Pakistan clears visit to jail by Jadhav's mother, wife

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saturday, december 9, 2017 Delhi

City Edition

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The Delhi High Court onFriday asked the Centre andthe city government toplace before it the rules onthe use of the State Emblemof India on cars ofconstitutional authoritiesand dignitaries, such as thePresident, instead ofregistration numbers.

A Bench of Acting ChiefJustice Gita Mittal andJustice C. Hari Shankarsought to know the exactposition on the issue whileposting the case for furtherhearing on December 20.

NGO Nyayabhoomiclaimed that the practice of

displaying the StateEmblem, instead of theregistration numbers,makes the cars conspicuous

and the dignitaries becomeeasy targets for terroristsand anyone with maliciousintent.

“The practice ofreplacing the registrationmark with the StateEmblem of India, instead ofdisplaying them both isarbitrary and symptomaticof the desire to rule ratherthan to serve,” the petitionalleged.

It further soughtdirections to the Delhigovernment and the DelhiPolice to seize the cars usedby the Rashtrapati Bhavan,VicePresident, Raj Niwasand Protocol Division of theMinistry of External A�airsfor not being registeredunder the Motor VehiclesAct. The NGO referred to anRTI response by the

Ministry of External A�airssaying that none of the 14cars maintained by itsProtocol Division wasregistered.

It also claimed that theRashtrapati Bhavan refusedto give details of theregistration numbers of itscars on the ground thatdisclosure of thisinformation wouldendanger the security of theState and life and physicalsafety of the President.

It said that a personmeeting with an accidentinvolving such a car cannotbring any claim against itdue to the absence of anyidenti�cation mark.

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Plea for VVIP cars to display registration number

Soibam Rocky Singh

New Delhi

Delhi HC seeks details of rules on use of State Emblem on vehicles of constitutional authorities

The practice of displaying the State Emblem makes the carsconspicuous * FILE PHOTO

To prevent trouble: CRPF personnel in downtown area of Srinagar on Friday. The government had imposed partial restrictionsin the State to prevent any law and order problem following a call by the separatist leaders to protest against the U.S. decisionto recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. * NISSAR AHMAD (REPORT ON PAGE 8)

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Standing guard

A day after a 30yearold woman was beaten up by localsin Rohini’s Narela allegedlyfor raising her voice againstbootlegging and facilitatinga raid, the police have arrested six women in connectionwith the case.

“Six including main accused Asha have been arrested. Two were arrestedon Thursday night and fouron Friday. They were produced before the court andsent to judicial custody,” saidDeputy Commissioner ofPolice (Rohini) RajneeshGupta.

On Thursday, the victim,a social worker with NashaMukti Panchayat — an antialcoholism forum startedwith the assistance of the Narela Station House O�cer —was thrashed by a group.

This, the victim claimed,was ‘revenge’ for accompanying Delhi Commission forWomen chief Swati Maliwal

and the police on a raid aday earlier at the house ofAsha, an alleged bootlegger.

Alleging inaction by Delhipolice, Ms. Maliwal, quotingthe victim, said on Thursdaythat the police are aware ofillegal supply of liquor in thearea but have been unable tocurb the menace.

‘Allegations not true’Delhi Police chief spokesperson Deependra Pathak said“certain aspects of the allegations are not correct butbased on the victim’s complaint, a case was registeredand swift action taken”.

‘Assault revenge for facilitating raid against bootlegging’

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI <> Two accused were

arrested on

Thursday and four

on Friday. They

were produced

before the court

Rajneesh Gupta

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini)

Six women arrested for beatingantiliquor activist in Narela

Listing a series of violations,the Delhi government on Friday cancelled the licence ofMax Super Speciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, almost 10days after a baby declareddead by the hospital wasfound to be alive.

Announcing the decisionto cancel the hospital’s licence, Delhi Health MinisterSatyendar Jain said the �nalreport of an inquiry by theDirectorate General ofHealth Services that was submitted to him had found thehospital at fault. Patients already admitted would be given a choice to be transferred or complete theirtreatment at the hospital,while no new patients wouldbe treated.

The inquiry panel found

that the sta� nurses hadhanded over the bodies ofthe baby boy and his stillborn twin sister without written directions from a paediatrician and had missed the“signs of life”.

The hospital had also entered the baby boy’s name ina register of stillbirths, the inquiry found, leading theDGHS to say it was prima facie a case of medicalnegligence.

The cancellation ordercites the hospital’s violationof rules for treating patientsfrom economically weakersections (EWS) as well as increasing the number of bedsfor dengue and chikungunyapatients, but using it to treatother ailments. While theDelhi Nursing Homes Registration Act, 1953, requiresthe government to give 30days’ notice before cancelling a licence, Mr. Jain said“notice can be given for ashorter time also”.

‘Ruling harsh’Max Healthcare authoritiescalled the ruling “harsh” andthat they would “explore alloptions available”, but the family of the infant welcomedthe decision and called o�their protest outside the hospital demanding justice.

Probe report calls baby being declared dead a case of medical negligence

Relatives and family members of the baby that was wronglydeclared dead protesting outside Max Hospital, ShalimarBagh, on Friday. * PTI

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

Delhi govt. cancels Max hospital’s licence

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

Protests in Kolkata

against killing of Bengal

native in Rajasthan

page 5; editorial: page 6

Mani Shankar Aiyar

wanted to get me

‘removed,’ says Modi

page 8

Nana Patole, BJP MP

from Maharashtra,

resigns from Lok Sabha

page 9

Ronaldo bags �fth

Ballon d’Or award,

draws level with Messi

page 17

DELHI METROA 4 PAGES

Pakistan on Friday said thatit will allow the wife andmother of alleged Indianspy, Kulbhushan Jadhav, tomeet him on humanitariangrounds on December 25.

It allowed them to be accompanied by an Indian embassy o�cial as requested byNew Delhi.

Foreign O�ce spokesmanMohammad Faisal told a media brie�ng that Islamabadhad earlier o�ered to allowMr. Jadhav’s wife to meethim last month.

But New Delhi requestedthat his mother and an Indian embassy o�cial also bepermitted to travel with her,and Pakistan conceded both

pleas. Mr. Jadhav, who Indiaclaims was a former Navy of�cial, was apprehended byPakistan law enforcementagencies on March 3, 2016,

after he allegedly crossed over. Mr. Jadhav, who was produced before the media inPakistan in March 2016, wasaccused of sabotage and ter

rorism against the coastal cities of Pakistan.

After a swift and controversial trial by a Pakistanimilitary tribunal, he wasawarded the death sentenceon April 10. His clemency appeal is pending with Armychief General Qamar JavedBajwa for the past fourmonths. Pakistani o�cialssaid there were still two forums of appeal left even ifthe Army chief rejects hismercy plea.

India went to the International Court of Justiceagainst the conviction, andsecured a stay on May 18.

(With inputs from KallolBhattacherjee in New Delhi)

Pakistan clears visit to jailby Jadhav’s mother, wifeIndian o�cial also permitted to travel with them, as requested by New Delhi

Mubashir Zaidi

Karachi

Hopes linger: Friends and neighbours of Kulbhushan Jadhavpray in Mumbai in May, in this �le photo. * VIVEK BENDRE

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 8

The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday welcomedthe decision of the Wassenaar Arrangement to admitIndia as the 42nd member ofthe organisation which aimsto regulate trade and use ofdual use technology.

O�cials said that following admission into the club,India will get access to hightechnology, which will helpaddress the demands of Indian space and defence sectors.

It will also boost New Delhi’s chances of joining theNuclear Suppliers Group(NSG).

“The plenary meeting ofthe Wassenaar Arrangement(WA) held on 6 to 7 December 2017 in Vienna, Austria,

has decided to admit India,which will become the Arrangement’s 42nd participating state. The necessaryprocedural arrangementsfor India’s admission will becompleted shortly,” the spokesperson for the Ministry ofExternal A�airs said at hisweekly brie�ng.

On the scope of the Arrangement, he said, “India’smembership is expected tofacilitate high technologytieups with Indian industryand ease access to hightechitems for our defence andspace programmes.”

India gets admission intoWassenaar Arrangement Space, defence to gain from entry to export control regime

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI


The Supreme Court has saidthat the dusty Victorian provision of adultery in the Indian Penal Code treats amarried woman as her husband’s “subordinate.” It admitted a petition to dropadultery as a criminal offence from the statute book.

“The time has come whenthe society must realise thata woman is equal to a man inevery respect,” the SupremeCourt recorded in its �vepage written order onFriday.

Section 497 of the Code

mandates that if a man hassexual intercourse withanother’s wife without thehusband’s “consent or connivance,” he is guilty of theo�ence of adultery and shall

be punished. The court will examine

two aspects of the penal provision. One, why does Section 497 treat the man as theadulterer and the married

woman as a victim? Two, theo�ence of adultery ceasesthe moment it is establishedthat the husband connivedor consented to the adulterous act. So, is a married woman the “property” of herhusband, a passive objectwithout a mind of her own?

“The provision [Section497] really creates a dent inthe individual independentidentity of a woman whenthe emphasis is laid on theconnivance or consent of thehusband,” the court said.

Adultery law weighted in favour of men: SCTo examine whether IPC provision relegates women to the level of a commodity

Krishnadas Rajagopal

NEW DELHI


A PARADIGM SHIFT A PAGE 8

SEE ALSO DELHI METRO A PAGE 1

With less than a month to gofor the deadline to link Aadhaar with PAN, the Centreon Friday extended the deadline to March 31, 2018. “Inview of the di�culties facedby some of the taxpayers,the date for linking of Aadhaar with PAN was initiallyextended till August 31, 2017,which was further extendedto December 31, 2017,” theIT Department said.

“It has come to notice thatsome of the taxpayers havenot yet completed the link

ing of PAN with Aadhaar.Therefore, to facilitate theprocess of linking, it hasbeen decided to further extend the time for linking of

Aadhaar with PAN till March31, 2018,” the statementadded.

New sectionUnder the provisions of therecently introduced Section139AA of the IncomeTaxAct, 1961, with e�ect from July 1, 2017, all taxpayers withan Aadhaar number or Enrolment number are required to link it with theirPAN by the stipulated deadline. The deadline for linking Aadhaar and mobilephones remains unchangedon February 6.


New Delhi

The new deadline is March31, 2018 *

Centre extends time forlinking PAN and Aadhaar

Nithari killings: deathfor Pandher, Koli GHAZIABAD

A special CBI court on Friday

awarded death sentence to

Chandigarh businessman

Moninder Singh Pandher and

his servant Surender Koli for

rape and murder of a 24

yearold maid in the Nithari

killings case that rocked the

country.

DELHI METRO A PAGE 1DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

NEARBY

‘NE States’ territorialintegrity safe’SHOKHUVI (NAGALAND)

Union Home Minister Rajnath

Singh announced on Friday

that the territorial integrity

of Arunachal, Assam and

Manipur would not be

compromised while inking

the �nal Naga peace accord.

NEWS A PAGE 8DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD


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

DELHI Timings

Saturday, December 09

RISE 07:02 SET 17:25

RISE 23:39 SET 12:00

Sunday, December 10

RISE 07:03 SET 17:25

RISE 00:00 SET 12:40

Monday, December 11

RISE 07:04 SET 17:25

RISE 00:37 SET 13:17

The Meghalaya High Courtslapped �1 lakh �ne on fourpersons for not allowingmembers of the indigenousKhasi faith to cremate theirdead as per their tradition,observing that they had disrespected the Constitution.

The four persons includea ‘Minister’ of ‘Hima Mylliem’ in East Khasi Hills district, one of the local chiefdoms accorded sanctity by

tribal autonomous districtcouncils under the SixthSchedule of the Constitution. The Seng Khasi Mylliem, an organisation of thebelievers of Khasi faith, had�led a case alleging that thefour accused were thwartingthe believers from practisingtheir religion by disallowingthem to cremate the dead.

Delivering the verdict,Justice S.R. Sen said the fourpersons had disrespectedthe Constitution.

The Judge said the �1 lakh�ne would be used for thebene�t of the juvenile inmates lodged in homes ofthe Social WelfareDepartment.

The High Court also directed the East Khasi HillsDeputy Commissioner to demarcate a site at Mylliem forthe cremation of the members of the Niam Khasi (indigenous Khasi) and to takesteps to develop the sitewithin �ve months.

Press Trust of India

Shillong

Four �ned for disallowing cremation Accused prevented Khasi group from following its faith

The Tripura Police on Fridayarrested two more personsin connection with the murder of television journalistSantanu Bhowmik at Mandwai near here on September20. Three persons were arrested earlier for their alleged involvement in themurder.

A court sent Rakesh Debbarma and Jiten Debbarmato judicial custody with a directive to the police to conduct Test Identi�cation Parade (TIP) before seekingtheir remand.

Santanu, 28, was abducted and killed by a group ofmiscreants while covering aclash between members ofIndigenous Peoples Front ofTripura (IPFT) and supporters of the CPI(M). He waschased, caught and hackedto death in the presence of alarge number of securitypersonnel.

Second murder

Within 62 days of the brutalmurder of Santanu, anotherjournalist, Sudip DattaBhowmik, 49, was shot dead

at the o�ce chamber ofCommandant of 2nd Battalion of the Tripura State Ri�es (TSR) at Radha KishoreNagar, not far from Mandwai. Commandant TapanDebbarma and four jawansof the paramilitary forcewere arrested and bookedfor murder after enragedjournalists set a deadline.

Forum for Protection ofJournalists, a group of 10 media organisations, on Tuesday last met President RamNath Kovind and Union

Home Minister RajnathSingh in New Delhi seekingtheir intervention for a CBIprobe into the two murders.

“The SITs (inquiring thetwo murders) were set upwith o�cers and personnelof the State police force. Themurders had taken placewithin the parameters of thesecurity forces and a Staterun probe will essentially failto conduct a detailed inquiry,” said Subal Kumar Dey,veteran journalist and leader of journalists’ forum.

2 more held in Tripurascribe’s murder caseJournalists’ forum sticks to its demand for CBI probe

Syed Sajjad Ali

Agartala

Fight for justice: Media persons under the banner of Forumfor Protection of Journalists, Tripura, protest in New Delhi.

* FILE PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Nonavailability of Mahaprayan hearse vehicles anda strike of private ambulances compelled a familyto transport the body of ayouth on a cycle rickshawfrom MKCG Medical Collegeand Hospital in Berhampuron Thursday night.

Private ambulances atthe hospital are on a strikesince Thursday, protestingagainst restrictions on theirparking on the medical college campus.

On Thursday afternoon,Nandakishor Moharana, ayouth from Patapur villagein Ganjam district, died after �ve days of treatment atMKCG hospital. He was suffering from fever suspectedto be cerebral malaria. Despite trying for severalhours, his family members

could not �nd an ambulance to take his body totheir home in Patapur. Theywere also unable to avail ofthe Odisha government’sMahaprayan hearse schemefacility, which provides freeof cost vehicles for transportation of bodies.

Finally, late in the night,the family decided to transport the body out of hospital on a cycle rickshaw. After reaching Courtpetasquare, around 500 metresfrom the hospital gate, theyhired a vehicle.

On Friday, e�orts weremade to end the strike ofprivate ambulances at thehospital. Dean of MKCGmedical college, its superintendent and Berhampurtehsildar surveyed the campus to identify a location forparking of ambulances onmedical college campus.

Family forced to takebody on rickshawDue to ambulance strike in hospital

Staff Reporter

BERHAMPUR

The family was unable to avail of the Odisha government’sMahaprayan hearse scheme faciltiy. * PHOTO: L. PANDA

Published by N. Ravi 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 l RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 l ISSN 0971 - 751X l Vol. 7 l No. 292


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THE HINDU NOIDA/DELHI

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NORTH

‘Most Ganga projects tobe completed by 2019’ LUCKNOW

Most projects launched to

make river Ganga pollution-

free will be completed by

March 2019, Union Minister

for Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin

Gadkari said here on Friday.

“Keeping river Ganga

pollution-free and

maintaining its flow

undisrupted is priority of the

government,” he told

reporters here. PTI

IN BRIEF

Witness in case involvingMinister alleges threats BHOPAL

A Bhind court on Friday

offered to provide protection

to a witness after he informed

the court that the “men” of

Madhya Pradesh Minister Lal

Singh Arya were “threatening

him with dire consequences if

he deposed against (him)” in

a murder case.

Arya is an accused in the

murder case of then Congress

MLA from Gohad, Makhanlal

Jatav. PTI

Escaped undertrialsarrested in Himachal SHIMLA

Three Nepali undertrial

prisoners, who had escaped

from the Kanda central jail

under the cover of darkness

on Wednesday, have been

arrested from Solan district

after their photographs were

shared on the social media, a

senior police officer said on

Friday. PTI

Man held for kidnapping,raping minor in J&KSRINAGAR

A man accused of kidnapping

and raping a 14-year-old girl

in Jammu and Kashmir’s

Kupwara district was arrested

on Friday, police said.

The accused, Mohammad

Yaseen Chauhan, was arrested

on a complaint filed by the

grandfather of the victim in

Handwara area, a police

spokesman said. PTI

A 15yearold girl was rapedand set on �re by two persons at Deval village, some100 km from the Sagar district headquarters, policesaid.

The incident took placeThursday night.

The girl, with 80 per centburn injuries, has been admitted to Bundelkhand Medical College and Hospital,said subinspector Mahendra Singh Dhakad of Bhangarh police station.

Sarvesh Sen (21) and

another person, who is suspected to be a minor, entered the girl’s house whenshe was asleep and rapedher, he said.

Kerosene pouredAs she cried for help, the accused poured kerosene keptin the house on her and sether on �re, he said.

The girl had lost her fathersome years ago. Her motherhad gone to visit the girl’smaternal grandmother wholives on the outskirts of thevillage. The girl’s grandfather, who is very old and deaf,

was sleeping outside thehouse when the incidenttook place, SubInspectorDhakad said.

Accused a minor?District Superintendent ofPolice S. Shukla said that Sarvesh Sen was arrested, whilethe other accused, who ispossibly a minor, isabsconding.

A case under IPC Section376 (d) (gangrape) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from SexualO�ences Act has been registered.

Minor girl raped, seton �re in M.P. village Hospitalised with 80% burn injuries; one arrested

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

SAGAR

Workers of the ShiromaniAkali Dal (SAD) blocked keyroads in many parts of Punjab on Friday to protestagainst the alleged attack ontheir party leaders by workers of the ruling Congress atMallanwala in Ferozepur recently.

Later in the evening, theSAD called o� its inde�niteprotest.

SAD president SukhbirSingh Badal said the partyhas decided to call o� theprotest as all the objectivesfor which it was being heldhad been addressed.

Section 307 withdrawnHe claimed that the government has decided to withdraw Section 307 (attempt tomurder) against all 12 leadersand 90 workers involved inthe incident at Manawala.

Mr. Badal apologised tothe people for the inconvenience caused by the protests, saying that the partyhad to take recourse to theextreme step after it failed toget justice.

‘Regret inconvenience’“We sat on dharna to safeguard the fundamental

rights of the people as wellas to ensure that the rule oflaw was respected. We areproud to have achieved thisobjective but regret the inconvenience caused to people,” he said.

High Court noticeThe High Court issued noticeto the State government, theDirector General of Policeand the SAD president o�cefor December 13, on a petition �led by advocate Varinder Singh, seeking directionsto ensure adequate securityarrangements for people ofFerozepur and nearby areas,mainly those travellingthrough national highwayand other roads, which areblocked by protesters.

The Punjab and HaryanaHigh Court also directed theState government to ensurethat law and order was maintained.

SAD calls o� protest overattack on its party leadersAll the objectives have been achieved, says Badal

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHANDIGARH

SAD president SukhbirSingh Badal * FILE PHOTO

Snowbound: A view of the snow-capped mountains seen from the top of Taradevi temple in Shimla after fresh snowfall at highaltitudes of the Himalayan ranges on Friday. * PTI

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Grand view

Work in the government of�ces was a�ected and medical services in the government hospitals were hit inRajasthan on Friday, withthe employees and inservice doctors going on a day’smass leave with the demand

for higher pay scales andbetter service conditions.

The protesting employeesalleged that the State government was not willing to givethem the Seventh Pay Commission's bene�ts despiteannouncing last month thatits recommendations wouldbe implemented.

All Rajasthan State Employees’ Joint Federationpresident Gajendra Singhsaid the Pay Commission'srecommendations should beexecuted with retrospectivee�ect from January 1, 2016,and the pay matrix for Stateemployees brought on parwith the Centre. The federa

tion has submitted a sevenpoint charter of demand tothe State government.

The inservice doctorswent on leave with the demand for formation of a separate cadre and �xation ofnew pay grades, for whichthey had gone on a weeklong strike last month.

Govt. sta�, doctors on stir in RajasthanSpecial Correspondent

JAIPUR

Sleuths of Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Fridayarrested an Assistant SubInspector in connection with fake recruitment in IT and Telecommunications wing of the Punjab Police.

ASI Sanjeev Kumar was allegedly involvedin the fake recruitment of six persons in ITand Telecommunications wing of the forceand had collected illegal grati�cation of�28.50 lakh to hand over ‘job letters’ to them.

Fake recruitmentcase: ASI arrested PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

CHANDIGARH


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NATION

Karti moves SC in Aircel-Maxis case NEW DELHI

Karti Chidambaram, son of

Congress leader P.

Chidambaram, on Friday

moved the Supreme Court

challenging the summons

issued by the CBI against him

in the AircelMaxis deal case.

The top court said it will hear

the matter in the second

week of January. A Bench of

Chief Justice Dipak Misra and

Justices A.M. Khanwilkar

and D.Y. Chandrachud

asked Karti to serve the copy

of the petition to the CBI

counsel. PTI

IN BRIEF

Only NSG, CISF to handle VVIP securityNEW DELHI

The Union Home Ministry has

relieved the paramilitary

forces CRPF and ITBP from

VVIP protection and given the

responsibility to CISF and

NSG that are already in the

job for long, an official said.

The Ministry order, issued on

November 23, said the

decision was taken after a

review of personal protection

duties of VVIPS. “The process

may take time and hopefully

be completed by the end of

2018,” it said. IANS

Caste is still an irritant inVijayawada: Pawan Kalyan VIJAYAWADA

Digging into the sordid past

of caste violence in

Vijayawada that reached a

flashpoint with the murder

of Vangaveeti Mohan Ranga,

Jana Sena Party president

Pawan Kalyan said the city’s

landscape changed with many

multistoreyed buildings

dotting the skyline, but the

people’s mindset remained

the same as things continue

to veer around one’s caste.

Shambhu Lal Raigar, who allegedly hacked and burnt todeath a 48yearold Muslimlabourer from West Bengal,Mohammed Afrazul, at Rajsamand in Rajasthan, was remanded in police custody forthree days by a court on Friday. His minor nephew, whomade a video of the incident,was sent to the juvenilehome.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Rajsamandpassed the order when Raigar, 38, was produced thereamid tight security. The public prosecutor sought policeremand for �ve days with theplea that the interrogation ofthe accused was continuingand the investigating o�cerhad to con�rm the chain ofevents.

Though Raigar claimedthat he committed the murder because he felt threatened by the victim’s family,the police have rejected this.The accused has sought tolink the o�ence with a sixyearold incident when a girlfrom his locality eloped witha man from West Bengal andhe went to rescue her.

The investigators alsodoubt Raigar’s rants aboutthe “crosscommunity marital relations” and have foundno such history of Afrazul,who was married and hadthree grownup daughters.According to the police,there was nothing to directlylink Afrazul with the reasonscited by the accused for themurder.

Udaipur Range Inspector

General of Police Anand Srivastava said no medical history of Raigar being “mentally unstable” had beenrevealed so far, though hewas without a permanentsource of livelihood for thelast one year, after his marble trading work was a�ected by demonetisation.

