3 A

Delhi, wednesday, february 10, 2016
www.thehindu.in Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 6 No. 34 CITY EDITION 22 Pages Rs. 8.00
Printed at Chennai, Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Madurai, Noida, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Vijayawada, Mangaluru, Tiruchirapalli, Kolkata, Hubballi, Mohali, Allahabad, Malappuram and Mumbai
Govinda offers Rs 5
lakh as compensation
after slapping a fan
Former Nepal Prime

Minister Sushil
Koirala passes away
10 dead, 100 injured in

Germany as trains
collide head on
Rijijus helicopter
makes emergency
landing near Delhi
Page 9
Page 14
Page 14
Page 12
DAY TWO OF DEPOSITION
Not paid by ISI or LeT: Headley
DINAKAR PERI
Major work
assigned to him
was recce
of Taj Hotel
manthappa Koppad, who miraculously survived six days

under several feet of snow in
the Siachen glacier, was in a
critical condition at the Army
Research & Referral Hospital
here on Tuesday evening.
The soldier of 19 Madras Regiment was rescued on Monday
night, six days after their camp
was struck by a massive avalanche that killed nine of his
colleagues, and four days after
the leaders, including the
Prime Minister and the Defence Minister, mourned his
death.
He has been placed on ventilator to protect his airway and
lungs in view of his comatose
CM
YK
an defence scientists had been

planned there, but it was
cancelled.
Headley said they met again
in November 2007 to plan the
attack after going through the
information he had gathered.

Muzammil was not present at
this meeting. The final plan was
chalked out keeping in mind the
entrance and exit of Taj Hotel
and the convention centre. He
surveyed the CST railway station, Oberoi Hotel, the police

headquarters and the entire
lane in Colaba, including Leopold Caf.
MORE REPORTS ON PAGE 12
US shares phone details with NIA

VIJAITA SINGH
NEW DELHI: The United States has
provided the National Investigation
Agency (NIA) with the details and
specifications of a mobile phone
handset belonging to Lashkar-eTaiba operative David Coleman
Headley, which was used by him to
videograph key targets, a few

months before the 26/11 Mumbai
terror attacks.
EXCLUSIVE
The same phone was used to film
key targets when Headley again
visited India in March 2009, barely
three months after the attacks. The
details would help the NIA build its

case against Headley and others in
the Mumbai attacks case. Even after
a Mumbai court accepted Headleys
plea to become an approver in the
case being investigated by the
Mumbai Police, he remains an
accused in the NIAs case.
HANDSET BY HANDLER PAGE 12
Mahadevi, wife of Hanumanthappa Koppad (inset), celebrates the good

news with her daughter Netravati in Betadur village.
state. He remains extremely

critical and is expected to have
a stormy course in the next 24
to 48 hours due to the complications caused by re-warming
and establishment of blood
flow to the cold parts of the
body, said a health bulletin issued by the hospital author-
Maintain Constitutions
sanctity, says Pranab
ities. The bulletin said he has

pneumonia, and liver and kidney dysfunction.
Fortunately there was no
cold exposure related frost bite
or bone injuries to him, it said.
MODI LAUDS KOPPADS
INDOMITABLE SPIRIT | PAGE 13
AAP Minister in
the soup over
bribe charge
DAMINI NATH
NATIONAL BUREAU
NEW DELHI: Inaugurating a two-
day conference of Governors at

Rashtrapati Bhavan here on
Tuesday, President Pranab
Mukherjee said those holding
constitutional posts should
maintain the sanctity of the
Constitution.
Crediting the nations strides
since Independence to adherence to the values of the statute, Mr. Mukherjee said: It is
primarily due to our steadfast
adherence to the principles en-
BRIEFLY
NET NEUTRALITY
TRAI firm on
open source
NEW DELHI: A day after it took a
NEW DELHI: Lance Naik Hanu-
SONAM SAIGAL
MUMBAI: The Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley, deposing for the second day on
Tuesday, told the special court
here that he was not given any
money either by Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
or by the terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Headley, currently lodged in
a U.S. prison, has been deposing
as an approver through a video
link in the November 2008 terror attacks case. He told the
court that he completed five or
six leadership courses ofered
by the LeT, at which Jamaat-udDawa chief and Mumbai attacks
mastermind Hafiz Saeed and
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi were
also present.
He told special Judge G.A. Sanap about his meetings with his
handlers Muzammil, Sajid Mir
(Headleys key contact in the
LeT) and Abu Khafa to plan the
26/11 attacks. The first meeting
took place in the spring of 2006
to choose among Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to launch the
attack. He was then sent to
Mumbai to set up an oice and
take videos and photographs of
the city. The major work assigned to him was reconnaissance of Taj Hotel, especially
the convention centre on the
second floor. A meeting of Indi-
Siachen survivor battles

for life at Army hospital
shrined in our Constitution. It

is an enduring document that
reflects our aspirations and the
avenues to achieve them, in an
inclusive manner. It is incumbent on us all who hold constitutional positions to maintain
the sanctity of this sacred text.
This advice to the Governors
comes at a time when many
have questioned the role of
Arunachal Pradesh Governor
J.P. Rajkhowa.
PEACEFUL DIALOGUE THE

WAY OUT| PAGE 12
NEW DELHI: The Congress on

Tuesday released a sting apparently showing AAP Minister
Imran Hussains brother and an
employee asking for bribes.
At a press conference here,
Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken played a video of one Hamad, who identified himself as
working in the oice of the
Minister for Food and Civil
Supplies, asking a businessman
to pay up Rs.30 lakh for construction.
DETAILS ON PAGE 2
tough stance on discriminatory

pricing for data services,
effectively blocking Facebooks
Free Basics from India, the
telecom regulator on Tuesday
hinted that technology-driven
connectivity ventures being
pursued by Google and
Facebook would be acceptable
only if they followed an open
source framework.
NEWS | PAGE 13
NEW STANDARDS
Indian fonts to become
mandatory for phones
NEW DELHI: Indian fonts may be
mandatory for mobile phones

sold in the country as per the
new standards for handsets
being finalised by the
government, TRAI Chairman R.S.
Sharma said on Tuesday.
BUSINESS | PAGE 15
UNDER-19 WORLD CUP

India storms into final
MIRPUR: In a remarkable display
of cohesive performance, India
defeated Sri Lanka by 97 runs in
the semifinal of the ICC
Under-19 World Cup here on
Tuesday. Powered by
Anmolpreet Singhs 72 and
Sarfaraz Khans 59, the Indian
colts posted 267 for nine in 50
overs.
SPORT | PAGE 17
EMPOWER
Page 7
ND-ND
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CITY
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016
Like sacked predecessor Asim Ahmed Khan, charges of corruption now levelled against Imran Hussain on Tuesday
AAP hit by another sting operation

Hamad: The expenditure is Rs.5-7 crore
Hamad: Iman bhai is very angry.
Hamad: For taking the Ministry..
Hamad: He has put in so much money
Hamad: He is asking for Rs.30 lakh. ..For Rs.30 akh....
Video released by Congress

shows Ministers brother,
employee asking for bribe
DAMINI NATH
orruption charges were levelled

against Aam Aadmi Party Minister
Imran Hussain on Tuesday by the
Congress, which released a sting apparently showing the MLAs brother
and an employee asking for bribes.
At a press conference here, Delhi
Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Maken played a video of
one Hamad, who identified himself
as working in the oice of the Delhi
Minister for Environment and Food
and Civil Supplies, asking a businessman to pay up Rs.30 lakh for a
construction.
The
complainant,
Mohammad Qasim, is a
resident of Mr. Hussains Ballimaran constituency.
Mr. Hussain, on his
part, said that if his involvement was proved,
he would quit politics
and the AAP.
If the Congress can
prove that I have a role
in it, I will quit. And if
my brother and oice
staf are involved in this
and it is proved, I will
take them to the police
myself, said Mr. Hussain.
The video, filmed by
Mr. Qasim in his oice
on December 28, 2015,
shows Hamad telling
the complainant that
Imran bhai was very
angry.
The complainant says
that the amount of Rs.30
lakh for a plot of 60 to 65
square yards was too much.
Hamad then tries to placate the
complainant by saying that they may
be asking for Rs.30 lakh, but at least
they would get the work done.
Hamad goes on to explain that
elections cost a lot, Rs.5-7 crore for
this ward, and that all the seats in
Delhi wouldnt have the kind of expenditure that Imran has.
The complainant tries to convince Hamad that the amount is too
much. The complainant counters
that by saying that the amount is
lighter than what they would ask
others.
He goes on to remind the complainant that he knows how much money he [Mr. Hussain] had to spend for
the Ministry.
The conversation goes back and
Imran Hussain, on his

part, said that if his
involvement was proved,
he would quit politics and
the AAP
forth, with Hamad settling for Rs.25
lakh and Mr. Qasim not going over
Rs.5 lakh, which was the amount a
builder had to pay for a previous
construction in the area. The conversation ends with Hamad telling
Mr. Qasim to speak to Mr.Hussains
brother Furqan to sort out the problem.
Apart from this video, the Congress also released clips of alleged
phone calls between Mr. Qasim and
Mr. Furqan Hussain as well between
the complainant and the area junior
engineer, Rakesh Yadav.
The man, the Congress says is Mr.
Furqan Hussainm asks the complainant about the stuf in one of the
calls, and sets up meeting to take delivery of it in the second call.
In the call with the Junior Engineer of the local municipality, the
complainant and a friend, Zameer,
are reminded that complaints
about the construction have been
sent by the Minister and the area
Deputy Commissioner, and that
Mr.Qasim needed to sort out the issue.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Qasim
said he did not pay up anything and
decided to go public with his experience.
He said supporters of the Minister
had stopped the work on his house
as soon as it began in early December 2015. The house already has four
floors, and an additional fifth was
being constructed.
The Congress said that these clips
showed that there was a nexus involving the MLA and the corporations.
We demand that Mr. Hussain be
removed from his post immediately
and an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation be set up, said
Mr. Maken.
He added that he would be sending the clips to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to sack the
Minister and call for a CBI inquiry as
well.
The Ministers employee talks of
money being spent on getting the
ticket and the post. If that is the case,
then how can Mr. Kejriwal evade responsibility, asked Mr. Maken.
(with inputs from Maria Akram)
Im scared for my life,

says complainant
DAMINI NATH
Allegations are rubbish: AAP
NEW DELHI: The Old Delhi
businessman who has accused Aam Aadmi Party

Minister Imran Hussain
and his associates of corruption said on Tuesday
that he was afraid for his
life.
Mohammad Qasim, who
runs a hardware business,
said that he felt threatened
after publicly alleging that
Mr. Hussian, the MLA from
Ballimaran, through his
brother Furqan and an employee Hamad had asked
for first Rs.30 lakh, then
Rs.25 lakh for a construction.
Im scared for not only
my life, but those of my
friends and family. These
people are criminals, Mr.
Qasim told The Hindu after
the recordings he made
were released at a press
conference here on Tuesday.
CM
YK
CM should resign: BJP

STAFF REPORTER
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: The Aam Admi Party
File photo of campaigning for Imran Hussain ahead of the

Delhi Assembly elections.
Mr. Qasim said that his

family had been staying at
the house in Ballimaran for
about 15 years. The house
already had four floors, and
a new fifth floor was being
constructed in December
last year. He alleged that
people close to Mr. Hussain
had had the work stopped
and were demanding money for allowing the construction to start again.
The way things are now,
I may need police protection. But, I am ready to fight
this case till its logical conclusion. I refused to pay
even a rupee, said Mr. Qasim.
government rubbished the

Congress allegations against
Minister Imran Hussain, his
brother and oice staf of their
involvement in demanding
bribe from a local builder.
I dont even know the person who is in the video. If Ajay
Maken can prove any of my
staf or family member is involved in the sting, I will leave
politics, Mr. Hussain said.
He said that he will take his
brother and oice staf to the
police if proven guilty. The
Opposition has paid the complainant and the video must go
to the Central Bureau of Investigation for verification. Let
the truth come out, he added.
Backing their Minister, AAP
government maintained that
the video doesnt prove anything. A close aide of Delhi
The Minister said

he will take his
brother and office
staff to the police if
proven guilty
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, said that even the Congress
party and its leader, Ajay Maken, are not taking ownership
of the sting video.
When our MLA Dinesh Mohaniya conducted a sting on
BJP leader Sher Singh Dagar
(September 2014), he took
ownership of the sting. Is Mr.
Maken willing to take the ownership? Secondly, did Congress
before holding a press conference verify the authenticity of
the video?
Mr. Hussain took charge as
Environment and Food and
Supply Minister in October last
after his predecessor, Asim
Ahmed Khan, was sacked by

Mr. Kejriwal over corruption
charges.
An audio of Asim Ahmed
Khan had also surfaced and in a
swift action the government
had removed him after verifying the authenticity of the tape.
Asims case was diferent
and it will be wrong to compare
the two. There is no evidence
against Hussain and he (himself) is asking for CBI probe,
said sources in the government.
When Mr. Khan was sacked,
he had held a press conference
and had then said: I have been
framed in order to be replaced
by someone who already has
several criminal cases to his
name, in a veiled reference to
Mr. Hussain. However, party
leaders refrained from reacting
to the sting video as it is
doesnt even qualify to be a
sting, said party spokesperson.
NEW DELHI: The State unit of

the BJP on Tuesday sought
the resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over allegations of corruption
against the oice of Food and
Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain following the
emergence of a sting operation.
The broadcast of a videoaudio sting by a TV channel
has exposed his (Mr. Hussain's) corruption, said Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay.
The AAP government, he
said, has no moral right to
stay in power as one after another of his Ministers is
found to be involved in corruption and fraud
Leader of Opposition in
Delhi Assembly, Vijender
Gupta, also demanded that
Mr. Kejriwal dismiss Mr.
Hussain. Mr. Kejriwal
should immediately dismiss

the Minister in the light of the
sting operation made public
today, he said, while seeking
a CBI inquiry in to the matter.
In a video released on
Tuesday by Delhi Congress
chief Ajay Maken, a man is
purportedly show seeking
money from one Qasim. Mr.
Maken claimed the man was
Hamad, a stafer at Mr. Hussains oice. The man was also heard saying that they had
to give money to get an AAP
ticket in the Assembly polls.
Ironically, Mr. Hussain had
been elevated to the Delhi
Cabinet after his predecessor
Asim Ahmed Khan was
found embroiled in a similar
controversy. An audio sting,
in which Mr. Khan was allegedly negotiating over a cash
bribe by a local builder, had
emerged following which he
was sacked on live television
by Mr. Kejriwal in mid-2015.
ND-ND
CITY
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
|3
D E L H I
Feb 10, Wed
Feb 11, Thu
Feb 12, Fri
RISE 07 04 SET 18 07
RISE 07 04 SET 18 08
RISE 07 03 SET 18 09
RISE 08 06 SET 20 07
RISE 08 50 SET 21 12
RISE 09 33 SET 22 16
Four of family killed in fire, two rescued

Brave auto driver puts his life at risk to save others; prima facie, fire suspected to have been caused by a short circuit
SHIV SUNNY
NEW DELHI: Four members of a
family, including a sevenyear-old boy, were killed in a
fire which broke out at their
DDA flat in North-East Delhis Dilshad Garden in the
early hours of Tuesday.
Two others had a narrow
escape, thanks to a brave auto-rickshaw driver who himself sustained burns and had
to be hospitalised.
The victims have been
identified as 59-year-old Pradeep Jaiswal, his son Rajan,
daughter-in-law Anuja and
grandson Anshul.
The family, which also includes Pradeeps wife Saroj
and 15-year-old daughter Sejal, was in the process of The police and experts at the charred flat in Dilshad Garden. PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
shifting to its under-conWith the fire department ings, said Mukesh, a
struction house, located a them, one operated out of
few steps away. The house- the flat.
being informed late and the neighbour.
warming ceremony was
A senior fire oicer said
The flames were noticed fire fighters arriving after
fixed for February 24 to coin- by an auto-rickshaw driver the damage was done, it was that a huge stock of clothes
cide with Anshuls seventh around 5.30 a.m. He realised the locals who switched on stored at the dry cleaning
birthday, said Mukesh Seh- they needed to be woken up the submersible motor in the store helped the flames
gal,
Pradeeps and began hurling stones at public park and used the wa- spread quickly. But, exceptter pipe to douse the flames. ing for Pradeep whose body
the windows of the house.
brother-in-law.
We used ropes to force charred, the others apparHe then focused on alertWhile Pradeep was employed with the DTC and set ing the neighbours for help. open the shutter in the front ently died of asphyxiation.
Prima facie, the fire is susto retire in five months, his It was the driver who risked part of the house in our atfamily had a dry cleaning his life to help me and my tempt to create an exit route. pected to have originated
business. Of the three dry daughter escape, said Saroj Others used hammers and from a short circuit, but the
stones to create other open- police are probing all angles.
cleaning outlets owned by who sufered no burns.
High Court seeks status report
Woman kills son
Corporation-run school in
Kapashera after he fell into
NEW DELHI: Underlining the se- an open septic tank on Januriousness of recent inci- ary 27, while six-year-old Didents of death of two chil- vyansh lost his life after falldren after they fell into ing in a tank in Ryan School
tanks on their school cam- in Vasant Kunj on January
pus, the Delhi High Court 30. A Division Bench comon Tuesday asked the Police prising Chief Justice G. RoCommissioner to submit a hini and Justice Jayant Nath,
detailed status report of in- which had earlier issued novestigation in the cases as tices in the matter on a pubwell as the post-mortem re- lic interest litigation, said
ports of the deceased stu- the matter should be treated
seriously and steps taken to
dents before February 25.
Five-year-old Ankit died prevent such incidents in
in a South Delhi Municipal the future.
STAFF REPORTER
MOHAMMED IQBAL
SHIV SUNNY
NEW DELHI: The love for his pet
Labrador (Teddy) cost Pradeep

Jaiswal his life. Having adopted
the seven-year-old canine while
he was just a week old, Pradeep
unsuccessfully tried to set him
free before escaping the fire.
Pradeep had almost stepped
out when he remembered
Teddy was tied in an inner
room. Though much of the
house was already up in flames,
Pradeep thought that Teddy
would be able to find his way to
safety if he was at least
unchained. Having seen his wife
and daughter to safety, he
rushed inside only to have his
legs entangled in some wires.
Since the fire led to a power
failure in the house, he was
possibly unable to untangle
himself. The rescuers heard him
begging for water moments
before his cries died down,
said Pradeeps brother-in-law
Rajkumar Jaiswal. His charred
body was found next to Teddys
sometime later.
The bodies of Pradeeps
daughter-in-law Anuja and

grandson Anshul were
recovered from the bathroom of
their house. Pradeeps son
Rajan was found dead right
outside the bathroom.
According to the survivors,
seven-year-old Anshul had
rushed into the bathroom to
escape the dense smoke that
had engulfed the house. His
mother Anuja chased him to
bring him back even as Rajan
saw off his parents and sister to
safety.
By the time Rajan returned
to his wife and son, they had
possibly already passed out due
to asphyxiation. The given
circumstances indicate Rajan
was almost immediately
trapped by the smoke and he
collapsed. Meanwhile,
Pradeeps teenage daughter
Sejal, a class 10 student, has
her board exams approaching
next month.
She usually wakes up at 4
a.m. everyday. However, she
had decided not to attend
school on Tuesday because she
had fever.
Court extends NIA remand

NIRNIMESH KUMAR
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on
Tuesday extended the police
remand of three alleged IS sympathisers for 10 more days.
They were deported from
the UAE last month. On January 30, the court had sent them
to the National Investigation
Agencys (NIA) custody for 10
days. The investigating agency
alleged that the accused Adnan Hussain, Mohammad Farhan and Sheikh Azhar Al Islam,
hailing from Karnataka, Maha-
rashtra and Jammu and Kashmir respectively were allegedly on a mission to carry out
terror attacks in India and some
other countries.
Earlier, the NIA produced
the accused persons before the
court on expiry of their police
remand. Seeking extension of
their police remand, counsel
for NIA submitted that they
were required to be subjected
to sustained interrogation to
unearth a larger conspiracy of
the Jihadi group in India and
abroad.
NEW DELHI: A woman and her paramour
have been arrested by the Outer District

police for allegedly bludgeoning her
four-year-old son and throwing his
body out of a moving train in Jammu and
Kashmir.
The childs body was recovered from
the railway tracks near Katra in Jammu
and Kashmir on February 2.
Since a co-passenger had confirmed
that he had seen the woman Gurmeet
Kaur with the child and the train was
headed to Delhi, the Govt. Railway Police (GRP) alerted the cops in Delhi
about the incident.
Family wants
CBI probe
Sudden death leads to police probe
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: The sudden death of a 30year-old labourer under mysterious circumstances in North Delhis Sarai Rohila on Tuesday led to
a police probe.
Even though prima facie medical report has confirmed that Manish, an alcoholic, died due to liver
psychosis, the initial call made by
his sister reported the incident as
of one of murder. She accused
NEW DELHI: Accusing the North

West district police of unlawfully trying to save accused in
the kidnapping and murder
case of DU student Arzoo
Singh, her family has demanded an independent probe. In a
letter submitted to Delhi Police
Commissioner B.S. Bassi on
Tuesday, her father has requested to transfer the case to
either the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the Delhi
Polices Crime Branch.
The police have arrested Naveen Khatri, boyfriend of the
victim, and have thus far not
named anyone else. But, in the
letter, Arzoos family has
claimed that the act was committed by his family jointly but
the local police are trying to
save the others. Further claiming that this would allow the
other family members to tamper with the evidence, the family requested to take the probe
out of the Model Town police
station.
Talking to The Hindu, Mr.
Bassi said there was no need to
transfer the probe and that it
was being carried out in a professional manner.
Love for pet Labrador

cost him his life
STAFF REPORTER
Manishs wife of murdering him by

slashing his throat.
A senior police oicer, however,
said that when they reached the
spot, no external injuries were
found on the body. But, given the
death was unnatural, they moved
the body to a hospital.
As of now, the police are carrying out enquiries under Section 174
of the Criminal Procedure Code
and no clean chit has been given to
the wife either.
1 held for card cloning

NEW DELHI: A 25-year-old man has been
arrested for cheating people of their

money by skimming or cloning their
credit and debit cards before transferring the stolen money to Dubai in the
form of bitcoins, a payment mode not
authorised in India. Pankaj Bhardwaj
was nabbed near the India Gate on
Monday in a joint operation by the Delhi Polices crime branch and their
Mumbai counterparts.
Police said members of this racket
are spread across Dubai, Delhi, Mumbai, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and other
States. The gang members would allegedly withdraw money from the accounts of unsuspecting people before
transferring the money to one Sumair
Sheikh in Dubai via hawala channels.
Staf Reporter
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 advertisers products and/or services. In no event can the
Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Director/s,
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responsible/liable in any manner whatsoever for
any claims and/or damages for advertisements
in this newspaper.
DELHI TODAY
Exhibition: Quest - Inner Self - a
solo art show by Ella Prakash at Visual Arts Gallery, IHC, 11 am-7 pm
Exhibition: Glimpses - paintings
by Srividya G.S. at All India Fine Arts
& Craft Society, 11 am-6 pm
Exhibition: Satish Gujrals own private collection of artworks and photographs at Twin Art Gallery, Indira
Gandhi National Centre for the Arts
(IGNCA), 1, Central Vista (CV) Mess,
Janpath, 10 am-5:30 pm
Music: Duo recital by Anirudh Varma (Digital piano) and Ritesh Prasanna (Flute) at IHC, 7:30 pm
Discussion: Discussion on Vasudeva Sharan Agrawala: A Selection
compiled and edited by Kapila Vatsyayan. Discussants: M.N.P. Tiwari,
B.M. Pande, Harish Trivedi and Shashiprabha Kumar at Conference Hall,
Sahitya Akademi, 4 pm
Talk: Save Energy, Save Money panel discussion as part of Smart
Consumer Series. Panelists: H
Wadhwa, Technical Adviser, Voice
Society, Akanksha Rai Sharma, student, Maharaja Surajmal Institute of
Technology, GGSIPU, Dr. Roopa Vajpeyi, Academic & Consumer Activist,
Dr. Jayashree Gupta, President, Consumers India at IHC, 7 pm
(Mail your listings for this column
at
cityeditordelhi@
thehindu.co.in)
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. National Editor: Suresh Nambath (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).
CM
YK
ND-ND
4|
CITY
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill yet to sweep out dirty politics

The AAP, born out of the Jan Lokpal movement, is completing one year in office; Jatin Anand reviews the initiatives by the party to make Delhi 'corruption-free'
n February 14, 2015, exactly

one year after he had stepped
down as Chief Minister for
'not being allowed' to introduce the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill
at the conclusion of his premature stint at the helm of the
Delhi government, Arvind
Kejriwal found himself at the
same political crossroads.
The very reason behind the
evolution of the Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) symbolised
by a broom that primarily
sought to clean up Delhis
dirty politics, deliver graftfree governance and was chosen as item number one on
his partys 70-point manifesto
was Mr. Kejriwal's intended crusade against corruption through the Delhi Jan
Lokpal Bill.
The liegislation, according
to popular public opinion, is
credited with triggering an
electoral tidal wave that
would bestow upon him a
never-before
historical
mandate of 67
out of total 70
seats that constitute Delhis
legislature.
Promising
to work 24
hours to enact
ANTI-CORRUPTION the (Jan Lokpal) Bill, Mr.
Kejriwal, being sworn in as
the eighth Chief Minister of
Delhi at a public spectacle
sans the usual VIP bandobast
at north Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, would reiterate his ambition to make Delhi Indias
first corruption-free city in
five years.
But, as fate would have it,
the road to delivering on the
most significant of his promises the Delhi Jan Lokpal
Bill was passed by the Assembly in November and the
anti-corruption mechanism
both within and beyond government departments has, arguably, been strengthened
among the seeming elimination of 'avenues of corruption' was destined to be a
turbulent one for Mr. Kejriwal as events over the following 12 months would amply
illustrate.
Battleground ACB
The newly sworn-in Chief
Minister's first directives
consisted of resurrecting
1031 the anti-corruption
helpline which was admittedly his pet project from his 49day stint in power, brainstorming aimed at adding
more teeth to the internal vigilance mechanism at government departments and eforts
to procure manpower for a
separate wing of the bureaucracy to be dedicated to
cracking down on graft.
It was in line with this that
one of the first communications bearing his signature as
Chief Minister would aim at
seeking the transfer of recent
Magsaysay awardee and Indian Forest Service (IFS) oicial Sanjeev Chaturvedi as an
Oicer on Special Duty
(OSD) for the Delhi government's Directorate of Vigilance (DoV).
Necessary clearances from
the BJP-led Centre are yet to
be procured close to a year
later.
The following month, the
The CM's first

order was to
resurrect the 1031
helpline, which was
abruptly scrapped
months later
AAP government would, during one of its maiden Assembly sessions, pass a resolution to 'take over the ACB'
through a resolution against a
Ministry of Home Afairs
(MHA) notification curtailing the operational jurisdiction of the unit to Delhi government employees back in
July, 2014.
The resolution, followed
by re-opened investigations
in the CNG Fitness Scam of
2002, would trigger an all-out
war between the Centre and
the State for months to come.
Even as the AAP government would present its 100day report card to the general
public in the heart of the Capital, a notification issued by
Lieutenant Governor Najeeb
Jung declared the appoint-
ment of joint commissioner

of police Mukesh Kumar
Meena over Surender Singh
Yadav, an additional commissioner of police heading the
ACB. The two would come
close to physical confrontation within a fortnight of
brushing shoulders at the
common oicial premises.
When the AAP couldnt
save its helpline
In late July, just days before
the physical confrontation
between the ACBs twin
chiefs, helpline number 1031
was abruptly scrapped and,
efectively, so was its capability of logging 1,500 to 2,000
graft complaints on a daily
basis of which, its is claimed,
at least one fresh case of corruption would emerge per
week.
As a result, according to
statistics, the ACB, which registered over two dozen cases
between April 20 and June 23
alone, would lodge just 10
more cases from July to December, 2015. After the ACB
and the helpline were, efec-
tively, 'snatched away' from it,

the DoV now records complaints on its own and claims
to have taken action against
40 to 45 of its own oicials between June and early January
this year.
AAP's own bad eggs
A Law Minister followed
by his cabinet colleague in
charge of Environment, a senior bureaucrat and, finally,
his own right-hand man and
confidant Mr. Kejriwals
purportedly relentless antigraft credentials ensured
strict action against insiders
accused of graft, too.
Beginning from sacking his
Law Minister Jitendra Singh
Tomar who was accused of
holding a fake law degree to
recommending a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
probe against Asim Ahmed
Khan for allegedly accepting
a bribe from a builder: the
Chief Minister went to town
with
exemplary
action
against his own as and when
accusations of wrong-doing
against them came to light.
Much has been done, but

much still needs to be done
n spite of the various controversies that it courted and

the Centre's 'interference'
which it decried on subsequent occasions, the AAP
dispensation claims to have, more or
less, delivered on the most significant of its anti-graft promises at the
conclusion of its maiden year in
oice.
From finally passing the Delhi Jan
Lokpal Bill to appointing the Capitals first lady Lokayukta a post lying vacant since 2013 those associated with its vigilance mechanism
contend that much has been
achieved through the simple streamlining of basic internal processes
which have been made more transparent. Systemic changes such as
the e-district project which cuts
through bureaucratic red-tape, Citizens Charters in each department
and doing away with unnecessary affidavits and paper-work have now
made convoluted procedures simpler and nipped possibilities of graft
in the bud, said Gopal Mohan, an IIT
alumnus who managed Mr. Kejriwal's poll campaign before the formation of his government and currently functions as advisor on
vigilance matters to the Chief
Minister.
Not just these, improvements in
departmental hierarchies have been
made with a view to giving more autonomy to oicials in-charge of vigilance. Oicials at posts such as Directors or Deputy Directors no
longer have additional administrative responsibilities and function exclusively to check graft, Mr. Mohan
said, adding that close to 45 Delhi
government oicials had faced the
music despite helpline 1031 having
been 'snatched away' from the AAP
just months after coming to power.
On the heels of resurrecting the

Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill, the AAP government, on October 20, in accordance with a unanimous decision taken by an unlikely panel, paved the
way for the appointment of a former
lady judge of the Delhi High Court at
the helm of the State's anti-graft
ombudsman.
Justice (Retd.) Reva Khetrapal was
named the Delhi Lokayukta in a
unanimous decision taken by a panel
consisting of Mr. Kejriwal, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, Leader of
Opposition in the Delhi Assembly
Vijender Gupta and the Chief Justice
of the Delhi High Court G. Rohini
within minutes of the commencement of proceedings.
A notification announcing Ms.
Khetrapal's appointment as Lokayukta a post which had remained
empty for two years after being vacated by Manmohan Sarin in November 2013 was issued after a go-ahead
from the oice of President Pranab
Mukherjee days later.
Meanwhile, at a time when the opposition and even the citizens of the
Capital least expected it, the AAP
Cabinet tabled a 'more potent version' of the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill in
the Assembly in mid-November.
Passed by a thumping majority at
the AAP-dominated Delhi Vidhan
Sabha two days later, the Bill would
see 'some opposition' from national
anti-graft crusader-cum-Kejriwalmentor Anna Hazare before his suggestions would be incorporated as
amendments to the original Delhi Jan
Lopal Bill (2015).
If we get hold of the ACB again,
the government, as per the vision of
the CM, aims to evolve a mechanism
that will ensure prison terms for occupants of public oice found guilty
of corruption, Mr. Mohan said.
The Aam Aadmi Party has its origins in the India Against Corruption movement organised by Anna Hazare. Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and other social activists had been involved
with Team Anna, a strand of the anti-corruption movement for a Jan Lokpal Bill. FILE PHOTO
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Give me eight months and I can rout out corruption from the Delhi govt
n his first interview

since assuming
charge, Surender
Singh Yadav, a 1997batch IPS oicer
credited with efectively
tackling insurgency in the
Northeast before being
hand-picked by Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal to
head the Anti-Corruption
Branch (ACB) as its
additional commissioner,
speaks to Jatin Anand on his
tumultuous maiden year in
oice:
How would you summarise

your experience of
confronting graft within
the Delhi government?
It would be wrong to say
CM
YK
that corruption did not exist

in the government and its
various departments when I
took over or that it does not
exist now a year later but
there are marked
changes...I've experienced
tremendous faith shown by
the citizens of Delhi, which
they continue to exhibit, in
the ACB what with between
1,500 to 2,000 calls logged on
the anti-corruption helpline
1031 on a daily basis.
At least one fresh FIR is
filed every week and more
people have been arrested
for corruption in just four
months than in the last five
years.
Investigation in the CNG
fitness scam is on track -- the
first chargesheet in the case
has already been filed in

addition to others...several
systemic changes in the ACB
per se also took place and
more are in the pipeline.
What are these systemic

changes?
The Delhi government
gave in-principle approval
for significant increases in
the sanctioned strength of
personnel as well as vehicles
at my suggestion.
While details about the
increase in manpower are
already well documented, let
me tell you that eforts are
underway to push the
number of four wheelers
from just five to as many as
25 and two-wheelers from
none to as many as 20 so that

anti-graft oicials can have a
physical presence across
government installations in
Delhi not to mention more
autonomy for the chief of the
ACB.
Didn't the political tug-ofwar over the ACB between

the Delhi government and
the Centre especially the
BJP government's alleged
interference in the affairs of
your unit affect your
performance?
I would like to refrain
from commenting on the
dispute between the Delhi
government and the Centre
since the matter is subjudice but, that being said,
starting from the general

public to the Prime Minister.
The past year was a blessing
for any government oicial
appointed to fight
corruption in Delhi, which
had both a Prime Minister
who gave the slogan na
khaunga na khaane doonga,
to a Chief Minister whose
anti-graft credentials are
legendary. I am a true
believer in the vision of both.
More arrested for graft in
past four months than in past
five years: additional
commissioner (ACB) S.S.
Yadav. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
there is tremendous support

that I, as an oicial
appointed to confront graft,
received from everyone
Didn't interference by the

Centre render the autonomy
you sought utterly useless?
What if matters hadn't come
to such a pass?
I would just reiterate that I
am a believer in the vision of
both governments which
have clear-cut directions to

show no mercy to the
corrupt no matter who they
happen to be. If matter
hadn't come to such a pass,
suice it to say, give me eight
months to a year and I can
finish of corruption from
the Delhi government.
Let me put it differently for

the sake of clarity: what is
your take on the
appointment of a certain
joint commissioner of police
as your boss in an arbitrary
manner by the Centre?
Again, the matter is subjudice so I cannot comment
on it...he is a senior oicer
and I am his subordinate; he
has his role and I have mine
both of which are welldefined by the Constitution

of India in addition to the
Central and State
governments which we, in
our respective capacities,
serve as oicials of the
AGMUT cadre.
Are you two on different

sides of a cold war with no
communication
whatsoever?
We have a formal working
relationship and of course
we communicate even if it is
mostly on paper; like I said
earlier: we both have our
respective roles and laws
that govern our conduct
which must be, and are,
followed.
ND-ND
CITY/STATE
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
City gets a little respite

from stinking garbage
Only some sanitation workers got back to work on Tuesday
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: Delhiites got a
slight breather on Tuesday as

a section of the municipal
sanitation staf that has been
on strike since January 27 returned to work and cleared
garbage from the streets of
North and East Delhi.
Some of the unions representing the protesting workers had agreed on Monday to
suspend their strike for two
days, till the High Court gave
its decision on their demands. The workers of the
North and East corporations,
which are financially crippled, had not been paid for
three months when they
launched an indefinite strike
on January 27.
With workers under the
United Front of MCD Employees, which represents 26
smaller unions, returning to
work on Tuesday after a fortnight, oicials said about
8,000 metric tonnes of garbage was cleared from North
Workers seen clearing garbage in New Delhi.

PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
and East Delhi.

A senior North Delhi Municipal Corporation oicial
said that authorities at the
zonal level had been instructed to clear trash from the
roads, where it had accumulated over the past two
weeks. However, sanitation
services were not back to
normal as a large group of
workers continued their
strike. The Swatantra Maz-
door Vikas Sanyukt Morcha,

which includes members
from 38 unions, carried on
the strike. A group of workers
even protested outside the
residence of AAP Minister
Kapil Mishra in Yamuna Vihar. The workers who had
suspended the strike said
they would decide the future
course of action after the
High Court hearing on
Wednesday.
Its a foggy February
JNU cancels programme
STAFF REPORTER
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: This winter, February is incredibly turning out to be foggier than December, usually the peak time of the fog
season.
The Capital witnessed five and a half
hours of dense fog on Tuesday morning,
with one of the main runways of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA)
getting badly afected. Flight operations,
however, were not much afected as another runway remained operational.
This winter is already the third worst in
the last 20 years when it comes to total fog
hours witnessed.
Dense fog was observed today morning during 4 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. with visibility hovering between zero to 100
metres when runway 29 had CAT-IIIA/
CAT-IIIB operations while runway 28 had
some improved fog of CAT-I/II with runway visual range of 400-600 metres, said
Dr. R.K. Jenamani, Director-in-Charge,
IGIA met unit.
While flight operations werent much
afected on Tuesday, at least 14 Delhibound trains were delayed and seven
trains were cancelled due to dense fog.
NEW DELHI: A cultural programme at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to mark the
death anniversary of Parliament convict Afzal Guru was on Tuesday disallowed by the
university authorities.
Afzal Guru was hanged on February 9,
2013, inside Tihar jail, where he was lodged
in the Parliament attack case. A group of students had organised a cultural protest to
mark his death anniversary but the BJP
backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad
opposed the event. The matter was brought
to the knowledge of the Vice-Chancellor,
through a written communication. We
heard there was some cultural programme
but later came to know its not a programme
but a protest. We came to know about it
through posters and no permission was
sought by anyone. Thus, to keep calm and
maintain peace in the campus, we cancelled
it, JNU Vice-Chancellor Prof Jagadesh Kumar said. The V-C, however, did not confirm
who wrote to him. The programme called A
country without a post oice against the
judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool
Bhatt, was supposed to showcase the protest through poetry, art and music.
CM
YK
|5
Plea for probe into DDCA dismissed

MOHAMMED IQBAL
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High
Court on Tuesday dismissed a
writ petition moved by former
cricketers Kirti Azad and Bishan Singh Bedi and others seeking a court-monitored investigation into the alleged
irregularities and corruption
in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). The
court observed that the plea
was premature.
Hearing the petition, the
Bench of Justice Manmohan
said the Central Bureau of Investigation had already started
a preliminary enquiry in the
matter from October 23, 2015,
and the agency needs to be given time to complete its probe.
The petition had stated that
the CBI would not be able to
conduct a free and fair probe,
since Arun Jaitley during
whose tenure as president
most of the irregularities had
taken place, was now a senior
Union Minister.
However, the Bench observed that a court-monitored
probe or setting up of a Special
Investigation Team was only
done in rarest of the rare cases
and not because a Union
Minister is said to be
involved.
The Bench, comprising Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice

Vibhu Bakhru, accepted the
request for withdrawal of application, while making it
clear that it did not want any
further litigation on the issue.
SITUATIONS
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MARKETING
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PUBLIC NOTICES
PUBLIC NOTICES
T20 application
The DDCA on Tuesday
withdrew its application from
Delhi High Court seeking directions to the South Delhi
Municipal Corporation to issue it occupancy certificate
for the upcoming T20 World
Cup at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium here, after the municipal
body spelt out its conditions.
Following the court's order
passed on Monday, the SDMC
informed a Division Bench
that it had passed a resolution
asking the DDCA to pay Rs.50
lakh as security amount and
comply with all the norms
within 20 days for getting a
provisional certificate.
Please contact: 011-43579797

from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m
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launching GS Mains Test Series
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CM
YK
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FOR JOB LISTINGS & ARTICLES, VISIT www.thehindu.com/jobs
Strengthening leadership pipelines a challenge to companies globally

ven as there has been an increase in leadership programme spending across
the world in 2015, including in
India, the overall capability
gap has grown in companies,
according to a report.
Deloittes 2015 Global Human Capital Trends report revealed that many companies
treat leadership sporadically,
confining development to a se-
CM
YK
lect few employees, failing to

make long-term investments
in leadership and neglect to
build a robust pipeline at all
levels.
Organisations around the
world are struggling to strengthen their leadership pipelines, yet over the past year,
businesses fell further behind,
particularly in their ability to
develop millennial leaders.
Building leadership remains paramount, ranking as

the number two issue in 2015.
Yet despite the fact that nearly
9 out of 10 respondents surveyed cite the issue as important or very important, the data
also suggest that organisations
have made little or no progress
since last year, the report
found.
The study involved surveys
and interviews more than

3,300 business and HR leaders
from 106 countries.
Indian companies have also
ranked learning and development as a long-term challenge.
Companies rating learning
and development as very important tripled since 2014, it
said.
But even as the importance
of this issue rose, the readiness
to address it went down. Only

40 per cent of respondents
rated their organisations as
ready or very ready in learning
and development in 2015, compared to 75 per cent in 2014, it
added. Culture and engagement is another area that is
considered a long-term challenge by companies in India. In
an era of heightened corporate
transparency, greater work-
force mobility, and severe

skills shortages, culture, engagement and retention have
emerged as top issues for business leaders, the report stated.
These issues are not simply
an HR problem. Culture and
engagement is the most important issue companies face
around the world.
About 87 per cent of organisations cite culture and en-
gagement as one of their top

challenges, and 50 per cent call
the problem very important, it
said.
Organisations that create a
culture defined by meaningful
work, deep employee engagement, job and organisational
fit, and strong leadership are
outperforming their peers and
will likely beat their competition in attracting top talent, it
added. The report also said
that the Human Resource industry in India is highly com-
plex, unorganised and fragmented and is dominated by

recruitment, followed by research and outsourcing. Firms
providing HR consulting, leadership development and learning services are usually global,
dominating the homegrown
ones. Few home-grown firms
do sell global products under
licenses but the one-size-fitsall module often does not help
as Indian market is very diferent from global ones, it added.
PTI
ND-ND
8|
NATION
Student beaten to
death by school
oicials in Bengal
STAFF REPORTER
KOLKATA: A 12-year-old student
of a private boarding school
in West Bengals Murshidabad district was allegedly
beaten to death by a headmaster and a warden of the
school. The two accused
were arrested on Tuesday,
police said.
The incident allegedly
took place on Monday at the
Al-Islamia Mission under
Ratanpur Police Station limits. Shamin Malik (12) was assaulted by headmaster Hanif
Seikh and warden Liton
Seikh after the student reportedly met his parents outside the school without permission from the authorities.
He was rushed to a local hospital, where he later died.
Hanif Seikh and Liton
Seikh have been arrested and
are being interrogated, Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad, C. Sudhakar said.
The headmaster
and warden of the
private boarding
institution
have been arrested
The family members of the
student have accused the
school authorities of trying
to hush up the incident.
They alleged that initially the
school authorities informed
them that Shamin Malik had
fallen ill.
The teachers informed
me that my son was hospitalised only after his condition
deteriorated, said Jullhas
Malik, father of the student.
The incident sparked public outrage as locals staged
protests and blocked roads,
demanding punishment for
the accused. Hanif Seikh and
Liton Seikh were produced
before a local court and remanded in police custody.
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
SOLAR SCAM
Now, U.P. finds

Doctor kills self after
ash in noodles
shooting, injuring partner
: Months after
Storm in Kerala Assembly

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala As-
sembly proceedings were adjourned on Tuesday following a

stand-of between the ruling
United Democratic Front government and the Opposition
over the solar scam.
Proceedings were suspended
at 11 a.m. following an altercation between the UDF and Opposition Left Democratic Front
(LDF) members over Leader of
the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandans observation about
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy while addressing the House.
This was before a walkout for
denying leave for an adjournment motion moved by Deputy
Leader of the Opposition Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
Mr. Kodiyeri sought the resignation of Power Minister
Aryadan Mohammed and Mr.
Chandy who, he alleged, misled
the House on the solar issue.
Mr. Achuthanandan stopped
his speech following the din.
Speaker N. Sakthans parleys
with party leaders did not bear
Oommen Chandy said the

Opposition was relying on an
incomplete statement of
Saritha S. Nair for moving the
adjournment motion.
FILE PHOTO: H. VIBHU
fruit. On resuming business at

11.45 a.m., the Opposition insisted on discussing the motion, but Mr. Sakthan turned
down the demand. The Opposition then squatted in the well
of the House and shouted slogans. Mr. Sakthan completed
the days business in haste and
adjourned the House for the
day.
Earlier, replying to the notice, Home Minister Ramesh
the
Maggi storm, the Uttar Pradesh
food safety department has
found samples of some other
instant noodle brands substandard with ash content in
the tastemaker exceeding the
prescribed limits.
The samples of Knorr Soupy Noodles, Horlicks Foodles
Noodles and Chings Hot Garlic
Instant Noodles were picked up
from a mall in the city in May
last year for testing and its report was received about a fortnight ago, the Food Safety Oicer of Barabanki district, Sanjay
Singh, said.
The samples were sent to the
government Food Analysis Lab
in Lucknow where it was found
that total ash of the tastemaker
exceeds the maximum prescribed limits ... hence the samples are sub-standard, Mr.
Singh said.
Against the prescribed limit
of 1 per cent, ash content was
found to be 1.83 per cent in
Chings noodles, while in Foodles it was 2.37 per cent and in
Soupy noodles it was 1.89 per
cent, he claimed. PTI
BARABANKI
Chennithala said when the

scam erupted, the government
appointed a commission. The
commission was functioning in
a dispassionate manner and
would submit its report on
April 27. The Opposition
should wait till the submission
of the report.
Mr. Balakrishnan alleged that
no Chief Minister had to face
such graft charges earlier. Mr.
Chandy had misled the House
by making contrary statements
regarding his meeting with Saritha S. Nair and industrialist
Sreedharan Nair before the
commission.
Mr. Chandy said that the Opposition was relying on an incomplete statement of Saritha
for moving the notice. He was
examined for 12 hours, but neither Sarithas lawyer nor anyone else raised any such questions at the commission. He
had been a member of the
House for 46 years.
Mr. Mohammed too denied
the charges and said that the
accused had not got any benefit
from him.
ASIF YAR KHAN

HYDERABAD: The shooting incident involving doctors at Himayatnagar here took a new
turn on Tuesday with Dr.
Shashi Kumar who disappeared after shooting at and
injuring Dr. Rachokonda
Uday on Monday committing suicide at a farmhouse
in Moinabad.
On Monday, Dr. Shashi had
escaped after shooting at his
business partner Dr. Uday
following an argument.
After injuring Dr. Uday,
Dr. Shashi went to his friend
Chandrakalas house and
asked her to drop him at her
farmhouse. The woman took
him to her farmhouse and returned.
Around 10.30 p.m., she got
to know about the incident
through television and informed the police. When we
reached the farmhouse
around midnight, we found
him dead in a pool of blood.
The bullet pierced through
Dr. Shashi Kumar who

allegedly committed suicide
the left side of his temple and

exited through the right side
of the head. We found a liquor bottle and a note purportedly written by him, Inspector
Moinabad
G.
Srinivas said.
In the note, Dr. Shashi said
he did not shoot at Dr. Uday.
It was another doctor, Sai Kumar, who had done so.
The police on Tuesday
questioned Dr. Sai Kumar,
who said he fled the scene as
soon as Dr. Shashi shot at Dr.
Uday. A medical bulletin
from Apollo Hospitals said
Dr. Uday was in a critical
condition.
Women are agents of change, says Supreme Court

KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL
NEW DELHI: Indian women are
no longer passive recipients
of the states welfare schemes,
but active agents of change.
Real development is only possible with their economic empowerment, the Supreme
Court has observed in a
judgment.
In a 38-page verdict highlighting how women have
progressed from being the
protected to becoming the
protector, a Bench of Justices
A.K. Sikri and A.M. Sapre said
they had become dynamic
CM
YK
promoters of social transformation that can alter the lives

of both women and men.
The judgment came in a
case of a woman police oicer, Richa Mishra, who was
denied selection as Deputy
Superintendent of Police on
the ground that she was overage. The apex court directed
the Chhattisgarh government
to appoint her in the senior
rank after agreeing with her
contention that there was a
10-year relaxation in age limit
for women candidates under
the service rules that was
solely meant to encourage
Real development is
only possible with
womens economic
empowerment,
notes Bench
women like her.
As India promotes Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Education
for girls) scheme, empowerment of women is the need of
the hour, the Supreme Court
said. Women in this world,
and particularly in India,
faced various kinds of constraints and discrimination.
This was notwithstanding the

fact that under the Constitution, women enjoyed a status
of equality with men. In reality, however, they have a long
way to go to achieve this constitutional status, Justice Sikri, who wrote the verdict for
the Bench, observed in a
judgment dated February 8
released on Tuesday.
The apex court said the focus was slowly shifting from
mere better treatment or
well-being of women to
empowering them to be economically independent and
self-reliant, with a positive
esteem, to enable them to

face any situation and participate
in
development
activities.
Quoting Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen,
the Supreme Court observed
that economic development
and womens empowerment
had a symbiotic relationship.
One cannot do without the
other. The court said the term
womens
empowerment
meant womens ability to access the constituents of development, in particular
health, education, earning
opportunities, rights, and po-
litical participation.
Poverty and lack of opportunity had bred inequality between men and women, the
apex court said. It called for
further policy action for
women empowerment in order to stimulate economic
development.
Policy action is still necessary to achieve equality between genders. Such policy
action would be unambiguously justified if empowerment of women also stimulates further development,
starting a virtual cycle, the
court said.
ND-ND
THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016
Screening of film on Kashmir

triggers row in IIT-Delhi
Willing to
apologise to
youth: Govinda
NEW DELHI: For the last six

months, research scholars associated with the Centre of
Social Sciences and Humanities at the Indian Institute of
Technology, Delhi (IIT-D),
watched films, a routine
event on weekends at 5 p.m.,
which was followed inevitably by discussions, sometimes in the presence of the
director.
A process, the faculty and
students looked forward to.
On January 29, when the Film
Society, brainchild of the centre, screened Ifat Fatimas
Khoon Diy Baarav (On a
Trail of Vanished Blood), a
film on Kashmir, not only
were the proceedings disrupted, the viewers were
asked to explain whether the
screening was tantamount to
being anti-national.
Indian Institute of Technology,

New Delhi. FILE PHOTO
When the film was

screened on January 29, a
couple of students from the
Applied Mechanics department sought to disrupt the
screening, calling it anti-national.
These students wrote to
the oiciating director, Professor K. Thyagarajan, who
has forwarded the mail to the
centre, seeking a detailed discussion from the department
for screening the film.
Even as attempts were
made to downplay the exchange of mails between the

authorities in the IIT, what
has upset the centre is the reaction the film has evoked in
some students who were not
present for the screening and
their attempt to disrupt it.
There was a heated exchange between those who
watched and those who protested the screening, said
those who watched the film.
The Film Society was meant
to encourage students engagement with meaningful
cinema. The head of the centre, Ravinder Kaur, said: We
should have the freedom to
discuss a whole range of
opinions, and centres such as
IITs, should retain the right to
discuss sensitive issues that
cinema often raises in its audience.
Ms. Kaur said she was
hopeful the centre would
GSI says it is sole agency to

research meteorite finds
DENNIS S. JESUDASAN &
SERENA JOSEPHINE M.
CHENNAI/VELLORE: In the wake of
two suspected meteorite

falls in Vellore district in the
last fortnight, the Geological
Survey of India (GSI) has
written to the State government seeking a direction to
all District Collectors that
any such cases be reported
to GSI and any finds handed
over, as it was the only nodal
agency authorised to possess and carry out research
on meteorites in the
country.
We came across media
The stone-like object that was

recovered from Bharathidasan
Engineering College,
Natrampalli
reports about the two incidents one on January 26
and another on February 6.
Though it is oicially not es-
tablished whether they were

cases of meteorites falling,
we are not aware who is in
possession of the items now.
As the GSI is the nodal agency in the country, the respective district administration
should alert and hand it over
to us, GSIs Deputy Director-General S. Raju tolThe
Hindu. He said suspected
meteorite cases have been
reported mostly in Vellore
and Dharmapuri districts.
In 2008, a 105-kg meteorite fall was reported in Sulagiri near Krishnagiri; the
piece is in the GSI gallery in
Kolkata now.
ED conducts searches in Hasan Ali case

DEVESH K. PANDEY
Expediting the
probe into the money-laundering case against Punebased race horse owner Hasan Ali Khan, the Enforcement
Directorate
on
Tuesday conducted searches
on the premises of the accused and his accomplices in
six cities.
NEW DELHI:
CM
YK
The agency had registered

the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering
Act in 2011 and Hasan Ali
was arrested soon after. He
was in judicial custody till
August last year when the
Bombay High Court granted
him bail.
In 2011, the ED also arrested Kashinath Tapuriah, a
Kolkata-based businessman
continue to show films to its

students. It is also learnt that
the centre will be discussing
the matter with Mr. Thyagarajan on Wednesday.
While sources in the department said those students
who disrupted the screening
had complained to the director, and not those whose
viewing was marred by the
act, the behaviour of the disruptive
students
was
unacceptable.
The society which is sixmonths-old, showcases contemporary, meaningful cinema often resulting in lengthy
discussions. Mr. Thyagarajan
was unavailable for comments though an email was
sent to him.
IIT Delhi has been in the
news for high-profile visits of
Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar and the Brahmakumaris in the recent past.
U.P. Minister
passes away
OMAR RASHID
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Pan-
chayati Raj Minister Kailash

Yadav passed away at the Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon on
Tuesday.
The Jangipur MLA sufered
a stroke while he sitting on
the lawn at his residence
when he fainted. He was
rushed to the Medanta Hospital in an air-ambulance.
Born in 1951 in a village in
Ghazipur district, Mr. Yadav
started his political career
from a rural background,
holding the post of a gram
pradhan, before becoming a
member of the U.P. Assembly
thrice. He was a Minister of
State for Revenue and Industrial Development under the
Mulayam Singh regime.
Maharashtra bats for womens

entry in Haji Ali Dargah
Equality must rule over tradition and customs, it tells Bombay HC
Students disrupt Iffat Fatimas Khoon Diy Baarav, calling it anti-national

ANURADHA RAMAN
|9
NATION
NOIDA/DELHI
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra gov-
The actor was seen slapping a

young man in a video shot
seven years ago. FILE PHOTO
LEGAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: Actor Govinda on
Tuesday conveyed to the Supreme Court his willingness

to ofer an unconditional
apology and compensation to
a youth he is shown slapping
in a video shot seven years
ago.
However, a Bench of Justices V. Gopala Gowda and U.U.
Lalit sought the actors response to a submission by the
victims lawyer that Govinda
did not personally apologise
to his client. What did we tell
you at the last hearing? We
had asked you to meet him
and sort it out. Whatever you
want to ofer, tell him personally and dont give it to us, the
Bench told Govindas lawyers
in court.
The Supreme Court, in November last year, had advised
the former politician and Bollywood star to let bygones be
bygones and settle with the
man who accused the star of
slapping him in 2008.
The apex court said it
would not tolerate the actor
slapping anybody in public.
The actor need not replicate
in real life his action scenes in
the movies, it said.
ernment on Tuesday backed

the entry of women in the Haji Ali Dargah, and told the
Bombay High Court that
equality must rule over tradition and customs. It said unless the Dargah Trust is able
to prove that the ban is part of
its religious practice with reference to Koran, women
should be allowed to enter
the sanctum sanctorum.
Appearing for the State, advocate general Shreehari
Aney told a division bench of
Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice Revati Mohite-Dere that
any claims to right to practise
ones religion must be
weighed against the fundamental Right to Equality.
The court is hearing a PIL
plea filed by Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan that
Bharatiya Muslim Mahila

Andolan and other groups
protesting at Azad Maidan,
Mumbai, demanding entry in
Haji Ali Dargah. FILE PHOTO:
VIVEK BENDRE
states women have always

been allowed at the Dargah,
but in June 2012, the trust restricted their entry into the
sanctum sanctorum.
Mr. Aney said the only
question to be considered
was whether the ban was in-
tegral to Islam or just a peripheral religious practice.

