cdn.splessons.com...wnesday, july 31, 2019ed Delhi City Edition 22 pagesO 10.00 P atrinted .Chennai...

wednesday, july 31, 2019 Delhi

City Edition

22 pages O ₹��10.00

Printed at . Chennai . Coimbatore . Bengaluru . Hyderabad . Madurai . Noida . Visakhapatnam . Thiruvananthapuram . Kochi . Vijayawada . Mangaluru . Tiruchirapalli . Kolkata . Hubballi . Mohali . Malappuram . Mumbai . Tirupati . lucknow . cuttack . patna

follow us:

thehindu.com

facebook.com/thehindu

twitter.com/the_hindu

New BJP government

in Karnataka scraps

‘Tipu Jayanti’

page 8

The situation is normal

in Jammu and Kashmir,

says Governor Malik

page 12

Do a deal now or lose it,

Trump warns China as

trade talks resume

page 14

Shaw suspended

until November 15

for doping violation

page 20

OPPORTUNITIES A PAGE 15

V.G. Siddhartha, founder ofthe iconic Cafe Coff��ee Day(CCD) chain, went missingfrom a bridge across Nethravati river in Mangaluru onMonday evening, sendingshock waves in business andpolitical circles.

A homegrown entrepreneur who gained international fame with the successof CCD and since diversifi��edinto hospitality, logistics andinvestments, Mr. Siddhartha,60, is the soninlaw of former Karnataka Chief Ministerand Union Minister S.M.Krishna.

While a massive searchhas been launched, especially in the river, he remaineduntraceable till late on Tuesday. A purported letter byhim surfaced, highlightinghis fi��nancial troubles andblaming harassment by a senior Income Tax offi��cial for“succumbing to the situation.” He particularly faultedthe IT Department’s move toattach the shares he held inMindtree Ltd. and later in

Coff��ee Day Enterprises Ltd.towards his tax liability,creating a liquidity crunch.

As per the police complaint fi��led by his driver, Mr.Siddhartha had left Bengaluru informing his family thathe was headed to Sakleshpurin Hassan but had insteadtravelled to Mangaluru. Before reaching his destination, he got off�� on the bridgeacross the Nethravati. Hewent walking along thebridge around 6.30 p.m.,asking his driver to wait aftercrossing, and has been missing ever since.

The police found that hislast call was around the sametime to one of the senior executives in his enterprise. After Mr. Siddhartha failed toshow up for an hour, thedriver tried to call him. He later called the family.

The police said a sniff��erdog squad pressed into service had stopped in the middle of the bridge.

Coff��ee Day’s Siddhartha goes missing A massive search is on to trace entrepreneur, who was last seen near Nethravati river in Mangaluru

Special Correspondent

Bengaluru/Mangaluru

Rescue boats searching for V.G. Siddhartha, inset, in theNethravati in Mangaluru on Tuesday. * H.S. MANJUNATH

‘EVIDENCE LED TO ACTION ON

COFFEE DAY SHARES’ A PAGE 16

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 12

Rajan Lohia produces about25 lakh kilograms of teaannually from his threeestates in eastern Assam’sDibrugarh and Sivasagardistricts. Of this, only 2 kghas struck gold.

On Tuesday, hisManohari Gold tea fetched₹��50,000 a kg at theGuwahati Tea AuctionCentre (GTAC). This was thehighest price commandedby any tea sold in anyauction centre in India.

“We made 5 kg of thishandmade tea but only 2 kggot sold at the auction. Wewill have to wait forfavourable conditionsaround this time next yearfor producing the next lot,”Mr. Lohia told The Hindu.

Earlier record

In July last year, the sametea from the sameplantation — the 1,000acreManohari Tea Estate — hadcreated a record; a kilogramsold for ₹��39,001 to becomethe most expensive tea soldat any auction in India.

But less than a monthlater, Golden Needles teafrom the Donyi Polo TeaEstate in Arunachal Pradeshfetched ₹��40,000 for a kgand sold 1.1 kg at that price.It was a comeback forGolden Needles that hadfetched ₹��18,801 a kg at theGTAC on November 10,2018.

“Ours is a specialtygolden orthodox tea madefrom the buds of P126, the

fi��nest tea clone grownunder the perfect climaticconditions during thesecond fl��ush. Unlike thetraditional Assam teasprocessed by machines, thisis done manually with theutmost care,” Mr. Lohia, 56,said.

A little less than 6 kg oftea buds went intoproducing a kilogram of therecordbreaking tea thatyields a golden hue whenbrewed. A kilogram ofmassmarket tea consumesan average of 4.5 kg of tealeaves. “Each kilo took aweek from plucking andsorting of leaves tofi��nishing,” Mr. Lohia said.

Mangilal Maheshwari ofSourabh Tea Traders, whobought 2 kg of ManohariGold tea in 2018, picked upthe lot again this time forthe record price. “Peoplewho bought the tea lasttime wanted it again,” hesaid.

Mr. Maheshwari hadretailed the tea last year at₹��8,000 per 100 gm.

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Assam’s golden tea sellsfor ₹��50,000 per kgRAHUL KARMAKAR

GUWAHATI

Around 6 kg of tea budswent into producing 1 kg ofthis recordbreaking tea.

The Lok Sabha on Tuesdaywitnessed sloganeering andloud protests by the Opposition parties over the “suspicious” accident involvingthe Unnao rape survivor,who was critically injured ina car crash.

The woman had allegedthat BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar had raped her in 2017.

As soon as the day’s proceedings began, Congressmembers took the lead inprotesting over the accident. Members from the Trinamool Congress, the DMKand the BSP raised sloganslike ‘We want justice’.

The ruling BJP said theUttar Pradesh governmentwas taking steps to ensurejustice for the woman, andurged the Opposition not topoliticise the matter.

Though the Central Bureau of Investigation fi��led acharge sheet and the lawmaker is in jail, the trial isyet to begin. Also, he has not

been expelled by the rulingparty yet.

Over 30 members, mostly from the Congress, werein the well for nearly 40 minutes, shouting slogans.

Leader of the CongressAdhir Ranjan Chowdhurydemanded that adequate security be provided to thesurvivor’s family.

Don’t politicise issue, says BJP

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI

Protest over Unnaoaccident rocks LS

STILL CRITICAL A PAGE 13


The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in its fi��rstever audit of the Goods andServices Tax, has said the government had failed to tryout the system before its rollout, leading to inadequatecompliance mechanisms,and lower tax revenues. Thereport was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

The report pointed outthat the keystone of the system, the invoice matchingsystem, had not yet been putin place even two years after

the rollout. It added thatcompliance in terms of thenumber of returns fi��le d hadbeen falling month aftermonth, and that the government had not been followingthe rules set for the transferof revenue to the States.

“Even after two years ofrollout, system validated Input Tax Credit through ‘invoice matching’ is not inplace and nonintrusive etax system still remains elusive,” the report said.

‘Lack ofpreparation led to lower returns’


NEW DELHI

RULES FLOUTED IN TRANSFER OF

GST FUNDS TO STATES A PAGE 13

The invoice matching system has not been put in place. *

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

Government did not try out GST system before rollout: CAG

Several Android phone users, who have installed theTruecaller app, were in for ashock on Tuesday whenthey received text messagessaying their registration for

the Unifi��ed Payment Interface (UPI) app has started,and their bank account waslinked to ICICI Bank’s portalfor UPI transactions.

Truecaller, a user generated content app that storesregistration details of tele

phone numbers in its database, has a feature namedTruecaller Pay, which off��ersUPIbased transactions likeany other payment application. The incident occurredwhen the app was updated.

Truecaller bug sparks fears of hacking Special Correspondent

Mumbai


For most customers, it wasjust another day at TheSquare, Cafe Coff��ee Day,located in the upmarketVittal Mallya Road, whichalso houses the main offi��cesof the fi��rm. They nursedtheir cappuccinos andnibbled on their snacks.

Staff�� members, however,took quick breaks to look attheir mobile phones andmonitor the news on thedisappearance of CCDfounder V. G. Siddhartha.

One of the waitersdescribed Mr. Siddhartha asan extremely down to earthemployer, who interactedwith everybody.

While some customers —working professionals,families, and friends —remained oblivious to thenews, others discussed thecircumstances of how thefounder went missing.

Business asusual at cafes

Staff Reporter

Bengaluru

A letter purportedly writtenby V.G. Siddhartha, chairman and managing directorof Cafe Coff��ee Day, that surfaced hours after he wentmissing blamed harassmentfrom Income Tax authoritiesfor his situation.

But the Income Tax Department is raising doubtsabout his signature. “Theauthenticity of the note isnot known and the signaturedoes not tally with Shri VGS’ssignature as available in hisannual reports,” it said.

Income Tax Departmentraises doubts over letterStaff Reporter

Bengaluru


Bolt from the blue: Eighteen people were killed when a small military plane crashed in aresidential area in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi on Tuesday. * GETTY IMAGES (REPORT ON PAGE 14)

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Fatal crash

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage)Bill, 2019, better known asthe Triple Talaq Bill, waspassed in the Rajya Sabhaon Tuesday.

The ruling BJP comfortably managed the number infavour of the legislation,which criminalises instantdivorce by Muslim men.

In the 240memberHouse, 99 members votedin favour of the Bill, 84 opposed it while 57 membersstayed away — by eitherwalking out, abstaining or

being absent. Minutes afterthe vote, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that byabolishing triple talaq, “Parliament corrects a historicalwrong done to Muslimwomen.”

As many as eight Congress MPs were absent during the vote, including Sanjay Singh, who resigned justhours before. Janata Dal(United) and AIADMK members walked out. While BSPMPs opposed the Bill duringthe debate, they were absent during the voting.

special correspondent

New Delhi

30 MPS ABSENT A PAGE 12

Triple Talaq Bill sailsthrough Rajya Sabha

On the recommendation ofthe Uttar Pradeshgovernment, the Centre onTuesday handed over to theCBI the probe into a roadaccident in which theUnnao rape survivor andher lawyer were criticallyinjured and her two auntswere killed.

Probe handedover to CBI PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

CMYK

Rajasthan Bills on honourkilling, lynching tabled JAIPUR

The Congress government on

Tuesday tabled two separate

Bills against mob lynching

and honour killing in the

Rajasthan Assembly, while

affi��rming that their stringent

provisions would help check

these incidents.

NORTH & EASTA PAGE 6DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

NEARBY

Terror charges dropped,2 seek new lease of lifeNEW DELHI

Mohammed Azam and Zaid

Malik, who were cleared of

terror charges earlier this

month, refl��ect on what led to

their arrest and what they

need to do to lead a normal

life.CITY A PAGE 3DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

CITYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU DELHI

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019 3EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Mohammed Azam returnedhome in northeast Delhi’sJaff��rabad on July 2 and sincehas been trying to revive theearnings of his medicalstore, which he said “havedropped by half” while hewas in prison.

Home after six months

Mr. Azam was arrested bythe National InvestigationAgency (NIA) in December2018, along with 13 othersfrom Delhi and Western Uttar Pradesh, for allegedlytrying to establish an “Islamic State caliphate” by resorting to largescale terrorist attacks. He spent six monthsin jail as a terror suspect before the charges weredropped against him.

Mr. Azam said he hasbeen relying on the goodwillhe had earned earlier to revive his business. “In areaslike these, shops mostly runon goodwill. Why wouldanyone come to the shop inmy absence,” he asked. Theshop was being run by Mr.Azam’s nephew in his absence.

“I am just happy to beback home,” he said, whileattending to a customer whoentered the shop declaring:“Dukaan ki raunak wapasaa gayi [The shop has regained its life].”

Mr. Azam suspects that hewas picked up because hewas in contact with Mohammed Mufti Suhail, an alleged mastermind, who wasalso arrested. “I used to askhim about my doubts regarding Islam. Last year, Ihad gone to Saudi Arabiaand called him from there aswell to ask something. Wegrew up together and ourfathers also knew each other. This is what I told the NIAtoo,” he said.

A few kilometres from Mr.Azam’s house resides ZaidMalik (23), who was also released on the same day. Mr.Malik’s brother Zubair is stillin jail.

Mr. Malik, who helps hisfamily in their motor manufacturing unit, said he isnow cautious about who he

meets, talks to and what hesearches for on the Internet.

Currently, he is using thefamily’s spare smartphoneand said he would take a SIMcard only after twothreemonths.

‘Rest for a while’

“If someone wants to meetme, I call them home as Idon’t prefer going out. Ineed rest for a while... mentally. I did not do anythingwrong and so I will live mylife like I used to. But, I amtaking precautions for a fewmonths,” he said.

Mr. Malik said his family,friends, relatives and neighbours knew he was innocentand so his image has notbeen tarnished because ofthe arrest. “Those who matter know I did not do anyth

ing and those who don’tmatter, can think what theywant,” he said.

Recalling a conversationhe had with a female friendthree years ago, Mr. Maliksaid: “She told me ‘you havestarted keeping a beard, people will start seeing youdiff��erently’”.

Talking about his time injail, Mr. Malik said he alwayshad a positive mindset because of his religious learnings. “I used to read the Koran from 2.30 a.m. to 7 a.m.as it was a peaceful time.The teachings, especiallyabout destiny, helped me alot. God had sent me inside[jail] and I knew he wouldhelp me come out,” he said,adding that he spent hisdays in jail talking to peopleand listening to their stories.“It was an experience,” hesaid.

Main link

Mr. Malik also suspects thatthe reason he was picked upwas because he was in contact with Mufti Suhail. Hesaid he had spoken to him anumber of times in 2018 regarding Islam and itsteachings.

On July 2, Mr. Malik wasreceived outside Tihar jail byhis father, brothers andfriends. He recalled that thefi��rst thing he ate upon returning home was biryani.

Cautious but hopeful: picked up byNIA, freed men seek new lease of lifeAzam relies on goodwill to revive business; Zaid now mindful of Internet searches

Hemani Bhandari

New Delhi

The house (second from left) in Jaff��rabad from where NIA hadarrested ‘terror suspects’ last year. * FILE: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

An undertrial prisoner whowas getting treated at a government hospital in westDelhi escaped from policecustody on Sunday night, thepolice said on Tuesday.

DCP (West) Monika Bhardwaj said Raju alias Mango, aresident of west Delhi’sRaghubir Nagar, was arrested in 2015 under Section 363(punishment for kidnapping) of the IPC.

He was admitted to DDUwhen he complained of illness. He allegedly cut the netof the hospital window andfl��ed, the police said. “The information was received at10.10 p.m. in Hari Nagar pol

ice station about the escapeof an undertrial prisoner,who was lodged in Tihar jail.He was in custody of twoconstables,” Ms. Bhardwajsaid.

A senior offi��cer said it issuspected that the accusedmanaged to steal a sharp object during his treatment,which he used to cut the window open. Constables Sandeep and Mahesh of thethird Battalion were on dutyat that time, the offi��cer said.

A report on the incidenthas been sent to DCP of thethird Battalion and a case under Section 224 (resistanceor obstruction by a person tohis lawful apprehension) ofthe IPC has been registered.

Hemani Bhandari

New Delhi

Admitted to hospital, prisonerescapes from police custody

A fi��re broke out in a multistorey building in west Delhi’s Janakpuri on Tuesdaymorning.

Around 150 people, including over 50 students,were evacuated and no injuries have been reported,said a fi��re department offi��cial. A call about the fi��rewas received at 11.50 a.m.

The blaze was dousedby 12.05 p.m. The offi��cialsaid the fi��re broke out in anelectric meter, panel andcables on the ground fl��oor.

The coaching centreswere located on the fi��rst,second and third fl��oor.

Fire in buildingwith coachingcentresStaff Reporter

New Delhi

The Haryana Human RightsCommission has sought a report from the Rohtak Superintendent of Police in connection with an incident

wherein a deaddictioncentre owner allegedly triedto kill himself and was foundinjured outside his offi��ce.

A newspaper report hadalleged that the man had taken the step as he was being

harassed by the police. A video also showed the in

jured man being draggedaway by an offi��cer. The incident happened on July 27.

Taking cognisance of thereport, the commission has

sought a reply within fourweeks.

Suicide prevention hel-pline: Sanjivni, Society forMental Health, Telephone:011-4076 9002, Monday-Sa-turday, 10 a.m. -7.30 p.m.

Report sought from Rohtak SP over ‘harassment’ Special Correspondent

GURUGRAM

A 10monthold infant diedafter she allegedly fell intoan open manhole whileplaying on Tuesday, thepolice said. The incident atSector 31 led to protests byagitated residents overwhat they said was the negligence of the MunicipalCorporation of Gurugram.

Tek Chand, the girl’sgrandfather, said the infantcrawled near the uncovered manhole and fell intoit. She was brought and taken to a hospital, wheredoctors declared herbrought dead, he added.

Infant girl diesafter fallinginto manhole

Press Trust of India

Gurugram

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 20194EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

A ND-NDE

CITY

Members of several organisations on Tuesday gatheredoutside the Uttar PradeshBhawan here to raise theirvoice against the “silenceand apathy” of the Yogi Adityanathled government inthe alleged attempt on life ofUnnao rape survivor.

The protest was organisedby Janwadi Mahila Samiti, AllIndia Students’ Associationand several other organisations. They demanded thatthe U.P. government lay barethe facts of the case.

Disappointed and outraged at the silence of theU.P. government, Khadijah, ahuman rights activist, said:“Whichever party they arefrom, whatever ideologythey follow, they have tokeep in mind that they areelected government representatives under the Constitution of India. As formerPrime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee had once said, ‘nomatter what, they shouldnever forget their ‘rashtrad-harma (national duty)’. Headded that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and U.P.

Chief Minster Yogi Adityanath should not forget this.

Holding the U.P. government answerable for the mismanagement of the case, Anjali Bhardwaj, a member ofthe National Campaign forPeople’s Right To Information, said: “It is an absoluteshame the way things haveunfolded and we are seeing acomplete lack of answerability on the part of the U.P. government, a complete failurein providing security to the

survivor despite her repeatedly informing them that herlife along with that of her family was under threat.”

Many questions“There are many questionswe want answers to. Whatsecurity arrangements weremade for the survivor? Whataction has been taken on theFIR in the case till date?” Ms.Bharadwaj said. “The RTIAct was recently amendedby the BJP in order to stop

people from asking questions,” she said.

“It is pretty clear todaythat the ‘beti bachao, betipadhao’ campaign is actually ‘beti darao, beti marwao’[Frighten the girls and getthem killed]. The same BJPmembers who stood in support of Nirbhaya in 2012 aresilent today. Instead of protecting the women of thecountry, the governmentseems to protect violators.The silence of the BJP go

vernment scares us, becausewe no longer feel we live in ademocratic country but under the rule of dictators whowill do as they please.” JNUSU president N. Sai Balajisaid.

Speaking about the increasing incidents of rapeand the “negligence” of thegovernment on such issues,Rhea Jose, a member of CBCI(a Catholic NGO), said:“Rapes have become such acommon occurrence in ourcountry that people havebeen almost desensitised.This case was shocking forthe sole reason that the government is not only silenton the issue but a member ofthe government is directlyinvolved in the case. Suchabuse of power by the government ends all hope.”

“We are fi��ling a bunch ofRTI reports. We want toknow if the rape survivorhad been granted any policeprotection and also why nopoliceman sustained injuriesduring the accident,” Amrita, a member of the NationalCampaign for People’s RightTo Information, told TheHindu.

Unnao accident: people raise voice against U.P. govt.’s silenceSome say RTI Act was recently amended by the BJP in order to stop people from asking questions

Members from various organisations protesting outside the Uttar Pradesh Bhawan in New Delhion Tuesday. * SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Eva Thakur

NEW DELHI

Chairperson of the DelhiCommission for Women(DCW), Swati Maliwal, onTuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding that rapeaccusedBJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar be expelled from the BJPas well as be stripped off�� hismembership of the U.P. Assembly.

In the letter addressed toUnion Home Minister AmitShah and BJP working president J.P. Nadda as well, Ms.Maliwal wrote that Mr. Sengar was arrested on April 13last year for allegedly rapinga minor girl at his residencein U.P.’s Unnao, who wasnow battling for her life.

‘Police inaction’The DCW Chairperson accused the U.P. police of inaction, saying that an FIR wasfi��led against Mr. Sengar almost a year after the inci

dent and that he was arrested after the intervention ofAllahabad High Court.

“The most shocking aspect of the entire case is thatdespite mounting evidenceagainst the accused MLA ,he continued to be in powerand therefore enjoys unadulterated clout over thepolice, jail, hospital authorities and the entire U.P. administration. It is this patronage of the BJP that hasenabled him to unabashedlyravage the lives of the rapevictim and her family,” Ms.Maliwal wrote.

She added that the “dignity of a woman is far moreimportant than a rogue, criminal MLA”.

‘Expel accused MLA fromBJP and U.P. Assembly’DCW chairperson pens letter to PM

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI <> Dignity of a woman

is far more

important than a

rogue, criminal

legislator

Swati Maliwal

DCW chief

The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved seven newdestinations for the Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana;the Excise Policy for 201920; and the construction of144 temporary courtroomsat three district courts here.

Chaired by Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal, the Cabinetapproved the Department ofRevenue’s proposal for theaddition of seven routes inthe pilgrimage scheme.

These include round tripsfrom Delhi to RameshwaramMadurai, Tirupati,DwarkadhishNageswar, Jagannath PuriKonarkBhubaneshwar, ShirdiShani Shingnapur, UjjainOnkareshwarand Bodh GayaSarnath. Inaddition, in the existing AjmerPushkar tour, Haldi Ghatidestination has been added.

The Cabinet also approved the Department ofLaw’s proposal to construct144 temporary courtroomsin the existing court complexes of Tis Hazari, Saket

and Karkardooma at a costof around ₹��178.37 crore.

The Cabinet also approved the Excise Policy for201920. A main objective ofthe police is to wean peopleaway from hard liquor.

Excise licenceThe second objective of thepolicy, a statement read, wasto improve the quality of service and to ensure betteravailability of authorised liquor so that people do notfall prey spurious liquor.

Restaurants that do not

have “permanent excise licence” will now not be ableto serve liquor at parties andfunctions on their premises.

Earlier, such establishments would procure P10(temporary licence) to serveliquor for specifi��c events onthe request of organisers, resulting in a loss of revenue tothe government.

Now, farmhouses, banquet halls and other placeswill be registered with theExcise Department for hosting parties where liquor is tobe served. “The independent restaurants, which areotherwise eligible to obtainL17/L17F, L18/L18F licences, shall be completely debarred from hosting functions on P10 permits,” thestatement read.

This registration, however, will not be applicable forindividuals applying for P10to host functions at “privateresidential properties, parksor community centresowned and maintained bylocal municipal bodies/gramsabha/cantonment board”.

Delhi Cabinet also approves Excise Policy 2019-20

Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal during a pressconference in New Delhi onTuesday. * SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

Seven new destinations for pilgrimage scheme

No accident and burn injuries victim within the geographical boundary of Delhishould be denied free treatment, Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal warned privatehospitals on Tuesday.

He said that the government would not hesitate totake the “strictest possibleaction”, including cancellation of licence, against hospitals refusing treatment.

At a meeting with representatives of private hospitals, the CM said that his government had implementeda scheme to provide freetreatment to victims of accidents, burns and acid attacks in private hospitals onFebruary 1 last year.

“It is your responsibilityand you cannot make anyexcuses,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

Don’t refusetreatment toaccidentvictims: CM

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

A Delhi court has sentenceda 28yearold man to 10years in jail for kidnappingand raping a sixyearold girlin 2013, observing that thesociety would not let herforget the incident.

The court convicted theman under Section 6 (committing aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of thePOCSO Act and Section 363(kidnapping) of the IndianPenal Code.

The court also imposed₹��15,000 fi��ne on him. It said,“In this happy world of thechild victim in the instantcase, convict has barged inlike a giant ogre. He broke

her trust, duped her with afalse promise of samosa andthereafter mangled her body. The victim child, oblivious of the terms ‘sex, sexuality, sexual assault, andthe sexual act’, was brutallyexposed to the same at sucha tender age.”

The prosecution said theaccused, a neighbour, hadtaken the girl with him onthe pretext of buying herfood, without informing hermother. When she did notreturn, her mother startedlooking for her and spottedher on the street. The childtold her mother about theincident. The mother thencalled the police after whichthe accused was arrested.


New Delhi

Man gets 10 years in jail for raping minor

A Delhi court on Tuesday extended for two days protection from arrest to Ratul Puri,the nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister KamalNath, in the VVIP chopperscamrelated money laundering case.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar extended the protectiontill Thursday as argumentson the anticipatory bail of theaccused remainedinconclusive.

The counsel for the ac

cused concluded his submission arguing that his clienthad supplied ‘tuckload’ ofdocuments and about 80 ofhis employees had joined theinvestigation. There was noapprehension of his client’sfl��eeing from the country, orinfl��uencing witnesses or tempering with evidence if granted bail, the counsel argued.

Special Public ProsecutorsD.P. Singh and N.K. Mattacountered his argument,submitting that the documents supplied by the accused had been bound in jut

seven or eight fi��les. As far asthe accused’s claim that hisemployees had been cooperating with the probe agencyis concerned, so far just threeof them have appeared before the agency, they said.

They also told the courtthat the accused had suddenly disappeared midwaythrough his interrogation onJuly 26 and the very next dayapplied for anticipatory bail.It showed that his conductwas not bona fi��de so far theinvestigation was concerned,they submitted.

Arguments on anticipatory bail remain inconclusive

Nirnimesh Kumar

New Delhi

City court extends protection from arrest to M.P. CM’s nephew

BJP MP Parvesh Verma onTuesday demanded the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC)in Delhi to evict “illegalimmigrants”.

Raising the issue duringthe Zero Hour in the LokSabha, he said Delhi was increasingly witnessing heinous crimes and claimedthat the culprits were foundto be “illegal Bangladeshiimmigrants andRohingyas”.

“The Delhi police havedeported around 16,785 illegal immigrants till now fromDelhi,” he said in a statement. “These illegal immigrants have so deeply penetrated inside the city thatthey have managed to acquire ration cards throughillegal means that makes itdiffi��cult for the police toidentify them,” he alleged.

He alleged that the Congress and AAP did not payattention to NRC exercisedue to “votebank politics”,and requested the Centre totake steps to implement it inDelhi.

BJP MPdemands NRCexercise in city


New Delhi

The AAPled Delhi government is working on a draftBill for the constitution of aScheduled Castes (SC) Commission in the Capital, whichwill redress grievances of people from the community.

Currently, Dalits in the city move the National Commission for ScheduledCastes (NCSC) for the redressal of their grievances.

Delhi’s SC/ST Departmentalso receives such cases, butit does not have the mandate

to take any action, said an offi��cial. Delhi SC/ST MinisterRajendra Pal Gautam saidthat the previous Congressgovernment had initiatedthe process to set up such a

partments concerned and aCabinet note had been prepared, which is expected tobe put up soon.

After the draft Bill is prepared, it will be sent to theLaw, Planning and FinanceDepartments for their recommendations and comments. Following this, thedraft will be sent to the Cabinet for approval and later tothe Centre. After incorporating the Centre’s recommendations or suggestions forthe Bill, it will be tabled inthe Assembly for passage.

commission and even prepared a draft Bill, but it had“lacked intent”.

“I read the previous draftBill and found that it was ineff��ective. It seemed a frivolous attempt and lacked intent. The fi��les gathered dustand nothing happened.Now, we have prepared afresh draft Bill,” he said.

According to the draft Bill,the commission will havefi��ve members.

The Minister said that hisdepartment had receivedcomments from all other de

Govt. drafting Bill to set up Scheduled Castes body Commission will redress grievances of people from the community: Minister

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

Rajendra Pal Gautam

The Capital is in for anotherspell of rain from Wednesday, which will reduce rainfall defi��ciency and keep themercury within comfortable levels, the weather department said on Tuesday.

Patchy rain is expectedon Wednesday while moderate showers are likely onThursday and Friday. TheIndia Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rain on Thursday.

Delhi has recorded 199.2mm of rainfall from July 1 toJuly 30, which is around 1%less than the 30year average of 201.1 mm

Delhi to getmore rainfrom today


new Delhi

CMYK


THE HINDU DELHI


CITY

The Delhi High Court hasquashed a decision of Jawaharlal Nehru University appointing a Persian languageprofessor as the chairpersonof the Linguistic Centre.

Justice Suresh Kait directed the Executive Council ofJNU to appoint chairpersonfrom the Linguistic Centre itself in accordance with thepractice and the law.

Practice and rules The High Court order cameon a petition by a facultymember, teaching in the Linguistic Centre, contendingthat as per the practice andrules of the university, chairperson of a centre is to beappointed from among theprofessors as per seniorityfrom the centre itself.

“I fi��nd that all the chairpersons are appointed fromthe same centres itself, whereas the respondent number3 [professor] is from the Persian Centre and is appointedchairperson of the LinguisticCentre to which the petition

er belongs,” the courtobserved.

JNU’s counsel submittedthat under the Departmentof Languages there are 12centres, including the Lin

guistic Centre.It claimed that the peti

tion was premature as Professor Mazhar Asif was appointed as chairperson ofthe Linguistic Centre as atemporary arrangementwhich has to be ratifi��ed bythe Executive Council in itsmeeting.

JNU passed an order onJuly 18, appointing Prof. Asifas the chairperson of theLinguistic Centre, despitenot belonging to this centre.

He is already the chairperson of Persian and CentralAsian Studies.

‘Appoint chairman fromLinguistic Centre itself ’HC quashes JNU decision on appointment of professor

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

JNU has appointed a Persian language professor aschairperson of the centre. * FILE PHOTO

<> I fi��nd that all the

chairpersons are

appointed from

the same centres

itself, whereas the

respondent

number 3

[professor] is from

the Persian Centre

Delhi High Court

A man on Tuesday registered a complaint againstactor Sunny Leone and makers of movie Arjun Patialafor mentioning his mobilenumber in the fi��lm.

Puneet Agarwal from Pitampura registered thecomplaint at Maurya Enclave police station statingthat he had been gettingnumerous unwanted callsand was being harassed.

Mr. Agarwal claimed thaton July 26, after the releaseof the movie, he started getting calls and messages onWhatsApp asking about Ms.Leone.

Prank callInitially, he thought it mightbe a prank but then he gotover 100 calls.

He enquired from a callerabout where he got the

number and he was toldthat it was mentioned in themovie when Ms. Leone givesher phone number to actorDiljit Dosanjh.

‘Caused harassment’“I demand action againstthe makers of the movie forusing my number withoutpermission. It has causedme harassment as many ofthe callers are using off��ensive languages. I am gettingcalls from ISD numbers,”said Mr. Agarwal.

Random callers are asking me to do “shameful favours”, he said.

No action has been takenas of now.

A senior offi��cer said theyhave gone through the complaint but it seems to be a civil matter.

The complainant canpursue the matter in acourt, they said.

Demands action against fi��lmmakers

STAFF REPORTER

New Delhi

Man fl��ooded by calls after‘cell number used in fi��lm’

The Delhi High Court askedthe Army and the AAP government on Tuesday wheredid they propose to shift thestudents studying in a dilapidated 100yearold schoolbuilding in the Cantonmentarea here.

A Bench of Chief JusticeD.N. Patel and Justice C. HariShankar directed the Armyand the Delhi government togive details of the classwisevacancies in the nearbyschools, where the 326 students of the Rajputana Rifl��esHeroes Memorial Senior Secondary School could beaccommodated.

“We want to see what isthe capacity of theseschools. Whether there arevacancies there. Where willthe children go? Will they sitin the corridor or on the terrace or under a banyantree?” the Bench said andasked the Army how was itseeking relocation of thechildren into nearby schoolswithout fi��rst ascertaining ifthere were any vacanciesthere. The Bench also said

the children should havebeen moved to other schoolsby now and asked, “What ifsomething were to happen?”

Good conscience When the Additional Standing Counsel of the Delhi government, Sanjoy Ghose,said the authorities were acting in good conscience tofi��nd a better solution to theproblem, the court said, “Isgood conscience an argument when the building is ina dilapidated state and if something were to happen?”

