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www.thehindu.in Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 6 No. 226 CITY EDITION 24 Pages Rs. 8.00
Printed at Chennai, Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Madurai, Noida, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Vijayawada, Mangaluru, Tiruchirapalli, Kolkata, Hubballi, Mohali, Allahabad, Malappuram and Mumbai
From 1 to 500, in 84 years
BRIEFLY
Sharif seeks probe

into Kashmir killings
Dance bars without

liquor is absurd: SC
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court
on Wednesday said a new
Maharashtra law prohibiting
liquor in dance bars was
absurd, absolutely arbitrary
and indicative of the States
mentality, which is regressive
by centuries. But the State
argued that it had the right to
ban liquor at any spot of its
choice.
NATION | PAGE 9
Pakistan ready
for sustained
talks with India,
he says at U.N.
Sainis appointment as
DERC chief scrapped
NEW DELHI: Lieutenant-Governor
Najeeb Jung on Wednesday
scrapped the appointment of
Krishna Saini as chairperson of
the Delhi Electricity Regulatory
Commission (DERC) on grounds
of serious legal infirmities.
CITY PAGE 4
As India plays its 500th Test match in Kanpur from Thursday, here is a photograph of the squad that played the first
Test at Lords in England from June 25-28, 1932. (Sitting on the ground, from left) J. Naomal, S.H.M. Colah and N.D.
Marshall. (Sitting, on chairs, from left) S. Wazir Ali, C.K. Nayudu (Captain), Maj. Ricketts (manager), Maharaja of
Porbunder Natwarsinhji Bhavsinhji (tour captain), Prince Ghanshyam Sinhji (vice-captain), S. Nazir Ali and S. Joginder
Singh. (Standing) Lall Singh, P.E. Palia, M. Jehangir Khan, M. Nissar, L. Amar Singh, D.E. Kapadia, S.R. Godambe, Ghulam
Mohamed and J.G. Navle. PHOTO: THE HINDU ARCHIVES (REPORT ON PAGE 17)
Kejriwal named in job scam FIR

STAFF REPORTER
HC stays ED summons
to Nalini Chidambaram
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court
on Wednesday directed the ED
to keep in abeyance the
summons issued to Nalini
Chidambaram, wife of P.
Chidambaram, under the
Prevention of Money Laundering
Act. Ms. Chidambaram opposed
the summons issued by the ED
for receiving Rs. 1 crore from
Saradha Realty India Limited,
which is stuck in the Saradha
Chit Fund scam.
NATION | PAGE 9
METROPLUS
4 Pages
Raking up
Kashmir at the U.N., Pakistan
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
on Wednesday glorified
slain Hizbul commander
Burhan Wani as a young
leader even as he expressed
readiness for a "serious and
sustained dialogue" with India for peaceful resolution of
all outstanding disputes, especially
Jammu
and
Kashmir.
Mr. Sharif devoted much
of his 20-minute speech at
the UN General Assembly
session to Kashmir and the
current situation in the Valley and said Pakistan fully
supports the demand of the
Kashmiri
people
for
self-determination.
UNITED NATIONS:
New Delhi: An FIR filed

against Delhi Commission
for Women chairperson
Swati Maliwal, over her alleged involvement in a
recruitment scam, also
mentions Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal as an accused. However, there is no
mention of his role.
Mr. Kejriwal, who interacted with the media for
the first time after his
throat surgery last week,
said the ACB had registered an FIR against him
on the directions of PM
Narendra Modi in connection with the alleged irregularities in DCW.
How can they name me
Arvind Kejriwal
without my role in it? Or
has it become so easy for
any agency to file a case
against the Chief Minister.
It is clear that the FIR has
the PMs nod, he said.
Meanwhile, ACB chief
Centre decides to do away

with separate rail budget
MK Meena said: His name

has featured in the list of
suspects because the complainant had made allegations against him but he is
not an accused as of now.
The ACB acting on Congress Barkha Shukla Singh
complaint in which she
claimed that 85 people who
are AAP members and
workers were hired by the
DCW without advertising
for the post had registered
the FIR.
DCW chief Swati Maliwal has refuted the charge.
Vehemently denying the
charges, Ms. Maliwal had
said that she was following
the same recruitment procedure
as
her
predecessors.
We
recruited acid attack survivors and women from

Nari Niketan. If this is nepotism, then I am willing to
go to jail, she said.
But the Delhi government is planning to hold a
Special Assembly Session
to discuss the FIR and
other incidents.
We will soon call a Special Session of the Delhi
Assembly where we will
expose the conspiracy behind this, the Delhi CM
told reporters.
Through the Assembly,
this country needs to know
what is happening with us
[AAP], he said.
SEE ALSO PAGE 4
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: India on Wednes-
day asked Pakistan to end the

persistent and growing violation of its 2004 undertaking not to let its territory be
used by terrorists, even as
Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar said the government was serious about punishing perpetrators of the
Sunday attack on the Uri
Army camp.
The attack in Uri only underlines the fact that the infrastructure of terrorism in
Pakistan remains active. We
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: With the ambition
hikes would now become

routine ones taken any time
during the course of a year
without as much public
glare, said an oicial.
BUDGET PROCESS TO BE
OVER BY APRIL 1; NO DIVIDEND

TO GOVERNMENT | PAGE 12
in Lutyens Delhi, where the

Prime Minister of India
resides, will now be called
Lok Kalyan Marg.
The decision was taken
in the New Delhi Municipal
Council (NDMC) meeting
on Wednesday, which was
attended by Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal and BJP
MP
Meenakshi
Lekhi
among other members.
Once the notification is
issued, the PMs residential
address, 7, Race Course
Road, will be known as 7,
Lok Kalyan Marg.
Addressing a press conference after the meeting,
Mr Kejriwal said he had
earlier proposed that Race
Course Road be renamed
after Guru Gobind Singh.
He is not just a Sikh Guru
but every one follows him.
He was great saint, Mr
Kejriwal said, justifying his
proposal.
I had proposed renaming of the road after Guru
NEW ADDRESS: Race Course Road on which the Prime Ministers

residence is located will be renamed as Lok Kalyan Marg.
PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA
Govind Singh while Ms.

Lekhi said it should be renamed Ekatma Marg. I suggested that the PM should
be consulted on this and
both proposals to be sent to
him. But the council members decided that on the
basis of suggestions received from the public, the
road should be renamed
Lok Kalyan Marg, the
Delhi CM said.
It was also decided that
Karnataka decides not to release water till Sept. 23

BENGALURU: Armed with

consensus
from
major
parties in the State, the
Karnataka
Cabinet
on
Wednesday decided not to
implement the Supreme
Courts directive to release
Cauvery water till SeptemCM
YK
ber 23, when a special session of the legislature will be

convened to take a call on the
issue.
The decision, which sets
the stage for a confrontation
with the court, was taken by
the Cabinet after an all-party
meeting advised the government not to release water to
resolution of the Kashmir

dispute, Mr. Sharif said Indian brutalities [in Kashmir]
are well documented and
that Pakistan would share
with the Secretary General
evidence of violations of human rights in J&K. PTI
INDIA IMPOSING
CONDITIONS | PAGE 13
Keep promise on containing

terrorists, India tells Pakistan
NEW DELHI: Race Course Road
Mr. Jaitley told a media conference after the meeting.

Oicials said the reform
was intended to deglamorise the Railways portfolio
and discourage the leveraging of the Rail Budget for
handing out largesse to vote
banks. Decisions like fare
He demanded an independent inquiry into the extra-judicial killings" and a

U.N. fact-finding mission to
Kashmir so that those guilty
of these atrocities are
punished.
Insisting that peace and
normalisation
between
Pakistan and India cannot be
achieved
without
a
Pakistan High Commissioner

Abdul Basit. FILE PHOTO:
SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
demand that Pakistan lives

up to its public commitment
to refrain from supporting
and sponsoring terrorism
against India, the Ministry

of External Afairs said after
Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit was
summoned by Foreign
Secretary S. Jaishankar.
If the Government of
Pakistan wishes to investigate these cross-border attacks, India is ready to
provide finger prints and
DNA samples of terrorists
killed in the Uri and Poonch
incidents, the spokesperson
said.
RECOVERY OF ITEMS
CITED | PAGE 13
Race Course Road renamed Lok Kalyan Marg
PUJA MEHRA
of putting an end to the populism that had come to be associated with it in the last
few decades, the Union
Cabinet has decided to bring
the curtains down on the 92year-old tradition of presenting a separate Rail Budget. It
has been decided to merge
the Rail Budget and the General Budget.
Consequently,
Railway
Minister Suresh Prabhu will
not present it for the year
2017-18. Instead, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley will
present a unified budget.
The decision, taken on the
recommendation of a NITI
Aayog committee headed by
its member Bibek Debroy, reflects the decrease over time
in the relative size of the Rail
Budget compared to some of
the other components in the
General Budget, such as defence and roads & highways,
reducing it to a mere ritual,
DISCUSSING STRATEGY: Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif confers with

an adviser as U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the U.N.
General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. PHOTO: AFP
Tamil Nadu because it might

result in drinking water
shortage. The court on Tuesday directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs a day to
Tamil Nadu from September
21 to 27.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who chaired the allparty meeting and the
Cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening, said: Following

the advice by the all-party
meeting, the Cabinet has resolved to defer the water release till September 23.
While the principal Opposition BJP abstained from
the all-party meeting as it
said it had lost faith in the
State government, party

State president B.S. Yeddyurappa
welcomed
the
Cabinets decision.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
MANAGING THE CAUVERY
DISPUTE EDITORIAL
the roundabout at Gurudwara Rakabganj near Parliament be renamed Guru Gobind Singh Chowk. We had
received recommendations
from the Sikh community
and the decision was taken, Mr Kejriwal said.
The suggestions from Mr
Kejriwal come even as the
Aam Aadmi Party is pulling
out all the stops to contest
the Punjab elections next
year and is desperately
wooing
the
Sikh
community.
On Tuesday, BJP MP
from
New
Delhi,
Meenakshi Lekhi, who is
also a member of the
NDMC, had proposed renaming Race Course Road
as Ekatma Marg, based on
the philosophy of the
partys ideologue Pandit
Deendayal Upadhyay. But
the proposal was not
accepted.
Speaking to The Hindu,
Ms Lekhi claimed that even
though her proposal on
Ekatma Marg got wide support, it was she who proposed the name Lok Kalyan
Marg.
After my suggestion to
rename Race Course Road
as Ekatma Marg was widely
reported, I got calls from
people across the country.
They suggested renaming it
as Lok Kalyan, which
means the same as Ekatma
and the words are simple.
But Mr Kejriwal is trying to
take the credit, the MP
said.
She said Mr. Kejriwal,

eyeing the Punjab elections, wanted it to be renamed Guru Gobind Singh
Marg and asked for Mr.
Modis suggestions as the
PM had allocated Rs. 100
crore for the birth centenary of the Sikh Guru.
I informed them in the
meeting that a road by the
same name is already there
in Delhi near Malviya
Nagar and it cannot be
done. Then Mr Kejriwal
suggested that let the PM
decide. But democracy
works under law. The
power to rename road rests
with NDMC and even the
PM cannot change it, she
said. Last year, as per
NDMC records, it was on
Ms. Lekhis proposal that
Aurangzeb Road was renamed Dr. APJ Abdul
Kalam Road.
NDMC
chairperson
Naresh Kumar said it was a
unanimous decision to
change the name of Race
Course Road to Lok Kalyan
Marg.
Jet Airways employee kills self, husband held

STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: A woman employee
of Jet Airways allegedly committed suicide by hanging

herself at home in South
Delhi's Chhatarpur Enclave
area on Tuesday evening.
Her parents have blamed
her husband and in-laws for
pressing her to take a loan in
http://facebook.com/groups/akankshasuccessacademy/
her
name,leaving
her
stressed and depressed.
A senior police oicer said
the
woman's
husband,
Tarun, has been arrested and
a case of dowry death registered at the Mehrauli police station.
The deceased, Bharti
Sharma, was employed as a
ground staf with the air-
lines. She married Tarun in

February this year and the
couple lived in Birla Farms in
the Chhatarpur Enclave area.
Tarun
found
Bharti
hanging from a ceiling fan
using her chuni when he returned home from work
around 7 pm on Tuesday.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
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CITY
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016
What happens to deleted data: HC asks WhatsApp
Cow vigilante groups spreading discord in Mewat
Messaging service tells High Court that on deletion of

account, data is no longer retained on its servers Page 4
A CPI(M) delegation visited region to assess the situation

after the Mewat gangrape and double murder Page 4
BUZZING PROBLEM
NGT pulls up govt, civic bodies for disease outbreak

What were you doing for two months? Looks like you have no action plan, says Tribunal
BINDU SHAJAN PERAPPADAN
The National
Green Tribunal (NGT) on
Wednesday pulled up the
Delhi government and the
civic bodies for their failure
to implement strong measures to control mosquitobreeding and check the
spread of chikungunya and
dengue.
NEW DELHI:
Overall number of cases of seasonal viral fever down in Gurgaon

ASHOK KUMAR
GURGAON: Even as the
overall number of cases

of seasonal viral fever
have gone down over the
past couple of days in
Gurgaon, the number of
dengue patients has gone
up. Eleven new dengue
cases have been reported
in Gurgaon in less than a
week taking the total to 61
cases.
Blind eye
What were you doing
for two months? Looks like
you have no action plan. Everyone in Delhi is getting
sick. You cannot turn a
blind eye. Why dont the
MCDs, the Delhi Development
Authority
(DDA), the Delhi government and the NDMC sit together and make an action
plan, the NGT said.
Committee
The green court also
ordered the formation of a
district-level committee, to
be headed by deputy commissioner MCD zone, to
check all preventive measures being taken by oicials on the ground and submit a report within 15 days.
The National Green
Tribunal has asked the oicials concerned to appear
before it next Wednesday to
Spike in dengue cases

in Millennium City
MOSQUITO MENACE: Patients suffering from dengue and chikungunya under treatment at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the
Capital. FILE PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
review the administrative
steps taken to tackle the two
diseases.
It said the Delhi governments chief secretary,
MCD commissioners, vice-
chairman of the DDA,

NDMC representatives and
Director General Health
Services, Delhi would be
part of the committee
constituted by the court.
Meanwhile, the Supreme

Court has decided to hear a
plea filed by a doctor seeking proper steps to be taken
by the government to stop
the spread of chikungunya,
dengue and malaria.

As per reports, chikungunya and dengue have
claimed at least 34 lives and
afected close to 4,000 people so far this year.
Confirmed cases
We have 61 confirmed
cases of dengue in
Gurgaon 48 from the
city and 13 from
neighbouring areas,
Gurgaon Chief Medical
Oicer Pushpa Bishnoi
told The Hindu.
Ms. Bishnoi added that
the number of patients
with high fever and joint
pains had gone down
significantly over the past
two days.
Earlier we were
attending to 400-500
patients of chikungunya
in the OPD every day, but
the number has gone
down to 200-300 a day.
And there were very few
patients in the evening
OPD today [on
Wednesday] being
specially run to deal with
the rush of fever
patients, said Ms.
Bishnoi.
Meanwhile, Dr. Rajesh
Kumar, senior consultant
of internal medicine at
Paras Hospitals, said that
the number of dengue
patients had gone up in
the hospital. Of the total
number of patients,
around 85 per cent had
chikungunya and 15 per
cent had dengue. But now
the share of dengue
patients has gone up to

25-30 per cent and the
trend is likely to continue
in the days to come, said
Mr. Kumar
Another private
hospital doctor said that
dengue cases could
record a sharp increase in
the weeks to come due to
the delayed monsoon this
year.
Shortage of beds
Hospitals in the
Millennium City have
witnessed an
unprecedented inflow of
patients with complaints
of high fever and joint
pain, causing shortage of
beds and forcing the
doctors and nurses to
work extra hours to
tackle the workload.
Ms. Bishnoi said that
five vans had been
flagged of on Tuesday to
create awareness among
the residents in urban
areas in Gurgaon.
President calls upon young doctors to improve healthcare

NEW DELHI: Concerned over
the spurt in dengue and

chikungunya
cases,
President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday urged
young doctors to strive to
overcome the deficiencies
in the healthcare system so
that such vector-borne diseases become a thing of the
past.
Noting that the ratio of
doctors in the country is far
less in comparison to international standards, especially in the rural areas, Mr.
Mukherjee said that the co-
operation of young doctors

will help the government
build
better
health
infrastructure.
Recalling his years of
growing up in his native
West Bengal, Mr. Mukherjee, while speaking at the
centenary celebrations and
convocation
of
Lady
Hardinge Medical College,
said he witnessed villages
falling prey to epidemics like
cholera, small pox, tuberculosis and plague.
Invariably I used to see
ads in railway stations and in
every post oice issued by

the public health department reading: Be careful of
mosquitoes mosquitoes
are the death symbol. It was
so prevalent, he said.
Of course a new situation
has emerged. Old diseases
are no longer prevailing.
Due care has been taken to
remove them from society.
Medical
research
and
science has made substantial contribution. But at the
same time, we have to face
new problems. I request you
(young doctors) to always
Flying squads to ensure

proper conduct of exams
Tests will be conducted between September 19 and October 4, 2018
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: To improve the
learning levels of children

studying in Classes VI to IX
in
Delhi
government
schools, the Directorate of
Educations Chunauti 2018
mission seeks to ensure that
the first semester-end examinations is an efective tool of
assessment.
Separate question papers
To be conducted between
September 19 and October 4,
the examination will have
separate question papers set
for Nishtha and Pratibha
groups of students from
The DoEs 17 flying

squads will check for
effective enforcement
and zero-tolerance
towards cheating
Classes VI to VIII. Regular
classes are being held along
with the exams for Vishwas
group of students from Class
IX.
Centralised inspection
The Directorate of Education has constituted 17 flying
squads during examinations
to checking efective implementation and enforcement
of zero-tolerance towards
cheating.
The Department has identified 127 schools for centralised inspection.
Since the examinations
began on September 19, 220
inspections have been carried out to ensure orderly
conduct of examinations.
The Director of Education
addressed all heads of school
to explain Chunauti 2018
during its launch and emphasised on the need to focus on bringing the children
lagging in academics to a level where they can read and
write
fluently
and
efortlessly
CINEMA
ENGLISH:
THE SHALLOWS: PVR (Anupam,
Sangam, Naraina, City Walk,
Shalimar Bagh, Vasant Kunj), DT
(Noida), Movie Time (Raja
Garden), BIG (Kaushambi),
Satyam (Patel Nagar, Nehru
Place), Spice (Noida).
HINDI:
PINK: (New Release: Amitabh
Bachchan, Tapsee Pannu, Piyush
Mishra): Amba, Delite, Cinemax,
G3S (Rohini), Eros One, Batra
Reels, PVR (Plaza, Rivoli, Priya,
Saket, City Walk, Naraina,
Vikaspuri, Prashant Vihar, EDM,
Mahagun, Opulent), M2K
(Rohini, Pitampura), FUN
(Pitampura, Moti Nagar, Laxmi
Nagar, Karkardooma), DT (Saket,
Shalimar Bagh, Vasant Kunj),
Movie Time (Pitampura, Raja
Garden), Satyam (Patel Nagar,
Nehru Place, Janakpuri), BIG
(Odeon, Vaishali, Kaushambi,
Noida), Wave (Raja Garden,
Noida, Kaushambi), SRS
Cinemas, Spice (Noida), JAM
Shipra, M4U, Galaxie, Star X
(Vaishali), Movie Palace, Movie
Magic, Chaudhary (Ghaziabad),
Movie World and Silver City
(Ghaziabad), Q Cinemas and Inox
(Faridabad).
RAAZ REBOOT: (New Release:
Emraan Hashmi, Kriti
Kharbanda): Delite, Shiela,
Liberty, Milan, Vishal, Abhishek
CM
YK
Cineplex, Amba, G3S (Rohini),

Cinemax, PVR (Plaza, Rivoli,
Priya, Saket, City Walk, Naraina,
Vikaspuri, Prashant Vihar, EDM,
Mahagun, Opulent), M2K
(Rohini, Pitampura), Movie Time
(Pitampura, Raja Garden), FUN
Satyam (Patel Nagar, Nehru
Place, Janakpuri), BIG (Odeon,
Vaishali, Kaushambi, Noida),
Wave (Raja Garden, Kaushambi,
Noida), SRS Cinemas, Spice
(Noida), JAM Shipra, M4U,
Galaxie, Star X (Vaishali), Movie
Palace, Movie Magic, Chaudhary
(Ghaziabad), Movie World and
Silver City (Ghaziabad), Q
Cinemas and Inox (Faridabad).
THE SHALLOWS: (Hindi: New
Release): Delite Diamond, PVR
(Anupam, Mahagun), Movie
Time (Raja Garden, Pitampura),
BIG (Kaushambi), Spice (Noida).
BAAR BAAR DEKHO: (Katrina
Kaif, Sidharth Malhotra): Eros
One, PVR (Anupam, City Walk,
Naraina, Vikaspuri, Sangam,
EDM, Mahagun), M2K
(Pitampura), DT (Noida), Movie
Time (Pitampura, Raja Garden),
BIG (Odeon, Vaishali,
Kaushambi), Satyam (Patel
Nagar) Spice (Noida), Galaxie.
FREAKY ALI: (Nawazuddin
Siddiqui, Amy Jackson, Arbaaz
Khan, Sohail Khan): G3S (Rohini),
PVR (Saket, City Walk, Naraina,
Vikaspuri, Prashant Vihar, EDM),

M2K (Rohini, Pitampura), DT
(Saket, Shalimar Bagh, Vasant
Kunj), Movie Time (Pitampura,
Raja Garden), Wave (Raja
Garden, Noida, Kaushambi), SRS
Cinemas, Spice (Noida), JAM
Shipra, M4U, Movie Palace,
Movie Magic, Movie World and
Silver City (Ghaziabad), SRS
Cinemas, Star X (Vaishali), Inox
and Silver City (Faridabad).
AKIRA: (Sonakshi Sinha,
Konkona Sen Sharma, Anurag
Kashyap, Amit Sadh): G3S
(Rohini), PVR (City Walk,
Naraina, Vikaspuri, Prashant
Vihar, EDM, Mahagun), M2K
(Rohini, Pitampura), FUN
Movie Time (Pitampura, Raja
Garden), BIG (Odeon, Vaishali,
Kaushambi, Noida), Satyam
(Patel Nagar, Nehru Place,
Janakpuri), Wave (Raja Garden,
Pitampura), Spice (Noida), SRS
Cinemas, JAM Shipra, M4U,
Galaxie, Star X (Vaishali), Movie
Palace, Movie Magic, Chaudhary
(Ghaziabad), Movie World and
Silver City (Ghaziabad), Q
Cinemas and Inox (Faridabad).
(BOOKING ENQUIRIES: PVR
51513391; Spice Gold
012043890000; Satyam
Cinemas 25797385; Delite
23272903; Wave 51832222)
keep in mind certain basic

facts our deficiencies. It is
on your young shoulders to
substantially meet that deficiency, Mr. Mukherjee said.
More doctors needed
The President said India
has one doctor per 1,700
people against international
standard ratio of one doctor
per 1,000 and the situation is
more alarming in rural areas
where the shortage of surgeons is as high as 83.4 per
cent.
He urged the young doc-
tors to regularly focus on

medical facilities away from
the cities, in the smaller
towns and villages.
Talking about the shortage of doctors in rural areas,
Mr. Mukherjee said the
shortage of obstetricians
and gynaecologists is 76.3
per cent, paediatricians 82.1
per cent and general
physicians 83 per cent at the
level of the Community
Health Centres (CHCs).
The overall shortage
translates to 81.2 per cent as
of the year 2015, he said.
Asking doctors to be consistently sensitive and empathetic towards the patients, the President said it is
this attitude that should always guide them, before the
drugs and medicines prescribed by them begin to
give their required efect.
While clinical detachment is certainly required,
this detachment should not
lead to taking monetary advantage of a patient and his
family who have entrusted
their lives in the doctors
hands with full faith. PTI
HONOUR: President Pranab Mukherjee with a meritorious

student during the centenary convocation of Lady Hardinge
Medical College on Wednesday. Union Health Minister J. P.
Nadda is also present. PHOTO: PTI
There is political democracy,

but no social democracy
The BAPSA has emerged as a critical force in student politics at Jawaharlal Nehru University
JAIDEEP DEO BHANJ
NEW DELHI: The Ambedkar
Study Circle of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)

Delhi organised a discussion
titled Counter Current in
Indian Campus Politics on
Wednesday, in which the rise
of the Birsa Ambedkar Phule
Students
Association
(BAPSA) as a force to reckon
with in the recently-conducted Jawaharlal Nehru University Students University
(JNUSU) elections.
Soumyabrata Choudhary,
the Associate Professor,
School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU, said BAPSA as an
organisation has emerged
not just as a critical force in
student politics but an electoral force noticed by the
world outside JNU as well.
He opined that BAPSA, with
its impressive show in
JNUSU elections, shows that
there is an ongoing social
revolution
in
campus
politics that is an egalitarian
revolution.
Terrible politics
In the light of the February
9 incident, the professor said
the outcome of an event that
happened due to terrible
politics was that there was
an internal critique of the
university and JNU opened
up itself to the outside world.
Prof. Choudhary felt the
reason BAPSA did well in the
elections was that while
other traditional parties on
campus were busy concentrating on the threat to campus, the social subject of
equality
on
campus
emerged. He added that
BAPSA, with logic and
reason, managed to reach
out to not only to those who
they would traditionally
COUNTER CURRENT: It was felt that the reason BAPSA did well in the JNUSU elections was
because it reached out to many using logic and reason while other traditional parties were
busy concentrating on the threat to the campus. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
reach out to but also to those
that who did not associate
themselves with politics.
Ambedkarite voices
Bhupali Magare, a research scholar at JNU and
president of BAPSA at the
university, said both Leftleaning and Right-leaning
parties on campus across the
country have a common understanding
to
reject
Ambedkarite voices and do
not let Dalit, bahujan or adivasi voices speak on campus.
It is only after the Mandal
agitation, she said, that the
issue of oppressed classes
came to the fore on campus.
When most of us enter
JNU, we are above 21 years.
We see that there is political
democracy, but no social democracy, which makes us in-
trospect and wonder such a

situation exists, she added.
Sharing from her own experience,
the
research
scholar said students coming from rural backgrounds
or from a particular section
of society are harassed, discriminated against and
picked on across the country
on campus by students and
teachers and that it is organisations like the BAPSA
that are addressing such
problems and working for
change by strengthening the
discourse.
Caste prejudices
Bansidhar Deep, research
scholar at JNU, spoke about
caste prejudices on campus
and how it is because of a
strong discourse about discrimination that many
voices have come to the fore

to make it something that is
discussed in public. He added that students have come
together to organise themselves to solve their own
problems forming a counter
current in campus challenging the left and right.
Discrimination
On campus, students
from diferent demographies
study together and discrimination manifests in every
campus. However, students
facing discrimination have
now started asserting themselves and joining politics
not as a stepping stone to
mainstream politics but to
organise themselves to fight
solve their problems and ensure that no anti student
policies are made.
Sulabh school
sanitation club
holds global meet
DEEKSHA TERI
NEW DELHI: Sulabh school san-
itation club on Wednesday

organised a multinational
conference titled Breaking
Boundaries: Childrens Vision Towards Sanitation.
The conference saw participation by students from
six SAARC countries and
guest country South Africa.
The event was attended by
over 800 students from all
over India.
Union Minister for Rural
Development and Drinking
Water and Sanitation Narendra Singh Tomar and MP
Dilip Tirkey were also
present. This club was
launched here in July 2004.
Sulabh
International
founder Bindeshwar Pathak
said: This conference is a
platform for young bright
minds from seven countries
to come together and discuss
the problems of sanitation
and hygiene, and come up
with innovative solutions to
tackle this crisis.
Around 2.5 billion people
across the world lack access
to basic sanitation facilities,
of which nearly 40 per cent
are below the age of 18 years.
According to latest figures received on Tuesday, 21
districts have become open
defecation-free, said Mr. Tomar.
A major problem after
open defecation is that of
poor menstrual hygiene.
Many girls still stick to conventional methods and menstruation is still considered a
taboo in rural areas.
So far, 174 clubs in 12 States,
and six clubs in Nepal and
Bhutan have been set up.
About 6, 500 school children
in more than 200 schools
have been trained in school
sanitation and hygiene education, and menstrual health.
(The writer is an intern
with The Hindu)
ND-ND
|3
CITY
NOIDA/DELHI
D E L H I
Sep 22, Thu
Sep 23, Fri
Sep 24, Sat
RISE 06 10 SET 18 18
RISE 06 10 SET 18 16
RISE 06 11 SET 18 15
RISE 22 57 SET 11 50
RISE 23 52 SET 12 49
RISE 00 00 SET 13 45
AAPS WOES
Notorious Gurgaon gangster shot dead
Okhla MLA arrested

in molestation case
ASHOK KUMAR
GURGAON: In yet another
Amanatullah Khan held three days after he offered to surrender

STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party
MLA Amanatullah Khan was

arrested on Wednesday in
connection with a molestation case registered against
him following a complaint by
a woman relative.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South
East)-I Rajeev Ranjan said
that Mr Khan was arrested
and produced in court,
which sent him to one-day
police custody. This is the
second time in the past three
months that Mr Khan has
been arrested in a molestation case.
Police cite evidence
The Okhla MLA was
called to the Deputy Commissioner of Polices Oice
and was subsequently arrested. came here at DCP office, Sarita Vihar for general
discussion. But they have arrested me, he tweeted.
This is the second

time in the past
three months that
the MLA has been
arrested in a
molestation case
case of suspected intergang rivalry, notorious

gangster Mahesh alias
Attack was shot dead by
unidentified men near
Jharsa Chowk on the
Delhi-Gurgaon
Expressway late on
Wednesday night.
Inter-gang rivalry?
According to the police,
Mahesh was walking
towards his car from a
roadside eatery around 10
p.m. when unidentified
men in an SUV opened fire
at him.
He sustained multiple
injuries and was declared
brought dead at a hospital.
He had come to the eatery
with his gang members.
While the others had come

out before him and got into
the car, he was a few steps
behind, said Deputy
Commissioner of Police
(East) Deepak Saharan.
Mahesh, a resident of
Jharsa village, was wanted
in several cases of murder
and robbery.
Commissioner of Police
(Gurgaon) Sandeep
Khirwar said that it was a
suspected case of intergang rivalry.
As of now, it seems to
be a case of inter-gang
rivalry. The matter is
being investigated, said
Mr. Khirwar.
Previous incidents
Gurgaon is not new to
inter-gang rivalry with six
major active gangs often
attacking each other to
Mahesh alias Attack,

a resident of Jharsa
village, was wanted
in several cases of
murder and robbery
establish supremacy.
In July last year,
unidentified men had
opened fire on Rakesh
Hayatpur on the busy
Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road in
broad daylight.
While Rakesh managed
to escape unhurt, an autorickshaw driver sustained
a bullet injury and was
killed.
Though no arrests have
been made in the case so
far, the police suspects the
involvement of Mahesh
alias Attacks gang.
In another incident,
FRESH TROUBLE: Amanatullah Khan was produced in court,

which sent him to one-day police custody. FILE PHOTO
The arrest comes three
days after Mr. Khan visited
the Jamia Nagar police station and ofered to surrender
himself. The police had,
however, declined this saying that they were waiting for
more evidence.
Mr. Ranjan said that the
MLA was arrested as since
more evidence had come up
now.
Supporters call for justice
Mr. Khan, who has maintained all through that he is
being framed, was on Sunday
joined by a large number of
supporters who demanded
justice for their MLA.
They carried placards
with his picture and held
Spurned man was

awaiting chance to kill
ASHOK KUMAR
banners of Main bhi

Amanat hun. Mujhe giraftaar karo (I am also Amanat.
Arrest me). Women supporters, too, came out in large
numbers.
A case under sections
354(A)(sexual harassment),
506
(punishment
for
criminal intimidation), 509
(word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a
woman), 120B (punishment
of criminal conspiracy) and
498 A (husband or relative of
husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of the IPC
has registered against the
MLA and the husband of the
woman relative who is purportedly the victim in the
case.
In-laws of AIIMS
doctor arrested
BINDU SHAJAN PERAPPADAN
SHUBHOMOY SIKDAR
GURGAON: A 32-year-old deputy store manager,

who allegedly shot at a woman at point-blank
range earlier this week, had been awaiting an
opportunity to kill her for over a fortnight.
The woman, who had refused to marry
him, escaped unhurt after the bullet hit her
locket and ricocheted.
The accused, Ashok, who is in jail, reportedly told the police that he had decided
to kill Nidhi (name changed) after their relationship went sour earlier this month.
Victim had broken up with him

He went to Allahabad on September 8 and
procured a country-made pistol for a few
thousands rupees. He had been looking for
an opportunity. He finally managed to convince her to meet him near a metro pillar in
Sector 55 on Monday evening, where he shot
at her at point-blank range. But the bullet hit
the locket, said Investigation Oicer, SubInspector Babu Lal.
Ashok, a resident of Pataudi in Gurgaon,
was caught by passers-by and handed over to
the police. He, however, told the police during interrogation that he would get married
to Nidhi.
Nidhi, who is from Kolkata, was in a relationship with Ashok for over six months before she found out that he was involved with
another woman. Her parents, meanwhile,
were looking for a match for her - a fact that
enraged Ashok further. He decided to kill
Nidhi after she broke up with him and refused to marry him.
The two had first met earlier this year
when Nidhi had gone to an electronics store
in a shopping mall on Mehrauli-Gurgaon
Road. The accused was deputy manager at
the store.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police has arrested
the parents-in-law of Ritu Bangoti, an

anaesthetist at the All India Institute of
Medical Sciences Trauma Centre here, in
connection with her death at her
residence in IP Extension last week.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (East)
Rishi Pal said Ghanshyam Singh and
Leena Bangoti, parents of Ritus husband
Brijesh Bangoti were arrested on
Tuesday night.
Brijesh, a pilot with Air India, was
arrested earlier in the dowry harassment
case that was registered after Ritus
family accused her in-laws of torture.
Colleagues initiate online petition
Doctors from Lady Hardinge Medical
College, meanwhile, have initiated an
online petition against the practice of
demanding dowry.
Dr. Bangoti, took her life by injecting a
fluid, the police said. She got married to
Brajesh on May 5, 2013. The couple have
a two year-old daughter.
Ritus father, D.S. Bhandari, said she
was threatened by her in-laws and
harassed for dowry, despite being given
Rs. 6 lakh.
Ritus in-laws had not spoken to her
in a month and did not let her meet her
daughter. They alleged she was
neglecting her household
responsibilities due to her job, said
Bhandari.
Ritus brother Vinod Bhandari, too,
said she often complained of
mistreatment.
BURARI HORROR
DCW notice
to Delhi Police
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Commis-
sion for Women (DCW) on

Wednesday issued a notice to
the Delhi Police over the
death a 22-year-old woman
who was stabbed nearly 30
times by her stalker in broad
daylight.
The notice came after
DCW Chief Swati Maliwal
met the deceased womans
family. According to the
family, the victim had complained against the accused
in May but no action had
been taken against him.
I met the mother and
other family members of the
woman. They have alleged
that she had submitted a
written complaint against the
accused at Burari Police Station in the first week of May,
said the notice issued to Joint
Commissioner of Police Sanjay Singh.
However, it is alleged that
the police did not take any action against the culprit, as the
father of the man is a retired
Delhi Police oicer and he
used his clout to prevent any
action against his son. This
inaction further emboldened
the man to carry out the heinous act, it added.
Karuna, who was a teacher,
was stabbed to death on
Tuesday by 34-year-old
Surender Singh as passers-by
looked on in north Delhis
Burari. PTI
Hurt ego led to brutal attack

on 22-year-old school teacher
SHIV SUNNY
NEW DELHI: It was Surender
Singhs hurt ego that allegedly

prompted him to murder 22year-old Karuna in north Delhis Burari on Tuesday, the police said.
Surender reportedly told
the police that he warned
Karuna of physical harm, moments before he stabbed her
with a pair of scissors around
30 times, but that the threat
failed to scare her.
The victim told her that all
he did was to threaten her
with physical violence, an investigator told The Hindu, a
day after the gory assault,
which was captured by a
CCTV camera. Surender allegedly saw this as a challenge and pulled out a pair of
scissors. The accused has
claimed that he always carried the scissors with him. He
has not explained why, said
Madhur Verma, DCP (North).
More details of the meeting
between the killer and the victim at the GTB Nagar metro
station, around an hour before the assault, have surfaced. Surender told the police that on Monday he got to
know about Karuna sharing
some pictures with a male
friend.
Surender who has claimed
to be in a relationship with
IN GRIEF: The family of the victim mourns the loss. FILE PHOTO
Karuna between 2012 and
2015, asked her to meet him at
the metro station, said an
investigator.
During their meeting,
Surender allegedly snatched
her mobile, pulled out the
SIM card and threatened her
into sharing the password of
her Facebook Messenger account. Karuna then reportedly excused herself saying that her father had called
her home. Surender, meanwhile, used Karunas SIM
card and password to check
her WhatsApp chats messages and Facebook messenger chats.
The chats revealed that
she was talking to another
youth and sharing personal
pictures, said the investig-
ator quoting the accused.

