Issue 23

Volume 15 | Issue 23

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Brazen blockade fuels bribes and black markets

BRIEFS Pins on trees pain B’lore tree warriors With illegal ads pinned hard into their trunks using staplers, trees outside the office of the state forest “conservator” are no different from thousands of others across the city.

Page 2

School plan takes away Koramangala’s space to play The private trust which is building a school in a Koramangala playground has said that it has the permission to do so.

Over 50 families come to Pyarivitta, a small village in Kakarvitta, Nepal, to sell petrol and diesel smuggled from India in these blue barrels Regina Gurung The blockade of goods entering Nepal from India has been extended to humans, according to the Nepalese community in Bangalore.

Border force guards are demanding bribes of up to Rs5000 before allowing them entry to their own country and a black market in banned goods has sprung up along the border.

Bangalore based Nepalese migrant workers have been forced to return to the city after abandoning their journeys home.

Guards and officials on the Gaddachauki border in the west of Nepal demand bribes while the otherwise peaceful border in the east, Kakarvitta, has turned into a massive black market for fuel so desperately needed across the region.

The Indian government has maintained a blockade of certain essential goods ever since Nepal drafted their constitution on September 23, 2015. The Madheshis of Nepal have been

protesting for their under representation in the constitution and India has been alleged by the Nepal Government for fuelling the protest. Since Nepal depends heavily on India’s resources, the blockade has adversely affected livelihood because of the scarcity of basic essentials like food, fuel and medicine.

Despite carrying the proper papers and being able to travel freely between the two countries without a passport, many Nepalese are stuck at the border, unable to pay the bribes demanded.

Suresh B (name changed), a dance teacher in Bangalore, was so desperate to see his family he fought his way through. He paid Rs1500 just to reach his home 5km away from the border.

On returning he had to pay a further Rs4600 to re-enter India. To add insult to injury, he was then told he could not carry his luggage, which was "confiscated."

“It was a matter of luck that I was not made to halt. There were people there stuck for

days. A senior inspector helped me though he demanded Rs500,” said Suresh. “I managed to reach my destination while three of my friends had no other option but to return,” he added.

Towards the eastern side of the border, some fifty families from all over Nepal sell fuel on a daily basis. The black market did not exist before India blockaded fuel supplies.

It operates from 6am to 5pm.

Ukesh Shreshta, a 17-year-old from Kathmandu trading fuel in the border, says that the blockade has brought good business.

“I have five family members at home in Kathmandu, I get a profit of Rs400 a day and that is good business” he said.

The fuel is bought from India at a market price of NRs81 for diesel and NRs104 for petrol, then sold and supplied to different parts of Nepal at a minimal profit of NRs200 a liter.

“People in the capital send contacts to transport fuel from here to there and we deliver it to them,” said Shubas KC, a bus driver. “No other place in

Nepal has such high supply of fuel as here so my friends and I come here,” he added.

"The 125km stretch from Kakarvitta to Itahari is the most peaceful border area in the country. No violence has taken place here so it is safe to say that the capital is surviving because of this border,” said Bhim Prasad Adhikari, Chief Customs Officer at Mechi, Nepal.

At Kakarvitta, 1040 vehicles have been stopped at the border by Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), said a custom official in Panitanki, India. “More than 200 trucks used to enter Nepal every day but rarely 50 are allowed to enter now."

SSB Sub-Inspector Rakesh Kumar says that security is the prime reason for stopping the vehicles. "The security has tightened after India-Nepal conflict in regard to Nepal’s constitution. More metal detectors and dogs have been supplied to the SSB," he said.

“Any vehicle that shows license is allowed to pass,” said Kumar. (contd. on page 3 )

Page 4

Most pro tennis players toe the line The coach of the National Davis Cup tennis team believes no player in the top 50 will be found guilty of match fixing.

Page 6 Shoes over cues for world champ An exclusive interview with billiards champ Pankaj Advani

Page 6

2 THE OBSERVER

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Pins on trees pain B’lore tree warriors MLA assures action; BBMP complains of poor staffing Tanay Sukumar With illegal ads pinned hard into their trunks using staplers, trees outside the office of the state forest “conservator” are no different from thousands of others across the city.

