Centre for tripartite talks on Gorkha unrest

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

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NEARBY

Power play

Centre for tripartite talks on Gorkha unrest Talks only on separate State, says Gorkha Janmukti Morcha

New rules on cattle trade rattle Punjab farmers

Special Correspondent

KHANNA, LUDHIANA

New Delhi

Farmers and cattle traders in Punjab, who are yet to recover from the losses caused by the Central government’s demonetisation, are fearing yet another period of distress following the new rules on prevention of cruelty to animals framed by the Centre.

The Centre has called for tripartite talks with West Bengal and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) on June 19 to end the current phase of violence in the hill district of Darjeeling. The GJM, however, on Thursday told Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that it would participate in the talks only if its demand for a separate State for the Gorkhas was addressed.

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Bhim Army to protest at Jantar Mantar on June 18

not be initiated without the signatures of at least 50 members of the Rajya Sabha or 100 members of the Lok Sabha. If such a motion gets admitted in a House, a threemember committee investigates the charges. If it finds the judge guilty of misbehaviour or incapacity, the House in which the motion was initiated, must pass it with a two-thirds majority, followed by a similar passage by the other House. If this happens, an address is made to the President for the removal of the judge.

Centre’s help sought The GJM also sought the Centre’s intervention to bring back peace in the district and “foil” the State government’s attempt to make Bengali mandatory in schools. The State government has requested the Centre to postpone the talks. GJM general secretary Roshan Giri, who met Mr. Singh here, was accompanied by BJP MP from Darjeeling S.S. Ahluwalia. “We have apprised the Home Minister of the prevailing situation in Darjeeling and the Mamata Banerjee government’s attempts to impose Bengali in the district-based schools. We have urged him for immediate Central intervention to bring back peace there,” Mr. Giri said after the meeting. Mr. Giri said the GJM would not participate in the June 19 tripartite meeting to discuss issues related to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and would talk only about a separate State.

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MEERUT

A week after Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad was arrested by the STF, the Dalit outit has planned another protest at Jantar Mantar on June 18 against the “wrongful arrest” of its founder. NATION

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In full low: India cruised to the inal of the ICC Champions Trophy with a nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh at Edgbaston on Thursday. Rohit Sharma, 123, above, and Virat Kohli, 96, powered India to victory. GETTY IMAGES (REPORT ON PAGE 15) *

Bid to remove Justice Reddy fails again

UP govt dissolves waqf boards

Nine RS MPs have withdrawn their signatures from proposal to the President

LUCKNOW

Vikas Pathak

Hours after the UP government ordered dissolution of Shia and Sunni waqf boards, CM Yogi Adityanath on Thursday night recommended a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities committed by the bodies. NATION

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FRIDAY REVIEW 쑺 12 PAGES (TABLOID) DELHI METRO 쑺 4 PAGES

NEW DELHI

For the second time in six months, a motion to introduce proceedings to remove Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy of the Hyderabad High Court has failed. Nine of the 54 members of the Rajya Sabha, who had proposed the initiation of proceedings against him, have withdrawn their signatures. “Some signatories to the petition have withdrawn their names. So, there is no motion for his removal,” said a senior Rajya Sabha Member.

Charge against Reddy Justice Reddy has been ac-

cused of victimising a Dalit junior civil court judge, S. Rama Krishna, for refusing to remove the name of the former’s brother, Pawan Kumar Reddy, from the dying

RIL-BP to invest $6 billion in Krishna Godavari basin Fresh infusion to add 30 mmscm of gas output daily

declaration of a person in 2012. Proceedings to remove a judge, which require an address to the President by a special majority of both Houses of Parliament, can-

Govt. to meet activists again on GM mustard Jacob Koshy

Piyush Pandey

NEW DELHI

MUMBAI

Union Minister for Environment Harsh Vardhan will have a fresh consultation with environmental groups, scientists, and farmers’ bodies before taking a call on the release of genetically modified (GM) mustard. “There have been representations from various quarters. Over the next month, he is likely to hear them out, especially groups that are opposed to the introduction of GM mustard,” a senior official of the Ministry told The Hindu. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), India’s regulator for genetically modified seeds, had on May 12, 2017 cleared GM mustard for environ-

After a lull of eight years, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, along with partner BP Plc., has decided to invest $6 billion in the controversial KG-D6 gas block to bring new gas to production even as earlier $9 billion of investments in the block saw production falling to over one-tenth of an anticipated 80 mmscmd (million metric standard cubic metres per day). The investments are aimed at developing about three trillion cubic feet of resources that will result in production of an additional 30-35 million cubic metres of gas every day over three

Teaming up: Mukesh Ambani and Bob Dudley addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday. KAMAL NARANG *

to five years, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani announced at a joint press conference with Bob Dudley, BP Group chief executive, in New Delhi on Thursday. This includes the develop-

ment of ‘R-Series’ deep water gas fields, estimated to produce up to 12 million cubic metres a day, expected to come on stream in 2020. CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10

mental release and use in fields. Though it was cleared by scientists, the Environment Minister’s approval is required. Before his death on May 18, Anil Dave, the then Minister, was deliberating on the GEAC’s report and the future course of action.

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Raids at GJM chief’s house spark violence Shiv Sahay Singh Darjeeling

Violence broke out again in the Darjeeling hills on Thursday following early morning raids by the police and security forces at the house of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung. The GJM immediately called for an indefinite shutdown after the raids. Speaking to reporters in Kolkata, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “We want peace in the hills.” Accusing a few leaders of “doing goondagiri,” Ms. Banerjee said, “[If ] anybody violates the law, the administration will take action.” As news of the raids at Mr. Gurung’s Patleybas residence-cum-party office

spread, protests and violence broke out in the area with locals throwing stones and petrol bombs at the police and security personnel.

Policemen attacked GJM supporters surrounded and attacked the police at Patleybas as they were leaving after the raids. Senior police officials claimed the forces were fired upon. After a lathi charge failed to control the situation, security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. The Centre, meanwhile, rushed an additional 400 paramilitary personnel to Darjeeling. (With inputs from PTI) CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10

‘Cattle sale curbs will help regulate trade’ Supreme Court issues notice to Centre on petitions Press Trust of India

Regulator cleared the variety on May 12

Under the scanner: A soldier aims with a crossbow recovered after a raid at the GJM oice in Darjeeling on Thursday. AFP

New Delhi

The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that its notification banning the sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets for slaughter was aimed at having a “regulatory regime” for the cattle trade nationwide. The Centre’s submission came as the court sought its response to the pleas challenging the May 26 notification under the Prevention of

Cruelty to Animals Act, banning sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter. A Vacation Bench of Justices R.K. Agrawal and S.K. Kaul issued notice to the government and asked it to file its reply to the pleas within two weeks and scheduled hearing of the matter for July 11. At the brief hearing, Additional Solicitor-General P.S. Narasimha said the aim of the notification was to have

some kind of a regulatory regime for cattle trade. He said the notification would also check irregularities in markets and would not affect genuine traders. When one of the petitioners requested the Bench to stay the notification, Mr. Narasimha said the Madurai Bench of the Madras HC had already granted an interim stay and the notification would not be enforced as of now. ‘SERIOUS PROBLEMS’ 쑺 PAGE 10

‘No time line’ Dr. Vardhan, it is learnt, has been briefed of the technical aspects of the making of GM mustard, the commercial necessity and the objections raised so far to it. “There is no timeline for the final decision. But it is likely to be announced next month,” the official said. CONTINUED ON 쑺 PAGE 10

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The poor man with a valuable currency collection Despite his meagre earnings as a cleaner, P. Lakshmaiah has spent ₹4 lakh so far on his hobby Swathi Vadlamudi HYDERABAD

Rich collection: P. Lakshmaiah wants to collect all the currency notes of all the countries. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

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P. Lakshmaiah has never had a lot of money. But whenever he had a bit of cash to spare, he bought currency notes and coins. He has a collection of 180 currency notes and coins from various countries, all of them bought at hefty prices. He has spent ₹4 lakh so far on his collection. Around eight years of age, Mr. Lakshmaiah left his village, Veerannapet in Mahabubnagar district. He was sent away by his father to the city to work as cleaner in a hotel at Noorkhan Bazar. “I subsequently worked in many major restaurants of the city,” he says. But the jobs never lasted long. “I would be removed every

three months from service, so that the restaurateurs could avoid paying provident fund. Later, the duration was reduced to 45 days. To earn my living between jobs, I worked as construction labourer too.” Fed up of the scorn and abusive treatment, he decided he would achieve something that would make him stand out among the rest. In 1989, he began collecting currency from around the world, which he would get from a vendor in the Charminar area. spending whatever little he could spare from his earnings. In 1999, he moved back to Mahabubnagar, where he has worked as a ‘tea-master’ and supplier. After meeting

the needs of his family, he would continue to invest in his hobby, visiting Hyderabad to get more coins and notes. Incidentally, he has another hobby. He has a large collection of books and magazines related to film actors and singers. He has spent about ₹8 lakh on these to date, he says. Mr. Lakshmaiah is now retired (he is over 60, but uncertain of his age), and lives on a ₹1,000 pension from the Telangana government. But he still wants to earn more money so that he can fulfil his ambition. “I wish to continue this hobby till I collect all the currency notes of all the countries. For this, I want to start working again.” M ND-ND

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Himachal BJP to take out ‘parivartan rath yatras’

Saturday, June 17

RISE 05:24 SET 19:21 RISE 00:11 SET 12:08 Sunday, June 18

RISE 05:24 SET 19:22 RISE 00:49 SET 13:07

Union Ministers, CMs to lead the show Staff Reporter Shimla

The Himachal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to take out ‘parivartan rath yatras’ from Shimla, Mandi, Hamirpur and Kangra parliamentary constituencies on June 18. The rath yatras will be flagged off by Union Ministers and Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled States, said State president Satpal Satti on Thursday. The party, with an eye on the Assembly elections, has claimed that it will return to power in the hill State with a huge margin. The rath yatras, it said, will be the last nail in the coffin of the corrupt incumbent

government. The rath yatra in Shimla will begin from the Bhangayani temple in Sirmaur district’s Haripurdhar. Chief Minister of neighbouring Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat and former Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal will lead the show here. In Mandi, the rath yatra will be led by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Mr. Satti. The rath yatra in Kangra will begin from Baijnath and will be led by Union Minister Shripad Nayak and former Himachal Chief Minister Shanta Kumar, who is also the sitting MP from the constituency.

New cattle trade rules rattle Punjab farmers ‘State should come to the rescue of farmers, traders’

Uncertain future?: Traders at the cattle fair in Khanna on Thursday. Vikas Vasudeva KHANNA, LUDHIANA

Farmers and cattle traders in Punjab, who are yet to recover from the losses caused by the Central government’s demonetisation decision, are fearing yet another period of distress following the new rules on prevention of cruelty to animals framed by the Centre. At the Khanna cattle market (mandi), about 70km from the State capital Chandigarh, the anxiety of losing business is palpable among farmers, traders and cattle rearers, who strongly believe that if the new rules are implemented they will hit the farmers, while the traders would suffer eventually. “Cattle trade is already down by nearly 30% since the notification of new rule has come out. Last year, we had taken the annual tender for trading cattle across Punjab at Rs.51.57 crore, which will end this month. The new tenders have been invited, but with the business falling we are seriously thinking of opting out,” Amarjit Singh, a senior partner at the Rajpura Cattle Fair Traders, which manages the cattle trade business at nearly 62 big and small (mandis) markets in the State, told The Hindu.

Drop in business “Today ( June 15), nearly 2,200 buffaloes and cows have been brought to the mandi while during last twothree months the average figure was between 2,800 and 3,000. This itself is indicative of the drop in busi-

ness,” he says, adding that many farmers and dairymen, especially those involved in inter-State cattle trade, are reluctant to continue with their business because of the growing number of vigilante groups. Delhi-based Raj Kumar, who has been in the dairy business for over 30 years, said travelling with cattle in a truck has become a risky affair these days. “Earlier I used to travel in the truck with the cattle, but now a days it’s only the driver who transports them (cattle). The so called “vigilante groups” misbehaved with me recently, when I was on my way to Delhi from Jaipur,” he said. “Since then I travel separately,” he added.

Still unaware In cattle trade for over four decades, Ikhlaq, hailing from Shamasabad in Agra, is unaware of the new cattle rules. “I don't know anything about the new rules. I have hardly faced any problems in this business all these years, but for the harassment at the hands of the police at times,” he said as he loaded the nine buffaloes he bought from the mandi onto a truck. Punjab, one of the country’s leading States in cattle breeding and trade, has a flourishing Rs.2500 crore dairy business, according to the State government data. Manmohan Singh, a partner at Rajpura Cattle Fair Traders, said dairy farming is a big business in Punjab and it cannot be allowed to suffer as a result of the new rules.

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“The new rules would prove disastrous for farmers, who are already reeling under severe crisis as a result of the huge debt burden. The State government should, in fact, come to the rescue of farmers and traders. This year's tender for managing cattle trading should be put on halt till the issue is resolved,” he added. The Ministry of Environment had on May 23 issued a notification pertaining to new rules on ‘Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017’, under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Prashant Govind, a farmer from Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar village, has already started to prepare himself for the new rules. “What can we do if the government will implement this decision? We will have to follow.” “I have been selling cattle in case of urgent need of money. If I am not able to sell it in future then it will only add to my distress,” he added. Sandeep Kumar, another trader, said that new rules such as making it compulsory for a person to possess farm land in order to buy and sell cattle would adversely hit the business. “There are so many landless farmers who are involved in dairy farming. Where will they go? They will be doomed,” he said. Ashok Kumar of Delhibased Goyla Dairy, who returned empty-handed on Thursday, cited less number of cattle at the mandi as the reason for “no-deal”.

Why is Nitish silent on triple talaq, asks Yogi

Farmers to block traic today

Dares Bihar CM to close slaughter houses

Press Trust of India

Amarnath Tewary Patna

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday questioned Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s silence over triple talaq and declared that he would keep coming to Bihar till a BJP government in installed in the State in 2020. On his maiden visit to Bihar, Mr Adityanath also heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s welfare programmes and policies for the common people of the country. “Why your (Nitish Kumar) voice is not heard on the issue of triple talaq? Why hasn’t the Bihar government come out with its opinion on triple talaq?” he asked while addressing his first public meeting in Darbhanga after becoming the chief minister. Mr Adityanath was also supposed to address a public meeting in Patna on June 16 as part of the BJP’s Modi fest on the completion of three years of the Central government but the meeting was cancelled. Addressing an impressive crowd, the UP CM told the youth that the “time has come to change the government in Bihar for making development in accordance with the Modi government at the Centre.” “Why despite all their tal-

ent the youth of Bihar have to migrate from the state and suffer?” he asked. Striking an emotional and religious chord, he said “eastern UP is Bihar-II and it’s been a 1,000 year-old tradition.”

Strong ties “I want to have a strong relationship between UP and Bihar and very soon a fourlane road from Ayodhya to Sitamarhi named Maa Janaki Marg will come up to make this bond stronger,” Mr Adityanath said amid occasional cheer and clapping from the youthful crowd. Hitting out at the alliance between Mr Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, he said “it appears to be a mismatch marriage. But, a safai abhiyan (clean campaign) is to start in Bihar soon.” He also dared Mr Kumar to close all slaughter houses in the State. “All illegal slaughter houses were closed in UP in 24 hours. Will Nitish Kumar do it in Bihar too?” Adityanath asked. Referring to the ‘antiRomeo’ squads in his State, Mr Adityanath said “security is guaranteed in the BJP government which it provides to girls and women. We believe in PM Modi government’s slogan of sabka saath, sabka vikas.”

Chandigarh

Farmers have threatened to block traffic for three hours on Friday on all national highways in Haryana as part of their protest against the death of five cultivators in police firing in Madhya Pradesh and failure of the Centre to provide relief to the farming community. As part of their nationwide call, farmers owing allegiance to different unions will block traffic for three hours on Friday on all national highways across Haryana, a senior BKU leader said on Thursday. In view of their protest, the Haryana police too has taken necessary steps to deal with the situation. Haryana Director General of Police B. S. Sandhu said that all necessary security measures have been taken in the State in view of the protest. Four companies of the CRPF have been deployed in Ambala, Kurukshetra, Sonepat and Jind, he said. “At a meeting in the national capital on Saturday, the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh, a group of 62 farmers’ unions, announced that it will block traffic for three hours on all national highways across the country,” Bharatiya Kisan Union leader from Haryana Gurnam Singh said.

Published by N. Ram at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Mukund Padmanabhan (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act). Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 7 No. 143 ●

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Mahajan: NE important for India’s progress Iboyaima Laithangbam IMPHAL

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said here on Thursday that India cannot develop without first developing the Northeast. She was inaugurating the 16th North-East Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (NERCPA) conference. Inaugurating the meet, Ms. Mahajan said: “Manipur has a rich cultural heritage. It is the birth place of Ras Lila”. She also said that Manipur has international sportspersons in almost all disciplines. She said, “There can be an overall growth in the region only when there is peace during which developmental works can be taken up". Through tourism and trade, India is going to have connectivity with other South-East Asian countries via Myanmar and the NE States shall benefit, she added.

TMC MLA quizzed in Narada sting case Channel CEO summoned in connection with 'extortion' call Special Correspondent Kolkata

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Iqbal Ahmed was on Thursday questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Narada sting operation case. Mr. Ahmed, who is also the Kolkata Deputy Mayor, had failed to appear before the agency on an earlier date and had sought time. Narada News CEO Mathew Samuel, who had masterminded the spy cam investigation against Mr. Ahmed, 10 other TMC leaders and one police officer, was also interrogated by the Kolkata police on Thursday. A summon was sent to Mr. Samuel after an FIR in connection with an alleged extortion call to a former Bihar MP was registered at the Muchipara police station here. The caller threatened to make public a sting opera-

Iqbal Ahmed

tion footage of the official allegedly accepting bribe if he did not cough up ₹5 crore.

Hotel raided The police raided the hotel in central Kolkata where the call was purportedly made from and claimed to have collected some evidence. Mr. Samuel had earlier been asked to appear before the police by April 20, but he had sought time claiming he had been advised bed rest for at least three months after a surgery.

Mr. Ahmed is in a spot for more than one reason. Although he was allegedly caught on camera accepting bribe, Mr. Samuel claimed to have tricked other TMC leaders through Mr. Ahmed. Mr. Samuel had even claimed the MLA had taken money from him for introducing him to the leaders. The sting operation was conducted by Narada News to expose the corrupt practices of Ministers in the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government. The sting videos, which were released just before the 2016 Assembly elections in the State, had created a political furore. The CBI is probing the matter on a Calcutta High Court order and has registered FIRs against 12 senior TMC leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy and Lok Sabha MPs Saugata Roy. (With PTI inputs)

Koraput: minority community complains about Bajrang Dal Inlammatory slogans allegedly raised at rally Staff Reporter BERHAMPUR

Representatives of the minority community of Jeypore sub-division in Koraput district have met the subcollector and complained to him about the activities of the Bajrang Dal.

Video on social media Their complaint pertains to a rally taken out by the Bajrang Dal in Borigumma on July 11. They alleged that inflammatory slogans were raised against the minority community at the rally. A video clip of the rally is making the rounds on social media. In the video clip, participants can be seen wielding swords

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and raising inflammatory slogans. When contacted, Jeypore SubCollector Chakravarty Singh Rathor said the administration has taken the issue seriously. “The administration is thinking about instituting a magisterial inquiry into the whole affair,” he said. Though a minority community delegation has complained to the sub-collector, no complaint has been filed with the police. The administration may prefer to file a suo motu complaint and order a police investigation and a magisterial inquiry. Meanwhile, Koraput Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati has appealed to the citizens to maintain peace and harmony.

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Karnataka Council: Cong. motion defeated Sreedharan to be

IN BRIEF

on dais with PM

With JD (S) supporting BJP, D.H. Shankaramurthy remains Chairman; says he has upheld democracy Special Correspondent Bengaluru

KOCHI

The ruling Congress in Karnataka faced a major embarrassment on Thursday when the no-confidence motion moved by it against Legislative Council Chairperson D.H. Shankaramurthy was defeated, with the Janata Dal (Secular) refusing to lend its support. The JD (S), key player in the political manoeuvre, stayed with its pre-existing alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The motion, defeated amid high drama and trading of charges by leaders, ensured that Mr. Shankaramurthy continued to hold his office as chairperson.

A preliminary investigation by the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD), Kochi, has confirmed the involvement of Amber L, a Panama-flag bulk carrier, in the collision with a fishing vessel off Kochi on June 11. It has ordered the detention of the vessel until further orders.

Difference of one vote The Congress lost by just one vote, with 36 voting in favour of the motion and 37 against. All 12 JD (S) members voted against the motion as per the direction of their party leaders. The party, which had kept both the BJP and the

HC directs SIT not to arrest Kumaraswamy BENGALURU

In a temporary relief to the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, the Karnataka HC on Thursday directed the Special Investigation Team not to arrest him till the next date of hearing. This was on a petition seeking anticipatory bail in the case related to an alleged case of misuse of office when he was the CM.

Kochi Marine dept. orders detention of Amber L

Congress guessing on which way it would tilt till the last moment, finally voted in favour of the former. Efforts made by Congress Ministers to woo two Independent members, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and D.U. Mallikarjuna, also failed.

Allegations levelled Once the motion was defeated, there was ruckus in the House for some time as V.S. Ugrappa, the prime mover of the motion, made a series of allegations, including corruption and constitutional impropriety, against Mr. Shankaramurthy. He also accused the JD (S) members of reneging on their “promise.” Both the Opposition parties termed them a figment of Mr. Ugrappa’s imagination and shouted him down. Mr. Shankaramurthy, who sat with members, said he had upheld the tradition of democracy and protected the dignity of the Chair.

