DELHI, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014
Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49940 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 4 No. 36 CITY EDITION 18 Pages Rs. 8.00 www.thehindu.in
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• •
World Olympic
body lifts IOA ban
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The International
Olympic Committee (IOC)
lifted the suspension of the In-
dian Olympic Association af-
ter an ad-hoc meeting of its
Executive Board in Sochi on
Tuesday.
The decision was made on
the basis of a report from the
IOC delegation, headed by its
member Robin Mitchell,
which attended the Annual
General Meeting of the IOA
and witnessed the election on
Sunday.
Positive report
Flying straight to Russia
from Delhi, the IOC delega-
tion gave a positive report,
saying the election was held as
per the revised IOA Constitu-
tion.
It complied with all IOC re-
quirements, including the one
that bans ''charge-framed''
persons from the contest.
The IOC noted in a state-
Kejriwal fires salvo against Moily, Mukesh Penguin withdraws book on Hinduism
Sowmiya Ashok
NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minis-
ter Arvind Kejriwal on Tues-
day ordered the filing of an
FIR against Union Petroleum
Minister M. Veerappa Moily,
former Minister Murli Deora,
Reliance Industries Ltd.
(RIL) chairman Mukesh Am-
bani and former Director
General of Hydrocarbons
V.K. Sibal for alleged collu-
sion in fixing natural gas price
through hoarding in the KG
basin D-6 block.
Acting on a 100-page “com-
mon complaint” by former
Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Sub-
ramanian, former Navy Chief
Admiral R.H. Tahiliani, Su-
preme Court lawyer Kamini
Jaiswal and former Expendi-
ture Secretary E.A.S. Sarma,
the Chief Minister instructed
CM
YK
Now the Indian
contingent can sport
the Tricolour at the
closing ceremony of
Sochi Winter Olympics
ment that it was for the first
time in the history of the
Olympic Games that the sus-
pension of a national Olympic
committee was being lifted
during the Olympics.
To symbolically mark In-
dia’s re-entry into the IOC and
in token of recognition of the
three Indian athletes compet-
ing in the Winter Olympics in
Sochi — including luger Shiva
Keshavan in his fifth Olympics
— it was announced that the
Indian flag would be raised at
the Olympic Village.
The Indian contingent,
which marched with the
Olympic flag during the open-
ing ceremony, would be able
to sport the Tricolour at the
closing ceremony.
Arvind Kejriwal
the government’s Anti-Cor-
ruption Branch to probe the
matter under relevant provi-
sions of the Prevention of
Corruption Act.
The move drew an immedi-
ate response from Mr. Moily,
who said the Chief Minister
did not know how the govern-
ment functions and that fix-
● ●
BLASTS IN
PAK. CINEMA
PAGE 13
Congress expels 6 Seemandhra MPs
Fate of Telangana Bill hinges on Prime Minister’s meet with BJP leaders today
New Delhi &
Hyderabad Bureaus
NEW DELHI: After days of nego-
tiations with the BJP that had
made an orderly House a con-
dition for its support to the
Telangana Bill, the Congress
leadership on Tuesday finally
acted to expel six of its Lok
Sabha MPs from the See-
mandhra region who had giv-
en notice for a no-confidence
motion against the govern-
ment, opposing the division of
Andhra Pradesh.
The MPs expelled by Con-
gress president Sonia Gandhi
are Sabbam Hari, G.V. Harsha
Kumar, V. Arun Kumar, L. Ra-
jagopal, R. Sambasiva Rao and
A. Sai Pratap.
Congress general secretary
Ajay Maken said the move was
another step towards the cre-
ation of Telangana, to which
the party was committed.
But UPA managers still face
ing of prices of petroleum
products was done on expert
advice. Describing the deci-
sion as shocking, RIL said the
complaint and each of the al-
legations on the basis of
which the government had
taken action were “complete-
ly baseless and devoid of any
merit or substance
whatsoever.”
The allegations include in-
flating gas prices much above
the cost of production and
keeping production much be-
low the capacity to seek up-
ward revision.
Quoting the complaint, Mr.
Kejriwal also questioned the
need to fix gas prices in U.S.
dollars when the entire pro-
duction was being consumed
internally.
The complaint alleges that
gas prices in the country
NO COMPROMISE: An MP from Seemandhra holds up
a placard in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday
demanding a united Andhra Pradesh. — PHOTO: PTI
the uphill task of keeping or-
der in both Houses, paralysed
since last Wednesday over Te-
langana. There are 25 Lok
Sabha MPs from the See-
would double from April 1 to
$8.4 (Rs.524.20) per mbtu as
against the current $4.2
(Rs.262.25) per mbtu because
of the alleged collusion be-
tween RIL and UPA-II gov-
ernment servants.
“With their complaint they
have attached a cost sheet
that shows that the cost to
extract gas from the basin is
less than $1 per mbtu,” he
said.
The complaint states that a
letter by the RIL to DGH giv-
ing its cost calculations
showed the cost of production
is less than $1 per mbtu.
“When the contract was
signed between RIL and
NTPC, it was to supply gas for
its power plants at $2.34 per
mbtu for 17 years. But they
allegedly colluded with some
Ministers and raised this to
$4.2,” said Mr. Kejriwal.
The Chief Minister ques-
tioned the prevailing gas pric-
ing regime, arguing that while
RIL has hiked prices, “its
partner NIKO Resources has
a 25-year contract with the
Bangladesh government to
supply gas at $2.34 mbtu.”
He said hiking the price of
natural gas would have a “cas-
cading effect” on the
economy.
Nancy Powell may
meet Modi tomorrow
Sandeep Dikshit
NEW DELHI: U.S. Ambassador to
India Nancy Powell will meet
Gujarat Chief Minister Na-
rendra Modi, most likely on
Thursday in Gandhinagar,
the U.S. Embassy and govern-
ment sources said here on
Tuesday.
The U.S. Ambassador is
among the depleting number
of Western envoys to have
shunned Mr. Modi although
he has gained prominence in
the Bharatiya Janata Party,
which declared him its prime
ministerial candidate for the
coming general election. The
U.S. justified Ms. Powell’s re-
quest for a meeting with Mr.
Modi, saying it is part of
Washington’s “concerted ou-
Probe into Tania
case goes to CBI
Shubhomoy Sikdar
& Nirnimesh Kumar
NEW DELHI: The case of murder
of Arunachal Pradesh stu-
dent Nido Tania at a South
Delhi market on January 29
was transferred on Tuesday
to the Central Bureau of In-
vestigation for further probe,
● ● ● ●
TRADE DEFICIT
NEARLY HALVES
PAGE 14
mandhra region —18 from
Congress (including the six
expelled members), three
from YSR Congress and four
from TDP.
Anita Joshua
NEW DELHI: Penguin India has
agreed to withdraw American
Indologist Wendy Doniger’s
book The Hindus: An Alterna-
tive History from the Indian
market following an out-of-
court settlement with Delhi-
based complainants, who had
moved the court alleging “dis-
tortion” aimed at “denigrating
Hindu traditions.”
While a scanned copy of the
settlement was circulating on
the Internet since morning,
Penguin India remained non-
committal. “We have nothing
to say,” was the official line
with senior members of the
publishing house refusing to
confirm or deny the veracity of
the document.
Ms. Doniger said she was
“deeply troubled by what it
foretells for free speech in In-
dia in the present, and steadily
worsening, political climate.”
However, she was full of
praise for Penguin’s efforts to
save the book. “Penguin India
took this book knowing that it
would stir anger in the Hindut-
va ranks, and they defended it
in the courts for four years,
both as a civil and as a criminal
suit.”
The publisher, she said, was
finally defeated by the “true vil-
treach” to senior political and
business leaders that began
last November.
“We can confirm the ap-
pointment,” U.S. Embassy
sources here said.
The U.S. has shied away
from any high-profile public
contact with Mr. Modi al-
though senior embassy offi-
cials, such as former Political
Counsellor Uzra Zeya and a
senior U.S. State Department
official, have visited Gujarat.
While the European Union
was the first in the Western
bloc to end the deliberate iso-
lation of Mr. Modi ever since
the 2002 Gujarat riots, the
Gujarat Chief Minister has
been feted by other countries,
including China, which host-
ed the Gujarat leader.
soon after the victim’s par-
ents met Union Home Minis-
ter Sushilkumar Shinde and
Congress vice-president Ra-
hul Gandhi.
A CBI spokesperson said
the agency was yet to receive
a formal communication
from the Home Ministry.
Details on Page 3
● ●
A clearer picture on the
Bill’s fate may emerge after
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh’s dinner meeting on
Wednesday with top BJP
leaders L.K. Advani, Sushma
Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.
BJP demand
The BJP wants the Bill to
include provisions to address
Seemandhra concerns, and
the UPA needs the main Op-
position party’s support to
pass it.
In a statement, the Leader
of the Opposition in the Rajya
Sabha Arun criticised the UPA
for not taking sufficient steps
to reconcile the creation of
Telangana with Seemandhra.
Effectively just six days
were left of the current ses-
sion, he said, but the Telanga-
na Bill had not even been
introduced.
Declaring “a lurking suspi-
cion that the UPA is prolong-
lain of this piece – the Indian
law that makes it a criminal
rather than civil offence to pub-
lish a book that offends any
Hindu, a law that jeopardises
IPL AUCTION
TODAY
PAGE 17
ing the issue,” he wondered if
its intention was to render the
issue infructuous in the pre-
sent session. Congress hopes
that the expulsions would so-
ber down Telangana oppo-
nents in the party including
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minis-
ter N. Kiran Kumar Reddy ap-
peared premature.
Ananta Venkatrami Reddy,
among the 12 remaining Con-
gress MPs from Seemandhra,
told journalists, “We will see
that the bill is defeated.”
Defiant
The expelled MPs too re-
mained defiant. “Expulsion is
not going to demoralise us. We
are now emboldened to take
our fight inside the House,”
said Mr. Rajagopal.
Congress sources told The
Hindu they did not expect the
leadership to act against And-
hra Pradesh Chief Minister
Kiran Kumar Reddy.
the physical safety of any pub-
lisher, no matter how ludicrous
the accusation brought against
a book.”
As word got around, Penguin
Core group
went by
official advice
Smita Gupta
NEW DELHI: The Congress
changed its mind about
introducing the Telangana
Bill first in the Rajya
Sabha, after it was advised
that it may be a ‘Category
A’ Financial Bill, one that
has to be taken up in the
Lower House first.
Initially, the government
had planned to bring it in
the Rajya Sabha on
Tuesday. The idea was
that in case it was unable
to push it through, the Bill
would be alive till the next
Parliament, unlike in the
Lok Sabha where a Bill
lapses. But it was decided
to take it off the list of
business after the Rajya
Sabha Secretariat sent a
query to the Law Ministry
on the category of the Bill
and the constitutionality
of introducing it in the
Upper House first.
India came in for flak. Describ-
ing the decision as “atrocious,”
Union Minister Jairam Ra-
mesh said: “The book is not
blasphemous. She is a scholar
without any political agenda.
The organisation that demand-
ed Penguin take such action is
clearly some Taliban-type out-
fit. It is distorting and destroy-
ing our liberal traditions.”
Swapan Dasgupta, who de-
scribes himself as “politically
conservative,” tweeted: “Very
uneasy about Penguin decision
on Wendy Doniger book. Ideas
& academic studies however
contentious cannot be handled
by censorship.” In its 2011 case,
Shiksha Bachao Andolan Com-
mittee said the book intended
to defame Hindus. As per the
February 4 settlement posted
on social media by SBAC, Pen-
guin India has agreed to that
the book is “completely with-
drawn/cleared from the Bharat
(Indian territory) at the earli-
est and within a period not ex-
ceeding six months.”
Penguin India has also given
an undertaking that it “re-
spects all religions worldwide.”
It has got an assurance that all
civil and criminal cases/com-
plaints would be withdrawn.
Article on Edit Page
ND-ND
 NOIDA/DELHI

2 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014

CITY
Shokeen pulls out of AAP Govt. CM invites officers from other States to join ACB ‘Not enough Muslim police officers in U.P.’
Independent MLA Rambir Shokeen formally With the Delhi Govt. hinting at more cases being registered in According to a data, only 2 per cent of sub-inspectors,
pulled out his support of the Arvind Kejriwal-led the near future, CM Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday that his 3 per cent of head constables and 4 per cent of
Delhi Government on Tuesday: Page 4 government will create more posts in ACB: Page 4 constables in the U.P. Police are Muslims: Page 5

A cultural extravaganza to A glimpse into

Polish literature
celebrate Chinese New Year
Aimed to strengthen cooperation between the two nations
Madhur Tankha

National Book Trust di-

Madhur Tankha
NEW DELHI: To celebrate the
Chinese New Year in India, a
17-member group from the
Guangxi Acrobatic Troupe is
presenting a cultural extrava-
ganza at the Siri Fort Audi-
torium here on Thursday.
Organised by the Embassy
of China in association with
the India China Economic
and Cultural Council, the
event is open to the public on
a first come, first served basis.
According to the Chinese
Embassy Counsellor (Cultur-
al) Zhang Zhihong, the event
is basically aimed at strength-
ening bilateral cultural coop-
eration between the two
nations.
“As 2014 is the year of
friendly exchanges between
China and India, we are en-
couraging people-to-people
contact between the two na-
tions. We want to showcase
our rich cultural heritage and
traditions with the Indian
public. This is the Year of the
Horse in accordance with the
traditional Chinese lunar
New Year calendar. Accord-
ing to Chinese cultural ex-
perts, the horse assumes
special significance. It stands
for good qualities like hard
work, strength, success and
courage,” he told The Hindu.
The Guangxi Acrobatic Troupe during a
performance. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Zhu Chuang Wei vice-pres-
ident of Guangxi Acrobatic
Troupe said: “We want to
showcase the best of Chinese
tradition. We have been prac-
tising to Indian music.But the
presentation will be totally
authentic.
Set up in July 1952, the
Guangxi Acrobatic Troupe
has been improvising by
learning through national and
international programmes. It
has been assimilating whatev-
er it has learnt from various
artistes but has evolved a
unique artistic style of per-
formance of its own.
rector M.A. Sikandar
wants to make the up-
coming World Book
Fair-2014 a platform to
give bibliophiles access to
books of all genres. Most
importantly, he wants to
use the Fair to cement
ties with Poland, which
has been designated as
the guest of honour coun-
try.
Noting that historically
Poland shares a special
relationship with India,
Dr. Sikandar, an academic
administrator at Delhi
University, said during
the World War II, perse-
cuted Polish people took
refuge with the Maharaja
of the erstwhile princely
State of Nawanagar in
Gujarat.
“The then
Jam Sahib Dig-
vijay Singhji al-
so extended
hospitality to a
large number
of Polish or-
phans deport-
ed from
Siberia. These children
lived in camps in different
parts of Western India.
Since then Polish people
have developed a special
fondness for Indians . It is
heartening to know that
there are Hindi and San-
skrit litterateurs in
Warsaw.”
M.A. Sikandar
Chopin to Hindi. The Hin-
di translation of Michal
Rusinek’s children book
would be launched at the
Fair.”
The Fair, which inter-
estingly coincides with the
60th anniversary of Indo-
Polish diplomat-
ic relationship,
will see Polish
writers, schol-
ars, critics, illus-
trators and
leading publish-
ers.
The guest
country will also
display a range of books
penned by authors from
diverse fields.
The nine-day long Fair
begins on February 15. As
this year’s theme is “Kath-
asagara: Celebrating Chil-
dren’s Literature”, the fair
will showcase diversity of
children’s literature, its

CINEMA
LONE SURVIVOR (New Release):
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Parineeti Chopra, Adah Sharma,
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Prashant Vihar, EDM, Mahagun,
Opulent), M2K (Rohini, Pitampura),.
BABLOO HAPPY HAI (New
Release - Sahil Anand, Parvin
Dabas, Erica Fernandes): DT
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“Undoubtedly, the
most well known of Pol-
ish composers is Frederic
Chopin, whose music
transcended geographical
boundaries. To introduce
Chopin to Indian readers,
the NBT has translated
Polish comics of Little
multicultural and multi-
lingual ethos and the rich
traditions of Indian
storytelling.
Organised by the NBT,
in collaboration with the
India Trade Promotion
Organisation, the Fair will
be held at Pragati Maidan.

FOR JOB LISTINGS & ARTICLES, VISIT www.thehindu.com/jobs

Banking sector may create up

to 20 lakh new jobs: Experts

T
he banking sector may create up to 20 lakh new jobs in the next
five to 10 years, helped by issuance of new licences and efforts
being made by the RBI and the government to expand financial
services to rural areas, experts say. The hiring trends may get a
further boost from the public sector banks, as many of them would
need to hire fresh talent in the wake of nearly half of their
workforce scheduled to retire in the next few years.
According to HR services major Randstad India, banking sector
will generate seven to 10 lakh jobs in the coming decade and the
sector would be among top job creators in 2014.
According to Randstad, public sector banks could account for a
bulk of hiring and could see five to seven lakh new jobs being
created in the coming years, as close to 50 per cent of their
workforce in the lower and middle-level functions will retire in
this period. “With the new banking licences, which are likely to be
issued in the first half of 2014, the banking sector is poised to
create big career opportunities in the near future,” Randstad India
& Sri Lanka CEO Moorthy K Uppaluri said.
Enthused further by the government’s financial inclusion plans
to expand banking to rural areas, Mr. Uppaluri said: “With only
less than 30 per cent of the Indian population having access to
bank accounts, top banking firms are looking to expand and ven-
ture into the untapped rural markets that have so much potential
to boost growth and profitability.”
PTI

CM ND-ND
NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014 CITY 3

DELHI TODAY
Feb RISE 07 02 Feb RISE 07 01 Feb RISE 07 01

12 SET 18 09
RISE 16 03 13 SET 18 10
RISE 16 55 14 SET 18 11
RISE 17 47
WED SET 04 55 THU SET 05 36 FRI SET 06 13

High Court for Northeast quota in Delhi police Manipuri youth

stabbed, robbed
Special Correspondent personnel on deputation to forces units in policing, he only mechanism to increase Capital.
the city police to address im- said a procedure has to be their presence in it. Tania was brutally
1 held for Ambedkar NEW DELHI: While the Delhi mediate their security followed for this. Pulling up the investigat- thrashed by some shop- Staff Reporter officer said.
High Court on Tuesday di- concerns. Counsel for an organisa- ing agency for not recording keepers when he retaliated The victim was taken to the
Nagar attack rected the Centre to consid- tion of the Northeast people the statements of the victim on being mocked about his NEW DELHI: A 22-year-old Ma- nearby Saket City Hospital
NEW DELHI: Ritesh alias er giving 10 per cent Probe agency slammed submitted that as people and his family members in a hairstyle in Lajpat Nagar nipuri youth was attacked al- around 4 a.m. He had stab
Anda, an 18-year-old reservation to people from When the Bench asked from this region were not in- proper manner, the Bench market in South Delhi. legedly by a group of wound in the lower chest area
arrested in connection the Northeast in the Delhi Mr. Luthra why the Centre terested in joining the city directed it find out the root The police have registered unidentified men who stabbed that extended till the abdo-
with the assault on two Police, the latter informed did not deploy people from police on deputation, their causes of racist attacks on a murder case in connection him and robbed him of his mo- men, according to hospital au-
Manipuri youth in the Court that it was setting the Northeast in its armed direct recruitment was the the Northeast people in the with the same. bile phone in South Delhi’s thorities.
Ambedkar Nagar earlier up a special unit for the se- Mehrauli in the early hours of The patient had to undergo
this week, was produced curity of migrants from this Tuesday. No arrests have been emergency abdominal surgery
before a court here which region in the Capital. made, but the police have and is reported to be out of
sent him to judicial
custody. Besides Ritesh,
two juveniles have also
Request
Additional Solicitor-Gen-
Probe in Tania murder case transferred to CBI ruled out the possibility of the
incident being a hate crime.
According to the police, 22-
danger. His vital parameters
are stable and he continues to
be under intensive care
been apprehended. eral Siddharth Luthra gave Shubhomoy Sikdar Shinde and Congress to protect him. They also for the delay in his arrest, a year-old Ksupsikren has not monitoring.
Ginkhansuan Naulak and this information to a Divi- & Nirnimesh Kumar vice-president Rahul accused Delhi residents of senior Delhi Police officer told them anything about be- A case under relevant sec-
his cousin Vunsuanmung sion Bench of Justice N.V. Gandhi. racial prejudices and an said he was identified with ing subjected to racist com- tions of the Indian Penal Code
Naulak were having Ramana and Justice Rajiv NEW DELHI: The case of A CBI spokesperson inhospitable attitude to the the help of Nido’s friend, an ments. has been registered at the
alcohol when the two Sahai Endlaw while making murder of Arunachal said the agency was yet to people from the region. eyewitness in the case. Ksupsikren was returning Mehrauli police station. A doz-
groups entered into an submission on a suo motu Pradesh student Nido receive a formal On Monday night, the On February 3, the police home from office when the in- en suspects have been picked
argument, which led to the petition on the murder of Tania at a South Delhi communication from the Delhi Police arrested Sunny had arrested Pawan, cident took place. A group of up for questioning and raids
assault. It is learnt that Nido Tania, son of an Aru- market on January 29 Home Ministry. Uppal, 37, at Lajpat Nagar, Sunder and Farman. Two men surrounded him when he are being conducted at some
Ritesh also passed a racial nachal MLA, last month. was transferred on The death of the making him the fourth minors who also allegedly reached near his house in Pa- locations. Four juveniles have
slur against them. Ritesh Mr. Luthra stated that the Tuesday to the Central teenager, son of a person to be arrested in the assaulted Nido have been ryavaran Vihar here. “They as- also been apprehended.
and the two juveniles then Delhi Police were trying to Bureau of Investigation Congress MLA, evoked case. On Tuesday, he was apprehended. saulted him and stabbed him The incident comes two
beat up the cousins. recruit people from the for further probe, soon angry reactions from produced before a court, With Sunny’s arrest, the in the stomach. After that they days after two young men
“They were pinned to the Northeast, but in the mean- after the victim’s parents Northeastern residents of which remanded him in police have now arrested all took his mobile phone and fled from Manipur were attacked
ground, and slapped and time had requested the met Union Home the Capital, who alleged judicial custody for 14 days. the six suspects they had the spot. A passerby spotted with rods and sticks by a group
beaten up mercilessly with armed forces units of the Minister Sushilkumar that the police had failed Asked about the reasons zeroed in on. Ksupsikren and called up the in South-East Delhi’s Ambed-
sticks,” said a relative of Centre to send Northeast police control room,” a police kar Nagar.
victims.
The accused, who were
not known to the victims,
were identified with the
help of locals and
Biker hit by vehicle in Gang involved in 300 cases of
shopkeepers.
— Staff Reporter Kejriwal’s cavalcade snatching, robbery smashed
Staff Reporter ple in the vicinity came to my
Hoax call has airport rescue instead,” said Mr. Zaidi, Staff Reporter off on February 5 that two in order to dodge police sur-
NEW DELHI: A biker was hit al- who sustained mild injures in gang members would come veillance and prevent identifi-
security in a tizzy legedly by one of the tail cars the incident. NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police near a nursing home in Shah- cation. Salman’s driving skills,
NEW DELHI: Security in the cavalcade of Delhi Chief He later called up the police Crime Branch claims to have dara. Arrested on arrival, they good knowledge of the geogra-
personnel manning the Minister Arvind Kejriwal out- control room to register his smashed an alleged gang of were identified as Samir Khan phy of the Capital and the ar-
Indira Gandhi side the Secretariat on Tues- complaint. The PCR van took snatchers involved in more (34) and Mohammad Salman eas around it also helped.
International Airport on day. him to the hospital for treat- than 300 cases of daylight (24). “The gang members would
Tuesday went into panic ment. robberies and snatching with During interrogation it was consume drugs before going
mode following a hoax call Vehicle sped away the arrest of two gang mem- purportedly disclosed that Sa- on a crime spree. They also did
about a possible attack on Kashif Zaidi alleged that he Government responds bers, including the leader. mir was the gang leader and not hesitate to fire at their vic-
the airport. was knocked down by an In- A Delhi government spo- Additional Commissioner involved in more than 30 cases tims or the police in the face of
The caller had not been nova car in Mr. Kejriwal’s cav- kesperson said: “If one of the of Police (Crime) Ravindra of murder, robbery, snatch- the slightest of resistance,”
identified till late on alcade and the security security vehicles indeed hit a Yadav said the bike-borne ing, attempt to murder, extor- Mr. Yadav added.
Tuesday night and the personnel occupying the vehi- biker, it should have stopped gang members even opened tion and assault on policemen. Investigations are on to
location of the call had not cle sped away instead of help- and taken care of the victim. fired at the victims and the It is also alleged that the gang capture other accomplices.
been traced either. ing him. The Chief Minister has never police in some instances. members used new motorcy- More arrests are likely to be
The call was received “First of all, the cavalcade asked for se- The police received a tip- cles every two-three months made, the police said.
around 4.15 p.m. on a was coming from the wrong curity. They
landline phone installed at side. I was hit by an Innova car are providing
the counter of a private behind the Chief Minister’s it on their
airlines at Terminal 3. Wagon-R. The impact own. But de-
A senior police officer said smashed my bike badly. One spite that,
since the caller had not said of the side mirrors of the car they should
anything about the nature also broke and fell on the road. have stopped
of the attack, the Central But the car drove away as if and helped to
Industrial Security Force nothing had happened. Peo- the victim.”
and Delhi Police ran a
massive campaign as a
precautionary measure.
They also employed the
services the bomb squad,
dog squad and Quick
Reaction Teams.
“We did not find anything
during the search, which
lasted over an hour,” said
the officer. No prior
intelligence received about
such an attack was
provided, said a CISF
officer. — Staff Reporter

Newspaper union
leader passes away
NEW DELHI: All-India
Newspaper Employees
Federation general
secretary Madan Talwar
breathed his last here on
Tuesday, the Delhi Union
of Journalists (DUJ) said.
Mr. Talwar was also the
former DUJ secretary, it
said in a statement.
— IANS

IN THE CAPITAL TODAY

● GENERAL
Alcoholics Anonymous:
Meetings — Aakarshan
Group:Paschim Vihar, Delhi
Govertment dispensary GA2
Block, opposite Radha Krishna
Temple; Living Sober Group:
Rohini Sector-13, Delhi Govt.
dispensary, near Bhagwati
Hospital; Saayam Ek Kadam
Group: 68 Khyber Pass Civil
Lines; Prashanti Group: Lord
Mahavir School, Sector-29,
adjacent to Bhramaputra
Shopping Complex; Aajaz Group:
Welcome Seelampur, Delhi Govt.
dispensary, Janata Flat; A.A. Ujala
Group: Masihgarh Church,
Sukhdev Vihar, near Escorts
Heart Institute; A.A. Steps To
Sobriety Group: Arya Samaj
Mandir, near South Delhi Club,
Greater Kailash-I; and Muktidaan
Group: St. Marks Church, Punjabi
Bagh West, 7 p.m.

Disclaimer: Readers are requested to verify &

make appropriate enquiries to satisfy
themselves about the veracity of an adver-
tisement before responding to any published in
this newspaper. Kasturi & Sons Limited, the
Publisher & Owner of this newspaper, does not
vouch for the authenticity of any advertisement
or advertiser or for any of the advertiser’s pro-
ducts and/or services. In no event can the
Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Director/s,
Employees of this newspaper/company be held
responsible/liable in any manner whatsoever for
any claims and/or damages for advertisements
in this newspaper.

Published by N. Ram at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Limited, B-2, Sector 63, Noida, Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P., on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor-in-Chief: N. Ravi (Editor responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).

CM ND-ND
YK
 NOIDA/DELHI

4 CITY/STATE THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014

BRIEFLY
Pleasant weather
Delhi CM invites officers Shokeen
pulls out of
from other States to
in the Capital
NEW DELHI: It was a pleasant
Tuesday in the Capital with
AAP Govt.
clear skies. The maximum

join anti-corruption unit

temperature was recorded
two notches below the
season’s average at 21.6
degrees Celsius. The
weatherman has forecast
similar conditions for
Wednesday.
“The sky will remain clear
on Wednesday but shallow
fog is expected in the
morning,” a Met
Department official said.
Wednesday’s maximum
and minimum
temperatures are expected
to be around 21 and 5
degrees Celsius
respectively. – PTI
Court grants bail to
Delhi Police officer
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on
Tuesday granted
anticipatory bail to a Delhi
Police officer accused of
raping and making a video
clip of a woman.
Following the order of
Additional Chief
Metropolitan Magistrate
Tarun Yogesh, the police
had lodged a First
Information Report last
week against ASI Varun
Jha on charges of raping
and criminally
intimidating the woman.
Additional Sessions Judge
Rajeev Bansal allowed the
anticipatory bail plea of
Jha and directed him to
furnish a personal bond of
Rs.50,000 with one surety
of like amount.
– IANS
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI: With the Delhi Gov-
ernment hinting at more cases
being registered in the near fu-
ture, Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal said on Tuesday his
government would create
more posts in its Anti-Corrup-
tion Branch. Mr. Kejriwal also
appealed to “good police offi-
cers” from across the country
to come and join the ACB.
“In the coming days we will
create more posts in the ACB. I
will also appeal to the Lieuten-
ant-Governor, who has always
been supportive to provide us
with more officers,” Mr. Kej-
riwal said after directing the
ACB to initiate criminal pro-
ceedings against top politic-
ians and head of Reliance
Industries Mukesh Ambani on
Tuesday.
“Good police officers who
want to join the team can write
to us. I will speak to their State
Government and try to bring
them to Delhi,” he said, adding:
“I have also asked for officers
from the Central Board of Di-
rect Taxes since many of the
offences are related to revenue
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at Delhi Secretariat and economic crimes. I hope
in New Delhi on Tuesday. the officers will be relieved
PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR soon and they can join us.”
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI: Independent MLA Ram-
bir Shokeen formally pulled out of
the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi Gov-
ernment on Tuesday. He met Delhi
Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung
and conveyed his decision to with-
draw support.
The legislator from Mundka had
gone to meet the L-G on Monday but
could not as the latter was busy in a
meeting.
Minority Govt.
The withdrawal of support by Mr.
Shokeen has reduced the Kejriwal
Government to a minority. As of
now, the ruling party has 27 MLAs
after expulsion of Vinod Kumar Bin-
ny. With the Congress’ eight and JD
(U)’s one MLA, the AAP is left with
36 legislators, out of which one MLA
became the Speaker of the Delhi As-
sembly, thus bringing the number to
35 – one short of a simple majority.
In case of a tie during trust vote,
the Speaker who is an AAP legisla-
tor, can bridge the gap through his
vote but cannot vote in normal
circumstances.
Mr. Shokeen told the media that
he withdrew the support because
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had
made several promises to solve pow-
er and water problems in Delhi, but
even after over a month of being in
power, he “failed” to address the
issues.
Before him, Laxmi Nagar MLA Vi-
nod Kumar Binny had withdrawn
support alleging that the AAP Gov-
ernment “went back” on its prom-
ises to the people of Delhi.

