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DELHI, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 5 No. 232 CITY EDITION 20 Pages Rs. 8.00 www.thehindu.in ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Printed at Chennai, Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Madurai, Noida, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Vijayawada, Mangaluru, Tiruchirapalli, Kolkata, Hubballi, Mohali, Allahabad and Malappuram INSIDE 쑺 NEWS | PAGE 12 NEWS | PAGE 12 WORLD | PAGE 14 ISRO CROSSES A MILESTONE ‘NO NEED TO SUMMON EX-PM’ AN ICONIC GESTURE TALIBAN SEIZE KUNDUZ SRIHARIKOTA: The ISRO launched its first multi-wavelength space observatory Astrosat into space, besides six satellites for Canada, Indonesia and the U.S. NEW DELHI: The CBI opposed an application for summoning Manmohan Singh as an accused in a coal block case, saying the application had no merit. NATION | PAGE 9 NEW DELHI: Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar will be featured in a video of Swachh Bharat. He will be seen singing while his wife stands by him. KUNDUZ: The Taliban largely seized Kunduz, a major Afghan city, on Monday, storming government compounds and sending residents fleeing. • • REBELLION IN BIHAR Criminals have got party ticket, Ara MP R.K. Singh had alleged Amit Shah in fire-fighting mode BJP chief heading to Patna to cool tempers Mehboob Jeelani Nistula Hebbar NEW DELHI: After the BJP Rahul counters BJP charge with pictures Modi got GDP wrong: Congress NEW DELHI: Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks in the U.S. that India’s GDP is $8 trillion, the Congress said on Monday that when the UPA Government left office the GDP was $2.27 trillion, and now it is close to $2.50 trillion. “His officials should give him the right announcement of poll dates in Bihar on October 2. Sources said that Mr. Shah, who calls the shots on poll campaign strategy, has decided that the party will, once papers at the right time so that he does not make such mistakes because he is not speaking in the private dining room or reporting to the RSS leadership… The whole world is watching what the PM of India has to say,” senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said briefing reporters. PAGE 12 again, depend on the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 쐍 LEADERS TOLD TO RALLY AROUND PM; JD(U), BJP TRADE BARBS | PAGE 12 launched a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi, seeking details of his absence from the country, a series of pictures appeared on his Twitter handle that suggested that the Congress vicepresident was indeed attending a conference in Aspen, Colorado. Though the details of the conference aren’t known to the public yet, senior Congress leader Miland Deora reinforced the party’s claim by posting more pictures of Mr. Gandhi with Iceland’s president Olafur Ragnar Grimsson and British politician David Miliband. 쐍 RAHUL ENJOYING UNDESERVED VACATION: BJP | PAGE 12 Somnath Bharti surrenders after rap over knuckles from apex court He has been evading arrest in a domestic violence and attempt-to-murder case Jatin Anand  NEW DELHI: Absconding Aam Aadmi Party legislator Somnath Bharti surrendered at a police station here late on Monday evening in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court which had rejected his anticipatory bail plea earlier in the day. The former Delhi Law Minister, who has been evading arrest in a domestic violence and attempt-to-murder case registered by his wife, Lipika Mitra, had initially sought reconciliation with her. His wife had even accused him of letting loose his dog on her. Earlier, a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice H. L. Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy directed the Malviya Nagar MLA to surrender before the police if he sought reconciliation at the end of the day. “Don't run away like this... First surrender and then we will take up your matter on Thursday [October 1],” Chief ‘Jan Lokayukta Bill ready’ Maria Akram NEW DELHI: The AAP govern- ment has almost completed drafting the Jan Lokayukta Bill and will table it in the next Assembly session. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced that his government will soon fulfil one of the biggest promises made before the polls. 쐍 DETAILS ON PAGE 5 CM YK ‘Facebook’s mission is to connect the world’ Srinivasan Ramani NEW DELHI: Rebellion in the party ranks after ticket distribution is perhaps a common phenomenon. But BJP chief Amit Shah is not taking any chances with a crucial State like Bihar. As the BJP faces open allegations from the likes of the former Home Secretary and party MP from Ara R.K. Singh that criminals have got party ticket, Mr. Shah is heading to Patna on Tuesday to cool tempers. The central team deputed for the polls in Bihar will also be with him on this exercise. The damage control mission is all the more important because Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing his first rally after the Zuckerberg for balance between access and Internet neutrality Somnath Bharti after his surrender at Dwarka North Police station in Delhi on Monday. PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA Justice Dattu told Mr. Bharti’s counsel and senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam. The Bench rejected the plea of his counsel that Mr. Bharti be given time till Tuesday to surrender. “No, we will not give time. If you want your matter to come up on Thursday, you have to surrender today itself,” the Bench said, while rejecting a further request that he be given time till 6-30 p.m. to surrender. The MLA had approached the apex court on September 23 evening, the same day that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted asking why Mr.  Bharti was not surrendering to the police. The Delhi High Court had earlier dismissed his anticipatory bail plea saying the allegations against him were backed by “documentary proof”. Terming the allegations made by Lipika “very serious”, the High Court had said she was a victim of his “cruelty” and “brutal assaults”.  Meanwhile, senior police officers told The Hindu that Mr. Bharti, who rushed to the Capital and surrendered around 10.30 p.m. heeding the advice of the apex court, would be questioned for several hours, possibly till dawn. He would then be taken for a medical examination at the nearest government hospital before being formally placed under arrest. 쐍 MORE STORIES ON PAGE 4 India Gate-Red Fort stretch to go car-free on October 22 Jatin Anand NEW DELHI: One of the busiest stretches in the Capital will go car-free in line with the government’s campaign to de-congest the city. Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai on Monday announced the Ab Bus karen Jan Parivahan – Swasthya Jeevan initiative which, to begin with, will see the stretch from India Gate to Red Fort going car-free on October 22. Mr. Rai said the government would ensure that various modes of public transport were available to avoid inconvenience to the people on the chosen day. The government also proposed a cycle rally on the car-free stretch similar to the one organised by the Gurgaon Police last week. In an interview to The Hindu in May, Mr. Rai had stated that he viewed ‘effecting a systemic change in the way Delhi commutes’ as a challenge and an objective. On Monday, the Minister said the government proposed to convert the campaign into a sustained effort CALIFORNIA: “The debate on net neutrality has been incredible in India” and finding the right balance between provisions on net neutrality and enhancing access to the hitherto Internet-unconnected in India will have a great impact on the rest of the world as well, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook, told select journalists, at the Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California. Mr. Zuckerberg said his company’s mission was to connect the world. While there was a perception that his company, due to its success, is “big,” the mentality of his colleagues was that of a small company, constantly seeking to live up to its mission, he said. After it drew about 1.5 billion people the online social networking service was now Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaking at the company headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Sunday. — PHOTO: AP seeking to enhance services,” besides connectivity and reworking on other aching out to those technologies to provide bandwidth acnot connected. It is in this regard cess and tuning that Facebook was prod- ucts for places promoting with lower its internebandwidth. t.org platIndia, havform, whose access ing the largest number of application has been re- people not connected to the branded as “free and basic Internet, had seen a strong Team Modi vows to make business easy for start-ups  Peerzada Abrar BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s team has reached out to Indian startups in the Silicon Valley while trying to convince them that their long-standing demands over ease of doing business will be met. The start-ups, on the other hand, want a quick implementation of the proposals. Industry sources tell The Hindu that at a meeting with top Indian entrepreneurs and investors in the Silicon Valley, Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, spoke about proposals that could make it easy for start-ups to do business in India. His proposals, they said, were about tax write-offs, relaxation of rules for venture capital flow and also rules that make it easy for startups to shut down. debate on net neutrality, and Facebook had learnt from it, modifying its internet.org business model, he and his colleagues said. Other changes included opening up the free basics platform to developers, changing its privacy policy and providing a security methodology. Asked about other business models (such as Jana), which provided data access within strict definitions of net neutrality, internet.org head Chris Daniels argued that their model of giving access to free and basic services fitted with net neutrality provisions. Inflammatory content Asked about his view on kneejerk reactions by governments, like the shutting down of the Internet when faced with social media content issues, he said his company was working with law enforcement and investing a lot in regulating inflammatory content on Facebook, but more needed to be done. 쐍 EXCERPTS | PERSPECTIVE Climate tops agenda 쐍 MORE SOPS PROMISED | PAGE 13 쐍 MR. MODI IN SILICON VALLEY | Climate change dominated the talks when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met U.S. President Obama in New York on Monday. EDITORIAL — PHOTO: PTI (INDIA SEEKS FUNDS, TECHNOLOGY: PAGE 13) NASA finds evidence of liquid water on Mars CAPE CANAVERAL (FLORIDA): Mars appears to have flowing streams of salty water, at least in the summer, scientists reported Monday in a finding that could have major implications for the possibility of life on the planet. Scientists in 2008 confirmed the existence of frozen water on Mars. But the latest observations from an instrument aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter support the long-time theory that salt water in liquid form flows down certain Martian slopes each summer, according to the researchers. “Mars just got more interesting,” NASA said via Twitter. The space agency called the results “a major science finding.” — AP 쐍 BRINY FLOWS BOOST ODDS FOR LIFE | PAGE 20 The government’s move on car-free days may end such scenes on Capital’s roads. FILE PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY for creating awareness about the benefits of using public transport, promoting carpooling, encouraging the use of bicycles and adhering to lane driving. According to a transport department source, keeping in mind the Capital's massive vehicular population and teeming number of floating vehicles, it has been decided to test the waters only on one stretch. Gurgaon has declared every Tuesday car-free day. “We plan to do so in phases and on different stretches because the aim is to project public transportation as a viable and hassle-free alternative. This will convince the public to switch over from private vehicles,” said an official. A meeting has been convened on October 1 where officials of the Transport Department, Delhi Transport Corporation, DIMTS, Delhi Traffic Police, Police (law & order), DMRC, DPCC, PWD, MCD, NDMC, ASI, ITDP and EMBARQ will participate. This would be followed by a meeting with MLAs and other organizations on October 9 to ensure their participation. Police thrash woman devotee Shubhomoy Sikdar MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday ordered an inquiry into an incident of women police personnel assaulting a woman Ganesh devotee at Lalbaugcha Raja, Mumbai’s most popular Ganesh pandal, after a video capturing the incident went viral raising questions about police sensitivity towards women. 쐍 DETAILS ON PAGE 9 ND-ND 2| CITY NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU 2,191 test positive for dengue Jan Lokayukta Bill ready Delhi has recorded 2,191 dengue cases last week with the number of cases till now recorded at 5,982 and 17 deaths, as per official data released on Monday. >> Pg4 Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced that his govt will soon fulfil one of the biggest promises made by the AAP before the Delhi Assembly elections. >> Pg 5 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 Delhi University launches helpline Kritika Sharma Sebastian NEW DELHI: Delhi University has introduced a helpline to offer free counselling sessions to students and faculty members to help them cope with stress. At present, the ‘Mind Body Centre’ located in DU’s North campus offers faceto-face counselling to girl students and faculty members. The new helpline, however, will cater to queries and offer therapy to all students irrespective of gender. “So far we have been holding five to six counselling sessions daily. But, we realised that at times students are not so comfortable coming to the centre and sharing their problems. “They want to maintain their anonymity, which is why we came up with this helpline,” said Nilanjana Singh, Chairperson of the Delhi University Women’s Association (DUWA). “There shall be expert psychologists, therapists and counsellors based at the ‘Mind Body Centre’ to deal with queries. “If there is a need for further counselling, we will call the individuals to the centre,” Ms. Singh added. The new telephonic and email helpline will start accepting queries from October 5. The toll-free number for the helpline is 1800 3000 7303, where callers can present queries between 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. A statement from the DU Registrar read: “The stu- 80 CAT applicants under third gender Stepping it up B-schools conducting workshops to sensitise students; ready to welcome them Activists are unsure of the treatment transgenders will receive in premier B-schools if selected Kritika Sharma Sebastian SAY CHEESE: Visitors pose at the Tughlakabad Fort in New Delhi. —PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA NEW DELHI: A year after the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) opened doors to transgenders following the Supreme Court order to recognise the ‘third gender’, 80 applications under the category have been received for the Common Admission Test (CAT) this year. Though activists are still unsure of the kind of the treatment transgenders will receive in the premier B-schools if they are selected, the institutes seem confident of welcoming the third gender. Rudrani Chhetri, director, Mitra Trust, which works for transgenders, said: “It is a welcome step that people are actually coming out of their shell and accepting their real identity. But what is to be seen now is how the administration of these institutions will deal with a student who is a transgender. There are many things that transgenders will do differently from others like the way they talk, walk or dressup. Institutes should create an atmosphere where they are treated as any other person.” “In case the move backfires, people who have applied un- der the category will keep questioning themselves if they did the right thing by applying as a transgender. They might have to keep explaining their gender all the time since India still has a long way to go when it comes to understanding transgenders. People still think that transgenders are only hijras,” she added. Officials at the top Bschools, however, are confident that the third gender will mix well with the other students. Rohit Kapur, former Recreating aura of the bygone era Jaideep Deo Bhanj NEW DELHI: A two-day exhibition, Royal Fables, in its seventh season presented Imperial India in all its splendour re-telling the fabled lifestyle of royalty in India. The heritage show presented the work that is being done by members of erstwhile royal families to keep the traditions and art from the region they belong to alive. The event held at The Mansion, Hyatt Regency showcased art, craft, fashion and cuisine from royal kitchens. It even recreated the magic of Ganga-Jamuna culture, the tehzeeb of India with singer Minu Bakshi reciting verses in Urdu from her book Tishnagi while Yatendra Mishra from Ayodhya recited in Hindi. Anshu Khanna, the founCM YK The two-day exhibition showcased art, craft, fashion as well as cuisine from royal kitchens. It even recreated the magic of Ganga-Jamuna culture der of the platform said Royal Fables was her attempt to preserve and recreate the aura of the bygone, regal era by infusing a contemporary idiom in the art, design, and crafts of these regal patrons to make it meaningful in the modern context. A fashion walk was organised showcasing heritage fashion in which 32 erstwhile prince and princesses walked the ramp. Two leading French design connoisseurs — globally acclaimed chandelier restorer Mathieu Lustrieire and legendary couture em- broidery master Jean Francois-Lesage — showcased a heritage installation titled Vintage Revisited. They presented the connect between the Indian maharajas in the Raj era and France, and showcased how French crystals, embroideries, lace and gossamer chiffons influenced the interiors of many Indian palaces. Arvind Singh Mewar who was the chief guest at the exhibition said “Royal fables, has over a short span of time, demonstrated its creative abilities to capture the essence of India’s past and present through the life, times and collections of former royal families, their extended clans and social networks.” He added that it was a fine example of living heritage bestowing a distinct identity to those who cherish its values and principles and celebrate its authenticity every day. students.” Prof. Tathagata Bandyopadhyay, convenor, CAT 2015, who is also a faculty member at IIM-Ahmedabad, said: “We welcome any student based only on their merit. If there is a deserving candidate, IIMA's doors are open. “The registration of 80 transgender candidates is an encouraging sign because we might have otherwise lost the opportunity to admit a brilliant mind.” CAT coordinator and faculty An official from MDI Gurmember from IIM-Indore, gaon said: “If our institute gets told The Hindu: “After the cat- transgender students, they egory was introduced last will be treated as any other year, we conducted sensitisa- student who joins the instition workshops in our insti- tute. tute. If needed, we will also conThe move came from the duct sessions to sensitise stustudents’ body itself. For ex- dents on this issue.” ample, if a trans student talks Last year, there were no apin a different way, the stu- plications in the third gender dents should not react in a way category. as to offend them. We also have plans of conducting a For feedback, please mail us at separate counselling session [email protected] in case we get any transgender The toll-free helpline number is 1800 3000 7303, where stressed callers can present queries between 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday dents can avail email-based counselling by writing about their problems on [email protected]. The responses shall be delivered within 48 hours. All counselling shall be treated as strictly confidential.” Regular face-to-face counselling, meanwhile, shall continue to be available for girl students at the ‘Mind Body Centre’ through appointments at 27667742 and 27666027. The centre, which was set up last year, also has a Naturopathy and Homoeopathy wing besides the counselling clinic. Those visiting the centre have to pay an annual registration fee of Rs.50, after which they can avail of the services for free. No sand mining during rains, says NGT Akanksha Jain DELHI: The National Green Tribunal has now directed the Union Environment Ministry not to grant environmental clearance for sand mining in the rivers of north India till September 1 each year and during the rainy season. A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar gave the order on a plea by environmental activist Virendra Kumar alleging mining activity was being carried out by private parties during monsoons. The MoEF told before the tribunal that there are restrictions on sand mining during rains. “Counsel for the Ministry submits that the restrictions for carrying on mining activity is during the raining season which is normally mid-May to mid-August. In view of this, there is no reason for us to interfere. Consequently, we dispose of this application. But we make it clear that in future, the Ministry whenever granting environmental clearance in north India shall incorporate the condition that no river mining is carried on till September 1,” the Bench said. NEW Grand Masti may be telecast after cuts, CBFC tells court Mohammed Iqbal NEW DELHI: Hindi movie Grand A fashion walk was organised showcasing heritage fashion in which 32 erstwhile prince and princesses walked the ramp. —PHOTO: BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Masti, allegedly replete with double meaning dialogues and objectionable contents, may be telecast after cuts and re-certification for unrestricted public exhibition, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) told the Delhi High Court on Monday. In an affidavit filed in response to a writ petition seeking stay on telecast of the film, the CBFC said the movie had undergone 218 cuts, which had removed all double meaning, vulgar and obscene visuals and dialogues which were derogatory for women. The High Court had last month stayed the telecast of the movie through interim orders before it was scheduled to be aired on a televi- The cast of the film at a promotional. sion channel. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath reserved its judgment on the public interest litigation after going through the affidavit and hearing the arguments of the govern- —FILE PHOTO ment, CBFC and the petitioner. The CBFC said the film was re-certified as U/A in January this year after it underwent 218 cuts, which reduced the 135-minute-long theatrical version of the film to 98 minutes. ND-ND CITY NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 |3 D E L H I Sep 29, Tue Sep 30, Wed Oct 01, Thu RISE 06 13 SET 18 10 RISE 06 13 SET 18 09 RISE 06 14 SET 18 08 RISE 19 15 SET 07 17 RISE 20 02 SET 08 24 RISE 20 52 SET 09 30 CHILD RESCUED ACCUSED DUO’S INVOLVEMENT IN OTHER CASES BEING ASCERTAINED Couple held for kidnapping A Jatin Anand 28-year-old man and his wife have been arrested by the Crime Branch for their alleged involvement in the abduction of a child, allegedly for trafficking. The victim, a boy aged nearly three years, has been rescued. The accused couple’s involvement in similar cases is in the process of being ascertained, said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav, adding that the accused had been identified as Kamlesh Kumar Gupta. His wife’s name has been withheld. “On September 20, a resident of South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj reported that his son has been missing since morning. The whereabouts of a couple residing on rent nearby too couldn’t be ascertained, leading him to suspect that the couple had kidnapped the boy,” he added. The police suspected the couple was from Bihar and had kidnapped the child after befriending his family. They had been living in the rented accom- THEY CAME IN CONTACT WITH THE FAMILY OF THEIR VICTIM AND BEFRIENDED THEM, WITH THEIR EYES ON THE BOY ALL THE WHILE (From left) The rescued boy with his parents in New Delhi on Monday. The alleged kidnappers seen during a press conference at the police headquarters. — PHOTOS: SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY modation since May. Technical analysis revealed the kidnappers had gone to Chhapra. A team was despatched for Chhapra. However, the couple was later understood to have returned to Delhi, following which the duo was apprehended from Central Park in Connaught Place with a child in their possession. “The child recovered from them was identified as the kidnapped boy from Vasant Kunj. Intensive interrogation revealed that accused woman had left her husband and two children after falling in love with Kamlesh,” said Mr. Yadav. After solemnising their mar- riage at a temple in 2012 and shifting to Gurgaon, the woman, who could not conceive, wanted to adopt a son. Towards the end of the year, the couple abducted a baby boy aged about six to eight months from a park in Gurgaon. However, the child fell ill and died a few months later in Bihar. “After living in Bihar for about a year, they shifted to Delhi. They came in contact with the family of their latest victim and befriended them, with their eyes on the boy all the while. As per their plan, they took the child with them saying they were going for a ride on the metro and would re- turn after two to three hours.” He added that they even left behind all their belongings so that no one suspected their intentions. “They took a bus to New Delhi railway station and then boarded a train to Chhapra. They have been arrested and booked under the appropriate sections of the law. They are being interrogated to probe their involvements in other similar cases,” Mr. Yadav added. For feedback, please mail at [email protected] TERI researcher files fresh ‘Centre examining land use change for depot’ Mohammad Iqbal Green Tribunal had prohibited plea against Pachauri construction in such areas. NEW DELHI: Even as the Delhi Mohammad Iqbal NEW DELHI: A 29-year-old wom- an researcher, who levelled charges of sexual harassment against former Director-General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), R.K. Pachauri, on Monday sought his immediate removal from office on grounds of misconduct under the service rules. The researcher moved a fresh application with this request in a case questioning the way the climate think-tank handled the matter of alleged sexual harassment. She said TERI had not taken any action against Mr. Pachauri even after an internal complaints committee gave its findings on her complaint. In her application filed before a Division Bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath, the woman also sought directions for TERI to not terminate her services during the pendency of the case. She said immediate action should be launched against Mr. Pachauri on charges of misconduct. Claiming that TERI had withheld her salary since May, the researcher sought that she be allowed to be on “leave with full pay” till the pendency of all cases. The Bench, which had last week issued notices to the Union government, TERI and Dr. Pachauri, listed the application for being heard along with the main case on November 16. Development Authority (DDA) is reportedly not in favour of new construction at the millennium bus depot here, the Union government is looking into changing the land use of the depot site to enable the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) to continue using Buses at the millennium bus depot. — FILE PHOTO it for parking buses. In an affidavit submitted to the Delhi High Court, the DTC ing Chief Justice G. Rohini and said on Monday that the Cen- Justice Jayant Nath, before tre, which was examining the which the affidavit on the staissue, had recently sought ad- tus of the bus depot was filed, ditional information on the posted the matter for October subject. Seeking six more 12. months to approach the DDA The DDA had recently infor changing the land use of formed the High Court that it the site, the DTC said the land could not change the land use agency had changed its previ- of the site from zone ‘O’, comous stance on the issue. prising river and water body, to A Division Bench compris- transportation, as the National Besides, the DTC had not obtained a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Urban Development Ministry or Land and Development Office with regard to the site’s ownership, stated the DDA. The DTC claimed that except the NOC, all other clearances required were only in the form of safeguards. The affidavit affirmed that earlier the DDA had not objected to the change in land use of the site, as its Board of Inquiry had recommended that parking of buses be allowed on the soft surface land, subject to obtaining all environmental clearances and NOC. The 50-acre depot was constructed at a cost of Rs.60 crore on the banks of the Yamuna for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Former tenant arrested for Sarai Rohilla triple murder Jatin Anand NEW DELHI: A 25-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly murdering an entire family in Sarai Rohilla to avenge a beating triggered by his refusal to loan some money to one of his victims. Mithlesh Mahto killed his 70-year-old landlord Chandu Lal, his 65-year-old wife Gullu Devi and their 30year-old son Rakesh last Friday, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Madhur Verma. “During interrogation, he revealed that he was tenant at his victims’ residence in Sarai Rohilla for two to three months. Recently, Rakesh demanded some money from him. Mithlesh was beaten mercilessly whne he refused. It was his decision to avenge this beating that drove him to murder the family,” Mr. Verma added. According to the police, a team rushed to the family’s residence in the Sarai Basti, after the neighbours complained of a foul smell and not having seen anyone emerge from inside for three days. The police broke down the door only to find one family member after another, with their limbs bound and their throats slit. A case was registered, following which the neighbours were questioned. Mithlesh Mahto allegedly murdered the elderly couple and their son in order to avenge a beating triggered by his refusal to loan some money to the son. — PHOTO: PTI “During investigation, it emerged that one Mithlesh Mahto, who was a tenant in the same building, had visited the premises on September 23 despite having vacated the room he had rented around three weeks ago. He was spotted by two witnesses and intelligence inputs revealed that he had left Delhi for his native place in Khagaria in Bihar,” said Mr. Verma, adding that a team was despatched to track and detain him. On the intervening night of September 26 and September 27, Mr. Verma said, Mithlesh was traced and apprehended from the residence of his inlaws. He was then brought to Delhi, where he was put through sustained interrogation. “He broke down during subsequent questioning and admitted that he was behind the murders. Having pledged to take revenge from Rakesh for the beating, he had gone back home only to return on September 23 armed with a knife to execute the plot,” Mr. Verma said. Mithlesh, the police claimed, spent the night at a slum before walking over Sarai Basti, where he met Rakesh. He offered Rakesh a cold drink in which he had dissolved some medicine. When Rakesh lost consciousness, Mithlesh tied his hands with a nylon rope and slit his throat. He then went on to attack the elderly couple, who were asleep at that time. “Mithlesh first slit Chandu Lal’s throat before targeting his wife. He said he attacked them because they had spotted him with their son and were bound to raise a finger at him after finding Rakesh’s body. Thereafter, he robbed his victims’ jewellery, mobile phones and documents, including passbooks, in addition to ransacking the house before fleeing,” Mr. Verma added. DELHI TODAY Exhibition: “Maati Ki Khushbu” - an exhibition of paintings, sculptures & installations by Natasha Chadha Bhambri (Nishu) at Gallery No. 3, Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhavan, Copernicus Marg, Mandi House, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Exhibition: Inaugural exhibition of 19th Century Oleographs from the Raja Ravi Varma Press at Crayon Art Gallery, 560, 1st Floor, Lado Sarai, MG Road, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Art: A group art exhibition by the students of Dr. Sangeeta Fine Art Academy, Ludhiana at All India Fine Arts & Craft Society (AIFACS), 1 Rafi Marg, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Discussion: The National Sum- mit & Exhibition on Water, Waste Water Treatment (Municipal and Industrial), Solid Waste Management & Pollution Control, September 29-30 at Hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Discussion: “Bone Related Problems of Old Age”, a panel discussion exploring Allopathic, Ayurvedic, Homeopathic, Yogic and Naturopathic Perspectives at Conference Room I, Main Building, India International Centre (IIC), 6:30 p.m. Recital: “Raag Ras” Hindustani vocal recital by Suresh Gandharv at C.D. Deshmukh Auditorium, Main Building, IIC, 6:30 p.m. Recital: Sarod recital by Shib Das Chakraborty at Habitat World, India International Centre (IIC), 7 p.m. Theatre: The India Harmony Foundation presents “Eight Kings” a historical drama at Multipurpose Hall, Kamaladevi Complex, Main Building, India International Centre (IIC), 6:30 p.m. Screening: Habitat Film Club presents Prosenjit Chatterjee Retrospective “Moner Manush (The Quest)” Bengali film screening at Habitat World, India Habitat Centre (IHC), 7 p.m. (Mail your listings for this column at [email protected]) Published by N. Ram at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Malini Parthasarathy (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act). CM YK ND-ND 4| CITY NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 NOOSE TIGHTENS SC BENCH ASKS FORMER LAW MINISTER TO BEHAVE LIKE A RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN; TO HEAR BAIL APPEAL ON OCTOBER 1 Apex court questions Bharti's conduct Krishnadas Rajagopal R efusing to accept former Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti’s defence that his case was a botched-up family dispute blown out of proportion, the Supreme Court on Monday asked him to behave like a responsible citizen and first surrender. Mr. Bharti surrendered at a police station in Delhi at night. On the run for the past several days, Mr. Bharti was left with no option but to give the apex court his word through his counsel and senior advocate Gopal Subramanium that he would surrender before 6.30 p.m. on Monday. Earlier, a Bench of Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu and Amitava Roy offered Mr. Bharti, AAP MLA, a choice of surrendering on Monday, in which case the court would hear him on the merits of the allegations against him on October 1. “Don’t run away like this ... First surrender and then we will take up your matter on Thursday [October 1],” the Chief Justice told Mr. Subramanium. The Chief Justice asked whether Mr. Bharti’s past conduct had been that of a “responsible citizen” who had been denied antici- SINCE YOU DID NOT GET ANY ANTICIPATORY BAIL, WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOUR CONDUCT? ... AS WE SAID, FIRST SURRENDER. WE HAVE THE BEST MEDIATION CENTRE HERE IN THE SUPREME COURT Lawyer slams Kejriwal for not supporting his ‘loyalists’ Maria Akram NEW DELHI: After the Supreme Court rejected Aam Aadmi Party leader Somnath Bharti’s bail plea, his lawyer Deepak Khosla criticised Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for not supporting his “loyalists”. In his letter to the Chief Minister, Mr. Khosla compared Mr. Kejriwal with Prime Minister Narednra Modi: “If there is one big distinction between Mr. Modi’s style of functioning and yours — whether good or bad — is that he stands by his loyalists through thick and thin. Cases in point are Sushma Swaraj, Smriti Irani…..you [prematurely] shed your support for Mr. Bharti like a hot potato merely because the High Court rejected his bail.” However, Mr. Khosla was quick to clarify that he still supports the Aam Aadmi Party. Requesting a meeting with Mr. Kejriwal, the lawyer has urged the case be taken from Delhi Police and handed over to other agency for “fair investigation“ as it has been “blown out of proportion”. AAP leader Somnath Bharti seen during his surrender at Dwarka (North) police station late on Monday night. He also requested Mr. Kejriwal to issue directions to Delhi Police to refrain from using terms like “absconder” or “professional criminal” with reference to Mr. Bharti. “Pursuit of all legal remedies is only the act of a rational man who, when faced with such circumstances, would prefer to avoid the Police while exhausting his legal remedies... which sane person deliberately puts his head in the mouth of a hungry lion? Avoiding arrest was his [Mr. Bharti’s] right and all the more so when he finds that he is being hounded by a distinctly partisan and biased investigating agency.” Mr. Khosla has also written to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi. He has asked Mr. Singh to transfer the investigation to the police force of any non-BJP ruled State. “You are requested to kindly direct the police to re-assign the investigation for these 72 hours to an officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police, so that no abuse of power takes place by the lower echelons of Delhi Police.” — PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA patory bail by both the trial court and the High Court concerned. The hearing started with Mr. Subramanium submitting that this was quintessentially a case of marital discord which spiralled out of control due to over-exposure. Efforts should be made now to refer the case for mediation for the sake of the couple’s minor children. “Both parties have to come together and do what is best for their children. This is a case arising out of matrimonial relationship. There should be some amount of respect and privacy given to this case,” Mr. Subramanium argued. But the court did not flinch, with the Chief Justice asking “since you did not get any anticipatory bail, what should have been your conduct? ... As we said, first surrender. We have the best mediation centre here in the Supreme Court. If parties are willing to settle their family troubles, we will be the first people to refer the case for mediation. We will see what is to be done.” On Thursday last, senior advocate Pramod Swaroop had made an urgent mention for a hearing on September 28. Mr. Bharti, an AAP MLA, had approached the apex court on September 23 evening – the same day had seen Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeting why Mr. Bharti was not surrendering to the police. For feedback, please mail at [email protected] Symbolic visarjan for idols made of non-biodegradable materials BJP demands removal of two other AAP MLAs Sweta Goswami NEW DELHI: Bolstered by the Supreme Court’s rejection of AAP MLA Somnath Bharti’s bail plea, a confident BJP on Monday demanded the expulsion of not just Mr Bharti but also of MLAs Jitender Sigh Tomar and Manoj Kumar. The BJP sought Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to convene a special session of the Delhi Assembly for the removal of the three legislators. Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay said that after rejection of the bail plea of the Malviya Nagar MLA at all levels of judiciary, it is prima facie clear that he indeed mistreated his wife. “The statements of Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Bharti against each other are just public facades. Neither of the two have any respect for women or moral values. Mr Kejriwal should immediately call a special session of Delhi Assembly to expel Mr. Bharti, Mr. Tomar and Mr. Kumar, all of who stand accused in criminal conspiracies,” he said. The party recalled that Mr Kejriwal had actually threatened to obstruct the 2014 Republic Day function fighting for Mr. Bharti, then accused of outraging the modesty of African women residing in his constituency. “Even in the present case of attempt to murder his wife against Mr Bharti, the CM initially supported him to the hilt. At that time he had even openly challenged the then Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Barkha Singh’s proceedings by calling them politically motivated.” Drawing a parallel between the low representation of women in the core AAP team, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said: “Mr. Bharti is physical- 2,191 dengue cases reported last week alone CGHS centres open for all Bindu Shajan Perappadan NEW DELHI: The Capital, which Idols kept separately after ‘immersion’ to ensure a pollution-free Ganesh Chaturthi in East Delhi. — PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Akanksha Jain substances were immersed in the river in his jurisdiction. “We implemented the National Green Tribunal orders in full. The results were 100 per cent. Neither idols, nor any puja material harmful for the environment was allowed to be immersed in the Yamuna,” he said. Boatmen and civil defence volunteers were in position to keep a watch on hectic immersion activities at the ghats. The boatmen also ensured that no devotee went beyond a certain distance in the water. Fire and police Department too provided staff. “As a District Magistrate, it is our job to coordinate. We provided the boatmen and is witnessing its worst dengue crisis in six years, recorded 2,191 positive dengue cases last week alone. A total of 5,982 cases and 17 deaths have been reported so far, according to the official data released by the health authorities here on Monday. The last surge in 2010 saw 6,259 cases and eight deaths due to dengue till the end of the year. September has registered 5,151 cases so far. The city had reported three dengue cases in April 4, in May 6, in June; 36 in July and 778 in August. So far, North Delhi Municipal Corporation has reported 1,734 cases, South 1,633, East 754 and the New Delhi Municipal Council 136. Dengue is an infection caused by the mosquito, Aedes aegypti which is the primary epidemic vector. Dengue infection may occur in the form of classical dengue fever or dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) with bleeding manifestations or with or without shock (decreased blood pressure). Doctors warn that actual numbers of dengue could be much higher than what is being officially stated. “We know that unofficially the death due to dengue is over 30. Hospitals (both gov- the civil defence volunteers. The Fire Department and the police also deployed staff. NEW DELHI: This Ganesh ChaOnce the idols are collected turthi, authorities made it at a designated place, it is the sure that no idol made of job of the municipality to colPlaster of Paris or other nonlect and take them for disbiodegradable substance posal,” said Mr Kunal. were immersed in the He added that this was a Yamuna. standard procedure during On the Yamuna ghat in each immersion. East Delhi, devotees with It is to be noted that earlier idols not meeting environthis month, the NGT had diment-friendly standards rected all agencies concerned were allowed to do a symbolic to ensure no bio-degradable immersion and then asked to idol or puja materials are imdeposit the idols at a desigmersed in the Yamuna. nated place on the banks. The On Monday, a large posse same was the case at Yamuna of police force could be seen ghats in Central, North-East outside Faridkot House and South-East Delhi. housing NGT, apprehending District Magistrate (East protests by a group dis- Kritika Sharma Sebastian Delhi) Kunal said no idols pleased with the strict check NEW DELHI: With the Capital made of non-biodegradable on idol immersion. in the grip of dengue these days, women and children living in the slums of Delhi have taken it upon themselves to educate their fellow residents about the disease and how they can prevent it. One such awareness campaign was facilitated by Asha Community and Health Development Society, which has been working for the welfare of children and women in various slums across Delhi. Their cleanliness and dengue awareness drives have been carried out in areas including Seelampur, Trilokpuri, Mayapuri and Anna Nagar. An awareness campaign was organised in Seelampur on Monday, which saw participation of nearly 100 women and children. The participants cleaned the streets while spreading the Tibetan exiles protest outside the United Nations office in New message of cleanliness Delhi on Monday. — PHOTO: PTI among other residents. Seeking intervention CM YK ly cruel and abusive towards women, while Mr. Kejriwal does not allow any woman to exercise her authority in his party. This fact is evident by the fact that all women who were his initial public life colleagues have denounced any kind of association with him.” The BJP further went on to cite how a fortnight ago Mr. Kejriwal had supported Mr. Bharti by tweeting “I Am Proud of Somnath Bharti.” “The CM kept silent on repeated pleas to mediate and to help Mr. Bharti’s wife Lipika. It was only after the rejection of his bail plea by the High Court that Mr. Kejriwal condemned Somnath Bharti as a damage control exercise fearing rebuke by women right activists. Till today, Mr Kejriwal and Mr Bharti are close pals. Both have no respect for women,” added the Delhi BJP chief. Bindu Shajan Perappadan People sleep under mosquito nets on a pavement near Pragati Maidan. — PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA ernment and private) have witnessed a sharp rise in the number of cases seeking treatment for dengue or coming in with symptoms of dengue,’’ said a resident doctor at Safdarjung Hospital. He added that the out patient departments and fever wards were packed to capacity. “On an average, we are getting 400 plus patients,” said doctors at Lok Nayak Hospital adding that 90 per cent of cases of fever coming now are turning out to be positive for dengue. Hospitals including Lal Bahadur Shastri, Guru Teg Bahardur hospitals, etc, have also reported a rush of people with dengue symptoms. Senior health officials in the Delhi Government noted that with the drop in temperature they are hoping that the situation will improve. “As of now, hospitals are packed and we are getting a lot of cases. We have put in place all measures to ensure that quality treatment is given to all,” he said. Earlier, the city had reported 1,919 new cases marking a rise of over 102 per cent compared to late August and early September. The corporation officials had noted that they had intensified fogging across Delhi as fresh showers have stoked fears of dengue cases flaring up. The Union Health Ministry has issued an advisory to Delhi government to “intensify” measures to check the breeding of mosquitoes. NEW DELHI: Doctors at various Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) Wellness Centres in Delhi and NCR shall provide consultation services and primary out-patient medical care to citizens. “This will be irrespective of the fact whether they are CGHS beneficiaries or not. Doctors have been asked to ensure that diagnosis and treatment is made available to whoever may visit the Wellness Centres with symptoms of dengue, primarily high fever,” said a senior Union Health Official. This latest announcement is part of the several initiatives taken by the Central Government to deal with the situation arising out of the spread of dengue. CGHS Wellness Centres function from 7.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on all working days. The locations of these centres is available on its website. Delhi had earlier been directed to use the mobile clinics, wherever available, and to put to use spare ambulances as mobile clinics to reach out to a larger section of affected people. Meanwhile, Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda had instructed all hospitals under the Centre that no patient suffering from fever or suspected dengue be denied treatment and the bed strength, if needed, be increased to accommodate all patients seeking treatment. Mr. Nadda stated this in the high-level meeting chaired by him with Medical Superintendent of R.M.L., Safdarjung and Lady Hardinge Hospitals. A health official said: “At Safdarjung Hospital, 260 beds are designated for dengue patients, while 110 beds are earmarked in Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital which comprises 70 beds for adults and 40 for paediatrics. In addition, 93 beds in Sucheta Kriplani hospital and 70 beds Kalawati Saran hospital have been reserved for these patients.” Both the Central and Delhi government hospitals have been asked to review the status of adequacy of diagnostic test kits and other facilities in these hospitals. “The Health Minister has been constantly and closely reviewing and monitoring the dengue situation in Delhi and other States on daily basis. Also, the Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha had reviewed various preventive and clinical management measures to deal with the situation of dengue in the States and the Capital Region of Delhi,” noted a senior health official. Dengue awareness, cleanliness drive held in Seelampur slum According to the surveys conducted by Asha, around 89 per cent of slum residents in Delhi do not have access to any government healthcare centre within slum area Holding placards reading “Awareness is the best precaution for dengue” and “Cleanliness is the only solution for healthy life”, the women and children went around the lanes of Seelampur. Parveen, one of participants, said: “We discuss diseases and various other things at the Asha Centre and then pass on the information to other residents of our lane. We thought that it was very important to educate people about dengue because a large number of people are falling prey to the disease.” “We suggested some preventive measures for dengue like keeping water-filled containers covered properly and changing water at least once a week to check mosquito breeding. People urged people to use mosquito nets and repellents even during daytime,” said 13-year-old Khushnuma. Faizan, a college student, said: “I have been taught about the disease in college and at the Asha Centre. So I thought it was my duty to educate others too. I am sure our effort is going to help people and they will keep their surroundings clean.” According to the surveys conducted by Asha, around 89 per cent of slum residents in Delhi do not have access to any government healthcare centre within slum area. Adding to this, fear, ignorance and lack of financial means further prevent them from seeking even basic healthcare or practicing pre- A dengue awareness and cleanliness drive in ventive measures to improve progress at Seelampur in New Delhi on Monday. — PHOTO: CHERYL MUKHERJI their health standards. ND-ND THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 GREEN CONCERNS PLEA BEFORE NGT TO DECLARE CIGARETTE BUTTS ‘TOXIC WASTE’ Discarded hazard Akanksha Jain A n unmindfully discarded cigarette butt or filter may not grab attention as a potential threat to environment, but what is not common knowledge is that the littered “nothings” on the streets keep releasing over time nearly all the 4,000 toxins present in cigarette smoke. On Monday, Doctors for You, a charitable organisation working towards cancer care, moved the National Green Tribunal through advocate Aishwarya Bhati praying that the Centre be directed to declare cigarette and bidi butts “toxic wastes”. Not just the cigarette butts, which are the most littered item globally, the organisation also sought prohibition on consumption of tobacco in any form in all public places as it spoils the aesthetics and spreads communicable diseases. A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar has issued notices to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and also to the Central Pollution Control Board seeking their response. Ms. Bhati told the Tribunal that “smoking and chewing tobacco should be allowed only in designated places where norms for disposal of cigarette/bidi butts and toxic saliva are in place. Such designated areas should be licensed and monitored jointly by the environment and health ministry”. smoked filters exhibit a small level of toxicThe petitioner said a cigarette butt takes ity and there is no process of segregation of almost 1.5 year to degrade and even un- cigarette butts from waste. It brought forth the findings of Kerala State Forest Department which revealed that around 60 hectares of forest was lost between February 2009 and March 2010 due to fire started by carelessly thrown cigarette butts. Regarding tobacco spits, the petitioner said they not only ruin aesthetics leading to SMOKING AND CHEWING TOBACCO SHOULD BE ALLOWED ONLY IN DESIGNATED PLACES WHERE NORMS FOR DISPOSAL OF CIGARETTE/BIDI BUTTS AND TOXIC SALIVA ARE IN PLACE DJB plea against fine rejected Akanksha Jain NEW DELHI: While the govern- ment is the biggest litigant, its agencies are also parties to many court cases. At times, the civic bodies go overboard in appealing against fines imposed on them by a court and end up spending more than the amount of fine itself. The Delhi State Commission, in a particular case, remarked how the Delhi Jal Board had appealed nearly one year later against an order of compensation of Rs.12,000. “...It gives pain to note that appellant [DJB] choose to file appeal against the award of meagre amount of Rs.12,000 and must have spent more in filing the appeal,” said the State Commission Bench, headed by Justice Veena Birbal. In this case, the DJB was directed by a consumer forum to pay Rs.12,000 as compensation to a Ranjeet Nagar resident who was humiliated during the weddings of his children 2009 due to delayed supply of water tankers by the civic body. |5 CITY/STATE NOIDA/DELHI Jan Lokayukta Bill to be tabled in next Assembly session: AAP govt Maria Akram The draft of the bill, which was among the AAP govt’s poll promises, is based largely on the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party government has almost completed drafting the Jan Lokayukta Bill and will table it in the next Assembly session. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced that his government will soon fulfil one of biggest promises made by the Aam Aadmi Party before the Delhi Assembly elections. “Jan Lokayukta Bill almost ready. We shud be able to present it in next session of assembly [sic],” Mr Kejriwal tweeted. The government was planning to table the Bill in the Budget Session earlier this year, but the work on it was not completed then. Mr. Kejriwal had quit during his first term as Delhi Chief Minister in February 2014 after his push for the anti-corruption Jan Lokpal Bill was blocked in the Assembly. The party had in its manifesto promised to pass a ‘Jan Lokpal Bill’, but now it has been changed to ‘Jan Lokay- ukta Bill’ as Delhi already has Lokayukta and Uplokayukta Act. A party member said that Lokpal is for the Centre and Lokayukta is for the States. All public officials, including the Chief Minister other Ministers and MLAs, would fall within its purview. The draft is largely based on the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill. “It differs in some regards. The inclusion of the Chief Minister’s office in the purview of the proposed law is one major difference and also the quantum of punishment,” the official added. Though Delhi has the provision for a Lokayukta, the AAP government said it does not have enough powers to prosecute anyone. Interest- ingly, even that post is lying vacant for almost two years now. The AAP government had sent a list of five former judges to the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court for the post of Lokayukta. The government had told the High Court in July that it has initiated the process to appoint Lokayukta, a post which has remained vacant since November 2013 after a BJP leader, Sat Prakash Rana, filed a petition for the appointment of Lokayukta. As per the provision of the existing Delhi Lokayukta and Uplokayukta Act, only a Chief Justice or a High Court judge having seven years of experience are eligible for the Lokayukta post. wastage of public money on upkeep and maintenance, but also spread diseases. It cited the example of Howrah Bridge whose pillars are reportedly corroding due to acids in tobacco spits. For feedback, please mail us at [email protected] Northern Railway starts special inspection Sidhartha Roy NEW DELHI: As part of a special drive, top officials of the Delhi Division of Railways carried out an inspection of the DelhiRewari section on Monday. This was the first inspection of a section of the drive, under which all sections of the divisions will be inspected over the next one month. The inspection focussed on passenger amenities and renovation work at major stations Safety measures being inspected near the Gurgaon along the section such as Delhi railway station on Monday. PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR Cantonment, Sarai Rohilla, Gurgaon, Garhi Harsaru, Patli, inspections, is almost as big as inspection of different secetc., and safety inspection of some new Zonal Railways. tions of the division. The inspection team, indifferent points, bridges, As the number of points to curves and level crossings cluding senior officials of the be checked for safety is huge in division, was headed by Mr. volume, Mr. Arora oversaw the along the route. More sections will witness Arora, who set the tone for the inspection of a critical point similar stringent inspections day by ticking off responsible near the Gurgaon station and in the next one month, Arun officials for the dirty facade of then cross verified the findings Arora, Divisional Railway the Delhi cantonment railway with that in the joint inspecManager, Delhi Division, station and also asked them to tion register where such reNorthern Railway said. The al- maintain the VIP lounge of the cords are supposed to be most seven-hour long inspec- station. He also enquired if the regularly maintained. tion began from the New Delhi mineral water sold to passenApart from the safety inrailway station in a special in- gers at the station was ap- spection, Mr. Arora also inspection ‘rail car’, named Pa- proved by authorities. spected work of revamping rakh. The Delhi Division, with Incidentally, the Chairman passenger amenities at the staan employee-strength of al- of the Railway Board had re- tions and reprimanded some most 40,000 and thousands of cently directed the officials of officials for lack of cleanliness points requiring regular safety the division to conduct a safety at some sections and poor toi- let facilities at the railway booking counter of the Gurgaon station. On the route between Gurgaon and Garhi Harsaru, Bridge No.61 and Curve No.24 were inspected and various safety parameters were checked. Mr. Arora also inspected the Private Freight Terminal of Gateway Rail Freight Limited near Garhi Harsaru station and took a stock of loading and unloading facilities at the terminal. Next on the route was Patli, a small station on the section and met a team of ‘Gangmen’, the doughty heroes of railways who regularly check railway tracks, down to every nut and bolt, so that there are no chances of accidents. Mr. Arora, however, noticed that some of the gangmen were not wearing proper shoes and some didn’t have photo ID cards. The issues were raised with the management. Between Patli and Pataudi Road, the team inspected a level crossing that sees heavy vehicular traffic each day and where the construction of a road over bridge is already sanctioned. NGT: Won’t decommission Uttarakhand hydro project Akanksha Jain NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has refused to decommission the 400megawatt Vishnu Prayag Hydro Electric Project, which is the world’s largest hydropower project in the private sector, located on the upper reaches of Alakananda river in Uttarakhand. An NGT Bench headed by chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar declined the plea by Bharat Jhunjhunwala, a professor residing in Uttarakhand. The tribunal, however, formed a committee to suggest further mitigative and regulatory steps to be taken by Jaiprakash Power Ventures, the project proponent. “…while we find no merit in this application of the applicant to grant the prayed relief of decommissioning of the dam, however, we constitute the following committee to suggest if any further mitigative and regulatory steps are required to be taken by the Project Proponent in the interest of environment, ecology and aquatic biodiversity,” the NGT said. Among the members on the committee are Chief Wildlife Warden (Uttarakhand), Principal Scientist (WII, Dehradun), Director, MoEF CM YK Tribunal forms a panel to suggest mitigative steps that need to be taken (Involved in Hydro-Power Projects) and Principal Scientist (Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology). The committee will spell out precautionary and mitigative measures, if any, required to be taken by the project proponent keeping in view the fact that the barrage is close to the boundary of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. The professor, in his petition, had claimed that though the project was granted environmental clearance in November 1995, the Uttar Pradesh government had declared it as a ‘No Development Zone’ on August 23, 1995. Further, the project was damaged in the floods of June 2013. However, the dam was restored and began generating electricity again in April 2014. According to the applicant, the only way of restitution of the environment was to remove the project and restore the environment and ecology of the area with further directions to pay compensation. ND-ND 6| STATE NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 Himachal CM seeks FIR’s copy Nirnimesh Kumar The CBI had lodged an FIR against Virbhadra Singh for amassing disproportionate assets worth over Rs. 6 crore NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Monday sought a reply from the Central Bureau of Investigation on a plea by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh seeking a copy of the FIR in a disproportionate assets case against him and his wife. Mr. Singh’s counsel submitted before Additional Sessions Judge S.C. Rajan that his client required a copy of the FIR. Mr. Rajan directed the probe agency to respond to the plea by September 30, the next date of hearing. “The CBI is directed to file its reply to an application moved by Virbhadra Singh seeking a copy of the FIR. The Investigating Officer is also directed to be present on the next date of hearing on Sep- tember 30,’’ the Judge said. Meanwhile, the court allowed Mr. Singh’s counsel to inspect the judicial file of the case. The CBI had raided Mr. Sigh’s Shimla residence on Saturday morning after he and his family members left for his daughter’s marriage. In all, the agency conducted searches at 13 places in Delhi, Shimla and Solan in Himachal Pradesh. The CBI had on September 23 lodged an FIR against Mr. Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, and his associates Anand and Chunni Lal Chauhan for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets worth over Rs. 6 crore. The case is the outcome of a preliminary enquiry instituted in June into the allegations that while serving as Minister of Steel during 2009-2012, he allegedly amassed unaccounted assets worth Rs. 6.03 crore in his name and that of his family members. CAR FREE TUESDAYS CYCLE RALLY HELD IN GURGAON, PEOPLE URGED TO USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT Easing the rush Ashok Kumar O ne day before another Car Free Day here, the Gurgaon Police, corporate executives and public representatives took out a cycle rally in Udyog Vihar Phase-IV. The rally on Monday was organised to increase awareness about the initiative and ask more citizens to decongest roads by turning to non-motorised and public transport. To further the cause, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Bharti Arora, Deputy Mayor Paraminder Kataria, councillor Mahesh Dayma cycled over 15 kms in Udyog Vihar starting from Maharana Pratap Chowk around 9 a.m. They were accompanied by corporate executives, Embarq India team and Road Safety Officers. The cycle rally made its way to several offices including that of Nagarro, Snapdeal and Authbridge. Sarika Panda Bhatt, Manager (Cities and Transport) with Embarq India, said that seven more corporates had pledged support to the initiative. Among these are Authbridge, Submit Technologies, Snapdeal, Concentrix and WE SHOULD USE THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO MAKE THIS MOVEMENT A SUCCESS Evalueserve. Apart from this, schools such as The Shri Ram School, Scottish High International School, Ryan International School, K.R. Mangalam World School and Lotus Valley have also come out in support of the initiative. “World Car Free Day was one symbolic gesture, but to do it every week shows the commitment involved in promoting sustainable transport in Gurgaon and making it a liveable city,” said Ms. Bhatt. Gurgaon Police Commissioner Navdeep Virk has also announced a “selfie contest” to be held on Tuesdays. “I believe that we should use the power of social media to make this movement a success. It is one of the best ways to involve people. The Gurgaon Police has now announced a Car Free selfie contest,” said Mr. Virk. As part of the contest, any one can click #CarFreeSelfie between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on a Car Free Tuesday and upload it on the Facebook page — https:// www.facebook.com/carfreegurgaon — or share it on the Gurgaon Police’s Twitter handle @GurgaonPolice1. Contestants can post more than one selfie with the last entry to be put up by 12 midnight every Tuesday. Three best selfies will be rewarded Rs.5,000, Rs.3,000 and Rs.2,000 each week by the Gurgaon Police. Entries will be judged on the basis of “the smartest selfie that best portrays the car free idea in Gurgaon”. The contest is also open to all government and police personnel who enable, enforce or promote the concept. The Commissioner of Police (Gurgaon) will personally call up the winners on Wednesdays and congratulate them. Photographs of the winners will be published on the Gurgaon Police’s website and Twitter handle every week. For feedback, please mail us at [email protected] AAI plans to recruit 400 air traffic controllers soon Samvedna Sidhartha Roy NEW DELHI: Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, the busiest in the country, will soon get respite from the perennial shortage of air traffic controllers. In one of its major hiring drives in a long time, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to recruit more than 400 air traffic control officers (ATCOs), who are expected to be deployed at airports around the country in the next six months. Sources in the AAI said a large number of ATCOs from the new lot will be deployed at the Delhi and Mumbai airports. On an average, the Delhi On an average, the Delhi airport handles 1,000 flights a day airport handles 1,000 flights a day, which includes both scheduled flights and general aviation that includes chartered flights and helicopters. However, the number of ATCOs handling this traffic is around 350, who work in shifts. The problem is particularly acute during peak morning and evening hours due to bunching of flights. With the number of flights increasing each day, the present manpower will fall short. The AAI is the only organization in India that recruits, trains and employs ATCOs, who are trained at its Civil Aviation Training College in Allahabad. “We expect the new ATCOs will be deployed at different airports across the country in the next six months,” said a senior AAI official who did not wish to be named. “We face a shortage of at least 1,000 ATCOs in the country and while recruitment is an ongoing process, we have been unable to fill the gap,” he said. Though AAI plans to deploy the recruits soon, it will take them some time to be able to handle flights independently. “The training at our institute is basic. The new recruits are first given station level training, after which they have to appear for a written examination and a viva,” said a senior ATCO on condition of anonymity. “It takes new recruits at least a year to be able to handle flights on their own. Till then, they are given supporting jobs,” he said. “The number of flights is going up and with the winter schedule, more will be added. New airlines have started operating,” he said. “These factors, apart from air traffic modernisation, means that we need trained manpower immediately,” he added. Yatra on October 2 Sweta Goswami NEW DELHI: This Gandhi Jayan- ti, Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav and other prominent personalities will lead a “Samvedna Yatra” through drought-affected areas in seven States in the country. Leaders expected to participate include former West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi and social activist Harsh Mander. The two-week long yatra, which will begin from north Karnataka, will make its way through Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. Leaders of the Swaraj Abhiyan said, “The march seeks to understand the alternative models of dealing with drought. We are staring at a national disaster that is not yet acknowledged by the government, nor adequately recognised by the media.” Disclaimer: Readers are requested to verify & make appropriate enquiries to satisfy themselves about the veracity of an advertisement before responding to any published in this newspaper. Kasturi & Sons Limited, the Publisher & Owner of this newspaper, does not vouch for the authenticity of any advertisement or advertiser or for any of the advertiser’s products and/or services. In no event can the Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Director/s, Employees of this newspaper/company be held responsible/liable in any manner whatsoever for any claims and/or damages for advertisements in this newspaper. CM YK ND-ND NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 SC dismisses M.P. govt. plea against oustees Legal Correspondent NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed an application by the Madhya Pradesh government and the Narmada Valley Development Authority for a modification of its judgments of 2000 and 2005 upholding land rights for adult sons of the Sardar Sarovar Project-affected farmers. The apex court’s Social Justice Bench led by Justice Madan B. Lokur said the State’s application suffered from gross delay, after having been filed several years after the Supreme Court gave its verdict on the issue. Arguing for the Narmada Bachao Andolan, advocate Sanjay Parikh submitted that as per the Narmada Tribunal Award and the Supreme Court verdicts, all adult sons were indisputably entitled to five acres of cultivable and irrigable land, and any discrimination would lead to the violation of the constitutional rights of the oustees. The Bench dismissed the State’s application. WEATHER WATCH (City-wise reading yesterday) For metros highlighted, readings show max temperature Hyderabad | 32.8° C Chennai | 34.5° C Image & Data: India Meteorological Department Forecast for Tuesday: Heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur at isolated places over Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Heavy rainfall would occur at isolated places over interior Tamilnadu and Kerala 33.5 34.3 37.4 29.4 29.7 35.3 34.9 32.8 34.5 33.0 31.5 22.3 32.0 34.0 23.7 23.5 23.9 21.1 19.7 22.8 25.6 21.2 27.3 21.5 18.9 16.0 26.0 21.5 Max Min Hubballi Hyderabad Imphal Jaipur Kohima Kolkata Kochi Kozhikode Kurnool Lucknow Madurai Mangaluru Mumbai Mysuru NEW DELHI: The Shiromani Akali Dal-led Punjab government, which is an ally of the National Democratic Alliance, has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to compensate the families of all the people killed in terrorism-related incidents, reported in the State from 1982 onwards. The State also wants that the outstanding amount running into crores of rupees, which it has to pay to the Centre on account of deployment of paramilitary forces from 1992 onwards, be also waived. 