The police have detainedover 10 persons for questioning, while trying to �nd out ifthe act was committed aspart of a conspiracy. Mr. Srivastava said the accused didnot have any criminalbackground.

Raigar has been found tobe heavily in�uenced by thepropaganda material circulated by right wing organisations on the social media,though he had no formalmembership of any of theseout�ts. Police said his interrogation had revealed thathe regularly exchanged hatemessages and videos on thesocial media sites.

Raigar remanded in police custody‘Victim didn’t havecrosscommunitymarital relations’Special Correspondent

JAIPUR

A stand against hate: Human rights activists stage a protest against the brutal killing of thelabourer, in Kolkata on Friday. * AP

The Unique Identi�cationAuthority of India on Fridaytold the Madras High Courtthat it cannot comply withthe court’s November 24 order to submit former TamilNadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s thumbprints sayingthere is a statutory bar onsharing core biometric information provided bythose who apply for Aadhaar cards.

The submission wasmade before Justice P. Velmurugan, who was hearinga petition that the thumbimpressions reportedly af�xed by Ms. Jayalalithaa onthe documents related tothe bypoll at Tirupparankundram, during her hospitalisation last year, were notgenuine. However, jailor K.N. Mohan Kumar of Parappana Agrahara prison inKarnataka submitted thethumbprints as per the judge’s directive.

In order to test the correctness of the claim thatJayalalithaa’s thumb impressions a�xed in the electiondocuments were not genuine, Mr. Justice Velmurugan had directed the UIDAIchairman as well as the Superintendent of ParappanaAgrahara central prison inKarnataka, where Ms. Jayalalithaa had been lodged for21 days after her convictionin a disproportionate assetscase in September 2014, toproduce her thumb impressions for cross veri�cation.

Complying with the courtorder, Jailor K.N. Mohan Kumar appeared before thejudge on Friday and presented a USB drive containing a soft copy of her thumb

impression. He said that thepractice in the prisons inKarnataka was to record thethumb impressions of convicts electronically and obtain their signatures aloneon hard copies of prisonrecords.

He had also brought withhim a register, which hadbeen maintained in the prison between March 29, 2014and February 22, 2015, containing the signatures of allconvict prisoners who hadbeen assigned CTP (convictprisoner) numbers between7093 and 7693. Ms. Jayalalithaa had been assignedCTP number 7402 andlodged in VVIP cell.

The judge, however, didnot look into the registerand took the soft copy of thethumb impression alone on�le. Counsel for UIDAI Zoheb Hossain contended thatthere was a legal bar onsharing biometric information of Aadhaar applicants.

He said that Section 29 (1)(a) and (b) of the AadhaarAct of 2016 states that no‘core biometric information,’ collected or createdunder the Act, should beshared with anyone for anyreason whatsoever or usedfor any purpose other thangeneration and authentication of Aadhaar numbers.

Can’t share Jaya’sthumbprint: UIDAI‘Aadhaar Act forbids disclosure of info’

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI

Jayalalithaa

West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee has announced a compensationof �3 lakh and a job to oneof the family members ofAfrazul Khan.

“Afrazul Khan of Maldaof our State was brutallykilled. His family is totallyhelpless. As a small help tothe bereaved family, ourgovernment has decided toprovide �3 lakh to the family and also one job to theeligible person of the victim's family,” she tweeted.

Mamatapromises jobfor his kin

Afrazul Khan, the 50yearold migrant worker fromWest Bengal who was killedin Rajasthan, was not involved in any movement toconvert Hindu women to Islam, his friends and coworkers told The Hindu.

They said that Khan usedto live with his two brothersinlaw in a small house inRajsamand district of Rajasthan where he was killed. Anephew used to stay withhim as well, said Mohammad Jiaul, a constructionworker who knew Khan.

“It is impossible for apoor Muslim man to hide ana�air with a Hindu woman

in such a locality, which ispredominantly a Muslimneighbourhood,” said Jiaul.

“We [migrant Muslimworkers] are extremely cautious about our actions. Wewill be the �rst to inform aman’s family and throw himout of the community if hehas a secret a�air and thattoo with a Hindu woman, jeopardising the security ofhundreds,” Jiaul said overphone.

“The murderer said thatAfrazul was engaged in lovejihad and media repeated it.The man was visiting his family every two or threemonths and sending themmoney on a daily basis. Hehaving an a�air with a Hindu

woman in Rajasthan, is thatbelievable?” asked Jiaur Rehman, a school teacher and aneighbour of Khan.

Khan’s body reached hisvillage Syedpur on Fridayevening and was received bythousands, including prominent politicians of Trinamool Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist).

In Kolkata, a candlelightprotest was led by AbhishekBanerjee, president of theyouth wing of TrinamoolCongress and the nephew ofWest Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee. Besidesthe TMC, about halfadozenrights organisations and political parties hosted severalrallies in the city.

Suvojit Bagchi

KOLKATA

He was no love jihadi, sayAfrazul Khan’s coworkers

The Odisha government onFriday directed the districtadministrations to stay alertand respond to emergencysituations in view of the heavy rain which is likely to lashthe State under the in�uence of a deep depression over the central Bay ofBengal.

Widespread rain startedfrom early Friday morningwith the atmospheric system moving northnorthwestwards at a speed ofabout 33 kmph. The deepdepression lay centeredabout 510 km southsoutheast of Gopalpur, said a bul

letin of the BhubaneswarMeteorological Centre.

Meanwhile, two farmersdied in Berhampur districtwhile trying to protect theirstanding paddy crop fromthe rain. Narayan Dash,18,of Baulagaon village underChatrapur police station limits, was bitten by a poisonous snake on Thursdaynight, while he and his father were transporting paddycrops from the �eld to theirhome. The youth died at ahospital on Friday. The other victim was MaheswarSwain,50, of Dehuka village.He was killed when a paddythresher toppled on him,the police said.

Odisha governmentsounds rain alertStaff Reporter

BHUBANESWAR

Noting that temporary stepsconceived in haste to conserve the Taj Mahal will onlybe counterproductive, theSupreme Court on Friday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to prepare a comprehensive plan which willsecure the world heritagesite for the next century ormore.

A Bench led by Justice Madan B. Lokur frowned uponthe State government's “haphazard” measures takenunilaterally and asked it toinclude experts in evolving aplan that will protect the TajTrapezium Zone from theille�ects of polluting gasesand deforestation.

“Don’t make any hastyplans. Haste makes waste,”the Bench told the Stategovernment.

The court asked the Stategovernment to consult historians, experts in planningand architecture and cultural studies, members of civilsociety and the noted PILpetitioneradvocate M.C.Mehta, who has been �ght

ing in the Supreme Court forthe cause of the Taj Mahalsince 1985.

Vision documentThe court said the Stateshould submit a vision document to preserve the Zone,spread over six districts ofU.P. and Bharatpur inRajasthan.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta referredto an a�davit �led by theTTZ Authority stating themeasures taken so far toprotect the zone. “State Government is considering aseparate micro level planonly limited to due protec

tion and preservation of themonument of Taj Mahal.The State Government is actively considering engagingexpert / professional institutions in the �eld of environment protection and preservation like Centre forEnvironmental Planningand Technology, Ahmedabad or School of Planningand Architecture, New Delhiand/or other such similar reputed institution,” the a�davit �led by the Tourismdepartment of the State government said.

The court scheduled thecase for hearing after eightweeks.

Prepare detailed plan for Tajconservation, SC tells U.P.Ad hoc measures not enough to preserve the monument: court

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court asked the government to include expertsin evolving the plan. * FILE PHOTO: R. V. MOORTHY

The muchanticipated meeting between Sha�n Jahanand Hadiya alias Akhila Asokan, whose conversion to Islam triggered a national controversy, took place at theSivaraj Homoeopathic Medical College and Research Institute near here onThursday.

Police sources said thatMr. Jahan who arrived fromMallappuram district in Kerala around 1 p.m., met Ms.Hadiya for nearly 40 minutesafter getting permissionfrom G. Kannan, who is thecollege principal and alsoher guardian as nominatedby the Supreme Court.

According to the police,Mr. Jahan left for his hometown immediately after themeeting.

Ms. Hadiya, who embraced Islam after quittingthe Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery(BHMS) undergraduate degree programme in 2015,married Mr. Jahan on December 19, 2016.

The Kerala High Court, on

a petition �led by Ms. Hadiya’s father M.K. Asokan, a retired Army man, declaredthe marriage null and voidon May 24 and granted hercustody to her parents.

Ms. Hadiya, who arrivedin Salem on November 28from New Delhi on the Su

preme Court’s order, spoketo Mr. Jahan the next day onthe mobile phone of the college principal. She had alsoexpressed her willingness tomeet her husband soon.

Lawyers not permittedA few Muslim lawyers toodid try to meet Ms. Hadiyaon Thursday but were refused permission, policesources said.

Ms. Hadiya, who discontinued her BHMS course afterpursuing it for fourandahalf years, is in the college tocomplete her mandatoryoneyear internship on thedirections of the SupremeCourt.

She is yet to formally jointhe internship programme,as the college is yet to get anorder from Dr. M.G.R. Medical University.

Sha�n arrived from Mallappuram in the afternoon; meeting lasted 40 minutes

Hadiya met Sha�n Jahan after taking permission from thecollege principal, G. Kannan. * FILE PHOTO: E.LAKSHMI NARAYANAN

Syed Muthahar Saqaf

SALEM

Hadiya meets husband in college

Kannada journalist RaviBelagere was arrested onFriday for plotting to kill areporter working for HiBangalore, a tabloid heowns and edits.

The 59yearold scribehad hired a hitman fromIndi, Vijayapura district, tokill Sunil Heggaravalli, saidthe police, attributing themotive to personal rivalrybetween the two journalists. The police said theyuncovered the plot following leads they got duringthe interrogation of another hitman Tahir Hussain.

Incidentally, it was theSIT probing the death ofjournalist Gauri Lankeshthat brought Hussain onthe radar of the city police.

Scribe heldfor plotting tokill colleague

Staff Reporter

Bengaluru


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#460490




CMYK

A ND-NDE

EDITORIAL

priyanka pulla

Until now, India’s �ghtagainst antibioticresistance was focussed on get

ting people to cut down on unnecessary antibiotic consumption.Having too many antibiotics causes bodily pathogens to resist thesemiracle drugs. But, for the �rsttime, the 2017 National ActionPlan on Antimicrobial Resistancetalks about limiting antibiotics ine�uent being dumped by drugmakers into the environment. Thisis because when these drugs taintsoil and water, the scores of microbes that live there grow drugresistant. But only a tiny proportion of these environmental microbes trigger disease in humans.So why is resistance among them aproblem?

Environmentpathogen linkThe answer lies in the intimacyshared between environmentalbacteria and human pathogens.Typically, a pathogen, say Klebsiel-la pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae),that causes pneumonia, can taketwo routes to antibiotic resistance.The �rst is for its own genes to mutate spontaneously to help �ghtthe drug. This is a longwinded

route, because mutations taketime to spread through a bacterialpopulation. The second route, ashortcut known as horizontal genetransfer, is for the bug to borrowresistance genes from itsneighbours.

Scientists believe that many human pathogens today picked uptheir resistance genes from the environment through this shortcut.Take cipro�oxacin, an antibioticlaunched by the German companyBayer in the mid1980s. Cipro�oxacin was the most e�ective amongthe quinolone class of antibioticsin �ghting gramnegative bacteriasuch as K. pneumoniae. But ciproalso had another ace up its sleeve.Because bacteria would need multiple resistance mutations to �ghtcipro, and because such multiplemutations are rare, scientiststhought resistance was unlikely.

Yet, within a decade, cipro�oxacin resistance had spread globally.Eventually, scientists learnt thatbacteria such as K. pneumoniaehad been helped along by horizontal gene transfer. They seemed tohave borrowed a gene called qnrA,which conferred resistance to cipro�oxacin, from a sea and freshwater bacterium called Shewanellaalgae. Today, researchers think theShewanella species may be the environmental source for qnr (quinolone resistance) genes. Similardetective work suggests thatanother set of genes, which triggered an epidemic of resistance to

some cephalosporin antibiotics inthe early 21st century, came from asoildwelling species called Kluyve-ra. The bottom line: soil and waterspecies have a stockpile of resistance genes, which jump to pathogens now and then.

The antibiotic ageIn fact, phylogenetic studies suggest that the earliest antibioticresistance genes in nature are millions of years old. But whenhumans starting manufacturingantibiotics in the 1950s, a dramaticshift occurred. Large doses ofthese drugs seeped into the environment through poultry and human excreta, and waste waterfrom drug makers and hospitals.This led to an explosion of resistance genes in soil and watermicrobes.

This is the context in which theantibiotictainted wastewater frompharma companies in Hyderabadmust be seen (The Hindu, ‘GroundZero’ page – “The superbugs ofHyderabad”, November 18, 2017).In 2007, Swedish investigatorsfound that water in a pharma ef

�uent treatment plant had bothhigh levels of cipro�oxacin as wellas novel resistance genes, neverseen in microbes elsewhere. Suchgenes were also found in e�uentfrom a hospital in Pune.

How likely are these genes tomake the journey from livingharmlessly in environmental bacteria to human pathogens thatsicken people? “That is the question, and we do not know theanswer,” says Luigi Rizzo, an environmental engineer who studiestechnologies to remove antibioticresistance germs from wastewaterfor a European project calledANSWER or ‘Antibiotics and mobile resistance elements in wastewater reuse applications: risks andinnovative solutions’.

When the Swedish researcherscompared the numbers of qnrgenes in the faeces of people livingin Hyderabad’s antibioticpollutedregions and elsewhere, they foundno di�erence. This seems to implythat the �ow of genes from the environment to humans is a rareevent. Instead, most transmissionhappens from one human toanother. “Indeed, if it was not (arare event), given the fact thatthere is so much resistance in environmental bacteria, we neverwould have enjoyed the use of antibiotics over the past six decades,” says Gerard D. Wright, director of the Michael G. DeGrooteInstitute for Infectious Disease Research in Canada.

But the rarity isn’t reason tolower our guard. We live in unprecedented times where environmental bacteria, pathogens andantibiotics are mixing like neverbefore. This means such rareevents are almost inevitable, saysProf. Wright. Once they jump tohuman bugs, resistancegenes canspread across continents in a fewdays, thanks to international airtravel.

In 2009, when a deadly resistance gene was discovered in aSwedish patient who had recentlytravelled to New Delhi, researchers assumed the gene was pickedup in India and named it the NewDelhi metallobetalactamase 1(NDM1). The Indian governmentsaw this nomenclature as a publicrelations disaster, arguing thatthere was no evidence of thegene’s Indian origin. WhetherNDM1 came from New Delhi ornot is still a bone of contention.But the worry is that if Indiadoesn’t move quickly, wastewaterin pharma clusters could give riseto new genes as dangerous asNDM1. Once such genes jump tohumans, they will, no doubt, blazetheir way across the planet. Whenthis happens, it will be more thana public relations disaster for India. It will be a death sentence forIndians as well as thousandsacross the globe.

[email protected]

Living in a world of emerging microbial resistanceThe presence of antibiotic resistance in the environment should worry us

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more letters online:

www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/

An American President takinga proIsraeli decision relatedto the IsraelPalestine con

�ict is no surprise. The U.S. has largely favoured Israel throughoutthe Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and East Jerusalem. It has o�ered protection to Israel in the UN Security Council,come to its aid in times of crises,and provided it with advancedweapons. The U.S. has evenlooked away when Israel wasamassing nuclear weapons. In return, Israel has become America’sgreatest ally in West Asia.

Despite this special relationship, previous American Presidents have been wary of recognising Israel’s claims over Jerusalem.Even after the U.S. Congresspassed the Jerusalem EmbassyAct, urging the Administration torelocate the U.S. Embassy from TelAviv to the Holy City, AmericanPresidents have deferred the decision endlessly given internationalpublic opinion and the politicaland moral sensitivity of the issue.It is this consensus that U.S. President Donald Trump has now broken by recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Cutting o� the oxygenMr. Trump’s supporters claim hewas acting on a longmade promise, and that Washington remains committed to the peaceprocess irrespective of the Jerusalem move. They also say that Mr.Trump has just shown the worldhe is a tough decisionmaker andcan act decisively while brokeringpeace between the Israelis andPalestinians. But what these arguments conveniently forget is thatJerusalem is at the very heart of an

IsraeliPalestinian solution. By endorsing Israel’s claims over the city, the American President has driven a knife into that heart. APresident who promised the “ultimate deal” to resolve the con�icthas e�ectively dealt a body blow tothe peace process.

This is not diplomacy. If this is acalculated move as part of a diplomatic package, the U.S. wouldhave held talks with both sides andextracted compromises, takingthe peace process a step forward.If so, Mr. Trump would also havesaid which part of Jerusalem hewas recognising as Israel’s seat ofpower and endorsed the Palestinians’ claim over East Jerusalem,including the Old City. Instead, Mr.Trump has taken a unilateral decision giving the largest concessionto Israel, perhaps since the Osloprocess, without getting any promises in return. His move will onlystrengthen the Israeli Right, whichis dead opposed to ceding anyinch of Jerusalem to a future Palestinian state.

Was never recognisedHistory is not on the side of thelikes of Mr. Trump and Israel’sPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Jerusalem has never been recognised as Israel’s capital by theinternational community. In theoriginal UN General Assemblyplan to partition Palestine andcreate independent Jewish and

Arab states, Jerusalem wasdeemed an international city. TheZionists didn’t wait for the plan tobe implemented by the UN. In1948, they declared the state of Israel and in the ensuing ArabIsraeli war, they captured 23% moreterritories than even what the UNhad proposed, including the western half of Jerusalem. Israel seizedEast Jerusalem in 1967 from Jordan, and later annexed it. Sincethen, Israel has been encouragingillegal settlements in the easternparts of the city, with Palestiniansbeing forced to live in their historical neighbourhoods.

The Israeli Right has alwaysmade claims over the whole of thecity. In 1980, when the Likud government was in power, the IsraeliParliament passed a basic law, declaring Jerusalem “complete andunited” as its capital. This move invoked sharp reaction from worldpowers, including the U.S. The UNSecurity Council (UNSC) declaredthe draft law “null and void” andurged member countries to withdraw their diplomatic missionsfrom the Holy City. This is the reason all countries have their embassies in Tel Aviv despite West Jerusalem being Israel’s seat of powerfor decades. Israel defying international norms and UNSC resolutions is nothing new, but Americapublicly endorsing Israel’s illegalclaims is unprecedented.

In an ideal world, had the U.S.

been a neutral power broker, itshould have put pressure on Israelto come forward and engage thePalestinians in talks. This is because on the Palestinian side, conditions for talks now look better.Hamas, the Islamist movementthat controls the Gaza Strip, recently came up with a new political charter that signals a readinessto deal with Israel and accept the1967 border for a future Palestinian state — a compromise whichhas been compared to the group’srhetorical antiSemitic claims inthe past. Hamas and the Fatah,Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas’s party that rules parts of theWest Bank, also reached a reconciliation agreement recently. Thiscould have been used as an opening to break the logjam in thepeace process. Israel’s history suggests that it will not agree to anycompromise unless it is forced todo so. Over the years, it has continued its illegal settlements in theoccupied territories despite repeated warnings from the international community. If it was reallybothered about peace it wouldhave frozen the settlements andagreed to having talks with thePalestinians.

American nudgesThe only country that can put effective pressure on Israel is theU.S. American Presidents havedone that in the past without upsetting the U.S.Israel alliance. Notable among them has been President Jimmy Carter who practicallyarmtwisted Israel’s rightwingPrime Minister Menachem Beginto join talks with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and even withthe Palestinians (whose claim overthe occupied territories was noteven recognised by the IsraeliRight those days). Mr. Carter’s attempts proved successful as Beginand Sadat �nally signed the CampDavid Agreement. President BillClinton also played a key role inthe 2000 Camp David negotiationsbetween Yasser Arafat and Israel’s

Ehud Barak, which eventuallyfailed to reach a deal. But since thecollapse of the Second Camp David talks, American Presidentshave largely looked away from theissue. President George Bush’s2007 Annapolis Conference wasno more than a photo op in the lastdays of his presidency. PresidentBarack Obama’s focus was on theIran deal, while his administrationo�ered full support to Israel at theUN. And Mr. Trump is least interested in �nding cues of peace onthe Palestinian side and actingupon them by putting pressure onIsrael, the occupying force, forcompromises. In his world, whatmatters is America’s cultural andmilitary alliance with Israel.

The real tragedy is the impactMr. Trump’s decision will have onthe Palestinian people. The hundreds of thousands of Palestinians,who live in the annexed East Jerusalem without even Israeli citizenship, hope to be free at some pointin time. Likewise, the millions ofPalestinians living in the occupiedWest Bank and the blockaded Gaza hope to see East Jerusalem asthe capital of a future Palestinianstate. The U.S. has struck a blowagainst these hopes. First they losttheir city and now are losing eventheir claims. This will only lead totheir despair mounting. But if thehistory of Jerusalem states anything, it is that its disputes cannot besettled by force. During the Crusades, both Christians and Muslims captured the city using brutalforce. The Ottomans ruled it forcenturies only to have it lost to theBritish a century ago. The Jordanians and the Israelis split itamong themselves for two decades after the Second World War.And, now, a millennium after theCrusades, the status of Jerusalemis still disputed. Mr. Trump’s movemay be a big shot in the arm forthe Israelis, but a �nal settlementis still afar.

[email protected]

A stab in the heart of a peace processDonald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem has dealt a body blow to Palestinian hopes

stanly johny

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Does it again Political decorum hastouched its nadir withformer Rajya Sabha MPMani Shankar Aiyar callingPrime Minister NarendraModi “neech kism kaaadmi” (a low life) inreaction to Mr. Modi’sspeech (“Congresssuspends Aiyar for remarkagainst PM Modi”,December 8). It is verydi�cult to buy Mr. Aiyar’sdefence of his poorknowledge of Hindi. Ifsocalled intellectuals makesuch jarring comments,what can we expect fromlesser mortals? TheCongress should beappreciated for taking swiftaction by suspending Mr.Aiyar from the party. However, the BJP too canbe blamed for ridiculing Mr.