The advocate for the Trust
justified the ban and said even polling booths had separate queues for men and
women to maintain tranquillity. He said the ban was integral to Islam and women
could not be permitted to
touch the tombs of male
saints.
In the last hearing, the HC
had asked the State government to give its opinion on
the PIL plea challenging the
decision of the Haji Ali Trust
to ban the entry of women in
the sanctum sanctorum of the
historic Dargah.
The court had also said it
would wait for the Supreme
Court to decide on allowing
women to enter the sanctum
sanctorum of the 1,500-yearold Sabrimala temple in
Kerala.
All eyes on Siddaramaiahs watch

BENGALURU: In the run-up to the
bypolls to three Assembly

segments and the zilla and taluk panchayat elections in
Karnataka, everyone appears
to be looking at Chief Minister Siddaramaiahs wrist. A
guessing game on the worth
of his watch is making more
noise than issues afecting
people.
It all began with Janata Dal
(Secular) leader and former
Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy saying in an election
Karnataka Opposition has

claimed that the watch is
worth over Rs. 50 lakh.
rally that Mr. Siddaramaiah,

who boasts of his socialist
credentials and his governments pro-poor policies, was
wearing a watch worth over
Rs. 50 lakh and sunglasses

valued at Rs. 2 lakh.
While the Chief Minister
dismissed this by saying he
was ready to sell the watch to
anyone for Rs. 10 lakh and offered it to Mr. Kumaraswamy
himself, the issue has refused
to die down with the latter on
Tuesday saying that he was
not a trader in second-hand
goods.
He claimed in Bidar on
Tuesday that he had contacted the company that sold the
particular brand of watch and
it was very costly.
and Alis alleged accomplice.

The case tops the list of
cases being monitored by
the Special Investigation
Team on Black Money that
was set up by the Central
government in 2014 pursuant to a Supreme Court directive.
Hasan Alis name figures
in the SITs terms of references.
ND-ND
10 |
EDITORIAL
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
Internet power to the people

wednesday, february 10, 2016
Adhering to basics
and freedom
he Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI) has to be commended for batting unambiguously for net neutrality, the principle of
non-discrimination that is vital for the Internet
to remain an open platform. Its decision was made clear
on Monday when it prohibited telecom providers from
charging diferential rates for data services. The regulators stance is commendable for two other reasons as well.
One, it had to face enormous pressures to tinker with the
way the Internet is governed. And, two, net neutrality,
with its numerous interpretations, is a complex concept.
The latest ruling could no doubt set the tone for regulators across the globe, especially those of countries that
have socio-economic features akin to Indias. More important, it would ensure that generations of Indians are
not forced to be satisfied with services that pretend to be
the Internet itself, robbing them of the real benefits of the
medium. TRAIs decision would bring relief and cheer to
the millions of Indians as also some voluntary groups that
admirably campaigned for months together for this result, worried as they were that the regulator would give
up on net neutrality. The danger had seemed that real. In
the last year or so, there have been more than a few attempts by the big players to ofer Internet services that intrinsically seemed to violate this principle. The public debate on net neutrality began during late 2014 when Indias
top telecom carrier Bharti Airtel decided to charge users
extra for the use of applications with which they can make
free calls over the Internet.
But the most prominent and persistent among the companies has to be Facebook, which spent a lot of time in
pitching its Free Basics initiative as an altruistic efort that
would help millions of Indias Internet have-nots. Its
founder, Mark Zuckerberg, took a personal interest in the
campaign. Facebooks global rebranding of its internet.org initiative as a platform open for all but adhering to
Facebooks standards, which ofered free and basic services, was arguably the consequence of the debate over
net neutrality in the country. The point about providing at
least some access to millions of new users for free, who
otherwise cannot aford it, must have been diicult for
TRAI to ignore. And that is why it is important to recognise that a no to Free Basics does not imply a failure on
the part of TRAI to recognise the importance of catering
to the Internet have-nots. In fact, the regulator has noted
that it is not against the provision of limited free data that
allows a user to explore the Internet. Simply put, it finds
this route palatable because the choice is with the user.
This is also a route that Free Basics could explore in the
immediate future in order to stay alive in India. The regulators problem with a price-based diferentiation has
more to do with the fact that in a market such as India it
would distort consumer choice and have consequences
that wouldnt be understood easily. The ruling also suggests that while TRAI recognises the need for India to
bridge the digital divide, it realises that compromising the
basic ideals of the Internet is not the way to do it.
Time for pharma

course correction
he Finance Ministrys decision to withdraw
customs duty exemptions for 76 life-saving
drugs will at once make them more expensive
and impact patients who are already paying a
high price for such medical treatment. It is important to
keep in mind that a majority of Indians meet health care
costs through out-of-pocket expenditure, and any increase is bound to adversely afect them. It is true that the
customs duty waiver is an interim measure, and that the
list has to be revised periodically. Certain drugs now removed from the list are either no longer used by patients
or are being manufactured in India at a lower cost than
the imported ones, and therefore should be removed
from it anyway. However, it is not clear what public interest is served by removing certain essential medicines
that are either not manufactured in India or whose demand currently exceeds local manufacturing capacity.
While the government has been enthusiastic about withdrawing the exemption for 76 drugs, it has failed to include certain life-saving or essential drugs that have been
launched recently and are under patent protection. This
indicates that consultations have not been broad-based;
this has to be corrected as the patients interest should be
the priority. Unlike in the case of other commodities
where the consumer is the decision-maker, doctors prescription preferences, sometimes based on partisan considerations, dictate whether a patient ends up buying imported drugs even when locally manufactured options
are available at a lower price. It is for this reason that the
withdrawal of 22 per cent customs duty exemption on
imported drugs could have an impact on a patients budget; imported active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs)
will also increase the cost of generics made locally.
Since the late 1990s, India has lost out to China in the
API market. Active as well as enabling support from the
government in various forms helped the Chinese industry flood the Indian market with cheap APIs. While the
product patent regime that came into full force since
2005 and the flooding of the market with Chinese APIs
may appear to be genuine reasons for giving the Indian
industry cover to catch up, any protection cannot be
long-lasting. The only way for the Indian drug industry to
grow is by investing in research and development and in
producing novel drugs that enjoy patent protection. India is the pharmacy of the South, but that dominance is
restricted to generics. This has to change, and the government has to extend support in larger measure. As is
the case in the U.S., many drugs that go on to become
commercially profitable have their origins in academic
and government institutions. Unfortunately, the recent
decision to cut research funding will not help the industry. The earlier the government realises this and changes
its priorities, the better it would be for the country.
CM
YK
The regulations issued by the

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) barring differential pricing of data based
on content have created a
global impact. A friend, who
PRABIR
PURKAYASTHA runs a major international
software company, called it the
most important victory for the
people in the tech space in the last 20 years.
India has joined a select few countries that
have protected net neutrality and barred zero-rating services.
What makes this victory even more surprising was the complete asymmetry of the
two sides involved. On one side was Facebook, a company whose market cap is greater
than the GDPs of 144 countries, allied with a
bunch of big telecom companies (telcos).
They had already won easy victories for
their platform in a number of countries, and
felt India would be no exception. They had an
ad campaign that estimates put at Rs.400
crore. On the other side was a motley group
of free software and Internet activists, with
unlikely allies such as comedy group AIB, a
bunch of start-ups, and some political figures
and formations.
The argument that Facebook was using appeared simple. Why should anybody deny the
poor getting some access to the Internet
even if this was limited? Isnt something better than nothing? Mark Zuckerberg not only
wrote articles terming his opponents Net
Neutrality fundamentalists, but also appeared in advertorials in the electronic media
to push Free Basics. Some commentators
wrote plugs for Facebook in the guise of opinion pieces, all more or less posing diferent
variations of the broad theme that Zuckerbergs heart beats for the Indian poor.
To beat back such an ofensive, backed by the
full power of Facebooks media blitz, was no
ordinary event. So why did Facebooks campaign fail?
Peoples campaign prevails
First is, of course, the energy and the creativity of the groups fighting Free Basics. They
not only ran an innovative and creative campaign, but were also able to bring tech activ-
TRAIs vigorous endorsement of net neutrality

safeguards the Internet against platform
monopolies, retaining the ability for users not
only to be consumers but also creators of content
ists on to the streets. What surprised even
them was the response of the people.
I am convinced that Facebook and their ad
agencies completely underestimated the Indian public. Even if all of them do not use the
Internet, they understand the diference between having access to the full Internet, with
nearly a billion websites, and the so-called
Free Basics platform that provides Facebook
and a few other sites. They are sophisticated
enough to know that Free Basics would not
ofer them any of the things they really want
to access. No search, no email, no access to
various services; no pictures or video clips
for entertainment either. No access to the
rich diversity of views and material on the In-
other forms of discrimination as well.

This is where Net Neutrality comes in. The
most important characteristic of the Internet
is whether it is the richest corporation in the
world or an individual writing a blog, both are
treated identically on the Internet. If the blogger had to negotiate with the Internet service
providers (ISPs) in todays world the telcos
to reach the telco subscribers, she would
have to negotiate with thousands of such
ISPs. Telcos would then be the gatekeepers of
the Internet. Only the biggest corporations
could then survive on the Net. This is how the
cable TV model works; for their channels to
be carried, the TV channels have to negotiate
with all the platforms such as Dish TV, Tata
Even if all Indians do not use the Internet,

they understand the difference between having access
to the full Internet, with nearly a billion websites, and the
so-called Free Basics platform, a sterile walled garden where,
at best, you can see what your friends are doing.
ternet. Only a sterile walled garden where, at
best, you can see what your friends are doing.
A level playing field
What is the flip side of such a platform? Other
people who want to have the full Internet
could still access it, so why is Facebooks Free
Basics harmful?
TRAI has correctly pointed out that the tarif
principle at play is whether we can have differential pricing of data based on the content
we see. If we accept this principle, what then
prevents telcos from charging various websites and Internet services for accessing their
subscribers? Accepting that one form of price
discrimination is okay opens the door to all
Sky, etc. If we accept that telcos can act as

gatekeepers, we would then lose what has
given the Internet its unique power, the ability for us not only to be consumers but also
creators of content.
In its nascent phase, the big telco monopolies
tried to levy a tax on all Internet content
providers. The Internet companies were then
the new kids on the block. They and the Internet user community fought back such attempts. This was the first net neutrality war,
and it established the principle of non-discrimination on the Internet between diferent types of content or sites.
The scenario has changed dramatically today.
We have the emergence of powerful Internet
CARTOONSCAPE
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Headleys deposition
David Coleman Headley seems to
have spilled the beans about the
involvement of the Pakistan Army,
the ISI as well as terrorist
organisations in the planning and
execution of the 2008 Mumbai
attacks (Mumbai attackers made
two earlier attempts: Headley and
Hafiz speech motivated me, says
Headley in deposition, both Feb.9).
He seems to have fully corroborated
Ajmal Kasabs account on these
aspects. If this is not acceptable,
what else can be more credible?
Pakistans Prime Minister, who had
promised not to give protection to
any terrorist element and enable the
peace process to move forward,
should now enter the picture and
take efective action.
S.V. Venkatakrishnan,
Bengaluru
The actions of the U.S. as well as

other undisclosed pieces of
information,
presumably
for
security
reasons,
insinuate
Headleys role as a double agent
(U.S. claims not convincing,
Feb.9). After reading the crucial
details, it can be quite safe to
conclude that he worked for a larger
conspiracy. In all this, it is the role of
the U.S. that needs to be highlighted.
Even though there is mounting
evidence to show that Pakistan has
unleashed a wave of terror on us, and
will continue to do so, the U.S. is
unlikely to reverse its stand of being
lenient towards Islamabad.
N. Visveswaran,
Chennai
We are only wasting our time by

giving evidence to Pakistan. No one
in Pakistan will dare act against the
perpetrators. If Mr. Nawaz Sharif
decides to act, he can be sure that the
army will be waiting to take control
citing law and order problems.
Gopalan Natarajan Iyer,
Chennai
There is nothing to be surprised

about in Headleys deposition. India
already has a mountain of evidence.
monopolies that are much bigger than the telcos. Not surprisingly, these companies now
see the virtues of monopoly. They would like
to combine with telcos to create monopolies
for their platforms, ensuring that they control
the future of the Internet and freeze their
competition out.
Today, we have nearly a billion websites on
the Internet and 3.5 billion users. This means
that nearly one out of three users is both a
content provider as well as content consumer. What the Internet monopolies want is that
we should be passive consumers of their content, or at best generate captive content only
for their platforms. This is why they have
joined hands with telcos to ofer various
forms of zero-rating services.
Future-proofing policies
The two most common forms of zero rating
used by telcos are (a) no data charges for a select set of sites, e.g. Facebooks Free Basics,
and (b) a few content providers such as Netflix not being subjected to data caps by telcos.
The TRAI order bars both these forms.
The other issue that TRAI dealt with is
whether regulatory policies should be crafted
to prevent harm (ex ante) or be applied only
after harm has been established. The argument of the telcos has been, prove there has
been harm, otherwise we should be allowed
to do as we please. TRAI has again correctly
pointed out that not crafting the right policies
for the Internet would distort the basic character of the Internet itself. It would then help
the well heeled, who would be able to take advantage of a lack of policy. The TRAI order also points out that without the right policies,
each tarif proposal would have to be analysed on a case-by-case basis, imposing high
regulatory overheads.
The last issue we need to examine is how a
powerful monopoly can bend policy by virtue of its control over its users. Facebook not
only launched a media blitz but also ran a
completely misleading campaign on Free Basics to its 130 million Indian subscribers.
Through its various pop-ups and user interface, it pressured its users to send TRAI a boilerplate statement of support for Free Basics.
It even painted this as providing basic Internet to the poor, without informing its users
that Facebook was the sole arbiter of what
constitutes a basic Internet.
The question is, can a platform monopoly
of the type Facebook, Google are use this
monopoly to run a campaign on a countrys
policy? Facebook is a foreign entity and has
argued before Indian courts that it is not accountable to Indian laws. Should such entities have such power over our peoples lives?
A media company is supposed to diferentiate between advertisements and news.
Facebook did not identify its plug for its Free
Basics platform on Facebook as opinion but
presented it as truth. How should online
media conduct itself in the future on such
issues?
TRAI had rebuked Facebook on its attempt to
convert TRAIs consultation on diferential
pricing to a numbers game. TRAI wanted
clear answers to the questions they had
posed, not boilerplate emails saying how people loved Free Basics. But it still leaves unanswered the question of what are the rights
and duties of such platform monopolies towards their users. With Google and Facebook
emerging bigger than many nation states, this
is the key question for the Internet in the
future.
(Prabir Purkayastha is Chairperson,
Knowledge Commons, and Vice-President,
Free Software Movement of India.)
Letters emailed to letters@thehindu.co.in must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.
Of course, Pakistan will be in a denial

mode as the civilian government is at
the mercy of the army and the ISI.
How long will India remain a
toothless giant?
S.P. Sharma,
Mumbai
The deposition has removed all

scepticism about Pakistans role in
the 26/11 attacks. That Headley
visited India on a fake passport and
was in Mumbai seven times before
the attack clearly reveals a major
lapse on the part of the Indian
security establishment. On the other
hand, this confession will
definitely come in handy for India as
it will strengthen the dossier against
Pakistan and help world leaders get
to see Pakistans true colours. The
need of the hour for India is to
expose Pakistan on the international
platform, chalk out a global strategy
to tackle terrorism emanating from
there and exert relentless pressure
on Pakistan to stop fostering
terrorism.
Shubham Goel,
Hapur, Uttar Pradesh
Heavy cost of Siachen

Stephen P. Cohen, a senior fellow at
the Brookings Institution, equated
the Siachen conflict between India
and Pakistan to two bald men
fighting for a comb. The fact that
over 800 soldiers have lost their
precious lives for nothing should
make both countries shed their ego
and try and rebuild trust (Editorial,
Feb.9). A call by peace activists of
both the countries to declare the
glacier as a peace park has the
potential to stop the senseless loss of
lives forever.
Kamal Laddha,
Bengaluru
Soldiers who are posted in Siachen

are said to tell their families not to
expect them to return. The only
solution is for India and Pakistan to
form a panel that will go into the
modalities of demilitarisation of this
dangerous area.
L.V. Vasudevan,
Chennai
Quite unlike the terrestrial border of

8,891 km between the U.S. and
Canada, which is called the worlds
largest undefended border, there
will always be deep suspicion
between India and Pakistan about
cross-border
insurgency
and
terrorist activities. So, when our
2,900-km border with Pakistan, said
to be one of the most dangerous in
the world, is always on high alert,
how can a demilitarised zone be cut
out of this? Proponents of peace and
editorial writers should either
endorse the highly militarised
environment, as a result of security
concerns, or propose that the entire
length of the India-Pakistan border
be demilitarised.
Balasubramaniam S.,
Chennai
GAIL pipeline and farming

The management of the Gas
Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL)
seems adamant about laying
pipelines across seven districts in
Tamil Nadu (TN moves SC, seeks
GAIL review order, Feb.9). Strong
opposition by farmers in Kerala and
Karnataka changed GAILs plans to
spare farmland for this project
which runs through Kerala,
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The
authorities should have consulted
agriculture
experts
and
environmentalists as the areas
earmarked in Tamil Nadu have
prime and very fertile land, and
allayed the genuine fears of farmers.
Ragavan Malayappan,
Tirupur
It is one thing to address the fears of

the ignorant and quite another to
instil fear in the minds of the
ignorant in an attempt to try and
make political mileage from the
situation. The project is in national
interest. GAIL is not a private
commercial
institution
or
corporation but a public sector
undertaking well aware of its
commitments. It has people who are
qualified to decide whether the
laying of pipes will harm the quality
of farm soil or the quantity of crop
yield.
Consciously
not
acknowledging
these
factors,
politicians of all hues are now crying
foul. We must also learn to respect a
considered court verdict.
M. Meenakshisundaram,
Tiruchi
Public health concerns

The article When research goes of
the rails (Weekend-Being, Feb.7)
is applicable to the state of public
health in India, which is one of most
weak and highly underperforming
sectors ever. Except for a few
institutions of national importance
and reputed State government
tertiary care centres, one has
practically next to nothing at the
district cluster and primary levels.
Epidemiological forecast is another
area where we are fail miserably. We
appear to grossly underreport the
case load, maintain poor statistics
and
do
not
have
quality
epidemiological surveillance. We
rarely think of establishing an
institution of the surgeon generals
kind which can be seen functioning
with robust credibility in America.
The medical climatology of the
country has to be reworked so that it
gives out timely predictions of
disease breakouts. Interdisciplinary
coordination between the India
Meteorological
Department
Department and the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare and an
idea which does not need to be
scofed at may even help us fight
vector-borne diseases to a great
extent. We can never aspire to be a
superpower without strengthening
research in the basic sciences.
K.A.R. Reddy,
Nellore, Andhra Pradesh
Preserving roots
History and heritage lovers should
be delighted that the Kerala
government has planned to take up
restoration work of agraharams in
Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad
(Centuries-old agraharams in
Kerala to get a facelift, Feb.9). The
traditional Brahmin settlements
have fallen prey to urbanisation and
modern architectural trends,
jeopardising
the
values
of
community living and shared space.

There were even reports that these
areas were becoming dens of vice.
Now that the government has
stepped in, the complex task of
restoration should be easier.
Sabbhu Nath Chowdhury,
Kolkata
In the rest of the South, the

agraharam culture is vanishing and
one hopes governments here will
follow Keralas example. The
agraharam way of community living
has a lot to ofer to present-day, noneco-friendly ways of living. Most
agraharams are well laid out and
aesthetic with a community well at
the centre of a broad entry point. At
the other end, away from the well,
between
rows
of
packed
symmetrical and tiled houses, is the
spacious place of worship where
community feeding was undertaken
frequently. At the Ayyappankavu
Agraharam of Kottayi panchayat in
Palakkad,
for
example,
a
symmetrical hole provided in each
of the common walls shared by the
houses from one end of the row to
the other facilitiated easier
communication between residents
at the farthest ends, using the echo
property of sound waves. It would be
worth replicating the agraharam
style of residential layouts.
S. Vasudevan,
Chennai
Why Kerala alone? Tamil Nadu is

home to hundreds of these
habitations, many of them now in a
dilapidated state due to social
changes
and
migration.
In
Kanyakumari district for example,
agraharams in Vadiveeswaram,
Ozhuginasery,
Krishnankoil,
Nagarajakoil,
Parvathipuram,
Suchindram,
Mahadanapuram,
Azhagiapandiapuram and Eraniel
are worth restoring. INTACHs
Nagercoil chapter planned a survey
of agraharams in Kanyakumari
district so that their condition is
known. One hopes the government
encourages this step.
R.S. Lal Mohan,
Nagercoil
ND-ND
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
POST-PATHANKOT
Before the window

shuts again
AMIT BARUAH
PERSPECTIVE
| 11
The SC must end partisan federalism

The court can limit political partisanship in federal relations by decisively applying neutral
constitutional rules in two pending cases pertaining to the removal of Governors
SUDHIR KRISHNASWAMY &
GAURAV MUKHERJEE
Its yet another moment of potential cooperation between India and Pakistan that might not last. Post-Pathankot, the two
countries have shown some maturity in keeping the rhetoric
down. Some hope has been rekindled, with Islamabad promising an investigation into any Pakistani links the attackers of
the Indian airbase may have had, and New Delhi keeping its
cool.
A little over a month has passed since the terrorists, said to belong to the
Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), attacked the Indian airbase, coming across the International Border unhindered.
Though Pakistan has not registered a first information report in the Pathankot attack, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has promised to investigate the
leads provided by the Indian establishment. The proof of the investigation
will, needless to say, lie in the arrest and prosecution of the militant hand in
Pakistan that is likely to have guided the Pathankot attackers.
After the Mumbai attacks too, there was a similar moment of cooperation
where it appeared that none other than the chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate would travel to India, but the initiative was stillborn.
Arrests were made by Pakistan soon after the 26/11 terror strike, but the
failure to prosecute Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, believed to be the operational
commander of the Mumbai attacks, and Hafiz Saeed, big boss of the Lashkare-Taiba (LeT), stand out as major negatives.
The recent deposition by LeT operative David Coleman Headley has reopened the wounds of Mumbai. If the
two countries are not careful, these The real difference
wounds plus Pathankot can hit the nasbetween 2008 and
cent process of cooperation hard.
2016 is Gen. Raheel

Sharif, who has been
seen with his men out
there, whenever and
wherever there have
been terror strikes
in Pakistan
The story of two Generals

There are, however, some significant
diferences in context. The Pakistan of
2016 is not the Pakistan of 2008. In 2008,
the man who mattered, Chief of Army
Staf (COAS) Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, was
busy undoing all the gains made by his
predecessor Pervez Musharraf. Gen.
Musharraf in his second term had adopted a friendlier stance towards Indias, as
well as Pakistans, domestic battle against terrorism. The November 25, 2003
ceasefire, agreed upon by Gen. Musharraf and the then Prime Minister, Atal
Bihari Vajpayee, suddenly saw repeated violations after Gen. Kayani became
chief. It was evident that the new chief didnt agree with Musharraf Mark IIs
positive view of India. While the jury continues to be out on how much Gen.
Kayani or his ISI associates knew about or sanctioned the Mumbai attacks,
the military precision with which the 26/11 LeT attackers went about shooting innocent Mumbaikars was evident to all.
Six years later, on December 16, 2014, came a turning point in Pakistans
battle against domestic militancy when terrorists attacked the Army Public
School in Peshawar, massacring 141 people, 132 of them children. The pressure on the military and the civilian government to act against militants and
terrorists was both intense and immediate.
Theres little doubt that Pakistans actions against groups engaged in domestic acts of terrorism gained serious momentum after this attack. Nawaz
Sharif announced a 20-point action plan to counter terrorism, which included setting up military courts and hanging those on death row for terrorist offences. But the real diference between 2008 and 2016 is COAS Gen. Raheel
Sharif, who has taken the lead in anti-terrorist operations in the country. He
has been seen with his men whenever and wherever there have been terror
strikes in the country. Domestic critics argue that Gen. Sharifs actions have
been carefully choreographed by his publicity managers, but the fact remains that his has been the most consistent position against terrorist groups
threatening Pakistans own security. Whether it is enough is another matter.
There has been spectacular improvement in Pakistan-U.S. relations under
Gen. Sharif; ties under Gen. Kayani had hit an abysmal low, with critical statements about Islamabad from Washington becoming the near norm. Of
course, its evident that if Pakistan is to conquer its domestic demons, groups
such as the JeM, LeT, and the Haqqani network also have to face the music
from the security establishment. Pathankot actually poses a robust challenge
to Pakistans military and civilian establishment. So far, all has been quiet as
far as taking on the LeT and JeM is concerned.
A Pakistani analyst, who preferred to remain anonymous, told this writer
that the visibility of persons such as Hafiz Saeed had fallen on local television
and in the print media after the media regulator issued a notification against
publicity for militant groups. In fact, the February 2 speech by Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Amir Hafiz Saeed was not covered by the Pakistani media but received wide publicity in the Indian press.
The blackout of Saeed on mainstream Pakistani media is to be noted. The
Narendra Modi government has come a long way on the Pakistan road since
August 2015 when India snapped dialogue with the country over a meeting
that High Commissioner Abdul Basit had with the separatist Hurriyat leadership. The drop in by Prime Minister Modi on Nawaz Sharif in Lahore surprised many in India (and Pakistan), including his many hard-line supporters
who favour a harsh policy towards Pakistan.
Days after the trip, Pathankot happened. Contrary to form, the two countries then managed to open a window of opportunity to get at those responsible for the attack on the Indian airbase. This window might not remain
open for very long Pakistan-based terror groups could well be plotting and
planning their next attack on Indian soil, just as they did in Pathankot and in
Gurdaspur (July 2015). Also, rhetoric levels in India are rising after the deposition of Headley. Theres need to guard against returning to the allegationdenial mode in the India-Pakistan relationship.
For terror outfits, success lies in ensuring that all dialogue between India
and Pakistan remains suspended. If the neighbours want to stretch their moment of anti-terrorist cooperation to something meaningful, they must act
without losing any time. The forces ranged against such cooperation as
demonstrated by what was attempted after Mumbai 26/11 are formidable.
amit.b@thehindu.co.in
FROM THE ARCHIVES

(dated February 10, 1966)
Popes call for food

aid to India
Pope Paul to-day [Feb. 9]
appealed to mankind to come to
the aid of India in relieving famine
conditions at this festive carnival
when there is so much lighthearted squandering of money. He
told pilgrims at his weekly

audience at the Vatican that he had
already sent, as a token of his
solidarity and afection, sum of
money to India and Pakistan.
These sums which he did not
specify were modest, in view of
the Vaticans limited economic
resources.
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