While these claims are yet
to be verified, the police said
that probe so far had confirmed that the duo was in a
relationship for three years
before Karuna decided to
move away last year, allegedly
because of his violent nature.
The break-up, however,
was not taken well by
Surender who began stalking
Karuna. She was forced to approach the police around five
months ago. However, Karuna withdrew her complaint
after Surenders parents
promised to keep their son
away, said the victims
mother, Rama. Police said the
compromise failed to help
as
Surender
allegedly
continued to stalk Karuna.
Drama precedes Karunas cremation

STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: Drama preceded
Karunas body was taken

to Nigambodh Ghat on
Wednesday for the last rites.
FILE PHOTO
Karunas cremation on
Wednesday after local youth
accompanying the body went
on a rampage.
They damaged property
along the road and even tried
to torch vehicles, but heavy
police deployment in the area prevented the situation
from escalating.
Yet, hundreds of them
managed to stall traic on
one carriageway of the Outer
Ring Road for several
minutes.
The locals, meanwhile,
chanted slogans against the
Delhi Police, and the Delhi
and Central governments.
The slogans were punctuated with calls for death for
the killer and chants of no
one saved Karuna bitiya.
The assault on Tuesday
was witnessed by dozens of
bystanders and passers-by,
but few of them dared to take
on the killer.
Elaborate but quick planning by the police on
Wednesday, who were briefly
DELHI TODAY
Talk: Jana Natya Manch:
Shaping a Pocket (of Resistance), Speakers: Moloyoshree
Hashmi
and
Sudhanva Deshpande at
Seminar Rooms II & III,
Kamaladevi Complex, India
International Centre (IIC),
6:30 p.m.
Dance: Lalit Arpan Festival
2016 - The Nayikas of
Vidyapati - a 15th century
poet, Vasaksajja: Shovana
Narayan
(Kathak),
Virahotkanthita:
Madhavi
Mudgal (Odissi), Swadhinbhratika: Jaya Rama and
Vanashri Rao (Kuchipudi),
Kalahantarita:
Geeta
Chandran (Bharatanatyam)
at The Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre (IHC), 7
p.m.
Paintings: Journey of Passion - solo show of paintings
by Sarnjit Singh at Convention Centre Foyer India
Habitat Centre (IHC), 11 a.m.
7 p.m.
Paintings: Devi, a solo
show
of
paintings
by
Shampa Sircar Das at Shridharani Art Gallery, Triveni
Kala Sangam, 205, Tansen
Marg, Mandi House, 11 a.m. 7 p.m.
Exhibition: In the Realm of
Myths - solo show of paintings, pop-up art and installation by Sankha Banerjee
gangster Sandeep Gadoli

had a fierce face-of with
gangster-turnedcouncillor Virendar Singh
Dayma alias Bindar Gujjar
in an alleged bid to take
over the extortion, betting
and drug traicking
rackets in the city.
Gadoli was later killed in
an alleged encounter with
the Gurgaon Police at a
hotel in Mumbai in
February this year.
However, Gadolis family
has alleged that he was
murdered by the police in
cold-blood at the behest of
Gujjar, who is presently in
jail.
A case has been
registered by the Mumbai
Police in this connection
and four policemen,
among others, have been
arrested so far.
from Kolkata at Art Gallery,

Annexe Building, India International Centre (IIC), 11 a.m.
- 7 p.m.
Exhibition: Soul in Structure - solo exhibition of
paintings by Vidur Bharadwaj at Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre (IHC), 10
a.m. - 8 p.m.
Screening: Spiritual Warriors
(English/2007/99mins)
film screening at Gulmohar
Hall, India Habitat Centre
(IHC), 7 p.m.
Screening: A Peine JOuvre
Les Yeux (As I Open My
Eyes) French film screening with English subtitles at
M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi,
72, Lodhi Estate, 6:30 p.m.
(Mail your listings for this
column
at
cityeditordelhi@thehindu.co.in)
manhandled by the mob, ensured that Karunas body was

loaded onto a truck destined
for the crematorium. Though
the youth tried to stall the
truck, the police managed to
drive it to Nigambodh Ghat
crematorium.
Over the next couple of
hours, the traic police ensured that movement on the
Ring Road returned to normal.
Delhi Commission of
Women chief Swati Maliwal,
meanwhile, met Karunas
family on Wednesday.
Mangolpuri
stalking:
sister of
accused held
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: A day after police
arrested an alleged stalker

for throwing a girl of her
second floor house in outer
Delhis Mangolpuri area, his
sister, too, has been arrested
as an accomplice, said the
police.
The accused, Amit, was
detained on Monday.
A senior police oicer said
that Amits elder sister,
Manju, was arrested following several hours of detention on Tuesday night. Both
Manju and Amit have been
booked for attempt to
murder.
On Monday evening, Amit
and Manju, along with two
others, entered the girls
house. The two others were
another sister of Amit, and a
nephew. They asked her to
either marry Amit or pay Rs.
1 lakh to them. When the girl
went to get water for them,
Amit and Manju allegedly
went up to her and pushed
her of the balcony.
The victim, who was
thrown of the balcony in
front of her mother, had had
an argument with the visitors.
We are trying to locate
the other two as well, said a
police oicer.
Critical but stable
The woman, who is a
beautician has been admitted to Baba Saheb Ambedkar
Hospital where her condition is said to be critical but
stable, said doctors. The
woman had filed a complaint
against the accused just a few
hours before the incident.
The brother of the victim,
meanwhile, said that his sister was out of danger. There
are, however, several fractures, he added.
Cheat arrested
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: A 56-year-old man
who is believed to be involved

in around two dozen
economic ofences-related
crimes in NCR has been arrested by the Crime Branch,
the police said on Wednesday.
The accused, Satish Chaudhary, allegedly cheated people of crores in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh over a period of
several years.
He was wanted by the police in both these States and
had been declared a proclaimed ofender in three
cases registered against him
in Delhi, said Ravindra Yadav,
Joint CP (Crime).
Police said the accused
would particularly target
large factories that had defaulted on loan payments and
were on the verge of being
sold of. He would trick buyers into purchasing those
properties by forging ownership documents.
CITY
4|
POWER TUSSLE
NOIDA/DELHI
FIR AGAINST MALIWAL
L-G scraps appointment of DERC chief

Office of Najeeb Jung says appointment process suffered from serious legal infirmities
ACB adds till now rider while

saying Kejriwal not an accused
Anti-graft unit to quiz DCW chief Swati Maliwal, other officials next week
STAFF REPORTER
L-Gs office says that

since Jung was not
consulted, the entire
process was vitiated
from the start
LieutenantGovernor Najeeb Jung on

Wednesday scrapped the appointment of Krishna Saini
as chairperson of the Delhi
Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) on grounds
of serious legal infirmities.
A former Chief Income
Tax Commissioner, Mr. Saini
was appointed by the AAP
government as head of the
power regulator in March
this year just months after his
retirement in January.
The regulator takes crucial
decisions relating to power
sector including tarifs and
rates.
NEW
DELHI:
New head
Setting aside the appointment and declaring it void ab
initio, the L-Gs oice, in a
statement, said that the AAP
government had been directed to initiate the process for
selection of DERC chairperson immediately, in accordance with law.
As per Section 85 of the
Electricity Act, 2003, the
selection committee is to be
constituted by the State gov-
NULL AND VOID: Krishna Saini (right) was sworn-in as the DERC chief in March. FILE PHOTO
ernment. The power and
functions of the State government have been delegated to
the L-G vide government of
India notification dated February 20, 2004. Further, the
Council of Ministers appointed Mr. Saini as Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission
chairperson without the approval of the L-G, the statement said.

In the given circumstances, the appointment of
DERC chairperson has been
declared as void ab initio,
the statement said.
The statement said that
since the constitution of the

selection committee, which
appointed Mr. Saini, was
done without putting up the
matter to the L-G at any stage
for his views and concurrence the entire appointment process has been vitiated right from the beginning
and sufers from serious legal

infirmities.
The DERC is a statutory
body discharging important
functions and illegalities in
the appointment of chairperson are bound to have legal
and other repercussions, the
statement read.
While appointing Mr.
Saini, the AAP government
had cited a Delhi High Court
order of February 24 saying it
was allowed to go ahead with
his appointment.
The L-G and the AAP government have been at loggerheads over a range of issues
including appointments and
have even been fighting it out
in court.
The Delhi High Court, last
month, had held that the L-G
is the administrative head of
Delhi following which the
AAP government had challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court.
Removal of Saini to prolong headache for discoms

SWETA GOSWAMI
Saini had one of the

shortest tenure as
chairperson of DERC
after being appointed
on March 4 this year
NEW DELHI: With the post of
Delhi Electricity Regulatory

Commissions (DERC) chairperson falling vacant, a host
of decisions on the citys
power sector now hang in
limbo. While government officials said that the process of
appointing a new chief is
likely to take at least two
months, the situation is only
going to worsen the financial
crisis that distribution companies, as well as the Delhi
governments
generation
companies, have been facing.
The Lieutenant-Governor
on Wednesday scrapped the
Delhi governments appointment of Krishna Saini as
chairperson of DERC, which
has made it certain that no
power tarif revision is going
to happen in the Capital for
the second consecutive year.
Mr. Saini had one of the
shortest tenure as chairperson of the power regulator
after he was appointed on
March 4 this year, succeeding
P.D. Sudhakar.
Only one member, B.P.
CONSUMERS REJOICE: With the post of DERC head lying vacant,

it is almost certain that no power tariff revision is going to
happen in the Capital for the second consecutive year. FILE PHOTO
Singh, is now left in the threemember commission as a result of which its own plan of liquidating regulatory assets of
discoms is headed nowhere.
Besides, all other directives
issued by the government to
the DERC under Section 108
of the Electricity Act are also
not going to see the light of
the day as they were done
without the approval of the
L-G. One such directive was
ofering compensation to
consumers for unscheduled

power cuts, which Mr. Saini
had issued under the Delhi
Electricity Supply Code and
Performance
Standards
(Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2016.
Financial problems
What is making the situation worse is that every
stakeholder in this sector
the Delhi government, the
discoms and the State-run
generation companies owe

money to each other, said a
government oicial.
BRPL and BYPL together
owe around Rs.8,000 crore to
three companies of the Delhi
government Delhi Transco
Limited (DTL), IPGCL and
PPCL. It also owes several
thousand crores to State-run
genco NTPC.
At the same time, due to
non-recovery of dues from
the discoms, the Delhi governments companies claim
they too are unable to make
timely payments to NTPC.
In March 2014, the power
regulator had worked out a
detailed plan of amortising
accumulated regulatory assets or past costs incurred by
discoms under which it allowed the citys three private
discoms to recover dues
totalling Rs.8,000 crore over
NEW DELHI: While stating that
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was not an accused in

the alleged Delhi Commission for Women (DCW)
recruitment scam for now,
the Anti-Corruption Branch
(ACB) made it clear that the
scope of the probe is now beyond the DCW chairperson
Swati Maliwal and the role of
those in the government was
also being looked into.
At a press conference
called to respond to Mr.
Kejriwals claims, ACB chief
M. K. Meena said that the
FIR was registered only after
a preliminary enquiry (PE)
into the allegations levelled
by former DCW chief Barkha
Shukla Singh did not find any
irregularities on the part of
the Chief Minister.
The ACB head did not directly reply to a question on
whether this meant a clean
chit for Mr. Kejriwal, but said
that for now there is nothing against him.
His name has featured in
the list of suspects because
the complainant had made
allegations against him but
he is not an accused as of
now, said Mr. Meena, adding: Mr. Kejriwal needs to
read the report in totality and
Govt to have own

bravery awards
Liquidation process
However, this year, neither
are the tarifs going to be revised nor are the mandatory
quarterly Power Purchase
Adjustment Costs (PPACs)
going to be levied on electricity bills, as a result of which
the liquidation process has
been put on the back-burner.
The discoms claim that
their revenue gap on a standalone basis for the financial
year 2016-17 of the BSES discoms (BRPL and BYPL) is
around
Rs.1,500
crore,
whereas for Tata Power (TPDDL) it is around Rs. 700 cr.
Records with the DERC revealed that until March 2014,
the three discoms had approved regulatory assets
worth Rs.12,000 crore.
Deadline for 1,000 mohalla

clinics extended by a year
STAFF REPORTER
STAFF REPORTER
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: The National Hu-
man Rights Commission

(NHRC) on Wednesday
asked the Chief Secretary and
Director General of Police,
Uttar Pradesh, to submit an
action taken report within
eight weeks on the observations and recommendations
of an NHRC team that had
visited Kairana.
The NHRC had received a
complaint alleging that families of a particular religion
are leaving Kairana, located
in Western UP, due to fear of
criminals.
BJP MP from Shamli,
Hukum Singh, had alleged in
June that hundreds of families had left his area due to
fear, but the list that he had
presented was found to be
dubious as it had the names of
families who were found to
be living in Kairana and
Kandhla. Many families were
found to have left Kairana in
search of livelihood.
The NHRC has considered the material placed
on record, including the report of Investigation Division
team of the commission, on a
complaint that families of a
particular religion are leaving
Kairana due to fear of
criminals. The NHRC has
asked UPs Chief Secretary
and DGP to submit an action
taken report on the observations and recommendations
of the team within eight
weeks, said a statement issued by the NHRC.
After receiving the recommendation of its team, the
NHRC on Wednesday asked
the UP government to constitute a high-level committee to
meet the aggrieved families
CM
YK
Commission had
formed a team to
probe allegations that
people were fleeing
in fear of criminals
who allegedly left Kairana
and explore the possibilities
of their return if they desired
to do so.
The NHRC also asked the
Commissioner of Saharanpur
and the District Magistrate of
Shamli to organise regular
meetings of religious and political leaders both the communities at sub-divisional
and mohalla-level to sort out
diferences in an amicable
manner.
The Commission also
asked the State government
to take all necessary steps
for improving law and order
situation in Kairana so as to
restore the faith of the people
in the law and order machinery, so that people are not
forced to migrate due to activities of local criminals and
extortion rackets in future.
The NHRC also recommended a departmental
enquiry against the Sub-Inspector posted in Kairana police station, M.S. Gill, for
committing irregularities
in cases of law and order,
which were reported in the
police station.
The NHRC specifically
mentioned the case against
alleged goon Mukim Kala and
his associates and directed
the State government to ensure their fair and impartial
trial as there was apprehension that witnesses would not
be able to depose against
them due to their fear and
terror.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi govern-
ment will now have its own

bravery awards and these
awards will be given out on
Independence Day and Republic Day every year.
The proposal was cleared
in the Delhi Cabinet meeting
held on Wednesday.
As per the proposal, 10
awards will be given and will
carry a cash award of Rs.2
lakh each. The winners will
be selected as per the nominations by the public.
Every year, the Centre
gives National Bravery
Awards to 25 children from
across India for their meritorious acts of bravery
against all odds.
NEW DELHI: The AAP govern-
ments pet project, the Aam

Aadmi Mohalla Clinics, has
been given an extension of
one year by the Delhi government, which had announced
to set up 1,000 clinics by the
end of this year.
The AAP government had
launched the project on a
trial basis for an initial period
of six months, which was to
end today. The decision to
extend the deadline was taken in the Cabinet meeting
held on Wednesday.
Till date, 105 clinics have
been set up by the Health
Department.
The pilot project has been
ACB chief M. K. Meena.
Head of ACB says

scope of investigation
goes beyond DCW
chief, role of govt.
officials being probed
not in isolation. His name
doesnt figure in the enquiry
report.
Asked why Mr. Kejriwals
name wasnt removed since
the FIR was registered after a
PE, Mr. Meena said that this
is because the name featured
in the complaint and the
ACB was not allowed to
tweak the contents, which
have to be retained verbatim.
The ACB chief added that
the recruitments mentioned
in Ms. Singhs complaint
were made by flouting the
norms, and that the role of
Further questioning
We will question her and
all others on September 29,
said Mr. Meena. Sources added that some of these oicials
were from the Women and
Child Development Department, which is the parent department
for
the
commission.
According to Mr. Meena,
the DCW chief did not have
the autonomy to make financial decisions, including hiring and deciding remunerations, as per rules but to
make the allegedly illegal
recruitment
process
smoother, the government
empowered Ms. Maliwal issuing an authority letter stating the same.
The issuance of the letter
is also under the scanner and
the undersigned, the Deputy
Director (Finance) of the
Delhi government, has been
called on Friday to explain
why and on whose directions
he issued the letter.
eight years beginning 2014-15.

As part of this plan, the discoms had to recover Rs.1,671
crore of RAs from consumers
through tarif in the first year.
Following this plan, the regulator in September last year
had announced that the assets had already reduced by
about Rs.2,000 crore.
NOT FAIR: Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha members said that DCW head Swati Maliwal had broken laws
in appointing around 100 male personnel to the commission. PHOTO: PTI
BJP Mahila Morcha protests

in front of DCW oice
STAFF REPORTER
NHRC seeks report

on Kairana situation
those who facilitated the

process is being looked into.
Mr. Meena added that Ms.
Maliwal and several Delhi
government oicials (whose
names or exact number he
did not specify) have been
served notices to join the
probe.
SHUBHOMOY SIKDAR
extended for one year with

efect from September 22.
The cabinet approval given
earlier was till this date, said
a senior government oicial.
Mr. Kejriwal and AAP
Ministers have praised the
project on several occasions,
terming it a revolutionary
step in health care. As per
the Delhi government about
eight lakh people have got
medical treatment at these
clinics.
The Delhi Congress alleged that there is massive
corruption in the project,
adding that the clinics were
housed in properties owned
by AAP legislators and workers to extend monetary
benefits to them.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi BJP
Mahila Morcha on Wednesday held a demonstration

outside the oice of the Delhi
Commission for Women
(DCW) even as a formal police complaint was registered
against the commissions
chief Swati Maliwal.
Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha
members, led by its president
Kamaljeet Sehrawat, said
they wanted to meet Ms.
Maliwal. However, they were
stopped by the police a few
yards from the entrance of
the commission, which
prompted the demonstration.
Ms. Maliwal has not only
broken laws in making
around 100 male appointments from amongst AAP
cadre at the DCW but has
hurt the very objective that
the DCW was formed for.
Today women coming there
feel very uncomfortable dis-
Upadhyay says that

Kejriwals inclusion as
a suspect in the
FIR did not translate
to evidence of guilt
cussing their problems with
male
counsellors,
Ms.
Sehrawat said.
Kejriwal a political
fugitive: Upadhyay
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP
president Satish Upadhyay
and general secretary MP
Ramesh Bidhuri accused
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of being a political fugitive at a press conference.
The people of Delhi and
the country have understood
that he is no more than a political fugitive who does not
take responsibility for anything and only indulges in
low-grade politics of accusing others, the BJP leaders
said on Wednesday.
Adding that the Chief
Minister needed to understand that his game of political and media trial when it
came to issues of corruption
and other irregularities cannot continue any more, the
BJP president said that he
needed to walk the talk by not
being afraid of inquires
against him.
Mr. Kejriwal repeatedly
raises accusations on the
Prime Minister, but if he really wants to know why his
name has been included by
the ACB in the FIR then I
would like to advise him to go
to a lawyer practising in the
Tis Hazari Court near his
residence and find out that
the police always includes the
name of the persons in the
FIR given by the complainant, Mr. Upadhyay said, adding that the CMs inclusion as
a suspect did not translate to
evidence of guilt.
What happens to data when user deletes account, HC asks WhatsApp

STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: WhatsApp, a
popular instant messaging

platform, was on
Wednesday asked by the
Delhi High Court what
happens to information and
messages of a user when
the user deletes his or her
account, even as the
company claimed that its
new privacy policy is for
sharing of information
and not data of users with
Facebook.
We dont want to know
about users willing to
continue with WhatsApp.
We are concerned about
users who do not wish to
share. What happens to
past information/ data on
deletion of account? What
PRIVACY: WhatsApps new policy gives users the option of

sharing their account information with Facebook. FILE PHOTO
happens if you opt out?
said a Bench headed by
Chief Justice G. Rohini.
The Bench posed the
query during the hearing of
a petition filed by
Karmanya Singh Sareen
and Shreya Sethi against
the new privacy policy that
gives users the option of

sharing their account
information with Facebook.
Their counsel, senior
advocate Pratibha M. Singh,
said while WhatsApp had
in its aidavit claimed that
when a user deletes his or
her account, all the
information is deleted, it
goes on to say that popular
photos/ videos are retained
on its server for a longer
period of time.
Now, how do they
determine what is popular,
she contended.
To this, the Bench told
WhatsApp: You please
answer this. What happens
if a user completely deletes
his or her account from
WhatsApp?
Limited sharing
Appearing for
WhatsApp, senior advocate
Siddharth Luthra replied:
When a user deletes his or
her account, all undelivered
messages are deleted from
our servers. Everything is
gone. If there is some
information that a user has

shared with another, that
remains on the server.
Mr. Luthra also claimed
that sharing with Facebook
is limited sharing of
information and not data.
The petitioners counsel
requested the court to
record the companys
statement that the new
privacy policy is only for
sharing of information like
telephone number, etc., and
not data.
While WhatsApp
claimed to give its users 30
days till September 25 to
opt out of the policy, Ms.
Singh told the court on
Wednesday that no such
choice was given in reality.
She alleged: They
[WhatsApp] are not giving
any choice. They are saying

even if you accept or not
accept, Facebook will
continue to receive the
information. They should
give an option of do not
share to the user. For uses
who opt to retain
WhatsApp, they risk
sharing of their family
photos, music files, etc.
The Bench said it would
pass orders on September
23 on the plea seeking
direction to prohibit
WhatsApp, Facebook Inc.
and Facebook India Online
Private Limited from
sharing, in any manner,
details and data of every
kind of subscribers with
any entity including
Facebook or its family of
companies.
ND-ND
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: Feeling humiliated after being forced
to touch the feet of the
woman he was allegedly in a
relationship with in front of
the police and their respective families in west Delhi's
Nihal Vihar, a 25-year-old
man allegedly hanged himself on Monday.
Depressed
Yagya Sharan Dutt was
depressed following the
episode, said his relative.
Yagya was in a relationship with a woman. Last
week, he had gone for lunch
with her at a restaurant.
However, the couple was
slapped by some people who
said they were acquaintances of the woman, said
Yagya's
cousin
Harish
Chand.
Someone called up the police and the couple was taken
to the police station. Yagyas
uncle and the womans
family were called, added
Mr. Chand.
Sister
At the police station, her
father insulted Yagya and
asked him to stay away from
his daughter. He also made
Yagya touch her feet and accept her as his sister, said the
cousin, adding that Yagya fell
ill after the incident and did
not go to work on Monday.
Yagya lived with his uncle.
While the uncle was at work,
he hanged himself, the police
said. A senior oicer said
they are probing the matter.
We are not suspecting
foul play as of now. In the
post-mortem report, there
were no signs of physical
torture. The youth was depressed since the woman
didn't reciprocate his advances, said the oicer.
|5
CITY/STATE
NOIDA/DELHI
Humiliated, man
commits suicide
Order on admission of Cow vigilante groups

disabled boy upheld spreading discord in Mewat
HC directs school to admit the child, who belongs to EWS
A CPI(M) delegation visited the village to assess the situation after the gangrape, double-murder
AKANKSHA JAIN
NEW DELHI: Observing that a
school cannot be allowed to

escape the statutory mandate to admit at least 25 per
cent students from economically weaker sections
(EWS), the Delhi High Court
on
Monday
directed
Siddharth International Public School to admit a poor differently-abled boy in Class I
as the Delhi government is
ready to reimburse the expenditure incurred on his
education.
A Bench of Chief Justice G.
Rohini and Justice Sangita
Dhingra Sehgal dismissed
the schools appeal against a
single judge order dated August 26 directing it to admit
seven-year-old Priyanshu in
Class I.
The boy has a prosthetic
leg. In its appeal, the school
said it did not have any vacant EWS seats and that Priyanshu had already got admission in a municipal school
during the pendency of the
case.
EWS admissions
Relying on an aidavit
filed by the Directorate of
Education through advocate
Sahdan Farasat, which said
there 38 seats in the schools
pre-primary class and that
only seven seats had been
filled by EWS admissions
though 25 per cent of 38 is
nine, the Division Bench dismissed the schools contention that it had already
satisfied the 25 per cent EWS
admission requirement un-
A single judge order

had issued directions
to Siddharth
International Public
School
der the Right to Education
Act and that there were no
seats vacant in Class I.
According to us, 25 per
cent admission to EWS children under the RTE Act cannot be held to be the upper
limit. It appears to us that the
intendment of the Act is to
provide admission to children belonging to weaker
sections in all schools to the
extent of at least 25 per cent.
Therefore, the contention
that there can be no direction
to admit Priyanshu since the
same would result in exceeding the limit of 25 per cent is
misconceived and untenable, said the Bench.
Admittedly, this is a case
where Priyanshu is not only a
child belonging to the
weaker section but is also a
diferently-abled child. It is
also not in dispute that the
appellant school is located in
the locality where the boy
resides.
Therefore,
the
learned single judge was
fully justified in directing the
appellant school to admit
him in Class I. We are also of
the view that the appellant
school cannot be allowed to
escape from the statutory
mandate merely on the
ground that during the pendency of the writ petition the
boy was admitted in a local
municipal school, added the
Bench.
The bench also noted the
submission by Mr. Farasat
that under the RTE Act, the
school, being an unaided
one, will be reimbursed the
expenditure incurred on
Priyanshus education and
that no prejudice would be
caused to it.
Accident
After the boy lost his left
leg in an accident, his mother
had prayed before the Motor
Accident Claim Tribunal
that her son be admitted to a
school under the EWS category.
In January, the Tribunal
passed an order directing the
school, located close to the
boy's house in Ghaziabad, to
consider his case. On March
14, the school was directed to
admit him in Class I.
Priyanshus mother Babli
works in a factory, where she
packs plastic spoons, besides
sewing to make Rs.5,000 per
month. Her husband succumbed to cancer.
On August 26, Justice
Manmohan had held that the
Tribunals order was without
jurisdiction, but, adopting it
in spirit, he directed the
school to admit him. On
school's contention that his
admission would have disastrous consequences for
general students already
studying in Class 1, he had
said it would rather make
the general students more
sensitive and humane as they
would appreciate the challenges faced by a student
with disability and poverty.
NEW DELHI: The Communist
Party of India (Marxist) will

take up in Parliament the
double-rape and doublemurder of members of a
family of a minority
community at a village in the
Mewat region of Haryana.
The party will also help
victims take up the matter
with the National Commission for Minorities and the
National Human Rights
Commission, said CPI (M)
leader Nilotpal Basu on
Wednesday.
Criminal activities
Mr. Basu and CPI (M)
leader in the Lok Sabha P.
Karunakaran were part of a
party delegation to Mewat to
report on the situation on the
ground after the incident.
Blaming cow vigilante
groups for indulging in
criminal activities, Mr. Basu
said the region did not have a
history
of
communal
discord.
Relating the August 24 incident, when 10 drunken
men committed the murders
and rapes, Mr. Basu said cow
vigilante groups were destroying harmony under the
pretext of cow protection.
This is a group of pure
criminals as the Prime
Minister also said. What
happened is pathetic. All this
calls the bluf of cow protection, Mr. Basu said.
The State police was insensitive and seemed to be
protecting the culprits. The
government is trying to
shield the miscreants.
HORRIFIC CRIME: Two members of a family were killed and two women raped at a Mewat village
in August. FILE PHOTO: MANOJ KUMAR
Cowhides recovered in Faridabad