Rahul Gandhi by usingderogatory terms. ThePrime Minister could do alot to raise the bar as far asdecent political debate isconcerned if he desistsfrom harping on hisbackground and hailingfrom a particular caste.Elections should becontested on issues.V. Subramanian,

Chennai

Disquali�cation of MPsIt is surprising that The Hindu has a blinkeredview of the disquali�cationof the dissident Janata Dal (United) leaders, SharadYadav and Ali Anwar, fromthe Rajya Sabha (Editorial —“Defection, disa�ection,December 8).To call the decision of theChairman of Rajya Sabha in

disqualifying the two rebelmembers as having been“done in haste” and toimply that the antidefection law is a “tool tosti�e dissent” is tantamountto making a mockery ofdemocracy. How can the decision todisqualify them militateagainst the spirit of theantidefection law when it isas clear as daylight that thetwo members had violatedit with impunity? The purpose and theobjective of the antidefection law will bedefeated if thedisquali�cation of thosewho violate it is sought tobe delayed on specious andunreasonable grounds.Both rebel members hadopenly campaigned againstthe parent party in the past

and in the runup to theGujarat elections. In theface of such mountingevidence, the Chairmanhad no other option but todisqualify them. He tookthe right decision at theright time.Y. Satya Kumar,

Hyderabad

The turf gameHockey legend Floris JanBovelander’s suggestionthat hockey should moveaway from being played onan arti�cial pitch surface ifwe want to see hockeybeing embraced by manymore nations is worthy ofserious consideration bythe game’s administrators(‘Sport’ – “‘I am intodeveloping new forms &formats’”, December 5). Irecollect an interview by

is a�ected by di�erenttypes of retardation.Because of their intellectualdisabilities, they are noteven aware of their legaland legitimate rights. Inmost cases, their guardiansor social activists have hadto and still �ght for these.There is another graveissue. There are aninadequate number ofspecial schools, specialeducators and paramedicalsta� to help this segment ofthe population. Publicsupport is the cornerstoneof any welfare programme.These children may be thevictims of fate but theyshould not be the victims ofour neglect. P. Narayanan,

Chennai

another hockey legend,Islahuddin of Pakistan, whospoke of the move byEuropean hockey bodies toimpose “the arti�cial turfonly” in the game’s schemeas having sounded thedeath knell forsubcontinental hockey. Thecharm of �eld hockey, withits beautiful passes andastute dribbling, has beenlost for ever. No othermajor sport has beentinkered with in terms of itsplaying surfaces as hockeyhas. Why be so blinkeredabout hockey?V. Jagadeesan,

Hyderabad

For a helping handEvery year, December 8 isobserved as National Dayfor the Mentally Retarded.About 2% of the population

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

It will be a travesty of its avowed objectives if the pro

posed legislation to protect the rights of transgender

persons is not su�ciently rooted in a rightsbased

approach. News that the Centre has brushed aside a

parliamentary standing committee’s report and plans

to introduce the Transgender Persons (Protection of

Rights) Bill without changes is a disappointment. The

process of recognising the rights of the community and

seeking to protect it by legislation gained momentum in

2014, when the Supreme Court gave a landmark verdict

in the NALSA case. The court recognised the commun

ity as a third gender entitled to the same rights and con

stitutional protection as other citizens. It called for an

end to discrimination based on gender against those

who do not conform to the gender assigned to them at

birth. Besides this negative right against discrimina

tion, the court ruled that transgender persons had a

positive right to make decisions about themselves, ex

press themselves and participate in community life. It

directed the government to accord them ‘socially and

educationally backward’ status so they could bene�t

from a�rmative action. In 2014, a private member’s Bill

moved by DMK MP Tiruchi N. Siva was passed in the Ra

jya Sabha. In the Lok Sabha, the government intro

duced its own Bill, which was referred to the Standing

Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment.

The Standing Committee, in its July 2017 report, sug

gested some modi�cations and additions to the draft. In

particular, it disagreed with the de�nition of ‘transgen

der’ in the draft Bill and wanted modi�cations to bring

it in line with global norms. The Committee felt that the

de�nition violated the principle that transgender per

sons have a right to selfidenti�cation of their gender.

Activists and experts have also rightly pointed to the ab

sence of any reference to the implications of criminal

and civil laws that are based on the traditional gender

binary. While provisions on equality and nondiscrimi

nation would promote equal opportunity, in the pro

cess the real bene�t of reservation in jobs should not be

denied. Social legislation should not be merely benevo

lent; rather, it should be imbued with an approach that

extends to the marginalised sections the freedom, dig

nity and autonomy that other citizens enjoy. In the do

main of legislation, disagreements over drafts are natu

ral. It is up to the government of the day to adopt an

inclusive approach towards divergent opinions and

come up with the best law possible. Ignoring the opi

nions of experts and parliamentary committees does

not help the process. The Centre should revisit its draft

and incorporate the inputs of the standing committee

and an expert panel that submitted a report in 2014.

Rights & wrongsThe Centre should reconsider its

draft Bill on transgender rights

It is an ongoing investigation and very little can be

said with certainty about the backstory of the mur

der of a Bengali migrant worker in Rajasthan’s Rajsa

mand district. But from videos shared on social media

and initial information from the police, a few things are

clear. Mohammed Afrazul Khan, aged 50 and a long

time resident of Rajasthan, was hacked to death and his

body set on �re by a man identi�ed by the police as

Shambhu Lal Raigar, a former marble trader. The vide

os, uploaded by his 14yearold nephew, record Raigar

as saying he killed Afrazul to save a woman from “love

jihad”, and ranting against Muslims, his ramble ranging

from �lms depicting interreligious romance to the Ba

bri Masjid. The police arrested Raigar and his nephew

and declared they would seek the death penalty for the

former. DirectorGeneral of Police O.P. Galhotra said

that prima facie the murderer was of unsound mind, a

theory his family seems to subscribe to. While Rajas

than Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje condemned the

murder, saying the case should be prosecuted swiftly,

the opposition has embedded the crime in the larger

majoritarian rhetoric of the Sangh Parivar. But irrespec

tive of whether the murder was the work of an isolated

and unsound mind or a deliberate conspiracy, it is im

portant that the political discourse around it be respon

sible, and responsive to the insecurity among migrant

workers, especially those who are Muslims. It is imper

ative that this case comes to trial swiftly and the guilty

are brought to book; this will be a test of the system’s ca

pacity and intent to deal �rmly with hate crimes.

Hate crimes are particularly serious because of their

potential to provoke panic. The speed with which the

videos travelled on social media frames a di�cult chal

lenge for law enforcement authorities. A temporary In

ternet shutdown that was enforced in Rajsamand may

appear unavoidable, but these are posthoc measures

and cannot prevent the problem of provocative, even

grisly, content being made available and even spreading

online. Rajasthan’s elected leaders would do well to go

beyond denouncing the murder and its heinousness.

Given the sheer venality of the videos, their accompa

nying antiMuslim rhetoric, and the likely sense of inse

curity they have caused, it is important for them to de

clare that they stand �rmly against sectarian hate

crimes. Such crimes pose a very sti� challenge in a de

mocratic society. They may be isolated, they may be the

handiwork of individuals acting on their own, but by

positioning one group (religious, racial, ethnic, gender)

against another, the impact of these crimes spills into

the wider community. They heighten anxieties among

the targeted groups, and in the age of a polarised social

media, they risk giving the unacceptable a perverse ac

ceptability. There is only one way to counter them: with

a clear, unambiguous consensus against hate.

Countering hateCrimes like the Rajsamand murder must

be swiftly prosecuted, explicitly denounced


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GROUND ZEROEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE



Geeta Bandu Sonule doesn’t cryany more. Not even when she relives the �nal moments of her

husband Chandrakant Bandu Sonule(40), who died two months ago, afterspraying pesticide on a cotton �eld.

On September 19 this year, it hadbeen raining on and o� in the small village of Manoli in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district. Bandu, as he was known inthe village, had come to the cotton farmof Shankar Ramakrishna Chowdhuri insearch of work. That morning, he �lleda container with the pesticide handedto him, and pulled a cord to bring thepetrolpowered sprayer to life.

Covering his mouth and nose with ahandkerchief, he began spraying the�ne mist on the cotton �eld. The cropwas taller than the �veandahalf footlabourer, who had taken on the task fora daily wage of �300. Inhaling the toxicmist was an occupational hazard hedidn’t have the luxury of worryingabout.

A death foretoldBandu began spraying at 9 a.m. and didnot stop except to indulge his smallvice: kharra (an addictive blend ofscented tobacco ground with lime). Hehad bought two packets, costing �10each, for the day’s use. His wife hadn’tpacked his lunch. “It was pitru pakshamavasya (new moon), so he was fasting. He didn’t take food but told meabout the kharra packets. Usually hehas jhunka bhakar (a spicy preparationof gram �our eaten with jowar roti) inthe morning, and carries the same thingfor lunch,” says Geeta.

“It had rained during the day. The skywas cloudy. Bandu returned home justas it was getting dark. He had his bath,and made the ritual o�ering to his deceased father. After that he started complaining of dizziness and nausea. I toldhim it must be because of his fasting. Hesat down for a dinner of chicken, jowarroti, green chillies, and onions. Then hestarted throwing up, and said he wasunable to see. He kept vomiting, andwas tossing and turning all night,” sherecalls, surrounded by her father, mother, daughter, nieces and nephews in herparents’ house in Amdi village, 2 kmfrom Manoli.

While Manoli has no hospital, Ghatanji, which is 5 km away, has a ruralhealthcare centre. The district headquarters of Yavatmal, 42 km from Ghatanji, has the Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College, which is a584bed facility. Ghatanji to Yavatmal isa bonerattling bus ride that takes morethan an hour, with a short ghat sectionthat passes through the Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary.

In the morning, Geeta took her husband to the medical centre in Ghatanji.Bandu was given some eye drops andtold that he would be alright. “When wegot back home, he began to have convulsions. He was sweating profusely, heagain started vomiting, and he couldn’tsee. We couldn’t take him to a hospitalas there was only �15 in the house,” Geeta says.

An autorickshaw from Manoli to Yavatmal costs �200. “I borrowed moneyfrom my brother, and the next morning,we took him again to the same medicalcentre in Ghatanji where we had shownhim the previous night. After two hours,we got an admission card for the Vasantrao Naik Government Medical Collegein Yavatmal. We took a bus and by thetime we reached the hospital, it was theevening of September 21,” says Geeta.Bandu was rushed to the ICU. He was given some medicines, his eyes were bandaged, and he was put on an intravenous drip. His wife, son, nephew and anurse tried to hold him down on thebed as he thrashed about in spasmodicviolence. On September 23, at 7 a.m.,his body went limp. Doctors pronounced him dead. Bandu had joinedYavatmal’s growing list of people whohad died of pesticide poisoning throughinhalation.

Killer pesticidesManoli is about 47 km from the districtheadquarters of Yavatmal. It is a villageof a few hundred houses surrounded byendless acres of cotton and green pigeon pea farms. State Highway 237 passesthrough these �elds.

A month before Bandu died, on August 6, a farmer named Dashrath RamaChavan was brought to Yavatmal’s Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College. The next day, Devidas Ramaji Madavi was brought in by his relatives. Bythe end of November, 21 people (13farmers and eight farm workers) haddied due to pesticide inhalation in Yavatmal district alone. Activists peg thenumber of the dead at 50 in the othercottongrowing regions of Maharashtrasuch as Akola, Amravati, Dhamangaon,Nagpur, and Wardha. Also, 497 instances of temporary blindness caused bypesticide inhalation have been reported. Doctors call it ‘temporary blindness’as almost all the survivors regainedtheir sight after a few days of treatment.

Agriculture department o�cials haveidenti�ed a number of chemicals, in

cluding organophosphates, pyrethroids, neonicotinoids, and pyrazoles asresponsible for the deaths. As news ofBandu’s death spread, government o�cials rushed to inspect Shankar Chowdhuri’s farmland. They discovered anumber of empty bottles and canistersof pesticides. District o�cials identi�eda cocktail of pesticides, including Polo,Steamreach, and Tonic.

Polo, manufactured by the globalagribusiness giant Syngenta, has diafenthiuron (which kills by causing paralysis) as the active ingredient. The bottleswith the labels of Tonic and Steamreachhad no identi�able chemical names onthem. But all of them had a blue band,which indicates toxicity and marksthem out as dangerous.

As the number of deaths due to pesticide poisoning piled up, activists of theMaharashtra Navnirman Sena targetedan o�cial from the agriculture department, demanding that culpable homicide charges be slapped against Maharashtra Agriculture Minister PandurangFundkar and the department o�cials.Following 21 deaths in one district dueto pesticide exposure, the Zilla ParishadAgriculture O�cer was placed undersuspension. The State government hasgiven a compensation of �2 lakhs to thenext of kin of the dead.

“We cannot wish away pesticides,”says a district agriculture departmento�cial. “Farm incomes will decline rapidly if we stop using them. This year,the pink bollworm has created panicamong farmers, who have ended up using a number of pesticides. The government has constituted a Special Investigative Team with district o�cials anddoctors in its ranks to probe thesedeaths. I hope it will bring out thetruth.”

Now a pamphlet prepared by theagriculture department has been plastered on all the shops selling farmequipment as well in the village community halls. It lists the dos and don’tsand safe practices. But it doesn’t evenhave a helpline number for farmers to

call if they need information or if theyexperience discomfort due to sprayingof pesticides.

Desperate to save crops Farmers who see their healthy cottoncrop grow to a height of six feet are anxious to eliminate any risk of pests.They deploy practically everything theylay their hands on. Farm workers arepaid on the basis of the number of timesthey empty the pesticide containers.Naturally, they stretch themselves to thelimit.

“I have my own petroldriven pump.A month back, I sprayed through theday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A couple ofweeks later, I began to lose my sight. Ihad stomach cramps and pain in thethroat. My wife brought me to this hospital after hearing all the stories of people dying due to pesticide exposure,”says Vinod Shirji Dhanke, a farm handfrom Dhamangaon.

He had done a simple calculation:With one litre of petrol, he could spray30 times. On a single day he sprayed thepesticide 50 times and earned �1,500.“Never again will I spray pesticides. I amselling o� my �5,500 pump for �2,000,”says Danke, convalescing in Ward No. 18of the same hospital where Bandu died.

The entire ward has been repurposedfor taking care of patients exposed to fatal levels of pesticides. “This has become like a VIP ward, attracting themaximum number of visitors,” says anurse at the hospital. “Now there areonly seven patients. But for threemonths we struggled with a full ward.Some of the patients were constantly inpain, screaming, complaining of burning eyes. Others writhed and thrashedabout. We would ask the relatives tohold them down. Some had to be tied tothe beds to keep them from harmingthemselves.”

Poisoning by organophosphatescauses headache, dizziness, weakness,anxiety, tremors of tongue and eyelids,miosis, and impairment of visual acuity.Some lost control of their bowel movement, adds the nurse, who did not wantto be identi�ed. Doctors at the hospitalrefused to speak, citing the ongoing

probe by a Special Investigation Team.Among the survivors of accidental

pesticide exposure is Avdhut LaxmanWadgure (48), a farmer from the samevillage as Bandu. “I sprayed Profex Super on my toor dal (pigeon pea) crop onNovember 14. I began at 9 a.m. andsprayed using my hand pump till 3.30p.m. I didn’t take a break as I was fastingthat day. Three days later, when I tookmy mother to hospital, I felt feverishand couldn’t see properly. The doctorasked me to get admitted here,” saysWadgure, who owns 3.5 acres in Manoli.

Profex Super is a combination of twoneurotoxins, of which one is an organophosphate, a synthetic chemical thatbelongs to the same family as the notorious nerve gas Sarin, which kills by disrupting neural pathways. Wadgure isone of the lucky few to have survived anintense exposure to these neurotoxins.

What emerges from conversationswith various farm workers and farmersis that the spraying of pesticide is linkednot to pest infestation or the health ofthe crop but to how much of it can besprayed, and how desperate the farmeris to save the crop.

The amount of pesticides sprayed oncotton has grown exponentially overthe years. Nearly 6,863 metric tonnes ofpesticides were used on cotton crops byfarmers in India in 2002. By 2013, thequantity had risen to 11,598 metrictonnes. This year, on November 13, following a petition by concerned citizenson how pesticides are a�ecting the rightto life, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Central government on theregulation of pesticides. The Centre isyet to reply to the notice.

Colonial greed, indi�erence nowYavatmal is the heart of the cottonproducing region in the country, with43,84,000 hectares under the crop. Inthe morning hours, the roads in thecountryside are full of tinkling ox cartspiled high with the white �bre. It wasback in 1825 that Parsi bankers and merchants �rst brought such ox carts loaded with cotton to Bombay, from where itwas shipped to the mills of Lancashireand Manchester.

“Soon, 500 ox carts per year weremaking the trip from the interiors ofcentral India to the dockyards of Bombay. At its peak, three lakh ox carts wereused to transport cotton. The area wastransformed, as roads, bridges, andbungalows for travellers came up. TheNizam handed over the Aurangabadmint to two brothers, Pestonjee Meherjiand Viccajee Meherji. Later they weregiven permission to mint their owncoins, known as Peston Shahi Sikka,”says Captain Kerman. F. Pestonjee,greatgreatgreat grandson of PestonjeeMeherji, who brought the �rst lot of cotton to the Bombay port.

But this was too good to last. In 1853,the British took over Berar (a provincethen nominally under the Hyderabadstate) from the Nizam. In 1866, the postof Cotton Commissioner for the CentralProvinces and Berar was created, andHarry RivettCarnac became the �rst appointee. His job was to collect detailedinformation about cotton in the region.As a British o�cial wrote to his superiors in 1870: “All the best land in Berar;it is full of that deep rich black alluvialsoil called regar, of almost inexhaustiblefertility…” The colonial administrationnearly 200 years ago tracked the rainfall, moisture, terrain, and fertility ofthe land. In contrast, the amount of information farmers have in the age ofWhatsapp and Facebook is very limited.On its website, the Central Institute forCotton Research has a link for weeklyweather bulletins to help cotton farmers. But the most recent weather bulletin dates back to the �rst week of August. Not only are there no regularupdates, even this bulletin meant tohelp farmers is not available in Marathi,the local language.

No paperwork, no regulations Yavatmal is the second largest mart forpesticides and fertilisers in Maharashtra, after Ahmednagar. It has 72 largedistributors for the two commodities.“The government has given us a machine to take the �ngerprints of thosewho purchase fertilisers. They shouldalso bring their Aadhaar card,” says Harish Goplani of Pushpak Krishi Kendra, aretailer of farm supplies.

Nonetheless, purchasing pesticidedoesn’t require any paperwork. Two ofthe pesticides, Tonic and Gayathri,which are being blamed for the pesticide exposure fatalities, had no information on them about the ingredients,according to a study by D. NarasimhaReddy of Pesticide Action Network.

The study also found that some pesticides not approved by the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee (CIBRC), the apex body forregulating the use of pesticides in thecountry, including a fungicide namedcopper oxychloride and a carcinogenicherbicide, Glyphosate, were being usedby farmers.

But these deaths caused by pesticideinhalation are not the �rst such in India.Sixteen years ago, death stalked the

farmers in Warangal the same way.In 2002, Hukumdeo Yadav, the then

Union Minister of State for Agriculture,had told the Lok Sabha, “As per the report from the Government of AndhraPradesh, 51 cases of pesticide poisoninginvolving 13 deaths due to exposure topesticides have been reported duringSeptember and October, 2001. Somedeaths due to pesticides poisoning havebeen reported from a few other Statesalso… No indepth health monitoringstudy is contemplated in this regard bythe Ministry of Agriculture.” Clearly,with no study conducted, no lessonshave been learnt.

Three months into the tragedy unfolding in Yavatmal, the pesticide andfertiliser shops in the district wear a deserted look. The shop shelves have beenemptied out. “The government hasasked us not to sell any pesticides,” saysa shop owner. Local activists, led by Dewanand Pawar of the Shetkari NyayHakka Andolan Samiti (Committee forJustice to Farmers), claim that traderssold unbranded pesticides and cocktailsthat they had themselves created, unhindered by regulatory oversight.

No lessons learntAs this tragedy was unfolding in Yavatmal, the CIBRC met in Delhi on October11. At its 378th meeting, the panel approved the import of a number of codedsamples of pesticides for research, testing, and trial.

In the minutes of the meeting, theword ‘approved’ occurs 28 times in the33page document. It approved the indigenous manufacture of �pronil, with acaveat about usage: “Fipronil is highlytoxic to bees therefore (sic) should notbe applied on blossoming Cotton (B).The product is toxic to aquatic invertebrates and �sh therefore (sic) not to beused in and around Aquaculture.”

Incidentally, the European Union haslaunched an investigation into the presence of �pronil in chicken eggs in multiple countries. How a potent pesticideused to treat �eas, ticks, and bugs onanimals ended up in eggs remains amystery. According to media reports,two directors of a company accused ofplaying a role in �pronil contaminationwere arrested by Dutch o�cials in August this year.

Meanwhile, Bandu’s family strugglesto recover from the tragedy. “He fastedto feed his father, now his son will haveto do the same thing next year. If I knewsomething like this would happen, Iwould have asked him not to fast,” saysBandu’s mother Kausabai ChandrabhanSonule, remembering the dark night ofamavasya that spirited her son away.

Deadly incentive: “Farm workers are paid on the basis of the number of times they empty pesticide containers.” A farm labourer sprays pesticide on cotton crop in Manoli village, Yawatmal district, Maharashtra. (Below) Geeta Sonule (in a blue saree), whose husband Bandu Sonule died of pesticide poisoning through inhalation, along with her family. * S. SUDARSHAN

When every breath killsIn the cotton belt of Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district, pesticide poisoning through inhalation has caused 21 deaths in three months. Serish Nanisetti reports on the deadly cocktail of absent regulation, government apathy, and farmers’ desperation that continues to claim lives

<> I have my own petroldriven

pump. A month back, I sprayed

through the day, from 9 a.m. to

5 p.m. A couple of weeks later, I

began to lose my sight. I had

stomach cramps and pain in

the throat.

Vinod Shirji Dhanke

Farm hand from Dhamangaon

<> The government has

constituted a Special

Investigative Team with

district o�cials and doctors to

probe these deaths. I hope it

will bring out the truth.

Official

District agriculture department


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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday again raisedsuspended Congress leaderMani Shankar Aiyar’s remarkterming him a neech aadmi(lowly person), and labelledthe Congress a casteist party.

Speaking at a public meeting in the small town ofBhabhar in Banaskantha district in North Gujarat, Mr.Modi accused Mr. Aiyar ofvisiting Pakistan to arrangehis [Modi’s] supari (contractkilling).

“After I became Prime Minister, this man [Aiyar] wentto Pakistan and met somePakistanis. All these thingsare available on social media. In that meeting, he isseen discussing with Pakistanis that until Modi is not removed from the way, relations between India andPakistan cannot improve,”Mr. Modi said.

“Someone tell me what isthe meaning of removing someone from the way? Youhad gone to Pakistan to givemy supari; you wanted togive Modi’s supari,” thePrime Minister said.

“This conversation tookplace three years ago. TheCongress party had tried tosuppress this episode ...They did not take any action

against him for last threeyears,” Mr. Modi alleged.“What is my crime? Thiscountry’s people have elected me in a democratic way,and you go to Pakistan andsay that this man is comingin the way and remove him.”

Mr. Aiyar, meanwhile,said he was ready to acceptany punishment if the partysu�ered damage in the Gujarat polls from his comment.

‘Deeply regret it’ The veteran party leader,who was suspended onThursday for his remarks,said the Congress had givenhim a lot and India had nofuture without the party.

“If the Congress has suffered any damage because ofwhat I have said, then I deeply regret it,” he told pressper

sons on the sidelines of anIndiaPakistan seminar.

“And if the Congress su�ers any damage in the pollsdue to my comments, then Iwill accept whatever punishment the party deems �t,”he said.

Past instancesThis is not the �rst time Mr.Aiyar’s comments have leftthe Congress redfaced. InNovember 1998, Mr. Aiyar,who was then Congress spokesperson, called BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee a“layak vyakti, nalayak neta”(competent person, uselessleader). His chaiwallah labelfor Mr. Modi in the run up to2014 Lok Sabha election became a rallying point for BJPcampaign.

(With PTI inputs)

Bad blood continues over Aiyar’s ga�ePrime Minister says the suspended Congress leader had gone to Pakistan to arrange a contract to kill him

Sharp attack: Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an electionrally in Gandhinagar on Friday. * PTI


New Delhi

CMYK

A ND-NDE




NEWS

FROM PAGE ONE

to the mother as well. We also raised concern abouttheir safety and security inPakistan.” Ms. Swaraj saidthat she conveyed the Pakistani decision to Mrs. Avantika Jadhav, the mother.

O�cials said that they arenot considering the “purelyhumanitarian” gesture asequivalent to granting ofconsular access that Indiahas been demanding fromthe moment Mr. Jadhav wasproduced before the Pakistani media.