Yellow and white pamphlets pinned on half a dozen trees outside Aranya Bhavan want you to join spoken English classes, as do other similar “tree ads” across the city.

Some advertise jobs for youngsters, while some offer to help you pass college even if you failed school. *** As Bangalore continues to lose its tree cover, there are those who come out every morning armed with staplers and ad posters, looking for trees in posh localities. When they find one, they staple their pamphlets into the tree trunk and move on to the next tree.

Then there are those, who go out every morning, looking for these ads. When they find one, they take their pliers out and take the pins and nails out.

Sometimes, they take out their phone and make calls to the advertiser – advertisers who break the law, but can still afford to dare putting their contact details on their pamphlets.

“Some of them are old ads, and the numbers don’t work anymore,” says “tree warrior” Nikhil Bhagavatalu. *** Ads and posters stapled on tree trunks are a common sight in many Bengaluru localities.

When called, a spokesperson for one advertiser admitted that

A tree defaced by stapler pins in ITPL Road he knows such ads are illegal.

He said: “We received a call from BBMP around a month back. We told them we are not going to repeat this again. We have instructed our marketing guy to remove the posters.”

The ads are still there, stapler pins holding them in place.

In a change.org petition, city resident Supraja Suresh claimed that vendors who put their advertisements do this before 7am every day, before the police become active. Each

vendor puts up 800 such posters using pins on an average day, claims the 2013 petition.

Bhagavatalu says: “When I travel from BTM Layout to Majestic, each tree I see has posters pinned on them. Not one pin, there are thousands of pins. In other countries, if you put just one pin on a tree, you will be fined badly, but not in India.” *** Bhagavatalu, 28, is a former

WHAT THE LAWS SAY • Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1981 makes it an offence, punishable with up to six months of imprisonment, or a fine extending to Rs.1000.

• BBMP Advertisement Bye-Laws set down norms that ads cannot be affixed on trees in the city.

THE REALITY • Activists claim there still are thousands of trees across the city with stapler pins and nails on them.

• According to a BBMP tree officer, there are less than ten forest officials in BBMP for Bangalore’s area of around 825 sq. km.

• “We can’t take action on this alone,” said Sathyanarayan.

“CAN KILL TREES” • Using nails and pins to put ads on trees makes them prone to insect attack, said scientists at Institute of Wood Science and Technology.

• Even if gum is used to stick the advertisement, trees would still face stress.

• Presence of too many holes caused by pins may cause enough structural problems to kill the tree, says Deepa ES, a biotechnology postgraduate.

IT employee, and is furious. He spends his free time taking pins off trees in BTM Layout.

“It has now become a pastime for me. Still when I go to bed, it keeps poking me that I have not done enough for this.

We do things for needy people, but who will take care of the trees? Finally trees will die down.

“There are some other people also who remove these ads. One person puts them; someone else has to go on removing them.”

Ravi Keerthi, another city resident, said: “No civic authorities have taken any action. A forest officer said he will make sure those ads will be removed and new ones will not be allowed, but they didn't take any action. I have tried calling forest officer to get updated regarding this, but no luck.”

According to him, this practice is widespread in BTM Layout, Whitefield and ITPL Road. *** The laws are in place. The Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1981 says that such an act should be punishable with a maximum of six-month imprisonment or a fine of Rs.1000.

The BBMP's advertisement bye-laws also cover this under miscellaneous norms, prohibiting any advertisement "stuck, nailed, tied, attached, fixed in any manner on any tree in the city of Bangalore."

However, activists claim that there are thousands of such trees in the city which are regularly defaced by advertisers.

Sathyanarayan is a BBMP tree officer in the north of the

city. He says, “In BBMP, we have very few forest officers, hardly nine members for 825 sq km. We can’t take action on this alone and we need help from the public to solve this problem.”