For the Kochi metro launch on Saturday Kochi

Elated and exuberant: Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council D.H. Shankaramurthy is greeted by the Leader of the Opposition K.S. Eshwarappa and others after winning the no trust vote in Bengaluru on Thursday. V. SREENIVASA MURTHY *

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A British era library that tells a hoary tale

Faced with public outrage over E. Sreedharan, architect of Kochi metro, not being accommodated on the stage at its inaugural function on Saturday, the PMO has decided to provide seating to him, KMRL Managing Director Elias George, and Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on the dais. With this, the number of dignitaries who will be on the stage has gone up to 10. Local MLA P.T. Thomas will have no place on the stage when Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissions Kerala’s first mass rapid transport system at 11 a.m. at the international stadium, Kaloor. The PMO informed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office on Thursday that both Mr. Sreedharan and Mr. Chennithala had been in-

MP creates ruckus, faces music Special Correspondent VISAKHAPATNAM

According to the records of the Taluk Library Council, the SMS Club and Library was the second public library. Today, it is an ‘A’ grade library with a membership of 3,500 and a collection of some 17,000 titles.

PEERMADE

From the outside, it is just another building that sits amid the green expanse of tea plantations. But inside the SMS Club and Library in Peermade, Idukki, the visitor will be surprised to find some rare gems in the form of first prints of books published in the United Kingdom during the days of the British Raj. It is as though each of the books, many of them close to 150 years old, breathe the rarefied air of memory and scholarship from a time increasingly receding into the realm of forgetfulness. Many books have on them signatures of persons who

Old-world charm: A ile picture of the SMS Club and Library.

owned them, mostly Englishmen and women, perhaps planters, who used to live in the area before Independence. The SMS Club and Library, which turns 100 this year, was started in a building on 35 cents gifted

by former Maharaja of Travancore Sreemoolam Thirunal in 1917. Peermade hosted the summer palace of the erstwhile Travancore rulers and the building ‘Ammachikottaram’ ( Palace of the Queen) still stands nearby.

EDUCATIONAL

Rare books Post-independence, the library, originally housed in a thatched structure, passed into the hands of local book enthusiasts like Chellappan, a woodcutter by profession, but a great lover of books. He used to be available at the library every evening to assist the members. Besides its collection of rare English books, the

Chennithala’s inclusion Taking note of the public outcry over the omission of Mr. Sreedharan, Mr. Vijayan asked the Chief Secretary to write to the PMO, seeking his inclusion along with that of Mr. Chennithala and Mr. Thomas. Mr. Elias George said he was pleased at the inclusion of Mr. Sreedharan. Till Saturday, a total of seven persons were scheduled to occupy chairs on the stage. Besides Mr. Modi, the list included Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Governor P. Sathasivam, K.V. Thomas, MP, Minister for Transport Thomas Chandy, and Mayor Soumini Jain.

Airlines bar Diwakar Reddy from their lights for ‘unruly behaviour’

100-year-old SMS Club and Library has irst prints of several books published in the United Kingdom Giji K. Raman

cluded on the list of dignitaries who would be seated on the stage along with the Prime Minister.

State Reporter

library has a rich collection of Malayalam books, which can throw light on the evolution of Malayalam literature and printing. Some of the oldest books are priced in ‘Ana’ (an old coin now not in circulation). Local lore has it that the library boasted an original by Raja Ravi Varma, but this could hardly be verified owing to lapse of time. P.N. Mohanan, who has been associated with the library for 35 years, says he still recalls the day one of the paintings fell and its glass cover was broken. “It was then decided to keep the painting in the draw of a table. We could not find it later,” he says.

Telugu Desam MP J.C. Diwakar Reddy created a ruckus after he was denied a boarding pass at the Visakhapatnam airport on Thursday morning. He reportedly arrived late for his flight. The MP was scheduled to take the IndiGo flight (6E-608) from Visakhapatnam to Hyderabad. The airline staff refused to give him the boarding pass, and reportedly offered to accommodate him on another flight. Mr. Reddy flew into a rage and reportedly abused the airline staff, trying to push one of them and pull out a printer. Later, he boarded the

EDUCATIONAL

J.C. Diwakar Reddy

same flight to Hyderabad. IndiGo Airlines has barred the MP from its flights. Following this, Air India, SpiceJet and Jet Airways also barred him. Earlier, IndiGo confirmed the “unruly behaviour” by Mr. Reddy. In an official statement to the media, the airlines said the MP had reported 28 minutes before the scheduled departure of the flight. The staff politely

informed him that boarding for flight 6E-608 had been closed and offered to accommodate him on the subsequent flight. “He expressed his annoyance and [showed] abusive behaviour [towards] the staff ... As an airline, we will take all necessary action to address this violation,” it said.

Reddy denies charge The MP, however, defended his conduct. He denied that he had assaulted the airline staff. “I reached the airport 30 minutes before the departure of the flight. I only asked the staff why they were not issuing a boarding pass and put my hand around the shoulder of the airline staff in a friendly manner,” he said.

EDUCATIONAL

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CM YK

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Weather Watch

IN BRIEF

BJD plans show of strength in Berhampur

Rainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday

Ahead of BJP president Amit Shah’s visit to Odisha aimed at preparing a base for the safron party Speaking to newsmen, Sanjay Dasburma, coordinator of the youth and students’ organisations of the BJD, said more than 10,000 delegates from Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Nabarangpur and Kandhamal will attend the Berhampur conference.

Staff Reporter BERHAMPUR

Yogi’s lunch with Dalits a drama: Mayawati LUCKNOW

BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday trashed as “political drama” the lunch Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had with around 500 Dalits in Gorakhpur, and said it will neither change the face of the saffron party nor benefit the underprivileged. PTI

Noted Punjabi playwright A.S. Aulakh passes away CHANDIGARH

Noted Punjabi playwright Ajmer Singh Aulakh died at his residence in Mansa in Punjab on Thursday. The 75-year-old Sahitya Akademi awardee had been ailing for some time. The Punjab Assembly paid homage to the writer by observing a two-minute silence for the departed soul. PTI

Man kills mother in Jharkhand MEDININAGAR (JHARKHAND)

A 23-year-old man was on Thursday arrested after he killed his mother at Khumbikhurd village in Palamau district, the police said. The accused hacked his 48-year-old mother with an axe following an altercation between them. The woman died on the spot, the police said. PTI

Punjab to set up fire directorate CHANDIGARH

The Punjab government on Thursday said it will come up with a directorate of fire services in order to improve the service in the State even as it hit out at the previous SAD-BJP regime for not paying any attention to the essential service. PTI

CM YK

The ruling Biju Janata Dal is organising a major show of strength in Berhampur, the home district of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, ahead of the visit of BJP national president Amit Shah to the State with the aim to prepare a base for the saffron party.

Chalking out details Four State Ministers -- Maheswar Mohanty, Bikram Keshari Arukh, Usha Devi, Surya Narayan Patra -- as well as several former Ministers and heads of the youth and students’ wings of the BJD visited Berhampur on Thursday to chalk out the details. The BJD is planning to have a zonal conference of its youth and students’ or-

Biju Janata Dal chief and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah. *

FILE PHOTOS

ganisations for south Odisha in Berhampur on June 21. The conference will be inaugurated and addressed by Mr. Patnaik.

Zonal conferences The BJD plans to hold six such zonal conferences of its youth and students’ wings in different parts of the State.

The first such conference has already been held in Balasore. The Berhampur conference would be the second one. Mr. Shah was earlier expected to visit Ganjam district on June 23. But according to sources, his visit has been rescheduled to the first week of July.

Three major issues During the June 21 conference, young supporters of the BJD would be made aware of the three major issues that reveal the 'stepmotherly' attitude of the BJPled NDA government at the Centre towards Odisha. The first issue is non-inclusion of Odisha in two industrial corridors proposed by the Central government. “The two proposed indus-

Bhim Army to protest arrest of its founder Outit running a social media campaign for its June 18 rally at Jantar Mantar Dalit houses, are being released, no compensation has been announced as yet for the Dalit households that were completely burnt by the rioting mob on May 5 in Shabbirpur .”

Staff Reporter Meerut

A week after Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad was held by the Special Task Force, the Dalit outfit has planned another protest at Jantar Mantar on June 18 to protest against the “wrongful arrest” of its founder. Chandrashekhar's mother Kamlesh Devi is expected to address the rally.

Video circulated To spread the word about the proposed rally, Bhim Army has circulated a video of Kamlesh Devi appealing to the people to join the rally. “This is the mission of Baba Sahab Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Though some people want to stand in its way, it won't stop,” she says in the video in which she is seen sitting with a picture of

Protest call: Members of the Bhim Army staging a demonstration in New Delhi last month. FILE PHOTO *

Dr. BR Ambedkar in the background. Satish Prakash, a Dalit activist who is campaigning for the Bhim Army rally said that the rally was being organised to tell the State government in UP that “it cannot arrest someone for standing for the rights of

Dalits.” “What happened in Shabbirpur on May 5 and the subsequent days was completely one-sided action by the Adityanath government in favour of the Thakur community. While members of the Thakur community, accused of rioting and burning

Strong campaign The Bhim Army is running a strong campaign on social media to make the proposed protest rally as successful as its last rally at Jantar Mantar in May. It is circulating pamphlets and posters in Saharanpur. Dalit activists and supporters of Bhim Army are mobilising people from across western Uttar Pradesh. Vinay Ratan Singh, who is heading Bhim Army in Chandrashekhar's absence, said that the rally was a protest against the framing of innocent people in cases related to the riots.

trial corridors are ChennaiVisakhapatanam and Amritsar-Kolkata. For some reason, Odisha has not been included although it is a major mineral producer of the country and is on the path of fast industrial growth,” Mr. Dasburma said. The other two major issues are related to building of barrages on the Mahanadi river in Chhattisgarh, which has reduced the water flow to Odisha, and also grant of special status to Odisha by the Centre. BJD leaders claim that in its manifesto during the last Assembly polls, the Odisha BJP had promised to work for grant of special status to the State. But now the Union Ministers are openly saying that Odisha cannot get special status.

10 pilgrims killed in accident Staff Correspondent SHIMLA

Ten pilgrims were killed and 55 injured after a bus fell into a gorge near Dhaliara in Kangra district on Thursday. The injured have been admitted to hospitals in Dehra and Tanda. According to the police, the death toll may rise.

Jawalamukhi shrine The pilgrims, who were travelling from Amritsar, were going from Chintpurni temple in the hill State to the shrine of Jawalamukhi, about 60 km from the Dharamshala district headquarters. Governor Acharya Dev Vrat and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh have expressed grief and assured help to the injured and the families of the victims.

Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: Skymet

Forecast for Friday: Heavy rain likely at isolated places over Vidarbha, Odisha, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Konkan & Goa, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Telangana and coastal Karnataka. Thunderstorm with lightning/gusty winds likely at isolated places over central Maharashtra, Marathawada, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh city rain max min Agartala................22.... 35.2.... 25.4 Ahmedabad............ —.... 39.9.... 28.8 Aizawl .................0.4.... 29.6.... 12.9 Allahabad .............. —.... 41.8.... 31.6 Bengaluru .............. —.... 29.5.... 21.5 Bhopal................... —.... 39.9.... 25.2 Bhubaneswar .....29.6.... 33.0.... 23.2 Chandigarh ............ —.... 35.5.... 27.6 Chennai ...............0.6.... 37.6.... 28.7 Coimbatore............ —.... 33.8.... 24.5 Dehradun............... —.... 34.4.... 23.4 Gangtok...............4.7.... 23.2.... 16.6 Goa ......................22.... 31.0.... 24.5 Guwahati .............0.2.... 33.8.... 23.6 Hubballi................. —.... 27.0.... 22.0 Hyderabad ............. —.... 32.8.... 24.7 Imphal................... —.... 31.6.... 22.4 Jaipur ................17.6.... 39.0.... 18.4 Kochi..................... —.... 31.8.... 25.6 Kohima.................. —.... 25.2.... 17.6 Kolkata.................. —.... 35.6.... 27.7

city rain max min Kozhikode .............2.5.... 33.2.... 25.9 Kurnool .................4.4.... 32.1.... 26.0 Lucknow.................. —.... 40.8.... 28.3 Madurai...............20.4.... 36.8.... 24.4 Mangaluru.............1.5.... 30.9.... 24.6 Mumbai..................19.... 32.6.... 25.2 Mysuru.................... —.... 31.0.... 20.4 New Delhi ............... —.... 39.6.... 28.6 Patna ..................39.8.... 34.5.... 21.5 Port Blair ................ —.... 32.0.... 24.8 Puducherry..........27.4.... 35.8.... 25.3 Pune .....................3.4.... 31.4.... 20.7 Raipur ..................... —.... 41.4.... 30.2 Ranchi..................... —.... 38.4.... 25.2 Shillong.................2.6.... 24.8.... 16.2 Shimla..................... —.... 24.3.... 18.0 Srinagar ................1.2.... 28.0.... 15.6 Trivandrum ............. —.... 32.4.... 25.4 Tiruchi ..................5.6.... 39.7.... 26.0 Vijayawada ............9.9.... 32.5.... 25.2 Visakhapatnam ........24.... 30.8.... 26.2

Particulate matter in the air you are breathing CITIES

Yesterday

SO2 NO2 CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE

Ahmedabad......... ....— .....— ...—........— .......—.......— Bengaluru ........... ....8....64..75........— ...105 ......* Chennai .............. ....6....22..33...... 88 .......— ......* Delhi................... ..21..135..98.... 135 ...382 ......* Hyderabad .......... ..16....13..19...... 23 .....31 ......* Kolkata ............... ..11....32..31........— .....19 ......* Lucknow ............. ..12....11..64.... 128 .......— ......* Mumbai .............. ..14....54..20...... 39 .....57 ......* Pune ................... ..12....27..74...... 16 .....12 ......* Vishakhapatnam.. ..26....16..49...... 50 .....58 ......*

In observation made at 4.00 p.m., Howrah, recorded an overall air quality index (AQI) score of 366 indicating an unhealthy level of pollution. In contrast, Haldia, West Bengal recorded a healthy AQI score of 31

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

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NATION 7

NOIDA/DELHI



IN BRIEF

Former CJI P.N. Bhagwati passes away

Two killed in Khadki ordnance factory blast

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A new beginning

The incident happened at the time of shifting the explosives

NEW DELHI

Former Chief Justice of India P. N. Bhagwati, considered a pioneer of judicial activism in the country for introducing the concept of PILs, died here on Thursday after brief illness, family sources said. Justice Bhagwati, 95, is survived by his wife Prabhavati Bhagwati and three daughters. The funeral will be held on June 17.

MLA booked for assaulting farmers PUNE

The Maharashtra police on Thursday booked Congress legislator Abdul Sattar Abdul Nabi, along with 32 others, for allegedly assaulting, threatening and abusing some farmers in Aurangabad. A video of the incident shows the MLA threatening some farmers to get off the land that Mr. Nabi claimed was his.

Special correspondent Pune

Two workers were killed after a blast ripped through the ammunition factory in Khadki on Thursday morning. The cause of the explosion, which occurred in the F2 section, is being ascertained, officials said. The deceased workers were Ashok Dubal (52) and Maria Rok (48). Both are residents of the city’s Rangehills area, sited near the Ordnance Factory.

A ile photo of the ordnance factory at Khadki near Pune.

*

DATTATRAYA ADHALGE

‘No damage to building’ A release by the Defence PRO said the incident happened at the time of shifting the explosives. “It was a routine work which was being carried out. Two workers sustained burn injuries as a result of the ex-

plosion and died. Military explosives experts are at the site and an investigation is on. There is no damage to the buildings and the situation is under control,” said the release. Officials said a team

would probe whether the blast was a result of human error or technical malfunction. The inquiry would also establish whether the standard operating procedures (SOPs) were followed or not, said the authorities.

Hip, hip, hurrah: Students ditch the “colonial” black robes and headgears and don ethnic attire instead during the convocation ceremony at IIT-Kanpur on Thursday. PTI *

U.P. recommends CBI probe into waqf boards

Elephant rescue marred

CM also orders their dissolution

Aundh locals throw stones at team trying to shift jumbo

‘Sack holders of fake caste certiicates’


Staff Reporter


Lucknow

Mumbai

New Delhi

Hours after the Uttar Pradesh government ordered dissolution of Shia and Sunni waqf boards, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday night recommended a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities worth several crores committed by the two bodies in the State. “The Chief Minister recommended a CBI probe into alleged scam worth crores in Shia and Sunni waqf boards,” Minister of State for Waqf Mohsin Raza told PTI here. Mr. Raza said scam worth crores had come to the fore in a probe by the Waqf Council of India. The Chief Minister had also given orders to dissolve both State Shia and Sunni waqf boards. The process to dissolve the two boards had been started after taking into account all legal aspects, the Minister said. There have been serious allegations of corruption against the Shia and Sunni waqf boards related to their

After five decades as a temple elephant with the royal family of Aundh in Satara district, 70-year-old Gajraj was rescued on Wednesday by the State’s Forest Department and NGOs, even as emotional villagers pelted stones at the rescue team in an attempt to stop shifting him. Gajraj is on his way to an elephant rehabilitation centre in Mathura. The elephant was brought from the wild to the royal family of Aundh at the age of 12 as a gift to the queen at her wedding. The rescue operation was led by NGO Wildlife SOS. “Our entire team was in danger as we were attacked by stones, but police presence helped us move the elephant and our team to safety,” said Wasim Akram, Wildlife SOS coordinator.

Yogi Adityanath

properties. The role of the chairman of the Shia Waqf Board, Wasim Rizvi, as well as the Minister for Waqf in the previous Samajwadi Party government, Azam Khan, had come under scanner after the inquiry by the Waqf Council of India. Barely a fortnight after the SP suffered a humiliating defeat in the Assembly polls, a report by the factfinding committee of the Central Waqf Council indicted Mr. Khan — controversial minister in the Akhilesh Yadav regime — of corruption, mismanagement and misuse of office.

Partial blindness Recent medical examination had revealed Gajraj has developed partial blindness

Saved inally: Aundh villagers bid adieu to ‘Gajraj’ which will be taken to Mathura elephant reserve. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT *

and a toenail abscess that could spread to the bone. He also has abscesses in the hip and his foot pads suffered severe degeneration. “Being chained for most of his life has had a detrimental effect on Gajraj’s health. He has lost weight and has nutritional deficiencies,” said Dr. Yaduraj Khadpekar, senior veterinarian, Wildlife SOS. “When PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Anim-

als) came to know about his deteriorating state in 2016, several recommendations were made to the custodians, which they did not follow,” said PETA’s Director of Veterinary Affairs, Dr. Manilal Valliyate. The royal family of Aundh did not protest against the rescue. “I am confident that he is in safe hands,” said Gayatri Devi Pant Pratinidhi, queen of Aundh.

In a crackdown on appointments using forged Scheduled Caste or Backward Caste certificates, all Central government departments have been asked to collect details from the organisations under them and initiate action. Employees who got jobs through such fake or forged caste certificates should be removed or dismissed in accordance with relevant service rules, the Centre has said. The move assumes significance as over 1,800 appointments, a majority of them in financial sectors like public sector banks and insurance companies, were allegedly secured through fake caste certificates, official data reveals. According to existing norms, if it is found that a government servant had furnished false information or produced a false certificate to secure appointment, he should not be retained in service.

Zakir Naik’s school in Mumbai illegal: BMC ‘Conspiracy to harass management’ Press Trust of India Mumbai

The education department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said controversial preacher Zakir Naik’s Islamic International School (IIS) in south Mumbai is operating without authorisation. South Mumbai region education inspector B. B. Chavan, in a letter issued on Wednesday, stated that no school could run without the NOC (no objection certificate) of the local governing body, as defined under provisions of the Right to Education Act, 2009. It was also mentioned in the letter that parents should not enrol their children in IIS. However, it was not specified if the school had obtained the NOC. Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi, who recently took over the school, alleged that “there was a conspiracy to harass” the institution’s management. The school, which has around 135 students and

Zakir Naik

conducts classes from nursery to Class X, was taken over by Mr. Azmi’s Niyaz Minority Education and Welfare Trust. “The school is being run on the same lines [as earlier] with only some changes, including in its name and management. I have taken the premises on rent and have done nothing to invite the fury of the education department,” said Mr. Azmi, a legislator from Mumbai’s Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Assembly constituency. However, Mr. Azmi also said the school management would get in touch with the education department and find out if any more permissions were required to run it.