“We received the responsefrom the Pakistani government to the request madeby India on November 13,2017 to allow both motherand wife of Mr. Jadhav tomeet him,” said Ministry ofExternal A�airs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar in NewDelhi.

O�cials described the Pakistani move which comes aweek before the next hearing of the case at TheHague’s International Courtof Justice, as “positive andhumanitarian.”

External A�airs MinisterSushma Swaraj took to social media to announce thedevelopment and said, “Government of Pakistan hasconveyed that they will givevisa to the mother and wifeof Kulbhushan Jadhav. Earlier Pakistan had given visaonly to the wife. On this, weasked Pakistan to give visa

Pak. clears visit to jailby Jadhav’s mother

Kulbhushan Jhadhav

The Hindu had earlier reported that Russia had expressed optimism about India’s membership in theWassenaar Arrangement.Deputy Foreign MinisterSergey Ryabkov had saidearlier this week that Russian support for Indianmembership in the organisation will help bilateralties.

He said “This is an example and re�ection of Russia’sunwavering support to India’s membership of international nuclear control regimes.”

The MEA spokespersonsaid, “While membership ofthe Arrangement would notautomatically entail anypreferential treatment fromother WA members, itwould create the groundsfor realignment of India inthe export control policyframework of other WAmembers, including eligibility for certain licensing exceptions.”

Membership in the Arrangement has been part ofIndia’s quest for membership in the export controlorganisations.

India enters WassenaarArrangement

Justice D.Y. Chandrachudparaphrased the petitioner’s argument that itamounted to a violation of awoman’s fundamental rightagainst discrimination under Article 15 when law “assumes a patronising attitudeto women.”

“By presuming the woman to be a victim, has thelaw made a patronising assumption?” Justice Chandrachud asked.

Why is prosecution under Section 497 completelydependent on the husband’s word?

So much so that a womancan enter into an adulterousrelationship if her husbandconsents.

The debate in the courtcentered on the questionwhether Section 497 demeans a woman to the extent that she is consideredthe husband’s “commodity?”

“Does this relegate her tothe level of a commodity?”Justice Chandrachud asked.

Terming the provision“quite archaic,” the Supreme Court observed inthe order that when societyprogresses, rights are con�rmed and a new generation of thoughts shouldspring forth.

“This is tantamount to subordination of a womanwhere the Constitution confers equal status [on women],” it declared.

Further, only a husbandor the person in whose carethe husband has left his wifecan �le a complaint underSection 497.

The petition challengesthe validity of Section 198 (1)and (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure which deemsthat only a husband can bean aggrieved party in offences against marriage likeadultery and only he can goto court.

Arguing for the petitionerJoseph Shine, advocates Kaleeswaram Raj and SuviduttM.S. submitted that the penal section was framed at atime when a wife was considered the husband’s property.

They asked the court toannul Section 497.

Equal status The Constitution confersequal status on man and woman.

The time had come whensociety had to realise that awoman was equal to herhusband in every respect,Chief Justice Misra recordedin the Supreme Court order.

Adultery law weightedin favour of men: SC

The decision of the SupremeCourt on Friday to reexamine the o�ence of adulteryis prima facie an admissionthat the court has consistently gone wrong in denyingthat the colonial penal provision is actually “male chauvinism” disguised as a bene�cial law for women.

In a 1985 judgment, athreejudge Bench recordsthe submissions made on behalf of Sowmithri Vishnu,whose husband wanted divorce for desertion and adultery.

Nalini Chidambaram, senior advocate appearing forMs. Vishnu, called Section497 (adultery) of the IndianPenal Code a “�agrant instance of gender discrimina

tion, legislative despotismand male chauvinism”.

Prosecuting a husbandMs. Chidambaram describedSection 497 as a kind of “romantic paternalism”, whichstemmed from the assumption that women, like chattels, are the property ofmen.

She argued that while Section 497 gave husbands theexclusive right as an aggrieved party to prosecutethe adulterer in a case involving his wife, a similarright had not been conferredon a wife to prosecute thewoman with whom her husband has committedadultery.

Secondly, the provisiondoes not confer any right onthe wife to prosecute her

husband for adultery. The law also does not take

into account cases where thehusband has sexual relationswith an unmarried woman.

Thus, the provisiondeems that “husbands havea free licence under the lawto have extramarital relationships with unmarried

women”. However, thethreejudge Bench led by thethen Chief Justice of IndiaY.V. Chandrachud dismissedthese arguments as havingonly a “strong emotiveappeal”.

The judgment said a wifecould always initiate civil action against her unfaithfulhusband.

The court agreed that “aman seducing the wife ofanother” was the most seenand felt evil in society.

Yusuf Abdul Aziz caseThe Vishnu verdict draws itsstrength from a �vejudgeConstitution Bench verdictin the Yusuf Abdul Aziz caseof 1954.

Answering the questionwhy a wife cannot be prosecuted as an abettor to adul

tery, Justice Vivian Bose,speaking for the Bench, saidthe protection from prosecution given to women underSection 497 was in tune withArticle 15 (3) of the Constitution. Article 15 (3) allows thelegislature to make “specialprovisions” which are “bene�cial” for women andchildren.

Denied discrimination In 1988, a twojudge Bench,in V. Revathi versus Union ofIndia, denied gender discrimination in the fact thatonly the adultererman ispunished and not the wifewho consensually enteredinto the adulterousrelationship.

“The community punishes the ‘outsider’ who breaksinto the matrimonial home

and violates the sanctity ofthe matrimonial tie by developing an illicit relationshipwith one of the spouses. Theerring man alone can bepunished and not the erringwoman. It does not arm thetwo spouses to hit each other with the weapon of criminal law. That is why neithercan the husband prosecutethe wife and send her to jailnor can the wife prosecutethe husband and send him tojail,” Justice M.P. Thakkarwrote.

A revisit signals a paradigm shift in the way thecourt views the modern Indian women.

“The time has come forsociety to realise that a woman is equal to her husbandin every respect,” Chief Justice Dipak Misra observed.

A paradigm shift in court’s view on adulteryIn 1985, a threejudge Bench dismissed the argument that Section 497 of the IPC is discriminatory


NEW DELHI

After the immediate suspension of veteran leader ManiShankar Aiyar for his comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress launched acountero�ensive againstthe BJP for use of coarse discourse.

Speaking at a press conference in Ahmedabad on Friday, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said theBharataiya Janata Party(BJP) should follow its vicepresident Rahul Gandhi’sexample and rein in motormouths in its party.

“You can use the harshestwords to criticise policies ofyour opponent, but the criticism should never get personal,” Mr. Surjewala said,applauding Mr. Gandhi fortaking the unprecedentedstep of suspending Mr. Aiyar.

‘Many jibes’“We want to ask Modiji, canyou show similar courage?Your party and yourself every day use vulgar language

for the Congress and otheropposition parties. Will youapologise for it?” he said.

The Congress leaderwent on to list jibes made byMr. Modi and other BJP leaders against the Congress.“The PM himself in the lastAssembly elections hadcalled Congress presidentSonia Gandhi, one of the tallest leaders in India, an Italian Jersey Cow. Will he belatedly apologise for it,” Mr.Surjewala asked.

He questioned Mr. Modi’scomments on Congressleader Shashi Tharoor’s latewife Sunanda Pushkar,whom he [Modi] had referred to as “�50 crore kigirlfriend.”

Congress dares PM to rein in abuseSpecial Correspondent

New Delhi

Randeep Surjewala

Kashmir witnessed widespread protests on Fridayagainst the U.S. move to shiftits embassy from Tel Aviv toJerusalem, forcing the authorities to impose restrictionsin Srinagar and place separatists under house arrest.

No Friday prayers were allowed at Srinagar’s historicJamia Masjid which hostsone of the biggest congregations in the Valley. MirwaizUmar Farooq, head priestand chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference,was not allowed to step outof his house in Nigeen.

“The authoritarian regime imposed restrictions

and disallowed Muslimsfrom o�ering Friday prayersand register their resentment to the U.S. decisionpeacefully,” said the Mirwaiz. He termed the U.S.

move “unacceptable to theMuslim world.”

TehreekeHurriyat chairman Syed Ali Geelani was also stopped from joining theprayers. Volatile areas of the

city’s Nowhatta, M.R. Gunjand Safakadal were placedunder restrictions.

However, postprayersprotests were held in Srinagar’s Maisuma and Hasanabad localities, where devotees held antiU.S.demonstrations. Protestersalso set an e�gy of U.S. President Donald Trump on�re. A protest march washeld in Budgam.

In north Kashmir, demonstrations were held in partsof Handwara and Kupwara.In south Kashmir, Pulwamaand Anantnag witnessedstone throwing and clashes.Protests were held in Ladakh’s Kargil and Drass areastoo.

Kashmiris turn ire on U.S.Restrictions imposed in Srinagar, no Friday prayers allowed in Jamia Masjid

On �re: Protesters shout slogans as they burn the e�gy of U.S.President Donald Trump in Srinagar. * NISSAR AHMAD

Peerzada Ashiq

Srinagar

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has instituteda preliminary inquiry intoallegations that a Tamil Nadu hotel was undervaluedand auctioned to a relativeof the former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, in aconspiracy with some Indian Overseas Bank (IOB)o�cials.

K. Kathirvel, a doctorwho was running the hotelin partnership with his associates, lodged a complaintwith the CBI in September2016, alleging that the Comfort Inn hotel in Tirupur wasput to auction despite thefact that the owners wereready to clear the bankloans.

He alleged that the hotelwas worth �10 crore, butwas undervalued and soldfor �4.24 crore to PadminiSivasubramanian, sister ofMr. Chidambaram’s wife Nalini. She passed away a fewmonths ago.

The petitioner also approached the Delhi HighCourt, which sought a response from the CBI. Theagency submitted before thecourt that it had initiated apreliminary inquiry.

Two term loansIt turned out that the hotelhad taken two term loans of�2.55 crore and �42 lakhfrom the IOB in August2005.

As its construction wastaking time, there was an

overdue in the loan accountand it was classi�ed as anonperforming asset. Thebank issued notice underthe Securitisation and Reconstruction of FinancialAssets and Enforcement ofSecurity Interest Act, 2002(also known as the SARFAESI Act) for recovery, tooksymbolic possession of theproperty, and �xed its auction on December 6, 2007.

On the auction day, thecomplainant — on the hotel’s behalf — paid �65 lakhin its loan account as instructed by the then generalmanager in the bank’s recovery department. However, it is alleged, the bankauctioned the property. Ofthe two bidders, Padminiquoted the highest amountof �4.24 crore and got thehotel. The same day, shepaid 25% of the bid amount.

The CBI, during the veri�cation of facts, concludedthat the bank o�cials hadacted in a hurried mannerto “facilitate” Padmini in acquiring the hotel by not following prudent bankingpractice. Dr. Kathirvel, inhis complaint, alleged thatthe bank o�cials had alsothreatened him, demandingthat he withdraw the complaint. As he refused, thebank allegedly initiated action under the SARFAESIAct against D.R. PoultryFarms Pvt. Ltd. and otheraccounts of Best Wing Energy India Pvt. Ltd., the companies he was associatedwith.

Chidambaram’skin on CBI radarProbe into auction of a hotel in T.N.

Devesh K. Pandey

New Delhi

anyone. Territorial integrityof no State will be a�ected,”Mr. Singh told presspersonshere on the sidelines of a‘Sainik Sammelan’ of the paramilitary Assam Ri�es.

He was replying to a question on the possibility of theterritorial integrity of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur being hampered bythe likely peace agreementbetween the Central government and the Naga insurgency group Nationalist SocialistCouncil of NagalandIsakMuivah (NSCNIM).

“The Central government,under the leadership of

Seeking to allay the concernsof three Northeastern States,Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced onFriday that the territorial integrity of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipurwould not be compromisedwhile inking the �nal Nagapeace accord.

Mr. Singh also said thatviolence perpetrated by insurgent groups in the northeast had fallen signi�cantly —by 75%80%.

“There should be no apprehension or worry for

Prime Minister NarendraModi, is committed to doingits best to ful�l the aspirations of the Naga people for abrighter tomorrow, with allthe honour they richly de

serve,” Mr. Singh said at theHornbill Festival at the Nagaheritage village of Kisama,about 12 km from the Statecapital Kohima, earlier in theday.

NSCNIM’s key demandhas been to integrate Nagainhabited areas of ArunachalPradesh, Assam and Manipur, which has been stronglyopposed by the three BJPruled States.

Last week, President RamNath Kovind said Nagalandwas at the threshold of making history as the �nal agreement on the Naga issuewould soon be arrived at.

Naga pact won’t a�ect States: RajnathHome Minister allays fears on peace agreement with insurgent group NSCNIM

Rajnath Singh


Shokhuvi

The Congress has directedits senior leaders and spokespersons not to respondto any barbs from PrimeMinister Narendra Modi orthe BJP and to keep the debate limited to questionsraised by Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi onthe Gujarat Model of development.

Smarting from the selfgoal by its now suspendedsenior leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, the party is nowtreading cautiously.

According to sources, allsenior leaders have beentold that regardless of theprovocation they shouldnot issue clari�cations.“We do not want any oneto digress from narrative ofthe failed Gujarat model ofdevelopment, on whichBJP has no answers,” a senior Congress functionarysaid, adding that it is justan election strategy andnot gag orders. The ordershave been orally conveyedto the leaders.

‘Keep mumon Modibarbs’ Special Correspondent

New Delhi

The Supreme Court on Friday denied Kerala’s toddysector interim relief from itsnationwide ban on sale of ‘liquor’ within 500 metresalong National and Statehighways.

To make matters worsefor toddy shop licenseesand the employees’ union,the Kerala government submitted in the court that toddy was indeed “liquor”. Theban has a�ected employeesand families working in thesector.

A Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra,meanwhile, asked the Stategovernment to make its position clear in an a�davit

before the next date of hearing on January 8, 2018.

“We are really thinkingwhat can be done,” ChiefJustice Misra remarked.

The State, represented bysenior advocate V. Giri, gavea guarded response to thetoddy sector’s plea, saying,“Though the Kerala AbkariAct treats toddy di�erently,it is also liquor because it isextracted.”

Mr. Giri, however, addedthat toddy had only about8% alcohol content in it.

“To be drunk, you needto drink at least �ve bottlesof toddy,” senior advocateRaju Ramachandran and advocate Bina Madhavan, forthe Toddy Shop LicenseesAssociation, pitched in.


NEW DELHI

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GUJARAT 2017

New ammunitionNEW DELHI

The Congress has alleged that

the then BJP government

under the chief ministership

of Narendra Modi had been

involved in a scam worth

�20,000 crore in the Gujarat

State Petroleum Corporation.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on

Friday that the outflow of funds was at its peak

during the 2014 Lok Sabha campaign. “This has

never been spoken about, even CAG did not pick it

up because of smart accounting. Money was

systematically transferred offshore in the name of

oil exploration,” he said. The Congress leader

alleged that huge cost overruns, mismanagement

of funds and instances of undue benefits allegedly

being passed on by GSPC to various private

companies led to losses to the tune of �19,576

crore to the State government.

POLL POURRI

The show beginsAHMEDABAD

With the elections inching

closer, political parties are

leaving no stone unturned to

attract voters. The BJP has

come up with a unique style

of campaigning — it has

arranged a laser light show

on the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad. “It is a

new form of campaigning called projection

mapping. We have put a cutout of the Gujarat

map and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s picture.

Images will be projected on this cutout. People

will get a glimpse of the development in Gujarat,”

BJP leader Anil Jain told presspersons. ANI

Priest attacked in JunagadhJUNAGADH

A Swaminarayan sect priest has been attacked by

two unidentified miscreants at Kotda village here.

The priest has been identified as Bhaktiprasad

Swami. The incident took place on Thursday night

in Visavdar tehsil of Junagadh. When Bhakti was

returning from an election meeting of the BJP, the

assailants overtook his car and smashed the

windshield and hit him with iron rods. After the

attack, the miscreants left their car and fled. The

priest has been admitted to hospital. A complaint

has been lodged with the police. ANI

Foottapping canvassingVADODARA

BJP candidate Seema Mohile

struck a chord with the

people by performing garba

during her campaign in

Vadodara on Friday. Ms.

Mohile, who is contesting

from Akota, was seen

matching steps with a group of 20 women to the

beats of a dhol. Soon, more women joined in.

“Garba is a tradition of Gujarat. It is performed

during every celebration. This is also a festival for

the BJP. Garba brings positive energy and

enthusiasm in people,” Ms. Mohile said. ANI

As the campaign is coming to a close, he has run out of issues. Luckily our opponentabused him!

POCKET Surendra

Voting will be held in 89 constituencies in Gujarat on Saturday in the �rst phase ofthe highstakes Assemblyelections.

A total of 21.2 million voters are expected to casttheir votes at 24,689 pollingstations in Saurashtra andSouth Gujarat.

A total of 977 candidatesare contesting, includingChief Minister Vijay Rupani,BJP State president Jitu Vaghani and the Congress leadersShaktisinh Gohil, ArjunModhvadia and Paresh Dhanani.

Voting will start at 8 a.m.and end at 6 p.m. with arrangements to ensure smoothpolling in nearly 18 districtsin the two regions.

Security protocolsSeeking to allay apprehensions regarding the integrityof the electronic voting machines (EVM), the Election

Commission said it had putin place “an elaborate framework of systems, securityprotocols and proceduralchecks” to prevent any “possible misuse” of the votingmachines during the polling.

There have been widespread concerns over the integrity of voting machines

with some political partiesand voters asking if the machines were tamperproof.

Paper trail“The commission would liketo reassure the people of thecountry that it would leaveno stone unturned in preserving the integrity and

credibility of the elections,” apress release said.

For the �rst time, the ECIis deploying voter veri�ablepaper audit trail (VVPAT) machines in all the 50,128 polling stations across the Stateto “inject greater transparency and credibility” to the voting process and also to allay

fears regarding rigging ofmachines.

In the VVPAT machines attached with each EVM, apaper slip is generated bearing the name and symbol ofthe candidate for whom thevote has been cast and thechoice will be displayed tothe voter through a transparent window for seven seconds after the vote has beencast.

Mandatory checksMoreover, the commissionwill conduct a mandatoryveri�cation of VVPAT paperslips of one randomly selected polling station in everyAssembly constituencyacross the State.

“The comprehensive framework of administrativeprotocols and procedural safeguards consist of the ‘�rstlevel checking’ of all EVMsand VVPATs, strict regime ofmock polls conducted on every EVM and VVPAT duringthe �rstlevel check, candi

date setting and on poll daybefore the beginning of actual polls, twostage randomisation of machines, stringent security protocols forstorage of machines before,during and after the polls,and comprehensive videography and CCTV coverage ofall EVM and VVPAT relatedactivities and storage instrongrooms,” the EC statement said.

Any malfunctioning EVMsor VVPATs found during the�rstlevel checks were sent tothe factories so that theycannot be used in the election.

“After the �rstlevelchecks, the machines arekept in a strongroom underroundtheclock security andCCTV coverage.”

According to the ECI, thesequence of candidates’names is in alphabetical order, �rst for national andState parties, followed byStateregistered parties, andthen Independents.

977 candidates contesting in 89 constituencies in Saurashtra, South Gujarat; EC allays fears of EVM tampering

Mahesh Langa

AHMEDABAD

Many titans in the fray in Phase 1 polls

Porbandar, the birthplace ofMahatma Gandhi on thewestern coast of Gujarat, isnow a BJP bastion.

“In the district panchayat,out of 18 seats we have 14. Inthe taluka, we have 20 out of24 seats. In the Porbandarmunicipality, we have 41 outof 44 seats. Now you tell me,how will he �ght againstme,” says Babubhai Bokhiria, Gujarat’s Minister forAgriculture and Fishery,making light of the challengeposed by his Congress rivaland former Leader of theOpposition, ArjunbhaiModhvadia.

In 2012, the BJP leaderwrested the seat from Mr.Modhvadia, who had represented the constituency for adecade since the 2002 elections. The BJP’s “electionmachinery” is at work to ensure a repeat. At the LohanaBalashram election o�ce,BJP worker Ketan Dani isbrie�ng volunteers on “howto get positive voters to thepolling booth on Saturdayand not touch the negativeones”.

Muslim votesHaji Ibrahim heads the minority cell of the BJP here.“In the previous elections,we got a lot of Muslim votes.But this time, it will betough. Yogi Maharaj comesand makes a statement andsuddenly it becomes di�cultfor us,” he says.

The Porbandar constituency has roughly 2.4 lakhvoters and Muslims formabout 5% of the electorate.The dominant caste with themost political clout is Mer,and that explains why boththe BJP and Congress candidates belong to this Kshatriya subcaste.

Brahmins and the �shingcaste Khadwa, Thakkar andDalits are the other important groups whose votesrange between 18,000 and30,000 per group. “In thepast one month, we havecalled every voter from a callcentre and categorised themas positive and negativebased on their response,”says Mr. Bokhiria who was

once the target of the Congress. It had demanded hisresignation after a lowercourt found him guilty in a�80crore limestone smuggling case.

“The sessions courtcleared me of all the charges.The Congress is spendingtheir money to give me publicity,” the BJP lawmakersays.

Real issuesAt Mr. Modhvadia’s residence, the mood is somewhat subdued.

“The BJP has tried to divert focus from the real issues,” he says.

Poor prices for groundnutfarmers, not a single new in

dustry in Porbandar in thepast decade, ignoring the demands of the �shing community and lack of jobs arelisted by the Congress as“real issues.”

At the Porbandar portcum�sh landing centre, Sunil Devsibhai Khadwa whoheads the association representing the Khadwa community, says there is angeragainst the BJP’s nomineehere. “I am a BJP supporter,but I also represent the �shing folk. They are angry thatthe government has cutdown on subsidised kerosene and diesel for the trawlers,” says Sunil Devaibhai,suggesting that a bigger portis required.

In a port town called PorbandarGandhiji’s birthplace is now a BJP bastion and the party is trying hard to retain it

Hajji Ibrahim during a BJP workers’ meeting in Porbandar on Friday. * VIJAY SONEJI

Sandeep Phukan

Porbandar

A day before voting in the�rst phase of the Assemblypolls in Gujarat, the rulingBJP on Friday released itspoll manifesto (vision document).

The manifesto was unveiled after Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi andAhmed Patel slammed theruling party for not bringingout one.

“The BJP aims to ensureunity in the State and worktowards the welfare of allgroups,” Mr. Jaitley said.

The manifesto talks of“all inclusive, all pervasiveand allround development”, “at par with developed countries”.

Some of the key featuresof the “vision document”like building �ve milliondwelling units, bringing�elds in Saurashtra under irrigation and providing jobsto youth are mostly a repeatfrom the manifesto of the2012 polls.

However, this year theparty has promised to buildmultispeciality hospitals inSurat, Vadodara and Rajkotand to extend medical insurance of up to �2 lakh tomiddle class families.

Sops for farmersThe “vision document” saidit has resolved to “doublefarmers’ income through various means, such as cheap

fertilizers and seeds, betterirrigation, proper MinimumSupport Prices and directaccess to food processing industries.”

On the Congress’s promise for quota to Patidarsand farm debt waiver, Mr.Jaitley said it was a “constitutional impossibility and �nancial improbability.”

Hospitals, houses in BJP manifestoSays Patidar quota not possible legally


AHMEDABAD

Arun Jaitley

“Modiji used to say that theBJP will rule Gujarat for thenext 100 years. But he isnot saying a single wordabout the future of Gujaratat his rallies. Why is theBJP not saying in itsmanifesto what it will dofor the people of Gujarat,”Rahul Gandhi said at a rallyin Gujarat.