33.0 32.8 30.0 37.6 25.2 33.9 31.8 34.7 34.0 36.1 34.8 32.8 32.9 30.8 22.0 21.3 19.0 22.4 15.0 25.8 24.0 24.6 24.2 23.3 22.5 24.0 23.2 20.3 ticipated in various operations against State police forces as well as those killed in the subsequent riots. Punjab goes to the elections in 2017 and rehabilitation and compensation to those affected by Sikh militancy is a major poll issue. The Punjab government recently cleared a proposal to enhance the monthly maintenance grant of “Operation Blue Star-affected soldiers” and also the allowance for their widows and dependents. Last month, during a review before the Prime Minister’s Office, the Punjab government made a demand to implement the Central Scheme for Assistance to victims of Terrorist and Communal Violence, a MHA-run scheme, for all those killed from August 1, 1982, onwards. The scheme, launched by the UPA government, came into existence in 2008 and Punjab wants it imple- mented with retrospective effect. After it came to power, the NDA government in October last enhanced the civilian victims of communal, terrorist or Naxal violence from Rs. 3 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh. “Till now, the Punjab government has not given us a list indicating the number of people who they want to be compensated. The issue is still being deliberated upon as it has huge financial implications,” said a senior Home Ministry official. Punjab is yet to pay for the deployment of paramilitary forces, who were posted in the State from 1992-2013 and MHA officials said the outstanding amount ran into crores of rupees. “The State wants the outstanding amount waived. The final decision has not been taken yet. The security forces were deployed since 1992 on the request of the State government to restore normalcy,” said the official. Militant hideout busted Mumbai | 32.9° C Agartala Ahmedabad Allahabad Aizawl Bengaluru Bhopal Bhubaneswar Chandigarh Chennai Coimbatore Dehradun Gangtok Goa Guwahati Vijaita Singh As many as 33,000 people were killed in the State between 1980 and 90 when the pro-Khalistan movement was at its peak. Sources in the MHA said the demand is not only for the kin of those killed in the insurgency-related incidents but also for who par- Kolkata | 33.9° C Max Min for victims of insurgency An emotive issue Delhi | 34.3° C Bengaluru | 29.7° C |7 NORTHERN REGION Punjab seeks compensation Rs. 600-crore aid for pest-hit cotton growers, says Badal Max Min New Delhi Patna Port Blair Pune Puducherry Raipur Ranchi Shillong Shimla Srinagar Vijayawada Visakhapatnam Thiruvananthapuram Tiruchi 34.3 35.5 32.0 32.9 33.1 33.2 31.2 22.8 22.5 22.6 34.3 32.0 32.2 34.1 23.8 23.7 24.6 18.9 25.2 24.3 20.4 14.4 12.3 9.4 22.9 25.7 25.0 22.2 DEATH JAMMU: Security forces on Monday busted a militant hideout in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir and claimed to have recovered a large cache of arms and ammunitions including two AK—rifles, hand grenades and seven Under Barrel Launcher grenades. “The hideout is believed to be of an alleged Hizb militant Mushtaq Butt alias Mussa who used to operate in this region out of such hideouts before being killed by security forces in 2011,” a defence spokesman said. - PTI CHAPAR (LUDHIANA): After facing criticism for paying meagre compensation to cotton growers, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Monday announced to disburse Rs 600 croCe of compensation to farmers whose crop were damaged by Whitefly attack in the state. Mr Badal said that he was well aware about the agony faced by the farming community due to loss suffered by them on account of pest attack for which he had asked the officers to disburse Rs 600 crore so that farmers could be bailed out during this hour of crisis. A gigantic operation would be launched by the state government to distribute this relief amongst affected farmers, Mr Badal said during a political conference at Chapar Mela in Ludhiana on Monday. “We are firmly behind the hard working and resilient farmers of the state to help them in this hour of crisis” added Mr Badal. The Chief Minister said that it was on record that whenever EDUCATIONAL “We are firmly behind the farmers of the state,” says the Chief Minister farmers had faced any problem the SAD-BJP alliance government has came to their rescue. Citing examples, he said that during the last eight years, the state government has provided free power to farmers worth Rs 28,000 crore otherwise their problems would have accentuated manifold on account of tube well bills. Likewise, Mr Badal said when wheat crop was damaged due to untimely rains in April 2015, the state government ensured that every grain was lift- EDUCATIONAL ed. He said that the state government took every step to resolve the impending sugarcane crisis by ensuring the payment of arrears to the farmers from private and cooperative sugar mills. Whitefly has caused extensive damage to crop in Punjab with 1.36 lakh hectares of area out of 4.50 lakh hectares was affected by the pest attack in the state. Farmers have uprooted the 100 per cent damaged crop from 11,780 acres area in Muktsar, Fazilka, Bathinda, Mansa, Faridkot and Barnala districts of the state. Earlier, the Punjab government had announced to give immediate compensation of Rs 10 crore to cotton growers whose crop was extensively damaged by whitefly attack. Punjab Congress has even accused SAD-BJP led state government of being insensitive towards cotton growers’ woes, saying affected farmers were being given compensation cheque of meagre amount of Rs 10 to 100. - PTI PACKERS 011- 43579738, 43579797 EDUCATIONAL PUBLIC NOTICES SITUATIONS VACANT GENERAL DEATH PUBLIC NOTICES Please contact: 011-43579797 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m CM YK ND-ND 8| NATION Caught in sex racket, Bangladesh woman attempts suicide K.V. Prasad KOZHIKODE: A few days ago, 34-year-old Parveen (name changed) from Bangladesh had appeared firm on having her many rapists put behind bars, while the law decided she should not leave until that happens. But, on Sunday, she consumed a bottle of toilet cleaner at Mahila Mandiram, a protective home for women in Kozhikode, leading to speculations that the pressure of the case had broken her will enough to attempt suicide. “This cannot be true,” says lawyer Sapna Parameshwarath , whose Punarjani Lady Lawyers’ Initiative has taken up the case of the Bangladeshi woman. “When I met her last, she was determined to testify against those who abused her. We are sure that those involved in the racket had put pressure on her and her husband to return to Bangladesh so that the case against the accused could fall. This pressure could have got to her,” Ms. Parameshwarath said. Parveen is the victim of a sex racket that involves trafficking young girls or women from poor families in Bangladesh to Kozhikode and some other cities in south India. Six persons, including a couple in whose apartment she was allegedly raped multiple times, have been arrested. Parveen is married to an autorickshaw driver at Rajarhat in Bangladesh. The couple has three daughters and she used to do odd tailoring jobs. She entered India in early May this year through West Bengal and went to Mumbai to visit the Haji Ali Masjid. While on a train in Mumbai, Noufel, a native of Kannur and based in Bengaluru, befriended Parveen. He took her to Bengaluru and then handed her over to the couple in Kozhikode, one of them CM YK At Kozhikode, the woman was confined in an apartment for a month and repeatedly raped by different men identified as Suhail, an accused in cases of trafficking and sex rackets. This is as much that the lawyers and the police could piece together from the distraught woman still living down her trauma. She speaks only Bengali, with some rudimentary Hindi. “We learn that KolkataBangalore-ThamarasseryKozhikode is the usual route through which Bangladeshi girls are brought here,” Ms. Parameshwarath said. Parveen’s ordeal began after reaching Suhail’s apartment in Kozhikode. For about a month she was allegedly confined and raped repeatedly by different men. On May 28 evening, she managed to escape from the apartment, found help from neighbours, who took her to the Nadakkavu police station where a case was registered. The police arrested six persons, including Noufel. “We seized her passport from Noufel’s house in Bengaluru,” said Circle Inspector Prakashan Padannayil, who investigated the case. The investigation team and the lawyers' body had moved the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate to obtain an order that Parveen be retained in Kozhikode and kept in a safe place till the trial begins, as the entire case rests on her testimony. Ms. Paremeshwarath said: “When I last spoke to her, she was eager to fight the case and also be back with her family. We want this case to go on trial quickly, so that the racket can be rooted out.” NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU MONUMENTAL EFFORT Charminar through the lens of time TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 Watch for the moon Archaeology Department completes the task of digitisation in three years Rohit P.S. HYDERABAD: Charminar with- out its thronging crowd and cluttered environs is a sight hard to imagine today but reality that denizens beheld nearly a century ago. Such sights and more come alive in the images the State Department of Archaeology and Museums (DAM) produced from photographic technology of a bygone era. The department embarked on a Rs. 40-lakh project to utilise its cache of photographic glass negatives that were in vogue before the advent of film in the 1960s. A task was formalised in 2010 which began in 2012 to digitise 4,500 glass negatives. Vision IT-India set out on the arduous task of opening the wooden boxes that contained the negatives which lay undisturbed for decades. “Not many people would want to do this kind of work when they learn it deals with such old objects,” said N.K. Mani, a 28-year-old part of the 10-man team that laboured three years to complete the project a month before the negatives are cleaned for digitisation with a high resolution scanner-camera. Paulus Raveendra Eduri, who oversaw the project, said effects of moisture and dust has made some carefully made digital corrections to the images, necessary. The digital data from negatives amounts to 1.5 terabytes. Four copies of the data have been made to ensure its survival. A catalogue of images, printed on paper from the digitised negatives, has been presented to the department which has come to realise the importance of its archives. Its director Sunita M. Bhagwat is now keen to have the film negatives digitised. “This documentation is very important for society and the Archaeology Department. The material is invaluA glass negative of Charminar being examined by able. After this project, we an official of the Telangana State Archaeology will seek government funds for the digitisation of film Department. — PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL and also document other arago. Before film became ployed begins with selection chival material we have,” she commonly used, cameras of negatives that are fit said, adding that the departused glass to capture images. enough for use. Data attri- ment would soon plan an exThe nine-step digitisation butes of the image, called the hibition to showcase the process that the team em- metadata, are transcribed photos. Indigenously-made INS Kochi set to join the fleet tomorrow Alok Deshpande MUMBAI: The Indian Navy is all set to welcome INS Kochi, a second ship of the Kolkataclass Guided Missile Destroyer, in its contingent on September 30. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will commission this indigenously-designed ship here on Wednesday. INS Kochi is second in the contract for three ships of Kolkata-class that was signed after the Delhi-class destroyers commissioned more than a decade ago. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned INS Kolkata, the first of the three destroyers and the last ship, INS Chennai, is expected to long and measures 17 metres at the beam. It is propelled by four gas turbines and designed to achieve speeds in excess of 30 knots. It is not only superior to the earlier Delhi class but also equipped with state-ofthe-art weapons and sensors. The weapons to her credit include advanced supersonic and long-range BrahMos surDefence Minister face-to- surface missile, the Manohar Parrikar will 76 mm Super Rapid Gun commission INS Kochi Mount (SRGM) and AK 630 in Mumbai on Close In Weapon System (CIWS), which are manufacWednesday. tured indigenously and can — PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT take on air and surface join the naval forces later in targets. 2016. One of the unique features Weighing over 7500 of the ship is the high level of tonnes, the ship is 164 metre- indigenisation. Mysuru MP turns skydiver Shankar Bennur MYSURU: Mysuru MP Pratap Simha created a record of sorts on Monday when he took a daring jump from a height of about 13,000 ft. as part of his maiden skydiving at the Mysuru airport. “When I boarded the four-seater Cessna aircraft and reached the desired height for the jump, it was a bit scary. But when I took the plunge and floated in the air, it turned out to be a lifetime experience. The dive was beyond belief and enormously thrilling,” he told The Hindu. It was the maiden skydiving attempt for the 39-year-old MP, who said: “I am the first MP in the 16th Lok Sabha to perform this adventure.” The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, has issued a tidal flooding alert during Supermoon or King Tide. The alert is valid till October 2. In the picture, a man is trying to capture the Supermoon on his cellphone in Visakhapatnam on Monday. — PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK Gold worth Rs. 4.5-crore looted from bank in Kerala C.S. Narayanan Kutty Barely three weeks after the daylight heist at a service cooperative bank branch here, a nationalised bank at Cheruvathur was on Monday looted of ornaments worth Rs. 4.50 crore and Rs. 3 lakh in cash. The police said the burglary at the Vijaya Bank branch on Railway Station Road was noticed on Monday morning when the employees opened the bank after the two-day recess. They said 19 kg of gold and cash kept in three cupboards were found missing. The police said the burglars broke into the bank, located on the first floor, by drilling open a concrete slab. KASARAGOD: Migrant workers vanishing A group of migrant labourers who were engaged in remodelling work at a sales outlet on the ground floor reportedly vanished from the spot when the robbery came to light. The police suspect that the break-in was planned meticulously by taking advantage of the weekend holiday. District police chief A. Srinivas constituted a special squad led by Neeleshwaram Circle Inspector K.E. Preman under the supervision of Kanhangad Dy.SP. K. Harishchandra Naik to probe the second major bank robbery in the district in a span of three weeks. Preliminary investigations indicated that the robbery may have been committed on Saturday, Mr. Naik said. The burglary comes close on the heels of the daylight loot of 20 kg of gold and Rs. 13 lakh in cash from the Eriyal branch of the Kudlu Service Cooperative bank on September 7. The police have arrested five persons so far in connection with the case, but only half the loot has been recovered. ND-ND THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 A QUANTUM LEAP SIX SATELLITES, INCLUDING FOUR FOR THE U.S., AMONG THOSE PUT IN ORBIT With Astrosat launch, ISRO scales new heights Dennis S. Jesudasan A few days after it celebrated the successful completion of a year around the red planet by its first inter-planetary mission -- the Mars Orbiter, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday launched its first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory Astrosat into space, besides six satellites for Canada, Indonesia and the United States. Though the national space agency has launched satellites for Indonesia and Canada earlier, this is the first time ISRO is launching satellites for the United States. Though there have been scientific missions by ISRO in the past, this is the first time a space observatory is being launched into space. Though Astrosat may be similar to the NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the former is about 10 times smaller and cannot be compared to the Hubble, which is versatile. Besides US’ NASA, space agencies of the European Union, Japan and Russia have launched similar facilities into the space. Within 22 minutes of its liftoff from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here at 10 am, ISRO’s PSLV C-30 rocket successfully placed in orbit ASTROSAT. A few minutes later, Canada’s NLS-14 nano satellite, Indonesia’s LAPAN-A2 microsatellite and four identical LEMUR nano satellites for the U.S. were also put in orbit. TODAY IS ONE OF THE EVENTFUL DAYS FOR US. OUR PSLV HAS ONCE AGAIN PROVED TO BE A WORKHORSE |9 NATION NOIDA/DELHI perform simultaneous multiwavelength observations of various astronomical objects. The sun and star sensors, besides the gyroscopes, would provide orientation reference to the satellite, which has a mission life of five years. Unravelling mysteries of the universe Astrosat, the country’s first astronomy observatory, lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Monday. — PHOTO: V. GANESAN With the Monday’s launch, ISRO has successfully crossed the half century-mark as for foreign satellites. ISRO has launched 51 satellites for foreign satellites so far. “Today is one of the eventful days for us. Our PSLV has once again proved to be a workhorse,” ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said from the Mission Control Room, soon after the rocket injected the satellites into the intended orbits. The 1,513-kg cuboid-shaped satellite would be eventually fine-tuned into 650 km above the Earth’s surface. The satellite can Astrosat aims at understanding the high energy processes in binary star systems containing neutron stars and black holes, to estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars, to study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems lying beyond the Milky Way galaxy. The mission also intends to detect new briefly bright X-ray sources in the sky, to perform a limited deep field survey of the universe in the ultraviolet region. While Canada’s NLS-14 is a maritime monitoring nano satellite using the Automatic Identification System, Indonesia’s LAPAN-A2 is aimed at benefiting Indonesian radio amateur communities for disaster mitigation and carrying out Earth surveillance. All the four identical LEMUR satellites for the United States -- non-visual remote sensing satellites aims to focus on global maritime intelligence through vessel tracking. The other institutions that participated in the gigantic task of Astrosat launch are Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics and Raman Research Institute. 23 foreign satellites lined up Dennis S. Jesudasan SRIHARIKOTA (A.P.): A total of 23 satellites from nine countries are to be launched by ISRO in the next few years. ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix Corporation Limited has already signed agreements with nine countries, including the European Union, Japan, Singapore and the U.S. “The next immediate launch would be that of six satellites for Singapore. A PSLV rocket would carry one 410 kg-Earth observation satellite along with five co-passengers,” Antrix Corporation Chairman and Managing Director V.S. Hegde said. There are five satellites to be launched for the U.S. in the list, including SkySat-Gen2-1 micro satellite of Skybox Imaging Inc. “Except for Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), we have launched satellites for all countries in all continents,” he added. MOM data Data collected by ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) would be open to the scientific fraternity and they can express interest to use them, ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar said. MOM takes two-and-a-half days to go around the Red planet and it takes four pictures during an orbit. "MOM has taken substantial number of pictures and we have prepared a Mars Atlas.” ISRO was looking for partnership for building and assembling launch vehicles in three to four years, its Chairman Kiran Kumar said Bhagavan: my writings only fulfil my constitutional obligation ‘Those who oppose rationalism should introspect’ K.V. Aditya Bharadwaj BENGALURU: Writer K.S. Bhagavan — whose selection for the lifetime achievement award by the Karnataka Sahitya Academy has kicked up a row, with Hindutva activists opposing it — on Monday said his writings were a fulfilment of his constitutional obligation. “What I have been doing is fulfilling my constitutional responsibility. Sadly, it is being portrayed as something wrong by a section of society. Those who are opposing rationalism and scientific temper are carrying out anti-constitutional acts. I request them to introspect on this,” he said. The Constitution clearly states that it is the duty of every citizen to promote rationalism, scientific temper and reform, he said, speaking here at the 109th birth anniversary celebrations of Bhagat Singh, organised by Students’ Federation of India (SFI). Terming the opposition as only political, Mr. Bhagavan said: “I read that Sri Rama Sene is planning to approach the High Court, challenging the award. I welcome it.” ‘Read my books’ Prof. Bhagavan said it was sad that those opposing the award had not even read his works. “I will be happy if they read my works and later form an opinion on the quality of work,” he said. Reacting to Pejawar Mutt seer Vishwesha Thirtha Swa- Security was tightened at the Central College in Bengaluru on Monday with writer K.S. Bhagavan attending the 109th birth anniversary celebrations of Bhagat Singh, which was organised by the SFI. -- PHOTO: V. SREENIVASA MURTHY mi’s statement that he (Mr. Bhagavan) has backed off from an open debate, he said his books and writings had already made his side of the argument clear. The seer may read his works and present his argument against it. “Writings cannot be denied. They are more authentic than an oral debate,” he added. Later, while addressing students, he said parents instil the fear of God in children and condition them in that regard. “To be free of this, students should be born again. Bhagat Singh has written a well-argued essay — ‘Why I Am An Atheist’. All students should read this essay,” he said. Students walking into the senate hall of the Central College were shocked to find police officials checking their bags with metal detectors. A Door Frame Metal Detector was also put up at the entrance. Security was beefed up on the campus in view of the death threats that Mr. Bhagavan has been facing from fringe groups. Commenting on the security on campus, Mr. Bhagavan said he was an academic, and was uncomfortable and sad that such security measures had to be adopted. “But I have not created this environment. Those who have need to introspect,” he said. “Progressive organisations from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have also called me to deliver lectures there. I will go and do what I can. These threats have not mellowed me down,” he said. HC admits plea against Mamata declassifies 1938-1947 Cabinet meeting files Reject waiter’s testimony, says Salman’s counsel Modi’s post-voting selfie Shiv Sahay Singh KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Narendra Modi clicking a selfie outside the polling booth where he exercised his franchise in Ahmedabad on April 30, 2014. — FILE PHOTO: AFP Special Correspondent   AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court on Monday admitted a petition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for alleged violation of the model code of conduct during the last parliamentary polls when Mr. Modi clicked a selfie holding the BJP’s election symbol outside the polling booth where he exercised his franchise in Ahmedabad.   The High Court, however, recalled its order and posted the matter for further hearing on October 6 on the request of advocate general Kamal Trivedi, who insisted that the court should not issue a notice to the Prime Minister without hearing the Gujarat government’s stand.In April 2014 during the voting in Gujarat, Mr. Modi, the then Chief Minister and the BJP’s prime ministerial nominee, had posted his selfie on Twitter. He also addressed the media, which too was deemed as violation of the model code of conduct.   The Election Commission of India had taken a strong view of the alleged offence, asking the Gujarat police to book the prime ministerial nominee. The Ahmedabad crime branch had lodged two FIRs naming Mr. Modi but in its probe report submitted in a magisterial court, the police gave a clean chit to Mr. Modi.   The magisterial court accepted the report but a former member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)  Nishant Varma approached the High Court challenging the lower court’s verdict and also clean chit given by the police.   Mr. Varma contended in his petition that the probe conducted by the police was ‘not impartial and objective’ while stressing that Mr. Modi had indeed violated the poll code which prohibits any voter to carry mobile phone or any party’s election symbol in the voting booth area.   Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday targeted the Narendra Modi’s government’s ‘Digital India’ initiative, while declassifying secret Cabinet papers from 1938 to 1947. “Merely saying Digital India is not enough. This has to be proved through [declassification of] documents... transparency should be maintained.” Ms. Banerjee said she would hand over the documents to the President of India, Lok Sabha Speaker and the Vice-Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday ordered an inquiry into an incident of women police personnel assaulting a woman Ganesh devotee at Lalbaugcha Raja, Mumbai’s most popular Ganesh pandal, after a video capturing the incident went viral raising questions about police sensitivity towards women. Sources said the incident took place on Friday evening when the girl was first stopped when she was trying to gain entry into the Pandal through a VIP entry. The 29second-long footage video establishes that when the girl, identified as Nandini Goswami, was in the middle of an argument with the security CM YK Provincial Assembly, presided over by the Chief Minister (according to the British papers) A.K. Fazlul Haq. The papers cover a time span of nearly a decade and the premiership of stalwarts of the All-India Muslim League like Khawaja Nazimuddin and H.S. Suhrawardy, besides Mr. Haq. There are minutes of meetings attended by Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, the first Chief Minister of the divided and independent Bengal. There is also a wealth of information relating to the British role in food procurement and distribution during and after the Bengal famine. Rahi Gaikwad MUMBAI: Seeking the rejection Mamata Banerjee said she will hand over the documents to the President, Lok Sabha Speaker and the ViceChairman of the Rajya Sabha. — PHOTO: PTI Making the path safe for Dasara jumbos Shankar Bennur MYSURU: The Forest Depart- ment’s task has been made easy as a high-power magnet clears the Dasara jumbos’ path from sharp objects such as nails, pins and small metal pieces to avoid injuries to the animals’ feet. The five-foot -long magnetic strip, with two small wheels attached to it, fitted to a vehicle, rolls over the road on which the elephants walk daily as part of their rehearsals. “Our personnel used to walk before the elephants’ march on the route, searching for nails and other sharp objects. It was a daunting task as some objects may go unnoticed. But, in this magnetic device, the metal pieces get drawn towards it, making the path secure for the gentle giants,” said forest veterinarian Nagaraj. Policewomen thrash woman devotee at Mumbai Ganesh pandal; probe ordered Shubhomoy Sikdar “This time from 1938 to 1947 before Independence was very important. You will see papers about the Quit India movement, the Bengal famine and the Great Calcutta killings,” Ms. Banerjee said. The declassified files contained 401 documents pertaining to Cabinet meetings. The declassification of the Cabinet files comes 10 days after Ms. Banerjee made 64 secret files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose public and “dared” the Union Government to follow suit. The documents are mainly minutes of the meetings of the Home Ministry under the Bengal lice personnel, if found guilty, Video of Mumbai would be taken to task. However, what lends creincident goes viral; dence to the video being a woman journalist more recent one is the versays she too was sion from a Marathi journaltreated shabbily ist Poonam Apraj. Ms. Apraj claims that she was ill-treated by the police in the same panstaff, a policewoman slapped dal on Friday evening and her. both were taken to the same The attacker was then Kalachowkie police station in joined by her other female the early hours of Saturday. colleagues who surrounded the girl and kept thrashing Made to pay a fine her and another person who The scribe, who met Mumwas trying to save Ms. bai Police Commissioner Goswami. Ahmed Javed on Monday Although there are ques- evening, told him that she and tions about the timing when Ms. Goswami were taken to the video was filmed, a police Kalachowkie in the same poofficer said that the inquiry lice van and were each made would also look into the fact to cough up a fine of Rs. 1,200 whether it was a two-year-old under Section 110 of the Individeo. He added that the po- an Penal code. A magnetic device rolls on the procession route in Mysuru ahead of Dasara elephants to keep the way free of sharp metal objects.— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM Dr. Nagaraj, who is incharge of Dasara elephants’ well-being and training, told The Hindu that an animal lover, Santosh, offered the department to come up with this device without seeking any reward. “He developed the device last year which was smaller in length. We requested him whether the device can be longer, covering at least five feet of the road,” he said. Dr. Nagaraj said the department had also asked the person whether the magnetic power can be increased so that even bigger metal substances can be attracted. The new device comes with higher magnetic power that can attract even larger objects, he said. The forest veterinarian, who has been part of Dasara since many years, said the elephants’ feet are checked regularly to see whether they suffered any injuries. It’s a routine exercise to keep the animals healthy. “But, if the path is free from injury-causing sharp pieces of metal, it avoids any wounds at the first place,” the veterinarian observed. of the testimony of a waiter, Salman Khan’s defence lawyer contended on Monday that just because the actor was seen holding a white glass at a bar did not prove that he was drinking. Arguing on Mr. Khan’s appeal in the 2002 hit-and-run case, senior counsel Amit Desai said the prosecution had not even “remotely proved” that the actor drank alcohol at Rain Bar, a resto-bar in suburban Mumbai, on the night of the incident. The testimony of steward Malay Bag, who served Mr. Khan and his friends on September 27, 2002, only said that he was having “a transparent liquid in a white glass.” Based on this the prosecution concluded that he was having Bacardi rum, which looks like water. “The prosecution wants the court to take a huge leap that just because he had a white glass, he was having Bacardi rum which is transparent. It is sad that this is the quality of evidence and a conviction is awarded based on this. The court is asked to enter a fairy- Defence counsel said that just because Salman was seen with a white glass, it doesn’t mean he was drinking. tale and imagine things,” Mr. Desai contended. He said there were no details about the quantity of rum and cocktail at the table taken by Mr. Khan and his friends. Secondly, even though there were about 250 people at the restobar, the prosecution did not find any eyewitness to testify that the actor was drinking. Moreover, the bills produced by the police were “random” ones. They listed Bacardi but this did not prove that it was ordered by the actor, Mr. Desai argued. 24 Maoists surrender Pavan Dahat RAIPUR: Twenty-four mem- bers of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) surrendered before the police in the restive Bastar region of Chhattisgarh on Monday. The surrenders took place at the Kondagaon district police headquarters in the presence of Bastar range Inspector General of Police S.R.P. Kalluri. “All the 24 surrendered Maoists hail from Chhattisgarh and were attracted by the State’s surrender policy,” said a press statement issued by the Bastar police. Among them are Kunti Korram ,who carried a reward of Rs. 5 lakh on her head, and Bhadaru Korram and Sunita Nag with a reward of Rs. 3 lakh each on their heads. ND-ND EDITORIAL 10 | NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 Putin’s grand strategy for West Asia Stanly Johny TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 Mr. Modi in Silicon Valley ight through his whirlwind tour of the U.S. West Coast, the first by an Indian Prime Minister since 1982, it seemed Narendra Modi could hardly put a foot wrong. The meeting with all the Silicon Valley technology companies that matter set the stage nicely for him to play the charming salesman representing a resurgent India in a digital age. This may be a narrative that critics, many of them back home, don’t want to buy. But whatever the political orientation, it would have been hard to miss the buzz generated when the elected head of the world’s largest democracy met the who’s who of new-age businesses, including Google’s Sundar Pichai, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, and Apple’s Tim Cook. Mr. Modi also participated in another highly anticipated event – a town hall meeting with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. It’s remarkable that the only other leader who had participated in a town hall with Mr. Zuckerberg is President Barack Obama. There is little doubt that Mr. Modi is a master at creating a larger-than-life feel around his events. Amplifying that feel was the fact that a large number of Indians call Silicon Valley, the hub of technology innovation in the world, their home. Indians came in huge numbers to cheer Mr. Modi wherever he went. The Prime Minister, a skilled orator and one who has more than a feel for the digital world and its mores, obliged them gladly. But what does all this translate to? To equate Mr. Modi’s efforts in Silicon Valley just to the initiatives promised by the big technology firms during this trip, as some have done, would be to miss the larger point. For the record, Google plans to enable Wi-Fi in 500 railway stations, Microsoft wants to make available low-cost broadband in five lakh villages, and chip manufacturer Qualcomm is launching a $150 million startup fund in India. These efforts would involve tiny sums given their scale. But again, the point isn’t that. The point is to hard-sell India as an attractive investment destination, a country with skilled manpower, and a nation on the move. Mr. Modi looked more than convincing with that marketing message. Of course, it helped tremendously that India has one of the highest growth rates today in the world amid a sea of troubled economies. Also, the success of India’s diaspora is a selling point in itself. All this means that the big corporates of the world can ill afford to ignore India. But the question now is whether investors are seeing enough positive changes on the ground. Having successfully made the India pitch, Mr. Modi’s challenge will be to don a different hat and deliver on those promises. R Syria is not a new theatre for Russia. It has long been a pillar of Moscow’s West Asia policy. The only Russian naval base outside the former Soviet Union is in Syria’s Tartus. And Russia has been a strong supporter of President Bashar Al-Assad in the Syrian civil war. It resisted every Western move at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to pass a resolution seeking Mr. Assad’s removal. Also, its aggressive diplomacy was instrumental in thwarting U.S. air strikes on Syria in 2013 amid allegations that government forces used chemical weapons against civilians. Over the years, Moscow kept supplying military and financial aid to Damascus. But despite these deep ties with the regime, Russia had tactfully stayed away from joining combat in the past four years. Even when Iran and Hizbollah sent troops to Syria, Russia limited its role to outside support for the regime. Not any more. The Russian involvement in the civil war assumed greater proportions earlier this month when reports emerged that Moscow was sending troops to Syria. U.S. officials said on September 14 that Russia had sent seven T-90 tanks and artillery to the coastal Syrian city of Latakia. Three days later, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, citing satellite imagery from AllSource Analysis, confirmed the arrival of Russian battle tanks, armoured personnel carriers and helicopters at the Latakia airbase, indicating that Russian troops are deployed in Syria. Though Moscow has not confirmed its military presence, authorities have made no secret that Russia is ramping up its role in Syria. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has acknowledged that new military supplies are being sent in, accompanied by Russian “experts”. From an ally to a combat partner While the exact details of the Russian military presence are yet to emerge, a change in Moscow’s Syria strategy is already evident. Mr. Putin wants to move Russia from being an outside supporter to a combat partner of the Syrian government. To be sure, this is a risky move. It has come at a time when Russia is battling a severe economic crisis at home. It hasn’t fought a major war outside its traditional sphere of influence since its withdrawal from Afghanistan. Needless to say, the 10-year-long Afghan war was a disaster, and the chances for the Russian troops to get swamped in the complex Syrian civil war are high. Still, what CARTOONSCAPE Wages for the parliamentarians he idea of creating an Emoluments Commission to recommend salaries and allowances for Members of Parliament has not come a day too soon. The pay and reimbursements drawn by lawmakers may not be unusually high in India by global standards, but two points have been agitating the people in recent times: the power enjoyed by legislators to fix their own salaries and the loss suffered by the exchequer as day after day is lost to parliamentary logjam, resulting in MPs drawing daily allowances through whole sessions during which no business is transacted. In this backdrop, the proposal of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to establish an independent, three-member commission to fix the pay and allowances of parliamentarians is a sign that the government and the elected members themselves are sensitive to growing concern about the public expenditure incurred in their name. The proposal is on the agenda of the All-India Whips’ Conference to be held in Visakhapatnam, and may form the basis for future legislation to de-link members of the legislature from the process of fixing their emoluments. Members of Parliament currently draw a monthly salary of Rs. 50,000, a constituency allowance of Rs. 45,000 and a sumptuary allowance of Rs. 15,000. They may also hire secretarial assistance for Rs. 30,000. They are entitled to daily allowances and travel concessions besides other perquisites. The present levels of pay and allowances, however, have not been revised since 2010. If an independent body is created for the purpose, India will be following the example of the United Kingdom, where an Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has been created by law to oversee and regulate ‘business costs’ or the expenditure incurred by lawmakers in their parliamentary functions, and fix their pay and pension. Such a mechanism may help put an end to criticism, and sometimes public outcry, over legislators rewarding themselves with pay hikes and additional allowances from time to time. In a country where public life is associated in the popular imagination with unbridled greed, and parliamentary representation is seen as a means to amass wealth, it will be tempting to wonder why lawmakers need a salary at all, or, looking at legislative work often coming to a standstill, to question the present pay structure or the need for regular revision. However, payment for legislative work is an important element in attracting publicspirited citizens to participative democracy. As a general principle, pay ought not to be the primary attraction for elective office, nor the privileges and perquisites that come with it. At the same time, it cannot be so low as to be a disincentive to the public for entering the legislature. An independent pay panel for parliamentarians is surely a welcome proposal. T CM YK LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Digital dreams Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to have taken the Silicon Valley by storm, striking an instant chord with the titans of the tech world and winning their endorsement for his ambitious ‘Digital India’ push (“Modi boots up ‘Digital India’ with high-profile Silicon Valley show,” Sep.28). In many ways, his discussions with the global tech titans was as much an extension of the ‘Digital India’ initiative that he launched in July as it was about saluting innovation. Mr. Modi has completed a quarter of his tenure as Prime Minister but the litany of complaints from the CEOs would have been familiar. They must have appreciated his intentions but also pointed out the difficulties of doing business in India due to excessive regulation and a creaky infrastructure. Meghana. A, New South Wales, Australia Assam is the first and perhaps the only State so far in India to have 100 per cent Internet connectivity. The Community Information Centres (CIC) project in the Northeast — providing a platform for e-governance and other ITenabled services — made sure that every block in Assam had an Internet connection. Despite that, less than 10 per cent of the people use online services. Low literacy By sending troops in support of the Assad regime to prevent its collapse, the Russian President has opened a new phase in the four-year-long civil war. Unless Moscow backs this up with a global diplomatic initiative to end the crisis, it could be sucked into another Afghan war-like situation made Mr. Putin change the Russian strategy? And what’s Russia’s actual game plan? Two recent developments in the battlefield could have influenced the thinking in the Kremlin. First, there’s a growing concern in Moscow as well as in Tehran about the recent setbacks suffered by the Assad regime. The government is facing acute manpower shortage as its troops are overstretched in the prolonged war. Also, the key focus of the regime is to defend its strongholds — the long stretch from the South along the Lebanese border and the Mediterranean coast to the outskirts of the Idlib province in the northwest. Hizbollah has positioned itself on the Leba- Assad falls, the balance of power in West Asian geopolitics would turn in favour of countries hostile to Moscow’s interests. Besides, Mr. Assad’s removal would weaken the Iran-Hizbollah network, which is another pillar of Russia’s West Asia policy. More important, Moscow perceives the rise of Islamist militancy in the region as a “national security threat” and considers Mr. Assad a bulwark in the fight against the IS and Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria. So, from the Russian point of view, the survival of the Assad regime is key to its interests. Russia has interfered in West Asia in the past to defend its interests. During the Israeli-Egyptian War of Attrition in the 1969-70, the Soviet Union sent troops to defend Egypt. Operation Kavkaz was aimed at preventing a regime change in Egypt and to save the Russian interests on the Egyptian soil — the intervention was a success in meeting the objectives. the “Syrian war is our war”. The Hizbollah intervention was crucial in retaking Qusayr and re-establishing the regime’s hold over the Lebanese border region. The Russians may be thinking that Mr. Assad is facing another Qusayr moment. Second, Moscow is wary of the TurkishSaudi Arabian game plan for Syria. These countries’ major concern is not the IS, but the Assad regime itself. Since the outbreak of the civil war, they have been training and bankrolling anti-Assad rebels. The rebels’ Idlib advances would not have been pos- Protecting the Tartus naval base In the case of Syria, Russia has short, sible without greater support from outside powers. Besides, Turkey has recently al- medium and long-term goals. The immedilowed the U.S. warplanes to use its Incirlik ate objective is to prevent a rapid collapse of the Assad regime after its weakening on the warfront. Russia might be calculating that Russia’s assessment is that if Assad falls, the balance of power once its forces start joining the war, it would strengthen the Syrian government in West Asia would turn in favour of hostile countries and also troops in terms of military capabilities and raise their morale substantially. And even if weaken the Iran-Hizbollah network, another pillar of support the regime collapses, the Russian goal would be to protect the Tartus naval base. It is worth noting that Russian artillery nese border region, while Iran has deployed and Diyarbakir airbases for the latter’s atits troops and proxies in key city centres tacks on IS positions, and both nations — and tanks have landed in Latakia, which is such as Damascus, Homs and Hama. It is in Turkey and the U.S. — have also agreed to just 85 km away from Tartus. In case of an the outskirts of the regime-held territory create a 60-mile-long ‘safe zone’ strip, free eventual collapse of the regime, Russia where Mr. Assad’s troops are under pres- of IS and the regime troops, along the Turk- would not hesitate to move troops to protect the naval base. sure, a clear indication of their waning ish border. In the medium term, Russia wants to strength. This could be part of a larger regime In May, in a major setback to the regime, change game plane. Incirlik is just 15 min- build an international coalition, with a U.N. the Islamic State (IS) terror group seized utes flying time from the Syrian border. mandate, to fight terrorism in Syria. There the ancient city of Palmyra from govern- From the air base, the U.S. war planes and is already a multilateral coalition led by the ment troops. Besides its archaeological sig- drones could easily patrol the Syrian skies. U.S., bombing locations controlled by the IS nificance, Palmyra is a strategically In the name of fighting the IS, the U.S. could in Syria and Iraq. But these bombings, startimportant place from where IS could march establish a de facto no-fly zone across ed in August 2014, have hardly weakened on to both Homs and Damascus in two northeastern Syria which would neutralise the jihadist group. The Russian idea is to stitch together a directions (The distance between Palmyra the regime’s air power advantage vis-à-vis coalition of ground troops to fight both the and Damascus is around 250 km, while that both the rebels and the jihadists. Further, the ‘safe zone’ proposal also of- IS and the al-Nusra front. President Putin between the ancient city and Homs is hardly around 160 km). In the same month, a fers a peek into the Turkish game plan. If floated the idea on September 15 in Dushrebel coalition, largely supported by Gulf Turkey and the U.S. successfully create a anbe, Tajikistan, while speaking at a regioncountries and Turkey, captured the Idlib “safe zone” in the border area, the model al event. For this proposal to gain traction, province, breathing down the neck of the could be repeated elsewhere in Syria. In- Russia would need the West’s support. Mr. regime’s costal territories. These two de- stead of finding a national political solution Putin knows that the U.S. is facing a stratefeats revived the discussion about a rapid to the Syrian crisis, many more “safe zones” gic dilemma over Syria, and Europe, within rebel control would be created. swamped in a refugee crisis, is scrambling collapse of the Assad regime. It was in a similar scenario in 2013 that Brookings Institution’s Michael E. O’Han- for practical solutions to the Syrian conflict. If a common ground is reached between the Hizbollah announced that it would join lon, a former national security analyst at the Syrian war. The rebels had captured the Congressional Budget Office, strongly Russia and the West over Syria, Mr. Putin Qusayr, a strategically important town on advises the West to follow this “ink-spot can also re-channelise the resultant goodthe Lebanese border, and were making fur- campaign”, which he calls the “deconstruc- will to settle the Ukraine crisis without its vital interests compromised. It is a bet, but ther advances. On May 25, 2013, Hizbollah tion of Syria”. The Russian assessment is that if Mr. the contemporary history of Russian forleader Hassan Nasrallah proclaimed that eign policy tells us that Mr. Putin is a man who makes big geopolitical bets. In the long run, Syria offers Russia an opportunity to re-establish itself as a regional player in West Asia. Reclaiming the lost glory of Soviet Union is of high priority to Mr. Putin. He has recently stepped up ties with Egypt’s military dictator Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. West Asia offers a potential market for Russian products and weapons as well as a political theatre for Moscow to expand its influence. It is far from clear whether Russia would be able to meet its goals or would face another Afghanistan-like situation in Syria. What is certain is that Mr. Putin has opened a new phase in the Syrian civil war. If in the first four years, President Assad had to fight his enemies — supported by regional heavyweights — with limited resources, he now has the direct backing of a big global power. However, unless Russia couples its military move with an international diplomatic initiative to dial down the regional support for rebels and jihadists, the Moscow plan could backfire. Because otherwise, to offset the Russian support for Mr. Assad, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and their Western backers could step up support for anti-Assad groups, leading to a major escalation of the conflict. The outcome would be worse than that of the Afghan civil war. [email protected] Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials. has been a major hindrance to the government’s e-governance initiative. It is commendable on the part of the Prime Minister to reach out to the technology giants in the Silicon Valley but the Digital India programme cannot be successful unless the masses have proper education and knowledge on various electronic devices. Institutions like the CICs with high-speed Internet need to be set in all parts of the country and there should be a greater focus on computer education. Roshan U. Alam, New Delhi Apropos the Editorial, “The message from New York” (Sep.28), a lot of hype has accompanied the PM’s second U.S. visit. There are many things in the cart but not much on the ground. As has very rightly been pointed out, the nuclear deal — almost a decade-old — is yet to be operationalised. In addition, U.S. military support for Pakistan and its flip-flop on India’s efforts to get itself nominated as a UN Security Council Permanent Member are indeed a matter of concern. M.K. Bajaj, Zirakpur, Punjab allows us to deconstruct misconceptions and overcome cultural barriers (“In a class of their own,” Sep.28). The author has rightly pointed out that reservations are being applied mechanically in schools without much regard to academic readiness or social integration. In India, we never think of reservations at the school level but are mostly made aware of them only when we reach college. Reservation, along with due sensitisation toward the various discriminations inherent in our society, right at the school level, will aid greater integration. Maybe with a more inclusive system, we can do away with the need for reservation in the next two decades. J. Jaykris Gurucharan, Hyderabad A noble soul The leadership qualities and the abundant willpower of Lal Bahadur Shastri enabled him to succeed Jawaharlal Nehru (“Family wants Shastri files declassified,” Sep.27). He was the man behind the destruction of all Patton tanks that infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan in 1965. He also gave appropriate direction to our defence forces at crucial junctures during the war. Shastri I have personally experienced that was also a sincere politician, with an exposure to cultural diversity no greed of any sort. He resigned Overcoming bias source of risk. The Pullumedu stampede in the Sabarimala shrine in 2011 and the recent Maha Pushkaralu festival incident are examples. A majority of India’s sacred sites are situated in inaccessible areas. Visits to these places — not having adequate health and sanitation facilities — by children and elderly people increases the possibilities of accidents. We need to give urgent attention to crowd management. Everyone expects a white collar job Joice K. Joseph, or a government job on passing out Kottayam of college no matter what degree or diploma he/she has. (“The challenge of skills and jobs,” A diverse nation like India, with a Editorial, Sep.28). This is one of the million gods, countless beliefs and reasons why substandard self- varying ideologies is united by one financing institutions flourish. Has spirit, that of patriotism (“The any government shown the politics of iconography,” Sep.27). interest to test the skills of the Our freedom fighters have been teacher community working in forerunners in inspiring this spirit these institutions? Our judiciary among us. The ongoing attempt to needs to intervene to show the highlight certain figures whilst ignoring a few others is not a good universities some direction. Madhu M.B, practice. Figures such as Palakkad Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Lajpat Rai have each contributed immensely in their own right to the making of our The recent tragedy at Makkah nation and deserve equal respect.  (“Haj stampede claims over 700 Together, they envisioned a nation lives near holy city,” Sep.25) should with a strong sense of equality, make us more conscious of the fraternity and secularism. It is time safety arrangements in India’s we stopped mixing politics and prime mass gathering destinations. patriotism. Rohan Jagadeesh, Mass gatherings, especially Chennai religious crowds, are always a immediately after the major train accident at Ariyalur, in 1956, accepting moral responsibility, even disregarding Nehru’s persuasion to continue. People have every right to know what happened at Tashkent to this noble statesman. D. Sethuraman. Chennai Skills deficit Choice of icons Tragedy at holy site ND-ND NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 | 11 PERSPECTIVE ‘We want everyone to be on the Internet’ We could roll out Free Basics all over the world, but if we don’t get the debate right in India and the balance is not struck correctly, that could hold the whole world back Facebook founder-CEO Mark Zuckerberg says it is most important that India get the Net neutrality debate right, as it has the most number of unconnected people Interacting with a select group of journalists, including Srinivasan Ramani of The Hindu, who were invited to the headquarters of Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his senior colleagues fielded questions on Net neutrality, content regulation and perceptions about Facebook Facebook is increasingly becoming not just a social media platform for interaction and discussion of issues related to the public sphere, but also a platform for traditional media to 'break' news. In India, there is the worry though that social media is relatively unfiltered as a medium and is used by anti-social elements to spread rumours that could create a law and order issue. The government in India complains that the response time of social media companies is not good enough to prevent the spread of false information, and that’s why they have to take steps such as shutting down the Internet. How would you respond to this reasoning from law enforcement agencies ?  We don’t want any terrorist content on Facebook. We spend a lot of investment in building tools on Facebook so that people report harmful content. There is too much content for us every day to police it ourselves, but what we do is invest in tools that allow people to mark content that they think is important. There is a big team of community operations people who look into all that content that is flagged. We also work very closely with law enforcement [agencies] around the world to respond to what we think are legal requests that fit within the constitutional laws of the different countries.  There is always more that we can do here. Every time someone sees content that is inappropriate, we have to do better, but when you have a community of a 1.5 billion people, we have to put a lot of investment to ensure that people don’t post content related to violence and terrorism and that’s what we are trying to do.  In places like India, Facebook is going to those devices which traditional Internet cannot reach. You are available on a $50 device on which you cannot generally open a web-app. With respect to the plans on Internet.org, do you see yourself as the parallel Internet or as being parallel to the Internet?  No. Not at all. We want to spread the Internet. The whole Internet. To do that, we are doing a lot of things as part of Internet.org to reach people. We are working on new technology — unmanned solar power aircraft that will beam down access; we are working on satellites, on laser communication systems that will beam down Internet and high bandwidth. New business models — the Free Basics programme that we rolled out recently in 20 countries across the world, including with Reliance in some areas of India — is an open programme so any developer can build for it and any operator can launch it. In the coming months, we will be able to roll out widely across India and other countries. But even beyond that, there are things that we need to do for Facebook to be a good experience on different networks. Not everyone has 4G or 3G. Many only have 2G where the connection speed is less. So we have launched Facebook Lite which is a service that consumes less data, so that if you have a slower net connection, you can still get access. Most Internet services are not reaching a 1.5 billion people. The reality is that most companies building Internet services aren’t reaching a set of people. So, we can use mainstream technology that is widely deployed to reach out to a few hundred million people. But if we want to connect everyone, we have to look for the people in the fringes and we have to able to serve those with the weakest connections — living in rural villages, lacking traditional infrastructure (which is not economical for them). To reach them, we might need to try things like flying down planes that can beam down access. You should look at what we are doing as a part of a very wide commitment to do all of those things necessary to get out to those folks.  New technology, new business models [Free Basics], building apps to work on lower bandwidth. These are things that we are working on.  There are a lot of larger issues being debated in India related to Net neutrality, Internet governance and cyber security. How are these issues affecting your thinking on the future of U.K. ignores India’s stand on Kashmir Britain has no intention of paying much heed to the Indian stand on Kashmir but will seek through the U.N. to evolve and implement a permanent settlement in the subcontinent, and it hopes the Soviet Union will pay a full part in this effort. This line emerged clearly in the course of Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart’s address to the Labour Party conference this morning [September 29, Blackpool] when he reviewed the whole range of British policies in the international field. The Indo- Pakistan conflict was apparently not considered of sufficient importance to merit attention by itself. Mr. Stewart only referred to it to “illustrate” his argument that the time had come for the U.N. to advance from the rule of simple “peace-keeping” to that of rooting out the causes of trouble. Plan to foster music within Commonwealth Musicologists from nine countries decided here [Liverpool] yesterday [September 28] to set up a special organisation to foster music within the Commonwealth. They appointed a working committee headed by the international violinist Yehudi Menuhin, Prof. P. Platt of New Zealand, Mr. Ian Hunter, Director General of the Commonwealth Arts Festival, and Professor of Music at Liverpool University, Mr. Basil Smallman. Delegates from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ceylon, Ghana, India, Kenya and Nigeria voted that it should be called the Commonwealth Cultural Organisation. A complete record of the conference on the theme “Music and education in the Commonwealth”, will be published in book form for overseas universities. CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS >>The report, “India left out of meeting on Afghanistan” (Sept. 28, 2015), was removed from the web edition because of a factual error. >>“Puncturing wrong notions of the Northeast” (Perspective page, Sept. 25, 2015) got the expansion of NSCN (I-M) wrong. It is not National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah). It is National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah). It is the policy of The Hindu to correct significant errors as soon as possible. Please specify the edition (place of publication), date and page. The Readers’ Editor’s office can be contacted by Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday); Fax: +91-44-28552963; E-mail: [email protected] Mail: Readers’ Editor, The Hindu, Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860 Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002, India. All communication must carry the full postal address and telephone number. No personal visits. The Terms of Reference for the Readers’ Editor are on www.thehindu.com CM YK “We need to ensure a regulatory framework that enables both Net neutrality protections and the ability to work on new models for access.” Picture shows Mark Zuckerberg during his interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Townhall at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California. — PHOTO: REUTERS Facebook and how are they influencing you? Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about what he expects Facebook (and other companies) to do. What do you expect countries like India in terms of policy to do, the one thing to do, to get it right?  With regard to spreading access and Net neutrality, a lot of countries are putting regulations on how to work on these things. Like the U.S. did it, and did a good job in coming up with good Net neutrality regulations and also different things that spread connectivity; different business models are completely separate from that. There is a big debate — an incredible debate in India — as to how to balance these two things. India is the country with the most unconnected people (about a billion out of the 1.25 billion). We know that for about 10 people who are connected to the Internet, about one person gets a new job and one person gets lifted out of poverty. So, getting access to the Internet is a national, even a global, issue. It’s a priority in India. Probably one of the problems that can be solved — as in snapping a finger to resolving a massive problem like the poverty issue… This is probably one of the big things you could do.  We here also believe in Net neutrality very strongly. So if someone wants to access some service and the operator wants to charge more money to do so, then that’s bad and it isn’t a fair thing and it is a big issue. But at the same time, when you have a student in a classroom looking up information for free to do her homework, it is hard to see why there is an issue with that. We need to ensure a regulatory framework that enables both of these things — Net neutrality protections and the ability to work on new models for access. One model that I think is widely used across the world is that of price discrimination laws. It is not necessarily legal to be able to send the same two things — let’s say, men have to pay two dollars, and women only one dollar. Laws everywhere say that this is not good. But at the same time, no one says if you want to get an apple and give it to a food bank for free, that is wrong. We need to make sure to get the debate right. India is the most important country to get this debate right, as it is the country with the most unconnected people and would benefit the world the most by connecting those people.  Is the noise that is coming through on Net neutrality affecting the way you are planning to address the access issue in terms of product development?  Yes. We could roll out Free Basics all over the world (which we have done in 20 countries), but if we don’t get the debate right in India and the balance is not struck correctly, that could hold the whole world back, in my opinion.  One story that inspires us is the story of Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. He is a brilliant guy who did not have the best formal education. But he had one math textbook and that was enough for him to basically recreate all of modern mathematics. The question that we have to ask ourselves is what would have happened if he had access to the whole Internet? How many Ramanujans are there who don’t even have access to the book and if you give them access to the Internet, would they not be able to make their own lives but also make great contributions to the world overall? That’s why it is important to get this debate right in India, not just for India but very impor- I think, to some extent, almost all companies which are successful face the issues that you talk about. The funny thing is that there is this mentality that we are a large company. But from our perspective, we are still small, in terms of the impact and the “connect” that we seek to make in the world. Going back to when I got started with Facebook... I used to do my computer science problem sets with a friend of mine, who is now with Facebook ... and right after we launched the first version in the Harvard school community, we went out for pizza one night. We talked about how the future of technology was going to do. We were not quite talking about ourselves when we sought to think of the future of technology. We always thought some other company was going to do this task of connecting the world as it may.  There were companies like Google, Microsoft which had thousands of employees and we expected them to do it. Looking back at ten years ago, the reason why we set out to do what we did, in terms of connecting people, was that we cared about it. There were other companies that had these opportunities to build “social media” but they didn’t. Even though we were college students, we went ahead and did it. We want to keep that mentality alive even today. Now the next frontier is to get everyone in the world on the Internet. We cannot fulfil this mission of connecting everyone in the world without bringing them to the Internet. We just view that we must go and do it. There are also other companies — mobile/ telecom companies etc., which are also doing these things. The reason we are pressing on this issue of Internet connectivity is that we care. Just like when we were college students building social media for the world even though we were just kids, today we just care about what we want to do for the world. We may seem like a big company but that is not the mindset we have. We know that there are other companies that have the resources to do what needs to be done on Internet connectivity but we want to do that too. [email protected] Even if one were to acknowledge that Free Basics has a role, in the best interests of the Internet’s openness, it has to be argued that such a role can only be a stopgap (dated September 30, 1965) A spokesman of the Defence Ministry has stated that there have been 42 violations of the cease-fire by Pakistan until the afternoon of September 28. There have been further violations by Pakistan in the last 24 hours even after the renewed demand for cease-fire by the U.N. Security Council. Details of these new violations have not yet come in. Twenty-one of the 42 violations listed so far took place in Rajasthan where the Pakistanis presumably thought they could just move in and occupy vast areas of the desert. As Facebook is growing bigger and better, there is lot of contradictory opinion about the company in the market. How would you answer your critics?  Benign gatekeeper not the solution FROM THE ARCHIVES Pak truce violations continue tantly for the whole world.  likes to say, more than a billion Indians don’t have access to the Net. And it is absolutely true that the have-nots “can’t enjoy the same opportunities many of us take for granted.” There is also some merit in the thinking that people who can afford Internet cannot sit in judgement about the quality of Internet that is made available for those who cannot afford it. Sriram Srinivasan It’s hard not to appreciate Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s dogged pursuit of acceptance for his idea —internet.org, which is about providing a taste of the Internet to those who have no access to it, despite the heat it has generated in countries such as India. The social network giant, which, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly pointed out, would be the third-most populous in the world if it were a country, last week announced a few changes to internet.org, including a new identity, Free Basics. The changes come just a few months after a huge uproar in India over internet.org being antithetical to the idea of Net neutrality, which is that nobody plays the gatekeeper to the Internet. Earlier this year, Facebook tied up with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications to launch the service in India. The start was surprisingly quiet, given that only a few months earlier India’s netizens had risen quite vocally against India’s No. 1 telecom carrier Bharti Airtel’s decision to charge consumers extra for use of apps such as Skype to make free calls over the Internet. The awareness about Net neutrality, the principle that all data must be treated equally, caught on. Before long, internet.org found itself caught in the wrong end of the Net neutrality debate. Amid massive public outrage, Mr. Zuckerberg defended the idea. This, even as numerous petitions against it were signed and partners such as NDTV and Cleartrip decided to opt out of the internet.org platform. Fast forward to now. The service is available in 19 countries. In February, India became the sixth country to have internet.org. That points to quite a fast scale up. Indian market crucial The changes to internet.org, significantly, came barely days before Mr. Modi met with Mr. Zuckerberg. India currently represents Facebook’s second-biggest user base in the world even as it still has a large population of Internet have-nots. It is clear that Facebook needs the blessings of India’s policymakers. It is also clear that the social network has worked to make the idea more politically palatable. This is how: the brand name change, Free options SUPPORT: “It is clear that Facebook needs the blessings of India’s policymakers for its pet project, internet.org, to succeed.” Picture shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Mark Zuckerberg at the Facebook headquarters in California. — PHOTO: PTI It is difficult to believe it is just altruism that is making companies such as Facebook, with business models directly linked to numbers with access, solve the problem of connectivity profound effects on how the Internet evolves.” So, the name change does matter, even if Facebook won’t explicitly say so. Also, to be fair, Free Basics is more open than its earlier avatar, with Facebook some months back opening up its platform for outside developers. The service started just as a collection of some pre-selected websites that got chosen through an obscure process. Encryption of information flowing for instance, is much more than just through the platform is the other initial cosmetic, as internet.org’s likeness with loophole that has been plugged. the real Internet was considered to be All of that, however, can’t erase the hugely misleading. Already, as a Quartz fundamental problem with such a serstory in February this year, citing a vice, which is that it allows Facebook to study, showed, many Facebook users in be a gatekeeper to the Internet where Indonesia had no idea they were using none existed earlier.  