‘NCERT being used to tarnish vedas’ Prakash Kamat PANAJI

Delegates at the ongoing national Hindu convention organised here by right wing Hindu outfits alleged a plot to portray the Vedas in a bad light through the the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). Speaking on the topic, ‘Futility of Democracy’ on Thursday, Niraj Atri, president of the National Centre for Historical Research and Comparative Study in Chandigarh, said, “Totally false information such as existence of tradition of slavery in Vedas is being passed on to the students through the medium of this Central Government level curriculum.” Mr. Atri went to say that there was a plot to ‘tarnish’ the Vedas through the NCERT. The convention demanded that Hindu organisations and political parties in India take the lead in getting justice for Hindus in Sri Lanka. “Due to persistent conflict going on since last 30 years in Sri Lanka, the population of Hindus in Sri Lanka is reducing very fast. The population of Hindus which was earlier 30% has now remained 15%, that is, 20 lakhs only. Hindus are constantly pressured for getting religiously converted. As such Hindu organisations and political parties in India need to take the lead in getting justice to Hindus in Sri Lanka,” said Maravanpulavu Sachithananthan, a delegate from Sri Lanka. CM YK

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8 EDITORIAL

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU



The anniversary of a divide Shoots take root

T

he biggest takeaway from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to raise the federal funds rate, for a third time in six months, is its assertion that growth in the world’s largest economy has gained traction and is on course to warrant further “gradual” rate increases. Fed Chair Janet Yellen emphasised the factors underpinning this rebound in economic activity — an “ongoing improvement in the job market and relatively high levels of consumer sentiment and wealth” that have spurred household spending, an expansion in business investment, and most signiicantly, a global pickup in demand. This ofers more reassurance that the global economy may have inally re-emerged from the post-inancial crisis doldrums. It is also noteworthy that the economic revival has been happening amid heightened policy uncertainty worldwide, especially in key areas like trade, as political tumult continues to roil the U.S. under the Donald Trump administration and, more recently, the U.K. as well. And while Ms. Yellen reiterated that the American central bank remained on alert in monitoring inlation developments, given a recent softening in price gains, the Fed’s decision to announce the contours of a programme to gradually pare the size of its $4.5 trillion balance sheet is another sign that the U.S. economic engine is warming up. India’s exporters can take heart that demand in one of the largest markets for their goods and services is likely to continue to strengthen in the coming months. The Fed also bumped up the median projection for U.S. economic growth in 2017 to 2.2%, from 2.1% forecast in March. Ms. Yellen and her colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee have also done well to ward of a 2013 ‘taper tantrum’-like scenario by lagging the projected path of balance sheet normalisation — a deliberate and clearly calibrated set of reductions that increase over time — without detailing a schedule for the start of the process. Clearly spelling out that the plan to decrease reinvestment of principal payments from assetbacked and Treasury securities is conditional on the economy staying its anticipated course, the Fed has earmarked this year as the broad time frame for its start. India’s monetary authorities can derive some reassurance that they are not alone in adopting a policy stance that seems counter-intuitive to some in the light of slowing inlation in their respective economies. While the Fed describes its stance as “accommodative” to spur further strengthening in labour market conditions and a sustained return to 2% inlation, the Reserve Bank of India has said that its “neutral” poise is intended to continue support for economic expansion while ensuring price stability. The common theme is the welcome emphasis on consistency and stability in the messaging.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi his year, the 70th anniversary of India’s independence is also the 70th anniversary of India’s partitioning. The division was not neat. It was a giant, bloody mess. Uprooted from their homes, some 14.5 million human beings, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, left the new Pakistan for India, or India for the new Pakistan. They left in terror, travelled trembling, and ‘arrived’ traumatised to a ramshackle refuge. A new and powerful word moved from the small print of the English lexicon to everyday Indian speech: refugee. The very rich and the ridiculously poor were refugees together. One had left a manor, another a hut. Both begged together for food, shelter, medicines, clothes — and dignity. All these took time coming. The only immediate relief was that the claws of abduction, loot and death were no longer upon them.

T

Rejoicing and mourning Estimates vary but some of them tell us that at the lowest about 200,000 and the highest about 2,000,000 human beings were butchered in the process. The Government of India claimed that 33,000 Hindu and Sikh women had been abducted. The Government of Pakistan claimed that 50,000 Muslim women had been abducted. Life stood divided, death stood partitioned. Refugees seethed in rage. On this anniversary, we should remember that 1947 was one part independence, one part dismemberment, one part triumph, one part tragedy. Unimaginable, indescribable tragedy. “Tomorrow we will be free from bondage to the British,” said

CM YK

Bedrock position For some three generations over the last 70 years, India has been a plural society with a secular government committed to the idea that religion has no business with government and government has

Gopalkrishna Gandhi is a former administrator, diplomat and Governor

The Grenfell Tower tragedy will feed into the frenzied debate over inequality and social justice in Britain

With ratiication of conventions on child labour, we must have assessment of violations

I

Red Fort was “very heaven”. We must and will celebrate that and more — the advance of India on the path of economic self-reliance and prosperity, electoral democracy and the rule of law. But we cannot aford to forget the price at which that independence came. Not just because it was a heavy levy but because we are paying that cess even today. And it may be called the Two Nations Theory Cess. The Two Nations theory had two celebrated articulators: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar of the Hindu Mahasabha and Mohammed Ali Jinnah of the Muslim League. Their perspectives were diferent, their purposes divergent. Savarkar believed Hindus and Muslims were two nations living in their distinctness within an un-harmonised India but he did not want a division. Jinnah believed Hindus and Muslims were two separate nations that needed to be in two separate nation states. The Muslim League’s advocacy of the Two Nations theory reached its purpose by the formation of Pakistan 70 years ago. What of the counter goal of a Hindu Rashtra?

no interest in religion. Has that bedrock position been oicially reversed? No, it has not. But it stands undermined. Those connected historically and culturally to the idea of a Hindu Rashtra are, today, promulgating their passionately-held philosophy in diferent ways, dispersed incidents, apparently unconnected, in ways that make a Muslim feel fearful, a Christian feel as light as a leaf that can be blown of by a single majoritarian breath, a liberal feel vulnerable, a dissident feel targeted. They serve to make the cattle-trader afraid, the non-vegetarian at his meal declare it is not, please, Sir, not beef. They go to make the journalist feel hesitant, the farmer feel betrayed, the Dalit and the tribal feel insecure. Above all, anyone hurt by administrative wrongdoing or dismayed by state policy feel afraid to say so for: if you are against the government, you are against the nation. Fear is abroad, like an invisible fume that you do not see but know that it surrounds you. And know, too, that it can ignite in your face. The great American thinker Thomas Jeferson said: “We may consider each generation as a distinct nation.” A new generation of Indians, a new distinct nation, is marking the 70th anniversary of our independence in an idiom and with a vocabulary which has nothing to do with the freedom struggle. It is making ‘the diferently disposed’, both outside and within the Hindu fold, its target. And its equally active counterpart in Pakistan, going for ‘the other’ both within and beyond Islam, is not its adversary but its twin. Their religion is not Hinduism or Islam, it is Separateness. On the 70th anniversary of independence and partition we must resist a second partitioning of India, of its versatile ethos, through an invisible surgery, performed by the knife of discord moving under the numbing anaesthesia of fear.

Fuelling other ires

No time to work n a welcome move this week, India has ratiied two key global conventions meant to keep children away from work, decades since they were originally adopted by the International Labour Organisation. Nonetheless, the scepticism aroused by the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 over the government’s commitment towards complete abolition of child labour will persist. The ILO treaties are about the minimum age at which a person may begin work and the hazardous industries where she may not. Crucially, conventions 138 and 182 of the United Nations body leave it to the member-states to determine what constitutes acceptable or unacceptable work for children at diferent ages. Such lexibility has given the Indian government wiggle room in adopting the international standards in question, even though the 2016 legislation falls several notches below a comprehensive prohibition of child labour. The Act contains the controversial provision that condones the employment of children below 14 years under the rubric of family enterprises and the declassiication of several industries as hazardous occupations. The detrimental efects on the ground from these dilutions of the original 1986 Act could be widespread. With roughly 90% of the workforce continuing to remain outside the ambit of the organised sector, protecting vulnerable children from exploitation is diicult. The rules notiied by the Ministry of Labour and Employment for the enforcement of the 2016 amendment include some small concessions. Under these stipulations, children may work in domestic enterprises only for three hours after school, and not between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. These restrictions are intended to ensure attendance at school. But given the sensitivities involved in monitoring activities within traditional households, efective enforcement will pose a challenge, and the rescue of vulnerable children will remain an uncertain proposition. India’s ratiication of the two conventions, after more than 165 countries have legally bound themselves to their obligations, is itself a sad commentary on the priorities of successive governments, cutting across party lines. The ILO’s Minimum Age Convention of 1973 entered into force in 1976 — and the instrument pertaining to the elimination of the worst forms of child labour in 2000. While policymakers are no doubt alert to the inequities that perennially plague Indian society, the practical realities are too painful for the millions who languish on the margins. Any genuine enforcement of a minimum age at work will elude governments so long as a universal minimum wage of subsistence for the adult workforce is not implemented scrupulously. On this score, the record of diferent States is at best patchy. This scenario is unlikely to improve in the absence of a vibrant mechanism of collective bargaining among stakeholders. Without this, the total elimination of child labour will remain a diicult task.

associates to begin singing the Ramdhun. All India Radio has recorded the entire sequence, with the sound of the explosion distinctly audible. The ‘bomber’ was 25-year-old Madanlal Pahwa, a refugee from West Punjab. He was spotted by a woman, appropriately named Sulochana (the good-eyed), and a police team soon arrived and took the young man into custody. When asked later if he thought Pahwa’s was just “the harmless prank of an irresponsible youth”, Gandhi said it was not. “Don’t you see there is a terrible and widespread conspiracy behind it?” He was right, Pahwa was integral to the conspiracy which was to hit its target 10 days later. That was the temper of the nation 70 years ago. Hate, brutality, violence both sudden and also calculated. It was the season of vengeance, of retribution. It was the season of dank suspicion, of hooded conspiracies. So, does the 70th anniversary of the birth of independent India which is the 70th anniversary of the death of undivided India as well, admit of any celebration? Of course it does, for ridding ourselves of the yoke of colonialism was unquestionably a triumph. Seeing the imperial power out of our lives was a matter of rejoicing. Watching Jawaharlal Nehru unfurl the Tricolour on the

Vidya Ram

H

ow soon is too soon to raise diicult, politically charged questions about a tragedy that has cost lives? It’s become an increasingly pertinent question in Britain, which has witnessed a series of devastating events — from three terrorist attacks within a three-month period to the catastrophic ire that engulfed a residential tower block in west London on Wednesday killing 17 people, with the death toll set to rise further. In the past politicians have often stayed away from questions around whether policy decisions have contributed to tragedies for a certain amount of time, but in the heated political and highly ideologically charged country that Britain has become over the past year, that’s become less so. In the days immediately after the Manchester attack, Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour party, spoke out against the government’s foreign policy and cuts to police forces, arguing that the

tragedy raised questions about both: whether Britain’s interventionist approach in countries such as Syria, Libya and Iraq contributed to the risk to civilians from terror attacks back home, and whether cuts to police forces made it harder for them to gather counterterrorism intelligence suiciently rigorously. His decision to do so was clearly not of-putting enough to the public, who handed the party its biggest increase in terms of share of the vote in postwar Britain.

Austerity link to tragedy? The ire was still raging through Grenfell Tower on Wednesday morning when Mr. Corbyn drew a potential link between the government’s austerity programme and the tragedy. “If you deny local authorities the funding they need, then there is a price paid by a lack of safety facilities across the country. I think there needs to be some very searching questions as quickly as possible in the aftermath of the ire,” he told LBC Radio, also pointing to the cuts that had taken place to ire services across the country, and reiterating his message that people could not be protected on the cheap. This time he was not a lone voice in raising questions about whether

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Deadline jitters The Finance Ministry’s resolve to go ahead with implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1, rejecting the chorus of demands for its postponement, is myopic (“Put of GST rollout to Sept.1, Aviation Ministry tells FinMin,” June 15). Experts have justiiably raised a red lag over the challenges faced by industries in the service sector. Companies with multiple oices spread across the country are now required to obtain separate registration for each State. With barely 15 days remaining for the roll-out, the IT system and the GST Network (GSTN) system are not even accepting new registrations. The GST Suvidha Providers (GSP) too have reportedly expressed their inability to perform

AFP

The rate increase by the Fed indicates that the world’s largest economy has gained traction

Gandhi in Calcutta on the eve of the new dawn. “But from midnight tonight Hindustan will be broken into two pieces. So tomorrow will be both a day of rejoicing and of mourning.” There was much celebration in the city, great camaraderie. The euphoria was short-lived. Sixteen days into Independence, on August 31, at about 10 at night, a fuming mob of Hindu youths came to where he was staying in the Muslim quarter of Beliaghata, looking for his Muslim hosts to attack and perhaps kill them. It was Gandhi’s day of silence. He was unwell, tired and preparing to leave the next morning for Noakhali, by now in East Pakistan, to assuage Hindu families traumatised by the murderous attacks on them. The youths started breaking things, hurling stones at lamps and window panes. They ran into the rooms looking for their ‘targets’. “What is all this?” Gandhi asked the rampaging crowd, breaking his silence and walking into the mob. “Kill me, kill me, I say. Why don’t you kill me?’’ A posse of military police arrived and dispersed the crowd. But riots lared in the city. The next day, Gandhi cancelled his Noakhali visit and went on a fast. “For how many days?” Abha Gandhi asked. “Until peace is established I shall take nothing but water.” By the fourth day of the fast, Calcutta was quiet again. Later that night some of the riot-instigators came and surrendered their weapons — riles, cartridges, bombs. In Delhi shortly thereafter, he saw the same mayhem again. Another fast ensued, another calm. In his prayer meeting on January 20, 1948, as he spoke, a small bomb — they later called it a gun-cotton slab — detonated. There was some commotion. “Suno, suno (listen, listen),” he said to the congregation, “kuchh nahin hua hai (nothing has happened)… agar sach kuchh ho jae to kya karoge (if something were to really happen, what will you do)?” And then asking the gathering to stay calm, he got his

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Fear, like an invisible fume that you do not see, surrounds us. And it can ignite in our face

policy had played a role: Ronnie King, the honorary administrative secretary of the House of Commons All Party Parliamentary Group Fire Safety and Rescue Group, had told the radio station earlier in the day of how his group and others had urged the government to act upon the indings of past inquests that had highlighted the need for reform of the ire regulations governing tower blocks, often a crucial part of afordable housing schemes in city centres. The recommendations were not acted upon. Others on the scene noted the lack of council staf on hand as the tragedy unfolded, with community organisations stepping in to provide assistance. “There’s been so many cuts, there aren’t enough people to do with this,” a Kensington and Chelsea councillor told The Guardian.

At a time when there is a frenzied national debate over inequality and social justice, the tragedy will inevitably feed into this. The tower is owned by the local council in a borough considered the most unafordable to rent in the entire city and which, like most of the rest of London, has extreme wealth sitting side by side with great deprivation. Harrods is as much part of the borough as social housing estates such as the Lancaster West Estate, with largely working-class, multicultural communities. The chilling blog of the Grenfell Action Group chronicles the many times over the years that residents had raised questions around neglect, often relating to ire safety regulations. “The Grenfell Action Group irmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord, the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Association,” it ominously warned last November. The tragedy has unsurprisingly led to checks up and down tower blocks across the country, while Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged a full investigation. But keeping up the pressure will be essential — tensions around inequality and the ability to have one’s voice heard have long simmered

below the surface in the capital city, exploding at points as they did in 2011 when thousands rioted, triggered by the death of Mark Duggan, a black man stopped by police in North London. They swiftly became about much more: the angry energy of the urban poor.

Fire safety standards But while in the aftermath of such situations promises of goodwill and measures to tackle underlying problems are aplenty, in reality they’ve rarely been acted upon in a concerted way. In the case of Britain’s tower blocks, one architect, Sam Webb, told various media outlets on Wednesday of a report he’d worked on as early as the 1990s which warned the government that the majority of tower blocks he surveyed across the country had failed to meet basic ire safety standards. The precise cause of the ire will only become known in the days and weeks to come as ireighters contend with the grim aftermath, but the anger palpable in the local community and beyond makes the need to ask diicult questions more pressing than ever. Politicians and the public must have the guts and persistence to ensure they’re answered and dealt with. [email protected]

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

their assigned tasks due to various technical and other reasons. Some of the rules too have not been inalised yet. There is nothing sacrosanct about July 1 as the GST is required to be only operationalised by September. S.K. Choudhury, Bengaluru

Democracy thrives and evolves through debate and discussion, though the process of reaching consensus may face diiculties. The EC has still a lot to answer for concerning issues of public interest such as missing names on electoral lists and bribing of the target electorate.

criticism through a codiied process rather than attempting to silence the already fading voices that raise scepticism. Further, the ‘power to punish’ under contempt law invites abuse in general and has to be revisited. S.A. Thameemul Ansari, Kayalpatnam, Tuticorin

V. Subramanian,

Anti-democracy The Election Commission (EC), acclaimed for its professionalism in holding elections in a transparent and fair manner in a vast country like India, appears to have suddenly lost its way by seeking power to punish for contempt (“Unfair proposal,” editorial, June 15). There is no yardstick to measure what amounts to ‘contempt’. Positive criticism may be looked upon as contempt by an intolerant institution.

Chennai

The EC’s seeking of power to punish for contempt is yet another sad example of how intolerant our institutions of democracy have become to criticism. There is no doubt that the EC still continues to enjoy the conidence of the large majority of people despite some embarrassing questions posed by political parties. However, the institution can retain public trust only if it responds to

Next First Citizen With the Election Commission of India issuing the statutory notiication for the country’s 15th presidential elections, it seems just next to impossible that a broad consensus would emerge between the NDA dispensation and the Opposition front. One wonders why the ruling elite swung into action so late in this regard as June 28 is the last date of iling nominations. As far as the

majority mark in the Electoral College — comprising all elected MPs and MLAs — is concerned, the BJP seems to be way ahead. However, as we complete 70 years of independence, our legislators need to make sure that the winner gets elected unanimously. It was a good four decades ago, in 1977, that Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy got elected unopposed, the only person to have done so thus far. Hemant Kumar, Ambala City

Paradise getting lost The little pleasures of mountaineering — escaping into the bountiful Nature and discovering yourself while getting lost — have disappeared due to its vulgarisation, as has happened in the case of Mount Everest (“Mission

Everest Inc,” FAQ, June 15). The fragile ecology of the peak is adversely afected due to overcrowding and littering of the glaciers and camps. If this so-called tourism boost continues at the present pace, the day is not far away when this pristine peak would be called the ‘world’s highest garbage dump’. The recent crumbling of Hillary Step should be a strict warning to stop exploiting our mountain ecosystem. Eforts must be put in not only by the government but also by NGOs and citizens themselves to prevent soil erosion, trampling of vegetation and excessive waste disposal caused by incessant expeditions. Kriti Chachra, New Delhi

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

M ND-ND


THE HINDU

OPED 9

NOIDA/DELHI



LEFT, RIGHT, CENTRE

Is the media under siege? It is not just the media that is under siege, but the very idea of the nation that is India

Krishna Prasad is former Editor-inChief of ‘Outlook’ magazine, and a member of the Press Council of India

Late last year, an editor whose employment was ended under the ‘tatkal’ quota met a media owner LEFT whose exit had been similarly fast-tracked a few months earlier. “Who was making the [phone] calls?” the latter asked. When he heard the names of a couple of Union Ministers, the ‘malik’ snarled: “Oh, wasn’t that glib RSS chap in the BJP amongst them?” The anecdote might well be apocryphal. What is not is that mainstream media is in deep coma, gasping under pressure not felt even during Emergency’s darkest nights. That was an advertised, in-

your-face, executive intervention — the censor sat openly amid journalists in newspaper offices and blacked out stuff they thought Indira Gandhi wouldn’t like.

Co-option and coercion What is on today is a sly, insidious operation without anybody’s Aadhaar-linked fingerprints. It is aimed not merely at “managing the headlines” in the newsroom but at paving the way for a lethal ideology that has long craved legitimacy, through the boardroom. In that sense, it is not just the media that is under siege, but the very “Idea of India”. Influential owners, anchors, edit-

Has the government reacted to the concerted attack on it by the left-liberal media with an iron ist? No

Chandan Mitra is Editor of ‘The Pioneer’ and has been a two-term Rajya Sabha MP from the BJP

It was fashionable, at least until quite recently, for Muslim clerin India to raise the RIGHT ics war cry: Islam in danger! This was used to feed the paranoia of the unlettered masses among their followers and galvanise them into violent action against another community or the state whenever any threat, real or perceived, was felt. Looking at the way sections of the Indian media have behaved over the last few months, it seems they are replicating that model. Since the BJP with Narendra

Modi at its helm barged into power in Delhi, the so-called left-liberal sections of journalists, especially in the English-language media, have demonstrated near-hysterical behaviour, claiming from rooftops that the Indian media is under siege.

Anti-Modi bias This stems basically from their pathological dislike of Mr. Modi. Undoubtedly the BJP knocked down the comfortable bastions of the leftliberal intelligentsia’s privileges. But to conclude from the discomfiture of the erstwhile elite class of scribes that the media in India is under

What is under siege is not the media, but a political and moral idea of media as watchdogs

Lawrence Liang is professor of law at the School of Law, Governance and Citizenship, Ambedkar University Delhi

Coincidence in the time of conflict is rarely a divine occuror even an atCENTRE rence tribute of moral luck, and one cannot help but ascribe it with sinister overtones. The timing of the CBI raids on the Roys of NDTV throws up similar questions. The controversy over some of the financial and institutional transactions of NDTV has resulted in a fault line within the media in response to the raids, with commentators suggesting that this might be less about freedom of the press and more about accountabil-

ity. But when democratic institutions are under attack and when it happens selectively against those inclined towards questioning the policies and politics of the government, those who profess constitutional faith in liberal values cannot but blame the powers that be.

Cause for concern But is the NDTV affair conclusive evidence of the fact that the media is under siege? There are difficulties in arriving at such a conclusive prognosis. For one, is it possible to have a singular idea of the media? NDTV

ors across the nation resemble the hapless Kashmiri tied to the Army jeep. They are the advance party to quell dissent, manufacture consent, set the agenda, drum up support, and spread fear, venom, hatred and bigotry — sometimes through sheer silence. The saffronisation of the air waves is staggering. It would be useful, therefore, to stop deluding ourselves that the siege began with the raid on NDTV’s promoters. Far from it, it is the culmination of a devious, topdown attempt at co-option and cooperation that failed. Hence, the coercion. So, in the “New India”, it is per-

fectly normal to hear that the government has a list of journalists who attended a protest meeting in NDTV’s support; perfectly normal for the Foreign Correspondents’ Club to publicly assert it was not involved in it; perfectly normal for a CEO to privately predict no one in the TV industry will stand up because “most will be too scared”. When Big Brother tracks every channel, watches every tweet, and reads every word, why would anybody want to take a risk when the “caged bird” is a homing pigeon, striking targets with precision? Putting the same man in charge of the Finance and I&B Ministries in 2014, therefore, was a master-

siege is not only fallacious but also mischievous and smacks of an ideological bias. There is not an iota of evidence to substantiate the charge of siege. It was truly gagged hand, mouth and foot only once in independent India, which was during the Emergency. The vicious anti-Modi campaign that was unleashed by the left-liberal media in 2002 still determines their mindset towards the BJP government. Be it in print, TV or the social media, the present government, particularly the Prime Minister, is lampooned on a daily basis. Stories that would make the regime uncomfortable are exaggerated and grossly highlighted.