Nothing forpeople: Rahul


Ahmedabad

Days after the Dalai Lamasaid that “Tibetans want tostay with China”, the TibetanYouth Congress (TYC), thelargest group of youth activists among the refugee population, has announced itwill take out a nationwidecampaign in India calling forindependence for Tibet,highlighting the growing divide within the communityin India.

The march, called the“Bharat Jagran Yatra”, will also coincide with the arrivalof Chinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi, who is attendingthe RussiaIndiaChina (RIC)meeting in Delhi. The External A�airs Ministry declinedto comment if the marchwould a�ect the talks in anyway, but a senior government o�cial who handles Tibetan refugee matters saidthe government “isn’t tooworried”.

While the TYC has carriedout protests in the past, thisis the �rst time it is attempting a march of this scale.“There is a sense of frustration among our people whohave lived for 50 years in ex

ile. We have to educate people about the need for an independent Tibet and why itis important for India, givenChinese intrusions at theborder, as well,” TYC president Tenzin Jigme told TheHindu, outlining plans forthe march beginning December 10 from Dharamshala,Chennai and Salaugara inWest Bengal, to travel to 150towns and cities.

Among the TYC’s demands are that India must“review its policy” and sup

port Tibetan independence.“We must seize the moment,as after Doklam, people ofIndia realise what is goingon. Already several [Indian]leaders have spoken of reviewing India’s policies [onTibet],” Mr. Jigme said.

India recognises the TibetAutonomous Region as partof China, and has reiteratedthat there has been nochange in the o�cial “OneChina” policy. However,since 2014, the NDA government has toughened its

stand on supporting the Tibetan community, beginningwith an invitation to the ‘Sikyong’ or leader LobsangSangay to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearinginceremony.

Dalai Lama’s visitAnalysts say the governmenthas also increased securityfor the Dalai Lama, and willbe facilitating another visitby him to Arunachal Pradeshshortly, which China has always objected to.

However, the larger concern at present is over thegrowing divide between theDalai Lama’s leadership,which advocates the Umay-lam or middleway approachthat calls for more autonomyfor Tibet within China,against the Rangzen or independence demand pushedby the TYC and their followers in the Tibetan diaspora.At a speech in Kolkata lastmonth, the Dalai Lama saidTibetans “will have to lookinto the future” and seek development, not independence, following which hiso�cial envoy, SamdhongRinpoche, reportedly visitedChina.

“This Umaylam-Rangzenschism has been growingsince elections were held lastyear,” says Jayadev Ranade,former Cabinet Secretariato�cial and author of a newbook, Cadres in Tibet.

Mr. Ranade, who hasclosely watched the Tibetancommunity in India, estimated to be between 1.5 lakhand 4.5 lakh, adds, “For us inIndia, the concern is aboutany law and order issue thatwould come out of it.”

(With Vijaita Singh)

Tibetan youth plan march for freedomNew Delhi must review its policy... after Doklam, people of India realise what is going on: group leader

Renewed �ght: A �le photo of Tibetan exiles shouting antiChina slogans during a protestoutside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. * AFP

Suhasini Haidar

NEW DELHI

The Modi government spenta whopping �3,755 crore onits publicity in threeandahalf years till October thisyear, reply to an RTI queryrevealed on Friday.

The expenditure on advertisements from April2014 to October 2017 onelectronic and print mediaand outdoor publicity is�37,54,06,23,616, accordingto the reply given by the Information and BroadcastingMinistry. The applicationwas �led by Greater Noidabased social activist Ramveer Tanwar.

Electronic mediaThe Central government,the reply says, spent over�1,656 crore on electronicmedia advertisements, including community radio,digital cinema, Internet,SMS and television. In theprint media, the government spent more than�1,698 crore.

Outdoor advertisements,which include hoardings,posters, booklets and calen

dars, accounted for over�399 crore, the reply reveals.

Big-budget exerciseThe amount spent on publicity blitz is more than theyearly budget allocated tosome key ministries and thegovernment’s �agship programmes. The government’s allocation for “pollution abatement” in the lastthree years was only �56.8crore.

In 2016, an RTI query�led by Tanwar had revealed that the Centre spentover �1,100 crore betweenJune 1, 2014 and August 31,2016, on advertisements featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The expenditure was only for television,Internet and other electronic media and did not includeexpenditure on outdoor andprint advertisements.

In 2015, another RTI replyrevealed that the Centrespent nearly �8.5 crore onnewspaper advertisementsfor the PM’s monthly radioaddress ‘Mann Ki Baat’ tillJuly 2015.

I&B Ministry responds to RTI query

Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi

‘Modi govt. spent�3,755 cr. on publicity’

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Nana Patole, BJP MP fromBhandaraGondiya in Maharashtra tendered his resignation from the Lok Sabhaon Friday and announcedhis intention of campaigning for the Congress in Gujarat. Mr Patole will addressa rally attended by partyvicepresident Rahul Gandhi on December 11.

The MP sent a single lineresignation to Lok SabhaSpeaker Sumitra Mahajan,but elaborated on his reasons for quitting in a letterappended to the resignation, in which he cited therising agrarian distress asthe main reason. He toldThe Hindu that he wasquitting as he felt that boththe Centre and the Stategovernment [in Maharashtra] were unable to addressthe agrarian distress.

“Farmers suicides havegone up several levels inthe last three years anddespite having sought timefrom both Prime Minister[Narendra] Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, I wasn’tgiven a hearing,” he said.

BJP MP quitsLS, to workfor Congress


NEW DELHI


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WORLDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE



ELSEWHERE

French President winsCharlemagne PrizeBERLIN

French President Emmanuel

Macron will be awarded next

year's Charlemagne Prize for

his vision to rebuild Europe at

a time when the bloc is

battling instability,

organisers of the award said

on Friday. Mr. Macron, 39,

was elected on a pro

European ticket, soundly

beating farright candidate

Marine Le Pen. AFP

Britain and the EuropeanUnion reached a historicdeal on Brexit divorce termson Friday that allows them toopen up talks on a future relationship after the split.

Prime Minister TheresaMay rushed to Brussels forearly morning talks with European Commission President JeanClaude Juncker toreach the breakthrough.

The European Commission announced that it “recommends su�cient progress” had been made byBritain on separation issues,including the Irish border,Britain’s divorce bill, and citizens’ rights.

But EU President DonaldTusk — who will recommendto leaders at a summit nextweek to open trade and transition talks — warned that thetoughest task was to come.“Let us remember that themost di�cult challenge isstill ahead. We all know thatbreaking up is hard butbreaking up and building anew relation is much harder,” Mr. Tusk said.

Negotiators worked

through the night to seal anagreement after the EU set adeadline of Sunday. Ms. Maysaid the key part of the agreement was to ensure therewould be no return of checkpoints on the frontier between Britishruled NorthernIreland and EU member Ireland after Britain leaves onMarch 29, 2019.

“In Northern Ireland wewill guarantee there will beno hard border,” she told apress conference with Mr.Juncker.

Fierce oppositionNorthern Irish unionists whoprop up Ms. May’s minorityConservative governmentscuppered a possible deal onMonday with their �erce opposition to wording they feltwould divide the North fromthe rest of the U.K.

Arlene Foster, leader ofthe proBritish DUP party,told Sky News she was“pleased” to see changes tothe deal following theirdemands.

The deal commits bothsides to respect the 1998Good Friday agreement,which ended decades of vio

lence between nationalistswho want a united Irelandand Northern Ireland unionists loyal to Britain.

Under the agreement,London will �nd a way toavoid a hard border on the island of Ireland “through theoverall EUU.K. relationship”but if this cannot beachieved, Britain will keep“full alignment” with the EUsingle market and customsunion rules that are crucialto the Good FridayAgreement.

Irish Prime Minister LeoVaradkar welcomed the dealas “the end of the beginning”, saying his governmenthad “achieved all that we setout to achieve” and warningthey would remain “vigilant”in upcoming negotiations.

On its divorce bill, previously the most contentiousissue, Britain agreed to pay asettlement amounting to between €4555 billion.

Concerning the welfareand social rights of somethree million European citi

zens living in the U.K. afterBrexit, as part of the deal,Britain agreed to protectthem with a mechanism togive EU citizens recourse tothe EU’s top court if they feelthey are being treatedunfairly.

Time warning Mr. Tusk, however, warnedthat there was “de facto lessthan a year” for trade talks asit has taken a year and a halfsince Britain's June 2016Brexit referendum to settledivorce terms.

The former Polish premier, who deals with EUleaders, released nine draftguidelines on future relations so member states couldapprove them for nextweek’s summit.

He said he would proposethe “immediate” opening oftalks on a transition period,which Britain has estimatedat around two years, butwarned Britain would haveto “respect the whole of EUlaw, including new law” during that period.

That is likely to be a redline for proBrexit membersof Ms. May’s Conservative

party. Mr. Tusk said Londonmust also respect budgetarycommitments and judicialoversight during the transition period — in which the remaining 27 EU states will carry on meeting and makingdecisions without Britainhaving a say.

Britain will also have tocollect EU customs tari�sand ensure all EU checks areperformed on borders withthird countries, according toa copy of the nine draft guidelines obtained by AFP.

Mr. Tusk called for moreclarity from Britain on whatkind of trade relationship itwants, but the bloc’s chiefBrexit negotiator Michel Barnier said London had left little room for manoeuvre.

Mr. Tusk told a press conference that Britain’s insistence on leaving the singlemarket and customs unionleft the EU with no choicebut to work on a postBrexitfree trade agreement modelled on the bloc’s deal withCanada.

“It’s not us, it’s our Britishfriends who are giving thesered lines which close certaindoors,” Mr. Barnier said.

Britain, EU reach breakthrough Brexit deal London will avoid a hard border between the two Irelands and pay a settlement amounting to €45-55 billion to the EU

Agence France-Presse

Brussels

Making headway: Theresa May is welcomed by JeanClaudeJuncker at the EC headquarters in Brussels on Friday. * REUTERS

China has warned its citizens in Pakistan to be on alert after receiving intelligence reports aboutpossible attacks targetingChinese.

The Chinese Embassy inIslamabad said on its website on Friday it had information about a “series ofterror attacks” plannedagainst Chinese organisations and personnel, without giving details. It urgedits citizens to stay inside andavoid crowded places. China’s exposure to militant attacks has risen in recentyears as its overseas footprint expands. The IslamicState group said in June itkidnapped and killed twoChinese teachers in Quetta.

Heavy investmentChina has invested heavilyin Pakistan, where thousands of Chinese workersare employed in $60 billionworth of infrastructure projects under Beijing’s ‘Beltand Road’ initiative. Theport and roadbuilding pro

jects in Balochistan province have come under frequent insurgent attacks.

For decades, a smallnumber of Uighurs, an ethnic minority in western China that has chafed underBeijing’s rule, have soughtrefuge with the Taliban inAfghanistan and Pakistan.

Pakistan’s governmenthas promised Beijing that itwould deploy troops to secure the economic corridorbeing built and root out antiChina militants in its northwestern tribal areas.

China warns citizens in Pak. of terror attacksEmbassy in Islamabad receives intel

Associated Press

Beijing

A Pakistani policeman inaction during a Talibanattack in Peshawar. * AFP

The Maldives on Fridaysigned a crucial free tradedeal with China, while endorsing its Maritime SilkRoad project shunned by India for its strategic implications in the Indian Ocean.

“China deems the Maldives as an important partner to building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road(MSR),” President Xi Jinpingtold his visiting Maldiviancounterpart Abdulla Yameen as they witnessedsigning of 12 agreements, including the free trade agreement (FTA).

The Chinabacked multibilliondollar Belt and RoadInitiative (BRI) — of whichthe MSR is a part — is similarto Maldives’ strategy ofachieving economic progress by making use of its geographic advantages, Mr. Xitold Mr. Yameen while expressing appreciation forthe Maldives’ proactive participation in the BRI, o�cialmedia here reported.

President Yameen saidthe Maldives viewed Chinaas “among our closestfriends, most trusted andmost dependable partners”.

“The Belt and Road Initia

tive has greatly helped thedevelopment of many smalland medium countries,”staterun Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.

After acquiring Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port on a99year lease in a $1.1 billiondebt swap deal, China hasnow roped in the IndianOcean archipelago nation,located strategically in India’s backyard, to implement the MSR.

China has also set up a‘logistics base’ for its navy inDjibouti, also located in theIndian Ocean region in theHorn of Africa.

Besides the FTA, theagreements signed were oneconomy, human resources,oceans, environment,health care, and �nance,staterun Xinhua news agency reported.

Maldives signs tradepact with China

Endorses Maritime Silk Road project


Beijing

Abdulla Yameen

3 dead in samurai swordattack in Tokyo shrineTOKYO

A former priest wielding a

samurai sword killed his

Shinto priestess sister and

another woman in an

apparent family vendetta at a

historic Tokyo shrine, before

turning the blade on himself,

police said on Friday.

Shigenaga Tomioka, 56, set

upon his older sister Nagako,

chief priestess at Tomioka

Hachimangu shrine, with a

samurai sword late on

Thursday in a rare violent

assault in the Japanese

capital. AFP

Rebels attacked a United Nations peacekeeping base ineastern Congo, killing atleast 14 peacekeepers andwounding 53 others in thedeadliest single assault on aUN mission in recent history, o�cials said on Friday.

The peacekeepers weremainly from Tanzania. Atleast �ve Congolese soldiersalso were killed in the attackon Thursday evening thatwas blamed on one of theregion’s deadliest rebelgroups.

“It’s a very huge attack,certainly the worst in recentmemory,” deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said.

UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres called the attack “a war crime” andurged Congolese authoritiesto swiftly investigate. He expressed “outrage and utterheartbreak.”

The peacekeeping base islocated about 45 km fromthe town of Beni, which hasbeen repeatedly hit by theAllied Democratic Forces rebel group. The base is hometo the mission’s rapid intervention force, which has a

rare mandate to go on theo�ensive, according to theUNsupported Radio Okapi.The radio station, citing military sources, said the �ghting lasted four hours.

Nearly 300 peacekeepershave been killed since theUN mission arrived in Congo in 1999, according to peacekeeping data.

Immeasurable cruelty Congo, a country the size ofWestern Europe, has seenimmeasurable cruelty andgreed as a result of its vastmineral resources. The nation su�ered through one ofthe most brutal colonialreigns ever known beforeundergoing decades of corrupt dictatorship. Backtoback civil wars later drew ina number of neighbouringcountries.

Many rebel groups havecome and gone during theUN mission’s years of operation, at times invading theregional capital, Goma. Oneof the greatest threats nowcomes from the ADF.

The rebels once aimed tooverthrow President YoweriMuseveni’s regime in neighbouring Uganda.

14 UN peacekeeperskilled in Congo attack

Base home to rapid intervention force

Associated Press

KINSHASA

Tens of thousands of people tookto the streets of Muslim and Arabcountries across the world on Friday to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognitionof Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in a show of solidarity withthe Palestinians.

Demonstrators at the proteststhat followed the weekly prayersin mosques vented their anger atthe unilateral decision which hassparked widespread internationalcriticism.

In the Palestinian territories, atleast one Palestinian was killed inclashes with Israeli troops.

Mr. Trump’s announcement onWednesday prompted an almostuniversal diplomatic backlash, including warnings from Turkey,the European Union and Russiaover the risks of fresh violence inWest Asia. “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine,” chanted crowdsin Jordan, one of only two Arabstates to have made peace with Israel, where an estimated 20,000people poured into the streets ofAmman and other cities.

Hundreds of demonstrators,circled by antiriot police, alsogathered outside the AlAzharmosque in the capital of Egypt,which in 1979 became the �rstArab country to sign a peace trea

ty with the Jewish state.Thousands of Lebanese and

Palestinians demonstrated in Lebanon and its refugee camps,while similar joint protests werestaged in Syria despite the country’s brutal war. In another wartorn country, thousands of Yemeni rebel supporters rallied in Sanaa. Thousands ofproPalestinian supportersmarched after prayers at the Ottoman Fatih mosque in the centreof Istanbul.

In Asia, thousands of protesters demonstrated outside theU.S. embassy in Malaysia, condemning Mr. Trump’s decision as

a “slap in the face” for Muslimsworldwide.

Not for two years: TillersonU.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the relocation of the embassy would probably not takeplace for at least two years.

“This is not something that’sgoing to happen this year or probably not next year, but the President does want us to move in asteadfast way to ensure the embassy is located in Jerusalemwhen we’re able to do so, at theearliest possible time,” Mr. Tillerson said after talks in Paris withthe French Foreign Minister.

Protests sweep Muslimworld against Trump’s move At least one Palestinian killed in clashes with Israeli troops

Agence France-Presse

Amman

Push comes to shove: Israeli forces and Palestinians engage in scu�es inJerusalem’s Old City on Friday. * AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin onFriday launched the �rst loading oflique�ed natural gas (LNG) at theNovatekled Yamal LNG project inthe Arctic, which will further expand Russia’s global energy reach.

The Yamal project, which required investments of $27 billion,will allow Russia to ful�l a plan todouble its share of the global LNGmarket by 2020 from around 4%now.

The LNG was loaded onto the iceclass tanker Christophe de Marge-rie, named after the former head ofFrance’s energy major Total, whodied in a plane crash in Moscow in2014. Total holds a 20% stake in Yamal LNG.

“The loadings will be carried outall year round. I am con�dent thatthe second and the third parts of theproject will be commissioned aheadof schedule,” the Russian Presidentsaid at a ceremony in the remotegreen�eld site in the heart of theArctic tundra.

“Russia can and should get a decent stake in the market,” he toldthe attendees, who included SaudiArabia’s Energy Minister KhalidalFalih.

Mr. Putin has in the past expressed his personal support for Yamal LNG, in which Novatek holds a

50.1% stake. Novatek is owned byLeonid Mikhelson, Russia’s richestbusinessman with wealth estimatedby Forbes at $18.4 billion.

Investments in the Yamal projectwere put at risk after Novatek cameunder Western sanctions over Moscow’s role in the Ukraine crisis, butit managed to secure funding fromChinese and Russian banks, as wellas from the Russian government.

‘Buy our gas, you’ll save oil’Mr. Putin o�ered Mr. Falih to buyRussian LNG in order to spare Saudi’s oil, the Interfax news agency reported citing him as saying.

“Buy our gas and you’ll save oil,”Mr. Putin told Mr. Falih after havinggiven the order to start loading thetanker.

“That’s why I’m here,” Mr. Falihreportedly replied.

Putin launches loadingfrom Arctic LNG plantProject will expand Russia’s global energy reach

Reuters

SABETTA/Moscow

Vladimir Putin


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BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE



NIFTY 50

PRICE CHANGE

Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393.40. . . . . . . . . 3.70

Ambuja Cements. . . .. . . . . . 268.10. . . . . . . . . 2.25

Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1135.50. . . . . . . . -8.90

Aurobindo Pharma . . . . . . 672.50. . . . . . . . . 0.95

Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542.50. . . . . . . . . 8.45

Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3212.65. . . . . . . 16.60

Bajaj Finance . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1702.25. . . . . . . 25.95

Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525.15. . . . . . . 10.45

Bosch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19550.25. . . -185.10

BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514.45. . . . . . . 15.35

Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.10. . . . . . . . . 9.65

Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264.85. . . . . . . . . 2.05

Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 2185.45. . . . . . -10.90

Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. 28999.95. . . . . 189.45

GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482.50. . . . . . -10.05

HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 870.45. . . . . . . . . 6.95

HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1682.95. . . . . . . 27.40

HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1840.40. . . . . . . 30.75

Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 3519.55. . . . . . -31.55

Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239.70. . . . . . . . . 2.50

HPCL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428.45. . . . . . . 15.80

Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1326.65. . . . . . . 34.70

Indiabulls HFL . . . . . . . .. . . . 1205.55. . . . . . . 12.30

ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310.75. . . . . . . . . 4.95

IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1671.05. . . . . . . 18.70

Bharti Infratel . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 373.70. . . . . . . . -8.65

Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1001.85. . . . . . . . . 2.05

Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 404.85. . . . . . . 13.35

ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262.20. . . . . . . . . 8.85

Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1009.00. . . . . . . . . 7.40

L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1220.35. . . . . . . . . 1.95

Lupin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 822.85. . . . . . . . . 3.95

M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1388.15. . . . . . . . . 8.60

Maurti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 9042.25. . . . . 159.85

NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180.40. . . . . . . . . 0.10

ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180.25. . . . . . . . . 3.20

PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 203.10. . . . . . . . . 0.80

Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 921.00. . . . . . -10.55

State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313.10. . . . . . . . -3.30

Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521.85. . . . . . . 11.50

Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411.15. . . . . . . . . 9.15

Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697.80. . . . . . . . . 9.80

TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2601.50. . . . . . -15.75

Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 496.10. . . . . . . . -1.20

UltraTech Cement. .. . . . 4165.55. . . . . . . 83.70

UPL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728.05. . . . . . . . . 6.05

Vedanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291.20. . . . . . . . . 5.55

Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282.90. . . . . . . . . 1.70

YES Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312.70. . . . . . . . . 2.20

Zee Entertainment . . . . . . 563.00. . . . . . . . -9.95

EXCHANGE RATES

Indicative direct rates in rupees a unitexcept yen at 4 p.m. on December 08

CURRENCY TT BUY TT SELL

US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 64.25. . . . . . . 64.57

Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 75.39. . . . . . . 75.77

British Pound. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 86.50. . . . . . . 86.94

Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 56.58. . . . . . . 56.87

Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 9.71. . . . . . . . . 9.76

Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 64.40. . . . . . . 64.73

Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 47.46. . . . . . . 47.70

Canadian Dollar. . . . . . . . .. . 50.00. . . . . . . 50.25

Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 15.72. . . . . . . 15.81

Source:Indian Bank

BULLION RATES CHENNAI

December 08 rates in rupees with pre-vious rates in parentheses

Retail Silver (1g) . . . . . . . . . . . 39.30. . . . . (39.70)

22 ct gold (1 g) . .. . . . . . . . . . . 2,727. . . . . (2,751)

market watch

08-12-2017 % CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 33,250 ddddddddddddddd0.91

US Dollardddddddddddddddddddd 64.45 ddddddddddddddd0.19

Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 29,750 ddddddddddddd-0.67

Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 63.25 ddddddddddddddd2.18

The captains of the Indianpharmaceutical industryhave stressed on the need toachieve high quality standards to enable India partake a large part of the globalpharmaceutical market.

The emphasis comes inthe wake of multiple negative actions taken by theUSFDA against products andfacilities of Indian drugmakers in the recent times.

Addressing the CPhI & PMEC India 2017, an industryevent in Mumbai, they saidIndia should build on itsstrengths to improvise exports and both the Unionand State governments mustdevelop a proactive approach in building betterquality compliance.

The approach towardsquality compliance shouldbe a priority and treatedwith utmost importancewith a bottomup strategy. A

distinction should be madebetween adherence andcompliance, with a focus onthe former when it comes toonground implementation,they said.

“We need to set certainstandards for the industry,”said D.G. Shah, secretarygeneral, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance. “The industryneeds to take the initial stepsand to gain the con�dence ofthe regulators and under

stand that the industry culture and behaviour are interlinked,” he added

“Every employee, who isa part of this industry, needsto develop an ecosystem ofawareness. The emphasisshould be on people management along with controlling the quality of the product output,” he added.

“The development of theindustry should be predominantly from within,” said Dr.

Dinesh Dua, CEO and director, Nectar Lifesciences.

“The MSME sector contributes to about 70% of manufacturing volume but thelack of quality managementhas caused hindrance intheir development, and allindustry players are awarethat the cost of failure isastounding.”

According to a latest IndiaBrand Equity Foundation(IBEF) report, the Indianpharma industry, which isexpected to grow by morethan 15% per annum between 2015 and 2020, willoutperform the global pharma industry, which is set togrow at an annual rate of 5%between the same periods.