Pranab gets Rotary’s

highest honour
NEW DELHI: President
Pranab Mukherjee on
Tuesday got Rotary’s
highest award for his
leadership in the country’s
victory over polio.
The Award of Honour was
presented by Ron Burton,
President of Rotary
International, at
Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
The award is in recognition
for heads of countries or
governments who have
rendered unique service to
the humanity and served
the country and its people
upholding values reflected
in the Rotary’s motto
‘Service Above Self’.
JNU to delink B.A.–M.A. combine
Vijetha S.N union was not functioning (students’ by the administration is that they only
union was banned in the university for want to encourage “serious” students to
NEW DELHI: Jawaharlal Nehru University, about four years),” said JNUSU president take this course. By making the students
probably the only one in the city to offer Akbar Chawdhary, adding that a student take another entrance and by lowering
an undergraduate and postgraduate referendum had been carried out where the chances of B.A. students from JNU
combine in its School of Languages, 80 per cent of the students said they taking the course, the administration is
released its prospectus this year, stating didn’t want the programme to be making enrolments to go down, which is
that the combine would no longer be delinked. bad for a public-funded institution,” said
available. The students’ union, which “There is an entrance to get into the Akbar, adding that there was no plausible
alleged that the decision was taken on the B.A. course and the course even accepts explanation for such a step.
sly and to slowly obliterate the admission into its second year, but with “We later met the Vice-Chancellor and
programme, is threatening to carry out a an entrance exam. Then, for students who he even agreed with us and we got to
large-scale agitation for reversion of the have a B.A. from elsewhere and want to know that members in the Academic
programme. join the programme at the M.A. level, Council also agreed with our reasoning.
“The first few prints of the prospectus there is another exam. So we already have The AC sent it back to the Board of
say that the B.A. and M.A. combine will no three entry points for the course. Now, Studies and the next thing we know is this
longer be available from this year they want to delink the programme and printed prospectus announcing the
onwards. The actual decision to delink the make students who have already taken delinking,” he added.
programme was taken in 2011 at an the entrance exam for the course to enter The students plan to start their
Academic Council meeting when the the M.A. programme. The reasoning given agitation on Wednesday.

Irregularities found
at DDU hospital
NEW DELHI: Various
irregularities including
lack of maintenance of
various machines and
non-maintenance of
procurement register
among others have been
noticed in an internal audit
conducted at the Delhi
Government-run Deen
Dayal Upadhyay Hospital
here.
It also found that the
hospital administration
was allegedly purchasing
extra instruments for use
in its operation theatre.
The audit, which was
conducted by the Delhi
Government, found that
many machines and
medical devices were lying
non-functional due to the
lack of maintenance.
– PTI
Disabilities Bill diluted, say activists
“Militates against basic tenets of UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities”
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI: The Society for Dis-
ability and Rehabilitation Stud-
ies has welcomed the
government’s move to pass the
Rights of Persons with Disabil-
ities Bill, 2014. The Society said
that any legislation is better than
no legislation, referring to some
activists saying that the Bill is
highly diluted.
“The tabling of the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities Bill,
2014, on the floor of the Upper
House (Rajya Sabha) of Parlia-
ment is a historic and laudable
initiative, demonstrating abiding
interest and unflinching com-
mitment on the part of the Cen-
tral Government,” said the
Society’s president, G.N Karna.
He added: “However, the fact
is that the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities Bill is the diluted ver-
sion of the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities Bill, 2011, drafted by
the Dr. Sudha Kaul Committee
and also the draft Bill released by
the Department of Disability Af-
fairs/Ministry of Social Justice &
Empowerment/Govt. of India on
its website in December 2012.”
Dr. Karna said the current Bill,
as approved by the Union Cabi-
net, is not only a diluted version
of the previous draft legislations,
but also “self-defeating from the
standpoint of empowering the
persons with disabilities”.
“Apart from diluting the re-
cent judgment of the Supreme
Court delivered on job-related
issue for the persons with dis-
abilities, the Cabinet-approved
disability legislation militates
against the basic tenets of the
United Nations Convention on
Rights of Persons with Disabil-
ities,” he added.
Dr. Karna also said that as an
expert member of the Dr. Sudha
Kaul Committee he was quite
frustrated at the way things had
turned out.
“If the legislation was to be
drafted by the bureaucrats, then
logically, the Committee should
not have been formed at all.
What was the justification of
spending crores of public money
on conducting the meetings in
various parts of the country and
hiring legal consultants by the
draft committee? The old adage
‘better late than never’ should
not be forgotten. Thus, the need
of the hour is to adopt a cautious
and balanced approach with re-
gard to enacting the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities Bill,
2014,” he said.

Cyber initiatives for DASS cadre employees

developing nations demand implementation
Staff Reporter viding advisory support to a
of pay commission
number of existing Broad-
NEW DELHI: With the increase band and South-South pro- Staff Reporter Bhardwaj.
in information and commu- grammes. This work will not The union members said they
nication technologies and involve the UN General As- NEW DELHI: Government employ- earlier met Chief Minister Ar-
growing opportunities for re- sembly president John Ashe ees belonging to the Delhi Ad- vind Kejriwal and Chief Secre-
al-time borderless exchange, to implement any policies in ministrative Subordinate tary S.N. Srivastava with their
the United Nations is plan- these or any other areas.” Services (DASS) cadre held a demands.
ning for trans-national glob- demonstration outside the Chief Meanwhile, government offi-
al cooperation in the area of South-South Minister’s office at the Delhi cials said the Chief Minister on
cyber security to ensure safe cooperation Secretariat on Monday, de- Tuesday directed the officials
Internet access for develop- Ambassador Lorenzo has manding enhanced pay-scale as concerned to look into their case
ing and under-developed been advancing the imple- per the Sixth Pay Commission and take necessary action. “The
countries. mentation of the Millennium recommendations and restruc- CM has directed the Chief Secre-
Dr. Vivek Lall, a renowned Development Goals through turing of the cadre for more pro- tary to look into their genuine
aerospace and cyber expert, the sharing of best practices motion avenues. They said they demands and issue orders to
will help to meet security in the area of South-South have been forced to strike work that effect accordingly,” a gov-
challenges across the globe. and triangular cooperation. as both the previous and the in- ernment spokesperson said.
Ambassador Francis Lo- A recent study states that cumbent government had failed The Sixth Pay Commission
renzo, Deputy Permanent threats to cyberspace have to meet their long-pending de- had recommended that the pay
Representative to the UN, in increased dramatically in the mands. scales of the DASS cadres be en-
a statement said: “Dr. Lall’s past year afflicting 431 mil- “Grade-I officers of the DASS hanced to meet the level of the
activities will focus on bring- lion adult victims globally – cadre should be granted non- Central Secretariat staff in 2008
ing global attention to the or 14 adult victims every sec- functional pay scales in accord- (implemented with effect from
importance of Broadband ond, one million cyber crime ance with the section officers of 2006).
services in developing coun- victims every day. Cyber the Union Government. Second- The decision was also ap-
tries around the world and crime has now become a ly, we have been demanding par- proved by the Central Govern-
the cyber security challenges business which exceeds a ity of Grade-II officers of the ment but never notified by the
associated with achieving trillion dollars a year in the DASS cadre with assistant and Delhi Government. Even though
those objectives. His oper- form of online fraud, identity stenographers of the Central the then L-G had ordered that
ational involvement will in- theft, and lost intellectual Secretariat Services,” said Em- pay scales be increased in 2007,
clude the introduction of property, affecting even the ployees’ Welfare Association the decision was later revoked
new initiatives as well as pro- governments of every nation. general secretary Deepak by the Home Ministry in 2010.
CM ND-ND
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NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014
I will ease your burden,
Rahul Gandhi tells porters
Congress vice-president meets porters on Railway Budget eve
K. Balchand
NEW DELHI: Even as Union Rail-
way Minister Mallikarjun
Kharge was busy giving fin-
ishing touches to his maiden
Budget, Congress vice-presi-
dent Rahul Gandhi expressed
solidarity with porters at the
New Delhi railway station on
Tuesday.
Refusing to respond to
questions, the Railway Minis-
ter said he would present the
Vote-on-Account and say ev-
erything in Parliament on
Wednesday. But minutes lat-
er, his party boss met the por-
ters to listen to their
problems.
There are about 40,000
porters in the country and
three lakh track maintainers
along the 64,000 km railway
network.
When he learnt from the
porters that they had no job
guarantee, food security or
right to information, Mr.
Gandhi conceded that they
should get at least minimum
support.
Most of them would have
spent more than 40 years of
Eight held for
running illegal
water tankers
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI: The South-West
district police have busted a
gang allegedly running ille-
gal water tankers. Eight per-
sons have been arrested and
two cases registered.
According to Deputy
Commissioner of Police
(South-West) Suman Goyal,
a team, led by Inspector
K.S.N. Subudhi and Addi-
tional D.C.P Dinesh Kumar
Gupta, was constituted to
check the illegal extraction
of water from agricultural
fields.
Union Health
Secretary
transferred
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The government on
Tuesday transferred Union
Health and Family Welfare
Secretary Keshav Desiraju.
He has been made the Sec-
retary of Consumer Affairs.
Some more senior officers
are likely to be shifted ahead
of the general elections.
Mr. Desiraju, a 1978-batch
IAS officer from Uttarakhand
cadre, was appointed the
Health Secretary exactly a
year ago. He had joined the
Ministry as an Additional
Secretary in 2010, after com-
pleting his tenure as the Chief
Secretary of Uttarakhand.
Wombs for rent in Millennium City
Ashok Kumar
GURGAON: The availability of
potential surrogates and
world-class medical infras-
tructure, coupled with better
connectivity, has fuelled the
growth of commercial surro-
gacy in the Millennium City.
Gurgaon has seen a spurt in
the number of Assisted Re-
productive Technique (ART)
clinics over the past one year
since the first surrogacy
home was set up.
Bindu Garg, who gave Gur-
gaon its first test tube baby in
2003, and is the co-founder of
the Neelkanth Group of Hos-
pitals, said: “There is a sud-
den increase in the number of
surrogacy cases. Earlier, we
had one such case in six
months, now we come across
six cases in a month. The in-
crease can be attributed to in-
crease in infertility due to late
marriages, easy access to
medical facilities and
affordability.”
She added: “The number of
ART clinics in Gurgaon has
increased from just one a year
ago to ten, and many more are
coming up.”
Childless couples from
Australia, the United States,
and European and Arab coun-
tries are coming to India to
fulfil their wish for a child
CM
YK
RAISING ISSUES: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi interacting with porters
at the New Delhi railway station on Tuesday. — PHOTO: PTI
their life in the job, and, in the
event of an injury or any oth-
er setback, they would have
nothing to fall back on, the
porters said.
Mr. Gandhi promised them
that he would include some of
‘Not enough Muslim
police officers in U.P.’
Only 2.31 % of sub-inspectors are Muslims: RTI reply
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI: The Union Home
Ministry has on several occa-
sions advised States to post
senior Muslim officers as
SHOs in areas largely pop-
ulated by the minority com-
munity. But the problem, as
highlighted in Uttar Pradesh
by two recent RTI replies, is
that there are not enough
Muslim policemen.
Muslims, who constitute
over 17 per cent of the total 20
crore population of Uttar
Pradesh, are under-repre-
sented in the State police. Ac-
cording to data released by
the State, only 2 per cent of
sub-inspectors, 3 per cent of
head constables and 4 per
cent of constables in the U.P.
Police are Muslims.
Government response
The facts were released by
the State government in re-
sponse to separate RTI
queries moved by activists
Ashraful Huda and Urvashi
Sharma.
“U.P. civil police employs
236 Muslim sub-inspectors
out of a total of 10,197 (2.31
per cent); 269 Muslim head
constables out of a total of
8,224 (3.27 per cent); and
4,430 Muslim constables out
of a total of 1,01,245 (4.37 per
cent),” the reply said. These
figures represent data till
An increasing number of women are opting for
surrogacy as there is more awareness and social
acceptability. — FILE PHOTO: REUTERS
through surrogacy.
“India is among the few
countries in the world where
commercial surrogacy is le-
gal. Favourable legal environ-
ment and low cost make India
an attractive destination for
childless couples,” said Sand-
eep Talwar, senior consultant
at Bourn Hall Clinic in Sector
40 here.
Mr. Talwar added: “Now,
with India even allowing im-
port of frozen embryos, the
number of queries from for-
eign clients has doubled over
the past two months.”
their demands in the Con-
gress manifesto, besides rais-
ing the issues with the
Railways for redress.
He said he would ensure
basic rights for 70 crore of
those living Below the Pover-
No Muslim inspector
in Allahabad,
Shamli, Baghpat,
and Saharanpur
Inadequate number
of Muslim cops in
“sensitive” districts
like Faizabad
June 3, 2013.
Muslims also remain un-
derrepresented in districts
with a large population of the
minority community, like
Aligarh, Azamgarh, Muzaffar-
nagar and Sambhal.
The data given to Mr. Huda
highlighted that there was no
Muslim inspector as of June
2013 in the districts of Allaha-
bad, Shamli, Baghpat, Saha-
ranpur, Hapur,
Bulandhshahar, Shahjahan-
pur, Badayun, Amroha, Firo-
zadabad, Mau, Fatahpur and
Pratapgarh, among others.
In police stations across
Lucknow district one out of
43 inspectors, 16 out of 501
sub-inspectors and 14 out of
498 head constables are Mus-
lims.
In Aligarh one of 19 inspec-
tors, 13 of 135 sub-tnspectors
and 3 out of 195 head con-
stables belong to the minority
community.
“The situation in Rampur,
the seat of State Minister
The 30-bed Vansh Surro-
gacy Centre, the first surroga-
cy home in the city, handled
20 cases last year. It already
has twelve cases this year.
“We have also received
queries from five foreign cli-
ents this year, including a
Canadian couple,” said the
centre’s director, Bajrang
Singh.
As awareness on the issue
and social acceptability have
increased, it has become easy
to find women who are willing
to become surrogates. “Earli-
er, we had to hunt for poten-
STATE
5
ty Line.
The porters demanded a
wage hike from Rs. 40 to Rs.
100 for carrying 40-kg loads,
jobs for their wards, medical
insurance and housing
quarters.
Azam Khan, is not very differ-
ent. One out of seven inspec-
tors, four out of 134
sub-inspectors and just four
out of 266 head constables
are from the minority com-
munity,” said Mr. Huda.
The situation remains the
same in “sensitive” districts
like Moradabad, Faizabad
and Azamgarh, according to
the RTI reply.
Poor representation
The Sachar Committee re-
port of November 2006 had
also pointed to the poor rep-
resentation of Muslims in
various government services
and recommended posting
Muslim officers to top posi-
tions in police stations as a
way to build confidence
among the population.
The former chairman of
National Commission for Mi-
norities Wajahat Habibullah
had blamed the States for the
poor representation of Mus-
lims in the police.
On the “negligible” repre-
sentation of the Muslim com-
munity, Mr. Huda asserted
that “proper representation
of minority community
members will enable commu-
nity trust and repose confi-
dence in the police and will
simultaneously help the State
administration to take con-
trol of the situation in case of
communal riots”.
tial surrogates through
agents and counsel them for
weeks before they would
agree to it. But now women
are coming on their volition.
We now have a database of 50
such women with all their
medical investigations done.
Also these women are better
informed and need little
counselling,” said Mr. Singh.
Kapashera, on the Delhi-
Gurgaon border, which is
mostly inhabited by automo-
bile and construction work-
ers and daily wage-earners,
has emerged as a hub for po-
tential surrogates in the Na-
tional Capital Region.
“With more and more
women from Kapashera act-
ing as surrogates to support
their families, awareness and
acceptability in the area has
increased. These women now
come on their own to opt for
surrogacy,” said an agent.
Women from well-off fam-
ilies are also coming forward
to act as surrogates. Sujata
(name changed), a graduate
who is now a surrogate, said:
“I was in need of money to set
up a boutique. I got to know
about surrogacy through my
friend and decided to do it.
They are offering me Rs.5
lakh for nine months and I am
also helping a childless cou-
ple. It is win-win situation.”
ND-ND
 NOIDA/DELHI

6 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014

CM ND-ND
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NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014 VARIETY/NORTHERN REGION 7

RELIGION THIS DAY THAT AGE THE HINDU CROSSWORD 11006 Arden
Across
Dealing with senses on February 11. This was the re-
sult of some key employees of the
I.A.C. “reporting sick”. They re-
1 It could be cast or stuck on to rip sofa
out (7,2,5)
9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

CHENNAI: It is popularly held that ing and triumph as hinging on
the goddess of dharma repre-
sented as a celestial cow stands
on four feet in Krita Yuga, three
in Treta Yuga, two in Dwapara
Yuga and one in Kali Yuga.
This implies that there is a
steady decline in moral values
through the passage of time, and
that in Kali Yuga the degrada-
tion is more marked, and that
dharma is easily vulnerable to
corrupt forces. Yet the assault
on dharma has existed even in
the earlier Yugas and is not ex-
ceptional to Kali Yuga alone,
pointed out Sri B. Sundarkumar
in a discourse.
The Puranas and the Itihasas
contain stories of the lives of
great kings, and of heroic and
ideal men and women commit-
ted to dharma who have become
victims of a vicious fate and the
conspiracy of circumstances.
But what triumphs is their no-
bility of character that lends
them superhuman fortitude to
challenge the force of adharma.
Adharma takes root when beings
succumb to their senses. Control
of one’s senses is the key to dis-
ciplined life and fosters moral
fortitude to a large extent.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna
explains the crux of human fail-
ported sick when they came to 10 11
10 Bard in writing (5)
the way one responds to the in- (dated February 12, 1964) know last night (i.e., on February 11 Submission order is on one without
driyas, the senses. The senses 10) that the negotiations between
are integral to living beings and name (9)
Pakistan and riots the I.A.C. Management and the 12 Cleat holding battered boat on wet 12 13
their natural propensity is to- Air Corporation Employees’
wards the sense objects of the land (4,3)
Mr. G.L. Nanda, Home Minis- Union broke down at Delhi.
world. When the mind begins to 13 Worker gets fruit for food (7)
ter, in a statement to the Lok Sab- About 400 passengers had to be 14 15 16 17 18
follow the roving senses, it de- ha, said that in contrast to the sent back from the airport. 14 Place of one’s birth (5)
prives itself of the sense of dis- determined and successful ef- 16 Note, minaret construction will stop
crimination even as a ship is forts on the part of India to put Health programmes (9) 19 20 21
tossed about in the ocean by down the repercussions of the The Union Health Minister, 19 Caught with clinching evidence —
strong winds. The wise and in- riots in East Pakistan, the Gov- Dr. Sushila Nayyar, on February given after one is said to have
telligent understand the conse- ernment of Pakistan failed to 11 called for mobilisation of re- studied it (3-6) 22 23 24 25 26
quences and wide repercussions take its responsibilities seriously. sources and intensifying efforts 20 Vagrant ship (5)
of yielding to the senses indis- On the other hand it made efforts to achieve health programmes. 22 Spain at crossroads over some top
criminately. to shift the blame for the riots on Dr. Nayyar, who was inaugurat- cover (7) 27 28
But by keeping them under India, he said. Mr, Nanda’s state- ing the Third Conference of 25 Capital protection using a watchman
check, one could utilise their ment was with regard to the sa- Health Education in New Delhi, & a guard (7)
powers to turn one’s thoughts lient features of the communal said that while campaigns like 27 Instrument say, to study the heart 29
towards seeking salvation. No- disturbances in the two coun- malaria eradication programmes for example (4,5)
bility of character stems from tries. The text of the oral commu- had given good results, the health 28 He has some faith in the Indian way
sense control as it is in this base nications between the two administration had not come up
that adharma also erupts. Rava- (5) 8 Develop respect for the spirit (7) Solution to puzzle 11005
Governments exchanged to expectations. Forty-six dele- 29 Racketeers harm organisation,
na lost all his powers of penance through their Deputy High Com- gates from all the States and 35 9 Composer’s work in unfinished state
and even pledged his basic noble according to this study (6,8) (6)
missioners after trouble broke observers and representatives Down S F H D B V L C
nature as the king of Lanka when out in East Pakistan was also laid from international agencies are 15 Plenty of weight bearing mineral (9) T O R P E D O I M A G I N E
he became adamant in desiring 2 Criticised but survived without a 17 True minds reform elements (9) O A R M G N F N
on the table of the House. participating in the five-day con-
Sita. Duryodhana became a slave doctor (9) 18 Angelica’s treated for pain relief (9) C Y C L E I M P L E M E N T
ference. Dr. Nayyar said mere K A D N O L R
of his greed and jealousy and did I.A.C. workers report sick production of leaflets and posters 3 Clean and empty bag before grate (5) 19 After food and drink avoid a pulpit (7) A S S A I L A N T S U I T E
not realise how self-destructive The Indian Airlines Corpora- was not sufficient for the promo- 4 Stretched but happy to get active 21 The scheme is a never ending one on D T T U N
it could be. Stitaprajna is one before midnight (9) E N G R A V E B A R G E I N
tion counters at the Santa Cruz tion of health consciousness. The the surface (6) O R L P E
who has the senses under con- airport presented a deserted ap- health educator should seek the 5 Musical did exclude the boy (5) 23 Setter in strange surroundings, not C O L L Y S T A I R C A S E
trol and thereby has fortified pearance as the 12 outgoing ser- people’s acceptance for the ideas. 6 Being a sceptic, the chief of police say, a ruler (5) U F C N I N D
himself against not merely sor- R E C O V E R E D S K I L L
vices operated by Caravelle, Peoples’ co-operation was neces- misses it somehow (9) 24 River cutting off Iowa from country A L I E E I M I
row but also the tendency to Viscount, Fokker Friendship and sary for fighting diseases like tu- 7 Get up around noon for what comes (5) C R U S A D E S A N J U A N
yield to adharma. Dakota aircraft could not take off berculosis, malaria and leprosy. after 3 (5) 26 Opera with Roman characters (5) Y B L N T G S G

Court frames
charges against
Babulal Nagar
SC declines to entertain petition Dabholkar murder probe
shoddy: plea in HC
Congress plans
parallel rally in
Hamirpur
Principal Correspondent

JAIPUR: A court here framed

against inclusion of Jats in OBC list Staff Reporter

MUMBAI: The investigation of

the murder of social activist
The court issues notice
to the CBI
Kanwar Yogendra

SHIMLA: The Himachal Pra-

charges against former Con-
gress MLA and former Minis-
ter Babulal Nagar for rape,
criminal intimidation and
causing hurt.
District and Sessions Judge
V. K. Mathur retained all
charges levelled by the police
against Nagar including rape
(376 IPC), criminal intimida-
tion (506 IPC) and causing
hurt (323IPC).
Nagar, former minister of
Dairy and Khadi in the Ashok
Gehlot-led government, is be-
ing probed by the CBI for al-
legedly raping a 35-year old
woman at his residence in
September last year. Nagar
was arrested by the CBI on
October 25, 16 days after it
took over the investigation
from the Rajasthan CB-CID.
“Cannot prevent Commission from exercising its function”
J. Venkatesan
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court
on Tuesday declined to enter-
tain a writ petition filed by
OBC Reservation Raksha
Samiti to restrain the National
Commission for Backward
Classes from including the Jat
community in the ‘OBC’ list.
‘Premature’
A three-Judge Bench of
Chief Justice P. Sathasivam
Smoke in generator car delays Rajdhani
and Justices Ranjan Gogoi
and Shiva Kirti Singh dismis-
sed the petition observing that
it was premature and court
could not prevent the Com-
mission from exercising its
function.
Senior counsel Guru Krish-
na Kumar, appearing for the
petitioner submitted that the
Union Government took a de-
cision to include the ‘Jat’ com-
munity in OBC list and
referred the same to the BC
Commission, which was to
make its recommendation
shortly for the States of Delhi,
Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
‘Review of earlier
decision’
He said such a recommen-
dation would virtually amount
to review of its earlier decision
in 2010 when it had rejected
such a request of inclusion of
the community in OBC list. He
Staff Reporter
said the Commission had no
such mandate to review its de-
cision. Counsel alleged that it
was being done for political
reasons.
The CJI pointed out that
the Commission could always
take into consideration sub-
sequent developments and
other factors and said “how
can we prevent the Commis-
sion from taking a decision.
Let them take the decision
and we will see.”
Narendra Dabholkar should
be transferred to the CBI as
the Pune police, who are now
at the job, are being super-
vised by officials with vested
interests, a petitioner said in
the Bombay High Court on
Tuesday. The court issued
notice to the CBI, returnable
within a week, and directed
the Pune police to produce
the case diary. Petitioner Ke-
tan Tirokdar said though the
Pune police had arrested two
accused, no identification pa-
rade was conducted, nor did
they seek the crime weapon
which was recovered by the
Thane police. Moreover,
CCTV footage of the August
21, 2013 crime scene did not
match with the arrested per-
sons.
Mr. Tirokdar alleged that
Dabholkar had in 2012 re-
ceived death threats from the
right-wing, which “categori-
cally” said the activist would
be killed in front of the Om-
kareshwar temple in Pune,
where he was eventually
shot.
desh Congress has decided to
organise a parallel rally on
February 16 at Una in Hamir-
pur parliamentary constitu-
ency to counter the mega
rally of BJP prime-ministe-
rial candidate Narendra Modi
in Sujanpur Tihra in the same
constituency on the same
day. Chief Minister Virbha-
dra Singh has decided to ad-
dress a rally in Dulehar -- the
Assembly segment of his con-
fidante Minister of Industries
Mukesh Ahgnihotri, said the
party sources.

KOLKATA: Smoke was spotted billowing from the generator

e-learning car of the 12301 up Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express on
Tuesday, resulting in a delay in its departure.
launched The driver of the train spotted the smoke at 4.54 p.m., just
a minute before train’s scheduled departure and informed
Special Correspondent the Railway Protection Force.

JAIPUR: Rajasthan’s first e-

learning programme for
schools was launched on Tues-
day at Au village in Bharatpur
district, where the State Cabi-
net members are presently
stationed as part of the drive
for governance from the dis-
tricts. Inaugurating the pro-
gramme, State Education
Minister Kalicharan Saraf said
it would help solve the prob-
lem of shortage of teachers.
Workers dousing a fire that broke out in the
generator car of the Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express
at Howrah Station in Kolkata on Tuesday.
- PHOTO: PTI
Detached
 “The generator car was immediately detached from the
train and the Fire Brigade was informed and about two or
three fire engines rushed to the spot,” R.N. Mahapatra,
Chief Public Relations Officer of Eastern Railway told The
Hindu.
 He, however, said the fire-fighters did not spot any fire
there.
When asked about the reason for the smoke, he said that
it would only come to light after a thorough investigation. 
The train finally left Howrah station at 7 p.m.
 “Train movement from other platforms of the station,” it
added.  