Upstarts like a smalltime demagogue called Kanhaiya Kumar of JNU are given publicity totally out of proportion to their influence. Reports of attacks on Muslims, especially those accused of eating or selling beef, are played up in a way that is bound to excite communal passions, cause disturbances and thus destabilise the government.

with its influence has been able to galvanise support from all quarters, but as with most wars, the real casualty is generally borne by the foot soldiers and critics are right to point out that myriad attacks (the recent denial of permission to screen films on Rohith Vemula and Kashmir, the Kafkaesque use of ISBN to monitor publishers, etc.) have not received the same kind of attention as the attack on NDTV. This is certainly a valid critique and yet at the same time there is a danger of subsuming this into a rhetoric of worthy and unworthy victims, and the assault on NDTV should be a cause of concern for the

ordinary journalist, writer, filmmaker and blogger precisely because NDTV is such a powerful and influential player.

No vindictiveness Has the government reacted to this concerted attack with an iron fist? During the Uttar Pradesh election campaign virtually the entire leftliberal media ran a drive suggesting the BJP’s vote bank had shrunk

Defending the elites When asked why he chose to defend Claus Von Bulow, a known aristocratic anti-Semite, in a murder trial, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who was then a champion of civil liberties, replied that it was precisely because of Bulow’s elite status. He added that if the state could get away with harassing elites, then one could only imagine what they could get away with against those much less powerful. There remain other difficulties,

stroke. After all, the government is the biggest advertiser. “The country is going through an existential crisis. Fear, anger, anxiety and paranoia have become normal. Nobody trusts anyone anymore. Nobody feels secure. People, including journalists, try to prove their loyalty to the government by snitching on colleagues and neighbours.” Turkey’s most famous woman novelist Elif Safak could well be speaking about India.

Who’s to blame? Much of what is now happening here is happening in countries where nativist nationalists are running riot: the United States, Japan, Turkey, even France. Defamatory name-calling (using terms such as ‘presstitutes’, ‘journsince the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Despite the party and its allies romping home with an unprecedented 325 seats out of 403, the hectoring of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been relentless from day one. Did the Union or State government react? Did they stop or even cut down advertising support even to the hostile section of the media? Has any journalist been harassed for propounding an anti-government view? Has anybody been arrested or even questioned by the police, something common during the Emergency years? If nothing of the above has happened, what is the basis of suggesting the media is under siege? Following the recent raid on the

however, with the use of the militaristic metaphor of a siege. The word evokes a sudden forceful takeover and this is not really a useful account of how conflicts actually unfold — the moment of the siege is only the performative culmination of sustained lower-order assaults (by the likes of Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani & Co.). The presumption of media being a singular thing under threat from the state belies the fact that much of the siege is actively orchestrated by the media as collaborators of the state. The trolling of academic Partha Chatterjee for likening the Army chief ’s defence of a Major’s actions in Kashmir to General Dyer of Jallianwala Bagh infamy, the tireless

alopes’ and ‘giraegi’); weaponised trolling; arrests, killings, raids, lockdowns. Little wonder, India now stands at 136 on the World Press Freedom index, down from 133. However, it would be foolish to lay all the blame for Indian media’s current plight at the politician’s door. The siege began long ago with dodgy ownership; mercenary business practices; advertising and circulation revenue meltdowns; emerging technologies. But at least there was “independent journalism” shining the light, showing the way. Today, as non-state actors throttle India’s foundational values in broad daylight, and much of a besieged media happily plays cheerleader, future historians might wonder if it did not suffer from the Stockholm syndrome.

premises of promoters of NDTV, the “media under siege” cry has become shriller. Raids on a media house are indeed undesirable, but a distinction has to be made whether the reason for the raid was editorial or financial.

No cause for alarm In the instant case, the CBI claims the reasons were purely financial. It is now for the agency to justify its action in a court of law. It is not for us to prejudge the issue. If NDTV is not being pursued by the investigators for its editorial predilections, there is no cause for alarm. Given the country’s strong democratic traditions, it is worth reminding ourselves that the media in India is as free as it wants to be! tirade of Times Now against The Wire all gesture to a deeply divided moment for media where one doesn’t really need the state to question the legitimacy of media since they are more than willing to do it themselves.

Civil war within? What therefore is at siege to my mind is not the media but a political and moral idea of the media as watchdogs of truth, and until it frees itself of its lustful desire to be and act like biblical angels — whose only job is to sing hymns of praise to the glory and honour of the divine — it would appear that the siege appears as much as a civil war within media as it does a threat by the state.

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SINGLE FILE

FROM FIFTY YEARS AGO JUNE 16, 1967

Since men are not angels

Language trouble in Lok Sabha The language controversy erupted with full fury in the Lok Sabha to-day [ June 15, New Delhi], virtually paralysing the proceedings of the House for 15 minutes. The Speaker, Mr. N. Sanjiva Reddi, combined humour with firmness to restore the order in the House. The controversy started when the S.S.P. member from Mysore, Mr. J.H. Patel, sought to put a question in Kannada on the utility of the proposed revolving tower restaurant at the State-owned Ashoka Hotel in the capital. He was allowed to put the question in his language, but when the Minister could not reply and the member insisted on an answer there was trouble.

Is the fate of any reform dependent on how it afects interests of the powerful? Prashanth Perumal

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK PHOTO

Ask any economist, and the standard advice you are likely to hear is that the government must step in to help the economy whenever the market fails. Almost no economist, however, talks about even the remote possibility of government failure — even though there is ample evidence all around us to suggest that governments are far from perfect. Political corruption of various kinds often makes news, and sometimes afects us personally, yet economists continue to believe that the government can play a positive role in the economy. Just why are economists so blind to reality? A possible answer lies in the assumption that economists usually make about the nature of individuals. When economists talk about producers and consumers, they have in mind an economic man, or homo economicus, who is purely interested in his own self-interest. So economic models, for instance, assume that businessmen run companies primarily to maximise proits, while consumers purchase goods and services from irms primarily to better their own personal condition. Yet, when it comes to politicians and bureaucrats who run governments, economists for some reason naively assume that these are altruistic individuals who care only about the well-being of society, rather than their own self-interest. ‘People are People: The Elements of Public Choice’ , an essay by Gordon Tullock, ofers an alternative — and more realistic — view of public servants. Tullock, an American economist and a prominent member of the Virginia School of Political Economy, encourages economists to view politicians and bureaucrats as self-interested individuals just like any of us. In Tullock’s view, public servants do not participate in public life to promote the interests of the people, but rather just to line their own pockets. This crucial insight about human nature leads to many interesting conclusions in public policy — mostly to do with the unintended consequences of government ownership and regulation. For instance, private monopolies are usually considered a huge threat to the eicient working of the market economy. Consequently, many economists argue that government regulators must be given the powers to prevent the domination of any single group of companies. Very little thought, however, goes into the likely incentives that face bureaucrats who are in charge of regulation. Not surprisingly, lobby groups — which are more organised than consumers — end up inluencing both regulations and regulators. Meanwhile, the social good — which is supposed to be the goal of all regulation — goes for a toss. So, if people in government are interested only in furthering their own interests, as Tullock argues, what does it mean for public policy? Government policy, in that case, will simply be dictated by the personal interests of those in power. If so, it is worth noting that the fate of any reform that can beneit the overall economy will depend above all on how it might irst affect the interests of the powerful. CM YK

ARCHIVES

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO JUNE 16, 1917

Motor accidents at Poona.

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CONCEPTUAL

ACT ONE

Thucydides’ trap

Guaranteeing time-bound services

International relations The idea that the rise of a new power, as a competitor to an existing superpower, likely leads to the escalation of political tensions and war. The term was coined by Graham T. Allison, an American political scientist and author of the 2017 book Destined for War, and is named after the 5th century Athenian historian Thucydides. Allison based his conclusion on the study of 15 historical cases since 1500 in which the dominance of an established power was challenged by a rising new power. War resulted in 11 of the 15 cases, as the rising power caused fear in the ranks of the established power.

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What is dynamic fuel pricing? http://bit.ly/fuelpricing

The ombudsman law needs to include statutory guarantees for the right to delivery of services

A motor car fatality occurred about the midnight of last night in which a native policeman lost his life and another was slightly injured. It appears that two policemen were on their way home from Napier Cinema where they had been on duty when they were run into by a motor car driven by Captain Manson, R.A.M.C., with whom were two other officers. Collision occurred on Wellesley Road near Jewish Synagogue. Captain Manson drove the injured men to the Sassoon Hospital where the one who was more seriously injured succumbed to his injuries within a couple of hours of admission. The police on learning the occurrence held an inquiry, Superintendent Yond and Inspector Corby to-day recording statements of those concerned in the case. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

K. Venkataramanan

When the Supreme Court observed recently that the Lokpal Act was an “eminently workable” piece of legislation, and wondered why it was not being operationalised, it was indirectly admonishing the government for delaying the establishment of the Lokpal. It is one of several citizenfriendly laws dating back many years that have either lapsed or are yet to be enacted or not implemented for one reason or the other. A significant Bill that could help guarantee delivery of services to citizens and empower them to seek redress of their grievances has not seen the light of day for years now. The Right of Citizens for Time-bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011, was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2011 but it lapsed with the term of the last House. The essence of the proposed law was that every public authority will

be required to publish a citizens’ charter that will set out the goods and services provided by it, along with timelines for their delivery. Some States have such legislation to guarantee to right to public services delivery, but the Central law sought to provide an overarching framework. The Bill required every public authority to establish information and facilitation centres for an efficient and effective delivery of services and redressal of grievances. The Bill provided for the appointment of grievance redress officers and State and Central Public Grievance Redressal Commissions. Citizens could file complaints before these authorities pertaining to any violation of the citizens’ charter, that is, a failure to deliver goods or services as promised, or the functioning of any public official. These grievances would have to be remedied within 30 days. Those aggrieved

by the grievance redress officers’ orders could appeal before a Designated Authority. Further appeals to the State and Central Commissions were provided for. Orders by these two Commissions could be appealed against before the Lokayukta and the Lokpal respectively. A Parliamentary Standing Committee, which went into the provisions of the Bill, felt that there was one appeal too many provided in it. It did not favour the Lokpal and Lokayukta, conceived of as anti-corruption agencies, being burdened with grievance redressal. While implementing laws related to the ombudsman against corruption, the government would do well to give statutory guarantees for the right to delivery of services. As a citizenstrengthening package, it should also fast-track proposals for a whistle-blower protection law and electronic delivery of services as well.

DATA POINT

M ND-ND


10 NEWS

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FROM PAGE ONE

Gorkha unrest: Centre for tripartite talks Mr. Giri said the State government was conspiring to suppress the democratic movement for Gorkhaland brutally by using force. “We strongly condemn the raids on our offices in Darjeeling. Whatever the police found in our offices were planted by the police,” Mr Giri said. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) General Secretary Rosha Giri said, “Bengali and Nepali, the languages spoken in Darjeeling, are in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution and hence, equal respect should be given to both. We will not accept the imposition of Bengali in Darjeeling.” The GJM leader said the Home Minister had assured

them that he would speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue and try to find a solution. Darjeeling MP S.S. Ahluwalia said the Mamata Banerjee government must issue an official order declaring that Bengali will not be made mandatory in Darjeeling, to assuage the feelings of the people of the hills. He said there should be political action and a political solution to the Gorkhaland issue and the use of police force cannot be acceptable. The West Bengal government is yet to send a report on the prevailing situation in Darjeeling which has witnessed violence in the last few days.

Raids at GJM chief’s house spark violence During the raids at Mr Gurung’s premises, the security forces seized countrymade arms, telescopic crossbows, arrows, sharp weapons like Khukris, pickaxes, fire crackers and a large quantity of cash. Darjeeling SP Akhilesh Chaturvedi said the raids followed inputs that arms were stored to attack the police if the latter tried to stop rallies planned during the day. “You all have seen what has been recovered we don’t think that any peace minded person will store such arms,” Mr. Chaturvedi said. The GJM however, refuted the police allegations saying the bows and arrows were stocked for a traditional archery competition. GJM general secretary

Roshan Giri said, “What have they found? Khukri is part of our tradition. What is the harm in keeping it? Bows and arrows are traditional weapons. They were meant for students for archery competition.” Other parties in the hills also backed the GJM’s claims. President of the Gorkha Rashtriya Nirman Manch Dawa Parkin said the police had recovered tools used in agriculture and such a move would only spark violence in the hills. GJM president Bimal Gurung, who according to sources remained in Patlaybas during the raid, said it was carried out “at the instruction of the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee”. Mr. Gurung urged the people in the hills to be united.

Govt. to meet activists again on GM mustard Should the Minister’s consent be obtained, GM mustard would be the first transgenic food crop to be allowed for commercial cultivation in India. It could pave the way for several other GM food crops in the country. However, this isn’t the first time the GEAC has cleared a transgenic food crop for release. It had cleared Bt Brinjal in 2010, but its decision was blocked by the then Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, who had cited, among other things, a paucity of safety tests. Mr. Ramesh had ar-

rived at his decision after a national consultation on the pros-and-cons of the genetically modified vegetable. The GEAC has cleared GM mustard for four years, subject to certain field conditions. The decision was reportedly unanimous, with no dissent among the 18member panel. Dhara Mustard Hybrid (DMH -11), the transgenic mustard in question, has been developed by a team of scientists at Delhi University, led by former ViceChancellor Deepak Pental, under a government-funded project.

RIL-BP to invest $6 bn in KG basin While RIL gets a price of $2.48 per million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu) from the existing KG-D6 block, the price for new gas from deep-sea block is expected to be $5.56 per mmBtu — making the development plan viable as gas prices are suppressed globally. RIL and BP are embroiled in several arbitration proceedings with the government over disputes on costs incurred on development of the block and pricing of gas, leading to billions of dollars in penalty, which is contested by both firms. When asked about the arbitration proceedings

against the government and ONGC, Mukesh Ambani, RIL chairman and managing director said, “We have some pending arbitration and we will follow the legal process and I am sure that we will get it to an end with normal course of law. We are sure that we will get positive outcome." Gas production from KGD6 peaked at 54.5 mmscmd of gas in December 2010, just before BP Plc. picked up 30% stake for $7.2 billion. RIL shares closed up 2% at Rs 1384.5 in a flat Mumbai market on Thursday. The announcement came after the closure of market hours.

Bid to remove Justice Reddy fails again In Justice Reddy’s case, the requisite number of signatures of Rajya Sabha MPs have not been obtained even in two attempts. In December too, the petition submitted to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari was not entertained, as 19 of the 61 MPs who had signed it withdrew their names. Many members of the Rajya Sabha had at that time convinced some MPs to withdraw their signatures. CM YK

YSR Congress Party MP Vijay Sai Reddy had told The Hindu at that time that he did ask MPs to reconsider their support to the petition. “If you are trying to bring in caste into every aspect, we will not be able to function properly as a society,” he had said. “I support Justice Reddy because I believe in his integrity, and the fact that these allegations have been made earlier and been proven false.”

Cong. raises voice for M.P. farmers Scindia, who is on satyagraha, questions why the State is reluctant to write of farm loans

Two more farmers end lives in M.P.

Jayant sriram


was already offering several grants to farmers, including a 10% subsidy on loans. Mr. Scindia, however, referenced his own party’s history, saying farm loans of ₹72,000 crore were waived under the UPA regime purely in the interest of the farming community, even though there were no protests or strikes by farmers.

Bhopal

Referencing a range of issues from loan waiver to the failure of the Madhya Pradesh government to bring those responsible for killing five farmers in a recent agitation in Mandsaur to book, the Congress on Thursday brought out its big guns in a concerted effort to build momentum around the farmers’ discontent in the State. Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is also the party’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha, has been sitting on a 72-hour satyagraha since Wednesday afternoon in the Dussehra Maidan in T.T. Nagar here. He was joined later in the evening by former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh. Following the protests by farmers in Maharashtra, the Devendra Fadnavis-led government had announced a loan waiver for farmers on

Strong support: AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh with Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia and others at their ‘satyagraha’ in Bhopal on Thursday. A.M. FARUQUI *

Sunday and decided to form a committee to work out the debt-relief criteria. The Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh had also recently announced a loan waiver of ₹36,359 crore for small and marginal farmers. “When the BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh and

Yechury reminds PM of poll promise Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

Expressing concern over the plight of farmers across the country, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding the passage of a Bill to mandate automatic annual review of minimum support prices (MSP) so that they are 50% higher than the cost of production. “I am writing to you to demand that your government introduce and pass a legislation in the forthcoming monsoon session of Parliament which not only confers on farmers the Right to

Sell at MSP, but also guarantees an automatic annual review of the MSP which will be, at least, 50 per cent more than the comprehensive production costs as established by the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) for that year,” he said in his letter. “The current MSP for various crops fixed by your government barely provides any returns to the farmer,” he noted in the letter. Mr. Yechury also reminded Mr. Modi of his election campaign “promise” to offer an MSP that gives a 50 per cent profit to farmers above their net production costs.

Maharashtra have announced that they will waive farm loans, why has the same party’s government in Madhya Pradesh not doing the same,” Mr. Scindia asked. The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh had earlier reiterated its stand that farm loan waivers were not an issue in the State and that it

Uphill battle

Neither the ruling NDA government nor the Opposition that has decided to field a common candidate in the upcoming presidential polls are revealing the names of their respective candidates as yet. Despite this, there is frenzied political activity in the NDA camp to shore up as much support from other parties, including recalcitrant allies like the Shiv Sena. The Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna on Wednesday said that a meeting between Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and BJP president Amit Shah had been scheduled for Sunday morning, when the latter is expected to be in Mumbai. Significantly, the BJP, in a press release detailing Mr. Shah’s itinerary in Mumbai made no mention of the meeting. “It is likely the meeting will take place and presidential polls will be discussed, but that is not something that will be put down in the party president’s declared itinerary,” was all a senior general secretary of the BJP was prepared to say.

With the presidential polls nearing, Amit Shah has been scrutinising data from the Assemblies every day.

Of all the NDA partners, the Shiv Sena has been termed most likely to break ranks over the presidential polls as its relationship with the BJP in the State is hardly rosy. The BJP has been hard at work to win over all possible parties to its side for the presidential polls in the event of this happening. After scheduling meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury for Friday morning, party sources confirmed

Bhopal

Two debt-ridden farmers allegedly committed suicide in Hoshangabad and Shivpuri districts of Madhya Pradesh, the police said on Thursday. With this, the number of farmer suicides in the State since June 8 has risen to nine. Narmada Prasad Yadav, 50, a farmer and resident of Chaplasar village, killed himself by drinking pesticide on Wednesday. He was said to be under distress as he failed to repay the loan taken from a private lender. In the second incident, Kalla Kewat, 55, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree at Vineka village in Shivpuri district on Wednesday. He had taken a loan of ₹80,000.

Why no FIR in iring case, asks Rahul Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi

Raising the pitch: Activists of the All India Kisan Sabha staging a demonstration seeking loan waiver, among others, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Thursday. R.V. MOORTHY *

Shah set to meet Thackeray to discuss Presidential poll NEW DELHI

Rally on Narmada banks The Congress will conclude its satyagraha in Bhopal on Friday afternoon and move to Khalghat on the banks of the Narmada, where it has called a Kisan Panchayat rally to address farmers across the State.

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NDA working overtime to shore up numbers Nistula Hebbar

Officers transferred The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday transferred five police officers from Mandsaur reportedly linked to the killing of five farmers in police firing on June 6. Two days after the firing, the State government had transferred Mandsaur’s Collector S.K. Singh and Superintendent of Police O.P. Tripathi. The officials transferred on Thursday included two Additional Superintendents of Police (ASP), two Sub Divisional Officers of Police (SDOP) and a Deputy Super-

intendents of Police (DSP), a public relations department official said. In Bhopal, Mr. Scindia sharply criticised Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan for trying to mollify the families with large compensations and mocked his fast last Saturday to restore peace to the State. “A sum of ₹5 crore was spent. The fast — which lasted merely around 24 hours — was broken by drinking water in a silver glass,” he said. “If peace was prevailing, why were prohibitory orders in force in Mandsaur? If peace was not restored, why did the Chief Minister break his fast,” Mr. Scindia asked.

that Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu spoke to Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on the phone on Wednesday. Mr. Naidu also spoke to Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader Anbumani Ramadoss and N. Rangasamy of the NR Congress of Puducherry. Mr. Shah is keeping a close eye on the polls as party leaders feel that it is the “best opportunity” to elect a BJP leader as the President of India, a hitherto elusive honour.

Keeping flock together “Every evening, Mr. Shah sits with Union Ministers Ananth Kumar and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, along with BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, to carefully scrutinise data from the Assemblies. The effort is not only to make sure that our flock is in order but also to depute people in our State units to speak to independent MLAs and those parties that are yet undecided,” said a senior office-bearer in the party.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed the Madhya Pradesh government for not lodging any FIR in the recent killing of protesting farmers. “Nine days on, 45 FIRs against protesting farmers, but not one against those who murdered six farmers in cold blood in Mandsaur,” he wrote on his official Twitter account. Farmers in Madhya Pradesh were on protest from June 1 demanding better prices for their produce and debt relief. The agitation turned violent on June 6 when five farmers were killed in police firing in Mandsaur.

‘Ban caused serious problems in some States’

Minister sees need for scrutiny of judiciary

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA


NEW DELHI

New Delhi

Petitioner Mohammed Abdul Faheem Qureshi of Hyderabad on Thursday told the Supreme Court on Thursday that the Centre’s May 23 notification banning the sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets for slaughter caused serious problems in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and some other States. He said the provisions in the notification were unconstitutional as they violated the fundamental rights, including freedom of conscience and religion and the right to livelihood. The petitioner said, “...slaughtering of animals for food, the foods and culinary made out of such animal flesh and offering sacrifice of animals is a part of the cultural identity of such communities, which is protected from any legislative or executive encroachment under Article 29 of the Constitution....” A complete ban on sale or purchase or re-sale of animals would cast a huge burden on farmers and cattle traders. the petition said.