India’s pharmaceutical exports stood at $16.4 billion in201617 and were expectedto grow by 30% over the nextthree years to touch $20 billion by 2020, according tothe Pharmaceuticals ExportPromotion Council of India.

Pharma sector bats for quality medicineThe cost of failure is astounding, says Dinesh Dua of Nectar Lifesciences

Better pill: India should build on its strengths to improviseexports, industry captains say. * REUTERS

Lalatendu Mishra

MUMBAI

Tax exemptions must gocompletely in a bid to improve taxgross domesticproduct (GDP) ratio and reduce compliance cost, according to Bibek Debroy,Chairman, Prime Minister’sEconomic Advisory Counciland Member, NITI Aayog.

“Until we reduce the exemptions, the taxtoGDP ratio is not going to go up, northe compliance costs [are]going to come down,” Mr.Debroy said while addressing a seminar at the IndiraGandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR).

He, however, clari�ed aconsensus on the issue wasyet to evolve and such an announcement in the nextyear’s Budget was unlikely.

“If those exemptions arenot going to be there, [in]the taxGDP ratio today, Union and State governments’combine, would have been22%,” Mr.Debroy said. Theamount of the revenue lossdue to tax exemption was alittle more than 5% of GDP,he observed.

“There is tax evasion, butwhat happens more often isnot tax evasion but tax avoi

dance. Tax evasion is illegal,but tax avoidance is perfectly legitimate because of thearray of exemptions that areallowed,” he said.

IT task forceHe said the sixmember taskforce which was set up to review the more than 50yearold Income Tax Act will lookinto the issue of exemptions. The government hadset up task force last monthwith Arbind Modi, CBDTMember (Legislation) as theConvener. The task forcewill submit its report to thegovernment within sixmonths. Chief EconomicAdviser Arvind Subramanian will be a permanentspecial invitee in the taskforce.

“One of the reasons behind setting up this [panel]is to look at the Income TaxAct which, in any case,ought to be looked at, and toaddress the issue of exemptions.

“But will the removal ofexemptions on the directtax side be taken care if inthe next Budget, I don’tthink we have enough ofconsensus,” he added.

‘End tax exemptionsto raise tax-GDP ratio’

Sops costing GDP 5%, says Debroy


Mumbai

No sops, please: Tax avoidance is legitimate because of thearray of exemptions that are allowed, says Mr. Debroy.

A twomember bench of theNational Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Friday declined to keep in abeyanceits order to suspend 10 directors of Unitech Ltd. and permit the governments to appoint its nominees on theboard of the troubled �rm.

The tribunal said that thenew directors of Unitechwould comply with all the orders of the Supreme Court.

The bench also directedthe government to give 10names by December 20, thedate of the next hearing.“This order, already passed,shall be subject to compliance of all orders of Supreme court,” said the NCLTbench headed by ChairmanJustice M.M. Kumar.

The tribunal also directedUnitech managing directorsSanjay Chandra and AjayChandra to �le their replies.

Earlier in the day, Unitech

su�ered a jolt when its 10 directors were suspended bythe tribunal, which allowedthe government to appointtheir replacements.

Hours after NCLT debarred its 10 directors, Unitech approached the tribu

nal contending that thegovernment had not informed the forum of Supreme Court bar on anycoercive action against thecompany.

Earlier in the day, Unitechwas dragged to the tribunal

by the government seekingto take over the functioningof the �rm alleging mismanagement and siphoning offunds by the management.

“In view of the fact and satisfaction of basic criteria forinterim directions, a prima

facie case is made out and inlarger public interest wegrant the interim directions,” Justice Kumar saidpronouncing the order.

Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearingfor the government, said:“We want to avoid insolvency of this company, otherwise 19,000 homebuyerswill be left high and dry.”

‘Protecting depositors’Moreover, there are about51,000 depositors of Unitech. Nobody had appearedfor Unitech in the morninghearing.

In April, the Economic Offences Wing arrested Unitech’s MD Sanjay Chandraand his brother Ajay Chandra for allegedly not developing a project despite receiving funds from investors.The �rm has over �6,000crore debt with more than16,000 undelivered unitsfrom almost 70 projects.

NCLT suspends 10 Unitech directors Rejects appeal to place order in abeyance; asks Centre for nominees to the vacant posts


NEW DELHI

Resolution plan: The Centre’s counsel said that the government wanted to avoid insolvency ofthe company, “otherwise 19,000 homebuyers will be left high and dry.” * GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK

The benchmark equity indices rose for the second consecutive day amidst a strongglobal trend with domesticoptimism ahead of the pollsin Gujarat acting as a catalyst. The state will see its �rstphase of polling on Saturdaywith most exit polls predicting a win for BJP.

The 30share Sensexgained 301.09 points or0.91% to close at 33,250.30.The benchmark index hasgained more than 650 pointsin the last two trading sessions following Reserve Bankof India decision to keep keyrates unchanged while an

nouncing that the recapitalisation plan for banks wouldbe released soon.

The broader Nifty of theNational Stock Exchange(NSE) rose 98.95 points or0.97% to 10,265.65. Elsewh

ere in Asia, most leading indices like Hang Seng, Nikkeiand Kospi also gained on Friday. In India, the overallmarket breadth was alsopositive with 1,584 stocksgaining ground on the BSE,as against 1,116 declines. Allthe sectoral indices also ended in the green.

In its latest report, Nomura had said that it was constructive on Indian equitiesfor 2018 and expected a 17%return. The global �nancialmajor is of the view that government reforms such asthe goods and services tax,implementation of the bankruptcy code and a push oninfrastructure will have a

positive impact on growthand valuation multiples.

In the Sensex pack, withSun Pharmaceutical, TataMotors, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever and ITC allgaining more than 2% each.

Sameet Chavan, chief analyst, technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking, saidthat investors needed to becautious in the nearterm asthe current upswing lookedlike a relief rally and couldface selling pressure at higher levels. Unitech sharesgained almost 20% to closeat �7.29. The Centre hadmoved the National Company Law Tribunal to take control of the real estate �rm.

Indices rise for second straight session Exit polls, RBI’s interest rate stance, bank recapitalisation plan add to optimism


MUMBAI

ICICI Bank has sold abenchmark bond issue at acoupon of 3.833% to overseas investors.

The $500million tenyear dollar money was issued through the Dubaibranch of ICICI Bank, ano�cial at Citigroup India,which was the sole advisorto the deal, said on Friday.

Due to high demand, thepricing came down by 20bps, from 170 bps to 150bps, over the U.S. treasuryo�ering a yield of 3.833% tothe investor, the investment banker said.

ICICI Bankbond salesnet $500 mn


MUMBAI

U.S. job growth increasedat a strong clip in November and wages rebounded,painting a portrait of ahealthy economy that, analysts say, does not requirethe kind of �scal stimulusthat President DonaldTrump is proposing.

Nonfarm payrolls roseby 2.28 lakh jobs lastmonth amid broad gains inhiring as the distortionsfrom the recent hurricanesfaded, Labor Departmentdata showed. Data for October was revised to showthe economy adding 2.44lakh jobs instead of the previously reported 2.61 lakh.

Employment gains inOctober were boosted bythe return to work of thousands of employees whowere dislocated by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

U.S. postsstrong Nov.job growth

Reuters

WASHINGTON

Japan’s economy grew twiceas fast as originally estimated in the third quarter,thanks to a business spending splurge and buoyant exports, supporting the central bank’s recent signalsthat it will shift away fromcrisisera policy. Theworld’s thirdlargest economy grew an annualised 2.5%in JulySeptember, reviseddata showed on Friday, handily topping forecasts andbeating the preliminaryreading of a 1.4% expansion.

The better growth numbers were bolstered by a signi�cant upgrade in capitalexpenditure, driven in partby a surge in tourism following the government’s easedvisa requirements this year.They also mark sevenstraight quarters of expan

sion, the best uninterruptedrun of growth since 1994.

“You can say ‘Abenomics’is doing well and producingresults. Monetary policy iscontributing to nominalgrowth,” said Hiroshi Miyazaki, senior economist atMitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, referring toPrime Minister Shinzo Abe’saggressive economic stimulus policies.

Japan’s 3Q GDP blowspast initial estimates Business spend raises, exports surge

Reuters

TOKYO

The third-largest economygrew at an annualised 2.5%in July-September.

Debtladen Air India (AI) islooking at raising shortterm loans to the tune of�1,500 crore to meet theurgent working capitalrequirements.

This is the third timesince September that thedisinvestmentbound national carrier is seekingbridge loan.

In September, it hadmopped up �3,250 croreand in October �1,500crore. AI has already secured a governmentguarantee for the proposedloan, which it is seekingfrom December through January. “Air India is lookingfor governmentguaranteebacked shortterm loans,totalling �1,500 crore tomeet urgent working capital requirements,” according to the bid document.

AI looks toraise �1,500crore in debt


MUMBAI


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BUSINESS

IN BRIEF

Future Supply Chain IPOsubscribed 7.55 times MUMBAI

The initial public o�er (IPO)

of Future Supply Chain

Solutions was subscribed

7.55 times till 7:30 p.m. on

Friday, the last day of

subscription. As per NSE

data, the IPO received bids

for 5.17 crore equity shares

against 68.49 lakh equity

shares on o�er. Since the IPO

is an o�er for sale from

existing shareholders viz.

Future Enterprises Ltd. and

Gri�n Partners Ltd., the �rm

would not get any proceeds

from the �650crore issue.

Zydus gets USFDA nodfor schizophrenia drug NEW DELHI

Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA)

Inc. has received �nal

approval from the U.S. health

regulator to market

Clozapine tablets, used in the

treatment of severe

schizophrenia. The company

has got the �nal approval

from the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration (USFDA) to

market the drug in the

strengths of 25 mg, 50 mg,

100 mg and 200 mg, Zydus

Cadila said in a BSE �ling.

The drug will be produced at

the group’s formulations

manufacturing facility at SEZ,

Ahmedabad. PTI

Glenmark’s myelomadrug trials beginNEW DELHI

Glenmark Pharma said the

�rst patient has been dosed

in a phase1 clinical trial of

GBR 1342, an investigational

antibody for treatment of

multiple myeloma. In May

this year, the U.S. health

regulator cleared Glenmark’s

Pharma’s investigational new

drug application to initiate

phase1 study of GBR 1342,

an investigational new drug

from the company’s immuno

oncology portfolio. PTI

The Warranty Group (TWG),a U.S.based global specialistin o�ering extended warranty solutions to acquire andretain customers, is set tobecome a substantial majority shareholder in its jointventure ( JV) with TVS Automobile Solutions Ltd.(TASL).

TVSTWG was formed sometime in February 2014with TASL holding 51% andTWG the balance. The JVwas formed with an initialequity capital of $4 million.

TWG, it is gathered, iskeen to have a larger play inthe Indian warranty space.Sources said the U.S. �rmwas eager to expand its presence by adopting an inclusive approach to warranty

business in India. TASL, it isreliably learnt, has, hence,decided to let TWG take adominant �nancial positionin the JV.

If sources are to go by,TASL will substantially dilute

its stake in the joint venture.Indications are that it couldsettle for a smaller holdingin the company. The detailsof the new arrangement arestill being worked out.

Warranty managementThe JV was formed ostensibly to add a new service —extended warranty management — to the bouquet ofservices o�ered by TASL.

In July 2015, TASL hivedo� its roadside assistancebusiness into a separate51:49 JV with The Automobile Association of the U.K.The JV with the U.K. �rm isproviding 24X7 road side assistance to two and fourwheelers.

Through MyTVS, TASL isproviding multibrand carservice.

To focus on all inclusive approach to warranty business

K.T. Jagannathan

Chennai

Through MyTVS, TASL isproviding multibrand carservice. * PTI

TWG to hike stake in jointventure with TVS Auto

Schwing Stetter India, isplanning to set up twogreen�eld projects for construction and concrete materials, said a top executive.

“Currently Schwing Stetter’s production capacityhas been stretched out and itwill hold good till 2018,” saidAnand Sundaresan, VC andMD, Schwing Stetter India.“We are producing annually8,000 units and this will bedoubled soon.”

China JVIn January 2017, the concreteequipment manufacturerhad partnered with Chineseconstruction machinery�rm XCMG to set up a manu

facturing facility either inChennai or in south India atan investment of $150 million to make constructionand materialhandling machinery to help SchwingStetter widen its productrange.

On Friday, Mr. Sundaresan said the JV was also planning to set up another green

�eld unit with an initialinvestment of “�100 croreand later scale up to �250crore or �300 crore.” Itwould produce existing products such as concretebatching plants, mixers,pumps, placing booms, selfloading mixers and towercrane.

“We are scouting for landin Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. We need at least 50plus 25 acres to house boththe plants.

“It would be ideal tohouse the plants near ourexisting facility at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. Wewould like the plant to become operational by 2019.Construction can be donewithin a year,” he said.

‘Scouting for land in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra’


CHENNAI

Anand Sundaresan

Schwing Stetter to set up 2 green�eld units, says MD

Bitcoin lost almost a �fth ofits value in 10 hours on Friday, having surged morethan 40% in the preceding48 hours, sparking fears themarket may be heading for aprice collapse.

In a hectic day on Thursday, bitcoin leapt from below $16,000 to $19,500 inless than an hour on theU.S.based GDAX, one of thebiggest exchanges globally,while it was still changinghands at about $15,900 onthe Luxembourgbased Bitstamp. Having then climbedto $16,666 on Bitstamp ataround 0200 GMT on Friday, it tumbled to $13,482 byaround 1200 GMT — a slideof more than 19%. As of 1320

GMT it had recovered toaround $14,400, still down13% on the day. “

This correction is an appropriate one after suchfrenzied trading,” said NigelGreen, founder and chief executive of �nancial consultancy deVere Group in anote to clients.

“We should expect to seebitcoin seesawing in coming weeks.”

After dramatic gains,bitcoin tumbles 20% Sparks fears of a price collapse Reuters

LONDON/TOKYO

MilkLane, a dairy supplychain company, said it hadraised �27 crore in a preSeries A funding from Pioneering Ventures, SchreiberFoods and ultrahigh networth families.

The dairytech companyplans to use this capital toexpand its network of milkcollection centres andstrengthen its digital andanalytics capabilities in thesupply chain.

‘First-mile focus’“We aim to improve India’sdairy supply chain by applying international qualitystandards in technology andinnovation to the ‘�rst mile’of milk,” said Gaurav Haran,

COO of MilkLane, in a statement. India is the largestmilk producer in the worldwith millions working in theindustry’s supply chain.

However, the sector remains largely unorganisedwith collection and distribution still underdeveloped.This has led to problems likepoor quality milk which canbe contaminated with antibiotics and toxins.

MilkLane said it attemptsto address these challengesby transforming and modernising critical stages of theentire supply chain. Thecompany said it managesthe entire supply chain fromfarm to processing, applying realtime ITenabledprocess monitoring and data analytics.

Dairy startup �rmMilkLane raises �27 cr.To add more collection centres


BENGALURU

Technology major HP on Friday said it would introduceits range of 3D printers in theIndian market in the �rstquarter of 2018.

“We will launch, sell andservice 3D printers in India.It will mainly be focused onthe commercial segment,”HP India MD Sumeer Chandra said, adding the �rm expected demand to comefrom sectors such as automobile and healthcareinitially.

$5 billion marketHP sells 3D printers in Japanand China in Asia. Mr. Chandra said the 3D printing market is estimated to be about$5 billion globally.

“Our 3D printer range will

be available panIndia,” hesaid, adding that the �rmwould also leverage globalpartnerships with the likesof BMW and Johnson & Johnson in the country.

The tech �rm recently

said it aimed to sell 3D printers that produce metal objects. Currently, plastic is theraw material used. The printers would be imported. Globally, the devices are pricedupwards of $1,00,000.

HP to sell 3D printersin India by early 2018Globally, machines sell for upwards of $ 100,000


NEW DELHI

Solid state: The tech giant also announced recently that itaimed to sell 3D printers that produce metal objects. * AFP

Ruchi Soya Industries onFriday said its capacity utilisation is expected to morethan double this year withthe government announcing higher export sops inits midterm review of theforeign trade policy (FTP).

The Centre had, on December 5, raised incentivesby 2% under the Merchandise Exports from IndiaScheme across the boardfor labour intensive /MSME sectors.

“This [export incentive]will help Ruchi Soya’s oilseed extraction businesswith an increase in capacity utilisation as well as increased output of valueadded products,” it said in astatement.

The utilisation is expected to more than double inthis year to 3035%, it said.

‘Export sopsto spur useof capacity’

Press trust of india

New delhi


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SPORT

A season of hard work forsome youngsters has fructi�ed in a glimmer of hopewith call up to represent India against Sri Lanka in theforthcoming oneday andT20 series.

Among the lot, SiddharthKaul comes from a sportsbackground — his father, Tej,a First Class cricketer, wasonce the trainer of the Indian team and mother, Sandhya, is a gymnastics coachwith the Sports Authority ofIndia. His brother, Uday, is awicketkeeper for Punjab.

For Kaul, the selection is areward for selfbelief. Just asKerala speedster Basil Thampi, Tamil Nadu allrounderWashington Sundar and Baroda batsman Deepak Hooda, who all backed themselves to make it to thenational team before theconclusion of the currenthome season.

Thampi brings unbridledaggression to his work as afast bowler. According toMRF Pace Foundation chiefcoach M. Senthilnathan, theprogress of Thampi has beenmost impressive under theguidance of Australian greatGlenn McGrath.

“Basil was told byMcGrath that under no circumstances should he compromise on discipline. Theemphasis was on disciplineon and o� the �eld. He wastold that routines had to be

followed and that was thekey,” said Senthilnathan.

The 24yearold Thampi,who nearly gave up thegame, was quick to learn tobowl to situations.

He has the speed to rattlethe batsmen and the necessary ammunition to �nishthe job. He has a lethal yorker and is known to make surethat the plans work well.McGrath puts emphasis onplans being in place on the�eld.

The most crucial lessonlearnt from McGrath was“how to come back after conceding a four or a six.” Therecan be situations when the

batsman would have dismissed even a good ball. It is theexecution of the plans on�eld that was driven homeby McGrath.

“He told Basil that he hasto have a backup plan forany innovation that the batsman implies,” addedSenthilnathan.

Cool customerKaul, in comparison, is acool customer who likes towork on the mind of the batsman. Not the tearaway typebut the 27yearold Kaul underlines the bene�ts of accuracy.

One of the few bowlers

who does not worry aboutthe state of the pitch, he isprepared to take punishment and comeback strongly.

“The best thing aboutSiddharth is that he does notlose heart and is ready togive respect to the batsmanfor a good shot. His �tness isa great asset because he is acomplete athlete,” says Tej,who does not let his soncompromise on his workethic.

Hooda, 22, is a product oftalent being put to good useby long practice sessions.Former Test wicketkeeperKiran More has followed the

career of the Baroda basmanfrom his formative years.

“He is obviously talentedand we can see that from hisheavy scores in domesticcricket. He is a strong lad andis made for the shorter versions of the game,” saidMore.

What works in Hooda’s favour is his ability to swingthe game in a matter of a fewballs or overs. He can playshots all around and isknown to use the opportunity. Adept at hitting the balllong, Hooda boasts of gooddefence too and is an outstanding �elder.

“Hope he works on his

bowling too because it canbe an asset,” emphasisedMore. In short, Hooda is agood package.

BrightestWashington, 18, is the youngest of the lot and also thebrightest. He can excel in allthe formats of the game andis a re�ection of the bestleague system that is in placein Chennai. Along withThampi, Hooda and Kaul, heexempli�es the moderndaycricketer best — competitiveand motivated. The performances against Sri Lankashould con�rm their individual prowess.

New kids will be keen to ful�l their promiseKaul, Washington, Hooda and Thampi exemplify the modern-day cricketer — competitive and motivated

Vijay Lokapally

DHARAMSHALA

Big break: Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Siddharth Kaul and Basil Thampi have earned their chance to shine in the international arena. * PTI & FILE PHOTOS

For Punjab seamer Siddharth Kaul, the India selection is a “process” that hewould strive to maintain.

“It’s a great feeling. Ican’t describe it in words.I’m blessed to have got acall up to bowl for India.It’s a process and I shallkeep following it. Do whatthe team demands fromme. I will keep onperforming.”

Kaul credited his stintsin domestic cricket for therecognition.

“The experience ofdomestic cricket is huge...how to bowl on �at pitchesand green tops.

“It has helped me growas a bowler. I have greatpassion for cricket. That isthe motivation. We have togive 100% on whateverpitch we get. That’s themain thing.”

Dhananjaya to undergo �tness testSri Lanka middleorderbatsman Dhananjaya deSilva, who retired hurt after scoring 119 against Indiain the third Test at Delhi,will undergo a �tness testhere on Saturday for the�rst ODI against India hereon Sunday.

Fast bowler SurangaLakmal is also uncertainfor the match since theteam management is keento use him sparingly.

It is a greatfeeling, says Kaul


DHARAMSHALA

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC)named Chandika Hathurusingha as the new headcoach on Friday.

The Sri Lankan had resigned as Bangladesh’scoach in October afterguiding the side to its mostsuccessful period duringhis three years in charge,masterminding Test winsover England andAustralia.

SLC said Hathurusingha(49) will take over on December 20 when the threematch T20 series againstIndia begins at Cuttack.

The Sri Lanka post hasbeen vacant since SouthAfrican Graham Ford quitin June. Nic Pothas hasbeen the interim coach.

Under Hathurusingha,Bangladesh made rapidstrides, reaching the semi�nals of the ChampionsTrophy this year. He was,however, criticised afterthe team’s recent tour ofSouth Africa where it failedto register a single win.

Sri Lankanamesnew coach

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

COLOMBO

Hathurusingha. * FILE PHOTO

It took half the team to comeup and force Manpreet Singho� the pitch. The Indian captain was not so much desolate or crying as stunned intostupor after the host lost 10to Olympic champion Argentina in a rainsoaked, bonechilling �rst semi�nal of theHockey World League Finalhere on Friday. He didn’tturn up for the postmatchpress brie�ng either, for the�rst time in the tournament,sending deputy Chingelnsana Singh instead.

It was a match that, undernormal circumstances,could have been a great advertisement for hockey. As ithappened, the conditionsforced it to stay strictly average, a lone penalty cornerfrom Gonzalo Peillat in the17th minute being the di�erence between the twosides.

What it did do, however,was anoint Bhubaneswar theundisputed capital of hockeylovers in the country as thepeople, all holding umbrellas in the downpour with accompanying, freezingwinds, not just packed thestands but cheered the teamall the way till the end andeven stayed to applaud bothteams after.

On the �eld, both teamsstruggled to come to termswith the waterlogged turfand the di�culty of sightingthe ball every time it wasdragged and pushed o� ac

companied by a spray. Indiastruggled more, dependingas it does so much on counterattacks and the pace of itsplayers, but it wasn’t easy forthe World No. 1 side either.

The teams started cautiously, making occasionalforays poking into the otherhalf but largely stayed put intheir own. The teamsswitched tactics and playeda lot more lifted passes andaerial balls to make the balltravel but the Argentineswere better at it.

India coach Sjoerd Marijne explained later that theopposition, once it got thegoal, stayed so far back in thedefence all the time that itmade playing long overheads di�cult. “Had westayed back in our defence,they too would have strug

gled. But we wanted to play ahighpress game becausethat’s what we do and because we wanted to score,”he said.

The heavy turf took a tollon the body and preventedthe ball from travelling far.Short passes in small, closedsections of the �eld wereused to rotate the ball andkeep possession but it wasn’teasy given India’s strugglesin trapping the ball. Still,there were chances when India could have got the equaliser but the ball seemed tosimply slip o� the sticks.