ASHOK KUMAR
FARIDABAD: Over 350 cowhides
were recovered by the

Faridabad police during an
early morning raid at a
madrasa in the Muslimdominated Dhoj village here
on Wednesday.
Three persons have been
arrested.
Acting on a tip-of, a team
led
by
Sub-Inspector
Satyanarayan mounted a raid
around 2.30 a.m. and recovered 370 cowhides. Three
persons have been arrested,
while two managed to escape, the police said.
When we mounted the
raid, the accused had loaded
Must act against sexual

abuse of children: HC
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High
Court said on Wednesday

that necessary steps in consonance with the law must
be taken against sexual abuse
of children.
The observation came
after the court was told that
lack of special courts and
special prosecutors for such
cases was leading to delayed
trials. Even we feel that we
have to take necessary steps
which are in consonance
with the POCSO (Protection
of Children from Sexual Offences Act) Act, said a
Bench headed by Chief
Justice G. Rohini.
You want that there
should be exclusive courts
for trying cases under
POCSO, asked the court
while hearing a plea by NGO
Bachpan Bachao Andolan
and activist Gaurav Kumar
Bansal. The plea said cases

under the POCSO Act were
seeing delayed trials or leading to acquittals due to lack
of special courts and
dedicated prosecutors. Section 32 of the Act makes it
obligatory on the State government to appoint a special
public prosecutor to handle
cases registered under this
Act.
According to the Delhi
State Legal Services Authority, 4,274 POCSO cases were
pending as of July 31. Of
these, 3,351 have been
pending for up to three years,
while 923 cases have been
pending for more than that.
It also said that only 10 per
cent cases were disposed of
with majority seeing acquittals. The Delhi Police, however, said in a report that a
total of 5,217 cases were registered under the POCSO
Act from 2012 to 2015.
the cowhides in two minitrucks and were planning to

leave for Hapur to sell them.
It is suspected that the cowhides were 10 to 20 days old,
said Mr. Satyanarayan.
All three persons have
been booked under Section
13 of the Haryana Gauvansh
Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015.
Suspicion
Mr. Satyanarayan told The
Hindu that a vehicle carrying
beef was impounded in the
area three days ago, raising
suspicion
about
cow
slaughter.
Since we recovered beef
but no cowhides, we suspec-
ted that the cowhides were

hidden somewhere, said the
police oicer.
Mr. Satyanarayan said
cows are usually brought
from neighbouring Palwal
and Mewat areas and
slaughtered in the fields in
Faridabad at night to avoid
detection.
After the slaughter, beef
and cowhides are sold to different gangs. The skin is
mostly sold in Hapur and
fetches anything between
Rs.6,000 and Rs.15,000 per
cowhide,
said
Mr.
Satyanarayan.
Earlier this month, 75 cowhides were recovered from a
village in Mewat.
Rs. 550 crore sanctioned for

Jaipur-Delhi national highway
JAIPUR: The Union Ministry
of Road Transport and Highways has sanctioned Rs.550

crore for development and
repair works on the JaipurDelhi national highway
which forms a crucial part of
the golden quadrilateral and
has seen an immense increase in industrial activities over the past few
years.
In another key decision,
the Ministry has given a goahead for construction of
service roads of of 440 km
adjacent to the national
highway, as several industrial zones, universities and
townships have come up
along the road.
The decisions were announced in New Delhi on
Tuesday after a high-level
meeting of Road Transport
and Highways Minister
Nitin Gadkari with the

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Rathore, who is a
Lok Sabha MP from the
Jaipur Rural constituency.
While the work on construction of service lanes
will be completed by
December this year, the
work on the Shahpura-Paota

flyover has started.
In order to reduce road
accidents, 20 foot overbridges would be constructed across the highway, Col.
Rathore said in a statement.
Besides, parking for trucks
will be constructed at
Shahapura to reduce con-
Speed up canal work: Raje

JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief
Minister Vasundhara Raje

on Wednesday directed
oicials to fasten the
work of the eastern
Rajasthan canal to resolve
water scarcity faced in 13
districts of the State.
Ms. Raje said the
project should be
completed in given time
frame and the money and

resources should not be
misused. Chairing a
meeting to review the
project, she asked the
oicials to explore
possibilities to fulfil
financial needs of the
project through
NABARD, oicial sources
said. PTI
gestion on the highway and

other issues, such as drainage, main carriageway and
crush barriers will also be
explored for ensuring free
flow of traic.
Col. Rathore said the National Highway No. 8 was
the lifeline of Rajasthan
and was especially critical
for the rural area of Jaipur
district. The current steps
will lead to great improvements in the quality of life in
the region and give a fillip to
economic activities in the
area, he said.
Apart from the two
Ministers, the meeting was
attended by senior oicers
of the Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways
along with the National
Highways Authority of India
(NHAI) oicers and other
stakeholders, including the
bank oicials and contractors.
Tripura CM slams Centre for no

progress in N-E region
SYED SAJJAD ALI
Tripura
Chief
Minister Manik Sarkar on
Wednesday squarely attacked
the Union government for
adopting an indiferent towards the Northeastern region. He said apathetic attitude
of successive governments at
the Centre has made the region
sufer from inadequate infrastructure, lack of economic
progress
and
underdevelopment.
The country has a federal
structure, but where is the discussion between the Centre
and the States. Demolition of
Planning Commission and creation of Niti Ayog has further
diminished scope of dialogues,Mr Sarkar said at the
inauguration of three-day
Connect Northeast pre-summit conclave in Agartala.
The Tripura Government
and the Federation of India
Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI) jointly organised the conclave with support from Ministry of DoNER
and some industrial organisa-
AGARTALA:
FOCUS ON NE: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar flanked by

FICCI Northeast Advisory Council chairman Ranjit Barthakur
and Niti Ayog member Bibek Debroy at the inauguration of the
three-day Connect Northeast pre-summit conclave in
Agartala on Wednesday. - PHOTO: BY ARRANGEMENT
tions. Business delegates from
Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh,
Myanmar, Japan and Russia are
attending.
Bangladesh Minister of
Commerce and Industry Amir
Hussain Amu arrived through
Akhaura check post in
Agartala in the afternoon and
he would address a session tomorrow. A few Union
ministers and Chief Ministers
of neighbouring States who
|7
NORTHERN REGION
NOIDA/DELHI
were invited skipped the

programme.
Mr Sarkar became vocal
against the Centre after Bibek
Debroy, Member of Niti Ayog,
in his speech became critical
about appalling conditions in
diferent segments of Tripura
which, he said, did not encourage investment in the State. He
said the FICCI was hastily organising the conclave before
the matters could improve.
However there are actual

scope in Higher Education,
Medical, Bio technology and
Tourism sectors in Tripura, he
added. Mr Debroy claimed the
border haats (markets), common points of traders and buyers of India and Bangladesh
situated on zero point of border, were not functioning well.
The Chief Minister in his
speech criticised the Centre
for dismal conditions of
Tripura and the Northeast as a
whole. He claimed Tripura
alone is losing Rs1,800 crore in
a year for faulty assessment of
allocations by the Centre.
He also questioned what
Niti Ayog is doing to put things
right? Without money how the
region could overcome inadequacies in all respect, he
asked. Mr Sarkar said it was not
the job of private investors to
develop infrastructure and
create favourable conditions
for investment. He also
slammed the NDA government for not fulfilling its
promise to provide employment to two crore unemployed
youths every year.
Seeking blessings
HOLY DAY: Women pray as the head priest (not in picture) displays the holy relic, believed to be the hair from the beard of
Prophet Muhammad, at the Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar on Wednesday. People are holding special prayers to observe
the martyrdom of Hazrat Usman Ghani, the third Caliph of Islam. - PHOTO: NISSAR AHMAD
Amarinder promises to punish sacrilege culprits

TARN TARAN (PUNJAB): Punjab
Pradesh Congress Committee

president Amarinder Singh
on Wednesday reiterated his
promise to punish those responsible for the sacrilege at
Behbal Kallan and other
places if voted to power.
He said his government
will order reinvestigation to
find out the real culprits.
Addressing a political conference at Khaddor Sahib
here, Capt. Amarinder said he
will ensure that the resignation by the party MLA
Ramanjit Singh Sikki to protest against the issue did not
go waste.
The PCC president blamed
Chief Minister Parkash Singh
Badal for such incidents,
saying there was a deliberate

design as the latter wanted to
polarise people and create a
sense of fear for his narrow
partisan ends.
I will ensure that he is
made to pay for all these sins,
he said, adding he will make
all of them including, Badal,
Sukhbir Singh Badal and
Bikram Singh Majithia, to
crawl on their knees to atone
for their sins.
The former Chief Minister
alleged the Badals have destroyed and devastated Punjab beyond redemption and it
will need quite an efort to
retrieve and redeem the
situation.
I will work 25 out of 24
hours to redeem the situation
and bring back the smile on

every Punjabis face, he
claimed, adding, I want to
see a happy, progressive and
prosperous Punjab once
again.
Pledge to finish the
problem of drugs
Capt. Amarinder reiterated
his pledge to finish the problem of drugs within four
weeks, saying everybody
knew as who was the kingpin
and the mastermind.
You know it and I know it
and I wont need even four
weeks to set them right and
put them behind the bars, he
said.
Responding to the demand
of the former MLA Sikki for
cancellation of all the false

cases, he said, Not only will
all the cases be cancelled, but
those responsible for getting
such cases registered will also
be punished, including the
Akali Jathedars and the police
oicials.
I will avenge all your
persecution
We have had enough persecution and now is the time
to turn the tables, and I
promise you I will avenge all
your persecution and atrocities myself, he said, while declaring that he will set an example so that nobody dares to
harass, victimise or persecute
Congress workers again.PTI
Biotech student
commits suicide
A 20-year-old student allegedly committed suicide by
hanging herself from the ceiling fan of her room in the Mahaveer Nagar area here, the
police said on Wednesday.
Lovely Gupta, a native of
Gopalganj area in Bihar, committed suicide by hanging
herself from the ceiling fan of
her rented accommodation
late on Tuesday night, Mahaveer Nagar police station
Sub-Inspector (SI) Ramswroop Meena said.
She was pursuing BSc in
biotechnology in a private
college in the city, he said.

Mr. Meena said they also
recovered a suicide note
from her room in which she
had written that she committed suicide due to personal
reasons and did not held
anyone responsible, including her family, for the extreme step. The deceased
was living in the city along
with her family since January,
he said. Her family members
told police that she was upset and depressed because of
her studies, Mr. Meena said.
- PTI
Ministers
remarks an insult
of martyrdom
JAIPUR: Rajasthan Soldier Wel-
fare Minister Kalicharan

Saraf is facing flak for his remarks on the Congress leaders who attended the cremation of Uri attack martyr
Havaldar Nimb Singh Rawat,
with the Opposition party
taking exception to his comment that Pradesh Congress
president Sachin Pilot was
an idle man with nothing
much to do these days.
PCC
vice-president
Archana Sharma said Mr.
Saraf's remarks not only
amounted to insult of a soldiers martyrdom but also
depicted the ruling BJPs
mental imbalance.
ND-ND
8|
SOUTH
Apex Council to form panel to

study Krishna water-sharing
Meeting was cordial with A.P. & Telangana arriving at a consensus: Minister
M. RAJEEV
HYDERABAD: The Apex Council
on river water-sharing between
Telangana
and
Andhra Pradesh has resolved
to constitute a joint team of
engineers to study the availability of water in the
Krishna river. It has also decided to install telemetric
equipment at all major projects to assess the drawal of
water by the two States and
request the Krishna Tribunal
to make proportionate allocation of water.
The council resolved to allocate water to the two
States, based on the findings
of the the high-power team
comprising senior oicials
from Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana as well as the
Central Water Commission.
We will request the
Krishna Water Disputes
Tribunal to make proportionate allocation to the two
States based on the report,
Union Water Resources
IN TALKS: Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti with A.P. Chief

Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu (right) and Telangana Chief
Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao during the Apex Council
Committe meeting in New Delhi. PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY
Minister Uma Bharti told
reporters in New Delhi on
Tuesday.
Ms. Bharti convened the
first meeting of the Apex
Council, mandated by the
provisions of the A.P. Reor-
ganisation Act, 2014, on

Wednesday.
Telangana Chief Minister
K. Chandrasekhar Rao, A.P.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and senior oicials of the irrigation depart-
ment participated in the over

two-hour meeting convened
to resolve the impasse. The
Union Minister said discussions were held in a cordial
manner and a broad consensus was arrived at on
three major issues.
The meeting had been
convened to resolve the disputes between the two States
through dialogue and their
representatives had presented their points of view during the interaction.
She recalled that a proposal had been made during the
erstwhile NDA government
to evolve a national water
policy. Another proposal had
been made to place river waters in the Concurrent List.
There is a need to evolve
a mechanism relating to
sharing of water in an
amicable manner between
the States, she said adding
that issues relating to watersharing between Maharashtra and Karnataka were
also discussed.
NOIDA/DELHI
Nominees cant deny share in

terminal benefits to legal heirs
MADURAI: People nominated
by government servants to
collect terminal benefits, in
the event of the latters
death in harness, cannot
claim a right over the entire
quantum of money, irrespective of the right of other
legal heirs of the deceased
to receive a part of the
amount, the Madras High
Court Bench here has held.
Justice S. Vimala passed
the order while allowing a
writ petition filed by P. Panchali,
mother
of
P.
Sivalingam, Tamil Nadu
Generation and Distribution
Corporation
(TANGEDCO) Field Assistant, who died here on
March 4 after having nominated his wife in his service
register, to receive the terminal benefits after his
lifetime.
The judge set aside an order passed by the Executive
Engineer,
TANGEDCO,
Madurai East Division, refusing to disburse 50 per
cent of the terminal benefits
to the petitioner and directed the oicer to disburse
the money in equal propor-
HC directs TANGEDCO
to disburse money in
equal proportion
to the petitioner and
her daughter-in-law
tion to the petitioner and
her daughter-in-law in two
weeks.
SC judgment
Whether the nominee is
a legatee or a trustee in respect of terminal benefits of
the deceased is the issue
raised in this case. The contention of Tangedco is that
the nominee is the owner of
the property and, therefore,
the nominee alone is entitled to get the benefit but
the contention of the petitioner is that the nominee is
not the owner of the asset. It
is also contended that unless rules of TANGEDCO
provide that they will override succession laws, legal
heirs also would be entitled
to terminal benefits and not
the nominee alone. Whose
contention is right is the issue to be decided in this
case, Ms. Justice Vimala
said before ruling in favour
of the petitioner.
Taking a cue from a 2009
Supreme Court judgment
on
settling
insurance
claims, she said in that case,
the apex court had held that
nomination made in favour
of a particular person does
not have the efect of conferring on the nominee any
beneficial interest on the
amount payable under an
insurance policy after the
death of the person concerned. The nomination
only indicates the hand
which is authorised to receive the amount on payment of which the insurer
gets a valid discharge of its
liability under the policy
but the amount can be
claimed by the heirs of the
assured in accordance with
the law of succession,the
apex court had said in that
judgement. Holding that
those observations were
applicable to the facts of the
writ petition too, the judge
held that the petitioner was
entitled to 50 per cent of the
terminal benefits. The
judge directed TANGEDCO
to apportion the share of the
two legal heirs at the stage
of disbursal itself.
Siddaramaiah goes by political

consensus, public perception
To release or not to release Cauvery

water, that is the critical question
NAGESH PRABHU
KRISHNAPRASAD
BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief
BENGALURU: A decision by the
Minister Siddaramaiah, who

has been accused of taking
unilateral decisions on many
issues, took a political consensus before going forward
on the Cauvery issue.
It is believed that the Congress high command, too,
was consulted and all legal
opinions discussed threadbare before the matter was
discussed in the all-party
meeting on Wednesday evening.
Going ahead and not implementing the order would
make Mr. Siddaramaiah the
second Congress Chief
Minister, after S.M. Krishna
Karnataka legislature not to

release Cauvery water to
Tamil Nadu would be binding on the executive as the
legislature, like the Supreme
Court, is also a constitutional body having
powers to take action
against the executive for not
adhering to its decisions,
said some legal experts.
The government, they
said, based on a decision by
the legislature against the
release of water, could go
before the Supreme Court
pleading helplessness in
obeying the courts direction for releasing water, in
haul up the executive wing

for breach of privilege if any
of its decisions is not implemented.
Past experience
As it would take some
time to convene an emergency session of the State
legislature, a section of legal
experts said it would be
better for the government to
release water till then as the
government was chastised
by the Supreme Court in
2003 when Chief Minister
S.M. Krishna disobeyed its
direction to release water to
Tamil Nadu, citing law and
order problem and shortage
of water.
If an elected government
says because of law and or-
der problem it cannot comply with our order, then let it

go, a three-judge Bench of
the Supreme Court had orally observed when the
Tamil Nadu government
filed a contempt of court
petition against Karnataka.
Finally, Mr. Krishna had
submitted an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court.
Karnataka cannot pass
any law on river disputes as
an attempt made by the government in 1991 to nullify
the interim award passed by
the Cauvery Water Disputes
Tribunal, was struck down
by the Supreme Court, holding that States cannot make
a law on inter-State rivers.
GST Council procedures 90-year-old in Kerala alleges sexual assault

arbitrary: Kerala Minister
Over 1 lakh object

to reorganisation
of districts
Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Karnataka Chief

Minister Siddaramaiah at an all-party meeting on the Cauvery
issue in Bengaluru on Wednesday. PHOTO: PTI
in 2002, to not release water
despite a Supreme Court order.
The Congress, which
termed the Supreme Court
ruling a major setback to the
State, is believed to have taken the point of view that the

public perception was too
strong and it was politically impossible to abide
by the order.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
C. GOURIDASAN NAIR
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Although there
was broad unanimity among the

Centre and the States on formulation of the Goods and Services Tax
(GST) Act, the two sides appear
headed towards a conflict zone with
the Centre laying down procedures
for election of the GST Council
Vice-Chairman and what is being
described as arbitrary terms for
conduct of its meetings.
Kerala Finance Minister T.M.
Thomas Isaac has taken strong exception to the procedures, describing them as arbitrary and against
the spirit of cooperative federalism.
He has taken particular exception to
the the Centres proposal that the
GST Council Vice-Chairman would
be elected and that only State Finance Ministers can attend meetings
of the GST Council.
Under the rules of procedure laid
down by the Centre, meetings of the
GST Council can be convened giving seven days notice or, in case of
an emergency, with two days no-
T.M. Thomas Isaac

tice. What if a State Finance
Minister cannot attend a meeting
convened at short notice? How will
a State ensure its representation if
its oicers are not allowed to attend
the Council meeting? Those who
drafted the procedures seem to
have forgotten that we are State Finance Ministers and not the Centres
vassals, Dr. Isaac told The Hindu
over phone shortly before leaving
for New Delhi to attend the inaugural GST Council meeting beginning on Thursday.
An aged
woman, reportedly sufering from
blood cancer, alleged that she was
sexually assaulted in her house at
Kadakkal in Kollam last week. The
case caught public attention on
Wednesday after a television
channel reporter met the woman
in her mud house at a rubber estate and interviewed her on
camera. The woman, who lives
alone, told the reporter that a person armed with a knife had trespassed into her house at night and
raped her. Her complaint to the
local panchayat member had been
to no avail, she alleged.
Ajeetha Begum, SP, Kollam
Will a decision by
the Karnataka
legislature, also a
constitutional body,
bind the executive?
view of conflicting directions from two constitutional bodies.
If the Supreme Court
hauls up the executive under the Contempt of Courts
Act for disobeying its direction, the executive could
contend that the disobedience was not wilful as it
had to adhere to a contrary
order from the legislature.
Like the Contempt of Courts
Act, the legislature can also
(Rural), said women police

oicers called on the woman at her
house on Wednesday and
recorded her statement. The
woman, who gave her age as over
90, told the police that there was
no rape but only sexual assault.
On the basis of her statement,
the Kadakkal police have registered a case of sexual assault
against the order of nature, outraging the modesty of a woman
and criminal trespass.
Medical examination
The woman was subjected to forensic medical examination at the
local taluk hospital. Doctors told
the police that no ofence of rape
had been revealed. Inspector Gen-
eral Manoj Abraham said there

were many loose ends in the case.
They police have detained a 62year-old man in connection with
the case. The suspect is the
womans neighbour. He has no
previous criminal record, the police said. The woman was entangled in a land dispute with him.
The State Human Rights Commission and the State Womens
Commission have opened independent inquiries into the incident.
The matter has assumed political overtones with Leader of the
Opposition Ramesh Chennithala
issuing a statement condemning
the government for its failure to
protect women.
HYDERABAD: Over one lakh ob-
jections and suggestions

have been submitted by the
people of Telangana to the
draft notification for reorganisation of districts.
With the one-month deadline ending on Wednesday,
the Telangana government is
gearing up for the next important exercise of categorising these objections area-wise and subject-wise,
and analysing them.
PSLVs longest
flight to take of
on September 26
MADHUMATHI D.S.
BENGALURU: On September 26,
the PSLV satellite launcher will

for the first time place its multiple passengers in two diferent orbits.
The flight is also significant
as it will last two hours and 15
minutes, making it the PSLVs
longest ever.
A routine PSLV launch lasts
about 20 minutes.
Three Indian and five
foreign commercial spacecraft
will ride in it together. Only the
main passenger, ISROs 370-kg
Scatsat-1 ocean and weather
tracker, will get of first at a
slightly higher orbit at around
700 km. It will be out in the first
17 minutes, as is customary.
The remaining smaller satellites, weighing between 5 kg
and 110 kg, will be ejected at
around 600 km but after
about two hours.
To make this possible,
launch team engineers will
shut down and restart the
fourth and last stage of the vehicle (called PS4) twice during
the flight, according to two
senior oicials in the know.
ISRO had tested this new
techique during a PSLV flight
in June this year. It then said the
added versatility of reaching
satellites to diferent orbits will
enlarge its customer base:
sometimes, diferent launch
customers need to reach their
satellites to diferent orbits or
distances from Earth.
P.Kunhikrishnan, Director of
the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, which handles launches at
its two launchpads, said, The
campaign is in full swing for
the launch of the PSLV-C35 on
September 26. We have
planned to release its diferent
payloads [or spacecraft] at two
diferent orbits this time. This
will be a first multiple orbit
launch in a single PSLV mission using the PS4 restart
method.
The PSLV has so far
launched 39 remote-sensing
satellites of ISRO, including
the Chandrayaan-1 of 2008 and
the Mars mission of 2013-14. It
has also orbited 74 foreign
commercial and university satellites in a global trend where
the demand for its category of
launch services is increasing.
Dance bar without liquor

is absurd: Supreme Court
Law shows Maharashtras mentality, which is absolutely regressive by centuries
KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court
Maharashtra argued that a State has an absolute right to ban

liquor at any place of its choice. PHOTO: PTI
harashtra law, but decided to
hear the case in detail on
November 24.
Juice dance bars
Dance bar owners, represented by senior advocate
Jayant Bhushan, said the State
government wanted juice
dance bars instead of real
ones.
Dancers are allowed to
dance in dance bars, you [the
State] take steps to protect
their dignity. But a ban on
serving liquor will afect their

rights. You can ban liquor in a
hotel, but dance bars should
be barred from such bans,
Justice Misra told Mr.
Naphade.
The power of the State to
prohibit liquor is absolute. I
have powers not only to
regulate but also prohibit,
Mr. Naphade submitted.
When the court took exception to the State law mandating the installation of
CCTV cameras in dance
Plea in SC for nationwide ban on liquor

LEGAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: A petition has been
filed in the Supreme Court
seeking a nationwide prohibition of liquor as a reasonable restriction to uplift
nutritional level and standard of living envisaged under
Article
47
of
the
Constitution.
The petition filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay
contended that the right to
health is an integral part of
the fundamental right to life
enshrined in Article 21 and it
is duty of the State to ban liquors, intoxicating drinks
and drugs.
Consumption of liquor,
intoxicating drinks and
drugs is the root cause of
most of the road accidents,
road rage, crime against
women, domestic violence,
rape and murder and many
other social evils, the petition said.
Quoting the recent Supreme Court decision upholding Keralas new liquor
policy to prohibit public
drinking and curtail liquor
sales, the petition said States
should desist from the sale of
liquor to earn revenue
without a thought for how it
results in the degradation of
human life.
|9
NATION
NOIDA/DELHI
on Wednesday said a new

Maharashtra law prohibiting
liquor in dance bars was absurd, absolutely arbitrary
and indicative of the States
mentality, which was absolutely
regressive
by
centuries.
However, the Maharashtra
government refused to back
down, arguing that a State has
an absolute right to ban liquor at any spot of its choice
within the State.
Serving and drinking liquor is not a fundamental
right. I have an absolute right
to say liquor cannot be served
unless you [the Supreme
Court] take away my right
through a judgment, Maharshtra counsel and senior
advocate Shekhar Naphade
rebutted.
A bench led by Justice
Dipak Misra then asked what
was the point of giving bar licences and allowing dance
performances if there was no
service of liquor. The court,
however, did not stay the Ma-
The duty to improve public health, especially of poverty-stricken people, who

are major consumers of liquor and other intoxicating
drinks and drugs, and to protect them from its injurious
efect, must be discharged by
all the States, it said.
The petition has arraigned
the Union, all States and
Union Territories, the National Commission for
Women and the National
Human Rights Commission
as parties. It said the Constitutions framers in 1948
had envisioned that States
would endeavour to bring
about prohibition.
areas, Mr. Naphade said: If

something goes wrong
there... the CCTV image will
be used for investigation by
the police. If you deny me this
right, you are denying me the
police powers of the State.
Mr. Bhushan said CCTVs
would have a chilling efect
on patrons. Cameras would
be a violation of their privacy,
he said.
A room is a private domain. A dance bar, like lobbies, staircases and hotel
lounges, is a public space,
Mr. Naphade countered.
The new law, titled Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and
Protection of Dignity of
Women (working therein)
Act, 2016, was passed by the
State Assembly to circumvent a Supreme Court judgment of 2014 that ordered
dance bars to be thrown open
again and classified dance as
a profession. The Court further allowed three dance bars
to continue operations as per
the law existing before the
new one.
NEET for MD,

MS to be held
from December 5
HC tells ED to keep summons to

Nalini Chidambaram in abeyance
petitioner said, If summons
are to be issued in such
cases, then every lawyer
who deals with criminal
cases involving economic offences would be under the
threat of being exposed to
the provisions of the PMLA.
SURESHKUMAR
CHENNAI: The Madras High
The Health
Ministry on Wednesday announced the dates for the
National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for MD, MS and
PG diploma courses.
The examination will be
conducted by the National
Board of Examinations at 86
centres in 41 cities from
December 5 to 13.
The Ministry said in a
statement that the the NEET
for the dental course (MDS)
will be held from November
30 to December 3 this year.
NEW
DELHI:
86 centres
The examination will be
held at 86 centres in 41 cities
from December 5 to 13, 2016.
The computer-based test
will comprise 300 multiple
choice questions from the
MBBS curriculum followed
in medical colleges in India..., the statement said.
The government has made
the NEET a single eligibilitycum-entrance examination
for admission to PG medical
courses during 2017.
The website for NEETMDS and NEET-PG will be
available from September 24
and online registration will
be open from September 26
to October 31.
Court on Wednesday directed the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) to keep in

abeyance the summons issued to Nalini Chidambaram, senior advocate and
wife of former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, under the Prevention
of Money Laundering Act
(PMLA).
Justice T.S. Sivagnanam
passed the interim direction
while admitting two petitions moved by Ms.
Chidambaram assailing the
summons issued by the ED
for receiving Rs. 1 crore from
Saradha
Realty
India
Limited, a company of the
Saradha Group, which is
stuck in the Saradha Chit
Fund scam.
Pleas posted to Nov. 8
The judge also directed
the ED to file counter aidavits within four weeks and
posted the pleas to November 8 for further hearing.
According to the petitioner, Manoranjana Sinh of
GNN Pvt. Ltd. in Guwahati
and Sudipto Sen of Bengal
Media Pvt. Ltd. in Kolkata,
entered into an agreement in
June 2010 to take over Positive TV, a television chan-
Nalini Chidambaram
nel, and its group of companies, run by GNN. As part of
the agreement, Mr. Sudipto
Sen agreed to fund the legal
expenses of Ms. Manoranjana Sinh in contesting cases
against her husband pending
before the Company Law
Board, New Delhi, and the
Delhi High Court.
Since the petitioner was
representing the cases on
behalf of Ms. Manoranjana
Sinh, Mr. Sudipto Sen has
paid the professional fees
from time to time, which
amounted to Rs. 1 crore.
Professional fees
Noting that the professional fees thus received
were accounted for and
applicable income tax was
paid, senior counsel for the
Only a summons
Representing the ED, the
Additional Solicitor General
contended that only summons has been issued by an
oicer, who is stationed at
Kolkata, and there is no order passed.
It is only a summons directing appearance. Therefore, apart from the petition
not being maintainable
against the summons, it will
not lie before this court and
this court would not have
territorial jurisdiction to entertain the relief sought for,
he added.
Recording the submissions, Justice Sivagnanam
said, This court is of the
considered view that the ED
should file their counter aidavits not only meeting the
factual allegations made, but
also the legal contentions
raised, and it is only thereafter, this court can adjudicate and come to a conclusion as to whether and which
of the submissions are acceptable and justifiable.
Cabinet gives Clean Ganga Mission power to fine polluters

Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar
and Uttarakhand among others. The bulk of the river
cleaning projects involve
setting up of sewage treatment plants, installing trash
skimmers and beautifying
the ghats.
NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet
has approved changes allowing the National Mission for

Clean Ganga to fine those responsible for polluting the
river. Earlier this power was
vested solely with the
Central Pollution Control
Board.
We wanted powers of the
Environment
Protection
Act, said Water Resources
Minister Uma Bharti. This
will help us tackle 22 drains
responsible for 90% of the
pollution of the river.
The Rs. 20,000-crore National Mission for Clean
FLAGSHIP INITIATIVE: The bulk of the river cleaning projects

involve setting up of sewage treatment plants, installing trash
skimmers and beautifying the ghats. FILE PHOTO: AFP
Ganga (NMCG) is among the
flagship initiatives of the
government and though at
least 230 projects have been
sanctioned this year there is

very little progress on the
ground in various States
along the river such as Uttar
Registered society
The NMCG has been a
registered society since 2012
and its role is largely to fund
projects to implementing organisations. It didnt have
legal powers to tackle
various threats or issue directions to polluters. The
mission was grossly illequipped to handle such ex-
pectations, said a press note

by the Water Ministry accompanying the Union
Cabinet order.
The NMCG, which now
has the status of an Authority, will have a two-tier management structure with a
governing council to be
chaired by a Director General. There will also be Statelevel committees.
A key focus of the authority will be maintaining required ecological flows in
the Ganga with the aim of ensuring water quality and environmentally sustainable
development, said Ms.
Bharti.
10 |
EDITORIAL
NOIDA/DELHI
The economy on autopilot