Responding to the Justice C.S. Karnan controversy, who has been on the run after he was awarded a jail term by the Supreme Court, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Thursday that the incident underscored the need for “greater scrutiny of the judiciary.” At a press conference here, he said the government did not wish to interfere in the matters of corruption involving the judiciary and “any issue of impropriety should be addressed by the judiciary itself.” “As regards a specific case of a specific judge, I would not like to make any comment..., maybe, there is a case for greater scrutiny of the judiciary. The particular incident you have cited only underscores the compelling need.” He was asked to comment on the failure of the state machinery to implement a Supreme Court order to send Justice Karnan behind bars for six months for contempt of court. Justice Karnan last week ended his tenure as a fugit-

Karnataka man named global terrorist

Prasad alludes to Karnan controversy

Ravi Shankar Prasad

ive from law. He has been evading arrest since May 9.

Appointment of A-G Mr. Prasad said the government would decide on the next Attorney-General at an “appropriate time.” The incumbent Mukul Rohatgi recently conveyed to the government that he would like to be relieved of the post. “We have taken note of the Attorney-General’s request not to continue because of personal reasons. We respect it. Mr. Rohatgi has served with great distinction,” he said. Mr. Rohatgi, who wants to return to private practice, was appointed AttorneyGeneral immediately after the BJP came to power in May 2014.

‘Armar cultivated a group of IS sympathisers involved in terror acts across India’

ED attaches ₹7 cr. of Delhi jewellery group



Washington/New Delhi

The fugitive chief recruiter for the Islamic State (IS) in the Indian subcontinent, Mohammed Shafi Armar, was on Thursday named a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’ by the U.S., becoming the first Indian leader of the dreaded terror outfit against whom America has slammed sanctions. The U.S. State Treasury Department, while updating its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT), has included in it Armar, a native of Bhatkal in Karnataka, clearing the way for sanctions against him. An

Mohammed Shai Armar hails from Bhatkal in Karnataka.

Interpol Red Corner notice is also pending against the 30year-old Armar, who has many aliases like ‘Chhote Maula’, ‘Anjan Bhai’ and

‘Yousuf al-Hindi’. Armar’s name has now been added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department which enforces economic sanctions programmes, primarily against countries and groups of individuals, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers. This is for the first time that the U.S. has slammed sanctions against an IS leader in India.

Head recruiter “Mohammed Shafi Armar is a leader and head recruiter in India for the Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated

Global Terrorist (SDGT) group, IS,” the State Department said. “He has cultivated a group of IS sympathisers involved in terrorist activities across India, such as plotting attacks, procuring weapons, and identifying locations for training camps,” said the statement. Armar was said to have left for Pakistan along with his elder brother after crackdown on Indian Mujahideen cadres. After a fight with Bhatkal brothers, including Riyaz, the founder of IM, in Pakistan, Armar is believed to have created Ansar ul Tawhid, which later pledged its allegiance to the IS.

New Delhi

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached a Delhi-based jewellery group’s bank deposits of ₹7 crore, the amount equivalent to the value of alleged assets stashed abroad, in connection with its probe into the Panama Papers case. It was the first action by the ED against alleged illegal accumulation of assets abroad after the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) was amended recently to empower it to act in such cases. The Central probe agency

said in a statement that the seized funds “relate to A.K. Mehra, Deepak Mehra, Shalini Mehra and Naveen Mehra of Mehrasons Jewellers of Delhi.” The ₹7 crore is lying in various bank accounts in the country. “Following the investigation in the wake of the Panama leaks, it was found that huge amounts were sent out of India by mis-utilising the scheme of liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) of the RBI in the garb of making investments abroad by the Mehras of Mehrasons Jewellers of Delhi,” the agency said M ND-ND


THE HINDU

NEWS 11

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IN BRIEF

Disability rights groups protest GST Write to Finance Minister opposing imposition of levy on assistive devices, hitherto exempt from tax G. SAMPATH NEW DELHI

Assam lash loods kill four, Guwahati inundated KOLKATA

In almost a repeat of last year, the tributaries of the Brahmaputra have started rising with the advent of south west monsoon. At least half a dozen tributaries on both banks of the river have risen and officially four persons have been reported killed in flash floods. Though many areas in Guwahati city were inundated, water was receding in some parts since Wednesday night, locals said. Officials said about 15,000 people were rendered homeless.

Petrol price cut by ₹1.12, diesel by ₹1.24 a litre NEW DELHI

Petrol price was cut by ₹1.12 a litre and diesel by ₹1.24 a litre on Thursday, the last of the fortnightly revisions after which daily correction in rates will be implemented. Actual reductions would be higher after taking into account local sales tax or VAT. From Friday, fuel rates will be revised in sync with the movement in global oil rates. Rates will change at 6 a.m. every day, depending on cost movement the previous day. PTI

Disability rights organisations have written to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, protesting the decision of the GST Council to impose taxes on a range of aids used by persons with disabilities (PWDs) that were hitherto exempt from any tax. They have also sent copies of their representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Thawar Chand Gehlot. “All devices and products such as Braille typewriter, hearing aid, crutches, etc are currently exempt from sales tax/VAT/excise/customs, but they are not exempt from GST,” said a statement issued by the Disability Rights Organisations Forum (DROF), a coalition of disability rights groups. The GST Council has proposed to levy GST ranging

from 5% to 18% on a range of equipment used by PWDs. Pointing out that many of the items are beyond the reach of the common PWD, the note stated that levying GST on them “militates against the spirit and mandate of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which obliges the State to provide all aforesaid assistive devices, equipments and Braille books to persons with disabilities either free or at affordable cost.”

‘Manifold hike’ “A book in Braille even at present costs not less than five times more than the cost of a print version of the same book. Imposition of 12% GST on Braille paper will hike the costs of Braille books manifold,” said the note. The government has proposed a GST of 18% on Braille typewriters, 12% on hearing aids, 12% on Braille watches, and 5% on wheel-

Kashmiri traders call for shutdown Special Correspondent Srinagar

Traders in Kashmir have called for a shutdown against the GST regime even as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s government is facing growing opposition to the reforms from political parties and separatists. Two traders’ bodies — the Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation and Kashmir Economic

chairs, crutches, and artificial limbs. “Imposing GST on products such as Braille paper, hearing aids, and wheelchairs is a threat to the basic rights of PWDs, such as the right to education and freedom of mobility,” said Muralidharan, Sec-

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Jumping on the bandwagon

Alliance — have called for a shutdown on July 15. A special Assembly session is scheduled to debate the implementation of the GST in Srinagar on that day. “There is consensus among traders on GST being a threat to J&K’s identity. We will hit the roads if GST is implemented here,” said KEA chairman Muhammad Yasin Khan.

retary of the National Platform of the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD). “If the government truly cares about disabled persons, it can easily exempt these items from GST,” Muralidharan said, adding, “There is enough evidence

Plea for uniform tax on sports goods Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

ITANAGAR

A day of: A labourer walks past a closed shop at the iconic cloth market in Ahmedabad on Thursday as textile traders joined a bandh call given by various trade bodies against the imposition of the Goods and Services Tax. VIJAY SONEJI *

India refutes Pak. claims of Russian mediation

‘ICJ refused India’s plea in Jadhav case’

Moscow’s position on Indo-Pak. talks remains ‘unchanged’

MUBASHIR ZAIDI

Kallol Bhattacherjee Suhasini Haidar NEW DELHI

Rejecting Pakistani claims, India on Thursday said Russia did not offer to mediate on Indo-Pak. issues. The official Indian response came after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan indicated that Russian President Putin had made the offer of mediation during the just concluded Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s summit at Astana. “No offer of mediation between India and Pakistan was made by Russia to India. It is my understanding that Russia is very well aware of India’s consistent position to address all outstanding issues with Pakistan bilaterally in an environment free of terrorism and violence,” the official spokesperson said, arguing that Russia did not offer to act as a mediator between the two countries. The spokesperson of

Call for withdrawal “We urge the Finance Minister to prevail upon the GST Council to withdraw the proposal to impose GST on aids and appliances used by persons with disabilities,” said the DROF statement. Disability rights organisations protesting the proposed GST rates include NPRD, National Federation of the Blind, National Association of the Blind, All Indian Federation of the Deaf, Human Rights Law Network, Sense International, Federation of Disability Rights, and Association of People Affected by Leprosy.

Equipment placed in 28% tax bracket

Army kills villager mistaking him for ultra The Army opened fire on a villager mistaking him of being an ultra in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, killing him on the spot. The incident took place on Wednesday night, defence PRO Colonel Chiranjit Konwer said on Thursday. Based on specific intelligence regarding movement of a hardcore terrorist group, the Army personnel challenged the person when he arrived at the spot. He made “suspicious movements”, leading to the firing, the PRO said. PTI

that it knows its priorities. For instance, there is no GST on puja samagri such as rudraksha mala, panchamrit and chandan tika. But lifecritical devices such as wheelchairs and crutches aren’t exempt. Does the government want us to stay at home all day and do puja?”

Vladimir Putin Pakistan’s MoFA had earlier welcomed Russia’s “attention and intention” to play a role between India and Pakistan.

No offer from Putin The SCO summit of last week was crucial as both India and Pakistan joined the organisation as full-fledged member where members asked both the South Asian members to keep bilateral issues outside the organisation. Pakistan’s statement on the Russian offer was also negated by Russian official sources who said Russian

President Putin did not make such an offer to PM Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan. “According to our information this aspect was not discussed and no statement in this regard was made by Russian President. It looks like a wishful thinking of the Pakistan authorities. Russian position is well known and Moscow is following it,” said an official Russian source. In a detailed note later on Thursday evening, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Russian position regarding Indo-Pak dialogue remains “unchanged”. “The differences between Islamabad and New Delhi should be resolved by them on a bilateral basis in accordance with the provisions of the Shimla Agreement of 1972 and Lahore Declaration of 1999. Like the entire global community, Russia is interested in good neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan,” it said.

Manufacturers of physical fitness equipment have urged the Centre to treat the industry on par with sports goods in the GST regime and have a uniform 12% tax on both. The GST Council has placed the physical exercise equipment under the 28% tax bracket while sports goods attract only 12% tax. It has been argued that the exercise equipment were not luxury items. Physical exercise equipment include yoga mats,

yoga bricks, skipping ropes, dumbbells, weightlifting equipment, gym ball, treadmills, home gym, exercise bike etc. ‘’India has a long way to go in sports globally. So, it is essential that we promote a health oriented ecosystem and society’’, said Dr. Dinesh Kapoor, the president of Traders Association of Sporting Goods and Physical Exercise Equipment. In leading sporting nations like Australia, United Kingdom and the U,S, sports goods include physical exercise equipment.

All papers on Mallya sent to U.K., says CBI ‘Last hearing was not on extradition’ Special Correspondent New Delhi

The Central Bureau of Investigation said on Thursday that a supplementary charge sheet pertaining to an alleged fraud case involving liquor baron Vijay Mallya was forwarded to British authorities through diplomatic channels on June 9. The charge sheet was to be presented on June 13 before a London court, which is hearing the extradition case of Mr. Mallya. The CBI also said that the hearing on June 13 was not on “extradition proceedings” but for “case management review,” to “determine further steps to be taken up in the case and to draw a timetable.” The agency said that the “Crown Prosecution Service [which represents the Indian side in magistrate’s court] has confirmed that there was no criticism of the extradition request or of the Indian Government.”

Blame game The Hindu reported on Thursday that the CBI sent the documents to the British High Commission in Delhi only last week. It was too late for them to send the documents to the Foreign and Home office in London. The delay had set off a blame game in the government. “As the fugitive Mallya has been in London since March 2016, the extradition request was forwarded on February 9 to authorities. The extradition dossier contained details of evidence including the charge sheet filed under 173 Cr.PC with relied upon

Vijay Mallya

documents and non-bailable warrant. “The Secretary of State, U.K. certified the request and sent it to the court. The court after satisfying itself, issued an arrest warrant. On April 18 morning, Mr. Mallya was arrested in London. At the conclusion of his initial hearing he was granted conditional bail,” a CBI statement said. It also said that the bail conditions for Mr. Mallya required that his revoked Indian passport be retained by the police, and that he would not leave or attempt to leave the U.K. “He should live at Ladywalk, Queen Hoo Lane, Tewin, Hertfordshire, AL6 0LT and keep his mobile phone on him all the time. It also required him to deposit security of £650,000 with the court and to not apply for international travel documents or be in possession of any,” said the CBI. The CBI said the Crown Prosecution Services sought a meeting with the CBI and ED on April 18. A team led by Rakesh Asthana, Additional Director, visited London on May 2 and 3 and gave all additional documents sought, the CBI said.

KARACHI

Pakistan on Thursday claimed that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav case had refused to allow time to India for filing Memorial (detailed submissions) in the case. Instead, India has been asked to file its reply by September 13. India had sought time till December this year to file the Memorial. Attorney-General Ashtar Ausaf told the media that Pakistan had been allowed to file counter-memorial by December 13. The ICJ had halted Mr. Jadhav’s death penalty pending decision by it. Mr. Jadhav was sentenced to death by a military court in Pakistan in April. Army Chief General Aqmar Bajwa had confirmed the death sentence. India had taken the case to the ICJ claiming that Mr. Jadhav was not given a fair trial.

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It’s time to raise silver screen strength Number of cinemas woefully low, says panel set up for measures to improve ranking organisations and academia. The panel included Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Naushad Forbes, CoChairman, Forbes Marshall, Gopichand Katragadda, Group Chief Technology Officer and Innovation Head for Tata Sons, and Senapathy “Kris” Gopalakrishnan, Chairman of Axilor Ventures, among others.

Arun. s New Delhi

Do we need more cinema screens? Yes, according to a task force set up on the directions of Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. It observes that the number of cinema screens in India is woefully low and says that steps must be taken to open new screens across the country, especially in the remote areas. The task force was set up to suggest measures to enhance the innovation ecosystem in India and thus improve India’s ranking in the the Global Innovation Index (GII). Noting India’s ranking of 54 out of 128 countries in the GII 2016 in the parameter of ‘national CM YK

Poor show: India ranks 54 out of 128 nations in the Global Innovation Index in ‘national feature ilms produced’ parameter.

feature films produced’, the task force recommended that in order to improve the country’s prospects, steps should be taken by State governments to incentivise new screens as also conversion of single screen

theatres into multi-screen complexes. “Having more screens will give an incentive to produce more films,” said the task force, comprising government officials, experts from private

More participation To improve India’s ranking from 45th in the indicator ‘cultural & creative services exports’ (in the GII 2016), the task force said steps should be taken towards encouraging participation in exhibitions and events conducted worldwide. M ND-ND


12 WORLD

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ELSEWHERE

Trump blasts Mueller probe report U.S. media reported that the President is now under investigation for possible obstruction of justice Reuters Washington

At least 19 killed in Mogadishu hotel attack MOGADISHU

At least 19 people were killed when al-Shabaab militants launched a car bomb and gun attack on a busy hotel and an adjacent restaurant here on Thursday. Later in the day, at least two soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb planted by the group. REUTERS

7 killed in China kindergarten blast BEIJING

An explosion rocked a kindergarten in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu on Thursday, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens, authorities said, as state media published images showing bloodied victims. Images online showed that the force of the blast tore people’s clothes off. AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump attacked what he called a “phony story” on Thursday after a report that he is under investigation for possible obstruction of justice by the special counsel probing alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. “They made up a phony collusion with the Russians story, found zero proof, so now they go for obstruction of justice on the phony story. Nice,” Trump wrote on Twitter, later repeating his accusation that the probe is a “witch hunt.” The Washington Post, citing unidentified officials, reported on Wednesday that special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating the Republican President for possible obstruction of justice. Mueller is leading the Russia probe after being appoin-

ted by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in the Department of Justice, which oversees the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Last week, former FBI Director James Comey told Congress he believed he was fired by Mr. Trump to undermine the agency’s Russia investigation. A source familiar with the Mueller investigation confirmed the Post report, saying an examination of possible obstruction of justice charges was “unavoidable” given Mr. Comey's testimony.

Walls closing in: U.S. President Donald Trump attacked the Washington Post report, calling it a “phony story”. AFP

Widening scope Examining such possible charges will allow investigators to interview key people within the administration, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Mr. Rosenstein and possibly Mr. Trump, the source told Reuters. The obstruction of justice investigation into Mr. Trump began days after Mr. Comey was fired on May 9, according to

people familiar with the matter, the Washington Post said. After Mr. Comey's firing, the administration gave differing reasons for his dismissal. Mr. Trump later contradicted his own staff, saying on May 11 he had the Russia issue in mind when he fired Mr. Comey. Mr. Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8 he believed Mr.

Rogers, the head of the National Security Agency, and Richard Ledgett, the former deputy director at the NSA, had agreed to be interviewed by Mr. Mueller's investigators as early as this week, the Post said. It cited five people briefed on the requests by Mr. Mueller's team who spoke on condition of anonymity.

*

Trump had directed him in February to drop an FBI probe into former National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, that was part of the broader Russia investigation. He declined to say whether he thought Mr. Trump sought to obstruct justice, saying that would be up to Mr. Mueller to sort out. Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence, Mike

‘FBI leak’ Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Mr. Trump’s legal team, denounced the Post report, saying on Wednesday: “The FBI leak of information regarding the President is outrageous, inexcusable and illegal.” It was not clear why he attributed the report to an FBI leak. The Post report did not name the FBI as its source. A spokesman for Mr. Mueller’s team declined to comment. Several congressional panels are also investigating the Russia issue, which has cast a shadow over the early months of Mr. Trump’s presidency.

British Parliament opening date set LONDON

The leader of Britain’s House of Commons says the state opening of Parliament will take place on June 21. The announcement by Andrea Leadsom suggests that Prime Minister Theresa May and the Northern Ireland-based Democratic Unionist Party have struck an agreement or are close to one. AP

IS ‘captures’ Tora Bora caves in Afghanistan JALALABAD

Islamic State (IS) militants have seized a new stronghold in Tora Bora, a mountainous area dotted with caves along Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, officials said on Thursday. The region was most famously used by Osama bin Laden in 2001 in a bid to hold out against the U.S. troops. REUTERS

Ready to ofer asylum to Comey, jokes Putin Associated Press MOSCOW

In a sarcastic outburst, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday scoffed at former FBI Director James Comey’s disclosure of his conversations with U.S. President Donald Trump, saying the move has made Mr. Comey eligible for political asylum in Russia. Mr. Putin likened Mr. Comey to NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has been living in Russia since being granted asylum in 2013. “It looks weird when the chief of a security agency records his conversation with

the commander-in-chief and then hands it over to media via his friend,” Mr. Putin said. “What’s the difference then between the FBI Director and Mr. Snowden? In that case he’s more of a rights campaigner defending a certain position than the security agency chief.” On an acerbic note, he added that if Mr. Comey “faces some sort of persecution in connection with that, we are ready to offer political asylum in Russia to him as well”. The remarks reflected Putin’s annoyance with the investigations into links between Trump campaign officials and Russia.

Australian PM mocks Trump Alludes to U.S. President’s troubles over Russia probe Reuters Melbourne

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has made fun of U.S. President Donald Trump and alluded to his ties with Russia, according to a leaked tape of an offthe-record media event. Mr. Turnbull, who had a frosty first telephone call with the U.S. President early this year, was recorded mimicking Mr. Trump at a media ball at Parliament House in Canberra late on Wednesday, which was strictly off the record. “The Donald and I... we

‘No conidence’ in CM Wigneswaran A group of Provincial Council members revolts against Chief Minister Meera Srinivasan Colombo

High drama ensued in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province on Thursday after a large bloc of members of the Provincial Council wrote to the Governor, expressing “no confidence” in Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran. Their move comes in the wake of the Chief Minister’s call to two provincial ministers to resign and to two others to go on compulsory leave, based on a report on corruption charges facing them. A committee appointed by Mr. Wigneswaran had found two of the accused ministers guilty, while the inquiry found insufficient evidence against the two others, whom the Chief Minister nevertheless asked to go on leave. “I cautioned him against taking action on Ministers who were not found guilty, it is unfortunate that he took the decision without consulting the leader of our

C.V. Wigneswaran

party,” said R. Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). Late Wednesday, as many as 21 of the 38 members in the Council wrote to Northern Province Governor Reginald Cooray, saying they had lost confidence in the Chief Minister. Confirming receipt of the letter, Governor Cooray told The Hindu from Jaffna: “I am currently verifying the content of the letter and the signatures. I will write to the Chief Minister after that.”

In Sri Lanka’s historic Northern Province election in 2013, the TNA — an amalgam of four Tamil parties — fielded former Supreme Court Judge Wigneswaran as chief ministerial candidate. The TNA won a massive mandate with 30 seats and he became the first Chief Minister of the Tamil-majority north. However, differences between him and the TNA leadership became evident in the next couple of years, manifesting starkly ahead of the Lanka’s parliamentary elections in 2015.

The last straw The CM’s action against Ministers was “the last straw that broke the camel’s back”, according to C.V.K. Sivagnanam, Chairman of the Northern Provincial Council and senior member of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi, a key TNA constituent. Speaking of long-simmering discontent within the Coun-

cil, he said: “..he [CM] did not take the members into confidence.” Accusing the CM of having “made a mess”, Leader of Opposition in the Council S. Thavarajah said Mr. Wigneswaran’s administration was inefficient right from the beginning. “...His recent decision to take action on Ministers who were not found guilty was a mistake.” Meanwhile, a group of people protested in Jaffna demanding that Chief Minister Wigneswaran stay. Responding to them, a visibly emotional Mr. Wigneswaran said: “Your love is my strength, I will continue to serve the people.” “I would like the matter to be resolved,” said Mr. Sampanthan, in the interest of "larger issues" such as Constitution-making that the Sri Lankan government has taken up. “I am not very happy with the developments. They are harmful to the interests of our people.”

Malcom Turnbull

are winning in the polls. We are! Not the fake polls. We are winning in the real polls. You know, the online polls.

3 killed in Kabul suicide bomb attack

They are so easy to win,” Mr. Turnbull said in the leaked recording, adding: “I have this Russian guy...” A journalist later broadcast the recording saying because he had not been at the event, he was not bound by the confidentiality rule. Mr. Turnbull later told a radio station that he was disappointed by the leak, which he said was a breach of protocol. He said his “affectionately light-hearted” speech was a "good humoured roast” in which he was the butt of his own jokes.