Rajasthan Cong. begins

‘internal voting’ today
Mohammed Iqbal
JAIPUR: The stage is set for the
“internal voting” experiment
of Congress in Bikaner and
Jhunjhunu Lok Sabha con-
stituencies in Rajasthan,
through which the party in-
tends to nominate its candi-
dates for the upcoming
general elections. The party’s
present and former office-
bearers will cast their votes to
select the contestants for the
two seats.
The process will begin in
the reserved constituency of
Bikaner on Wednesday. Half-
a-dozen Congress leaders be-
longing to the rival camps of
former Minister B. D. Kalla
and Pradesh Congress presi-
dent Rameshwar Dudi are ex-
pected to file their
nominations, while the
Scheduled Caste contenders
from the nearby districts may
also stake their claim.
The All-India Congress
Committee has declared that
it would get applications for
candidature from the mem-
bers who have completed five
years in the organisation and
have no criminal background.
The people who will vote to
select the candidates would
include present and former
office-bearers of the Con-
gress district units, party rep-
resentatives of Zila Parishads
and panchayats, members of
Youth Congress, Seva Dal,
Mahila Congress and frontal
organisations as well as the
Congress-minded social and
CM
YK
civil society groups. Approxi-
mately 800 to 2,000 people
will be eligible to vote.
After the Congress vice-
president Rahul Gandhi float-
ed the idea about the U.S.-
style “primary selection”, the
party has released a list of 14
Lok Sabha constituencies
across the country where this
exercise will take place. Bi-
kaner and Jhunjhunu form
part of the list.
According to sources in
Pradesh Congress, the exer-
cise in Bikaner will be com-
pleted by February 20. A
team from Delhi, which will
include two election officers,
will brief the District Con-
gress Committee members
about the procedure and
monitor the referendum. The
same exercise will thereafter
be undertaken in Jhunjhunu.
Prominent among the clai-
mants in Bikaner are former
Rajya Sabha MP Jamna Baru-
pal, former MLAs Rewat Ram
Panwar and Govind Meghwal
and Deputy Zila Pramukh
Narulal Meghwal.
In Jhunujhunu, which has
been the stronghold of Con-
gress stalwart and Union
Minister, the late Sis Ram
Ola, the contenders include
his daughter-in-law Rajbala.
The Jhunjhunu seat be-
came vacant following Mr.
Ola’s death on December 15
last year, while the Bikaner
Lok Sabha constituency is
represented by BJP MP Arjun
Ram Meghwal.
ND-ND
 8 EDITORIAL
NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014

Changing landscape of free speech

Kenan Malik but also that their cultural beliefs are given
Once we give up on the right to offend in the equal recognition and respect. The avoid-

T
wenty five years ago on February
14, the Ayotollah Khomeini issued
his fatwa on Salman Rushdie, for
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014 the “blasphemies” of his fourth
novel, The Satanic Verses. It is perhaps dis-
turbingly apposite that this should also be
Cricket’s moment the week in which Penguin, the publishers of
The Satanic Verses, should so abjectly sur-
render to hardline Hindu groups over Wen-
of truth dy Doniger’s book The Hindus: An
Alternative History, agreeing to withdraw it
from publication in India. The contrast be-
he true merit of the insightful report of the tween the attitude of the old Penguin and
name of ‘tolerance’ or ‘respect,’ we constrain
our ability to challenge those in power, and
therefore to challenge injustice
bans, Penguin refused to withdraw the book.
Peter Mayer was the CEO of Penguin at
the time. He was subject to a vicious cam-
paign of hatred and intimidation. “I had let-
ters delivered to me written in blood,” he
remembered. “I had telephone calls in the
able, to point at frauds, to take sides, start
arguments, shape the world and stop it from
going to sleep.”
Today’s Penguin, like many publishers,
like many liberals, takes Baal’s observation
to be not self-evident but shockingly offen-
ance of cultural pain has, therefore, come to
be regarded as more important than the ab-
stract right to freedom of expression. As the
British sociologist Tariq Modood has put it,
“If people are to occupy the same political
space without conflict, they mutually have to
limit the extent to which they subject each
others’ fundamental beliefs to criticism.”
The consequence of all this has been the
creation not of a less conflicted world, but of
one that is more sectarian, fragmented and
tribal. As the novelist Monica Ali has put it,
“If you set up a marketplace of outrage you

T Justice Mudgal committee appointed by the

Supreme Court lies not only in its factual
findings, but in the compelling case it pre-
sents for a thorough clean-up of cricket in the country.
The main report’s authors, Justice Mukul Mudgal and
L. Nageswara Rao, have avoided the beaten path of
giving ‘clean chits’ to top administrators or finding
scapegoats, and laid bare the facts in an orderly way.
The report provides a sound basis as well as an oppor-
tunity to address the malaise the game suffers from in
terms of business practices that lack transparency,
unbridled commercialism that ignores obvious con-
flicts of interest, and an overall atmosphere conducive
to venality. It rejects the stand of Board of Control for
Cricket in India president N. Srinivasan and India
Cements, which owns Chennai Super Kings in the
Indian Premier League, that Gurunath Meiyappan was
not its owner or principal, and the astounding claim
that he was no more than an enthusiastic follower of
the team. By describing him as the face of the franchise
and undoubtedly a team official, and concluding that he
had indulged in betting and passing on information, the
report has rendered the CSK franchise liable to termi-
nation under certain clauses in the Franchise Agree-
ment and the IPL Operational Rules. These clauses cast
a responsibility on the franchise to ensure that each of
its officials complied with all rules, including the anti-
corruption code. The report recommends further in-
vestigation into allegations of betting and spot fixing
against Raj Kundra of Rajasthan Royals.
Of course, it has to be borne in mind that the main
report bases its conclusions on police records, and that
these are not meant to be treated as findings of guilt in
respect of criminal offences. The separate report by the
committee’s third member, Nilay Dutta, does not agree
that Mr. Meiyappan could be considered the team’s
owner, although he was an official under the Oper-
ational Rules. Also, he does not want to accept the
allegation of betting against Mr. Meiyappan, unless
taped conversations relating to this were proved au-
thentic. He favours a comprehensive investigation into
the entire issue of betting and fixing in cricket. It is
clear that the present measures undertaken by the
BCCI in combating sporting fraud are insufficient. Go-
ing beyond its terms of reference, the main report has
flagged the conflict of interest involved in Mr. Sriniva-
san being head of the cricket board as well as being
associated with a franchise owner. It is a moment of
truth for Indian cricket, and the Mudgal committee has
presented to the Supreme Court weighty reasons to
undertake a thorough cleansing of the sport.
that of the new Penguin tells us much about
how much the Rushdie affair itself has trans-
formed the landscape of free speech.
Thanks to the Ayatollah’s fatwa, the Rush-
die affair became the most important free
speech controversy of modern times. It also
became a watershed in our attitudes to free-
dom of expression. Rushdie’s critics lost the
battle — The Satanic Verses continues to be
published (though, of course, not in India).
But they won the war. The argument at the
heart of the anti-Rushdie case — that it is
morally unacceptable to cause offence to
other cultures — is now accepted almost as
common sense.
In 1989, after the fatwa, Rushdie was
forced into hiding for almost a decade.
Translators and publishers were assaulted
and even murdered. In July 1991, Hitoshi
Igarashi, a Japanese professor of literature
and translator of The Satanic Verses, was
knifed to death on the campus of Tsukuba
University. That same month another trans-
lator of Rushdie’s novel, the Italian Ettore
Capriolo, was beaten up and stabbed in his
Milan apartment. In October 1993, William
Nygaard, the Norwegian publisher of The
Satanic Verses, was shot three times and left
for dead outside his home in Oslo. Book-
shops were firebombed for stocking the nov-
el. And yet, except where there were state
CARTOONSCAPE
middle of the night, saying not just that they
would kill me but that they would take my
daughter and smash her head against a con-
crete wall. Vile stuff.” Yet neither Mayer nor
Penguin countenanced backing down. What
was at stake, Mayer recognised, was “much
more than simply the fate of this one book.
How we responded to the controversy over
The Satanic Verses would affect the future of
free inquiry, without which there would be
no publishing as we knew it, but also, by
extension, no civil society as we knew it.”
It is an attitude that now seems to belong
to a different age. The contrast with Pen-
guin’s decision this week to withdraw all
copies of Doniger’s The Hindus is striking.
Unlike in the case of The Satanic Verses
there has been so far no state ban. But, the
publisher has crumbled in the face of groups
shouting “offence.”
Peter Mayer and the old Penguin belonged
to a world in which the defence of free
speech was seen as an irrevocable duty. “We
all came to agree,” Mayer told me, “that all
we could do, as individuals or as a company,
was to uphold the principles that underlay
our profession. We were publishers. I
thought that meant something. We all did.”
He took his cue from Baal, the irreverent,
satirical poet in The Satanic Verses. “A poet’s
work,” Baal observes, “To name the unname-
sive. To such an extent has the Rushdie affair
transformed the landscape of free speech
that what many fear today is precisely the
starting of arguments. What they most want
is for the world to go to sleep.
have to expect everyone to enter it. Everyone
now wants to say, ‘My feelings are more hurt
than yours’.” The more that policymakers
give licence for people to be offended, the
more that people will seize the opportunity
“Self-censorship,” the Muslim philoso- to feel offended. It leads to the encourage-
pher and spokesman for the Bradford Coun- ment of interest groups and the growth of
cil of Mosques Shabbir Akhtar claimed at the sectarian conflict.
height of the Rushdie affair, “is a meaningful Nowhere is this trend clearer than in In-
demand in a world of varied and passionately dia. There is a long history, reaching back to
held convictions. What Rushdie publishes British rule, of applying heavy-handed cen-
about Islam is not just his business. It is sorship supposedly to ease fraught relation-
everyone’s — not least every Muslim’s — ships between different communities. It is a
business.” process that in recent decades has greatly
intensified. Hand-in-hand with more op-
Cultural pain pressive censorship has come, however, not
Increasingly, politicians and policymak- a more peaceful society, but one in which the
ers, publishers and festival organisers, liber- sense of a common nation has increasingly
als and conservatives, in the East and in the broken down into sectarian rivalries, as ev-
West, have come to agree. Whatever may be ery group demands its right not to be offend-
right in principle, many now argue, in prac- ed. The original confrontation over The
tice one must appease religious and cultural Satanic Verses was a classic example of how
sensibilities because such sensibilities are so in encouraging groups to feel offended, one
deeply felt. We live in a world, so the argu- simply intensifies sectarian conflict. Pen-
ment runs, in which there are deep-seated guin’s capitulation over the Doniger book is
conflicts between cultures embodying dif- another step down that road.
ferent values. For such diverse societies to
function and to be fair, we need to show Plural societies and free speech
respect for other peoples, cultures, and view- The “never give offence” brigade imagines
points. Social justice requires not just that that a more plural society requires a greater
individuals are treated as political equals, imposition of censorship. In fact it is pre-
cisely because we do live in plural societies
that we need the fullest extension possible of
free speech. In such societies, it is both inevi-
table and important that people offend the
sensibilities of others. It is inevitable, be-
cause where different beliefs are deeply held,
clashes are unavoidable; and we should deal
with those clashes openly and robustly rath-
er than suppress them. It is important be-
cause any kind of social change or social
progress means offending some deeply held
sensibilities. Or to put it another way: “You
can’t say that!” is all too often the response of
those in power to having their power chal-
lenged. To accept that certain things cannot
be said is to accept that certain forms of
power cannot be challenged.
The notion of giving offence suggests that
certain beliefs are so important or valuable
to certain people that they should be put
beyond the possibility of being insulted, or
caricatured or even questioned. The impor-
tance of the principle of free speech is pre-
cisely that it provides a permanent challenge
to the idea that some questions are beyond
contention, and hence acts as a permanent
challenge to authority. Once we give up on
the right to offend in the name of “tolerance”
or “respect,” we constrain our ability to chal-
lenge those in power, and therefore to chal-
lenge injustice. The right to “subject each
others’ fundamental beliefs to criticism” is,

Memorial in other words, the bedrock of an open, di-

verse, just society.
Shabbir Akhtar was right: what Salman

excesses Rushdie says is everybody’s business. So is

what Wendy Doniger says. It is everybody’s
business to ensure that no one is deprived of
their right to say what they wish, even if it is
he Congress government in Maharashtra is deemed by some to be offensive. If we want

T gripped by memorial mania. It has sanctioned

Rs.100 crore to build a grand memorial for
Chhatrapati Shivaji, the Maratha ruler, on an
islet in the Arabian Sea, about 2.5 km off Nariman Point
in Mumbai. The State government approved this pro-
ject in 2009, called for designs and even planned to
spend Rs.350 crore on it. However, the project did not
move forward. If the approaching election is one rea-
son behind the revival of the project, the commence-
ment of work on a 182-metre-tall statue of Sardar Patel,
in the adjoining State of Gujarat, is another. The Patel
statue, which it is claimed would be the tallest in the
world when completed, has provided the Narendra
Modi government and the Bharatiya Janata Party high
political visibility. The Gujarat government is aggres-
sively pursuing the project. This in turn seems to have
created a sense of urgency in the Congress. It appears
that the Maharashtra government, which originally
planned a 94-m-tall Shivaji statue, is planning to in-
crease the height significantly. Though the government
has not yet announced the revised financial estimate
for the Shivaji memorial, the final figures are bound to
match the grandeur of the Rs.2,063-crore Gujarat pro-
ject. Political one-upmanship between the two parties
is on, and the casualty is public money and space.
For many years, political parties have indiscrimi-
nately imposed statues of leaders on Indian cities. They
have not spared road junctions, traffic islands and even
footpaths, leading to hardships and safety issues. It was
only in January 2013 that the Supreme Court ordered
the State governments not to permit any more statues
that would affect traffic in public spaces. In a similar
way, the construction of large memorials too requires
regulation. Their claim to serve a public purpose must
be tested. Governments often try to legitimise memo-
rial projects as efforts to create public spaces. They
point to amenities such as exhibitions, museums, audi-
toriums and parks built along with them. Any attempt
to improve and expand public spaces is to be welcomed,
but parties in power cannot use it as an excuse to install
statues and symbols, which would only serve their
agenda. Installing memorials in urban spaces is a colo-
nial legacy, and this practice has to be discontinued.
Only genuine collective remembrance of people and
events, such as the Bhopal gas tragedy, can be encour-
aged. The government too has to get its priorities right.
For instance, in Maharashtra, many heritage structur-
es are in need of protection and assistance. Instead of
mindlessly spending money on gigantic memorials, it
would serve the public good if it is spent on conserving
neglected heritage structures.
CM
YK
the pleasures of pluralism, we have to accept
the pain of being offended.
(Kenan Malik is a writer, lecturer and
broadcaster.)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to letters@thehindu.co.in must carry the full
postal address and the full name or the name with initials.
Swansong? Banks exists for customers, courts
exist for clients, and hospitals for
Between 2007 and 2012, the
business mix of banks has trebled.
Indian Premier League is a shame
and makes cricket-lovers cringe
relaxation in the upper age limit,
may seem a boon but relative
This refers to the report, “Mark my patients. Those working in such Thousands of branches have been (Feb.11). newcomers will have to face an
words, Congress will be out of essential establishments must opened. The total strength of The players mentioned have not uphill task in overcoming the
power till 2025: Modi” (Feb.11). remember this. employees has come down while only undermined the spirit of challenges posed by older and
Mr. Narendra Modi’s declaration P.S. Subbaraman, five lakh bank jobs have to be filled honest players and the equally more experienced aspirants
that the coming general election Tuticorin in the next few years due to enthusiastic fans but have also preparing for the service. It does
would be a swan song for the retirement. More than half the reduced the IPL T20 to an object of seem to be a populist decision to
Congress till 2025 need not be Over 10 lakh bank employees have amount of profit generated by mockery. garner the support of youth before
dismissed as bravado. He has caused great inconvenience to banks goes toward the provisioning Kannappan, the general election.
captured the imagination of the crores of customers. Do many of of NPAs, most of which are due to Sivaganga G. Vishnu,
people and is drawing in the employees even know why they advances made to big corporate New Delhi
unprecedented crowds. The are on strike? Their unions need to houses — some of which are to be The Indian legal system does not
Congress party, on the other hand, seriously think about the effect of given licences to open their own have a clear definition of what The move is no doubt populist. In
seems tired and listless and unable such “strikes”, and their members banks. This is a move the unions match fixing is in whatever 2011, the UPSC set up a committee,
to capitalise on its achievements. need to question their union rightfully oppose. guidelines that exist. It generally under the chairmanship of Arun
The electorate is yearning for leaders and their increasingly Nationalised banks are the relates to the conduct of individual Nigavekar, which had rightly
change, and the time has come to disruptive actions. backbone of the economy and no players alone. Legally, it precludes recommended a reduction in the
give a new leader a chance. S. Srinivas, true Indian would like them to be the fact that the misconduct of a number of attempts from four to
C.G. Kuriakose, Visakhapatnam privatised. Citizens may have been player can be incidental to the three and in the upper age limit
Kothamangalam, Kerala inconvenienced by the strike, but it corrupt intentions of personnel from 30 to 25 in the general
It would be overly simplistic to is the vigilance of the unions that associated with the sport — who category in order to prevent a
Mr. Modi seems to be the only blame banks and ignore the saved the banking industry from may be a coach, manager or team delayed entry into service. But
leader right now making sense to structural issues in the economy. A the great collapse of 2008. person. In the case of Team CSK against these recommendations,
people as the response to his typical public sector banker in G.B. Sivanandam, the fact it is associated with the new decision is unfair to fresh
meetings/rallies across the India is a compliant and Coimbatore powerful politicians and candidates who will be a part of the
country shows. The perception conservative professional shaped businessmen occupying key rat race in which there will be
that he is a polarising force seems by decades of strong regulation by As a banker, I would like to state positions in bodies that control veteran candidates who have been
to be a myth if the crowds at his the Reserve Bank of India. Public the facts. We provide services to a cricket makes the system and the at it for six years. The government
rallies are any indicator. It is sector lenders rarely speak up. range of clientele, but when it game in general vulnerable to should keep the UPSC out of
unfortunate that the Congress is They are easy targets in a blame comes to our genuine demands, we exploitation. In the context of what populist moves as it involves
unable to rely on its equally game for a high level of NPAs. High are not heard out. We work beyond happened in the last IPL season, people who will ultimately run the
talented leaders, who seem to have levels of bad debt in the banking banking hours, and in highly a risk- where the involvement of team entire administrative machinery of
been relegated to the background. system point to the state of prone industry like ours, where a heads as well as non-sporting the country.
V.S. Ganeshan, economic governance. The bank mistake can lead to the loss of figures has emerged, it necessitates Aneesh M. Makker,
Bangalore regulator’s long silence on PSB crores of rupees, it is important the enactment of a substantive law Malout, Punjab
reforms needs to be addressed. what we are looked after regarding malpractice in sport. The
Bank strike A.S. Farida,
Chennai
reasonably well. We are paid a
salary far below that which is
While the recent move is welcome,
law should provide a broad-based
the government must also expand
definition of the fixing and should
The government should seek the offered to other Central and State envisage the range of subjects a candidate
independent
help of the defence forces and ex- The strike does not augur well for a government employees. Our can use to sit for the examination.
investigative powers and punitive
servicemen in running banks developing country like ours which demands are just, and all we are measures. Almost all the major subjects are
whenever there are strikes by their is struggling to overcome a asking for is respectable pay. Ravinder K.R. Yadav,
listed in the optional papers for the
staff and unions. No citizen has the plethora of problems in various Amanvir Singh Tiwana, Ghaziabad
Mains but mass communication
right to paralyse an essential sectors. However, if the demands Malout, Punjab stands excluded. A number of
service and cause great of the employees are genuine, the Cracking the UPSC universities now run graduate and
inconvenience to all. It was government is duty-bound to
shocking to read that the two-day redress them without further loss
Just not cricket postgraduate courses in mass
On the face of it, the move to give communication. It was a surprise
bank strike has resulted in about 10 of time. The revelations in the Justice civil services aspirants two not to find it listed.
crore cheques worth over V. Johan Dhanakumar, Mudgal Committee report on additional attempts to crack the Winnie J. Panicker.
Rs.50,000 crore lying uncleared. Chennai betting and spot fixing in the UPSC examination, along with a Karakonam, Kerala
ND-ND
NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014 COMMENT 9

WORLD VIEW
Dogged by data theft
Making sense of suicide
Suicide has been part of everyday conversation in many living rooms, but there is
“W hat is stopping us from moving to this kind of technology?” asked
a perplexed Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. It was last Tuesday, little understanding of why it happens
and the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which Klobuchar sits, was
holding a hearing about the recent breaches of Target and Neiman Maitri Chand considered viable by an individual.
Marcus in which the data from tens of millions of credit and debit cards Also, development of effective com-

E
were stolen. veryone has opinions on why munication skills, how to handle happi-
The technology Klobuchar had in mind is known as chip-and-PIN. The people they have never met, ness, worries, sorrow, successes,
chip refers to a computer chip embedded in a credit or debit card that and do not know, kill them- failures, and how to connect emotionally
encrypts data and authenticates the card. The PIN refers to a personal selves. I hear people say things with others are all impacted by what we
identification number the customer has to use, which, in effect, like “what a cowardly thing to do,” or “he see in our family-of-origin.
authenticates the user. was weak”. The words are redolent of Physical illness — immobility, disfig-
It is no big secret that, from a security standpoint, a chip-and-PIN casual judgment, perhaps born out of urement, and chronic pain — are also
system is far superior to the magnetic stripe that is the backbone of the familiarity and even fear: the thoughts factors associated with suicide. Living
credit and debit card systems in the U.S. Criminal gangs in Eastern that lead some people to die aren’t un- with constant discomfort and pain con-
Europe have learned how to penetrate many known to most of us. tributes to the lack of our mental and
computer systems of U.S. retailers and “skim” For weeks now, suicide has been part emotional stability and well-being.
credit card data at the moment a transaction of everyday conversation in many living Wishing to end the misery at this point
takes place. That kind of theft would be virtually rooms: the tragic death of Sunanda begins to look like a real option.
impossible with a chip-and-PIN system. Pushkar has disappeared from head- Finally, there are significant correla-
Nor is it news that much of the rest of the lines, only to be replaced by the loved tions between mental illnesses —mood
world long ago adopted chip-and-PIN character actor, Philip Hoffman. disorders, certain personality disorders,
technology; according to MasterCard, 79 It isn’t generally understood just how and schizophrenias— and suicide.
percent of terminals in Canada, Latin America common stories like these actually are.
and the Caribbean are “chip-enabled,” a figure In India, 10.3 of every 1,00,000 people What families can do
that rises to 95 percent in parts of Europe. But, take their own lives each year, the re- Families rarely discuss thoughts of su-
inexplicably, this clearly superior technology spected medical journal, The Lancet, es- icide, even of suffering, honestly with
has not yet penetrated the U.S. timated in 2012. To give a sense of scale, one another — especially when the issues
Or maybe it’s not so inexplicable. The main that means suicide is roughly three times involve one of the great stigmas in our
JOE NOCERA stumbling block, it would appear, is that as common as murder. society, mental illness. People fear being
retailers and bankers have spent way too much What pushes people to take such an judged as weak, inadequate or flawed.
time blaming each other for the growing data extreme step? The story isn’t about mor- Much prejudice is directed toward a per-
Retailers and theft problem - and not nearly enough time al fibre or character. Instead, it involves son who is unable to “control their
bankers have worrying about the people whose data have biology, genetics, problem-solving skills, moods,” “cheer himself/herself up,” or
spent too much been stolen. Namely, us. coping mechanisms, and family “just can’t snap out of it.” The awkward-
“Why did the U.S. stick with the mag stripe?” dynamics. ness we feel is about our own inability to
time blaming each said David Robertson, publisher of The Nilson provide an appropriate response when
Report. It may not have been best for Factors influencing suicide faced with another’s vulnerability and
other for the consumers, but it was “cheap and efficient” for Philosophers and psychologists have naked pain.
problem - and not the banks and retailers. What’s more, banks and struggled, just like everyone else, to There are things all of us can do if
enough worrying retailers had a certain amount of fraud built into make sense of suicide. In the 19th centu- someone does open up about feeling sui-
their business models. Thus, while a hacked ry, French sociologist Émile Durkheim cidal, or if you think they might be. First,
about the people card brought big headaches to the customer, it first examined the cultural and social manage your own anxiety about the con-
whose data have was just another cost of doing business for the factors which influenced suicide. He versation, by focussing on the person
other entities involved in the transaction. came up with three categories. The first and what they have shared with you.
been stolen Even as Europe and Canada were moving to a was egoistic, which applied to anyone Convey your empathy, let them know
chip-and-PIN system, the U.S. banks held back. who was socially isolated. The second REACHING OUT: In India, 10.3 of every 1,00,000 people take their own that you’re sorry they’re suffering, and
Fraud at the point of sale dropped dramatically in countries with chip- was altruistic, the result of a person be- lives each year, the respected medical journal, The Lancet, estimated that you’re there for them.
and-PIN. Still the U.S. held back. Every time there was a push to adopt ing too integrated into a social group, in 2012. Picture shows a girl lights a candle on the occasion of World Most importantly, ask them if they
chip-and-PIN, both retailers and bankers would do the math and come to like soldiers who sacrificed their lives in have spoken to a therapist, counsellor or
the same conclusion: It wasn’t worth the trouble. battle. The third condition was anomic, Suicide Prevention Day. — FILE PHOTO: THULASI KAKKAT trained professional—and if not, ask
And when a company did try to adopt it? That’s what Target tried to do the consequence of a drastic disruption them if they’d like to contact one.
around 2003 - only to discover that it was largely a waste of money if to the life of a well-integrated person. Families rarely tions. clude gender, age, marital status, phys- Ever since antiquity, humans have re-
nobody else went along. In Europe and elsewhere governments had Contemporary social scientists be- Studies of ical health and mental illness. sponded to suicide with moral condem-
pushed companies to adopt chip-and-PIN. In the U.S., the banks and lieve a person’s suicidal fantasies, discuss thoughts suicidal be- By and large, what we do know in nation. From the story of the
retailers needed to be able to work together - spending billions both to whether revenge, power, escaping pain, haviours terms of the risk factors involved is from philosopher, Socrates, we know this is a
manufacture new cards and install new terminals that could read the rescue, reunion with the dead, or sacri- of suicide, even among twin people who attempted suicide but did supremely useless response. Socrates
cards. fice, tell us a lot about what they believe of suffering, siblings not complete it. In India as well as the condemned suicide, asserting that “man,
There are two things that are likely to change the equation. The first is will happen if and when they commit brought to U.S., men are noted for more suicide who is one of god’s possessions, should
the Target breach, which, one expert told me, could involve as many as 1 suicide. These fantasies are a result of honestly with light a high completions and women for non-fatal not kill himself.” Yet, he committed sui-
in every 10 cards in circulation in the U.S. Many of the cards are debit
cards, which means if the card is used by a crook to make a purchase, it
biological, genetic and social factors,
which interact with the cultural envi-
one another probability
that a co-
attempts. Suicide is more common
among adolescents and young adults
cide himself, drinking poison after being
sentenced to death by the state. He ratio-
comes directly out of the customer’s bank account. (Target has vowed to ronment we live in. twin of a person who had committed (between the ages of 15-29) and the el- nalised his choice thus: suicide was legit-
indemnify any customer who has losses as a result of the breach.) The At the biological level, we know sero- suicide had either completed suicide or derly (according to data from the U.S.). imate when “god sends some
Target breach has shown the reputational hit a company can take when tonin — a neurotransmitter, or chemical had attempted suicide several times. Married individuals (in the U.S.) are less compulsion upon him, as he sends com-
its system is breached. It also has had business consequences: the last two that transmits signals from neuron to likely to kill themselves than their single pulsion on us at present.”
weeks of the Christmas season were lousy ones for Target - and the neuron inside our brain — plays a key Not just genetic destiny counterparts. That compulsion Socrates felt wasn’t
publicity from the breach is considered a prime culprit. role in the suicide story. It would be simplistic, though, to rep- From a psycho-social perspective, either godsent or divine. Each of us can
Second, though, Visa and MasterCard have both set forth timetables The genetic and biological causes of resent suicide as genetic destiny. From a family histories of substance abuse, sui- help ensure its outcome isn’t inevitable.
that attempt to institute the adoption of embedded-chips technology by suicide are illustrated by studies of spe- welter of studies, we know that factors cidal behaviours and mental illness leave (Dr. Maitri Chand is a New Delhi-
the fall of 2015. Although the timetables are not mandatory, they would cific populations, namely twins adop- that increase a person’s vulnerability in- their mark on the coping mechanisms based therapist.)
essentially shift the liability for card losses on to whichever side - the
bank or the retailer - has the least secure technology. Although there were
various calls for delaying the implementation yet again, those calls
stopped once the Target breach took place.
Which is not to say that the banks and the retailers are now seeing eye
to eye. When I spoke to a bank lobbyist last week, he told me that the real
The promise of regularisation
problem was “a weakness in the internal computer system of large
companies that sophisticated criminals have learned to exploit.” The
There is little transparency in the regularisation of unauthorised colonies in Delhi
retailers, meanwhile, retort that the banks have continually come up with
ideas short of chip-and-PIN, none of which ever worked for long before Shahana Sheikh and Third, the present status of the 583 of
the bad guys figured how to breach them. Subhadra Banda the 895 UACs, that lie fully or partially
The only thing missing from these arguments is the consumer. — New on public land, is not clear. There is no
York Times News Service
E arlier this week, acting on behalf of
the Delhi government, the Chief
Minister wrote a letter to the President
publicly available list of colonies for
which the costs of public land have been
subsequently recovered — a require-
asking for a probe against the former ment for regularisation.
Drone use highlights Chief Minister, reportedly for “alleged
irregularities in the regularisation of un-
Finally, the 2021 Master Plan of Delhi
states that regularisation must ensure