The Modi government had inherited an economy with quite rapidly accelerating growth and steadily
declining inflation. It has barely managed to maintain this scenario
sector. Any significant change in the investment scenario would depend upon the actions of this segment.
T H U R S D AY , S E P T E M B E R 2 2 , 2 0 1 6
PULAPRE
BALAKRISHNAN
Managing the
Cauvery dispute
udicial intervention often resolves questions

that the executive finds too sensitive to handle.
By directing the Centre to constitute a Cauvery
Management Board within four weeks, the Supreme Court has created space for the water-sharing dispute to be handled in a scientific and responsible manner by a legally constituted technical
body. The board, assisted by a regulation committee, is the mechanism prescribed by the Tribunal in
its final order for implementing its award. It will be
a technical body consisting of irrigation engineers
and agronomists, and will have independent members as well as representatives of the basin States. It
can formulate the manner in which water should be
shared in a season of distress. The courts intervention also exposes the helplessness of governments
at the Centre in handling inter-State issues. It is part
of a long historical pattern. It was at the instance of
the Supreme Court that the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was formed more than a quarter
century ago; and again, it required court orders to
pave the way for an interim award to be passed in
1991, and for it to be notified in the Gazette of India
later. It took another order for the Tribunals final
award of 2007 to be notified in 2013, six years later.
The court has done a significant service in nudging
the Centre to provide a legal and technical framework for the equitable distribution of water.
This is not the first attempt to create an institutional mechanism. In 2013, the Centre notified the
formation of a Supervisory Committee consisting
of the Secretary, Union Water Resources Ministry,
as chairman, and the Chief Secretaries of the basin
States as members. That the latest decision of the
Supervisory Committee, which directed the release of 3,000 cusecs of water for 10 days to Tamil
Nadu, did not find favour with either State shows
the diiculties involved in managing inter-State
disputes even through an institutional mechanism.
The Supreme Court, too, has intervened to double
the quantum of water to be released. All this shows
that apart from permanent mechanisms, technical
panels and seasonal adjudication, a spirit of accommodation is required among the basin States. Also
needed is a clearer appreciation of the fact that the
entire water yield in the Cauvery basin is not
enough to provide for the requirements of both
States. It is time for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to
take a hard look at their agricultural economies: the
area under cultivation, the number of crops per
year and the water-intensive nature of the crops.
Unless these are adjusted to suit the water availability, such disputes will keep surfacing.
As the Narendra Modi government inches

towards its halfway mark, its economic philosophy stands revealed. This appears to
consist of aiming at some ideal institutional
architecture while leaving economic forces
to play out on their own. The criterion of
macroeconomic stability, defined mainly by
inflation kept within a range, completes the
picture. Underpinning such an approach is
the premise that the potential of the economy, reflecting the chosen acts of private
agents, not only cannot be improved upon by
the government but its realisation could actually be stymied by intervention. This is a
well-known position in the canon of AngloAmerican economics tending towards the
view that market outcomes are the best. The
maxim minimum government is maximum
governance could legitimately claim to be
its progeny.
Life in the slow lane
How, it may be asked, has this philosophy
served the economy? We could start with
growth. Since May 2014, growth has accelerated but at a much slower rate than that it already had commenced upon in 2013-14. India
today is the worlds fastest growing economy
but this we owe to the fact that China has
slowed more than India has. India has not exactly surged to number one position. But
more importantly, the government has not
so far been able to achieve the substantial
quickening of the economy that Mr. Modi
had promised at election time. The government has on occasion extolled its record in
maintaining macroeconomic stability. This
is indeed correct. Inflation has declined but
this only reflects a downward trend that had
started in 2013-14. The government would
also no doubt like to take credit for sticking
to the pre-announced fiscal consolidation
path. The fiscal deficit has steadily declined
since May 2014. The Finance Ministers public statements suggest that he treats this as a
significant achievement of his government.
Actually, it typifies the search for the ideal
architecture without suicient concern for
outcomes. The truth is that this government
had inherited an economy with quite rapidly
ILLUSTRATION: KESHAV
Most capital formation is done

by the domestic private sector.
Any significant change in the
investment scenario would depend
upon the actions of this segment
accelerating growth and steadily declining
inflation. It has barely managed to maintain
this scenario. The promised resurgence has
not materialised.
It is with respect to investment that the
governments record is uninspiring. Far from
having been able to instil confidence among
private investors, the government has been
unable to stem a decline in capital formation
as a share of output in progress for at
least half a decade. On its part the government takes recourse to the figures on foreign
direct investment (FDI) to signal the efectiveness of its policies. Data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
show that in the year just passed, the economy attracted increased FDI up to 29 per cent
in dollar terms. While this is impressive, and
to be welcomed, it is important to have a
sense of what it amounts to. In the year 201415, FDI amounted to a mere 4 per cent of total
capital formation in India. So, while FDI is to
be encouraged, its ability to make a significant contribution to growth is limited. On the
other hand, over 75 per cent of capital formation is undertaken by the domestic private
Sticking to fiscal consolidation

Right now private investment is very
likely being restrained by the weak balance
sheet of firms. The flip side of this is the high
level of non-performing assets (NPAs) of the
public commercial banks. Forcing these
banks to lend would be poor policy. But it is
not clear whether everything that can be
done to lower the lending rate is being done.
After all, consumer price index (CPI) inflation, the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) preferred inflation index, is trending downward
and there is a case for lowering lending rates.
But the RBI has now been put into the straitjacket of inflation targeting and can no longer respond to considerations of output. This
leaves fiscal policy as the only instrument
with the government.
The government, however, is reluctant to
use it to increase aggregate demand for fear
of deviating from its fiscal consolidation
path. It is of course possible to step up public
investment by trimming subsidies. Here the
National Democratic Alliance governments
approach is cravenly political, and no diferent from that of its predecessor, the United
Progressive Alliance. It is reluctant to be
seen as cutting subsidies even when it is
clear that a rupee-for-rupee swap in certain
subsidies for public capital formation is
likely to be beneficial for both growth and
welfare. The fertilizer subsidy presents the
most obvious instance. It has done little to
stem the rise in food prices while continuing
to take up precious fiscal space. There is a
strong case for reviewing its continuation, at
least in the present form. Well-designed empirical research alone can settle the matter of
its desirability, and one hopes the government will provide this in time for its third annual Budget.
Looking for inspiration
An object of this governments admiration
has been revealed to us in the choice of
speaker for the first NITI Aayog Lecture on
Transforming India. It chose Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the Deputy Prime Minister of
Singapore who was earlier its Finance
Minister for close to a decade. A trained
economist with considerable international
exposure, Mr. Shanmugaratnam typifies the
CARTOONSCAPE
Bleak agricultural landscape

A sector that is unlikely to be well served
by the philosophy than an economy left to its
own devices will achieve its potential is agriculture. Three of the past five years in India
have been years of poor agricultural performance, reflected in persistent food price
inflation. We are very likely witnessing
creeping climate change with direct consequences for production. The advisory
from most funds in the financial sector is
that the economic outlook this year will depend upon the monsoon. It is surprising that
the imperative of drought-proofing an increasingly vulnerable Indian agriculture
hardly figures in the public discourse on the
economy when it is of no less importance
than rolling out the Goods and Services Tax.
Nothing short of a transformation akin to the
Green Revolution can achieve this, and the
States would have to be on board. The
present government has had little to say on
the matter so far. By disbanding the Planning
Commission, the Centre has lost a longstanding conduit to the States whose planning boards did have at least a titular connection to the former.
Putin tightens
his grip
he outcome of Russias parliamentary

election was never in question. The
United Russia party of President Vladimir Putin has dominated the political
landscape ever since it was founded in 2001. Even
so, the margin of the victory was unexpected. The
September 18 elections were held against the backdrop of a protracted economic crisis, tensions between Russia and the West, and a war of attrition in
the countrys neighbourhood. Lower oil prices and
western sanctions have hit ordinary Russians hard.
Russias economy contracted by 3.7 per cent last
year and is expected to shrink further by 0.7 per
cent this year. Conventional wisdom suggests that
economic hardships trigger anti-incumbency sentiment. But in Mr. Putins Russia just the opposite
has happened. When the results were declared, his
party won more than three-quarters of the 450member Duma. The Communist Party and the
Liberal Democratic Party have retained some presence in the national Parliament, while the Yabloko
and the Parnas, the two liberal parties critical of the
Kremlin, failed to even enter the Duma. This could
partly be because of the lack of a united opposition
in Russia. The Communists and Liberal Democrats
are hardly opposition parties, and agree with the
Kremlin on most policy decisions. The anti-Kremlin parties have failed in, or been hindered from,
building a broad base among the electorate. Alexey
Navalny, the leader of the popular anti-government
protests of 2011, has been barred from contesting
elections. Boris Nemtsov, another popular opposition leader, was shot dead last year in Moscow. At
present, there is no opposition leader in a position
to challenge the personality cult of Mr. Putin.
In any case, memories of the anarchic pre-Putin
era may still be prompting Russians to stick by him.
Mr. Putin is largely credited with fixing the economy and providing a stable political leadership to the
country. Under his watch, Russia has come out of
its self-imposed strategic retreat and started playing an active global role. Russias annexation of
Crimea from Ukraine and a combative foreign
policy in Syria and elsewhere have proved popular
among his domestic constituents. But the Russian
economy continues to be heavily dependent on energy exports. If crude oil prices remain low for
long, economic pain will persist. Though the muscular foreign policy is popular at home, Moscow
has had to pay a heavy price for it. Whatever Mr.
Putin had done in his first and second terms to rebuild ties with Europe, particularly with Germany,
lies in a shambles in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.
If Mr. Putin wants to rebuild Russia as a credible
global power, a persistent economic crisis and a
stormy neighbourhood are not going to help.
CM
YK
Singapore model, which recognises the

value of high human capital in its leadership,
something that India has not seen since the
time of Jawaharlal Nehru. Prime Minister
Modi is right to have invited this global
leader to participate in a brainstorming on
how to transform India, thus drawing muchneeded attention to the achievements of
Singapore. Though its cultural policies may
not be to everyones taste, the economic
transformation that this tiny state has so
quickly wrought is most impressive indeed.
There is an astounding presence there of
public capital in the form of infrastructure,
the most egregious of which is public housing which hosts over 80 per cent of the population. Along with its approach to political
freedoms, Singapores record is closer to that
of socialist planning rather than free-market
capitalism. Its government has not hesitated
to intervene in the economy but its interventions have been made with a finesse that has
yielded substantial returns. It is ironic that a
government that had so ceremoniously replaced the Planning Commission must simultaneously seek clues from the history of a
country transformed by economic planning.
There is one specific area in which our
own government may learn from the Singapore experience. The government there had
instituted a provident fund to which all
workers and employees have had to
contribute. These contributions ensured a
rise in the saving rate which in turn was a
source of funding for public investment. In
the muddled discourse on fiscal policy in India today, the reigning argument appears to
be that a fixed private saving rate sets the
limit for the attainable fiscal deficit. This
overlooks the possibility of raising the private saving rate, which is precisely what the
Singapore government had done early in its
history, enabling it to achieve a scale of public capital formation that truly distinguishes
it from India. All indications are that the
present government of India is striving to
replicate Singapores institutional architecture, as in laws governing business, rather
than the transformative role of public investment that turned a fishing village into a global destination for FDI. What other conclusion can be drawn from the fact that in the
Budget for 2016-17 the increase in the allocation for capital expenditure amounted to a
mere 2.3 per cent, with inflation running at
around 4 per cent per annum?
Pulapre Balakrishnan teaches economics at Ashoka

University, Sonipat, Haryana. The views expressed are
personal.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters emailed to letters@thehindu.co.in must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.
After Uri, the options

The analytical article, The best
among limited options (Sept. 21),
was an eye-opener as far as assessing
our military capabilities are
concerned. However, the suggestion
of cyber sabotage and a cyberwar
will not be efective as Pakistan is
bound to seek the assistance of
China to counter such a move. This
is certainly a very inefective way to
deal with a rogue nation like
Pakistan. We need to adopt a more
proactive stand.
G.M. Rama Rao,
Visakhapatnam
Direct action is certainly

inadvisable as India has everything
at stake economic superiority,
prosperity, honour and position
which will be lost in no time.
Pakistan has to be dealt with
diplomatically, strategically and
tactically.
Shiv Shankar Gupta,
New Delhi
We have been mature enough so far

not to resort to any sort of knee-jerk
reaction. There are a number of
options such as covert operations,
resorting to economic blockades,
and ending diplomatic relations.
Most feasible among these would be
resorting to diplomatic isolation
along with an upgradation of border
security infrastructure.
Vivek Rayal,
Dehradun
Crickets magic number

As one who grew up fascinated by
Indian cricket from 1948 onwards, I
find Indian crickets journey to be a

thrilling one (Editorial 500 and
counting, Sept.21). For a long time
since 1932 we were the underdogs
and individual performances
brightened the scenario from time to
time. We rarely functioned as a team.
The rivalry between players and
camps marred the growth of talent.
Today we have a well-knit team. As a
postscript, my fascination for cricket
made me read five national
newspapers every day about our
teams Test performance and I found
S.K. Gurunathans dispatches
(published in The Hindu) to be
lucid, analytical, engaging and very
informative. It was also an era of
powerful pen holders.
Y.G. Chouksey,
Pune
Blow for knowledge

It is premature to say that publishers
will back out of educational
publishing if there is no copyright
protection (Editorial Copyright
and copy-making, Sept.21). Imagine
if universities and the entire
academic community choose to
boycott expensive books or
prescribe cheap Indian textbooks
only for their courses. What will
happen to these publishers? When
there is no one to read your books,
what is the use of protection? The
crux of the problem is that foreign
textbooks are far too expensive for
Indian students by virtue of their
conversion rate. At the same time
there are many university libraries
which have multiple copies of
textbooks and provide textbooks to
students through book banks. No
photocopying is permitted. I think
the publishers associated with the

case have lost sight of their actual
mission and are doing business
purely for profit. Why cant foreign
publishers sell their books in India at
a lower cost so that there will be
greater sales and more volume?
Publishers must help students in
their academic pursuit.
M. Koteswara Rao,
Hyderabad
The Hindu@138
Many students attempting the civil
services examinations are said to
owe much of their success to being
ardent readers of The Hindu.
Therefore, one can well imagine its
impact. I hope that the daily is able
to encourage youngsters to continue
reading especially as they form
nearly 65 per cent of the population.
I have accompanied The Hindu on
its journey, silently and for half its
age, and look forward to seeing it
reach a circulation figure of 2
million shortly!
P.M. Gopalan,
Mumbai
As an avid reader for the past 60-odd

years, I share the honour of being a
part of The Hindu through thick and
thin. Despite having my own
reservations about the Emergency
(1975-1977), when the newspaper
willingly or otherwise toed the line
of establishment, I am still bound to
appreciate its resilience.
Kulasai Yaman,
Tuticorin
I have been an ardent reader for the

past 50 years, right from school.
Every page is presented in a unique
way. The Open Page in particular is

interesting. The Friday supplement
too is a delight for art and music
aficionados. The newspaper should
continue to be a tool for students to
improve their language skills.
M. Subbiah,
Chennai
I came to Chennai on August 26,

1989, and was lost. I didnt know
Tamil and was keen to have access to
a newspaper that covered the local
and national news well. My boss
recommended The Hindu. I soon
gained confidence in my language
skills. Whenever I travel back home
in Gujarat, I feel lost without the
paper as reading it has become a
habit.
Ramesh G. Patel,
Chennai
I am 78, and thanks to my father,

have been reading the daily for close
to 70 years. In our joint family of four
brothers, the paper has been an
integral part of the household.
Reading it has been a habit for five
generations. Whenever time
permits, I read sections of the paper
to my visually impaired friend over
the phone.
S. Kanakasabapathy,
Chennai
I have been a reader of the paper for

the past three and a half decades. My
primary education was in Tamil
medium. I started reading at 12. As I
was keen to learn English, my father
put me in an English medium school.
I didnt find it diicult to take
dictation of the editorial columns in
shorthand every day, which made
me proficient in higher grade
stenography and secure a first class

in post-graduation.
N. Anuradha Srinivas,
Coimbatore
Even in this age of digital news, it is

amazing that the paper has been able
to retain its strong print base. It is
one of the few to have a full-fledged
Readers Editor. Reading the
editorials helped strengthen my
grasp of the English language in
school. My evenings in the U.S. are
incomplete unless I have read the
online edition.
Varad Seshadri,
Sunnyvale, California, U.S.
I remember the time when the paper

published letters written by
personalities such as
Subramania Bharati. Such was its
greatness. I hopes this continues.
S.V. Venugopalan,
Chennai
It is no exaggeration to say that my

generation improved its grasp and
hold over the English language after
reading the paper meticulously. In
the 1960s, my father used to make
me read aloud and write down the
editorials for a period of eight
years. All through my career, this
helped me score over my colleagues
and competitors in the battle for
survival in the executive jungle. In
the eyes of my father and his ilk,
Wren and Martins English
Grammar and Composition and
The Hindu complemented each
other. If news was reported in The
Hindu, the dictum was that it must
be true and reliable.
Bellur S. Dattatri,
Bengaluru
ND-ND
NOIDA/DELHI
SPORT
Nothing cures like excess

Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, circa 1987. A snake pit of a
pitch. Iqbal Qasim and Tauseef Ahmed, of whom we didnt
hear much before or after, were lapping up wickets as only
South Asian dust-bowl specialists can. At one end, however, a
diminutive man held firm, fishing on the odd occasion,
presenting a dead bat on most others, and unleashing delectABDUS
able drives as only he could. Some seven months down the
SALAM
line, the same man would run amok in uncharacteristic fashion as he raced his way to a career-first hundred in One-Day Internationals
(ODIs), the last tournament of his career. For millions of cricket connoisseurs, Sunny Gavaskars epic 96 against Pakistan on a crumbling wicket in
his final Test match puts his unbeaten 103 in 88 balls against New Zealand in
the Reliance World Cup in the shade any day.
Doomsday prophets say the great game is now dying Test cricket, that
is. The purists delight. The ultimate contest between bat and ball. And no
matter how many open-heart surgeries they perform, from pink ball to daynight matches and coloured clothing to a World Test Championship, the
audience has bolted. Cricket must bow to the zeitgeist of instant entertainment and embrace its new pint-sized normal, Twenty20.
Hope from T20
But in the rise of the twenty overs format lies hope for the longest, the
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) willing. Look beyond the
sound and fury of its current opposition to the International Cricket Councils (ICC) two-tier Test system; the BCCI is projecting it as rallying to the
defence of weaker cricketing nations, but the proposed system is also
linked to a proposal for centralised marketing of global broadcast rights of
bilateral series, as also the fact that a former
Board president now heads the ICC and has
The heavy home
turned on the current Board adminisseason of Tests is
tration. Truth be said, the commercialisation of Indian cricket under the aegis of the
an opportunity
BCCI has had not a small role to play in rela TRP-driven BCCI
egating Tests to an afterthought. As the pecan ill-afford to miss
cuniary potential of the ODI, and subsequently the T20, dawned on the Board
from the early 1990s through the 2000s, it refused to upgrade Team Indias
calendar for Test cricket. Sample an icon whose career overlapped with
this transition, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
When he made his debut in November 1989, cricket was largely played in
white flannels; England, with its lucrative country cricket structure, was
still the games financial leviathan. By the time he walked out at the
Wankhede stadium in November 2013, the transformation was complete:
India was dictating terms to the cricketing world, leveraging its financial
muscle of multimillion-dollar broadcasting and sponsorship rights and as
hosts of that consummate entertainment-sport jamboree, the Indian
Premier League. Over the course of a 24-year career in which he sat out only
a handful of matches due to injury, Tendulkar played 200 Tests 8.3 Tests a
year on average. Contrast that with a near-contemporary, Australian Ricky
Ponting. In a 17-year career starting 1995, Ponting ended up playing 168
Tests until he bowed out of the game in 2012 or 9.9 Tests a year on average. Another near-contemporary, Jacques Kallis of South Africa, notched
up 166 Test caps over 18 years, at 9.2 matches a year. In a career of just 10
years, current England Test captain Alastair Cook has played 133 matches,
or 13.3 Tests a year.
The point is, unlike crickets new financial numero uno, the other Big
Three Australia, England and South Africa have demonstrated a
higher commitment to Test cricket. If those ballpark figures via careers
arent enough, sample this. Since Tendulkars retirement, India has played
25 Tests as opposed to Australias 28 and Englands 32. Public memory is
short but it is the same BCCI, now wallowing in its packed itinerary this
season of 13 Tests as proof of its commitment to the five-day game, that allowed Mahendra Singh Dhoni, then the ODI skipper, to sit out of a Test
series in Sri Lanka in July-August 2008 because of fatigue this, after featuring in all 16 of the Chennai Super Kingss matches en route to the final of
the inaugural IPL between April and June that year.
As history is made
As India plays its 500th Test against New Zealand at Kanpur on
Thursday, what the doomsday prophets are overlooking is the rapid redundancy of the ODI. It was an innovation for its time, and struck a refreshing contrast to the five-day game after oicials hastily organised the first
ODI between England and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on
January 5, 1971, to compensate audiences for the third Ashes Test getting
washed out. As the adrenaline of a mandatory-result contest gets accentuated in a three-and-a-half-hour format, the ODI increasingly battles
its long middle, of uneventful hours before the plot thickens in the death
overs. While its popularity still persists, partly because of the quadrennial
World Cups, the likelihood of the ODI yielding diminishing financial returns going forward is high.
Test cricket, on the other hand, has shaken of of its stupor of dour draws
in recent years, with more and more matches ending in a nail-biting finish.
If variety were the yardstick to predict sustainability of spectator interest,
the bet is it will coalesce around the ends of the spectrum, with ODIs as the
unviable halfway house. With the heaviest home season of Tests beckoning
since 1979-80, India is poised to not only supplant Pakistan as the top Test
team but consolidate its place, a fact that is likely to bring back the in-stadia
spectators and television viewers. Its an opportunity a TRP-driven BCCI
can ill-aford to miss. It failed Tendulkar; it must not fail Virat Kohli.
abdus.salam@thehindu.co.in
FROM THE ARCHIVES

(dated September 22, 1966)
Smaller atomic
power stations
The Atomic Energy
Commission is considering the
possibility of establishing a series
of smaller atomic power stations
after the Tarapur, Rana
Pratapsagar and Madras nuclear
power projects are completed, it
is reliably learnt. The proposal is
to locate the stations at places not
less than 500 miles from the
coalfields. Because of the long
haulage the cost of generation of
thermal power is comparatively
high in such places. One site
highly favoured by A.E.C. experts
for technical reasons, on the basis
of data collected so far, is near
Surat in Gujarat. The location of
an atomic power plant here
[Ahmedabad], is, however,
dependent upon the early
completion of the multipurpose
Ukai project on the Tapti as
otherwise the water requirements
of the station cannot be assured.
The Tarapur station will use
slightly enriched uranium
(meaning the Uranium-235
content will be raised slightly
above the proportion in which it
occurs in nature). It will have an
initial capacity of 400 mW.
Red Guards ransack

home of Mme Sun
Yat-Sen
Red Guards have ransacked the
Shanghai residence of Madame
CM
YK
Soong Ching-ling, widow of Dr.

Sun Yat-Sen, founder of the first
Chinese Republic according to
reports in anti-Communist
Chinese-language newspapers
here [Hong Kong, September 21].
They quoted travellers from
China as source for the news. The
reports said the Red Guards had
accused the 76-year-old Mme.
Soong of living a luxurious life
and demanded that she give up
her money and goods to the State.
Mme. Soong holds the post of
Vice-Chairman in the Chinese
Government. Mme. Soong has not
been prominent in public since
the Red Guards movement began
about a month ago. But the Soviet
news agency Tass reported from
Peking last week that Prime
Minister Chou En-lai had asked
the Red Guards not to criticise
her.
First woman
paratrooper of Army
Capt. (Miss) Farida Rehana of
the Army Medical Corps became
the first woman paratrooper of
the Indian Army when she
successfully completed the basic
course in paratrooping by taking
her fifth and final para jump on
Monday at the Paratroopers
Training School here [Agra,
September 20]. She took the Jump
from an I.A.F. Fairchild Packet C
119 and glided down safely to the
dropping zone. Later in the day
she was presented her wings at
the passing-out parade.
| 11
PERSPECTIVE
Travails of a war-torn people

The Northern Provincial Council, which came to power three years ago, has been an abysmal
failure. And Colombo has descended to business as usual
AHILAN
KADIRGAMAR
On September 21, 2013, tens of thousands of Tamils living in Sri Lankas

heavily-militarised North decisively
voted in the long-delayed provincial
elections. They had waited for two and a
half decades to make their voices heard
and elect their own government.
Despite the promise of development
and election handouts from then
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, they gave
the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) a
massive
mandate,
with
C.V.
Wigneswaran becoming the Chief
Minister.
Expectations and disappointments
It is three years since the Northern
Provincial Council (NPC) came to
power and it has been an abysmal failure. The NPC is yet to put forward a vision for economic development and has
hardly legislated the statutes needed to
move the wheels of its administration.
It has merely been a talk shop with
resolutions and statements. Its notorious genocide resolution a month after
regime change in Colombo last year, apparently passed to mobilise international actors, in efect polarised the
country and undermined the new political space for reconciliation. The sad reality is that the NPC has lost its credibility with the local population.
The defeat of the Rajapaksa regime
opened the space for public discussions
and even widespread protests in the militarised North, but democratisation
with progressive social engagement and
meaningful political representation are
not in sight. Even as polarising Tamil nationalist mobilisations dominate regional politics, the economic travails of
the dispossessed people continue.
In Colombo, the TNA voted with the
Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government
on the 2016 Budget. However, very little
has been delivered to the war-torn regions, other than the meagre allocation
of SLR14 billion (Rs.6.5 billion) to the
Resettlement Ministry, a mere 0.5 per
cent of total budget expenditure. A
donor conference to be held in Tokyo in
June this year for reconstruction of the
North and East was quietly cancelled
without comment.
A Cabinet decision a year ago to build
65,000 houses in the North and East was
manoeuvred by the government to purchase prefabricated steel houses worth
$1 billion from ArcelorMittal, a multinational company. The project is on hold.
The North presents a veneer of de-
STILL A LONG WAIT: The desperate conditions are linked to falling incomes and crippling livelihoods, particularly in the
predominantly agriculture and fisheries sectors. Picture shows a polling station during the Northern Provincial Council election
in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, in 2013. FILE PHOTO: AP
velopment. But in the by-lanes, deprivation and poverty are all too visible.
There are increasing reports of suicide
linked to heavy indebtedness, and of
women caught in a web of exploitative
microfinance schemes. These desperate
conditions are linked to falling incomes
and crippling livelihoods, particularly in
the predominantly agriculture and fisheries sectors.
The political and societal malaise
In the war-torn regions, household incomes are by far the lowest in the country. In Mullaitivu district, which was
razed to the ground in the last phase of
the war, median per capita income is
SLR4,683 (Rs.2,157) per month with half
the districts population living on less
than $1 per day, according to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey
2012/2013. District-level data indicate 15
per cent unemployment in Jafna, with
close to 90 per cent of them comprising
youth between the age of 16 and 36.
The economic crisis in the North is
linked to the political malaise in the
country; the political vision for substantive reconstruction is missing. Extreme Tamil nationalism and Sinhala
Buddhist nationalism have the common
goal of rejecting a political solution; one
for its separatist goal and the other for
its majoritarian agenda. After decades of
engaging a polarised polity, neither
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghes
United National Party nor the faction of
The economic crisis in the

North is linked to the political
malaise in the country; the
political vision for substantive
reconstruction is missing
President Maithripala Sirisenas Sri
Lanka Freedom Party seem to have the
courage and imagination to provide the
direction to substantively address the
national question.
The politics of the Federal Party led
by R. Sampanthan and, for that matter,
the more extremist Tamil nationalism
promoted
recently
by
Mr.
Wigneswaran, are unable to address the
fascist legacy of the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Lack of critical reflection about the armed struggle and
the LTTEs suicidal politics is perhaps
the single biggest impediment to rejuvenating Tamil politics. Indeed, rebuilding relations with the Muslim minority
would require addressing the brutal attacks against them and their eviction
from the North by the LTTE in the 1990s.
Contributing to the malaise is the taboo of discussing caste relations that are
reconsolidating in the North after the
war. In Jafna district, for example, about
10 per cent of households do not even
own the small plots of land necessary to
qualify for post-war housing grants, and
the bulk of them belong to oppressed
caste communities. The government-
initiated Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reform

created a glimmer of hope with submissions from broad sections of society.
However, its report in May 2016 seems
to be all but forgotten with the ongoing
constitution-making process limited to
a few parliamentarians and experts in
Colombo. It has also become an exercise
in political management in response to
the Rajapaksa camps chauvinist majoritarian push.
A constitution drafted under such a
shroud of fear is bound to fail as it does
not challenge the very forces that have
resulted in the need for a new
constitution. And the liberals in
Colombo are twisting their tongues to
justify a unitary structure of the state,
which inevitably centralises power in
Colombo to the detriment of meaningful devolution of power.
Almost two years after the inspiring
democratic change of regime, Sri Lanka
has descended to politics as usual. The
need of the hour is a movement for social justice combining calls to address
the grievances of minorities with demands for decent economic life for the
citizenry at large. It is such inter-ethnic
movements that can also address the social and economic travails of the wartorn people.
Ahilan Kadirgamar is a political economist based in
Jaffna and a member of the Collective for Economic
Democratisation.
Railway Budget, a vanishing trick

The hurry to bury the standalone Budget points to obfuscation under the smokescreen of reforms
K. BALAKESARI
So finally, the almost century-old practice of presenting a separate Railway

Budget ahead of the General Budget is to
be dispensed with from the next financial year (2017-18), and the Railway
Budget merged with the General
Budget. The Union Cabinet has just
cleared the proposal.
What are the reported reasons for this
merger? According to earlier media reports, a separate Railway Budget is being
dispensed with so that the Indian Railways need not pay the annual dividend
to the Government of India on the budgetary support given each year, saving
the financially stressed Railways about
Rs.10,000 crore annually; over the years,
the Budget has been misused by politicians as a populist platform to enhance
their own image; no other Ministry has a
separate budget and the practice exists
in no other country today; the Bibek
Debroy Committee has recommended
discontinuance of a separate Rail Budget
and it is part of the Prime Ministers reform programme. Besides, it is a colonial
legacy.
A point particularly stressed by the
Finance Minister in the press conference
announcing the Cabinet decision was
that the Railways share in the General
Budget has progressively reduced over
the years, making a separate budget an
anachronism.
Each of these reasons does not
present the true or complete picture. It is
necessary to separate fact from fiction.
It is a review
There have been sporadic calls in the
past for doing away with a separate Railway Budget for various reasons, but the
matter was never pursued seriously. One
of the more publicised reasons is that it
will free the Railways of the obligation of
paying the annual dividend, as mentioned earlier. This is only partly true.
The dividend is paid not only on the budgetary support extended during a year
but also on the total capital at charge
which includes the gross budgetary support (GBS) of previous years. By this
merger, a loan-in-perpetuity is converted to a grant. Shorn of oicialese, it is a
loan waiver; and loan waivers are granted to individuals or institutions in ex-
WHISTLE AND LIGHT: The government should table an annual Indian Railways
Report in Parliament on the lines of the Reserve Bank of Indias Economic Survey.
That will signal reforms with transparency. Picture shows a heritage train in
Kolkata. FILE PHOTO: PARTH SANYAL
What should be of concern is

that the Railways finances are
sought to be shored up, not
by improving efficiency, but by
taking cover behind reforms
treme financial distress something
not to go to town about.
In popular imagination, the Railway
Budget was seen as a grand spectacle,
with the Railway Minister using it as a
platform for populism and political
grandstanding. What is not appreciated
is that the Budget is not merely a statement of allotment of funds to various
projects and programmes, unlike other
ministries, but comprises a fairly detailed performance review, physical and
financial, of the previous year and
prospects for the current (Budget) year.
Perhaps nowhere in the world is a political functionary called upon to present a
financial report card of the countrys
largest public undertaking in the full
glare of publicity. A separate postBudget discussion in Parliament on the
Railways, as indicated by the Finance
Minister, is no substitute, as the focus
most likely will be on allotments to
various projects, not on financial
performance.
Talking of populism, the recent announcement by the Finance Minister of
the proposal to set up a new Railway

zone to placate a State government as
part of a special package is proof that it
is possible to be populist outside a separate budget.
Why should there be a separate
budget for the Railways? The fact is that
the Railways is indeed unlike any other
Central ministry in size and scope: It is
an operational ministry; it earns as well
as spends, unlike other ministries that
only spend. Its gross earnings (Rs.1.68
lakh crore in 2015-16) are among the
highest for any Indian organisation, public or private; it has a staf strength (13.2
lakh) that exceeds that of the Indian
Army; it fully meets the pension liabilities of its retired employees (13.8 lakh)
out of its own earnings unlike other ministries; it follows an accounting practice,
though not up to the standards of a
purely commercial establishment, that
has a number of features of a commercially-run organisation. So, if the Railways is to be treated like other ministries, will the government also fund its
pension liabilities which are estimated
to be about Rs.45,500 crore in 2016-17?
That should be some savings indeed!
Part of a package
Perhaps the most misquoted reason
given for the merger is that the Bibek
Debroy Committee has recommended it.
That is being economical with the facts.
The committee has recommended it not

as a stand-alone step, but as part of a slew
of measures such as: complete overhaul
of the project financing architecture of
the Railways involving ruthless weeding
out of unviable/long-pending projects;
comprehensive accounting reforms;
separation of infrastructure and operations; and setting up of a rail regulatory
authority. Pending these steps, each of
which is a major project in itself (some
politically sensitive), the move to give a
hasty send-of to the Railway Budget is
perplexing.
The Railway Budget is indeed a colonial legacy; but so are English, the Railways, Rashtrapati Bhavan and the sedition law. Enough said. All this is not to
say that the Railway Budget is a holy cow
that cannot be touched. Far from it. The
question is not why, but why such a
hurry to bury it?
The answer, in one word: Obfuscation.
By all accounts, the Railways financial
position is precarious due to the triple
whammy of a fall in revenues, a sudden
spike in expenditure due to implementation recommendations of the Seventh
Pay Commission, and an increasingly
unsustainable interest burden on market
borrowings. A separate Budget would
have meant having to openly declare an
operating ratio in excess of 1.0 (in laymans language, that means one is living
beyond ones means): not a very good advertisement for a system that aspires to
have high-speed tilting Talgo trains
shortly and Bullet trains in the not-toodistant future. So why not banish and
vanish the Railway Budget into anonymity as one of the myriad annexures
in the General Budget and earn a fat bonus of about Rs.10,000 crore in the bargain? A smart move indeed! It seems
now the Budget is more valuable dead
than alive. However, what should be a
matter of serious concern to the aam
aadmi is that the Railways finances are
sought to be shored up, not by improving
eiciency, increasing revenues and cutting costs, but through a dexterous bureaucratic sleight of hand, taking cover
behind the smokescreen of reforms.
Finally, a suggestion to the government: Do not throw the baby out with the
bathwater; table an annual Indian Railways Report in Parliament on the lines
of the Reserve Bank of Indias Economic
Survey. That will signal reforms with
transparency.
K. Balakesari is former Member Staff, Railway Board.
ND-ND
12 |
NEWS
FROM PAGE ONE
Karnataka not to give

water till Sept. 23
Speaking to reporters
after the meeting, Chief
Minister Siddaramaiah
reiterated that it was an
unimplementable order.
It is learnt that the special legislature session
would discuss the court
directive and adopt a
resolution directing the
executive not to release
Cauvery water.
not in a position to release water for farming in

