Aadhaar must for bank accounts

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P rin ted at . C he nna i . C o i m bato r e . Be n g a lu ru . H y d e r a b ad . M a du ra i . Noida . Visa khapat n am . T hiru vanant hapu ram . Kochi . V i j ayawada . Ma n ga lu ru . T i ru c hi r a pa l li . Kol kata . Hu b ba l li . Moh a l i . Ma l a ppu r a m . Mu m ba i . Ti ru pat i . lu c kn ow

Aadhaar must for bank accounts

NEARBY

Number should also be produced for bank transactions of ₹50,000 or more, says government Special Correspondent New Delhi

Man lynched for shielding women JAIPUR

A group of civic oicials allegedly beat to death a 52-year-old man at Pratapgarh in Rajasthan on Friday when he tried to stop them from scaring and taking photographs of some women defecating in the open. The civic body employees were on a round in a slum locality to stop open defecation. NATION 쑺 PAGE 4 DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

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The government, through a notification amending a prevention of money laundering law, has made it mandatory to provide Aadhaar to open a bank account and to conduct a transaction of ₹50,000 or more. The notification amending the Prevention of Moneylaundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005, although dated June 1, was not gazetted till Friday. It says individuals who are eligible to be enrolled for an Aadhaar number need to provide that and the Permanent Account Number (PAN) to open a bank account or conduct any transaction “of an amount equal to or exceeding rupees fifty thousand, whether conducted as a single transaction or several transactions that appear to be connected, or any

international money transfer operations.”

Small accs. not spared The amendment also tightens the rules for small accounts, which can be opened without having officially valid KYC documents. Now such accounts can only be opened at bank branches that have core banking solutions.

“The small account shall be opened only at core banking solution-linked banking company branches or in a branch where it is possible to manually monitor and ensure that foreign remittances are not credited to a small account and that the stipulated limits on monthly and annual aggregate of transactions and balance in such accounts are not breached,

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before a transaction is allowed to take place,” the notification said.

‘What’s the hurry’ The move came under fire from several quarters with CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee both criticising it. “While the case is still pending before the Supreme

Court, what’s the unearthly hurry for this government to force linking of bank accounts with Aadhaar,” Mr. Yechury tweeted. “The poorest of the poor and the marginalised people will be the worst sufferers if Aadhaar is made mandatory unilaterally,” Ms. Banerjee said in a tweet. “See, this doesn’t really matter, because everybody who has a PAN card has to get Aadhaar,” Girish Vanvari, Partner and Head of Tax at KPMG India told The Hindu. “The Supreme Court order regarding this has effectively been overruled by this rule.” “This is in line with the recent global thinking about putting up mechanisms to ensure there is no income that escapes the tax net,” S.P. Singh, Senior Director of Tax at Deloitte India said. “This is part of the overall thinking of the government.”

GJM rival backs Statehood demand Former MLA voices support for stir Shiv Sahay Singh Darjeeling

In a shot in the arm for the on-going agitation for a separate State of Gorkhaland, president of the Jan Andolan Party ( JAP) and prominent leader of the Darjeeling hills, Harkha Bahadur Chettri on Friday voiced his support for the movement. Mr Chettri said also he was willing to join the forum of political parties calling for a separate State including the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM).

High Court directive In a related development, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the West Bengal government to restore peace and normalcy in the Darjeeling hills. The directions, passed by a division bench of acting

Long wait: Tourists stranded in Darjeeling on Friday. PTI *

Chief Justice Nishita Mhatre and Justice T Chakraborty, reiterated earlier orders of the Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court that shutdowns or general strikes are illegal. The court also asked GJM representatives to be present during the next hearing on June 23. CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10 TOURISTS STRANDED IN DARJEELING 쑺 PAGE 10

Abu Salem, others convicted for 1993 blasts Guilty of terrorist acts, possession of weapons and criminal conspiracy: court Sonam Saigal Mumbai

People walk through a dust storm at the Sangam, the conluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday. AFP *

6 cops killed in LeT ambush ‘Militants opened ire from close range to disigure bodies’ Peerzada Ashiq Srinagar

Six policemen, including Station House Officer Feroz Ahmad Dar, were killed when a large group of militants ambushed the vehicle in which they were travelling in Achabal, Anantnag, late on Friday afternoon. The death of the policemen took the toll to 13, including eight policemen, three civilians and two militants, in separate incidents in the past 24 hours One soldier was also killed near the line of control (LoC) while over 30 protesters sustained injuries in widespread clashes. “The neighbouring country for its geo-political con-

Floral tribute: J&K DGP S.P. Vaid pays homage to a policeman killed in a militant attack. NISSAR AHMAD *

sideration is using people as pawns. The killing of the policemen is killing of insaniyat (humanity) and Kashmiriyat,” said J&K Director Gen-

eral of Police S.P Vaid. In the Anantnag ambush, the militants first hurled a grenade at the police vehicle. “This was followed by indiscriminate firing from all sides. Most of them died on the spot,” said a police official. Two civilians were also injured. In a bid to disfigure the bodies, the police said the militants came near the vehicle and opened fire at the injured policemen from close range. “The bullets hit the faces of many of the policemen,” the police official said. The Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) claimed responsibility of the attack. CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10

Twenty-four years after 12 bombs ripped through what was then Bombay, killing 257, injuring 713, and destroying property worth ₹27 crore, a special TADA court on Friday convicted Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Firoz Abdul Shaikh, Tahir Taklya, Karimulla Khan and Riyaz Siddiqui under sections of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), Indian Penal Code, Arms Act and Explosives Act. The court, however, acquitted a seventh accused, Abdul Qayum. The six accused were convicted for terrorist acts and possession of unauthorised arms as well as criminal conspiracy. The court held that those convicted wanted to take re-

Day of reckoning: The 1993 Mumbai serial blasts accused Mustafa Dossa being taken to a court on Friday. VIVEK BENDRE *

venge for the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992, and the subsequent Bombay riots in December 1992 and January 1993, and hence conspired to kill Hindus and Hindu leaders. The trial of the seven accused was taken up separately after the TADA court in

2007 convicted 100 persons and acquitted 23.

Still at large The main accused — Dawood Ibrahim, Anees Ibrahim, Tiger Memon and Mohammed Dossa — are still absconding. The court however, acquitted all seven accused of

waging war against the Government of India. The court found Abdul Qayoom Karim Shaikh not guilty, as the prosecution failed to prove charges of conspiracy. The bench held that as the evidence presented was not credible, Shaikh could not be kept in detention. Special judge G.A. Sanap began his order by saying, “The role and liability of the accused facing the trial before me has been crystalised.... In juxtaposition with the settled legal position on the offence of conspiracy, on appreciation of evidence, the culpability and the guilt of the accused has been decided.” CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10 ON THE TRAIL OF COLD-BLOODED CONSPIRATOR; VICTIMS, KIN CONDEMN DELAY 쑺 PAGE 11

Puducherry government demands more powers Resolution seeks to curb L-G’s role RAJESH B. NAIR Puducherry

The fight between Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi and the Congress government led by Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy reached a new flashpoint with the Assembly on Friday passing a resolution urging the Union government to make amendments in the Union Territories Act to bestow more powers on the elected government and curtail the role of the Lt. Governor. The House converted a private resolution moved by AIADMK member A. Anbalagan into a government resolution after Chief Minister

V. Narayanasamy made a formal request to Speaker V. Vaithilingam. The resolution comes at a time when the Lt. Governor had made it amply clear that she was the “real administrator” and all files had to be sent to her for approval. Hours after the resolution, Ms. Bedi, who convened a press meet at the Raj Nivas to thank the judiciary for setting right the admission process for postgraduate medical seats at deemed universities, challenged the government to provide proof of her having blocked files. CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10

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Amit Shah leaves imprint on Labour Ministry stationery BJP president directs Ministry to use Deen Dayal Upadhyay logo on all papers Somesh Jha NEW DELHI

Union Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya has deferred to a direction from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah, and asked all offices and affiliated autonomous bodies of the Ministry to ensure that their publications and stationery carry a logo on the birth centenary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay. Mr. Shah, in his letter to Mr. Dattatreya written in Hindi, had said on April 6, “All the literature, advertising and other printed material published by the department must be CM YK

using the logo to mark the centenary year of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay. If it has not been done yet, then arrangements should be made.” The Ministry has treated the BJP president’s letter to the Minister as a D.O. (demiofficial) letter, which as per government norms, is used only in correspondence between government officers. The Centre marked the birth centenary of Deen Dayal Upadhyay with programmes that ran throughout the year starting September 25, 2015. Following Mr. Shah’s letter, the Labour Minister

After Mr. Shah’s letter, the Minister asked an oicial to “examine” the matter urgently.

asked his Officer on Special Duty (OSD) on April 12 to “examine” and “discuss” the matter urgently. The Minister’s OSD Rahul Kashyap informed Union Labour Secretary M. Sathiyavathy on April 13 that Mr. Dattatreya has “desired

that all publications and advertisements of the Ministry, EPFO, ESIC, etc. must carry the logo as given in the enclosed letter” (referring to the logo on the BJP president’s letterhead). An under secretary then forwarded the note from the OSD to the Minister along with the BJP president’s letter to subordinate offices in early May for “necessary action.” “I am directed to forward herewith a copy of note dated 13.04.2017 from OSD to Honourable Minister of State (IC) Labour and Employment along with a D.O. letter no. 7335 dated 06.04.2017 received from

Hon’ble President Bharatiya Janata Party on the subject mentioned above (Year-long Birth Centenary Celebrations of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay),” the under secretary wrote. A former Cabinet Secretary, requesting anonymity, said, “The Labour Ministry is not a subsidiary of the BJP. The BJP president, who is not even a Member of Parliament, cannot issue such directions to the Ministry. It is unprecedented in my view.” The Hindu sought a comment from BJP spokespersons but didn’t receive a response. A ND-ND

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Explosives seized Press Trust of India Khunti (Jharkhand)

The security forces on Friday seized explosives and gun power from the Digri jungle in naxal affected Khunti district, police said. SP Ashwini Kumar Sinha

said based on a tip-off, a joint operation by the district police and CRPF was launched and 109 pieces of gelatin sticks, 66 detonators, one kg of gun powder and about six kg of splinters were seized.

Tripura gives ₹5 lakh to family of slain SSB oicer

Three persons from Andhra Pradesh arrested in the case

Syed Sajjad Ali

Staff Reporter

Timings

DELHI

Indian softshell turtles seized in Malkangiri BERHAMPUR

Saturday, June 17

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As many as 376 Indian softshell turtles were seized during a joint operation by the police and forest officials at Chitrakonda in Malkangiri district of Odisha on Thursday. They were being smuggled in from adjoining Andhra Pradesh. Three persons from AP, who were illegally transporting these endangered turtles to Odisha in an auto-rickshaw, have been arrested. All of them are residents of Narasipatnam in Visakhapatnam district of AP. The autorickshaw used in the smuggling also bore an AP registration number plate. According to forest officials, the turtles were packed in three gunny bags. Some of the reptiles had died during transportation. Following a tip-off, the auto-

Protected species: Softshell turtles packed in gunny bags seized by forest oicials in Malkangiri district of Odisha on Thursday . SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

rickshaw transporting the turtles was intercepted by the police at Chitrakonda on Thursday night. Malkangiri Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Samrat Gouda said: “Indian softshell turtles are protected under the Wildlife Act, 1972, as a Schedule 1 animal”.

Investigations are on to unearth the network of the smuggling racket. Initial interrogation of the arrested persons revealed that these turtles were being transported to MPV83 village in Malkangiri district. From there, they were to be transported to Kolkata.

Cricket betting racked busted Staff Reporter BERHAMPUR

Amal Sarkar killed during operation Agartala

The Tripura government on Friday gave ₹5 lakh to the family of Sub-Inspector Amal Sarkar of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), who was killed during a counter-insurgency operation in the Manas Reserve Forest of Assam last month. Health Minister Badal Choudhury presented the cheque to the widow of the martyred officer at the Circuit House in Belonia, south Tripura district. Amal Sarkar is survived by his wife and three daughters, the eldest cleared her higher secondary examination under the Tripura Board of Secondary Education this year. South Tripura District Magistrate C.K. Jamatia, District Superintendent of Police Manchak Ipper and senior officials were also present when Mr Choudhury presented the

cheque to Shimuli Sarkar. Mr Sarkar’s family has urged the State government to give a job to the widow. Mr Sarkar died during a joint operation by SSB, Army and police in the reserve forests in Chirang district on May 9 morning.

Joint operation The operation was targeted against a group of outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)which is fighting for a separate state for Bodo tribe people in Assam. One militant was killed in the exchange of fire. Remaining militants fled the area under the cover of darkness leaving behind the dead and his semi automatic rifle. Indiscriminate firing by the extremists hit Amal Sarkar and he died instantly. He was cremated at his home place in Tripura on May 11 with full State honour.

A cricket betting racket related to the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy in England has been busted by the police in Berhampur. Five persons have been arrested and over ₹7 lakh in cash and ten mobile phones seized. Berhampur Sub-Divisional Police Officer Santanu Kumar Dash said they received information that a house on Martha Street was being used as a den for betting. While the semi-final match between India and Bangladesh was on, a police team managed to trace the house and raided it on Thursday evening. The police found an online betting racket operational at the house. Gamblers were betting through phone calls on the outcome of every ball, as well as overs and fall of wickets. The house owner, P. Suresh Kumar, was among those arrested. Investigations are on to unearth the network.

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Published by N. Ram at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Mukund Padmanabhan (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act). Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 7 No. 144 ●

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Nitish has lunch with farmers, seeks views

Loan waiver decision soon: Amarinder Press Trust of India Chandigarh

‘Kisan Samagam’ held for preparing agricultural road map Amarnath Tewary PATNA

At a time farmer protests have turned violent in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday sat down for lunch with hundreds of farmers of the State at a ‘Kisan Samagam’ programme, and sought their suggestions for the upcoming third agricultural road map of the State for 20172022. Altogether 699 farmers participated in the programme, while three of them from each district of the State were invited to offer their suggestions and views on how to increase productivity.

Lax approach Some of the farmers suggested steps to increase MSP (Minimum Support

CM YK

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar having meal with farmers during ‘'Kisan Samagam’ in Patna on Friday. RANJEET KUMAR *

Price). Others pointed Mr. Kumar’s attention to the lackadaisical approach of the government towards the farmers “real problems”. “Why, today, does the son of a farmer not want to do farming? The government needs to

think over it. If farmers’ interests and needs are taken care of by the State government, farmers can change the face of the country,” said a young farmer from Kaimur, Sunil Kumar. A group of farmers, however, protested the State government’s lackadaisical approach towards farmers’ problems outside the programme. Earlier, the State government had roped in noted agricultural scientist of the country Dr Mangla Rai to suggest ways and steps for preparing the agricultural road map for the year 20082012 and, thereafter 20122017.

Just ‘symbolic’ Some farmers were happy to have lunch with CM, but some called the event just “symbolic”.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday said his government would soon announce its decision on farm debt waiver based on the recommendations of the Haq expert committee, which is scheduled to submit its report shortly. Addressing the Assembly, Capt. Singh reiterated his government’s commitment to fulfil all poll manifesto promises, including loan waiver and ‘kurki’ (auction of mortaged land) abolition for the distressed farmers. Lashing out at the SAD and the AAP , the CM termed as extremely sad and unfortunate “their repeated attempts to undermine the sanctity of the House and bring disrepute to its sacred traditions”. Capt. Singh said the prestige of the office of the Speaker had never before been lowered like this by “throwing paper missiles at him inside the House”.

Nikhil Dey verdict a blow to ight against corruption: Aruna Roy Mohammed Iqbal JAIPUR

Eminent social activist and Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy on Thursday said the Kishangarh court’s judgment sentencing activist Nikhil Dey

and four others in a 19-year-old case had dealt a blow to the citizens’ efforts to fight corruption. “We are not happy with the verdict...We are disappointed,” Ms. Roy said. The Mazdoor

Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) will file an appeal in the district court against the judgment, she added. The case, which had been closed, was reopened in 2001 and false witnesses and concocted evidence were pro-

duced in the court, leading to Mr. Dey’s conviction, she said at a press conference here. Ms. Roy also expressed concern over the increasing incidents of cow vigilantes targeting people.

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Lynched for shielding women

IN BRIEF

Victim had tried to stop civic oicials from clicking women defecating in the open Special Correspondent

JAMMU

A pilgrim died reportedly due to a heart attack en route to the cave shrine of Mata Vaishnodevi in Reasi district’s Trikuta hills on Friday, the police said. Anand Kumar (46), a resident of Lucknow, lost consciousness on a track near Gouri Bhawan while on his way to the Bhairo temple, a police officer said. He was taken to a dispensary where he was declared brought dead, he said, adding that a case has been registered. PTI

Two killed in accident on Howrah Bridge KOLKATA

A bus overturned after hitting a divider while overtaking another bus on the busy Howrah Bridge on Friday, killing two persons and injuring seven. The accident took place around 10.58 a.m. when the Sealdah-bound minibus dashed against the divider and lost control while overtaking another bus, a senior officer of the Kolkata Traffic Police said. Two children were among the injured. The driver, meanwhile, fled after the incident. PTI

Three, including toddler, killed in U.P. collision UNNAO

Three persons, including a six-month-old baby, were killed and four others injured in a car-truck collision in Achalganj here on Friday, the police said. The car was on its way to Shuklaganj when it was hit by a truck turning towards the main road. Lalit (24), Anil Pandey (20) and six-month-old Avni died in the accident, the police said. The four injured were rushed to the district hospital, from where two of the seriously injured were referred to Kanpur, the police said. PTI

A group of civic officials allegedly beat to death a 52year-old man at Pratapgarh in Rajasthan on Friday when he tried to stop them from scaring and taking photographs of some women defecating in the open. The Municipal Council employees were on an early morning round in a slum locality to stop open defecation. Zafar Khan, a social worker attached to Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), was assaulted by the municipal employees when he intervened and argued with them. The incident took place in the Bagwasa slum area in the tribal-dominated town, situated in southern Rajasthan. The civic officials allegedly kicked, punched and beat Mr. Khan with a stick, which led to his death, according to the complaint lodged by his brother Noor Mohammed with the police.

In protest: The killing of social worker Zafar Khan (inset) led to a demonstration by locals in Pratapgarh. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

The officials were accompanied by Municipal Council Commissioner Ashok Jain.

Case registered The police have registered a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code against four accused named by the complainant and launched investigation. The killing led to a massive demonstration by the locals outside the mortuary. Mr. Khan’s family agreed to send the body for post-mortem

after the district administration announced a compensation of ₹2 lakh. They also demanded immediate arrest of the Municipal Commissioner. Pratapgarh Superintendent of Police Shivraj Meena said further action in the case would be taken after getting the autopsy report. No arrests were made till late on Friday evening. District Congress minority department's chief Nadeem Ansari told The Hindu that there was a “political angle”

Weather Watch Rainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday

to the killing.

Staff Correspondent

‘Looking for a pretext’ Mr. Khan had lodged a formal complaint a few days ago about non-availability of funds under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for construction of toilets in the slum’s houses and demanded repairing of the non-functional public latrine. “The municipal employees were looking for a pretext to attack Mr. Khan. The women went to answer nature’s call in the open as they have no toilets in their houses. The employees, who openly support the ruling BJP, first shamed the women and then assaulted Mr. Khan when he objected to their act,” said Mr. Ansari. Mr. Khan is survived by his wife and two daughters. The slum residents, who alleged that the administration was trying to hush up the matter, gave the names of five more alleged assailants to the police.

Despite massive efforts by the political parties and involvement of Union Ministers, the voter turnout was low in the Municipal Corporation elections held here on Friday, with the figure dipping to 47% in some town wards. The figure could, however, cross 55% in some peripheral wards. The polls saw 126 candidates fighting for 34 seats in the one of the oldest municipal corporations in the country. Since the State capital has residents from all over the State, the local elections were taken very seriously by political parties who considered it as a strong indication of party fortunes for the Vidhan Sabha elections later this year. The BJP had deployed Union Minister J.P. Nadda and former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, while the Congress was led by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Jaipur

Pilgrim dies en route to Vaishnodevi shrine

Shimla civic polls see low turnout SHIMLA

Elephant corridor plan hits speed breaker In 2010, the Odisha govt had identiied 14 corridors to help the animals move without disturbance Staff Reporter BHUBANESWAR

Seven years after identifying 14 corridors to facilitate undisturbed movement of elephants between their habitats in the State, the Odisha government has not yet started executing the management plan for protection of fragmented forest patches.

‘Two steps back’ The government has also shown reluctance to give legal sanctity to these corridors by formally issuing notifications. Terming the move as being “one step forward and two steps back”, wildlife activists alleged the government was under pressure from the mining lobby.

“Notification of the 14 corridors will not entirely address the larger objective of conservation of elephants. Therefore, it is not necessary to notify corridors under any Act, but corridors are to be identified afresh based on the report of Asian Nature Conservation Fund, headed by eminent elephant expert R. Sukumar,” the government intimated the National Green Tribunal in an affidavit. In 2010, the Odisha government had identified 14 corridors, which would not only have helped the elephants move without any disturbance, but also increase the chance of genetic diversity. The 14 corridors covered a total 870.6 sq km

EDUCATIONAL

No small task: The government is yet to begin executing its plan to protect fragmented forest patches. FILE PHOTO *

over nine different districts. During the survey, presence of elephants had been noticed in places where elephants had never been found before. Subsequently, another nine corridors were identified with the help of an expert.

Public money wasted Management plans for the corridors were to then be executed from 2012-13 to 201718. However, the State forest department is now waiting for Dr. Sukumar’s recommendations.

EDUCATIONAL

“The State government has wasted ₹20.06 crore of public money for corridor management and improvement since five years. It is inconceivable why money should be spent on corridor management if the forest department is not sure of its viability or function,” said Biswajit Mohanty of Wildlife Society of Orissa, which had moved the NGT over the issue. “Many corridors face threats from quarrying, railway lines, overhead electric lines and highways. For obvious reasons, there is a delay in notifying the corridors. Once notified, the government might be compelled to not allow mining,” Mr. Mohanty pointed out.

Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: Skymet (at 17.00 hrs)

Forecast for Saturday: Heavy rain likely at isolated places Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, south Konkan & Goa, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and coastal Karnataka. Thunderstorm with lightning/ squall likely at isolated places over Bihar and Uttarakhand city rain max min Agartala.............25.6.... 29.6.... 25.0 Ahmedabad............ —.... 40.8.... 29.4 Aizawl ..................39.... 27.2.... 11.9 Allahabad .............. —.... 43.7.... 29.7 Bengaluru ...............6.... 28.4.... 21.3 Bhopal.................0.3.... 39.9.... 25.6 Bhubaneswar .....23.8.... 33.6.... 23.8 Chandigarh ..........1.8.... 37.0.... 27.2 Chennai ................. —.... 37.1.... 29.0 Coimbatore............ —.... 33.1.... 24.5 Dehradun.............6.6.... 34.4.... 23.4 Gangtok................. —.... 22.3.... 18.0 Goa ...................60.4.... 26.5.... 24.5 Guwahati ...........54.2.... 30.0.... 23.5 Hubballi................. —.... 24.0.... 22.0 Hyderabad ...........2.7.... 31.0.... 23.2 Imphal.................0.2.... 28.0.... 23.4 Jaipur .................... —.... 38.0.... 27.5 Kochi...................1.2.... 31.0.... 25.6 Kohima...................2.... 28.2.... 16.4 Kolkata..............10.8.... 33.9.... 26.3

city rain max min Kozhikode .............2.2.... 31.2.... 26.4 Kurnool ...............43.6.... 30.0.... 23.2 Lucknow.................. —.... 36.9.... 28.7 Madurai................... —.... 36.4.... 26.8 Mangaluru............... —.... 38.4.... 24.9 Mumbai.................0.7.... 33.5.... 26.7 Mysuru.....................6.... 29.2.... 20.6 New Delhi ..............18.... 35.2.... 21.8 Patna ...................... —.... 36.8.... 25.7 Port Blair ................ —.... 32.1.... 25.6 Puducherry.............. —.... 36.4.... 26.4 Pune .....................3.8.... 32.5.... 23.3 Raipur ...................5.2.... 35.1.... 24.7 Ranchi..................... —.... 35.8.... 22.2 Shillong...............10.3.... 21.2.... 15.8 Shimla...................1.9.... 22.6.... 16.6 Srinagar .................. —.... 29.8.... 13.8 Trivandrum ...........3.4.... 32.4.... 25.7 Tiruchi ..................3.2.... 38.0.... 25.8 Vijayawada ............9.2.... 32.1.... 24.4 Visakhapatnam .......2.3.... 29.8.... 25.0

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Yesterday

CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE

Ahmedabad.............— .....— .....—....... —.......— ......— Bengaluru ........... ....9....56....52....... — .....87 ......* Chennai .............. ....3....21....35....... — .....97 ......* Delhi .................. ..41..126..105....137 ...224 ......* Hyderabad .......... ..56....28....21......21 .....18 ......* Kolkata............... ..18....42....41....... — .....37 ......* Lucknow............. ..14....44 .....—....196.......— ......* Mumbai .............. ..14....38....18......30 .....40 ......* Pune................... ..13....27....71......47 .....43 ......* Vishakhapatnam.. ..25....14....50......42 .....49 ......*

In observation made at 4.00 p.m., Gurgaon, Haryana recorded an overall air quality index (AQI) score of 243 indicating an unhealthy level of pollution. In contrast, Haldia, West Bengal recorded a healthy AQI score of 38

Air Quality Code: * Poor * Moderate * Good SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system, making breathing difficult. It can affect visibility by reacting with other air particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues and monuments. NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters. CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death. PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature death in people with heart or lung disease (Individual pollutant data for various cities are averages for the previous day)

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NATION 7

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IN BRIEF

Arunabh Kumar steps down as CEO of TVF

Vizag airport incident will be enquired into: Minister Gajapathi Raju was at the VIP lounge of the airport when TDP MP created a ruckus

PM Modi to inaugurate irst phase of Kochi Metro today He will take the inaugural ride up to Pathadipalam Staff Reporter

MUMBAI

Arunabh Kumar, facing allegations of molestation, stepped down as the CEO of web entertainment channel The Viral Fever (TVF) on Friday. In a statement on his Twitter handle, Mr. Kumar said he quit as he believed the organisation was bigger than the individual.

Sand mining: Amarinder warns Opposition CHANDIGARH

Opposition SAD and BJP MLAs, who disrupted the House proceeding by storming the well and raising anti-government slogans, went back to their seats after Chief Minister Amarinder Singh “warned” of revealing names who have got sand mining contracts. The “warning” came as the Opposition MLAs continued to disrupt the proceedings.

flight to Hyderabad. I have nothing to do with it because I have to concentrate on the growth of civil aviation, not on the behaviour of 10 crore passengers who travel by air every year. As Minister for Civil Aviation, I always reach the airport one hour before the scheduled departure of a flight.”

Special Correspondent VISAKHAPATNAM

A full day after J.C. Diwakar Reddy, TDP Member of Parliament from Anantapur, allegedly assaulted an employee of the IndiGo Airlines in Visakhapatnam airport on Thursday, no case has been filed against him by the airlines or the airport authorities. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who was present in the VIP lounge when the MP created a ruckus, refused to be dragged into the controversy.

‘Nobody above law’ He said in Vizianagaram on Friday that he would get the entire incident enquired into and ensure that lawful outcome followed. Mr. Raju was not forth-

Ashok Gajapathi Raju coming on what type of action would be taken against Mr. Reddy. He said he neither helped the MP nor was in a position to condemn the incident without a proper inquiry. “Nobody is above the law. The CCTV cameras that have recorded his [Mr. Reddy’s] time of arrival will settle the issue whether or not he was in time to board the IndiGo

More airlines bar Reddy Following a national outcry, Mr. Reddy was barred by IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet and Jet Airways on Thursday night. Vistara, GoAir and AirAsia India barred him from their flights on Friday. He created a ruckus at the Vishakapatnam airport on Thursday after he was denied a boarding pass. He reportedly arrived late at the counter. Reacting to the incident,


Tough ride

vice-president of A.P. Air Travellers’ Association O. Naresh Kumar said: “Such unruly behaviour should not be tolerated. Lawmakers do not enjoy any special privileges. But they are a pampered lot because of the VIP treatment they get. Airlines also, at times, oblige VIP culture. While the common man follows the rules, lawmakers take it as a privilege to break them.” According to IndiGo airlines staff, the final boarding time for a domestic flight is 45 minutes before takeoff and the MP reportedly arrived 28 minutes after the closing time. According to airport sources, Mr. Reddy reportedly threatened the staff that he would get them sacked and assaulted an airlines ground staff Praveen.

2 Trinamool leaders shot dead Staff Reporter Kolkata

Wheels on water: Rickshaw pullers pedal through a looded street during heavy rainfall in Agartala, Tripura, on Friday.

ISRO set to launch back-up satellite IRNSS-1A has been hobbled by failure of atomic clocks on board T. Nandakumar Thiruvananthapuram

In an attempt to keep India’s regional navigation satellite system fully operational, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing to launch a back-up for IRNSS-1A, one of the seven satellites in the constellation, that has been hobbled by the failure of the atomic clocks on board.

NBT to hold workshop on nationalism Vikas Pathak

The PSLV C39 mission, scheduled for late July or early August, will carry the new satellite named IRNSS-1H into orbit, K. Sivan, Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, told The Hindu.

A priority Replacing IRNSS-1A became a priority for the ISRO after it was confirmed in January this year that all the three ru-

bidium atomic clocks on board had stopped functioning. The space agency had decided on launching one of the two spare satellites after initial efforts to restart the clocks failed.

First of seven IRNSS-1A is the first of the seven satellites comprising the Navigation Indian Constellation (NavIC), a multi-purpose satellitebased positioning system,

envisaged as India’s alternative to the American GPS. NavIC has been designed to support vehicle tracking, fleet management, disaster management and mapping services besides terrestrial, marine and aerial navigation for India and its neighbourhood. The system became operational in 2016 after the seventh satellite in the series was placed in orbit.

‘More than two killers likely in Pansare killing’ Says SIT in supplementary charge sheet

NEW DELHI

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In what appears to be another instance of factional feud in the Trinamool Congress, two local leaders of the ruling party were allegedly shot dead in the Joypur police station area of Howrah district on Friday. The incident took place when the duo, Seikh Shahjahan and his brother Seikh Lalchand, were returning home from market. The two were allegedly shot dead by a group of miscreants belonging to a rival faction, police said. According to the police, after killing the brothers, the assailants fled while firing indiscriminately, injuring three villagers.

PTI

Kochi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel 8 km in the Kochi Metro corridor on Saturday morning and, soon after, dedicate the muchawaited first system of mass rapid transport in Kerala to the country. After arrival at the Naval air station here at 10.15 a.m., he will travel by road to the Palarivattom metro station. Mr. Modi will take the inaugural ride up to Pathadipalam. The project will be dedicated to the nation at 11 a.m. at a function to be attended by 3,500 invitees at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kaloor.

Light Metro With the commissioning of the first 13 km of Kochi Metro, all eyes are now on

Raring to go: A view of the Kochi Metro trains.

the Light Metro proposed for the cities of Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode. Transport planners and the Kerala government are hoping for the approval from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the ₹6,728crore project, which has been awaiting clearance from the Centre for almost three years now. All the

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H. VIBHU

mandatory requirements has been addressed by the DMRC and the Kerala Rapid Transit Corporation Ltd, the special purpose vehicle set up to execute the project. The development needs of the State, including Light Metro, will be taken up, Minister for Tourism Kadakampally Surendran said. (With inputs from Thiruvananthapuram)

AIADMK settles ₹6 crore bill towards Jaya’s hospitalisation Cheque handed over to Apollo Hospitals Special Correspondent CHENNAI

More than six months after the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Amma) on Friday settled the bill of ₹6 crore towards her hospitalisation from September 22, 2016 to December 5, 2016. A cheque for the amount was handed over by a representative of the party headquarters to Apollo Hospitals, where Jayalalithaa had undergone treatment, according to Vaigaichelvan, party spokesperson. In early February, P. Bal-

aji, a government doctor, told the media that the cost of hospitalisation and treatment was in the range of ₹5 crore to ₹5.5 crore. Dr. Balaji had said the bill was presented to “her family,” without elaborating what he meant by the term “her family.” He also did not say then whether the bill was settled. Mr Vaigaichelvan recalled that it was the party which had reimbursed the medical bill paid by the government for AIADMK founder and former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran for his treatment in Chennai and New York in 1984-85. A perusal of archival materials of The Hindu reveal

that on March 13, 1985, nearly one-and-a-half months after Ramachandran returned to Chennai from the US where he was treated for three months (November 1984 to February 1985), the former Chief Minister had announced his decision that the party would reimburse the expenditure of ₹92 lakh. He was at Apollo Hospitals for one month during October-November 1984 before being flown to the Downstate Medical Centre, Brooklyn, New York. Ramachandran had called upon his Ministers, party legislators and other functionaries to contribute to the party for the purpose.

‘Government order on disability pension soon’ Dinakar Peri New Delhi

In a move that will address one of the longstanding concerns of exservicemen, the government is set to accept the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission on disability pension, which will streamline the process and reduce litigation. “Disability pension has been a major cause of concern among veterans. A

slab-based system to determine disability pension will be introduced soon, which will broad-base the system and address most of the concerns. A government order is expected to be issued soon,” a defence source said on Friday. The ‘percentage of disability’, which states the extent of incapacitation of the soldier, is determined by a board at the time of retirement and then validated by the pension office.

Court bars media from Tejpal trial sPECIAL CORRESPONDENT PANAJI

The National Book Trust has decided to dedicate its 60th year celebrations less than two months from now to a theme that has been much talked about in the recent past: nationalism. On August 1 and 2, the Trust – an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Human Resource Development – will hold a national workshop on nationalist consciousness in literature in Indian languages. “We are looking at all languages that are Indian in origin and recognised in the Constitution,” said a senior official. This leaves out English but includes writings in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam and all other Indian languages. The two-day workshop will have two broad sections – literature pertaining to the pre-independence period and literature written after independence. There will be six-seven sub-sections where writings of eminent Indian writers aiming at instilling nationalist feelings among people will be discussed. CM YK

Shoumojit Banerjee Pune

There may have been more than two killers involved in the murder of veteran Communist leader and rationalist Govind Pansare, according to the supplementary charge sheet filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case. The information came to light on Thursday during a hearing on the bail application of the prime accused, Sanatan Sanstha activist Sameer Gaikwad, at the Kolhapur district and sessions court. “The charge sheet filed by the SIT quotes an eyewitness as saying two motorcycles were used in the murder, indicating were more than two people may have been involved,” Special Public Prosecutor Harshad Nimbalkar told The Hindu.

Bail rejected Arguing against granting bail to Gaikwad, Mr. Nimbalkar said that there was direct evidence of an eyewitness and corroborative circumstantial evidence to link the Sanatan activist to the murder. “Besides, the extra-judicial confessions

Govind Pansare

given by Sameer Gaikwad of his direct involvement in the murder are enough for the court to deny him bail.” Mr. Nimbalkar said there was also the possibility that Gaikwad would flee if granted bail. His bail pleas had already been rejected thrice in the past. Further hearing on his bail plea will continue on June 17. The veteran Communist leader and his wife Uma were shot outside their home in Kolhapur’s Sagar Mal locality on February 16, 2015. Pansare succumbed to his wounds four days later. Gaikwad’s arrest, after he was picked up from Sangli in September 2015, was the first in the Pansare case.

A Goa court on Friday asked journalists to leaveas the hearing of arguments before framing of charges in the rape case against founder editor of Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal, began at Mapusa in north Goa. This move came after, Mr. Tejpal’s lawyer Pramod Kumar Dubey requested the Additional District Sessions Judge Vijaya Pol to restrict the media from reporting the court proceedings under Section 327(3) of CrPC. The court sought the opinion of Special Public Prosecutor Francisco Tavora who did not object. The judge then asked the media and all persons not connected with the case to leave the court. The arguments will continue on Saturday. The Crime Branch of Goa police had filed a charge sheet against Mr. Tejpal on February 17, 2014 seeking to prosecute him under various sections of the IPC.In November 2013, Mr. Tejpal was accused of sexually assaulting and raping a female colleague in the elevator of a five-star hotel, at an annual event of the publication in north Goa. Mr. Tejpal is currently out on bail. A ND-ND


8 EDITORIAL

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Undoing the gains The rush to hand out farm loan waivers raises the broader issue of adherence by States to iscal obligations

Deep-sea dive

Book of jobs Better ways to track employment data are necessary for meaningful policy responses

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he government has begun ield work to compile a new Periodic Labour Force Survey to track employment trends more swiftly, in order to generate quarterly reports on the urban labour market situation and annual dossiers on the overall employment scene. With well over 80% of the workforce employed informally (with no contractual rights), Statistics and Programme Implementation Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda’s assertion that the Survey will also attempt to capture such workers’ employment status is welcome. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now expected to meet oicials, including Niti Aayog Vice-Chairperson Arvind Panagariya, to discuss issues related to job creation and the recommendations of a task force set up to oicially capture the employment status of India’s workforce more efectively. The task force had been constituted amid a growing sense of concern, even within industry, about the lack of adequate jobs created and fresh talk of ‘jobless growth’. The only oicial job data available, based on surveys conducted by the Labour Bureau since late 2008, have painted a gloomy picture on new jobs for the world’s youngest workforce in the irst two years of the Narendra Modi government. India’s employment data are far from robust and not timely enough to enable meaningful policy responses for emerging job market realities. Government oicials too have questioned the reliability of the Labour Bureau exercise that covers only a few sectors in select States. Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy, for instance, has said that existing jobs data can be used to claim both ‘growth-less jobs’ and jobless growth, given India’s largely informal economy. The task force is considering the use of proxy measures such as car sales to incorporate informal employment generation into the oicial narrative. How the recommendations of the task force will be incorporated into the new labour force survey, for which work began in April, needs to be seen. While it is never too late to spruce up statistical systems, the timing of this exercise is odd. Chief Statistician T.C.A. Anant expects the results of the irst Survey, awaiting approval for more than a year, to be released by December 2018. The most comprehensive existing employment survey conducted quinquennially by the National Sample Survey Oice has not been done since 2011-12. The UPA government had commissioned an out-of-turn survey then as the 2009-10 survey presented an overtly gloomy job market in the aftermath of the global inancial crisis. In contrast, the NDA government will go to the next Lok Sabha polls having released just one comprehensive labour force survey, close to the end of its term. Importantly, given the new coordinates, the Survey may not be strictly comparable with past data. CM YK

he viral of farm loan waivers is acquiring epidemic proportions. In some ways it is a competitive race to the bottom. This is notwithstanding serious concerns that this can scarcely address the distress of the farming community. Unfortunately, broader structural changes in agriculture have eluded coherent implementation. Loan waivers in the past failed to address intended outcomes. We know that the loan waivers of February 1990 by the National Front government led to sharp iscal deterioration and the subsequent balance of payments crisis. Subsequent loan waivers had similar results. The Finance Minister has spoken wisely that the Central government has no role to play. State governments are entitled to take such decisions but manage their inancial consequences. Farm loan waivers are a subset of the broader issue of sustainable State inances. We need to address several issues.

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A growing concern Following the 14th Finance Commission recommendations, the total State expenditure (as a percentage of GSDP) is higher than even the Centre’s. State inances have increasingly become a crucial lynchpin of India’s iscal framework. Many State governments have adopted State-level iscal laws and adhered to the 3% iscal target under the State-level FRBMs (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act). However the recent report of the Reserve Bank, State Finances: A Study of Budgets 2016-17, has some worrying conclusions. The combined deicit of the States reached 3.6% of GDP in FY16, signiicantly higher than 2.6% in the previous year. This signiicantly breaches the 3% iscal

deicit stipulated by the States themselves in their FRBMs. As a consequence, the consolidated iscal deicit of the Central government (Centre and States combined) will increase from 6.7% in FY15 to 7.5% in FY16. The iscal consolidation of the Centre is more than ofset by expansion of the States. This is partly explained by the State power distribution companies (DISCOM) debt, 75% of which will be explicitly accounted in States’ balance sheets, and treated as capital spending in iscal accounts. The quality of compliance by States has also deteriorated. These go beyond UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana) to include irregularities in food credit accounts of State governments with commercial banks, ofbalance sheet expenditures, and creative accounting engineering to evade stipulated targets. Debt is considered sustainable if debt-GDP ratio is stable or on a declining path. This is a necessary condition for solvency of any government’s inances. While debt ratios for the Central government are projected to decline under plausible assumptions, the behaviour of the States is strikingly diferent. The debt ratio for the States under status quo and present FRBM scenarios is actually projected to increase! This is mainly because the primary deicit (total deicit excluding the interest payments), a driving variable in debt dynamics,

is much higher for the States compared to the Centre. The Centre’s primary deicit according to the RBI report is 0.7% of GDP while that of the States is close to 2% of GDP. A signiicant part of the Central government’s deicit is mainly towards interest payments on existing borrowings, unlike the States which spend signiicantly less on interest payments. Nonetheless, if this picture persists, State debts will increase from close to 20% of GDP to 35% of GDP over the next 10 years. A signiicant consolidation by the States would be needed to keep the debt ratio stable for the States, let alone decline. Given the increased foreign holdings of Indian government bonds, a worsening of State inances will dent India’s credibility among foreign institutional investors (FIIs). The rise in government bond yield of State government securities would increase the interest burden on new debt and also for the old debt which are repriced. Such a scenario could make State debt more explosive. Indeed, the yields of State government debt have increased, remaining higher than the Central government securities and with the spread showing a rising trend.

Composition of the deicit An ameliorating factor for the States is that the revenue deicit for the Centre is 2.5% of GDP compared to 0.2% for the States. Thus

What can be done We must recognise that macroeconomic stability is contingent on the iscal position of the general government. The Central government has pursued iscal prudence against many odds. Unchecked proligacy by States can under-

mine the overall macro stability. There are three short-term steps. First, we must improve the due diligence by the Central government in giving consent to borrowings by States under Article 293 of the Constitution. Unfortunately, there is some lack of coordination within the Ministry of Finance itself. Approvals for State government borrowings are accorded by the State Plan Division with little coordination with the Budget Division, which monitors implementation of FRBM obligations. A more stringent criteria in approving borrowings for States which deviate from stipulated iscal norms is urgently needed. The criteria must be transparent and apolitical in character. Second, whenever the Central government breaches the iscal norms, it secures parliamentary approval. State governments must be encouraged to adopt a similar practice by securing the approval of the State Legislature. Third, regulatory measures can be devised to enable bond yields to be responsive to market signals and bridge the information asymmetry between markets and State inances of the concerned State governments. Finally the 15th Finance Commission must address the broader issue of adherence by States to iscal obligations. It must restore adherence to iscal norms as an important ingredient in the devolution formula. This also implies inter se distributional burden among the States themselves. Investors recognise and reward macro stability. Fiscal prudence exercised by the Central government has been widely acclaimed. The management of State inances must not undercut this important achievement which is central to investor conidence and enhanced credit rating. A lot is at stake. We must not undo the gains. N.K. Singh is a former Member of Parliament & Chairman, FRBM Review Committee. Prachi Mishra was recently with the Reserve Bank of India, Strategic Research Unit

Access to excellence We have failed to provide institutions of excellence for everyone, for people to enjoy growing up in India The trajectory to professional success then crucially hinges on your ability to secure a seat in one of the good colleges.

yugank goyal & arun k. kaushik

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ummer is one of the toughest periods of the year for anyone graduating from school. This means we are talking about almost one crore students who gave their class XII exam. With an enrolment ratio of around 24.3%, we are looking at almost 30 lakh students desperately trying to obtain good scores in their XII board exams or sitting for entrance examinations for various higher education institutions. If their scores are not good, their careers will be perceived to be dead. Thirty lakh students! This is an astounding igure for the Darwinian struggle they know they will be getting into. Why? Because the higher education system in India is a binary phenomenon. You either have intellectually elite colleges, a handful of them, or a vast majority of mediocre ones which have lost their ability to even signal the quality of their students — one of the most basic purposes for an educational institution to exist.

