English taa 24 01 2018

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THE ASIAN AGE NEW DELHI WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY 2018

NATION | Politics Darwin row: Javadekar snubs Singh, asks him not to ‘dilute science’ www.asianage.com

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RNI No. 57290/94, Regd No: DL-SW-05/4189/15-17

TECHNOMICS | Media

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Facebook should pay news publishers: Rupert Murdoch

J. VENKATESAN

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the NIA could continue with its probe into the alleged love jihad case of Kerala but it cannot investigate the marital status of the man and the woman. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra observed this after the NIA told the court that it had made substantial progress in the investigation which was conducted after the apex court’s direction.

Full report on Page 2

ICJ fixes time limit in Jadhav case The Hague: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has fixed April 17 and July 17 as time-limits for India and Pakistan respectively for the filing of the written pleadings by them in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani court on charges of espionage. — PTI

Saeed charities will be taken over: Pak Islamabad: Pakistan PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday said that JuD chief Hafiz Saeed’s charity organisations will be taken over by the government soon. He said Pakistan was engaged in the war against terror for its own security.

Full report on Page 9

WEATHER Max: 17OC Min: 9.4OC RH: 87% Rainfall: 4.4cm Forecast: Cloudy sky

ASTROGUIDE Hemalaba: Uttarayana Thithi: Magha Shuddha Saptami till 4.11 pm Star: Revathi till 8.30 am Varjyam: 4.20 am to 5.55 am (Thursday) Durmuhurtham: 12.06 pm to 12.50 pm Rahukalam: 12 noon to 1.30 pm SUNSET TODAY 5.54 PM SUNRISE TOMORROW 7.13 AM MOONRISE TOMORROW 11.39 PM MOONSET TODAY 12.31 PM

Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh governments suffered a setback on Tuesday with the Supreme Court refusing to modify its order staying the ban on release of Hindi film Padmaavat on January 25, reminding authorities that if the court backs down then people would make a virtue of creating trouble.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, stood firm on its January 18 decision to allow screening of the film across the country and said, “Our order is to be complied with by one and all. A hundred or 200 people cannot take to the streets and demand ban on a movie. It is unthinkable. These people better abide by it.”

Reminding the states about their duty and obligation to ensure pub-

CPM BEGINS TALKS WITH PARTIES TO IMPEACH CJI AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

Two weeks after four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court raised Yechury questions over the style of functioning of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, the CPI(M) on Tuesday said it has begun efforts to bringing an impeachment motion in the Rajya Sabha against the CJI. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury claimed the party’s move has got support from the Congress, NCP, RJD and the Sharad Yadav faction of the JD(U). Talks are also on with the Samajwadi Party, he said.

■ More on Page 3

ALL CLEAR

Padmaavat is all set to release on Jan. 25 with SC refusing to modify its order lifting the ban imposed on the film by some states

Rajput leader Giriraj Singh Lotwara wrote to PM Narendra Modi to bring an ordinance to ban the film, saying after the SC decision ‘everyone is feeling insulted and hurt’ Rajasthan geared up for the release of the film by strengthening security

Actress Deepika Padukone visited Siddhivinayak temple before release Raj Thackeray’s MNS extended support to Jan. 25 release of film Cinema owners’ association sought security from home ministry

lic order, the CJI rapped their contention that the screening of the movie would trigger large-scale violence.

“It is implicit in your arguments that the authorities are incapable of ensuring law and order,” the court said.

The bench, which also included Justices A.M.

Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, said that it was the state governments’ responsibility to take measures to protect the movie, its artistes and the public who come to watch it in the theatres. Justice Chandrachud observed, “There is no way the court would back ■ Turn to Page 4

Set to go it alone, Sena dumps BJP Will focus on LS, Assembly polls SHRUTI GANAPATYE

MUMBAI, JAN. 23

The Shiv Sena on Tuesday announced that it would go solo in the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The party passed a resolution at its national convention to this effect and also stated that it would contest in every state on the Hindutva card so as to expand its base. The Sena’s stand is significant as it leaves the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) without an important alliance partner before the polls. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray used the opportunity to slam Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, it is not yet clear if the Sena will continue with BJP in power,

◗ Party says it will expand its base by contesting in every state as the polls have not yet been announced.

After the announcement, finance minister and BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar called up Uddhav Thackeray. The details of the call are not known, but sources said the BJP wanted to discuss the Sena’s announcement earlier in the day. Reacting to the issue, BJP Mumbai president Ashish Shelar said that even his party was ready to go alone.

At the convention, party MP Sanjay Raut moved the resolution for the Shiv Sena to fight the ■ Turn to Page 4

Health start-ups, rural care likely to top Budget agenda ANIMESH SINGH

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

Economic zones promoting start-ups in the health sector, along with an increased allocation for the key segment are likely to be announced in the Union Budget for 2018-19. Rural healthcare is also going to be a key focus area with a likelihood that diseases like hypertension could also be brought under the ambit of treatment in primary health centres.

There could also be a

◗ Budget to focus on higher spending on infrastructure and social security PAGE 15 major upsurge in fund allocation for health.

Currently, spending on it is only 1.4 per cent of the GDP. According to inputs received by the finance ministry from various stakeholders, the spending in the sector should be more than 2 per cent of the GDP. On February 1, finance

minister Arun Jaitley will present the last fullfledged budget of the NDA government before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections so the government is keen to promote entrepreneurship, jobs and innovation in the health sector, said sources privy to developments.

There is a likelihood that health economic zones could be announced in the budget with the aim of promoting start up incubators under them, they said.

■ Turn to Page 4

US shutdown ends, Trump claims victory ANDREW BEATTY

I am pleased Democrats in Congress have come to their senses — Donald Trump, US President

WASHINGTON, JAN. 23

US federal workers prepared to return to work on Tuesday after Congress ended a three-day government shutdown, with President Donald Trump claiming victory in his standoff with Democrats.

The House voted 266 to 150 to extend federal funding for another three weeks, hours after Senate Democrats dropped their opposition to the plan after winning

Tennis

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Injured Nadal pulls out of Australian Open

Vol. 24 No. 339 | 36

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| `5.00

Padmaavat: SC stands firm on Jan. 25 release Terror, climate change NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

NIA can’t probe marital status: SC on ‘love jihad’

SPORT

■ Modi speaks of ending ‘division, fractures’ in Davos address

‘Can’t let people make virtue of creating trouble’

Actress Naomi Watts attends the premiere of Ophelia during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, — AFP Utah, on Monday.

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Republican assurances of a vote on immigration.

Mr Trump signed the measure into law Monday night and government operations were essentially to return to

normal on Tuesday. “I know there’s great relief that this episode is coming to an end,” House Speaker Paul Ryan told colleagues. “But this is not a moment to pat

ourselves on the back. Not even close.” The stalemate consumed Washington for the better part of a week, as legislators and the White House feuded over immigration policy and the nation’s two main political parties exchanged bitter barbs before finally reaching a deal. The shutdown began at midnight on Friday and thus affected only one regular workday — Monday — but it made both parties look bad.

— AFP ■ More on Page 10

pose ‘grave’ threats: PM BARUN JHA

Rahul launches attack on Modi

DAVOS, JAN 23

Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to address the World Economic Forum (WEF) here on Tuesday during which he talked about “serious” challenges and “grave concerns” facing the world, including terrorism and climate change. He also sent out a strong message against protectionism and inward-focused economic policies being practiced by some countries, which Mr Modi said could be as dangerous as terrorism and climate change. Mr Modi also warned against the “artificial distinction” made between “good terrorist” and “bad terrorist”.

Speaking at the plenary of the WEF annual summit, Modi also said it is painful to see some youngsters getting radicalised, adding that India’s position on the menace of terrorism is well known and he would not like to elaborate on that.

“Let us create a ‘heaven of freedom’, where there is

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he delivers his speech at the opening day the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on Tuesday.

— AFP

We have made it so easier to invest in India, manufacture in India and work in India. We have decided to uproot licence and permit Raj. We are replacing red tape with red carpet

A predictable, stable, transparent and progressive India is good news in an otherwise uncertain global environment

cooperation and not division, fractures,” Mr Modi told the gathering.

He also emphasised that a predictable, stable, ■ Turn to Page 4

— Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

◗ On a day when PM Modi was addressing the World Economic Forum, Congress president Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on him, asking him to tell people in Davos why one per cent of India’s population has 73 per cent of its PAGE 3 wealth.

Asean to focus on maritime security ◗ With an eye on China, Maritime Security and Cooperation will top the agenda of the Indo-Asean Summit in New Delhi on Thursday PAGE 3

Nation

Resentment among farmers over compensation for crop damage: Pilot THE ASIAN AGE

AGE CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

— Vasundhara Raje, Rajasthan CM

BRIEF

Dalit girl set afire, dies in hospital Lucknow: A dalit girl was allegedly burnt alive by a father-son duo in Lalganj area of Pratapgarh district late on Monday night.

According to police reports, Anju, aged 19 years, was alone at home when the accused Deep entered her house along with his father.

The father and son had a long standing dispute with the girl’s father Mithilal.

They poured kerosene on the girl and set her ablaze. The girl was later taken to a hospital where she died.

An FIR has been registered in this connection but no arrests have been made so far. Tension prevails in the village since the incident has apparently fuelled caste tensions.

Decide on Rajiv killers soon: SC New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Centre to convey its decision on the Tamil Nadu government’s proposal sent on February 19, 2014 to grant remission and release the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, who are in jail for the last nearly 27 years. A threejudge bench of justices Ranjan Gogoi, A.M. Sapre and Navin Sinha, after hearing Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand and senior counsel Rakesh Diwedi for Tamil Nadu, granted three months time to the Centre to convey its decision on the proposal. Justice Gogoi orally observed that if the Centre takes a decision on the proposal, then it would put an end to the whole issue.

Data protection law soon: Govt New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that the Justice Srikrishna panel on data protection will submit its report by the end of March and the government would come out with a law thereafter. Attorney General K.K. Venugopal gave this information before a five judge Constitution bench comprising the Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.K. Sikri, A.M. Kanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Ashok Bhan said public could give suggestions to that panel by January 31. Lawyer Shyam Divan told the court that if there is data breach, there is no forum to complain.

11-YEAR-OLD BOY MAULED TO DEATH BY DOGS AGE CORRESPONDENT LUCKNOW, JAN. 23

In a disturbing incident, an 11-year-old-boy was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in Khairabad in Sitapur district. According to reports, Rahim had gone near a pond on the outskirts of his village to collect firewood when he was attacked by a pack of stray dogs.

The dogs tore up his stomach. After hearing Rahim’s cries, some villagers ran towards the pond, but were attacked and chased away by the dogs.By the time, the villagers, armed with sticks and rods, returned the dogs had killed the boy and eaten away his intestines and other organs. SDM Kinsuk Srivastava has directed the concerned officials to round up the stray dogs in the area.

Tension prevails in the village and adjoining areas and school have been shut since Monday when the incident took place. “We are not allowing the children and women to venture out alone.

This is a heart-wrenching incident and it will take long for the people to get over it,” said Ashraf, a local resident.

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WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

Arrested IM man visited Nepal to meet ISI officials

Congress may gain political mileage by creating a divide in society, but it hampers development of Rajasthan

IN

PAGE

People walk on a snow-covered ridge in Shimla on Tuesday. Cold wave is sweeping across north India with high-altitude areas experiencing snowfall and lower parts receiving rains.

— PTI

Investigations into the arrest of a top Indian Mujahideen militant Abdul Subhan Qureshi have revealed that he had made several trips to Nepal during which he met senior operatives of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). These ISI officers, intelligence sources said, directed Qureshi to revive IM operations in India and target important cities.

For his stay in Nepal, Qureshi had also forged some documents. It is suspected that these meetings between Qureshi and ISI officials were facilitated by some staff members of the Pakistan embassy in Kathmandu and their role was being investigated.

Qureshi was arrested by

BOMB EXPERT ◗ Qureshi is one of the founders of IM and the mastermind of the 2008 serial blasts in Gujarat. Qureshi is said to be an expert in assembling Improvised Explosive Devices Delhi police’s Special Cell, with assistance from intelligence agencies on Monday while he was in the process of reviving the terror outfit by recruiting more operatives. The ISI, sources claimed, assured “all possible help to Qureshi including financial resources’’ to carry-

out subversive activities within the country.

Activities of IM, which was responsible for series of explosions, across the country in 2006-07 but its activities were severely hampered following the Batla House encounter in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar area in 2008 in which virtually its entire top leadership was eliminated.

Senior intelligence officials claimed Qureshi’s arrest has confirmed what they were suspecting till now that ISI had been making desperate attempts to revive IM, which mainly comprised of local youth, for terror operations in the country.

“The arrest has also confirms that ISI continues to use Kathmandu and some other areas in Nepal as their base to rope in terror operatives to target India.

Though there is increased co-operation between India and Nepal on sharing intelligence on terrorism and organised crime the ISI remains active in some parts of the neighbouring country,’’ a senior intelligence official said.

Efforts are being made to get more details from Qureshi to ascertain the identity of ISI and other Pak embassy officials in Kathmandu whom he had met during the visits. A joint team of Special Cell and senior intelligence officials is subjecting Qureshi to custodial interrogation to get more details on his future terror plans. Qureshi is one of the founders of IM and the mastermind of 2008 serial blasts in Gujarat. Qureshi is said to be expert in assembling Improvised Explosive Devices.

SC: NIA can’t probe legitimacy of marriage BJP book calls J. VENKATESAN NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) couldn’t probe the legitimacy of Hadiya’s marriage with Shafin Jahan as she has the right to decide about her choice.

A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud said the NIA probe on the terror angle will have no bearing on

CBI starts probe in `487cr coal scam AGE CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

The CBI has initiated its probe into a `487 crore scam related to the alleged over valuation of inferior quality of coal imported from Indonesia, which was passed on to NTPC and other power generation companies in collusion with government officials.

According to sources, the action has been initiated on the basis of the outcome of an internal investigation carried out by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), which had shown over invoicing in the imports between 2011-12 and 2014-15.

The CBI FIR is against Ahmed A.R. Buhari, promoter of Coastal Energy Private Limited, Channi and unidentified officials of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation, Aravali Power Company Pvt Ltd. The agency has booked them under the charges of criminal conspiracy cheating and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, they added.

It is alleged that they entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the Government by importing coal of Indonesian origin.

the marital status of Ms. Hadiya. The court made Hadiya a party in this case and sought her response about her marriage with Jahan.

The court made it clear that it cannot go into the legitimacy of the marriage, as it was either Hadiya or Jahan to take a call on this aspect. The court said “we make it clear that we are not concerned about the ongoing probe by the NIA into ‘love jihad’ cases. The only issue before us is legitima-

HADIYA

CASE

◗ Appearing for the girl’s father, counsel Madhavi Divan argued that the marriage is merely a devise to legitimise her illegal confinement cy of the marriage, which cannot be challenged by third parties.” The CJI said, “It needs no special

emphasis to state that attaining the age of majority in an individual’s life has its own significance.

She/he is entitled to make her/his choice. The court cannot as long as the choice remains assume the role of parens patriae.

When Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh, appearing for the NIA said that the August 16, 2017 order directing the NIA probe cannot be allowed to go waste, the bench reiterated: “Whether she made an

CBI to summon Rabri in hotel scam AGE CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

The CBI probing the IRCTC’s hotel scam is all set to examine former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi in connection with the case.

Sources in the Central probe agency said the CBI will soon issue summons to Rabri Devi for questioning. Besides, the agency may also confront her with other accused in the case during examination, they added.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is also probing the case, has already questioned Rabri Devi, wife of RJD Chief

Lalu Prasad Yadav, in connection with the case. The CBI has already examined Lalu Yadav as part of its investigation into the case. The ED recently registered a money laundering case against Lalu Prasad and his family members in connection with the case. The ED’s case was registered under the stringent provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED took cognisance of a CBI FIR in this regard to initiate the move. The CBI in the month of July, 2018 had registered a corruption case in this regard and conducted multiple searches against the for-

Rabri Devi mer Bihar chief minister and others.

The case dates back to the time when Lalu Prasad was the railway minister in the UPA government. Others named in the CBI FIR include Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar (both directors of Sujata Hotels), Delight

DGCA suspends licences of two Jet Airways pilots AGE CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended — for five years — the licences of the two pilots, one of them a lady, who had fought in the cockpit during a Jet Airways Mumbai-London flight earlier this month on January 1, top DGCA sources have confirmed.

The incident was serious since the cockpit had been left unmanned by the male co-pilot who came out of the cockpit after the lady-pilot had left the cockpit in tears.

As per rules, one of the two pilots have to be in the cockpit at all times.

COCKPIT FIGHT The action was taken by the DGCA due to the safety lapses that resulted in endangering of aircraft operations.

Jet Airways had recently sacked the two senior commanders including the lady-pilot. The serious incident mid-air that could have jeopardised the lives of hundreds of passengers. The aircraft had 338 people including 324 passengers on board.

Aviation sources had earlier pointed out that there would have been a major catastrophe had the cockpit door shut by mistake and jammed and

not responded to the access codes since the pilots would have then been unable to get in.

This is why both aviation authorities and Jet Airways have viewed the matter very seriously.

The incident occurred when the lady pilot and her male co-pilot, both of whom are senior pilots in the airline, had an argument in the cockpit of Jet Airways flight 9W 119 from London to Mumbai after take-off. According to sources in the airline, the male co-pilot had allegedly slapped the lady-pilot commander who left the cockpit in tears and started sobbing outside.

■ Will commit suicide if justice denied, says girl in letter

Rape victim writes letter in blood to PM AGE CORRESPONDENT LUCKNOW, JAN. 23

A rape victim from Rae Bareli district has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath in her blood, seeking action against those who wronged her.

The girl was allegedly raped last year in Barabanki district and her father had registered a complaint against two accused — Divya Pandey and Ankit Varma.

The victim, in her letter,

independent choice or not, only she knows. She is 24year-old. We cannot get into her thinking. You cannot probe marriage.

Legitimacy of marriage can only be questioned either bythe woman or the man. NIA can carry on with its probe but there should not be any kind of umbrella of this court.”

Appearing for the girl’s father, Counsel Madhavi Divan argued that the marriage is merely a devise to legitimise her illegal confinement.

◗ The girl was allegedly raped last year in Barabanki district and her father had registered a complaint against two accused — Divya Pandey and Ankit Varma said that the police had not initiated action against the two accused due to their powerful links. She claimed that she was being pressurised to

withdraw the complaint.

The girl further said that if she did not get justice, she would commit suicide.

ASP Shashi Shekhar Singh said that on the complaint by the victim’s father, an FIR was registered on March 24, 2017 against Divya Pandey and Ankit Varma in Barabanki. In his complaint, the father had stated that the accused had raped his daughter and were blackmailing her since then.

Another FIR against unidentified persons was registered in Rae Bareli in

October 2017 since the family had shifted from Barabanki. In the second complaint, the girl’s father said that a fake Facebook profile of the girl had been created and obscene pictures were being posted on it. The girl’s father told reporters that the Rae Bareli police had not taken any action on either of the complaints.

Meanwhile, after the news was telecast by a local TV channel, senior police officials in Lucknow said that they had sought a report on the matter.

Marketing company, now known as Lara Projects, and the then IRCTC managing director P K Goel.

The CBI FIR alleged that Prasad, as railway minister, handed over the maintenance of two IRCTC hotels to a company after receiving a bribe in the form of prime land in Patna through a ‘benami’ company owned by Sarla Gupta.

The FIR was registered on July 5 in connection with favours allegedly extended to Sujata Hotels in awarding a contract for the upkeep of the hotels in Ranchi and Puri and receiving premium land as “quid pro quo”.

Nehru ‘power hungry’, stirs row RABINDRA NATH CHOUDHURY BHOPAL, JAN. 23

A book, circulated among 30 lakh students across Madhya Pradesh by the ruling BJP on Tuesday to help them prepare for general knowledge quiz competition on the life of the saffron ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya, has called Jawaharlal Nehru as “power hungry” and responsible for partition of India.

The book, which termed India’s first Prime Minister Nehru along with founder of Pakistan Mohmmad Ali Jinnah as “greedy for power” holding them responsible for division of the country, was published and circulated by MP unit of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, youth wing of BJP, which sponsored the quiz competition.

MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and a host of ministers in his Cabinet were present at some events in the state.

In the page eleven, a chapter titled “Akhand

Jawaharlal Nehru Bharat” in the book, read, “Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya had then firmly believed that India could have achieved independence without partition. But Nehru and Jinnah walked into the trap of the British because of their greed for power, leaving Indian dream of independence as undivided India shattered”.

BJYM has applied to the Guinness World Records for entry of the event citing that never before such an event was organised based on life of an individual.

Opposition Congress on Tuesday lambasted the event, describing it “a manifestation of narrow mindset of BJP”.

INSIDE INDIA ‘LACK OF RESOURCE GROUNDS HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT’ Hyderabad, Jan. 23: It was a proposal that reignited imagination and enthusiasm in the previous decade, but “resource constraints” have held back Isro’s human space flight venture for far too long as it does not figure in the top-priority list.

A.S. Kiran Kumar, who retired as Isro chairman earlier in January, says the space agency’s priority continues to be strengthening its observation, communication and navigation capabilities.

“At this point of time, you can say it (human space flight) is not very high on priority,” he told PTI. More than a decade ago, at a meeting convened by Isro, scientists were highly appreciative of the study undertaken by it on such a mission, and were unanimous in suggesting that the time is appropriate for the country to undertake the venture.

— PTI

Police computer operators jubilate after their passing out parade at Dr B.R. Ambedkar Police Academy in Moradabad on Tuesday.

— PTI

MAHARASHTRA MANTRI IN SOUP FOR SINGING KANNADA SONG Mumbai, Jan. 23: Maharashtra revenue minister Chandrakant Patil faced protests in his hometown Kolhapur on Tuesday for singing a Kannada song.

Karnataka and Maharashtra are locked in a bitter border dispute. Maharashtra claims the areas of Belgaum and Karwar, currently part of the neighbouring state, and the matter is before the Supreme Court.

The minister, invited to a private function near Gokak in

CHENNAI MAN SURVIVES SUICIDE ATTEMPT, VEHICLE DAMAGED Chennai, Jan. 23: Death failed a 31 year-old man who attempted suicide but ended up falling on a car and damaging it.

Having jumped off a flyover apparently irked at not being able to get married, Vasanth landed on the bonnet of a

car, only to face a police case for his failed suicide attempt.

The man suffered a fracture in his shoulder as a result of the fall and is recuperating at a government hospital, the police said on Tuesday. The damage to

Karnataka, sang a Kannada song which drew the ire of leaders of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, which is fighting for inclusion of Belgaum and Karwar in Maharashtra.

According to media reports, the song praises Karnataka and its culture.

Incidentally, Mr Patil, a senior BJP leader, heads a coordination committee set up by the Maharashtra government to find solution to the dispute.

— PTI the vehicle included a broken windscreen.

A police official probing the case said Vasanth was apparently dejected over not finding a bride, and suddenly jumped off a flyover here at Royapettah High Road on Sunday night.

A dancer, Vasanth had shouted aloud that he was committing suicide.

— PTI

Nation

Huge appetite for further global investments in India,says Piyush Goyal

— Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

IN

BRIEF

‘AP, T’gana failed to save states’ interest’ New Delhi: Congress’s Andhra Pradesh unit president N. Raghuveera Reddy on Tuesday accused the ruling parties of AP and Telangana of succumbing to pressure from the Centre instead of realising entitlements the states deserved.

Mr Reddy was talking to reporters after over an hourlong meeting with AICC president Rahul Gandhi here.

“The two chief ministers are not talking about completing the Polavaram project within the stipulated time nor are they sure about special category status/packages because of the pressure,” Mr Reddy said. — PTI

Sukhbir, Bains to face House panel Chandigarh: The Committee of Privileges of Punjab Vidhan Sabha has summoned SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and Lok Insaf party leader Simarjit Singh Bains to appear before it on February 6, sources said on Tuesday. Both leaders were accused of using objectionable language against the Assembly Speaker during the Budget Session last year, they added. The 12-member panel include Congress MLAs Angad Singh, Pargat Singh, Ramanjit Singh Sikki, Nathu Ram, Pritam Singh Kotbhai, Sunder Sham Arora and Tarsem Singh, AAP MLAs Baldev Singh and Rupinder Kaur Ruby, and SAD MLAs Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal and Pawan Kumar Tinu. — PTI

Amarinder wants LCV unit in Punjab Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has written to the ministry of defence to set up a light combat vehicles (LCVs) manufacturing unit in Punjab, with the assurance that his government would extend all support, including land allocation, for such a project.

In a letter to defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Captain Amarinder said a LCVs unit would not only go a long way in promoting the establishment of ancillary units but also help provide jobs to the unemployed youth in the state. Further, the proposed project would help make LCVs readily available to the forces on the border, he said.

WITHDRAWAL OF SELECTIVE RIOT CASES IRKS KHAP AGE CORRESPONDENT LUCKNOW, JAN. 23

Trouble is brewing in western UP over the Yogi Adityanath government’s decision to withdraw cases against BJP leaders in connection with the Muzaffarnagar riots.

The various khap leaders want that either all cases in the riots should be withdraw or all must face trial. Over 600 leaders belonging to both communities were booked for the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013 and the Yogi government has sought the opinion of the district officials for withdrawal of only nine cases.

Naresh Tikait, who heads the powerful Baliyan Khap, warned that the “selective withdrawal of cases would have an adverse impact and the government would be responsible for the consequences”. He said that other khap leaders were equally angry at the government’s decision and wanted that cases against all must be withdrawn since most of them were innocent in any case. “If cases related to only BJP leaders are withdrawn, we will take to the streets. A political party can take a position, but an elected government cannot be allowed to function in this discriminatory manner,” he said.

India must continue with reforms: IMF

Ahead of poll season, rift in CPM intensifies Yechury made no offer to quit party post: Karat SREEPARNA CHAKRABARTY NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

The factional feud in the CPI(M) intensified on Tuesday with former general secretary Prakash Karat saying that the current party boss Sitaram Yechury made no offer to resign at the party’s central committee meeting where the latter’s proposal for a political alliance with the Congress was voted out. However, Mr Yechury contradicted him saying he had indeed offered to quit at the party politburo meeting and mentioned the same at the central committee meeting, but had been asked to continue.

Meanwhile, party ideologues and top CPI(M) leaders have come out in support of Mr Yechury’s proposal for an electoral alliance with Congress for 2019 general elections.

Two days after the rather unprecedented CPI(M) central committee meeting, where two drafts of the political tactical line were presented and the one by Mr Yechury was voted out by a margin of 55-31, Mr Karat said in an interview to a news portal that the differences

◗ A host of party ideologues came out in support of the Yechury line. They felt that the alliance should be formed for a ‘larger cause’ — ‘defeating BJP’. with Mr Yechury were not personal, but ideological in nature and there was no offer from the general secretary to quit his post.

However, Mr Yechury rebutted this. “I had offered to resign from both politburo and central committee. But the CC and PB unanimously said such a move will send a wrong signal. The party will be seen as divided on the eve of party congress and Tripura elections. I abided by the decision,” Mr Yechury told this newspaper.

Mr Karat’s claim had come after murmurs in a section of the party that the difference between the two leaders are more of a personal nature as both the drafts have very little or “nuanced” difference.

The only difference was whether the Congress was needed in any fight to defeat the BJP. Meanwhile, a host of

party ideologues came out in support of the Yechury line. They felt that the alliance should be formed for a “larger cause” which is “defeating BJP.” While former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee accused Mr Karat of reducing the party to a regional outfit, documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan on his Facebook page accused him of playing the role of BJP’s B Team.

“Shame on Prakash Karat and his team for rejecting Mr Yechury’s idea of a CPM tieup with Congress in 2019,” he wrote and then added, “So how many B teams does the BJP have? Nitish Kumar is a proven one.

Yesterday even Congress acted like a B team by attacking AAP at the behest of a puppet Election Commission.”

Speaking exclusively to this newspaper, Mr Chatterjee said: “Karat has ensured that CPI(M) becomes a regional party.

A Left party which is working in the Parliamentary system has to take in to account a lot of considerations. The party is becoming almost non-existent in the Rajya Sabha as well as the Lok Sabha”.

CPM to push for CJI Misra’s impeachment AGE CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

Two weeks after four senior most judges of the Supreme Court raised questions over the allocation of cases in the Supreme Court, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday said his party is reaching out to other Opposition parties to discuss the possibility of bringing an impeachment motion against the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra in the coming Budget Session.

“The CPI(M) is discussing with other opposition parties the possibility of bringing an impeachment motion against the CJI,” Mr Yechury said.

He said that he already has on board parties like Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Sharad Yadav faction of the JD(U) and was

Dipak Misra in talks with the Samajwadi Party to move an impeachment motion against the CJI in the Rajya Sabha.

According to the constitution, 50 members in the Rajya Sabha and 100 MPs in the Lok Sabha can move impeachment motion against a Supreme Court judge.

Though Mr Yechury claimed that the Congress was also on board, sources in the Congress party said it was a divided house with a section led by sen-

ior leader Kapil Sibal backing it and another which has leaders like former finance minister P. Chidambaram against it.

Four senior judges of the Supreme Court had virtually revolting against CJI Misra, raising questions on selective allocation of cases and certain judicial orders.

Opposition parties have already called for a probe into the issues flagged by the four judges, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the judiciary should sort it out itself.

The Budget Session of Parliament is set to commence on January 29 and the Union Budget for 201819 will be presented on February 1.

The first phase of the session will be from January 29 to February 9.

After a recess, Parliament will meet again from March 5 to April 6.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

— AP

Maritime security key focus at Asean meet AGE CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

With an eye on increasing Chinese naval assertiveness in the South China Sea, “Maritime Security and Cooperation” will top the agenda of the muchanticipated India-Asean Commemorative Summit in New Delhi on Thursday. There will be a leaders’ retreat session at Rashtrapati Bhavan during which the leaders of the 10 Asean countries will have a “free and frank” discussion on January 25. The theme of the retreat session is “Maritime Security and Cooperation”.

Some experts feel that the meet can be an opportunity for India to present itself as a powerful ally to these countries in the strategic areas of trade and connectivity.

China has maritime disputes with a few Asean nations, including Vietnam and the Philippines, apart from

◗ All the Asean leaders will also be the chief guests at the Republic Day Parade Japan outside the Asean region in East Asia.

Leaders of the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) nations will start arriving in the national capital on Wednesday for the Commemorative Summit being organised to mark 25 years of India-Asean cooperation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also interact with the Asean leaders during a “Walk in the Mughal Gardens” of Rashtrapati Bhavan after the retreat session.

A plenary session will conclude official deliberations at the summit on Thursday on the theme — ”Shared Values, Common Destiny”.

Prime Minister Modi will hold nine bilateral meetings with leaders of

Southeast Asian countries on the sidelines of the summit with a focus on key areas of counterterrorism, security and connectivity.

In an unprecedented event, all the Asean leaders will also be the chief guests at the Republic Day Parade.

While PM Modi will have separate bilateral meetings with almost all the Asean leaders on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the only exception will be Cambodia, whose PM is expected to have a separate bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister on Saturday.

The 10 Asean members are Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

China has however improved its relations with the Philippines in recent times, but the Asean countries, as a whole, remain wary of the Chinese military might.

Davos: IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Tuesday said India must continue with reforms especially in the financial services sector and should urgently focus on broad-based and true inclusion of women in its economy.

Addressing the media as part of the all women co-chairs of the WEF, Ms Lagarde said IMF research has showed that raising women’s participation in the workforce to the level of men can boost Indian economy by 27 per cent.

She also expressed concern over the high level of discrimination faced by women in rural India and emphasised that there is an urgent need to address this issue.

— PTI

Modi meets CEOs with ‘together we can’ message Davos: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met a group of Indian CEOs at the WEF annual meeting here, as India presented a collective pitch for showcasing the growth story of the country.

Those present at the meeting included Rahul Bajaj, Chanda Kochhar, Uday Kotak, Naresh Goyal, Anand Mahindra, Sunil Mittal, Ravi Ruia and Chandrajit Bannerjee. The government officials present included S. Jaishankar, Amitabh Kant, Ramesh Abhishek and Atul Chaturvedi. “Together we can! Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Indian CEOs present at the WEF working hand in hand towards a brighter future for the country,” MEA spokesperson tweeted. — PTI

‘World has changed a lot in 20 yrs’ Davos, Jan. 23: Harry Potter was an unheard name, tweeting was done only by birds and Amazon referred to dense forests in 1997, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday to stress upon the changes the world has seen in the past 20 years.

Addressing the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, Mr Modi said he is the first Indian Prime Minister to come here since H.D. Deve Gowda in 1997. The Indian economy has changed significantly since then and

so has the rest of the world, he noted.