The Bench also asked theArmy whether it had anyother plans for the 3.229acre land where the 100yearold school was located

as it was unwilling to handover the site to the Delhi government for building a newschool there.

The Bench directed theArmy and the Delhi government to fi��le affi��davits by August 5 indicating where thechildren could be shifted.

The order came on a PILfi��led by NGO Social Jurist,which has alleged that theRajputana Rifl��es School, inexistence since 1919 and taken over by the Delhi government in 1975, is in a horrible condition. The plea hassaid though the school isopen for all, it mainly catersto the children of the servants of military offi��cials.

Directs them to give details of vacancies in nearby schools


New Delhi <> We want to see

what is the capacity

of the [nearby]

schools. Whether

there are vacancies

there. Where will

the children go?

Will they sit in the

corridor or on the

terrace or under a

banyan tree?

HC Bench

HC seeks Army, Delhi govt.’s repliesover relocating school students

Stating that there was aneed to spread the messageof Swami Vivekananda, RSSjoint general secretary Suresh Soni said on Tuesdaythat if today, he used thesame words that Swamijihad when speaking aboutChristianity in the U.K. over100 years ago, it would leadto controversy.

‘Controversy will begin’Speaking at the launch of abook ‘Essential Vivekanan-da’ by Mukul Kanitkar andAnoop A.J. here, Mr. Sonisaid Swami Vivekanandahad not shied from praisingas well as pointing out theweaknesses of variousthoughts — whether Western or Indian. “He praised

Jesus. The kind of attemptsthat Christianity is makingin India, the words Swamijiused on English soil, if I sayhere today, then from tomorrow there will be controversy in the media,” Mr.Soni said.

Global summitsHe added that there was nodoubt about the power ofSwami Vivekananda’sthoughts, but there was aneed to spread it.

“Where is Swami Vivekananda today? In schools? Incolleges? In universities? Indiscussions of scholars andPh.Ds?” he said, adding thatSwami Vivekananda’s message was being refl��ected inglobal summits that talk ofsustainable and equitabledevelopment.


NEW DELHI

RSS leader: need to spreadVivekananda’s message He was speaking at a book launch

Published by N. Ravi at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai600002 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 THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., Chennai600002. Editor: Suresh Nambath (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).

Regd. DL(ND)11/6110/20060708 ● RNI No. UPENG/2012/49940 ● ISSN 0971 751X ● Vol. 9 ● No. 181

DELHI Timings

Wednesday, July 31

RISE 05:42 SET 19:13

RISE 04:29 SET 18:43

Thursday, Aug. 01

RISE 05:43 SET 19:13

RISE 05:37 SET 19:33

Friday, Aug. 02

RISE 05:43 SET 19:12

RISE 06:45 SET 20:26

0DISCLAIMER: Readers are requested toverify and make appropriate enquiries tosatisfy themselves about the veracity ofan advertisement before responding toany published in this newspaper. THGPUBLISHING PVT LTD., the Publisher &Owner of this newspaper, does not vouchfor the authenticity of any advertisementor advertiser or for any of the advertiser’sproducts and/or services. In no event canthe Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Dir-ector/s, Employees of this newspaper/company be held responsible/liable inany manner whatsoever for any claimsand/or damages for advertisements inthis newspaper.

Health awareness campfor safai karamcharisNEW DELHI

The North Delhi Municipal

Corporation conducted an

awareness and health camp

for safai karamcharis at the

Civic Centre on Tuesday.

Check-ups for up to 1,000

people was held, the civic

body said. The camp,

inaugurated by Mayor Avtar

Singh and National

Commission for Safai

Karamcharis chairman

Manhar Valjibhai Zala, was

informed about the various

Central and State welfare

schemes.

IN BRIEF

DU open school releasesresults of some courses NEW DELHI

Results for admissions to

some courses at the School of

Open Learning at Delhi

University have been declared

on the university’s website.

Results for B.A. English Part 1

as well as B.Com Part 1, 2 and

3 can be checked by

candidates by entering the

registration number on the

online dashboard.

The Delhi High Court onTuesday rejected a petitionseeking a CBI probe into thealleged killing of 21 Khalistani militants, who had cometo Delhi to surrender, by Indian security personnel asclaimed in the biography ofPunjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

“Merely because one per

son wrote something in abook and another persontweets about it on social media, does not mean CBI investigation should be directed. We see no reason to doso,” a Bench of Chief JusticeD.N. Patel and Justice C. HariShankar said.

Biography claimsAccording to the petition,the biography claims that

during the tenure of formerPM Chandra Shekhar, Capt.Singh had arranged for thesurrender of 21 Khalistanimilitants at Delhi, but whenthey arrived there, they wereallegedly killed by securityagencies and their bodiescremated.

The plea by the Delhi SikhGurdwara ManagementCommittee (DSGMC) saidCapt. Singh had tweeted

about such an incident onhis Twitter handle and urgedthe court to initiate a CBI investigation into the matter.

“Nothing has been pointed out by petitioner with regard to the incident whichmight have happened morethan a quarter of a centuryback. Based on a tweet bysome person, we see no reason to order a CBI probe,”the court said.

HC dismisses petition by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

No CBI probe into killing of Khalistani militants

The decomposed body of a30yearold resident doctorof Safdarjung Hospital wasfound on Tuesday morningin his rented fl��at in southeast Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar,the police said.

A police team reachedthe spot after they receiveda PCR call at 9 a.m. from hisfl��atmate regarding a foulsmell coming from one ofthe rooms.

DCP (SouthEast) Chinmoy Biswal said a man wasfound lying dead on a mattress. It appears that he diedtwo days ago. His familymembers have been informed, the police said.

The man and his friend,who is also a doctor, havebeen staying at the rentedaccommodation in LajpatNagar since May 2018. The

fl��atmate had gone home inGoa on July 19 and returnedat 2 a.m. on Tuesday.

“The fl��atmate unlockedthe fl��at with a spare key andwent to his room. On Tuesday morning, when domestic help came, she informedhim about the foul smellcoming from the next room.She said she could not enterthe fl��at for the past two daysas no one opened the maindoor,” the offi��cer said, adding that no suicide note hasbeen recovered. The deceased from U.P.’s Mughalsarai was pursuing PG in anesthesia from SafdarjungHospital. The postmortemwill be conducted on Wednesday, the police said.

Suicide prevention hel-pline: Sanjivini, Society forMental Health, Telephone:011-4076 9002, Monday-Sa-turday, 10 a.m. -7.30 p.m.

Flatmate had gone to his home in Goa

STAFF REPORTER

New Delhi

Decomposed body ofdoctor found in house

Four persons have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping a youth from Jama Masjid metro station, the policesaid on Tuesday.

DCP (Central) MandeepSingh Randhawa, said the 18yearold youth had gonemissing on July 25. His mother, who claims to have received a call wherein a manwas demanding ₹��4 lakh forreleasing Suraj, fi��led a complaint on Sunday ( July 28) inJama Masjid police station.

“Suraj’s mother said shereceived ransom calls on herson’s mobile phone, whichwas at home. The kidnap

pers also gave the details of abank account for depositingthe money,” said the DCP.

The complainant said thekidnappers had reducedtheir demand to ₹��50,000.The accused — Rajeev Kumar(19) Chandan (21) Sikander(20) and Rahul (19) — fromDelhi’s Rajokari village wereworking for an online foodsupplying company in Gurgram’s Sector 23.

“An FIR under Section364 of IPC was registered atJamia Masjid police stationand investigation was takenup,” said the DCP. The accused were traced using themobile number from whichthey made the ransom call.

They were nabbed from Rajokari village here and Surajwas rescued, the police added.

During interrogation, Rajeev said he had known thevictim as they both workedin the same shoe companyearlier. He added that theyused to keep in touch and recently, when he got to knowthat the victim had earned alot of money and was stayingin Delhi with his family, hehatched a conspiracy to kidnap him.

“The police have recovered the mobile phone anda car used in the commission of the crime,” the DCPadded.

Demanded ransom of ₹��4 lakh, later reduced it to ₹��50,000

STAFF REPORTER

New Delhi

Four held for kidnapping youth

A 27yearold chartered accountant, who was preparing for civil services examination, was found dead ather residence in west Delhi’s Janakpuri, the policesaid on Tuesday.

They did not recoverany note. A senior offi��cersaid the woman was livingwith her husband in a rented accommodation. Thepolice said they got the information at 8 p.m. onMonday.

“Her husband said hereached home in the evening and found her dead.Postmortem report isawaited,” the offi��cer said.

The police said they areyet to ascertain the causebehind the extreme step.However, they added thatthe woman was allegedly“upset”.

Magisterial enquiry intothe death has been initiated, the police added.

Suicide prevention hel-pline: Sanjivini, Society forMental Health, Telephone:011-4076 9002, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. -7.30p.m.

UPSC aspirantfound dead in Janakpuri

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

Talk: Hindi literary magazine, Hansis holding its annual symposiumtitled, ‘An Enigma Called Nation &The question of Identity’, on the occasion of Premchand Jayanti. Theparticipants include MakarandParanjape, Purushottam Agarwal,Ananya Vajpaye, Faizan Mustafa andHartosh Singh Bal. The discussionwill be moderated by Priyadarshanat AiwaneGhalib Auditorium, MataSunadri Road, 5 p.m.

Talk: Senior Assistant Professor atSouth Asian University, Dr. MedhaBisht will deliver a lecture titled,“Meeting Kautilya and Sun Tsu: Refl��ections on IndiaChina relations”.The talk will focus on India’s securityconcerns along with its Northernborders, at Seminar Room, Instituteof Chinese Studies, Civil Lines, 3p.m.

Talk: Dr. Sarwat Khan, author of thenovel, Andhera Pag, will be in discussion with the Prof. Anwar Pasha,Professor, Dept. of Urdu, JNU andDr. Nigar Azim, poetwriter; Theevent will be moderated by Dr.Rakhshanda Jalil, Founder, Hindustani Awaaz at Gulmohar Hall, IndiaHabitat Centre (IHC), 7 p.m.

Exhibition: A solo paintings showby Parul Golchha Ranka at TriveniGallery, Triveni Kala Sangam, 205,Tansen Marg, 11 a.m.8 p.m.

Exhibition: A solo painting show byNitin Gupta, at Convention CentreFoyer, IHC, 11 a.m.7 p.m.(Mail your listings for this column [email protected])

DELHI TODAY

IP University onlineadmission for B.Voc.NEW DELHI

IP University on Tuesday

announced that it had started

its online admission process

for Bachelor of Vocation

(B.Voc.) programme for the

current academic session. The

university said it was offering

a B.Voc in Applied Arts and

Interior Design for only

women candidates. The

university said that there were

900 seats available in total

and would be offered at

various upgraded polytechnics

of Delhi government.

Stolen diamonds worth ₹��60lakh were recovered from agang of seven women whowere arrested for pickpocketing in Delhi metro, the police said on Tuesday.

The accused, Chimna(22), Anjali (23), Reeta (40),Asha (40), Poonam (30), Anita (35) and Reshma (30), allare residents of Anand Parbat, they said.

The women operated ingang and targeted crowdedplaces such as metro trains,crowded buses and trains,

the police said. They fi��rstidentifi��ed the victim withheavy pockets at metro stations. Thereafter, they surrounded the victim and robthem.

The matter came to lightafter a complaint was fi��ledby a man who had come toDelhi for a business trip,they said. On July 28, he wastravelling from Karol Bagh toIndraprastha metro station.During the journey, his bagcontaining diamonds wasstolen, the police added.

The accused women wereidentifi��ed with the help of

CCTV cameras. In one of thefootage, it was found thatthey deboarded the train atBarakhamba metro stationon July 28, DCP (Metro) Mohammad Ali said.

The victim had also travelled in the same coachfrom which the suspectedwomen got down at Barakhamba metro station.

The accused were nabbedon Tuesday from near Shadipur metro station and stolendiamonds, which they wereplanning to sell, were recovered from them, the offi��ceradded.

Seven women arrested for targeting metro passengers


New Delhi

Stolen diamonds worth ₹��60 lakhrecovered from pickpockets

A ND-NDE

NORTH & EASTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU


A person born in Assam before December 3, 2004 maybe included in the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) ifa parent from whom “legacy is not drawn” is a doubtful or Dvoter, declared foreigner or with a casepending in a Foreigners’Tribunal.

This was stated in a public notice issued by PrateekHajela, the State Coordinator for NRC, on July 26, inpursuance of a SupremeCourt order issued on July23.

A Dvoter is one who ismarked “doubtful or dubious” on the electoral rollsby the election departmentoffi��cials.

The Foreigners’ Tribunal— Assam currently has 100and 200 more are comingup — declare a person a foreigner after conductinghearings. An analysis of Foreigners’ Tribunal cases hasrevealed that 82% of peopleon trial were declared foreigners, mostly in ex parteor onesided judgments.

Eligibility criteria“For any NRC applications/claimants, if parent/legacyperson through whom eligibility is sought to be established is a DV [doubtful vo

ter] or DF [declaredforeigner] or PFT [pendingin Foreigners’ Tribunal],then such person will not beincluded in the NRC irrespective of the status of theother parent,” the noticesaid.

“For those persons bornbefore December 3, 2004, ifthe parent through whomlegacy is drawn is not a DVor DF or PFT and is foundeligible for inclusion in NRC,but the other parent fromwhom legacy is not drawn isa DV or DF or PFT, thensuch descendants may beincluded in NRC,” the ordersaid.

But it was made clear thata person born on or afterDecember 3, 2004 will notbe included in the NRC ifany of the parent is a DV orDF or PFT “even if the parent from whom legacy isdrawn is clear from all angles”.

New NRC order ondescendants of D-voters SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

GUWAHATI

People wait outside an NRCcentre at a village in Nagaondistrict. * FILE PHOTO

The Congress government onTuesday tabled two separateBills against mob lynchingand honour killing in the Rajasthan Assembly, while affi��rming that their stringentprovisions would help checkthese incidents. The Bills havemade these off��ences nonbailable with heavy penalties andpunishment, including deathsentence for honour killing.

Parliamentary Aff��airs Minister Shanti Dhariwal introduced the Bills in the Assembly during the ongoing Budgetsession.

The Bills have been titledthe Rajasthan Protection fromLynching Bill, 2019, and theRajasthan Prohibition of Interference with the Freedom ofMatrimonial Alliances in theName of Honour and Tradition Bill, 2019.

The Bill against lynchingstated that it would protectthe constitutional rights ofvulnerable persons and punish the acts of lynching

through trial in the designatedcourts, besides rehabilitatingthe victims and their families.

The State has witnessedseveral incidents of moblynching since April 2017,when Haryana’s dairy farmerPehlu Khan was killed allegedly by a mob of cow vigilanteson the JaipurDelhi nationalhighway.

The statement of objectsand reasons for the Bill mentioned the Supreme Court’srecommendation made in2018 in the case of Tehseen S.Poonawalla vs. Union of Indiafor enacting a legislation to

create a separate off��ence forlynching. “It is proposed tonip the evil in the bud andprevent spreading of hatredor incitement to mob lynchingby creating special off��ences,”it said.

Life inprisonmentThe Bill provides for life imprisonment and fi��ne up to ₹��5lakh for the off��ence of lynching, appointment of a nodaloffi��cer of the rank of InspectorGeneral of Police to prevent lynchings and establishment of relief camps in safezones for the victims. It defi��nes lynching as an act of violence, whether spontaneousor planned, by a mob on thegrounds of religion, race,caste, sex, place of birth, language, dietary practices, sexual orientation, political affi��liation and ethnicity.

The Bill against honour killing laid down death penaltyor life sentence and fi��ne up to₹��5 lakh for killing a couple oreither of them on the basisthat their marriage had disho

noured or brought disreputeto the caste, community or family. The life sentence for theoff��ence will mean imprisonment for the remainder of theconvict's natural life.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had announced enactmentof laws against mob lynchingand honour killing while replying to the debate on the201920 State Budget on July16. Mr. Gehlot had referred tothe recent murder of a newlywed couple in Sirohi districtand asked what right did thefamily members have to kill aboy or girl on their interfaithor intercaste marriage.

Rights groups’ pleaCivil rights groups here havedemanded that the two Billsbe sent to the Assembly's Select Committee for getting thepublic inputs, rather thanrushing through their passagein the Budget session. Activists said the Bills, for which ademand had been made sincelong, were brought in withoutany public consultation.

Bills against lynching, honourkilling introduced in RajasthanOff��ences made nonbailable with heavy penalties and punishment

Mohammed Iqbal

JAIPUR

CM Ashok Gehlot

Infi��ghting among the topleaders of the Haryana Congress has escalated after senior leader and formerChief Minister BhupinderSingh Hooda announced amega rally on August 18, inthe runup to the Assemblypolls to be held later thisyear, without any formal intimation being sent to StateCongress president AshokTanwar.

Mr. Tanwar told The Hin-du that he has no formal information or invite for the‘Parivartan Maha Rally’ tobe held in Rohtak on August18.

“I have come to knowabout the rally through newspapers. There has been nodeliberation about participating in the rally as of now.With elections around thecorner, everyone shouldfi��ght with unity against theruling BJP to oust them frompower as it is what the people of the State want,” hesaid.

Wait and watchOn whether he would participate in the rally if invited,Mr. Tanwar said, “Let’s see

what happens. Going thereor not going there [to therally] is hypothetical at thispoint of time.”

The Congress has beenstruggling to set its house inorder ahead of the Assembly polls. The party’s Stateunit seems to be dividedbetween two camps — oneheaded by Mr. Hooda andthe other by Mr. Tanwar.

Recently, Mr. Hooda helda meeting of the party’sleaders in Delhi in which 13Haryana legislators participated. Mr. Tanwar and someother senior leaders of theparty were not present inthe meeting.

Attacks against the Haryana Congress president sharpened after the Lok Sabhaelection results in which theparty faced defeat in all 10seats in the State.

Infi��ghting in Haryana Cong. intensifi��es

Vikas Vasudeva

Chandigarh

Former CM B.S. Hooda

Hooda rally in August,Tanwar in the dark

A 17yearold boy, who wasallegedly set on fi��re in UttarPradesh’s Chandauli district two days ago for notchanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’,succumbed to his injurieson Tuesday, the policesaid.

Mohammad Khalid, a resident of Saiyad Raja town,around 350 km southeastof Lucknow, had allegedthat he was kidnapped onSunday by four men, whopoured kerosene and sethim on fi��re for not chanting‘Jai Shri Ram’, a charge denied by the police.

Khalid, who sustainednearly 50% burn injuries,was admitted to a nearbyhospital and then referredto government hospital inVaranasi.

He died in the morning,the police said.

Chandauli Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar Singh, however, haddenied the allegation andsaid the teenager changedhis statements three times.

U.P. teenager‘set ablaze’over Ramchant dies Press trust of india

Chandauli (U.P.)


THE HINDU DELHI


CMYK

WEST

In a major setback to the Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) and the Congress, fourof its MLAs submitted theirresignations to Assemblyspeaker Haribhau Bagde onTuesday. They are expectedto join the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) on Wednesday.

The Sharad PawarledNCP, which recently saw many regional satraps leave the20yearold party, bore themaximum brunt of the latestmove as three of the fourMLAs belonged to it.

The NCP received a joltlast week when its Mumbaiunit chief Sachin Ahir joinedthe ruling coalition partnerShiv Sena.

Three MLAs from NCP —Sandeep Naik (Airoli), Shivendraraje Bhosale (Satara),and Vaibhav Pichad (AkoleST) — and one from CongressKalidas Kolambkar (Wadala)handed over their resignation letters separately to Mr.Bagade in Vidhan Bhawan.

Mr. Naik is son of seniorNCP leader and former minister Ganesh Naik, who isalso likely to shift his loyalties. On Tuesday, all corporators of the Navi MumbaiMunicipal Corporation(NMMC), controlled by Mr.Naik, extended support tohim saying they would backany decision he takes.

Mr. Bhosale, was fi��rstelected as MLA on a NCPticket in 2004. Recently,NCP chief Sharad Pawar hadsaid at a press conferencethat Mr. Bhosale would notbe quitting the party. According to agency reports,Mr. Bhosale, whose cousinUdayanraje Bhosale is NCPMP from Satara, said, “I ammore interested in protect

ing the interest of my Assembly constituency.” Bothcousins are known to be atloggerheads with each otherfor many years now, which isseen as one of the reasonsfor Shivendraraje’s resignation.

Mr. Pichad — son of Madhukar Pichad, one of thefounding members of theNCP and hardcore supporterof Mr. Pawar — has said he isquitting the party as his constituency’s developmentwas stopped because he wasfrom the Opposition party.

In June, Radhakrishna

Vikhe Patil, then Leader ofOpposition in the Assembly,quit the Congress and was inducted into the BJP andmade a cabinet minister.

Mr. Kolambkar, a seventime MLA, had made his intentions of quitting the Congress clear during the LokSabha elections when hecampaigned for the Shiv Sena candidate. He had openlythanked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and evenput up his posters in Wadalaconstituency.

(With PTI inputs)

Four MLAs resign, to join BJPThree are from Sharad Pawar-led NCP, one from Congress

Quitters: Congress MLA Kalidas Kolambabkar (left) withVaibhav Pichad from NCP; Sandeep Naik (bottom left) andShivendraraje Bhosale (both NCP) outside Vidhan Bhavanafter resigning on Tuesday. * EMMANUAL YOGINI

Alok Deshpande

Mumbai

Continuing with its spree todole out sops ahead of theAssembly polls, Maharashtra Cabinet on Tuesday accepted the report to set upMahatma Jyotiba Researchand Training Institute (MAHAJYOTI) for the OBCs, Special Backward Classes (SBC)and Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT)communities.

The MahaJyoti will function on the lines of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Researchand Training Institute (BARTI) for Scheduled Castes andChhatrapati Shahu MaharajResearch, Training and Human Development Institute(SARTHI) for Marathas.

The Cabinet also clearedextension of all benefi��ts provided to Scheduled Tribesby the Tribal Developmentdepartment, with a provision of ₹��1,000 crore allocated in the State Budget. Asum of ₹��500 crore has already been budgeted.

“This institute will workto bring social, educationaland economic developmentof the OBCs, SBCs and VJNTand also work to preparestudents from these communities to sit for variouscompetitive examinations,”said Dr. Sanjay Kute, Minister of OBC, SBC, VJNT Communities Welfaredepartment.

The institute will be headquartered in Pune, with divisional offi��ces in Nagpur andBuldhana, and have a budget of ₹��380 crore for twoyears. The decision to set upthe institute was taken onthe basis of a committee report which was accepted bythe Cabinet, Dr. Kute said.

It would conduct surveysfor improving the situationof backward classes and deprived sections of the society, and make available facilities for selfemployment,besides imparting skill training, the minister added.

MahaJyoti will also have ahelpline and counsellingcentre, and provide scholarships for M. Phil and Ph.Dcourses, besides creatingawareness for removal ofcaste and creed bias. The institute will off��er three programmes, namely ‘Jyotidoot’, ‘Jaldoot’ and‘Savitridoot’.

While Jaldoot will haveprogrammes of awareness inwater literacy, conservation,irrigation, and water man

agement, Savitridoot willcreate awareness on genderbias, prohibition and cleanliness, and Jyotidoot will workto eliminate dowry and castediscrimination.

Dr. Kute said, as per theCabinet decision, 13schemes being implementedby Tribal Development department will be extendedto Dhangars. Prominentamong these are providingland for grazing of sheep, fi��nancial assistance for Dhangar students if there is noprovision for hostels, givingadmissions to meritoriousstudents from the Dhangarcommunity in prominentEnglish schools as well as ascheme to build 10,000homes for the community.

This institute will help in social, educational and economicdevelopment of OBCs, SBCs, VJNT

Alok Deshpande

Mumbai

Cabinet clears MahaJyoti

Keeping reading alive: Tourists engrossed in reading books as 78yearold Phulabai Parthe blows air to burn charcoal to protectthe books from fungus, stiff��ness during the rains, and to maintain the temperature at her home in Bhilar village in Sataradistrict of Maharashtra. This fi��rst ‘village of books’ in India — or Pushtakanche Gaon, in Marathi — was set up on May 4, 2017,inspired by HayonWye, a town in Wales known for its bookstores and literature festivals. As many as 30 villagers off��er spaceat their residence for the large variety of books. * PRASHANT NAKWE

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC


A village dedicated to books

The State unit of BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) has said itis in touch with at least 50Congress and NationalistCongress Party (NCP) legislators eager to switch sidesahead of the Assembly polls.Senior leaders said the party has put in place an internal committee to scrutinisethe applicants and will shortlist those who have betterexperience and can add value.

“Many are excited andeager to join the BJP. But wealso, have some limitations,and cannot admit everyone,” said Maharastra Water Resources Minister andsenior BJP leader Girish Mahajan on Tuesday.

Senior leaders said the induction will continue acrossthe State as the party carriesbegins its electoral yatra onAugust 1. They said even ifsome candidates join for avested reasons, several others will have suitable experience to help the partygrow in the future. “We arehoping that during the yatralocal leaders will be convinced of BJP’s work andswitch sides. We will be happy to accommodate,” said aBJP leader.

Last week, the NCP’sMumbai unit chief SachinAhir joined the Sena. Soonafter, its women’s unit chieffor Mumbai Chitra Wagh tooquit.

Many moreeager to joinus: BJP

Sharad Vyas

Mumbai

The Bombay High Courthas issued notices to former fi��nance minister P. Chidambaram and two serving bureaucrats inconnection with a suit demanding ₹��10,000 crore indamages fi��led by 63 moonstechnologies, formerlyknown as Financial Technologies Ltd.

The HC asked them toremain present in personor through their lawyers onOctober 15 “to answer theplaintiff��’s claim”.

The company fi��led thesuit on June 12 before thehigh court against Mr. Chidambaram and bureaucrats K.P. Krishnan and Ramesh Abhishek, accusingthem of taking “maliciousand malafi��de” actionagainst it.

The company was facingcontinuous “targeted andmalafi��de actions” in thewake of an engineered payment default crisis, it said.

HC notice toChidambaramon suit fi��led by63 moons


Mumbai

Days after the Unnao rapesurvivor met with an accident, former Uttar Pradeshgovernor and senior BJPleader Ram Naik on Tuesdaysaid it would be “unfair” tojudge the State on the basisof one case.

The 19yearold woman,who was allegedly raped byBJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar at his residence in 2017,was travelling with her family on Sunday when their carwas hit by a speeding truckin Rae Bareli district.

Two of her family members were killed in the accident while she and her lawyer were critically injured.The woman’s family hasfi��led a complaint alleging“conspiracy” behind the car

crash. “Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has alreadyagreed to a CBI inquiry intothe case. The truth in theUnnao case will come outsoon. It would be unfair toform an opinion about the

entire State based on a singlecase,” he said. He claimedthat organised crime in U.P.had come down in the pastfi��ve years, and the restwould also be reined in inthe coming days.

‘Unnao accident: unfair tojudge State by one case’Former U.P. Governor Ram Naik says truth will come out soon


Mumbai

State unit BJP president Chandrakant Patil handing over thereceipt of party membership to former Uttar Pradeshgovernor in Mumbai on Tuesday. * EMMANUAL YOGINI

The MumbaiPune Hyperloop project received amuchneeded boost onTuesday with the Cabinetapproving appointment ofDP World and HyperloopTechnologies as its Original Project Proponent(OPP).

The hyperloop, onceready, will reduce traveltime between Mumbai andPune to just 30 minutes.

The Cabinet also decided to grant ‘public infrastructure’ status to the project, helping it gain easieraccess to funds and concessions. The project will

be implemented in twophases — fi��rst, a test trackon an 11.4km corridorfrom Gahunje to Ozarde,and in the second phasethe fi��nal 117.5km track willbe constructed. About 150million people are expected to use the hyperloopannually.

This will make India thefi��rst country to offi��ciallycommission a hyperloop.The project involves a direct foreign investment(FDI) of ₹��70,000 crore. According to offi��cials, thePune Metropolitan Regional Development Authoritywill fl��oat tenders bymidAugust.

Hyperloop projectgets a crucial push

Alok Deshpande

Mumbai

The Sharad Pawarled NCPon Tuesday declared its support for the August 9 protestrally against the use of Electronic Voting Machines(EVMs) in the upcoming Assembly elections.

The announcement wasmade by State unit NCP president Jayant Patil at a pressconference which was alsoattended by his Congresscounterpart Balasaheb Thorat, CPI(M) leader AshokDhawale, and Peasants’ andWorkers Party (PWP) leaderJayant Patil, among others.

The rally is being plannedby ‘EVM Virodhi RashtriyaJan Andolan’ seeking use ofballot papers in the polls,due in SeptemberOctober.

“We had to taste defeatdespite fi��elding winnablecandidates in some Lok Sabha seats. At some places,(Opposition) candidates didnot get votes from their own

family members,” a statement quoted Mr. Patil assaying.

“Even the elected candidates have raised suspicionsabout EVM functioning.Hence, we are supportingthis antiEVM movement,”Mr. Patil added.

Mr. Pawar has repeatedlyraised concerns over functioning of EVMs.

In the recentlyheld monsoon session of the State legislature, the NCP had demanded that the Assemblyelections be held throughballot papers.

Rally is being planned by EVM Virodhi Rashtriya Jan Andolan


Mumbai

United against EVMs: Leaders from Congress, NationalistCongress Party, and Peasants and Workers Party at a pressconference in Mumbai on Tuesday seeking use of ballotpapers in the Assembly elections. * EMMANUAL YOGINI

NCP joins other parties,backs Aug. 9 anti-EVM rally

Parts of south Gujarat andSaurashtra have receivedheavy rains in the last 24hours ending 8 a.m. onTuesday, with the IndiaMeteorological Department predicting “widespread” rainfall across theState till Saturday.

Dharampur taluka inValsad received the highest288 mm rainfall during thisperiod, while 12 talukas received 101150 mm rainfall,according to the StateEmergency OperationCentre (SEOC). As many as34 talukas have received50100 mm rainfall.

For six hours on Tuesday morning, several partsof Saurashtra region received heavy rains, withDhrol in Jamnagar receiving 89 mm and Jodia 85mm, as per SEOC data.

“Rajkot district in Saurashtra zone received 203mm rainfall during this period. Kaprada in the district received 191 mm,while 208 mm rainfall wasrecorded in Waghai in theDangs district,” the SEOCsaid.

Teams of the NationalDisaster Response Force(NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF)were put on standby in various rainfall districts innorth and south Gujaratand Saurashtra region totackle any eventuality.

NDRF teams have beenput on standby in the district headquarters of Surat,Valsad, Navsari, Aravalli,Banaskantha, Patan, Rajkot, Gir Somnath, andKutch, among others.

Heavyshowers lashparts of southGujarat


Ahmedabad

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


SOUTH

BJP changes candidatefor Speaker’s postBENGALURU

In a surprise move, the BJP

changed its candidate for the

Karnataka Speaker’s post on

Tuesday following directions

from its Central leadership.

While former Speaker K.G.

Bopaiah had been chosen as

the party candidate, the BJP

amended its choice and made

sixtime MLA Vishweshwar

Hegde Kageri file nomination

for the post on Tuesday. Mr.

Kageri is set to be elected

unopposed as Speaker on

Wednesday as he is the only

candidate to file nomination

for the post.

IN BRIEF

Ivory seizure: HC allowsKerala govt. to file reportKOCHI

A Division Bench of the Kerala

High Court on Tuesday

allowed the Kerala

government to file in three

weeks a final report in a case

relating to the seizure of

ivory from the house of actor

Mohanlal before the judicial

first class magistrate court III,

Perumbavoor. The Bench

passed the order when a writ

petition filed by A.A. Paulose

of Kochi against the

government order granting

ownership certificate to Mr.

Mohanlal for the seized four

ivory came up for hearing.