Cut-throat competition How many seats are we talking about? The top 10 colleges in, say, arts, science, humanities, engineering, medicine, architecture and law, every year — with the most liberal estimate — will not go beyond 100,000. Now imagine 30 lakh students competing for 100,000 seats. For the top IITs, the selection rate lies at 0.01%. By contrast, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) selection rate is 8%. The QS World University Rankings List was released recently. IIT Delhi, the best from India, secured a rank of 172. MIT was at the top! The lack of an adequate number of quality institutions then ratchets up the value of the few better ones unusually high. Cut-throat competition for securing a place in a socalled elite institution in India continues to push the cut-of higher every year. Top colleges in the University of Delhi have routinely rejected students who do not score above 95% or so. This creates a new normal. It puts students into a constant struggle akin to that of ‘survival’. Those who cannot score above 95% are the unfortunate lot, just

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Darjeeling simmers Emboldened by the result of the election to the civic bodies, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appears to have come up with the well-thought-out strategy of making Bengali a compulsory subject in schools. So it may not be fair to say that the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha “appeared to hear only one part of the language decree” (Editorial – “A shattered peace”, June 14). Politicians should not forget that a Nepali’s mother tongue, which is also an Eighth Schedule language, is dear to him. Linguistic chauvinism in any form does more harm than good, if Assam is to be taken as an example. Rajat Baran Mahanta, Guwahati

The country is already reeling from unprecedented turmoil — farmers resorting

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ROHIT JAIN PARAS

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eliance Industries’ and BP’s joint investment of ₹40,000 crore in the KG-D6 gas block has important implications for the oil, gas and renewable energy sectors in terms of technological development, supply line infrastructure and pricing policy. The investment assumes a projected gas yield of 30 to 35 million cubic metres a day from the ields, and accompanies an overall partnership between the two companies in low-carbon and renewable energy, as well as in fuel retailing. With the last big investment in the sector being BP’s purchase of a 30% stake in some of RIL’s oil and gas production-sharing contracts in 2011, this pact signals a growing comfort with and acceptance of the Centre’s new gas pricing policy, which includes a mechanism for higher rates for gas from deep and ultra-deep wells. The proposed investment also brings into sharp focus the 2014 arbitration case the companies had iled against the government regarding gas pricing. Given the Centre’s current stance, the partners will not be able to derive beneit from the new gas pricing formula till the legal spat is resolved. The RIL-BP partnership also seeks to build capabilities across the entire oil and gas value chain. Thursday’s announcement that the two partners would explore opportunities in fuel retailing too was signiicant, coming as it did a day before the country moved to a dynamic pricing policy involving daily price revisions. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had invited the two companies to invest in fuel retailing, and their agreement suggests optimism over the outlook for the pricing regime. Conventional energy companies worldwide are realising that traditional markets are diminishing, and sources of conventional energy such as coal mines and gas ields becoming more expensive to operate. The RIL-BP plans to explore opportunities in renewable energy should be viewed against that backdrop. The two companies, in their search for new sources of conventional energy, have developed expertise that could be applied in the renewable energy space. BP has been operating deep and ultra-deep wells for years and has the infrastructure and technology to operate in high-risk, diicult locations. One possible opportunity for the companies is to exploit this know-how and develop ofshore wind installations across the KG-D6 block. A company used to drilling at ultra-deep locations should not ind it diicult to set up the foundations for ofshore windmills at these sites. And it is not that big a jump to get electricity supply lines running alongside pre-existing oil and gas pipelines. With ofshore wind installations virtually non-existent in India, the area ofers an untapped market that the government would be keen to see exploited. While details of the investment plan have not been presented, the scale of the funds involved, coupled with attractive pricing and FDI policies, may well help draw more global oil and gas majors to the Indian market, upstream and downstream.

n.k. singh & prachi mishra

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

The Reliance-BP plan for the KG-D6 block could draw more oil, gas majors to India

while the Centre borrows largely for revenue spending and current consumption like wages, salaries, the States do so for capital expenditure like infrastructure. This is despite the fact that delivering public services which are growth enhancing, such as health and education, is the prime responsibility of the States. Overall, however, this is a compositional issue and matters less for solvency or debt sustainability. Although composite State inances are useful to analyse, there are marked variations across States. States like Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Maharashtra have signiicantly lower iscal deicit, with more intensive tax eforts, than States like Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, which collect lower tax and are iscally less prudent. Despite signiicant variations across States in the degree of iscal prudence, there is little correlation between State government yields (measured as spread over Central government securities) and iscal deicits. Yields have no relationship to State iscal prudence. Perhaps this is on account of the implicit guarantee by the sovereign. The implicit sovereign guarantee, however, cannot explain why State bonds consistently trade above Central government Gsecs, and the spread may, in fact, suggest the additional credit risk associated with State bonds. Or perhaps the latter spread could relect the liquidity risk. Borrowings by States are likely to increase sharply due to interest of UDAY bonds, and more importantly, the viral of farm loans waivers. With little compensatory action, this will seriously undercut the hard-won battle to secure iscal prudence for the country as a whole.

like the 99% of those students who won’t clear the entrance exam. For a minority who have the resources, they go abroad. The rest gaze at a career unfolding its misery in front of their eyes. A self-defeating impulse reigns, devastating human dignity. It’s an “educational calamity” in India, unreported, unaddressed and as ubiquitous as invisible. There is practically no family that you would know of that has not sufered at the hands of this calamity. Many of these students may become successful in later life, but for the time being, these scars will pain them and their families unbearably. For many, the performance of failure will never be forgotten. This is not a rhetoric, but let’s pause for a moment to see what have we internalised. What kind of educational structures have we in-

stalled in place that create such heinous exclusivity, so early in life? Which school of thought claims that someone lying one notch below the cut-of is not a worthy candidate? And what gives the nation and society the right to judge the character of its citizens based on how many marks they received? Have we become so insensitive that we fail to distinguish between what we need and what we demand? Or are we blindly importing the ideas of competitive performance from economics to humanity, failing to realise that capability enhancement is inherently opposed to the idea of meritocracy?

About avoiding failure The results are disastrous. Failure becomes the most fearsome entity. The new goal of society is to avoid failure. That alone deines your character, personality and essence of life. Costica Bradatan, the Romanian-American philosopher who is currently writing a book on failure, says that our capacity to fail is essential to what we are. And this capacity is stripped of our students. In the long run, instilling such loathing of failure among our students drives them to recalibrate their ethical compass to what wins, not what is right. At the heart of this malady is the wretched education system which

creates exclusivity and elitism. We have failed to cultivate institutions of excellence for everyone, for people to enjoy growing up in India, to learn while they grow up. Aristotle, the genius that he was, spoke about telos, the essence and purpose of anything. Justice and ethics are teleological. The primary factor to decide who should be granted admission into a university must then be decided by what the telos of a university is. It’s not scholarly excellence, for if it is so, then airmative action cannot be allowed. It is in fact promotion of virtuous citizens in a society. Universities are a place of learning values of life, and not just employment. And there is no reason to believe that only those who have academic merit must be worthy of being honoriic citizens. In fact for a university that claims itself to be engaged in a nation-building project, all the more reason to select those who do not have good scores. And how do we do it? Well, as a start, shift the policy discourse from elite to non-elite, ‘B grade’ institutions. That’s where most of our youth are — dissatisied, while growing up to be part of the country that has given it nothing much. Yugank Goyal and Arun K. Kaushik teach Economics at O.P. Jindal Global University

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to violent protests, stone pelting in the Kashmir Valley, and “gau rakshaks” terrorising cattle sellers. The unrest in West Bengal’s Darjeeling hills has only added fuel to the ire. Though the demand for exclusivity goes back in time, it is not a valid demand. How will a country function if every other day, citizens are out on the streets demanding a separate State using a misplaced notion of dignity and identity? Breaking up an already small State will hamper overall development.

K. Jayanthi,

Deepti Jain,

Chennai

at our cohesive existence. In a country where more than 1.2 billion people live together, it is inevitable to witness some stray communal, violent incidents and crimes. This could happen in other democratic nations too. I think Mr. Gopalkrishna Gandhi need not be so pessimistic in portraying a dismal picture of our land and asking us to avoid a second Partition. The present situation does not merit such a line (“The anniversary of a divide”, June 16).

New Delhi

The article kindles pondering. People living together for generations had to undergo separation and it was painful and tormenting. The cunning ploy of the British and the obduracy of Jinnah resulted in two nations. To the last, the

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Partition and after India’s “unity in diversity” and peaceful co-existence of multitudes of ethnicities after seven decades of freedom won from the British is a matter of pride. Many countries are amazed

Mahatma was against Partition but events superseded him. The carnage that followed was indescribably horrendous. I would like to clearly emphasise here that loyalty to the nation should come irst. As a secular nation, with all our omissions and commissions, we are far better than Pakistan which is on the lines of a theocracy. In India, there is no doubt that it is the foremost duty of the ruling dispensation to ensure that there is no persecution and harassment in the name of anything endangering the secular credentials of our nation. It is also incumbent upon everyone to ensure that their thoughts and deeds are contributory and not questionable and detrimental towards the harmony, cohesiveness and cause of the nation. R. Ramanathan, Coimbatore

State of the media Except for the premeditated raid on a leading television channel, the role of the government in throttling the media is not as pronounced on the surface as some think (‘Left, Right, Centre’ – “Is the media under siege?” June 16). Most of the top media and entertainment companies in India are owned by powerful corporate moguls and their close links with the current ruling dispensation are well-documented. It is naive to imagine that such companies would show the interest and the verve to indulge in a complete exposition of truths which have the potential to alter perceptions. For continuance of a regime exceedingly benevolent to them, Opposition parties and fellow media houses, which still believe in fair play, have to be necessarily pilloried. The media is in a

self-imposed state of subservience. Haridasan Rajan, Kozhikode, Kerala

The common man was never afected even during the Emergency. Nor was his freedom of expression in peril, as it is now. When acrimony arises between leftist and rightist intellectuals, the routine slogan of “freedom of the press is in danger” is raised. There is a vast diference between what the media was then and what it is now as the latter has now embraced some negatives such as “paid news” “allurement”, and sensationalism. A stray incident of a raid on a media house cannot be magniied by saying that the fourth estate is endangered.

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R. Krishnamachary, Chennai

more letters online: www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/

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ILLUSTRATION: DEEPAK HARICHANDAN

How genetics is settling the Aryan migration debate New DNA evidence is solving the most fought-over question in Indian history. And you will be surprised at how sure-footed the answer is, writes Tony Joseph The thorniest, most fought-over question in Indian history is slowly but surely getting answered: did IndoEuropean language speakers, who called themselves Aryans, stream into India sometime around 2,000 BC – 1,500 BC when the Indus Valley civilisation came to an end, bringing with them Sanskrit and a distinctive set of cultural practices? Genetic research based on an avalanche of new DNA evidence is making scientists around the world converge on an unambiguous answer: yes, they did. This may come as a surprise to many — and a shock to some — because the dominant narrative in recent years has been that genetics research had thoroughly disproved the Aryan migration theory. This interpretation was always a bit of a stretch as anyone who read the nuanced scientific papers in the original knew. But now it has broken apart altogether under a flood of new data on Ychromosomes (or chromosomes that are transmitted through the male parental line, from father to son).

Lines of descent Until recently, only data on mtDNA (or matrilineal DNA, transmitted only from mother to daughter) were available and that seemed to suggest there was little external infusion into the Indian gene pool over the last 12,500 years or so. New Y-DNA data has turned that conclusion upside down, with strong evidence of external infusion of genes into the Indian male lineage during the period in question. The reason for the difference in mtDNA and Y-DNA data is obvious in hindsight: there was strong sex bias in Bronze Age migrations. In other words, those who migrated were predominantly male and, therefore, those gene flows do not really show up in the mtDNA data. On the other hand, they do show up in the Y-DNA data: specifically, about 17.5% of Indian male lineage has been found to belong to haplogroup R1a (haplogroups identify a single line of descent), which is today spread across Central Asia, Europe and South Asia. Pontic-Caspian Steppe is seen as the region from where R1a spread both west and east, splitting into different subbranches along the way. The paper that put all of the recent discoveries together into a tight and coherent history of migrations into India was published just three months ago in a peer-reviewed journal called ‘BMC Evolutionary Biology’. In that paper, titled “A Genetic Chronology for the Indian Subcontinent Points to Heavily Sexbiased Dispersals”, 16 scientists led by Prof. Martin P. Richards of the University of Huddersfield, U.K., concluded: “Genetic influx from Central Asia in the Bronze Age was strongly male-driven, consistent with the patriarchal, patrilocal and patrilineal social structure attributed to the inferred pastoralist early Indo-European society. This was part of a much wider process of Indo-European expansion, with an ultimate source in the Pontic-Caspian region, which carried closely related Y-chromosome lineages… across a vast swathe of Eurasia between 5,000 and 3,500 years ago”. In an email exchange, Prof. Richards said the prevalence of R1a in India was “very powerful evidence for a substantial Bronze Age migration from central Asia that most likely brought IndoEuropean speakers to India.” The robust conclusions of Prof. Richards and his team rest on their own substantive research as well as a vast trove of new data and findings that have become available in recent years, through the work of genetic scientists around the world. Peter Underhill, scientist at the Department of Genetics at the Stanford University School of Medicine, is one of CM YK

those at the centre of the action. Three years ago, a team of 32 scientists he led published a massive study mapping the distribution and linkages of R1a. It used a panel of 16,244 male subjects from 126 populations across Eurasia. Dr. Underhill’s research found that R1a had two sub-haplogroups, one found primarily in Europe and the other confined to Central and South Asia. Ninety-six per cent of the R1a samples in Europe belonged to sub-haplogroup Z282, while 98.4% of the Central and South Asian R1a lineages belonged to sub-haplogroup Z93. The two groups diverged from each other only about 5,800 years ago. Dr. Underhill’s research showed that within the Z93 that is predominant in India, there is a further splintering into multiple branches. The paper found this “star-like branching” indicative of rapid growth and dispersal. So if you want to know the approximate period when Indo-European language speakers came and rapidly spread across India, you need to discover the date when Z93 splintered into its own various subgroups or lineages. We will come back to this later.

prevalence of R1a in India < > The is very powerful evidence for a substantial Bronze Age migration from central Asia that most likely brought IndoEuropean speakers to India. Martin P. Richards, University of Huddersield, U.K.

So in a nutshell: R1a is distributed all over Europe, Central Asia and South Asia; its sub-group Z282 is distributed only in Europe while another subgroup Z93 is distributed only in parts of Central Asia and South Asia; and three major subgroups of Z93 are distributed only in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Himalayas. This clear picture of the distribution of R1a has finally put paid to an earlier hypothesis that this haplogroup perhaps originated in India and then spread outwards. This hypothesis was based on the erroneous assumption that R1a lineages in India had huge diversity compared to other regions, which could be indicative of its origin here. As Prof. Richards puts it, “the idea that R1a is very diverse in India, which was largely based on fuzzy microsatellite data, has been laid to rest” thanks to the arrival of large numbers of genomic Y-chromosome data.

Gene-dating the migration Now that we know that there WAS indeed a significant inflow of genes from Central Asia into India in the Bronze Age, can we get a better fix on the timing, especially the splintering of Z93 into its own sub-lineages? Yes, we can; the research paper that answers this question was published just last year, in April 2016, titled: “Punctuated bursts in human male demography inferred from 1,244 worldwide Y-chromosome sequences.” This paper, which looked at major expansions of Y-DNA haplogroups within five continental populations, was lead-authored by David Poznik of the Stanford University, with Dr. Underhill as one of the 42 co-authors. The study found “the most striking expansions within Z93 occurring approximately 4,000 to 4,500 years ago”. This is remarkable, because roughly 4,000 years ago is when the Indus Valley civilization began falling apart. (There is no evidence so far, archaeologically or otherwise, to suggest that one caused the other; it is quite possible that the two events happened to coincide.) The avalanche of new data has been so overwhelming that many scientists who were either sceptical or neutral about significant Bronze Age migrations into India have changed their opinions. Dr. Underhill himself is one of them. In

a 2010 paper, for example, he had written that there was evidence “against substantial patrilineal gene flow from East Europe to Asia, including to India” in the last five or six millennia. Today, Dr. Underhill says there is no comparison between the kind of data available in 2010 and now. “Then, it was like looking into a darkened room from the outside through a keyhole with a little torch in hand; you could see some corners but not all, and not the whole picture. With whole genome sequencing, we can now see nearly the entire room, in clearer light.” Dr. Underhill is not the only one whose older work has been used to argue against Bronze Age migrations by Indo-European language speakers into India. David Reich, geneticist and professor in the Department of Genetics at the Harvard Medical School, is another one, even though he was very cautious in his older papers. The best example is a study lead-authored by Reich in 2009, titled “Reconstructing Indian Population History” and published in Nature. This study used the theoretical construct of “Ancestral North Indians” (ANI) and “Ancestral South Indians” (ASI) to discover the genetic substructure of the Indian population. The study proved that ANI are “genetically close to Middle Easterners, Central Asians, and Europeans”, while the ASI were unique to India. The study also proved that most groups in India today can be approximated as a mixture of these two populations, with the ANI ancestry higher in traditionally upper caste and Indo-European speakers. By itself, the study didn’t disprove the arrival of Indo-European language speakers; if anything, it suggested the opposite, by pointing to the genetic linkage of ANI to Central Asians. However, this theoretical structure was stretched beyond reason and was used to argue that these two groups came to India tens of thousands of years ago, long before the migration of IndoEuropean language speakers that is supposed to have happened only about 4,000 to 3,500 years ago. In fact, the study had included a strong caveat that suggested the opposite: “We caution that ‘models’ in population genetics should be treated with caution. While they provide an important framework for testing historical hypothesis, they are oversimplifications. For example, the true ancestral populations were probably not homogenous as we assume in our model but instead were likely to have been formed by clusters of related groups that mixed at different times.” In other words, ANI is likely to have resulted from multiple migrations, possibly including the migration of Indo-European language speakers.

The spin and the facts But how was this research covered in the media? “Aryan-Dravidian divide a myth: Study,” screamed a newspaper headline on September 25, 2009. The article quoted Lalji Singh, a co-author of the study and a former director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad as saying: “This paper rewrites history… there is no north-south divide”. The report also carried statements such as: “The initial settlement took place 65,000 years ago in the Andamans and in ancient south India around the same time, which led to population growth in this part. At a later stage, 40,000 years ago, the ancient north Indians emerged which in turn led to rise in numbers there. But at some point in time, the ancient north and the ancient south mixed, giving birth to a different set of population. And that is the population which exists now and there is a genetic relationship between the population within India.” The study, however, makes no such

statements whatsoever — in fact, even the figures 65,000 and 40,000 do not figure it in it! This stark contrast between what the study says and what the media reports said did not go unnoticed. In his column for Discover magazine, geneticist Razib Khan said this about the media coverage of the study: “But in the quotes in the media the other authors (other than Reich that is - ed) seem to be leading you to totally different conclusions from this. Instead of leaning toward ANI being proto-Indo-European, they deny that it is.” Let’s leave that there, and ask what Reich says now, when so much new data have become available? In an interview with Edge in February last year, while talking about the thesis that IndoEuropean languages originated in the Steppes and then spread to both Europe and South Asia, he said: “The genetics is tending to support the Steppe hypothesis because in the last year, we have identified a very strong pattern that this ancient North Eurasian ancestry that you see in Europe today, we now know when it arrived in Europe. It arrived 4500 years ago from the East from the Steppe...” About India, he said: “In India, you can see, for example, that there is this profound population mixture event that happens between 2000 to 4000 years ago. It corresponds to the time of the composition of the Rigveda, the oldest Hindu religious text, one of the oldest pieces of literature in the world, which describes a mixed society...” In essence according to Reich, in broadly the same time frame, we see Indo-European language speakers spreading out both to Europe and to South Asia, causing major population upheavals. The dating of the “profound population mixture event” that Reich refers to was arrived at in a paper that was published in the American Journal of Human Genetics in 2013, and was lead authored by Priya Moorjani of the Harvard Medical School, and co-authored, among others, by Reich and Lalji Singh. This paper too has been pushed into serving the case against migrations of IndoEuropean language speakers into India, but the paper itself says no such thing, once again! Here’s what it says in one place: “The dates we report have significant implications for Indian history in the sense that they document a period of demographic and cultural change in which mixture between highly differentiated populations became pervasive before it eventually became uncommon. The period of around 1,900–4,200 years before present was a time of profound change in India, characterized by the de-urbanization of the Indus civilization, increasing population density in the central and downstream portions of the Gangetic system, shifts in burial practices, and the likely first appearance of Indo-European languages and Vedic religion in the subcontinent.” The study didn’t “prove” the migration of Indo-European language speakers since its focus was different: finding the dates for the population mixture. But it is clear that the authors think its findings fit in well with the traditional reading of the dates for this migration. In fact, the paper goes on to correlate the ending of population mixing with the shifting attitudes towards mixing of the races in ancient texts. It says: “The shift from widespread mixture to strict endogamy that we document is mirrored in ancient Indian texts.” So irrespective of the use to which Priya Moorjani et al’s 2013 study is put, what is clear is that the authors themselves admit their study is fully compatible with, and perhaps even strongly suggests, Bronze Age migration of IndoEuropean language speakers. In an

email to this writer, Moorjani said as much. In answer to a question about the conclusions of the recent paper of Prof. Richards et al that there were strong, male-driven genetic inflows from Central Asia about 4,000 years ago, she said she found their results “to be broadly consistent with our model”. She also said the authors of the new study had access to ancient West Eurasian samples “that were not available when we published in 2013”, and that these samples had provided them additional information about the sources of ANI ancestry in South Asia. One by one, therefore, every single one of the genetic arguments that were earlier put forward to make the case against Bronze Age migrations of IndoEuropean language speakers have been disproved. To recap: 1. The first argument was that there were no major gene flows from outside to India in the last 12,500 years or so because mtDNA data showed no signs of it. This argument was found faulty when it was shown that Y-DNA did indeed show major gene flows from outside into India within the last 4000 to 4,500 years or so, especially R1a which now forms 17.5% of the Indian male lineage. The reason why mtDNA data behaved differently was that Bronze Age migrations were severely sex-biased. 2. The second argument put forward was that R1a lineages exhibited much greater diversity in India than elsewhere and, therefore, it must have originated in India and spread outward. This has been proved false because a mammoth, global study of R1a haplogroup published last year showed that R1a lineages in India mostly belong to just three subclades of the R1a-Z93 and they are only

happened very rapidly, < > What’s dramatically, and powerfully in the last few years has been the explosion of genome-wide studies of human history based on modern and ancient DNA, and that’s been enabled by the technology of genomics and the technology of ancient DNA....” David Reich, Geneticist and professor, Harvard Medical School

about 4,000 to 4,500 years old. 3. The third argument was that there were two ancient groups in India, ANI and ASI, both of which settled here tens of thousands of years earlier, much before the supposed migration of IndoEuropean languages speakers to India. This argument was false to begin with because ANI — as the original paper that put forward this theoretical construct itself had warned — is a mixture of multiple migrations, including probably the migration of Indo-European language speakers.