Washington

Baseball teams of Republican and Democratic lawmakers will wear Louisiana State University (LSU) uniform on Thursday’s charity match between them to show solidarity with Congressman Steve Scalise, who was seriously injured in a shooting rampage on Wednesday, but the incident has only deepened the divisions in American politics. Mr. Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, wears LSU gear in the field, and is in critical condition after a surgery. Four others were also injured in the incident and the gunman, who posted Facebook messages against President Donald Trump and Republicans, was killed by the police. “We are strongest when we are unified, and when we CM YK

Kabul

A suicide bomber killed at least three people and wounded five more in an attack at mosque here on Thursday, security officials said. The suspected bomber tried to enter the mosque but was blocked by police, setting off a gun battle, Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said. The attacker then took refuge in a kitchen before detonating a bomb. The attack came as mosques around the city were crowded for a night of religious observances as part of the Islamic holy month of Ramzan. The Al Zahra mosque, which was attacked, is used by Kabul’s Shia minority, who have been targeted by suicide bombings in the past. An attack on a Shia mosque last November killed more than 30 people.

geted Republicans.” Newt Gingrich, former Speaker and a staunch supporter of Mr. Trump, said, the “Leftwing rhetoric” has sent a “signal” that “it’s okay to hate Trump, it’s okay to think of Trump in violent terms”. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL), said: “Political rhetorical terrorism” led to the incident.

Looking for clues: FBI agents work near the baseball ield in Alexandria, Virginia, on Thursday, a day after Congressman Steve Scalise was shot there during baseball practice. AP *

tial campaign and argued for higher taxes on the rich. Democrats and rights groups had blamed the President’s campaign for the spate in violence against immigrants, such as the killing of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla in February. Laura Ingraham, a popu-

lar, conservative radio host, said on Twitter: “Dems' wearing LSU uniform at Cong baseball game’s a nice gesture. Denouncing hateful, violent rhetoric & imagery wd be more significant.” Joe Walsh, former GOP Congressman-turned-radio-host, tweeted: “An evil leftist tar-

Mubashir Zaidi Karachi

A joint investigation team ( JIT), comprising financial experts and representatives of military intelligence agencies, grilled Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for three hours on Thursday in connection with the Panama papers probe into his family’s assets. The JIT, constituted by the Supreme Court, has already questioned the Prime Minister’s two sons. His brother and son-in-law will appear before the panel on June 17 and 24. Mr. Sharif told reporters after the interrogation that no one had proved any charges on him. In an apparent bid to challenge the military establishment, the Prime Minister said the days of puppet regimes are over. The investigators are probing allegations that Mr. Sharif ’s family bought four expensive flats in London through an offshore company using unaccounted money. Mr. Sharif had told Parliament last year that his late father set up steel mills in the Gulf and the proceeds from selling those mills were used to purchase the flats. In his defence in the Supreme Court, Mr. Sharif ’s counsel presented a letter from a Qatari prince who testified that the flats were purchased by his company and later sold to the Prime Minister’s son. Last year, the Panama Papers revealed names of people and families who have hidden money from authorities and purchased assets outside their countries, including members of Mr. Sharif’s family. The JIT has been given two months by the Supreme Court to complete the probe of which 40 days have already passed. Mr. Sharif's

Nawaz Sharif leaves after appearing before the probe panel on Thursday. AFP *

government has accused some of the JIT members of having sympathies for the opposition parties. The Supreme Court had rejected the objections and asked the JIT to continue its work. The case was first highlighted in 1996 by a U.K. newspaper, which alleged that Mr. Sharif laundered money to buy the apartments in London’s expensive Park Lane area. A case was registered against him but was shelved when he came back to power in 1997. “Details of my assets are already available with all relevant institutions, including the Supreme Court. Today, I submitted them to the JIT as well. I have been the Prime Minister for the third time. But not a single allegation of financial corruption could be brought against me. Yet, I have put myself and my family up for trial and provided the details of financial transactions made even before my own birth,” Mr. Sharif said about the case. Opposition leader Imran Khan has criticised Mr. Sharif's remarks after appearing before the JIT. “Since he [PM] has not anything concrete to say before the JIT, he has chosen to point fingers towards two institutions, army and judiciary by terming the case as a conspiracy,” Mr. Khan said in a statement.

Reuters

Toll now 17 and expected to rise, say London police Reuters LONDON

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday promised a public inquiry into a fire that gutted a 24storey apartment block killing at least 17 people, as the government faced questions about how such a devastating blaze could have occurred. Smoke was still wafting out of the blackened shell of the Grenfell Tower on Thursday where specialist search teams faced hazardous conditions as they scoured the wreck, with external cladding still falling from the building.

Many still critical Fire engulfed the social housing block, where as many as 600 people lived in more than 120 apartments, in the early hours of Wed-

Republicans blame ‘left-wing rhetoric and extremism’ for Wednesday’s shooting, Democrats target lax gun control rules work together for the common good,” Mr. Trump said in a measured response. “An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said. The sentiments were echoed by Democratic leader in the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosy, but all that may have done little to unify a country where political divide remains deep. Many Republican lawmakers and commentators blamed “Left wing rhetoric and extremism” for the incident, while Democrats and progressive groups cited the lax gun regulation that allows even serial offenders such as the gunman in this instance to carry weapons. The 66-year-old man from Illinois named James Hodgkinson had a history of violence, volunteered for Bernie Sanders’s presiden-

PM denies charges against his family

U.K. to hold inquiry into London high-rise ire

Attack on GOP lawmakers sharpens political divide Varghese K. George

Sharif grilled over Panama papers

Divergent positions Democrats and progressive groups have called for more effective gun control to prevent such situations, but on that topic too, both camps have taken entirely divergent positions. After Mr. Trump’s victory, the National Rifle Association has launched a new camping with Republican supporters in the U.S. Congress to remove the limited restrictions on firearms that exist today.

Meanwhile, another Republican lawmaker from New York Claudia Tenney received a threatening email soon after the shooting incidence. “One down, 216 to go,” it said, referring to the halfway mark in the House. “Did you NOT expect this? When you take away ordinary people’s very lives in order to pay off the wealthiest among us, your own lives are forfeit. Certainly, your souls and morality were lost long before. Good riddance,” the email went on to say. Incidents of threats of violence against politicians have been on the rise. Kim Weaver, the Democratic nominee who planned to challenge Republican Representative Steve King in Iowa withdrew from the contest citing threats to her life.

The scale of the ire that engulfed Grenfell Tower left everyone shocked. AFP *

nesday, turning it into a flaming torch in minutes. “Sadly I can confirm that the number of people that have died is now 17,” London police commander Stuart Cundy told reporters.

He said that number was expected to rise and firefighters have said they did not expect to find any more survivors after rescuing 65. Thirty-seven people remained in hospital, with 17 of them in critical care. “Our absolute priority for all of us is identifying and locating those people who are still missing,” Mr. Cundy said before declining to comment on speculation about the likely final death toll. An investigation into the cause of the blaze, the worst in the British capital in a generation, was under way. But the shock at its scale turned to anger and recriminations on Thursday. “We have to get to the bottom of this. The truth has got to come out, and it will,” Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said as he visited volunteers at the site.

Senate passes sanctions bill targeting Iran, Russia Decisive bipartisan vote passed 98-2 Associated Press Washington

A frequently polarised U.S. Senate found common ground Thursday as Republicans and Democrats joined forces to approve a sweeping sanctions bill that punishes long-time adversaries Iran and Russia with an array of financial penalties. The bipartisan legislation passed overwhelmingly Thursday, 98-2, more than five months after U.S. intelligence agencies determined Moscow had deliberately interfered in the 2016 presidential campaign. Lawmakers have long sought to hit Iran with more sanctions in order to check its ballistic missile program. The decisive bipartisan vote could put the Trump administration in a bind. Secretary of State Rex Tiller-

son has offered only tepid support for the Russia sanctions package. Yet those penalties are melded with the Iran punishments. So the White House would have to reject stricter punishments against Iran, which it favours, in order to derail the Russia penalties.

Stronger hand The legislation, which now moves to the House, also gives Capitol Hill a much stronger hand in determining Russia sanctions policy. The bill would require a congressional review if President Donald Trump attempts to ease or end penalties against Moscow. Senators Bernie Sanders (Independent-Vermont) and Rand Paul (Republican-Kentucky) voted against the sanctions package. M ND-ND


THE HINDU

BUSINESS 13

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market watch 15-06-2017

% CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 31,076 ddddddddddddd -0.26 US Dollar dddddddddddddddddddd 64.53 ddddddddddddd -0.47 Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 29,165 ddddddddddddd -0.29 Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 46.89 ddddddddddddddd0.08

Builders told to pass on GST beneits Construction of lats, complexes, buildings will have a lower incidence of GST, CBEC says Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

NIFTY 50 PRICE CHANGE

ACC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1612.10. . . . . . . 14.20 Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360.00. . . . . . . . . 0.50 Ambuja Cements. . . .. . . . . . 236.10. . . . . . . . . 2.05 Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1140.30. . . . . . . . -9.30 Aurobindo Pharma . . . . . . 643.90. . . . . . . 41.80 Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507.60. . . . . . . . -1.90 Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2814.40. . . . . . -10.75 Bank of Baroda . . . . . .. . . . . . 169.60. . . . . . . . -3.20 Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 365.30. . . . . . . . -0.20 Bosch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24312.60. . . . . . -71.60 BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 670.40. . . . . . -21.60 Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549.45. . . . . . . . . 9.55 Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254.20. . . . . . . . -2.85 Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 2700.50. . . . . . . 31.20 Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. 28772.00. . . -277.50 GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 376.60. . . . . . . . -4.45 HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844.40. . . . . . . . -9.25 HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1636.85. . . . . . -14.25 HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1664.35. . . . . . . . -6.85 Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 3777.70. . . . . . -11.35 Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196.60. . . . . . . . -3.55 Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1104.00. . . . . . . . -9.70 Indiabulls HFL . . . . . . . .. . . . 1149.05. . . . . . -11.80 ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316.75. . . . . . . . -2.30 IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1491.00. . . . . . . . -9.10 Bharti Infratel . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 374.80. . . . . . -11.30 Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 952.10. . . . . . . . -6.50 Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 407.05. . . . . . -13.65 ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301.90. . . . . . . . . 2.05 Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 962.60. . . . . . . . -5.45 L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1735.35. . . . . . -29.10 Lupin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1182.35. . . . . . . . . 1.35 M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1387.65. . . . . . -17.55 Maurti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 7312.30. . . . . . -38.75 NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159.05. . . . . . . . -0.90 ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167.15. . . . . . . . -2.35 PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 210.35. . . . . . . . -0.15 Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1383.95. . . . . . . 26.45 State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284.00. . . . . . . . -0.20 Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 544.00. . . . . . . . . 4.45 Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 448.30. . . . . . . . -3.65 Tata Motors DVR. . . .. . . . . . 273.10. . . . . . . . -2.10 Tata Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77.10. . . . . . . . -0.45 Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502.55. . . . . . . . -0.10 TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2411.20. . . . . . -59.00 Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 393.65. . . . . . . . -3.05 UltraTech Cement . .. . . . 4043.80. . . . . . . . -9.05 Vedanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235.90. . . . . . . . -0.05 Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260.85. . . . . . . . . 4.75 YES Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1446.15. . . . . . . . -2.85 Zee Entertainment . . . . . . 508.35. . . . . . . . -4.80

The Central Board of Excise and Customs on Thursday warned builders to refrain from hoodwinking customers by claiming that the GST rate of 12% that applies to them will be levied on the original cost of the building. The CBEC said that it has received reports that builders are forcing customers to pay the entire cost of the flat before July 1 and pay the current tax rate of 5.5% or pay 12% on any payments made after July 1, which is when GST is expected to be rolled out. This, the tax authority said, is against the GST legislation. “The CBEC and States have received several complaints that in view of the works contract service tax rate under GST at 12% in respect of under construction

Realty push: Builders should not ask customers to pay higher tax rate on instalments to be received after imposition of GST.

flats, complex, etc, the people who have booked flats and made part payment are being asked to make entire payment before July 1, 2017 or to face higher tax incidence for payment made after July 1, 2017. This is against the GST law,” the

CBEC statement said. “Construction of flats, complex, buildings will have a lower incidence of GST as compared to a plethora of central and state indirect taxes suffered by them under the existing regime,” the statement added.

BULLION RATES

CHENNAI

June 15 rates in rupees with previous rates in parentheses

Arjun Ram Meghwal adopt a lenient view to the concerns of trade and industry in the first few months. The Centre is committed to rolling out GST on July 1. The date is fixed and there will be no change, Mr. Meghwal said. GST will fetch several indirect benefits, including reducing the logistics charges from the existing 13.5%.


Nations that exclude Indian suppliers will face similar curbs

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi

Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

on March 31st, computation of withholding tax and the like, CBDT has ensured that the computation provisions are in place to give a meaningful implementation to the provisions of POEM.” This proactive action ensured that unwarranted litigation on these issues was nipped in the bud, Mr. Nangia added. The draft will be available for public comment on the CBDT website till June 23. The Finance Act 2015 introduced the concept of place of effective management or PoEM. If a company’s PoEM is in India it will be treated as an Indian resident and its global income will be taxable in India.

Foreign Direct investment (FDI) applications in sectors under the government approval route — and not requiring security clearance — will be approved in eight weeks while those needing security clearance will get the green signal in 10 weeks, according to the draft norms for the new mechanism that will replace the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) — the nodal body for the purpose — discussed the draft standard operating procedure for approving FDI proposals with other departments, including ministries of home and finance.

Revenues have fallen in the wake of free services from Jio

Source:Indian Bank

Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arjun Ram Meghwal, on Thursday assured trade and industry that the government will initially take a lenient view of their mistakes on the GST compliance front so long as there is no “malafide intent.” “We will be initially liberal to (those committing) bonafide and technical mistakes,” he said, adding that the government will be approaching such issues with an open mind. Those with a malafide intent, however, need not “rely on us,” he added. The Minister’s comments came in the backdrop of demands for pushing back GST implementation and for the government to

Draft notiication put up on website

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

TT SELL

HYDERABAD

Imports jump 33% on gold demand

Telcos urge regulator to ix loor price for data, voice services

TT BUY

US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 64.34. . . . . . . 64.66 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 71.82. . . . . . . 72.18 British Pound . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 81.95. . . . . . . 82.37 Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 58.42. . . . . . . 58.72 Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 9.46. . . . . . . . . 9.51 Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 66.05. . . . . . . 66.39 Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 46.50. . . . . . . 46.75 Canadian Dollar . . . . . . . . .. . 48.46. . . . . . . 48.70 Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 15.07. . . . . . . 15.16


Government unveils tit-for-tat public procurement policy

CAD widens to $3.4 billion in Q4

CURRENCY

Reduced prices “The builders are expected to pass on the benefits of lower tax burden under the GST regime to the buyers of property by way of reduced prices/instalments,” the statement added. “It is, therefore, advised to all builders/construction companies that in the flats under construction, they should not ask customers to pay higher tax rate on instalments to be received after imposition of GST.” “Despite this clarity on law position, if any builder resorts to such practice, the same can be deemed to be profiteering under section 171 of GST law.”

The tax regime will rollout on July 1

Centre may expedite FDI proposals

Retail Silver (1g) . . . . . . . . . . . 41.80. . . . . (41.90) 22 ct gold (1 g) . .. . . . . . . . . . . 2,770. . . . . (2,780)

EXCHANGE RATES

already agreed to pay ₹1 crore for the flat, the 12% tax will apply on that ₹1 crore and not on the new cost of the flat, which is ₹95 lakh.”

CBDT seeks comment on PoEM rule changes The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has sought comments from the public on some modifications and amendments it had made to the Place of Effective Management (PoEM) Rules. “The circular has dealt in detail with the issues that a foreign firm is likely to face in its first year of constituting a resident in India owing to its PoEM being in India,” said Rakesh Nangia, managing partner, Nangia & Co. “In addressing issues such as computation of depreciation, carry forward and set-off of losses, preparation of accounts in case the accounting year of the foreign company doesn’t end

Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit except yen at 4 p.m. on June 15

“Suppose you buy a flat for ₹1 crore. The builder charges 4.5% service tax, and 1% composition. So, that’s ₹5.5 lakh in tax,” Abhishek Jain, Partner at EY India explained. “However, the builder was buying inputs on which there was excise duty and VAT, and there was no credit on this. When he factors this in, then, say that his cost of building the flat was ₹95 lakh and ₹5 lakh were the input costs.” “Using the same example, in GST, the cost of the builder will be ₹95 lakh, but the ₹5 lakh that is excise and VAT on inputs will no longer be a cost,” Mr. Jain added. “So, ideally, he should say the cost of the building is ₹95 lakh and then the customer has to pay the 12% GST on that ₹95 lakh. But what the builders are trying to do is tell the customers that since they have

‘Lenient view initially on GST compliance’

NEW DELHI

Special Correspondent New Delhi

Entities from countries where Indian suppliers are not allowed to participate or compete in bids for government procurement, may be restricted or excluded from public procurement tenders in India. Such a provision, relating to “reciprocity,” has been included in the Indian government’s new policy to encourage ‘Make in India’ by granting preference to local suppliers in public procurement. “If a nodal ministry is satisfied that Indian suppliers of an item are not allowed to participate and/or compete in procurement by any foreign government, it may, if it

The provision is aimed at favouring local suppliers.

deems appropriate, restrict or exclude bidders from that country from eligibility for procurement of that item and/or other items relating to the nodal ministry,” according to the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India), Order 2017. A five-member committee

chaired by the Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has been set up to oversee the implementation of the policy. The committee “may assess issues, if any, where it is felt that the manner of implementation of the order results in any restrictive practices, cartelisation or increase in public expenditure and suggest remedial measures.” The policy — approved by the Cabinet last month — is aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and services, thereby creating employment and enhancing income, as well as to stimulate the flow of capital and technology into domestic manufacturing and services.

India’s exports grew by 8.32% to $24.01 billion in May, mainly on account of robust performance by sectors like petroleum, chemicals, engineering goods as well as gems and jewellery. Imports too jumped 33% to $37.85 billion last month from $28.44 billion in May 2016, according to the data released by the Commerce Ministry. A huge jump in gold imports pushed up the trade deficit to $13.84 billion during the month under review from $6.27 billion a year ago. The imports of the precious metal rose 3-fold to $4.95 billion in May compared with $1.47 billion in the same month last year.

MUMBAI

The current account deficit widened in the fourth quarter of 2016-17 to $3.4 billion or 0.6% of the GDP from $ 0.3 billion or 0.1% of the GDP during the same period of the previous financial year. The gap narrowed when compared to the third quarter of 2016-17 when it was $8 billion or 1.4% of the GDP, according to latest data released by the RBI. “The widening of the CAD on a year-on-year basis was primarily on account of a higher trade deficit ($29.7 billion) brought about by a larger increase in merchandise imports relative to exports,” the RBI said.


Telecom service providers on Thursday sought an imposition of a floor price for voice and data services in a meeting with regulator TRAI. The suggestion assumes significance as it comes at a time when top telcos have been voicing concerns over decline in their revenues in the wake of free services offered by Reliance Jio for about seven months post its introduction. “Some operators suggested that a minimum price model for both voice and data services… no operator should be able to offer data or voice services below the

TRAI Chairman R.S. Sharma

floor price,” TRAI Chairman R.S. Sharma said. He, however, stressed that the regulator has not taken any view on the subject and there needs to be a discussion on the topic.

“Ultimately, floor price will depend on different variables the technology, the utilisation of network, volumes etc… It is a complex issue. We have agreed with the operators that we will have more deliberations on the issue,” Mr. Sharma said. The operators argued that telcos offering below cost tariffs to consumers over a period of time may harm the industry and its financials. Mr. Sharma said that keeping a floor price may be contrary to forbearance on tariffs, under which the regulator has allowed operators to fix their own tariffs on grounds that there is enough competition in the market.

U.S. Fed raises benchmark rate, unveils balance sheet cuts in sign of conidence Central bank says economy continues to strengthen, job gains remain solid creasing by $6 billion increments every three months over a 12-month period until it reached $30 billion per month. For agency debt and mortgage-backed securities, the cap will be $4 billion per month initially, rising by $4 billion at quarterly intervals over a year until it reached $20 billion per month.

Reuters WASHINGTON

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday for the second time in three months and said it would begin cutting its holdings of bonds and other securities this year, signalling its confidence in a growing U.S. economy and strengthening job market. In lifting its benchmark lending rate by a quarter percentage point to a target range of 1% to 1.25% and forecasting one more increase this year, the Fed seemed to largely brush off a recent run of mixed economic data.

Recent softness The U.S. central bank’s ratesetting committee said the economy had continued to strengthen, job gains remained solid and indicated it viewed a recent softness in inflation as largely transitory. The Fed also gave a first clear outline on its plan to reduce its $4.2 trillion portfolio of Treasury bonds and CM YK

Unwinding plan: Fed Chair Yellen said the balance sheet normalisation could be put into efect “relatively soon.” mortgage-backed securities, most of which were purchased in the wake of the 2007-2009 financial crisis and recession. It expects to begin the normalisation of its balance sheet this year, gradually ramping up the pace. The plan, which would feature halting reinvestments of ever-larger amounts of maturing securities, did not specify the overall size of the reduction. “What I can tell you is that we anticipate reducing re-

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serve balances and our overall balance sheet to levels appreciably below those seen in recent years but larger than before the financial crisis,” Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in a press conference following the release of the Fed’s policy statement. She added that the balance sheet normalisation could be put into effect “relatively soon.” The initial cap for the reduction of the Fed’s Treasuries holdings would be set at $6 billion per month, in-

‘Leaves September open’ “The Fed announcing an update to their reinvestment principles leaves September open (for) the start of balance sheet run-off, and the fact that they haven’t slowed their projected path of rate hikes suggest they can do both balance sheet and rate hikes at the same time,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, interest rate strategist at TD Securities. The Fed has now raised rates four times as part of a normalisation of monetary policy that began in December 2015. The central bank had pushed rates to near zero in response to the financial crisis. M ND-ND


14 BUSINESS

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THE HINDU



IN BRIEF

Vascon Engineers under SEBI scanner

Singh asks SAIL to boost steel usage Special Correspondent

Centre plans to cut MSTC stake to 65% It will enable listing of the company

KOLKATA

Cancellation of ₹110-cr. Lodha group deal triggers scrutiny ASHISH RUKHAIYAR

FDA nod for Aurobindo‘s drug for renal patients

MUMBAI

NEW DELHI

The cancellation of the ₹110 crore deal between Vascon Engineers and a Lodha Group entity has come under the scanner of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). According to people familiar with the development, the capital market regulator is examining if there were instances of insider trading, fraud or change in control after the deal was announced in April. Incidentally, the stock price of Vascon Engineers rose 35% in a fortnight before the announcement in April to touch a high of ₹55. After the announcement, however, it has largely remained subdued, never crossing ₹60 mark. Further, the last three trading sessions saw the stock price tumbling by almost 25% as the company announced that the deal had been cancelled. “Due to certain differences between the company with the proposed investors, both parties have decided to terminate the arrangement. Accordingly, the company has cancelled the proposed preferential allotment of CCDs (compulsorily convertible debentures) to the proposed investors,” Vascon Engineers said in a statement.