the Internet. The story said, “This is There’s surely a case to be made for more than a matter of semantics. The Free Basics in a country such as India, expectations and behaviours of the next where universal access to the Internet is billion people to come online will have still a long way away. As Mr. Zuckerberg But even if one were to acknowledge that Free Basics has a role, in the best interests of Internet’s openness it has to be argued that such a role can only be a stopgap. Even today, it can be argued that Free Basics is a suboptimal solution to the problem of lack of Internet access. There are alternatives that manage to offer free data to users without donning the role of a gatekeeper. One such alternative goes by the name Jana. The Boston-based start-up’s pitch is that it has figured out a way to offer Internet access to billions of people in the emerging world without it playing gatekeeper. And its pitch appears more convincing. Jana rewards its smart phone users in two ways, as an article about it in The Hindu some months back pointed out. It reimburses users the cost of downloading its clients’ app. It also gives them free data, with which they can access any content online. It’s also extremely difficult to believe it is just altruism that is making companies such as Facebook look to solve the problem of connectivity. The business models of Internet companies, Facebook included, is directly linked to the number of people that can be brought under Internet access. More the merrier! Whether Free Basics will pass the Net neutrality test of India’s administrators is anybody’s guess. Even if it does, there are enough reasons to believe it must have an expiry date if the government is serious about providing universal Internet access. It’s an ‘A’ for Mr. Zuckerberg’s determination to see internet.org succeed. As far as the government is concerned, it must now work towards delivering the real deal (cheap, easy and universal access) in the years to come, so that the likes of Free Basics can become redundant fast. sriram.srinivasan @thehindu.co.in ND-ND NEWS 12 | TUSSLE OVER GROWTH Cong. says PM got it wrong on GDP ‘Figure is $2.50 trillion and not $8 trillion as claimed by Modi’ Puja Mehra & Mehboob Jeelani NEW DELHI: India’s Gross Do- mestic Product (GDP) became a subject of political debate on Monday. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks in the U.S., that India’s GDP is $8 trillion, the Congress said on Monday that when the UPA government had left the office, India’s GDP was $2.27 trillion, and India’s GDP today was close to $2.50 trillion. “His officials should give him the right papers at the right time so that he does not make such mistakes because he is not speaking in the private dining room or not reporting to the RSS leadership … The whole world is watching what the PM of India has to say,” senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Anand Sharma said briefing reporters. Mr. Sharma, however, expressed confidence in Mr. Modi’s statement that the size of India’s economy could grow to $20 trillion. “Yes that is achievable for India.” According to the latest available data from the World Bank, India’s GDP was $2.067 trillion in 2014. On Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) basis, according to the latest available data — from the 2011 International factoring in the differences in price levels and the exchange rates. On per capita GDP, however, India ranked 129th among 177 nations in PPP terms. India’s per capita GDP, according to the World Bank report, was $4,735 in 2011. Mr. Sharma also said that while, according to Mr. Modi, the amount of Foreign Direct Investment that had come to India over the past one year represented an unprecedented 40 per cent increase over the previous year, the truth was that the growth was actually lower at 23 per cent. “It is true compared to 2013 that in 2014 Comparison Program in which India did receive more FDI but the World Bank is involved — not the 40 per cent increase India went from the 10th large- which he has claimed. It is 23 st economy in 2005 to the third per cent more than the previlargest, moving ahead of Japan, ous year and the total FDI in 2011 with $5.75 trillion GDP. which came last year was $44 The study assesses econo- billion, which is exactly $3 bilmies based on PPP or an esti- lion less than what FDI India mate of the comparable real got in 2011 as it was struggling living costs across countries by with global recession.” Mehboob Jeelani & Nistula Hebbar NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Na- rendra Modi’s swipe at the Gandhi family in his San Jose address in the U.S. has started a war of words between the Congress and the ruling BJP. The Congress on Monday not only picked holes in the Prime Minister’s foreign policy, but also accused him of lying about his humble origins. “His father ran a canteen in Vadnagar, but Modi worked with his uncle who ran a similar canteen near Geeta Mandir in Ahmedabad where he issued food coupons,” said former Minister and Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma. “He never sold tea Hardik Patel to launch new party tomorrow and his father wasn’t that poor. He was pretty middle class and his mother did not have to do cleaning jobs at peoples’ houses.” The BJP pulled no punches in attacking the Congress for questioning Prime Minister Modi’s devotion to his mother or the success of his trip to the United States. The party accused Congress president Sonia Gandhi of “ruining” Congress in her “devotion to her son [Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi],” who party spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP M.J. Akbar described as “the spoilt child of Indian politics.” “It was perhaps both significant and revealing that Congress chose to get personal in Special Correspondent Focusing on development issue, the two leaders said NEW DELHI: As the Assembly that any comparison of the elections in Bihar draw near, growth rate in 2013-14 or the war of words has escalat2014-15 (after the JD(U) ed. On Monday, the Janata broke with the BJP) with that Dal (United) strongly refuted of 2010-11 or 2011-12 (when the BJP’s claim that the Nitthe two parties were together ish Kumar government’s perin the government) to show formance plummeted after that the growth of Bihar had its exit from the NDA in 2013. suffered after the split with Lashing out at the BJP for CEC Nasim Zaidi addressing a press conference the BJP was a “myopic view” “distorting figures”, the JD along with Election Commissioners A.K. Joti of selective data. (U) warned that the NDA (right) and Om Prakash Rawat (left) in Patna on They said that a recent would review the reservation study conducted by the BJP policy and bring in anti-farm- Monday. — PHOTO: RANJEET KUMAR think tank, Public Policy Reer laws if it won the Bihar Rajya Sabha to pass antiMr.Tyagi and senior party search Centre, headed by parpolls. farmer, anti-labour laws.” leader Pawan Varma said that ty vice-president Vinay “If the NDA wins the Bihar Referring to the statement the Election Commission Sahasrabuddhe, had been dopolls, it will review both res- of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat could not absolve itself of re- ing the rounds in the news ervation as well as the Consti- seeking a review of the reser- sponsibility if Bihar moved media: “The study claims that tution. If we win, the State vation policy, Mr Tyagi towards communal polarisa- Bihar had been doing better will march forward,” party stressed that the BJP would tion and asked it to remain on all counts as long was JD general secretary K.C. Tyagi review the quota policy, even “vigilant” about the “huge (U) was in alliance with the told journalists here, adding, though the BJP has already flow of money” and attempts BJP till June 2013. The study “BJP wants to win Bihar polls distanced itself from Mr. to rake up communal issues is steeped in selective and to garner a majority in the Bhagwat’s remarks. by the BJP. cherry picking data.” Leaders in revolt are being BJP: Rahul enjoying told to rally around PM undeserved vacation Nistula Hebbar Kalam’s kin joins BJP National Bureau NEW DELHI: A.P.J Sheikh Salim, the grand nephew of late president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam joined the BJP in New Delhi on Monday in the presence of party president Amit Shah. Mr. Salim, grandson of the former president’s elder brother A.P.J. Marakaiyer, describes himself as a social activist and is involved in activities around Rameshwaram district of Tamil Nadu. “I wanted to join the party last year as well and had discussed it with my grand uncle, he was in favour of my joining but somehow I could not hit upon the right moment to do so,” Mr. Salim told The Hindu. He added that he had not made up his mind whether he would contest the 2016 Assembly polls in the State. He added that he had wanted to take forward his grand uncle’s idea of “Vision 2020” and felt that the BJP was the only party that could deliver on that. “My grand uncle also felt the present government was committed to those ideals,” he added. CM YK zil (G4) in the Security Council started during the UPA’s tenure. The two consecutive UPA governments, he said, invested enormous efforts to win some degree of support from Germany and Russia. “But after he [Modi] came to power, Russia is no more interested,” he said. “The U.S. is ambivalent. That is why I say this country has been misled.” Referring to the PM’s remark that the Gandhis encouraged graft, Mr. Sharma said the BJP must come clean on how the government managed to generate money to host grand events like the ones held in New York’s Madison Square Garden and in San Jose’s SAP Centre. Amit Shah was expected to go to Patna on Tuesday to douse fires in the party over ticket distribution, a source admitted that there was a lot of resentment. “Many senior people have been disregarded and, as was done in several previous elections, newcomers and crossovers from other parties have been given ticket.” “This situation can be likened to U.P. in 2014, when there was a similar resentment after Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel and candidates of other allies were handed seats to which local party leaders felt they had a strong claim. That time too, district units were in open rebellion but it was quelled using a combination of Mr. Shah’s stick and Narendra Modi’s carrot policy,” said a source close to the BJP president. CBI against summoning Manmohan in coal case Special Correspondent Nistula Hebbar NEW DELHI: Hardik Patel, the man leading an agitation demanding reservation for the Patel community in Gujarat, will launch a political party — the Patel Nav Nirman Sena (PNNS) — in New Delhi on September 30. On the occasion, the party will also hold its first national executive meeting with Mr. Patel as its president. Akhilesh Katiyar, who handles Mr. Patel’s engagements in Delhi, will be the general secretary. He was earlier with the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), led by Upendra Kushwaha, but was asked to leave after it was discovered that he was Mr. Patel’s point man in Delhi. Mr. Patel himself stopped over in Delhi on Monday, en route to Gujarat from Jharkhand, but remained confined to his south Delhi hotel. an extremely appalling and pathetic manner by commenting on the moving moment when the Prime Minister recalled what his mother had done. He is devoted to his mother,” Mr. Akbar said. On the other hand, the Congress leader directed several jibes at the Prime Minister, calling all his statements about making a great progress toward achieving a permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council as “confusing and misleading.” Mr. Sharma said the country was losing “firm support” from its oldest ally Russia. The talks about including India, Japan, Germany and Bra- CBI says records did not suggest that Manmohan Singh was part of any conspiracy. NEW DELHI: The CBI on Monday opposed an application for summoning the former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, as an accused in a coal block case. Opposing the former Jharkhand Chief Minister, Madhu Koda’s application for summoning Dr. Singh, who was then holding the additional charge of the Coal Ministry, as an accused, CBI counsel told a special court that the application had no merit. Mr. Koda is an accused in the case. The CBI has alleged that the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand was allocated to Jindal Steel Power Limited and Gagan Sponge Iron Private Limited in an illegal manner. The former Minister of State for Coal, Dasari Narayan Rao, also supported Mr. Koda’s plea, arguing that the Prime Minister’s Office had allocated the coal block to the two companies after examining the matter. Mr. Koda has also sought summoning of the former En- ergy Secretary, Anand Swaroop, and the then Mines and Geology Secretary, Jai Shankar Tiwari. The investigating agency opposed this plea as well. The case records even prima facie did not suggest that the former Prime Minister was part of any conspiracy in the allocation of the coal block to the two companies, the CBI counsel submitted. Submitting before Special Judge for coal block cases, Bharat Parashar, the CBI counsel said the application was a device to delay the trial. SC rejects plea to ban animal sacrifices in festivals ligion cannot be allowed to become a tool for perpetuNEW DELHI: Refusing to enter- ating untold miseries on tain a petition to ban animal animals.” sacrifices during religious It contended that “faith, festivals across all communi- religion, customs and practies, the Supreme Court said tices should not take preceon Monday that it could not, dence over lawful rights, for the sake of societal bal- human or animal.” This beance and harmony, inter- ing true for all religious comvene in centuries-old munities, whether it be customs of religious faith “Durga pooja, the slaughter and tradition meant to ap- of lambs for Easter, turkeys pease the gods. for Thanksgiving or goats for A public interest litigation Bakrid,” the petition said. petition filed by journalist “The balance and harmoVaraaki contended that “re- ny of all faiths, this court is Krishnadas Rajagopal bound to it. This, your petition, makes generalised statements on a very, very sensitive matter. We have to close our eyes [as it pertains] to centuries and centuriesold traditions,” Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu responded to the submissions made in the petition by senior advocate Raju Ramachandran and advocate Sriram Parakkat. The Chief Justice then pointed to Section 28 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and observed THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 JD(U), BJP trade barbs over Bihar NEW DELHI: As BJP president War of words after Modi’s jibe at Gandhi family NOIDA/DELHI that it was not an offence to kill an animal in a manner required by the religion of any community. “Nothing in this Section prevents a person from killing animals as part of his tradition,” the Bench, also comprising Justice Amitava Roy, observed. Mr. Ramachandran, making his point that this petition was not regarding any particular community, narrated scenes of animal sacrifices where animals were slaughtered amid “frenzied paranoia.” The BJP then won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in U.P. The party is hoping for a repeat in Bihar with several borrowed candidates and a heavy dependence on Mr. Modi. “Mr. Modi will be in Bihar every second day for a rally or a meeting, and there will be no other face from the party. Leaders in revolt are being told that they need to unite around Mr. Modi’s political appeal,” said the source. In Bihar, reports of entire district units in places like Muzzaffarpur having quit made the headlines, though the party in Delhi maintains that all is well. Party MP R.K. Singh, who alleged that the party had given ticket to people with a criminal background, reiterated in an interview to a local newspaper in Patna that he would not campaign for such candidates. Mr. Shah’s mission in Patna will be to put an end to such public articulation. NEW DELHI: Despite prominently displaying Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogans on cleanliness, the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here is not yet clean enough to host the AfricaIndia summit beginning on October 26. Though diplomats refused to acknowledge the messy condition of the venue, indeed an alarming situation prevails in “K.D. Jadhav Wrestling Stadium” of the sports complex where workers are battling gigantic puddles of water, broken ceiling patches, water pipes, bird nests, and animal excreta deposited over a period of time. A few labourers who have recently begun to renovate the stadium are mostly limited to the ground floor leaving the upper floors to be cleaned during the brief period ahead. Apart from stray dog menace, workers say frequent sighting of snakes Given its condition, the restoration of the venue in time for the summit seems to be an uphill task. — FILE PHOTO: S. SUBRAMANIUM is another matter which requires them to remain alert. However, this aspect seems to be taken care of by a good number of mongooses that are seen darting across the arena on a good day. According to workers, a major nuisance for the heads of states and the army of diplomats, unless preventive measures are installed, will be the presence of a few aggressive kites and pigeons which have turned the high roofs of the gymnastics and wrestling wings into their nesting habitat. While sportspersons might choose to ignore bird droppings from the high ceiling, even a few such white splotches on expensive diplomatic tuxedo suits might play spoilsport. Ministry sources said anti-bird measures would be put in place but till date no effort seems to have been made. Workers are also worried about breeding of mosquitoes, which needs to be controlled, given the dengue scare currently gripping Delhi. Fumigation and fogging are under way but mosquitoes continue to thrive. A high official from the Ministry of External Affairs told The Hindu on condition of “no attribution” that the Ministry of External Affairs would explore the possibility of doing away with rather undiplomatic names like “K.D. Jadhav Wrestling Stadium” and signs like “Gymnastics” and “Commonwealth Games 2010.” While the choice of the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex for the event was prompted by the desire to host all the 54 four member-states of the African Union under one roof, the level of preparation remains a cause for concern. The official said 35 African countries have confirmed NEW DELHI: As pictures of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi attending a conference in Aspen, Colorado, were posted on social media, BJP spokesperson M.J. Akbar called them “highly nebulous” and said Mr. Gandhi should “come out and explain what he was doing [in the U.S.].” “He is enjoying some undeserved vacation,” Mr. Akbar said. In the pictures, Mr. Gandhi is wearing a black jacket and a buttoned-down burgundy shirt. He is smiling in two separate pictures — one with British politician David Miliband and another with Iceland’s president Olafur Ragnar Grimsson — captioned as “Snapshots from the new media and international affairs conference in CO, USAwith @OfficOfRG, CBI grills ED Joint Director Special Correspondent Iceland’s President & @DMiliband. Last weekend, the BJP criticised Mr. Gandhi’s absence from the country saying he was “hiding” as the Assembly elections in Bihar were round the corner. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also suggested that the regional allies of the Congress in Bihar, Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal did not want Mr. Gandhi in the campaign. Congress spokesperson and former Union Minister Anand Sharma reiterated the party’s position on Mr. Gandhi’s trip to the U.S., saying he was there for a conference. “I don’t know why the BJP has a problem with wherever he [Mr. Gandhi] goes and why they want to know everything about him,” he said, “They have no sense of personal space.” Pictorial warnings on tobacco products to get bigger against seven alleged bookies. It is suspected that the charg- NEW DELHI: Pictorial health NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau es against the accused per- warning on packages of tobacco products will become of Investigation (CBI) on sons were diluted. bigger from April 1 next year. Monday questioned the Joint Internal probe A notification to this effect Director of the Enforcement The directorate ap- was issued on Monday by the Directorate’s Ahmedabad unit, days after he was booked proached the CBI through the Health Ministry, saying that on graft charges. The accused Finance Ministry seeking ac- all tobacco products would official was supervising the tion after an internal probe carry warnings covering 85 probe in important money into complaints against the per cent of the package area official revealed that prima from April 1 next year, up laundering cases. “The accused, J.P. Singh, facie the allegations against from 40 per cent at present. This came a day before a was examined at the CBI him had substance. The CBI is investigating to hearing on this matter is headquarters for about four hours,” said a CBI official, ascertain whether certain ha- scheduled to take place in the adding that he would be sum- wala operators and tax con- Rajasthan High Court. sultants had given about Rs. “The Health Ministry has moned again if necessary. The CBI registered a brib- 15 crore to Mr. Singh’s father- issued the notification. As per ery case against the 2000- in-law S.K.S. Somvanshi, a re- the notification, 85 per cent batch Indian Revenue Service tired IRS official, seeking fa- pictorial warning has to be official on a complaint by the vours for those under there and it will come into Enforcement Directorate fol- scrutiny in a couple of cases effect from April 1, 2016,” a lowing allegations that he had being pursued by the directo- senior Union Health Ministry official told PTI. received bribes from some of rate’s Ahmedabad unit. Apart from the IPL case, The Rajasthan High Court the accused persons and suspects in some money launder- the ED is investigating a Rs. had on September 9 ordered ing cases, including the 5,000-crore money launder- the Centre to ensure that Indian Premier League crick- ing case against alleged hawa- larger pictorial warnings are la operator Afroz Fatta. carried on all tobacco prodet betting racket. After the CBI registered ucts by September 29. In connection with the beHe said that the Ministry tting case, the Ahmedabad the case, the directorate team had conducted a series shunted out the three sus- will seek six months as the of raids in Delhi, Gurgaon, pected officials, including Ad- producers of the products Jaipur and Mumbai in May, ditional Directors Sanjay need to make adjustments to their products. and filed a charge sheet Kumar and P.S. Srinivas. Africa-India summit venue far from ready Kallol Bhattacherjee Mehboob Jeelani their participation. Natwar sounds note of caution Former External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh sounded a note of caution for the preparatory team of the summit under Additional Secretary Syed Akbaruddin: “For the 7th NAM summit of 1983, Indira Gandhi ordered us to redo the entire Vigyan Bhavan. We had to complete the renovation in three months and the Prime Minister herself repeatedly came to check the progress of work. Hosting so many heads of states is not easy and we had to ensure that Iranian leaders did not sit next to the Iraqis as their two countries were at war with each other, and several such irritants can play the role of spoiler also.” The disarray at the venue should act as a wake-up call for the Modi government which plans to bedazzle the African leadership just four days after Vijaya Dasami. Sachin to do a cameo for ‘Swachh’ mission Mehboob Jeelani NEW DELHI: Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar will be featured in the upcoming video of Swachh Bharat Mission. In a small cameo, the cricket icon will be seen singing a few lines from its new anthem while his wife, Anjali, will stand by him. “It’s going to be both audio and visual presentation,” said Aishwar Rai, the spokesperson at Urban Development Ministry. “Apart from Sachin, we are also involving other celebrities.” The video is crafted on the lines of Miley Sur Mera Tumahara, a composition of several Indian languages produced by Doordarshan in the early 1990s to promote unity in diversity. Written by lyricist Prasoon Joshi, the anthem song for Prime Minister Sachin Tendulkar will sing a few lines from the new anthem. Modi’s clean India vision is tuned by musical trio Shankar-Ehsan-Loy and produced by Mukesh Bhatt. Famous Bolywood singer Shankar Mahadevan will be the lead vocalist. The audio of the song is expected to be released on the eve of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary on October 2. ND-ND NEWS NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 | 13 GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS COOPERATION IN FIGHTING TERROR, DEMAND FOR MEMBERSHIP IN GLOBAL EXPORT CONTROL REGIMES FIGURE IN MODI-OBAMA TALKS India seeks funds, technology to combat climate change Varghese K. George P rime Minister Narendra Modi, who met President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly here on Monday, sought U.S. support to complete United Nations reforms within a fixed time-frame and cooperation for India’s early membership of the Asia Pacific Economic Community, but climate change dominated their hour-long conversation. “Much of our discussion today focused on the upcoming climate conference in Paris,” Mr. Obama said, adding: “We agree that this is a critical issue for the world, and all of us have responsibilities. We are encouraged by the aggressive nature of Mr. Modi’s commitment to clean energy.” “President and I share an uncompromising commitment on climate change, without affecting our ability to meet the development aspirations of humanity. We have set ambitious national agendas,” Mr. Modi said, adding that both leaders looked forward to a “comprehensive and concrete outcome in Paris with a positive agenda,” which will ensure “access to finance and technology for the de- I REALLY BELIEVE THAT INDIA’S LEADERSHIP AT THIS CONFERENCE WILL SET THE TONE NOT JUST FOR TODAY, BUT FOR DECADES TO COME" veloping world.” The progress on meeting these objectives will be the crucial test for bilateral relations in the coming months. “What I said is, that I really believe that India’s leadership at this conference will set the tone not just for today, but for decades to come,” Mr Obama said. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said Mr Modi brought up the “climate of negativism” that surrounds climate change negotiations and sought to turn the debate into a positive format that will nudge developing countries to adapt cleaner development models by providing them access to technology and capital. While Mr. Modi said the India-U.S. partnership was driven by economic ties, Mr. Obama said: “We also had a chance to talk about trade and investment,” adding that Mr. Modi was hoping that Indian Americans would contribute to India’s growth. Mr. Obama had, during his India visit in January, declared his support for India’s admission into APEC, and that will be a key, tangible milestone for bilateral ties. Mr. Modi and Mr. Obama reviewed progress on the issue and Mr. Modi said: “To further increase our strategic engagement in the region, I look forward to working with the U.S. for India’s early membership of the Asian Pacific Economic Community.” Both countries were keen on em- U.S., India sign $3-bn defence deal Josy Joseph NEW DELHI: A few hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama met in New York, the two sides signed final agreements for the purchase of two of the most advanced American helicopters in a deal worth about $3 billion. Ministry of Defence spokesperson Sitanshu Kar announced on his official Twitter handle: “Contract for purchase of 15 Chinook and 22 Apache helicopters signed.” Just an hour after the official announcement, Mr. Modi and Mr. Obama met in New York with a warm hug. According to officials, the deal value is worth about $3 billion (Rs 19,800 crore) and would be completed in four years. The agreements were signed in the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence in South Block. For the Chinook helicopters, the agreement was signed between representatives of MoD and Boeing. For Apache, there were two separate contracts —one between MoD and Boeing representatives and the other between the governments to cover parts of the deal under the Foreign Military Sales programme. Like the agreement signing on Monday, the deal itself was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security just moments before Mr. Modi left on his visit of Ireland and the U.S. last Tuesday. The deal had been on the backburner for the past five years. The contracts mark yet another significant step in rapidly expanding military We can’t step in against post-poll alliances: SC Legal Correspondent DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday expressed its inability to “step in” and act against two political parties which chose to forge a post-poll alliance to gain power, much against their campaign promises to voters. “Which law says that a promise made by a political party is a promise enforceable by law?” Justice Amitava Roy asked. The Bench led by Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu and Justice Roy was hearing a public interest litigation petition seeking the Supreme Court to declare post-poll alliances unconstitutional on the grounds that voters had no inkling about it when they cast their votes. “Can this court pass such orders if two political parties join together after elections? Is it for this court to thwart them?” Chief Justice Dattu asked advocate Mithilesh Kumar Pandey, who filed the petition against the Election Commission of India. “Even if we step in, the parties will say they have become friends and have founded an alliance post elections, or they can say that the alliance was formed to save the exchequer the expense of another election,” Chief Justice Dattu observed, dismissing the plea. The plea, earlier rejected by the Delhi High Court, had challenged the “validity of post-poll alliances among political parties” on the grounds that the same was a “breach of the promises made by them during the campaigns.” NEW CM YK ties between the two sides that would be discomforting to China, while drawing the contours of a broader coalition emerging in the region. Unlike the previous UPA government, which was reluctant to be seen to be doing U.S. bidding in the region, the Modi government has been receptive to U.S. deals and joint exercises. In a first, the latest Malabar exercise between the U.S. and India has been expanded to include Japan. The latest deal would ensure that the U.S. remains the one of India’s biggest military suppliers for some years to come. The U.S. has signed over $10 billion worth of defence deals with India in the past decade or so. This includes P-8I maritime surveillance planes, C-130J Super Hercules and C-17 Globemaster-III transport aircraft. Join India’s growth journey, Modi appeals to diaspora Narayan Lakshman SAN JOSE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the crowd at SAP Centre in San Jose, California, on Sunday. — PHOTO: REUTERS phasising India’s APEC membership as part of the Joint Strategic Vision on Asia, Pacific and Indian Ocean Regions. Mr.Modi also underscored the importance of joint engagement with regional partners like Japan. “This will also strengthen our maritime security cooperation,” he said. After the Obama-Modi bilateral meet in September 2014, both countries had decided to promote joint consultations with Japan to the ministerial level, and the first one will take place in New York next week. Mr. Swarup termed the back-to- NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition against the Centre’s decision to link digital locker facility with the Aadhaar card of citizens. A Bench led by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu told Sudhir Yadav, an RTI activist from Gurgaon, that the court cannot entertain a writ petition if the guidelines issued by it are not followed. “If guidelines are not followed, file a contempt petition not a writ petition,” Chief Justice Dattu told Mr. Yadav, who appeared in person. The petition was filed shortly after the Centre launched the digital locker facility, urging the court to quash the order making Aadhaar mandatory tinuing and increasing personal chemistry between the leaders who address each other by first name.” “So, we very much appreciate his friendship and his partnership,” Mr. Obama said. Support for India PTI reports: Meanwhile, the U.S., Britain and France reaffirmed their support to India’s permanent membership of the UN Security Council as textbased negotiations to expand the most powerful wing of the world body begins in November. More sops for start-ups coming Peerzada Abrar BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s team, which reached out to Indian start-ups in the Silicon Valley, told them that the government proposed to streamline the patent process online to make it more convenient. The idea was to create a large library of patents originating from India and fund 500 lawyers to make it free for anyone to file the patent. According to industry sources, at a meeting with top Indian entrepreneurs and investors in the Silicon Valley, Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, spoke about proposals that could make it easy for start-ups to do business in India. ‘Forming a company is very difficult in the country. Also about 80 % of the start-ups wind up their operations’ The government, Mr. Kant told them, was planning to set up incubation centres in every State and create a mechanism to enable small firms to file patents free of cost. Representatives of IT trade body Nasscom, entrepreneur network TiE in the Silicon Valley and software product think-tank iSpirt attended the meeting. K. Vijay Raghavan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, and Hemang Jani, Officer SC dismisses PIL on digital locker Legal Correspondent back meeting that Mr. Modi had with his British counterpart David Cameron and French President François Hollande as “power Monday,” and said climate change was on the agenda of all three meetings. Cooperation in combating terrorism, particularly, in concluding the pending Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, and India’s long-pending demand for membership of four global export control regimes also figured in Mr Modi’s conversation with Mr. Obama. Mr. Swarup said the “takeaway from the meeting was the con- for availing the dedicated personal storage service. As part of an initiative under the Digital India programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on July 1 launched the digital locker facility – linked to Aadhaar cards – to help citizens digitally store their important documents like PAN card, passport, mark sheets and degree certificates. It is aimed to help people by eliminating the use of physical documents and in sharing verified electronic documents across government agencies. Mr. Yadav had contended that the government’s insistence on Aadhaar cards was in violation of the Supreme Court’s previous order as well as fundamental right to equal- ity guaranteed under the Constitution. The petition argued that the government’s order would go against the direction issued by the apex court on September 23, 2013. Acting on a set of petitions, including the one filed by former judge Justice K. S. Puttaswamy, the apex court had ordered: “No person should suffer for not getting the Aadhaar card in spite of the fact that some authority had issued a circular making it mandatory and when any person applies to get the Aadhaar card voluntarily, it may be checked whether that person is entitled for it under the law and it should not be given to any illegal immigrant.” on Special Duty at the Prime Minister’s Office were the other top officials who represented the government. Mr. Kant said the government proposed to amend the Companies Act to relax the rules for venture capital flow. The government also wanted to make reinvestments by investors tax-free. “All these proposals are good. Forming a company is very difficult in the country. Also about 80 per cent of the start-ups wind up their operations. We have to make it easier for them to shut down,” said T.V. Mohandas Pai, former Infosys director and an adviser to iSpirt. “They [the government] should also set up and fund incubators at 500 universities and colleges,” said Mr. Pai, who is also chairman of Manipal Global Education 30 missing after Assam boat capsize Services. Last year, 54 per cent of the funded tech start-ups domiciled themselves out of India to Singapore and the United States because of better regulatory environment there. It was estimated that the figure would go up to 75 % this year, according to iSpirt. “Exodus of tech start-ups is gathering momentum,” said Sudhir Sethi, managing partner, venture capital firm IDG Ventures and head of the iSpirt List-in-India Policy Expert Team. “The situation is serious and good intentions must translate into quick action,” he said. Nine of the top 30 business-to-business software product companies by market capitalisation have already relocated to the U.S., Singapore and the U.K. ‘I WANT A CERTIFICATE FROM YOU.... ARE THERE ANY ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION AGAINST ME?’ The audience cheer Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SAP Centre in San Jose.— PHOTO: AP Civilian 82-hour Internet ban on Eid fuels anger in Kashmir engineers in Peerzada Ashiq CHAYGAON (ASSAM): At least 30 people were missing after an overcrowded mechanised boat with about 200 people on board capsized in the river Kolohi in Assam’s Kamrup (Rural) district on Monday, a senior district official said. The engine of the boat, which was travelling from Koraibeel to Gumi, stopped working midstream of the river and hit against the pillar of a bridge causing it to flip, according to Kamrup (Rural) Deputy Commissioner Vinod Kumar Seshan. — PTI his bond with an 18,000-strong audience of the Indian American community in Silicon Valley on Sunday evening and made a pitch for India’s economic development from the dividends of the “brain deposit” that they represented. Speaking in Hindi to a packed SAP Centre Arena at the heart of the Valley, Mr. Modi announced that “Air India’s direct flight from Delhi to San Francisco will fly three times a week” from December 2, bringing India ever closer to the vibrant tech ecosystem here. While he assured the diaspora that India today had emerged as the “fastest growing major economy,” he noted that the two main challenges facing the world were terrorism and global warming. Even as the Prime Minister received a rousing welcome within the arena, a wall of protesters lined up outside the SAP Centre waving placards that questioned Mr. Modi’s human rights record in the context of the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat. Possibly answering critics in the U.S. who had earlier questioned his record of achievements after one year in office, the Prime Minister asked the crowd: “Today, after 16 months, I want a certificate from you saying if I’ve fulfilled my duties or not. Are there any allegations of corruption against me?” In what appeared to be a dig at the Gandhi family he added: “The daughter took $500m, son-in-law took $1bn. Aren’t you sick and tired of corruption? Is there any allegation against me?” Without naming Pakistan, Mr. Modi also hit out at terror threats faced by India. “Terrorism is terrorism. There is no good terrorism and bad terrorism.” When even the UN United Nations had still been unable to define terrorism, how could India tackle it? The reception for Mr. Modi here was organised by the Indo-American Community of the West Coast and was attended by 13 members of the Congress, including Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. SRINAGAR: The longest-ever Internet ban lasting 82 hours, imposed during the festival period of Eid, was lifted in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. The ban drew sharp criticism as the Valley witnessed dampened celebrations. “My Eid was incomplete without watching grandchildren on Skype and spending time together online. I could not see them because of the ban, which drove divided families like ours to the Stone Age,” said Sheikh Hilal, whose son and grand- children live in Dubai. The security agencies apprehended “misuse of the Internet by anti-national elements” in the wake of the controversy sparked by court directives to the police to enforce the 1932 law banning bovine slaughter. Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took a jibe at the PDP, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the ban. “Oh, the irony of listening to the Prime Minister talking about digital India while we in J&K spent three days totally disconnected due to his party and allies,” Mr. Abdullah tweeted. Government spends Rs. 2.7 lakh a month per MP Rukmini S. NEW DELHI: India paid Rs.176 crore to its 543 Lok Sabha members in salaries and expenses over the last year, or just over Rs. 2.7 lakh a month per Member of Parliament (MP), new official data show. MPs are entitled to Rs.50,000 per month as salary, Rs.45,000 as constituency allowance, Rs.15,000 as office expenses and Rs.30,000 for secretarial assistance. When Parliament is in session, they get a daily allowance of Rs.2,000. MPs are also reimbursed for 34 flight trips and unlimited rail and road travel for the year on official business. The Lok Sabha Secretariat releases information on the amount claimed by and reimbursed every month to MPs on these expense heads. MPs are also entitled to grouped together, account for the biggest chunk of public spending on MPs, or nearly half of all expenses, at Rs. 83 crore for the year, the data show. The differences in travel claims largely drive differences between MPs’ Travel expenses expenses. Travel reimbursements The data shows that two and daily allowances, MPs — the BJP’s Bishnu Pada other perks, including free housing, limited free water, electricity, telephone facilities and medical treatment. This does not reflect in the expenses paid out every month by the Lok Sabha. Ray from the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and the CPI (M)’s A. Sampath from Attingal, Kerala, — claimed over Rs.1 crore each between June 2014 and June 2015. Another 61 MPs claimed between Rs.50 lakh and Rs.1 crore over the year. The lowest amounts claimed were by Ministers whose expenses get covered by their respective ministries and no longer by Parliament once they become Ministers, a Lok Sabha Secretariat official explained. “The expenses and claims of MPs are governed by an Act of Parliament. Our work involves a lot of travel, including for various committees in Delhi. I would hope that all MPs fulfil their duty to the fullest,” Mr. Sampath said. MPs who claim the most in travel expenses are not necessarily the ones doing the most travel, but are the ones who do not have corporate friends with planes they can borrow or undisclosed money to spend on travel, an MP, who was among the high claimants but did not want to be quoted, said. MPs who hire trained researchers on their staff say that the office and secretarial allowance is far too low to run a competent office and must pay their staff from their own pockets. “Apart from phone and travel reimbursement, the only expense that is paid for is Rs.30,000 per month, which is barely enough for a receptionist,” Biju Janata Dal MP Baijayant Panda, who has trained researchers on his staff, said. military on novel protest Special Correspondent NEW DELHI: In an unusual move, over 1,000 civilian engineers who play crucial roles in the military have gone on a novel protest against alleged discrimination by the military leadership. The Indian Defence Service of Engineers Association (IDSEA), representing over 1,000 group A officers, have passed a resolution declaring boycott of all social functions in the Military Engineering Service (MES) where they are posted. The officers would wear a black ribbon on their left arm on two days and a white mouth band another day, the resolution says. Officers of IDSE play a crucial role in all major military stations and field posts, looking after engineering requirement. It is unusual for civilian officials holding such key posts to go on a protest of this nature. The IDSEA has alleged that the engineer-in-chief also holds dual charge as the head of MES, but does not report to anyone as the head of MES should be reporting to the ministry. “MES is a composite inter-services organisation under MOD. MES comprises service personnel and civilians. History of administration of the MES reveals that the E-in-C, as head of MES, has never seen both streams with the same eye,” the resolution has alleged. ND-ND 14 | Obama, Putin cross swords over Syria in duelling UN speeches UNITED NATIONS: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama sparred over the crisis in Syria in duelling UN speeches on Monday, each accusing the other of fuelling the carnage. The Russian urged UN General Assembly members to unite to fight the Islamic State group and said it would be a disastrous error not to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “We must address the problems that we are all facing and create a broad antiterror coalition,” Putin said in his address, his first to the world body in a decade. It is, he argued, an “enormous mistake to not cooperate with the Syrian group which is fighting the terrorists face-to-face.” Obama said Washington was ready to work with Russia and even Iran against the Islamic State jihadists, but took a swipe at them for supporting Assad, whom he dubbed a child-killing tyrant. Not to be outdone, the Russian leader blamed the rise of violent extremism on the United States’ military interventions in Iraq and Libya, which he said unleashed chaos in West Asia. Obama took the podium at the UN General Assembly ahead of Putin. The U.S. President extended a cautious hand to his traditional foes, suggesting they work together to end the bloodshed in Syria. “The United States is prepared to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve the conflict,” he said. But the American leader made clear his opposition to Moscow and Tehran’s current policy of arming and supporting Assad. Rather than a bulwark against jihadist extremism, Obama argued, Assad drives Syrians into the arms of such groups by such acts as dropping “barrel bombs to massacre innocent children.” Putin rejected this view, ar- Russia proposes global contact group to resolve Syrian crisis Ian Black & Julian Borger NEW YORK: Efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria may be taken up by an international “contact group”, including Russia, Iran, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt, it emerged on Monday, hours before Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin were to hold their first meeting in over two years. Mikhail Bogdanov, the Russian deputy forguing that the IS group sprang out of the chaos left behind after U.S.-backed forces ousted Saddam Hussein from Iraq and Muammer Gadhafi of Libya. After the end of the Cold War, Putin argued, the West emerged as a new “centre of domination” of the world and arrogantly took it upon itself to resolve conflicts through force. This power led to the “emergence of areas of anar- eign minster, said the group could meet by October the RIA news agency reported from Moscow. The group conspicuously excludes Britain and France, both permanent veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council who are hostile to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as well as China. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2015 chy in West Asia, with extremists and terrorists.” ‘Resolution against IS’ Meanwhile, on Monday, Moscow’s envoy to the United Nations said Putin had proposed a UN Security Council resolution to govern international military action against the Islamic State. — AFP PUTIN'S GRAND STRATEGY FOR WEST ASIA | EDITORIAL PAGE 쐍 Protesters marched in Nepal’s capital on Monday carrying an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing their giant neighbour of imposing an economic blockade and meddling in internal politics over the adoption of a new Constitution. About 40 people have been killed in protests since August. Indian oil trucks stopped crossing into Nepal because of protests in the south, prompting officials to try to limit use of cars and save fuel. Hundreds of trucks carrying essential supplies are stranded on the border. — Reuters KATHMANDU: CM YK TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 FIRST TIME IN 14 YEARS, INSURGENTS BREACH AN AFGHAN PROVINCIAL CAPITAL Taliban capture Kunduz city n Monday, the Taliban largely seized a major Afghan city, storming government compounds and sending panicked residents fleeing, as the Islamists for the first time breached a provincial capital since being ousted from power in 2001. Fierce fighting raged in the northern city of Kunduz as marauding insurgents freed hundreds of prisoners from the local jail, set government buildings on fire and hoisted their trademark white flag over the homes of officials. The Taliban’s incursion into Kunduz barely nine months after the NATO combat mission ended marks a major psychological blow to the country’s Western-trained security forces. “The Taliban have taken the city but our forces are still putting up resistance in some areas,” Kunduz police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini told AFP, adding that promised reinforcements from Kabul were awaited. Scores of bodies littered the streets after hours of heavy fighting, Afghan media reported citing local residents, many of whom were making a hasty exit from Kunduz. Many were fleeing to the city’s main airport, which is still in government control, but some complained they were being turned away by security forces. The city was swarming with Taliban fighters racing police vehicles, who overran the governor’s compound and the local police headquarters. The local headquarters of the National Directorate of Security, the country’s main intelligence agency, was set on fire, a INSURGENTS HOISTED THEIR FLAG OVER THE MAIN SQUARE OF KUNDUZ, FREED PRISONERS AND SET FIRE TO THE INTELLIGENCE HEADQUARTERS Act against terrorists: U.S. tells Pak. Afghan soldiers keep watch during a battle with the Taliban in Kunduz Province on Monday. — PHOTO: REUTERS security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Saad Mukhtar, head of a 200-bed government hospital, said the Taliban had control of the building and were hunting for wounded Afghan troops. “Yes, the enemy is in the city and they have taken over the prison and other buildings, but reinforcements will be deployed and the city will be taken back,” interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP. “Major victory” The new Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a statement congratulated his cadres over the “major victory.” This was the group’s third attempt this year to breach the city, which coincides with the first anniversary of President Ashraf Ghani’s national unity government in power. The Taliban’s ability to penetrate the city is a major setback for Afghan forces who have been battling the militants without the front-line help of NATO forces who ended their combat mission in December 2014. The Islamist group has been largely absent from cities since being driven from power by the U.S. and its allies, but has maintained often-brutal rule over swathes of the countryside. A senior tribal elder in Kunduz, 250 km north of Kabul, said the militia had control of one of the city’s districts, while a second elder added his house was now around 100 metres from their forward line. Federal government officials had earlier issued strong denials that the Taliban had breached the city, insisting they were repelling the insurgents on the city’s outskirts. — AFP Saudi airstrikes hit Yemen wedding party, kill 40 people ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has Anti-India protests erupt in Nepal THE HINDU SETBACK FOR KABUL O India, Pak. say 1,100 killed in Haj disaster given foreign diplomats some 1,100 photographs of the dead from last week’s Haj crush and stampede, Indian and Pakistani authorities said, an indication of a significantly higher death toll than previously offered by the kingdom. Saudi officials could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday night about the discrepancy in the toll of the disaster in Mina. The Saudi Health Ministry’s latest figures, released on Saturday, put the toll at 769 people killed and 934 injured. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, a lawmaker in Pakistan’s governing PML-N political party who is leading his country’s response to the disaster, said Saudi officials gave diplomats “1,100 photos” of the dead from Mina. Chaudhry told journalists during a news conference broadcast nationwide on Monday night that the photos could be viewed at Saudi embassies and missions abroad. “This is the official figure of martyrs from Saudi officials, given for the identification process,” Chaudhry said. “Saudi authorities have released photos of 1,090 pilgrims who have died in stampede,” Sushma Swaraj, India’s External Affairs Min- WORLD NOIDA/DELHI NEW YORK U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has asked Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take action against terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Haqqani Network. Mr. Kerry commended Mr. Sharif’s pledge to not distinguish between terrorist groups, and “urged additional action against the Haqqani Network and Lashkar-e-Taiba,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said following the two leaders’ meeting here on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session. “He acknowledged the crucial role Pakistan has played in Afghan reconciliation talks and noted the importance of dialogue with India for fostering regional stability and economic integration,” Mr. Kirby said. The two leaders discussed topics of mutual interest including counterterrorism, Afghan reconciliation, regional stability and economic cooperation, he said. “They confirmed our longterm strategic bilateral cooperation based on joint interests and mutual respect. The Secretary underscored that the U.S. shares an interest in a stable, democratic and prosperous Pakistan and welcomed the Prime Minister’s commitment to complete Pakistan’s IMF program reforms,” Mr. Kirby added. The banned Lashkar-e-Taiba had carried out the audacious 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. The Haqqani Networkhas been blamed for the Indian embassy bombing in Kabul in 2008 that left 58 dead. — PTI Maldives President escapes boat blast SANA’A: At least 40 people were killed when a wedding hall in southwest Yemen was bombarded Monday in a suspected Saudi-led coalition air strike, medics and witnesses said. “The bodies of 31 people, including children, have been taken to a hospital in Mokha,” a medical source said, before later raising to 40 the death toll at the hall in the Red Sea city. He said dozens of people were wounded, most of them seriously. Witnesses reported that warplanes struck the wedding hall in Mokha, which is controlled by Shiite Houthi rebels. However, one local resident, requesting anonymity, said: “I didn’t hear any warplanes.” There was no immediate comment from the Saudiled Arab coalition. Several coalition air strikes have hit non-military facilities killings dozens of civilians over the past six months prompting condemnation from rights groups. In late August, an air raid struck a bottled-water factory in the northern Hajja province, killing 17 civilians and 14 rebels. — AFP Sushma Swaraj tweeted on Sunday that Saudi authorities had released photos of 1,090 pilgrims who had died in the stampede. — FILE PHOTO ister, wrote on Twitter on Sunday. Indian diplomats and government officials declined to immediately discuss or elaborate on Swaraj’s tweet. It wasn’t immediately clear if other foreign embassies in Saudi Arabia had been given similar photographs. Saudi authorities have said that the disaster began when two large waves of pilgrims converged on a narrow road last on Thursday during the final days of the annual hajj in Mina near the holy city of Mecca. — AP A year after clashes, Hong Kong activists vow to fight on Tom Phillips HONG KONG: Activists in Hong Kong have vowed to continue their fight for democracy, one year after clashes between police and student protesters sparked some of the largest demonstrations ever seen in the former British colony. Hundreds of campaigners descended on Hong Kong’s government headquarters on Monday afternoon to remember the 79-day umbrella movement demonstrations that began on September 28 last year. “I have a very simple message: we must continue the fight until we get democracy for Hong Kong,” Benny Tai, a university professor who helped launch the occupation, told The Guardian before addressing the crowd. “It is not over.” Joshua Wong, a prominent student leader, vowed to stay on the frontline of his city’s battle for universal suffrage, and said his message for China’s President, Xi Jinping, was: “Give Hong Kong democracy and autonomy. It is the commitment that China’s government made in 1984.” Hundreds of police guarded the expressway running past Hong Kong’s government headquarters to prevent protesters from reoccupying an area they turned into a sprawling campsite for more than two months last year. But activists said there was neither the energy nor the appetite for renewed occupations in the near future. “Right now people need to take a rest,” said a front-page large-scale occupation.” He said students in the former colony were now split about “whether they should maintain non-violence, civil disobedience tactics or should move in another [direction].” Erica Yuen, the chair of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy People Power party, said there would be further protests if Beijing refused to offer concessions that gave citizens of its “special administrative region” a real say in the choice of their leader. “I’m sure it is not over. Anyone Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong gather on who participated last year is Monday to mark one year since the start of mass ready to go again when the rallies calling for free leadership elections in timing is right,” she said. the semi-autonomous city. — PHOTO: AFP Ms. Yuen urged protesters editorial in the pro-democraChan Kin-man, a Universi- to keep their faith in the fight cy newspaper Apple Daily. ty of Hong Kong academic for democracy and wait for “We will put away our um- who helped launch last year’s Beijing to make a mistake. brellas so that one day we can protests, said: “I don’t think — © Guardian Newspareopen them again.” in the short run there will be a pers Limited, 2015 Officials carry an injured woman off a speed boat of Maldives President Abdulla Yameen after an explosion on board, in Male on Monday. — PHOTO: REUTERS MALE: An explosion ripped through a speed boat carrying Maldives President Abdulla Yameen on Monday, injuring his wife and two others but leaving him unhurt. It remains unclear what caused the explosion, which came at a time of heightened political tensions after the controversial jailing of Yameen’s predecessor Mohamed Nasheed. Unconfirmed reports suggested the blast, which occurred as the tightly-guarded vessel docked in the capital island Male, came from the engine room below deck. “The First Lady Fathimath Ibrahim, a senior protocol officer and a bodyguard of the President were hurt and taken to hospital,” said Mo- hamed Hussain Shareef, minister at the President’s Office. “The President was unhurt and he escorted the first lady to hospital where she is under observation following a minor injury,” he told AFP. The Maldives has launched an investigation into the incident and is seeking help from the United States and Australia to determine what happened. Reporters had gathered at the presidential jetty to receive Yameen, who had landed a few minutes earlier at the nearby Hulhule airport after a visit to Saudi Arabia for the Haj pilgrimage. State television footage showed the President being escorted off the boat. — AFP Italian shot dead in Bangladesh DHAKA: An Italian charity worker has died after being shot by unknown attackers in Dhaka on Monday, Bangladesh police said. The 50-year-old man died in hospital after being shot three times near the city’s diplomatic quarter, Dhaka police spokesman Muntashirul Islam told AFP. “Tavella Cesare was shot three times at Road Number 90 in the capital’s Gulshan area in the afternoon. He died after being brought to a Dhaka hospital.” The motive for the attack was not clear. The spokesman said the three assailants fled the scene on a motorcycle. — AFP Clinton is biased, says Beijing BEIJING: A Chinese government official said on Monday that Hillary Clinton was “biased” on women’s issues in China, for her tweet saying it was “shameless” for China’s President Xi Jinping to preside over a U.N. conference on gender equality and women's empowerment. Xi on Sunday touted his government’s record on women’s rights as the United States slammed Beijing and others for jailing women for their views. Xi’s administration has detained hundreds of rights activists in the past two years. — Agencies ND-ND | 15 BUSINESS NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 THE REFORMS ARE AIMED AT UPPING THE GROWTH TRAJECTORY TO BEYOND 7.5 PER CENT EXPECTED THIS FISCAL — SHAKTIKANTA DAS, Secretary, Economic Affairs SENSEX 28-09-15 25617 24-09-15 25864 247 POINTS GOLD 28-09-15 26-09-15 26,810 26,990 180 Rs/10gm RUPEE 28-09-15 24-09-15 66.05 66.16 BRENT OIL 28-09-15 47.58 25-09-15 49.72 0.11 Rs/$ 2.14 $/bbl Modi’s Facebook HQ visit brings net neutrality into focus Yuthika Bhargava NEW DELHI: Ever since Mark Zuckerberg changed his Facebook profile picture to a tricolour shade in support of the Modi-government’s Digital India initiative, the social network’s users in the country have been split down the middle on the issue, with many saying the gesture indirectly promotes Internet.org, which allegedly violates net neutrality. While several changed their pictures, including PM Modi, many others didn't. This has restarted the debate on net neutrality an whether or not platforms such as Facebook's internet.org should be allowed -- an issue that the Modi-government appointed expert panel has also looked into. The telecom regulator TRAI is expected to submit a report on net neutrality in a couple of months. Internet.org, recently rebranded as Free Basics by Facebook, aims to bring Internet services to areas that are still not connected in partnership with tech giants like Samsung and Qualcomm. However, it has been widely criticised for violating net neutrality principles and favouring Facebook’s own services over its rivals. In India, which has the largest Facebook user base outside the U.S., Facebook partnered with Reliance Communications to provide free access to select websites. In the wake of the controversy over the initiative, a lot of these websites such as Cleartrip, Times Group, Flipkart and Ndtv opted out of Internet.org to voice their support for net neutrality. Questions are also being raised on why Facebook did not take up the issue of net BRIEFLY INITIAL PUBLIC OFFER L&T Infotech files DRHP with SEBI MUMBAI: Larsen & Toubro Infotech, a subsidiary of engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T), has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Monday to seek its approval for starting an initial public offering of its equity shares. “The issue comprises of an offer for sale of up to 1.75 crore equity shares of the face value Re.1 each by Larsen & Toubro,” L&T said in a filing with the stock exchanges. This is part of L&T’s plans to unlock value for its shareholders. — Special Correspondent DR. REDDY’S LAB Starts generic Nexium sales in U.S. HYDERABAD: Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has begun sales in the U.S. of esomeprazole magnesium delayed-release capsules, a generic version of AstraZeneca’s Nexium that is used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease. Announcing this on Monday, a release from Dr. Reddy’s said the 20 mg and 40 mg capsules were available in bottle count size of 30 starting September 25. The Nexium brand capsules and generic equivalents had U.S. sales of about $ 5.2 billion in the 12 months ended July 2015. — Special Correspondent EXCHANGE RATES Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit except yen at 4 p.m on September 28 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 Ringitt Kuwaiti Dinar UAE Dirham Bahraini Dinar Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal Omani Riyal TT TT Buying Selling 65.84 73.58 100.01 54.82 10.32 67.20 46.06 46.03 49.26 7.77 9.86 41.80 8.49 14.86 217.32 17.92 173.21 18.13 17.61 170.57 Source: Indian Bank CM YK 66.16 73.94 100.51 55.09 10.40 67.54 46.30 46.28 49.51 7.82 9.91 42.02 8.54 14.97 219.09 18.02 176.55 18.15 17.61 172.30 India an easy country to settle in for expats: Survey Yuthika Bhargava NEW DELHI: India is seen as an easy country to settle in for expatriates, according to a HSBC survey. The survey shows that more than 62 per cent of expats in the country feel at home within the first year as compared to the global average of just 48 per cent.  One of the major reasons for this, the survey points out, is the support expats receive from their employers.  “Nearly a third (30 per cent) of expats receive education or day care allowances for their children from their employer. Just under a third (32%) receive family support allowances for cultural or language coaching. In both cases, this level of support for expats is higher in India than any other country surveyed,” it pointed out.  As per the survey, India features among the top 10 destinations for expats in terms of ‘family aspects of living’ in the adopted country The close-knit family culture in India is very dominant and 58 per cent of them believe the country is getting better as a place to live and work.  One of the biggest challenges for expats in India is integrating into the Indian culture, with almost a quarter (24 per cent) finding it difficult to do so, compared with the global average of 18 per cent.  In the HSBC ‘Expat Explorer 2015’ survey, India ranked 10th on the family league table, which ranks each country using a score that summarises the expats’ views concerning the family aspects of living in the adopted country.  “The close-knit family culture in India is very dominant and expats find that countries with such strong family values bring them closer to their own families,” HSBC India Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management S. Ramakrishnan said.  Mr. Ramakrishnan further said that “in addition to providing a good environment for children to grow up in, a fulfilling work life and rich culture are some of the other reasons why 58 per cent of expats believe that India is getting better as a place to live and work.”  Meanwhile, Singapore emerged as the best place overall for expats to enjoy an excellent quality of life, financial wellbeing and improved career prospects. New Zealand was ranked as second best, followed by Sweden and Bahrain in the third and fourth place respectively. Others in the top 10 include Germany (5th), Canada (6th), Australia (7th), Taiwan (8th), UAE (9th) and Switzerland (10th). India ranked 17th on the country league table considering all parameters like economics, experiences and family. Flipkart plans ‘Big Billion Sale’ Pradeesh Chandran BENGALURU: After the failure of the much touted ‘Big Billion Day’ last year, e-commerce marketplace Flipkart is gearing up for its “Big Billion Sale” season two. The “Big Billion Sale” is the second edition of the discount sale and will be held from October 13-17. Unlike the previous version, this year’s sale will be a five-day long event. The “Big Billion Sale” will be an app-only shopping event and will offer exciting offers and discounts across more than 70 product categories for customers. “Celebrating the start of festive season in India, Big Billion Days will be the ultimate shopping event for customers to shop for gifts and other items for friends and ISMA cuts sugar output forecast Special Correspondent NEW DELHI: The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) has revised downwards sugar production estimates by a million tonnes to about 27 MT for the marketing year starting next month due to poor monsoons in producing states like Maharashtra and Karnataka. ISMA had projected in July that sugar production in India, world’s second largest producer, would be about 28 million tonnes in the 2015-16 marketing year (October—September). Despite downward revision of production estimates, the country’s sugar output would be higher than the domestic demand for the sixth year in a row. “Considering further poor rainfall during SW monsoon in July and also during August in Maharashtra and Karnataka, ISMA has revised its estimated sugar production in 2015—16 sugar season to around 27 million tonnes,” ISMA said in a statement. For the 2014-15 marketing year, production is likely to be 28.3 million tonnes. Domestic consumption and exports are estimated at 25.1 MT and 1.1 MT respectively, leaving the closing stock at 9.6 million tonnes. “On the basis of the September 2015 satellite images, ISMA has estimated the total cane acreage at 52.8 lakh hectares, which is just 0.4 per cent less than 2014-15 sugar season,” the statement added. State-wise, ISMA has estimated downward revision of production for Maharashtra at 9 million tonne from 9.7 million tonnes in the July projection. In the marketing year 2014-15, the state is all set to produce 10.5 million tonnes. MUMBAI: German luxury car manufacturer Mercedes Benz has committed an additional investment of Rs.1,000 crore for production of luxury cars in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Monday. Mr. Eberhard Kern, MD & CEO of Mercedes-Benz India (MBI) and his successor Roland Folger, MD & CEO-designate, called on Mr. Fadnavis in Mumbai.  “MercedesBenz decides to invest another Rs.1,000 crore for production of luxury cars and Chief Minister assured complete support of govt,” announced Chief Minister’s Office on its official twitter account. Maharashtra government has been engaging German manufacturing companies to invest in the state under its flagship “Make in Maharashtra” programme.   