He says that some advertisers are fined, but he feels that the BBMP needs at least 30 more members in the forest department. *** The MLA in Bhagavatalu’s constituency, BTM Layout, MLA Ramalinga Reddy, assured The Observer that he will instruct his engineers to get pins removed from trees in his area.

He said: “It is not only in my area, this situation is in entire Bangalore. People should realize we should not put anything like that on trees. Making a law is easy, but only with cooperation of the public, we can implement this.”

He said there are laws, but “people should understand”.

“I’ll request my people not to do anything like this, and I’ll instruct all my engineers to remove all those advertisements on trees.”

Does it really harm a tree?

Using nails and pins to put ads on trees makes them prone to insect attack, according to scientists at Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST).

T.S. Rathore from the institute said: "Generally, bacteria gets entry into the plant body through any wound opening.

So when the tree is exposed to the outside through openings made by nails and pins, chances of attack of pathogenic bacteria increase."

Although growth is not hampered directly, nails and pins cause an indirect attack on the plant through insects and fungi, he said.

R. Sundararaja, entomologist, said: "Most borers (stemfeeding insects) need to make small cracks to lay eggs. When we make a hole, they are able to comfortably lay their eggs in the tree. Hence, the chances of the larva successfully entering the wood go up."

Even if gum is used to stick the advertisement, trees would still face stress.

Deepa ES, a biotechnology postgraduate, said: “Depending on the tree’s size, health and species and the spacing of the punctures, usually the presence of ten holes could cause enough structural and health problems to kill the tree.

Also, when the nail corrodes, dissolved metals may poison the tree.”

"The trees are unable to express it, but they also face the stress," said Sundararaja.

Tuesday, January 21, 2016 3

THE OBSERVER

Start-Up India, a green light to exploit?

Reema Mukherjee India's latest campaign to encourage start-up businesses is a step in the right direction, according to Bangalore businesses.

The positive reaction to Start-Up India was tempered with a warning by one of the state's leading law professors, who fears PM Narendra Modi's new business battle plan could lead to exploitation of workers.

The campaign is drafted by the Government of India’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. Addressing the young and ambitious audience Modi spoke about how the campaign will encourage entrepreneurship at grassroots levels. Of the several announcements, the biggest was the exemption of labour inspections and income tax for the first three years.

Jidesh Kumar, an advocate at Kingg Stub and Kasiva said, “It’s a very positive step, because labour compliances would include a couple of things like additional labour, additional infrastructure and an additional investment of

money, just to ensure compliance as per certain laws. Now this new policy has brought forth self-compliance as one of its steps which excludes additional personnel, which saves a lot of cost. It boosts the spirit of innovation in this country.

Gaurav Munjal, co-founder, FlatChat said, “I think any policy that removes intervention by the government makes one thing very clear, there is no scope of any corruption and saves a lot of time. If there is a labour inspection, the person who comes in might ask for a bribe. So if there’s no hassle of dealing with them till you’re established, it makes the work easier.”

Harshit Poddar, an employee at Eight minutes,a start-up that helps homeowners and businesses make the transition to clean solar energy, said, “What I really like is the entire change in the government framework.

As an entrepreneur one of the biggest difficulties we face are the legalities behind the establishing a start-up. The legalities are an added burden. The Start-Up India policy is trying to ensure that as entrepreneurs we don’t remain caught up in the process.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking about Start-Up India Picture courtesy: www.trak.in While Babu Mathew, professor at National Law School of India University, Bangalore was not very keen on the move to exempt the start-ups from labour inspections, others seemed optimistic about it. “It will benefit the employer, but it will harm the employees. I think the notion of ease of doing business is grossly ex-

aggerated against labour. I am of the opinion that ease of doing business has very little to do with minimum decent condition at work,” said the NLSU professor.

When asked what should be done to avoid exploitation of labour he said, “They need to ensure that the labour rights as laid down by the International

Labour Organisation are followed and protected.”

Divyanshu, from Belong.co, a hiring based start-up company in Indiranagar said, “It could save money for us because we already work in cash crunch and are not funded by anyone. Such policies are good for people like us and can benefit start-up companies.”

