 & 8.Tanala: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 & 8.Super jackpot: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8.

Commodore fancied

MUMBAI: Kramer (P. Trevor up)won the Jimmy BharuchaTrophy, the main event of Sat-urday’s (March 25) races. Thewinner is owned by Mr. JaydevM. Mody rep. J.M. Livestock Pvt.Ltd. M. Narredu trains the win-ner.

1 RAZA ALI PLATE (Div. II)(1,200m), Cl. V, rated 1 to 26:

SUPER BOLT (S. Amit) 1, DeccanKing (Nadeem) 2, Isinit (Daman)3 and Rich N Rare (Kuldeep) 4.1/2, Lnk, 3/4. 1m 12.88s. Rs. 91(w), 25, 20 and 13 (p), SHP: Rs.55, FP: Rs. 152, Q: Rs. 128, Tanala:Rs. 832 and Rs. 379. Favourite:Headlines. Owner & trainer: Mr.Mansoor Shah.

2 RADHA SIGTIA TROPHY

(2,400m), Cl. II, rated 60 to86: PALATIAL (Sandesh) 1, Raees(C.S. Jodha) 2, Frosty (Neeraj) 3and Sabiq (Trevor) 4. 1, 1-3/4, 1-1/2. 2m 34.81s. Rs. 23 (w), 14 and11 (p), SHP: Rs. 28, FP: Rs. 60, Q:Rs. 10, Tanala: Rs. 64 and Rs. 28.Favourite: Raees. Owners: Mr.Haresh N. Mehta and Mr. ManavH. Mehta rep. Rohan BloodstockPvt. Ltd. Trainer: C.D. Katrak.

3 SAMUEL NATHAN PLATE

(1,600m), Cl. III, rated 40 to66: ELEGANT BEAUTY (Trevor) 1,Glorious Eyes (C.S. Jodha) 2, Nel-sons Blood ( J. Chinoy) 3 andUncle Scrooge (Parmar) 4. 1, 1, 3-1/2. 1m 38.28s. Rs. 16 (w), 13 and16 (p), SHP: Rs. 29, FP: Rs. 25, Q:Rs. 45, Tanala: Rs. 46 and Rs. 14.Favourite: Elegant Beauty.Owner: Mrs. Sheetal S. Shinde.Trainer: M. Narredu.

4 TULIPA PLATE (Div. II),(1,400m), Cl. IV, rated 20 to

46: SPIRIDON (A. Imran Khan) 1,King Of Killen (Sandesh) 2, SailPast (Raghuveer) 3 and Viking(Neeraj) 4. 2-1/2, 4, 3/4. Not run:Windfall. 1m 24.29s. Rs. 22 (w),14, 14 and 40 (p), SHP: Rs. 61, FP:Rs. 127, Q: Rs. 44, Tanala: Rs.1,781 and Rs. 1,336. Favourite:Spiridon. Owners: Ms. TaritaShankar & Mr. Chetan S.Wakalkarrep. Sahaan Infrastructure (In-dia) Pvt. Ltd. Trainer: Altaf Hus-sain.

5 JIMMY BHARUCHA TROPHY

(1,200m), 3-y-o only: KRAMER

(Trevor) 1, Cambridge (K .Kadam)2, God’s Own (Dashrath) 3 andArashi (Parmar) 4. 1-1/4, 2, 3/4. 1m11.66s. Rs. 15 (w), 14 and 39 (p),SHP: Rs. 77, FP: Rs. 126, Q: Rs. 59,Tanala: Rs. 159 and Rs. 62. Fa-vourite: Kramer. Owners: Mr. Jay-dev M .Mody rep. J.M. LivestockPvt Ltd. Trainer: M. Narredu.

6 TULIPA PLATE (Div. I),(1,400m), Cl. IV, rated 20 to

46: ANGEL GIRL (Daman) 1, Zan-zibaar (S. Amit) 2, Brabourne(Sandesh) 3 and Sir Desmond(Akshay Kumar) 4. Lnk, 1/2, sh.hd. 1m 25.14s. Rs. 28 (w), 15, 18and 13 (p), SHP: Rs. 43, FP: Rs.129, Q: Rs. 62, Tanala: Rs. 237and Rs. 91. Favourite: Angel Girl.Owners: M/s. Altaf Hussain,Ashok Ranpise & Mr. Haresh N.Mehta and Mr. Manav H. Mehtarep. Rohan Bloodstock Pvt. Ltd.Trainer: Altaf Hussain.