Speaking mostly in Hindi, Mr Modi thanked WEF and the Swiss government for the reception accorded to him.

He also recalled that when Mr Deve Gowda came here in 1997, the theme of the WEF summit was building a networked society. That theme now looks centuries-old as the world today is about big data and so many other new developments, the prime minister said.

Mr Modi said very few

Harry Potter was an unheard name, tweeting was done only by birds and Amazon referred to dense forests in 1997 — Narendra Modi, Prime Minister people in 1997 had heard of Osama bin Laden and even Harry Potter was an unheard name.

“Also, chess players did

not have any big fear of the computer while Google was not there in cyber space and Amazon of that time was about dense forests. Tweeting was done by birds at that time and not by humans,” he said.

Mr Modi, however, said at that time also, Davos was ahead of its time and was known for WEF. “The world is changing fast today and there are new and serious challenges related to peace and security and various other matters,” he said. — PTI

Tell Davos why 1% of Indians get 73% of wealth: RaGa to PM

12 new faces, RS member in Left’s Tripura list

AGE CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

MANOJ ANAND GUWAHATI, JAN. 23

A day after BJP finalised the list of 51 candidates, the ruling Left Front on Tuesday released the list of 60 candidates, which includes 12 new faces, for the ensuing Tripura Assembly elections.

The BJP is yet to announce its list of candidates. The BJP sources said that the list of candidates has been sent for the approval of the BJP parliamentary committee, which will be meeting on January 25.

Apart from 12 new faces, the Left Front had no surprise in the lists of candidates. The party has expressed faith in old guards by nominating most of senior party leaders and ministers.

The CPI(M) will be contesting on 57 seats while one seat each has been conceded to its allies — CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP. Five sitting legislators have been denied ticket.

Incumbent Rajya Sabha member from Tripura, Jharna Das Baidya, has also been fielded as a candidate in the ensuing Assembly polls.

The move has been seen as an attempt to create space for CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury in the Upper House.

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Foreign tourists take part in a turban-tying competition at the Nagaur cattle fair in Rajasthan on Tuesday.

— PTI

On a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Congress President Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister, asking him to tell people in Davos why one per cent of India’s population has 73 per cent of its wealth.

“Dear PM, Welcome to Switzerland! Please tell DAVOS why 1% of India’s population gets 73% of its wealth? I’m attaching a

Netaji lived in MP village after crash?

RABINDRA NATH CHOUDHURY BHOPAL, JAN. 23

Identification of a recluse who lived in anonymity till his death on October 27, 2006 in the remote village of Saiji in Madhya Pradesh’s Ashok Nagar may uncover mystery behind disappearance of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose.

Some people who were closely associated with the “mystery man”, popularly known as Lal Baba among the locals, till his death have strongly believed that his identity, if dug out, may throw light on Netaji.

Subash Chandra Bose Lal Baba, also known as Lalji Maharaj among his followers in the village, had reportedly identified himself as “Netaji Subash Chandra Bose” before his two “disciples”, former sarpanch of the village Gajendra Singh Raghuvamsi and

Ghasiram, who were closely associated with him till his death, in his dying moments.

The “mystery man” who had landed in the village in 1972 was leading ascetic life in a hut in a hut till his death.

“Lal Baba had even pointed out a scar on his head saying that he got it after he fell down from plane”, Raghuvamsi told the media.

Madhya Pradesh government had set up a committee to probe the identity of Lal Baba soon after his death.

His body was buried for the benefit of the probe.

However, the findings of

the probe are yet to make public.

“News paper clippings relating to Netaji Chandra Bose were among the materials recovered in the hut by the investing team which had visited the anonymous person’s dwelling soon after his death”, a senior police officer disclosed to this newspaper unwilling to be quoted.

He however expressed his inability to reveal the progress of the probe.

Incidentally, the Mukherjee commission that probed the disappearance of Netaji has dropped hints on the village in its findings.

report for your ready reference,” Mr Gandhi tweeted.

Mr Gandhi also tagged a news report quoting an Oxfam survey that the richest 1 per cent cornered 73 per cent of wealth generated in India in 2017.

Hitting back at the Congress president, BJP spokesman Sambit Patra tweeted back by saying, “Why disturb the PM Sh ji...He’s working hard to attract investment to India I will answer your question Sir ..Rahulji it’s the misgivings of your ancestors who ruled India

for most of the time since independence that 1% of India’s population gets 73% of wealth.”

The Oxfam survey also said that 67 crore Indians, comprising the population’s poorest half, saw their wealth rise by just 1 per cent.

“Dear @OfficeofRG This inequality is the disastrous consequence of your family’s patented Nehru Congress’s “Poverty Perpetuation” model of governance by which only Congressis became rich,” BJP national spokesperson G.V.L. Narsimha Rao tweeted.

Nation

Meghalaya CM Mukul Sangma to contest from 2 seats in Feb. 27 polls

Javadekar snubs MoS over Darwin comment AGE CORRESPONDENT

— Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM chief

IN

‘Guj theatres not to screen Padmaavat’

Asks Satyapal to refrain from making such remarks NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

BRIEF

‘Talaq bill a move to punish Muslims’ Aurangabad: The triple talaq bill is a conspiracy against Muslims and a move to punish men from the community, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has alleged. A committee was constituted to look into the row over the film Padmaavat, but no such step was taken on the triple talaq issue, said the Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad as he launched a scathing attack against the Centre. “The triple talaq bill is a conspiracy against the Muslim community. It a tactic to bring out the women of the community on roads and send the men to prison,” he said. — PTI

Prabuddha Bharata steps into 123th yr Kolkata: Ramakrishna Mission’s Prabuddha Bharata has stepped into its 123th year, making it the “longestrunning” monthly English magazine of the country.

“We feel inspired that Prabuddha Bharata has stepped into its 123 years of continuous publication, making it the longest-running English magazine of the country,” the Mission quoted Swami Narasimhananda as saying in a release on Tuesday. Contrary to impressions that readership of serious magazines are on the decline, it has a growing global presence with regular subscribers in 23 countries, the release said. — PTI

Cobbler ‘quizzed’

by NIA ends life Ludhiana: A cobbler, reportedly being questioned by the NIA in connection with the killing of Punjab’s Shiv Sena leader Durga Das Gupta, today allegedly committed suicide by jumping into the Sirhind canal in Fatehgarh Sahib district. Passersby saw Rampal (52) jumping in the canal and informed the police. His body was fished out about two km downstream. His family members claimed that the NIA wanted to make Rampal a witness in the killing of Gupta and and he was fed up with constant questioning by the investigating agency. — PTI

Facing flak for his remarks on Charles Darwin’s theory on evolution, minister of state for human resources development Satyapal Singh on Tuesday was asked by his senior colleague, Prakash Javadekar, to refrain from making such comments.

Mr Singh, at an “All-India Vaidik Sammelan” in Aurangabad last week, had said that Darwin’s theory of evolution was “scientifically wrong” because nobody had seen an “ape turning into a man”.

He said that it needs to be changed in school and college curricula and even called for an international debate on the topic and said all kinds of scientists should be invited to the debate on the issue.

Over 2,000 scientists from three top institutions — The Indian National

Odisha PCC to protest death of rape victim AKSHAYA KUMAR SAHOO BHUBANESWAR, JAN. 23

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has called for Odisha bandh on Wednesday to protest the death of Kunduli “gangrape” victim.

Informing about the decision, OPCC president Prasad Harichandan said that the party will observe a 12-hour bandh across the state on Wednesday from 6 am to 6 pm.

He has appealed to the people of Odisha for their cooperation in making the bandh a success. Moreover, Mr Harichandan has demanded the resignation of chief minister Naveen Patnaik over the issue.

He has also asked for strict action against all the culprits in the case.

“We call for a 12-hour Odisha bandh on January 24, 2018, from 6 am to 6 pm, holding the government solely responsible for the distressing #KunduliGang Rape tragedy,” the official Twitter handle of the Odisha Congress tweeted.

The minor girl had hanged herself at her house on Monday.

I have discussed the matter with my MoS (Mr Singh) and I have asked him to refrain from making such comments. We should not dilute science.

— Prakash Javadekar, HRD minister Science Academy (New Delhi), The Indian Academy of Sciences (Bengaluru) and the National Academy of Sciences (Allahabad) — issued a joint statement condemning the Mr Singh’s remark.

“There is no scientific dispute about the basic facts of evolution. It would be a retrograde step to remove the teaching of the theory of evolution from school and college curricula or to dilute this by offering non-scientific explanations or myths,” the statement read.

Intervening in the row over the remarks, Mr Javadekar said there are no plans for a national seminar to prove Darwin wrong.

“I have discussed the matter with my MoS (Mr Singh) and I have asked him to refrain from making such comments. We should not dilute science.

This is the advice I have given him,” Mr Javadekar told a news agency. He also clarified that the HRD ministry is not going to fund any event or has any plans for a national seminar to prove Darwin wrong.

Uddhav son Aditya elevated as ‘leader’ Mumbai, Jan. 23: Aaditya Thackeray, the son of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, was on Tuesday elevated as a party “neta” (leader) at its national executive meeting held here.

With the new post, the Thackeray junior (27), who already heads Yuva Sena, will now be a part of the Sena’s core team.

At the national executive meeting, the Sena conducted the internal polls as per the guidelines of the Election Commission of India to elect the party president and other functionaries on the day which happens to be the birth anniversary of party founder (late) Bal Thackeray.

In the Sena hierarchy, the posts of “netas” (leaders) and “upnetas”

(deputy leaders) are second in importance after the post of party president.

On the occasion, the Sena also passed a resolution to elevate Uddhav Thackeray’s PA Milind Narvekar as a party secretary.

Mr Narvekar, who maintains a low profile, has often played a crucial role during the Sena’s discussion with its ally BJP. “I still remember, when the Sena conducted its first Dussehra rally in 1966, I, as a five-year-old, sat on my mother’s lap. I sat listening to the fiery speech given by my father and other leaders. We have a responsibility on our shoulders that we have to take forward,” the Thackeray senior said.

— PTI

PROPERTY DISPUTE SETTLED OUT OF COURT: PRAMOD MAHAJAN KIN Mumbai, Jan. 23: Prakash Mahajan, brother of the late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, on Tuesday claimed that a family dispute over a property in Osmanabad district has been settled out of court.

Sarangi Mahajan, wife of Praveen Mahajan who had killed his brother Pramod Mahajan in 2006, had moved the high court seeking expeditious resolution of the dispute pending in the Osman-

abad civil court since 2011. Praveen Mahajan had been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Pramod Mahajan. He died in 2010 after suffering brain haemorrhage.

“The (property) share was equally distributed among the three brothers and two sisters in Mahajan family. But Sarangi had raised some issues and filed a (court) case,” he said.

— PTI

Ahmedabad, Jan. 23: Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel said on Tuesday that most theatre owners in the state had voluntarily decided to not screen controversial Bollywood film Padmaavat as he emphasised that the state government was trying its best to maintain law and order.

The deputy chief minister’s comments came on a day when Karni Sena leader Lokendra Singh Kalvi issued a veiled threat suggesting there could be violence if the Bollywood flick was released despite widespread opposition.

“Most theatres have declined to screen the film, despite the green signal from the Supreme Court. They have taken the decision voluntarily.

The government is trying its best to maintain law and order in the state,” Mr Patel said.

— PTI

Actress Deepika Padukone arrives to offer prayers at Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai on Tuesday, ahead of the release of her film Padmaavat.

— PTI

Right step at right time on film: DGP AMITA VERMA LUCKNOW, JAN. 23

The newly-appointed UP DGP has said that the police force would take “right steps at the right time” on the “Rajput threat” to Padmaavat, which releases on Thursday.

O.P. Singh, a 1993 batch IPS officer, was responding to questions from the media shortly after taking over as DGP. Even as the DGP assured a smooth release for the film, Muslims in Barabanki burnt effigies of filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and said that they would join the Rajputs in preventing the release of the film.

In view of this new development, the state government is now gearing up to ensure proper security for Padmaavat after the Supreme Court

Rajput outfits protest against film in Bhopal Bhopal, Jan. 23: Members of various Rajput groups on Tuesday staged a protest here against the release of controversial Bollywood film Padmaavat.

An outfit, the Madhya Pradesh Rajput Samaj, protested at the district collector’s office and submitted a memorandum of their demands.

“We submitted a memorandum to the district collector, urging him to stop the release of film,” a functionary of the outfit.

— PTI

Economic Forum (WEF) annual meet, whose theme this year is ‘Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World’.

In what was seen as an apparent reference to policies like America First, especially since US President Donald Trump will be coming to Davos later this week, Mr Modi said, “Many countries are becoming inward focused and globalisation is shrinking and such tendencies can’t be considered lesser risk than terrorism or climate change.”

Referring to this year’s summit theme, Mr Modi said it was relevant for him as Indians have always believed in uniting and not dividing people.“We always talk about Vasudhaiva

Kutumbakam (world is one family),” the prime minister said, adding that the problem today is lack of consensus to tackle the problems.

Even in families there are differences but there is always a feeling to tackle it collectively whenever there is a common threat, he noted. “In an interconnected world, globalisation is losing its lustre. Do global organisations created after the Second World War really reflect the aspirations and dreams of mankind today?

With respect to the developing countries there is a very big gap,” he said.

Further, the prime minister noted that science and technology and economic growth parameters are also creating some fractures.

Many changes are creating

those walls that have made peace very difficult, he added.

According to Mr Modi, everyone talks about an interconnected world but it needs to be admitted that globalisation is losing its sheen and there is a big gap between the developed and developing world.

“Mahatma Gandhi had said I don’t want doors and windows of my house to be closed and I want winds of cultures of all countries to come inside but I won’t accept it if that uproots my own culture,” Mr Modi said.

Hard selling India as an investment destination at the WEF, Mr Modi said the government is following the principle of reform, perform and transform.

“We have made it so easier

rejected petitions from Rajasthan and Gujarat governments that had sought a stay on the film’s release.

It is noteworthy that various Rajput groups had held protests in various districts and even vandalised theatres that had put up posters of the controversial film. The protesters have been asking theatre owners not to screen the film in their halls.

The UP unit of Karni Sena, apparently disappointed after the SC verdict, said that they would reiterate their appeal for a janata curfew on the day of the film’s release.

Meanwhile, the DGP said that he was aware of the challenges, but added that the law and order situation in UP had improved in the past few months.

Bring ordinance to ban film, Rajput leader requests Modi AGE CORRESPONDENT JAIPUR, JAN. 23

Sarv Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (joint action group of all communities) convenor and Rajput leader Giriraj Singh Lotwara has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring an ordinance to ban Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s controversial film Padmaavat.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Lotwara said that everyone is feeling insulted, hurt and agitated after the Supreme Court’s decision to reject petitions of state governments of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, as well

◗ Rajput organisations demonstrate outside cinema halls, threaten cinema owners not to screen the film as Karni Sena, for ban on the film.

“The Censor Board has granted permission to release the film based on an icon of women honor after its name was changed from Padmavati to Padmaavat. In the name of freedom of expression, a green signal to this film is an insult to honourable act of Jauhar

by Queen Padmavati... All communities oppose it,”

Terror, climate change pose ‘grave’ threats: Modi ■ Continued from Page 1 transparent and progressive India is good news in an otherwise uncertain global environment.

The Prime Minister, who arrived here on Monday, said issues of peace, security and stability have emerged as serious global challenges. He urged leaders to come together to help the world get rid of its fractures.“There are many questions before us that require answers for generations to come. Is the existing international system promoting fractures and rift in this world? Can we remove these rifts and distances to make a good shared future?” the prime minister said.

Mr Modi is the first Indian prime minister in two decades to attend the World

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The triple talaq bill is a conspiracy... It is a tactic to bring out the women of the community on roads and send the men to prison.

PAGE

to invest in India, manufacture in India and work in India. We have decided to uproot licence and permit Raj. We are replacing red tape with red carpet,” he added. Stating that hundreds of reforms have been carried out by the central and state governments, the prime minister said 1,400 archaic laws that were becoming roadblocks in India’s growth have been removed and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been implemented, among others.Inclusive development is key to all government programmes, whether it is Jan Dhan Yojana, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao or Direct Benefit Transfer through digital infrastructure, he said.

Mr Modi also said those

wanting wealth with wellness and peace with prosperity should come to India.

Addressing the threat of climate change he said, “Glaciers are receding, islands are sinking or are about to sink and extreme weather conditions are increasing day by day,” adding that India does not damage the natural resources of any country.

“We need to think what can be done to tackle this issue together. Everyone says we need to do something but how many countries are there in the developed world who talk about helping smaller countries on this issue?” MR Modi said as he quoted Sanskrit shlokas to assert that “we are children of mother earth”.

— PTI

the letter read.

Further, the letter requested the Prime Minister to bring an ordinance or ban the film under Section 6 of the Cinematography Act, while also issuing a threat that failing to do so would propel the Hindu community to launch a countrywide protest.

Meanwhile, Rajput organisations began their protests in different parts of the city. They demonstrated outside cinema halls and threatened cinema owners not to screen the film even as the Rajasthan police has assured “complete” security to cinema hall owners.

Sufi poet’s village wants Bhansali to share profits AGE CORRESPONDENT LUCKNOW, JAN. 23

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat has landed in another trouble and, this time, it is not related to Rajput pride.

It is now the people of Jais, a town in Amethi district in Uttar Pradesh, who are demanding their pound of flesh — a portion of the film’s earnings.

Jais is the birthplace of Malik Mohd Jaisi, the Sufi poet who wrote the epic poem Padmavat on which Bhansali’s film is supposedly based.

“Since the film is based on Padmavat, Sanjay Leela Bhansali should announce a share of the profit for Jais so that the Jaisi Memorial can be renovated. This town has a school in the name of Jaisi, a research institute, a poorly maintained park and a lone wall that remains from his 16th century house.

If Bhansali gives the money, we can restore the lost glory of the place,” said Mohd Ashraf, a local resident.

The people of Jais say that if the film is truly based on Padmavat, there will be nothing objectionable in it.

“Jaisi was a Sufi poet and believed in HinduMulsim unity. His followers also belonged to both the community and his poems reflect his belief very strongly,” said R.K. Srivastava, an octogenarian.

The local people hope that the release of ‘Padmaavat’ will swing the spotlight on Jais and help the township regain its lost glory.

Health start-ups may top agenda of Budget ■ Continued from Page 1 The Narendra Modi-led government is bullish on innovation in various sectors as indicated by the setting up of the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under the aegis of Niti Aayog to encourage new ideas. The proposed health economic zones could propel innovative ideas in the health sector, said sources.

Primary health centres located in rural areas, where only low-intensity diseases like fever, dysentery and mild infections are treated, are likely to be upgraded to handle high-intensity diseases like hypertension.

For this purpose,

sources pointed out, a higher allocation will indeed be useful as larger number of doctors, support staff and equipments would be required in health centres.

The idea behind the plan is to provide access to high quality health facilities in villages and towns, instead of the rural poor seeking treatment in distant district hospitals, sources said.

The recently selected 115 backward districts (which are to be upgraded on various parameters like health, education and sanitation) are likely to be adequately funded for this purpose, sources said.

Padmaavat: SC stands firm on Jan. 25 release Sena to go alone, dumps BJP ■ Continued from Page 1 down. Otherwise, these people will make a virtue of creating trouble. They will first create trouble and then make a virtue of creating trouble.”

Additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta said that the states did not want to adopt an “ostrich-like approach” to violence. “Trouble already exists,” he said.

At the outset Mr Mehta, appearing for Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, said that caste groups should be first

allowed to have their say in court.

The CJI, however, retorted, “Why? You have come to the Supreme Court. You start by saying what you want.”

Justice Chandrachud referred to a paragraph, in the states’ application seeking modification of the court’s earlier order, that read, “Violence continues before and after the January 18 order of the Supreme Court to allow the screening of the movie”.

Justice Chandrachud said, “The violence is despite the

states’ duty and obligation to ensure public order. What is the meaning of this paragraph? How can we entertain this?”

When Mr Mehta said, “This Paragraph does not exist. Please forget it,” Justice Chandrachud quipped, “If this paragraph does not exist, your application does not exist.” “If we understand your intention, your prayer is ‘please allow us to ban the movie again’.

But we are not inclined to modify our order,” said

Justice Chandrachud.

When counsel for Kshatriya community described Padmaavat as a “distortion of history,” the court said, “There is a disclaimer in the film. It says the movie is not a portrayal of history. You please educate your members about what a disclaimer is.”

On January 18, the Supreme Court had revoked a ban imposed by the two state government on the film’s release and said that “it is the duty and obligation

of the state to maintain law and order.

Once the Parliament has conferred the responsibility and power on a statutory board and the board has certified the film, non-exhibition of the film by states is contrary to statutory provisions”.

The states had invoked Section 6 of the Cinematograph Act of 1952 to argue that the law provided the states to finally decide whether exhibition of a movie may trigger public unrest.

■ Continued from Page 1 Lok Sabha and Assembly Sabha polls on its own in 2019. This was passed unanimously. He said the party would win at least 25 Lok Sabha seats (of 48 in Maharashtra) and 150 Assembly seats (of 288) in the state.

Supporting the resolution, Mr Thackeray said, “What is wrong in contesting polls with your own strength. Even Pramod Mahajan used to speak about going alone during

Balasaheb’s period. Start preparing for polls and get me the truth from the citizens…. The Sena will contest in every state for Hindutva, irrespective of our win or loss.”

The Sena chief, who was re-elected as party president on Tuesday, slammed Mr Modi for not keeping promises. “If killing of cow is a sin, then lying is also a sin and should be banned. Send the people who have lied to jail.”

Mr Thackeray also took

up the issue of Pakistan.

“Today, we do not know if the country is going forward or backward. The environment in the country is such that Pakistan has become an election issue. The neighbouring country was also brought in for Gujarat polls... there is no co-relation between the two,” he said, adding, “People are saying you came to power by indulging in scams. The Army does not have just a 56-inch chest, but has valour as well.”

Special 5 Cinema won’t sully India’s HISTORY, DIRTY POLITICS WILL

PAGE

THE ASIAN AGE

WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

■ The Supreme Court ruling brings a wave of relief to the film fraternity but the question we need to ask is: Why was a matter that should have been handled by the state governments escalated to the Supreme Court? And why are those who threatened Deepika Padukone and Sanjay Leela Bhansali still walking free?

We now have to decide whether the final word belongs to the Constitution, Supreme Court, the elected government and the Prime Minister, or if we are willing to concede gravity to the threats of every Tom, Dick and Karni Sena with a political agenda and a proclivity for violence

By Invitation Sumalatha Ambareesh

T

he Supreme Court order lifting the four-state ban on Padmavati has brought much-needed redemption to the Indian film fraternity.

The Court also rightly remarked that the responsibility of maintaining law and order is the responsibility of the state, not that of the Judiciary. On the one hand, it denotes progress.

On the other, it merely serves to remind us of the regressive beliefs and opinions into which our society is slowly sinking. It shows that filmmakers and their creativity are the mercy of a few political hoodlums. They are the hardest hit, for even though the ruling has been made in their favour, they are constantly at the mercies of the state, put through a whole lot of drama and trauma if their efforts are to reach the audience.

Why then, don't we have laws in place to pre-empt these goons from dictating our choices and beliefs? Despite the Constitution governing our system, this presents a scary scenario. More so because there are self-professed enforcers of morality promising to continue with the ban in violation of the SC regulation. Even more horrifyingly, despite the Supreme Court rejecting all pleas to ban Padmavati, the Rajput Karni Sena has openly called for a nationwide 'janata curfew' on the day of the release, January 25. The bigger question remains: What are the state governments concerned planning to

SUMALATHA AMBAREESH

Karni Sena members protesting the release of Padmavati before the Supreme Court ruling do about it? Their primary job is, after all, to maintain law and order. Do they intend to act against such bold, flagrant violation of an order made by the Apex Court? The film's political naysayers have even asked the public and appealed to various organisations to boycott cinema halls as they protest the film!

Clearly, if the Shri Rajput Karni Sena's incendiary remarks are anything to go by, they will stop at nothing to ensure that Padmavati does not

reach its audiences in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The Karni Sena leader, Sukhdev Singh, even accused Prasoon Joshi, Chief, Central Board of Film Certfication of misguiding the Supreme Court. He even claimed, shortly before the Apex Court made its ruling, that they would "burn theatres" if the film was screened. "If violence is the way to go, I am ready to take the blame," he remarked. Even if this amounts to nothing on

ground, the Rajput Karni Sena has achieved its primary aim: to strike fear in the hearts of the public.

The way forward is clear. Any violence needs to be dealt with firmly. At moments like this, I ask myself, "Are we really living in the year 2018?" I wonder sometimes if we have regressed a thousand years - the turn of events regarding the controversy, which began when the film was initially scheduled for release, allows one no hope. A

matter that should have been dealt with by the state governments has been allowed to spread its rot across the country.

Even a firm message from the Supreme Court doesn't appear to have fully stifled the voices of intolerance and violence.

Another issue has made itself heard over the last year or two.

The functioning of the Central Board of Film Certification itself. I believe strongly in the necessity of bodies like these and the CFBC members are gov-

ernment-appointed. Why then, in the presence of such a body, do state governments make arbitrary decisions? And even more worryingly, why is nobody in power condemning this? In the dreadful process - the line adopted by our authorities is fraught with ethical grey areas - the rights of the citizen have been impeded upon. This happens every time the police fail to initiate action against a goonda who has been strutting about making threats of beheading and nose-cutting.

I stand by this view. The issue that troubles me most is that the peo-

ple who put a price on Deepika Padukone's head, publicly threatening to burn her alive - are still roaming free. These are the people who also made threats of bodily harm to director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who made a tongue-incheek retort after the Supreme Court ruling, inviting the Sena members to watch the show ! It is only when the state government makes a stand by initiating action against these hooligans will justice be done.

We now have to decide whether the final word belongs to the Constitution, Supreme Court, the elected government and the Prime Minister, or if we are willing to concede gravity to the threats of every Tom, Dick and Karni Sena with a political agenda and a proclivity for violence. This is utter lawlessness. Allowing these men to go free with impunity will mean a black mark against our country's history.

The writer is a South Indian actress.

As told to Shashi Prasad

THE ISSUE THAT TROUBLES ME MOST IS THAT THE PEOPLE WHO PUT A PRICE ON DEEPIKA PADUKONE'S HEAD, PUBLICLY THREATENING TO BURN HER ALIVE, ARE STILL ROAMING FREE. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ALSO MADE THREATS OF BODILY HARM TO DIRECTOR SANJAY LEELA BHANSALI, WHO MADE A TONGUE-IN-CHEEK RETORT AFTER THE SUPREME COURT RULING, INVITING THE SENA MEMBERS TO WATCH THE SHOW ! IT IS ONLY WHEN THE STATE GOVERNMENT MAKES A STAND BY INITIATING ACTION AGAINST THESE HOOLIGANS WILL JUSTICE BE DONE.

‘This is India and that is truly unfortunate’

B’wood game for period films even after Padmaavat drama Mumbai: The film industry is in no mood to compromise on its “creative freedom” and fascination towards history, even as the controversy around Padmaavat is far from over.

The Sanjay Leela Bhansalidirected film, which was originally titled Padmavati, got mired in controversy as soon as the filmmaker started shooting for the project and things took an ugly turn after the first trailer of the movie was released last year.

The unending protests, however, have not affected Bollywood, with celebs such as Ketan Mehta, Sidharth Malhotra and R. Madhavan still vouching for period dramas.

“History is a treasure house of stories. We cannot preclude history from creative endeavours. I would like to make a historical film even today,” Mehta told PTI. The director, who helmed Aamir Khan-starrer 2005 historical biographical drama “Mangal Pandey: The Rising” and 1993 biographical drama Sardar on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, said considering the wrath Bhansali and his team faced, he will be cautious while making any historical film in future.

“There would be various opinions on any subject. There is no question of censoring yourself even before you start creating something,” he added.

Mehta believes people have become oversensitive today and they need to “liberate their mind” as freedom of expression is a fundamental right.

“People have a right to see a film, just like they have a right to vote. There is a censor board that looks into the matter of clearing films and its sanctity should be retained,” he said.

I

Producer Kamal Jain, whose next film Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, featuring Kangana Ranaut in the title role, is based on the life of Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi, said cinema has unparalleled capacity to bring history to life.

“We have a long, respectable history and cinema is the biggest medium to bring it to the people.”

Jain added that while making a historical film, makers should do thorough research and stay true to the subject and even if they take cinematic liberties, they should ensure sentiments of people are not hurt.

“History has to be thoroughly researched. I spent almost six months on research and got a lot of historians on board who authenticated the film.

“You need to look at the perspective. You need to respect the sentiments of the people because at the end of the day cinema will affect somebody’s sentiments,” he said.

Actor Sonu Sood, who played the character of Rajkumar Sujamal in Ashutosh Gowariker-

directed Jodhaa Akbar, said chances of a historical drama facing protests are always high, but that should not stop artistes from doing their jobs.

“In today’s times when we try to make historical films we have to make sure that all the references are right. But, even after that one can face opposition like we have seen in the case of ‘Padmaavat’,” he said.

The actor, who will now be seen playing a warrior in Manikarnika..., said working in a period drama is “a great high for any actor”.

“We might find ourselves in a situation where people are opposing it but ultimately periodical films are the ones which need to be made in today’s times,” he added.

Sidharth shared similar views and said getting “scared” by the situation will only “defeat the purpose of why we are in the business.”

The actor said people should not take movies too seriously as it is a form of entertainment and does not aim at starting a revolution.

— PTI

f I had a dollar for every instance of breast-beating by irate senior citizens expressing anguish at our 'impressionable youth" being exposed to evil Western influences, I'd give it to Vijay Mallya or his legal team.

Clearly the righteous, make that the self-righteous, protest way too much.

Broadly speaking Gen Y is fairly sophisticated and if their morals and character are cause for concern, this anxiety is misplaced. As a baby boomer and card-carrying member of the flower child generation, I can truthfully admit that we were the truly deprived, as opposed to depraved, generation. As a wise man observed, "Books wash away from the soul the dust of everyday life" and a bookshelf is a reflection of one's character; more so by the quality of pornography on display. Going by the prevailing wave of sanctimony displayed by our greybeards, it does appear as if we are setting the bar way too high.

My earliest memory of "pondies", as we referred to the genre in our youthful innocence, is the lurid publication Rasavanthi which was sold on the footpath of Moore Market in Madras.

This was way before Google Chrome, so browsing back then meant a bunch of horny schoolboys leafing avidly through the blurry images of its pink pages until the shopkeeper, a wily Gujju, stapled the magazine. A glimpse of the fleshy delights therein was available only to those

...getting one's knickers in a twist about Sunny Leone or having a Censor Board decide what is morally acceptable is really quite silly. We rarely get worked up over modern day horrors like lynching, cops and robbers in cahoots or manual scavenging, all of which is callously explained away as "TII": This is India and that is truly unfortunate. who could brass up the princely sum of Rs.5 for a copy - no browsers please, we're Indian, was his unspoken motto. This crafty ploy did nothing to deter the more prurient element from getting a taste of the forbidden fruit.

Necessity is the mother of invention and some of us were desperate enough to perfect the art of squeeze reading. Patelbhai then took to swishing a little cane on the knuckles of buccaneers taking the free sample route.

The magazine's agony aunt column was a particular favourite since it contained gems like, "My husband's sputnik is very short. Please advice (sic)." Honey and ghee was the treatment prescribed for successfully orbiting the interstellar galaxy by the sexpert, who gloried in the title of Dr Sanghamitra. The main feature customarily dealt with the travails of a hirsute lad, Cousin Gobind (having hairy chest) who habitually lay in a hammock on the banks of an unnamed river (hopefully not the Cooum) reading the Bible.

Striking a piously censori-

ON THE CONTRARY

Ajit Saldanha ous tone, the narrative focused on Gobind's lust, "Even though he was reading holy books, he was thinking unholy thoughts between his eyes and thighs…" Despite his ecclesiastical literary tastes, Gobind was an incestuous pervert who lusted after his cousin Gomathi, a temptress to rival Sunny Leone. Since Gray's Anatomy was available only to senior medical students, an entire bunch of us came of age, courtesy Rasavanthi, with no small

amount of confusion on the subject of the female anatomy.

The author didn't restrict himself to anatomical errors, oh no, sir. His saga was peppered with mood-setting descriptions of the climatic conditions: "sun was shining in the sky, birds were singing sweetly but they did not know the dark deed that was to be perpetrated that day." Yeah, I know, perpetrated is OTT. Eventually, cousin Gomathi completes her ablutions or laundry - the author doesn't specify - and succumbs in the manner of a Weinstein victim to Gobind's manly charms. After this early literary diet, Playboy came as a breath of fresh air and we were part of a select minority who could truthfully claim that we read it only for the articles.