>>Soldiers body recovered in Siachen camp (Feb. 8, 2016) referred to an
avalanche that hit an Army post on the Siachen glacier on January 3. It should
have been February 3.
>>In the tennis story, Czechs, Swiss in last four (Feb. 9, 2016): Svetlana
Kuznetsova lost both her matches in the Netherlands-Russia tie, and not as
given in the results column.
>> In the cricket story, Chandimal has a task on hand (some editions, Feb.
8, 2016), it was erroneously mentioned that Thisara Perera is not in the squad
touring India now.
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 Editors oice can be contacted by
Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to
Friday); E-mail:readerseditor@thehindu.co.in
The Terms of Reference for the Readers Editor are on www.thehindu.com
CM
YK
The National
Democratic Alliance (NDA)
came to power
in 2014 with a
slim popular
mandate that produced a parliamentary
majority. Its manifesto posited: Power is
currently concentrated in Delhi and the
State capitals. We believe this power
should be genuinely decentralised. BJP
has stood for greater decentralisation
through devolving of powers to the
States. This decentralisation push has
been enthusiastically portrayed as a commitment to cooperative federalism by
the government, its media champions and
opinion-makers.
The claim that this government practises a new cooperative federalism runs up
against mounting evidence of the persistence of an older, more venal political
strain in Centre-State relations: partisan
federalism. Political parties mobilise their
power in the Central government to disable and decapitate State governments of
opposition parties. Can new cooperative
federalism exist even if this older partisan
federalism persists? Unless the Supreme
Court completes its unfinished agenda of
limiting the scope for partisan federalism
through the strong enforcement of neutral constitutional rules on the appointment of Governors and the exercise of
their powers, there is little possibility that
cooperative federalism can define Centre-State relations in India.
nor, Aziz Qureshi, but the court has been

quiescent on the issue and no orders have
been passed.
The conspicuous lack of urgency in this
case emboldened the Centre and catalysed further Governor removals. On June
1, 2015, J.P. Rajkhowa was sworn in as the
19th Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, replacing Lt. Gen. Nirbhay Sharma (retd.).
No reasons were cited for Mr. Sharmas
Exploiting judicial quiescence
removal, though reports suggested that
The Supreme Court is currently adjudi- the Centre perceived him to be partisan
cating the constitutional validity of the towards the Congress government. Since
imposition of Presidents rule in the State his appointment, Mr. Rajkhowas actions
of Arunachal Pradesh on Republic Day, as the Governor confirm that such ap2016. Before we turn to this case, we must pointments are primarily to satisfy partidwell on the indecisiveness of the court san interests. On December 9, 2015, he dethat has precipitated this crisis. Soon after cided to not only advance a session of the
the NDA government assumed power in Legislative Assembly against the advice of
the Council of MinisMay 2014, much like
the United ProgresSince his appointment, J.P. ters in Arunachal
but also set
sive Alliance (UPA)
Rajkhowas actions as the Pradesh
its agenda: discuss
before it, it sought
Governor confirm that such the removal of the
the resignation of
the Governors of
appointments are primarily Speaker of the
Article 174 of
five States (West
to satisfy partisan interests House.
the
Constitution
Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Nagaland and Goa), provides that the Governor may sumall of whom were appointed by the UPA. mon the House of the Legislature of the
Significantly, the law on the appointment State to meet at such time and place as he
of Governors had changed as the Supreme thinks fit. However, this power is to be
Court in B.P. Singhal v. Union of India exercised on the advice of the Council of
(2010) held that the Governor of a State Ministers, unless it is the first time that
could only be removed for reasons which the Assembly is convened after an elecincluded physical or mental disability, tion and no government is in place. This
corruption, and behaviour unbecoming of decision was challenged by the Speaker,
a high constitutional oice, and not at the Nabam Rebia, and stayed by the Gauhati
pleasure of the Central government. The High Court where Justice Hrishikesh Roy
NDAs removal of Governors was chal- lamented that the Governor of a State,
lenged in court by one erstwhile Gover- who was expected to discharge his role
with dispassion and within the constitutional framework, had facilitated the political battle to move in a certain direction
in the tussle for power, and that this reflected the non-neutral role of the constitutional head which was undermining
the democratic process.
Grounds beneath the feat
Despite the High Courts admonition,
Mr. Rajkhowa dispatched a report under
Article 356 of the Constitution recommending Presidents rule. While the report has not been made public, three substantive grounds have been discussed in
media reports: the inability of the ruling
government to hold a Legislative Assembly session within the constitutionally
mandated six months; the governments
lack of support in the House; and the
breakdown of law and order. All three
grounds appear to be misconceived.
The Governors decision to advance the
Assembly session precipitated a court order that constrains the liberty of the
House to conduct its proceedings. Second, at least since S.R. Bommai v. Union
of India (1994), as confirmed in Rameshwar Prasad v. Union of India (2005), the
floor test is the only constitutionally valid
manner of determining the whether a government enjoys majority support. A floor
test to determine support for the government can only be conducted in a valid Assembly session which is yet to take place.
Hence, no finding of a loss of support
based on the subjective assessment of the
Governor is constitutionally tenable.
Third, the court has clarified that the
breakdown of law and order must not be
surmised from stray occurrences in and

around the Assembly but be manifest in
the inability of the government to maintain civil order, peace and security. Unless
the Governors report includes hitherto
undisclosed materials and evidence that
satisfy any of these neutral rules of constitutional law, it would seem that Mr. Rajkhowas assessment of a breakdown of constitutional machinery in the State is not
legally tenable.
In his 1959 Holmes Lecture at the Harvard Law School, Professor Herbert
Wechsler urged judges to develop neutral principles of constitutional law that
are general in content and equal in applicability. To be general in content, constitutional rules must ofer reasons beyond
the immediate result in the case. To be
equally applicable, the court must apply
these rules irrespective of the party before it. In the complex field of CentreState relations, the Supreme Court has developed neutral constitutional rules that
have progressively limited the scope for
political partisanship in federal relations.
If the court decisively applies these neutral rules in the pending decision on the
appointment of Governors in Qureshi and
the proclamation of Presidents rule in
Arunachal Pradesh, it will significantly
advance its unfinished agenda of limiting
partisan federalism. Only when partisan
federalism is canned and put away can
cooperative federalism truly emerge.
(Sudhir Krishnaswamy is Director of
the School of Policy and Governance,
Azim Premji University, Bengaluru;
Gaurav Mukherjee is a Graduate Fellow
there.)
Not a black-and-white issue

The racism controversy around the Oscars cannot be addressed by just nominating a few
black actors. A deep-rooted, top-down systemic overhaul is what is needed
onomics. If mainstream audiences begin
to embrace more films with black and
brown actors, then more such films will be
made, more such actors will make themselves visible at the box oice and during
awards season, more white voters will find
it impossible to overlook them. All of this
has to be addressed if the racism controversy is to be addressed. In other words, a
deep-rooted, top-down systemic overhaul
is whats needed, not the bland tokenism
of a few black actors and behind-the-camera people finding themselves nominated
amidst a sea of whites.
BARADWAJ RANGAN
When Mary Kom was released actually, right

from the point the film was
announced a lot was said
and written about Priyanka
Chopra playing a Manipuri
boxer. Why not cast someone from the
Northeast? was the general tone of criticism. Similar objections were raised when
Jared Leto played a transwoman in Dallas
Buyers Club. In Argo, another film based
on a true story, Ben Aleck played Tony
Mendez, a Central Intelligence Agency officer who was half Mexican. You could go
on. Elizabeth Taylor played Egyptian
queen Cleopatra. Johnny Depp played a
Comanche in The Lone Ranger. Peter
Sellers played another kind of Indian,
Hrundi V. Bakshi, in The Party. And who
played Facebook co-founder Divya Narendra in The Social Network? Max Minghella. The Tamil-Muslim comic Aziz Ansari said in a New York Times piece titled
Aziz Ansari on Acting, Race and Hollywood: I have a hard time understanding
why the Indian-American Harvard student, Divya Narendra, was played by... a
half-Chinese, half-Italian British actor.
The question of economics
Ridley Scott, though, had no such
qualms. When the question came up about
casting actors like Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver and Aaron Paul
as West Asian characters in his Biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings, the director
simply said: I cant mount a film of this
budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates
in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such.
Im just not going to get it financed. So the
question doesnt even come up. This is a
frankly shocking statement. (Its even
more startling that Mr. Scott admitted this
in these politically correct times.) Its pure
racism. But its also pure economics. Most
movies are made for the mainstream, so
that the largest numbers of people will buy
tickets. And to get these numbers, you
have to have a star (or an actor) who is
popular with audiences across races,
across nations. Unfortunately, with the exception of a Sidney Poitier here, a Denzel
Washington there, most of these actors
happen to be white. Priyanka Chopra, of
course, isnt white, but for a film made for
an all-India audience, her physiognomy is
to the Indian market what, say, Christian
The majority of movies that end up being considered for the Oscars have
mainstream actors. File photo shows Elizabeth Taylor in Rome on the set of
Cleopatra. PHOTO: AP
The problem also lies with

us. How many films with
non-mainstream faces
have we transformed
into hits?
Bales is to the North American market.
Its... mainstream.
None of this is to dismiss the racism
controversy that surrounds this years Academy Awards. This is just to say that the
majority of movies that end up being considered for the Oscars have mainstream
actors, and due to the sheer numbers of
these front-line white actors, many of
them heavily promoted by their studios,
its inevitable that some worthy performances slip through the cracks. For each
snub of a black actor, you can find one of
a non-black actor as well. If Idris Elba was
snubbed for Beasts of No Nation, then so
was Juliette Binoche for Clouds of Sils

Maria. If Ryan Coogler was shut out for
Creed, whose only Oscar nomination
came for a white actor named Sylvester
Stallone, then so was Danny Boyle for
Steve Jobs. Lets not get into who deserves it, whether your apple is better
than my orange. Surely by now we know
that the Oscar is as non-objective as any
other award.
But it is possible to be objective about
the ratio of whites to non-whites in the
voting bloc of the Academy. It is possible
to be objective about the number of
white movies that are released, compared to the black ones. It is possible to
be objective about the fact that the studios
behind mainstream movies (most of
which are made for, made by, and made
with white people) have the most money
to throw around during Oscar season, influencing voters and votes. It is possible to
be objective about the fact that its pure ec-
An Indian problem too

As the Mary Kom instance proves, this
isnt just a Hollywood problem. Ask the
people behind the film, and theyll hand
you the box oice statistics the film was
an above-average grosser. Translation: it
may not have been a blockbuster, but at
least it didnt lose money. The people behind the movie, thus, will echo Ridley
Scott and claim that had they cast a Northeastern actress, even this level of success
would not have been achieved no one
would have come to the theatres. Theyre
probably right. So the problem lies as
much with them as with us. How many
films with non-mainstream faces have
we transformed into huge hits? How many
of our stars, our big box oice draws, represent anything other than the generally
accepted Indian look?
Look at Tamil and Telugu films, which
routinely shun brown-skinned heroines
for fair-skinned north Indian imports,
who, in these milieus, look like stranded
aliens whose spaceship took of without
waiting for them. The message fair is
the only thing thats lovely is as bad as
that in the skin-whitening cream commercials. Or look at Hindi films. How many of
them make space for a Nandita Das, for instance, who proudly advertises her duskiness? Look at our television commercials,
where distinctly north Indian-looking
women or to be more precise, the markets definition of north Indian-looking
women (that is, no Nandita Das) are
routinely passed of as south Indian housewives. Should something be done about
this? Absolutely. But what? And how? That
requires a long, deep, inward look by everyone, from the people who make entertainment to the people who consume it. A
few names on an awards roster isnt going
to change anything.
baradwaj.r@thehindu.co.in
ND-ND
NEWS
12 |
Pachauris promotion: former
TERI employee disappointed
STAFF REPORTER
NEW DELHI: Anguished and dis-
appointed over R.K. Pachauris appointment as Executive

Vice-Chairman of The Energy
and Resources Institute (TERI), the woman who accused
him of sexual harassment said
the decision makes her flesh
crawl.
An open letter written by
the woman, a former employee at the TERI, was released to
the media on Tuesday. In the
letter she mentions her resolve to take the case to a logical conclusion. She slammed
the organisations governing
council for creating the new
post and appointing Mr. Pachauri with executive powers
to run the body, despite grave
criminal charges against him.
Shamelessness abounds!
The news of promotion of a
man who stands booked on
charges of sexual harassment
at workplace, stalking and
criminal intimidation by
countrys whos who makes
my flesh crawl, the complainant said.
Mr. Pachauri was on Monday promoted from Director
General to Executive ViceChairman of TERI, which is a
post created for him, though
judicial proceedings against
the scientist are on for alleged
sexual harassment. Ajay Mathur is the new Director General
of the organisation.
The complainant said she
had heard that Mr. Pachauri
was trying to get a foothold in
TERI but she did not believe it.
It was around 3 Oct, 2015 that
I first heard of this from some
current and former colleagues. I was sceptical in
thinking that the organisation
would not pour cheap, third
rated oil to the existing smouldering fire. I was so wrong,
she said. She also mentioned
how the organisation tried to
R.K. Pachauri has been

elevated in spite of facing
charges of sexual harassment.
ask her colleagues to have her

agree on reconciliation. For a
research organisation, priority
was given to meetings held by
Senior Directors and Area
Convenors to corner my col-
It is in gross violation of
law, says legal expert
VIDYA VENKAT
CHENNAI: After The Energy and
Resources Institute (TERI)
announced on Monday that
R.K. Pachauri, under
investigation in a sexual
harassment case, has been
appointed its Executive ViceChairman, legal experts termed
the move illegal, expressing
concerns about the precedent
this sets for safety of women at
the workplace.
Mr. Pachauri, who is out on
bail, was appointed to this
position, which was created to
accommodate him.
Eminent lawyer Vrinda
Grover said this appointment
was in gross violation of the
spirit of the Sexual Harassment
of Women at Workplace
(Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act, 2013 that builds
on the foundation laid down by
the Vishakha judgment of the
Supreme Court in 1997. As per
Peaceful dialogue the

way out, says President
capabilities.
He, however, insisted that
NEW DELHI: President Pranab peaceful dialogue was the
Mukherjees advice to the way out. At the same time,
Governors comes at a time we have to continue our efwhen many have questioned forts at resolving all outthe role of Arunachal Pradesh standing international issues
Governor J.P. Rajkhowa in the through peaceful dialogue
developments resulting in the and negotiations, he said.
Calling attention to the
imposition of Central rule on
the State. The matter is also problem of climate change,
pending in the Supreme he said: Its ill-efects are visible in the abnormal behaCourt.
Referring to 2015 as a dii- viour of nature in recent
cult year, the President said: times. The unprecedented
We faced challenges from floods that submerged Chenthe global economic slow- nai in December last resulted
down, climatic changes, and in untold human sufering
internal and external security. and economic loss. We must
States having international make our disaster managesystems
more
borders were afected by ter- ment
rorist attacks that had clear scientific...
He
said
pollution
external linkages. Volatile external security environment breached the peoples
makes it incumbent on us to right to lead a healthy, happy
upgrade
our
defence and productive life.
NATIONAL BUREAU
BJP, Akali Dal decide to

contest polls together
NISTULA HEBBAR
NEW DELHI: The BJP and the Aka-
li Dal have decided to face the

Assembly elections in Punjab
in 2017 jointly, and as a sign of
good faith, the Akali Dal will
help get BJP vice-president
and Rajya Sabha member, Avinash Rai Khanna, re-elected to
the Upper House.
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal met BJP
president Amit Shah on Tuesday evening, and in the background of an NDA meeting
where almost all constituents
of the alliance had complained
of being taken for granted, the
decision to stay together was
endorsed.
The BJP will fight 23 seats,
the Shiromani Akali Dal will
fight 91 seats, and a decision is
pending on the rest of the three
seats in the Assembly, said Mr.
Badal after the meeting. The
Punjab Assembly has 117 seats.
The only thing is that cricketer and former MP, Navjot
Singh Siddhu, who is distinctly
anti-Akali Dal, be reined in,
said a source in the party. We
will need 21 votes or Assembly
seats to get a member elected
to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab. The Akalis with 58 seats
can get two members re-elected rather cleanly. We have only
12 Assembly member votes,
and therefore, we will have to
take the rest from the Akalis,
said a source from the BJP.
The BJPs recent moves to be
conciliatory to its allies comes
on the back of a series of conCM
YK
leagues, to get them to have

me agree on reconciliation.
Not a day passed without a
message like this showing up
on my mobile phone Ask
your lady friend to settle out of
court. That would be best for
her as she has nothing more
left to achieve, she added.
She also expressed her disappointment about the fact that
the organisation has always
given prominence to Mr. Pachauri.
She concludes her letter by
explaining the reason behind
quitting the job. I spoke up
and was quarantined from
work. Not allowed to resume
work and no earnings for a
long time. No money and
tainted curriculum vitae gave
me sleepless nights.
troversies in the past few Parliament sessions that have

seen an index of Opposition
unity rise. Mr. Badal had been
one of the most vocal critics of
the BJPs neglect of its allies,
followed by the Shiv Sena.
Many of the parties had been
part of the NDA government
headed by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and
compared their rather more
gentle treatment then with the
neglect now.
The Akali Dal is one of the
oldest allies of the BJP, and recent problems between the
two pertaining to heavy antiincumbency against the NDA
government in the State and
Mr.Siddhus pronouncements
against that government had
created some fissures. Mr.Badal had met Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley on Monday morning, and the terms or rapprochement had been more or
less finalised then.
Posters cause stir

VIKAS VASUDEVA
NEW DELHI: Circulation of
unattributed pamphlets
and messages on social
media, pairing Delhi CM
Arvind Kejriwal of the
AAP with the Khalistan
movement spearhead Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale,
has caused disquiet in
Punjab. The political parties are blaming one
another.
the new law, sexual

harassment at workplace is a
crime, which places multiple
obligations on the employer,
first and foremost being an
impartial and fair enquiry. She
said the woman complainant in
this case was denied that, as
the Internal Complaints
Committee which found Mr.
Pachauri guilty was dissolved
and its findings were not acted
upon.
With pending investigation,
the TERI management should
not have compelled the woman
complainant to resign, Ms.
Grover said.
Mr. Pachauri, on the other
hand, continues to be
Chancellor of the deemed
university of TERI. With the
current appointment, he will
continue to hold executive
powers in the organisation.
Ms. Grover said that under
the new law, all workplaces
were obliged to provide a safe
workplace for women.
Modi may attend

Sanghs meet on
education
VIKAS PATHAK
NEW DELHI: About 700 school
principals from the RSS education wing, Vidya Bharti,
will converge here from February 11 to 14 to take part in a
seminar on education that is
likely to be attended by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and
Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani on
February 12.
Sources in the RSS said the
national education policy
which was in the works was
likely to be discussed during
the four-day meet.
The meet will also brainstorm on how to reach out to
families of children studying
in Vidya Bharti schools so as
to bring them closer to the
Sanghs social vision.
Organisations related to the
RSS have taken interest in
education for long now, and
would want their vision often criticised as safronisation to reform education
when the BJP is in power.
Raise AMU issue

in Parliament,
Muslim leaders
tell Sonia
MEHBOOB JEELANI
NEW DELHI: Minority community
leaders in the Congress are
mounting pressure on the party high command to take up
the issue of Aligarh Muslim
University in the upcoming
Parliament session. A delegation led by the chairman of minority department at the
AICC, Khursheed Ahmed Saiyed, met Congress president
Sonia Gandhi and insisted that
the party should put up stif resistance in Parliament against
the governments attempts to
scrap the minority status of
Aligarh Muslim University.
Speaking to The Hindu,
Mr.Saiyed said that his role in
the meeting was nothing more
than a moderator. I had to
carry the message of my people forward, so I did that, he
said. But a senior Congress
leader said that Mr.Saiyed reminded Ms.Gandhi that Muslims had always supported the
Congress in both good and
bad times. Though Ms.Gandhi did not promise to raise the
matter in Parliament, she said
she was well aware of it. She
assured that pressure will be
put on the Centre, said the
leader.
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
DAY 2 OF DEPOSITION
LeT, ISI work together: Headley

They give financial and moral support to Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
SONAM SAIGAL
U.S. offers
help to India
MUMBAI: In his deposition be-
fore a special court here for

the second day on Tuesday,
Lashkar-e-Taiba
operative
David Headley said he had
met his handlers again in November 2007 to plan the
Mumbai attack after going
through the information he
had gathered in the city.
He said he had met Major
Abdul Rehman Pasha, a retired oicer with the Pakistani
Army who was in 6 Baloch
Regiment.
Pasha joined the LeT after
retirement and two years later joined the al-Qaeda. He had
heard that Brigadier Riyaz, a
serving ISI oicer, was another handler of Zaki-ur-Rehman
Lakhvi.
Headley said he came to
Mumbai in September 2006.
He first stayed at the Taj and
then moved to Oberoi. Later,
he stayed as a paying guest in
a house near Breach Candy
Hospital. He returned to visit
Taj Hotel in April 2007 with
his wife Faiza and conducted
surveillance of the hotel several times.
Headley said the LeT and
the ISI worked closely with
each other and gave military,
financial and moral support
to the Jaish-e-Mohammed
(JeM) and the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. He met Maulana
Mazoor Azhar, head of the
JeM, at a gathering in October
2003 organised by the LeT
where he was the guest
speaker.
When special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam asked
Headley where he went after
visiting Mumbai, he said he
visited the UAE to invest his
money in properties.
The deposition will continue on Wednesday morning.
Handset was given by ISI handler

VIJAITA SINGH
NEW DELHI: The Sony Ericsson
handset (model SEK 7701), with

which David Coleman Headley
videographed key targets a few
months before the 26/11
Mumbai terror attacks, was
given to the Lashkar-e-Taiba
operative by his handler Major
Iqbal, an official of Pakistans
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
According to NIA officials, this
phone was used by Headley
when he visited India during
April-June 2008. It was Major
Iqbal who taught Headley how
to operate the instrument. The
three phone numbers used by
Headley in India were
9819829221, 9820910814 and
39920280935.
According to the charge sheet
filed by the NIA, Before a crucial
meeting in Rawalpindi
(December 2007), Major Iqbal

had given Headley a Sony
Ericsson mobile phone with
camera for carrying out
clandestine photography/
videography in India for future
attacks.
The handset was in the
custody of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI). It was seized
when Headley was arrested at
the Chicago airport in November
2009.
The U.S authorities have
shared with the NIA the
International Mobile Subscriber
Identity (IMSI), the International
Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)
and the network code of the
phone, said a senior government
official.
The reply from the U.S. comes
after the NIA first made a
request five years ago. It is a
crucial piece of evidence and will
help bolster our case. We will try

to extract details about the
movement of Headley with the
help of his phone details, said
the official.
With this phone, Headley had
filmed the residential areas
around the Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre (BARC), Taj
Hotel, the Naval Air Station, the
Police Headquarters, the State
Assembly, Siddhi Vinayak
Temple, Chabad House and
Mumbai Stock Exchange,
Leopold restaurant and Trident
Hotel. Headley has also said he
used to get calls from Major
Iqbal on this number, and the
calls were masked to have
generated from New York.
According to the NIA, during
his previous visits to India,
Headley carried a camera which
he had taken from his mother-inlaw in Pakistan.
WASHINGTON: The U.S. is

ready to assist India in
pursuing every possible
lead to bring the
perpetrators of the 2008
Mumbai terror attack to
justice, a top oicial said
after LeT operative
David Headley told a
court that Pakistani
terrorists conducted the
strikes after two failed
attempts.
The U.S. is committed to doing all we can to
assist India in pursuing
every possible lead to
bring to justice those
responsible for that
attack to the fullest
extent permitted by U.S.
law, State Department
spokesman John Kirby
told reporters.
Certainly, it is
indicative of our
commitment to making
sure the perpetrators of
that attack are brought
to justice and I think it is
indicative of a close
relationship with India,
again, in a law
enforcement realm but
across all others as well,
Mr. Kirby said.
He was responding to
questions on the
deposition by Headley,
who on Monday told a
Mumbai court via a
video link from the U.S.
how his outfit had
planned the 26/11 attacks
and executed it after two
failed attempts and gave
details of the role played
by the ISI. PTI
Congress, Left in dilemma over poll tie-up

SMITA GUPTA
NEW DELHI: Congress leaders
from Kerala have conveyed to
party vice-president Rahul
Gandhi their discomfort with
the possibility of an electoral
understanding with the Left
Front in West Bengal, a Central party functionary told
The Hindu.
With both West Bengal and
Kerala, where the Left parties
and the Congress have been
principal adversaries for decades, going to the polls
around the same time, a tie-up
between the two in one State
could change the political optics in the other, he said.
The Left Democratic
Front (LDF), he continued,
is our main opponent in Kerala. So, a Congress-Left alliance in Bengal may not just
benefit the BJP that is trying
hard to open its account in
Kerala our fight against the
LDF will simply not carry the
same conviction, the sharpness will be lost. It will de-
moralise our cadres. For over

three decades, we have taken
an anti-Marxist position,
while the LDF has preached
anti-Congressism.
This debate within the
Congress comes in the wake
of its leaders from West Bengal oicially declaring earlier
this month, shortly after they
met Mr. Gandhi here, that the
only way to remain politically
relevant was to forge an alliance with the Left in the State.
Mr. Gandhi, party sources
said, then called up his colleagues in Kerala to try and
gauge whether this would impact the polls in their State.
Apparently, pointing out that
this would place them at a disadvantage in Kerala, they told
Mr. Gandhi that the last time a
faction of the Congress had
formed a government with
the Left in 1970, it had not lasted long and the party had to
pay for it.
Meanwhile, there is a similar ambivalence in the Left as
well.
M.B. Rajesh, MP from Kerala,

says the Left Democratic
Front is already in the middle
of a campaign against the
Congress in the State.
For the Left that has held

sway in West Bengal from
1977 to 2011, these last fourand-a-half years have been
diicult, with only marginal
signs of recovery. So, the State
unit has been giving due consideration to this proposal,
with the CPI(M) leadership,
addressing a rally at Kolkatas
Brigade Parade Grounds on
December 27, highlighting the

twin threats to democracy
and secularism.
However, their counterparts in Kerala are very clear:
they feel such an alliance in
Bengal will put an end to their
chances of defeating the UDF
in their State. In response to a
question, CPI(M) Member of
Parliament M.B. Rajesh told
The Hindu, I dont think an
alliance with the Congress is
likely in West Bengal, if we
read the message of the Visakhapatnam conference correctly, a line reiterated at the
Kolkata Plenum. He also
stressed, We are fighting the
Congress-led UDF government and are already in the
middle of our campaign.
Some pro-UDF papers in Kerala are writing about the possibility of such an alliance to
create confusion in our
ranks.
If the Congress is yet to take
a final view on whether or not
to have an alliance with the
Left in West Bengal, CPI(M)
Gates Foundation on Centres radar

VIDYA KRISHNAN
NEW DELHI: The Indian govern-
ment will closely scrutinise

the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundations (BMGF) methods of donations in India after
an international report accused the worlds biggest philanthropist of influencing
government policies in favour of multinational pharmaceutical companies.
Unlike other international
donors, the BMGF is not registered under the Foreign
Contribution Regulation Act
(FCRA), leaving its funding
out of the ambit of the Ministry of Home Afairs (MHA),
which is the regulatory authority for NGOs and associations who receive foreign
funds.
The foundation instead operates as a Liaison Oice
under the Foreign Exchange
Management Act (FEMA) as
approved by the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI). In June
last year, the Modi government cracked down on NGOs
receiving foreign funds, cancelling licences of over 10,000
organisations. The Gates
Foundation was not afected
as it is not registered under
the FCRA, which in itself is a
violation, say experts.
A senior MHA oicial says,
We have not thought of any
action yet, but the BMGF will
have to abide by rules and
register itself under the
FCRA.
Since it is not registered under

the FCRA, the funding of NGOs
doesnt come under the
governments watch list. It is not clear
where and what they are funding.
It is a loophole and it can open gates
for other NGOs as well to use this
route to escape scrutiny
Senior government official
Since it is not registered
under the FCRA, the funding
of NGOs doesnt come under
the governments watch list. It
is not clear where and what
they are funding. It is a loophole and it can open gates for
other NGOs as well to use this
route to escape scrutiny, said
a senior government oicial.
The oicial says the RBI allows liaison oices to operate in India and the central
bank does not want to give up
this power. This is being exploited by many foreign associations and organisations to
route undetected foreign
funds.
Though the RBI gives LO
permits, it does not regulate
them as there are no such
rules. No inspections can take
place and thus no taxes are
paid. The BMGF works as a
marketing oice for U.S. pharmaceutical vaccines pushing
only WHO pre-approved
manufacturers, all of whom
are either USA or EU based,

says the oicial.
In Ford Foundations case,
MHA first put it under a
watch-list category as it
funded Gujarat-based activist
Teesta Setalvads NGOs. Ford
was neither registered as a society nor under FCRA. After
the governments crackdown,
Ford registered itself under
FEMA last month. Oicials
say the international NGO
will soon be taken of the
watch-list.
The Centres move on
BMGF comes after a 54-page
report by Global Justice Now,
a U.K.-based organisation,
stated that the foundations
policies are, directly benefitting big business by using
their influence to push industry friendly policies, particularly in the health and agriculture sector.
In response to a query from
The Hindu, the foundations
spokesperson Archna Vyas
says, We were one of the first

foundations to join the International Aid Transparency
Initiative (IATI), and all [details of] our grants are available on our website for anyone
to review. We apply a rigorous
approach to funding our partners, monitoring and evaluating the efectiveness of the
work and ensuring compliance and require all partners
and grantees to adhere to international and any additional national standards.
In the health sector, the
BMGF is accused of altering
aid priorities by legitimizing
the role of multinational
pharmaceutical companies
by pushing for public-privatepartnerships (PPPs). According to Global Justice Now,
both the BMGF-funded Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM)
and the GAVI Alliance, are
PPPs and have questionable
associations with the pharmaceutical industry.
Merck currently sits on
the board of the Global Fund
while members of the GAVI
board always include companies in the International Federation of Pharmaceutical
Manufacturers, which involves
GlaxoSmithKline,
Merck, Novartis, and Pfizer,
among others. Global Health
Watch notes that private sector influence on the Global
Funds Board is disproportionately large, states the
report.
Politburo member Mohammad Salim said that the State

committees in the two States
would meet shortly to take
their individual views that
would then be discussed at
the Central Committee and
Politburo.
Top Congress sources, acknowledging that an alliance
with the Left in Bengal would
pose problems for it in Kerala,
where as the head of the coalition that rules the State, its
stakes are much higher.
Therefore, these sources said,
in the end, the arrangement
if it takes place might be of
an informal, undeclared
nature.
Essentially, for both the
Left and the Congress both
of which performed very
poorly in the 2014 Lok Sabha
polls the choice is between
conceding ground to a secular
party to make some short
term electoral gains or taking
the longer, tougher path to rebuilding their respective party organisations.
Rijijus chopper
makes emergency
landing
Kiren Rijiju was travelling to