7 RAZA ALI PLATE (Div. I),(1,200m), Cl. V, rated 1 to 26:

RIDGEWOOD STAR (Trevor) 1,Adams Beginning (Daman) 2,Arctic Whizz (Parmar) 3 andHunayn (Pradeep) 4. 3-1/4, 1-1/4,Nose. 1m 12.26s. Rs. 39 (w), 13, 21and 17 (p), SHP: Rs. 51, FP: Rs.157, Q: Rs. 99, Tanala: Rs. 310 andRs. 112. Favourite: Arctic Whizz.Owner & trainer: Mr. Dallas Tody-walla.

8 DIEGO RIVERA PLATE

(1,200m), Cl. IV, rated 20 to46: TRIPLE THREAT (Ayyar) 1, Air-lift (C.S. Jodha) 2, Kookaburra(Zeeshan) 3 and Lady In Red(Trevor) 4. 3, Nose, 1-1/4. 1m11.73s. Rs. 294 (w), 91, 13 and 35(p), SHP: Rs. 34, FP: Rs. 690, Q:Rs. 922, Tanala: Rs. 18,871 and Rs.8,087. Favourite: Airlift. Owners:Mr. Haresh N. Mehta and Mr.Manav H. Mehta rep. RohanBloodstock Pvt. Ltd. Trainer:Mansoor Shah.Jackpot: (70 per cent): Rs. 32,175(23 tkts.), (30 per cent): Rs. 204(1,556 tkts.).Treble: (i) Rs. 164 (64 tkts.), (ii)Rs. 35,640 (carried forward).Super jackpot: (70 per cent): Rs.1,13,492 (carried forward); (30per cent): Rs. 100 (244 tkts.).

Kramer wins

Everton loses two aheadof Liverpool derbyLONDON

Everton suffered a double

blow ahead of next

weekend’s Liverpool derby

with full-back Seamus

Coleman breaking his leg and

midfielder James McCarthy a

recurring hamstring injury.REUTERS

New Zealand’s muddleduse of the review system al-lowed Faf du Plessis andHashim Amla to lead aSouth African recovery on arain-hit day one of the thirdTest in Hamilton onSaturday.

New Zealand had lost itstwo reviews by the 29thover, and was powerless toreact 13 balls later when theumpires missed a faint edgewhich should have seen duPlessis caught behind for16.

New Zealand’s DRSbungle aids Proteas

Cleaned up!Hashim Amla, who scored a half-century, iscastled by a Colin de Grandhomme delivery. * AFP


HAMILTON

South Africa — 1st innings: T.de Bruyn c Latham b Henry 0,D. Elgar b de Grandhomme 5,H. Amla b de Grandhomme 50,J-P. Duminy c Jeetan b Henry20, F. du Plessis (batting) 33, T.Bavuma (batting) 13; Extras(lb-1, w-1): 2; Total (for fourwkts. in 41 overs): 123.Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-5, 3-64,4-97.New Zealand bowling: Henry10-2-25-2, de Grandhomme16-3-43-2, Wagner 13-2-44-0,Jeetan 2-0-10-0Toss: South Africa.

SCOREBOARD

A nagging pain in hisshoulders left Prajnesh Gun-neswaran to struggle and re-strict himself from display-ing the ruthless efficiencywith which he had des-patched his rivals over thelast four days.

Yet, the Chennai-basedtop seed showed remarkableresilience to overcome theinjury and a fight adversaryin Sriram Balaji 7-5, 6-3 be-fore lifting the men’s singlestitle of the Indian Oil-ITF Fu-tures tennis tournament atthe TTC courts here onSaturday.

It came as a real surprisewhen Prajnesh proved to beway off the mark initially aslittle was known about theinjury that slowed him downconsiderably.

Prajnesh slowly raised thetempo of his game when Sri-ram turned erratic with thedrop volleys which hadhelped him turn the heat onthe top seed. The left-handed Prajnesh foughtback brilliantly, and the tre-

mendous staying power wasfinally rewarded as Sriramfaltered with his serve in theseventh game.

Prajnesh was attended toby a team of physiotherap-ists at the end of the set, butwas still quite visibly in painat times in the second, inwhich he was able to come

up with a better display.Sriram, at the other end,

tried his best to avoid the in-evitable as he upped thespeed of the game, butended up committing far toomany unforced errors.The results: Men: Final: Pra-jnesh Gunneswaran bt SriramBalaji 7-5, 6-3.