It will benefit the employer, but harm the employees. I think the notion of ease of doing business is grossly exaggerated against labour.

I am of the opinion that ease of doing business has very little to do with minimum decent condition at work.

- Professor Babu Mathew, National Law School of India University

Brazen blockade fuels bribes and black markets (contd. from page 1) “Any vehicle that shows license is allowed to pass,” said Kumar.

Aware of the fuel smuggling and bribes being demanded, Kumar blamed the “local authorities.”

“Since most of India’s border with Nepal is an agricultural zone, there are many reasons why fuel smuggling is hard to control,” said a Naxalbari police official. “ We know what is going on but we try to un-see what we see because it is the need of the hour,” said one Nepal Customs official.

Nepal Ministry of Finance, Mechi Custom Office says that the past four months have witnessed a loss of NRs25 crore.

According to Adhikari, 60% of vehicles from Birgunj are being re-routed to enter Nepal from Kakarvitta.

Surya Agro, a dal and rice factory in Dhaijan faces a loss of NRs50,000 per day.

Given the importance of Indian currency in Nepal, its shortage has resulted in added problems.

Nepal Bank Limited Kakarvitta employee Deependra Baral said the Indian currency shortage has led to yet another black market where instead of 1.6 government standard value, IC is exchanged for 1.8.

According to Bijay Dalmia, Nepal Chamber of Commerce, the Nepal government is facing 99 per cent of trade loss while the local people on the border are benefitting from the blackmarket.

“Nepal is selling American dollars to purchase Indian currency,” he added. The Indian government denies any involvement in the blockade of Nepal.

A resident of Kakarvitta who is currently in the black market fuel business

4 THE OBSERVER

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Demolish a playground to build a school?

Permission granted School plan takes away Koramangala’s space to play Tanay Sukumar The private trust which is building a school in a Koramangala playground has said that it has the permission to do so.

Residents of Koramangala 3rd Block are upset with the school being built in one part of the local playground. People have been coming from far-off to play here for several years, they claim. The Resident Welfare Association (RWA) has appealed to the private trust, M/s Ananda Social and Educational Trust, to build the school at an alternative site.

Construction started last month, after which the residents put up an online petition to appeal to the government to

stop the construction.

However, the trust, which also runs Dr. Ambedkar Medical College, says that it has been authorized by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to build the school.

The MLA for the area, Ramalinga Reddy said he is in favour of the residents but the High Court has already passed its order, and the construction is legal.

The Koramangala playground was voted the best park in the city for two years in a row, and residents say, is expected to win the title this year as well.

The civic amenities space consists of a park, a playground, and a composting unit.

Youngsters play cricket in the playground as construction work goes on in the background Residents say that one of the trustees of the organisation building the school is the sonin-law of former Union minister Mallikarjun Kharge.

A spokesperson for the trust denied any wrongdoing, despite the trust’s name being on a home ministry list of NGOs barred from receiving foreign funds in June 2015.

• According to the residents, the ground is used by hundreds of users • Near the Koramangala Post Office, from all across Bangalore. the playground is part of the civic amenities area designated by local au- WHAT RESIDENTS SAY thorities.

• A park, a playground, a volunteer- An online petition by Koramangala run library, and a waste management resident Manoj raises these points:

ABOUT THE PARK

and recycling unit comprise this space • The school plan takes up about a behind the post office. third of the playground area.

• The park was voted the best park in • "The only purely recreational facilBangalore for two years in a row. ity is being sacrificed to set up a • Other features include: a stadium- school", despite the fact that there like seating arrangement for specta- are other schools in the locality. tors, flood-lit basketball and volleyball ground, a 15-metre high fencing to • "With schools in such close vicinity, separate the park and the playground, there seems to be no logic in setting up another school in the midst of a and a toilet facility. purely residential area causing a lot of disturbance and unrest to its residents."

The composting unit adjacent to the playground

• "Some of us have been using this ground for over three decades now and the sentimental value attached with this ground is immeasurable. If buildings of such nature are allowed to come up, lung space will go down further putting the health of the residents at risk."