Tehri to review disaster
preparedness.
NEW DELHI: A chopper carrying
Union Minister of State for
Home Kiren Rijiju and a BJP
MP on Tuesday made an emergency landing at the Hindon
airbase near here following engine trouble after being airborne for nearly 20 minutes.
We are all safe, Mr. Rijiju
told PTI on the phone. The
Minister, along with Lok Sabha
member from Tehri-Garhwal
Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, had
taken of for Tehri on an
Mi-17V5 helicopter from capitals Safdarjung airport.
There were eight people on
board. The pilot detected a
problem in the engine after 20
minutes following which he
landed the chopper at Hindon.
The Minister said he was travelling to Tehri to review disaster preparedness and to meet
paramilitary forces deployed
along the Sino-India border.
ND-ND
NEWS
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
Adopt open source for connectivity
SIACHEN RESCUE
Air pockets may have kept him alive

Mass of snow
could have acted
as insulator for
trapped jawan
trapped in an avalanche werent critically injured by trees

or boulders, asphyxiation and
hypothermia (when the body
loses heat faster than it produces) are what eventually
kill.
Researchers at the University of Utah have tried to simulate the conditions of hypothermia
by
having
volunteers buried in snowlike conditions. In general,
they found that the body loses
30 degrees C per hour when
NATIONAL BUREAU
NEW DELHI: Science doesnt
usually like the word miracle, but few other words can
describe the recovery of
Lance Naik Hanumanthappa
Koppads
still-breathing
body after being buried in an
avalanche in the Siachen
Glacier. Were one to be
trapped in an avalanche and
rescued within the first 15
minutes, there is a 92 per
cent chance of survival.
However, just 15 minutes
more, and those odds drop to
35 per cent and to 1 per cent
in 130 minutes, according to
a study of ski-accident survivors by biostatistician Markus Falk of the University of
Innsbruck, Austria, and his
colleagues.
Koppad, were he to recover at the hospital, would
have beaten those odds
many times over. What
makes his survival more astounding is that most of
these calculations are on
people buried no more than
10 feet, and Koppad was reportedly buried 25 feet below. Though the sub-zero
Researchers say
that body loses
30 degrees C per
hour when trapped,
which is alarming
temperatures can rapidly

and critically damage the
body, a mass of snow can act
as an insulator for those
trapped. This is because of
air pockets that trap air and
body heat which can raise
temperatures to about -7C;

grossly uncomfortable but
slightly more likely to prolong ones chances of being
conscious and being discovered by a rescue team.
Assuming that those
trapped, which is alarming,

given the average body temperature of 37 degrees C. Also,
when snowed in, the body inspires more carbon dioxide
and that accelerates the rate at
which the body loses its core
temperature.
There are reports of people
surviving two months with
minimal food in a snow-pit or
caves, but avalanches are different. Snow can pile up like
concrete and will not allow
even wriggle-room. Hypothermia can afect the nerves
and cause disorientation, and
various organs to clamp up,
before causing cardiac failure.
He came in
my dream,
says mother
N. DINESH NAYAK &
GIRISH PATTANASHETTI
HUBBALLI: Mahadevi
(Jayashri), wife of Lance
Naik Hanumanthappa
Koppad, termed his
survival a rebirth. If he
has survived miraculously,
it is mainly because of his
mothers prayers, she said.
Hanumanthappas
mother Basavva said she
had always been confident
that he would survive. He
came to me in my dream,
stood beside me and told
me that he will return. I
prayed to my family deity,
took a vow and she [the
goddess] has saved my
son, she said in a choked
voice.
Arrangements were
made for Jayashri, her child
Netravati, Basavva and a
few others to travel by road
to Goa and board a flight to
New Delhi. We were
unable to reach Goa by 4
p.m. So we got the tickets
cancelled and booked for
the 7 p.m. flight, a relative
who accompanied them to
Goa told The Hindu.
Modi lauds Koppads indomitable spirit

DINAKAR PERI
NEW DELHI: Lance Naik Hanu-
manthappa Koppad, who miraculously survived for five

days under several feet of
snow in the Siachen glacier,
was on Tuesday flown out in
a helicopter to the Siachen
base camp, from where he
was brought to the Thois airbase. Within hours, he was
transported on an Indian Air
Force aircraft, accompanied
CM
YK
by critical care specialists, to

New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, who visited the hospital on Tuesday, praised the
endurance & indomitable
spirit of Lance Naik Hanumanthappa, and called him
an outstanding soldier.
Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar
extended
prayers to Naik Hanamanthappa who miraculously
survived the avalanche at
| 13
Siachen.
Army Chief General Dalbir Singh spoke of the soldiers indomitable mental
robustness and his refusal to
give in to the harsh elements.
The appreciation of the
fighting spirit shown by Hanamanthappa came even as
several military sources criticised the way the entire top
brass rushed in to condole
the death of all those who
were hit by the avalanche.
About 150 soldiers, two

rescue dogs Dot and Misha and some sophisticated radars all were part of the
heroic rescue eforts at Siachen since February 3, when
an ice wall broke of and fell
on the Army post located at
19,500 feet in northern glacier. The debris covered an
area of 800 x 1000 metres
with a depth of 25 to 30 feet,
some of the boulders as big
as a small room.
Over 150 soldiers, including specialised rescue teams,

began
round-the-clock
search operation in Siachen,
where the day temperature
was an average of -30 degrees Celsius and night temperature fell to around -55
degrees Celsius. A medical
aid post was also set up.
The military airlifted rock
drills and electrical saws to
break the blue ice that is harder than concrete.
NATIONAL BUREAU
NEW DELHI: A day after it took a
tough stance on discriminatory

pricing for data services, efectively blocking Facebooks Free
Basics from India, the telecom
regulator on Tuesday hinted
that technology-driven connectivity ventures such as the ones
being pursued by Google and
Facebook would be acceptable
only if they followed an open
source framework.
While Facebook is working
on a venture that deploys
drones in remote and rural areas to provide Internet connectivity, Googles Project Loon envisages the use of helium-filled
balloons to provide data connectivity in remote regions.
The two are trying these approaches as alternative models
to reach data connectivity aerially to users instead of the traditional route of installing tow-
ers and optic fibre cable

networks.
I dont like to comment on a
specific product. But India has
adopted an open source policy
and open API [application program interface] policy. The
whole objective is that there
should not be a situation of a
vendor lock-in, Ram Sewak
Sharma, chairman of TRAI,
said in response to a query
about Project Loons prospects
at the India Digital summit.
This is because any service
cannot be held hostage to a
technology, Mr. Sharma told
the summit, hosted by the Internet and Mobile Association
of India.
Any technology that is deployed for connectivity must be
interoperable and broadly, the
open standards framework and
the principles it entails are extremely
important,
he
explained.
Google hopes to launch the

Loon project in India and wants
to start testing for it soon, but
the government has flagged
some concerns such as possible
interference with cellular network transmissions due to the
frequency band it seeks to use.
In a visit to India in December 2015, Google CEO Sundar
Pichai had said the company
had tonnes of data from its
tests in Sri Lanka and Indonesia
to demonstrate that Project
Loon created no such interference and would be sharing it
with the government.
Google is keen on working
with telecom operators in the
700 Mhz-900 MHz spectrum
band for Project Loon.
According to Google, each
balloon can provide connectivity to a ground area about 40 km
in diameter using a wireless
communications technology
called 4G.
Net through cable TV networks

NATIONAL BUREAU
NEW DELHI: Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India chairman
Ram Sewak Sharma on Tuesday
suggested that the government
tap alternatives such as cable
TV networks to provide digital
connectivity, instead of banking
on optic fibre cable networks
and mobile phones.
The proposal is important as
the rollout of the ambitious National Optic Fibre Network, rebranded as BharatNet by the
NDA government, is mired in
delays. The lack of adequate
connectivity could undermine
the potential advantages from
transformational programmes
like Aadhaar that gave people a
digital identity proof authenticated online in real time, Mr.

Sharma told the India Digital
summit here. It would be a pity
if connectivity doesnt support
the applications of tomorrows
system, he said.
While India had a billion mobile phones, Mr. Sharma said
that digital transactions were
not possible unless connectivity improved.
Pipelines need to be made
thicker and we should explore
alternative models for connectivity besides mobiles, Mr.
Sharma said.
TRAI has recently recommended that the government
adopt a public private partnership model to expedite the im-
plementation of the BharatNet

project. A PPP model with
states as partners may help
quicker deployment, Mr Sharma said, but added theres a big
if
on
its
accelerated
implementation.
Can we use cable TV networks to connect? Technologically, it is possible though they
may need an upgrade. There are
100 million homes with cable
TV and those pipes can deliver
upto 10 Mb per second speeds
with assured connectivity, Mr
Sharma pointed out. Assuming
5 persons per household, the
telecom regulator said that
would connect 50 crore people
to the internet and reduce the
load on wireless spectrum.
Governor cannot pre-empt CMs powers: court

LEGAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court
on Tuesday observed that a

Chief Ministers exclusive
powers cannot be pre-empted
by the Governor, who should
use his powers in a fair and
limited manner for the sake of
survival of democracy.
The remarks came during a
daylong hearing on the Aru-
nachal Pradesh political crisis

before a Constitution Bench
led by Justice J.S. Khehar,
which is also looking into
whether there was any relevant material to justify the
subsequent imposition of
emergency in the State by the
President.
Asking whether the Governor had acted on his whims
by calling for an Assembly
session in December 2015

when the session was scheduled on January 14, 2016, the
Bench wondered whether
this amount to interference in
the functioning of the States
legislative body.
The Governor cannot preempt the powers exclusively
granted by the Constitution to
the Chief Minister and his
Council, the Bench said.
ND-ND
WORLD
14 |
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
dead, 100 injured in

Hong Kong riots disrupt New Year 10Germany
train crash
Protesters, equipped with home-made shields and helmets, were ready for a long-haul clash
ATUL ANEJA
Overnight violent
clashes between a group of
protesters and the police in
Hong Kong have injured
scores, raising questions
about underlying tensions in
the glitzy financial hub.
Late on Monday, in the
neighbourhood of Mong Kok
a shopping district, which
was one of the epicentres of
student protests in 2014
clashes broke out after police
ordered illegal street food
hawkers to disperse.
The quarrel apparently
triggered a wave of violent
clashes after around 100
protesters melded into the
fracas which continued to
smoulder, even in the early
hours on Tuesday.
BEIJING:
Not spontaneous
The police said the rioting was not spontaneous. It
began on the first day of the
Chinese Lunar New Year a
symbolically important date.
Besides, the protesters, apparently equipped with
home-made shields, goggles,
helmets and gloves, were well
prepared for a long-haul
clash.
The Hong Kong daily,
South China Morning Post, is
reporting that a localist
group, known by the trade-
mark T-shirts of its followers,

was among the protesters,
who confronted the police
with glass bottles, flower pots
and bricks.
The police responded with
pepper spray, but as the violence spiralled, two shots
were fired in the air.
The authorities say 48 policemen were injured in the
back-and-forth on the streets
during the night, in which
protesters set alight the metal
trash bins and ripped apart
pavement stone to reinforce
their attack.
Social media reports said
those arrested included
Leung Tin-kei, spokesman for
localist group Hong Kong
Indigenous (HKI). The HKI is
an amalgamation of radical
groups, known for their
strong anti-mainland stance.
Many seek full independence
for Hong Kong, or wish to
drastically restrict Beijings
role in the city, governed under the One country, two systems formula.
Nameless commoners
We are a group of nameless Hong Kong people who
are on the frontline of protests. Since the old resistance
methods have failed against
the authorities, we have no
choice but to stand out and
break the stalemate, read a
A rioter tries to throw bricks at police in Mong Kok district of Hong Kong on Tuesday. Mong Kok
was an epicentre of student protests in 2014. PHOTO: AP
statement posted on the HKI

Facebook page.
Analysts say that unlike the
failed 2014 umbrella revolution protests, which were
mostly non-violent, and had
the trappings of a colour revolution, the latest street action was smaller in scale, but
violent in intent.
Consequently,
Leung
Chun-Ying, Hong Kongs
Chief Executive, had no hesitation in branding the overnight protest as a riot, which
needed to be addressed, not
as a political problem, but as
an administrative issue of res-
toring public-order.
Any big city facing a similar nature of events would
classify it as a riot, not just for
the government but society as
a whole, Mr. Leung observed.
Though the police managed to contain the violence
after six hours, the embers of
the intense clashes were still
aglow after daybreak.
On Tuesday morning, rubbish and debris were seen
strewn on the streets, while
the acrid smoke that hung in
the air was a reminder of the
intensity of the overnight
violence.
For the authorities, the danger lies in a fusion of the remnants of the 2014 protesters
and the HKI, which could lead
to a protracted political tugof-war that could be easily internationalised.
Yet, the Hong Kong government appeared confident. Despite the clashes, the authorities
announced
the
traditional New Year fireworks display, which is likely
to attract crowds of several
thousand on Tuesday night,
would go ahead. Mr. Leung
warned protesters to stay
away from the event.
Two
commuter trains crashed
head-on in southern Germany on Tuesday, killing at least
10 people and injuring more
than 100, in one of the countrys deadliest rail accidents
in years.
Hundreds of rescuers were
scouring for more passengers
trapped in the mangled
wreckage in a wooded area
near Bad Aibling, a spa town
about 60 km southeast of
Munich.
At least two carriages from
one train were overturned,
while the front of the other
was crushed. Blue, yellow and
silver metal debris was
strewn around the crash site
next to a river in the southern
state of Bavaria.
German Chancellor Angela
Merkel expressed shock at the
news.
I am dismayed and saddened by the serious train ac-
BAD AIBLING (GERMANY):
Rescue forces at the site of the train accident near Bad

Aibling,Germany, on Tuesday. PHOTO: AP
cident this morning at Bad Aibling, Ms. Merkel said in a

statement. My sympathy
goes out especially to the families of the nine people who
have lost their lives.
Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the rail
track was fitted with an automatic braking system aimed
at preventing such crashes,
and that investigators were

checking to find if there had
been a technical problem or
human error.
Three black boxes on the
trains should help shed light
on the accident, he said, adding that two had already been
recovered, and the third
should be found in the course
of the day. AFP
Hindu Marriage Bill approved in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: After decades of
delay and inaction, the Hindu
minority community in Pakistan
will soon have a marriage law as
a parliamentary panel has
unanimously approved the Hindu
Marriage Bill.
The National Assembly
Standing Committee on Law and
Justice on Tuesday passed the

final draft of Hindu Marriage Bill
2015, where five Hindu
lawmakers were specially
invited.
The committee adopted the
bill unanimously after making
two amendments to fix the
minimum age of marriage at 18
and making the law applicable

to the whole country, Dawn
news reported. The bill will now
be tabled in the National
Assembly where it has fair
chances of being passed as the
ruling Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) party is
supporting it. PTI
UN commissioner calls for return of

land, de-militarisation in Sri Lanka
T. RAMAKRISHNAN
COLOMBO: The United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein on Tuesday urged the Sri
Lankan military to accelerate
the return of land to rightful
owners and reduce its size in
the Northern and Eastern
provinces.
Mr. Hussein told a press
conference at the end of his
four-day visit that while some
land has been returned in the
Jafna and Trincomalee areas,
there are still large tracts
which can and should be swiftly given back. According to
the Sri Lankan government,
about 3,000 acres have been
returned since January 2015
and 2,329 families resettled.
The size of the military in
the two Provinces could be reduced to a level that is less intrusive and intimidating, he
added.
Acknowledging that Prime
Minister Ranil Wickremesinghes recent statement that
all the disappeared persons
were probably dead had created great distress among
their families, Mr. Hussein
said rapid action should be
taken to identify precisely
who is still alive and who has
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein with Sri Lankas main
opposition leader R. Sampanthan in Colombo on Tuesday. PHOTO: AFP
died or been killed, properly

account for their deaths
identify the location of their
remains, and provide redress.
Asked by The Hindu whether there was any lack of clarity
on the part of the Sri Lankan
government on the participation of foreign judges in the
proposed judicial mechanism,
Mr. Hussein replied that the
preference of the Sri Lankan
government for having a domestic mechanism had been
made known.
The government was look-
ing at various options within

the limits of its preference.
He acknowledged that the
Sri Lankan government had
sovereign right to take decisions on such issues. At the
same time, he also emphasised
that international participation could guarantee an impartial and independent judicial mechanism.
On Sri Lanka co-sponsoring
a resolution adopted by the
UN Human Rights Council in
Geneva in October last year,
he said it showed the coun-
trys commitment to both itself and the world to confront

the past honestly and, by doing
that, take out comprehensive
insurance against any future
devastating outbreak of intercommunal
tensions
and
conflict.
On the present atmosphere
of freedom and openness, Mr.
Hussein felt the element of
fear has considerably diminished, at least in Colombo and
the South. In the North and the
East, it has mutated but, sadly,
still exists.
Should India get involved in Sri Lankas reform process? Koirala was a valued
friend of India: Modi
T. RAMAKRISHNAN
COLOMBO: External Afairs Minister Sushma Swarajs visit to

Sri Lanka last week has brought
to the fore the question of
whether and to what extent India should be involved in the
neighbouring countrys ongoing constitutional reform
process.
Ever since India and Sri Lanka signed the 1987 Accord, New
Delhi has been stating that the
13th Amendment, an outcome
of the Accord, should be implemented fully. The Amendment,
despite weaknesses, paved the

way for the establishment of
Provincial Councils all over the
country.
Ahilan Kadirgamar, political
economist based in Jafna, argues that India should not confine itself to a full implementation of the 13th Amendment but
should do everything needed to
help Sri Lanka draft a new Constitution. Being one of the major players involved in Sri Lanka
for many decades, Indias support would send a strong signal
about the significance it attaches to the process. He adds that
8 killed in Damascus suicide blast
BEIRUT: A suicide car bomber
blew himself up at a police

officers club in Masaken
Barza, a residential district
of Damascus on Tuesday,
killing several people, Syrias

Interior Ministry said.
The Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights, which
tracks violence across the
country, said eight police
officers were killed in the
blast and at least 20
wounded after a vehicle was
detonated in a parking lot in
the police officers club.
Reuters
N. Korea restarts plutonium reactor

WASHINGTON: North Korea has
restarted a plutonium reactor

that could provide fuel for
nuclear weapons, U.S.
Director of National
Intelligence James Clapper
said on Tuesday.
We further assess that
North Korea has been
operating the reactor long
enough so that it could begin
to recover plutonium from the
CM
YK
reactor's spent fuel within a

matter of weeks to months,
he said. North Korea
mothballed the Yongbyon
reactor in 2007 under an
aid-for-disarmament accord,
but began renovating it after
its third nuclear test in 2013.
The reactor is capable of
producing around six kilos of
plutonium a year, say experts.
AFP
constitutional reforms, if successfully carried out, can neutralise extremist elements.

However, A.H.M. Fowzie, the
senior vice-president of the Sri
Lanka Freedom Party and State
Minister of National Integration and Reconciliation, feels it
is not for India to get involved in
the Constitution-making. K.
Godage, a former diplomat, believes that while India should
adopt a hands-of approach,
Sri Lanka should assure its
neighbour through an agree- The then Indian Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan
ment that it will not do anything President J.R. Jayewardene signing the historic India-Sri Lanka
accord in Colombo in July 1987. FILE PHOTO: THE HINDU PHOTO ARCHIVES
to endanger Indias security.
Sikh-American actor barred

from flight due to turban
NEW YORK: Waris Ahluwalia, a
Sikh-American actor, model
and designer was barred from
boarding a flight from Mexico
City to New York after he refused to remove his turban
during a security check, drawing swift condemnation from
the fashion community.
Mr. Ahluwalia (41), who is
based in Manhattan, said he
checked in at Aeromexico airlines counter at Mexico Citys
international airport on Monday and was given his firstclass boarding pass with code
SSSS that he said meant that
he needed secondary security
screening. This morning in
Mexico City I was told I could
not board my @aeromexico
flight to NYC because of my
turban, Mr. Ahluwalia wrote
on his Instagram account.
Waris Ahluwalia was turned

away from an Aeromexico
flight. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS
When
Mr.
Ahluwalia
showed up to board Flight 408
to New York City, attendants
told him he needed to step
aside.
Following a security check,
he said he was asked to take of
his turban. I responded...that I
wont be taking of my turban,
he said in an interview from

the airport in Mexico City.
And then they talked amongst
themselves and they said, OK,
then you are not getting on the
flight. A spokesman for the
airline told CNN that Ahluwalia was asked to submit to a
screening and inspection before boarding, in strict compliance with TSA protocol.
We have ofered the passenger [two] alternatives to reach his destination as soon as
possible, spokesman Amilcar
Olivares said. We sincerely regret any inconvenience caused
by this incident. Mr. Ahluwalia alleged that the airline
changed its tune after he made
the situation public and acknowledged that they have offered him the chance to get on
other flights. PTI
WASHINGTON: President Barack
KALLOL BHATTACHERJEE
Nepals former
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, who died on Tuesday
morning, will be accorded a
state funeral on Wednesday.
Dignitaries, including External Afairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj, paid last respects to
him in Kathmandu on
Tuesday.
Sitaram Yechury of CPI
(M), Sharad Yadav of JD(U),
Anand Sharma of the Congress party and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval
were also part of Ms. Swarajs
delegation. Dr. Shekhar Koirala, one of the leading members of the Koirala dynasty
and the Nepali Congress, acknowledged the warm gesture shown by Ms. Swaraj.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi said India lost a valued
friend. In Sushil Koirala ji,
NC has lost a big leader who
served Nepal for decades &
India lost a valued friend.
Pained by his demise. RIP, he
tweeted. However, despite his
warm ties with the political
class of India, Koiralas tenure
also witnessed tensions in India-Nepal ties. A blockade
called by the Madhesi protesters against the new Constitution, which Mr. Koirala had
helped in promulgating, froze
Nepals economy and hurt bilateral ties. The blockade was
lifted barely hours before his
death.
Mr. Koirala, afectionately
addressed as Sushilda by his
followers, led Nepal at a tur-
Obama launches
cyber-security
action plan
NEW DELHI:
Sushil Koirala led Nepal at a

turbulent time when the
country was struggling to
reach a consensus on a new
Constitution. PHOTO: AP
bulent time when the country

was struggling to reach a consensus on a new Constitution.
He eventually helped the
members in the Constituent
Assembly reach an agreement on the charter.
After leaving oice on October 12, 2015, Mr. Koirala
spent time negotiating an end
to the blockade and helping
the current Prime Minister
K.P. Sharma Oli to deal with
the political and diplomatic
crisis at home.
With the demise of Mr. Koirala, the future of the Nepali
Congress appears uncertain
as the National Convention of
March 3 is eagerly awaited.
There are indications that former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and veteran
leader Ram Chandra Poudel
are in contention to succeed
Mr. Koirala.
Obama on Tuesday unveiled a

new cyber-security national
action plan calling for an
overhaul of aging government
networks and a high-level
commission to boost security
awareness.
The announcement responds to an epidemic of data
breaches and cyber attacks on
both government and private
networks in recent years, and
passage last year of a cybersecurity bill that aims to facilitate better threat sharing.
Mr. Obama asked for $19
billion for cyber-security efforts in his budget request, a
35 per cent increase from current levels, with $3 billion earmarked to help modernise the
patchwork of computer systems used in government
agencies.
It is no secret that too often government IT is like an
Atari game in an Xbox world,
Mr. Obama said in a column in
The Wall Street Journal.
The moves come after disclosures last year that personal data from some 20 million
federal employees, contractors and others had been
leaked in a massive breach at
the Oice of Personnel
Management.
Mr. Obama issued an executive order creating a 12member cyber-security commission to make recommendations to both the public and
private sectors.
The panel is to issue a report to the President by December 1. AFP
ND-ND
THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016
We believe that just as we have a Trade

Facilitation Agreement (in goods), there is a need
for us to work towards a services facilitation pact
SENSEX
09-02-16 24,021
08-02-16 24,287
RITA TEAOTIA, Commerce Secretary
266
POINTS
Government to ease norms

for real estate business
Jaipur International Airport is the first one to develop a colour-coded map
he government is easing rules for

granting construction permits
around airports and monuments by
developing colour-coded maps in a
bid to give fillip to urban growth, a
spokesman for Urban Development
Ministry said on Tuesday.
Developers have to get permits
from Airport Authority of India
(AII) in New Delhi to build projects
around the countrys airports. It
took a hell lot of time, said spokesman, Aishwar Rao. At AII, the process of clearing such applications is
manual.
AII has come out with colourcoded zonal map, said Mr. Rao.
The airspaces used by jetliners for
landings and take ofs are highlighted in the map. No construction will
be allowed in such spaces. Construction would be allowed in those
areas that fall out of
colour coded zones,
he said.
Developers dont
TAKE
have to come all the
OFF
way to Delhi to get
building height clearconstruction ances among others.
The government will
soon empower urban
local bodies to follow
the colour-coded zonal maps and authorise real estate development accordingly, he said.
Urban Development Minister
Venkaiah Naidu Tuesday chaired a
high-level meeting on the issue in
which Defence Minister Manohar
Developers dont have to

come all the way to Delhi
to get building height
clearances among others.
Aishwar Rao,
spokesman
Construction will be allowed in areas that fall outside colour-coded zones
Parrikar, Civil Aviation Minister

Ashok Gajapati Raju, Minister of
Environment, Forests and Climate
Change Prakash Javdekar and Minister of Tourism and Culture Mahesh Sharma were present. Mr. Naidu urged other ministries to
simplify the authorisation of construction permits around airports
and other ecologically or culturally
sensitive areas.
In July 2015, Mr. Naidu had reached out to all the ministries, asking
them to amend the laws that hamper the real estate growth across the
country. The ministries had responded positively, agreeing to fix the
gaps by the end of 2015.
Jaipur International Airport is the
first one to develop a colour-coded
map. All the other civilian airports
across India, including 28 defence
airports that are being used for civilian purposes, will have their maps
ready by December 2016.
Airports, including
defence airports used
for civilian purposes,
will have their maps
ready by end of 2016
Ministry of Civil Aviation has also
commissioned improved version
of online NOCAS (No Objection
Certificate Application System) to
help applicants calculate permissible heights in airport zones.
Similarly, the Ministry of Culture
in collaboration with ISRO is developing colour-coded maps for 281
monuments that fall in construction
zones.
Ministry of Culture has launched
a mobile app that enables online approvals for construction around
monuments in just 72 hours. Our
goal is to give momentum to the urban growth, said Mr.Rao.
PAY & PERKS

Google CEO gets
$199 mn in stock
NATIONAL BUREAU
NEW DELHI: Indian fonts may be
mandatory for mobile phones
sold in the country according
to new standards for handsets
being finalised by the government, Ram Sewak Sharma,
chairman at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI) said on Tuesday. The

Bureau of Indian Standards is
expected to notify the standards that will require handsets to be able to render Indian font messages as well as
allow users to type in Hindi,
Tamil and other Indian languages, by end of April 2016.
Many a times, the phones
available in our market have