Prajnesh ights hard to claim titleThe top seed battled shoulder injury to beat Sriram Balaji


THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Forging ahead: Prajnesh Gunneswaran showed remarkableresilience to beat Sriram Balaji 7-5, 6-3. * S. GOPAKUMAR

India girls took the 11thplace as they beat Malaysia2-0 in the Asia Oceania Ju-nior Fed Cup under-16 ten-nis tournament at theDLTA Complex onSaturday.

In Bangkok, India out-witted Korea 2-1 for thefifth place in the AsiaOceania world junior un-der-14 tournament. Chinatook the top honours.

The results: Asia OceaniaWorld Junior Under-16: Final:Japan bt Thailand 2-0.

Play-off 11th place: India btMalaysia 2-0 [Sai Dedeepyabt Juliana Shalini Ganendra6-0, 6-0; Sharifah Elsa WanAbdul Rahman bt HumeraShaik 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(3)].

Under-14: Final: China bt Ja-pan 2-0.

Third place: Australia bt Thai-land 3-0.

Fifth place: India bt Korea 2-1(Nishant Dabas bt SongWoodan 4-6, 6-4, 7-5; DiveshGahlot lost to Jeon Jewon 6-7(7), 3-6; Nishant & V.M.Sandeep bt Woodan & YoonHyeondeok 6-1, 3-6, [10-8]).

India girlsinish 11thSpecial Correspondent

NEW DELHI

Nicol David raised hopes ofchallenging for her firstWorld Series title in 15months when a relaxed andmobile performance carriedher into the semifinals of theBritish Open squash onFriday.

The record-breakingformer World No. 1 fromMalaysia achieved this witha convincing 11-6, 11-6, 11-8win over the second-seededCamille Serme, who becamethe first Frenchwoman towin the world’s oldest titletwo years ago.

In the men’s section, top-seeded title-holder Mo-hamed El Shorbagy made aremarkable double recov-ery, reviving hopes of keep-ing both the top ranking andthe title when he came backfrom a worrying deficit.

The star from Alexandriawas within two points of de-feat against Ali Farag, one ofhis fiercest compatriot

rivals, at 5-9 down in thefourth game of a conten-tious encounter.

But even though hesuffered a cut eye, a bout ofrage, and a stern warningfrom the referee, ElShorbagy struggled his wayto an 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 12-10,11-5 win.

The results:

Quarterfinals: Men: MohamedEl Shorbagy (Egy) bt Ali Farag(Egy) 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 12-10,11-5; Nick Matthew (Eng) btTarek Momen (Egy) 11-9, 10-12,11-6, 7-11, 11-6; Gregory Gault-ier (Fra) bt Mathieu Castagnet(Fra) 11-4, 11-6, 11-6; RamyAshour (Egy) bt MohamedAbouelghar (Egy) 10-12, 7-11,11-9, 11-5, 11-5.

Women: Nour El Sherbini (Egy)bt Emily Whitlock (Eng) 11-3,11-4, 11-4; Laura Massaro (Eng)bt Raneem El Welily (Egy) 11-3,13-15, 11-6, 11-6; Sarah-JanePerry (Eng) bt Donna Urquhart(Aus) 11-4, 7-11, 13-11, 6-11,11-4; Nicol David (Mas) bt Cam-ille Serme (Fra) 11-6, 11-6, 11-8.

SQUASH

David in semiinalsEl Shorbagy on course to retain title


HULL

Jiri Vesely bt Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3; JaredDonaldson bt Mischa Zverev6-4, 6-4; Milos Raonic bt ViktorTroicki 6-3, 7-5; Jeremy Chardybt Marin Cilic 6-4, 2-6, 6-3;Benoit Paire bt Pablo Cuevas7-5, 6-0; Donald Young bt Lu-cas Pouille 6-2, 6-4; Jan-Lennard Struff bt Gilles Simon6-1, 6-1; Fernando Verdasco btErnesto Escobedo 7-6(9), 7-5;Kei Nishikori bt Kevin Anderson6-4, 6-3. Doubles : First round:Nick Kyrgios & Matt Reid (Aus)bt Pablo Cuevas (Uru) & RohanBopanna 7-5, 3-6, [10-7].

Women: Second round: An-gelique Kerber bt Duan Ying-

Ying 7-6(3), 6-2; Julia Goergesbt Carla Suarez 6-4, 7-6(5);Venus Williams bt Beatriz Had-dad Maia 6-4, 6-3; SvetlanaKuznetsova bt Mandy Minella6-2, 6-2; Simona Halep bt Na-omi Osaka 6-4, 2-6, 6-3; AnettKontaveit bt EkaterinaMakarova 6-7(1), 6-2, 6-2; PengShuai bt Caroline Garcia 6-4,6-0; Samantha Stosur bt Ash-leigh Barty 6-4, 6-4.