The land was allotted by the BDA to the institution Ananda Social and Educational Trust, about 25 years ago. The residents went to court, and court upheld the allotment. Now what can we do? I am in

favour of residents, but they know everything about the case. Ananda should also cooperate, right?

Construction of a school in that area would have tremendous repercussions on the playground which is the only lung space available in the area, for people who come here to play. We are

appealing to the allottee to find an alternative site.

In 1992, we applied to BDA to open a Kannada medium school at the site.

Local residents filed a case against us.

Karnataka high court ordered the BDA to

issue the position certificate and allowed construction in favour of Ananda trust. We have got the government order.

- Ramalinga Reddy, MLA, BTM Layout

-Nithin Seshadri, chairman, RWA

- Nagaiah, Site Manager, Ananda Social and Educational Trust

In Bangalore, there are not so many places to play. We are really unhappy with this idea.

- Boys playing cricket at the playground

Thursday, January 21, 2016 5

THE OBSERVER

Observer Perspective:

Should India make sex work legal?

Legalization of prostitution is a Pandora’s Box oped countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. At the same Legalization of the so-called ‘world’s oldest protime, trafficking had declined drastically in Sweden where buying and selling of fession’ will have catastrophic socio-political and sex was illegalized in 1999. legal consequences on The U.N. has articulated its desire to prevent, suppress and punish traffickcountries that seek to leing whereas Amnesty International has called sex work a human right. Most galize it. Legalizing feminists support abolition. The progressives prostitution would imply that women are Many Dutch prostitutes seem to be progressing in opposite directions.

The contradictions don’t end there. Consider the commodities who can don’t register because of Netherlands which made sex work lawful back in Maqsood Maniyar be bought and sold.

2000. The dissertation, “Audacity of tolerance: A The idea of making sex the stigma attached. Many do it as analysis of legal prostitution in Amsterwork legal fits in nicely with the oppressive notion a transitional side job because they critical dam’s red light district”, details the failure of the that men should get sex on demand. In the legislation that legalized sex work. process, those doing the ‘supplying’ get dehuman- are hard up and certainly don’t Many Dutch prostitutes don’t register because of ized. want to pay taxes. This renders the stigma attached. Many do it as a transitional Apologists argue that ‘right to sex work’ falls legalization useless. under ‘freedom of choice’ (read, bad choice) but is side job because they are hard up and certainly don’t want to pay taxes. This renders legalization it a choice? It is invariably extreme poverty and useless. Netherlands has now done a flip flop by human trafficking that cause women to ‘choose’ suggesting amendments to the act legalizing prosprostitution. It’s an excellent ploy on part of sex titution. These include making it necessary for prostitutes to register at the fedmarketers and pleasure seekers to make it look like an empowering choice. In eral level (which is bound to be a failure), briefing prostitutes on social security truth, they don’t look beyond their own carnal desires and profiteering. and alternative employment and also raising the minimum age for prostitution Besides, much of the sex industry is controlled by groups engaged in organto 21. ized crime that also deal in other illegal activities, such as narcotics, extortion The current laws criminalizing sex work should be amended to facilitate tarand the like. Is it logical to legalize one activity of a criminal group and keep geting of traffickers and rehabilitation of prostitutes, only then can a robust the others outlawed? abolition initiative be successful. For one to truthfully be a humanist, one A 2013 U.S. state department report said that human trafficking is a 32-bilshould want for greater humanity what they want for themselves. The truth is lion-dollar industry and 82 per cent of the trafficked were victims of sexual exthat apologists for legalization of prostitution will never want their loved ones to ploitation. A report titled “Does legalized prostitution increase human trafficking?” was released in 2012. It takes cross-sectional data from 116 coun- take up sex work. Why then do they want someone else’s mother or daughter or sister to be subjected to the same? tries and proves that legalizing prostitution had increased trafficking in devel-

Poverty is obscene, not sex workers on streets Is it time to decriminalize prostitution In India? At all cost, yes.

It is sad but true that the oldest profession in our society is allowed to exist but veiled from the public eye. This discourse is always revolving around abolition, legalization and decriminalisation.