Kidnapped Hyderabadpharmacy student freed ONGOLE

A B. Pharmacy student, who

was allegedly kidnapped from

Hayathnagar in Hyderabad on

Tuesday, was freed at Addanki

in Prakasam district. Inquiries

by the police revealed that

suspected kidnapper,

Ravisekhar, had promised the

woman to introduce her to a

doctor and find her a decent

job in the latter’s hospital.

Using the same modus

operandi, the conman had

allegedly cheated about 70

women by promising them

jobs in Telangana and A.P.

Doctors at a hospital inMumbai drew blood samples from Binoy Kodiyeri todo a DNA test to fi��nd outwhether he was the biological parent of the child of aformer bar dancer who hadaccused him of rape andcheating.

Binoy, son of CPI(M) Statesecretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, presented himselfbefore doctors at the J.J. Hospital in Byculla in SouthMumbai, after the BombayHigh Court ordered him tohonour his anticipatory bailcondition that he would sub

mit his blood for a DNA test. Binoy had delayed the

submission of his blood sample on the ground that hehad moved the High Court toquash the charges slapped

against him by the Oshiwarapolice based on the woman’spetition.

The State’s Forensic Laboratory at Kalina in Mumbaiwould conduct the test andsubmit its results in a sealedcover to the HC within a fortnight.

The case against Binoy, aDubaibased businessman,has its provenance in a complaint by a Maharashtra settled woman who accusedhim of inducing her into aconjugal relationship promising marriage. She allegedthat they had a child fromthe eightyearold relationship.

Binoy Kodiyeri submits bloodsamples at Mumbai hospital Forensic lab will conduct DNA test and submit fi��ndings to HC

Binoy Kodiyeri


Thiruvananthapuram

Water power: Water gushing out of the gates of Kadem Project of Adilabad in Telangana on Tuesday. * S. HARPALSINGH



Copious infl��ow

Decks have been cleared forthe four/sixlaning of the National Highway 66 corridorfrom Kasaragod in the northto Karode in the south withthe Centre agreeing to Kerala’s willingness to share 25%cost of the remaining land tobe acquired for the project.

“All hurdles have beencleared for the NH development and NHAI and MoRTHoffi��cials will reach the Statefor discussions after the ongoing Parliament session,”Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in New Delhi afterholding discussions with Minister for Road Transportand Highways (MoRTH) Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday.

The work of the muchdelayed Kozhikode bypasswould commence soon. TheCentre had sought 50% cost

of the land to be acquired inview of the prohibitive costof land acquisition and resource crunch and the Statehad agreed for 25%, Mr. Vijayan said.

1,176 hectaresThe State will have to give₹��5,250 crore as the 25%share to the National Highways Authority of India,which implements the work.

As much as 1,176 hectareshave to be acquired in theState at a cost of ₹��21,000crore for the development ofthe NH. Replying to queries,the Chief Minister said therewas no change in the stanceof the State on privatisationof the Thiruvananthapuraminternational airport. “Thegovernment has not authorised Congress MP ShashiTharoor to hold talks withAdani Group Chairman Gautam Adani on the issue. It isunfortunate and a minor setback to the ongoing government initiative to retain thepremier airport of the Statein the public sector.”

The Chief Minister calledon Union Home MinisterAmit Shah and sought theCentre’s assistance for themodernisation of the Keralapolice, student policecadets.

Kerala to share cost of landfor four/six-laning of NH 66 All hurdles cleared for the highway development: Pinarayi


THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Pinarayi Vijayan

The district stood fi��rst inresolving the grievances received during the ‘Spandana’ programme, AndhraPradesh Chief Minister Y.S.Jagan Mohan Reddy saidduring a videoconferencewith the Collectors here onTuesday, and congratulated Visakhapatnam Collector V. Vinay Chand on theachievement.

“The only reason whySpandana is being wellreceived by the people is thatthe grievances are sortedout at the earliest,” Mr.Reddy said, and instructedthe district Collectors to bemore responsible in tackling the grievances.

He further asked theCollectors to inspect themidday meal served inschools regularly and alsofocus on the quality of eggsbeing supplied to the students.

Jagan praisesVisakhapatnamCollector

Staff Reporter

VISAKHAPATNAM

A group of fi��shermen havebeen conducting plastic collection drives every yearsince 2011 to rid VembanadLake, a designated Ramsarsite and one of the most polluted water bodies in theworld, of plastic waste.

This year, the eighth yearof the campaign, more than80 sacks full of plastic havebeen collected from a smallportion of the lake in Alappuzha district alone. According to them, plastic bottles,especially water bottles andsoft drinks bottles, are themost prevalent form of plastic pollution in the lake.They place the blame for themenace squarely on operators of houseboats plying thebackwaters.

Acknowledging the se

rious threat of plastic pollution to the Vembanad lakeecosystem and to the entirebiodiversity of the region,houseboats and resorts inthe district have started replacing singleuse plastic water bottles with glass jars andglass bottles, albeit slowly.“The most prominent plastic

pollutant in Vembanad Lakeis plastic bottles. And theanswer to this is to avoidpackaged drinking watersold in plastic bottles. As asensible, environmentallyresponsible option, we havedecided to switch to glassbottles,” said Jobin J. Akkarakalam, managing partner,

Spice Routes.According to a resort near

Cherthala, which replacedPET bottles with glass bottles, they are now saving onelakh plastic bottles a year.

In June 2018, the KeralaState Pollution ControlBoard (KSPCB) issued a direction to hotels, resorts,houseboats and hospitalswith more than 500 beds inthe State to stop usage ofplastic bottles for supply ofdrinking water. “So far, onlya few resorts, hotels andhouseboats in Alappuzhahave introduced glass bottles, but it is a positivething,” Biju B., Environmental Engineer, KSPCB, toldThe Hindu. He said all houseboats in the district hadbeen given time till January2020 to put an alternativesystem in place.

Eff��orts on to help Vembanad Lake breathePlastic bottles are the most prevalent form of pollution in the lake

Environmental hazard: This year, more than 80 sacks of plasticwere collected from a small portion of the Vembanad Lake.

Sam Paul A.

Alappuzha

If there’s really someonewho understands tigers andhelp them let live and multiply, its the Chenchus. Members of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group(PVTG), the Chenchus toil allday in the expansive Nallamala forests manning thebase camps.

Even then, the number ofbig cats in Andhra Pradeshhas been put at 48 as per theassessment done by the National Tiger ConservationAuthority (NTCA), the maiden one in the State after bifurcation.

Track and recordA group of fi��ve Chenchusman each of the base campsand move into the interiorforests at dawn each day

conscientiously to digitallycapture pug marks and other remnants left by the bigcats in the sprawling Nallamala forests.

Equipped with GPSbasedGarmin GPS72h equipment,the tiger trackers record thedroppings and other evi

dence left by the wild animals overnight in the Nagarjunasagar Srisailam TigerReserve (NSTR), the biggestsanctuary in the country.

‘Pancha Pandavas’Referred to as ‘Pancha Pandavas’ locally, they work un

mindful of treacherous terrain to provide a safeenvironment for the big catsand other wild animals andgenerate vast data from theground for analysis by theNTCA authorities who comeout with the tiger census every four years.

“We have been coexistingwith big cats and other wildanimals without disturbingthe natural environment inthe forest for long,” says tigerwatcher Kudumla Anjaiahwho is wellversed with thetopography and can sensethe movement of fast approaching wild animals tomove in time to safety.

“In all, 125 watchers areengaged in the Markapur Division of the Forest Department,” says Dornala DeputyForest Range Offi��cer MukkaPrasad Reddy.

Hidden Chenchus and crouching tigers Blending into natural habitat, they help conserve the big cats in Nallamala

Co-existing with big cats: A group of tiger protectionwatchers moving into deep forests. * KOMMURI SRINIVAS

S. Murali

ONGOLE

A Class X student of a private residential school in Kodaikanal was allegedly killedby his classmate on Mondaynight following a quarrel over some petty issue. The victim, aged 16, hailed fromHosur in Krishnagiridistrict.

The police said the suspect stabbed the victim withscissors and hit him withcricket stumps on the premises of the school hostel.The police have recoveredthe scissors, the cricketstumps and a bat from him.

The school teachersrushed the injured boy onMonday night to the Government Hospital at Dindi

gul, where doctors declaredhim “brought dead”. He hadsuff��ered multiple injuries onthe body.

Teachers claimed that theboys moved on the campustogether, and were veryfriendly with other studentsas well. What prompted thefatal attack was not immediately known.

The police, who interrogated the suspect, however,said there were some “diff��erences of opinion” betweenthe boys recently over pettyissues. They were not talking to each other for sometime. The suspect is believed to have told the policethat even last week, he hadbeaten the boy and warnedhim of severe

Boy killed by classmate inKodai residential schoolSpecial Correspondent

KODAIKANAL

A day after proving its majority in the Karnataka legislature, the B.S. Yediyurappaled BJP government hascalled off�� the birth anniversary celebrations of Tipu Sultan, the 18th century kingfrom Mysuru. Tipu Jayantiwas made a governmentsponsored annual event in2015 by the Congress regime.

In an order, the Department of Kannada and Culture stated that Hazrat TipuSultan Jayanti has been cancelled “with immediate effect”.

The decision was taken atthe Cabinet meeting on Monday, the order said.

The BJP and other SanghParivar affi��liates have opposed the decision to celebrate Tipu Jayanti ever sincethe Congress government,headed by Siddaramaiah,took the decision, allegingthat the Mysuru ruler was a

“tyrant” and “antiHindu”.There were violent protestsin Kodagu in which one person died.

Letter to CMOn Monday, senior BJP leader and former Speaker K.G.Bopaiah wrote to the ChiefMinister seeking cancellation

of Tipu Jayanti. “There havebeen several protests in various parts of the Stateagainst the celebration of Tipu Jayanti, especially in thedistrict of Kodagu. The people of the district are opposed to the celebrations,”he had said in the letter. TheGovernment Order is based

on Mr. Bopaiah’s letter. In 2018, after the coalition

JD(S)Congress governmentwas formed, the fourth edition of the Jayanti was heldamidst tight security in Srirangapatna, the erstwhilecapital of the Mysore regionwhere Tipu ruled.

However, the then Chief

Minister H.D. Kumaraswamyand Deputy Chief Minister G.Parameshwara had stayedaway from the offi��cial event.

The JD(S) had, at the time,raised questions on the rationale behind the Congressmarking Tipu Jayanti the previous year, in 2017, in themidst of drought.

Yediyurappa govt. scraps Tipu Jayanti It was launched as an offi��cial annual event in 2015 during the Congress rule in Karnataka


Bengaluru

Icon of Mysuru: Siddaramaiah, who was Chief Minister, arrivingat Vidhana Soudha during Tipu Jayanti in 2017. * FILE PHOTO

With legal options runningout, a section of the residents of the Maradu apartments, which the SupremeCourt had ordered to bepulled down for violatingCoastal Regulation Zonenorms, took out a protestmarch to the Maradu municipality seeking governmental intervention in the issue.

Inaugurating the protestmeeting, Sebastian Paul, aformer parliamentarian,suggested that the authorities go in for a “deemed demolition” of the fi��ve fl��atsand regularise thebuildings.

Retrospective eff��ect As the CRZ 2019 notifi��cationpermits the construction atthe site of the buildings,which the court found as illegal, the authorities couldalso think in terms of givingretrospective eff��ect to the legislation.

“The building should notbe demolished on the basisof a wrong order from theSupreme Court. Abstainingfrom demolishing the building is what the authoritiescould do to protect publicinterest,” he said.

The Kerala governmentshould take up the case of

the residents, who would bethrown out of their homes ifthe buildings are demolished, with the Centre. Apolitical decision and interference was also required inthe case. Mr. Paul also argued that abstaining fromdemolishing the buildingwas good in terms of humanitarian and environmental considerations.

In his address, K. Babu,former Minister, advised theresidents not to move theSupreme Court with theirgrievances till October next.Mr. Babu, who didn’t elaborate on the sanctity of thedate, said the SupremeCourt’s order lacked a humanitarian touch.

The real culprits whosupported the constructionof the buildings in violationof rules should be identifi��ed. The State governmentshould take the initiative forresolving the crisis. If somelegislation is possible to savethe structures, the Stateshould explore that option,he said.

Mr. Babu, who felt thatthe demolition of the buildings would do more environmental damage than allowing them to remainthere, called for an expertstudy on the various aspectsof demolition.

Seek Kerala government’s intervention


Kochi

Emotional appeal: A child holding a placard at a protest byresidents of the fi��ve apartment blocks in Maradu in front ofthe municipality on Tuesday. * H. VIBHU

Maradu fl��at ownersstage protest

Former Karnataka ChiefMinister Siddaramaiah,during whose tenure TipuJayanti was made agovernmentsponsoredevent, condemned thescrapping of thecelebrations, and called thedecision a mark of the BJP’s“antiminority” ideology.

“It’s myopic to see Tipuas a minority icon alone. Hefought the British and

contributed immensely tothe development of theMysuru region. For threeyears, we celebrated it andthe people of Karnatakaaccepted it. To me, he is thefi��rst freedom fi��ghter,” Mr.Siddaramaiah said inBengaluru. “The KRS damfoundation was laid duringTipu’s time. He worked forthe growth of industries,agriculture and trade. Thatis why we started thecelebrations,” he said.

Antiminority move: Cong. Special Correspondent

Karnataka Bureau

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD


THE HINDU DELHI


CMYK

NATION

Weather WatchRainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday

Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: INSAT/IMD (Taken at 18.00 Hrs)

Forecast for Wednesday: Heavy to very heavy rainfall likely overGoa, central Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu &Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, south Rajasthan, WestBengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram,Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and coastal Karnataka.

city rain max min city rain max min

Agartala............. 1.6....30.0....26.2 Kozhikode............... 12.4....31.0....24.4

Ahmedabad...... 13.6....28.2....24.6 Kurnool .................... 3.0....32.1....23.7

Aizawl................ 5.0........ —....20.5 Lucknow......................—....33.2....27.3

Allahabad..............—....32.7....27.4 Madurai .......................—....39.0....26.2

Bengaluru .............—....27.0....20.1 Mangaluru .............. 13.6....30.8....23.1

Bhopal ........... 166.5....26.8....22.6 Mumbai .................. 38.9....29.4....24.6

Bhubaneswar...... 1.1....28.7....26.4 Mysuru ........................—....29.0....20.0

Chandigarh ...........—....35.3....28.6 New Delhi ...................—....35.1....27.4

Chennai ................—....34.0....27.1 Patna ..........................—....33.6....26.8

Coimbatore ...........—....33.6....23.1 Port Blair.................. 0.3....30.3....25.9

Dehradun ........... 0.3....28.1....24.6 Puducherry ............... 6.8....34.4....24.0

Gangtok........... 27.0....21.8....17.0 Pune....................... 34.6....25.1....21.7

Goa.................. 19.0....29.4....23.7 Raipur ...................... 3.6....25.7....23.3

Guwahati ..............—....35.2....27.2 Ranchi ...................... 2.6....25.7....21.2

Hubballi ................—....24.0....21.0 Shillong.................... 1.2....24.6....17.3

Hyderabad ......... 6.7....27.2....21.8 Shimla...................... 1.5....19.7....17.4

Imphal ............... 0.4....30.7....22.3 Srinagar.......................—....31.2....19.8

Jaipur ...................—....32.0....25.6 Thiruvananthapuram.........—....31.5....25.3

Kochi ....................—....32.6....25.8 Tiruchi.........................—....37.7....27.8

Kohima ............ 11.2....25.4....16.8 Vijayawada ..................—....33.5....25.2

Kolkata ............ 19.4....33.7....26.2 Visakhapatnam .......... 1.4....31.3....26.7

(Rainfall data in mm; temperature in Celsius)

Pollutants in the air you are breathing Yesterday

CITIES SO2 NO2 CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE

In observation made at4.00 p.m., Jodhpur,Rajasthan recorded anoverall air quality index(AQI) score of 228indicating an unhealthylevel of pollution. Incontrast, Gulbarga,Karnataka recorded ahealthy AQI score of 13

Ahmedabad..... 81 .27 .70 ....82 .....— ....*

Bengaluru ....... ..9 .42 .71 ..... — .110 ....*

Chennai .......... ..6 .18 .60 ..112 .....— ....*

Delhi .............. 16 .27 .34 ....44 .195 ....*

Hyderabad ...... 18 .19 .14 ....18 ...22 ....*

Kolkata........... ..3 .34 .54 ....31 ...37 ....*

Lucknow ......... ..— .24 .69 ....28 .....— ....*

Mumbai .......... 12 .20 103 ....31 ...47 ....*

Pune............... 74 ...8 .67 ....21 ...21 ....*

Visakhapatnam 16 .44 .37 ....41 ...83 ....*

Air Quality Code: * Poor * Moderate * Good (Readings indicate average AQI)

SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system,

making breathing difficult. It can affect visibility by reacting with other air

particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues

and monuments.

NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by

reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters.

CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to

critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause

dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death.

PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes,

nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced

lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature

death in people with heart or lung disease

The Supreme Court on Tuesday orally remarked that excessive quota may impactthe right to equal opportunity guaranteed under theConstitution.

Justice S.A. Bobde, leading a threejudge Bench, saidquota benefi��ts given to themost “forward” classes, especially to those who had noqualifi��cation whatsoever,would result in “excess” reservation and breachequality.

‘Quota an exception’“Reservation itself is an exception. Reservation is intended to achieve equality ofopportunity,” he remarked.

The Bench is examining

whether to refer to a Constitution Bench a batch of petitions challenging the validityof a constitutional amendment providing 10% economic quota in governmentjobs and educationalinstitutions.

Senior advocate RajeevDhavan made a strong pitchfor referring the issue to aConstitution Bench. He ar

gued that economic reservation violated the 50% reservation ceiling limit fi��xed by aninejudge Bench in the Indra Sawhney case. Further,the 1992 judgment hadbarred reservation solely oneconomic criterion.

In a 6:3 majority verdict,the Supreme Court, in theIndra Sawhney case, hadheld that “a backward class

cannot be determined onlyand exclusively with reference to economic criterion... It may be a consideration or basis along with andin addition to social backwardness, but it can neverbe the sole criterion.”

After a gap of 27 years, theConstitution (103rd Amendment) Act of 2019 has provided 10% reservation in government jobs andeducational institutions forthe “economically backward” in the unreservedcategory.

The government, represented by Attorney GeneralK.K. Venugopal, however,told the court that the 10%economic quota law was amove towards a classless andcasteless society.

Too much quota may impactright to equal opportunity: SC The court said that reservation is intended to achieve equality of opportunity

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

The Union Environment Ministry and the Departmentof Livestock and AnimalHusbandry are exploring ascheme to devise an insurance policy that will compensate people who losetheir livestock to tigers.

A day after India declaredthat it had 2,967 tigers — a33% jump since the last tigercensus in 2014 — offi��cialsfrom several Ministries meton Tuesday to discuss waysto ensure that these gainswere not lost.

No policy currentlyThe growing tiger base, however, has also brought withit challenges of mananimalconfl��ict, with reports of thebig cats preying on cattleand sometimes mauling humans who live in the vicinityof their habitat.

“Currently, there is nopolicy on compensating people for such cattle lost because tiger reserves are nogo areas, and people andcattle are not supposed tobe present. However, in thelarger interest of reducingmananimal confl��ict, weneed to think of such measures,” said Siddhantha Das,DirectorGeneral (Forests),

Union Environment Ministry. He was one of the participants at the meeting.

Another plan discussedwas to improve water conservation in forests, alongwith the Jal Shakti Ministry,Mr. Das said.

Sustaining tigers is aboutsustaining their prey base.He attributed the greaterpresence of tigers to moredependable water sourcesand the presence of morechital and deer.

The nearly 6% annual increase in the tiger population could mean at least3,400 tigers by the next survey, and therefore increasing pressure on its habitatand on the occurrence ofmananimal confl��ict.

Insurance scheme forcattle lost to tigers mooted Jacob Koshy

NEW DELHI

Sustaining the prey base of the big cat was alsodiscussed at the meeting.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case of alleged corruption against U.K.basedRollsRoyce, its Indian arm,a company located in Singapore and unknown offi��cials of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL),ONGC and GAIL, in connection with contractsworth thousands of crores.

The FIR is based on information related to 170contracts between HALand RollsRoyce. Amongthose named as accusedare Aashmore Private Limited (Singapore), its thendirector Ashok Patni andTurbotech Energy ServicesInternational, Mumbai.

Rolls-Royce,HAL named in graft case


NEW DELHI

The Indian Medical Assocition (IMA) has called for a 24hour strike on Wednesday toprotest against the Lok Sabha approving and passingthe National Medical Com

mission (NMC) Bill 2019. Thestrike includes only the withdrawal of nonessentialservices.

It noted that Section 32 ofthe Bill provided for licensing 3.5 lakh unqualifi��ed nonmedical persons to practise

modern medicine.“The term Community

Health Provider has beenvaguely defi��ned to allowanyone connected withmodern medicine and be licensed to practise,” the association said.

“This,” it added, “wouldmean that all paramedics, including pharmacists, nursesand others are becomingeligible to practise modernmedicine and prescribe independently. This law legalises quackery.”

IMA calls for strike against NMC Bill todayspecial correspondent

NEW DELHI

With the spitting of tobaccobecoming a challenge tocleanliness, the management of the 12th centuryShree Jagannath Temple inPuri has banned the entry ofdevotees and priests foundchewing either tobacco or‘paan’ (betel leaf ).

Habitual tobacco andpaan chewers will have tocough up fi��ne of ₹��500 iffound chewing the substance on the temple premises, from August 1.

The decision was takenduring a meeting of theShree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) at Purion Monday.

P.K. Mohapatra, chief administrator of the SJTA, saidthe prohibition will come into force from August 1. Allpersons, irrespective ofwhether they are devotees,temple staff�� or priests, willbe fi��ned if found consumingtobacco or paan.

The administration willput up display boards towarn about the prohibitionat diff��erent places. Guardsdeployed at the gates will beasked to check devotees andtemple staff�� for the bannedsubstances.

In most government offi��ces including the State Secretariat, almost all corners andstaircases have stains.

In order to prevent themenace, tiles having pictures of gods and goddesseswere fi��xed at diff��erent places. Though limited successhas been achieved, the authorities have not been able tocompletely control the nuisance.

Puri templebans chewingof tobacco

Staff Reporter

Bhubaneswar

The Delhi High Court onTuesday declined a CBI application seeking an earlyhearing of its appeal againstformer Telecom Minister A.Raja and others' acquittal inthe 2G spectrum allocationcase.

Justice A.K. Chawla saidthe “arguments in the casewill take place on the nextdate of hearing on October24,” the previously scheduled date for hearing thecase.

Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain sought anearly hearing, saying a hugenumber of bilateral treaties

were being invoked pursuant to the 2G verdict.

“If we lose on merit, welose, but we should not loseon account of the matter notbeing heard,” he argued.

In December 2017, a spe

cial CBI court in New Delhiacquitted Mr. Raja, Kanimozhi, MP, and others in the CBIand Enforcement Directorate (ED) cases, noting thatthe prosecution had “miserably failed” to prove thecharges.

It acquitted 17 others, including late DMK supremoM. Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal, Vinod Goenka,Asif Balwa, fi��lm producerKarim Morani, P. Amirtham,and Sharad Kumar.

On March 19, 2018, the EDapproached the High Courtchallenging the special courtorder. A day later, the CBItoo challenged the acquittalsin the court.

Arguments in the case will take place on October 24

Special correspondent

New Delhi

Former Telecom Minister A.Raja was acquitted by a CBIcourt in December 2017.

HC refuses early hearing ofCBI plea in 2G spectrum case


DELHI THE HINDU


CMYK

A ND-NDE

EDITORIAL

Krishnan Srinivasan

Despite the fact that India hasserved as a nonpermanentmember of the United Na

tions Security Council (UNSC)more often than any country otherthan Japan from the AsiaPacifi��cGroup, it is a matter of satisfactionand a tribute to Indian diplomacythat the Group unanimously decided this year to support India foran eighth secondyear term. Theelections are to take place in Junenext year. This means that India’selection is assured and its termwill run in the calendar years 2021and 2022.

Fast-changing dynamicsTo anticipate what issues will ariseduring India’s tenure two andthree years down the road, in thehighest decisionmaking organconcerned with peace and confl��ictin the global organisation, is clearly problematic. The dynamics ofinternational politics are fast moving.

The Washington consensus ofthe postSoviet era, if it ever trulyexisted, has unravelled in thewake of three factors: tensionsbetween major powers; proxywars in West Asia, and widespreadand scattershot use of threat andeconomic sanctions by the UnitedStates which pursues a militarisedforeign policy with a military andintelligence presence in 150 coun

tries, and 800 bases in 70 nations. The rise of China and the bogey

of Russian aggression are resistedthrough military and economicmeasures by Washington, whichurges its usually reluctant European allies and others to followsuit. The race is on for supremacyin artifi��cial intelligence, high technology and 5G which will havestrategic signifi��cance in future decades. In this variable world of incessant jockeying for greater infl��uence among big and mediumpowers, and where the centreground for concepts such as strategic autonomy and equidistancehas shrunk with rising polarisationbetween the major powers, thereare nevertheless some constants.Whether or not the U.S. PresidentDonald Trump is reelected , the‘America First’ doctrine will endure in some form since it has thesupport of a sizeable constituencyin that country. This makes U.S. foreign policy more transactional,which in turn will generate lesstraction to the reform processwithin the UN and the expansionof permanent membership of theUNSC to which India aspires.

India can use its term as a nonpermanent member to enhance itscredentials as a constructive andresponsible member of international society, but an upgrading ofits status will have to wait until anindeterminate future date. It maybe noted in passing that the inclusion of India, Japan, Germany andBrazil in the UNSC, to which package India is formally committed,will create an even greater imbalance in favour of the West versusthe Rest in world aff��airs.

India is one of the world’s big

gest economies, which even thepessimists cannot deny. Accordingly, its voice resonates and iscapable of making a signifi��cantcontribution during its tenure byemphasising and strengtheningmultilateralism as a means of making the world safer.

Multipolar focusIndia needs to uphold the objective of a multipolar world andcounter existing trends towardsunilateralism, ethnocentrism,protectionism and racial intolerance. It should seek to protect theWorld Trade Organisation fromAmerican attempts to undermineit, since the WTO’s dispute mechanism is a resource for developing countries, as is the work of theUnited Nations Educational, Scientifi��c and Cultural Organization, theUN Human Rights Council andother UN bodies despite the U.S.and a few other countries withdrawing support to them. Indiashould attempt to make progresson the nondiscriminatory elimination of weapons of mass destruction, protection of the environment against global warming,safeguarding outer space fromweaponisation, and enhancingrespect for diversity and plurality

in world politics. India should underline the validity of Article 2 ofthe UN Charter that provides forstate sovereignty and safeguardscountries against outside interference in the domestic aff��airs ofother states. In upholding respectfor a rulesbased order in international society, India should underline the sanctity of treaties such asthe multilateral accord with Iranendorsed by the Security Counciland the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Among countryspecifi��c topicsthat are likely to reappear beforethe UNSC are the ‘frozen’ disputesof Cyprus, Palestine, Ukraine andNorth Korea. On each of these, India has taken a balanced positionthat needs little reset. Kashmir remains on the UN agenda and if thesituation in the Kashmir Valley deteriorates, the issue may be revived in the UNSC by Pakistan,although third parties have no enthusiasm for involving themselvesin IndiaPakistan disputes. If reports are true that Mr. Modi isseeking to normalise relationswith China during this term in offi��ce, it will greatly strengthen India’s position.

Pakistan and the terror angleIt bears repetition that the growthof India’s economy and its democratic system are our best insurance policy; witness what Chinahas been able to get away with inrespect of the Uighurs. New Delhi’s preoccupation with Pakistanfi��nds its articulation in the subjectof international and crossborderterrorism. Although the context isnormally couched in generalterms, no one is in doubt that the

Indian reference is to Pakistan.The question of an internationalconvention against terrorism hasbeen under discussion in UN committees for many years, and theUNSC will not be the forum forheadway on this. India could useits presence on the UNSC’s sanctions subcommittee to proscribePakistanbased militant groupsand individuals. But experienceshows that this is frankly of dubious benefi��t when weighedagainst the eff��ort expended.

New Delhi will feel in the nextfew years that its time has comefor a major role on the worldstage, but big player status will bediffi��cult without India being pivotal in the South Asian region. Inthis respect, India’s regional statusis insuffi��ciently credible. Accordingly, on all issues before theUNSC, India must give exceptionalweightage as to how they will havean impact on the Indiansubcontinent.

Demosthenes in Fourth Century BC Athens stated that diplomatshad “no battleships at their disposal... their weapons are words andopportunities”. India’s presenceon the UNSC will present opportunities to enhance the country’sreputation. American policies inIndia’s nearneighbourhood towards West Asia, Russia and Chinapresent challenges that can be metonly with great skill and delicatebalance. India should aim to endits eighth term on the Council withits merit and legalitybased judgments intact and widelyrespected.

Krishnan Srinivasan is a former Foreign

Secretary

Padding up for the next UNSC inningsIndia must give exceptional weightage to how all Security Council issues have an impact on the subcontinent

FIL

E P

HO

TO

/AP

more letters online:

www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/

Last year, I was denied information requested under theRight to Information Act

(RTI) 2005. I had sought thenames of agencies empanelled bythe Unique Identifi��cation Authority of India for an “image makeover” and the expenditure on it. Itwas denied by invoking the exemption clauses of Sections 8(d)and 8( j), respectively, i.e. the‘commercial confi��dence, trade secrets or intellectual property’ and‘unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual’. Apart fromthe recent RTI Amendment Bill,2019, there are many ways inwhich the RTI is being undermined.

In 2017, my coauthor and Iwanted to check what proportionof benefi��ciaries receive their pensions or rations using data provided through government portals,for example the National Food Security Act and State social securitypensions. We found data withoutdictionaries, abbreviations thatwere not spelt out anywhere, fi��gures that were inconsistentacross diff��erent pages of the samewebsite, and missing or brokenlinks. It took us months to decipher public data. With several caveats about interpreting theresults.

More recently, there has beenpublic furore over the delay in therelease of data, for example farmer suicides, suppression of datasuch as on employment, bungledmigration data in the Census, andcontroversy over the methodologyused to calculate GDP growthrates. These data are the backboneof policy making in India.

These three — information obtained through the RTI Act, administrative data and data collectedby the statistical machinery of government — are examples of “dataas a public good”. But these arescarcely mentioned in a chaptersotitled in this year’s EconomicSurvey. Instead, its focus is on theexpanding digital footprint of people, falling costs of data generationand storage and the growing datamining industry. The thrust is onhow to monetise these data, for example by selling data that we sharewith the government in trust.Another worrying suggestion isconsolidation of our data acrossvarious ministries.

Under watchThe view in the Economic Surveyis data utopic. In this datafairyland, (near) realtime data collection can be a suffi��cient conditionfor remedying gaps. If only the offi��cersincharge could receive aweekly report about school toiletsthat do not function, “they cantake the required action”.

The day after I read this chapterof the Survey, a local Gujarati paper carried news of an ememo being sent (thrice) to the owner of ascooter for a traffi��c off��ence; thescooter had been stolen 10 monthsago. The police had spotted thescooter on a CCTV in various localities of the city but were unable tocatch the culprits and return thescooter. This anecdote is at oddswith the datafairyland conjuredup in the Survey. In the real world,remedial action on nonfunctionaltoilets is more likely to be hampered by a lack of funds, of accountability or an offi��cer, ratherthan lack of data. Having data/information can only take us that far.

Each time you click on a link, oreven hover your mouse over one,your behaviour is being trackedand analysed to understand yourpreferences and needs and beingsold to companies to enable “tar

geted” advertising. The fact that itis often not very well targeted issomething its proponents preferto ignore. As a single person I regularly receive SMSes which off��er asolution to this problem: “kyaaapke pati aapki baat nahimaante? (does your husband notlisten to you?”) Mistargeting is notalways accidental. “Predatorylending” thrives on it. For instance, ICICI functionaries sold insurance policies to unsuspectingcustomers such as poor MahatmaGandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme workersand Kisan Credit card holderswhose premiums it was clear theywould not be able to pay. The Survey’s data utopia is misplaced.