Private equity irm Warburg Pincus will acquire a 43% stake in Singapore-based Tata Technologies for $360 million (about ₹2,320 crore). An ailiate of Warburg Pincus will acquire about 30% from Tata Motors and its subsidiary Sheba Properties as well as Tata Capital’s entire 13% stake, Tata Motors said in a iling. Tata Technologies is a global engineering services and product development IT company. PTI

Change in control Apart from the stock price movement, the regulatory probe has also been triggered by the fact that some of the former employees of Lodha Group have joined the company in the recent past. This, say sources, has led SEBI to examine if there was any change in the control of the company. Under SEBI’s Takeover Code, any change in control of the company

HYDERABAD

Aurobindo Pharma has received the inal approval of US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture Sevelamer Carbonate oral suspension. The drug, which the irm intends to introduce immediately, is a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Genzyme's Renevela oral suspension. The drug is indicated for control of serum phosphorus in chronic kidney disease patients undergoing dialysis.

India climbs to 60 in innovation ranking NEW DELHI

India moved six places to rank 60 among 130 countries and is the top-ranked economy in Central and Southern Asia on the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2017. It was ranked 66 last year. “This improvement in India’s rank came after 5 years of continuous drop in its ranking,” the Commerce Ministry said. Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the U.S. and the U.K. retain the top spots as the world’s most-innovative countries.

Warburg to buy 43% in Tata Technologies

PUBLIC NOTICES

Rule book: Under SEBI’s Takeover Code, any change in control of the irm necessitates an open ofer by the acquirer. necessitates an open offer by the acquirer. “The company held an investor call on Monday ( June 12) and a lot of queries were raised by investors. Questions were asked about former employees of Lodha group being appointed as senior directors and their role in the company. Plus the manner in which the stock price has moved since April has alerted the regulator,” said a person familiar with the matter. He did not wish to be named as the matter is under investigation. Vascon Engineers, a publicly-listed company with a market capitalisation of ₹700 crore, is among the top real estate developers of Pune having developed IT parks, malls, multiplexes and residential projects. “We have made our announcement in compliance with applicable law,” M. Krishnamurthi, chief-corporate affairs, Vascon Engineers, said in an e-mail response to a query from The Hindu. “We cannot say anything more to anyone selectively. We are fully in compliance with all applicable

laws,” he said.

Shares gain On Thursday, shares of Vascon gained 2.76% to close at ₹42.85. The deal between the company and Manan Finserve — the Lodha group entity — entitled the investor to convert the CCDs into equity at a price of at least ₹45.60. The debentures were to be compulsorily converted into equity shares after 18 months — earlier if the investor wished to — and carried a coupon rate of 17%, as per the company's statement to the stock exchanges. The deal was structured in a manner that would have given the investors a stake of 12.58% in the company post the conversion of the debentures into equity. Latest data The latest shareholding data shows that promoters hold a little over 36% stake while public shareholders holding a stake in excess of 1% include market veteran Vallabh Bhansali and his nephew Akash Bhansali. Collectively, the duo hold hold 5.66% in the company.

The Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) should take the lead in increasing steel consumption in the country, said Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh. “While the Steel Ministry is doing its bit to promote steel usage and spread awareness about its benefits over other materials, domestic steel makers also need to walk the extra mile for producing world class steel,” he said addressing SAIL officials its Central Marketing Office here. Given the challenges to increase demand, Mr. Singh called for innovative marketing efforts to boost steel consumption. India would more than double steel production capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030-31 but the challenge remained in increasing the demand from the current per capita consumption of 65 kg, he said.

Special Correspondent KOLKATA

The Centre is planning to reduce its stake in MSTC from 89.8% to about 65%, through an offer for sale, A.K. Basu, director, finance of the company said, adding it will enable listing of the company. “Tenders have already been floated in this regard,” he said while addressing a press conference with MSTC chairman, B B Singh. MSTC, a mini ratna public sector undertaking under the Union Steel Ministry, was established in September 1964 to act as a small trading company for ferro alloys at an investment of ₹6 lakh. Historically, the Steel Arc Association and another industry association had held the balance equity. MSTC was among the 11 Central Public Sector Enterprises whose listing was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in April 2017.

Elon Musk

Tesla’s Musk eyes India duty relief To a question on its auto shredding joint venture with Mahindra, Mr. Singh said the company was currently scouting for land around the National Capital Region for setting up a collection centre.

Shredding facility The shredding facility is likely to come up in Gujarat. “It is also possible that more units are set up in Maharashtra or Chennai later,” Mr. Singh said. The shredded scrap would be used by the secondary steel makers for making auto-grade steel. India currently imports six million tonnes of scrap.

K.T. Jagannathan Chennai

Is India a priority destination for Tesla? It appears so if one were to go by a series of tweets by its chief executive officer Elon Musk. In his latest tweet — a reply to a user query — Mr. Musk said Tesla was in talks with the Centre. He took to the microblogging site yet again to inform that the electric car maker had held discussions with the government on duty relief in India. He indicated that Tesla would be happy to get the duty relief until the time it had set up its own factory in the country.

EPFO plans drive to dissuade closures Provident Fund to enable subscribers to get money within a day of iling claim Somesh Jha NEW DELHI

One may soon be able to avail automatic transfer of provident fund accounts on switching jobs and get provident fund money within a single day of filing the claim. This will be a part of the public campaign that Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will soon rollout to dissuade employees from closing their PF accounts. “We want to make systems in such a manner that employees needn’t close their provident fund accounts before retirement,” EPFO Central Provident

V.P. Joy

Fund Commissioner V.P. Joy told The Hindu. “We will ensure subscribers get large number of benefits; that they receive the money whenever required for emergency purposes and get PF money

credited into their bank accounts within one day of making the claim. Our goal is to ensure employees do not go for PF account closure.” He said 70% of total 1.25 crore annual claims received by the PF department are related to premature closure of provident fund accounts. Last year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Union Budget speech announced a move to bar employees from withdrawing their provident fund corpus before the retirement age of 58 years. However, the proposal drew ire of workers and protest by garment sector workers turned violent in Bengaluru leading to withdrawal roll-

back of the proposed norms. “We do not want to force employees to not go for account closure. We have done a detailed analysis of the reasons why people close their PF accounts instead of transferring them while switching jobs,” Mr. Joy said.

Private banks Mr. Joy has written to private banks to allow companies to make statutory provident fund contributions to the EPFO through their banks. “This will enable us to dispatch PF claims within one day otherwise it takes four days to do so at present. We aim to tie up with all the banks,” the EPFO chief said.

TENDERS

TENDERS

LEGAL NOTICE

CM YK

M ND-ND


THE HINDU

SPORT 15

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India lords it over Bangladesh, sets up date with Pakistan Rohit’s century, Kohli’s imperious knock and Jadhav’s breakthroughs do the trick CHAMPIONS TROPHY Shreedutta Chidananda Birmingham

India booked a date with Pakistan in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy after brushing Bangladesh aside here on Thursday. The gulf in class was evident at Edgbaston as India achieved a nine-wicket semifinal victory with the minimum of fuss. Rohit Sharma, who scored

Classy: India captain Virat Kohli was in great form, toying with the bowling on his way to 8,000 career runs.

his 11th one-day century, and Virat Kohli put on a commanding, unbroken 178-run (153b) partnership, ensuring India cantered to the target of 265 with nearly 10 overs to spare. That Bangladesh made it as far as the semifinals — its first appearance in the last four at a major tournament — was impressive, but this was simply a step too far. On a good batting surface under bright blue skies, the team had shown promise in

the morning until Kedar Jadhav provided two vital breakthroughs with his occasional off-spin, removing Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim in the space of half an hour. With a foot in the door, India just did not let up, steadily breaking the back of the Bangladesh innings. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit ensured the run chase would be straightforward, feasting on a diet of wide and shortpitched deliveries. Dhawan picked up from

where he had left off against South Africa, cutting and driving through the offside with delight. The pick of his shots, though, was an imperious pull — one foot off the ground as he swivelled — off Taskin Ahmed that sailed into the stands over square-leg. The openers added 87 runs inside 15 overs, an alliance only broken when Dhawan was caught at point needlessly stepping out to Mashrafe Mortaza.

Kohli and Rohit then took over, toying with the bowling. Rohit was offered width, and he gleefully accepted it, threading drive after drive through the offside. Successive fours off Rubel Hossain, when he found the boundary either side of point, exemplified the ease with which he was batting. Rohit raised his hundred off 111 balls — a first in international cricket in 18 months — with a hook shot off Mustafizur Rahman that just

Jadhav’s spell changed the course of the game: Kohli

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AFP

evaded the fine-leg fielder. Kohli would not be left too far behind. He eased himself in — as he always does — before putting Bangladesh's bowlers to the sword. He finished unbeaten on 96, completing 8,000 career runs in the process, and Rohit on 123, as vo-

from us. It wasn't like they were going at eight, nine an over and we had to pull back. We never let them get to six an over, as well.” Kohli was pleased with the way his batsmen had performed. “The way Rohit and Shikhar batted, it just gave me so much confidence heading into the changing room,” he said. “These guys just went out and, especially Shikhar, the way he took off was outstanding. Those two guys really dent the opposition mentally and you can come in and play your shots. “It was a beautiful wicket to bat on, and the outfield was quick too.”

Birmingham

Kedar Jadhav developed a reputation as a partnershipbreaker in India's series win over New Zealand at home last year, and he delivered again on Thursday. He was brought on purely so that Hardik Pandya may be taken out of the line of fire, Virat Kohli revealed after India's nine-wicket victory at Edgbaston. “Wickets were, honestly, a bonus. Hardik went for a few in his first three, so we wanted to give him a bit of a break and cover up overs through Kedar, and with one left-hander batting, we knew he had the ability to get in two, three, dot balls every over. But, it ended up changing the whole game for us,” he said. M.S. Dhoni had had a hand in the decision, the India captain revealed. “When moves like this pay off, I won't take the whole credit,” he said. “Obviously, I asked MS as well, and we both decided that Kedar was a good option at the moment, and he bowled really well. He doesn't bowl much in the nets, but he's a smart

Smart move: Virat Kohli brought on Kedar Jadhav at the appropriate time to halt Bangladesh’s progress. AFP *

cricketer.” Kohli added: “Kedar's spell was probably the difference in the game for us when we were bowling. The

wicket was easily one where 300-310 was par, and to restrict them to 260 was a good thing. “They never got away

Untimely dismissals Mashrafe Mortaza rued the untimely dismissals of Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim. “We could've had a big total had Tamim and Mushfiqur not been dismissed by a part-timer,” he said. “They might have thought, ‘This is a parttimer; so I can go after him’. We were on top then and could have got 330-340 easily.”


A delighted Kedar Jadhav credited M.S. Dhoni for having helped him develop as a bowler, after the off-spinner took two crucial wickets in India’s Champions Trophy semifinal victory over Bangladesh on Thursday. “I don’t practise [bowling] much but since the time I’ve been in the Indian team, I’ve

Mumbai

Delhi wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant and Uttar Pradesh left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav have replaced Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah in the Indian team for the six-match limited-over series against the West Indies to be played in Trinidad, Antigua and Jamaica from June 23. While Pant made his T20I debut against England in Bengaluru in February, Kuldeep made his first international appearance in the fourth Test against Australia at Dharamshala. Both Rohit and Bumrah have been rested. The BCCI release has avoided naming the head coach of the team, which means the Board has not been able to take an undertaking from Anil Kumble that he would continue for the series in the Caribbean. It has been reported that the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising CM YK

Special Correspondent Birmingham

Rishabh Pant.

Kuldeep Yadav.

Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman is likely to meet skipper Virat Kohli on Friday in order to find out more about the nature of his differences with Kumble and his style of functioning.

The release, however, said that the administrative staff would remain the same, thus confirming that Kapil Malhotra would be the manager.

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PTI

The team: Virat Kohli (captain), Sh ikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant,

Rohit Sharma was left out of the Indian team for the West Indies tour because he needed rest, Virat Kohli said here on Thursday. Rohit has come back and had a hectic IPL season; his team [Mumbai Indians] reached the final, so he got less rest than anyone else. But he also had a massive hip surgery, so muscles around that area are always vulnerable. Even today, he felt a bit of stiffness in his right knee, and we decided the smart thing to do was to rest him. Ajinkya Rahane, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav and Dinesh

INDIA V BANGLADESH, SECOND SEMIFINAL

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal b Jadhav 70 (82b, 7x4, 1x6), Soumya Sarkar b Bhuvneshwar 0 (2b), Sabbir Rahman c Jadeja b Bhuvneshwar 19 (21b, 4x4), Mushfiqur Rahim c Kohli b Jadhav 61 (85b, 4x4), Shakib Al Hasan c Dhoni b Jadeja 15 (23b, 1x4), Mahmudullah b Bumrah 21 (25b, 2x4), Mosaddek Hossain c & b Bumrah 15 (26b, 3x4), Mashrafe Mortaza (not out) 30 (25b, 5x4), Taskin Ahmed (not out) 10 (14b, 1x4); Extras (lb-9, w-7, nb-2, pen-5): 23; Total (for seven wkts. in 50 overs): 264. Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Sarkar , 0.6 overs), 2-31 (Sabbir, 6.5), 3-154 (Tamim, 27.6), 4-177 (Shakib, 34.2), 5-179 (Mushfiqur, 35.2), 6-218 (Mosaddek, 42.3), 7-229 (Mahmudullah, 44.6). India bowling: Bhuvneshwar 10-1-53-2, Bumrah 10-1-39-2,

Ashwin 10-0-54-0, Pandya 40-34-0, Jadeja 10-0-48-1, Jadhav 6-0-22-2. India: Rohit Sharma (not out) 123 (129b, 15x4, 1x6), Shikhar Dhawan c Mosaddek b Mortaza 46 (34b, 7x4, 1x6), Virat Kohli (not out) 96 (78b, 13x4); Total (for one wkt. in 40.1 overs): 265. Fall of wicket: 1-87 (Dhawan, 14.4). Bangladesh bowling: Mortaza 8-0-29-1, Mustafizur 6-0-53-0, Taskin 7-0-49-0, Rubel 6-046-0, Shakib 9-0-54-0, Mosaddek 2-0-13-0, Mahmudullah 10-10-0, Sabbir 1.1-0-11-0. Toss: India. Man-of-the-match: Rohit Sharma. India won by nine wickets with 59 balls remaining.

spent a lot of time with Dhoni. He shares with me all the knowledge he has.

Eye contact “Even while bowling, we just look at each other and we have that bond, where from his eyes I can read what he wants me to bowl. I bowl that delivery and most of the times it works,” he said. Jadhav stated that he was

confident in his abilities as a bowler. “I’ve bowled and taken wickets for my team in previous series too,” he said. “Before this game, I had six ODI wickets and most of them are pure batsmen; it’s not like I was getting wickets of tail-enders. “I had that confidence in my bowling. I knew that if a batsman tried big shots against me he’d find it diffi-

cult, because of the pace variations I have.” The 32-year-old added: “I can read what the batsman is trying to do. And when I want to execute something, I can do it. “These are the two major aspects of my bowling. It was one of those days where I could read them well and could execute what I wanted to bowl.”

A moment of great pride for Sarfraz ‘It was a team no one gave a chance, neither here nor back home’ Ag ence France-Presse Cardiff

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed insisted he always believed his side could turn its fortunes around after it reached the Champions Trophy final with an eightwicket win over England. What made Wednesday’s victory all the more impressive was that it came just 10 days after Pakistan launched its Champions Trophy campaign with a woeful 124-run hammering by India. But just three days later, Pakistan, the lowest-ranked side in a tournament featuring the world’s top eight ODI

Rohit needs rest, says India skipper

G. Viswanath

SCOREBOARD

It was all India needed to regain control. Jasprit Bumrah was excellent again, taking two for 39 from his 10 miserly overs. Tamim’s exit had sparked a collapse of five for 70, before Mortaza’s agricultural blows at the end helped Bangladesh cross 250. India would not even have to break sweat.

‘I can read what he wants me to bowl and generally it works’

Pant, Kuldeep in for West Indies tour Rohit and Bumrah do not igure in the team

Shakib was caught behind, trying to cut Jadeja off the back-foot. With the dot balls building up, and India’s spinners hurrying through their overs, the pressure rose on Bangladesh. Mushfiqur yielded, stepping down the pitch, and driving Jadhav straight to Kohli at mid-wicket.

Jadhav credits Dhoni for his bowling Birmingham


ciferous Indian supporters danced in the aisles. They will seek more joy at the Oval on Sunday. In the morning, having been asked to bat, Bangladesh had been making swift progress with Tamim and Mushfiqur in control, handling India's frontline spinners without trouble. Hardik Pandya had the lefthander chopping on for 17 but the Baroda all-rounder had overstepped — for the second time in that over. Tamim survived and grew in confidence, soon stepping down the pitch to whip Pandya over the leg-side for six. Seventy-one runs had been added between the end of the 15th and 25th overs, with Tamim, who had just clouted Ashwin for a hattrick of fours, looking in ominous form. It was then that Kohli tossed the ball to Jadhav, who struck in his second over. Tamim attempted to slog a gentle off-break out of the ground and was bowled neck and crop. He fell for 70, snapping a partnership of 123 for the third wicket.

“There’s no doubt about Rohit's ability and what he brings to the team. “We need to protect him going further because we have big tours coming up. So we want him to be careful because, after a surgery, you do need to be careful. If you push yourself a little too hard, then it snaps again and you’re out for seven, eight months. “I think it’s a conscious decision by everyone to give him a break. He’s making the most of the form he’s in right now, and I’m sure he also knows and understands the whole situation.” Karthik. The schedule: June 23 and 25 (first and second ODI, Port of Spain), June 30 and July 2 (third and fourth ODI, Antigua), July 6 (fifth ODI, Jamaica) and July 9 (only T20I, Jamaica).

Self-belief: Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed insisted that he always believed his side could turn around its fortunes. AFP *

teams, bounced back to defeat No. 1 South Africa. “It is a matter of great pride and happiness for myself and the entire Pakistan

Dravid declines invitation

nation,” said Sarfraz after the semifinal triumph. “It was a team no one gave a chance, neither here nor back home,” added the

Third ODI abandoned Afghanistan-Windies series ends 1-1 Agence France -Presse Gros-Islet (Saint Lucia)

Rahul Dravid. *

FILE PHOTO: M. MOORTHY

Special Correspondent Mumbai

Rahul Dravid has declined BCCI’s invitation to attend the India under-19 National Selection Committee meeting here on Friday because he has ceased to be the Head Coach of the team. His 10-month contract expired on March 31, 2017. But the former India captain is likely to be consulted by the chairman of the under-19 selection committee, Venkatesh Prasad. The other members of the committee are Gyanendra Pandey and Rakesh Parikh.

30-year-old wicketkeeper. “No one thought we’d reach the final.” Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur said before the semifinal that if his side played its “best game” it could “put pressure” on England. And it did so in style, despite being without injured left-arm quick Mohammad Amir because of a back spasm. “It was a perfect performance from all departments,” said Azhar. Sarfraz said the way Arthur and the backroom staff had boosted the morale after the India defeat had been central to the recovery.

Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai hopes his team will get more opportunities to face top-flight cricket nations after its One-Day International series against the West Indies ended in a 1-1 draw here on Wednesday. Steady rain forced the abandonment of the third and final one-dayer with not a ball being bowled at St Lucia’s Darren Sammy Stadium with the series balanced at one apiece. But Stanikzai said he believes his team, which lost a T20 series 3-0, did enough to show it deserves more regular matches against full member nations of the International Cricket Council. “We didn’t play as well as we could have but I thought we did enough to show that we deserve to play the bigger teams more often,” said Stanikzai. “This was a great experience for us and we can look forward now to what lies ahead with greater confidence.”

West Indies captain Jason Holder accepted that his team faced a tough challenge. “We were up against it after the first match but came back well in the second and we have shown in the previous series against Pakistan that we can compete with the best teams in the world also,” he commented. “We just need to put the bits and pieces performances together on a more consistent basis for us to really move up the rankings in international cricket.” The West Indies is currently ranked ninth in ODIs and should it fail to reach the top eight by the cut-off date of September 30 this year, it will have to go through a qualifying tournament next year for the 2019 World Cup in England. Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, with combined figures of 10 for 44 over the two ODIs that were played was named man-of-the-series. M ND-ND


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THE HINDU



Prannoy packs of Lee Chong Wei

IN BRIEF

Saina and Sindhu crash out Press Trust of India JAKARTA

Southampton shows Puel the door LONDON

Claude Puel was sacked as Southampton manager on Wednesday after just one season in charge, the English Premier Club announced. Puel, 55, took Southampton to a respectable eighth-place finish in the table and to the League Cup final where it was defeated by Manchester United. AFP

South Zone, Central Zone post wins GUNTUR

South Zone defeated East Zone by 70 runs while Central scored a 59-run victory over North in the National Cricket Academy u-19 inter-zonal women’s tournament here on Thursday. The scores: South Zone 129 for eight in 41 overs (E. Padmaja 36 n.o.) bt East Zone 59 in 25.5 overs (Minnu Mani three for seven). Central 151 for six in 50 overs (Neetu Gaur 35) bt North Zone 92 in 30.2 overs (Anjali Singh three for 20).