Madison Keys bt ViktorijaGolubic 6-1, 6-2; GarbineMuguruza bt Christina McHale0-6, 7-6(6), 6-4; Ajla Tomljan-ovic bt Elena Vesnina 3-6, 6-4,7-5; Barbora Zahlavova Stry-cova bt Johanna Larsson 4-6,6-3, 7-6(3).

Rafael Nadal cruised past Is-raeli Dudi Sela in the secondround of the Miami Open onFriday while Japan’s KeiNishikori and Canada’s MilosRaonic also enjoyed com-fortable victories as the topseeds got underway.

Important results:

Men: Second round: RafaelNadal bt Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-4;Philipp Kohlschreiber bt TaylorFritz 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4); NicolasMahut bt Steve Johnson 6-4,5-7, 6-4; Guido Pella bt GrigorDimitrov 6-3, 7-6(4); Jack Sockbt Yoshihito Nishioka 2-4, retd.;

Nadal cruises past SelaQualiier Tomljanovic stuns VesninaAgence France-Presse

MIAMI

Girish downsHarikrishnaSHENZHEN

India’s Grandmaster P.

Harikrishna put up a spirited

fight against top seeded

Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri

but couldn’t avert his first

defeat in the Shenzhen

Longgang Chess Grandmaster

tournament here on Saturday.

“I made a basic error at the

opening, with my na5,”

conceded Harikrishna after

the loss. “I should have

repeated with nf6 and nf5

instead. But Anish played

well and deserved the win,”

he added.

The Indian star has now

slipped to the fourth position,

with one victory, one defeat

and one draw and 1.5 points.

Anish, on the other hand, has

risen to the top place.

Yubrani Banerjee of Bengalwon the under-18 girls’singles title to claim a doublecrown in the Rendez-Vous ARoland Garros-BTA-AITA Na-tional series tennis here onSaturday.

The boys’ under-18 singles

title was won by RishabhSharda of Chandigarh whodowned the top-seededParikshit Somani of Assamin the final.

Yubrani, who won thedoubles crown on Friday,teaming with C. ShivaniSravya of Telangana, did nothave to sweat much to get

past Pratibha PrasadNarayan of Karnataka in thesingles final.The results (finals):

Boys: Rishabh Sharda (Chd) btParikshit Somani (Asm) 6-7(2),6-0, 7-6(5).

Girls: Yubrani Banerjee (Ben) btPratibha Prasad Narayan (Kar)6-3, 6-4.

Yubrani bags a doubleSpecial Correspondent

KOLKATA

CMYK

A ND-ND




SPORT

LeBron James shinesin Cavs’ winCHARLOTTE

LeBron James just missed atriple-double, pouring in 32points with 11 assists and ninerebounds, in ClevelandCavaliers’ 112-105 NBAvictory over home teamHornets on Friday. Thereigning NBA champion wasin front for all of the secondhalf as it bounced back froma disappointing 126-113 lossat Denver on Wednesday.The results: Lakers 130 btTimberwolves 119 (OT);Warriors 114 bt Kings 100;76ers 117 bt Bulls 107.Bucks 100 bt Hawks 97’Rockets 117 bt Pelicans 107.Celtics 130 bt Suns 120;Wizards 129 bt Nets 108;Cavaliers 112 bt Hornets 105;Magic 115 bt Pistons 87;Nuggets 125 bt Pacers 117.AFP

India vs Australia: 4th Test,STAR Sports 1, 3 & HD 1, 3,9.30 a.m.Formula One: Australian GP,SS Select HD 2, 10.25 a.m.British Open squash: Fi-nals, TEN 1, 7.30 p.m.West Indies v Pakistan: 1stT20I, TEN 3 & TEN 1 HD, 9p.m.WC Qualifiers: Sony ESPN,Sony Six & Six HD, 9 p.m. & 12a.m. (Monday)NBA: Sony Six & Sony Six HD,6 a.m. (Monday)

TV PICKS

A superbly-paced century byopener Shikhar Dhawanhelped India Red score a 23-runwinover IndiaBlue in thefirst round of the PaytmProf.D.B. Deodhar Trophy lim-ited-overs cricket tourna-ment at the Dr. Y.S. Ra-jasekhara Reddy Stadiumhere onSaturday.

Ambati Rayudu’s bril-liance (92, 92b, 8x4, 2x6) anda blinder towards the end byDeepakHooda (46, 27b, 2x4,3x6) were not enough for In-dia Blue chasing a victory tar-get of 328.