Data can easily become toxic.The Survey does not tell us this.Ever wondered why you get SMSesoff��ering you companionship (“aaomeethi meethi baat karen”), curesfor baldness (“ganjapan door ka-ren”) or strategies for losingweight (“vajan ghatayen”). Somewhere along the line, your mobile number and/or email ID gotsold in the data market. Even asmost of us delete these, others gettrapped. A former Chief Justice ofIndia was duped of ₹��1 lakh recentlyas a result of a fraudulent email. InMumbai, identity fraud was perpetrated by accessing personal data(address, phone number and Aadhaar). In phishing attacks in Rourkela, Odisha, fraudsters calledbank customers asking for Aadhaar details to update their ac

count, but used it to siphon off��money. The Survey treats personaldata (such as date of birth, mobilenumbers and addresses) the sameway as data on rainfall, temperatures and road networks.

In the examples above, thefraudsters had to get access to people’s data. The Survey is proposingthat these be sold for a price. Thishas already started. In early July,the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, informed Parliament that thedepartment had earned ₹��65 crorefrom the sale of vehicle registration and licence data. Imagine theconsequences of your health databeing sold to private health insurance companies; or your data onyour earnings being sold, or databeing used in the way CambridgeAnalytica did.

The many faultlinesIf data can be toxic, centralisingand consolidating it, as advocatedby the Survey, increases its toxicity exponentially. Contrary to thewidely advocated principle of decentralised/disaggregated data silos as a fi��rst line of defence by datasecurity experts, the Survey portrays decentralisation as an obstacle. With decentralised data, datamining companies employ sophisticated tools to combine distinctdata silos to create profi��les of individuals. Consolidating it, for example if a unique number such asAadhaar links them, reduces thecompany costs for profi��ling andtargeting. Centralising it (in onedata silo) means that a single databreach can compromise all aspects of your life.

There are two other toxic aspects of the personal data economy. Often they are collected andshared without our consent orknowledge, for example CCTVs orweb browsing histories. When ourdata are used by opaque algorithms to make crucial decisionsabout our lives, such as shortlist

ing for jobs, getting health insurance or whether you were speeding, we cannot question them.

Some believe that a data protection and privacy law can, evenwill, take care of these concerns.Indeed, the Survey merrily assumes such laws to be in place. Given the government’s track recordon Aadhaar, these laws are unlikely to protect citizen’s rights adequately. Further, privacy and dataprotection laws will face uniqueimplementation challenges in India. This is on account of low levels of techdigital and legal literacy combined with preexistingsocial inequalities which directlybear upon power relations between us (as citizens/consumers) and them(government/corporations).

Jumping on the bandwagonEven where such laws have beenput in place, those societies/economies are grappling with the fallout of corporations whose practices can best be described as“digital kleptocracy”. To understand this, take the example oflending and credit scores. The literature documents unscrupuloususe of algorithms to identify vulnerable targets such as search histories of single African Americanmothers in the United States thatare used to sell them home or education loans which it is clear theyare unlikely to be able to repay.Thus, digital kleptocracy is ameans by which rich tech companies mine poor people’s data,infact, steal; in most cases the person is unaware of their data beingharvested and used for profi��t.What the Economic Survey advocates is not only for the government to facilitate such practicesbut also climb aboard this bandwagon of digital kleptocrats.

Reetika Khera is an Associate Professor at

the Indian Institute of Management,

Ahmedabad

The makings of a digital kleptocracy When data is monetised, as the Economic Survey advocates, it becomes toxic and harms public interest

Reetika Khera

GE

TT

Y IM

AG

ES/IS

TO

CK

PH

OT

O

Cat countWhile it is a matter of pridethat India’s tiger populationis nearly 3,000 strong inthe backdrop of shrinkingforests, we cannot aff��ord toignore reports of growingmananimal confl��ict (Page 1,“India has nearly 3,000tigers, up by a third from2014 count”, July 30). The‘encounter’ in Maharashtralast year with Avni thetigress and, more recently,two incidents, the fi��rstwhere a tigress and hercubs were poisoned atChandrapur, Maharashtraand the second whereanother tigress was beatento death by villagers inPilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, a

few days ago, should setalarm bells ringing. Steps must be taken to fi��nda solution to growingencroachments in wildhabitats. The importance ofwildlife protection has to beinculcated from primaryschool level. M. Pradyu,

Thalikavu, Kannur, Kerala

■ At last India’s nationalanimal has got its due. Butwhat is disturbing is the lackof awareness of thedwindling population ofAsiatic lions in Gujarat’s Girforest, which is the lastbastion for this species. Ihope the authoritiesconcerned will now take

necessary action to protectthis equally magnifi��centanimal before it is too late.C.R. Gopalarathnam,

Thillaisthanam, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu

■ The tiger could be out ofdanger, but we must admitthat we are failing toconserve other endangeredanimals. Not a day goes bywithout reports of elephantsbeing killed in various ways.The problem seems to bemore pronounced in WestBengal, Odisha and Assam.Development in Chhattisgarhand Odisha in the form ofmining companies is creatingdisturbances resulting inhumanelephant confl��ict.Tiger conservation must be

an umbrella move to saveother species too. Mejari Mallikarjuna,

Nadigadda, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh

Unnao caseThe Unnao rape case is onewhere the Uttar PradeshChief Minister must ensurejustice. The prime accused isan MLA from the BJP, theparty in power. CM YogiAdityanath has done nothingto restore people’s faithwhen it comes tomaintaining law and order.Civilised societies cannotallow the fathers of rapesurvivors to die inmysterious circumstances orhave the survivors meetingwith a suspicious accident.

The Hindu’s Open House inKochi have wished. Theyoung generation shouldknow that there is nothing tomatch reading newspapersand books in their ‘physicalform’ for personal andpersonality developmentand deepening theirunderstanding of the world. G. David Milton,

Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Kuldeep Sengar is anembarrassment for the BJP.Meghana A.,

Shell Cove, NSW, Australia

Open HouseThe joy of reading anewspaper or a book cannotbe substituted by onlinereading. It would beworthwhile to do whatever ispossible to ignite the passionfor reading among the nextgeneration as participants in

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.

The wheels of India’s multiyear stock market rally

are slowly beginning to come off��. Since the Union

Budget was presented this month, there has been

a palpable change in mood among investors, who in

June led a minirally in the market as signs emerged one

after another that the government led by Prime Minis

ter Narendra Modi would be returning to power at the

Centre. The Nifty and the Sensex are down roughly by

about 5% since the Budget was presented. Foreign port

folio investors have pulled out over ₹��2,500 crore in July,

in contrast to June when FPIs made a net investment of

close to ₹��10,400 crore. Investors who were quite enthu

siastic about the prospects of structural reforms that

could boost India’s economic growth under the second

Modi government, have been quite disappointed by the

Budget proposals. Among other things, Finance Minis

ter Nirmala Sitharaman imposed new taxes on the

“super rich” and on companies that buy back their own

shares, and raised the mandatory minimum public sha

reholding in listed companies (a move that is seen to be

against the interests of promoters). Not surprisingly, in

vestors have been taken aback by these measures,

which are seen as increasing the burden on businesses.

Even more worrying is the signal that is sent across

by the falling stock market. As stock prices discount the

future, lacklustre market performance could well be a

prelude to the further worsening of general economic

conditions in the near term. There is already a signifi��

cant downturn in sectors such as automobile with ma

jor companies reporting falling sales and earnings, and

automobile dealers closing down showrooms and slash

ing jobs. The overall gross domestic product growth,

which slipped below 6% to hit 5.8% in the fourth quar

ter, has also been slowly catching up with the bleak pic

ture painted by highfrequency economic indicators for

quite some time. The underlying turmoil in Indian mar

kets becomes evident when one looks beyond the Sen

sex and the Nifty at the midcap and smallcap space

that has witnessed signifi��cant value erosion since the

start of 2018. The smallcap index has lost almost a third

of its value since January 2018 while the midcap index

has lost about a fi��fth of its value. Interestingly, many in

dustrialists who were previously enthusiastic cheer

leaders for the Narendra Modi government have turned

vocal about their disappointment at the government

not being bold enough in pushing through structural re

forms needed to boost economic growth despite the

majority it enjoys in Parliament. This suggests the deep

selloff�� in stocks over the last 18 months may well be a

sign of disappointed investors voting with their feet.

Flee marketInvestors seem disappointed with tax

measures seen as burdening businesses

If India has increased its population of tigers to an es

timated 2,967 individuals in 201819, putting behind

fi��ascos such as the Sariska wipeout 15 years ago, it

adds to its global standing as a conservation marvel: a

populous country that has preserved a lot of its natural

heritage even amid fastpaced economic growth. Since

the majority of the world’s wild tigers live in India, there

is global attention on the counting exercise and the

gaps the assessment exposes. The National Tiger Con

servation Authority (NTCA) has asserted in its report,

‘Status of Tigers in India 2018’, that 83% of the big cats

censused were individually photographed using came

ra traps, 87% were confi��rmed through a camera trap

based capturerecapture technique, and other estima

tion methods were used to establish the total number.

Previous estimates for periods between 2006 and 2010

and then up to 2014 indicated a steady increase in tiger

abundance. Such numbers, however, are the subject of

debate among sections of the scientifi��c community,

mainly on methodological grounds, since independent

studies of even wellprotected reserves showed a lower

increase. It is important to put all the latest data, which

are no doubt encouraging, through rigorous peer re

view. Conservation achievements — and some failures —

can then be the subject of scientifi��c scrutiny and fi��nd a

place in scientifi��c literature to aid eff��orts to save tigers.

There are several aspects to the latest counting oper

ation — a staggering exercise spread over 3,81,400 sq

km and 26,838 camera trap locations — that are of inter

national interest, because some tiger range countries

are beginning their own census of the cats. Moreover,

even developed countries are trying to revive popula

tions of charismatic wild creatures such as wolves and

bears through a more accurate outcome measurement.

For India’s tigers, not every landscape is welcoming, as

the offi��cial report makes clear. The less accessible West

ern Ghats has witnessed a steady increase in numbers

from 2006, notably in Karnataka, and Central India has

an abundance, but there is a marked drop in Chhattis

garh and Odisha; in Buxa, Dampa and Palamau, which

are tiger reserves, no trace of the animal was found. It is

imperative for the NTCA to analyse why some land

scapes have lost tigers, when the entire programme has

been receiving high priority and funding for years now

at ₹��10 lakh per family that is ready to move out of crit

ical habitat. Ultimately, saving tigers depends most on

the health of source populations of the species that are

estimated to occupy a mere 10% of the habitat. The con

fl��ict in opening up reserves to roadbuilding has to end,

and identifi��ed movement corridors should be cleared

of commercial pressures. Hunting of prey animals, such

as deer and pig, needs to stop as they form the base for

growth of tiger and other carnivore populations. As

some scientists caution, faulty numbers may hide the

real story. They may only represent a ‘political popula

tion’ of a favoured animal, not quite refl��ective of reality.

Burning brightPeer review and scientifi��c publication can

make India’s tiger census a global model

corrections & clarifications:

Figure mismatch: The frontpage story on tiger census ( July 30,2019) put the number of tigers in India at 2,967. It is correct. Theaccompanying graphic erroneously said it was 2,976.

A related inside page report on top tiger reserves talked aboutsanctuaries in 80 States. It should have been 18 States.

The Readers’ Editor’s office can be contacted by Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300;

E-mail:[email protected]


THE HINDU DELHI


CMYK

A ND-NDE

OPED

In the course of a statement to the press,Swami Shradhanand, vice president of SevaSamiti, praying for funds to undertake theorganisation of relief of suff��erers from recentdisturbances in the Punjab says [as reportedfrom Lahore]: The Samiti has so far gotabout Rs. 6000, almost the whole of whichhas already been pledged and every freshcase of relief imposed additional liability onthe Samiti. The rush of persons seeking relief is so great that unless a prompt responseis made to the appeal there is a grave risk ofour work being hampered if not stopped. Itherefore earnestly request all generous donors to immediately remit their contributions to me. While the Punjab was passingthrough a crisis, other provinces could onlylook on with helpless sympathy. An opportunity is now off��ered to various provinces tocome to the rescue of the distressed in thePunjab and by their generous support showtheir profound sympathy with our fellowcountrymen in the Punjab in their hour ofneed.

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO JULY 31, 1919.

Punjab Riots.

The draft National Education Policystarts its opening sentence with ahitherto littleknown fact: “Thelearning process for a child commences immediately at birth.” Manybelieve that children start learningonly in school. It is true that languageand numerical profi��ciency, and analytical skills, are attained in school,but the foundation for such a learning capacity is laid much earlier, andit happens without our knowledge.Higher cognitive functions attaintheir peak of growth between the ages of one and three — before schooleducation begins.

However, the next sentence of thedraft says, “Evidence from neuroscience shows that over 85% of achild’s cumulative brain development occurs prior to the age of 6”.This is grossly inaccurate because theglobal focus for optimal brain development is on the fi��rst 1,000 days of aperson’s life (The Lancet, 2007).Stretching the window of opportunity to six years is a mistake. Thiswrong understanding leads to misplaced priorities for a nation to boostits human development potential.

Laying the foundationThese 1,000 days are when rapid anddramatic changes take place in thebrain and fundamental cognitive andinterpersonal skills are developed.The centres for vision and hearing inthe cerebrum develop between thesecond and fi��fth months of one’s life.In these areas, the formation ofnerve connections peaks by thefourth month, and is followed by agradual retraction or “blooming andpruning” until the end of the preschool period. Similarly, the centresfor language and speech profi��ciencydevelop maximally between thesixth and tenth month even beforethe child’s speech and languagemakes any sense to us. Even as a toddler, a child’s spoken vocabulary increases signifi��cantly.

Pregnancy and infancy are important periods for the formation of thebrain. This is when the foundation is

laid for the development of cognitive, motor and socioemotionalskills. Apart from genetic determinants, environmental determinantsplay an equally critical role in shaping personality. In essence, an infantis born with the capacity to learn,but how much and what all the infantcan learn is infl��uenced by theenvironment.

The drafting committee of the National Education Policy should haveconsulted a paediatrician or developmental neurologist on what needs tobe done in the fi��rst 1,000 days. Thepolicy has rightly categorised earlychildhood education into two parts.The fi��rst focuses on children belowthe age of three years; the second onchildren aged three to six years.While Anganwadi centres target children in the second category, the section on Early Childhood Care andEducation up to three years issketchy and inadequate. It only mentions health and nutrition servicesfor both mothers and children. Takehome ration that is provided for children up to three years by the Integrated Child Development Services(ICDS) scheme only helps physicalgrowth; it does not provide psychosocial stimulation for development.That responsibility is left entirely tothe parents or family members.

The section on expansion andstrengthening of facilities for earlychildhood education states that “the

care and educational requirementsof 03yearolds in the region wouldcontinue to be handled by neighbourhood Anganwadis”. That is a tallorder. Children below three are notenrolled in the daily services of theICDS centre. They stay at home.

Filling the gapThis gross design defect in the architecture of the ICDS has existed sinceits inception in 1975. Policy directions and strategies for “care conceptwith early stimulation for child development” are lacking in the ICDS.The solution is to have an additionalworker trained in care and stimulation for child development in everyAnganwadi. New workers will impartpsychosocial stimulation for the development of the brain through fi��vesensory organs of the body, i.e., eye,skin, ear, nose and tongue. The intensity and frequency of fl��ow ofthese signals during early childhooddetermines the level of intelligenceand mental development attained.The baby’s explorative learning andstorage of such inputs into the braintakes place every moment of her early life. Her storage capacity is expansible and enormous. The baby alsoderives analytical conclusions basedon which she develops value systemsand character.

Apart from breastfeeding, cleaning the baby, giving oil massages andapplying lotion adds to her under

standing of love and care throughtactile and pressure stimulation. Carrying the baby and rocking her provides her security.

From two months of age, the babystarts to interact socially. Playingwith the baby with toys or by usingfacial expressions improves her social interaction skills. The baby recognises where sounds originate, thevoice of her mother, and her ownname by six months of age.

Showing the baby the colours ofthe sky, fl��ying birds, fl��uttering butterfl��ies and domestic animals improvesvisual stimulation. Songs, soft musicand sweet talk stimulate the auditoryareas of the brain. Making the childfeel the softness of fl��owers, leavesand cheeks adds to her sensorylearning. These are all not a waste oftime, but good investment for achild’s development.

By the time the child is two orthree, she will be asking a volley ofquestions: who, when, what, why,how. Often the questions and answers are repeated but the child doesnot get bored. Stories stretch theirimagination.

Parents and caregivers do nothave suffi��cient time earmarked forthe care of their children. More thanmoney, they must invest time for thedevelopment of the child. Workingparents offl��oad this responsibility tograndparents or domestic workersor leave their children in care centresor crèches. But these places don’thave qualifi��ed or trained staff�� to provide scientifi��c care.

There is no government system totake care of babies of poor families orof mothers who go to work for a dailywage. The experimental project ofFulwari, or communitymanagedcrèches in Chhattisgarh, is one answer to this gap. Policymakers mayhave a look at Fulwari for replication.

The 86th Amendment of the Constitution 2002 and Section 11 of theRight to Education Act also mandatepublic provision of early childhoodcare and education. Interestingly thepolicy states: “Universal access toquality Early Childhood Education isperhaps the best investment that India can make for our children’s andour nation’s future”.

K.R. Antony is a former Health and Nutrition

Specialist, UNICEF, India, and former

Director, State Health Resource Centre,

Chhattisgarh

What the draft National Education Policy omits in its chapter on early childhood care and education

Focussing on the critical years of a child’s life

K.R. Antony

GE

TT

Y I

MA

GE

S/ I

ST

OC

K P

HO

TO

The Northeast, positioned as the gateway toASEAN, lies at the heart of India’s ‘Act EastPolicy’. Development of the region, so far adomestic policy concern, has now beenaligned with national strategic and economicobjectives. The underlying assumption isthat trade across the borders will usher ineconomic prosperity to this hitherto neglected frontier. It would be useful to draw comparisons with China’s approach in Yunnan, a‘bridgehead’ to South and Southeast Asia, aspart of its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.

Similarities and diff��erencesYunnan and the Northeast have much incommon: populations of a similar size,mountainous regions, diverse indigenouscommunities, a rich natural resource base,huge hydropower potential and historicallylower levels of development. Yunnan sharesa 4,000 kmlong international border withMyanmar, Laos and Vietnam. The Northeastabuts China, Myanmar and Bangladesh overa length of 5,000 km. Yet, behind these apparent similarities lie stark contrasts in economic reality.

The GDP of Yunnan is about $265 billion,of which tourism contributes nearly a quarter. Trade across the land border of Yunnanwith ASEAN is in the range of $14 billion, halfof which is with Myanmar. In contrast, thecombined GSDP of the Northeast is approximately $65 billion. A restrictive regulatoryregime (Inner Line Permit for domestic tourists and Restricted Area Permit for foreigners) poses entry barriers. Indian bordertrade with Myanmar (through the sole functional custom station at Moreh) has hoveredaround $50 million for several years. Thiscalls for a closer look at three crucial aspects:connectivity, border trade and ecotourism.

The Northeast is catching up in air, railand highway connectivity, though it lags behind Yunnan. Kunming, the headquarter ofYunnan, has a fl��ourishing international airport. For the fi��rst time, all eight States of theNortheast have at least one functional civilian airport, with effi��cient internal connectivity via Kolkata and Guwahati. International fl��ights to Dhaka have commenced fromGuwahati recently, and fl��ights to Bangkokand four more cities of ASEAN are in the pipeline under the UDAN scheme. Yunnan hasa rail network connecting cities like Beijing,

Shanghai and Guangzhou. The rail footprintin the Northeast is weak, though the RailwayMinistry has announced its intent to ensureinternal rail connectivity by March 2022.Yunnan has an impressive highway networkproviding city to port connectivity. TheNortheast has seen a spurt of public investments in national highways and bridges,with remarkable results in the last few years,though internal roads remain a challenge.

Yunnan has a well crafted trade strategy,while border trade across the Northeast hasbeen sluggish. The Ruili Border EconomicZone is the main hub for facilitating Yunnan’s trade with Myanmar. Ruili city hastransformed from being a sleepy bordertown to a thriving economic zone. China isnow aspiring to develop an economic zonewith Myanmar between Ruili and Muse. Theproject aims to develop core infrastructureand invite private investment for manufacturing, processing, trading and warehousing. The Zokhawthar land customs station inMizoram has fragmented infrastructure andbarely sees any formal trade. Trade acrossthe integrated check post at Moreh in Manipur has shown promise. Absence of robustinternal connectivity, infrastructure for logistics, warehousing and processing hashampered meaningful trade. Ambitioustransnational projects, such as the Kaladanmultimodal transit transport project, havealso been slow to take off�� on account of niggling land acquisition problems.

Building blocksYunnan has experimented with some imaginative approaches for ecotourism embracinglocal communities. Ecotourism in Xishuangbanna has been anchored in ‘ecological villages’, showcasing the culture, architecture,customs and cuisine of the Dai ethnic community. The villagers partner through landleasing arrangements with companies, allowing tourists to catch a glimpse into theDai way of life. Nagaland has made a goodbeginning with the Hornbill festival, butthere are opportunities in other States too.Following this path would help encourageprivate investment in tourism infrastructure.Tourism revolving around ecology, cultureand ethnicity would ensure that there is nodisruption in the tribal way of life and contribute to the economy.

A discernible focus on the development ofthe Northeast has yielded results in the lastfew years. Now is the time to empower theStates to build blocks. Taking a leaf out of theexperience of Yunnan could provide a template for the transformation of this frontier.

Ashish Kundra is an IAS offi��cer currently working with

the Government of Mizoram . Views are personal

A leaf out of Yunnan’s book The province in China off��ers some ideas for the Northeastin the areas of connectivity, border trade and ecotourism

Ashish Kundra

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

DATA POINT

It is widely acknowledged that women’s empowerment helps in theachievement of critical developmentgoals. If there are a greater number ofwomen in politics, there is a concomitant increase in the level of attentiongiven to genderspecifi��c policy andplanning. However, the number ofwomen taking leadership roles in India is rather small compared to theglobal average. The representation ofwomen MPs in the 17th Lok Sabhahas seen an improvement from 11% in2014 to 14% in 2019, but it is still lowerthan the world average of 24.3%. In2019, 715 women candidates contested the Lok Sabha election, while thenumber of men who contested stoodat 7,334.

Odisha may be seen as one of theunderdeveloped States in the country and a laggard in terms of somehuman development indicators. However, other States could take a cuefrom the Odisha government’s modelfor women’s empowerment. The BijuJanata Dal (BJD)led State government was among the fi��rst to reserve50% of seats in Panchayati Raj institutions for women. Further, OdishaChief Minister Naveen Patnaik nominated women for onethird of theseats in Lok Sabha election. Thus, seven candidates out of 21 fi��elded bythe party for the 2019 election werewomen. The success rate among thewomen candidates was higher thanfor men, as fi��ve out of seven won theelections.

The power of selfhelp groupsBesides empowering women politically, the BJD government has beenorganising women into selfhelpgroups in order to empower themeconomically ever since the BJD assumed power two decades ago. As ofnow, Odisha has six lakh selfhelpgroups with seven million womenunder its fl��agship ‘Mission Shakti’programme. The programme aims atempowering women by helpingthem start incomegenerating activities. The selfhelp groups are linkedto the Odisha Livelihoods Missionand Odisha Rural Development andMarketing Society. Members of theselfhelp groups are encouraged tosell products at fairs and exhibitions

organised by the State round theyear. This gives them an opportunityto travel across diff��erent parts of theState and gain greater exposure. TheState government had announced aninterestfree loan of ₹�3 lakh in January 2019 to each of the selfhelpgroups. This amount was increasedto ₹�5 lakh just before the general election. The Women and Child Development Department has been rechristened as the Women and ChildDevelopment and Mission ShaktiDepartment.

The nomination of Pramila Bisoi, aselfhelp group leader, by Mr. Patnaikas a candidate for a Lok Sabha constituency might have come across as asurprise to many. But it could be seen

as a deliberate and strategic move tobring selfhelp group members to theforefront of public life. The decisionalso sent the signal that rural womencan also aspire to reach higher echelons in politics.

Many sopsIn a bid to win the trust of womenand also to empower them, the Naveen Patnaik government has announced several sops like smartphones, award of work contracts,and higher entitlements in the State’shealth insurance scheme, arguablysuperior to the national levelscheme, Ayushman Bharat. The Stategovernment has announced an accident insurance scheme for all members of selfhelp groups. It is no wonder that all this has paid richdividends and helped propel the BJDto its fi��fth straight term.

Ananya Behera is a former UGC Senior

Research Fellow and a Ph.D. in Sociology

The Odisha model Other States could take a cue from Odisha, whichhas empowered women politically and fi��nancially

Ananya Behera

LIN

GA

RA

J P

AN

DA

The American President Mr. Richard Nixonpaid a fl��eeting fi��ve and threequarter hourvisit to Viet Nam today [ July 30] which included nearly four hours of consultationswith Government leaders in Saigon. He wasthe fi��rst American President to visit the capital city [Saigon] since the war started. Mr.Nixon, accompanied by his wife, fl��ew infrom Bangkok and was taken to the Presidential Palace in Central Saigon by a fl��eet ofhelicopters. Amid the strictest security precautions Saigon has ever seen, Mr. Nixonhad oneandahalfhourlong talks with President Nguyen Van Thieu, a working lunchand 75 minutes in private talks with VicePresident Nguyen Cao Ky. Just before leaving, Mr. Nixon delivered a speech on thesteps of Independence Palace in which hesaid: “We have gone as far as we can orshould go in opening the door to peace andit is time for the other side to respond.”Twenty minutes before the President arrived in Saigon, all international telecommunications were cut off�� and were not restoreduntil well after he had left. In his speech,which was broadcast live over South Viet Namese Radio, Mr. Nixon said Mr. Thieu’s latestinitiative to hold elections with the Viet Congwas an off��er “as generous as any ever madein the history of warfare.”

FIFTY YEARS AGO JULY 31, 1969

Nixon visits Saigon

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

FROM THE ARCHIVES

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

FROM PAGE ONE

channel on Tuesday said hesaw a person falling fromthe bridge around 7 p.m. onMonday, the police said thatthis statement is yet to beverifi��ed.

The day saw a stream ofleaders cutting across political barriers visiting thehome of Mr. Krishna, whereMr. Siddhartha’s wife Malavika Hegde and two children were also present.

One of the fi��rst to reachthe hosue was KarnatakaChief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.

As the day progressed, theyexpanded the search bypressing into service CoastGuard, National DisasterResponse Force, fi��re services and local fi��shermen.

A ship, ICGS Rajdoot, wasdeployed while one morehas been kept as standby bythe Coast Guard.

The police have formedfour teams to investigate thecase. The search continuedtill 9 p.m. using searchlightsand will resume early onWednesday. While a fi��sherman speaking to a news

Coff��ee Day’s Siddharthagoes missing

registration post updatingto the version. This was abug and we have discontinued this version of the appso no other users will be affected,” Truecaller said in astatement later on Tuesday.

“We're sorry about thisversion not passing ourquality standards. We've taken quick steps to fi��x the issue, and already rolled outa fi��x in a new version,” thestatement said.

Following the bug, DilipAsbe, MD & CEO of NationalPayments Corporation ofIndia (NPCI) clarifi��ed, “Thisis an enrolling mistake bythe app without customerconsent. However, the customer can’t do any UPItransaction with this. Foronboarding to UPI, the customer has to still enter issuer OTP and debit cardand set UPI pin. The workfl��ow mistake is limited toenrolling which will nothave any impact on anycustomer accountwhatsoever.”

The users reported the issue after updating their Android app to the latest Truecaller version 10.41.6.

Aff��ected users receivedan SMS from ICICI Bank —starting from late Mondayevening till early Tuesdaymorning — that said: “Yourregistration for UPI app hasstarted. If it was not you, report now to your bank. Donot share card details/OTP/CVV with anyone to avoidfi��nancial loss.”

Over 100 million usersHowever, only a fraction ofAndroid users were aff��ected as Truecaller terminatedthe update after receivingfeedback on social mediaand rectifi��ed the application for users aff��ected bythe problem. Truecaller hasover 100 million active users in India.

“We have discovered abug in the latest update ofTruecaller that aff��ected thepayments feature, whichautomatically triggered a

Truecaller bug sparksfears of hacking

The national leadership ofthe Bharatiya Janata Party onTuesday told the Jammu andKashmir core group of theparty to start preparing forthe Assembly election in theState.

BJP working president J.P.Nadda chaired a meeting ofthe State unit leaders here,along with Jitendra Singh,BJP general secretary incharge of Jammu and Kashmir party aff��airs and UnionMinister of State at the PrimeMinister’s Offi��ce.

Onus on EC“We have already said thatwe wanted the polls to beheld as soon as possible. The

Election Commission haddecided that the Lok Sabhaand the Assembly pollscould not be held together assecurity forces were required for the Amarnath Yatra also.

We will be ready to facepolls anytime the Commission decides,” BJP State unitchief Ravindra Raina said after the meeting.

The meeting that went onfor a couple of hours went into the details of boothlevelpreparedness and campaignstrategy.

“The basic point that wasconveyed was that scamstersand various other players inthe State have been rattledafter measures such as theraids on the Jammu and

Kashmir Bank and the successful conduct of the panchayat elections. Theseplayers are therefore creating confusion and defl��ectingfrom the real development

that is being done and raising extraneous issues such aswhy additional central forceswere deployed, etc. Partyleaders have been told tokeep the focus on development issues and action oncorruption,” a senior partyleader said.

No discussion was held onthe abrogation of Article 35Aor Article 370.

Poll strategy“The meeting was purely onstrategy for the polls, how tostrengthen our boothlevelpreparedness, and whatshape the campaign shouldbe. Our aim is to be the singlelargest party there,” said thesource.

A government source ear

lier told The Hindu that “security personnel in Kashmirhave been on an extendedduty without a break for along time for antiterror operations followed by elections. So the infusion of freshpersonnel is basically to replace those going on leave.”

Senior Ministers said thenewly elected panchayatheads would be hoisting thetricolour in their respectivepanchayats on August 15, Independence Day, and additional security was to be provided for that too.

Jammu and Kashmir iscurrently under President’sRule with the Parliamenthaving cleared a sixmonthextension in this session itself.

BJP tells J&K unit to prepare for pollsLeaders say the party is ready to face the Assembly election whenever the poll panel decides

Nistula Hebbar

NEW DELHI

J.P. Nadda

One soldier and two infi��ltrators were killed in afi��erce exchange of fi��re onthe Line of Control (LoC) inRajouri, as Pakistan resorted to “unprovoked” ceasefi��re violation in the Pir Panchal valley and theKashmir valley on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, two JaisheMuhammad ( JeM) militants, including a ‘commander’, were killed in anencounter in Anantnag.

A Jammubased Armyspokesman said NaikKrishan Lal aged 34, waskilled in the fresh ceasefi��reviolation in the Pir Panchalvalley’s Rajouri district.

Rajouri and Poonch districts in the state have witnessed intermittent incidents of ceasefi��reviolations by Pakistan inthe past one week.

Indian soldierkilled in Pak.fi��ring

special correspondent

Srinagar

After having got the currentParliament session extendedto accommodate the legislative business of the government, Union Home MinisterAmit Shah enjoined uponBJP MPs to ensure their presence in Parliament so thatlegislation get passed, especially since the Oppositionhad been pressing for division of votes during the passing of certain Bills.