Decriminalization involves the reform of laws to make sex work legal and subject to regulation under occupational health and safety laws. New Zealand and New South Wales are the two countries where sex work has

state enforced exploitation. Damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

Look around you. It is the grocer, baker, butcher, doctor, merchant, policeman, landlord, druggist, politician, priest, and investment banker- everyone who makes money out of prostitution. They reap the benefits and complain of “obscenity.”

What is obscene in our country is not women walking the street for a living. It is poverty that is entrenched in our society that is obscene. It is our income inequality, the enclaves of millionaires beside the slums that is obscene. What is obscene is people living in gated communities talking derogatorily about a Oindrila Sarkar woman trying to make ends meet without causing harm to anyone or anything.

The narrative on sex work should be on the lines of freedom. Making somebeen decriminalized. thing illegal does not mean it will go away. If India is a free country we need to In India the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Amendment acknowledge the right of these women to live.

Act, 2006 amended the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) According to official data, India has more than 3 In an environment Act, 1956 to combat trafficking and sexual exploitation million sex workers. Every woman who is selling for commercial purposes. The bill dictates provisions which makes sex work il- her body for two morsels a day has not been for soliciting clients. It penalises any person visiting a legal women cannot ac- trafficked and forced into it. National Commisbrothel for the purpose of sexual exploitation. While sion for Women’s Chairperson, Lalitha Kumaracess health care when they run a sex work is not an offence, practicing it in a brothel or mangalam had also on these grounds within 200m of any public place is illegal. There is demanded decriminalisation of sex work for very huge risk of acquiring HIV. complete lack of clarity and extreme levels of ambiguwomen. ity on whether prostitution ought to be a legitimate way They have no law by their side, The ITPA is clearly built on the old dumb of earning entered into by choice. cliché of women’s sexuality. The idea that nothing to protect them against Now, that I have finished my formalities of explaining state enforced exploitation. women can be had, they can be bought, they the boring law I will fold it up and tell you why we need can be sold from one man to another. It is patriDamned if they do and damned if to immediately change it. archy several shades darker than the one we We have conflated sex work with ‘sex trafficking’ and they don’t. see on the surface. have denied the right to freedom and human rights to Our laws reflect our mentality. Our society these hapless women. The law is acting saviour and needs to understand that it is a woman’s choice has taken up the responsibility of ‘rescuing’ women from a profession which whether she allows or denies a man to posses her exclusively and refuses to they have rightfully chosen. The narrative in India needs to be further educated be redeemed. There are no good women without bad ones, no privileged on this aspect. women without unprivileged ones and no enlightened women without unenIn an environment which makes sex work illegal women cannot access lightened ones. We need to change not only our laws to open this economic health care when they run a very huge risk of acquiring HIV. There have been avenue but also our social discourse on morality. To all those who call a jack a cases when women caught by the police have been sexually abused and jack, and a spade a spade, you need to call a whore a lady, double standards threatened. They have no law by their side, nothing to protect them against will not do.

6 THE OBSERVER

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Most pro tennis players toe the line Parvathi Benu The coach of the National Davis Cup tennis team believes no player in the top 50 will be found guilty of match fixing.

In an exclusive interview with the Observer, Zeeshan Ali added that he finds recent revelations about world tennis hard to believe.

The sport was rocked earlier this week with the news that matches were being thrown by some players. It has sparked a global inquiry with many of India's top ranking players refusing to comment.

Ali said: "I don't think that any of the top 50 players are involved in match fixing as tennis is a gentleman’s game. Every tennis player knows that if they get caught, their whole career is at risk.

“I don’t think any top-notch players will resort to such means as they already earn a lot.

“The entire tennis fraternity cannot be blamed for this instance. There are bad apples everywhere," he said, adding that such instances can be present in every sport.

“There is match fixing everywhere. But it depends if the player accepts it or not ,” said Niranjan Ramesh, the coach at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, adding that match fixing is prevalent throughout all sports.

“A player should always have a sportsman spirit and such incidences eventually spoil the name of the sport and put the sportsperson’s career at stake,” added Ramesh.