Connecting the dots Two additional things should be kept in mind while looking at all this evidence. The first is how multiple studies in different disciplines have arrived at one specific period as an important marker in the history of India: around 2000 B.C. According to the Priya Moorjani et al study, this is when population mixing began on a large scale, leaving few population groups anywhere in the subcontinent untouched. The Onge in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are the only ones we know to have been completely unaffected by what must have been a tumultuous period. And according to the David Poznik et al study of 2016 on the Y-chromosome, 2000 B.C. is around the time when the dominant R1a subclade in India, Z93, began splintering in a “most striking” manner, suggesting “rapid growth and expansion”. Lastly, from long-established archaeological

studies, we also know that 2000 BC was around the time when the Indus Valley civilization began to decline. For anyone looking at all of these data objectively, it is difficult to avoid the feeling that the missing pieces of India’s historical puzzle are finally falling into place. The second is that many studies mentioned in this piece are global in scale, both in terms of the questions they address and in terms of the sampling and research methodology. For example, the Poznik study that arrived at 4,0004,500 years ago as the dating for the splintering of the R1a Z93 lineage, looked at major Y-DNA expansions not just in India, but in four other continental populations. In the Americas, the study proved the expansion of haplogrop Q1a-M3 around 15,000 years ago, which fits in with the generally accepted time for the initial colonisation of the continent. So the pieces that are falling in place are not merely in India, but all across the globe. The more the global migration picture gets filled in, the more difficult it will be to overturn the consensus that is forming on how the world got populated. Nobody explains what is happening now better than Reich: “What’s happened very rapidly, dramatically, and powerfully in the last few years has been the explosion of genome-wide studies of human history based on modern and ancient DNA, and that’s been enabled by the technology of genomics and the technology of ancient DNA. Basically, it’s a gold rush right now; it’s a new technology and that technology is being applied to everything we can apply it to, and there are many lowhanging fruits, many gold nuggets strewn on the ground that are being picked up very rapidly.” So far, we have only looked at the migrations of Indo-European language speakers because that has been the most debated and argued about historical event. But one must not lose the bigger picture: R1a lineages form only about 17.5 % of Indian male lineage, and an even smaller percentage of the female lineage. The vast majority of Indians owe their ancestry mostly to people from other migrations, starting with the original Out of Africa migrations of around 55,000 to 65,000 years ago, or the farming-related migrations from West Asia that probably occurred in multiple waves after 10,000 B.C., or the migrations of Austro-Asiatic speakers such as the Munda from East Asia the dating of which is yet to determined, and the migrations of Tibeto-Burman speakers such as the Garo again from east Asia, the dating of which is also yet to be determined. What is abundantly clear is that we are a multi-source civilization, not a single-source one, drawing its cultural impulses, its tradition and practices from a variety of lineages and migration histories. The Out of Africa immigrants, the pioneering, fearless explorers who discovered this land originally and settled in it and whose lineages still form the bedrock of our population; those who arrived later with a package of farming techniques and built the Indus Valley civilization whose cultural ideas and practices perhaps enrich much of our traditions today; those who arrived from East Asia, probably bringing with them the practice of rice cultivation and all that goes with it; those who came later with a language called Sanskrit and its associated beliefs and practices and reshaped our society in fundamental ways; and those who came even later for trade or for conquest and chose to stay, all have mingled and contributed to this civilization we call Indian. We are all migrants. Tony Joseph is a writer and former editor of BusinessWorld. Twitter: @tjoseph0010 A ND-ND


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FROM PAGE ONE

GJM rival backs separate State A cash counter of the Rimbick Hydel power plant and a primary health centre in Darjeeling were set on fire by miscreants as incidents of violence and arson were reported at various places in the hill district. The GJM had called for a complete shutdown on Thursday after a raid on its president Bimal Gurung’s residence in Patleybas.

Streets deserted The Tarakhola forest bungalow at Kalingpong, a primary school, and a gram panchayat office at Merik were also destroyed by arsonists. The GJM denied its involvement in the violence but the police claimed to have arrested several GJM leaders in connection with the violence. On the second day of the indefinite shutdown, life in Darjeeling town came to a complete standstill with shops, commercial establishments, hotels and educational institutions remaining closed. The streets of the country one of the most sought after holiday destination bore a deserted look with hardly any tourists and only a few locals venturing

out of their homes. Mr Harkha Bahadur Chettri, a former GJM MLA from Kalimpong, had floated the JAP in January 2016. He also contested the 2016 Assembly polls with the support of ruling Trinamool Congress. “We were always in support of Gorkhaland. To join the forum of political parties I have given some conditions to the GJM. We are willing to join the other political parties provided our demands are met,” Mr Chettri told The Hindu. He said with “emotions running high on Gorkhaland”, the JAP has launched its programme. Earlier, the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), one an arch rival, joined the GJM and participated in a meeting on June 13 with five other parties.

Officers posted The State government has sent seven more IPS officers to control the situation in the Darjeeling hills. There are now more than a dozen of IPS officers along with three columns of Amry and paramilitary forces are deployed in Darjeeling.

BJP seeks consensus without names More like a PR exercise, says Yechury, when there are no names put forward for Presidential or VP candidates Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

The Modi government on Friday sought the Opposition’s cooperation to build a consensus for the approaching Presidential/ Vice-Presidential polls but did so without putting forward any names, leading Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPIM) general secretary Sitaram Yechury to describe the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) outreach as being “more like a PR exercise”. The Opposition sees this as a delaying tactic to make it harder for its members to field candidates in case it does not wish to back the government’s nominees. The Ministers also suggested to the CPI(M), BJP sources said, that the Opposition should not put up a candidate “just for the sake of a candidate”. Meanwhile, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)

The Chief Minister hit back at the Lt Governor by stating that the Court had not found anything wrong with the admission procedure and if she has “no trust in the government should leave UT.” He accused the Lt Governor of spreading canards against the government. The turf war that was brewing from the time the government took over came out in the open after Ms Bedi initiated disciplinary proceedings against a Pondicherrry Civil Service officer for posting an objectionable clip on an official WhatsApp group initiated by Raj Nivas. In response to the action

initiated by Ms Bedi, the Chief Minister issued a dictat directing government employees not to post official matters on WhatsApp group which was later made null and void by the Lt. Governor.

Contempt proceedings The standoff came to a head after the Assembly Privileges Committee initiated contempt proceedings against Pondicherry Municipality Commissioner, R. Chandirasekaran, an officer considered part of Ms Bedi’s inner circle, and Secretary to the Lt Governor, G. Theva Neethi Dhas.

Six policemen killed in LeT ambush Earlier in the day, security forces engaged a group of LeT militants in a gunfight in Anantnag’s Arwani area around 10 a.m., sparking violent protests from locals. The police believe two militants, including their commander Junaid Matto and a foreign militant, were trapped at the encounter site. Two houses were completely damaged during the gunfight. “A search operation is on to retrieve the bodies of the militants,” said Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Range, Munir Khan.

Two civilians killed Two civilians, Ahsan Dar and Mohammad Ashraf Khar, were killed when the security forces allegedly opened fire to disperse the

mob trying to help the militants escape. Two more civilians also sustained bullet injuries. Another civilian, Naseer Ahmad, a resident of Bandipora, who was injured in the firing by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) in Srinagar’s Rangreth following a stone pelting incident, also succumbed to his injuries on Friday morning. Two civilians, travelling in a car, suffered bullet injuries when the army allegedly opened fire at the barricade at Reshipora village in Bandipora. Meanwhile, one soldier, identified as Naik Bakhtawar Singh, 34, was killed on the Line of Control in Jammu’s Naushera sector when Pakistan troops, according to the Army, opened fire around 5.15 a.m.

Abu Salem convicted for 1993 blasts The court went on to say that the prosecution has proved that after the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, and the subsequent communal riots in Bombay, a conspiratorial meeting was called at the Dubai residence of Mohammad Dossa, Mustafa Dosa’s brother. Aside from the Dossa brothers, the meeting was attended by Yasin Khwaza, Hyder Salim Talwar, Mushtaq ‘Tiger’ Memon, Dawood Ibrahim, Anees Ibrahim, and Ayub Menon.

Original design Mustafa Dossa, the court said, actively, wilfully, deliberately and consciously participated in the meeting which gave birth to the original design of heinous criminal conspiracy to take CM YK

revenge against Government of India. The meeting led to the landing of weapons, arms and ammunition at Dighi Jetty. The court will hear arguments from the prosecution and defence on framing of charges against the convicted on June 19.

The charges Those convicted have been charged under TADA, section 3 (punishment for criminal conspiracy), section 5 (possession of unauthorised arms), section 6 (enhanced penalties) of TADA. They were also charged under sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, the Explosives Act, the Explosives Substances Act and the Prevention of Damage of Public Property Act.

Six nominations rejected Press Trust of India New Delhi

Seeking support: BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu coming out after meeting CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury in New Delhi on Friday. SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

Six nominations were filed on Friday for the July 17 presidential polls but all six were rejected by the returning officer for want of proper documents. On the third day of nominations, six persons filed their papers but none of them attached a certified copy of their entry in the

electoral roll. As a result were rejected, sources in the Lok Sabha secretariat said. Those who filed the papers were Vijay Narayan Pal and Saraswati Sharma from Kanpur, Sanjay Kumar from Shamali, Lala Ram from Alwar, A.K. Singh Chauhan from Mainpuri and Birpal Singh Malik from New Delhi.

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up by Mr. Shah (the third, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, was not in town) met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Mr. Yechury, BJP veterans L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, and had a telephonic conversation with Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar. The first meeting of the day was with Ms. Gandhi and

her colleagues — Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge. Their discussion was inconclusive since the government suggested no names. In the afternoon, the team met Mr. Yechury and his colleagues Prakash Karat and

Brinda Karat. The CPI(M) general secretary later tweeted, “There is no name put forward by them for the President of India, so there was no further discussion on the matter...”

Twin objectives Sources close to the government said Mr. Singh and Mr. Naidu told Ms. Gandhi and

Mr. Yechury that Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah “sought wide consultation before finalising a candidate for President...” as “the twin objectives of the consultation process are to have the benefit of the views and suggestions of various parties in the matter and also to seek their support in the election of the President.”

WB Governor sends report to Centre

Tourists stranded in Darjeeling

GJM legislators meet K.N. Tripathi

Shiv Sahay Singh

Staff Reporter

Puducherry govt. seeks more powers

chief Mohan Bhagwat had lunch with President Pranab Mukherjee, a meeting the RSS described as “a pre-decided courtesy meeting” into which “nothing should be read”. But the two-hour long meeting, and its timing, setoff speculation as Mr. Bhagwat’s name was recently suggested by the Shiv Sena, a BJP ally, for President. Curiously, on Friday, two days ahead of his scheduled meeting with BJP president Amit Shah, Sena boss Uddhav Thackeray threw another name into the ring — that of M.S. Swaminathan, who had played a leading role in India’s Green Revolution, in view of the ongoing agrarian crisis. However, he reiterated that Mr. Bhagwat will remain his party’s first choice. Through the day, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and M. Venkaiah Naidu, two of the three-member team set

Kolkata

West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has sent a report to the Centre on Friday on the ongoing violence in Darjeeling over the demand for a separate Gorkhaland State. “In the report, the Governor said all the stakeholders involved in the Gorkhaland issue should try to resolve the matter through discussion and restore peace in the Darjeeling hills,” sources in the Raj Bhavan told The Hindu. Earlier on Friday, a delegation of three Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) MLAs — Amar Singh Rai, Rohit Sharma and Sarita Rai — met the Governor and apprised him of the situation in Darjeeling. “The GJM delega-

tion said the State government was yet to issue any formal order stating that Bengali will not be made compulsory in the schools in the hills,” sources said.

‘Outsiders’ work’ Addressing the media after the meeting, Mr. Sharma claimed that “those who are indulging in arson in Darjeeling are not GJM members but outsiders.” He also said the delegation had urged the Governor to “inform the Centre about the suffering of the locals due to the State government’s stand over the Gorkhaland issue.” The GJM delegation also accused the State government of “using force to disrupt the peaceful movement for statehood.” (With PTI inputs)

Stampede-like situation prevails as people force their way into vehicles hoping the State government would provide vehicles. “Darjeeling is a very nice place but there is no food and water. We are forced to go back,” said Sebastain, a tourist from France.

DARJEELING

It has been one of best holiday seasons for the tourism industry in Darjeeling but the sudden shutdown in the hills over the demand for a separate State of Gorkhaland has abruptly put an end to it. On Friday, when there was a complete shutdown in Darjeeling, a huge crowd of tourists gathered at the Chowk Bazaar area, waiting for hours for a vehicle to take them back to Siliguri. With the indefinite shutdown called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) after a raid at party president Bimal Gurung’s residence, hotels in the hills have asked tourists to leave one of the country’s most sought after holiday destinations as early as possible, citing limited supply of food and other essentials. Private vehicle operators have stopped service.

Holiday gone awry: Tourists queue up to leave Darjeeling on Friday, amid an indeinite strike called by the GJM. AFP *

A resident of Kolkata’s Salt Lake area, Tithi Mukhopadhay and her father Tapas Mukhopadhyay had already waited for six hours at Chowk Bazaar. “We have two children and two senior citizens who have had nothing except biscuits since yesterday,” Ms. Mukhopadhyay told The Hindu. The family

All eyes on Modi-Trump meeting PM should get assurances from U.S... he cannot return empty-handed: Congress

ICJ asks India to make submission by Sept. 13

Suhasini Haidar Kallol Bhattacherjee New Delhi

Beginning a second round of visits to western countries in a month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Portugal, the United States and the Netherlands from June 24 to 27. The visit to the U.S. will be the Prime Minister’s first official trip since President Donald Trump took charge in January this year. Mr. Modi is scheduled to land in America on June 24 evening. On June 25, he is slated to meet CEOs of major companies and address a reception of about 600 Indian community leaders in Washington hosted by Ambassador Navtej Sarna.

Portugal visit on June 24 The U.S. visit will be preceded by a daylong trip to Portugal on June 24. The Prime Minister will also visit the Netherlands on June 27 during his return. Officials have made it clear that the full focus of the U.S. visit will be on the meeting between the two leaders on June 26. The White House has scheduled several hours for the meetings in at least three formats of delegations, including the one-on-one meeting. Indian and U.S. officials are also not ruling out a

Press Trust of India

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has asked India to make its submission in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case by September 13, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday and de-

bunked Pakistan’s claim that its request seeking more time in the case had been rejected. Pakistan has been asked by the court to complete its submission by December 13, MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

ing this visit including on the defence partnership, counter-terror cooperation, as well as cooperation in the Indian Ocean region, the Opposition has been demanding that the PM must raise contentious issues like the U.S. pullout from the Paris Climate Change agreement and new curbs on H1B visas for Indian professionals. “[PM Modi] should demand and obtain credible and firm assurances from the U.S. President that he will reverse his decision which discriminates against Indian professionals. He cannot return empty-handed,” Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma told reporters on Thursday. Announcing the Portugal visit, the Ministry of External Affairs said it will intensify bilateral momentum. “Both

sides share very strong and historic ties. During the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister to Portugal, we look forward to continuing the momentum,” said MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay who referred to Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s India visit during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations in January when India bestowed Pravasi Bharatiya Samman on him. Mr. Modi is expected to sign several bilateral MoUs. The daylong visit to the Netherlands comes in the backdrop of the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, currently on in the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The visit assumes significance as India and the Netherlands are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship.

New Delhi/Islamabad

Narendra Modi will address Indian community leaders in Washington on June 25. dinner at the White House on June 26 but said that details were still being finalised. “We aren’t seeing this visit in terms of big announcements, and would not like to raise expectations. The first meeting between the two leaders will be important, and they will have ample opportunities to speak again this year,” a source involved in the planning of the PM’s visit told The Hindu, indicating that the two leaders might meet on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg in July, and Mr. Modi could make another trip to the U.S. this year during the UN General Assembly session in September. While the PM and Mr. Trump are expected to discuss the broad contours of the relationship ahead dur-

Swiss ratify pact on information sharing Implementation planned for 2018; irst set of data exchange likely in 2019 Press Trust of India Berne/New Delhi

Switzerland on Friday ratified automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI) with India and 40 other jurisdictions to facilitate immediate sharing of details on suspected black money even as it sought strict adherence to confidentiality and data security. Adopting the dispatch on

introduction of the AEOI, a global convention for automatic information exchange on tax matters, the Swiss Federal Council said the implementation was planned for 2018, and the first set of data should be exchanged in 2019. The Council, the top governing body of the European nation, will soon notify the Indian govern-

ment about the exact date from which the automatic exchange would begin. As per the draft notification approved by the Council in its meeting, the decision is not subject to any referendum — which means there should be no further procedural delay in its implementation. The issue of black money has been a matter

of big debate in India, and Switzerland has been long perceived as one of the safest havens for the illicit wealth allegedly stashed abroad by Indians. Friday’s decision follows hectic parleys between India and Switzerland for introduction of the AEOI on tax matters under the guidance of G20, OECD and other global organisations.

arrived in the hills on June 11 and had booking till June 17 but had to leave the hotel on Friday. “We have been standing here since 6 a.m. Now it is past noon and not a single vehicle has come,” Ms. Mukhopadhyay said. Tourists from across the country as well as foreign tourists waited for hours,

Long wait Almost 1,000 tourists waited for State government vehicles to take them to Siliguri. By the evening, there was a near stampede-like situation when tourists tried to force their way into the vehicles. The State government was able to provide about half a dozen buses and one truck. The owner of a reputed hotel in Darjeeling town rued the fact that the shutdown had brought life to a complete halt. “We had full bookings till the first week of July. With the shutdown, there is not a single tourist in our hotel,” he said.

Centre, State owe an explanation: Scindia 72-hour satyagraha for farmers ends Jayant Sriram Bhopal

Ending the Bhopal leg of his 72-hour satyagraha in solidarity with farmers here on Friday, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said that based on extensive consultation with various ryot groups, he had prepared a ‘blueprint’ that he would take to other parts of the State. The Congress will now take the satyagraha to Khalghat in Dhar district where it will end with a major farmers’ meeting on Saturday. “The response has been unprecedented over three days here,” Mr. Scindia told The Hindu on the sidelines of the event held at the Dussehra Maidan here. “We have had between five to ten thousand farmers with us and I have interacted personally with over 200 delegations and met with thousands of farmers,” he said.

Times of distress Over the course of these meetings, the Congress leader said that the widespread distress and despair in the agrarian sector was clear for everyone to see. “On input issues, like the prices of seeds, fertilizers, petrol and diesel farmers are facing difficulties across the board,” he said. Madhya Pradesh, he said, has the highest percentage of VAT on petrol and diesel while India has the highest rates for petrol and diesel in the world today compared with neighbours like Pakistan and Sri Lanka. “All of this requires an explanation from both the Central and State governments as to why prices have not come down despite global oil prices having dropped by 60 per cent since the days of the UPA government,” Mr. Scindia said. He also spoke of the

Jyotiraditya Scindia

falling prices of crops – from soyabean in Madhya Pradesh, to chillies in Andhra Pradesh, grapes in Maharashtra, peanuts in Gujarat and other crops like onion, tomatoes and potatoes where farmers are simply not able to find remunerative rates. “There have been 9 suicides in the last three days in Madhya Pradesh and there has still not been an adequate response to the shootings in Mandsaur,” he said.

Major initiative The 72-hour satyagraha that Mr. Scindia started here on Wednesday afternoon and which will conclude in Khalghat on Saturday is seen as a major initiative for the Congress seen in recent years to have lost its organisational strength. The satyagraha drew large crowds and also provided some semblance of a unified leadership — former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh joined Mr. Scindia on Thursday while Congress’s other stalwart in MP, Kamal Nath, will join the public meeting in Khalghat. Assembly elections are due in Madhya Pradesh in 2018 and there is talk that Mr. Scindia, who cut short a holiday in the U.S. and returned to MP to lead the satyagraha, could take the lead in the fight against the incumbent BJP. A ND-ND


THE HINDU

NEWS 11

NOIDA/DELHI



On the trail of Taher Merchant, a cold-blooded conspirator He had no criminal record but was a central player in the plot, say police Gautam S. Mengle Mumbai

While much has been written about Abu Salem and Mustafa Dossa, who were convicted in connection with the 1993 serial bomb blasts on Friday, officers who investigated the case said the bigger catch among Friday’s lot of convicts was Taher Merchant (alias Taher Taklya). Police officers said Merchant had no past criminal record, and so had managed to keep a low profile, but was in reality one of the central players in the conceptualisation, planning and coordination of the blasts. Merchant was born in Dongri and grew up with Dawood Ibrahim. When Dawood fled to Dubai, operations for his ‘D-gang’ were taken over by Shakeel Babumiyan Sheikh (alias Chhota Shakeel), and Merchant, nicknamed ‘Taklya’ for his bald head, headed logistics for all of the gang’s activities.

Wave of fury A retired police officer, speaking anonymously, said, “Immediately after Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992, a wave of fury spread through several Islamic nations, including the UAE. This crystallised in the form of tehreek-e-inteqaam (movement for revenge), a recruiting of volunteers for a revenge mission. Merchant, who was in Dubai at the time, having fled India along with Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, became involved in it.”