have the best ever mobile shopping experience,” he added. Last October, Flipkart, one of the unicorns of the Indian start-up story, had organised ‘Big Billion Day’ to celebrate its one billion journey. The company had announced deep discounts for products in over 70 categories with a sales target of $100 million in gross merchandise value. However, the special day became a failure for the company and its founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal were forced to apologise for the troubles the customers faced. To cater to the anticipated customer demand this year, Flipkart has opened new fulfilment centres across the country to guarantee efficient delivery. Boost R & D to drive manufacturing growth: Study G. Balachandar Mercedes may add Rs. 1,000 cr investment family,” Flipkart said in a release. Flipkart will offer special discounts on items like apparels, footwear, mobiles, furniture, laptops, toys, large appliances, jewellery, watches and home furnishings among others. “India shops the most during this time of the year. With over 75 per cent of traffic coming via mobile, we expect this app only sale to be the biggest shopping event of the year. Bigger and better as compared to last year, we have worked towards ensuring a seamless shopping experience for our customers,” said Mukesh Bansal, Head of Commerce Platform, Flipkart & Chairman – Myntra. “We have also ramped up our technology and supply chain support to ensure all our 50 million customers CHENNAI: India needs to invest more in research & development (R & D) and promote entrepreneurship to achieve transformative gains and boost job creation in the country, according to a joint study “Make in India – The next leap” by Assocham and Thought Arbitrage Research Institute. “Technology drove manufacturing growth globally and will continue to do so. India’s performance in developing new and improved technologies has been dismal. While technological handicap can be addressed through FDI in the short run, India needs to find resources to invest in R & D and new technologies for long term growth,” it said. The study stated that India’s innovation suffered due to poor investments in R & D. The country spends less than one-fifth of what China or some of the leading multinational companies do. “India spends 0.8 per cent of GDP on R & D, which is the lowest among BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and other countries,” it added. Stating that private sector investments in R & D is also inadequate to achieve any business gains, the report pointed out that only a handful of big corporates in India take R & D investments seriously. Global firms such as Samsung spend more than India’s entire R & D investments. Indian business has preferred to buy technology from the global markets rather than invested in creating home-grown technology. While this approach has the advantage of quick uptake of production, the downside is that the purchased technology is usually not the latest cutting edge, but on the verge of becoming obsolete,. the study said. Promote Entrepreneurship “Promoting entrepreneurship and competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises will also be a major differentiator in Make in India as it would help absorb both educated and uneducated workforce in a productive way,” said Ravindra Sanna- Promoting entrepreneurship will go a long way in addressing the challenge of providing jobs to millions every year reddy, chairman – southern region council, Assocham. The study also draws attention to the complaints over poor infrastructure, tax issues and skill gaps, among others and has asserted that Make in India is not just a policy choice any more, but an absolute necessity that can’t be postponed. BULLION RATES September 28 rates in rupees with previous rates in brackets Chennai Bar Silver (1 kg) Retail (1 g) 24 ct gold (10 g) 22 ct gold (1 g) Delhi Silver Standard gold Sovereign 35,435 37.90 26,850 2,510 (36,110) (38.60) (27,020) (2,526) 35,600 (35,915) 26,810 (27,000) 22,400 (22,400) neutrality during its 45-minute townhall Q&A with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite a lot of users posting questions on the subject on Mr. Zuckerberg’s home page. Mr. Zuckerberg's post on the townhall featured comments and questions on net neutrality. Facebook had received over 40,000 comments from users for the event. This has again put the spotlight on Facebook’s stand on net neutrality – basically, the principle that service providers should treat all data on the Internet equally and not discriminate against, or charge differently, any website or service. “Until April 2015, Internet.org users could have free access for only a few websites, and Facebook’s role as gatekeeper in determining what websites were in that list was seen as violating net neutrality. In early May 2015, due to severe criticism, Facebook announced that the platform would be opened to websites that met its criteria,” stated the report by a Telecom Ministry panel on the subject on net neutrality. The government, after a public uproar over the subject, had formed an expert panel to look into the subject. The panel in its 111-page report opposed the platform stating, “content and application providers cannot be permitted to act as gatekeepers and use network operations to extract value, even if it is for an ostensible public purpose.” Facebook for its part said Internet.org acted as a “gateway, as opposed to gatekeeper, to Internet access by breaking down the cost, infrastructure and social barriers that exist today.” Reliance Defence signs MoU with Emirates Defence Special Correspondent MUMBAI: Reliance Defence, a part of Anil Ambani led Reliance Group, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Emirates Defence Industries Co to jointly explore opportunities for manufacturing and building capabilities in defence vehicles, aviation and associated areas, defence equipment and armament manufacturing, defence electronics, commercial and naval ships and MRO of military equipment/ platforms. The partnership will aim at bringing synergy to bring down operational costs and leverage each others’ capabilities, Reliance Group said in a statement. SC asks Sahara to respond on SEBI plea Legal Correspondent NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Sahara Group to file its response on a plea by market regulator SEBI to appoint a receiver to dispose of its assets to arrange for Rs.36,000 crore to pay investors. This came even as a European corporate offered to lend $ 5 billion to bail out the group’s jailed chief Subrata Roy. A Bench headed by Justice T.S. Thakur sought a reply from Sahara within four weeks and posted the matter for hearing after six weeks. It declined the group’s counsel and senior advocate Kapil Sibal’s plea to wait for the outcome of the offer made by the foreign company. The court’s amicus curiae Shekhar Naphade agreed that “we are left with no alternative” on the suggestion to appoint a receiver. During the earlier hearing also, the Bench noted that it was apparent that the group was facing problems in selling properties to arrange Rs.36,000 crore. ND-ND 16 | OPEN PAGE NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 Contributions to this page may be e-mailed to [email protected] to a length of up to 700 words. Please provide the postal address and a brief description of the writer. An e-mail id that is provided could be considered for publication. Certify in writing that it is original material; The Hindu views plagiarism as a serious issue. Also confirm that the submission is exclusive to this page. Taking into account the volume of material being received, we regret our inability to acknowledge receipt, or to entertain telephonic or other queries on the status of a submission. If a submission is not published within eight weeks, consider it to be out of the reckoning — in most cases owing to dearth of space. The publication of an article is not to be seen as The Hindu endorsing the viewpoint in any way. CM YK ND-ND SPORT NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 Harjeet to lead junior team | 17 Jasmine Ser Xian Wei steals the show Special Correspondent NEW DELHI: Midfielder Harjeet Singh will continue to lead as the junior Indian men’s hockey team aims to defend its title at the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup later this month. The 18-member squad for the tournament, to be played from October 11-18, was announced on Monday and the two-time defending champion is keen to make it a hat-trick this time around. India beat Great Britain 2-1 in the final last year with a winner in the dying minutes. The tournament also saw young drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh, come of age as the topscorer for India. This time around, India would open its campaign in the competition, played in roundrobin format, against Pakistan, whom it thrashed 6-0 in the previous edition. Australia, Great Britain, Argentina and host Malaysia are the other teams in the fray. The Indian side recently finished fourth at the Volvo Invitational Tournament. “We are not allowing the pressure of being defending champion overwhelm us. The team is in a very good shape and we are undergoing strenuous training. There is a huge improvement in our passing and scoring,” Harjeet said. “The boys are confident and aim to retain the title. Our opening match is against Pakistan and the boys are excited about their clash against them. We have understood our past mistakes and the team is geared up for the challenge,” coach Harendra Singh said. The squad: Goalkeepers: Suraj Karkera, Vikas Dahiya; Defenders: Varun Kumar, Dipsan Tirkey, Anand Lakra, Vikramjit Singh, Harmanpreet Singh; Midfielders: Nilakanta Sharma, Harjeet Singh, Santa Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Manpreet; Forwards: Arman Qureshi, Gurjant Singh, Ajay Yadav, Parvinder Singh, Sumit Kumar, Ajit Kumar Pandey. Schedule: October 11: India vs Pakistan, October 12: India vs Great Britain, October 14: India vs Argentina (all at 4.05 p.m.), October 15: India vs Malaysia (6.05 p.m.), October 17: India vs Australia (4.05 p.m.); October 18: classification matches. Rahul and Bombayla win recurve gold KOLKATA: Eastern Railway’s Rahul Banerjee and L. Bombayla Devi emerged the recurve champions in the sixth interRailway archery tournament at Guwahati on Monday. Sunendu Roy (South Central) and Trisha Deb (South Eastern) won the compound honours. Rahul defeated Prabhat Kandir of CLW 6-0 in the final while Bombayla downed Laxmirani Majhi (SECR) 6-2. Mangal Singh Champia (ER) finished third in the men’s section and Satbir Kaur (NFR) took the third spot in the women’s category. Sunendu beat Sudhakar Paswan (NWR) for the gold while Trisha defeated Manjudha Soy (SECR) in the women’s final. In the men’s category, Vikash Sharawat (SECR) finished third and Gagandeep Kaur (DMW) was third in the women’s section. The mixed team event, introduced for the first time, was won by the Eastern Railway pair of Banerjee and Bombayla. The duo got the better of Dhaniram Basumatary and Satbir Kaur of NFR 6-4. The bronze went to CLW. — Special Correspondent Indian rowers win seven medals HYDERABAD: India won five silver and two bronze in the 16th Asian rowing championships that concluded in Beijing on Monday. The creditable haul helped India finish second in overall tally after host China. The medallists: Silver: Men’s four: Kapil Sharma, Jaswinder Singh, Rajesh Verma, Mohammad Azad); Single scull: Dattu B. Bhokenar; Lt. wt. men’s double sculls: Vikram Sngh & Shokender Tomar; Men’s double sculls: Roopendra Singh & Sonu Laxmi Narain; Men’s eight: Davinder Singh, Naveen Kumar Boraiyya, Suchcha Singh Tomer, Gurvender Singh, Kapil Sharma, Jasvinder Singh, Rajesh Verma, Mohammad Azad and Lakshman Rohith Maradapa. Bronze: Men’s pairs: Davinder Singh & Naveen Kumar Boraiiya; Men’s singles scull: Dushyant VERY BRIEFLY Yuki Bhambri jumped up 21 places to achieve a careerbest singles ranking of 104, thanks to his runner-up finish at the Taiwan Challenger. Somdev Devvarman slipped to the 171st spot after losing five places while Saketh Myneni gained a place to be 198th. CM YK Kamesh Srinivasan NEW DELHI: Jasmine Ser Xian Wei of Singapore stole the thunder from the Iranian shooters as she won her maiden gold at the Asian level in the women’s air rifle event in the eighth Asian Airgun championship at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Monday. Ayonika Paul salvaged some pride for the host by winning the bronze. After qualifying in fourth place with a modest 414.9, the Singaporean led throughout the final to beat favourite Elaheh Ahmadi of Iran, the qualification topper, by 1.5 point. World Cup Final silver medallist Apurvi Chandela finished eighth, while defending champion Pooja Ghatkar was pushed to fifth. For World Cup medallist Ayonika, who had former world record holder and Olympic finalist Suma Shirur as her coach, it was a welcome medal that would boost her confidence for the Asian Championship in Kuwait For Iran, with the former Indian coach Laszlo Szucsak of Hungary as its coach, the gold was there for the asking. But in a judicious attempt, it opted not to put all the best shooters in one event. Thus the Asian Games gold medallist Najmeh Khedmati, who has also won the Olympic quota, was fielded in the junior event, in which she beat compatriot Fatemeh Karamzadeh by 0.6 for the gold with a world record equalling score of 208.9. Of course, the world record would not be ratified as the technical officials maintained that the junior event needed a minimum of 10 entries. The field had only seven entries. Interestingly, Najmeh herself has the world junior record of 207.9. Shriyanka Sadangi did well to pull her way to the bronze medal, and thus stopped a clean sweep by the Iranians in the junior event, after Maryam Shafiel Pour had got past Mampi Das and Man- deep Popli. There were only two countries in the fray, and thus India was not given a medal in the team event. The results: 10m air rifle: Women: 1. Jasmine Ser Xian Wei (Sin) 208.1 (414.9); 2. Elaheh Ahmadi (Iri) 206.6 (419.3); 3. Ayonika Paul 185.0 (413.6); 5. Pooja Ghatkar 143.3 (412.8); 8. Apurvi Chandela 81.3 (415.0). MQS: Elizabeth Susan Koshy 417.6. Team: 1. Iran 1247.7; 2. India 1241.4; 3. Korea 1231.3. Juniors: 1. Najmeh Khedmati (Iri) 208.9 (418.8); 2. Fatemeh Karamzadeh (Iri) 208.3 (414.5); 3. Shriyanka Sadani 185.4 (410.0); 5. Mandeep Popli 140.2 (411.9); 6. Mampi Das 119.4 (410.3). MQS: Nina Chandel 409.5; Meenakshi Sheoran 399.3. Team: 1. Iran 1244.4; 2. India 1232.2. Youth: 1. Aashi Rastogi 205.7 (411.2); 2. Seyadeh Roya Sobhkhiz (Iri) 205.5 (416.5); 3. Prachi Gadkari 183.6 (407.0); 9. Gayatri Pawaskar 406.9. MQS: Ayushi Podder 408.8; Gargi Sirsat 399.4. Team: 1. Chinese Taipei 1235.1; 2. Iran 1228.3; 3. India 1225.1. ASIAN AIRGUN SHOOTING India’s Ayonika Paul waves to the spectators after winning bronze medal flanked by Singapore's Jasmine Ser Xian Wei (gold medal winner, left) and E. Ahmadi, who won the silver 10m air rifle event. — PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA that offers the final set of Olympic quota places in November. There was another Indian who did very well in the qualification with the second best score of 417.6, but Elizabeth Susan Koshy who has been close to getting the Olympic quota place in the rifle 50metre 3-position event, was in the MQS section. Tsonga claims 12th career title METZ (FRANCE): Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Gilles Simon 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-2 in an all-French final at the Moselle Open to claim his 12th ATP title on Sunday. The results: Finals: At Metz: ATP Moselle Open: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Gilles Simon 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-2. At Saint Petersburg: ATP St. Petersburg Open: Milos Raonic bt Joao Sousa 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. At Tokyo: WTA Pan Pacific Open: Agnieszka Radwanska bt Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-2. At Seoul: WTA Korea Open: Irina Begu bt Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 6-1. — Agencies Blatter to stick on: lawyer GENEVA: Sepp Blatter has told FIFA’s staff that he will stay on as president while he cooperates with Swiss prosecutors who have opened criminal proceedings against him, his lawyer said on Monday. “Blatter spoke to FIFA staff today and informed the staff that he was cooperating with the authorities,” Blatter's lawyer Richard Cullen said in a statement. Barcelona will be tested CAB — first among equals in East Zone without Messi CRICKET G. Viswanath MUMBAI: A perusal of the list of the BCCI principal office-bearers (president, secretary, jt. secretary and treasurer) will straightaway indicate that the full members of East Zone — with the notable exception of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) — have looked like a downtrodden lot. Officials from CAB, who have been principal office-bearers of the 82-year-old body are J.C. Mukherji, A.N. Ghose, B.N. Dutt, Jagmohan Dalmiya, Pankaj Gupta and Goutam Dasgupta, with Dalmiya virtually controlling the reins as treasurer (2 years), secretary (3 years) and president (3 years and six months from March 2015). He was elected treasurer in 1983. Dalmiya showed the power of the vote to the other East Zone members and many more from other Zones, but he did not let administrators from Assam, Bihar (Jharkhand), Odisha and Tripura rise; he handpicked people like Ranbir Singh Mahendra (Haryana), C. Nagaraj (Karnataka), S.K. Nair (Kerala), Kishore Rungta (Rajasthan), Jyoti Bajpai (Uttar Pradesh) and Jaywant Lele (Baroda) to run the affairs of the BCCI. Jagmohan Dalmiya showed the power of the vote to the other East Zone members and many more from other Zones, but he did not let administrators from Assam, Bihar (Jharkhand), Odisha and Tripura rise He did not allow the BCCI to chose Odisha’s Ranjib Biswal as secretary in 2011. He was the unquestioned leader till Sharad Pawar defeated Ranbir Singh Mahendra at the 2005 BCCI elections in Kolkata. After occupying the president’s chair for the second time, he even named National Cricket Club’s K.P. Kajaria as member of the important disciplinary committee. So it has to be seen as a miracle that for the first time since 1933-34, when the joint secretary’s post was introduced, an official from a non-CAB association — Jharkhand’s Amitabh Chaudhary — became a principal office-bearer of the BCCI last March. After Dalmiya’s death, East Zone had the opportunity to stake its claim for the BCCI president’s post till September 2017; unfortunately the Zone has thrown sufficient hints in the last few days that it’s ready to squander it. They were all party to an amendment to the bylaws in 2012 that allowed them to propose and second eli- gible candidates from other zones. “The principle of rotation (West, Central, South, East and North) has no meaning now,” said an aspirant from East Zone. The previous presidents were South (N. Srinivasan), Central (Shashank Manohar), West (Sharad Pawar), North (Ranbir Singh Mahendra, winning against Sharad Pawar nominated by Jammu & Kashmir) and East (Dalmiya) and before that South (A.C. Muthiah), Central (Raj Singh Dungarpur), West (I.S. Bindra; he represented Baroda), North (Madhavrao Scindia, representing a NZ member) and East (B.N. Dutt). The distribution of the principal office-bearers posts reveals a startling fact of Delhi & Districts Cricket Association’s (DDCA) poor representation in the BCCI administration. It has given India some fine cricketers in recent times like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan and a few more highly competitive GENERAL Dynamos sign a deal with BRICS Football Cup management NEW DELHI: To celebrate the BRICS summit in 2016 in India, Delhi Dynamos FC, the capital’s team in the forthcoming Indian Super League (ISL), on Monday signed an agreement with BRICS Football Cup management to be their sixth official football team partner, at an Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of In- dia (ASSOCHAM) event held here. Delhi Dynamos entered into an agreement with BRICS Football Cup tournament organisers at the ASSOCHAM launch of the BRICS Under-17 Football Cup. The agreement was signed by the Delhi Dynamos president Prashant Agarwal, Project Leader & Tournament Organiser Joao Gilberto Vaz. The Ambassador of Brazil Tovar da Silva Nunes was also present. ASSOCHAM, in partnership with BRICS Football Cup, is proposing to organise the first ever BRICS football event next year. Nivia Sports will be the official ball supplier. BSF (Jalandhar) posts win NEW DELHI: Border Security Force (Jalandhar) managed to edge past Bihar Regimental Centre (BRC, Danapur) 5-3 on penalties after the teams were tied 2-2 at the end of regulation time in the ninth Oriental Bank Maharaja Ranjit Singh hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium here on Monday. BSF took lead twice through Navnesh Kumar and Hatinder Singh, but Wilson Lakra pulled back for BRC both times. While BSF managed to convert all five attempts in the shootout, BRC could only get three. In another league match, Heera Singh scored twice as Indian Navy thrashed ASC, Bangalore 5-1 to qualify for Phase II. Sanjit Toppo scored the lone goal for the losing side. The results: BSF 2 (Navnesh Kumar, Hatinder Singh) bt BRC (Wilson Lakra 2) on penalties. CRPF 3 (Ignatius Toppo 2, Saroj Ekka) bt PNB 2 (Sumeet Pal, Lakhwinder Singh). Indian Navy 5 (Heera Singh2, Rana Pratap, Amit Goswami, Suman Kindo) bt ASC 1 (Sanjit Toppo). cricketers, but after Ram Prakash Mehra’s two-year tenure as president in 1975-77, DDCA has drawn a blank for almost 40 years. DDCA gave its first secretary in Antony D’Mello for 10 years from 1928 to 1938 and a joint secretary for three years in M.B.L. Mathur from 1965-68, but not a single treasurer. The BCCI amended its election bylaws only to make Arun Jaitley president in September 2014; but it seems he’s happy to play the kingmaker. There are many who have been elected vice-presidents; they don’t have a vote unless they represent a full member and after the last elections the present dispensation made losing candidates — Chetan Desai, Ravi Savant, Rajeev Shukla, Jyotiraditya Scindia — chairmen of important committees. The Supreme Court appointed Justice R.M. Lodha committee has three months to present the recommendations on “best practices and reforms” the BCCI can consider in order to become a transparent and accountable sports body. It has been given the bylaws of all the full members of the BCCI, including that of the NCC that has virtually no role to play in Indian cricket. Indian men lose to Singapore MADRID: Barcelona’s first game without the injured Lionel Messi will be an important one in the Champions League. The defending champion faces Bayer Leverkusen, the Group E leader, in the second round of group stage matches on Tuesday. After a 1-1 draw with Roma, a setback at home could leave the Spanish club in an uncomfortable position early on in the group and be a worrisome sign about the future without its biggest star. “I’m sad anytime a player gets injured, and if it is Messi even more so, considering the weight he has on the team,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said. “Whenever there is an injury, the important thing is the team. We are a team and will pull through this together.” AS Roma plays BATE Borisov in the other game in Group E. Real Madrid will be looking for a second consecutive victory in Group A when it plays at Malmo on Wednesday, while its group rival, Paris Saint-Germain, can also reach six points from two matches when it plays at Shakhtar Donetsk. In a game between Group C leaders, Atletico Madrid hosts Benfica on Wednesday, and Zenit St. Petersburg can maintain its early lead in Group H when it hosts Belgium’s Gent on Tuesday. English teams Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United opened the group stage with losses and need to get back on track this week. Manchester United, the Premier League leader, hosts Wolfsburg in Group B, while Arsenal plays Olympiakos in Group F. Manchester City, with three losses in its last four games in all competitions, is away at Borussia Moenchengladbach in Group D. “Being a strong team is Europe must be our target,” City coach Manuel Pellegrini said. “But not at the expense of the Premier League.” Chelsea won its opener in Group G, but Jose Mourinho’s team travels to Portugal for a difficult game against FC Porto, where his managerial career took off by winning the Champions League in 2004. Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon believes a victory against Sevilla in Group D on Wednesday could help the team turn its season around af- ter a difficult start at home. “The Champions League gives us an excellent opportunity to rediscover our confidence and spark,” Buffon said. “We need to face Sevilla with ferocity, determination and a healthy desire to surprise.” The four-time defending Italian league champion lost for the third time this season over the weekend, falling 2-1 at Napoli. “This is the toughest challenge we’ve faced,” Buffon said. “But I live for challenges and the more difficult they are, the greater the joy of overcoming them.” Borussia Moenchengladbach’s renaissance is a timely one. Lucien Favre quit as coach last week after starting the Bundesliga with five defeats and a 3-0 loss to Sevilla in the side’s opening Champions League game. However, interim coach Andre Schubert has now led the team to two wins, with seven goals scored. Ahead of the club’s first European Cup game at home for 37 years, ‘Gladbach finally appears to have clicked. “We’re playing the football that made us strong last season again,” midfielder Granit Xhaka said after Saturday’s 3-1 win at Stuttgart. Kazakhstan will be hosting its first-ever match in the Champions League proper on Wednesday when FC Astana takes on Galatasaray in the Kazakh capital. — AP NEW DELHI: Singapore men defeated India 3-1 in the fifthsixth placings matches of the champion division at the Asian table tennis championships at Pattaya, Thailand on Monday. The results: Men: Champion division (fifthsixth placings): Singapore 3 bt India 1 (Yang Zi bt Harmeet Desai 11-9, 11-7, 11-7; Gao Ning bt Soumyajit Ghosh 13-11, 11-4, 11-4; Chew Zhe Yu Clarence lost to Sanil Shetty 11-5, 6-11, 6-11, 8-11; Gao bt Desai 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6). Women (9-10 placings): India bt the Philippines 3-2. — PTI VERY BRIEFLY Britain’s Jenson Button looks set to stay with McLaren next season despite speculation of a rift with team boss Ron Dennis over contract talks. Dennis insisted after Sunday’s Suzuka race that he had told Button he would be driving for McLaren in 2016. BADMINTON Top five is the immediate goal: Jwala V.V. Subrahmanyam HYDERABAD: India’s premier women’s doubles shuttler, G. Jwala, says she and her partner Ashwini Ponnappa aim to break into the top five by the end of this year as part of their dream to win an Olympic medal at Rio. The 32-year-old, in an exclusive interview on Sunday — a day before the doubles camp under the supervision of Malaysian Tan Kim Her at Gopi Chand’s Academy here — said their target originally was to reach the top 10. Confident “However, since we could achieve this, the focus has shifted to the top five. And we are confident of doing that. One should remember that some of the big powers in badminton are fielding four doubles com- binations each. So, it is never going to be easy to win a title,” Jwala said. “Luckily, Kim is impressed with us and has an idea about our game and we should be able to become a much better combination,” the winner of 15 titles (including mixed) said. She said she would have her own trainer off court, but work with the new coach for oncourt training. “We did suggest some alternative venues. But, again, it is strange that the national coach’s contract has a clause that you should train only at a particular venue,” Jwala says with a wry smile. “I don’t want to waste any energy indulging in debates. Nothing is going to change, so why not make optimum use of the new coach and realise our targets? “The best part of the training programme is that Kim will be anyone,” she said. The way ahead G. Jwala. — FILE PHOTO travelling with us. So, we have the opportunity to make a critical assessment on the tour and make necessary corrections,” sheJwala. “Yes, I am very particular that there should be no interference in doubles training from Suggesting ways to see India emerge as a force to reckon with in doubles, Jwala said: “First, make Kim the head coach for the doubles teams. There should not be any interference in his functioning. “A separate venue should be identified for doubles training. Focus on young talent from age-group categories itself, not only on National title winners. “And, everyone concerned should make an effort to see doubles gets the importance it deserves — in terms of recognition and sponsorship. “Even though we are included in the TOP (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) scheme, we, like many included in it, are not sure how the funds are going to be spent. There is no clarity on this,” she added. ND-ND 18 | SPORT NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 Kalinic’s treble sinks Inter Milan MILAN: A hat-trick by Croatia striker Nikola Kalinic set up Fiorentina for a stunning 4-1 win on Sunday at the San Siro that ended Inter Milan’s 100 per cent start to the campaign and sent La Viola top of the Serie A on superior goals difference, ahead of Inter, which also has 15 points, with Torino two points off the pace in third. Inter had conceded only one goal in its opening five games but by the 23rd minute goalkeeper Samir Handanovic had picked the ball out of his net three times. Fiorentina was gifted the perfect start when the referee pointed to the penalty spot after Handanovic impeded Kalinic in the area. Josip Ilicic stepped up to slam the ball into the roof of the net after just four minutes. WUHAN: Maria Sharapova’s comeback from a leg injury lasted less than three sets as she retired with pain in her left forearm at the Wuhan Open on Monday. The Russian’s long-awaited return proved shortlived as she was pushed to two tie-breaks by the Czech Republic’s Barbara Strycova before withdrawing while leading 2-1 in the third. The Russian had sounded confident when she arrived in Wuhan on Saturday after a three-month break, telling reporters: “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t healthy and ready to compete.” — AFP India posts win EUROPEAN LEAGUES If the early opener shellshocked the Nerazzurri, they were ill-prepared for what was about to follow. Barely 15 minutes later Handanovic was beaten again, although this time the Slovenian ’keeper could justifiably apportion some of the blame to Inter’s sloppy defence. Handanovic could only parry a powerful dipping drive from Ilicic and as he and Brazilian defender Miranda waited for the ball to land, Kalinic wasted no time in running in to tap the ball home at the near post. Four minutes later Kalinic had doubled his tally for the night, the Croatian sliding in from close range to meet Mar- INTER'S NEMESIS: Fiorentina's Nikola Kalinic slots in one of his three goals against the hitherto unbeaten Inter Milan on Sunday. – PHOTO: REUTERS cos Alonso’s sweeping drive from the left flank. By now, Inter was all at sea and their night went from bad to worse on the half hour when Miranda was shown a straight red card for tugging on Kalinic as the striker ran down towards goal. But although Inter reduced the arrears on the hour mark, Mauro Icardi picking up his own rebound from an Alex Telles’ free kick to beat Ciprian Tatarusanu, it was a rare bright spot in an otherwise forgettable performance. Fiorentina looked dangerous on almost every opportunity and Kalinic secured his hat-trick on 76 minutes when he beat Handanovic down low BRIDGE Compton relishes her job A. Vinod CHENNAI: The 47-year-old Donna Compton from the United States, World champion in mixed pairs (along with Italian Fulvio Fantoni) in 2010, is the only woman non-playing captain among teams vying for the prestigious Bermuda Bowl in the 42nd World bridge championships now in progress at the ITC Grand Chola here. In fact, this is the fourth year that she is donning the same hat and Compton relishes the role that she got after recording in her resume sent to the United States Bridge Federation, seeking the job, that if picked she could make “the team picture look good”. Speaking about her responsibilities with the formidable USA1 team, Compton said that basically she was expected to help her players deal with stress, prepare them mentally for each match and remain a watch dog on the progress made by the side. “Fortunately we have a coach who looks after training, so I am concerned more about the welfare of the members of the team and their well being, acting as a fuse to help them overcome stress and be in good spirits prior to each match,” she said. Psychology, she said, had a definite role to play in the game, more than what than most people thought. “For one, almost all our players are used to playing 12 deals in one match whereas each match here is of 16 boards. So my job as non-playing captain is to help the players remain focused, advising them to recycle the clock and go board by board after the 12th deal.” Asked about the chances of USA1 winning the men’s title, she was quick with her response: “We are here to win. “And we should achieve our goal if we can get past England, France, Poland and Brazil, NEW DELHI: Delhi Dynamos’s marquee player-manager Brazilian legend Roberto Carlos says that he never played just to participate but always to win and this is the emotion he wants to instil in the team. Your views on ISL It is one of the biggest leagues in the world. I am honoured to be here. I am a little shy outside the field but this is a special moment of my life. Hope we (Delhi Dynamos) do better than the last season. How has your preparation been for the ISL? We are working very hard to be ready for the season. We are training with intensity since day one and the improvement of my team is making me happy. It was very important to go aggressive on the physical aspect. We need them fit to perform well during the games especially because we won’t have big gap between the matches. How do you view the growing number of Brazilian players in the ISL and Indian football? We are a country of football. We are here to promote football and I think it is very important for the development of Indian football. It also helps in the development of the culture between the two nations. You have an injured finger. Would you be playing in the first match (against Goa) on October 4? I am lucky the injury is in my hand and not feet. I am happy I am here and I want to play. I am a player first and then a coach. I will play. I love football. Will four-five foreign players in the playing XI help the Indian team to grow? I have 18 Indian players in my team. It is amazing. We can play only 4-5 foreign players but I don’t see any problem with that. Playing with and against great players will help the local players develop their skills. We (foreign players) are here for a reason. Your impressions of Indian football Indian football is developing but it still has to develop a lot, VARIETY THE HINDU CROSSWORD 11512 1 2 6 7 Mac 3 4 5 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Across 6 She's covered in glitter (5) 8 Partner played cello, a stringed instrument (9) 10 Rodent let loose to frighten (6) 11 Islamic ruler caught blaspheming in the extreme had to leave the country for good CM YK (8) 12 GRE: an exam to unearth the most exceptional (8) 13 Alone and very depressed, reportedly (4) 15 Discipline shown by criminal lacking sense of right or wrong? On the contrary! (7) 17 A Frenchman residing in a shack is embarrassed (7) 20 Poster boy's sick (4) 22 Popular setter (yours truly) overwhelmed by words of appreciation and warmth (8) 25 Rodent often heard to live in murky waters (5,3) 26 Danger posed by mad hatter (6) 27 Immature bachelor left work, ran away with girl instead (9) 28 Support black people (5) Down 1 The racist resorted to histrionics (9) 2 Pious man taken in by attractive girl's openness (7) 3 Large, trimmed hips borne by otherwise small figures (8) 4 Mysterious allure of acclaim (6) 5 Relatives haunt sis's house (5) 7 Measure the concentration of a solution as solvent at the bottom is replaced with new inorganic compound (7) 9 Function held in cafeteria (4) 14 Impedance can create complication (9) 16 State of agitation following coal-gate; UPA ultimately not involved (8) 18 In rebellion, married sweetheart (7) 19 Unusually tense about turning 11 — an important age for an adolescent (7) 21 Adulterous Irish princess misused sensuality without any hint of shame (6) 23 Songbird, one South American little creature (4) 24 Medium / medium-small (5) Solution to puzzle 11511 B A L L A U A MO D E M P I E L A T E N E O T O R I E T I D O P A L O N M E A S U U R C C A R T L H O E WR I P O D D S T S N T A A B L R E M O A T T E I N O OM I E N A A T I S O N S A D S K R S T P U I N D C I T E O L V E P R H A U B L E N O A A T E D C D P H E R E U S E S T S E R S A C E T T Y E C N G E L I E O C K especially the national squad. It will depend on the players, how they develop their game and skills. What would you tell the players? They should have a checklist. The goal of the players is to score and get better. What was your approach? My own experience was I never wanted to just participate. I wanted to win. Here, my idea is to help the players. You have to develop your mind as a winner. It will help you develop as a player. after a superb one-two with Ilicic. The results: Serie A: Inter Milan 1 (Icardi 60) lost to Fiorentina 4 (Ilicic 4-pen, Kalinic 19, 23, 76). La Liga: Getafe 3 (Vazquez 81, 90+1, Emi 90) bt Levante 0; Real Sociedad 0 drew with Athletic Bilbao 0. — Agencies. Donna Compton. which we reckon could pose problems for us.” Compton was all praise for the efforts made by the Bridge Federation of India in hosting the fortnight-long event. “The opening ceremony was great and so is the hospitality. I think we are in for a memorable event all along.” Simmons suspended ST. JOHN’S (ANTIGUA): West Indies coach Phil Simmons was suspended by the WICB on Monday for commenting about the ODI squad picked for the tour of Sri Lanka. Simmons said there was “too much interference from outside” in the selection of the ODI team, after all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard were not chosen. He said he and the chairman of selectors, Clive Lloyd, were outnumbered 3-2 in a vote for the return of the two players. — AP CHANGSHA (CHINA): Battling a slow start, the Indian senior men’s basketball team came from behind to hold off Hong Kong 76-71 in the 28th FIBA Asia Championship here on Monday. With this win, and following Palestine’s loss to Japan, India is just a step away from progressing to the quarterfinals. — PTI Scotland rallies to beat U.S. LEEDS: Scotland came from behind to beat the United States 39-16 in the Rugby World Cup on Sunday. The results: Scotland 39 bt United States 16; Ireland 44 bt Romania 10. — AFP Mixed day for Indian teams A. Vinod Psychology factor Develop your mind as a winner: Roberto Carlos Vijay Lokapally Sharapova’s comeback shortlived CHENNAI: Asian powerhouse China proved to be the stumbling block for the Indian men’s and senior teams on the second day of the HCL-42nd World bridge championships here on Monday. The defeats suffered by the two sides against the Chinese had an impact on the final standings of the day as the men, after climbing to the fourth spot at the end of the fifth round, found themselves dropping down to the 10th spot with a total of 68.17 VPs. The seniors, meanwhile, finished the day eighth (72.24 VPs). The Indian women continued their disappointing show for a second day running, losing all three matches again to be pushed to the 21st spot with a paltry total of 19.81 VPs. Due credit should, however, go the Indian men who rebounded remarkably from a disastrous opening day with easy wins over New Zealand (42-13) and the United Arab Emirates (66-19) in the initial two rounds of the Bermuda Bowl before running into China. Despite the heavy defeat against the Chinese (36-13), the Indians can stage a comeback and stay in contention for a place in the knockout quarterfinals should they average 12 VPs through the remaining rounds. The key to the comfortable wins against New Zealand and FAITH the UAE was the fine form displayed by the Indian foursome of Debabrata Majumdar and Sumit Mukherjee in the open room and Gopinath Manna and Subir Majumdar in the closed room. Against the Kiwis, the team started off with a double-digit swing of 11 points on the very first board. The side continued to press hard before gaining scores of 13 and 11 on the fourth and 16th boards. The Indians also put up a consistent show against the UAE before failing miserably against China. The Chinese were up 16-0 after three rounds and though the Indians tried their best by gaining 10 IMPs on the sixth board, the visitors were not to be denied as they reeled off winners in the remaining boards to cruise home. In the d’Orsi Trophy for seniors, India, sixth overnight, won two of its three matches again — this time against USA2 (23-20) and Chile (51-28) — but was pushed to the eighth spot after the loss to China (45-36) in the fifth round. The standings (after six rounds): Men: 1. France (86.71 VPs), 2. USA1 (86.67), 3. Bulgaria (84.49), 4. Brazil (81.27); 10. India (68.17). Women: 1. Denmark (112.61), 2. The Netherlands (88.54), 3. USA1 (88.21), 4. USA2 (84.78); 21. India (19.81). Seniors: 1. England (80.40), 2. Austria (80.24), 3. Bulgaria (78.63), 4. USA1 (77.60); 8. India (72.24). ● The Indian men posted comfortable wins over New Zealand and UAE before losing to China ● The Indian seniors, too, lost to China after winning two matches SU | DO | KU Serving Him A person with bhakti is not swayed by worldly attractions. Power holds no charm for him. Wealth is immaterial to him. Fame is not sought by him. All he aches for is to serve the Lord. Lakshmana did not hesitate for a second before deciding to accompany Rama to the forest. He refused to pay heed to Rama’s words for, his mind was made up. He would be by Rama’s side, serving Him and Sita. Later, Rama told him to go back, in case Sumitra and Kausalya suffer at the hands of Kaikeyi. Who will take care of them should this happen, asked Rama. But Lakshmana refused to go back to Ayodhya, because to him his foremost duty was to serve Lord Rama. Andal in her Tiruppavai prays that she should have the good fortune of serving Him always and that He should help her get rid of all other desires. That kind of attitude doesn’t come naturally to all and is difficult to cultivate too. One way to make a beginning is to stop putting requests before Him, asking Him for something or the other. We must pray that we should have bhakti towards Him always, said Akkarakkani Srinidhi, in a discourse. Azhvars and Acharyas have shown us their bhakti through the way they served Him. In Srirangam, when prasada prepared in the temple kitchen was taken every day to be offered to the Lord, Ramanujacharya would wait till the priest came out of the sanctum sanctorum. Ramanuja would then look at the prasada to check if the Lord’s fingers had left an impression in the food! Seeing the absence of finger marks, he would say that Lord had not touched the food for lack of bhakti! That kind of involvement is needed in serving the Lord. 