India Bluewas off to a slowstart scoring 67 for two in thefirst 15 overs and also lostopeners Mayank AgarwalandMandeepSingh.

EvenRayuduwas subduedto start with but once he hitHarpreet Singh Bhatia fortwo fours inoneover tomovefrom the 20s to 30s, heturned theheat on.

But, later it was AkshayKarnewar’s strikes — he gotthebigwicketsofRishabPantand Rayudu, both caughtand bowled, and then luredKrunal Pandya to hit straightto long-on — which put thebrakes on the chase.

Dhawal Kulkarni com-pleted a split hat-trick, dis-missing Shardul Thakurwiththe last ball of the 47th overand then sending backDeepak Hooda andSiddharth Kaul off the firsttwoballs in the 49thover.

Perfect stageEarlier, the stage was per-fectly set — a beautiful battingtrack and an erratic bowlingattack — for southpawDhawan to rediscover hisformwith a stroke-filled cen-tury (128, 122b, 13x4, 3x6).

The only exception for In-dia Blue was pace bowlerKaul who bowled his heartout to return with a five-wicket haul.

Dhawan sets upIndia Red’s winRayudu brilliance, Hooda cameo not enough for BluesV.V. SUBRAHMANYAM

VISAKHAPATNAM

Making it count: A track conducive to batting and an erraticbowling attack helped Dhawan rediscover his form. * K.R. DEEPAK

When Goa last hosted theSantosh Trophy in 1996, itwas heartbreak for the hostin the final as Bengal, led byBhaichung Bhutia, tri-umphed in front of a massivecrowd at Margao.

A sea change has sincetaken place in Indian footbaland the once prestigioustournament no longer hasthe same charm.

However, a final betweentwo traditional rivals — Goaand Bengal — at the GMC Sta-dium Bambolim will be a fit-ting end to the 71st edition of

the National football champi-onship.

The teams had played outa goalless draw in the groupstage. Bengal had looked thebetter side, but was let downby the prodigality of thestrikers.

Going into the final, Goawill take confidence from itssemifinal victory over Ker-ala, the best team in thecompetition.

Crowd supportCoach Mateus Costa and hisboys are on the doorstep of asignificant win. He said hisboys would put their best

foot forward and shruggedoff the pressure of playing athome.

“Bengal is a good side.But, we have worked reallyhard to reach the final. Ouraim will be to win the trophyin front of our supporters,”he said.

Nimble-footed striker Lis-ton Colaco will once againhold the key, but unlikeagainst Kerala, Liston willhave to deal with a toughBengal defence, which hasnot conceded a goal in regu-lation time so far.

However, injuries to threeof his key defenders has

Bengal coach Mridul Baner-jee worried.

“Santu Singh, Rana Ghar-mani and Provat Lakra arefar from fit. But, I don’t wantto change a settled side.

“They are the favouritesand have many experiencedplayers. Our team is young,but the boys have exceededexpectations.”

The Bengal attack has re-volved around Manvir Singh,Shaikkom Ronald Singh andBasanta Singh.

The trio has made its pres-ence felt and will pose ques-tions. Manvir is the linchpinin the attack.

Goa and Bengal renew old rivalryBattle will be a itting end to the 71st edition of the Santosh Trophy

M.R. Praveen Chandran

Panaji

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB)registered an 84-64 win overArmy Service Corps (ASC),Karnataka, in the men’ssemifinal of the 31st Federa-tion Cup basketball champi-onship here on Saturday.

Only the other day G.R.L.Prasad, the ASC coach, hadsaid that it would be a biteasy for his men if they wereto meet IOB in the semifinal.But the bankmen proved atough nut to crack.

The opening minutes ofthe first quarter was farmore open with both teamstrying to create a strong firstimpression.

But midway through, IOBcalled the shots. Some im-pressive layups by S.Prasanna Venkatesh (16points) and the ever-reliableRikin Pethani (29 pts) putthe team in command.

ASC fought hard but failedto control the boards at cru-cial junctures.

In the second also, IOBmaintained a sizeable lead.In the fourth quarter, Rikinand Prasanna went flat outto take the team to a 73-56lead.

And ASC had no answers

to IOB’s tactical plan and fi-nal rush.

In the women’s section,favourite Southern Railwaydefeated Tamil Nadu 73-67for a place in the final.

The host had in its rostera set of talented individualsbut lacked the height andthe sting to trouble its op-ponent in the first session.