Today with cable television, phone sex chat lines and the cornucopia of pornography available on the internet, getting one's knickers in a twist about Sunny Leone or having a Censor Board decide what is morally acceptable is really quite silly. We rarely get worked up over modern day horrors like lynching, cops and robbers in cahoots or manual scavenging, all of which is callously explained away as "TII": This is India and that is truly unfortunate.

More porn, less horn is my bumper sticker for 2018.

Ajit Saldanha has a finger in the pie, and another on the political pulse. And when he writes, he cooks up a storm.

cmyk

cmyk

Edit

MIND POWER HELEN KELLER BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Keep your face to the sunshine An investment in knowledge and you cannot see a shadow pays the best interest THE ASIAN AGE

PAGE

6

WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

24 JANUARY 2018

Will trashing science ensure rise of India?

Gokul Gopalakrishnan

W

ith India’s minister of state for HRD Satyapal Singh questioning Darwin’s theory of evolution without offering a shred of scientific evidence, and asking for it to be taken down from the curriculum in schools and colleges, we may truly be said to be living in “interesting times”, as the ancient Chinese curse goes.

The HRD ministry makes educational policy for all levels and allocates funds for scientific research at universities and advanced institutions of learning and knowledge production.

So fascinating is Mr Singh’s antediluvian observation that the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported it in detail, although with a straight face. But the Chinese must be laughing up their sleeve. Here’s the minister of a country that hopes to match China in science, technology and economics and compete geopolitically. Good luck to such a charmed country!

Mr Singh’s point is simple. No oral or written testimony exists which says that the ancestors of Indians saw an ape turn into a man, and that, according to the minister, so obviously makes Darwin wrong. The minister is a former Mumbai police commissioner and is ready to entertain as evidence only what he has seen or heard.

The RSS’ and BJP’s ranks are packed with scientists, historians and other scholars of To be fair Darwin the calibre of the former policeman. never said he saw an Evidently, this is the basis on which the RSS wants India to be “Vishwa Guru” — the ape turn into a man. chief world’s sage.

The RSS-BJP view of The fundamental premise underlying such science is no differ- an optimistic outlook is that the rudiments of ent from that of all science and mathematics are embedded in Vedas, upon which great Indian minds Islamists and back- the constructed wonderful theories up until the ward-looking Chri- time of the arrival of the Muslims, and later stian fanatics, who Christians, after which learning in India bectoo question the ame imitative and scorn began to be heaped theory of evolution. upon the ancient (Hindu) civilisation. It follows that India has nothing new to learn from the world.

It’s in this vein that, speaking at the science congress once, Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed the world that ancient Indians had mastered plastic surgery and Lord Ganesha’s elephant’s trunk was proof.

Thousands of the country’s top scientists have asked the junior HRD minister to withdraw his remarks, which they deem to be an affront to science, and the scientific method. But that’s unlikely to happen, given the supercilious and chauvinist environment which has been constructed of late.

The question to ask the government is whether there is a hidden project to pull down fundamental science and remove it from educational institutions.

As for the naturalist Darwin, to be fair he never said he saw an ape turn into a man. His theory of evolution suggests that apes and humans have a common ancestor. The RSS-BJP view of science is no different from that of Islamists and backward-looking Christian fanatics, who too question the theory of evolution.

Stop this brazenness

I

t’s distressing enough to learn that the Uttar Pradesh governor has paved the way for withdrawing a 22-year-old case against chief minister Yogi Adityanath and 12 others while clearing eight Assembly bills, including one to quash 22,000 cases registered across the state that are said to be politically motivated. Emboldened by such a step, ostensibly to drop a few possible false and unjustified cases against politicians, mostly from the Opposition, the Yogi government is going a step further by withdrawing the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riot cases. It is said to have sought the magistrate’s opinion on whether scrapping the cases would be in the public interest. These cases aren’t just against the CM, but other leaders like the BJP’s Umesh Malik too.

While the withdrawal of a sensitive case involving hate speeches that may have triggered communal riots in the wake of a total breakdown of law and order may suit the chief minister and other accused, such a move undermines the very process of law. Several deaths took place in that fearful incidence of communal riots and many were injured while others lived in the affected areas in fear. If such withdrawal of cases were to become the norm every time there’s a change of government, the very foundations of society may be shaken. The brazenness with which poll victors go about clearing themselves on the excuse that they were subjected to political witch hunts while in Opposition is appalling. All serious criminal cases must be pursued until a proper verdict is reached, and UP can’t be allowed to set such a precedent as in the Muzaffarnagar riots case.

THE ASIAN AGE T. VENKATRAM REDDY Editor in Chief Printer & Publisher: T. VENKATESWARLU

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Jawed Naqvi

Whose ‘Hindu way’ is really open to all who live in India?

I

f Hindu rashtra becomes inevitable, how should India’s Muslims and Christians go about taking evasive action, and will they be the only ones that need to? We are not talking about the reasons why such an eventuality could descend on us sooner or later.

It’s not about Sitaram Yechury losing the crucial vote on the Communist Party’s anti-BJP strategy in the decision-making central committee the other day.

It’s not even about Rahul Gandhi being made to believe (falsely) that his temple-hopping got him the votes in Gujarat, when it was actually three unrelated youngsters who shored up the campaign. It’s not about Arvind Kejriwal’s party being slaughtered daily with cleavers dispatched to democratically masked abattoirs from the Prime Minister’s Office, or Lalu Yadav being locked up arbitrarily, or Mamata Banerjee being threatened with a similar fate. It is about all that and more.

When the hurly-burly’s done, when the battle’s lost and won,

RSS is clearly setting BJP agenda for 2019 Bharat Bhushan

A

fter the Pyrrhic victory in the Gujarat Assembly elections, the contradictions between the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Narendra Modi government are likely to increase. Tension between the two will circumscribe government policy and set the agenda for the coming 2019 general election.

Without the RSS, Mr Modi is like a groom without a horse and a wedding procession.

That is why his government has tried to keep the RSS happy by appointing its nominees to head national institutions, research-funding bodies and universities.

Yet two recent incidents indicate that the tension with the RSS still persists.

The RSS was not happy when the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo appointed a controversial police officer, Rakesh Asthana, as special director of the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Aware of Mr Asthana’s services in Gujarat, it still favoured another officer who was transferred out to pave the way for him and is chafing at not getting its way.

The RSS was also upset with the empanelment of two senior income-tax officers as chief commissioners by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) early last December. Both had been named in a CBI FIR for receiving bribes from Sterling Biotech of the Sandesara group.

The company allegedly has links with a senior Congressman.

Three weeks later, the ACC decision was reversed to please the critics.

Earlier, after the Gujarat election, the party was pulled up by the RSS for its marginal victory

(“alpvyap vijay”) and criticised for the “abrogation of decency” during the campaign. That there wasn’t even a yelp from the party suggests that the ideological agenda of the RSS is above all else.

Thus, for example, voices critical of the government’s economic policy within the BJP, like Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha and Subramanian Swamy, have not been silenced. They have not been shown the door. Perhaps their views are shared by some in the RSS. The RSS thinks that demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) have led to an economic slowdown and increased unemployment. Both moves have hurt its natural base — the trading community and small businessmen who supply it with cadre and finance.

RSS organisations have also opened a front against the government’s economic policies. Aravind Pangarhiya, brought from Columbia University with much fanfare to head the Niti Aayog, was sent packing even before he could complete his tenure, under pressure from the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM), an RSS affiliate.

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), an RSS trade union, has accused the government of creating jobless growth, suppressing wages, increasing contractualisation of labour; and destroying the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector. The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), the RSS farmers’ front, has taken the government to task for not tackling the agrarian crisis and has had to be persuaded not to participate in the nationwide farmers’ protests.

The contradictions bet-

what then? What should Muslims and Christians do? Or, for that matter, what can the Dabholkars, the Kalburgis, the rationalist followers of Gauri Lankesh and Govind Pansare do to take evasive action?

What should the Marxists do?

What can the LGBT community do, and what does the future hold for Indian feminists?

Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, the ideological guru of the idea of Hindu rashtra, said adopt the Hindu way of life and be saved.

That was an offer Hitler didn’t make to the Jews: adopt a Protestant or a German way of life and be saved. The question is, what constitutes Golwalkar’s Hindu way? The search is as desperate as the answer is elusive.

One can become a Muslim by reciting the kalima, and a Christian by a similar process. One can go to Buddhism or adopt the Sikh way, more or less with a degree of clarity about the house rules. There is no such clarity with Hinduism.

Our history teachers told us that Hindus could not be fundamentalists as there are no fundamentals

ween the Modi government and the RSS family of organisations also spill into areas beyond economic policy.

Thus, Vishwa Hindu Parishad president Pravin Togadia, a known critic of the government, fears that he may be killed in a fake encounter by the police. Surprisingly, he does not fear his ideological enemies but his friends in the government. Similarly, Pramod Muthalik, chief of the lumpen Sri Ram Sene, which specialises in terrorising teenagers in love and Muslims alike, has claimed that his ideological friends might bump him off.

They must be aware of saffron terrorist Sunil Joshi’s fate.

According to reports, to keep tensions with the government manageable, Mr Togadia might be removed as VHP president and the head of BMS general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay is also on the chopping block. Besides Mr Modi, perhaps the RSS is also wary of Mr Togadia in case he runs away with the Ram Mandir issue.

Meanwhile, there is an attempt to bring Dattatreya Hosabale, a senior RSS functionary positively inclined towards Mr Modi, as the next chief executive (sarkaryavah) of the organisation, replacing incumbent Bhaiyyaji Joshi. The first such attempt failed in 2015 but should it now succeed, Mr Modi will be able to influence decision-making in the RSS. This spring cleaning will happen in the next few months to prioritise a clear Hindutva agenda for 2019.

There is also speculation that the RSS leadership would like a greater

Mr Modi is only an instrument for fulfilling the RSS’ ideological agenda. The RSS recognises that Mr Modi’s ‘deviation’ from that agenda is not ideological but a result of the compulsions of governance...

to follow. There’s no single book, no overarching ritual either. You can be an atheist and be a Hindu if I am right. So what is the Hindu way? What are its do’s and don’ts?

Poor Ahsan Jafri wrote paeans to Meera, Buddha, Nanak all his life as a Nehruvian dreamer. He was chopped to pieces and his remains burnt by the mob that attacked his house in Ahmedabad. Before him Rasoolan Bai’s home was burnt down in the same city under Congress rule. She hardly sang a song without reference to Ram or Krishna. That evidently didn’t help her.

What is the trick they missed out on, something to comply with Golwalkar’s breathtaking generosity that could have saved them from mob violence?

If I remember right, Khushwant Singh once put the question to Guruji, as Golwalkar is known. He replied that Christians should stop converting Hindus. When asked about Muslims, he said: “What about Muslims?” The answer left the usually unstoppable writer neither here nor there. So, again, what is the Hindu life insurance policy

say in the selection of candidates for the 2019 general election. For this they may even need a new BJP president more amenable to their suggestions than the present incumbent.

What is important to understand is that the RSS is not opposed to Mr Modi. In the larger scheme of things, he is only an instrument for fulfilling its ideological agenda. The RSS recognises that Mr Modi’s “deviation” from that agenda is not ideological but a result of the compulsions of governance.

However, it wants to keep the contradictions at a level where the Hindutva agenda retains primacy.

Meanwhile, the RSS wants quick progress in cases of corruption against prominent Congressmen and their kin to delegitimise any political challenge. It also wants the temple construction to begin at Ayodhya by the end of this year. For that it needs a favourable judgement from the Supreme Court, and failing that, legislation. The RSS would also like the Supreme Court to abolish the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

This can be done by declaring Article 35A of the Constitution is ultra vires, or unconstitutional. It is by no means certain whether the court would limit itself to deciding on the inheritance rights of Kashmiri women or throw out the entire provision of privileges of a “state subject”.

If it does the latter, J&K may well be reduced to the same status as other Indian states.

Despite the fact that there is a broad convergence on major issues between the RSS and Mr Modi, he has not been able to move forward on them at a pace acceptable to the former. Yet both he and the BJP know that with little to show in terms of performance, to get re-elected in 2019 they have to follow the dictates of the RSS.

The writer is a senior journalist based in New Delhi

for those under threat in a future Hindu nation? How to get their life and limb spared, their children secured from harm, their rights as a citizens promised.

We know from unimpeachable historical accounts — via professors D.N. Jha, R.S. Sharma, Romila Thapar, D.D. Kosambi, replete with reasonably solid evidence — that brahmins in ancient India ate beef.

We know from newspaper accounts that Nepali Hindus today slaughter bullocks routinely for religious ritual and to eat the meat. Are these people living in ignorance or in defiance of Hindu tenets? What about Hindus who own big slaughterhouses? Should they worry about Golwalkar’s warning directed at Muslims and Christians?

Hindu rashtra, we are told, is about nationhood. If religion could be the basis of nationhood, India and Nepal would be one country; Sri Lanka and Myanmar would have one Constitution. Pakistan exemplifies the problem of religion-based nationhood as few other countries do. The so-called Muslim glue is

LETTERS SHAME ON US Apropos your news report, India, 62nd, below China, Pak in ‘inclusive growth’ (Jan. 23), India has been ranked 62nd among 74 emerging economies in the World Economic Forum’s annual Inclusive Development Index. The IDI takes into account living standards, environmental sustainability and protection of future generations from further indebtedness. India is projected as the fastest growing economy of the world but it is embarrassing as well as worrisome that in the IDI ranking it has fallen below countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand, to name a few.

M.C. Joshi Lucknow

TOE YECHURY LINE THE CPI(M) should understand that it is a national party to give the reasoning that it is the Congress that it has to take on as its adversary in its few strongholds, especially Kerala. As a “progressive” and “revolutionary” party, it should also eschew religious and caste considerations while shaping party policies and forging electoral alliances. Hopefully, the party congress in Hyderabad will undo the “historical mistake” made in Kolkata and decide to toe the Yechury line to protect secularism.

G. David Milton Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

ADMIRABLE APPEAL I APPRECIATE J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s appeal to both India and Pakistan to make the state a “bridge of friendship” between them and not let it become a battleground. It is the misfortune of both countries that for the last few days, the people living along the border are witnessing firing in which many people have been killed. It is time the Prime Ministers of both countries should extend the hands of friendship and bury this conflict forever.

Asif Iqbal Qasmi Hyderabad

Every Monday the best letter of the week wins `500. Email: letters@asianage.com Else, send to Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi 110002

not working. People seem to need real or imagined fear of India to stick together.

A feature of Hinduism is its Vedic heritage. But Vedic culture was not a proselytising one. If anything, Vedic texts were guarded jealously by the priests. And there was at least one occasion when people (known as demons) tried to steal the Vedas from Brahma. And Vishnu had to hunt them down.

Imagine someone stealing the Bible or the Guru Granth Sahib.

Should Muslims and Christians be allowed to learn the Vedas? I ask since Wendy Doniger learnt the Vedas, and she learnt them as good as the best in the Hindu fold. But her book was forcibly pulped by a latter-day Hayagriva.

Hindus use the Gita as a book that law courts admit to take their oath on. The trouble is Gandhiji loved the Gita and so do Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Justice Dipak Misra. Whose Hindu way should the worried Indians follow to live and prosper in their own country?

By arrangement with Dawn

Oped

Word SPY CONCINNITY COLPORTEUR Elegance or neatness of literary or artistic style

A person who peddles books, newspapers or other writings THE ASIAN AGE

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WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

CBI: From caged parrot to drain inspector?

Sandeep Bamzai Retrofit ◗ The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested an income-tax officer posted in Sirhind (Punjab) and two income-tax inspectors (one serving, one retired) in a bribery case of `70,000. The case pertained to a complaint made by a businessman of Mandi Gobindgarh, Fatehgarh Sahib (Punjab). ◗ The CBI arrested an inspector of works of South Eastern Railway, Bhubaneswar, from DRM Chowpathy, Alipurduar (West Bengal). The accused, who was absconding since July 2008, was wanted in a case related to the misappropriation of equipment, causing a loss of over `27 lakhs to South Eastern Railway. ◗ The CBI arrested a medical officer from Haidergarh, Barabanki (Uttar Pradesh), who was wanted in a case relat-

ed to the Vyapam scam. He had provided illegal copying assistance to a candidate aspiring for an MBBS seat.

All the accused in these three cases will be produced before the appropriate courts. ◗ In a yet another case, an income-tax inspector was awarded three years’ simple imprisonment with a fine of `5 lakhs in a disproportionate assets case.

A

ll these cases show the flavour of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s recent conquests.

Which would lead one to presume that the nation’s premier probe agency has become a drain inspector, at best. After recent setbacks, most notably in the Aircel-Maxis case involving the Maran brothers, the sensational rejection of the

four persons inside the house, no breakage, no forced entry assumption in the Aarushi murder case and of course a kick in the butt received from CBI trial court judge O.P. Saini in the 2G scam case, who raised Cain by saying that he had waited seven long years — day in and day out — for the CBI to come to him with the proper evidence, one wonders what ails the investigative agency? Why has it fallen off the cliff? Why have the wheels come off the bus so suddenly?

Legal and oversight challenges to the tenure of two successive CBI directors — A.P. Singh and Ranjit Sinha — dogged by clouds of jiggery-pokery have not helped matters either. The “caged parrot” be damned, basic questions about probity, propriety and integrity have been raised without any answers forthcoming; the sheer intensity of the catechism remaining gruelling and enduring.

The final denouement came last week when the Supreme Court, which has so often given the impetus to lacklustre and lackadaisical probes by the CBI, began fulminating and questioning the agency — over the bank details of those who had visited the official resi-

The ‘caged parrot’ be damned, basic questions about probity, propriety and integrity have been raised without any answers forthcoming; the sheer intensity of the catechism remaining gruelling and enduring. dence of former CBI chief Ranjit Sinha who, according to the court, had prima facie scuttled the probe in the coal scam cases.

The CBI’s Special Investigation Team stated to the Supreme Court that these would be examined.

“Substantial progress has been made in the investigation and its scope has been widened,” R.S. Cheema, special public prosecutor, told the bench of Justices A.K. Sikri, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph. But the bench was not happy about the tardy pace of the probe. “You have given us 11 reports of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and 18 reports of the CBI. We must say the progress in the investigation

has been slow. Even today, when we see the 18th report of the CBI, it says one case is pending,” the bench said. The court had, in January last year, constituted the SIT headed by the CBI director to look into the prima facie allegations against Ranjit Sinha of trying to influence the probe in the coal scam cases.

Complicating matters, during the hearing, Mr Cheema told the bench that visitors at the former CBI chief’s house were more than the number mentioned in the visitors’ diary maintained at his official residence, and that its probe was going on. All this obviously doesn’t augur too well with the coal scam probe, and its closure.

The pace at which the agency works, or rather drags the cases, raises suspicion. Is the agency then good enough to do the work outlined at the outset, which is to nail bribery cases involving junior flunkeys, or does it have the wherewithal and expertise to conduct fullthrottle investigations into high-profile white collar crimes? That is the moot point. That it is skewed towards the drain inspectortype of investigations seems to be the order of the day.

Repeatedly, it has been found to fall short of going for the kill, and unable to get convictions in big-bang cases. Does that come from the mindset of the personnel who man the agency? When it does, like in the Aarushi murder case, then a higher court trashes the order, as did the Allahabad high court. A gruesome double murder, a botched-up investigation, a protracted trial by media and a nine-year-long unanswered whodunit. The riveting case turned out to be a washout with the film Talvar asking searching questions and maybe even influencing the judgment too. In October last year, while overruling an earlier verdict in Aarushi’s murder (in 2008), the Allahabad high court scathingly likened the lower court judge to a “maths teacher” and a “film director trying to thrust coherence into scattered facts”. The judge who had declared the Talwar couple guilty in 2015 had “aberrated”, declared the high court ruling.

“The learned trial judge cannot act like a maths teacher who is solving a mathematical question by analogy after taking a certain figure for granted... Like a film director, the trial judge has tried to

Three crises in a search of a narrative A Shiv Visvanathan

Three crises haunted 2017 and we lack even a discourse, a language for dialogue. All three are a crisis of categories, a crisis of violence, a crisis of perception and a crisis of democracy.

writer looking back on reflections of the year is stunned by the triteness of storytelling.

There is almost a standard ritual to annual surveys.

One cites an economic index, another makes a bow to governmentality and a third cites charismatic figures, from Chinese President Xi Jinping to US President Donald Trump. If it’s an Indian report, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets a huge slice of the cake.

Looking back, one sees the token indicators but there is no sense of event, of debate, of the dynamic and disturbing events. If there is doubt and distress, it is consigned to the footnotes. A report becomes a sanitised act and one proceeds eventlessly as before. It’s as if we have created linearity, a grid which we want to stick to. Events outside don’t fit the official song line. Even civil society sticks to the officialdom of these narratives. It’s almost as if anything disturbing is sanitised into a debate on bad table manners, raising a stink or a smell.

Yet as one talks to more reflective social scientists and some of the younger journalists, one senses that annual surveys cover the non-events of the year and one pays lip service to the entrepreneur and leader of the year. Even the enthusiasm of editors can’t quite inflate these empty events into anything memorable.

Talking around, the scholars I consulted told me that 2017 was a disturbing year as a result of three events.

The first was a farm crisis; the second was the sheer epidemic of sexual assault on minors and the third was what one might call the crisis of looking at religion creatively and authentically.

The year saw three major crises, but Indian democracy produced little response or understanding.

Let’s talk about the agricultural crisis. The demonstration by farmers became an empty spectacle as neither drought nor starvation touches middle class India.

We read the demonstration as theatrical exercises with

a bit of sentimentality and even bad taste because it is clear that agriculture as a way of life is doomed. The irony of the Green Revolution was to prove that farmers do not want to farm. Our experts feel farming, like weaving, is a sunset industry, and that India has started applying lifeboat ethics to farming.

A lifeboat ethics model argues in a Darwinian sense that people who are drowning should not be helped if they are too helpless to help themselves. The cost benefit of sheer economics argues that traditional farming is not worth it, and what we have tacitly done, as Devinder Sharma and others have pointed out, is to create an enclosure movement around agriculture. We are creating through government policy the parochialism of economics and sheer indifference, a long-run evacuation of agriculture.

The farmers’ demonstration is not merely about drought or suicides or fair prices. These are symptoms of a deeper cultural violence the government is perpetrating on agriculture as a way of life. The insidiousness of this violence is hidden in texts of policy and by a petty bourgeois government which will save Jallikattu, but ignore the fate of the farm. In a futuristic sense, the Narendra Modi government has inaugurated the death of agriculture.

The second crisis is not even recognised as a crisis.

It is the crisis of sexuality and violence perpetrated on minors where rape and murder and the ritual erasure of the event become standard accompaniments.

This is not just an event for psychologists to flutter over and sanitise with some technical terms. This concerns society. The newspapers report it every day, but the reporting is so banal that one flips the page without understanding the social tragedy hidden there. The reader senses a statistical normality to the event and shrugs it off. The scale of pathology frightens no one.

Feminist radicals are busy with khap panchayats and with the rights of trans-genders, but a minor child being raped at an orphanage in a city is dismissed with bad or pop sociology, which rounds it off as a crisis of migration, a decline of the Indian family system; sometimes, it is even dismissed as an exaggeration.

The victim disappears into anonymity. The scandal does not end with the crime; it lies in society’s indifference to it. Years ago, chainsnatching would be reported every day and we would shrug it off as a part of urban process. To do the same for rape and murder of minors makes little sense.

The silence of civil society and the State is almost Kafkaesque.

The final crisis is the one of events and categories. It is a crisis of perception. It is the way our society constructs religion. We are caught between the arid dualisms of communalism/fundamentalism and the secularist perspective.

The first condones murder; the second seems impotent before it. One is talking not just of a physical helplessness, but a philosophical one. We are caught in the irony that while religion is important to us, we seem to

wallow in its pathologies, and paradoxically, spiritually becomes an extension of modern management.

The deaths of Akhlaq and Afrazul are written off as causalities in a just war based on a piece of idiot history. The power, the creativity, the meaning that a religion provides is lost.

Even when one looks at the Dera incidents, one reads Ram Rahim as a sexual problem. No one asks about the faith of his followers, their search for utopia in small towns. Modern India needs to relook at its religious imagination and redream the power of syncretism.

Three crises haunted 2017 and we lack even a discourse, a language for dialogue.

All three are a crisis of categories, a crisis of violence, a crisis of perception and a crisis of democracy. If 2018 gets under way without an acknowledgement of the depths of these crises, it is doomed from the start. Our democracy desperately needs to rethink about itself as an imagination.

The writer is a member of the Compost Heap, a group of academics and activists working on alternative imaginations

‘I’m afraid we missed our target to see you within four hours.’

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

Blissfulness beyond bounds

T

he word “spirituality” is one of the most corrupted words on the planet. It has been used and misused in a million different ways, largely because of ignorance, but many times out of unscrupulousness. This has generated a lot of confusion and doubt in people’s minds as to whether spirituality is really worthwhile.

Spirituality does not belong to the physical realm. When we say spirituality, we are talking about a dimension that is beyond this integrated mechanism of body, mind, emotion and physical energy.

The essence of the spiritual process needs to be understood as a means to generate the necessary intensity to break the limitations of the body and mind so that you are out of your individual nature.

Yoga is a technology to do this. It is a technology for inner transformation on all levels.

Once this is achieved, there is a tremendous freedom to create anything that you want around you or within you or anywhere in the world because the very fundamentals of life are in your hands.

Suddenly, there is no limitation of time and space anymore. If this capability has to come, the first and foremost thing is to get into ecstatic states — absolutely mindless ecstasy.

It is in search of this that people who are not willing to work for it choose alcohol or drugs.

If people create some sense of freedom chemically or by

THE NYT CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Dish whose name means “pierce flesh” 8 Squids' squirters 15 What can get two feet higher 16 Chocolate truffle filling 17 Snapping … as suggested by some black squares in this puzzle 19 Summer shade 20 High-and-mighty sort 21 Asian capital that’s home to Jokhang Temple 22 Sci-fi TV series before “DS9” 23 Attack, as a gnat 25 No longer flexible 26 Got things down

27 It has the world's highest per capita income 28 One surrounded at sea 29 Ferris wheel part 30 Fall ___ 31 Thanks for waiting 33 Not remote 35 Person picking a ticket 39 Goes through the motions of?

44 Sack 45 Oscar follower, in communications 48 Fictional hero who wore a sombrero cordobés 49 Beam that might hit someone hard?

50 Heretofore 51 Football lineman

52 Staten Island Railway inits.

53 Childproofing option 55 Meter masters 57 Singer Green and others 58 With only slight provocation … as suggested by some black squares in this puzzle 61 "Toodle-oo!"

62 Board near a gate 63 Pincered bugs 64 Villain whose alter ego is Edward Nigma DOWN 1 Its shell isn't hard 2 Brave person, typically?

3 Brandy cocktails 4 Quick flight 5 Parenting challenges

6 Steady 7 Not even slightly 8 “You can’t stop me!”

9 Bread also called khamiri 10 Assumed the hero pose, in yoga 11 Something the narrator of “A Visit From St. Nicholas” threw up 12 Compact Mercedes-Benz 13 Chip maker 14 Tranquil 18 One forced to take the blame 24 What we have “in order not to die of the truth,” per Nietzsche 28 Fitbit had one in 2015, for short 30 Former telco giant

thrust coherence amongst facts inalienably scattered here and there, but not giving any coherence to the idea as to what in fact happened,” the judgement observed sarcastically.

From the “Congress Bureau of Investigation” to a handmaiden of the current government — is that the remit of the premier probe agency? Will it remain an instrumentality to rein in political opponents? To its credit, the CBI seems to be doing a terrific job with bank fraud cases, going after the collusive cartels who looted Indian banks. But this too seems to have ended quietly.

This writer has in the past highlighted the exemplary work being done by the bank frauds and securities cell of the agency.

Last week, there was some renewed hope in this regard when the CBI registered 22 cases against Punjab National Bank officials relating to fraud in bank loans processed by them on the basis of forged documents, causing a loss of `80 crores to the bank.

While that was heartening, the journey from caged parrot to pusillanimous drain inspector has been a shocking tale of woe.

32 E.R. staples 34 Plan for later yrs.

36 Attraction on the bank of the Yamuna River 37 Branch from an artery 38 Enhance, as a recording 40 Amateurs 41 Sci-fi beeper 42 Trumpet vine, e.g.

43 Trattoria treat 45 State quarters?

46 Name on an annual literary award 47 Literary orphan who lived for a while in a cupboard 51 Dearest, in Dijon 54 Cogitate (on) 56 Cal tecs?

59 Go for 60 City govt. official

other external means, you will notice when they don’t have that support, they will become utterly miserable.

If people just escape by chance, if they have not built their own ladder to climb out at will, they generally get psychologically broken.

But if you do not take anything from outside and just allow this system to function in its full scope and scale, you will see, you can be intoxicated in a much bigger way.

You can remain intoxicated twenty-four hours of the day; no hangover at the end and you are fully aware and with g r e a t l y enhanced capabilities.

All the stuff that you want is there in your body.

There was a time when we believed that whether the tree in your house bears fruit or not depended on God’s will.

But we took charge of these things. Now we know what the problem is if this tree is not bearing fruit. We know what to do with it.

Slowly, we figured out all these things. Similarly, if your Self has not blossomed, it is because you are not doing the right thing with yourself – it is as simple as that. When we understand this, a spiritual process actually begins.

The writer, an internationally renowned spiritual leader, is a visionary, humanitarian, author, poet and speaker. He can be contacted at www.ishafoundation.org.

News+

The average hen lays 228 eggs a year THE ASIAN AGE

50

YEARS AGO IN

Madras to adopt 2-language formula: Tamil and English Madras: The Madras Assembly today passed an official resolution replacing the three-language formula in schools with the two-language formula comprising Tamil and English and adjourned sine die.

The resolution also demanded that the Hindi commands in NCC and other units should be changed. If this was not done, these units would be disbanded, the resolution said.

The resolution also envisaged Tamil as the medium of instruction at all levels of education within the next five years.

DMK members thumped tables and cheered as the official resolution with government amendments was adopted by the House.

After the Speaker adjourned the House, visitors in the galleries clapped hands and shouted “Anna Vazhga”, “Tamil Vazhga” and “Hindi Ozhiga”.

The Assembly met amidst reports from districts of continuing anti-Hindi agitation by students.

The official resolution for discussion of the “serious situation” in the state as a result of the passing of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act and the connected resolution by Parliament and incorporating government amendments moved by chief minister Annadurai spelling out the language policy of the government was adopted by the House.

While the Swatantra Party, Muslim League, the lone Tamil Arasu Khazhagam member, M.P. Sivagnana Gramani, and Independents supported the government amendments, the 50-member Congress Opposition, the 11-member Marxist Communist Party, the four-member PSP, the twomember SSP and the twomember Right Communist Party did not participate in the voting.

IN

BRIEF

Global temperature targets likely to be missed London: Global temperatures are likely to rise more than the targets set by the Paris Agreement within a few decades if immediate action to limit carbon emission rate is not taken, a study warns. Researchers found that Earth’s global average temperature is likely to rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the period before the industrial revolution within the next 17-18 years, and to 2 degrees Celsius in 35-41 years respectively. Through their projections, researchers advise that cumulative carbon emissions needed to remain below 195-205 petagrammes of carbon (PgC) from the start of 2017 to deliver a likely chance of meeting the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming target while a 2 degrees Celsius warming target requires emissions to remain below 395-455 PgC. “Immediate action is required to develop a carbon-neutral or carbon-negative future or, alternatively, prepare adaptation strategies for the effects of a warmer climate,” said Philip Goodwin from the University of Southampton in the UK. “Our latest research uses a combination of a model and historical data to constrain estimates of how long we have until 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2 degrees Celsius warming occurs,” said Goodwin, author of the study published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

“We’ve narrowed the uncertainty in surface warming projections by generating thousands of climate simulations that each closely match observational records for nine key climate metrics, including warming and ocean heat content,” he added. “This study is important by providing a narrower window of how much carbon we may emit before reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2 degrees Celsius warming,” said Ric Williams from the University of Liverpool in the UK. — PTI

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WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

India’s education needs reforms Moin Qazi focus ■ More

Indian children are in school today than ever before, but the quality of public schools has sunk to abysmally low levels, as government schools have become the reserve of children at the very bottom of India’s social ladder...

he building blocks of a nation are the citizens of its tomorrow. The way these seeds will sprout, will always depend on the way you choose to water them.” India’s education sector has grown to enormous proportions. With more than 1.5 million schools — 1.1 million of them run by the government — and more than 250 million students, the country’s K-12 school system is one of the largest in the world. India’s education market, currently valued at $100 billion, is likely to

T

nearly double to $180 billion by 2020. This new development has been sparked by a 30 per cent compound annual growth rate in the online and digital learning market.