questions for journalists authorised colonies in Delhi”. This fol-

lows the Delhi Lokayukta’s finding in
November 2013 that the “issuance of the
that “minimum necessary services” and
“community facilities” are provided to
enable “improvement of physical and so-
PRC [provisional regularisation certif- cial infrastructure”. Data released by the
T he Federal Aviation Administra-
tion (FAA) has opened an investi-
gation of the drone, which was used
Klarn DePalma, said it constantly
evaluates new technology and is eager
to see regulations spelled out for
icates] on the eve of the elections [in
2008] was a populist measure intended
GNCTD on its website indicates that, as
of March 2013, agencies have been allo-
by an on-call employee for a Connec- drones, but he said the temporary em- to woo voters”. It also found that some cated for “development works” in 830 of
ticut television station. The FAA is ployee in question was not on assign- unauthorised colonies (UACs) received the 895 colonies, and such works report-
developing new rules as the technol- ment for them and has never been the PRC despite having submitted in- edly were completed in 461 of them.
ogy makes drones far more versatile, paid for drone video. complete applications. However, the recent draft CAG report on
but for now operators can run afoul of “We don’t even own a drone,” he UACs, which are estimated to house the matter reportedly noted that the sta-
regulations by using them for com- said. 30 per cent of Delhi’s population, were tus of these works could not be verified.
mercial purposes, including journal- The FAA said on Monday that it has promised regularisation in 2008, and Our own interviews in A and B blocks of
ism. issued 12 warning letters to drone op- again in the manifestos of the Aam Aad- Sangam Vihar, which were among the
The case of the Hartford crash, in erators, which can include orders to mi Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Legal tangle: The Delhi Lokayukta has found that some unauthorised 895 regularised, show that while the
which the victim’s body was left hang- stop operations. It said in a statement and the Congress, prior to the Delhi elec- colonies received provisional regularisation certificates despite having GNCTD data specified that “work was
ing out of a mangled car, highlights that its investigations are intended to tions of 2013. In his first address to the submitted incomplete applications. A view of one of the colonies in completed”, there is little change in ser-
some of the safety, privacy and ethical determine whether operators violat- newly-elected Delhi Assembly this year, vice provisioning on the ground.
the Lieutenant Governor announced Dabri which was regularised. FILE PHOTO: THE HINDU This gap between government data
issues that journalists will wrestle ed FAA safety regulations.
with as interest grows in using drones Drones hold appeal for journalists that an “action plan for regularising un- and ground reality can, in part, be ex-
for newsgathering. because they would allow new per- authorised colonies within a year is be- issued an order finding 895 UACs “eligi- tered. In other words, the regularisation plained by the ambiguity in government
“Here was a dead body still on the spectives and access, particularly in ing drawn up and this plan shall be ble for regularisation”. The order spec- of these 895 UACs was far from language and data. The government does
scene. We had covered it the best we areas that are not reachable by hel- implemented rigorously in a time-bound ified that these were selected based on complete. not specify what “works” mean, nor does
could,” said Lt. Brian Foley, a Hart- icopter or could pose dangers to peo- manner”. To understand this issue, it is two conditions: they did not lie on “for- The Comptroller and Auditor General it specify what the current status of the
ford police spokesman, who said ple. New models can cost as little as important to understand how this prob- est and ridge areas and protected area” and the Delhi Lokayukta have pointed “works” is in these 895 colonies.
drones have been appearing more fre- $500. But regulators have to weigh lem arose. and did not hinder the out that there has been lit- Many recent media reports indicate
quently at crime scenes. “You don’t free-speech considerations against “provision of infrastructu- The government, tle transparency in this that the new government will be under-
Processes in the past ral facilities under the regularisation process. In- taking the regularisation process for the
Master Plan 2021”. In which will be
want the family to see that.” concerns for safety and invasion of
The station’s general manager, privacy. — AP Prior to 1993, Delhi saw several waves deed, it has been a compli- 1600-odd unauthorised colonies all over
of UAC regularisation. In 1993, however, spite of the order, govern- undertaking the cated mess with many again. For administrative clarity and
when the government was looking to ment and media reports gaps. transparency, it should take the follow-
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS regularise 1071 UACs, Common Cause
Society, an NGO, approached the Delhi
High Court questioning the process. In
have treated the colonies regularisation
listed in the 895 UACs or- process for
der as de facto regularised.
Complications
First, the two levels of
ing steps:
First, coordinate with the three Mu-
nicipal Corporations of Delhi and the
>>The Business page report, “Data revisions and state of the economy” response, the Court restrained the gov- However, a closer look at 1600-odd selection were opaque. Delhi Development Authority to com-
ernment from regularising any further this order reveals that only Initially, the basis for se- plete various steps for regularisation as
(Feb. 10, 2014) said: “…[downward revision] in construction [was] from 5.91
UACs in Delhi and directed it to prepare 312 of the colonies — those
unauthorised lecting the 1,218 UACs per timelines already specified in the
per cent to minus 1.1 per cent. There is no minus there. It should have been 1.1
per cent. and submit guidelines for the process of located on private land— colonies, needs from 1,639 applicants to 2008 regulations. Second, on comple-
regularisation. stood regularised at the receive PRCs remains un- tion of these steps, it should publicly
>>The Sports page report, “Olympian Ranjit Bhatia passes away” (Feb. 11, In 2007, the government placed the time of the order. Of these, to take a number clear. Further, those UACs notify which UACs have been regular-
2014), inadvertently said “Rajat Bhatia passes away” in the headline of early guidelines before the Court. In 2008, it only a subset that are on of steps for which were found “not eli- ised and why. Third, the benefits of regu-
editions. resumed its call for applications from “private land owned by gible” were not informed larisation in terms of “development
UACs seeking regularisation. The Resi- private owners” are plots administrative of the exact reason for works” have to be explained. Fourth, the
dent Welfare Associations of these UACs eligible to be registered for clarity their ineligibility. process of registration of deeds by indi-
It is the policy of The Hindu to correct significant errors as soon as possible. had to submit various documents such as sale or transfer, an out- Second, according to the vidual plot owners has to be detailed.
Please specify the edition (place of publication), date and page. land details, certificates, layout plans come central to any definition of regu- addendum to the 2008 regulations, gov- These steps will demonstrate commit-
The Readers’ Editor’s office can be contacted by and undertakings to abide by the ap- larisation. ernment agencies were supposed to ment by the current government to its
Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to proved layout plans and provide land for The order also said the remaining 583 complete regularisation procedures publicly declared mandate of better and
Friday); social infrastructure. It received applica- colonies listed, which are partly or fully within a year of issuing a PRC. Instead, it transparent governance. Furthermore,
Fax: +91-44-28552963; tions from 1639 colonies. Subsequently, on public land, would be regularised only took the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, making the status of UACs clear to both
E-mail: readerseditor@thehindu.co.in an addendum to the 2008 regulations, after the GNCTD recovered the cost of the Delhi Development Authority, and its residents and others in Delhi will en-
Mail: Readers’ Editor, The Hindu, Kasturi Buildings, introduced before the elections in No- the public land from residents. For these the GNCTD four years to notify the regu- able them to be fully integrated into the
859 & 860 Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002, India. vember 2008, allowed the Government colonies, the relevant land-owning agen- larisation of any UAC. Interviews with city fabric, just like the formal planned
All communication must carry the full postal address and of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD) to issue PRCs cy would also have to complete certain residents in unauthorised colonies like colonies of Delhi.
telephone number. to UACs. Soon after, these were issued to steps, such as withdraw land acquisition Sangam Vihar, several blocks of which (Shahana Sheikh and Subhadra Banda
No personal visits. 1218 of the applicant colonies. notifications and amendments in reve- were among the 1218 UACs, reveal that are with the Centre for Policy Research,
The Terms of Reference for the Readers’ Editor are on www.thehindu.com In September 2012, the government nue records, before the land can be regis- the PRC was followed by little action. New Delhi)
CM ND-ND
YK
 NOIDA/DELHI

10 NEWS THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014

Parliament has 130 pending Bills

Special Correspondent date back to 1990-2000 and
30 to 2001-2010.
Parliament must pass Bills
on which there is consensus
Solar storm hits India-U.S. relations
NEW DELHI: With only two
Bills introduced in the
Some Bills have been
passed by one House but not
like the Grievance Redressal
Bill and the Whistleblowers’
Consultations opened with New Delhi over WTO dispute on solar mission
middle of commotion in the the other, one of the most Bill,” he added. Narayan Lakshman General Agreement on Tar- rules if the matter was not guing: “These types of ‘local- American jobs may be at
Rajya Sabha and one in the notable of them being the Congress vice-president iffs and trade (GATT) and Ar- resolved through consulta- isation’ measures are not only stake in the solar industry if
Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the Women’s Reservation Bill, Rahul Gandhi appealed to WASHINGTON: Wounds from ticle 2 of the Agreement on tions within 60 days of the an unfair barrier to U.S. ex- India carries through with
number of Bills pending passed in 2010 by the Rajya the Opposition for the Khobragade affair had Trade Related Investment request, the U.S. might ask ports but also raise the cost of the local content, and U.S. ex-
before Parliament has Sabha. Bills introduced in cooperation in the passage scarcely begun to heal when Measures (TRIM). the WTO to establish a dis- solar energy, hindering de- ports, which stood at nearly
climbed to 130. the Upper House will of six anti-corruption Bills, the India-U.S. relationship Mr. Froman characterised pute settlement panel. ployment of energy around $119 million before these cri-
Key social sector survive the end of this Lok with the Bharatiya Janata again witnessed a spike in the request for WTO consul- He also focussed on the the world, including in India.” teria kicked in, have “fallen
legislation, including the Sabha, but those introduced Party insisting that it is keen tension this week, as U.S. tations as a “serious” step, un- question of costs linked to According to attorneys for off precipitously since then.”
Grievance Redressal Bill in the Lok Sabha will lapse if to pass legislation if the Trade Representative Mi- derscoring that under WTO this clean energy source, ar- the USTR, close to 10,000 The attorneys particularly
and the Whistleblower not passed in this session. government is able to get the chael Froman has announced drew attention to the vast size
Protection Bill, will lapse if Important pending Bills House to run. that Washington is initiating of India’s solar energy mar-
they are not passed in the include the Disabilities Bill The 15th Lok Sabha has consultations with New Delhi ket, which under the NSM is
next 10 days. and the Judicial passed only 165 Bills so far, over a World Trade Organisa- We will defend it in WTO, says India estimated to increase 20-fold
At the beginning of the Appointments Bill. making it the least tion dispute pertaining to In- in the coming decade. India
last session of the 15th Lok “Of course, there needs to deliberative full-term dia’s National Solar Mission Puja Mehra domestic players, and that is meeting scheduled for was thus a “very important…
Sabha, 126 Bills were be discussion and passage of Parliament ever. (NSM). what the USTR is February 26, Prime Minister [and] second largest market
pending before both contentious Bills like the In the five sittings since Addressing journalists NEW DELHI: The World Trade threatening action over.” Manmohan Singh is for U.S. solar exporters,
Houses, the oldest among Communal Violence Bill and the beginning of this session, here on Monday, he said: Organisation dispute on The sources said this expected to approve a goal of [which was the reason be-
them dating back to 1987, the Telangana Bill,” Nikhil the Lok Sabha has lost 95 per “These domestic content re- India’s National Solar batch of 375 MWs would be 100,000 MWs for 2022. “The hind] “the substantial con-
according to data compiled Dey of the National cent of its time to quirements [in NSM Phase Mission (NSM) that U.S. defended at the WTO as it USTR is trying to rake up cern,” at the local content
by PRS Legislative Campaign for the People’s disruptions, while the Rajya II] discriminate against U.S. Trade Representative was a permissible issues at this stage though it rules.
Research, an independent, Right to Information Sabha has lost 91 per cent of exports by requiring solar Michael Froman raked up on “government procurement has no case at the moment to The latest objections by the
non-partisan parliamentary (NCPRI) told The Hindu. its time. The session ends on power developers to use Indi- Monday pertains to scheme” and it addressed create space for its industry USTR follow from a previous
research group. Another five “But at the very least, February 21. an-manufactured equipment contracts for 375 MWs, a India’s energy security in India’s big-potential solar round of dispute consulta-
instead of U.S. equipment,” miniscule proportion of the concerns. “In any case, it is a market,” the sources said. “It tions initiated here in Febru-
and the U.S. informed Indian total solar generation tiny proportion of all the is also possible they had ary 2013 regarding Phase I of
officials in New Delhi, Geneva capacity being bid out solar power projects being provocation on some other the NSM.

Former IB officer challenges and Washington that it was

charge sheet in Ishrat case
Special Correspondent
AHMEDABAD: The former IB
Special Director, Rajinder
Kumar, who has been charge-
sheeted, along with three
serving IB officers, by the
Central Bureau of Investiga-
tion in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan
‘fake encounter’ case, has
challenged the move, arguing
that the investigating agency
did not have the mandatory
sanction to prosecute the
four.
He says the agency
has not secured
sanction to
prosecute him
and three others
have been accused on the ba-
sis of call details.
Mr. Kumar’s plea before a
CBI magisterial court glosses
over anything about the in-
vestigation but maintains
sheet is illegal, Mr. Kumar’s American workers and busi-
advocate S.V. Raju told the nesses,” and in particular dis-
court.
But magistrate H.S. Khut- under both Article II: 4 of the
wad refused to accept the ap-
plication until his office
thoroughly verified the
charge sheet.
He said the court would
consider counsel’s argu-
ments while examining the
charge sheet papers.
Besides Mr. Kumar, the
CBI has accused IB officials
T. Mittal, M.K. Sinha and Ra-
challenging this requirement.
He said such “unfair” re-
quirements militated against
WTO rules and the Obama
administration was “standing
up today for the rights of
puting India’s proposed rules
Third alternative a mask to
save Congress, says Modi
nationwide. bid out and developed in
“The USTR is crying foul India.”
over NSM Phase-II, in which U.S. developers had
political or policy front, and
this was an easy issue.”
A year ago, the U.S.
On the broader course of
bilateral ties, the USTR attor-
neys ruled out any link to the
arrest on December 12 last of
of the total 750 MWs on bid, “dominated” NSM Phase-I initiated WTO dispute
half is open to global solar with U.S. Exim Bank-tied
power developers, including funds, the sources said.
Americans,” highly placed India’s total solar power
consultations on NSM Phase
I. “India has already
presented its case, but the
Devyani Khobragade, India’s
former Deputy Consul-Gen-
eral in New York, following
government sources told installed capacity is 2,000 U.S. is yet to seek a panel on which New Delhi took retal-
The Hindu. “The balance MWs, up from 2 MW three it, as required by the iatory measures against U.S.
375 MWs is reserved for years ago. At the next NSM process,” the sources said. diplomats. The relationship
went into a tailspin.
‘Left flagged gas
pricing scam
for months’
New Delhi Bureau

The CBI’s supplementary
charge sheet filed on Febru-
ary 6, months after charging
seven Gujarat policemen in
the case, says the IB officials
Sonia to head Protesters seek BJP support
50-member for whistleblowers’ Bill
campaign panel Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Congress president
Sonia Gandhi will head the
party’s campaign committee
for the Lok Sabha elections
which has 50 members in-
cluding party vice-president
Rahul Gandhi as cochairman,
it was announced on Tuesday.
The committee has Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh
and Union Ministers A.K. An-
tony, Sushilkumar Shinde,
P.Chidambaram, Ghulam Na-
bi Azad, Kamal Nath, Oscar
Fernandes, Jairam Ramesh,
Anand Sharma among its
members. Digivijaya Singh, J.
Dwivedi, Ambika Soni, Guru-
das Kamat, B.K. Hariprasad,
Mukul Wasnik, C.P. Joshi,
Shakeel Ahmed are also
members of the panel.
that under Section 197 of the
Criminal Procedure Code,
government sanction is a
must, and this has not been
taken. That is why the charge
NEW DELHI: Protesters staging a
sit-in outside the BJP head-
quarters here seeking the par-
ty’s support for the
Whistleblowers Protection Bill
and Grievance Redress Bill
were arrested on Tuesday.
The protesters, among them
the family members of slain
RTI activists Satyendra Dubey,
Shimbu Bishnoi and Ram Tha-
kur, were upset at the delay in
passing these Bills in the ongo-
ing session of Parliament.
National Campaign for Pro-
tection of Right to Information
activist Anjali Bharadwaj said
the protesters were taken to the
Parliament Street police sta-
tion and later released. “We
wanted the BJP leaders to come
out and support our cause. This
jiv Wankhede. Satyasundar Barik Congress, we cannot clean NEW DELHI: After Delhi Chief
The CBI has also submit- up politics. The 2014 election Minister Arvind Kejriwal on
ted the phone numbers from BHUBANESWAR: The BJP’s is not about electing Mem- Tuesday said the Anti-Cor-
which calls were made to the prime ministerial candidate, bers of Parliament, but ruption Branch would file an
IB office and others. Narendra Modi, on Tuesday cleaning up Indian politics,” FIR against UPA Ministers
ridiculed the initiative of a he said. and Reliance Industries over
group of parties to form a Mr. Modi launched a the hike in natural gas prices,
the CPI and the CPI(M) said
non-Congress, non-BJP
third alternative ahead of the
scathing attack on the Na-
veen Patnaik government, they have been highlighting
Lok Sabha elections, saying blaming it for poverty in the issue for several months
such an idea comes up only Odisha. now.
when the Congress appears He said the BJP’s devel- Final hearings on a Public
is the last session of 15th Lok to be in danger. opment model was appropri- Interest Litigation petition
Sabha and if the Bills are not Addressing a mammoth ate for people’s welfare. He filed by CPI member Gurudas
passed they will lapse. Howev- rally here, Mr. Modi said called upon political pundits Dasgupta in the issue are
er, none of the leaders came out States under the rule of par- and economists to scrutinise scheduled to begin on March
in our support and we were in- ties trying to forge a third al- the development models be- 4. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Ye-
stead removed by the police.” ternative were the least ing practised by all parties. chury said the evidence for
Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey and developed. BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi “People have seen the filing an FIR was based on
Shekhar Singh of the NCPRI He said several States in with party president Rajnath Singh at a rally in Congress model of develop- documents Mr. Kejriwal and
strongly criticised the police ac- the eastern region were ruled Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. — PHOTO: PTI ment in independent India. Prashant Bhushan collected
tion. by such parties, which were They have seen the Commu- from the party’s Centre of In-
“It is a shame that Parlia- responsible for all backward- eastern region to be brought supporting the Congress, and nist model. They have also dian Trade Union offices.
ment is not functioning and ness. “Uttar Pradesh is ruled on a par with them, the time when elections came, they seen the model of dynastic Briefing journalists, Mr.
people who are demanding an- by either the Samajwadi Par- had come to teach a lesson to donned the mask of the third rule and also the model of Yechury said, “It is good that
swers from political parties are ty or the Bahujan Samaj Par- those who advocated the alternative, Mr. Modi said. regional parties. People have somebody else is also taking
being ill-treated. All political ty; Odisha can be an example, third alternative. “Parties that help Con- seen the BJP’s model. I invite up this case.” He said the Del-
parties need to answer why and West Bengal had been The third alternative com- gress should not be made to experts to study the devel- hi government could have
critical bills are being made destroyed by Communists,” prised 11 parties, leaders of win elections,” he said. They opment models in the States shown some courtesy by ac-
scapegoats in the political he said. which posed for photographs mislead people and their on- ruled by the BJP,” he said, knowledging the legwork
stand-off in Parliament,” they Mr. Modi said the western in New Delhi but had no guts ly aim is to save the maintaining that, “I can say done by the Left parties.
said. Ms. Bharadwaj said the ac- States were more developed to show their faces in their Congress. with conviction that the BJP “There is no new revelation of
tivists had not faced much trou- because most of them had own States. Of these parties, “As long as we don’t iden- model is appropriate for peo- corruption as it is being pro-
ble during their protest outside been under BJP rule. For the nine had been continuously tify these parties which help ple’s welfare.” jected,” he said
the Congress headquarters on
Akbar Road on Monday.

IPL scam: IPS officer Mohan Parasaran: Rejection of

A word of thanks
may be charge-sheeted single recommendation justified
S. Vijay Kumar
CHENNAI: The Crime Branch
CID of the Tamil Nadu police
may chargesheet a senior po-
lice official of the Tamil Nadu
cadre, accusing him of forcing
a couple of bookies involved in
the IPL betting scam to pay a
huge sums of money as bribe,
agency sources said on Tues-
day.
With investigation almost
complete, the CBCID will seek
to access documents perused
by the Justice Mudgal Com-
mittee that probed allegations
of betting and match fixing in
the IPL. The committee said
on Monday that the charges
against Gurunath Meiyappan,
son-in-law of BCCI president
N. Srinivasan, that he indulged
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi interacts with civil services in betting and passed on in-
aspirants who met him at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi formation were proven.
on Tuesday. They thanked him for the government’s decision to According to a top police of-
allow two more attempts to crack UPSC examinations. — PHOTO: ficial, the CBCID which exam-
RAJEEV BHATT ined Mr. Meiyappan,
city-based hotelier Vikram
Agarwal and Kitty alias Utham
Jain had sent copies of their
interrogation reports to the
Mudgal Committee well in ad-
vance. “The role of Mr. Mei-
yappan in Chennai Super
Kings and his involvement
with bookie Vindoo Dara
Singh are not part of our in-
vestigation…,” he said.
The official said the evi-
dence available with the
CBCID, including call records
of the accused, was shared
with Mudgal committee.
When his attention was drawn
to reports that the CBCID had
not found anything incrimi-
nating against Mr. Meiyappan,
he said the findings of the
Mudgal Committee would be
taken into account before fil-
ing charge sheet.
He said the CBCID had
gathered adequate evidence in
a separate case against a senior
police official who demanded
huge sums from a couple of
bookies. Rs. 60 lakh was reco-
vered from three persons as-
signed to make the payment.
Vinay Kumar
NEW DELHI: The controversy
surrounding the appoint-
ment of an Additional Direc-
tor in the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) took a
new turn on Tuesday when it
turned out that Solicitor-
General Mohan Parasaran, in
his opinion to the Prime Min-
ister, had held that the Cen-
tral government was not
bound to accept the recom-
mendation of a single name
made by the Selection
Committee.
The appointment of Archa-
na Ramasundaram, a 1980
batch IPS officer of the Tamil
Nadu cadre, as Additional Di-
rector, CBI, triggered a con-
troversy when reports
suggested that the Appoint-
ments Committee of the Cab-
inet (ACC) had overlooked
the Central Vigilance Com-
mission’s recommendation of
Ranjit Pachnanda, a 1983
batch IPS officer currently
posted in West Bengal.
Mr. Parasaran said the
Central government could
choose from a panel of names
recommended to it by the Se-
lection Committee or, in the
event of only a single name
being recommended, the gov-
ernment has “sufficient dis-
cretion to reject such a name
for cogent, reasonable, bona
fide and non-arbitrary rea-
sons, which should be able to
withstand judicial scrutiny.”
The S-G maintained that
Section 4C of the CVC Act
envisaged recommendation
of a panel of officers, from
which the Central govern-
ment shall pass orders of ap-
pointment as it thinks fit.
“The corollary of this in-
terpretation would be that in
the event that a panel of
names has not been recom-
mended, the Central govern-
ment would not be bound to
accept the recommendation
of a single name made by the
Selection Committee as that
would tantamount to render-
ing the discretion vested in
the Central government by
virtue of the expression in the
statute “as it thinks fit” nuga-
tory and otiose,” Mr. Parasan
said.
Sources in the government
said the Department of Per-
sonnel and Training (DoPT)
had named five senior offi-
cers, of 1980 to 1983 batches
of the IPS, for consideration
by the Central Vigilance
Commission (CVC): S. K.
Bhagat, R.K. Pachnanda
(both of the 1983 batch), Ash-
ok Kumar of 1982 batch, Ar-
chana Ramasundaram of
1980 batch and Vivek Dube of
1981 batch of the IPS. Two of
these officers are due to retire
next year.
The CVC picked one name
and sent it to the ACC which
rejected it and asked for a
complete panel. But the CVC
once again sent the same
name and the government re-
jected it again.

India hopes to allay Italy’s fears India, China discuss CBMs on border issue
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: India is hoping that
some of the heartburn being
felt by Italy and its European
Union allies over the deten-
tion of two Italian marines on
murder charges will dissipate
after the Attorney General
conveys the Union govern-
ment’s final view on the issue
to the Supreme Court next
week.
The marines, Massimilia-
no Latorre and Salvatore Gi-
rone, are facing trial for
allegedly shooting down two
fishermen off the Kerala
coast.
CM
YK
Calling it a sui generis
(unique in its characteristics)
case, External Affairs Minis-
try spokesperson Syed Akba-
ruddin admitted that India
and Italy were not in agree-
ment on practically every as-
pect of the case — on the
jurisdiction of Indian courts
to try the marines, on wheth-
er the State or the Centre
should be involved, and on
the law the under which the
marines should be tried.
“There are differences in
approach. We understand
that the process is not some-
thing Italy is happy with. We
explained the situation, but
laws of the land will prevail,”
he acknowledged while hop-
ing that the next hearing of
the case scheduled for Febru-
ary 18 would bring some clar-
ity to the Indian stand.
Italy is upset that India has
invoked anti-terrorism and
international piracy laws
against the marines and has
approached the Supreme
Court.
The government has drop-
ped the death penalty clause,
thus meeting at least one de-
mand of the European Union.
The marines were part of a
military security detail on a
cargo ship to counter piracy.
Councillor Yang Jiechi — also disputed Line of Actual baruddin when pressed for Consultations and Coordina-
Sandeep Dikshit reviewed the entire gamut of Control. more details. tion on India-China border
bilateral relations. Asked why the MEA feels However, the MEA spokes- affairs. “There is now a sym-
NEW DELHI: India and China On the regional front, they this round seemed to be very person did give a hint of the biotic process that has been
held a “very constructive” discussed the East Asia Sum- constructive, the spokesper- importance of the 17th Round set in place whereby issues
two-day meeting, which dis- mit process and touched on son declined to elaborate on of SR talks by pointing out relating to border are fed into
cussed additional confidence- the situation in West Asia and the grounds that “ultimately that the meeting took place the SR process,” pointed out
building measures such as the Middle East, Ministry of diplomacy has to be conduct- on the tailwind of two struc- the MEA spokesperson.
early implementation of the External Affairs spokesper- ed beyond public glare” be- tured bilaterals between The highlight of the two-
Border Defence Cooperation son Syed Akbaruddin told cause these are issues which Prime Ministers Manmohan day SR interaction was an ex-
Agreement (BDCA) as well as newspersons here on involve a certain amount of Singh and Li Keqiang held change of views on what
the core issue of a framework Tuesday. give and take. late last year. framework was acceptable
agreement for sorting out the The BDCA was signed late “Nothing is agreed till ev- For the first time, this for moving over to the third
border issue. last year and attempts were erything is agreed. Please meeting was preceded by se- and final phase of settling the
Special Representatives of made to enhance coordina- don’t gauge on a minute-by- nior officials discussing oper- border question. Begun 2003,
both countries — National Se- tion and iron out possibilities minute basis and don’t expect ational pinpricks on the the SRs settled the Political
curity Advisor Shiv Shankar of misunderstanding be- us to give those sort of com- border under the aegis of the Parameters and Guiding
Menon and Chinese State tween the armies along the mentaries,” replied Mr. Ak- Working Mechanism for Principles two years later.
ND-ND
NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014 NATIONAL 11

Two-day strike
costs banks
Rs. 30,000 cr.
Pandemonium in J&K House
Opposition kept in the dark on new administrative units: PDP
Spare honest officers for Hearing on
Tejpal’s bail
plea next week
J. Balaji

NEW DELHI: Banks/government

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

JAMMU: The principal Opposi-

tion Peoples Democratic Par-
bona fide mistakes: PM Special Correspondent

PANAJI: The Bombay High

have lost nearly Rs. 30,000
crore as the two-day strike by
over 8 lakh employees of the
public sector, and some pri-
vate and foreign banks hit the
common man badly, partic-
ularly in rural areas.
According to the All India
Bank Employees Association
(AIBEA) vice-president Vish-
was Utagi, about 10 crore
cheques worth Rs. 7,40,000
crore could not be cleared.
Government transactions,
foreign exchange transac-
tions and money market op-
erations were also affected.
Meanwhile, All India Trade
Union Congress general sec-
retary and CPI MP Gurudas
Dasgupta hit out at Finance
Minister P. Chidambaram for
stating that bank profits
could not be used only to en-
hance salaries (of their em-
ployees) as they must be
invested in expansions. He
wondered how the banks,
which refuse higher wages to
its employees, waived bad
loans of big corporates.
The strike was called by the
United Forum of Bank
Unions.
ty (PDP) on Tuesday caused
pandemonium in the Jammu
and Kashmir Assembly, even
as one of its MLAs suffered a
fracture in a scuffle with the
watch and ward staff.
Tral Mushtaq Ahmed Shah
became unconscious and was
rushed to hospital when he
hit himself against furniture
in the well, when the PDP leg-
islators scuffled with the
watch and ward staff, who
prevented over a dozen MLAs
from advancing towards the
Speaker. Mr. Shah was admit-
ted to an associated hospital
of the Government Medical
College here.
Speaker Mubarak Gul ad-
journed the proceedings four
times in the first two hours as
the PDP members did not re-
lent on their demand for cre-
ation of more administrative
units. Party president Meh-
booba Mufti said the ruling
National Conference had
played “cheap politics” over
the process.
“We had been demanding
new administrative units
from day one of this govern-
ment. The coalition [of the
PDP legislators scuffle with security staff in the
J&K Assembly on Tuesday. PHOTO: NISSAR AHMAD
National Conference and the check out the opposition in
Congress] did it, keeping the the J&K assembly standing
Opposition in the dark. This on tables. Seems they really
shows the coalition had an are totally shaken up by our
eye on the vote,” Ms. Mufti decision to create so many
said. She appreciated the cre- new administrative units
ation of 650 new units, but which has been well
said that certain key areas received.”
had been left unattended. The PDP MLAs demol-
Earlier, watching the pan- ished chairs and tables and
demonium on the LCD in his tore documents.
office, Chief Minister Omar Later, Mr. Gul told journal-
Abdullah tweeted: “Want to ists that the damage would be
see shameful behaviour of recovered from the salaries of
elected representatives (?)- the “unruly” MLAs.
Devesh K. Pandey
NEW DELHI: Even as the Arvind
Kejriwal-led Delhi govern-
ment ordered a probe into al-
legations of irregularities in
pricing of natural gas ob-
tained from the KG basin,
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh cautioned law enforce-
ment agencies against trivia-
lising complex policy
decisions, stating honest offi-
cers should not be harassed
for bona fide mistakes.
“There is need for moder-
ation in the public debate
about corruption … In the past
few years we have been wit-
nessing a very vigorous public
debate on matters relating to
corruption, with accusations
flying thick and fast. While an
informed discussion on such
matters is certainly desirable,
much too often we see a triv-
ialisation of complex public
policy issues,” Dr. Singh said
at the golden jubilee celebra-
tions of the Central Vigilance
Commission here on Tues-
day.
“The ultimate aim of any
anti-corruption mechanism is
“While informed
discussion is
certainly desirable,
much too often we
see a trivialisation
of complex public
policy issues”
to contribute towards im-
provement of the processes of
governance and delivery of
services. This can happen only
when we encourage bold and
innovative decision-making.”
Reiterating that the CBI en-
joyed autonomy, Dr. Singh
said the government was will-
ing to do more to insulate the
agency from extraneous influ-
ences, though with a caveat
that the political executive
should exercise oversight over
investigating agencies.
President Pranab Mukher-
jee, who inaugurated the
event, recounted that the CVC
was constituted by the gov-
ernment through a resolution
in 1964 following a debate in
Parliament in 1962. “[The]
then Home Minister Lal Baha-
dur Shastri set up a committee
to look into the matter [cor-
ruption in public administra-
tion] under the chairmanship
of MP K. Santhanam.”
The Santhanam Committee
identified four major causes:
administrative delays; gov-
ernment taking upon itself
more than what it could man-
age by way of regulatory func-
tions; scope for personal
discretion in exercise of pow-
ers vested in government ser-
vants; and cumbersome
procedures in dealing with
matters of importance to citi-
zens in their daily affairs.
“The sad reality is that none
of these problems have gone
away…,” said the President,
listing the anti-corruption
measures taken over the
years. “We have all been wit-
ness to the huge public outcry
over corruption in recent
times. The air is thick with de-
spair and cynicism … the fact
that corruption has proved to
be intractable should not
make us lose confidence in our
abilities to address this prob-
lem.”
Court in Goa on Tuesday
posted for hearing next week
the bail application by Te-
helka editor-in-chief Tarun
Tejpal, accused of sexually
assaulting a female
colleague.
In the written submission
moved before the High Court
last week, with a plea for re-
vision of last month’s order
of the District Sessions
Judge, who rejected Mr. Tej-
pal’s bail application, his
lawyers have argued that the
present offence was not a po-
litical offence, although it
was the applicant’s submis-
sion that the prosecution’s
attempt to keep the appli-
cant in custody was political.
When the case was men-
tioned on Tuesday, Judge
Mridula Bhatkar posted the
matter for next week.
Mr. Tejpal has challenged
the order of the District Ses-
sions Court, Panaji, to deny
bail, on a matter of law. Both
the matters will be taken to-
gether next week.
Mr. Tejpal is now in judi-
cial custody at the Sada Sub-
jail in Vasco.