R. Rajapriyadarshini, D.Anitha Priya and RenjiniPeter were the pillars ofstrength for Railways during

that period. The experi-enced Renjini, in fact, is re-turning to the side after anine-month injury layoff.And, she played her role togreat perfection.

Railways, with virtuallyno bench strength to back itsefforts, implemented itsstrategies with caution andcare.

The scoring rate was notto its expectations but withgreat understanding and ex-cellent court coverage theteam managed to stay afloatfor most part.

In the final, Southern Rail-way will take on Chhattis-garh, which scored a thrill-ing 99-98 win over a fightingWest Bengal.The results (semifinals):

Men: IOB 84 (Rikin Pethani 29,Prasanna Venkatesh 16) btArmy Service Corps (Karnataka)64 (Jeethandar Singh 19, IssacT. Thomas 15); ONGC (Ut-tarakhand) 72 bt Indian AirForce 49.Women: Southern Rly 73 (D.Anitha Priya 25, R. Raja Priy-adarshini 14) bt Tamil Nadu 67(R. Varshanandhini 22, M.Keerthi 17); Chhattisgarh 99 btWest Bengal 98.

IOB silences ASC, enters inalSouthern Railway women to ight it out with Chhattisgarh

Rayan Rozario

Coimbatore

Italy kept pace with Spainin the EuropeanWorld Cupqualifying as a first-halfDaniele de Rossi penaltyand late second from CiroImmobile helped theAzzurri beat Albania 2-0 atPalermo on Saturday.The results: European Zone:Group D: Georgia 1(Kacharava 5) lost to Serbia 3(Tadic 45-pen, Mitrovic 64,Gacinovic 86); Republic ofIreland 0 drew with Wales 0;Austria 2 (Sabitzer 75, Harnik90) bt Moldova 0.Group G: Italy 2 (de Rossi 12-pen, Immobile 72) bt Albania0; Liechtenstein 0 lost toMacedonia 3 (Nikolov 43,Nestoroski 68, 72); Spain 4(Silva 13, Vitolo 45, Costa 51,Isco 88) bt Israel 1 (Rafaelov77).Group I: Turkey 2 (Cenk Tosun9, 13) bt Finland 0; Croatia 1(Kalinic 38) bt Ukraine 0;Kosovo 1 (Nuhiu 53) lost toIceland 2 (Bjorn Sigurdarson25, Gylfi Sigurdsson 35-pen).CONCACAF region: Mexico 2(Hernandez 7, Araujo 45) btCosta Rica 0; USA 6 (Lletget5, Bradley 27, Dempsey 32,49, 54, Pulisic 46) bt Hon-duras 0.

Italy keepspace withSpain


PARIS

IOB’s S. Prasanna Venkateshabout to score. * M. PERIASAMY

FED CUP

India Red: Parthiv Patel cMandeep b Kaul 50 (48b, 9x4),Shikhar Dhawan c Tiwary bHooda 128 (122b, 13x4, 3x6),Shreevats Goswami c Pant bKaul 1 (3b), Ishank Jaggi st Pantb Krunal Pandya 53 (51b, 6x4,1x6), Harpreet Singh Bhatia cPant b Kaul 29 (27b, 4x4), Gur-keerat Mann c Kaul b KrunalPandya 15 (16b, 2x4), AxarPatelc Pandya b Kaul 22 (15b, 2x4,1x6), Akshay Karnewar c Pant bKaul 7 (7b, 1x4), DhawalKulkarni (not out) 10 (9b, 1x4),Ashoke Dinda (not out) 2 (2b).Extras: (w-9, lb-1) 10; Total:(for eight wkts. in 50 overs)327.

Fall of wickets: 1-93, 2-95, 3-198, 4-255, 5-284, 6-284, 7-306, 8-322.

India Blue bowling: ShardulThakur 9-1-46-0, PrasidhKrishna 7-0-61-0, SiddharthKaul 10-0-59-5, HarbhajanSingh 10-0-72-0, Manoj Tiwary2-0-13-0, Deepak Hooda 4-0-34-1, Krunal Pandya 8-0-41-2.

India Blue: Mayank Agarwal c

Kulkarni b Khejroliya 34 (35b,3x4, 1x6), Mandeep Singh bAxar 17 (24b, 2x4), Ambati Ray-udu c & b Karnewar 92 (92b,8x4, 2x6), Manoj Tiwary cKulkarni b Khejroliya 37 (43b,4x4), Rishabh Pant c & b Karne-war 20 (30b, 1x4), KrunalPandya c Harpreet b Karnewar31 (23b, 3x4, 1x6), DeepakHooda c Mann b Kulkarni 46(27b, 2x4, 3x6), HarbhajanSingh c (sub) Poddar b Axar 2(4b), Shardul Thakur c Mann bKulkarni 17 (8b, 2x4), SiddharthKaul c Karnewar b Kulkarni 3(5b), Prasidh Krishna (not out)0. Extras: (nb-1, w-3, lb-1) 5;Total: (in 48.2 overs) 304.

Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-57, 3-136, 4-185, 5-233, 6-250, 7-261, 8-300, 9-304.

India Red bowling: DhawalKulkarni 9.2-1-64-3, AshokeDinda 9-0-57-0, KulwantKhejroliya 9-0-54-2, Axar Patel10-0-54-2, Harpreet SinghBhatia 2-0-14-0, AkshayKarnewar 9-0-60-3.

Toss: India Blue.

SCOREBOARD INDIA RED VS INDIA BLUE

IN BRIEF

Arrogate winsDubai World CupDUBAI

Arrogate, ridden by MikeSmith, won the $10-millionDubai World Cup, the mostprestigious race of the UAEracing season, at the MeydanRacecourse here on Saturdayevening. The odds-onfavourite grey colt, trained byBob Baffert, rode away with awhopping first prize of $6million.



As a venue, few groundscome close to the HPCA Sta-dium here in terms of itsbeauty and surroundings.

The edgy thriller that theongoing Test series betweenIndia and Australia has beencould not have provided theground with a better contestto host its debut Test either.

But even though it is theseries decider, the receptionon the opening day of thefourth Test wasdisappointing.

Despite it being a week-end, more than half the seatsat the 23,000 capacity sta-dium in the Himalayan foot-hills, flanked by theDhauladhar range, remainedempty. Halfway through theday, school children werebussed in, but even thatwasn’t enough.

That it’s the Indian cap-tain’s brilliance in the shorterformat of the game which at-tracts the crowd and not thegame itself was evident fromthe fact that all the roadsleading to the stadium hadhawkers selling blue Virat

Kohli jerseys.“But this is a Test match,

you don’t wear coloured T-shirts in this,” remarked anelderly gentleman, only to becountered by a group ofyoungsters.

“Uncle we are botheredonly about Virat, who caresabout the format or colour,”they chorused, putting onthe jerseys.

Even though there was ex-citement among some of theyoungsters who waited pa-tiently to enter the groundearly in the day, it soonpetered out.

That Kohli decided to sitout the game because of aninjured shoulder did nothelp, with several expressingdisappointment.

And, with the nature ofthe beast such that therewould be no winner at theend of the day’s play, severalleft midway, not sure of re-turning for the remainingdays.

Students from Mount Car-mel School, Gaggal, broughtin for a ‘school trip’, ques-tioned why there were so fewfours and sixes hit by the

Australian batsmen.“There are so many more

runs scored in IPL,” theysaid.

“Not exactly the questionsa newly designated Testvenue would like to answerto its younger fans vis-à-visthe longest format.

The organisers had hopedcrowds would come in fromneighbouring cities in Punjaband from Delhi for the week-end but were disappointed.

“It’s the weekend andpeople from Punjab andDelhi come here in goodnumbers. We thought theywould come for the match aswell. But, we now hope thattomorrow being Sunday,things will be better,” anHPCA official said.

Smooth access

To their credit, the move-ment and access to the venuewas fairly smooth and re-laxed, unlike at most venuesacross India, despite heavysecurity deployment thatwas effective yetunobtrusive.

But, the numbers they ex-pected never turned up.

HPCA’s Test debut receives lacklustre responseSkipper Kohli’s absence because of an injured shoulder does not help matters; Students from a local school brought in

Disappointing:Despite it being a weekend, more than half the seats at the 23,000-capacity stadium remained empty on the irstday of the Dharamshala Test. * AFP

Uthra Ganesan

DHARAMSHALA

Spain coach Julen Lopeteguiwarned his team not to getdistracted by its potentiallywinner-takes-all World Cupqualifying showdownagainst Italy after the 2010champion saw off Israel 4-1on Friday. The win keptSpain top of Group G with 13points, the same as Italy butahead on goal difference.

Spain and Italy meet onSeptember 2 but Lopetegui’sside must first play Macedo-nia in June in its next quali-fier on the road to the 2018finals in Russia. “Our aim is

to take three points in everymatch,” said Lopetegui. “Be-fore we play Italy, we have toface Macedonia and it will benecessary to approach thatwith the same rigour weshowed against Israel.”