IN BRIEF

Victims, kin condemn delay, demand compensation

According to sources, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI, Pakistan’s premiere intelligence agency) had always been on the lookout for recruits in West Asia with the ability and willingness to spread terror in India, and Merchant soon became associated with Taufiq Jaliawala, a known ISI agent who is one of the people who financed the blasts. Merchant and Jaliawala began scouting for volunteers for the tehreek together. Another officer, who also asked not be named, said that during this period, Merchant came into contact with Tiger Memon, who regularly visited Dubai in connection with Dawood’s smuggling operations. Merchant found Memon a willing associate for the tehreek.

‘Huge role’ In a meeting in Dubai between late December ’92 and early January ’93, Merchant promised all the financial and logistical help, while Memon agreed to take care of the execution. “Merchant’s role in the blasts was huge,” said Rakesh Maria, who spearheaded the investigation into the case. “He was the one who coordinated between the ISI and the D-gang, arranged for everything from explosives to weapons to money, and took care of training youth to participate in the blasts. In fact, the young men who went to Pakistan through Dubai stayed in flats owned

Want Dawood Ibrahim to be brought to justice Veydaant Khanna Mumbai

Even as the TADA court announced its verdict in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case against seven of the main accused, the victims and families of victims of the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai were frustrated by the delay and the lack of compensation from the government. “Despite the delay, I welcome the verdict,” said Kirti Ajmera, who was injured in the bomb blast at Dalal Street in south Mumbai. “It would be a good decision to sentence those found guilty with the death penalty. Even though the trial took place as per the judicial system, it should not have stretched for this long. The governAll that remained: A view of the debris of buildings that collapsed in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts GETTY IMAGES their training and dispersing money among them. Memon got involved because he had a personal axe to grind — his office was burned in the riots following the Babri Masjid demolition– but very little of the money used in the operation was his. It was Merchant who sent money from ISI through hawala channels and instructed Memon to distribute it among the recruits after they returned from their training.

Sonam Saigal Mumbai

The court said the prosecution has proved that the main conspirator, Abu Salem, went to Bharuch district in Gujarat, loaded nine AK-56 rifles and magazines for them, 80 to 90 hand grenades, and other ammunitions in secret cavities of a Maruti

WHO places India as ‘Category-2’ country, second highest on a four-point scale

Tandi Sangam to be tourist hub

van with a Gujarat registration number. He then brought the van to Mumbai with his co-conspirators and tried to acquire a safe, shuttered garage to store the arms and ammunitions. Then, on instructions from Anees Ibrahim Kaskar, Abu Salem delivered three AK-56 rifles, their

NEW DELHI

AI unions write to Centre, threaten unrest NEW DELHI

Seven unions of Air India employees have warned the government of large-scale protests if a proposal from NITI Aayog to privatise the national carrier is approved. In a letter dated June 14, the unions sought an appointment with Civil Aviation Minister Gajapathi Raju to discuss their concerns over Air India’s future. The unions have written that they oppose the “arbitrary and unilateral” recommendations of the government body. PTI

11 feared dead as building collapses NURPUR

At least 11 people were feared dead after a three-storey building collapsed on Friday in Nurpur sub-division of Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district. About a dozen labourers were working at an adjoining construction site when the building collapsed. The workers were digging up the foundation when the adjoining building housing a footwear shop fell down, the police said. PTI

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira was on Friday suspended for the remainder of the Punjab Assembly’s Budget session after he uploaded a video of unruly scenes between treasury benches and Akali legislators on Facebook. Speaker Rana Kanwarpal Singh handed over the matter to the Privileges Committee and ordered marshals to confiscate Mr. Khaira’s mobile phone. PTI

CM YK

travelling to the country. “At this time, the risk of Zika infection remains low for the U.S. citizen community in India,” says the U.S. State Department note. In March, there was no public confirmation of the presence of Zika in India. On 26 May, two days after the WHO re-classification, the Union Health Ministry confirmed that three laboratory-confirmed cases of Zika

were reported from Ahmedabad between November 2016 and February 2017. The information wasn’t fully made public until the 15 May.

Dengue & chikungunya The three cases of Zika virus were reported from Bapunagar area in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The Zika virus is transmitted through the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti

Srinagar

New Delhi

The J&K government is unlikely to meet the deadline of July 1 to implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in the face of opposition from mainstream parties, traders and separatists. Sources said the special session of the Assembly called by the PDP-BJP government on Saturday was

The final resting place of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal, known as one of the architects of the movement that led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid, will soon be turned into a tourist hub. Singhal, who was charge-sheeted in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case by the CBI, died in 2015. After his death, his ashes were preserved in a monastery in Himachal Pradesh for six months. In June last year,, the ashes were immersed in Tandi Sangam, the intersection of the rivers Chandra and Bhaga in the Lahaul region of Himachal, as the VHP leader had wished. Tandi Sangam is the focus of the Tourism Ministry, which plans to give a facelift to the area through the Chandrabhaga Development Board.

“unlikely to take a final call immediately”. A senior PDP leader told The Hindu that CM Mehbooba Mufti intended to take all the stakeholders, especially the legislators, on board and “will not hurry up enforcing GST”. He said one of the options before the government remained an all-party committee to “find means and ways to implement the GST”.

Convention calls for need to take lead in changing society Panaji

CHANDIGARH

*


‘Hindus must unite to make Ram temple a reality’ Prakash Kamat

AAP MLA suspended for House row video on FB

Reality bites: The Health Ministry said three lab-conirmed cases of Zika were reported from Ahmedabad between November 2016 and February 2017. G. R. N. SOMASHEKAR

mosquito, which also transmits dengue and chikungunya. The Health Ministry said the cases weren’t widely publicised because the outbreak had been contained and the WHO, in December 2016, had said that Zika was no longer an international health emergency. The Hindu has previously reported that the Vibrant Gujarat summit in the State, in January, may have prompted the government to hush up Zika cases. Moreover, another report said, the government also noted 260 cases of microcephaly, a condition associated with Zika in infants, last year. The Indian Council of Medical Research has tested 34,233 human samples and 12,647 mosquito samples for the presence of the virus. Among those, close to 500 mosquitoes samples were collected from the Bapunagar area and were found negative for the virus.

magazines, and other ammunition and hand grenades to actor Sanjay Dutt. The court said the prosecution has proved that after the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, and subsequent communal riots in Bombay, a meeting was called at the Dubai residence of Mohammad Dossa, Mustafa Dosa’s brother.

J&K unlikely to meet July 1 GST deadline Special Correspondent

Taking note of the World Health Organisation (WHO) categorising India last month as a site of active transmission of the Zika virus, the United States sent out an advisory on Friday, informing its citizens in India about the number of confirmed Zika infections in India. The WHO, it noted, placed India as a ‘Category-2’ country for Zika risk. A Category-2, the second highest on a four-point scale and that also includes 2015 Zika-hotspot Brazil, indicates that the virus is being actively transmitted within the country. Until April, India was a Category-4 country. The advisory clarified that the U.S. itself did not see its citizens in India at greater risk for contracting the mosquito-borne infection than from March 2017. It, however, maintains that pregnant women ought not to be

‘Victims forgotten’ “Since then no one has asked about us. The government has forgotten victims. No compensation has been awarded till date. We have not received complete justice.” “Convictions are just one side of the story,” Mr Ajmera said. “The government has done nothing for victims. I’ve spent lakhs on surgeries, but haven't got a single rupee as compensation.

He concealed guns, grenades in secret cavities of car

U.S. issues Zika advisory for India SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

the Babri Masjid demolition, when bullets hit his hand and his stomach, said, “30 victims got together and met a few leading politicians regarding some form of compensation, but there was no action taken.

Abu Salem ferried weapons

*

by Merchant, and he was also present for motivational talks given to them.” Merchant’s expertise and committment to the cause can be seen from the scale of the operation. In a span of just three months — from the meeting in Dubai to March in the same year — he coordinated the procurement of RDX and assault rifles from the ISI, its transport to India, taking recruits to Pakistan via Dubai, bringing them back after

ment should come up with provisions to fast-track cases such as these, so that verdicts can be reached within two years at the most.” This sentiment was echoed by Worli resident Kamala Malkani, who was at Century Bazaar when the blast took place: “I don’t think the verdict has resulted in any justice. Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and Tiger Memon are still absconding. Why was Abdul Qayoom in jail for around a decade, draining taxpayers’ money, if he was to be acquitted? The trial should have been concluded much earlier, if the judgement was to hold any weight for the victims.” Ishwar Sakade, who was injured in the 1993 riots after

Slamming political parties for raising the issue of Ram Temple before elections and then forgetting it later, delegates at the All-India Hindu Convention here on Friday appealed to Hindus to unite in their demand for a Ram Mandir at Ayodhya and ensure that it became a reality. Addressing a session on ‘Task against evil tendencies in the Government’ on the third day of the convention here, T. Raja Singh, BJP MLA of Hyderabad (Telangana) and founder of Shriram Yuva Sena said, “The time

has come to firmly say the first priority is Hindu Dharma, and then politics.’’ State chief of Shiv Sena from Telangana T.N. Murari said “The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti is implementing a policy of appeasement of the minorities and injustice on majority Hindus.”

‘Democracy’s failure’ Quoting Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Ramesh Shinde, national spokesperson of Hindu Janajagran Samiti said however good the Constitution might be, if the rulers were incompetent, democracy will be a failure.

“As many Members of Parliament today are corrupt and are criminals, the failure of democracy has surfaced within 70 years only. To change the system in a democracy, the society cannot afford to remain indifferent, but take the lead and take action in a democratic way,” he said. “An expansive fight have to be organised against evil tendencies by utilising legal ways such as protests, PILs, use of RTI Act etc. This fight itself will be a movement in the direction of establishing an ideal system of a Hindu nation,” he added. A ND-ND


12 WORLD

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU



ELSEWHERE

Baghdadi may be dead, says Russia Doubts remain over veracity of Kremlin’s claim, which has not yet been conirmed independently Reuters MOSCOW/BAGHDAD

Nawaz Sharif retains billionaire status ISLAMABAD

Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif has retained his billionaire status with his declared assets standing at ₹1.72 billion in 2016 despite decline in his fortune, making him one of the richest lawmakers in the country. The poll panel released the information. PTI

In a U-turn, U.S. renews sanctions against Cuba WASHINGTON

The White House on Friday called on the international community to support U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewal of sanctions against Cuba and said that future improved relations with Havana depend on the island nation taking “concrete” steps on reforms. REUTERS

Man with knife held near U.K. Parliament LONDON

British police detained a man on suspicion of having a knife after he ran, shouting, towards one of the gates ofParliament on Friday. A witness at the scene said the man ran towards a Parliament gate where a militant killed a policeman less than three months ago. REUTERS

Death toll rises to 30 in London high-rise fire LONDON

The death toll in the horrific fire that engulfed a 24-storey tower in west London rose to 30 on Friday amid fears that it could climb to over 100. Metropolitan police commander Stuart Cundy said: “The bodies have been taken to a morgue, but more bodies remain.” PTI

Serbia gets its first openly gay PM

Moscow said on Friday its forces may have killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an air strike near the Syrian city of Raqqa last month. There was no initial independent confirmation that Baghdadi had been killed. The U.S.-led military coalition fighting against Islamic State (IS) said it could not confirm the death, and several Iraqi officials told Reuters they were sceptical. The secretive Islamic State leader has frequently been reported killed or wounded since he declared a caliphate to rule over all Muslims from a mosque in Mosul in 2014, after leading his fighters on a sweep through northern Iraq. If the report does prove true, it would be one of the biggest blows yet to Islamic State, which is trying to defend its shrinking territory against an array of forces backed by regional and global powers in both Syria and Iraq. The Russian Defence Ministry said on its Facebook page that it was checking information that Baghdadi was killed in the strike, which it launched after receiving intelligence that a meeting of Islamic State leaders was being planned. “On May 28, after drones were used to confirm the information on the place and time of the meeting of IS leaders, between 00:35 and 00:45, Russian air forces launched a strike on the command point where the leaders were located,” the statement said. “According to the information which is now being checked via various channels, also present at the meeting was Islamic State leader Abu Bakr alBaghdadi, who was eliminated as a result of the strike,” the Ministry said.

VRNJACKA BANJA

Serbia’s Prime Ministerdesignate Ana Brnabic says it is an honour to serve the country and thanked the President for trusting her. President Aleksandar Vucic nominated Ms. Brnabic as the conservative country’s first openly gay Prime Minister, infuriating the nationalists. AP

Not in Raqqa However, a colonel with the Iraqi national security service told Reuters Baghdadi was not believed to have been in Raqqa at the time of the strike in late May. One of Baghdadi’s aides may have been killed rather than Baghdadi himself, the

colonel said. He said that Baghdadi was believed to be operating cautiously in the border area between Iraq and Syria with just a handful of close aides, and avoiding using telecommunications equipment to evade surveillance. Another Iraqi intelligence official said the Russians had not shared any information with Iraqi authorities to indicate Baghdadi was killed. Iraq was checking the report and would announce his death if it received “solid confirmation”. Hoshiyar Zebari, a longserving former Iraqi foreign minister and now a senior adviser to the government of the Kurdish autonomous region, also told Reuters there was no confirmation of Baghdadi's death. The Russian Defence Ministry statement said the strike was believed to have killed several other senior leaders of the group in addition to Baghdadi, as well as around 30 field commanders and up to 300 of their personal guards. The IS leaders had gathered at the command centre, in a southern suburb of Raqqa, to discuss possible routes for the militants’ retreat from the city, the statement said. The U.S. was informed in advance about the place and time of the strike, the Russian military said.

Close to defeat Islamic State fighters are close to defeat in the twin capitals of the group’s territory, Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria, after nearly three years ruling over millions of people in a wide swathe of territory in both countries. The last public video footage of Baghdadi shows him dressed in black clerical robes declaring his caliphate from the pulpit of Mosul's mediaeval Grand al-Nuri mosque back in 2014. A number of senior IS figures have been killed in air strikes or special forces raids since the U.S. launched its campaign against the group in 2014, including Baghdadi’s deputy Abu Ali al-Anbari, the group’s “minister of war” Abu Omar al-Shishani, and its media director Abu Muhammad al-Furqan.

Trump ‘conirms’ he’s under probe President alleges witch-hunt by Mueller Associated Press Washington

U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to confirm Friday that he is under investigation for obstruction of justice, claiming that he is being investigated for firing FBI Director James Comey by the man who told him to do it. It wasn’t clear whether President Trump was basing his tweet on direct knowledge that he is under investigation, or on reports this week that special counsel Robert Mueller is examining whether the president obstructed justice by firing Mr. Comey last month amid the ongoing Russia investigation.

‘The Ghost’ of global jihadism Agence France-Presse Baghdad

Discreet in his youth and invisible as the world’s most wanted man, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi rose through the ranks quietly and patiently to become the undisputed supremo of global jihadists. The 46-year-old Iraqiborn leader of the IS, nicknamed ‘The Ghost’, has not been seen in public since he proclaimed himself “caliph” in the Iraqi city of Mosul three years ago. The fortunes of his “caliphate” have since turned — with massive simultaneous offensives by allied forces against both Mosul and Raqqa. The world’s most-wanted man has been rumoured wounded or killed a number of times in the past. The last sign of life he gave was in November last year after Iraqi forces supported by the aerial might of the coalition launched their reconquest of Mosul, the country’s

Crisis continues in Northern Council

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

second city. Baghdadi was said to have left Mosul earlier this year and has since been reportedly spotted in various areas near the Syrian-Iraqi border. But his whereabouts were never confirmed.

An introvert That low profile — a perfect antithesis to Osama bin Laden — is partly what Baghdadi, who has a $25million U.S. bounty on his head, has owed his rise as well as his survival to. The man who in 2014 became

the overlord of a jihadist state ruling over millions of inhabitants was born Ibrahim Awad al-Badri to a modest family in Samarra, north of Baghdad. An introvert, he was mostly known locally for his skills as a footballer, a sport his group would later target as a product of the Western society jihadists claim to despise. Baghdadi’s high school results were too modest to undertake a law degree and his eyesight too bad to join the Army so he moved to the capital to study Islam, settling in the neighbourhood of Tobchi. “He comes across as someone who was never brilliant but was patient and hard-working,” said Sofia Amara, author of a recently-released documentary that unveiled exclusive documents on Baghdadi. “He had a vision, early on, of where he wanted to go and what kind of organisation he wanted to create,” she said.

No indication Mr. Mueller was appointed as special counsel to investigate Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion by Trump campaign associates with the Russians, but there has been no indication that Mr. Mueller told Mr.

Trump to fire Mr. Comey. “I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt,” the President wrote in his tweet. In another tweet earlier on Friday, Mr. Trump wrote: “After 7 months of investigations & committee hearings about my ‘collusion with the Russians,’ nobody has been able to show any proof. Sad!” Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein submitted a widely circulated memo to the President last month raising concerns over Mr. Comey’s performance, but Mr. Trump later asserted that he had already made the decision himself to fire Mr. Comey. The White House confirmed that Mr. Mueller was among the candidates Mr. Trump interviewed for the FBI post. A day later, Mr. Rosenstein appointed Mr. Mueller, who was at the helm of the FBI during the September 11 attacks, as special counsel.

Helmut Kohl, father of German reuniication, dies Reuters Berlin

Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the architect of German reunification, died on Friday, the Bild newspaper reported. He was 87. Bild reported in its online edition that Mr. Kohl died in the morning in his home in Ludwigshafen, in western Germany. “We mourn,” Kohl’s Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) tweeted with a picture of the former chancellor. Germany's longest serving post-war chancellor from 1982 to 1998, Kohl was a driving force behind the introduction of the euro currency, convincing sceptical Germans to give up their cherished deutschemark.

For united Europe An imposing figure who formed a close relationship with French President Fran-

Helmut Kohl

cois Mitterrand in pushing for closer European integration, Kohl had been frail and wheelchair-bound since suffering a bad fall in 2008. At home, he is celebrated above all as the father of German reunification, which he achieved after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall. Shortly after leaving office, Kohl’s reputation was tarnished by a financing scandal in the CDU, now led by Angela Merkel.


Risking their lives

Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran holds talks with TNA leader R. Sampanthan Meera Srinivasan Colombo

Uncertainty continued in Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council on Friday after discussions between Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan and Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran. Following the CM’s recent move, asking two of his ministers to resign over corruption charges proved by an inquiry, and two others to go on leave — despite insufficient evidence to prove them guilty — a large block of Council members withdrew their support. As many as 21 members wrote to the Northern Province Governor expressing “no confidence” in the Chief Minister. At least 15 of them are from the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), a

key constituent in the TNA. ITAK veteran Mr. Sampanthan spoke to Mr. Wigneswaran over the phone and the leaders tried reconciling their differences, a source in the Northern Provincial Council told The Hindu. “Once they reach an agreement and get the Council members’ support, the members will most probably withdraw the ‘no confidence letter.” However, as of Friday evening, the dissenting members were yet to withdraw their affidavits.

Support for CM Meanwhile, another section of the Council, with 15 members, presented a letter to the Governor supporting the CM. When contacted, Governor Reginald Cooray said: “I am waiting to know the

position of all 38 members of the Council before taking the next step.” The controversy has raised questions about the future of Sri Lanka’s Tamil politics, amid speculations of a possible split within the TNA. Many leaders in the Alliance are reportedly resisting such a split, citing the ongoing negotiations with the Colombo government on a political solution to the Tamil question, through a new Constitution. According to Premananth Thevanayagam, Editor of the widely read Tamil newspaper Uthayan in Jaffna, the gulf between the ITAK and the CM has only been widening and “a patch-up is unlikely”. “It was the ITAK that fielded Mr. Wigneswaran in the 2013 provincial polls, but

the CM’s position shifted drastically after that,” he said. In the August 2015 parliamentary elections, Mr. Wigneswaran campaigned for the critics of the TNA.

Ground support Those backing Mr. Wigneswaran claim “swelling ground support” for the CM. On Friday, they called for a ‘hartal’ in the north, where scores of protesters invited him to be their leader. Carrying banners that read ‘Time to lead’, they hailed him for speaking up against corruption. On the other hand, the ITAK issued a statement blaming the CM for “protecting” corrupt ministers, by treating those who were found guilty and those who were not, the same way.

Tough descent: Workers carry tools and belongings as they climb down the the Jiankou section of the Great Wall, north of Beijing. The workers are trying to restore what is one of the most treacherous and least restored stretches of the Wall. REUTERS *

Finland assessing basic income scheme’s impact ‘BRICS must lead globalisation’ Government is paying 2,000 unemployed people €560 each a month under a two-year experiment

Conference urges nations to stand for open world economy Atul Aneja

Rajeev G.R. Helsinki

Finland is busy tracking data of 2,000 unemployed people who are paid €560 each a month under a two-year universal basic income experiment started by the Nordic nation in January. Finland, which has a welfare system that is often cited as the most generous offered by a nation, embarked on the project after a two-year study as globalisation and the changing work environment are posing new challenges. “Lots of jobs will disappear; new kind of jobs will emerge. There will be more self-employed people and freelancers,” says Olli KanCM YK

gas, Director of Governmental Relations, Kela, the social insurance institution that administers welfare benefits in the country. Finland cuts an average 25% of wages as taxes, and the deductions finance the welfare benefits, including pensions and free medical treatment. But when employment contracts become short term and people get more into self-employment, administering the system will be difficult, Professor Kangas says. In India, while the Economic Survey of 2016-17 recommended universal basic income, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently said the

Professor Olli Kangas

proposal was not politically feasible. In Finland, Kela maintains a register of every permanent resident of the country. All the data collected, even disease and drug consump-

tion details, of the 2,000 people randomly selected for the experiment will be studied. The interim results will not be revealed so as not to skew the results of the study. The 1.7 lakh other unemployed in the Kela registers form the control group. One aspect that will be eagerly looked into is labour behaviour — meaning if anyone is taking up employment. Universal basic income is meant to be paid to all people in a country without conditions, whether rich or poor or employed or unemployed. If many people in the sample under study take up jobs, one assump-

tion will be that the handout is not a disincentive to employment. Finland pays unemployment benefit of €560 for any number of years till the age of 63, when pension payment begins. Hence, people do not take up jobs that pays less than that sum. Political parties in Finland, even partners of the ruling coalition, are divided over universal income. The Green party backs it as most of its supporters are in flexible job contracts and hence require something to fall back on when out of work. The Social Democrats oppose it, saying it will distance the people from the State. The Left supports the idea.