AIBEA: Why
grudge us small
portion of profit?
Staff Reporter
CHENNAI: The striking bank
employees and officers are
seeking only a small percent-
age of gross profit and not the
entire profit, All India Bank
Employees’ Association gen-
eral secretary C.H. Venkata-
chalam said on Tuesday.
Leading a procession in
front of Syndicate Bank’s An-
na Salai branch here, he said
even if the management
agreed to give employees a
10% wage hike, it would work
out only to Rs.12,000 crore,
whereas the banks earned a
gross profit of Rs.1,21,917
crore in 2012-13. “Why are
they grudging the employees
just a small portion,” Mr. Ven-
katachalam asked.
Court reserves order on No relief to lazybones, SC tells High Courts
‘right to die with dignity’
Legal Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court
on Tuesday reserved verdict
on a public interest litigation
(PIL) petition seeking the
“right to die with dignity” for
terminally ill patients who are
likely to go into a vegetative
state.
In its petition, Common
Cause, a non-governmental
organisation, said that when a
medical expert opined that a
person with a terminal dis-
ease had reached the point of
no return, the patient should
be given the right to refuse
life-support systems. A three-
judge Bench, comprising
Chief Justice P. Sathasivam,
Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Jus-
tice Shiva Kirti Singh, re-
served verdict.
Appearing for the petition-
er, counsel Prashant Bhushan
submitted that those at the
end of their life and likely to
go into a state of terminal ill-
ness or permanent vegetative
state were deprived of their
right to refuse unwanted
treatment, such as being fed
through tubes and kept on
ventilator and other ma-
chines to prolong their life ar-
tificially. A person whose life
was ebbing away should be al-
lowed to die.
Opposing the petition, Ad-
ditional Solicitor-General
Siddharth Luthra said doctors
would be going against the
Hippocratic Oath if they re-
moved life support. The 16th
Law Commission was against
the proposal as it was liable to
be misused in India.
J. Venkatesan
NEW DELHI: The Supreme
Court has cautioned High
Courts against granting
relief to people knocking on
their doors belatedly. A
court is not expected to
indulge indolent persons
“who compete with
Kumbhakarna or, for that
matter Rip Van Winkle,”
said a Bench of Justices
H.L. Gokhale and Dipak
Misra. If the inordinate
delay in filing a petition was
not satisfactorily explained,
the High Court might
decline to intervene.
Writing the judgment,
Justice Misra said that as a
constitutional court, it had
a duty to protect the rights
of citizens. But when an
aggrieved person
approached it at his leisure
or pleasure, the court
would be under a legal
obligation to scrutinise
whether the lis at a belated
stage should be entertained
or not. “Be it noted, delay
comes in the way of
equity.”
In the instant case, T.T.
Murali Babu, who was
working in the Chennai
Metropolitan Water Supply
and Sewerage Board,
remained absent from
August 28, 1995 to March
31, 1997 without informing
the office, which treated
his absence as
unauthorised. Later, he
produced medical
certificates to prove that he
had been ill but the
CMWSSB refused to accept
his explanation and
dismissed him. A single
judge and a Division Bench
of the Madras High Court
ordered his reinstatement.
Allowing the CMWSSB’s
appeal against this
judgment, the Supreme
Court said Murali Babu
had exhibited an adamant
attitude, not responding to
the employer’s
communications during his
unauthorised absence. “As
it appears, he has chosen
his way, possibly nurturing
the idea that he could
remain absent for any
length of time, apply for
grant of leave any time and
knock at the doors of the
court at his own will after
four years … This kind of
conduct cannot be
countenanced as it ushers
in indiscipline in an
organisation,” the Bench
said, setting aside the High
Court order.

CM ND-ND
YK
 NATIONAL
NOIDA/DELHI

12 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014

Canada to open Consulate General in Bangalore

Staff Reporter
BANGALORE: Canada will open a
consulate general office in
Bangalore on February 26.
The office of the Consulate
General of Canada, to be locat-
ed at the World Trade Centre
in the city, will house a Visa
and Immigration Service point
serving the entire south India.
The services are expected to
commence by April, according
to officials in the High Com-
mission of Canada in New
Delhi.
The Consulate General’s of-
fice here, which will be third
one in India apart from the
offices functioning in Mumbai
and Chandigarh, is expected to
cater to not only Karnataka,
but also Andhra Pradesh, Ker-
ala, Tamil Nadu and Pudu-
cherry.
Canada has a consulate in
Chennai and trade offices in
Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and
Kolkata.
The office of the Consulate
General is scheduled for inau-
guration by the Governor Gen-
eral of Canada, David
Johnston during his visit to
the city.
Canada first established its
Trade Office here in 1996. The
Consulate General is expected
to reinforce Canada’s strong
commercial relations and
make future business easier
providing immigration and vi-
sa services, according to a
statement from the High Com-
mission.
With a large number of stu-
dents planning to go abroad
for higher studies, the new
Consulate General will also
help students from south In-
dia planning to study in educa-
tional institutions in Canada.

President
clears judges’
appointment
Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI: President Pranab

Mukherjee on Tuesday ap-
pointed the Chief Justices of
the Madras and Delhi High
Courts, Rajesh Kumar Agra-
wal and Nuthalapati Venkata-
 Ramana as judges of the apex
court.
They are likely to be sworn
in by Chief Justice of India P.
Sathasivam on February 17.

CM ND-ND
YK
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014
BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: Wang Yu-chi, head of
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (left), greets
Zhang Zhijun, director of China’s Taiwan Affairs
Office in Nanjing on Tuesday.
— PHOTO: AP
China, Taiwan
hold historic talks
Ananth Krishnan
BEIJING: Officials from China
and Taiwan on Tuesday held
their first official-level talks
since the end of the Chinese
civil war in 1949, underlining
the warming of ties across the
Taiwan Straits.
Officials met in the south-
ern Chinese city of Nanjing
on Tuesday, as Wang Yu-chi,
head of Taiwan’s mainland
affairs office, met with his
Chinese counterpart Zhang
Zhijun.
The talks are seen as an at-
tempt at building cross-Strait
relations and paving the way
for wider exchanges.
Ties between China and
Taiwan have warmed follow-
ing the election of Taiwan
President Ma Ying-jeou in
2008. Mr. Ma of the Kuomin-
tang (KMT) party stood on a
platform of boosting econom-
U.S., France united
against terror: Hollande
WASHINGTON: The U.S. and
France stand united in the
fight against terrorism and
nuclear proliferation, French
President Francois Hollande
said on Tuesday at the White
West trying to derail
Syria peace talks: Russia
Vladimir Radyuhin
MOSCOW: Russia has accused
the West of trying to derail
the Syria peace talks and re-
vert to the military scenario
of regime change in the vio-
lence-torn country.
Russia’s Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov blasted a West-
ern-backed draft resolution
in the U.N. Security Council
on the humanitarian crisis in
Syria as “absolutely one-sid-
ed and detached from
reality.”
“One gets the impression
that the humanitarian issue,
just as the issue of chemical
weapons not so long ago, is
being used to provide pre-
texts for subverting the polit-
Food crisis in CAR as traders flee
BANGUI: Violence in the Cen-
tral African Republic (CAR)
has forced many traders and
herders to flee, exacerbating
an already alarming food cri-
sis, relief groups said
Tuesday.
Oxfam and Action Contre
La Faim (ACF - Action
Against Hunger) said three
quarters of wholesalers in
Bangui had already fled.
NSA uses phone data for drone targeting
Narayan Lakshman
WASHINGTON: The Intercept, a
new publication by the
media organisation funded
by Ebay owner, billionaire
Pierre Omidyar, and led by
journalist Glenn Greenwald,
has revealed that the U.S. Na-
tional Security Agency (NSA)
is using “complex analysis of
electronic surveillance, rath-
er than human intelligence,
as the primary method to lo-
cate targets for lethal drone
strikes.”
Last year Mr. Greenwald
and his colleague and docu-
mentary filmmaker Laura
Poitras, who is also a staffer
at The Intercept, worked ex-
tensively with whistleblower
and former NSA contractor
Edward Snowden to expose a
wide range of surveillance
programs by the secretive
CM
YK
ic relations, and won re-elec-
tion in 2012, two years after
signing a landmark Economic
Cooperation Framework
Agreement (ECFA) with the
mainland.
Ties had largely been fro-
zen since 1949, when the
KMT under Chiang Kai-shek
and his supporters fled to the
island after losing to the
Communists in the Chinese
civil war.
China regards Taiwan as
part of its territory, although
both have been effectively
governed separately since
1949. Taiwan is still officially
known as the Republic of
China.
Previous contact between
both countries, including ne-
gotiation of the ECFA, was
carried out through non-offi-
cial bodies, keeping in mind
mutual sensitivities over
sovereignty.
House. Mr. Hollande also said
he and U.S. President Barack
Obama were working togeth-
er to resolve “crises in the
Middle East” including the
situation in Syria. — AFP
ical process [and] blaming the
regime in Damascus for ev-
erything in order to return to
the military scenario of re-
gime change,” Mr. Lavrov
said after talks with Algerian
Foreign Minister Ramtame
Lamamra on Tuesday.
“We think this is absolutely
counter-productive and ex-
pect everybody to concen-
trate on supporting
Geneva-2,” he added.
The Russian Foreign Min-
ister spoke as the second
round of Geneva-2 peace
talks, which opened on Mon-
day, tottered on the verge of
collapse, with the warring
sides accusing each other of
violating the ceasefire and at-
tacking aid convoys near the
“Most of Bangui’s food
trade relies on around 40
large-scale wholesalers who
import food from neighbour-
ing countries and resell on to
small traders,” a statement
said.
A study conducted by the
two groups showed that only
10 remained, less than a year
after a coup touched off a
deadly cycle of sectarian vio-
The CIA or
Pentagon orders
strikes “based on
the activity and
location of the
mobile phone a
person is believed
to be using.”
agency.
With the launch of the
‘First Look’ media organisa-
tion this week, however, they
appeared to rely on a new
source, a former drone oper-
ator for the U.S. military’s
Joint Special Operations
Command (JSOC) who also
worked with the NSA.
The unnamed source said
that rather than confirming a
12 killed as three grenades
rock Peshawar cinema
More than 50 people were watching a film
Meena Menon
ISLAMABAD: Three grenade
blasts inside a cinema hall in
Peshawar killed at least 12
persons and injured several
others on Tuesday.
News reports said the ex-
plosions took place inside
Shama cinema located in the
Bacha Khan chowk area and
there were more than 50 peo-
ple present. The grenades
were detonated in quick suc-
cession in the hall while peo-
ple were watching a film.
A report said the cinema
owners had been receiving
threats and the police had
asked them to increase secu-
rity and install CCTV
cameras.
This is the second attack on
a cinema house in the city.
Earlier on February 2, it was
Picture House which was
bombed, killing five persons.
More than 30 people were in-
jured at the cinema located in
Qissa Khawani bazaar. The
blasts took place during a
show of the film Ziddi Pak-
htun. Two hand grenades
Pakistan President to visit China
Meena Menon
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Presi-
dent Mamnoon Hussain will
pay an official visit to China
from February 18 to 20, an
official statement said on
Tuesday.
This is his first state visit
abroad after assuming office
and he will hold summit-level
talks with President Xi Jinp-
ing. He will also have meet-
ings with Premier Li Keqiang
and Zhang Dejiang, Chair-
man of the Standing Commit-
tee of the National People’s
Congress of China.
Soon after the announce-
besieged town of Homs.
Mr. Lavrov said Russia
would be ready to consider a
Security Council draft only if
it was not about “under-
mining the Geneva process
[and] levelling one-sided ac-
cusations against the
regime.”
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador
Vitaly Churkin said the Secu-
rity Council draft tabled by
Australia, Jordan and Lux-
embourg was “beyond re-
demption” and that Russia
would veto it if it was put to a
vote.
Over the past two years
Russia has blocked three
Western-backed resolutions
censuring the Syrian
government.
lence. “Even those remaining
said they would flee too if se-
curity does not improve
quickly,” the statement said.
Wholesalers said their sales
have plummeted up to 90 per
cent over the past two
months because people can-
not afford to buy food any-
more. Meat is also in short
supply because herders have
fled into the bush. — AFP
target’s identity with oper-
atives or informants on the
ground, the Central Intelli-
gence Agency or Pentagon
ordered strikes “based on the
activity and location of the
mobile phone a person is be-
lieved to be using.”
The Intercept’s source al-
so stated that innocent peo-
ple have “absolutely” been
killed as a result of the NSA’s
increasing reliance on the
surveillance tactic and some
targets, including senior Ta-
liban leaders, “have moved to
thwart the tactic.”
Specifically, the former
drone operator said, some
such Taliban bosses had “as
many as 16 different SIM
cards associated with their
identity within the High Val-
ue Target system... [and] oth-
ers, unaware that their
mobile phone is being target-
HORROR AT THEATRE: Pakistani rescue workers remove a body from the site of
a grenade attack at a cinema in Peshawar, on Tuesday. — PHOTO: AP
were hurled inside the cine- littered the floor of the hall
ma, which had at least a 100 after the blasts, an AFP re-
people inside it. porter at the scene said.
Akbar Khan (62), whose
Deafening blast
left arm and left thigh were
AFP reports: injured, told AFP from his
Scraps of human flesh, hospital bed that he was
blood-soaked shoes, and caps watching the movie when a
ment of the historic Pakistan-
China economic corridor, the
two countries have started
planning the implementation
of infrastructure projects.
This visit is a reiteration of
Pakistan’s commitment to es-
tablish close ties with its
long-standing strategic part-
ner, the statement said.
During the President’s vis-
it, the second meeting of the
Joint Cooperation Commit-
tee (JCC) of the Pakistan-
China Economic Corridor
will be held on February 18.
Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minis-
ter for Planning, Develop-
ment and Reform will lead
Rouhani calls for “fair” talks
TEHRAN: President Hassan
Rouhani called for “fair and
constructive” nuclear talks
on Tuesday as Iranians
marked the 35th anniversary
of the Islamic revolution
amid recent progress in nego-
tiations with world powers.
Mr. Rouhani, a moderate
elected last year on vows to
pursue a diplomatic solution
to the decade-long impasse
over Iran’s nuclear pro-
gramme, also warned that
Western nations should not
have “delusions” about hav-
ing a military option.
He spoke as hundreds of
thousands of people took to
the streets to mark the anni-
versary of the revolution that
ousted the U.S.-backed Shah,
with many railing against the
United States, still commonly
referred to as the “Great
Satan.”
Iran is set to resume talks
in Vienna next week with the
P5+1 group of world powers
on a comprehensive nuclear
accord following a landmark
interim agreement reached in
November in which it agreed
to curb some nuclear activ-
ities for sanctions relief.
But Tehran has laid out a
series of “red lines” regarding
the talks, and in a show of
defiance on the eve of the an-
niversary announced it had
successfully tested a long-
range missile and a laser-
guided projectile.
ed, lend their phone, with the
SIM card in it, to friends,
children, spouses and family
members.”
“As a result, even when the
agency correctly identifies
and targets a SIM card be-
longing to a terror suspect,
the phone may actually be
carried by someone else, who
is then killed in a strike,” he
added.
The revelations about the
NSA and CIA using mass sur-
veillance data for drone
strikes are not new, even if
some of the latest details are.
Last October, a report in
The Washington Post based
on documents made availa-
ble by Mr. Snowden a said
that it was the NSA’s eaves-
dropping on e-mails that led
to the killing of Hassan Ghul,
an al-Qaeda associate who
provided “a critical piece of
the Pakistan delegation to at-
tend the meeting. The JCC
will finalise the implementa-
tion of mutually agreed pro-
jects of the Economic
Corridor.
Economic cooperation be-
tween Pakistan and China has
expanded significantly in re-
cent years. Under a compre-
hensive framework Pakistan
and China have bilateral eco-
nomic cooperation in the
form of Joint Economic Com-
mission, Economic Coopera-
tion Group, Joint Energy
Working Group and a Joint
Investment Committee, be-
sides several other mecha-
SHOW OF DEFIANCE: Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani (centre) at a rally commemorating the
anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution in
Tehran on Tuesday. — PHOTO: AP
“Iran is committed to fair
and constructive negotia-
tions within the framework of
international regulations; we
hope to witness such a wil-
lingness in the other party in
the upcoming talks,” Mr.
Rouhani said in a speech
broadcast live on state televi-
sion. “I say explicitly, if some
have delusions of having any
threats against Iran on their
tables, they need to wear new
glasses. There is no military
option against Iran on any ta-
ble in the world,” he added.
Western nations have long
suspected Iran of covertly
intelligence that helped the
CIA” find Osama bin Laden,
in a drone strike in Pakis-
tan’s tribal belt in October
2012.
At the time Hina Shamsi,
National Security Project Di-
rector at the American Civil
Liberties Union told The
Hindu that it was impossible
for the public to evaluate the
rules that the government
had set up for itself if the
government insisted on
keeping virtually every as-
pect of them hidden.
However, the exposés,
based on Mr. Snowden’s doc-
uments, led to heightened
pressure from the U.S. Con-
gress on President Barack
Obama, compelling him to
recently announce a limited
review and reform the NSA’S
telephone surveillance
programmes.
deafening blast rocked the
auditorium. “It seemed like a
hot iron rod pierced through
my left arm and leg as I was
hit by ball bearings,” he said.
“I ran towards the gate,
from where I was taken to
hospital.”
nisms. The volume of trade
volume has crossed $ 12 bil-
lion, with Pakistan’s exports
increasing by 48 per cent.
CERN team calls on
Nawaz
Meanwhile Prime Minister
Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on
Tuesday said the Pakistan
government would like to
strengthen collaboration
with the European Organisa-
tion for Nuclear Research,
known as CERN, in future
and was looking forward to
becoming an associate mem-
ber of the organisation.
Mr. Sharif told a four-
pursuing nuclear weapons
alongside its civilian pro-
gramme, allegations denied
by Tehran, which insists its
nuclear activities are entirely
peaceful.
Mr. Rouhani delivered the
speech in honour of the anni-
versary at central Tehran’s
Azadi Square, where huge
crowds had gathered, many of
them chanting against the
United States.
“We don’t trust America.
All they want is to plunder
our wealth,” a 20-year-old
Bassij Islamic militia mem-
ber said. — AFP
China backs Sri Lanka
ahead of U.N. meet
Ananth Krishnan
BEIJING: China on Tuesday
lent its support to Sri Lanka
and said it opposed “interfe-
rence” in the country’s do-
mestic affairs, ahead of next
month’s meeting of the Unit-
ed Nations Human Rights
Council (UNHRC) where the
United States is expected to
put forward a resolution crit-
icising the island nation’s
post-war rights record.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minis-
ter G.L. Peiris, on an official
visit to Beijing, was assured of
Chinese support by his hosts
when the UNHRC meets in
March. China was, in Novem-
ber, among 14 countries
elected to serve on the 47-
member body, for a three-
year term.
INTERNATIONAL
GLOBESCAN
U.S. House votes for
‘Ukrainian people’s struggle’
WASHINGTON: The U.S. House
of Representatives on Mon-
day passed a resolution in
support of the people of Uk-
raine, urging all parties in
the former Soviet state to
work for peace.
The text, adopted in a
381-2 vote, says that the
House supports “the Ukrai-
nian people’s struggle to
build an independent, dem-
ocratic, and strong Ukraine
that is free from foreign
meddling.”
The ex-Soviet nation of
Child star Shirley Temple dead
LOS ANGELES: Actress Shirley
Temple Black, who rose to
fame as a Hollywood child
star, has died at the age of
85, U.S. media said on
Tuesday.
ABC News and CNN, cit-
ing her agent, said she died
on Monday night in her
California home of natural
causes, surrounded by her
family and caregivers.
She is survived by her
three children Lori, Charlie
and Linda.
She starred in more than
40 movies, most of them
member delegation of CERN
which called on him that the
engineering base and experi-
ence of high precision manu-
facturing enabled Pakistan to
make a significant contribu-
tion to the CERN pro-
gramme, a statement from
the Prime Minister’s Office
said.
Mr. Sharif said the govern-
ment was fully committed to
enhancing Pakistan’s scien-
tific exchange through coop-
eration with the
international scientific com-
munity. Mr. Sharif had can-
celled a scheduled visit to
CERN in January.
Koirala assumes office
Damakant Jayshi
KATHMANDU: Newly elected
Prime Minister of Nepal
Sushil Koirala assumed office
on Monday with his major
backer refusing to join the
government over disagree-
ment over key Cabinet
berths.
Mr. Koirala was adminis-
tered the oath of office and
secrecy by President Ram Ba-
ran Yadav amid boycott by
CPN-UML which had, on
Sunday, agreed to join the
government led by the Nepali
Congress president. The
UML, which has emerged as a
close second to the NC after
the November election, ac-
cused the NC of treating it as
a subordinate and not an
equal partner.
Prime Minister Koirala,
elected with a big majority in
Parliament on Monday, later
administered the oath of of-
fice to his party colleague and
former finance and foreign
minister, Ram Sharan Mahat.
Mr. Mahat is a minister with-
out portfolio.
“My government’s priori-
ties are peace, democracy and
development,” the Prime
Minister told mediapersons
at his office at Singha Durbar.
Mr. Mahat told The Hindu
that his party would try to
persuade the UML to join the
government.
“We will try and persuade
them to join the government
Chinese Foreign Minister
Wang Yi told him during talks
on Tuesday that China “op-
poses some countries’ inter-
ference in the internal affairs
of Sri Lanka under the pretext
of human rights issues,” Xin-
hua quoted him as saying.
Although Mr. Wang did not
appear to directly refer to ei-
ther the U.S. resolution or
next month’s meeting, he said
China “backs the Sri Lankan
government in safeguarding
national independence, sov-
ereignty and territorial integ-
rity” and in “the Sri Lankan
people’s wisdom and capacity
to handle their own affairs.”
He also highlighted Sri
Lanka’s importance toward
building a “maritime silk
road” connecting the Pacific
and Indian oceans.
13
46 million people has been
in chaos since November
when President Viktor Ya-
nukovych ditched a historic
EU trade and political pact
in favour of closer ties with
Moscow, stunning pro-EU
parts of the population and
sparking violent protests.
Since then, what started out
as a localised, domestic
bout of unrest has snow-
balled into a titanic tussle
for Ukraine’s future be-
tween Russia and the West.
— AFP
before the age of 12.
Later in life, she battled
breast cancer.
She also served as U.S.
ambassador to Ghana and
the then Czechoslovakia, as
well as the U.S. representa-
tive to the United Nations.
— AFP
Emergency polio
drive in Kabul
KABUL: Afghanistan has
launched an emergency polio
vaccination campaign in Ka-
bul after a girl contracted the
disease, the city’s first case
since the Taliban were ousted
in 2001. The three-year-old
from a nomadic family was
diagnosed after being admit-
ted to hospital in neighbour-
ing Pakistan, a spokesman for
the Afghan public health min-
istry said Tuesday. “After
this, we launched an emer-
gency polio campaign in Ka-
bul and luckily so far, we have
not found any other cases of
polio,” he said. — AFP
and we hope they do,” he
said. Mr. Mahat, who repre-
sented NC in its talks with
the UML, declined to talk
about the dispute over Cabi-
net berths.
Meanwhile, the Prime
Minister directed the Trib-
huwan University (TU) au-
thorities to appoint a Dean to
the Institute of Medicine at
the TU Teaching Hospital
within 24 hours. Doctors at
the hospital on Tuesday stop-
ped all services except emer-
gency against the TU
Executive Council decision’s
to appoint a controversial fig-
ure as TUTH acting head and
the delay in appointing a
Dean of the IoM.
Regmi steps down as
Chief Justice
Chief Justice of the Su-
preme Court of Nepal who
was heading a caretaker gov-
ernment that was formed to
conduct the Constituent As-
sembly election resigned his
judiciary post on Tuesday.
In a televised address to
the nation, Chief Justice Khil
Raj Regmi expressed happi-
ness over the successful com-
pletion of the task the
technocrat government has
been entrusted with – hold-
ing the election last year.
The turnout in the Novem-
ber 19 election, despite calls
of boycott and violence by a
radical communist party, was
more than 75 per cent.
Plane with 103
crashes in
Algeria
ALGIERS: A military aircraft
carrying 103 people crashed
in Algeria’s mountainous
northeast on Tuesday, with a
sole survivor found from one
of the country’s deadliest air
disasters, security and emer-
gency officials said.
The C-130 Hercules air-
craft, which crashed in the
Oum El Bouaghi region, was
carrying 99 passengers — sol-
diers and their families — as
well as four crew members, a
security source told AFP.
“We have found a survivor
and the search continues,”
emergency services official
Colonel Farid Nechad told
public radio.
The emergency services
have so far recovered 71 bod-
ies from the crash site. — AFP
ND-ND
 NOIDA/DELHI

14 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014

BUSINESS
BRIEFLY
Centre’s conciliation
Court declines
Dip in gold, silver imports
helps narrow trade deficit
Spectrum bids
realise
Rs.58,980 cr

talks with Vodafone fail

to suspend
Tata-AirAsia deal
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High
Court, on Tuesday, refused
to suspend the
operationalisation of deal
between Tata Sons and
Malaysia-based AirAsia to
create a low-cost airline.
Chief Justice N. V. Ramana
and Justice Rajiv Sahai
Endlaw, refusing to grant
interim suspension of
operationalisation of the
$30-million deal, said: “We
are not inclined to grant
interim relief. However, we
are granting expeditious
hearing of the case.” The
court has posted the plea of
Bharatiya Janata Party
leader Subramanian
Swamy for March 6. — PTI
Fed to stay course on
taper, says Yellen
WASHINGTON: New Federal
Reserve chair Janet Yellen,
on Tuesday, said she had
no plans to change
monetary policy from that
mapped out by her
predecessor Ben Bernanke.
In her first comments on
the U.S. central bank’s path
forward after she took the
Tax Department to pursue the demand notice
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Unable to reach
any breakthrough in the on-
going talks with Vodafone in
the Rs.20,000-crore tax dis-
pute, the Union Finance Min-
istry is learnt to have decided
to withdraw its conciliation
proposal and move ahead
with the collection of the levy
from the U.K.-based telecom
major for making capital
gains while acquiring Hutchi-
son Whampoa’s stake in
Hutchison Essar in 2007.
The Union Finance Minis-
try has floated a Cabinet note
seeking to withdraw the con-
ciliation process with Voda-
fone International Holdings
BV.
The move comes after the
Finance Ministry’s proposal
to withdraw the conciliation
process was supported by the
Law Ministry. Now, after the
Limits set on banks’ exposure
Cabinet’s nod, the Income-
tax Department would pur-
sue the tax demand notice
that has been kept in abey-
ance in view of the concilia-
tion talks, which were given a
go ahead by the Cabinet in
June last year, government
sources said.
While the basic tax demand
raised by the I-T Department
is to the tune of Rs.7,990
crore, the penalty and ac-
crued interest has taken this
figure to Rs.20,000 crore.
Sources said the insistence on
the part of Vodafone India to
club a separate Rs.3,700 crore
transfer-pricing case of its
BPO firm, Vodafone India
Services, with the capital
gains tax issue led to the
stalemate after the Finance
Ministry refused to budge.
The I-T Department had
slapped another notice on the
telecom firm regarding the
transfer-pricing case where
Vodafone allegedly issued un-
dervalued shares in its BPO
arm to Vodafone Teleservices
Mauritius in 2007-08.
Efforts made by The Hindu
to get an official reaction
from Vodafone on the issue
did not materialise till the
time of filing the story. Nota-
bly, in June last year, the Cab-
inet had approved
non-binding conciliation
with the U.K.-based telecom
major under the Indian ar-
bitration law and not under
the United Nations Commis-
sion on International Trade
Law (UNCITRAL), as sought
by Vodafone.
Significantly, after the Su-
preme Court ruled in Voda-
fone’s favour in the tax case in
2012, the Centre subsequent-
ly made amends in the law to
make retrospective tax claims
on concluded deals.
NEW DELHI: Exports grew by a
meagre 3.79 per cent in Janu-
ary to $26.7 billion, but im-
ports, particularly gold and
silver, declined, narrowing
the trade deficit sharply to
$9.92 billion in the month.
The deficit was $18.9 bil-
lion in January, 2013.
Director General of For-
eign Trade Anup Pujari said
export growth was in single
digit because of a decline in
outbound shipments of major
products — gems and jewel-
lery and petroleum.
“Petroleum products and
gems and jewellery have
shown a decline in exports. As
a result, when my major two
things among the top four are
showing decline, exports are
not going far,” he said.
Gold and silver imports de-
clined by 77 per cent to $1.72
billion in January, mainly due
to restrictions imposed by the
government on inbound ship-
ments of the precious metal
for narrowing the current ac-
count deficit.
Imports of gold and silver
in January, 2013, stood at
Sharma defends solar mission’s
Exports register a
meagre 3.79 %
growth in January
$7.49 billion. In December
2013, imports were worth
$1.77 billion.
Imports of the two metals
during April-January, 2014
too declined by 37.8 per cent
to $27 billion from $46.7 bil-
lion in April-January, 2013.
Exports of petroleum prod-
ucts and gems as well as jew-
ellery during the month
under reference contracted
by 13.1 per cent and 9.39 per
cent, respectively.
Imports fell by 18.07 per
cent to $36.6 billion in Janu-
ary. Oil imports too declined
by 10.1 per cent to $13.18 bil-
lion during the month under
review.
The Federation of Indian
Export Organisations (FIEO)
expressed serious concerns
over the declining trend in ex-
ports from October, 2013, on-
wards. — PTI
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The spectrum auc-
tion seems to be coming to an
end as on the eighth day of the
ongoing process on Tuesday,
there was no major change in
the bidding prices in the three
metro circles of Delhi, Mum-
bai and Kolkata where the
premium 900 MHz band ra-
dio waves are available, while
in the 1800 MHz band activity
was registered in at least five
of the 22 telecom circles.
Almost Rs.400 crore were
added to the total biding pric-
es on Tuesday, taking the to-
tal collections to at least over
Rs.58,980 crore —
Rs.35,390.67 crore in the
1800 MHz band and
Rs.23,589.62 crore in the 900
MHz band. In the 1800 MHz
band, positive demand was
seen in at least three telecom
circles — Assam, Delhi and
Maharashtra.
In the 900 MHz band,
against the reserve price of
Rs.360 crore per MHz in Del-
hi, the provisional bid has re-
ached Rs.746.96 crore, while
in Mumbai, it went up to
Rs.563 crore against the re-
serve price of Rs.328 crore
and in Kolkata at Rs.194.63
crore against Rs.125 crore.

helm on February 1, Ms.