The second quarter wasthe big di�erence and ultimately proved crucial. Argentina won its only PC ofthe game and Peillat struckhigh into the net on theright. It was also a period of

15 minutes when India didnot manage a single opposition circle entry.

The fourth quarter wasthe opposite. With 80 percent possession, seven attempts and absolute domination, India threweverything it had at the opposition but defence has always been Argentina’sstrength. Akashdeep Singh,Mandeep Singh, GurjantSingh, S.V. Sunil every one ofthem took a shot but wereparried.

Successive PCs in the 36thminute was all India hadmanaged but couldn’t convert as Argentina put its backinto defending its lead. The results: Semi�nal: Argenti-na 1 (Gonzalo Peillat) bt India0; 78 place: Netherlands 1(Mirco Pruijser) bt England 0.

India fails to get past Argentina Peillat converts a penalty corner to fetch the winner

UTHRA GANESAN

BHUBANESWAR

Down and out: Manpreet Singh’s plight sums up India’s fortunes on a day when both teamsstruggled to come to terms with the waterlogged turf. * BISWARANJAN ROUT

HWL FINALS

Operation clean slate for Dutee Chand Athlete targets Commonwealth Games and Asiad to erase the humiliation of 2014

UTHRA GANESAN

BHUBANESWAR

Dutee Chand. * UTHRA GANESAN

The humiliation of 2014 hasnot faded in the last threeyears. Dropped from the Indian contingent at the lastminute, Dutee Chand remembers it all every time herfailed hyperandrogenismcase is mentioned.

Despite all the supportand a CAS decision that allowed her a winning returnto the track, the 21year oldsprinter continues to bideher time for the Commonwealth Games, the event shemissed back then.

Here for a short breakfrom training at her base inHyderabad, the Odisha ath

lete admits the 2018 editionin Australia, followed by theAsian Games, are her biggesttargets at the moment.

“Since there was no competition right now, I decidedto come here for a few daysand train. But my big targetis the CommonwealthGames. Last time wahin se

nikala tha na (I was thrownout of that competition),”she said in an interactionhere, the hurt still evident.

Asked if CWG meant moreto her than just another tournament, Dutee agreed. “It isimportant for me to go outthere and settle all past issues and wipe the slate clear.

“I am not sure but the Fed

eration Cup next year (inMarch) is likely to be thequalifying event. I would justlike to go out there and perform at the CWG,” she said.

Dutee is being assisted inher objective by P. GopiChand, who is funding hertraining, and had recently invited a few German expertsto work on her actions.

“Coach Laurent from Germany came before the AsianChampionship (in July) andgave a few tips on where Iwas going wrong or gettingtired and not gaining speed. Iworked on these things withmy coach (Nagapuri Ramesh) during training.

“The detailed planning

will happen after the interuniversity games this monthand before I leave for theAsian Indoor Championships.

“They have promised mea spot in the �nal at the CWGand a medal at the Asiad. Itwill be a longterm collaboration till the 2024 Olympics,”she said.

She would also be travelling to Sweden before theTehran event to train andwork on her niggles.

“My technique is �ne, only my hips were lifting a bittoo high and I have workedon it. But such visits will onlybe brief to work out anyerrors.

“I have grown up here, allmy medals came from training here and while the facilities may not be as worldclass, there is good support,and coaches here,” she said.

The hard yards are beingput in. Dutee trains for sixhours a day, four in themorning on the track andtwo in the evening in thegym, interspersed with anhour or two of recovery session. But she knows thatalone won’t be enough.

“No one participates tolose but sometimes thingslike weather are not in yourcontrol. “I do what I can dobest, rest we will see,” sheadded with a smile.

India’s Ravi Kumar won themen’s air ri�e bronze medalin the 10th Asian Airgunchampionship in Japan onFriday.

Ravi beat compatriot Gagan Narang in a shooto� toprogress to the bronze medal. Deepak Kumar �nished�fth, as he was pipped by0.3 point by Ravi. The trio,however, was able to winthe team silver behindChina.

Two other Indian teamsin the same event, the women and the junior men, also bagged the team silver.The results: 10m air ri�e: Men:1. Song Buhan (Chn) 250.2

(628.2); 2. Cao Yifei (Chn)248.6 (629.2); 3. Ravi Kumar225.7 (624.6); 4. Gagan Narang205.6 (624.5); 5. Deepak Ku-mar 185.0 (627.5).

Team: 1. China 1885.9; 2. India1876.6; 3. Japan 1866.7.

Junior men: 1. Liu Yukun (Chn)249.8 (EWRJ) 626.6; 2. ArjunBabuta 249.7 (623.8); 3. DingJiawei (Chn) 228.9 (623.0); 7.Krishna Prasad Tejas 142.9(622.8); 10. Sunmoon SinghBrar 620.9.

Team: 1. China 1870.8; 2. India1867.5; 3. Japan 1854.6.

Women: 1. Shi Mengyao (Chn)251.0 (414.8); 2. Zhaoo Ruozhu(Chn) 250.2 (420.2); 3. QianXiu Adelle Tan (Sgp) 228.22(416.8); 4. Anjum Moudgil207.6 (417.5); 6. Meghana Saj-janar 163.4 (415.9); 11. PooojaGhatkar 413.6.

Team: 1. China 1249.2; 2. India1247.0; 3. Singapore 1243.5.

Good day for Indians

Sports Bureau

Wako City (Japan)

ASIAN AIR GUN

Fabiano Caruana has takenearly advantage of the �urryof draws at the LondonChess Classic.

The American, whoscored two backtobackwins, was in sole lead as thetournament entered its second rest day.

He has 3.5 points, oneahead of his nearest rivals.He is the only player to win agame so far in thistournament.

But, with six rounds remaining, there is plenty ofchess left in the last stop ofthe Grand Chess Tour.

Caruana’s wins havecome over Sergey Karjakin

and �vetime World champion Viswanathan Anand,both of whom are on twopoints.

He had beaten the �vetime World champion fromChennai in the �fth round,in 39 moves of Ruy LopezBerlin. Black had to pay theprice for blundering withhis bishop on the 33rdmove.The standings (after �verounds): 1. Fabiano Caruana(US) 3.5; 2-10. Magnus Carlsen(Nor), Levon Aronian (Arm),Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra),So Wesley (Fra), Hikaru Na-kamura (US), Ian Nepom-niachtchi (Rus) and MichaelAdams (Eng) 2.5; 11-12. Viswa-nathan Anand (Ind) and SergeyKarjakin (Rus) 2.

Caruana one point ahead Sports Bureau

London

The ICC might incorporateair pollution in its ‘playingconditions’ clause after taking a serious note of theplight of the Sri Lankancricketers during the thirdand �nal Test against Indiarecently.

The ICC has decided torefer the matter to its medical committee, which hasbeen provided the relevantreports as well as data of theprevailing air quality inDelhi.

“The ICC has noted the

conditions in which the Delhi Test was played and hasalready requested that theissue be considered by themedical committee for guidance should the situationarise in future. The matter islikely to be discussed in February’s ICC meeting,” anICC spokesperson said onFriday.

Since the ‘playing conditions’ never had any speci�cmention of air pollution, it isexpected that the permissible AQI (Air Quality Index)limit to play competitivecricket will be added.

Air Quality Index likely to be added to ‘playing conditions’PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

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SUDOKU

Solution to puzzle 12183 Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Tamil has di�erent words to refer to the act of ‘giving.’ Thereason, perhaps, for such a variety of words is that giving toothers can be motivated by many reasons and can be of many kinds, said Malayaman in a discourse.

Tamil work Kurunthokai says it is the duty of the haves togive when the havenots seek help. One should be motivatedby the desire to do good and not by sel�sh concerns. Sel�shmotives devalue acts of charity. The Jain work Naladiyar saysgiving to others expecting this will result in some bene�ts later is not generosity. It is akin to lending money.

Manimekalai says that giving to the rich is like sellingdharma. True charity lies in providing food to the poor andensuring they do not su�er the pangs of hunger. Neetinoolsays timely rains save wilting crops. Likewise, a truly largehearted person will seek out the needy and help them.

Acts of kindness can extend beyond help rendered to human beings and include the animal kingdom and evenplants. This is evident from two incidents that took place inTamil Nadu. King Pekansaw a peacock shivering in the rain,and he used his cloak to shield the peacock from the coldrains. King Paari got down from his chariot and used thechariot to support a creeper that was lying on the ground.

While one may not expect any reciprocity or gratitudefrom a person who has taken our help, it is quite possiblethat they may be grateful to us, and this gratitude may manifest in some way. But what could a creeper do in return fora king who used his royal his chariot to stake it up? What cana peacock do in return for the man who protected it fromthe rains?

Clearly, it was with complete sel�essness that the kingsperformed these acts of kindness.

FAITH

Acts of charity4 Offering freedom without

hesitation (8)

6 Drove around eating

regularly — often like a

glutton (7)

7 True, not a piece without odd

bits — ancient artefact (5)

8 Make use of this valuable

discovery mostly indoors —

it's a lively one (9)

9 Title of a wellmade edition

(4)

14 Bad actors spoiling show (9)

16 Charming leader missed, one

that's �t for the position (9)

17 Inconceivable, no ace left,

perhaps susceptible to defeat

(8)

19 Objective for the most is to

get an opportunity, �rst off,

to improve (7)

21 Characteristic associated with

heartless oppressor, one that

betrayed (7)

23 Some groups eternally in

trouble (5)

24 Man with broken English (4)

26 Area around new arch (4)

13 Really very good performance

getting over (2,5)

14 Sweeper, one that's daily

inside the loo (8)

15 Bond with a girl after a date,

it's ending in marriage (6)

18 Enjoys terri�cally packaged

seafood ingredient (6)

20 Point mentioned contains the

name of a medicine (8)

22 Flushed? Dreary without end,

with the cold he had (7)

25 Far from the east, coming into

the city — not one that's

skilled (6)

27 Disheartened after being

linked to boy's criminal

activity (5)

28 Questionable move, a bed next

to a counter (9)

29 Wife signs out of messaging

site with a giggle (6)

30 New brief on the outcome gets

support (8)

n DOWN

1 Separate piece (4)

2 Write about people employed

in an organisation, it's a

complaint (9)

3 Animal in a barn, the empty

building (3,4)

(set by Vulcan)

n ACROSS

1 Nice plan hatched to get to

the top (8)

5 Crude of course, say (6)

10 Honourable member

associated with university

board (9)

11 Revolutionary story about

Cuban leader's brilliance (5)

12 You are elegant and that's

important (6)

THE HINDU CROSSWORD 12184

Todt reelected FIA presidentPARIS

Jean Todt was on Thursdayreelected for a third term aspresident of motor racing’sgoverning body the FIA. The71yearold former Ferrariboss, who took over as chiefof the Parisbased FederationInternational d’Automobile in2009, was electedunopposed. AFP

IN BRIEF

AryanArjun duo shockstopseeded PolesCAIRO

Aryan Goveas and ArjunKadhe combined well to stuntopseeded Karol Drzewieckiand Szymon Walkow ofPoland 76(5), 64 in thesemifinals of the $15,000 ITFFutures tennis tournament onFriday.

Wiggins swaps bike forrowing machineLONDON

Fivetime Olympic cyclingchampion Bradley Wiggins isset to return to competitiveaction in London on Saturday— but this time on a rowingmachine. The 37yearoldformer Tour de France winneris due to take part in the elitemen’s twokilometres eventat the British Rowing indoorchampionships at the LeeValley velodrome. AFP

Cricket: New Zealand vsWest Indies, second Test, StarSports Select 1 & HD 1, 3.30a.m.Hockey: HWL Finals, StarSports 1 & HD 1, 5 p.m. & 7.30p.m.Football: ISL, Star Sports 2 &HD 2, 8 p.m.

TV PICKS

The ground conceded by thebowlers to Madhya Pradeshin the �rst session was regained to a large extent bytoporder batsmen DhruvShorey and Kunal Chandelaas Delhi looked to seize the�rstinnings lead after twodays of action in their RanjiTrophy quarter�nals here onFriday.

After MP resumed the dayat 223 for six and reached338 — with Harpreet Singh(107 not out) scoring his second century of the season —Delhi ended the day at 180for two. If Delhi �nds itselfonly 158 runs behind, witheight wickets in hand, it ismainly due to the 145run secondwicket stand betweenShorey and Chandela.

After opener GautamGambhir was bowled o� thethird delivery of the innings,the young duo took chargeand placed Delhi in a position of comfort.

Shorey smashed 10 boundaries in a display of �nestrokemaking on a pitch thatplayed true. The righthander showed his positive intent without getting a�ectedby the early exit of Gambhir.

UnluckyHowever, Shorey was un

lucky to miss a welldeservedcentury.

Shorey, looking to add tohis collection of boundaries,fell for 78 after Rajat Patidarcaught the ball while takingan evasive action.

Chandela, who played thespinners better, changedgears after a steady start and

hit �ve boundaries besidestwo sixes. Keeping Chandela’s company was informNitish Rana.

Earlier, MP found itself inthe cruise mode after the second new ball did not giveDelhi the desired result.

Punching the �rm newball into the gaps, Harpreet

Singh hit 15 boundaries. Hewas part of two successive50plus partnerships thatplaced MP in a far better position than it was at the fall ofthe �fth wicket.

Harpreet, a mature strokemaker who seems to havemastered the art of scoringruns in the company of tai

lenders this season, was instrumental in MP reachingclose to 350.

He raised 73 runs with Puneet Date for the seventhwicket and another 68 forthe eighth wicket with MihirHirwani. Leftarm spinnerManan Sharma polished o�the tail by taking the last

three wickets in the space of11 deliveries.

The scores: Madhya Pradesh –1st innings: Ankit Dane lbw bMishra 59, Rajat Patidar lbw bSaini 2, Shubham Sharma cChandela b Mishra 17, NamanOjha c Himmat b Tokas 49, Devendra Bundela c Khejroliya bManan 17, Harpreet Singh (notout) 107, Ankit Sharma c Rishabh Pant b Mishra 13, PuneetDatey c Rana b Saini 35, MihirHirwani c Pant b Manan 15, Ishwar Pandey b Manan 8, Chandrakant Sakure c Khejroliya bManan 0; Extras (b5, lb10,nb1): 16; Total (in 124.1 overs)338.

Fall of wickets: 110, 269, 390, 4149, 5157, 6193,7266,8324, 9334.

Delhi bowling: Vikas Tokas 205421, Navdeep Saini 277802, Kulwant Khejroliya 224730, Vikas Mishra 306583,Manan Sharma 15.12464, Nitish Rana 2070, Dhruv Shorey61170.

Delhi – 1st innings: GautamGambhir b Pandey 6, KunalChandela (batting) 73, DhruvShorey c Patidar b Ankit 78, Nitish Rana (batting) 17; Extras(nb1, pen5): 6; Total (for twowickets in 51 overs) 180.

Fall of wickets: 16, 2151.

Madhya Pradesh bowling: Ishwar Pandey 90331, PuneetDatey 122400, ChandrakantSakure 40180, Ankit Sharma201481, Mihir Hirwani 60360.

Shorey, Chandela lead Delhi’s strong replyMadhya Pradesh �nishes on 338 with Harpreet slamming his second century of the season

RAKESH RAO

VIJAYAWADA

Young guns: Dhruv Shorey and Kunal Chandela took control after Gautam Gambhir’s early dismissal. * V. RAJU

Quarter�nals: At Jaipur: Bengal 354 in 111.5overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran129, Anustup Majumdar 94,Aamir Gani 49, Ishwar Choudhary �ve for 87) vs Gujarat180 for six in 59 overs (Bhargav Merai 67, Parthiv Patel47).At Surat: Vidarbha 246 in

105.3 overs(AkshayWadkar 53,K.C. Akshay�ve for 66)vs Kerala 32for two in seven overs.At Vijayawada: MadhyaPradesh 338in 124.1 overs

(Ankit Dane 59, Naman Ojha49, Harpreet Singh 107 notout, Manan Sharma four for46) vs Delhi 180 for two in 51overs (Kunal Chandela 73 batting, Dhruv Shorey 78).At Nagpur: Mumbai 173 vsKarnataka 395 for six in 122overs (R. Samarth 40, MayankAgarwal 78, Kaunain Abbas50, C.M. Gautam 79, ShreyasGopal 80 batting, Shivam Dubey �ve for 79).

Ranji Trophyscores

Madhya Pradesh recordeda thrilling, threerun winover Himachal Pradesh inthe Elite GroupA leaguematch of the Senior women’s national onedayleague cricket championship at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Friday.The scores: Elite Group A: Railways 227for three in 50 overs (SarikaKoli 71, Mithali Raj 55 retdhurt, Mona Meshram 41 notout, Varsha Choudhary 30 notout) bt Hyderabad 220 foreight in 50 overs (Sneha More30, Himani Yadav 54, Sravanthi Naidu 39, RajeshwariGaekwad four for 52).

Madhya Pradesh 116 in44.2 overs (T.P. Kanwar threefor seven, N.C. Chauhan fourfor 19) bt Himachal Pradesh113 in 49.5 overs (V.B.Rana 25, Pooja Vastrakar twofor 21, Nidhi Buley two for 12,Ruchita Buley two for 22).

Close winfor MP


Hyderabad

A fascinating display of pacebowling by the rookie duo ofB. Amit and Ishan Porelhelped Bengal push Gujaraton the backfoot in the RanjiTrophy quarter�nal match atthe Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Friday.

Amit captured three wickets and Porel two as Gujaratended the second day at 180for six and needed 174 moreto erase the �rstinnings deficit.

In the opening session,Bengal, resuming at 261 forsix, rode on Aamir Gani andAmit’s 58run seventh wicketstand to post a �ghting 354 inits �rst essay.

Gujarat, which lost twowickets for 17 due to someaccurate bowling by AshokeDinda and Porel, recoverednicely with the aid of a 107run third wicket partnershipbetween Bhargav Merai (67,116b, 8x4) and captain Parthiv Patel (47, 95b, 7x4).

Solid defenceWith his solid defence andsensible strokeplay, Meraidid his job to perfection. Hedrove and pulled with con�dence to pick up eight of hisnine boundaries in his 12thhalfcentury.

Parthiv, who survived anearly lbw appeal o� Porel,grew in con�dence to hitsome exquisite drives on the

o�side and straight downthe ground.

The MeraiParthiv pairwithstood a phase of hostilebowling from the Bengalspeedsters, led by the energetic and experienced Dinda, in a quality contest between bat and ball in themiddle session.

Once the 19yearold Porel, who bowled a consistentline and produced some unplayable deliveries, brokethe partnership by havingParthiv caught behind, Amit– 10 years older than hisyoung pace partner – gaveBengal an upper hand withhis late strikes.

Running in hard and bowling in good rhythm andpace, Amit controlled the reverse swing well and claimedthree wickets in the space ofeight deliveries.

Manpreet Juneja missedthe line, Merai was done inby a fuller one and ChiragGandhi edged one to thekeeper as Gujarat lost fourwickets in the �nal session.Rujul Bhatt and PiyushChawla prevented any further damage.

Earlier, Amit (36) and Gani (49) batted bravely andplayed some crisp shots inthe bright sunny morning asBengal added 93 runs in

about two hours to give itsbowlers a total to �ght for.

The scores:

Bengal — 1st innings: AbhishekRaman b Ishwar 5, AbhimanyuEaswaran c Gohil b Gaja 129,Writtick Chatterjee c Parthiv bIshwar 4, Manoj Tiwary lbw bGaja 1, Shreevats Goswami cBhatt b Ishwar 4, Anustup Majumder st Parthiv b Desai 94, B.Amit c Parthiv b Ishwar 36, Aamir Gani c Juneja b Gaja 49, Pradipta Pramanik lbw b Chawla14, Ashoke Dinda c Juneja b Ishwar 5, Ishan Porel (not out) 1;Extras (b2, lb6, nb3, w1): 12,Total (in 111.5 overs): 354.

Fall of wickets: 113, 243, 344, 459, 5234, 6255, 7313,8330, 9335

Gujarat bowling: Chintan Gaja27.55933, Ishwar Chaudhary316875, Bhargav Merai 72100, Siddharth Desai 242911, Piyush Chawla 181541,Rujul Bhatt 41110.

Gujarat — 1st innings: SamitGohil c Majumder b Dinda 0,Priyank Panchal c Goswami bPorel 4, Bhargav Merai b Amit67, Parthiv Patel c Goswami bPorel 47, Manpreet Juneja lbwb Amit 10, Rujul Bhatt (batting)13, Chirag Gandhi c Goswami bAmit 4, Piyush Chawla (batting)22; Extras (b4, lb7, nb2): 13;Total (for six wkts. in 59 overs):180.

Fall of wickets: 10, 217, 3124,4139, 5140, 6144.

Bengal bowling: Ashoke Dinda125231, Ishan Porel 194552, Aamir Gani 92200, B.Amit 140463, Pradipta Pramanik 30190, Writtick Chatterjee 2160.

Gujarat, with just four wickets in hand, needs 175 more to take the lead

Y.B. Sarangi

JAIPUR

New kid on the block: Ishan Porel, with his accurate bowling,removed the dangerous Priyank Panchal early in the innings. *

Amit, Porel hand Bengal advantageAnkita Raina helped Oil andNatural Gas Corporation(ONGC) clinch the team titlein the 37th PetroleumSports Promotion Board(PSPB) tennischampionship.

Ankita won both her singles and doubles matches asONGC beat Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) 21.

In the individual event,Ankita defeated Nidhi Chilumula 83 in the �nal.

Indian Oil reignsThe men’s team title was

won by Indian Oil, withDhruv Sunish and Sumit Nagal dropping just two gamesas the team outplayed GasAuthority of India Limited(GAIL) 20.

In the individual category, Ramkumar Ramanathan,Divij Sharan, Vishnu Vardhan and Sumit Nagal made

the semi�nals.The results:

Team championship:

Men (�nal): IOCL bt GAIL 20(Dhruv Sunish bt JitenderSharma 60, 62; Sumit Nagalbt Shiva 60, 60).

Women (�nal): ONGC bt IOCL21 (Dhruthi Venugopal lost toNidhi Chilumula 64, 36, 36;Ankita Raina bt Riya Bhatia 61,63; Ankita Raina & Sai Samhitha bt Riya Bhatia & Prarthana Thombare 75, 60).

Veterans (�nal): BPCL bt OIL21 (Bhushan Akut bt Hakim Ali16, 64, 64; Arpan Ghosh lostto Ashim Kumar Bharali 06,26; Bhushan Akut & ArpanGhosh bt Hakim Ali & JayantaKumar Malakar 62, 61).

Individual championship:

Men (quarter�nals): Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Rohan Bopanna 82; Divij

Sharan bt V.M. Ranjeet 41concd.; Vishnu Vardhan btDhruv Sunish 83; Sumit Nagalbt Anirudh Chandrasekar 83.

Women (�nal): Ankita Raina btNidhi Chilumula 83.

Double for AnkitaSPORTS BUREAU

GUWAHATI

NEW DELHI: Delhiites Polopipped Sahara Warriors 76and quali�ed for the �nalof the Amity Cup 8goal polo tournament at the JaipurPolo ground here onFriday.

In the other leaguematch of the day, JindalPanther lost 65 to AdieBroswon.

The three teams in thegroup — Aravali Polo beingthe other — tied with twopoints each, but Pantherprogressed on the basis ofits better goal average.

The �nal between Delhiites Polo and Panther willbe played at 3 p.m. onSunday.

The results (league):

Delhiites Polo 7 (DhruvpalGodara 4, Samir Suhag 3) btSahara Warriors 6 (MatthewPerry 4, Himmat Singh Bedla,Sunil).

Adie Broswon 6 (Abhimanyu Pathak 4, Gaurav Sahgal2) bt Jindal Panther 5 (SimranShergill 3, Salim Azmi 2).