Fuzhou

A major brainstorming exercise involving political parties, think tanks and civil society organisations of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) grouping have counselled emerging economies to lead a new wave of globalisation, and step up the fight against international terrorism. The two-day conference organised by the Communist Party of China (CPC) proposed recommendations for the September summit of BRICS in Xiamen, a coastal city in southeastern China. It advised that a coalition of emerging economies and developing countries should

lead the combat against climate change — a proposal that is aimed to fill the leadership vacuum following the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris climate accord. The Fuzhou conference focused on rewriting the rules of global economic governance led by a coalition of BRICS and developing countries. It also urged the emerging economies to promote sustainable globalisation, and build coalitions to counter climate change.

Equitable world order The Fuzhou Initiative, released at the end of the conference, pointed out that on account of the “setbacks and global challenges” experi-

enced by globalisation, the BRICS and developing countries must “stand firm to preserve and foster an open world economy, champion multilateral trade regime and facilitate healthy development of economic globalisation”. The BRICS should also work towards “a more equitable and reasonable international order, whose rules are no longer defined by the great powers that emerged after the World War II. The initiative also recommended that Intelligence sharing and a cyber-security focus among BRICS should be integrated as part of a collective counter-terrorism strategy. A ND-ND


THE HINDU

BUSINESS 13

NOIDA/DELHI



market watch 16-06-2017

% CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 31,056 ddddddddddddd -0.06 US Dollar dddddddddddddddddddd 64.43 ddddddddddddddd0.15 Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 29,115 ddddddddddddd -0.17 Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 47.25 ddddddddddddddd0.76

NIFTY 50 PRICE CHANGE

ACC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1638.60. . . . . . . 26.50 Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363.15. . . . . . . . . 3.15 Ambuja Cements. . . .. . . . . . 237.25. . . . . . . . . 1.15 Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1145.40. . . . . . . . . 5.10 Aurobindo Pharma . . . . . . 653.70. . . . . . . . . 9.80 Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510.45. . . . . . . . . 2.85 Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2809.80. . . . . . . . -4.60 Bank of Baroda . . . . . .. . . . . . 167.70. . . . . . . . -1.90 Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 364.85. . . . . . . . -0.45 Bosch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24467.30. . . . . 154.70 BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673.80. . . . . . . . . 3.40 Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536.75. . . . . . -12.70 Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255.70. . . . . . . . . 1.50 Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 2682.60. . . . . . -17.90 Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. 28746.90. . . . . . -25.10 GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 378.35. . . . . . . . . 1.75 HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 839.00. . . . . . . . -5.40 HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1640.85. . . . . . . . . 4.00 HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1669.25. . . . . . . . . 4.90 Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 3783.55. . . . . . . . . 5.85 Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195.25. . . . . . . . -1.35 Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1091.80. . . . . . -12.20 Indiabulls HFL . . . . . . . .. . . . 1129.00. . . . . . -20.05 ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316.50. . . . . . . . -0.25 IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1498.90. . . . . . . . . 7.90 Bharti Infratel . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 375.10. . . . . . . . . 0.30 Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 940.25. . . . . . -11.85 Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 404.60. . . . . . . . -2.45 ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306.80. . . . . . . . . 4.90 Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 982.65. . . . . . . 20.05 L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1726.70. . . . . . . . -8.65 Lupin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131.05. . . . . . -51.30 M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1387.30. . . . . . . . -0.35 Maurti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 7263.90. . . . . . -48.40 NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160.60. . . . . . . . . 1.55 ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167.15. . . . . . . . . 0.00 PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 209.95. . . . . . . . -0.40 Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1388.80. . . . . . . . . 4.85 State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285.95. . . . . . . . . 1.95 Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 529.15. . . . . . -14.85 Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 455.75. . . . . . . . . 7.45 Tata Motors DVR. . . .. . . . . . 282.35. . . . . . . . . 9.25 Tata Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77.90. . . . . . . . . 0.80 Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501.95. . . . . . . . -0.60 TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2399.70. . . . . . -11.50 Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 390.30. . . . . . . . -3.35 UltraTech Cement . .. . . . 4125.30. . . . . . . 81.50 Vedanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236.80. . . . . . . . . 0.90 Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255.25. . . . . . . . -5.60 YES Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1443.50. . . . . . . . -2.65 Zee Entertainment . . . . . . 508.05. . . . . . . . -0.30

EXCHANGE RATES Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit except yen at 4 p.m. on June 16 CURRENCY

TT BUY

TT SELL

US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 64.23. . . . . . . 64.55 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 71.71. . . . . . . 72.07 British Pound . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 82.01. . . . . . . 82.43 Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 57.68. . . . . . . 57.97 Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 9.42. . . . . . . . . 9.47 Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 65.88. . . . . . . 66.21 Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 46.40. . . . . . . 46.64 Canadian Dollar . . . . . . . . .. . 48.56. . . . . . . 48.80 Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 15.02. . . . . . . 15.10 Source:Indian Bank

BULLION RATES

CHENNAI

June 16 rates in rupees with previous rates in parentheses Retail Silver (1g) . . . . . . . . . . . 41.70. . . . . (41.80) 22 ct gold (1 g) . .. . . . . . . . . . . 2,761. . . . . (2,770)

Bhushan, Essar Steel among 12 irms listed

‘PSBs need more capital infusion’

RBI had identiied a dozen accounts for insolvency process

NEW DELHI

MANOJIT SAHA Mumbai

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed lenders to immediately move the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to begin insolvency proceedings against 12 defaulters including Essar Steel, Bhushan Steel and Alok Industries, bankers said. According to the bankers, who did not wish to be identified, the RBI has communicated the names of the 12 defaulters to the leaders of the respective lenders' consortiums. State Bank of India (SBI) is the leader of 6 such consortiums, while ICICI Bank and IDBI Bank are the other leaders. The 12 companies account for 25% of the total non-performing assets (NPAs) of the banking system, which is about ₹7 lakh crore. All these accounts have bank loans exceeding ₹5,000 crore each and 60% of the lenders have identified these accounts as nonperforming. Some of theother borrowers are Lanco Infratech, ABG Shipyard, Electrosteel Steels, Jyoti Structures, Bhushan Power & Steel,the bankers said. An RBI official declined to comment on the names of defaulters.

15-days time The central bank has asked lenders to file bankruptcy proceeding against the six largest borrowers within 15 days and move against the rest in 30 days. RBI had formed an Internal Advisory Committee (IAC), which had in its first meeting on June 12 agreed to focus on the top 500 stressed exposures in the banking system.

Debt cleanup: The new insolvency code sets out a tight deadline for restructuring resolutions to be struck. AP *

The IAC hadrecommended 12 NPA accounts for immediate reference under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 . The RBI has not publicised the names of the 12 borrowers. After the case is admitted in the NCLT, insolvency resolution professionals would take over the management of the company, a senior banker said. From the date of admission of the case in the NCLT, resolution professionals along with the committee of creditors would have 180 days to come up with a resolution plan. In some special cases, a 90-day extension could be given by the NCLT. “If the committee of creditors, along with the resolution professionals fails to come out with a resolution plan then the company will go into liquidation,” the

Infosys U.S. head Dadlani quits Karmesh Vaswani to head retail, logistics verticals globally Staff Reporter Bengaluru

Infosys president and head of its America business Sandeep Dadlani, has decided to quit Infosys after a stint of more than 16 years. The decision was announced by Mr. Dadlani on the professional networking website LinkedIn. Infosys garners about 62.3% of its overall revenue from the North American market. Mr. Dadlani is also the Head — Manufacturing, Retail, CPG and Logistics (MRCL) business of Infosys. His resignation comes at a time when the company is trying to transform itself into a digital technology company under the leadership of CEO Vishal Sikka.

‘Pursue interests’ “I have decided to pursue my personal interests elsewhere. Next up: An out-ofthe-world assignment! Stay tuned,” he wrote in a note

Sandeep Dadlani

on LinkedIn. Mr. Dadlani, joined Infosys in 2001, was elevated to the role of head of Americas in 2014 after Mr. Sikka’s appointment. According to Infosys website, Mr. Dadlani runs a portfolio P&L of approximately $2.5 billion globally of the total revenue of $10.2 billion and was helping over 300 clients across the world to embrace digital technologies. He was also the chairman

of Infosys subsidiary EdgeVerve. Infosys said Karmesh Vaswani and Nitesh Banga would replace Mr. Dadlani as Global Head of RCL and Global Head of Manufacturing respectively. Both the appointments would be effective from July 15. “I congratulate Karmesh and Nitesh on their appointments as the global leaders for two of our key strategic industry segments,” Mr. Sikka was cited as saying in a statement. “I have worked closely with them over the last three years and have tremendous faith in their passion for client success and their ability to help clients see and achieve their digital aspirations.” “Sandeep has played a key role in the success of Infosys over his career and in our transformation journey these past three years. We wish him the best in the journey ahead,” he added.

senior banker said on condition of anonymity.

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Eyeing the ‘green’ highway

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

RBI Deputy Governor S.S. Mundra on Friday said public sector banks may require more than the budgeted ₹10,000 crore capital infusion from the government in the current fiscal on account of higher provisioning for bad loans and haircut on stressed assets. “I think the finance minister has always been mentioning if there is a need we will find resources,” he said on the sidelines of an event organised by Assocham. The process of NPA resolution and capitalisation are closely associated, he said, adding that, it appears banks may need additional capitalisation post the exercise and various solutions may emerge as part of insolvency process.

Tech rev: Ashok Leyland unveiled trucks based on the indigenously developed Intelligent Exhaust Gas Recirculation technology in New Delhi on Friday. SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA *

Digital economy: policy push on anvil Revamp of electronics manufacturing norms among measures in pipeline Special Correspondent

Reuters reports: The other companies include Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd and Jaypee Infratech, Reuters reported citing sources with direct knowledge of the matter. CNBC TV18 on Friday reported the 12 names that include Amtek Auto and Era Infra Engineering. The NCLT has been appointed as the nodal court for insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings. The filings could have far reaching implications, as India’s new insolvency code sets out a tight deadline for restructuring resolutions to be struck, failing which the defaulters would be moved into forced liquidation, potentially leading to further value erosion and jeopardizing tens of thousands of jobs.

NEW DELHI

The Centre will soon introduce a slew of policies, including a revamped one on electronics manufacturing and a data protection policy, to achieve the aim of making India a trillion dollar digital economy, Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Friday. “The participants were unanimous that one trillion dollar digital is an understatement and India has the potential of reaching twothree trillion dollar digital economy,” Mr. Prasad told reporters after a meeting with select industry experts invited by the Ministry of Electronics and IT to discuss the roadmap to achieve the target by 2025. The meeting was attended by Nasscom President

Ravi Shankar Prasad

R. Chandrashekhar, Google India’s Rajan Anandan, Wipro’s Rishad Premji, Indian Cellular Association National President Pankaj Mohindroo, Internet and Mobile Association of India President Subho Ray, Tech Mahindra’s C.P. Gurnani and Hike Messenger CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal, among others. After the deliberations it

was decided that the Centre will introduce a new revamped policy to push manufacturing of electronics in the country, Mr. Prasad said. “We will be shortly laying down the new electronics policy because, between the old policy and (now), India under Narendra Modi has changed completely.” “Cyber security was also discussed. Low-cost cyber security products have great potential... and we are going to have a framework for data security and data protection,” he said, adding that they will also come up with a new software product policy.

Start-up policy The minister added that the idea of setting up special innovative zones for start-ups was discussed and a frame-

work for start-up cluster policy will be developed. Mr. Prasad pointed out that the industry highlighted the need to facilitate more start-ups in areas like education, agriculture and healthcare. “I have decided that we will have a coordinated action with Health, Agriculture and HRD Ministries to promote an ecosystem to facilitate more start-ups in these areas.” The industry also highlighted the need for setting up a dispute resolution mechanism and liberal regulatory norms. The government expects digital economy to grow to more than $1 trillion by 2025 from current about $413 billion, with maximum contribution from IT/ITeS sector ($350 billion) and electronics sector ($300 billion).

Income tax collections rise 26.2% PRESS TRUST OF INDIA MUMBAI

Net income tax collection till June 15 grew at a healthy 26.2% to ₹1,01,024 crore from across the country from ₹80,075 crore in the year-ago period. Among the metros, the Mumbai zone registered the highest revenue collection growth during the period with a growth of a whopping 138% at ₹22,884 crore from ₹9,614 crore a year ago, sources at the income tax department here told PTI. The Mumbai zone contributes over one-third of nationwide direct tax collections. The New Delhi zone, which is the second largest contributor to the national kitty, registered a 38% growth at ₹11,582 crore during the period, from ₹8,334 crore a year ago, according to the source.

DEATH

OBITUARY & REMEMBRANCE DEATH ANNIVERSARIES

Amazon to buy Whole Foods for $13.7 bn Acquisition to mark Internet retailer’s biggest foray into brick-and-mortar retail

BIRTH CENTENARY

Reuters

Amazon.com Inc. said on Friday it would buy U.S. organic supermarket chain Whole Foods Market Inc. for $13.7 billion, including debt, marking the Internet retailer’s largest deal and biggest foray into the brick-and-mortar retail sector. The deal, which puts a 27% premium on Whole Foods’ closing share price on Thursday, would give the grocer a major competitive edge by allowing it to tap into Amazon’s massive power to buy and sell goods at a lower cost. Whole Foods recently had come under pressure from activist hedge fund Jana Partners LLC, prompting it to overhaul its board. “I think that this takes all of the pressure off Whole Foods and gives Whole Foods the opportunity to revitalize that business and of course it stems the criticism from all of these activist inCM YK

Competitive edge: The deal will give the grocer the opportunity to tap into Amazon’s massive power to buy and sell goods at a lower cost. REUTERS *

vestors,” said Neil Saunders, MD of GlobalData Retail in New York. The deal values Whole Foods at $42 per share. Excluding debt, the deal is valued at $13.39 billion, based

on 318.9 million diluted shares outstanding as of April 9. The grocer will continue to operate stores under the Whole Foods Market brand, the companies said. John

Mackey will continue as the CEO of Whole Foods, and the company’s headquarters will remain in Austin, Texas. Amazon and Whole Foods expect to close the deal in the second half of 2017. A ND-ND


14 BUSINESS

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU



IN BRIEF

Centre speeds up insolvency process Bankruptcy Board notiies norms to fast track resolution proceedings for corporate debtors tion plan by the Adjudicating Authority. A creditor or a corporate debtor may file an application, along with the proof of existence of default, to the Adjudicating Authority for initiating fast track resolution process.

Special Correspondent New Delhi

Fan makers sweat over 28% GST rate KOLKATA

Fan makers are upset over the 28% Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate ixed for the industry saying that fan was not a luxury item. “Fan is a mass consumption item for the common man, yet fans and air conditioners have been grouped in the same GST bracket of 28%,” said Rohit Mathur, chairman of Indian Fan Manufacturers’ Association.“A price hike may become unavoidable now,” Mr. Mathur said.

TTK Prestige to buy back 1 lakh equity shares CHENNAI

Bengaluru-based TTK Prestige Ltd., has decided to buy back one lakh equity shares of ₹10 each at a price of ₹7,000 on a proportionate basis through tender ofer. It represents 0.86% of the total number of equity shares. The funds for the buy-back will be met from current balances of cash and cash equivalents or internal accruals. As of March 31, 2017, the promoter holding stood at 70%. The balance is with the public.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has notified norms for fasttracking insolvency resolution process for specified category of corporate debtors. This will include small companies, start-ups (other than partnership firms), or unlisted companies with total assets — as reported in the financial statement of the immediately preceding financial year — not exceeding ₹1 crore. “The process in these cases shall be completed within a period of 90 days, as against 180 days in other cases,” according to an official statement on the notification of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Fast Track Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) Regulations, 2017. However, it added that the adjudicating authority may,

Showing the way: IBBI chairperson M.S. Sahoo said recently that the IBC will usher in ‘freedom to exit’ businesses. if satisfied, extend the period of 90 days by a further period of up to 45 days for completion of the process. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has notified the relevant sections of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code

Tourism Ministry wants lower GST for hotel rooms

CCI rejects complaint against Jio

Seeks 28% rate only on rooms priced above ₹10,000 a night

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Chennai

NEW DELHI

Wheels India Ltd. (WIL) of the TVS group and Topy Industries Ltd. of Japan have expanded their technical collaboration in the passenger car steel wheel business into an equity relationship. Under an agreement just signed, Topy will acquire 26% stake in WIL Car Wheels Ltd. (WCWL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wheels India. Topy will be issued fresh shares at a yetto-be determined premium to facilitate its equity investment in WCWL. The equity capital of WCWL is ₹5 crore. While Wheels India’s share will be ₹3.7 crore, the rest will be held by Topy. Wheels India will have three nominees on the

Yuthika Bhargava NEW DELHI

Dr. Reddy’s Srikakulam unit under FDA scanner HYDERABAD

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has issued a Form 483 to the formulations plant (Unit I) of Dr.Reddy’s Laboratories in Srikakulam, AP. “We have been issued a Form 483 with one observation, which we are addressing,” Dr.Reddy’s said in a iling on Friday. USFDA issues Form 483 when its investigator (s), observes any conditions that may constitute violation of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act and related Acts.

CM YK

(IBC), 2016 pertaining to the Fast Track Process, the statement said. These regulations provide the process from initiation of insolvency resolution of eligible corporate debtors till its conclusion with approval of the resolu-

Appointing IRP After the application is admitted, the interim resolution professional (IRP) is appointed. If the IRP is of the opinion, based on the records of corporate debtor, that the fast track process is not applicable to the corporate debtor, he shall file an application before expiry of 21 days from the date of his appointment, to the Adjudicating Authority to pass an order to convert the fast track process into a normal corporate insolvency resolution process, the government said. India was ranked 136th out of 190 countries in the in-

dicator ‘resolving insolvency’ in the last edition of the World Bank’s (ease of ) Doing Business Report. In a bid to improve this ranking, the government had carried out the reform of bringing in the IBC and the new elements of the Indian corporate insolvency ecosystem – including the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and its appellate body as well as the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India. About 67 cases have been filed across 11 NCLT benches and some of them involve large defaults (above ₹10 billion). IBBI Chairperson M.S. Sahoo had said recently that the IBC will usher in ‘freedom to exit’ businesses, help in efficient and optimum utilisation of resources, develop debt market, and lead to a more inclusive growth. IBC can help push GDP growth from 7%-plus to over 9%, he said.

Ahead of the meeting of the GST Council on Sunday, the Tourism Ministry has sought lower tax rate for hotel rooms under the new indirect tax regime, stating that the higher rate of 28% will hurt the sector. The GST Council, had in its meeting held in Srinagar last month, said that accommodations where room rent is ₹5,000 or more per room for a night, will attract 28% GST. Rooms with tariff between ₹2,500 and ₹5,000 will attract 18% GST, while those with tariff between ₹1,000 and ₹2,500 will fall in the 12% slab. Services by

Not cosy: GST rate of 28% will hurt the sector, says the Tourism Secretary. REUTERS *

lodging providers with tariff less than ₹1,000 are exempt from GST. “Hotel is a key component of the tourism industry…each hotel room

helps create atleast 4-5 jobs. We need to build at least one lakh new rooms in the country. For this, we need the right environment…GST rate of 28% is going to hurt the sector,” Tourism Secretary Rashmi Verma told The Hindu. In a letter to her counterpart in the Finance Ministry, Ms. Verma has requested that either the tax rate be brought down to 18% or the threshold for a 28% GST be increased to rooms with tariff of more than ₹10,000 per night. The Secretary said that the tax incidence on these rooms currently was in the range of 19-21%.

Hiranandani to build ‘afordable’ homes They will be priced less than ₹20 lakh N. Anand CHENNAI

Hiranandani Communities, a real estate venture of Niranjan Hiranandani, will start building affordable homes at its Oragadam township near Chennai soon, chairman and managing director Niranjan Hiranandani said. “We are going to focus on affordable housing segment,” Mr. Hiranandani said. “The work will start in the next six months and we will offer homes for less than ₹20 lakh.” “There is a huge aspirational crowd commuting to this place from long distances for work. We are going to focus on this segment. Though we have not decided upon the number of dwelling units, we will earmark 10 acres for it,” he said, adding that the new

project would be named ‘Aspire.’ According to him, the Oragadam integrated township, spread over 350 acres, will be a community with a mix of middle-income and rich people. “We have already constructed and handed over low-rise buildings. We will offer Aspire with a single and double bedrooms ranging from 350-700 sq.ft. It will be offered for ₹3,000 per sq.ft.,” he said.

Topy to buy 26% in Wheels unit Wheels India subsidiary to issue shares to Japanese irm 2016-17 for Wheels India. Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Srivats Ram, Managing Director of Wheels India, said the stake buy would have to get required regulatory clearances. He expected the process to be completed by the end of next quarter.

K.T. Jagannathan

For the second time in a week, the Competition Commission has dismissed allegations of unfair business practices made against Mukesh Ambaniled Reliance Jio Infocomm. The complaint mainly pertained to the free services offered by the new telecom player and allegations that it indulged in predatory pricing. This is the second time that the Competition Commission of India has rejected a complaint against Reliance Jio. On June 9, the Competition Commission had dismissed similar allegations made by telecom major Bharti Airtel.

Niranjan Hiranandani

Srivats Ram

board of WCWL. Topy will have one representative. Wheels India will transfer its entire passenger car steel wheel business carried out at its two plants — Padi, near here, and Bawal in Haryana, to the new company on a slump sale basis. The passenger car steel wheel business fetched a turnover of ₹224.30 crore in

Intense business Mr. Ram said the passenger car steel wheel “is a focussed and intense business.” The pact with Topy would allow for free flow of technology from the Japanese company. There were also talks between the two companies on tapping markets in neighbouring countries. Mr. Ram also hinted that that the joint venture could be looking at a greenfield project in Gujarat.