Yellen said the Fed would
continue to slowly reel in
its huge stimulus while
keeping a close eye on the
labour market, where
recovery remained ‘far
from complete’.
“I expect a great deal of
continuity in the Federal
Open Market Committee’s
(FOMC) approach to
monetary policy,’’ she told
the Financial Services
Committee of the U.S.
House of Representatives,
referring to the Fed’s
policy body, the FOMC. “I
served on the committee as
we formulated our current
policy strategy, and I
strongly support that
strategy,’’ she said,
according to the prepared
text of her testimony. —
AFP
to intra-group transactions
Special Correspondent
MUMBAI: While stipulating
prudential limits on banks’
exposure to intra-group
transactions and exposures —
single and group — the Re-
serve Bank of India (RBI), on
Tuesday, said that these gui-
delines would be effective
from October 1.
For a single group entity,
the RBI prescribed a limit of 5
per cent of paid-up capital
and reserves in the case of
non-financial companies and
unregulated financial servic-
es companies and 10 per cent
of paid-up capital and re-
serves in the case of regulated
financial services companies.
For aggregate group expo-
sure, the limit would be 10 per
cent of the paid-up capital
and reserves in the case of all
non-financial companies and
unregulated financial servic-
es companies taken together.
It would be 20 per cent of the
paid-up capital and reserves
in the case of the group — all
group entities (financial and
non-financial) taken
together.
“Banks should submit data
on intra-group exposures to
the RBI from the quarter end-
ing December 31, 2014,” said
the RBI in a notification .
In case a bank’s current in-
tra-group exposure is more
than the limits stipulated in
the guidelines, “it should
bring down the exposure
within the limits at the earli-
est but not later than March
31, 2016,” said the RBI, add-
ing, “the exposure beyond
permissible limits subse-
quent to March 31, 2016,
would be deducted from
Common Equity Tier-1 cap-
ital of the bank.”
The guidelines may be re-
viewed by the RBI as and
when the guidance on Intra-
Group Transactions and Ex-
posures (ITEs) is issued by
the Basel Committee on
Banking Supervision.
focus on domestic content
MUMBAI: Defending the solar
mission’s focus on domestic
content requirement, Com-
merce Minister Anand Shar-
ma, on Tuesday, said India
would deal ‘appropriately’
with the U.S. contention of
Indian ‘protectionism’ at the
World Trade Organization
(WTO).
“India will respond ade-
quately at the WTO,” Mr.
Sharma told reporters here
on Tuesday.
On Monday, the U.S. chal-
lenged ‘domestic content’ re-
quirement in the solar
mission, alleging that it is
‘discriminatory’ and against
international norms, includ-
dia has to create domestic
manufacturing capacities. In-
dia must have those capac-
ities. Otherwise, we will end
up importing for the rest of
our lives,” Mr. Sharma said,
adding that the solar mission
also involved heavy subsidies
and public money should not
be used pay for imports.
Mr. Sharma also hinted
that India might respond to
the U.S. action with a counter
Anand Sharma application. “We may also
have some issues, even with
ing WTO laws, and badly af- regard to the solar mission.
fects the American domestic We may also have an applica-
solar panel manufacturing tion that we may move to the
industry. WTO,” he said, without spec-
“We are also clear that In- ifying details. —PTI
Tata Steel back
in black in Q3
Special Correspondent
MUMBAI: Despite continuing
challenging market condi-
tions, Tata Steel on Tuesday
announced a consolidated net
profit of Rs. 503 crore for the
third quarter ended Decem-
ber 2013, against a loss of Rs.
763 crore in the correspond-
ing period of the previous
year. The consolidated turn-
over stood at Rs. 36,736 crore
(Rs .36,645 crore) and the op-
erating profit at Rs. 3,921
crore (Rs. 2,252 crore).
In a statement, Koushik
Chatterjee, Group Executive
Director (Finance & Corpo-
rate) said, “the market condi-
tions continue to be
challenging in all geographies

Compat to hear
CIL appeal
NEW DELHI: The Competition
Appellate Tribunal
(Compat), on Tuesday,
adjourned the hearing on
the petition filed by Coal
India Ltd. (CIL),
challenging the Rs.1,773-
crore penalty slapped by
the Competition
Commission of India (CCI)
to April 16. Meanwhile,
both the sides — CCI and
CIL — will complete the
process of filing their
replies and rejoinder over
the petition. — PTI
House panel rejects
Micro Finance Bill
NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary
panel, on Tuesday, rejected
the Bill on micro finance
institutions, which sought
to empower the Reserve
Bank of India to regulate
them and fix interest rates
ceiling on loans to be
provided by MFIs.
The decision to return the
Bill to Parliament was
taken by the Parliamentary
Standing Committee on
Finance, headed by senior
BJP leader Yashwant Sinha
here at its meeting. The Bill
was introduced in the Lok
Sabha in December, 2012,
and was referred to the
committee for scrutiny. —
PTI
First Indian to head
ADB tribunal
CHENNAI: Lakshmi
Swaminthan, who hails
from Chennai, has been
elected as the President of
the Administrative
Tribunal of the Asian
Development Bank (ADB).
She will be the first Indian
to head the Tribunal, and
her tenure will be for three
years, says a release.
Prior to this appointment,
she was a member of the
Tribunal, and has also been
its Acting President since
August, 2013. Ms.
Swaminathan was the
Vice-Chairman at the
principal bench of the
Central Administrative
Tribunal in New Delhi.
—Special Correspondent
CM
YK
USFDA plans to hold
workshops across India
NEW DELHI: The U.S. health reg-
ulator plans to conduct work-
shops across India in the next
one year to sanitise Indian
drug companies about the
changing quality require-
ments in the American
market.
The matter came up during
Ranbaxy rejects
sabotage theory
NEW DELHI: Rejecting
sabotage theory at the
Toansa plant, which faces
ban from the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration
(USFDA), drug major
Ranbaxy, on Tuesday,
denied blaming the
company’s voluntary
retirement scheme
(VRS) for the problem it
faces.
“... I do not support
sabotage theory for the
Toansa plant. I have
never said the problem is
on account of the VRS,
this is the official position
that I have maintained. I
will maintain that,”
Ranbaxy CEO and
Managing Director Arun
Sawhney told reporters
here. — PTI
Nestle drops control option over L'Oreal
PARIS: Swiss food giant Nestle
is to sell a chunk of its shares
in French cosmetics giant
L’Oreal, the firms said on
Tuesday, in a signal that Nes-
tle has dropped the option of
a takeover.
L’Oreal is to buyback a
stake of 8 per cent from Nes-
tle, which at present owns
29.4 per cent.
The biggest L’Oreal share-
holder is the daughter of the
founder, 91-year-old Liliane
Bettencourt. The family
holds 30.6 per cent.
There were deep concerns
in French government circles
that the Bettencourt family
could pass control to the
Swiss group. The deal be-
tween these two titans in
their industries is worth 6.5
billion euro ($8.9 billion) and
a meeting between chief ex-
ecutives of drug companies
and U.S. Food and Drug Ad-
ministration (USFDA) Com-
missioner Margaret A months on Monday after bit-
Hamburg.
Wockhardt Chairman Ha-
bil Khorakiwala said the plan
to conduct workshops in In-
dia was part of the USFDA’s
strategy to let Indian compa-
nies be more aware of the
changes happening in the U.S.
in terms of the requirement
for quality.
“One of their (USFDA) ob-
jectives is to sensitise here in
India about these changes. In
fact, the USFDA is planning a
workshop over the next one
year at 3-4 locations to clarify
what are the new require-
ments and what are the ex-
pectations of the USFDA”,
Mr. Khorakiwala told report-
ers here.
During the meeting, which
was attended by chiefs of
pharma companies, including
Ranbaxy Chief Executive Of-
ficer and Managing Director
Arun Sawhney, Sun Pharma
Founder and Managing Di-
rector Dilip Shanghvi and Mr.
Khorakiwala, the Indian dele-
gation asked the U.S. regula-
tor team to continue with the
high-level interactions. —
PTI
answers some burning ques-
tions about the strategies of
the two groups.
L’Oreal will finance half of
the cost by selling its share in
a joint venture, the firms an-
nounced on Tuesday. The two
companies have been linked
for 40 years, but a deadline
for a decision on the strategic
tie-up was due to fall in April.
Nestle had undertaken not
to increase its stake while Ms.
Bettencourt was still alive.
Nestle is cash rich and had
Bitcoin plunges after marketplace
indefinitely halts withdrawals
NEW YORK: The price of digital
currency bitcoin slid to its
lowest level in nearly two
coin digital marketplace Mt.
Gox said a halt on withdraw-
als it announced on Friday
would continue indefinitely
after it detected ‘unusual ac-
SC asks SEBI to verify title deeds of Sahara
J. Venkatesan
NEW DELHI: With the Securities
and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) informing the Court
that Sahara Group had failed
to produce bank statements
to show that it had refunded
the deposits to the investors,
the Supreme Court, on Tues-
day, asked SEBI to verify the
title deeds offered by Sahara
for Rs.19,000 crore and to
find out whether they are
“saleable” or not.
During the resumed hear-
ing before a bench of Justices
K. S. Radhakrishnan and J. S.
Khehar, senior counsel Ar-
vind P. Datar, appearing for
SEBI, submitted that Sahara
had not furnished any bank
statements as directed by the
court earlier. Instead, it had
no pressing need for the mon-
ey it will receive for reducing
its stake. But until now it had
never revealed its hand over
its strategic options, ranging
from a complete withdrawal
to a takeover.
When completed, the buy-
back of an 8 per cent stake in
L’Oreal will leave Nestle with
23.29 per cent, but the stake
owned by the founding Be-
ttencourt family will rise
from 30.6 per cent to 33.1 per-
cent. — AFP
tivity’. The bitcoin price var-
ied dramatically from one
exchange to another, with To-
kyo-based Mt. Gox, the best
known operator of a bitcoin
digital marketplace, record-
ing one of the biggest drops
for the day.
On the Mt. Gox platform,
Posts the matter
for further
hearing to
February 20
offered voluminous docu-
ments to show that the two
companies, which had been
asked to refund the money,
had got cash deposits in
crores from sister concerns,
and had paid them back to
investors, he said.  and June 2012, the group had
“They have given us every-
thing except what we want.
First they said, don’t ask for
money, the assets are there;
then they said the assets had
been sold and the money re-
funded. When we asked: ‘Who
did you sell to? Show us the
flow of money and payments,’
Maruti loses No.2 car exporter tag
G. Balachandar
CHENNAI: Nissan has displaced
Maruti to become the second-
largest passenger car expor-
ter from India. Hyundai re-
mains the number one car
exporter.
Nissan has been shipping
more India-built cars than
Maruti in the past two
months, and it has now
emerged as the second big ex-
porter of cars with its total
volumes standing at 94,931
units when compared with
Maruti’s exports of 79,945
units in the first 10 months of
current fiscal. In the year-ago
period, Nissan and Maruti ex-
ported 80,867 units and
95,526 units, respectively.
“Maruti’s exports have
been impacted recently by a
the currency plunged to as
low as $500 early on Monday,
down more than 27 per cent
from Friday’s final price of
$692, according to the Mt.
Gox website. It last traded at
$595.74, off nearly 14 per cent
from Friday.
However, the price of bit-
they said: ‘Everything has
been paid in cash, there are
no bank statements,” the con-
sul said. He pointed out that
all inter-entity transfers must
be made by cheques, also any
loans and advances must also
be paid by cheques. He said
that though a sum of
Rs.25,199 crore was collected
by way of cash from sister
concerns, a sum of Rs.29,878
crore was shown to have been
refunded. He said during May
received Rs.16,700 crore in
cash and claimed it had re-
paid it to investors, which was
quite unbelievable as it took
three years to collect these
deposits.
Justice Radhakrishnan ob-
served that as per RBI regu-
lation, all cash transactions
change in the homologation
norms in the key Algerian
market. Also, several African
countries have imposed non-
tariff barriers by signing a
preferential import duty
agreement with European
players. It expects exports to
remain under pressure for
the next two-to-three quar-
ters,’’ says Sneha Venkatra-
man, analyst-automobiles,
HDFC Securities Ltd. Nissan
has been shipping its compact
car Micra and sedan Sunny,
built at the Renault-Nissan
alliance manufacturing unit
at Oragadam near Chennai. It
is exporting to over 100 coun-
tries, including Europe, Afri-
ca and Middle East. It is
reported to have exported
over 330,000 units till date.
Though the domestic car
coin recovered to $609 in
early trade on Tuesday.
The bitcoin in recent
months started to gain wider
acceptance with Overstock-
.com and the Sacramento
Kings basketball team both
saying they would begin to ac-
cept the currency. — Reuters
could not be made in cash as
transactions above certain
value had to be through
cheques only. He said “since
no one was complaining, it
should possibly assume that
all investors had been paid
and were happy.”
The Bench, while posting
the matter for further hearing
to February 20, asked SEBI to
verify the title deeds of prop-
erties submitted by Sahara, as
value for the amount due to
the investors.
It also wanted SEBI to give
the sequence of events, as to
when Sahara first began re-
funding the money directly,
and when they told the court
that they had refunded the
amount and the contradic-
tions in the stand from time
to time.
market is going through its
worst phase with plummeting
sales, exports continue to
maintain some momentum
with a marginal growth. Over
all passenger vehicle exports,
however, have seen a rise of
seven per cent, driven by a
significant growth in exports
of utility vehicles. During
Apri 2013-January 2014, total
PV exports stood at 491,882
units (including car exports
of 460,711 units). Hyundai
shipped 2.04 lakh units dur-
ing this period. Many global
brands have made Indian op-
erations as their manufactur-
ing hub for small cars and
have been attempting to sell
India-built cars in more mar-
kets in view of the slump in
domestic sales as also to take
advantage of weak rupee.
with contracted spreads be-
tween steel realisations and
raw material prices. We have
been able to stabilise the
gross debt levels excluding
the translation impact even
as we continue to execute the
planned capex especially on
the greenfield project in Od-
isha which remains a key pri-
ority for the company.”
Sensex trims
early gains
MUMBAI: The S&P BSE Sensex
on Tuesday trimmed its early
gains to a mere 29 points and
closed at 20363.37 dragged
down by shares of RIL after
the Delhi Government or-
dered filing of criminal case
against RIL chief Mukesh
Ambani. The NSE 50-share
Nifty moved up by 9.25 points
to 6062.70.
Rupee up 21 paise
The rupee on Tuesday rose
21 paise, logging its best daily
gain in two weeks, to end at
62.22 a dollar after trade gap
narrowed in January and the
dollar fell ahead of Fed Re-
serve chief Janet Yellen’s tes-
timony to U.S. Congress.
Fresh dollar selling by expor-
ters and some banks also
helped rupee close in the pos-
itive terrain.— PTI
Ashok Varadhan
to co-head
Goldman Sachs’
securities division
NEW YORK: Indian-origin Ash-
ok Varadhan has been ap-
pointed co-head of the
Goldman Sachs’ securities di-
vision, the largest and most
profitable of the global invest-
ment bank’s four units.
Mr. Varadhan, 41, is now
the head of macro trading in
Goldman’s Securities Divi-
sion, and will join Isabelle Ea-
let and Pablo Salame as
co-head of the Securities Di-
vision. In an internal memo,
Goldman’s Chief Executive
Lloyd Blankfein said, Mr. Va-
radhan had been an “effective
voice on a number of firm-
wide, regional and divisional
committees.” —PTI
ND-ND
NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014 BUSINESS 15

SNIPPETS
Everest Spices to set up unit in Zanzibar
IT exports to grow 13-15 % in 2014-15: Nasscom
MUMBAI: Everest Spices has signed an MoU with Zanzibar On the back of a revival in consumer confidence and pick-up in discretionary spending
to set up its first overseas spices manufacturing unit in
the African country. The MoU was signed on the occasion Special Correspondent cent at Rs. 1,910 billion. Nass- journeyed from hardware to presents our industry with new markets and driving Europe— which is estimated
of the visit of Ali Mohammed Shein, President of com said the industry added enterprise software to digital rapid growth prospects. India innovation.” to grow at 14 per cent in
Zanzibar, to the production facility of Everest Spices in MUMBAI: A gradual revival in 160,000 employees during solutions becoming an inte- is now becoming home to a The U.S. continues to be FY’14. “The need of the hour
Mumbai. The unit, expected to come up in three years, consumer confidence, leading the year, and provided direct gral part of every industry,” new breed of start-up compa- the largest geographic market is to prioritize domains based
will involve an investment Rs.100 crore, Everest Spices to a return of discretionary employment to 3.1 million K. Natarajan, Chairman, nies focused on high growth for Indian IT exports, ac- on potential size, market
top executives said. The company exports 10 per cent of spending and increased de- people and indirect employ- NASSCOM, said in a state- areas such as mobility, e- counting for 62 per cent, but readiness and the growing
its products to the U.S., the Middle East, Singapore, mand from the U.S. and Eu- ment to 10 million people. ment. commerce and other vertical the highlight of the year will significance of policy evolu-
Australia, New Zealand and East Africa. — Special rope, is expected to see “Technology itself has “This evolving landscape specific solutions – creating be revival in demand from tion,” R. Chandrashekhar,
Correspondent Indian IT exports grow 13-15 President of NASSCOM, said.
per cent in 2014-15 to reach “Going forward, the industry

Skoda launches new Superb

$97-99 billion.
Figures released by Na-
tional Association of Soft-
NEW DELHI: Czech auto-maker Skoda, has launched the ware & Service companies
new generation of its premium executive sedan Superb, (Nasscom) said the overall
priced between Rs.18.87 lakh and Rs.25.20 lakh (ex- Indian software and BPO in-
showroom, New Delhi). The new Superb is available in dustry will add revenues of
petrol and diesel options. While the petrol variant is $13-14 billion to existing in-
powered by a 1.8 litre engine, the diesel one has a 2 litre dustry revenues of $118 bil-
engine. It will compete with the likes of Hyundai Sonata lion.
and Toyota Camry. Talking to reporters on the sidelines Domestic revenues for the
of the launch, Skoda Auto India Chairman and Managing period will grow at 9-12 per
Director Sudhir Rao said the company was at present cent and reach Rs. 1250-1280
focusing on building a financially sustainable business billion during this year.
model. As a result, organisational restructuring was being During FY’14, industry’s
implemented to make it leaner and improve after-sales exports are estimated to grow
service. The company also plans to re-enter the small car 13 per cent at $86 billion, with
segment as well. — Staff Reporter domestic revenues up 9.7 per
GOP views may speed up immigration reform
Anuj Srivas
CHENNAI: A set of immigration
principles recently released
by U.S GOP (Grand Old
Party/Republican)
lawmakers have prompted
IT industry executives and
analysts to hope that U.S
immigration reform will
pick up pace this year after
being delayed by the
government shutdown last
year.
Republican leaders have
released a broad framework
for immigration reform that
builds on the Skills Visa
Act— a House Bill that is
more favourable for Indian
IT companies such as
Infosys.
“The Republicans have
released a new immigration
‘statement of principles’
that recognizes the need for
high-skilled immigrations to
help fuel U.S business
growth,” said R.
Chandrasekaran, Executive
Vice-Chairman, Cognizant
India. “Some believe this
development signals a
continued desire by
American lawmakers to
consider immigration
reform sometime this year.
We support reform that will
increase the cap on H1-B
visas… we need to wait and
see how that plays out,” he
added. In a section that
covers the H-1B visa, one
principle states that the
“goal of any temporary
worker program should be
to address the economic
needs of the country.”
Daniel Costa, immigration
policy analyst, Economic
Policy Institute, is
optimistic about U.S
immigration reform
happening in 2014.
“Although it is far from a
concrete proposal, the
standards released give us a
hint of what the Republican
caucus might be willing to
vote on,” he said.
mantra will be to ‘collaborate,
connect, co-create’—offering
a specifically tailored model
for each specialized domain
in the IT-Business Process
Management (BPM) sector.”
“The future looks exciting
and positive as the IT-BPM
industry is evolving dramat-
ically in terms of scale and
complexity,” R. Chandrasek-
aran, Vice-Chairman, NASS-
COM, said in a statement.
“The sector will leverage col-
laboration, innovation, tech-
nology shifts and build a
transformational agenda for
India. ”

Wabag bets big on desalination, Dr. Reddy’s Q3 net profit up 70 per cent
recycling of water projects Our Bureau

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories CORPORATE RESULTS

Special Correspondent
MUMBAI: VA Tech Wabag, the
Chennai headquartered wa-
ter treatment company, hav-
ing bagged Rs.3,000 crore
worth of new orders in the
first nine months this year, is
seeing large opportunities in
sea water desalination and
municipal waste water recy-
cling projects across India
and abroad.
“We are seeing large oppor-
tunities for alternative source
of water that is sea water de-
salination and reuse of mu-
nicipal waste water. This
opportunity is emerging very
rapidly” Rajiv Mittal, Manag-
ing Director, VA Tech Wabag,
told The Hindu.
“Chennai has gone far
ahead in both these areas. To-
day, almost 25 per cent of
Chennai’s population is using
desalinated water for drink-
nancial terms, he said many
coastal states such as Gujarat,
Andhra Pradesh and Kerala
were planning big desalina-
tion plants. Similarly, all mu-
nicipalities in Tier-1 cities
such as Mumbai and Delhi
were rapidly scaling up the
reuse of municipal waste wa-
ter for consumption in indus-
trial and construction sectors
as well as for consumption by
animals. Apart from India,
Wabag is finding large mar-
Rajiv Mittal kets in the Middle East, North
Africa, sub-Saharan region
ing, and this ratio will go up to and Latin America. “In Asia,
50 per cent soon. The city is we are rapidly growing in Ne-
also talking about using treat- pal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
ed municipal waste water in Vietnam, the Philippines and
large scale for use in con- Malaysia,” Mr. Mittal said.
struction. Chennai today has For the quarter ended De-
emerged as an example for cember 31, 2013, the company
the rest of the country where reported a net profit of
water scarcity is acute,” Mr. Rs.21.41 crore as compared to
Mittal said. Without quanti- Rs.10.04 crore in the year-ago
fying the opportunity in fi- period.
Limited (DRL) has posted a
robust 70 per cent higher
profit after tax at Rs.618 crore
in the third quarter ended
December 31, 2013, against
Rs.363 crore in the year ago
period.
Total income was also up
by 23.3 per cent at Rs.3,551
crore against Rs.2,888 crore.
The earnings before interest,
tax, depreciation and amor-
tisaton (EBITDA) margin was
also up from 20.6 per cent to
29.5 per cent.
“The company has crossed
Rs.1,000 crore EBITDA for
the first time which is a land-
mark achievement for us,”
said the company CFO Sau-
men Chakraborty.
Revenues from global ge-
nerics from the North Amer-
ican market were up by 76 per
cent and touched Rs.1,622
crore. Total revenues from
global generics were
Rs.2,939.6 crore as compared
to Rs.2,082 crore.
The emerging markets, in-
cluding Russia and CIS, too,
have registered 25 per cent
growth at Rs.740 crore reve-
nue for the quarter.
Aditya Birla Nuvo
Aditya Birla Nuvo reported
a 11.6 per cent rise in its con-
solidated net profit at
Rs.345.27 crore for the third
quarter ended December 31,
2013, against Rs.309.45 crore
in the same period of the pre-
vious year.
Total income from oper-
ations, however, fell to
Rs.6,544.80 crore from
Rs.6,737.21 crore. During the
quarter, there was an in-
crease of 9.3 per cent in con-
solidated revenue from
branded apparels and acces-
sories to Rs.1,231.82 crore
in the same period of the pre-
vious year. Total income from
operations rose to Rs.135.83
quarter ended December 31,
2013, against Rs.64.62 crore
in the year ago period. Sales
crore from Rs.103.10 crore. income grew marginally to
from Rs.1,126.51 crore. Reve- For the nine months ended Rs.564.24 crore from
nue from textiles grew 22.98 December 31, 2013, the net Rs.544.55 crore.
per cent to Rs.331.46 crore. profit rose by 50 per cent to
Rs.78.61 crore from Rs.52.32 BGR Energy
Bajaj Electricals crore during the correspond- BGR Energy Systems Ltd.
Bajaj Electricals reported a ing period of the previous has reported 19 per cent fall
71.5 per cent rise in its net year. in its net profit at Rs.33.55
profit at Rs.20.03 crore for crore for the quarter ended
the third quarter ended De- TNPL December 31, 2013 when
cember 31, 2013, against Tamil Nadu Newsprint and compared with Rs.41.44 crore
Rs.11.68 crore in the corre- Papers Ltd. (TNPL) increased in the year-ago period. Net
sponding period of the previ- its total revenue to Rs.580.70 sales stood at Rs.835.59 crore
ous year. Net sales increased crore in the third quarter as against Rs.804.91 crore.
to Rs.1,032.42 crore from ended December 31, 2013,
Rs.872.12 crore. from Rs.459.26 crore in the
Revenue from the lighting same period of the previous BULLION RATES
segment stood at Rs.247.19 year. February 11 rates in rupees with
crore against Rs.221.57 crore. The net profit more than previous rates in brackets
doubled to Rs.36.89 crore Chennai
Repco Home Finance from Rs.17.91 crore. Bar Silver (1 kg) 45,320 (45,380)
Repco Home Finance Ltd. Retail (1 g) 48.50 (48.60)
has reported a rise of 62.5 per IHCL 24 ct gold (10 g) 30,230 (30,170)
cent in its net profit at Indian Hotels Company 22 ct gold (1 g) 2,826 (2,821)
Delhi
Rs.27.14 crore in the third Ltd. (IHCL) has reported a Silver 45,130 (45,025)
quarter ended December 31, flat growth in net profit at Standard gold 30,800 (30,670)
2013, against Rs.16.70 crore Rs.65.51 crore for the third

SPORT

Can Australia stop South Africa?