According to sources, inhis speech to the BJP’s parliamentary party on Tuesday,Mr. Shah said the motion forconsideration of the NationalMedical Commission Bill inthe Lok Sabha on Mondaywas passed with 26048votes, and added that themargin “should have been

bigger”. Mr. Shah also askedMPs, including Union Ministers, to attend an orientationprogramme being held bythe party on August 3 and 4,saying their attendance is amust.

Prime Minister NarendraModi, who was present inthe meeting but did not ad

dress the MPs, will alsospeak at the orientation programme, which includes acourse in parliamentary procedures and rules, and alsothe saff��ron party’s ideology.

“The number of BJP MPselected after joining the party from elsewhere is high,and therefore, it was felt that

some orientation on the party’s ideological line on issuesand legislation must be provided,” said an MP who waspresent at the meeting.

The BJP alone has 303members in the Lok Sabha,while its allies have nearly50.

Mr. Modi had stressedstrict attendance in Parliament in the past, and expressed his displeasure atMPs’ absenteeism.

15 bills clearedIn his briefi��ng, Parliamentary Aff��airs Minister PralhadJoshi said Parliament had sofar passed 15 Bills in this session.

“We request parliamentarians to sit late so that allthese bills could be passed,”Mr Joshi said.

Shah cracks whip on absentee MPsEnsure presence to get legislation passed, he tells party meeting

Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and others arriving for the BJPparliamentary party meeting on Wednesday. * R.V MOORTHY


NEW DELHI

Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh, a close associateof the Gandhi family and amember of the royal familyin Amethi, on Tuesday resigned from the Congressand the Rajya Sabha membership.

He told media that hewould join the BJP on Wednesday and asserted thathe would support PrimeMinister Narendra Modi asthe nation was behind him.

His resignation came ona day when the Oppositionwas hoping to cobble upthe numbers to stop the government from passing thetriple talaq Bill.

Rajya Sabha DeputyChairman Harivansh announced in the House thathis resignation had beenaccepted.

Amethi Cong.leader quits, will join BJP


NEW DELHI

At least 30 of the Oppositionmembers were absent whenthe Rajya Sabha sat down tovote on the controversialMuslim Women (Protectionof Rights of Marriage) Bill,2019.

Even with the key NDA allies, JD(U) and AIADMK, opposing the Bill, the Opposition failed to win the vote.

This vote along with theone on the RTI AmendmentBill that the Opposition lostlast week has proven thatthe Rajya Sabha is not goingto be a roadblock for anycontroversial legislationmoved by the Narendra Modi government in its secondterm.

The Opposition had eff��ectively stalled the Triple Talaq Bill in the Rajya Sabhaduring the Modi government's fi��rst term.

In spite of the Opposition’s severe criticism thatthe Modi government hasbeen using the ordinanceroute instead of legislatingin Parliament for key laws,on Tuesday the governmentmanaged to clear all 10 ordinancesrelated Bills.

These include the Aadhaar and Other Laws(Amendment) Bill, 2019,The Special EconomicZones (Amendment) Bill,

2019 and The Jammu andKashmir Reservation(Amendment) Bill, 2019.

The government got 99votes against the Opposition’s 84 on the triple talaqlegislation. The absenteeismput a question mark on thediscipline within the Opposition ranks.

The Dravida MunnetraKazhagam (5) and the AamAadmi Party (3) were the only two Opposition partiesthat had all their memberspresent, sources said.

All the four Bahujan Samaj Party members walkedout ahead of the vote bringing down the Oppositionnumbers

Out of the Samajwadi Party’s 12 members only fi��vewere present.

The UPA too was not present in full force. Out of fourmembers of the NationalistCongress Party, only twowere present. The absentees are party chief SharadPawar and his key aide Praful Patel.

The other UPA partnerRJD also had one memberabsent.

The Congress itself hadfour absentees.

All Trinamool membersbarring K.D. Singh, who isno longer with the party butis yet to resign from the Rajya Sabha, were present.

30 Opposition MPsabsent in Rajya Sabha Triple talaq Bill was passed easily

Sobhana K. Nair

New Delhi

The Lok Sabha on Tuesdaypassed the Code on WagesBill, 2019, which amendsand consolidates laws relating to wages/bonus and universalises the provisionsof minimum wages andtimely payment of wages toall employees irrespectiveof the sector and wage ceiling.

At present, the provisions of both MinimumWages Act and Payment ofWages Act apply to workersbelow a particular wageceiling working in scheduled employments only.“This Bill will ensure theRight to Sustenance for every worker and intends toincrease the legislative protection of minimum wagefrom existing about 40% to100% workforce,” said Minister of State for Labourand Employment (Independent Charge) SantoshKumar Gangwar in theLower House.

Lok Sabhaclears Codeon Wages Bill


NEW DELHI

Days after unprecedentedsecurity measures triggeredpanic in Kashmir, GovernorSatya Pal Malik on Tuesdaysought to put all speculationaround the possible abrogation of Article 35A to rest,describing the situation as“normal”.

“The orders [circulatedon social media] in Kashmirare not valid,” said Mr. Malik,referring to purported orders that had recently beencirculating on social media.“Everything is fi��ne and everything is normal. Rumoursin Kashmir spread like wildfi��re and people shouldn’tpay any heed to it. A small incident happens in LalChowk, I get news at Governor’s House that a blast hasoccurred. Such is the rumourmongering in Kashmir,” Mr. Malik said.

Panic gripped Kashmir inthe past one week in thewake of a slew of securitymeasures that included mobilisation of 10,000 troops,emergency orders to localpolice offi��cers and a move toput mosques under the scanner. Regional parties haveexpressed apprehensionthat the Centre is moving towards diluting J&K’s specialstatus by abrogating Article35A.

‘Probe fake orders’Meanwhile, former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) vicepresident

Omar Abdullah demanded aprobe into “fake orders” circulated in the past few days.“Fake orders were circulatedunder the signature of seniorgovernment offi��cers. This isnot something that can bedismissed with a simplesound bite [by the Governor]. The CBI must be askedto investigate these fake orders and their origin.”

The Congress’s G.A. Mirexpressed concern over the“chaotic” situation.

Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq saw a deliberate attempt to vitiate thesituation.

J&K situation normal, says GovernorMalik seeks to putto rest speculationover deploymentof fresh forces

Peerzada Ashiq

Srinagar

Jawans near the site of the encounter in Anantnag, in whichtwo Jaish militants were killed on Wednesday. * NISSAR AHMAD

The Lok Sabha on Tuesdaypassed the Consumer Protection Bill, 2019, whichpromises to strengthen therights of consumers andprovides a mechanism forredress of complaints regarding defects in goodsand defi��ciency in services.

Union Food and Consumer Aff��airs Minister RamVilas Paswan stressed thatthe overall purpose of thelegislation was to ease theprocess of addressing grievances of consumers.

Apart from setting up ofauthorities for timely andeff��ective administrationand settlement of disputes,the Bill seeks to bring in ecommerce under their jurisdiction and hold celebrities accountable for falseand misleading advertisements. The Bill replacedthe Consumer ProtectionAct, 1986. The Bill proposes a Central Consumer Protection Authority.

ConsumerProtectionBill passedSpecial Correspondent

New Delhi

Days after his outburst questioning the current inertia inthe Congress in choosing itsnext president, threetimeMP Shashi Tharoor said theGandhi Parivar will remainthe conscience keepers ofthe party and will not expectthe new party chief to knockon their doors, seeking permission to function daily.

Mr. Tharoor has recommended that the currentCongress Working Committee be dissolved and freshelections be held for theCWC.

Speaking to The Hindu,Mr. Tharoor said if the process of electing a new president is delayed, there will bemany more desertions, like

Congress's Rajya Sabha MPSanjay Singh who joined theBJP on Tuesday.

Congress members, hesaid, will not only join theBJP but may even launchtheir own regional partieslike they have done in thepast.

To a question on how anonGandhi presidentwould function when the

three Gandhi family members — outgoing presidentRahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi and UPAChairperson Sonia Gandhi —remain active in politics, Mr.Tharoor said that the newPresident can only workwith cooperation of theGandhi Parivar.

“I don't think that theGandhi Parivar seems to expect that whoever functionsis going to knock on theirdoor for permission to function. They will be the conscience keepers of the party.The moment the Congresspresident takes a positionthat is inimical to the party’sethos, they will speak out. ,”Mr. Tharoor said.

For interview, log on tohttp://bit.ly/TharoorQA

Tharoor: Gandhis will remainmoral compass of the Cong.Warning of more defections, he seeks dissolution of CWC

Sobhana K. Nair

New Delhi

Shashi Tharoor

overseeing the investigationsaid on condition ofanonymity.

Senior police offi��cials expressed surprise at the ITdepartment’s statement as ithad not even examined theletter. “Since there havebeen doubts raised, we willget it examined by the Forensic Science Laboratory,”a senior offi��cial said.

“There was a lot of harassment from the previousDG Income Tax in the formof attaching our shares ontwo separate occasions,”read the letter.

The IT department statement that questioned theveracity of the letter was released from the Offi��ce ofPrincipal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Karnataka and Goa, who is also“the previous DG IncomeTax.” The offi��cer is retiringfrom service on Wednesday.

The board of Coff��ee Day Enterprises Limited, whichmet on Tuesday in the aftermath of Monday’s developments, submitted “the letterpurportedly signed by Mr.Siddhartha” to the NationalStock Exchange of India Ltdand and BSE Ltd.

However, police sourcesmaintained that the letterwas handed over to them byMr. Siddhartha’s immediatefamily members and thatthey were at this momentnot suspecting its veracity.

“We were told that he haddictated the letter to an assistant a few weeks ago. Hecalled the assistant on Monday evening and directedher to release the statementat 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday.Following reports of his going missing, the assistanthanded over the letter to hisfamily members who gave itto us,” a senior police offi��cial

Income Tax Departmentraises doubts over letter

While Parliamentary Aff��airsMinister Pralhad Joshi saidthe State was doing everything to ensure justice, his colleague, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, the junior Minister forRural Development, claimedthat the truck belonged to aSamajwadi Party worker.

BJP MP from Doomariyaganj (UP) Jagdambika Pal tooclaimed the truck that hit thecar — in which the rape survivor, her family members andlawyers were travelling belonged to a Samajwadi Party(SP) leader and charged theCongress with raising the issue to ‘spoil’ the image of theBJP.

Though the Congress hadgiven notice for an adjournment motion Speaker OmBirla didn’t allow it.

He, however, allowedmembers to speak on the issue after pointing out that issues related to States shouldnot be raised in the House.

When the Opposition continued to raise slogans in the

well for over close to 40 minutes., BJP member Meenakshi Lekhi, who was chairing the proceedings at thatpoint, said they were indulging in politics over the issue.

She pointed out that thematter was being investigated by the CBI and asked theOpposition to be constructive. “Whatever is the truth,it will come out,” she said,urging protesting membersto go back to their seats.

Opposition memberswalked out of the House toregister their protest.

Offi��cers transferredThe U.P. government transferred 26 IAS offi��cers, including Principal Secretary(Home) Arvind Kumar, in alate night reshuffl��e on Tuesday, a statement said. Mr. Kumar was transferred to theTransport Department andAdditional Chief Secretary(Information) Awanish Awasthi was made AdditionalChief Secretary (Home).

Protests over rape survivor’s accident

India is ensuring all possible help for a Hyderabadbased businessman arrested by Serbian authorities.Nimmagadda Prasad’s legal team in Serbia is in contact with the Indian authorities, sources said.

“The Indian Embassy isaware (of the case). Theyare in touch with his lawyer and family members.We have sought consularaccess at the earliest,” saida source familiar with thecase. Initial reports suggestMr Prasad was arrested after Ra’s El Khaima of theUAE complained abouthim as the two sides hadcommercial ties.

Delhi off��ersaid for Indianheld in Serbia

Special correspondent

NEW DELHI

CMYK


THE HINDU DELHI


NEWS

As part of the celebrationsfor the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, Pakistan on Tuesday allowed aspecial group of Indian pilgrims to enter the country.

The group heading for theSikh shrine of Nankana Sahib will begin the festivitiesthat will ultimately lead tothe main festival at the Gurdwara of Kartarpur Sahibwhere both India and Pakistan are building infrastructure for a peace corridor.

“Pakistan feels honouredthat celebrations of the550th birth anniversary ofBaba Guru Nanak by IndianSikhs are being started fromNankana Sahib, Pakistan,”said a press statement issuedby the High Commission ofPakistan on Monday. The

group of 500 pilgrims wasgranted visa on July 26 as aspecial provision over theusual number of visas issuedunder the 1974 IndiaPakistan Protocol on Visits to Reli

gious Shrines of 1974. Thestatement reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to celebrate the life of Guru Nanak.India and Pakistan held talkson the corridor on July 14.

Pak. allows special group ofpilgrims for Nankana SahibGroup will begin process for festivities at Kartarpur Sahib Special Correspondent

New Delhi

Sikh pilgrims led by Sardar Gobind Singh Longowal, SGPCpresident, reached Pakistan on Tuesday. * ANI

BJP MP from Haryana D.P.Vats created a furore in theRajya Sabha on Tuesdaywhen he said the uniformfor women police personnel did not suit the “Indianfemale fi��gure”.

“The present pattern ofsummer working dress/uniform with shirt tucked under the belt and pant is very inconvenient for ladiesin police and military, especially, during pregnancyand afterwards. It does notsuit the Indian female fi��gure,” said Mr. Vats, duringthe Zero Hour. “In additionto Beti bachao, Beti padhao, make the Beti comfortable and dignifi��ed that isto Restore the dignity ofthe Indian lady, especiallyin uniform,” he said. Hiscomment drew angry retorts from women members in the Opposition.

Row over MP’sremark onwomen


New Delhi

Amid calls for action againstKuldeep Singh Sengar,jailed BJP MLA booked forallegedly plotting an accident involving the car inwhich a woman who had accused him of rape was travelling, the party on Tuesday said he had alreadybeen suspended.

The BJP’s Uttar Pradeshpresident, Swatantra DevSingh, said the State government was standing fi��rmlywith the victim and wouldheed all her requests.

His comments camehours after the Yogi Adityanath government sent a formal request to the Centrefor a CBI probe on the application fi��led by the survivor’suncle who is lodged in a RaeBareli jail.

Mr. Swatantra Dev ac

cused the SP, BSP and Congress of staging “a drama ona road accident” and “creating propaganda over the incident” as they lacked “anagenda for development”.

He, however, did notclarify why the MLA was notexpelled from the party after many leaders includingCongress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra de

manded stricter actionagainst the controversial legislator from Unnao.

“For god’s sake, Mr.Prime Minister, divest thiscriminal and his brother ofthe political power yourparty is giving them,” Ms.Vadra tweeted. “Why do wegive people like KuldeepSengar the strength andprotection of political pow

er and abandon their victims to battle for their livesalone,” she asked.

The rape survivor andthe lawyer continue to becritical. King George’s Medical University, Lucknow,said both patients were stillon ventilator support but ina stable state.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav,who visited the aggrievedfamily at the hospital,blamed the U.P. government and the police for theentire sequence of events.Mr. Yadav demanded that aspecial investigation teamunder the supervision of asitting judge probe the RaeBareli accident in whichtwo aunts of the survivordied.

The BJP has linked theowner of the truck, whichcaused the accident, to theSamajwadi Party.

Unnao survivor still criticalBJP says MLA suspended and Opposition is staging a drama over accident

Omar Rashid

LUCKNOW

Call for protest: Members of Parliament from Oppositionparties staging a protest in New Delhi. * R.V. MOORTHY

A letter written by the family of the Unnao rape survivor on July 12 to the ChiefJustice of India aboutthreats received from theaccused persons in the casehas come to light almosttwo days after a truck collided with their car.

The collision, which happened on Sunday near RaeBareli in Uttar Pradesh,claimed the lives of twoaunts of the woman. It hasleft the survivor and her lawyer, who was travelling

with them, grievouslyinjured.

An offi��cial of the Supreme Court confi��rmed thereceipt of the letter, which

is written in Hindi. The CJIhas asked the SecretaryGeneral to prepare a noteon the letter. Copies of theletter were also sent to theAllahabad High Court andother authorities of the Uttar Pradesh government.

Kuldeep Singh Sengar, afourtime BJP MLA fromBangermau, is an accusedin the rape case and was arrested in April last year.

The U.P. BJP on Tuesdaysaid that Sengar had beensuspended from the partyin 2018.

The letter to the CJI nar

rates the incidents of July 7and 8 when some people allegedly associated with Sengar, the sitting BJP legislator,threatened the victim’s family with direconsequences.

The letter signed by thewoman, her mother andaunt, stated that on July 7,Naveen Singh, son of an accused in the rape case,Shashi Singh, Manoj Singh,brother of another accusedKuldeep Singh and one Kunnu Mishra visited theirhouse and threatenedthem.

Family had written to CJI on threatsLetter of July 12 narrates intimidation by kin of accused at her home

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

In its fi��rst ever audit on theGood and Services Tax(GST), the Comptroller andAuditor General (CAG) hassaid government has notbeen following the rules setout regarding the transfer ofrevenue to the States.

The report, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, said thegovernment had in 201718transferred the IntegratedGST amount in a mannerthat contravened the ruleslaid out for such a transfer.

“During 201718, Government of India resorted to devolution of IGST yearendbalance to States as per Finance Commission formula,in contravention of the provisions of the Constitution ofIndia and the IGST Act,” theCAG said.

“This also had the impactof distribution of funds tothe States on a completelydiff��erent basis instead of the‘Place of Supply’ concept asenvisaged in the IGST Act.”

The report said failure toto try out the system beforerollout, had led to lower taxrevenues

“The growth of indirecttaxes slowed down to 5.8%in 201718 over 201617 ascompared to 21.33% during

201617, with GoI’s revenuefrom goods and services taking a 10% dip,” the reportadded.

Returns decliningRegarding compliance, theCAG audit found the numberof returns fi��led each monthwas declining, contrary tothe expectation that compliance would improve asthe system stabilised.

Further, it found thatthere were discrepanciesbetween the various formsfi��led.

“The fi��ling percentage ofGSTR1 returns (monthly returns on outward supplies)were throughout less in comparison to the corresponding fi��ling of GSTR3B returns(summary selfassessed return),” the report said.

“The introduction of

GSTR3B has resulted in fi��ling of returns with Input TaxCredit (ITC) claims whichcould not be verifi��ed.”

The lower number ofGSTR1 returns meant thatthe tax departments did nothave the complete invoice level details fi��led by the suppliers, which would have allowed authorities to verifythe details provided in theGSTR3B form.

“The complexity of the return mechanism and thetechnical glitches resulted inrollback of invoicematching, rendering the systemprone to ITC [Input Tax Credit] frauds,” the CAG said.

“Without invoice matching and auto generation ofrefunds, assessments, etc.on the whole, the envisagedGST tax compliance systemis nonfunctional.”

Rules fl��outed in GST fund transfer: CAG Audit report fl��ags violations in transferring the Integrated GST amount to States


NEW DELHI

The Navy has started a general court martial againstthree of its senior offi��cialsfound guilty of derelictionof duty by a highlevel inquiry panel that probed anaccident involving the frontline warship INS Betwa onDecember 5, 2016.

Offi��cial sources said thecourt martial proceedingsagainst two Commandersand the captain of the shipbegan in Mumbai on July26 based on fi��ndings of theBoard of Inquiry, whichcarried out a detailed investigation into theaccident.

Two sailors were killedwhen the Brahmaputraclass guided missile frigatecapsized in a dry dock inMumbai. The 3,850tonneguided missile frigatecrashed to its side duringundocking, triggering severe criticism against theNavy.

Three navaloffi��cers facecourt martial


New Delhi

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


WORLD

SUDOKU

Solution to puzzle 12691 Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Ramanujacharya was known as Thiruppavai Jeer. In a lecture on the Thiruppavai, G. Satyabhama spoke on PrativadhiBhayankaram Annangarachar swami’s interpretations ofThiruppavai as referring to Ramanuja.

If we take the Nayakanai pasuram, Ramanuja can be seenas the one referred to as nayakan, for he is the vital link between his followers and the Supreme One. In the Sri Vaishnava tradition, Lord Narayana, along with His Consort, headsthe Acharya lineage, and then come all the other Acharyaswho preceded Ramanuja. Ramanuja served all the Acharyasbefore him. In turn, he was served by his followers. Thus,those who follow Ramanuja’s sampradaya get a connectionto the Supreme One through their association withRamanuja.

Koyil Kaappaane can be interpreted as a reference to Ramanuja. (koyil — temple; kaappaan — one who guards). Ramanuja introduced many reforms in Srirangam and othertemples, and so he is Koyil Kaappaan. Kodi thondrum thorana, says Andal. Kodi means fl��ag and thorana means festoon.The entrance to Sri Vaikuntha has a fl��ag and a festoon, andthe one who opens this gate for us is Ramanuja. Andal talksof a mani kadavam — a gem studded door. Ramanuja wrotenine works, which are nine gems, and these guide us. Andalsays to Krishna that the Ayar sirumiyom are there at Hisgate, and that He should open the doors of His abode tothem. Sirumiyom indicates the innocence of the Gopikasand we are caught in samsara like them. And only anAcharya like Ramanuja can lead us to Him. Nennale vainerndaan shows how the sacred works predicted Ramanuja’s birth Open the doors, sings Andal. That can be ourprayer to Ramanuja, to reveal the meaning of rahasyas.

FAITH

In praise of Ramanuja8 Tool essentially made razor

safe, at last (4)

12 Drawing an L/C, say (5)

13 Firecracker nearly dropped

under small boy (5)

15 Primarily, keyboards

accommodating native

Japanese, including script (5)

16 Related to nobleman, upper

class debutantes tucked into

lentil dish (5)

18 Getting closer to vault, secure

your old secret (8)

20 Revealing couple of poetic

compositions wooing wife

and sweetheart (35)

22 Was what friends who came to

the airport did (3,3)

24 To break into a luxury car

takes up time (6)

25 King abdicating crown seized

castle (4)

26 They're crazy people changing

park's name in places (4)

28 Hoodlum smuggling heroin's a

jerk (4)

29 Does set up musical

instrument (4)

14 Enjoyed King's introduction to

fi��ction with daughter (5)

17 Offenders run into American

vehicles (7)

19 Engineer can't continue with

IIT? That's huge! (7)

21 London's subways going

Westward, although less

frequently (5)

23 Malai roti dexterously rolled in

piece of newspaper (9)

25 We learn about renovation (7)

27 Bird's egg is symbolised by

Indian party (7)

30 I fetch troupe that's absent

(3,2,3,7)

■ DOWN

1 Fashionable accountant for old

South American (4)

2 Auditor's arrogant tone (4)

3 When kids are entertained by

Spooner's time sheet (4,4)

4 Criminal also arrested in scrap

(6)

5 Spread her enthusiasm to

captivate fan (8)

6 Quietly, after tea we fi��nally left

service area? (6)

7 Bird heard in wind (4)

(set by Hypatia)

■ ACROSS

9 Irritate with yarn on couple

found by a sewer? (636)

10 Anyone upset, feeling a bit

disturbed (7)

11 Get rid of old dog without new

drug (7)

12 To separate from nurse,

married doctor left, instead

(9)

THE HINDU CROSSWORD 12692

No border checks:Johnson tells Irish PM LONDON

British Prime Minister Boris

Johnson promised Ireland’s

Leo Varadkar on Tuesday

there would be no physical

checks on the border after

Brexit, a spokeswoman said.

But Mr. Johnson said that the

current “backstop” plan to

keep the frontier open was

unacceptable. AFP

ELSEWHERE

U.S. President DonaldTrump warned China onTuesday against waiting outhis fi��rst term in hope of concluding a trade deal after the2020 presidential election,just as negotiations began inShanghai to resurrect stalledtalks with Chinese offi��cials.

“My team is negotiatingwith them now, but they always change the deal in theend to their benefi��t,” Mr.Trump tweeted.

“China is doing very badly, worst year in 27 — wassupposed to start buying ouragricultural product now —no signs that they are doingso. That is the problem withChina, they just don’t comethrough.”

The negotiations are thefi��rst facetoface talks sinceMr. Trump agreed to a trucewith Chinese President XiJinping at June’s G20summit.

Washington and Beijinghave so far hit each otherwith punitive tariff��s covering

more than $360 billion intwoway trade.

The U.S. economy “hasbecome MUCH larger thanthe Chinese Economy in last3 years,” Mr. Trump boasted.

The U.S. President suggested that China “shouldprobably wait out our Election to see if we get one ofthe Democrat stiff��s like Sleepy Joe. Then they couldmake a GREAT deal, like inpast 30 years, and continue... to rip off�� the USA,even bigger and better thanever before”.

The reference is to the

2020 presidential electionand former U.S. VicePresident Joe Biden, the currentDemocratic Party front runner for the nomination.

‘Delay tactics’“The problem with themwaiting, however, is that if &when I win, the deal thatthey get will be much tougher than what we are negotiating now... or no deal at all.We have all the cards, ourpast leaders never got it!” headded.

Mr. Trump later told reporters: “We’re either going

to make a great deal or we’renot going to make a deal atall.”

He also reiterated his belief that China wants to delaya deal until after next year’selection.

They “pray that Trumploses and then they’ll make adeal with a stiff��”, the President said.

Recently, Mr. Trumpthreatened to pull recognition of China’s developingnation status at the WorldTrade Organization —prompting an irritable replyfrom Beijing about the “arrogance and selfi��shness” of theU.S.

Holding talks in Shanghaiinstead of Beijing was seenas a nod to a time of betterrelations, as the city was thehome of the 1972 ShanghaiCommunique — an important step in building diplomatic relations between theU.S. and China.

Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan, who is seenas a tough negotiator, is expected to join the talks.

Make a deal now or you maynot get one, Trump tells China He warned Beijing against waiting out his term as trade talks resumed in Shanghai

Agence France-Presse

Washington

Tough talk: President Donald Trump speaking to reporters onthe South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday. * AP

Sudan talks cancelledafter protesters killedKHARTOUM

Sudanese protest leaders

cancelled planned talks with

the country’s ruling generals

on Tuesday as hundreds of

schoolchildren demonstrated

in Khartoum against the

shooting dead of five pupils

at a rally on Monday. AFP

China is planning to spend$150 billion on 5G wirelesstechnology in the next sixyears — a move to jumpstartautomated manufacturingand enable Beijing toemerge as a world leader inArtifi��cial Intelligence (AI).

China’s heavy investmentin 5G has huge implicationsas it could sharpen Beijing’scompetitive edge, visàvisthe U.S., the world’s largesteconomy.

“China regards nextgeneration 5G networks —which off��er faster data rates,reduced latency, energy savings, cost reductions, highersystem capacity and massivedevice connectivity — as achance to get out in front forthe fi��rst time,” says the China Internet Report (CIR)2019, published jointly bySouth China Morning Post(SCMP) and Abacus.

5G networks would be atthe heart of a WiFi linked“connected” world. “Everyasset can be connectedthrough the internet,” saysCui Kai, a Beijingbased analyst of Internet of Things(IoT) for the IDC, as quotedby SCMP. “Every device,even your clock on the wall,could become internet connected,” the daily quotedWerner Vogels, chief technology offi��cer at Amazon assaying.

Sophisticated networksOver several decades, Chinahas accumulated expertisein cloud computing and BigData, which could now bechannelled by sophisticated5G networks, activating millions of AI applications towork simultaneously. “If ‘bigdata’ is the new oil of the digital era,” SCMP observes,“then 5G is the next set ofpipes that will deliver it andunlike previous generations,China is determined to own

more of this infrastructure,giving it mastery of its ownindustrial future”.

Unsurprisingly, China isin overdrive to acquire 5Gpatents as possible — a movethat would help Beijing setthe rules for the technology’s future development.China already commands3,400 5G patents, ahead ofSouth Korea, which has2,051, with the U.S. at number three having 1,368, according to the CIR report.

The potential of 5G in setting the global pecking order, where an Asian power,which is acquiring pole position, is driving a fi��erce SinoU.S. rivalry for global technological dominance.

A recent paper by the Defence Innovation Board, anindependent federal committee that advises the U.S.Defence Department, concluded that “the leader of 5Gstands to gain hundreds ofbillions of dollars in revenueover the next decade, withwidespread job creationacross the wireless technology sector”. It added: “Thecountry that owns 5G willown many of these innovations and set the standardsfor the rest of the world…that country is currently notlikely to be the U.S.”

Chinese companies Huawei Technologies and ZTEare in the crosshairs of theTrump administration. InMay, Washington loggedHuawei in its trade backlist,citing security concerns, ef

fectively blocking the company from sourcing hardware, software and servicesfrom U.S. suppliers.

Despite these impediments, China is going aheadwith its 5G plans. In a report,staterun Xinhua has quoteda note by Allen Chang, a researcher at Goldman Sachs,as saying that by 2025, Chinawill spend $50 billion dollarsmore than the $100 billion itspent between 2013 and2018 on 4G because of “thehigher number of 5G basestations and higher initialcost of 5G equipment”.

Commercial service China has offi��cially approved 5G commercial services earlier in June, and iscurrently testing the technology in all major cities andprovincial regions. Smallscale commercial use of 5Gtech is expected this year,followed by largescale deployment next year.

The report points out thatby 2025, 28% of China’s mobile connections will operate on 5G networks, takingup about a third of all 5Gconnections globally. “Chinais expected to deploy upwards of 2,00,000 5G basestations across the countryby the end of the year,” saysYang Chaobin, President of5G Product Line, Huawei, asquoted in the CIR report.

Despite the revolutionaryimpact of 5G on everydaylife, the technology hasheightened global privacyconcerns.

5Gpowered IoT deviceswill be key to undertake saturation surveillance covering the citizenry. Unlike other networks, IoT technologyenables such items as smartphones, smart wristbands,smart locks, drones, selfdriving cars, surveillancecameras, to provide pervasive realtime informationrequired by the state.

Beijing is to spend $150 bn on the technology in six years

Atul Aneja

BEIJING

China’s heavy investment in5G could sharpen Beijing’scompetitive edge. * AFP

China bets big on 5G tech

Iran cartoonists depictBritish Queen as ‘pirate’TEHRAN

An exhibition of cartoons has

opened in Tehran portraying

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as

a pirate, seen wielding a

cutlass and sporting the

skullandcrossbones, after

the seizure of an Iranian oil

tanker. AFP

Hong Kong will charge 44protesters detained duringrecent violent clashes withrioting, a charge that carries up to 10 years in jail, asenior police source saidon Tuesday.

“We are in the process ofcharging them. A formalpress statement will be issued later,” the source said.

Meanwhile, renewedclashes broke out betweenprodemocracy protestersand police on Tuesdaynight.

The city is reeling fromseven weeks of mass protest rallies triggered by acontroversial Bill whichwould have allowed extraditions to mainland China.

44 Hong Kongprotesters face‘rioting’ charge


Hong Kong

More civilians were killedby Afghan and international coalition forces in Afghanistan than by the Taliban and other militants inthe fi��rst half of 2019, theUN mission said in a reportreleased on Tuesday.

The report apparentlyrefers to civilians killedduring Afghan and U.S.military operations againstinsurgents, such as airstrikes and night raids onmilitant hideouts. Insurgents often hide among civilians. The U.S. formallyended its combat missionin Afghanistan in 2014 butstill provides extensive airand other support to localforces battling militants.

‘Afghan forces,allies killedmost civilians’

Associated Press

KABUL

Most people sent to massdetention centres in China’sXinjiang region have “returned to society”, a senioroffi��cial from the region saidon Tuesday, but he declinedto give an estimate of for many have been held in recentyears.

UN experts and activistssay at least 1 million ethnicUighurs, and members ofother largely Muslim minor

ity groups, have been detained in camps.

China describes thecamps as vocational training centres to help stampout religious extremism andteach new work skills.

When asked about thenumber of people in such facilities, Xinjiang Vice Chairman Alken Tuniaz said thenumber was “dynamic”,and that most of them had”successfully achievedemployment”.