‘Shocking’, is how Sharad Kumar, the head coach at Ma-

hesh Bhupathi Tennis Academy, labelled the scandal.

“Tennis is definitely in a boom in the country. There are a lot of children joining the coaching these years. But these types of scandals are unfortunate and shocking,” he said.

The global scandal erupted on 18th January when Chris Kermode , the President of Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), revealed to the BBC that he was aware of match-fixing within tennis.

The entire tennis fraternity cannot be blamed for this instance. There are bad apples everywhere.

- Zeeshan Ali, coach of the national Davis Cup tennis team

Shoes over cues for world champ

@BBC Breaking News Malcolm Turnbull sworn in as new Australian prime minister http://bbc.in/1xcqUli @NewsX Big victory for India as UN adopts text-based negotiations on UNSC reforms http://bit.ly/1ObB57a

Regina Gurung Billiards world champion Pankaj Advani will swap his cue for running shoes when he hosts his alma mater’s cross country run later this month.

Before leaving for the National Billiards and Snooker Championship at Indore, the Bangalore based Advani, also a world ranked snooker player, gave an exclusive interview to The Observer.

In the year 2003 he joined Sri Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College and ultimately won the Men's World Snooker Championship in China. He tweeted that he is “proud to be #JainUniversity’s ambassador for the #mycountryrun.” Encouraging to start the year on a “healthy note” he invites all to join him on January 31.

As one of the highest achieving sports personalities in India he believes the country is a “galaxy of stars” where talent is inexhaustible, but warned that India’s lack of a cohesive grooming program is stopping talented young people—and more importantly their parents—from viewing sport as a lucrative career option.

Reminiscing on his early days on how he had to fund his own tournaments, the black suited bachelor is aware how the situation is still unchanged and how budding athletes fade into gray. “That is where we need to work. Our sport system should be like that of China where a good athlete is

@Times of India Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina announced as one of the winners of the @UN Champions of the Earth award

@NDTV Sania Mirza Returns Home, Dedicates US Open Title to People of India @Times Now This is a historic year for India-Sri Lanka relations: PM Modi @the_hindu The world’s largest chain of volcanoes is discovered in Australia http://thne.ws/1EZBozh

Pankaj Advani, fifteen world titles in billiards (Picture Credit:pankajadvani.com) identified at grass-root level and put in the academy where everything is taken care of. In India an athlete has to work on self-motivation and effort to be recognized as a supported sportsperson.”

The fifteen times world billiards champion—also ranked 74th in the world at snooker— believes that it is in India’s tradition to win.

Billiards as a sport is not popular among the Indian crowd and that is because it needs to be televised, according to the 30-year-old. “Just the way we have Kabbadi league and badminton league we need to have billiards televised so that we can take it to the

next level.”

Woman cueists like VidyaPilai, Uma Devi, Anuja Thakur and ChitraMagimairaj have made the country proud but Advani feels that they should be given more opportunity. “I do feel women need opportunities to play for there are fewer tournaments for

women.”

A change is taking place.

Government companies, railways and petroleum companies are now funding sports and sponsorship is increasing.

“Now parents can finally think that their children can make a career in sports. The process is gradual but is steady.”

India should adapt sport facilities like that of China where a good athlete is identified and put in the academy and everything is taken care of.

- Pankaj Advani

THE OBSERVER Editor: Reema Mukherjee | News Editor: Regina Gurung Chief Sub-Editor: Aparajita Khandelwal | Picture Editor: Tanay Sukumar Layout Designer: Parvathi Benu | Sub-Editors: Mouli Shree, Akshaya NA

@TIME Air India grounds 125 cabin crew deemed “too fat” http://ti.me/1EZvVbS @ZeeNews Unprecedented US security operation for Pope Francis @htTweets Delhi boy dies of dengue, father alleges hospital negligence http://read.ht/vXD @prasarbharati Tribute to Greatest Engineering Father of Nation #BharatRatna Sir M. Visvesvaraya on his Birth Anni. #EngineersDay