CRICKET / Smith’s men gear up for life after Kallis
CENTURION: South African cap-
tain Graeme Smith said his
team was happy to be the “fa-
vourite” ahead of the first Test
against Australia which starts
on Wednesday.
“If you are the No. 1 team in
the world, you have to be the
favourite,” said Smith on Tues-
day. “It’s something we have
become accustomed to and we
feel very comfortable with it.
We’ve been No. 1 for a reason-
able period of time and we’ve
travelled to some tough places
to get it and defend it.”
South Africa has not been
beaten in a Test series since
Australia defeated it in South
Africa in 2008-09. It has built
up a formidable record to open
up a sizeable gap at the top of
the ICC rankings, but the up-
coming three-match series will
be its first after the great Jac-
ques Kallis’s retirement.
Australia goes into the con-
THE BATTLE BEGINS... Michael Clarke (right) and his men will be high on confidence after a test on the back of a 5-0 white-
memorable Australian summer when they meet Graeme Smith's side in the three-Test series.
wash over England, but skipper
— PHOTO: MORNE DE KLERK/GETTY IMAGES Michael Clarke acknowledged
that the series would provide
his team with a major
challenge.
“South Africa has earned the
right to be the No. 1 team in the
world,” said Clarke. “They are
extremely tough to beat any-
where in the world, and espe-
cially in their own backyard.”
Clarke said his team was
looking forward to the series.
“That’s the challenge you want
as a player, you want to be play-
ing against the best to see how
you measure up individually
and as a team. It’s a great chal-
lenge, test and opportunity for
the team which is high on confi-
dence at the moment through
the success we had during the
Australian summer.”
With both teams boasting
formidable bowling attacks,
Clarke said batting would be
crucial. “Both teams are going
to have to bat well because
there are two very good bowl-
ing attacks. It’s going to be a
challenge for the batters. The
wickets (in South Africa) have
been conducive to fast bowling
and this makes it a bit tougher.
“It’s going to be a really good
challenge for the Australian
batters to come up against
probably the best bowlers that I
have faced in my career.”
Smith said he was confident
South Africa had the batting to
counter an Australian pace at-
tack spearheaded by left-arm
fast bowler Mitchell Johnson.
“The performances of our
guys all over the world give us
the stability and platform to
win Test matches. Everyone
has contributed when needed.”
Ready to play
Smith said the host had no
injury concerns, with batsmen
A.B. de Villiers and Jean-Paul
Duminy both ready to play.
“We’ve got a good idea of
where we want to go. We have a
lot of options available.”
Australia’s choice seems
likely to be between Alex Doo
lan, Shaun Marsh and Phil
Hughes to fill two batting spots.
Smith said he was glad the
pre-match talk had come to an
end. “The Aussies have been
good for ticket and newspaper
sales,” he said. “We’re really ex-
cited that the contest is starting
now.” The second and third
Tests will be played at Port El-
izabeth (Feb. 20 to 24) and
Cape Town (March 1 to 5).
The teams (from):
South Africa: Graeme Smith
(capt.), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla,
Faf du Plessis, A.B. de Villiers, Jean-
Paul Duminy, Robin Peterson, Ryan
McLaren, Wayne Parnell, Vernon Phi-
lander, Dale Steyn, and Morne Morkel.
Australia: Michael Clarke (capt.),
Chris Rogers, David Warner, Alex
Doolan, Steve Smith, Phil Hughes,
Shaun Marsh, Brad Haddin, Mitchell
Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle,
and Nathan Lyon. — AFP
LUCKY VENUE
Centurion has been a lucky
venue for South Africa as it
has won 14 out of 18 Tests

T20 WC: Australia calls up veterans HOCKEY Bilbao draws

SYDNEY: Evergreen veterans
Brad Hogg and Brad Hodge,
with a combined age of 82, were
on Tuesday called up to the
Australian squad for the ICC
World Twenty20 in Bangla-
desh next month.
The sprightly Hogg, 43, has
been in top form in the domes-
tic Big Bash League with his
wrist spin proving hard to han-
dle, while Hodge, 39, has been
prolific with the bat for the
Melbourne Stars in the same
competition.
If he takes the field, Hogg is
set to become the oldest player
in the history of international
T20 cricket as Australia looks
for its first trophy after four un-
successful attempts.
Another veteran, wicket-
keeper Brad Haddin, 36, is also
included for the March 16-April
6 tournament in a 15-man
squad skippered by George Bai-
ley and featuring Test stars
Mitchell Johnson, David War-
ner, and Shane Watson.
Hogg effectively drew the
curtain on his international ca-
reer following his final one-day
international for Australia at
Brad Hodge and Brad Hogg
the end of the 2007-08 sum-
mer, but he returned to play a
handful of T20 internationals
for Australia in 2012.
“Once again Brad bowled ve-
ry well for the Perth Scorchers
in the Big Bash League and
many batsmen found him diffi-
cult to read,” said National se-
lector John Inverarity.
“Despite his age, his enthusi-
asm and fitness are
undiminished.”
While the squad has plenty of
experience, there was also
room for some young guns, in-
cluding exciting leg-spinner
James Muirhead, 20, who was
only three-years-old when
Hogg made his Test debut for
Australia in India in 1996.
Australia gets its tournament
underway on March 23 against
Pakistan at Mirpur.
The squad: George Bailey (capt.),
Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile,
James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad
Haddin, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg,
Glenn Maxwell, James Muirhead,
Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Da-
vid Warner, Shane Watson and Cam-
eron White. — AFP
Kalinga Lancers holds Punjab Warriors
MOHALI: Kalinga Lancers dished
out a spirited performance to
hold Punjab Warriors to a 3-3
draw and collect two points
from a hard-fought league
match of the second edition of
Hero Hockey India League
(HHIL) here on Tuesday.
Kalinga Lancers scored
through Gagandeep Singh
(10th minute), Mandeep Antil
(26th) and Ryan Archibald
(41st) while Christopher Ciriel-
lo (18th), Jake Whetton (22nd)
and Simon Orchard (50th)
found the target for the Punjab
side.
Both the teams started cau-
tiously as they seemed in no
mood to give initial openings to
the other.
The Lancers surged ahead in
the 10th minute when Gagan-
deep Singh scored a field goal to
the left of Warriors goalkeeper
Bharat Chetri after being fed
from the right flank.
The Warriors pressing hard
for the equalizer earned two
penalty corners in succession,
the second of which was con-
Punjab Warriors' Jake Whetton slots in his team’s
second goal. — PHOTO: AKHILESH KUMAR
verted by Australian Chris-
topher Ciriello in the 18th
minute.
The Warriors secured anoth-
er penalty corner at the start of
the second quarter but ace
drag-flicker Sandeep Singh’s
try went wide.
Jake Whetton (22nd minute)
scored from close range after
Lancers custodian Harjot
Singh saved the first attempt to
help Warriors take the lead for
the first time in the match.
The Lancers pumped in two
field goals in the second and
third quarter to stun the War-
riors for the second time in the
game.
First Mandeep Antil scored
in the 26th minute with a field
strike from top of the circle be-
fore Ryan Archibald (41st min-
ute) struck to take a 3-2 lead.
The Warriors earned two
more penalty corners in quick
time but wasted both the op-
portunities.
Lancers goalie Harjot Singh
had a busy day in office as he
stretched to his left to deny
Dharamvir Singh’s strong fore-
hand shot to keep his side’s lead
intact.
But Simon Orchard saved the
day for the Warriors by sco-
ring the equaliser in the 50th
minute with a beautiful field
goal.
The Warriors garnered two
points from the draw to consol-
idated their second position in
the league standings with 25
points from seven games, while
the Lancers moved to 10 points
from seven outings. — PTI
TODAY’S MATCH
Delhi Waveriders vs Ranchi
Rhinos, Delhi, 8 p.m.
with Celta Vigo
VIGO: Athletic Bilbao hung on to
a 0-0 draw at Celta Vigo to
stretch out its fourth-place ad-
vantage in the Spanish league
on Monday.
The Basque club improved to
four points better than fifth-
place Villarreal in the duel for
the last Champions League
qualifying place.
Celta improved to 11th.— AP
Uttar Pradesh
in two finals
CHENNAI: Uttar Pradesh entered
both the boys and girls finals in
the Kals-National sub-junior
volleyball championships here
on Tuesday.
In the girls semifinals, UP
beat West Bengal 27-25, 25-17,
20-25, 25-21, while in the boys
section, it got past Karnataka
25-23, 25-16, 25-15.
Other results (semifinals): Boys:
Tamil Nadu bt Haryana 25-13, 25-21,
25-13.
Girls: Gujarat bt Tamil Nadu 25-19,
16-25, 29-27, 24-26, 15-9.