The public school system expanded massively in the 1990s and the first decade of this century. From about 55 per cent enrolment in 1987, India is now achieving near-total enrolment. According to a 20082009 report by the Delhibased Institute for Policy Research Studies (PRS), enrolment in Class 10 currently stands at 77 per cent, yet this drops in Class 11 to only 52 per cent. Meanwhile, teacher education institutions (TEIs) have mushroomed across the country, but 90 per cent of these are privately run.

The 2009 Right to Education Act (RTE) was designed to guarantee a good education to all Indian children between the ages of six and 14. It requires private schools to reserve at least 25 per cent of their places for disadvantaged children — selected by lottery — and the government must reimburse the schools for the students’ fees.

According to IndiaSpend, between 201011 and 2015-16, the number of private schools in India grew 35 per cent from 220,000 in 2010-11 to 300,000 in 2015-16. By contrast, the number of government schools in the same period grew just one per cent, from 1.03 million to 1.04 million, while the amount the government spends on education increased by just 0.2 per cent of GDP since 2010. All this, despite the introduction of the 2009 Right to Education Act, according to which all children between the ages of six and 14 should be provided free and compulsory education.

A large investment boost into educational infrastructure has seen about 3.5 lakh new schools opened in the past decade under the government’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme. The policy is

a key component of the Right to Education Act. It is aimed at curbing dropout rates in rural areas, reducing stress and ensuring that youths stay in school until age 14. Eight years on and 99 per cent of India’s rural population has a primary school within a one-kilometre radius.

However, India’s public education is in a dismal state. The usual reasons are: teacher absenteeism, poor student attendance, bad infrastructure, inadequate teacher preparation programmes and rote learning practices. While these issues are valid, they do not fully explain the learning crisis apparent in our classrooms.

Even though the aim of raising enrolment has been achieved, school completion rates and actual learning outcomes remain pathetic. There has been sharp deterioration in abilities in reading, writing and other comprehensive skills. In particular, the “no detention policy” — the practice of automatically graduating children through the grades until they reach Grade 8, even if their test scores are poor — needs to be revisited, to ensure that it

is judiciously implemented. Formal teaching needs to be supplemented by inschool pull-out programmes, after-school reading classes and summer camps by voluntary organisations using innovative pedagogies.

More Indian children are in school today than ever before, but the quality of public schools has sunk to abysmally low levels, as government schools have become the reserve of children at the very bottom of India’s social ladder.

According to the World Development Report 2018 “Learning to Realise Education’s Promise”, India ranks second from the bottom after Malawi in a list of 12 countries where some Grade 2 students were found to be unable to read a single word from a short text.

India also tops the report’s list of seven countries in which some Grade 2 students could not calculate simple two-digit subtractions.

The fragile foundation of basic education augurs a dim horizon for India’s future human capital. We must understand that education is the most potent tool for reducing the glar-

ing inequalities in society.

In Capital in the TwentyFirst Century (2014), French economist Thomas Piketty writes, “Historical experience suggests that the principal mechanism for convergence (of incomes and wealth) at the international as well as the domestic level is the diffusion of knowledge. In other words, the poor catch up with the rich to the extent that they achieve the same level of technological know-how, skill and education.”

Sadly, 53 per cent of school children in India are at least three years behind expected learning levels. According to a 2015 Brookings Institute report on primary education in India, 29 per cent of children drop out before completing five years of primary school, and 43 per cent before finishing upper primary school.

High school completion, according to the report, stands at only 42 per cent.

These figures are a serious concern in a country where only 74 per cent of its 1.2 billion inhabitants are literate, making India home to the largest illiterate population in the world. We all know that a

More ministries needed in India ● The best part of creation of more and more ministries is increasing number of ministers in the Cabinet. This would of course keep more party members and allies pleased with increase in their political status.

Nilofar Suhrawardy meanwhile ■ There can be

a grudge ministry and perhaps also an ego ministry.

The former would focus on easing grudges and the latter on pampering egos of aggrieved one. These two ministries may also create the impression that their key job is to focus on such problems faced by people at large.

eriously speaking, the recent appointment in the United Kingdom of the first-ever minister in charge of tackling loneliness and combating social isolation needs greater attention.

Yes, Indian Central and state governments need to pay special attention to this issue. This does not imply that this issue needs as much attention in India as it apparently does in the UK. Yes, social isolation along caste, class, religion, gender, age and other lines certainly still remain a problem in India. Loneliness is, however, a problem which cannot be expected to be taken care of by just dedication of

S

Tracey Crouch, Britain’s under secretary for sport and civil society, was recently appointed the minister of loneliness by Prime Minister Theresa May another ministry to take care of it.

Social isolation and loneliness in India cannot apparently be viewed from the same angle as these problems are in India. Crowds, groups, large gatherings at political, social and other functions are a common sight in India. But there is no knowing as to whether creation of such a ministry in the UK may prompt Indian leaders to try their hand at this exercise.

Yes, why not? India is faced with innumerable problems, solutions to which still seem a mirage.

Quite a few problems have suddenly surfaced and raised quite a storm in most circles. Creation of ministries to deal with such issues may not be a bad idea. At least, the impression would be created that the government is serious about these issues and has, therefore, chosen to devote new ministries to deal with them.

It may not be a bad idea to form a ministry to tackle the “triple talaq” issue. You see, it is not as big as a problem as it has been made out to be. Creation of a specific ministry to deal with it would certainly add some credibility to concern of the government about it. Of course, irrespective of this specific ministry’s departmental work on the issue, for some time, the storm raised over it may subside. “The ministry is looking into it”, may be the pet answer to questions raised regarding the issue.

In fact, the Central and state governments may consider the idea of forming ministries on issues regarding which they probably do

not have appropriate answers to questions raised by rival parties, activists and others. The Uttar Pradesh government may consider creation of a ministry regarding their abundant usage of saffron colour in painting buildings, etc. Of course, this ministry is likely to be kept by chief minister in his own hands. So far, impromptu decisions have been taken on changing many buildings’ colours to saffron. Storm raised over saffron colouring of a few places has prompted the state government to backtrack on this step and change colour of these back to non-saffron. With a ministry in charge, it is possible, this state government may deliberate a little more or at least give impression of doing so prior to its usage of saffron colour.

Of late, quite a few steps have been taken suddenly, giving people quite a shock. These include demonetisation, withdrawal of old rupee-notes, printing of new ones, Aadhaar-card related measures and so forth. Rather than take additional measures, it may not be a bad idea to devote new ministries for looking into these issues. The best part of creation of more and more ministries is increasing number of ministers in the Cabinet. This would of course keep more party members and allies pleased with increase in their political status. And if there remains possibility of others bearing a grudge on their not being allotted any ministerial rank, well, well, the solution is not too far.

Yes, there can be a grudge ministry and perhaps also an ego ministry. The former would focus on easing grudges and the latter on pampering egos of aggrieved one.

These two ministries may also create the impression that their key job is to focus on such problems faced by people at large. Ah, this would certainly elevate the image of Indian premier to great heights globally, particularly in the West. The priority is not whether actual problems and issues raising storm receive required attention or not. Irrespective of whether these are given any attention or not, the key objective may be to spread the message that they are being focused upon. That too, with specific ministries formed for the purpose.

Most political leaders tend to pay great attention to create an impression of their concern about key issues affecting common people and that they are attending to them. Be it the noise made about triple talaq, greater complications being added to Aadhaar card and other such issues, including demonetisation drive; an unusual alacrity has been displayed regarding these with little attention paid to their aftermath. Initiating new ministries to tackle these and other issues may ease the burden that they bear for the common person.

Time taken to form ministries, select right politicians for the same and other such steps would at least give enough time to common Indians to prepare themselves whatever they are due to face. So formation of new ministries may prove to be a welcome move for many politicians and also Indians, irrespective of whether they accomplish nothing else. And this, seriously speaking, is not a joke!

The writer is a senior journalist.

She has come out with two books Ayodhya Without the Communal Stamp and Image and Substance: Modi’s First Year in Office

sound and productive education system needs to focus on science, math engineering and technology — the skills today’s employers are looking for to fill jobs right now and in the future.” Inefficient teaching methods, such as rote learning, which focuses on memorisation as opposed to critical reasoning, are still widespread at the primary and secondary school level. The rote teaching methodology has demonstrated shortcomings. Studies by the Programme for International Students Assessment, an OECD initiative, and Wipro found that students at the primary and secondary school level have fallen back in math, science and reading literacy in recent years.

The National Education Policy (NEP), in place for the past three years, established a committee headed by former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian to draft a new NEP. The report by the Subramanian Committee did not mince words about problems with teacher management: “These include teacher shortages, absenteeism, corruption in recruitment and transfers,” it

said. “A large number of government schools do not have full-time headmasters/principals.

The lack of effective leadership has contributed to indiscipline among teachers leading to declining academic standards.”

Teacher salaries in government schools are relatively high in India at three times per capita income compared to China, where it is about the same as per capita income. However, we lack a culture of accountability for performance. Learning outcomes are generally better in private schools where average teacher salaries and costs per student are less. a break-up of government spending shows that only 0.8 per cent goes towards capital expenditure, while 80 per cent goes towards teachers’ salaries, leaving little to be spent on infrastructure creation. Teacher absenteeism continues to plague the system, but it is not abnormal, as is made out. A recent six-state study by Azim Premji Foundation reported that, while 20 per cent of teachers were not found in school on average, most teachers were not “absent”; they were away on training or official work, sitting in the state headquarters or on casual leave. Actual truancy rates were 2.5 per cent, which is close to absenteeism rates at any large organisation.

India is to truly rise as a global economic power, the policymakers and education specialists must focus its efforts on developing its public schools into a world-class education system.

Adequate resources, higher standards for teachers and the flushing out of corruption must all be part of a reform package that seeks to make Indian education the nation’s top priority.

The writer is a wellknown banker, author and Islamic researcher.

He can be reached at moinqazi123@gmail.com

Iranian woman skydiver looks to break down stereotypes Siavosh Ghazi aside Tehran: For Iranian parachuting enthusiast Bahareh Sassani, skydiving is “a way to prove that women are just as capable as men” — a small step from a big height for women’s equality in her country.

The 35-year-old accountant has been skydiving less than two years but already has more than 220 jumps under her belt.

“I encourage all women to try this experience. It gives you the feeling you can do whatever you want. Women should not be excluded from anything,” she said.

Sassani refuses to describe herself as a “feminist”.

But her motto is firmly “there is no difference between men and women and a woman can do anything she wants and succeed”.

That still runs against the grain of Iranian society, where women have had a lower legal status than men since the Islamic revolution of 1979 even if they have battled to stay equal in daily life.

Her favourite pastime is still very much the preserve of men in Iran — made more complicated by the fact there is no parachuting club so she must do it with the Army.

“When they organise jumps, the Army invites

Iranian sky diver Bahareh Sassani prepares for a jump at the Hemat flight site in Tehran — AFP everyone, including civilians,” she explained. here were a handful of women parachutiT sts in pre-revolutionary Iran. But today, women are not permitted to join the Army.

The police has an elite unit that does some parachuting practice, but Sassani says she knows only five other qualified women from the civilian population.

Unlike her friends who chose to buy a car, clothes or jewellery with their first pay cheques or savings, Sassani said she opted instead to invest in parachuting, despite the adventurous sport being a male bastion in Iran.

At the start, her motivation for taking up skydiving was to combat a fear of heights, she said.

But now she loves the sense of liberation from everyday cares that it gives her, she added.

“Men often avoid women like me, thinking we aren’t made for marriage because we are uncontrollable,” she said, bursting into laughter.

“But a small number do show an interest in what I’m doing.”

— AFP

World

US secretary of state Rex Tillerson says European signatories to Iran nuclear deal are ‘expected’ to overhaul landmark accord THE ASIAN AGE

TODAY in HISTORY Today is Wednesday, January 24, the 24th day of 2018.

There are 341 days left in the year.

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The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV. Matthias Corvinus becomes king of Hungary.

Afonso Mendes, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.

King Charles II of England dissolves the Cavalier Parliament.

Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.

Crossing of the Andes: Many soldiers of Juan Gregorio de las Heras are captured during the Action of Picheuta.

The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first fully fledged university in South Asia.

Bucharest is proclaimed the capital of Romania.

The Gregorian calendar is introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People’s Commissars effective February 14 The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices.

World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.

The United Nations General Assembly passes its first resolution to establish the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission.

Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force launches Operation Coburg against the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong during wider fighting around Long Bình and Biên Hòa Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II. Atocha massacre occurs in Madrid during the Spanish transition to democracy.

Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada’s Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.

Apple Computer places the Macintosh personal computer on sale in the United States.

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WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

Saeed’s charity units to be taken over by govt: Abbasi SHAFQAT ALI ISLAMABAD, JAN. 23

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday said that Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed’s charity organisations will be taken over by the government in the near future.

Speaking to reporters here, Mr Abbasi said the government will not allow UN sanctioned organisations to operate in Pakistan.

The Prime Minister said that Pakistan was engaged in the war against terror for its own security and interests.

Earlier this month, PM Abbasi had said that Saeed was freed because there were no charges against him. Mr Abbasi said India or the US could charge him internationally if there was substance to the accusations against him.

Last week, the United States said that the JuD chief should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law as Washington regards him as a terrorist.

Heather Nauert, spokesperson for the US department of state said the US had made its points and concerns clear to the Pakistani government in this regard.

This month, Pakistani government banned com-

Kurd civilians being urged to fight against Turkey troops Beirut, Jan. 23: Syrian Kurdish leaders called on civilians on Tuesday to take up arms to defend the Afrin enclave against a Turkish assault now in its fourth day.

“We announce a general mobilisation and we invite... our people to defend Afrin,” the Kurdish enclave’s autonomous administration said in a statement.

Its spokesman Rezan Hedo told AFP: “It is an invitation for all Kurds in Syria to take up arms.”

He said the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed alliance dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), was “ready to receive all those who wish to defend Afrin and provide them with weapons”.

The statement called on the international community to assume its “moral responsiblity” and urged the UN Security Council to adopt “a firm and serious resolution preventing the Turkish government’s aggression on Afrin”.

Afrin is one of three autonomous cantons set up in areas under Kurdish control.

The other two — Euphrates and Jazira — are in the main contiguous area of Kurdish control further east. — AFP

Pakistani head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) organisation Hafiz Saeed speaks during a press conference in Lahore on Tuesday.

— AFP panies and individuals from making donations to JuD, Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation, and other organisations on the UNSC sanctions list.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan said all companies had been prohibited from “donating cash to the entities and individuals listed under the United Nations Security Council sanctions committee’s consolidated list.”

The White House has already warned that there would be repercussions unless Islamabad takes action to detain and charge Saeed.

Saeed was released last year after the Lahore High Court rejected the govern-

ment’s request seeking a further extension in his house arrest. The review board of the court said there was not sufficient evidence to keep the JuD chief under house arrest.

The JuD and four of his aides were detained in January 2017 after the government told a court they presented a threat to peace and security. The move was largely attributed to US pressure.

PM Abbasi gave no time frame for the completion of action against the JuDlinked charities.

The Premier said there can be no normalisation of relations between Pakistan and India without resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

To a question, he said

there was no question of dissolving the National Assembly prematurely under any pressure and general elections would be held in July this year.

The Prime Minister said people have given mandate to the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the assembly would not be dissolved even a second before the due time. He, however, said that he can give advice in this regard if asked by the party. He expressed the confidence that the ruling party would win 2018 elections on the basis of its performance.

He said the PML-N led government implemented its developmental agenda including initiation of numerous projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Mr Abbasi said there was continued engagement with the US including track two diplomacy. He said Pakistan had made it repeatedly clear that there is no room for do more. The Prime Minister said the Afghan conflict can be resolved through dialogue.

“If the United States is genuinely interested for peace in Afghanistan then it should provide assistance for repatriation of over three million Afghan refugees to their homeland,” he said.

Brussels, Jan. 23: A Belgian former nurse and Roman Catholic deacon confessed on the first day of his trial to killing up to 20 people in what he said was a bid to end their “suffering”, local reports said Tuesday.

The admission by Ivo Poppe, 61, who has been dubbed the “deacon of death” by Belgian media, is the first time he has publicly given an estimate of the number of his victims.

“Between 10 and 20 — 20 maximum. That’s approximate but it’s around that number,” Poppe told the court in the scenic northern town of Bruges under initial questioning by the judge on Monday, according to transcripts in Belgian newspapers.

“I wanted to end their suffering, these people weren’t really living any

A visitor walks by as a stone statue worn by earmuffs at Meigetsuin Zen temple in Kamakura, west of Tokyo, on Tuesday. Metropolitan areas encountered rare snowfall on Monday.

— AP

Thousands stranded, scores injured by snowfall in Tokyo Tokyo, Jan. 23: A rare heavy blanket of snow in Tokyo on Tuesday left thousands of travellers stranded and scores injured, as frozen conditions snarled public transport in the Japanese capital.

Japan’s weather agency recorded as much as 23 centimetres (9.2 inches) of snow in some parts of Tokyo, the biggest snowfall since February 2014.

The weather paralysed Monday evening’s commute as millions of workers battled to get home in one of the world’s most populous cities.

◗ Japan’s weather agency recorded as much as 23 centimetres (9.2 inches) of snow in some parts of Tokyo, the biggest snowfall since February 2014 Notoriously hard-working Japanese employees were urged to knock off early but this did not prevent delays and crushes at major stations.

Public broadcaster NHK said at least 180 people had sustained minor injuries on the frozen

streets and there had been around 700 traffic accidents, police said.

Cars became trapped in a tunnel, sparking a 10kilometre (6.2 mile)-long tailback from Monday evening through early Tuesday morning, broadcasters said.

And for the second day running, dozens of domestic and international flights departing from and arriving at the Japanese capital were scrapped due to the snow, with more than 9,000 people stranded overnight at Narita airport, officials said. — AFP

Puigdemont vows We are completely ready to welcome Rohingyas, says Myanmar to form new govt, Bangla blamed on Rohingya return Rohingya plight worse: Mattis escapes EU arrest ■

Copenhagen, Jan. 23: Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont on Monday vowed to form a new government despite “threats” from the central government in Madrid, as a Spanish judge refused to re-issue a European warrant for his arrest.

“We will not surrender to authoritarianism despite Madrid’s threats,” he said during a debate on Catalonia at the University of Copenhagen.

“Soon we will form a new government... it’s time to end their oppression and find a political solution for Catalonia,” the 55-year-old politician added.

Mr Puigdemont’s comments came hours after the speaker of the Catalan parliament proposed him as president of Catalonia following a snap election in December in which separatist parties once again won an absolute majority, in a major blow to the central government in Madrid.

Roger Torrent said Puigdemont’s candidacy to once again head Catalonia’s regional government is “absolutely legitimate”, even though the secessionist leader faces criminal proceedings in Spain.

The parliamentary vote to choose a new Catalan leader is now due to take

Soon we will form a new government... it’s time to end their (Spain’s) oppression and find a political solution for Catalonia — Carles Puigdemont, Catalan leader place by the end of January.

No arrest warrant Mr Puigdemont wants to be sworn in from Belgium, where he went late October to avoid arrest after the Catalan parliament declared unilateral independence, sending shockwaves across an EU already shaken by Britain’s vote to leave.

Madrid sacked Mr Puigdemont and his entire government, and it dissolved the parliament following the declaration.

Charged with rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds, Puigdemont now faces arrest if he returns to Spain over his role in the independence drive.

— AFP

Yangon, Jan. 23: Myanmar blamed Bangladesh on Tuesday for delays to a huge repatriation programme for Rohingya refugees, as the deadline passed for starting the return of the Muslim minority to strife-torn Rakhine state.

Myanmar agreed that from January 23 it would start taking them back from the squalid camps in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh where they have sought shelter. But a Bangladeshi official said on Monday the pro-

Ivo Poppe more.”

The married father-ofthree expressed regret for the way he carried out the killings, saying: “If it was now, I would call a palliative care team.”

Poppe either gave his victims the tranquiliser valium or injected air into their veins to cause a fatal embolism.

Most of the victims were elderly people suffering from physical or psychological ailments at a clinic

◗ Poppe either gave his victims the tranquiliser valium or injected air into their veins to cause a fatal embolism. Most of the victims were elderly people suffering from physical or psychological ailments in Menin, a town near the French border. He worked there in the 1980s and 1990s but continued to act as a pastoral visitor until 2011 after he was ordained as a deacon.

During an initial investigation he told police his victims also included his own mother, his stepfather and two uncles.

He was first arrested in 2014 after authorities were told that he had confided in his psychiatrist that he

Jakarta: US defence secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday that the plight of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar was even worse than media portrayals.

“This is a tragedy that’s worse than anything that CNN or BBC has been able to portray about what has

happened to these people,” Mr Mattis said, speaking to reporters during a trip to Indonesia.

“And the US has been engaged vigorously in the diplomatic realm trying to resolve this, engaged with humanitarian aid.”

— Reuters

gramme would not begin as planned.

Myanmar officials said that by Tuesday afternoon no Rohingya had crossed

back into Rakhine, the scene of alleged widespread atrocities by Myanmar’s army and ethnic Rakhine mobs.

Merkel touches ‘Royal Craziness’

German Chancellor Angela Merkel touches a marionette of the ‘Royal Craziness’ of North-Rhine Westphalia during a reception of the ‘royal couples’ of the federal German states during the carnival reception at the Chancellery in Berlin on Tuesday.

— AFP

Victims were mostly elderly people with physical or psychological ailments Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, with over 30 known victims, is executed by the electric chair at the Florida State Prison Japan launches Hiten, the country’s first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than Soviet Union or the United States.

The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.

Cyclone Klaus makes landfall near Bordeaux, France, causing 26 deaths and public disruption.

9

■ ‘Govt will not allow banned organisation to operate in Pak’

Belgian ‘deacon of death’ admits 20 killings 1989

PAGE

had “euthanised dozens of people”.

The bearded, bespectacled Poppe, who appeared in court wearing a chunky cardigan and open-necked shirt, explained the context of his comments to the psychiatrist, whom he consulted on the advice of his wife.

“I wanted someone to help me with my nightmares, I really needed therapy. That’s why I talked about dozens of cases, it was deliberately exaggerated,” Poppe told the court.

The trial is scheduled to last two weeks. Poppe faces life in jail if convicted.

Belgium legalised euthanasia for adults in 2002 — after the period when most of Poppe’s alleged killings took place - although it has to be carried out under strictly controlled conditions. — AFP

‘Finsbury attacker wanted to kill as many as possible’ London, Jan. 23: A British man “obsessed” with Muslims deliberately drove into a group outside a mosque in an act of terrorism intended to kill as many as possible, a court heard on Monday.

Darren Osborne is accused of murdering 51year-old Makram Ali and trying to kill others in the Finsbury Park area of north London on June 19 last year, after growing angry at recent terror attacks and child sexual exploitation scandals involving gangs of mainly Muslim men.

Osborne, 48, from the Welsh capital Cardiff, denies the charges.

Opening the case against him in his trial at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London, prosecutor Jonathan Rees said he deliberately drove a van at a group of Muslims who had been

Darren Osborne attending Ramadan prayers at local mosques.

Rees said Osborne was trying to kill “as many of the group as possible”.

Osborne had been living with his partner Sarah Andrews and their four children in Cardiff, said Rees.

Andrews said Osborne has an “unpredictable temperament”, is a “loner and a functioning alcoholic” and suffers from depression, the prosecutor told the court.

— AFP

“We are right now ready to receive... we are completely ready to welcome them according to the agreement,” Kyaw Tin, minister of international cooperation told reporters in Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s capital.

“We have seen the news that the Bangladesh side is not ready, but we have not received any official” explanation, he added.

National security advisor Thaung Tun said “it is our hope that this will commence today as agreed.”

— AFP

Louvre Abu Dhabi changes Gulf map that omitted Qatar Abu Dhabi, Jan. 23: The Louvre Abu Dhabi said on Tuesday it has replaced a map of the Arabian Peninsula that omitted Qatar, embroiled in a months-long diplomatic dispute with its Gulf neighbours.

The museum said the map was an “oversight” that had been rectified.

The map, one of several aiming at placing exhibits in their geographical context, was located in the children’s section of the museum.

The error was pointed out on January 19 by Qatar’s museums head, Al Mayassa Al-Thani, who retweeted a picture of the map showing Bahrain and the Gulf coast with blank sea in the place of Qatar.

“Although the notion of museums is a new one to Abu Dhabi, surely the @MuseeLouvre is not okay with this?” she wrote.

The following day, Emirati foreign minister Anwar Gargash said he had been “mystified” by Al-Thani’s tweet, which “blew a slight oversight out of proportion”.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi was inaugurated with great pomp in November

by French President Emmanuel Macron and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

It was marketed as “a universal museum” celebrating cultural exchange and tolerance.

The UAE and Qatar have long had sour relations, but they worsened last year when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Doha, including land, sea and air links.

— AFP

World

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to attend World Economic Forum from today THE ASIAN AGE

If I overstay and try to become a dictator, shoot me, I am not joking — Rodrigo Duterte, Philippine President to the Army and police

IN

BRIEF

More proof against Sharif sought Islamabad: Pakistan’s antigraft court on Tuesday ordered accountability bureau to present more witnesses against ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the corruption cases spiralling from the Panama Papers scandal. This comes a day after the National Accountability Bureau filed a supplementary case against the three-time prime minister and his family over properties in London.

US asks Pak to expel Taliban men Washington: The US has asked Pakistan to immediately arrest or expel Taliban leaders who are carrying out terror attacks across the border in Afghanistan, days after the militant group attacked a landmark hotel in Kabul that left 22 people dead. The terse White House statement came after the Taliban claimed responsibility for a major terror attack at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul on Sunday.

Prime suspect held in Zainab rape case Lahore: A 23-year-old neighbour of seven-year-old Zainab, who was raped before being murdered in Kasur city in Pakistan’s Punjab province, has been arrested in the high-profile rape and murder case.

Police sources confirmed suspect Imran Ali, a neighbour of Zainab, had confessed to his crime before an investigation team.

Imran was familiar with Zainab’s family and would also frequent the minor girl’s house, police sources said.

Swedish bookseller abducted in China Hong Kong: Rights campaigners slammed as “appalling” on Tuesday reports that dissident publisher Gui Minhai has been snatched again in mainland China, the latest person ensnared in Beijing’s crackdown on civil society.

Civil rights have come under increasing pressure since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, with widespread arrests of lawyers and activists. Gui, a Swedish citizen, was one of five Hong Kong-based booksellers, known for salacious titles about the lives of China’s political elite, who went missing in 2015 and resurfaced in detention on the mainland.

SOUTH JAILS EX-CULTURE MINISTER Seoul, Jan. 23: A South Korean appeals court on Tuesday jailed former culture minister Cho Yoon-Sun for two years for her role in drawing up a blacklist of 10,000 artists seen as critical of ousted President Park Geun-Hye’s government. Cho had initially been acquitted in July and given only a suspended sentence on a minor related charge, prompting prosecutors to appeal. The higher court in Seoul also extended the prison term of Park’s exchief of staff Kim Ki-choon from three years to four.

Before becoming the culture minister in 2016, Cho was a policy adviser to Park, and the court said it was “reasonable” to believe she had collaborated in “attempts to stop state supports for certain artists”.

Cho, who had been on bail, was immediately arrested in the courtroom. The blacklist, whose existence emerged in 2016, was aimed at starving artists of state subsidies and private funding and placing them under state surveillance.

Many had voiced support for opposition parties, or had criticised Park and her policies or her late dictator father, Park Chung Hee. — AFP

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WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

Trump signs funding Unless India, Pak agree, no mediation on Valley: UN Bill, ends shutdown ■ Stop-gap funding passed in both Senate, House by large margins Washington, Jan. 23: Claiming a “big win”, President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a Bill to end a three-day government shutdown after striking a deal with Democrats to hold a debate on the future of over 7,00,000 young undocumented immigrants.

Mr Trump signed a Bill into law after the House of Representatives voted 266 to 150 to extend federal funding for another three weeks.

Senate Democrats dropped their Opposition to the plan after receiving a commitment from the ruling Republicans toward securing the fate of hundreds of thousands of so-called “Dreamers” illegally brought to America as children.

The stop-gap funding, passed both the Senate and House by large margins on Tuesday.

The spending Bill passed the Senate by 81-18.

The measure funds the government till February 8, before which the Democrats and Republicans need to agree to a longterm solution to the government funding and on

EU TAKES PANAMA, 7 OTHERS OFF TAX HAVEN BLACKLIST Brussels, Jan. 23: The EU removed eight countries including Panama from its new tax haven blacklist on Tuesday after they pledged to address its concerns, in a move swiftly condemned by activists.

The United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Mongolia, Macau, Grenada and Barbados were also lifted from the list by finance ministers, in a move that comes just weeks after the bloc unveiled its original list of 17 non-EU nations.

The decision drew criticism from campaigners including Oxfam who say the EU’s commitment to tackle tax avoidance after the “Panama Papers” leak last year has now been watered down.

— PTI

Actor Ali Larter raises her fist while speaking at a rally held by Planned Parenthood, commemorating the 45th anniversary of Roe V. Wade at the Capitol on Tuesday. The 1973 landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court affirmed a woman’s right to have an abortion.

— AP issues related to illegal immigration.

Claiming victory in his standoff with Democrats, Mr Trump signed the measure into law and government operations would return to normal on

Shutdown,” he tweeted.

He said he will make a long-term deal on immigration only if it is good for the country and will work towards solving the problem, once the government is funded.

— AFP

UK Army Chief warns of major Russia cyber-attack London, Jan. 23: Former defence secretary Michael Fallon joined calls on Tuesday for more British military spending, as the head of the Army said the country may struggle to match Russian battlefield capabilities and another security chief warned a major cyber-attack on the UK is likely by 2020.

Fallon, speaking at the Defence and Security Forum in his first speech since resigning from the Cabinet over a sexual harassment scandal in November, argued for a one billion (EUR1.14, $1.4 billion) increase in defence funding this year, and raising annual GDP spending on it to 2.5 per cent.

This would give the military an additional 7.7 bil-

Amputee banned from Everest slams Nepal govt Kathmandu, Jan. 23: A former Gurkha soldier who lost both his legs in Afghanistan hit out Tuesday at new rules by the Nepal government that ban double amputees from climbing its mountains, dashing his Everest dreams.

Hari Budha Magar, 38, had been training hard in hopes of becoming the first above-the-knee double amputee to scale Mount Everest until his plans were scuppered by the law introduced in December.

The rules ban double amputee and blind climbers, a move that has drawn criticism from disability rights groups around the world.

Magar slammed the new rules as “unfair” and “discriminatory”.

“I agree that the government needs to bring rules to minimise risks but such ban is not the answer,” he told AFP. Magar lost his legs after he was hit by an improvised explosive device while serving with the Brigade of Gurkhas — a unit of Nepalis recruited into the British army — in Afghanistan in 2010.

His legs were amputated above the knee and he had to learn how to walk using prosthetics.

Mr Magar wears specially designed crampons attached to shortened prosthetics to climb, and has success-

Tuesday.

Thousands of federal employees who had been placed on temporary, unpaid leave since Saturday breathed a sigh of relief.

“Big win for Republicans as Democrats cave on

■ CHIEF OF the General Staff Nick Carter said in a rare public speech that Russia poses the “most complex and capable” security challenge. lion each year, he said, amid a reported 20 billion black hole in the budget for the next decade.

Noting the deficit was falling and spending is on the rise in other priority areas, Fallon said, “So let’s release an extra one billion to fire up the defence budget this year, and set 2.5 per cent of GDP as our new target for the end of the Parliament.”

The suggestion came

shortly after Chief of the General Staff Nick Carter said in a rare public speech that Russia poses the “most complex and capable” security challenge since the end of the Cold War, and warned against complacency.

Making a high-profile intervention in the growing debate over military spending, he told an audience at the RUSI military think tank in London that “we cannot afford to sit back” in the face of Russian military strength.

The Army chief detailed Moscow’s growing military capabilities, which he illustrated with a Russian-language video he described as “information warfare at its best”.

— AFP

United Nations, Jan. 23: UN chief Antonio Guterres has ruled out any mediation to resolve the Kashmir issue unless all parties agree to it and asked India and Pakistan to address their outstanding issues through talks amidst heightened tensions along the border.

The UN Secretary-General’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that in principle good offices of the UN chief are always available for mediation, but everyone needs to agree on involving the world body.

Asked about escalating tensions between India

■ THE RELATIONS between India and Pakistan are strained following series of attacks by Pakistan-based terror groups and incidents of ceasefire violations.