Reuters

BEIJING

Sri Lanka’s Muslim Ministerswho resigned en masse inthe wake of the deadly Easter Sunday bombings have rejoined the government, offi��cials said on Tuesday, afterpolice cleared them of anyinvolvement with Islamists.

Nearly 100 people linkedto a local jihadist group werearrested after the April 21 attacks on three churches andthree luxury hotels that

killed 258 people.Nine government legisla

tors, several of them CabinetMinisters, resigned in earlyJune after a Buddhist lawmaker demanded their sacking and accused them of terror links. “The Ministers,State Ministers and DeputyMinisters were sworn in before the President lastnight,” a statement from thePresident’s offi��ce said.

A spokesman for the lawmakers said they decided to

accept their old portfolios after police cleared them ofany links with Islamists.

Muslim leaders had saidtheir community — whichmakes up 10% of Sri Lanka’s21 million population — werevictims of violence, hatespeech and harassment afterthe attacks. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff��Hakeem said his communityhad cooperated with policebut faced collectivevictimisation.

Muslims rejoin Lanka CabinetPolice have cleared them of any involvement with IslamistsAgence France-Presse

Colombo

The estranged wife of theruler of Dubai has appliedfor a forced marriage protection order in a British courtrelating to their children.

Princess Haya, 45, a wifeof UAE’s Prime MinisterSheikh Mohammed binRashid AlMaktoum, has applied for the order, as well asfor wardship of their children, and a nonmolestationorder relating to herself, theHigh Court heard.

At a preliminary hearingon Tuesday, judge AndrewMcFarlane allowed media toreport that Princess Haya, aJordanian royal, had made

the applications. The court also heard that

Sheikh Mohammed has applied to the High Court forthe summary return of thechildren to Dubai. Forcedmarriages, in U.K. law, are

those without the full andfree consent of both parties.

Princess Haya reportedlyfl��ed Dubai earlier this year.She was present in the courtfor the proceedings whileSheikh Mohammed was not.

Princess Haya had fl��ed Dubai earlier this year


London

Legal tangle: A fi��le photo of Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoumand Princess Haya at Ascot, England. * AP

Dubai ruler’s wife movescourt for custody of children

A Pakistani military plane ona training fl��ight crashed intohomes near the garrison cityof Rawalpindi before dawnon Tuesday, killing at least 18people, most of them on theground.

Fires, damaged homesand debris were visible inMora Kalu village on the outskirts of Rawalpindi afterdaybreak. After rescue efforts ended, troops and police cordoned off�� the residential area to search for planedebris and investigate thecrash site.

Rescue offi��cials said therewere no survivors on the

plane and that 13 civilianswere killed on the ground.The Army said, in a statement, that fi��ve crew members, including two pilots,

died in the crash. Farooq Butt, an offi��cial at

the staterun emergency service, said 15 people were also injured in the crash.There were concerns thedeath toll could rise furthersince some of those injuredwere in critical condition.

“We have moved all thebodies and injured personsto hospitals,” Mr. Butt said.“Most of the victims received burn injuries.”

Residents said they wokeup when they heard an explosion and saw debris of aburning plane near theirhomes. Army helicopterswere seen hovering over thecrash site later.

18 killed as Pak. Army planecrashes into residential areaThe military aircraft was on a routine training mission

Associated Press

Islamabad

Women mourning the deathof relatives in the planecrash in Rawalpindi. * REUTERS

China says most inmatesin Xinjiang camps are out

CM

YKA ND-NDE

wednesday • july 31, 2019

Five jobs spread overnine years, with themaximum stint lasting

threeandahalf years. Thatis a snippet of informationabout A. Narayanan’s careeras banker.

Thirtytwoyears old, Naryanan is currently in a senior position at his fi��fth job,and he considers himselfsuccessful. He attributes thissuccess largely to his abilityto realise when he has outgrown a role — or, fi��guringout when a role is not serving him as well as he is serving it.

“If I don’t get the recognition I think I deserve despiteperforming well, I moveout,” says Narayanan.

An Indeed study based onresponses from 1000 professionals has found that 56%of Indian workers have voluntarily left a role after ashort stint, the duration being 16 months or less.

The trend is more prevalent in midsized companieswith 200500 employees.

The study says ‘stickiness’is higher in traditional sectors such as manufacturingin comparison to IT and telecom.

Today’s employees display a lower tolerancethreshold when their expectations don’t quite meshwith the reality of their job.The rise of the gig economy

is a factor encouraging themto look for greener pastures,especially because in somecases, they can return towhat they have left.

‘Portfolio careers’ The changing recruitmentclimate is another factor. Unlike how it used to be only adecade ago, a resumemarked by a series of shortstints is now given a fairchance.

Recruiters now try to fi��ndout if the candidate hadbeen loyal to the roles he

served in those short stints. “We cannot expect mil

lennials to be retiring fromthe same organisation oreven serving one for a fewdecades. Loyalty to an organisation is no longer apriority for employers; butwhat we look for is loyalty tothe role,” says K. S. Raja Rajasekar, deputy generalmanager, human resources,Kone Elevator.

What Rajasekar means isthat the person has to be avalueaddition for the givenresponsibility.

Research also says thatjob hopping is a reality today.

Poonam Sharma, globalhead of talent managementand organisation development, Alkem Laboratories,has moved four organisations over the last 14 years.This is called ‘portfolio careers’, where work is defi��ned by the diversity of theindustries and roles, shesays.

“One must put in at leasttwo years in an organisationand have something sub

stantial to show for that period,” says Poonam.

She also says employeesmust not quit on a whim.

With organisations also ina state of fl��ux, their expectations from the workforcechange with time. In this dayand age, the demand fornew skill sets is continual,and given this, organisationsare sometimes as keen onbringing new candidates onboard, as employees are infi��nding better prospects.

However, organisationsknow they also have to strive

to keep their top talent intact, which can be a big challenge in this jobhoppingage.

“More than attrition, thefocus today is on retentionand how to keep employeesengaged and productive,”says Rajasekar.

Organisations that are invested in building a productive work culture, off��eringfl��exibility and freedom andproviding opportunities foremployees to grow, are theones that manage a good retention record.

Liffy Thomas

ILLUSTRATION: SEBASTIAN FRANCIS

When the ‘best job’ is just a hop awayIt is often unrealistic to expect millennialsto stay in a role for long, and given thisclimate, companies need to have anirresistible engagement strategy to retaintheir top talent

<> With organisations

in a state of fl��ux,

their expectations

from the workforce

change with time

Innovation CapitalAuthors: Jeff�� Dyer, Nath

an Furr and Curtis Lefrandt Publisher: Harvard Busi

ness Review Press By featuring interviews

with the superstars of innovation — Jeff�� Bezos (Amazon), Elon Musk (Tesla),Marc Benioff�� (Salesforce), Indra Nooyi (PepsiCo) andShantanu Narayen (Adobe) —the book explains how tocompete and win like theseleaders.

The ideas discussed bythe authors include how tobuild a personal reputation

for innovation, techniquesto amplify innovation capital, ways to garner attentionfor ideas and projects andwhat it means to provide visionary leadership and howit can be achieved.

RebuildAuthor: Ramya Rama

murthy Publisher: Hachette In

dia The book discusses how

organisations, homegrownand multinational, havetackled crises — some unexpected and some selfinfl��ict

ed. The crisis managementstrategies adopted by companies such as CocaCola,Unilever, Kingfi��sher, TataSons, the Indian PremierLeague, Facebook, Uber,Nokia and Nestlé Maggi Noodles are featured in thebook.

It also features interviewswith top management executives, and examines the circumstances that causebrands to falter faulty products, leadership changes,disastrous sales cycles andcompetition, among others.

The Making of StarIndia

Author: Vanita KohliKhandekar

Publisher: PenguinThe “India journey” of

Rupert Murdoch, executivechairman, News Corporation, is presented in thisbook. It discusses why Murdoch invested in a panAsianbroadcaster that was neither“fi��sh nor fowl” and alsoabout the rise of Star India.

BurnoutAuthor: Anju JainPublisher: PenguinApart from discussing

some of the telltale signs ofburnout at the workplace,the author writes about whysome people suff��er fromworkinduced fatigue andfall by the wayside, whilesome others manage to betenacious and energetic despite taking on a lot of work.Burnout off��ers a frameworkand simple strategies to leada good and productive life.The author is a senior psychologist and business leader.

FROM THE BOOKSHELF

directors across a range ofindustries covering spanning 11 countries.

“Today, success dependson humanmachine partnerships. Leaders should focuson building trust, providingtransparency and buildingconfi��dence in their workforce to evolve along withthe changing work culture.Trust and transparency willgo a long way in bringingmore people into decisionmaking processes and helping employees approach AIwith a positive attitude,”says Dale Carnegie Indiachairperson and managingdirector Pallavi Jha in thereport.

Achieving the full potential of AI depends on thesuccessful partnership between humans and ma

As artifi��cial intelligence(AI) gains more traction in the workaday

life of organisations, a littleover twothirds of industryhonchos are worried aboutthe potentially negative impact that this technologycan have on their corporateculture, according to an online poll conducted by development solutions providerDale Carnegie.

Respondents in the online poll were CEO/directors. They recognise thatgains from AI can be off��setby losses, at least in part, ifthe resulting impact on theircorporate culture disengages their employees, says thesurvey.

The online poll was carried out among 3,500 CEOs/

chines, it adds. As much as44% of the respondentsagree that AI will fundamentally change the way theywork and live over the next10 years, and expect thosechanges to be positive.

But many are unsureabout the impact AI mayhave. A little more than twothirds, or 64%, are slightlyworried about losing theirjobs as a result of advancements in AI in the near fu

ture. But around 70% feel posi

tive about the potential tohand over a part of theirwork to AI, giving up routinetasks that get in the way offocusing on more meaningful work.

Further, 23% respondentsfeel AI and automation arealready impacting them intheir roles, and another 44%expect it to go up over thenext fi��ve years.

Most C-suite executives who took an online poll say it can, negatively

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

Can AI impact corporate culture?

PTI

On August 1, aspiringwomen entrepreneurs from across the

country would converge onKochi for a summit that isaimed at fi��nding ways to increase women’s representation in businesses involvingscience and technology.

The ‘Women StartupSummit’ is being hosted bythe Kerala Startup Mission(KSUM), in association withthe Indian Women Networkunder the Confederation ofIndian Industry. KSUM is thenodal agency of governmentof Kerala for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities.

The summit would bringtogether successful womenleaders, startup founders,policymakers and aspiringwomen entrepreneurs on acommon platform to sharetheir experiences and success stories, KSUM said in apress release. The focal

theme — ‘Developing an Inclusive EntrepreneurshipEcosystem’ — would featureinspiring visionaries whoseinnovative actions are changing the world.

The meet is set against thebackdrop of Kerala having13% women participation inthe technology startup ecosystem and the proactivesteps taken by the state government to increase women’s participation in thesector.

The administration hasimplemented multiple policies and schemes that focuson supporting startups runby women. Based on theconcept ‘Of Women, By Women, For Women’, the stategovernment schemes can beavailed by women startupsfrom across the country.

About 20 women startupsshortlisted from the ‘SheLoves Tech’ national grandchallenge would be showcased at the summit.

Women startup summit in Kochi

Representational picture only

PTI

An innovation challengeCentral Reserve Police

Force, in association withStartup India, is invitingstartups and individual innovators for a grand challenge through which it seeksto identify new conceptsand innovations in certainareas. The programme isaimed at addressing criticalissues hampering growth in

the security sector in India,says a note on the StartupIndia website. The organisers are looking for solutionsin “utilization of remotelypiloted aircraft systems”,“shoes against spikes” and“controlling blood loss”. Applications for the competition closes on August 5. Fordetails, visit www.startupindia.gov.in

NEWS BYTE

CMYK

A ND-NDE

BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU


NIFTY 50

PRICE CHANGE

Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373.45. . . . . . . . -0.40

Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1508.75. . . . . . . . -4.50

Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707.60. . . . . . -12.65

Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2463.85. . . . . . -23.80

Bajaj Finserv. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7078.05. . . . . . -42.80

Bajaj Finance . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3249.95. . . . . . . . -2.70

Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345.75. . . . . . . 11.20

BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335.50. . . . . . . . -6.70

Britannia Ind . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2617.05. . . . . . -55.25

Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520.00. . . . . . . . -2.25

Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199.55. . . . . . . . -5.85

Dr. Reddys Lab . . . . . . .. . . . 2560.00. . . . . . -93.95

Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. 16163.55. . . -224.55

GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129.15. . . . . . . . -2.25

Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 762.55. . . . . . -33.10

HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1023.60. . . . . . . . . 8.15

HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2127.25. . . . . . -21.75

HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2252.25. . . . . . . . . 7.95

Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 2258.80. . . -145.75

Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190.10. . . . . . . . -3.15

Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1719.90. . . . . . . . . 6.60

Indiabulls HFL . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 523.90. . . . . . -35.80

ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425.35. . . . . . . . -4.00

IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1337.30. . . . . . -95.00

Bharti Infratel . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 249.55. . . . . . . . -6.95

Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 792.70. . . . . . . . . 1.25

Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 133.50. . . . . . . . -4.75

ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268.90. . . . . . . . . 1.15

JSW Steel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230.25. . . . . . -11.15

Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1498.70. . . . . . . . -3.80

L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1376.35. . . . . . . . . 4.85

M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548.75. . . . . . . . -4.40

Maruti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 5507.15. . . . . . -54.10

NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127.20. . . . . . . . -0.10

ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138.75. . . . . . . . -1.60

PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 208.25. . . . . . . . . 0.35

Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1180.90. . . . . . -30.05

State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327.55. . . . . . -16.25

Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410.35. . . . . . -20.70

Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133.45. . . . . . . . -4.10

Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415.05. . . . . . -18.40

TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2179.15. . . . . . . 49.15

Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 640.25. . . . . . . . -6.05

Titan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1079.20. . . . . . . . . 0.30

UltraTech Cement. .. . . . 4317.55. . . . . . -51.40

UPL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573.70. . . . . . -10.85

Vedanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150.60. . . . . . . . -5.05

Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262.30. . . . . . . . -0.10

YES Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86.05. . . . . . . . -8.70

Zee Entertainment . . . . . . 381.10. . . . . . . . -6.05

EXCHANGE RATES

Indicative direct rates in rupees a unitexcept yen at 4 p.m. on July 30

CURRENCY TT BUY TT SELL

US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 68.66. . . . . . . 68.98

Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 76.57. . . . . . . 76.93

British Pound. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 83.58. . . . . . . 83.98

Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 63.26. . . . . . . 63.58

Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 9.98. . . . . . . 10.02

Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 69.39. . . . . . . 69.71

Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 50.10. . . . . . . 50.34

Canadian Dollar. . . . . . . . .. . 52.12. . . . . . . 52.37

Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 16.63. . . . . . . 16.73

Source:Indian Bank

BULLION RATES CHENNAI

July 30 rates in rupees with previousrates in parentheses

Retail Silver (1g) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.7. . . . . . . (44.5)

22 ct gold (1 g) . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 3333. . . . . . (3324)

market watch

30-07-2019 % CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 37,397 ddddddddddddd-0.77

US Dollardddddddddddddddddddd 68.85 ddddddddddddd-0.14

Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 35,880 ddddddddddddddd0.45

Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 64.14 ddddddddddddddd1.40

Justifying the provisional attachment of shares of Coff��eeDay Enterprises Ltd. (CDEL),the Income Tax Department, which has been accused of “harassment” bypromoter V.G. Siddhartha,has said that such a step wastaken to protect the interestsof revenue (to the government), and done based oncredible evidence and underthe provisions of IncomeTax Act.

According to the IT Department, the provisional attachment procedure was taken up when newspapersreported a possible sale ofequity share in MindtreeLtd. to a tune of 21% held byMr. Siddhartha and CDEL.

As required under theprovisions, no applicationwas fi��led by the assesseesconcerned before transferring the assets when the Income Tax proceedings werepending.

As many as 74.90 lakhshares out of 2.29 croreshares held by Mr. Siddharatha and CDEL in MindtreeLtd. were attached, which is“a normal requirement”, thedepartment said.

Harassment chargeIn a typed letter dated July27 — said to be signed by him— to the board of directorsand Coff��ee Day family, Mr.Siddhartha, who is now missing, accused the former director general of Income Taxof “a lot of harassment” inthe form of attaching shareson two separate occasions toblock the Mindtree deal andthen “taking position of Coffee Day shares although therevised returns have beenfi��led.” This, he pointed out,was “very unfair” and led to

serious liquidity crunch.The attachment arose af

ter investigation of Mr. Siddhartha and Cafe Coff��ee Day— in 2017 — led to admissionof unaccounted income of₹��362.11 crore by Mr. Siddhartha and ₹��118.02 crore byCDEL, a release from the ITDepartment on Tuesdaysaid.

The search on Mr. Siddhartha was based on “credible evidence” gathered fromthe search of “a prominentpolitical leader,” the department’s release said. However, it pointed out, when Mr.Siddhartha fi��led the returnof income, he had discloseda sum of around ₹��35 crore.

Meanwhile, anothergroup company, Coff��ee DayGlobal Ltd., had not paidselfassessment tax of ₹��14.5crore and CDEL too did notoff��er the admitted incomeon its part.

After the equity shares inMindtree Ltd. were attached, Mr. Siddhartha, onFebruary 13, 2019, off��eredthe security of shares ofCDEL and requested the release of Mindtree shares.“This was accepted with aspecifi��c condition that the

sale proceeds will be utilisedonly for repayment of loansavailed against the Mindtreeshares while the remainingbalance will be provided forattachment against the taxliability to arise.” Alternatively, 46.01 lakh shares ofMr. Siddhartha and 2.04crore shares of CDEL wereattached on February 13 andFebruary 14, 2019.

After the Mindtree shareswere transferred to L&T Infotech Ltd. on April 28, 2019,for which he receivedaround ₹��3,200 crore, the department said that the assessee repaid a loan of around₹��3,000 crore, and ₹��154 croretowards the expenses related to the transfer of shares.

The balance of ₹��46 crorewas paid towards the fi��rst instalment of advanced tax,estimated at around ₹��300crore in the case of CDEL.

“As against the balance ofadvanced tax liability of₹��250 crore and tax liabilityarising on search fi��ndings toa tune of approximately₹��400 crore, the provisionalattachment made by the department is less than 40% ofthe likely tax liability,” thedepartment justifi��ed.

‘Evidence led to actionon Coff��ee Day shares’ Siddhartha admitted to ₹��362 cr. unaccounted income: IT


Bengaluru

The department said the action was based on credibleevidence after search on a political leader. * BHAGYA PRAKASH K

Coff��ee baron V. G. Siddhartha, who hails from Chikmagaluru district of Karnataka,is one of the country’s largestcoff��ee growers, traders andexporters of the commodity.

He owns about 20,000acres of coff��ee plantations inChikmagaluru and Hassandistricts and grows over35,000 tonnes of coff��ee ayear. He is also regarded as apioneer in the country’s cof

fee retailing. He forayed intocafe business with Cafe Coffee Day in 1996, pegging it asa hangout for youth, entrepreneurs and families. It currently has more than 1,700outlets.

Cafe culture“It is Cafe Coff��ee Day thatbrought in cafe culture in thecountry. Until then, coff��eewas considered a southernbeverage,’’ said Harish Bijoor, a domain expert and

CEO of Harish BijoorConsults.

As a 20something, Mr.Siddhartha joined J. M. Financial Limited in Mumbaias a management traineespecialising in portfolio management and securities trading in the Indian stock market in 1983.

Post that, he returned toBengaluru and took over Sivan Securities, which was renamed in 2000 asWay2wealth Securities. His

venture capital arm GlobalTechnology Ventures (GTV)became a successful investment fi��rm and he had investments in a series of startupsand other businesses.

In March, Mr. Siddharthasold 20.4% stake in midtier

tech fi��rm Mindtree to L&T,which eventually led to ahostile acquisition by the engineering giant. It was in2000 that he made the investment in the startupthrough Coff��ee Day Trading.Most recently, he was in thenews again in connectionwith CCD’s talks with carbonated drink major Coca Colafor a possible sell out.

He rapidly expanded hisbusinesses and diversifi��ed into logistics, furnituremak

ing, hospitality and real estate, apart from his mainstaybusiness of coff��ee bean trading and exporting and thenewlyentered coff��ee retailbusiness.

The company’s prospectswere quite bullish until 2014with plans to open over2000 cafes to give a run to itsarch rival Starbucks. However, things did not pan out asper expectations. Both debtsand borrowings had increased. IT sleuths also took

action against him in respectof certain matters.

As per the company’s unaudited results for fi��scal201819, CCD had total borrowings of ₹��6,547.38 crore asof March 2019, an increase of64% over the previous year.

As per annual report, ithad a gross debt of ₹��5,049crore during 20172018. Thecompany is yet to release theaudited revenue number for201819.

It was Ashok Soota, an old

Wipro loyalist, who roped inMr. Siddhartha into Mindtreeventure in 1999. To startwith, Mr. Siddhartha invested ₹��44 crore to buy a 6.6%stake in Mindtree and by2012, he had invested ₹��171crore to buy 20.43% shares.

With 1,752 cafes across India as of March 2019, CaféCoff��ee Day clocked a revenueof ₹��1,777 crore and ₹��1,814crore in FY18 and 2019 respectively and is eyeing₹��2,250 crore by March 2020.

His cup brimmed with coff��ee, shares, hospitality ventures, real estate et alSiddhartha is regarded as a pioneer in ushering in cafe culture in India with his venture Cafe Coff��ee Day; today it has more than 1,700 outlets

Mini Tejaswi

Bengaluru <> He had

investments in a

series of startups

and other

businesses

The board of Coff��ee DayEnterprises Ltd. on Tuesday said that it was confi��dent that the professionalmanagement of the company will ensure continuityof all business operationsconsistent with ‘past behaviour’. It added that it wasformulating appropriatesteps to ensure businessoperations wereunaff��ected.

Following an emergencymeeting, a statement fromthe board said, “Our promoter and chairman andmanaging director has notbeen reachable since yesterday evening. We areshocked by this development and our thoughts andprayers are in support ofhis family and loved ones.”

“The board is confi��dentthat the professional management of the companyand each of the entities inthe Coff��ee Day Group andtheir respective leadershipteams, will ensure continuity of all business operations consistent with pastbehaviour. In the interim,the board is evaluating andassessing the situation, formulating appropriate stepsto ensure business operations are unaff��ected, andhas resolved to cooperatewith authorities.”

The statement addedthat “the board also reviewed a copy of the letterpurportedly signed by Mr.Siddhartha dated July 27,2019 and has shared a copyof the letter with relevantauthorities. The board hasalso sought the assistanceof local and State authorities and relevant offi��cers ofthe company are cooperating with the authorities asrequested. In this hour ofneed we are counting onthe support and strength ofall our stakeholders.”

Company’sboard assurescontinuity


Chennai

The case of V.G. Siddharthamight not be an isolated one,say entrepreneurs who believe that the presence ofmultiple stakeholders puts alot of pressure on the businesses and the founders.

Entrepreneurs, who havedealt with multiple government agencies, also feel thatthere are too many government bodies that play an active role in the journey of acompany and, more oftenthan not, it only complicatesthe operations of the company while increasing the compliance costs manifold.

“It is not so diffi��cult to relate to [Mr.] Siddhartha. Anentrepreneur has to handlevarious kinds of pressuresfrom multiple stakeholders,”said Manish Kumar, cofounder, GREX, a fundraisingplatform for startups.

“Any company can quickly spiral out of smooth operations if there is no quick convergence of plans andresolutions between variousstakeholders and things maynever return to normal oncethey go out of hand. Apartfrom investors, customers,employees and partners, thegovernment is one big, multiparty stakeholder as well.

There are various departments or wings of the government and they do nottalk to each other and thiscomplicates matters,” addedMr. Kumar.

In the letter purportedlywritten by Mr. Siddhartha,he has alleged that he wasunder pressure from a private equity entity and alsofrom the income taxdepartment.

No animosity However, some private equity players who had dealtwith Mr. Siddhartha were

quick to clarify that therewas no animosity betweenthem and the founder of thecoff��ee chain, who had gonemissing.

“We have seen the statement that Coff��ee Day Enterprises has made to the stockexchanges... We believe inV.G. Siddhartha and had invested in the company about9 years ago.

“ We sold approximately4.25% (of our total holding ofapproximately 10.3% in thecompany) in February, 2018on the stock exchange andhave not sold any shares be

fore or after,” said a KKRspokesperson.

In a similar context, Standard Chartered Private Equity said, “We backed V.G.Siddhartha in early 2010 andhave had a great relationshipwith him throughout.

“We sold approximately1% equity on the exchange inApril 2018. Since then, wehaven’t sold anything andcurrently own approximately 5.7% in CDEL.”

Experts, who deal withboth businesses and the government, say that it is indeed a cumbersome processto deal with the various compliance requirements laiddown by the government.

“The problems are manyand they all boil down to increasing unpredictability inthe ecosystem for doing business,” said Anil Bhardwaj,Secretary General, Federation of Indian Micro andSmall & Medium Enterprises(FISME).

“Too many compliancesmean too many opportuni

ties for harassment and extracting money from SMEsby authorities as they cannothire a team of lawyers andconsultants.

“The government mustmake the Companies Actsimple for small businessesso that it is aff��ordable tocomply. There is a need tomake distinctions between a‘limited but not listed’ company and a ‘limited as well aslisted’ company.

“The regulatory compliance for the former has tobe eased substantially,” added Mr. Bhardwaj.

If this can happen to Mr.Siddhartha, who was from awellconnected family setup, think of common entrepreneurs like us, said Mr.Kumar.

Standard loansMeanwhile, RBL Bank hasclarifi��ed that it has exposures to certain operatingentities of the Coff��ee Daygroup.

“The credit facilities, thatare largely working capital innature, are secured by primary securities, as well assome collaterals of land andmarketable securities.

“All the loan accounts arestandard and performing,”said a statement from thebank.

‘It is not easy to do business in India’Too many government bodies complicate company operations, increase costs, say entrepreneurs

Broken dreams: In a letter purportedly written by Siddhartha,he alleged pressure from a private equity entity. * GETTY

ASHISH RUKHAIYAR

MANOJIT SAHA

MUMBAI

<> The problems are

many and boil

down to increasing

unpredictability in

the ecosystem for

doing business

Anil Bhardwaj

Secretary General, FISME

Shares of Coff��ee Day Enterprises have been a laggardon the bourses, with currentvaluation at half of what itwas in January 2018, whenthe share touched its alltime high.

Further, a signifi��cant portion of the promoter holding is pledged and the company has been reportinglosses in every fi��scal sincelisting in November 2015.

On Tuesday, shares ofCoff��ee Day Enterprises,which manages the CafeCoff��ee Day chain of cafes innearly 250 cities, werelocked at their lower circuitof 20% to close at ₹��154.05,which was also the alltimelow for the stock.

At ₹��3,254.33 crore, thecurrent market capitalisation of the company is over57% lower than its peak valuation of ₹��7,609 crore in January 2018 when the shareshad touched a record highof ₹��360.

“Share price in today’smarket is irrelevant becausethere are too many movingparts in this puzzle,” saidArun Kejriwal of KejriwalResearch and Investment

Services.“The apparent debt fi��

gure does not add up. Theletter purported to be written on July 27 does not makesense as the source of theletter is not yet disclosed. Tomake matters worse, thecompany, its secretary andcompliance offi��cer alongwith its board of directorsseem to be playing hideandseek with the issue onhand,” he added.

As of June 30, nearly 76%of the promoter stake waspledged as per data available on the BSE website.

The fi��nancials of the company also present a lacklustre picture.

For the quarter endedMarch 31, the company reported a net loss of ₹��22.28crore, higher than the corresponding quarter’s loss of₹��16.52 crore.

A cold brew on the boursesCoff��ee Day has posted losses since IPO

ASHISH RUKHAIYAR

MUMBAI

“A lot can happen over coffee,” is the tagline of CafeCoff��ee Day and its promoter V.G. Siddhartha, whoentered into a ₹��3,269croredeal with Larsen and Toubro over a cup of coff��eewith its MD and CEO S. N.Subrahmanyan to sell20.4% stake. Mr. Siddhartha, who met Mr. Subrahmanyan through a mutualfriend, off��ered his 20.4%stake in Mindtree to L&T.

“I didn’t show much interest then; we had goodcoff��ee, I took him aroundthe campus and he wentaway. But he kept meetingme. It was the fourth orfi��fth time, when I askedhim ‘Sir, why are you asking us to do this? We havenot shown any interest. Ofcourse, we want to growour services portfolio so itlooks interesting but Idon’t know,” Mr. Subrahmanyan had told The Hin-

du in a recent interview. Mr. Siddhartha told him,

“I invested in this fi��rm 19years ago, I have been partof its growth; I want to sellmy holding. I am not asking you for a big price, [butfor] the correct price. I amnot going to bargain withyou.”

‘Mindtree dealsealed over acup of coff��ee’

Piyush Pandey

MUMBAI

Coff��ee baron V.G. Siddarthahad meticulously listed outall his assets before he wentmissing mysteriously onMonday.

In a letter he left behind,he says his realty ventureTanglin has 90 acres of landon Mysore Road and a potential ₹��250 crore rental expected in the next 12months.

Properties at Bangaluruand Mangaluru are valued at₹��3,600 crore and ₹��4,000crore, respectively.

Cafe chain Coff��ee Day Global Ltd. has 1,600 stores,54,000 vending machinesand over 500 express stores,

with an expected revenue of₹��2,200 crore in March 2019.“The brand is valued at 34times of its revenue with apotential of ₹��7,0008,000crore range.”

Coff��ee Day exports about20,000 tonnes of beans.“We are already talking withinternational players likeCoke & lTC for partnershipin the business. CCD has gota good procurement network to get 25,00030,000tonnes of coff��ee in local market. New roasting facility

which has just started canroast around 15,000 tonnesof coff��ee and this can act as agreat backend business inprocuring & roasting with lotof international brands instead of exporting green coffee,'' he wrote.

He refers to his plantations business worth over₹��2,000 crore, holdings in logistics venture Sical at about₹��1,000 crore, wealth management fi��rm Way2Wealthvalued at about ₹��400 croreand hospitality brand Seraiwhich should work out to₹��300 crore.

The company’s annual report says its group debt as ofMarch 31, 2019 was ₹��5,049crore.

‘Cafe business brand can be valued at ₹��7,0008,000 crore’


Bengaluru

Do Siddhartha’s assets faroutweigh his total debt?

<> The company’s

annual report says

its group debt as of

March 31, 2019 was

₹��5,049 crore

BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU DELHI


IN BRIEF

Chola Investment Q1 net profi��t rises 10%CHENNAI

Cholamandalam Investment

and Finance Co. Ltd. (CIFCL),

a Murugappa Group

company, has reported a

10% growth in its standalone

net profi��t for the fi��rst quarter

ended June 2019 to ₹��314

crore compared with the

corresponding yearearlier

period, despite tight market

conditions. Total income rose

to ₹��2,030 crore, up 26%,

while total disbursements

increased by 22% to ₹��8,572

crore. Net interest margin

grew 16% to ₹��943 crore.

Granules India Q1 profi��t zooms 61% HYDERABAD

Drugmaker Granules India

has posted a ₹��83crore

consolidated net profi��t for

the quarter ended June, a

61% increase from the year

earlier period. The company

has declared an interim

dividend of 25 paise per

share (face value of ₹��1 each).

Sustained growth in high

volume based molecules

business and an unwavering

focus on the U.S. market

enabled to achieve the

growth, CMD Krishna Prasad

Chigurupati said on Tuesday.

Private sector lender AxisBank reported a 95% increase in its net profi��t to₹��1,370 crore for the AprilJune quarter mainly due tosharp rise in trading income.

The trading profi��ts for thefi��rst quarter stood at ₹��832crore as compared to ₹��103crore in the same period ofthe previous year.

Trading profi��t helpednoninterest income to grow32% on year to ₹��3,869 crore,while fee income grew 26%to ₹��2,663 crore.

The bank’s net interest income (NII) grew 13% on yearto ₹��5,844 crore while net interest margin was at 3.40%.