Korean or Chinese fonts On
many phones, if you receive a
message in an Indian language, it appears as gibberish.
Once these standards are notified, all mobile phone handsets that come into India must
have our fonts said Mr.
Sharma.
Bandhan Bank targets NRI remittances

oogle Chief Executive Sundar

Pichai received restricted
stock worth about $199 million,
according to a regulatory filing by
Google parent company Alphabet
Inc . Pichai, who took over in
August, received a grant for
273,328 Class C Google stock
units on February 3. The valuation
is based on the stock's closing
price on that date. On the same
day, Pichai sold 375 Class A
common shares at a price of
$786.28 each, and 3,625 Class C
capital stock at a price of $768.84
each, the filing said.Reuters
Exchange Rates
Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit
except yen at 4 p.m on February 09
TT
TT
Currencies
Buying Selling
U.S. Dollar
67.70 68.02
Euro
75.95 76.33
Pound Sterling
97.65
98.12
Jap Yen (100 Units) 58.88
59.16
Chinese Yuan
10.28 10.36
Swiss Franc
69.07 69.40
Singapore Dollar
48.25 48.50
Australian Dollar
47.61 47.84
Canadian Dollar
48.76 48.99
Swedish Kroner
8.00
8.04
Danish Kroner
10.18
10.23
New Zealand Dollar 44.70 44.92
Hongkong Dollar
8.69
8.73
Malaysian Ringitt
16.22
16.36
Kuwaiti Dinar
225.40 227.22
UAE Dirham
18.43
18.52
Bahraini Dinar
178.27 181.67
Qatari Riyal
18.63
18.67
Saudi Riyal
18.08
18.13
Omani Riyal
175.25 177.31
Source: Indian Bank
Bullion Rates
February 09 rates in rupees with
previous rates in brackets
37,545
40.2
28,530
2,668
(36,720)
(39.3)
(28,145)
(2,632)
37,230
28,585
22,900
(36,050)
(27,875)
(22,700)
CM
YK
GOLD
09-02-16
08-02-16
28,585
27,875
Govt. renews air

safety contract
with Wicks Group
NATIONAL BUREAU
NEW DELHI: The government has
renewed a contract with the
U.S.-based Wicks Group to
help the country retain its air
safety ranking.
The Directorate General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA) had
hired the firm on a one-year
contract in 2014 after the U.S.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had downgraded
Indias safety ranking to Category-II based on a 2013 audit.
The DGCA on Tuesday
signed the agreement with
the United States Technical
Development Agency, which
will be partially funding the
project and share the cost of
assistance with the Wicks
Group, according to a Civil
Aviation Ministry statement.
The current contract is
aimed at sustaining eforts
undertaken during 2014 for
restoration of air safety rankings and bringing in more
systemic improvements in
the area of operation, airworthiness and licensing.
Safety ranking
The Wicks Group had assisted the DGCA and the FAA
had in April last year restored
India's safety ranking to Category-I, implying the country
is meeting the international
standards in terms of civil
aviation safety oversight.
The move comes close on
the heels of a pending audit
report from the International
Civil Aviation Organisation
(ICAO) which had conducted
a comprehensive air safety
audit in December last year.
Although an ICAO downgrade will not have a direct
impact on airline operations it
may raise alarm bells among
other aviation authorities. For
instance, the ICAO audit in
2012 had prompted FAA to
conduct its own audit which
led to a downgrade in Indias
air safety ranking.
710
/10gm
RUPEE
09-02-16 67.90
08-02-16 67.94
0.04
/$
BRENT OIL
09-02-16 32.13
08-02-16 33.53
1.40
$/bbl
Angel investors need tax sops

R CHANDRASHEKHAR
The expectations we have

from Finance
Minister Arun
Jaitley this year
on B-Day is that
the budget will
not be a populist one, but
practical and bring in cause
for cheer for the industry. Indias macroeconomic fundamentals augur well, accentuated by the confidence
placed by global leaders, as
was evident in Davos recently. Increasingly, we are witnessing some of the new-age
tech companies coming out
of India and building disruptive solutions for the country, which can also be mirrored in other parts of the
globe. It is an apt moment in
history to make an exhortation to the government to
support the ecosystem
which nurtures innovative
thinking.
Last month, at the formal
launch of the Startup India
initiative, as the Prime Minister enthralled the audience
with his charismatic zeal, the
message was unambiguous.
The government believes in
the start-up vision, and is
willing to walk the extra mile
to help this sector grow even
beyond its avowed annual
growth rate of 40per cent.
Thats why we are brimming
with hope and would want
the government to really
step on the gas. Crunched
due to brevity as we are, it
would yet be beneficial to
examine these recommendations through three broad
lenses: of start-ups, e-commerce & technology service
providers.
Start-ups
Digital India, Make in India and the like, are mammoth-sized visions which require start-up participation
for its success. Emboldened
by their presence (4200odd) as we are, and yet the
threat of flight of capital cannot be simply wished away,

albeit diluted after Jan 16
when the Startup India action plan was unveiled the
concerns still persist. Once
again we reiterate that dual
levies of VAT, ST and 10per
cent TDS through indirect
taxes cause cash flow constraints and distort trading
and channel distribution,
and needs simplification.
This has a negative impact
on the software product ecosystem in India.
Its common enough that
investment in start-ups is
fraught with risk. To make
life easier, domestic angel investors should be relieved of
the tax burden accruing on
account of Fair Market Value
norms and associated income tax implications for
unlisted companies. In addition, harmonization of tax
rates with long-term capital
gains and continuation of the
holding period of short
-term capital assets to remain at 12 months are recommended. Start-ups, due to

their low asset base have
limited access to debt funding and angels are often the
only recourse.
The conditions for allowing carry forward of losses is
constrained. NASSCOM has
recommended that for the
purpose of capital infusion
in start-ups, the condition of
change in ownership structure needs to be relaxed.
E-commerce
It is a sector which is
growing at almost 30per cent
annually and generates employment opportunities ve-
ry rapidly. The landscape remains

dotted
with
internet-driven
start-ups,
and so the issues highlighted
above also apply. Further,
there are many state-level
initiatives to tax e-commerce consignments higher
thereby introducing biases
and making electronic transactions less favourable, contrary to the intent of the government looking towards
encouraging
electronic
transactions.
Proliferation of this sector
is often a factor of ease of online payment mode. We have
suggested this earlier as well
that in card not present
category, thresholds in two
factor authentication (2FA)
should be appropriately introduced to enable online
transactions. What constitutes an online marketplace
has been fodder for animated discussions. In continuation, taxation across states
for online marketplaces
must be made uniform, and
anomalies removed.
Service Providers
Multi-national companies
want to extend their global
footprint and the IT industry
is at the forefront as it leads
the Indian MNCs journey
abroad.
The idea behind tax reforms is laudable, but concerns arise as draft plans are
being discussed. R&D investment in software platforms and product development is warranted, and
incentives on the lines of international best practices
should be continued.
The din on removal of
MAT grows louder every
year and government should
provide a clearer road map
along with the road map for
rationalization of income
tax, education cess and surcharge to bring down the effective corporate tax rate.
The author is President of
Nasscom
Mobile phones sold in India may have local fonts by end of April
BRIEFLY
Chennai
Bar Silver (1 kg)
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24 ct gold (10 g)
22 ct gold (1 g)
Delhi
Silver
Standard gold
Sovereign
| 15
BUSINESS
NOIDA/DELHI
KOLKATA: Bandhan Bank has introduced NRI banking services to tap overseas remittance
business, Chandra Shekhar
Ghosh, Managing Director
and Chief Executive Oicer
said.
The bank has also started
ofering international debit
cards in a tie up with VISA International Debit Cards.
There is a demand for these
cards from customers based
in West Bengal, Kerala and
Andhra Pradesh and remittances are flowing in from
London, the U.S. West Asia
and Europe, Mr. Ghosh said.
The remittance business is
currently pegged at $ 70
billion.
Talks were on to finance vehicles to be operated by taxi
aggregators like Ola and Uber,
he said. The bank had started
talks with the chief of Ola.
However, these are very preliminary level talks.
Talks are on to
finance vehicles
to be operated by
taxi aggregators like
Ola and Uber.
Chandra Shekhar Ghosh,
Managing Director and CEO,
Bandhan Bank.
The bank, which commenced operations in August
2015, is hoping to have a total
of one million new customers
by year end.
It now has 82 lakh accounts,
including eight lakh new accounts.
It is targeting a 35 per cent
growth in business next fiscal.
It has so far mobilised
Rs.7,500 crore deposits with a
loan book of Rs. 13,500 crore.
We expect this to touch Rs.
14,500 core by next monthend, he said. The Kolkata-
headquartered bank now operates in 27 states with 612

branches and 203 ATMs.
It has two divisionsmicro
banking and general banking.
About Rs.1,500 crore of its
loan book that qualified as
priority sector lending has
been sold to other banks under IBPC (inter bank participatory certificates).
An IBPC is a form of securitization through which a bank
buys others assets for a stipulated period, taking the credit
risk of the folio.
The Bureau is working with

the Department of Electronics and Information Technology in the IT ministry and the
Indian Cellular Association,
which represents mobile
handset and component manufacturing industry, to work
out these standards.
The government had initi-
traic in the country, the government has decided to increase the length of national
highways from 96,000 km, at
present, to two lakh km,
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari
said on Tuesday.
At present, we have 96,000
km national highways or 52
lakh km road length in the
country. As much as 40 per
cent of the traic moves on
these 2 per cent national highways and as a result five lakh
accidents take place, Mr.
Gadkari, Minister for Road
Transport and Highways and
Shipping, told reporters.
Three lakh people get injured and 1.5 lakh are killed in
these accidents.
The main reason is traic
Call to websites
The TRAI chairman also
called for more applications
and websites to develop mul-
ti-lingual interfaces. So far,

the impact of digital services
has been more in the assisted
services mode, so you go to
someone and he helps you
book a train ticket online.
This must move into self-service mode now, Mr Sharma
said at the India Digital summit.
The TRAI chairman welcomed the move by some ecommerce websites to ofer
their services in Hindi,
Tamil and other languages as
well.
Government websites have
gone bilingual and ofer Hindi
as well as English versions for
now, Mr. Shama said.
Ministry signs MoU with Chhattisgarh

government for railway development
NATIONAL BUREAU
NEW DELHI: Indian Railways on
Tuesday signed a Memorandum
of
Understanding
(MoU) with Chhattisgarh
Government to establish a
joint venture for laying tracks
and expedite implementation
of railway projects in the
state.
Under the MoU, the state
government will hold 51 per
cent stake and the Indian Railways the balance.The joint
venture will focus on project
development and implementation, resource mobilisation,
land acquisition and monitor
the progress of critical rail
projects in the state.
In the entire history of the
Indian rail network, Chhattisgarh has only around 1,180 km
railways line. With the new
MoU, 1,280 km railway line
Govt. to build more national highways: Gadkari

LUCKNOW: In a bid to decongest
ated a move to promote Indian fonts on digital interfaces

in 2011, when Mr. Sharma was
in charge of the electronics
and IT department.
the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and

3,134 km was with state Public
As much as 40 per cent
Works Department.
of the traffic moves on
I am happy to tell that in
the next two months we have
2% national highways and
decided to expand this 8,483
as a result five lakh
km to 17,000 km which is douaccidents take place
ble. Few proposals have been
submitted by the state govNitin Gadkari,
ernment and others by MPs
Union Minister
and MLAs, he said.
Two new highways would
be developed in UP.
First is east-west highway
congestion. Therefore, to save mula based on vehicular traflives of people and diversify fic has been worked out ac- on which we are going to
traic, our government has cording to which four-lane, spend Rs 1,400 crore.
This will reduce Delhis
decided to extend national six-lane and express hightraic by 50 per cent The sechighways from 96,000 km to ways would be constructed.
two lakh km.
The minister said in Uttar ond one is from Delhi to DasNearly 70 per cent to 80 per Pradesh total length of na- na, which would be 14 lane, a
cent traic of the country tional highways was 8,483 km first time in the country, he
move on this, he said. A for- of which 4,500 km was with said. PTI
In the entire history of the Indian rail network, Chhattisgarh has

only around 1,180 km railways line. With the new MoU, 1,280 km
railway line network will be built and the work which has not
happened in the last 140 years will be made possible in the next
five years, says Raman Singh, Chief Minister, Chhattisgarh.
network will be built and the

work which has not happened
in the last 140 years will be
made possible in the next five
years, said Raman Singh,Chief Minister, Chhattisgarh.Work on 546 km-long railway

line is currently underway in
the state and will be completed in the next two years, Mr.
Singh said.The railways can
change the fortune of a state.
Along with providing connectivity, it will lead to growth
and development in the mineral-rich state.
Railways Minister Suresh
Prabhu said expansion of rail
network was necessary to
help the state transport its
natural resources.
Chhattisgarh has a lot of
potential and the exploration
and evacuation of its natural
resources to other parts will
help the country.
For this purpose, railway
infrastructure needs to be developed which will not only
help the state in availing better transport facility but also
bring huge freight revenue to
the Railways, said Mr.
Prabhu.
Less optimism about manufacturing

NATIONAL BUREAU
NEW DELHI: The growth pro-
spects for the manufacturing

sector appeared to have
dimmed, according to a survey by an Indian industry
body and a global consultant.
The FICCI-PwC survey titled `India Manufacturing
Barometer showed a smaller
number of companies being
optimistic about higher
margins.
The survey findings come
in the backdrop of government's data which, on Monday, claimed the manufacturing sector recorded 12.6 per
cent growth in the third quarter of this fiscal.
The surveywhich included 98 companies in sectors
Some important
suggestions to
govt. include
implementation of
GST
such as capital goods and
heavy equipment showed
the percentage of companies,
which in 2015 said that their
margins were expected to increase in the next 12 months,
was down to 36 per cent from
47 per cent.
The number of respondents, who said the margins in
the manufacturing sector had
increased in the past six
months, were down to 33 per
cent in 2015 from 37 per cent
in the previous year.
There were similar sentiments about the overall economic prospects as well.Those who said they were
'very optimistic' about the
prospects were down to 24
per cent from 26 per cent the
year before.
The respondents who said
they were 'somewhat optimistic' of the prospects of the
economy were down to 58 per
cent in 2015 as against 68 per
cent in the previous year.
Most of the respondents (58
per cent) said the growth will
be moderate while those expecting 'significant growth'
this year were only 11 per cent.
Most
respondents
said
growth would be around 7-8
per cent.
ND-ND
16 |
BUSINESS
Asian trade insurers keep close eye

on China, India metals companies
Payment times for metals are rising as overcapacity deepens a four-year old price slump
s rock bottom commodities prices

and overcapacity weaken balance
sheets at beleaguered commodities firms, trade insurers fear further pressure from payment delays and defaults in China and
India, particularly in metals.
A blowout in payment times
and rising insolvencies at manufacturers in Asia would put more
pressure on small and mediumsized metals traders, many of
which are based in the regional
commodities hub of Singapore, insurers and bankers say.
Weak profitability
Swiss-based commodities trader Gunvor Group said last week it
had started to dismantle its Singapore-based metals business, citing
weak profitability and increased
risk, including counterparty
behaviour.
Payment times for
metals are already
rising from China and
LOSING
India, industry sourcSTRENGTH es said, as overcapacity in commodities
like steel and aluminmetals
ium deepens a fouryear old price slump
that has left a majority of metals producers under water.
Oil and gas may have hit the
headlines across the world, but we
think metals will be the key sector
that will cause underwriters more
sleepless nights, said Michael
Lum, an underwriter for specialist
insurer Beazley at Lloyds.
A lot of these (Chinese) smelters that were economically viable
when commodity prices were
high are high cost producers and
when the prices do drop some will
have nowhere to go.
Stressed assets
New non-performing loans
held by Chinese banks more than
doubled in 2015 from the previous
year, while Indias banking sector,
dominated by two-dozen staterun lenders, is sufering from its
highest stressed-assets ratio in 13
years.
Trade insurers provide certain-
Trade insurers provide

certainty for global
markets by insuring up
to 90 per cent of the
value of a transaction
Oil and gas may have hit the headlines across the world, but we think
metals will be the key sector that will cause underwriters more
sleepless nights, says Michael Lum, an underwriter for specialist insurer
Beazley at Lloyds.
ty for global markets by insuring

up to 90 per cent of the value of a
transaction, paying out if buyers
don't pay or suppliers don't
deliver.
Insurer Euler Hermes said it expects days sales outstanding, a
measure of time it takes for firms
Jayem Automotives is likely to

enter into a partnership with
Tata Motors for development
of new vehicles and products.
J. Anand, Managing Director of Jayem and a former F3
champion, told The Hindu
that Tata Motors had collaborated with Jayem to build a
new range of performance
and special vehicles. A sporty
hatchback vehicle, which was
to pay invoices, to rise in China to

81 days in 2016, from 77 in 2015, and
sees corporate insolvencies jumping 20 per cent.
In the commodites space, the
highest requirement for our product for credit insurance in the past
12 months tends to come in met-
Unpaid debt
A rising tide of unpaid debt is
expected to spill into Singapore,
the brunt of which will be borne
by small and medium sized
traders.
Most of the larger trading
houses would have the ability to
sell (debt) of to a bank, and therefore get liquidity. The expectation
is that some of the smaller trading
houses may find it diicult to find
that level of financing, Mr. Lum
said. Trade insurers were also
viewing paper transactions between traders as less attractive
than business that was clearly part
of the supply chain, Euler Hermes
Cessford said. Reuters
Goldman Sachs says metals set to

underperform oil, cuts price forecasts
G
oldman Sachs said metals,

particularly copper and
aluminium, are set to
underperform oil in the near
future on subdued global
demand growth and a sluggish
Chinese economy.
Around mid-2016 and
through 2017, we expect that the
oil market will adjust, while
metals markets are set to
weaken further, particularly
copper and aluminium,
resulting in substantial
downside to metals prices
relative to oil over the period,
Jayem Automotives Managing Director J. Anand, flanked by Tata

Motors Head of Advanced & Product Engineering Tim Leverton
and Chairman Cyrus P Mistry with the SPORT hatchback at the
Delhi Auto Expo.
COIMBATORE: Coimbatore-based
THE HINDU
Gold climbs to
one-year high
displayed at Auto Expo 2016,

was developed jointly by the
two companies.
For the new range, a separate company will be formed.
The details will be announced
soon, Mr. Anand said. We
have been working with Tata
for a long time. We are like an
extended arm of Tata Motors.
Apart from the hatchback
passenger car, a range of performance enhancing kits will
be developed by Jayem and
Tata Motors.
the bank said. The investment

bank cut its average copper
price forecast by 8 per cent to
$4,339 per tonne in 2016
and 11 per cent to $4,000 per
tonne in 2017, citing current
Chinese and global demand
weakness and further cost
deflation.
Goldman said it continues to
see a bearish aluminium market
on resilient supply, with prices
expected to average $1,414 per
tonne in 2016 and $1,350 per
tonne in 2017, down from its
previous outlook of $1,525 and
$1,625 per tonne respectively.

The bank said it expects zinc
to significantly outperform
other metals and raised its
outlook for 2016 to $1,713 per
tonne from $1,700 per tonne on
prospects for a supply deficit
due to mine depletions and
curtailments.
The top investment bank
remains bearish on gold on the
possibility of further U.S. rate
hikes this year and expects
palladium to outperform
platinum over the next 12
months. Reuters
Ramco Systems to target

logistics, airline sectors
NEW DELHI: Gold prices on Tues-
day regained the Rs.28,000mark by soaring Rs.710 its

biggest single-day surge this
year to trade at its highest
level in over one-year on bullish trend in global markets
and buying by jewellers.
The precious metal had
gained Rs.825 in the last eight
days. Depreciating rupee
against the dollar that made
the imports costlier and shifting of funds from weakening
equity to bullion also supported the upside.
als, said Gordon Cessford, Euler

Hermes' Asia Pacific Regional
Commercial Director. Trade financiers see that as more risky, and
so therefore they look to lay of
that risk with the insurance
market.
Jayem Auto, Tata joint

venture likely for
developing new vehicles
M. SOUNDARIYA PREETHA
NOIDA/DELHI
Silver also reclaimed the

Rs.37,000-mark by rising
whooping
Rs.1,180
to
Rs.37,230 a kg on increased
oftake by industrial units and
coin makers.
Bullion traders said sentiment got a boost after gold
rallied for an eighth straight
day topping $1,200 an ounce
for the first time since June in
global markets as increased
concern about the state of the
global economy hurt equity
markets and boosted demand
for safe haven assets.
Globally, gold rose 0.5 per
cent to $1,195.66 in Singapore.
The metal jumped to
$1,200.97 an ounce yesterday,
the highest since June 22.
In the national capital, gold
of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity
zoomed by Rs.710 each to
Rs.28,585 and Rs.28,435 per
ten grams respectively, a level
last seen on January 21, 2015.
Sovereign followed suit
and jumped up by Rs.200 to
Rs.22,900 per piece of eight
grams. Following gold rally,
silver ready also registered a
hefty gain of Rs.1,180 to
Rs.37,230 a kg and weeklybased delivery by Rs.1,110 to
Rs.37,200 a kg.
Silver coins also spurted by
Rs.1,000 to Rs.53,000 for buying and Rs.54,000 for selling
of 100 pieces. PTI
G. BALACHANDAR
CHENNAI: Ramco Systems, an
enterprise software company,

will target logistics and passenger airline segments to
take advantage of the strong
growth in e-commerce sector,
a top company oicial said.
Earlier, software solutions
were ofered on a cluttered
basis to the logistics players.
Software providers didnt offer ERP and ERP players
didnt ofer other software solutions. The present e-commerce boom has triggered
strong growth potential for
logistics firms and we found
an opportunity to ofer an integrated and cloud-based
ERP for the companies in this
sector, said Virendar Aggarwal, Chief Executive Oicer
of Ramco Systems.
The company had introduced a niche Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) productRamco
Logistics
Softwarean
integrated
cloud-based platform targeted at third-party logistics
firms, freight forwarding
The company is
also looking to
set up aviation
solutions
operations in China
companies, and courier firms
among others.
The company had some
competitive advantages over
large players like Oracle or
SAP. Revenues of the most of
the logistics firms are below
$1 billion.
So, it may be an expensive
proposition for them to go for
the solutions of those big
companies. We ofer very
flexible pricing, he said.
The companys aviation
vertical was facing some challenges due to slowdown in
helicopter chartering,hit by
low oil prices.
We need to change the
perception of a small company. Though a couple of domestic airlines use our solutions, we are working on
boosting our business, . he
said.
Kamarajar Port to
invest Rs. 8,100 crore
N. ANAND
CHENNAI: Kamarajar Port Limited (KPL) will be commissioning five projects, including its
maiden container terminal
and multi-purpose cargo
berths, within the next three
years at a cost of Rs.8,100
crore, according to a top
oicial.
The project will increase
the ports cargo handling capacity by 44 million tonnes to
80 million tonnes per annum.
Talking to The Hindu, M.A.
Bhaskarachar, KPL chairmancum-managing director, said:
A sum of Rs.8,100 crore is being invested in new projects
to keep pace with competition from neighbouring ports
such as L&T Kattupalli Port,
Karaikal, Tuticorin, Chennai
and Krishnapatnam Ports.
The new projects

will keep pace
with competition
from neighbouring
ports
With the completion of these
projects, KPLs terminal
handling capacity will increase from 36 million tonnes
to 80 million tonnes by 2018
and touch 100 million tonnes
by 2020. The major projects
that are in the various stages
of construction are container
terminal, coal berths III and
IV, multi-purpose cargo
berth, liquefied natural gas
(LNG) terminal and capital
dredging. Besides, tenders
have been floated for general
cargo berth-II and multi-liquid terminal.
Dr.Reddys Labs to
focus on risk mitigation
HYDERABAD: Indian pharmaceutical major Dr. Reddys Laboratories is focused on remediation and risk mitigation
measures after it received a
warning letter pertaining to
three of its facilities from U.S.
Food and Drug Administration.
There is high focus on remediation and risk mitigation
measures, Dr.Reddys CFO
Saumen Chakraborty declared, while COO Abhijit
Mukherjee highlighted the
eagerness to comply notwithstanding the costs involved.
The warning letter, Mr.Mukherjee added, is bound to have
a reasonable impact though
the company in interaction
with customers did not find
them expressing large apprehensions. Subsequent to giving its response to the letter,
Dr.Reddys had also provided
an update to the FDA in
January.
Requisitioning a third-party consultant and undertaking statistical analysis of the
distributed products are
among steps the company has
initiated since the regulators
It got a warning
letter pertaining to
three of its facilities
from U.S. Food and
Drug Administration
November letter pointed to
deviations from current Good
Manufacturing Practices at
its API manufacturing facilities in Srikakulam, Andhra
Pradesh and Miryalguda in
Telangana as well as violation
at the oncology formulation
manufacturing facility at
Duvvada (AP).
The senior executives were
addressing the press here on
Tuesday about third quarter
results of Dr.Reddys which
was impacted by the challenges in the emerging marketsand issues concerning repatriation from Venezuela in the
backdrop of fall in oil prices.
During the quarter ended
December 31, Dr.Reddys
posted consolidated net profit of Rs.579.20 crore compared
to the Rs.574.50 crore in the
year ago period. Revenue rose
by a little over three per cent
to Rs.3,967.9 crore (Rs.3,843.1
crore).
More women executives mean more profits: study

NEW YORK: Companies with 30
per cent female executives

rake in as much as six percentage points more in profits, according to a study, feeding into a global debate over the
scarcity of women in decision-making business roles.
The conclusion stems from
a study of about 22,000 publicly-traded companies in 91
countries ranging from Mexico to Norway and Italy conducted by researchers at The
Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington, DC-based think tank. If
youre a firm and youre discriminating against potential
female leaders, that means
youre essentially doing a bad
job of picking the best leader
for your firm, said Tyler Moran, one of the studys three
co-authors, in an interview.
The results indicate the
presence of women in corporate leadership positions can
boost a firms performance,
suggesting a reward for poliCM
YK
About three in 10 companies worldwide have no women

either in executive positions or on their board.
FILE PHOTO: REUTERS
cies that facilitate women rising through corporate ranks.

But the study found while
having women in executive
ranks resulted in better profitability, female CEOs or board
members did not have a statistically-significant impact
on the bottom line.
The findings further show
that not all firms are created

equal when it comes to fostering women leadership potential, with some more likely to
encourage female managers
depending on characteristics
ranging from size to national
policies such as family-leave.
Larger firms, for example,
appear to appoint more wom-
en on boards and in upper executive ranks.

Karyn Twaronite, a spokeswoman for professional services company EY, which
helped fund the study, said
the results would likely
prompt discussion over the
need for diferent kinds of
workplace arrangements.
This research sheds light
on the importance of establishing modern workplace
benefits, providing equitable
sponsorship opportunities
and creating inclusive work
environments, so that both
men and women can have
equal access to leadership positions, she said.
Still, despite the bottom
line incentives of drawing in
more female managers, much
needs to be done, the research
found. Currently, about three
in 10 companies worldwide
have no women either in executive positions or on their
board, the researchers found.
Reuters
ND-ND
SPORT
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
| 17
Telecast schedule
Murray becomes dad
Miller to lead Kings XI
South Asian Games: DD Sports, 8 a.m.