■ INDIA IS opposed to any third-party intervention in resolving the Kashmir issue while Pakistan has continuously sought mediation to sort out the differences. and Pakistan due to the ongoing skirmishes and firing along the border, Dujarric said, “We’re obviously aware. We’re following this what’s been going on, really for the last 10 days.”

Asked why the

Secretary-General is not so keen to involve himself in this crisis, Dujarric said, “In principle good offices of Guterres are always available for mediation, but everyone needs to agree on involving the UN.” — PTI

7.9 QUAKE HITS ALASKA, NO TSUNAMI ALERT

Mueller team grills Sessions for hours

Anchorage (Alaska), Jan. 23: A 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck off Alaska’s Kodiak Island early on Tuesday, prompting a tsunami warning for a large swath of the state’s coast and sending some residents fleeing to higher ground.

Officials at the National Tsunami Center cancelled the warning after a few tense hours after waves failed to show up in coastal Alaska communities.

Alaska’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said there have been no reports of damage, so far. The strong earthquake hit at 12.30 a.m. (local time) and was recorded about 170 miles southeast of Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska.

Kodiak Island is located about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, which was not under a tsunami threat.

Reports varied about how long the shaking lasted. In the popular cruise ship town of Seward, about 230 miles northeast of Kodiak Island, fire chief Eddie Athey said the quake felt like a gentle rattle and lasted for up to 90 seconds.

“It went on long enough that you start thinking to yourself, ‘Boy, I hope this stops soon because it’s just getting worse,’” Athey said. — PTI

Washington, Jan. 23: Attorney General Jeff Sessions was interviewed for hours last week in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, the Justice Department confirmed on Tuesday.

The interview comes as Mueller is investigating whether President Donald Trump’s actions in office, including the firing of FBI Director James Comey, constituted obstruction of justice. Mueller is also investigating contacts between Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.

Sessions is thought to be the highestranking Trump administration official to be interviewed by Mueller’s team.

He is seen as a potentially important witness given that Mr Trump initially said he fired Comey last May at the recommendation of the Justice Department.

At the time, the White

VOLCANO ERUPTS IN JAPAN

Jeff Sessions House released a memo from Sessions’ deputy, Rod Rosenstein, faulting Comey for his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation and appearing to lay the groundwork for his dismissal.

Mr Trump has since said he was thinking of “the Russia thing” when he fired Comey.

Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation in early March after acknowledging that he had had two previously undisclosed encounters with the Russian ambassador during Mr Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. — AFP

Indians’ morning texts fill up Internet Silicon Valley, Jan. 23: Researchers at tech giant Google in Silicon Valley were trying to find out why smartphones were freezing up half a world away. One in three smartphone users in India were running out of space on their phones daily, according to Wall Street Journal.

The answer to the problem was “Good Morning!”

The glitch, Google found, was an abundance of cheery messages.

Indians, getting online for the first time, were beginning the day by sending greetings from their phones.

Starting before sunrise

and reaching a crescendo before 8 am, internet newbies posted millions of good-morning.

All that good cheer is driving a 10-fold increase in the number of Google searches for “Good Morning images” over the past five years.

Pinterest added a new section to display images with quotes. It saw a ninefold rise over the past year in Indians downloading such pictures.

Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service market—added a status message last year so users could say good morning to all of their contacts at once.

— Agencies

1 DEAD, SEVERAL INJURED IN KENTUCKY SCHOOL SHOOTING

Hari Budha Magar fully summited Nepal’s Mera Peak as well as the highest peak in the Alps, Mont Blanc.

The father of three, who wears shorts regardless of the weather to show off his titanium legs, was on a training expedition in remote central Nepal when he heard about the ban.

“I had heard rumours but didn’t think it would happen. I was very surprised and shocked,” he said.

Mr Magar grew up in the foothills of the Himalayas in western Nepal and describes summiting Everest as a childhood dream.

He has been lobbying the Nepal government to have the ban overturned and is confident he will succeed, paving the way for him to attempt Everest in 2019.

— AFP

Fire trucks and ambulances are parked at a ski resort in Kusatsu, Central Japan, after Mount Kusatsu-Shirane erupted on Tuesday. A Japanese soldier was killed, sparking an avalanche that left several injured and scores stranded up a mountain, officials said.

— AP

EGYPT’S MILITARY ARRESTS PREZ HOPEFUL EX-GENERAL Cairo, Jan. 23: Egypt's military on Tuesday arrested its former chief of staff, who was planning to run in upcoming elections against President Abdel-Fattah elSissi, accusing him of inciting against the armed forces and forgery, in what appeared to be a calculated move to push him out of the race.

With his bid to run now all but dead, Sami Annan becomes the latest in a string of potential competitors to el-Sissi who have dropped out or have been driven out. El-Sissi, a former head of the military, is considered virtually certain to win re-election in the March 26-28 vote.

A security official with

first-hand knowledge of the Annan affair said the exgeneral was arrested by the military simultaneously with the release to the official media of an armed forces' statement listing the allegations facing him.

The statement said Annan would be questioned on charges of forging documents relevant to the formal end of his active service, breaching army regulations by declaring his intention to run without first clearing it with the military and inciting against the armed forces in his comments to the nation when he declared his intention to run for president earlier this month.

— AP

Kentucky, Jan. 23: A suspect was in custody on Tuesday after a shooting at a high school in western Kentucky left one person dead and multiple others wounded, Governor Matt Bevin and state police said in posts on Twitter.

Kentucky State Police said on Twitter that more details would be available soon about the shooting at Marshall County High

School in Benton, about 130 miles (210 km) northwest of Nashville, Tennessee. “The scene is secured, (and) the suspect is in custody,” police said.

A Marshall County sheriff ’s deputy took the shooter into custody, Sergeant Josh Lawson, a state police spokesman, said by phone. He had no further details about the shooter or the extent of the injuries. — Reuters

Britain sets up security unit to fight fake news London, Jan. 23: Britain announced on Tuesday that it was setting up a new national security unit to combat “disinformation”, just weeks after Prime Minister Theresa May accused Russia of using fake news to undermine Western institutions.

“We are living in an era of fake news and competing narratives,” the prime minister’s spokesman said.

“The government will respond with more and better use of national security communications to tackle these intercon-

nected, complex challenges.”

The new National Security Communications Unit was approved at a meeting of the National Security Council, which comprises ministers and senior security officials.

“This will be tasked with combating disinformation by state actors and others,” the spokesman said.

“It will more systematically deter our adversaries and help us deliver on national security priorities.”

In a speech in November, the prime minister

accused Russia of mounting a “sustained campaign of cyber espionage and disruption”, including meddling in elections.

“It is seeking to weaponise information, deploying its state-run media organisations to plant fake stories and photo-shopped images in an attempt to sow discord in the West and undermine our institutions,” she said. She warned: “You will not succeed... The UK will do what is necessary to protect ourselves, and work with our allies to do likewise.”

— AFP

Science+Health 11

Chinese ‘rainbow dinosaur’ had iridescent feathers like hummingbirds

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THE ASIAN AGE

IN

BRIEF

Cause of mystery polio-like illness found Melbourne, Jan. 23: A virus called Enterovirus D68 may be the cause of a mysterious polio-like illness that has paralysed children in the US, Canada and Europe, scientists say.

Researchers at University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia analysed the scientific literature on the condition known as acute flaccid myelitis. “In 2014, children in the US began to be diagnosed with a mystery illness that caused a polio-like paralysis,” said Professor Raina MacIntyre of UNSW. “More than 120 children developed the condition, known as acute flaccid myelitis, in the US alone but experts were baffled as to the cause,” said MacIntyre, who led the study published in the journal Eurosurveillance.

That same year there were also unusually large outbreaks of infection with Enterovirus D68, or EV-D68 - a virus known since the early 1960s to cause runny noses, coughs, muscle aches, fever and difficulty breathing.

About 2,280 people in the US, Canada and Europe were infected with the virus, many of them children, and their respiratory symptoms were more severe than usual, researchers said.

Clusters of the paralysing illness, also mostly in children, were reported in the same regions, they said.

“This raised th possibility of a link between EV-D68 and acute flaccid myelitis.

However, the virus had never been known to cause paralysis before,” said MacIntyre.

The team applied the Bradfield Hill criteria - a set of nine principles developed to determine causality.—PTI

Earth’s heat loss causing ice sheet to slide towards sea ■ Researchers from the Aarhus University in Denmark and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources showed for the first time that the deep bottom water of the northeastern Greenland fjords is being warmed up by heat lost from the Earth’s interior. This heat loss triggers the sliding of glaciers.

‘Surgeon creating bionic vaginas’ Sushi-lover pulls out 5-ft tapeworm from body A California man who regularly used to eat salmon sashimi now swears to lay off raw fish after pulling a tapeworm out of his body that was nearly as long as he was tall.

According to emergency room doctor Kenny Banh, the incident which happened two months ago while he was working in an emergency room in Fresno.

A young man came in, saying he had bloody diarrhea and wanted to be treated for worms.

The doctor was initially somewhat skeptical that the man actually had worms, but his curiosity was piqued when he saw a small plastic bag next to the patient.

On asking the patient what it was he said it was the worm The story, which originally appeared in The HuffPost, saw Banh saying, “I open it up and I take out a toilet paper roll ... and wrapped around it is of course this giant, long, what looks like a flat tapeworm.”

The patient reported that he had abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea before seeing part of the worm hanging out of his body while on the toilet, Banh said. He started pulling on the long, stringy item until it was all the way out.

The patient was actually relieved that it was a tapeworm and not his organs spilling out of his body. But he was understandably curious about where the worm came from.

The doctor went on to question the man about possible risk factors and the man said he loved sushi and consumed raw salmon almost every day.

WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

A surgeon has revealed he is creating a bionic vagina made from the intestine of a pig. The artificial organ was developed with the animal’s tissue alongside a patient’s own stem cells.

The groundbreaking project is being led by Alexander Seifalian, who constructed the first synthetic trachea to be transplanted into a patient.

The move could transform lives of women with disorders such a vaginal artesia, where the vagina is abnormally closed or absent or Mayer–Rokitansky–KüsterHauser (MRKH) syndrome, in which the vagina does not fully develop.

The treatment could also be applied to patients with vaginal cancer or injuries.

Professor Seifalian is carrying out the work at L o n d o n - b a s e d NanoRegMed, which is one of several labs around the world working on the futuristic idea of growing custom-made organs in the lab.

The expert in nanotechnology and regenerative revealed he has produced a scaffold in the shape of a vagina, Daily Star Online has reported.

Seifalian extracted muscle and cells from a patient and joined them with the pig intestine, by feeding them nutrients that allowed the cells to grow and merge together.

The next step in the process will be to transplant the vagina scaffold into a human However, the surgeon admits that the scheme is at an ‘experimental’ stage – and he said it could take up to five years to be used in patients. His work follows on from that of Dr Anthony Atala in the US whose team successfully grew vaginas in a laboratory and implanted them into four teenage patients between 2005 and 2008 who did not have their own developed vaginas.

— Agencies

London, Jan 23: Heat lost from the Earth’s interior is causing glaciers to slide from Greenland’s ice sheet towards the sea, a study has found.

Researchers from the Aarhus University in Denmark and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources showed for the first time that the deep bottom water of the north-eastern Greenland fjords is being warmed up by heat gradually lost from the Earth’s interior.

This heat loss triggers the sliding of glaciers from the ice sheet towards the sea.

“North-East Greenland has several hot springs where the water becomes up to 60 degree warm and, like Iceland, the

◗ Researchers have estimated that the loss of heat from the Earth’s interior to the fjord is about 100 megawatt per square metre ◗ This corresponds to a two megawatt wind turbine sending electricity to a large heater at the bottom of the fjord all year round area has abundant underground geothermal activity,” said Soren Rysgaard, who headed the study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

For more than ten

years, researchers have measured the temperature and salinity in the fjord Young Sound, located at Daneborg, north of Scoresbysund, which has many hot springs, and south of the glacier Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden, which melts rapidly and is connected to the North-East Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS).

By focusing on an isolated basin in the fjord with a depth range between 200 and 340 m, the researchers have measured how the deep water is heated over a ten-year period.

Based on the extensive data, researchers have estimated that the loss of heat from the Earth’s interior to the fjord is about 100 megawatt per

square metre.

This corresponds to a two megawatt wind turbine sending electricity to a large heater at the bottom of the fjord all year round.

It is not easy to measure the geothermal heat flux heat emanating from the Earth’s interior - below a glacier, but within the area there are several large glaciers connected directly to the ice sheet.

If the Earth releases heat to a fjord, heat also seeps up to the bottom part of the glaciers. This means that the glaciers melt from below and thus slide more easily over the terrain on which they sit when moving to the sea.

“It is a combination of higher temperatures in the air and the sea, precipitation from above, local dynamics of the ice sheet and heat loss from the Earth’s interior that determines the mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet,” said Rysgaard.

“There is no doubt that the heat from the Earth’s interior affects the movement of the ice, and we expect that a similar heat seepage btakes place below a major part of the ice cap in the north-eastern corner of Greenland,” he said.

The researchers expect that the new discoveries will improve the models of ice sheet dynamics, allowing better predictions of the stability of the Greenland ice sheet, its melting and the resulting global water rise —PTI

Moss that can remove lead from water identified Tokyo, Jan. 23: Scientists have identified a type of moss that can efficiently absorb a large amount of lead, providing a green alternative for decontaminating polluted water and soil.

Lead-contaminated water is a serious environmental concern that has recently proved to be disastrous when left untreated.

Compounding the problem, the typical way to remove lead or other heavy metals from water requires fossil fuels and a tremendous amount of energy.

As an alternative to these typical processes, phytoremediation is a method that uses photosynthesising organisms to clean up soil or water contamination.

Researchers from RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan began their search for a phytoremediation-based removal method by looking at F hygrometrica, a

◗ Researchers in Japan began their search for a phytoremediationbased removal method by looking at F hygrometrica, a moss that is known to grow well in sites contaminated with metals like copper, zinc, and lead moss that is known to grow well in sites contaminated with metals like copper, zinc, and lead.

“We found that the moss can function as an excellent lead absorbent when in the protonema stage of development,” said Misao Itouga, first author of the study published in the journal PLOS One. “This valuable ability means that moss protonema will likely make exceptional wastewater

MUM’S DESIRE TO DONATE BABY ORGANS UNFULFILLED A woman decided to donate her unborn child’s organs to help others was devastated when she was told that her stillborn daughter was too small to save lives.

Little Ava-Joy had bilateral renal agenesis, a condition in which the kidneys do not form and her parents were told at the five month scan that she would be stillborn.

However, 30-year-old Hayley Martin decided to continue with her pregnancy when she found out her baby was stillborn in order to help save the lives of other children.

Hayley and her husband Scott had planned to donate Ava’s heart tissue to another ill child but, sadly, have now revealed that Ava was born too small to be able to donate her organs.

The couple told the Daily Mail that Ava was born just marginally under-

◗ Despite the sadness, Ava was born on and lived for 96 minutes, crying, wriggling and gripping her mother’s finger weight for her organs to be retrieved.

Speaking to The Daily Mail, Hayley said that they were devastated when they found out that she was just 55g underweight, same weight as a packet of crisps.

Despite the sadness, Ava was born on January 8 and lived for 96 minutes, crying, wriggling and gripping her mother’s finger.

Hayley and Scott are also setting up a charity in Ava’s name to provide support for women who choose to continue with their pregnancies when they know their baby will die.

— Agencies

cleaners in mining and chemical industries,” Itouga said.

To characterise the metal-absorbing ability of the moss, the team first prepared solutions with varying concentrations of 15 different metals and exposed them to F hygrometrica protonema.

After 22 hours of exposure, mass-spectrometer analysis showed that the moss cells had absorbed lead up to 74 per cent of their dry weight, which is quite high and much

higher than any of the other metals.

Knowing where the lead accumulates is important for understanding how it occurs and for developing the most efficient phytoremediation.

Analysis showed that within the moss protonema cells, more that 85 per cent of the lead had accumulated in the cell walls, with smaller amounts being found in organelle membranes and inside the chloroplasts where photosynthesis occurs.

Smartphone use may make teenagers unhappy, finds study Washington, Jan. 23: Teenagers who are habitually glued to their smartphones are more likely to be unhappier than their peers, a study has found.

Researchers from the University of Georgia in the US, analysed data from a survey of over a million US teens.

The survey asked students questions about how often they spent time on their phones, tablets and computers, as well as questions about their in-theflesh social interactions and their overall happiness.

On average, they found that teens who spent more time in front of screen devices playing computer games, using social media, texting and video chatting - were less happy than those who invested more time in non-screen activities like sports, reading newspapers and magazines, and face-to-face social interaction.

Researchers believe this screen time is driving unhappiness rather than the other way around.

“Although this study can’t show causation, several other studies have shown that more social media use leads to unhappiness, but unhappiness does not lead to more social media use,” said Jean M Twenge, professor at San Diego State University in the US. Total screen abstinence does not lead to happiness either, Twenge found. The happiest teens used digital media a little less than an hour per day.

However after a daily hour of screen time, unhappiness rises steadily along with increasing screen time, according to the study published in the journal Emotion.

“The key to digital media use and happiness is limited use,” Twenge said.

“Aim to spend no more than two hours a day on digital media, and try to increase the amount of time you

NOT SO SMART ◗ Teens who spent more time in front of screen devices playing computer games, using social media, texting and video chatting were less happy than those who invested more time in non-screen activities like sports, reading newspapers and magazines, and face-to-face social interaction.

Researchers believe this screen time is driving unhappiness rather than the other way Researchers from the University of Georgia in the US, analysed data from a survey of over a million US teens. spend seeing friends face-to-face and exercising - two activities reliably linked to greater happiness,” he said.

Looking at historical trends from the same age groups since the 1990s, researchers found that the proliferation of screen devices over time coincided with a general drop-off in reported happiness in US teens.

Specifically, young people’s life satisfaction, self- esteem and happiness plummeted after 2012.

That is the year that the percentage of Americans who owned a smartphone rose above 50 per cent, Twenge said.

“By far the largest change in teens’ lives between 2012 and 2016 was the increase in the amount of time they spent on digital media, and the subsequent decline in in-person social activities and sleep,” she said.

“The advent of the smartphone is the most plausible explanation for the sudden decrease in teens’ psychological well-being,” she added.

— PTI

New artificial intelligence system can predict corruption in govt London, Jan. 23: Scientists have developed a new artificial intelligence system that can predict the likelihood of corruption in a government.

The computer model based on neural networks developed by researchers from the University of Valladolid in Spain predicts provinces in which cases of corruption are more likely to appear, as well as the conditions that favour their appearance.

The system also confirms that the probabilities increase when the same party stays in government more number of years.

The study, published in the journal Social Indicators Research, does not mention the provinces most prone to

corruption so as not to generate controversy.

Researchers explained that “a greater propensity or high probability does not imply corruption will actually happen.”

The data indicates that real estate tax, exaggerated increase in the price of housing, opening of bank branches and the creation of new compa-

nies are some of the variables that seem to induce public corruption, and when they are added together in a region, it should be taken into account to carry out a more rigorous control of the public accounts.

“In addition, as might be expected, our model confirms that the increase in the number of years in the government

of the same political party increases the chances of corruption, regardless of whether or not the party governs with majority,” said Ivan Pastor, from University of Valladolid.

To carry out the study, researchers relied on all cases of corruption that appeared in Spain between 2000 and 2012.

The collection and analysis of all this information has been done with neural networks, which show the most predictive factors of corruption.

Researchers hope that the study will contribute to better direct efforts to end corruption, focusing the efforts on those areas with the greatest propensity to appear, as well as continuing to move forward to apply their model internationally.

—PTI

Newsmakers 12

Michelle Keegan says she is obsessed with Bella Hadid and she is her ‘style crush’

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THE ASIAN AGE

Are we interested in having a Bond character other than being a male?

Decades after Mickey, Minnie gets her star

■ Movie nominated for best picture, director, actress

Singer Katy Perry with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse during a star ceremony in celebration of the 90th anniversary of Disney’s Minnie Mouse at the Hollywood Walk of Fame in California on Monday.

— AFP

Los Angeles: Fantasy romance The Shape of Water topped the Oscars nominations list on Tuesday with 13 nods, as the Academy also gave a rare nomination to a woman in the directing category.

Guillermo del Toro’s Cold War-set fairy tale scored nods for best picture, best director, best actress for its star Sally Hawkins, and supporting acting nominations for Richard Jenkins and Octavia Spencer.

It was also nominated for best original screenplay, with the rest of its nods coming in technical categories.

The haul fell one short of the record for most nominations ever, held jointly by La La Land, Titanic and All About Eve. “This nomination is for every one of us who brought our hearts to this film,” Hawkins said in a statement retweeted by the movie’s official Twitter account. “I’m here because of the greatness of others. I stand on the shoulders of giants.”

In second place was tense

–– Idris Elba Actor

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Portman to host SNL in February Los Angeles: Actor Natalie Portman will be hosting the February 3 episode of Saturday Night Live. The actor will be returning to the show as host after almost a decade. Portman made her hosting debut in 2006; since then she has won a best actress Oscar for Black Swan and made her directorial debut with A Tale of Love and Darkness. The actor has been in the headlines lately for her activism with the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. She recently called out the Golden Globes’ allmale director nominees seconds before presenting the category winner, and at the one-year anniversary of Women’s March, she recounted the time she experienced alleged “sexual terrorism” at age 13. — PTI

Redmayne praises women-centric films London: Actor Eddie Redmayne has hailed the number of female-centric movies in the awards race this year. The actor said a “sea of change” is happening in the film industry following the Harvey Weinstein scandal, reported Contactmusic. “I think all of the conversations that are happening in our industry and across all industries at the moment are beyond important. I hope there is a sea change. “But I think the success of femaledirected, female-led films the top three films of the year have had women in the lead roles - that is testament to the fact it is no longer an excuse,” he said. — PTI

Hudson’s idol is mom Goldie Hawn Los Angeles: Actor Kate Hudson says her mother, veteran Hollywood star Goldie Hawn, is her role model. The Fool’s Gold actor - who has two sons, Ryder, 14, from her marriage to Chris Robinson, and seven-year-old Bingham with ex-fiance Matt Bellamy, credits Hawn for the way she raises her own children. “It’s challenging because it is that plentiful. I feel lucky and blessed that I have a role model that I can call mom. I think that compassion, to be compassionate. I have a lot of fight in me by nature. “I think one of the things my mom has taught me is to find compassion in everything that I do, kindness, and that family is everything.” — PTI

Neil has Parkinson’s, won’t tour anymore

The Shape of Water leads with 13 Oscar nominations

New York: Neil Diamond, one of the best-selling singers of all time, announced Monday he was immediately retiring from touring after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Following his doctor’s advice, the Brooklyn native who turns 77 on Wednesday scrapped

Australia and New Zealand stops scheduled for March as part of a global tour to celebrate his 50th anniversary as a recording artist. However, Diamond said in a statement that he plans to “remain active in writing,

Biopic on Sachin wins award at Tehran Fest

Cosby performs for first time since assault charges

Mumbai: Sachin: A Billion Dreams, a biopic on cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has won two awards at the recently concluded 11th Tehran International FICTS Festival 2018.

Helmer James Erskine won the trophy for the Best Director of a Long Documentary and an honorary diploma.

Producer Ravi Bhagchandka received the Special Award for the Best Film in the Long Documentary section. “It is a great honour that my work on telling the story of India’s greatest cricketing legend has been appreciated on a global stage.

“Scripting his journey for the big screen involved interacting with Sachin, his family, his teammates as well as players from rival teams and others and I am happy that the emotions are reaching out to a global audience,” Erskine said in a statement. The 11th Tehran International FICTS Festival was held from January 16 to 18. — PTI

Philadelphia: Disgraced American entertainer Bill Cosby returned to the stage on Monday for the first time in nearly three years, telling jokes just months before his scheduled retrial for alleged sexual assault.

The 80-year-old pioneering African American actor and comedian spent around an hour performing at the LaRose Jazz Club in Philadelphia at an event honoring drummer and jazz great, Tony Williams. He sat on a wooden chair, in front of the jazz quartet, dressed casually in dark pants and grey hoodie inscribed with the words “Hello Friend”

recording and other projects for a long time to come.”

“It is with great reluctance and disappointment that I announce my retirement from concert touring. I have been so honored to bring my shows to the public for the past 50 years,” he said, apologising to fans.

— AFP

spelled out in multicolored capital letters.

There was no heckling and the audience was generally supportive, clapping and at times laughing, but the fewer than 50 people, filling only half a small

NOMINEES IN MAIN CATEGORIES BEST PICTURE:

The Shape of Water World War II movie Dunkirk, with eight nods, while crime drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, generally thought to be the favorite in the best picture category, picked up seven nominations.

The 90th Academy Awards — the climax of Hollywood’s awards season, to be hosted by late night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel — will be held on March 4.

There are very few clear frontrunners, making the major categories a genuine sprint to the finish line rather than the perfunctory coronation sometimes inflicted on viewers.

— AFP

Call Me By Your Name Darkest Hour Dunkirk Get Out Lady Bird Phantom Thread The Post The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri BEST DIRECTOR:

Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk Jordan Peele, Get Out Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird Paul Thomas

Anderson, Phantom Thread Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

BEST ACTOR

Timothee Chalamet, Call Me

by Your Name Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour Denzel

Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq. BEST ACTRESS:

Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Margot Robbie, I, Tonya Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird Meryl Streep, The Post

venue underscored how far he has fallen from grace. For a few minutes, he sat behind the drum kit and played some drums, before delivering a very short stand-up routine.

— AFP

Kate, The Duchess of Cambridge meets Year 3 pupils as she visits Roe Green Junior School in Brent, London, on Tuesday to launch a mental health programme for schools. — AP

Einstein’s letter defending murderous friend up for auction

People bring animals to be blessed at the Church of San Pablo Ermitano, in the Mexican neighborhood of Iztapalapa, during the festivities that take place every year, on Monday.

— AFP

LOUIS C K ‘GROSSES’ ME OUT: ZACH Los Angeles: Actor-comedian Zach Galifianakis has said the allegations of sexual misconduct against Louis C K “grosses” him out. The Hangover star, whose FX show Baskets was executive produced by C K, said the whole scandal was “disruptive”.

“It was so disruptive in a harmful way to so many people. We just kind of put our heads down and worked on the new season,” Galifianakis told Vulture. “This is the poison of celebrity culture: The fact that someone can think that just because they’re loved, they can do whatever they want. It grosses me out,” he added. FX had cut ties with the 50year-old comedian and his company Pig Newton after five women accused C K of sexual misconduct. — PTI

WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

Los Angeles: An autographed letter, in which German physicist Albert Einstein defends the character of a friend accused of murder, is up for auction in the US. Dated April 29, 1917, the letter is addressed to Einstein’s close friend and scientific collaborator Michele Besso — the only individual credited in Einstein’s paper on the Theory of Special Relativity.

In the letter, Einstein addresses different topics, including General Relativity, quantum physics and his friend Friedrich Adler, who had recently assassinated

Austrian MinisterPresident Karl von Sturgkh.

Einstein comes to his friend’s defense, describing his personality and wondering how he could help him. Adler’s trial for the assassination of von Sturgkh was within days of Einstein’s letter, according to the US-based Nate D Sanders Auctions.

“A. Proved himself a selfless, calm, hard-working, goodhearted, conscientious man who was highly esteemed by everybody, and that it is my heartfelt desire, therefore, to intercede for him,” said Einstein wrote in the letter. — PTI

Models present creations for Ralph & Russo, Chanel, Antonio Grimaldi and Giambattista Valli during the 2018 spring/summer Haute Couture collection in Paris on Tuesday.

— AFP, AP

Hijab model pulls out of L’Oreal campaign ■ British model Amena Khan has been accussed of making anti-Israeli comments Paris: British model Amena Khan, who had been chosen by L’Oreal to appear in an advertising campaign in Britain, has pulled out over accusations she made anti-Israeli comments in a series of old tweets.

The French cosmetics giant last week selected her to be the first woman in a hijab for a mainstream shampoo campaign.

Khan’s messages, posted on Twitter in 2014, have since been deleted “I deeply regret the content of the tweets I made in

I deeply regret the content of the tweets I made in 2014, and sincerely apologise for the upset and hurt that they have caused — Amena Khan, Model

2014, and sincerely apologise for the upset and hurt that they have caused,” she said on Twitter on Monday.

“With deep regret, I’ve decided to step down from this campaign because the current conversations sur-

rounding it detract from the positive and inclusive sentiment that it set out to deliver.”

L’Oreal group said it “approved” her decision.

“We appreciate the fact that Amena has apologised for the content of her tweets and for the reactions they may have aroused,” it said.

It is not the first time a L’Oreal advertising campaign to promote diversity has foundered because of controversial social media comments by a model.

Last summer the group dropped British black transgender model Munroe Bergdorf over Facebook comments she made accusing all whites of racial violence. — AFP

(Above) French model Caroline de Maigret.

— AP

Queen Nefertiti was not a pharaoh: Egyptologist London: Queen Nefertiti one of the most famous women in ancient history — did not rule Egypt, according to a new book by a renowned Egyptologist.

Joyce Tyldesley, from The University of Manchester, UK, says that Nefertiti was just one of a series of powerful queens who played an influential role in Egyptian history.

“Though most people and many Egyptologists believe Nefertiti was an unusually powerful royal woman, and possibly even a pharaoh, I believe this was not the case,” she

said. It was the beauty of her famous limestone and plaster sculpture — reportedly Adolf Hitler’s favourite piece of ancient art - which propelled her into the public spotlight after it was put on public display in 1923, Tyldesley said. It was then that Egyptologists began to argue that she was unusually powerful, and maybe even that she ruled Egypt, she said. “Her husband Akhenaten died around 1336 BC; Tutankhamun who was possibly Nefertiti’s son - became pharaoh in approximately 1336 BC,” — PTI

Published by T. Venkateswarlu for and on behalf of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited at Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi 110 002. and Printed by him at BFL Infotech Limited, C – 9, Sector – III, Noida – 201301. Editor – T. Venkatram Reddy, RNI Registration number 57290/94, Price in Nepal - Nep. Rs. 20.00 per copy.

DELHI SPECIAL NEW DELHI WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY 2018

CULTURE+ | Art

CITY | Administration

17

Big, bold and bright: London street mural artist fetes immigration GUIDE TO FORTUNE Tick the answer and check THE ASIAN AGE tomorrow to discover how good you are.

Which one of these Indian authors won the Newberry Medal in the US for his contribution to American literature for children?

1

■ ■ ■

V.S. Naipaul Rabindranath Tagore Dhan Gopal Mukerji

What song’s famous 2 melody was written in 1893 by sisters Patty and Mildred Hill?

■ ■ ■

Silent Night Happy Birthday to You Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star A skeleton’s gender can 3 be determined by looking at the curvature on the sciatic notch, an area on what bone?

■ ■ ■

Hip bone Femur Clavicle

The answers to yesterday’s questions are: 1. Australia 2. Kyoto 3. Henry Hudson

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Padmaavat release: Prohibitory orders in Gurgaon Gurgaon, Jan. 23: Ahead of the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat on January 25, prohibitory orders have been imposed here till Sunday to maintain law and order situation, in view of Shree Rajput Karni Sena threatening to target theatres screening the film.

There are over 40 multiplexes and cinema halls in Gurgaon. Karni Sena has been the most vociferous of the fringe groups opposing the period drama, alleging that historical facts were distorted in the movie. However, the Haryana government has said that it would implement the Supreme Court order that allows the screening of the movie. Gurgaon deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh said, “Section 144 of the CrPC has been imposed in view of release of the Padmaavat in various cinema halls and multiplexes on January 25 as there is likelihood of law and order disturbance.” “Following imposition of Section 144, there is prohibition on presence of people carrying firearms and other articles capable of causing injury, raising slogans and exhibiting placards within 200 meters radius of the cinema halls and multiplexes from January 23 to January 28,” Mr Singh said.

Shree Rajput Karni Sena patron Lokendra Singh Kalvi had said they would not allow the screening of the film. The Supreme Court had earlier paved the way for the all-India release of the film on January 25. — PTI

Tanzanian woman found dead at her flat in Mehrauli AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

A 36-year-old Tanzanian woman was found dead under mysterious circumstances at her rented flat in South Delhi’s Mehrauli area.

According to the police, neighbours found the body of the deceased, Fatma Ally, on Monday after they realised that a foul smell was emanating from her flat.

“There is no visible injury on the victim’s body. The body has been shifted to AIIMS for an autopsy,” a police officer said. “Her family will be informed through the Tanzanian embassy. It appears that she died a couple of days ago,” the officer said, adding, “The team is examining CCTV footage.

Her mobile phone and laptop are being checked. She had been staying in the flat for some months.”