Tamil Nadu, they said.
It is believed that the
option of calling a legislature session to adopt a
resolution was suggested
by the States legal team.
Earlier in the day, at a
meeting of the Cabinet,
the pros and cons of defying the courts order
was discussed in detail.
Most viable option

This, according to legal
experts, was seen as the
most viable option as
the government could
then plead before the
court that it could not implement its order as there
was a contrarian directive
from the legislature.
Congress MPs, speaking at the all-party meeting, said the States water
storage from all the four
reservoirs in the Cauvery
basin stood at a mere 28
tmcft and the drinking
water requirement itself
would be 27 tmcft till May
2017.
In this backdrop, as expressed before the Supreme Court, the State is
CM keen on support of
all parties
It is also believed that
Mr. Siddaramaiah was
keen to have the support
of all parties before proceeding further.
In fact, ahead of the allparty meeting, he had
even gone to meet his bete noire, the former Prime
Minister
H.D.
Deve
Gowda, at the latters
residence, the first such
meeting in a decade.
Others who attended
the all-party meeting included senior Congress
leaders M. Mallikarjun
Kharge, Veerappa Moily
and Oscar Fernandes, and
JD(S) State president
H.D. Kumaraswamy.
It will become just another department to be toyed with rather than being used for public good, says Dinesh Trivedi
PATNA/NEW DELHI: The end of
autonomy and a move towards privatisation were
some of the conclusions that
were drawn by former Railway Ministers Nitish Kumar
and Dinesh Trivedi over the
Union Cabinets decision to
merge the Railway and
Union budgets.
Mr. Trivedi said the merging of the budgets could be
the first step towards privatisation of the Railways, stating that whatever the merits
of the measure, the move
smacked of unilateralism.
This was an issue that
should have been discussed
in Parliament as the separation convention that demerged the two budgets in
1924 had been brought in
through legislative means.
To say that the measure is a
blow against colonialism is
neither here nor there. Our
entire political system is
based on the Westminster
model and our statute book
The main door of the house

was locked from inside and
Tarun peeped through a
window after repeated
knocks on the door went
unanswered.
He alerted the neighbours, who in turn informed
the police. The body was
brought down in the presence of witnesseses and
sent for post-mortem.
Subsequently, the area's
sub-divisional magistrate
was informed and Bharti's
father's statement recorded
on Wednesday.
In his statement, Bharti's
father, Narender Kumar
Sharma, alleged that Tarun
and his parents put pressure
on his daughter to take a
bank loan, believing she
NEW DELHI: The unified budget,

the Union Cabinet decided
on Wednesday, would be
presented a few weeks
earlier than the convention
of the last day of February.
The date of presentation of
the budget for 2017-18 would
be fixed keeping in view the
schedule for the Assembly
elections to be held in States
next year, Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley told journalists.
The new date will be announced after obtaining
approvals from the Cabinet
Committee on Parliamentary Afairs and the Lok Sabha
Speaker, an oicial said.
The decision to advance
the budget is being taken to
allow for the annual budget
exercise to be completed
Wont float party, but am

open to tie-ups: Sidhu
NEW DELHI: Former BJP MP
Navjot Singh Sidhu on

Wednesday announced that
he would not float a new political party ahead of the
Punjab Assembly elections
and that Awaaz-e-Punjab
would remain a political
forum, which would be open
to alliance for the betterment
of Punjab.
Our battle is to shake the
system that has ruined Punjab. Politics is not a profession but a mission. There is
no personal or political vendetta. The forum welcomes
any alliance for the betterment of Punjab and will
not be a political party, Mr.
Sidhu said in a statement.
Hitting out at the ruling
Shiromani Akali Dal-led government and the Congress
party, Mr. Sidhu said: We
will not divide the anti-incumbency vote-bank, which
could indirectly benefit the
Badal-Amarinder
nexus
that has plundered Punjab in
the last 15 years. This will de-
Rafale deal
cleared, to be
signed tomorrow
NEW DELHI: The Union govern-
ment on Wednesday cleared

the deal with France for buying 36 Rafale fighter jets in
flyaway condition at a cost of
7.878 billion. The deal will
be signed on Friday, in the
presence of French Defence
Minister Jean Yves Le Drian.
The contract for the deal
was cleared by the Cabinet
Committee on Security
earlier.
The price was fixed in
May, Defence Ministry
sources said. The sources
said the government also
cleared the Inter-Governmental Agreement. Mr.
Drian arrives on Thursday
along with the CEOs of
Dassault Aviation, Thales
and MBDA and top government oicials. PTI
CM
YK
Navjot Singh Sidhu

feat our purpose of bringing
a change for the betterment
of Punjab.
Wont play spoilsport
We will not play
spoilsport and instead will
facilitate the Punjab election, he said, adding that the
minimum time taken by a
new party to win a State is almost two years, which is
ample testimony to the fact
This will gladden the

heart of Railway
Minister who can
pass on his pressures
to Finance Minister
NO WALLS: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu arrive for a
briefing at the National Media Centre in New Delhi on Wednesday. PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY
awash with colonial laws. We
could have scrapped all
those as well, he said.
The separation convention was set up in 1924 as the
Railways were seen as a com-
mercial activity funded by

the British government and
dividends were to be paid to
shareholders. The designation of the Railways as a commercial activity is still there.
Plan to complete budget

exercise before April 1
PUJA MEHRA
would get it easily as she

was employed with a large
company.
He alleged that the pressure had left his daughter
stressed and depressed
over the past few weeks.
Her husband was subsequently arrested. Further
probe is on in the case.
Its a ticket to privatisation: Ex-Rail Ministers
Jet stafer ends life
Bharti Sharma
NOIDA/DELHI
that three months is too

short a time for the Herculean task.
Assembly elections in
Punjab are due in early 2017,
ahead of which Mr. Sidhu,
along with MLA Pargat
Singh and Ludhiana MLAs
Simarjit Bains and Balwinder Bains, recently announced the launch of
Awaaz-e-Punjab.
Meanwhile, Punjab Congress president Capt. Amarinder Singh said: Mr.
Sidhu must have realised
that he fits better in a comedy show than anywhere else,
including politics.
Mr. Singh said he had always insisted that Mr. Sidhu
would hardly be able to form
a credible and viable political party, adding that, today,
he vindicated his stand.
Punjabs Deputy Chief
Minister Sukhbir Singh
Badal also took a jibe at Navjot Singh Sidhu, saying Mr.
Sidhu or his Awaaz-e-Punjab
would be able to make the
slightest of diference to the
political equation in State.
every year before April 1, the

start of the new financial
year. This is expected to lead
to streamlined spending of
allocations by States and
ministries and ensure rollout
of the legislative changes in
the tax regime from the beginning of the financial year.
It will also preclude the need
for seeking appropriation
from Parliament through
Vote on Account.
To reduce the bias in favour of Plan expenditure by
both the Centre and the
States, which, an oicial release said, has led to a neglect of essential expenditures on maintenance of
assets and other establishment-related expenditures
for providing essential social
services, the Cabinet also
approved the elimination in
the Budget and the governments Accounts of the Plan

and Non Plan distinction.
The bifurcation of expenditure was resulting in a
fragmented view of resource allocation to various
schemes, making it diicult
not only to ascertain cost of
delivering a service but also
to link outlays to outcomes,
the release said.
The
Railways
will
continue to maintain their
distinct entity and retain its
functional autonomy and
delegation of financial
powers, Railway Minister
Suresh Prabhu told the
media briefing. He said the
Railways will continue to
meet all their expenditure,
including ordinary working
expenses, pay, and pensions
from their revenue receipts.
Does the scrapping of the

separation convention mean
that it will see a generational
change for the Railways, or
that the man sitting in Buxar,
needing rail connectivity
know what is the process he

will have to go through? he
said. It is a move that would
gladden the heart of the Railway Minister, who can pass
on his pressures to the Finance Minister, and in my
view it will pave the way towards privatisation, as it will
become just another department to be toyed with rather
than being used for public
good, he said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was Railway
Minister under the premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
said the decision would end
the autonomy of the largest
public carrier in the country.
His deputy in the Cabinet Tejaswi Yadav too charged that
it was a privatisation move.
With my personal expe-
SOMESH JHA
NEW DELHI: As the government
decides to merge the Railway

Budget and the General
Budget, Union Cabinet on
Wednesday scrapped the
Railway Convention Committee (RCC) which determines the rate of dividend to be
paid to the Finance Ministry,
Railway Ministry sources
said.
The Committee consisted
of 18 members 12 members from Lok Sabha and six
members from Rajya Sabha.
Both the Ministers of Railways and Finance are nominated members of the Committee. It was constituted in
1949 with the primary role of
determining the rate of dividend, modalities of its payment and exemptions. It took
Memorandum of
Procedure may be
finalised in two
weeks, says Chief
Justice of India
NEW DELHI: In an indication
that the deadlock between

the collegium and the Centre
over the procedure to appoint judges to the Supreme
Court and High Courts may
be coming to an end, Chief
Justice of India T.S. Thakur
on Wednesday said diferences of opinion with government are being sorted out
and the Memorandum of
Procedure (MoP) may be finalised in the next two
weeks.
The government had referred its latest draft of the
MoP to the Collegium for approval on August 3. Once the
MoP is finalised, the collegium would send the document back to the government for notification.
Chief Justice Thakur conveyed to reporters that there
had been some debate on
four or five areas in the governments MoP.
Cautious note
Government
sources
sounded cautious while reacting to Chief Justice Thakurs words and restricted
themselves to saying that
Chief Justice T.S. Thakur

we are working it out.
Chief Justice Thakur conveyed this at the sidelines of
the 2nd Justice J.S. Verma
Memorial Lecture organised
by the News Broadcasters
Association under the chairmanship of former Supreme
Court judge Justice R.V.
Raveendran.
Incidentally,
Justice Verma moulded the
Collegium system of judicial
appointments in the Second
Judges Case of 1993.
It was Justice Verma who
laid out the foundation for
the Collegium system... the
now much maligned Collegium system, Chief Justice
Thakur said in his memorial
lecture to an audience com-
Union Cabinet
scraps Railway
Convention
Committee that was
constituted in 1949
on a wider role of examining
various subjects related to
working of the Railways and
its finances since 1971.
The Union Cabinet decided on Wednesday that
Railways will not pay dividend to the Finance
Ministry for the capital invested in it beginning 201718. Since dividend will no
longer be paid, the RCC has
been scrapped, Railway
Ministry oicials said.
In 2016-17, the Railways is
budgeted to pay Rs. 9,731
crore as dividend whereas
prising among others, Supreme Court judges and

senior lawyers.
On October 16, 2015, a fivejudge Bench breathed life
into the Collegium system of
judges appointing judges by
scrapping the governments
National Judicial Appointments Commission laws
which gave equal role to politicians
in
judicial
appointments.
Bone of contention
The MoP had been the
cause of a prolonged stalemate between the Collegium
and the government ever
since the Supreme Court directed the latter to draft it in a
judgment on December 16,
2015.
The latest draft highlights
the process of judicial appointments as a transparent
and broad-based exercise
involving not just a handful
of senior judges but their
brethren, the Chief Ministers

and top law oicers of the
Centre and the States.
It wants all Supreme Court
and High Court judges to be
able to recommend names to
their respective collegiums.
It has recommended Chief
Ministers to have the right to
suggest names to the respective High Court collegiums.
Similarly, Attorney General
should
be
allowed
recommend the names of
judges to the Supreme Court
and Advocate-General of
States to their respective
State High Courts.
Appraisal committees
The draft details a mechanism for an elaborate vetting
process of names recommended for High Court
judgeship through appraisal
committees made up of sitting or retired judges, jurists
and academicians at both Supreme Court and High Court
levels. The government has
further asked the judiciary to
fix an age for High Court
judgeship and make it nonflexible. It also wants the
mechanism for redressing
complaints against judges to
remain within the judiciary.
Amit Shah and Mayawati trade rhetoric on Uttar Pradesh

OMAR RASHID
LUCKNOW: If Bahujan Sama-
jwadi Party (BSP) chief Mayawati had distributed the

money spent in amassing her
bungalows, every Dalit
household would get an airconditioner, BJP chief Amit
Shah said on Wednesday, attacking her over allegations
of corruption during her
tenure.
If the Samajwadi Party
(SP) committed atrocities on
Dalits, the BSP exploited
them, Mr. Shah said, adding
that OBC and Dalit leaders
held a place not only in the
organisation (dal) but also
the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP)s heart (dil). Mr. Shahs
comments came as he welcomed two more BSP rebel
MLAs into the party
Dharm Singh Saini from
Saharanpur and Ramesh
Prasad Kushwaha from Lalit-
pur. Both belong to backward castes.

Speaking as a chief guest
at a rally organised here by
the newly inducted BJP OBC
leader
Swami
Prasad
Maurya, Mr. Shah said the
ruling Yadav clan in SP was
busy fighting over the division of loot and enacting a
Mahabharat, in which Amar
Singh played the role of
Narad, without any concern
for the common peoples
needs. Even as he sought answers from Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav for the law
and order situation in the
State, Mr. Shah wondered
why tainted minister Gayatri
Prasad Prajapati, mired in allegations of illegal mining,
was sacked and then quickly
re-inducted. If there was no
corruption in mining, every
family in UP would get a
colour TV, Mr. Shah
remarked.
The spotlight of the event,

billed a Parivartan Maharally, however, was its estimated
attendance.
Mr.
Maurya, who quit the BSP
amid a lot of bad blood recently, had claimed he would
break Mayawatis arrogance by gathering a crown
of five lakh people at her favourite arena, the massive
Ramabai grounds, which
most leaders other than her
find diicult to fill.
The crowd at the muchhyped
show-of-strength
public meeting, however,
looked nowhere to close to
the figure. In fact, people
started exiting the venue
much before Mr. Shah arrived as he was delayed, leaving behind the sight of empty
chairs and open spaces. BJP
spokesperson
Harish
Srivastava estimated that
over one lakh people attended the rally but downplayed
the partys role in arranging

it. The rally was organised
by Swami Prasad Maurya in
his
personal
capacity
through his front Loktantrik
Bahujan Manch, not by the
BJP organisation, he said.
Ms. Mayawati deployed
the famous Hindi idiom
khoda pahad aur nikli
chuhiya (they dug a mountain only to find a mouse) to
dub Mr. Mauryas event a
big flop show and a failure.
To make the programme a
success, Maurya even misused the posters and banners
of BSP founder Kanshiram
but his [Kanshirams] supporters understood the reality and did not come under
the influence of the rebels,
the former UP chief minister
said.
In his address, Mr. Shah
urged the people of U.P. to
end the circulation of power
between the SP and BSP,
A tradition for long

He said presenting a separate budget for the Railways
had been a tradition which
all successive governments
followed. The Railways
have been the cheapest
mode of transportation for
the people of the country but
with this decision of the
Union government the faith
of the common people in it
will be dented, he said.
Mr. Tejaswi Yadav said, In
future the Railway Ministry
will cease to exist.
His father and RJD chief
Lalu Prasad Yadav too has
been the Railway Minister.
During my fathers tenure,
the Railways had earned
huge profit but see the situation today, he told
journalists.
Railways will stop paying

dividend to Finance Ministry
Clarity on judges appointment soon

KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL
rience as a former Railway

Minister I can say this decision of the Union Cabinet
will not benefit the Railways.
Instead, this step will end its
autonomy, said Mr. Kumar,
while seeking a rethink.
while also dubbing the Congress a vote katua or votesplitter working to help the
two.
He said Congress VicePresident Rahul Gandhis
khat sabhas in U.P. were organised to directly benefit
the two parties as a favour returned for their past collusion under the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Trading allegations
Claiming that the leadership of the SP and BSP were
only busy filling their cofers
at the neglect of common
peoples interest, he said only the BJP would work for everyones progress through
Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas
(Together with all, development for all). He listed
the corruption allegations
under the previous Mayawati government and
chided her for amassing
bungalows.
Hitting back at the comment, Ms. Mayawati said Mr.
Shah, who held a casteist
mentality was unable to
digest the fact that a Dalits
daughter lived in a bungalow.
She also termed as deception Mr. Shahs comments
that OBC and Dalit leaders
had a place in the BJPs heart,
saying history is evidence
to this.
Trying to corner the BSP
on atrocities against Dalits,
Mr.Shah said 1,074 Dalits
were killed between 20082011, when Ms. Mayawati
ruled the State. The BSP
chief shot back saying her
party had led a struggle
against the injustice and oppression sufered by every
section of the society, not
just Dalits, in the last four
years of the SP rule. She remained silent on the atrocity
cases during her tenure.
the subsidy claimed by Railways towards loss-making

routes is estimated at Rs.
4,301 crore. The net dividend
payment to the Finance
Ministry is estimated at Rs.
5,430 crore.
The relief on this count
will help us increase investments in track renewal,
maintenance, station improvement and passenger
amenities, a top Railway
Ministry oicial said.
However, pension will
continue to be a liability of
the Railways. In 2016-17,
while the pension Bill is
pegged at Rs. 45,500 crore,
the wage Bill stands at Rs.
70,125 crore. The Railways
will also bear the social commitment obligation by way of
concessions or subsidised
travel, another oicial said.
Minorities panel
voices concern
over attack on
Muslims
NEW DELHI: National Commis-
sion for Minorities (NCM)

chairperson Naseem Ahmad
has written to Union Home
Minister Rajnath Singh, expressing concern at the
growing violence against
Muslims by vigilante groups
and has urged the Minister to
work towards creating a
sense of security amongst
the minorities.
A two-member delegation
comprising the chairperson
is also visiting Mewat to obtain first-hand information
on the murder of a couple
and the gangrape of two
Muslim girls, allegedly by
cow vilgilante groups.
Feeling of insecurity
Drawing the Ministers attention to petitions received
by the Commission from
Muslims, Mr. Ahmad has
written that the recent attack
in West Delhi has only reinforced the feeling of insecurity among Muslims.
Mr. Ahmad in his letter
writes that incidents such as
this, in particular, are creating an atmosphere of fear
and suspicion among the
Muslims across the country
and deteriorating the amity
among communities that
have traditionally lived together in peace and harmony.
We believe that there is a
need for a very strong statement from the highest levels
of the government stating
that such outlandish behaviour will neither be tolerated nor can it go unpunished and that the secular
credentials of India will be
protected by the state at all
costs, Mr. Ahmad has stated
in his letter.
It is true that law and order is a State subject, but certainly the Central government would be well within
its powers to ask the States to
handle such situations with a
heavy hand and to enforce a
sense of security among the
minorities in all seriousness, he said.
ND-ND
| 13
NEWS
NOIDA/DELHI
Twin breaches in border fence lay bare infiltration points

Army believes the four terrorists entered India through these gaps; role of civilian porters who transport food and ammunition to forward areas under scrutiny
DINAKAR PERI
SRINAGAR: The Army has identified at least two breaches of
the fence along the Line of
Control through which the
four terrorists could have
entered India from the
Pakistani side to launch the
deadly attack on the Uri
Army camp last Sunday.
As the Army begins to
piece together the details of
the deadliest attack on one of
its installations in the entire
history of Kashmir insurgency, indications are that
the terrorists entered India
through one of the two
breaches they have identified in the border fence.
Oicials said there were
two clear inputs of a possible
attack, the last and the most
specific one on September 15
and another a few days prior
to that.
The soldiers of 6 Bihar
regiment, who were in the
process of replacing 10
Dogra, were put up in tents
which caught fire, resulting
the large casualty figures.
The advance party of 6 Bihar
was at the base to prepare
The terrorists moved

inside the camp for
about 150 metres
before they were
engaged, sources say
insider help for the terrorists. One of them pointed out
that it was by now clear that
the terrorists had a clear understanding of the layout of
the camp, which helped
them
in
maximum
casualties.
SAFE PASSAGE: A soldier lifts an iron barricade to allow a vehicle to drive out of a military base at
Braripora, near the Indo-Pak. border, on Wednesday. PHOTO: AP
ground for the unit to
move
in
subsequently.
Presence of fuel
close to the temporary
shelters
meant that he fire
that began during the terrorist attack destroyed 15 tents
and two pre-fabricated shelters.

Weapons and ammunition of the new
soldiers were stored
in a tent close, and
many of them were
damaged in the fire that started when the terrorists at-
tacked, oicials said.

Informed sources said that
the terrorists, after cutting
the barbed wire, moved inside the camp for about 150
metres before they were
engaged.
The Army sources said
they strongly suspect some
India imposing conditions: Sharif

our ofer to India to enter
into a serious and sustained
dialogue for the peaceful
resolution of all outstanding
disputes, especially Jammu
and Kashmir, Mr. Sharif
said.
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif on

Wednesday said the United
Nations must honour its own
commitments on Kashmir.
Addressing the General
Assembly, Mr. Sharif said:
The Security Council has
called for the exercise of the
right to self-determination
by the people of Jammu and
Kashmir through a free and
fair plebiscite held under UN
auspices. The people of
Kashmir have waited 70
years for implementation of
this promise, he said.
Mr. Sharif, who spoke
amid heightening tensions
between India and Pakistan,
insisted that his country
wants peace with the neighbour as confrontation
should not be our destiny in
South Asia.
The
Pakistan
Prime
Minister claimed that he had
gone the extra mile to
achieve this, repeatedly of-
Nawaz Sharif at the U.N. General Assembly. PHOTO: AFP

fering a dialogue to address
all outstanding issues but India has imposed unacceptable preconditions to engage
in a dialogue.
Let us be clear: talks are
no favour to Pakistan. Talks
are in the interest of both
countries. They are essential
to resolve our diferences,
especially the Jammu and
Kashmir dispute, and to
avert the danger of any

escalation.
While insisting that peace
and normalisation between
Pakistan and India cannot be
achieved
without
a
resolution of the Kashmir
dispute, he said, This is an
objective evaluation, not a
partisan position.
Today, from this rostrum,
I would also like to reiterate
Jaish website claims Uri

attackers were Kashmiris
VIJAITA SINGH
NEW DELHI: A propaganda web-
site run by the terrorist outfit

Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)
has claimed that the four terrorists who stormed the Uri
Army camp on Sunday were
home-grown Kashmiri Mujahideen [fighters].
Foreign terrorists: DGMO
Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt.
Gen Ranbir Singh had earlier
told media persons that the
terrorists belonged to the
JeM and all four killed were
foreign terrorists.
In a message posted on
Wednesday in the news section of its website alqalamonline.com, the JeM did
not claim responsibility for
the attacks but insisted that
the terrorists belonged to
Kashmir and that India was
blaming Pakistan for the attacks without any basis.
The Urdu website, which
is run by the JeM, also said
the Kashmiri fighters set at
least four barracks on fire
and 12 soldiers were charred
to death.
It said 19 Indian soldiers
were killed in the attack,
though the death toll is 18.
Soldiers who target unarmed Kashmiris were run-
ning for cover that day.

Though 13,000 soldiers were
present at the Army camp in
Uri, they had to call paratroopers from Baramulla to
save the Indian soldiers, the
website said.
Army press note
The Army had issued a
press note after the Uri incident where it said the fire
fighting between the terrorists and the Army personnel
continued from 5.30 a.m. to
8.30 a.m. [three hours].
The Jaish claimed that the
four Kashmiri men fought
with the Army personnel for
five hours.
Open to discussions
He also said that Pakistan
was open to discussing all
measures of restraint and responsibility with India, in
any forum or format and
without any conditions.
Pakistan is ready for talks
to agree on a bilateral nuclear test ban treaty, he added.
Claiming that Pakistan
neither wants, nor is engaged in an arms race with
India, Mr. Sharif said, We
have consistently urged the
conclusion of bilateral arms
control and disarmament
measures between Pakistan
and India to prevent conflict
and avoid wasteful military
expenditures. PTI
No evidence yet
While investigation is under way, the Army sources
said the possibility of civilian
porters having played some
role was also being looked at.
Porters play a key role in
transporting
everything
from food to ammunition in
Armys forward areas.
There is no evidence as
such but the aspect is also being looked into, one oicer
said. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) team that
is probing the incident has
already visited the site and
collected evidence.
Recovery of items
with Pakistani
markings cited
NEW DELHI: Foreign Secretary
S. Jaishankar on Wednesday
pointed out to Pakistan High
Commissioner Abdul Basit
that in recent terror attacks,
security agencies have recovered several items that
point to the use of Pakistani
soil for launching them.
Among the items recovered are GPS devices
from the bodies of terrorists
with coordinates that indicate the point and time of infiltration across the Line of
Control and the subsequent
route to the terror attack site;
grenades with Pakistani
markings; communication
matrix sheets; communication equipment; and
other stores made in
Pakistan, including food,
medicines and clothes.
Cooperate in Uri probe:

Kerrys message to Sharif
VARGHESE K. GEORGE
WASHINGTON: U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry has urged

Pakistan Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif to cooperate
with the investigation into
the Uri terror attack when
they both met on the sidelines of U.N. General Assembly in New York on
Monday, a State Department
spokesperson said.
Deputy Secretary of State
Antony Blinken spoke with
Foreign
Secretary
S.
Jaishankar expressing condolences for the victims of
the attack and their families,
and ofering assistance with
the investigation, the oicial
said.
Awaits details
The United States, however, would not blame Pakistan
or any particular group before more details and evidence emerge. We are still
awaiting further information. We have ofered our assistance to the Government
of India, and we also urge
Pakistan to cooperate in the
ongoing investigation, the
spokesperson said.
The U.S. is committed to
its strong partnership with
the Indian government to
combat terrorism, the oicial
added.
The oicial, however,
stressed
that
Pakistan
needed to take more action
against terror groups targeting India. Our view on the
need for Pakistan to take
steps against externally focused militants is clear and
long-standing,
including
against groups like Lashkare-Taiba
and
Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Calling upon India and
Pakistan to engage in direct
dialogue on terrorism and
Kashmir, the oicial kept
clear of Mr. Sharifs request
for U.S. intervention. The
U.S. strongly supports all efforts between India and
Pakistan that can contribute
Have all qualities to become

PM, says Azam Khan
BARABANKI: Samajwadi
Party leader Azam Khan

on Wednesday said he has
all the qualities to
become the Prime
Minister though his being
a Muslim could be a
shortcoming.
Mr. Khan, who is known
for his controversial
remarks, told journalists
Make me the Prime
Minister of the country
and I will show how the
country is run. I have all
the qualities of being the
Prime Minister, I have
experience and
Azam Khan
education.
Barring the fact that I
am a Muslim, there is no
other shortcoming, Mr.
Khan said.
He was asked as to what
policy needs to be
adopted by the Centre in
the wake of the Uri terror
attack. No policy will be
made on the basis of what
I say to deal with the
situation like Uri, the
U.P. Minister said, adding
that he would press SP
president Mulayam Singh
to pitch for making him
the Prime Minister.
Asked about his
detractors, Mr. Khan said
they were barking dogs
who have no efect on him
as he continued to do his
own work. PTI
John Kerry
to a more stable, democratic,
and prosperous region: including meetings between
the India and Pakistani oicials ... Our long-standing position is that we believe India
and Pakistan stand to benefit
from the normalisation of relations and practical cooperation. We encourage India

and Pakistan to continue to
engage in direct dialogue
aimed at reducing tensions,
the oicial said.
The oicial said the pace,
scope, and character of any
discussions on Kashmir is
for the two sides to determine and the U.S. supports all
positive steps India and
Pakistan can take to forge
closer relations.
India and Pakistan stand
to benefit from practical cooperation, and we encourage
them to engage in direct dialogue aimed at reducing tensions, the oicial said.
Terror-sponsor Pakistan
backs LeT, JeM: U.S. Bill
WASHINGTON: A new Bill moved in
the U.S House of Representatives

in the wake of terrorist attack on
an Army base in Uri in Jammu and
Kashmir prods the administration
to designate Pakistan as a state
sponsor of terrorism. The Bill is
sponsored by Ted Poe from Texas,
who is Chairman of the House
Subcommittee on Terrorism, and
Dana Rohrabacher from
California. Both are Republicans.
The Pakistan State Sponsor of
Terrorism Designation Act of
2016 calls on the U.S
administration to provide a report
on whether or not Pakistan
qualifies as such under various
U.S laws. The Bill underlines
multiple facts that the members
think make Pakistan a state
sponsor of terrorism. The Bill lists
Inter-Services Intelligences (ISI)
involvement in supporting
terrorism in Afghanistan and
quotes the Department of States
2016 Country Reports on
Terrorism that Pakistan has not
taken sufficient action against
groups such as Laskar-e-Taiba
(LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad
India, Pak. must

reopen dialogue,
says China
ATUL ANEJA
BEIJING: China on Wednesday
called upon India and

Pakistan to exercise restraint and re-engage in
dialogue in the backdrop of
growing tensions between
the two countries following
the cross-border attack on
Sunday in Uri, which killed
18 Indian soldiers.
Recent violent clashes
and attacks caused some casualties and strains in IndiaPakistan relations, Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said during
the
regular
Foreign
Ministry briefing.
(JeM), which continued to

cooperate, train, organise, and
fundraise in Pakistan.
The Bill envisages a two-step
process towards designating
Pakistan as a state sponsor of
terrorism.
If enacted into law, it will
require the administration to
submit to Congress a report
within 90 days, determining
whether the Government of
Pakistan, including any agents or
instrumentalities committed,
conspired to commit, attempted,
aided, or abetted any such act
referred in the Bill.
Another report
Within 30 days after the first

report, the Secretary of State will
be required to submit another
report explaining whether any of
these acts constitute support for
international terrorism and a
determination that the
Government of Pakistan is a state
sponsor of terrorism.
If the administration decides
not to designate Pakistan as
state sponsor of terrorism, it will
have to give a detailed
justification.
14 |
WORLD
Trump used charity to settle claims

A Washington Post report claims the Trump Foundation has violated laws governing non-profits
NEW YORK: Republican pres-
idential nominee Donald

Trump used funds from his
charitable foundation to pay
settlements in legal cases involving his businesses, an
apparent violation of laws
governing non-profits, The
Washington Post reported
on Tuesday.
The cases involved a combined $258,000 paid out by
the Donald J. Trump Foundation a charity almost entirely funded with other
peoples money, the newspaper saidand follow a review of legal documents and
the foundations tax records.
Third party donations
The newspaper carried
out a weeks-long investigation into the charitys finances, finding that Mr.
Trump himself has not
contributed a dollar since
2009. The group is funded by
donations from third parties
instead. One of the groups
suspect payments was a
$100,000 donation to a veterans charity in 2007 as part
of a legal settlement with the
city of Palm Beach, Florida.
Mr. Trump had sued the
city after it fined him
$120,000, or $1,250 per day,
for erecting an 80-foot flagpole at his Mar-a-Lago Club
that exceeded the maximum
42 feet permitted by local
regulations.
Sarkozy, Juppe to
contest French
presidential
primary in Nov.
PARIS: Frances presidential
race started in earnest
Wednesday as seven Rightwing candidates, including
ex-President
Nicolas
Sarkozy, were confirmed to
contest a November primary,
with the nominee seen as the
likely winner of next years
election.
The stakes are high with
polls showing that the winner of a duel between the two
leading candidates from the
Republicans party, Mr.
Sarkozy and former Prime
Minister Alain Juppe, would
be the clear favourite to prevail in May. Following the
confirmation of the candidates by election oicials, two
rounds of voting will be held
on November 20 and 27 to
select a Right-wing nominee.
National identity and Islam have emerged as key
themes in their contest,
which has echoes of Donald
Trumps campaign for the
White House.
President Francois Hollande is yet to confirm if he
will stand for re-election as
the Socialist partys candidate in a run that would defy
his historically low approval
ratings. On the far-Right, the
National Front is prepared
for battle, with its leader
Marine Le Pen widely
forecast to successfully negotiate the first round of national voting in April and
then lose in the second
round .
Mr. Juppe (71), Frances
most popular politician, has
been the favourite to emerge
victorious from the start, but
Mr. Sarkozy has nearly
closed the gap with hard-line
proposals designed to woo
voters reeling from a string
of jihadist attacks. AFP
The Trump Foundation

also made transactions that
appeared to be exclusively
for the benefit of the real estate mogul or his businesses,
apparently in violation of
regulations governing charities, the Post said. In one
case, the charity paid
$20,000 in 2007 for a six-foot
portrait of Mr. Trump, the
newspaper reported.
Clearly
the
Trump
Foundation is as much a
charitable organisation as
Trump University is an institute of higher education,
said Christina Reynolds, a
spokeswoman for the campaign of Mr. Trumps White
House rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Once again, Trump has
proven himself a fraud who
believes the rules don't apply
to him, she said. Its past
time for him to release his
tax returns to show whether
his tax issues extend to his
own finances.
Mr. Trumps campaign
denied the report. In typical
Washington Post fashion,
theyve gotten their facts
wrong. It is the Clinton
Foundation that is set up to
make sure the Clintons personally enrich themselves by
selling access and trading
political favours, said Mr
Trumps spokesman Jason
Miller. AFP
United States faced of at the