CM ND-ND
YK
 SPORT
16
Agarwal and
Anirudh rescue
Central
MYSORE: Himalay Agarwal’s un-
beaten 143 (245b, 17x4, 1x6),
and his unbroken 144-run
stand for the sixth wicket with
T.P. Anirudh (58 not out, 7x4),
took Central to 297 for five on
the opening day of its three-day
Vizzy Trophy semifinal against
South here on Tuesday.
Opting to bat, Central was in
trouble at 19 for two after losing
the openers Ravi Teja (10) and
Rohit Reddy (4).
The team continued to lose
wickets and when Anirudh
joined Agarwal, the score was
153 for five.
The two then played with
ease to guide their team to a
respectable position.
Medium-pacers Nikith and
Abhishek Tanwar took two
wickets each for South.
Good knock by Kapil
In the other semifinal, North,
asked to bat, scored 332 for six
against East.
Kapil Dhaka (71 not out, 5x4)
and southpaw Vinit (27 not out,
2x4, 1x6) were together at close
after adding 51 for the seventh
wicket.
Mohit Handa (65, 10x4) and
Azam Khan (41, 8x4) were the
other contributors for North.
The scores (semifinals):
Central 297 for five in 90 overs
(Himalay Agarwal 143 n.o., T.P. Ani-
rudh 58 n.o., Akshay Kumar 36) v
South.
North 332 for six in 90 overs (Kapil
Dhaka 71 n.o., Mohit Handa 65, Azam
Khan 41, Shiv Rathi 55, Vinit 27 n.o.) v
East. — Correspondent
Railways makes
short work
of Punjab
NEW DELHI: Champion Railways
made short work of Punjab to
win its first match of the senior
women T20 Elite Group Super
League by nine wickets at the
Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium
here on Tuesday.
Captain Mithali Raj re-
mained unbeaten on 25 and Pu-
nam Raut on 14 not out as
Railways, in firm control of the
game all through, chased down
a target of 54 runs in 15.2 overs.
In the process, Mithali also
hit the first six of the day, a huge
hit over long-on off Sneh Rana.
The winning shot, not surpris-
ingly, came with a classy four by
Raut.
Electing to bat, Punjab was
comfortably placed at 45 for
three in the 15th over before
committing hara-kiri.
It lost seven wickets for eight
runs in the space of three overs.
The last three wickets fell in
one over of Ekta Bisht — who
finished with figures of four for
14 — two of them identical run-
outs by Veda Krishnamurthy.
In the day’s other match,
Hyderabad beat Gujarat by 31
runs.
Batting first, Hyderabad put
up 91 runs in the stipulated 20
overs, thanks mainly to a 39-
ball 40 by captain Diana David,
which included three fours and
a six.
David was stumped off See-
ma Pujare while going for a big
hit in the penultimate over. By
then, she had ensured a fighting
total for her team, aided by
Mamta Kanojia (24).
In reply, Gujarat never got
the momentum it needed. Ana-
nya Upendran’s two-wicket
burst in the third over was
enough to wreck the chase and
Gujarat never recovered after
that.
Though Rajeshwari Goyal
and Pujare fought back, putting
on 38 runs for the eighth wick-
et, they had too much to score
in too little a time.
The scores:
Punjab 53 in 18 overs (Ekta Bisht
four for 14) lost to Railways 55 for one
in 15.2 overs (Mithali Raj 25 not out).
Hyderabad 91 for eight in 20 overs
(Diana David 40, Mamta Kanojia 24;
Falguni Chauhan two for 11, Rajesh-
wari Goyal two for 15, Deepa Patel two
for 19) beat Gujarat 60 for eight in 20
overs (Rajeshwari Goyal 23 not out;
Ananya Upendran two for nine, V. Ka-
vya two for five). — Special
Correspondent
Samarth
shines
GHAZIABAD: Samarth Seth’s un-
beaten 51 guided Manoj Gaur
Academy to a comfortable five-
wicket win over GNCA in the
Yuvraj Singh Center of Excel-
lence under-22 cricket tourna-
ment here.
The scores:
GNCA 176 in 36 overs (Deepak
Kashyap 62, Deepak Kashyap three
for 40) lost to Manoj Gaur Academy
179 for five in 33.5 overs (Samarth
Seth 51 not out, Karan Sharma 29,
Yogesh Yadav five for 29).
Correction: In the edition
dated February 11, 2014, the
headline "Rajat Bhatia passes
away" was erroneous. It should
have been “Ranjit Bhatia passes
away.” The error is regretted.
CM
YK
No respite for Rest as innings defeat looms
IRANI CUP/ Pankaj sizzles with six even as Gautam’s ton takes Karnataka’s lead past 400
Shreedutta Chidananda
BANGALORE: Karnataka tight-
ened the screws steadily and
casually to close in on a fifth
Irani Cup victory here on Tues-
day.
C.M. Gautam plundered a
fluent hundred as the home
side built up a mountainous
lead of 405 before removing
three Rest of India batsmen.
Pankaj’s milestone
Only Pankaj Singh offered
the visitor something to cheer
about, finishing with six for 122
from his bustling, unflagging 35
overs. The effort took him to
300 first-class wickets — a
milestone the 28-year-old
hoped would keep his dream of
playing for India alive.
At stumps on the third day at
the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium,
Rest was 114 for three, needing
a further 291 runs to avert an
innings defeat.
The situation had threatened
to turn worse when R. Vinay
Kumar had dismissed the
openers for 20 on the board.
Gautam Gambhir nicked off to
second slip, where Manish Pan-
dey held a fine catch to his left
before Jiwanjot Singh was out
lbw.
But Kedar Jadhav and Baba
Aparajith, who remained un-
beaten on 42, added 71 runs.
Jadhav fell a half hour from the
close for 44, chipping Shreyas
Gopal straight to mid-off.
In the morning, Stuart Binny
was unable to build greatly on
his overnight 115.
He was bowled by an in-
ducker from Pankaj that
slipped between bat and pad.
Gautam, who this Ranji Trophy
‘Making my ODI
debut was special’
Principal Correspondent
BANGALORE: Stuart Binny re-
turned from his near two-week
sojourn in New Zealand with
his involvement limited to one
game and one over bowled
therein.
But he hadn’t fretted in the
least, he said, over his painfully
short introduction to interna-
tional cricket. On Tuesday, Bin-
ny’s faith seemed vindicated,
when he found a place in both
the Asia Cup and the ICC
World T20 squads.
“It was not disappointing at
all,” he said of his first appear-
ance in India colours.
Very special
“To make my ODI debut was
very special. Yes, I would’ve
loved to get an opportunity to
bat in that game but the sit-
uation demanded a partnership
at the time.
“Also, bowling that one over
was what was needed at that
time from a captain’s point of
view.”
Almost as if in response, in
his very first game back home,
Binny walloped an 82-ball
hundred.
His performance in the Irani
Cup, however, was just a coinci-
dence, he felt. “I don’t think it
[the debut] played too much of
a role.
“My only intention was to
put as many runs as possible on
the board,” he said.
Binny is 29, an age that
would put him in the ‘late
bloomer’ category.
His journey has been a long
TENNIS
Bhambri weathers the Huang storm
Amitabha Das Sharma
KOLKATA: Yuki Bhambri extend-
ed his successful run quelling
the challenge of Liang-Chi
Huang of Chinese Taipei 4-6,
6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the
State Bank of India $50,000
ATP Challenger here on
Tuesday.
Bhambri, who won the title in
the Chennai ATP Challenger,
joined Somdev Devvarman in
the pre-quarterfinals. However,
the other Indians, Vishnu Vard-
han and Saketh Myneni, bowed
out of the singles.
Bhambri was off form initial-
ly against Huang, who retrieved
everything the Indian tried.
Huang salvaged a break point in
the sixth game before turning
the tables on Bhambri, who fal-
tered on his serve in the sev-
enth. Armed with the lone
break Huang went on to win the
first set 6-4.
Bhambri picked himself up
with sharper returns and
earned quick dividends. He
worked up a 3-0 lead, with a
break in the second game. But
once again lost serve with a
double fault, letting Huang
make it 3-3.
Bhambri regained his touch
in the eighth game where he
MAKING MERRY: C.M. Gautam helped himself to a century as Karnataka tightened the noose around Rest
of India on the third day of the Irani Cup match. — PHOTO: K. BHAGYA PRAKASH
season could not reproduce the
splendid form he showed last
time, then set about scoring
runs freely.
He swept the spinners confi-
dently time after time, even un-
furling two reverse-sweeps to
move into the nineties.
Stuart Binny. — PHOTO:
K. BHAGYA PRAKASH
one, from the ICL and up
through hard graft in domestic
cricket.
“I don’t feel this opportunity
has come pretty late in my ca-
reer,” he said. “But, at this age
I’m more mature as a cricketer.
I have evolved much.”
Special
His hundred at the M. Chin-
naswamy Stadium on Monday
made him and Roger Binny the
first father-son duo to score
centuries in the Irani Cup.
The latter had made 158 for
Karnataka in the 1983 encoun-
ter. “It’s special I guess. It’s sat-
isfying,” he said.
Asked what his father
thought of his international de-
but, Binny smiled.
“I didn’t play enough for my
dad to assess me.”
TOUGH CUSTOMER: Yuki Bhambri shook off an
indifferent start to defeat Liang-Chi Huang of
Chinese Taipei. — PHOTO: SUSHANTA PATRONOBISH
broke Huang once again and
went on to level the set scores.
In the decider, Bhambri
broke Huang four times to run
away with the game 6-1.
Bhambri lost the possibility
of making another grand double
The 27-year-old raised his
tenth first-class hundred with a
four through the covers, as Kar-
nataka marched along swiftly,
with useful contributions from
Vinay and Abhimanyu Mithun.
At the other end, Pankaj had
got rid of Shreyas Gopal for 16.
GENERAL
Great day for all of us: Sports Minister
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The Union Sports
Minister, Jitendra Singh, was
“very very happy” with the re-
turn of India into the Olympic
stream, and declared that it was a
“great day for all of us”.
Addressing the media on Tues-
day afternoon, hours after the
IOC had lifted the suspension on
the Indian Olympic Association
(IOA), the Minister said that it
was a long journey, during which
the Indian sports persons and
the sports lovers had raised their
concern and voice.
Pointing out that the Sports
HOCKEY
A Dutch engineer’s tryst with Indian hockey
Uthra Ganesan
NEW DELHI: Twenty-five-year-
old Joris Oolsthorn, with a de-
gree in mechanical engineering
in hand, knows he has a bright
future ahead. Only, the Dutch-
man is not sure if he wants it,
enamoured as he is with
hockey.
Oolsthorn’s Asia trip started
in Hong Kong, where he joined
a group of friends from Hol-
land, before moving to India.
In the two weeks he has been
here, Oolsthorn has coached
underprivileged kids from gov-
ernment schools across Delhi
in collaboration with One
Thousand Hockey Legs, an
NGO run by K. Arumugam,
which aims to promote hockey
after Chennai as he lost the
doubles first round (partnering
Michael Venus of New Zealand)
to Aleksandr Nedovyesov (Ka-
zakhstan) and Blaz Rola
(Slovakia).
In the most notable upset of
Gautam himself fell for 122,
pulling down Mandeep Singh’s
throat at square-leg.
The curtains came down on
the Karnataka innings when
H.S. Sharath was bowled neck
and crop, becoming Pankaj’s
300th first-class victim.
Ministry had also played a key
role in projecting a clear picture
to the IOC at its headquarters in
Lausanne last year towards pav-
ing the way for the lifting of the
suspension, the Minister
stressed that the opportunity
was thankfully utilised to clean
Indian sports administration to a
great extent.
He pointed out that all the na-
tional sports federations, except
for two, had adopted the Sports
Code in their Constitution.
The Sports Minister said that
it was important to focus on the
challenges ahead and prepare in
right earnest for the Common-
wealth and Asian Games later
in the country. “I just wanted to
travel after finishing engineer-
ing because I have never been
out of Europe. I play at and also
coach a club called Concordia in
Holland and since my travel co-
incided with the Hockey India
League (HIL), I wanted to
watch a few games as well.
But my interaction with
these kids and their commit-
ment to the game has been an
amazing experience,” Ool-
sthorn says, keeping one eye on
the nearly 50 kids playing at the
Siri Fort Sports Complex.
Plenty of talent
According to him, the talent
and skills he has seen here are
simply not present anywhere in
Europe. And, unlike most oth-
the day, unseeded Agustin Ve-
lotti of Argentina sent fifth-
seeded Blaz Rola packing with a
7-6(3), 6-4 win.
The results: Singles (first round):
Aleksandr Nedovyesov (Kaz) bt Rui
Machado (Por) 6-2, 6-4; Gerard Gra-
nollers (Esp) bt Jordi Samper-Monta-
na (Esp) 6-3, 6-1; Go Soeda (Jpn) bt
Theodoros Angelinos (Gre) 6-3, 3-6,
7-5; Illija Bozoljac (Srb) bt Tsung-Hua
Yang (Tpe) 6-3, 6-2; Augustin Velotti
(Arg) bt Blaz Rola (Slo) 7-6(3), 6-4;
Daniel Munoz de la Nava (Esp) bt Axel
Michon (Fra) 6-3, 6-3; Ti Chen (Tpe) bt
Vishnu Vardhan 6-3, 6-2; Yuki Bham-
bri bt Liang-Chi Huang (Tpe) 4-6, 6-3,
6-1; Evgeny Donskoy (Rus) bt Saketh
Myneni 6-4, 6-2; Adrian Menendez-
Maceiras (Esp) bt Thomas Fabbiano
(Ita) 6-4, 6-2; Alexander Kudryavtsev
(Rus) bt Lucas Pouille (Fra) 6-3, 6-1.
Doubles (first round): Aleksandr
Nedovyesov (Kaz) & Blaz Rola (Slo) bt
Yuki Bhambri & Michael Venus (NZ)
6-3, 5-7, 10-7; Divij Sharan & Vishnu
Vardhan bt Somdev Devvarman & Pu-
rav Raja 7-6(3) 7-6(1); Ruben Gon-
zales (Phi) & Artem Sitak (NZ) bt
Marco Chiudinelli (Sui) & Steven Diez
(Can) 6-0, 6-3; Gerard Granollers &
Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (Esp) bt
Radu Albot (Mda) & Illya Marchenko
(Ukr) 6-1, 3-6, 10-6; Hsien-Yin Peng &
Tsung-Hua Yang (Tpe) bt Ruan Roe-
lofse & Izak van der Merwe (RSA) 2-6,
6-4, 10-6.
“Before the match started I
knew I was six wickets short,”
the strapping seam bowler said
later, before honestly speaking
of his disappointment at being
ignored for national duty.
“Hopefully, somewhere
these 300 wickets will count for
this year and the Olympics in Rio
in 2016.
Jitendra Singh expressed con-
fidence of moving ahead with the
National Sports Development
Bill for which the Ministry was in
discussion with all the stake
holders, apart from the IOC.
Major achievement
“It is a major achievement that
the IOC has been discussing a
Sports Bill with a nation, for the
first time in the world. It will be a
joint venture as we fully respect
the autonomy of the sports feder-
ations and the Olympic Move-
ment. The government and the
IOC are on the same page”, said
ers, he favours youngsters start-
ing out on grass before playing
on artificial turf.
“One-two years on grass is ve-
ry good for developing basic
skills. For example, kids here
are natural at hitting the ball
and controlling it, which is nec-
essary on grass turf.
“Some of them have far better
skills than I. Back home, I have
difficulty trying to teach be-
cause everyone plays on turf
and they don’t know what a hit
is.
“That said, the talented play-
ers should move to turf as soon
as possible to develop their
game to the next level. It is a fine
balance,” he says.
Asked about the vast gap in
teams at the international level,
Strong field for Delhi Open
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: There may only be
two top-100 players in the fray
including the country's No. 1
Somdev Devvarman, but there
will be no dearth of quality
players in the Delhi Open
$100,000 ATP Challenger ten-
nis tournament, all set to be
played at the R.K. Khanna Sta-
dium Complex here from Fer-
buary 17.
There will be as many as
nine players who had been
ranked top-100 in their career,
including Go Soeda of Japan
who was ranked 47 two years
ago, Marco Chiudinelli of
Switzerland who had enjoyed
a career-best rank of 52 in
2010, Rui Machado of Portu-
gal, ranked 59 in 2011, Evgeny
Donskoy of Russia ranked 65
last year and Illya Marchenko
of Ukraine ranked 67 in 2010.
The 29-year-old Go Soeda,
ranked 143 at the moment, has
won 13 Challenger singles ti-
tles, including the one in Delhi
in 2008.
He has been ranked second
best to Kei Nishikori in Japan
for some time and had reached
the second round of both Aus-
tralian Open and Wimbledon.
Yang makes it
The former World No. 1 ju-
THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014
something. It’s always in your
mind that you don’t have re-
sults for your effort but you
have to try and leave that out.
I’ve had a long, hard journey. It
will go on.”
The scores:
Rest of India — 1st innings: 201.
Karnataka — 1st innings: Robin
Uthappa c Jadhav b Dinda 0, K.L.
Rahul b Anureet 35, Ganesh Satish c
Jadhav b Harbhajan 84, Manish Pan-
dey c Karthik b Pankaj 36, Karun Nair
b Pankaj 92, Stuart Binny b Pankaj
122, C.M. Gautam c Mandeep b Pan-
kaj 122, R. Vinay Kumar c Karthik b
Mishra 31, Shreyas Gopal c Karthik b
Pankaj 16, Abhimanyu Mithun (not
out) 34, H.S. Sharath b Pankaj 0; Ex-
tras (b-20, lb-9, nb-5): 34; Total (in 145
overs): 606.
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Uthappa), 2-
75 (Rahul), 3-136 (Pandey), 4-188
(Ganesh), 5-375 (Karun), 6-400 (Bin-
ny), 7-488 (Vinay), 8-545 (Shreyas),
9-606 (Gautam).
Rest bowling: Ashoke Dinda 31-5-
138-1, Pankaj Singh 35-7-122-6, Anu-
reet Singh 26-6-104-1, Amit Mishra
25-2-100-1, Harbhajan Singh 18-2-
82-1, Baba Aparajith 7-1-24-0, Man-
deep Singh 3-1-7-0.
Rest of India — 2nd innings: Ji-
wanjot Singh lbw b Vinay 7, Gautam
Gambhir c Pandey b Vinay 9, Baba
Aparajith (batting) 42, Kedar Jadhav c
Pandey b Shreyas 44, Dinesh Karthik
(batting) 9; Extras (b-1, lb-2): 3; Total
(for three wickets in 38 overs): 114.
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Gambhir),
2-20 (Jiwanjot), 3-91 (Jadhav).
Karnataka bowling: R. Vinay Ku-
mar 7-0-27-2, Abhimanyu Mithun 9-0-
29-0, H.S. Sharath 7-5-6-0, Stuart Bin-
ny 6-1-13-0, Shreyas Gopal 7-0-31-1,
Robin Uthappa 1-0-1-0, Karun Nair
1-0-4-0.
the Minister.
When asked about the conduct
of the National Games, the Min-
ister said that he had a clear pic-
ture about the preparedness of
Kerala, and stressed that the at-
tempt, in consultation with the
IOA, would be to host it this year
itself, in November or December,
as it had already been postponed
quite a lot.
Meanwhile, on his part, the
former acting president of the
suspended IOA, Prof. Vijay Ku-
mar Malhotra, lauded the
prompt lifting of the ban by the
IOC, and hoped that the Olympic
Movement would be strength-
ened further in the country.
Oolsthorn credits the Dutch
structure. “ In Holland, we have
clubs at every level and our do-
mestic structure is the stron-
gest and toughest.”
HIL a boon
About the HIL, Oolsthorn be-
lieves it will help young Indians
the most.
Oolsthorn is now planning to
complete his Masters in teach-
ing to have more time for hock-
ey. “I know I can make very good
money as an engineer, but I will
have to quit hockey for that. I
also know that teaching doesn’t
pay much in Holland but it will
give me more time for the game.
“Engineering is my choice,
hockey is my passion. Tough
call,” he says with a laugh.
nior Tsung-Hua Yang who had
waged an unsuccessful bid to
topple India in the recent Da-
vis Cup Asia-Oceania group ‘I’
tie in Indore was the last player
to make it with a cut-off rank-
ing of 216, as per the latest list
available on Tuesday.
Aleksandr Nedovyesov of
Kazakhstan, ranked 93, is ex-
pected to be the top seed,
ahead of Somdev Devvarman
who has two Challenger titles
to his credit, and a career-best
rank of 62 that he had accom-
plished in 2011.
Bhambri on a high
The 21-year-old Yuki Bham-
bri, who has won three Chal-
lenger titles, including the one
last week in Chennai, and thus
enjoys a career-best rank of
145 at the moment will at-
tempt to capitalise on the big
event at home, despite having
been through a hectic but suc-
cessful schedule of matches in
recent weeks.
Peter Gojowczyk of Germa-
ny has just slipped out of the
top-100, and the Chinese lad
Di Wu who had beaten Yuki
Bhambri in the final of the Aus-
tralian Open Wild Card play-
off recently will also be part of
the strong field, though ranked
a low 204.
With only two Indians as-
NOIDA/DELHI
Eagleburg Open
tees off today
BANGALORE: Defending cham-
pion Anirban Lahiri will lead
the field in the second Eagle-
burg Open, which begins at the
Eagleton golf course here on
Wednesday.
Lahiri — a three-time Asian
Tour winner — will face his big-
gest challenge from Bangla-
desh’s Siddikur Rahman, the
Indian Open champion. Him-
mat Singh Rai, Rahil Gangjee
and Chiragh Kumar — top Indi-
an professionals — also feature
in the tournament.
“I am excited to be playing on
my home course again. Putting
will be the key this week; one
needs to take the opportunities
on the greens,” Lahiri said.
The 26-year-old, while hap-
py with his fine start to the sea-
son, stated that he would have
to start afresh here.
“I have had a great run on the
PGTI, with wins in the last four
starts. It was nice to kick-off
the new season with a win in
Ahmedabad. But, this is a new
week, and I have to start all over
again,” he said.
Rahman, who is also in good
form, said: “I am delighted with
my performance in 2013. I
played my best golf ever during
the second half of the year
when I won the Indian Open
and finished fourth on the
Asian Tour Order of Merit. I
want to carry the confidence in-
to the new season.”
The Professional Golf Tour
of India (PGTI) event offers a
total prize-money of Rs. 30
lakh. The winner will receive
Rs. 4.85 lakh, while the runner-
up will take home Rs. 3.35 lakh.
— Sports Reporter
Bhawanipore
held to a draw
KOLKATA: SP Bhawanipore FC
was held 1-1 by Aizawl FC in a
group ‘B’ match of the second
division I-League at Gangtok
on Tuesday.
This draw enabled Bhawani-
pore to log with seven points
and is poised to move further in
the tournament.
Hindustan FC from Delhi de-
feated Kenkre Sports Club by
the odd goal in three to register
its second victory on the trot.
Playing for Bhawanipore, Jose
Barreto, was red-carded at the
fag end of the game and will
miss the team’s final game
against Hindustan.
The results: Group ‘B’ (Gangtok):
Hindustan FC 2 (O.O. Solo 29, Kam-
son Kabui 48) bt Kenkre Sports Club 1
(Yash Mahtre 59); Aizawl FC 1 (Eric
Aningo 8) drew with SP Bhawanipore
FC (Bidemi Daniel 16).
Vishal on song
NEW DELHI: Vishal Singh struck
six goals as NCC/Navy defeated
Seafarers 11 goals to 8-1/2 in a
pool ‘A’ league match of the
Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia
Gold Cup 10-goal polo tourna-
ment here on Tuesday.
In another pool ‘A’ encoun-
ter, Abhimanyu Pathak top-
scored for Jindal Panthers with
three goals in his team’s 6-4
victory over Elevation.
The results: NCC/Navy 11 (Vishal
Singh 6, Sameer Chaudhary 4, Tar-
sem Singh) bt Seafarers 8-1/2 (Akhil
Sirohi 2, Baljinder Dhillon, Arjun Patil,
A.K. Panchal, handicap-3-1/2); Jindal
Panthers 6 (Abhimanyu Pathak 3,
Simran Shergill 2, Gaurav Sahgal) bt
Elevation 4 (Uday Kalaan 2, Gerardo
Mazzini 2); Piramal Polo 7 (Leroux
Hendriks 3, Dhruvpal Godara 2, Sa-
chin Sarbalia, Harsh Piramal) bt Ac-
tion Polo 6 (Basheer Ali 4, Hamza Ali
2); 61st Cavalry 5-1/2 (Ravi Rathore 4,
Navjit Sandhu, handicap 1/2) bt Ara-
vali Polo 3 (Antonio Manzaro 2, Manu-
pal Godara).
sured of a direct entry, the or-
ganisers announced the first
two wild cards for Sanam
Singh and Saketh Myneni.
The first wild card for the
concurrently held $25,000
ITF women’s tournament has
been awarded to the national
grass court champion Natasha
Palha.
The tournament director,
Manpreet Kandhari, an-
nounced that the rest would be
awarded soon.
Qualifiers from
Saturday
The qualifying events for the
two tournaments are sched-
uled to start on Saturday.
The singles winner of the
ATP Challenger will be re-
warded with $14,400 and 100
ATP points, and the runner-
up, $8,480 and 60 ATP points.
The semifinalist will get
$5,020 and 35 ATP points and
the quarterfinalist $2,920 and
18 ATP points.
The first round loser will get
$1,040 and no points while a
victory in the first round would
be worth $1,720 and eight ATP
points.
The doubles champion team
will colledct $6,200 and 100
ATP points while the runner-
up team will pocket, $3,600
and 60 ATP points.
ND-ND
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014
Telecast schedule
IPL 2014 Auction, Sony Six, 9 a.m.; Irani Cup, Karnataka vs Rest of India, STAR Sports2, 9.30 a.m.; Winter Olympics, STAR
Sports4 & STAR Sports HD2, 12.30 p.m.; South Africa vs Australia, first Test, TEN Cricket & TEN HD, 2 p.m.; Hockey India
League, STAR Sports1, STAR Sports3 & STAR Sports HD1, 8 p.m.; EPL, STAR Sports 4 & STAR Sports HD2, 1.15 a.m. (Thursday).
IPL-VII auction: 512 players go under the hammer
Mudgal committee report casts shadow on proceedings; the prospect of League shifting out of India may influence bidding
K.C. Vijaya Kumar
BANGALORE: Since its inception
in 2008, the Indian Premier
League, besides its frenzied
cricket, spun off a parallel cot-
tage industry that thrived on
entertainment. While the pu-
rists fumed, T20’s most lucra-
tive domestic version chugged
merrily on until another need-
less dimension was added due
to the last edition’s spot-fixing
and betting crisis.
Now, when a new season is
scheduled to get its first build-
ing blocks during the player
auction at the ITC Gardenia
Hotel here on Wednesday and
probably Thursday, last year’s
ghosts have returned to haunt.
The Mudgal committee report,
released on Monday, has deliv-
ered a damning indictment of
corruption in the IPL.
512 cricketers
An auction that has 512
cricketers ranging from the il-
lustrious Jacques Kallis to In-
dia under-19 captain Vijay Zol
going under the hammer is now
in the throes of an identity cri-
sis.
Weirdly, but surely fitting in-
to all the recent angst around
the IPL, the Kolkata Knight
Riders CEO Venky Mysore was
asked here on Tuesday: “Do you
think the auction should go
on?” Mysore shrugged his
shoulders and said: “Not for me
to decide. There are other qual-
ified people to take these deci-
sions.”
The last 48 hours set in mo-
tion the duality of the immi-
starsports.com to stream
player auction
MUMBAI: In a first of its kind
initiative for a digital platform,
starsports.com will stream the
action from the 2014 Pepsi IPL
Player Auction to be held in
Bangalore on February 12 and
13.
Streaming of the auctions
will start at 9.30 a.m. on
KKR banking on technology
Special Correspondent
BANGALORE: The IPL auction
is not entirely about money.
Among the varied factors
that influences a team’s bid
for a particular player, tech-
nology too plays a key part
and the Kolkata Knight Rid-
ers (KKR) has recognised
that fact. In the auction here
on Wednesday and probably
Thursday, that is if the proc-
ess gets stretched, KKR will
rely on a statistical analytics
tool offered by SAP Labs In-
dia, to arrive at a better deci-
sion while investing on
players.
The tie-up was announced
in a press conference at the
ITC Gardenia Hotel here on
Tuesday and KKR CEO Ven-
ky Mysore said in jest: “I
guess we can just send this
statistical tool in for the auc-
tion and get a good team.”
Later he added: “SAP is an
ideal partner to equip us
with technology that can aid
in effective decision making
during the auction.”
The analytics tool named
GENERAL
A first in Olympic history
CHENNAI: In a development that
should bring cheer to the sports
fraternity, the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) re-
voked the suspension slapped
on the Indian Olympic Associ-
ation (IOA) on Tuesday. The
IOA statement from Sochi said,
“The IOC Executive Board (EB)
has reinstated the National
Olympic Committee (NOC) of
India, the Indian Olympic As-
sociation, during an ad hoc
meeting in Sochi on Tuesday.
The EB took the decision fol-
lowing a report about IOA’s
General Assembly and elec-
tions, which were successfully
held on February 9, 2014, for a
new board and observed by an
IOC delegation headed by IOC
member Robin Mitchell.
“The IOC observers told EB
members that the elections
were held in full respect of the
recently-passed NOC constitu-
tion, which complies with all
IOC requirements, including
the clause that no person con-
victed or charge-framed can
run for a position within the
organisation.
“It is the first time in Olym-
CM
YK
PRIZED LOT: Hot stars like Yuvraj Singh, Kevin Pietersen and Quinton de Kock will be the prime target of bidders in the IPL-VII auction. — FILE PHOTOS
nent auction – the rival teams’
bids for the ideal combination;
and whispers about the Mukul
Mudgal report.
Amidst the cacophony, the
ITC Gardenia was agog with ri-
val think-tanks preparing their
wish-lists for their dream play-
ers. Kevin Pietersen may find
himself friendless in England
but out here, his name will
cause a stir when auctioneer
Wednesday and will be avail-
able with a delay of five
minutes.
Users will also be able to fol-
low a detailed text commentary
alongside their video experi-
ence. The auction will be avail-
able to all consumers for free. —
PTI
‘SAP HANA,’ has an exten-
sive database on the 500-
plus players, who will go un-
der the hammer during the
auction.
The methodology
Explaining the tool’s
methodology, SAP Labs’ ma-
naging director Anirban Dey
said: “When a player’s name
comes up in the auction, the
KKR management will im-
mediately have access (on
their laptops) to his merits as
a player and also will have a
ready-reference to other
players, who have his same
skill-sets and their relative
merits.
“There will be 25 data-
points on every player and
this will help KKR decide on
which player to bid for. Basi-
cally this tool will help them
make a better decision.
“I am not saying that this
will help them form a team
that will win everything be-
cause that is an intangible
but it will help them get an
ideal team that fits into all
their expectations.”
pic history that a suspension of
an NOC has been lifted during
an Olympic Games and the de-
cision will have an immediate
impact.
“The EB decision means that
the Indian athletes can now
compete for the National
Olympic Committee of India
and will walk behind their Na-
tional flag at the Closing Cere-
mony on February 23.
“To symbolically mark the
lifting of the suspension and in
recognition of the three Indian
athletes competing in Sochi,
the Indian flag will be raised at
the Olympic Village.”
IOA President N. Ramachan-
dran said: “I am delighted at
this wonderful news. It augurs
a new era for Indian sportsmen
and women in the international
arena. I must also thank the
IOC President, Dr. Thomas
Bach, and all the members of
the Executive Board for this. I
also express my gratitude to all
members of the National feder-
ations and State associations
for the support extended dur-
ing this period.” — Special
Correspondent
Richard Madley mentions his
name. Pietersen, New Zealand
all-rounder Corey Anderson
and South Africa’s wicket-
keeper batsman Quinton de
Kock might trigger a bidding
war.
Mitchell Johnson, after all
the mayhem he unleashed in
the Ashes, will be another top-
pick and there are expectations
that his former team Mumbai
Role of Indian pacemen has to be clear
S. Dinakar
WELLINGTON: The Indian team
has flown here for its final stop
on what has so far been a de-
manding campaign.
Events happening back in In-
dia — speculations on the
names of cricketers allegedly
involved in illegal practices are
doing the rounds — have forced
this already embattled Indian
side to go into a shell.
But then, cricket has to go on
even in these troubled times
and the second Test at the Ba-
sin Reserve presents the Indian
team a formidable challenge.
Bowlers win Tests, more so
in the windy Wellington where
there should be considerable
assistance to the pacemen.
Erratic bowling
India also needs to avoid the
kind of erratic bowling display
in the New Zealand first in-
nings at Auckland that saw the
Kiwis amass a 500-plus total.
The Indian pacemen, carried
away by the pace and bounce in
the pitch, often banged it in
short and gave the batsmen
width. They were taken for
runs by Kane Williamson,
Brendon McCullum and Corey
Anderson.
The pacemen, ideally, should
have hit the pitch from a back-
of-a-length, extracting lift and
seam movement from close to
the off-stump on a hard drop-in
pitch.
The Indians got it right in the
second innings when they
largely pitched the ball three-
quarters on a good length area
around the off-stump.
These are the kinds of
lengths that can make batsmen
indecisive about playing back
or forward.
And disruption in footwork
produces wickets.
When asked a question on
the most difficult length for a
batsman to cope with, Rahul
Dravid said it was the good
length ball hitting the top of
Latham, Neesham included in Test squad
Special Correspondent
WELLINGTON: Opening batsman
Tom Latham and pace-bowling
all-rounder James Neesham
have replaced Jesse Ryder and
Doug Bracewell in the New
Zealand squad for the second
Test against India.
Ryder and Bracewell have
been dropped (for the second
Test) as well as fined for staying
at an Auckland pub till the early
hours of February 6, the first
day of the opening Test.
The left-handed Latham is
rated among the most promis-
ing batsmen in the country. He
has represented New Zealand
in 13 ODIs with limited success
but the selection panel has
looked at his first-class record
before picking him.
The 21-year-old Christ-
church-born cricketer has 2341
Indians, the defending cham-
pion, might exercise its lone
‘Right-to-match’ card to snap
him up.
Right-to-match card
The ‘Right-to-match’ card, a
new addition to the auction, en-
ables a team to have the last
word and stake claim to a for-
mer player it fancies. The team
just has to match the highest
TESTING TIMES: Ishant Sharma will have to be
prepared for long spells since bowling against the
wind at the Basin Reserve can be physically and
mentally tiring. — PHOTO: AFP
off-stump. Yet, to bowl this de-
livery time and time again,
building pressure on the bat-
smen all the while, requires ex-
ceptional control.
The surface at the Basin Re-
serve, where the second Test,
beginning on February 14,
could be different and the Indi-
Tom Latham.
runs in 36 first class matches at
41.80.
New Zealand selection panel
head Bruce Edgar said, “Tom is
Ribery out of Arsenal clash
Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery will miss next
week’s Champions League clash at Arsenal after
undergoing surgery
bid by a rival outfit and the
player will be back in its fold.
The bids will be influenced
by money in the wallet, the
number of ‘Right-to-match’
cards and above all this, the
perfect combination that every
team-owner desires.
From under-19 players to
veterans like Herschelle Gibbs
(40 years) and Muttiah Mura-
litharan (41), the list cuts across
an pacemen might have to
change tactics.
The hard track at Eden Park
was not a typically Kiwi wicket.
It was more of an Australian
type of pitch where there was
pace and bounce but not too
much movement. So short-of-
a-good length deliveries
James Neesham.
an incredibly exciting prospect
and has constantly been push-
ing for selection.”
Latham could find a place in
age-groups though the linger-
ing truth from previous auc-
tions is that owners prefer
ruthlessness to sentiment and
have even overlooked men like
Brian Lara.
Teams generally aim at
achieving balance besides add-
ing a few players, who lend local
flavour. However, a few over-
seas stars like Chris Gayle with
the Royal Challengers Banga-
worked. The Basin Reserve can
be a paradise for swing bowlers,
with winds sweeping across the
ground.
The surface invariably has a
covering of grass and the right
idea would be to pitch the ball
up and give it the maximum
chance to swing.
The tactic that usually works
in Wellington is to push the
batsmen back with well-direct-
ed short-pitched deliveries and
then pitch one up and swing it
either in or away.
Bowlers have to adapt to the
conditions. When pace legend
Glenn McGrath realised his
back-of-length precision would
not work on the Indian wickets,
he pitched the ball up a lot
more to reap the rewards on the
2004 tour of India.
Role definition
The role definition of the In-
dian pace attack in the second
Test will have to be clear. For
instance, bowling against the
wind at the Basin Reserve can
be physically and mentally tir-
ing. You need a strong bloke to
do the job, and Ishant could be
the man. Long spells beckon
this lanky seamer.
The experienced Zaheer
Khan’s left-arm swing could
have a greater impact in the
second Test. The conditions
should suit his kind of bowling
but Zaheer needs to up his pace.
Mohammed Shami bounded
in to bowl a telling spell in the
second innings at Auckland.
His natural length seems to be
just short of a good length from
where he gets his deliveries to
skid around.
At the Basin, he might need
to bowl a little more up to the
batsmen to consume them on
the drive. Here, the line of the
Indian pacemen will be critical
for keeping the ’keeper and the
slip cordon busy.
Then there is cricket’s gold-
en rule — Keep it tight, cut
down on runs. Stress produces
wickets.
the eleven if Ross Taylor’s sec-
ond child is not born before the
second Test, starting here on
February 14.
Interestingly, he is the son of
Rod Latham who made his
name bowling effective dibbly
dobby seamers and wielding
the bat usefully in the ODIs.
The 23-year-old Neesham
can bowl at speeds close to 140
kmph and can strike the ball
hard.
Edgar said, “We see James as
a genuine all-rounder, who can
play a number of roles for us.”
Neesham has turned out for
New Zealand in 11 ODIs and
made his presence felt but the
selectors have gone by his first-
class record for Test selection.
A left-handed bat and a right-
arm seamer, Neesham has 1054
runs and 58 wickets from 23
first-class matches.
SPORT
lore have formed their own re-
gional identities and an avid
RCB supporter considers the
West Indian as one of his own.
Owners will also have to con-
tend with general elections this
summer and the prospect of the
league shifting base to some
other country. That could also
influence their choices.
The retentions (read as ‘retained
players’, ‘remaining money’ and
No place for Raina in
Asia Cup squad
Principal Correspondent
BANGALORE: Ishant Sharma and
Suresh Raina emerged the most
prominent omissions as the In-
dian squads for the Asia Cup
and the ICC World T20 were
announced here on Tuesday.
Ishant was left out of both
teams while Raina found a
place in the T20 side. Against
the backdrop of unflattering
ODI results in South Africa and
New Zealand, neither decision
came as a huge surprise.
There was good news, how-
ever, for Stuart Binny, who was
named in both squads, and
Cheteshwar Pujara, who was
called up to the Asia Cup side
seemingly to lend stability to a
brittle middle-order. Pujara
played his career’s two ODIs
last year against Zimbabwe, but
was subsequently overlooked.
Aaron in both teams
Varun Aaron, who was part
of the one-day side in New
Zealand, also found a berth in
both squads while Yuvraj Singh
and Haryana’s Mohit Sharma
will travel for the World T20.
The All-India Senior Selec-
tion Committee, chaired by
Sandeep Patil, met here on the
sidelines of the Irani Cup. It
was widely understood that
Ishant’s place was under ques-
tion, especially after the 25-
year-old fast bowler was drop-
ped from the last three ODIs in
New Zealand.
Raina’s position was also in
A mind game and a puzzle
that you solve with
reasoning and logic. Fill in
the grid with digits in such
a manner that every row,
every column and every
3x3 box accommodates
the digits 1 to 9, without
repeating any. The
solution to yesterday’s
puzzle is at right.
17
‘available ‘Right to Match’ cards’):
Chennai Super Kings: M.S. Dho-
ni, Suresh Raina, R. Ashwin, Ravindra
Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo. Rs. 21
crore. Right-to-match cards: 1 (not
eligible for a capped India player).
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma,
Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Harb-
hajan Singh and Ambati Rayudu. Rs.
21 crore. Right-to-match cards: 1.
Rajasthan Royals: Shane Wat-
son, Ajinkya Rahane, James Faulkn-
er, Stuart Binny and Sanju
Vishwanadh. Rs. 22.5 crore. Right-to-
match cards: 1.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Vi-
rat Kohli, Chris Gayle and A.B. de
Villiers. Rs. 30.5 crore. Right-to-
match cards: 1.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam
Gambhir and Sunil Narine. Rs. 38
crore. Right-to-match cards: 2.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar
Dhawan and Dale Steyn. Rs. 38 crore.
Right-to-match cards: 2.
King’s XI Punjab: David Miller and
Manan Vohra. Rs. 43.5 crore. Right-
to-match cards: 2.
Delhi Daredevils: No players re-
tained. Rs. 60 crore. Right-to-match
cards: 3.
Players with the highest reserve
price of Rs. 2 crore: Mahela Jaya-
wardene, Mitchell Johnson, Jacques
Kallis, Kevin Pietersen, Virender Seh-
wag, Yuvraj Singh, Murali Vijay, Ge-
orge Bailey, Michael Hussey, Dinesh
Karthik, Brendon McCullum, Amit Mis-
hra, Brad Hodge, Shaun Marsh, Ross
Taylor, Manoj Tiwary, Robin Uthappa,
Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Math-
ews, Yusuf Pathan, Steven Smith,
Praveen Kumar, Mitchell Starc, Pra-
gyan Ojha, Alex Hales, Marlon Sa-
muels, Brett Lee, Ashish Nehra and
Samit Patel.
doubt. The left-hander has
scored only one half-century in
his last 24 one-day innings, a
period in which he averages
26.40. He was excluded from
the last two one-dayers against
the Black Caps.
Binny’s cause will have been
helped by the hundred he ham-
mered in the Irani Cup. The
all-rounder will hope, though,
for greater involvement than
the one over in his only outing
in New Zealand.
The Asia Cup will be held
from February 25 to March 8
and the ICC World Twenty20
from March 16 to April 6, both
in Bangladesh.
THE SQUADS
Asia Cup
M.S. Dhoni (capt.), Shikhar
Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat
Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara,
Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya
Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, R.
Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar
Kumar, Mohammed Shami,
Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny,
Amit Mishra and Ishwar
Pandey.
ICC World T20
M.S. Dhoni (capt.), Shikhar
Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat
Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj
Singh, Ajinkya Rahane,
Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin,
Bhuvneshwar Kumar,
Mohammed Shami, Stuart
Binny, Amit Mishra, Mohit
Sharma and Varun Aaron.
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18 VARIETY
FB founder and wife
biggest donors in 2013
GENEROUS Mark Zuckerberg, president and CEO of
Facebook, and his wife Priscilla Chan. — PHOTO: AP
SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook
founder and chief executive
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife
Priscilla Chan were the large-
st philanthropic donors in the
United Stats in 2013, donat-
ing nearly 1 billion dollars to
charity, according to the an-
nual list published by the
Chronicle of Philanthropy.
The tech billionaire, 29,
whose net worth is estimated
at almost 20 billion dollars,
donated 992 million dollars
to the Silicon Valley Commu-
nity Foundation, which pro-
vides grants to several
non-profit organisations in
the tech region. Second on
the list was fracking pioneer
George Mitchell. He died in
July and left 750 million dol-
lars to the Cynthia and Ge-
orge Mitchell Foundation,
which provides grants for
clean energy, natural gas sus-
tainability and other environ-
mental projects. One of the
foundation’s main goals is to
Gallery sues Kapoor
in Nataraja idol case
A. Srivathsan
CHENNAI: Subhash Kapoor, a
U.S.-based antiquities dealer
who is alleged to have mas-
terminded the theft of idols
from temples in Tamil Nadu,
has got himself into more le-
gal tangle.
The National Gallery of
Australia (NGA), which
bought a 1,000-year-old
bronze Nataraja for US $5
million from Kapoor, filed a
lawsuit against him in the
Supreme Court of the State
of New York on February 5.
The NGA has claimed
damages from Kapoor, ac-
cusing him of “fraudulently
inducing” the NGA to buy
the idol by “making misrep-
resentations and false assur-
ances” about its ownership.
In 2006, Kapoor ap-
proached the NGA and of-
fered the idol as a “potential
acquisition.” As the lawsuit
describes, Kapoor told the
NGA that a Sudanese diplo-
mat, based in Delhi between
1968 and 1971, bought the
idol from a fine art shop in
Red Fort Arcade.
The diplomat later took
the idol along with him when
he left Delhi. After his death,
his wife sold it to Art of Past
Gallery, owned by Kapoor, in
2004. It is alleged that this
idol was stolen from the
Sripuranthan temple in Ta-
mil Nadu.
The same diplomat, ac-
cording to provenance docu-
ments provided by Kapoor
in another instance, had also
Rajinikanth
lauds Goli Soda
CHENNAI: Recent Tamil hit
“Goli Soda” has earned the
appreciation of superstar Ra-
jinikanth, who praised its
makers for making an “aston-
ishing” film with children.
“I’m astonished how the
film was made in a place like
Koyambedu market, espe-
cially making those kids per-
form so well. I called up the
director and congratulated
him for the good work,” Raji-
nikanth said in a statement.
- IANS
CM
YK
Nearly $1 billion given
to Silicon Valley
Community Foundation
prevent environmental dam-
age from the technology that
Mitchell created, the Chron-
icle stated.
The other top donations
came from Nike founder Phil
Knight, who gave 500 million
dollars to the Oregon Health
and Science Universtiy Foun-
dation, and from former New
York mayor Michael Bloom-
berg, who donated 452 mil-
lion dollars to a variety of
arts, health and ecological
organisations.
Gifts from the 50 top living
donors in 2013 equalled their
combined contributions from
the previous two years. When
bequests were taken into ac-
count the total donations of
America’s greatest philan-
thropists rose 4 per cent from
the previous year. — DPA
bought an idol of Siva from a
different shop in Delhi. Ka-
poor sold this idol to the Art
Gallery of New South Wales.
In the case of the Nataraja
idol, Kapoor provided docu-
ments to support owner-
ship. He also gave a letter of
warrantee, claiming that his
gallery was the sole owner of
the idol and knew of “no ad-
verse claim or notice rele-
vant to the ownership of the
item.”
The NGA said it did due
diligence to ensure that the
idol was not a stolen one.
Since it did not find anything
amiss, it went ahead with
the purchase. In 2008, the
NGA paid US $5 million in
two instalments and ac-
quired the idol from Kapoor.
Since Kapoor’s arrest in
2011, new evidences have
emerged. In December 2013,
in a criminal complaint filed
in the Supreme Court of
New York, the Manhattan
District Attorney said Ka-
poor and Aaron Freedman,
long-time manager of Ka-
poor’s gallery, “arranged for
sale and transport” of the
Nataraja idol to the NGA, us-
ing false documents. Aron
Freedman has pleaded
guilty.
The NGA has now claimed
damages for fraud and
breach of contract. It has
asked for “an amount not
less than 5 million,” with in-
terest, legal fees and other
expenses from Kapoor, who
is lodged in the Chennai
prison and awaits trial.
Mars orbiter completes 100 days
Special Correspondent
BANGALORE: The Mars Orbiter
spacecraft completes 100 days
in space on Wednesday (Feb.
12), or roughly a third of its
journey towards the Red Plan-
et. The country's first inter-
planetary probe, launched on
November 5, 2013, is in good
health during its curved travel
of 190 million km so far to-
wards Mars; it has to traverse a
total of 680 million km over
the next 210 days, Indian Space
Research Organisation said on
Tuesday.
The ground station of ISRO
Telemetry, Tracking and Com-
mand Network (ISTRAC)
monitors it continuously from
Byalalu on the outskirts of
Bangalore.
Signals from the spacecraft
now take almost a minute each
way. Although the orbiter has
Polio-free India to get WHO certification
Aarti Dhar
NEW DELHI: As India celebrates
its victory over polio — com-
pleting three years without
any case of the debilitating in-
fection — the nation becomes
entitled to polio-free certifi-
cation by the World Health
Organisation in March.
On Tuesday, President Pra-
nab Mukherjee received Ro-
tary International’s highest
award — Award of Honour — a
recognition for heads of na-
tions or governments who
have rendered unique service
to humanity and served their
countries and people.
“After this historic victory
of humankind where millions
of lives have been saved
through tireless efforts of
many, we have to take care of
neighbours also. We should
commit ourselves to creating
a polio-free world,” Mr Muk-
herjee said at a function
marked to celebrate the day.
Describing eradication of
polio as an impressive
achievement, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh attributed
it to strong political will, as-
sured financial commitment
and a robust oversight of the
Crocodiles can climb trees!
WASHINGTON: If you are being
chased by a crocodile, climb-
ing a tree might not be the
best idea! Crocodiles and al-
ligators can climb trees as far
as the crowns, scientists have
found. Researchers from
University of Tennessee,
Knoxville, are the first to
study the tree-climbing and
basking behaviour in
reptiles.
Vladimir Dinets, a re-
search assistant professor in
the Department of Psycholo-
gy and colleagues observed
crocodilian species on three
continents — Australia, Afri-
ca and North America — and
examined previous studies
and anecdotal observations.
They found that four spe-
cies climbed trees — usually
above water — but how far
they ventured upward and
outward varied by their sizes.
The smaller crocodilians
were able to climb higher and
further than the larger ones.
Some species climbed as far
as four meters high in a tree
NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014
received from the spacecraft to
the ground station, data has
been continuously available
for all the 100 days. At present,
the spacecraft is at a radio dis-
tance of 16 million km [from
Earth] causing a one-way com-
munication delay of about 55
seconds," ISRO said.
The spacecraft is scheduled
to be near the Red Planet
around mid-September after
travelling nearly 300 days.
Meanwhile, using the pre-set
propulsion system, ISTRAC is
ISRO scientists monitor the movement of the orbiter due to do a few course correc-
at the Spacecraft Control Centre in Bangalore in tions as the orbiter covers the
this photo dated Nov. 27, 2013. — PHOTO: REUTERS remaining 490 million km.
Three more such t̀rajectory
travelled 160 million km in a explained. correction manouevres' are
semicircular path, it is 16 mil- On February 6, all the five slated for April, August and
lion km away from Earth if an
imaginary straight line is
drawn between the two be-
instruments on the Mars orbi-
ter were switched on for tests
and were found to be perform-
September. Then the space-
craft will be inserted into an
orbit around Mars by an oper-
Howrah Bridge to get
cause Earth is also moving in ing well. "Except for a 40-min- ation called `Mars orbit inser-
the same direction, an official ute break in the telemetry data tion' on September 24.
a fresh coat of paint
Health Mission. Virtually ev-
ery child in the country was
reached with the new indige-
nously developed bivalent po-
lio vaccine, he noted.
In 1995, the disease affect-
ed more than 50,000 children
in the country every year.
ICONIC: The Howrah Bridge over the river Hooghly
in Kolkata. — PHOTO: PTI
Soon the number of polio in-
fections reduced but eradicat- KOLKATA: The British-era responsible for maintenance
ing polio remained a distant Howrah Bridge, Kolkata’s of the bridge.
dream. iconic landmark that serves The 26,500-tonne struc-
In 2009, India had half the as a crucial gateway for the ture, which finds mention in
number of polio cases in the eastern metropolis and fer- Rudyard Kipling’s works,
world. By 2011, in less than ries hundreds of thousands of was commissioned in 1943
two years’ time, India brought vehicles every day, is getting replacing a pontoon bridge
polio infections to the zero a fresh coat of paint after linking the two towns. It was
level. eight years. the fourth longest cantilever
This was achieved by in- The steel behemoth, also suspension bridge in the
volving over a million Accred-
Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad being
ited Social Health Activists
(ASHAs) and auxiliary nurse
midwives and a 2.3-million-
known as Rabindra Setu,
which forms the crucial con-
nect between the bustling
world at that time.
Stretching for 2,150 feet
and rising up to 280 feet from
hugged by Sushma Swaraj, Leader of the eastern metropolis and How- its foundation, the ‘Gateway
Oppostion, at the ‘India celebrates victory over
polio’ event on Tuesday. PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA
strong team of polio volun-
teers and 1.5-lakh supervisors
in vaccination.
rah district over the Hooghly
river, is getting spruced up
to Kolkata’ ranks as the sixth
longest bridge of its type in
with a whopping 26,000 the world.As many as 150
strategy adopted by the address the needs of the most Sonia Gandhi, Chairper- litres of lead-free paint. workmen will be involved in
government. under-developed societies,” son, National Advisory Coun- “This is a routine paint job the task estimated to take six
“Our success in eradicating he said. cil, said the success was which is done after 5 – 6 months. “Work has already
polio has made us more confi- Union Health and Family unmatched in scope and ex- years. The last time it was begun,” said Mehera.
dent of achieving our objec- Welfare Minister Ghulam Na- tent anywhere in the world. painted in 2005. The Nation- As the structure is exposed
tives of full immunisation bi Azad said this landmark Margaret Chan, Director- al Test House officials will to environmental factors like
against preventable diseases, achievement rode on the con- General, World Health Orga- check the quality of the paint, pollution and weather
universal healthcare and fidence generated by the stra- nisation, said, “India has the thickness...and other cru- changes, the first part of the
strengthening of primary tegic investments made shown the world that there is cial parameters,” said Chief mammoth job involves get-
healthcare infrastructure to under the National Rural no such thing as impossible.” Engineer A.K. Mehera of Kol- ting rid of the rust and old
kata Port Trust – the body paint.— IANS
and five meters down a
branch.
“Climbing a steep hill or
steep branch is mechanically
similar, assuming the branch
is wide enough to walk on,”
researchers said.
“Still, the ability to climb
vertically is a measure of
crocodiles’ spectacular agil-
ity on land,” they said.
The crocodilians seen
climbing trees were skittish
of being approached and
jumped into water when an
approaching observer was as
far as 10 metres away. Re-
searchers believe that the
tree climbing and basking
are driven by two conditions:
thermoregulation and sur-
veillance of habitat. — PTI
ND-ND