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My preparations paying of: Kohli Gives credit to batting coach Sanjay Bangar and throw-down specialist Raghavindra Shreedutta Chidananda LONDON

When he pushed Sabbir Rahman to long-off and jogged over for a single, Virat Kohli did not immediately realise what he had accomplished. A congratulatory message appeared on the big screen a moment later, and a cheer went up all around Edgbaston. Kohli acknowledged it with a half-wave of the bat, gave Rohit Sharma at the other end a thumbs up, and carried on. As far as milestones go, 8,000 runs in one-day cricket is perhaps not the grandest, but it is yet another endorsement of his abilities that Kohli has got there quicker than anyone else. Thursday's knock was flawless and brutal, full of the sort of shots we are now used to seeing: half-volleys driven with ease, gaps picked with inch-perfect precision, and rubbish from part-timers dismissed with contempt. It was Kohli's finest effort at this Champions Trophy, although it was slightly overshadowed by Rohit Sharma's smooth century. "I was feeling really good," he said afterwards. "I wanted to give myself some time, 1015 balls, I always do that. Last time around, we lost an early wicket, so I had to play with a bit more patience. “Today was an opportunity to express myself. As I got going after 30-35, I grew in confidence and when you're coming onto the ball and hitting the short ball well, you know you're playing well." The India captain now has scores of 81 n.o., 0, 76 n.o. and 96 n.o. in four innings at the tournament and it seems like he has barely broken sweat.

Breaking new ground: The Indian fans will hope Virat Kohli takes his rich vein of form into the inal. AP *

Perhaps, it is so because of how routine he has made all this seem: a fifty does not stand out anymore. Kohli effectively made the same point last week, defending A.B. de Villiers' supposed loss of form. “I actually empathize with him," he had said. "I go through this a lot as well. You set [really high] standards for yourself and then [when you don't meet them],

CHAMPIONS TROPHY people get shocked." It was de Villiers' record Kohli smashed against Bangladesh, getting to 8,000 in 175 innings, seven fewer than his good friend needed. It was not that long ago that Kohli was going through a bit of a trough — by his standards, of course. The Australia Test series was a

disappointment and the IPL — in comparison to his colossal deeds the year before — was only middling. He arrived in London having led India through a long home season of cricket without much of a break, when his Champions Trophy began against an unpleasant backdrop, with reports of discord between skipper and coach. And yet Kohli's batting this last fortnight has been thoroughly dominant; the runs have not stopped flowing. “I'm really enjoying the way I'm batting,” he said on Thursday. “For me the number of runs do not matter at this stage. I'm really enjoying the process. It gives me joy that whatever I'm practising and how I prepared after the IPL is paying off in this tournament. “I'm pretty happy getting the team across the line. It doesn't matter if it's three figures or two or even one." Some credit for his success had to go to Sanjay Bangar, India's batting coach, and Raghavindra, the team's throw-down specialist from the NCA, he pointed out. “On a personal level, I can say that whatever improvements I've had in my batting over the last two years is because of these two. Their input is priceless, they have taken my batting to another level.” Today, only two active players have more ODI runs: Yuvraj Singh (8,622) and M.S. Dhoni (9,338). And Kohli has seven years on both of them. He will carry on, scoring more runs, breaking new ground, defining a new normal. Indian fans will hope Sunday is no exception.


Young turks

Pat for Pakistan Special Correspondent LONDON

Virat Kohli, meanwhile, hailed Pakistan's dramatic journey to the final after having begun the campaign with a huge loss to India. “The turnaround has been magnificent,” he said. “Obviously, to reach the final you have to play some good cricket, and credit to them, they've turned things around for themselves really well. “They've beaten sides that looked really strong, but just the belief they showed on the field, the way they played together as a team [was great].”

Umpires named for inal Agence France-Presse London

South Africa’s Marais Erasmus and England’s Richard Kettleborough will be the on-field umpires for the Champions Trophy final between India and Pakistan. Erasmus, 53, will be standing in his 71st ODIwhile it will be Kettleborough’s 72nd. Australia’s Rod Tucker will be the TV umpire, with Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharmasena the reserve official. David Boon will be the match referee.

Time to end India’s dominance: Azhar When we're good we're very good, but when we're bad we're very poor, says the Pakistan bowling coach were fighting to qualify for the World Cup and now if we win this one, it will be a great boost for us. It will be a good gift for the nation for Eid.”

Shreedutta Chidananda London

Azhar Mahmood says he's not one for statistics, but he knows some numbers rather well. Pakistan's head-tohead record against India in ODIs is 72-52, he pointed out at the Oval on Friday. However, Pakistan has never beaten India in the ICC World Cup, and both of its wins in the Champions Trophy (in 2004 and 2009) came in pool matches. It was time, the former Pakistan all-rounder and current bowling coach felt, to end India's dominance in ICC events. “Overall, if you see our record, we’ve beaten India quite often. Definitely, they have had an upper hand in ICC tournaments, but now things have changed and this is the time for us to change the script,” he said. It wouldn't be a shock if Pakistan beat India, he stated. “We're playing good cricket. It won't be a shock. We were No. 8 when we came here and no one gave us credit. At the start, someone asked me who would be in the final, and I said Pakistan. Because I believe in my boys and if the boys can believe that, we can go and win this one.” Pakistan did not want to be known as an unpredictable side, Mahmood insisted. “We played against England last year, they got 440 against us but we beat them in Cardiff with good planning and the way the bowlers executed our plans. That's why we're so unpredictable and that's why we

Azhar Mahmood.

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Amir may play He said, Mohammad Amir had recovered from the back spasms that kept him out of the semifinal against England and was fit to play on Sunday. “He bowled today. He had no problem whatsoever. Back spasms take two days anyway. We'll definitely go with Amir, but we don't mind, if Amir is not playing, then we have Rumman Raees. “Raees is a quality bowler as well and he showed in the semifinal that he can do the job for us." Hasan Ali had shaken off a calf niggle, Mahmood added. “He’s one of the best bowlers Pakistan have right now. He’s a wicket-taker, and the reason for our wins is that he comes in the middle period and takes wickets. “We have an attacking option now with the old ball and new," he said.

REUTERS

have a lot of following. “Because if we play good cricket we can beat any team. When we're good we're very good but when we're bad we're very poor. We want to change that — me and Mickey Arthur and all the coaching staff, we want to bring those things together." It would mean a lot to Pakistan to defeat India and win a trophy, Mahmood said. “India refused to play against us; we're playing now on a bigger stage. It's like the Ashes; it's bigger than the Ashes. We haven't been playing cricket at home; this is an ICC event and we're ranked No. 8. “Two months back we

Rana, Shaw at the helm for England under-19 tour

Stick to what has worked: Dravid Press Trust of India

Special Correspondent

New Delhi

Mumbai

India skipper Virat Kohli should avoid making any changes to the team for the Champions Trophy summit clash against Pakistan on Sunday, believes former captain Rahul Dravid. “I think Virat has to stick to what’s worked well for him. India loves chasing. They have got some really experienced players who have played in big pressure games, they know how to handle these situations and I think this is a tactic that works for them,” Dravid said. India has done well chasing, but if it has to put up a big total lower-order batsmen Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya would have to play a big role, he said.

Himanshu Rana will lead the India under-19 team in two four-day matches and Prithvi Shaw in five one-day matches during the tour of England next month.

Captains’ moments: India captain Virat Kohli, left, and Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed are no strangers to leading teams to tournament triumph. Kohli won the ICC Under-19 World Cup beating South Africa in 2008 and Sarfraz did so subduing India a couple of years earlier. AP *

Mixed day for Schippers Andre De Grasse crowned 100m champion Agencies

DIAMOND LEAGUE

Oslo

World champion Dafne Schippers’ 25th birthday celebrations almost fell flat on Thursday when the Dutch sprint star was involved in a bizarre 200 metres at the Oslo Diamond League meeting when the Dutchwoman false-started, was allowed to race and won, was then disqualified and finally reinstated. Schippers, the 2015 World champion and silver medallist at the Rio Olympics last year, was originally disqualified for a false start. She was then allowed to run under protest, taking an impressive victory in 22.30sec before she was disqualified again after the race. Ivory Coast’s Murielle Ahoure was crowned the winner with a season’s best 22.74sec before the event took another twist later when Schippers was reinstated on appeal. The results: Men: 100m: 1. Andre De Grasse (Can) 10.01, 2. Chijindu Ujah (GBr) 10.02, 3. Ben Youssef Meite (CIV) 10.03; 400m: 1. Baboloki Tirelo Thebe (Bot) 44.95, 2. Matthew Hudson-Smith (GBr) 45.16, 3. Pavel Maslak (Cze) 45.52; 1500m: 1.

CM YK

Jake Wightman (GBr) 3:34.17, 2. Elijah Manangoi (Ken) 3:34.30, 3. Marcin Lewandowski (Pol) 3:34.60; 400m hurdles: 1. Karsten Warholm (Nor) 48.25, 2. Yasmani Copello (Tur) 48.44, 3. Thomas Barr (Irl) 48.95; High Jump: 1. Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qat) 2.38, 2. Bohdan Bondarenko (Ukr) 2.29, 3. Derek Drouin (Can) 2.25; Discus: 1. Daniel Stahl (Swe) 68.06, 2. Fredrick Dacres (Jam) 67.10, 3. Philip Milanov (Bel) 66.39. Women: 200m: 1. Dafne Schippers (Ned) 22.31, 2. Murielle Ahoure (CIV) 22.74, 3. Simone Facey (Jam) 22.77; 800m: 1. Caster Semenya (RSA) 1:57.59,

2. Francine Niyonsaba (Bur) 1:58.18, 3. Margaret Wambui (Ken) 1:59.17; 3000m steeplechase: 1. Norah Jeruto Tanui (Ken) 9:17.27, 2. Sofia Assefa (Eth) 9:17.34, 3. Fabienne Schlumpf (Sui) 9:21.65; 100m hurdles: 1. Pamela Dutkiewicz (Ger) 12.73, 2. Kristi Castlin (US) 12.75, 3. Isabelle Pedersen (Nor) 12.75; Pole vault: 1. Yarisley Silva (Cub) 4.81, 2. Anzhelika Sidorova (Rus) 4.75, 3. Lisa Ryzih (Ger) 4.65. Long jump: 1. Tianna Bartoletta (US) 6.79, 2. Darya Klishina (Rus) 6.75, 3. Claudia Salman-Rath (Ger) 6.63; Discus: 1. Sandra Perkovic (Cro) 66.79, 2. Yaime Perez (Cub) 66.24, 3. Denia Caballero (Cub) 63.29.

Frontrunner: Dafne Schippers, left, had a bizarre birthday as she was disqualiied and reinstated in the 200m. AFP *

Ronaldo seeks Madrid exit Reuters Lisbon

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo wants to leave the club and Spain after being accused of committing tax fraud in the country, a report in Portuguese sports daily A Bola said on Friday. The newspaper said its story was based on a reliable source and that the 32-yearold four-times World Player of the Year had already made up his mind to ask the club for a transfer. It said that Ronaldo was “deeply disenchanted” with the allegations against him. Spanish prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against the player accusing him of defrauding tax authorities of €14.7m by hiding his image rights income between 2011 and 2014. Ronaldo has denied any wrongdoing. Ronaldo has completed eight seasons at Real Madrid since joining it from Manchester United in 2009 for a then world record fee of €96 million. He is currently at the Confederations Cup in Russia with the Portuguese team.

The teams: For four-day matches: Himanshu Rana (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Manjot Kalra, Riyan Parag Das, S. Radhakrishnan, Harvik Desai, Het Patel, Harsh Tyagi, Ashok Sandhu, Rahul Chahar, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Darshan Nalkande and Vivekanand Tiwari. For one-dayers: Prithvi Shaw (capt), Shubman Gill, Himanshu Rana, S. Radhakrishnan, Salman Khan, Abhishek Sharma, Harvik Desai, Het Patel, Anukul Roy, Shiva Singh, Rahul Chahar, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam

Himanshu Rana and Prithvi Shaw. Mavi, Yash Thakur and Ishan Porel. The schedule: July 19-20: Warm-up game at NCPC. July 23-26: First four-day match at Chesterfield; July 31 to Aug. 3: Second four-day

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FILE PHOTOS

match at Worcester. Aug. 7: First one-dayer at Cardiff; Aug. 9: Second onedayer at Canterbury; Aug. 13: Third one-dayer at Hove; Aug.14: Fourth one-dayer at Bristol; Aug. 16: Fifth onedayer at Taunton.

Fowler takes a one-shot lead Big guns Johnson and McIlroy fail to ire in the opening round US OPEN Agencies Erin Hills (Wisconsin)

American Rickie Fowler tamed Erin Hills to claim the first-round lead at the US Open on Thursday, making the so-called toughest test in golf look easy with a recordequalling display while the big guns failed to fire. Fowler returned a sevenunder 65 for a one-shot lead over Xander Schauffele and Paul Casey. Starting from the 10th, Fowler returned a bogeyfree effort that matched the lowest first round score in relation to par at a US Open. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson opened the defence of his crown with a shaky three-over 75, while No. 2 Rory McIlroy, sidelined for much of the year with rib and back injuries, began with an eagle but could not shake the rust, fading to sixover 78 after being punished by the brutal fescue rough several times. The tournament started without Phil Mickelson, the five-time Major winner withdrawing to attend his daughter’s high school graduation.

Important results (first round): 65: Rickie Fowler (USA); 66: Paul Casey (Eng), Xander Schauffele (USA); 67: Brian Harman (USA), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Brooks Koepka (USA). 68: Patrick Reed (USA), Kevin Na (USA), Marc Leishman (Aus), Adam Hadwin (Can); 69: Jamie Lovemark (USA), J.B. Holmes (USA), Lee Westwood (Eng), Andrew Johnston (Eng), Kim Si-Woo (Kor), Scottie Scheffler (USA), Jim Furyk (USA), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut); 70: Charley Hoffman (USA), Brandt Snedeker (USA), Ernie Els (RSA), Jack Maguire (USA), Brandon Stone (USA), William McGirt (USA), Sergio Garcia (Esp), Shane Lowry (Irl), Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Jim Furyk (USA), Cameron Champ (USA), Derek Barron (USA).

Perfect start: Rickie Fowler claimed the irst-round honours at the US Open with a record-equalling display. AFP *

Players stunned by blimp crash Agence France-Presse Erin Hills (wiSconsin)

A blimp shooting aerial images at the US Open caught fire and crashed with the pilot apparently parachuting from the aircraft as it plummeted to earth in front of horrified players and

spectators on Thursday. Golf stars and fans at Erin Hills Golf Course looked on in disbelief as the aircraft could be seen falling from the sky near the venue. Local media reports and video footage of the crash shared on social media

indicated a fire on board the blimp before it plunged from the sky. Officials later said the pilot was being treated for injuries. The dramatic incident was witnessed by several players as they progressed through the opening round. A ND-ND


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THE HINDU



India sets sights on Pakistan clash

IN BRIEF

But irst up it will have to negotiate Canada in its second pool match HWL SEMIFINAL Press Trust of India

Players understood my message: Oltmans

London

India plays Canada in its second pool match of the Hockey World League Semifinal here on Saturday, but it has already set sights on Sunday’s much-anticipated clash against Pakistan. Although India skipper Manpreet Singh tried to downplay the hype surrounding the Pakistan encounter, he said the team will be going out all guns blazing to garner full points. “We always look at Pakistan as just another team and we always look at earning those three points from the match to advance in the league stage,” the midfielder said on the eve of the match against Canada. “They (Pakistan) are a good side, but we have had a good start to the tournament. The idea will be to stick to the plans the coach draws up before the match against both Canada and Pakistan. The plan will be to bring in more aggression into our game and aim at fin-

LONDON

India rallied from a goal down to beat Scotland 4-1 in its Hockey World League Semifinals opener on Thursday and head coach Roelant Oltmans attributed the win to the changes made after half time. “At half time I told them a few things and they understood the message. I am not aggressive, from my point of view, the key is to improve and I asked them to change a few things and they did,” Oltmans said. PTI

India may bid for Olympics 2032 CHENNAI

N. Ramachandran, president of the Indian Olympic Association, said the Central Government in principle has accepted to bid for the 2032 Olympics. “It is still in a preliminary stage. We have to get a lot of approvals,” he said.

Key player: With a crucial clash against Pakistan ahead, India will look to the likes of Akashdeep Singh, who scored against Scotland, to deliver.

ishing on top of the table in the league stage,” said an optimistic Manpreet. Even though India pocketed a comfortable 4-1 win over lowly Scotland on Thursday, it was far from impressive at the start. India conceded an early goal before making a strong

It’s PSPB vs CRPF

comeback after half time. A ‘pep-talk’ by chief coach Roelant Oltmans during the 10-minute break at half-time changed the course of the match and Ramandeep Singh (31st, 34th), Akashdeep Singh (40th) and Harmanpreet Singh (42nd) struck in quick time to turn

the game around. “We knew we didn’t start well. But coach gave us that confidence during the break saying there’s still 30 minutes to go and nothing is lost yet. He asked us to bring more energy and aggression into our game,” Manpreet said. “He reminded us about

Asav triumphs

the strategic planning we had made ahead of the match against Scotland and asked us to execute it and not think of the misses we had in the first two quarters,” the skipper said about the animated dressing room talk. After the mini scare against Scotland, India cannot afford to take any side lightly even if Canada is ranked 11th in the world as against India’s sixth. “Though the team is ranked below us, we don’t want to take them lightly. They can come up with a good game and hence it is important for us to stick to the roles assigned by our coach and execute them as planned,” Manpreet said. He further emphasised that India has no added pressure as being the host it is already assured of a place in the Hockey World League Final to be held in Bhubaneswar later this year. “We play with no pressure. We just want to perform to our potential and enjoy ourselves while giving our best,” he said.

Lucknow

Favourite Petroleum Sports Promotion Board continued its march towards the title with a 5-2 victory over Central Secretariat in the semifinals of the senior National hockey championship B-Division here. Central Reserve Police Force beat CISF 1-0 in the other semifinal. In the league matches of the A-Division, Namdhari XI beat Jharkhand 6-0. Sukhdev Singh and Harwinder Singh scored twice each. Karnataka held Air India to a goalless draw in Pool-D.

Mahesh goes down ighting INVERCARGILL (NEW ZEALAND)

India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar went down fighting to the top seed Ivan Yuen of Malaysia in the quarterfinals of the ILY-Community Trust NZ southern open, a PSA world tour tournament here on Friday. The Malaysian, ranked 35 rungs above the sixth seeded Indian won 14-12, 11-6, 6-11, 9-11, 11-9.

Indians bag ive medals in Asian jr. meet NEW DELHI

The results: Semifinals: B-DiPSPB 5 (V.R. vision: Raghunath, Jarnail Singh, Roshan Minz, Vikas Sharma,

India bagged five medals, including a gold in the 2017 Asian Junior wrestling championships in Taiwan on Friday. India’s gold came in the women’s 51kg freestyle category through Puja. Besides Puja, Sonu clinched a silver medal in 44kg while Manu claimed a bronze in the 59kg division. Satish won silver in the 120kg GrecoRoman style while Manish took the bronze in the 50kg category. PTI

Devinder Walmiki) bt CSE 2 (Hassan Basha, Jayesh Jadhav); CRPF 1 (Jayant Tirkey) bt CISF 0. A Division: Pool-A: Namdhari XI 6 (Sukhdev Singh-2, Harwinder Singh-2, Gagandeep Singh, Udhampreet Singh) bt Jharkhand 0; UP 2 (Sunil Yadav-2) bt SSCB 1 (Jugraj Singh). Pool B: Gangpur-Odisha 5 w/o FCI 0 (forfeit is considered 5-0); CAG 3 (S.S. Bundela-2, Siddarth Shankar) bt Bhopal 0. Pool C: Mumbai 2 (Victo Singh, Vikram Yadav) drew with MPHA 2 (Avneesh Kumar Sen, Vikas Chaudhary); Patiala 1 (Kawaljit Singh) drew with PSB 1 (Karamjit Singh). Pool D: Chandigarh 2 (Sandeep Singh, Damajit Singh) bt Haryana 1 (Gagandeep Singh); Karnataka 0 drew with Air India 0.

Princy is the girls’ champion

New Delhi

Anunay Singh picked up three wickets to help Vikaspuri Coaching Centre beat Wonders Club Noida by 13 runs in the first Admiral Cricket Super League.

Sports Bureau Chandigarh

Asav Kumar and Princy Panchal won the boys’ and girls’ under-16 titles in the AITA Talent series junior tennis tournament at the Chandigarh Club on Friday. Ridhima Mehra who lost the under-16 final, won the under-14 title, beating Pawandeep Kaur. The results: Finals: Boys: Under-16: Asav Kumar bt Ajay Singh 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. Under-14: Aryan Thakur bt Samarbir Sidhu 6-1, 7-5. Finals: Girls: Under-16: Princy Panchal bt Ridhima Mehra 6-1, 6-0. Semifinals: Princy Panchal bt Simran Pritam 6-4, 4-6, 6-3; Ridhima Mehra bt Riya Kaushik

Agar replaces O’Keefe for Bangladesh tour Associated Press Melbourne

Ashton Agar will replace Stephen O’Keefe as Nathan Lyon’s partner in Australia’s spin bowling attack for its security-delayed two-Test tour of Bangladesh, which pacer Mitchell Starc will miss because of injury. Australia had been scheduled to travel to Dhaka and Chittagong for two Tests in October 2015, but the trip was postponed after national cricket authorities received security warnings from the Australian government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Australians haven’t played a Test in Bangladesh in more than a decade, but did play in a three-match limited-over international series in Dhaka in 2011. O’Keefe and Starc were two of the better bowlers on Australia’s last tour of the Indian subcontinent, which

Ashton Agar.

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R.V. MOORTHY

ended in a 2-1 win for India, but were missing from the squad announced on Friday. The 23-year-old Agar has played two Tests, including a stunning debut when he scored 98 batting at No. 11 against England in 2013. The squad: Steve Smith (Capt.), David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Hilton Cartwright, Matthew Wade, Pat Cummins, James Pattinson, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar.

Anunay picks up three wickets Sports Bureau

Sports Bureau

CRICKET

The scores: VCC 181 in 41.1 overs (Aryan Tyagi 40, Jawant Singh 39, Sanjeev Chaturvedi

three for 12) bt Wonders Club Noida 168 in 43.3 overs (Kush Chaturvedi 51 n.o., Anunay Singh three for 18).