United Nations over the
carnage in Syria on Wednesday, as air strikes pounded
Aleppo for a third straight
day following the collapse of
a ceasefire.
Addressing the council,
U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry demanded that Russia
force
Syrian
President
Bashar Al-Assad to ground
its air force, blamed for targeting hospitals and barrelbombing civilians.
Man shot outside

Israeli embassy
in Ankara after
attack bid
Palestinian girl shot,

wounded at checkpoint
Obama hits out at populist strongmen

UNITED NATIONS: U.S.
President Barack Obama

used his farewell UN
address on Tuesday to
castigate strongmen and
populists, taking aim at
Vladimir Putin's Soviet
nostalgia and Donald
Trump's rise at home.
Mr. Obama told the UN
General Assembly that
democracy remains the
firmest foundation for
human progress as he
repudiated crude
populism that has
mushroomed in the
United States and around
the world. Some argue
the future favours the
strongman, Mr. Obama
said, in remarks that will
echo in the 2016 U.S.
campaign as much as the
Kremlin. I believe this
thinking is wrong.
History shows that
strongmen are then left
with two paths:

Permanent crackdown,
which sparks strife at
home, or scapegoating
enemies abroad, which
can lead to war.
Mr. Obama's
valedictory remarks came
less than 50 days before
Americans decide in
presidential polls whether
Democrat Hillary Clinton,
or Mr. Trump will be his
replacement. AFP
I believe that to restore

credibility to the process we
must move forward to try to
immediately ground all aircraft flying in those key areas
in order to de-escalate the
situation and to give a
chance for humanitarian assistance to flow unimpeded,
Mr. Kerry said.
Moscow denies that Russian or Syrian planes carried
out the strike on Monday on
the aid convoy that killed 20
people, and a military
spokesman said a coalition
drone was in the area when it

was destroyed.
No unilateral truce
Mr. Lavrov told the council that there would be no
more unilateral pauses by
Mr. Assads government
forces, arguing that opposition fighters on the ground
had used those ceasefires in
the past to re-group.
Mr. Lavrov insisted that all
sides must rein in rebel
groups on the ground to ensure they comply with the
ceasefire and said a list of

terror groups not covered by
the truce should be
reviewed.
Meanwhile, the UN said
on Wednesday it was ready
resume humanitarian convoys.
The preparation for these
convoys has now resumed
and we are ready to deliver
aid to besieged and hard-toreach areas as soon as possible, the UNs humanitarian oice (OCHA) said in a
statement. AFP
assailant was shot and

wounded near the Israeli
embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara on Wednesday,
an Israeli Foreign Ministry
spokesman and Turkish police said. The staf is safe.
The attacker was wounded
before he reached the embassy, the spokesman said in
a text message. The assailant was shot and wounded
by a local security man.
Turkish police at the scene
told Reuters the assailant
shouted Allahu Akbar outside before he was shot in the
leg. Police were examining
his bag but had so far not exploded it, a Reuters cameraman at the scene said.
The area outside the embassy had been cordoned of.
Broadcaster CNN Turk
said the assailant had been
shot in the leg outside the
embassy after attempting a
stabbing attack. It said the attacker was not mentally
stable.
Turkish private broadcaster NTV said the incident
happened as two people attempted to enter the embassy. It was not immediately
clear if there was a second
person, but Turkish media
reports had initially suggested that there had been two
attackers. Reuters
Israeli soldiers trying to arrest a Palestinian man in the

flashpoint city of Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank,
on Tuesday. PHOTO: AFP
JERUSALEM: Israeli guards shot
and wounded an unarmed 13year-old Palestinian girl on

Wednesday after she did not
stop at a checkpoint, oicials
said, the latest incident in an
upsurge of violence.
The
Israeli
defence
ministry said the girl was not
carrying a weapon but told
oicers afterwards that she
had wanted to die.
The incident occurred at a
checkpoint near the Israeli
settlement of Alfei Menashe
and the Palestinian town of
Qalqilya in the occupied
West Bank.
The Palestinian health
ministry described the girls
wounds as moderate.
The
Israeli
defence
ministry said the girl arrived
on foot with a suspicious
UNITED NATIONS: The landmark
Paris agreement on climate

change moved closer to reality on Wednesday after 31
countries joined during the
United Nations General Assembly. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced
confidence that the accord,
through which countries
commit to take action to
stem the planets rising temperatures, would come into
force by the end of the year.
The accord requires all
countries to devise plans to

achieve the goal of keeping
the rise of temperatures
within two degrees Celsius
(3.6 Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels.
The countries that joined
the accord on Wednesday included Latin American powerhouses Argentina, Brazil
and Mexico as well as major
fossil fuel powers Brunei and
the United Arab Emirates.
To come into force, the
Paris agreement needs rati-
SHOW OF FORCE: Protests broke out on Tuesday night in Charlotte, North Carolina, after
Keith Lamont (43), a black man, was shot by the police, who said he was armed and
posted a threat. The demonstrations left about a dozen officers injured. PHOTO: AP
ince has been rocked by a

major corruption scandal
that has paralysed the provincial
administration,
bringing into focus the political and economic woes of
north-east China.
Earlier this month, 523
members of the Liaoning
Provincial Peoples Congress
were accused of large scale
bribery that was apparently
critical in enabling them become local lawmakers. All of
them have either resigned or
have been disqualified. Consequently, the entire provincial administration has become
virtually
dysfunctional.
Speculation is rife that
greasing palms has not been
uncommon among sections
of Chinas ambitious political class, especially at the
local level. In Chinas
pyramidal political structure, local representatives
from the the 2,852 counties,
advance some of their peers
Men ride a motorbike through the largely empty New Zone

urban development in Dandong, Liaoning province, earlier in
the month. PHOTO: REUTERS
to the next rung of the political ladder, with powerful
bodies that run the provincial legislature, as an important midway destination.
But it is in this process of
achieving upward political
mobility that large scale politicking and vote-buying has
come into focus. In 2013, a
major vote-buying scandal in
the Hunan province had
grabbed national headlines,
leading to large scale sacking
of lawmakers.
Venezuela oil industry falls into disarray

NICHOLAS CASEY
CLIFFORD KRAUSS
EL FURRIAL (VENEZUELA): One oil
7 men, including an elected

MP, on Sept 20, 1996, she
said in her subsequent
tweets.
The tweets come at a time
when a section of exiled Baloch leaders have reached
out to India. Murtaza Bhutto,
who had a following among
Baloch people in Karachi,
was one of the earliest to
seek Indias help for their political campaign at home.
fication from 55 countries

that account for at least 55
per cent of the planets
greenhouse gas emissions.
With Wednesdays event,
in which leaders ceremonially submitted paperwork to ratify the accord, a
total of 60 countries have
joined the Paris accord,
meeting the threshold. But
they account for just less
than 48 per cent of emissions, according to UN figures. AFP
Chinas troubled north-east

provinces face political headwinds
BEIJING: Chinas Liaoning prov-
Fatima Bhutto
bag at the vehicle-only lane

of the Eliyahu crossing
which is not open to foot
traic.
A new surge of violence
began on Friday after
Palestinians wrapped up the
Muslim celebration of Eid alAdha and as Israel tightened
security ahead of major Jewish holidays in October.
There have been nine attacks or attempted attacks by
Palestinians against Israelis
since then, according to Israeli authorities.
The attacks have included
one on Monday in which a
Palestinian stabbed two Israeli police oicers outside
Jerusalems Old City, leaving
one in serious condition and
another
moderately
wounded. AFP
31 nations join Paris climate pact
ATUL ANEJA
KALLOL BHATTACHERJEE
CM
YK
HALT HIS MARCH: A Stop Trump battle bus in London, used as part of a campaign run by the
Avaaz group to mobilise U.S. expatriates in the U.K. PHOTO: AFP
Anger in Charlotte
Fathers killers enjoy high

oice: Fatima Bhutto
NEW DELHI: Denial of justice for
victims of violence diminishes Pakistan, said Fatima
Bhutto, renowned author
and member of the Bhutto
family. Ms. Bhuttos comment on her country came in
the backdrop of the 20th anniversary of the death of her
father, Murtaza Bhutto, who
was killed by the police outside 70 Clifton, the Bhutto
family residence in Karachi,
on September 20, 1996.
Pakistan continues to
deny justice to the victims of
its violence. What it loses in
return is faith, said Ms.
Bhutto, on her Twitter
handle.
My
fathers
killers
continue to serve at the
highest levels of the
Pakistani police and state.
Besides protecting them,
Pakistan has continually rewarded the police who killed
ANKARA/JERUSALEM: A would-be
Kerry, Lavrov face of at UN on Syria

UNITED NATIONS: Russia and the
NOIDA/DELHI
rig was idle for weeks because a single piece of equipment was missing. Another
was attacked by armed gangs
who made of with all they
could carry. Many oil workers say they are paid so little
that they barely eat and have
to keep watch over one another in case they faint while
high up on the rigs.
Venezuelas petroleum industry, whose vast revenues
once furled the countrys Socialist-inspired revolution,
underwriting
everything
from housing to education, is
spiralling into disarray.
To add insult to injury, the
Venezuelan government has
been forced to turn to its
nemesis, the United States,
for help.
You call them the empire, said Luis Centeno, a
union leader for the oil work-
IN DIRE STRAITS: People wait to buy a pound of bread in Cumana,

Venezuela. FILE PHOTO: NYT
ers, referring to what government oicials call the United
States, and yet youre buying their oil.
The declining oil industry
is perhaps the most urgent
chapter of Venezuelas
economic crisis. Oil accounts for half of the
Venezuelan governments
revenues, what former
President Hugo Chvez once
called an instrument of national development. The
state oil company poured its
profits, more than $250 billion in all from 2001 to 2015,

into the countrys social programs,
including
food
imports.
But those profits have
evaporated with mismanagement and the drop in global
oil prices over the past two
years. Now, even Venezuelas
subsidised oil shipments to
its vital ally Cuba are slowly
being phased out, oil executives with operations in
Venezuela contend, forcing
Havana to look to Russia for

cheap oil. The United States
has always been a huge market for Venezuelas oil. But
with Venezuelas state oil
company hobbling along, it
was actually forced to start
importing oil from the
United States.
Early this year, the United
States began shipping more
than 50,000 barrels a day of
the
light
crude
that
Venezuela needs to prepare
its own oil for export, joining
a handful of suppliers that
have become vital to keeping
the countrys oil industry
afloat.
Even that lifeline is tenuous. Venezuelas state oil
company, PDVSA, is struggling to pay for the foreign
oil. Some tankers wait in port
for as long as two weeks to be
paid, and sometimes they
leave because of a lack of
payment, said an oil executive. New York Times
News Service
Analysts say apart from

structural issues, historical
factors could be behind the
multiple crises rocking
Liaoning province, part of
the northeast China, which is
also encountering serious
economic diiculties.
Economic factor
Rich in coal and other
mineral resources, Liaoning
and neighbouring Heilongjiang provinces benefited
from the first wave of indus-
trialisation, led by state-enterprises, backed frequently

by the former Soviet Union,
said a former oicial who did
not wish to be named. But
hundreds of thousands lost
their jobs, with economic restructuring of the stateowned enterprises kicking in
at the turn of the century.
Unfortunately massive unemployment
encouraged
criminilisation and desperation to acquire political influence, he explained.
A recent article in the
state-run Global Times acknowledged
serious
economic problems in the
north-east.
The economic performances in Chinas three northeastern provinces, Liaoning,
Jilin and Heilongjiang, have
been among the worst in
China the last two years, the
daily observed. However, the
article cautioned against
hasty conclusions that Chinas strategy to revitalise the
old industrial bases in the
Northeast launched in 2004
has failed.
Bangladesh ferry sinks, dozens missing
DHAKA: Dozens of people
were missing after an

overcrowded ferry sank on a
river in Bangladesh on
Wednesday, and a police
official said the bodies of two
women had been recovered
with the search for survivors

still under way. The river
bank collapsed and a huge
slab of mud fell on the ferry
while it was anchored
alongside, said Ziaul Hasan, a
police official in Barisal.
About 35 people are
missing. The search
operation is underway, he
said, adding that the bodies
of two women had been
found. Reuters
Schools evacuated after bomb threat

MONTREAL: Some 60 schools
and universities in eastern

Canada were evacuated on
Wednesday over a series of
bomb threats, including one
received by police, that
appeared to have been
bogus. No bombs were
found, but administrators
said the schools would
remain closed throughout the
day as police conducted
another sweep of the
schools, with classes

expected to resume in the
morning.
Authorities said they are
investigating possible links
between the threats, as well
as to another that targeted at
least one school in the U.S.
At this point, we don't know
who is responsible for the
threats, said Royal Canadian
Mounted Police Sergeant
Kevin Bailey. AFP
ND-ND
Sunil Kanoria, President, Assocham
BRIEFLY
Ministry against cut in
iron-ore export duty
NEW DELHI: The Steel Ministry is
not in favour of slashing export

duty of 30 per cent on high
grade iron ore, a key ingredient
in steel-making, a top
government official said on
Wednesday. We are not in
favour of reducing the export
duty on higher grade of iron ore
from 30 per cent, Steel
Secretary Aruna Sharma told
reporters on the sidelines of an
event organised here. The
mining industry has been
pushing for a reduction in export
of iron ore with Fe content of
over 58 per cent, saying there is
already a huge stock of unsold
ore lying in Odisha and
Chhattisgarh. Reducing the
export duty will make iron ore
viable for sale in the
international market. PTI
Google introduces
Allo messaging app
NEW DELHI: Google has
introduced its messaging app

Allo, which would compete
with the likes of WhatsApp and
Facebook Messenger. Available
for both Android and iOS
platforms, Allo will also mark the
debut of Google Assistant in a
preview edition. Powered with
artificial intelligence, Allo packs
in features including smart reply,
options for sharing photos,
emojis and stickers. For Indian
users, Google has enabled smart
replies in Hinglish It will also
roll out over 200 stickers
created by popular independent
artists for Indian users. PTI
Walmart India working

on food-only retail
MUMBAI: Walmart India is
evaluating policy guidelines to
come up with a food-only
retail model, after the
government allowed 100 per
cent foreign direct investment in
food retail, a top company
official said on Wednesday. We
are currently evaluating all the
policy guidelines and we do not
have an only food model
anywhere. So, we need to
conceptualise, evaluate and
come up with a model, which
takes time, Walmart India CEO
Krish Iyer told reporters on the
sidelines of India Retail Forum
here. On governments move to
open up food retail to
investment, he said all the
stakeholders including retailers,
consumers, and farmers will
benefit from it. PTI
BSE to float two entities

in insurance space
NEW DELHI: With an aim to
expand its presence in the

financial markets, BSE has
sought approval from markets
regulator SEBI to float two
entities for web aggregator and
brokerage in insurance space.
The bourse also runs the mutual
fund trading platform BSE Star
MF. The exchange, in July,
submitted an application with
SEBI for approval for activities
undertaken by BSE Investments
and BSE CSR as an insurance
web aggregator and insurance
broker by setting up two
subsidiaries under BSE
Investments. PTI
Exchange Rates
Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit
except yen at 4 p.m on September 21
Currencies
U.S. Dollar
Euro
Pound Sterling
Jap Yen (100 Units)
Chinese Yuan
Swiss Franc
Singapore Dollar
Australian Dollar
Canadian Dollar
Swedish Kroner
Danish Kroner
New Zealand Dollar
Hongkong Dollar
Malaysian Ringgit
Kuwaiti Dinar
UAE Dirham
Bahraini Dinar
Qatari Riyal
Saudi Riyal
Omani Riyal
TT
TT
Buying Selling
66.82
67.14
74.47 74.84
86.78
87.21
66.07 66.39
10.01 10.06
68.42 68.76
49.15 49.40
50.75 51.00
50.78
51.03
7.78
7.82
9.99 10.04
49.01 49.25
8.62
8.66
16.13
16.22
220.51 223.04
18.19 18.28
177.13 178.08
18.40
18.41
17.86
17.87
173.41 174.50
Source:Indian Bank
Bullion Rates
September 21 rates in rupees with
previous rates in brackets
Chennai
Bar Silver (1 kg) 46,850 (46,425)
Retail (1 g)
50.10
(49.70)
24 ct gold (10 g) 31,680 (31,650)
22 ct gold (1 g)
2,962
(2,959)
Delhi
Silver
46,200 (45,800)
Standard gold
31,250 (31,175)
Sovereign
24,400 (24,400)
CM
YK
SENSEX
GOLD
RUPEE
BRENT OIL
21-09-2016 28,508
20-09-2016 28,524
21-09-2016 31,250
20-09-2016 31,175
21-09-2016 67.02
20-09-2016 67.01
21-09-2016 46.81
20-09-2016 45.90
16
points
NEW DELHI: The Centre has no-
Old bridges
All road projects, standalone structures and road
stretches in which the project construction cost is less
than Rs.100 crore and old
bridges for which residual
recoverable project cost is
less than Rs.100 crore will be
exempted from toll tax col-
SOME RESPITE: Analysts see only marginal relief for commuters

as such road stretches are few. FILE PHOTO
lection, as per a notification
issued by the Road Transport
and Highways Ministry on
September 9 that was reviewed by The Hindu.
However, the project cost
will not include cost of preconstruction activity, utility
shifting and land acquisition,
the ministry added in the notification. Analysts said the
toll tax exemption may only
apply on local roads or
bridges run by the National
Highways Authority of India
(NHAI) and may have
limited impact on the national highways.
In the last six years, there

is only one project awarded
by the NHAI which falls under the category of Rs.100
crore-project, said Rajeshwar Burla, Assistant Vice
President at ICRA Ltd. The
cost behind most of the projects was greater than at least
Rs.250-Rs.300 crore, out of
245 projects awarded in this
period, he said.
NHAI is yet to compile a
list of road projects that may
benefit from toll tax exemptions as per the latest directive, oicials said.
Analysts also said the
ICICI Prudential Life IPO gets

subscribed more than 10 times
MUMBAI: The Initial Public Of-
fer (IPO) of ICICI Prudential

Life Insurance Company Ltd
a first by an insurance entity received a strong response from investors with
the ofer getting subscribed
10.47 times.
According to data from the
National Stock Exchange
(NSE), the issue received
bids for 138.58 crore shares
till 7:30 pm on Wednesday
the last day for bidding. A
total of 13.24 crore shares
were on ofer in the price
band of Rs.300 to Rs.334.
In other words, the IPO received bids worth almost
Rs.46,250 crore. The issue

size is more than Rs.6,000
crore. The total ofer is for
18.13 crore shares, which includes anchor investment
portion of 4.89 crore shares.
On Saturday, the company
allotted 4.89 crore equity
shares at Rs.334 per share aggregating to Rs.1,635.33 crore
to anchor investors.
The investors included
Morgan Stanley, Goldman
Sachs, Nomura, Government
of Singapore, UTI Mutual
Fund, Russell Investment,
GMO Emerging, SBI Mutual
Fund, Tata Mutual Fund,
HDFC Standard Life, Reliance, Birla Sun Life, Kotak
Mahindra and IDFC, among
others.
Though the category-wise
bid details for the IPO were
not available at the time of
going to press, it is believed
that all categories institutional, retail and high net
worth individuals have
been
over
subscribed
significantly.
NEW DELHI: The domestic steel
industry,
the
biggest
contributor to stressed assets in the banking system,
must tighten its belt and become more competitive instead of relying solely on executive actions from the
Centre to curb cheap imports from China, Union
Steel Minister Birender
Singh said on Tuesday.
The minister also questioned the circumstances under which huge loans were
advanced to steel projects,
pointing out that 28 per cent
of total stressed loans are
from the steel sector which
could turn into non-performing assets in due course
of time.
Some associations told
me it takes Rs.6,000 crore to
create an integrated steel
plant with one million
tonnes capacity. Others said
that you can add the same ca-
Citing the huge loans

for steel projects, the
minister said 28% of
stressed loans are
from the sector
pacity with Rs.2,000 crore,
he said. So, when it came to
restructuring debt, you
should also suggest (under)
which conditions such huge
loans were advanced to the
steel sector in particular,
Mr. Singh said stressing that
this responsibility lay with
the steel industry.
Arcelor Mittal
Mr. Singh said on Tuesday
that the government expected to finalise the one-billion
dollar joint venture between
Arcelor Mittal and public
sector steel major SAIL by
December. The pact was
signed in May 2015 to set up
an automotive steel plant in
the country.
NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Afairs
(CCEA) has approved viability gap funding of Rs.5,176
crore, which works out to 40
per cent of the estimated
capital cost of Rs.12,940
crore, to GAIL for the development of the 2,539-kmlong Jagdishpur-Haldia and
Bokaro-Dhamra
Gas
Pipeline (JHBDPL) project.
It (the pipeline) will ensure the availability of clean
and eco-friendly fuel i.e. natural gas to the industrial,
commercial, domestic and
transport sectors in the
states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and
West Bengal, according to a
statement from the government. This capital grant will
encourage the supply of ecofriendly fuel at afordable
tarifs to industries and will
encourage industrial development in these states.
NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Com-
MUMBAI: Indias current ac-
move may be triggered by

rising complaints of noncompliance of toll fee collection on local road stretches.
In smaller projects that
mainly cater to the local population, compliance is an issue, said ICRA Vice
President Shubham Jain.
Local commuters who travel on such roads on a daily
basis develop resistance to
paying toll .
The move follows policies
adopted by governments in
BJP-ruled states to exempt
toll taxes on some state
highways.
mittee on Economic Afairs

approved initiating the process of winding up of Hindustan Diamond Company Pvt.
Ltd. (HDCPL) a 50:50 joint
venture of the Government
of India and De Beers Centenary
Mauritius
Ltd
(DBCML).
The HDCPL was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 in 1978.
The objective of the Company was to supply rough
diamonds to the diamond
processing industry in India
- particularly to small- and
medium-sized diamond jewellery exporters who had no
direct access to rough diamonds.
Gujarat, Maharashtra
Recently, Gujarat exempted car, jeep and van category vehicles and state
transport buses from tolls on
state highways beginning
August 15. As a result, nine
public private partnership
(PPP) projects were impacted and the government
had vowed to compensate
private developers for the
revenue
loss
through
monthly reimbursements.
Last year, Maharashtra had
scrapped 12 toll plazas across
the State and exempted small
vehicles and State transport
buses from having to pay at
53 other toll points.
London supply
The supply was to come
from Diamond Trading
Company (DTC), London,
the marketing arm of De
Beers which held a large
chunk of the worlds rough
diamonds market.
The winding up of HDCPL
is not likely to afect the supply of rough diamonds to Indian diamantaires as the Indian diamond industry has
grown in these years and several Indian players are
sightholders (or part of a list
of authorised bulk purchasers) with top diamond
producers now, an oicial
statement said.
count deficit (CAD) narrowed in the first quarter of

the financial year to $300
million as compared with
$6.1 billion in the year-earlier
period. The deficit sharank
to 0.1 per cent of GDP in the
period, as compared with 1.2
per cent.
The contraction in the
CAD was primarily on account of a lower trade deficit
($23.8 billion) than in Q1 of
last year ($34.2 billion) and
in the preceding quarter
($24.8 billion), according to
a statement from the Reserve
Bank of India, which released
the
data
on
Wednesday.
Sequentially, however, the
deficit remained stable amid
expectations that the current
account would show a surplus in the April-June
quarter.
Mittal says 700

MHz expensive
BSNL to get Rs.1,250-crore

subsidy for rural landlines
NEW DELHI: Days ahead of the
start of the countrys largestever spectrum auction,

Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil
Bharti Mittal said the pricing
of the 700 MHz frequency
band is very expensive.
All I can say is that it is
very expensive, Mr. Mittal
said on Wednesday when
asked about the pricing of
the spectrum in the premium
band. He, however, declined
to comment on whether or
not his company would place
bids for the 700 MHz band,
which is considered as the
most
eicient
among
telecom frequencies as the
estimated cost of providing
service through it is about
one-third of 3G in the 2,100
MHz band. PTI
said, The ecosystem is ripe

for the emergence of digital
classifieds. Spurred by
smartphone penetration, online users are expected to
grow to a whopping 650 million by 2020 and the digital
classified segment is expected to touch $1.2 billion.
NEW DELHI: The digital classi-
fied industry is projected to

grow three times to $1.2 billion, on the back of growing
smartphone penetration and
Internet user base, according
to a joint-report by Google
and KPMG.
The industry was pegged
at $150 million in 2011 and is
estimated to have been about
$400 million in 2015.
The report Digital Classifieds in India 2020 added
that the next phase of growth
of digital classifieds would
be driven by the rapid
growth of e-services, real estate and automobiles.

Nitin Bawankule, Industry
Director at Google India
Horizontal leads
However, horizontal classifieds (or those that targeted users not specific to a
vertical but belonging to a
certain demographic profile) will still continue to lead
with about 30 per cent market share of total digital clas-
Imports declined
On the basis of balance of
payments, merchandise imports declined sharply by
11.5 per cent as compared
with merchandise exports,
which fell 2.1 per cent, leading to a lower trade deficit in
Q1 of 2016-17.
Net services receipts declined on a year-on-year
basis, largely due to a fall in
net earnings on account of
travel, financial services and
other business services.
0.91
$/bbl
The contraction in
the CAD was due to
a lower trade deficit
of $23.8 billion in Q1,
the RBI said
Net foreign direct investment also moderated to $4.1
billion in Q1 of 2016-17 from
$10 billion a year earlier and
$8.8 billion in the preceding
three-month period. Higher
repayments under external
commercial borrowings led
to a net outflow under loans
to India in Q1 as against net
borrowings in the same
period last year.
Portfolio investments
Portfolio
investments
recorded a net inflow of $2.1
billion in Q1 of 2016-17 as
against a marginal outflow in
the corresponding period of
last year. Portfolio investment recorded an outflow of
$1.5 billion in the preceding
quarter, primarily reflecting
net inflow in the equity component. Accretion to nonresident
Indian
(NRI)
deposits, which were $1.4 billion, moderated from both a
year earlier as well as the
previous quarter.
The balance of payments
posted a surplus of $7 billion
for the April-June quarter, a
decline from the $11.4 billion
surplus recorded a year
earlier, the data from the
central bank showed.
has approved the longpending compensation of

Rs.1,250 crore for state-run
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
(BSNL) for the deficit incurred in operating rural
landline connections installed before April 1, 2002.
The subsidy support to the
state-owned telecommunications company will be paid
from the Universal Service
Obligation Fund (USOF).
The Cabinet also approved that the above subsidy support would be the
last and final payment and
no further request from
The grant will

encourage the supply
of eco-friendly fuel at
affordable tariffs
to industries
The pipeline will also supply gas to the defunct fertiliser units in Gorakhpur,
Sindri and Barauni which the
government is looking to revive. These units are to serve
as the anchor customer for
the pipeline. These three fertiliser units are to be revived
through a special purpose
vehicle of National Thermal
Power Corporation, Coal India, Indian Oil Corporation
and Fertilizer Corporation of
India. The CCEA also approved the simultaneous development of city gas distribution networks in Varanasi,
Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur,
Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, and
Cuttack along the route of
the JHBDPL project.
Digital classifieds to be $1.2-bn. market

/$
Cabinet okays Rs.5,176 cr.