Delhiites pipWarriors,meetPanther

P. Keerthana clinched a treble in the subjunior and junior National snooker andbilliards championship atKSBA here on Friday.

Keerthana pocketed thesubjunior girls’ snooker andjunior girls’ billiards titles, toadd to the subjunior girls’billiards title that she hadwon earlier.

In the junior girls’ snooker event, Keerthana wentpast R.T. Mohitha 6113, 526in the second round.

The results:

Girls: Subjunior snooker: Final: P. Keerthana (Kar) bt R.T.Mohitha (TN) 665, 6010.

Junior billiards: Final: P. Keerthana (Kar) bt I. Lahari (AP)15376. Thirdplace: AnupamaRamachandran (TN) bt IshikaShah (MP) 170111.

Keerthana on song, bags a trebleSports Reporter

Bengaluru

P. Keerthana... memorableouting. *


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SPORT

Portuguese star CristianoRonaldo won a recordequalling �fth Ballon d’Oraward for the year’s bestplayer on Thursday.

The Real Madrid forward’s second successivewin drew him level alongside Barcelona rival LionelMessi on �ve Ballons d’Or, after the Argentinian took second in the vote, with Brazilian Neymar third.

The 32yearold was thetopscorer in last season’sChampions League as Realsuccessfully defended thetrophy with victory over Juventus in June, and also ledthe Spanish giant to its �rstLa Liga title in �ve years.

“Of course I feel happy.This is something I look forward to every year,” Ronaldosaid at the ceremony at theEi�el Tower in Paris.

“The trophies won lastyear helped to win thisaward. Thanks to my RealMadrid teammates. And Iwant to thank the rest of thepeople who helped mereach this level.”

Ronaldo added the 2017

Ballon d’Or to his previouswins in 2008, 2013, 2014 and2016.

He scored 42 goals in allcompetitions for Real lastseason, and also netted 15times in European WorldCup qualifying.

Ronaldo will lead Portugal at next year’s World Cupin Russia as he looks to addfootball’s greatest title to the2016 European Championship win, when the Portuguese beat host France inthe �nal.

Messi and Ronaldo havenow shared the last 10 Ballons d’Or since the latter’s�rst win after leading Manchester United to the 200708 Champions League title.

“I hope to play at this levelfor a few more years, I hopethe battle with Messi continues, things happen for areason,” he added.

“I feel good this seasonand we’ll see what we win atthe end of the year.”

When asked if he wouldlike to �nish his career at theSantiago Bernabeu, Ronaldosaid: “I’m happy at Real Madrid, I want to stay there... Ifpossible.”

Trophy hunter: A combo picture shows Cristiano Ronaldowith his �ve Ballon d’Or trophies. * AFP

Ronaldo again Wins recordequalling �fth Ballon d’OrAgence France-Presse

Paris

An opportunistic goal fromMiku early in the second halfmade all the di�erence forBengaluru FC (BFC), whichdowned NorthEast UnitedFC (NEUFC) in the IndianSuper League here at the Indira Gandhi Stadium onFriday.

The Venezuelan strikercashed in on goalkeeper T.P.Rehenesh’s poor clearanceto give BFC three points.

NEUFC dominated theopening session with regularincursions into the Bengaluru zone. As the visitorslooked to rely on a counterattacking game, the hostsenjoyed the space availablein the creative zone.

Bengaluru FC coach Albert Roca, who did not wishto try the inexperienced Calvin Abhishek in goal,

brought in LalthuammawiaRalte. The BFC ’keeperproved his coach right bymaking three good saves.

Ralte was tested as earlyas the sixth minute whenNEUFC’s Brazilian strikerDanilo Cezario �red a powerful shot from around 30yards.

Realising the mistake,BFC came out of the defensive shell. The attacking trioof captain Sunil Chhetri, Miku and Kuman Udanta Singhbrought o� some eyecatching moves. BFC almost gotthe breakthrough in the 21stminute when Chhetrislipped through the NEUFCdefence, but couldn’t getpast Rehenesh. The NEUFC’keeper had positioned himself well.

At the other end, NEUFCcame close to scoringaround the halfhour mark,but when Danilo’s shot waswell saved by Ralte.

Even as NEUFC kept missing the target, BFC foundthe mark early in the secondhalf.

Rehenesh made a blunderthat gifted BFC full points.The ’keeper took his timeand instead of clearing theball, looked to play it to Goncalves, who had Udanta lurking behind him.

Udanta set up Miku, whohad moved up inside theNEUFC box sensing the goal.The unmarked Venezuelanstriker made no mistakewith his placement.

NEUFC tried to make itsway back but Ralte stoppeda couple of good attemptsfrom Danilo and Marcinhoto keep the lead intact.

Bengaluru moved back tothe top, with nine pointsfrom four matches.The result: NorthEast UnitedFC 0 lost to Bengaluru FC 1 (Miku 47).

Today’s match: FC Goa vs Kerala Blasters, 8 p.m.

Miku does it for BFC ISL

Rising to the occasion: With �rstchoice ‘keepers unavailable, Lalthuammawia Ralte produceda string of �ne saves to keep BFC’s lead intact. * RITU RAJ KONWAR

Amitabha Das Sharma

Guwahati

Former Liverpool mid�elder Luis Garcia feels themindboggling money paidto players is a re�ection ofthe sport’s growth.

Argentine legend LionelMessi signed a contract extension to remain at FC Barcelona till 2021 for a deal reportedly worth$645,000aweek with abuyout clause of $835m.Brazilian superstar Neymarreportedly earns a whopping €865,000aweek atPSG.

“It is not for me to giveany opinions (on money infootball transfers). Footballis the way it is. It is something you cannot stop globally,” said Garcia.

“Market decides (the monetary value of a player),not the supporters. Moneyin football is di�cult to control. You cannot stop playerpayments rising.”

Garcia, a member of

2005 Champions Leaguewinning squad at Liverpool,was speaking on the sidelines of LFC World, givingthe Premier League team’slocal fans a chance to meetthe famous names from therecent past.

Sami Hyypia, a Finlanddefender with stints at Liverpool before taking up managership postretirement, feltplayers were not at fault forthe incredible sums spentby team owners to acquiremarketable faces.

“It is not the player’s faultthat they are being paid somuch money, the only problem I foresee is whenteams overspend and probably leading to a situationwhen some player is notpaid the money promised tohim. Suppose you get an o�er for a job with remuneration more than anybodypaid before, would you refuse the o�er and say money is too much,” asked theFinn.

‘Money in footballdi�cult to control’

Legends’ take: Liverpool’s Robbie Fowler, Luis Garcia, SamiHyypia and Vladimir Smicer feel football hasgrown massively. * PTI

Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI

Union Sports Minister Col.Rajyavardhan Singh Rathorepresented �2 lakh each, onbehalf of the Boxing Federation of India, to the gold medal winners of the recentlyheld World Youth Championship held in Assam.

Rathore also announcedthat the Sports Ministry willpresent �6.70 lakh to each ofthe gold medallists.

World Championshipbronze medallist GauravBidhuri was also part of theboxers felicitated on the occasion, apart from twobronze medallists from theWorld Youth Championship.

“Boxing is tougher thanother games. You sweat a lotin training, and some timesthere is blood too. In the army, boxing was compulsory,” said Rathore.

He lauded BFI presidentAjay Singh, who is the Chairman and Managing Directorof Spicejet, and hoped thatthe president would use hisbusiness acumen to take thesport forward.

Rathore said the recommendations and ideas of theTask Force would be implemented soon, and that theTarget Olympic PodiumScheme (TOPS) was gettingtuned accordingly with eachdiscipline having a Chief Executive O�cer (CEO) and aHigh Performance Manager.

The Sports Ministersought full cooperation fromthe federations and requested them to upload their accounts on the website apartfrom team selectionspromptly.

“Everyone should knowhow the tax payers money isbeing spent,” he said.

Five time World Champion and London Gamesbronze medallist Mary Komsaid that she was proud oftheir achievements.

Neetu, Jyoti, Sakshi,Shashi, Ankushita were presented � 2lakh each whileAnupama and Neha Yadavwere given �50,000 each.Gaurav Bidhuri, who wonthe bronze in the men’sevent, was presented �2lakh.

It was also announcedthat the India Open boxingchampionship will be held atthe Thyagaraj Stadium herefrom January 28 to February2.


New Delhi

One for the album: Rathore with the boxers, BFI presidentAjay Singh and the coach Ra�aelle Bergamasco, in New Delhion Friday. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Rathore honours medal winners

Jack Wilshere starred as Arsenal romped to a 60 victory over BATE Borisov at ahalfempty Emirates Stadium in its �nal EuropaLeague group game onThursday.

Arsene Wenger made 11changes to the team thatwas beaten by ManchesterUnited at the weekend, butthe Frenchman’s secondstring put in promising displays to give him a 700thwin as Arsenal manager.

After injuryplaguedMathieu Debuchy startedthe rout in the 11th minuteby drilling home his �rstgoal for 1,082 days andTheo Walcott tapped in,two minutes before thebreak Wilshere ended hisArsenal goal drought thatdated back to the �nal dayof the 201415 PremierLeague season.Important results: Group A:Villarreal 0 lost to MaccabiTel Aviv 1 (Blackman 60).Group D: Rijeka 2 (Puljic 7,Gavranovic 47) bt AC Milan 0.Group E: Apollon Limassol 0lost to Everton 3 (Lookman 21& 27, Vlasic 87); Atalanta 1(Petagna 10) bt Lyon 0.Group H: Arsenal 6 (Debuchy11, Walcott 37, Wilshere 43,Polyakov 51og, Giroud 64pen, Elneny 74) bt BATE Borisov 0 .

ArsenalthrashesBATE Borisov Agence France-Presse

Paris

Industrialist Gautam Singhania, the FMSCI’s nominee to replace Vijay Mallyain the FIA World MotorSports Council, was elected to the council at the FIAAnnual General Assemblyheld in Paris on Friday. Akbar Ebrahim, president,FMSCI, was named the deputy titular.

“I am elated and excited,” said Mr. Singhania.“It’s a privilege and honourfor me and I will do mybest. I thank the membersof the FMSCI for theirsupport.”

“I am really glad that Mr.Gautam Singhania hasbeen elected,” said AkbarEbrahim. “It gives us greatsatisfaction to note that anIndian will be a boardmember. I would like tothank Jean Todt, presidentFIA, and all the FIA General Assembly members forall the support extended toIndia.”

Singhaniaelected toFIA council

Gautam Singhania.* FILE PHOTO

Sports Bureau

PARIS

There was delight and despair on the opening day ofthe Dubai Leg of the MRFChallenge on Friday.

Teenaged Dutch driver Rinus van Kalmthout won Race2 with ease to complementhis third place in the opening race, while Brazil’s FelipeDrugovich, the victor in the�rst, had to be content witha ninth place in the next,thanks to an electric malfunction at the last corner ofthe 10th and �nal lap!

Race 2 saw Kalmthoutjump into the lead on lapfour at the Dubai Autodrome, an advantage that hebuilt upon steadily to win bymore than 11 seconds overFrance’s Louis Gachot.

Gachot’s compatriot Julien Falchero, a race winnerat Bahrain, took the thirdplace.

The �rst race saw Drugov

ich whiz past polesitter Indonesia’s Presley Martonoright after the lights went outand the 18 drivers handledtheir Formula 2000 machines adroitly over the5.39km GP circuit.

The chase, barring a smallmishap which forced ManuelMaldonado to retire earlyon, went according to scriptafter that. Poland’s Alex Karkosik slipped in between the

Brazilian and Dutch driverwhen the race ended.

Martono, thanks to thetwo best times in the qualifying race, has ensured poleposition for Race 3 on Saturday.

These �nishes have already made the race to thechampionship intriguingwith Drugovich on 107points, just two ahead ofKalmthout.

As regards wins, the former is 32 ahead of the latter after the 2017 season roaredo� in Sakhir (Bahrain) inmidNovember.

“I feel that luck is with menow and if I keep going likethis, I can hope for the bigprize in Chennai early nextyear,” said Kalmthout, hoping to emulate his country’sFormula One hotshot MaxVerstappen.

The results (top �ve):

Race 2: 1. Rinus van Kalmthout(Ned) 19:47.922s; 2. Louis Gachot (Fra) 19:59.040; 3. JulienFalchero (Fra) 19:59.114; 4.Presley Martono (Ina)19:59.328; 5. Danial Frost (Sgp)19:59.495.

Race 1: 1. Felipe Drugovich (Bra)19:44.537; 2. Alex Karkosik(Pol) 19:46.790; 3. van Kalmthout 19:47.372; 4. Falchero19:51.510; 5. Martono19:52.035.

(The writer is in Dubai at theinvitation of MRF Tyres)

Dutch delight in Dubai Kalmthout wins Race 2, �nishes third in opening run

Reason to smile: Rinus van Kalmthout of the Netherlandshopes to emulate his country’s Formula One hotshot MaxVerstappen and win the big prize in Chennai. * V.V. RAMANAN

V.V. Ramanan

DUBAI

The 10th edition of the Tour of Nilgiris(TfN), organised by RideACycle Foundation, will commence here on Sunday.

A total of 128 cyclists will compete in thiseightday event, travelling more than 1,000kilometres through picturesque settings inMysuru, Madikeri, Sulthan Bathery and Ooty. American stalwart Alexi Grewal, whowon the gold medal in the 1984 Los AngelesOlympics in road cycling, is the star attraction. Srinivas Gokulnath, who recorded a�nish in the gruelling 5,000km Race AcrossAmerica, will also be seen in action. Threetime India National time trial champion Naveen John and India National MTB championship winner Kiran Kumar are some ofthe other big names in the �eld.

There are 18 foreign cyclists in the fray,from the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden,Denmark, Australia, USA and Russia. Thewinners will earn themselves the top rangeof Firefox bikes.

At a press conference here on Friday,Grewal said, “I’m here to try and expandthe popularity of cycling, a warrior’s sport,in India.” Grewal, the son of a Sikh immigrant and American mother, added, “WhenI started cycling, there were hardly anyAmerican riders on the Pro Tour. But ashort while later, guys like Greg LeMondand Lance Armstrong arrived to dominatethe world stage,” he said.

Grewal — starattraction in TfN Ashwin Achal

Bengaluru

Ready to pedal: Cyclists Naveen John, AlexiGrewal and Kiran Kumar at the launch.

* V. SREENIVASA MURTHY

G. Sathiyan has reached a careerhighworld ranking of 68 in singles and 15 in doubles in the International Table Tennis Federation world ranking list released recently.

After clinching the singles title in SpanishOpen recently, Sathiyan jumped 20 placesto become the second highest ranked Indian after Sharath Kamal at 62, whodropped 17 places from 45. “It’s been thebest year for me. I worked on more specifics with my coach S. Raman and the resultshave shown. I am playing more tournaments abroad and it has helped. A specialthanks to India coach Massimo Costantiniwho has been giving valuable inputs,” hesaid. “My goal of reaching the top 20 looksde�nitely possible.”

Top20 looksachievable: Sathiyan Special Correspondent

Chennai


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WEEKEND SPORT


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LIFE

Trilobite fossil containsworld’s oldest eyeLONDON

A 530-million-year-old fossil

of an extinct sea creature

contains what could be the

oldest eye ever discovered.

Scientists found the primitive

form of a compound eye in a

well-preserved fossil of a

hard-shelled species called a

trilobite. Unlike modern

compound eyes, the fossil’s

eye does not have a lens,

scientists said. PTI

IN BRIEF

YouTube reveals top viral videos of 2017SAN FRANCISCO

YouTube has revealed its

most popular videos for 2017

based on time spent

watching, sharing,

commenting, liking and other

metrics. This year’s most viral

video featured a man singing

in an oyster costume. The

masked performer was a

contestant in a reality music

show in Thailand. IANS

Human interactioncauses stress in narwhals MIAMI

Narwhals, nicknamed the

“unicorns of the sea” because

of their head tusks, exhibit an

“alarming” response to

human-caused stress that

may lead to brain damage, a

study said. Narwhals’ heart

rates were found to drop

from 60 beats per minute to

just three or four when they

swam fast to escape. AFP

The blackandwhite chequered �oor of the taxi looksa bit like home �ooring. Theseats are yellow, purple andorange leather, while thepeagreen interiors are plastered with daisy stickers.When riding in the cab, passengers can play with plasticswords and a megaphone, ormake soap bubbles.

Welcome to Milano 25, theFlorentine taxi that for 16years has o�ered free travel,by day, between a paediatrichospital and the homes ofyoung cancer patients — and,in the evening, carried regular clients around Tuscany’smain city.

Its soul and operator, Caterina Bellandi, 52, is betterknown in Florence andacross the country as Zia Caterina (Auntie Caterina). Shedrives her Chrysler taxiwearing a �ashy greenandazure cloak topped by astraw top hat decorated withpompoms, and fabric rosesand gerberas. An army of little bells sound at the movement of her wrists and of hernecklace, a polkadot rosaryof yellow, orange and red.

“This is not a show,” shesays, looking in the rear mirror through her �uorescentglasses. Her warm smile isaccented by her red lipstick.“My children may be sick,but they can and have to behappy.”

Ms. Bellandi’s partner, theoriginal owner of Milano 25,died prematurely in 2001.His taxi license was his legacy to her.

“I found such a profoundlove in him and in his deaththat I decided to make histaxi live on,” she explains. “Iwanted to pay homage tohim, making his Milano 25the most wonderful cab in

the world, so special to be remembered by anyone.”

Ms. Bellandi has succeeded in her mission. With asense of style reminiscent ofMary Poppins, she and hertaxi are oneofakind.

No red nosesNot even Patch Adams, theU.S. doctor in a clown suitwhom she highly regards forhis work with sick children,could get her to wear theout�ts that those attendinghis clown tours in hospitalsworldwide usually put on. In2007, she drove 3,000 kmfrom Florence to Moscow toattend his course in clowntherapy, but she refused towear a red nose.

“I am not a clown,” she explains. “I am a taxi driver. SoI do taxitherapy.”

Her creative idea initiallyran into city rules. Taxisusually look alike here, andhers carries unusual items,like a stu�ed �gure of Disney’s dwarf Grumpy on thepassenger seat.

The local authorities alsoobjected to the pictures sheglued to the windows, sayingthey could hamper the driver’s view. After getting multiple tickets, she complainedvigorously.

“She is an extraordinaryengine of solidarity and I felther city should help her a little,” says Eugenio Giani, nowpresident of Tuscany’s regional cabinet, who interceded for her with the municipal police.

He is planning to recognize Ms. Bellandi as “Tuscany’s Solidarity Ambassador,”an honori�c title signallingthe region’s institutionalbacking.

“She is capable of involving ill children in anything,from soccer matches to tripsabroad, and she does it fromone child to another, nonstop,” Mr. Giani says. “Sheputs a positive spell onthem.”

Ms. Bellandi is not only ataxi driver for these youngpatients, but a friendly presence throughout their challenging moments. She visitsfamilies in their homes andarranges vacations. Shetakes sick children to watchsports games and shakehands with their sports heroes, and has even takensome to the Vatican to meetPope Francis.

A generous network of people helps Ms. Bellandi. AFlorentine bakery donates acrunchy �atbread and pizza

that even patients undergoing chemotherapy can swallow. Mothers sew her cloaks.A designer fabricates her extravagant hats.

Place in popular cultureShe is so well known thesedays that some parents ofchildren who are battling serious illnesses search for heron the Internet. A new version of the Monopoly boardgame that has famous �guresof Tuscany on the play money includes Ms. Bellandi.

“I was desperate and I waslooking for support,” saysFrancesca Scaturro, motherof Giulia, a 5yearold whohad an aggressive form ofbrain cancer. So she wrotean email to Ms. Bellandi’swebsite.

Ms. Bellandi showed up instyle at the hospital whereGiulia was being treated. Shebrought pizza with her andinsisted that Ms. Scaturro,34, have a slice.

“I thought pizza was astrange o�er in that moment, but our condition wasalso strange,” Ms. Scaturrosaid.

Ms. Bellandi became a frequent presence during Giulia’s year of treatment,spending weekends with herand other families facing similar medical challenges,and even coming on a holiday in Sicily last summer.

She is now considered afamily member, Ms. Scaturrosays. Giulia calls her“Auntie.”

“It is enough just to seeher,” Ms. Scaturro says. “Herhug is everything to me.”

While Milano 25 attractsthe smiles of most fellowdrivers, some paying passengers are reluctant to get onboard. “Some people think Iam too much,” Ms. Bellandi.“And I respect that.” NY TIMES

Taxi therapy: Italian bringscheer to young cancer patientsCaterina Bellandi o�ers free and fun rides in her brightlycoloured vehicle

Vibrant muse: Caterina Bellandi in her taxi. * NY TIMES

GAIA PIANIGIANI

FLORENCE Scientists have discoveredgenetic variants linked to homosexuality by analysingthe DNA codes of gay andheterosexual men.

They discovered that DNAwas di�erent for gay andstraight men around twogenes: SLITRK5 andSLITRK6.

The study, published inthe journal Scienti�c Reports, looked at the complete genome of over 1,000homosexual men and compare it to genetic data from1,231 heterosexual males.

Researchers from NorthShore University Health System (NSUHS) in the U.S. saidthey also discovered di�erences in the TSHR gene,

which is linked to the thyroid, The Telegraphreported.

Some experts said thatthe number of participantsin the study was too small todraw populationwideconclusions.

Hypothalamus in focusSLITRK6 is an importantgene for brain developmentand is particularly active inthe brain region that includes the hypothalamus.The hypothalamus is crucialfor producing hormoneslinked to control sex drive.Previous studies have shownthat parts of it are up to 34%larger in gay men.

“The goal of this studywas to search for genetic underpinnings of male sexual

orientation, and thus ultimately increase our knowledge of biological mechanisms underlying sexualorientation,” said Alan Sanders from NSUHS.

Some researchers said the�ndings were not satisticallysigni�cant. “Even if a genevariant does show some correlation with sexual orientation, this does not mean thatthe gene is in any way responsible for being gay — itjust means it has some association with a trait that ismore likely to be found inthe relatively few people involved as subjects in the study,” said Robin LovellBadgefrom The Francis Crick Institute in the U.K. Mr. LovellBadge was not involved inthe study.

Some experts say the study is statistically insigni�cant


Washington

Genes potentially linked to homosexuality found

Jimi Hendrix’s estate has announced a posthumous album from the guitar legendfeaturing 10 previously unreleased tracks, some recorded months before his deathin 1970.

Both Sides of the Sky,which will come out onMarch 9, is intended to bethe last in a trilogy of albumsof restored Hendrix materialfollowing releases in 2010and 2013 that entered Top 10charts in several countries.

The latest album includesHendrix’s previously unheard version of Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock, the songwriter’s longing re�ectionon missing the historic 1969countercultural festival inupstate New York.

Hendrix recorded Mitchell’s song with fellow guitarist Stephen Stills — whosoon afterwards wouldmake a hit cover of Woodstock as part of folk rock supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash

and Young. Hendrix hadbeen a major �gure at thefestival. Other notable tracksinclude a newlyrestoredversion of Cherokee Mist, aninstrumental track in whichHendrix pays tribute to hispartial Native Americanheritage.

Sitar melodiesThe version of ‘CherokeeMist’ marks a rare time thatHendrix plays the sitar, theclassical Indian instrumentthat had come into growingpopularity in the West,thanks largely to Pandit RaviShankar. The album includes three previouslyreleased songs.

Hendrix, who struggledwith drugs and alcohol, diedin September, 1970, in a London hotel at age 27.

Hendrix’s unheard tracksto be released next yearAgence France-Presse

New York

Jimi Hendrix. * AP

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