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 yesterday’s puzzle is at left. ND-ND THE HINDU | 19 SPORT NOIDA/DELHI TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 Jeev at the helm Vidal may miss Dinamo clash Double delight I am very excited at the prospect of leading what I hope will be a very strong Asian team. I hope I can get a great team out there and keep them calm and collected and get the best out of them. — Jeev Milkha Singh after being chosen to lead the Asian team at the 2016 EurAsia Cup Bayern Munich’s Arturo Vidal may miss out Tuesday’s Champions League match at home against Dinamo Zagreb with a knee injury Jordan Spieth capped an epic season with a Tour Championship victory on Sunday that has boosted him back as the No. 1 golfer in the world and taken his 2015 winnings to more than $22 million A short-cut to acclimatisation CRICKET / SA begins tour with a T20 game against India ‘A’ Y.B. Sarangi NEW DELHI: Times have changed. So have cricket tours. Till some years ago, warm-up games consisting of a few three-day or fourday matches, used to be the norm prior to a full Test series. Not anymore. The packed calendar, predominantly due to the proliferation of limited-over matches, rarely gives cricket tours the scope to accommodate proper warm-up matches. Now, it is more of a luxury than a necessity with cricketers being forced to acclimatise and adapt to foreign conditions almost instantly. South Africa’s 71-day tour of India, starting with a T20 practice match versus India A at the Palam ground here on Tuesday, is an example of the changing times. The visiting side will start with its first-ever bilateral T20 series in India and get used to the conditions before switching to the five-match one-day series and then the four Tests. The uncertainty arising out of the internal squabble among the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) officials forced the shifting of the warm-up game from the Ferozeshah Kotla to the low-profile Palam Ground. But the change should not matter much to the touring team as it does not disturb the schedule and significantly reduces its travelling time to the venue. The familiarity of some of the South Africans, such as J-P. Duminy, Imran Tahir and Quinton de Kock, with the scenic ground will be a matter of comfort for the Faf du Plessis-led side. They have trained here as part of Delhi Daredevils. Hashim Amla, who has some personal commitments, and Albie Morkel, who was named as a A tale of last-minute decisions Uthra Ganesan NEW DELHI: While the India ‘A’ cricket team plays Bangladesh ‘A’ in a three-day match in Bengaluru from September 27-29, another India ‘A’ team will play a warm-up T20 match against the visiting South Africans here on Tuesday. That’s because the BCCI has decided to call both sides the same even though the one that would turn up at the Palam sports ground here comprises mainly IPL performers and youngsters. In line with the kind of confusion that has marked the se- ries so far, the Indian side, led by Mandeep Singh, turned up at the venue for practice on the eve of the match ahead of schedule. The team, originally expected to train from 3-5 p.m., decided to arrive early given the early start to the match (11 a.m.), even though the venue officials had no information of it and had to scurry to make arrangements. In fact, the SSCB officials have been in a hurry ever since the match was shifted here at short notice after the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association expressed its inability to host the game. As of now, even the final Test in Delhi is uncertain. The BCCI, which is responsible for technical arrangements for official games, only assigned one scorer to the game and the SSCB has had to arrange another on its own. Given the scorching and humid conditions, most players were content to go through the motions even as coach Aashish Kapoor supervised the preparations. The session lasted just over an hour after it was decided that the team would have a media interaction at the team hotel — another last-minute decision. Sanam Singh upsets top seed Frank Dancevic NEW DELHI: Sanam Singh defeated top seed Frank Dancevic of Canada 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the $15,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament at Markham, Canada, on Sunday. Ninth singles title It was the ninth singles title and second of the season for the 27-year-old Sanam who had lost in the final to Dancevic in Toronto last week. The title was worth 27 ATP points and the runner-up collected 15 points. India ‘A’ takes the upper hand spire much confidence when questioned about the state of the match at the end-of-the-day press conference. “The wicket is very good to bat on, but at the moment, we are on the back foot. We have good batsmen, but we need to do very well to get a draw,” he said. Ashwin Achal KICKING AROUND: South African players enjoy a game of football during a warm-up session at the Palam ground in New Delhi on Monday. — PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY last-minute replacement for David Wiese, will join the squad later. It should be a good precursor for the Proteas before the first T20 International commences at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) ground at Dharamshala on October 2. Mandeep Singh, the young Punjab middle-order batsman who will lead India ‘A’ has finally earned attention for his consistent showing in domestic cricket as well as in the Indian Premier League (IPL). India ‘A’, comprising only upand-coming players, showcases the bench strength of the country. Anyone who catches the eye of the selectors here will certainly do a world of good to his future. Both sides will have the flexibility to field all their available players. The teams (from): India A: Mayank Agarwal, Manan Vohra, Manish Pandey, Mandeep Singh (capt.), Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Rishi Dhawan, Anureet Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Pawan Negi, Kuldeep Yadav. South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt.), Quinton de Kock (wk), A.B. de Villiers, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Chris Morris, Khaya Zondo, Kyle Abbott, Farhan Behardien, Marchant de Lange, Jean-Paul Duminy, Eddie Leie, Kagiso Rabada. Match starts at 11 a.m. BENGALURU: Vijay Shankar (86) and Karun Nair (71) helped India ‘A’ take the upper hand against Bangladesh ‘A’ on the penultimate day of their firstclass encounter here on Monday. The duo put on 108 runs for the fourth wicket, guiding India ‘A’ to a 183-run first innings lead. Bangladesh ‘A’ then reached 36 for two at the end of day’s play, 147 runs behind. Captain Shikhar Dhawan — resuming on 116 — did not attack with the same ferocity seen on the first day. Dhawan moved quietly to 150, before being rapped on the pads by left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib. Shreyas Iyer (38, 55b) looked comfortable, but had his stumps disturbed when he jumped down the track and missed a length ball from offie Nasir Hossain. Good stand Vijay Shankar and Karun got together at 232 for three, and, with the Bangladesh ‘A’ bowlers lacking bite, settled in quickly. The absence of pacers Rubel Hossain and Shafiul Islam — out with injuries — meant that the attack lacked variety. The spinners operated with a longon in place, which allowed for singles. The short balls, which came fairly often, were cut away to A TURNER: Bangladesh ‘A’ opener Soumya Sarkar nicks a vicious delivery from off-spinner Jayant Yadav to Karun Nair. — PHOTO: G.P. SAMPATH KUMAR the vacant square boundary. The living was easy, and it took an awkward delivery from leg-spinner Jubair Hossain to bring about the end of Karun’s innings. The local lad attempted to pull a half-tracker, but the ball kept low and did him in. Rain then arrived to force a two-hour break in play. Upon resumption, Vijay Shankar took on all comers, accelerating from 50 to 84 off just 14 balls. He got going by hoisting Jubair and Nasir over long-on for a total of four monstrous sixes, before he was cleaned up by Jubair. The declaration came immediately after Vijay Shankar fell. Bangladesh ‘A’ lost two wickets before the close of play. Anamul Haque edged an Ishwar Pandey out-swinger with a halfhearted flick, while Soumya Sarkar nicked a vicious turner from off-spinner Jayant Yadav. After a disappointing show against Karnataka, as well as in this fixture, the Bangladesh ‘A’ batsmen need to be at their best on Tuesday in order to salvage a draw. Opener Anamul did not in- The scores: Bangladesh ‘A’ — 1st innings: 228. India ‘A’ — 1st innings: Abhinav Mukund b Hom 34 (78b, 4x4), Shikhar Dhawan lbw b Sajib 150 (146b, 18x4, 3x6), Shreyas Iyer b Nasir 38 (55b, 6x4), Karun Nair b Jubair 71 (97b, 12x4), Vijay Shankar b Jubair 86 (110b, 4x4, 4x6), Naman Ojha (not out) 25 (32b, 1x4, 1x6); Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-1): 7; Total (for five wkts. decl. in 86.1 overs): 411. Fall of wickets: 1-153, 2-220, 3232, 4-340, 5-411. Bangladesh ‘A’ bowling: Shafiul Islam 3.2-1-10-0, Rubel Hossain 2.51-16-0, Soumya Sarkar 2.5-0-9-0, Shuvagata Hom 19-2-106-1, Saqlain Sajib 26-2-121-1, Jubair Hossain 12.1-0-76-2, Nasir Hossain 20-2-67-1. Bangladesh ‘A’ — 2nd innings: Anamul Haque c Karun b Pandey 0 (9b), Soumya Sarkar c Karun b Jayant 19 (23b, 3x4, 1x6), Mominul Haque (batting) 9 (22b, 1x4), Liton Das (batting) 7 (12b, 1x4); Extras (b-1): 1; Total (for two wkts. in 11 overs): 36. Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-21. India ‘A’ bowling: Ishwar Pandey 3-2-4-1, Abhimanyu Mithun 4-1-21-0, Jayant Yadav 3-0-8-1, Ravindra Jadeja 1-0-2-0. Split captaincy working well, says du Plessis Special Correspondent NEW DELHI: South Africa is a rare cricket team to have different captains for all three formats of game. Ahead of leading the team in the three-match Twenty20 series against India, Faf du Plessis reflected on the benefits of split captaincy. “I think it is working beautifully for us. In the beginning, there were question marks, especially from a management point of view. But, it is working great at the moment. “The biggest thing is for someone like AB (de Villiers) there are a lot of things on his plate throughout the year and he really enjoys the time sitting back when he does not have the captaincy in T20 cricket or Test cricket. So he is always fresh,” du Plessis said in the team’s first press conference on Monday. “Hashim as the Test captain enjoys his T20 cricket. But when it is Test time he has this extra responsibility. When he gives that over to me, I really enjoy leading from the front. “The key factor is we three captains have worked really well together and there is not one instance where one individual has a different perspective. The great thing is that we all play all the three formats and continue to learn from each other and try supporting each other.” The IPL factor du Plessis, who had been part of the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL), had no hesitation in admitting that his IPL experience had enriched his game. “I have learnt a lot of batting in these conditions. I have been fortunate enough to play under good leadership. So it has helped to play with guys like M.S. (Dhoni) and (Brendon) McCullum. Personally, I have learnt hell of a lot from IPL. “I think it has benefited players a lot. That helps a lot of these guys coming in to the South African team. Chris Morris, we know, has had good IPL stints. We sit back and look at these performances.” Even while expressing his admiration for India and CSK skipper Dhoni, du Plessis, however, had his own way of leading the side. “I always ask him (Dhoni), why is he so cool and the answer he has always given is ‘I am the fridge.’ I have just good things to say about M.S. “I have been fortunate to have played a lot of cricket with him and the Indian cricket team and players have a huge amount of respect for him. I know what he brings to the party. I know he is a very calm captain and people especially in pressure situations look to him and his experience. But I am completely a different captain and I am my own man and do things which work for me.” Speaking about the spirit of the series, which has been named after Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, du Plessis said, “South Africa has got the biggest respect for Indian cricket. There has never been an issue. The two countries have huge amount of respect for each other. We will play and make these two people (Gandhi and Mandela) proud.” On the first T20 match being scheduled in the cooler climes of Dharamshala, du Plessis, who eagerly awaited the arrival of Mike Hussey as a support staff, hoped that his side would make the most of the nice bounce in the wicket at the hill station. Team ready for all challenges, says Domingo Special Correspondent NEW DELHI: South Africa is on its longest ever cricket tour of India and the most striking aspect of the team is its preparedness in the marathon test of skill and temperament. The Proteas, most of whom are so used to these conditions due to their repeated appearances in the Indian Premier League (IPL), looked comfortable and meant business. Their first practice session at the Palam Ground, ahead of the lone Twenty20 warm-up game, followed by the press conference were more of being-at-home exercises. South African coach Russell Domingo said his team was ready for all sorts of challenges, including the new-found aggression by the Indian side. “Both sides have played pretty aggressively. I think in the captaincy of Virat Kohli India played that brand of cricket. We saw a lot of that in Sri Lanka and we saw that when we played them in the World Cup. The body language of their bowlers was of aggres- sive nature. They have taken that part of the game forward,” Domingo told mediapersons here on Monday. “If both sides play within the limits of the game, it will be hard, tough, uncompromising cricket. We expect that from India and they can expect the same from us.” “We both are laid-back teams but we both have some fiery characters, guys like South Africa’s Dale (Steyn) and India’s Kohli and Ishant Sharma, who has been banned, are obviously leading that bri- SITTING PRETTY: South African coach Russell Domingo (left) and Twenty20 captain Faf du Plessis look comfortable at the news conference in New Delhi on Monday. — PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY CM YK gade. But I expect the series to be played in good spirit.” Tough team to beat Even while recognising the fact that India was going through a phase of transition like some other top sides, Domingo said the host would be a tough nut to crack. “They have got new leadership, they have got new coaches, they have got a new captain. They had toured South Africa and they were very tough to beat.” “They played very competitive cricket in that series as well as in Australia. So they have obviously put in a lot of effort in their performance away from home. And this is something which they will try and improve.” While accepting that his team was using experienced pacers such as Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel sparingly, Domingo said South Africa would not take its focus off its strength of pace bowling even though the spinners were expected to play a crucial role in the series. “Quite a lot of players have played in Indian conditions and do understand what needs to be done to play good cricket here.” Domingo said his side, which had not played too many Tests, was hungry to do well in the longer version of the game. ND-ND 20 | LIFE NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 Lekh Tandon makes TV debut at 86 Book soon on Lata’s musical journey Selena Gomez crazy about pickle juice Veteran film director and actor Lekh Tandon will make his TV debut as an actor at the age of 86 in the upcoming episodes of popular sitcom Sumit Sambhal Lega. The story of Lata Mangeshkar is now set to come out in the form of a book in January 2016, publishers announced on Monday, the singer’s 85th birthday. The “Same old love” hitmaker said: “I’m obsessed with them. I drink the juice from the jar too. I go to the movies and have popcorn and pickles. I may bring out a cook book.” Briny flows boost odds for life on Red Planet STAR TREK COURT, KONKONA WIN MAJOR AWARDS B engali movie Kadambari has bagged two major awards at the Washington DC South Asian Film Festival. The best film honour and the best actress trophy for Konkona Sen Sharma went to Kadambari. Court took home the best director award for Chaitanya Tamhane. Kadambari, directed by Suman Ghosh, also stars Parambrata Chatterjee and is based on the life of poet Rabindranath Tagore and his controversial relationship with his sisterin-law Kadambari Devi. An elated Konkona took to Twitter to share the news with her fans. — PTI Discovery could point space agencies to promising sites for future human missions Ian Sample Where is the water from? L iquid water runs down canyons and crater walls over the summer months on Mars, according to researchers who say the discovery raises the odds of the planet being home to some form of life. The trickles leave long, dark stains on the Martian terrain that can reach hundreds of metres downhill in the warmer months, before they dry up in the autumn as surface temperatures drop. Images taken from the Mars orbit show cliffs, and the steep walls of valleys and craters, streaked with summertime flows that in the most active spots combine to form intricate fan-like patterns. “There is liquid water today on the surface of Mars,” Michael Meyer, the lead scientist on NASA’s Mars exploration programme, told the Guardian. “Because of this, we suspect that it is at least possible to have a habitable environment today.” The water flows could point NASA and other space agencies towards the most promising sites to find life on Mars, and Channels from 1 metre to 10 metres wide on a scarp in the Hellas impact basin. — PHOTO: REUTERS/NASA A NASA image shows dark, narrow, 100 metre-long streaks called recurring slope lineae flowing downhill on Mars, inferred to have been formed by contemporary flowing water. — PHOTO: AFP/NASA/JPL/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA to landing spots for future human missions where water can be collected from a natural supply. Nearly a decade ago, NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor took pictures of what appeared to be water bursting through a gully wall and flowing around boulders and other rocky debris. In 2011, the high-resolution camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured what “Want to be known as a complete entertainer” Mini Anthikad Chhibber Shruti Haasan is excited about her role in the adventure-fantasy, Puli. The film, directed by Chimbu Deven, stars Vijay in a double role and Sridevi as a queen. Puli marks Shruti’s return to Tamil cinema after a two-year hiatus. The 29-year-old singer-actor, who was in Bengaluru for a store launch, shared her thoughts on style, music and Sridevi. Excerpts.    Could you tell us about your role in Puli? the big, special effects filled extravaganza?  I like small, intimate films. But I also like largerthan-life films. It is a reflection of my personal taste. I like smaller, indie films with a sweet, simple message, or I love huge, Lord of the Rings kind of movies. I like to be part of all kinds of genres to be honest.  Do you prefer to be known as an actor or musician? Neither actually. I prefer to be known as a performer or a complete entertainer. Puli is basically a fantasy How would you describe film. I am playing the hero’s your personal style? love interest in the film. The role is a very feminine, genMy personal style really tle, very likeable character. depends on my mood and it What was your experience changes from day to day. I of working with Sridevi? am not very style conscious, My experience working as in ‘this is in fashion so I with Sridevi was fantastic. I should adopt it’. have always looked up to Today would be her and her career and the one of my casual kind of work she has done days where it is so consistently. just jeans and TAnd to see her work shirt. It is fun. was even better because she is extremely professional and very, very focussed on her work. She brings a great calm and discipline to her work. Do you prefer the small, intimate film or T op ten trends from the Spring/Summer 2016 women’s wear collections at Milan fashion week, which wrapped up on Monday: looked like little streams flowing down crater walls from late spring to early autumn. Not wanting to assume too much, mission scientists named the flows “recurring slope lineae” or RSL. Researchers have now turned to another instrument on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to analyse the chemistry of the mysterious RSL flows. Lujendra Ojha, of Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and his colleagues used a spectrometer on the MRO to look at infrared light reflected off steep rocky walls when the dark streaks had just begun to appear, and when they had grown to full length at the end of the Martian summer. Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, the team describes how it found infra-red signatures for hydrated salts when the dark flows were pre- CUISINE On menu for world leaders: trash, and a message UNITED NATIONS: World leaders accustomed to fine dining had a surprise on their plates on Sunday at the United Nations — trash. Chefs cooked up a lunch made entirely of food that would have ended up in garbage bins, hoping to highlight the extraordinary waste in modern diets and its role in worsening climate change. On the menu for the lunch at the UN headquarters was a vegetable burger made of pulp left over from juicing, which typically wastes most of the produce. The burger came with fries created from starchy corn that would typically go to animal feed. “It’s the prototypical American meal but turned on its head. Instead of the beef, we’re going to eat the corn that feeds the beef,” said Dan Barber, a prominent New York chef. Mr. Barber crafted the menu with Sam Kass, the former White House chef who drove the anti-obesity “Let’s Move” campaign of First Lady Michelle Obama. Sunday’s lunch was led by French President Francois Hollande and Peruvian President Ollanta Humala with an aim of building momentum for the year-end UN climate negotiations in Paris. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was away at California on Sunday. The lunch menu (top) and a burger made from vegetable scraps. — PHOTOS: TWITTER/UNITED NATIONS SPOKESPERSON Secretary-General Ban Kimoon, speaking to reporters afterward, said the lunch demonstrated how food waste was “an often overlooked aspect of climate change.” He said the lunch was produced from food that would otherwise end up in landfills, emitting methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Fighting hunger Mr. Ban said, “More than a third of all food produced worldwide — over one billion tonnes of edible food each year — goes to waste. That is shameful when so many peo- Chic peek Big glasses are good Gucci featured jewel-encrusted glasses so big the models were all rubbing their tiny noses backstage. At Emilio Pucci the oversized eyewear resembled scuba masks. Dolce and Gabbana gave the look a 1950s twist. What are the trends that are set to roll out in 2016? The Milan Fashion Week that concluded yesterday provided an update All clogged up Mullets are back Not the short-at-thefront, long-at-the-back hairstyle favoured by 1980s footballers: rather skirts and dress cut asymmetrically to given evening wear a lighter, rockier feel. See Peter Dundas at Roberto Cavalli. Gowns are gone So are legs The asymmetric trend, the younger mini-friendly turn of many lines and Dolce and Gabbana’s retro beachwear all point to 2016’s must-have accessory being a good pair of pins. How do we know? Giorgio Armani told us so. CM YK ple suffer from hunger.” According to UN figures, 28 percent of agricultural lands around the world go to produce food that is lost or wasted. The loss each year is the equivalent of 3.3 billion tonnes of carbon responsible for climate change — which would make food waste, if it were a nation, the biggest emitter after China and the United States. Mr. Ban said the lunchtime consensus was that the agreement to be reached at the Paris climate change conference must “strengthen resilience to climate impacts, with a fo- bomber versions at Marco de Vincenzo, Etro, Cavalli and Versace, whose military-inspired tailoring was hailed as a welcome move away from the brand’s overt sexiness. Gucci’s geek chic rules Alessandro Michele led the way with a second acclaimed collection for Gucci. Michele’s woman — feisty, kooky and independent — dresses to please herself. The influence of Michele's vision was felt across almost every other collection. sent, but none before they had grown. The hydrated salts — a mix of chlorates and percholorates — are a smoking gun for the presence of water at all four sites inspected: the Hale, Palikir and Horowitz craters, and a large canyon called Coprates Chasma. The flows only appear when the surface of Mars rises above -23C. The water can run in such frigid conditions because the salts lower the freezing point of water, keeping it liquid far below 0C. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2015 Haute couture mega gowns are enjoying a moment on the celebrity red carpet courtesy of Rihanna and co. But weighty, full-length evening wear was a rare breed in Milan. The end of ready-to-wear glamour? Researchers are focused on learning where the water comes from. Porous rocks under the Martian surface might hold frozen water that melts in the summer months and seeps up to the surface. Another possibility is that highly concentrated saline aquifers are dotted around beneath the surface, not as pools of water, but as saturated volumes of gritty rock. These could cause flows in some areas, but cannot easily explain water seeping down from the top of crater walls. A third possibility, and one favoured by geologist McEwen, is that salts on the Martian surface absorb water from the atmosphere until they have enough to run downhill. The process, known as deliquescence, is seen in the Atacama desert, where the resulting damp patches are the only known place for microbes to live. Cheetah-print clogs anyone? Bottega Veneta is your place. In line with the ‘dressing for ourselves’ mood, flats predominated, from strappy sandals to peep-toe booties, sometimes adorned by fur and feather. Light is right Diaphanous disconnect Etro’s ballet-themed collection made the point most blatantly but light-as-afeather fabrics were everywhere, from billowing dress trains to the bows adorning flat sandals. Good time to be in the sheer organza business. Anna Molinari at Bluma- The great outdoors rine embraced tops so seeMax Mara headed for the through they begged the ocean, numerous collections question: “Really?” had a beachwear feel and Bottega Veneta’s Tomas Bomber command Maier declared: “I want to be 2016’s on-the-move wom- in the open air.” 2016 is going an needs a jacket that can be to be a year for getting out thrown on quickly: hence the and about. — AFP cus on the poorest and most vulnerable”. Chef Barber earlier this year ran a pop-up restaurant in New York sourced from food scraps and is the author of the book The Third Plate that has championed a global approach to his farm-to-table philosophy. He said that the elimination of food waste was in fact an ancient rather than modern idea, as cooks historically would use everything edible at their disposal. “The idea of doing a ‘waste dinner’ would not have existed in the 1700s,” he said. The “Landfill Salad” was made from unwanted vegetable scraps, stalks and outer leaves salvaged from the waste of big food producers, and liquid drained from a can of chickpeas. The burgers and fries came from discarded vegetables, ends of cucumber thrown out by picklers and cow corn, which is used for feeding animals or for making ethanol. The “Spent Grain Bread” was baked from grain mash left over from brewing and distilling process, and unrefined oil extracted from squash seeds. For dessert, outer shell of cocoa bean, the dried skin, the material left over after pressing nuts for oil and pulp of the coffee cherry were turned into “Cocoa Husk Custard”. — AFP, IANS RANBIR KAPOOR TURNS 33 B ollywood star Ranbir Kapoor rang in his 33rd birthday in London on the sets of his upcoming Karan Johar-directed film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. The actor is shooting for the movie with his Bombay Velvet co-star Anushka Sharma. The film also stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Karan shared on Instagram a picture of Ranbir cutting the cake on the sets. “karanjohar#happybirthdayranbir #onset #aedilhaimushkil,” the filmmaker captioned the picture. The actor’s proud parents Rishi and Neetu Kapoor took to social media to show their love for him. While Rishi changed his Twitter display picture to a fan-made sketch of Ranbir, Neetu extended her best wishes on Instagram. — PTI JACKMAN WANTS ‘PERFECT SCRIPT’ T he film Wolverine 3 will see Hugh Jackman portraying the famed clawed mutant for the last time and the star wants the film’s script to be perfect. Jackman, 46, said he would not start shooting the third film until the script is great, reported Aceshowbiz. “I’m sounding a little cagey because this is the last time I’m playing him, and I have just made the commitment to myself, really, and told everyone that until that script is perfect, until it is that perfect way to sign out, I’m not gonna start shooting. “So that’s why I don’t wanna say ‘Yes’ for sure, because until Page 115, 120, whatever it is...,” he said. Jackman, however, added the studio already planned to start the principal photography next year. — PTI HARBHAJAN, GEETA BASRA MAY STAR IN ‘POWER COUPLE’ A ctress Geeta Basra, who is romatically linked to cricketer Harbhajan Singh, has been approached to star alongside him in the upcoming TV show Power Couple. The show will feature 10 celebrity couples, who will undergo rigorous tests to prove their love. These couples will live under one roof and face extreme challenges to find out how well they know each other. Each task will test the couple’s love, trust, patience, belief and courage. “After getting Pratyusha Banerjee and her boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh on board, the makers have approached Harbhajan and Geeta. If they come on board, this will be the first time they will be seen going public with their relationship,” a source said. Talks are on with the couple. — IANS No stopping this climber! Japanese mountaineer, who lost all fingers but one to frostbite in 2012, will make the expedition to Everest again KATHMANDU: A Japanese clim- ber with only one finger, who failed on the weekend to reach the top of Mount Everest in his latest attempt, will try again within days, expedition organisers said. Nobukazu Kuriki, who lost nine fingers to frostbite in 2012 on Everest, is the only climber trying to summit the world’s highest mountain this year after a quake-triggered avalanche killed 18 people at base camp. The 33-year-old Kuriki, who was on his fifth attempt to climb Everest, descended in the early hours of Sunday fearing he would not return alive if he kept climbing. “He is staying at base camp for a few days but will try again for the summit starting October 1st,” said Tikaram Gurung, managing director of Bochi-Bochi Trek, which is handling Kuriki’s expedition. “He is in good physical condition and experienced no Nobukazu Kuriki is climbing solo. major problems on the climb,” Mr. Gurung said. Mr. Kuriki will climb solo from base camp, in contrast to his earlier attempt when a six-person support team accompanied him to Camp 2 at a height of 6,400 metres, he said. “He will use no bottled oxygen on his climb,” Mr. Gurung added. — PHOTO: REUTERS Mr. Kuriki said the final stretch to the top took too long on Sunday. “I tried hard taking all my energy, but it took too much time to move in deep, deep snow. I realised if I kept going, I wouldn’t be able to come back alive, so I decided to descend,” he posted on his Facebook page. — AFP ND-ND