Sealing drive: CM Kejriwal urges Centre to bring ordinance

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SPORTS cricket

S. Africa’s most successful Test captain Smith doubts Kohli’s calibre

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20 AAP MLAs move HC, hearing today AAP targets CEC, AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

Twenty AAP MLAs, who were disqualified in the office-of-profit case after the President’s order, moved the Delhi high court on Tuesday against their removal from the Delhi Assembly.

The plea for urgent hearing of the appeal was mentioned before a bench of Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and A.K. Chawla, which listed it for Wednesday.

Advocate Manish

Vashisht, appearing for one of the MLAs, told the bench that the matter requires urgent listing in view of the notification disqualifying 20 members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly.

The plea by the MLAs has also sought stay and quashing of the government’s notification stating President Ram Nath Kovind had held that the 20 MLAs stand disqualified under the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi

◗ The plea has also sought stay and quashing of the govt notification stating President Kovind had held that the 20 MLAs stand disqualified (GNCTD) Act. The notification came two days after the Election Commission wrote to the President recommending the disqualification of 20 AAP legislators for hold-

ing office-of-profit while serving as parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015, and September 8, 2016.

If the courts do not reverse the disqualification of 20 MLAs, byelections will be held for the 20 seats. But even the loss of all 20 seats will not impact the AAP’s majority in the Assembly, where the party had a strength of 66 of the 70 members. If the AAP’s strength is reduced to 46, it will still have many more legislators than a majority

terms as ‘false’ his claim on hearing

mark of 35.

The notification with President’s assent on their disqualification was issued on January 21 saying, “Having considered the matter in the light of the opinion expressed by the Election Commission, I, Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, in exercise of the powers...

Do here hold that the aforesaid 20 members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly stand disqualified from being members of the said Assembly.”

AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday targeted Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat on his very first day in office with the party terming as “false” his claim that the Delhi MLAs, disqualified on charge of holding officeof- profit, did not seek hearings on the issue.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha said that contrary to CEC Rawat’s assertion in a newspaper interview that the AAP did not request the EC to hold hearings though it was served notices on September 28 and November 2 last year, the party did “respond twice”.

Mr Chadha said the AAP MLAs wrote to the EC on October 16 and November 20. “The CEC is lying. We wrote, yes, we want to place our side, both in written and oral.

The EC didn’t respond.

How can you not give us a hearing?

“Every judicial and quasi-judicial body has to function as per law but what happened with us is unprecedented, where the cardinal principles of

■ Majority of leaders feel move will cost party heavily if polls announced

Sealing drive may hurt BJP poll prospects SHASHI BHUSHAN

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

As the national capital is all set for a mini election after the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs, the ongoing sealing drive on the directions of the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee has put the BJP on backfoot even after its historic victory in last year’s municipal polls.

Majority of the Delhi BJP leaders feel that the ongoing sealing drive will cost the party heavily. A senior party leader told this newspaper that the BJP leadership has failed to convince people that it

has been taking concrete steps to save the properties of the Delhiites from being sealed. A similar sealing drive 12 years ago had ensured Congress’ defeat in the 2007 municipal polls and it may be the BJP’s turn to face the music this time, he said.

A senior BJP leader claimed that rivals AAP and Congress have created a perception among people that the sealing is being done on the directions of the party-ruled municipal corporations.

“The crucial bypolls in the 20 Assembly seats is likely to be held in April and May if there are no

◗ A similar sealing drive 12 years ago had ensured Cong’s defeat in the 2007 civic polls and it may be the BJP’s turn to face the music this time, a senior leader said directions from the court.

BJP state leadership has failed to convince citizens that municipal corporations have no role in sealing any property in the city. Our leadership has completely failed to make Delhiites aware that the sealing was done on the

directions of the Supreme Court appointed monitoring committee,” he added.

A senior Delhi BJP leader claimed that the current team of office bearers, including state president Manoj Tiwari, has failed to judge the seriousness of the ongoing sealing drive and its implication on the upcoming bypolls in the 20 Assembly constituencies.

“Failure of state leaderships to take firm stand shows the political immaturity of the current team of office bearers, who are primarily responsible to advise Mr Tiwari,” he said. The day the EC rec-

ommended disqualification of the 20 AAP MLAs, the core committee of the party sat only for 30 minutes to discuss the sealing and recommendation of the poll body.

“After a meeting with railway minister Piyush Goyal, in which all the seven Lok Sabha members from Delhi were present, the core committee members sat for 30 minutes and discussed both issues. It shows the seriousness of our leadership on crucial issues which directly relate to people,” said a member of Delhi BJP core committee, who was present in the meeting.

AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

Arvind Kejriwal

◗ In the statement minister Imran Hussain claimed that Delhi is the first state in the country to permit increase in margin money to the ration dealers by almost three times Delhi is the first state in the country to permit increase in margin money to the ration dealers by almost three times.

It also stated that the government has started the process of distribution of food grains through e-PoS devices under the National Food Security Act, 2013, from January 1 this year so as to ensure the ration reaches the entitled beneficiaries on time and accurately.

◗ In his defence, the CEC said that the ‘notice was comprehensive.

But AAP did not respond in the context of the notice’ natural justice were violated. Nobody can be condemned unheard,” he told a news agency.

In his defence, Mr Rawat said that the “notice was comprehensive. But AAP did not respond in the context of the notice.”

“Since the matter is subjudice, let us not talk about it further,” Mr Rawat said.

However, Mr Chadha said that the MLAs, in their response, made it clear that apart from an oral hearing, they would also like to cross examine the petitioners and advance arguments on the merits of the case.

Max case: Council sends case to panel

Cabinet nod to hike margin for ration dealers The Delhi government on Tuesday approved the food and civil supplies department’s proposal to increase the margin money for the city’s ration dealers by around three times.

According to the government, there was a long pending demand by the fair price shop (FPS) owners for increase in margin money in order to enable them to run the FPS in a sustainable and viable manner.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

“The Delhi Cabinet has approved the food and civil supplies department’s proposal for increase in margin money — from existing `70 per quintal to `200 per quintal of food grains (70 paise per kg to `2 per kg) — for 2,254 ration dealers in Delhi,” the government said in a statement.

In the statement, the food and civil supplies minister, Imran Hussain, claimed that

O.P. Rawat

Indian Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster III (C) flanked by two SU-30 planes fly past over Parliament House during Republic Day rehearsals in New Delhi on Tuesday.

— PRITAM BANDYOPADHYAY

R-Day: Metro access to be restricted AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

Owing to security reasons, access to several Metro stations will be restricted on Republic Day on Friday and the Beating Retreat ceremony three days later, the Delhi Metro said on Tuesday.

Entry and exit at the Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhavan Metro stations on the Yellow Line (Huda City Centre to Samaypur Badli) will

remain closed from 6 am till noon. Similarly, Lok Kalyan Marg and Patel Chowk stations on the same line will be closed between 8.45 am and noon.

The interchanging of trains at Central Secretariat station can be done as usual during this period between Yellow and Violet Line (Escorts Mujesar to Kashmere Gate).

On the Blue Line, service will stop at Mandi House and Pragati Maidan stations throughout the dura-

tion of the passing of the parade under Tilak Bridge.

During this period, trains will run in three different loops on the corridor — Noida City Centre to Indraprastha, Vaishali to Yamuna Bank, and Dwarka Sector 21 to Barakhamba Road.

Violet Line stations will remain operational as usual, except the closing of entry and exit from certain gates of ITO, Delhi Gate, Lal Qila, and Jama

Masjid stations.

During the Beating Retreat ceremony on Monday, Metro services will not be available at Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhavan stations from 2 pm to 6.30 pm.

The interchange between Yellow and Violet Line commuters at the former station will remain intact during this period.

All Metro parking lots will remain closed from 6 am on January 25 to 2 pm the next day.

New Delhi, Jan. 23: The Delhi Medical Council (DMC) has sent the Max Hospital twin baby case to its disciplinary committee and the hearing in the matter is likely to be held early next month, a senior official said on Tuesday. The case pertains to a baby boy being wrongly declared dead after his birth on November 30 by the upscale private hospital in Shalimar Bagh.

The other twin, a girl, was still-born.

The infant boy died a week later at a nursing home in Pitampura.

Meanwhile, source said, two of the doctors involved in the alleged medical negligence case, have been asked by the city police’s crime branch, to join it soon for further investigation.

“On January 16, the case was put up before our executive committee and then it was referred to the disciplinary committee. All the parties involved in the incident, the complainant, the doctors, the hospital, would be called for a hearing,” the senior official told PTI. When asked how early the hearing was likely to happen, he said, “It should happen sometimes next month.”

— PTI

R-Day rehearsal, rains add to commuter woes AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

School children cover themselves under an umbrella during — BIPLAB BANERJEE rains in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Commuters on Tuesday faced traffic jams on prominent stretches across Delhi as the full dress rehearsal for the Republic Day parade began from Vijay Chowk towards the Red Fort.

Also, cold weather, coupled with light rain, added to commuter woes.

All the parallel roads on the route of the parade in Central Delhi were congested as it started at 9.50 am

because of barricades and pickets put in place by the traffic police.

Among the prominent stretches badly affected by the traffic jam were ITO, Akshardham to N i z a m u d d i n , Akshardham to DelhiNoida-Delhi flyover, NH24 and Pusa Road. Even in areas like Mayurvihar Phase 1 and III, Karol Bagh-Rajendra Nagar (Pusa Road) and Ranhola to Najafgarh witnessed traffic jams.

Pedestrians were the most affected as entry and exit to many Metro

◗ Pedestrians were the most affected as entry and exit to many Metro stations in Lutyens’ Delhi were restricted stations in Lutyens’ Delhi were restricted, forcing many to walk in rain to reach offices.

The ceremonial parade on January 26 is slated to begin at 9.50 am from Vijay Chowk and proceed towards the Red Fort Grounds through

Rajpath, India Gate, Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Netaji Subhash Marg.

In view of the rehearsal on Tuesday, vehicular movement on these roads were restricted as the parade passed through Rajpath. On the Republic Day, entry and exit will be closed at Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhavan Metro stations from midnight till 12.30 pm on January 26.

Patel Chowk and Race Course metro stations will be closed for entry and exit from 8.45 am till

12.30 pm. These restrictions were in place on Tuesday.

“I have my office near Patel Chowk, but since the metro exit was closed, I had to go to Rajiv Chowk metro station. From there I had to walk to my office, but rain compounded the problem,” said an official, who did not wish to be named.

Abhishek Kumar, another commuter, said, “Security drill we are aware of, but rain and cold weather made walking difficult.”

City

Patiala House Court first to have permanent national flag THE ASIAN AGE

SHORT

TAKE

INTER-STATE DRUG CARTEL KINGPIN HELD AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

The special cell of Delhi police arrested the kingpin of an inter-state narcotic drug cartel from Faridpur in Bareilly. The police team recovered more than 1kg of fine quality heroin and three mobile handsets with SIM cards from his possession.

As per the police, the value of the heroin in the market is worth more than `4 crores.

The police said that arrested kingpin identified as Anwar alias Mama, 50, was nabbed, while he was going to supply a consignment of heroin to another most wanted drug trafficker, Farid.

According to Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, DCP, special cell, on January 10, a police team arrested two key members of a drug cartel identified as Savej and Ashique Ali and recovered 3kg of fine quality of heroin from their possession. Subsequently a case was registered under NDPS Act. The duo disclosed that Riyaz and Farid, who procured the consignment from Anwar, supplied them with the 3 kg heroin. During probe, it became known that various drug suppliers from naxal-affected areas of Jharkhand and West Bengal have been preparing crude heroin and pure heroin from opium and supplying the same to UP, Delhi and Punjab. , Meanwhile, investigation is on.

AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

In separate incidents, mobile phones of two persons, including a woman, were snatched in the city. In the first incident, a woman was allegedly dragged on the road and later divested off her mobile phone in New Ashok Nagar. As luck would have it, the escaping snatcher was caught by the crowd who thrashed him. In another incident, a man was robbed of his mobile phone in New Usmanpur. In the first incident, a woman was physically assaulted and dragged on the road by a snatcher in New Ashok Nagar area on Monday. The snatcher to get her mobile phone first pushed the woman on the road, but when she didn't gave up he dragged and punched her. She fought back and started screaming, following which a mob gathered at the spot and chased down the snatcher and thrashed him later on he was handed over to the police.

The police said, Neetu Bansal (35) was returning home from a nursing home with her mother-in-law when the incident happened. The snatcher was identified as Jayprakash alias Jonty (22) of Mayur Vihar Phase 3.

WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

Ordinance should be brought to protect commercial establishments of city traders AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday appealed to the Centre to bring an ordinance, if required, to protect properties of traders from getting sealed in the national capital.

The chief minister also offered all cooperation to the Centre to stop sealing drives being carried out by the BJP-led civic bodies since last month.

A group of traders under the umbrella of the Confederation of All India Traders’ on Tuesday participated in a day-long bandh to lodge their protest against the ongoing sealing of business establishments.

In a tweet, Mr Kejriwal said that sealing has hit traders very hard and if it is not stopped, a number of people will become jobless. “Economic situation is already grim. Sealing

A pedestrian walks past closed shops at Connaught Place in New Delhi on Tuesday.

— BIPLAB BANERJEE has hit traders very hard.

It is our duty to protect them,” the chief minister tweeted.

The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress have supported the bandh against on-going sealing of business establishments for alleged unauthorised constructions.

“The traders are saying the Centre can bring an ordinance to stop sealing

in Delhi. Intentionally delaying the ordinance to collect maximum money using threats of sealing (sic),” AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj tweeted.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari on Tuesday condemned the chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj for trying to mislead the traders by giv-

ing through misleading tweets loaded with canards.

Mr Tiwari has said that it is sad that the CM has re-tweeted MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj’s tweet alleging corruption in the on-going sealing process.

The Delhi BJP chief has challenged the AAP leaders that if they feel that there was corruption in the sealing process, then they should raise the matter, along with proof, before the SC-appointed Monitoring Committee or else desist from misleading people with their vague allegations.

“The on-going sealing drive is being conducted on the direction of the monitoring panel and even the establishments to be sealed is decided by them. Raising allegations of corruption means that the monitoring committee is indulging in corruption,” Mr Tiwari added.

The Delhi BJP chief

◗ Manoj Tiwari said that it is sad that the chief minister has re-tweeted MLA and AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj’s tweet alleging corruption in the ongoing sealing process alleged that the sorry situation in which the traders find themselves in today is a result of the delay in notification of commercial roads by the Congress and the AAP. “The failure of Delhi government to satisfy the SC and its affidavit seeking two more years for starting regularisation work is the main reason for the Supreme Court assigning the sealing duty on the monitoring committee,” the Delhi BJP chief said.

Thief arrested for robbing Domino’s outlet AGE CORRESPONDENT

The police arrested Mr Uttarakhand, a dancing star, after he turned a thief and robbed robbery at Domino’s Pizza outlet located at Sector 12, Dwarka. The robbery took place on December 11.

The police identified the accused as, Adnan Khan alias Addi, 22, resident of Uttam Nagar. He hails from Uttarakhand and shot to fame after he wore his dancing shoes. He also won in several dance shows and competitions.

According to the police, on December 11, the complainant Amit Yadav, who is the manager of Domino’s Pizza outlet in Sector 12 of Dwarka, had reported that some unidentified persons armed with knives had entered into the pizza store at around 03:30am on December 11 last year and robbed around `3,50,000 after threatening him and his staff.

A pol;ice team was assigned the task to identify and arrest the criminals involved in the robbery.

Meanwhile, one person, Ram, was arrested and sent to jail. During

◗ According to the police, Imran had gone to a function in Paroli village where he allegedly met and befriended the woman. Soon they grew close to each other. detailed interrogation, Ram revealed that four persons were involved in this case.

They also hired the services of a dancer of a as he did not have any previous criminal record.

On Sunday, a specific information was received that one accused namely Adnan would come near Dwarka Mor. “A trap was laid at about 8:30am on Monday one person of was stopped for interrogation. He tried to flee, but was quickly overpowered and interrogated,” Shibesh Singh, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Dwarka district said.

The person, who was arrested, confessed that he was the same one who had committed the robbery at Domino’s outlet, along with his accomplices. Efforts are on to arrest his two other accomplices, he added.

Soldiers carry the flags of Asean countries as they march past during the full dress rehearsal for the 69th Republic Day parade, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

— G.N. JHA

down shutters against sealing Ask Centre to protect their rights AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

All commercial activities came to a standstill on Tuesday as several shops in various markets of the capital were shut down as part of a day-long Delhi Trade Bandh called by an industry body to protest against the ongoing sealing drives by the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee.

Sealing action is being taken against commercial establishments for nonpayment of conversion charges or for alleged violation of civic norms such as encroachment or illegal construction.

The agitation, held under the umbrella of the Confederation of All India Traders’ (CAIT), has affected markets of Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazar, Chawri Bazar, Kamla Nagar, Karol Bagh, Kashmere Gate, Khari Baoil, Naya Bazar, Bhagirath Palace, Paharganj, Rajouri Garden, Connaught Place among others.

The CAIT has claimed that scores of trade associations across the city have joined the bandh.

The municipal corporations in north, south and central Delhi have been carrying out sealing drives, which started late last month with action taken against more than 50 shops in Defence Colony Market on the direction of apex courtappointed monitoring committee.

Several wholesale and commercial markets across the national capital on Tuesday kept their shutters down to protest against the sealing action, the CAIT said,

New Delhi, Jan. 23: A Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) constable on Tuesday moved the Delhi high court against the paramilitary force's decision to deduct a major chunk of his monthly salary towards repayment of loan taken for his kidney transplant in 2015.

In his plea, the SSB constable has claimed that an amount of `30,000 was being deducted and he was getting only around `5,000 each month since August last year, which is insuffi-

cient to support his family and to meet the post-natal care of his wife and onemonth-old baby, apart from his own medical expenditure.

The plea came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Rekha Palli, which asked the SSB to bring the loan records of the constable from a welfare fund meant for force’s personnel.

With the direction, the court listed the matter for hearing on February 6. In his plea, Manish Kumar

has contended that he had a kidney problem due to hard postings in the high altitude regions for six years and was undergoing dialysis for two years.

In the petition filed through advocate Tushar Sannu, the SSB constable has claimed that the surgery he required was being performed with a high rate of success only at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here and not the hospitals empanelled with SSB. But SSB refused to give permission to undergo

surgery at its expense at Sir Ganga Ram and he decided to avail the loan from the SSB welfare fund, the plea said, adding the amount had to be repaid in 60 instalments.

While he received `six lakh as advance for his treatment, the actual surgical expenses touched nearly `12 lakh and to meet the amount Mr Kumar’s father had to take loans from a bank, family and friends, it said.

Mr Kumar claimed that he was paying `10,000

Woman raped on pretext of marriage, techie held AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

A car turns turtle after skidding off the road at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi on Tuesday.

—PTI

A software engineer, teaching as a faculty member in a software Institute, is now cooling his heels in jail for allegedly raping a woman.

Probe revealed that the accused, 32, has been identified as Imran had promised the victim that he would marry her, but continued to rape her for over one year.

According to the police, accused Imran had gone to a function in Uttar Pradesh’s Paroli village

◗ According to the police, Imran had gone to a function in Paroli village where he allegedly met and befriended the woman. Soon they grew close to each other. where he allegedly met the woman. There the two became friends and soon they came close to each other.

The police said that according to the survivor, Imran used to call her to

different locations in Delhi and used to establish physical intimacy with her.

Whenever the complainant would ask him to marry her, he would find an excuse and continued to rape her.

She allegedly told the police that when Imran refused to marry her during one of the meetings and misbehaved with her, she approached the jurisdictional police in Shakarpur and lodged a complaint. Based on it, the police filed a case and arresge Imran.

DDCA case: Kejri is not following legal process, says HC New Delhi, Jan. 23: The Delhi high court on Tuesdsay said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has a right to be allowed to confront a witness with documents in connection with a defamation suit filed by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley against him, but he was not following proper legal procedure.

The court's remarks came during the hearing of an appeal filed by Mr Kejriwal challenging a joint registrar's decision to dismiss his plea to summon the minutes of meetings of cricket body

between 1999 and 2014 in the suit.

Mr Jaitley, who was the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) president from 2000 to 2013, has filed the defamation suit against Mr Kejriwal who had alleged that there was corruption during his tenure.

“You should be allowed to put these documents to the witness, but you are not following proper legal procedure,” Justice Manmohan said.

The court asked Mr Jaitley's counsel to seek instructions on the plea

◗ Civic bodies in north, south and central Delhi have been carrying out sealing drives, which started late last month with action taken against over 50 shops in Defence Colony Market which it reiterated was in blatant violation of statutory provisions of the DMC Act. “The traders are demanding that the central government should protect the traders from sealing by bringing an ordinance and an amnesty scheme on building and commercial activities,” said CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal.

The trade promotion body also demanded notification of 351 roads in Delhi for commercial or mixed-land use.

“The local shopping centres were given on commercial rates and now conversion charge is being demanded and in case of non-payment, sealing is done without giving any notice, which is unjustified,” Mr Khandel said.

“The entire sealing operations are being run in a dictatorial manner keeping aside the DMC Act, 1957,” he added.

All the three major parties in Delhi, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which also controls the three municipal corporations, have extended their support to the traders.

SSB constable in HC against cut in salary

KATHAK DANCER TO PROMOTE SANITATION DRIVE The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) on Tuesday appointed Kathak dancer Nrityashri Alaknanda as brand ambassador of its 'Swachh Bharat Mission'.

Founder, director and guru of Kathak at Alaknanda Institute of Performing Arts (AIPA) founded in 1990, Ms Alaknanda would spread the message of Swachh Bharat Mission in the jurisdiction of EDMC through her dance and other cultural programme. EDMC mayor Neema Bhagat expressed gratitude to Ms Alaknanda for accepting to brand ambassador of Swachh Bharat Mission for the civic body. She informed that Ms Alaknanda will not charge anything for her service.

According to Ms Bhagat, Ms Alaknanda will spread the message of Swachh Bharat Mission to every nook and corner of East Delhi by conducting cultural programmes every two months on the theme of sanitation. Ms Alaknanda will perform in institutions such as schools, colleges. Ms Bhagat appealed to parents to teach their children about importance of cleanliness.

14

CM urges Centre to halt sealing Traders bring

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

MOBILE PHONES SNATCHED IN 2 INCIDENTS

PAGE

◗ Kejriwal’s counsel had submitted that the minutes of meetings of DDCA between 1999 and 2014 were needed as they actually formed the basis of his defence and listed the matter for February 5 for passing directions.

Advocate Anupam Srivastav, appearing for Mr Kejriwal, said the joint registrar rejected their plea by strictly reading the proce-

dural rules. To this, the court said rule of law has to be followed.

Mr Kejriwal's counsel had earlier submitted that the minutes of meetings of DDCA between 1999 and 2014 were necessary as they formed the basis of his defence in the defamation matter.

He had said the Union finance minister was the president of DDCA from December 1999 till 2013 and Mr Kejriwal had received a complaint alleging irregularities in the cricketing body by its current and past directors.

The advocate had said the defamation suit was filed in the backdrop of their allegation with regard to corruption in the DDCA, which Mr Kejriwal now seeks to establish.

Mr Kejriwal had submitted that a DDCA official be summoned and asked to produce records pertaining to minutes of the meetings of the cricketing body held between 199 to 2014.

Mr Kejriwal has challenged the October 31, 2017 decision of a Joint Registrar of the high court who, while dismissing his

plea, had said the CM chief minister annot be allowed to use the judiciary for a "roving and fishing enquiry".

Mr Jaitley is being crossexamined by the CM in the first defamation suit before the Joint Registrar.

The appeal has been moved by the CM in the `10 crore defamation case filed by Jaitley against him and five other AAP leaders — Raghav Chadha, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Deepak Bajpai, for accusing the BJP leader of corruption.

— PTI

towards repayment of the money taken from the SSB welfare fund. In August last, he was told by SSB he has violated the terms of the loan as he had paid `40,000 and `5,60,000 remained outstanding, and therefore, they were going to cut `30,000 per month from his salary, the petition said.

Thereafter, from August 2017 onwards, each month an amount of `30,000 was deducted from his salary and he received only — PTI around `5,000.

Youth dies after lift crashes in Bawana AGE CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

The Bawana tragedy, which took lives of 17 people due to fire, was still fresh in Delhiites mind, while another tragic incidence happened in Bawan industrial area where youth died in a factory on Tuesday morning when the lift in which he was going malfunctioned.

The deceased was identified as Sonu Kaamat who worked in a socks factory in Bawana industrial area sector 2.

The lift cable in which he was going cut down due to technical fault.

The police said that the deceased came to work around 10 am on Tuesday. He got into the lift. As he pressed the lift’s button, the lift moved upward then suddenly came to a halt due to technical fault and came crashing down.

Sonu, along with the lift’s chamber, were crushed.

Later, the locals and helped cut the gates of lift and took the victim out of the lift and admitted him to the hospital where he was declared dead on arrival by the doctors.

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Carlsberg opens new brewery New Delhi: Beer maker Carlsberg India has established a new brewery in Karnataka with an aim to strengthen its foothold in the southern region. While its popular brands Carlsberg and Tuborg are already available in the state, the establishment of this brewery is an aspirational step to further strengthen Carlsberg India’s growth opportunity in the state, the company said in a statement. At present, Carlsberg India owns eight breweries in the country, along with four contract manufacturing associations.

— PTI

Maruti, Hyundai dominate PV sales New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki’s hold on domestic passenger vehicles market continued in December with six of its models appearing in the top 10 selling list and Baleno moving up to the third spot.

Hyundai Motor India also made its presence felt with three of its models featuring in the top ten list. According to the data compiled by the SIAM, Maruti Suzuki's Alto was the best selling model last month. It sold 20,346 units in December 2017 as against 17,351 units a year ago, a growth of 17.26 per cent. — PTI

Achal Bakeri

Symphony posts 21% rise in profit New Delhi: Air cooling firm Symphony on Tuesday reported 20.71 per cent jump in standalone net profit to `66.31 crore for the third quarter. The company had posted a net profit of `54.93 crore in October-December period of last fiscal. Its total revenue during the December quarter of FY18 was up 19.04 per cent to `225.67 crore as against `189.57 crore in the year-ago period, Symphony said. In a separate filing, it said the Board of directors have declared an interim dividend of `1 per equity share having face value of `2 each for the entire FY18. — PTI

CENTRE OKAYS ONGC TO SELL ITS IOC STAKE New Delhi: ONGC has got approval from the government for selling its stake in IOC and GAIL to help fund the `36,915 crore acquisition of HPCL. ONGC holds 13.77 per cent stake in nation’s biggest refiner Indian Oil (IOC), which at Tuesday’s trading price is worth over `26,200 crore. It also holds 4.86 per cent stake in gas utility GAIL India, which is worth over `3,847 crore.

Top sources with direct knowledge of the issue said the government gave ONGC nod to sell its shareholding in IOC and GAIL earlier this month but the company is waiting for the right price to offload the shares. For the moment ONGC is funding the `36,915 crore acquisition of government’s 51.11 per cent stake in oil refining and marketing firm HPCL from the about `12,000 crore cash it has and short- term borrowing.

Sources said ONGC is a zerodebt company and wants to retain that status. — PTI

`0.09

Business THE ASIAN AGE

SENSEX 36K, NIFTY 11K

■ IMF’s growth prediction helps markets continue winning momentum AGE CORRESPONDENT

THE UNDERLYING sentiments, experts said, remain upbeat, but the markets are likely to see a short-term correction if the Centre imposes longterm capital gain (LTCG) tax on equity markets in any form.

A NEW LTCG tax on equities would not only hurt market sentiment, but can also hurt domestic equity flows, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts.

Continuing with their winning momentum, the equity markets soared to yet another record high on Tuesday after International Monetary Fund (IMF) said India is set to regain the tag of fastest growing major economy in the world in FY19 with a projected growth rate of 7.4 per cent as against 6.7 per cent estimated for the current fiscal.

The better than expected results from India Inc has also renewed optimism regarding a strong recovery in corporate earning growth.

The Nifty zoomed past 11K-level for the first time without any resistance and closed the day at 11,083.70, up 117.50 points or 1.07 per cent. The 30share Sensex too scaled above the crucial 36K

MURDOCH’S SKY BID BLOCKED, SAYS REGULATOR London, Jan. 23: Britain’s competition regulator provisionally ruled on Tuesday that a planned takeover of panEuropean satellite TV giant Sky by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox group was “not in the public interest”.

The government had referred the matter to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for an in-depth probe last September owing to concerns about media plurality and broadcasting standards.

21st Century Fox bid £11.4 billion two years ago for the 61 per cent of Sky it does not already own. “The CMA has provisionally found that Fox taking full control of Sky is not in the public interest due to media plurality concerns, but not because of a lack of a genuine commitment to meeting broadcasting standards in the UK,” the regulator said.

“The media plurality concerns identified mean that, overall, the CMA provisionally concludes that the proposed transaction is not in the public interest.”

However, in a separate document detailing potential remedies, the CMA indicated that its plurality concerns would “fall away” on completion of Disney’s takeover of 21st Century Fox. In a twist to the Sky saga, Disney announced in December a $52.4-billion deal to buy 21st Century Fox. The Fox/Sky takeover has meanwhile been approved by regulators in Austria, Germany, Ireland and Italy as well as the EU. — PTI

■ CMA SAID that the deal would hand Mr Murdoch “too much control” over UK news — and therefore too much power in swaying public views.

level to end the trading session at 36,139.98, up 341.97 points or 0.96 per cent.

While the underlying sentiments remain upbeat, experts said that the markets are likely to

see a short-term correction if the government imposes long-term capital gain (LTCG) tax on equity markets in any form.

Instead of reintroducing LTCG tax, reports suggests that the govern-

ment is likely to increase the holding period of stocks from one year to three years to be considered as long term gain.

This means any gain arising out of equity sales within a period of three years would attract shortterm capital gain (STCG) tax of 15 per cent.

In its India equity strategy report, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said that a new long-term capital gain tax on equities would not only hurt market sentiment, but can also hurt domestic equity flows.

Maintaining a cautious view on the markets due to stretched valuations, BoAML has kept a yearend target of 32,000 for the Sensex, which is 11 per cent lower from the current levels.

According to the provisional data released by the stock exchanges, for-

eign portfolio investors bought shares worth `1229.35 crore while the domestic institutions picked up stocks worth `169.03 crore.

“Due to last Friday’s strong move by the Nifty from 10,800 levels, the magical figure of 11,000 followed by 11,100 was on cards. But the velocity at which market hastened in couple of days has certainly turned out to be a jaw-dropping move for many traders. This is a sheer euphoric environment that we are experiencing at this moment. It appears as if the traders’ fraternity has kept a lot of expectations from this upcoming Budget and hence, probably the anticipation is adding fuel to this ‘No Negative is as good as positive’ kind of scenario,” said Sameet Chavan, derivative analyst at Angel Broking.

Petrol, diesel hit 4-year high New Delhi, Jan. 23: Petrol prices on Tuesday hit the highest level since the BJP government came to power in 2014, and diesel touched a high of `63.20 a litre, prompting the oil ministry to seek a cut in excise duty.

Petrol price rose to `72.38 per litre in Delhi, highest since March 2014, according to daily fuel price list of state-owned oil firms.

Rates have risen by `3.31 per litre since mid-December. In Mumbai, prices have crossed `80-mark — costliest in the country.

Diesel is being sold at `67.30 in Mumbai, where the local sales tax or VAT rates are higher.

Since mid-December, diesel rates have jumped `4.86 a litre, according to oil companies.

The spurt in rates, caused by the rally in

PETROL PRICE rose to `72.38 per litre in Delhi, highest since March 2014, according to daily fuel price list of state-owned oil firms.

IN MUMBAI, prices have crossed `80-mark — costliest in the country.

international oil prices, has led to the oil ministry asking the finance ministry for a cut in excise duty in the Union Budget 2018-19, to be presented in Parliament next week.

The reduction sought is

THE SPURT in rates, caused by the rally in international oil prices, has led to the oil ministry asking for a cut in excise duty

part of the pre-Budget memorandum submitted by the ministry for the consideration of finance minister Arun Jaitley, officials said.

Oil secretary K.D. Tripathi had on Monday

Trump slaps steep tariffs on panel imports to US Washington/Los Angeles, Jan. 23: US President Donald Trump slapped steep tariffs on imported washing machines and solar panels on Monday, giving a boost to Whirlpool and dealing a setback to the renewable energy industry in the first of several potential trade restrictions.

The decisions in the two “Section 201” safeguard cases followed findings by the US International Trade Commission that both imported products “are a substantial cause of serious injury to domestic manufacturers,” US trade representative Robert Lighthizer said.

The washing machine tariffs exceeded the harshest recommendations from ITC members, while the solar tariffs were lower than what domestic producers had hoped for.