Steel makers should
shape up, says Minister for GAIL pipeline project
0.01
Current account
deficit narrows
Tolls scrapped on small roads, bridges developed for less than Rs.100 crore
SOMESH JHA
75
/10gms
India-De Beers
joint venture to
be wound up
Commuters to be spared
from tolls on small roads
tified the scrapping of toll
tax collections on small road
stretches and bridges developed at a cost of less than
Rs.100 crore. Analysts, however, expect only marginal
relief for commuters as such
road stretches are few and far
between.
The initiative is based on
the recommendations of a
committee constituted by
the Centre to examine and
recommend the minimum
eligibility criteria for charging toll fees. At present, the
Central government has the
power to exempt any section
of a national highway, permanent bridge, bypass or
tunnel from toll tax, according to the National Old Highways Fee (Determination of
Rates and Collection) Rules
2008.
| 15
BUSINESS
NOIDA/DELHI
Instead of merging PSBs, focus should

be to make them stronger and larger
sifieds in 2020.
Classifieds on real estate
are expected to grow 4
times, while online services
are forecast to grow 7 times,
including dining, auto rentals, relocation services and
home services such as
beauty
services
and
tutoring.
The online jobs market is
expected to double by 2020.
Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi
and Hyderabad are the top
cities for online job searches.
Government jobs commanded attention with the
maximum
number
of
searches coming in here.
UNIVERSAL SERVICE: BSNL got the subsidy for its rural phones.
BSNL for financial/subsidy
support from USOF on this
count shall be considered,
the government said in an official release on Wednesday.
The subsidy will be paid
after an amendment to the
Indian Telegraph Rules, 1951.
The USOF, since inception

in 2002, has provided subsidy to BSNL for the rural
wireline connections installed prior to April 2002. A
total of Rs.8,692 crore has
been extended as USOF subsidy support till date.
BUSINESS
16 |
SNIPPETS
IOC, GAIL to take 50% in Dhamra LNG terminal
NEW DELHI: Indian Oil Corporation Limited and GAIL on Wednesday
announced the signing of an MoU with Dhamra LNG Terminal Private

Limited (DLTPL) for taking equity in the 5 million metric tonnes per
annum (MMTPA) capacity LNG receiving, storage and regasification
terminal coming up at Dhamra Port, Odisha. Under the MoU, DLTPL will
be an equal joint venture of Indian Oil and GAIL on the one hand and the
Adani Group on the other. The MoU will see Indian Oil and GAIL acquire
39 per cent and 11 per cent equity respectively in DLTPL, with the
balance 50 per cent held by the Adani group. Special Correspondent
Strengthen banks before merging them: Assocham

NEW DELHI: Merging banks to ease the troubles in the banking sector, as
the government is proposing to do, will likely accentuate the problems

rather than provide a cure, according to Sunil Kanoria, President of
Assocham.I am not against mergers, but the government priority
should be on how to strengthen the sector rather than in merging the
banks to create a larger bank, Mr Kanoria told reporters during a press
conference. The analogy is that you wont marry children to each other;
you will wait for them to grow stronger and bigger on their own before
getting them married. Special Correspondent
Flipkart crosses 100 million customers

BENGALURU: Indias largest online retailer Flipkart on Wednesday said
that the company witnessed a strong growth in its customer base over
the last six months. The Bengaluru-based company which had 75 million
registered user in March this year said it currently had 100 million
registered users. With this, Flipkart becomes the first company to reach
this milestone in a single country outside the United States and China,
a company statement said. The e-commerce company also said that its
user-base represented about 63 per cent of the total broadband users in
the country. Staff Reporter
Reliance Defence is lowest bidder for patrol vessels

MUMBAI: Reliance Defence Engineering Limited (RDEL) has emerged as
the lowest bidder to build 14 Fast Patrol Vessels( FPVs) for the Indian
Coast Guard (ICG). It is the largest naval order to the private sector by
ICG. The contract value is Rs.920 crore. FPVs are primarily designed for
patrolling, anti-smuggling and anti-terrorist operations, fisheries
protection and search and rescue, and are a critical support to the Navy
during wartime. A company official confirmed that the firm had emerged
as the L1 bidder in the competitive bids and is hopeful of signing the
contract soon. The first vessel to is expected to be delivered within 24
months from date of signing the contract and the last within 76 months
from date of signing the contract. Special Correspondent
Hindustan Sanitaryware unveils water purifiers

HYDERABAD: Sanitary-ware firm HSIL Ltd. on Wednesday introduced
water purifiers under the Moonbow brand here and said it aimed to be
among the top three players within 5 years. The target is similar but
with different time-lines, with regard to other products of its Consumer
Business Division, said Rakesh Kaul, President and Chief, Consumer
Business of HSIL. Water heaters, kitchen equipment and air purifiers
form part of the product list. Water purifiers will have five variants
priced between Rs.12,990 and Rs.26,990. Initially, the RO-based
technology models are being launched and by March the UV Gravitybased water purifiers would be introduced. It may set up an SKD unit for
water heaters with Group Atlantic of France. Special Correspondent
High public debt cuts

room for policy sops
Private investment has weakened, notes UNCTAD
NEW DELHI: Indias economic
growth rate is projected to

remain strong at 7.5 per cent
in 2016, but high public debt
and current rates of inflation may limit room for
supportive fiscal policies,
according to an United Nations Conference on Trade
and
Development
(UNCTAD) report.
To ensure growth in the
longer term, policy makers
will have to address the
stalled
manufacturing
share in Indias GDP,
UNCTAD said in its Trade
and Development Report,
2016 released on Wednesday. The report notes that
the stagnation in the sector
is reflected in its limited capacity to create jobs with
higher wages.
Stalled industrialisation
At a time when the Indian Government is pushing
the Make In India (MII)
initiative to boost manufacturing, the report said India
was an example of stalled
industrialisation where
shares of manufacturing
value added and employment stagnate at modest
levels. In India, the share of
manufacturing in total employment increased by only
about two percentage
points over four decades,
from 9.4 per cent in 1970 to
11.6 per cent in 2011, while
share in manufacturing
value added stagnated at 1721 per cent over the same
period, UNCTAD said in
the report.
The report also pointed
out that private investment
in India has weakened in
the past few years, along
with emerging debt-servi-
SPEED-BREAKER: Policy makers have to tackle stalled

manufacturing share in GDP for long-term growth. FILE PHOTO
cing diiculties. Besides, it
said public investment is
yet to take of in the context
of serious infrastructure
gaps that could constrain
future growth.
Releasing the report, Jayati Ghosh, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University,
said the MII programme
should focus on small firms
as well, and help build linkages and capabilities, instead of looking only at the
big ones. Besides, the initiative should recognise the
domestic market as critical
to its strategy.
Little employment
Ms. Ghosh said a sizeable
portion of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into
India has been in the form
of private equity, and the focus there had been on purchase of existing assets to
make quick profits and not
so much on long-term investments in greenfield
projects. She said that between 2011-12 and 2015-16,
about one-third of Indias
GDP growth came from the
FIRE (Finance, Insurance,
and Real Estate) sectors

and another 12-13 per cent
from public administration
services. Thus about 46 per
cent of the growth had not
been real, sustainable and
desirable
economic
growth as it had hardly generated employment, she
added.
Growth in the U.S. may
slow to 1.6 per cent this
year, close to the Eurozone
growth rate, while in Japan,
growth continues to stagnate, UNCTAD said. China
and India may escape the
worst of the adverse external environment due to
their expanding domestic
markets and a combination
of suicient foreign reserves and efective use of
policy space.
Global trade has slowed
even more dramatically
dropping to just 1.5 per cent
this year, a full percentage
point lower than world output, UNCTAD said.
Lack of global demand
and stagnant real wages
were the main problems behind the global trade
slowdown.
NOIDA/DELHI
Daimler to export
Mercedes Benz
buses from
Oragadam plant
N ANAND
Daimler India
Commercial
Vehicles
(DICV) will start exporting
fully-equipped
Mercedes
Benz school buses to the
Gulf Co-operation Council
(GCC) and other Middle
East
countries
from
November.
Addressing a round table
with Indian journalists here
on Wednesday, Markus Villinger, head of Daimler Buses
India said the 9-tonne buses,
made at the Oragadam plant
near Chennai, have an indigenisation level of more than
90 per cent.
Middle East is the
second-biggest market for
school buses. We got this
two-year contract from the
state government through a
tender process, he said. For
the last 18 months, DICV had
been exporting chassis
material to Africa, South
East Asia and Latin America.
This is the first time it would
be exporting fully-built
buses to Dubai, Jordan and
Oman. Next year, DICV
plans to introduce buses the
16-tonne platform.
Earlier, parent Daimler AG
unveiled
an
semi-autonomous city bus, an urban
eTruck and a vision van to
the global media. We are reinventing transportation for
goods and people, said
Wolfgang Bernhard, Member of the Board, Daimler
AG. In the coming 10 years,
there will be more changes in
our vehicles than in the past
120 years, he said.
At the inaugural session of
the 66th IAA 2016, the commercial vehicles fair in Hannover, he said that the electric-powered van woud be
rolled out by 2018 and city
buses by 2020. By 2030 about
70 per cent of the matured
market will be driven by
electric vehicles.
HANNOVER:
Undersea cable to link

Andamans, mainland
has approved a proposal for

improving telecom connectivity in Andaman &
Nicobar Islands by connecting the Union Territory with
Chennai via an undersea optical fibre cable at a cost of
Rs.1,102.38 crore.
Currently, the only medium of providing telecom
connectivity between the
mainland and Andaman &
Nicobar Islands is through
satellites. However, since
satellite bandwidth is very
costly and its availability is
limited, future bandwidth requirement cannot be met
solely through it.
More bandwidth
Lack of bandwidth and
telecom connectivity is hampering socio-economic development of the islands.
Hence, it is essential to have
The optical fibre

cable will improve
connectivity in the
islands by boosting
bandwidth availability
submarine optical fibre
cable (OFC) connectivity between the mainland and Andaman & Nicobar Islands,
an oicial release said.
The dedicated submarine
OFC will connect mainland
(Chennai) and Port Blair and
five other islands Little
Andaman, Car Nicobar,
Havelock, Kamorta and
Great Nicobar. The cost includes operational expenses
for 5 years. The project is
likely to be completed by
December 2018. It would allow the implementation of egovernance initiatives; establishment of enterprises
and e-commerce facilities in
the islands.
Aptus raises Rs.270 cr.

from Westbridge, IFIF
K.T. JAGANNATHAN
City-based Aptus
Value Housing Finance India
Ltd., a company focused on
funding afordable housing,
has raised Rs.270 crore in a
fresh round of funding from
a couple of existing equity investors, valuing the company
at Rs.1,350 crore.
While a fund advised by
WestBridge Capital Partners, LLC has brought in
Rs.245 crore in fresh money,
India Financial Inclusion
Fund (IFIF), a fund advised
by Caspian Impact Investment Advisers, infused Rs.25
crore. IFIF had invested
Rs.30 crore in the company
in 2012. WestBridge had
pumped in Rs.100 crore into
Aptus in 2014.
According to M. Anandan,
CHENNAI:
who set up Aptus in 2010, the

fresh round of funding
comes even as IFC Washington cleared a Rs.100-crore
rupee-denominated 7-year
debt funding to Aptus. These
together would keep the
company in good stead in
terms of its ability to access
cost-efective growth funds
for business expansion, he
added.
Mr. Anandans holding in
the company now stood at 32
per cent, with the three existing private equity investors
together holding 60 per cent.
Aptus, he said, focussed on
the under-served housing
market of informal income
customers (ticket sizes of
Rs.5 lakh to Rs.15 lakh) especially in tier-II and -III cities.
Aptus has 77 branches and
more than 10,000 customers.
| 17
SPORT
NOIDA/DELHI
Telecast schedule
Cricket: India vs New Zealand, 1st Test,
STAR Sports 1, 3 & HD1, HD3, 9.20 a.m.
KPL: Sony ESPN & Sony ESPN HD, 1.30
and 5.30 p.m. La Liga: Sony Six & Six HD,
11.30 p.m. & 1.30 a.m. (Friday).
Dhoni captain of Wisdens all-time Indian XI
No royal moniker
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been named the captain of the all-time India
Test XI chosen by cricket magazine Wisden. The team: Sunil Gavaskar,
Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Kapil
Dev, M.S. Dhoni (captain, wicketkeeper), Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath,
Zaheer Khan, Bishan Singh Bedi, Mohammad Azharuddin (12th man).
According to a poll on the website of Stern magazine,

55 per cent of Germans believe football legend Franz
Beckenbauer no longer deserves the nickname Kaiser
Franz, given the latest revelations concerning his role in
organising the scandal-hit 2006 World Cup
India will be out to make an impact in milestone match

CRICKET / Kohli mum on preferred combination even as curator assures a good pitch with true bounce
VIJAY LOKAPALLY
KANPUR: There is a dearth of
spectators to appreciate this

format as India launches a
season of hope on the landmark occasion of playing its
500th Test. The venue may
lack in cricket culture but then
it is one of the oldest and permanent centres of the country.
As the team chases history
and fame, Virat Kohli, an outstanding icon of the game in
times of distress for those in
charge of the administration,
brings a certain verve and flair
to the job of playing Test
cricket. If fans flock to cheer
the teams, much credit should
go to this delightful ambassador.
Green Park, a venue that retains the old world charm, has
been colourfully decked up.
But the most significant piece
of turf the 22-yard pitch is
what holds the attention. Different opinions pour in from
all quarters three-day pitch,
very little grass, less rolling,
might crumble; all because of
its past when the playing surface came in for some scathing
criticism. The present, however, gives a diferent picture.
Curator Shiv Kumar emphatically says, It is a good
pitch with true bounce. First
day best for batting. The last
two for bowling. You will en-
joy the cricket.

A pitch with true bounce ensures good cricket. This would
be in sharp contrast to some of
the embarrassing results in the
recent past five of the last
seven Tests in India have
ended within three days. In all
there have been 13 instances of
Tests ending in three days
with India winning nine of
them.
Better resistance
New Zealand can be expected to ofer better resistance to
spin than South Africa and
Australia. Kohli too respects
New Zealand. Kane (Williamson) has been leading the
side really well. He is a very
exciting cricketer himself. We
expect really good competition and good hard fought
cricket.
The Kiwis may also look to
play three spinners and test
the
Indians
uncertainty
against the slow ball an
irony given the fact that India
has consistently produced
some of the finest players of
spin.
Kohli, who loves to play five
bowlers, may be tempted to alter the trend here. We may try
any combination. Obviously
we wont disclose it. We have
tried five pure bowlers. In Sri
Lanka we tried four bowlers
and an all-rounder. In West In-
dies, we went back to five

bowlers and in the last Test we
went in with four bowlers.
I dont think it is logical in
the long run to go with one
track mindset because then
you
tend
to
become
predictable. You have to play
extra bowler or batsman according to the conditions,
Kohli observed.
Six batsmen in line-up
There is merit in trying out
six batsmen M. Vijay, K.L.
Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara,
Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma. Others who pick
themselves are R. Ashwin and
Wriddhiman Saha, leaving the
last three slots to Ravindra
Jadeja, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami.
It would be a hard decision
for Kohli to leave out Shikhar
Dhawan, Amit Mishra and
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the lastmentioned a bowler for all
seasons.
The Indian captain revealed
his mind when he said, We
spoke about solidifying our
batting a bit more especially
on wickets like these because
most teams have quality spinners these days. In some conditions we might not need a
fifth bowler and so we have to
be smart about the combination we want to play, he said.
The Indians issue with
playing spin may better be addressed at the beginning of the

season than repent when England and Australia visit in
winter.
One area they concentrated
on Wednesday was snapping
nicks and bat-pad deflections.
Fielding coach R. Sridhar was
engaged in keeping the closein fielders on their toes with a
lengthy session in the middle.
Do they expect the pitch to assist the spinners big? R. Ashwin aimed at hitting the top of
the stumps. Would bounce be
a factor too?
Interesting questions ahead
of an interesting contest!
The teams (from):
India: Virat Kohli (capt.), K.L.
Rahul, M. Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, R.
Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra
Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit
Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha (wk),
Rohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson
(capt.), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell,
Mark Craig, Martin Guptill, Matt
Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls,
Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Ish
Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner and
B-J. Watling (wk).
Umpires: Richard Kettleborough
and Rod Tucker; Third umpire: Anil
Chaudhary; Match Referee: David
Boon.
Hours of play: 9.30 to 11.30 a.m.;
12.10 to 2.10 p.m.; 2.30 p.m.
onwards.
PREP TIME: The Indian teams fielding coach R. Sridhar puts Cheteshwar Pujara through a close-catching drill, as Shikhar Dhawan
looks on. PHOTO: V.V. KRISHNAN
Removing Dhoni
from captaincy
was discussed
NEW DELHI: Former chairman of
selectors Sandeep Patil revealed on Wednesday that

there had been discussions,
during his tenure, on removing M.S. Dhoni from captaincy.
Patil also clarified that there
was no truth to the perception
that Dhoni was instrumental
in getting rid of some of the
seniors like Gautam Gambhir
and Yuvraj Singh.
Of course, we had a brief
discussion about it [removing
Dhoni from captaincy] on a
few occasions. We wanted to
experiment by handing over
the baton [to somebody] but
we thought the time was not
right with the 2015 World Cup
round the corner, said Patil.
Patil, however, termed
Dhonis decision to retire from
We wanted to
experiment by
handing over the
baton [to somebody
else] but we thought
the time was not
right with the 2015
World Cup round the
corner. Sandeep Patil
Tests shocking as the team
was having a tough series
Down Under.
About dropping Gambhir
and Yuvraj, Patil said: It was
completely the selectors decision and Dhoni did not have
any say in it. PTI
I was fortunate to be
part of a famous win
V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM
ICC congratulates
BCCI on 500th Test
DUBAI: ICC Chairman Shashank
Manohar has congratulated
the Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI) for the
countrys 500th Test, which
will be played against New
Zealand in Kanpur from
Thursday.
This is a huge milestone in
the history of Indian cricket.
India has been a very important member of the ICC with its
rich heritage and great following for the game, Manohar
said.
India has produced world
class players who have entertained fans the world over. I
congratulate the BCCI on this
historic occasion and Id like to
thank the BCCI for the kind invitation to share in the celebration. The ICC wishes its
team all the best for this 500th
Test and in the years to come,
he added.
CM
YK
R. Ashwin will look to

regain the No. 1 spot
in the MRF Tyres ICC
Player Rankings for
Test Bowlers
ICC Chief Executive David
Richardson, who will present
the BCCI with a silver plate to
commemorate the occasion at
the Green Park Stadium, said:
Ive witnessed the passion
that fans here have for the
game and I always enjoy
watching cricket here. Im honoured to be invited to be a part
of the 500th Test celebrations.
Meanwhile, on the field, India of-spinner R. Ashwin will
work towards regaining the
No. 1 spot in the MRF Tyres
ICC Player Rankings for Test
Bowlers in the three-match
series. PTI
Need to be boring in your training if you

want to succeed: Virat Kohli
KANPUR: Virat Kohli wants India
to become a champion side.

And how? By doing boring
things.
We want to become a champion side. I certainly feel this
team has what it takes to be the
best. What it requires is sustained concentration, attention
to details, and practising the
same way every day. You know
doing boring things. At this level you need to be very boring in
your training, in your practice
if you want to succeed. As
simple as that, he said ahead of
the first Test against New Zealand starting here on Thursday.
The season, Kohli asserted,
would define the future in a big
way. I feel this season is a
phase were we can sort of lay a
foundation as to where the
Test team will go, and where

Test cricket will go as far as India is concerned. We have started of very well. This team is
full of exciting players.
The challenge for the last
year or so has been to show
composure in Test cricket, to
get the victories we require and
we have been able to do that.
This season obviously will be,
you can say, career defining for
all the people in the squad.
Very exciting times I feel.
He admitted the team would
miss Ishant Sharma, but added,
The good thing is that people
have stepped up in the past and
performed wherever the
chance has been given to
them.
Kohli also spoke on the ability to play spin. It is an area we
can improve. The team wants
to improve that aspect of our
game. It is something we surely

need to get stronger at.
The Indian captain praised
New Zealand. They are a
pretty good side. They play
good, positive cricket. That is
what we have seen in last
couple of years. Obviously
driven initially by Brendon
McCullum, he got in those
ideas where they played fearless cricket. One thing that
stood out was their mentality
that cricket was not the end of
the world for them.
Positive cricket
New Zealand captain Kane
Wllliamson agreed. We want
to go out, play positive cricket
and enjoy ourselves. India are a
very, very good side. We know
when we play with passion we
give ourselves the best chance
of success. They got some very
Virat Kohli. PHOTO: V.V. KRISHNAN

good spinners, very experienced in these conditions.
The threat lay in spin, said
Williamson. I think spin will
be a big part of the series. I
think playing positively is important. How our spinners
bowl will be important but at
the same time we are hoping
for a bit of reverse swing. Will
have to see how things unfold.
ndia will play its 500th Test

match when it takes on New
Zealand at Kanpur on
Thursday. En route to this historic milestone, there have
been some memorable moments and one of them is the
first-ever Test win on English
soil, at the Oval, on the 1971
tour when leg-spinner B.S.
Chandrasekhar weaved his
magic.
All-rounder Syed Abid Ali,
who had the privilege of scoring the winning runs in that
win, relives the moment. I remember vividly my partner
Farokh Engineer goading me
to finish of the match if I got
the chance. There was no hint
that he, being a senior, should
be given the chance to have
that
honour,
recalls
Chichha.
Otherwise, it was a very ordinary and forgetful Test
match for me.
But, I am definitely
privileged to be part of that
great team when that famous
victory was possible because
of Chandra who was at his best, reminisces the 75-year-old
cricketer, who had spells of 122-47-0 and 3-1-5-0 and scored
26 and four not out in that
match..
Abid Ali also reveals that he
did a similar gesture to Sunil
Gavaskar in Trinidad on the
previous tour to the West Indies.
Those were the days when
everyone felt great to be part
of a winning team and not too
overtly bothered about who
should hog the limelight, he
insists.
Referring to Chandras
spell, the former Indian allrounder reminds that the leggie was unplayable and
thrived on the amazing field-
Abid Ali. FILE PHOTO
HISTORIC 500
ing skills of Ekky (Eknath
Solkar) and the likes of Venkataraghavan
and
Ajit
Wadekar in the close-in cordon.
It was team efort for sure,
he adds. You can judge the
great spell of Chandra from
the fact that Bedi bowled just
one over in the second innings.
It was Chandra and Venkat
who did the damage, says the
Hyderabadi, who now shuttles
between that city and the US.
Interestingly, Abid also recalls the brief meeting between captain Wadekar and
others to substitute Dilip
Sardesai, after he dropped a
couple of catches, on some
pretext.
To our delight substitute
Kenny Jayanthilal took a great
running catch to dismiss the
dangerous Basil DOliveira of
Venkats bowling.
Also, not many might remember the stunning run-out
efort by Chandra to leave
Jamie Johnson stranded, he
says.
I am fortunate to be part of
that great team and more importantly, part of history,
concludes Abid.
ND-ND
18 |
SPORT
NOIDA/DELHI
Decisions at AGM subject to SC orders: BCCI
Anhad Jawanda
shoots gold
Anhad
Jawanda won the 25m sports
pistol individual gold and was
also part of the winning team
in the Junior shooting World
Cup here on Wednesday.
Jawanda shot identical
scores of 293 in the precision
and the rapid-fire sections to
beat compatriot Gurmeet by
seven points. Sambhaji Patil
placed fourth with 573, missing
a medal by one point to Sergei
Evglevski of Australia.
On the distaf side, Chinki
Yadav was beaten 7-3 to the
bronze medal by Anna Dedova
of the Czech Republic. The
gold and silver were bagged by
shooters from Russia and
Bulgaria.
The Indian trio of Chinki,
Gauri Sheoran (565) and
Muskan (571), who all made
the knock-out stage, clinched
gold for India ahead of weak
Thai teams.
The results: Junior men: 25m
sports pistol: 1. Anhad Jawanda
586, 2. Gurmeet 579, 3. Sergei
Evglevski (Aus) 574, 4. Sambhaji
Patil 573; 8. Aadeithyaa Joahal 568;
11. Arjun Das 560. Team: 1. India
1,725; 2. Australia 1,702; 3. Qatar
1,661. 50m rifle 3-position: 1. Benjamin Tingsrud Karlsen (Nor) 455.1
(1,158), 2. Filip Nepejchal (Cze) 453.3
(1,167), 3. Timur Akhmedzhanov
(Rus) 440.3 (1,155); 8. Subhankar
Pramanick 392.9 (1,139); 10. Sarvesh
Swaroop Shankar 1,130; 13. Syed
Parvez 1,121; 15. Ajaey Nithish 1,110.
Junior women: 25m sports pistol: 1. Margarita Lomova (Rus) 7 (11)
582, 2. Miroslava Mincheva (Bul) 1
(14) 585, 3. Anna Dedova (Cze) 7 (10)
571, 4. Chinki Yadav 3 (10) 575; 7.
Gauri Sheoran 565; 8. Muskan 571; 9.
Sanjana Sehrawat 561. Team: 1. India 1,701; 2. Thailand 1,614; 3. Thailand-B 976. Trap: 1. Wang Chunchun
(Chn) 11(1) 12(2) 68, 2. Yuliya
Tugolukova (Rus) 11(0) 12(1, 1, 2) 67,
3. Maria Lucia Palmitessa (Ita) 13 (12)
(1, 1, 1) 69, 4. Stephanie Pile (Aus) 11
(12) (1, 0) 69; 11. Pragati Dubey 59;
12. Soumya Gupta 59; 13. Manisha
Keer 58; 15. Kirti Gupta 55. Team: 1.
Russia 198; 2. Czech Republic 193; 3.
India 176. Sports Bureau
GABALA
(AZERBAIJAN):
CRICKET / Shirke unanimously re-appointed secretary
AMOL KARHADKAR
MUMBAI: Despite the uncer-
tainty not quite as glorious

as the game is often said to be
over its legality, the BCCIs
87th annual general meeting
on Wednesday went ahead
with all the decisions for the
year 2016-17, but with a rider. A
resolution passed said all decisions are subject to the orders of the Honble Supreme
Court.
Pertinently, the BCCI has
called a special general meeting on September 30 to discuss
adopting the rules and regulations ordered by the Supreme Court.
The 87th AGM of the BCCI
is being held today (21st
September, 2016) and the proceedings are being conducted
for the compliance of statutory provisions under which
the BCCI is constituted and
also for ensuring that the day
to day operations of the BCCI
are not hampered particularly
in view of the ongoing major
national and international
tournaments, commitments
and is subject to the orders of
the Honble Supreme Court,
stated a BCCI statement, issued after the meeting.
The meeting took some important decisions, including
Ajay Shirkes unanimous reappointment as secretary till
the 2017 AGM, appointments
of three selection committees
STANDING FIRM: BCCI president Anurag Thakur will be Indias official representative on the
International Cricket Council and Asian Cricket Council boards. PHOTO: PTI
and sticking with president

Anurag Thakur as Indias oicial representative on the ICC
and the Asian Cricket Council
boards.
The Justice R.N. Lodha
Committee had clarified that
the BCCI could not take any
decisions about 2016-17. However, elaborating on the statement issued, Shirke said the
secretarys election had to be
done to ensure smooth functioning of the Board.
Do we say that the BCCI
will function without a
secretary? The secretary is the
principal (executive) oicer
whose election had come to an
end and, going forward
whether it is to take instructions from the court or take decisions arising out of court
the secretary is the empowered person, Shirke told
reporters.
So this is merely carrying
out our day-to-day afairs; and
all our decisions are subject to
any orders of the court.
It is understood that the
BCCI has communicated
Wednesdays decision to the
Lodha Committee. .
The Board, however, took
yet another step towards implementing the SC order by
calling the SGM on September
30, the last date of the timeline
set by the Lodha panel to
amend its rulebook. The SGM,
according to the BCCI statement, will consider the
New selection panel to be headed by M.S.K. Prasad

AMOL KARHADKAR
MUMBAI: The Board of Control
for Cricket in India announced

during its AGM on Wednesday the national teams new
selection panel the first
ever constituted after conducting interviews from applicants for the job to be
headed by former India
wicket-keeper M.S.K. Prasad.
This committee could have
a term shorter than [the tenure
of their India careers, combined], said a BCCI member,
on condition of anonymity,
after the meeting.
Ritu Rani
announces her
retirement
Uncertainty prevails
Jokes aside, the BCCI
veteran did have a point. The
term of the selection panel,
which
includes
Prasad,
Devang Gandhi, Gagan Khoda,
Jatin Paranjpe and Sarandeep
Singh, could well be over even
before it starts.
It is still not certain whether
the BCCIs decisions at the
AGM will be acceptable to the
Supreme
Court-appointed
Ritu Rani.
Lodha Committee. If they are

not, the Board will be left
without a selection panel to
pick the squad for the ODI
series against New Zealand.
Besides, if the Boards Special
General
Meeting,
scheduled for September 30,
adopts the new rule-book, the
selection committee will have
to be reconstituted as a threemember panel by December
30.
Best choices?
The legal aspects aside, the
composition of the selection
panel does raise a question
mark on whether these were
the best choices for senior national selectors.
The five men have a combined experience of 13 Tests
and 31 ODIs.
Even granted that international cricket experience cannot be the sole yard-stick to
judge credentials as a selector,
the fact that some of the new
faces Prasad and Khoda
have been national selectors
for the last year have not re-
M.S.K. Prasad. FILE PHOTO

ally been watching too many
domestic games of late does
raise concerns over their
selection.
Sarandeep, a former Test
of-spinner who was sidelined
after his action was questioned, was, in fact, rejected as
a Delhi selector, but has got a
bigger assignment this time
around.
The junior selection panel,
under the chairmanship of
former Test seamer Venkatesh Prasad, includes in a
departure from the norm
multiple names from the same

zone.
Aashish Kapoor played for
six domestic teams, including
Board president Anurag Thakurs home team of Himachal
Pradesh, during his 18-year
First Class career.
And then there is Amit
Sharma, who played for Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.
The others on the panel are
former
Baroda
batsman
Rakesh Parikh and Gyanendra
Pandey who has played a
couple of ODIs for India.

Describing the selections as
a thorough scanning process, BCCI secretary Ajay
Shirke said: We have only
filled up selectors vacancies
as they were created. Two selectors had completed their
term of four years, the maximum granted to anybody.
So we picked two, and the
senior-most person on the
panel has been elevated to the
chairmans position.
Important decisions
Senior selection committee: M.S.K. Prasad (chairman), Gagan Khoda, Devang
Gandhi, Sarandeep Singh and
Jatin Paranjpe.
Junior selection committee: Venkatesh Prasad
(chairman), Rakesh Parikh,
Gyanendra Pandey, Amit
Sharma and Aashish Kapoor.
Womens
selection
committee: Hemlata Kala
(chairperson), Shashi Gupta,
Anjali
Pendharkar,
Lopamudra Banerjee, Sudha
Shah.
Ajay Shirke unanimously
elected secretary.
Shirke and Anurag Thakur
authorised to appoint Ombudsman for 2016-17.

Thakur to represent BCCI at
ICC and ACC. Sharad Pawar

continues to be the alternate
director for ICC meetings.
NEW DELHI: Former India
womens captain Ritu Rani

retired from international
hockey after being deeply hurt
following her axing from the Rio
Olympics squad.
Ritu was dropped from the
team for attitude issues, after
the Indian women qualified for
the Olympics after a gap of 36
years under her leadership.
Ritu was, however, included
in the camp for the 29
probables.
We received a mail from Ritu
2-3 days back stating that she
will not be able to join the
national camp as she is retiring
from international hockey, said
Hockey India president Narinder
Batra.
It is her personal decision
and we, at Hockey India, respect
it. Hockey India would like to
thank her for her service to the
game and the nation. PTI
TENNIS
amendments to the rules and

regulations of BCCI as recommended by Honble Justice
Lodha Committee.
Srinivasan stymied
N. Srinivasans return to
top-level cricket administration was stalled hours before the AGM. The former
BCCI and ICC chief was
tipped to be nominated as Indias representative to the
ICC.
However, on the sidelines of
the pre-AGM dinner hosted by
Mumbai Cricket Association
chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday, the tide turned again in
Thakurs favour.
While a section of Board
members is understood to
have tried its best to convince
the hierarchy about Srinivasan
being the best man to resolve
the mess BCCI finds itself in

with the ICC, Thakur apparently stood firm on representing the BCCI.
A member said Thakur
didnt want to give up on the
ICC post so that he could have
something up his sleeve once
he vacates the BCCI and the
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association posts, if and when
the SC order has to be
implemented.
The AGM also approved the
proposal to take possession of
alternate site at Bengaluru
ofered by the Karnataka Government in lieu of the earlier
plot which was allotted but not
handed over. The AGM also
accepted the proposal of land
being ofered in Dharamsala
by the Himachal Pradesh government for the development
of facilities for the NCA.
Only a difference of opinion

B
CCI secretary Ajay Shirke admitted

that the BCCI has differences of
opinion with world crickets governing
body (ICC), but refused to refer to the
situation as a stand-off.
Over the last month, the BCCI has
been involved in a bitter battle with the
ICC, headed by former BCCI chief
Shashank Manohar, over a two-tier
Test proposal, revenue sharing formula,
and broadcast rights deals.
There is no standoff with anybody.
They are our parent body. There are differences, but not a standoff. We had a
difference about the two-tier structure.

It is settled, they withdrew it. (About
finances) we have difference. It will
settle. They will hear us out, they will
give us a hearing. If they dont give us
justice, then maybe standoff, Shirke
said.
(TV right also) Yes, everything.
There is no standoff. They are our parent body. We have invited them for our
500th Test match. Their CEO is coming,
the chairman is also invited, so there is
no standoff. There is difference of opinion. AK
Our aim is to make

India emerge as No. 1
J.R. SHRIDHARAN
M.S.K. Prasad,
who was appointed as the
chairman of the National
senior selection committee on
Wednesday, said the number
of matches that one played for
the country was not important
to do justice to the coveted
post but what was required
was a keen eye to spot talent.
There is murmur about less
number of matches I played at
the top level for the country. I
proved many wrong in my one
year stint as a member of the
panel.
What is required is honesty
and impartiality, he pointed
out.
Speaking to The Hindu from
Australia, Prasad said: The
future of several talented
cricketers is in the hands of the
committee, and we have a very
important task to do.
He said his first priority was
handling the 13 Tests at home
against New Zealand, Eng-
VIJAYAWADA:
land, Bangladesh and Australia. Our aim is to emerge as

the No. 1 Test nation.
The 41-year-old, who also
spoke to our Hyderabad correspondent, said It would be
great to work in co-ordination
with Anil bhai. He is a such a
great cricketer with so much
of experience and cricketing
acumen, he said.
Having worked under
Sandeep Patil, I am aware of
the nuances of the job better.
One thing for sure, when I am
there all the performing
cricketers can rest assured
that there will be objectivity in
selection of teams, he
insisted.
Having played for India I
knew what kind of ordeal a
cricketer goes through to
represent the country. So, performances only will be the criterion and nothing else, added Prasad.
(With inputs from V.V. Subrahmanyam in Hyderabad)
FOOTBALL
Karman in last eight

HUA HIN (THAILAND): Qualifier
Karman Kaur Thandi defeated

Patcharin Cheapchandej of
Thailand 7-6(4), 6-3 in the prequarterfinals of the $25,000
ITF womens event here.
Other results: $25,000 ITF
women, Tweed Heads (Australia): Pre-quarterfinals: Abigail
Tere-Apisah (Png) & Kanika Vaidya bt Alison
Bai (Aus) & Kty Dunne (GBR) 6-3, 6-2.
$10,000 ITF women, Sharm El
Sheikh: First round: Britt Geukens
(Bel) bt Teertha Iska 6-0, 6-0; Eden
DOliveira (RSA) bt Prethi Srinivasan
6-1, 6-1; Riya Bhatia bt Akiho Kakuya
(Jpn) 6-1, 6-4.
Doubles
pre-quarterfinals:
Eden DOliveira (RSA) & Ina Kaufinger
(Ger) bt Arushi Bhasin & Angella Ra-
man 6-3, 6-3; Akshara Iska & Ramya

Natarajan bt Teertha Iska & Preethi
Srinivasan 7-6(1), 5-7, 10-3; Pei
Hsuan Chen (Tpe) & Mitsumi Kawasaki (Jpn) bt Suzy Larkin (GBR) &
Tanisha Rohira 6-2, 6-3; Theiviya
Selvarajoo (Mas) & Zeel Desai bt
Melissa Morales & Kirsten-Andrea
Weedon(Gua) 6-4, 6-4.
$10,000 Futures, Cairo: First
round: P.C. Vignesh bt Keyvan
Nematzadeh (Bel) 6-1, 6-4.