India’s H.S. Prannoy stunned World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in straight games to storm into the quarterfinals of the $1 million Indonesia Super Series Premier here on Thursday. The World No. 25, who went into the match with a 0-2 head-to-head record, saw off three-time Olympic silver medallist Lee 21-10, 21-18 in a 40-minute contest.

Srikanth prevails K. Srikanth also dug deep to notch up a stunning 21-15, 20-22, 21-16 victory over fourth seed Denmark’s Jan O Jorgensen to make the quarters too. However, Saina Nehwal lost to Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol 21-15, 6-21, 21-16. Also crashing out was P.V. Sindhu, who lost to Beiwen Zhang of USA 15-21, 21-12, 2118. After losing the first game, Saina rebounded strongly in the second before again going down to end up with a defeat against her Thailand opponent in a thrilling clash that lasted 63 minutes. Prannoy will next face Olympic champion Chen

Long of China, while Srikanth will meet the winner of the match between Chinese Taipei’s Tzu Wei Wang and Hong Angus Kong’s Ng Ka Long. Prannoy looked in ominous form as he opened up a 6-0 lead in the opening game and then to 10-3. In the second game, Prannoy held a 10-6 lead, which was quickly erased by Lee, who had a 13-12 advantage. Prannoy soon changed gears to surge to 17-14, but Lee again levelled the scores before the Indian shut the door with some good points to foil the top seed’s chance of clinching his record seventh Indonesian title. World No. 22 Srikanth, however, had to toil hard to get across Jorgensen, ranked ninth. The 24-year-old had beaten Jorgensen in straight games at the Rio Olympics and once again had the last laugh in the 57-minute battle. The results: Men: H.S. Prannoy bt Lee Chong Wei (Mas) 21-18, 21-10; K. Srikanth bt Jan O Jorgensen (Den) 21-15, 20-22, 21-16. Women: Nitchaon Jindapol (Tha) bt Saina Nehwal 21-15, 621, 21-16; Beiwen Zhang (USA) bt P.V. Sindhu 15-21, 21-12, 21-18.

UFC stars excited about McGregor vs Mayweather ight S. Prasanna Venkatesan SINGAPORE

Big scalp: H.S. Prannoy, who stunned Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei, said his opponent looked ordinary and he took his chances. AP *

With Floyd Mayweather set to fight Conor McGregor in a boxing bout in August, the UFC stars gathered here are all excited about watching one of their own take on the legendary American pugilist. Brazilian Bethe Correia, whose bantamweight clash with American Holly Holm will be the main event of fight night here on Saturday, says it is going to be a tough fight for the Irishman. Holm says it is unpredictable. “One thing about fighting is that it’s really unpredictable. Anything can happen inside the ring,” said Holm. Asked if the MayweatherMcGregor fixture — which pits a boxer against a mixed martial artist — will pave the way to more cross-over challenges, Holm said: “I feel fighting is the oldest sport in the book. It’s always going to be evolving. Whether it’s MMA or boxing, whatever it is, I feel it’s going to be something that’ll always be intriguing for people. So, there might be more crossover challenges, I think.”

TENNIS

HOCKEY

BASKETBALL

Ajay and Asav in summit clash

Chandigarh grounds Air India

12 Indians for NBA camp in China

Ajay Singh and Asav Kumar set up a title clash in the under-16 boys’ section of the AITA Talent series junior tennis tournament at the Chandigarh Club courts on Thursday. CHANDIGARH:

Sports Bureau Lucknow

Girls:

Boys:

Under-16 (quarterfinals): Princy Panchal bt Vrinda Sharma 6-2, 6-0; Simran Pritam bt Catherine Bhangu 6-0, 6-1; Riya Kaushik bt Aditi Singh 6-3, 1-6, 7-5; Ridhima Mehra bt Radhika Vasudeva 6-0, 6-0.

Under-16 (semifinals): Ajay Singh bt Abhay Mohan 6-3, 6-2; Asav Kumar bt Manveer Singh 6-4, 6-4.

Under-14 (semifinals): Ridhima Mehra bt Prabhleen Kaur 6-1, 6-4; Pawandeep Kaur bt Riya Kaushik 6-3, 6-2.

The results:

CRICKET

Seven-wkt. win for Turf Academy Indus Valley under-14 cricket tournament.

SPORTS BUREAU NEW DELHI

Pragam Sharma, Ashish Sehrawat and Milind Kumar all scored half- centuries as an allround batting performance helped Turf Academy beat Gush Academy by seven wickets in the first Admiral Cricket Super League. The scores: Gush Academy 215 for seven in 50 overs (Vivek Yadav 85) lost to Turf Academy 216 for three in 33.5 overs (Pragam Sharma 56, Ashish Sehrawat 54, Milind Kumar 53 n.o., Dhanur Sikri 39 n.o.).

Devansh scalps five Devansh Mittal’s five-wicket haul and Ashat Upadhya’s three wickets helped St. Teresa Academy beat Akash Chopra Academy by 123 runs to enter the final of the

The scores: St. Teresa Academy 263 for six in 30 overs (Sajal Singh 67, Arush Gupta 52, Sahil Saniyal 38) bt Akash Chopra Academy 140 in 21.2 overs (Adarsh Kumar 50; Devansh Mittal five for 12, Akshat Upadhya three for 12).

Easy for Dronacharya Bhavya Goyal and Navneet Singh picked up two wickets each and Ansh Chaudhary top-scored with 80 runs as Dronacharya Cricket Foundation thrashed JB Sports in the ACE under-14 cricket tournament. The scores: DCF 321 for nine in 30 overs (Ansh Chaudhary 80, Roshan Gupta 72; Anant Agarwal three for 92) bt JB Sports 85 in 12.1 overs.

Chandigarh upset a fancied Air India, boasting of several current and former India players, 2-0 in its opening game of the men’s National hockey championship A division here on Thursday that saw lowscoring matches from all teams. Damanjit Singh and Harmanpreet Singh helped Chandigarh get past its more fancied opponent in the Pool D match, scoring twice in three minutes just before half-

time and then managed to keep a desperate Air India at bay with some frantic defending. Bhopal was awarded five goals after FCI forfeited its game in Pool B. Railways Sports Promotion Board needed a lone strike from Affan Yousuf four minutes from time to scrape past Namdhari XI in Pool A and Odisha registered a 4-2 win against Patiala in Pool C while it was a rest day in B Division. The results: Pool A: RSPB 1

(Affan Yousuf 56) bt Namdhari XI 0; SSCB 3 (Harpreet Singh, Vishwa Thakur, Pawan Rajbhar) bt Jharkhand 1 (Sandeep DungDung). Pool B: Punjab 1 (Dharamvir Singh) bt CAG 0; FCI w/o Bhopal. Pool C: Odisha 4 (Nitin Mukesh Tigga 3, Sanjib Ekka) bt Patiala 2 (Kawaljit Singh 2); PSB 1 (Jagjit Singh) bt MPHA 0. Pool D: Chandigarh 2 (Damanjit Singh, Harmanpreet Singh) bt Air India 0; AIU 2 (Ankit Nath, RS Sunil Murthy) bt Haryana 1 (Pawan Kumar).

Conor McGregor.

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Correia praised McGregor for agreeing to the bout. “I love what McGregor does, and did, to get this fight,” she said. “I think when you have the confidence and want to get into something, you have to talk your way to get into it. So, I [applaud] Conor for getting this fight,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a really tough fight for Conor because Floyd has beaten some of the all-time greats like (Manny) Pacquiao. So I think he has to really keep his end strong for this fight.” Correia does see one way the UFC lightweight champ might have a chance. “If he’s able to break Floyd’s movement, he may hurt Floyd with his hands,” she said.

Le Graet tips Zidane for France job Agence France-Presse Paris


Twelve Indian boys will be part of the 73 players to be trained by the elite players and coaches of NBA at the Asia Pacific camp to be held at Hangzhou, China, from June 18 to 21. Four other countries — China, Australia, New Zealand and Korea — will have 10 boys each, while the host

will have an additional 21 girls. Current NBA players Malik Beasley, Andrew Nicholson, Garrett Temple, along with former WNBA player Zheng Haixia and assistant coaches Ryan Bowen, Charles Klask, Bob Thornton and FIBA coach Ronalld Cass will train the players in the 17-18 age-group.

The president of the French Football Federation Noel Le Graet has said he expects Zinedine Zidane to eventually manage France. “That is a logical continuation. It is likely that one day he will be interested,” Le Graet told RMC radio on Wednesday when asked about the prospect of Zidane coaching Les Bleus in the future.

Ashes the biggest challenge for Smith, says Ponting

Mira, the irst Indian woman driver to race in JK Euro

He will be judged as captain on the basis of winning it

Press Trust of India New Delhi

Vadodara’s young racer Mira Erda will become the first Indian woman driver to compete in one of the highest classes of Formula racing in the country after signing up for the Euro JK series in the upcoming JK Tyre-FMSCI National racing championship. Mira, who began her journey as one of the youngest in national karting, competed in the LGB Formula 4 till last year. She proved herself equal to bigger and stronger boys there too, winning the Formula 4 Rookie Champion-of-the-Year during the annual FMSCI awards. By signing up at just 17 for JK Euro, which features the BMW FB02 car, she will be among the youngest Indian

ANI Melbourne

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting believes the upcoming Ashes series against England will be the biggest challenge for current skipper Steve Smith. “(Smith) has got his biggest challenge coming up,” said Ponting. “An Ashes series as an Australian or England captain is the biggest thing that you play for and the biggest thing of your captaincy life,” he added. Ponting further proclaimed that Smith’s career as captain will be judged on winning the Ashes. “Fortunately or unfortunately, it’s those series that you are remembered for,” he said.

Steve Smith

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AP

FILE PHOTO: GARETH COPLEY/GETTY IMAGES

Mira Erda.

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PTI

drivers to race at this level. “Ever since I started racing as a 9-year-old I have been dreaming of becoming an F1 racer,” Mira said on her way back from school. “I want to thank JK Tyre and FMSCI for this wonderful opportunity as this is one huge jump forward towards

realising my dream,” she added. Interestingly, Mira, who is preparing for her XII board exams, will have a packed season as she plans to not only race in the National championship but also in National rallies and international karting competitions.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

THE HINDU CROSSWORD 12035 1

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(set by Aspartame)

11 Idol at Uttarakhand's capital got kidnapped by Yankee for art (8)

3 Vicuna moved to zoo ultimately — that's not in the natural environment (2,5)

12 Compromises career holidays (5-4)

4 I and planning leader got killed by scum oddly offering independence (4-11)

FAITH

SUDOKU

His Paratva revealed

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14 I'll cultivate young plant (4) 12

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15 Step around insect (4)

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16 President's best friend? (5,4) 15

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20 Woman rates horrible kiss two out of four being a sport (5,3)

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5 Ethnic radicals plotted duke's murder (6) 6 United Nations put mine to manufacture radioactive element (9)

21 Error Phantom described as stray (6)

7 The Spanish communist returned to meet extremely lovely senior (6)

23 Muscle meat suspended on pole (10)

13 Butcher said "yes" softly for stomach problem (9)

24 Americans about to invade territory (4)

15 Measure line, say with a ruler (7)

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■ ACROSS 1 Nun clariies altered note of contract (4,9) 8 Model image of Christ (4) 9 Device Pole developed for vehicle (10) 10 Popular bar procures one supplier (6)

CM YK

25 D-dense tailless aquatic creature needs oxygen to release chromosomes (5,8)

17 Finance kid's purchase of small plot with gold (7) 18 Exchange vehicle using 50% off deal (5-2)

■ DOWN 1 State brought up detailed question on resin (7) 2 Deinite outcome (5)

19 Remove top handle of waste container that's awry (6) 22 Starts prepping records and notices going for a raid (5)

Solution to puzzle 12034 A C B H A R S T H A D I L E L N R E S S

E I S A

T H A N H I E S T O U R O V M N UMB E B I M I L A N D B N I E D P U R E R E A A X I R C OM T O T R I C T E D O S H I L S A O B S D N U H

K P E R A E B R L E S S C O S N I A A S N O E L G MU N A L I G N O RM A E E R V E Y

Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

The Bhagavata Purana describing the Krishna Avatar says that it is a unique child that Vasudeva sees before him. The Lord appears in His divine form — with lotus eyes, four arms sporting the disc, conch, mace and other weapons, the bright Srivatsa mark on His chest, and the shining Kaustuba on the neck; wearing the yellow cloth with the diadem, gemstudded ear rings and so on. It is no wonder that Vasudeva understands the Paratva of His son and sees Him as the very Paramatma, while Nandagopa is not fully aware of this truth though he is quick to sense the child’s divinity and extraordinary appeal, pointed out Srimati Prema Pandurang in a discourse. Soon after Krishna’s birth, Nandagopa goes to Mathura to pay the annual tribute to Kamsa. Vasudeva hears of Nandagopa’s arrival and meets him when cordialities and greetings are exchanged. As if by intuitive promptings, Vasudeva then cautions Nandagopa to be careful and asks him to hasten back to Vraja as evil portents seem to be in the offing. On his return, Nandagopa is astounded to see the dead Putana’s huge body and hears the story. He and the people of Vraja are many a time caught between realisation and delusion when they witness Krishna’s seemingly sporting ways in dealing with the diverse kinds of dangers and threats to His safety that take place frequently as He grows up. He recalls Vasudeva’s words and counsel and is sure of his child’s amazing and marvellous prowess. At times, even Yasodha is insightful to the child’s Paratva when once He reveals the entire universe to her within His tiny mouth as He yawns lying on her lap. It is a momentary flash of illumination that gets submerged in the spell of Maya when she has to revert to her role as the mother of a mischievous and playful child. M ND-ND


THE HINDU

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IN BRIEF

India rallies to beat Scotland

TENNIS

Scores four times in the third quarter after being 1-0 down HWL SEMIFINALS Federer not shocked by Haas defeat


STUTTGART

India conceded an early goal, but made a fine comeback by pumping in four quick goals to defeat Scotland 4-1 in its opening match of the Hockey World League (HWL) Semifinals here on Thursday. Scotland captain Chris Grassick scored in the sixth minute to stun India, which trailed 1-0 till the end of the first two quarters. India, however, recovered and scored four times in the third quarter to run away with full points in the Pool B match. Ramandeep Singh (31st and 34th minutes), Akashdeep Singh (40th) and Harmanpreet Singh (42nd) were the scorers for India. The first quarter belonged to Scotland, which displayed

Roger Federer, who suffered a first round exit at the Stuttgart Open on Wednesday, admitted he was ‘not shocked’ by his defeat to Tommy Haas. “I’m not so shocked to have lost. I knew I could lose against Tommy,” Federer said. ANI

Sharapova invited for Stanford event LOS ANGELES

Maria Sharapova has received an invitation to play at the WTA Stanford tournament at the end of next month as she continues her return from a doping suspension. Her comeback will include a stop at Stanford University for the July 31-August 6 event. AFP

London

The hero: Ramandeep Singh, second from left, struck twice in India’s 4-1 win. good attacking skills. Grassick got an early lead for his team with a splendid deflection that beat Vikas

CHESS

Anand draws with Nakamura Kramnik beats Carslen; Aronian leads Sports Bureau STAVANGER (NORWAY)

Curry to pass up White House invitation LOS ANGELES

Warriors star Stephen Curry said on Wednesday that if the team was invited to visit the White House after winning the NBA championship then he probably wouldn’t go. “Somebody asked me about it and I said I wouldn’t go. I feel the same way,” he said. AFP

TV PICKS Hockey

World League: STAR Sports 2 & 2 HD, 10.30 p.m. Golf: US Open, DSport & TEN Golf HD, 10.30 p.m.

CM YK

Dahiya to the post. Sardar Singh was in the thick of things with some impressive dribbling, trying to

Viswanathan Anand drew with overnight joint leader Hikaru Nakamura in 47 moves as Armenia’s Levon Aronian tamed Sergey Karjakin to lead the points table after seven rounds of Norway Chess 2017 here on Wednesday. Vladimir Kramnik bounced back from a defeat in the previous round with a resounding victory over World champion Magnus Carlsen. Anand, fresh from his victory with black pieces against Fabiano Caruana, chose the Italian Opening from the white side.

Nakamura, holding an overwhelmingly better score in encounters against Anand, was widely expected to press for victory even with black pieces. But the complex nature of the game saw a series of exchanges leading to a drawn rook-and-pawn endgame. The results: Seventh round: Viswanathan Anand (3) drew with Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 4.5); Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 4) bt Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 2.5); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2.5) lost to Anish Giri (Ned, 4). Levon Aronian (Arm, 5) bt Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 3); Wesley So (USA, 3.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA, 3).

‘Best answer is to be quiet’

make space in the circle. But India was denied the equaliser by a determined Alexander, who continued to im-

Nandakumar Marar MUMBAI

Cristiano Ronaldo reacted to accusations that he evaded paying taxes of €14.7 million by saying that remaining silent was the “best answer”. “Sometimes the best answer is to be quiet,” he said on Instagram with a photo of himself in a Portugal polo shirt and right forefinger raised to his lips.

While team events in shooting involve more responsibility, it is easier on the nerves than individual competition, says Heena Sidhu. With the ISSF (the World shooting body) now trying out the mixed team idea at smaller events before elevating it to a medal discipline at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Heena and Jitu Rai had won the 10m air-pistol gold in the category at the recent World Cup in Gabala, Azerbaijan. “Mixed team shooting is less stressful than the individual event. When you are performing for yourself, the focus is on you. When you have a partner, you tend to think less about your own score and more about what you can do together for the country,” said World No. 15

REUTERS

Nottingham

Yuki Bhambri and Dudi Sela of Israel lost 6-3, 3-6, 10-6 to Brydan Klein and Joe Sallisbury of Great Britain in the doubles quarterfinals of the €127,000 Challenger tennis tournament on Thursday. The Indo-Israeli pair had earlier knocked out top seeds Julian Knowle and Philipp Oswald of Austria. In the $60,000 ITF women’s event in Hungary, Prarthana Thombare and Kotomi Takahata of Japan beat Virag Csurgo and Adrienn Nagy of Hungary 6-7 (7), 7-6(7), 10-7 in the quarterfinals after a bye in the first round. The results: €127,000, Nottingham, Britain: Quarterfinals: Brydan Klein & Joe Salisbury (GBr) bt Dudi Sela (Isr) & Yuki Bhambri 6-3, 3-6, 10-6; Pre-quarterfi-

nals: Sela & Bhambri bt Julian Knowle & Philipp Oswald (Aut) 7-6(6), 6-7(7), 10-3. $15,000 ITF men, Hua Hin, Thailand: Quarterfinals: Ti Chen (Tpe) bt Sidharth Rawat 6-4, 6-2. Doubles semifinals: Denis Yevseyev (Kaz) & Karunuday Singh bt Harry Bourchier & Dayne Kelly (Aus) 7-6(4), 5-7, 10-7. $15,000 ITF men, Harare: Quarterfinals: Matias Descotte (Arg) & Jonathan Kanar (Fra) bt Anurag Nenwani & Dhruv Sunish 6-4, 6-4. $100,000 ITF women, Manchester: Pre-quarterfinals: Akiko Omae (Jpn) & Maryna Zanevska (Bel) bt Emily Webley-Smith (GBr) & Ankita Raina 6-4, 4-6, 10-5. $60,000 ITF women, Hodmezovasarhely, Hungary: Quarterfinals: Kotomi Takahata (Jpn) & Prarthana Thombare bt Virag Csurgo & Adrienn Nagy (Hun) 6-7(7), 7-6(7), 10-7.

Heena Sidhu says she hopes to build on her mixed team success with Jitu Rai

Madrid

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The result: Scotland 1 (Chris Grassick 6) lost to India 4 (Ramandeep Singh 31, 34, Akashdeep Singh 40, Harmanpreet Singh 42).

Sports Bureau

‘Team events are less stressful’

Agence France-Presse

Ronaldo.

press with his saves. Ramandeep got a breakthrough in the 31st minute, scoring a cracker of a goal with a reverse hit from the top of the circle. He struck again in the 34th minute with forward S.V. Sunil’s assist from the baseline. In the 40th minute, skipper Manpreet Singh set up a goal for Akashdeep, who timed his run to perfection to receive the pass and deflect it past Alexander. In the 42nd, Sunil appealed for a video referral that saw India win its first penalty-corner. Drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh made no mistake with a brilliant effort, picking up the ball from Sardar and sending it into the top corner of the post.

Yuki Bhambri loses doubles quarterinals

Heena, India’s highestranked women’s 10m air-pistol shooter, at an interaction with the media here on Thursday. Asked if the women shooters were likely to get a kick out of outscoring their male partners in a competition where joint scores are taken into consideration, Heena said: “There is no question of getting a kick out of bettering the male partner. It is about performing as a team; it is useful if both shooters are of a certain level. If the woman is shooting high scores and the man’s scores are low, that can be a problem.” When asked if their success at Azerbaijan was the outcome of the rapport she had built with Rai during training and tournaments, Heena said: “Jitu is a silent

Heena Sidhu

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PTI

person, an introvert by nature. I am familiar with his shooting, but not so familiar [with him] at a personal level. We may have to train together more frequently to build on the results so far.” Both have different coaches — Heena trains under her husband Ronak Pan-

dit, while Jitu works with national pistol coach Pavel Smirnov. Heena also spoke of how the sport is changing with the times. “Shooting is no longer a silent sport where participants compete in isolation. Music was played at the range during the Rio Games. Now the ‘hit or miss’ format has come in to make it easier for fans to follow scoring,” she said, and even chipped in with her own suggestions for promoting the sport. “I feel if the competition is shifted from the early morning slot to sometime later in the day coinciding with office lunch breaks, the number of fans coming to the range or watching on TV can increase. Every sport needs the numbers to survive,” she said.

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CM YK

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