The restrictions aim to

TRACKING | TRENDS

■ WASHING MACHINE tariffs exceeded the harshest recommendations, while the solar tariffs were lower than what producers had hoped for.

■ The restrictions aim to help domestic manufacturers but drew plaints that the consumer costs would rise help domestic manufacturers but drew complaints that the consumer costs for new washing machines and solar installations will rise.

Mr Trump will impose a 20 per cent tariff on the first 1.2 million imported large residential washing machines in the first year, and a 50 per cent tariff on machines above that num-

ber. The tariffs decline to 16 per cent and 40 per cent respectively in the third year.

For imported solar cells and modules in the first year, a 30 per cent tariff will be imposed which would declining to 15 per cent by the fourth year.

The tariff allows 2.5 GWs of unassembled solar cells to be imported tariff-free in each year.

Whirlpool, which sought the washing machines “safeguard” action against rivals Samsung and LG after years of antidumping cases, saw its shares rise 1.8 per cent in after-hours of trade.

“By enforcing our existing trade laws, President Trump has ensured American workers will compete on a level playing field with their foreign counterparts,” Whirlpool chairman Jeff Fettig said in a statement. — Reuters

stated that the ministry has forwarded a set of recommendation it had received from the industry. He however refused to give details.

The central government levies `19.48 per litre excise duty on petrol and `15.33 on diesel.

VAT on petrol in Delhi is `15.39 per litre while on diesel it is `9.32.

Brent and US West Texas Intermediate crude on Tuesday rose to $69.41 per barrel and $63.99 respectively. Brent is not far off the January 15 three-year high of $70.37 a barrel.

WTI had hit its highest since December 2014, on January 16 at $64.89 a barrel. The rally in oil prices has renewed calls to the government to cut excise duty to cushion the burden on common man, the officials said.

— PTI

Budget to focus on infra not sops: Icra RUN UP TO

BUDGET 2018-19

AGE CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

Union Budget is likely to focus on higher spending on infrastructure and social security to stimulate demand rather than slashing taxes as in the current situation as revenue collections are yet to stabilise after the switch over to GST, Icra said.

“We expect this Budget to utilise fiscal space to enhance spending rather than reduce direct taxes,” said Icra.

Last Budget, the FRBM review committee (N.K. Singh Committee) report had indicated a fiscal deficit target of 3 per cent of GDP for FY19.

“Union Budget may increase the allocations for social infrastructure and social security spending, such as NREGA, food subsidy, insurance schemes and welfare pensions. We also expect enhanced outlays for rural and urban infrastructure, such as affordable housing, roads, railways and ports. Moreover, budgetary allocations for capital spending are likely to be supplemented by extra-budgetary sources of funds such as institutional finance and market borrowings of the CPSEs, as well as the NIIF,” said Icra.

New Delhi, Jan. 23: Consumer durables and home appliances makers have asked Centre to double custom duty to 20 per cent on imported products such as washing machines, refrigerators and ACs to encourage manufacturing within India.

Industry body CEAMA has also asked to impose custom duty on printed

NO LONGER A ‘TAX HAVEN’ THE EU REMOVED EIGHT COUNTRIES INCLUDING PANAMA FROM ITS NEW TAX HAVEN BLACKLIST ON TUESDAY AFTER THEY PLEDGED TO ADDRESS ITS CONCERNS ■ Barbados,

Grenada, South Korea, Macao, Mongolia, Tunisia and the UAE were the seven other nations that were moved to the ‘grey list’

AGE CORRESPONDENT

■ THE BLACKLIST

now covers just nine jurisdictions: American Samoa, Bahrain, Guam, Marshall Islands, Namibia, Palau, Saint Lucia, Samoa and Trinidad and Tobago.

■ EU economic

affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici last week accused several European countries including Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus of being tax policy “black holes” and promised to pressure them to change their ways.

■ The shame mentality attached to a cyber breach needs to shed: Expert

Despite India suffering quite a few cyberattacks, an expert claims the government has been slow to address the problem by framing a strict cyber security policy.

“Compared to the US where there is a greater awareness about cybersecurity, India is lagging behind both in terms of cyber security policies and disclosures,” CompTIA regional director Pradipto Chakrabarty told this newspaper.

Due to the lack of regulations in India, companies other than those in financial services don’t have to disclose the breach and its impact to the consumer.

“Outside India, they

Due to a lack of regulations in India, companies other than those in financial services don’t have to disclose the breach and its impact on the consumers.

Mr Chakrabarty, however, felt that the lack of skilled people in cybersecurity is a more immediate concern.

have a threat repository where by law the companies have to declare the threat and its implications on the consumers. In India, we don’t have anything of that sort. There is a long way to go for us,”

Mr Chakrabarty said.

With the government pushing its ‘Digital India’ initiative and top business leaders citing cyberthreats as one of the top five risks to their business in 2018, he said the

Outside India, they have a threat repository where by law, the companies have to declare the threat and its implications on the consumers. In India, don’t have anything of that sort in India. There is a long way to go for us — PRADIPTO CHAKRABARTY Regional director, CompTIA Central government needs to speed up a bit more.

“People are waking up to cyber threats. In the last year’s Budget the government allocated funds to Cert-In to help fight such threats. The government

is working towards it but the speed leaves a lot to be desired,” he said.

CompTIA, of which Mr Chakrabarty is a part of, is a not-for-profit trade association that focuses on certifying people with the latest IT trends.

“We interact at the ground level and we see there is a huge need for skilled professional,” he said.

Mr Chakrabarty, however, felt that the lack of skilled people in cybersecurity is a more immediate concern.

“Infrastructure and skills are the two things that needs to be addressed urgently. While infrastructure can be upgraded very fast with a bit of investment, skills is something which has a long term

It said that after the implementation of GST, indirect tax rates on few items like petroleum products remain under the control of the Centre, as the GST Council would decide on changes in GST rates.

It pointed out that average price of the Indian basket of crude oil is likely to rise to $65-70 per barrel in FY19 from $56-59 a barrel in FY18.

This would generate pressure on the government to reduce excise duties to temper inflation, while simultaneously pushing up the fuel subsidy by up to `88-93 billion relative to the Budget Estimate for FY18, the agency said.

It said that in terms of non-tax revenues from the telecom sector, there has been no announcement so far of spectrum auctions to be held in FY19.

It also said that dividends from CPSEs and PSU banks in FY19 would take a cue from profitability in FY18, which is likely to be subdued for the latter. “Given the expectation that non-financial PSUs would step up dividends in FY18, to contain a shortfall in the total revenues of the Centre relative to the FY18 BE, the pace of growth the former is likely to be feeble in FY19,” it said.

Moreover, policy interventions can be undertaken at any time, and need not be clubbed, it added.

HIKE CUSTOMS ON IMPORTED CONSUMER DURABLES: CEAMA

Centre slow to set up strict cyber security norms HYDERABAD, JAN. 23

15

WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

JAW DROPPING

MUMBAI, JAN. 23

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effect as it provides a nominal return on investment,” he said.

He added that the mentality that a cyber breach in companies bring shame needs to shed.

Drawing a football analogy, Mr Chakrabarty said, “Attackers are there to attack you for the entire match and may score one or two goals. It’s the job of a defender to stop the attacks. Similarly, cybercriminals will probe for weakness with newer methods. Only skilled people can help defend the attack. Till date, there has been no system across the world that cannot be breached.”

He concluded by saying that the people needs to regularly update their defence.

circuit board to encourage local manufacturing of smartphones.

“The industry expects an amplification on the BCD on appliances and consumer electronics goods such as refrigerators, washing machines and ACs to 20 per cent to discourage imports of these goods,” CEAMA president Manish Sharma said.

— PTI

PHL TO EXPAND INTO PUNE, HYDERABAD AGE CORRESPONDENT HYDERABAD, JAN. 23

Bengaluru-based affordable housing company Provident Housing (PHL), a group firm of Puravankara Ltd, plans to expand its business in Hyderabad and Pune markets to tap the growing market opportunity.

“We are currently looking at 4 to 5 parcels of land in Hyderabad. The talks are still at the initial stages... Hyderabad has become attractive for real estate developers because of faster decision-making and the government’s focus on attracting more investment to the city,” said Mr Veeraraghavan N., president, operations, Puravankara Ltd. Provident, he said, is focusing on affordable housing in all three IT focused cities — Hyderabad, Pune, and its original hub Bengaluru.

Provident Housing started only for affordable housing 8 years back. First one started in Bengaluru.

Mr Veeraraghavan said the company plans to handover 1,000 apartments in the phase-1 of its Hyderabad project Puravankara Provident Kenworth in Rajendra Nagar by March 2019.

Explaining the company’s plans in the affordable housing, he said, “We plan to invest `3,000 crore in affordable housing in the next few years.

In the next one year, 15 million square feet would be in affordable segment. It is going to be in Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, and Hyderabad.”

Mr Veeraraghavan said the company has already signed up large parcels of land in Pune.

“We have also taken up one million square feet project in Mumbai for affordable segment, which we will start in 5-6 months.”

Technomics 16

Vivo to launch the world’s first in-display fingerprint scanner smartphone in China today

PAGE

WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

THE ASIAN AGE

IN

BRIEF

Opera gets ‘cryptojacking’ protection

Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, have become a hot topic and, with their surge in value, so has the mining for new coins, known as cryptocurrency mining.

While some use their own data centres, many web developers are increasingly using people’s computers and smartphones for this — often without their consent.

The phenomenon is estimated to be affecting more than a billion people worldwide, causing their devices to run warm, become slower and eat up their batteries.

“When you browse the web, there are no visual clues that your device is exposed to mining,” says Jan Standal, from Opera. “A single webpage you visit can take up to 4.5hrs of your battery time if you keep the tab open. This often turns out to be just the battery time you needed to use a ride-hailing app or check the map to get home” he added protection against cryptocurrency mining scripts to its desktop and mobile browsers by blocking mining scripts.

New Epson MFP spews out 100 PPM

■ In early 2017, 1.5 lakh printers around the world were hacked

Office printers now vulnerable AGE CORRESPONDENT Way back in 1938, Chester Carlson invented the process of xerography, which was commercialised by the Xerox Corporation. The device was widely used to produce high-quality text and graphic images on paper. However, it wasn’t until 1959, before the first convenient office copier was unveiled.

Entering the new millennia the printer transformed from a mere piece of hardware connected to a PC and turned into a computer itself. Balaji Rajagopalan, Executive Director, Technology, Channels & International Business, Xerox India feels that network printing unlocked a billion possibilities. Fast-forward to 2015, printers became even more sophisticated! Cloud and mobile ready, customisable with display screens and built-in apps, they have transformed into a workplace assistant.

But — this sophistication came with a risk!

These Multifunction printers (MFPs) are subjected to an identity crisis!

The IT teams and employees have a myopic vision.

They don’t always see them as full-fledged, wellnetworked systems they really are. Unfortunately, the attackers do. Even worse, they find them terribly attractive!

Quietly seated in the corner of the office, busy simplifying work for us, they might not seem as threats.

A ‘TEXT BOMB’ CAN NOW BUG YOUR iPHONE Epson announced their first inkjet MFP for enterprises.

The WorkForce Enterprise printer, WF-C20590, prints at speeds of up to 100 pages per minute (ppm).

The WorkForce Enterprise printer’s ink cartridges yield up to 100,000 pages (2x50,000) in black and 50,000 pages in colour each, for greater cost savings. It features high capacity paper feed unit with option for up to 5,350 sheets for input and output of up to 4,000 pages. This printer supports USB 3.0, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct and NFC. Epson’s PrecisionCore linehead technology consists of a fixed print head that prints at speeds of 100ipm for both simplex and duplex.

Due to its stable print feeding and smart design, the printer is able to print on a wide range of paper types of up to 350gsm, including paper of irregular sizes. The WorkForce lowers total cost of ownership with fewer moving parts than colour lasers, resulting in fewer components required for maintenance and reduced downtime. The WF-C20590 is priced at `1,271,799.

Zebronics Maestro BT for `1,699

Zebronics rolls out its newest Bluetooth speaker — Maestro, a decently sized portable speaker designed with a fabric finish. Maestro is available in four different fabric shades of Orange, Grey, Black and Brown, this speaker comes with a detachable stand. The speaker is powered by a 1800mAh battery. The company claims that this portable speaker can generate deeper bass and can be connected to your Bluetooth compatible device under the range of 8-10 metres. Maestro features an inbuilt FM radio system and also has a call function with built-in mic, which allows you to attend calls from your device. The speaker also supports microSD card or USB. Priced at `1,699, the product is available with leading retail stores across India.

But if left unmanned, they sure are capable of posing a real security risk.

150,000! Yes! In early 2017, over a lakh and a half connected printers were hacked in just a few hours.

And the “victims” included companies of all sizes.

Fortunately, the attack did more good than harm! It brought into notice the security risks associated with printers. Indeed, it was a useful and effective reminder of the vulnerability of these devices and the costs and menace they can cause.

Considering the risks involved and variety and volume of confidential documents that pass through the printer, managing printer fleet becomes a critical issue for any company! As per a

recent study by Ponemon Institute, an average 44 per cent of the devices are insecure in terms of the access to the data stored in printer mass storage and over half (55 per cent) of devices are insecure in terms of access to the data stored in printed hardcopy. The study also revealed that 60 per cent of the companies had a data breach which involved printers and 44 per cent of the networkconnected printers in the organization had the risk of unauthorised access to the data stored in printer mass storage.

So, definitely, it’s better to be safe, than being sorry. Or rather really sorry! Companies — big, small or medium are equally at risk because

HomePod gets FCC certified AGE CORRESPONDENT

AGE CORRESPONDENT A research states that a ‘text bomb’, which possibly has a bug, can now cripple your Apple phone. What may seem as unpleasant news for iPhone users is that now a single text message, which contains a malicious code can incite a crash. The bug also slows Safari browsers, which are used to surf the Macs and drain battery levels.

These ‘text bombs’ have the capacity to not only crash but also restart the device on receiving a text message (with the bug in it).

And the worst part is that the recipient’s phone gets affected without even the user opening the message. Security researcher Abraham Masri took to the social media site Twitter to state that he had reported this new issue to the Cupertino based tech giant but hasn’t received any response about the same.

And once this was put up by the researcher, massive retweets about the same started taking place and Masri had to pull the post down in view of ensuring public safety across Apple devices. While the bug, named ChaiOS can be further abused, it doesn’t apparently cause a security threat to any other smartphone unless the code has been saved and re-uploaded.

Since Apple unveiled the Siri-powered HomePod at the WWDC 2017 last July, Apple fans have been waiting ever since to get their hand on the first AIpowered speaker from Cupertino.

Initially, Apple targeted a launch date somewhere in December 2017 but several certification delays led to pushing the date even further, However, a report from MacRumours suggests that the HomePod has been approved by the FCC in the US, which means the HomePod will finally start rolling out of the assembly line.

Leaks have suggested that the FCC has approved the HomePod for the US market.

Although Apple hasn’t given out an official date for the first sale of the HomePod, it is expected that the Siri-powered speaker will be available for sale sometime in late February or early March.

According to Apple’s early claims, the

HomePod will be shipped to US, UK and Australia initially. Apple hasn’t laid out plans for selling the HomePod in India as of now.

The Apple HomePod is Apple’s first Siri-powered music speaker that will play music wirelessly over Wi-Fi networks from Apple Music and will be compatible with all Apple devices such as iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple TVs. The HomePod will also connect to smart devices supporting Apple’s HomeKit. The HomePod will start at $349 in the US.

even a single printer, can be enough to give hackers a gateway to the company’s network and seize their data. This risk is even higher for SMBs simply because they are more unlikely to have an IT manager in-house.

Also, their close relationship with large companies requires a high level of data availability and integrity — which adds to their risk.

However, despite these findings and conversation about the risks involved, less than 2 per cent of printers are secure. This is why its essential to adopt a solution adapted to the ecosystem in place in order to propose an effective countermeasure to the possible attempts of intrusion and piracy.

1st essential measure: Ensure the machine(s) is set up correctly with an optimum level of authentication or access control.

This will ensure that only the authorised people will have access to the resources and thus your data — a key step towards optimal data confidentiality.

2nd measure: The protection of the documents themselves. By protecting the print device(s), the company also protects its data to ensure its integrity. As established earlier, connected printers are an easy network gateway for hackers.

However, the upstream detection of malicious attacks and intrusions are the first barriers against such attacks.

3rd measure: Strengthen data security. It’s recommended to encrypt the data, use an electronic signature and ensure non-repudiation of a message. The key is secure prints and protect critical data.

Good news: Now new printing solutions have security aoptions which can easily be activated even without a DSI nearby.

Simply choose the level of security you want. And if you do not, you always have the possibility to ask for advice directly from the manufacturer.

Let us not forget that the experts remain the best interlocutors to help companies to optimise their costs and to protect themselves!

Smart-glasses could help combat nausea

PHOTO: PEXELS

AGE CORRESPONDENT If you are someone who doesn’t gel well with longdistance journeys in cars or buses, then this news will be making you happy.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have patented a new type of glasses that will help reduce nausea while travelling in cars. There’s no particular name for this technology right now but you could be seeing it soon in autonomous cars.The system works on the principle of making your body aware of what is actually happening in the world around you.

Nausea generally takes place when your sense of motion is completely different from what you are seeing — reading a book in a car is a perfect description of this situation. The patented glasses connect your senses with what’s actually happening outside the car by using light tubes to imitate the car’s movements in your field of

◗ The glasses make your senses aware of the happenings around you ◗ The technology doesn’t have a name right now vision. So, if the car is swerving right, the light tubes will modify your field of vision to let your eyes see what your body is sensing.The technology has been developed primarily keeping in mind autonomous cars that will take over the automotive industry very soon. While it is possible to make the technology a part of the car for catering to all the passengers at once, it is more feasible to make it portable. With minimal or no driver inputs, people will be bound to do other activities while travelling, which will make more of them prone to nausea, thus making this technology a muchneeded part of your commutes in the future.

AR MOVES ON TO CROSSOVERS If you have wondered about the absence of Augmented Reality from cars even in 2018, then your wait is over. Chinese automobile manufacturer GAC has unveiled their En Verge crossover concept at the Detroit Motor Show 2018 and the first thing that catches attention is its doors with

no windows. The En Verge has ‘panoramic AR goggles’ for the rear passengers that show information about the surroundings on the overlay while the dashboard has a driver information system laid out across its entire length through a digital display. It is powered by a 71kwh battery that can make the

concept car drive a maximum of 370 miles; it houses fast charging that gives up to 240 miles range in 10 minutes. But the most eye-popping feature of the En Verge is its fog lamps that pop out to act as a flashlight — sounds useful if you are brave enough to explore the wildlife in an EV.

PHOTO: GAC

FB should pay news publishers: Rupert Murdoch Media mogul Rupert Murdoch on January 22 called on Facebook to pay “trusted” news publishers a carriage fee, similar to the model used by cable companies, amid efforts by the social media company to fight misinformation on its platform.

“Facebook and Google have popularised scurrilous news sources through algorithms that are profitable for these

PHOTO: PIXABAY

◗ The quality of news on FB is put under question ◗ The media mogul said FB should fight misinformation platforms but inherently unreliable,” Murdoch, who controls the Wall Street Journal as executive chairman of News Corp, said in a statement.

Facebook

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on January 19 that his company would fight misinformation and sensationalism on its platform by using member surveys to identify “trustworthy” outlets.

“There has been much discussion about subscription models but I have yet to see a proposal that truly recognises the investment in and the social value

of professional journalism,” Murdoch said.

The quality of news on Facebook has been called into question after alleged Russian operatives and spammers spread false reports on the site, including during the 2016 US election campaign.

Facebook and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

— Reuters

Intel alert: Released Spectre, Meltdown patches have issues

The patches caused affected computers to restart more often than normal and show ‘unpredictable’ behaviour Intel said on January 22 that patches it released to address two high-profile security vulnerabilities in its chips are faulty, advising customers, computer makers and cloud providers to stop installing them. Intel

Executive Vice President Navin Shenoy disclosed the problem in a statement on the chipmaker’s website, saying that patches released after months of development caused computers to reboot more often than

normal and other “unpredictable” behaviour. “I apologise for any disruption this change in guidance may cause,” Shenoy said. “I assure you we are

working around the clock to ensure we are addressing these issues.”

The issue of the faulty patches is separate from complaints by customers

for weeks that the patches slow computer performance. Intel has said a typical home and business PC user should not see significant slowdowns. Intel’s failure to provide a usable patch could cause businesses to postpone purchasing new computers, said IDC analyst Mario Morales.

Intel is still trying to get a handle on what’s really happening. They haven’t resolved the matter,” he said. Intel asked technology providers to start

testing a new version of the patches, which it began distributing on January 20.

The warning came nearly three weeks after Intel confirmed on January 3 that its chips were impacted by vulnerabilities known as Spectre and Meltdown, which make data on affected computers vulnerable to espionage. The meltdown was specific to chips from Intel, as well as one from SoftBank Group Corp’s ARM Holdings. Spectre

affected nearly every modern computing device, including ones with chips from Intel, ARM and Advanced Micro Devices.

Problems with the patches have been growing since Intel on January 11 said they were causing higher reboot rates in its older chips and then last week that the problem was affecting newer processors. The Wall Street Journal first reported Intel asking customers to halt using the patches.

— Reuters

Culture+

Prior to becoming Pope, Pope John Paul II wrote a play The Jeweller’s Shop which was played in the Westminster Theatre in 1982 THE ASIAN AGE

Joe Jackson art

Dance & music is like painting in motion Madhura Karambelkar music

S

S

Street muralist, British-Ghanaian artist, Neequaye Dreph Dsane stands beside his artwork, a portrait of British-Moroccan artist, Hassan Hajjaj in a street in east London. body of work... He’s trying to present people of colour, people from a different background coming here.

“We don’t have that many people present, people like us in London in music, fashion, art, food,” Hajjaj added.

Dreph, a father of one and former graffiti artist and school art teacher, has produced his work on streets around the world.

In London, he gets informal agreement to convert walls into canvases, often just knocking on people’s doors to ask permission.

His You Are Enough portraits project, completed last year, went viral across platforms like Instagram and Twitter and was covered by British media.

Dreph said he conceived the 10-mural series to champion oft-overlooked everyday black women, from lawyers to writers to

campaigners.

He did not stage any formal publicity and was surprised by the widespread attention.

“It was all organic,” he added. “And that’s something that I hold dear... The integrity is absolutely paramount to what I do.”

In his follow-up series, the artist plans to produce another 10 portraits around the British capital on the theme of immigration.He aims to paint his subjects where they live or work, in an effort to celebrate the local and confront issues around gentrification stoked by “You Are Enough”.

“People are actually seeing the artwork as another sign of gentrification,” he said, admitting initial surprise at the reaction.

“This series is a response to that... My work is about presenting alternative narratives.” Dreph completed the first piece in the new project last year: a 6.7-metre-high

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WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

Big, bold and bright: London street mural artist fetes immigration pray can in hand, perched halfway up a ladder, Neequaye Dreph Dsane applied the final touches of colour to his latest mural enlivening an otherwise drab side street in east London.

The once-dingy area is now a hipster hangout and home to the second in a series of new portraits by the British-Ghanaian artist, known as Dreph.

His mission: to paint a positive picture — literally — of immigrants in Britain, in an era when he feels they are increasingly maligned by gentrification, Brexit and the rise of nationalism.

The muralist, who rose to prominence last year with a striking street portrait series celebrating black female empowerment, wants to use his rising profile to showcase these “community champions”.

“With Brexit and seeing the effects of gentrification that’s happening across the city, I’ve been inspired to tell the human stories of the people who are the soul of some of the communities that make London such a culturally rich, cosmopolitan city,” he told AFP between bursts of spray paint.

“I don’t think we hear enough about the people who have come from different parts of the world, and just done some absolutely amazing stuff for their communities, which is essential for this country.”

Dreph’s latest mural depicts Hassan Hajjaj, a British-Moroccan artist who divides his time between the two countries and has had an office-showroom-shop in Shoreditch since 2005.

Hajjaj mines various contemporary cultures in his works — which include photos, video, sculpture and design — earning him the moniker the “Andy Warhol of Marrakech.”

He exhibited at London’s Somerset House galleries late last year.

Dreph, 43, was inspired to paint his friend Hajjaj because “he has managed to fuse his native Marrakech with things that are popular to the West.”

“That’s what his work is about and... exactly what I’m trying to do with this series.”

In the mural — nearly three metres high and over six metres wide (10 by 20 feet) — Hajjaj poses intensely, his greying beard intricately captured with speckles of white spray paint, framed by an eye-catching purple background.

“I still feel a bit strange seeing myself that big,” he said, staring up at the wall.

“I feel very proud to be a part of Dreph’s

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mural towering over central Brixton, a fastgentrifying south London neighbourhood long home to British-Caribbean and British-African communities.

It features local legend Michael Johns, a facilities manager who emigrated from Grenada in the 1970s and was awarded the keys to Brixton Market in 2017 in honour of his years of service.The mural showcases Dreph’s signature style: larger-than-life subjects emblazoned in bright, bold colours, exuding pride and optimism.

He paints from his own photographs and credits his vibrant and joyful style to something in his subconscious — and background.

“My portraiture is born out of years and years of doing graffiti... I’ve translated it into what I’m doing now,” Dreph said.

—AFP

ound; the first expression! People who think about it, ruminate on it, completely digest and imbibe it — do such people exist? Yes, they do!

Can say this with conviction after my tryst with divinity!

A seminar held at NCPA on January 20 and 21, 2018 gave lesser mortals (and higher ones) the opportunity to listen to and interact with the maestro Pt. Birju Maharaj; and is he poetry in motion! Maharaj ji not only shared his journey and his expression of the thumri art form but he opened up the mind of every artist by saying that “the manifestation of dance or music was like a painting which was constantly merging into infinity”.

The artist, the accompanists, the listeners were all a part of this painting, this greatness which each and every person attending the seminar could feel and see when Maharaj ji presented ‘Jhulat Radhe’ — the physical sway of emotions conveyed and transferred his energy to the whole auditorium.

Shekhar Sen who was accompanying Maharaj ji on the harmonium and also filling up on singing as and when Maharaj ji was emoting, truly nudged him on and gave the apt support such that one could experience Maharaj ji’s divinity unimpeded.

He also made the most of the opportunity by

bringing together onstage Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty and Pt. Birju Maharaj. The Rasa utpatti during their ‘Bali Umar’ was at a different level altogether!

Shruti Sadolikarji’s session giving a complete theoretical background of the subject matter, Nayan Ghoshji’s repertoire of laggi-ladis and his insight sharing on the maestros of the yesteryears as also Ajay Joglekarji’s humility in yielding to seniors, Shekhar Senji and Ajoy Chakrabortyji highlighting the Purab ang and Punjab Tappa respectively lead the listeners on to Malini Awasthiji’s command on the folk forms such as Kajri, Dadra, Chaiti, etc.

She held the audience in a magical musical grip with her voice and stage presence as she rattled off one song after the next leaving people asking for more even in a post lunch session!

A short film on Girija Deviji was screened on day one and the grand finale was a film on the one and only Begum Akhtar. The support of all organizers, technicians and accompanists is inevitable and highly appreciated even though all names cannot be mentioned here.

However, as is the truth, none of this would have been possible without the foresight and the driving force of Guruji Pt. Arvind Parikh who was recently awarded the prestigious fellowship of the Sangeet Natak Academy.

The writer is MA in music (sitar), a yoga therapist and a chartered accountant

Sport

All-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur to lead India women in T20 series against South Africa beginning on February 13

— Shoaib Akhtar Former Pakistan fast bowler

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Joe Root

Root to miss T20 tri-series Sydney: Joe Root on Tuesday pulled out of England's Twenty20 tri-series against Australia and New Zealand, as Ben Stokes confirmed his return to international cricket would be delayed by a court appearance.

Test captain Root, who has played in all five Ashes matches and the first three ODIs against Australia this month, will return to England before playing in the one-day international series against New Zealand in late February.

Root said he did not like missing games but made a decision to “have a little break”. His replacement has not yet been named.

“I came into this tour wanting to play everything. I love playing for England and I don't like missing games of cricket,” the 27-year-old Yorkshire batsman said in a statement.

“I had a long chat with (coach) Trevor Bayliss about things and there's obviously a big summer ahead and a lot of cricket still to be played. It's going to be really important to make sure that I'm available for all of that.”

— AFP

Windies to host ’18 women’s T20 Cup Dubai: The 2018 edition of the Women’s World T20 will be hosted by Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana and St Lucia from November 9 to 24, the ICC has announced.

Hosts Windies will defend the title they won with an eight-wicket victory over Australia in Kolkata in 2016.

Stafanie Taylor, who was named as captain of the ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year 2017, won the player of the series award in India and is expected to once again lead the Windies in front of a passionate home crowd.

The three venues were selected by Cricket West Indies through a bidding process and have been ratified by the ICC. The preliminary round matches will be held at the Guyana National Stadium and Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia, while Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Barbuda will stage the two semi-finals and the final.

ICC chief executive David Richardson said: “Windies women are the reigning champions and I've no doubt they'll be looking to defend their title on home soil.

“We are keen to build on the momentum from this summer’s Women’s World Cup and I’m sure the players can rely on a warm welcome from the legendary cricket fans in the West Indies,” he said. — AFP

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WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

THE ASIAN AGE

It is terribly sad that cricketers from either side of the border are not getting to experience the Indo-Pak rivalry

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INDIA EYE CONSOLATION WIN ■ Visitors

will look to avoid 3-0 whitewash in final Test

Johannesburg, Jan. 23: Faced with the prospect of a humiliating whitewash, a desperate India would be aiming to make the right selections against an unrelenting South Africa in the third and final Test, starting here on Wednesday.

The hosts have already sealed the series win, after winning the first Test in Cape Town by 72 runs and the second Test in Centurion by 135 runs.

This was the first overseas Test series loss for India under Virat Kohli (discounting the 2014 loss in Australia as M.S. Dhoni was full-time captain back then). The tour has also also ended India’s streak of nine consecutive series’ wins since 2015.

The side, however, will not lose their no. 1 Test ranking despite even if the rubber ends 0-3. As if responding to the severe criticism of selections so far, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is set to return to the side, after mysteriously sitting out the previous Test.

Jasprit Bumrah, a surprise selection in both the previous Tests, is expected to be left out. While all five pacers bowled in the nets on Monday, a more certain hint emanated from the fact that four of them — Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami — batted in pairs and took firststrike on the freshlyrolled practice wickets.

LIVE on TV India vs South Africa on Sony Ten 1 & HD

@ 1.30 PM The India skipper is expected to make at least one more change though.

Since Sunday, when the team regrouped after a three-day mid-tour break, Ajinkya Rahane has batted the longest in nets.

He has had four long practice stints over the past two days and is assured of a starting spot after Rohit Sharma scored 78 runs in four innings at Cape Town and Centurion.

Despite Rahane’s anticipated comeback, however, it isn’t assured that Rohit will make way.

India could yet go in with six batsmen and an

India captain Virat Kohli (left) with coach Ravi Shastri in a practice session at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg ahead of the third and final Test match against South Africa.

— AP

Smith doubts Kohli’s calibre Johannesburg, Jan. 23: South Africa’s most successful Test captain Graeme Smith is not sure if Virat Kohli can be a long-term leader for India and feels the star batsman’s leadership skills are not challenged enough by the team management.

“I don’t know, when I look at him, if he is a long-term captaincy option for India,” Smith said.

“At the end of this year, he’d have been away from home for a while, the pressure he’ll face, the scrutiny from the press — I know he only gets that in India — but if you’re away from home

all-pace attack at the Wanderers.

They were certainly mulling this strategy 48 hours before the Centurion Test, so it only seems logical that this is again an option on a green pitch with ample pace and

and you’re struggling for form as a team, I don’t know if I’d want to burden Virat Kohli with that... Or if India have a better leader in that environment,” said the former opening batsman.

Kohli has been in the

line of fire for India’s selection choices in the first two Tests in South Africa that the team lost to lose the series.

Smith feels Kohli needs a person around him who can challenge his decisions in a constructive way.

“When I look at Virat, I think he needs someone in the support staff who can constructively challenge him and help him grow,” said Smith.

“He has all the capabilities tactically, he knows his own game, he sets the standard in the field for everyone else. “I think if he had a really constructive person in his environment, who could talk

bounce.

Overall, the scenery has changed quite drastically for Kohli.

Six months ago, he had led the side to an emphatic 3-0 victory in Sri Lanka, a feat never achieved by an Indian team.

Now, he stands on the brink of another 3-0 scoreline, fortunes reversed, as no Indian team has previously been whitewashed on the South African soil.