U-19 World Cup: STAR Sports 1 & HD 1, 8 a.m.
Hockey India League: STAR Sports 2, 3 & HD 2 & HD 3, 5.40 p.m.
Pro Kabaddi League: STAR Sports 2, 3 & HD 2 & HD 3, 7.50 p.m.
British tennis star Andy Murray has become a father for the first time after his
wife Kim Sears gave birth to a girl on Sunday, the BBC reported on Tuesday. The
Lawn Tennis Association, the sports governing body in Britain, tweeted
Congratulations to @andy_murray & Kim Sears on the birth of their baby girl!
South African batsman David Miller was on Tuesday

named as the captain of Kings XI Punjab. Meanwhile, former
Zimbabwe all-rounder Heath Streak is set to become the
bowling coach of Gujarat Lions.
India wilts under pressure

G. VISWANATH
PUNE: Sri Lanka refreshingly
demonstrated what a talented
side with a fighting spirit can
achieve even against tremendous odds. Riding on Kasun
Rajithas penetrating overs
with the new ball, it inflicted a
surprise defeat on India in the
first match of the three-match
Twenty20 series at the Maharashtra Cricket Association International Stadium here on
Tuesday.
The visitor lost its openers
mid-way through the fifth over,
but skipper Dinesh Chandimal
and Chamara Kapugedara put
on the highest partnership of
the match and ensured that
their team will fly to Ranchi
with a 1-0 lead. Brought on after
11 overs, of-spinner R. Ashwin
Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane

and Shikhar Dhawan.
In his incisive and remarkable first over Rajitha made Rohit drive into the hands of
Dushmantha Chameera at midof and then induced a leading
edge from Rahane, promoted
to No. 3 in the absence of Virat
Kohli.
Whether the surface, with a
fair grass cover right across the
length of the pitch, as prepared
by former State fast bowler
Pandurang Salgaonkar had
anything to do with the initial
success of Rajitha, and later of
medium pacer Dasun Shanaka,
is a matter of conjecture.
But the home team appeared
to wilt under extreme pressure
brought upon by Rajitha, who
completed his opening spell of
three overs with the wicket of
Dhawan, playing a horrendous
shot in the circumstances and
ofering a catch to Danushka
Gunathilaka at third man.
India failed to see the potential in Rajitha, Shanaka and also
Chameera, who accounted for
the wicket of Yuvraj Singh, after being hit on the body and
helmet.
The opener Rohit may have
made the mistake of essaying a
drive of the second ball that
travelled straight towards mid-
Sri Lankan pacemen have the

hosts jumping through hoops
of where Chameera dived to

his right to bring of a twohanded catch.
Rahane looked to play on the
on-side and the leading edge
was taken by Chandimal twohanded at short cover.
The situation called for intelligent and smart batting
from Dhawan and Raina, but
both decided to take the Sri
Lankan seamers head on and
gifted their wickets.
By the 10th over India was in
the doldrums losing the wicket
of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and
Yuvraj Singh.
If Rajitha startled and
shocked the Indian top order,
Shanaka broke the back with a
three-wicket spell.
Coming at No. 9 Ashwin
stemmed the rot playing like a
technically well-equipped batsman. His partnership with
Nehra for 28 runs took India to
100. Jasprit Bumrahs exit following a mis-field brought to
close the first session, with seven balls going waste.
Rajitha and Shanaka may
have captured six wickets, but
the Indian batsmen did not
show courage and gumption in
order to ofer a fitting riposte.
It was an inept display by Dhonis team after being invited to
bat.
captured two wickets with

Suresh Raina plucking a fullblooded sweep by Dasun Shanaka when all hopes had all but
vanished for the home team.
The visitor may have scored
a team win, but without doubt
Kasun Rajitha was the toast of
the match.
He made such a terrific impact that India could muster
only a paltry 101, that too
thanks to the individual brilliance of Ashwin, who contributed to the rearguard with Ashish Nehra.
Playing his first match for Sri
Lanka, the Matara-born 22year-old Rajitha looked every
inch a speed merchant in his
opening burst of three overs
when he scalped the wickets of
he T20 Festival is upon us a home series

against Sri Lanka followed by the Asia Cup
in Bangladesh, followed by the World T20 in
India and finally, the IPL. That is nearly 16 weeks
of a packed calendar that will either tell us Test
cricket is in its dying throes or that T20 has
overreached itself and television viewers walking around goggle-eyed by the end of May might be sufering from the condition known as Six Addiction or Gayle Fatigue.
How many sixes can the average cricket watcher cheer before
he recognises the repetitive nature of the strokeplay? T20 porn
is no diferent from the other kind. There are just so many
robot-like moves, and the law of diminishing marginal excitement operates. There is just so much excitement Danny Morrison and his friends in the stadiums and studios can generate
with high-pitched superlatives.
For T20 to thrive it has to be an alternative to the established
format. When T20 itself becomes the established format, it will
go the way of revolutions which become indistinguishable from
what they have replaced. Shorn of the subtlety and poetry of the
longer game, T20 will have to seek newer gimmicks, more tricks
to keep its television audience, and that can only be good news
for Test cricket.
On May 29, when the final of the IPL is played, we might get a
hint as to which way the wind
is blowing.
All of this might sound excessively cynical, and I may be
completely wrong. Perhaps
there is an audience in India
for continuous T20 cricket
over four months. Perhaps
there is enough variety in the
format to keep the eyeballs
glued to television sets. Mahendra Singh Dhoni might exhibit diferent ways of hitting
the same bowlers to keep the
interest alive.
Perhaps the World Cup will
be the platform to discover
layers in the T20 game that
will give it just the right amount of complexity to challenge the
bowlers and batsmen alike. In some ways, the format has come
to a technical dead end, the heavy bats, quick turn of feet and
short boundaries working against creativity and new ideas.
When you can hit the likes of the modern greats like Dale Steyn
out of the ground with minimum efort, why complicate matters
by looking to extend your repertoire?
The T20 format

has come to a
technical dead
end, the heavy
bats, quick turn of
feet and short
boundaries
working against
creativity and
new ideas
Joe Roots
century boosts
England
CENTURION: Joe Root hit an as-
sured century as England went

in search of a series-clinching
win in the third One-Day International against South Africa at
SuperSport Park on Tuesday.
England, leading 2-0 in the
five-match series, made 318 for
eight after winning the toss.
Root made a career-best 125
of 113 balls with ten fours and
five sixes, scarcely playing a
false stroke.
Root shared a second wicket
partnership of 125 with Alex
Hales, who made 65 of 73 balls
and 82 for the fifth wicket with
Ben Stokes, who slammed 53
of 37 balls.
A mix-up with Stokes caused
Root to be run out and South
Africa came back into the
match by taking another three
wickets, including that of
Stokes, in quick succession.
But David Willey and Adil
Rashid scored 27 runs of the
last 15 balls of the innings as England finished strongly.
Hales and Root, who put on
97 for the second wicket in Englands win in the second
match in Port Elizabeth, again
played England into a strong
position
Hales hooked Kagiso Rabada
to Morne Morkel on the fine leg
boundary.
The in-form and quick-scoring Jos Buttler was promoted to
number four but was out first
ball, flicking Rabada to J-P. Duminy at leg gully.
The momentum of the innings slowed as England captain Eoin Morgan struggled to
find his timing, labouring to
eight of 24 balls before he was
caught at midwicket of allrounder David Wiese, who had
been selected in place of batsman Rilee Rossouw. AFP
2-0-11-0.
Sri Lanka: Niroshan Dickwella c
Dhawan b Nehra 4 (3b, 1x4), Danushka Gunathilaka c Dhawan b Nehra 9
(18b), Dinesh Chandimal lbw b Raina
35 (35b, 1x4, 2x6), Chamara Kapugedara lbw b Ashwin 25 (26b, 4x4), Milinda Siriwardena (not out) 21 (14b, 2x4,
1x6), Dasun Shanaka c Raina b Ashwin
3 (8b), Seekuge Prasanna (not out) 3
(4b); Extras (lb-3, w-2): 5; Total (for
five wkts. in 18 overs): 105.
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Dickwella), 223 (Gunathilake), 3-62 (Kapugedara),
4-84 (Chandimal), 5-91 (Shanaka).
India bowling: Ashish Nehra 3-021-2, Jasprit Bumrah 4-1-19-0, Ravindra Jadeja 3-0-18-0, Hardik Pandya 30-18-0, Ashwin 3-0-13-2, Suresh Raina
2-0-13-1.
Toss: Sri Lanka.
Man-of-the-match: Rajitha.
Sri Lanka won by five wickets with 12 balls remaining.
JUBILANT: Sri Lankan bowler Dushmantha Chameera celebrates the dismissal of Yuvraj Singh.
PHOTO: PTI
India storms into its fifth World Cup final

MIRPUR: India entered the ICC
Under-19 World Cup final for a
fifth time with a 97-run win
over Sri Lanka in the semifinals
here on Tuesday.
India did well to reach 267 for
nine after a shaky start before
dismissing Sri Lanka for 170 in
42.4 overs.
The batting stars were Anmolpreet Singh (72) and Sarfaraz Khan (59), who amassed his
fourth half-century in five
innings.
India now awaits either West
Indies or Bangladesh in the final to be played on February 14.
UNDER-19
WORLD CUP
India, put in on an overcast
morning, was under pressure
right away with its opening pair
of Rishabh Pant and captain Ishan Kishan falling cheaply to
leave the team two down for 27
in the 10th over.
SOLID KNOCK: Anmolpreet Singh played with assurance to notch

up the top individual score and help India compile a total that
proved beyond Sri Lanka's reach. PHOTO: PAL PILLAI/GETTY IMAGES
Anmolpreet and Sarfaraz

then had 96-run stand of 126
balls for the third wicket.
Anmolpreet stitched a 70-run
partnership with Washington
Sundar (43) after Sarfarazs
departure.
The late burst came courtesy

Sundar and Armaan Jafer, who
smashed 29 of 16 balls before
Mayank Dagars 17-run cameo
of 10 balls. Dagar did his bit
with the ball as well, grabbing
three for 21 in 5.4 overs.
NEW DELHI: Nine minutes was all

it took for Dabang Mumbai to
leapfrog from bottom of the table into semifinal contention after registering a comprehensive
8-3 victory against Delhi Waveriders in the Hockey India
League at the Shivaji Stadium
here on Tuesday. It was its third
consecutive win of the competition.
The host, with its third defeat
on the trot at home and with 17
points and just two more games
remaining, is all but out of the
race for the semifinals barring also meant there was little room
some exceptional performance to manoeuvre for the players.
and favourable permutations After a barren first quarter, Steven Edwards made the most of
from other teams.
Given the way its defence col- goalmouth melee to put Delhi
lapsed in the last 10 minutes on ahead in the 22nd minute.
Rupinder Pal Singh convertTuesday, however, that appears
ed the teams
unlikely.
second penalty
That was, in
HIL
corner to infact, the only period of any excitement in the crease the lead in the 39th minmatch. For a major part, the ute. But there was no concerted
game was confined to the mid- attempt from either side to add
field with few scoring opportu- momentum to the game that apnities and fewer attempts at peared to be meandering away
to a tame end before Danish
breaking the deadlock.
Close marking by the teams Mujtaba perked up the proceed-
SCOREBOARD
England: J. Roy run out 20, A.
Hales c Morkel b Rabada 65, J. Root
run out 125, J. Buttler c Duminy b Rabada 0, E. Morgan c Amla b Wiese 8,
B. Stokes c Behardien b Abbott 53, M.
Ali c Amla b Morkel 3, C. Jordan c Duminy b Abbott 3, D. Willey (not out) 13,
A. Rashid (not out) 13; Extras (b-4,
lb-3, w-8): 15; Total (for 8 wickets, in
50 overs): 318.
Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-161, 3-162,
4-187, 5-269, 6-284, 7-291, 8-291.
South Africa bowling: Abbott 100-50-2, Rabada 10-0-65-2, Morkel 100-63-1, Wiese 10-0-64-1, Imran Tahir
8-0-56-0, Behardien 2-0-13-0.
Toss: England.
CM
YK
The target was not a huge one

but the Sri Lankans failed to rotate strike, and regular loss of
wickets meant the asking rate
was going up. Sri Lankas hopes
of reaching its second ever final
were all but over when the
scoreboard read 133 for six in
the 35th over.
Meanwhile,
Afghanistan
qualified for the Plate Championship final with an eightwicket win over New Zealand
at Coxs Bazar.
Aniket Parikhs all-round display of 48 and two for 20 went in
vain as the Afghans bowled out
New Zealand for 135 and then
raced home in the 28th over.
The scores: India 267 for nine in 50
overs (Anmolpreet Singh 72, Sarfaraz
Khan 59, Washington Sundar 43, Armaan Jaffer 29, Fernando four for 43)
bt Sri Lanka 170 in 42.4 overs (P.H.K.D.
Mendis 39, S. Ashan 38, P.V.R. de Silva
28, Dagar three for21).
Man-of-the-match: Anmolpreet
Singh. PTI
Mumbai steamrollers Delhi

UTHRA GANESAN
MARAUDER: Manpreet Singh slots in one of his four goals in Dabang Mumbai's thumping win over
Delhi Waveriders on Tuesday. PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA
Is T20 at a crossroads?
Check in 16 weeks
SURESH MENON
SCOREBOARD
India: Rohit Sharma c Chameera b
Rajitha 0 (2b), Shikhar Dhawan c Gunathilaka b Rajitha 9 (13b, 1x6), Ajinkya Rahane c Chandimal b Rajitha 4
(4b, 1x4), Suresh Raina b Shanaka 20
(20b, 1x4, 1x6), Yuvraj c & b Chameera
10 (14b, 1x6), M.S. Dhoni c Dickwella b
Shanaka 2 (2b), Hardik Pandya lbw b
Shanaka 2 (6b), Ravindra Jadeja lbw b
Senanayake 6 (9b), R. Ashwin (not
out) 31 (24b, 5x4), Ashish Nehra c Siriwardena b Chameera 6 (19b), Jasprit
Bumrah run out 0 (0b); Extras (b-2,
lb-1, w-8): 11; Total (in 18.5 overs): 101.
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Rohit), 2-5
(Rahane), 3-32 (Dhawan), 4-49 (Raina), 5-51 (Dhoni), 6-53 (Yuvraj), 7-58
(Pandya),8-72
(Jadeja),
9-100
(Nehra).
Sri Lanka bowling: Kasun Rajitha
4-0-29-3, Thisara Perera 3-1-10-0, Sachithra Senanayake 3-0-18-1, Dushmantha Chameera 3.5-0-14-2, Dasun
Shanaka 3-0-16-3, Seekuge Prasanna
BETWEEN WICKETS
ings and opened up the

floodgates.
Receiving the ball on the
move from Vikas Sharma on the
right, Mujtaba shot in from the
top of the striking circle in the
49th minute to reduce the margin moments after Mumbais
only penalty corner went waste.
Three minutes later, Afan
Yousuf put Nilakanta Sharma
through and the latter struck
from in front of the goal to put
Mumbai ahead.
That appeared to stun Delhi,
which went on the defensive,
but there was no structure as the
host perhaps realised the game
was slipping away. Desperately
throwing everything into the
defence did not help and despite
almost five defenders in the circle, a brilliant Gurjant Singh
managed to lift pass them all to
unselfishly send the ball to Andrew Philpott, whose backward
pass found Manpreet perfectly
positioned to sound the board.
With the scoreline 6-3 for
Mumbai, Delhi changed its goalkeeper as a last-ditch attempt to
contain the damage and ended
up conceding another field goal
a minute later, again by Manpreet as Harjot Singh hardly got
time to settle down before it was
all over.
The result: Dabang Mumbai 8
(Manpreet 4, Gurmail Singh 2, Nilakanta Sharma 2) bt Delhi Waveriders 3
(Steven Edwards 2, Rupinder Pal Singh
(PC)).
Sociedad blanks
Espanyol
MADRID: Real Sociedad stormed
to its biggest win of the season

when it overwhelmed Espanyol
5-0 in the La Liga on Monday.
Mexico forward Carlos Vela
stunned Espanyols defence
when he hit a long pass for Brazilian striker Jonathas to open
the scoring in the fifth minute
and then hit the back of the net
himself for Sociedads second
goal two minutes later.
Sociedad came out strong in
the second half and 18-year-old
attacking midfielder Mikel
Oyarzabal proved a thorn for
Espanyols defence when he
played a one-two with Ruben
Pardo before netting the third
goal in the 52nd minute.
We learned from our errors
against Sporting Gijon, said
Sociedad coach Eusebio Sacristan, referring to his clubs 5-1
away loss in the 21st round.
Now were really concentrated and we have to continue
working hard and improving.
This was an important victory.
Diego Reyes headed Sociedads fourth goal three minutes
later and Jonathas added a fifth
in the 89th. Sociedad is now 11th
in the standings with 27 points,
five clear of Espanyol in the 17th
spot.
The result : Espanyol 0 lost to Real
Sociedad 5 (Jonathas 5, 90, Vela 7,
Oiarzabal 52, Reyes 55). Agencies
Pirates defeat
Warriors
KOLKATA: Patna Pirates edged
Bengal Warriors 36-31 in their

ProKabaddi League match here
on Tuesday. The win takes Pirates to the top of the table with
25 points while Warriors remain in second place with 21.
Warriors led 12-6 and then 1510, but gave away four points in
each instance. That proved decisive in the long run, and they
never quite were in the match
once they fell behind 17-21 after
that. PTI
Martins scores
hat-trick
KOLKATA: Ranti Martins scored a
hat-trick (17th, 26th, and 37th

minute) as East Bengal
thrashed Shillong Lajong 4-0 in
an I-League football match here
on Tuesday.
Bikash Jairu scored the other
goal for the winner. PTI
Fond wish
Perhaps and this is the fondest wish the real innovation
will come from the bowlers who have sufered the most in T20.
Spinners have made themselves more relevant over the years,
but the weapons of the fast bowler, the slower ball and the
yorker are becoming less efective. The batsmans game becomes more of a batsmans game and even more of a batsmans
game as the format gets shorter and shorter.
Maybe it is time to have a set of rules specifically for T20 that
is diferent from the laws of the game. Some possibilities: the
batsmen may be leg before to deliveries pitched outside the leg
stump. The benefit of the doubt goes to the bowler, or, the
fielder, in a close run out or caught situation. Fielders may be
allowed to take a legal catch on the boundary line, and the ball
shall be deemed not to have crossed the line if it does not
actually do so. That will eliminate the endless replays, and save
time if nothing else.
T20 cricket may be at the crossroads, and the millions that the
players make out of it might have helped camouflage the fact.
Unlike Test cricket, and even one-day cricket, there is an otherness about T20 that may be partially due to the huge sums
involved. It is not always inclusive. A Chris Gayle hitting sixes at
the Chinnaswamy Stadium thrills the Bangalore crowds, but he
is not a darling of the spectators in the old-fashioned sense. Club
cricket has a long way to go before it can match club football in
passion and involvement.
In Jaipur at the launch of Wisden India Almanack, football
icon Baichung Bhutia made this point forcefully. He was amazed
at the crowd reaction at an IPL game he attended, he said. After a
while, many stopped cheering even the sixes. Suddenly I heard
a huge roar when nothing was happening on the field, and I was
confused. Then I realised that Shah Rukh Khan had appeared on
the screen.
But what shocked him, said Bhutia, was the lack of involvement of the fans. No one was upset when his team lost. In
Kolkata, he said, football fans went about weeping and screaming and burning buses when their club lost. I dont recommend
burning buses, but I would have liked to see more involvement,
he said.
He had put his finger on the problem. The concept of my
team has not percolated into the club fans consciousness in
cricket.
The next 16 weeks will see some of these issues in sharper
focus.
Warne lashes out at

Steve Waugh
SYDNEY: Cricket great Shane Warne
has blasted former Australia captain

Steve Waugh as the most selfish
cricketer I've played with as a longrunning feud between the pair showed
no sign of ending.
The ex-teammates fell out years
ago with Warne still holding a grudge
after Waugh played a part in his axing
on the 1999 tour of the West Indies.
There's a lot of reasons I don't like
Steve Waugh... because he's the most
selfish cricketer I've played with,
Warne says on an episode of TV show
I'm a Celebrity. Get Me Out of Here.
The leg-spinner said the manner in
which Waugh, his then captain, told
him he had been dropped was still vivid in his memory.
One thing that really annoyed me
about him was the one Test I got dropped, in the West Indies. We had to win
the last Test match to win the trophy,
he said on the reality show, in which
he is a contestant.
At that stage, captain (Waugh),
vice-captain (Warne) and coach (Geoff Marsh) used to pick the team. We
went to selection. I hadn't bowled
well, we'd lost, Brian Lara batted unreal, but I felt like I was being the scapegoat, that because I didn't bowl well it
was my fault.
We got to the selection table and
said, OK, what's everyone's
thoughts?. Steve Waugh said: You're
not playing.
I went What? Hang on. What do
Shane Warne. PHOTO: AFP

you think the team should be? Blah
blah blah, and Steve Waugh said
Nope, I'm the captain of this side...
you're not playing. I was really disappointed with that. After 10 years, I'd
just had a shoulder operation, I
thought the situation, of having to win
a Test match, would've brought the
best out in me too.
I don't like Steve Waugh for a lot of
other reasons, but that was the
reason.
Waugh has previously admitted the
decision cost him his friendship with
Warne, but in his book The Meaning
Of Luck said it helped shape and define him as a captain.
I lost a great friend but gained fortitude from the experience and learnt
categorically that knowing what is
right and acting on it are two different
things, Waugh wrote. AFP
ND-ND
18 |
SPORT
Mayookha, Manpreet Sr. strike gold

ATHLETICS / Eashan sets 100m record as Sri Lankans dominate sprint events
GUWAHATI: The script of the
Basketball event
scrapped
A. VINOD
GUWAHATI: The basketball
competitions of the 12th
South Asian Games,
scheduled to be held
between February 10 and 15,
have been scrapped.
The conduct of the event
had become untenable in
the wake of the instructions
issued by the International
Basketball Federation
(FIBA) on February 2 taking
cognisance of the Indian
Olympic Associations
interference in matters of
the Basketball Federation of
India and the selection of
the Indian teams for the
Games.
A final call was taken on
Tuesday at a meeting of the
top brass of the IOA and the
organising committee.
Sri Lankan wins

100km race
GUWAHATI: Sri Lankas Jeevan Man-
jula Jayasinghe Silva won the

mens 100km individual road race.
The results: Men: 100km individual road race: 1. Jeevan Manjula
Jayasinghe Silva (Sri) 2:25:38.650, 2.
Pankaj Kumar (Ind), 3. Nisar Ahmed
(Pak). Womens 80km individual
road race: Bidyaluxmi Tourangbam
(Ind) 2:30:55.350, 2. Lidiyamol Sunny
Menamparambil (Ind), 3. N. Geethu Raj
(Ind).
THE HINDU
India asserts its supremacy

A. VINOD
GUWAHATI: India rounded of its
campaign in the weightlifting
competitions by taking its 11th
gold medal, out of a total 14,
through Sushila Panwar here on
Tuesday.
India, which missed the titles in
the mens 62kg and womens 63kg
on account of no lifts registered by
its standard-bearers in these two
events over the last three days,
took silver in the mens +105kg category that was won by Pakistan
teenager Muhammed Butt, who
packed too much strength for his
Indian rival Gurdeep Singh.
Like many of her compatriots,
Sushila, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, was hardly pressed as she
outclassed the rest of the field in
A. VINOD
opening day of the athletics
events in the 12th South Asian
Games was on expected lines as
the Sri Lankans dashed of with
the sprint gold medals and the
Indians dominated elsewhere at
the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Sarasujai, here on Tuesday.
Of the nine events which
were decided on the opening
day, India was served well by
long jumper Mayookha Johny
and throwers Manpreet Kaur
Sr. and Neeraj Kumar, not to
leave out long distance runners
Man Singh and L. Surya, as the
home team
finished with
a total of five
gold medals.
Besides
the
sprint
double, Sri
Lanka also
won the womens 800m and
mens high jump, W.P. Manjulakumara edging the latter on
count-back after being tied on
2.17m with Indian rival Tejaswini Shankar.
The day, as it turned, remained hazy all through and offered the best of conditions to
the sprinters. And this was realised by Himasha Eashan, who
made light of the opposition in
style en route to a season best of
10.28s and a new meet mark in
the mens 100m.
The Sri Lankan was quick of
the blocks, reacting sharply to
the gun, and his dominance was
never in doubt as he sped away
from the rest of the field with
his powerful strides. It did seem
as if it would be a 1-2 for Sri Lanka as Mohammed Ashrafu was
just behind Eashan early. But
this was not to be as Saaid Hassan (Maldives) split the duo, accelerating
nicely
midway
through.
Neeraj Kumar, likewise,
emerged a comfortable winner
NOIDA/DELHI
the +75kg class. The 22-year-old

returned a card of 88kg in snatch
and 110kg in clean and jerk as she
posted a winning total of 198kg
ahead of Ishani Annushka (Sri
Lanka) and Tara Devi Pun (Nepal). In the concluding event of
the four-day meet, Butt proved to
be in a class of his own as he com-
WEIGHTLIFTING
piled a winning total of 360kg,
gaining a 15kg-lead over Gurdeep
in snatch with a successful attempt of 160kg and in clean and
jerk wherein he finished with
200kg. Gurdeep was second with
345kg, comfortably ahead of Sri
Lankan Saman Abeywickrama
(275kg). Commenting on the performances of the home lifters, N.
Kunjurani Devi, an icon of the

sport and one of the coaches of the
Indian team, said she was both
happy and disappointed with the
overall showing.
I am happy that our lifters performed well in all categories.
However, I am disappointed for
both Anbarasu Gopal and Reena
who were unable to complete the
competition and win medals due
to no lifts.
The results (snatch, clean &
jerk, total):
Men: +105kg: 1 Muhammed Butt
(Pak), 160, 200, 360; 2. Gurdeep Singh
(Ind) 155, 190, 345; 3. Saman Abeywickrama (SL) 120, 155, 275.
Women: +75kg: 1. Sushila Panwar
(Ind) 88, 110, 198; 2. Ishani Annushka
(SL) 77, 96, 173; 3. Tara Devi Pun (Nep)
70, 95, 165.
Host assures itself of three golds

AMITABHA DAS SHARMA
GUWAHATI: Indian tennis players ensured them-
POWERHOUSE: Manpreet Kaur Sr. demolished the field in the shot put, setting a new Games record with a throw of
17.96m. PHOTO: K. MURALI KUMAR
of the hammer throw title as he

was in the lead straightaway
and touched his winning distance of 66.14 with his last attempt.
In the 5000m, however, Man
Singh just about managed to
squeak past compatriot Suresh
Kumar. The two Indians were
together from the start, exchanging the lead time and
again. With two laps remaining,
Suresh Kumar upped the ante
and opened up a lead of over
10m. But Man Singh never gave
up and, inching closer to Suresh
through the second half of the
last 400m, overtook him to finish in 14:02.04.
In the womens section, the
100m final was far more keenly
fought. However, the Indian
duo of Srabani Nanda and Dutee Chand could not stop the
fancied Rumeshika Ratnayaka
from running away to victory,
clocking 11.71s. Nanda followed

the leader, just one-hundredths
of a second behind, while Dutee
was timed at 11.75s.
Manpreet Kaur Sr. was in rollicking form as she demolished
the field in the shot put, winning
the gold medal with a sixth-attempt throw of 17.96m, just two
centimetres shy of her National
record set last year.
The Indian had a great series
right through and touched at
least 17 metres in five of her attempts but for the foul in the
second. Manpreet Kaur Jr. finished second with a distance of
15.96m, better than the existing
Games mark of 15.52m.
The expectations were that
Mayookha Johny would be
pressed hard by her Sri Lankan
rivals in the long jump. But this
hardly materialised as the 27year-old found the lead of 6.34m
in her first trial and then
achieved her winning and record-breaking distance of

6.43m of her last attempt.
N.C.D. Priyadarshini and S.L.S.
Silva were way of the mark during the day and this helped
Shradha Ghule to the silver with
a leap of 6.19m.
The 27-year-old Mayookha
was surprised by the poor
showing of her Sri Lankan rivals. I did expect tougher competition and would have done
better if they had pushed me
hard. But Priyadarshini was
way of the mark, fouling time
and again. All the same, I am
happy that I won in the end and
that too with a new Games record, she said.
The results: Men: 100m: 1. Himasha Eashan (SL), 10.28s, NGR (OR
10.37s), 2. Saaid Hassan (Mal), 10.41s,
3. A.L.M. Ashrafu (SL), 10.69s.
5000m: 1. Man Singh (Ind), 14:02.04,
2. Suresh Kumar (Ind), 14:02.70, 3. Ri-
Deepika and Tarundeep

lead archers domination
Indian men
overcome Lanka
K. KEERTHIVASAN
SHILLONG: In their complete
domination of the 12th South
Asian Games here, the Indian
recurve archers who won all
the 10 gold medals, of which
five came on Tuesday might
have unwittingly found a place
to train for the Rio Olympics.
Archers Deepika Kumari
and Jayanta Talukdar were of
the view that the weather conditions and the shifting winds
at the venue here could prove
to be an ideal training ground
to prepare for battles abroad.
In the womens singles final,
Deepika had to fight hard to
beat Bombayla Devi 6-4 while
Tarundeep Rai, making a
comeback after a dip in form,
defeated Gurucharan Besra 6-2
in the mens final.
It feels good to win, but this
is just the beginning. I need to
do well in the remaining selection trials to hope for a place in
the Indian team, said Rai.
Earlier, the Indian mens,
womens and mixed recurve
teams bagged the three gold
medals, thereby making it an
all-India show.
Grace scores a brace

Later, the Indian womens
team beat Sri Lanka 5-0 to
script its first win in the fiveteam league football competition. It was Dangmei Graces
brace and an assist that set up
Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai bagged the mixed doubles

recurve gold. PHOTO: M. MOORTHY
the win. India next takes on
Nepal, which is on two wins,
on February 11.
Graces first goal was a
scorcher from close range towards the end of the first half.
The 19-year-old then unleashed a right-footer from
around 35 yards in the 57th
minute for her second.
She then set up Indias
fourth goal when she ran along
the left and chipped a pass to
Kamala Devi, who tapped it
home.
A. Amalraj and Manika Batra
overcame fellow Indians G.
Sathiyan and Mouma Das 11-5,
4-11, 11-5, 6-11, 12-10 to bag the
table tennis mixed doubles
gold.
The results: Archery: Recurve
Team: Men: India (Tarundeep Rai,
Gurucharan Besra, Jayanta Talukdar)
mal Hari Kumar (Nep), 14:32.18.