Spain and Italy drew theirfirst meeting 1-1 in Turin lastyear and now lead third-placed Israel by four points.

Only the group winnersare assured a place in theWorld Cup finals with therunners-up left to take theirchances in the play-offs.

“I am very happy with mygoal, but the victory is themost important thing,” said

David Silva, who scored theopening goal for Spain.

“We needed to win to stayahead of the rest. The tablelooks very positive and weare on the way to accom-plishing a great job. Now wehave to continue like this.”

Lopetegui said he saw lotsof things in the performanceon Friday which pleasedhim.

“We dominated them be-cause the team did the rightthings, so I was happy withthe intensity, the recovery ofthe ball and the start of thesecond half was also verygood,” he said.

Coach Lopetegui warns againstdistraction of winner-takes-all clash

Spain is ahead of Italy in Group G on goal diference


Gijon

The facilities at the D.Y. Patilstadium in Navi Mumbai —one of six venues set to hostmatches for the FIFA U-17World Cup in October thisyear — came in for highpraise from a inspection del-egation here on Saturday.

Javier Ceppi, the tourna-ment director, after inspect-ing the venue said, “I hadsaid last year that I am happywith the stadium. I stillhaven’t changed my mind.This is a fantastic stadium.

“Most of the goals westated have been completed.The remaining goals are tem-porary in nature and will be

done at a later stage. In thatsense, we have no worriesthat they will be in place.”

Ceppi added: “This will beone of the best stadiums, ifnot the best, in the countryfor hosting the FIFA WorldCup.” He was part of a FIFAdelegation, that also in-cluded the world body’sHead of Events, Jaime Yarza.

“We need to make sureeach stadium is the best.This [the DYP stadium] is thestandard we expect at everyvenue,” said Yarza, revealingthat two practice groundsare in place, besides two thatare getting ready.

Vijay Patil, the DY PatilSports Academy president,

Ankush Chavan, AdditionalCommissioner of Navi Mum-bai Municipal Corporation,and Henry Menezes, WIFACEO, accompanied thedelegates.

Ceppi also appreciatedthe hosts focus to improvefacilities, like changing theseats in the stands and facil-ities for families. “The teamat DY Patil Stadium keepssetting the highest bench-mark. Even though they metmost of our requirements,they keep trying to maketheir facility even better. Weare sure that all the peoplefrom Maharashtra will comein numbers to watch all thematches,” he said.

Tickets will be priced ap-proximately at ₹100, he con-firmed, to make it affordablefor fans. Yarza stressed on fa-cilities for girls, saying, “Thisis a boys tournament, but wewant families to come, sothat girls can enjoy the gameand see how football canmake a difference to live.”

Patil said: “Recognitionfrom FIFA is encouraging.It’s an honour to showcase tothe world our facilities aswell as our love towards thebeautiful game.”

Chavan said municipalcorporation will arrangetransport facilities from thenearest railway stations andother places for the fans.

This is a fantastic stadium, says tournament director Javier Ceppi


MUMBAI

FIFA team lauds D.Y. Patil stadium

While the Argentinian foot-ball team may have won amust-win game againstChile in the 2018 WorldCup qualifiers, Argentina’spress condemned it forwinning “without footballand without ideas”

“The win waseverything; the game noth-ing,” read the front page ofthe morning edition of LaNacion, accompanied by aphoto of Lionel Messi afterhe scored a winning pen-alty here on Thursday.”,Xinhua news agencyreported.

Coach “Edgardo Bauzacame through: before thegame he said Argentinahad to win ‘in any way’,and that is how it was. Theteam gave a very poor im-pression on the grass of theMonumental.” continuedLa Nacion.

“We played for threepoints,” resumed thesports newspaper Ole, afterBauza had said Argentinawas playing “for 10 points”due to the importance ofthe game. Clarin also con-demned the team, stating“Argentina won withoutfootball, but entered theclassification zone.”

It added that Messi’spenalty had been “contro-versial” after an uncertainfoul on Angel di Maria, andthat Argentina had “endedbeing dominated by itsrival.”

With five games to playin South American qualify-ing, Brazil is leading thepack on 30 points, fol-lowed closely by Uruguay(23), Argentina (22) andColombia (21). The firstfour places are guaranteedto qualify for the WorldCup. Ecuador and Chile areboth on 20 points.

The next matches will beplayed on Tuesday, withEcuador facing Colombia,Bolivia playing Argentina,Chile versus Venezuela,Peru against Uruguay andBrazil against Paraguay.

Argentinapresscriticises winIANS

Buenos Aires

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