Asset quality was maintained with gross NPA andnet NPA ratio were at 5.25%and 2.04% as on end June, as

against 5.26% and 2.06% ason March 31, 2019.

Slippages were higher at₹��4,798 crore during thequarter as compared to₹��3,012 crore in the previousquarter and ₹��4,337 crore inthe year ago period. TheNPA ratios fell for the fi��fth

straight quarter, the banksaid. “During quarter one,our operating performancewas strong, our growth metrics were healthy, assetquality metrics continue toimprove and we have furtherstrengthened our balancesheet by improving provi

sion coverage,” AmitabhChaudhry, MD & CEO, AxisBank, said in the postearnings conference call.

Provision coverage, as aproportion of gross NPAs including prudential writeoff��s, stood at 78%, up from77% in Q4FY19.

The bank has made an additional provision of ₹��2,358crore towards various riskcontingencies, over andabove the regular provisioning requirement, which isnot counted towards provision coverage ratiocalculations.

“We have also laid out agoal to reduce costtoassetratio to 2% in the course of2022 and this quarter, an important step forward. Ourcost to asset fell to 2.08%during the quarter,” Mr.Chaudhry said.

Axis Bank Q1 net jumps 95% Lender attributes increase in profi��t to sharp rise in trading income


Mumbai

Kolkatabased United Bankof India (UBI) closed the fi��rstquarter of fi��scal 2020 with a₹��104.9 crore net profi��t asagainst ₹��388.7 crore loss ayear ago. Total businessgrew by around 3% duringthis period.

“The worst is behind usand we will come out of theRBI’s prompt and correctiveaction (PCA) framework bythe second quarter,” UBImanaging director and chiefexecutive offi��cer Ashok Kumar Pradhan said at a pressmeet.

He attributed the improved performance to a2.8% increase in net interestmargin and an improvement in costtoincome ra

tion at 49.7%, among otherparameters.

During this quarter, UBI’sprovisions for nonperforming assets stood at ₹��414.6crore against ₹��697.8 crore ayear ago. “Stressed assetsposition has shown continuous improvement with a decline in the GNPA and NNPAratio,” the bank said in arelease.

Mr. Pradhan said that arecovery target of ₹��4,000crore had been set for thisfi��scal, of which ₹��820 crorehad been achieved.

He also said that the bankwould take a call on depositrate (reduction) at an appropriate time, but added thatrate transmission may nothappen automatically dueto ‘a number of constraints’.

United Bank reports₹��104.9 crore Q1 profi��t Says it will come out of PCA by Sept.


KOLKATA Hexaware founder AtulNishar has launched aneducation technologystartup Azent OverseasEducation Limited withdaughter Priyanka Nishar,aimed at disrupting overseas education advisory industry with the use of innovative technology.

Mr. Nishar plans to invest ₹��250 crore in his newventure.

Mr. Nishar’s fi��rst venturewas the educational institution Aptech, which heexited in 2003.

When asked for comments, Mr. Nishar told TheHindu, I am combiningboth, my experiences ofeducation and technologyin Azent.”

Hexaware’sNishar unveilsstartup ‘Azent’

Piyush Pandey

MUMBAI

The RBI has decided to relaxnorms for enduse of fundsraised via the external commercial borrowing (ECB)route by companies andnonbanking fi��nance companies, following feedbackfrom various stakeholders.

The central bank said therelaxation was for workingcapital requirements, general corporate purposes andrepayment of rupee loans.

Eligible borrowers willnow be allowed to raiseECBs with a minimum average maturity period of 10years for working capitalpurposes and general corporate purposes.

“Borrowing for onlending by NBFCs for the abovematurity and enduses is also permitted,” RBI said.

RBI also said that ECBswith a minimum averagematurity period of sevenyears can be availed by eligible borrowers for repayment of rupee loans, availed

domestically for capital expenditure, as also by NBFCsfor onlending for the samepurpose.

For repayment of rupeeloans availed domesticallyfor purposes other than capital expenditure and for onlending by NBFCs, the minimum average maturity period of the ECB is required tobe 10 years.

RBI has also decided to allow corporate borrowers toraise ECBs for repayment ofrupee loans availed domestically for capex in manufacturing and infrastructure, ifclassifi��ed as SMA2 (specialmention account) or NPA,under any onetime settlement (OTS) with lenders.

Enduse norms for externalcommercial borrowings easedRelaxation for working capital, general corporate purposes


Mumbai

AI Express net profi��t at ₹��169 crore for FY19NEW DELHI

Air India’s lowcost

international arm, Air India

Express, on Tuesday

reported a net profi��t for the

fourth consecutive year at

₹��169 crore for the fi��scal

20182019. In a year of

adverse market conditions

and rise in fuel prices, the

airline witnessed a a

16.07% increase in its

revenue to ₹��4,202 crore

compared with ₹��3,620

crore in the previous fi��scal.

Rakesh Gangwal, cofounderand shareholder in InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., whichowns and operates IndiGo,has lashed out at Rahul Bhatia, the other promoter, andhis IGE Group, urging himnot to ‘plant’ stories in themedia under the garb ofsources.

Mr. Gangwal who stays inthe U.S., said in a statement:“Many misleading news articles keep getting plantedfrom socalled sources and Ilargely ignore most of them.However, a news article published on July 29, 2019caught my attention, wherethe reporting went on to say:The IGE Group has also said

there is not a shred of evidence to substantiate allegations on relatedparty transactions between the airlineand IGE because there areno whistleblowers asclaimed by Gangwal. Theperson added that regulators had been seeking similar information for the past

10 days and none has beenforthcoming.”

Mr. Gangwal added, “Toaddress this canard, pleasenote that that I have provided this information to the relevant authorities. I wish people had the conviction tobe quoted and not hide behind the veil of so called unnamed ‘sources’ to spread afalse narrative in the media.”

A text message to a seniorexecutive of InterGlobe Enterprises remained unanswered till the time of goingto press. A person close toMr. Gangwal said “a lot ofpeople are mounting a misinformation and characterassassination campaign todemean Mr. Gangwal in theeyes of the public.”

IndiGo’s Gangwal says Bhatia hiding behind ‘veil of sources’

Lalatendu Mishra

Mumbai

Rakesh Gangwal

‘Have given info on relatedparty issues to authorities’

Mortgage lender DHFL hasagain defaulted on an interest repayment worth₹��25.06 crore on nonconvertible debentures(NCDs).

A total of six investorsare impacted due to the default, which happened onMonday, the company informed the exchanges onTuesday.

The gross principalamount on which the default has taken place is ₹��274crore, it added. This is thefourth default by the company since early June.

The secured NCDs carrya coupon of 9.32% andwere issued for fi��ve years.The date of issue of theNCDs was not disclosed.

DHFL defaultson ₹��25 cr. NCDinterest due


Mumbai

you have never seen,” says Bhavika Mehta. The 19yearold isthe latest to join this batch of online mentalhealth support pages. Last month, she started herInstagram page, The HappyCompany (@to.a.happier.world), to provide a safespace for people dealing withmentalhealth issues.

Listen upBhavika encourages people todrop a DM when they need totalk. She or one of her volunteers will get in touch for a conversation. “Before depressionbecomes that, there is a lot ofbuild up. Keeping those feelingsof melancholy and loneliness toyourself can trigger it.”

Despite her relative inexperience, within amonth, her page wasgetting mentionedby artists and actors

such as Eisha Chopra and HithaChandrashekar, sharing theirown battles. She currently workswith 30 volunteers, each handling around two conversationsper day. “We remind them thatwe are just a bunch of students,and ask if they are alright talkingto us. Then we provide a database of counsellors, therapists,

and professionals,” she

says. Mental Health

Talks India, run byAdishi Gupta, 24, and

Ayushi Khemka, 25, issimilar. While the duoprimarily puts upposts on social me

dia opening up dialogue, it also invites people toshare their storiesof survival andpost them.“Even today, wereceive aboutfour to fi��ve mes

sages. Once, therewas a person who

wasn’t comfortable speaking

The passion for a wellbrewed cuppa started back in 2013 whenfriendsfromcollege, Sadhvi Ashwani and Mrinal Sharma, now 29,took a trip to Coorg. But the journey onward, to opening a coff��ee barwasn’t obvious. The duo, one a philosophy major and the other a commerce graduate, had a nose for coffee and kept at it. They visited thehomes of farmers kind enough toeducate them about the crop; theycollaborated with chefs, pairingcoff��ees with menus; they even did acourse at the Coff��ee Board of India.

The duo’s latest venture, atALOFT in Aerocity, Baba Beans ishere to break every preexisting notion of coff��ee: the brew isn’t exclusive to those who know their mochafrom a macchiato; it doesn’t have tobe in a mug, a shot cup, or a tumbler. And most importantly, coff��eeisn’t just fuel that minimises sleepand maximises productivity.

The name, Baba Beans, is a hattip to Baba Budan, the 17th centurySufi�� saint from the subcontinentwho smuggled in the bean fromMocha, in Yemen to Chikmaglur, inKarnataka in 1616 AD; they talk

about how coff��ee really drove theEnlightenment; and about how theTontine Coff��eehouse was the birthplace of the New York Stock Exchange.

The vibe: Enter ALOFT, andthey’re to the immediate left. It’sone of those open nooks, like storesin an airport, which dilutes BabaBean’s personality a little bit. Theirolder outlet at The Ambassador Ho

tel sees a distinctly older crowd.They’re expecting a younger audience here.

Do try: Everything on their labmenu. The Berry Brew is a lightlysweet and fresh cold brew, with an

infusion of four berries, coff��ee being the most prominent, with undertones of strawberry, blueberry,and blackcurrant. It’s a healthierversion of the coff��eetonic. The Coconut Capuccino beings in a gentle

nuttiness to the cup, a welcomechange from the sugary hazelnutsyrups of big coff��ee chains. TheBlackbird is bound to be a hit thiswinter, served in a brandy snifter,this espressobased drink is infusedwith ginger, clove, lemon, honey,and mint. Is there anything that coffee can’t do?

Skip: Their regular menu, ifyou’re tired of looking up the diff��erence between a doppio, ristretto,and lungo. The staff�� will help, butyou can fi��nd this anywhere else inthe multitude of coff��ee placesthat’ve sprung up in the last handful of years, all also made from thesame handful of estates of Keralaand Karnataka.

Go with: With a book, or workfor long hours. Meet a friend or twoin transit at the IGI airport. Not forbig groups.

Space bar: 600 sq ft approximately; 20 covers

How much: ₹��1,000 for twoReach: A 10minute walk from

the Delhi Aerocity metro station onthe Airport Line on Delhi Metro.

Baba Beans is frontand centre with theirexperiments withcoff��ee, and this is whatmakes them stand out

Vangmayi Parakala Playing coff��ee pot Going beyondstereotypical millennial associations

* SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

FOOD REVIEW

A FRESHBREAK

‘When I was diagnosed with depression’: AP, Male, 26, Kolkata

‘A desperate SOS from a lonely soul’: SB, Male, 58, Gurgaon

‘Tremors A Day in the life ofmy mother’: TB, Female, 25,Noida

These headlines spill off�� the‘It’s Okay to Talk’ website: someheartfelt messages, some anxious ramblings, and some lucidrefl��ections.

When it comes to mentalhealth, the Internet gets a badrap. Multiple studies over thepast few years — the latest fromCanada, published in JAMA Paediatrics — have concluded thatthere is a positive link betweenthe amount of time spent on social media and the rise in depressive symptoms.

And yet, it is online that people have found a listening ear;on It’s Okay to Talk website,they give accounts of theirexperiences, and hope itwill echo with someonearound the world. Started by Sangath, an NGOcofounded by psychiatrist Dr Vikram Patel, the initiative is one of many thathave appeared online, with theaim of encouraging people todiscuss their state of mind.

Why not a reallife supportgroup? Why the Internet?“Because that’s where people are. The youth are online, looking for more information on mental health.We need a solution where itcan be accessible tothem,” summarises SwetaPal, coordinator of It’s Okay toTalk.

“Moreover, on the Internet, you need not fi��lter yourthoughts. It’s just a stranger

over text, so we did a conferencecall with her for over an hour,”says Ayushi, adding, “Mostly, people just need someone to talkto.”

Doesn’t being exposed to people’s struggles daily aff��ect theirown mental state, consideringthey lack training as psychologists? “I myself go to a therapist,”says Adishi. “So if there are dayswhen I am spiralling, I let Ayushihandle the majority of work.”And vice versa.

On the plus side, their youthmakes them more relatable. Thepeople on these pages are generally between 15 and 30: teenagers in college, people in their20s, working their fi��rst jobs.“The topics we get most oftenare stress due to toxic relationships, and work,” she says.

Sweta reveals that her team

has analysed the stories theyhave collected on It’s Okay toTalk, over two years, to publisha paper on young Indians andmental health, in BMJ Open. Thecommon themes that stood outwere feelings of loneliness, combined with a desire to help others break the stigma.

Words to artFor 24yearold artist SonkashaIyengar, the Internet is a spacefor long conversations and listening. Bullied through school,and therefore unable to connectwith the people around her ‘inreal life’, she would look forward to coming back home, andlogging on. “I started bloggingwhen I was 12 and made a lot offriends from the blogging community,” she recalls, adding howonline she didn’t have to put on

a face, and pretend to be someone she wasn’t.

With 13k followers, Sonaksha(@sonkasha) asks her followersquestions, through Instagram‘stories’, addressing their concerns. In a somewhat similar,but more crowdsourced way,digital artist Indu Harikumar hasput out calls for personal storiesabout people’s experiences, tocollate them, present them artistically online, and create a safespace so that there is awarenessabout things we don’t talk aboutin our daily lives.

Her campaign #100TinderTales threw light on the nuancesof what one would otherwisedismiss as hookup culture, while#Indentitty invited people tosubmit photos of their bust (inwhatever degree of undress theywere comfortable in). Accompanied with stories, it started aconversation about sociocultural issues with regard to a woman’s breasts.

It’s the Internet’s free spacethat’s made all of this possible.As Bhavika puts it: “Awarenesscame not through schools, butonline — nobody talks aboutmental health in classrooms! Butthe Internet is a force that hasshaped us.”

I’LL BE THERE

FOR YOUThe perfect people living perfect liveson Instagram might depress you. But

social media can also be a place to fi��ndkind listeners, as these pages prove

Just say hi (Clockwise from below) Adishi Gupta; a letter of kindnesswritten by her; Ayushi Khemka; posts by It’s Okay to Talk, and TheHappy Company * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT, GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

The common themes that stood out were feelings

of loneliness, combined with a desire to help

others break the stigma

LETTERS OF KINDNESSThere is something to besaid about the joy ofreceiving a letter when youare at your lowest. But ifthere’s nobody to write youletters, would you resort tohaving a stranger write theletter for you?Yes, Adishi of MHTI, hasfound. In the one monththat she has started Lettersof Kindness(@writingforkindness), shehas sent out 33 handwritten letters as well asemails. “People tell me whatthey want me to writeabout: it could be aboutloneliness, heartbreak, deathand grief, being kind tooneself and so on,” she says.She writes on a yellow sheetof paper, with fl��owers onthem — her signatureaesthetic. A letter costs ₹��150, but she also off��ers itfree for those who can’taff��ord it. “You can eitherhave me send the letter tosomeone else on yourbehalf, or get a letter foryourself. Most of themchoose to send a letter tothemselves,” she says,adding that it goes to showhow much the world is inneed of kindness.Not knowing the specifi��cs ofeach person’s issue, shewrites from her ownexperiences in the matter, totell them that they aren’talone in this. “I starteddoing this because I knowhow easy it is to forget thatthere is kindness and love inthe world, which weoverlook because we are toobogged down about ourimmediate life,” sheexplains.AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


DELHI THE HINDU


CMYK

A ND-NDE

SHOWCASE

Ruskin Bond in the cityRuskin Bond will launch his latest book titled,

Words From My Window: A Journal, illustrated by

Dan Williams and published by the Penguin

Books India. The book comprises anecdotes from

the author’s life in the hills. The launch will be

followed by an interaction with children,

teachers and parents.

Venue: The Shriram Millennium School, Noida

Time: 11:30 a.m. onwards

BOOK LAUNCH

BharatanatyamJayalakshmi Eshwar, a Bharatanatyam exponent

and choreographer, will perform Akhandalaya:

The Unvanquished Rhythm, a thematic

multimedia dance opera, conceptualised and

choreographed by her. The production that will

see her students participate, explores the cyclic

rhythms of the universe.

Venue: Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre

Time: 7 p.m.

DANCE

Biryani specialSingh Sahib Restaurant, a food court at Eros

Hotel, has added six new varities of biryani into

their menu. The six varieties are: Kacche Gosht ki

Biryani, Awadhi Murgh Biryani, Malabar Prawn

Biryani, Aloo Gobhi ki Tehri, Ambur Biryani and

Soya Chaap Matar ki Biryani, all served with

korma and raita.

Venue: Eros Hotel, Nehru Place

Time: 12 Noon3 p.m. and 7 p.m.11:30 p.m.

FOOD

Music appreciationOne-on-One: Motifs and Melodies, features a

series of musical interactions between veteran

guitarist, Deepak Castelino and sarod maestro

Pritam Ghosal. Winding through a variety of

original motifs and melodies, both will discuss

the musical worlds of jazz, blues, pop, classical

and traditional Indian ragas.

Venue: C.D. Deshmukh Auditorium, IIC

Time: 6:30 p.m.

INTERACTION

Handmade collectionsZiba by Hand, an online platform that promotes

homegrown brands in fashion, home decor,

organic food, and beauty has curated an

exhibition called, Delhi Handmade Collective. The

show will feature brands like Boriya Basta, House

of Ekam, Kutch Craft Studio, Le Rustique,

Paulami, Mend Footwear, and more.

Venue: Aga Khan Hall, Bhagwan Das Road

Time: 11 a.m. 8 p.m.

FASHION

5 EVENTS WORTH YOUR WHILE

The Hong Kong Club at Andaz Delhi now has a Sunday

brunch. Choose between three packages: food and soft

beverages, food and alcoholic beverages including

sparkling wine, food and Champagne. The food itself is

quite a spread: dimsums and various dishes from the

Cantonese heritage. The hotel will also throw the pool

open; plus, there's live music by band Jade, and a dimsum

making workshop.

At The Hong Kong Club, Northern Access Road, Aerocity; 12:30p.m. 4 p.m.; ₹��2,500 (taxes extra) upward

Look to the weekend

INDULGENCE

For a listing or to be featured here, email us [email protected]

Sweta Akundi and

Vangmayi Parakala

■ Across

1 Fabled oneeyed giant

(7)

8 Body of troops arranged

in a line (7)

9 Most humble (7)

10 Means of execution

(3,4)

11 First premier of the

Soviet Union, d. 1924 (5)

13 Based on personal

accounts, possibly

unreliable (9)

15 Stinks (9)

18 Praise (5)

21 Person from

Barcelona? (7)

22 Young children’s

horses? (34)

23 Unintentional self

infl��icted harm (3,4)

24 Give someone the

right (7)

■ Down

1 Beast of burden (5)

2 Innocent (5)

3 Quite exceptional

person (3,2,1,7)

4 Light upon (6)

5 Equestrian

competition (53,5)

6 Very nearly (6)

7 Introduce publicly for

the fi��rst time (6)

12 Per head (4)

14 Florence’s river (4)

15 Slightly crazy — bird

(6)

16 Still in existence (6)

17 Confused

interwoven mass (6)

19 (Make a) chirping

noise (5)

20 (Fabric woven with)

a fi��ne cotton thread (5)

THE GUARDIAN QUICK CROSSWORD-13136

6

Solution will appearin The Hindu dated

August 1, 2019.

Solution No. 13135

POOCH CAFE

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

TIGER

PEANUTS

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

WUMO


THE HINDU DELHI


CMYK

A ND-NDE

SHOWCASE

With a growing number of cars congesting city streets, itwould make sense if you plan to opt for a small hatchbackthat also comes with the added convenience of an automatic gearbox. Not only does it make for a convenient cityrunabout, but it’s also easier to fi��nd parking spots. Here isa look at some of the best automatic hatchbacks you canfi��nd for under ₹��6 lakh.

Best automatichatchbacks under ₹��6 lakhIt makes sense to opt for a hatchbackthat comes with the convenience ofan automatic gearbox

Renault Kwid

If you’re on a verytight budget but stillwant an automatic,the Renault Kwid is agood buy. Some maynot like the rotarydial for the AMT andthe lack of a manualmode, but thesystem works wellenough with the68hp, 1.0litreengine. The additionof a creep mode hasalso helped theexperience in town.Drivers will alsoappreciate theaddition of AndroidAuto and AppleCarPlay functionalityto the touchscreen.

Maruti Suzuki Celerio

The Celerio popularised AMTgearboxes in India. The unit hasbeen refi��ned over the years, andtoday, it is relatively smoothshifting and its creep functionworks reasonably well. The fueleconomy from the 68hp, 1.0litrepetrol engine is another pluspoint. Of the other things, theMaruti Celerio’s cabin space is ahighlight, but the interior lacksfeatures that are off��ered on otheraff��ordable models.

Hyundai Santro

The Santro is the fi��rstHyundai to come with anAMT gearbox. Thetransmission is smooth andrefi��ned, with minimal pausesbetween gearshifts. There’salso a Tiptronic mode onoff��er, to shift gears manually.The budget hatchback has aspacious cabin and comesloaded with kit. However, theHyundai Santro AMT is

pricier than its rivals, andthe costcutting

measures are a bittoo evident insome areas.

Tata Tiago

The AMT adds a dose of convenience tothe alreadylikeable Tata Tiago. Likerivals, a manual mode and a creepfunction are standard, though there’salso a ‘Sport’ mode that helpsperformance to some degree. Sure, theTata AMT system isn’t the slickestaround, but the Tiago’s cabin space, bigcar demeanour, and genuine valuemake it a great choice for automaticbuyers on a budget. Tata also recentlyupdated the model with more safety kitand added a topspec Tiago XZA+automatic variant that is loaded withkit, but exceeds the ₹��6 lakh mark.

Maruti Suzuki Wagon R

The latestgen Wagon R is availablewith two petrol engine options — a68hp, 1.0litre, and an 83hp, 1.2litre.Both engines get the convenience ofan AMT, though it’s the larger enginethat delivers the strongerperformance and is the one to buy.The AMT is also pretty smooth, withshifts happening in a timely manner.Do note, as spacious, practical andeasytodrive the Maruti SuzukiWagon R is, it’s not an ideal highwaycar.

Rivan RS

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


SPORT

The contest has been postponed earlier. Test cricket in Australia is in

some disgrace. For a tournament in England involving the best internationalteams, the rules appear strange. In theend, England win. This is not 2019, but1912, when a ‘world’ Test championship(it was known simply as the Triangularseries) was held. It was such a disasterthat only eight decades later was such aconcept discussed again.

This week, England and Australia inaugurate the championship. Soon Indiawill play the West Indies, New Zealandtake on Sri Lanka and so on as the topnine countries play 72 matches over 27series to decide the champions. Thefi��veday game crosses a milestone whilegetting rid of the millstone of 1912.

That year, all three countries thenplaying Test cricket — England, Australia and South Africa — played nine Teststo decide the winners in a tournamentproposed by the South African businessman Abe Bailey. 1912 was a wetsummer to begin with. Australia didn’tfi��eld their best team and South Africawere not good enough. Wisden predicted that it was an experiment that wouldnot be repeated soon.

Scrappy aff��airThe Australian board was in a disputewith its players over money, and six topstars pulled out of the tour. SkipperClem Hill and selector Peter McAlistercame to blows at one point. “You’vebeen looking for a bloody punch in the

jaw all night,” said Hill, “and I’ll giveyou one.” The action went on for some20 minutes before the men broke awayand attended to their injuries. Thenthey sat down to pick the team. It needed some serious work since Australiahad lost the previous series (at home)14 to England.

But there was no compromise andAustralia came to England with a weakened team. No Hill, no Victor Trumper, no Warwick Armstrong. Cricket inAustralia, wrote the historian H.S. Altham, was “vitiated by vindictiveness, jealousy and mutual mistrust.” Sometimeshistory repeats itself with remarkableprecision.

South Africa lost the fi��rst two matches by an innings, and only once did theymanage 200. In the team was the Natalborn Charles Llewellyn, who mighthave been the fi��rst nonWhite to playfor that country. He was, the story goes,tormented by teammate Jimmy Sinclair(among others), the leading batsman ofthe side. Years later, Llewellyn’s daughter wrote that her father had no coloured blood (so to speak). When Indiafi��rst toured South Africa, Omar Henrywas anointed the fi��rst nonWhite to playfor them.

The Triangular series soon ran intoanother problem. Wisden 1913 wrote:“As no decision had been made prior tothe tournament on how the winnerwould be decided, it was agreed thatthe fi��nal match would be played to a fi��nish even if it takes a week.” But fourdays were enough, as England, 245 and175, beat Australia 111 and 65, by 244runs. Had there been a ManoftheMatch award then, Frank Woolleywould have won for his 62 and match fi��gures of 10 for 49.

Wisden’s proposalIt was Wisden, eight decades later,which gave breath to the idea once

again. By the mid90s, there were nineTestplaying countries, and when Matthew Engel, the editor, called for a Testchampionship, the socalled ‘WisdenPlan’ was well received.

Engel’s plan envisaged a single Testhome and away. That was modifi��ed to afour year cycle where the semifi��nalistsmet in England to decide the winners.The tournament in 2017 was to be heldin England, and in 2021 in India. TheICC decided that in the period betweenthe championships, each team shouldplay at least 16 Tests. But there was always something artifi��cial and gimmickyabout that format.

The broad plan — that of playing aworld Test championship — was acceptable, but the details had to be workedout.

The allure of a champion team insport is irresistible. It is what televisionexecutives live for, what they say attracts new audiences, gives the fans something else to argue over and lends afocus to team preparations.

There is too the lure of having aworld champion in each of the threeformats of the game. Then there is thematter of context; Tests become important in themselves and as part of thebigger picture too.

Once it was agreed that the championship and the future tours programme would work in tandem, thingsbecame simpler. There would be apoints system.

The top nine countries will now playsix series — three at home and threeaway — over a twoyear cycle, with thetop two fi��nishers playing the fi��nal atLord’s. India and Pakistan are not scheduled to meet in the fi��rst two editions ofthe tournament.

It is not a perfect system, but Testcricket cannot let the best be the enemyof the good. An imperfect plan is betterthan no plan at all.

Test cricket’s milestone seeks to get rid of a millstone The fi��rst experiment with ‘world’ Test championship in 1912 was anything but a success

BETWEEN WICKETSsuresh menon

It took two lefthanders,Swede Matilda Ekholm andSanil Shetty, to bring backRPSG Mavericks, Kolkata,on the right track in the Ultimate Table Tennis Leaguehere on Tuesday.

After a 411 drubbing atthe hands of Goa Challengers, Mavericks needed a bigwin over formidable PuneriPaltan. As it turned out,each of Mavericks playerspitched in and set up an impressive 114 victory.

Indeed, the lineupworked in favour of Mavericks as the overseas playersclashed early on before theallIndia clashes went to itsliking.

Great start

Riding on a 30 start given byMatilda, Mavericks addedtwo more when Bendikt Duda surprised Chuang ChihYuan 21. Sanil and Matilda

came together to add twomore points by defeatingHarmeet Desai and SabineWinter.

Trailing 27, Paltan lookedat skipper Desai to tame underdog Shetty but that wasnot to be. With Desai underpressure, Shetty rallied towin 21, claiming ‘goldenpoint’ twice in succession.

Thereafter it was left toCommonwealth Games goldmedallist Manika Batra to increase the winning margin.

Facing the newlycrowned Commonwealthchampion Ayhika Mukherjee, Manika raced away withthe fi��rst but dropped the‘goldenpoint’ in the second.In the decider, Manika nevertrailed.

Matilda, ranked 25th, expectedly blanked 62ndranked Sabine Winter totake her wintally to three inas many encounters againstthe German this year. Shegrew stronger with everypassing game and eventuallyleft Sabine exasperated.

Thereafter it was the turnof 53rdranked Benedikt Duda to produce what wasclearly the performance ofthis season. Facing 28thranked Chaung, Duda fi��redon both fl��anks, played withastounding rhythm andpulled off�� the fi��rst twogames. In the third, Chaunggained some consolation.

The 12 reverse in themixed doubles defl��ated Paltan once Shetty and Matilda,both playing with a lefthanded partner for the fi��rsttime, bounced back from agame’s defi��cit. Thereafter,Paltan caved in undermounting pressure.The results: RPSG Mavericks,Kolkata bt Puneri Paltan 114(Matilda Ekholm bt SabineWinter 119, 115, 116; Benedikt Duda bt Chuang ChihYuan116, 114, 811; Sanil Shetty &Matilda bt Harmeet Desai & Sabine 611, 118, 119; Shettylost to Desai 811, 1110, 1110;Manika Batra bt Ayhika Mukherjee 113, 1011, 117).

Wednesday’s fi��xture: ChennaiLions v Goa Challengers (7p.m.).

Mavericks pulverise PaltanMatilda and Sanil play key roles in the 114 win

UTT

RAKESH RAO

NEW DELHI

Left is right: Southpaws Matilda Ekholm and Sanil Shetty proved unbeatable. * COURTESY/UTT

The International CricketCouncil on Tuesday namedMichael Gough of Englandand Joel Wilson of the WestIndies in the Emirates ICCElite Panel of Umpires for201920 season followingthe annual review and selection process.

They replace retired umpire Ian Gould and S. Ravi.

Gough, Wilsonin ICC eliteumpires panelPress Trust of India

Dubai

After an intense spell of virtually nonstop ODI actionon either side of the IndianPremier League (IPL), manywould have thought that allformat regulars would be given a break for the limitedover leg of India’s seriesagainst the West Indies,starting August 3.

But seven of the the 15cricketers who boarded afl��ight on Monday night forthe threematch T20 serieshad featured in India’sWorld Cup campaign.

More than these seven,the next couple of weeks willbe vital for the eight playerswho have been on the fringeof India’s whiteball squadfor a while.

They would be eager tomake a statement as Indiastarts its long road of preparation ahead of the nextyear’s World T20I, to beplayed in Australia in October 2020.

Of the eight, Shreyas Iyerand Manish Pandey were incontention for a middleorder slot for the World Cupbefore they fell off�� the radar;Krunal Pandya and Washington Sundar have been triedout for the the spinbowlingallrounder’s spot in T20Is;and Khaleel Ahmed andDeepak Chahar have beenbackup seamers in whiteball cricket for more than ayear now.

The only two new faces —rightarm pacer NavdeepSaini and leggie Rahul Chahar — would be more thankeen on continuing their IPLand IndiaA exploits in theIndia jersey.

Huge boost

Captain Virat Kohli and hisdeputy in whiteball formatsRohit Sharma’s presencewill be a huge boost for therelatively young bunch. Thetwo will keep a close watchon the newcomers.

After all, not only doesthe West Indies tour kick off��the World T20I preparationbut it also signifi��es the beginning of the new World Cup

cycle in ODIs. Kohli had noqualms in admitting it onMonday evening.

“From the point of viewof us not making it to the fi��nal of the World Cup andbowing out (in the semifi��nals), I think it is an impor

tant time to regroup andcome together as a side,”Kohli said.

Need to move on“There is a T20 World Cupnext year, there is always something to look forward.

“I know we were all disappointed with not goingthrough to the fi��nal andprobably winning the WorldCup.

“But you have to move onand you to have accept defeat as well and look forwardto new things. It is an opportunity for them to establishtheir skill sets, for me as acaptain to have new playersin the side and get them together.

I think international cricket always presents you withopportunities and challenges which I always look forward to.”

Attention shifts to new faces in the T20I mixAn opportunity for them to establish their skill sets,

for me to get them together, says Kohli

INDIA IN WI

Stage set: Khaleel Ahmed, India’s backup seamer for sometime, will be keen to grab the chance with both hands andcome to the forefront. * FILE PHOTO: RITU RAJ KONWAR

Amol Karhadkar

MUMBAI

Manish Pandey.