Since 1992, India have visited six times and their worst defeat was by a 2-0

Graeme Smith

to him, make him think, maybe even challenge him with some different ideas, in a constructive way, not an angry or aggressive way, but make him think, open his eyes to other possibilities, that would make him a really good leader.”

Kohli is aggressive and expressive on the field and that can affect his team mates either way, feels Smith.

“We all know he’s an outstanding player, his intensity really benefits his own personal game, he loves that confrontation, that intensity brings the best out of him,” Smith said.

— PTI

BIPIN DANI

New Delhi, Jan. 23: The Committee of Administrators running the BCCI will review India’s dismal performance in South Africa following the conclusion of the tour.

India suffered big defeats in Cape Town and Centurion to lose the series. The inconsequential third and final Test starts in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

“We will review the performance after getting the full report from the team manager. Nothing can be done now as the players and officials are in South Africa,” said a BCCI official who was present in the CoA meeting that took place here on Tuesday.

CoA chief Vinod Rai, member Diana Edulji and BCCI chief executive

South Africa’s twin brothers, Duan and Marco Jansen, with India captain Virat Kohli.

— ASIAN AGE Duan Jansen by 15 minutes, said: “It is an amazing feeling to know that I had bowled to the best batsman (Virat Kohli) in the world and I really feel honoured to bowl to him and the rest of the team.”

“I knew I was helping our opponents but it didn’t bother me because for me it was an opportunity to bowl against my idols and to do that was a great privilege to me as a cricketer,” he signed off.

Chances of anything happening are very bright. As I said, there is a lot of grass on the pitch.

We would definitely look at that option.

I am sure both the teams would be thinking about those options.

— VIRAT KOHLI from their mistakes. “I said before the series that whichever side bats better wins the series, and that’s been the case so far. The batsmen are looking to rectify their mistakes that happened in the first two games because it’s a chance for everyone to step up in times that have not gone our way and to change things around for us,” he said.

Currently at 124 ranking points, world no. 1 India are leading secondplaced South Africa by 13 points and a whitewash would result in both teams being on 118 points with India being marginally ahead on decimal points.

— PTI

gin in a threeTest series in 1996-97 under the captaincy of Sachin Tendulkar.

— PTI

CoA TO REVIEW INDIA’S PERFORMACE IN SA

South African twin brothers, Duan and Marco Jansen, were “more than happy” to bowl to the Indian team at nets in Johannesburg, ahead of the third and final Test beginning on Wednesday.

“Both are students of my school (Potchefstroom) and they are promising allrounders,” school coach Wian Lubber said.

“We had received a request from the local club, NorthWest Cricket, to send net bowlers for the India team and the talented brothers were sent because they are hardworking and talented,” the coach added.

Marco, younger to

Johannesburg, Jan. 23: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said performance of the pacers had been a big boost for the team and hinted at employing an all-seam attack against South Africa on a typical green Wanderers track in the third cricket Test here.

“Chances of anything happening are very bright. As I said, there is a lot of grass on the pitch. We would definitely look at that option. I am sure both the teams would be thinking about those options,” Kohli said when asked if India might go with an all-pace attack.

“Not many times on overseas tours we have picked 40 wickets in two Test matches. So, I think that's a big boost for us if the bowlers can continue doing their job. As I said, we have taken 40 wickets so far and we need to figure out what's the best way to pick up 20 wickets again in this Test.”

“We are going to have a discussion on that and the other combinations of the whole team. We will have a clear picture by the end of this afternoon,” he added.

India’s batsmen have come a cropper in the Test series and Kohli hoped they would learn

mar-

SOUTH AFRICAN TWINS AT NETS TO HELP INDIA PREPARE FOR 3RD TEST DUBAI, JAN. 23

Skipper hints at all-pace attack

Rahul Johri were part of the meeting. None of the BCCI office-bearers including acting president C.K. Khanna and acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary were called for the meeting.

Virat Kohli-led India have received severe flak following the series loss.

Some former India players felt the team was under-prepared, going into the first Test without a warm-up match, while others like Harbhajan Singh said hosting Sri Lanka before the South Africa tour was not the best thing to do. In fact, India coach Ravi Shastri himself admitted that 10 more days of preparation would have made a difference in the team’s preparation.

— PTI

Dinesh Karthik

POPE SPINS AUSTRALIA INTO SEMIS Chahar five-star show for Queenstown, Jan. 23: Legspinner Lloyd Pope produced a dream spell of 8/35 as Australia defeated England by 31 runs in a dramatic fashion at the John Davies Oval here to march into the Super League semi-finals of the ICC U-19 cricket World Cup, here on Tuesday.

Lloyd’s bewildering spell of 9.4-2-35-8 turned the game on its head as England were spun out for 96 in 23.4 overs after being 47/0 in the eighth over while chasing 128 for victory.

The astonishing effort ensured Australia captain Jason Sangha’s fighting 58 did not go waste for the three-

time champions, who now await the winner of Thursday’s quarter-final between New Zealand and Afghanistan to know who they play in the first semifinal on January 29 in Christchurch. Pope’s spell was the best-ever in the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup to date, bettering his team-mate Jason Ralston’s 7/15 against Papua New Guinea earlier in a league match.

This performance was also second to former India fast bowler Irfan Pathan’s 9/16 against Bangladesh at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore in 2003 in all under-19 matches to date.

Pope was not the only one to shatter a big record on the 11th day of the tournament.

In one of the two plate quarter-finals of the day, Sri Lanka opener Hasitha Boyagoda slammed a strokefilled 191 to establish a new mark for the highest individual score in U-19s to help his side beat Kenya by 311 runs.

In the other quarter-final, half-centuries by Nyeem Young, Bhaskar Yadram and Emmanuel Stewart helped the West indies overpower Ireland by four wickets. In the Super League quarterfinal of the day, Australia elected to bat but were bowled out for 127 in 33.3 overs.

— PTI

Rajasthan stuns Karnataka

Australia’s Lloyd Pope celebrates his eight-wicket haul against England in the U-19 World Cup on TUesday. — ICC

Kolkata, Jan. 23: Rajasthan pacer Deepak Chahar produced a career-best 5/15, guiding his team to an upset 22run win over Karnataka in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy here on Tuesday.

Defending 161 against a star-studded batting lineup, Chahar ran through the top-order in an astonishing first spell of 3-0-9-4 as Karnataka folded for 138 in 20 overs, their second successive defeat that virtually ended hopes of

SCORES RAJASTHAN 160/8 in 20 overs (Ankit Lamba 58, Aditya Garhwal 31, Sreenath Aravind 3/25, Vinay Kumar 2/29) bt Karnataka 138 in 20 overs (Aniruddha Joshi 73*, Deepak Chahar 5/15, Chandrapal Singh 2/31).

BENGAL 170/6 in 20 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 51, Vivek Singh 32, Manoj Tiwary 25, Pradeep Sangwan 2/27, Kulwant Khejroliya 2/25) bt Delhi 167/8 in 20 overs (Dhruv Shorey 84, Lalit Yadav 45, Kanishk Seth 3/25, Sayan Ghosh 3/24).

UTTAR PRADESH 162/4 in 20 overs (Raina 61, Washington 2/32) lost to Tamil Nadu 163/5 in 19.2 overs (R. Sanjay 52, Washington 33, Rajpoot 2/37, Mohsin 2/20).

making the final.

Dhruv Shorey (84 from 46b; 7x4, 4x6) hit his second successive fifty but it

went in vain as Delhi went down to Bengal by three runs in a thrilling finish.

— PTI

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Juventus dismiss reports that Serie A champions are interested in signing Mario Balotelli THE ASIAN AGE

By acting like this, the IOC can be compared to a despot and a tyrant, trampling on laws and deciding people’s fate simply according to its whims — Alexei Kravtsov president of the Russian Skating Union on IOC’s decision to ban top athletes

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Poor start for Indian contingent Jakarta: India witnessed a dismal start at the Indonesia Masters as none of the shuttlers could cross the qualifying stage at the $3,50,00 World Tour Super 500 tournament.

While Abhishek Yelegar lost 20-22, 14-21 to Vega Vio Nirwanda of Indonesia, Subhankar Dey suffered a 9-21 21-23 loss against another local player Panji Ahmad Maulana in the men’s singles qualifiers.

In women’s singles qualifiers, Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli went down 7-21, 9-21 to Goh Jin Wei of Malaysia.

Men’s doubles pair of Kapil Chaudhary and Brijesh Yadav too lost 12-21, 8-21 to Indonesian combo of Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Frengky Wijaya Putra.

With Kidambi Srikanth and H.S. Prannoy pulling out at the last moment, Parupalli Kashyap has been promoted to the main draw. He will face Malaysia’s Wei Feng Chong on Wednesday. Srikanth suffered a minor injury and will be back at the India Open. — PTI

Delhi races postponed New Delhi: Rain forced postponement of the Delhi races to be held on Tuesday.

The races will now take place on Thursday with the first race scheduled to begin at 1:45 pm.

De Minaur in Oz side for Davis Cup Melbourne: Rising teenager Alex De Minaur was named in Australia’s squad on Tuesday for the Davis Cup World Group first round tie against Germany next week.

The 18-year-old will join Australian no. 1 Nick Kyrgios, Jordan Thompson, John Millman and doubles specialist John Peers for the clash in Brisbane.

Germany are yet to confirm their team but world no. 4 Alexander Zverev, his brother Mischa, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Jan-Lennard Struff and Peter Gojowczyk are all in contention.

“We have named Alex De Minaur in the five-man team after an impressive couple of weeks on the tour,” Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt said.

“He has worked hard and we are pleased to give him this opportunity. It will be a tough tie against a strong German side,” he added.

— AFP

■ Houston continue their fine run, beat Miami

KABEER KHAN MUMBAI, JAN. 23

THE LONG BREAK Most of the players travelling to South Africa featured in the women’s challengers’ trophy with opener Punam Raut finishing as the top-scorer. Mithali reckons the series was a fine launchpad for preparation.

“Before the World Cup, we were quite busy with the qualifiers, and other series as a preparation for the tournament. It has been a long series for us.

After the World Cup, it was important for the girls to recover from injuries,” said Mithali on Tuesday at the pre-departure press conference.

“Ideally, players would have preferred a continuation in momentum, but, when you have injuries in your side, it is also important the need to have time to recover and get back,” she added.

EARLY ARRIVAL Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon (left) in action against Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr in their NBA game on Monday in Houston. The Rockets won 99-90.

— AP fourth to bust open a close game.

The Rockets then went on a 7-2 run to make it 9590 with 38 seconds remaining. The Heat led by double digits at halftime and kept it close down the stretch.

BUCKS SOAR MINUS COACH Elsewhere, Malcolm Brogdon scored a career-

high 32 points as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns 109105 just hours after sacking head coach Jason Kidd.

Kidd was replaced by assistant coach Joe Prunty who was promoted to interim head coach until a full-time replacement can be found.

Khris Middleton, who scored a team-high 35

points, had high praise for his former coach.

“It’s tough for me,” Middleton said. “He took my game to another level.

He took this team to a whole other level. Today was a tough day.”

A Bucks statement paid tribute to Kidd’s work in helping the team reach two playoff appearances soon after his appointment in 2014.

— AFP

The World Cup runners-up will arrive reasonably early for the series. The side will have two weeks in the South African conditions to prepare for the bouncy pitches.

The women in blue returned with the trophy the last time they travelled.

“It is a very important

tour. It is not going to be easy because we have played South Africa before, we have toured South Africa in a quadrangular series, but having said that, the SA team are a very good side.

“In the World Cup, they almost made it to the finals,” she said.

GEARED UP FOR CUP The year will end for the ladies with the T20 World Cup that will commence from November 9 in the sun-drenched West Indies.

International Cricket Council’s stress on the T20s in the series very well implies that the players need to prepare for it.

Mithali is fully aware of the challenge as only a handful of the Indians have had a taste of this format in WBBL. “We are playing five T20s in South Africa, the onedayers are equally important like the T20s.

“We are looking forward to the T20 games as well, because we, as a team, need to work really hard in this format.

“I think we have prepared very well for the series. We have done well in the World Cup. But, now we are getting into the New Year, and we have the T20 World Cup to look forward to.”

SACHIN’S EXPERTISE On Monday, Sachin Tendulkar visited the team to give the players a pep talk before the tour. Many girls were amused to meet the former cricketer as he spoke to each of them separately.

“Meeting Sachin yesterday was really nice and important for the players because of his experience over the years in the game.

He dealt with pressure and failure, and when he shares it with the players could be really useful for the players,” she said.

The team will spend a month in South Africa aiming to continue their form from last year.

Rafinha will join Inter on loan

STAR RUSSIAN SPEED SKATER BANNED Moscow: Russia’s short track speed skating star Victor An has been banned from the Pyeongchang Winter Games, the Russian Olympic Committee confirmed on Tuesday, in the aftermath of a state-sponsored doping scandal.

An — who was born in South Korea but took Russian citizenship before the 2014 Sochi Games — was “absent from the list of potential participants”, vice president of the ROC Stanislav Pozdnyakov said in a statement, confirming media reports from Monday. Olympic champion biathlete Anton Shipulin and world champion skier Sergei Ustyugov were also absent from the list of athletes invited by the International Olympic Committee the statement said.

The absent sportsmen have “never been implicated in any type of doping affair and the numerous tests they have passed in their careers show that they are clean athletes”, Pozdnyakov said adding “Today we will send the IOC, a request for the specific reasons why the captains of Russian teams in various sports have not been included in the list of potential participants.”

— AFP

Mithali & Co. set for African safari While Virat Kohli was hitting out at the Board of Control for Cricket in India for a cramped schedule before the Sri Lanka series in November, his female counterpart Mithali Raj and her team were cooling their heels being out of international action ever since the World Cup heroics from July, last year.

Travelling to South Africa on Wednesday morning for three one-dayers and five T20s, Mithali feels that the gap was needed to fend off the injuries and get back to the fitness levels. The first ODI is scheduled on February 5.

injured and suspended players back in the lineup.

“We finally got all our guys healthy,” Harden said.

The short-handed Heat have also ramped up the tenacity in their play of late as they were coming off a 106-105 win over the Charlotte Hornets.

Houston’s Harden nailed a three pointer with about three minutes left in the

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WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

Rockets turn up heat Los Angeles, Jan. 23: The Houston Rockets aren’t the type of team to rest on their laurels.

Just two days after beating the reigning league champion Golden State Warriors, Houston quickly refocused on Monday night with a 99-90 victory over the Miami Heat in a battle of first-place NBA teams.

James Harden scored a team-high 28 points while Chris Paul had 16, six rebounds and six assists for the Rockets, who are blasting through one of the toughest stretches of their season.

“We got to win games like that,” Harden said. “I think they only had seven threes all night.

“We buckled down and took away the paint. Made them make tough shots over us,” he added.

Eric Gordon came off the bench to score 16 points and Clint Capela delivered 14 for the Rockets, who won for the first time when scoring under 100 points in a game.

Hassan Whiteside led the Southeast Divisionleading Heat with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Josh Richardson finished with 12 in the loss in front of a crowd of 18,050 at the Toyota Center arena.

The Rockets, who are first in the Southwest Division, improved to 3312 on the season by overcoming a sizeable early deficit against the Heat.

Their last three wins have all come over firstplace teams, Golden State, Miami and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Houston welcomed both Trevor Ariza and Gerald Green back to their rotation after they served suspensions for trying to get into the Los Angeles Clippers’ locker room following a physical game at Staples Center arena.

Monday’s contest marked the first time in a while that the Rockets were fully healthy and the hope now is they can continue to find the right chemistry with all their

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Sami Khedira (second from left) of Juventus goes for a header during their Italian Serie A league match against Genoa at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, Italy, on Monday. Juventus won 1-0.

— AP

Juventus close gap on Napoli Turin (Italy), Jan. 23: Brazilian Douglas Costa scored the only goal as champions Juventus kept in hot pursuit of leaders Napoli with a 1-0 win against Genoa on Monday.

Napoli stayed top after the first game following the winter break when Dries Mertens ended a long goal drought in a 1-0 victory at Atalanta on Sunday.

Maurizio Sarri’s side have 54 points after 21 games to stay one point ahead of Juventus.

“It was important to win to stay in Napoli’s slipstream,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.

“It’s a challenge, winning a seventh Scudetto would be extraordinary,

● Miralem Panic missed an early chance from a free-kick awarded after six minutes when Gonzalo Higuain was fouled on the edge of the box, but Mattia Perin cleared ● Costa broke through after 16 minutes in the Allianz Stadium and exchanged passes with Mario Mandzukic before slotting the ball past Perin beyond legendary, so we have to do well and wait for the right moment,” he added.

Poland’s Wojciech Szczesny continued in place of the injured Gianluigi Buffon in goal for the Turin giants, with Costa starting ahead of Federico Bernardeschi up front.

Miralem Panic missed an early chance from a free-kick awarded after

six minutes when Gonzalo Higuain was fouled on the edge of the box, but Mattia Perin cleared.

But Costa broke through after 16 minutes in the Allianz Stadium and exchanged passes with Mario Mandzukic before slotting the ball past Perin.

Although Genoa had struggled for possession before the break the champions were less

threatening in the second half against a side that are 15th in the league.

Lazio moved third, 11 points behind Napoli, thanks to a thumping 5-1 win over Chievo in Rome on Sunday, equal on points but ahead of Inter Milan on goal difference.

Luciano Spalletti’s Inter fell further behind after a scrappy 1-1 home draw with Champions Leaguechasing Roma, who are three points behind in fifth.

Inter are winless in six games in the league and no longer look like title contenders, while Roma, who stay fifth on 40 points, have fallen even further behind after picking up just ten points from a possible 24.

— AFP

Madrid, Jan. 23: Barcelona midfielder Rafinha will join Inter Milan on loan until the end of the season with an option to buy, the Spanish club and the player confirmed here on Monday.

In a statement, Barcelona revealed Inter “have an option to purchase the player for 35 million euros ($43m) plus three million euros in variables, which must be confirmed before the end of the current season”.

The 24-year-old Brazil international, who was out of action for eight months last year due to a knee injury, joined Barcelona aged 13 and rose through the ranks.

He has scored one goal in two games for the Selecao but injuries blighted his Barca first team chances.

“I’m really happy,” Rafinha told Inter TV. “It’s a great feeling to be here. It’s an important stage in my life and I had a lot of desire to approach this new phase in my career.”

“There have been a lot of important players at Inter who have made history. I want to do my best and give everything to finish as high as possible and win titles with this shirt.”

“It’s always nice to have players who speak your language in the squad, I also know Mauro (Icardi), I’ve played with him before,” he added of Inter’s Argentina international striker.

Rafinha needed surgery and was out for more than six months after tearing a cruciate knee ligament against Roma at the end of 2015.

He then went under the knife again last year after suffering a meniscus injury against Granada in April.

— AFP

Mithali Raj at a press conference on Tuesday.

Positive atmosphere in team, says coach P.N. VISHNU MUMBAI, JAN. 23

Indian women’s cricket team coach Tushar Arothe on Tuesday said that they were travelling to South Africa with a positive frame of mind, despite having lost to the Proteas in the ICC Women’s World Cup last year.

Arothe stressed on the fact that the women’s team were not playing multi-day cricket tournaments like that of the men’s team, and said that they were focused on the upcoming ODIs against South Africa in the rainbow nation.

“We’re not playing multiday cricket there. Our focus is on one-dayers. Last year, when we went there we finished as champions and on the other hand in the World Cup, we lost to SA which we have to keep in mind.

“We are going with a positive frame of mind to do well,” he said at the predeparture press conference.

The coach also focused on the importance of training. “Training is very important. What we found

in the World Cup were our fitness levels.

“We had a few fitness camps in the month of September in the MCA which helped the girls’ fitness standard. In the Challengers, you must’ve seen the fielding levels had gone up and during this camp, we made some wickets a little bouncier.

“We gave them some target in the training setting targets for 10 overs and the bowlers are also going under different regimes,” he continued.

The Indian men’s team has had a forgettable outing so far, losing the Test series to South Africa after consecutive losses. The women’s cricket team coach, too, stressed on the fact that the team need to acclimatise to the conditions.

“We are preparing ourselves for the tour. Like Mithali said, we need to acclimatise to the conditions, and playing a couple of practice games before the first one-dayer. Even during the World Cup last year, we went early to England. That helped us a lot,” he said.

Sport

Manchester City playmaker Kevin de Bruyne signs contract extension until 2023 THE ASIAN AGE

It’s amazing. I mean, it was not expected, especially today.

Really tough match.

But I was in the zone today. If you believe in yourself, then anything can happen. But of course semis is “Wow”.

— Elise Mertens world no. 37 after beating world no. 4 Elina Svitolina in the Oz Open quarter-final

SHORT

TAKES

Indian Open golf keeps Hero tag New Delhi: Two-time defending champion S.S.P. Chawrasia will probably be the happiest to learn that Hero MotoCorp will continue its association with the Indian Open, which will be played once again at the DLF Golf and Country Club near here from March 8 to 11.

In a statement, the twowheeler giant confirmed it would remain title sponsor of Indian golf’s blue riband event, which it has backed since 2005.

Also, for the first time, the Indian Open will be promoted this season by the Indian Golf Union, who will join the European Tour and the Asian Tour to tri-sanction the tournament.

In 2017, the tournament made its debut at the DLF’s Gary Player course, home favourite Chawrasia successfully defending his title for a fourth European Tour win.

Anand to meet Carlsen in Round 9 Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands: World rapid chess champion Viswanathan Anand will take on world no.

1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the ninth round of the Tata Steel Masters here on Wednesday.

With two wins, five draws and one loss, Anand shares sixth place in the 14-player, 13-round tournament and will look for a good finish in the last five rounds.

Anand had lost his world chess champion crown to Carlsen.

The Netherlands’ Anish Giri, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan and Carlsen share the lead on 5.5 points apiece.

Wesley So of the United States and Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik follow a half point behind.

Anand is next on 4.5 points along with Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine.

The other Indian in fray — B. Adhiban — is 13th with two points and yet to win a match. — PTI

PUNE CITY EYE TOP SPOT WITH WIN OVER JFC AGE CORRESPONDENT

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

20

WEDNESDAY | 24 JANUARY 2018 | NEW DELHI

■ Unseeded Edmund beats world no. 3 Dimitrov, Mertens stuns Svitolina to enter semis

Nadal retires on day of upsets Melbourne, Jan. 23: Rafael Nadal’s drive towards a 17th Grand Slam title came to a shuddering injury-induced halt Tuesday on a day of Australian Open upsets that saw unseeded Kyle Edmund and Elise Mertens make the semifinals.

The world number one retired against Marin Cilic after a muscle in his upper right leg began troubling him in the fourth set on Rod Laver Arena, with the Spaniard wincing in pain and limping as he struggled to continue.

His 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 2-0 exit set up a last-four clash for the former US Open champion against Britain’s Edmund, who stunned third seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Mertens, who is yet to drop a set, was equally convincing in blasting past world number four Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-0 to become the first Belgian to make the semis since Kim Clijsters in 2012.

She will play secondseeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki, who battled past veteran Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro in three sets, for a place in Saturday’s final.

Little separated Nadal and big-hitting Cilic until the injury struck, as they traded ferocious groundstrokes in an intense battle.

But the Spaniard, who was beaten in last year’s final by Roger Federer, called the physio at 1-4 in the fourth set and again at the changeover when two sets apiece and the writing was on the wall.

“Tough moments,” said the top seed, adding that it was too soon to say how bad the injury might be.

“I am a positive person,

RESULTS Men’s singles quarterfinals: Marin Cilic (CRO x6) bt Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 62, 2-0 ret; Kyle Edmund (GBR) bt Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x3) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 64.

Women’s singles quarterfinals: Elise Mertens (BEL) bt Elina Svitolina (UKR x4) 6-4, 6-0; Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x2) bt Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 6-0, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2.

LIVE on TV Australian Open on Sony Ten 2, Sony Six

@ 5.30 AM ONWARDS

Spain’s Rafael Nadal (left) leaves the court after retiring from his men’s singles quarter-final against Marin Cilic of Croatia on Tuesday.

— AFP but today is an opportunity lost to be in the semifinals of a Grand Slam and fight for an important title for me.”

Croat Cilic, the sixth seed, said it was “sad” to win in such a way but added that “I played great tennis, very high level”.

“So I am extremely pleased with the performance.”

There were no such troubles for Edmund against Dimitrov, as he became only the fourth British man to reach the

Australian Open semifinals in the post-1968 Open Era. He is the only British man in the draw after Andy Murray’s injury withdrawal before the tournament, raising the prospect that it will be him, rather than the Scot, who breaks through to win in Australia.

Murray has been a fivetime finalist, but lost them all.

World number 37 Mertens is on a hot streak of form, unbeaten in 10

matches after winning in Hobart this month.

She was too physical for Svitolina as she stormed into the semis, incredibly on her Australian Open debut.

Svitolina blamed a hip injury for her shock ousting as she again failed to get to the last-four of a Grand Slam on her 22nd attempt.

Wozniacki made the semis for the first time since 2011, overcoming familiar foe Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 as she inched closer to a firstever Grand Slam title after a decade of trying.

BOPANNA IN MIXED DOUBLES QUARTERS Rohan Bopanna and his Hungarian partner Timea Babos entered the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles event with a straightset win. The fifth-seeded pairing of Bopanna and Babos beat USA’s Vania King and Franko Skugor of Croatia’s 6-4, 6-4.

— Agencies

Britain's Kyle Edmund en route to his 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in their Australian Open men's singles quarter-final in Melbourne on Tuesday.

— AFP

Sanchez ‘thrilled’ to join Man United Battling Swansea PREMIER LEAGUE

London, Jan. 23: Alexis Sanchez said on Monday he was “thrilled to be joining the biggest club in the world” as he moved to Manchester United from Arsenal in a swap deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

The 29-year-old Chile striker, who came close to joining Manchester City last summer, has signed what is believed to be a four-and-a-half-year contract that will make him the highest-paid player in the Premier League.

It has been widely reported that Sanchez will earn a pre-tax salary of £500,000 a week.

Armenia international winger Mkhitaryan, also 29, will head to the Emirates after he fell out of favour with United manager Jose Mourinho during 18 months at Old Trafford.

Sanchez joined Arsenal for £31.7 million in 2014 after three years at Barcelona but his relation-

● The 29-year-old Chile striker, who came close to joining Manchester City last summer, has signed what is believed to be a four-and-a-halfyear contract that will make him the highestpaid player in the Premier League

because I wanted to be a contribution.” Last week, former Arsenal defender Martin Keown called Sanchez “football’s biggest mercenary”.

In a statement issued by United, Sanchez said he had spent “three-and-a-half wonderful years” at Arsenal “and I bring with me very positive memories of that great club and its fans”.

Referring to Old Trafford, he said: “The chance to play in this historic stadium and to work with Jose Mourinho was something I could not turn down.

“I am very proud to be the first Chilean player ever to play for United’s first team.”

United will be hoping their substantial investment helps close the gap on their Emirati-backed crosscity rivals Manchester City, who are streaking away with the Premier League title this season.

— AFP

ship with the Gunners soured after he tried to orchestrate a move to City last year.

HIT BACK AT CRITICISM In an Instagram post, he took a parting shot at exArsenal players who have criticised his attitude.

“There are people (former club players) who have spoken with no knowledge of what happens inside the club and cause damage,” Sanchez wrote.

“I must say I always gave 100%, until the last day, when I asked to the Mister (Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger) to be in the team,

Alexis Sanchez

NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

Hosts FC Pune City will eye a move to the top of the Indian Super League standings with a win over Jamshedpur FC on Wednesday. Pune have 19 points from 11 matches and are third and full points against Jamshedpur will propel them past leaders Bengaluru FC (21 points after 11 matches) and secondplaced Chennaiyin FC (20 points from 11 outings).

Jamshedpur are fifth with 16 points from 11 games.

What will further motivate Pune will be the return of their coach Ranko Popovic after a four-match touchline ban.

Popovic is confident of a good show on the morrow though they have lost three times at home so far.

“We have played some good games here. We’ve played nice, good and organised football. If we consider only the result, then its different,” Popovic said on Tuesday.

Jamshedpur FC coach Steve Coppell said Pune were tough opponents, particularly star striker Marcelinho, who has six goals and five assists from nine outings.

“They have some strong players from the attacking sense, some good players.

We cannot hide that fact. We have to do our best to deal with that and at the same time make them do some work going the other way,” said Coppell.

PAGE

STAR-STUDDED TEAMS FOR INDIA OPEN BOXING

AGE CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

Five-time world champion M.C. Mary Kom and three-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa will headline the inaugural India Open tournament, where the country’s pugilists for the Commonwealth Games trials would be finalised.

The $100,000 event will begin here on Sunday and is expected to feature boxers from several countries, including Cuba, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia, at the Thyagaraj Stadium, the Boxing Federation of India said on Tuesday.

The host country will field four men’s teams — A, B, C and D — in the tournament.

Team A will have world championships bronze medal winning duo of Shiva (56kg) and Vikas Krishan (75kg) among others including world youth bronze medallist Naman Tanwar.

Team B comprises

FOUR-NATIONS | HOCKEY TOURNEY

India up against NZ in second leg opener AGE CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, JAN. 23

M.C. Mary Kom Commonwealth Games silver medallist Mandeep Jangra (75kg), Asian silver-medallist Sumit Sangwan (91kg), and world youth champion Sachin Siwach (49kg).

Teams C and D feature boxers who have done well in the domestic circuit.

L. Devendro Singh (52kg) is not part of any of the teams but will compete in the tournament.

The 44-strong women’s line-up has five teams with Team E headlined

by Mary Kom.

India will look to put the disappointment of a firstleg final loss behind, when they take on hosts New Zealand in the second leg of the fournations invitational men’s hockey tournament, in Hamilton on Wednesday.

In the first leg of the tournament at Tauranga, India got off to a good start with a 6-0 win over Japan but lost 0-2 to Belgium in the following match.

A 3-1 win over New Zealand, who beat Belgium 5-4 in their first match, put the Manpreet Singh-led Indian team in the final.

India topped the pool table with a total of nine goals, having conceded only three in the pool stage while Belgium scored 10 but conceded six.

“As a team, we have

For me, most important is converting the chances into goals. We create enough opportunities but that’s not enough. We must score more goals.

— SJOERD MARIJNE India coach made progress match after match. We had four young players make their debut and they scored for us, which is good,” said chief coach Sjoerd Marijne about the team’s performance in the first leg.

“We came close to beating Olympic silver medallists Belgium which gives us a lot of confidence going into an important calendar year,” he added.

Though his team lost a closely-contested final 1-2 to Belgium, Marijne feels the result was a positive.

“You must understand that Belgium are here

with their complete squad and they are one of the best teams in the world.

Competing with them with the team we have here is still a huge step forward,” he said.

Marijne also pointed out that missed opportunities continue to dent their chances.

“For me, most important is converting the chances into goals. We create enough opportunities but that’s not enough. We must score more goals,” he asserted on the eve of their opening match in Hamilton.

Manpreet said the team were eager to put up an improved performance here.

“Doing well against a team like Belgium will no doubt give us the confidence for future matches but winning against them will be a big boost for the young players.”

Japan take on Belgium in the other match.

shock Liverpool Swansea, Jan. 23: Liverpool’s progress towards securing a Champions League spot was halted by the Premier League’s bottom club and a single goal by Alfie Mawson on Monday as Liverpool’s defensive frailties returned.

Jurgen Klopp’s side, with £75 million centreback Virgil van Dijk making his away debut, were seeking to extend their unbeaten run to 19 matches and draw level on points with third-placed Chelsea.

But fresh from dramatically ending Manchester City’s unbeaten run, the Reds ran into a determined Swansea side desperate to close the gap on the strugglers above them.

Despite laying siege to the Swansea goal, Klopp’s side were unable to find the net and Roberto Firmino struck the post with a header in the dying seconds.

The defeat snapped Liverpool’s unbeaten 14match run in the Premier League dating back to October and old, familiar defensive failings were laid bare despite Van

RESULT Swansea (Mawson 40) Liverpool

1 0

Dijk’s arrival.

WASTEFUL REDS Swansea took the lead against the run of play just before half-time when Mawson swept the ball in from a corner after Van Dijk failed to head clear.

The ball struck Swansea captain Federico Fernandez and Mawson swivelled to shoot past Liverpool keeper Loris Karius.

It was exactly the kind of soft goal that Liverpool manager Klopp thought he had found the solution to with the purchase of the towering Dutchman.

In contrast to their clinical performance against City at Anfield, Liverpool were wasteful and guilty of missing a number of first-half chances.

Sadio Mane and leading goalscorer Mo Salah both volleyed wide before the break and Van Dijk flashed a header just wide of the post.

— AFP

Swansea City’s Alfie Mawson (centre) celebrates after scoring against Liverpool in their EPL match in Swansea on Monday. The hosts won 1-0.

— AFP