Big win for Maharaja Agrasen Academy Varun Yadav’s 83 and Rushal Saini’s 69, along with good bowling from Karan Garg and Pawan Kapoor, helped

Maharaja Agarsen Academy thrash Young Friends Club by 196 runs in the 5th ACE under-14 cricket tournament. The scores: MAA 278 for five in 30 overs (Varun Yadav 83, Rushal Saini 69) bt YFC 82 for seven in 30 overs (Kartik Tyagi 37 n.o., Karan Garg three for 12).

Aditi tied 25th after irst round Press Trust of India Grand Rapids (USA)

Asav Kumar. 7-5, 6-1. Under-14: Ridhima Mehra bt Pawandeep Kaur 6-1, 6-2.

India’s Aditi Ashok dropped a late bogey in what was a superb round as she carded three-under 68 to be placed tied 25th after the first round of the Meijer LPGA Classic golf tournament here. Aditi, who is seeking to rebound from two missed cuts

in her last three starts, is five shots behind the leader, Canadian Brooke Henderson (63), at Blythefield Country Club. Aditi, who attacks par-5s, had three birdies and an eagle, but bogeys on third and 16th saw her finish the day at three-under. Meanwhile, Brooke Henderson stole the show

but LPGA Tour rookie Jennifer Ha was making her own noise after a six-underpar 29 on her first nine holes. She eventually finished at seven-under par 64 for tied second with five others, including Lexi Thompson, Shanshan Feng and Stacy Lewis.

BADMINTON

BAI to stick to National Sports Code

Warriors celebrate triumph with street parade NBA Agence France-Presse

Press Trust of India Jaipur

The Badminton Association of India (BAI), on Friday, made it clear that it will stick to the National Sports Code, which has been adopted in its constitution. BAI joint secretary K.K. Sharma said there had been a discussion on modifying its constitution in accordance with the National Sports Act and added that there was no mention of the Lodha Committee recommendations in the BAI executive committee meeting. “Yes there were discussions on how to modify the constitution to incorporate the suggestions made in the National Sports Code but

Ranieri becomes Nantes coach NANTES:

Former Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri, the architect of the Foxes’ fairytale Premier League triumph, has signed a twoyear deal to become the coach of Nantes, the French club confirmed on Thursday. “FC Nantes are delighted to announced the arrival of Claudio Ranieri,” the club said on its website. AFP

there was no mention of the Lodha Committee. We have already adopted National Sports Code in our constitution and we want to adhere to that,” said Sharma. “The matter would be discussed again since it is crucial. There will be another meeting on July 30 to take these points forward,” he said. Sharma refuted claims that a lobby was trying to unsettle national coach Pullela Gopi Chand. “We all have high respect for Gopi Chand. He is one of the most respected sports persons of the country and it already has been announced that he would continue as national coach.”

San Francisco

Golden State Warriors celebrated its latest NBA championship on Thursday, waving to the crowd from atop double-decker buses as its victory parade weaved through the streets of downtown Oakland. The jubilant players hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy and gave high fives to their fans as confetti filled the air. The parade ended on the shores of Lake Merritt where coach Steve Kerr and the players addressed the crowd during an 80-minute rally. “We need to enjoy this to the fullest,” star guard Stephen Curry said. “This whole day, this whole atmosphere, is unbelievable.”

“There is nobody having more fun than me,” Warriors owner Joe Lacob said. “This is the best job in the world.” The championship was the first of forward Kevin Durant’s career, and the NBA finals MVP took in the moment. “It means the world for me to win the championship,” Durant told the crowd. “Hopefully, we can keep it going. Thank you for the support. It has been a crazy year for me. Going through this year was so much fun. You come into work each day and it is more like fun.” Warriors went 40 years between titles after winning the crown in 1975. Three of the franchise’s five titles were secured after the team moved to the Bay Area from Philadelphia.

Momentous occasion: The jubilant players hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy and gave high ives to their fans as confetti illed the air at the victory parade. AFP *

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29 Sacking leader — Legally correct, aesthetically disagreeable! (5) 30 Pressure increasing in hostile environment in an unforeseen way (12)

FAITH

SUDOKU

Eicacy of His name

6 Annual play's climax ahead of its time (6) 7 Judges call up celebrity about case inally (5) 8 Robbed section of Bristol emporium (5) 9 Whistle on receiving inal posting (7) 14 Completely remove money from everything to win that woman! (10) 17 Fine pull played with toe-end of bat is productive (9) 18 First lady's visa rejected — It's hard to obtain! (7)

■ DOWN

30

■ ACROSS 1 Rafael Nadal is one presently in form, overcoming athletes at the top (6,6) 10 First digit hidden by mammoth umbrella (5) 11 Rating given to person who receives protection against damage (9) 12 Yet, all went wrong in the last few days! (6)

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13 Overwhelmed by uncontrolled desire, a lady's conceived! (8) 15 Too many cryptic clues not wise when there's no time (9) 16 One playing to win Paris' top tournament (4) 20 Very good man gets a broad (4) 21 Cut westwards next to irst concrete junction to escape law enforcers (9)

2 With heart essentially broken, one quits relationships (9) 3 Writer's tip on expensive eating (8) 4 Gasp as Indian man drops point (4) 5 Top-brass has replied in bizarre fashion (10)

19 Arrestin' — In other words, to keep under check (8) 22 Respected man's Spinner's superior (6) 23 Distributes lemonade also, bottled (5) 25 Designed riles without large triggers (5) 27 What an aggregator does to draw in commercials (4)

Solution to puzzle 12035 L A I C Q P U E T R P H WA R H A O H

I F E I N S U I N E O N V E L O A A F B L I C S T U U A D E O F F S Y F E S T F I R P A C T E R S K I P T E M S T R I N G I A C E A V Y H Y D

R A N C E A E L C I P E D E I T E A T U A R Y L N L L I L Y U S T MA T E P R O R P H A N N R D S A R E A O N I R O G E N

Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

Seeing the dangers that seem to surround the life of child Krishna, Yasodha and other womenfolk in Vraja perform ceremonies for the child’s protection against all evils. They tie a talisman and chant the divine names of the Lord for the child’s safety. Even as Krishna accepts these rituals that use His own name to protect Him, the truth to be understood is that fear, which frightens all mortal beings, is frightened of the Lord, pointed out Srimati Prema Pandurang in a discourse. It is generally seen that the Lord’s name is more powerful than the Lord Himself. Draupadi transcends her pitiable and helpless plight in the Kuru court when she calls out to Krishna with single minded faith and courage in her heart. Krishna might have been in Dwaraka, but the unseen grace and power of His name comes to her rescue and this event has come to stay as a historic one in the annals of bhakti. In the Ramayana, when the Sethu is being built by the Vanaras, each boulder that is picked from the land is sanctified by Rama Nama and then dropped in the ocean. This is how the stones float in the water without sinking. When Garga is entrusted with the task of naming Nandagopa’s child, the sage wonders how one is to name the One who is ‘Nameless’ and also ‘Multi-named.’ The poet saint Bilvamangala hails His names such as Govinda, Damodhara and Madhava. They are not only easy to chant but are also powerful mantras to lead one out of the dangers of samsara. The poet wonders why people who have the ability to chant fail to do so. Are they so determined and responsible for their own undoing? He urges his tongue to just drink the nectar of these names. A true bhakta always cherishes the invaluable support of His name in his heart and mind. A ND-ND


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IN BRIEF

Prannoy on giant-killing spree World champion Chen Long victim this time; Srikanth also enters semiinals

CHESS

‘Indians can win medal’ Press Trust of India Chennai

The Indian men’s and women’s chess teams have a chance of winning medals in the World team championship in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, if they play to potential, coach R.B. Ramesh said on Friday. The men are seeded sixth while the women are seeded fourth in the 10-team tournament which starts on Saturday and if the players can

INDONESIA OPEN Griezmann gets married in a secret ceremony

Press Trust of India Jakarta

LAUSANNE

Indian shuttler H.S. Prannoy continued his giant-killing act to stun World and Olympic champion Chen Long of China to enter the semifinals of the Indonesia Super Series Premier along with K. Srikanth on Friday. A day after he defeated three-time Olympic silver medallist and World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei, Prannoy showed his mettle once again as he saw off eighth seed Chen Long 21-18, 16-21, 21-19 in an energy-sapping men’s singles match that lasted an hour and 15 minutes.

McDonald’s has ended its long-time Olympic sponsorship dating back to 1976, the International Olympic Committee announced on Friday. The US fast food giant has supported the Olympics since the Montreal Games and although the split takes place with immediate effect they will continue to be a sponsor at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang. AFP

A different day World No. 25 Prannoy, who made his way through the qualifiers, had never defeated the Chinese in their earlier three meetings, but it was a different day as the Indian showed great athleticism and better control in windy conditions to emerge victor and enter his maiden semifinal of a super series. Srikanth also reached the

MADRID

France striker Antoine Griezmann married his longterm partner Erika Choperena in a secret ceremony at a beauty spot in Toledo, Spanish media said on Friday. The two, who have a oneyear-old daughter, were married on Thursday afternoon at the Palacio de Galiana, a celebrated 11thcentury edifice in the old Spanish capital. AFP

McDonald’s no more Olympic sponsor

TENNIS

Kukushkin beats Ramkumar Sports Bureau Caltanissetta (Italy)

Brave new world: It was another good day for India as K. Srikanth joined Prannoy in the last four of the Indonesia Super Series Premier. AP *

last-four round with a 21-15, 21-14 win over Chinese Taipei’s Tzu Wei Wang. Prannoy will take on Japanese qualifier Kazumasa Sakai, who beat England’s Rajiv Ouseph, while Srikanth

All eyes on Correia-Holm ight S. Prasanna Venkatesan SINGAPORE

As is typical, there is hype in the air in the lead-up to the UFC fight night on Saturday here. Whatever the fighters have said and done — overdone stare-off poses, in particular — has been sold off and the fans have been teased and set up for a taste of the real offering beneath all the foam. Naturally, the main event of the night is the most anticipated — the fight between Brazilian Bethe Correia and American Holly Holm in the women’s bantamweight category. Correia comes off victories in her last three fights, but

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Holm has had a tough time with three straight losses, something that has the experts doubting her ability to sustain her career. She, however, said: “I take it one fight at a time. For me, the only cure for my losses is a win. So I’m going to keep training and fighting. Bethe has no idea what’s going on in my head. So I hope she thinks she knows what I’m thinking.” Correia, though, believes that she has her opponent sufficiently studied to overcome her. “When your opponent loses, it’s easier to study them. So, we were able to study a lot about her game in

play to the best of their abilities, a medal is a possibility, Ramesh said. Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi will spearhead the Indian challenge in the men’s event, along with K. Sasikiran, who recently won the Capablanca Memorial tournament in Cuba. The men’s team had won a bronze in the 2009 edition, but the Indian women are yet to bag a medal in the tournament.

these three losses. But, I don’t think she fought bad in those fights. She’s a really tough fighter. But we will have a lot of her weaknesses to exploit in this fight. “I think I will be able to nullify her reach. I believe I’m a good counter-striker for her kind of reach. I don’t think she’s adapted to the grappling part of the game.” The other fights of the night are Andrei Arlovski vs. Marcin Tybura in men’s heavyweight, Dong Hyun Kim vs. Colby Covington and Tarec Saffiedine vs. Rafael dos Anjos in welterweight. (The reporter is in Singapore at the invitation of Sony Pictures Network).

will face Korean second seed Son Wan Ho. The results: Quarterfinals: Men: H.S. Prannoy bt Chen Long (Chn) 21-18, 16-21, 21-19; K. Srikanth bt Tzu Wei Wang (Tpe) 21-15, 21-14.

was quite tiring < > Ittowards the end, Especially in the last few points, I was trying to focus hard H.S. Prannoy

Ramkumar Ramanathan was outplayed 6-0, 6-2 by third seed Mikhail Kukushkin, a former top-50 player, in the second round of the €127,000 Challenger tournament here. In the $60,000 ITF women’s event in Hodmezovasarhely, Hungary, Prarthana Thombare and Kotomi Takahata made the doubles

final with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Olga Danilovic and Panna Udvardy. The results: €127,000 Challenger, Caltanissetta: Second round: Mikhail Kukushkin (Kaz) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-0, 6-2. $60,000 ITF women, Hodmezovasarhely: Semifinals: Kotomi Takahata (Jpn) & Prarthana Thombare bt Olga Danilovic (Srb) & Panna Udvardy (Hun) 6-4, 6-3.

Anand holds Aronian Sports Bureau STAVANGER (NORWAY)

Table-topper Levon Aronian avoided taking high risks and drew with a steady Viswanathan Anand in the eighth and penultimate round of Norway Chess 2017 here on Thursday. On a day when Magnus Carlsen scored his first victory and Vladimir Kramnik suffered his second loss, Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri held on to the second and third spots, following draws against higher rated rivals. Anand’s solid display in the Queen’s pawn game left Aronian looking at some risky continuations. The results: Eighth round: Levon Aronian (Arm, 5.5) drew with Viswanathan Anand (3.5); Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 5) drew with Wesley So (USA, 4); Maxime VachierLagrave (Fra, 3.5) bt Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 4); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 3.5) bt Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 3); Anish Giri (Ned, 4.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA, 3.5). Final-round pairings: AnandCarlsen; So-Aronian; KramnikGiri; Caruana-Nakamura; Karjakin-Lagrave.

BASKETBALL

Visic keen to inculcate winning mentality Ashwin Achal Bengaluru

Zoran Visic is proud of the basketball culture that exists in his home country of Serbia. The European nation has produced several NBA and WNBA stars, and in international tournaments, the national team has frequently recorded podium finishes. Visic, who recently took charge as the Indian national women’s team head coach, is keen to bring that winning mentality to his new home. “Serbia is the best basketball nation in the world, after North America. This success has come because we have

superb systems in place. We pay great attention to the fundamentals, and I want to implement this with the Indian girls. I like players who are ready to run quickly up and down the court; those who can score fast-break points. But it is defence which is most important of all. Just good defence is enough to get big wins,” he said, at a media interaction here on Friday. Visic, who has over three decades of coaching experience in countries like Serbia, Russia and Romania, is best known for leading Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg to

First target: Zoran Visic wants India to inish strongly at the FIBA women’s Asia Cup. K. MURALI KUMAR *

the Euroleague women’s title in 2003. Assistant coach and former India captain Shiba

Maggon stated that Visic has taken a practical approach in his new assignment. “He has adopted an of-

fence that suits our girls. He observed them closely for the first two days, and decided to focus on transition offence. This is best for our girls,” Shiba said. The coaching staff is focussed on putting up a good show at the FIBA women’s Asia Cup, which will commence here on July 23. The 60-year-old is here on a short two-month contract. Asked if he would have preferred a long-term deal, Visic replied, “I’m concentrating solely on the FIBA Asia Championship for now. Once that gets over, I am open to discussions.”

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20 LIFE

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IN BRIEF

‘Photosynthesis can save hearts’ Electronic bleeps star Scientists use blue-green algae and light to treat cardiac disease in rats Press Trust of India Boston

Atwood to get lifetime achievement award LOS ANGELES

Margaret Atwood will receive a lifetime achievement award from one of the world’s oldest literary organisations. PEN Center USA has announced that the 77-yearold author of more than 40 books of fiction, poetry and essays will accept the honour at the group’s annual Literary Awards Festival on October 27 in California. AP

Users mock Twitter’s latest redesign SAN FRANCISCO

Twitter has unveiled a new look but it’s not going over so well with the Twitterati. The new design has bolder headlines and changes users’ profile images from squareshaped to round. Users responded by tweeting jokes, critical comments and memes, including a round SpongeBob SquarePants. AP

Stanford University scientists have found that using blue-green algae and light to trigger photosynthesis inside the heart could help treat cardiac disease, the top cause of death globally. Researchers injected a type of bacteria into the hearts of anaesthetised rats with cardiac disease. Using light to trigger photosynthesis, they were able to increase the flow of oxygen and improve heart function. “The beauty of it is that it’s a recycling system,” said Joseph Woo of Stanford University. “You deliver the bacteria, they take up carbon dioxide, and with energy from the light, they form oxygen,” Mr. Woo said. The genesis of this somewhat mind-boggling concept sprang from scientists searching for new ways to deliver oxygen to the heart when blood flow is restricted, Mr. Woo said. This condition, known as cardiac ischemia, is most often

Miracle of nature: When exposed to light, photosynthetic bacteria (green) make oxygen that can keep rat heart cells (red) alive. J.E. COHEN ET AL/SCIENCE ADVANCES *

caused by coronary artery disease. “In nature, humans exhale carbon dioxide and plants convert it back to oxygen. During a heart attack, the muscle is still trying to pump. There’s carbon dioxide but no oxygen,” explained Mr. Woo. “We wondered if there were any ways to use plant cells and put them next to heart cells to produce oxygen from the carbon dioxide,” he said. Researchers first tried

NEW YORK

Former U.S. president Barack Obama sent a video message to hail Jay Z as a kindred spirit as the hip-hop mogul became the first rapper to enter the Songwriters Hall of Fame on Thursday. Jay Z could not attend the ceremony as his wife, Beyonce, is expecting twins soon. Obama said he was a big fan of Jay Z. AFP

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Stable structure Next, they tried photosynthetic bacteria, referred to as cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, since it has a more rugged structure necessary for living in water. They repeated the same

Padmanabhaswamy temple forms backdrop of thriller

Second hottest May in 137 years



Thiruvananthapuram

Jay Z is irst rapper in Songwriters Hall of Fame

grinding up spinach and kale and combining each with heart cells in a dish, but the chloroplasts — the photosynthetic organs — of those plants were not stable enough to survive outside of the plant cell.

tests to see whether these photosynthetic bacteria had the ability to survive with heart cells in a dish. The next round of experiments involved injecting the cyanobacteria into the beating hearts of anaesthetised rats with cardiac ischemia. They then compared the heart function of rats with their hearts exposed to light (for less than 20 minutes) to those who were kept in the dark. “The group that received the bacteria plus light had more oxygen and the heart worked better,” Mr. Woo said. The bacteria dissipated within 24 hours, but the improved cardiac function continued for at least four weeks, he said. The researchers plan to investigate how to apply this concept to humans and how to deliver a light source to the human heart. They are also examining the potential of using artificial chloroplasts to eliminate the need for bacteria.

A thriller that revolves around the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala will hit the stands on June 26. Titled In The Name of God and authored by Mumbaibased Ravi Subramanian, the book focusses on the challenges that the ancient temple has had to face after the uncovering of a treasure trove in its cellars in 2013, according to a press release here. “I have always tried to build in contemporary themes into my thrillers. Am surprised that, given the

happenings at the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, no one has written a story yet with it as the backdrop, Mr. Subramanian said. “In The Name of God is a

story which not only explores the seriousness of what is, but also goes into the realms of what could have been. Money and religion are the two key constituents of a thriller and we have an abundance of both at the Padmanabhaswamy Temple,” he said. “I have been very respectful to the deity as I have gone about building the thriller based in the temple and its surroundings,” he said in the release. The Incredible Banker, The Bankster, If God was a Banker and Bankerupt are some of the other books by Mr. Subramanian.

New York

Last month was the second-warmest May in 137 years of modern recordkeeping of average global temperatures, NASA said. The two top May temperature anomalies have occurred during the past two years. 2016 was the hottest on record, at 0.93 degrees Celsius warmer than the mean temperature. Also, it was 0.88 degrees Celsius warmer than the mean May temperature from 1951-1980. This May’s temperature was 0.05 degrees Celsius cooler than last year.

in new musical universe Gamers love the iconic sounds that have now “grown up” Associated Press Paris

The electronic bleeps and squawks of “Tetris”, “Donkey Kong” and other generation-shaping games that you may never have thought of as musical are increasingly being recognised as classics. From the “ping ... ping” of Atari’s 1972 groundbreaking paddle game “Pong,” the sounds, infectious ditties and, with time, fully-formed orchestral scores that are an essential part of the sensory thrill for gamers have formed a musical universe. With its own culture, subcultures and fans, game music now thrives alone, free from the consoles from which it came. When audiences pack the Philharmonie de Paris’ concert halls this weekend to soak in the sounds of a chamber orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra performing game music in homage to one of the industry’s stars, “Final Fantasy” Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu, they will have no buttons to play with, no characters to control. They’re coming for the music and the nostalgia it triggers: of fun-filled hours spent on sofas with a Game Boy, Sonic the Hedgehog and the evergreen Mario. “When you’re playing a game you are living that music every day and it just gets into your DNA,” says Eimear Noone, the conductor a twohour show of 17 titles, including “Zelda”, “Tomb Raider”, “Medal of Honor” and other favourites from the 1980s onward. “When people hear those themes they are right back there. And people get really emotional about it. I mean REALLY emotional. It’s incredible.” Dating the birth of game

Retro trend: In this June 1990 ile photo, a gamer is engaged in playing Tetris. AP *

When you’re < > playing a game, you are living that music every day and it just gets into your DNA. Eimear Noone Music conductor

music depends on how one defines music. Game music scholars (yes, they exist) point to key milestones on the path to the surroundsound extravaganzas of games today.

Addictive beats The heartbeat-like bass thump of Taito’s “Space Invaders” in 1978, which got ever faster as the aliens descended, caused sweaty palms and was habit-forming. Namco’s “Pac-Man,” two years later, whetted appetites with an opening musical chirp . For fun, check out the 2013 remix by Dweezil Zappa, son of Frank, and game music composer Tommy Tallarico. Based on the Russian folk song “Korobeiniki”, the music of the 1984 game “Tetris” has similarly undergone umpteen remixes including “Tetris Meets Metal”, with

more than 2.2 million views on YouTube. By 1985, the theme of “Super Mario Bros.”, the classic adventure of plumber Mario and his brother Luigi, was bringing fame for composer Koji Kondo, also known for his work on “Legend of Zelda”. Both are on the bill for the “Retrogaming” concert in Paris. Kondo was the first person Nintendo hired specifically to compose music for its games, according to the 2013 book, Music and Game. Ms. Noone, known herself for musical work on “World of Warcraft,” “Overwatch” and other games, says the technological limitations of early consoles’ tiny memories, rudimentary chips and crude sounds forced composers “to distil their melodies down to the absolute kernels of what melodic content can be, because they had to program it note by note.” But simple often also means memorable. “That is part of the reason why this music has a place in people’s hearts and has survived,” Ms. Noone says of game tunes. “It speaks to people.”

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