<> I think it is an

important time to

regroup and come

together as a side

Virat Kohli

Promising India opening batsman Prithvi Shaw has beensuspended till November 15for inadvertently violatingthe Board of Control forCricket in India’s (BCCI’s) antidoping norms by consuming an overthecountercough syrup in February thisyear.

In a statement released onTuesday, the BCCI confi��rmedthat Shaw has been suspended for eight months after being found to have ingestedterbutaline, a substance prohibited under the BCCI antidoping regulations (ADR),during Mumbai’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign inIndore in February.

The BCCI also sanctionedAkshay Dullarwar, Vidarbha’sUnder23 cricketer, and Rajasthan Under19 cricketer Divya Gajraj for inadvertent violations of its antidopingpolicy.

Backdated

“The eightmonth period ofIneligibility will be deemed tohave started to run on 16thMarch 2019, so that it will endat midnight on 15th November 2019,” the statementread. “… Mr. Shaw may return to train with his Stateteam and/or to use the facilities of any club or othermember organisation of theBCCI after midnight on 15thSeptember 2019.”

According to the detaileddecision document signed byDr. Abhijit Salvi, BCCI’s antidoping manager, Shaw’surine sample collected afterMumbai’s game against Punjab at Indore on February 22returned positive.

“The BCCI is satisfi��ed withMr. Shaw’s explanation thathe had taken Terbutaline inadvertently to treat an Respiratory Tract Infection and notas a performanceenhancingdrug. Having considered allof the evidence and takenexpert external advice, theBCCI has accepted Mr. Shaw’sexplanation of the cause ofhis ADRV and, on that basis,has agreed that a period of ineligibility of eight monthsshould apply, together withdisqualifi��cation of certain results,” read the statement.

According to the detaileddocument, Shaw, suff��eringfrom cough, consulted hisfather over phone who advised him to seek a pharmacist’s advice for a cough syrup. Shaw then bought acough syrup over the counterand didn’t check for its antidoping compliance. As a result, the BCCI was lenient onShaw for unknowingly ingesting a banned substance.

Latest setback

The doping episode is the latest setback in a series ofblows for Shaw, who hasbeen on a downhill ever sincemarking his Test debut as ateenager with a scintillatinghundred against the West Indies in Rajkot in October2018. Then, Shaw suff��ered anankle injury during a tourgame ahead of India’s Test series in Australia in November.

Shaw was sent back homemidway through the series,fuelling speculation over hisoverthetop lifestyle havingaff��ected his recovery. Afterreturning to the fi��eld duringthe Mushtaq Ali Trophy andthe Indian Premier League,Shaw last featured in a competitive match during theMumbai T20 League in May.

The episode also exposesthe lack of antidoping training to Indian cricketers. AFirst Class regular for Mumbai, India Under19 captainand a Test entrant last year,Shaw consulting an unknownpharmacist during a tournament is surprising. That too,when he was with the Mumbai team, when he shouldhave fi��rst consulted the teamdoctor and the manager.

Shaw hits a road bump, gets suspendedPromising India opener banned till November 15 for ‘inadvertent’ violation, along with two others

Amol Karhadkar

MUMBAI

DOPE TAINT

Turbulent times: For Prithvi Shaw, the punishment for the doping off��ence follows an extendedperiod of injury woes. * FILE PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK

Bangladesh pipped Indiaby two wickets and threeballs to spare in their triseries under19 match hereon Tuesday.

In a match interruptedby rain, India scored 221for fi��ve in 36 overs. Qamran Iqbal (44), K.D. Pragnesh (53) and skipperDhruv Jurel (70) were themajor contributors.

In reply, Bangladesh,facing a revised target of218 in 32 overs, scamperedhome in the fi��nal over,thanks to captain AkbarAli. He made an unbeaten49 off�� 36 balls with fi��vefours and two sixes. Opener Parvez Emon made 51.The scores:

India under19 221 for fi��vein 36 overs (Qamran Iqbal 44,K.D. Pragnesh 53, Dhruv Jurel70) lost to Bangladesh 219for eight in 31.3 overs (ParvezEmon 51, Akbar Ali 49 n.o.,Sushant Mishra three for 47).Revised target: 218 from 32overs.

Bangladeshcolts edge India

SPORTS BUREAU

BILLERICAY

CMYK


THE HINDU DELHI


SPORT

S.V. Sunil is a relieved man.There was a time, not thatlong ago, when he wonderedif his career as an Indianhockey international was over. But, nine months aftersuff��ering a severe knee injury in Bhubaneswar, Sunil isback in the scheme of things.

Last week, he was namedin the Indian team for the Tokyo Olympics Test Event; itcame as a reward for monthsof hard work and painfulrehabilitation on the sidelines. When Sunil was leftout of the Indian side for theFIH Men’s Series Finals inJune, there were doubtsabout his future in the set up.But now, the 30yearoldfrom Somwarpet is keen tomake every chance count.

“I’m feeling happy,” hesays at the SAI here. “My fi��rsttarget was to get back intothe team after injury. HockeyIndia and the team management have now given me achance. I need to prove myworth again.”

It was in October last year

that Sunil injured his leftknee (a grade three LCLtear), during a training campin the leadup to the WorldCup in Bhubaneswar. Hethen watched, hobblingaround on crutches, as Odisha put on a grand spectaclebefore the world. “It was mydream to play in a homeWorld Cup,” he says. “I wasvery hurt. I had worked sohard. But there was nothing Icould do.”

Strenuous rehabilitation

Robin Arkell, Scientifi��c Advisor to the men’s team, putSunil on a strict strength andconditioning routine. Lifewas diffi��cult at the beginning. He was on crutches fortwo months, and the lack ofexercise told on his body. Heput on seven kilos, with hisbody fat percentage risingfrom 7.5 to 12. When Sunil, aforward renowned for hisspeed, did fi��nally start running again, it felt “as if someone was sitting on my back.”

Sunil could run only instraight lines at fi��rst; to turnand twist at pace would be torisk damaging the knee ligaments again.

“I felt I had fallen far behind the rest of my teammates,” he says. “I was feeling really low. It hurt to sit athome when tournamentswere going on. But I usedthat as motivation.”

To quit or not...

The thought of bidding hockey goodbye did cross hismind, he admits. “This is mysecond major injury. I had injured my right knee earlier.So at one point I wondered ifI had had enough. But Ispoke to my coaches, and toclose friends like Sreejeshand Birendra Lakra whocame to visit me every day.They told me that there wasstill a lot of hockey left in me.Even my family urged me notto give up. Selfbelief was important,” he says.

A oneonone meetingwith chief coach GrahamReid proved to be reassuring.

“He was positive about myfuture,” says Sunil. “He assured me that everyonewould get a chance, but thatproving myself was in myhands. That was enough forme.”

‘Need to prove my worth again’ Nine months after a bad knee injury, Sunil is back in the mix

HOCKEY

Shreedutta Chidananda

Bengaluru

Raring to go: S.V. Sunil is looking forward to making his markin India colours again. * FILE PHOTO: K. MURALI KUMAR

Opener Mayank Agarwaland pacer Umesh Yadav willlook to get into the groovewhen IndiaA takes on WestIndiesA in the second unoffi��cial ‘Test’ beginning hereon Wednesday with an aimto take an unassailable 20lead in the threematchseries.

With Shreyas Iyer andNavdeep Saini joining thesenior team in the US for theT20s against West Indies,Test specialists like openerMayank and speedster Yadav, who are already in theCaribbean, will play the second fourday game in theirabsence.

Both Mayank and Umeshare part of India’s squad forthe Tests against the WestIndies.

Earlier, Mayank waspicked in the ‘A’ squad onlyfor the third unoffi��cial ‘Test’from August 6 before joining

the senior team for the series opener beginning onAugust 22.

The sixwicket win for IndiaA in the series openerwas mainly down to the efforts of bowlers, especiallyleftarm spinner ShahbazNadeem, who took fi��vewickets in both the innings.Pacer Mohammad Siraj toowas amongst the wickets,taking fi��ve in total.

The game will be anotheropportunity for ShubmanGill to make a statement after being overlooked for theWest Indies series. Both Gilland Priyank Panchal gotstarts in the fi��rst game butcould not convert.

The biggest positive tohave come out of the gamewas the performance of comeback man WriddhimanSaha, who looked good withbat and behind the stumps.

Captain Hanuma Viharidid not get going in the series opener and he wouldlike to get a big one ahead ofthe Test series.

Mayank, Umesh set toplay against WindiesAIndiaA will look to seal the series

INDIA-A IN WI


Port of Spain

Dress rehearsal: A good outing will keep Mayank Agarwal ingood stead for the fi��rst Test. * GARETH COPLEY/GETTY IMAGES

Rishank Devadiga’s raidingability in doordie situationsmakes him a rage in the ProKabaddi League.

As per competition rules,two passive forays withoutgaining any point must befollowed by proactive action on a team’s part and thechosen raider needs to takerisks and try to gain a pointsomehow.

The tall internationalknows how to get thingsdone, convert pressure toearn a raid point and boostthe team’s morale.

Rivals are wary of himand teammates know hedoes not let them down. After three electrifying seasons with U Mumba, theMumbaiborn player returnsto a onetime home venue,the NSCI indoor stadium,though he is representingrival side UP Yoddhas in season seven.

Highly talented

Formerly a successful captain for Maharashtra at theSenior Nationals, he has thiscapability of snatching doordie raid points against de

fenders, waiting for theslightest mistake.

Fazel Atrachali and Sandeep Narwal, operating asleft and right corner catchers for U Mumba, will face astern test against a formerteammate who is comingback from injury, whichforced UP Yoddhas to restthe raider during the fi��rstleg.

Rishank, a crowdpullerat the NSCI during his stintwith U Mumba (20142016),returned to the Yoddhas foldfor a lower amount (₹��61 lakhin player auction 2019 asagainst ₹��1.11 crore in 2018).

The change in value, however, will have no eff��ect on

his popularity with theMumbai fans.

Yoddha chases fi��rst winIncidentally, U Mumba is theonly team to have playedfour matches (two wins, twolosses) so far. UP Yoddhas,on the other hand, chases itsfi��rst win in two games.

Haryana Steelers will faceoff�� against Jaipur Pink Panthers in an earlier game, before the roar in the standsheralds the entry of U Mumba on to the playing arenafor the second tie.

Rishank can expect applause from the fans whenthe league resumes at theNSCI after Tuesday’s break.

Defenders wary of raider Rishank The catchers of U Mumba, his former team, lie in wait

PKL

Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI

Slipping away: Yoddha’s Rishank Devadiga has the potentialto pull of points in doordie situations. * FILE PHOTO: R. RAGU

An administrative blunder bythe Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) has denied the National men’s teama chance to compete in theWorld Championship inWashington from December15 to 21.

It is learnt that the SRFI offi��cials were not able to get thenecessary clearances in timefrom the Sports Authority of

India (SAI) for the biennialevent. “The SRFI was not ableto have a meeting with SAIand that is why the approvaldid not come. It is really sadthat the players have to bearthe brunt for this,” said asource.

Clearing the air

The National federation, however, claimed that it hadtried its best to get SAI’s approval. “The last date for submitting India’s entry was July16 and the SRFI had written

to the SAI a little over amonth ago ( June 14) for approval.

“The Federation had, infact, submitted its Annual Calendar for Training and Competitions (ACTC) to the SAI as

early as January 2019 wherein the participation in theWorld championship wasmentioned.

“However, no ACTC meeting was called for in the subsequent months — from February to April — when suchdelay does not normally takeplace.

“The meeting happenedonly on July 30 by which timethe championship last datehad elapsed,” said an SRFIstatement.

India was not exactly a title

contender, but has a competitive men’s team comprisingWorld No. 10 Saurav Ghosal,48thranked Ramit Tandonand 55thranked MaheshMangaonkar.

First time in the U.S.

Defending champion Egypt isthe favourite to lift the trophyas the United States gears upto host the event for the fi��rsttime in its 52year history. India, too, hosted the prestigious event once, back in2007 in Chennai.

Delay in getting clearance costs men’s team dear SRFI offi��cials say they tried their best to have a meeting with SAI

SQUASH

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

B The ACTC meeting tookplace only on July 30 bywhich time the last dateto make it to the Worldchampionship hadelapsed, according to anSRFI statement

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Australia coach Justin Langer says an Ashes return forCameron Bancroft would be“a great story” but knows hewill face a hostile receptionfrom England fans after hisballtampering ban.

Bancroft, 26, is set toopen the batting in Thursday’s fi��rst Test at Edgbaston,with Australia’s toporder also likely to feature DavidWarner and Steve Smith.

The ‘real’ culprit

If that is the case, it would

mean all three players whowere banned for their rolesin the balltampering scandal in South Africa last yearwould be in Australia's XI.

Smith and Warner have already experienced plenty ofboos from English crowdsduring the recent WorldCup.

Bancroft, not selected forthe World Cup, will almostcertainly experience more ofthe same given he was theone who actually appliedsandpaper to the ball duringa Test in South Africa.

“It would be a great storyif he comes back into theteam,” Langer said at Edg

baston on Tuesday. “His development after what happened in Cape Town hasbeen extraordinary.”

Langer, a former Australiaopener, said: “We knowwhat the reception is goingto be. There's nothing wecan do about it. We don'tknow (how he will cope) actually, but we'll fi��nd out.

“He's a good kid and astough as anyone you couldmeet. To endure the scrutinyof the past 14 months, especially the fi��rst part of it, Ithink he's had a pretty gooddress rehearsal.”

Langer confi��rmed batsman Usman Khawaja, who

missed Australia's WorldCup semifi��nal against England with a hamstring injury, had been passed fi��t; fastbowler James Pattinson is also set to play in the opener.

Bancroft will have to face the music: LangerTHE ASHES


Birmingham

Bancroft. * AP

The Indian tennis playersare “excited and available”to travel to Pakistan for theupcoming Davis Cup tie,but want assurance that allthe security measures willbe in place before theyreach Islamabad.

All the players, exceptfor the injured Sumit Nagal, are available for the tie,scheduled for September14 and 15 in the capital cityof Pakistan.

The squad, likely to beled by No. 1 singles playerPrajnesh Gunneswaran,will be fi��rst from the country to travel to the neighbouring nation in 55 years.

It has been learnt thatBhupathi has also written aletter to the All India Tennis Association (AITA), asking about the squad’s safety and security during itsstay.

AITA generalsecretaryHironmoy Chatterjee saidhe had answered the queries raised by the captain.“Yes he had some questions and we have repliedto him,” he said.

Bhupathi & Co. seekassurance on security

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI

Caster Semenya will notdefend her world 800mtitle in Doha inSeptember after a Swissjudge overruled atemporary suspensionon the IAAF’scontroversialtestosteronecurbingrules, herrepresentatives said onTuesday.

The ruling means thatthe 28yearold can nolonger compete inevents between the400m and mile, as shedid in June and July. TheWorld Championshipsare scheduled betweenSeptember 28 andOctober 6 in the Qataricapital.

“I am verydisappointed to be keptfrom defending myhardearned title, butthis will not deter mefrom continuing myfi��ght for the humanrights of all of the femaleathletes concerned,”said the South African,also a twotime Olympicgold medallist.

Dorothee Schramm,the lawyer leadingSemenya's appeal,added that the judgehad made a “proceduraldecision” that has noimpact on the appealitself. “We will continueto pursue Caster’sappeal. A race is alwaysdecided at the fi��nishline.”

Semenya tomiss DohaWorldsAGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

PARIS

Caster Semenya. * AP

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


SPORT

Sri Lanka v Bangladesh:3rd ODI, Sony Six (SD & HD),2.30 p.m.UTT: Star Sports 1 & SS Select1 (SD & HD), 7 p.m. PKL: Star Sports 2 (SD & HD),7.30 p.m.GT20: Star Sports 2 (SD &HD), 10 p.m.

TV PICKS

Red Bull breaks own pit stop recordPARIS

Winner Max Verstappen and

Red Bull beat their own

record for a pit stop at last

weekend's German Grand

Prix, Formula 1 partners DHL

tweeted on Monday.

Teammate Pierre Gasly's 1.90

seconds at Silverstone earlier

this month was pipped by

Verstappen's 1.88 seconds in

Hockenheim on Sunday.

“Incredible! Another new pit

stop world record! Well done,

@redbullracing !,” the

company that sponsors a

fastest pit stop award,

tweeted. AFP

IN BRIEF

Arthur likely to remainPakistan coachLAHORE

Despite Pakistan’s failure to

make it to the knockout stage

of cricket World Cup 2019,

Mickey Arthur is most likely

to retain his position as head

coach, at least till the 2020

World T20. On August 2, the

Pakistan Cricket Board cricket

committee will review the

World Cup performance, for

which Arthur has already

arrived in Lahore. Victories at

the 2017 Champions Trophy

and Pakistan’s top ranking in

T20Is under Arthur are likely

to work in his favour,

according to sources. IANS

Drugtainted swimmerfaces fouryear banSYDNEY

Australian swimmer Shayna

Jack has been notified that

she faces a fouryear

suspension after testing

positive to a banned drug,

unless she can prove her

innocence, a report said on

Tuesday. Jack, part of

Australia’s 4x100m freestyle

team that set a World record

last year, tested positive for

Ligandrol out of competition

late last month. The Daily

Telegraph said the Australian

Sports AntiDoping Authority

had told Jack she would

receive a fouryear

suspension. The 20yearold

will be able to contest the

sanction. AFP

Former India player andAndhra Ranji captain, Y. Venugopala Rao, announcedhis retirement from all formsof cricket on Tuesday.

Venu, as he is more familiar in cricketing circles,played for India in 16 ODIsand 65 IPL matches for Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils.

He is one of only twoplayers from Andhra CricketAssociation to have playedfor India (the other beingcurrent BCCI senior selection panel chairman M.S.K.Prasad). He also representedGujarat and Rajasthan in theRanji Trophy.

Memorable journeyThe 37yearold Visakhapatnamborn cricketer, whoplayed a key role in theemergence of Andhra as aforce to reckon with in domestic cricket, was a consistent performer in all BCCItournaments, including Deodhar, Vijay Hazare andChallenger Trophy, whichsaw him make his ODI debutagainst Sri Lanka on July 30,2005.

One of the high points ofhis career was the unbeaten228 for South Zone againstthe visiting EnglandA in aDuleep Trophy match inGurgaon which helped theteam chase down the fourth

highest First Class target of501.

He was also a member ofthe India under19 WorldCup winning team in 2000.

A middleorder batsman

with the ability to play thelong innings and an occasional off��break bowler, Venu was also an exceptionalfi��elder.

Later on, he became a Te

lugu TV commentator.

The Andhra Cricket Association appreciated his contribution to Andhra cricketand wished him success inhis future endeavours.

Venugopala Rao calls it quitsOne of only two players from Andhra to have played for India

CRICKET


HYDERABAD

Calling time: Venugopala Rao played a key role in the emergence of Andhra as a force to reckon with in domestic cricket. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Mehuli Ghosh and AbhinavShaw made a spectacularfi��ghtback before AnjumMudgil and Arjun Babutaclosed it out for a 1612 victory in the mixed air rifl��e teamcompetition in the 12th Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Masters shooting championshipat the Dr. Karni Singh Range,Tughlakabad, on Tuesday.

Anjum and Arjun led 120,before the Bengal pair wonsix of the next seven shots tobridge the gap to 1412. Thetwopoint diff��erence alsocame about as Bengal hadlost the ninth shot by 0.2point.

After a bad start, theyoung Abhinav found histouch to provide able support to the consistent Mehuliand this saw Bengal leap intocontention.

However, Anjum shot 10.7and Arjun had 10.4 to clinch

the last two points with ease,as Mehuli and Abhinav shot10.3 and 9.9 respectively.

Pushpanjali provesa point

In women’s 25metre sportspistol, the seasoned Pushpanjali Rana of the CentralReserve Police Force (CRPF)found her rhythm in the nickof time to beat back the challenge from Ruby Tomer ofPunjab Police, winning theshootoff�� 43 after the two

had tied on 28. Ruby had led Pushpanjali

1812 at one stage, but twoperfect rounds of 5 each anda four put Pushpanjali on thetrack for gold.

The junior contest wasmore intense with ArunimaGaur winning the gold bybeating Vishwa JigneshbhaiDahiya 3229. Abhidnya Patilwon the bronze in both thewomen’s and juniorsections.

In men’s centre fi��re pistol,

Olympic Gurpreet Singhshot 585 to beat Arpit Goeland Yogesh Singh to thegold.

Arjun Singh Cheema wonboth the men’s and juniorgold medals in the 50metrefree pistol.The results:Men: 25m centre fi��re pistol: 1.Gurpreet Singh 585, 2. ArpitGoel 583, 3. Yogesh Singh 582.

50m free pistol: 1. Arjun singhCheema 570, 2. Anmol Jain 555,3. Omkar Singh 553.

Juniors: 1. Arjun Singh Cheema570, 2. Gaurav Rana 560, 3. Surinder Singh 548.

Women: 25m sports pistol: 1.Pushpanjali Rana 28(4) 574, 2.Ruby Tomer 28(3) 573 3. Abhidnya Patil 22 (571).

Juniors: 1. Arunima Gaur 32(566), 2. Vishwa JIgneshbhaiDahiya 29 (561), 3. AbhidnyaPatil 23 (571).

10m mixed air rifl��e team: 1.Punjab (Anjum Moudgil, ArjunBabuta) 16 (416.0; 625.6), 2.West Bengal (Mehuli Ghosh,Abhinav Shaw) 12 (416.6;619.0), 3. Railways (AyonikaPaul, Akhil Sheoran) 6 (415.1;619.3).

Thrilling win for Anjum-Arjun combineThe duo wards off�� Mehuli & Abhinav in an exciting mixed air rifl��e event

SHOOTING

On target: The women’s 25m sports pistol championPushpanjali Rana, centre, along with silver medallist RubyTomer, left, and Abhidnya Patil. * KAMESH SRINIVASAN


NEW DELHITop Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu has withdrawn from theThailand Open but compatriot Saina Nehwal will return to the circuit in theBWF Super 500 event here

after missing out backtoback tournaments.

Sindhu, who reached thefi��nal of the Indonesia Openbut lost in the Japan Openquarterfi��nals last week, willnot take the court in theThailand Open main draw,

which begins on Wednesday. She had lost to AkaneYamaguchi of Japan in boththe previous tournaments.The reasons for her withdrawal from the event here arenot clear yet.

Saina, seeded seventh,will open her campaignagainst a qualifi��er on Wednesday. She was forced towithdraw from both the Indonesia and Japan Open onmedical grounds.

Qualifi��esMeanwhile, Sourabh Vermaand Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka qualifi��ed on Tuesday forthe main draw.

Sourabh beat KantawatLeelavechabutr of Thailand2118, 2119 in the fi��rst roundbefore defeating Zhou Ze Qiof China 1121, 2114, 2118.Zhou had defeated Ajay Jayaram 1621, 1321 to set up thematch against Sourabh.

Uttejitha beat Tam Brittney of Canada 1621, 2114, 2119.

Sindhu pulls out of Thailand Open, Saina returnsPress Trust of India

Bangkok

The return: Saina Nehwal, seeded seventh, will open hercampaign against a qualifi��er on Wednesday. * FILE PHOTO

Ch. Sahajasri celebrated amilestone when she becamethe fi��rst from Telangana toget the coveted Woman International Master title atthe Czech Republic Openrecently.

And the 23yearold Sahajasri is already gunning forthe next big one — theGrandmaster title.

“Yes, I have to sustain thelevel I have been playing at.It is imperative for me totake part in as many eventsas possible to win the GM title at the earliest,” said Sahajasri in a chat with The Hin-

du on Tuesday.

Target“The target is to break thecrucial ELO 2300 barrier(her ELO now is 2223).

“For this, I need to trainhard and compete with thebest,” said the Karimnagarborn girl.

“Frankly, the WIM title isnot a surprise, given my recent form. But bigger challenges lie ahead.

“As we move into the nextgrade of competition, it getstougher,” said Sahajasri,who admires World cham

pion Magnus Carlsen. “Forme, it boils down to the kindof fi��nancial support I can getto chase my dreams,” saidSahajasri, who is also anMBA graduate, searching fora job.

FundsAt present, her father is trying to raise funds to ensureSahajasri’s passion for the

sport does not diminish. Sahajasri, meanwhile, is

keen on improving her middle and endgame skillswhile she is comfortablewith her openings variations.

“Though there has been atwomonth break in onlinecoaching with Israeli coachGM Victor Mikhalevski, I didbenefi��t a lot in the precedingone year because of histraining methods.

“I am a muchimprovedplayer ready to face biggerchallenges now,” she concluded.

Sahajasri ready for the next moveShe became the fi��rst from Telangana to clinch the WIM title

CHESS

V.V. Subrahmanyam

Hyderabad

The target: Ch. Sahajasri’s next aim is to become a GM at the earliest. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

<> I am a

much-improved

player ready to face

bigger challenges

now

The DreamBig silver seriescamp and UTR tennis tournament, for players in the1218 age group, will bestaged at the Siri FortSports Complex from August 16 to 18.

Coaches from GeorgeWashington University, Davidson College and Bucknell University, will be attending the camp to lookfor promising players, forpossible scholarship.

“If you want to showcase your talent and impress college tennis coaches, you have to travel to theUS, which is a very expensive proposition. We arebringing college coaches toDelhi. You can participatein the camp at a fraction ofthe travel cost while working on that UTR score. Youmay be the one to win thebig scholarship to play andstudy at one of the top Universities in the US,” saidTushar Liberhan, a formertop Indian junior who is organising the camp.

Another UTR event hadbeen held in Ahmedabadand Sam Chawla and KristiBoro have earned entry into the silver series camp.

US collegescholarshiptennis eventSpecial Correspondent

NEW DELHI

Football fans in South Koreaare taking legal action toseek compensation afterCristiano Ronaldo failed toplay in a friendly duringJuventus’ preseason tourhere last week. Ronaldo hadbeen contracted to play atleast 45 minutes against KLeague All Stars, accordingto event organisers TheFasta Inc, but ultimately satout the entire game.

An online communitywas formed on SouthKorea’s Naver web portal toprotest Ronaldo’s lack ofparticipation, and twomembers reached out tolawyer Kim Minki to fi��le alawsuit against the matchorganisers.

“Many purchased ticketsto see Ronaldo. The Fastapublicised that the companyhad a deal with Juventuswhich stipulated Ronaldowould play for at least 45minutes and that Ronaldowould hold a fan signingevent,” Kim told Reuters.

The lawsuit is seekingcompensation of 70,000won ($59) per ticket, 1,000won for the ticketcommission fee, and 1

million won ($847) each forcompensation for “mentalanguish”.

“Normally in such casesthe plaintiff��s will berefunded the price of thetickets, but I put this undera special case since thecompany, through falseadvertising, took advantageof the football star’s fans,”Kim added. “For now wehave two plaintiff��s who suedthe company. As for themental anguish part, I’d liketo say some of them areraucous fans. So for them itis very painful because theylove Ronaldo and want toprotect him, but they can’t,given the situation.”

Fasta CEO Robin Changconfi��rmed to localbroadcaster SBS that thecontract stipulated Ronaldoplay 45 minutes and said shefound out that the 34yearold would not take part 10minutes into the secondhalf.

“When I went to arguewith (Pavel) Nedved, thevicepresident of Juventus,all he said was ‘I also wishRonaldo ran, but he doesn’twant to. Sorry, there’snothing I can do.’ I was sofrustrated,” Chang told SBS.

The Fasta issued a pressrelease on Saturday sayingJuventus did not abide bythe terms of the contract.

Fans to sue after Ronaldo sits outof Juventus friendlyReuters

SEOUL

Failing the fans: Fasta CEO Chang confi��rmed that the contractstipulated Ronaldo play 45 minutes but it was found out thathe would not take part 10 minutes into the secondhalf. * AFP

“The double century againstEnglandA in the 2004 Duleep Trophy match was thebest moment of my life.

“It gave me the kind of recognition I was looking forand pushed my case for aslot in the Indian team,” saysY. Venugopala Rao, who announced his retirementfrom all forms of cricket onTuesday.

‘No regrets’“I have no regrets and clearly enjoyed my long career,for which I am grateful to theAndhra Cricket Association,” he told The Hindu onTuesday.

“Coming from such asmall place like Gajuwaka inVisakhapatnam and goingon to play for the country isa journey I will cherish forever,” he said.

“I am also grateful to theIPL franchise owners of Dec

can Chargers, SunrisersHyderabad and Delhi Daredevils for giving me that kindof platform and especially toV.V.S. Laxman who is like myelder brother,” he said.

He also said he owed a lotin his career to MRF, Chennai.

“At MRF I had the chanceto face some of the best fastbowlers in the nets and thathelped me improve as a batsman,” he said.

“And, I am still associatedwith MRF even after two decades and am really gratefulto them,” he said.

“One day it (cricketing career) had to come to an end.Right now, I’m not sure whatI can do postretirement.”

Double ton against EnglandAthe highlight: VenugopalaThanks IPL franchises that vested faith in his abilities

v.v. subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD

Prajnesh Gunneswaran beatJohn Millman of Australia64, 16, 62 in the fi��rst roundof the $858,565 ATP tennistournament here.

However, in doubles prequarterfi��nals, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Purav Rajawere beaten 63, 63 by Gregoire Barrere and LucasPuille of France.

In the ITF women’s eventin Thailand, Rutuja Bhosalecruised into the prequarterfi��nals with a 64, 61 victoryover Tamachan Momkoonthod of Thailand.The results: $858,565 ATP, Los Cabos,Mexico: Singles (fi��rst round):Prajnesh Gunneswaran bt JohnMillman (Aus) 64, 16, 62. Doubles (prequarterfi��nals):Gregoire Barrere & LucasPouille (Fra) bt Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan & Purav Raja 63,63. $135,400 Challenger, Cheng

du, China: Singles (fi��rst round):Toshihide Matsui (Jpn) bt Manish Sureshkumar 76(5), 64.

Doubles (prequarterfi��nals):Arjun Kadhe & Saketh Myneniw/o Blake Ellis (Aus) & BrydanKlein (GBr).

$25,000 ITF, Nonthaburi,Thailand:

Men: Doubles (prequarterfi��nals): Niki Poonacha & AbhinavSanjeev Shanmugam bt Yuttana Charoenphon & Charles Roberts (Tha) 46, 76(5), [119].

Women: Singles (fi��rst round):Rutuja Bhosale bt TamachanMomkoonthod (Tha) 64, 61.

Prajnesh in second roundINDIANS ABROAD

Sports Bureau

Los Cabos (Mexico)

HCL international bridge championship NEW DELHI

The 17th HCL international

bridge championship, offering

a total prize of ₹��1.8 crore, will

be staged at the JW Marriott

Hotel in Aerocity from August

5 to 10.

About 170 teams are

expected to compete in the

championship this year,

including 15 international

teams. India had won the

Commonwealth

Championship gold apart

from the Asian Games bronze

last year.

Olympic champion Abhinav

Bindra will be the chief guest

for the prize presentation.

Sherco TVS’ Metge winsBaja Aragon rallyTERUEL (SPAIN)

Sherco TVS Rally Factory

Team’s Michael Metge

continued his strong form on

day two to win the 36th

edition of Baja Aragon. This is

the second time the Sherco

TVS Rally Factory team has

won the Baja Aragon rally.

Michael’s teammates Lorenzo

and Harith finished fourth

and seventh respectively.

Aishwarya Pissay came in fifth

in the Baja women’s category.

cdn.splessons.com...wnesday, july 31, 2019ed Delhi City Edition 22 pagesO 10.00 P atrinted .Chennai...

Documents

Transcript of cdn.splessons.com...wnesday, july 31, 2019ed Delhi City Edition 22 pagesO 10.00 P atrinted .Chennai...