Doubles
pre-quarterfinals:
Anirudh Chandrasekar & P.C. Vignesh bt Akram El Sallaly & Yehia Elsallali (Egy) 6-4, 6-2; Dmytro Badanov
(Ukr) & Nikita Gudozhnikov (Rus) bt
Tarun Nath Chilakalapudi & Ajay
Pruthvi Nemakal 6-4, 7-6(4).
Sports Bureau
Away draw earns Bengaluru FC semifinal slot

SINGAPORE: Bengaluru FC be-
came only the third Indian

side to advance to the semifinals of the AFC Cup after a
goalless draw with Tampines
Rovers here on Wednesday.
Having won the first leg of
this quarterfinal tie 1-0 at
home, Albert Rocas men completed the task at the Jalan
Besar Stadium, in a game that
was not short on drama.
BFC will now meet the defending champion, Johor
Darul Tazim, in the semifinals, with the first leg to be
played in Malaysia on September 28.
Both sides missed chances
in the first half. Muhammad

Hafiz came close to giving
Tampines the lead when he intercepted a poor pass from
Nishu Kumar and set of on a
free run before his strike drew
a save from Amrinder Singh.
At the other end, a sliding
Eugeneson Lyngdoh failed to
get his foot to a splendid pass
across the face of the goal from
C.K. Vineeth.
After the interval, though,
BFC emerged stronger, controlling possession unlike during a chaotic first period.
Needing a goal to take the
game to extra-time, Tampines
pressed high up and came
close on a few occasions

through Jordan Webb and
Muhammad Hafiz, but the
BFC defence held firm.
The game should have been
put to bed in the third of the
five minutes of additional
time, but late substitute Vishal
Kumars fierce strike was kept
out by Mohammed Izwan.
Lyngdohs follow-up strike
ricocheted of the post with
the keeper beaten.
BFC would prevail, though,
and join Dempo SC (2008) and
East Bengal (2013), hitherto
the only Indian sides to make it
this far in the competition.
Sports Bureau
ON THE BALL: Bengaluru FC skipper Sunil Chhetri in action

against Tampines Rovers FC on Wednesday.
VARIETY
THE HINDU CROSSWORD 11807
1
Spinner
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
18
19
20
21
23
22
24
17
Manchester, manipulated by
agents (9)
24 Unloads Silicon in
warehouses (8)
26 Normally, carbohydrates
leaving body are brokendown carbohydrates! (6)
28 Convinced revolutionary to
return to unfinished round?
Incredible! (9)
29 Essentially, tooth decay's
spread around by germs (5)
30 Trust speaker to be one who
spits things out (12)
26
25
Down
27
28
29
30
Across
1 Construction profession
involving hectic travelling
certainly taking away a little
sleep (12)
10 Pal, or turned antagonistic?
(5)
11 Australia, for instance, is
happy with India! (9)
12 Fact: Spinner beginning to
love following
CM
YK
extraordinary date (6)

13 Managed to tie in jittery
decider (8)
15 Serene arrangement of cello
by foreigner from the east
recorded in CD (9)
16 Bird endlessly chirped, to get
some water (4)
20 Facility to convert sea's
energy (4)
21 Keane finally leaves
2 Unstable, so reliant on family

members (9)
3 Cavity around tip of Rider's
bone? That's dreadful! (8)
4 Check staff not wearing cap
(4)
5 Trust uninitiated kid to run
through barricade in pursuit
of criminal (10)
6 Integrated squad has depth,
with leading Englishmen in
the mix (6)
7 Excerpt from seventieth
episode (5)
8 Identifying this tool by its
name might make you blunt!
(5)
9 Trick involving extremely

deceptive schoolboy (7)
14 Methodical setter cracks trail
provided by Spinner's
opening to crossword (10)
17 Contest involving a bit of
throwing & egg-beating at
swimming pool? (5,4)
18 Grasslands mowed evenly
with a scythe's edge (7)
19 Microbes exist with operation
on recirculated air (8)
22 As skin turns numb, ... (6)
23 ...hunt for jacket, to retain
heat (5)
25 Pound (English) = Hundred of
'em, basically (5)
27 "Too confidential, some
secrets!" (4)
Solution to puzzle 11806

F
C R
I
T E
N
E D
S
C H
I
C AM P
M
S A L A
Z
P
R E L E
X
D
B
S A
C
A T
E
C R
I
MA
C
A
UM O R
D
I
N D E E
I
S
N I
I T
E
P
I N E
I
O
A I G N
C
S
L A
M I
U
E
A S E D
E
T
F
I
L
M
S
T
A
R
R
A
T
T
L
E
T
K
G I N A L
N
L
A N A G E
L
R O G E N
C
O C U R E
E
U
E P A I D
N
A
I T U D E
E
I
O O K E R
R
N
FAITH
SU | DO | KU
The enlightened soul

In the story of king Prithu related in the Bhagavata Purana,
Lord Vishnu appears on the scene of the great yagna
performed by the king and imparts to him the essence and
meaning of life. Prithu is already an enlightened king and the
Lords instruction only enhances his jnana, pointed out
Swami Paramasukananda in a discourse.
It is a comprehensive analysis of the traits of those who are
advanced in intelligence and those who are yet to gain this
insight in this regard. People like Prithu are rare and are
concerned with the welfare of the human race. Merciful and
patient by nature, he is known for his righteous and impartial
rule.
The wise person knows the body to be a product of
delusion, desire and karma and hence has no attachment to
it. He does not consider material possessions such as house,
wealth or progeny as belonging to himself. To him the
changes of this material world are due to the interaction of
the three gunas and the five elements, the senses, as well as
the mind.
Since the spirit soul is completely diferent from this
combination of gross and subtle material elements, the
enlightened devotee is always immersed in the Supreme
Truth and is unafected by the changes such as happiness or
distress that are faced by all beings. This truth is exemplified
in Ramas life especially when He is subject to a situation
that would normally have a traumatic efect on any human
being. Rama maintains equanimity because He is aware of
the Truth. He easily renounces all material possessions and
the comforts of the palace and welcomes forest life since this
will give Him a chance to spend life with the rishis. The Lord
instructs Prithu to protect the world and his subjects as this
is a kings most sacred duty.
A mind game and a

puzzle that you solve
with reasoning and
logic. Fill in the grid with
digits in such a manner
that every row, every
column and every 3x3
box accommodates the
digits 1 to 9, without
repeating any. The
solution to yesterdays
puzzle is at left.
ND-ND
Sriram Balaji gets past Poonacha

TENNIS / Vishnu Vardhan rallies to beat Manish Sureshkumar
COIMBATORE: Sixth seed N. Sri-
ram Balaji brushed aside the

challenge of Niki Poonacha
6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in the second round
of $10,000 LMW-ITF Futures
tournament at the Perks Tennis
Centre
here
on
Wednesday.
Balaji, a far more experienced player than his opponent, had kept himself busy
playing the past six weeks in
Indonesia and Thailand, and in
Chennai. And, it stood him in
good stead.
TOUGH FIGHT: N. Sriram Balaji suffered a second-set blip but came back strongly in the third to
quell Niki Poonachas challenge. PHOTO: M. PERIASAMY
could have been a pressure
situation for me. But I was confident of my game.
I knew I could pull it of as I
had gone through similar situ-
FOOTBALL
ISL gets national coachs thumbs-up

SPORTS REPORTER
CHENNAI: Ahead of the third
season of the ISL, the tournament has got the vote of confidence from Stephen Constantine, the coach of the
national football team. The
Englishman feels the chance
for the local players to rub
shoulders with international
stars and train under quality
foreign coaches will prove
valuable.
Speaking to the ISL media
team, Constantine said: The
positive impact has been the
sharing of experience from the
foreign recruits, or should I
call it the knowledge transfer?
So many foreign recruits who
have played at much higher
levels are coming to India to
play in the ISL. They are here
to share their experience and
do it in a positive manner. Its
now up to the Indian player to
grasp as much as possible from
them.
Biggest challenge
will be picking
right players for
each format
KOLKATA: Newly appointed na-
tional selector Devang Gandhi

said
having
his
contemporaries as colleagues
in the selection panel would
make his job easier.
When I made my debut (in
1999), MSK (Prasad, the new
chairman of selectors) was already part of the team. I have
also played with Sarandeep
(Singh), Gagan (Khoda) and
Jatin (Paranjape). Having
played together, communication will not be an issue for
us, Gandhi told The Hindu on
Wednesday.
The 45-year-old Kolkatabased former player, who
played four Tests and three
ODIs, said his recent experience of working as a television commentator would also
help him. As a commentator I
have covered domestic cricket
for the last three years, and
have acquired a fair idea about
the present state of Indian
cricket, he said.
Gandhi said the primary
challenge for the selectors
would be to find right kind of
players for the three formats of
the game.
These days there are diferent formats and you have to select the right set of batsmen
and bowlers who are best
suited to the formats, he said.
I am thankful to the Indian
cricket board for entrusting me
with such a huge responsibility
and giving me a chance to serve
Indian cricket again, he said.
Hupi leads
Odisha to victory
KOLKATA: Hupi scored five tries
as Odisha RFC trounced

Young Rugby Club (YRC)
40-0 in the womens competition of the 83rd All India and
South Asia rugby championship here on Wednesday.
The results: Jungle Crows 22
(Swapna 2 tries, Soma, Sandhya 1 try
each, Swapna 1 conversion) bt YRC
0; CCFC 22 (Bridget, Mala, Rachael,
Saba 1 try each, Danielle 1 conversion) bt Bihar RFC 0; Odisha RFC 40
(Hupi 5 tries, Sanjukta, Kabita, Manjulata 1 try each) bt YRC 0; Delhi Hurricane 27 (Neha 4tries, Namita 1 try,
Rani 2 conversions) bt BIhar RFC 0.
CM
YK
It is an unique opportunity,
and one needs to make the
most of it. You wont get such a
chance every day, said Constantine, while discussing the
Stephen Constantine.
positive impact the ISL has

had on Indian football.
Apart from the foreign players, the ISL has also attracted
many leading coaches from
around the world, with
Brazilian legend Zico, now
into his third season with FC
Goa, being the most famous
name.
Its so significant that we
have some very good coaches
who are coaching in the ISL. A
player can improve only when
he trains under a quality
coach. The ISL is providing
the opportunity to the Indian
player.
I expect them to approach
it positively, be inquisitive and
learn as much as possible to
add expertise and more value
to the Indian player and Indian
football as a whole, Constantine said.
I would expect my players
to interact and learn as much
as possible. There is no substitute to learning.
Jayaram, Prannoy,
Srikanth reach
second round
TOKYO: It turned out to be a
tournament in Chennai last

week, kept his cool to break
serve twice to clinch the set
and match.
After losing the second, it
| 19
SPORT
NOIDA/DELHI
Serving big
The 26-year-old from Coimbatore served big from the start
and, Poonacha struggled and
surrendered meekly in the first
set.
But Poonacha, a flashy
player, came back strongly to
upset Balajis calculations in
the second set.
He went for some bold shots
and it paid of. In fact, there was
hardly any prolonged rallying.
In the third, Balaji, who had
got the better of Poonacha in
the quarterfinals of a similar
ations before, said Balaji, who

remained patient right through
and waited for Poonacha to
commit the mistakes. Also, it
was a matter of a few points and
I executed them well.

Balaji said the windy condition also made life diicult for
the players.
Later, third seed Vishnu
Vardhan rallied from a set
down to defeat a fighting Manish Sureshkumar 2-6, 6-2,
7-6(3).
The results (second round): N.
Sriram Balaji bt Niki Poonacha 6-2,
5-7, 6-3; Prajnesh Gunneswaran bt
Aryan Goveas 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; N. Vijay
Sundar Prashanth bt Mohit Mayur
Jayaprakash 6-4, 6-3; Sasi Kumar
Mukund bt Kaza Vinayak Sharma 7-6
(3), 6-4; Vishnu Vardhan bt Manish
Sureshkumar 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(3); Sanam
Singh bt Dhruv Sunish 6-3, 6-4; Sumit
Nagal bt Siddharth Viswakarma 6-2,
7-6; Sidharth Rawat bt Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam 6-4, 6-2.
Doubles: Anvit Bendre & N. Vijay
Sundar Prashanth bt Neeraj Elangovan & Niki Poonacha 7-6(5), 6-3; N.
Sriram Balaji & Vishnu Vardhan bt
Aryan Goveas & Jayesh Pungliya 7-6
(2), 6-4; Mohit Mayur & Vinayak
Sharma Kaza bt Haadin Bava & Shahbaaz Khan 7-6(6), 6-3; Fahad Mohammed & Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam bt Tyler Hochwalt & Sanam
Singh 6-2, 6-3.
mixed day for the Indian shuttlers at the Japan Super Series
with Ajay Jayaram, H.S. Prannoy and K. Srikanth fighting
their way to the second round
of the mens singles competition here on Wednesday.
While Jayaram defeated Indonesias Sony Dwi Kuncoro
21-19, 23-21 in a 46-minute
match, Prannoy had to dig
deep to eke out a 23-21, 19-21,
21-18 win over Malaysias
Iskandar
Zulkarnain
Zainuddin.
Srikanth toils
World No. 13 Srikanth had to
toil hard to surpass compatriot
P. Kashyap, who is making a
comeback after recovering
from one of the worst injuries
of his career. B. Sai Praneeth
played his heart out before losing 21-9, 21-23, 10-21 to NG Ka
Long Angus of Hong Kong.
The results (first round): Ajay
Jayaram bt Sony Dwi Kuncoro 21-19,

23-21; H.S. Prannoy bt Iskandar
Zulkarnain Zainuddin 23-21, 19-21,
21-18; K. Srikanth bt P. Kashyap 1421, 21-14, 23-21; B. Sai Praneeth lost
to NG Ka Long Angus 21-9, 21-23, 1021. PTI
Milan posts second straight win

MILAN: AC Milan won consec-
utive Serie A matches for the

first time since February as
Carlos Baccas fifth goal of the
season and an MBaye Niang
penalty were enough to beat
Lazio 2-0 at home on Tuesday.
New coach Vincenzo Montellas side is gaining momentum and move to nine
points after a strong showing
to see of Lazio, which has
seven.
The unerring Bacca stroked
home past stand-in debutant
keeper Thomas Strakosha in
the 37th minute after being released through the middle by
Juraj Kucka, who was quick to
capitalise on Marco Parolos
costly miscontrol as a Lazio attack broke down.
Lazio made two changes at
halftime as it sought to assert
itself in the contest, but while
substitute Keita fired over
early in the second period
after out-muscling two defenders, it was Milan which
extended the lead with Niangs
MARKSMEN: Mbaye Niang, who netted one of AC Milans two

goals against Lazio, celebrates his strike with the other scorer
Carlos Bacca. PHOTO: REUTERS
74th-minute penalty.
The
21-year-old
sent
Strakosha the wrong way with
a well-placed shot into the
corner after his cross had been
handled by Stefan Radu in the
box.
The results:
Serie A: AC Milan 2 (Bacca 37, Niang 74-pen) bt Lazio 0.
La Liga: Malaga 2 (Sandro 44, En
Nesyri 75) bt Eibar 1 (Nano 42);
Sevilla 1 (Mercado 51) bt Real Betis 0.

Bundesliga: VfL Wolfsburg 1 (Didavi 53) lost to Borussia Dortmund 5
(Guerreiro 4, Aubameyang 17, 62,
Dembele 58, Piszczek 73).
Ingolstadt 0 lost to Eintracht
Frankfurt 2 (Abraham 45+2, Oczipka
50); Darmstadt 1 (Oliinyk 90+2)
drew with Hoffenheim 1 (Kramaric
46); Freiburg 1 (Petersen 70) bt Hamburg 0. Agencies
CRICKET
Women are the strength of any

country, says Kapil
MUMBAI: Sakshi Maliks bronze
medal win at the Rio Olympics

womens
wrestling
has
pleased former India cricket
captain Kapil Dev.
Speaking to The Hindu on
the sidelines of the 2016
kabaddi World Cup, Kapil said
peoples perception of girls
and women taking part in
sporting activities should
change.
So much has written about
the girl child in Haryana, Punjab and certain other States.
After what happened at Rio,
we should be proud of them
(P.V. Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and
Dipa Karmakar). I think some
people have wrong notions
about boys doing better than
the girls.
I think we all have to understand that women are the
strength of any organisation,
any country, because they are

stable, sensible and dedicated.
And this Olympics has shown
that, he said.
Kapil said: Only a handful
of girls play sport in our country and they win medals. How
many girls in India play badminton, 300 perhaps at the
highest level. How many girls
in India play tennis, maybe
1000 at the highest level. And
wrestlingnot even 300 girls.
And they win medals at the
Olympics. It has touched everybodys heart.
Educated womens role
Kapil feels that children of
educated women will always
do well in life and sport. If we
can give more time to the girls
and women, we will be a better
nation, better sports-playing
country. If the mother is educated, her kids will be educated. You may have a brilliant
educated father and the

mother, not educated; in this
case their kids can be uneducated.
But if women are educated
in a house, it will be impossible
for the next generation not to
be educated. Similarly if the
women take interest in sports,
I think the next generation will
get into sports.
When asked if Sakshis medal win at Rio will trigger interest in sports in Haryana and
elsewhere in India, Kapil said:
Its not about girls getting
into sports, but also the facilities that is provided to them.
They have to come out and
play. We have to respect the
women in our society. No
sport is a male sport. The
world is changing; we have to
encourage the girls to come
out and play.
Pakistan gets Test Championship mace

LAHORE: Pakistan captain Mis-
bah-ul-Haq on Wednesday received the ICC Test Championship mace for leading the
side to the top of the ICC Test
Team Rankings for the first
time since the current rankings system was introduced in
2003.
ICC Chief Executive David
Richardson presented the
mace to Misbah at the Gaddafi
Stadium here and the Pakistan
Test skipper said it was befitting that the presentation was
taking place there. There
cant be a better location to receive the ICC Test Championship mace than this ground
where we last played a home
Test seven years ago, said
Misbah.
Ironic
It is ironic for both the players as well as the fans that the
journey to the No. 1 position
has been outside Pakistan.
The players have missed on
the crowd support, while the
spectators have been unable to
watch live some magnificent
team and individual performances. But I am confident that
things will change and international cricket will soon return
to Pakistan, he added.
A DREAM COME TRUE: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq (right)

receives the Test Championship mace from ICC Chief
Executive David Richardson in Lahore on Wednesday.
PHOTO: AFP
Pakistan is only the fifth side

after Australia, England, India
and South Africa to top the ICC
Test rankings, while Misbah is
the ninth captain to lift the
mace after Steve Waugh, Ricky
Ponting, Michael Clarke, Steve
Smith (all Australia), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India),
Andrew Strauss (England),
Graeme Smith and Hashim
Amla (both South Africa).
Delighted to hold the mace
in the twilight of his career,
Misbah said: It has always

been a dream to lift an ICC
trophy as captain.
To be only the ninth international captain to achieve this
honour in the traditional
format of the game is something to be very proud of.
This mace is a reward for
the eforts and hard work of
each and every individual who
has been part of this group
over the past few years.
PTI
RACING
La Dona may score

an encore
MYSORE: La Dona, who is in fine nick,
may score an encore in the
Karnataka Racehorse Owners Association Mysore 1000 Guineas
(1,600m), the first classic of the
season to be held here on Thursday
(Sept. 22).
There will be no false rails.
1 JAGANMOHANA PALACE
PLATE (1,400m), rated 00 to 25,
1-30 pm: 1. Kohinoor Blitz (2) Arshad Alam 62.5, 2. La Piperi (4) Sarvan Kumar 62, 3. Everlasting
Memory (1) Srinath 59, 4. As Always (12) L. Prashant 58.5, 5. For
Your Eyes Only (6) Rajesh Kumar
58.5, 6. Strive And Serve (10) S. Manohar 56.5, 7. Sazae San (5) Madhu
Babu 56, 8. Time To Time (11) A.
Agarwal 55, 9. Dance With Me (9)
Kiran Rai 53, 10. Blockbuster (3)
T.S. Jodha 52.5, 11. Golden Steps (7)
P.P. Dhebe 51.5 and 12. Blackwind
(8) Irvan Singh 50.
1. Golden Steps, 2. Time To
Time, 3. Everlasting Memory
2 MAJ.
SARDAR
L.MAHADEVAIAH MEMORIAL CUP
(Div. II), (1,200m), rated 20 to 45,
2-00: 1. Starhunt (10) B. Harish 60,
2. Blazing Faith (5) Ashok Kumar
59.5, 3. Cool Springs (6) Kiran Rai
59.5, 4. Man Of Law (7) Raja Rao
59.5, 5. Masters Glory (2) Jagadeesh
59.5, 6. Asian Star (1) L. Prashant 59,
7. Colossal Moments (11) Janardhan P 59, 8. Young Gallant (8) S.
Manohar 59, 9. Mistress Of Spice
(12) P.S. Chouhan 58, 10. Defining
Moment (4) Gautam Raj 57.5, 11.
Benedetta (9) Madhu Babu 57 and
12. Bengaluru Princess (3) Rayan
Ahmed 57.
1. Mistress Of Spice, 2. Cool
Springs, 3. Starhunt
3 M.B.APPAYA MEMORIAL
TROPHY (Div. II), (1,400m), rated
40 to 65, 5-y-o & over, 2-30: 1. Wings
Of Fortune (5) K. Raghu 60, 2.
Dreamliner (1) Imran Ashraf 59, 3.
Yellowzone (11) A. Ramu 59, 4. Arrive (10) Ramesh Kumar 58.5, 5.
Mystic Music (3) S. John 58, 6. Protector Of Paris (9) T.S. Jodha 58, 7.
Super Strong (12) Suraj Narredu 58,
8. Golden Diamond (7) Arshad
Alam 57.5, 9. Strengthandwonder
(2) L. Prashant 57.5, 10. Color Me
(6) P.P. Dhebe 56, 11. Ontime (8)
Madhu Babu 56 and 12. Happy Victory (4) Rajesh Kumar 54.5.
1. Super Strong, 2. Mystic Music, 3. Yellowzone
4 KARNATAKA RACEHORSE
OWNERS
ASSOCIATION
MYSORE
1000
GUINEAS
(1,600m), 3-y-o, fillies, (Terms), 300: 1. Fabulous Touch (1) P.S.
Chouhan 56, 2. Ice Glacier (4) S.
John 56, 3. La Dona (2) A. Sandesh
56 and 4. Siobhan (3) Zervan 56.
1. La Dona, 2. Ice Glacier
5 MAJ.
SARDAR
(Div. I), (1,200m), rated 20 to 45,
3-30: 1. Sans Frontieres (9) M. Abhilash 62.5, 2. Brown Beauty (7) Arshad Alam 62, 3. Only Princess (2)
P.P. Dhebe 62, 4. Papadokia (6) A.
Imran Khan 61, 5. The Disciple (11)
M. Prabhakaran 60.5, 6. Perfectebony (8) P.S. Chouhan 59, 7. Sancy
(3) S. Waseemuddin 58.5, 8. Industrialist (4) S. John 58, 9. Zoe (10) A.
Agarwal 57.5, 10. Golden Cruise

(5) M.L. Bhosle 57, 11. Little Love
(12) Adarsh 57 and 12. Celestar (1)
L. Prashant 56.5.
1. Perfectebony, 2. Only Princess, 3. Papadokia
6 F.K.IRANI
MEMORIAL
TROPHY (1,400m), rated 80 &
above, 4-00: 1. Constantine (8)
Zervan 60, 2. Class Is Class (3)
Srinath 59, 3. Brilliant Cut (5) A.
Qureshi 58.5, 4. Royal Salute (4) S.
John 58.5, 5. Dazzling Bay (6) P.S.
Chouhan 54.5, 6. Pentagram (1) A.
Sandesh 54.5, 7. Sofast (2) K.G.
Steyn 53 and 8. Topspot (7) B.
Harish 52.
1. Royal Salute, 2. Dazzling
Bay, 3. Class Is Class
7 CIVIL SERVICES TROPHY
(1,100m), maiden 3-y-o only,
(Terms), 4-30: 1. Blessed One (3)
Jagadeesh 56, 2. Dagobert (4) Arshad Alam 56, 3. High Voltage (8)
Adarsh 56, 4. Look Out (5) Raja
Rao 56, 5. My King (12) Ramesh
Kumar 56, 6. Storm (10) S. John 56,
7. Amazing Beauty (11) S. Manohar
54.5, 8. Chrome (6) A. Agarwal
54.5, 9. Harley Quinn (7) Rajesh
Kumar 54.5, 10. Queenofgoodtimes (1) T.S. Jodha 54.5, 11. Superlite (2) Nitin Singh 54.5 and 12.
Vasuki (9) Irvan Singh 54.5.
1.
Queenofgoodtimes,
Storm, 3. Dagobert
2.
8 M.B.APPAYA MEMORIAL
TROPHY (Div. I), (1,400m), rated
40 to 65, 5-y-o & over, 5-00: 1. Demanding Format (4) Ajeet Kumar
60.5, 2. Royal Defence (6) A. Imran Khan 60.5, 3. Bold Police (11)
Noorulla 60, 4. Feliciana (2) S.
John 60, 5. Real Steel (1) Suraj
Narredu 60, 6. Frenemee (3) Kiran
Rai 59.5, 7. Sharp Witted (10) P.S.
Chouhan 57.5, 8. Fresh Start (12)
Jagadeesh 56.5, 9. Royal Rein (9)
Shobhan 56.5, 10. Veni Vidi Vici
(5) T.S. Jodha 56.5, 11. Saltoro
Ridge (7) P.P. Dhebe 56 and 12.
Perfect King (8) Arshad Alam 55.
1. Feliciana, 2. Royal Defence,
3. Real Steel
9 MAJ.
SARDAR
(Div. III), (1,200m), rated 20 to 45,
5-30: 1. Goat (6) Irvan Singh 60, 2.
Red Admiral (10) K. Raghu 60, 3.
Scorching (7) Rajesh Kumar 59.5,
4. Touch Of Romance (4) M.L.
Bhosle 59, 5. Export Quality (1) A.
Imran Khan 58.5, 6. Simple Sum
(12) Darshan 58.5, 7. Wonder
Woman (2) P.S. Chouhan 58.5, 8.
Legal Legacy (8) S. John 58, 9. Bay
Sunday (3) Raja Rao 57.5, 10. Safe
Bet (11) Kiran Rai 57.5, 11. Always
United (9) Nitin Singh 57 and 12.
Senator (5) T.S. Jodha 57.
1. Expert Quality, 2. Wonder
Woman, 3. Goat
Days best: La Dona
Double: Feliciana
Quality
Export
Jkt: 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9; Tr (i): 1, 2 and 3;

(ii): 4, 5 and 6; (iii): 7, 8 and 9.
20
LIFE
Pune team produces carbon from

sugarcane waste for use in batteries
Wax museum
separates
Brangelina
Simple kitchen microwave used to derive high-quality material in minutes

R. PRASAD
CHENNAI: Researchers from
Punes National Chemical

Laboratory (NCL) and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)
have used a simple, cost-effective and quick process to
convert sugarcane bagasse
into anode-grade porous,
conducting, activated carbon material for use in Li-ion
batteries.
While making anodegrade carbon is currently
very expensive and timeconsuming, the Pune researchers were able to produce high-quality carbon
within minutes by using a
low power microwave system. The results of the study
were published on July 5 in
the journal Electrochimica
Acta.
The quality of carbon used
for electrodes depends on
the choice of precursors and
the process used for converting the precursors into carbon. Anode-grade carbon is
generally produced through
decomposition at nearly
1000 degree Celsius.
By using a simple kitchen
microwave
oven
we
achieved local heating and
POWERING THROUGH: Researchers Satischandra Ogale, Anil

Suryawanshi and Poonam Yadav. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
combustion to realise high
quality factory-grade carbon
materials within a few
minutes, says Prof. Satishchandra Ogale, the corresponding author from the
Centre for Energy Science at
IISER, Pune and formerly
Chief Scientist, NCL, Pune.
The process time to get
anode-grade carbon is cut
down dramatically. The electrical energy input is also reduced substantially, Prof.
Ogale says. The quality of
carbon and battery performance using this carbon is
quite good and competitive
with carbon made through
other complicated schemes
and processes. We are able to

get competitive value of energy density and power
density using the carbon anode made in the lab.
The performance in terms
of stability has also been
good for a large number of
charging and discharging
cycles, Dr. Ogale says.
The initial carbonisation
was carried out overnight at
room temperature by mixing
bagasse with concentrated
sulphuric acid.
Except silica most of the
inorganic impurities present
in bagasse get dissolved by
acid treatment, says Anil
Suryawanshi, one of the au-
thors of the paper from NCL,

Pune. This also helps in
forming robust carbon
double bond backbone
structure.
The solid product is
washed thoroughly, ovendried at 70 degree C and
mixed with potassium hydroxide to form slurry. The
slurry is then heated in a microwave oven for a few
minutes.
Though the mixture
achieves a burning temperature for a few minutes, it
is self-generated by microwave and not through external heating; the power
consumed by the microwave
oven is just 700-900 watts.
Local heating causes
graphitisation and pores are
eventually formed when potassium hydroxide reacts
with carbon, says Mr. Suryawanshi. The process is repeated one more time after
mixing with water to optimise
porosity
and
conductivity.
Porosity is important as
lithium ions come through liquid electrolyte and must
reach diferent parts of the
carbon anode. Optimum
porosity is needed for accessibility of lithium ions.
A December 2013 image of

the wax figures of Angelina
Jolie and Brad Pitt
LONDON: Madame Tussauds
has separated the wax

statues of Hollywoods
former power couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
after the former filed for divorce.
The museum posted a picture of the statues placed
apart on their oicial Twitter
page. Following the news
that has shocked celebrity
watchers worldwide, we can
confirm we have separated
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolies
figures, the post read. The
couples wax figures were
launched in 2013. Following
the split, Ms. Jolies wax figure is placed next to actor
Nicole Kidmans statue, and
Mr. Pitts figure is positioned
close to Morgan Freemans.
Ms. Jolie had filed for divorce from Pitt on Monday,
citing irreconcilable diferences. PTI
Pet dog receives eight iPhones from billionaire owner

BEIJING: The only son of Chinas richest billionaire reportedly
bought
eight
iPhone 7s worth $9,584 for
his pet dog on the day of its
release.
Wang Sicong, 28, son of
billionaire Wang Jianlin, the

chairman of Dalian Wanda
Group, posted two photos of
the Alaskan malamute
named Coco, sitting on a
couch
surrounded
by
iPhones still in their boxes
last week, on the verified

Weibo social media account
of the dog, which has nearly
1.9 million followers.
Coco, 8, dubbed Chinas
richest dog, posed with her
black and rose gold iPhone 7
handsets, the South China

Morning Post reported.
Wang Sicong, speaking as his
dogs voice on the account,
writes in the caption: Not
sure what people are showing of on social media about.
There is nothing to show of.

I was forced to take action.
In 2015, Wang Sicong attracted widespread outrage
in China after posting photos
of the dog wearing two
Apple watches. PTI
Patna to host
3-day international
Sikh conclave
AMARNATH TEWARY
PATNA: On the eve of 350th birth anniversary of tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh in January next year, a
three-day International Sikh Conclave will be hosted in Patna from
September 22-24. Scholars, researchers and noted personalities
from across the world will be participating in the event, which will
be inaugurated on Thursday by
the State Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar.
The International Sikh Conclave will be held as a precursor to
the impressive ceremony lined up
by the Bihar government for the
Parkash Utasav in January next
year to mark the 350th year of the
birth of Guru Gobind Singh.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Punjab Chief
Minister Parkash Singh Badal,
former Chairman of the Planning
Commission
Montek
Singh
Ahluwalia, former chairman of
the National Commission for
Minorities Tarlochan Singh,
Union Ministers Maneka Gandhi
and Harsimrat Kaur, Union
Minister of State S.S. Ahluwalia,
former Punjab Chief Minister
Captain Amarinder Singh, Punjabs Minister for Panchayat and
Rural Development, and New
Zealand MP Kanwal Singh Bakshi,
are among the personalities likely
to attend the conclave. Some Sikh
ministers and representatives
from Canada, Myanmar, UK, USA
and Australia have also been invited on the occasion.
Cultural icons
Lyricist Gulzar, Bollywood
actor Dharmendra and athlete
Milkha Singh are invited to
participate in the conclave to be
attended by over 150 delegates
from all over the globe, said an official of the Bihar Tourism Department. During the conclave beginning Thursday, there would be
panel discussions on topics like
Shri Guru Gobind Singh: A
spiritual saviour and crusader of
rights, Shri Guru Gobind Singh:
A poet par excellence and
Sikhism: A faith of love and humanity. On the last day, a discussion will be held on Sikh contributions to the nation.
A cofee table book on Shri
Guru Gobind Singh will be
launched on the occasion. Cultural programmes with artistes
like Rabbi Shergil and Diljit
Dosanjh are also to be held. This
conclave is to spread the word
about the grand event to be held
on January 5 next year, preparations for which are in full swing,
said the oicial.
The state government has decided to grant a three-day government holiday during the Prakash
Utsav next year, Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar has said on
Wednesday.
CM
YK
NOIDA/DELHI

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