High jump: 1. W.P. Manjulakumara
(SL), 2.17m, 2. Tejaswini Shankar
(Ind), 2.17m, 3. Ajay Kumar (Ind),
2.08m.
Hammer throw: 1. Neeraj Kumar
(Ind), 66.14m, 2. Shakeel Ahmed
(Pak), 63.67m, 3. L.A.D.E. Alansan (SL),
46.38m.
Women: 100m: 1. Rumeshika Ratnayaka (SL), 11.71s, 2. Srabani Nanda
(Ind), 11.72s, 3. Dutee Chand (Ind),
11.75s. 800m: 1. W.K.L.A. Nimali (Sl),
2:09.40, 2. G.T.A. Abeyratna (SL),
2:09.64, 3. M. Gomathi (Ind), 2:10.99.
5000m: 1. L. Surya (Ind), 15:45.75, 2.
Swati Gadhave (Ind), 16:14.57, 3.
U.K.N. Ratnayaka (SL), 17:00.85.
Long jump: 1. Mayookha Johny
(Ind), 6.43m, NGR ( OR 6.42m), 2.
Shradha Ghule (Ind), 6.19m, 3. S.L.S.
Silva (SL), 5.89m.
Shot put: 1. Manpreet Kaur Sr.
(Ind), 17.96m, NGR ( OR 15.52m), 2.
Manpreet Kaur Jr. (Ind), 15.94m, 3.
W.T.K. Fernando (SL), 14.87m.
bt Sri Lanka (Nipuna Senevirathne, Indranath, Sajeev De Silva) 5-1.

Women: India (Deepika Kumari,
Bombayla Devi, Laxmirani Majhi) bt
Sri Lanka (Dilhara Salgado, Anuradha
Karunaratne, Suchini Ubeysiri) 6-0.
Mixed: India (Deepika Kumari, Tarundeep Rai) bt Sri Lanka (Dilhara Salgado, Nipuna Senevirathne) 6-0.
GUWAHATI: The Indian mens team

warded of a strong challenge
from Sri Lanka to clinch the volleyball gold to add to the womens triumph in the other final,
against the same nation, here on
Monday.
India won the first game 25-19.
Sri Lanka switched to a more attacking mode in the second, establishing a 7-4 lead first and 18-16
later. With the tall G.R. Vaishnav
making his presence felt at the
net, India came up with efective
blocks and followed it up with
winning smashes from Prabagaran and Naveen Raja Jacob to reel
of five consecutive points. The
host sustained the momentum to
win 25-22.
The results: Men: Final: India bt
Sri Lanka 25-19. 25-22, 28-26; Third
place: Pakistan bt Maldives 25-17, 2519, 25-13. Women: Final: India bt Sri
Lanka 25-14, 25-21, 25-14; Third place:
Nepal bt Maldives 25-20, 25-14, 25-13.
Amitabha Das Sharma
Table Tennis: Doubles semifinals: Women: Mouma Das & K. Sha-
mini (Ind) bt Nabita Shrestha & Elina

Maharjan (Nepal) 11-4, 11-6, 11-7; Pooja Sahasrabudhe & Manika Batra bt
Ishara Madhurangi & Warusawithana
Erandi (SL) 12-10, 11-9, 11-4.
Men: A. Amalraj & Sanil Shetty bt
Rohan Sirisena & Chameern Ginge
(SL) 11-8, 14-12, 11-9; G. Sathiyan & Devesh Karia bt Udaya Ranasinghe & Nirmala Jayasinghe (SRL) 11-7, 11-4, 11-4.
Football: Women: India 5 (Pathirana-og, Dangmei Grace-2, Kamala
Devi, Sasmita Malik) bt Sri Lanka 0.
selves three gold medals on Tuesday, sweeping

into the finals of the womens singles and the
mens and the mixed doubles.
So absolute was the Indian dominance that the
opponents across the various categories were
unable to take even a set of the hosts players.
Saketh Myneni, arriving here after playing the
semifinals in a $75,000 Challenger tournament in
the Australia, was in imperious form against Dipu Lal of Bangladesh in mens quarterfinals. The
Indian won 6-0, 6-1.
Before the top-seeded Mynenis dominant
performance, Ramkumar Ramanathan had
brushed aside the challenge of Pakistan Davis
Cupper Aqeel Khan, beating him 6-3, 6-3.
Ramkumar, a quarterfinalist at the Chennai
Open last month, had little trouble in getting past
Aqeel. Ramkumar impressed with his control
and precision, and hardly gave his opponent a
chance to settle down. Ramkumar will take on
Shamal Dissanayake of Sri Lanka in the semifinals while Myneni will meet doubles star Aisam
Qureshi. Ankita Raina beat Pakistans Sara Mansoor 6-1, 6-1 to progress to the womens final
where she meets Prerna Bhambri, who outclassed Pakistans No.1 Ushna Suhail 6-1, 6-2.
The results: Men: Quarterfinals: Saketh Myneni bt
Dipu Lal (Ban) 6-0, 6-1; Shamal Dissanayake (SL) bt Mohammed Faris (Mdv) 6-1, 6-0; Aisam Qureshi (Pak) bt Harshanna Godamanna (SL) 6-4, 7-6(1); Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Aqeel Khan (Pak) 6-3, 6-3. Doubles: Semifinals:
Ramkumar & Vijay Sundar Prasanth bt D. Thengarajan &
TENNIS
Yasitha de Silva (SL) 6-3, 6-1; Divij Sharan & Sanam Singh
bt H. Godamanna & S. Dassanayake (SL) 6-3, 6-1.
Women: Semifinals: Ankita Raina bt Sara Mansoor
(Pak) 6-1, 6-1; Prerna Bhambri bt Ushana Suhail (Pak) 6-1,
6-2. Doubles: Quarterfinals: Prarthana Thombre & Sharmada Balu bt Sarah Mansoor & Aiman Qureshi (Pak) 6-0,
6-2; Rishika Sunkara & Natasha Palha bt Ushna Suhail & Sarah Mehboob (Pak) 6-1, 6-2,
Mixed doubles: Semifinals: Sanam Singh & Prarthana
Thombre bt H. Godamanna & A. Muttiah (Sri) 6-3, 6-1; Divij
Sharan & Ankita Raina bt Aisam Qureshi & Ushna Suhail
(Pak) 6-1, 6-4.
Malavika continues her winning run

A. VINOD
GUWAHATI: The steely determi-
nation of young V. Malavika

was visible in full measure for a
second consecutive day at the
Dr. Zakir Hussian swimming
pool, Sarasujai, on Tuesday,
easing to a memorable win the
womens 400m freestyle of the
12th South Asian Games.
The 17-year-old, who had
won the 800m freestyle, once
again held sway over the rest of
SWIMMING
the field almost all through and
touched the wall in 4:30.08 for a
new Games record in the eightlap race. Shivani Kataria finished second at 4:38.42, pushing
Nepals Gaurika Singh to the
third spot.
Overall, compared to the last
three days, it was a great day for
the host country which took
seven gold medals of the eight
decided this evening.
And holding centre-stage yet
again was Sajan Prakash, who
though beaten to the second
place by compatriot Saurabh
Sangvekar in the mens 400m
freestyle, showed tremendous
character to pocket the 200m
butterfly, with a new Games record to boot.
The contest between the two
Indians in the freestyle race
was decided in favour of Sangvekar as he took the lead midway through and sealed a brilliant win at 3:58.84.
In the butterfly, Sajan Prakash powerfully stroked his
way to lead from start to finish,
stopping the clock at 2:03.02, a
good eight seconds and more
clear of second-placed Cherthana de Silva (Sri Lanka).
The only thorn in the Indian
flesh turned out be Sri Lankan
Kimiko Raheem who sped her
STRONG FINISH: Saurabh Sangvekar took the lead midway through

the 400m freestyle race, and sealed a brilliant win with a
Games record of 3:58.84. PHOTO: RITU RAJ KONWAR
way to a third individual gold

medal in the 50m backstroke.
This was the Colombo girls
third Games record.
The results: Men: 400m freestyle: 1. Saurabh Sangvekar (Ind),
3:58.84 [NGR; OR: 4:04.35], 2. Sajan
Prakash (Ind), 4:03.79, 3. Kyle Abeysinghe (SL), 4:11.07.
50m backstroke: 1. P.S. Madhu
(Ind), 26.86s [NGR; OR: 27.63s], 2. M.
Arvind (Ind) 27.18s, 3. Matthew
Abeysinghe (SL), 27.49s. 200m butterfly: 1. Sajan Prakash (Ind), 2:03.02
[NGR; OR: 2:05.06], 2. K.T. Chertantha
de Silva (SL), 2:11.10, 3. Md. Juwel
Ahmed (Ban), 2:13.02. 4x200m
freestyle relay: 1. India, 7:43.42
[NGR; OR: 8:05,78], 2. Sri Lanka,

7:58.99, 3. Bangladesh, 8:31.08.
Women: 400m freestyle: 1. V.
Malavika (Ind), 4:30.08 [NGR; OR:
4:36.08], 2. Shivani Kataria (Ind),
4:30.43, 3. Gaurika Singh (Nep),
4:40.93. 50m backstroke: 1. Kimiko
Raheem (SL), 29.75s [NGR; OR: 31.08],
2. Maana Patel (Ind), 30.06s, 3. Bisma
Khan (Pak), 31.95s. 200m butterfly:
1. Damini Gowda (Ind), 2:21.12 [NGR;
OR: 2: 23.65], 2. Ridmi Rankothge (SL),
2:39.10, 3. Sona Aktar (Ban), 2:45.17.
4x200m freestyle relay: 1. India,
855, 98, 2. Sri Lanka, 9:26.47, 3. Pakistan, 9:48.04.
VARIETY
THE HINDU CROSSWORD 11621
1
5
Exa
4
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
stop chasing love (2,4)

18 Needless to say, endless
working leads to
depression (12)
21 Firm shrewdly denied
possession of title (10)
22 Corner a king at close
quarters (4)
23 Couple hired band (8)
24 Any use appearing to be
worried? (6)
Down
20
21
22
23
24
Across
5 Not turning into

champion immediately
(2,4)
7 University students carry
gloves to where fights
are held (8)
9 Live around gold mine (4)
10 Great engineer
CM
YK
mentored us (10)
11 Withdrawing books after
agreement's stamped
(12)
13 Jewel associated with the
French and Parish official
(6)
15 Passionate, fanatical
friend won't
1 Attracted close to a bright

colour on taking drug (8)
2 In inner room consume
what's whipped (6)
3 Get a role to play for close
friend (5,3)
4 Catholic tried to spread
belief (6)
6 Overly large woman had
implements stored here
(8)
7 Outspoken offspring
mixed (6)
8 Word is out that sister is
touring (4)
12 Crime has old man getting

into terrible stress (8)
14 Chorus answer for 5 Ac.
(8)
16 Fines can be collected to
generate funds (8)
17 A high mountain's climbed
to gain a body (6)
18 Dame goes round river to
get wet (6)
19 Bottom of butt I'd
certainly clean (4,2)
20 Diamonds are ridiculously
expensive (4)
Solution to puzzle 11620

C O N S
V
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I N N E R
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A RM I N
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V I C T O
E
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S
S A T
T R
A
I
D
G
S
R T
A
O T
I
E S
T
R I
C
I S
U C
R
M I
T
D I
C
A I
S
H E
S
S
A
E S
I
F A
T I
M
T A
G
S E
S
N
T
RW
I
A L
I
G
H
C T
O N
A
U
T I O N
L
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A S E S
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A R E A
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V
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R O V E
I
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O R Y
FAITH
SU | DO | KU
Bliss of contentment
The Upanishads speak of renunciation as the only path to
salvation. Once this is reached, there is no turning back.
Every soul is already in this journey. Some strive consciously
to travel in this path; some others are not sure and some are
not aware of it at all.
The experience of Tiruppanazhwar makes this abstract
philosophical statement a tangible one, pointed out Sri
Dushyanth Sridhar in a discourse. Though extremely devout,
this Azhwar is not able to enter the temple at Srirangam
because of his low birth. But the omniscient Lord devises a
plan to bring Him to His presence. He makes the temple
priest Loka Saranga, who had erred against this Azhwar,
carry him on his shoulders and bring him to His presence.
The Lord makes it clear that any afront to His devotee
would not be tolerated and the contrite priest carries out the
Lords order. The Azhwar savours the greatness of the Lords
form from His divine feet to His efulgent face. As a finale to
this song of eulogy, the Azhwar states that his eyes that have
seen this form do not have any further desire to see anything
else.
The epithet Vennai Unda Vayan captures child Krishnas
penchant for butter. He would steal it from the households in
Ayarpadi and make no secret of it at all. Interpreters see
butter as symbolic of the atma that has lost its moorings and
stays in the cycle of birth. Out of compassion, the Lord
chooses to steal the atma to enable the jivatma to come out of
this whirlpool. He has His own ways to steal the hearts of His
devotees as He has shown in the case of this Azhwar. Azhwar
is overwhelmed by the bliss of contentment that is conferred
on him by the compassionate 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 yesterdays
puzzle is at left.
ND-ND
SPORT
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU
Madhya Pradesh
takes title
CHENNAI: Madhya Pradesh beat
Chhattisgarh 64-59 to take the

title in the boys category of the
National sub-junior basketball
championship at Puducherry
on Monday.
The result (final) : Boys : Madhya
Pradesh bt Chhattisgarh 64-59.
Llorente
slots eight
NEW DELHI: Manuel Llorente
scored all the goals to power
Garcha Hotels to an 8-4 victory
over ASC/Navy in a pool-A
league match of the SS Empress
Sawai Man Singh Gold Vase polo tournament at the Army
Equestrian Centre, Delhi Cantonment, on Tuesday.
The results (league): Garcha Hotels 8 (Manuel Llorente 8) bt ASC/Navy 4 (Akhil Sirohi 2, AP Singh, Prithvi
Rathore).
61st Cavalry 4 (Vishal Chauhan 2,
Ravi Rathore, Iliyas Ali) bt Jindal Panther 3-1/2 (Simran shergill 2, Miguel
Saravia, handicap 1/2).
Jaipur 7 (Abhimanyu Pathak 4, Daniel Otamendi 2, Lokendra Singh) bt
Bharat Polo 4 (Samir Suhag 3, Siddhant Sharma).
Craig in NZ squad
for first Test
WELLINGTON: New Zealand of-
spinner Mark Craig has been

named in the Test squad as a replacement for injured Mitchell
Santner for the upcoming twomatch series against Australia.
Santner experienced soreness
in his right foot following the second ODI of the three-match series against Australia.
Mike Hesson said it was quite
unfortunate to lose a key player,
adding that he hoped the former
would recover ahead of the second Test. Its unfortunate for
Mitch, as he has been a key player
for us so far this summer. The
positive news is that we picked it
up early and hopefully Mitch can
make a quick recovery, Hesson
was quoted as saying by
ESPNcricinfo.
New Zealand will play a twomatch Test series against Australia in Wellington, starting on
Friday.
The squad : Brendon McCullum
(Capt.), Corey Anderson, Doug Bracewell, Trent Boult, Martin Guptill, Matt
Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls,
Mark Craig, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, B-J. Watling (wk) and Kane Williamson. ANI
Indian football needs its

Tendulkar, says Ferdinand
of Tendulkar.
The 37-year-old former
Manchester United player
said even Asia, which was yet
to catch up with Europe and
South America, faced similar
problems as there were not
many stars who could inspire
the younger generation.
Y.B. SARANGI
NEW DELHI: Rio Ferdinand, one
of the finest football players

from England, feels that Indian football needs its Sachin
Tendulkar to inspire a
generation.
Ferdinand, the famous centre-back who played for England in 81 matches, said India
also needed to invest a lot to
raise its standard in the sport.
The only way to go up is investment in the infrastructure, in the grassroots. The
culture needs to be changed
and it will change if one person from India can go on to become a professional footballer
and can be an inspiration for
the next generation, said Ferdinand following a session
with underprivileged children
here on Tuesday. The event
was organised by BT Sport.
Quite like Vijender Singh,
who has motivated youngsters with his encouraging
Rio Ferdinand. FILE PHOTO

steps in the world of professional boxing in his very first
season.
As Ferdinand said, There
will be change in culture in the
older generation who can say
it can be a job. At the moment
there is no example for the older generation to look and say
that there is a football version
Impact of ISL
On the impact of the Indian
Super League (ISL), Ferdinand said the ISL was yet to
make the best use of its top
foreign recruits. It is good to
bring the guys over here but if
you just give someone money
to come and play here it does
not solve the problem. If I focus on someone to come and
help me do something, I want
him to leave a lasting legacy. If
he just comes, picks the money, plays a couple of games
and goes home, then it is not
adding to the league of your
country, your culture, your
ideology of football. I think
Paramveer upsets
top seed Parikshit
NEW DELHI: Paramveer Singh
Bajwa upset top seed Parikshit Somani 6-3, 6-0 in the boys
pre-quarterfinals
of
the
Rendezvous Roland Garros
junior wild card tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex
here on Tuesday.
The brand-new red claycourt, imported from Europe
and playing classically slow,
did make a huge diference to
the fortunes of the players
who have largely trained on
hard-courts.
The surface demanded
good technique, punchy
strokes and smart mobility,
not to forget a fair understanding of the construction
of points, and tons of patience. Not everyone could
muster all these qualities, and
it was no surprise that some
Sanil Jagtiani overcame a bout of ill-health to beat Yugal

Bansal
Stifer test awaits

Bajwa may have a stifer
test against Adil Kalyanpur
who beat Sivadeep Kosaraju.
Sanil Jagtiani overcame a
bout of ill-health to beat Yugal
Bansal 6-2, 7-5, recovering
from 2-5 in the second set. He
will meet Manish Sureshkumar who outplayed Ishaque
Eqbal dropping just two
games.
Rishi Reddy rallied from a
set down to beat Siddhant
Smith named captain

for World T20
SYDNEY: Australian selectors on
Tuesday dumped Aaron Finch
as captain in favour of Steve
Smith for the World Twenty20
which begins next month in India, while Peter Nevill replaces
Matthew
Wade
as
wicketkeeper.
Finch has been skipper since
October 2014 but with Smith already captain of both the Test
and one-day teams, national selector Rod Marsh said it was the
right time for him to now take
over in the shorter format.
Aaron Finch has done a very
good job captaining Australia
in T20 cricket. He will have
benefited enormously from the
leadership opportunity and will
remain a highly-respected leader within the Australian squad,
said Marsh.
However since he became
T20 captain, there has been a
broader leadership transition
in Test and one-day international cricket with Michael
Clarke retiring and Steve Smith
assuming the captaincy in Test
and one-day cricket.
Steve Smith.
We think now is the right
time for Steve to lead Australia
in all three forms of the game as
it ofers us important continuity, not only ahead of the World
T20, but beyond that tournament as well.
The World T20 gets underway on March 8 with Australia,
which has never won the tournament, opening its campaign
on March 18 against New Zealand in Dharamshala.
Smith said he was looking

forward to the new challenge.
Its a fast-paced game, you
have to really think on your
feet, be ahead of the game, he
said of captaining a T20 team.
The World Cup is going to
be a big challenge for us. It is
one of the trophies that has
eluded this side.
Were going to be playing in
diferent conditions where we
haven't had a lot of success. It's
going to be a hard tour but I'm
really looking forward to it.
A key surprise in the 15-man
squad was the inclusion of Nevill, who is yet to play limitedovers cricket for Australia, but
he was preferred to Wade
whose recent form with the
gloves and bat prompted the
change.
The squad: Usman Khawaja, David
Warner, Shane Watson, Steve Smith
(capt), Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Marsh,
James Faulkner, John Hastings, Peter
Nevill, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood,
Aaron Finch, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ashton Agar and Andrew Tye. AFP
Nepliy of Russia and Fanny

Bhambri was beaten 4-6, 6-3, Ostlund of Sweden, in the
6-1 by Peter Gojowczyk of doubles pre-quarterfinals.
The results:
Germany in the first round of
42,500 Challenger men, Berthe 42,500 Challenger tennis
tournament in Bergamo, Italy. gamo, Italy: Singles (first round):
The 23-year-old Yuki, re- Peter Gojowczyk (Ger) bt Yuki Bhamturning to the circuit after be- bri 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
$10,000 ITF men, Hammamet,
ing troubled by tennis elbow,
Tunisia: Singles (first round): Sasi
has not been able to win a
Kumar Mukund bt Karim Hossam
match since. He lost to Tomas
(Egy) 6-7(4), 6-0, 6-3.
Berdych of the Czech Repub$10,000 ITF men, Sharm El
lic in the first round of the Sheikh, Egypt: Singles (first
Australian Open, and was bea- round): Sriram Balaji bt Issam Al Taten 6-3, 7-6(4) by Mirza Basic weel (Egy) 6-2, 6-1; Marat Deviatiarov
of Bosnia and Herzegovina in
(Ukr) bt VM Ranthe first round
jeet 6-2, 7-5.
of the $250,000
$10,000 ITF
INDIANS ABROAD
ATP
Tour
women, Antaevent in Sofia, Bulgaria, last lya, Turkey: Singles (first round):
Kyra Shroff bt Elyse Lavender (US)
week.
Sasi Kumar Mukund battled 6-3, 6-2.
$10,000 ITF women, Sharm El
past Karim Hosssam of Egypt
6-7(4), 6-0, 6-3 in the first Sheikh, Egypt: Qualifying singles
round of the $10,000 ITF (second and final round): Ramu Ueda (Jpn) bt Shivika Burman 6-2, 6-0.
mens Futures in Tunisia.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Elina
In the ITF womens tournaNepliy (Rus) & Fanny Ostlund (Swe) bt
ment in Egypt, Shivika BurDominique Karregat (Ned) & Shivika
man, in partnership with DoBurman 7-6(4), 6-7(6), 13-11.
minique Karregat of the
$10,000 ITF women, HammaNetherlands, missed two met, Tunisia: Qualifying singles
matchpoints in losing 11-13 in (first round): Francesca Gaida (Ita)
the super tie-break to Elina bt Shivani Manchanda 6-3, 6-2.
NEW DELHI: Top seed Yuki
reputations took a beating.

The Rendezvous programme is a great opportunity
for the boys as none of them
has the ranking to make it to
the junior events at the Grand
Slams.
CRICKET
Yuki Bhambri bows out Australia says no

Test backlash to
mob rule wicket
TENNIS
there should be stipulations

when these contracts are given out to these players. They
have to give back. One has to
see that there is an imprint
left.
Ferdinand said he had
learnt from his friends who
had played in the ISL that India was lacking in terms of infrastructure and facilities.
They have enjoyed the culture, a new way of life. The infrastructure and facilities are
very weak which is understandable. It is new.
About corruption in FIFA,
Ferdinand hoped that the
world body would be able to
deal with it properly. Corruption is everywhere in the
world. It (FIFA) is a powerful
organisation and it has got its
responsibility. It is a great
sport connecting people. It is
disappointing what is happening there. Hopefully, the powers that be can clean it up, he
said.
| 19
Banthia.
Rishi will challenge second
seed Alex Solanki who subdued the fighting Muthu Adhitiya Senthilkumar.
The results (pre-quarterfinals):
Boys: Paramveer Singh Bajwa bt
Parikshit Somani 6-3, 6-0; Adil Kalyanpur bt Sivadeep Kosaraju 6-3, 6-2;
Dhruv Sunish bt Shrey Gupta 6-4, 7-5;
Abhimanyu Vannem Reddy bt Anurag
Nenwani 6-2, 6-2; Sanil Jagtiani bt Yugal Bansal 6-2, 7-5; Manish Sureshkumar bt Ishaque Eqbal 6-0, 6-2; Rishi
Reddy bt Siddhant Banthia 5-7, 6-2,
6-2; Alex Solanki bt Muthu Adhitiya
Senthilkumar 7-5, 6-2.
Girls: Rishika Ravindran bt Nida
Shahid Kamal 7-5, 6-2; Akanksha Bhan
bt Angella Raman 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4; Abinikka Renganathan bt Smriti Singh
6-0, 6-0.
WELLINGTON: Australia captain Steve Smith remained riled on Tues-
day over the mob rule dismissal in the final ODI against New
Zealand but said the fallout would not spill over to upcoming
Tests.
Smith said that while Mitchell Marsh was legitimately caught
and bowled he should not have been given out because the umpires were reacting to crowd pressure.
There were heated exchanges on the field between the New
Zealanders and Australians after Marsh was bizarrely dismissed
when the ball ricocheted from his bat to his foot then back to the
bowler Matt Henry.
It ignited a batting collapse that saw Australia lose its last five
wickets for 27 runs to lose the match and allow New Zealand to
take the series 2-1.
When Henry caught the ball he made a half-hearted appeal before walking back to prepare for his next delivery. The umpires
only took action when the crowd reacted vociferously to a replay
on the big screen which showed the ball had not hit the ground.
The Australian media dubbed it a dismissal by mob rule and
Smith said he believed the system was wrong. My thoughts are
still the same as last night, the whole process of it needs to improve, the Australia captain said when reviewing the match on
Tuesday.
I don't think there should be a replay on the screen before the
next ball's bowled. I don't think that's how a decision should be
made. AFP
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Delhi, wednesday, february 10, 2016

Former Nepal Prime

10 dead, 100 injured in

DAY TWO OF DEPOSITION

Not paid by ISI or LeT: Headley

manthappa Koppad, who miraculously survived six days

an defence scientists had been

information he had gathered.

surveyed the CST railway station, Oberoi Hotel, the police

US shares phone details with NIA

videograph key targets, a few

details would help the NIA build its

HANDSET BY HANDLER PAGE 12

Mahadevi, wife of Hanumanthappa Koppad (inset), celebrates the good

state. He remains extremely

ities. The bulletin said he has

MODI LAUDS KOPPADS

INDOMITABLE SPIRIT | PAGE 13

day conference of Governors at

NEW DELHI: Lance Naik Hanu-

Siachen survivor battles

shrined in our Constitution. It

PEACEFUL DIALOGUE THE

NEW DELHI: The Congress on

tough stance on discriminatory

mandatory for mobile phones

UNDER-19 WORLD CUP

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016

AAP hit by another sting operation

Hamad: Iman bhai is very angry.

Hamad: For taking the Ministry..

Hamad: He has put in so much money

Hamad: He is asking for Rs.30 lakh. ..For Rs.30 akh....

Video released by Congress

orruption charges were levelled

Imran Hussain, on his

Im scared for my life,

Allegations are rubbish: AAP

NEW DELHI: The Old Delhi

businessman who has accused Aam Aadmi Party

CM should resign: BJP

File photo of campaigning for Imran Hussain ahead of the

Mr. Qasim said that his

government rubbished the

The Minister said

Ahmed Khan, was sacked by

NEW DELHI: The State unit of

should immediately dismiss

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016

Feb 10, Wed

Feb 11, Thu

Feb 12, Fri

Four of family killed in fire, two rescued

High Court seeks status report

Woman kills son

Labrador (Teddy) cost Pradeep

daughter-in-law Anuja and

Court extends NIA remand

NEW DELHI: A woman and her paramour

have been arrested by the Outer District

Sudden death leads to police probe

NEW DELHI: Accusing the North

Love for pet Labrador